8-BIT THEATER

'''8-Bit Theater''' (also spelled ''8-Bit Theatre'') is a popular^[1] sprite comic created and launched by Brian Clevinger in March 2001 that won the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards for best fantasy comic in 2002^[2]. In its feature on gaming webcomics, 1UP.com described ''8-Bit Theater'' as the sprite comic "that took the style to its fullest expression and greatest popularity."^[3]
The plot of the comic is based on that of the video game ''Final Fantasy I'', following the four Light Warriors in their quest to vanquish the King of Demons, Chaos. The comic is not, however, a serious epic; much of the humor displayed in ''8-Bit Theater'' is derived from the blunderings and misadventures of the protagonists and their foes. ''8-Bit Theater's humor is based on exaggerated RPG stereotypes and includes a range of comedic devices, such as droll humor, running gags, wordplay, and slapstick. A significant portion of the humor is character driven — often the comic creates reader anticipation for dramatic moments which fail to come. (Example) Clevinger has stated that "[his] favorite comics are the ones where the joke is on the reader."^[4]
''8-Bit Theater'' was originally intended to parody a variety of classic 8-bit video games.^[5] The popularity of the Final Fantasy comic convinced Clevinger to abandon this idea, although ''8-Bit Theater'' does make occasional references to other video games as well as pop culture phenomena such as comic book superheroes, TV shows and movies. For example, there are parodies of superheroes, such as Arachna-Dude or The Sulk.
In addition to the comic, 8 Bit Theater's website featured two columns which claimed to be written by characters in the comic, both now discontinued. The first of them was written by Ryan Sosa as Red Mage and was entitled 'Twinkin' Out'. It dealt mainly with role-playing games and fictional battles, pitting superheroes against other superheroes or villains. A famous running gag in the column involved Febreze and its ability to solve every conceivable problem if applied properly. The joke even gained enough popularity that Clevinger used it in the main comic. The second column was 'Ask EPS' or 'Ask Evil Princess Sara'. Clevinger's girlfriend Lydia Tyree, posing as Evil Princess Sara, would give advice on dating, which was often scathing.

Contents

Plot

Art

Characters

The Light Warriors

Other notable characters

Other Media

See also

References

External links

Plot

The plot of ''8-Bit Theater'' is based (somewhat loosely) on that of the video game ''Final Fantasy I''. Four adventurers, the Light Warriors, must save the world by relighting four magical orbs that are tied to the four elements and, finally, defeat the personification of evil, Chaos. However, while many of the original plot points and characters are present, the way they come about is often radically different. The Light Warriors themselves tend to cause more harm than good on their travels and mostly have to be blackmailed, bribed, or threatened into accepting quests.
The overall plotline of the comic (thus far) can be broken in to several arcs, some corresponding to the game plot, and others original.
The shortest and first (original) arc is the 'Giant's Forest' plot. Originally a self-contained storyline for a class project, this plotline introduced Black Mage, Fighter, and Thief, and explained why there is (now) a desert near the Temple of Fiends. Fighter drags Black Mage into the middle of Giant's Forest in search of the Armor of Invincibility. When the eponymous giant appears, Black Mage uses his signature power, the Hadoken, to obliterate the forest and destroy the giant.
The second arc, 'Survivor 8-bit Style', is a direct prequel to the events of ''Final Fantasy I'', and tells how the adventuring party forms. Upon returning to their home city of Corneria (a parody of the first city in ''Final Fantasy I'' which was known as Coneria) and seeing a "help wanted" sign for the four Light Warriors, Fighter badgers Black Mage into agreeing to try for the job. While Black Mage goes off to beat up the old man who swindled Fighter into searching for the Armor of Invincibility, Fighter begins interviewing candidates for the other two heroes. Thief tricks his way onto the team, leaving White Mage and Red Mage to compete for the last spot. The fourth position is finally filled by Red Mage, though White Mage continues as a major character.
The basic plot of the next storyline, 'Saving the Princess' is based directly of the first mission of the game. The Light Warriors set off to rescue the oft-abducted Princess Sara, who's being held captive by Garland in the Temple of Fiends. Ironically, Garland is so inept at evil that Princess Sara actually takes over her own kidnapping, to the point that she actually intends to torture Garland for failing to execute her orders properly. After the Light Warriors 'rescue' Princess Sara, King Steve of Corneria 'rewards' them by building "King Steve's Kick Ass Bridge."
The 'Poison arc' (covering several in-game events) starts when the Light Warriors visit the witch Matoya. After treating them to poisoned cookies, the poison inflicting horrific nightmares, she blackmails them, via the antidote, into recovering her stolen crystal. The search for the crystal takes them to Elfland, where the King (Thief's father) has also been poisoned, apparently by the same person who stole Matoya's crystal.
Upon his recovery, the Elf King sends the Light Warriors off on the 'Earth Orb' quest, to save his kingdom from rotting. After meeting Sarda the Sage (and several acts of genocide committed against the dwarven people), the Light Warriors face off against Vilbert von Vampire and his father, Lich, for possession of the Earth Orb.
After Black Mage sends Lich to Hell, Sarda proceeds to draft the Light Warriors into several quests, sending them after the Fire, Water, and Air Orbs as well as quests in between.
During the 'Fire Orb' quest the Light Warriors travel to Gurgu Volcano to retrieve the Fire Orb. At Gorgu Volcano they defeat Kary to retrieve the Fire Orb. During the battle between the Light Warriors and Kary, Black Belt dies.
Next, Sarda forces the Light Warriors into the 'Ice Cave' quest (approximating the quest for the Floater Stone), beginning with a ride on a pirate ship staffed by the Dark Warriors, meeting the squid-like Doom Cultists, a temporary rift in space time (resulting in infinite copies of the Light Warriors), end ending with the slaughter of the cultists by Black Mage and Sarda's anger at their failure to deliver his cold-fusion reactor.
The 'Class Change' arc involves meeting the dragon god/king Bahamut and thier mission to obtain a rat tail from the Castle of Ordeals. There, the Light Warrior each face their own internal demons: Fighter and Sloth, Red Mage and Pride, Black Mage and Rage (represented by the most evil thing available, himself), and Thief misses Greed due to Black Mage dispatching it by accident. The final ordeal of a zombie dragon is solved when Thief steals it's vertebrae. The Light Warriors present the rat tail to Bahamut, only to find that it is an ingredient in a virility soup his girlfriend (Matoya) makes for him. Red Mage becomes a Mime, Fighter becomes a Knight, Thief becomes a Ninja, and Black Mage becomes a Blue Mage with some help from a Dark God. Finally, Chocobos are introduced as the warriors search for a way off the Cardia Islands.
The 'Water Orb' comes next. After a prolonged stops in Gaia and Onrac, the Light Warriors use the submarine provided by Sarda, and after dealing with aquatic creatures, enter the Sea Shrine to find the Doom Cultists. After dispatching them for a second time, they accidentally summon the third Fiend, Ur (known in the game as Kraken), who is killed by Red Mage from the inside after being eaten. It also results in Onrac being flooded after White Mage rebuilds the town, which will become a running gag.
To get the 'Air Orb', the Light Warriors then travel to Lefein. After running afoul of language difficulties, the group spends some time wrestling with stereotypical RPG sidequests, including a run-in with the local mafia. After Sarda berates them for wasting time, he returns them to the ruins of Onrac, where White Mage temporarily coverts to evil.
Clevinger also introduces an original subplot involving a rivalry between gods and their respective protégés, two of the Light Warriors. He has also stated that the comic will not include the element of time travel featured towards the end of the game's story^[6]

Art

As a sprite comic, much of the art in ''8-Bit Theater'' is sampled from video games, particularly ''Final Fantasy I'' and ''Final Fantasy III''. Some art is also obtained from public clip art sites and unspecified Google image search results.
Original artwork is created by Lydia Tyree and Kevin Sigmund, who contribute hand drawn art and custom sprites respectively. Sigmund (Sky Warrior Bob) has a guide to sprite creation on the Nuklear Power Forums.
The comic itself is assembled by Clevinger in Adobe Photoshop. Some details of this process are given in the ''8-Bit Theater'' FAQ.

Characters

Main articles: Light Warriors (8-Bit Theater), Characters of 8-Bit Theater

The events in ''8-Bit Theater'' revolve around four central characters, the 'Light Warriors', and a number of minor ones. Many of these characters are exaggerated versions of RPG stereotypes.

The Light Warriors

★ 'Red Mage' — Red Mage is versatile almost to the point of obsession and firmly believes that the world is a role-playing game. He is the most knowledgeable, but also the most delusional of the Light Warriors. Red Mage later changes class to Mime.

★ 'Thief' — Thief, also known as the Prince of Elfland, is the official leader of the Light Warriors. He is the greediest of the Light Warriors. Thief later changes class to Ninja.

★ 'Black Mage' — An evil wizard who is highly proficient in black magic and takes great joy in being as evil as possible. Black Mage later changes class to Blue Mage.

★ 'Fighter' — A warrior specializing in swords who is extremely skilled in fighting, but also naïve and childlike. Fighter later changes class to Knight.

Other notable characters

★ 'White Mage' - A priestess specializing in white (healing) magic. White Mage is assigned by her order to protect fate and to help the Light Warriors save the world.

★ 'Black Belt' - A talented martial artist and travelling companion of White Mage. Black Belt had an extremely poor sense of direction, to the effect that the laws of physics and spacetime tended to rearrange themselves around him. He was killed by the fiend Kary in the course of the series.

★ 'Sarda' - An omnipotent wizard who forces the Light Warriors to retrieve the four elemental orbs. He claims to be "The Wizard Who Did It" and uses his powers in an immensely irresponsible and careless manner.

★ 'Dark Warriors' - A group of villains previously defeated by the Light Warriors. They consist of Garland, Bikke the Pirate, Drizz'l the Dark Elf Prince (a parody of Drizzt Do'Urden) and Vilbert Von Vampire. They plot the downfall of the Light Warriors, but are depicted as even more inept than the Light Warriors themselves.

★ 'The Four Fiends' - Powerful elemental beings that guard the elemental orbs and the Light Warriors' biggest adversaries to date. They are Lich (earth), Kary (fire), Kraken (Ur or Jnn'efur in the comic) (water) and Tiamat (air). (To date only the first three fiends have appeared in the comic.)

Other Media

A Flash version of ''8-bit Theater'', created by TLF and Meddros, is available on Newgrounds and UGOPlayer. So far, five episodes have been made. As of 8 Bit Theater 5, the series covers an average of 5.4 comics per episode. [5] A song was produced for the credits after the first episode, called "''NES Christmas 2000''" by Tacoriffic and CotMM. The license / copyright information for this song is unknown, as is what has become of its creator(s). Meddros also helped make the flash for the 2004 Christmas special "Staff Chucks for Christmas Again?" [6]

See also

★ ''Nuklear Age''

★ Brian Clevinger

★ Light Warriors (8-Bit Theater)

★ Characters of ''8-Bit Theater''

References

1. ; Breaking the stereotype that comics must be hand-drawn, Anez inspired an explosion of webcomics using video games sprites, including one of the most popular and successful webcomics currently running, 8-bit Theater." "An in-depth look at the business viaibility of webcomics." [2] Internet Archive link; see also ''Wired'': "Clevinger's comic, 8-bit Theater, uses sprites from the first Final Fantasy game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In the more than three years since its debut, 8-bit Theater has grown to be the most popular sprite comic on the Web, and, according to Comixpedia, it's the third most popular Web comic in existence."[3]
2. "2002 Winners and Nominees"
3. 1UP feature on webcomics
4. Nuklear Power - Home of 8-Bit Theatre Brian Clevinger
5. Nuklear Power Forums
6. [4]

External links

★ Nuklear Power - Home of 8-bit Theatre

★ ''8BT:Animated'' flash tributes by TLF