The Powerpuff Girls: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''Sugar... spice... and everything nice. These were the ingredients chosen to create [[Artificial Human|the perfect little girls]]. But Professor Utonium accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction: [[Applied Phlebotinum|Chemical X]]! Thus, the Powerpuff Girls were born! Using their [[Flying Brick|ultra-superpowers]], Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup have dedicated their lives to fighting crime and the forces of evil!''}}

 

 

The series' heroines are Blossom, "commander and the leader," who often acts the [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]]; Bubbles, "the joy and the laughter," whose personality is very similar to that of her namesake from ''[[Jabberjaw]]'' (but not quite a [[Dumb Blonde]]), and Buttercup, "the toughest fighter," and the tomboyish [[Action Girl]] with a bad temper. Their simian [[Arch Enemy]] Mojo Jojo wears a helmet to cover his enlarged brain and speaks in a manner [[Intentional Engrish for Funny|reminiscent of bad anime dubbing]]. Aside from the obvious [[Anime]] influences, most of the series' supporting characters are drawn in the style of ''[[Two Stupid Dogs]]'' (not surprisingly, as the creator of the show worked on that cartoon).

 

 

 

== A-I ==

* [[Action Girl]]

** "So we have Blossom, Bubbles, and, hmmm, Buttercup because... it also begins with a B."

** Also Bunny and Bullet. Also note the double letter in each name as well.

* [[Agony Beam]]

* [[Alphabetical Theme Naming]]: All three girls have names beginning with B. This even extends to temporary members (Bunny, Bullet) as well as both sets of [[Evil Counterpart|evil counterparts]], the Rowdyruff Boys (Brick, Boomer, and Butch) and the Powerpunk Girls (Berserk, Brat, and Brute).

* [[Amazing Technicolor Population]]: The Gangreen Gang. [[Visual Pun|They're green, and they're a gang]].

* [[Amen Break]]: The theme song.

* [[Ambiguously Human]]: It's never specified if The Gangreen Gang are humanoid monsters or just bizzare-looking teenage boys.

* [[Animated Series]]

* [[Art Shift]]:

** In "Get Back, Jojo", while Mojo Jojo is traveling through time, the art becomes pencil sketches.

* [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever]]: [[One-Winged Angel]]!Mojo Jojo at the climax of [[The Movie]].

* [[Attack Pattern Alpha]]: "Attack pattern Alpha Omega [[Atari]]!"

* [[Badass Normal]]: Mojo Jojo brings down the Powerpuff Girls with Antidote X during their [[Slumber Party]], and the Girls' classmates subdue him with a [[Pillow Fight]].

* [[Bad Future]]: In "Speed Demon".

** The entirety of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EuPr6K_bW8 "Bubblevicious"] is dedicated to Bubbles going on a rampage after her button (being treated like a baby by everyone, even her own family) is pressed one time too many. She calms down at the end, [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|but then Mojo zaps her with a laser (again)...]]

** An easy way to tick off all three of the Powerpuff Girls is to endanger the life of the Professor.

** Marianne Smith when anyone tries to disrupt the dinner she is hosting.

* [[Berserker Tears]]: A sign that you have pushed Bubbles too far.

* [[Big Bad Duumvirate]]: Mojo Jojo and maybe HIM.

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: All. The. Time.

* [[The Big Guy|Big]] [[The Lancer|Lancer]]: Buttercup.

* [[Big No]]:

* [[Blinding Bangs]]: Big Billy. Turns out he's a {{spoiler|cyclops}}.

* [[Bragging Theme Tune|Bragging Ending Theme]]:

[[Big Damn Heroes|Here they come just in time]], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}uTWoIXKZGOg the Powerpuff Girls!] }}

* [[Broken Glass Penalty]]: One episode plays out like this - the girls throw their ball through the window of their arch-villain, who tries to use it as an excuse to destroy them while pretending to be looking for their ball. After the girls [[Priceless Ming Vase|continue to do more damage in the house]], he instead just gives them the ball back [[Get Out!|so that they will leave]].

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Both Bubbles and the mayor.

* [[The Collector]]: Lenny Baxter in "Collect Her".

* [[Continuity Nod]]:

{{quote|'''Buttercup:''' Wow, where did you get that giant match?

{{quote|'''Hotta Watta:''' For I don't give a--

'''Mojo Jojo:''' Watch your mouth! }}

* [[Dark Reprise]]: a more sinister version of the theme song's origin exposition music plays when Utonium's college roommate Professor Dick creates imitations of the Powerpuff Girls.

** A blink-and-you'll-miss-it example in [[The Movie]], as Mojo finally sees his ultimate plan coming together, a sinister rendition can be heard.

* [[Didn't See That Coming]]: In the episode "Sweet n Sour", three cute animals - a puppy, kitten, and rabbit - are brainwashing the whole city of Townsville, except for the girls, of course, with their obviously cute faces, thus also causing a backlash on the girls due to their doubts on the animals. However, when they walk into a building which they think is a bank, they find it's a school filled with children who love the animals to near-death, thus delivering the message of how too much of something isn't always good. Of course, after the children leave, it is revealed that their receiving too much love was set up by the girls.

* [[Didn't Think This Through]]:

** Also, in the episode "Birthday Bash", the Amoeba Boys send the girls voodoo dolls of the girls themselves without realizing that they were supposed to keep the dolls in order to make them work.

** Mojo Jojo's first attack involved turning the world and the girls into dogs. He was beaten when Buttercup ran up the platform bit him in the behind. In another episode, he does almost the same thing, then he plays a video recording of the first event to the girls and explains that he won't turn them into dogs this time, and he installed butt armor to prevent getting bitten again. Mojo got so wrapped up on how he was beaten previously he forgot to disable or weaken the girls this time and they beat him up as usual.

** "A Very Special Blossom" ending with Blossom sentenced to 200 hours of community service.

* [[Drunk with Power]]: That episode where The Mayor got tired of relying on The Girls and decided to bring his own brand of justice, riding a balloon and stopping bad guys with an extending boxing glove. It goes to his head...

* [[Edutainment Show]]: Parodied in "Seed No Evil":

'''Narrator:''' Not wanting to overshoot this episode's educational quota, let's fast-forward[.] }}

* [[Enemy Mime]]: Rainbow The Clown's alternate personality in "Mime for a Change".

** In "Telephonies", after the Gangreen Gang continuously [[Mugging the Monster|harass]] Mojo Jojo, Fuzzy Lumpkins, and Him by [[It Makes Sense in Context|making a string of very convincing crank calls that convinced the girls that the three were terrorizing Townsville, but were instead, enjoying a day off]], Mojo Jojo, Him, and Fuzzy; furious over the crank calls; form a temporary [[Power Trio]] and proceeding to give the Gangreen Gang the worst [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] of their careers, and thus promptly saving the day, making the narrator say the following line in total bewilderment:

{{quote|'''Narrator''': So, once again, the day...is saved! Thanks to... ''(Mojo, Fuzzy, and Him appear on screen)'' ...Mojo Jojo... Fuzzy Lumpkins... and ''Him''...?}}

** "I See A Funny Cartoon In Your Future:" The day is saved, thanks to the Powerpuff grill.

* [[Everything's Better with Monkeys]]: Mojo Jojo's plan in the movie is to create an army of superpowered monkeys to do his bidding.

** The Rowdyruff Boys possess the same basic powerset, and Blossom's male counterpart there is named Brick.

* [[F Minus Minus]]: In the episode "Mo' Linguish", Mojo Jojo mentions that if he had control of the grading system, he would make the lowest grade a "Z" rather than an "F".

** The Mayor went from eccentric and absent-minded to [[Too Dumb to Live]].

** Almost ''everyone'' suffered this (if they weren't a [[Brother Chuck]]) in the later episodes, but most notably were the Powerpuffs themselves. Blossom went from smart, cool-headed and somewhat bossy to a full-blown irritating know-it-all as the show went on. Bubbles, as mentioned above, had been transformed from a cute little girl to a shrill harpy by the middle, and Buttercup, if not being [[My Friends and Zoidberg]], pretty much was defined by her fighting lust. Also, the Narrator seemed to be paid by the hour to talk every five minutes.

* [[Girls Have Cooties]]:

** In the episode "Cootie Gras" our kindergartner heroines are terrified of a boy said to have Cooties. A fact Mojo Jojo uses to keep them at bay until they get over it. Once they do, however, they leave the boy [[Covered in Kisses]], then go kick Mojo's butt.

* [[Gosh Dang It to Heck]]: Parodied in "Bubblevicious".

{{quote|'''Bubbles:''' *being zapped by a laser at a low level* I'm not... gonna... cry... you... dumb... doo-doo-brain!

* [[Hartman Hips]]: Miss Keane.

** Miss Keane might be a reach since she's rather pear-shaped.

* [[Hero Insurance]]: Available in Townsville, but ''not'' in Citiesville.

* [[Hero Syndrome]]: Major Man.

* [[Humongous Mecha]]: The D.Y.N.A.M.O.

* [[Hurricane of Puns]]:

** "I See A Funny Cartoon In Your Future".

* [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place]]: Travel through the fifth dimension.

* [[Imaginary Friend]]: In ''Imaginary Fiend'', the PPG had to fight an [[Imaginary Friend]] who was causing trouble at school. They defeat him by imagining a friend of their own to beat the snot out of him.

** It's said that this episode served as the inspiration foundation for Craig McCracken's ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'' and Mike Believe is the template for the later show's Mac.

* [[Improbable Age]]: The girls are supposedly ''5 years old''.

* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]: "I See a Funny Cartoon in Your Future" has several, being an obvious tribute to ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'', but the one that takes the cake is delivered by Blossom, complete with [[Overly Long Gag|a humorously extended]] [[Beat]] for good measure.

'''Blossom''': Not only are we dealing with a petty criminal, we're dealing with... '''''A tarot-ist'''''.

[5 second beat] }}

* [[Institutional Apparel]]: Strangely, Townsville Jail uses the striped suits version ''and'' the orange suits version.

* [[Intentional Engrish for Funny]]: Bubbles's narration of a Japanese manga in "Super Zeroes", despite being an [[Omniglot]]. "I am filled with solutions!".

* [[Like a Badass Out of Hell]]: HIM brings the Rowdyruff boys back to life to defeat the Powerpuff girls.

* [[Limited Animation]]: Definitely influenced by the style, especially in the earlier episodes.

* [[Loophole Abuse]]: "Schoolhouse Rocked". The rules are there's no fighting in school. So Miss Keane suggests to the Powerpuff Girls they "play dodgeball" with the Gangreen Gang instead.

* [[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: Played with - Mojo Jojo is the main reason the girls actually exist, since he caused the Chemical X incident. The girls teasingly call him "Dad" while he stands in utter stock at this revelation. Mojo becomes doubly responsible when he goes back in time and [[Stable Time Loop|sparks the professor's interest in science and the desire to create the "three perfect girls".]]

* [[MacGuffin]]: The Key to the World in "The Powerpuff Girls Rule". The Professor lampshades the utter ridiculousness of the concept.

* [[Miracle-Gro Monster]]: B.E.E.B.O.

* [[Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher]]: Ms. Keane inverts this in "Speed Demon", where she goes from a math problem with apples to Einstein's Theory of Relativity and how it pertains to potential [[Time Travel]]. It was relevant to the plot, but the class just kinda stared blankly.

* [[Moral Dissonance]]: The Brocolli Aliens' invasion of earth could be justified by the humanity constantly consuming his "kin", and the girls respond with a vicious genocide on the invaders. Mojo Jojo frequently attempts to kill the girls for reasons which are far harder to justify, and he gets beat up and jailed.

** In ''Not So Awesome Blossom'', Mojo issues an ultimatum to Blossom in exchange for the lives of her sisters and the Professor, an ultimatum of servitude. Blossom asks "How do you know I won't lie?," to which Mojo responds "Because you're Blossom." They must have forgotten ''A Very Special Blossom,'' where she steals a set of golf clubs to give the Professor for Father's Day then lies not only about how she got them but when cornered tried to frame Mojo for it.

* [[Motive Decay]]: An [[In-Universe]] example would be the crook who dressed up like Lucky Captain Rabbit King,who went through so much torment trying to get the box of cereal he forgot he was originally after the stolen jewel hidden in the box.

* [[Mistaken for Profound]]: Mayor is running for reelection, spouting his usual, tired lines. Fuzzy Lumpkins gets tired of Mayor's shouting to the crowd interrupting his sleep, so he yells "SHUT UP!", and people act like it's the best campaign slogan ever.

* [[My Friends and Zoidberg]]: "The city of Townsville: a place filled with some of the most brilliant, clever, and ingenious criminal masterminds ever to hatch an evil scheme! ...Then, there's the Amoeba Boys."

* [[My Name Is Not Durwood]]:

** The first time they use the [[Humongous Mecha|Dynamo]], they end up causing more damage then the monster they were fighting, causing the Mayor to demand that they never use it again.

* [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain]]: In "Forced Kin" Mojo Jojo helps the girls fight an alien, only to find the alien is seemingly using all his own ideas! When the alien defeats the girls, Jojo literally goes ape and physically forces the alien to submit, driving off the threat and becoming the reluctant hero.

** Mojo is also responsible for the afforementioned [[Stable Time Loop]].

* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]:

* [[Paste Eater]]: In one episode, there's a boy in the girls' class named [[Punny Name|Elmer Sglue]] who gets teased for eating paste. A mosquito tainted by toxic waste falls on the paste he was eating, turning him into a giant glue monster who wreaks havoc on the city.

* [[Pie-Eyed]]: The girls gain these in "Silent Treatment" when they get trapped inside a silent cartoon.

* [[The Pig Pen]]: Buttercup became one for an episode when she refused to take a bath.

* [[Poor Man's Substitute]]: Craig McCracken originally wanted Jack Black to voice the Gnome in "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey" but by the time they got to production he was too busy and expensive, so they instead got Jess Harnell doing a Jack Black-like voice.

* [[Powerpuff Girl Hands]]: The [[Trope Namer]]. [[Lampshaded]] in "Criss Cross Crisis" when Buttercup switches bodies with Professor Utonium. When she tries to pick up the phone, she can't figure out how his fingers are supposed to work.

* [[Power Trio]]: The Powerpuff Girls and The Rowdyruff Boys.

* [[Precocious Crush]]: Buttercup develops one on [[All Girls Want Bad Boys|Ace]] in "Buttercrushed".

* [[Prison Rape]]:

* [["Previously On..."]]: The episode ''Just Desserts'' is a sequel to ''Supper Villain'', which came 16/8 episodes (depending on your definition of an episode) prior. It opens with a recap of ''Supper Villain'' that begins "Last week, in the city of Townsville..." Once the recap ends, the actual episode begins with "The City of Townsville!" as per usual.

* [[Pro Wrestling Episode]]: "Impeach Fuzz," and comic Issue #18.

* [[Psycho Serum]]

* [[Pungeon Master]]: The Narrator sometimes slips into this. Especially noticeable in "Daylight Savings".

* [[Punny Name]]: Sara Bellum = Cerebellum

* [[Rain, Rain, Go Away]]: "The Powerpuff Girls' Best Rainy Day Adventure Ever".

* [[Retool]]: At one point, CN did try marketing a line of the series with an overstyled grown up versions of the girls. [[Stillborn Franchise|It sank just as quickly as it begin.]]

* [[Reality Ensues]]: Everything related to the town of Citiesville, most notably the girls' destruction of the bridge leading in to town to stop some robbers. The bridge was both the only way for workers to commute to Citiesville and a historical landmark, costing over three million dollars. [[Reality Ensues]], and ''hard''.

* [[Rule of Three]]: The episode "Super Zeroes" with the line, "Better heroes, huh?" (Said by Utonium, the Mayor, and even the [[Monster of the Week]] itself!)

* [[Rule 63]]: Inverted with the Rowdyruff Boys.

 

== S-Z ==

* [[Screams Like a Little Girl]]: Mojo Jojo after [[Yoko Oh No|Moko Jono]] is revealed to be {{spoiler|a chimp from the zoo}}.

* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]]: Princess Morbucks.

* [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here]]: Mojo Jojo in The Powerpuff Girls Rule after having victory literally swept from under his nose.

* [[Second-Person Attack]]: Used and abused; in certain cases, the viewer can suffer the virtual effects of getting punched and kicked DOZENS OF TIMES IN A ROW.

* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: Mojo Jojo. In one episode, he's left in charge of an adult education English course, and the whole town starts talking like this. Society comes to a screeching halt.

* [[Sexy Secretary]]: Sara Bellum.

* [[Shaggy Dog Story]]: The episode "HIM Diddle Riddle" revolves around the girls flying around town, trying to solve HIM's insidious riddles in a desperate attempt to save Professor Utonium, only to fail, and now HIM is going to make the professor '''PAY!'''... {{spoiler|full price for breakfast}}. The narrator even lampshades it, with "And once again, the day is... um... yeah..." while the girls just float there staring blankly.

* [[Shout-Out]]: So many, it has its own page! See [[The Powerpuff Girls/Shout Out]].

* [[Sickeningly Sweethearts]]: Professor Utonium and Miss Keane in "Keen on Keane".

* [[Sissy Villain]]: '''HIM'''.

* [[Sixth Ranger]]: The girls ''try'' to create one with Bunny. [[The Ditz|It doesn't really work out.]]

** The comic book story "Steal A Meal" (Cartoon Network Block Party #26) has the girls doing a tearful [[Big No]] upon learning that after all the breakfast cereal in town had been stolen the only thing left was oatmeal.

* [[Sleepwalking]]

* [[Snap Back]]:

** Towards the end of "Slumbering with the Enemy", Mojo Jojo douses the Powerpuffs with the Antidote X to remove their powers. They're back to normal without explaination in the next episode.

** Mojo Jojo is turned into a dog twice. No explanation is given as to how he turned himself back into an ape.

* [[Space Is Noisy]]: The few times the girls go into space, they can communicate with each other just fine.

* [[Spear Counterpart]]: The Rowdyruff Boys, Brick (red color scheme), Boomer (blue color scheme), and Butch (dark green color scheme) to the Powerpuff Girls, Blossom (pink color scheme), Bubbles (cyan color scheme), and Buttercup (green color scheme).

* [[Strong as They Need to Be]]

* [[Stupid Crooks]]: The Amoeba Boys.

** The Boogie Man also does this, although he takes his glasses off from time to time.

* [[Super Speed]]:

* [[Teeth Flying]]: Bad guys' teeth go flying in the opening sequence; also, one episode is pretty much based on this trope - Buttercup learns the Tooth Fairy gives you money for teeth, and starts deliberately knocking villains' teeth out and collecting them to make a huge windfall.

* [[That Cloud Looks Like...]]: Bubbles does this, including one that "looked like a cloud".

* [[There Was a Door]]: [[Lampshaded]] several times. The girls must have racked up quite a bit of roof damage by now due to their preferred method of exit.

* [[Thick Line Animation]]: It got thicker as the series went on.

* [[Tom Kenny]]: He narrates the show ''[[Talking to Himself|AND]]'' voices the Mayor of Townsville.

* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]: Buttercup and Bubbles.

* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: The mayor. In one episode he ''jumped out a window'' because Bubbles told him to go save the day... while pretending to be him.

* [[Torches and Pitchforks]]: "Collect Her" and "Down And Dirty".

* [[Totally Radical]]: Professor Utonium in "Powerprof".

* [[Traumatic Haircut]]: Sedusa gets one at the end of "Something's A Ms".

** In ''Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins'', One of Bubbles' pony-tails is turned into a turkey leg by Fuzzy Lumpkin's meat gun, Which pushes her [[Berserk Button]].

* [[Truly Single Parent]]

** The Professor's description of the time he went to the DMV to get his driver's license renewed in "City of Clipsville".

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joLrldtZtRA Eat your pea, Professor.]

* [[Wanting Is Better Than Having]]: One episode had a collector of Powerpuff Girls' merchandise who freaks out and becomes a villain when his collection is complete: there's nothing left for him to collect ''except the girls themselves''.

* [[We Will Meet Again]]: Him in one episode.

* [[When Elders Attack]]: An old lady does this from the roof of an episode to a Godzilla-like monster, who promptly eats her.

* [[Window Pain]]: Not only do things get thrown through windows, but driven. And the girls occasionally fly through them!

* [[Would Hit a Girl]]: None of the villains have any problem attacking three kindergarten-aged girls.

 

----

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:The Nineties]]

[[Category:Kids WB]]

[[Category:Trope Overdosed]]

[[Category:Films of the 2000s]]

[[Category:Toonami]]

[[Category:Western Animation]]

[[Category:Cartoon Network]]