Generator Rex: Difference between revisions

[[File:Generator_Rex_Logo_8222Generator Rex Logo 8222.jpg|frame]]

An animated series from the creators of ''[[Ben 10 (Animation)|Ben 10]]'', premiered on [[Cartoon Network]] on April 23, 2010. The plot and characters are based on a two issue comic book, called ''M. Rex''. When [[Man of Action Studios]] decided to turn this into an animated series, the title had to be changed to ''Generator Rex'' when they found out that ''M. Rex'' was already trademarked.

The plot focuses on a 15 year old boy named Rex, who gains the ability to produce bio-organic machines from his body due to an accident called The Event that spreads nanomachines called [[Nanomachines|Nanites]] all over the world and causes random mutations in people, animals and plants. The central story is based around the organization called Providence that is tasked with the job of protecting civilization from the mutants called E.V.Os. Rex is used by providenceProvidence because of his ability to control his Nanites to produce machines from his body to fight the E.V.Os and cure them of their mutations so they can go back to being regular functioning members of society.

As all of Man Of Action's shows ''[[Generator Rex]]'' normally does not take itself seriously even when dealing with very serious subjects, such as the theme of people not being very fond of Providence, their methods and lack of transparency sometimes taking it to extremes such as creating their own E.V.O hunting groups and outright attacking Rex due to him being an E.V.O and his "messy" way of dealing with E.V.Os. Rex often does not listen to his superiors - especially not to the head of Providence, White Knight. Instead, Rex decides to run away and try to spend as much of his life as he can as a normal teenager but seemingly normal situations often lead to altercations with E.V.Os.

Has a [[Character Sheet]] [[Generator Rex (Animation)/Characters|right this way.]] And a [[Re Cap]] page [[Generator Rex (Animation)/Recap|hererecap page]].

* [[Aborted Arc]]: [[The Blank|NoFace's]] ramblings about "the before".

*** {{spoiler|ZAG-RS}} had been around since early in the series; her death/reboot effectively ''ended'' her arc. Plus, she only appeared about once every 10-15 episodes, so she may be back later. As for {{spoiler|Cesar}}, his questionable actions and motivations have been a plot point since his introduction. (See the notes for "Black and White" under [[Wham! Episode]], below -- notbelow—not to mention the episodes right after the time skip).

** Quarry showed up with some Providence Tech used to control [[EV Os]]EVOs (It's unknown how he got them, he may have stolen them, or Providence secretly gave it to him to test out), and caused lots of chaos. After the tech is destroyed, Rex states that it was lucky they stopped the menace. At the end of the episode, a warehouse is shown with hundreds of mind control devices, foreshadowing an entire army under providence, not just domesticated, but under direct control. Nothing ever comes of this revelation, because the series ended.

* [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot]]: ZAG-RS, a reoccurring computer program villain, {{spoiler|is a pre-Nanite Event computer that was created to destroy all escaped Nanites. Naturally, this would kill every living thing on Earth except White Knight}}.

** Alpha, the [[Big Bad]] of the ''[[Ben 10 (Animation)|Ben 10]]'' [[Crossover]] "Heroes United", {{spoiler|is a Nanite with the same ability to control other Nanites as Rex, and like ZAG-RS also wants to destroy the world.}}

* [[All Just a Dream]]: [[Zig -Zagging Trope|Zig-zagged]] in "Frostbite".

* [[And the Adventure Continues...]]: {{spoiler|1=The E.V.O threat may be over, but the world still needs a hero.}}

{{quote| '''Rex:''' There's always going to be something, isn't there?<br />

* [[Animesque]]: While it has the art design of shows like ''[[Ben 10 (Animation)|Ben 10]]'', the concept itself coupled with the action camera work and look of the characters themselves favor past and present anime more than a bit.

** The plot is also similar to ''[[Parasyte]]'', ''[[Guyver]]'' and arguably ''[[Eat- Man]]''.

** The [[Art Shift]] in Rex's flashback in "Double Vision" cranks this [[Up to Eleven]].

* [[Anti -Villain]]: Garan-Set, who just wanted to [[Fish Out of Temporal Water|things just like they used to be in his time]]. Even Rex has sympathy for him.

* [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]]: {{spoiler|Van Kleiss}}, in episode 15. Oh, don't act surprised.

* [[Back -to -Back Badasses]]: Rex and {{spoiler|[[Enemy Mine|Van Kleiss]]}} in "Written in Sand". Also lampshaded.

{{quote| '''Rex''': Back to back!<br />

''' {{spoiler|Van Kleiss}}''': What?<br />

{{quote| '''Hunter Cain:''' Who're you? An E.V.O?<br />

* [[Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad]]: Rex invokes this on Robo Bobo to be more like the real Bobo in his titular episode, but Robo Bobo exaggerates it in order to cause trouble.

* [[Batman Gambit]]: Primary tactic used by [[Chessmaster|Van Kleiss]].

* [[Blessed Withwith Suck]]: E.V.Os in general. Those that turn are lucky to be anything more than feral monsters, even luckier not to be [[Body Horror]]-incarnate, and before Rex would have just been captured and vaporized for study. After, they may not be curable by Rex. For bonus points, there's a small but noticeable amount of [[Fantastic Racism]] that goes with the territory. Even Rex, who has the most stable batch, has frequent memory loss.

* [[Big No]]: By ZAG-RS in episode five.

{{quote| '''Holiday:''' Always go for the big red button... {{spoiler|unless you don't want to drain the batteries to zero}}.}}

* [[Black and Gray Morality]]: Van Kleiss is your garden variety [[Card -Carrying Villain|Card Carrying]] [[Evil Overlord]]. Providence is mostly staffed by well-meaning and good-hearted people, but its [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Jerk|obnoxious]] [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|leader]], [[Fantastic Racism|White]] [[Knight Templar|Knight]]...

* [[Breather Episode]]: Episode 20, "Badlands," taking place between the heavy Almost-[[Whole -Episode Flashback]] "Promises, Promises" and the [[Wham! Episode|epic]] episode "Payback."

** A completely different case in "A Family Holiday" where {{spoiler|Holiday's sister, Beverly, formerly an ''incurable'' E.V.O, gets turned back to an average human teenager.}}

** {{spoiler|1="End Game" has a [[World -Healing Wave]] do this to virtually every EVO on the planet. Bob, Van Kleiss and the Pack, and the Consortium are likely the only living EVOs, not counting Rex himself.}}

* [[Bullying a Dragon]]: A large crowd harasses Rex in "The Hunter" because they learned he was an E.V.O from the news. Never mind that said news spot is him fighting ''a giant monster''. Taken to [[Too Dumb to Live|suicidally insane levels]] when Rex gets tired of their crap and brings out the [[Power Fist|Power Fists]]s to scare them off, only to accidentally backhand someone when the crowd doesn't back down. ''Despite this'', they just get more violent. It's hinted that it might have been a set-up to make Rex look bad, however, so it may be justified.

* [[By the -The-Book Cop]]: Six. However, he'll make [[Pet the Dog|exceptions]] if the orders are jackass-y enough.

* [[Close -Call Haircut]]: A variation happens with Agent Six's tie in the premiere.

* [[Code Emergency]]: Rex has problems keeping his codes straight. He once tells some friends not to worry as it's "only a Code 2". When a giant EVO crashes through a building, he remembers that "the lower the number, the '''worse''' the situation".

* [[Conspicuous CG]]: The spent shells from Providence's automatic weapons are the most obvious example. Some vehicles may be animated using computer generated imagery, especially in scenes where the plot requires many identical vehicles at once.

* [[Crazy Prepared]]: White Knight's [[Mini -Mecha]] and [[Powered Armor]] (yes, he manages both at the same time) ''will'' have a weapon for the situation, and ''will'' keep him safe from Nanites. Period.

** Really, Holiday? You either had ready, or set up in under 8 minutes, an interrogation room with hand scanners, trapdoor, decending [[Buffy -Speak|wall-thingy]], Breach-sized restraints, and PROBE CANNON?

* [[Crossover]]: One with ''[[Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (Animation)|Ben 10 Ultimate Alien]]'', entitled "Heroes United."

* [[Darker and Edgier]]: In the first episode alone, {{spoiler|we get to see a small army of dead [[Red Shirt|Red Shirts]]s, and the hero actively try to ''kill'' the [[Big Bad]]}}. Rex himself also isn't as squeaky clean as other Man Of Action heroes, demonstrating selfish and utterly reckless behavior.

{{quote| '''Gatlocke:''' For us there are no rules.<br />

'''[[Mook]]:''' Except no cursing...<br />

* [[EverythingsEverything's Better Withwith Monkeys]]: Bobo Haha, Rex's sidekick. Specifically, he's a grizzled, [[Eyepatch of Power|eyepatch-wearing]], gun-toting, ''[[Deadpan Snarker|snark-talking]]'', monkey sidekick.

* [[EverythingsEverything's Better Withwith Spinning]]: Several of Rex's powers invoke this trope. Being [[Psychoactive Powers]], it could be seen as [[Fridge Brilliance]]; Rex is the kind of guy who would see spinning things as cooler.

** His character design (especially [[Memetic Outfit|the memetic red jacket]])is very similar to [[No More Heroes|Travis Touchdown]]'s, his mechanisms have a similar aesthetic to Travis' Beam Katanas, and they have very similar thrillseeking personalities (ignoring Travis' bloodlust and perversion, thankfully). His design and powers are also reminiscent of [[Ben 10 (Animation)|another]] [[Ben 10: Alien Force (Animation)|Man of Action]] [[Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (Animation)|character]]. His powers are also similar to [[Prototype (Videovideo Gamegame)|Alex Mercer]].

** Van Kleiss is possibly an expy of X-Men's Magneto. They're both [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|Well Intentioned Extremists]] with a [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] of super-humans trying to destroy humanity before they destroy them.

*** Pale skin? Long, dull black ([[Skunk Stripe]] not withstanding) hair? Needs to kill other super beings to survive? Nigh Immortal sans one glaring weakness? Pedophile undertones? [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Squarer chin than most villains?]] [[Naruto|All he needs is a snake motif and he'd be Orochimaru.]]

*** [http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/3080121296_a0b5bd3f82_o.png He also resembles] [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 (Animation)|Agent Bishop]], another [[The Men in Black|Man in Black]].

** The Bunny E.V.O. Well, considering it's a bunny with a vicious streak and a nearby soldier, when it's first seen, comments that "That is no ordinary rabbit!" in a British accent. Well, [[Monty Python and Thethe Holy Grail|it doesn't take a genius to figure it out]].

** Five is pretty much completely [[FLCL (Anime)|Haruko]] with a Cockney accent.

* [[The Faceless]]: The leader of the E.V.Os from the Bug Jar, {{spoiler|previously know as Kiev, Ukraine}} and the main villain of episode "Forgotten". And he's called [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|NoFace]].

* [[Fake in Thethe Hole]]: In "Badlands", Rex throws a can of soda at Gatlocke's gang; pretending it's a cannister of unstable nanites.

* [[False -Flag Operation]]: Hunter Kain buys a batch of cloned E.V.Os, releases them to prove Providence is worthless, then has his men save the day. Except he cloned so many that their special E.V.O-killing ammo ran out, and Kain wrote them off since he was too busy fighting Rex. Rex, of course, saves the day.

* [[Family -Friendly Firearms]]: Zig-zagged schizophrenically. On one hand, Providence Soldiers generally use what just about anyone will identify as some sort of machine gun, some of which have what looks like grenade launchers mounted underneath. They have the distinctive muzzle flash, and even eject shell casings most of the time. On the other hand, these guns are referred to as "blasters", and being the [[Red Shirts]] they are, Providence Soldiers never accomplish anything with them. The presence of microwave energy weapons that actually do something would seemingly make this show a straight example of this trope, except for the fact that they caused their targets, a bunch of giant insects, to explode into a red splatter. Honestly, Generator Rex could get its own folder on this page regarding the degree to which [[Family -Friendly Firearms]] applies, since the above examples covers about half of the zig-zags the series makes on this trope.

* [[Family -Unfriendly Death]]

* [[Five -Bad Band]]

** The Six: A group of mercenaries comprised of the most dangerous people in the world. <ref>Their badness is ambiguous, being mercenaries and all, though their willingness to kill seems to point to this direction.</ref>

*** [[Dark Chick]]: Five (Despite what her trope implies, is actually quite the opposite of "dark".<ref>She's bright pink all over.</ref>.)

* [[Five -Man Band]]

* [[Five Rounds Rapid]]: Mostly played straight with the Providence [[Red Shirt|Red Shirts]]s. They tend to stick to shooting things with conventional weapons. Subverted in episode 7 during a fight with a giant worm. When the bullets they have on hand don't work, they call in gunships and tear that thing apart.

** The concept is subverted in "Basic," where one of the [[Mook|Mooks]]s-in-training realizes that they use [[Five Rounds Rapid]] not to kill the E.V.Os, but as a distraction so Rex can deal with them.

{{quote| [[Shout -Out|Look, that rabbit's got]] [[Monty Python and Thethe Holy Grail|a vicious streak a mile wide]].}}

* [[Fun Withwith Acronyms]]: "E.V.O" is short for '''E'''xponentially '''V'''ariegated '''O'''rganism; basically, a living creature that can look like and do any number of things - a living wild-card.

* [[Game -Breaking Injury]]: White Knight suffers these in pretty much every fight he's in. A single hairline fracture in his faceplate is enough to put him out of a fight entirely.

* [[Good Is Not Nice]]: Providence may exist to protect people from E.V.Os, but they are very much a big picture organization. [[We Have Reserves|Soldiers are expendable and are taught as much]], and even Rex, their one method of curing E.V.Os, is at best seen as resource they could do without if necessary. To be more specific, Providence's doctrine is "Cure, Contain, or Kill." Since Rex is currently the only person in the world capable of making E.V.Os revert back to human, the second episode makes it clear [[Nuke 'Em|just how far they're willing to go]] if he can't deliver.

** This is especially true as of season three, since {{spoiler|Black Knight has taken over Providence in Rex's absence and White Knight's [[Freak -Out]].}}

* [[Gone to Thethe Future]]: {{spoiler|Rex, as of "Lions and Lambs".}}

{{quote| '''¡Hola, feo!''' (Hiya, ugly!)<br />

'''¡Vamanos!''' (Let's go!)<br />

'''¡Belleza!''' (Very pretty!)<br />

* [[Hair -Raising Hare]]: When Rex runs afoul of an E.V.O bunny.

* [[His Name Is--]]: {{spoiler|Rylander is impaled by Van Kleiss before he can spill Rex's backstory. While this doesn't kill Rylander, the effect is the same.}}

* [[How Dare You Die Onon Me!]]: Dr. Holiday to {{spoiler|Agent Six}} in "A Family Holiday".

* [[Hunter of His Own Kind]]: Played with and perhaps deconstructed by Rex, whose job it is to stop the very thing he has become. His position as a Providence agent means that other sentient EVOs are distrustful or even openly hostile towards him. He gets called on this several times.

* [[I Call It Vera]]: Hunter Kain's E.V.O-killing [[BFG]] is called "[[Shout -Out|Sweet Caroline]]".

* [[I Did What I Had to Do]]: {{spoiler|Cesar and the other scientists who were working on the nanite project. When the Consortium tried to take the Meta-Nanites, they caused the Nanite event(yes THAT Nanite Event) in order to scatter them across the globe lest the Consortium use them to become Gods. Still what came after [[Mass Super -Empowering Event]] / [[Body Horror]] abound wasn't his goal but still....}}

* [[I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin]]: {{spoiler|Dr. Rylander injects Rex with a new nanite. Turns out it can control other Nanites... [[Coconut Superpowers|And bring Rex back from the dead]].}}

* [[Idiosyncratic Wipes]]: Usually done such that if a character moves out of frame, they take the image with them, revealing the next scene behind it.

* [[If It Swims, It Flies]]: Van Kleiss controls an E.V.O whale-blimp.

* [[I'm Taking Her Home Withwith Me|I'm Taking Him Home With Me]]: Breach does this with Rex in the episode named after her. It does not end well.

** The City of Kiev aka the Bug Jar, all E.V.O.s had been absorbed by Alpha, which could effectively mean that they're [[Killed Off for Real|dead permanently]] seeing as any on screen absorption had KILLED the victims. Happened during the Ben 10 crossover.

{{quote| "This tastes like feet! And not the clean kind!"}}

* [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]]: Agent Six. He may stick to orders to a fault, but even he has his limits. {{spoiler|Despite orders to "bleach" NYC, he took the bomb's activation key to prevent it from detonating, giving Rex a chance.}}

{{quote| '''Noah''': ''Every guy who's ever gone out with her has ended up in the hospital, or worse!''}}

* [[Kill 'Em All]]: In "The Architect", {{spoiler|the AI decides the best way to protect itself from the Nanites to to make them all self-destruct. Naturally, the human race goes with them}}.

** It's intro scene in "Operation: Wingman" in particular may have also been a subtle [[Shout -Out]] to the ''[[Monty Python and Thethe Holy Grail|original]]'' [[Killer Rabbit]] scene, considering the Providence soldier Rex talks to has a Scottish accent.

* [[Knight of Cerebus]]: Black Knight. It's always been a pretty dark show, but it got significantly darker when she took over Providence. Even the breather episodes are more comedy painted over the conflict than straight-up funny.

* [[Knight Templar]]:

* [[Laser -Guided Amnesia]]: Rex has no memories of his life a few months before joining Providence. Van Kleiss explains that the two of them were right at the base of the explosion, so that probably has something to do with it.

* [[Like Parent, Like Spouse]]: Rex is attracted to Doc Holiday, and according to Van Kleiss, Violetta Salazar was a willful, headstrong but brilliant scientist - sound familiar? {{spoiler|It doesn't hurt that [[Grey DelisleDeLisle]] voices both Holiday and Rex's mom AKA ZAG-RS.}}

*** Rex even lampshades it "There isn't much choice when you're shopping in Six's closet."

* [[Living Battery]]: There's a whole country that gets its electricity from a single EVO.

* [[Lovecraftian Superpower|Lovecraftian Super]][[Superpower Lottery|power Lottery]]: The nature of many E.V.Os' powersets, from Van Kleiss to Meechum to Circe. Compare to [[Blessed Withwith Suck]] above, it's random what [[Body Horror|you'll look like]] or gain any powers from it (Hell, you'd be lucky to maintain sapience).

* [[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: An interesting example in "Written in Sand". It turns out that ZAG-RS was originally been a decontamination system designed by César, Rex's brother, in order to eliminate stray Nanites during the project. The trope really comes in, whoever, when César reveals that since he wanted the program to give the feeling of protection and safety, {{spoiler|he modeled ZAG-RS' voice after that of their mother.}}

* [[Mass Super -Empowering Event]]: The nanite explosion five years prior to the start of the series infected every living thing on Earth with Nanites. While they are dormant most of the time, they will occasionally activate. Unfortunately, most things (people or otherwise) are mutated into super-powered monsters as a result. Only the lucky ones get any control over their powers (or indeed, any semblance of intelligence). Worst part is that there's no telling ''when'' these powers will emerge, so technically all life on Earth are time bombs waiting to go off.

*** The name takes on a darker meaning in season 3 when it's true goal is revealed: {{spoiler|to deliver the power of gods (in the form of the Meta-nanites) to its financial backers the Consortium.}}

* [[Mecha -Mooks]]: Rylander uses these to defend his base in his first appearance. {{spoiler|Black Knight's elite Black Pawns are revealed to be this in "End Game, Part 1".}}

* [[Mini -Dress of Power]]

* [[Mysterious Past]]: Rex. In addition to everything else, {{spoiler|now it turns out Rex once ran a [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] in Hong Kong.}}

* [[Never Say "Die"]]: Averted. They've said "kill" repeatedly, and actually tried to do just that just as much.

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: "Lions and Lambs". Rex has just gained {{spoiler|Breach's}} trust... then White Knight shows up, deciding to take her in by force. And everything falls apart.

* [[Noodle Incident]]: Lansky in "Moonlighting" has a [[Running Gag]] of "I can't go to (X). Long story."

* [[Now or Never Kiss]]: Between Rex and Circe {{spoiler|just as they are close to the edge of Van Kleiss' castle while the Black Pawns have them trapped; Circe returns Rex's feelings for her, and the two share a passionate kiss before Rex falls and Circe is captured by Providence}}.

* [[Nuclear Weapons Taboo]]: The "Bleach Protocol" isn't actually a nuke, but a "forced plasma cascade". When Six mentions this to Rex in "The Swarm", Rex points out that "[[Nuke 'Em]]" still makes for a much better [[Catch Phrase]].

* [[Nuke 'Em]]: A proposed solution to the zombie-making E.V.O, but never implemented. Tried on the bugs in "The Swarm", which just made them multiply.

* [[One -Winged Angel]]: During the flashback episode "Promises, Promises", Rex somehow built himself into a giant robot with all his E.V.O powers combined. It gave the military a good fight until Six stabbed it in the shoulder, at which point it exploded just after grabbing Six and ejecting its hand, which contained the amnesiac Rex.

* [[Our Vampires Are Different]]: Just about everything about Van Kleiss screams "vampire" from his appearance and clothing to his creepy castle in the middle of a dark forest. And of course there's his [[I'm a Humanitarian|diet]] (albeit draining [[Applied Phlebotinum|Nanites]] instead of blood). He differs in his toleranceof sunlight and [[Genius Loci|control over the lands surrounding his home]], but needs to be around at least some of his native soil at all times, as in some vampire myths.

* [[Persona Non Grata]]: Lansky can't go to New Jersey. [[ItsIt's a Long Story]].

* [[Pin -Pulling Teeth]]: Hunter Kain does this in "Night Falls".

* [[Psychoactive Powers]]: Rex's control over his Nanites seems to be linked to his confidence. When he gets nervous, upset, or angry, his [[Shapeshifter Weapon|Shapeshifter Weapons]]s [[Psychosomatic Superpower Outage|fall apart.]]

* [[Race Lift]]: In [http://www.comicvine.com/rex/29-70588/all-images/108-369083/rex1/105-1198378/ the original comic], Rex is blond and blue-eyed, while in the show, he's Latino. Some conceptual art shows that they may at one point planned on using the original design, albeit aged up. There's also some with Rex looking like a humanoid version of the Megawhatt from ''[[Ben 10 (Animation)|Ben 10]]''.

* [[Real Song Theme Tune]]: "Revolution" by the indie-punk band Orange is the show's theme, albeit in severely cut-down form. And yes, it is found on their latest album and can be downloaded on iTunes.

* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Rex has two Blues in the form of Six and Noah. Possibly a third in Holiday, as well.

* [[Reset Button]]: Notably averted two times when it was expected, with {{spoiler|Six's [[Laser -Guided Amnesia]]}} and {{spoiler|the [[Time Skip]]}}.

** Also, when Providence [[Red Shirt|Red Shirts]]s are having a bad day, the [[Wilhelm Scream]] is seldom far away.

* [[Schizo -Tech]]: Ancient Egyptian nanite technology. {{spoiler|Makes sense with the reveal that Van Kleiss was apparently sent there by Breach.}}

* [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right]]: Rex, Six, and Holiday do this. A ''lot''.

{{quote| '''Rex''': I don't get this much respect when I save the ''world''!}}

* [[Shape ShifterShapeshifter Baggage]]: E.V.Os can get mass from basically nowhere, and the show's one attempt at a justification was quickly ignored in later episodes.

** [[BFS]]: One of the weapons his arm turns into, the "Big Fat Sword." It can also turn into a [[EverythingsEverything's Better Withwith Spinning|giant]] [[Chainsaw Good|buzzsaw]].

** [[Cool Bike]]/[[Flying Car]]: "The Rex Ride", a hoverbike that grows out of his legs/waist ([[Does This Remind You of Anything?|see the page image]]), and also comes with a battering ram.

** [[Power Fist]]: The "Smack Hands". Two ridiculously huge fists. If that wasn't enough, they can [[EverythingsEverything's Better Withwith Spinning|spin]] for more damage.

** [[Epic Flail]]: makes debut in "Rampage". Rex got one for [[Dual -Wielding|each hand]], and when slammed together they create a powerful [[Kamehame Hadoken|energy blast]].

** [[An Axe to Grind]]: Makes its debut in "Divided by Six." Like the aforementioned [[Epic Flail]], he [[Dual -Wielding|uses two at once]].

** Rex uses this exact line in "What Lies Beneath".

* [[Shout -Out]]: [[Tombstone|Doc Holiday]]? ''Really''?

** The giant explosion in the beginning is an obvious ''[[Akira (Manga)|Akira]]'' reference, and there's several more down the line.

** "Breach" is an obvious [[Shout -Out]] to ''[[Silent Hill]]''. A foggy town filled with monsters, a creepy school, and a possible alternate dimension/reality involved. Check, check, and check. It wouldn't be surprising if "Man of Action" came out and said they're fans of the series.

** "Operation: Wingman": In the first part, it shows a Providence truck and crew wrecked and broken up, all done by a bunny who looks innocent, but isn't. [[Monty Python and Thethe Holy Grail|The soldier that tells Rex not to underestimate the bunny had a Scottish accent, for crying out loud!]]

** In "Rampage", Van Kleiss uses his glove to imitate a [[A Nightmare Onon Elm Street|famous character who also sported claws]].

** The Bobo robot loked very [[Terminator|familiar...]]

** ZAG-RS = [[Doctor Who (TV)|Zagreus]]?

** Five, with her pink hair and [[Improbable Weapon User|guitar]], seems to be a shout out to [[FLCL (Anime)|Haruhara Haruko]]. All that's missing is the Vespa.

** Towards the beginning of "Heroes United," Rex tries writing a theme song for himself. The brief snippet we hear uses the exact same tune as the original ''[[Ben 10 (Animation)|Ben 10]]'' theme.

* [[Standard Evil Organization Squad]]: The Pack straddle the line between this and a serious [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]].

* [[Status Quo Is God]]: Astonishingly subverted in "Six Minus Six". {{spoiler|Agent Six [[Laser -Guided Amnesia|loses all but his pre-Event memories]], but doesn't get them back by the end of the episode.}}

** Averted in "Back in Black" too-- {{spoiler|Providence is not restored to normal by the end of the episode. Rex is not returned to six months earlier. Our core cast of characters have created/joined a secret, smaller organization rivalling Providence.}} Generally, there is a lot less of this as the episodes go on.

** Eventually, {{spoiler|the status quo is partially restored by the time of Endgame, with White Knight and his team getting Providence back, Van Kleiss escaping the cure event and being a threat again, and Rex fighting for Providence again (see [[Book Ends]] above). However, the major difference is that all the [[EV Os]]EVOs in the world are cured (except that there are still nanites in the atmosphere) and Providence now deals with other threats, such as the giant robot Rex fights in the end.}}

* [[Stepping Stones in Thethe Sky]]: Six in the pilot; Rex in "Breach".

* [[Strong Asas They Need to Be]]: Rex's strength tends to vary wildly, even within single episodes. Compare "The Day Everything Changed" to "Badlands." In the latter, Rex fights a largely ordinary human in sword to sword combat, and defeats him after quite a bit of struggle, right after tossing aside one of Gatlocke's trucks. No matter how good Gatlocke's own enhancements, he's clearly not that strong. In the former, Rex jumps out of an airplane to take on a [[Attack of the Fifty 50-Foot Whatever|giant monster E.V.O]]... Yeah...

* [[Sunglasses Atat Night]]: Six seems to wear his shades 24/7.

* [[Super Human Trafficking]]: Thanks to {{spoiler|the new mind controlling collars}} Providence is now not only able to capture EVOs, but also use them for various tasks, like collecting crops. They don’t distinguish between sentient and non-sentient ones. Official propaganda says that it’s a method to create “a better future for all EVOs" and help integrate them into the society. {{spoiler|Quarry}} tried to use the same method to create his own personal army.

* [[Super Prototype]]: {{spoiler|Rex compared to the rest of the E.V.Os}}, as revealed in "Dark Passage". Justified, however, in that the batch that caused the [[Mass Super -Empowering Event]] weren't fully finished or programmed yet, which causes their deficiencies.

* [[Superpower Russian Roulette]]: Becoming an EVO usually means turning into a mindless monster. If you belong to this small group that kept their minds, you still remain one mass of a [[Body Horror]]. Even EVOs looking relatively normal experience unpleasant side effects. Van Kleiss has [[Horror Hunger]] for nanites, Circe became a [[Weirdness Magnet]], and Rex got a chronic condition that periodically gives him [[Laser -Guided Amnesia]], along with a [[Super -Powered Evil Side]]. The real winners are EVOs like Bobo--thatBobo—that is, animals who gained human-level intelligence. This group seems to be even smaller.

* [[Teens Are Short]]: For some reason, Rex, Noah, Circe, and really every teen on the show, most of whom are within the 15-17 range, are noticeably shorter than most human adult characters. It's hard to compare them with the [[Innocent Bystanders]] or other normal humans though, and Six does seem to be fairly tall.

* [[Theme Music Power -Up]]: When Rex discovers his new nanite power, the full version of the theme starts playing. And he promptly gives Van Kleiss a much needed ass kicking.

* [[Time Skip]]: {{spoiler|Due to Breach's time device, Rex is warped six months into the future. Holiday and Six have left Providence, White Knight has been replaced by Black Knight, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Cesar has a goatee.]]}}

* [[Training Fromfrom Hell]]: "Basic" is all about Rex and Noah going through Providence boot camp, on a dare from the pilots from "The Forgotten". It's not as exagerated as such training usually is (aside from the ludicrous number of push-ups and sit-ups they're assigned), though they still had a fairly-standard [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]].

* [[Two Guys and Aa Girl]]: This is what Rex's old E.V.O. gang back in Hong Kong was once was when he left and before Circe joined them.

* [[Unspoken Plan Guarantee]]: Used excessively in "Black and White", using plans within plans of varying levels of [[Buffy -Speak|unspokenness]].

* [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity]]: New Providence. Their method for controlling Evos makes them very popular with the world, since said Evos can be put to work doing menial labor, but there's more going on than the public knows.

* [[Walking Techfix]]: One of the many uses Rex has for his Nanites. {{spoiler|Almost causes [[The End of the World Asas We Know It]] when he uses this talent to help his engineer friends build the transmitter in "The Architect".}}

* [[Well -Intentioned Extremist]]: Van Kleiss, if he buys his own propaganda. Circe is probably a better example, since she definitely does.

* [[Wham! Line]]: {{spoiler|Cesar: "The day everything changed, we never imagined what would happen when we released the nanites."}}

* [[Wham! Episode]]: Episode 6. Just, episode 6.

* [[What Happened to Thethe Mouse?]]: So what's happening to that ex-Van-Kleiss-minion who joined Providence? The show hasn't alluded to him since his introduction. The [[Time Skip]] has left the fates of several other characters up in the air as well.

* [[What Measure Is a Non -Human?]]: White Knight sees Rex as a weapon with which to fight other E.V.Os, and nothing more.

* [[What You Are in Thethe Dark]]

* [[Where the Hell Is Springfield?]]: Abysus is supposedly somewhere in Eastern Europe, but your guess is as good as anyone's as to where exactly it is.

* [[Whole -Episode Flashback]]: "Promises, Promises", though it is interspersed with some present scenes of Rex's "birthday" party.

* [[Who Is Driving?]]: Bobo lets go of the wheel of the truck in episode 20 to ogle girls with Rex and Noah, cut the truck drifting off the road and into a large tree.

** Both the original actual Scream, and several times what sounds like someone trying to imitate it.

* [[World -Healing Wave]]: {{spoiler|In the finale, Rex uses the combined Meta-Nanite to initiate one, curing every EVO on the planet. Bobo is exempt thanks to being shielded by his proximity to the reactor, the Consortium may have managed to retain some of their power, and Van Kleiss and the Pack (not including Circe) are rescued by Breach (whose pocket dimension probably protected them). White Knight also points out that nanites are still floating around, though whether or not they can cause mutations isn't made clear.}}

* [[X Meets Y]]: ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force (Animation)|Ben 10 Alien Force]]'' meets ''[[Prototype (Videovideo Gamegame)|Prototype]]''.