History Series / CaptainScarletAndTheMysterons

* DeadPersonImpersonation: While pretty much every episode qualifies, "Treble Cross" has the Mysterons' victim of the week (Col. Gravener) be seemingly killed and cloned, but he's found in time and revived -- and when the clone is destroyed, the real Gravener agrees to impersonate the double. [[spoiler:It works, and the Mysteron plot is foiled.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Captain Black has stated on a few occasions that the Mysterons “are not without compassion”, actually releasing an Angel he had trapped in a chamber that would have been flooded with radiation, and an audio adventure sees Black inform Blue and Scarlet that he has set the satellite they are on to explode so they won’t suffer the more drawn-out death of falling into the Sun. These at least suggest that the Mysterons don’t get any sense of sadistic pleasure from killing, and it is notable that even their more extreme plans such as destroying London would have killed people relatively quickly.

* GlamorFailure: Mysteron invulnerability extends to being entirely opaque to X-rays.

* UnexplainedRecovery: Scarlet, in almost every episode.
* VillainBall: Possibly averted. The Mysterons announce their plans in advance, albeit in riddles. However, there's some [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation speculation]] that they do this because they just enjoy tormenting the humans. At least once, the Mysterons stated point-blank that they were engaged in a "war of nerves" with Earth. They wanted to terrify us into self-destructive paranoia. A reason once mentioned was that the Mysteron Martian complex is an entertainment device (like the Shoreleave World of ''Franchise/StarTrek''), but for aliens with other priorities. Occasionally the clues were a XanatosGambit, where SPECTRUM winning turned out to further the Mysterons' plan.

* DeadPersonImpersonation: While pretty much every episode qualifies, "Treble Cross" has the Mysterons' victim of the week (Col. Gravener) be seemingly killed and cloned, but he's found in time and revived -- and when the clone is destroyed, the real Gravener agrees to impersonate the double. [[spoiler:The Mysteron plot is foiled, but he gets KilledOffForReal in the end.]]

* PrincipalsZealot: Though the attack was under mistaken assumption, and they could instantly repair the damage, the Mysterons are outraged enough by Spectrum's open fire on their city that they maintain a steadfast open war on all mankind. They reject attempts at apologies and negotiations, and by the end of the series their war has likely caused a far greater damage count on both sides than the initial attack on them did.

* DeadPersonImpersonation: While pretty much every episode qualifies, "Treble Cross" has the Mysterons' victim of the week (Col. Gravener) be seemingly killed and cloned, but he's found in time and revived - and when the clone is destroyed, the real Gravener agrees to impersonate the double. [[spoiler:The Mysteron plot is foiled, but he gets KilledOffForReal in the end.]]

* GoneHorriblyWrong: In "The Heart Of New York," three criminals use the Mysterons to their advantage by pretending to be Mysteronised in a plot to rob the Second National Bank while the city's been evacuated. [[spoiler: Unfortunately that's the very place the Mysterons are targeting - and they're trapped in the bank when it's blown up.]]

* TitleThemeTune: In one version thereof, "Captain Scarlet" is the ''only'' lyric. As a bonus, the later theme - the one with the lyrics - was sung by a group called The Spectrum (which was not created for the series).

* VillainBall: Possibly averted. The Mysterons announce their plans in advance, albeit in riddles. However, there's some [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation speculation]] that they do this because they just enjoy tormenting the humans. At least once, the Mysterons stated point-blank that they were engaged in a "war of nerves" with Earth. They wanted to terrify us into self-destructive paranoia. A reason once mentioned was that the Mysteron Martian complex is an entertainment device (like the Shoreleave World of ''Franchise/StarTrek'''), but for aliens with other priorities. Occasionally the clues were a XanatosGambit, where SPECTRUM winning turned out to further the Mysterons' plan.

* AchillesHeel: Mysteron duplicates are vulnerable to electricity (which means, as an associate pointed out to Scarlet, "high voltage is the one thing that can kill you"). They also show up as "positive" images on X-rays. Scarlet can also sense when one is nearby.

** An early episode features Big Ben striking 13 times, which is a key plot point. If one is about a third of a mile from Big Ben with a radio tuned to a local station, the real twelfth bong will arrive about a full second after the twelve on the radio. After Scarlet learns this, he says he'll consider it his "lucky number" from that point on.

** In the episode where Scarlet gets fired, the reason why was because he lost all his money playing roulette, his last act being to put it all on red -- the ball lands on 13 (black). FridgeBrilliance: Scarlet was [[spoiler:trying to lose money as part of an undercover op, so he put it all on his lucky number.]][[invoked]]

** In the episode where Scarlet gets fired, the reason as to why was because he lost all his money whilst playing roulette, his last act being to put it all on red -- the ball lands on 13 (black). FridgeBrilliance: Scarlet was [[spoiler:trying to lose money as part of an undercover op, so he put it all on his lucky number.]][[invoked]]

* DeadPersonImpersonation: While pretty much every episode qualifies, "Treble Cross" has the Mysterons' victim of the week (Col. Gravener) be seemingly killed and cloned, but he's found in time and revived - and when the clone is destroyed the real Gravener agrees to impersonate the double. [[spoiler: The Mysteron plot is foiled, but he gets KilledOffForReal in the end.]]

* ExpositoryThemeTune: The ending credits theme (after the original instrumental version was replaced); the opening has NoThemeTune as such, although it does have muscial backing.

* NoOSHACompliance: the episode ''Spectrum Strikes Back'' features a house that ''lowers in its entirety'' to reach the basement conference room, which as demonstrated in the episode, has the potential to crush anyone unfortunate enough to be working below if someone removes the key as there are no emergency cut off's of any kind. Bonus points in that there is a perfectly functioning elevator... that shuts itself down once the house is in motion preventing escape.

** Actually it was the "London Car-Vu", a high rise car park. It collapsed and fell on Scarlet due to the damage it sustained after a Mysteron-controlled Spectrum Helicoptor crashed into the support column.

->''"The Mysterons. Sworn enemies of Earth. Possessing the ability to recreate [[ParanoiaFuel an exact likeness of an object or person]]. But first, [[KillAndReplace they must destroy...]]\\
Leading the fight, one man [[PhlebotinumRebel fate has made indestructible]]. His name: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV8YbLvGrb0 Captain Scarlet."]]''

!!''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'' provides examples of the following tropes:

* AirborneAircraftCarrier: The Cloudbase.Only the second such vehicle in fiction, after SHIELD's Helicarrier.

* AtrociousAlias: [[Film/ReservoirDogs Why I gotta be Captain Magenta?]]
* AwesomeButImpractical: Well, more mildly clever and innovative but impractical in the case of the aforementioned SPV's camera system, which was combined with ''rear-facing seats''. It might reduce the likelihood of injury in the event of a collision, but how anyone drove one for more than five minutes without having to pull over and throw up is a mystery for the ages. And also there was one time a Mysteron agent jammed the camera resulting in the SPV crashing. All of which is probably why the revival did away with this, allowing drivers of the SPV's successor, the Rhino, to face the right way.
** It was somewhat downplayed in the series but the SPV was supposedly an extremely heavily armoured vehicle. Tank crews can be very seriously injured in a crash, as the hull does nothing to absorb or lessen the g-forces. Considering the SPV is a high-speed vehicle, the heavy bumper and rearward-facing seats are probably absolutely necessariy. 'Winged Assassin' shows that an SPV can plow through a brick building without sustaining great damage, but it will kill the driver in the process. The Rhino may have more advanced crash protection systems that make rearward-facing seats redundant.

* TheBadGuysWin: [[spoiler: In "Winged Assassin," "The Heart Of New York", "Shadow of Fear" and "Inferno".]]

* ThirteenIsUnlucky:
** An early episode features Big Ben striking 13 times, which is a key plot point. If one is about a third of a mile from Big Ben with a radio tuned to a local station, the real twelfth bong will arrive about a full second after the twelve on the radio. After Scarlet learns this, he says he'll consider it his "lucky number" from that point on.
** In the episode where Scarlet gets fired, the reason as to why was because he lost all his money whilst playing roulette, his last act being to put it all on red -- the ball lands on 13 (black). FridgeBrilliance: Scarlet was [[spoiler:trying to lose money as part of an undercover op, so he put it all on his lucky number.]][[invoked]]

* HealingFactor: The nature of Captain Scarlet's indestructibility. Interestingly, the opening credits imply that it works instantly, able to effortlessly tank a machine gun at point blank range without feeling it. The first episode flies in the face of that completely by having him ''killed'' by a single bullet to the chest with visible agony on his face. The ending credits give a much more realistic interpretation of how his powers work.

* BittersweetEnding: The first episode ends with the day saved and Captain Scarlet a hero again. Or more accurately, Captain Scarlet's alien duplicate that he was murdered to give birth to ''becomes'' a hero. The original human Scarlet, a man just as brave, heroic and friendly as this one, is still dead. [[FridgeHorror For those people who take personal identity very seriously]] the idea that the original is swiftly forgotten (or at least rarely ever brought up again) and his life acquired/stolen by his clone is horrifying.

* AndStarring: After the first scene of each episode of the original version, the main characters are billed on screen "With Captain Blue" first. Also included: Destiny Angel, Colonel White, Symphony, Melody, Rhapsody and Harmony Angel, and "Mysteron Agent Captain Black".
* AwesomeMccoolName:
** Captain Scarlet
** Destiny Angel
** Captain Black

* AtrociousAlias: [[Film/ReservoirDogs Why I gotta be Captain Magenta?]]

* CloningBlues: Averted; Captain Scarlet is readily accepted by his colleagues, and he shows nary a hint of angst about being a copy.

* VillainBall: Possibly averted. The Mysterons announce their plans in advance, albeit in riddles. However, there's some [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation speculation]] that they do this because they just enjoy tormenting the humans. At least once, the Mysterons stated point-blank that they were engaged in a "war of nerves" with Earth. They wanted to terrify us into self-destructive paranoia. A reason once mentioned was that the Mysteron Martian complex is an entertainment device (like the Shoreleave World of ''StarTrek'''), but for aliens with other priorities. Occasionally the clues were a XanatosGambit, where SPECTRUM winning turned out to further the Mysterons' plan.

* EveryCarIsAPinto: Almost every death involving a car crash of some sort "will" have the car(s) in the crash explode.

* EveryCarIsAPinto: Almost every death involving a car crash of some sort 'will' have the car(s) in the crash explode.

* AirborneAircraftCarrier: The Cloudbase.

* ExpositoryThemeTune: The ending credits theme (after the original instrumental version was replaced); the opening had NoThemeTune.

** In the episode where Scarlet gets fired, the reason as to why was because he lost all his money whilst playing roulette, his last act being to put it all on red -- the ball lands on 13 (black). FridgeBrilliance: Scarlet was [[spoiler:trying to loose money as part of an undercover op, so he put it all on his lucky number.]][[invoked]]
* TitleThemeTune: In one version thereof, "Captain Scarlet" is the ''only'' lyric. As a bonus, the later theme (the one with the lyrics) was sung by a group called The Spectrum.