History Website / SomethingAwful

* GoneHorriblyWrong: The few goon projects that are [[{{Vaporware}} actually finished]] tend to be the ones that never should have been.

* ClusterFBomb: Goons tend to throw invective around for kicks. Especially the hilariously sacrilegious "what the Christ." However, the word filter replaces "fuck" with "gently caress", "fucking" with "loving", "shit" with "poo poo", "shitty" with "lovely" (which makes ''actual, sincere'' uses of the word "lovely" hilariously ambiguous for casual readers: "My grandma is a really lovely person, she gave me her old car!") and "rape" with "[[UnfortunateImplications surprise sex]]," along with other {{Unusual Euphemism}}s if you're not logged in. At the same time, anyone not logged in is able to see, with no censorship, that the general forum is called "General Bullshit", and people who edited their posts "fucked around with" them.

* OrphanedSeries: Goon projects have quite the history of never actually being finished, the best known example being a [[SoBadItsGood hilariously bad]] "electropunk" RPG called ''[[http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3016292 Zybourne Clock]]''.

* ADarkerMe: It's a joke on Something Awful that every goon is a nerdy, overweight "neckbeard" in RealLife. Individual goons, however, tend to make up obvious lies about how awesome they are for the fun of it.

* {{GIFT}}: Goons are, generally speaking, not known for their manners.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Like [[ImageBoards 4chan]], the Goons have done a few acts of vigilantism when they see fitting. However, comparing the two, both on- and off-board, is usually answered by an obligatory "I am offended by that comparison! At least we don't [insert questionable act here]!"

* OnlinePersonas: You'll find all types.

The [[http://forums.somethingawful.com/ Something Awful Forums]] are the source of much of the site's notoriety. Its members, known as "goons," have to pay $10 (US) to join, and even more if they want to get avatars, access the archives, or use the Forums' "search" function. In spite of the cost of entrance, there are over 100,000 registered goons (and who knows how many {{Lurker}}s and banned users). In part this is ''because'' of the cost of admission: No one wants to spend their ten bucks just to get banned for {{troll}}ing the next day. When you add in zealous moderators, you get one of the more controlled {{Message Board}}s out there.

* ClusterFBomb: Goons tend to throw invective around for kicks. Especially the hilariously sacrilegious "what the Christ." However, the word filter replaces "fuck" with "gently caress", "fucking" with "loving", "shit" with "poo poo", "shitty" with "lovely" (which makes ''actual, sincere'' uses of the word "lovely" hilariously ambiguous for casual readers: "My grandma is a really lovely person, she gave me her old car!") and "rape" with "[[UnfortunateImplications surprise sex]]," along with other {{Unusual Euphemism}}s if you're not logged in.

* OrphanedSeries: Goon projects have quite the history of never actually being finished, the best known example being a [[SoBadItsGood hilariously bad]] "electropunk" RPG called [[http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3016292 The Zybourne Clock]].

The [[http://forums.somethingawful.com/ Something Awful Forums]] are the source of much of the site's notoriety. Its members, known as "goons," have to pay $10 (US) to join, and even more if they want to get avatars, access the archives, or use the Forums' "search" function. In spite of the cost of entrance, there are over 100,000 registered goons (and who knows how many {{Lurker}}s and banned users). In part this is ''because'' of the cost of admission: [[ElectricRetard no one]] wants to spend their ten bucks just to get banned for {{troll}}ing the next day. When you add in zealous moderators, you get one of the more controlled {{Message Board}}s out there.

Lowtax and [[WebAnimation/TheFlashTub Shmorky]] have also gotten in on the act, playing Game Maker[=/=]Unity games of dubious quality (and ''VideoGame/CryOfFear'') on [[http://www.youtube.com/user/lowtaxico Lowtax's YouTube channel]].

For the flash animations hosted on the site that is made by Dave Kelly, see WebAnimation/TheFlashTub. The folks here were also responsible for ''WebVideo/DoomHouse''.

* Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos: As well as the TropeMaker/[[TropeCodifier Codifier]]. The Slender Man is an internet meme, specifically a CreepyPasta, first started by Victor Surge on this site ([[http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3150591&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=3#post361861415 here]]). It soon became more popular and mutated into what you see before you today.

Lowtax and [[WebAnimation/TheFlashTub Shmorky]] have also gotten in on the act, playing Game Maker games of dubious quality (and ''VideoGame/CryOfFear'') on [[http://www.youtube.com/user/lowtaxico Lowtax's YouTube channel]].

* ComplainingAboutThingsYouHaventPaidFor: An [=AwfulVision=] column once highlighted a pair of videos where a kid who downloaded a Music/SmashingPumpkins album ''illegally'' [[http://www.somethingawful.com/d/awfulvision/grizzly-adams-vlog.php?page=5 destroys the CD copies he made in a fit of rage after reaching the conclusion that he doesn't like the music.]]

* LetsPlay: It began as something a few weirdos did on the Games forum, but later gained its own subforum (and recently its own moderator), and has spread across the internet. WebVideo/{{Retsupurae}} was made in response.

* SpinOff: The infamous ImageBoard 4Chan was originally founded by former Something Awful users as an {{Anime}} image board based on popular Japanese community 2chan. They've regretted it ever since.

The [[http://forums.somethingawful.com/ Something Awful Forums]] are the source of much of the site's notoriety. Its members, known as "goons," have to pay $10 (US) to join, and even more if they want to get avatars, access the archives, or use the Forums' "search" function. In spite of the cost of entrance, there are over 100,000 registered goons (and who knows how many {{Lurker}}s and banned users). In part this is ''because'' of the cost of admission: [[ElectricRetard no one]] wants to spend their ten bucks just to get banned for [[{{Troll}} trolling]] the next day. When you add in zealous moderators, you get one of the more controlled [[MessageBoard Message Boards]] out there.

If goons are relatively subdued on their own forums, however, the opposite is true elsewhere, and they are renowned for being some of the most sophisticated and organized {{Troll}}s to stalk the internets. Or at least they used to be. These days, they still do some active trolling on the side, but the {{Troll}} torch has passed to [[FourChan newer]] websites.

!!Tropes associated with SomethingAwful include:

* SpinOff: The infamous ImageBoard 4Chan was originally founded by former SomethingAwful users as an {{Anime}} image board based on popular Japanese community 2chan. They've regretted it ever since.

For the flash animations hosted on the site that is made by Dave Kelly, see WebAnimation/TheFlashTub. The folks here were also responsible for ''DoomHouse''.

* DeadBabyComedy: Taken to the [[http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/were-all-gonna.php absolute extreme]].

* LetsPlay: It began as something a few weirdos did on the Games forum, but later gained its own subforum (and recently its own moderator), and has spread across the internet. {{Retsupurae}} was made in response.

For the flash animations hosted on the site that is made by Dave Kelly, see TheFlashTub. The folks here were also responsible for ''DoomHouse''.

* ADarkerMe: It's a joke on SomethingAwful that every goon is a nerdy, overweight "neckbeard" in RealLife. Individual goons, however, tend to make up obvious lies about how awesome they are for the fun of it.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In a [[http://www.somethingawful.com/d/your-band-sucks/worst-rock-stars.php Your Band Sucks article]], David Thorpe gives several reasons he doesn't like TedNugent, including his off-center soul patch.

* ComplainingAboutThingsYouHaventPaidFor: An [=AwfulVision=] column once highlighted a pair of videos where a kid who downloaded a SmashingPumpkins album ''illegally'' [[http://www.somethingawful.com/d/awfulvision/grizzly-adams-vlog.php?page=5 destroys the CD copies he made in a fit of rage after reaching the conclusion that he doesn't like the music.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Like [[ImageBoards 4chan]], the Goons have done a few acts of vigilantism when they see fitting. However, comparing the two, both on- an off-board, is usually answered by a obligational "I am offended by that comparison! At least we don't [insert questionable act here]!"