Hardcore is a series on PBGGameplay, where PeanutButterGamer, SpaceHamster, McJones, Dean, Barry and other YouTubers challenge themselves to defeat a boss or beat the game. The only catch is, if they die at any point, they are dead for the rest of the series. Also, spoilers are ahead, so if you haven't seen a series yet, head over to PBGGameplay, and watch them before coming back.
List of seasons
| Game / Series | Team | Goal | No. of Episodes | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minecraft #1 | PBG, JonTron, The Completionist, Dean, McJones, Soah, Barry | Slay the Ender Dragon | 18 | Success. JonTron and Barry defeated the Ender Dragon. |
| DayZ | PBG, JonTron, RubberRoss, ProJared, Dean, McJones, Barry | Escape the Island | 3 | Failure. Everyone except for Jared and Ross were killed very early on, and Jared was shot by other players. |
| Terraria #1 | PBG, JonTron, Paul, SpaceHamster, Dean, McJones, Barry | Slay the Wall of Flesh | 9 | Failure. SpaceHamster and PBG were the last to survive and both died to the first boss. |
| Minecraft #2 | PBG, NintendoCapriSun, KyrakThePoet, ProJared, Dean, McJones, Barry | Slay the Wither | 20 | Failure. Everyone who entered the Nether is killed there. Barry goes insane with his one Wither Skeleton skull, and his sword, "Dean". |
| Diablo 2 | PBG, RubberRoss, Paul, The Completionist, Dean, McJones, Barry | Slay Diablo | 14 | Success. Paul and Jirard (The Completionist) defeated the Diablo. |
| Minecraft #3 | PBG, JonTron, Shane, Smooth, ProJared, Dean, McJones | Slay the Wither | 12 | Failure. Shane, Smooth, PBG and McJones are all killed in the Nether within the last few episodes. |
| MineZ #1 | PBG, SpaceHamster, Brutalmoose, ProJared, Dean, McJones, Barry | Slay a Giant | 16 | Failure. PBG and McJones are separated from the group and die, and SpaceHamster, Brutalmoose and Barry all died to the giant. Jared exploded, again. |
| Terraria #2 | PBG, ProtonJon, SpaceHamster, Satchbag, Dean, McJones, Barry | Slay the Wall of Flesh | 23 | Failure. McJones is the last man standing, and is killed by the Wall of Flesh, who was nearly dead. |
| Minecraft #4 | PBG, SpaceHamster, Caddicarus, Dean, McJones, Barry | Slay the Elder Guardians | 19 | Success. PBG, SpaceHamster, McJones and Dean all defeat the Elder Guardians, steal the treasure AND escape to have a four-way battle royale. |
| Minecraft #5 | PBG, Ray Narvaez Jr., ProJared, SpaceHamster, Dean, McJones, Barry | Find the Elytra | 23 | Failure. Jeff being the last one standing went to the End but died while atop a pillar. |
| Terraria #3 | PBG, Lucahjin, Proton Jon, SpaceHamster, Yungtown, McJones, Dean | Slay the Wall of Flesh | 24 | Success. Lucahjin, Yungtown, and McJones manage to defeat the wall of flesh. However, they later got swarmed by goblins and died. |
| MineZ #2 | PBG, SpaceHamster, Brutalmoose, ProJared, Dean, McJones, Barry | Reach the top of the Floating Islands | 12 | Failure. PBG, Jeff, Ian, Jared and Barry all reached the floating isles, but they all died before reaching the top. |
| Minecraft
#6 |
PBG, Dodger, Chadtronic, ProJared, Dean, McJones, SpaceHamster, Todd | Slay the Wither | 17 | Success. Chad, Dean, Jared and Jeff defeated the Wither. However, Jared died right before the goal was achieved. |
| Starbound | PBG, Barry, Yungtown, Lucahjin, SpaceHamster, ProJared, The Completionist, Jesse Cox | Slay Asra Nox | 26 | Success. Jared, Jirard, and Jesse defeat Asra Nox. |
| Minecraft #7 | PBG, SpaceHamster, ProJared, Barry, Dean, Ray, Yungtown | Slay the Ender Dragon | 19 | Failure. Jeff reached the End alone and died from the Ender Dragon knocked him off the ladders he built on the pillar. |
| Minecraft #NB 1 | PBG, Chadtronic, The Completionist, Proton Jon, Lucahjin, Shane, LadyPelvic | Slay the Ender Dragon | 16 | Failure. Jon, Austin and Jirard made it to a Nether Fortress but got killed by Wither Skeletons, without being able to kill any Endermen at all. |
Note 1: Minecraft Season 4 only has six party members.
Note 2: Starbound has eight players.
Note 3: Minecraft Season 7 has seven players but Todd makes an appearance and an eighth icon
Hardcore Shorts!
| Game / Series | Team | Goal | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount & Blade Napoleonic Wars - HC Shorts! (Ep. 1) | Shane (DidYouKnowGaming) SpaceHamster, Brutalmoose, Barry | Play Till You Die! | One Round. Brutalmoose is shot first, then Barry is stabbed. PBG later died from a sword, and Jeff was shot on the bridge like Dean was after. McJones and Shane both get stabbed. |
| Mount & Blade Napoleonic Wars HC - WE'RE GOING DOWN! | Shane (DidYouKnowGaming) SpaceHamster, Brutalmoose, Barry | Play Till You Die! |
Round 1: The team run into a house, and get shot until only Barry and Shane are left. Shane and Barry get stabbed. Round 2: The team is stuck inside a house, and get shot from outside. Jeff barricades them in and gets shot, along with PBG. The rest get stabbed. Round 3: The team runs to a boat, and are shot one by one until only McJones and Jeff are left. They drown. |
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Hardcore
Polaris launched a Hardcore series of its own, consisting of 8 YouTubers, including PBG. The other players were JonTron, Jesse Cox, Crendor, Criken, Markiplier, Uber Haxor Nova, and Cryaotic. The videos were uploaded on Polaris's channel. The series is 8 episodes long and is unlisted.
Trivia
- Only three female participants have been featured in the Hardcore series so far; Lucahjin, Dodger, and LadyPelvic.
- The first episode of Minecraft Hardcore #1 is the most watched Hardcore episode, and was the first episode of the series to surpass 1 million views. So far, the only other episode to surpass 1 million is the first episode of Minecraft Hardcore #2.
- Diablo 3 Hardcore, despite having 14 announcement videos by PBG and other Hardcore members, has since been unlisted on Polaris.
- Each season of Terraria Hardcore uses a different theme: the first season uses the normal theme, the second uses a dubstep remix, and the third uses the current version introduced in Minecraft Hardcore #5.
- Terraria Hardcore #1 and #2 are the only seasons that end in failure which don't feature ProJared.
- Running gags are common, like Prof. McJones, "Who needs a map?", and "Foreshadowing". More recently, "Mushroom Soup" has become one in seasons that included ProJared, following Minecraft Hardcore #5.
- Yungtown was almost going to be in Minecraft Hardcore #4, but was busy and couldn't play. He would later appear in Terraria Hardcore #3 and again in Starbound.
- TheJWittz was requested to be in a Hardcore series by PBG, but he declined the offer. Since then, he has expressed interest in participating in the series.
- SpaceHamster has made it to the final episode of every Hardcore series he has appeared in, with the exception of Terraria Hardcore #3 and Starbound Hardcore.
- Diablo 2, MineZ #1, MineZ #2, and Minecraft #7 are the only seasons to introduce no new players to the series. Although MineZ #1 is the first appearance of Brutalmoose in a full season, he had previously appeared in the two Mount & Blade episodes.
- Yungtown and Lucahjin have each been invited as guests for the Hardcore series twice. Both times, they have been featured in the same seasons and both have also reached the final episodes in each of their appearances.
- McJones, Dean, SpaceHamster, and The Completionist currently hold the record for the most victories in the Hardcore series, with 2 each.
- JonTron, Lucahjin, Yungtown, Chadtronic, and Jesse Cox are the only guests so far to win a Hardcore in their debut seasons (JonTron in Minecraft HC #1, Lucahjin and Yungtown in Terraria HC #3, Chadtronic in Minecraft HC #6, and Jesse Cox in Starbound).
- On May 10, 2019, every hardcore season featuring ProJared was listed as private (bar a few episodes) regarding controversial events about ProJared. The videos that were private were made public again on August 30th 2019.
- The Hardcore series has had many changes over time:
- Minecraft Hardcore Season 1:
- The series was edited by PBG.
- Each player had their own portrait at the bottom.
- The theme song is an edited version of, "The Truth of Legend" by Kevin Macleod.
- Whenever someone dies, their faces darken, and a big red "X" covers their face.
- Terraria Hardcore Season 1:
- Voice clips from various episodes would be used throughout the intro.
- Minecraft Hardcore Season 2:
- The camera changing sound effect is changed to a 1-UP noise.
- Diablo 2 Hardcore:
- An additional line would be added when the intro reads, "You're dead for good."
- Minecraft Hardcore Season 3:
- Jeff takes over editing the series.
- Terraria Hardcore Season 2:
- The theme was replaced by a dubstep remix.
- Minecraft Hardcore Season 4:
- The original theme is brought back.
- Minecraft Hardcore Season 5:
- The main theme is replaced with a new song altogether.
- Todd takes over editing the series.
- The main cast's heads are hand drawn instead of self portraits.
- When someone dies, they have their own edited look and turn gray.
- If there is an episode where a player dies, the episode ends showing the player’s icon on a tombstone.
- Torches on the side are added to indicate what is happening.
- Terraria Hardcore Season 3:
- When the tombstone is shown in an episode where someone dies, the death scream from Final Fantasy Tactics is used. For the previous season, it was only used on ProJared, who was playing as Ramza Beoulve (a character from the Final Fantasy franchise).
- Minecraft Hardcore Season 6:
- Similar to Terraria Hardcore Season 2, the theme is remixed. This becomes the main hardcore theme for future seasons (though the regular theme still plays during the ending previews).
- There is a special twist: a player can be revived via the Totem of Resurrection.
- For the first time, more than 7 portraits are present on-screen. Todd, the editor, is displayed alongside the cast as "The Wizard" and "The Trickster" at different times throughout the season.
- Starbound Hardcore:
- This season used completely new, more angular portraits, and alternate versions of the portraits appear on screen when one of the cast members is showing a certain emotion.
- For this season only, the torches on the sides have been redesigned to fit the game's sci-fi theme, and if a player dies, their "license to space" gets stamped "VOID" as their dead icon replaces their regular one.
- Minecraft Hardcore Season 7:
- The series now uses positional audio, which will increase or decrease audio based on distance.
- HUD messages are turned off, meaning players may not know when a player dies.
- The tombstone graphic that plays when a player dies has been redone, now displaying an animated tomb rising out of the ground with a new, hand drawn background.
- Minecraft Hardcore Season 1: