Madness Combat

Hank J. Wimbleton (right) as seen Madness Combat as he beats an attacker senseless

Madness Combat is an Adobe Flash series made by Krinkels.

The series centers on an unnamed man (who has since received the name "Hank J. Wimbleton" from Krinkels on Internet forums). Hank, along with Jebus and Tricky, is an Immortal; when killed, he simply comes back. Krinkels says this is because the Higher Powers find Hank and Jebus' eternal conflict amusing. The reason for Tricky's resurrection is unknown. However, Krinkels has said, "the clown is a third component. He will end them all, or not." To date, all the animations (except the first, seventh, and ninth) are set simply "somewhere in Nevada".

Tricky and Hank

It is distinguished by its unique style of animation; every character in the series is drawn simplistically, the primary color is gray, and facial features are replaced by a cross on each character's face. This is a common technique used in portraiture. Usually it is only used for sketching out the design, however, and not left in the final piece. Leaving these lines in is a unique part of the Madness Combat series.

The series' other distinguishing trait is its violence. People are killed in every way possible over the course of the series, and are often brought back as zombies by Jebus. In addition, Hank is killed at the end of every animation (with the exception of Madness Combat, Madness Antipathy (Hank dies and is revived by Tricky about two-thirds into the episode), and Madness Inundation (where he remains dead from Madness Consternation).

Characters

One important thing to remember is that the characters' names are never really definite until Krinkels confirms them. However, fans have taken and probably will take the most obvious clues they have (posters and such) and have asked Krinkels, whose confirmation of these names make them official. There are three main characters in the series:

Hank J. Wimbleton

Hank is the primary character in the Madness Combat series, having first appeared in the original Madness Combat cartoon. He appears to be exceedingly well-trained in the lethal arts, being an expert marksman and a skilled hand-to-hand fighter. In Madness Redeemer, he was revealed to be hunting "The Sheriff"; he successfully killed him in Madness Avenger, where after his goals are unknown (though some believe he hunts after "Jesus"). To date, Hank has died six times, and killed over 700 thugs and AAHW agents. The opening sequence of Madness Depredation nicknames him "The Protagonist" (a fitting title, as he is the series' protagonist).

Jebus

The primary antagonist until Antipathy, he first appeared in Madness Combat. In the early episodes, he works for the sheriff, but following the sheriff's death in Madness Avenger he seems to be independent. Jebus possesses many supernatural abilities, including levitation, the ability to ward off bullets, and the power to resurrect people from the dead as zombies. He was also Hank's most dangerous opponent, having killed him three out of the six times Hank has died. In his cameo appearance in Antipathy, he has apparently given up violence and was shown passively raking leaves. To date, Jebus has died five times. The opening sequence of Madness Depredation nicknames him "The Savior".

Tricky

Tricky has abnormal and superhuman abilities, but only since the events of Madness Depredation. His face paint starts white, but his face turns green when he is resurrect as a zombie. Tricky is a wild card; neither the protagonist nor antagonist, he appears to dislike everyone except for the 1337 Crew and other minor characters. First appearing in Madness Redeemer, Tricky has been featured in every Madness Combat animation and short since. Initially a standard character of seemingly little importance, Tricky, over the course of the series, became Hank's most powerful foe.

The Sheriff

The Sheriff

Hank's first target, distinguished from the rest of the characters by his black "cowboy hat". Hank is first seen hunting down the sheriff for unknown reasons; in Madness Interactive, it's because he stole Hank's pie, but Krinkels has said that only applies to the game, and not the series. The sheriff is well-guarded, as suits his position, and has both a horde of inept men and the infinitely-more-successful Jebus on his payroll. At the end of Madness Redeemer, Hank is killed by Jebus before he can kill the sheriff, but he successfully kills both of his foes before dying himself in Madness Avenger. The sheriff is not an Immortal, and so he has remained dead since then. Though Krinkels has claied to dislike the sheriff. Due to this, he may not return.

The 1337 Crew

A group of Agent Smith-like men in shades and suits, they serve as elite (the name comes from "1337" the internet slang word for "elite") anti-Hank in their first appearances. Despite being presumably better-trained than normal grunts, they are still slaughtered in large numbers by Hank. In Madness Depredation, Antipathy, and Consternation almost all characters who aren't Hank, Jebus, or Tricky are members of the 1337 Crew; the opening of Depredation, appropriately, nicknames them "the Victims". It seems that 1337 agents who are turned into zombies by Jesus appear to lose no intelligence, unlike most zombies; they can wield and fire guns, which normal zombies have not done so far.

The Auditor

The auditor is a mysterious character introduced in Madness Consternation. He controls superhuman powers, like spawning weapons, warping, and levitation. He is thought to be the higher power that resurrects Hank, Tricky, and Jebus throughout the series.

Higher Powers

Higher Powers are the entities that watch over Hank J. Wimbleton and Jebus in the Madness Series. They are responsible for Hank's repeated resurrections. The Auditor is possibly a Higher Power due to his amazing abilities. Higher Powers also restored Tricky in Madness Avenger, turning him into a zombie.

Sanford and Deimos

A duo allied with Hank, they were first seen in Madness Depredation, delivering Hank a sword to fight Tricky, and since have their own storyline that plays with the regular series in Madness 5.5, 6.5 and 7.5. They appeared in the last two entries of the series on a mission to revive Hank. They are both excellent fighters (as good as Hank). Sanford is distinguishable by his shades and his deadly hook (which he wields as a formidable weapon) and Deimos wears a hat and smokes cigarettes, leading to his death (all cigarette smokers in the series are doomed to die) in Madness Aggregation.

Misc. characters

The bodyguards, employees, and innocent bystanders that are killed by Hank and others throughout the series. Armed with various weapons, they're still no match for the main characters. Some are raised as zombies by Jebus after their death, but still don't have a good survival rate.

L33T Agents

The L33T agents are a group of masked, yellow-blooded agents who mainly fight Sanford and Deimos. They are often seen fighting alongside 1337 agents.

Spikey

Spikey is a giant 1337 agent with two spikes going diagonaly through his head. He dosen't actually have a name is refered to as "Spikey" or "that guy with the spikes through his head." He is the main character in the short Incident 011A.

Giant Agents

Giant Agents are unnamed giants who attack Hank, Sanford, and Jebus throughout the series. One of these giants appears briefly in the short Incident 001A, and is shoved into a giant blender by Hank.

Important Objects

Improbability Drive

The original Improbability Drive from Madness Avenger.

The Improbability Drive is an item which causes very unusual events to occur. One of these items is was what made Tricky a powerful foe and turned him into a huge white demon clown. It increased his attack power but in the end he ended up getting shot in the face and dying. Both the Sheriff and Auditor, two of the series's greatest antagonists, have been revealed to possess Improbability Drives, and the one that Tricky used was a unique, portable version. The drive has also notably turned the sun into a grunt, and when he was killed, the world went dark. The Madness World has literally had a darker atmosphere ever since. The idea of the improbability drive was created by Douglas Adams in the book "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

316 Sword

The 316 sword is one of the two trademark weapons Jebus uses. It is a powerful two-handed longsword with the numbers "100111100" inscribed on its surface. This is a binary code which translates to the number sequence "316". The weapon first appeared in Madness Avenger, but at the time it lacked the number inscription (which it gained in the next episode, Madness Apotheosis).

The sword changed its appearance in Madness Consternation by being significantly slimmed down and shortened in length, but it still bears the binary code. It also appeared in Madness Inundation when Jebus summoned it after his encounter with the auditor, although he never used it

The Animations

To date, there are twelve animations in the Madness series:

• Madness Combat (2002)
• Madness Redeemer (2003)
• Madness Avenger (2003)
• Madness Apotheosis (2004)
• Madness Depredation (2005)
• Madness Antipathy (2006)
• Madness Consternation (2007)
• Madness Inundation (2008)
• Madness Aggregation (2009)
• Madness Combat 5.5 (2009)
• Madness Combat 6.5 (2010)
• Madness Abrogation (2011)
• Madness Combat 7.5 (2011)

Related works

Other Madness cartoons by Krinkels include:

Marsh-Mellow-Madness: This started it all. A man offers to shoot people out of a cannon and into a giant marshmallow for a small fee. The hilarity ensues from there.

Tricky bangbanggooberblat: This is a Madness oddity. Tricky is beating Jebus over the head with his large penis with the happy tune "Sailor's Hornpipe" playing and "OMG" written in the background, flashing bright colors; this could be a reference to the original Tricky meme. Krinkels is known to have said that he likes to think of all of the Madness people as eunuchs, with the exception of Tricky. Krinkels has had many complaints from people annoyed about Tricky bangbanggooberblat, and is known to have replied to one such person by saying "Mel Gibson did the same thing, but he used whips and chains instead of a clown's phallus. Honestly, I don't know which is more kinky myself."

Tricky Madness 2: This cartoon was a side-project Krinkels worked on after he finished Madness Antipathy. This is, obviously, the sequel to Tricky bangbanggooberblat. And like the first, features Jebus and Tricky. Only now, instead of a clown repeatedly beating Jebus over the head with his phallus, to the happy tune of "Sailor's Hornpipe," the two unleash intense violence.

Madness Interactive

Madness Interactive: There is also a game conceived by Krinkels and coded by Max Abernethy (aka Flecko) called "Madness Interactive" or "MI" for short. The game allows the player to control Hank as he fights through hoards of enemies until he reaches and slays the sheriff. The introduction states that Hank was after the sheriff because he stole his pie, but this is considered to be non-canon and only applicable to the game.

Music Video: A short, random animation made prior to Music Video 2. Although it does not incorporate Madness characters, it still retains the same monochrome style. May have been the predecessor to Crap, Garbage, Piss, and Vomit, due to it's unrelated randomness and quirky humor.

Music Video 2: The sequel to the original Music Video, It's just a short flash about a monster type creature attempting to escape some 1337 agents that appear to be trying to capture it. It is considered non-canonical to the Madness series.

Crap: A short flash animation also made by Krinkels. It appears to be nothing more than a joke by Krinkels.

Garbage: The sequel to Crap, it's just as random and unrelated.

Piss: The third in the short sub spin-off in the Madness series. Again, totally random.

Vomit: The fourth in the random animation series by, only this time it is more of a parody the standard Madness cartoons.

Leisurely Ragtime: A Madness Day short animated by Krinkels, continuing the saga of random animations. It contains considerably less violence than most other Madness animations.

Fan tributes

As popular as Madness Combat is, it has also spawned a large list of fan tributes and parodies. Most of these, although, did not live up to the original series. Some, however, were well thought out and animated. A few of these are:

• Maximum Ninja Series by Sto0g3
• Madness Mini Series by Shrinkz
• Madness Elimination Series by Splurgle
• Madness 1337 By Wigger
• Anti-Clock Day Madness By DeRosa
• Xionic Madness 1-4 By Xionico

External links

• Madness Combat on Newgrounds
• Krinkels.net
• Madness Series
• Madness Combat Forums
• Madness Combat Wiki