Community/Recap/S2 E14 Advanced Dungeons and Dragons

Abed: In about 13 turns, he will die of exposure. Jeff? Jeff: I wait 14 turns.

Fearing one of their classmates is suicidally depressed, the study group decides to intervene by engaging in a game of D&D. The plan goes awry when Pierce, after discovering he wasn't invited, demands to join the game.

The Community episode "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" provides examples of:

• Aerith and Bob: Abed is "not the best at making up names", resulting in characters named Zibbady Doo, Marrrrrrr, Bing-Bong, Hector, Lavernica, Brutalitops, and Kyle.
• Ambiguous Disorder: Abed the Undiagnosable's title calls attention to it.
• Ancestral Weapon: The Sword of Duquesne.

Pierce: I hump it.

• The Atoner: Jeff, who accidentally coined the "Fat Neil" nickname, is trying to make up for that fact.
• Big Bad: Pierce, in-character. And arguably out of it as well.
• Biggus Dickus: Hector the Well-Endowed, the character Annie plays.
  • Although Abed originally designed him with Troy in mind

Shirley the Cloying: Yeah I bet you did.

• Blackface: Chang's use of Cosplay makeup will haunt you to your dying day.
• Bottle Episode: The episode takes place almost exclusively in the study room.
• Call Back: Fat Neil makes another appearance, and we learn why he's called Fat Neil.
• Cavemen vs. Astronauts Debate: The tag sees Troy and Abed arguing about which would be better: a tail or giant ears.
• Completely Missing the Point:
  • Britta, who takes pity on all the various races they encounter. Including the goblins.

Abed the Undiagnosable: (as his character dies) Thank you for being so kind to me... just so you know... my name... was Kyle. Britta the Needlessly Defiant: (tearing up) KYLE! Jeff the Liar: Britta, he was an imaginary waiter. Britta the Needlessly Defiant: I wouldn't expect you to understand.

• • Pierce, who declares that he "won Dungeons & Dragons!" by being a griefer and alienating everyone else.
  • This article suggests that, whether ill-intentioned (Pierce) or well-intentioned (the rest of the group), everyone completely missed the point both about what was truly driving Neil's darker thoughts and what eventually helped him through it.
• Compressed Adaptation: Most games of D&D played have a lot more setup and follow through.
• Credits Gag: The opening credits reflect the D&D theme. The drawings on the fortune thingy are fantastical and the theme music epic.
• Critical Hit/Critical Failure: Pierce is able to decapitate Chang's character.
• Cross Player: Annie. Abed, too, when he plays the NPC elf-maiden, causing Jeff to feel uncomfortable when he has to seduce her. Annie has to seduce her instead.
• Dark Elf Dies First: Possibly as a punishment for cosplaying in blackface.
• Defeat Means Friendship: To a very, very small degree between Neil and Pierce.
• Dramatic Wind/Evil Is Deathly Cold: Pierce's arrival is heralded by a whooshing sound and Shirley and Annie hugging themselves for warmth.
• Embarrassing Nickname/In-Series Nickname: "Fat" Neil.
  • Pierce is known as Pierce the Dickish and Grandpa the Flatulent.
• Fantastic Racism: Britta is incensed by this in D&D regarding gnomes.
• Full-Frontal Assault: Since Pierce's character is nude for the entire game, the final confrontation is this.
• Game Within a Game: See What Could Have Been.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: Annie's character, Hector the Well-Endowed, must seduce a comely elf to gain access to a pegasus which the party needs. This leads to Annie graphically describing how she goes about this seduction. Dramatic music covers up the dialog, but you can clearly read her lips and it is filthy. At one point, the viewer can see Annie saying "I take out my huge member." At another point, she holds up two fingers, then three, then four.
• A Glass of Chianti: Pierce holds a glass of red wine while sitting on his throne.
• Hannibal Lecture: Pierce pulls out one on Neil to turn him against Jeff.
• I Am X, Son of Y

"Jeff the Liar, son of William the Barely Known."

• Jerkass: Pierce. He destroys everything Neil had worked for just For the Evulz.
  • Basically the opposite of what Pierce did in "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas"
• The Magnificent: Everyone and most of their characters:

Annie the Dayplanner: Hello, I am Hector the Well-Endowed.

• Moral Event Horizon: Pierce is essentially ruining an intervention for a suicidally depressed young man out of spite because he wasn't invited along. Kind of a dick move, Pierce. In truth, Pierce was feeling just as alone as Neil. He goes into detail in "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking". But even so.
• Naked People Are Funny: Pierce's character starts out with no clothes and no weapons, so in every one of his scenes, Abed makes sure to point out that he's naked.
• Nice Job Fixing It Pierce: As aggravating as Pierce's intrusion and subsequent behavior is, it ultimately has positive effects.
• Off the Rails: Pierce pretty much does this at the start because the gang left him out.
• One-Woman Wail: When Brutalitops dies and Chang hands in his character sheet.
• Pet the Dog: The entire episode is about the study group giving Neil one of these, and as such most of them try to keep their quirks and jerkasseries in check. Even Chang's customary manchild behavior is somewhat in abeyance.
• Pierce On His Throne
• Pyrrhic Villainy: Pierce manages to completely defeat the group and temporarily 'win' the game, but at the cost of becoming completely despised by everyone in the group.
• The Right of a Superior Species: Britta tries to tell a Gnome waiter that he's just as good as they are. Abed replies that according to the game rules, no, he's actually not, and the gang are justified in treating him however they want because of this trope.
• RPG Episode: Conspicuously lacking deep immersion.

"And so the group did describe themselves walking."

• Screwed by the Network: Almost, as NBC wanted to cut the episode until Dan Harmon convinced them not to.
• Shaped Like Itself

Troy: I'm Bing Bong The Archer. I'm an archer, and such.

• Ship Tease: Abed's character flirting with Jeff's, and later having a drawn-out sex scene with Annie's.
• Shout-Out: A ton in the beginning, specifically Neil's "Outlets of Fantasy" which include:
  • A copy of Watchmen.
  • A Doctor Who Day of the Daleks video.
  • Uncharted 2.
  • An issue of Scud the Disposable Assassin, a comic book series which show creator Dan Harmon co-wrote.
  • Also: Excelsior!
  • "Hector the Well-Endowed" was meant for Troy, and in The Iliad, Hector was a prince of the nation of Troy.
  • "Lavernica" was meant for Shirley.
• Special Edition Title: Medieval themed.
• Spikes of Villainy: The traffic cones on Pierce's throne.
• Squishy Wizard: Chang, the magician of the group, is taken out in one critical hit.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Shirley can't tell you how long she's waited to take out Pierce. ...in the game.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Neil rolls a 19 in order to disarm Pierce via thrown sword.
• Title Drop:

Pierce: I won Dungeons and Dragons, and it was advanced!

• Took a Level In Jerkass: Pierce has been getting worse and worse, but he really steps it up.
• Total Party Kill: Pierce almost achieves this
• True Neutral: Abed as Dungeon Master. No matter what horrible thing Pierce does Abed refuses to step outside the boundaries of the rules to stop him. However, he makes it clear that he doesn't approve of Pierce's actions, and he exhibits definite satisfaction when Neil manages to turn things around.
• Unfortunate Implications: Chang spends the episode in blackface. When Shirley calls him out, he says he's playing a dark elf.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In the original concept, Pierce turns out to be an expert D&D player due to hanging out with Gary Gygax in the '70s.
  • It was in talks for Pierce's victory/defeat to involve him sealing everyone in a cube, only for them to exclude him from a game of D&D they start up while inside the cube.
• What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?:

Narrator: And so the group did describe themselves walking. And Abed did confirm that they walked.

• What the Hell, Hero?: The study group is genuinely shocked and appalled with Jeff when they learn that he was the one who started the "Fat Neil" nickname in the first place.
• Wine Is Classy: Pierce has a large glass of red wine when Abed finds him on his throne.
• The Woobie: "Fat" Neil.
• The X of Y: Britta is the AT&T of people.