History WesternAnimation / EarthWormJim

* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: All of the characters, but Jim and Peter most prominently.

** {{Inverted}} slightly as Peter himself expresses in the first episode he has no control over his BerserkButton induced alter ego and spends most of it trying to apologize vigorously for brutally attacking Jim earlier on.

* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: And so can the entire cast. But they can't breathe underwater, obviously. Even Bob the Killer Goldfish must remain in his bowl.

* LemonyNarrator: Present in many episodes, but UpToEleven in "The Wizard of Ooze" when he is downright jaded at what's transpiring.

* UpToEleven: The coffee machine that Walter uses in "Hyper Psy-Crow" has an option to make regular, double, or triple espresso, or "uncertain doom".

** Whenever "La Planeta de Agua" is said, a trumpet jingle and a chorus yelling "¡Arriba!"

* TakeThat: In the episode "Darwin's Nightmare", Jim and Peter are seen watching a pastiche of Creator/JacquesCousteau on television. Peter says that the Cousteau parody is a little "special". After the diver says that fish are the highest form of life, Jim and Peter then say in unison that he is "very, very special". Note that "special" can be used as a euphemism for mentally handicapped.

** One episode opens at the White House with a big sign out front that reads “Days Without A Scandal”. Cue worker coming in and making the number a zero.

* ButterflyOfDoom: In "Sword of Righteousness", Jim learns of the eponymous sword's "Portal of Time" ability and decides to play a trick. He hands Peter a penny and tells him to watch Lincoln's face change. He then travels back to the Gettysburg Address and interrupts Lincoln mid-speech, shaving his beard off (to which Lincoln says "That's a big goodbye to my credibility.") When he returns to the present, expecting everything except the penny to the be the same, he instead finds that Peter is now a southern gentleman who looks like ColonelSanders and Jim himself is now known as "Earthworm Bubba." The sword orders Jim to go back and fix everything, and forbids any further time traveling. The whole fiasco lasts less than two minutes.

* PaperThinDisguise: One of Psy-Crow and Professor Monkey-For-A-Head's plots to steal Jim's suit involves setting up a fake dry cleaners next to his house. Said dry cleaners is just Psy-Crow's spaceship with a sign on it (it even says "Not Psy-Crow's Space Scow" at the bottom), and the guy running the front desk is the Professor with a mustache and a cowboy outfit, complete with ludicrously large hat to hide the monkey. The Professor talks like he normally does, except with added cowboy slang. Then a banana peel falls out of his hat, which he blames on head lice. [[WhatAnIdiot Jim completely falls for this.]]

* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: The retirement home where Puce Dynamo, the world's first super hero, lives, as seen in "Hyper-Psycrow", crossing over with PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad:

* IAteWhat: Peter has this reaction to eating haggis in the third episode.

* SlapStickKnowsNoGender: This is '''Earthworm Jim''' we're talking about. Everyone gets cow on their head at one point or another!

-->'''Evil Jim:''' Make you a deal! Make me king and I won't blast you all to atoms!\\

* EldritchAbomination: Queen Pulsating Bloated Festering Sweaty Pus-Filled Malformed Slug-for-a-Butt.

* IceCreamKoan: The Master of Wow-Lin, whom Jim claims to have studied under. He spouts nothing but useless platitudes so nonsensical even Jim is quick to realize he's "a senile old bat-nugget."

* RunTheGauntlet: in "The Egg Beater", Jim has to face all his usual enemies, first one by one, then all at the same time.

'''Evil Jim:''' Um, I should warn you, this is gonna to smart like the dickens.\\

* LiteralMinded: When Evil Jim proclaims himself to be Jim's exact opposite ("Everything you love, I hate! Everything you hate, I love!") Jim tries to throw this back in his face later on.
-->'''Jim:''' I've been thinking about this 'exact opposite' thing. If I hate losing, you must love it! So why don't you give up right now?\\
'''Evil Jim:''' [[LampshadeHanging Oh don't be so literal-minded.]]

'''Evil Jim:''' I should warn you, this is going to smart like the dickens.\\

--->'''Jim:''' Woah, Bad thing happen. (Opposites Attack)\\

In late 2021, Interplay Entertainment Corp. (which owns the ''Earthworm Jim'' franchise) [[https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/earthworm-jim-animated-tv-series-1235114624/ announced]] that a second animated series was in development.

Doug Langdale, creator of later Disney series ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'' and ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian'' helped bring this show to life, given Doug [=TenNapel=]'s opposition to it (though they both worked together to bring us ''WesternAnimation/ProjectGeeker'' shortly after this show).

In late 2021, Interplay Entertaniment Corp. (which owns the ''Earthworm Jim'' franchise) [[https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/earthworm-jim-animated-tv-series-1235114624/ announced]] that a second animated series was in development.

* MythologyGag: When Evil Jim creates an evil clone of the Princess she has the exact same personality as the Princess from the original video games.

* GreenLanternRing: The Orb of Quite Remarkable Power

* RoguesGallery

-->'''Jim:''' I appreciate you're taking the time to discuss my feelings, [[PunnyName Snott]]. How do I feel? Well, perhaps this little puppet play I've written will explain. (sticks two forks into the table)(waves salt shaker between the prongs of the forks) I am Earthworm Jim. Woe is me for I am wrongfully imprisoned.(grabs mustard bottle) I am Peter. [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Sad and unhappy am I]] [[AmbiguouslyGay without Jim]]. BOO HOO! BOO HOO HOO HOO!! My life is without purpose. [[TheWoobie Emptiness wells up in my tortured soul.]] I'm going to...GOING TO...(squirts [[UnusualEuphemism mustard]] all over the table)(grabs ketchup bottle) I am Snott, I also am indeed BLEAUGH! (squirts ketchup all over the table)(grabs the sugar and a jar of jelly) I'm just the sugar but I'm gonna barf too, and the [[SanitySlippage JELLY, JELLY BARF, JELLY BARF!!!]](soaks his hands in the mixture and theatrically displays them to the audience) [[LargeHam BEHOLD the GOOEY SLOP of our SORROW! (smears the mixture all over his face with his hands) IT IS...SLOBBER...DAMMERUNG!!!]] ''[[ChewingTheScenery THE TWILIGHT OF THE CONDIMENTS! WEEP FOR THEM, WEEP FOR THEIR SORROW-HO-HOHO-HOHH!!!]]''\\

'''Jim:''' Yes, Snott, [[CaptainObvious my delicate psyche has come horribly unglued!]]

* SceneryPorn: During the prologue to the Book of Doom episode, Jim and Peter enter Psycrow's ear canal and head straight for his brain.

* SingleBiomePlanet: La Planeta de Agua! ''[-Arriba!-]''

* NoFourthWall: The characters quite freely realize they're in a TV show -- not only does [[InteractiveNarrator the narrator get involved with the plot at times]], but they sometimes [[ReadingAheadinTheScript check the script]], comment on their budget or ratings, etc.
* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: Subverted. Unlike in the games (where the monkey ate the blueprints), Professor Monkey-For-A-Head can replicate the super suit at will. It's just that he can't power the damn thing without another [[ForgedByTheGods Battery of the Gods]] and when he went to them to try and get a new one, they turned him into a bread maker.

* {{Catchphrase}}: "Guh-roovy!"

* CaptainObvious: Many conversations throughout the entire Earthworm Jim TV series revolve around this trope, with characters comically stating the obvious. (Earthworm Jim sees Psycrow's brain) "PSYCROW'S BEHAVIORAL CONTROL CENTER!"
* CardboardPrison: Lampshaded by Peter in "Opposites Attack," who questions why they don't throw villains into a jail that will hold them longer than two months with paper-thin security. Jim simply demands not to have his tactics questioned.
* CartoonCreature: Evil the Cat looks more like a rat with pointed ears.

* CrackOhMyBack: Lower Back Pain Man.
* CreatorCameo: [[spoiler:The Great Worm Spirit's true form, revealed in "Hyper-Psycrow", turns out to be Doug [=TenNapel=].]] [[spoiler:This is even lampshaded when he brings up the ending credits to prove it. He's actually voiced by Creator/JeffBennett, however, and not the real [=TenNapel=].]]

* DecompositeCharacter: Professor Monkey-For-A-Head and Bob the Killer Goldfish. Creator/DougTenNapel originally conceived of the Professor as more of an EvilutionaryBiologist (loosely based, apparently, on a high school science teacher he used to argue with about creationism) but in the cartoon he's a more generic MadScientist while Bob, who didn't have much of a personality in the original game, gained a HollywoodEvolution gimmick.

* TookALevelInJerkass: Though Peter remains completely loyal to Jim, in Season 2 he becomes a lot less patient with Jim’s shenanigans.

* VillainsOutShopping: Done frequently. Often a premise for mid-interval shorts in the first season with one of the RoguesGallery [[ADayInTheLimelight in the lead role]].

* WeaksauceWeakness: Jim has a horrible weakness to "Wormtonite," which only appears once and has unpredictable horrible effects on him. Rather than coming from some bizarre alien planet, it's just [[ItCameFromTheFridge something the two found in their fridge (Peter thinks it used to be cheese]]).