Tales of Monkey Island is a 2009 video game, developed by Telltale Games. It is a five-part episodic game and the fifth in the Monkey Island series. The game begins at the conclusion of Guybrush's latest, unseen adventure: the player guides him as he once again defeats LeChuck with an improvised piece of voodoo weaponry, only to turn the villain human again, release his concentrated evil as "The Pox of LeChuck" (which infects Guybrush's own hand) and maroon himself on Flotsam Island. All in the first chapter!

Not to be confused with the early 80s adventure series Tales of the Gold Monkey.

A-E

  • The Ace: Santino, being so handsome that even the decidedly heterosexual Coronado De Cava took the time to write at length about how gorgeous he was, in addition to being super-talented at everything you care to name. .
  • Action Girl: Morgan LeFlay and Elaine.
  • Ahem: Done a few times throughout the game. There is one part in Chapter 5 when, after Guybrush thanks Morgan , she gives out an "ahem", which, in the subtitles, is stated as "*clears throat*".
  • Ambiguous Gender: The Merfolk in Chapter 2. The gender for two of the three on-screen samples is suggested, but never stated outright. Their leader is classified as male at one point by Elaine, but even that does not stop it from remaining ambiguous.
  • American Accents/Deep South: In Chapter 5, the Thief in the Crossroads speaks in a deep voice with some sort of Southern Hillbilly accent. And he seems to have some Southern hospitality despite the fact that he is a thief from the start.
  • And I Must Scream: .
  • And This Is For: Only discussed by Morgan in Chapter 3, while talking in her sleep: "THIS is for JUGBENDER!"
    • Before that, in Chapter 1, Guybrush raises his Cutlass of Kaflu and says, "This is for the monkeys, LeChuck!" before .
  • And Your Little Dog, Too: Parodied in Chapter 1, when .
  • Animal Talk/Speaks Fluent Animal:
    • Jacques the Monkey can understand human language, especially when the Marquis De Singe and Guybrush talk to him, which is evident in Chapters 1 and 4.
    • It is revealed in Chapter 3 that Morgan can talk to monkeys too, though she speaks "a little monkey".
    • Also, in Chapter 3, .
  • Apocalypse How: .
  • Armed with Canon: In Tales, follow the career of the Pyrite Parrot of Petaluma, particularly from the end of Chapter 2 to the start of Chapter 3. Sean Vanaman (the writer of Chapter 3) admits there was some friendly infighting on the team.
  • Artifact Title: This game has nothing to do with Monkey Island.
  • Art Imitates Art: In Chapter 1, there is a Desingeograph of the "Vitruvian Pirate", which Guybrush calls "Pirate Da Vinci", on the Illuminopictoscreen; this "Vitruvian Pirate" is definitely a spoof of Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci.
    • In Chapter 4, the provocative painting of Chieftain Beluga hanging above W.P. Grindstump in Club 41 is most likely a parody of the 1636 painting Danaë by Rembrandt.
  • Ascended Meme:
  • Ass Shove:
    • !
    • Previously subverted near the end of Chapter 1: when the player tries to use the ancient weather vane on De Singe while he's in the messed up idol, Guybrush will say, "Oh, I'd love to, but I'm pretty sure that De Singe doesn't have the necessary... slots."
  • Attending Your Own Wake: In Chapter 5, .
  • At the Crossroads: With crossroads being the place of burial for the wings of society, pirates go to the Crossroads when they die.
  • Avoid the Dreaded E Rating: Tales of Monkey Island is the second Monkey Island game to receive a rating higher than an "Everyone" that only The Curse of Monkey Island received (the first was Escape from Monkey Island), and the first game to receive an E10+ rating because of frequent alcohol references and uses, a few uses of mild language, a few scenes of Bloodless Carnage and Family Unfriendly Deaths, and more frequent uses of adult jokes and Double Entendres, and the aforementioned Ass Shove (see above).
  • Back from the Dead:
    • at the end of Chapter 5.
    • Subverted with .
  • Bar Brawl: Chapter 1 has one, though it is rather downplayed as an unseen bar fight at Club 41. However, it is later played straight in Chapter 4, though the Bar Brawl is more of a Bar Swordfight.
  • Battle in the Rain: Chapter 1 starts out like this on a dark and stormy night as Guybrush tries to finish the ingredients for the Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu in order to destroy LeChuck, .
  • Big Damn Heroes:
    • In the fourth chapter, .
    • In the fifth chapter, when .
  • Big No:
    • .
    • Also, .
  • Big Ol' Unibrow: McGillicutty in Chapter 2.
  • Big Sleep: Almost averted at the end of Chapter 4, . (Possibly foreshadowed in a way previously in Chapter 1, )
  • Big "What?": Shouted by the Voodoo Lady in Chapter 1 when Guybrush tells her about the botched up ritual. Also shouted by a few times in Chapter 5.
  • Bilingual Bonus:
    • "Singe" is French for monkey. See also Brick Joke below. Guybrush even refers to De Singe as "De Monkey" at one point.
    • The name of deceased journalist Pistalibre and his journal discovered in Chapter 4 is derived from the Spanish words "pista libre", meaning "free clue".
    • And in Chapter 2, the name of the bait coupon for "gusanos de destino" translates from Spanish to "worms of destiny".
    • In Chapter 3, , De Singe becomes joyous, then mutters to himself in French, "La mort est tuée..." (albeit without the "é") which, when translated, means "Death is killed". .
  • Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism: Subverted by the Mermaids and Mermen. All merfolk look pretty much the same to us Humans, and there's no external dimorphism between sexes (both are pretty and feminine-looking, and have androgynous voices). Things tend to get squicky when Human men mistake Mermen for their female counterparts.
  • Black Comedy Rape/Double Standard Rape (Female on Male): Attempted, actually: in Chapter 4, .
  • Blasting It Out of Their Hands: .
  • Bloodless Carnage: Especially evident in Chapter 4, when a couple of people get impaled but the swords stay clean.
  • Blowing a Raspberry: Defendant Guybrush does this when Defense Attorney Guybrush tries asking him(self), "What's your impression of the plaintiff's case?".
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: Zigzagged. The main villain of Chapter 5 gloats that he is too powerful now to be beaten, but encourages Guybrush to waste his time trying anyways. .
  • Bottomless Bladder/Nobody Poops: Averted in Chapter 4 where there is a bathroom, and Guybrush does use it.
  • Bound and Gagged: Guybrush and Elaine.
  • Brain Bleach: Episode 1:
    • Guybrush Threepwood goes to open a closet, which the Voodoo Lady yells for him not to open before adding, "It's where I keep my... unmentionables." Guybrush shudders, and the closet from then on is named "The Scariest Closet in the World".
    • Also, when the Voodoo Lady apparently goes into too much detail about a previous romantic relationship with De Cava, Guybrush covers his ears and blocks her out between "[her] supple-" and "-like a volcano!".
  • Breaking the Cutie: Over the course of the episodes, a real number is done on the happy-go-lucky Guybrush. First, it starts out harmless enough with Elaine seemingly willing to trust a human LeChuck over Guybrush's objections, then , he breaks down in grief , he's backstabbed twice , he suffers a Heroic BSOD , and it all ends with one terribly brutal beatdown that leaves Guybrush in such physical agony he can't even joke anymore. The poor dear really just needed a hug at the end.
  • Brick Joke:
    • The first game has Guybrush state "half the people I know are called Guybrush." The brick comes crashing down in Chapter 4 when he explains to Bosun Krebbs . Apparently, he even gets his mail.
    • Early in Chapter 1, Guybrush gains entrance to Club 41 and is told that all probationary members have to wear blindfolds inside the club, so he puts one on and promptly gets involved in a bar fight. Late in Chapter 5, when Guybrush , he learns that the whole "all probationary members have to wear blindfolds inside the club" thing was just a joke on the bouncer's part.
  • Brief Accent Imitation:
    • In Chapter 4, Morgan does this when she tells Guybrush that the Marquis De Singe, with the ridiculous French accent, wants to study his "unique strain of Pox".
    • Before that, in Chapter 1, Guybrush does this ridiculous French accent when dipping Pink Pajama Pierre into a vat of ink: "Sacré bleu! Eez zis ze end of Pink... Pajama... Pierre? Glug!"
  • But Thou Must!: Played with in Chapter 2, when Elaine asks you to work with LeChuck. You get a whole dictionary of the various forms of "No", but every time Elaine just looks at Guybrush with puppy eyes and asks him with an increasingly sweet voice until your only dialog option left is "...Fine".
  • But Wait! There's More!: Spoken by LeChuck in Chapter 4, .
  • By the Lights of Their Eyes: One of the buttons on De Singe's Auto-Trepanation Helmet in Chapter 4 causes the entire "laboratorium" to go dark temporarily, with only Guybrush's eyes visible when he says, "Ack! I'm blind!". Thankfully, the lights turn back on.
  • The Cake Is a Lie:
    • Parodied in Chapter 4, .
    • Also, at the beginning of Chapter 4, Guybrush thinks there would be "ice cream cake" when Flotsam's citizens arrive. .
  • Cardboard Prison:
    • Prisons in Monkey Island games are never renowned for their security, but the prize must go to the Flotsam Island Jail in Chapter 4: to get out, Guybrush simply tells Hardtack he wants to see his lawyer... which happens to be Guybrush himself. This same example also simultaneously subverts the trope. Guybrush can tell Hardtack to go get some food for him, then try to take advantage of a loose window bar (which turns out to be a bit less loose than it seems at first) or a soft spot in the wall (with solid steel directly underneath).
    • A certain jail cell in Chapter 5 has a very obvious tunnel that can be used to escape. ...
  • Casual Kink: Guybrush's throwaway line in episode one about Elaine getting cranky if tied up for too long. That said, it's very possible that he was simply referring to their past adventures and not to any kind of kink at all.
  • Catchphrase Interruptus: Guybrush tries to say, "You Fight Like a Cow!", but then gets interrupted throughout the game. The first time is at the beginning of Chapter 1, when he gets interrupted by Elaine; the second is at the beginning of Chapter 2, when Morgan cuts off his hand before he can finish; and the third is in Chapter 4, when both Guybrush and the human LeChuck start saying the catchphrase at the same time, but both stop themselves before they can finish, then look at each other and laugh.
  • Cat Fight: Between Elaine and Morgan in Chapter 4.
  • Cerebus Syndrome: The series has always been "funny characters in a serious plot" to a certain extent, but Tales of Monkey Island has been steadily ramping up the drama, . The games are still funny though.
    • Elaine's mention of a troubling encounter with an enchanted aardvark in Chapter 1 is especially odd when you consider the trope's namesake. Seems like a case of unintentional foreshadowing.
  • Character as Himself: In a Shout-Out to the original Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, the end credits of Chapter 5 finishes the "Cast" section with "and Franklin as himself".
  • Chekhov's Boomerang:
    • Plenty of items are used in at least two different puzzles. The Pyrite Parrot of Petaluma goes the extra mile, though. He's used for an important puzzle in Chapter 1, used for two puzzles, in two very different ways, in Chapter 2, lost in Chapter 3, seemingly destroyed for good in Chapter 4, and then used for one last puzzle in Chapter 5 despite all that's happened to it. Handy little hunk of fool's gold, isn't he?
    • The hook is the most used item in the game, to the point where it is basically a glorified "pick up" and "open" command. Guybrush can open every single lock he encounters with it. By the time he finds a mysterious voodoo chest, he wonders himself if it can really be this easy all the time.
  • Chekhov's Gun:
    • .
    • To a lesser degree, .
  • The Chessmaster:
    • .
    • .
  • The Chew Toy: Hemlock McGee.
  • Compressed Vice: If Van Winslow had been as obsessive about the map in Chapter 1 as he was in later chapters, then Guybrush would have never been able to solve its final puzzle!
  • Continuity Nod: It's unusual to see this trope in practice in this series, but Tales of Monkey Island likes it. There are several references to previous Monkey Island games, particularly in a lot of optional dialogue in Chapter 4. Example: ask Elaine to vouch for your character, and she'll give a long list of your deeds. .
  • Conveniently Precise Translation:
    • The flag on the Courthouse of Flotsam Island in Chapter 1 reads "Die Luf[t] der Flotsam saugen", which is German for "The wind of Flotsam sucks", which is a bit odd, since those who studied the Stanford flag (whose German motto is "Die Luft der Freiheit weht", or "The wind of freedom is blowing") Did Not Do the Research (Luft is German for "air", and "Wind" is German for "wind"). A more appropriate German sentence would have been "Der Wind von Flotsam saugt" (although Telltale may have done it to tick off the Germans, but exactly why is beyond this troper).
    • Also, in Chapter 3, Guybrush calls La Esponja Grande "La Esponja Gordo", with "gordo" being another Spanish word roughly meaning "big", but it also means "fat", while he talks with De Cava, and later calls the same sponge he finds "La Esponja Pequeño" ("the small sponge"), and in Chapter 4, he addresses it as "Señor Esponja Not-So-Grande". In these cases, "gordo" and "pequeño" are incorrectly used in the masculine, while "señor" is used in the masculine, though the Spanish word for "sponge" is a feminine noun. The proper adjectives for the sponge should have been called "gorda" and "pequeña", while the proper noun title should have been called "Señorita Esponja Not-So-Grande", since the title "señorita" is Spanish for "Miss", which is a title for a young woman.
  • The Corruption/Hate Plague: The Pox of LeChuck.
  • Courtroom Antic: Chapter 4 in a nutshell.
  • Creator Cameo: Chapter 4 features portraits of caricatures of Telltale's chief officers Dan Connors and Kevin Bruner. The series also mentions a "Nor Treblig".
  • Curse Cut Short: In Chapter 2:
  • Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Almost every pirate that has been infected by the Pox of LeChuck will make these pointless death threats almost all the time whenever Guybrush ticks them off. There are a few times whenever Guybrush himself gets ticked off, like in Chapter 2, for example, when LeChuck is too busy looking at one Summoning Artifact he has gotten:
    • Another example is in Chapter 3, when Morgan refuses to help Guybrush prove to De Cava that he's married:
    • And in Chapter 4, any threats that Judge Grindstump utters whenever Guybrush gets him angry turn into Funny Moments, like, for example:

Grindstump: The defendant will cease his inane histrionics, or the court will be forced to [growls a bit before he becomes Pox-enraged] YANK OUT HIS TONGUE WITH A RUSTY SHRIMP FORK! ARRR!
  • Dead Guy on Display: .
  • Dead Person Conversation: .
  • The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: In Chapter 3, De Cava needs 100,000 larvae to escape, and they can only be produced one at a time. However, it is possible to "grind" the grubs until you actually do get all 100,000(!) that it would take to "solve" the missing cochlea puzzle, and the game even has specialized dialogue for some of the steps (specifically, the 50,000th, 99, 900th, and 100,000th grubs). Then the game skips ahead to where you would've been by solving it the intended way (and the other characters treat you as if you did). For the record, this task would take at least seventy days without breaks to accomplish.
  • Died in Your Arms Tonight: In Chapter 4, .
  • Dies Wide Open:
    • In Chapter 4, .
    • Averted at the end of the same chapter, .
  • Does He Have a Cousin?: Said by Anemone in Chapter 2 when talking about Winslow after repairing the mast of the Screaming Narwhal. This indicates the start of Anemone's relationship with Winslow, which later blossoms in Chapter 5.
  • Does This Make Me Look Fat?: One of the silver trophies in the PS3 version of the game is labeled:
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: In Chapter 4, after Guybrush gives D'Oro the glass eye, the latter gives him his own map as evidence. Guybrush asks how the map got here, to which D'Oro replies that he smuggled it in his mouth. This map smuggling in the mouth could be a reference to something drug-related, but rather in the lines of "I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!".
  • Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: If you snoop around the Voodoo Lady's hut enough in Chapter 1...
  • Dying Alone: Defied twice in Chapter 4: .
  • Dying Clue: Parodied in Chapter 4, when .
  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: .
  • Electric Instant Gratification: Jacques the monkey in Chapter 1. The commentaries state that funnily enough, they did it like that to get the ESRB to approve it: "See, we're not torturing the monkey; he's enjoying it!"
  • Enhance Button: Parodied in Chapter 1: Guybrush is using an analog optical telescope, and asks his first mate Winslow to "enhance the upper right quadrant"... Winslow just turns the telescope to increase the zoom. Guybrush then asks for "full enhancement", and Winslow holds up a second telescope at the end of the first one.
  • Epic Fail: Parodied in Chapter 3: at one time when Guybrush guesses the answer to one of De Cava's three-out-of-six questions wrong, Morgan rolls her eyes and says, "Fail", in a Shout-Out to the "FAIL" meme from Blazing Star (even De Cava says "Failure!" when the question is guessed wrong). However, this trope (and imminent death) is averted as many times as possible, when De Cava will always repeat the same first series of the three questions thanks to the repeated pleadings from Guybrush.
  • Episodic Game
  • Equivalent Exchange
  • Especially Zoidberg: When Guybrush talks to in jail in Chapter 4 and asks if was behind the events in the Monkey Island series:
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Stan has had a go at just about every kind of shady business under the sun, but even he's never been and never will be a pirate.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Voodoo Lady, as usual, but Tales of Monkey Island hangs a few lampshades on it.
  • Everything Is an Instrument: In Chapter 3, Noogie plays the manatee bile sacs like bongos, and playing them wildly can cause the bile to rise up.
  • Everything's Better with Bob: In Chapter 1, if the player has Guybrush place a Porcelain Power Pirate Action Figurine on the altar of Flotsam Jungle:
    • Another is:
    • And yet here's another:
    • All of these bits of dialogue are foreshadowing what happens in Chapters 4 and 5,
    • .
  • Eye Cam: Used at the end of Chapter 4, .


F-J

  • Family-Unfriendly Death: Two of them, both at the end of Chapter 4.
  • Fauxshadow: Guybrush’s Who Would Be Stupid Enough...? moment suggests he’ll lose the other wedding ring, but he doesn’t. ?
    • Actually, at the beginning of Chapter 4, . Does that really count as losing the ring too?
  • Femme Fatale: Morgan.
  • The Ferry Man: In Chapter 5, , he encounters a skeletal Ferryman with a gold tooth who keeps his boat clean and bears a slight resemblance to the Lost Welshman; except that this Ferryman needs to be paid with "the golden eyes of everlasting sleep" (i.e. two gold coins that are placed on the eyes of the dead), so that he can ferry arriving souls to the Center of the Crossroads (just like in Greek mythology), after which he'll no longer appear once his journey is complete.
  • Fingore: Morgan snaps one of De Singe's fingers in Chapter 4, just so that he'll stop bothering her, .
  • A Fool for a Client: Guybrush does this in the fourth chapter, all requisite gags included.
  • Foreign Cuss Word: "Sacre merde!", as spoken by the Marquis De Singe.
  • Foreign Queasine: Discussed in Chapter 3: when Guybrush looks at the manatee's uvula, he says, "Mmm... manatee uvula", then pauses a bit before adding, "Eh, it's a delicacy in some cultures."
  • Foreshadowing: Starting when Elaine sternly asks where Guybrush's wedding ring is, there is plenty of evidence that she will eventually get the wrong idea about him and Morgan.
  • Formally-Named Pet: Hemlock McGee has a cat named Miss Prettywhiskers.
  • For Science!: The Marquis De Singe will exclaim this when asked about a Vole-Powered Generator in his lab.
  • Four Is Death: This may be a coincidence or unintentional, but Chapter 4 seems to be the very embodiment of death itself, . And it's a little eerie when the scene on Flotsam is night-themed, indicating that night is very deathly. And out of the five charges , only four are civil ones that carry the death penalty, as indicated in the court briefs.
  • Friend to All Living Things: Morgan LeFlay. Not only does she like monkeys, but she also loves cute parrots, especially one that is made of pyrite, which she says she'll keep as a souvenir once she's done with Guybrush.
    • It is revealed in Chapter 3 that Santino even loves bugs, as discussed by Moose.
  • Funny Background Event: During the Brotherhood chase in Chapter 3, while Guybrush is asking Morgan for help, you can see Noogie suddenly stop while raising his wooden sword in the air before collapsing, and Guybrush running and passing through him before he gets up and rejoins the chase. So funny.
    • Near the end of Chapter 4, though not a funny background event, .
  • Gender Blender Name: Morgan LeFlay. Even with the Arthurian pun, Guybrush apparently did not expect a woman.
  • Genius Ditz: Guybrush has a knack for solving puzzles, if nothing else.
  • Genre Savvy: Other than Guybrush, we have Coronado De Cava, who also seems to understand that his world works in puzzles. The man appreciates the quality of good rubber tree.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: "Would you mind releasing my wife? She gets a little cranky when she's tied up for more than an hour or so."
    • Morgan: Gomez... not on the carpet!
    • When Elaine is begging Guybrush to join forces with human LeChuck, one of her lines is "I'll make it worth your while..."
    • Double Entendre: Oh yeah, this game has got many of them: from Guybrush's aforementioned asking LeChuck to release Elaine to trying to show stolen items to someone ("I generally don't rub my booty in the faces of those I've stolen it from.") to looking at the cans in a shack on Roe Island ("Nice cans. I mean... nice CANS!") to repeatedly attempting to steal an empty treasure chest (Trenchfoot: "You just keep your hands off my chest." Guybrush: "Not a problem. In fact, I can guarantee I won't be touching a single part of your body!") to Guybrush recalling his previous events in the Flotsam Jungle ("No more listening to bees and birds and boars for THIS Mighty Pirate™!") to ("But I be willin' to share my booty, if ye catch me drift...") to Guybrush looking at the seaweed ("The motion of my ocean isn't enough to jostle this seaweed.") to ("You can light my cannon later!"). That's probably a LOT of double entendres!
  • Ghost Pirate: .
  • Glamour/Instant Allegiance Artifact: .
  • Grand Theft Me: The Voodoo Lady's locket is the cause of this one in Chapter 3. When played around with the button on the locket, pressing it can cause some possession effects with voice changes, like the Voodoo Lady's possessions of De Cava and Guybrush, and Guybrush's possession of the Voodoo Lady.
    • Gets a whole new meaning when Guybrush voluntarily gets arrested for kidnapping his own body.
  • Gravity Screw: In Chapter 4, one of the buttons on De Singe's Auto-Trepanation Helmet turns the whole room in the lab upside down along with Guybrush for a few seconds.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Elaine when she assumes the worst about Guybrush and Morgan.
  • Guile Hero: .
  • Hanging Judge: The Right Honorable Judge Wallace P. Grindstump once he catches the Pox. Still, apart from his uncontrollable shouting, he's fairly reasonable for being a bloodthirsty voodoo-pox-stricken pirate judge presiding over a court filled with an equally bloodthristy, pox-stricken audience of pirates. He is also very friendly and relaxed at his second job as the owner of Club 41.
  • Healing Factor: The Marquis De Singe, eventually.
  • Heel Face Turn: LeChuck. Unfortunately, the Phlebotinum discharge that accompanies it is causing everyone else in the Caribbean to undergo a gradual Face Heel Turn!
  • Hell on Earth/Villain World: .
  • Here We Go Again: In Chapter 2, this is lampshaded by the MerLeader when McGillicutty repeatedly attempts to drown him/her as "torture":
  • Hero-Killer: .
  • Heroic BSOD: Guybrush suffers a brief one in the fifth chapter when .
  • Heroic Sacrifice: An unusually low-key example happens in the final chapter when .
  • Hidden Eyes: Moose in Chapter 3. His eyes are hidden behind his hair, which is why you never see them.
  • Hijacked by LeChuck
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: The Marquis De Singe, in Chapter 4.
  • Hold Your Hippogriffs:
  • Hook Hand: Guybrush's newly acquired one is the most useful tool in the game.
  • Hot Chicks With Swords: Morgan LeFlay and Elaine.
  • I Drank What?: Downplayed a bit: in Chapter 3, Moose drinks the manatee ichor (kind of a bloodlike fluid or discharge) and, surprisingly, it doesn't sicken Moose at all (though Guybrush and Morgan do seem kind of grossed out by it). He even tells Guybrush that the orange ichor (which has "a bubbly effervescence with a tangy palette") has been pure and unfiltered since he got hooked on it when he and the other crew members of De Cava landed in the belly of the manatee. Moose adds that the other ichor, the yellow bile, is acidic and hazardous to the digestive system when drunk. Since De Cava only likes the orange ichor, Guybrush can trick him into drinking the yellow bile served on a mug for one of the key expressions in a Pirate Face-Off.
  • I Call It Jumbo Jimbo: Moose had his own name for the Tongue of the Manatee.
  • I Can Explain: Repeated in Chapter 3, once when the Brotherhood gets angry at Guybrush for betrayal, and once when he talks to De Cava during the ship battle .
  • If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Discussed and parodied with Guybrush and a human LeChuck in Chapter 2:
  • I Meant to Do That: Guybrush says this in Chapter 1 after he has caught the Desingeograph of his Poxed hand with his feet and flips it onto the picture bucket near the Illuminopictoscreen. Even though he says that as if he were doing it by accident, it is all a part to escape from the operating table in De Singe's laboratory.
  • Immortal Life Is Cheap/Immortality Hurts: .
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Guybrush does this to LeChuck in a botched attempt to destroy him. .
  • Impossible Hourglass Figure: Morgan.
  • Impossible Thief: The thief in The Crossroads in Chapter 5. And with no hands.
  • Improbable Weapon User: !
  • Incredible Shrinking Pirate: In Chapter 4, Guybrush uses one of the buttons on De Singe's Auto-Trepanation Helmet and gets shrunk a bit smaller than the size of a lab vole for a bit before growing back to normal size.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: Given the series, these are unavoidable, but of note is Guybrush's "D'Oro the Explorer" in Chapter 1. His left hand actually slaps him for it.
    • Amazingly, he manages to top himself in the very next chapter The Siege of Spinner Cay after receiving a book of 101 Fish Jokes from the Vaycaylian Tetra (many of which also qualify):
  • Inherently Funny Words: Apparently, someone on the Telltale staff likes the word "manatee".
  • Inhuman Human: .
  • In Medias Res: The first chapter opens with Guybrush confronting LeChuck at the end of an alleged epic adventure. See also Noodle Incident below.
  • Intangible Man: .
  • Interspecies Romance/Mermaid Problem: The scene in Chapter 2 when the MerLeader plants a kiss on Guybrush is kind of... Squicky, and Guybrush responds nervously with "How about a reward instead?".
    • And in Chapter 5, Guybrush discovers that Winslow and Anemone (a merperson) are in a relationship, and wonders aloud "how that works... logistically".
  • In the Back: !
  • Ironic Echo: "Unholy THIS!"
  • It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY": Throughout the entire game, the Marquis De Singe (and Joaquin D'Oro) pronounces his own name as "deh SANJ" (with the short "a" sound in "apple"), and the Voodoo Lady and Hemlock McGee pronounce the name as "day SAHNJ" (with the "a" pronunciation in "father"). Guybrush and Morgan LeFlay, on the other hand, pronounce De Singe's name poorly, coming out only as "deh SIHNJ", like the word "SIHN-jee" without the "ee", or like the English word "singe". It's possible this may have been them pulling a My Name Is Not Durwood with him though. The correct pronunciation, incidentally, is how he says it himself, and it means "of Monkey" (not "of the Monkey", that would be "du Singe") in French.
    • Tales also has every single character pronounce "La Esponja Grande" with "esponja" pronounced with a J sound (es-pon-JA). Not until the very end of the final chapter does Elaine FINALLY say "Actually, it's pronounced 'es-pon-HA' with an 'H' sound at the end?".
    • And of those who pronounce the word "Caribbean" as "CA-ri-BEE-an", only Morgan pronounces it as "cuh-RIH-bee-an".
    • Also, Rise of the Pirate God lampshades the pronunciation of Guybrush's name as a way of showing disrespect for him.

Galeb: Don't worry, Carniferouswood--
Guybrush: Oh, come on, that doesn't even sound like "Threepwood".
  • It's a Long Story: Near the end of Chapter 4, Guybrush says this to Elaine after curing her and everyone else of the Pox of LeChuck, and she doesn't remember how she got here or why her mouth tastes like coleslaw. He also says that he'll explain once they figure how to get out of the clamshell traps. LeChuck's arrival unfortunately turns it into "Your Princess Is in Another Castle"!
  • It's the Only Way: .
    • Before that, De Cava says this in Chapter 3 when he says he's weaving the husks of Manatee Throat Grubs for an artificial cochlea, .
  • It's What I Do: Guybrush says this to Morgan in Chapter 3 when she doesn't believe that he can talk to De Cava's crew for , and she just wants to attack them for it.
  • It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: Though not narrated by voice or words, the game's opening does take place on a dark and stormy night in the Rock of Gelato.
  • I Will Show You X: There are a few examples of this near the end of Chapter 4: "I've got yer juicy strain right here, bucko!" "I'll give you some piddlin' firkins!" "I'll show you who's done for!" and "I'll spread you to the four corners!!"
  • I Wished You Were Dead: .
    • .
  • J'accuse!: Spoken by Guybrush in Chapter 4.


K-O

  • Kangaroo Court: Guybrush is tried by one in Chapter 4, which attempts to sentence him to keelhauling before he's even been charged. But then again, this is a court full of Hate Plague-infected pirates, so it's pretty par for the course.
  • Kill'Em All: . Yes, this is indeed a dark tale.
  • Kill the Cutie: .
    • .
    • .
  • Knight of Cerebus: .
    • .
    • As of Chapter 5, .
  • Large Ham: Where to start? Most notably there's LeChuck, Judge Grindstump, any character voiced by Roger L. Jackson (Such as Winslow, and Hemlock "FEED 'IM TO THE JUNGLE BEAST!!!" McGee), and, while she didn't have a very big role in Curse, Alexandra Boyd brings the house down in Tales of Monkey Island with every line as Elaine and as .
  • Last Kiss: It may or may not be a trope in Chapter 4, but at the end of the chapter, .
  • Little Black Dress: .
  • Live Item: Several, the most celebrated one is... Murray.
  • Look Behind You!: "Hey, it’s King Louis the…"
    • The Crossroads thief actually encourages you to pull this on him. Guybrush doesn't have to finish a sentence before the thief pretends to be fooled long enough for Guybrush to steal something. It is a sort of thief paradise, after all, and he wants a chance to steal it back.
  • Loud Gulp: Quite a few, actually:
    • In Chapter 2, Guybrush does this when he tries showing Morgan the Pyrite Parrot, and she says that since the parrot is cute, she'll take it as a souvenir after she kills Guybrush.
    • In Chapter 4, when Stan asks, "No hard feelings over all those various civil and criminal charges?", Guybrush replies, "Water under the bridge!" before raising his hook and continuing, "A bridge with a fast-talking shyster-slash-salesman dangling from it", causing Stan to gulp in fear.
  • MacGuffin: La Esponja Grande.
  • Mad Doctor: The Marquis De Singe, in addition to being a…
  • Man, I Feel Like a Woman: Parodied with Guybrush in his Grand Theft Me of the Voodoo Lady, for a short time in Chapter 3. He even jiggles her earrings and plays with his breasts if the player sits around for a few minutes!
  • Masochist's Meal: W.P. Grindstump is the proud owner of a Fugu Jolokia Pepper. He won it by being able to place his tongue on the outer skin of the pepper for a full 10 seconds, and now offers a challenge for anyone who would place their tongue on the pepper for a full 11 seconds! No mean feat, as not only is the pepper spicy beyond all sanity, even on the outer skin (wheras most real-life peppers have their heat in the juice or seeds), but it is also hot temperature-wise to the tongue, to the point that Guybrush's skin nearly burns when he tries touching the pepper with his good hand; he needs to numb up his tongue if he wants to win the challenge.
  • Master of Unlocking: From Chapter 2 of Tales of Monkey Island onward, Guybrush can use his Hook Hand as a lockpick to unlock doors and treasure chests. .
  • Meaningful Name: The Fugu Jolokia above takes its name from the Bhut Jolokia, an actual pepper, and fugu, the Japanese pufferfish - which is poisonous.
  • Melee a Trois: In Chapter 5, there's a brief insult/cheerup swordfight between Guybrush, Morgan and another pirate.
  • Men Don't Cry: Narrowly averted in Chapter 4, .
  • Mistaken for An Imposter: In Chapter 2, when Guybrush thinks the human LeChuck is an impostor:
  • Mistaken for Murderer: In Chapter 4, .
  • Mix-and-Match Critters: The Sea Creatures of Chapter 2. They have the head of a sea horse, the body and shell of a turtle, the fins and flippers of a fish, and the large bulb antenna of an angler fish. And their calls are... kind of weird.
  • Mouth Cam: Two of them (in the mouths of manatees), both in Chapter 3: one when Guybrush is approaching the cave guarded by a female manatee, and one near the end of the chapter, .
  • MST: At the end of "Lair of the Leviathan", Murray starts poking fun at certain names and snarking about the length of the credits.
  • Musical Nod: Blink and you'll miss it, but the diving music in Chapter 3 (also used in the pulling of the lion's paw from the Jungle Beast in Chapter 4) is a quieter version of the "Captain Kate's Boat Dive" music from Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge.
  • My Grandma Can Do Better Than You: Guybrush has a rather ingenious one near the end of Chapter 2, only "grandma" is replaced with "possibly dead mother":
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: Anemone. Also Miss Prettywhiskers and the Marquis De Singe.
  • Mysterious Backer: The Voodoo Lady, naturally.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • The Crossroads lead to three seperate pirate heavens, themed after swordfighting, thievery and treasure hunting. Just like the three trials in Secret of Monkey Island.
    • The Cursed Cutlass Of Kaflu requires five items for the spell to be complete. The ingredients include: 37 oz. of bloodstained silver, Ghost-destroying Voodoo Root Beer (fizzy), a Voodoo Doll, the Midas Diamond, and The Ultimate Insult. Of those last four ingredients, only the Diamond wasn't used to defeat LeChuck in the past. And that's probably because black pepper would've been a really lame voodoo ingredient.
    • In Chapter 2, when Guybrush moves the fish barrel over to the other side of the mainmast of the Screaming Narwhal and then scares the seagull, it files up and picks up a (literal) Red Herring, which is reminiscent of the seagull playing with the red herring outside the Scumm Bar's kitchen in The Secret of Monkey Island. Also, Guybrush can use the fish eggs with his hook hand and catch another red herring at the fishing well in Spoon Isle.
    • When Guybrush reaches for the during the Chapter 5 cutscene, he says "Pappapisshu" instead of "Youch".
    • In Chapter 5, Guybrush puts on a pot as a helmet before .
    • Hardtack the Pirate/Bailiff mentions weird slaw cravings whilst under the influence of the Pox ; this is a reference to a Funny Moment Cutscene from The Curse of Monkey Island:
  • Nerd Glasses: Noogie wears them in Chapter 3.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Chapter 1, LeChuck botches up Guybrush's voodoo spell for the Cutlass of Kaflu, leaving our hero scrambling for substitutions and trying to perfect the Cutlass to destroy LeChuck; only, instead of destroying him, it causes LeChuck to spread his voodoo pox across the Gulf of Melange and turns him into a Harmless Villain Humanity Ensues. Nice job!
    • And that is not all, as this is followed by .
    • .
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: The final battle with is brutal, and just painful to watch. He basically plays with Guybrush like a rag doll, trying to kill him in horrifyingly direct and painful ways. Throwing him from the ship's crow's nest, keelhauling him multiple times, throwing him into the quarters so hard the door is blown off its hinges, and punching him so hard that he ends up in the crow's nest again. And Guybrush can't even die. What truly sells the horror of the whole sequence is Guybrush's voice. You can tell just how much pain he's truly in just by hearing the way his voice constantly breaks, and the weary way he tries to describe things. He's so spent, so exhausted, and in so much pain that he can't even quip. A Guybrush who can't make jokes is a sad thing indeed.
    • This beatdown will continue uninterrupted if you, the player, don't figure out a way to stop it. Given that this is an adventure game, finding the solution takes time, and it's just heart wrenching to hear Guybrush's voice full of pain then being forced to return to the beating when something you try isn't successful. The longer it takes to solve the puzzle the worse it gets.
  • Non Sequitur Thud: "Is that you, mother? I washed my hands..."
  • Noodle Incident: Tales is apparently the sixth game... And yes, that count is missing something, and that's a plot point.
    • All we know about the events preceding Tales comes from Guybrush's offhand comment that, sometime before the game started, LeChuck returned to life as a "killer walrus."
      • The beginning of "Launch of the Screaming Narwhal" is probably the result of said missing game. It definitely has all the trappings of the end of a Monkey Island game: Elaine captured, LeChuck executing his latest evil plan, and Guybrush hastily substituting ingredients for a voodoo spell to get rid of him yet again. The only difference being that the voodoo substitutions make the spell go more horribly wrong than usual, kicking off the plot of Tales of Monkey Island.
  • Nuns Are Spooky: In Chapter 3, there is a picture of Sister Agnes, a nun with a creepy face, which is what Noogie is afraid of.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: LeChuck's stupidity about the clam shell puzzle in Chapter 2 might have been this in retrospect.
  • Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: Lampshaded in Chapter 4, with one of the souvenir pins reading, "Trial of the Century II - Electric Voodooloo".
  • Official Couple: Guybrush and Elaine.
  • Off with His Head: Parodied twice in Chapter 3: .
    • Only discussed in Chapter 4, when Bosun Kathryn Krebbs repeatedly shouts out, "Off with his head!", "Off with your head!" and "Off with her head!".
  • Once For Yes, Twice For No: Discussed in Chapter 2: when Elaine says that she can't leave Spinner Cay with Guybrush, he can say, "Why? Does someone have a cannon to your head? Blink twice if the answer is 'yes'."
  • Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?: In the Play Station 3 version, one of the bronze trophies obtained in Chapter 1 (when Guybrush sees the effects of the Pox of LeChuck on the inhabitants) is labeled, "Is That a Pox on Your Face, or Are You Just Angry to See Me?".
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: .
  • Our Zombies Are Different: The Voodoo Lady says that "zombie" is not the best word .
  • Overly Long Name: D'Oro's full name is "Joaquin Jocinto De Meara Alphonso D'Oro".


P-T

  • Paper Tiger: Bugeye is a bald, tattooed pirate who disrespects the main character and generally talks tough. But once you need to get information out of him, you find that the slightest bit of pressure will make him squeal.
  • Pimped-Out Dress: Elaine gets one when she willingly becomes LeChuck's demon bride in Chapter 5, and she wears it through the remainder of the chapter, even when she reverts to her normal, no longer demonic form. Her black bridal dress comes with a revealing Gem-Encrusted black bustier/corset worn under a see-though sheer black fabric sleeveless blouse with a black sash belt, a dark gray broomstick skirt and black dress boots, along with gem encrusted black Opera Gloves, and an eerie-glowing black tiara.
  • The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: This is finally averted in "The Siege of Spinner Cay": McGillicutty and his crew are pirates incarnate, who pillage, fire cannons, bury treasure, lay siege to innocent ports, drown people, threaten Guybrush repeatedly, and cook.
    • One must remember that they do this under the influence of The Corruption...
      • Although it's stated that unlike a lot of the characters, McGillicutty's crew openly welcomed the Pox, even going as far as to try and destroy its cure. The Pox may have made them more piratey, but they're still pirates anyway.
  • Poke the Poodle: In "The Siege of Spinner Cay", Captain McGillicutty captures the Merfolk Ruler and threatens to drown him/her if he/she refuses to reveal the secret ritual words to summon the sea creatures that leads to La Esponja Grande. It works about as well as you would expect.
    • It's kind of hinted at that the Pox completely addled McGillicutty's mind. But it's still hilarious hearing the Merfolk ruler insisting that it wouldn't work.
  • Portal Network: The various rips in the Crossroads that appear on LeChuck's ship, Club 41, a raft atop the Manatee Mating Grounds in the ocean, and a secluded island somewhere in the Gulf of Melange.
  • The Power of Love: At the end of the game, .
  • Precision F-Strike: in Chapter 5.
  • Prolonged Prologue: Somewhat long in Chapters 1 and 3.
  • Public Execution: Discussed in the courthouse bulletin in Chapter 4, .
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: In Chapter 4, :
    • At the beginning of Chapter 1, when Guybrush talks to Elaine and asks, "Are you hungry?":
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: In Chapter 4, Guybrush gives one of these speeches to Morgan LeFlay, and makes her feel visibly terrible for the acts that caused it.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: This is parodied in the game from Chapters 1-4 when pirates are so infected by the Pox of LeChuck they go into Poxed rages and even shout out silly death threats.
  • Released to Elsewhere: Poor, poor Noogie...
  • Resurrected Romance: .
  • Riding Into the Sunset: .
  • Rise from Your Grave: .
  • Rock-Paper-Scissors: Parodied in Chapter 5, when Reginald Van Winslow has been working on a game he calls "Rock, Paper, Fountain Pen", and describes to Guybrush how the game is played: "Well, paper beats rock. And then the player must shame the paper into defeat by filling it full of lewd phrases using the pen." Of course, this is little less of a game to this troper.
  • Rouge Angles of Satin/Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma: The game's subtitles often do these with typos in them throughout its chapters, especially with its improper use of hyphens or with the letters or words or punctuation marks or hyphens missing. The biggest subtitle blunder is evident in Chapter 2, where the subtitles are riddled with So. Many. Typos! It's even hard to make out the words that are often misspelled (either with an extra letter or with one or both letters missing), have a LOT of mispunctuation and miscapitalization, and don't match what the characters' voices are saying, like (for example) "[66]", "[67]", "[68]", "[69]", "[70]", "[71]", and a LOT of misspellings of "merfolk", "mermaid", "merman", "merperson" and "merpeople". Also, the biggest blunders are many words in the subtitles that don't match what the person's voice says, like, for example, Trenchfoot's subtitles repeatedly saying "I have" when his voice clearly says "I've got".
    • Also, Roe Island seems to be suffering a case of All Lowercase Letters instead of capital letters when examined items change their names (example: "photograph" becomes "almost kinda sweet photo of DeSinge [sic] and the Voodoo Lady", "Journals" become "poems no one wants to read", "Sketch" becomes "disturbing sketch of a young Voodoo Lady", "Cot" becomes "disgusting cot", etc).
    • Spell My Name with an "S": Even there are a few names that everyone is confused about: the names "DeCava" ("MerLeader", "Merleader" "Mer Leader", etc), "Vaycaylian" ("Vacaylian", "Vaycalian", "Vacalian"), "De Singe" ("Mer-Leader"), "De Cava" ("DeSinge"), Morgan DeCava ("Le Flay" in Chapter 1, "LeFlay" in Chapter 2) and "Esponja" in "La Esponja Grande" ("Esponge", "Esponga").
  • Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: This game has examples of this in Chapter 2 (Guybrush: [as he fires a cannon] "KABOOM! Ah, I never get tired of that!") and in Chapter 5 ("Sigh.").
  • Say My Name: In Chapter 1, :
    • And at the end of Chapter 4, .
  • Scrolling Text: This is the first time we actually see scrolling subtitle text that accompanies the voices in a Monkey Island game, be it fast or slow. Sometimes words in the subtitle text start appearing before a character says them almost at the exact same time the subtitle finishes, which is apparent in some scenes in Chapter 4.
  • See You in Hell: Parodied in Chapter 5, :

{{quote|[[spoiler:LeChuck: Does Elaine know about Morgan, Guybrush? Elaine: [looks at LeChuck] What? LeChuck: [turns to Elaine] That sultry sea-minx had it for Threepwood! Her corsair sailed for only him! [turns back to Guybrush, smiling] A pity I had to kill her! But now they can kindle their love [turns angry] in hell! [punches Guybrush]]]}}

  • Sentient Cosmic Force: Voodoo is implied to be this.
  • Sequel Hook: Plenty! The game intentionally leaves a few loose ends hanging around, and brings up a few at the very end. , , and the Voodoo Lady's true motivations come to mind. There's plenty of material to cook up another sequel... or at least fuel a metric ton of fanfic.
  • Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Near the end of Chapter 4, when Guybrush asks De Singe what he's doing with the Vaycaylian Wind Control Device (), De Singe replies, "You see, using my handbuilt Harpsichronitron, in conjunction with my Oscimoligrophiscope to seek out a resonant frequency with the Vaycaylian Climatiphone, I hope to anatomize living tissue on a macroscopic basis!" Guybrush, however, becomes clueless and can ask De Singe to repeat with the purposes of all this machinery, and De Singe can translate that he's using the piano device ("this machine") to make the Wind Control Device ("that machine") "smash people into a fine powder", which, of course, causes Guybrush to say, "Hey, that's not very nice!".
    • Also, in Chapter 2 "The Siege of Spinner Cay", Guybrush has another meaning to "You Suck!":
  • Shout-Out: Clicking on some stone pillars will prompt Guybrush to point out that he doesn't have the jacket or fedora required to decode the symbols engraved on it.
    • When you inexplicably have to roll some cheese against a rock Guybrush does a Wallace and Gromit impression (Telltale also released an episodic adventure series based on Wallace and Gromit).
    • Also in Chapter 1, you meet a pirate who has become a glassblower. In Ultima V, in Buccaneer's Den, there's a pirate named Sven, who used to be a glassblower.
      • Speaking of him, he gives you an "unbreakable" glass tube shaped like a "U". A U-Tube, if you will. He and Guybrush can both be made to muse about how nobody seems interested in their U-Tube offerings.
      • And when he asks you if you want the U, he phrases it, "You'd like to buy a vowel, eh?".
      • Also, in Chapter 4, he has a prototype of the Swashbuckling Suzy Long-Lasting Leg Lamp, which can be useful for Guybrush.
    • "Can I call you 'D'Oro The Explorer?'" (immediately gets punched by his own left hand)
    • In Chapter 2, when Guybrush has Hardtack and Trenchfoot try to guess a number, the two numbers that both of them guess wrongly are a reference to the Arc Numbers, with Hardtack's guessing number 27 a reference to the curse for musicians who have died at the age of 27 (Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and, most recently, Amy Winehouse), and Trenchfoot's guessing number 42 a reference to the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything in the 1979 novel The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy.
    • In Chapter 5, Banang makes a brief comeback.
    • Also in Chapter 5, the Voodoo Lady manifests as a scuttle of crabs. This is very likely a reference to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, where Tia Dalma does the same thing . What makes this especially interesting is that Pirates Of The Caribbean was inspired by the earlier Monkey Island games, and Tia Dalma is a reference to the Voodoo Lady. Which means she references the person who was inspired by her.
      • Similarly, Morgan having read about Guybrush's exploits and learning that the real person is quite different indeed, like Elizabeth and Jack Sparrow in the first movie.
      • Also, in Chapter 2, Elaine shouts out, "Hoist yer colors, ya mangy sea dogs!". This quote is a reference to the song, "Hoist the Colours", the main theme of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and it's derived from the phrase "hoist the colors high", referring to the custom of raising the flag on a ship.
    • Also, in Chapter 3, gives a nod to when Bruce Banner would get angry so much that he would transform into the Incredible Hulk in his self-titled comic book series.
    • And LeChuck's speech to Elaine in the end of Chapter 5 is a parody of Old Man Waterfall's Sedgwick Speech in an episode of Futurama.
    • Chapter 5, ? Didn't Loom end the same way?
    • To Shakespeare: Tales has a few of the shout-outs to William Shakespeare:
      • At the beginning of the intro to Chapter 2, the Voodoo Lady quotes England's deposed king Edward IV's words to Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (a.k.a. just Warwick), before the former is taken captive in Henry VI Part 3: "What fates impose, that men must needs abide;/It boots not to resist both wind and tide" (IV.iii). Only her subtitle got it right ("needs"), while her voice got it wrong ("need").
      • In Chapter 4, if the player has Guybrush use one of the severed legs on the altar without dipping it in sugar water, he will quote a few lines in a spoof of "Alas, poor Yorick" from Hamlet (V.i) (this is done in the Play Station 3 version in order to net the player a "Guybrush Goes Classy" silver trophy).
      • Speaking of Play Station 3 trophies, there are a few trophies that are shout-outs too ("What's in a Name?" from the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet (II.ii), and "Adieu, Adieu..." which is a reference to Hamlet's father's written line, "Adieu, adieu, remember me," from Hamlet (I.v)).
      • In Chapter 5, stabs and calls a "bunch-backed toad", which is taken from the line from Richard III, in which Queen Margaret, widow of King Henry VI, curses Queen Elizabeth (wife of King Edward IV) with: "The day will come that thou shalt wish for me / To help thee curse that poisonous bunch-backed toad" (I.iii).
  • Showdown At High Noon: Parodied in Chapter 1: after Guybrush has rearranged the mysterious wind idol near the Vaycaylian Wind Control Device, De Singe arrives with a rifle and demands that Guybrush surrender his Poxed hand. A brief period of staring silence follows, complete with close-ups of both Guybrush's and De Singe's faces in a style parody of The Good the Bad And The Ugly before the former breaks the silence with "Make me!", and the latter pulls out the rifle and shoots him sky-high. Of course, Guybrush is still alive when he lands on the ground and gets up.
  • Show Some Leg: In Chapter 4, Bosun Kathryn Krebbs testifies against Guybrush and, in the midst of her testimony, pulls her legs to the top of the witness stand, distracting the Wolf Whistling crowd with the "nacho sauce burn" on her Poxed leg ().
  • Shrine to the Fallen: In Chapter 5, .
  • Spikes of Villainy: LeChuck final incarnation in Tales of Monkey Island.
  • Spoiler Title: .
  • Spoof Aesop: In Chapter 4, you have to help a plant that literally has a lion's paw stuck in its thorn.
  • Staring Contest: In Chapter 2, Guybrush places Hardtack and Trenchfoot into a staring contest, into which our hero can distract the pirate duo into looking behind them so he can place the Pyrite Parrot into the treasure chest, in hopes that he can find where they'll bury it along with one of the Summoning Artifacts later.
  • Status Quo Is God: At least in regards to the Threepwoods.
  • Stay with Me Until I Die: In Chapter 4, .
  • Stealth Pun: In Chapter 1 "Launch of the Screaming Narwhal", one Gaffer Crimpdigit makes glass unicorns. But, he wishes he could make something "that really speaks to" seafaring pirates. Did we mention the chapter is called "Launch of the Screaming Narwhal"?
  • Sticky Situation: Near the end of Chapter 1, , Guybrush cleverly devises a way to stop the situation by opening up the tar barrel and trapping his hand in sticky tar (he even says, "That's what I call a sticky situation!" while looking at the tar puddle again).
  • Stiff Upper Lip: Winslow doesn't make much of a fuss about paying to repair the mast repeatedly , having to put up with the Pox, getting shipwrecked, and so forth. All he asks is that you please use the map....
  • Stock Scream: .
  • Stop Saying That: In Chapter 3, Guybrush uses the Tongue of the Manatee to help the Giant Manatee find love, and when they arrive at the manatee cave to meet the female in the manatee language:
  • Strapped to An Operating Table: In Chapter 1, Guybrush Threepwood gets strapped to an operating table by the Marquis De Singe, , and our hero must use his limited movement ability (and the Marquis' helper monkey Jacques) to escape.
  • The Strength of Ten Men: The human LeChuck exhibits this strength to pull out the Wise Turtle Summoning Artifact in Chapter 2. He even lampshades this when he tells Guybrush, "Elaine seems to think I have the strength of ten men!".
  • Stripped to the Bone: .
    • .
  • Summoning Artifact: There are three of them in Chapter 2, all of which can be combined into one Summoning Ball Artifact used to summon the Sea Creatures to help Guybrush find the alleged resting place of La Esponja Grande. .
    • Summoning Ritual: This one consists of the ritual words that only the McGillicutty knows in order to summon the Sea Creatures with the Summoning Artifacts. .
  • Super Not-Drowning Skills: Guybrush can hold his breath for ten minutes. Of course, .
  • Surfer Pirate Dude: Moose in Chapter 3. And this dude talks in Surfer Slang, bra.
  • Swallowed Whole: Most of Chapter 3 takes place inside the belly of a giant manatee. Some of the residents are actually quite content there.
  • Take Up My Sword: Subverted. .
  • Talking in Your Sleep: In Chapter 3, while Guybrush is performing first aid on Morgan to wake her up, we hear her mumble, while she's unconscious: "THIS is for JUGBENDER!" and "Gomez... not on the carpet!"
  • Tarot Troubles: At the start of most chapters, when the Voodoo Lady does a recap this way.
  • The Teasers: This is the first Monkey Island game to have playable cold openings in five chapters... sort of. Chapter 1, for example, has a playable intro that can be accomplished with help from instructions before the main title starts. Chapter 3 has a VERY long playable cold opening consisting of a few tasks and an "Answer the question" minigame before the chapter's title starts. Chapter 4, on the other hand, only has the shortest playable cold opening, where you only have to select a topic before the chapter's title starts.
  • Tempting Fate: In the climax of Chapter 5, when Elaine is trying to kill by using the Cutlass of Kaflu, we get this exchange as he steps through the rip in the Crossroads:
  • Time Master: .
    • A possible explanation for that is found in Chapter 1: the Voodoo Lady mentions that the Crossroads are the source of all voodoo power (or something like that), and as such are probably immune to voodoo being used as a weapon against them.
  • Timmmm-Boing?: Shouted out by Guybrush in Chapter 2 "The Siege of Spinner Cay", when he manages to push the rubber tree down to the ground with help from Trenchfoot's digging for "treasure".
  • To Be Continued: Appears at the end of Chapters 1-4, with each one describing the title of the next chapter.
  • Torches and Pitchforks: Parodied in Chapter 4, when Hemlock LeFlay and the angry mob approach Guybrush and De Singe with torches and pitchforks to summon Guybrush to court. And he has thought there would be ice cream cake too.
  • Traveling Pipe Bulge: In Chapter 3, though it's a bile tube, not a pipe.
  • Two Words: Obvious Trope: If Guybrush asks Hemlock McGee what happened to his legs in Chapter 1:


U-Z

    • And in Chapter 4:
  • Villain Decay: LeChuck's ongoing decay throughout the series continues as he's brought back to life as a genuinely good guy. .
  • Villain Opening Scene: This game starts out with LeChuck and his captive Elaine near the Rock of Gelato at the very beginning of Chapter 1, all on a dark and stormy night.
  • Walk, Don't Swim: Sort of downplayed in Chapter 3, when Guybrush moves his legs around as he slowly walks in the Manatee Mating Grounds at the bottom of the ocean, but when the player tries making him run, he swims with a dog paddle. .
  • We Can Rule Together: :

{{quote|[[spoiler:LeChuck: I know you've developed feelings for me... join me as my demon bride and together we'll lay a bloody siege to the very heart of voodoo itself! Elaine: Go to hell, LeChuck. LeChuck: Well, you can't say I didn't try... Looks like we'll be doing this with all that voodoo]]...}}

    • .
  • We Have Ways of Making You Talk/Tickle Torture: Though not spoken by Guybrush, the player can choose the line "I have ways of making you talk!" to frighten Bugeye in Chapter 3. The result is:
  • We'll See About That: Spoken by De Singe, both in Chapters 1 and 4.
  • Wham! Episode: "The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood": !
    • .
  • What Does This Button Do?: At the beginning of Chapter 3, De Cava wonders what the button on the locket does after .
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: .
    • Although it should be noted that .
    • Two other "mice" that don't get resolution are a weird machine in the Voodoo Lady's shack in Chapter 1 (Guybrush even mentions it among other stuff in there he hadn't had a chance to use yet in Chapter 4) and , though the commentaries explain a bit about that one: , and they point out that .
  • What's an X Like You Doing In a Y Like This?: Guybrush says this to De Singe in Chapter 1: "So, how'd a dazzling urbanite like yourself wind up in a sleepy pirate island like Flotsam?"
  • Who Are You Calling Names?: In Chapter 3, when Bugeye's voice says, "What say you, digested SCUMM™?", one of the topics the player can choose as a response is, "Hey, who you calling SCUMM™, Geppetto?".
    • And in Chapter 4, when Guybrush tries breaking up a fight between Morgan and Elaine:
  • Why Won't You Die?: .
  • Womb Level: Chapter 3 is almost 2/3 of this, .
  • Word Schmord: Appears a few times in a few conversations in Chapters 1 and 5.
  • Worst Whatever Ever: Guybrush upon examining the shrunken heads in the Voodoo Lady's shack in Chapter 1: "Worst. Air freshener. Ever."
  • Wrong Turn At Alcatraz: In Chapter 3, Guybrush can choose this pun after he and Morgan are asked, "What say you, digested SCUMM™?".
  • Xanatos Roulette: .
    • I believe the backup plan was .
    • Alternately, Elaine was lying when she said she planned everything.
  • Xanatos Speed Chess: .
  • The X of Y: This game not only has this themed title (Tales of Monkey Island), but all of its five chapters have the same themed titles as well, though Chapter 4's title is more like "The X and X of Y".
  • You Do NOT Want to Know: In Chapter 3:
    • And in Chapter 4:
  • You Got Spunk: In Chapter 1, after Guybrush completes the three pirate newsmaking tasks, Davey Nipperkin becomes impressed and says, "You know, Threepwood, you've got spunk. Pirate spunk." Guybrush: "Ew."
  • You're Cute When You're Angry: In the LeChuck version of Chapter 2, when Guybrush gets Morgan PS3 angry by repeatedly checking out the mast while battling her on the Screaming Narwhal, one of the bronze trophies that the player is awarded is "She's Cute When She's Angry".
  • You're Insane!: One of the topics in Chapter 2 has this :
  • Your Mom: Guybrush has a rather ingenious one near the end of Chapter 2:

[[Category:]]

  1. ↑ Gab.
  2. ↑ Harry
  3. ↑ That's Fit to Print
  4. ↑ Freiheit weft.
  5. ↑ ass
  6. ↑ Draw?
  7. ↑ Queen?
  8. ↑ Texas
  9. ↑ Shoes,
  10. ↑ Leonardo
  11. ↑ Hell
  12. ↑ face
  13. ↑ Dog,
  14. ↑ monkey!
  15. ↑ ass!
  16. ↑ gun
  17. ↑ Tale
  18. ↑ Cities
  19. ↑ Sea
  20. ↑ trigger
  21. ↑ cents,
  22. ↑ tacks.
  23. ↑ Divided we fall.
  24. ↑ boat.
  25. ↑ others
  26. ↑ them do unto you.
  27. ↑ Heavens
  28. ↑ LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
  29. ↑ Flint.
  30. ↑ lamb's tail.
  31. ↑ Pussycat!
  32. ↑ pants!
  33. ↑ Betsy,
  34. ↑ your maker!
  35. ↑ ladies and gentlemen
  36. ↑ jury...
  37. ↑ man
  38. ↑ fool
  39. ↑ pigeons
  40. ↑ Badges? We
  41. ↑ badges!
  42. ↑ Farm
  43. ↑ EBay.
  44. ↑ Pin
  45. ↑ Tail
  46. ↑ Donkey!
  47. ↑ penny
  48. ↑ The Bible
  49. ↑ truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
  50. ↑ money,
  51. ↑ junk?
  52. ↑ junk
  53. ↑ trunk
  54. ↑ here
  55. ↑ goose
  56. ↑ Beauty
  57. ↑ bat
  58. ↑ man
  59. ↑ hands
  60. ↑ shoes
  61. ↑ problems.
  62. ↑ Dollars
  63. ↑ P,
  64. ↑ pool.
  65. ↑ Spice
  66. ↑ Marquis De Singe
  67. ↑ bury
  68. ↑ sniveling
  69. ↑ mitts
  70. ↑ treasure
  71. ↑ previous
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