8-Bit Theater

About

8-Bit Theater is a classic online sprite web comic that parodies both the NES video game Final Fantasy and also wider role-playing game stereotypes using 8-bit art and clip art. Frames and strips from the comic are often used as reaction images online, and it is widely considered to be one of the first and best examples of narrative-based pixel art.

History

Brian Clevinger (also known as Kurosen in forums) first began publishing 8-Bit Theater on his web site Nuklear Power on March 2, 2001.^[1] The comic follows the travels of a group of four characters called "The Light Warriors," including the Black Mage, the Red Mage, the Fighter, and the Thief, as they comedically encounter the same types of challenges typical of role playing games like Final Fantasy. The comic employs a variety of different types of humor, including running gags and wordplay.

Flash movie versions of 8-Bit Theater on Newgrounds were first made by the user The Legendary Frog (TLF for short) and later Meddros. The first episode of the five-part series was uploaded on Dec 12, 2002 and has over 1 million views as of October 2015. In June 1, 2010, Brian Clevinger made a long epilogue comic page that takes place three years later, ending the 8-Bit Theater web comic series with a history of 1,225 episodes published.

Reception

1UP.com described 8-Bit Theater as the sprite comic "that took the style to its fullest expression and greatest popularity." In 2002, 8-Bit Theater exploded in popularity, winning the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards for best fantasy comic, best gaming comic, and best male character.^[6] There are 41 entries on Fanfic.com for 8 Bit Theater,^[7] and 542 posts on DeviantArt.^[8] The Wikia for 8-Bit Theater is called the Sardapedia, and it has over 1,600 entries as of October 2015.

Search Interest

External References