History VideoGame / IWannaBeTheGuy

* TheTetrisEffect: Don't get surprised if you start expecting traps and surprise deaths in every other game you play. Or hell, on your way back from school! Or in your lunch box, next to your sandwich!

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the remake, the infamous "YOU JUMPED INTO A SWORD, YOU RETARD!" line has been replaced with "YOU JUMPED INTO A SWORD, YOU DUMBASS!" thanks to the word retard taking on far, ''far'' more negative connotations in UsefulNotes/TheNewTens.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the remake, the infamous 'YOU JUMPED INTO A SWORD, YOU RETARD!' line has been replaced with 'YOU JUMPED INTO A SWORD, YOU DUMBASS!' thanks to the word retard taking on far, ''far'' more negative connotations in UsefulNotes/TheNewTens.

** There's a level which certainly ''deserves'' the FanNickname "The Room of Huge Laser Beams That Come Out Of Absolutely Nowhere", based on Quick Man's infamously hard stage from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2''. And frankly, it might actually be easier than the original.

* ChainReactionDestruction: On Mecha Birdo's death, it sinks with hundreds of tiny explosions going on all over it, which also occur when its eyes are destroyed. The Dragon later dies in the same manner.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the remake, the infamous 'YOU JUMPED INTO A SWORD, YOU RETARD!' Line has been replaced with 'YOU JUMPED INTO A SWORD, YOU DUMBASS!' thanks to the word retard taking on far, ''far'' more negative connotations in ''UsefulNotes/TheNewTens''.

* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: Beat The Guy, and you inherit his gun. (You can't you use it subsequent playthroughs, unfortunately.)

** Dracula has an attack where he shoots a spiral pattern of flaming Delicious Fruit; it's no ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' pattern, though, as Kayin admits. Later on, the ''[[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} Vic Viper]]'' sequence shows Dracula how it's ''really'' done.

The game was made open source on December 30th, 2011, mainly to allow the community to try fixing its innumerable bugs. [[https://natsu-iw.itch.io/iwbtgr It eventually got a full, Kayin-endorsed fan-made remaster in 2020]], which fixed the aforementioned bugs, made various tweaks along the way, and updated the physics to be more similar to the fangames made in its name.

* TacticalSuicideBoss: All three phases of the Clown Car are defeated by exploiting their own attacks. Bowser goes down to his own Bob-Omb, Wart is defeated by blowing up the Banzai Bill he tries to shoot at you, and Wily will drop metal balls that deflect your bullets upward into the Clown Car.

* PushyMooks: Birds mess with your jumps and could possibly redirect you into spikes.

* {{Retraux}}: [[http://katie-w.deviantart.com/art/I-WANNA-BE-THE-GUY-149387516 This]] box art mimics the style of NES box art released decades prior.

Contrast with ''VideoGame/YouHaveToBurnTheRope'' and compare ''VideoGame/KaizoMarioWorld'', ''VideoGame/{{Jumper}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{N}}''. No intentional relation to ''[[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Stinkoman 20X6]]'', [[http://kayin.pyoko.org/iwbtg/faq.php according to the FAQ]].

* AIRoulette: Dracula takes this and turns it into something from the tenth circle of hell. His randomly picked attacks range from standard difficulty (i.e. hard) to beyond good and evil, and some combinations are pretty much unsurvivable. This makes him the [[LuckBasedMission potentially most difficult]] boss fight in the game (yes, he can be tougher than the ''FinalBoss'').

* TrialAndErrorGameplay: If you look hard enough, you ''might'' be able to find a room that doesn't do this. It's worth noting that the room seen in the screenshot at the top of this article is one of only about four or so in the entire game that lack out-of-nowhere surprises and are ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. It's anything but boring. In fact, the entire game is based on this trope.

%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
[[quoteright:239:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ohmysweetgod.png]]
[[caption-width-right:239:Probably the most straight-forward area in ''I Wanna Be The Guy''.[[note]]See the tiny thing on the right of the picture, on top of the brown platform? That's your character. Good luck.[[/note]]]]

* ClassicVideoGameScrewYous: Practically a thesaurus [[labelnote:*]]Why thesaurus? Because an encyclopedia is more in depth, and a dictionary is too short on each entry. [[RuleOfFunny And because it's funnier.]][[/labelnote]] of them. Cheap deaths, out of place spikes, being a OneHitWonder, you name it.

The game was made open source on December 30th, 2011, mainly to allow the community to try fixing its innumerable bugs.

* FrickinLaserBeams:
** There's a level which certainly ''deserves'' the FanNickname "The Room of Huge Laser Beams That Come Out Of Absolutely Nowhere", based on Quick Man's infamously hard stage from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2''. And frankly, it might actually be easier than the original.
** Just past the Teleportation Room, there is a room where the path requires you to go down a pit. There is also a [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Sniffit and Bullet Bill Launcher]]. [[GuideDangIt Guess what happens if you try to go down without killing the Sniffit]].

%% AttackReflector: How to defeat The Guy's first phase.

%% {{Backtracking}}: Can be kept to a minimum if you choose the right paths, but there's a few parts you have to go through twice.

%% BlackBeadEyes: The Kid.

%% ChainReactionDestruction: A few bosses die like this.

%% CreepyChangingPainting: Lu Bu's portrait in the gallery of The Guys.

%% DeathWorld: A game like this can only take place in one.
%% DepthPerplexion: As in tradition to PlatformHell genre, it's intentional.

* {{Engrish}}: The scroll text near the end of the attract sequence, parodying the scroll text from the original ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda''.

%% EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler:The Guy to The Kid.]]

%% EyeBeams: The Guy's second phase.
* EyeScream: Considering that you have to shoot The Guy's eyes multiple times in the eyes in order to beat him.
%% FallenHero: The Guy wears a [[spoiler:tattered cape]].

%% FakePlatform
%% FinalBoss: The Guy.

%% FloatingPlatforms

%% GoombaSpringboard

%% HaveANiceDeath
%% HighPressureBlood: In both the Wiki/TVTropes and the medical sense.

%% InvisibleBlock: Not as obnoxious as most PlatformHell examples, fortunately.
* ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: The Guy Industries, and later the Tower of the Guy are autoscrolling vertical levels.

%% JumpPhysics: Including both the DoubleJump and the WallJump.
* KaizoTrap: There is one way to die after beating the game; [[spoiler:an apple tries to fall on The Kid's head after the credits.]]

%% LeapOfFaith
* LongSongShortScene: There's a ton of great 8-bit music in this game. The problem is that, with death so frequent, you'll inevitably only hear the first few bars on each life.

%% {{Retraux}}: [[http://katie-w.deviantart.com/art/I-WANNA-BE-THE-GUY-149387516 This]] box art.

%%* UnexpectedShmupLevel

* AttackReflector: How to defeat The Guy's first phase.
* BackgroundBoss: Mike Tyson.
* {{Backtracking}}: Can be kept to a minimum if you choose the right paths, but there's a few parts you have to go through twice.

* BlackBeadEyes: The Kid.

* ButtMonkey: The Kid.
* ChainReactionDestruction: A few bosses die like this.

* ClassicVideoGameScrewYous: Practically a thesaurus [[labelnote:*]]Why thesaurus? Because an encyclopedia is more in depth, and a dictionary is too short on each entry. [[RuleOfFunny And because it's funnier.]][[/labelnote]] of them.

* CreepyChangingPainting: Lu Bu's portrait in the gallery of The Guys.

* DeathCourse: The whole game, basically.

* DeathWorld: A game like this can only take place in one.
* DepthPerplexion: As in tradition to PlatformHell genre, it's intentional.

** Early versions ''did'' have a difficulty labeled "Easy"... and it kills you instantly.

* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler:The Guy to The Kid.]]

* EyeBeams: The Guy's second phase.
* EyeScream: Considering that you have to shoot The Guy multiple times in the eyes in order to beat him.
* FallenHero: The Guy wears a [[spoiler:tattered cape]].

* FakePlatform
* FinalBoss: The Guy.

* FloatingPlatforms

* GoombaStomp: Only played straight with the Bullets Bill the Snifit fires at you, which are also...
* GoombaSpringboard

* HaveANiceDeath
* HighPressureBlood: In both the Wiki/TVTropes and the medical sense.

* HumongousMecha: Mecha-Birdo.

* InvisibleBlock: Not as obnoxious as most PlatformHell examples, fortunately.
* ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: The Guy Industries, and later the Tower of the Guy.

* JumpPhysics: Including both the DoubleJump and the WallJump.
* KaizoTrap: Everywhere, usually in the cruelest way possible.

* LeapOfFaith

* {{Metroidvania}}: To a small extent.

* NeverTrustATrailer: [[AC:(Most of this shit does not appear in the game)]]

* NoDamageRun: Required for Impossible.
* NoIndoorVoice: The Kid.

* PlatformHell: This isn't so much a game as it is a torture device.

* RecurringBoss: The Moon.
* {{Retraux}}: [[http://katie-w.deviantart.com/art/I-WANNA-BE-THE-GUY-149387516 This]] box art.

* SaveScumming: It's almost impossible to complete the game without ever saving. Especially not on your first try.

There is a SpiritualSuccessor by the name of ''VideoGame/BattleKidFortressOfPeril'', endorsed by Kayin himself. Also, The Kid is an unlockable character in ''[[VideoGame/MeatBoy Super Meat Boy]]''[[note]]Naturally, he is the hardest character to unlock[[/note]]. The Kid is also a bonus boss in ''VideoGame/PocketRumble'' and a playable character in ''VideoGame/IndieGameBattle''.

* DeconstructionGame: In terms of difficulty.

You are The Kid. You [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin want to be The Guy]]. To do that, you have to [[KlingonPromotion kill]] [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt The Guy]].

* WorldOfBadass: This would seem to be a requirement for The Guys. Just look at the portrait gallery of Former The Guys: [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], [[VideoGame/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms Lu]] [[VideoGame/DynastyWarriors Bu]], [[VideoGame/NinjaGaiden Ryu Hayabusa]], [[VideoGame/FinalFight Mike Haggar]], [[Franchise/MetalGear Big Boss]], ''[[VideoGame/DuckTales Scrooge McDuck]]'', [[Franchise/StreetFighter M. Bison]], '''[[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro]]''', etc. If, despite all odds, you manage to beat the game, ''you'' deserve this title.