Ultimate Book of Spells
Ultimate Book of Spells (2001-2002), or UBOS, is an animated series which ran for only 26 episodes on YTV from September 12, 2001 to April 7, 2002. It later ran on Toon Disney.
It's about three kids – Cassandra/"Cassy", Gus, and Verne – who are attending a Wizarding School and learning about magic. One day, they receive a magical book called UBOS, and learn of an evil wizard named Zarlack who is trapped in the center of the Earth, and is plotting to steal the world's magic so he can escape. The three of them have to stop him.
Tropes used in Ultimate Book of Spells include:
- Bad Future: Time And Again thanks to Gus.
- Boarding School
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Happens to Verne and Cassy in one episode.
- Cute Witch: Cassy
- Deadpan Snarker: UBOS, occasionly. Gus and Verne too.
- Evil Twin: Cassy gets one in Multiple Madness.
- Expy: suspiciously like Harry Potter, to a degree that even a child could spot. A trio with an awkward guy, normal guy and nerdy girl; magic; etc. But the main one is the witch teacher, Headmisteress Crystalgazer who acts so much like McGonagall and can even turn into a cat.
- Fantastic Racism: Everywhere you go in the series Morties are either what you compare someone to if you want insult someone, not the kind of people you want to have anything to do with, or the best fun you could ever have around.
- Follow the Leader: As detailed in Expy above, UBOS is rather similar to Harry Potter.
- Large Ham: Zarlack, constantly.
- Mortie: Verne
- Our Dragons Are Different: They're called Ratfinkles and they can transform into a two headed dragon.
- Don't forget the Dwarf Dragon mail carrier that showed up in the first episode
- Redheaded Hero: Verne is a much tamer example than most others who fall into the trope
- Rhymes on a Dime: When UBOS becomes unglued.
- Sealed Evil in a Can
- Secret Keeper: Only Verne knows that UBOS is Cassie's great grandfather, Getz.
- Shout-Out: To quite a few if you know where to look in the series, but the most glaringly obvious one is in Magic Quest; the whole episode is scattered with shout outs to Arthurian Legend.
- Spell Book: UBOS, obviously.
- Un-Equal Rites: Cassie wants to be a sorceress, since witches get no respect.
- Unfazed Everyman: Verne, being a mortie.
- Wizarding School
- X Meets Y: Harry Potter meets Journey to the Center of the Earth meets The Lord of the Rings.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Cassy.