Overview
Cuphead is a run-and-gun action game that draws heavy inspiration from 1930s cartoons. The storyline revolves around two brothers, Cuphead and Mugman, who find themselves in debt to the Devil after losing a bet at his casino. To repay their debt, they must collect "soul contracts" from various bosses across the Inkwell Isles [2].
Main Plot
The game's narrative begins with Cuphead and Mugman wandering into the Devil's casino. After a winning streak, they are tempted into a high-stakes gamble by the Devil himself, which they lose, putting their souls on the line. The Devil offers them a deal: collect the soul contracts of his runaway debtors, and he might spare them [4:1]. This sets the stage for the game's main objective, where players must defeat a series of challenging bosses to obtain these contracts.
Character Arcs and Themes
While the main plot focuses on the collection of soul contracts, the game also includes character arcs and themes that add depth to the storyline. For instance, the DLC introduces Saltbaker, whose story adds more complexity to the narrative [2:1]. The game pays homage to American history and the era of prohibition through its gambling theme, though this is not deeply explored within the game itself
[2:2].
Lore and Easter Eggs
Cuphead's world is rich with lore and easter eggs, though much of it is left to player interpretation. There is no official backstory for why the characters sold their souls or the relationships between them, leaving room for fan theories and expansions [2:3]. Additionally, the game features various references and nods to classic animation and storytelling tropes, creating a nostalgic yet fresh experience
[2:6].
Cultural Impact
The simplicity of Cuphead's storyline allows for creative freedom in other media, such as the Cuphead Show, where new stories and character interpretations can be explored [1]. Despite its straightforward plot, the game has been praised for its artistic style and challenging gameplay, overshadowing the need for an intricate narrative
[2:4].
Overall, Cuphead combines a simple yet engaging storyline with challenging gameplay and a unique art style, making it a memorable experience for players.
Djimmi: Cuphead and Mugman find a magic lamp and summon Djimmi. The first two wishes are twisted by Djimmi and now they must figure out a way to reverse the damage caused by their wishes.
Carney Carnation: Elder Kettle leaves town for a few days and tasks the cup brothers with taking care of his garden. Cagney shows up as an invasive weed trying to keep the garden for himself and Cuphead and Mugman must exterminate him before Elder Kettle comes home.
All bosses that didn’t appear yet I want to appear.
How longer I think about this, how more undecided I become. All bosses are so unique and would look like fun in the series. With Djimmi you can make the weirdest shit happen though.
why that picthure for djimi
I thought it would be funny.
it is
That cagney one is really just root pack
Yeah, but I don't know what else to do for him.
Djimmi getting absolutely annoyed by Cuphead and Mugman’s constant questioning
Does this game have any depth at all other than two brothers collecting contracts because they acted greedy? Maybe any clues that suggest something or easter eggs that imply something, just something that makes the story richer or where we can develop theories because X was revealed. I haven't finished the game yet I am in world 3. I have seen the entire DLC gameplay though.
I have a video on my channel exploring the whole gambling part of cuphead, how it has deeper roots to American history and the prohibition. I can link it if you want!
hello, please do it sounds interesting.
There is no-canon/official confirmation of why they sold their souls, their backstories or the relationships they have with each other. The comics and novels kinda help on the last ones but not a lot on the other two caaes
At least me, I have been working on a small lore extension to the characters, but I'll be going for a more dark and sad part
Story is overrated. The game is beautiful and the gameplay is excellent.
in rugged ridge theres ruins of a war
And Ms. Chalice's Super Art 3 has her as a commander of a bunch of ghostly dish-like troops
Saltbaker’s arc in the DLC has a bit more depth, but for the most part it’s just a silly old timey cartoon.
It’s not very deep because the source material Cuphead pays tribute to was not very deep either. The lack of character depth allows for absurd transformations and occasional dark splashes of humor.
Hello IC community, it's me, Magic Flask. This post was made as a response to this image that was published recently.
Today, I'm going to debunk every point of GENUINE slander made in this post.
While yes, that was a very stupid move from my goat, Cuphead HAD to lose or he would kill/knock out Shovel Knight, which would damage the plot and cause it to go off course. It's quite possible that without Shovel Knight, they would have lost against Fraudmaster, and no one wants to know where that leads. Another counterargument is that the reason Cuphead lost this fight isn't because of powers caling or that he's a fraud, it's simply because of the experience gap between SK and Cuphead. Shovel Knight is far more composed and experienced compared to the young cup. It's the blue, honorable, old blue guy vs the red, brash, young red guy. While Cuphead losing is still a sore spot, him losing does not mean he is a fraud.
"Got saved by Shovel Knight twice"
First of all, Cuphead assisted SK against the drone in EP 1, meaning that the "cliff save" is simply repayment. In fact, SK shouldn't have saved Cuphead then. In Cuphead's home game, he CANNOT TAKE FALL DAMAGE. This means that when Cuphead said to "Drop him and carry on with the fisticuffs..", it's quite possibly because the Cup knows he won't be hurt that bad by the fall. As for the other instance where SK "saved" him from the drones, that was a very "conditional" save. If Cuphead did try to charge the drones, he COULD have died or he ALSO could have gotten away by his own after realizing the vision. It was less of a save and more of Shovel Knight simply STOPPING him from engaging the drones.
"Got pump faked by Fraudmaster."
This is because he pump faked Fraudmaster FIRST. In the episode, you can see him baiting Fraudmaster by aiming a shot to the sky, before hitting him in the head with a chair. Gamemaster's pump fake was a simple revenge play, as he knew that he had to salvage whatever aura he had left.
(that's the original author of the cuphead slander image btw)
Cuphead's main priority was to SAVE NIKO. It's similar to being trapped in a burning building. Would you rather save your sister or would you rather save your Switch 2. He prioritized SAVING LIVES rather than some lightbulb. Another point is that NO ONE ELSE EVEN BOTHERED TO SAVE NIKO OR EVEN THE SUN. Drifter and Madeline tried to escape immediately and Knight had to sacrifice for her sorry ass. Where was your "daddy" Shovel Knight during all this? GETTING PUNTED THROUGH A PORTAL AFTER LANDING ONE HIT. Cuphead was the only one who BOTHERED to save Niko, a CHILD AND QUITE POSSIBLY THE YOUNGEST CHARACTER HERE. The fact he missed the sun is because he was more focused on saving them. "Why didn't he look at the lamp?" BECAUSE HE WAS TRYING TO ESCAPE INSTEAD OF WASTING PRECIOUS SECONDS ON CHECKING IF HE WAS HOLDING THE RIGHT THING.
The second image of this post was Cuphead calling Shovel Knight "daddy." CUPHEAD IS EXPLICITLY A CHILD IN INDIE CROSS. I think that speaks for itself.
Anyway, thank you for listening to me ramble.
TLDR stayfocus455 was lying, and Cuphead IS the goat
CUPHEAD BEEF (also cuphead doesnt have hair)
Whos falling cuphead a fraud? Ive never seen one.
Look at this last-ditch effort to protect your washed goat 😂✌️
bro is anything BUT focused
Excellent
I’ve played cuphead once at a friends house, barely know anything about him, but DANG he is underrated in the series.
I never actually realized he tried to go on the offensive before saving Niko, I totally thought he immediately went to go save him
Also, I should probably specify that they are sent to the very beginning of the games that they are sent to, and any story elements that are needed for the story to happen (Example: Cuphead gambling away his soul), happens to the person trapped in the new universe (in the example I stated, it would be The Beheaded that gambled away their soul).
I don't think cuphead is gonna beat deadcells 7 times outa 10, we would have to consider if he could survive the malaise, the multitude of monsters and powerful forces on the island, and while the main goal of the game is technically to escape the island I'm not sure it is ever truly accomplished due to its rogue lite elements, you either kill the hand of the king and return to start, find a boat that's filled with infected that kill you,or whatever the 5bc and return to castlevania endings are, I havent gotten them yet, either way i doubt that cuphead goes through it easily,and since he's not immortal (as far as I know)unlike the beheaded he can actually fail permanently
Okay, huge rant ahead, sorry in advance.
Frisk: Haven’t played Shover Knight before, but I assume that Frisk could handle it well. With a stick, you can kill over a hundred people in genocide, so I doubt that they’ll struggle here either.
Shovel Knight: Gambled his soul likely to a trick, like Cuphead, but he’d be a lot more determined to beat the devil not just to reclaim his soul, but because it’s for the greater good. Shovel Knight makes it out alive and well.
Cuphead: Holy cow, he’s cooked. If the monsters didn’t kill him due to having a three-hit HP-bar, he’d die to the Malaise. In the boss battles, though, he’d be fine. It’s mostly what Cuphead is about, anyway.
Beheaded: Being a quick-paced hack-and-slasher, I headcanon that he’d accidentally drop the Sun about five seconds after getting it.
Niko: I’ve never played Hyper Light Drifter either, but if Niko got sick with whatever Drifter had, they are screwed. Let alone the fact that they have no offense.
Drifter: Without the disease from their own world, they can make it out, as that’s really their only downside. If they still had the disease, it’d be a race against time.
Knight: Entirely depends on whether or not they have items. Since everyone starts at the start of the other’s games, I’d assume not. Good luck, buddy.
Madeline: “Hey, wanna see me speedrun?” *reaches Asgore in 23 seconds*
I think it's funny how Madeline could un-ironically just beat Undertale by not interacting with a single character and just rushing to the barrier. Not really in-character, though. I'd say Madeline's worst problem is at the very end. You need a human AND a monster SOUL in order to pass the Barrier, which means she would have to fight Asgore, which likely wouldn't go well for her considering she's not exactly a fighter, not to mention that Asgore would likely be (more) locked-in against Madeline, since she's an adult that has no visual similarities to Chara, unlike Frisk. Basically, she would realistically die in every ending since she probably wouldn't even be able to kill Toriel for the Genocide route, and Photoshop Flowey and Asriel Dreemurr are death sentences for her since she can't SAVE or come back to life like Frisk, The Beheaded, or The Knight.
TL;DR: Basically, her safest bet is to try her best to befriend the monsters and stay in the Underground, since it's basically impossible for her to win, considering what she would have to fight.
Determination is pretty core to Undertale's storytelling and world, just like whoever ends up in cuphead needing to gamble their soul, whoever ends up In Undertale needs determination, or else the story simply doesn't work. It isn't like having Determination doesn't fit any of the characters, they're all protagonists with heaps of Determination in their own game, they simply dont live in a world where them coming back to life due to it is canon. The shit Madeline dealt with on Celeste mountain easily gives her the DT she needs to take over from Flowey.
As for the biggest roadblocks for her, Asgore and Omega Flowey.
Asgore would absolutely kill her on the first try, probably not quickly due to her speed but Asgoee only gets faster as the battle goes on. And we've never gotten to see Asgore when he truly locked in either, so he could easily go harder on Madeline than he did on Frisk. However, after killing her several times im PRETTY SURE Badeline could convince Madeline to fight back, and Badeline would do her magic stuff. Blah blah blah Madeline wins eventually, Asgore falls to his knees and does his monolog, she spares him, then flowey kills him as usual,
Omega flowey literally brings you back to life with his saves over and over again till the Soul's rebel against him and you get Determination back, it's literally just Madeline surviving long enough, and she can easily do that.
Maddie absolutely goes pacifist route, with one of the more science-y monsters being able to take over supplying her medical needs like HRT.
She's also an adult where Chara was a child so she'd probably be able to survive the more dangerous bits of that route without issue.
The hard part is that Madeline doesn't have Determination so she would actually be weaker than Frisk. Another problem is that since Madeline is an adult, monsters would be FAR less trusting of her, not to mention that every route has one different problem for Madeline:
Genocide: First, it just wouldn't be in-character, but even if she does do it and we assume her damage scales to the same as Frisk, even though it shouldn't, she's getting demolished by Undyne the Undying.
Neutral: Technically she could just run past everyone until she reaches the barrier. The problem is that you need a human AND monster soul to pass the barrier, and she would definitely lose to Asgore, and even if she won, she's NOT getting past Photoshop Flowey.
True Pacifist: It's literally impossible to do on a first attempt, but even if we assume she somehow managed to go on the Papryus, Undyne, and Alphys hang-outs, she gets demolished by Asriel since she doesn't have DT, causing her to just die when Asriel rams a literal star in her face.
Hard Mode: Realistically wouldn't be possible since Madeline's name isn't Frisk, it's Madeline, but if she somehow was able to do it, it would actually be the only route she could beat. "How", you ask? Literally just running past Flowey and Toriel and bolting to the exit to the Ruins. Hard Mode ends in Ruins, so that technically counts as the ending of the game
I interpreted Determination as one of those basic elements that gets transferred to the new person with this clause;
>and any story elements that are needed for the story to happen (Example: Cuphead gambling away his soul), happens to the person trapped in the new universe
Since no route of Undertale realistically functions without it as written.
Why would Madeline not have Determination? All humans in UT have a soul and from that soul comes Determination. If Madeline didn't have Determination that'd mean she has no soul, and monsters wouldn't care to attack her at all.
Madeline would have Determination and a soul because undertale in general doesn't work without it- Now whether Madeline would survive or not depends on if we use canon Undertale or the fanon Undertale Moro used.
In Canon? Madeline likely wins, though make take her a bit. Monsters are made out of magic, which means they take and deal damage based on intent to harm. That's why Frisk in the genocide route is so powerful, the monsters are made of magic and Frisk has intent to harm them*. Madeline I don't believe would have intent to harm, so she'd try to settle things peacefully. Due to her experience on Mt. Celeste she would be good a dodging, so that'd likely translate a decent amount to dodging bullet patterns (which are also canon btw)**. The only point I see her struggling is against Asgore, but I also feel like she'd be able to talk her way out of it better than Frisk would, but there is a possibility she falls here from not wanting to attack Asgore. She'd probably survive the Omega Flowey fight cuz Flowey keeps bringing you back anyways until the souls rebel, so the only trouble Madeline would be in is against Asgore unless Badelune convinces her to attack.
In Fanon? Madeline blitzes through the underground with no issue. Despite fanon using real time combat and making characters much more powerful than they're meant to be*** none would be able to catch up to Madeline. Even those like Asgore wouldn't be able to do much as she wears him down since Madeline just has that much speed and practice on harder courses and fights that the only one that stands a chance against her in Neutral is Omega Flowey, and she could still just stall until the souls rebel. Essentially she just wouldn't fight like anyone lol
*Librarby [Orange Book] "Because they are made of magic, monsters' bodies are attuned to their SOUL. If a monster doesn't want to fight, its defenses will weaken. And the crueller the intentions of our enemies, the more their attacks will hurt us. Therefore, if a being with a powerful SOUL struck with the desire to kill... Um, let's end the chapter here..."
**Librarby [Blue Book] "While monsters are mostly made of magic, human beings are mostly made of water. Humans, with their physical forms, are far stronger than us. But they will never know the joy of expressing themselves through magic. They'll never get a bullet-pattern birthday card..."
***(Frisk in Indie Cross would've died to THK if they were canon, THK isn't made of magic like monsters are so the knife would've done less than the nail and then THK would've just stabbed Frisk- And also look at things like Sans animations, the entire point of Sans is he's the weakest enemy but manipulates the battle box to be strong, the animations where he's teleporting out of the way of slashes and impaling Frisk with bones and stuff are cool but completely miss the point)
But she wouldn’t know the other conditions, I don’t see her going on the date with Papyrus. She also doesn’t share the similarities with chara that Frisk had which was integral to Asriel and Flowey not obliterating Frisk.
You don't necessarily need to date Papyrus, just hang out with him. Madeline would probably be willing to, though without Determination I'm not certain she would get the True Lab. That normally requires beating Asgore and Omega Flowey, then Resetting. But even if she's not required to Reset, I don't think she'd go back far enough to get Undyne's call after meeting Asgore. She's not particularly avoidant of her problems, especially after the Mountain.
I fully believe that The Guardian would just adopt Niko if they landed in Hyper Light Drifter. Also, the second Hornet knows that Drifter is going after the Dreamers and is planning on killing the Hollow Knight, she will kill them when they’re in the dream realm killing the Dreamers. Ghost/Knight would be able to climb Mt. Celeste. There’s a portion of the game that is climbing a mountain (from the interior/mine area), and with certain upgrades it’s quite fun.
Also, since Hollow Knight is a special situation, the "goal" I'm putting for The Drifter is to kill The Hollow Knight, although that ends with Hallownest being doomed.
I wish they could be in Bendy and The Ink Machine. It would be great to see interaction between Cuphead and Bendy about Cartoon stuff.
I believe Niko would be upset to Cuphead about The Sun then Bendy will find them shortly after.
Cuphead will start fighting as usual just to realize after that it not doing much. Might only do slowing down or stun at most due to Bendy's endurance.
They both would meet Boris eventually. (But I have really blurry memory of BATIM, so I am really sorry that Boris not getting involve much in this.)
Niko would be the one reliable here. doing puzzle and stuff. This would be similar to Cuphead and Mugman duo dynamic.
At some point Niko would misses their home, feeling bad as they thought they have failed their mission, wishing for God to be around.
For character development, I think Cuphead will realizing that sometimes thing aren't going the way he thought it would, then try putting everything together in the end. Big brother action.
Niko's actions could remind of Mugman to Cuphead. Maybe, Cuphead might try cheering Niko up too.
For the last fight. It would take at the last boss fight in BATIM.
Cuphead try to distract Bendy for Niko doing puzzle. >!Getting The End on the screen.!<
(Originally I was thinking of Beheaded and Knight get de-golded then get teleport here, but I think it would be better if it just Cuphead and Niko now)
After that the portal will appears to reunite them with others. And this time Frisk will be there too.
At this point, I wish to see Niko and Frisk interaction about SAVE and >!explaining World Machine and Player lore, probably about bug and glitches too!<. I not sure how it gonna be, I am expecting Frisk reconsidering to do Pacifist and Niko >!acknowledging about Solstice Ending!<.
Cuphead:let me in niko
Niko in box (didnt play the game to know what it is) :no there is only room for one
its a safety cab to hide from enemies, im sure both cuphead and niko could fit in there
Well there is no time any more and as already running away and is battling bendy
And now niko as time to think of a creatieve soliusion like showing the end at bendy
Bro this is literally the plot of my Indie Cross fanfic, guess we had similar ideas
Link?
https://archiveofourown.org/works/65436274 The Bendy subplot starts in chapter 6
Oh yeah I forgor. Art by me too!
beautiful.
Why is not invincible
How did Mugman managed to make an invisible sweater without messing it up? Is impressive
Magic outside of Hogwarts!
Very. Thanks again for helping
Is not helping, is just leaving a nice/funny comment
Plot armour?
what thing? i just see a blank square. if ur gonna upload memes at least do it right
Sorry I guess but I can't help with that. Stop making your problems mine.
dude i was joking, i was referencing how the sweater is invisible, sorry u didnt get it, my bad
Just make an edit of this where there’s nothing there.
It would be a little TOO subtle but it would work!
Thanks for the idea. I may post that tomorrow and credit you
What sweater?
Really want to play Cuphead but I don't want to get into another story based game because I am already playing another story game, while watching shows that are story based and it will be too difficult to keep track of many stories at once.
Little to no story. The intro scene is basically the whole story :p "This and that happened, now you are here, play game." :)
He has to fight bosses to get the souls back etc
Drake the type of Dueling David to play a game of chess against Death themself, and if he loses he forfeits his soul
"Ready? WALLOP!" Headass.
"I'm Mr King Dice, I'm the gamest in the land" headass
"This fight gets RED hot... Now go!"
And then when he pays off his debt he’s like “No”
Drake the type of fairytale Frederick to have his backstory explained in a book
Drake the type of Narrator Nancy to say “Its a good day for a swell battle! You’re up!” at the start of each fight
my friend has winned the game 2 TIMES, IN THE SAME MONTH, AND IM STILL IN KING DICE AFTER 10 MONTHS, HELP, IM ABOUT TO GO INSANE
I beat it today after about 2 weeks
only fight bosses 2, 4or5, and 7. use chaser for all the mini bosses with smoke dash. and easy way to always pick the right number is to jump like your going to parry the dice and pause the game. If it looks good unpause and finish the parry
I s ranked every boss after about 2 weeks of playing
I beat the game half a week after I got it lmao
edit: I got the game, THIS SUNDAY and started Monday and just finished today.
I beat it the hour after I got it 🥱
Well, I didn’t play this game for two years STRAIGHT. I took a break and forgot about it for months (I was stuck on Grim Matchstick, Wally Warbles, Djimmi the Great…) until the show came out, and that kind of inspired me to try to beat it once and for all.
Me too man, after a two year hiatus, I just finished the game today
One of my favorite games… but I’m never playing it again
Fair enough lol
But what about the DLC?
Oh, and it was normal difficulty. Yeah idc if it wasn’t the hardest difficulty, I’m still proud of myself
Congratulations!! Just in time for the dlc ;)
i have a theory that Niko will not only crumble down cuz he lost the Sun, but he'll also start to fight alongside the others
we've already seen some characters grabbing weapons, either from their universe or not, and just... use them, so MAYBE Niko will learn how to fight
At most, Niko would be like “WHAT!?”, then look down depressed or something.
"(I can't save the world cuz I don't have the sun, and I can't even leave cuz I don't have the sun)"
We need a new crash-out for Episode 3 now.
The Knight encounters Frisk, fucking explodes
Unfortunately that's not happening, at least not in episode 3 because moro confirmed that Frisk won't appear in ep 3
"aw man :<" - Niko probably
yeah it makes sense that niko wont lash out on cuphead...but as his friend and god i can lash out at that impudent bowl from missing the sun XD
Storyline of Cuphead game
Key Considerations about the Storyline of Cuphead:
Setting: The game is set in a whimsical, cartoonish world inspired by 1930s animation, featuring vibrant visuals and hand-drawn art.
Main Characters: Players control Cuphead and his brother Mugman, who are characterized by their cup-like heads and distinct personalities.
Plot Overview: The storyline begins with Cuphead and Mugman visiting the Devil's Casino, where they gamble and lose their souls to the Devil. To reclaim their souls, they must collect the souls of other debtors who owe the Devil.
Boss Battles: The game is structured around challenging boss battles, each representing a unique debtor. Players must defeat these bosses to progress and ultimately confront the Devil himself.
Themes: The game explores themes of temptation, redemption, and the consequences of one's choices, all wrapped in a humorous and light-hearted narrative.
Takeaway: Cuphead's storyline serves as a backdrop for its challenging gameplay and artistic style. The narrative of gambling and debt adds depth to the otherwise whimsical adventure, making it engaging for players. The combination of a rich storyline and challenging gameplay is a significant part of its appeal.
Get more comprehensive results summarized by our most cutting edge AI model. Plus deep Youtube search.