Rhett and Link
"Hello, mythical beasts! We have our own page at All The Tropes!"
Rhett & Link are entertainers who primarily use the Internet to display their talents. They like to call themselves "Internetainers."
Charles Lincoln Neal and Rhett McLaughlin first met on the first day of first grade when they were held in class during recess as punishment for writing profanity on their desks. They quickly became best friends. Throughout their childhood and adolescence, they went to the same schools and even dated some of the same girls (not at the same time, of course). During their college years, they both pursued engineering degrees (civil for Rhett, industrial for Link) and shared a dorm room. They also made stupids videos with a VHS-C camera and played them at their weekly Campus Crusade meetings.
Today, Rhett & Link are among the most successful entertainers on the Internet. They have written songs about the strangest things, and they have made videos on the strangest subjects. Their most successful operations involve making bizarre commercials for small businesses all over America. They have two YouTube channels, a primary channel for their main videos and a secondary channel for making-ofs and real-world footage. They sell their own albums, T-shirts, coffee mugs, and even original shoes. They even receive sponsorships for some of their videos. They even have their own TV series on IFC called Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings.
But they have not forgotten their roots. Though they both now have their own individual homes and families, they still hang out like when they were children, and they even made a documentary of themselves searching for their teacher from first grade.
They recently appeared as the Wright Brothers in Epic Rap Battles of History.
- I'm Sorry, What Was That? (Live in the Living Room)
- Secret Songs
- B-Sides
- Up To This Point
- Rhett & LinKast: Originally a traditional video podcast, later became a live stream.
- Good Morning Chia Lincoln/Good Mythical Morning: Spiritual Successor to the Rhett&LinKast, a morning talk show.
- I Love Local Commercials: Later developed into the IFC television series.
- The Future According to Rhett/Link's Golden Advice for Single Guys
- Seaborne and Roach: Two private eyes on mundane stakeouts.
- Superhero and Sidekick: The misadventures of a superhero and his sidekick.
- Caption Fail: A sketch, followed by two reenactments of the sketch using YouTube's auto-transcribe captions.
- Viral Boom: On January 17, 2007, Rhett and Link stayed up for 24 hours to make 24 potentially-viral videos.
- Great American Road Trip: Sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, Rhett and Link traveled the country sampling local cuisine.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Their appearance as the Wright brothers in Epic Rap Battles of History.
- Bacon Addiction: "Rub Some Bacon on It."
- Bad Liar
- Comically Missing the Point: In the trailer for Good Mythical Morning, the three quotes of "anguish" from fans were thus:
Chia Lincoln, I love you! Don't Leave!
My life feels so empty.
Link's not very good at playing the trumpet.
- Doing It for the Art: They started "Good Morning Chia Lincoln" simply because they wanted to. "Good Mythical Morning" is sponsored, but they still do it for the same reason.
- Easter Egg: On the side of the Mythical Shoe is a message in morse code. They revealed the secret on the Series Finale of Good Morning Chia Lincoln.
- The Eighties: The song "In The 80's."
- Fan Nickname: According to Youtube commenters, the unnamed kid in Epic Rap Battle who Rhett and Link demonstrate the Half- and Full-Nelson on, respectively, is named "Nelson".
- 555: Averted in Epic Rap Battle, when the number "Tiffany" gives is a valid, unlisted North Carolina number.
- Heterosexual Life Partners: the ultimate example in real life. They have been extremely close since childhood, but they live in separate houses and have wives and kids of their own.
- I Have This Friend: inverted.
- The Internet: Though this goes without saying, they have done multiple songs about the Internet or specific websites, like The Facebook Song and Internet Overdose Song.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Rhett in "The Tragedy."
- Killer Rabbit
- Kitschy Local Commercial: The entire premise of Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings.
- Mind Screw: Dope Zebra. The one video that has NOTHING to do with anything previous to it.
- Mistaken for Gay: This has happened to them before, due to being two men traveling together. To avoid this, they frequently remind the audience of their separate homes with respective families. (See above.)
- Mistaken for Racist
- One of the Kids: At moments.
- Perma-Stubble: Link.
- Real Trailer, Fake Movie: Past Meets President.
- Refuge in Audacity: Often, especially in the campaign for the Mythical Shoe.
- "It's the invisible train!"
- Road Trip: Sponsored by Alka-Seltzer.
- Serious Business
- Spiritual Successor: "Good Morning Chia Lincoln" became "Good Mythical Morning" a year later.
- Totally Radical: It's never sincere.
- Turn Your Head and Cough: In Caption Fail 3, a police officer does this to a speeding driver. For some reason.
- What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: They love this one.
- A particular example would be Epic Gun Battle, in which they take turns hitting each other with Nerf guns and which Rhett gets hit in the nose.