Futurama/Tropes A To D: Difference between revisions

* [[Zero-Percent Approval Rating]]: The ultimate summary of Bender's tenure as pharaoh.

* [[20% More Awesome]]: When the Planet Express crew see the [[Beastie Boys]] (or their heads) in concert, Leela marvels, "They're bustin' mad rhymes with an 80 percent success rate."

* [[Abnormal Ammo]]: During "Anthology of Interest, Part I"'s first segment, in which Bender asked what life would be like if he were over 500 feet tall, things quickly devolved into a [[Kaiju]] [[It Makes Sense in Context|battle between a 500-foot-tall Zoidberg and Bender.]] The weapons they decide to use? Zoidberg decides to use a section of a subway as nunchucks, while Bender takes a section of the highspeed onramp and uses the people in it and around him as blow-darts.

* [[Action Girl]]: Leela.

** When Fry visits the deserted remains of Old New York, he shouts, "Howard Stern is overrated!". Billy West was a member of the Howard Stern Show for several years.

** From "Silence of the Clamps," when Bender's friends are looking for him at a farm, and they find a Bending Unit whom they believe to be Bender:

'''Bending Unit:''' Sorry mister, but I'm no Bender. I'm just a simple farmer. Name's [[Billy West]]!<br />

'''Fry:''' ''*laughs*'' [[Hypocritical Humor|Billy West? That's a]] [[Fail O'Suckyname|stupid phoney made-up name.]] }}

** Professor Farnsworth creates dozens of boxes which act as gateways to parallel universes. Each one of those universes has doorways to all the other universes. [[Mind Screw|That sound was your brain overloading.]] And it doesn't help that in the end, two of the universes end up with the boxes to their ''own universe.''

** "The Beast With a Billion Backs" reveals the existence of yet another universe, this one accessible from a tear in the fabric of space-time. It is home to only one sentient being: Yivo, the infinitely huge, love-lorn ball of [[Naughty Tentacles]].

** Another episode has Farnsworth, Fry, and Bender get into a time machine that only goes forward. They discover that {{spoiler|when the universe ends it is replaced by another, identical universe (except Farnsworth killing [[Adolf Hitler]]). They end up returning to their correct time period in a THIRD identical universe, inadvertently killing that universe's version of themselves as well as Eleanor Roosevelt instead of Hitler.}}

* [[All the Good Men Are Gay]]:

** A Gym Bunny offers Leela a walk on the beach, and immediately claims that he's gay when she says yes. A double whammy. He's actually a professional beach bully who steals women away from their boyfriends so the men can heroically win them back in a fight; Leela invites him on the walk after Fry refuses to pay him for his services, as [[She Is Not My Girlfriend|Leela is not his girlfriend.]]

** The gang is at a club, and Bender's built-in gaydar shoots down the girls' hopes when they see good looking men. It might have been interference from a gay weather balloon...

* [[Almost Kiss]]:

** Happens with Fry and Leela twice: Once in "A Flight to Remember" and again in "Xmas Story".

* [[And the Adventure Continues...]]: In the fourth film ''Into the Wild Green Yonder'', once many of the hanging romantic plot threads are tied up, {{spoiler|the Planet Express crew is on the run from the Earth military. However, they come across a massive wormhole. Professor Farnsworth warns that it could transport them trillions of light years away, with no hope of returning to Earth. Despite this, crew enthusiastically decides to fly into it anyway.}} It's then completely averted when the series was brought back again.

* [[And the Rest]]: In the episode ''Less Than Hero'' where Fry, Leela and Bender form a crime-fighting trio called Captain Yesterday, Cloberella and Superking. Their theme tune becomes:

** It also occurs in "Rebirth":

'''Fry:''' And the rest! }}

* [[And You Were There]]: Parodied in "Anthology of Interest II," where Leela tells Fry that she had a wonderful dream, "...except you were there, and you were there, and you were there!"

* [[Anticlimax]]: There are many moments of this in the series.

** The ending scene of ''Into The Wild Green Yonder'' {{spoiler|where the main characters are on the run from the law and to escape, they flee into a gigantic wormhole which is to take them light-years away without anyway of knowing if they can return. Originally intended to by the final scene of the series, it is made dramatic by having Leela and Fry kiss for the first time as the ship flies into the wormhole and it morphs into the familiar pattern of lights shown in the opening sequence of each episode}}. In the first episode of the renewed season, a [[Snap Back]] is pulled and the characters find themselves back at Earth as they come out of the wormhole.

** In Season 6, {{spoiler|Mom's plan to turn people into zombies}} ends up being this too (and again, bloody hilarious).

* [[Anti-Gravity Clothing]]: In [[Homage]] to ''[[The Jetsons]]''.

* [[A Worldwide Punomenon]]: Invoked in-universe with the "Goofy Gopher Revue" from "The Series Has Landed".

** The show has plenty, but possibly none so great as when visiting the President's heads in season 6.

'''George H. W. Bush's head and George W. Bush's heads:''' [[Big No|No!]] }}

* [[Axe Crazy]]: Roberto, the criminally insane, psychotic stab-bot.

* [[The "B" Grade]]: The reason that Professor Wernstrom hates Professor Farnsworth is because Farnsworth gave him an "A" minus in college because "Penmanship counts." Wernstrom takes revenge decades later by giving Farnsworth's failed plan ''the worst grade imaginable!''--an "A" minus minus.

* [[Bad Bad Acting]]: Fry's episode of "Single Female Lawyer", the cast's interference with Calculon's wedding (soap opera style), Bender's audition for "All My Circuits".

* [[Being Good Sucks]]

* [[Beleaguered Assistant]]: Kif is practically the poster boy for it.

'''Brannigan:''' You. You lay out my formal shorts. }}

** Lampshaded in ''Into the Wild Green Yonder'':

* [[Beneficial Disease]]: In "Parasites Lost", eating a bad sandwich gives Fry worms that rebuild his body, making him stronger and smarter.

* [[Berserk Button]]: The three Benders make fun of the ugly alien giant for being ugly which he accepts, but Fry's big mistake when he talks about his mother.

** Fry cuts loose with one after invading aliens destroy his sand castle.

** [[Large Ham]] acting unit Calculon has one in one of his movies. The whole clip is just the Big No, and yet he says it needs no context. It's then hilariously [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]]:

* clip of Calculon belting a [[Big No]] while a pirate, [[Pirate Parrot|parrot and all]], flips burgers on a barbeque in the background.* <br />

'''Calculon''': Interesting side note: the script called for me to say "Yes", but I gave it a little twist. }}

** The newest season likes this trope. First Fry did this when {{spoiler|the censoring satellite V-Giny refused to censor Leela and Zapp's copulation}}. Then the Professor did one when he realized he'd lived to see the day when {{spoiler|Amy and Bender got engaged}}. And most recently {{spoiler|and more seriously}}, Bender had this reaction when {{spoiler|he learned that he didn't have a back-up unit and will die one day}}.

[[Skyward Scream|Noooooo!!!]] }}

** In "A Flight to Remember", there's one from Bender after losing Countess de la Roca in the black hole while evacuating from the Titanic(also sucked in the black hole), and one from Hermes in his flashback from the 2980 Olympics when one of his fans attempts to limbo the stick, which is very low, causing him to break his back.

* [[Bizarrchitecture]]:

** When Fry and Bender are looking for a new apartment, and get a tour of Relativity.

** An elevator that moves the building up and down. Complete with people screaming like its a carnival ride.

** The Central Bureaucracy has a giant Rubik's Cube made out of smaller Rubik's Cubes, which are in turn made out of offices. [[Stealth Pun|So a Rubik's Cubicle]].

** "Prepare to be boarded again and again."

* [[Blackmail Is Such an Ugly Word]]:

* [[The Blank]]: "The Farnsworth Parabox" - When the group is going through various alternate universes, the alternate Amy stumbles upon a universe where everyone is faceless.

* [[Blatant Lies]]: "Good news, everyone!"

* [[Blind Idiot Translation]]: The German dub suffers from this - starting even before Fry gets frozen. "Doomsday Prophets cautiously upbeat" - "Weltuntergangspropheten vorsichtig verprügelt" (which translates back to English as 'End of the world prophets beaten up carefully').

* [[Boot Camp Episode]]: Fry and Bender enlist in order to take advantage of a discount for recruits, with the understanding that they can quit unless "War were declared". Three seconds later, [[Not My Lucky Day|"War were declared."]]

* [[Borrowed Catchphrase]]:

'''Scruffy:''' Bite my shiny metal ass. ''(the graph rises)'' }}

* [[Brain In a Jar]]: Heads, actually, typically involving present-day celebrities (such as the pickled head of Stephen Hawking in a way-cool rocket).

** The sixth season makes a concerted effort to show her assisting more with Farnsworth's experiments, and finally getting her doctorate after interning with him for 12 years.

** Fry becomes one in 'Neutopia' after being [[Attractive Bent Gender|turned into a woman]]

* [[Break the Haughty]]: In the "Mars University" episode, Gunther, the professor's arrogant and hyper-intelligent monkey, gets taken down a peg or two when his [[Amazingly Embarrassing Parents]] are unleashed on Parent's Weekend.

* [[Breaking in Old Habits]]:

** The "fresh-ground executive" joke was used repeatedly in Bender's Big Score.

** When the gang goes to get Bender's brain back from the Central Bureaucracy, the elderly man in front of them states that he's still waiting for his birth certificate. Later in Season 6...

'''Teller''': Sorry, that's Section C. Next! }}

** That Omicronian-esque "cross-species-dresser" in ''Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences'' wants to have Lrrr's Popplers!

** In "The Silence of the Clamps", Zoidberg uses his mating head crest.

** In "All the Presidents' Heads", we get this exchange in reference to Bender's various claims throughout the 1999-2003 run of the series of the different percentage of materials that he was composed of:

'''Bender''': I'm 40% scrap metal, baby. ''(pounds on chest)'' }}

* [[Calvin Ball]]: Blernsball, the game that baseball has evolved into by the year 3000. It's as impossible for Fry to follow as it would be for someone from the year 1000 to understand modern baseball. Of course, the writers are actually just making stuff up.

* [[Cannibalism Superpower]]:

** The Professor gives advice to this effect in "War is the H-Word".

** Hermes claims to have once swallowed a calculator to gain its power.

*** Claims nothing. We saw the X-Ray!

** "I'm a gigantic brain!"

** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''The Honking'', when Bender, Leela, and Fry follow some tire tracks, which lead directly under a garage door.

'''Fry:''' Thanks, eagle eye. }}

* [[Captain Obvious Aesop]]: Parodied:

'''John Jackson''': I respect my opponent. He's a good man. But frankly, I agree with everything he just said! }}

* [[Captain Space, Defender of Earth!]]: Zapp Brannigan.

* [[Casual Interplanetary Travel]]: Used for a few gags, most notably in the second episode where Fry counts down to the ship launching, only to arrive when he gets to about 3.

'''Fry:''' ''*quickly*'' Sixfivefourthreetwoone blast off! }}

* [[The Cast Showoff]]: John DiMaggio's beatboxing skills pop up a few times.

* [[Catch Phrase]]: Plenty.

** Farnsworth:

"[[No Such Thing as Space Jesus|Sweet Zombie Jesus]]!"<br />

"Eh-Wha?"<br />

** His short lived catchphrase to explain why he lacked motivation to do things: "Although I am already in my pajamas."

** Bender:

"I'm X% <material under discussion>!" }}

** Scruffy:

"I'm on break." }}

** Hermes has two which [[Mad Libs Catchphrase|vary somewhat]]: "Great [animal] of [place or deity that rhymes with animal]!" and euphemisms involving green snakes and sugarcane. The first one is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in a scene in one episode, where Hermes is so weak from fatigue that he can only say, "Great... something, of... someplace."

** In ''Into the Wild Green Yonder'', Hermes' wife LeBarbara attempts these a few times, to Hermes' disapproval.

** Zoidberg:

** Leela:

"Oh, Lord." }}

** Elzar:

"Bam!" }}

** Kif's exasperated sigh.

** [[Chekhov's Gift]]: they're a delivery service... *hint*

** [[Chekhov's Hobby]]: A few, from Professor's Farnsworth's proclivity for inventions (mainly doomsday machines) right down to Hermes' ability to limbo.

** [[Chekhov's Skill]]: Fry learns how to pilot the ship. And how to play the holophoner, a futuristic musical instrument.

*** In "The Series Has Landed", Amy spends a lot of time playing The Crane Game, in order to get the keys to the ship back. {{spoiler|All that practice sure came in handy at the end of the episode, when she needed to save Fry, Leela and Bender using a magnet.}}

** The episode ''Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles'' shows Bender aging backwards into a smaller and smaller robot, then finally into a CD of blueprints. However he previously showed a picture of himself "just 4 months old" that he was going to send to Mom, which showed him at his current size, contradicting the whole 'robot aging' thing. It is possible to justify this, however. If one is willing to remember the scene where he was built in the factory, he was not 'born/finished' until fully produced. Meaning that the smaller robots and cd and blueprints would effectively be the robot equivalent of being a fetus. By this argument, He could be fully grown at 4 months, as he was effectively born fully grown. [[MST3K Mantra|This is all probably overthinking the gag a bit, though.]]

** There was an episode of the original run about Bender coming to terms with his mortality, having ''two'' funerals for himself. There is an episode of the new run about Bender claiming the be immortal and shocked when he discovers he isn't.

** The most glaring one occurs with the show's treatment of ''[[Star Trek]]''; in "Where No Fan Has Gone Before", even mentioning the show's name will send people in the immediate vicinity in a panic and will likely get you arrested, and Leonard Nimoy seems adamant on denying any involvement with it. Yet in episodes before that, not only was ''Star Trek'' mentioned without incident, but Nimoy seemed perfectly comfortable talking about being Spock.

*** Possible [[Fridge Brilliance]], Nimoy first wrote the book I am Not Spock, which dealt with his feelings towards Star Trek and his conflicting identity as himself and as Spock, who was he was often conflated with by fans. Later, he wrote I Am Spock, which detailed his acceptance of the role and how it played into his life from there on out.

*** Might only apply when both partners are Decapodians, also their method of reproduction is probably different so it wouldn't count.

* [[Contrived Coincidence]]: In "Godfellas", Bender's return to Earth is only prompted after a ''very'' lucky spin of the radio telescope's trackball and then Fry crossing his [[Despair Event Horizon]] in earshot of the microphone. Leela [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshades]] this:

* [[Convection, Schmonvection]]: Happens a few times. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in one episode thanks to Farnsworth. (''"PROFESSOR! LAVA! '''HOT!'''"'')

** That's more of a subversion if anything. Farnsworth isn't upset about lack of concern for proximity to the lava, but the fact that people are going swimming in it.

** Farnsworth may count too, despite being one of the protagonists. After all, the planet express slogan is "Our crew is expendable, your package is not!"

* [[Couch Gag]]: The tagline below the logo at the beginning of the theme song and the animation clip at its end. Some taglines:

"[[Un Cancelled|It Won't Stay Dead!]]" }}

* [[Courtroom Episode]]: Several examples including part of the most recent movie.

* [[Cowboy Episode]]: The episode "Where the Buggalo Roam" is a Western parody set on Mars, including Martians who closely resemble American Indians.

* [[Cranial Processing Unit]]: Bender is shown more than once to be able to completely remove his head and continue to function in any way his head normally would.

* [[Crazy Memory]]: [[Subverted Trope]] and parodied, twice. In the episodes "Fry and the Slurm Factory" and "A Clockwork Origin," Professor Farnsworth is declared crazy and everything he has just said has been lunacy. In retaliation, he begins ranting and shouts "and he's my uncle" pointing to the much younger character, Fry. This is actually true, as Fry comes from the distant past and is Farnsworth's great great great great great uncle. However, nobody believes him, writing him off as nuts.

* [[Credits Gag]]: In ''Law&Oracle'', Fry is being promoted:

([[Self-Deprecation|Credits for the Executive Producers]])<br />

'''Fry''': ''I feel better about myself!'' }}

* [[Cryptic Background Reference]]: A thousand years of history have passed between the time Fry was frozen and let out, characters will often make casual references to events that occurred during that period of time much in the same way people in our time do with our own history.

** In ''Cold Warriors'', everyone seemingly knows about a [[Noodle Implements|specific, incredibly vague]] plan:

'''Zoidberg''': They're {{spoiler|flying Manhattan into the sun}}! They mustn't have had enough piranhas! }}

* [[Cryptid Episode]]: In "Spanish Fry", Fry goes to look for Bigfoot, who appears at the end to act as a [[Deus Ex Machina]].

* [[Cut Apart]]: "Beast With A Billion Backs" shows Brannigan's ship, the Nimbus, fighting fruitlessly against the tentacled creature while Brannigan narrates. {{spoiler|We then find out he's piloting the ship by remote in an Applebees on earth.}}

* [[Cutaway Gag]]: In "The Mutants Are Revolting", the series' 100th episode, one of the ways that the mutants plan to take their revenge against the humans is by forcing the West Manhattan Sewer Line back up to the surface, prompting this exchange:

''(scene then cuts to Bender, in a Hugh Hefner-style jacket, wearing sunglasses shaped like the number 100, throwing a wild party with every single minor character in the series)'' }}

* [[Cute Giant]]: The episode ''Mother's Day'' reveals that Farnsworth and [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Mom]] used to be in a relationship...until she tried to make his latest toy, Cutey McWhiskers, 18 feet tall with lasers, causing him to angrily proclaim, "Eighteen-foot-tall things aren't cute; you don't understand me!" and break up. Later they reconcile, Farnsworth admits they're still cute at 18 feet tall {{spoiler|then Mom reveals that there's an even taller model and he gets angry again...[[Slap Slap Kiss|at first]]}}.

** "Future Stock" - Farnsworth is replaced as the CEO of Planet Express by one shareholder vote.

* [[Deliberately Cute Child]]: Tinny Tim.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Kif at his best and Hermes in the 2010 season.

* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]: Zapp Brannigan and Fry being the two poster boys of the show for this trope.

** Also, Bender's full name is Bender Bending Rodriguez. When he says "bending is my middle name" he means it.

* [[Deus Ex Nukina]]: [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] wants the Brain Balls dead.

* [[Development Gag]]: One of the crew members justified his six years of graduate school all for the sake of Bender and Flexo's serial numbers joke, i.e. "We're both the sum of two cubes."

* [[Devil but No God]]: Seems to be one of the driving principals of Robotology; the Robot Devil is even a reoccurring character. Though, Bender ''did'' meet God once, or at least "the remains of a space probe that collided with God".

** Actually, in an interview, [[Word of God|Ken Keeler]] specified: "I took great pains in the script never to say that the Galactic Entity (as we called it) was in fact God, and fought some battles over that point during the rewrite."

** This was actually brought up on the DVD Commentary. "If there's a Robot Devil, where's the Robot God?" "There is no Robot God." Yet at a 'bot mitzvah' it's revealed there was a Robot Jesus.

* [[Disability Superpower]]: Fry's lack of the delta brainwave grants him immunity to the evil Brainspawn's powers. It also makes him immune to mind readers as seen in "Into the Wild Green Yonder."

* [[Disappeared Dad]]: Bender is one, as we find out in [[The Movie]], when he returns to his son... [[Complete Monster|so he can give him to the Robot Devil as payment for a robot army.]]

* [[Disney Death]]: Fry gets many.

** {{spoiler|Kif}} has one in ''The Beast With A Billion Backs''.

** In "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings," Bender walks in on Fry practicing his holophoner ... an oddly shaped, multi-coloured pipe which (when played badly) exudes smoke-like whisps of holographic image. When Bender enters Fry's room, Fry frantically waves the "smoke" away and attempts to hide the holophoner.

* [[The Dog Bites Back]]: The cast hates and mistreats Zoidberg. He gets payback when Fry calls him for help.

'''Zoidberg''': ''Screw you!'' }}

* [[Dogged Nice Guy]]: Fry may be an [[Idiot Hero]], but Leela does treat him pretty awfully sometimes. This is actually sort of a [[Tear Jerker]] when you consider that Fry ''regularly'' risks or outright sacrifices his life to save Leela, yet, {{spoiler|up until the conclusion of the last movie}}, he still can't win the affection of Leela, which is all he wants from her.

* [[Doomy Dooms of Doom]]: All the time.

** In one memorable example, after Earth is invaded by aliens, this exchange takes place:

'''Bender:''' (takes a deep breath) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}USHHQRodF88 DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO--]''(scene cuts away)'' }}

** During "The Farnsworth Parabox", the parallel benders do a nifty reverb-double-[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_49iNqxOnH4 DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM]!

** ''Bender's Big Score'' gave us countless [[Doomsday Device|Doomsday Devices]], a {{spoiler|Platinum Doom-Proof Vest}}, and the Doom Meter, Which measures exactly how doomed something is measuring the amount of millidooms it's emitting. (A [[Time Paradox]]}} duplicate emits doom at 10 times the background level.)

* [[Doomsday Device]]: Professor Farnsworth may just be the patron saint of Doomsday Devices.

* [[Downer Ending]]:

** "Jurassic Bark", among others.