History Series / LegendsofTheHiddenTemple

* Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: Many contestants, both on the original and the 2021 version, lost shoes while crossing the moat.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/olmec-legends-hidden-temple.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Olmec and his good friend [[LargeHam Kiiiiirrrrkkkk Foooogggg!]] [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment ...And here he is]] ''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment nooooooooooooow!]]'']]

* {{Bowdlerize}}: The writers had to change a few legends to make them appropriate for kids. For the Grandy Nanny story, Olmec said she and her rebels threw cannonballs against her would be captors instead of [[https://www.buzzfeed.com/jaimieetkin/legends-of-the-hidden-temple-kirk-fogg-olmec what she's better known for]]. This is averted when it comes to the stories told in the reboot.

** One specific example comes in the reboot season. In the episode "The Fiery Yam Stick of the Seven Sisters," based on Aboriginal Australian legend, the Blue Barracudas went first in the second Temple Game and finished the task in under two and a half minutes. The Green Monkeys had to beat their time. Ryleigh imitated a demonic sound which Billy had to match to the correct skull, then he had to climb up a mountain and throw the skull down to his teammate. Sounds simple, right? Well, Billy had all sorts of trouble climbing back up the mountain! Eventually, he just took off his shoes and climbed up using his socks, but by that time, there was no way the Green Monkeys could beat the Blue Barracudas’ time.

** One specific example comes in the reboot season. In the episode "The Fiery Yam Stick of the Seven Sisters," based on Aboriginal Australian legend, the Blue Barracudas went first in the second Temple Game and finished the task in under two and a half minutes. The Green Monkeys had to beat their time. The female imitated a demonic sound which the guy had to match to the correct skull, then he had to climb up a mountain and throw the skull down to his teammate. Sounds simple, right? Well, the guy had all sorts of trouble climbing back up the mountain! Eventually, he just took off his shoes and climbed up using his socks, but by that time, there was no way the Green Monkeys could beat the Blue Barracudas’ time.

** One specific example comes in the reboot season. In the episode "The Fiery Yam Stick of the Seven Sisters," based on Aboriginal Australian legend, the Blue Barracudas went first in the second Temple Game and finished the task in under two and a half minutes. The Green Monkeys had to beat their time. The female imitated a demonic sound which the guy had to match to the correct skull, then he had to climb up a mountain and throw the skull down to his teammate. Sounds simple, right? Well, the guy had all sorts of trouble climbing back up the mountain! Eventually, he just took off his shoes and climbed up using his socks, but by that time, there was no way the Green Monkeys could win.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: This trope is inverted to "Everything's Worse With Silver Monkeys". How many dreams were crushed by that three-piece puzzle?

** For the temple rooms, there's the Shrine of the Silver Monkey and the Pit of the Pendulum; the CW version adds the Crystal Cenote and the Royal Rage Room.

* TheCameo: Kirk returns briefly in two episodes of the 2021 reboot during the Temple Run, appearing in the Dark Forest and later the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, rooting on the contestants.

* '''Olmec's Temple (The Temple Run):''' After the announcer describes the {{Promotional Consideration}}s and Olmec [[MemeticMutation describes the rooms]], the teams get [[TimedMission three minutes]] (or 4 minutes in the 2021 reboot) to try to make it into the temple, grab the artifact, and make it out. The temple is a two-story twelve-room maze; all doors are locked initially, and most rooms have a logic puzzle that must be solved before any doors which can be unlocked will unlock. Grabbing the artifact instantly unlocks all doors and banishes any remaining Temple Guards (and nets the team a second prize); making it out of the temple before time runs out nets you the grand prize (in early seasons, a trip to Space Camp). Cue credits. The 2021 reboot awards $2,500 for the first consolation prize, $10,000 for getting to the artifact, and $25,000 for escaping the temple with the artifact.

* '''The Legend:''' Olmec tells the contestants (and the audience) about the legend in question. Invariably, the legend mentions an artifact belonging to a major historical figure which somehow "made its way into the Temple" after the owner's passing. At the end of the legend in the original run, Kirk asks where the artifact can be found, and Olmec tells the contestants which room of the temple it can be found in.

* '''The Moat:''' Six two-person teams enter the Temple, but must complete a race across a narrow pool of water. The first four to cross and ring their team's gong advance to the next round. Very often, even touching the water once would cause a team to have to start again from scratch. The 2021 reboot cuts this down to four teams, with the first three to cross the moat going onto the next round.

* '''The Legend:''' Olmec tells the contestants (and the audience) about the legend in question. Invariably, the legend mentions an artifact belonging to a major historical figure which somehow "made its way into the Temple" after the owner's passing. At the end of the legend, Kirk asks where the artifact can be found, and Olmec tells the contestants which room of the temple it can be found in.
** '''The Steps of Knowledge:''' A trivia round, with teams being given questions about Olmec's legend, as well as basic trivia about the places mentioned in the legend. Each correct answer lets the contestants take one step down the Steps of Knowledge; three correct answers are enough to win one of the two spots in the next round. Cue the first commercial break.
* '''The Temple Games:''' A series of three competitive physical contests, usually themed around the legend, which will net the team who wins a "[[HeartContainer Pendant of Life]]". The first two games are worth a half-pendant each and involve one player from each team, while the last game is worth a full pendant of life and involves both players from each team ([[GoldenSnitch and usually determines which team wins]]). If the teams tie in a game, they both receive that game's pendant. If there is a tie, Kirk/Olmec ask a general trivia [[SuddenDeath tiebreaking question]] (in the first season, getting the question wrong meant losing the quest immediately). Cue the second commercial break. The 2021 reboot cuts this down to two Temple Games (one a head-to-head challenge, the other a time trial challenge) that both players participate in, each being worth a full pendant of life with the Sudden Death round also being worth one full pendant.

** The 2021 Temple Run is four minutes (as opposed to three in the original), but remains true to the trope like its predecessor. While fewer rooms means less railroading that borderlined on fixing like the original game -- nearly every room in the temple would need to be navigated -- the tasks were more elaborate, with The Queen's Armory being outright called by host Cristela Alonzo "the Dream Killer". Of the ten episodes of its revival season, [[spoiler: only four teams]] reached the artifact and [[spoiler: only two]] successfully completed the Run.

** For failing to cross the moat in the 2021 reboot, the losing team only gets to keep their team shirts. Even in the original, the teams got to get their shirts as well as a second consolation prize.

-->-- Olmec before The Temple Run.

** The 2021 Temple Run is four minutes (as opposed to three in the original), but remains true to the trope like its predecessor. While fewer rooms means less railroading that borderlined on fixing like the original game -- nearly every room in the revival would need to be navigated -- the tasks were more elaborate, with The Queen's Armory being outright called by host Cristela Alonzo "the Dream Killer". Of the ten episodes of its revival season, [[spoiler: only four teams]] reached the artifact and [[spoiler: only two]] successfully completed the Run.

-->-- One of Olmec's many catchphrases.

!!In all three seasons, ''Legends'' used this format:

* AdaptedOut: While there are some rooms that perform similar functions to previous ones in the 2021 reboot, the Temple Run carries over just one of the original rooms, the infamous Shrine of the Silver Monkey.
%%** With only four teams in the 2021 version, that means this happens to two of the teams from the original. In the pilot at least, the Silver Snakes and the Orange Iguanas get junked.

* TheBusCameBack: In "The Hindu Legend of Rama", the contestants who make it to the Temple Run are original contestants Nick and Josh (from "Henry VIII's Great Seal" and "The Imperial Purple Robe of Empress Theodora", respectively). Kirk Fogg also appeared unexpectedly in the Dark Forest to give moral support.

** "The choices are yours, and yours alone!"
** Not exactly a "catch phrase", but you'd be hard-pressed to find an episode where Kirk doesn't caw "Ohhh!" at least three times.
** Olmec always let out a long groan when he released the temple gate. It was attached to his side, which made it look like it was hurting him.
** "The ''SHR-III-INE'' of the SEEELVURR MUN-KEE!!!"
** "Let's rock."
** Kirk would often describe contestants as "blazing".

** The 2021 Temple Run is four minutes (as opposed to three in the original, but just like in the original the path to the artifact seems largely dependant on luck depending on which route you take. The room objectives have gotten more elaborate and take longer to complete. And that's leaving out the Temple Guards. It's impossible for them to end the run, but they can still mess up a team depending on their placement. In the second episode, the frontrunner was railroaded into several time-wasting rooms and was taken out by the second Temple Guard ''one room away'' from the artifact, leaving only 30 seconds for the second player to retrace the path (which he didn't).

* AdaptedOut: While there are some rooms that perform similar functions to previous ones in the 2021 reboot, the Temple Run doesn't directly carry over any rooms from the original. Except, of course, for the Shrine of the Silver Monkey.

* TheCameo: Kirk returns briefly in the 2021 reboot during the Temple Run in "The Hindu Legend of Rama", hanging out in the Dark Forest to give prior contestants Nick and Josh moral support.

* BaldWoman: Abby of the Green Monkeys in the reboot's second episode "The Fiery Lava Rock of Pele" is bald due to losing all of her hair when she was 16.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Every episode/legend name involved both the MacGuffin and the historical/mythical figure associated with it. This often took a CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase or [[TheXOfY The Noun Phrase of Character Name]] in Season 1, but always the latter later in the show.

* BelatedBackstory: We finally get one for Olmec and the Temple in the TV movie. [[spoiler:Olmec was once king of his civilization, and was in the middle of passing on his title to his son, Zuma. Just then, a group of rogue temple guards who Olmec had previously banished burst in, led by Olmec's other son Thak in a coup attempt. In the struggle, the Pendant of Life was split in half and each son grabbed one piece. To prevent Thak from gaining both halves and save his people, Olmec turned the entirety of the kingdom into stone, and himself into his giant stone head form. It's now up to the kids to find the Pendant halves and restore the kingdom.]]

* CarriedByTheHost: Olmec is the star of both the original and CW version.

* HistoryRepeats: The "The Hindu Legend of Rama" episode of the 2021 reboot featured two contestants from the original series, Nick (from "Henry VIII's Great Seal") and Josh (from "The Imperial Purple Robe of Empress Theodora"). In Josh's original episode, he was mere seconds away from retrieving the artifact before time ran out. In the 2021 reboot, while Josh was successful in getting the artifact, he ran out of time to escape the Temple by mere seconds. At least Nick was able to bravely face two Temple Guards as opposed to jumping out of the Temple in his first '90s Temple Run.

* TheBusCameBack: In "The Hindu Legend of Rama", the contestants who make it to the Temple Run are original contestants Nick and Josh. Kirk Fogg also appeared unexpectedly in the Dark Forest to give moral support.