Jackie Chan Adventures

""One moooore thing!""

- Uncle Chan

Adventurer Archaeologist Jackie Chan is just a normal, boring guy. Really.

Well, there is the small matter of being hired by a secret U.S. government organization called "Section 13" (No, not that one), dedicated to dealing with hyper-criminal elements that the normal police are no match for.

...did I mention that said elements are ruled by an Ancient Demon that's trying to escape his prison within a statue?

In the first episode, Jackie retrieved a magic talisman that bestows unique powers to the individual holding it. After being attacked by minions of The Dark Hand criminal organization, Jackie is contacted by Section 13, led by his old friend Captain Black.

Jackie and the quirky "Uncle" are hired by Captain Black for their knowledge on ancient artifacts and magic. They are trying to stay one step ahead of the Dark Hand, who are looking to take Jackie's talisman and unite it with others to complete a set that will awaken the demon Shendu. (Not for worship, Shendu promised them one-of-a-kind treasures)

Add Jackie's niece Jade, newly arrived from China, to join him in his adventures. She will stick her nose in anything and everything, and neither Jackie nor Uncle can stop her.

As the series progressed, eventually it fell into a routine each season with a Big Bad searching for a set of magical artifacts. They are, of course, scattered across the world. There were, however, standalone episodes scattered about.

Jackie Chan Adventures is debatably Chan's most successful American effort: it ran five seasons, albeit with Chan Not Quite Starring in the title role, with equal parts comedy and action, the entire show was very much like an animated and magic-heavy version of a Jackie Chan film. He also didn't have to share the spotlight with an English speaking actor like Chris Tucker or Owen Wilson. He did get overshadowed by a little girl, though...

The last season is available on Hulu, and the entire series is available on YouTube and Netflix.

This show provides examples of:
"Black (a little bitter): "That's ok, Tohru; I'm often mistaken for elderly Japanese women.""
 * Accidental Kiss: Tohru accidentally greets Captain Black with a big kiss in the Christmas episode, having been expecting his mother.

""SCREAMING EAGLE FEET" *feet get pricked by the horns of a cow skull* "Crying puppy feet! Crying puppy feet!""
 * Acrofatic: Tohru, when using the Rabbit Talisman.
 * Action Girl: Jade, somewhat as a kid, definitely as an adult (1st version at least)
 * Not to mention Viper, the sexy female Classy Cat Burglar.
 * Adventurer Archaeologist: sometimes subverted when Jackie actually behaves like a real archaeologist. He relishes these rare opportunities.
 * Adventure Rebuff: This is how Jade usually gets involved in each plot. This happens at least once EVERY episode and it gets to the point that Jackie gives up telling Jade to stay out of trouble. ("Jade what are you doing...why do I bother to ask?")
 * Although once or twice she does actually listen...usually when there's the chance that she'll get char-broiled or the like if she doesn't.
 * Affably Evil: Tarakudo is better liked by the human minions than the other Big Bads, as well as one of the smarter ones. He is only out to revive his brethren's powers and as long as they acquire them. Since he actively encourages his men to seek them out, they generally like him better than say, Shendu. He takes their failures on the chin, whereas Shen-Du or Dao Long Wong would blow their top off, and often torture them. Of course,  Some failures also work out well; for instance, when one mask ends up possessing Captain Black.
 * Agony of De Feet: A few times.

""The Horse for Healing? I am not easily injured. The Rooster for Levitation? I already fly. The Dog for Immortality? There is not a man alive who can vanquish me!""
 * All Myths Are True: except for Stonehenge being magic (it's really a UFO landing pad).
 * During the Christmas episode, it is revealed that the Tooth Fairy doesn't exist, even though Santa Claus does.
 * Amusing Injuries: Everyone gets a healthy dose of these, much to their chagrin, except Jade and Uncle. And even then, there's a few moments where they gets these as well.
 * Taken up to eleven with the Dark Chi Enforcers. Their injuries are already played for laughs normally, but when Daolon Wong turned them into immortal warriors they would just poof away after taking mortal injuries, which allowed the writers to ramp up their already pronounced habit of getting into painful situations by putting them through humorous incidents that would normally be fatal.
 * Anachronic Order: Season Two had several episodes that were set during a time period in the first season (no Flash Back or anything), sometimes even explaining how certain events ended up that way. In particular, a first season episode opened with Jackie trying to get the snake talisman from a museum. A second season episode set right before it showed he originally found it in a cave in South America and lost it to another archaeologist, who donated it to the museum. Jackie even ends the episode talking about how much easier it is to just walk to the museum.
 * Repeats of the series have placed these episodes in their correct place corresponding to where they fit with the Season 1 plot with Season 2 beginning with the start of the demon portal arc.
 * And Knowing Is Half the Battle: Well, if you want to know things about Jackie Chan, anyway, the real life version of which would answer kids' questions they had sent in, read by Stacie Chan, Jade's voice actress.
 * An Ice Person: The Lotus Temple Guardian has ice-rays, and may be some kind of abominable snowman.
 * Anime Hair: Uncle, Jackie, Jade, depending on how the episode's art is.
 * Animesque: Not as much as say, Teen Titans, but with the Monkey Talisman, yeah.
 * Anything but That: "Ugh. Bavaria..."
 * Also used a couple of times in the torture sense (such as by the Monkey King).
 * Apologetic Attacker: Jackie Light, constantly. Almost to the point of attempting to baby his opponent. "Fighting is not nice" after all.
 * Applied Mathematics: Jade references combining the levitation talisman and the speed talisman to fly by saying 'levitation + speed=flight.'
 * Art Evolution: In particular, there's an Art Shift (including visual reactions) in episode 9, season 1, and the Chupacabra episode (the writing seems different for that one too).
 * A more permanent one appears in episode 5 of season 4, and stays for another few episodes.
 * Artistic License Biology: When Jackie is turned into a kangaroo, 'he' has a pouch. Unless Jade was thinking of the pouches and turned him female by accident.
 * And then in the episode where Jade is infused with the powers of all the talimans, she briefly turns herself into a lion with a mane.
 * Asian Rudeness: Uncle Chan seem like this.
 * Aside Glance: Jackie, after Jade finds a talisman in a matter of seconds.
 * Atlantis: Shows up for all of five seconds - Bai Tza used to rule it, but now it's just an uninhabited ruin.
 * Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever: First, when Jade's grow-up spell causes her to grow "up" literally. Then, whenever the good guys had to face off with Po Kong, the Mountain Demon. And finally, when Tohru was infused with the chi of said demon, causing him to go on a massive eating binge.
 * Don't forget the massive shadow-eating shadow khan.
 * Ax Crazy: Monkey King is the only insane villain in the series.
 * To put it in perspective, he's the Genie mixed with The Joker. If that doesn't instill terror, I don't know what does. But his desire for comedy and getting the last laugh sometimes works against him.
 * Back to Back Badasses: In The Tiger and the Pussycat, Jackie gets split into two and does this with himself...kind of. Uncle and Tohru's Mom do it when fighting mob thugs.
 * Badass Boast: Hak Foo on why he does not need the talismans:

"Jade: Woah! What are you?
 * Season 2, Episode 2 has Jackie and Captain Black facing down a army of Shadowkahn, Black's Comment "I'll take the guy in the ninja suit."
 * When he first appears, Hak Foo introduces himself to Jackie, as "the last man you'll ever lay eyes upon."
 * Shendu gives one when Jade first meets him in Project A, for Astral.

Shendu: Everything you will grow to fear!"

""Who else wants a piece of Uncle?""
 * Badass Normal: Jackie proves effective against regular people and is even able to fight competently against superhuman demons, often without assistance from the show's power-granting Plot Coupons. Then again, he is Jackie Chan.
 * Captain Black is another example - when split in two by the Tiger Talisman, he was revealed to have no "weak", pacifist, or sickeningly good side. The two halves of Captain Black are Badass and ... Badass.
 * Badass Grandpa: Uncle is not someone anyone or any demon would want to mess with. Not only is the group's wizard, but he's the one who taught Jackie martial arts.

""Here comes my favourite part." [mouths along with him] "NOOOO!""
 * Badass Teacher: Miss Hartman, Jade's elementary school teacher, actually gets an episode in the fifth season where she easily qualifies. She kicks things off by tackling Drago to get him away from Jade; sure, she was infused with the chi of the Sky Demon at the time, but she clearly wasn't aware of that until after the fact. She then proceeds to spend the rest of the episode beating down everything hostile in sight protecting Jade with only a few moments getting help from other characters; Demon chi or no, for a middle-aged woman with no known combat experience outside of "dealing with unruly students", that was pretty impressive.
 * Obviously you haven't dealt with "unruly students" before. For all we know, kicking the Chi out of a few bad guys might have been therapeutic.
 * Balance Between Good and Evil: Uncle explained that this was why Shendu was Sealed In A Can in the first place - destroying him created a vacuum that would quickly be filled by previously unknown (possibly even stronger or more numerous) evils.
 * It kinda subverts it though, yeah there are other villains who show up after Shendu kicks the bucket, but only the other demon sorcerers are as strong as he was. A lot of the others big plan to rule the world was to take his talismans. The only exception was Tarakudo, since he doesn't need them.
 * And when Drago steals all the demon powers in the last season he beats Shendu when he doesn't have his talismans but as soon as he gets them back he's as strong if not stronger than Drago with the eight demon powers of his brothers and sisters.
 * To be fair, destroying Shendu's body did little to stop Shendu. In fact, doing so allowed Shendu to become more active in his plans to Take Over the World as a malevolent spirit. Also, the 8 demon powers came from the residue left on magical items used to banish them, and not the demons themselves, so it would make sense that they're the powered down version of them.
 * Bavarian Fire Drill: Jade excels at this, particularly in the Hollywood episode. That one was also rife with "How do you do that?!"
 * Berserk Button: the Dragon Talisman episode revolves around this trope.
 * Particularly the Berserk Button of Jackie, Jade, and Valmont with each one related to each other.
 * Don't mess with El Toro's mask.
 * And I am *NOT* a shrimp!
 * Big Bad: The Demon Sorcerer of Fire, Shendu. A powerful demonic dragon that was turned into a statue centuries ago. Despite spending most of the series either in a can or "dead"; from start to finish he is the most dangerous opponent the J-team ever faces. There's also Valmont, the Diabolical Mastermind of the Dark Hand.
 * Others take a role as Big Bad for their individual season: Dark Chi wizard Daolon Wong, King of the Shadowkhan Tarakudo, and Shendu's son Drago.
 * Big No: Shendu and his family are the biggest offenders. Lampshaded by Jade when they banish the Earth Demon.

"Jade: (with the tone of one who has discovered that the world is made of chocolate) My Tongue is dragon blast!"
 * Big Screwed Up Family: The Demon Sorcerers
 * Bishounen: Valmont.
 * Bizarchitecture: Plenty, particularly the Lotus Temple, which comes complete with Escher Room.
 * Bond James Bond: Jackie introduces himself to Origami this way. Origami spends the rest of the episode calling him "Chan Jackie Chan".
 * Book Ends: Of a sort; the first episode has Jackie fighting the Dark Hand enforcers, who have high-tech weapons, in a playground; the third season has him fighting the Dark Chi treated enforcers, who have new magical weapons and powers, ...in a playground.
 * Even better, the first episode of the fifth season has Jackie along with an extremely gassy Jade fighting the Dark Hand enforcers, this time with fire powers from Drago...in a playground.
 * Blowfish Akimbo by Uncle at the start of Season 4, Justified because they're magic, and don't really have any recoil, most of the time.
 * Blowing a Raspberry: Jade does this on occasion, and in the episode where she is infused with the powers of the 12 talismans, her raspberries temporary contain the dragon blast power.

"Captain Black: Demon. I see a demon.
 * Boxing Kangaroo: Jackie becomes one during the Monkey Talisman episode
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: happens to all those who wear the Oni masks or take on the mark of Tarakudo.
 * Bratty Half Pint: Jade quite often, though more tolerable then most.
 * Brick Joke: In the monkey talisman episode, Jade yells (in monkey) for help. Several of the nearby pack rush to her aid...including a giraffe, who was a monkey that she changed with the talisman.
 * British Royal Guards: Jade once tries to attract a Royal Guard's attention (being the nearest authority figure) to report the Magisters' attack, but fails.
 * British Stuffiness: Valmont is a prime example.
 * Broken Masquerade: On a minimum level. The first season Captain Black was The Scully who refused that there was any supernatural things going on. When Shendu is awakened Black got to see him in full view and immediately changed his story. Played for laughs in the second season where he starts believing anything and everything was demon and magic related, and when his supervisors won't believe him he is sent to all manner of psychologists.
 * During an ink blot test with said psychologists.

Therapist: [Shows another ink blot] And this one?

Captain Black: Socks. Worn by a really big demon."

"Daolon Wong: "It would appear you are the appropriate yin to my yang, good wizard.""
 * Call Forward: During a flashback episode, Jackie mentions the difficulty he's had finding the Snake Talisman. "You'd think it was invisible."
 * Calling the Old Man Out: Jackie's dark side in "Viva Las Jackies" insults Uncle, who is yelling for not having eel saliva, by saying to pull his tongue out of his mouth and wring out his spit, which Uncle, upon hearing that, says "You call Uncle an eel!"
 * Calling Your Attacks: Villain Hak Foo parodies this. The names can be pretty funny. Examples: "Bunny Flees from Vicious Jackals," "Slumbering Bear Greets the Dawn," "Octopus Fists of Fury," "Minnow Wallops Whale," and "Snake Cuts Grass."
 * "Crying puppy feet! CRYING PUPPY FEET!"
 * "SPIDER EATS FLY!"
 * "Spider Eats Earwax."
 * "Wood Chuck Chucks Wood!"
 * "ANGRY CROW TAKES FLIGHT!"
 * "Thank you for sharing, Angry Crow!"
 * Tohru also exploits this nature, by pretending he didn't quite catch what Hak Foo called his attack. When Hak Foo pauses to repeat the name, Tohru body checks him through a wall.
 * Heat Beam Eye Blasts...? Heat Beam Eye Blasts!
 * When he went One Winged Angel, his called attacks also got an upgrade. "Tornado Decimates Trailer Park" and "Meteor Brings Mass Extinction" indeed.
 * When he fought Jackie in space suits, the zero gravity slowed down their moves. "TIGER PROWLS... through pudding?" He then changes their name to, "Sloth kick...turtle fist."
 * A very humorous thing is that he has a tendency to speak his mind and it can be very funny given the situation. For example when he finds out that his shadowkhan tribe is borderline useless in their original form, he expresses his rage: "Angry Demon compensates for puny inferior army!"
 * "Flying Monkey Snatches Magic Box!" As it turns out, he wasn't calling an attack. That actually happened.
 * Can Only Move the Eyes: Uncle and Daolon Wong each try to magically paralyze the other in "Little Valmont, Big Jade". They both end up frozen stiff...while Giant-Jade is fighting Wong's giant ogre right above them.
 * Card Carrying Villain: Many of the magic using villains have shades of this but none more than Daolon Wong, whose stated aim in life is to spread as much evil as he can so the forces of darkness can rule all.
 * Carrying the Antidote: After magically poisoning Jackie, Valmont mocks him for thinking he'd be stupid enough to do this (the Enforcers bring a vial to prove it'll work when Jade arranges a trade later).
 * Catgirl: Jade becomes one briefly in the episode "Enter the Cat" because of the effects of a cat statue. Valmont also becomes a Cat-Guy.
 * Catch Phrase
 * "One More Thing!" Uncle's commonly-used phrase.
 * Also, his trademark magic incantation "Yu Mo Gwai Gui Fai Di Zao" which translates as "Evil demons and malevolent spirits, be gone!" in Cantonese. It doesn't matter what the spell is for, these are the words used.
 * "Magic must defeat magic!"
 * "We must do reeesearch!"
 * "You want a piece of Uncle?"
 * "Talk later!"
 * "Bad day! Bad day! Bad day!" Jackie's usual response to events in the plot.
 * Jackie's response of "That's crazy, Jade. You're crazy!" in Seasons 1 and 2. Because it is.
 * Even though she's usually right.
 * "Jade, how do you do that?"/"How does she do that."
 * "You gotta be kidding me."
 * "Talk later!"
 * "I'msorryI'llbringitbacklaterthankyoouuuuu!" This is what Jackie (and on at least one occasion Jade) says when something needs to be stolen for the good of the world. He (she) will. Don't worry.
 * He apparently gets it from Uncle, who says the quote verbatim (which, naturally, borrowing someone's possession) in the prison episode but does so in (ironically) a much calmer and polite way.
 * "Duh!" and "Tch!" verges on being Jade's Verbal Tic.
 * "NOOOOO! Not again!" Oh, Shendu...
 * A whole lot of these get lampshaded in one Clip Show.
 * El Toro's "Sorry!" or "El Toro Furete never removes his mask!"
 * Paco's "Toro Is The Greatest!" and Jade's refute.
 * "Jackieeee!" usually by Jade or Uncle.
 * Uncle's "Who else wants a piece of uncle?"
 * Tohru's "Nyar!" and other exclamations from the characters - possibly stock phrases?
 * Early on for Tohru, "the talisman", prompting him to even sigh the line once in boredom of its repetition.
 * Uncle's "You want X? Yes/No? Then let Uncle work in peace!" or a close variation.
 * "Jade, stay here / stay with Uncle."
 * Jade even lampshades this one episode, asking if he ever gets tired of saying that.
 * Tarakudo: *hit with an onion* MY EYES! MY EYES!
 * If Chow's going to say something, it's probably going to be "Sweet!", and Finn says "Scooore!" often.
 * "It belongs in a museum."
 * Which of course is a Shout Out to some other series about an Adventure Archaeologist
 * "I am not a secret agent, I am an archaeologist / researcher."
 * Celebrity Toons: Not Quite Starring notwithstanding, among the best examples of this.
 * Character Development: Tohru clearly exhibits this throughout the seasons. When we first meet him, he is The Brute under Valmont and has it out to eliminate Jackie and his family whenever they meet, not to mention he is willing to cut open the stomach of his future best friend. Then, following his Heel Face Turn he becomes the apprentice for Uncle, the Big Guy and loyal friend to Jackie and a best friend to Jade. And through the following seasons he slowly becomes more powerful in his knowledge of chi magic before becoming a full-fledged Chi Wizard in the Grand Finale.
 * Chekhov's Boomerang: The talismans are used repeatedly even after their story arc concludes. Considering their powers and lack of adverse effects, they are very useful as a last resort. They are also justifiably locked up otherwise, since them getting stolen would be bad.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Daolon Wong, Drago, and Strike Master Ice's group are all introduced a season before they become the Big Bad (or the Quirky Miniboss Squad in the latter's case).
 * Chew Toy: Jackie, though he's very, very good at dealing with it.
 * Chinese Labourer: Jackie's ancestor in Showdown in the Old West
 * Chinese Vampire: Which is pretty much Nightmare Fuel. It has the traditional weaknesses, but can grow stronger and overcome them by absorbing the chi of its victims. Most of that episode's comedy comes from Jackie's disbelief at all the seemingly arbitrary rules for fighting it.
 * The Chosen Zero: A group of Warrior Monks discover that Tohru is the Avatar-esque reincarnation that they have been waiting for, and have this reaction when he fails to meet any of their expectations. By the end of the episode, it turns out that Tohru isn't actually the reincarnation at all.
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Shendu.
 * Chupacabra: One episode has one, and El Toro gets turned into one werewolf-style.
 * Cliff Stack: Third episode, with at least three Dark Hand-ers colliding with a wrestler; also in an early season 3 episode.
 * Clip Show: Played with in 'Déjà Vu' (Jackie is forced by the 'Déjà-Vu Stone' to relive moments from his past)
 * Fully Automatic Clip Show: Used on Jade's catchphrases and Uncle's slaps, among other things.
 * Convection Schmonvection: Partially averted. In the episode introducing the dragon talisman, Jackie entered a small volcanic cave. Jackie was seen visibly sweating from the steam and later suffered minor burns and Clothing Damage after being too close to hot magma.
 * Conservation of Ninjitsu: For the sake of variety, the Shadowkhan would sometimes appear in small groups, and other times as a massive horde numbering in the hundreds, but the latter never seemed any more difficult to defeat than the former.
 * Continuity Nod: When Jade is demonstrating her Talisman Powers, she takes her monkey-form from "The Jade Monkey"
 * In one episode during the second season, Finn quits the Dark Hand to go solo, after having a dream where Jackie beats him up during a concert. Later, Chow & Ratso are fired when they asked Valmont for a raise in lieu of Finn leaving, and all of them decide to work together. In the premiere of the third season, Valmont meets with them to convince them to help steal the talismans, with Finn reminding him that they're "freelancers now."
 * The show's actually really good with continuity. A lot of season 2's filler episodes actually go back and explain what happened in and between the first season more in depth.
 * Conspicuous CGI: The MacGuffins, some more obvious then others (like the Panku box or the talismans when in the Shendu statue).
 * Still, the use of CGI is much smoother than in most other shows.
 * Cool Uncle: Uncle to Jackie. Imagine that...
 * Likewise, Jade sees Jackie is this, just see her face expressions during the first episode when she starts realizing who her uncle is.
 * Couch Gag: The opening sequence will change only slightly each season. It usually will feature the MacGuffin(s) of the season, the Big Bad and the final enemy he knocks out at the end. As a side effect it is an effective visual shorthand to tell you which season you're watching.
 * Which is helpful if episodes are played in the Anachronic Order mentioned above
 * Cowboy Episode: "Showdown in the Old West"
 * Cue the Flying Pigs: Rooster sitting on the Pig.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Valmont fighting against Jackie in "The Rock".
 * Dancing Pants: "Glove Story"
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: After he gets the willies, Tarakudo goes to spy on his enemies and when he finds out they know something that can help them stop him, he tries to eliminate the heroes on his own which he is perfectly capable of doing. He also often has enough sense to set his moronic minions back on the right track and see through the tricks they fall for easily - in many ways he is by far the wisest and most sensible villain the Chans run into, which is decidedly not a good thing for the world.
 * Shendu also showed this when he refrained (twice) from revealing his name to Jackie and the others. If it weren't for Tohru's Heel Face Turn the heroes would never have known how to stop him.
 * Dating Catwoman: Viper and Jackie's chemistry
 * Deadpan Snarker: Tarakudo, full stop.
 * Also Jackie himself, at times.
 * Not to mention Valmont.
 * Practically every character has snark potential. A lot of the humor comes from sarcasm.
 * Death Dealer: The Dragon to a Bond villain parody. Naturally, there were card puns.
 * Death Is Cheap: Shendu after season one. He is then "killed" off again, reborn, resealed, resurrected, and sealed off for good.
 * Demonic Possession: Shendu possessed Valmont for almost the entire second season. His spirit soon returns and succeeds in possessing Jackie, as was his original plan.
 * Shendu also uses the Sheep Talisman's astral projection power to project himself into Jade's dormant body (she was also an astral projection at the time) and possess it in one Season 1 episode.
 * Demoted to Extra: Alas, poor Valmont. As a villain he was second only to the Big Bad in the first two seasons, after that though . ..
 * Deus Ex Machina: Doubly subverted in 'Re-enter the Dragon' when Uncle has everyone spend much of the episode research a spell that can defeat Shendu, and then he discovers a spell that can defeat Daolon Wong, and then he uses that to have Daolon Wong tell him a spell that can defeat Shendu (which he then uses to end the episode)
 * Diabolical Mastermind: Valmont
 * Did Not Do the Research: Carter was not President in 1976; Ford was. Carter was not sworn in until 1977.
 * Does Not Like Spam: Tohru's distaste for fish causes him some problems.
 * Dope Slap: Uncle constantly does this to Jackie. Leads to a back-and-forth with Jackie's dark side.
 * The Dragon: Sumo man Tohru, until he turns good. He doesn't really get weaker, though, he just rarely solves his problems with violence and gains control of his temper. Hak Foo takes over after that.
 * And in the final season, Strikemaster Ice is the Dragon to Drago (ironic in that Drago is literally a dragon).
 * Easily Forgiven: Tohru is a bad guy until his defection at the end of season 1, but somehow escapes criminal charges.
 * To be fair, he teamed up with a family who are best buddies with a the leader of a high-tech and powerful secret government organization, which makes it a hell of a lot more plausible than most cartoons. This is the government we're talking about.
 * Later episodes also show that Tohru is a suspect when a crime is committed near Uncle's shop. Captain Black even said Tohru was basically on parole at Uncle's shop.
 * Also, in the Grand Finale, Strike Master Ice and his posse betray Drago to try and steal the demon sorcerer powers for themselves, but fail and are imprisoned in concrete as a result. Despite this, later in the episode, Drago actually frees them and gives them each a chi power to uses to destroy Section 13.
 * Easter Egg: The dragon talisman may appear in the background during an episode when it's not in use.
 * This is actually part of several "Find the Dragon Talisman" contests Kids WB held. The editors just never went back and removed them from season 5, when they were held. Bonus egg points if you remember the promos.
 * Elemental Powers: All of the demons.
 * With a traditional Chinese spin on it; Fire, Thunder, Sky, Wind, Mountain, Earth, Water, and Moon.
 * Establishing Character Moment: The three main characters of the series all had this in the first episode, The Dark Hand. First, Jackie in the very first scene is shown jumping up and down and using Improvised Weapons to dodge flying arrows in a Bavarian castle. Then, Uncle appears to us first as a sweet and caring old guy before going straight to his trademark Dope Slap while telling Jackie “One More Thing.” Then, Jade is introduced to us by breaking into underground military instillation of one of the elite police organizations in the world and hijacking one of their mopeds in her first of many attempts to “help” Jackie.
 * Everybody Laughs Ending
 * Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: It is Jackie Chan.
 * The song title is even dropped in "Through the Rabbit Hole".
 * Everyone Calls Him Barkeep: No one is really quite sure whose uncle Uncle actually is, if anybody's.
 * Lampshaded when Jade's parents call him Uncle. "I think he's... everyone's uncle".
 * ... which makes sense. An 'uncle' doesn't have to be related to you. It's fairly common to 'adopt' older family friends as one's 'uncle' or 'auntie', particularly in Asian cultures.
 * He's Jackie's uncle. As one of Jade's parents is Jackie's sibling, he would be their uncle also.
 * Jade's father is cousins with Jackie, actually. Depending on how many siblings Uncle had, Jade could very well be Uncle's grand-niece.
 * Evil Counterpart: Daolon Wong to Uncle - which is lampshaded many times (Jade's even once calls him the "Anti-Uncle") - and Hak Foo to Tohru after the first season. Even in Hak Foo's first appearance, where Tohru is still a villain, he is presented as a much more brutal rival to him. In one episode, a criminal mastermind hires an entire team of evil counterparts to the J-Team.
 * Evil Counterpart: Daolon Wong to Uncle - which is lampshaded many times (Jade's even once calls him the "Anti-Uncle") - and Hak Foo to Tohru after the first season. Even in Hak Foo's first appearance, where Tohru is still a villain, he is presented as a much more brutal rival to him. In one episode, a criminal mastermind hires an entire team of evil counterparts to the J-Team.

"Jade: "Didn't say which uncle.""
 * Evil Is Dumb: Tohru, and was used, subverted, and spoofed in an episode about Finn, Ratso and Chow, who turn out to be just as bad at being good as they are at being bad.
 * Although Tohru made a much more interesting good guy, he was far from an incompetent bad guy.
 * Exact Words: When Jade accidentally uses a spell to make Uncle go into a deep sleep, she has to go inside him to figure out the spell to seal the Earth Demon back. Uncle replies that she needs a flower and the hair of 'you'...
 * Jade also uses this as an excuse to follow Jackie in one episode after being told once again to "stay with Uncle."

"Jackie: Where's the antidote!?
 * Exotic Entree: In the episode where the cast finds the rabbit talisman.
 * Eye Scream: "Monkey Plucks Two Peaches!"
 * Fake Static: Jade, at least twice.
 * Failure Is the Only Option: Done in so many ways in every season. Where to start...
 * Family Friendly Firearms: Sorta averted. Realistic guns are often seen, but almost never fired. Again, just like a Jackie Chan movie.
 * Fate Worse Than Death: The Monkey King is trapped in a ventriloquist's dummy, as was Jackie for that episode.
 * Being trapped in the demon realm, especially if you're Shendu.
 * Face Heel Turn: In one of the Future Jade episode, Jimmy, a one-shot friend of Jade, is revealed to become Tohru's Chi apprentice in the present and become a villainous sorceror in the future. This is reversed when present Jade brings present Jimmy to the future - when he sees his future self he promises never to become that and helps stop him.
 * Filler: Many episodes, though it is spaced out evenly with the Myth Arc.
 * In many cases, filler ended up as Foreshadowing. The Big Bads from seasons three, four, and five all originated from filler episodes in previous seasons, and various spells and artifacts first used in filler suddenly became important later. Unless the writers were really thinking several seasons ahead, it's doubtful that these characters and items were really Chekhov's Guns in disguise.
 * Find the Cure: Episode 9, "The Rock"
 * Which shows that Valmont's Genre Savvy with the situation, as Jackie attacks him in an attempt to get the antidote.

Valmont: You think I'd be foolish enough to bring it with me?"

"Finn: Tohru, T-Man, buddy! Look, uh, maybe you haven't noticed, but I kinda have a face on my sittin' place, so I was wondering if you could be a pal and -
 * Five Bad Band: The Dark Hand:
 * The Big Bad: Shendu and Valmont
 * The Dragon: Valmont. Shendu, ironically especially when Valmont uses him as a diversion for Jackie in the season 1 finale, becoming The Starscream.
 * The Brute: Ratso is the muscle of the Enforcer trio. Tohru. Right after his Heel Face Turn, it's Hak Foo.
 * The Dark Chick: Finn (obsessed with disco) and Chow (with Cool Shades, although they are also his eyeglasses).
 * In later episodes. Initially, he could see fine without them.
 * Ratso is also an involved collector of toys and has a baseball obsession.
 * Five Man Band: The J Team:
 * The Hero: Jackie
 * The Lancer: Jade (to Jackie's chagrin)
 * The Chick: Viper (Who is somewhat of a subversion; she is a thief and somewhat amoral and is a bonafide Action Girl with moves that rival Jackie's)
 * The Big Guy: El Toro
 * The Smart Guy: Uncle fulfills this role with his knowledge in magic and occult research. He also fills a mentor role to some degree.
 * The Sixth Ranger: Tohru, briefly. He quickly became an endearing Gentle Giant who always remained with Jackie and Uncle, unlike El Toro and Viper.
 * What does all of that make Paco?
 * Tagalong Kid
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Captain Black
 * Foe Yay: You can see it in Tarakudo, Jade was definitely looking very delicious to him especially after her run in as the Queen of the Shadowkhan.
 * Also Jade and the Sky demon.
 * Foil: Hak Foo to Tohru. Hak Foo is fast, brash, and clever but not intelligent, and relies on martial arts. Tohru is slower, intelligent and quick-witted, more thoughtful and uses strength and intuition to fight.
 * Foreshadowing: The various Big Bads of later seasons had one spotlight episode in a prior season that establishes them as being slightly more than a filler villain. In Tarakudo's case, it was fairly stealthy as his image was on a book of spells (and when drawn on Jade allowed her to control the shadowkhan) in a single second season episode, with him only showing up in the fourth season.
 * There's others, too. At least twice before she turns herself into a monkey, Jackie accuses Jade of acting like a baboon.
 * Daolon Wong was villain of the week in three season two episodes, during which time he was established as Uncle's Arch Enemy and was shown to have a desire for the talismans. I doubt anyone was surprised when he became Big Bad of season three.
 * Friend to All Living Things: Jade and the Chans in general. Jade's liking and friendliness towards animals is quite helpful in the third season. She doesn't think rats are cute ("Cuuute" being one of her stock phrases) but isn't about to let Daolon get his *shudder* hands on it.
 * Four Fingered Hands: Every demon except the thunder demon. Not sure if Tso Lan counts, since he has a secondary pair of three fingered hands. Also Quetzalcoatl.
 * Frothy Mugs of Water: Showdown in the Old West features Jackie's Identical Grandfather (a sheriff in the Old West) going down to the local saloon for "a nice cold glass of ginger ale".
 * Fully Automatic Clip Show: "Duh!" and "One more thing."
 * Gambit Pileup: Jackie's walked in on and been walked in on by a number of thieves during otherwise fairly normal archeological digs and the like; sometimes more than one other group will intersect.
 * Generation Xerox: Jackie was sent to live with Uncle years before Jade was sent to live with him. Played with in the Old West episode, where Jade assumes that the sheriff's niece was her counterpart, only for Jackie to mention she's described differently. Jade dismisses it as a typo, and a dust cloud hides her replacement with Past! Jade.
 * And from "Through the Rabbit Hole" we see that young Jackie's mannerisms are similar to Jade. He even goes against Jade's wishes to Wait Here when the Dark Hand kidnap Uncle, meaning that Jackie Chan was the first to "pull a Jade" on Jade herself, years before she was ever born.
 * Genius Bruiser: Tohru by the end of the series (if not earlier), both of Farmer MacDonald's sons, and occasionally Ratso (he used to study theoretical physics).
 * Gentle Giant: Tohru became one after his Heel Face Turn.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Tons in "Glove Story".
 * Quite a few jokes in "The Demon Behind"
 * Giant Foot of Stomping: Giant-Jade to the Dark Chi Warriors. Valmont is amazed they didn't see it coming.
 * Godzilla Threshold: Several times in the series.
 * In "Enter the Cat" Jackie
 * In "The Curse of El Chupacabra" the old man on the mountain who grows capsicum refuses to give it to anyone ... unless they mention being cursed by a chpacabra.
 * In the series finale,
 * Good Cop Bad Cop: The Ikazuki episode in season four. First, Jade and Jackie trying to get Ikazuki to give them information on Tarakudo, then Finn and Ikazuki trying to persuade Tohru to give them the removal spell.

Ikazuki: The potion! Or I shall feast upon your brains!

Ratso (elbowing Chow): Ooo, the old good-cop-bad-cop..!"

"Jackie: I'msorryI'llbringitbacklaterthankyoouuuuu!"
 * Good Is Impotent: Subverted. While Jackie's yin is far more pacifistic, it's still a competent fighter because "its not nice to drop kick little girls". Also, as noted above, Captain Black has no 'passive' side. They're both active and badass.
 * Good Is Not Nice: Lo Pei is not too worried about collateral damage, and tends to blast first, ask questions never.
 * Got Volunteered: At least twice.
 * Gotta Catch Them All: See Plot Coupons
 * Grand Finale: "The Powers That Be"
 * Grand Theft Me: Poor Valmont...and Jackie...andJade...wow, Shendu likes to jack bodies.
 * Grievous Harm With a Body: Chan does this with the unconscious Agent Tag in a James Bond spoof episode.
 * He Knows Too Much: Parodied in The Chan Who Knew Too Much.
 * Hero Harasses Helpers: Jackie to Jade.
 * Although in "Deja Vu" he does realize how much she does help. In the same way, Jade realizes exactly why Jackie plays this trope.
 * Heroic Willpower: When Capt. Black gets an oni mask stuck on him he's able to resist the effects for quite some time, and Uncle says it's because of his inherent goodness.
 * Hero Stole My Bike: Jackie is constantly "borrowing" items from total strangers to use as weapons or modes of transportation.

"Boss: Put the fish on the table!
 * He's a Friend: Heel Face Turn, some people who've been gone a while, it happens.
 * How Many Fingers: In the first episode. "Look, fishies!" Jade tries it in season 3 after Jackie's been bitten by a cobra. "What's a Jackie?"
 * Humiliation Conga: Several of the villains get this over the course of the series. Daolon Wong in particular gets these in nearly every single appearance. There was once a single episode where in attempting to time travel to the past to stop Jackie he ended being teleported to all his most humiliating defeats... and getting injured by being in the middle of situations he was never in in the first place.
 * Identical Grandson: Almost every main character gets an identical ancestor in Showdown in the Old West, although the only one we know was identical is past-Jackie (most of it is being pictured by the present-day characters).
 * Jade's counterpart was outright described as being nothing like her. Jade passed it off with "must be a typo", and the real niece was instantly switched out with Jade in the flashback.
 * The Igor: One appears in the cat statue episode, although only in voice.
 * Haggis from the episode with the living gloves probably qualifies.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Jackie in spades.
 * I'm a Humanitarian: With the monkey talisman, Tohru suggests they turn Jackie into an edible animal.
 * The only reason Carl Nivore doesn't eat children is because they aren't endangered.
 * Immortality Hurts: Said verbatim by Finn when he slammed at sixty miles per hour into a wall while holding the immortality Talisman.
 * Also of note is that he had just traded the Healing talisman to one of his teammates because he thought having Healing and Immortality was redundant— not realizing that the Immortality talisman doesn't include healing.
 * Immortality Inducer: The Dog and Horse talismans, which provide youth and regeneration, respectively.
 * Improvised Weapon: It's Jackie Chan, so it's pretty much required. Weapons have included furniture, a horse saddle, windshield wipers, Jackie's own shirt...
 * Insistent Terminology: In one episode an octopus statue is the MacGuffin of the day, whenever anyone tries to call it a fish, they are always told that it is a multipod...then subverted at the end.

Lackey: Uh, boss? Technically, the octopus is a member of the multipod family and... [notices the boss is giving him a Death Glare] put the fish on the table!"

"Valmont: "So this is why your niece is always with you. And here I thought you were just horribly irresponsible.""
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: Several; during the Kyoto Octopus heist, one mook grabs a small tree, hoists it over his head (presumably to use as a weapon) and jumps, yelling "Banzai!" Another favorite is when Jackie warns the mooks to be careful because they are at risk of damaging a Babylonian Urn. "What's a Babylonian urn?" "Probably more than we do!"
 * Instant Expert: Frequently averted. Occasionally subverted for comic relief, especially if it's the bad guy that fails by his own superpower.
 * In Series Nickname: Viper takes to calling Jackie "Babyface", most likely to annoy him.
 * Finn refers to Valmont as Big-V (or Little-V in one case) and Tohru as Big-T or T-Man. Following this, Jade also refers to Tohru as Big-T, or just T.
 * Interesting Situation Duel: All the time
 * Intergenerational Friendship: Jade and Torhu.
 * It Belongs in A Museum: Except in "Enter the Cat" where Jackie decides that the cat statue is too dangerous even for a museum and destroys it instead.
 * Also excluded is the time Jackie had to steal the Snake Talisman 'from' a museum, because the talismans are too dangerous/sought after to be in such a public place.
 * Jail Bake: Subverted when the Dark Hand get themselves sent to prison to find Xiao Fung's portal: it's the Warden's birthday cake, and ruining it gets Valmont sent to solitary.
 * Just a Stupid Accent: Chinese characters rarely speak any Chinese language, even during the episodes actually set in China. Even more jarringly, the two characters who had been in America for a large portion of their lives - Uncle and Jackie - still had accents, while the one character who supposedly just came over from China - Jade - has a very American accent.
 * This may be justified, albeit weakly, by the fact that Jade is from Hong Kong, where many people have what sounds like an American accent - except her parents don't really have much in the way of accents either.
 * In one episode, Uncle even does research with a Japanese to Chinese dictionary.
 * Lampshaded in the Three Wise Monkeys-based episode, where Uncle can't read a speechless Jackie's lips because Jackie's accent's too thick.
 * Kick the Dog: Daolon Wong attempts this, in a literal sense.
 * Tarakudo also does this in Scruffy's second episode, though he was aiming for Jade.
 * Kid With the Leash: Jade once gained control of the Shadowkhan from a magic marker tattoo she did, unfortunately it slowly made her Brainwashed and Crazy.
 * Killer Rabbit: The Shadowkhan Hak Foo summoned are like these. But after eating, they're more killer than rabbit.
 * During the season 1 finale, Jackie turns Shendu into a rabbit. That doesn't stop him from turning invisible, floating and using heat beam eyes.
 * Killer Yoyo: Not actually used to attack people, except when Jackie has it, but dangerous all the same.
 * Koan: OW.
 * Lampshade Hanging: "Seriously, don't you get tired of saying that?" in response to Jackie telling Jade to stay behind the five billionth time.
 * Most of the running gags in the series get lampshaded eventually, especially Jade's penchant for snooping and for popping up in the middle of a crisis out of nowhere. Even Valmont gets a lampshade in about that.

"Uncle: "Sounds like a Chinese proverb!""
 * Lava Is Boiling Kool Aid: Parodied when the Monkey King makes a volcano erupt cherry gelatin.
 * Leitmotif: Many. Though Jackie does not seem to have one, Jade does, and many secondary characters have a motif as well: The Enforcers, Shendu, the Monkey King, Daolon Wong...
 * Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Ratso when he has to remove an Oni Mask from Finn's rear.
 * Limited Wardrobe: Although it changes depending on scenario; El Toro wears a nice suit outside of the ring, Jackie and Jade both have archeologist outfits, etc.
 * Little Stowaway: Jade did this Once an Episode.
 * Uncle even did it once.
 * Living Shadow: The Shadowkhan ninjas.
 * Living Toys: Gnomekop (once) and Super Moose (repeatedly) thanks to the Rat Talisman
 * Look Behind You: During a truck-top fight, Jade warns Finn of an oncoming tunnel. Finn scoffs at the 'trick' and slams into the cliff wall (turns out immortality and healing aren't so redundant.)
 * Loophole Abuse: Jade loves to do this when it comes to following Jackie around, often using Jackie's Exact Words against him. For instance, she is once told by Jackie to stay with Uncle (the character) without thinking that he is also her uncle. Since he never specified which uncle to stay with, she stays with Jackie.
 * Magic a Is Magic A: In interesting contrast to Eastern Anime magic-users using Western Hermetic Magic, most of the spells in the Western-made Jackie Chan Adventures are Eastern style. Seems to be a variant of Rule Magic.
 * Magic Versus Science: Science has its uses in its own field, but is ultimately incapable of really doing anything significant against the magical Big Bads the cast runs into. As Uncle is wont to point out, "MAGIC MUST DEFEAT MAGIC!"
 * Mahjong: Uncle's favorite game
 * Mama Bear: Tohru's Mom is shorter than just about any other character. But should someone mess with her baby boy, be it regular mook or mystical henchmen, and she will mess them up.
 * Masked Luchador: El Toro
 * McNinja: Subverted. In the first few seasons, the Shadowkhan were ninja (Japanese) working for the demon Shendu (Chinese). This was later explained and used as the arc for an entire season when it was revealed Shendu had taken control of them from a Japanese Oni imprisoned in a mask.
 * Medium Blending: In the intro with live action Jackie.
 * Also the ending bit, where he did a live question-answer session.
 * Mentor: Uncle...specifically, Mr. Exposition. As the series progresses, he becomes the Witch Doctor; his knowledge in magic increases exponentially, to the point of probably being one of the strongest mortal mages on the planet. "One must keep up with forces of evil!"
 * Tohru in later seasons assumes the role of Mr. Exposition along with being a Witch Doctor-in-Training.
 * Mes a Crowd: The episode "Jade Times Jade."
 * The Men in Black: Section 13 is a rare heroic version of this.
 * Mommas Boy: Tohru.
 * Monster of the Week: Most notable in the later seasons, with, Shendu's sibling demons, then the Oni masks and their unique Shadowkhan. Subverted in the last season; Drago is the monster every week.
 * Mook Carryover: The Enforcers (Finn, Ratso and Chow) who were always brought in by the current season's big bad. Also Valmont (when possessed by Shendu), the Shadow Khan, and finally Strikemaster Ice, DJ Fist and MC Cobra. Drago averts this trope temporarily by firing the Enforcers after one episode.
 * Mook Face Turn: Tohru
 * Mundangerous: After running down the side of an exploding building without a problem, Jackie breaks his leg by slipping on one of Jade's toys.

""Jackie." "El Toro." "Jackie." "El Toro." etc."
 * Mundane Utility: "The Pig Talisman is how Uncle Ferkelson melted his chocolate!"
 * My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad: Whenever Jade and Paco meet they end up arguing over who is better, Jackie or El Toro.

""No way he's human.""
 * In one episode, they do this when captured by the Talisman-empowered Dark Hand, and have the argument while the Enforcers are about to blast them. The Enforcers actually stop and stare at this in confusion.
 * Nice Job Breaking It Hero: Quite a number of times, often by Jade.
 * Nice Job Fixing It Villain: Valmont kicking Jackie off a cliff results in Shendu possessing him.
 * No One Could Survive That: In the fifth episode, mind you this show went on for 5 seasons, Jackie is escaping with the Sheep Talisman aboard a train. Pursued by Shadowkhan and Valmont's goons, and after rescuing the driver from certain death after the bridge ahead of the train is destroyed, and the train quickly dives off of the blown-up railway... and without having any Talisman powers, Jackie single-handedly runs across 5 or 6 train cars from the leading train all the way to the end, just narrowly vaulting back to safety while Valmont's goons look on. Ratso flat-out states it:

""If any harm comes to her, I will turn you inside out.""
 * No MacGuffin No Winner: At the start of season three, Jackie destroys the Talismans so that neither the Dark Hand nor Daolon Wong can get their hands on them. This backfires when the powers within simply seek out new hosts.
 * Non Sequitur Thud: Jackie, several times.
 * Not Allowed to Grow Up: Strangely applied, the internal timeframe may not perfectly match the season production but it's made rather clear that several years do pass over the whole series. Jade never gets taller and remains in the same elementary school class with the same teacher. One episode even highlights it, with Jade complaining that she hasn't grown at all since she came to live with Jackie and Uncle. Of course, several Time Travel episodes show Jade as an adult.
 * Not Quite Dead: Shendu after being killed in the end of season 1, but revived in season 3, only to get sealed.
 * Not Quite Starring: Voice actor James Sie as Jackie Chan, with the real Jackie Chan appearing in the title sequence and a live action segment after each episode.
 * He said in an interview his schedule doesn't allow for the frequent recording sessions, but he has tried to do all the grunts and other things his character does, which is much simpler.
 * Off Model: All of season five, but episodes ten and on especially. Not necessarily for the worse, though, as at least in episode ten the writing picks up a little.
 * Offscreen Teleportation: Jade's ability to turn up behind Jackie is sometimes explained, sometimes lampshaded.
 * In at least the first episode, there was a gag where taking the stairs to Section 13 was faster than the ridiculously hyper-powered elevator.
 * Oddly Small Organization: The Dark Hand
 * Oh Crap: Drago and co. about halfway into the Spectacu-Larry episode. Watch their faces as he attacks.
 * Oireland: The St Patrick's Day episode involves Jade convincing a bunch of locals that she's a leprachaun simply by dressing up as one. Then again, the locals were right about the curse on the emerald...
 * Old Master: Uncle
 * Once a Season: About 2/3rds of the way through a season they would have the group actually lose one of the talismans etc. to the bad guys, reinforcing that they are still human. As well, the final episode usually had the pieces being united to demonstrate their power and why they didn't want them together in the first place.
 * Only One Name: Plenty. Valmont, his three main henchmen, Tohru, Paco...the list goes on.
 * It's probably easier to list those who do have more than one name: Jackie, Jade, El Toro, Captain Black (yes he has a first name, it's only said once)
 * It's Augustus, in case anyone was wondering.
 * The Other Darrin: When Hak Foo originally debuted in the first season episode "The Dog & Piggy Show", he was voiced by Jim Cummings. After he became a regular, starting with season 2, John DiMaggio took over the role. In "Deja Vu", when Jackie relives the events of Hak's debut episode DiMaggio still voices the character.
 * Likewise, as stated in the Hey Its That Voice entry above, Julian Sands voiced Valmont, but only for seasons 1 & 2. Greg Ellis voiced him in season 3 and Andrew Abselon voiced his handful of appearances in season 4.
 * Papa Wolf: Tohru.
 * To his previous boss, who has followed the group to a situation, about Jade:

"[insert character here]: "Tohru catch [insert other character here]!" * Beat Panel* Tohru holds his arms out."
 * Paper Master: Origami
 * Paper Thin Disguise: Finn uses one to try and get a book from Uncle's shop. As he comments to his fellows, "I can't believe he fell for that!"
 * The Password Is Always Swordfish: Subverted and hung with a shade. "Namsilat" will not unlock the Talismans and Captain Black's birthday has nothing to do with any numerical codes.
 * The fact that he is a spy does though.
 * "What's a chinchilla?"
 * Personality Swap: An encounter with a chi vampire forces drains Uncle's chi into Jade (putting Uncle in a coma, but putting his personality into Jade).
 * Importantly, it only switches their personalities. Although Jade gets Uncle's inquisitive nature and focus, she doesn't actually acquire his knowledge, so she still has to research how to solve the problem on her own.
 * A Pirate 400 Years Too Late
 * Plot Coupon: Talismans, portals, animals, masks, relics. In that order.
 * Politically Correct History: Showdown in the Old West is a mild case. Though Jackie's Identical Grandfather is portrayed as a 19th century Chinese Laborer, the writers apparently felt that acknowledging 19th century race relations would bring down the mood of a lighthearted Cowboy Episode. Hence, the significance of a Chinese immigrant being appointed sheriff in a Western frontier town is never discussed. Granted, there is a fairly dramatic moment in which Jackie's grandfather starts a fight when he's refused service in a saloon, but it's stated that this is because he's a railroad worker, not because he's Chinese.
 * Portal Slam
 * Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: Jade loves these. The Enforcers like to use these as well, even though in the end it is usually their behinds that get kicked in the end.
 * Pre Mortem One Liner / Bond One Liner: Many of the villains are fond of these, especially Drago (the series as a whole loves the "villain is about to kill heroes, villain makes one liner, fade to commercial" bit), but luckily they never succeed in killing their enemies after making their quips. Occasionally, they might use a Bond One Liner when they think they've killed someone, though.
 * Punch Punch Punch Uh Oh: Many times.
 * Punny Name: When Lo Pei is introduced, one of the Enforcers makes a wisecrack that goes something like "You want Lo Pei, try looking at my salary."
 * Put On a Bus: Valmont gets this treament worse than anyone, to the point even writers seem to Lampshade it at the end of the series.
 * Quirky Household: The Chan family in general.
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad: Chow, Finn and Ratso fulfilled this through several Big Bads. Hak Foo comes and goes with every season. Hell, these three kinda delve into Punch Clock Villain territory, one episode they got tired of getting beaten up by Jackie and tried to pull a Heel Face Turn.
 * In the fifth season they are replaced by the significantly more competent Strike Master Ice and his group, although they prove to be more troublesome for Drago.
 * Reality Writing Book: One of these appears in a later episode, when it's rewritten by Shendu. Luckily Jade is left unaffected since she manages to tear out the page that relates to her, leaving her unaltered.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: The Muntabs, in "Lost City of the Muntabs"
 * Recap Episode: "Deja Vu" sends Jackie through past episodes.
 * Reckless Sidekick: Jade. Always. Just look in those big yellow eyes and you'll see her unyielding desire to follow Jackie into adventure. To her credit, she does prove useful most of the time.
 * Recycled Script: They even lampshade it. Season One had the team looking for the 12 talismans of Shendu and Season Two had them trying to prevent the unsealing of the 8 demon sorcerers. Season Three had the talismans destroyed and inhabit the animal namesake (the same magic in a new container) and season five had them looking for the artifacts of the immortals that imprisoned the 8 demon sorcerers (same elemental powers in new containers). Season four is the only completely original season with the Shadowkhan masks.
 * The entire main plot arcs of all five seasons follow a basic structure: Locate potentially dangerous, if not apocalyptic, magical power sealed away somewhere around the world.
 * Redshirt Army: The Section 13 forces. Normally at least once a season, their base is completely trashed. Once, while fighting the Dark Hand out in the open, they got their butts whooped, most of their vehicles blown up, and a number of them turned into rats. Due to the fact that it's a kid's show, however, none of them die.
 * Red Eyes Take Warning: A common power of any evil monster or demon sorcerer, if you see the red eyes you best Take Warning.
 * Reincarnation: It's implied in one episode that Jade is the reborn soul of a Dalai Lama-esque figure.
 * Resist the Beast: Xu Lin, the cursed guardian of "The Lotus Temple," does this several times, as she is cursed to turn into a monstrous beast whenever someone intrudes in the temple, but she doesn't want to hurt any one. The heroes manage to find the loophole, and at one point she manages to resist the transformation enough to guide herself into going after the Big Bad.
 * Retired Badass: Several episodes show that Uncle is pretty skilled himself, though his age doesn't allow him too much action. When he's using the Dog Talisman, however, he can make Hak Foo look like an amateur.
 * Retroactive Wish: Ratso, during the time travel episode.
 * Rewriting Reality: Anyone who gets their hands on the Book of Ages, which contains all of history. When Shendu uses it to erase his family's previous defeats, Jade gives herself Ripple Effect Proof Memory by tearing out a page referring to her (oddly, the demons also remember the original timeline).
 * Rhymes On a Dime: Spring-Heeled Jack.
 * Rimshot: Jade: "Tch. Like Jackie has a dark side." Jackie: "Yes, I do. Her name is Jade." Jade: "Ba-dum bum, tshhh!"
 * The Rival: Hak Foo can fill in this role at times for both Jackie and Tohru, as he is skilled enough (and just flat out crazy enough) to challenge Jackie's martial arts and he is physically powerful enough to also challenge Tohru's strength.
 * Running Gag

"Jackie (knocking a amnesiac-and-convinced-he's-evil Tohru down a hill): "Just like old times.""
 * Also, Tohru falling down stairs / rolling down a hill. Once happened three times in a single episode (justified because he was temporarily blind, though).

"Jade: "You mean Tohru's head is gonna go Scanners?!""
 * Uncle warning someone not to look in the mirror after a magical transformation, and them doing it anyway. "I told you not to look in the mirror!"
 * No one, particularly Jackie (usually from Jade) gets code phrases.
 * "Jackie" "El Toro" "Jackie" "El Toro" "Jackie" "El Toro"-
 * People, usually Jackie, pounding their chest after being snuck up on.
 * Whenever Jackie is forced to take something during a chase, he often appologizes with "I'msorryipromisei'llbringthisbacklater Thank yoooou!"
 * Saving Christmas: Daolon Wong lays siege to the North Pole, hoping to steal Santa's good chi. Tohru was to fill in for Santa while the rest of the team fight Wong.
 * Say My Name: Shendu has an epic one at the end of the third season finale.
 * Sdrawkcab Name: In one episode, the rat talisman brings Jade's beloved Gnomekop toy to life. Remember that the G is silent.
 * Sealed Evil in A Can: Usually this is what Jackie is trying to prevent from happening each season.
 * Justified in that killing Shendu in the first season caused all the trouble that followed. Sealing him in the final season ended it all.
 * Sealed Evil in A Duel: The series ends with Drago (using the powers of all eight demon sorcerers) and his father Shendu (using all twelve of his talismans) being sealed within another realm to duel for all eternity.
 * Self Constructed Being: Shendu with some help from the dark hand.
 * Shark Pool: In the Kyoto Octopus episode.
 * Shield Surf: happens in the first episode. It's also how they get Xu Lin out of the Lotus Temple.
 * Shout Out: Enter the J-Team was a Whole Plot Reference to the classic Bruce Lee film, Enter the Dragon, of which Jackie Chan was a stunt man. And speaking of the J-Team...
 * Many episodes reimagine famous fight scenes from Jackie Chan's previous films. One episode had Jackie bitten by a snake, where the venom slowly made him loose his balance as well as very thirsty. So he has a loopy fight while grabbing and drinking any water he could find, an obvious joke towards Drunken Master.
 * Daolon Wong, ancient evil Chinese sorceror protected and served by three mystical warriors and is played by James Hong. Sounds familiar?
 * The Ox talisman episode involves the baddies pulling off El Toro Fuente's mask with a Flying Guillotine.
 * Showdown in the Old West: A railroad worker gets hired as a sheriff who ends up cleaning up the town of crime. Familiar?
 * Speaking of "Enter the J-Team", Jade's dream sequence during the beginning is a shout out to The Matrix.
 * When Paco wears an Oni Mask on the Halloween episode, he is confronted by Tarakudo. He immediately assumes him to be The Great Pumpkin.
 * At one point, criminal mastermind Chang (himself a reference to the villain of Enter The Dragon) hires an entire team of J-Team counterparts. Jackie's counterpart is a kung fu fighter named "Little Tommy Chung," a reference to the song "Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting."
 * In "Shrink Rap", when they figure out that the anti-shrinking spell is a bad idea with miniature Jackie stuck inside Tohru's head.

"Jade: "It's time to call the man from Uncle.""
 * In one episode Jade Title Drops The Man From UNCLE, when referring to Uncle.

"Finn: "Step away from our Bosley!...I mean, buddy.""
 * It's probably unintentional, but after the first use of the Rabbit Talisman in the episode "Shell Game", Tohru says "Peppy."
 * Finn makes a LOT of cultural references, such as referring to Gnomekop as 'Chucky'.
 * Jade makes My Little Pony references with the horse talisman twice.
 * The pink puma diamond?
 * When they travel back in time, a window the Enforcers pass has Village People outfits in it.
 * Another time they're presented as "Jade's Angels", complete with poses.

"Shendu: "I will have my revenge, even if it takes another nine hundred years!"
 * A rather creepy one to show up in a kid's show, "Shell Game" has a shout out to the famous "Fava beans and a nice Chianti" line from Silence of the Lambs.
 * Actually, this show has so many little references, both to Jackie and other things, it could fill its own very sizable page.
 * Shut UP Hannibal: Pulled off on many occasions but it is most sweet with Jade after Shendu's first major defeat.

Jade: "Tch. No Rat means you're just a statue. And no dog means, you're not immortal.""

""Doctor Buford MacDonald?" (dodges a kick and lands on his leg) "Your books are very insightful."
 * The Slow Path:.
 * Snooping Little Kid: Take a wild guess...
 * Snowlems: Daolon Wong uses them while attacking Santa's workshop
 * So Last Season: Lightly applied, Uncle mentioned that the Talisman powers are helpful (and certainly nice for a surprise) but are simply not the most powerful magic in the series.
 * Season Four had different villians than the other seasons, of Japanese heritage. Therefore, Uncle couldn't use Chinese methods of dealing with them and had to call upon Tohru's knowledge of Japanese culture a lot more.
 * Something Only They Would Say: Played with during Attack of the J-Clones. Neither Jackie nor his clone know when Captain Black's birthday is, to his dismay, but Jade figures it out by asking them to take her to Moose World: the real one refuses, since she has homework. Paco's clone gives himself away by pronouncing her name properly. For non-Spanish speakers, "j" is usually pronounced with "y" or "h" sounds - hence, "Yade" from El Toro and the real Paco.
 * Sorting Algorithm of Evil: The scope of events grows, but each new Big Bad isn't necessarily more powerful, just brings with them their own style of problems.
 * Justified Trope: The killing of Shendue opened the way for even greater evil. This flows in an entirely logical manner until he is sealed again.
 * Southern Fried Genius: Farmer MacDonald's sons, to Jackie's delight.

"Thank you!" (punch)"

"Uncle: *looks up* "Mistletoooe!"
 * Souvenir Land: Moose World
 * Space Suits Are Scuba Gear: To facilitate a dramatic "where's the talisman" moment before Jackie removes the hose when it's discovered drifting around inside his suit.
 * Spit Take: Finn, upon Tarakudo appearing in his coffee.
 * Squirrels in My Pants: Actually, it's an animated gnome toy....it makes sense in context. Kinda.
 * Things go pretty bad for Ratso when he fakes this with a snake....yeah.
 * Stab the Salad: Possessed! Jade
 * Stairs Are Faster: For getting into Section 13, the stairs are a quicker way inside than the phone-booth elevator as demonstrated by Captain Black and Jade. Later averted by Tohru in a different building, who quietly rides an elevator while Jackie and Jade wear themselves out running down stairs.
 * The Starscream: Valmont when it comes to Shendu.
 * Stock Phrases: A LOT in-show. Jade's gaps and Jackie's exclamations are pretty standard.
 * Stock Super Powers: Shendu's Talismans each provide one.
 * Animate Inanimate Object: The Rat Talisman causes this.
 * Animorphism: The Monkey Talisman, in a nutshell.
 * Enemy Without: Apparently, the Tiger Talisman splits itself and the user in half; one side is sickeningly good while the other is a big jerkass, assumedly even more so if the original character is a jerkass. The process is undone if both halves of the original user hold a half of the talisman each.
 * It depends. The Talisman splits SOMETHING but it depends on what is involved. The good side of captain Black was more or less Captain Black because the demon acted as the evil side.
 * Eye Beams: The Pig Talisman in a nutshell. Noted at one point that an attack that temporarily blinds you is hard to aim.
 * Also not a great weapon of choice to someone who wears glasses and is Blind Without Em.
 * Healing Factor: The Horse Talisman, in a nutshell.
 * Immortality: The Dog Talisman gives a Type VI immortality, meaning that you'll survive any sort of injury, but without the Horse talisman, you won't be getting up anytime soon; it does stop and/or revert the aging process if the host's natural age is too high though, so you wouldn't need to worry about making the same mistake Tithonos made.
 * Invisibility: The Snake Talisman gives you full invisibility; no invisible nudity here.
 * Playing With Fire: The Dragon Talisman is assumedly the source of much (if not all) of Shendu's firepower. Using it obviously invokes this trope.
 * Power Floats: The Rooster Talisman, though its max speed is too low to really be called flight, unless augmented by the Rabbit Talisman, as explained by Jade.
 * Spirit World: The Sheep Talisman allows your spirit to leave your body and enter this realm, but you cannot make any sort of contact with the waking physical world until you go back into your body (or, failing that, the body of another person who's used astral projection). You can enter a sleeping person's dream, but good luck convincing them that you're real.
 * Super Speed: The Rabbit Talisman in a nutshell.
 * Super Strength: The Ox Talisman in a nutshell.
 * Summon Bigger Fish: By the Grand Finale, Drago is so powerful that Uncle is forced to release Shendu.
 * Tablecloth Yank: Several times, once with a shirt.
 * Tagalong Kid: Jade. And Paco is tagging along after her.
 * Taken for Granite: The Rat and (on one occasion) Horse Talismans invert this trope.
 * Talking to Himself: James Sie voices both the animated Jackie and Shendu. Also Chow.
 * Not what happens to Shendu and Valmont by season two.
 * Team Rocket Wins: At the start of the second season, the Dark Hand has all twelve talismans, and they use them to run a robbery that can't be beaten by all of Section 13, including Jackie and Jade. Not until the end of the next episode do the good guys turn the tables, and even then, it takes a few additional protagonists to do it.
 * The Teaser: Usually ending with a close-up of a shocked expression on one of the characters (often Jackie)
 * Terminator Twosome: J2, complete with a musical Shout Out.
 * Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: The monstrous Lotus Temple Guardian has cute little bows on it's whiskers, the same that Xu Lin wears in her hair when not transformed. This is the only sign that the abominable snowman-esque monster is actually a girl.
 * Testosterone Poisoning: Obviously what happened to Hak Foo before he joined the Dark Hand.
 * Third Person Person: Uncle, on occasion.
 * Token White: Although the trope isn't really played, among the good guys Captain Black is the only significant white character.
 * Tomboy: Jade
 * Tomes of Prophecy and Fate: One of which is insanely powerful.
 * Totally Radical: Avoided for the most part, which only makes the examples that stick even more poignant. In the episode Queen of the Shadowkhan, Jade says that's she's going to get "the gnarliest tattoo in the history of gnarl!"
 * Trademark Favourite Food: According to Uncle, be it spells or recipes, "no such thing as too much garlic!" Except when there is.
 * Don't forget the mung beans.
 * Better than fermented beetle larvae.
 * Tohru likes grape soda and cookies. He buys out the Buttercup Scouts, even.
 * Tragic Monster: One episode features an ancient temple hiding great magical secrets, guarded by a hulking Yeti-like monster that viciously hunts down any intruders. As it turns out, this monster is a little girl who wandered into the temple one night years ago, and was cursed to become it's guardian whenever anyone sets foot inside it's walls. Jade, of course, makes friends with her, and they both try to find a way to stop her transformations, though the girl is more concerned with getting everyone out so she doesn't lose control and hurt anyone.
 * Treasure Chest Cavity: Jackie unknowingly had the map to a treasure inserted inside one of his dental fillings by a crooked orthodontist.
 * Under the Mistletoe: Can't have a Christmas episode without it. What makes it interesting, though, is that it's Uncle and Daolon Wong, and is used as a distraction in a fight.

Daolon: *looks up in terror* "YAAAAAH!" *gets blasted*"

"Tsang Zu: My palace! These humans have paved my paradise and constructed a...
 * Jackie and Viper have an almost moment under it at the end.
 * Vampire Invitation: When Hsi Wu loses his tail, Uncle charms the shop so he can't get inside and retrieve it without an invitation. Hsi Wu gets around this by shapeshifting into a kid and befriending Jade at school (unwittingly launching a thousand fanfics).
 * Jade and Xu Lin use this to get around part of the Lotus Temple's curse; Jade can't be an 'intruder' if she's invited.
 * Verbal Tic: Uncle's "One more thing." One episode had him listing off ingredients he needed and he prefaced each one with his verbal tic.
 * Jade and her "Tch!"
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Uncle and Tohru, especially in the episode, "The Demon Behind".
 * Volleying Insults: Uncle and Tohru's Mom, ALWAYS.
 * Voices Are Mental: When Jade and Jackie switch bodies.
 * Averted, however, when Jade is filled with Uncle's Chi (and thus, his personality). Jade's voice actress basically just does an Uncle impersonation. Later in the same episode Tohru gets filled with Jade's Chi and uses the same technique.
 * Wait Here: When will he learn?
 * Waxing Lyrical: When the thunder demon Tchang Zu is revived and discovers that his former realm is now part of Hollywood, with his former palace now a parking garage:

Ratso: Uh, parking lot?"

"Ratso: What's a Babylonian urn?
 * What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart Anyway: At one point the Dark Hand had all the talismans and used their powers for themselves. Of the twelve that includes Flight, Eye Beams, and Super Speed, Finn ended up with Astral Projection, Motion to the Motionless and Spiritual Balance. It got better when Hak Foo, disdaining the talismans he had (some of the better ones), tossed them to Finn. Lampshaded, as Finn later traded the Horse Talisman (healing) for the Pig Talisman (laser eyes). "Immortality and healing? That's redundant!" Not much later, he's plowed into the roof of a tunnel. He naturally survives, but realizes: "Immortality...hurts."
 * The Sheep Talisman is most often subject to this. The Tiger talisman may be effectively useless, but use of the Sheep causes you to drop into a coma in the middle of a fight.
 * Similarly, during one of these fights, Hak Foo activates the Tiger Talisman (without splitting it) and boasts that with the Power of Balance, he cannot be knocked down. Tohru body checks him to the floor and takes the talisman. "Spiritual balance, Hak Fool."
 * On the flipside, Motion to the Motionless is pretty epic, though you have to be careful who you use it on. You might end up with a Physical God that wants to kill you, a Noble Warrior from ages past or a small army of killer flying moose.
 * What's a Henway

Finn: Probably more than we do!"

"Shendu: "The statue...of Lo Pei..!"
 * Again with Finn:

Finn: "Heh, you wanna see Lo Pei, you ought to check out my salary.""


 * White Haired Pretty Boy: Valmont.
 * Would Hurt a Child: The Dark Hand (especially early on) and other villains have no problem trying to kill Jade and Paco. In the second episode Tohru nearly cuts Jade in half with a scimitar to get the rooster talisman.
 * Words Do Not Make the Magic: Just chanting any incantation without knowing what you're doing usually causes failure -- sometimes horribly.
 * Averted, however, with the cheerleaders. Cheerleaders joining Uncle's chant gave him a serious power boost.
 * The Worf Effect: Tohru gets this occasionally - it's always a sign that someone is particularly strong when they can toss him around like a ragdoll. Shendu does this to him twice, first when he initially regains his demon form, and again to show that he's powerful even while possessing Valmont.
 * Xanatos Gambit: As the Chan clan found out, it doesn't matter to Tarakudo whether he gets all the masks or they do. The end result is the same.
 * You Just Ruined the Shot
 * You Watch Too Much X
 * You Wouldn't Hit a Guy With Glasses: Jackie is looking for a sheep's spirit using a pair of magic goggles. When he becomes surrounded by Shadowkhan, Jackie says this phrase.