My Place in Poptropica: Super Grape

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Super Grape, who loves adventuring on Poptropica islands and discussing her favorite villains. See the bottom of this post for details on sending in your own MPIP!

2009-2010 | The Start of Something New

 It was June 5th, 2009, the last day of school, so our teacher let us go to the computer lab for a fun day. While I was looking for a fun game to play on the computer, I noticed one of my friends was playing this intriguing game. I had never seen anything like it – the animation was great and it looked like my friend had this character on the screen following an arrow. I wanted to know the name of the game my friend was playing, so I asked her, and she told me: “Poptropica”.

I thought it was a weird name for a game, but I wanted to try it out anyway because it looked fun! I asked my friend how to get there, and she told me exactly how to find it. First I went to Funbrain, which is an educational kids’ site, then I saw the Poptropica logo and clicked on it. It took me right to the blue screen with blue vines we know and love, and then, of course, two blue buttons popped up.

My friend told me to select “new player”, so I clicked it. Then it asked if I was a boy or a girl, so I clicked girl. Next it asked my age, and I clicked 11, and then lo and behold, this person came out of the small wooden box like magic! The name of my person came up as Super Grape, and she looked great.

I then started to play around for a bit with the person, and started to get the hang of the game on my own. I learned that I could travel across to different islands, I could collect island medallions, and even enter common rooms to chat with other players who also played the game. That’s when I realized that Poptropica wasn’t just a fun game, but also a really great experience that changed my life – the start of something totally new for me!

I must admit though, if it wasn’t for my friend, I probably wouldn’t have discovered Poptropica in the first place. I started playing Poptropica more often from that day on, but somehow I had forgotten all about it by the following year.

2010-2011 | Favorite Villains

Somehow, in the summer of 2010, I was able to find Poptropica again. I then made a commitment to myself to finish all islands and to get every island medallion.

The first island I was finally able to complete was Super Power Island. That’s where I got my signature look, the blue superhero outfit my Poptropican wears on a daily basis. I change into different outfits for special days or on costume-themed islands like PoptropiCon, but I wear my blue superhero outfit regularly, because it really brings out the “Super” part of my Poptropican’s name (Super Grape). Also, blue is my favorite color.

As I started to focus on completing the other islands, it was during one of those islands quests that I discovered my favorite Poptropica villain of all time – a weird bunny character. He’s also the first villain in Poptropica, whose name I learned later on as I played through the 24 Carrot Island quest: Dr. Hare! I don’t know why, but for some reason I really like how he’s dressed. I also love that he has made many appearances in Poptropica, like when he appeared on Reality TV Island, or when he appeared as a plush toy on CJ’s bed in Shrink Ray Island, and of course, we can’t forget about his return in Super Villain Island.

I also have a theory that Dr. Hare might have been inspired by a Batman villain named Javis Tech aka The Mad Hatter, who also used mind control technology, along with mind controlling hats to make people do what he wanted – just like Dr. Hare!

My second favorite Poptropica villain would probably be Binary Bard. When I first encountered him on Astro-Knights Island, he reminded me of Cyborg from the cartoon Teen Titans. He and Cyborg were both humans before they become cyborgs, they both have red eyes, and are both very smart. Anyway, I continued to play Poptropica for a while and completed every island during that summer.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to vote when the Creators held a Poptropica Villain Contest on the official blog, because I was busy with school and completing the islands. However, I did learn that Binary Bard won 1st place with Dr. Hare in 2nd place! Dr. Hare may not have won the contest, but if he had to win any award, it would probably be for being the most popular villain in Poptropica because people have made lots of fanart of him. And who wouldn’t like a villain who’s dressed up in a pink bunny rabbit suit and loves carrots? So congratulations Dr. Hare, I think you’re the most popular villain in Poptropica.

2011-2012 | New & Exciting Adventures

The following year, I was surprised to find that new islands had appeared on Poptropica, waiting for me to explore and start collecting medallions again. I quickly got to work on completing the brand new islands that had suddenly appeared while I was away from Poptropica, and I was away because I had been really busy with school.

Every brand new island was just another exciting adventure waiting to happen! With Wild West Island, I had to chase down a wanted criminal, and also got to become a marshal. Red Dragon Island was based off a beloved kids book series, The Magic Tree House, and in it I had to travel back to ancient Japan and learn the ways of the ninja to save Jack and Annie. Another great island was Wimpy Wonderland Island, which was the first island that was based off of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney.

Out of all the islands I’ve played on Poptropica, they are all pretty great. But if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Astro-Knights Island, because it has a great storyline, it takes you into outer space, and it features a robotic owl that’s named after a famous wizard! All of the islands in Poptropica are very cool, but Astro-Knights Island will always be my favorite.

In November of 2011 I finally got membership, and Legendary Swords had come out. I just had to play it, because everyone in my class was talking about it, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. So I bought the card with membership and started to play it, and I have to admit it was pretty awesome! I mean, you find a sword in a stone! You use the sword to fight evil robots, who work for a mysterious Poptropican named E.Vile.

In the end you face a big robot, but E.Vile never really showed himself (besides the hologram) – he never comes out to fight you in the quest. So who exactly is this E.Vile? I That’s the big question everyone is asking in Poptropica.

There are multiple theories, one theory is that he’s Omegon from PoptropiCon, who also has bots working for him, but I myself have a theory that E.Vile could be Mordred’s father! It would explain why they both like to use robots as minions, and they look very similar. Not to mention that they both want to take over the universe and Poptropica! In fact, maybe E.Vile helped Mordred, and that’s how he got back to Poptropica, before he was captured by Zeus, and was taken to Super Villain Island only to end up in a sleeping chamber.

We may never know for sure who this E.Vile is, but one thing is for sure – he’s evil, and that’s literally in his name.

2016 and Beyond | Still in the Game

These days I still play Poptropica, but not as often because I have school. I have completed the most recent islands, and PoptropiCon was a pretty good one as of late. Episode 3 (Reign of Omegon) felt like it was based off the newly released Avengers movie (Age of Ultron).

Galactic Hot Dogs Island was also fun because it’s based off of a kids’ comic book series. Escape From Pelican Rock was a good island, and it reminded me of Muppets: Most Wanted, where Kermit is framed because he looks like another character who’s the real villain. Monkey Wrench Island was good, because it explains how we get the blimp.

I still enjoy Poptropica and hope it will be around for years to come. If I had to make one adjustment, though, it would be to get rid of the arrow that controls the Poptropican, because I think experts of Poptropica would already know how to control the Poptropican without it. However, I would keep the arrow around for the beginners, until they get the hang of it.

Who knows, maybe one day the Creators will make a island that combines all of the islands into one big island! But as awesome as that would be, I would rather have a Star Wars Island.

Thanks for listening to my story!

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Hope you enjoyed this “My Place in Poptropica” story! Feel free to send in your own (please include a minimum of 550 words, type with good spelling and grammar, divide it into labeled sections, and include your username). Click here to read more MPIPs, and look out for more in the future!

~the PHB.