Fighting Foodons

''"Now here's something incredible, these monsters once were edible. So everybody take a look at combat-creatures you can cook! Fighting Foodons! Nachos, beans, or in-between! Fighting Foodons! This is really mean cuisine!"

- from the 4Kids opening.

Many years ago, in a far-off kingdom, a king asked of his subjects: "Which is stronger, fried duck or stewed tofu?" Most of his servants thought he'd gone off the deep end, and summarily ignored him. But one mysterious stranger, bearing a magic card known as a "Meal Ticket," understood him completely... and with his magic, he brought the king's dinner to life. They became creatures known as Foodons, and to this day, aspiring chefs work their hardest at preparing the best meals... for battle.

Cut to the present day. Chase and his sister Kayla are the children of the legendary chef Jack. Unfortunately, it seems like his cooking skills don't necessarily run in the family. Now a group known as the Gluttons has imprisoned Jack due to his dangerous cooking abilities. After managing to bust his father out from their jail, Chase begins to realize that he has what it takes to be a great chef--so he sets out on his own adventure, even though the Gluttons, especially Perky Female Minion Clawdia, vow revenge.

All of this would probably come across as a horrible rip-off of Pokémon -- if the show took itself with an iota of seriousness. However, it deliberately plays everything -- from the concept to the characters -- with as much over-the-topness as possible, making the whole affair come off as parodic. While it was not originally a very big hit, the show gained a cult following over the years for being... well, for being itself, pretty much. Not surprisingly, it uses (and abuses) pretty much every Food Trope in the cookbook.

Originally known as Martial Arts Cooking Legend Bistro-Recipe in Japan. And it was one of 4Kids! Entertainment' premiere anime on the FoxBox when they took over Fox Kids.

""There are many uses for the common frying pan.""
 * Anthropomorphic Food: As Mons!
 * Anticlimax Boss: Many main enemy foodons qualify; though it is probably due to time restraints for the show.
 * Apologizes a Lot: The Meatballs: "We're sorry!"
 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Beefsteak in episode 1 and Doughnasour in episode in episode 11... they even look similar perhaps unintentional.Tatertons could also count though its smaller than both of the example above.
 * Badass: There are many in this series, Fried-Ricer, Sizzler, Sir Dumpling, Boulder Broth, Rap Scallion, Taquito And Shrimp Stompura are noteable examples.
 * Badass Adorable: So Friggin' many! Omelet, Doughnut-So, Puddington, the Meatballs, the list goes on.
 * Bare Your Midriff: Kayla when she is captured and turns evil.
 * Big Bad: King Gorgeous Gorge
 * Brooklyn Rage: Spagettdaboutit may be one; a more obvious example would be one of the Chowderheads
 * Butt Monkey: The Meatballs Oh so much; on multiple occations they wind up trying to clog somebody's nose.
 * Blob Monster: The Grease Blobs
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: A few cases due to spiked food.
 * Brother-Sister Team
 * Catch Phrase: "The kitchen... is... OPEN!"
 * Catgirl: Her name's Clawdia, just in case you missed the other obvious cat features.
 * Cooking Duel: To its logical extension, as food that actually fights other food.
 * Expy: Again Doghnasour and Beefsteak, of Godzilla; Boulderbroth is one of Gamera. And the Burger Brigade is an expy of the Power Rangers.
 * Cowboy: Hot Doggone It is of the gun-slinging variety and Cowboyritto uses his lasso to slam opponents into the ground.
 * Cute Witch: Ham-Scam Witch, so much so that it is part of her attack stratedgy.
 * Drop the Hammer: squeaky hammers are comstantly used as weapons on this show.
 * Everything's Squishier with Cephalopods: Octopoison and Squid-vicous.
 * Everything's Worse with Bears: Bearafooda
 * Even Evil Has Standards: When Oslo is thrown against a wall while captured by the Gormandizers is later seen in a cage with a cold ice pack on his hurt back. the Meatballs couldn't have gotten it, so the Gormandizers must have.
 * Evil Chef: Sort of a prerequisite for every villain in the show.
 * Fantastic Racism: Dusty Towns populace treats foodons as slaves, and the creatures are forced to crack a smile while they do their labor or get kicked around. it gets so bad it sparks rebellion from Tacquito.
 * Fire-Breathing Diner: Kayla's spicy curry is really spicy.
 * Frying Pan of Doom:

"Kayla: How we gonna get it out of here? Chase: The window! Kayla: There is no window! Chase: There is now!"
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Just to make the Pokemon resemblances more obvious, this show shares a large portion of the former's voice cast.
 * Fusion Dance: The Pork Bullies combine to form Slop Suey
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: YMMV. When Chase finds out that Kayla, Pie Tin, and Oslo are kidnapped, he wonders if Kayla brought a change of clothes cue shot of Kayla's outfit.
 * Giant Enemy Crab: Crab Quake, a foodonized crab cake with cannons and tentacles, is this at first, but when albert decides to help Chase and co. it fights alongside Chases foodons.
 * Giant Mook: Slop Suey
 * Hong Kong Dub
 * Hurricane of Puns: Settle down, kids. It's gonna be a loooong ride.
 * Improbable Weapon User: The Burger Brigade
 * In Medias Res: The first episode begins with an invasion of a prison camp, with Chase and Kayla attempting to free their father.
 * Lethal Chef: Literally, as horrible food generally = very nasty monster.
 * Made a Slave: Albert at one point.
 * Magic Feather: "I'm afraid there's no such thing as a turbo-powered meal ticket..."
 * Mooks: There are several foodons that fit the bill amoung them are Curry Ups, Tropical Punches, Pork Bullies and so on. There are even human examples in the Gormandizers
 * Mon
 * Multiple Head Case: The Chowderheads; one talks like John F. Kennedy, the other talks like Joe Pesci, it actually was intended to be very destructive, but it acts like a comic relief character. They are both so dysfunctional that they always end up fighting each other.
 * Name's the Same: There's a Foodon named "Cinnamonkey." The Viva Pinata franchise also happens to have a Mon named Cinnamonkey.
 * Oh Crap: in one episode Shrimp Stompura gives this when he tries to tackle Fried-Ricer, who grabs him and does a pile diver. As they come down there is a close up shot of both of them. Shrimp Stompura is waving his arms wildly and has inverted eyes.
 * The Obi-Wan: Oslow.
 * Our Ghosts Are Different: Slice and Frenchy Le Toast who are actually foodons mourning thier creator. Definately Le Toast due to the way he scares others.
 * Our Monsters Are Weird
 * Paper-Thin Disguise: Chef John.
 * Perky Female Minion: Clawdia.
 * Pokémon-Speak: On and off. Some Foodons, such as the Burnt Meatballs, are able to speak intermitenly, while others can only recite their names in classic Poke-style.
 * Quintessential British Gentleman: Sir Dumpling spouts off an endless stream of "pip-pips" and "cheerios."
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad: King Gorgeous Gorge's Big 4
 * Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Beefsteak, Boulderbroth, Applegator, and many more. Fowligator is this mixed with Everything's Better with Chickens.
 * The Rival: But of (main) course. Albert is certainly everything a shonen rival usually is in his first appearance: Cocky, smarmy, and begging to be taken down a notch.  Also Coco at first.
 * The Sheriff: Sheriff Zuke Squash from episode 11.
 * Strong Family Resemblance: Chase and his dad could be clones, especially with their ridiculous two-tone hair. Kayla, presumably, takes after their mother.
 * Tagalong Kid: Pie Tin; even more so when the protagonists are already young.
 * Team Pet: Omelet.
 * There Was a Door:


 * Turtle Power: The Foodon that transforms Cinnamonkey back to normal.
 * Villain Song: If You Scare Then We're The Reason sung perhaps by Slice and Le Toast in episode 4.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: If you thought your average Cooking Duel took things way too seriously...
 * Widget Series: If it were any more widgety, you could install it in Opera.
 * The Wiki Rule: Observe: