History Characters / CupheadRunawayDebtors

* VisualPun: Her turning into a plane to fight you in the final phase. She's a "Buzz Bomber" "Bee-plane". Or, alternatively, a "[[{{Pun}} Bee]]-17 Flying Fortress"[[note]](which would be era-appropriate, and which she vaguely resembles)[[/note]]. In this phase, she also attacks you by turning one of her wings into a "Buzz Saw."
** The bees work in an office building that's drenched in dripping honey. A sticky business, in other words.
*** The worker bees have a SalaryMan look, in other words: They're office drones.

* NonActionGuy: Sally's husband, despite [[TopHeavyGuy looking fairly capable]], runs around uselessly in the background while his wife delivers all the beatings to Cuphead.

* AnimateInanimateObject: Her parasol seems to have teleportation abilities and can drop pieces of itself and grow them back.
** Sally herself apparently turns into one in the third phase. Despite being a cardboard cutout, she's able to change expressions, clutch her chest in pain when defeated, and taunt you if she beats you.

* CurtainCall: In the patched version, Sally's co-stars will appear in the background to take a bow for the audience during her final phase.

* EnfantTerrible: The babies in the second round can drop their bottles on you. And one of them will push out a "fireball" at you in the alternate third round.

* HenpeckedHusband: The guy that portrays Sally's husband in the "play" just stands in the background acting cowardly, doing little to contribute to the battle except drive his wife in his car (that is, until you bring down the FallingChandelierOfDoom on him in the post-game update, changing the course of the second and third rounds). That being said, [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther she does reward him with a smooch in the epilogue]].

* NeutralFemale: Gender inverted by Sally Stageplay's husband during her boss fight; despite [[TopHeavyGuy looking fairly capable]], he runs around uselessly in the background and looks concerned in the manner associated with this trope, while his wife delivers all the beatings to Cuphead. Unused sprites do suggest that he was originally intended to be fought at some point during the battle... and he can be, if you go out of your way to squash him flat as of a post-launch update.
* OneWingedAngel: Also parodied. She doesn't actually transform in her third phase. It's just a cardboard prop that resembles her wearing something you would expect from an EasternRPG FinalBoss (thus, the reason it's a parody). In her final phase, she's literally dressed as an angel, but doesn't do any attacking herself and lets her spinning umbrella do the work. Leaving aside the parody elements, this is actually an aversion, as Sally herself never once undergoes a transformation in order to up her game against the cups, which plays a large part in her BadassNormal status.

* StationaryBoss: The cardboard cutout/s in the third phase don't move ''or'' directly attack; all of their attacks come from other places on the stage.

* WidowedAtTheWedding: In the Switch and Patch 1.2 versions, if you take the secret route, you end up 'killing' her fiancé/husband by crushing him with the chandelier.

* AlliterativeName: '''S'''ally '''S'''tageplay.

* MsFanservice: She's quite the dish and she knows it. Her Gorgon form doesn't look too bad either. [[GorgeousGorgon As noted above]].

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* TacticalSuicideBoss: You'd expect a military-themed boss to be more, ahem, "tactful".
** Werner's first phase have him launching various debris, before sending his tank in a charging tackle. Problem is, those debris include a pair of spring-loaded platforms allowing the cups to leap over his tackling move.

* ShoutOut: The whole fight is based off war cartoons and ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry''; not only does Katzenwagen bear a striking resemblance to Tom in his early years (when he was known as Jasper), but Werner's screams sound vaguely like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eHCxCLYuE0 Tom's]] too. [[GeniusBonus This also makes sense on another level]]: "Jerry" was a common nickname for German soldiers during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

* {{Kaiserreich}}: Werner is based primarily on World War I-era German soldiers, with his Pickelhaube and soup-can tank. He also has war medals and bullet shells hanging around his mouse hole, although a Union Jack flag can be seen near the ceiling, oddly enough, and 2 British medals.
* MacroZone: They are fought in a mouse hole in a giant house.

* MegaNeko: Katzenwagen.

** Then there's the Katzenwagen, which can attack forward (evidenced when it [[spoiler:collects Werner as its pilot]]) and yet chooses to lunge at the cups from the ''side''.

* PungeonMaster: The vast majority of their game over taunts.

* GreenThumb: Many of his attacks are plant-based.

%%zce* {{Expy}}: Of Sindbad's giant Rokh from ''WesternAnimation/PopeyeTheSailorMeetsSindbadTheSailor''

* DeaderThanDead: He appears to have died after his second phase, where he's dazed into unconsciousness before being crushed by a falling sentient tombstone. It's ambiguous whether the living gravestone -- which the cups end up destroying anyway -- is an extension of Goopy's consciousness or not. [[SubvertedTrope Despite this]], his animator Jake Clark has confirmed he's still alive.

* FeatherFingers: A slightly more justified bat-winged example. The gesture he makes during the opening is done with his wings and his actual hands.

* UncertainDoom: The last we've seen of Wally, the medic birds were planning to eat him after his defeat. Jake Clark, his animator, confirms his survival.

* DeaderThanDead: He appears to have died after his second phase, where he's dazed into unconsciousness before being crushed by a falling sentient tombstone. It's ambiguous whether the living gravestone -- which the cups end up destroying anyway -- is an extension of Goopy's consciousness or not. [[SubvertedTrope Despite this]], [[WordOfGod his animator]] Jake Clark has confirmed he's still alive.

* UncertainDoom: The last we've seen of Wally, the medic birds were planning to eat him after his defeat. [[WordOfGod His animator]], Jake Clark, confirms his survival.

* DeaderThanDead: He appears to have died after his second phase, where he's dazed into unconsciousness before being crushed by a falling sentient tombstone. It's ambiguous whether the living gravestone -- which the cups end up destroying anyway -- is an extension of Goopy's consciousness or not. [[SubvertedTrope Despite this,]] [[WordOfGod his animator]] Jake Clark has confirmed he's still alive.

* DeaderThanDead: He's implied to have died after his second phase, where he's dazed into unconsciousness before being crushed by a falling sentient tombstone. It's ambiguous whether the living gravestone -- which the cups end up destroying anyway -- is an extension of Goopy's consciousness or not, but either way, the fact that he is absent from the finale implies he's dead.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: He's nowhere to be found during the finale of the good ending, implying that he really is dead.

* UncertainDoom: The last we've seen of Wally, the medic birds were planning to eat him after his defeat. It was never confirmed or denied whether he was eaten or did he manage to survive. If the fact he is absent from the good ending is any indication, his fate might not be a pleasant one.

It falls upon both Cuphead and Mugman to get these strange people in strange lands to cough up the contracts in order to save themselves, even as they take on increasingly vile forms and use a variety of weapons against them.

* AntiVillain: The only reason they're fighting Cuphead and Mugman is because they're acting as the Devil's agents, and throw a big celebration in honor of the duo after they defeat the Devil and destroy the contracts.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: While they vary in size, many of the bosses seen tower over Cuphead and Mugman.
* DealWithTheDevil: All of them likewise have made deals with the Devil, but skipped out on paying them. Cuphead and Mugman's role is to get their soul contracts from them.

* EvilIsBigger: Downplayed. The Runaway Debtors are {{Anti Villain}}s to various degrees and vary in size; however, many of the bosses seen tower over Cuphead and Mugman.

* SmugSmiler: A solid majority of them also flash a big, sinister smile of some sort at least once in their boss fights. Indeed, most of them don't seem to be all that worried that Cuphead and Mugman are trying to collect their soul contracts. [[NintendoHard Granted…]]

* WouldHurtAChild: The bosses are more than willing to fight Cuphead and Mugman, although both of them are adolescents. Granted, it's in self-defense, since the only other option is to give up without a fight and let the Devil claim their souls.
* YourSizeMayVary: When you battle them, many of the Runaway Debtors are gigantic and absolutely tower over Cuphead and Mugman. In the ending cutscene where most of them were there, many of them were only the size of an average person -- even the largest debtor, Grim Matchstick is only twice as tall as one.

* AffablyEvil: He might anatognize Cuphead and Mugman, but at least he's well-mannered.

* DeaderThanDead: He's implied to have died after his second phase, where he's dazed into unconsciousness before being crushed by a falling sentient tombstone. It's ambiguous whether the living gravestone -- which the cup brothers end up destroying anyway -- is an extension of Goopy's consciousness or not, but either way, the fact that he is absent from the finale implies he's dead.

* RedBoxingGloves: On his right hand, which he uses to rough up Cuphead and Mugman.

* VineTentacles: He can grow thorny vines through the soil when battling Cuphead or Mugman and stick them up to spike the brothers from below.

* AmphibianAtLarge: They tower over Cuphead and Mugman, and appear to be human-sized, if not larger.

* AdvancingBossOfDoom: In the final stage of the battle, Whippet Creampup begins to chase Cuphead and Mugman.

* BerserkButton: The Baroness herself doesn't have one, but her cake castle Whippet Creampup certainly does: getting its towers pulled on. Indeed, this is how she initiates the final phase of the battle; by pulling on Whippet's towers, sending it into a rage and causing it to chase the boys down.

*** Sgt. Gumbo Gumbull: A gumball machine that [[BulletHell fires out gumballs that rain down]] on the boys.

** During the minion phase of the battle, jellybean soldiers (referred to as the Jelly Bullies squad) will occasionally charge out of the castle. The final phase of the battle has the Baroness enraging ordering Whippet Creampup to chase the boys down, and sends huge peppermints (named Patsy Menthol) rolling out its mouth.

* KickingAssInAllHerFinery: Averted. While she does have a stunning appearance, she never engages the boys directly at any point in her battle.

* LosingYourHead: At the beginning of the fight, her head briefly detaches while giving Cuphead and Mugman a ThroatSlittingGesture. Also, she can detach her own head and regrow it, even using the spare heads as projectiles in the last phase!

* OffWithHisHead: More like, "Off with Their Heads!"; she threatens the duo with this at the start of the battle via giving them a ThroatSlittingGesture, complete with her briefly [[LosingYourHead losing her head]].

* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Her candy cane functions as one in the third phase of her fight, adding additional projectiles for the duo to worry about.

* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: His fourth phase (third if not counting his DeathCourse) has him making a Cuphead puppet named Cuppet and sending it at the boys. If you shrink while he's doing this, he instead makes a mini-Cuppet that can't really fight the boys on its own, so Djimmi transitions right to his final phase while the mini-Cuppet backs him up by shooting pellets from the center of the screen.
* BlowingSmokeRings: Or "a Smoke Teacup", actually: At the beginning of the fight, he blows out some smoke that forms a teacup with [[WingdingEyes X's for eyes]] and a frowning mouth, indicating that the boys have no chance against him.

* ShoutOut: The way he moves and acts seems to be a villainous version of the Genie from ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}''. In particular, his fourth phase has him turn into a giant disembodied hand, which was a quirk of the Genie's.

* EnergyRingAttack: In his first phase, Grim Matchstick attacks with Eye Beams that manifest themselves as a short row of rings flying in the player character's direction. The last ring in a row is pink, allowing Cuphead and Mugman to parry-slap it.

* OneWingedAngel: After taking enough punishment from the boys, he suddenly grows two extra heads.

* ImAHumanitarian: The start of the battle has her looking hungrily at the boys while rubbing a fork and knife together.

* InterfaceScrew: Brineybeard will sometimes summon a squid minion who throws ink on the camera, causing the screen to darken with each glob that successfully hits the boys and makes seeing any incoming attacks much more difficult for a few seconds.

* BattleCouple: She and her husband were originally intended to be this for their battle with the boys. After a post-game update, they can potentially be this in the third phase if you end the first phase by [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential dropping a light fixture on her husband in the first phase]].

* OneWingedAngel: Also parodied. She doesn't actually transform in her third phase. It's just a cardboard prop that resembles her wearing something you would expect from an EasternRPG FinalBoss (thus, the reason it's a parody). In her final phase, she's literally dressed as an angel, but doesn't do any attacking herself and lets her spinning umbrella do the work. Leaving aside the parody elements, this is actually an aversion, as Sally herself never once undergoes a transformation in order to up her game against the boys, which plays a large part in her BadassNormal status.

* YouExclamation: Although a bit hard to hear, she does this during the start of the second phase when she sees that Cuphead and Mugman are still on the stage. It makes more sense if the first phase ended with her fiancé's death.

* BadassNormal: Werner is an expert machine pilot, and that's all he really needs to fight the Cup Brothers. As a result, he's notably one of only two examples of this in the entire game, the other being Sally Stageplay.

* EatenAlive: After beating Werner's second phase, Katzenwagen suddenly knocks down the wall and eats him. [[spoiler:Or so it appears; it's actually a clever method of him entering the mechanical cat and manually controlling it in a last-ditch effort to put the boys down.]]

* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:After the second phase, he's seemingly eaten by Katzenwagen, which forces Cuphead and Mugman to defend themselves from it. However, Katzenwagen is revealed to be a mecha designed to scare off any intruders or give Werner the advantage]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When your bullets hit Katzenwagen in the third phase, [[spoiler:it makes a metal clinking sound]]. Additionally, after Katzenwagen bursts in and eats Werner, the brothers don't get the latter's contract, hinting that [[spoiler:he's still alive]]. Speaking of Katzenwagen, you can occasionally see it peeking through the cracks and mouse hole in the wall into the battle before it shows up in person.

** Werner's first phase have him launching various debris, before sending his tank in a charging tackle. Problem is, those debris include a pair of spring-loaded platofrms allowing Cuphead and Mugman to leap over his tackling move.
** Then there's the Katzenwagen, which can attack forward (evidenced when it [[spoiler:collects Werner as its pilot]]) and yet chooses to lunge at Cuphead and Mugman from the ''side''.

* SelectiveMagnetism: One attack in the first phase after the middle part of the robot is damaged is a magnet that pulls Cuphead and Mugman to the bottom-left of the screen, leaving other objects unaffected.

* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: A giant mermaid who basically towers over the two boys and their planes.
* TheBeastmaster: In the first two phases, she fights primarily by summoning sea creatures to attack the two brothers.

* TakenForGranite: In her gorgon form, she can fire out a huge beam that'll turn our heroes into stone, which will put them in danger of getting hit by a real bullet if they're not quick to break out of their stoned forms. This eventually gets turned on her in her second-to-third phase transition, where her whole body (sans her head) turns to stone and crumbles into the ocean, forcing her to detach her own head and continue battling the boys. In simple difficulty, her entire body becomes completely petrified after her defeat.
* TheTease: Not only does she pose before the boys in her intro, but her game over card in her first phase definitely has her flirting with them too.

* ShoutOut: Her hairstyle was clearly inspired by ''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop''.

* AdvancingBossOfDoom: In the final stage of the battle, the castle where she hides in begins to chase Cuphead and Mugman.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: It's unclear if she's meant to be human, or a strange humanoid. Especially since [[TheNoseless she lacks a nose]], has [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation pink skin]], and lives in a chiefly candy-inhabited setting.

*** A candy corn that flies around horizontally or vertically, occasionally spawning smaller candy corns that fly upwards.
*** A gumball machine that [[BulletHell fires out gumballs that rain down]] on the boys.
*** A cupcake that [[BouncingBattler jumps into the air]] and slams into the ground, unleashing frosting [[ShockwaveStomp shockwaves]].
*** A jawbreaker that slowly chases after Cuphead, trailed by InvincibleMinorMook jawbreakers (none on Simple, one on Regular, and two on Expert).
*** A winged waffle that flies around, [[DetachmentCombat splitting itself apart before putting itself back together]].
** During the minion phase of the battle, jellybean soldiers will occasionally charge out of the castle. The final phase of the battle has the Baroness enraging the castle to chase the boys down, while sending large peppermints rolling out.

* ImprobableWeaponUser: Her candy cane can somehow be used as a ''shotgun''.

* OneWingedAngel: Not her so much as her cake castle, which transforms into an angered beast in the final phase.
* OverlyLongName: According to a series of tweets, all of her minions have extremely long names.

* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Her cane functions as this in the third phase of her fight, adding additional projectiles for the duo to worry about.
* ShoutOut: The appearance of the Baroness and her barony are inspired by various cartoons' candy kingdoms, but most noticeably Cookietown from "WesternAnimation/TheCookieCarnival". One of her minions, Lord Gob Packer, is also a jawbreaker version of VideoGame/PacMan.

* SoreLoser: She bursts into angry tears upon defeat (complete with a VolumetricMouth). In Regular mode, Whippet also beats the ground in frustration while crying.
* StationaryBoss: She stays on top of her castle for most of the fight, but can't be damaged until the end. On Simple difficulty, she stays still and keeps firing cotton candy blasts when her third minion is defeated. On Regular and higher, she instead progresses the fight by turning into an AdvancingBossOfDoom.
* VaudevilleHook: Blink and you'll miss it, but her candy cane functions as this at the very start of her level, implying her candy castle may have some control over it.

* YourHeadASplode: Happens to Sgt. Gumbull in his death animation; his glass head shatters and it scurries off.

!In general

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* BaldOfEvil: He's one of the debtors that sold his soul to {{Satan}}, and the little tip on his head is tipped like a hat before the fight.

!!In general

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!The Runaway Debtors
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