History WesternAnimation / Freakazoid

* CreatorProvincalism: In one episode Freakazoid finds himself traveling back in time. He winds up stopping the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and declares that he prevented WorldWarTwo, despite the fact that the attack only catalyzed the US entrance into the war, which had been going on for a couple years already by that point.

* AnythingsAwesomeWithAnnouncers: A given when you have an awesome announcer.

* GainaxEnding: Parodied in "Next Time Phone Ahead," where Dexter is eaten by an alien monster and "The End" appears on-screen. The scene then cuts to StevenSpielberg, who questions the writers over this. The writers admit they did it so they could end the episode early and air ''{{Animaniacs}}'' reruns instead.

* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: Cosgrove's ability to make ANYBODY immediately stop fighting and behave themselves, from common burglars to supervillain mooks. This might not sound too awesome since as a damn good police officer he can command authority...until you find out that he is the only person to have ever made [[{{Animaniacs}} The Warner Brothers]] ''[[BeyondTheImpossible sit down and behave]]''.

--> "I'll give you your very own Harlan Ellison!"

** The "And now you know ... the rest of the story" guy is never named but clearly Paul Harvey.

** Dexter's brother pointedly calls him a {{Twink}} in "Hot Rods From Heck".

* {{Unfunny}}: Cosgrove's MO, and the entire reason he's so well loved by the fans. Jeepers too.

* HilariousInHindsight: Roddy warns Freakazoid not to count on his superpowers to get him a third season, as the networks are fickle. This was stated towards the end of the second and final season.

* CandleJack: The TropeNamer.

** The entire show is all sorts of this. Hell, in the "CandleJack" episode alone, he not only gets captured because, as he explains, he was attempting to mimic a gag from ''FTroop'', but after he's tied up, he stops the episode mid-scene to talk about how excited he is to work with the actors on today's show.

--> '''CandleJack''': I love that bit.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Cobra Queen and Longhorn are pretty good; as for CandleJack, well, he is rather tenacious.

** It also featured a variation with Scream-O-Vision, whereupon anything remotely scary, from CandleJack to kissing and was followed up by the word "Scream" and a small clip of someone doing just that.

* RoguesGallery: Freakazoid's consists of [[MyBrainIsBig The Lobe]], CandleJack, [[ContemporaryCaveman Cave Guy]], Cobra Queen, [[ALoadOfBull Longhorn]], [[MasterOfDisguise Deadpan]] and Arms Akimbo. Actually this gallery appears as a group before each villain does individually, in fact, in the first episode a couple of villains (Eye of Newt and Booger Beast) are mentioned and seen among the group for the first and last time. Also, in the first season, Kid Carrion (a skull-faced, cowboy zombie whose character is never developed) appears various times with the group. Armando Gutierrez plays a large role in three Season 1 episodes and returns in Season 2, though only appears alongside the other villains in the finale. In the second season, Waylon Jeepers and a new villain named Vorn join the crowd, along with Invisibo and his swinging theme song.

* SpeakOfTheDevil: In his debut episode, CandleJack abducts anyone who says his name.

Almost every adventure, Freakazoid would encounter his deadpan policeman buddy, Sgt. Mike Cosgrove, who would offer to take him to some unrelated event or activity ("Hey, Freakazoid! Wanna go out for a mint?" "DO I!") Freak would then drop the adventure, often mid-peril, and go off to someplace fun. He'd resume it shortly thereafter, as if nothing had happened.

** Well, he was [[DrowningMySorrows drowning his sorrows]] [[DrunkOnMalts in papaya juice]].

* ShowWithinAShow: "Hero Boy", an ''AstroBoy'' parody that's Freakazoid's favorite cartoon, and "Real Life Police", a ''{{COPS}}'' parody Cosgrove participates in.

* MerchandiseDriven: Parodied with the [[TropeMobile Freakmobile]]). The show's writers actually ask Freakazoid to use the Freakmobile in a chase scene.

* BrotherChuck: When the show switched from a ThreeShorts format to doing full 30-minute stories in the second season, supporting segments such as Lord Bravery and The Huntsman were dropped; this was lampshaded by having these characters actually show up to confront Freakazoid about this issue. They were later shown washing the Freakmobile for their pay. Also, Dexter Douglas himself is absent from most of the second season.

* TheCameo: [[spoiler:[[BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Batman]], albeit in a rather throwaway and hilarious manner.]]
** Also WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain, the latter being president of the United States.
** The [[WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} Warner Brothers]], in the same vein.

** While FanBoy is chasing him, Freakazoid tries to ward him off by offering him "your very own HarlanEllison!" who had just happened to be nearby.
** MarkHamill, not two seconds later.
** In the beginning of the episode, Fan Boy runs into GeorgeTakei in a comic shop.

* OrIsIt: Subverted.

* DescendedCreator: Paul Rugg as Freakazoid. It was more of a fluke, as no suitable actor had been found and Rugg was just trying to provide an example of how the voice should sound. However, Steven Spielberg heard the performance and thought it was great, so Rugg was inadvertently got the role.
** John P. [=McCann=] as Dexter's dad, Douglas Douglas.

* RoguesGallery: Freakazoid's consists of [[MyBrainIsBig The Lobe]], CandleJack, [[ContemporaryCaveman Cave Guy]], Cobra Queen, [[ALoadOfBull Longhorn]], [[MasterOfDisguise Deadpan]] and Arms Akimbo. Actually this gallery appears as a group before each villain does individually, in fact, in the first episode a couple of villains (Eye of Newt and Booger Beast) are mentioned and seen among the group for the first and last time. Also, in the first season, Kid Carrion (a skull-faced, cowboy zombie whose character is never developed) appears various times with the group. In the second season, Armando Gutierrez, Waylon Jeepers and a new villain named Vorn join the crowd, along with Invisibo and his swinging theme song.

* TookALevelInBadass: Freakazoid learns telekinesis. At first he fails utterly and only manages to hit himself in the head with a brick. When he gets angry though, he subconsciously masters the technique and effortlessly thrashes Cave Guy and Cobra Queen in battle. He doesn't use the ability in later episodes though.