Gormiti: The Lords of Nature Return

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Based on the very popular Italian toy line of Gormiti, Gormiti: The Lords of Nature Return! was an episodic series from Marathon Studio (also noted for Totally Spies!, Martin Mystery and Team Galaxy) narrating the adventures of a group of young children with the duty of keeping the peace in the parallel universe of Gorm, once home to a mighty race of warriors. Not an insignificant task, indeed, since events on Gorm tend to have repercussions on the Earth itself... and the villains of the show, the people of the Volcano, seem to be intent on causing as much of a ruckus as possible! By calling the power of the ancient warriors, siblings Toby and Nick and their friends Lucas and Jessica can transform in Lords of Nature, gifted with the powers of (respectively) Water, Earth, Forest and Air, and fight against the people of the Volcano and their leaders, Orrore Profondo (Deep Horror), Lavion and Magmion. Episodes mostly revolve around the four kids balancing their superhero duty with real life, school and everyday activities... with the interesting variation that, in every mission, one of them (apparently selected at random) has to stay behind, in order to manage his/her friends' powers and give them instructions.

Mostly for children, but still good fun and worth a look, provided you don't expect too deep a storyline. Not to be confused with Gromit. It definitely shouldn't be confused with Gor either.

The series ran from 2008 to 2010.

Tropes used in Gormiti: The Lords of Nature Return include:
  • Achilles' Heel: Magmion's weak point is exactly that.
  • Action Girl: Jessica is just as competent as her male friends.
  • Adults Are Useless
  • Alas, Poor Villain: Magmion doesn't die, but it's hard not to feel sorry for him when, after working so faithfully for Obscurio, his reward is to get his power drained in order to fuel the newly-awakened Incubion and Oneiron.
  • All There in the Manual: The full story of Gorm and its warrior races can be found in the toy line and related comics.
    • The comic has a different vision of the series. The comic version have more toy-accurate character design(lacking the pupils in the eyes of every character except for Razzle and giving to the Lord of Air a less human appearance, with purple face and no nose), but also have a complete different storyline and way different versions of Season 2 and 3's first episodes. Is also remarkable that, while in the Cartoon series leaving the Keeper's Primal Pad or switching it with another one of the kids is prohibited and dangerous, in a comic Toby and Jessica switch for three times their place.
  • All Your Powers Combined: In the last episode of Season 2, to destroy the Magor Codex.
  • Exclusively Evil: Apparently, there are no good Fire Gormitis.
  • An Ice Person: Jessica gets ice-based powers in Season 2. Toby does as well in the beginning of Season 3.
  • Badass Bookworm: Nick. Smartest member of the team, he's also a powerhouse when he morphs into the Lord of Earth.
  • Big Bad: Magmion and Orrore Profondo in the first season (Lavion tries, but he just can't get the job done...), Obscurio in the second, Magor in the third.
  • Big Good: The Supreme Luminescent in Season 2, the Wise Old One in Season 3.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Season 2 is a mild case. Gorm is saved and Obscurio is defeated, but the Supreme Luminescent had to give his life in order for that to happen. Though, it's implied that he will be reborn someday.
  • Blow You Away: Jessica. And, of course, most Air Gormiti.
  • Body Horror: Lavion's claw looks like a octopus hooked on his arm. Also Bombos and his talking nipples.
  • Bumbling Dad: Mr. Tripp, Toby and Nick's father, fits this to a T.
  • But Not Too Foreign: Gina, Jessica's best friend, is of Korean origins.
  • By the Power of Greyskull: "Every creature's vital energy, transform us in Lords of Nature!" "Supreme power of Stone!" "Ancient force of Forest!" "Mystical Sea energy!" "Absolute control of Wind!"
    • In the English version, it's "Elemental powers flow! Gormiti, Lords of Nature Go!" "Power of the Sea!" "Strength of the Stone!" "Dominion of the Wind!" "Force of the Forest!"
    • In Season 2, for the Power Armor: "Indestructible like a montain!" "Pure power of Rebirth!" "Eternal power of Tides!" "Unstoppable power of Wind!"
    • Season 3 has a full new summoning: "Explosive power of Stone!" "Ancient Power of Rebirth!" "Vital Energy of Water!" "Full Control of Wind!"
  • Card-Carrying Villain: Most Volcano Gormiti come across as this... especially Arachnos the Cruel and Orrore.
  • Catch Phrase
    • Nick: "I already knew it!"
    • Toby: "Yours! With no comeback!" (Used only in merchandise stuff. What it means is actually unknown.)
    • Supreme Luminiscent: "Admirate the power of Light!"
    • Razzle: "Boys, there are troubles on Gorm." and "That's you, kid." (The phrase becames less frequent in later episodes where the kids get it by themselves, and disppears in Season 3 when he becames the Wise Old One's pet.)
    • Lavion: "Guys, look at me, the wonderful Lavion!"
  • Cool Old Guy: The Wise Old One.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Depending on the element powers of Gorm.
  • Cthulhumanoid: Orrore Profondo.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: In Season 3, the kids need to be in contact with a pure form of their respective elements to transform. Magor's plans usually involve contaminating one such element to keep the heroes from transforming...
  • Deadpan Snarker: Lucas.
  • Demoted to Extra: In Season 2 most of the human characters, except for Nick and Toby's parents, are nowhere to be seen. In Season 3 Gina and Paula just made cameos. For the Gormiti, in the first two Season 2 episodes Season 1 characters are still around, then they disappear. In Season 3 there are no traces of Season 1 and 2 Gormiti.
  • Designated Victim: When one of the kids has to get captured, it is usually Toby. So much that it was surprising when a recent episode had Jessica in this position.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Averted. Obscurio is too powerful for the children to fight directly, and is eventually defeated by the Lords Of Nature blasting Magor's Codex which allowed him to exist in the material world.
  • Dirty Coward: Lavor.
  • The Dragon: Lavor, to Magmion; and Bombos to Lavion. Magmion also has a literal dragon in the form of Drakkon.
    • Season 2 has Magmion to Obscurio and Moloch, Cyclops and Blindscream to Magmion: the literal role is now for the twin-headed Ancient Guardian of Darkness Cerberion.
    • Season 3 has Magmion and Obscurio to Magor.
  • Enemy Mine: Occurred once, with Toby, Jessica and Lucas forced to do Teeth-Clenched Teamwork with Magmion and Lavion.
  • Evil Costume Switch: Toby, possessed by Obscurio, but only for 2 minutes.
  • Evil Overlord: Magmion, Obscurio, Magor.
  • Eyes Do Not Belong There: Blind Scream can remove his eyes and put them on his hands.
  • Fish Out of Water: In episode 6, Obscurio possesses Toby's body... and shows how unfamiliar he is with the customs of Earth.
  • Friend to All Living Things: Up until Season 2, only Lucas had such qualities. In Season 3, all the kids become this, thanks to their new awakened powers. Why, Lucas becomes a friend to plants, too!
  • Gadgeteer Genius: Nick and Jessica both have their moments.
  • Genius Bruiser: Nick.
  • Green Thumb: Lucas, along with Friend to All Living Things.
  • Hero-Killer: He hasn't killed anyone (yet), but Magor certainly doesn't screw around!
  • Heroic Sacrifice: The Supreme Luminescent in the last episode.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: Well... Nick is Yugi, Toby is Chazz and Obscurio is fucking Batman.
    • Forest warrior Letal Whip is Vegeta.
  • Idiot Hero: Toby, though he does have his moments of brilliance.
  • Image Song: Curiously for a Western production, there is one for every Gorm tribe, Volcano Lord, the Ancient Guardians, the Eyes of Life, the Wise Old One and Gorm Island, all collected in a CD.
  • Kid Hero
  • Kill It with Water: Toby, and the Sea Gormiti in general.
  • Laughably Evil: Lavion. Just Lavion.
  • Lighter and Softer: Compared to the source material.
  • Limited Wardrobe: With some exceptions: In season 2 Nick and Toby dress like in Season 1, while Lucas has a shirt of a different shade of green and Jessica changes from purple on blue to purple on white. Season 3 gives new clothes to all 4 of them.
  • Little Miss Badass: Other than being the Lord of Air, Jessica is an orange belt in judo.
  • Lovable Coward: Razzle. Hey, the little lizard has no powers, so you can't blame him for hiding when things get rough.
  • Merchandise-Driven: Sorta that.
    • "Sorta that"? This is clearly an effort for the toymakers to cash in on Bionicle.
  • Mind Control: Thought Ripper, a minor Volcano Gormite, has this as his speciality.
  • Mons: The Ancient Guardians could be considered this in Season 1, then in Season 2 they got ability to speak and became more like... Guardians of Gorm's most ancient secrets.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Obscurio crossed this when he had Oneiron and Incubion drain Magmion - his most unconditionally loyal servant - of his power and abandoned him.
  • Nightmare Fuel: What the Winds of Darkness can do to you is... quite unsettling: the victim's eyes go blank and their pupils are substituted with live flames, which obstruct their vision more and more, until their eyes are simply glowing embers. It's... disquieting to see.
  • Older Than They Look: Razzle - he's possibly a Time Abyss, if the comics are anything to go by.
  • One-Episode Wonder: Incubion and Oneiron.
  • The Plan: Magmion kicks off the second season with one that works almost perfectly and brings Obscurio one step closer to being unsealed.
  • Playing with Fire: Most Volcano Gormiti. Some of them, however, have some much less obvious powers...
  • Power Armor: The Golden Armors in Season 2. Also in Season 3 one of the new powers of the Earth Lord is summoning a stone armor to protect himself, then shredding it and throwing the pieces towards the enemy. Awesome.
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad: Moloch, Armageddon, Cyclops and Xylos, working under Magmion in Season 2.
  • Rube Goldberg Device: Episode 4 shows that both Toby and his dad can make pranks in this way.
  • Save Both Worlds: What happens on Gorm may have aftereffects that manifest on Earth.
  • Screwed by the Network: This series has been halted and restarted so many times, that Italia Uno (the show's broadcasting network in Italy) seems to be actively trying to annoy the fans away. Cartoon Network in the U.S. is not any better as they put this show in the 6 a.m. time slot where most kids are asleep!
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Obscurio, at least in Season 1.
    • In Season 2, the Army of Darkness, Incubion and Oneiron included, qualifies.
  • Selective Obliviousness: The only one who still doesn't see that Gina has an obvious crush on Lucas is Lucas himself... and the kid is usually pretty sharp!
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: Jessica looks even more pretty in a dress.
  • She's a Man In Japan: Not exactly that, but... in the toyline, Sea Gormiti Ancientjellyfish, Mantra and Swamptoad are referred as females on their cards. In the cartoon, they have male voices.
  • Ship Tease: Season 3 has mild Ship Tease moments, which seem to alternate between Toby/Jessica and Nick/Jessica. It's like Marathon is deliberately trying to mess with the shippers...
  • Smug Snake: Lavor. Oh so very much.
  • Suddenly Voiced: In Season 1 the Ancient Guardians are just wild beasts and make only grunts and roars. In Season 2 and 3 they suddenly start talking for no reason whatsoever.
  • Talking to Himself: Magmion, Orrore, Wicked the Terrible and Thought Ripper(in his first appearance only) are voiced by the same person. In his second appearance Thought Ripper is voiced by the same guy who voices Lavion.
  • Team Pet: Razzle.
  • The Kid with the Remote Control: One of the kids always has to remain on Earth and be the Keeper in order for the others to be able to go back and forth and summon their powers.
    • Season 3 does away with the Keeper, but the kids still need to be together to transform.
  • The Other Darrin: Thought Ripper has two different voices in his two appareances. Also Jessica's voice suddendly changed in two episodes of Season 2, passing from sounding like Shizuka to sounding like Blackarachnia.
  • The Starscream: Burning Maul has been cast out of the Volcano tribe for this reason.
  • Time Skip: One year passes between Season 2 and Season 3
  • Token Minority: Lucas is the only black kid in the group.
  • Transformation Sequence: Every character has 3-4 variations. In the second part of Season 1 they start to spice them up inserting random Stock Footage from various episodes. In Episode 3 of Season 1 their powers went down and part of Nick's sequence is played... backwards.
  • Ultimate Evil: Obscurio in Season 1. Season 2 shows normally Obscurio and makes Magor the new Ultimate Evil. Then Magor appears in Season 3.
  • Villain Decay: Orrore. He came across as a serious threat in the toyline, but in the show he seems to have lost much of his competence.
  • Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World
  • We Have Reserves: Lavor's attitude towards his underlings is... less than stellar.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Air Gormiti can get like this at times, using debatable means to protect their own people. In the backstory, Orrore Profondo once used this trait to manipulate them into a Face Heel Turn, causing a huge schism in the tribes.
  • Worf Had the Flu: Some people are already crying Faux Action Girl after Jessica's somewhat lackluster performance in one of the latest episodes. Despite the fact that, you know, Obscurio's spell had greatly weakened the Air people, and despite the fact that she still managed to outsmart and defeat Armageddon in the end. Girls just can't win, can they?
    • In a more recent episode, Toby fell victim to this when the Volcano Gormiti began heating Gorm's core to set Incubion and Oneiron free, therefore draining the water from the Sea people territories.
    • And generally, second half of Season 2 and Season 3 have the Evil Gormiti attack a single tribe giving it a problem (Air People being angry with everyone, Sea People costantly sleeping, Earth People costantly tripping...)
  • You Go, Girl!
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Magmion fell victim to this in Season 2. Curse you, Obscurio!
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