The Condor

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The Condor is an animated superhero film released in 2007, whose title character was created by Stan Lee. The story centers around Tony Valdez, a Latino teenager, professional skater and the son of two wealthy scientists, who are on the verge of a new breakthrough in nanotechnology. However, everything seemingly goes awry when Tony's parents are killed in a (not-so-accidental) car crash and he is attacked and beaten, leaving his legs permanently broken and him supposedly unable to walk again. But here comes science to the rescue! His closest friend, Sammi (who secretly loves him) had studied his parents' research and comes up with mechanized leg braces, which inject him with nanobots and enable him to walk again. She also builds him an unbelievably high-tech skateboard and a personalized helmet, with a heads-up display visor. With all this in tow, he becomes The Condor and sets about finding out the truth about his parents' deaths, and putting a stop to plans by Nigel Harrington (his parents' former business partner) and the assassin Taipan, to use their research for villainous intent.

So basically, we have a Latino teenager, who is a cripple and yet a skateboarding superhero.

Tropes used in The Condor include:
  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: The character was created by Stan Lee and the script written by Marv Wolfman of Teen Titans fame. With that in mind, it's a shame the film wasn't any better.
  • Angst? What Angst?: His parents were just murdered and he has lost the use of his legs, but Tony livens up the instant Valeria comes to wheel him off at their funeral.
  • Berserk Button: Taipan/Valeria insults Sammi during her fight with Tony, calling her a "homely little bitch" and asking if the leg enhancements she designed is how she shows her love for him. This seems to piss him off quite a bit.
    • I'll bet it does, considering he's been brushing her off since his injury.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Nigel
  • Dating Catwoman: Tony discovers his girlfriend Valeria is his enemy Taipan.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Tony attempts this throughout the film.
  • Creepy Monotone: Taipan talks like this with their helmet on. Done on purpose to try and better hide that Valeria is Taipan.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: A few reviews of the film actually bring up the question of why Stan Lee didn't make Sammi the hero instead. The man himself even admits that maybe he should have done so in behind-the-scenes interviews.
  • Fiery Redhead: Sammi. If we are to take Z-Man's word for it, she's much sexier when she's angry.
  • Gainaxing: The first image we see of Valeria is Tony's POV tilting up from her legs to her face whilst she is walking towards him. And her breasts are bouncing.
  • Gag Boobs: One occurs when Sammi dubs Valeria "Miss Silicone" in a joking comment to Tony.

Tony: Oh, trust me. She's not Miss Silicone, she's Miss Natural.

  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: Cartoon Network aired it in 2007, with blood and profanity intact.
  • Go Seduce My Arch-Nemesis: This trope is turned almost entirely on its head. Nigel orders Taipan to kill Tony, but in her civilian life as Valeria, she seems to be equally concerned with having a little quality time with him first. She even lampshades the circumstances when she finds out Tony is The Condor; "I suppose that's what I get when I mix business with pleasure".
  • Heroes Want Redheads: Held off until the very end of the film, when Sammi and Tony finally get together.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: The Major is Valeria.
  • Hot Scientist: Sammi reveals herself to have a pretty impressive figure when she leaves on a date with Z-Man.
  • Ink Suit Actor: Stan Lee makes another of his famous movie cameos in this form.
  • Jerkass: Tony's cousin Reuben who's a member of a gang. He's the one who sabotage Tony's skateboard during a competition when Tony refused to give him the money he needed to payoff the gang (all this time Tony thought Z-Man was the sabotagee).
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Z-Man seems to be a skateboarding version of a Heel, but it turns out he's just playing the part for the camera's and is good guy to have backing you up.
  • Male Gaze: Almost every time Valeria is on screen for any real length of time (up until The Reveal) we get a shot from Tony's point of view focusing on Valeria's more-than-generous bodily assets.
  • Most Common Superpower: Valeria has it.
  • Obviously Evil: Nigel and Valeria aren't fooling anybody... other than the cast, of course.
  • Samus Is a Girl: Taipan's true identity is revealed to be Valeria when she undresses to her bikini and Tony sees she has the same tattoo on her back that he noticed on Taipan when her armour was torn during their fight. It's not really all that surprising, actually.
  • Sequel Hook: Taipan/Valeria survives, albeit horribly burned, and gives her grandfather (who appears to be the head of some kind of criminal organization) one of the nano-devices they used to control the skaters, implying they are going to use it to heal her or even make more. I wouldn't wait too long on that sequel if I were you though.
  • The Starscream: Taipan becomes this to Nigel.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Z-Man though he does pause in shock first but once she hits him he hits back
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Said verbatim by Taipan.