Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
The Fantastic Four won't rest until they find whoever tagged The Thing (Pssst: It was Johnny!)

A 2006 animated adaptation of Marvel's First Family: The Fantastic Four, meant to market the team to a new audience who were coming off the 2005 movie and heading into its 2007 sequel (which probably ended up working against the show during its initial broadcast). Produced by French Animation Company "Moonscoop". The name "World's Greatest Heroes" refers to the comics' original tagline, "Worlds Greatest Comic Magazine".

The series as a whole was Lighter and Softer, focusing much more on the Fantastic Four as a sitcom family who happened to go on adventures rather than a team of superheroes who were also a family.

It was story edited by Christopher Yost.


Tropes used in Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes include:
  • Animated Adaptation
  • All Your Powers Combined: Iron Doom in Shell Games. Johnny even lampshades it "Double armor, dude isn't that heavy?"
    • Done also with Super Skrull who has all the powers of the FF.
  • Anime Hair: Johnny suffers the most
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Giant monsters were many in this series.
  • Badass Longcoat: Doom's green longcoat.
  • Big Sister Instinct: In "Trial By Fire" Johnny gets captured by the Kree and a very angry Susan demands that Reed find him. She refuses to listen to his reason and Techno Babble. She just wants to find her brother and who's ass to kick.
  • Blue and Orange Morality: What the Impossible Man runs on.
  • Bluff the Impostor: To a ludicrous extreme when Skrulls impersonate everyone in the Baxter Building; Reed asks questions like "How was it we first met? Five hundred years ago...it was on the moon, wasn't it?"
  • But for Me It Was Tuesday: The Kree Accuser is disgraced and exiled thanks to Johnny in the first episode, 14 later when the Super Skull appears it turns out he allied with this Kree to become a Super Skull, Johnny's reaction even while he and the Kree fight, "You'd be surprised how many blue guys we fight." He NEVER recognizes him.
  • Butt Monkey: HERBIE
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Johnny in "Johnny Storm And The Potion Of Fire"
  • Bratty Half-Pint: A popular child star hangs out at the Baxter Building for an episode.
  • Conspicuous CG: The holographic "4", The Fantasticar and other vehicles
  • The Cameo: Several in "The Cure", Squirrel Girl even makes an appearance!
    • In one episode, Johnny hires a photographer to improve the FF's image; he's never named, but it's obviously Peter Parker.
    • Another episode features a very good-looking Tony Stark.
    • And yet another one has Hank Pym
  • Chest Insignia: Ben is the only one who doesn't have one. So Johnny painted one on his chest.
  • Cool Car: Johnny has many flame-decaled cars, plus the Fantasticar.
  • Cuteness Proximity: In "World's Tiniest Heroes" Sue's wrath is completely diffused by the timely appearance of a dog.

Susan: PUPPY!

  • Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Certain supervillians, including Doom, Trapper and the Wizard could be making a lot of money with the technology they created, which includes antigravity, various glues and energy blasts.
  • Dark-Skinned Redhead: Alicia
  • Doomy Dooms of Doom: The frikkin Mole-Man, who did you think?
  • The Dragon: Lucia von Bardas.
  • Dumb Blonde: Johnny.
  • Precious Puppies
  • Fan Nickname: EmoDoom because of his tendency to brood (well, moreso than usual), and because his design kind of looks like a skinny kid in a hoodie.
  • Flying Firepower: Johnny, what with the flying and the fire balling.
  • Freaky Friday Flip: Reed and Doom in "Doomed"
  • Fridge Logic/Expy: Captain Ultra has flight, super strength, and eye beams. He seems like a good replacement for Ben now that he is cured except he has a crippling fear of fire, so much so a single lit thumbs up for Johnny gives him a panic attack. The Expy should be obvious, the Fridge...the Human Torch is the one who set up the auditions. Somehow I doubt that Ultra put his fear of fire on his resume. As for why he auditioned for a team with a guy that sets himself on fire, thats another problem entirerly...
    • Captain Ultra is a real original Marvel character, who originally tried to get a job with the evil FF, the Fearful Four, back in the late 60's. And yes, he would faint at the sight of fire then too.
  • Foreshadowing: While the show never got another season, the Impossible Man's hope about what would happen to Earth is an obvious allusion to a big part of the Fantastic Four's Rogues Gallery, what does he say?

Impossible Man: I hope your planet gets eaten!

  • Gainaxing: In "Worlds Tiniest Heroes", when one of the monsters jump at Susan, if you look close enough, you can see a bit of a bounce.
  • Great Gazoo: Impossible Man.
  • He's Big in Japan Quoted in-universe by the Human torch in Frightful.

I'm moving to Japan, I'm big in Japan.

Human Torch Hungry!
Thing Smash!

Mole Man: (to Reed) Must you prattle on?
Ben': Hey! Only we get to say stuff like that.

Reed Richards: HA! Take that, MAGIC! Hem. It was all scientifically explained.

Reed: "Smartest man on earth." Please!

Tony: You know, this is a very high-tech building. We have things called doors.

Sue: "I know, I know: we're the Worst. Neighbors. Ever. Right?"