Zanies

## What are Zanies?

Zanies are a particular branch of toons that have embraced a unique lifestyle. They have taken an ill-defined step in perception of themselves and reality. Zanies operate on what we would call cartoon logic. They have sidestepped physics, reason, and sense. Truly they are the most chaotic force in IM. They have rules but they are difficult to pin down. The one solid law for zanies is that it must be funny.

Zanies live for jokes, gags, and any form of comedy. To a zany life is a stage, for some that is literal, and they are called to perform. It is hard to gauge how aware a zany is as their awareness or lack thereof can be part of a gag. Many times they can be seen as extravagant or eccentric, possibly even uncaring.  It is difficult to have a zany take anything seriously

There is a culture that comes with becoming silly. Zanies will collectively study humor and each other. They have developed their own spaces to enjoy their craft. This has built up notable zanies into celebrity status. With the recent invention of the television that celebrity status has begun to spread into nonzany communities and beyond. Zanies are inviting if nonzanies in their spaces, all nonzanies are safe from any form of brutal physical comedy unless they push themselves into a gag willing. Most times a nonzany will deal with a lesser form if they have any part in a physical gag. This consideration does not always apply to former zanies in the confusion of them having been that chaotic themselves. With the concern of time being a suggestion to a zany, it can be hard for them to recognize things that are past or even things that are to be.

## Known Zanies

* Yakko Warner
* Wakko Warner
* Dot Warner
* Donald Duck
* Felix the Cat (Former)
* Popeye
* Poindexter
* Cheshire Cat
* Skiddoo
* Rosco
* Shamus T. Goldcrow
* Natassia Slinky
* Alex
* Nora Cat
* Inky Cat
* Winky Cat
* Mr. Toad
* Max the Butler
* Beppi the Clown
* Grim Matchstick
* Amish (Allegedly)
* Daffy Duck
* Bugs Bunny

## How Do You Become Zany?

As explained by Felix being zany is not something someone is born as but more a lifestyle choice or state of being for a toon. Any toon can become a zany, regardless of their race. A toon becomes zany by participating in gags. Depending on how many gags they participate in and how well they perform these gags an individual can either become more or less zany over time. Zany's also have a certain amount of awareness that is learned as they complete more gags. The more of this awareness they gain, the more zany they become (Ch 191)

Just as it is possible to choose to become a zany it is also possible for a toon to stop being zany, though it is very rare so most zanies greatly enjoy being a zany. The main key to no longer being a zany is to no longer participate in gags anymore. This can be difficult, since the Zany themselves can not always escape the gags that are thrust upon them and as they become less zany these gags become more dangerous to the individual as they begin to lose some of the physical durability zanies possess that allow them to safely survive physical gags. In order to stop being zany a individual would also have to purposeful forget the knowledge and awareness they once had as a zany. This can be also be difficult as the individual most repress certain knowledge that once was a part of their day to day functioning as a zany. But, if an individual manages to complete the process they will successfully have transitioned back into a non-zany toon (Ch 191)

## Zany Abilities

### Gags

Gags are the jokes (physical, verbal, visual..) that are commonly associated and seen in cartoons. An example of a classic gag is the dust cloud that appears around zany individuals when when a few of them get into a fight with one another (Ch 179) Gags are the cornerstone of the zany lifestyle. As Felix explains in Chapter 191 "All zanies live for the gag. They set them up. They walk into them. They are the winners and losers of them. If you want to best zanies, you have to understand timing and how gags work.". Performing gags is what makes a zany a zany, it's how they maintain their abilities. The more gags performed, the more zany the individual becomes. Gags are very powerful, as Yakko explains "As long as you go for the laughs, you can ignore the rules of almost anything else.” (Ch 116) As long as it is funny, gags can completely ignore things like physics or the laws of reality in order to complete it's punchline.

Each individual zany has their own set of expected gags they are associated with, a set of running jokes that continuously occur around them and become their own personal comedic signature. These gags can be something as simple as their laugh to more elaborate gags such as never having any good dating luck. Many zanies take time to develop their gags with catchphrases and habits making their own unique style. Though that is not always the case for every zany or every gag they are a part of. Throughout a zany's career it is possible that circumstances will add new running gags to their set whether the zany wants these new gags or not. A prime example of this is what happened between Felix and his cousin Alex where Alex added the consistent dealing with doppelganger's to Felix's reoccurring gags even though Felix himself hated these gags. It is currently unknown if there is any way to stop a running gag once it becomes attached to a individual zany (Ch 191)

Zany gag abilities seem to not only affect the zany individuals themselves but also items built by zanies. For instance, a zany built house shown in chapter 189 has windows that, when something is thrown at them, do not shatter but instead stretch like rubber and fling the item they are hit with back into the home. It is currently unknown whether all items created by zanies are also zany or if a zany has to do something specific during the building process to give the item zany abilities.

### Physical Abilities

Zanies gain a number of physical traits that an average toon does not have in order for them to participate in the physical comedy of certain gags, such as getting an anvil dropped on them without dying. One of the most noticeable physical features a zany gains is enhanced durability. It is much harder for a zany to get injured in the same way a normal toon would. As stated previously with the anvil example, an anvil dropped on a normal toon will kill them but an anvil dropped on a zany may just comedically flatten their heads without causing any real damage. However, this doesn't mean that it's impossible to kill a zany, it's just more difficult then it would be compared to a normal toon (Ch 191)

Another physical ability of zanies is that they can manipulate their bodies in ways that are impossible for a normal toon. For instance, Wakko has pulled his own tail off and used it as a cane without any issue (Ch 113) Zanies can use this ability to manipulate their bodies in fights as well as their normal gags, such as when Popeye turned his whole body into a bullet and fired himself at the Cupbros (Inky Extra's Ch 105) Zanies are also able to physically shake off their exhaustion (Ch 116)

These physical abilities mean that things such as injures or even missing limbs can be viewed as just another thing to joke about for a zany. Since they are so resilient it can be hard for them to grasp how serious injuries are for a normal toon. For instance, the Warners didn't understand that they shouldn't joke about Mickey's missing leg until Felix explained the situation to them in terms they could understand (Ch 113)

### Awareness

Zanies have a special awareness of the world around them that normal toons do not. In order to perform gags they are aware of the gag, themselves, those around them and the space around them that the gag is happening in. Seeing as gags can just start at any time this awareness is constantly "switched on". While this seems to be the basic level of awareness a zany needs to function properly as a zany get's more zany they tend to learn new things that add on to this awareness (Ch 191) More experienced zanies can learn about things such as the 4th wall, the existence of animators and the fact that they're all actually cartoon characters. For example, the Warners reference these concepts constantly and Felix's own experience in the Labyrinth indicates that he and his friends were aware of these things before he forcibly repressed the knowledge of them in order to stop being zany (Ch 179) It seems that experienced zanies can reach a sort of enlightened state of awareness where they know the full truth of the reality in which they live and are able to use it to their own advantage as they see fit. Bendy, during his time swapped into Dot's body, also mentions that his vision makes everything appear flatter then his normal vision did (Ch 116) This could be a side effect of being aware of the fact that the world is a cartoon and thus just a 2D drawing.

## Trivia

* Some people call zanies looney's (Ch 137)