History WebAnimation / EpithetErased

* AmbiguouslyHuman: Howie Honeyglow is allegedly an Epithet-less Mundie, but he has slate-gray skin, can construct buildings at an unnatural speed, crushes a wrench into a functional boomerang shape and back with one hand, and emits a lot of steam when he's angry. He's also got stats that BrokeTheRatingScale ''several times over'', as seen in his introduction.

** Subverted with Percy, whose competence is fully established in the Museum Break In arc. At first, Percy sounds comically unfazed by the repeated 911 calls Molly makes across the first two episodes. By episode 3, however, it's shown that Percy correctly suspected an emergency situation by the second call, and is already in the middle of getting an investigation together before Molly pulls the fire alarm, which only guarantees police action. [[spoiler:By episode 4, her squad is already on the scene and gets the situation mostly under control, with the exception of the Banzai Blasters, who escape with the Arsene Amulet.]]

* RealityEnsues:
** [[spoiler: Despite helping Percy defeat Zora & recover the Arsane Amulet, Ramsey is still a rather wanted criminal and infamous con artist, and is thus quickly arrested once all is said and done. Though, Percy claims she'll do what she can, to make sure his stay in prison is enjoyable.]]
** [[spoiler: Additionally, although Zora gets electrocuted using more than half-a-dozen of Percy's towers at once, it still doesn't knock her out due to the insane power gap between Percy and Zora.]]

* '''Museum Break In Arc''' (episodes 1-4): After getting locked inside Sweet Jazz Museum after closing time, 12-year-old Molly finds herself caught in the middle of a hectic break-in by three different parties, all of whom are after the amulet for one reason or another--and one of whom is keen on stealing Molly's "Dumb" epithet in particular.

The sevenseries is stated to be broken up into multiple story arcs, each spotlighting different members of its gradually increasing cast while tying into a larger plot. The first episode premiered on [[https://vrv.co/series/GYQW7V2QY/Epithet-Erased VRV]] on November 8, 2019, with subsequent episodes premiering every Friday. Episodes are also made available on Brendan's [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHACfIDFF66rxMt46cSoVxUulvL3bKluM YouTube channel]] two weeks after their premiere on VRV. The first season has aired in full, with future seasons still up in the air depending on VRV's interest and Blaber's out-of-pocket budget, though he would ideally like five seasons to tell the story.

** When leaving the museum, Molly's father notes that he can't find his keys. When Molly comes home later that night, the door is unlocked.

The series is stated to be broken up into multiple story arcs, each spotlighting different members of its gradually increasing cast while tying into a larger plot. The first episode premiered on [[https://vrv.co/series/GYQW7V2QY/Epithet-Erased VRV]] on November 8, 2019, with subsequent episodes premiering every Friday. Episodes are also made available on Brendan's [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHACfIDFF66rxMt46cSoVxUulvL3bKluM YouTube channel]] two weeks after their premiere on VRV. The first season has aired in full, with future seasons still up in the air depending on VRV's interest and Blaber's out-of-pocket budget, though he would ideally like five seasons to tell the story.

* '''Museum Break In''' (episodes 1-4): After getting locked inside Sweet Jazz Museum after closing time, 12-year-old Molly finds herself caught in the middle of a hectic break-in by three different parties, all of whom are after the amulet for one reason or another--and one of whom is keen on stealing Molly's "Dumb" epithet in particular.
* '''Western Arc''' (episodes 5-7): One is the thief who stole the Arsene Amulet, looking for an appraisal. Another is the appraiser, a con artist on the run. Then, there's the police officer, investigating the theft of the amulet and on the scene by some twist of fate. And finally, there's the dangerous, bounty-hunting cowgirl on the hunt for the amulet thief. What will happen when all of these individuals cross paths in the backwater, criminal hive of Redwood Run?

The series is stated to be broken up into multiple story arcs, each spotlighting different members of its gradually increasing cast while tying into a larger plot. The first episode premiered on [[https://vrv.co/series/GYQW7V2QY/Epithet-Erased VRV]] on November 8, 2019, with subsequent episodes premiering every Friday. Episodes are also made available on Brendan's [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHACfIDFF66rxMt46cSoVxUulvL3bKluM YouTube channel]] two weeks after their premiere on VRV.

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler: Despite helping Percy defeat Zora & recover the Arsane Amulet, Ramsey is still a rather wanted criminal and infamous con artist, and is thus quickly arrested once all is said and done. Though, Percy claims she'll do what she can, to make sure his stay in prison is enjoyable.]]

* ChainedHeat: In "Winner Take All", Percy and Ramsey have to wear Eraser Cuffs to make sure that they can't cheat with epithet powers while dueling with Zora. However, since Percy already used one of her pairs, she has to chain herself to Ramsey with the remaining one. This leads to Ramsey being dragged through a lot of damage during the fight, and then scrambling to take the cuff keys once Zora gains the upper hand.

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler: Despite helping Percy defeat Zora & recover the Arsane Amulet, he is still a rather wanted criminal and infamous forger, and is thus quickly arrested once all is said and done. Though, Percy claims she'll do what she can, to make sure his stay in prison is enjoyable.]]

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler: Despite helping Percy Defeat Zora & recover the Arsane Amulet, he is still a rather wanted criminal and infamous forger, and is thus quickly arrested once all is said and done. Though, Percy claims she'll do what she can, to make sure his stay in prison is enjoyable.]]

* ThreeStatSystem: Those who are inscribed (and some who aren't, in the case of people like Howie) have three stats associated with them: Stamina, Proficiency, and Creativity. The strength of each stat is signified by their ranking out of five normal stars, and each stat has three total levels.

* LogicalWeakness: Indus' epithet is Barrier. [[BarrierWarrior It does exactly what you think it does]]. But Mera is said to have defeated him in one attack, something that sounds rather improbable given that he is a hulk of a man with a defense-oriented power. [[spoiler:Her Epithet, Fragile, is a natural counter to his; a barrier frail as glass is not good for much.]]

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: How the police's Eraser Cuffs work. They make anyone wearing them forget what their epithet is and how to use it, effectively making them Mundies. The cuff's effects work repeatedly, as well, so writing yourself a note to remind yourself of your epithet would be ineffective since you'd forget as soon as you took your eyes off it. The effects aren't permanent, however, and wear off as soon as the cuffs are removed.

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: At the end of season one, Zora appears to [[spoiler:make off with the Arsene Amulet]]. However, it's easy to see that [[spoiler:the gem on her amulet is an orange-brown color instead of its normal green even though it hasn't absorbed any new epithets]], and about a minute later that gets addressed when [[spoiler:Ramsey pulls out the real amulet and says that he swapped hers with a fake he made]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are various hints to Mera's epithet throughout the Museum arc. [[spoiler:When Mera hits her toe on a crate in the museum, it breaks despite it being a very minor injury. Other hints are how her EyeCatch cards mention her nail polish always chipping and how she takes a lot of headache medicine, and her desire for Molly's epithet when she realizes that it can nullify pain. She also uses it to shatter Indus' barrier into small sharp pieces as the first demonstration of its powers]].

* GunsAreWorthless: Bullets aren't lethal in this universe and only deal minor impact damage, as pointed out by one of Bugsy's minions. They are also easily defended against by inscribed anyways, as proven by Indus' barriers and the magnetic fields generated by Percy's buildings.
** [[spoiler: Zora, on the other hand, can imbue her epithet into her bullets, allowing her to hit someone with RapidAging through them...]]
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: The reason for Bliss Ocean's hatred of epithets. A mundie could train and train and train, but all their skills could easily be trumped by someone who was lucky enough to be born with a superpower.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: How the police's Eraser Cuffs work. They make anyone wearing them forget what their epithet is and how to use it, effectively making them Mundies. The cuff's effects work repeatedly, as well, so writing yourself a note to remind yourself of you epithet would be ineffective since you'd forget as soon as you took your eyes off it. The effects aren't permanent, however, and wear off as soon as the cuffs are removed.

** The local delicacy of Redwood Run is pinecones with straws stuck into them. Somehow, it's possible to drink from a pinecone, but only a few people like Percy know how.
** Howie and his workers carry around [HONEYED SNACK]s (worded as such in the captions), which are construction screws dipped in honey. Percy is still able to stomach these for a stamina boost.

** Several characters from Anime Campaign that haven't made an appearance in Epithet Erased make cameos as wanted posters in the Western Arc's ending theme, "Great at Cowboy".

* PersonalityPowers: Some of the inscribed have powers that match well with their personalities, like Arnold’s “Coupon” epithet being rather fitting for someone obsessed with deals and savings. Others have it more subtly: Indus, who has Barrier, is a bodyguard fixated on protecting Mera, and Ramsey, who has Goldbricker, focuses on preserving himself from harm/capture similarly to how gold is preserved. Sylvie's main area of study is actually on how epithets interact with personality, presumably to determine whether an epithet affects the personality of the user, or if specific epithets tend to be drawn to people who would develop those personality traits anyways.

** Subverted with Percy, who initially sounds unfazed by the repeated 911 calls Molly makes across the first two episodes... that is until episode 3, which shows that Percy correctly suspected an emergency situation by the second call and is already getting an investigation together before Molly pulls the fire alarm, which only guarantees police action. [[spoiler:By episode 4, her squad is already on the scene and gets the situation mostly under control, with the exception of the Banzai Blasters, who escape with the Arsene Amulet.]] This is followed by her [[spoiler:arresting every miscreant in Redwood Run (besides Giovanni and Car Crash) in a single day, including a legendary con artist]], without any police backup.
** Sheriff Gorou plays this trope unbelievably straight. He hands out free guns to visitors and seems genuinely surprised when Percy describes solving crimes as part of his job. Ramsey says that he got the job solely because he was the only person in town with an epithet, and it's not hard to believe it.

* PowerNullifier: Eraser cuffs, handcuffs that can keep an inscribed from using their epithet through [[LaserGuidedAmnesia making them forget what it is]].

* RPGMechanicsVerse: The series is based on a tabletop RPG, and some elements of that transfer over to a show format. When each characters' epithet is revealed, they get a splash screen displaying their three stats ("Stamina" for physical strength and defense, "Proficiency" for the raw power of their epithet, and "Creativity" for intelligence and variety of ways to use their epithet), and characters openly mention the stats. Most inscribed powers are defined via named moves, including combo attacks, and damage characters receive is displayed with numbers.
* SemanticSuperpower: The entire point of the "epithets". Each inscribed person has a single word attached to their soul to form their epithet. While limited to this one word, there are multiple examples of epithets being used creatively within the boundary of that word, which can also tie into HeartIsAnAwesomePower for ones like Molly's. Most of this seems reliant on one's Creativity stat: Indus has only one point in Creativity and thus can only use Barrier for making barriers and nothing more, while Giovanni squeezes out as much use as he can from his weak Soup epithet because his Creativity is at five points.
* StatingTheSimpleSolution: Molly questions why Mera needs to steal epithets when she can instead [[spoiler:use the amulet to give up her own if they cause her so much pain. Mera immediately shoots the idea down, arguing that she worked so hard to hone her powers to where they are now that she doesn't want to feel her effort was AllForNothing.]]
* SuperpowerLottery: Some people get obviously powerful words like Zora's [[spoiler: Sundial]], others get epithets that are less so, like Bugsy, whose attacks are totally random, though many of the seemingly "lamer" epithets can prove to be HeartIsAnAwesomePower if the user is creative enough. In addition, while [[EveryoneIsASuper more and more people are being born inscribed, with the current estimates being that 1 out of 5 people has an epithet]], lore states that while epithets can reappear, a given word can only be used by ''one'' person at a time. So, no one else can have "Dumb" as an epithet while Molly is alive, for example, and with more inscribed being born, these new inscribed are going to have increasingly obscure words for epithets as fewer words are ''left''.

* StupidCrooks: The Banzai Blasters originally wanted to stage the robbery at midnight but unfortunately Ben's Mom wouldn't allow him to be out that late. They also had no particular target or plans to transport the stolen goods ''out'' of the museum.

* FantasticRacism: Some conflicts in the series arise because of "lexism", discrimination based on epithets. Mostly this comes from inscribed looking down on mundies because they lack powers, and getting benefits such as being more desirable for employers, either for their powers (why hire a mundie for construction work when a material-based inscribed can get the job done faster?) or since it it gives an air of superiority (Sheriff Gorou got his job because nobody else in town had an epithet, in spite of his incompetence). This instigated the rise of Bliss Ocean, a terrorist group that wants to equilize the world by getting rid of epithets.

* PersonalityPowers: Some of the inscribed have powers that match well with their personalities, like Arnold’s “Coupon” epithet being rather fitting for someone obsessed with deals and savings. Others have it more subtly: Indus, who has Barrier, is a bodyguard fixated on protecting Mera, and Ramsey, who has Goldbricker, focuses on preserving himself from harm/capture similarly to how gold is preserved. Sylvie's main area of study is actually on how epithets interact with personality.

In the world of ''Epithet Erased'', one in every five people has a unique ability called an epithet, [[SuperpowerfulGenetics granted to them at birth]] by a random word inscribed onto their soul. While some people get words like [[PlayingWithFire "Fire"]], most of the time they wind up with useless words like [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway "Coupon" or "Soup"]] (well, [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower seemingly useless]], anyway). Rumor has it that there exists a magical artifact somewhere in Sweet Jazz City known as the Arsene Amulet, which has the ability to [[PowerParasite steal an epithet from its user]], making it the perfect target for thieves, miscreants, and generally not-so-nice folks who'd kill to get a new epithet for themselves--or take someone else's away. The question is, who will be the one claim the amulet at the end of the day, and which unlucky sap will end up with their [[TitleDrop epithet erased]]?

In the world of ''Epithet Erased'', one in every five people has a unique ability called an epithet, [[SuperpowerfulGenetics granted to them at birth]] by a random word inscribed onto their soul. While some people get words like [[PlayingWithFire "Fire"]], most of the time they wind up with useless words like [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway "Coupon" or "Soup"]] (well, [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower seemingly useless]], anyway). Rumor has it that there exists a magical artifact somewhere in Sweet Jazz City known as the Arsene Amulet, which has the ability to [[PowerParasite steal an epithet from its user]], making it the perfect target for thieves, miscreants, and generally not-so-nice folks who'd kill to get a new epithet for themselves. The question is, who will be the one claim the amulet at the end of the day, and which unlucky sap will end up with their [[TitleDrop epithet erased]]?