Cyberchase

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Cyberchase is an Edutainment Show that began airing in 2002 on PBS. As of the end of 2019, it was in its 12th season.

The series revolves around a trio of kids, Jackie, Inez, and Matt, and their robotic bird friend (known as a "cyboid") Digit, who go Inside the Internet. They have been called upon by Motherboard to help defend and repair Cyberspace from the evil schemes of The Hacker, who is not a playful one, or even human, but an evil cyborg whose goal is to conquer all of Cyberspace and spread chaos. The Hacker used to be Motherboard's assistant; however, he tried to destroy her by downloading a virus into her. Luckily, her firewall was able to stop the damage from being too severe, but still left her in a weakened state, thus forcing her to recruit Jackie, Matt, and Inez from Earth to help defend Cyberspace.

Most episodes involve the children traveling to a unique "Cybersite" (a planet-like body in Cyberspace) to thwart the Hacker's latest scheme. The original general Story Arc involved the kids trying to retrieve a new and rare Encryptor Chip (a device of Motherboard's destroyed by Hacker's virus, that would enable her to completely recover). Recent seasons have shifted focus to Hacker trying to reverse his decayed villain image, and a newer villain, Ledge, trying to usurp Hacker's spot as the top villain in Cyberspace.

On PBS airings, the episodes end with a live-action segment (called "Cyberchase For Real"), where a pair of recurring characters (Harry and Bianca) and their recurring nemeses (Harley and Sleazé) demonstrate how the episode's math lesson can be used in their own lives.

Character sheet currently in construction.

Tropes used in Cyberchase include:

Matt: "Okay, okay Nezzie!"
Inez: "Don't call me Nezzie...Matthew."

Jackie: Cyberspace is doomed, doomed I tell you, DOOOOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-OOMED!
Matt: And the award for best dramatic outburst of the day goes to... Jackie!

  • Leitmotif: Listen for a soft techno beat when the kids go into educational mode. Familiar to those with dial-up Internet.
    • The victory theme.
    • Crisis Zone.
    • Buzz and Delete's theme.
  • Lucky Rabbit's Foot: One episode had Hacker attempting to kidnap a rabbit to complete his lucky charm collection.
  • MacGuffin: the Encryptor Chip, at least in the early seasons
  • Magic Skirt: Jackie's small blue skirt/skort.
  • Meganekko: Inez and Shari Spotter.
  • Mook Face Turn: Digit used to work for Hacker, but joins Motherboard's side when he learns of Hacker's evil doings.
  • Nice Character, Mean Actor: Digit idolized the current champion of "The Fearless Chef" (a cross over between Iron Chef and The Amazing Race) but when Jackie and Inez tried to rescue him after he was kidnapped, he was quickly revealed as a bit of a Jerkass.
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: "That's THE Hacker to you!"
  • The Napoleon: Inez does not take kindly to being called small or any of its synonyms.
    • Interestingly in an episode about proportion, she has no problem whatsoever with calling herself the smallest (the kids were comparing footprints).
  • Nelvana
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the very first episode, "Lost your Marbles", we learn that it was the kids' attempt to use a library map that allowed Hacker to breach Motherboard's defenses.
  • No Ending: The last episode ever made of Cyberchase was the good guys and Hacker teaming against a new villain, Ledge.
  • Pet the Dog: Anytime Hacker decides to show he has a heart.
  • Pig Latin: In "Codename: Icky" when Matt (attempts) to use a code to talk to Inez and Jackie
  • PiP Animation Services
  • Planet of Hats: Pretty much every cybersite. Perhaps Justified in that they're based off websites.
  • Polly Wants a Microphone
  • Power Crystal:
    • The Crystal of Kalmoor.
    • The Prism of Penguia.
  • The Power of Friendship
  • Power Trio and Token Trio, varied by having two girls.
  • Pull the Thread
  • Putting on My Thinking Cap: Jackie paces, Inez does a headstand, Matt plays with his yo-yo. Occasionally, Digit's little ball floating above his head will flash.
  • Put on a Bus: Dr. Marbles was extremely prominent in the first few seasons, but his last appearance was in the sixth season, and he hasn't appeared at all in the last two.
  • Running Gag: Hacker's wig gel, all of the Earth kids' catchphrases, Wicked's jealousy, Sam Vander Rom and Erica Ram
  • Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness:
    • Inez is about as sesquipedalian as a nine-year old can get.
    • Creech can get like this too. In fact, it's how they met in the Tikiville race episode. Matt and Jackie decided to make fun of Inez's vocabulary which led to her quitting the Cybersquad temporarily and working with Creech for most of Creech's introduction episode.
  • Shangri La: The cybersite Shangri-La and Master Pi
  • Shout-Out: Swipe is reported to have stolen the ram from King Ramalamadingdong and the dip from Queen Dipdedipdedip, both references to "Who Put the Bomp" by Barry Mann.
    • Mr. Zero laments that people think he is a nowhere man.
    • Let's not forget that in the very first episode, when Motherboard introduces herself to the kids, Inez responds with, "Yeah and I'm Xena: Warrior Princess." Also in the same episode, the kids end up on an island and Matt doesn't know where to go. Inez asks if someone will please just vote her off this island. Jackie replies, telling Inez not to worry because they have a way to survive.
    • Shari Spotter and Professor Stumblesnore; also the episode title "Harriet Hippo and the Mean Green"
    • Ada Lovelace → Lady Ada Byron Lovelace
    • "The Borg of the Ring"
  • Shorter Means Smarter: Well, Buzz is shorter and smarter than Delete, but neither of them are smart compared to the other characters. Additionally, Inez is The Smart Guy of the the three main characters and the smallest (but she doesn't like being reminded of that), but in this case, all of them are smart.
  • Sixth Ranger: Slider, who appears occasionally with the others.
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Falls firmly on the idealistic side, with occasional forays into cynic territory for about 5 minutes.
  • Spell My Name with a "The": "That's "The Hacker" to you!" Serves as one of the page quotes.
  • Status Quo Is God: Immediately after major events (like Hacker taking control from Motherboard for a time), everything goes straight back to the kids foiling Hacker's plans
  • Stephanie Beard: as Creech
  • Summon Everyman Hero: Three Earth kids sent Inside the Internet.
  • Surrounded by Idiots: Hacker
  • Team Pet: Digit to a certain extent.
  • Three Amigos: Except in this case, it's made up of two girls and one boy.
  • Totally Radical: Radopolis's hat.
    • More. If you read the kids' profiles Matt's favorite music is "anything by Will Smith". Seriously?
    • Basically, this show is from the early 2000s and it shows.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Donuts for Buzz.
  • Turned Against Their Masters: Dr. Marbles built Hacker. Hacker built Digit.
  • Two Girls and a Guy
  • Twofer Token Minority: The entire human cast. We've got a black girl, a Hispanic girl, and -- oddly enough for this genre -- the sole male human is also white.
  • Ultimate Job Security: Motherboard, Dr. Marbles
  • Unholy Matrimony: Wicked and Hacker are like this
  • Unspoken Plan Guarantee
  • Up the Real Rabbit Hole: Cybercitizens will call Earth "the real world" and kind of logical in a way. Since they're generally in the company of or are speaking to Earthlings when they do this, it is the real world to those same Earthlings and they wouldn't want to confuse them. Possibly a case of Pandaing to the Audience.
  • Vanishing Village
  • Vetinari Job Security: The reason why Motherboard needs Doctor Marbles so badly? He's the only one that can fix her, providing the Ultimate Job Security. Not that this prevents him being Put on a Bus...
    • In one episode, the drum player from one of the best bands on Mount Olympus was kidnapped and convinced by Hacker that he'd be better appreciated as a solo act. The rest of the team were already thinking of of dumping him, as they didn't think that he added anything to the band. Turned out, he was the most important member, since he seems to be the only one who can keep the proper rhythm pattern (the day's lesson) and without him, the music was awful. The band player is eventually convinced to come back and he reunites with his bandmates, who finally realize how important he is.
  • Western Animation
  • With a Friend and a Stranger
  • Xanatos Gambit: Hacker bids against the kids for the Encryptor Chip at an auction, but the kids manage to take it. Then they find out that Hacker modified the chip to infect Motherboard, replacing her with a copy of himself.
  • You Mean "Xmas": "Starlight Night"
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