raxdflipnote - TV Tropes

raxdflipnote is a YouTube channel dedicated to uploading videos made in the Nintendo DS' Flipnote Studio. The videos are short, usually never exceeding 20 seconds in length, featuring stick-figure characters in a series of absurdist comedy sketches. While the channel was first created in May of 2023, the first video of the channel, titled "showdown" was uploaded in February of 2024. Since then, videos have been uploaded to the channel at a regular pace.

The event which really caused his channel to blow up was the Self-Imposed Challenge he ended up giving himself to release one animation every single day for an entire year (365 days) from 2024 to 2025. The momentum of his constant uploading along with the inherently easily-digestible Rapid-Fire Comedy of the animations meant that his channels and platforms soon exploded in popularity. By the end of the challenge he would already have over a million subscribers on YouTube alone.

raxd would open an account on Newgrounds in February of 2025.

The name "raxdflipnote" is a truncation of his original Sudomemo username, "AuroraXD", with "flipnote" appended to it. It is not an accidental (or deliberate) misspelling of "radxflipnote", and he has made fun of this misconception before.

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List of Flipnotes by Volume

Volume 7 

Volume 6 

Volume 5 

Volume 4 

Volume 3 

Volume 2 

Volume 1 

LET'S GO TROPING! *chk-chk-chk-ERRR.* AW, DANG IT!

• 420, Blaze It: Played With as the flipnote "420" doesn't reference weed at all, but instead has one stick figure declaring that on that day, all crime is legal a la The Purge.
• Abnormal Allergy: Kyle the Alien is allergic to copper, explaining why he destroys the Burger Man statue erected in the hero's honor.
• all lowercase letters: The channel name plus almost all of the Flipnotes' titles on the channel are formatted this way.
• Art Shift:
  • At the end of "car crash", the titular crash isn't drawn by raxdflipnote but is instead a video of a car crash that was put through Flipnote Studio.
  • "gamblecore 7" starts out like usual, but then the animation cuts into a full-color retro 3D background, complete with lighting effects and camera cinematography.
• Animation Bump: "BROMBUS VS LANDLORD" features an unexpectedly high-quality fight scene between the two titular characters with much more fluid animation and more camera work.
• Bile Fascination: An In-Universe example can be seen in "never judge a book by its cover", where a stickperson expresses how much they want to read a book that prides itself on how horrible it is.

  Voiceover: "This Book Sucks, Don't Read It".
  Stickperson: That makes me wanna read it even more!

• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: The 4-in-1 shampoo in "shampoo" works as shampoo, conditioner, bodywash, and a nuclear bomb.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: In "walk", the plain stick figure says he can't walk over to the top-hat-and-monocle-clad stick figure because "our animator literally doesn't know how to do walk cycles".
• Breakout Character: The gamblecore guy became this due to "gamblecore" exploding in popularity; he's one of the few characters who has merch dedicated to them (alongside Burger Man & Kyle the Alien), and has more merch dedicated to him than the other characters.
• Broken Record: Various Flipnotes have this as a punchline, such as "piratecore"^note  and its sequel,^note  "gamblecore",^note  "gamblecore 2",^note , "plugging in a USB"^note , "criminalcore"^note , "shoppingcore"^note , "minecraft movie",^note  and "yummers"^note .
• Comically Small Bribe: It's a punchline in a couple of videos like "burger man's return" and "trolley problem 2" where a guy gives someone (Burger Man in the former and the guy being asked of the trolley problem in the latter) 5 dollars to do something (return from retirement in the former or to pull the lever in the latter), the receiver accepts it with excitement and without hesitation.
• Compilation Re-release:
  • On the 1st day of every month since the creation of the channel, raxdflipnote will upload a collection (usually around 30) of flipnotes in a volume.
  • "The Flipnote Movie" is an hour and 17 minute compilation of every single animation he made during his 365 day challenge all in one convenient spot.
• Crossover:
• Creator Backlash: Parodied in "Gamblecore 5", where the joke is that it seems like Gamblecore Guy (or even raxd himself) has gotten sick of how "Gamblecore" became a huge meme that blew up.
• Crying a River: Happens in the sketch "cry about it" after a stick figure tells another stick figure to "cry about [filing for bankruptcy]".
• Deadly Euphemism: Subverted; in "kyle the alien's hospital visit", Kyle gets told that his brother Markus has "crossed the rainbow bridge", to which Kyle takes to mean that Markus died. However, in "burger man vs kyle the alien", Burger Man clarifies that it was referring to Markus playing the Rainbow Road level in Mario Kart 64.
• Deadly Game: The aptly named game of Death Ball in "death ball".
• Delayed Reaction: In "microwave", the stick figure lights on fire after eating his food, but doesn't react to this until after the microwave lights on fire a second later.
• Die Laughing: In "not funny, didn't laugh", a hospital patient (who was diagnosed with an illness that makes them unable to laugh without serious consequenses) dies after witnessing Brombus' dancing.
• Dissonant Serenity:
  • In "podcast", when the podcaster starts falling off a cliff to his demise.
  • In "driving test", the driving instructor's reaction to seeing that his student somehow led to their car floating in the sky in the middle of nowhere is simply "Egads! This is concerning for several reasons!".
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: At first, the stick figures were animated with rounder heads & often with faces, and the flipnotes were animated with a wider variety of colors, before developing into the more flatter-headed blank-faced stick figure design and more monochrome color palette with black, white, red, and blue being the primary colors used. Compare Volume 1's flipnotes to Volume 5's flipnotes. The color palette change is actually Lampshaded in "colors".

  Red Stick Figure: Have you ever thought there might be other colors out there other than just red and blue?
  Blue Stick Figure: No, that hasn't ever crossed my mind, what a ridiculous theory to propose!
  (a sound effect plays as the two figures change from Lime Green and Magenta respectively, with both of them exclaiming in confusion)

  • Later on, in "impressions", the change in head-shape was also lampshaded.

    "Normal" Stick Figure: Hello there. How are you? I am a normal stick man, with a round head.

• Extremely Overdue Library Book: In "library", a stickman learns that their library book is 7 years overdue. The librarian then informs them that the library's policy says they must be killed with hammers.
• Fixing the Game: Inverted. The slot machine in "gamblecore 1" is rigged to always lose, as gamblecore guy stepping on the button doesn't stop the left slot from being anything but an X.
• Forced Transformation:
  • Kyle the Alien can transform people into orbs if he doesn't like them.
  • In "curse", a stickman turns into a microwave after befalling a Curse from a wizard that would turn them into one should they ask a question.
• The Gambling Addict: The gamblecore guy, at least in "gamblecore 1". He tries to quit in "gamblecore 3" before being shot by a gun built into the slot machine. He eventually wins big via some assistance from Berd in "gamblecore 4". "gamblecore 5" starts out with the usual opening, but the gamblecore guy turns around with a very angry "I HATE GAMBLING!!!!" declaration and tries (and fails) to get therapy in "gamblecore 6"."
• Going Cosmic: While the rest of the videos in the "Gamblecore" series are silly, nonsensical rapid-fire sketches about the hapless adventures of The Gambling Addict, in the finale "Gamblecore 7" Gamblecore Guy comes to a profound conclusion about life and existence thanks to his gambling addiction.

  Gamblecore Guy: All of our experiences, relationships, adventures, everything is a gamble in this world and nothing is for certain. [...] But you know what? There's a lot of things out there that are worth gambling for. And, if you end up losing every now and then, you can always bounce back.
  [He and the other stick figure stare off into the sunset as the words "Never Stop Gambling" appear on screen]

• Gratuitous Spanish: In "the spanish button", via a button that makes people speak Spanish.

  Stick Figure: El diablo no quiere usar pantalones en mi casa y no se porque!^note 

• Insane Troll Logic: In "skill issue", the first stick figure says that maybe the second's house should move out of the way next time upon being called out for somehow crashing his car into the second floor of said house.
• Intimidating Revenue Service:
  • In "greatest birthday gift ever", a group of IRS agents breaks into a stickman's house to kill them after they were gifted $53,000 in unpaid taxes for their birthday.
  • The stick figure in "THE AMAZING DIGITAL FLIPNOTE" has been brought to the Digital Circus by Caine due to excessive tax evasion, and is forced to talk to some IRS agents.

  Caine: YOU WILL GO RIGHT NOW AND PAY YOUR TAXES LIKE A GOOD CITIZEN!

• Klatchian Coffee: In "coffee", a stickman drinks a cup of coffee, which peps them up so much they orbit the earth before (almost) calming down.

  Coffee drinker: I LOVE COFFEE!!

• Line Boil: A distinct thumbprint in the channel's animation style. The stick figures have a noticeable two-frame boil that help exaggerate their body language.
• Literal Metaphor: It's often used as a punchline.
  • In "liar liar pants on fire", a stick figure's pants spontaneously combust upon being called out for lying.
  • In "on a roll", with the stick figure standing on top of a bread roll.
  • In "gatekeeping", in which people are keeping gates.
• Loophole Abuse: In "infinite pizza glitch", a stick figure finds a way to get as many pizzas as they want for the price of one: by ordering a one-topping pizza with the topping being another one-topping pizza. Repeat ad nauseum.
• The Greys: Despite not being grey (they're blue and red respectively), Kyle and his brother Markus fit this appearance to a T.
• Mundane Made Awesome: In one short, a character wins a small order of fries with a scratch card. He treats it as though he won the lottery.

  Cashier: Okay sir, here's your small order of fries.
  Scratch card winner: YEEEEAAAH!!!

• Negative Continuity: While this is the case for the majority of the Flipnotes, there are a few occasions where this is Averted, such as "burger man vs kyle the alien" referencing the events of "kyle the alien's hospital visit" and "the burger man statue".
• Non-Human Head: Burger Man has a hamburger for a head.
• Not Big Enough for the Two of Us: Two sketches use the phrase as the setup for their joke.
  • From "showdown"...

  Sherriff 1: This town ain't big enough for the two of us.
  Sherriff 2: Well, yeah, but there's a town over there with two houses, so if you wanted to move over ther-
  (Sherriff 2 is shot)

  • From "town"...

  Sherriff 1: This town is big enough for the two of us.
  Sherriff 2: Doesn't the saying normally go "This town isn't big enough for the two of us?"
  Sherriff 1: Well, yeah, but we can share.

• One-Joke Fake Show: "every single spongebob episode", as its name would suggest, is a parody of Spongebob Squarepants. It consists solely of the three main characters repeating a catchphrase.

  SpongeBob: (laughing)
  Patrick: Huh?
  Squidward: Um, what the sigma?

• Orphaned Punchline: "stand up comedy" begins with one of these.

  Stickman: And then I said, "Hey, let that cabbage speak for itself, buddy!"

• Porky Pig Pronunciation:
  • The sketch "synonym rolls" is about a stick figure struggling to pronounce "cinnamon roll".
  • In "geometry store", a eyepatch-wearing figure has trouble pronouncing the word "rhombuses".
• Pyromaniac: The criminal figure in "criminalcore" lights a man's phone, dog, couch, wife, and house on fire.
• The Quiet One: In "burger man vs kyle the alien", which shows that Kyle can speak, but often doesn't due to shyness, to the surprise of Burger Man.
• Recurring Extra: While most characters are intended to be one-offs, a few have made frequent cameos in other sketches.
  • Burger Man, a superhero with a burger for his head and his signature "Burger Blast" move.
  • Kyle the Alien, a shy blue alien who can turn people he doesn't like into orbs.
  • Brombus, a Court Jester who can make anyone burst into laughter by dancing.
  • The Gamblecore guy, a blue stickman with an affinity for gambling.
• Replacement Scrappy: Parodied with Hotdog Man, a clear Expy of Burger Man. He's ran over almost immediately after being introduced, which is followed by raxdflipnote himself claiming that "[he] will never be Burger Man".
• Running Gag:
  • Most of the time if a video is titled "[something]core", the punchline is usually a single line repeated ad nauseum, though there are a few exceptions such as "dancecore" and "fishingcore".
  • Many sketches feature characters spontaneously combusting into flames, mostly when they make a bad joke or do something cringey.
• Shout-Out:
  • The audio for "sloppy steaks" is pulled directly from a scene from the second season of I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson.
  • "peep the horror" is a direct reference to a meme in the Jerma985 fandom, with one stick figure referring to it as such.
  • The audio for "creature feature" is pulled from Offlain's "Try Not to Get Scared" series, the audio being from a story about a guy who's excited to see a new movie, only for it to be a creature feature featuring the Creature. Brombus takes the place of the titular Creature.
• Silence in the Library: In "no talking", a stick figure tries to tell the people at the library's front desk that one of the patrons has caught on fire. The employees continuously shush the patron, even when talking to themself!

  Library patron: At least I can talk inside my head.
  Librarian: Shhhh!

• Sinister Geometry: Played for Laughs in "geometry store", in which an eyepatch wearing figure tries to tell a customer that buying the rhombuses will destroy the store. The store explodes before he can elaborate further, due to him getting preoccupied over what the plural form of rhombus is.
• The Smurfette Principle: Due to most of the voice acting being done by raxdflipnote himself, most of the characters in the shorts are male.
• Spontaneous Human Combustion: Many of the sketches involve a character being set on fire in some way or another for no indiscernible reason, though "biggest fan" implies it is caused by one person using magic on another.
• Stick Figure Animation: With very few exceptions, every human character in the shorts is a wonky stick figure.
• Stuff Blowing Up: Explosions are often used as a punchline, such as in "420", "fruit salad", and "shampoo".
• Stylistic Suck:
  • Almost all of the voice acting is done by raxdflipnote himself through an incredibly low-quality mic that compresses his voice to a very noticeable degree. This becomes even more noticeable when other people such as Berd or Alex Rochon speak, as their microphone quality is much higher.
  • In "THE AMAZING DIGITAL FLIPNOTE", instead of being animated in Flipnote Studio, Caine is represented by a static PNG render being moved around on the screen by a mouse.
• Subverted Catchphrase:
  • In "gamblecore 3", gamblecore guy is about to say "Let's go gambling!" before cutting himself off and calling off gambling entirely. (it doesn't last)
  • In "town", one stick figure says "This town is big enough for the two of us!", to which the second asks if they meant to say the original phrase "This town isn't big enough for the two of us!", with the first confirming that no, he didn't misspeak and offers to share the town.
• Take a Third Option: In "trolley problem", the guy presenting the typical trolley problem asks the other guy whether or not to pull the lever, the latter "responds" by sitting on the trolley and taking it with him.
• Talk Like a Pirate: Exaggerated; the only thing the pirates say in "piratecore" is "SHIVER ME TIMBERS!" in a loud, exaggerated pirate accent.
• This Is Gonna Suck: The stick figure in "never let 'em know your next move" has this reaction upon learning they're in a rhythm game.
• Unusual Dysphemism: In "boiled dogs", a stick figure talks about "boiling dogs alive". What they really mean is they're cooking hotdogs by boiling them.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Exaggerated; Hotdog Man is introduced in "hot dog man" and is only around for less than 3 seconds before being run over by a car.

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