The Grand List of Mega Man MUSH Cliches

  1. The Theory of RP Critical Mass

    When a certain number of people gather in one place for a scene, after the number reaches or exceeds a certain threshold (Especially if said scene involves a TP Character), people will randomly begin to appear to either participate or watch. This in turn brings even more people to the scene until over half the MUSH is in one room.


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  2. The Law of Inverse Pose Size To Combat Accuracy (AKA Bass Syndrome)

    The larger the pose in a combat scene, the more likely it is that you will miss horribly.

    Corollary: If your pose is incredibly spammy and/or brilliantly executed, and the code would have allowed it to hit your opponent, it will instead be deflected. Without fail.

  3. Entry Level Jobs Are Hell

    Non-PC troops (Joes, Gumbies, etc) typically die in swarms. Their whole purpose in life is to provide a dramatic backdrop for the PC battles.

  4. We Can't Reveal Our Sources...

    The Global News Network (GNN) possesses a mysterious power to be at the scene of any battle or occurance of note. In fact, this is how the good guys typically hear of enemy activity.

  5. Suicide Reporters

    Said reporters who cover said incidents almost invariably die at the end of the initial transmission. Despite this, there seems to be a neverending supply of them, and none of them think to bring bodyguards, armor, weapons, or a Ride Armor with them.

  6. WWW or WWF?

    The Global Broadband is almost never used for interesting and relevant discussion. Instead, it is usually used as an ego-stroking tool for the factions to insult each other.

  7. Inverse Matrix Theorem

    Never say "Dodge This". They always will.

  8. Cossack's First Law

    All adult male Russians on the MUSH are Damned. They know this. They persist in doing their jobs anyway, out of sheer stubborness and a sense of extreme moral rectitude.

    Corollary to Cossack's First Law:     Heaven help anyone who gets in their way.

  9. Comet's Law

    All bar scenes will include one person posing smiling, nodding, and sipping his/her beer.

  10. "We Will Now Break For The Riot."

    All press conferences must end in a riot or firefight.

  11. Master Of Disguise

    Any amateur disguise consisting of no more than a trenchcoat and fedora is completely impenetrable. On the other hand, complex and masterful disguises can be defeated in less than three minutes by a blind and deaf kindergartener.

  12. Trust In The Force

    Any character using Deflect will seem to deflect more often with it turned off than when it is actually active. This will seem even more the case if you are the one deflecting.

    (NOTE: Left in for posterity, though Deflect no longer is an activatable Ability.)

  13. Lecter's Postulate (or 'That Guy's Crazy!')

    Any OC who acts in an absurdist way or in a manner reminiscent of cartoons will be rewarded with success and power in all endeavors.

    First Corollary: They will often be absurdly effective in combat.
    Second Corollary: The scary ones will usually be more effective.

  14. Plato's Revenge

    At least thirty percent of the characters on the MUSH will be operating in accordance with an obscure personal philosophy, and will very likely have attack names in Latin.

    First Corollary: They have an unusual tendency to have angel-derived forms and armors.

  15. Guest Crack Postulate

    For every sensible and reasonable character concept applied for, there will be three that are based on far-out wacky things.

    First Corollary: At least one will end up on the grid.
    Second Corollary:     Fifty-fifty odds on it being a Maverick.
    Third Corollary: Two out of the three concepts will feature at least three armor modes.

  16. Law of Attack Complexity

    The more intricate, detailed, and complex a weapon operates, the less accurate it is. An Armor-Piercing PX32-66A Energon Matrix Assault Rifle is no match for a simple boot to the head.

  17. Law Of Combat Inertia (AKA Elec Man Syndrome)

    Those who are lucky in combat tend to stay lucky, and vice versa. This tends to lead to very long winning or losing streaks.

  18. But What Sort Of Message Are We Sending The Kids?

    All world-threatening events can be solved by shooting someone.

  19. "Count Me In! No, Really!" (or, Scene Attendance Rule)

    No matter how well-planned an event is, and no matter how many people swear they'll attend, divide that number by two. Even that much turnout is optimistic.

    Corollary: Never call for backup during an on-the-spur fight. That's the quickest way to a 6 hour scene.

  20. Attack of the Kawaii

    In every faction, there will be at least one character claiming to be The Cutest Thing You've Ever Seen, usually dropping anime cliches and/or smileys like nobody's business.

  21. "He's got a sword!"

    The smaller the Reploid, the larger the arsenal.

  22. "You idiots, we've all got swords!"

    Practically everyone carries enough firepower to put Duke Nukem to shame, or can put their hands on such weapons in less than ten minutes.

  23. Never Mess With The Mouse

    Anyone who attacks Florida/The Disney Universe will end up getting their arses handed to them by a giant Mecha with Mouse Ears and a squeaky voice. (NB: The Mickey Mouse Ridearmor is often flanked by Donald, Pluto, And Goofy Ridearmors.)

  24. "Friendly fire ... isn't."

    Any area attack that includes both allies and enemies in its targetting will hit all of your allies but less than half of your foes.

  25. The Big Kahuna Equilibrium Theorem

    The moment an EFC of sufficient weight class (where EFC, Essential Feature Character, is a random variable taking the values of Rock, Bass, King, Punk, General, Colonel...) turns up in a combat scene, he will be matched by spontaneous 'reinforcements', especially other EFCs and Ride Armor, until an arbitrary quantity referred to as 'fair balance' is obtained...

    Corollary : ...This is, of course, unless the EFC in question is Vile - in the Goliath. In which case, half the Mush can be expected to mysteriously appear in the scene...for no apparent purpose beyond the mass unloading of primary attacks on the Ride Armor.

  26. "You killed Wily!" "You bastards!"

    Faking your own death is believable once, maybe twice. Ten times is pushing it.

  27. The Daryn Effect

    Whenever a massively powerful force takes on several lesser opponents at once, the least imposing of those opponents will land the killing blow.

  28. Size Doesn't Matter

    All structures are created to suit characters of all sizes. If a 6 foot human leaves a chair, a 20 foot reploid will be able to sit in that same chair without difficulty.

  29. Roll Credits

    In any scene involving mass combat, whenever all fights are conclude, the scene ends, regardless of any loose ends or important details remaining.

  30. The Friday, 10 PM Paradox

    In the M3 universe, characters have access to, and have largely played, every video game and video game series in existance, including Final Fantasy, and Super Mario, and every sequal thereof. However, all games starring Megaman are mysteriously absent.

    Note: Named for the 'real' Friday at 10 PM Paradox which goes like this: "In the Star Trek Universe," what was on television on Friday at 10 PM in the year 1968?"

  31. Law of Strider Style

    Even when Striders lose, they look good doing it.

  32. Biff! Pow! Zok!

    During major raids, the efforts of reacting 'good guy' (Repliforce, Maverick Hunter) forces will be focused on fighting off the attacking force, with passing thought if any given to helping or protecting the hapless sheeplike humans. Any threat or attack made to a weak or non-combatant PC member of the faction, however, will be responded to with vicious force.

  33. The Perils of Pauline Theorem

    Any female human without combat armor or serious weapons skills will end up being ogled and joked about to an almost astounding extent, particularly by the brash hotheaded (craft-type-name) pilots.

    Corollary: She will enter combat very frequently, often more than many FCs.

  34. The Doolittle Effect

    Everyone speaks perfectly, never misses a beat, never fudges up a word. No spoonerism or simply spur-of-the-moment nonsense -- unless they're programmed that way or, in the case of organics, have some reputation for doing so.

  35. Law of Conservation of Misfortune

    All characters who are bumbling idiots, incompetent, or just generally have no business whatsoever having any success in life or surviving long enough to contribute to the gene pool, will instead be astoundingly successful in all their endeavors. This is because of the existence of Cut Man and Milan. Combined, they form a misfortune sink powerful enough to absorb all other idiocy-spawned misfortune on the MUSH, and leave those idiot characters only success and glory.

  36. The Absence Paradox:

    Any character, regardless of how long they have been away or whatever reasons for them leaving will never be checked, probed or in any way sniffed at, with the important fact being their return. Anyone who questions their abscence will be ignored, or the argument will simply dissapear within minutes with the person welcoming them back.

    This counts double for important FCs, and EFCs who can leave for years and beat down anyone who challenges the fantastic day that marks their return.

  37. The Sole Survivor

    Families have a nasty habit of dying off, leaving only one member to survive whatever catastrophic event that killed the rest of them off miraculously unharmed.

    Corollary: 50/50 chance on one of the supposedly dead members to reappear within 3 months, usually festooned with cyberware or something else to explain their miraculous survival.
    Second Corollary: The surviving member has a 50/50 chance of being in an 'enemy' faction.

  38. Nuke It From Orbit, It's The Only Way To Be Sure

    Nobody is allowed to have orbital weaponry. Any weapons deployed in orbit are destroyed within a couple weeks.

  39. The Dundee Naming Scheme

    Anyone who can wield an unusually (or excessively) large weapon one-handed usually calls it something smaller than it really is (e.g. Someone wielding a 30mm cannon one-handed calling it a 'handgun').

This list is maintained by Prismatic Spider. Please @mail him with your addition suggestions, or email him at rbaffy@divisionbyzero.org. Remember to include your character's name if you want credit!

These brave souls have helped make the list what it is, and (probably) won't get stepped on accidently with the Raiden: