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8-Bit Theater (also spelled 8-Bit Theatre) is a sprite comic, originally based on the game Final Fantasy I, created and launched by Brian Clevinger in March 2001. The plot of the comic roughly parallels the course of the game, following the four Light Warriors in their quest to vanquish the King of Demons, Chaos. The comic is not, however, a serious epic; much of the humor displayed in 8-Bit Theater is derived from the blunderings and misadventures of the protagonists and their foes.
8-Bit Theater was originally intended to parody a variety of classic 8-bit video games.• The popularity of the Final Fantasy comic convinced Clevinger to abandon this idea, although 8-Bit Theater does make occasional references to other video games, as well as various elements of popular culture.
The main comic has twice been replaced with other content by Clevinger in the style of 8-Bit Theater. The first such series of non-Final Fantasy comics, in 2002, was Dynasty Memories, a parody of the Dynasty Warriors video game series produced by Koei using Megaman sprites. The second series was Field of Battle, a parody of Battlefield 2 by EA Games, using River City Ransom sprites, that ran for one week in 2005.
Like most webcomics, 8-Bit Theater occasionally runs guest and filler strips; for example, during a weeklong period in 2003 while the author attended E3.
8-Bit Theater is hosted by ZeStuff. Other notable comics hosted by or associated with ZeStuff include Ctrl+Alt+Del, , VG Cats, and The Fortuna Saga. Some of these comics share a certain camaraderie, expressed particularly by Brian Clevinger's "invasion" of Ctrl+Alt+Del, and by the frequent links to each other by 8-Bit Theater and Fortuna Saga.
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Plot Synopsis
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Humor
The humor in 8-Bit Theater is based on exaggerated RPG stereotypes, and includes a range of comedic devices, such as droll humor, running gags, wordplay, and slapstick. A significant portion of 8-Bit Theaters humor is character driven — this often involves creating reader anticipation for character development which fails to come. (Example) Clevinger has stated that "his favorite comics are the ones where the joke is on the reader."•
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Art
As a sprite comic, much of the art in 8-Bit Theater is sampled from video games, particularly Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy III, where the recent new costumes for Black Mage, Fighter, and Red Mage were taken. Some art is also obtained from public clip art sites and unspecified Google image search results.
Original artwork is created by Lydia Tyree and Kevin Sigmund, who contribute hand drawn art and custom sprites respectively. Sigmund (Sky Warrior Bob) has a guide to sprite creation on the Nuklear Power Forums.
The comic itself is assembled by Clevinger in Adobe Photoshop. Some details of this process are given in the 8-Bit Theater FAQ.
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Characters
For more information, see Light Warriors (8-Bit Theater) and Characters of 8-Bit Theater.
The events in 8-Bit Theater revolve around four central characters, the Light Warriors, and a number of minor ones. Many of these characters are exaggerated versions of RPG stereotypes.
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The Light Warriors
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Red Mage — Versatile almost to the point of obsession, with the firm belief that the world is a role-playing game, Red Mage is the most knowledgeable/delusional of the Light Warriors. Red Mage later changes class to Mime.
Thief — The "leader" of the light warriors via a binding contract signed by Fighter. Also known as Prince Elf, Thief is the most greedy of the Light Warriors. Thief later changes class to Ninja.
Black Mage — An evil wizard who is highly proficient in black magic, but generally incapable of casting (or unwilling to cast) any beneficial or non-destructive spells. Black Mage later changes class to Blue Mage.
Fighter — A warrior specializing in swords and master of The Twelve Schools of Vargus-do Zodiac-Style Swordplay (Zodiac Kenshido for short). Skilled as he is, he is also naïve and childlike and has an almost single-minded sword fixation as well as a short attention span. Fighter later changes class to Knight.
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Other notable characters
White Mage - A mage specializing in white (healing) magic. White Mage is a priestess, assigned by her order to protect fate and to help the Light Warriors save the world. To her chagrin, White Mage constantly has to deal with passes from Black Mage. During her travels she became the creator of the universe by accident.
Black Belt - A talented martial artist and travelling companion of White Mage. Black Belt had an extremely poor sense of direction, to the effect that the laws of physics and spacetime tended to rearrange themselves around him. He was eventually killed by Kary, the Fiend of Fire, causing strong reactions among fans.
Sarda - An omnipotent wizard who forces the Light Warriors to retrieve the four elemental orbs. He claims to be "The wizard that did it".
Princess Sara - A Princess in Corneria, Princess Sara is kidnapped on a near constant basis. Far smarter than she lets on, Princess Sara is really evil underneath and, in the beginning of the story, tried to encourage Garland, her kidnapper, to be more evil.
King Steve - Princess Sara's Father and ruler of Corneria, King Steve is a simple-minded lunatic and despotic tyrant
Dark Warriors - A group of villains previously defeated by the Light Warriors. They consist of Garland, Bikke the Pirate, Drizz'l the Dark Elf Prince (a clear parody of Drizzt Do'Urden of Forgotten Realms fame), and Vilbert Von Vampire. Led by Garland, they plot the downfall of the Light Warriors.
The Four Fiends - Powerful elemental beings and the Light Warriors' biggest adversaries to date. They are Lich (earth), Kary (fire), Kraken (water) and Tiamat (wind). In the comic Kraken is known as Jnn'efur, usually shortened to Ur, while Tiamat has not yet made an appearance in the comic.
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Columns
In addition to the comic, 8 Bit Theater's website featured two columns which claimed to be written by characters in the comic, both now discontinued. The first of them was written by Ryan Sosa as the character Red Mage and was entitled Twinkin' Out. It dealt mainly with role-playing games and fictional battles, pitting superheroes against other superheroes or villains. A famous running gag in the column involved Febreze and its ability to solve every conceivable problem if applied properly.
The second column is Ask EPS or Ask Evil Princess Sara. Clevinger's girlfriend Lydia Tyree, posing as Evil Princess Sara, would give advice on dating, which was often scathing.
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Flash version
A Flash version of 8-bit Theater, created by TLF and Meddros, is available on Newgrounds and UGOPlayer. So far, five episodes have been made. As of 8 Bit Theater 5, the episodes cover an average of 5.4 comics per episode. *
A song was produced for the credits after the first episode, called "NES Christmas 2000" by Tacoriffic and CotMM. The license / copyright information for this song is unknown, as is what has become of it's creator(s).
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Sprites used
Black Mage Pre-Class Change .... Black Mage (Final Fantasy)
Black Mage Post-Class Change .... Warlock (Final Fantasy III)
Fighter Pre-Class Change .... Fighter (Final Fantasy)
Fighter Post-Class Change, Vargus .... Knight (Final Fantasy III)
Thief Pre-Class Change .... Thief (Final Fantasy)
Thief Post-Class Change .... Final Fantasy III Ninja, with FF 1 head (Final Fantasy III)
Red Mage Pre-Class Change .... Red Mage (Final Fantasy)
Red Mage Post-Class Change .... Red Wizard, with altered head(Final Fantasy III)
Good Princess Sara .... Elia, altered (Final Fantasy III)
Evil Princess Sara .... Sara (Final Fantasy III)
King Steve .... Prince Allus sprite w/ custom head
Matoya .... White Magic Shopkeeper, recolor (Final Fantasy)
Sarda the Sage .... Dorga head on custom body (Final Fantasy III)
Garland without armor .... MKnight (Final Fantasy III)
Garland with armor .... MKnight, altered (Final Fantasy III)
Bikke the Pirate .... Altered FF1 Thief sprite (made fatter) & custom head (Final Fantasy I)
Prince Drizz'L .... Gordon, altered (Final Fantasy II)
Vilbert von Vampire .... Scholar, altered (Final Fantasy III)
Onion Kid .... Onion Kid (Final Fantasy III)
Real Light Warrior 1 .... Knight (Final Fantasy)
Real Light Warrior 2 .... Ninja (Final Fantasy)
Real Light Warrior 3 .... Red Wizard (Final Fantasy)
Real Light Warrior 4 .... White Wizard (Final Fantasy)
Akbar .... Thief body, custom head (Final Fantasy)
The Messenger .... Archer (Final Fantasy III)
Elite Royal Guard Hank .... Dragoon (Final Fantasy III)
Generic Half-Elven Dual-Class Ranger .... Bard (Final Fantasy III)
Berserker Axinhed .... Viking, altered (Final Fantasy III)
Cleric .... Summoner, altered (Final Fantasy III)
Rogue .... Thief (Final Fantasy III)
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See also
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