Carmen Sandiego: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Carmen_Sandiego.jpg|frame]]
{{quote|''Well, she glides around the globe and she'll flimflam every nation''
''She's a double-dealing diva with a taste for thievery''
''Her itinerary's [[
''Tell me, where in the world is... Carmen Sandiego?''
|Rockapella's [[Crowning Music of Awesome|"Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"]]}}
[[Edutainment Game]] series created by now-defunct [[Broderbund Software]] in 1985. The series became phenomenally successful in the [[The Nineties|1990s]], spawning no fewer than ''three'' television shows, two on [[PBS]] and one on [[FOX]], then falling into obscurity shortly around the [[Turn of the Millennium]] before resurrecting around [[The New Tens]], starting on FaceBook. The series is now owned by the Learning Company, which hasn't made a new ''Carmen Sandiego'' game since the World Trade Center was still standing, though it did license the character for ''Secret of the Stolen Drums'', released in 2004 for home consoles.<ref>There was a DS game released in 2009, see [[No Export for You]] in the Trivia tab.</ref> There probably have been plenty of games released, and Carmen just ''stole them all''.
The standard case involves an educational quest to find [[MacGuffin|The Loot]], [[Artistic License: Law|The Warrant]] and The Crook.
TV shows in the franchise include:
* ''[[Where in
* ''[[Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?]]
* ''[[Where
Carmen Sandiego is an International thief, and it's down to the Interpol-esque ACME Detective Agency to stop her plans. Fortunately, she plays [[Criminal Mind Games]] with her pursuers to provide the obligatory [[Alphabet Soup Cans]]. But don't worry; she's a [[Friendly Enemy]] — at least [[Depending
Her [[Backstory]]? Carmen was a star ACME agent until she decided that catching crooks was just too darn easy. Therefore, she did a [[Face Heel Turn]] and became a [[Gentleman Thief|Gentlewoman Thief]]. Then she decided to have [[Fun
Given a massive [[Darker and Edgier]] [[Homage]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20100527230953/http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1747610 here]. It's now playable [http://www.facebook.com/carmensandiego on FaceBook] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20120307070531/http://www.hmheducation.com/games/index.php coming to WiiWare].
[[Netflix]] released a new version of the animated series in spring of 2019, casting Carmen as an [[Anti-Hero]] type, with [[Gina Rodriguez]] as the title role.
* [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality]]: In ''Great Chase Through Time'', the manual points out that you couldn't ''really'' have spoken to any of the people (except ''maybe'' a few in English-speaking areas). You also really couldn't have been able to approach any of the royalty figures and have a chat with them. And [[Yuri Gagarin]] probably wouldn't have been too eager to help a couple of Americans who decide to help him launch into space — you and Ivan would have been arrested in a ''heartbeat'' in addition to Carmen. ▼
{{franchisetropes}}
* [[Academy of Evil]]: In the Netflix version, V.I.L.E. is a school for thieves, where Carmen (who was called "Black Sheep" at the time) was a student of before turning on them.
▲* [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality]]: In ''Great Chase Through Time'', the manual points out that you couldn't ''really'' have spoken to any of the people (except ''maybe'' a few in English-speaking areas). You also really couldn't have been able to approach any of the royalty figures and have a chat with them. And [[Yuri Gagarin]] probably wouldn't have been too eager to help a couple of Americans who decide to help him launch into space — you and Ivan would have been arrested in a ''heartbeat'' in addition to Carmen.
** It is possible that the same device used to talk to people of all different languages all over the world in "Where in the World..." is also in use during "Great Chase...", but as for the other issues, yeah, acceptable breaks...
* [[Acme Products]]: Possibly parodied, as the name is given to a detective agency rather than a product.
* [[All There in the Manual]]: In a rather strange variation, some of the background information for the Acme detectives introduced in ''Treasures of Knowledge'' appears in the manual for ''Secret of the Stolen Drums''.
** For that matter, a lot of information in "Great chase through time" is in the manual. Justified as you are ''supposed'' to read the Chronopedia.
* [[Alphabet Soup Cans]]: Newer games are generally worse offenders here than the earlier ones.
** Justifiable in the sense that you are trying to find a culprit, so are gathering evidence to suggest where they went. Some clues make sense, such as they describe where the suspect is going, but other times it seems rather contrived, such as naming the country where something was invented or finding the birthplace of a celebrity.
** "Great chase through time" also has a few justifiable examples; such as where one must use the accounting systems employed by the Incans, put movable type on the right way (Mind you this was backwards) or properly balance a brick of salt with gold to make a fair trade. A few were rather contrived though - in 1776 for example, you give Thomas Jefferson some paper so he can draft the Declaration of Independence before taking it to Continental Congress. Somehow in the trip, he ''completely forgets'' which order he wrote what clauses on.
* [[Alternate Continuity]]: [[FOX]]'s ''Where on Earth...'' series appears to have its own continuity. The two PBS shows may be set in [[The Verse|the same universe]], but that's not too clear since they have [[No Fourth Wall]] and are [[Game Show|game shows]]. And don't even try to figure out which of the computer games take place in the same universe...
** It could be said ''Treasures of Knowledge'', ''Secret of the Stolen Drums'', and the [[No Export for You|DS game]] do form one continuity as they share a few common characters and Carmen's backstory, but the games can be played without [[Continuity Lock Out]] being an issue.
* [[Ambiguously Evil]]: Carmen has been up and down the whole [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Villains]]. The most malicious she's been is in the game show ''Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego'', while the ''least'' malicious is likely the 2019 remake, where her victims are other crooks.
* [[Awesome McCoolname]]: Chase Devineaux from the ''Word Detective'', ''Math Detective'', and ''ThinkQuick Challenge'' games. Shadow Hawkins from ''Treasures of Knowledge'' is actually a subversion, the [[All There in the Manual|manual]] for ''Secret of the Stolen Drums'' reveals Shadow's real name is [[Gender Blender Name|Shannon]]. ▼
* [[Awesome McCoolname]]: Carmen herself, for starters.
* [[Badass in A Nice Suit]]: Carmen Sandiego's signature [[Lady in Red|red]] [[Badass Longcoat]] and [[Nice Hat|fedora]].▼
** Chase Devineaux from the ''Word Detective'', ''Math Detective'', and ''ThinkQuick Challenge'' games.
▲*
▲* [[Badass in
* [[Big Bad Friend]]: The Facebook version occasionally enlists [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|people from the player's friends list]] as some of Carmen's mooks.
* [[Broken Bridge]]: ''Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time'' and ''Treasures of Knowledge''
* [[Brought Down To Badass]]: The Netflix series makes Carmen seem far more mortal, possibly necessary to make her a complex character with an equally complex backstory. She's no longer the [[Invincible Villain]] she used to be, as she can be hurt (even getting the crud beaten out of her in the Season 1 finale by her former [[Evil Mentor]]), she can no longer transverse the globe instantly (relying on conventional means of transportation(, and while still a master thief, all her heists are within the bounds of possibility.
* [[Canon Immigrant]]: ''Where on Earth'' established Carmen's [[Backstory]] as a former Acme detective, adopted by later games in the franchise.
* [[Cardboard Prison]]: Extremely blatant: Carmen gets captured at the end of every computer game and maybe 30% to 50% of the time on the PBS game shows. Despite this, she's at large in the next game/episode. This also applies to many of the lesser villains.
** So you captured all of the villains in ''Great Chase Through Time'', right? [[Your Princess Is in Another Castle|Carmen comes in and breaks them out of prison. ]]
* [[Classy Cat Burglar]]: Carmen's practically an archetype.
* [[Collection Sidequest]]: Finding all 450 amulets in ''Secret of the Stolen Drums''. Not necessary for [[
* [[Copy Protection]]: Horrible, horrible copy protection. Arguably some of the most frustrating of all time. You can play all you want, but to get promoted and even have a chance to capture Carmen, you have to enter certain words from certain pages of the included travel guides every few cases. Sound easy enough? Then remember that these games were incredibly common in schools...where the manuals would often get ''lost.'' And even the teachers couldn't exactly summon new copies of a travel guide (now often several years, if not a decade) out of date at will...
** ''Where in Time...'' came with a hefty paperback ''desk encyclopedia'' in the box.
*** Ironically enough, the later CD games had no protection at all.
** At least with ''World'', the reference was an Almanac; most of the information in one of those can now be found on [[The Other Wiki|Wikipedia]]. ''Europe'' used an atlas and asked questions about what color country X on page Y was. Have fun guessing!
* [[Criminal Mind Games]]
* [[Da Chief]]: Who the protagonist in the games answers to.
** The game show has a rare female version of the Trope as the emcee.
** The first cartoon averts the Trope, as the Chief is a pretty mellow [[The Wonka| (and kind of spacey)]] computer A.I.
** In the [[Netflix]] version, Da Chief seems to be a composite, having the personality and looks of the one from the game show with the high-tech theme of the one from the first cartoon.
* [[Difficulty Levels]]: In ''Word Detective'', ''Math Detective'' and the awful ''ThinkQuick Challenge'' games
* [[Disc One Final Boss|Disc One Final Case]]: Johan Gutenburg's Printing Press case in "Great chase through time". You appeared to have caught every case...yet you're still in the 15th century, and there's another disc. Not to mention, Dee Cryption is still out-[[Plot Hole|Oh wait.]]
* [[Equal Opportunity Evil]]
* [[Expy]]: Most likely an unintentional example, but Ivan Idea from the v3.0 games/''Great Chase'', Ben from the junior novels, Shadow Hawkins from ''Treasures of Knowledge'', and Adam Shadow from the DS game share similar traits with Zack from the cartoon (blonde-haired male detectives who happen to be tech-savvy). However, Adam borders on being not just an expy but also a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] - not only does [http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9550/wallpapercarmen1.jpg his default outfit] looks near identical to [http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4162/zackconceptart.jpg Zack's outfit], considering the DS game is set in the same continuity as ''Treasures of Knowledge'', Shadow is nowhere to be seen.
* [[Face Heel Turn]]: Carmen, way back when...
* [[Failed a Spot Check]]: In "Great Space through time", you have to arrest criminals in rather...obvious places. (See [[Idiot Ball]]) At least some spots make a bit of sense. (Such as how one time, Buggs Zapper is hiding underneath a table that has a cloth over it, or where Jane Reaction is hiding inside a bag attached to a llama.)
* [[Feelies]]: The oldest games in the series from the 1980s and very early '90s
* [[Fetch Quest]]: ''Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time'', ''Word Detective'', ''Math Detective'' and ''Treasures of Knowledge''
* [[For the Evulz]]
{{quote|
* [[Friendly Enemy]]: Carmen, especially in the ''Earth'' continuity
* [[Fun with Acronyms]]: V.I.L.E. stands for Villains International League of Evil in the video games, game show, and first cartoon. This is also true in the Netflix series, but the name "Valuable Imports, Lavish Exports" is used as a front.
* [[Genre Shift]]: ''Secret of the Stolen Drums'' is a platformer, which is a far cry from previous games in the series.
** A more minor example is ''Where in Time/Great Chase Through Time''. The original ''Where in Time'' from the 1980s played very much like ''Where in the World'', only with picking the correct time period in addition to the location; ''Great Chase Through Time'' plays more like an adventure-lite game in the vein of [[Monkey Island]].
* [[Gentleman Thief]]: Carmen is a female version
* [[Guide Dang It]]: There are a few examples where they give a rather obscure hint that's not explained in-game because you're supposed to look in the guide book. The
** Only in one case of "Great chase through time". You have to find a
* [[He Who Must Not Be Seen]]: The Chief of Acme Detective Agency is a mysterious, shadowy character in the early games.
** Unless the Chief is Lynne Thigpen.
** Or a posh British gentleman.
** Or the Hologram Chief from "Earth" cartoon.
* [[Hidden Villain]]: In most of the original games, Carmen would only become involved if the player was promoted to the highest tier ranking - naturally, this was the chance needed to nab her.
* [[Horny Vikings]]: ''Where in Time/Great Chase'' lampshades this. If you click on a helmet in one part of the Viking level, your guide will mention this trope, and a nearby Viking will scoff at the idea of horned helmets.
* [[How We Got Here]]: ''Secret of the Stolen Drums'' starts out with Cole explaining why he failed to obey the Chief's orders to return to headquarters. Repeatedly.
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** The Beethoven one deserves plenty of mention...for one, the crook was technically hiding in ''plain sight'', Jacquelin Hyde had a ''sousaphone'' in an orchestra. Shouldn't Renee Santz have ''spotted'' something was up ''immediately''? (Beethoven pointed out that it sounded odd.)
** All of the early games had [[Idiot Ball]] in the form of the battery-powered translator. With no spare batteries. Or, say, a charger.
* [[Impossible Thief]]: The [[Trope Codifier]]. In addition to landmarks and buildings, she can steal things like lakes and rivers, imaginary features like the International Date Line, and concepts like languages and alphabetical order. She's stolen all the salt from the Dead Sea, and the Mona Lisa's ''smile''. She even managed to steal Saturn's rings.
** The Netflix series, however, notably averts this. While Carmen is able to filch jewels from the most heavily-guarded vaults, her thefts are at least within the bounds of possibility. Her most elaborate heist was the complete works of Verneer.
* [[
** [[Handwaved]] in one of the
*** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjRw6XZhgf8 Gets taken to a ludicrous degree] in ''Secret of the Stolen Drums'' where Cole figures out Carmen's fled to France just because she spoke French - [[Fridge Logic|never mind the fact French is the official language of at least 29 countries]].
** Subverted in the Facebook game, the clues point to a specific city within a given country as some countries have multiple locations. [[Word of God|The developers]] [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32992/Interview_Making_Friends_With_Carmen_Sandiego_On_Facebook.php confirmed] the game was created with the mindset that people would use Google for the clues.
* [[Joker Immunity]]: While difficult, it's ''possible'' to catch Carmen, but nobody will ''ever'' be able to hold her for long. In the game show, a contestant winning the bonus round meant she was apprehended and arrested, but she'd free herself before the next episode. They've yet to make a jail she can't slip out of.
* [[Just Like Robin Hood]]: Carmen specifically targets other criminals in the 2019 version.
* [[Monumental Theft]]: She used to be the [[Trope Namer]], because when she isn't committing them, she's sending out her henchmen to do so.
* [[Mooks]]: Carmen has quite a few of these.
* [[Nice Hat]]: Carmen's ever-present wicked-cool red fedora; she has been known to leave it behind as a "calling card" at the scene of her crimes, when she's especially proud of her work.
** The Netflix series reveals that the hat led to her naming herself; she stole it and the fedora in order to escape from V.I.L.E., and was about to throw it away when Player - her accomplice - told her she'd need a passport. She noticed the label inside the hat said "Carmen Brand Outerwear" and "Made in San Diego", so she decided to keep it, calling herself Carmen Sandiego from then on.
* [[No Name Given]]: The chief of Acme Detective Agency is unnamed beyond the title of Chief.
** One series of Carmen Sandiego junior novels named the Chief Velma. She was made an aunt of one of the [[Kid Detective|Kid Detectives]] and seems to have been loosely based on Lynne Thigpen's portrayal on the game show.
** The Chief in the DS game was named Margaret O'Hara.
* [[Pet the Dog]]: One episode of the Fox series establishes Carmen has a deep fondness for ''[[
** Not to mention, the Fox series apparently states that Carmen doesn't want to ''hurt'' the ACME Detectives.
* [[Player Versus Player]]: ''Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge''
* [[Plot Hole]]: You don't arrest Dee Cryption in Disc 1 of ''Great Chase Through Time''. And yet you see her in jail...how'd she get in there?
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** Just for fun, have a gander at the following baddie names from the [[Choose Your Own Adventure]] book ''Where In Space Is Carmen Sandiego?'': Bea Miupscotti, Avery Littlebit Phelps, Morton U. Bargandfore, Kit Incaboodle, Astro Fizzix, and Hanover Fist.
** For the Facebook game, it's initially [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] as most of the crooks have mundane names. It's played straight once you start solving the Hard cases that [[Punny Name]] criminals start showing.
* [[Race Lift]]: Carmen is usually unambiguously Hispanic, but at times she has been changed to a paler skin tone. Arguably she just gets turned into a [[Mukokuseki]] type lighter skinned Hispanic though.
▲* [[Re Boot]]: The recent [[Wii Ware]] games.
* [[Recycled in Space]]: ''Where In Space Is Carmen Sandiego'', naturally. Thankfully the game is a good example of this trope because it was one of the best in the series.
* [[Red Baron]]: Carmen's been referred many times as the Queen of Crime, and less often as the Duchess of Thievery.
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* [[Rogues Gallery]]: V.I.L.E. in the PBS shows
* [[Saving the World]]
* [[Shout
** The Chief looks very much like Lynne Thigpen from the game shows, specifically ''Where in the World''.
** Carmen's wanted poster references lyrics from the theme song to the [[Where in
** While Carmen has yet to make an actual appearance, her characterization and described appearance from the various papers on the bulletin board and databases share similarities with how Carmen was portrayed on ''Where on Earth''. Even the logo for the Facebook game looks similar to the logo from ''Where on Earth''. [[Word of God]] has not confirmed this, though.
* [[Spell My Name
* [[Spy Catsuit]]: Carmen wears one in ''ThinkQuick Challenge'' as an alternate outfit to her red [[Badass Longcoat|trenchcoat]] and [[Nice Hat]].
* [[Supervillain Lair]]: Carmen occasionally has one of these.
** In ''Word Detective'' and ''Math Detective'', you teleport between various V.I.L.E. hideouts around the world (and one, from ''Math Detective'', in outer space) to find the games needed to unlock the [[Plot Coupon|Plot Coupons]].
* [[Surrounded
* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: While every ''Carmen'' TV show and game has its own cast of characters, many fulfill similar niches.
** Scientists: Dr. Belljar, Sarah Bellum, Jane Reaction
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** [[The Pig Pen]]: Hugh Stink, Top Grunge
** Hackers: Dee Cryption, Cy Berpunk, Telly Phone
** [
* [[Take Your Time]]: Sorry for the pun, but in ''Great Chase Through Time'', quite literally.
* [[Time Police]]: Whole point of ''Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?'' and ''Where in America's Past'' as well.
* [[Time Travel]]: ''Where in Time'' and ''America's Past'', obviously, and there were time machines in ''Where On Earth''.
* [[Trademark Favorite Food]]: Tacos, something established as early as the first game. In most games, identifying a suspect's food preference was one of several clues you would need to identify him or her, and if the suspect was Carmen herself, the right choice would be "Tex/Mex".
* [[Unwinnable
* [[Unwinnable By Mistake]]: In ''Great Chase Through Time'', it's possible to trigger a glitch that'll make the mission unwinnable. Before you can arrest the thief, you have to assemble a "Carmen Note" which tells you where the thief is hiding. In the Aztec Empire level, you have to assemble a headdress for Montezuma, and when you complete it and add it to your inventory, a Carmen note appears. However, if you give the headdress to Ann Tikwitee when taken from your inventory, another one will spawn on the wall, meaning you have to take it again to get the Carmen note. You give it to Montezuma...but you still give it to your inventory and you're not allowed to leave the room, making the game unwinnable.
* [[Updated Rerelease]]
* [[Victory Pose]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge''
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* [[Villain Based Franchise]]
* [[You All Look Familiar]]: The bystanders in the 1996 versions of ''Where in the World...'' and ''Where in the USA...''
{{reflist}}
{{World Video Game Hall of Fame}}
[[Category:The Nineties]]
[[Category:Edutainment Game]]
[[Category:Apple II]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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