Sym-Bionic Titan: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Sym-Bionic_Titan_6568.jpg|frame|No, you can't have one.]]

 

An animated series created by [[Genndy Tartakovsky]], Paul Rudish and Brian Andrews for [[Cartoon Network]].

Not to be confused with that [[Megas XLR|other Cartoon Network show with giant robots.]] [[Transformers Animated|Or the other one.]] [[Robotboy|Or that other one.]] [[Titan Maximum|Nor the one on Adult Swim.]] [[The Big O|Or the other Adult Swim one.]] [[Gundam|Or the ones on Toonami and Adult Swim.]]

 

 

* [[Ace Custom]]: Ilana's mech, Corus, is implied to be this since no others like it were ever shown. Lance uses a standard issue Manus armor with a slightly different color scheme; the [[Combining Mecha]] aspect probably isn't standard, though, since the King passed him a new model (his old one had been confiscated) before sending him off.

* [[Acting for Two]]: [[John Dimaggio]] as General Julius Steel and Ilana's father, the King of Galaluna. He keeps popping up as extras all over the place, along with [[Tara Strong]]. Of course, with their wide ranges and main character positions, this isn't really too surprising.

** Kristin (the Goth girl) was also revealed to be one in "Under the Three Moons" when shown practicing martial arts.

* [[Adorkable]]: Jason, and Octus as Newton.

* [[Aeris and Bob]]: Within Galaluna, Lance, Edward (Lance's father), and Arthur vs. Baron, Ilana, and Modula.

* [[An Aesop]]: Rather subtle by [[Western Animation]] standards, yet rather blunt by this show's standards. Episode 4 had a healthy-eating [[Aesop]], but it focused less on "eating healthy" and more on "eating things that are edible." It also had a good minute's worth of Lance with an armful of fruit eating a nutritious breakfast for no other reason than to... show him eating a nutritious breakfast.

** Episode 10, which is most remembered for the "[[Fan Service|Booty Quake]]" scene, actually did deliver a rather subtle aesop where Octus all but told Kimmy she didn't need to act like a flighty slut and should respect herself more.

* [[Airborne Aircraft Carrier]]: G3's headquarters.

** If we think that the king ''explicity'' sent his daughter to ''that'' particular planet, we can consider that just because our planet is like Galaluna, he sent her to Earth.

* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]: One of the reasons all the girls at Sherman High are into Lance. Octus even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] it at one point when Lance is being swarmed by fangirls.

Octus: Dark hair, bedroom eyes, moody demeanor. I totally get it. }}

* [[Animation Bump]]: The show has always looked good, but some episodes are simply ''gorgeous'' with feature film-quality animation; a good example is "Escape From Galaluna." The entire episode is simply ''beautiful.''

* [[Appropriated Appellation]]: The "Titan" part of the robot's name is added after it's referred to as one by the Earth media.

* [[Auto Erotica]]: The teens in episode 5 get as close to this trope as is possible on Cartoon Network. See [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]].

* [[Back-to-Back Badasses]]: Lance and Solomon in Episode 11. Not only is it awesome, it's a plot point, since Solomon should not know the martial art Lance uses. Ilana and Lance do this later in the same episode just before they get their watches back.

* [[Badass]]: Lance.

* [[Blob Monster]]: Episode 7.

* [[Blood From the Mouth]]: Lance has the minor injury version when being beaten by G3's resident interrogator.

* [[Body Horror]]: Xeexi forcing itself down people's throats.

** Ilana slowly transforming into a frog monster.

* [[Bond One-Liner]]: Modula gets one in "Under the Three Moons" after a henchcreature bet his own life that a monster would succeed.

* [[Breather Episode]]:

** Considering the preview for the [[Wham! Episode|sixth episode]], "Roar of the White Dragon" may have been this.

* [[Continuity Nod]]:

** The construction site in Episode 5 is the same place that was destroyed by the first [[Monster of the Week]].

** G3 has a storeroom of alien objects, including the trio's spaceship and the remains of several monsters they killed in the previous episodes.

** In Episode 12, Kimmy is seen talking to her friend about the latest episode of ''Highschool Heights'', a [[Show Within a Show]] mentioned in the first episode. "He can't read?" The show is mentioned again in Episode 13, too. Apparently Ilana and Octus are both fans.

** In the finale, we actually SEE people inside of the buildings that are being blown up

* [[Cool Car]]: Lance's new hobby in "Roar of the White Dragon".

** And the military uniforms have Napoleonic sensibilities.

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: Pretty much any fight Lance has with jocks or criminals.

* [[Driving Test Smashers]]: Lance has this problem during his driving test.

* [[Dumb Muscle]]: The school jocks aren't too bright, with Meat being the prime example.

* [[Earthshattering Kaboom|Earth Obliterating Kaboom]]: Again, Tashy 497.

* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: Some of the monsters. Xeexi and The Shaman are two of the most obvious examples.

** Tashy 497 could be considered one, especially since its species are practically living supernovas.

* [[Elmuh Fudd Syndwome]]: Octus slips into this while watching ''[[Show Within a Show|Animal Friends]]''.

* [[The End - or Is It?]]: {{spoiler|The Shaman might not be so dead after all...}}

* [[Even the Guys Want Him]]: Lance again.

* [[Everything's Better with Princesses]]: Ilana is an alien princess sent into exile to Earth due to the Mutradi invasion.

** They seem to have a penchant for exposing Ilana's legs as well. There's actually a scene in episode three featuring both shirtless Lance and Ilana in short shorts. And then there's the episode full of chearleaders crawling around an air duct.

** Speaking of Ilana, at the end of "I Am Octus" her overalls have less material than Lance's shirt.

** There's a lingering pan of Ilana when she shifts into her spacesuit in Episode 18.

** Episode 19 sees Ilana coming out of the shower in nothing but a towel

* [[Fragile Speedster]]: Corus, Ilana's mech.

** The monster of episode 17 also counts. Its fast as lightning but so fragile {{spoiler|the Titan doesn't even need a weapon to kill it, it just beats it to death once it finally catches it.}}

* [[Future Food Is Artificial]]: School lunches. Yes, the cliché is back.

* [[General Ripper]]: General Steel has a "shoot first, ask questions never" policy with aliens. That this might not be the best policy to deal with alien threats can be seen in Episode 3.

** This may not be the right trope to file this under, but the fact that Solomon was willing to sacrifice probably millions of dollars in damage to their Helicarrier, the lives of his men, and even beat the living piss out of them himself is pretty goddamn committed.

** Xeexi may count as well, being much more subtle and intelligent than most bad guys. Unfortunately for him, he did not kill Lance....

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: [[Sym-Bionic Titan/Radar|Has its own page]].

* [[Gilligan Cut]]: In the first episode, when the gang try and introduce themselves without disguises.

'''Lance''': [''back in the cave''] Well... that didn't work out so well. }}

* [[Give Geeks a Chance]]: Kimmy's attraction to Octus.

** Special mention goes to Arthur, Lance's roommate at the boarding school.

** Most of the background characters, and in certain cases they make note to highlight it, as with the cafeteria... person.

* [[Grand Finale]]: Though probably not grand enough to match the creators' intentions, {{spoiler|Octus is revived, the last monsters were killed, and "Newton" may resolve his relationship.}}

* [[Grievous Harm with a Body]]: The [[Monster of the Week]] in episode 5 has its arm ripped off by Titan as a weapon.

* [[Gross Up Close-Up]]: As mentioned above, the Cafeteria person, and done again in Episode 4 with the teacher. And in Episode 10 with the pimple-faced nerd.

* [[Gundamjack]]: Lance hijacks a Manus suit in order to scare off a murderous Baron. Baron responded by doing the same.

** Is it really that much of a surprise? Genndy has clearly utilized this trope before on a [[Dexter's Laboratory|certain kid genius's mom]].

** Ironic since Hartman worked on that show alongside Genndy.

* [[He Is Not My Boyfriend]]: When Ilana introduces their neighbor Barb to the family.

'''Barb:''' ''Boo!'' }}

** Doubles as [[Incest Is Relative]].

** Octus pulls a [[She Is Not My Girlfriend]] to Lance and Ilana when they start teasing him about Kimmy. In the same episode, Lance and Ilana are hanging out when a classmate of Lance's bumps into them and assumes Ilana is Lance's "lady." They both deny it, Lance saying Ilana is just a friend while Ilana simultaneously blurts out that Lance is her brother.

* [[Henshin Hero]]: All three of Titan's pilots.

* [[Hero Insurance]]: Specifically averted. The first use of the Titan is specifically mentioned as having caused ''$14 billion'' in damage, and the battle scars on the city are shown and played for drama.

** Also shown when in their second battle, they actively try to avoid causing damage to the area they're fighting in. Later episodes show them actively trying to move the fight away from inhabited areas before it starts.

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Octus is killed by the energy cloud while trying to save Lance.}}

* [[He's Just Hiding]]: Out of universe, many people believe this of Lance's father. In universe, Lance agreed... at first.

* [[Hidden Depths]]:

** Implied with Lance.

'''Octus:''' Maybe your father sees something in him that none of us do. }}

** General Modula seems to have more than just a working relationship with the king prior to whatever mishap led to him being left behind.

** Partially subverted: She does have a problem with [[Future Food Is Artificial|school lunches having only 1% meat content]], while the stereotypical hippie is, of course, a vegetarian. She ''is'' trying to provide healthier food for the school though, but anything would be healthier than what they had.

** She's also been seen to sport some pretty funky clothes, like the technicolor nightmare in Episode 5.

* [[How Do I Shot Web?]]: No one, not even Octus, had any idea they had the Titan at first. They figure out how it works pretty fast, though.

** Shown in "Disenfranchised," Lance made a Kusarigama weapon construct for Titan, and when he did, Octus was shocked because he didn't know they could do so. It seems to imply that there is really no limit to the constructs Titan could create.

* [[Human Aliens]]

* [[Humongous Mecha]]: Sym-Bionic Titan; Lance's mech.

* [[Idiot Ball]]: The King. Should've listened to Lance, huh? [[Justified Trope|Justified]], in that Lance's sullen behaviour and tendency to get into trouble at the Academy meant he was a constant disappointment to the King. By the time of the invasion, Lance had very little credibility with the King.

* [[Ignore the Fanservice]]/[[Not Distracted by the Sexy]]: Octus doesn't respond to Kimmy's attempts to seduce her way out of studying the way she'd hoped. Lance likewise is completely apathetic to the constant stream of poon that passes his way. Ilana counts, too, since she's seen Lance shirtless several times and is apparently not impressed.

* [[Impossibly Graceful Giant]]: The Titan robot is about at least several stories tall and must weigh quite a few tons, yet it can perform impressive feats of martial arts with no regard for the laws of physics.

** Subverted with the H.M.E.R. It's bulky, slow and needs a ridiculous amount of jets all over in to make simple maneuvers.

* [[Innocent Cohabitation]]: Subverted. The main reason Ilana, Lance and Octus all live in the same house together is due to their mission to blend in with Earthlings. They avoid arousing suspiscion by pretending to be a family. And so far, there has been no romantic interest amongst them to complicate things.

* [[Ironic Juxtaposition]]: Kimmy turns on her iPod and [[Happy Dance|happydances]] her way home to A Flock Of Seagulls, while the Titan fights the EMP monster in the background behind her. There are visual similarities between her motions, swinging off the streetlamps, and the Titan swinging the monster by its tail.

* [[Irony]]: The final episode is called "A New Beginning"

* [[Jerkass]]: The White Dragon, who harasses Lance over a tiny slight, hounds him even when the [[Monster of the Week]] is trying to kill them, and uses his gang to cheat in a street race by trying to get Lance to crash.

** Baron, Lance's rival in the Academy, who was also bad enough to try and kill him. Lance must be a psycho magnet. Baron even "killed" his own team during the war games just for a better shot at the top spot.

* [[Kaiju]]: Pretty much all of the Mutraddi mega-beasts fit this trope.

* [[Karma Houdini]]: Baron. He tries to murder Lance because Lance might have ruined his chances of getting on the royal guard by beating him in the war games (which, admittedly, was Baron's surefire ticket to the guard, though his record probably could have carried him there). When Lance steals the Manus armor to try and scare him off, he takes another and they get into a mecha duel which up blows up a good chunk of the academy. [[Screw the Rules, I Have Connections|He's bailed out by his dad while Lance gets the blame.]] (He spent a short time in jail and it's implied his good reputation took a dive, but that's it.)

** Again in episode 13 with Ilana in mech form.

* [[Man Behind the Man]]: {{spoiler|Solomon seems to be taking orders from a mysterious gauntlet-wearing figure.}}

* [[Master of Disguise]]: Octus, using a holographic system, though he always seems to retain his overall cylindrical shape and hasn't changed into anything other than his two basic forms. His size is especially strange since we've seen him visibly change his actual form (into a ball). Episode 11 shows he ''could'' put more effort into it if he wanted.

** The Chameleon in episode 12 could shape-shift into absolutely anyone, at any size, even scaling up its impersonations.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Corus = Heart, Manus = Hand, Octus = Eye.

* [[Mighty Glacier]]: Manus, Lance's mech.

* [[Mood Whiplash]]: The ending of episode 4, which suddenly segues from Lance happily serving food at the cafeteria, to Modula torturing the king for information on Titan.

** Earlier in the same episode, Lance is beating the piss out of some crooks, and next we have a shot of him showering with a huge grin on his face, and the whole breakfast scene with him being unnaturally cheerful.

* [[More Dakka]]: General Steel seems to follow this philosophy, exemplified by H.M.E.R. and its [[Spent Shells Shower|literal rain of huge spent shells]].

* [[Mrs. Robinson]]: Barb sort of let herself in when the trio moved into their new home. She immediately starts flirting with "Mr. Lunis".

* [[Multi-Armed and Dangerous]]: The six-armed baddie in episode 6.

* [[Mysterious Past]]: Ilana apparently knows little to nothing about Lance's past, which Lance isn't fond of bringing up.

** Though at this point his past is substantially less mysterious to we, the viewers.

* [[Nakama]]: By the end of the series the trio consider themselves as family.

* [[Name of Cain]]: In a recent episode, Ilana's cellmate introduces himself as Cain. Guess what happens.

** In the fourth, his vigilante activities not only get him caught by the [[Monster of the Week]], {{spoiler|but expose their secret weapon to Modula (who had thus far been baffled by the princess defeating his monsters).}}

* [[No Ending]]: The series never resolves the war on Galaluna or the confrontation with Modula.

* [[No Ontological Inertia]]: When the [[Monster of the Week]] infects Ilana with a DNA-altering virus, killing said monster is sufficient for Ilana to revert to human form almost instantly.

* [[No Sense of Personal Space]]: Meat, the jock who keeps bothering Octus in episode 7.

* [[Nosy Neighbor]]: '''Barb.''' ''Dear Lord'', when she thinks the Lunis' have a new pet, she practically ''jumps'' on Mr. Lunis to find out what kind it is.

** And she has in every appearance so far walked straight into their house with no invitation.

* [[Not a Date]]: Lance and Ilana's date-like hangout in episode 10. ''They'' don't think it's a date, but the person who invited Lance to the concert sure thought it was.

* [[Portmanteau]]: Symbiotic (two organisms living closely together) + Bionic (cyborgs) = "Sym-Bionic".

* [[Powered Armor]]: Ilana's Corus unit is closer to this than a mecha.

* [[Protagonist-Centered Morality]]: Because they're hiding out on Earth, the town they live in gets regularly attacked by giant monsters who destroy portions of the city (possibly killing hundreds if not thousands in the crossfire), but when Lance takes up vigilantism (which might make their visit a net positive for the city), he gets told to stop. Of course, Lance's actions resulted in a huge [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]] because he bit off more than he could chew, so Octus was arguably in the right to dissuade him.

* [[Punch-Punch-Punch Uh-Oh]]: Solomon unleashes a flurry of punches on Octus, both head and body blows. Naturally, Octus doesn't even flinch.

** It can also be seen as playing with [[Japanese Media Tropes]] in general. For example Tashy is all about [[Playing with a Trope|playing with the]] [[Mons|Pet Monster]] trope.

* [[Relatively Flimsy Excuse]]: Lance and Ilana masquerade as brother and sister, with Octus as their father.

* [[Ridiculously Human Robot]]: The main theme of "I Am Octus". Throughout the episode we see Octus wondering how much is he a machine and how much humanity does he have, if the emotions he has are real or are they just some sort of automatized response.

* [[The Rival]]: Baron didn't like Lance from the first moment he came to the academy. In his introductory episode alone, he tried to kill Lance after being bested only once. It remains to be seen if Baron will return later on in the series, but the odds are high in favor of it.

* [[Roadside Wave]]: Happens to Lance and Ilana when they are hitchhiking in the rain in "The Steel Foe".

* [[Robeast]]: The Mutraddi Mega-Beasts fill this role.

* [[Roof Hopping]]: Lance in the second episode.

* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: Ilana is willing to fight to protect humanity from the monsters out to get her, despite her bodyguards' advice to do otherwise.

* [[Rushed Inverted Reading]]: Kimmy does it in "Lessons in Love" when Lance and Ilanca interupt her and Newton when they were about to kiss.

* [[Sassy Black Woman]]: Lance's driving instructor, who turns out to be [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|pretty nice]].

* [[Shout-Out]]: The Abandoned Farm they stop at before heading in to space looks like [[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]'s Farm.

** Ron Stoppable as the school's mascott voice.

* [[Sickeningly Sweethearts]]: Judging from "Under the Three Moons", Newton and Kimmy seemed to be turning into this, with him calling her cheesy nicknames such as 'muffin cup' and 'honey bear'.

* [[Significant Double Casting]]: ''Very'' likely with the gauntlet man behind G3. In addition to a bunch of evidence already pointing towards this, {{spoiler|1=both he and Lance's dad are voiced by Richard McGonagle.}}

* [[Stood Up]]: Octus starts every date with Kimmy, but the Rift Gate always causes him to have to bail or no-show on her. The last straw is when Octus promises --and fails to show-- the night of the Homecoming Dance, in "Under The Three Moons".

* [[Stupid Sexy Flanders]]: Octus has one of these moments regarding Lance in "Phantom Ninja". When Ilana remarks that she doesn't get what the girls at school see in Lance, Octus replies:

* [[Stylistic Suck]]: ''[[Show Within a Show|Animal Friends]]'', as well as the aforementioned parody of high school dramas.

* [[Survivor Guilt]]: Lance in episode 18 {{spoiler|immediately after Octus' death -- because he fell behind and Octus only died because he returned to save Lance}}.

* [[Swiss Army Hero]]: Titan uses [[Do-Anything Robot|Octus']] energy conversion with Lance's imagination to [[Shapeshifter Weapon|make any melee weapon]] they need at the moment. To a lesser extent, the same is true of Ilana's imagination and defensive items.

* [[Take That]]: At the CW and teenage high school drama shows.

** Doubles as [[Biting the Hand Humor]] since Time Warner, owner of Cartoon Network, owns half of the WC... er... [[The CW]].

* [[Tar and Feathers]]: "The Ballad of Scary Mary", although it was probably a substance like molasses rather than tar.

* [[Technology Porn]]: Titan.

* [[Teens Are Monsters]]: Everyone at the trio's high school are jerks. It takes twelve episodes for the three to have a conversation with someone that isn't filled with scorn.

* [[Three Chords and the Truth]]: The band Disenfranchised.

* [[Tim Taylor Technology]]: In Episode 19, Lance attempts to revive {{spoiler|Octus}} by connecting him to the electrical systems of a motel for "more power." Later, he attempts to try the same strategy with the H.M.E.R.'s power source instead.

* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: General Steel. Aside from the fact that [[More Dakka]] is his first and only solution to any given problem, his incompetence and ignorance of basic scientific precautions [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|unleashed a deadly lightning storm]] [[Buffy-Speak|alien thing]] in episode 3. How he managed to get promoted so many times is anybody's guess.

* [[Torture Technician]]: 3G uses lets one loose on Lance in "Fortress of Deception".

* [[Tron Lines]]: Titan has these.

* [[Troperiffic]]: Obvious by the first episode alone.

* [[Unstoppable Rage]]: Lance after {{spoiler|Octus' death}}.

** To explain: {{spoiler|He took over G3's ship and let loose everything in it had into the monster and the space station, vaporizing it completely. Even Solomon, who is just as [[Badass]] as Lance is, knew it was a good idea to stay out of his way despite the fact his ship had just been hijacked.}}

** The creature in episode 12 is seen walking through a crowd of people and randomly changing form as it goes.

* [[Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World]]: It's a given, really.

* [[Wave Motion Gun]]: Solomon's ship has one. It's even called the Wave Motion Cannon. The Titan has one, too. Very likely a [[Shout-Out]], given the [[Animesque|nature of the series.]]

* [[We Have Reserves]]: Modula and General Steele both have this attitude.

* [[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!]]: Between Ilana and Lance.

* [[Wham! Episode]]: Episode 18, "A Crisis in the Family".

* [[What Could Have Been]]: Illana's actual bodyguard being injured in the invasion meant Lance was the only ready choice.

* [[What Do You Mean It's for Kids?]]: This show gets away with a fair amount of violence. And an amazing amount of blatant [[Fan Service|fanservice (see above).]]

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: Barb opening a can of tuna fish for her dog.

* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: Mike Chan's ''[[Stripperific]]'' girlfriend who [[The Voiceless|never spoke]] for some reason wasn't seen again in the end of the episode.

** {{spoiler|The mysterious man who Solomon reports to and later fixes Octus.}}

** We find out later that they were sent to Earth specifically ''because'' they looked so much like Galalunans... but the masks the soldiers were wearing and their "shoot first, ask later" attitude didn't help.

** Episode 11 has them go all-out on G3 troopers. It's never stated that anyone was killed, though.

** If we see it this way, more than not being humanoid, they are ''at war'' with the mutraddi, meanwhile the humans are innocent victims who get in the middle of the conflict.

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Octus calls out Lance for his vigilante antics. Later, Ilana calls out Octus and Lance for trying to forge a driver's license.

* [[Whole-Episode Flashback]]: "Shadows of Youth" and "Escape from Galaluna", featuring Lance's academy days and the invasion of Galaluna, respectively.

* [[Would Not Shoot a Good Guy]]: After some early misunderstandings, Lance and Ilana try their absolute best to minimise casualties during their run-ins with G3 and the US Army.

** The show has pretty much solidified itself as a cross between a John Hughes Highschool movie and traditional Mech Anime.

* [[You Are in Command Now]]: Modula kills his lead scientist after his latest Mutradi fails to work as intended. He then turns to a random computer tech, promotes him, and declares that the same will happen to him if the next monster fails.

** Another alien meets this fate when his monster fails in to kill Ilana in episode 17, after betting his life on it.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Science Fiction Western Animation]]

[[Category:The New Tens]]

[[Category:Western Animation]]