Video Game / The Brains And The Brawn

Left: Brains. Right: Brawn.

Mean Jeanne The Ice Cream Queen has taken over Ravena City and the only person willing to stop her is a 4' egg-shaped nerd and an emo-dark-goth-edge-cool woman person. Can they do it? Idk

"We interrupt your video gaming session for a special report! Today, Ravena Town would like to celebrate Mean Jeanne The Ice Cream Queen taking over. I am very scared. And you should be too."

The Brains & The Brawn is an RPG Maker game by Yoobii, creator of the Annventure trilogy (and part of the Yoobiiverse). Unlike that series which is EarthBound-inspired, this game takes after LISA with its sidescroller navigation. It consists of several Self Contained Demos and a full game, each with their own continuity.

The first demo, Heroes and Villains, introduces Brains, a bespectacled nerd who is bullied in school by Jeanne Panini and her friends, including goth girl Brawn. When Brains and Brawn get on a bus that crashes in the dump of Ravena City, Brains sees Brawn captured by a purple-and-green clad supervillain known as The Gambler. Infiltrating their lair, Brains discovers that they are part of a team of supervillains led by none other than Jeanne herself, who intends to Take Over the City. Brains sets out to rescue Brawn and become a superheroine to defeat her bully and save the city.

The subsequent demos follow a similar premise:

• Project BNB has Brains and Brawn, who are already friends, fight against Jeanne, the new lunch lady, as she tries to use her new Hypno Cream, brainwashing ice cream, to put Ravena under Mind Control.
• Into The Mirror follows an adult Brains, who's real name is Marelyn, as she moves into a cabin in the outskirts of Ravena, only to discover a strange mirror that takes her to a bizarre and frightening realm.
• The Brains And The Brawn Alpha - The Secret Wonderland has Brains accidentally end up in Jeanne's Elaborate Underground Base, where she meets and befriends Brawn. However, when Jeanne physically beats Brawn, making her cry and wander inward, Brains sets out to find her new friend.

In the full game, Ravena City has been successfully taken over by Jeanne Panini, now known as Mean Jeanne The Ice Cream Queen, who leads an army of Ice Cremlins (ice cream gremlins) and has used them to sell Hypno Cream to the masses, putting them under mind control. Brains, sitting in her house, is minding her own business when a news report proclaims the takeover, and that the school has been turned into a fortress. Aghast at the ruining of her education, Brains sets out to defeat Jeanne. Along the way, she teams up with Brawn, who was once friends with Jeanne.

Followed up with a short prequel, The Gambler (And the Incredible Overthrowing of the King of the World), featuring the titular #1 Henchperson of Queen Jeanne and showing how they got to that position. When an altercation occurs between The Gambler and the King of the World, the latter sets out to ruin The Gambler's life, and the story follows The Gambler's subsequent path from simple fast-food worker to maniacal supervillain.

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This series contains examples of:

General

• Big Bad: In the demos, Queen Jeanne Panini, aka Mean Jeanne The Ice Cream Queen, is the Alpha Bitch of Ravena High and Brains' main bully who secretly leads a team of supervillains and aims to Take Over the City. In the full game, she has successfully taken over Ravena City through her Hypno Cream, and Brains sets out to take the city back. But it turns out that Gale Ravena was manipulating her as part of his own revenge plan against his abusive father, Mayor James.
• Lighter and Softer: This is the only subseries in the Yoobiiverse that does not belong to the horror genre, instead having a more zany and cartoony atmosphere. While it can get surprisingly dark at times, it never quite gets dark to the extent of the rest of the verse.
• Self-Contained Demo: The demo versions each have their own version of the story, and can be radically different.
• Wretched Hive: Ravena City, even before Jeanne's takeover, was filled with garbage, crime, and supervillains running amok, though it is especially noticeable in Downtown Ravena, where "all the trash kids live" and the Wolfstalk gang riots, destroying property wherever they can. In addition, The Gambler shows that there are a lot of homeless people and workers struggling to make ends meet.
• You Are Fat: Jeanne gets this a lot, and it's a Berserk Button for her. In the Alpha demo, the Coach calls Jeanne fat- this is what spurns her on to begin her attempted takeover of Ravena City. In the full game, Brains insults Queen Jeanne when they first meet by calling her a "fat boy". It is later revealed that she would get this from her bullies at school, and her own boyfriend, Gale, called her a "fat sack of crap" once, explaining why she is so sensitive about it.

The Brains and The Brawn

• Addressing the Player: One gravestone is actually marked for the player, "who is going to kick Queen Jeanne's FAT BUTT".
• Amusement Park of Doom: Ice Cream Jeanne's Theme Park Dream is The Very Definitely Final Dungeon, and while not inherently dangerous, is filled with brainwashed mooks and Creamlins.
• Animate Inanimate Object: One enemy, Your Limit, is a living speed limit sign that attacks you if you interact with it.
• As You Know: Brawn explains the mayor and his abusive relationship with his son, only for Brains to say that she knew already. She just likes to hear other peoples' voices because they reassure her.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall:
  • When Brains is unable to fit inside a small mausoleum, she outright says "Whoever made this sprite made it way too small".
  • One citizen says "Queen Jeanne is so good that you cannot possibly fit how good she is in this text bo".
• Broken Bridge: Subverted with the Theater. It seems like you need a ticket to get through, but the Creamlin doesn't care and will let you in without one.
• The Chain of Harm: This idea forms much of the plot. Former Mayor James P. Ravena used his son Gale as slave labor, leading Gale to abuse his girlfriend and new mayor Jeanne and bring her into his revenge plot- and Jeanne herself, having been bullied in the past as well, takes her pain out on the citizens of Ravena, especially nerdy girl Brains and “best friend” Brawn.
• Domestic Abuse: Occurs between Jeanne Panini and her boyfriend Gale Ravena, who manipulates and emotionally abuses her.
  He's right. About everything. I am worthless in everyone's eyes. Just a fat sack of crap, he said. It's okay. I'll be okay. I just need to do what he says and I'll be okay. I want his validation. I need it.
  He hit me. I deserved it. I said no to him. I can't be doing that. I need him.
• Foreshadowing: In the first town's church, you come across a wedding cake. It is later revealed to be for Jeanne and Gale's wedding.
• Giant Food: Gale and Jeanne's wedding takes place atop a giant cake which serves as the last part of The Very Definitely Final Dungeon.
• He Knows About Timed Hits: The tiny bean plant of wisdom describes the game's controls.
• His Name Is...: The reporter is about to tell Brains why they believe she cannot beat Queen Jeanne only for the TV to lose power (Brains couldn't pay her electricity bill thanks to Jeanne's takeover).
• Lohengrin and Mendelssohn: The Final Boss theme, “Wedding”, opens with the first part of the Lohengrin bridal chorus before the more tense portion, which fits the heroes crashing the wedding of the Big Bad.
• Loony Laws:
  • The Ravena citizens have to pay a "Queen Jeanne's Health and Well-Being" tax, according to one Creamlin (who has themselves not paid the tax), and must attend a daily 6:00 AM Queen Jeanne Worship and Prayer.
  • Ice Cream Jeanne's Theme Park Dream has a series of very strict rules, such as not looking directly at Jeanne for more than 7 seconds, bowing down to her if she is within 10 feet, kissing her foot if she is within 1 foot, bringing her at least 2 gifts, being required to purchase merchandise, and no complaining allowed. Also, all supervillain guests are required to leave weapons of war by the front gates.
• The Maze: The Gambler Doors section in the school and Theme Park Dream of the asymmetric variety, where the doors will teleport you to other rooms.
• Shaped Like Itself: A sign has a message etched in that actually says "There's a message etched into the sign."
• Self-Deprecation: A gravestone is marked for Yoobii, the creator, who bravely stood against Jeanne when she tried to replace him as god... and lost.
• Sigil Spam: Queen Jeanne has statues and pictures of her everywhere. In the case of the pictures, they are meant to suggest good places to save.
• Society Is to Blame: Jeanne Panini, Gale Ravena, and The Gambler all went down the path of villainy because of societal pressures and bullying giving them all a hard life.
  Brains: Queen Jeanne is the result of a cruel and careless society that likes to prey on the weak.
• Sudden Downer Ending: The previously lighthearted and jokey game ends on a somber note when Queen Jeanne finally rebels against her abusive boyfriend Gale and shoots him dead, ending his takeover of Ravena city- but because he is the son of the mayor and used her as a front-woman for the takeover, she gets arrested, blamed for everything, and sentenced to life in prison, with everyone still hating her just as they did before. The last scene is her struggling to tell her loving father that she is going to be separated from him forever.
• The Television Talks Back: In the very beginning, as the reporter is describing Queen Jeanne's takeover, Brains says that she is not scared and will defeat Jeanne. The reporter talks back and tells her she should be scared and cannot possibly win.
• The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: Ice Cream Jeanne's Theme Park Dream is the last of four areas in the game.
• Wedding Smashers: The climax of the game involves the title duo stopping Gale and Jeanne's wedding, which is part of their Evil Plan (though mainly on the part of Gale).
• Wham Line:
  • When first meeting Brawn, Brains is initially her goofy little self. Then Brawn screams at her to take things seriously... at which point she stops with the goofiness.
    Can I tell you something? I admit. I have not been taking anything seriously since the takeover.
  • In Jeanne's house, they discover a series of notes detailing her life. The final note says this:
    He wants me to take over the city for him.
• Wham Shot: After the duo learns about Jeanne's abusive boyfriend and The Man Behind the Woman to her, they are directed to enter her room, which has a picture of her with her boyfriend. Once you enter the room, you can see the picture, which shows that the boyfriend is Gale.
• You Bastard!: Parodied; popping one of the (non-sentient) balloons gets you the message "you murdered this balloon in cold blood :("

Heroes and Villains

• Air-Vent Passageway: The Gambler's hideout has several massive passageways big enough for the short Brains to traverse without needing to crouch down or crawl.
• Animate Inanimate Object: There are two sentient boxes in The Gambler's lair.
• Bank Robbery: Jeanne and The Gambler ultimately decide halfway through to rob Ravena Bank, and the climax is stopping them from doing so.
• Bland-Name Product: Brains & Noble (Barns & Noble) and Spicy Topic (Hot Topic).
• Blatant Lies: The Gambler's hideout has a big sign saying "NOT a super villain hideout" on top of it.
• Chest Monster: One Mickey in the Downtown Ravena hideout is disguised as a present.
• Costume-Test Montage: When Brains decides to officially become a superheroine, Brawn takes her to a costume shop to try out various costumes and find the one that will define her as a superhero.
• Buffy Speak: The Gambler refers to Jeanne's super power draining device as a Super Power Sucky Thingy.
• Implausible Deniability: Brawn turns in her "essay" which is literally just a photo of a Wikipedia page, then claims the teacher can't prove it. When pointed out that she took the picture with her phone and her reflection can clearly be seen, she blames the paranormal.
• Implied Answer: The Gambler catches Brawn snooping around their lair and asks if she was spying on their conversation with Jeanne, which involves them discussing the death of Brains. Since Brawn doesn't say anything but sits there crying, The Gambler says "I'll take your sobbing as a yes".
• Left the Background Music On: The Gambler turns off a radio when you get to a certain point in his hideout and says the music was getting annoying.
• Legion of Doom: Ice Cream Queen Jeanne leads an unnamed team of wacky supervillains out to conquer Ravena, and they serve as the antagonists of the game. They consist of The Gambler (the local Joker expy), Grasshead (furry gang leader), TV Man and Woman (a duo of living TVs who want to replace all programs with educational television), American Soil (a supervillain variant of Captain Patriotic), and Cloud Candy (a floating supervillainess).
• Shout-Out:
  • When Brains is trying out superhero costumes and puts on a mermaid outfit, Brawn reacts by saying "7.8/10 too much water", a reference to the infamous IGN review of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
  • The mouse enemies are called Mickey.
  • TV Woman transports Brawn to Green Hill Zone with rings as collectibles, and then to the original Bowser's Castle, specifically the axe bridge area.
• Shrink Ray: Jeanne's hideout in Downtown Ravena has some that Brawn needs to use to progress through puzzles.
• Smoke Bomb: The Gambler uses one to flee the Emergency Bathroom Lair when brains turns out to be too much to handle.
• Thememobile:
  • Jeanne has Wheels & Cream, a small ice cream truck she and The Gambler use to race to Ravena Bank in order to rob it.
  • The Gambler has their Dice Dash, a giant, uniwheel cart which Brains and Brawn steal to chase down them and Jeanne.
  • American Soil has his Soil Speeder, a big truck painted to resemble the American flag.
• Warp Whistle: The bus can take you to and from certain areas.
  NPC: Buses are a quick way to travel back and forth. I'm serious, they take like two seconds.
• You and What Army?: Brawn asks Jeanne this when she says she intends to get revenge. She responds by calling forth her Creamlins.

Project B&B

• Donut Mess with a Cop: Jeanne was able to hypnotize the cops by using her hypno cream recipe and turning it into donuts. The cops are seen munching on them and singing their praises.
• Noob Cave: The school freezer is the first dungeon of the game.

Into The Mirror

• Darker and Edgier: The game lacks the humor that is usual for the series and instead goes for Surreal Horror more typical of Yoobii's other games.
• Dark World: The mirror realm resembles the normal realm but is more surreal.
• No Antagonist: Due to the demo being rather short, there isn't enough time for an antagonist to be introduced. Jeanne, the usual Big Bad, is only shown on a poster. Though if the game were to be continued, it would have featured Jeanne as the big bad as she ruled as the mirror world's distorted queen.

Brains And Brawn Alpha - The Secret Wonderland

• Elaborate Underground Base: Jeanne has a large, sprawling supervillain lair underneath Ravena High which she uses to plot her schemes.
• Level Ate: Heavenly Fields, a candy landscape with marshmallow enemies, and the subsequent jungle filled with taco plants among other things.

The Gambler (spoilers)

• Bad Job, Worse Uniform: Taylor, Blaine, and Gale work at the Weiner House, a job that barely pays the bills, and they have to wear a hat shaped like a goofy wiener mascot.
• Big Bad: The titular King of the World, who owns the World Grand Casino, is The Gambler/Taylor's chief tormentor who sets out to ruin their life.
• Burger Fool: The Weiner House, the fast food place Taylor works at.
• The Casino: The World Grand Casino, which is the center of the plot. The King of the World, the Unsatisfiable Customer who costs Taylor their job, runs the casino, and Blaire eventually gambles their life savings away to get them a better job.
• Gambling Brawl: After Blaire gambles away their life savings, Taylor snaps, grabs a hammer, and goes on a rampage, beating up all the casino workers and personally killing the boss.
• Never Trust a Trailer: invoked The game page intentionally makes the game look like a quirky RPG in the vein of the original, despite actually being a somber tragedy in the vein of Joker (2019) showing how a normal guy is broken into violent insanity by an uncaring society.
• Shout-Out: Blaire plays a song for Taylor that, as the latter remarks, sounds like Bohemian Rhapsody.
• Start of Darkness: For Taylor/The Gambler, showing how they went from a mild-mannered worker in a sucky Burger Fool job to the Affably Evil yet Ax-Crazy right-hand to Queen Jeanne.

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