Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
Even when struggling for the fate of the world, there's always room for some levity.
Main Stream
- The main story has a Running Gag of the Freedom Riders being referred to as the "Free Riders
" instead. Aki and Minseo strenuously object to the term, but no one seems to care. (Granted, they're usually tagging along or being dragged into the problem of the week, so it's not inaccurate either...) - Mina's immediate response upon first seeing Replacer Knight in Episode 2 is "Who's the stripper?"
- When Mark Finley comes up with the idea to get Mina to call in Coffin Company for backup in Episode 2, he tells her that he'll handle things. While Sooyeon is initially none too pleased with the prospect of working with the CIA, even when Mark tells her that they've already been paid in advance, which she dismisses on the basis of the company having rules. Then she sees just how much money Mark sent over, and does a complete 180 to very enthusiastically supporting their efforts and names Mina "employee of the month."
- For a little girl possessed by a bloodthirsty... something or other, Orca has quite a few of these in Episode 5:
- After the main group talks to the Jerkass that scammed the R7 Irregulars out of their Eternium stash for just a bit, Orca (the girl) says that Orca (the being inside her) wants to kill him - one of the few instances of her showing overt hostility to something that's not a Corrupted Object. Jessica tells her that they're not supposed to kill people, but then immediately agrees that this guy probably deserves it.
- When everyone dives into the Counterside in pursuit of the Replacers' flagship, the group gets separated. John Mason comes up with the idea to get the crew back together by lighting a bunch of marshmallows on fire, which sure enough draws in Orca after she catches the scent of her Trademark Favorite Food. She then starts griping about how he destroyed a perfectly good pack of marshmallows.
- In the chapter epilogue, Orca is seen throwing a minor tantrum about how the Coffin Company's fridge has only water and nothing sweet whatsoever, going as far as to kick the fridge.
- Despite being one of the most important turning points of the story, Episode 10 has its fair share of funny moments.
- When Raul and Rojo question the identity of the Artifact, Evolved One simply replies with "Refrigerator".
- Sooyeon mentions how the Administrator once turned Lyudmila into a pizza.
Side Streams
- In the SWAT 4 side story, Kang tracks down the Magellan Prediction Society to their hideout. How did she know where it was? Well, all those Brown Bag Masks the cultists wear had to come from somewhere... so she simply found the one place that orders a ton of paper bags and isn't a bakery. The lead cultist then yells at one of his subordinates for not changing the address when ordering bags, to which the guy responds that online shopping is hard.
- When Sigma first reactivates in front of the CEO in her side story, she starts calling him "Daddy" and projects her humanoid form due to having grown far beyond her initial programming while in the Counterside. Not only is the CEO flustered by this since he never programmed her to do anything of the sort, Sooyeon adds to the embarrassment by assuming it's some sort of kinky roleplay.
- "Let's Be Friends" has a fairly high concentration of these, when it's not dealing with the unpleasant implications:
- The story opens with Sigma running crying to the CEO about being kidnapped by a one-eyed pirate lady. Or, in other words, Lee Sooyeon trying to drag her to a mandatory safety seminar.
- The seminar in question turns out to have not been updated for ages, so everyone in Coffin Company has not only heard it all before, but are all completely bored out of their minds: Titan concludes that it's so awful it must be some kind of sonic weapon, Orca is seen asking her split personality to switch (which, mind you, she usually only does when Corrupted Objects are involved) so she doesn't have to deal with it anymore, Mina threatens to kill Shiyoon for dragging her there and then bailing, and even Hilde is barely keeping her composure together and assuming that Sooyeon is still mad at her for... something.
- As part of their "homework," the CEO sends Eins and Zwei down to Cafe Strega for some chocolate. They're greeted by Yuna, who immediately begins trying to peddle her own mint chocolate creations before Laura shows up and gives her a Dope Slap. And given Laura's stature, the twins first mistake her for a little girl, to which Laura protests that she's twenty-seven millimeters taller than the average Beatrix.
- In "Counters Saga", the Running Gag is any of the Subculture Research Club speaking vaguely or in an incomplete sentence which causes the young Chulsoo Kim (as Box X) to wildly misinterpret it as a Double Entendre.
Counter Cases
- Sylvia's third Counter Case documents her first ever operation, where she and Kyle are pinned down in a building while the enemy is firing on them. Then one of them shoots a mortar at them and taunts them... at which point Sylvia, channeling her inner gamer, turns on Leaf Node's speakers and screams a long, heavily profanity-laden tirade at them (depicted with all the offending words bleeped out in-game). One of the mooks is driven to tears by it.Kyle: Where on earth did you learn so many creatively profane words?
Sylvia: I've had a great teacher since a young age. A teacher named the Internet.
