Huntik: Secrets & Seekers

Created by Iginio Straffi, co-produced by Big Bocca Productions and Rainbow S.p.A. (producers of Winx Club) and debuting on the CW4Kids on January 3, 2009, Huntik is the story of Lok Lambert, a teenager who has a knack for puzzles but is otherwise ordinary. However, that changed when he and classmate Sophie Casterwill discover the journal of Lok's missing father, alongside a mysterious amulet. Within mere moments, they were attacked by "The Suits", henchmen under the employment of "The Organization".

Lok and Sophie manage to drive away the suits with the help of Dante Vale, a private detective with extensive knowledge on amulets. Dante also informs Lok of his destiny as a Seeker, people who can use magic and bond with magical creatures called Titans and recruits him into the Huntik Foundation, an alliance of Seekers with noble purposes who try to find and investigate historical and magical artifacts. Now Lok and his friends must use the knowledge of his father's journal to find other Titans and to keep them out of the world domination seeking hands of The Organization.

Season two dwells more on the historical side of the Seekers and expands on Sophie, and the Casterwill family as a whole. The primary Villains are a cult of sorts called The Bloodspiral Brotherhood led by none other than the previous season's Dragon, Rassimov. Teenage orphan Den Fears also joins Lok's group part ways in,

This series provides examples of:
 * The Ace: Dante Vale, widely considered to be the Huntik Foundation's number one Seeker.
 * Huntik Foundation Chairman Metz was this when he was younger. He was also Dante's Seeker mentor.
 * A Child Shall Lead Them: becoming the leader to the Casterwill elders. Though  isn't a child, it is viewed this way because of  youth.
 * All Myths Are True: So far, the series has shown that legends surrounding Gargoyles, Golems, and Thor, have all been based on reality, and that they have all been connected to Amulets and Titans.
 * Many of the famous legendary people of the past that accomplished massive feats like Jason and the Argonauts and the pirate Cortez are said to be ancient Seekers.
 * All There in the Manual: The official Huntik website has details of the story--including the backstories of several characters--which either don't appear at all, or do appear, but aren't made obvious.
 * Aloof Big Brother: Lucas Casterwill.
 * Amulet of Concentrated Awesome: All the Amulets kind of fit into this, right down to the name. The Ancient Amulet of Will is the ultimate one.
 * An Axe to Grind: Montehue's Weapon of Choice.
 * Ancient Conspiracy: The Order of the Bloodspirals, harbingers of the Nullifiers, are first mentioned in season one. They appear in reality in season two.
 * Ancient Tradition: Seekers have existed throughout history, and have included people like Joan of Arc.
 * Art Shift: Although season one is done in traditional animation style, over half the episodes of season two are done in flash. The two styles generally alternate between episodes, with flash sometimes getting two or three in a row; this takes some getting used to.
 * Badass Longcoat: Dante Vale.
 * Becoming the Mask:.
 * Big Bad: The Professor, leader of The Organization, in season one.
 * In season 2, Rassimov, leader of the Bloodspirals,
 * Big Brother Instinct: Dante develops this toward Lok and Sophie. Den has this for Harrison even after he starts smacking him a bit later on. Lastly, Lok develops this for Den pretty quickly which Den appreciates.
 * Big Brother Mentor: Dante is this towards newcomers Sophie and especially Lok.
 * Lok later becomes this to Den after he joins the group. Den likes it and would do pretty much whatever Lok told him to compared to his Huntik Foundation teachers. He tells Cherit this is because, at the orphanage, he was the one who always had to look after his brother who was constantly bullied, so it feels nice to have someone looking out for him.
 * Big Eater: Den, though nowhere near the usual levels of this trope, has more than once talked about getting food or getting seconds...or fourths. Maybe his orphanage was malnourishing their kids.
 * Bishonen: Dante obviously, and Lok seems to be shaping up to be one.
 * Lucas Casterwill and maybe Den. Harrison would be this if his face wasn't so gaunt.
 * Boisterous Bruiser: Huntik Foundation member Montehue.
 * Bond Creatures: Seekers and their Titans share a bond that becomes exponentially stronger if they're Powerbonded Titans.
 * Book Dumb: Lok, particularly when it comes to history.
 * Broken Bird: Zhalia.
 * Cain and Abel: Harrison grows apart from Den due to the power the Bloodspirals promise him being appealing. After Den joins Lok's team, this puts the brothers on opposite sides and at each other's throats,
 * Calling Your Attacks: How the Seekers invoke Titans and cast spells. Strangely, Wind can do both even though he can't speak.
 * Card-Carrying Villain: Mr. Wilder, the new leader of The Organization (or parts of it, as Grier never took orders from him) in season 2. Obsessed with control and Taking Over The World, has quite a few Kick the Dog moments, the last of which happens right before Grier kicks his ass and brings him to his island to teach him what control really is.
 * Character Development: The main group of Seekers and a few of the villans go through this, usually rewarded with Levels in Badass (or in Dante's case additional Levels in Badass)
 * Chekhov's Gun: The goddamn Hammer of Thor: recovered in a first season episode, is strong enough to one-shot the biggest Titan ever seen on screen, but wasn't used anymore due the need for two Seekers to spin the thing before launching it at the victim and it's size (as tall as a man) making it difficult to transport where needed (like when you're fighting The Professor and his Legendary Titan). Then in the last episode of the second season, during the final battle between the whole Huntik Foundation and the Bloodspiral Order, the Bloodspiral summons an enormous flying Titan that can easily take down the Foundation Cool Planes... And when Montehue reach one of the planes to help, the pilot gets him to help with using the Hammer, even commenting it had been a good idea to bring it with them. Wind, the Seeker in control of the flying Titan, has barely the time for an Oh Crap face before said Titan is one-shotted.
 * Lok's Dad's Holotome, which he and Sophie find in The Professor's Castle at the end of season one. Turns out that it was
 * Com Mons: Certain Titans are very common: Freelancer for the Huntik Foundation, Icarus and Feyone for the Casterwills, Redcap and Mindrone and a few others for The Organization, and Marauder and especially Harlekin for the Bloodspirals.
 * Cool Big Sis: Character Development evolves Zhalia into this towards Lok and Sophie. She also instantly becomes this to orphans Den and Harrison Fears, Harrison even admits she is like a sister to him and that she is pretty much his only real friend, other than his brother.
 * Cool Sword: The legendary Willblade. It was used by the first Seeker, Lord Casterwill himself, to seal the Spiral Mark that can be used to call the Nullifiers. After it is found, Lok begins using it as his Weapon of Choice in pretty much every episode thereafter.
 * Cosmopolitan Council: The various leaders of the Huntik Foundation, led by the German Metz.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Zhalia most of the time. Also Sophie in relation to Lok. Even Dante himself is not immune to some deadpan delivery once in a while.
 * New team member Den as well, which seems to be a coping mechanism for him.
 * Defrosting Ice Queen: Zhalia in season one. Den, as a male example in season two, though to a much less extant that Zhalia.
 * Disappeared Dad: Lok's father, Eathon Lambert
 * The Dragon: Rassimov to The Professor.
 * Eldritch Abomination: The Nullifiers mentioned in season one are said to be this and bent to destroy all life. In season two we are shown one of their scouts, and the thing even resembles Chtulhu.
 * Establishing Character Moment: The main characters usually get one that show their important traits:
 * Lok asks a newly met Sophie to help with his history homework. She says no since he just slept through history class, so Lok bets he can finish the crossword puzzle she is struggling with in 2:00 minutes in exchange for her help. Since he's good with puzzles, he completes it in under 90 seconds without scratching anything out, much to Sophie's surprise.
 * Dante's Establishing Character Moment happens right outside his house. Lok is looking for Dante's house while being pursued by Organization suits. He can't find it, and is quickly cornered, as fate would have it, at the front of Dante's house right when he returns with groceries. He immediately summons Caliban, then later Soul Wing, and single-handedly takes down the three suits and their two Redcaps and one Mindrone, with witty banter and everything. He thus cements himself as The Ace and a Badass, a characterization that follows him throughout all of both seasons.
 * Zhalia show up as a beautiful, yet mysterious young raven-haired woman seen walking down the street. Just then, suits attack our not-quite-team in their hotel in Prague. Zhalia breaks down the door (along with the surrounding wall) with her Titan Gareon. She then beams two enemies out the window and leaps toward said window summoning up Strix who gets rid of the lasts two Titans. When things calm down, she says she just walked by and overheard that some suits were attacking there room. Never mind she just took a receiver out of her ear and crushed it before bursting into their room. This establishes Zhalia right off the bat as a woman not to be messed with, and perhaps not to be trusted either...
 * Den and Harrison Fears also get their's in their first appearances in season two. Harrison's when we see two bullies playing keep away with himself, showing his resentment and setting up for his eager joining of the Bloodspirals when they recruit him. Den's when we see him positively owning the two bullies who were pushing his younger brother around, even using small manifested Seeker powers on his last punch. Even Zhalia, who's watching near by, seems impressed.
 * Estrogen Brigade Bait: Chiseled Chin? Check. Beard? Check. Broad Shoulders? Check. Long Coat? Check. Dante Vale is definitely potential estrogen brigade bait. At the very least, the look seems to work for Sophie.
 * More like, it works for Zhalia.
 * Enemy Mine: Lok's group, in particularly Sophie, tries this with Mr. Wilder's faction at least twice, in the hopes that they would work together with the Huntik Foundation in battling against the Bloodspirals. He declines both times, saying he'll find a way to control the Bloodspirals and make them work for him, even though he had already sent his loyal member Stak in to infiltrate their ranks and
 * Although they aren't really enemies any more, they also try this with Grier and his faction. It also fails because Grier says he needs to stay and protect his island nation and that he needs to atone for the things in his past he's not proud of. Apparently, saving the world from chaos loving fanatics who wish to destroy it isn't good enough...
 * Everything's Worse With Bears: Grier has Breaker, a Spikes of Villainy-bearing bear Titan.
 * Fashionable Asymmetry: Sophie's outfits tend to have this element.
 * Five-Bad Band:
 * The Organization in season one
 * Big Bad: The Professor
 * The Dragon: Rassimov
 * Evil Genius: Klaus
 * The Brute: Grier
 * Dark Chick: DeFoe
 * Sixth Ranger Traitor:
 * The Bloodspiral Brotherhood aka The Bloodspiral Order
 * Big Bad: Rassimov
 * The Dragon: Rassimov is this to the above spoiler. Shauna and Wind are Co-Dragons to Rassimov
 * Evil Genius: Tantras who recruits and trains the underlings.
 * The Brute: Kiel, Tantras' top student and the one who
 * Dark Chick: Murdock and also Harrison Fears once he joins the Blooded Circle
 * who is quickly assigned Harrison's bodyguard
 * Five-Man Band: Not really, but the creators say it qualifies all the way.
 * The Hero: Lok
 * The Lancer: Dante, due to being a Badass Team Dad.
 * The Smart Guy: Cherit, although a Titan, doesn't have a Seeker.
 * The Big Guy: Zhalia gets most of the strong titans.
 * The Chick: Sophie, as a Love Interest to Lok.
 * Sixth Ranger: Den Fears, who sits in for
 * Fourth Wall Mail Slot: Guggenheim, head of the Huntik Foundation, has a Q&A page on the official Huntik website.
 * Full-Name Basis: Defoe always refers to Dante this way. In fact most people seem to; his name is that cool.
 * Fusion Dance: Powerbonded Kipperin envelopes onto Lok as a sort of armor that he has full control of that flies and can attack. Powerbonded Vigilante also has an optional Cinder Cloak ability.
 * Golem: Metagolem, among a few other golem and golem-like Titans.
 * Heroic BSOD: Dante,
 * This happens to Lok in the second season, when The Betrayer reveals that he.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: It's dubbed in New York, which means that most VA's regularly appear on 4Kids' other shows. Those VA's who aren't New York based include Yuri Lowenthal, who's in everything. It was also Maddie Blaustein's final role.
 * Zhalia is Kallen Nina Fortner.
 * Grier is Xehanort.
 * Jerkass: Lucas Casterwill is not helping Sophie, regardless of what he thinks. Focauld Casterwill the Elder of Knowledge, too. His untrustworthiness definitely doesn't win many friends. Plus the Rune Guardians...and to a lesser extent, Sophie at first...it's not hard to see almost the entire Casterwill family as this sometimes.
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * In season two there's who's used as an example of anyone who plays and/or betrays the Bloodspirals,
 * Lightning Bruiser: Dante is this most of the time.
 * Limited Wardrobe: The gang gets new/slight variations on their outfits in season two, usually in the form of jackets.
 * Locked Out of the Loop: Somewhat frustratingly, Lok's sister, Cathy.
 * Long-Lost Relative: Sophie Casterwill's older brother Lucas Casterwill. Arguably the entire extended family towards each other.
 * Magical Native American: Teeg and Galen being Seekers, though they don't really look the part, especially Teeg.
 * Magic Skirt: Sophie.
 * Manipulative Bastard: It's scary how thoroughly he manipulated the team.
 * Mark of the Beast: All members of the Bloodspiral Brotherhood are branded with a Bloodspiral brand including Den, his brother Harrison, . Den and Harrison seem to have a bond with their's that signal when one is hurt or when they're close to each other. They start becoming Achey Scars towards the end of the season when things start becoming really bad.
 * The Men in Black: The Suits
 * Mad Scientist: Organization member Klaus.
 * The Mole:
 * Lok and the gang find later turns out to be
 * Mons: The Titans.
 * Mooks: The Organization Suits. And the generic Bloodspiral Silent Soldiers who conveniently wear masks.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: does eventually go through this once he realizes how blind and self-centered he's been. Also, Lok during his aforementioned Heroic BSOD.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: the second season is FILLED with these. In order: by defeating the Professor in the way they did in season one, Dante and co. took down the most powerful weapon to defend the world from the Bloodspiral Order; to prevent Mr. Wilder from taking the Willblade, Lok takes it from its hiding place, is summoned, Lucas Casterwill finally appears to explain how The Organization had stolen from him the Titan Void, that, with the recovery attempt leading the Bloodspiral Order to take it away exactly to  ; in one of the last episodes, Lok hits the Bloodspiral Mark with the Willblade to prevent it from being usable to summon the Nullifiers immediately,.
 * No Name Given: Subverted with The Professor who's real name is Simon Judeau, an old friend of Metz and Eathon Lambert. Played Straight with
 * Not So Stoic: In one bit of downtime, Dante and Lok exchange snarky wisecracks about how many trenchcoats Dante goes through...this causes Zhalia to burst out in girly-sounding laughter that visibly surprises the other three.
 * Official Couple: Dante-and-Zhalia and Lok-and-Sophie is what's hinted at. Since this is an Action Series, they don't go farther than that.
 * Parental Abandonment: Sophie, Zhalia, Den and Harrison are all orphans, while Lok lives alone (though he seems to have good relations with his mother, as a few episodes show).
 * Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Sophie and Lok. Besides the color of their clothes, Sophie has the red background in the opening, while Lok has the blue one.
 * Power-Up: When a Seeker and his or her Titan form a strong bond, it's possible for the Titan to become Powerbonded, which comes with new golden armor, a new summon sequence, and more streams of light as well as a new symbol projection from the amulet. In addition, Seekers and Powerbonded Titans have a perfect Psychic Link. During season two, all the Main Characters plus the Anti-Villain get this, though how many and when differs.
 * Put On a Bus: Grier following his promotion.
 * Don't forget Zhalia in the end of episode 17. She eventually returns in the next two episodes.
 * Zhalia starts Commuting On a Bus a third of the way into season two. We see much less of her and her Titans from that point
 * Refusal of the Call: Lok, for all of two minutes, after his initial encounter with Suits and Titans.
 * Reptiles Are Abhorrent: A number of Titans including Zhalia's chameleon Gareon (at first), Defoe's small floating cobra Kreutalk, and Ammit Heart Eater, an alligator-like Titan preferred by Rassimov and the suits under his command.
 * Reverse Mole: In season two, who infiltrates the Bloodspirals to learn of their secrets.  ends up looking after Harrison Fears while doing so.
 * Sequel Hook: In first season, we have . In the second, after the final battle,
 * Shiny Midnight Black: Zhalia.
 * Shout-Out: When Dante throws a suit from a train.
 * Can't forget the sound effect when a summon is triggered. You know, like, the very same one used for a Pokémon's retreat into its Pokéball.
 * Spanner in The Works: Eathon Lambert in season 2:
 * Stock Footage: The animation for Titans as they are summoned.
 * Summon Magic: How the Seekers get their Titans out of the amulets.
 * Smug Snake: Defoe, and by the end of the day, Mr. Wilder.
 * Spoiler Title: Of the no less.
 * Super Empowering: Cherit.
 * The Syndicate: The Organization
 * Taken for Granite: King Basilisk's attack. The victim's Granite status can and has been reversed on a couple of occasions.
 * Tall Dark and Bishojo: Zhalia, hands down.
 * Team Pet: Cherit.
 * Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Sophie and Zhalia, though they get better as time goes on.
 * Tempting Fate: A hilarious example in season 2, episode 14. Den distracts Harrison from the Buzzila's Hive Mother Titan he was guarding, and asks him why he left his post. Harrison replies declaring there are twenty Bloodspiral soldiers and that nobody can defeat them. The following scene shows Dante defeating the last five guards and keeping count.
 * The Chosen Many: The Huntik Foundation's Seekers.
 * Theme Music Power-Up: Accompanies the summoning of the Titans and the Bladecall for the Willblade. There's a set for the good guys' Titans and the for the bad guys. Lok has a recurring one during the second season.
 * Timm Style
 * Took a Level In Badass: Lok, after discovering
 * Whenever a Seeker Powerbonds with a Titan.
 * Travelling At the Speed of Plot: Lok and his friends visit his mother in Kerry, and then head off to Newgrange, in Meath. While they're there, Lok's mother turns up with a picnic basket. From Kerry.
 * True Companions: Lok, Sophie, Dante, Zhalia, and Cherit grow into this by the first season's end. This includes Den as well in the second season after a fashion.
 * What Happened to The Mouse?: though they are implied to  they sorta just disappear after certain poignant episodes, especially
 * Wig, Dress, Accent: Zhalia's usual form of disguise.
 * The Worf Effect: Wilder seems to exist only for this: after spending the firs few episodes giving the heroes an hard time, the Bloodspiral Order makes its debut by trashing him and his mooks. In a mild subversion, he becomes even more dangerous after that before Grier asskicks him out of the stage.
 * Worthy Opponent: Grier for Dante and vice-versa.