Cans

Cans, by inmate2993, is a series of comedy games starring Chuck Flemwas. It is perhaps best known as one of the first MZX games to feature cameos of the active MZXers of the time, and has served as the inspiration for many imitation ("Cans-style") games, such as Idiocy and Life of Mr. Ascii. (emo maggot FREAK carries the torch spiritually, if not following the Cans structure.)

For the most part, the Cans series takes place in The Bronx, with Chuck eventually making his way to Planet #megazeux, Planet Badness, space, and Barkness.

Story

Cans deals with the apparently ongoing conflict between Inmate and his little brother Robert. Chuck is always pulled along to aid Inmate in his attempts at stopping Robert, much to Chuck's dismay.

Characters

Chuck Flemwas

A character that somehow manages to embody both Beavis and Butthead into one person. Chuck is always armed with a slingshot and an infinite supply of high explosives, though more often than not there is little reason to use either of them. No matter where he works, Chuck always ends up being employed as a janitor. He resents being dragged into Inmate's business, and really just wants to have fun by any means necessary.

Of the six party members that can be acquired in Cans 3, Chuck is the only one that does not attack with a melee weapon. This does not affect his damage at all.

Guy

Although he is a fully grown adult, Guy enjoys spending his time in front of the television, watching the Mostly Morphine Powder Strangers.

Cindy

Cindy first appears in Cans 3, somehow inexplicably on a date with Chuck. It is generally accepted that Cindy did not meet Chuck until some time between Cans 2 and 3, but she also appears in Cans Episode One living in the same apartment building as Chuck (in order to ease the explanation somewhat, and because Chuck thought it would be amusing if everybody moved to the same apartment buildings at the same time).

Inmate

The creator of the game, manifested as a smiley with sunglasses. Inmate not only is a party member, but also (more or less) the main plot exposition device, outside of Zixyer. Inmate has the ability to alter the universe at will, which he uses to send Johnny through the Zeuxstream and to open Inma-portals to various locations from Chuck's apartment.

Johnny

Johnny, who lives in a house down the street from Chuck's building in Cans 1, is married and has two children. He is famous on Chuck's block for having a 50-inch television screen (which the player never actually gets to watch). In Cans 1, Johnny's wife is apparently kidnapped by two wandering convicts, and he apparently is on her way to pick her up when Inmate sends him into the Zeuxstream.

The unreleased game Cans X was supposed to tell the story of Johnny after his trip through the Zeuxstream, but the game was never finished, and thus Johnny's story remains a mystery.

In Cans Episode One, the part of Johnny was played by Bruce Campbell.

Robert

The primary antagonist. Robert's evil plots are almost always stolen from other games, notably his MagiTek armor rip-offs from Cans 3. He has a long-standing rivalry with Inmate.

Notable MZXer Cameos

Exophase

Exo, appearing here as gaK, is presumably only included as a plot device so that the main characters may steal his airship. Most often, said airship is crashed into a building of some sort.

Zixyer

Zixyer, first appearing in Cans 2, explains most (if not all) of the major plot details to the main characters by way of Sivion-style cutscenes. He has his own theme song, Da Zixyer Rave.

Waka

Although he gets an inconsequential cameo in Cans 2, he joins your party in Cans 3.

Rook Eldain

Though not actually an MZXer (rather, the creation of one), Rook appears in both Cans 2 and 3. In Cans 2, he aids Chuck in fighting Monthigos in an RPG battle (Chuck is given the option to throw Rook at Monthigos, which causes more damage). In Cans 3, Rook appears just for the sake of appearing (and in this appearance, Rook uses Sivion-style conversation windows for a brief moment).

Games in Series

• Cans - inmate2993 - Dementia Software, 1996
• Cans ][ - inmate2993 - Destiny Software, 1997
• Cans III - inmate2993 - Autumn Dreams, 1998
• Cans Episode One - inmate2993 - (no group), 2001

Trivia

• Cans is arguably one of the most popular/famous MZX games of all time, rivaling other games like Caverns of Zeux. Newbies in particular tend to adore this game much more than most, despite the fact that the cameos are years old and mostly of people who are long-gone.
• Inmate planned to make Cans 4, but the project was cancelled. All that remains of it is its music, which Inmate had uploaded to his website.
• Chuck Flemwas appears in Kuddy's game, BLARGFRDRGMAHAG!, as one of the objects that Slap can throw at enemies.
• Chuck's name also appears in Inmate's MegaZeux Combat Trainer, as one of the high-score rankings.
• Cans 2 starts off in the same fashion as Veloso's game MegaZeux Superstar.
• The voice clip on Cans Episode One's death board is of dormando.