History Anime / COWBOYBEBOP

* TheFlorenceNightingaleEffect:

* SmokingIsEdgy: The main adult cast of the Bebop, and indeed the setting as a whole, are all chain smokers with varying levels of cynicism. They're an Anti-Hero Team all with their own unique Dark and Troubled Past and have given up on life in one way or another, living in Perpetual Poverty in the outskirts of society. Only Cheerful Child Ed and (genius) Precious Puppy Ein don't partake in smoking.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: Played with InUniverse in "Toys In The Attic." Each member of the crew monologues a different [[AnAesop Aesop]] to the same story, although they all end up being {{Spoof Aesop}}s in one way or another:

* AnAesop: In "Toys In The Attic", where each (human) character is given the chance to explain, via voiceover, "[[AlternateAesopInterpretation the lesson]]" that life has taught them.
** From [[KnightInSourArmor Jet]]:
--->'''LESSON 1:''' Humans were meant to sweat and work to earn a living. Those that try to get rich quick, or live at the expense of others, [[JusticeWillPrevail all get divine retribution somewhere along the line.]] That's the lesson. Unfortunately, we quickly forget the lessons we've learned. [[AesopAmnesia And then we have to learn them all over again.]]
** From [[TheCynic Faye]]:
--->'''LESSON 2:''' [[TheSocialDarwinist Survival of the fittest is the law of nature.]] We deceive, or we ''are'' deceived. Thus we flourish, or perish. [[BrokenBird Nothing good ever happened to me when I trusted others.]] ''That'' is the lesson.
** From [[CheerfulChild Ed]]:
--->'''LESSON 3:''' Lesson, lesson... [[CloudCuckoolander If you see a stranger,]] [[JourneyToFindOneself follow him!]]
** And finally, from [[MellowFellow Spike]]:
--->'''LESSON 4:''' So that's the story. And what was [[SpaceWhaleAesop the real lesson?]] ''[{{Beat}}]'' [[spoiler:[[ItCameFromTheFridge Don't leave things in the fridge.]]]] ''[cue ''Waltz of the Flowers'']''

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Ed's funny behavior, peculiar mentality and tech-savvy skills have lead fans to speculate that she may be neurodivergent.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Ed's funny behavior, anomalous mentality and her tech-savvy skills have lead fans to speculate that she may be neurodivergent.

* ShootTheHostageTaker: Faye gets used as a HumanShield by syndicate goon who orders Spike to drop his gun. Spike responds by [[KilledMidSentence shooting the goon in the head before he could finish his sentence.]] Spike does this again in the movie, though this time he doesn't kill the man, he simply wings him in the shoulder and he crashes and breaks a freezer open, with the ensuing beer cans falling out of the freezer he just slammed into from the impact of the bullet clonking him on the head and knockin him out cold. [[IncrediblyLamePun No pun intended.]]

* TheTeam: More than many shows, there seems to be a deliberate effort made to show how people are rarely as simple as their basic archetypes. While the crew does occasionally function superficially as a loose and fairly [[DysfunctionJunction dysfunctional]] band, the exact roles tend to fluctuate as each character gets their [[ADayInTheLimelight time in the spotlight]], with the structure of the cast having more in common with a SliceOfLife comedy/drama than a more conventional action or procedural show. See EnsembleCast, [[FourTemperamentEnsemble Four Temperament]][=/=][[FourPhilosophyEnsemble Philosophy Ensemble]], RotatingProtagonist, and Power Trio[=/=]ThreePlusTwo for a better sense of the team's usual dynamics.

* GaiasLament: Earth.

* MultiEthnicName: Not uncommon, as the evacuation of Earth resulted in a cultural and racial melting pot. Taken to its natural conclusion, you get a character like Faye (which could also be Fei) Valentine (implied but never confirmed not to be her real last name), who claims to be Roma but is later revealed to be from Singapore [[spoiler:before the gate disaster]], or someone with the name Spike Spiegel who grew up working for [[TheTriadsAndTongs the Red Dragon Syndicate]], with most of their leadership having Chinese names. Others include Gren, whose full name is Grencia Mars Elijah Guo Eckener, or Whitney Hagas Matsumoto; and Ed's full name, even if she did make it up, is Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV ([[spoiler:and even her real name, Françoise Appledelhi, is a mix of French and Turkish]]).

* FantasticDrug: Asimov from "Asteroid Blues" has stolen a large supply of Bloody Eye from his employers, a stimulant which heightens the user's strength and senses, and greatly enhances reaction time, effectively letting them act in [[BulletTime slow motion]].

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: A sort-of example exists in Ed's name being spelled Edward Wang Hwe Pepel Cybulski 4th in the background text in the opening (as opposed to Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the 4th).

[[GenreBusting As the title suggests]], ''Bebop'' frequently evokes both {{Western}}s and FilmNoir, though the single biggest influence on the look and feel of the series comes from [[TheEighties '80s]] and early [[TheNineties '90s]] HeroicBloodshed action movies directed by Creator/JohnWoo (e.g. ''Film/ABetterTomorrow'' and ''Film/TheKiller1989''). ''Franchise/LupinIII'' also serves as a visible influence, as the main trio comes off like a futuristic version of Lupin, Jigen, and Fujiko. However, underneath the sci-fi and action flick surface lies an overall plotline influenced mainly by the {{Yakuza}} genre.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cowboy_bebop_568c35f73e3c7.png]]

[[GenreBusting As the title suggests]], ''Bebop'' frequently evokes both {{Western}}s and FilmNoir, though the single biggest influence on the look and feel of the series comes from [[TheEighties '80s]] and early [[TheNineties '90s]] HeroicBloodshed action movies directed by Creator/JohnWoo (e.g. ''Film/ABetterTomorrow'' and ''Film/TheKiller''). ''Franchise/LupinIII'' also serves as a visible influence, as the main trio comes off like a futuristic version of Lupin, Jigen, and Fujiko. However, underneath the sci-fi and action flick surface lies an overall plotline influenced mainly by the {{Yakuza}} genre.

* {{Catchphrase}}: None in the anime or ''Shooting Star'' manga, but the original three-volume manga gives us the shared catchphrase of "DOWAAAAA~!", an UnusualEuphemism for "What the fuck!?"