Hey ladies. note
Hypergamouse provides the answer to the age-old question: why don't I have a girlfriend? Because if you can't figure out why you don't have a date and no one is interested in you, you're definitely not alone...
Hypergamouse
is a weekly web comic strip (twice weekly as of July 2022) created and written by Vox Day. It deals humorously with interactions between and among the sexes, and their various socio-sexual statuses, using anthropomorphic mice.
The title derives from "hypergamous", describing the perceived tendency of women to pursue and marry men of higher social rank than themselves.
Originally Hypergamouse ran in 2012 on the ComicFury site, with artwork by JartStar, for nine episodes (available here). Eight years later, Day re-published the strip, with new artwork by Lacey Fairchild, on Webtoon. The series halted there after six months when Day quit Webtoon; another six months later it found its current home when Day launched his own webcomic site, Arkhaven. In August 2022 the comic resumed on Webtoon and began publication on Tapas Media.
This series provides examples of:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Hints at the root of this trope a number of times.
- Mindy's desire for Apex increases when he puts his foot down with her.
- Jami's interest in Stoke falters when a well-intentioned Mari tells her how smart and nice he is. It bounces right back after she witnesses Stoke cane Apex in a tennis match.
- Anthropomorphic Shift: Inverted with the Webtoon reboot. The Little Bit Beastly character designs from the ComicFury version became more mouse-like Funny Animal figures.
- Aside Glance: Cate's first appearance, ranting that there are no good men left, prompts a weary one from Mari.
- Be Yourself: Demolished in the very first episode, with later strips burning the debris and salting the earth. The comic's attitude is, "If you are prone to one-upmanship, unsolicited corrections and embarrassingly dorky revelations about yourself, you should probably curb those tendencies if you want to endear yourself to others."
- Black Comedy: To stop Bob nagging her about the COVID jab, Jill suggests he get himself another booster. Bob eagerly agrees.
- Cell Phones Are Useless: Mindy is texting Apex and becomes increasingly anxious when she gets no response. Cut to Apex, whose phone battery was dead and now faces 37 new messages.
- Character in the Logo: The "O" in the title sports a pair of mouse-like ears.
- Company Cross References: In a strip published during the Midnight's War kickstarter, Jami and Mari cosplay as Celise and Sir Andre, respectively.
- Cool Sword: Doof's new "chad slayer" look includes a replica Masamune. Claims it's the coolest thing he owns.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Lacey Fairchild initially drew Doof with prominent, rodent-like incisors. This look was quickly discontinued.
- Fictional Counterpart: Cate has a degree from Havarti University.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: The main female characters. Mari, patient and easy-going, is phlegmatic. Cate, insular and uptight, is melancholic. Mindy, flighty and exuberant, is sanguine. Jami, hot-blooded and aggressive, is choleric.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Doof is basically tolerated by the other main characters. He might be the least popular guy at the party, but he still gets invited.
- Funny Background Event: As Cate tries to persuade her party guests to stay a little longer, Doof sends yet another woman fleeing in horror.
- Furry Confusion: Cate, a mouse, owns a non-sapient pet cat she can cradle in her arms. Compounded in a later strip, when Stoke says he would "fight a cat" for the chance to date Jami.
- Furry Reminder: Jami fantasises about Kira being attacked by crows, which prey on mice in real life.
- Genre Mashup: In-universe, Doof's tastes in music include "hardcore folktronica" and a mashup of death metal and hypnagogic pop.
- The Glasses Gotta Go: Doof's dating app profile picture, and on his actual date that comes from it.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: Cate acquires these when Doof wants a transfer and asks her for a recommendation. Should she be honest about his performance, or use the opportunity to make him someone else's problem?
- Graceful Loser: Apex, when Stoke beats him in straight sets in a friendly tennis match. Justified: although Apex is taller and more ripped, Stoke plays on the professional circuit, so Apex is realistic enough not to see the outcome as a threat to his high status.
- Green-Eyed Monster:
- Stoke has two: Jami (Kira tells Stoke that Jami either likes him, or has been hired to kill her) and Doof, who is visibly jealous of Stoke's friendship with Apex.
- Mindy can get very possessive of Apex. Even children provoke violently jealous thoughts in her.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde Mari is kind, helpful and good-natured.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Doof, when talking about his recent date with "a super cute girl":Doof: Keep in mind, the reason it didn't work out was entirely my call. She was stuck up and not very pretty.
Stoke: But you just said she was super cute.
Doof:.....*cough* Anyways... - Insane Troll Logic: Courtesy of Doof. As long as Stoke never asks Jami out, she can never reject him. So he will still have a chance.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Doof, repeatedly, when complaining about the supposedly shallow reasons girls reject him. Gets a Lampshade Hanging here.
- Just Friends: Stoke and Kira are tennis partners. The clarification leaves Jami's jealousy undiminished.
- Kill It with Fire: Apex name-checks this trope at the sight of Mickey Mouse in drag.
- Lady Drunk: Cate is often seen with a glass of red wine in hand, or an empty bottle or two in front of her...possibly accompanied by empty pill bottles.
- Lady in a Power Suit: Cate, befitting her "strong, independent woman" image.
- Mood Whiplash:
- After Cate's party ends and her guests have said their goodbyes, we see her sagged on her lounge, a picture of utter dejection and loneliness. Then she jumps out of her skin as Doof, who was still there all along, pipes up about how quiet it has become.
- Doof makes a humorously misguided attempt to white-knight for Mindy by text ("Don't tell Apex tho plz"). Mindy thinks he's some random stalker and tells him to leave her alone. Doof replies with an unbridled, viciously cruel and not-at-all humorous "Reason You Suck" Speech that leaves the poor woman horrified.
- Nice Mean And In Between: The three main male characters. Stoke is patient, polite and basically decent (just don't tell Jami he's "nice"). Doof is an unjustifiably arrogant buttinski who thinks he's nice but has a latent vicious streak. Apex has a wandering eye and his internet history is not one to be proud of, but he isn't malicious or abusive. Additionally, he is willing and able to refuse, calmly but resolutely, to give Mindy whatever she wants.
- The Noseless: Yuki-Chan, an in-universe anime character whose nose is rendered as a tiny dot. Keep in mind she's a mouse.
- Oh, My Gods!: Doof's "Sweet Mickey!" It is worth noting that Vox Day has a deep, abiding hatred of Disney.
- Personal Raincloud:
- Mari, pining for her serviceman beau.
- Doof, throwing a wet blanket on Stoke's date with Jami.
- Saw Star Wars 27 Times: Doof's Establishing Character Moment is when he spies a lady with a Star Wars DVD and R2-D2 T-shirt, and tells her he's seen the film 87 times. She flees immediately.
- Shipper on Deck: Mari is very excited at the thought of Stoke and Jami getting together, and actively encourages it.
- Shout-Out: Armed with his new look and Weapon Across the Shoulder, Doof tells a pair of terrified ladies "there can be only one."
- Stereotypical Nerd: Doof, through and through. A fat, pimply, neckbearded, know-it-all lump of social cluelessness in a video gamenote T-shirt and Nerd Glasses.
- Straw Feminist: Downplayed. Cate exhibits many stereotypical behaviours and platitudes of the Strong Independent Woman, yet she doesn't outright hate men, and is neither over-zealous nor entirely unpleasant to be around.
- Take That!:
- Through a Face Full of Fur: Mindy and Stoke are prone to blushing, triggered by Apex and Jami, respectively.
- Wingding Eyes: At a speed dating session, Cate rejects a mouse who is looking for a traditional, stay-at-home wife. As she ponders the "bullet" she dodged, her pupils assume the shape of baby carriages.
