The Owl House: Difference between revisions

Or so it seems… The Boiling Isles may not be quite what she expected of a fantasy world.

 

 

 

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Action Girl]]: Pretty much ''every'' female character - Eda, Luz, Lilith, Willow, Amity, Camila, Boscha, Viney, Bria, the list goes on. Even Kikimora gets some [[Dark Action Girl]] moments when she's put in a real leadership position.

* [[Action Mom]]: Eda is a surrogate one (which she inherited from her own mom, Gwendolyn), {{spoiler|but Luz's mother is a biologically related one in season three.}}

** Luz gets a reminder on her phone about an important anniversary, causing her to freak out with guilt. She tells Eda and King that she needs a distraction, and her refusal to be alone with her thoughts gets her and Amity in trouble for an episode. When Amity finally corners her for answers, Luz reveals {{spoiler|her father died a long time ago, and every year on the anniversary of his death, she and her mother would pick flowers to give to each other. But she's separated from her mom, and feeling guiltier about being away from home and missing the anniversary. While Amity helps her find an alternate ritual by sending flowers in the sky with an Abomination balloon, we cut to Camila leaving out an orchid for Luz by the window, before turning away sadly. It's clear how much mother and daughter miss each other}}.

** In "Edge of the World", when they're alone, Eda breaks down in front of {{spoiler|Lilith.}} She says that she wants to keep Luz and King safe, but they've all gotten in over their heads with {{spoiler|the Emperor}} now gunning for them all. Belos was tolerating Eda because she was harmless, but with Luz {{spoiler|having learned what the Day of Unity is and what it entails, the Emperor will waste no time in trying to wipe out the human before she can warn the other witches, and may go after King in the meantime. "They're just kids," Eda sobs}}.

* [[An Aesop]]: Many:

** Be yourself, reject conformity.

** Eda: Eda the Owl Lady (said in reverence) by Luz, "witchlet" by her mom.

** Lilith: Lily by Eda, Libby and Aunt Lilith by Luz, Lulu by Hooty (she later returns the sentiment to Hooty by calling him Hootsifer), and "sweet flea" by her mom.

** Luz: "mija" (a contraction of ''mi hija,'' meaning "my daughter") by her mom.

** King: [[Cuteness Proximity|widdle guy, widdle baby boo, cutie-pie, beach peach, boo-boo buddy...]] you get the idea.

** Hooty: Hootisfer by Lilith, referencing Calcifer from ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (novel)|Howl's Moving Castle]]''.

* [[Alas, Poor Villain]]: In King's Tide, {{spoiler|Hunter has this reaction when the Collector smashes his Uncle Belos into a puddle of magic goop.}}.

* [[Alpha Bitch]]: Amity; she starts out as a typical one, but eventually evolves into [[Lovable Alpha Bitch]].

** However, Boscha remains both this Trope and a female version of a [[Jerk Jock]]; Skara and the rest of Amity's [[Girl Posse]] eventually softens, but [[Hate Sink| Boscha]] seems firmly cemented as such. Despite being part of the Posse, Amity isn't all-too fond of them.

** Emperor Belos, at least for most of season one. While he seems to be an oppressive dictator, almost nothing is known about his motives or goals. Of course, given the small amount of info we do have on him, [https://theowlhouse.fandom.com/wiki/Emperor_Belos he doesn't look like someone you'd want to cross.] {{spoiler| The Season Two finale seems to remove this ambiguity, ''but'' [[Word of Saint Paul| his own voice actor]] [https://www.instagram.com/p/CEHnVhPjWHg/ seems to consider him]] a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]].}}

*** {{spoiler|The episode "Hollow Mind" subverts this Trope completely; Belos is well on his way to becoming one of the most evil villains in Disney history given the scope of his crimes. He is clearly [[A Nazi By Any Other Name]].}}

* [[Animalistic Abomination]]: Apparently ''giraffes''. In season 1, Eda tells Luz that giraffes are natives of the Boiling Isles in a manner indicating that she thinks they're so silly, they must have originated elsewhere. Contrast that with season 3, where Amity, Gus, Willow, and Vee - all of them natives of the Boiling Isles themselves visit a zoo in the human world and take a photo of a giraffe, [https://theowlhouse.fandom.com/wiki/Giraffe causing it to show them its true face] and leaving them ''terrified''.

* [[Animal Motifs]]: Owls for Eda, ravens/crows for Lilith, hawks for Mrs. Clawthorne, and deer for Belos.

* [[Arch Enemy]]: {{spoiler|It seems the Titan and the Collector were this, the battle between them centuries ago being a double knock-out, the Titan's last act being to seal the Collector within the In Between Realm before perishing, his body forming the Boiling Isles.}}

* [[Ascended Extra]]: Ahem, ''Steve''. Yeah, a guy who had naught but an average name to discern himself from the Emperor's other mooks evolved into a complex and interesting character. Initially he appeared as a one-off joke crony for Lilith, came back as a background character, acted as [[Mr. Exposition]] for Hunter in "Any Sport in a Storm", and finally {{spoiler|in "O Titan, Where Art Thou", he finally removes his mask to show a perfectly normal face after helping King work through his inner existential turmoil. }}

* [[Bad Boss]]: Odalia. She twists her youngest daughter's arm to act as a guinea pig for product demonstration, not only making her fight the creature but forcing her [[Throwing the Fight|to lose on purpose]] in order to make it convincing to investors, and when the demonstration starts to tank she has Luz, Willow, and Gus expelled simply to punish Amity for growing a spine. She has her husband work round the clock without ever rolling up her own sleeves to pitch in (in “Clouds on the Horizon”, Alador tells King that Odalia laid off half of his staff and made him and the staff he had left work overtime to meet Belos’ quota, adding that hasn’t had a weekend off in five years), only sees her family as potential staff for Blight Industries, and uses Alador's sympathy towards their kids to cow him into compliance so they won't be brought on as employees under her control.

* [[Bat Out of Hell]]: The Bat Queen is nasty and scary enough, but looking after her nestlings quickly turns Eda into a [[Badly-Battered Babysitter]].

** In "Clouds on the Tides", Hunter {{spoiler|requests to extract the Blight children from Blight Manor rather than go with the other CATs to stop the Day of Unity. It's because Belos tried killing him and Luz in "Hollow Mind", and Hunter doesn't want to be anywhere near his uncle, because Belos wants him dead. He reasons that going on this sidequest will help Luz and his new friends, giving him time to process the whole "being a Grimwalker" thing, and keep him well away from the Coven guards or the Emperor. Much to his horror, Kikimora busts them before they can bluff their way past Odalia because she recognizes his "annoying voice", and she guns for Hunter when Alador rescues the children. Then he sees himself getting captured, much to his confusion, after helping Willow dodge Kikimora's Abomaton. Luz convinced Gus to cast an illusion so she would appear as Hunter and vice-versa, so she would get caught instead and could help Eda since Kikimora gloated that the Emperor knew about the CATs plan to stop the Day of Unity. Hunter couldn't cast his magic without breaking the illusion, and didn't have any response but to play along. When Alador breaks the illusion, Hunter has a horrified expression on his face, insisting that he didn't realize what Luz had done until Kikimora caught her. He knows that Belos wants one other person dead: Luz, for promising to tell everyone on the Boiling Isles about his true form}}.

** The teaser clip of "Thanks to Them" shows that {{spoiler|Belos is back on Earth...and he is basically a sentient blob for all intents and purposes, who can only hop around Luz's neighborhood. Not a very noble return for a Witchhunter General that thought he would receive a hero's welcome. He later upgrades to possessing animals, and then Hunter, before using Hunter's life force to get his [[One-Winged Angel]] form back to return to the Boiling Isles.}}

* [[Beach Episode]]: [[Parodied]] and [[Discussed]]. The show never has an ''actual'' beach episode, instead opting for a [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall]] discussion in season 2, episode 19 "O Titan, Where Art Thou". {{quote|'''Eda''': I mean, wouldn't you rather, I don't know have a beach day?

'''Luz''': Maybe [[Cosmic Deadline|if we had time]] [[Executive Meddling|for twenty more adventures]], but we don't.}}

* [[Captive Date]]: {{spoiler|Hooty means well, but kidnapping Amity and forcing her and Luz to go through his homemade tunnel of love may not have been the best way to play matchmaker...}}

* [[Cheaters Never Prosper]]: In the episode where Amity and Willow are introduced, Luz tries to help Willow pass her test by disguising herself (Luz) as an abomination. Unfortunately, her ruse is uncovered when Amity sees her eat a sandwich (actual abominations do not eat) and Luz is nearly dissected as a result, Willow ending up with detention. Downplayed slightly, as this ''does'' convince Willow's parents to let her switch classes, which was the intent.

* [[Child Prodigy]]: The Golden Guardian has a reputation for this, although Lilith claims he's actually a [[Spoiled Brat]]. Given what is seen of him so far, there is valid arguments for both views.

* [[The Chosen One]]: This trope gets explored a lot in the first and second season, with Luz naming it directly in "Witches Before Wizards".

** ''Azura the Good Witch'' is a chosen one in her book series. Luz admires how Azura has a preordained destiny but always befriends her enemies, or makes them "eat" her magical attacks.

* [[Cursed With Awesome]]: Members of the Detention Tract are troublemakers who are not allowed to learn magic; however, at least three of them know that the classroom has a secret door to a room that allows access everywhere in the school, letting them learn whatever courses they desire when the [[Apathetic Teacher]] who watches them falls asleep. It is later revealed that Eda used to do so after magically building the room. Bump likely gets rid of it later, but after Luz and those students save the day, they're allowed to study multiple courses, possibly even starting a new policy at Hexside.

** In season 2, {{spoiler|Eda manages to alter her curse so that her Cursed Form is a [[Cute Monster Girl]] "Owl Harpy" (as she calls it) far more a benefit than a hindrance.}}

* [[Cute Witch]]: Every female student at Hexside; even Amity has moments once her kinder side surfaces.

* [[Dance Battler]]: In "Enchanting Grom Fight", Amity and Luz defeat the eponymous monster with a duet version.

* [[Disappeared Dad]]:

** Luz's mother is a single mom, and Luz's father has never been mentioned. Luz later reveals to Amity that {{spoiler|her father died years ago}}.

* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]:

** {{spoiler|Amity rejecting her mother's orders and calling her out in "Through the Looking Glass Ruins" seems ''very'' similar to Pacifica Northwest's actions in the ''[[Gravity Falls]]'' episode "Northwest Mansion Mystery"; Pacifica being another character who started as an [[Alpha Bitch]] with rotten parents.}}

*** This is later revealed to {{spoiler|be a lie, but it seems Belos is indeed the Dragon-in-Chief to the Collector, although Belos doesn't know that until the Collector is freed and - possibly - [[Devour the Dragon| kills him]].}}

** The Golden Guardian seems to be shaping up to be this in season 2. {{spoiler|He stops being this in "Hollow Mind" when learning that Luz was right that Belos never truly loved him, and that he was a clone that came from a long line that is killed when they go against Belos}}.

* [[Dumbass Has a Point]]: Hooty is great at defending Owl House residents, but not-so-much at problem solving and paying attention. Heck, he spent a whole day talking to a fly when the Owl House family left without him to go to a carnival. In "Edge of the World," when they learn the Titan Trappers {{spoiler|has mistaken King as one of their own tribe and Elder Bill was lying to the Trappers that he was going to share the power of sacrificing the last Titan}}, Hooty aptly asks {{spoiler|if Titans are even evil given Bill casually lied about everything and nearly sacrificed King}}. Luz follows this line of thinking as well, showing how serious it is that Hooty was actually right about something.

* [[Eaten Alive]]:

** The way Eda disposes of a depowered Adagast is to simply pop him into her mouth and swallow him whole.

* [[Explain, Explain, Oh Crap]]: "Clouds on the Horizon" ends with this; {{spoiler|as the kids and Alador prepare to follow Kikimora and rescue "Hunter," they find out that Gus at Luz's request cast an illusion so she would appear as Hunter and get captured. It was the only way to help Eda. The real Hunter had no time to respond and didn't even know what Luz had done until Kikimora took her away. Willow and Amity say, "Then that means...she's going to Belos."}}.

* [[Expy]]:

*** Amity starts the series with green hair like Diana.

*** They both excel in their class.

*** They both have relationship issues with a motherly figure in their family.

*** They are often shipped with the main character in their respective fandoms.

* [[Fictional Document]]:

** ''The Good Witch Azura'', Luz's favorite book series, the title character being a sort of [[Magical Girl]] heroine. The series has at least five titles. Somehow, whoever publishes it is able to market it in the Boiling Isles. (Or maybe it is published ''in'' the Boiling Isles and can be marketed on Earth.) Whatever the case, Eda hates the series, claiming its "flowery prose" is an insult to witches. Amity is also a fan, and may have even cosplayed as the heroine when she was younger; in the episode "Adventures In The Elements", she also draws fan-art of herself with a handsome male character from the book. Luz seems to compare Amity to Hecate (Azura's rival in the series), emphasized at the end of "Lost in Language", she gives Amity the fifth book in the series, where Amity and Hecate are shown to have a friendlier rivalry.

** "Thanks to Them" in the preview clips finally has Camilla hear the full story about why {{spoiler|Luz chose to stay in the Boiling Isles, namely that Belos blackmailed Luz into surrendering the portal door and was trying to wipe every witch out. As Luz tearfully apologizes while looking at a photo of her father, Camilla hugs her and forgives her, promising they will have lots of time to talk now and clear the air. The important thing now is that Luz and her friends are safe. Luz responds yes they're safe, but her friends are not home.}} Indeed, when Camilla sees {{spoiler|Belos possessing Hunter and attacking all the kids under her roof, she is horrified on realizing ''this'' was the [[Big Bad]] that her underage daughter was fighting for months and understood better why Luz chose to stay. When Belos leaves behind a working portal that the teens can use to follow and stop him as well as the Collector, she releases Luz from the promise to stay on Earth, but insists that ''she'' is coming to help save the Boiling Isles.}}

* [[Friendly Enemy]]: In season 1, Lilith honestly believes her quest to arrest and conscript her sister is [[For Your Own Good|For Her Own Good]] and would much rather Eda join the Emperor's Coven by choice rather than have to force her too. Eda, for her point, still cares deeply for Lilith, although [[Unscrupulous Hero|exploiting Lilith's reluctance is not beneath her.]] In season 2, the "enemy" part is more like a sibling rivalry.

* [[Functional Magic]]: Magic on the Boiling Isles combines ''Inherent Gift'' and ''Wild Magic''. Witches and biped demons can cast spells using the magic bile sacs attached to their hearts. They do this by drawing spell circles, which determine the strength of the spell depending on the size. There is also ''Device Magic'', where magic can be cast through Palismen because the creatures have their own source of magic that witches and demons can use if they are bonded to them.

* [[The Gambler]]: Eda seems unwilling to turn down any wager, no matter how trivial or how dangerous, and has a notebook full of the times she's made them with King and won.

* [[Gambling Game]]: While dealing with the stress from {{spoiler|her curse}}, Eda becomes addicted to Hexas Hold 'Em, a witch version of poker. {{spoiler|When she gives up the addiction, Luz helps Vee the Basilisk track down the cards on Earth so she doesn't lose her magic and reveal her true form to anyone}}.

** Amity's parents were getting this before they even appeared in person, with many fan theories assuming they'll have the same role as Pacifica Northwest's parents on ''[[Gravity Falls]]'', possibly having a negative opinion of Luz (or even ''approve'' of her, seeing Luz as a tool they could use to get on Belos' good side and/or trying to force Amnity, Edric and Emira into joining the Emperor's Coven). When asked, [[Word of God]] stated, "Amity's parents appear one way... But there's a little more to them than you guys think, and that could either be good or bad for our protagonists. I especially have fun writing Mr. Blight. He's interesting."

*** Season 2, when they actually appeared in person, only made this worse, the parallels between them and the Northwests only becoming more pronounced. Odalia tries to outright murder Luz for the crime of being Amity's friend and a human to boot.

* [[Heel Realization]]: While {{spoiler|Alador Blight tries to reign in his wife Odalia's worst tendencies}} when they involve murdering Amity's friends, {{spoiler|his ditziness and utter trust in his wife blinds him to her lack of empathy}}. Then in "Clouds on the Horizon", a disguised King tells {{spoiler|Alador}} what the Day of Unity involves. {{spoiler|Alador confronts Odalia about this and is horrified to find out she is okay with mass genocide, as well as handing Amity's girlfriend to the Emperor, because Belos promised to treat the Blights like royalty. He frees Amity and her friends from Odalia's Abomination forcefield, helps fight his wife and Kikimora, and destroys the Abomitron factory while quitting on the spot. As an apology, he comes with Amity and the others to drive an airship to confront Kikimora and rescue Luz because they need a pilot}}.

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Two in succession in "Thanks to them": when Belos forces {{spoiler|Hunter to crush Flapjack, it gives Hunter the [[Heroic Willpower]] to resist Belos and toss the Titan's blood in the nearby lake, knowing that Belos would rather drown trying to get it than save either of them. Sure enough, turns out neither Belos nor Hunter can swim in his Earth clothes; when Camilla rescues Hunter, his body expels Belos. Then when Hunter is not breathing as Belos shuffles into the recreated portal, a dying Flapjack rests on Hunter and willingly shares Palisman magic with him.}}

* [[Hidden Agenda Villain]]: Many.

** Originally, it was not known for what reason the shadowy figure cursed Eda, and the scene at the end of "The Intruder" suggests he isn't done tormenting her. {{spoiler|"Agony of a Witch" answered this; Lilith was the figure, and it was - mostly - an accident.}}

** Also, if the Emperor's Coven is indeed behind the Greater Basilisk's attack on Hexside (as Bump suspects they are) their motives for the attack are as yet unknown.

* [[Hoist By His Own Petard]]: {{spoiler|Belos is finally done in when, during the Day of Unity ritual, Luz fools him into shaking her hand, letting her put a coven brand on his arm. Of course, this nearly does Luz in too - the idea was to force him to stop the ritual to save himself, but Belos cannot (he never thought to create an [[Override Command]]), and had the Collector not intervened, Belos would likely have killed Luz in his dying rage.}}

* [[Homage]]: Episode six of season one, titled ''Hooty's Moving Hassle'', pays homage to ''Howl's Moving Castle'', both the [[Howl's Moving Castle (novel)|novel]] and [[Howl's Moving Castle (anime)|anime]]. The plot involves Hooty gaining the ability to move the titular Owl House and the house standing up. The house walks on legs, just like the film, unlike the book where the castle floats across the sky. A more subtle version involves Lilith's nickname for Hooty in season two, ''Hootisfer'', recreating the fire demon Calcifer's name.

* [[Hope Spot]]: "Thanks to Them" features the kids {{spoiler|actually making a rudimentary portal back to the Boiling Isles and testing it out. It sets the old shack on fire, and Vee has to put it out with a fire extinguisher}}.

* [[Hostile Weather]]: The Boiling Isles has ''plagues'' instead of weather, and it's hazardous to both humans and the natives. In the fourth episode, Luz witnesses a boiling rainstorm, prompting Eda and King to tell her that they have even worse conditions; like gore-nadoes, shale-hale, and painbows, which is sort of like a rainbow, but turns you inside out.

* [[Hypocrite]]: Odalia Blight. A small trace of this is shown in the beginning of "Escaping Expulsion" when she tells Amity, “You should be in class right now, what are you thinking?" even though ''she'' is the one who pulled Amity out of class and made her come to the office. Far more seriously, her - stated - reasons for having Luz, Gus, and Willow expelled from Hexside is because of the dangerous incidents caused by the students. While she might have a small point there, she ''literally'' tries to kill Luz later in an ''incredibly'' dangerous demonstration of an equally unsafe abomination-powered robot, something even her husband Alador seems to object to.

** Luz flat-out calls {{spoiler|Belos}} this in {{spoiler|the episode "King's Tide".}}

* [[I Gave My Word]]: {{spoiler|The Collector will honor any deal he makes if he "pinky swears" to it, though he gets ''really'' angry at anyone who breaks the deal.}}

* [[Important Haircut]]:

** In this case, Important Dye Job. Amity's natural hair color is brown, and initially, it is dyed green to match her mother's, who claimed she wanted her children to be "color-coordinated". In "Through the Looking Glass Ruins", she dyes it purple and wears it without the ponytail, her way of rejecting such conformity and showing individuality. Amity later says she chose purple because that is the color associated with Abomination Magic.

* [[Jerk With the Heart of A Jerk]]: {{spoiler|Amity's mother Odalia is clearly a horrible woman, but one would assume she is, like most of Belos' henchmen and admirers, an [[Unwitting Pawn]] who would never approve of his genocidal goals. Sadly, this is a false assumption. She does indeed know the true intent of the Day of Unity, and is a willing accomplice, Belos having promised her and her family a life deserving of royalty in exchange for her assistance. This revelation leads to Alador turning against her, a battle of spells, and their entire factory - and as a result, their business - being destroyed.}}

* [[Jerkass Has a Point]]: In ''I Was a Teenage Abomination'', Amity isn't wrong to be upset about being cheated out of being Top Student, because Willow ''was'' cheating by having Luz pretend to be her Abomination.

* [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo]]: Lilith's mentor, Flora D'splora. Her name, short hair with bangs, dark complexion, monkey-like Palisman, and archeology expertise makes is obvious [[Dora the Explorer|who she is supposed to be]]. Luz even lampshades it by suspiciously saying, "I have questions about that name," when she shows up in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen".

** The fact that voice actress Eileen Galindo was also the voice of Dora's mother in that cartoon seems to confirm it.

** Amity. In "Escaping Expulsion" she offers Lutz "fairy potpie". Not only is this made with fairies, said fairies aren't dead yet. Possibly justified in that Amity is a sheltered daughter of rich parents who likely doesn't have to cook for herself.

** Gus, Willow, and Hunter are little better; in "Thanks to Them" they help Amity prepares... ''something'' for Luz and her mother that looks even less appetizing. Seeing as Vee (a Boiling Isles native like them) has to nonverbally warns them not to eat it, it's doubtful the culture barrier is the reason. A later scene has Gus brag about how his mustard ravioli brought tears to their eyes - Vee again has to use [[Brutal Honesty]] here.

* [[Magical Academy]]: Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. Known classes include lessons on Potions, Plant magic, and Abominations. Somewhat [[Harmful to Minors]] given how they handle detention, but at least the principal lets Luz attend.

* [[Malevolent Masked Man]]:

** The pixie infestation that causes Hexside to be closed during "Really Small Problems". Willow starts to explain what happened to Eda, but King's antics drown her out to the viewers.

** ''Lots'' of them in "Understanding Willow" regarding Willow and Amity when they were younger. The one with the egg pit stands out, Amity telling Luz that, "that one is kind of hard to explain".

* [[The Nose Knows]]: The hall monitors at Hexside (possibly meant to be parodies of [[Harry Potter| the Dementors]]) can smell "trouble", using this ability to find misbehaving students.

* [[The Not-So-Harmless Punishment]]: In "Something Ventured, Something Framed", Luz first assumes being sent to detention won't be all ''that'' bad. Unfortunately, in Hexside, detention means being thrown to a giant, tentacled beast who traps the students in pods, and then applies brainwashing gas to "convince" them to behave.

* [[Ridiculously Cute Critter]]: Palismans; all of them start out as ''adorable'' baby animals.

* [[Obviously Evil]]:

** Warden Wrath, [[Humanoid Abomination| especially when he takes the mask off]].

** Abominations are jars of magical slime that can assume vaguely humanoid forms to act as magical servants. Presumably a profitable and lucrative profession for wizards, as Willow's parents insisted she take the class, even though she had no talent in it. Amity also specializes in this school.

** In season 2, Amity's parents are shown combining these creatures with [[Magitech]] technology to create half-machine-half-abomination soldiers. Amity herself starts showing creative ways to use the conjured-up slime, using it to create bindings, cages, a shield, and a sword,

* [[Our Werebeasts Are Different]]: {{spoiler|Eda is called the Owl Lady because she suffers from a curse that causes her to change into a demonic, owl-like beast at night. This was inflicted upon her by a wizard whose identity she doesn't remember, and also doesn't remember why. Eda takes a potion to avoid the transformations, but starting with episode 10, its effect is starting to fail...}}

* [[Our Vampires Are Different]]: Dottie and Roselle, [[Evil Old Folks| two sweet-looking old ladies]] who run the Kitty Cafe are in fact vampires who kidnap cute creatures and brainwash them with constant babying. Unlike typical vampires, they aren't bothered by sunlight; it's not known what other traditional traits of vampires do or do not apply to them.{{Context|Aren't Dottie and Roselle old witches rather than vampires?}}

* [[Override Command]]: {{spoiler|Possibly Belos' biggest flaw was [[Inverted Trope| failing to devise any way to halt the Day of Unity ritual]] should anything go wrong, which comes back to bite him in the end.}}

* [[Papa Wolf]]: Principal Bump may be stern and a little outdated when it comes to maintaining tradition, but threaten his students and he is quick to react. When a Basilisk revealed herself and tried draining Amity, Bump put himself between the creature and the best Abominations student and fought her to the best of his ability. {{spoiler|He outright rebels against the Emperor on learning that the Coven was storming the school to forcibly sigil the underage witches under the cover of "protecting them"}}.

* [[Pet The Dog]]:

** Subverted when {{spoiler|Belos offers to send Luz home in "King's Tide" after soundly defeating her in round two of their fight, using the last bit of Titan's Blood. If he wanted to send her back to Earth, he could have done it at any time. He says he doesn't want another human "destroyed" by this realm, but tried killing her before. When Luz points out he's no longer human, Belos starts petrifying her, calling it a [[Mercy Kill]] but with the intent of making her beg for her life.}}

*** One that works against Belos; he is very much a [[Fish Out of Temporal Water]] {{spoiler|when back in the human realm. That includes one important skill: swimming. Many people in the 1600s didn't know how to swim, and knowing how to might lead to an accused witch of being dunked and drowned. When Hunter wrests control from Belos to toss the Titan's blood in a nearby lake, Belos uses Hunter;s body to dive after it...and falls unconscious almost immediately. Dr. Noceda has to dive in and rescue them both, though Belos gets his hand on the vial.}}

*** Most shows that have a character not breathing would lead to [[Clean Pretty Reliable]] often done incorrectly. Not here: Dr. Noceda a trained vet, {{spoiler|knows that performing CPR on Hunter is a bad idea and orders Vee to call an ambulance instead. It ends up being unnecessary, as Flapjack sacrifices his life to revive Hunter.}}

* [[Really 700 Years Old]]:

** It's not known how old Principal Bump is but he's obviously many centuries old, because in "The First Day", he's mumbling, "only 300 years to retirement". If he is indeed a Witchling, this Trope might apply to Eda and Lilith.

* [[Remember the New Guy?]]: The Golden Guardian made his first appearance during the first episode of Season 2, although Lilith claims to have known him for a while, claiming (with a resentful tone) that he "always got special treatment because he was the "genius teen prodigy, he's really just a brat." Of course, we find out there's a reason for it: {{spoiler|Hunter is one in a line of Grimwalkers that all have the Golden Guard moniker, and he happened to be the newest "model". Belos didn't let him replace Lilith because Lilith was useful while hunting down her sister}}.

* [[Rescue Romance]]: {{spoiler|Amity}} would never admit it, at least not in season one but she fell for {{spoiler|Luz}} when the latter attempted to rescue her from the Wailing Star hijinks that Edric and Emira started by corrupting Otabin. Keyword "attempted" but it was a pretty good effort. {{spoiler|Luz at least bought time for Amity to figure out how to restore Otabin to normal, and later lent her book five of Azura as an apology for reading Amity's diary by accident}}. It's notably the first episode where she laughs at {{spoiler|Luz explaining she has no plan, just panic and making a funny face}}.

* [[The Rival]]:

** Amity to Luz initially, although it has progressed from a hostile rivalry to a friendly one.

* [[Starter Villain]]: The first villain in the show was Warden Wrath, a [[The Jailer|Jailer]] villain with an unhealthy crush on Eda.

* [[Take That]]: The show has quite a few [[Affectionate Parody]] scenes derived from [[Harry Potter]], but the scene in "Wing it Like Witches" where Boscha wins the Grudgby match by catching the Rusty Smidge (and Luz's angry reaction) is clearly meant as criticism towards such an unfair game mechanic, something even the most diehard of Harry Potter fans is hard-pressed to deny.

* [[This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman]]: The Greater Basilisk is a malevolent beast that eats magic, and as a result, it is able to defeat the students and faculty with relative ease. However, it seems it cannot easily consume more than one type of magic at the same time, and finds trying to consume the mixed-magic assaults Luz and the members of the Detention Tract throw at it [[Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth]].

* [[Time Skip]]: A montage in "Thanks to Them" suggests several months pass, with Luz and her friends cleaning up and converting the old house into a secret base (trying and failing to open the portal), turning two rooms in her house into guest bedrooms, Hunter cutting his hair, Luz "coming out" to her mother as a lesbian (Ms. Noceda is ''super'' supportive, to the joy of fans), and so on. By the end of the montage when the story resumes, all of the kids seem to have had a few growth spurts with Amity's roots starting to grow out again.

* [[Total Eclipse of the Plot]]: {{spoiler|The "Day of Unity" is a ritual that requires a solar eclipse to cast, the reason Belos has put so much focus on the date he intends to cast it.}}

* [[Traumatic Haircut]]: Fortunately subverted; Hunter has a freakout in "Thanks to Them" when seeing {{spoiler|both Caleb and Belos's face in the mirror after realizing his hair has grown out, which makes him resemble his uncle even more. Then Willow spots him hacking at his hair while curled in a [[Troubled Fetal Position]], and once she gets him settled down she trims it into a much neater cut.}}

* [[The Unchosen One]]: Luz would have liked to be a Chosen One. In fact, episode 2 is about her facing the reality check that the Boiling Isles hasn't a PG-rated fantasy world with prophecies and trustworthy wizards. Eda, however, tells Luz that it means she can choose her own destiny, without any limitations. Luz realizes that she has to become this in season two, where Luz finds out what exactly the Day of Unity involves {{spoiler|after a trip into Belos's mind and he reveals it to her and Hunter as "thanks" for helping him wipe out the Palismen souls plaguing him. Since Luz is human, she's naturally immune to the island-wide draining spell that Belos is planning. It means she stands the best chance of fighting it}}.

* [[Villain Forgot to Level Grind]]:

* [[Vile Villain, Saccharine Show]]: The show as a whole is pretty dark for a Disney cartoon, but [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJC1-weqRlg Emperor Belos] is pretty creepy even for "darker Disney". But then, this is the same creative team that created Bill Cipher, so...

** One could argue that {{spoiler|Belos is way nastier than Bill, given his origins as a human who went off the deep end and got wrapped up in [[Fantastic Racism| the motivation of his crimes]]. On the other hand, Bill was a literal embodiment of Chaos - at least he technically had that as an excuse.}}

* [[Wanted Poster]]: Eda's are everywhere on the Isles, and she even keeps a huge one framed in her house. Then when Luz gets her first wanted poster, Eda acts like a mom beaming with pride before putting it up right next to her own, which can be seen in the background from then on.

* [[Weaksauce Weakness]]: Demons have two weaknesses that King (a demon himself) relates to Luz, purified water and passive-aggressive comments. "Even demons have inner-demons," he claims.

* [[What Measure Is A Non Human]]: {{spoiler| Poor Hunter combines this with [[Sins of Our Fathers]] when he finds out that he is a Grimwalker, not only questioning whether or not he counts as a person, but whether he has the ''right'' to be counted as one. It gets worse in season 3.}}

* [[Why Did It Have To Be Snakes]]:

** Luz's fears include "jerks online who want to debate", "human souls trapped in cat bodies", and... milk ("I'm lactose intolerant!"). She also fears disapproval from both Eda and her mother.

[[Category:Western Animation of the 2020s]]

[[Category:Fantasy Western Animation]]