Line #43 Webcomic/FlorkOfCows


1	[[quoteright:252:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/images_1_990.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:252:Flork himself, [[OnlySixFaces not that you'd be able to tell him apart from the rest.]]]]
3
4	[[MemeticMutation You see that guy over there?]]
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6	[[MemeticMutation He hates]] Website/TVTropes.
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8	''Flork of Cows'' is a webcomic that started in January of 2012. It first started as a simple Wordpress comic for the creator to vent his frustrations with coding, but later migrated to {{Website/Facebook}} and {{Website/Reddit}}, its [[SurrealHumor surreal]] and [[BlackComedy dark humor]] maturing in accordance with individual strips going viral as reaction images. The comic is drawn simply in UsefulNotes/MSPaint with a [[HandPuppet sock puppet]] aesthetic to show that you don't need good art to make a good comic (though Flork himself is a legitimately good artist).
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10	The official Flork of Cows website can be found [[https://www.florkofcows.com/ here]]. Flork's personal Twitter is [[https://twitter.com/FlorkOfCows here]], and the comic also has a [[https://www.facebook.com/florkofcowsofficial/ Facebook page,]] [[https://www.instagram.com/florkofcows/?hl=en Instagram]] and [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/ subreddit]].
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12	----
13	!!"Move aside, poors! Captain Rich is here to present the tropes!":
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15	* AIIsACrapshoot: [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/8yljtp/alexa/ Alexa]].
16	* AndYouThoughtItWasReal: This is the main plot twist of [[spoiler:the Mafia arc: after killing Barehand Ben, Slimmy is informed that the mafia group he has joined]] are actually a group of very dedicated [=LARPers=], and he's just gotten them in ''way'' over their heads.
17	* AssShove: [[https://www.florkofcows.com/comic/come-over/ A man somehow shoves something the size of him up his butt.]]
18	* BilingualBonus: In the "Mage Mage" arc, if you translate Pat Mage's Morse code when he asks to join the group, he asks, "Hey, you four guys wanna hang out?" There are only three other people present... [[{{Foreshadowing}} or are there?]]
19	* BodyHorror: Flork seems to have a fondness for this, and a lot of his comics have some kind of horrifying gory scene. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/aq8jmd/pockets/ Pockets]] is a non-gory example.
20	* BrilliantButLazy: Donut Dan is a Dunkin' Donuts franchise proprietor whose Dunkin' Donuts store is powered by a dedicated nuclear power plant. He comes up with the hypothetical question of why he isn't powering the entire state with his nuclear power grid, with the answer being that he doesn't feel like doing it.
21	* CanonCharacterAllAlong: A couple of arcs have unexpectedly turned out to be origin stories for existing characters.
22	** One recurring strip depicted a man who has been sentenced to being "pulled apart by snails". This is implied to take a ''very'' long time, and doesn't kill him but ''does'' noticeably stretch out his arms. He is eventually rescued... [[spoiler:by Merlin, who crowns him as Pat Mage]].
23	** An October 2021 arc began as an AffectionateParody of telenovelas, only to be suddenly and abruptly hijacked by Legion. The telenovela's protagonist, Gustav, was rescued from the brink of death, again by [[spoiler:Merlin]], who at this point had lost the ability to [[spoiler:create mages]], but had enough magic left to sent Gustav to another world... where he is strongly implied to become [[spoiler:the Crusader]].
24	* ChekhovsGunman: When Clark proposes to Malfina, he asks her to make him "the third happiest man in Connecticut". A later story arc involves the pair visiting ''the'' happiest man in Connecticut, who happens to be a work colleague of Clark's and whose wife is similar to Malfina.
25	* CrimeFightingWithCash: This trope is {{parodied}} with [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/b7hmph/captain_rich/ Captain Rich]], an UpperClassTwit who seems to be ''trying'' to help people, but doesn't really understand how non-billionaires live, nor does he seem to care about much other than amassing more wealth.
26	-->'''Captain Rich''': The only thing I hate more than crime is the poor.
27	* DeadManWriting: In January 2024, to coincide with the release of a Mr. Business plush, [[https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=891552125673929&set=a.224156279080187 a strip was released]] in which [[spoiler:Mr. Business records a tape, to be played upon his death, thanking the viewer and assuring them they'll be okay.]]
28	* DisguisedHorrorStory: Many of Flork's story arcs start off innocent only to suddenly shift into SurrealHorror, BodyHorror, or some other brand of horror. By this point, fans have come to expect the shift.
29	* DrunkOnMilk: ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'''s use of this trope is parodied in [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/jci58x/milk/ "milk"]].
30	* EatenAlive: The "Mr. Business" arc resolves around the titular Mr. Business, an extremely wealthy furry who repeatedly commissions the protagonist for vore fetish art. The twist is that [[spoiler:he doesn't actually have a vore fetish: he plans to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself to Quetzalcoatl]] by allowing it to eat him alive, and is trying to desensitize himself so he can FaceDeathWithDignity. While it doesn't truly work, he still goes through with it]].
31	* FemmeFatalons: The [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/d4sy4e/gurl_advice/ Gurl Advice]] Gurl.
32	* {{Fingore}}: Several of his comics involve something horrible happening to a person's fingers. "[[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/jc1dg4/can/ Can]]" is one of the tamer examples.
33	* FishingMinigame: [[https://www.florkofcows.com/comic/fishing-2/ An indie dev]] adds one to his game, because triple A games are "too afraid" to do so.
34	* FishOutOfTemporalWater: [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/f4acio/the_entire_epic_of_ung/ Ung]], a caveman who was frozen in ice by the other men of his tribe because he had too many wives, then thawed out by a guy in the modern day.
35	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
36	** Surprise Mage's presence during the "Mage Mage" arc (as described below) gets a bit of subtle foreshadowing:
37	*** When Bike Mage asks to join, Ass Mage says no and Sprout Mage says yes, but Bike Mage joins anyway. Turns out surprise Mage made the deciding vote.
38	*** When Pat Mage asks to join, he specifically asks, "Hey, you four guys wanna hang out?" even though only three people are visible.
39	*** The trapdoor that opens beneath the party leads to five chutes, one of which appears to be empty.
40	* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: During the "Mage Mage" arc, Surprise Mage pulls a BigDamnHeroes during the final battle against [[spoiler:Morgana]]. How did he get to the castle? Well, if you check the early strips (up until Ass Mage and friends are sent falling through a trapdoor) and turn the contrast ''way'' up, you can see Surprise Mage in the background. Surprise! He was, quite literally, with them the whole time.
41	* HugeGirlTinyGuy: Clark and Malfina, as shown during [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/b8zjo6/a_very_connecticut_ending/ their wedding]].
42	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/ajexe8/valentine/ Tiny Wife]] and her husband.
43	* HighClassGlass: One of the recurring characters is the ludicrously wealthy Captain Rich, who is always wearing a monocle.
44	* HorrifyingTheHorror: "[[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/n85guu/village/ Village]]", which makes fun of [[PerverseSexualLust the internet's reaction]] to [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage Lady Dimitrescu]] by having her be extremely disturbed by one of her male fans.
45	* InexplicablyAwesome: Barehand Ben somehow has mob powers that include manipulating bricks. No other mobsters have any power; despite being given a power imbuing hat by the don, Slimmy just uses a regular gun.
46	* ImMelting: [[https://www.florkofcows.com/comic/oven/ A man gets his face (skin and muscles) burnt off by his oven.]]
47	* InsaneTrollLogic: A customer's response to their payment card declining is to apply for the store's credit card, to which the cashier can only meekly respond "ok...", [[https://twitter.com/FlorkOfCows/status/1350981448359096324 believing that they can create a cycle of "infinite unending money" just by applying for credit cards]]. Then in a [[https://twitter.com/FlorkOfCows/status/1350982947369873409 postscript]] implied to take sometime later, they refuse to pay off their credit card, as "[[NeverMyFault it was their fault for giving me credit]]".
48	* InterruptedIntimacy: [[https://www.florkofcows.com/comic/rentoids/ rentoids]] has a landlord that doesn't understand boundaries barge in on his tenants having sex.
49	-->'''Y'ALL FUCKIN'? IVE OWNED THIS HOUSE SINCE 1994 I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT RENTOIDS'''
50	* NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters: [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/cupfi5/trees/ trees]] has a drug dealer who exchanges drugs for "street cred," which can be earned by helping out the local community.
51	* NonstandardCharacterDesign: The comics will occasionally feature characters who aren't the same simplistic sock puppets as all of the other characters, such as [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/b2mfzz/clark/ Malfina]] and the... ''thing'' from [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorkofCowsOfficial/comments/dkr1d1/back_under_the_door/ Back Under the Door]].
52	* RunningGag:
53	** A character yelling "SWEET BOLOGNA NO!" as they're being violently attacked.
54	** Every Halloween, Flork releases a strip featuring an unnamed sock dressing as "Count [[Creator/ShaquilleONeal Shaq]][[{{Dracula}} ula]]. Starting with the 2020 strip, these tended to be self-aware, with the sock's friends and loved ones questioning why they have to keep the tradition up, and the sock replying in no uncertain terms that they will not stop.
55	--->"You will bury me in this."
56	** Similarly, every December there's a strip of a Texan man blasting Santa (or something Santa-themed) in the face with a shotgun and yelling, "Y'ALL IN MAH HOUSE TOUCHIN' MAH STUFF! MAH STUFF IN MAH HOUSE! DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS! DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!"
57	* SeriousBusiness: The Tago Bell arc starts with the protagonist's attempts to [[ItMakesSenseInContext get his brother Charlie's clone a taco]], and ends with the protagonist and clone!Charlie thwarting an attempt by the other clones to revive the original Charlie by [[spoiler: allowing clone!Charlie to inadvertently perform a HeroicSacrifice by eating the taco.]]
58	* StylisticSuck: ''Lord'' yes. The characters are all poorly drawn sockpuppets, except in the cases where they are ''even worse!'' The whole thing is also clearly drawn in (or emulating) Microsoft Paint, given how low resolution everything is. And most of the dialogue is in AllLowercaseLetters with NoPunctuationPeriod.
59	* TakeThat: The "Barbara" arc contains several unsubtle jabs at Reddit, up to and including Saint Therese herself descending from heaven to tell Barbara to "stay off of Reddit".
60	* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: The only thing that sets the female socks apart from the male socks is a small bow on their head (it's usually red, but in some cases it's pink, green or orange).
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Context Webcomic / FlorkOfCows