Heartwarming / The Cuphead Show!

Good day for friendship!

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The show

Season 1

• Towards the end of the intro, during the "dash of heebie-jeebies" segment of the theme song, Cuphead and Mugman cling onto each other, protecting each other from harm.
• In “Carn-Evil”, after failing to catch Elder Kettle's pancakes just like Cuphead, Mugman just looks sad, until Cuphead, without hesitation, gives half of his own pancakes (and half of the plate as well) to his brother.
  • Rather than bail out on his brother when the Devil appears and the skeeball machine steals Cuphead's soul, Mugman quickly rips the soul out of the machine and puts it back into Cuphead. He waits until Cuphead is fine before they run.
• "Baby Bottle": The brothers make sure not to damage Elder Kettle's radio while play-fighting. Cuphead also makes it clear they're not actually mad at each other, and that they're only fighting because they're "not supposed to".
• After spending the whole episode of "Ribby & Croaks" fighting over who ate the ice cream in the fridge and whether they did it consciously or not, Mugman comes clean with regret and the two brothers reconcile with a tight hug, which prompts the titular Ribby and Croaks themselves (who were on the verge of pounding them for sneaking into their riverboat to eat free ice cream) to be overcome with emotions and reconcile over their own constant fighting... for two minutes, anyway.
  • Cuphead and Mugman happily sharing ice cream together at the episode’s end.
• "Handle with Care!": After Mugman breaks his handle, Elder Kettle comforts him and makes him feel better by telling a fib that he actually just lost his “baby handle”, and even dresses up as a fairy to glue Mugman and Cuphead’s (after he broke his when he heard the baby handle story) handles back on and make them feel proud about their new “man handles”.
  • Cuphead is also really sweet this episode in his efforts to reassure his brother and attempts to reattach his broken handle earlier on. Are they the most effective solutions? No. But his heart’s in the right place.
• In "Roll the Dice", Cuphead calling Mugman the smartest person he knows is quite sweet, and right before Mugman gets "frozen in terror", an adorable smile can be seen on his face—even though he has horrible stage fright, that doesn't stop him from being excited for Cuphead.
• Towards the end of "Root Packed!", Cuphead and Mugman share a tearful hug as they sob over the fact that Ollie's tears healed Elder Kettle's plants.
  • Earlier in the episode, after Mugman freezes up on stage when trying to get the unwanted produce guests to leave, Cuphead immediately jumps to his brother's aid in telling them to beat it.
• "Sweater Off Dead"
  • The main plot kicks off because Cuphead has continually had nightmares about his soul debt to the Devil and is clearly distressed about it (despite his insistence otherwise) and Mugman decides enough is enough. He outright begs Cuphead to trust him to let him help his brother out.
  • Just the fact that Mugman knitted the sweater for Cuphead, and that it works because of their brotherly love. And Mugman in general just pulling all the stops to keep his brother safe from the Devil the entire episode.
  • “Thanks, Mugsy! You’re the best brother a cup could ever have!”
  • The Devil in a rare Pet the Dog moment throws a party in his name and allows the demons to have a break. They go with it since it's their first break in 3,000 years. When Stickler tries to derail the celebrations to convince the Devil to collect Cuphead's soul, the Devil ignores him in favor of starting a conga line, eating deviled eggs, and cutting a cake. He never takes out his wrath on any of the demons, instead sullenly agreeing to go to collect the debt.
  • Henchman yells at Stickler for pestering the Devil about Cuphead's soul. He does care about his boss.
  • When Cuphead is nearly driven to take off the sweater by the Devil raising the heat with his power, Mugman remembers the rhyme from Quadatrus to give Cuphead a final hug, which Mugman complies to. Upon feeling Mugman's embrace, Cuphead tearfully hugs him back.
  • While the Devil is having his Villainous Breakdown, the brothers slip away still hugging each other.
  • Even though the Devil is ticked off, he lies to Stickler that he got the soul and simply didn't record it, before merely burning a hole in the accounting books and shooing Stickler to recount it. Several dozen demons sigh in relief that their break wasn't interrupted as the Devil resumes the party antics.
  • The brothers wish each other good night at the episode’s end. In addition, apart from a mild quip about how the rhyming gets old fast, the episode doesn't really end on a joke...just that gentle affirmation of Cuphead and Mugman's love for one another.
• "Sweater Luck Next Time"
  • This exchange:
    Cuphead: Hmm, say, Mugsy? Hold my spot. I’m gonna go grab us some funnel cake.
    Mugman: But you don’t even like funnel cake.
    Cuphead: And you don’t like knitting soul-saving invisible sweaters, but you made me one anyway. The least I can do is buy you some funnel cake.
  • A rather strange example occurs when the Devil, wound down by multiple failures to get Cuphead to take off the magic sweater protecting his soul, is left making small talk with him in an awkward moment. A scene skip later, they are shown actually enjoying each other's company and the Devil pats Cuphead's shoulder affectionately. Then he notices the sweater isn't on....
  • Henchman tends to the Devil's wounds after Mugman makes him wear the invisible sweater, long enough to singe the fur off the areas where the wool met his body. The Devil doesn't chide him as the iodine stings, and Henchman apologises.
• In “Dangerous Mugman”, Cuphead puts his Dirk Dangerous goggles on Mugman to help his brother feel brave as they go on a perilous errand for Porkrind, saying they help him when he needs confidence.
  • When Mugman loses the goggles early on into the adventure but doesn’t notice at first, Cuphead keeps the ruse up so Mugman doesn’t lose his nerve. He later breaks the news after Mugman’s overconfidence gets too reckless, tearfully apologizing for letting it get this far and endangering their lives.
• In "Dirt Nap", Cuphead and Mugman decide to bury Mugman's dying pet worm in the backyard so it'll always be close to them. Later, when they think Elder Kettle is dead, they consider burying him there as well, no doubt for the same reason. Pretty sweet if you ignore the morbid context.
  • Double heartwarming and funny when the worm springs to life and thanks the brothers after being buried in the dirt. Turns out a little bit of soil is all it needed!
  • Cuphead and Mugman's reaction when Elder Kettle reveals what he thinks he overheard. They immediately assure him that he's "our Elder Kettle" and that they love him, all while giving him a big hug.
• Also in "Dirt Nap", it's revealed that Elder Kettle has a picture of Cuphead and Mugman on his nightstand.
• While "In Charm's Way" ends on a downer note due to Ms. Chalice abandoning Cuphead and Mugman to the cops, she did confess that she ended up genuinely liking the two and is not happy that she is forced to leave them.

Season 2

• “Jailbroken” has the brothers at odds after their initial escape attempts fail, with Cuphead wanting to keep trying while Mugman is content to just serve their time so not to get punished further. However, when Cuphead decides to give up after more failed attempts on his own, Mugman will not stand for his brother’s “never give up” spirit being broken and hatches a new plan to get them out.
  • Mugman’s rapport with the other prisoners and their appreciation towards him for helping with their laundry during the second half of the episode is really cute. Special mention goes to Ms. Cyclops, the largest and scariest prisoner there, who is openly saddened by Mugman leaving and is the one to ultimately get the brothers out of the slammer when the final plan went awry. All because Mugsy was nice to her.
• In “Charmed and Dangerous”, Chalice is back. Mugman has every reason to be distrustful of her after last time, but there is something sweet about Cuphead still considering her a friend and giving her more the benefit of the doubt. Even remarking how nice it was to have another friend.
  • Later in the episode, Chalice herself echoes this same sentiment towards the brothers.
  • Ms. Chalice fending off the mob that was after her when they decide to turn on Cuphead and Mugman with her ghostly abilities.
• Mugman pulling the stops to help Brineybeard in “A High Seas Adventure!” is incredibly wholesome. Despite being terrified, he keeps his word and fulfills his promise, of which Brineybeard is very appreciative of.
  • A lot of Mugman and Brineybeard’s interactions are this. Mugman is distressed after breaking the captain’s stone legs and replacing them with two peg legs after Brineybeard un-stones himself, but the pirate isn’t upset with him. He’s ecstatic that he has two instead of one like most pirates have! There’s also Brineybeard dubbing Mugman “a real pirate” at the end of the episode for fulfilling a pirate’s promise.
  • A small one, but Mugman applauding Cala Maria’s song and complimenting her singing voice is adorable.
  • Brineybeard’s crush on Cala Maria is also pretty cute. The two times he’s turned to stone by her, he’s smiling her way unlike her other screaming victims. When she expresses distaste towards a nickname he calls her, he stops doing so. And the box of sweets he was so adamant to give her? They’re various sea creature organs and limbs, which she loves, including her favorite squid livers. Even when she’s chasing to kill him again, Brineybeard is smitten by how amazing she is at what she does as the most fearsome sea beast.
  • Although she isn’t interested, Cala Maria still finds Brineybeard’s gift a sweet gesture and then in her own way lets him down gently in return, including giving him and the cup brothers a ten second head start before she starts chasing them again. She also chases after the box when Mugman tosses it in the sea and upon seeing the Captain blowing a kiss at her, she smiles and decides to do the same which literally blows their ship away unblocking it from the rocks.
• “Another Brother” is full of moments:
  • While Cuphead finds it overbearing, Mugman’s overprotectiveness over his brother all comes from not wanting his brother hurt or shattered from his reckless stunts.
  • Ribby and Croaks seesawing together.
  • Despite how unhinged Bowlboy was in the end, Cuphead did seem to genuinely enjoy most of the daredevil stunts they did together.
  • After Bowlboy is shattered by the rocket stunt Cuphead was thwarted from doing in the beginning, Cuphead’s reaction to Mugman wanting to do the same when the latter feels bad over being the “fun police” is to try to stop him.
  • The ending.
    Mugman: I’m sorry, Cuphead. I wish I’d never suggested we find new brothers.
    Cuphead: I’m glad it happened.
    Mugman: Huh?
    Cuphead: Yeah, ‘cause it made me realize you’re more than just my brother. You’re my best friend, and that’s always how it’s gonna be.
    Mugman: …Oh gee, Cuphead. That’s real nice. I’d hug you if my spine weren’t shattered.
    Cuphead: Me too, pal.
• After most of the episode “Sweet Temptation” has Cuphead putting himself on Mugman’s bad side, he's willing to break one of the Baroness’s rules and tell his brother about Sugarland so he can make up for eating Mugman’s candy. The two then happily gorge on Sugarland’s sweets together.
  • Cuphead was shown genuinely remorseful about eating the candy after Mugman blew up at him and tossed him out of the cottage. When he finds he entered Sugarland, and left without eating any of the sweets despite the Baroness’ offer, he’s thrilled with himself to have resisted the temptation. And doubly excited to tell Mugman about learning his lesson.
    Cuphead: He’s gonna be so proud of me!
• Although Mugman was faking illness to score alone time in “The I Scream Man”, both Elder Kettle and Cuphead’s concern for his health is very genuine. The gentle way Cuphead eases his brother to lie back down after a feigned coughing fit is simply touching.
  • When the two return from errands, both are pleased to see Mugman is feeling better.
  • Despite it backfiring on him, Mugman going to find the Ice Cream Man to apologize for snapping at him. For all his frustrations with the latter, the guilt that he was too mean and went too far weighs on him, and thus goes out of his way to set it right. Though when the Ice Cream Man continues to wrong him...
  • Mugman's fantasies are beyond cute, as not only does he picture his family as well as Chalice as Captain Mugbread's crew, but his joy in getting to date Cala is sweet as well.
• The last few scenes of “Piano Lesson”. After feeling unbridled jealously towards his brother for replacing him as Ludwig’s student to the point of sabotaging the concert hall stage, Mugman is shocked to find Cuphead at home instead of the recital, and immediately compassionate when Cuphead explains Ludwig was a no-show (after having promised the night before that he’d pick up Cuphead to take him to the recital himself) and wasn’t able to attend.
  • Mugman is equally as upset as Cuphead that Ludwig stole and plagiarized off of his brother’s song to score the competition money for himself. And indirectly, does enact retribution for his brother when his falling piano sabotage subsequently crushes Ludwig.
  • Cuphead being so quick to forgive Mugman for his jealousy and attempting to drop a piano on him, expressing he would have done the same in his shoes. The two then share crawdads together.
• “Release the Demons!”:
  • Henchman has two major moments. The episode opens with him wanting to help the Devil relax and feel better in light of his fur regrowing back after last time and bringing him tea.
  • When the Devil is ranting before the lineup of his second-finest demons, Henchman makes sure to pull King Dice out of the blast zone right before the Devil blows up and destroys the demons again.
  • The Devil’s giddy (albeit brief) delight seeing the might of his first-class finest demons.
  • The B-Plot with the cup bros is also cute. It’s just the brothers hanging out and having fun going through the hay maze together.
• “Dead Broke”:
  • Chalice and the brothers hanging out together again. All three seem to be on better terms after the events of “Charmed and Dangerous”, and here the trio combine efforts to raise money to get ice cream together.
  • When the boys are faced with the Birnbaum sisters’ ghostly attacks, thinking it’s Chalice, they initially compliment Chalice for her “haunting” performance. When the attacks get too rough however, they tell her to let up, showing that when they did their scam the other times, Chalice never went out of her way to hurt Cuphead or Mugman when doing their con.
  • When the Birnbaum Quadruplets seek to trap the trio in cursed portraits, all three have each other’s backs. Chalice doesn’t ditch them the moment she’s set free from capture, she sticks by to protect her friends and trap their pursuers back away. She then thanks Cuphead and Mugman for saving her.
• “Rat’s All, Folks” has the boys making Elder Kettle a surprise cake. When Werner proceeds to wreck havoc on the kitchen, the two are especially adamant about trying to keep him from the cake and are brought to tears when they fail to stop Werner from eating it.
  • Judging from Elder Kettle’s reaction to the ruined kitchen as his believed surprise and lamenting how it wasn’t a cake, it shows how the cups know Elder Kettle well enough that they were going to surprise him with something he genuinely does enjoy.
  • When Werner threatens Cuphead and Mugman in order to take the house, Elder Kettle willingly complies to protect them. Then proceeds to finish off Werner by blowing him up with a stick of dynamite.
• Elder Kettle wanting a family portrait to have ‘a memento of the family I love’ in “Say Cheese!”.
  • While only briefly, Cuphead and Mugman do stop fighting for a moment when asked to do so for Elder Kettle’s sake.
  • The family happily taking a group mugshot for their family portrait at the end of the episode.
• “The Devil’s Pitchfork”
  • Henchman once again being the best underling ever to the Devil. Especially with his hype man speech encouraging the Devil to take a day to himself and wreck havoc in the world to prove how he’s still the fearsome Devil he is after a poor newspaper review gets his boss down. The Devil takes the advice to heart and genuinely thanks Henchman for it. Henchman is moved to tears by this.
    Henchman: That’s my boss!
  • The Devil later gushing to Henchmen about his day making mortals miserable. Henchman giddily asking him for details like a friend asking another about a date gone well, to which the Devil happily obliges.
  • When the Devil grows frantic and upset upon realizing he misplaced his titular pitchfork, Henchman is quick to help. Even as the Devil lashes out, Henchman keeps calm and gets the Devil to simmer down so he can retrace his steps.
  • Mugman “mutilating”, in Cuphead’s words, their bikes as a surprise just to be able to be closer with his brother doing something they love doing together.
  • When Cuphead is less than impressed, Mugman starts crying, upset that he did something his brother hates. Cuphead then backtracks, if a bit reluctantly, on his words and that he should try it out first before passing any judgment.
  • When the pair find the Devil’s pitchfork, Mugman is cautious of it and not wanting his brother hurt if “only the Devil can use it”. Then after Cuphead tests it on some bottles and cans, flinging him backwards into a tree from the recoil, Mugman immediately goes to ask him if he’s okay and helps him up.
    Cuphead: Man, this thing sure packs a wallop! I think we’d have more control if we both held on to it.
    Mugman: Funny. Huh! I thought you didn’t want to always do everything together.
    Cuphead: Did I say that?
    Mugman: (nods, pouting) Mm-hmm!
    Cuphead: Well, if it makes you feel any better, there isn’t anybody else I’d rather go around blowing stuff up with.
    Mugman: Aw, gee, Cuphead.
    Cuphead: Now let’s go blow stuff up!
  • “Mugsy, old boy, earlier today, when you mutilated our bikes, you did something nice for me. Now, I want to mutilate something nice for you.”
  • Cuphead using the pitchfork on a mountainside to carve his brother’s face into it. Going as far as to have Mugman cover his eyes and not peek until he’s done like Mugman with his surprise for Cuphead near the beginning of the episode.
  • Overlapping with Tear Jerker, the Devil declares that since Cuphead has taken "something of great value" of his, he will take something of great value to Cuphead from him. That "something of great value"? Mugman.

Season 3

• When Cuphead comes home in tears after losing Mugman, Elder Kettle notices he's upset and goes to comfort him.
  • Mugman isn’t worried in the slightest about being in the Underworld in “The Devil’s Revenge”, and in fact taking most of it in stride. Why? Because he believes in his brother and that Cuphead will save him.
    • Everything about Cuphead and Mugman reuniting. Their shared excitement, shared relief, the hugs, EVERYTHING.
  Cuphead: (tearful) Hey, buddy! Welcome back!
  • Cuphead makes a point to apologize to his brother for causing the whole mess.
  • Cuphead’s moments of Big Brother Instinct when the Devil takes Mugman captive again and strong arms the Devil into the deal with the pitchfork to get his brother back.
• Porkrind actually gets one in the episode “Special Delivery”, surprisingly. Once he learns from his mysterious client, Jerry, that the package he made Cuphead, Mugman, and Ms. Chalice deliver to Ribby and Croaks is a pair of exploding shoes, he actually feels legitimate guilt for sticking this errand on them. The various things he tries listening to on the radio don’t help, and he eventually panics and begins running out the door to help them. Fortunately, they’ve come back with the package intact, and he ends up taking it from them just so it won’t explode in their faces.
• Essentially everything Henchman does in this season can qualify. With more and more evidence stacking up that the Devil is quite the damaged soul who is simultaneously someone who is delighted to be The Dreaded while also desperate for affection and validation, Henchman is constantly at his side encouraging his boss, tirelessly assisting, or just straight up "adoring" him. And that's a direct quote from the show! Highlights include:
  • In Cupstaged as the Devil is insisting he needs to secure the lead role in 'Cup Rodgers' because he needs to be "adored", Henchman says with big loving eyes:
    Henchman: Uh, I adore ya, boss.
  • And even better, it's hinted that the Devil actually reciprocates the affection as seen in Roadkill. When bubble barriers designed to keep the Devil productive start locking down everything he "cherishes" (in Stickler's words), we see Henchman is among those treasured things.
  • As Old Scratch is put through the wringer in the Christmas Special A Very Devil Christmas, basically forcing himself to be everything he's not in order to get on Santa's Nice List, Henchman is there every step of the way, offering encouragement and advice. In the end, when Santa ends up not following through on giving the Devil the toy train he desperately wanted, Henchman - unbeknownst to the Devil - builds him one himself and wishes his boss a Merry Christmas.
  • At one point, Devil loses hope and voices this to Henchman, certain he's never going to get his toy train and that he's going to spend an eternity as Santa. Henchman gently holds his hands and simply tells him "You can do this," and that's all it takes for him to get his head back in the game. That's all he needs.
  • Also, the fact that the Devil let Henchman accompany him to the North Pole despite his unenviable position of being forcibly transformed into Santa counts.
  • To top it all off, when the Devil suffers his most crushing public defeat when he loses rock paper scissors in the finale, he's nearly on the verge of tears at the sight of the adoring crowd cheering for the brothers and Ms. Chalice. Henchman once again steps up to the plate without blinking and offers the Devil his pitchfork to hold to comfort him and leads him by the hand to the elevator, promising to draw him a bubble bath.
    The Devil:(tearful) Thank you, Henchman...
  • After being transformed back into himself, the Devil's first reaction is to gleefully kiss his own arms and wrap himself up in a joyful hug. It's adorable.
• The brothers get sent out to get the perfect Christmas tree to decorate the house with. After an episode of shenanigans, they finally get the perfect one. Only for it to burn to a crisp. They burst into tears thinking they ruined Christmas. Elder Kettle reassures them that what matters is spending Christmas together as a family.
  • And despite it being a funny moment as well, it’s nice seeing Elder Kettle put all his trust into the boys in getting the “perfect” Christmas tree. And the burnt one they end up with at the end is seen in the next episode as well, cementing that they’ve completely accepted it as their Christmas tree for the year.
• The fact that the Devil genuinely enjoys pretending to be a cat for Elder Kettle, and doesn't have the heart to try to steal his soul after being told that he loves "Mrs. Meow Meow," is kind of sweet. As is the fact that even after he returns to the Underworld, he keeps the ball of yarn to play with when no one else is around to see.
  • Elder Kettle not only kept the mugshot photo from “Say Cheese”, but keeps it next to his bedside table, showing he truly cherishes it as a “family portrait”.
  • In the same episode, after the Devil eventually gets fed up with pretending to be Mrs. Meow Meow, and Cuphead and Mugman have gone to the movies with Ms. Chalice, Elder Kettle is left all alone and downtrodden (though, sweetly, he still wants Cuphead and Mugman to have fun, due to his insistence that they go to the movies with Ms. Chalice). However, he finally notices his pet goat all alone as well, having been neglected all day. The episode ends with a shot of the two of them having fallen asleep together next to the fireplace. D’awwwwww.
  • Even better, in "JoyRide", it's implied the two of them spend the whole day together whilst Cuphead, Mugman, and Ms. Chalice go off on their own adventure.
  • In said episode, Cuphead, Mugman, and Chalice's adventure is quite sweet as well until the end of the episode because it's just the three of them having the time of their lives together at various places.
• Chalice loves Cuphead and Mugman so much that she spent months continuously dancing with the Devil in the Underworld just to put off being forced to betray them. Even when forced to attempt to steal their souls, she ultimately can't bring herself to do it, even with her very life on the line.
• Right before The Devil is about to punish Ms. Chalice after he won the dance-off, Cuphead comes in and bets his (and Mugman's) soul in order to win Ms. Chalice's freedom. Ms. Chalice is incredibly touched by this and affectionately says the two "ding-dongs" are the best. Cuphead, however, asks if she meant three "ding-dongs", cementing that the three are a group now.

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