Who is Cerebus and why does V blame him?

[Forbiddenwar]

Another question from reading the archive.
In this strip:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0242.html

V blames Cerebus for the change from rules based humor to storyline. Who/what is he/she and is her blame justified?
Why blame the three headed dog guardian from Hades, especially when the Greek gods have died?

Sorry to waste time on such an old issue, but It always bothered me, and I never been able to find anything answering the question in the forum.

[Squark]

Cerebus Syndrome (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CerebusSyndrome)

Warning, link is to tvtropes.

[Thrax]

the three headed dog guardian from Hades

That would be Cerberus, not Cerebus. Cerebus means "brain" in Latin, though in this case it refers to the aforementioned trope.

[NerfTW]

Look, a non-TV Tropes link to it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebus_syndrome#.22Cerebus_Syndrome.22)

Or even better,
The original source of the term. (http://www.websnark.com/archives/2004/09/faq_lexicon.html)




The effort to create character development by adding layer upon layer of depth to their characters, taking a character of limited dimension (or meant to be a joke character) and making them fuller and richer. The idea is to take what was fun on one level and showing the reality beneath it. 'Cerebus Syndrome' refers to Dave Sim's epic, sometimes tragically flawed magnum opus, Cerebus the Aardvark. Cerebus started life as a parody of Conan the Barbarian starring an Earth-Pig born. Over time, it grew extremely complex, philosophical, and in many ways much much funnier. Then, Dave Sim went bat**** crazy and Cerebus went straight to Hell, but that's for another day. People saw how Cerebus's humble roots could lead to glorious heights, and as cartoonists get bored with what they're doing, they decided to pull a Cerebus of their own.

Boredom is generally the key to a Cerebus Syndrome attempt. After a while, even a successful webcartoonist gets tired of fart jokes and sight gags and wants to make these characters more than they've been.

It is extremely hard to take a light, joke a day strip and push it through a successful Cerebus Syndrome. Dave Sim did it in stages, and at least in the early days of the transformation brought massive amounts of Funny to cover it over. Done perfectly, one only realizes in hindsight that the strip has turned out to be quite different than it used to be. Done sloppily, the Cerebus Syndrome fails, and the webcomic enters First and Ten Syndrome. Unfortunately, a failed Cerebus Syndrome is an excruciating process for the webcomic's fans to endure.

Please note that one can continue to bring the Funny while going for Cerebus Syndrome -- and in fact, probably should. It is far more common to drop the Funny, which increases geometrically the chance to fall into First and Ten. Note also that not all strips that bring heavy Story, mix humorous and serious elements, and have bad things happen to their characters are undergoing Cerebus Syndrome (or First and Ten Syndrome, for that matter). It's only those strips that began on a very light, even limited dimension level and then transform into something different that really shoot for the Cerebus Syndrome. So, Sluggy Freelance, which started out mostly humorous and now has a healthy dose of the Funny and the Story (with occasional forays into sequences like "Fire and Rain") is that rarity of rarities -- a successful Cerebus Syndrome. Digger and For Better or for Worse, on the other hand, had complex characterization from day one, and cannot be said to be in Cerebus or First and Ten. Got it? Good. There will be a quiz.

Websnark also considers OOTS one of the good examples of Cerebus Syndrome done well.

[Forbiddenwar]

Wow, that why I don't read Megatokyo or Wapsi Square anymore.

So, was the Giant successful? There was a recent thread on this topic. I'll go look at it.

[The Pale King]

Yeah, that was part of the reason I stopped with Sluggy Freelance. Well, actually, the addition of drama I could stand for a little. But eventually the plot got too convoluted for me to handle.

[NerfTW]

Wow, that why I don't read Megatokyo or Wapsi Square anymore.

So, was the Giant successful? There was a recent thread on this topic. I'll go look at it.

Of course he was. You're still reading, aren't you? :smallsmile:

Cerebus Syndrome isn't a bad thing. It refers to doing it well. First and Ten (explained on that same page I linked) is what happens when they do it poorly.

[Xesirin]

Look, a non-TV Tropes link to it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebus_syndrome#.22Cerebus_Syndrome.22)


Websnark also considers OOTS one of the good examples of Cerebus Syndrome done well.

......... Except the Wikipedia entry is like 3 lines long and actually DIRECTS the user to TVTropes for more information. :smalltongue:

[Jothki]

Yeah, that was part of the reason I stopped with Sluggy Freelance. Well, actually, the addition of drama I could stand for a little. But eventually the plot got too convoluted for me to handle.

Heh, it's gotten to the point where some of the strips in the most recent arc have a half dozen reference links listed below them.

[Liwen]

Cerebus Syndrome (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CerebusSyndrome)

Warning, link is to tvtropes.

Yes, I've happened to fall into the trap of endless clicking that is TV tropes, just like this guy (http://xkcd.com/609/) did. So thank you for the warning. I didn't clicked it. Beside, I ALREADY read that page anyway.:smalltongue:

[NerfTW]

......... Except the Wikipedia entry is like 3 lines long and actually DIRECTS the user to TVTropes for more information. :smalltongue:

Actually, the FIRST footnote directs you to Websnark, who, if you read the paragraph, invented the term.