Megas XLR



""Look, Red, I'm no hero. I'm just a guy from Jersey, alright?""

From the creators of MTV's Downtown comes this action cartoon, an affectionate spoof of "guy culture", science fiction, Anime and anything that was "cool" in The Eighties. If Neon Genesis Evangelion is the Deconstruction of the Humongous Mecha genre, then Megas XLR is the Demolition. It is also possibly the American precursor to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It is one of the few mecha shows to get unanimous praise from 4chan's Anime, Cartoons & Comics and Mecha boards.

In the distant future, mankind is losing a war against evil aliens known as the Glorft. Only one hope remains: a stolen Glorft prototype robot that has been converted into the Mecha Earth Guard Attack System (MEGAS). But while sending the robot through time in order to turn the tide of the war, it accidentally ends up getting sent too far back into the past. It sits in a junkyard in Jersey City for 70 years, until it is found by Coop, a large, jovial gearhead and video game fanatic.

Coop manages to repair the robot and also makes a few modifications, like replacing the absent, destroyed head with a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. He dubs it XLR - "Xtra Large Robot", but just as he's showing it off to his friend Jamie, who should show up but soldier, mechanical expert, and all-around Action Girl Kiva Andru, who's traveled from the future to reclaim the robot she modified. Unfortunately, due to Coop's modifications, he's now the only one who can pilot it. What's worse, a band of Glorft troopers, led by the tyrannical Warmaster Gorrath, have followed Kiva through time and are intent on reclaiming what was once theirs: Megas. Now Coop -- with the help of Kiva and, to a lesser extent, Jamie -- battles the Glorft, along with countless other threats to the Earth. Usually doing just as much damage as the things he fights.

Formerly on Cartoon Network's Toonami. Currently on iTunes and Xbox Live.

Not to be confused with The Megas.


 * Conveniently Empty Building

"Magnanimous: *glasses pull* "Groovy.""
 * Achievements in Ignorance: Coop.
 * Also, in the second episode, Jamie managed to find the Planet of the Space Amazons, which, up until then, was thought to only exist in a comic book. Coop also found a food court there.
 * Action Girl: Kiva, who is A) saving the world from Coop and Jamie, B) saving the future from Coop and Jamie, C) saving Coop and Jamie from themselves and D) kicking ass along the way.
 * Actor Allusion:
 * One of the villains is voiced by Bruce Campbell. He gets a robot that wields a chainsaw and a shotgun. And it's pretty much giant mecha Elvis.

"Jamie: YEAH!... wait, what?!"
 * Also, in the episode with the planet of sentient robots, the two that get the most screen time are voiced by Peter Cullen and Frank Welker.
 * Aliens and Monsters: Many, but mostly the Glorft.
 * Animesque: Though the art-style is distinctly Western, the genre itself is purely Japanese. It helps that Jamie and Kiva are voiced by famous (to American fans of dubbed anime) actors.
 * Animation Bump
 * And There Was Much Rejoicing: Kids cheer every time a school, museum, or the homework factory is destroyed.
 * And This Is For: Whatever you messed up during the episode! And this is for whatever I messed up during the episode! And this is for the Rule of Three for Once an Episode summaries!

"Coop: Put that down. I'm not finished yet. Jamie: He doesn't get sick, he just gets less hungry."
 * Area 51: "Viva Las Megas".
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: All of Coop's regular rants against the bad guy. One time, it was more like "Jaywalking, Littering and Playing Loud Music." Oh, and he did all three of the acts, not the bad guy. Lampshaded by Kiva and Jamie.
 * As Long As It Looks Foreign: The odds table in "Battle Royale" includes not only alien scripts, but also lines in English and jumbles of Greek characters that would be unpronounceable to someone who could read them.
 * Barehanded Blade Block: What's cooler than a BHBB? A giant robot BHBB.
 * Basement Dweller: Coop.
 * Batman Can Breathe in Space: The roll-up windows and retractable roof of Coop's car are able to resist the vacuum of space. And it's not like there's anything special about them, either; Coop punched one out barehanded.
 * Beam-O-War: In "Dude, Where's My Head?", where Coop wins by turning on the high beam headlights.
 * Berserk Button:
 * Coop not getting a Mega Slush or any delicious, artery-hardening food. Gorrath actually uses this to torture him at one point.
 * Also, don't even think of insulting Megas in front of Coop.
 * Or trying to kill Jamie and Coop in front of Kiva.
 * Big Bad: Warmaster Gorrath.
 * Big Eater: Coop actually has three championship crowns from the "Lord of the Large Pants" eating contest.

"Warmaster Gorrath: What have they done TO MY ROBOT?! Commander: Sir, the Earthers appear to have heavily modified it. Warmaster Gorrath: Thank you, Commander. For stating the brutally obvious!"
 * Big No: Coop loves doing these over minor things.
 * When the signal cuts out during a wrestling show, he screams this as he quickly jumps out of his seat to check the connection.
 * He also belts out another one when he realizes he accidentally backed into (and destroyed) the cheapest all-you-can-eat buffet in Las Vegas.
 * "My big glug! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
 * Bigger on the Inside: Megas is much bigger on the inside.
 * Big Fun: Coop, natch.
 * Big Red Button: Which triggers the Forgotten Superweapon of the week. One recurring button involves Coop dramatically smashing his forehead on it to push it.
 * Bishounen: Captain Warlock, being a Captain Ersatz of, er, Captain Harlock.
 * Blessed Are the Cheesemakers: A one-shot villain is a gigantic blob of spray cheese caused by filling Megas's fusion power core with that stuff.
 * Brain Freeze: Kiva gets one after trying a Mega Slush for the first time.
 * Brick Joke: Occurs very, very often -- almost Once an Episode. In the pilot, for example, Coop misfires a missile, which strikes a PoPTV satellite... which crashes on top of the ridiculously huge final robot right on time to save the cast.
 * Button Mashing: Coop does this a lot when piloting Megas.
 * By Wall That Is Holey: In a Flash Back, Coop knocks over a bookshelf that lands right around Jamie.
 * The Call Knows Where You Live: It helps when you activate a tachyon beacon The Call can track across time.
 * Call Back: The Kaiju-sized space jailer from the end of "D.M.V.: Department of Megas Violations" is seen sipping tea as Coop and gang are uncontrollably warping through different points in the universe in "Coop D'Etat"
 * Cameo: Several characters from MTV's Downtown show up throughout the show. Goat is an obvious one. Alex makes an appearance in two separate episodes. The nerd Wedge appears at least once. Serena is in the pilot episode "Lowbrow". The girl Jamie gets a date with by borrowing Coop's car appears to be the same girl Fruity was flirting with on the subway.
 * Captain Ersatz: So many characters. See Shout-Out.
 * Catgirl: Possibly a foxgirl, in the title sequence, and the "Battle Royale" episode.
 * Caught on the Jumbotron: In "Terminate Her", Coop first realizes that Jamie and Kiva are in trouble when Jamie appears on the Jumbotron holding hands with a girl, who happens to be Kiva's ancestor. Though his first concern is that they aren't bringing him nachos.
 * Cephalothorax: Magnanimous.
 * Captain Obvious: Typically the Commander. Lampshaded in the first episode by Warmaster Gorrath.

"Jamie: Competition? You have a giant robot from the future, with a car for a head."
 * Cerebus Syndrome: Of the "Tone doesn't get darker, but the humor does" variety.
 * Chainsaw Good:
 * The Metal Maiden is a chainsword.
 * Also Mag Nanimous' Elvis mech.
 * Char Clone:.
 * Character as Himself: The end credits list Goat as being voiced by "Himself". Goat is the nickname of Scot Rienecker, a friend of the creators. He indeed plays himself on the show, and was a regular in Downtown before.
 * Chekhov's Gun: Pretty much every episode ends with some mundane thing Coop did earlier in the episode saving the day.
 * Cold-Blooded Torture: Parodied. Coop gets captured by the Glorft. Gorath's torture techniques? Eating a Philly Cheese Steak slowly in front of Coop. And smashing Mega Slushes. This would be considered Cool and Unusual Punishment, but since it's Coop... Humorously, it's just as much torture for Gorath, who can barely stomach the Philly Cheese Steak.
 * Combat Stilettos: Kiva's boots have high heels, though admittedly rather thick compared to most.
 * Combining Mecha:
 * Mercilessly abused and mocked with the Gatchaman-style opponents in "Bad Guy". Then horribly spoofed when Megas needs their power against a mutual foe, so it grabs one mecha and literally shoves a foot up its ass until it's on like a boot, does the same for the rest of its limbs, then grabs the leader's eagle-mecha by the neck and slams it onto the back, complete with each S-Force member whimpering at the violation. The result is a humiliating abomination, that surprisingly looks perfect, which the villain approves of. Even more surprising, it actually works, somehow giving Megas access to all the other mechas' weapons. And here you people thought Kamina invented that trick!
 * The Glorft have one in the first episode made up of most of their army.
 * Comedic Hero: Even Kiva, with her Deadpan Snarker moments, gets in on this.
 * Comically Missing the Point: Coop most of the time.
 * Conservation of Ninjutsu: But with giant robots and aliens.
 * Context Sensitive Button: With a different label every time.
 * At one point it reads "Exactly The Same Button Coop Just Pressed Like Five Minutes Ago".
 * "Do Something Stupid, Coop".
 * Also, Megas' fifth gear, which contains such functions as "Fight," "Save Jamie," and "SPACE."
 * Another time it's marked "Drive", "Neutral", "Reverse", and "SPACE".
 * "Button to Push 10 Minutes Before The Show Ends". Naturally, it's broken.
 * "Five minutes until end of episode."
 * Cool and Unusual Punishment: Typically Coop. He usually deserves it.
 * Cool Car: It's a car mixed with a Humongous Mecha! Coop is entirely aware of this, and Jamie even more so. When Coop enters Megas in a car show, he's actually worried about the competition.

"Coop: NO ONE trashes Jersey City! Uh... except me."
 * Cool Sword: The Metal Maiden.
 * Cowardly Sidekick: Jamie.
 * Credits Gag
 * Cute Monster Girl: The female space yetis, and a few background... squirrel girls... in the second episode.
 * Cutaway Gag: There are few that crop up in the form of Flashbacks and Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering? jokes. Note that this type of joke was being used during Family Guy 's infancy, and it would be a couple years before Cartoon Network considered picking the series' reruns up for its Adult Swim lineup.
 * Darker and Edgier: The two part Series Finale, which was the only time the show took itself (semi-)seriously.
 * Dark-Skinned Redhead: Kiva, but her tan gets lighter the longer she's on Earth.
 * Dark-Skinned Blond: Coop's skin is much darker than Kiva's, even in the pilot. Not explained in either case.
 * Dark Reprise: Kiva's battle theme, Lose My High, is played while she fights in pretty much every ep. In the final episode, it's played while Coop is fighting.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Jamie, as well as Kiva on occasion.
 * Deconstructive Parody: Breaking down a whole lot of Giant Robot tropes? Check. Funny as heck? Double-check.
 * Department of Redundancy Department: The Regis Mark 5 is unstoppable/invincible/indestructible/undestroyable/(insert synonym here).
 * Designated Girl Fight: Kiva versus Darklos in "DMV".
 * Destructive Saviour: Coop. Although how much the "saviour" bit applies to him is in question.

"Living here in Jersey / Fighting villains from afar / You gotta find first gear / In your giant robot car... YOU! DIG! GIANT ROBOTS! / I! DIG! GIANT ROBOTS! / WE! DIG! GIANT ROBOTS! / CHICKS! DIG! GIANT ROBOTS! Nice."
 * Detachment Combat: The alien robot from "Viva Las Megas".
 * Detonation Moon: Coop blows up part of the moon in "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Coop". And then he has to reassemble it piece by piece at the end of the episode.
 * Deus Ex Machina:
 * For once, actually pulled off well. See Context Sensitive Button.
 * Subverted in "Space Booty" -- Coop tries to use a Deus Ex Machina called The Equalizer, but it stalls. In his frustration he accidentally activates Megas' horn, which turns out to be a Chekhov's Gun.
 * Dirty Old Man: Goat, usually to Kiva.
 * Disaster Dominoes: "Buggin' The System", where Coop knocks down a series of skyscrapers on a giant space doughnut. One of his flashback cutaways in that episode has him do the same to a library.
 * Do-Anything Robot: Megas seems to have a weapon for every occasion. Now, whether or not it actually works is an entirely different issue.
 * The dashboard includes buttons like "Destroy The World," "Smite The World," "Destroy The World WORSE," and "Save The World." Guess which one was busted?
 * An even better example from Megas's appearance in the Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi is a list of Megas Super Desperation Attacks: "Raging Fury Final Attack", "Megablast Ultimate Weapon", "Armageddon", and "WTF??! o_O". Naturally, Coop picks the last one.
 * Downer Ending: "Bad Guy" (plus the sequel episode "S Force S.O.S" from season 2), "Ultra Chicks" and "Ice Ice Megas" (All Played for Laughs of course).
 * Drive-In Theater: "Universal Remote".
 * Duct Tape for Everything: Lampshaded hilariously. "Duck it."
 * Eleventh-Hour Superpower:
 * Lampshaded with the Context Sensitive Button at least once.
 * Subverted in "Battle Royale" where, in attempt to get Jamie to climb a pillar, Kiva tells him that if he doesn't, he'll never find the Planet Of The Space Amazons. Jamie then gets a determined gaze while dramatic music swells, only to stop trying to climb and whine about how he still can't do it. They ended up on said planet by the end of the episode anyway.
 * Emergency Impersonation: Jamie in "Ultra Chicks".
 * Enemy Mine: Coop and Gorath's unlikely team-up in "Rearview Mirror, Mirror".
 * Evil Laugh: Coop does one during his fantasy sequence of destroying the DMV.
 * Evil Coop in the two-part series finale
 * Expository Theme Tune: Let's all sing it together!

"Kiva: I figured I could pilot a primitive automobile if you can pilot such an advanced war machine."
 * Eyedscreen: You can't get through the opening theme without being assaulted by this editing.
 * The Faceless: Coop's mom.
 * Fascinating Eyebrow: Used as a gag in "Dude, Where's My Head?". When Jamie activates the Atomic Disruption Cannon, a little eight-bit face comes up on Coop's screen and does the look.
 * Facing the Bullets One-Liner: Villainous example, and something of a variation -- a couple Glorft mooks look out the window to see Megas seconds away from crashing into the mothership, right where they stand. One turns to the other and says, "I've always hated you." Cue explosion.
 * Failure Is the Only Option: Early episodes dealt with Kiva raising hopes of fixing the time drive. This was dropped as the series continued.
 * Falling Into the Cockpit: Kiva at one point lands in what is very obviously a Dodge Viper and is able to drive right away.

"Maganimous: [To Kiva] Now, put the fist down, sweetheart. We both know there's no way you can fight all of us, and protect the, sub-form here. Jamie: Sub-form?!? Go get 'im, Kiva, I got your back. Cut to Jamie and Kiva locked up in a cell Kiva: Thanks for getting my back."
 * Fan Service:
 * Kiva trying on modern clothes at the mall in "Breakout", including a punk rocker outfit and pajamas. Jamie was actually trying to get her to try on deliberately goofy outfits to embarrass her as a bit of petty revenge, but with her figure she can't help but look good in them. There's also her outfit in the mosh pit episode, which Goat is quick to call attention to.
 * The Ultra Cadets, being Sailor Moon parodies.
 * Fantastic Voyage: In one episode Megas enters a planet-sized creature.
 * Fat and Proud: Coop. Oh so very much.
 * Fat and Skinny: Coop and Jamie.
 * Fish Out of Temporal Water: Kiva. She plays it for laughs quite a few times as her Deadpan Snarker side develops.
 * Fixed Forward-Facing Weapon: The Glorft Ultimate Planet Destroyer is mounted under the main hull of the mother ship and is almost the size of the entire mothership.
 * Flashback Twist: Many.
 * Foe Yay: Parodied with in the credits background of the first season finale. It shows a valentine with Coop and Gorrath in it, and the caption "Best Enemies".
 * Foot Focus: The close-up of Kiva's bare feet in "Breakout" and "S. Force S.O.S.".
 * Fun with Acronyms: Mecha Earth Guard Attack System (MEGAS) Xtra Large Robot (XLR).
 * Replicant Engineered for Galactic Infiltration and Sabotage (REGIS) mk. V
 * Reverse Engineered Collective Robot (R.E.C.R.)
 * Future Badass: In the alternate future where.
 * Genius Ditz: Coop is a mechanical genius (even if his modifications don't work right half the time) and a great pilot, but otherwise rather dim.
 * Genre Savvy: Jamie lampshades the "let's hide in that nebula" tactic Kiva recommends in "Coop D'Etat".
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar:
 * Warlock's hall of portraits of his many past conquests -- all redheaded, of course -- include what is clearly an effeminate man.
 * "So, Red, looks like we've got the backseat."
 * "A sword, the Metal Maiden is a sword!?"
 * Look closely when Megas is punching the planet-sized monster in "TV Dinner". They appear to have landed next to its anus.
 * Also when the S-Force's Zorbs are smashed onto Megas. He shoves his limbs up their asses and they whimper at the violation.
 * Goat is excited about the improvements in the secondary motion engine of a DOA Xtreme Expy because of the nice backgrounds.
 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: This is how the show works. Usually because Coop accidentally summoned it.
 * Gilligan Cut: Combined with Tempting Fate when Jamie says, "It's not like the Glorft have a new death machine built specifically to take us out." Then the camera pans into space, and guess what the Glorft have just finished building.
 * Used several times, actually, in this same matter.

"Jamie: Coop, what are you doing!? I was just about to get digits from green-skinned girls. GREEN-SKINNED GIRLS!!!"
 * The Alcatraz: The robot prison. Controlled by a satellite dish.
 * Freudian Trio:
 * The McCoy: Coop;
 * The Kirk: Jaime;
 * The Spock: Kiva.
 * Godzilla Threshold: It might as well be called the Megas Threshold. Some of the threats Coop faces cross this, but Coop is going to use maximum destruction (intentional or not) either way.
 * Grand Finale: The two parter, "Rearview Mirror Mirror". The ending left it opened ended in case they got renewed but sadly that wasn't the case.
 * Gratuitous Japanese: The DDR knockoff shouting "Sugoi!" among other words and phrases in "The Fat and the Furious".
 * Green-Skinned Space Babe: Jamie's ultimate dream in life is scoring with one of these. Technically one of the ones he eventually lands with for about ten minutes has green fur. For once, his failure wasn't his own fault.

"Ender: I need someone as obviously evil as you."
 * Handsome Lech: Jamie.
 * Hero Antagonist: Before realizing Coop wasn't evil, the S-Force were this.
 * Hero Insurance
 * Hero with an F In Good: Though he means well, Coop's Destructive Savior nature has resulted in him destroying entire planets and dooming civilizations by accident, so much so that the S-Force assumed him to be a villain at first glance. How much he's called out on this varies per episode and crime. It's lampshaded the most in "Bad Guy".

"Coop: No. I won't let that happen!"
 * Heroes Want Redheads: Captain Warlock takes this to obsessive new lengths.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Jamie is voiced by Steve Blum and Kiva by Wendee Lee.
 * Hollywood Tone Deaf: Played with. Coop's tone-deaf singing is used as a weapon at one point, but it was more due to the decibel levels (cranked up thanks to Megas' speakers) than the actual tonal range, or lack thereof.
 * Holographic Terminal:
 * Kiva's original Mech controls.
 * Megas has one in the backseat for Kiva.
 * Hot-Blooded: Think of Coop as a blond, fat Kamina. But even more Crazy Awesome.
 * Human Doorstop: Kiva to Jamie, as Kiva rushes to fix the mech and Jamie stands around complaining: "Could you hold this wire? And this one?"
 * Humongous Mecha
 * I Know Mortal Kombat: Coop learned his incredible piloting skills from playing too many video games. Justified because he designed the controls of the robot to simulate a video game, complete with Nintendo, Sega and Sony controller pads. As well as a DDR pad and a pair of Power Gloves for "manual control" when the CPU unit isn't attached. There's also the "secondary cammand bridge" (sic) with retro Atari controllers, in case the car isn't attached.
 * I Like Those Odds: In the first episode, a large number of Glorft surround Megas and Kiva's mech. Coop's response is to agree that the fight isn't fair... and smashes Kiva's mech. "Now it's fair."
 * Idiot Hero: Coop, and how!
 * Imagine Spot: Frequent. Funniest is Coop imagining a Sugar Bowl-inspired world without TV.

"Coop: I've seriously got to rethink my layout design."
 * Imported Alien Phlebotinum: Megas is a Stolen Alien Phlebotinum that Kiva finished building and then Coop tore apart and "modified" so half its gadgets don't work anymore.
 * Indy Ploy: Every plan eventually devolves into this.
 * Inventional Wisdom: Some of the labels on the buttons would only make sense in Coop's mind. Others not so much.

"Ender: I am Ender. I end things."
 * Jerkass: Jamie, though they make it work pretty well. He does have some hidden heroic qualities in him, as shown in the finale.
 * The Jersey City Fireball
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: The William Tell Overture in episode four.
 * Joisey: Jersey City.
 * Juxtaposed Store: See the page for examples.
 * Keep-Away: "The Fat and The Furious".
 * Knight of Cerebus:  "Rearview Mirror Mirror" was actually relatively comedic until they showed up, but by part 2, the comedy actually seemed downplayed.
 * Konami Code: Used numerous times as part of Coop's usual arsenal of special attack input commands.
 * Landfill Beyond the Stars: "Junk In The Trunk" takes place on one of these. Local junk-man Goat gets to come along to provide advice.
 * Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: A surprising chunk of Megas' enemies and allies are this, the most obvious being The S-Force whose Combining Mecha looks suspiciously like Starscream from Transformers combined with Voltron and Captain Warlock.
 * Leader Forms the Head: As expected, the show parodies this. The Glorft's UMD is a combining mecha made from other combining mecha, repeated for a couple of cycles. At its final stage, It is completed by Gorrath's personal mech docking in the center. Without Gorrath's part, it doesn't seem to be useable at all, enforced when he leaves the battlefield, and the dozens to hundreds of mechs and pilots that also made up the UMD. Gorrath having a Never My Fault mentality, all of this to be expected.
 * Loud of War: Used/Invoked in the second episode Magnanimous, where Coop defeats the eponymous villain by firing up Megas' super sound system and singing The Riddle Song, very badly.
 * Macross Missile Massacre: Many times, and almost always useless.
 * Made of Explodium: Loads of stuff explodes including a few things that shouldn't, like a basket of flowers.
 * Magical Girl: One entire episode is an extended Shout-Out to the genre, complete with suspiciously Sailor-ish characters and an overly long Transformation Sequence.
 * Magnificent Moustaches of Mexico: Skalgar in "Universal Remote". He's also The Napoleon.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: "The Jammer".
 * Meaningful Name:
 * The S-Force's archnemesis.

"Jamie: When in doubt, blow up a planet."
 * Captain Warlock. "Warlock" means "Oath-breaker". He breaks every promise he makes and tells nothing but lies.
 * Mecha-Mooks: Expendable Glorft robots. Though Gorrath does appear to conserve them a few times, and the commander notes that they can't always afford to lose mechs. They're probably building a lot of new ones per episode.
 * Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds:

"Coop: Let's go see what bad guy I get to beat-up this week!"
 * Monster of the Week: Hilariously Lampshaded by Coop.

"Coop: It's too hot to fly."
 * Monumental Damage:
 * When Coop was faced with a giant robot that fed on energy, he took care of it by throwing it into the Grand Canyon, which he then completely filled in. He also destroyed Hoover Dam in the same episode.
 * The moon landing site.
 * Mood Whiplash: The pilot opens with a losing battle in Space Opera fashion before cutting to two guys in Jersey screwing around and never looks back until the Series Finale when things took a turn to dark sci-fi drama again.
 * Morality Pet: Jamie really doesn't come off as one, but in the, Jamie is the one who retains his morality, to the point where he.
 * More Dakka: "Super Destructor Mode".
 * Mundane Fantastic: Coop's rampages in Megas, and indeed the fact that he has a giant robot in the first place, is treated as normal by pretty much the entire town.
 * Mundane Utility: Megas's greatest ability? It can ignore traffic jams. When not stuck in them for comedic effect.

"Kiva: Now where did that come from? Grrkek: I should thank you for releasing me. Kiva: Of course."
 * NEET: Coop and Jamie exemplify this trope.
 * Never Say "Die": Strangely used both straight and averted.
 * New Powers as the Plot Demands: The almighty dashboard and its hundreds of buttons provide a good deal of these. A great deal of humor comes from what new ultra-destructive weapon Coop will use next and how badly it will fail.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Coop is the undisputed master. It seems that nearly every single threat he faces was directly or indirectly his fault in the first place. And even when it's not his fault at all, his actions to resolve the problem generally cause more devastation than letting it rampage unchecked would have done. According to Word of God, had the show continued it would have been revealed that this even extends to creating the Glorft. This quote in the first season sums it up nicely:

"*Coop locks at least fifty missiles on his target one after another* Kiva: Uh, Coop, overkill? Jamie: Yeah... Do more!"
 * No Endor Holocaust:
 * Thoroughly abused and played with. One day, Coop fills New Jersey's air with smog to disable a solar-powered robot while triggering an artificial winter, and next thing you know, New Jersey is good as new. Later, the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman-like heroes show up to punish Coop for being the Ultimate Destructor of the Earth.
 * Totally averted when Coop blows up a good chunk of the Moon, causing lots of natural disasters and leading to him having to reconstruct it during the credits.
 * Partially averted with the planet of the space-yetis. Though none of them died, Coop's destruction of their rival planet completely screwed up their ecosystem.
 * No Kill Like Overkill:
 * The main reason for the New Jersey Fireball, but none of them beat Coop's imagined destruction of the DMV.
 * Lampshaded in "Universal Remote".

"Kiva: To reiterate: smashing bad. Jamie: Normally I'm pro-smashing, and I hate to agree with future girl, but maybe smashing's not the way to go this time. Coop: We tried no smashing, and that didn't work! I'm sticking to my strengths, and smashing is my strengths. I just need to find the right kind of smashing."
 * When faces with a monster that responds to No Kill Like Overkill by getting stronger, there's this timeless classic of a line.

"Coop: What's the point of having nuclear weapons if you never get to use them?"
 * No One Could Survive That: Good thing no one told the S-Force that. Or Coop.
 * Non-Action Guy: Jamie. Coop at least puts forth some effort.
 * Non-Standard Character Design: The REGIS Mk. V has a more spindly, cartoonish, non-mech design, looking more like something out of Invader Zim.
 * Nuclear Weapons Taboo: Among the numerous buttons on his dashboard is an entire section of WARNING labels and signs telling Coop not to push the Big Red Button in the middle that would launch a nuke at the enemy. Despite Coop's desire to push it, Kiva and Jamie protest until he decides not to. Also note that he wanted to do so in an enclosed underground base.

"Gorrath: But for now, take us into null space, so we can effect repairs. Second: Huh, don't you mean run away because we got our jhorblochs handed to us by one Earther? Second: *grabs his mouth* Not the face! Gorrath: Tread lightly, commander, or you might find yourself at the head of the next assault. Without a mech!"
 * Number Two: Warmaster Gorrath's second in command, who is often use as a punching bag by his leader. "Terminate Her" is the closest he gets to A Day in the Limelight. He also has a habit of calling out Gorrath's decisions.
 * Gorrath turns around, Death Glare*

"Coop: Jamie, quit screaming like a girl! Jamie: It's not me, it's him! Coop: You, quit screaming like Jamie!"
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat: The DMV is full of them.
 * Ominous Latin Chanting: Parodied with the REGIS Mk.5. The score breaks into ominous Latin chanting as his Leitmotif, then immediately cuts out as soon as the camera changes to focus on something else, only to resume whenever he's on-screen again. The fact that it does this for everything REGIS does just makes it funnier.
 * Once an Episode:
 * Coop's rants against the Monster of the Week.
 * Some PoP TV property geting destroyed.
 * Almost once an episode, at the press of the Context Sensitive Button Megas' chest will open up and some new and never seen again Wave Motion Gun (first time literally!) will pop out and blast the Monster of the Week.
 * Only Friend: The first season finalereveals that Non-Action Guy Jamie resents being taken on dangerous missions, and the main reason why he doesn't simply leave is because Coop's his only friend.
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Gorrath lives and breathes this trope.
 * Only Sane Man: Poor Kiva.
 * Oral Fixation Fixation: Goat, who was a chain smoker in MTV's Downtown, seemed to quit smoking, and replaced cigarettes with lollipops to pass the censors.
 * Pilot: Lowbrow. A lot of the animation from it was reused for the first episode of the finished series.
 * Planet Eater: Coop attracted a planet-shaped one to Earth when he accidentally unleashes a signal-disrupting EM pulse trying to juice up his satellite dish.
 * Precious Photo:.
 * Pulling Themselves Together: The RECR from "Viva Las Megas".
 * Quintessential British Gentlemonster: A creature from "Coop D'etat" appears drinking a Spot of Tea to autoharp music. He appears again in "Department Of Megas Violations" speaking in a sophisticated British Accent.
 * Rated "M" for Manly: You bet.
 * Record Needle Scratch: Replaced with the sound of squealing brakes.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: When the robot prisoners in "A Clockwork Megas" regain their memories.
 * Reference Overdosed: Being an Affectionate Parody of the entire mecha genre, what do you expect?
 * Retcon: Megas has a button that can do this!
 * Revenge Before Reason: Warmaster Gorrath.
 * Reverse the Polarity: Kiva uses the phrase in "Breakout". In a moment of Genre Savvy, when she uses it again in "Universal Remote", Jamie immediately gets her meaning and starts taunting the bad guy.
 * Rule of Three: Coop's rants before beating the big bad often fall under this category.
 * Running Gag: In many episodes, a conveniently placed building is usually destroyed, including many schools, the "Museum Of Irreplaceable Art", the "Gunpowder, Ballbearing, and Shrapnel Factory", and even a " Homework Factory Cough syrup, Liver, and Homework Store".
 * Even a thousand years in the future, Pop TV buildings are doomed to be destroyed by giant robots, according to one BattleTech sourcebook (and reporter Kiva Cooper).
 * Screams Like a Little Girl: Jamie, a bit. Lampshaded:

"REGIS Mk.5: The REGIS Mk.5 is invincible. No weapon forged by such a primitive species can defeat the REGIS, which is invincible."
 * Sealed Evil in a Can:
 * The RECR.
 * Grrkek the Planet Killer and the other criminals held in the "game cartridge"/billion year old subspace prison.
 * The REGIS first appears sealed away in a high security container.
 * Selective Gravity: Inside a planet eater, Megas falls down toward acid unless using its jets, yet the satellites somehow continue to float regardless.
 * Serial Escalation: People think Gurren Lagann paved the way countryside for this trope, and they're right. However, what they don't realise is that Megas XLR made that countryside... by VAPORIZING the MOUNTAIN that was originally there!
 * Severely Specialized Store: Coop often crashes into bizarrely (and hilariously) specialized buildings.
 * Ship Tease: Kiva/Jamie gets hinted at a lot. Coop finds it rather creepy. So does Kiva.
 * Ship Sinking: The final episode basically told us that the only way those two could end up together is in a Mirror Universe.
 * Shout-Out: Everywhere.
 * Skyward Scream: Done in All I Wanted Was A Slushie, when he realized the alien robot just destroyed the last Mega Slush machine in the greater Jersey area. He even pulled back Megas' convertible hood for the full effect.
 * Smug Super: The REGIS Mk.5, despite repeatedly being reduced to scrap. Justified since it will not and possibly never will stay dead. Michael Dorn doing the voice only further enhances the quality.

"Jamie: What about my suggestion to go home and ignore it!"
 * Soda Bomb: Coop used one to destroy a planet-sized monster.
 * Somebody Else's Problem: Many.

"Magnanimous: (with regard to his own contestant) See what you get for hiring a human?"
 * Space Is Noisy: Megas' horn can be heard in space. Not the least bit surprising considering everything else that happens in the show.
 * Space Pirates: Captain Warlock and his crew.
 * Spooky Silent Library: The Ringworld in "Buggin' The System".
 * Staring Kid: This kid was a recurring character who was usually standing around, drinking a Mega Slush or something, and proclaiming "cooooooool" at all the destruction going on in the episode.
 * Stock Footage: Averted, mostly.
 * Some of the attacks have recycled footage in them, mostly when he's jumping around or fighting the Glorft, or when Coop destroys his own garage.
 * In the episode "Dude, Where's My Head?" while Coop is piloting a headless Megas from the secondary command bridge, stock footage of standard Megas with a head throwing a punch is used. You have to be paying attention to catch it though.
 * Take That:
 * Once an Episode, something belonging to their MTV pastiche, PoPTV, gets destroyed. Do you think the creators are still bitter about the cancellation of Downtown?
 * One of the buildings Coop has destroyed was marked "A Dot Com (And Therefore Obviously Empty)".
 * Technology Marches On: Played with. In "Viva Las Megas", Coop accidentally releases a giant robot that was being developed by the U.S. military during the Cold War. It uses reel-to-reel tape for memory and boasts "There is no way you can defeat the superior power of my massive 56 kilobyte processor!".
 * Telescoping Robot: Where the hell do Megas' weapons come from?
 * Tempting Fate:
 * "You had to ask if he had a bigger robot, didn't you?"
 * From "Battle Royal".

"T-Bot: T-Bot doesn't know failure! Will, uh... Lock you... In a trailer!"
 * "Fort Knox / Hamburger Fort: Please Do Not Smash".
 * Theme Tune Cameo: The lyrics for the show's theme are seen on a karaoke machine in "S-Force SOS".
 * There's No B in Movie: Just about anything the guys watch on TV that isn't related to wrestling.
 * This Is Gonna Suck: Jamie's Catch Phrase
 * Tim Taylor Technology: Satellite TV out? Juice it with jumper cables from Megas.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Philly Cheesesteaks and Strawberry Slushies for Coop. Warmaster Gorrath uses this against Coop in "The Driver's Seat" - see Cold-Blooded Torture.
 * Transplant: Goat actually originated in Downtown.
 * Twitchy Eye: Magnanimous got one after being beaten thrown into a quantum singularity by Megas and coming back for revenge.
 * Two Gamers on a Couch: Coop and Jamie on their off days.
 * The Unintelligible: Jax of S-Force.
 * The Unpronounceable: On Coop and Jamie's part, Magnanimus' name is impossible to pronounce.
 * Unspoken Plan Guarantee: On the ever-so-rare occasion when Coop actually has a plan.
 * Unusual Euphemism: "Jhorblochs", although it may be an example of Getting Crap Past the Radar.
 * Also, "Zorp" in the episode "Bad Guy", which is used in said episode in everything from terms for mechas to a WTF substitute.
 * Unusual User Interface:
 * The dashboard's temperature gauge measures the reactor core's temperature;
 * The charged laser is fired with the high beam switch;
 * The heat shield is connected to the A/C button;
 * The rearview mirror has a radar;
 * It flies backwards by shifting to reverse;
 * And then there's the secondary control module, which turns Megas into a Motion Capture Mecha operated with an Atari joystick or a DDR pad.
 * Meanwhile, the button for "shields" puts up the roof of the convertible car.
 * Up to Eleven: The car's controls were designed with this trope in mind.
 * The Speedometer measures from "Slow", "Fast", "Faster", and "GOOD CRIPES!";
 * The Oil Gauge reads from "Empty", "Need a little", "Almost There", "Enough", "No really, I'm fine", and "PLEASE STOP!";
 * "Missiles," "More Missiles" and "ALL THE MISSILES";
 * Coop's Car heater settings read "Warm," "Hot," and "DANG!" The last one activates flamethrowers;
 * The stereo system goes up to eleven MILLION.
 * Urban Legends: In one episode, Megas actually uses pop rocks and soda to defeat an enemy.
 * Verbal Ticked: T-Bot uses words that rhyme a lot, ("T-Bot will pounce you, trounce you, and utterly denounce you!") but near the end of the episode, he does not.

"Jamie: *pointing at a square blue button* What's that? Coop: Dunno. *Coop presses the button, which causes a massive cannon to form over one of Megas' fist. The ensuing beam from it disintegrates a house* [Beat] Coop: O... kay... now we know what that does."
 * We Can Rule Together:
 * Ender's offer to Coop in "The Bad Guy".
 * Warlock's offer to Kiva in "Space Booty".
 * Weirdness Magnet: Repeated attacks on Jersey City by a variety of alien forces, aside from the Glorft, for no apparent logical reason other than Megas is there. No one is surprised about anything, except Kiva and one person at the DMV.
 * What Does This Button Do?: Coop and Jamie trying out Megas' weapons in "Test Drive"

"Coop: We have the same left!"
 * What Measure Is a Non-Human?:
 * Coop ignites a planet of sentient robots and it explodes. Not before he slaughtered a couple dozen of them himself, though.
 * Averted in "Clockwork Megas", where Coop frees "innocent robots" from being brainwashed in a prison. Unfortunately, said prisoners happened to be the universe's most dangerous criminals. So apparently he can respect sentient robots, but his Idiot Heroness among other things always gets the best of him.
 * That one wasn't entirely Coop's fault. Quarrol (the warden) kept attacking MEGAS, had his guard machines kill seemingly innocent robots who were going to tell Coop how to get home, and generally acted like a badguy. Until the end, even the audience didn't know that the robots were criminals and that Quarrol was a goodguy. If he'd taken the time to explain the situation to heroes, instead of trying to have the ground into shavings, and given them directions back to Earth, Coop would have likely sided with him.
 * Worthless Yellow Rocks: In space, Jamie's pocket lint, french fry, and button are more valuable than his two coins.
 * X Meets Y: Clerks meets Downtown meets your typical Mecha anime.
 * You Just Had to Say It: Kiva and Jamie frequently say this to Coop.
 * Your Other Left: Jamie in "The Fat and The Furious".

NICE!