Todd and the Book of Pure Evil

"Destiny sucks."

Todd and the Book of Pure Evil is a Canadian horror/comedy series created by Craig David Wallace, Charles Picco and Anthony Leo. The series is based on a short film of the same name, and is perhaps best described as Kevin Smith meets the Evil Dead. Appropriately, one of the series' regulars is Jason Mewes.

Todd is a metalhead and underachiever attending Crowley High who discovers an Artifact of Doom known as the Book of Pure Evil. Soon, he is pulled into a struggle against the forces of evil, which include the creatures spawned by the book, the local guidance counselor and a secret cabal of Satanists. Todd is joined by his friends: an amputee stoner named Curtis, a science geek named Hannah and Jenny, the object of Todd's desire.

The series is not one for the squeamish, as it combines copious amounts of Gorn, Toilet Humor and Dead Baby Comedy. It's also a loving tribute to heavy metal music, and numerous references to various metal bands can be found throughout the series.

Sadly, it has not been renewed for a third season.

Tropes featured include:
"Hannah: I think we learned a valuable lesson about teamwork: Not listening—
 * Action Girl: Jenny, by Season 2. Notably, she  in Loser Generated Content before a magical Reset Button was hit.
 * Actor Allusion: Jimmy the janitor mentions having slept with chicks with dicks in the past.
 * A Date With Rosie Palms
 * Adults Are Useless: That, or they're utterly evil. Jimmy the janitor is something of an exception. He's not extremely helpful, but he's at least moderately helpful.
 * Lampshaded by Curtis in one episode where he comments that the staff at Crowley High don't seem to care about what goes on in the school.
 * Aesop Ju Jitsu: At the end of "Simply the Beast":

Todd: That my leadership clinched our victory! Thank you, Hannah!

Hannah: That's not what I was going to say...

Jenny: But I was the one who talked them into killing each other.

Todd: Yeah, because I told you to do it.

Jenny: But it was Jimmy's idea.

Todd: Yeah, but I implemented it.

Jenny: But I was undercover.

Todd: Yeah, but we were also undercover...

(Beat)

Curtis: We killed that pep rally!

All four: YEAH! (Group high-five)"

"Todd: What the shit? My finger smells like ass!
 * All There In The Credits: In case anyone was wondering, the three metal dudes (left to right, based on how they usually stand in front of the car in the parking lot) are named Brody, Eddie and Rob.
 * A Man Is Always Eager: Averted. Both Todd or Curtis were nervous about the prospect of having sex with their respective girlfriends.
 * Almighty Janitor: Jimmy, who frequently dispenses helpful advice to the main character.
 * Ambiguously Bi: Although he is interested in girls, Curtis seems to have a crush on his best friend, Todd.

Curtis: *takes a long sniff of it with a big smile* …That's not the smell of your ass, dude..."

"Jenny: This is what you get for being a Satanist kidnapper.
 * Ambiguous Syntax:


 * I don't kidnap Satanists!"

"Jenny: Hey guys, you know that cheerleader? The thin, beautiful one?
 * Anti-Anti-Christ: Todd himself. For now.
 * Artifact of Doom: The Book of Pure Evil. Well, what did you expect?
 * Artificial Limbs: Hannah builds one for Curtis at the end of Season 1.
 * Ask a Stupid Question, Get a Stupid Answer: In what could count as an Out-of-Character Moment for Jenny:

Todd: As opposed to all the fat, ugly cheerleaders?"

"Atticus: (To himself) Focus, focus! You have the Book! Ultimate power is in your hands! All you have to... (Somebody walks past the camera) Hey, is that poutine? (Drops the book and follows)"
 * Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: Todd's ADHD is actually rather realistic, but some of the adults hit by the smoke in "Invasion of the Stupid Snatchers" seem to turn into this rather than becoming a ditz or Too Dumb to Live.

"Atticus: ...Which is what I am.
 * Bad Future: "The Toddyssey" covers one where
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: The series basically combines this with a Monster of the Week premise.
 * Be a Whore To Get Your Man: Hannah tries to seduce Todd this way, but it doesn't actually work.
 * Big No: Uttered by Hannah after Todd becomes an idiot in "Invasion of the Stupid Snatchers."
 * And Todd, when he thinks Jenny was eaten by a beast. She walks into the hall in the middle of the scream.
 * Black Comedy Rape: Wolf rape, to be specific.
 * The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: And beheads one of the zombies in "Rock N' Roll Zombies Know Best." It gets luckier when you consider Hannah was actually trying to just throw the hatchet to Todd.
 * Broken Pedestal:
 * Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: In the second season finale, Hannah  when  . In essence,.
 * Bury Your Gays: Inverted in the fourth episode, since the wish made by the Victim of the Week, who wanted the straight guys in school to understand what he was going through, ended up switching the sexualities of every guy in Crowley High... making him the only straight male when an angry mob of students killed him.
 * Catapult Nightmare: Todd experiences this in the first season finale, when he imagines slaughtering his friends.
 * Catgirl: Hannah gets turned into one during Fisting Fantasy. Well, except for the giant cock.
 * Catch Phrase:

Stoner #2: Loser! (With Todd as the typical Phrase Catcher)"

"Hannah: This could be a huge problem. (Beat) I mean... a huge problem, not a huge problem. (Beat) Like, it could be like a massive problem.
 * Chubby Chaser: Jimmy the janitor. "When I want to grease my piece, I go obese."
 * Cluster F-Bomb: "Fuck you, you cock-sucker whore-porking piece of shit fucker!"
 * Covert Pervert: Hannah gets dreamy-eyed when watching Todd and Curtis kiss in Gay Day. Later, when Curtis expresses hesitation over having sex before Hannah is ready, she quickly answers "I'm ready" and pulls him on top of her.
 * Crapsack World: Teens Are Monsters, Adults Are Useless and there's an Artifact of Doom on the loose that doesn't seem to be stoppable.
 * Creepy Monotone: Curtis and Hannah develop this while hypnotized by one episode's villain.
 * Not so creepy as Played for Laughs, however.
 * Curse Cut Short: Only for Country Matters on one occasion, made obvious because the character in question spoke in rhyme.
 * Dawson Casting: The whole cast. Notably, Maggie Castle (Jenny) was almost 27 when the first season was filmed.
 * Dead Baby Comedy
 * Deadpan Snarker: Jenny, from time to time. Or Todd, when Jenny isn't snarking.
 * Demonic Possession: Has occured twice in the series thus far, both in the series premiere (where Todd is possessed by the Book of Pure Evil) and in an episode where a basketball player is taken over by the ghost of a former alum.
 * Digging Yourself Deeper: Hannah in "Monster Fat," after she and a blimped-up Jenny question the Formerly Fat Girl that used the Book.

Jenny: You done?

Hannah: Like a massive problem, not a massive person.

(Jenny starts walking away)

Hannah: Which you're not! A problem, I mean, or a person— oh, I- uh, of course you're a person!"

"Gina: Come back to Mother, Hannah! COME BACK INSIDE MOTHER!!"
 * Disability Immunity: Todd's ADHD renders him immune to one villain's mind-control powers.
 * Disability Superpower: While not a superpower per se, Curtis puts his prosthetic arm to good use.
 * Distressed Damsel: Jenny frequently played this role in Season 1, but develops into an Action Girl in Season 2.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: The chemistry teacher gets impaled through his groin by a baking soda volcano. It, uh, erupts.
 * When a student is "impregnated" by the Book of Pure Evil, she moans rather suggestively before falling off her swing.
 * A girl named Gina (who insists on pronouncing it like the end of "vagina") is turned into Mother Nature and tries to drag Hannah into her.

"Hannah: I'm gonna need a bigger vacuum."
 * Drill Sergeant Nasty: Wanda Winterbanks is this misplaced in a cheerleader's body.
 * Dumb Is Good: Averted in one episode, where the villain of the week is borderline retarded and intent on making everyone dumber than him.
 * Easy Evangelism: It proves laughably easy for Atticus to convert the students of Crowley High to Satanism. Notably, the illustrated pamphlet his minions distribute to their fellow students resembles the infamous Jack Chick tracts.
 * Empty Piles of Clothing: The first clue to what happened in "Simply the Beast."
 * Erotic Eating: Played for Laughs in a Nightmare Sequence Todd has in "Monster Fat." He's freaked out by an insanely-fattened Jenny coming onto him, especially when she seems to be moving in for a blowjob... only to chomp down on an unpeeled banana standing up on top of his crotch. It's easy to blink and miss, since he wakes up right then and there.
 * Everybody Must Get Stoned: One student tries to use the book to become the smartest kid in school. He ends up with the ability to emit smoke that turns people into morons and ends up infecting the entire school (except Hannah). Todd and Curtis initially assume that everyone is high.
 * Evil Mentor:
 * Evil Old Folks:
 * In the second season premiere, the Book of Pure Evil turns the retirement home residents into cannibal zombies.
 * Exposition Fairy: "Fisting Fantasy" gives the gang one: a Muppet-like critter named "Mischievio," who quickly degrades into The Load
 * Fake-Out Make-Out: Hannah and Curtis invoke this in one episode to avoid detection by Atticus.
 * Fusion Dance:
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Todd says this to Curtis, word for word.
 * Girl-On-Girl Is Hot: One episode revolved around Jenny hooking up with an aggressive lesbian classmate.
 * Todd also imagines Jenny getting felt up by her hot (and undead) friend.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom:
 * Gonna Need More Trope: In "Invasion of the Stupid Snatchers," when Hannah vacuums up the smoke Jenny inhaled only for her to be reinfected.

"Todd: Why am I the loser if you're the one smoking oregano?"
 * Gorn: Very common. The teens who use the Book often meet incredibly grisly ends.
 * Harmful to Minors: Todd once watched a home-made sex tape starring Curtis' grossly obese parents. The experience scarred him for life, giving him a crippling fear of fat people.
 * Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Curtis seems to have one of these. He mentions in one episode that his parents are constantly trying to get rid of him. In another episode, when his friend Hannah questions how he learned to pick locks, he mentions that his parents lock him out of the house a lot.
 * His parents also didn't bother to give him a middle name.
 * Hulking Out: A cheerleader who just wanted to be stronger to keep her position on the team.
 * Hypocritical Humor: When arguing against joining the team, Curtis comments that they don't want a cripple in the club.
 * I Call Her "Vera": Todd names his sword "Sanddragon".
 * I Just Want to Have Friends: A lonely girl seeking friendship uses the Book of Pure Evil and gains the ability to instantly befriend anyone through touch.
 * Imagine Spot: Used frequently.
 * Intelligence Equals Isolation: An incredibly dumb student who used the book to turn everyone into idiots asks Hannah if being smart has made her any happier.
 * Jackass Genie: The book itself. Just as an example, a bullied gay kid wished that the straight guys in Crowley High understood what he was going through, and the book flipped the sexualities of every boy in the school... including the one that made the wish, who was left as a straight male minority.
 * Language of Magic: The Book of Pure Evil provides a Latin translation (although some don't seem to be grammatically correct) of what the person using it wants, and actives the wish once this is read out loud.
 * Limited Wardrobe: The three metal dudes that hang out in the parking lot don't even swap out their band shirts.
 * Made of Plasticine: As part of the generally gory tone of the series.
 * Mauve Shirt: Wanda Winterbanks, the head cheerleader, and Ms. Dempsey, the gym teacher.
 * Metafictional Device: Weaponized by the two-person AV Club in "Loser Generated Content." This included warping a victim around the school using editing and later slicing him clean in half with a split-screen.
 * Musical Episode: The Phantom of Crowley High.
 * 2 Girls 1 Tongue is a sequel of sorts to the above and is also a musical predictably.
 * My Eyes Are Up Here: Curtis has to say this to Todd in "Fisting Fantasy," when the gang gets transported into an MMO and Curtis becomes his female avatar.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: The show makes no effort to hide that the book is an Artifact of Doom. Snarkily lampshaded by Jenny in "Monster Fat."
 * Neck Snap: Occurs when a horny clone is rejected by her creator.
 * Nightmare Fetishist: Curtis. Severed tongue. Make-out session. Ewwwww.
 * No Ontological Inertia: A spell that turned all the male students gay ends with the death of the student who cast it. Similarily, when the characters are transported into a fantasy RPG, they are returned to the real world by defeating the student who brought them there.
 * Ontological Inertia: A lot of other cases such as "Monster Fat" and "Rock N' Roll Zombies Know Best" aren't stopped when the students who made the wishes die. It seems to depend on the nature of the wish, with the ones that create a physical monster of some kind most likely to have Ontological Inertia.
 * No Periods, Period: Averted as of "Simply the Beast," where Todd speculates that an empty cheerleader uniform appeared with no traces of blood because the girl it belonged to wished to stop her period from occurring and had all her blood drained.
 * Nobody Poops: Indiscreetly averted as of "See You Later, Masturbator." When Atticus's back is turned, the kid that made himself invisible using the Book craps on his desk, with the Gang noticeably grossed out as they see it happen.
 * Noodle Incident: "The Incident" from "The Toddyssey." All we know for sure is it's not
 * Atticus has a few that the show plays with. Each leads into an Imagine Spot, but it's always the same memory of him as a teenager, being intimidated by a snarling wolf in a forest. Doesn't matter what he said about it before the Imagine Spot.
 * Not So Different: Said to Todd by a giant talking penis.
 * Nothing Is Scarier: Type 1 and Type 2 are both used in "Invasion of the Stupid Snatchers," with some faint disembodied voices as the only sounds.
 * Occam's Razor: Todd and Curtis first think a cheerleader was eaten alive by something they name "the Beast," leaving just her cheerleading outfit. When Jenny points out there was no blood left at the scene, Todd decides the cheerleader wished for no more periods and suffered total blood loss... and then got eaten by this creature called "the Beast," leaving just her cheerleading outfit. That implies two separate wishes, when the cheerleader actually just wished to be stronger to stay on the team and ended up becoming "the Beast" itself.
 * Off With His Head: In "Rock N' Roll Zombies Know Best," although with a hatchet instead of a sword.
 * And in the Season 1 finale,.
 * Offscreen Teleportation: When Atticus is pursued by a man-sized monster baby spawned by the Book. Although the Big Bad Baby is only capable of shambling slowly, it somehow manages to get in front of Atticus as he sprints down a school corridor.
 * Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Well, omnidisciplinary science geek, anyway.
 * Our Homunculi Are Different: Hannah creates one in the second episode as a Science Fair project. It kills the science teacher.
 * Overly Long Name: A screenname, to be exact: "Triple-X-Assassin-23-X-X-X," as it's pronounced.
 * Placebo Effect: One of the metal dudes in front of the school ends up smoking oregano when the whole town is out of weed.

"Curtis: I did NOT see that coming.
 * Plant Person: A Granola Girl uses the book to turn the school into a prehistoric jungle and is turned into a living tree.
 * Police Are Useless: Mentioned in the second season premiere.
 * The Power of Love: At least part of the reason Todd.
 * Punctuated for Emphasis: "STOP! MAKING! BABEHS!"
 * Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Jenny.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old:
 * Refusal of the Call: Todd only agrees to help locate the Book of Pure Evil in order to score with his love interest. In subsequent episodes, he exhibits little interest in actually finding it.
 * Rhymes On a Dime: The Exposition Fairy Mischievio in "Fisting Fantasy,"
 * Running Gag: If you don't control German herpes, German herpes will control you.
 * You wanna make a babeh?
 * Stop being such a loser, loser!
 * We're so wasted.
 * Hey, dude, that's my girlfriend! Not cool!
 * Atticus's Imagine Spot of himself as a teenager being menaced by a snarling wolf. The first use was when Atticus referred to his first sexual experience, but the changing context later on turns this into a stand-in for any Noodle Incident.
 * Screams Like a Little Girl: Todd and Curtis during "Rock 'n Roll Zombies Know Best."
 * Screw Yourself: One student uses the book to produce a clone for this reason. It ends up going badly.
 * Self-Made Orphan:
 * Senseless Sacrifice: The girl who made the wish in "Monster Fat" (see No Ontological Inertia).
 * Shaming the Mob: Attempted during "Gay Day," when the student who used the book to turn every male student gay (except himself) makes a plea for tolerance to his fellow students. They tear him to pieces.

Todd: I did."

"Curtis: Wait a minute. Jenny, you play Boogie Woogie Uprising, don't you?
 * Attempted again when a bully is mocked for his small penis and asks the crowd to show him the respect that he never showed them. They just keep laughing at him.
 * Shirtless Scene: During one movement of the rock opera that is the 10th episode of the second season, Todd rips of his shirt and dances on a picnic table.
 * Shout-Out: "Fisting Fantasy," although it seems to share some aspects with MMOs like World of Warcraft as well. But even within the episode, there's a subtler Shout-Out to another game:

Jenny: No comment."

"Marcy: Jenny, I'm really sorry about all this.
 * And even subtler than that... The game announcer declaring "Purple Curtis needs food badly" during the end credits.
 * Space Whale Aesop: All of them. Lampshaded in "Rock N' Roll Zombies Know Best":

Jenny: Hey, you're not the only kid who doesn't get along with their parents. I mean, how could you have known it'd lead to cannibalism and murder?"

"Audience Member: "Posse Fresh," bitch!
 * Stock Scream: The Wilhelm Scream appears Once an Episode.
 * Surrogate Soliloquy: Atticus converses with
 * Taking the Bullet: Well, it was a poison dart, and Curtis actually wanted to use his prosthetic arm to block it, but it still counts.
 * Taken for Granite: The Monster Penis can turn people to stone by looking at them. (It makes people hard — get it?)
 * Teens Are Monsters: They've even killed their own classmates on more than one occasion.
 * Temporary Bulk Change: A Fat Girl wishes herself thin in "Monster Fat," but the mutated fat causes anyone it comes into contact with to balloon up.
 * The End of the World As We Know It:
 * This Is for Emphasis, Bitch: In the Battle of the Bands in the first episode, when Atticus calls the first act "Posey Fresh."

(Audience snickers)

Atticus: Posse Fresh. Whatever... bitch."

"Todd: Hey, Jimmy!
 * Toilet Humor: So much of this. One episode literally features an invisible pervert shitting on Atticus' desk.
 * Tome of Eldritch Lore: The Book of Pure Evil mostly functions as this, but can change its shape. It's become a guitar, a baby blanket, a basketball and shoelaces.
 * Town With a Dark Secret: Crowley Heights was
 * Twincest: The Girl-On-Girl Is Hot episode focused on a pair of incestuous identical twin sisters. When one sister chases after Jenny, the other sister ends up using the Book of Pure Evil to produce a clone as a replacement.
 * Two Girls to A Team: A rare example of this in a team of four.
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension: Between Todd and Jenny.
 * The Vamp: Nikki Kane, who sleeps with Todd so
 * Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Projectile vomiting during "Big Bad Baby."
 * Wake Up, Go to School, Save The World: Not including Atticus, the four main cast members are high school students.
 * Weak-Willed: Curtis, when Atticus attempts to hypnotize him.
 * Welcome to Corneria: When Crowley High gets trapped inside a video game, most of the characters outside the gang— including Jimmy, who becomes a blacksmith NPC— fall victim to this.

Jimmy: Hey, gang! What can I get you from the Secret Chamber of Stuff?

Hannah: Doesn't he recognize us?

Todd: Hey, Jimmy...

Jimmy: Hey, gang! What can I get you from the Secret Chamber of Stuff?"


 * He also ends up repeating "Titty-Wizard just spent all your gold, dude" several times when Todd tries to make another purchase at the shop.
 * Wham! Episode: Arguably, the first season finale, in which
 * The second season finale is even, uh, whammier.
 * Wham! Line: "Gee … I wonder what happens next?"
 * Why Did It Have To Be Fat People?: Todd, scarred as a kid by a sex tape made by Curtis's obese parents.
 * Wrecked Weapon:
 * Your Head Asplode: What happens to a student who tries to use mind control on Todd, because of his ADHD.
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle: Usually whoever uses the Book of Pure Evil ends up with a dose of karma near the end of the episode. In "The Phantom of Crowley High," Charlotte wishes for an angelic voice to score the lead in the musical and then gets her tongue sliced off in only 4½ minutes. She goes on to spend the rest of the episode trying to eliminate the competition, and even fails to die by the end of the episode.
 * She finally gets her comeuppance in Season 2 during the second Musical Episode "2 Girls 1 Tongue."