History WesternAnimation / AmericanDragonJakeLong

* BrokenAesop: In "Siren Says," Jake takes part in a BachelorAuction, rigging the bids so that he ends up with the beautiful captain of the school swimming team, Danika Hunnicut. Trixie justifiably chews Jake out for his shallow behavior, accusing him of only caring about looks. Over the next couple of days, Jake keeps falling into magical trances whenever he's around Danika, causing him to stumble into dangerous situations. Trixie suspects Danika of foul play, believing she is manipulating Jake for her own amusement. However, it is revealed Danika is innocent, and that the true culprit is [[spoiler:a [[EnthrallingSiren siren]] named Vicky Fickling, who was also bidding for Jake at the auction]], who framed Danika by giving her the magical necklace that caused Jake's trances. Once the matter is settled, Jake and his friends discuss what kind of lesson they were meant to take away from the experience, with Jake pointing out that if he ''hadn't'' chosen Danika for purely superficial reasons, he would have wound up with [[spoiler:an evil, mind-controlling siren]] rather than a [[BeautyEqualsGoodness genuinely nice and sweet girl]].

* PutOnABus: Rose=.

* NotSoDifferent: It's revealed in the first season episode that Lao Chi was much like his grandson back in his younger years...this changes when he has an encounter with the Dark Dragon.

* MirrorCharacter: Jake and Greggy are from the same family and both inherited the family lineage of dragon transformation and are very egotistical regarding their abilities, but Jake has the experience to back the confidence up, and Greggy falls into "overconfident," very similar to how Jake was when the series first began.

* BrokenAesop: In "Siren Says," Jake takes part in a bachelor auction, rigging the bids so that he ends up with the beautiful captain of the school swimming team, Danika Hunnicut. Trixie justifiably chews Jake out for his shallow behavior, accusing him of only caring about looks. Over the next couple of days, Jake keeps falling into magical trances whenever he's around Danika, causing him to stumble into dangerous situations. Trixie suspects Danika of foul play, believing she is manipulating Jake for her own amusement. However, it is revealed Danika is innocent, and that the true culprit is [[spoiler:a [[EnthrallingSiren siren]] named Vicky Fickling, who was also bidding for Jake at the auction]], who framed Danika by giving her the magical necklace that caused Jake's trances. Once the matter is settled, Jake and his friends discuss what kind of lesson they were meant to take away from the experience, with Jake pointing out that if he ''hadn't'' chosen Danika for purely superficial reasons, he would have wound up with [[spoiler:an evil, mind-controlling siren]] rather than a [[BeautyEqualsGoodness genuinely nice and sweet girl]].

* RealityEnsues:
** At least two episodes show how difficult WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld would actually be. Jake has almost no time to himself to do his schoolwork on top of his training as well as being expected to go save the day at a moments notice. As such his schoolwork suffers, he has no time for his friends or relaxation and is having to internalise his exhaustion and stress less his grandfather berate him for complaining about his duty.
** In the very first episode, Lao-Shi's constant haranguing Jake over the slightest fault, brutal/disgusting/pointless training methods, and seemingly total lack of any positive reinforcement drive Jake to the point where he just can't take it anymore and does what any other 13-year-old kid in his position would do: [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere stop showing up for training entirely.]] This nearly gets Lao-Shi killed, but fortunately Jake came out of his TenMinuteRetirement in time to save his grandpa.
** When Haley takes over Jake's duties we see the result of this treatment on someone who's less used to dealing with stressful situations; she goes from a perfect student to a nervous wreck in a matter of ''two days''. Thankfully, this results in her CallingTheOldManOut moment toward Lao Shi, where she tears him a new one for being too harsh on his grandson.
** Rose's constant failures throughout Season One gets her demoted to being a lecturer for the Huntsclan Academy at the start of Season Two.

* ThickLineAnimation: The earlier episodes have this in some shots.

* AntiSneezeFinger: In the season 1 episode, "The Hunted", Jake and some other magical creatures are hiding in a tree from the Huntsclan below. Clooney suddenly remembers that he is allergic to pollen and starts sneezing. Cue an Anti-Sneeze Finger (or [[PrehensileTail tail]] in Jake and Silver's case) from ''[[UpToEleven everyone]]''. He sneezed anyway [[SoMuchForStealth and alerted the Huntsclan]].

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Rose's twin sister appeared as a baby in a flashback and was completely forgotten about by the time Rose found her parents. [[WordOfGod According to Jeff Goode]], her sister's whereabouts were going to be a/the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen main focus of season three]].

* CrystalSkull: The mcguffins for most of the second season which the Huntsman is looking for to destroy all magical creatures. It was meant to have a bigger story arc but ExecutiveMeddling forced them to condense the intended plot.

* PutOnABus: Rose, thanks to ExecutiveMeddling.

** In "Body Guard Duty", it's established that [[PropheciesAreAlwaysRight the prophecies of the Oracle Twins always come true]], [[ProphecyTwist just not in the ways you'd expect]]. Even with the claim that there can be twists to the prophecies, the accuracy of Sara's vision in "The Academy" is dubious at best. She claims she sees a circle of skulls and magical creatures crying in agony, but when the Aztec Skull StoryArc concludes in "Homecoming", nothing ever comes of the magical creatures in agony part. Instead, [[spoiler:it's Huntsclan members who cry in agony]]. [[JustifiedTrope Justified somewhat]] in that this was confirmed to be due to ExecutiveMeddling. The original plan was that the Huntsman's wish for the destruction of all magical creatures started to be granted before Rose could stop him, but when Disney axed the original two-part episode, this got dropped.

* ToiletHumor: Prominence of fart jokes in the pilot. What most of complainers don't know is that [[ExecutiveMeddling Disney mandated them]] because of a spectacularly bad test episode (that wasn't even written by the series writers) which only drew laughs from said fart joke.

** [[Series/LetsMakeADeal Monty]] [[Series/SplitSecond Hall]] as himself -- ''as a bad guy'' (one of Pandarus's flunkies). Later gets fired and is seen drinking away his troubles in a malt shop.

--->'''Monty Hall:''' [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments C'mon! Monty's got a big bowl of pain behind door number three!]]

* TwoFaced: Haley after being exposed to essence of Troll. It wore off by the next episode.

* VillainsOutShopping: In the ChristmasEpisode, #88 and #89 go to a mall (in full Huntsclan uniform) and try to decide between getting The Huntsman [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments an easy bake oven or a stuffed potato as a present]].

* WaxOnWaxOff: Some of Grandpa's training techniques.

* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons

** In the second to last episode, "Being Human", Jake has had enough after two years of having to deal with constant threats to the magical world. Getting in trouble with his dad and losing Rose while being expected never to falter or complain about his duty without time to enjoy himself whatsoever and deliberately gets his responsibility removed so he can relax actually be a fourteen year old kid for once. [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling Haley]] is given the responsibility in the meantime, and while at first claims she will be a better dragon than him, she turns into a stressed-out mess in less than a week. When Haley accidentally reveals Jake got his powers removed on purpose, Lao Shi starts to rant about his irresponsible grandson for not flawlessly rising to the thankless job, she snaps and tongue-lashes him. Pointing out how difficult it is and how much Jake's had to give up to be the American Dragon. Saying that it might have been stupid, but it wasn't selfish for him to want to actually want to be a kid for a few days-- generally considered her finest moment in the series.
-->'''Haley:''' HEY! When's the last time either of you were the American Dragon? Well as the little troll girl currently filling the position, let me tell you it's stinkin' hard! I can't imagine doing it two more days let alone two more years. And to think about everything Jake's gone through; he's had to save magical creatures on a daily basis, lie to his own dad about who he is, say good-bye to the girl he loved, all to protect a mystical world that nobody knows about. He may be the American Dragon but he is also a 14-year-old kid who just wanted a couple days off. If that makes him immature, fine, but self-serving? With all due respect to both of you, STEP OFF!!

** He purposely sabotages himself to have his dragon chi removed for a week to enjoy his middle school graduation. His over-achieving sister is stuck with the burden and she starts falling at the seams. She [[CallingTheOldManOut defends her brother's choice]] when Lao Shi finds out by listing the difficulties of being the American Dragon before delving into the personal problems it caused Jake (namely not able to relate to his dad that much and losing Rose ''twice''). All in all, he's handling this job a hell of a lot better than could realistically be expected.

[[caption-width-right:300:Left to right: Rose, Jake, and Fu Dog.]]

* InfantImmortality: While played straight with 88 and 89, yeah...[[FridgeHorror about all of those kids at the Huntsclan Academy...]]

* CaptainErsatz: Nigel is one of Literature/HarryPotter. And possibly [[Manga/MahouSenseiNegima Negi]].

** Creator/JonathanFreeman plays a nasty magician here. Previously, he was in ''{{WesternAnimation/Aladdin}}'', where he had played an even nastier evil magician, Jafar.

* NeverSayDie: The Huntsclan is "destroyed" by a magic wish, with all members inexplicably rising into the air and disappearing. Except for [[ThoseTwoBadGuys 88]] and [[PluckyComicRelief 89]], who quit just in time to save themselves.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: #88 and #89.

* ReverseMole: Rose fits this trope in the episode "Homecoming".

** In "Homecoming", [[spoiler:Gramps begins to stop Jake from using the Crystal Skulls to save Rose from being destroyed by her own wish, claiming it would be irresponsible to use them for "one's own personal gain." Jake cuts him off, yelling that it would be for ''Rose's'' happiness, not his own, and she deserves to live a good life with a family who cares for her. After using his wish to rewrite her life such that she was never a member of the Huntsclan, he angry destroys the skulls and flies off, everyone else left in StunnedSilence.]]

* CallingTheOldManOut: In the second to last episode 'Being Human' Jake has had enough after two years of having to deal with constant threats to the magical world. Getting in trouble with his dad and losing Rose while being expected never to falter or complain about his duty without time to enjoy himself whatsoever and deliberately gets his responsibility removed so he can relax actually be a fourteen year old kid for once. [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling Haley]] is given the responsibility in the meantime, and while at first claims she will be a better dragon than him, she turns into to a stressed out mess in less than a week. When Haley accidentally reveals Jake got his powers removed on purpose, Lao Shi starts to rant about his irresponsible grandson for not flawlessly rising to the thankless job, she snaps and tongue-lashes him. Pointing out how difficult it is and how much Jake's had to give up to be the American Dragon. Saying that it might have been stupid, but it wasn't selfish for him to want to actually want to be a kid for a few days-- generally considered her finest moment in the series.

* HollywoodDensity: Leprachaun gold is often treated as if it weighs no more than a few pounds, even carrying around a cauldron filled to the brim with coins. Possibly justified since it's magic gold, so it could be enchanted to weigh less than the normal kind.