- Alternate Character Interpretation:
- How xenophobic is Bryce? He tried to prevent Captain from geno-bombing the blue aliens, but quickly added it would be "sweet" if they did. He was also most open to diplomacy with the Alien Queen and that she was "cool and intelligent" for an alien. It's likely that he only said that killing aliens would be fun to fit in with the Legionaires rather than a deep-seething hatred like Captain and Hatemonger. Alternately, he could be a mentally immature boy who thinks it'd be cool to blow stuff up and kill things but is aware enough to realize that's not always the best option. Episode 4 also has an imaginator who wants to fuck aliens to the point of "heresy", meaning this could be a trait prominent in imaginators.
- Even though he is aware that he is a bully towards Chestnut, Hatemonger did save him from the techno-fiend in the beginning of episode 2. Was he simply killing the fiend just so that the mission could be over with, or did he do it to genuinely protect Chestnut from being slashed at and murdered by the alien? Or was it both?
- The reveal that the psycho-warriors need to prevent themselves from being bored in order to keep themselves alive and sane puts a bit of perspective on why they’re against the mere existence of aliens. While they kill aliens mainly out of a pure hatred for them, do they partially do so because they need something to fight to make themselves stimulated and not succumb to boredom?
- At the end of the 4th episode, Rudolph decides to stay a Psycho-Warrior and immediately starts to kill his former misfit allies while screaming at the top of his lungs how much he loves Space King. While this is an out-of-character moment as Rudolph was previously far more timid and calm in demeanor, it’s possible that him shouting could be putting on a mask to fit in with the other Psycho-Warriors rather than genuine loyalty to Space King. Or perhaps he is desperately trying to convince himself this is what he wants rather than being with the misfits he got along with.
- Base-Breaking Character: As of the 3rd episode, the fanbase's view on Bryce became divided. While some consider him amusing due to his condescendingly friendly tone and his acts of pettiness and selfishness, other fans find him bothersome for the same reasons if only because of him getting nothing worse than a slap on the wrist for said acts.
- Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Most of the sudden freeze-frames could count as this, though the freeze-frame with the Exsangunator in B-Positive stands out due to it occuring for a very brief moment before it cuts back to the episode.
- Crosses the Line Twice: Wouldn’t be a Flashgitz production without at least one joke that destroys the line once in a while.
- The Captain calling in a geno-bomb to kill an entire planet would be an horrifying act of cruelty were it not for the fact he does so because one alien slightly damaged his armor. The reveal that they're on the wrong planet and that the whole ordeal is treated as a slight mishap crosses the line even further.
- The fate of the poor son of the Grim Lord in Episode 2. A child getting more and more maimed should be tragic and horrifying, but the fact that he loses more and more of his limbs, gets them replaced with crude tank tread to avoid being a total invalid, and is converted into a Warhammer 40k-style Servitor that gets literally kicked around like a malfunctioning machine, then eventually used as a host for Hatemonger's globules, all because Chestnut was that incompetent at saving him (including pulling both his arms off on two separate occasions purely because he did not know his own strength) is so grimly over the top that it becomes darkly funny.
- The entire way new Psycho Warriors are made. Psycho Warriors raiding planets and painfully converting little boys into roided-out killing machines while presumably inflicting Death of Personality? Horrifying. Doing it by ripping out their testicles and replacing them with giant "Holy Globules?" Hilarious.
- The Psycho-Warriors' treatment of all children period. Boys are treated like livestock and luggage to be wrangled, captured, caged, and stuffed into backpacks like camping supplies before subjected to their painful transformation into super soldiers, all while screaming in terror. Meanwhile, girls that get caught are promptly tossed into volcanos. All this pointless cruelty to the young and innocent would be horrifying, but it's so over-the-top and Psycho-Warriors are so blasé about it that it becomes darkly hilarious.
- The Exsanguinators using the gang sign of the Bloods
as a salute. - Pretty much everything about Terry post-brain damage. While Bryce bashing his brains open out of jealousy is a rather cruel act, it goes back to being hilarious when the attack renders Terry into a cartoonishly idiotic shell of his intelligent self, complete with a Simpleton Voice. The fact that he is referred to as “Retard Terry” afterwards is just the cherry on top.
- While the slaughter of the misfits isn’t much of a comedic detail on it’s own and a bit tragic considering how nice they were to Rudolph, it manages to loop back around to being amusing with Rudolph shouting rapid non-stop praise for how much he loves Space King all while he murders every misfit that runs by him.
- Ensemble Dark Horse: Although most of the characters the main crew encounter appear for only one episode, some of them leave a lasting impression on the fan base.
- Of all characters, the jester imp briefly used as a Take That! against "media aimed at mentally-ill teenage girls" attracted fanart, prompting the official Flashgitz Twitter account to highlight it, twice.
"I'm glad the internet is taking the right things from Space King."- Despite only appearing in the start of the pilot episode with their relevance dropping after the main mission is given out (save for a cameo in the Christmas Episode), the blue aliens became the main extraterrestrial faction to be depicted in fanart and fanworks.
- The Exsanguinator from the second episode easily became almost just as well-known as the main cast despite being killed off in his only appearance, thanks to his friendly, yet punny demeanor and his Reasonable Authority Figure attitude towards Chestnut.
- Terry, the Galavanter Imaginator that is put with the main Reclaimer Squad in the 3rd episode is also popular amongst fans for his rather laid-back demeanor compared to the inane incompetence of his teammates, and quite a handful of people felt bad for him when he ends up recieving (likely permanent) brain damage because of Bryce.
- King Space, the leader of the heretical Misfit Psycho-Warriors only appears for a few seconds in the Kingsmas episode, but is well liked for being a genuinely likable character as well as his lion-inspired design paying homage to King Moonracer from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964).
- Of all characters, the jester imp briefly used as a Take That! against "media aimed at mentally-ill teenage girls" attracted fanart, prompting the official Flashgitz Twitter account to highlight
- Evil Is Cool: The psycho warriors embody the worst aspects from the Imperium of Man, all flanderized to an absurd degree, with little to none of their redeeming traits, firmly cementing them as Villain Protagonists. And it is precisely this overdose of Testosterone Poisoning, Rated M for Manly, Laughably Evil and Rule of Cool that makes them so entertaining to watch.
- Fan Nickname: "Impni" for the jester imp that appears at the end as a riff on Helluva Boss and The Amazing Digital Circus.
- Fountain of Memes: Due to his comedically exaggerated hatred for aliens, his devotion to Space King, and a small touch of being The Comically Serious, Hatemonger is frequently quoted and memed by fans of the series.
- Friendly Fandoms:
- Warhammer 40,000, which is rather strange because Space King has nothing to do with Warhammer 40k.
- With Helluva Boss and The Amazing Digital Circus due to all of them being indie animation series released on YouTube and because of the playful jab Tom and Don did to both of those webseries at the end of the first episode. Zach Hadel would also cameo in both TADC and Vivziepop's other main show Hazbin Hotel in addition to playing Rudolph in "Kingsmas"
- Heartwarming Moments: Now has it’s own page here.
- Jerkass Woobie:
- Chestnut, the squad medic, especially in the pilot episode. While the other Star Defenders are excitable and aggressive, Chestnut is oddly meek and withdrawn, and is frequently put down or disregarded by Captain. His job of recovering the globules from dead Star Defenders clearly distresses him (nearly puking after having to interact with Hatemonger's bisected remains). His Imagine Spot of Space King's voice calls him a "worthless piece of shit" rather than offer praise and reassurance, hinting at a severe self-loathing complex. Finally, while he almost gets a chance to shine by shooting the alien lady to save Captain's life, it leads to the Divinity of Space King being damaged and Captain getting crushed to death under it, leaving Chestnut alone and embarrassed while he gathers up the globules of his team. That being said he is still a fanatical psycho-warrior.
- Rudolph from "Kingsmas" was the best at snuffing heretics in the simulation training, but was banished from the Psycho-Warriors due to the grotesque tumor on his nose, something he had no control over. These events culminate in him running off and sobbing as he considers himself a freak because of his nose, flying off on a stolen ship and self-marking himself as a misfit. Though he does get his happy ending when he’s accepted as a psycho-warrior again, even if it comes at the cost of abandoning the misfits and eagerly slaughtering them.
- Love to Hate: As his name implies, Hatemonger is the most fanatical and malicious of the main characters. But he became the show’s most popular character due to how hilariously quotable he is.
- Memetic Mutation:
- Space King has nothing to do with Warhammer 40k.Explanation
- "Praise be to Space King!"Explanation
- "GENO-BOMB DENIED."Explanation
- "B-Positive!"Explanation
- "No lube."Explanation
- "NO! GIRLS! ALLOWED!"Explanation
- Respect to the Snitch.Explanation
- “If Space King wanted [x], then he would have given us [x]!”Explanation
- "BOOBIES."Explanation
- "YOU'RE NOT CANON!"Explanation
- “If Space King wanted us to be reasonable, then he wouldn’t have called us Psycho-Warriors!”Explanation
- Space King Lead CupsExplanation
- Misaimed Marketing: Parodied. Despite being a violent, gory, profanity-laden series for adults, most episodes have a commercial thrown into the middle advertising new merchandise that features children playing with Space King products in the style of kitschy 80s and 90s ads.
- Nausea Fuel: The ending where Chestnut has to collect the globules of his team-mates in an Overly Long Gag. Even moreso in the Patreon-exclusive uncensored version, where viewers get treated to a closeup of Hatemonger's misshapen penis.
- One-Scene Wonder: King Space only has one scene in the entirety of “Kingsmas” where he has a conversation with the misfit trio, yet fans like him for being a rather wholesome character in the series’ comedically grimdark setting.
- Periphery Demographic: The show has gained a following even amongst people who usually don't like Flashgitz's other edgy animations due to its interestingly grimdark setting being a parodic spin on Warhammer 40,000 along with the show’s more relaxed, yet still comically line-crossing form of humor.
- Play-Along Meme:
- People tend to frequently claim this series has nothing to do with Warhammer 40k whenever it’s talked about, causing others to go along with it, and they’re totally right about that, because the similarities between the two works are unintentional.
- Often times fans make comments calling Hatemonger gay, with someone else directly responding that he's not gay, he just hates aliens.
- Self-Fanservice:
- Art of the Imp Jester makes then a lot more curvaceous than they were drawn as.
- Likewise fanart of the female psycho warrior often makes her a lot more feminine and attractive.
- Shallow Parody: The pilot's ending Please Subscribe to Our Channel section includes a Take That! moment where Flashgitz claim that there's tons of indie animation available for "mentally ill teenage girls", as they stand next to a character who is obviously a combination of Pomni and a Hellaverse Imp. Neither The Amazing Digital Circus nor the Hellaverse market themselves toward teenage girls or even teenagers whatsoever; they're both properties made exclusively for adults that happen to have large Periphery Demographics. What this joke is really trying to say is that fans of either show are gay and autistic, a joke that has never been told before.
- Signature Line: The Exsanguinator telling the Captain to “B-Positive” is the most remembered quote amongst the show’s fanbase despite its little relevance to the plot, to the point that Flashgitz acknowledges it’s memorability from time to time. Hatemonger settling on giving the TV Remote Alien an Hate-Mace enema ("No lube.") in one of the promo videos is a close second too.
- Tear Jerker: Now has it’s own page here.
- Ugly Cute:
- The blue aliens have vertical mouths but their big eyes and their blooping noise with their tongue makes them adorable.
- The God Weapon in "The Imaginator." It's a big, scary-looking skeleton-like robot that should look like the stuff of nightmares, but its friendly, naive, and childlike personality, combined with its whimsical goal to become human by learning how to feel, make it very huggable.
- Unexpected Character: For fans who have been viewing Flashgitz’s work for a while now, seeing the Ostrogoths Legion from the webcomic “Regular Marine” return as one of the various psycho-warrior chapters (albeit serving as Red Shirts along with their captain appearing for a short gag) can come as a surprise considering the comic hasn’t had a new page in a long while along with its scarce bits of acknowledgement in recent years.
- The Woobie: As much as their conditions are played for Black Comedy, there are some characters you can’t help but still feel bad for.
- The Alien Queen, given her species was nearly wiped out by Space King himself, and while the rest of her kin escaped to another dimension, she was left on the moon for 3,000 years unable to provide for her children. After she returns the soul of the Space King to the artifact, she begins to tend to her children only for the Captain to throw a grenade at her, presumably killing her children, prompting her to leap out in an attempt to attack Captain only to get her head blown up by Chestnut in an act of defending him from her.
- The Grim Lord's son from episode 2. He is caught in a recruitment drive (read:kidnapped), stripped to his underwear and shaved bald to remove almost all identifying features. Then Chestnut and Hatemonger come to his rescue... and things just keep getting worse for the poor boy. And in the end, he doesn't make it anyway since his stump of a body is used by Chestnut to revive Hatemonger.
- The same can also be said for the Grim Lord himself. His son has been missing when the Coagulators captured him during a "Blood-drive". To make it worse, he mistook the Star Defenders reclaimer squad for the Coagulators despite the whole legion being presumably driven to extinction believing they rescued his son, not knowing that his son's stump of a body was used by Chestnut to revive Hatemonger. Culminating in his ship and himself getting blown up to cover the reclaimer squad’s screw-up.
- Woobie Species:
- Moreso Woobie Age Group but still applies with every little human boy and girl. They were just minding their own business, until the Psycho-Warriors came, turning little boys into super-soldiers while little girls are thrown into lava. It’s rather telling that Flashgitz thought that them being able to speak would make their condition less darkly comedic and more saddening.
- Pretty much any peaceful alien civilization that comes into contact with the Psycho-Warriors, as it often ends with them being utterly obliterated, as shown in the opening credits. Special mention goes to the Tau-like Blue aliens with scrawny builds and communicate with cute noises that get mercilessly slaughtered in the first episode.
- The misfit psycho-warriors from episode 4 could also qualify. Although they are excluded for being weirdos in their own various ways, they’re shown to be somewhat better off away from Space King’s empire, live peaceful lives, and are implied to have gotten along with aliens. Though due to the psycho-warriors’ Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad mentalities that require them to be unreasonable and to execute any alien and heretic they see, they fit their heretic criteria for those very reasons and thus have one of their homeworlds pillaged yearly on Kingsmas while the misfits can only run and be killed en masse.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/SpaceKing
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