Sym-Bionic Titan/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.



  • Awesome McCoolname: BRICK JACKSON, the reporter who appears in episodes 1, 19 and 20.
  • Better on DVD The series pretty clearly works better as a longer narrative, considering that several episodes can easily be watched seamlessly.
  • Cargo Ship: Steel/H.M.E.R
  • Complete Monster: General Modula betrayed his own homeworld, slaughtered and enslaved the inhabitants, and actively hunted down any resistance he could find. He treats his own mooks as cannon fodder, and if they fail to meet his expectations, he kills them without even moving from his spot.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome:
    • The use of A Flock of Seagulls's "Space Age Love Song" as Soundtrack Dissonance in the final battle scene/Kimmy dancing on her way home.
    • On that note, SHAKE IT BAKE IT BOOTY QUAKE IT, ROLL IT AROUND
    • The music that plays when Ilana is reminiscing about Galaluna in episode 2. The music that plays when Lance wins the war games in episode 8. In general this show is full of fantastic music.
    • For Metalheads, it's the Alien Death Hammer song.
    • The sad and touching guitar music playing in "Tashy 497."
    • Both songs in 'Disenfranchised'.
    • All of the songs in 'The Ballad of Scary Mary.' There were at least five, probably all original to the series, and they were all fantastic.
  • Ear Worm: The intro theme is pretty catchy.
    • SHAKE IT, BAKE IT, BOOTY QUAKE IT! ROLL IT AROUND!
      • DON'T FAKE IT!
    • When you're fighting and not sharing and nothing seems to work, it's time to put your heads together~ And think of something good!
    • Open the door for me...
  • Everybody Remembers the Booty Dancer: Thanks to The Daily What and Cartoon Brew, there are very likely many people who think that Sym-Bionic Titan consists entirely of "Booty Quake".
  • Fan Dumb: A large amount of the fandom seems to be under the impression that Lance and Ilana actually ARE siblings. Nice job watching the pilot, guys.
    • And then there are those who blame Sym-Bionic Titan's cancellation on The Problem Solverz despite the fact that it was greenlit long before any decisions on Titan would have been made. Look at the "Help Sym-Bionic Titan Get Another Season" Facebook group and you'll see plenty of posts still blaming and blindly bashing the show.
  • Fan Myopia: It might be justified because of the series' short life span, but fans will make this show out to be CN's only saving grace to outside observers, disregarding the other good shows on its line-up and promising to boycott any CN show that appears until the show gets a second season. Which will totally work, right?
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Episode 47 of Samurai Jack guest-starred Tara Strong as, yes, an alien princess.
  • Kavorka Man: Octus managed to seduce the most popular of the cheerleaders without even trying.
  • Moe: Young Lance is SO cute!
    • Tashy seems an intentional parody of the Japanese obsession with cute critters.
  • Out of Focus: Despite her importance to the plot and all, Ilana's backstory and character development don't get as much attention as her male team mates, and we have yet to see her win a fight without their help. The first season tended to focus more on Lance while the second favored Octus. Perhaps if a third season had happened, Ilana would have gotten more time to shine?
  • Recycled Script: The "Tashy 497" episode was a recycle of an old Powerpuff Girls episode, with Ilana as Bubbles and Lance as Buttercup.
    • The entire series has a great deal in common with an old Samurai Jack episode.
  • Sending Stuff to Save the Show: Letters, fan art, purple shirts...
  • Ship Sinking: The goth girl Kristin and Jason were basically Ship Sinkers for the pairing of Ilana and Lance in "The Ballad of Scary Mary".
    • Although we may be mistaken given "Under the Three Moons", though the dance they shared seemed to have platonic connotations.
      • Seems a bit odd to think that just because Lance and Ilana met two others they clicked with, doesn't exactly mean anything unless they both become regulars like Kimmy.
      • And they do, at least so far.
      • Jason has shown up again, but the goth girl is nowhere to be seen.
      • She returns in "Under the Three Moons."
    • Octus and Kimmy in "Under the Three Moons."
  • Ship Tease: Despite Genndy intending for Lance and Ilana's relationship to be platonic, there's still a lot of this between the two of them.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Lance, who had three episodes about his character, in the first season.
    • Season 2 shifted to focusing more on Octus.
  • Stoic Woobie: If Lance's backstory is anything to go by.
  • Straw Man Has a Point: During the televised Titan debate in episode 3, Steel counters the commentator's saying the Titan saved them from the fire monster by pointing out that it's probably the Titan's fault the monster showed up in the first place. This is technically true, although in his case there's no way he could have known it.
    • Well, think: a giant robot shows up. Immediately after, giant monsters begin to show up and focus their attacks on the giant robot. It makes sense to assume that the robot and the monsters are connected.
      • They can't really prove which came first. And the monsters would be focused on the robot even if they weren't connected, since it's basically a giant moving target.
  • Tastes Like Diabetes: Octus gets hooked on a childrens' edutainment shows in the third episode.
    • Tashy 497 is this trope incarnate.
  • Tear Jerker: The death of Octus.
    • Tashy's farewell has caused several viewers to tear up, specially those who can relate to losing a pet.
    • The "Space Age Love Song" fight scene caused this troper to tear up a bit, mostly from the emotion of the scene.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The HMER is introduced by delivering a Curb Stomp Battle to a Mutraddi and is generally treated as an extremely powerful mecha...then gets unceremoniously torn to shreds in the final episode by a Monster of the Week that was introduced in that episode.
  • Too Good to Last: Cartoon Network really doesn't dig giant robots as much as they used to. The show has been canceled due to lack of toys associated with it.
  • Uncanny Valley: Barb's face is pretty creepy, and the constant smile isn't helping. Actually, any human's face, if you look too closely at it... But this is typical of Tartakovsky's art style.
    • Octus will occasionally do things that fall into this --little things here and there that sometimes make him seem like an old man in a teenager's body. More egregiously, the first time he showed off his Super Speed, it was to run home as Newton to save Ilana and Lance. Through a busy city, and stopping for all the crosswalk signals.
  • What an Idiot!: It isn't exactly wise to tell a refugee princess that everyone on her home planet is probably dead. Nice Job Breaking It, Lance.
    • Or transforming into a giant robot IN PUBLIC.
    • Even though it's a given for his General Ripper persona, General Steel's thickheadedness, lack of sense, and refusal to listen to reason leaves one to wonder as to how come he hasn't been sacked for gross incompetence.