Cuphead/History

General

**History**

Relationships

Quotes

Gallery

#### Childhood on Inkwell Isles

Him and Mugman grew up together on a chain of islands in the Atlantic (Ch 136) called the Inkwell Isles, living with their grandfather Elder Kettle. While for the most part their early childhood was fairly normal and happy, they did also get into their fair share of mischief. For instance, one time as children they went into the city and snuck into the *Queen Bee's Hotel* in order to steal some of her famous honey. While Mugman distracted the worker bees, Cuphead snuck behind the employee's door and stole as much honey as he could, even filling his head with it. After stealing the honey the Cupbros fled the hotel but one of the cop bees caught them and the dish brothers ended up stuck in a jail cell as they waited to get picked up. While they returned the majority of the honey they had to explain to the bees that they couldn't return the honey in Cup's head since it was already in his system. Despite this explanation the bees still attempted to get the honey out of his head through various means such as holding him upside down and using a honey dipper on him (Ch 80).

One day when Cuphead was thirteen years old (Ch 172), they went into The Devil's Casino, bet their souls and lost them to The Devil. After losing their souls the two boys had an argument which ended with Cuphead getting upset and leaving Mugs behind at Elder Kettle's house to go begin collecting the soul contracts by himself. At first, Mugs was too angry to follow his brother but after talking with Elder Kettle, Mugs promised to help Cuphead and bring him home safely (Ch 41). The two cup brothers then battled and collected multiple contracts on the Isles, powering up as they went with help from the Legendary Chalice.

After collecting the contracts on the Isles, they attempted to defeat The Devil but were beaten. After losing, The Devil took their souls as punishment and kept them in Hell for the next few months (Ch 172). Apparently, once the soulless Cupbros arrived in Hell they went on a rampage through it's second level and killing many Demons before The Devil got them under control. After that, The Devil put them into a pit of sorts where he would have the soulless and bloodthirsty Cupbros kill anyone he wished by sending them in to the pit (Ch 177). After spending those few months in Hell, which both Cupbros has since mostly repressed, The Devil approached Cuphead and offered him a deal- he and Mugs would get their souls back so long as they signed a new soul contract with him and fulfilled it's terms. Cuphead agreed and, after negotiating the terms of the contract with The Devil as best he could, the Cupbros souls were returned and they were allowed back on to the Surface (Ch 172).

#### Living with Black Hat

At some point after their defeat the Cupbros went to live with Black Hat in what Cuphead describes as a "forced foster" situation (Ch 85). There, they were taught and trained by Black Hat and his underlings (mainly Dr. Flug). This training, in part, involved fighting various monsters and some Demons in Hell. They were also used as test subjects for some of the doctor's inventions, such as a shrink ray, and experimented on (Ch 127). The most notable of these experiments is when a sample of Black Hat's own blood was added into Cuphead's system. Cuphead reacted very negatively to the blood and even died for fifteen minutes before being revived by Dr. Flug. Black Hat had to take Cuphead to Hell to receive treatment from The Devil. Even with The Devil himself working to fix the problem it still took three days to stabilize Cup and The Devil was absolutely furious with Black Hat for performing this experiment. Black Hat was just barely allowed to keep the Cupbros under his care and stopped all experiment on them following this incident, only giving them regular check ups or anything ordered by The Devil for the rest of their time in his care. It should also be noted that both Cupbros were injected with a dose of Angel blood prior to Cuphead getting Demon blood added to his system but neither of them ever showed any changes following this injection regardless of what was done to prompt a reaction (Inky Extra's Ch 109). During this time Black Hat also examined the Cupbros souls multiple times (Ch 121). The Cupbros also continued completing jobs, mainly contract collecting, for The Devil during this time (Inky Extras Series Part 2). Cuphead also generally acted out and tried to torment Dr. Flug as much as possible by doing things like destroying books and drawing on the school board/walls ( Ch 127).

When he was 17, him and Mugman were made to work the tables at the Day to Forget gambling tournament at Hat's casino. While working, Black Hat made Cuphead play a game (pantsless) against a fellow employee who he had gotten into a fight with earlier in the day. Cuphead played and won the game against the other man, winning him and his brother the freedom to move out of the casino once he became a legal adult (Inky Extras Series Part 2). Ultimately, the Cupbros lived with Black Hat for about nine years before leaving (Ch 127).

#### After Leaving Black Hat's Casino

After moving out of Black Hat's casino Cuphead and Mugman traveled the world completing missions for The Devil.

The most notable of these missions is the Cupbros pursuit of Wilson Wiseton. Just over a year before the start of the story the Cupbros were told about Wilson's archeological dig in the Seven Sands Desert. The Devil had heard about the page in Wilson's Journal that had information on the parts and sent the Cupbros to collect it from him. They were also informed that The Devil already had an inside man there named Salazar who was pretending to be a local guide for Wilson's team. The Cupbros headed to the dig site but when the arrived the site was in ruin, the team was dead and both Salazar and Wilson were gone. From there the Cupbros followed Wilson, first by backtracking to previous known location Wilson would go and then to various hideaways located all around the world. The Cupbros were also competing with an unknown third party who were trying to capture or kill Wilson. They would start many fires around the professor, killed people he met in passing and set deadly traps for the Cupbros in order to prevent them from getting to Wilson first (Ch 253). Of course, since Wilson believed that the people after him were trying to kill him with the fires and he wasn't aware that there were two different group following him he didn't trust the Cupbros when they went to question him (Ch 194). This forced the Cupbros to continue chasing him until they eventually caught up to him in Sillyvision. In total the chase took about a year (Ch 253).

### Book One

Cuphead and Mugman spend the first couple of chapters chasing after Wilson Wiseton, eventually chasing the owl into traffic where he is accidentally hit and killed by a car (Ch 11) The Cupbros also break in the B-Bros place in order to search for the journal page during this time (Ch 253). The Dish brothers stay in Sillyvision until their Boss instructs them to track down the B-Bros and eliminate them. The Cupbros then buy tickets for Warnerburg at the Sillyvision train station in order to follow the B-Bros, where Cuphead injures an employee for looking at him wrong (Ch 11).

After leaving Sillyvision the Cupbros spend the next week in Warnerburg, listening in on police gossip and talking to the local criminal population in order to track down the B-Bros. When the Cupbros can't find the B-Bros themselves they decide to track down their stolen bag in order to use it as bait to draw out the fugitive brothers. They spend the morning, before they head to the warehouse where the bag is being held, in a local bar, drinking and harassing other customers (Ch 14).

The Cupbros arrive at the warehouse in the midst of the confrontation between the B-Bros group and the thieves. Upon noticing the B-Bros presence the Cupbros talk with them a little bit about how hard it had been to track them down. During this conversation Cuphead reprimands Mugman for introducing them by name before revealing that they had been the ones who had been chasing Wilson down. Cuphead then fires a first shot at the B-Bros, just barely missing Bendy, before him and Mugs give chase after the fleeing group of toons in an attempt to kill the B-Bros (Ch 16). The Cupbros eventually lose track of the B-Bros group in the warehouse, causing Cuphead to take out his anger on some nearby thugs before him and Mugs are forced to flee from the police raiding the warehouse. Before they leave the Cupbros also steal some of the already stolen goods from the warehouse (Ch 18).

The day after the night in the warehouse Cups is shown the newspaper story about the B-Bros escaping from the police by Mugman. Upon seeing the mention of the Warners in the paper Cuphead questions a bar employee for more information about them, learning not only where he can find the zany trio but also the fact that they caused a disturbance in front of the train station that morning. Cuphead makes the connection that the ruckus at the train station was probably cover for the B-Bros to get on a train out of town and makes the decision for him and Mugs to go interrogate the Warners (Ch 18).

The Cupbros head to the Warners water tower, where their attempts at questioning quickly turns into a fight with Dot. After Mugs manages to hit Dot with one of his blasts, Yakko and Wakko come out of the tower as well. Attempts to question the Warner brothers also fall flat, and before they know it the Warners have pulled a large cannon on the Cupbros. Thanks to Cupheads quick thinking and reflexes the Cupbros are able to avoid both the cannon and the shark filled pool the Warner brothers had attempted to have them land in. However, Cuphead is quickly knocked out afterwards and awakens to find him an Mugs tied to chairs in the Warners tower. The Warners attempt to interrogate him but Cuphead is quick to twist the conversation around to work in his favor. Over the course of the conversation Cuphead does reveal that it is his job to kill the B-Bros but refuses to say anymore once he realizes the slip. After Mugman wakes up and extracts more information from the Warners, including the B-Bros destination of travel, the Warners leave the Cupbros alone to go deal with the police at the door of the water tower. Using a pocket knife from his coat, Cuphead quickly frees himself and Mugman from their bonds. After confirming with each other that the Warners don't know enough to warrant killing them the Cupbros escape from the tower out a back door and continue their pursuit of the B-Bros (Ch 20).

### Book Two

The Cupbros arrive in Toon Town right at the beginning of the first chapter of Book Two and immediately make a bet about how long it'll take them to track down the B-Bros. The brothers then make their way to a local café to meet up with one of the local informants, Mortimer Mouse, to get information about the B-Bros. Mortimer initially doesn't want to talk without something in exchange, so Cup offers him a favor in return. While Mortimer originally declines the offer he quickly realizes that Cuphead isn't gonna give him a better one and finally accepts the favor after clarifying that the favor can be absolutely anything, including murder. Mortimer tells the Cupbros that the B-Bros were last spotted around Yen Sid University so the brothers head there next. At the university the Cupbros accidentally walk through the magic mural there and get a horrible cold feeling from it. After yanking himself and Mugs out of the mural the brothers head over to the information desk where they begin to question Holly about the B-Bros. When they fail to get any information from Holly the brothers head to a local cop hangout to listen in on their conversations in the hopes of getting information. This eventually pays off when they hear a group of cops talking about Dr. Oddswell, whose address they get from Mortimer after piecing together that he's who the B-Bros were here to see. After finding evidence that the B-Bros broke into the doctor's house Cuphead picks the lock on the door so they can wait inside for someone to return to the house (Ch 23).

The brothers spend an entire night in the doctors house boredly examining newspaper clippings there until Red finally arrives at the house during her normal errands. Cuphead grabs her from behind and threatens her not to try anything before he begins questioning her (Ch 24). While Red tries her best to protect the B-Bros by lying during the interrogation Cup is able to see through her lies and successfully get the information from her about the brothers and the doctors. After obtaining the information the Cupbros leave Red in the house and head over to the clinic where they quickly find everyone gathered in the cafeteria (Ch 25). The Cupbros immediately open fire on all present but after some fighting with the B-Bros the group manages to escape further into the clinic after barring the door behind them to keep the Cupbros out. The Cupbros eventually manage to break down the door and follow after the group, Cuphead shouting taunts as they close in on their targets. However, before they can catch up with the B-Bros group the police arrives which forces the Cupbros to flee the clinic before they're arrested (Ch 26).

After losing the B-Bros at the clinic the Cupbros procrastinate reporting in for a week before finally heading to one of the seedy bars in town to do it. Cuphead is sure that The Devil is going to kill them for their failure, despite Mugman's attempts to prove otherwise, but he still reluctantly leads the way into the bar basement to write the summons out on the wall. Surprisingly, it isn't The Devil who answers to the summoning, but his right-hand man, King Dice, instead. Despite Cuphead not being happy to have to deal with King Dice the Cupbros still give their report to him. Despite Cup getting into multiple arguments with the dice man, and King Dice himself even saying that the Cupbros are dead meat if the boss finds out, Dice still offers to go behind The Devils back to help the Cupbros in exchange for them owing him a favor. Cuphead really isn't happy about the idea of owing Dice anything, but with no other choice he accepts the deal. Using his powers, King Dice not only finds the B-Bros at *Black Hat's Casino* but also discovers their plan to go down to New Orleans to find one of the Parts. Dice then tells the Cupbros about the Voodoo Queen and the Doll, instructing them to go take care of her or get the item if they can since either will help put them back in the boss's good graces. After getting a card of information, a ride to New Orleans on the Phantom Express and the promise that he would take care of the cops looking for them in a couple days, King Dice leaves the Cupbros to their new mission. Cup is angry that they now owe Dice a favor but the suggestion of having a "cup style" drinking contest from Mugs helps cheer him up. Cup ends up winning the contest and, as he and Mugs begin to argue about the bet they made regarding the B-Bros, he thinks that he could deal with anything as long as he has his brother with him (Ch 29).

A couple of days later the Cupbros are walking to an abandoned train station in Toon Town to catch their ride on the Phantom express when the Warner siblings suddenly appear in their path to challenge them to a fight (Ch 32). As the Warners pull both a band and the announcer from Inkwell Isles, Mic, in for the battle Cuphead tries to warn them to just leave because they won't be holding back this time. The Warners don't listen to his warning though and Mic announces the official start of the battle. As they fight Cuphead complains about once again having to fight zanies. As the fight progresses a number of gags are used by the Warners, such as the opening of a hole in the 4th wall to a bunch of angry gamers and a western style shoot out. Eventually, Cuphead get's fed up with the fight and directs Mugs to finish up the battle. After Mugs takes out Dot and he takes out Yakko with his Super, they go to attack Wakko before stopping when the middle Warner has a Ink Attack. Recognizing how serious the Ink Attack is Cup steps up and knocks Wakko out to officially end the fight, apologizing before he does so. Cup then angrily calls Mic and the band over, giving them all money to get home with before instructing them to take the Warners to the nearest hospital before they leave. When Mic tries to talk to him about Elder Kettle, Cuphead just angrily tells him to shut up and tell no one that he even saw the two Cupbros before leading Mugman back towards the train station in a huff (Ch 33).

At the train station the Cupbros talk about their home, the 4th wall hole Wakko created and what they're gonna do in New Orleans as they wait for the train. When the train finally arrives the Cupbros are stopped from boarding by one of the train employee's, Blind Spector. Spector doesn't want to let the Cupbros onto the train due to the fact that they are "breathers", as well as a personal grudge from a past fight with the brothers, so Cuphead tells him to go get the train's conductor to sort it out. The conductor, a giant skeleton named T-Bone, also doesn't really want to let the brothers onto the train, but Cup is quick to point out that the train doesn't really have a choice in giving them a ride since it was ordered by King Dice. T-Bone reluctantly let's the Cupbros board the train and, after getting over the unsettling experience of crossing to the Otherside, the Cupbros begin to look for a seat amongst the ghosts. While wandering through the train car they come across Legendary Chalice, who happily invites the brothers to sit with her so they can catch up. After chatting with Chalice for a bit Cup withdraws from the conversation into his own thoughts about his life, his past, Mugman and even the Warners. Eventually, Cuphead falls asleep and stays unconscious for the rest of the train ride. Both Cupbros wake up again once they reach New Orleans, where they disembark and say goodbye to Chalice. Before they leave they are also given an address of where they will be staying by Spector from King Dice. The Cupbros head to the address given and are surprised to find it's a river boat run by Ribby and Croaks, two more familiar faces from their past. The two frog brothers also aren't happy to see the Cupbros, much less house them, and Mugs has to pull Cup away before he can rile the frogs up to much with his pointed comments (Ch 34).

The next day the Cupbros head out to find the Voodoo Queen. However they have some trouble finding the address and it's not until Lady Facilier herself shows up and leads them to the shop that they find it. After some talking with Lady Facilier the brothers realize that she is the Voodoo Queen they are looking for. At her invitation the brothers follow her into her shop and sit down at the table in the center of the room there. When Facilier asks the boys to pick some cards Cup says they don't have time for her show, but both brothers are shocked when Lady Facilier reveals she knows about their status as debtors and claims she can help free them. When the Voodoo Queen reveals her price for helping them would be for them to catch an Angel for her Cup says she's crazy. After Lady Facilier reads their cards Cup shoots her just as snakes burst from the chairs to tie the Cupbros down, causing Cups shot to miss the Voodoo Queen. Lady Facilier once again asks the Cupbros to works for her but, upon seeing the fear and confusion in his brothers eyes, Cuphead turns down her offer for the both of them. Cuphead then manages to use one of his blasts to free Mugman from his bounds, who then begins fighting the Voodoo Queen's various magical minions. While Mugs is distracted Lady Facilier approaches the still bound Cuphead and uses a magical bone knife to transform him into a normal tea cup. Mugman demands she turns Cup back to normal but he is unable to defeat the Voodoo Queen on his own and is forced to flee the shop without Cup (Ch 36).

Cuphead then spends the next few chapters of Book Two stuck as a teacup with Lady Facilier. During this time Lady Facilier uses him as her coffee cup and complains to him about how hard it is to catch his brother. Cuphead does however manage to stay conscious during his time transformed, something Facilier praises him for once she realizes it. She does get mad at him soon afterword's when, after mentioning killing Mugs, Cuphead heats up to the point that he actually manages to burn the Voodoo Queen. Following this he is locked away in a chest to "cool off" (Ch 39).

Cuphead stays in that chest until he is grabbed by Boris, along with the Map and the Doll, during the B-Bros and Mugs final battle with the Voodoo Queen. While there is a couple slight scares when Boris is momentarily captured by Lady Facilier and when, after being handed it by Boris, Bendy seems to consider shattering the tea cup before the transformed Cuphead eventually makes it back safely into Mug's hands. Cuphead is soon handed over to Mama Odie by Mugs so that she can undo the Voodoo magic on him. She does so, finally allowing Cuphead to return to normal and happily reunite with his brother. After talking with Mugman and Mama Odie for a little bit Cuphead finally notices that the B-Bros are also in the room and fires off a shot at them before Mugman can explain the situation. While the B-Bros run away Mugman quickly stops Cup from firing any more shots at them and explains the deal he made with the B-Bros in exchange for their help. While Cuphead isn't happy about the deal he still accepts it, pulling Mugman away so they can find something else to do now that they can't go after the B-Bros for the rest of the day. As they walk away from the shop Mugman begins to tell Cuphead about what happened with the frog brothers while he was gone (Ch 41).

### Book Three

Once Cuphead discovers how the frogs kicked Mugman out of their boat he immediately wants to go get revenge. However, Mugman suggested they take two days off to relax from the ordeal with the Voodoo Queen before going after the frog brothers. The two do so and then head to the frog's boat where they not only inform the frogs of their victory against Lady Facilier but also challenge them to a fight, although this fight turns out to be more of a friendly skirmish then a real battle. After winning the fight Mugs stops his brother from taking revenge on the frogs and instead invites them to have a drink with the Cupbros. The four sit together drinking, laughing and catching up on news about the Inkwell Isles despite the fact that Cup still has not completely forgiven the frogs or trusts them as much as his brother seems to. The frogs even apologize to the Cupbros about not helping Mugs and blaming them for their debtor fates, an apology which surprises Cup before he once again thinks about just how lucky the frogs are that he's letting them off with such a light punishment (Ch 47).

Unfortunately, it's right after this apology that King Dice appears to see how the Cupbros have done on their mission. King Dice is furious when he discovers they don't have The Doll, which confuses the Cupbros since he made it sound like The Doll wasn't that important when he was giving them the job. Following this The Devil appears, telling King Dice off for trying to pull a fast one on him before ordering Dice and the Cupbros to come with him. The Devil also warns Cup about what thin ice he is on before the Demon opens a hole in the ground and instructs them all to jump in. This makes Cuphead nervous, although he tries to put on a brave face as he thanks the frogs for the drinks. When Mugs gives Cup a questioning look about whether or not to jump in the hole Cuphead internally scoffs at the idea that they even have a chance at disobeying The Devil and surviving before he steps forward into the hole. After a disorientating fall Cup lands in a heap in one of the storerooms in *Black Hat's Casino*. When he finds out that they are in Hat's Casino, Cup states that he and Mugs won't be sticking around any longer then they need to and gets into a small argument with Dice about the topic before The Devil cuts it off. The group walks through the Casino as The Devil explains about the parts, the Ink Machine, The Map and assigns the Cupbros the job of stopping the Ink Machine's activation by any means necessary. After some parting shots between Cup and Dice, The Devil and King Dice leave to go take care of other business, thus leaving the Cupbros alone in the Casino. After a few moments of silence Cup declares that they should leave before Hat shows up, and begins walking for the exit, despite his brothers protests. As they exit the Casino, Cup thinks about how it feels uncomfortable that they have to go after the B-Bros again after New Orleans but they have no choice but to get back to work (Ch 47).

Eventually the Cupbros do track down the B-Bros as they are exiting a cemetery and Cuphead quickly splits away from his brother to chase Bendy down the streets. The two continue the chase through streets and alleys, shouting at each other the whole way before the steady pain building within Bendy's body causes him to trip and fall in one of the alleys. Cup is at first smug that he's seemingly caught Bendy but the pain is quickly revealed to have been the beginnings of an ink attack, the sight of which disturbs Cuphead greatly. Bendy begs for Cup to grab his bag, which he dropped when he fell, so he can take some of the pills Dr. Oddswell gave him. Though Cuphead originally doesn't want to grab the bag the sight of the ink attack eventually distresses him enough to go grab the bag and throw it to Bendy. After the Demon takes his pills and the ink attack stops, Cup says they'll finish their business another time. He begins approaching Bendy just as the exhausted Demon slips into unconsciousness. Cuphead then picks up Bendy and carries him back to Boris and Mugs, who he is upset to find in the middle of a card game. Cup tosses Bendy at Boris, complaining about how Bendy was whining to much and how he couldn't enjoy beating the Demon up when he was already in pain. He then grabs Mugs by the handle and drags his younger brother away (Ch 50).

It's only a few more days before the Cupbros once again track down the B-Bros. Cuphead pulls Bendy, who is waiting for his brother outside of a shop, into an alley and is about to shoot the Demon when Bendy suddenly kicks him "where the sun-don’t-shine" to escape. A now much angrier Cup begins to chase Bendy down the alley, shooting as he goes. During this chase Mugman, who is chasing Boris, also swings around a corner as the wolf makes a dash for his own brother. Just as Cup lets off yet another shot at the B-Bros, Mugs makes a sudden lunge for them, accidentally getting in the way of Cup's shot and getting hit in the chest. Mugman collapses into a pool of blood and Cuphead, horrified by what he has inadvertently done, rushes to his brother's side. Despite Cuphead's pleas for his brother to stay with him it's not long before Mugman passes out and becomes unresponsive to Cuphead. Boris tries to offer help to the Cupbros but Cup goes mad with grief and threatens to tear the two B-Bros limb from limb. The B-Bros, realizing the sudden increase in danger, swiftly flee the scene and leave Cup alone in the alley with his brother (Ch 53).

Following this incident, and the B-Bros own arrest, Cuphead launches an attack on the precinct jail in an attempt to find the B-Bros but, after discovering they aren't imprisoned there, escapes the precinct to continue his hunt. It should be noted that while this attack is first mentioned in Chapter 54 it's not until Chapter 57 that it's revealed he is the one behind the attack. After this attack a bloodthirsty Cuphead heads off to a bar to find Mortimer, accidentally colliding with a panicked Alice as she rushes out the bar door. After telling her to stay out of his way Cup makes his way into the bar, leaving a even more frightened Alice behind in his wake (Ch 54).

While Cuphead does not directly appear in the rest of Book Three both he and his brother are brought up during the criminal meeting that takes place in Chapter 57 and in Holly's recap and questioning of Bendy about the contents of this meeting in Chapter 58. They are also briefly discussed during the B-Bros trial whilst examining the events in New Orleans in Chapter 63.