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Who in their right minds would give a mainstream animated series to the enigmatic [[John Kricfalusi]], known for causing chaos throughout the 80s in the animation industry with his attempts for putting out a [[Gross Out Show|grotesque, almost obscene animation style which played up every body hair, pimple, bulging vein, oozing sore, lump of unsightly fat, and buttcheek and proudly flaunted around showing off the most disgusting and disturbing parts of internal anatomy]]? Well, [[Nickelodeon]] did, and the result was the adventures of a mentally unbalanced, arthritic chihuahua named Ren Hoek and his sidekick, the cheery but moronic Stimpson J. Cat.
 
The show was over-the-top in every way imaginable: In its animation, even traditional [[Animation Tropes]] were taken up a notch. Characters rarely [[Hammerspace|Temporarily Atomise]] anything smaller than a nuclear submarine and [[Non -Fatal Explosions]] generally take out at least one state. Even its dialog was pulled [[Up to Eleven]]--Ren didn't so much talk as scream threats and insults in other people's faces. And that's not even counting its macabre tone--in ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', even a standard [[Sit Com]] plot such as "Ren is jealous that Stimpy has a fan club" could become a tale of operatic angst and rage. And just when you thought you've seen everything, it comes up with a story about ''a fart cloud'' Stimpy made that turns into a major [[Tear Jerker]].
 
Its surprising success made a huge impact on the style of Nickelodeon's animated shows. Unfortunately, of all the inventive and challenging elements exhibited by ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', the only one copycat shows seized on was the disgusting animation, and thus the [[Gross Out Show]] was born.
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{{tropelist}}
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=== This show provides examples of: ===
* [[Absurdity Ascendant]]: Where to start...
** [[Acid Trip Dimension]]: The setting of "Black Hole."
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* [[Aren't You Forgetting Someone]]: At the end of "Ren's Pecs", Ren forgets to give Stimpy credit for his newfound fame and success.
{{quote| '''Ren''': To the guy who made it all possible: [[Brick Joke|Charles Globe]]!}}
* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: In "Cheese Rush Days" after Ren double crosses Stimpy:
{{quote| '''Stimpy''': He took all our loot. He trapped us here to die! But, worst of all...HE TOOK MY COOL MINER'S HAAAAAAATTT! }}
** Another example is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR6KjNmN2BA the ending of "Svën Höek"] where, after gruesomely describing how he's going to tear Stimpy and Sven's lips out, then gouge out their eyes, then rip out their arms, Ren simply states he's going to hit them and then they're going to fall. Possibly averted because, by that line, the tension is so high, and Ren so calmly angry, that it comes across as the most disturbingly sadistic act. Must be how Ren says he's going to look down on them and laugh.
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* [[Beach Episode]]: The Adult Party episode "Naked Beach Frenzy".
* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: At the end of "The Scotsman in Space", a genie grants Ren a wish; Ren wishes for babes and a lot of money. Stimpy begs for a wish too, and Ren relents. Stimpy wishes that people be free of want (Ren's money disappears) and that everyone should be treated equally, regardless of race or creed (Ren's babes turn into men from different countries). He also wishes to be where it's always warm, at which point Ren and Stimpy are hurled towards the sun.
* [[Berserk Button]]: Don't even think about overcooking The Scotsman's eggs, feeding Jerry The Bellybutton Elf lint loaf, or showing the Fire Chief any circus midgets. [[Hair -Trigger Temper|Ren himself is a walking Berserk Button]].
* [[BGM]]: There have literally been THOUSANDS of unique stock music cues used in this show.
* [[Biblical Motifs]]: The ending of "Wiener Barons" parodies the story of Noah's Ark.
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** "City Hicks" ended with Ren and Stimpy being saved by Dusty Claus from dying on the streets of starvation... except now they have to toil in his dust mines for the rest of their lives. Neither seem to mind, though, so maybe this is a [[Happy Ending]] instead.
** "A Yard Too Far". The baboon is doing [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|who-knows-what]] to Ren's hand puppet [[Squick|and therefore his hand]], but they boys finally get to eat their hog jowls.
* [[Black Bead Eyes]]: Generally averted, though Stimpy was given these in one scene of "Breakfast Tips" as an [[Off -Model|animation error]].
* [[Bland -Name Product]]: One of the perks of life as a hermit for Ren it that he can finally listen to his "[[Aretha Franklin|Urethra Franklin]]" albums.
* [[Body Horror]]: You better believe it. Examples run the gamut from Ren plucking exposed nerve endings out of his mouth in "Ren's Toothache" to Stimpy removing a giant cyclops' toenail with a crowbar in "Magical Golden Singing Cheeses".
* [[Boot Camp Episode]]: The episode "In The Army".
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** And autographed glass coffee tables in "Ren Needs Help".
* [[Concussions Get You High]]: One episode features Stimpy excusing himself because "It's time for my appointment". He walks over to a door in the wall, inserts a quarter, and the door lifts to reveal a horse. The horse kicks him in the head, sending him flying. His reaction to this is almost orgasmic.
* [[Corporate -Sponsored Superhero]]: POWDERED TOAST MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!
* [[Continuity Nod]]: Many of the more memorable songs from early in the show are heard in snippets later on in the series.
** "Did you say "Log'?"
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* [[Dirty Old Man]]: Old Man Hunger
* [[Distress Call]]: Powdered Toast Man gets these, naturally.
* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: The Husk magazines in "I Was a Teenage Stimpy" (literally, pictures of corn stalks) are the show's equivalent of porn, apparently.
** And Stimpy playing with his bellybutton in "Jerry the Bellybutton Elf" is almost definitely symbolism for masturbation.
** "For I have a dream that one day, everyone... everywhere... [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|will know the wonders of my nipples!]]"
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* [[DVD Commentary]]: A few commentaries on the DVD sets feature John K. and Eric Bauza in character as Ren and Stimpy.
* [[Edited for Syndication]]: When R&S was rerun on [[VH 1]] and Spike TV, there were commercial fades in the middle of a cartoon, which disrupted the action. There were also time cuts in some episodes. Sadly, these are the versions which made it onto DVD.
* [[Eek! aA Mouse!]]: "The Boy Who Cried Rat"
* [[Emotion Bomb]]: The Happy Helmet
* [[Episode Title Card]]: Most were just a still image set to some music, but "Sven Hoek" was live action footage of a lederhosen-wearing, accordion-playing man. John K. abhors the latter, confirmed by his [[DVD Commentary]] of "Sven Hoek".
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* [[The Faceless]]: Mr. and Mrs. Pipe, who are only seen from the neck down.
** "Altruists" subverts this trope: The woman's son that Ren and Stimpy help doesn't have a head at all.
* [[Family -Friendly Firearms]]: In one episode, Ren and Stimpy attempt to rob a bank with a Scud missile instead of a gun. Particularly glaring since Ren and Stimpy [[It Makes Sense in Context|are hoping to get arrested for "armed robbery"]].
* [[Family -Unfriendly Violence]]: The show was full of it.
* [[Fan Disservice]]: The unbelievably hairy lifeguard from "Naked Beach Frenzy".
* [[Fan Service]]: Adult Party Cartoon had quite a bit, especially in "Naked Beach Frenzy".
** Non-skin example: "Onward and Upward" was John K. fulfilling a fan request to make an episode of nothing but gross-out jokes. However, for many, especially those who grew up with the show, [[Literal Genie|this episode went too far and John K. probably should've known that the fans don't always know what they want.]]
* [[Fanservice Extra]]: The babes in "Naked Beach Frenzy". Most of them don't have names and aren't seen again after this episode.
* [[Fan of the Underdog]]: Despite the [[With Friends Like These|constant abuse he enflicts upon him]], Stimpy is undyingly loyal and sympathetic to Ren. [[My God, What Have I Done?|Revealed rather bluntly]] to the latter in "Stimpy's Fan Club".
* [[Fantastic Voyage]]: "Blazing Entrails", when Ren traveled inside Stimpy to find out why he was acting abnormally stupid.
* [[Fat and Skinny]]
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* [[Gainax Ending]]: Seen in several episodes.
* [[Genre Savvy]] / [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]: Zig-zagged by Ren: whenever he identifies a pattern, it promptly shifts out from under him. An example from "A Yard Too Far": When he's about to steal some hog jowls from the front yard, he states that in other cartoons, there's usually an [[Angry Guard Dog]] prepared to maul the everloving crap out of whoever enters the porch. Stimpy mentions that there is none present. He does not, however, mention the guard baboon.
* [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!]]: Ren says this to Stimpy, who begs to talk at the next house in their rubber nipple-selling job.
** Ren also does it to a yak in "Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen", who's suffering a psychotic breakdown in the middle of the desert.
** In "Double Header", Ren goes crazy near the end, and Stimpy slaps him, saying, "Pull yourself together, boy!"
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* [[The Grunting Orgasm]]: Stimpy has, or at least greatly implies, one in the episode "Altruists" of ''Adult Party Cartoon''.
* [[Hair Trigger Avalanche]]: Demonstrated in "Big Flakes", though playing against expectations, Ren isn't the one who sets off the avalanche which would bury their cabin. He shouts for Stimpy to shut up already, yet it's Stimpy's "AMEN!!!!!" which is the trigger which causes the avalanche.
* [[Hair -Trigger Temper]]: Ren in the episodes post-Kricfalusi, when his anger and screaming traits were played up more, wheras in the earlier episodes he only broke down under the most manic and frustrating of circumstances.
* [[Half -Dressed Cartoon Animal]]: Subverted by Stimpy in "No Pants Today". He suddenly realizes that he wears no clothes and feels ashamed about it.
* [[Hands in Pockets]]: Ren doesn't have a tail because John didn't like animating it.
** It is actually removed in "Dog Show" by George Liquor using a rubber band and is never seen again.
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* [[Hint Dropping]]: Stimpy drops a ton of hints to Ren that he wants a scooter for Yaksmas. Ren doesn't get the hint.
* [[Hollywood Healing]]: And how, given how much Ren and Stimpy are maimed in the show.
* [[Honest JohnsJohn's Dealership]]: [[Hey ItsIt's That Guy]], who first appeared in "To Salve and Salve Not" and appeared in a number of Games episodes.
* [[Hotter and Sexier]]: ''Naked Beach Frenzy.''
* [[How We Got Here]]: "Who's Stupid Now?" is partially a flashback story, as it begins with fat Ren and spends half the episode leading up to how he got that way.
* [[I Am Not Weasel]]: Ren is occasionally mistaken for a mosquito or rat. This could possibly be a [[Lampshade Hanging]], based on how he's drawn.
* [[I Ate What?]]: The episode "Onwards and Upwards" dealt with Ren and Stimpy living in a spittoon and savoring many of the...er, foods it had to offer.
** This is actually a subverted trope, as Ren and Stimpy are fully aware of what they're eating, yet dine on it like it's fine cuisine.
* [[I'll Kill You!|I KEEL YOU!]]
* [[Idiot Savant]]: In the space-themed episodes, Stimpy was surprisingly adept at science, such as when he described what imploding was to Ren in "Black Hole".
* [[In Another MansMan's Shoes]]: The premise of "Who's Stupid Now?" involves Ren becoming the fat one and Stimpy becoming the skinny one, in order to keep their TV show. Ren gains empathy by knowing what it's like to be the ridiculed one in the duo.
* [[Instrumental Theme Tune]]
* [[Interspecies Romance]]: Ren lusts after human women. In "I Love Chicken", Stimpy falls in love with a chicken.
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* [[Jeopardy Thinking Music]]: A [[Suspiciously Similar Song]] version is heard in "Out West" when Abner and Ewalt have blank expressions for a long time.
* [[Jerkass]]: Ren.
* [[Kill 'Em All]]: "Ren's Brain" ends with the Earth being blown up, due to a chain reaction of everyone watching [[The Ren and Stimpy Show]] exploding.
{{quote| '''Narrator''': And thus ended the Republican party.<br />
'''Ren''': You EEDIOTS!!! }}
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* [[Nothing Is Scarier]]: The end of {{spoiler|Space Madness}}.
* [[Nurse With Good Intentions]]: "Nurse Stimpy".
* [[Off -Model]]: One of the most prominent aspects of the show in its first two seasons was John's strict rule that the animators were forbidden from ever drawing the same expression or pose, or drawing any character the exact same way twice. Note that this isn't the typical definition of Off Model (i.e. in that it's bad drawing) so much as it was John's way to breaking his animators out of bad habits and to keep them from falling into formula acting and drawing--although many sloppy drawings did get into the show, which John considers among the many mistakes Ren and Stimpy made.
{{quote| "Staying on model is only for wimps and communists" -- [[John Kricfalusi]]}}
** Not to mention there were many studios behind the animation process, including [[Rough Draft Studios]] (in their first project) and [[Carbunkle Cartoons]]<ref> Mr. Big Cartoons in Australia, [[Wang Film Productions]] in Taiwan and effects company [[Metrolight Studios]] also had hands in the production</ref>
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* [[One Shot Character]]: Dr. Brainchild from "Blazing Entrails", the leprechaun from "A Hard Day's Luck", Mr. Noggin from "Bell Hops", the islander and crab family from "Aloha Hoek", Jerry the Bellybutton Elf, Jiminy Lummox, the head parasites from "A Friend in Your Face", and Bubba from "The Cat That Laid the Golden Hairball", among many others.
* [[Overly Long Gag]]: Happens frequently on ''Adult Party Cartoon''.
* [[Paper -Thin Disguise]]: Ren and Stimpy in "Wiener Barons"; they're dressed as wiener inspectors to bypass the gate guard, but it's obviously them underneath the disguise. Additionally, the guard kicked them out before (and heard their voice, which they didn't distort when in costume), so it's hard to believe he fell for such a thing.
* [[Parental Bonus]]: What kid would:
** Know that the newsreel montage in "Ren's Bitter Half" is actually a parody of the 1943 film "Victory Through Air Power"?
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{{quote| '''Ren''': Someone has breached my security system...}}
* [[Potty Emergency]]: Ren, at the start of "Pixie King". Unfortunately for him, Stimpy is occupying the bathroom and won't be able to, erm, do his business, until Ren reads him a story.
* [[Precision F -Strike]]: In the Adult Party Cartoon episode, "Ren Seeks Help," [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|Ren seeks psychological help]] after abusing Stimpy in some ([[Noodle Incident|unexplained]]) manner that is regarded as being horrible, [[Even Evil Has Standards|even by Ren himself]]. He goes to Mr. Horse and proceeds to tell him about his youth, and the various displays of genuine psychopathy he exhibited then. He finally works up the nerve to tell Mr. Horse what it was he did to Stimpy, and then asks, "What do you think is wrong with me?" After some consideration, Mr. Horse says "So you wanna know what's wrong with you? You ''really'' wanna know?" He then ''punches Ren in the face'' and screams '''"YOU'RE FUCKING CRAZY!!!''' '''''THAT'S''''' '''WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!!"'''
** ''Stimpy'' of all people does something like this at the end of ''My Shiny Friend''. After his TV addiction has been cured, it turns out that his addiction has turned to gambling; as the screen fades to black we hear him mutter a frustrated "Crap!"
* [[Pro Wrestling Episode]]: "Mad Dog Hoek".
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* [[Show Some Leg]]: Stimpy woos the duck guard in "Altruists" by pretending to be a sultry female duck.
* [[Show Within a Show]]: Muddy Mudskipper and The Scotsman are a couple examples.
* [[Shrunken Organ]]: Stimpy's bean-sized brain [[Who Even Needs a Brain?|accidentally falls off when he leans down]]. Ren's cousin Sven marvels at how ''big'' it is, and then shows Stimpy his own, pinhead-sized brain.
* [[Sick Episode]]: "Nurse Stimpy".
* [[Skinny Dipping]]: Ren and Stimpy take off their "skin" to go skinny dipping in "The Great Outdoors".
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* [[Slow Motion]]: The buxom woman running down the beach in "Naked Beach Frenzy".
* [[Small Reference Pools]]: Averted, as many of the classical music tracks used in the show aren't the famous ones heard everywhere. Who but classical buffs know about Frederic Chopin's "Ballad in F-Minor Op. 52", or Josef Suk's "Asrael" symphony, or Claude Debussy's "Canope", or Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Francesca da Rimini"?
* [[Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter!]]: In "Superstitious Stimpy", Ren, fed up with Stimpy praying to a beef carcass he's supposed to be cooking, smites "juju" (which Stimpy believes in).
{{quote| '''Ren''': I wave my shiny red keister in the face of ''you'', and you "stuperstitions"!<br />
'''Stimpy''': No, Ren! It's bad juju to blaspheme!<br />
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* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" eventually devolves into this.
* [[Space Madness]]: [[Trope Namer]]; the trope takes its name from an episode title.
* [[Spin -Off]]: The Goddamn George Liquor Program, a webtoon which Nickelodeon had nothing to do with.
* [[Spiritual Successor]]: Countless examples, but [[Cow and Chicken (Animation)|Cow and Chicken]], [[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (Animation)|Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]], [[Two Stupid Dogs (Animation)|Two Stupid Dogs]], [[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (Animation)|The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy]] and [[SpongeBob SquarePants (Animation)|SpongeBob SquarePants]] which employed ex-Ren and Stimpy staffers. Some still do.
* [[Standard Fifties Father]]: Mr. Pipe.
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* [[Take That]]: The season 5 episode "Reverend Jack Cheese" has been theorized by some as being a subtle analogy/in-joke about original R&S creator John Kricfalusi and what it was like to work under him.
** [[Word of God|Confirmed by]] Bob Camp and John K., who also notes that Jack Cheese is named for an unrelated cartoon character he created in 1979.
** [[Take That, Audience!]]: In the first episode, Ren berates Stimpy for "watching cartoons even though he's a full-grown cat", and tells him that "cartoons will rot your brain".
* [[Talking Animal]]: Ren, Stimpy, many of the other regulars.
* [[The Teaser]]: "Who's Stupid Now?" features a brief sequence before the title card where fat Ren disrobes in front of the audience, which is seen in context later in the episode.
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* [[Title Montage]]: Every clip from the opening comes from "Big House Blues", which is rather unusual. Usually in a montage opening, clips are taken from multiple episodes.
* [[Toilet Humor]]
* [[To the Pain]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR6KjNmN2BA The end of "Svën Höek."] Ren is so angry he's looped back into calm, and bluntly describes the various tortures he's going to inflict on Stimpy and Sven. It includes tearing out lips, gouging out eyes, ripping out arms from their sockets, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|hitting them]].
* [[Toothy Bird]]: The duck guard in "Altruists".
** Also the seagull in "Untamed World".
* [[The Tooth Hurts]]: "Ren's Toothache", natch.
* [[Tranquil Fury]]: Er... [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR6KjNmN2BA this.]
* [[Tranquillizer Dart]]: Subverted in a cartoon parodying nature shows; [[Hair -Trigger Temper|Ren]] is accidentally shot with a tranq dart by [[The Ditz|Stimpy]], and it takes a minute for him to go down. In the meantime, [[Rule of Funny|his voice slows down]].
* [[Travel Montage]]: Seen in "Wiener Barons" when Ren and Stimpy head for Canada.
* [[Travelogue Show]]: Parodied in "Travelogue".
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* [[Vomit Indiscretion Shot]]: The camera never cuts away when Stimpy spews up hairballs.
* [[Welcome to The Big City]]: Ren and Stimpy in "City Hicks" are immediately beat up by thugs and have their sheep stripped upon entering the city. They also are informed they can't just shovel dirt right off the bat, as it's a union town and they have to start at the bottom first.
* [[Who Even Needs a Brain?]]
* [[Widget Series]]
* [[Wild Take]]: This show helped bring them back into fashion.
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[[Category:The Renaissance Age of Animation]]
[[Category:Western Animation]]
[[Category:The Ren And Stimpy Show]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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