ThunderCats (2011 series)/Tropes F-I

Tropes for ThunderCats (2011), F-I
"Panthro: Look at them, they're already hailing us as heroes.
 * Faceless Eye: The Eye of Thundera lives up to its name; the red cabochon develops a glowing white slitted pupil when it sends a vision through the Sword of Omens, and is sometimes depicted with a black chatoyancy in its resting state.
 * Face Palm: Lion-O at Tygra's actions after he.
 * Panthro's frequent reaction to the antics of his teenaged companions. "Oh brother!"
 * Facial Markings: Used with the Cats to highlight their eyes, cheekbones and jaws.
 * False Reassurance: Mumm-Ra "Come now, don't be afraid".
 * Famed in Story/Shrouded in Myth: The Sword of Omens, The Eye of Thundera, The Book of Omens, Mumm-Ra and Lost Technology all play important parts in Thunderian legend, but their history is so ancient that Thundera has inevitably forgotten parts of it, and remain skeptical or dismissive of others.
 * Family-Friendly Firearms: Lasers, lasers everywhere!
 * Fanfare: Kept, along with the Epic Riff in the Truncated Theme Tune.
 * Fan Service: Much of the officially released concept art and character sheets feature main characters in various states of dress and undress. Since the pilot of the original series had all of the leads stark naked, this may be a nod to tradition.
 * It extends even further in the animation itself,. "Recipe for Disaster" has two scenes that are lifted directly from the opening of the 1985 series.
 * Fandom Nod: In "Between Brothers", Panthro shouts "I don't need a stinkin' nursemaid!" at Snarf, which is the role he played in the 1985 series.
 * Fantastic Caste System: Word of God splits Thundera's Cats into two types. Those without tails are society's elite, while those with tails are consigned to a life of poverty in the slums. The Thunderkittens, who have tails, are introduced as pickpockets on the streets. Among the tailless, the line of royal succession is reserved for Lions like Claudus and Lion-O.
 * Fantastic Drug: Played with the Ro-Bear's Candy Fruit. It's tasty, nutritive... and made of pure sugar. Wilykit and Wilykat quickly become hooked to it and for all means and effects, they behave as if they were eating a cocaine/amphetamine combo. Both purposely get high on Candy Fruit to achieve Caffeine Bullet Time.
 * Fantastic Ghetto: Thundera's slums. This is where the caudate Cats and specific minorities like Dogs must live. The Thunderkittens have a hovel on the Wrong Side of the Tracks, while Lion-O braves muggers in The City Narrows to shop for Lost Technology in the Black Market.
 * Fantastic Racism: By way of Animal Jingoism. A hapless Dog is beaten and mugged by vicious Alley Cats in the slums. At a large festival, Lion-O very narrowly averts a public lynching of two stockaded Lizards, who the Cats enslaved for the crime of petty theft.
 * In "The Pit", the Dogs don't think very highly of Cats, believing them to be disloyal creatures.
 * In the flashback in "Birth of the Blades", Mumm-Ra displays plenty of this in regards to the Cats and the Lizards. He makes disparaging remarks about the Cats' intelligence right to Leo's face and treats the Lizards as cannon fodder.
 * Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Stuffed to brimming.
 * A Fete Worse Than Death: The Angry Mob of Thunderian townspeople thinks it'd be fun to cap off Grune's homecoming festival with a bit of Lizard lynching. Lion-O and the Lizards aren't so keen on the idea.
 * Feudal Future: Thundera is stuck in Medieval Stasis with a dash of magic and technology for spice.
 * Fictional Sport: "The Games" in Thundera's Thunderdome: A racing Chase Fight between two Cat competitors climbing, swinging, jumping and running up a tree to to ring a bell at its top, violent kicking and punching included. Ring Out involves knocking a player off the tree into a pool of water.
 * Fighting the Lancer: The frequent manifestation of Lion-O's Sibling Rivalry with Tygra. Feeling testy over Tygra's petty insults, Lion-O challenges him to a match of Thundera's Chase Fight Gladiator Games, hoping to embarrass him in front of Grune. Lion-O is defeated soundly, and publicly humiliated. Otherwise, they tend to engage in back-and-forth sniping, like arguing over whether to retreat from the Lizard army.
 * "Between Brothers"
 * Final Exam Boss: Lion-O uses the lessons he learned in his Trials to save the Cats in the 16th episode.
 * Finders Rulers: Grune seeks to exploit the Cargo Cult of the Book of Omens this way

Grune: If we come back with the Book of Omens, we'll be hailed as gods."

"Wilykat: Snarf! That was all the food we had left!
 * Finishing Stomp: A Lizard punctuates dragging a captive Jaga before Mumm-Ra with a prehensile foot stomp to his head.
 * First Kiss: In "Between Brothers" Cheetara initiates a long-delayed one to thank him for his help and cement their Relationship Upgrade.
 * Fish People: The Fishmen from "Ramlak Rising".
 * Five-Man Band: But of course.
 * The Hero: Lion-O
 * The Lancer: Tygra
 * The Chick/Action Girl: Cheetara
 * The Big Guy/The Smart Guy: Panthro
 * Tagalong Kid: Wilykat and Wilykit
 * Sixth Ranger: Pumyra
 * Team Pet: Snarf
 * Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling:
 * Inverted. Tygra is The Dutiful Son to Lion-O's Cloudcuckoolander, but Lion-O's realization that My Species Doth Protest Too Much and interest in Lost Technology turn their dynamic on its ear when he's proven right.
 * Later played straight when Tygra proposes taking on the Thunderkittens and a bloodyminded Lion-O first rejects them out-of-hand.
 * Inverted again when Tygra unsuccessfully tries to pressure Lion-O to meet the entire Lizard army head on, like their father would have wanted.
 * Foot Focus:
 * Played for Drama in Mumm-Ra's Grand Staircase Entrance, highlighting the trailing wrappings on his clawed feet, his digitigrade gait and the ragged edge of his cloak.
 * Other characters get this too, seeing as how the main cast is (basically) barefoot.
 * For Doom the Bell Tolls: When Tygra beats Lion-O to the bell in their racing game, Lion-O hears the ominous sound of his reputation taking a further hit, along with his brother's gloating and the crowd's cheers.
 * Forgetful Jones: A species-wide attribute of the Elephants, all very forgetful and absent-minded.
 * Forgiveness: Allows Tygra to.
 * Forgotten Superweapon: Lost Technology. All of it. And surprise, the Lizards have it. Including
 * A Form You Are Comfortable With:
 * Freudian Excuse/Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Why do the Lizards steal crops? Why do they lay siege to Thundera? The Lizards are fighting generations of the Cats' oppression, enslavement and expansionist monopolization of arable land and resources, essentially, Fighting for Survival.
 * Friend in The Black Market: Jorma, with whom Lion-O has an apparently longstanding relationship.
 * "Friend or Idol?" Decision: In "Birth of the Blades", Mumm-Ra forces Lion-O to choose between
 * Full-Body Disguise: Excepting Jaga himself, all his Clerics wear All Encompassing Mantles and helms with full hood and veil attached. Only their eyes are visible, the better to serve as Praetorian Guard.
 * Full Set Bonus: The Thundercats and their Arch Enemy Mumm-Ra hunt for various Power Crystals, one of which is the Cats' own Amulet of Concentrated Awesome, the Eye of Thundera in the Sword of Omens' hilt. If the others are placed in an accompanying gauntlet, their shared wielder will be rendered nigh omnipotent.
 * Fur Is Skin: Played with. Though all Thundercats have Facial Markings, all save Tigers have significantly different coloring for their "skin" than they do for their "hair," particularly in the case of Panthro's blue-grey Furry Baldness as offset by his jet-black muttonchops.
 * Furry Reminder: Real animal growls, whines and hisses are used to punctuate when the Animals of Third Earth are feeling emotionally agitated.
 * Futile Hand Reach: Lion-O does this when Claudus is stabbed.
 * Future Imperfect: Cheetara relates an oral history of the supposed creation of the Book of Omens. It is remarkably off-base, suggesting that even members of the Ancient Tradition like herself don't know the whole story.
 * Futuristic Pyramid: The base of Mumm-Ra's operations and his former prison.
 * Gallows Humor: Three doozies from episode 18, one right after the other. From children.

Wilykit: Now we're doooomed!

Cheetara: Aren't you two being a little dramatic?

Wilykat: Dramatic? What if they never come back? What if we starve to death?

Wilykit: What if we have no food and we have to choose who gets eaten?

...

Panthro: You know what? It's about time you two learned some hard life lessons!

Wilykat: He's gonna kill us!

Wilykit: I told you he would!

...

Cheetara: *breaks a branch over her knee, tossing the two resulting sharp pieces of wood between the two of them* No more games, you two.

Wilykat: ...I think they want us to fight to the death."

"Wilykat: Whatcha doin'?
 * Genre Blindness: The Thundercats find a locked door at the end of a narrow walkway over a pit of spikes with numerous keys available,
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: When the Thunderkittens interrupt Cheetara trying to help Lion use Sight Beyond Sight with a Hands-On Approach, we get this little exchange:

Wilykit: Ooh, I know what they were doing! [makes kissing noises]

Lion-O: NO. We were... just... trying to get my sword to work..."

"Cheetara: That reminds me: thanks for watching my back. [kiss]
 * In Episode 14 "New Alliances," we get this little gem:

Tygra: Well, your... back's real easy to watch."

"Cheetara: I think we just got lucky
 * Please note, this was the first episode to air in the new time slot traditionally reserved for younger demographics.
 * Also provides an in-universe example of the trope, as the Thunder-Kittens are standing right there during the exchange, and completely miss the innuendo. As a pair of 8-year-olds, they react accordingly. Especially Wilykat.
 * In Episode 20, "Curse of Ratilla", Tygra and Cheetara are caught in a cave-in. Convinced they're going to die, they kiss. In the next scene, the cave-in stops.

Tygra: *big grin on his face* Yeah, we did!"

"Wilykat: I thought that was a myth!
 * Ghibli Hills: Surrounds the kingdom proper in the Epic Tracking Shot that introduces Thundera.
 * Giant Spider: Spidera.

Panthro: So did we."

"Lion-O (in Sarcasm Mode): You're just so perfect, aren't you, Tygra?
 * Giant Squid: A Hybrid Monster, the Ramlak moves this way, ship crushing tentacle-vines included.
 * Giving the Sword To A Noob: Claudus' reaction to Lion-O's failure of his Rite of Passage. "The Sword is ready, Lion-O, but you are not." Subverted in that Lion-O passed his test, and was granted a vision by the Sword of Omens, but lied out of fear and ignorance of its significance.
 * Glad You Thought of It: Jaga pulls one of these, carefully cloaking references to "Sight Beyond Sight" in aphorisms about kingly behavior, to coax Lion-O into admitting he's had a vision. Unfortunately, he decides that having won Lion-O's trust, the details can wait...
 * Gladiator Games: Downplayed. Though Thundera's "games" have all the violent, decadant trappings of an Ancient Grome Blood Sport, including The Thunderdome and gladiator competitors, participation appears voluntary and nonlethal, as Lion-O and Tygra decide to compete in them on a whim.
 * Glamour Failure: Inverted. When a disguised Mumm-Ra's voice creepily bleeds through his facade as a Voice of the Legion, it's implied he's simply doing it to gloat and show off.
 * Go Through Me: Inverted as Lion-O interposes himself between two stockaded Lizards and an Angry Mob in the mood for a Vigilante Execution.
 * Golden Age: "These were days of peace and prosperity on Third Earth..."
 * Gotta Catch Em All:
 * Grail in The Garbage: The Black Box Lion-O purchases in Thundera's Black Market comes in handy later, when he witnesses how it might be used, and later employs it during The Siege of Thundera
 * Grand Staircase Entrance: Unusually Played for Drama (and horror) Mumm-Ra's second reveal, in Flash Back, has him slowly descending a stair, wheezing and shuffling and looking no less disturbing for his infirmity, again backed by his personal Leitmotif and Con Lang Ominous Chanting.
 * Grave Robbing: The Thundercats perform a heroic variant, since the Book of Omens is kept in the Tower of Omens, which served as the final resting place for the Clerics who transported it there.
 * Great Big Book of Everything: The legendary Book of Omens, both an ancient history of Thundera and a Tome of Prophecy and Fate, assumed lost. Generals Panthro and Grune mounted a futile search, but during The Siege of Thundera, Jaga informs Lion-O that it exists, and sends him racing to find it before Mumm-Ra does.
 * Great Offscreen War: Beyond the conflict with the Lizards, the inferred historical conflicts that "brought law and order to a world of warring animals."
 * Green Aesop: "The Forest of Magi Oar" has "There's no justification for disrupting ecology with rampant industrialization."
 * Gunship Rescue:
 * Happens again in
 * Once AGAIN in "New Alliances" when Panthro saves the other three from Sslithe, Addicus, and Kaynar
 * Half Truth:
 * Jaga's Opening Monologue neglects to mention that Third Earth's "peace and prosperity" belongs to the upperclass Cats, or that the ruler's "just heart" does not extend to other species.
 * Grune pulls a doozy in his Death Notification, particularly when he notes "It is only through [Panthro's] sacrifice I stand before you today."
 * Hammy Herald: In disguise, Mumm-Ra manages to pull off being his own herald as a method of showing off, smugly adopting a telltale Voice of the Legion and boasting of the existence of "the things of your worst nightmares" before dropping his facade and making his Big Entrance.
 * Hands-On Approach: Cheetara holds Lion-O's shoulders and tells him to relax while advising him on how to induce Sight Beyond Sight. Lion-O does not relax.
 * He Didn't Make It: Grune performs the silent headshake variant when telling Claudus of Panthro's loss
 * He Who Fights Monsters: Lion-O discusses this trope in regards to the Cats' war with the Lizards while explaining his defense of the Lizard prisoners and demanding their release.
 * Hearing Voices: hears the evil variety, courtesy of Mumm-Ra.
 * Kaynar also apparently hears voices in his head because he's insane. He also likes talking back.
 * Heart Is an Awesome Power:
 * The Hedge of Thorns: The Briar Woods serves as one to the Thundercats, who enter to flee their Lizard pursuers, get lost, and search for a way out along with the Lilliputian Petalars.
 * Here We Go Again: In the two-minute short "Snarf: Butterfly Blues" Snarf goes to enormous lengths, risking his own hide to keep baby Lion-O from harm while he chases butterflies. Snarf finally puts Lion-O to bed, only for him to awaken at the sight of even more butterflies!
 * Hesitation Equals Dishonesty:
 * In "Omens Part 1" Lion-O's "tell" when lying about whether he's seen anything in the Sword of Omens, which Jaga can see right through.
 * In "Legacy" it's Leo's "tell" when his superior makes noise about a rebellion, though he doesn't catch it.
 * Hey, Catch!: During Lion-O's Rite of Passage, Tygra abruptly yells this while tossing Lion-O a practice sword, giving Claudus an opening to charge at Lion-O with Sword of Omens in hand.
 * Hidden Elf Village: The Tiger clan has spent generations in a secluded village in the mountains
 * Hidden Purpose Test: Lion-O's Rite of Passage is not just a test of his skill at handling the Sword of Omens, or the Eye of Thundera deciding his worth, but specifically whether he's able to see visions within the sword itself.
 * Higher-Tech Species: The Lizards, much to Thundera's shock.
 * Homage: The two-minute short "Snarf: Butterfly Blues" pays tribute to WB cartoons like Animaniacs and the Looney Tunes, and the babysitting episodes of Tom and Jerry.
 * Honorable Elephant: The meditative elephant village.
 * Hope Spot:
 * The Horde: General Slithe and his Lizard army, in service to Mumm-Ra and Grune
 * Horse of a Different Color: Thunderian mounts used by the military and royal family are pale-blue-furred Mix-and-Match Critters
 * Horseback Heroism: How Lion-O enters during his Big Damn Heroes scene. His father even pauses to bow to him.
 * Hostage for Macguffin: ZigZagged. Grune attempts to engineer a trade: the Sword of Omens in exchange for a hostage he's holding, but Claudus rejects the offer, and both the Clerics and Lion-O interrupt Grune's retaliation long enough for Claudus to mount a successful rescue.
 * How the Mighty Have Fallen: Slithe gloats, "How quickly things change for the Cats. From top predator to Endangered Species, in a single day!"
 * Humanoid Aliens/Petting Zoo People: Damn near everyone and everything on Third Earth, all given Intelligent Gerbil characterization.
 * Humiliation Conga: In the two-minute short "Snarf: Butterfly Blues" Badly-Battered Babysitter Snarf has to go through a gauntlet of pain and anguish to keep the infant Lion-O out of trouble.
 * Hybrid Monster/Planimal: The Ramlak, a Man-Eating Plant with the M.O. of a Giant Squid.
 * I Am Your Opponent/I Got You Covered: Tygra jumps in when Lion-O puts himself between two stockaded Lizards and an Angry Mob that wants to make him move, informing the crowd "You better be sure you want to do this because I've got his back." Cheetara soon follows suit.
 * I Have This Friend: Inverted, when Jaga gently nudges Lion-O towards admitting that he's seen a vision in the Sword of Omens by announcing that "The Book says that our greatest king will possess the ability of "Sight Beyond Sight," which has the desired effect of prompting Lion-O to ask a Trial Balloon Question... "Like having visions?"
 * I Shall Taunt You: Oh, Lion-O...
 * In "Omens Part 1" Tygra goads Lion-O into a telegraphed move during their Chase Fight game with a calculated: "When it comes to everything except the crown, you're always going to be second place." He even lampshades the effectiveness of it: "When are you gonna learn, brother?"
 * In "The Duelist and the Drifter", the Duelist goads Lion-O into a fight by calling him a coward. It works since he also indirectly mocks Lion-O's father Claudus in the process.
 * Later in the same episode, the Drifter gets in some pointed digs at Lion-O's impatience and overexertion, the better to dance circles around him.
 * I Will Only Slow You Down:
 * Identical Grandson: In "Journey to the Tower of Omens" Captain Tygus and Leo, shown in Flash Back, look a lot like Tygra and Lion-O respectively.
 * If Jesus, Then Aliens: Discussed by Mumm-Ra by way of self-introduction: "Have you not considered that if technology is real, then so are the things of your worst nightmares?"
 * Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: Thundera is a prideful kingdom, ill-prepared for what the outside world can offer compared to its Medieval Stasis.
 * I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: When the Thundercats flee The Siege, a wounded Jaga insists on stopping to conduct a hasty succession ritual where he presents and fits Lion-O with his father's scabbard-gauntlet, speaks an oath and powers it up by tapping it with his crozier.
 * Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: The Lizards are pretty bad shots when it comes to dealing with Lion-O and the surviving Thundercats. The Cats themselves almost equally so, the arrows fired against the Lizards hit a grand total of two targets on-screen.
 * Possibly justified for the Lizards:
 * Impossible Task: A sullen and paranoid Grune discusses his and Panthro's thus-far futile search for the Book of Omens this way, rapidly escalating into declaring it a Snipe Hunt and a Uriah Gambit engineered by Claudus purely to get him out of the Kingdom. Panthro can only snap incredulously at him, and wonder why Grune is ranting about Claudus fearing his ambition.
 * In a Single Bound: Lion-O and Tygra jump to absurd heights in their Chase Fight game.
 * In the Back:
 * In "Omens Part 2" Claudus is stabbed and mortally wounded, with just enough time to inform Lion-O he's So Proud of You before dying.
 * In "The Duelist and the Drifter", this is attempted and failed
 * In the Hood: The Clerics helms feature full hood and veil
 * In Working Order: Tygra's Ray Gun and Lion-O's Black Market find are highly intuitive, fully functioning and easy to use.
 * Incoming Ham/Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: You are but insects to the power of MUMM-RA, THE EVER-LIIIVIIING!
 * Inexplicably Tailless: In-story, there has thus far been no explanation as to why lowerclass Cats like the Thunderkittens have tails, while the upperclass do not. However, it's All There in the Manual that tails are the distinguishing marker of Thundera's Fantastic Caste System. In particular, Panthro has an obvious tail in flashbacks but none in the present.
 * Instrumental Theme Tune: Lyricless, though an Ethereal Choir underscores it.
 * Insult Backfire:
 * Insult Backfire:

Tygra: Why, thank you, Lion-O!"


 * Intelligent Gerbil:
 * The Cats are expansionist predators who've placed themselves at the top of the Animal hierarchy.
 * Thundera's games are also a giant Visual Pun. The Cats race up a tree, while fighting to ring a bell and lose when they hit water.
 * Internal Homage: Lion-O's invocation of "Thundercats! Ho!" is a shot-for-shot remake of the Stock Footage used in the original series.
 * In a brief flashback in "Between Brothers", we see a younger Panthro, without the muttonchops and scars; he looks just like his classic incarnation.
 * Internal Reveal: When they're Locked in The Dungeon, Lion-O admits to Tygra that he saw a vision of Mumm-Ra in the Sword of Omens just the day before. Tygra does not take this well.
 * Ironic Echo: The defeat of your enemy is worth any sacrifice.
 * "You like her, don't you?" Both times spoken to Lion-O about two very different women. The first time he denies it, but the second...
 * Irony: Between Lion-O and Tygra, each brother wants what the other has. Tygra wants the throne and can never have it, Lion-O really doesn't want to be king all that badly but was chosen for it, all he wants is to beat his brother at something and never can.
 * In "Recipe for Disaster" Cheetara comments that Pumyra "isn't exactly the friendliest cat" only for it to be immediately followed by a scene of her tenderly helping a baby creature back to its nest.
 * It Got Worse: In the two minute short, "Snarf: Butterfly Blues," Snarf's life gets difficult the very second after an infant Lion-O sees a butterfly.
 * It Has Been an Honor: In "Song of the Petalars" The group reacts this way when surrounded by Lizards, assuming this is their Last Stand.
 * It's Always Sunny At Funerals: It's a beautiful day in the smoldering ruins of Thundera during Claudus's Viking Funeral.
 * It's the Journey That Counts: Emrick tells Lion-O that the good we do and the friends we make are what matter most.