History WesternAnimation / StaticShock

* AcademyOfAdventure - The accident that created the metahuman surge occurred in the midst of a fight between teenaged gangs; most the victims of the Bang were students at the same school as Virgil, and villains arose from the student body throughout the series.
* ActionGirl - She-Bang
* ActorAllusion - NeilPatrickHarris as a [[FormerChildStar washed up child actor]].
* {{Adorkable}} - If you don't believe Virgil and Richie are this, you haven't seen the show.
* AllUpToYou - [[spoiler: Richie]] in "Gear"
* AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle - "Jimmy" and "Where the Rubber Meets the Road".

* ArtEvolution - The first two seasons featured almost-painfully bright, solid colors and fairly traditional character designs. Starting with the third season, the artwork became more angular and the colors were toned down. Of course, this trope was prevalent in all of the DCAU as the styles converged.
* ArtificialHuman - She-Bang, again
* AxCrazy - Shiv, he even told [[MonsterClown Joker]] that he is a big fan of his work; it does not help that he can literally turn his arms into an ax.
* BadJobWorseUniform - The original BurgerFool, in which Virgil himself worked for an episode.
* BaitAndSwitchCredits - Out of four seasons, the only one that's entirely accurate with the villains Static fights is season 2 which has, in sequence, Kangor, Hotstreak, Puff and Ebon. The others are inconsistent in showing villains for different reasons:

* BigBad - Ebon
* BigEater - Richie, and his future self shows what happens when you continue your habits as your metabolism lowers.
* BlackBestFriend - Neatly inverted. Richie is the White Best Friend to a black protagonist, in a work where most of the major characters are black.
* BloodlessCarnage - Richie is accidentally shot in "Jimmy" and there is not even a single drop of blood.

* [[ZombieApocalypse Brain Puppet Apocalypse]] - blame it on Madelyn Spaulding.
* BreakoutCharacter - Gear; Richie's popularity led to him getting promoted to hero in Season 3.
* BroughtDownToNormal - Temporarily in the series finale. Almost every other Bang Baby seemed to lose their powers for good, though.
* BurgerFool - TropeNamer
* CainAndAbel - Ebon and Rubberband Man.

* CanonImmigrant - while Static did exist prior to the animated show, its popularity led his looks and uniform to change matching his TV appearance (at least for the first two seasons).
* CaptainErsatz - Soul Power, who was created because they weren't allowed to use Black Lightning. Sparky seems completely original, surprisingly.
* ChainedHeat - Static and Hot Streak once. [[IncrediblyLamePun The "heat" part]] [[CaptainObvious being literal.]]
* ClarkKenting - Both Static and Gear have masks to cover their faces, though in Gear's case his helmet's visor appears ''see through'' for the viewers since it covers his completely as opposed to Static's DominoMask.
* {{Comic Books Are Real}}
* CompositeCharacter - Richie is a combination of Rick Stone ([[{{Expy}} same appearance]]) and Frieda (SecretKeeper). Interestingly enough, Frieda appears here too, but as a {{Muggle}}, while the role of Virgil's LoveInterest is passed over to Daisy.

* ContagiousPowers - It takes some time, but Richie has a delayed effect (that took two whole seasons) from the Bang-Baby residue to become an inventing genius gadgeteer superhero, Gear.
* CoolLoser - Virtually every heroic character in the series.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive - Edwin Alva Sr.
* CostumeCopycat - Static, [[spoiler: Rubber Band Man, and Green Lantern]].

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy - As revealed in the Superman crossover, [[spoiler:Toyman]] is very genre savvy by [[spoiler:giving Darcy's new biological body a kill gene in the event she back-stabs him.]]

* DemotedToExtra - Frieda, especially in comparison to her role in the comic series. She starts the show as Virgil's primary love interest, and is actually the first "civilian" to speak to Static, but after Daisy is introduced she quickly becomes superfluous to both the plot of the show and the relationships between the characters.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness - The show wasn't originally part of the {{DCAU}} despite being made by the same production team; some episodes in the first season refer to Superman and other DC heroes as fictional.

* ElectricSlide - Soul Power uses this a lot.
* EmpathicWeapon - Gear's Backpack.
* EmbarrassingMiddleName - Virgil '''Ovid''' Hawkins.

* EnemyMine - Seen in "Romeo in the Mix" (Static + Hotstreak + Ebon + Talon trying to escape Leech) and "No Man's an Island" (Static and Hotstreak work together).
* EvilRedheads - Hotstreak, who also has [[BlondGuysAreEvil blond highlights]] to keep with his fire motif.
* {{Expy}} - They have fun with it. ("Sooooooouuuul Power!")
* FamilyFriendlyFirearms - Frequently played straight, but [[AvertedTrope averted]] in both that Virgil's mother was killed by a regular gun, and in one episode about the dangers of gun violence.
* FatBastard - Slipstream. Even before finding out he was a Bang Baby he was a prick.
* FlightOfRomance - Static woos Frieda this way in the first episode. He later does the same thing with his later love interest, Daisy.
* FlyingFirepower - Static can use ShockAndAwe and use his [[LightningCanDoAnything electricity powers to fly]].
* FormerChildStar - Replay
* FutureBadass - Static becomes one of the most powerful DC heroes in the future.
* GirlishPigtails - Sharon
* GlowingEyesOfDoom - A common side-effect of the metahuman gas.
* GreenLanternRing - Both literally and as a trope for several characters.
* GreenRocks - Big Bang gas.
* [[GuessWhoImMarrying Guess Who I'm Dating]] - Rubberband Man and Sharon (though they seem to be in an on-again-off-again by "Bad Stretch")

* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday - [[http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=226749&page=5 Word Of God (a little over halfway down the page)]] explains that this is how they hinted at Richie's sexuality, by having him repeatedly make suggestive comments in order to cover up his urges.

* [[IHaveYourWife I Have Your Dad And Best Friend]]- Virgil's father in the episode "Kidnapped", and Richie/Gear several times, "Sons of the Fathers" and "Hoop Squad" being two episodes.

* InkSuitActor - The cameos of real life celebrities (Shaquille O'Neal, [[BackstreetBoys AJ McLean]], Karl Malone[[hottip:* :the only member of the Hoop Squad who was voiced by himself; Steve Nash, Yao Ming and Tracy [=McGrady=] had other voice actors]], Li'l Romeo - who performed the show's theme from the third season onwards) plus Replikon, who was appropriately enough voiced by Coolio.

* InverseLawOfComplexityToPower - The average VillainOfTheWeek has a narrower power, while Static himself has [[ShockAndAwe lightning powers]] with LightningCanDoAnything in full force. Two recurring villains have [[CastingAShadow Darkness]] and [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] powers.

* JamesBondage - Richie, so, very, very much. That he escapes on his own is the only thing that maintains him being semi-badass.
* TheJimmyHartVersion - Of the NFL theme in "Linked".
* {{Jerkass}}: Primary mentions go to Specs and Trapper, who arrogantly believe that everybody is beneath them because "they're smarter".
** Also, Hotstreak.

* LetsYouAndHimFight - Static vs. [[BatmanBeyond Terry McGinnis]] when he's flung forward in time.
* {{Leitmotif}} - Every character with powers, at least
* LighterAndSofter - In the original comics, the 'Big Bang' was not an accident, but an attempt by the authorities to spray gang members with a radioactive marker to track them down; it gave them superpowers instead. To give credit where credit is due, the show ''did'' keep the circumstances as a [[MobWar gang war]] between rival thugs, and Virgil was given an actual gun instead of [[FamilyFriendlyFirearms a laser]].
* LightningCanDoAnything - [[TitleDrop Static]] electricity, actually.
* LimitedWardrobe - Static and Richie do change shirts from time to time, but Hotstreak and the other villains who wear casual clothes while terrorizing the public seem to be attached to their look.
* LIsForDyslexia - Rubberband Man in "When The Rubber Meets The Road".
* LongLostUncleAesop - Averted with She-Bang, played straight virtually every other time.

* MasterOfDelusion - Almost every major character.
* MassSuperEmpoweringEvent - The Big Bang was responsible for most, but not all, metahumans in the series.
* MissingMom - Virgil's mother in the animated series, which also has quite a bit of emotional baggage on him.
* MundaneUtility - Static himself does it a lot, especially early on. He even uses his powers to grab his keys in the opening credits!

* OldSuperhero - Soul Power.
* OverclockingAttack - "A League of Their Own"
* OverprotectiveDad - Mr. Hawkins.
* PersonalityPowers - Hotstreak has anger issues; Boom is loud and obnoxious. Surprisingly rare in the series, though; most Bang Babies' powers don't mirror their personalities.

* RealityWarper - One of the "villains", a kid who uses his powers to shapeshift rubbish into tasty junk food and makes a fountain spew orange soda.
* RedEyesTakeWarning - Hotstreak and, oddly, the Joker.

* RippleEffectProofMemory - [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in "Flashback".

* RollerbladeGood - Gear.

* ScaryBlackMan - Ebon plays this astoundingly straight: deep voice, and he's probably the closest the show gets to a CompleteMonster. [[ItGotWorse His name literally means "black"]] (because [[JustifiedTrope he has control]] [[LivingShadow over shadows]]). He usually [[AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance appears pitch-black]] (except for a grey vest, glowing eyes, and a light purple glow around the edges, as if facing away from a faint light).
* SecretKeeper - Richie, before becoming Gear. [[spoiler:Virgil's dad]] at the end of the series, [[SecretSecretKeeper though deep down he always knew]].

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong - "Flashback"
* ShapeshifterShowdown - "Bad Stretch"

* ShoutOut - When brainstorming nicknames for Richie's tech-suit identity: "How 'bout Comicbook/{{Hardware}}?" "I think it's taken."

* SidekickGlassCeiling - Richie, played straight and then subverted. When he first gained the GreenLanternRing style powers and lost them, and later when he gained super intelligence.

* TakenForGranite - Omnifarious. And it's an ''extremely'' cruel irony; Omnifarius became said villain because his father, the Corrupt Corporate Executive, cared more about his company than his son. And how does he prove this?

* {{Technopath}} - Gear and possibly Tech.

* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee - Static meets [[GreenLantern John Stewart]], his hero on multiple levels. However, the initial meeting has somewhat less squeeing than usual because [[spoiler:Stewart is arriving after Sinestro has been impersonating him to commit crimes]].

* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman - Static says this word-for-word in the episode "Wet and Wild."
* ThisLoserIsYou - Quite well averted. Virgil and Richie are teenage comic book geeks, almost a personification of the intended target audience, but manage to make their quirks and foibles ''work''.
* ThoseTwoBadGuys - Specs and Trapper.
** Puff and Onyx too.
* TokenWhite - Maybe, maybe not. Richie is by far the most prominent of all white characters in a very diverse cast, but he is not the only one present. Frieda, the original love interest of Virgil, was white, as were other characters who popped up throughout the series.
* TookALevelInBadass - Canonically, Static becomes one of the most powerful heroes in the DCU as a mature adult.

* TrickBomb - Gear made a shock bomb that Static could use if he ran out of juice, and a net bomb that shot a net out when it hit something.
* VerySpecialEpisode - Several; the most prominent ones focused on racism, guns, dyslexia, drugs addiction, and poverty.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen - Originally, they wanted Static to team-up with Comicbook/BlackLightning.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback - Both the [[{{Bookends}} first and last episodes]] of the first season, as well as the last episode of the second.
* WellDoneSonGuy - Edwin Alva Jr.

* WordOfGay - According to Dwayne [=McDuffie=], Richie's character is gay both in the original comic series and the cartoon series. [[http://forums.delphiforums.com/Milestone/messages?msg=425.232]] [[http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=226749&page=5 Dwayne McDuffie has said]] that he hinted at this fact through Richie's [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday overly-enthusiastic statements to the contrary]].

* VillainsBlendInBetter: Replikon easily impersonates Mr. Bigg of a record company, a statue, and even a store clerk.

There were a few {{crossover}}s between ''Static Shock'' and other [[{{DCAU}} DC Animated Universe]] series, despite the fact that the original Milestone comics weren't set in {{The DCU}}. Early episodes openly portrayed characters like Comicbook/{{Superman}} to be entirely fictional, and even had Virgil talking about Clark Kent as a secret identity like it was nothing; in the second season, however, they had the two-parter "The Big Leagues", a crossover with ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' where the Joker comes to Dakota, with the Dark Knight soon on his heels. Later episodes also featured [[SupermanTheAnimatedSeries Superman]], the JusticeLeague, a separate appearance by GreenLantern John Stewart, an episode based around a Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy team-up and even a trip to the future of ''BatmanBeyond'', where Static meets his future self (now considered one of the most powerful heroes on the planet). Going the other way, Static himself makes an appearance in the ''[[JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'' first season finale.

* FamilyFriendlyFirearms - Frequently played straight, but [[AvertedTrope averted]] in both that Virgil's mother was killed by a regular gun, and in one episode about the dangers of gun violence.
* FatBastard - Slipstream
* FlightOfRomance: Static woos Frieda this way in the first episode. He later does the same thing with his later love interest, Daisy.

* FutureBadass: Static becomes one of the most powerful DC heroes in the future.
* GirlishPigtails: Sharon

* {{Humanshifting}}: Replicon aka Marvin does this trope best during "Duped"

* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Briefly in the JusticeLeague {{Crossover}}, [[spoiler: Static does this to Gear possessed by Braniac]].

** Though when his powers first manifest he has a severe case of Static Cling with his bed sheets.

* VillainsBlendInBetter: Replicon easily impersonates Mr. Bigg of a record company, a statue, and even a store clerk.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy - As revealed in the Superman crossover, [[spoiler:Toyman]] is very genre savvy by [[spoiler:giving Darcy's new biological body a kill gene in the event she back-stabs him. As he puts it, he may be a fool in love but he isn't stupid.]]

* FamilyFriendlyFirearms - Frequently played straight, but [[AvertedTrope averted]] in both that Virgil's mother was killed by a regular gun, and in one ({{Anvilicious}}) episode about the dangers of gun violence.

* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday? - [[http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=226749&page=5 Word Of God (a little over halfway down the page)]] explains that this is how they hinted at Richie's sexuality, by having him repeatedly make suggestive comments in order to cover up his urges.

* IHaveYourWife - Virgil's father in the episode "Kidnapped", and Richie/Gear several times, "Sons of the Fathers" and "Hoop Squad" being two episodes.

* InverseLawOfComplexityToPower - The average VillainOfTheWeek has a narrower power, while Static himself has [[ShockAndAwe lightning powers]] with LightningCanDoAnything in full force. The two {{Big Bad}}s have [[DarkIsEdgy Darkness]] and [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] powers.

* MerchandiseDriven - Originally designed to sell a GBA game.

* PlayingAgainstType: RichardHorvitz, best known as [[TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy Billy]] and [[InvaderZim Zim]], plays the bullying victim Jimmy.

* RecursiveAdaptation - Averted. ''All'' the other DC cartoons to this very day have comics based on them, but the ''Static Shock'' comic is simply the ''{{Comicbook/Static}}'' comic with the show's logo slapped on.

** TerribleTrio: [[SuperSpeed Run]], [[TeleportersAndTransporters Jump]], and (very briefly) Richie as [[BarrierWarrior Push]]
* RollerbladeGood - Gear

* TakenForGranite - Omnifarious. And it's an EXTREMELY cruel irony; Omnifarius became said villain because his father, the Corrupt Corporate Executive, cared more about his company than his son. And how does he prove this?

* VillainsBlendInBetter: Replicon easily impersonates Mr Bigg of a record company, a statue, and even a store clerk.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen - Originally they wanted Static to team-up with Comicbook/BlackLightning. Soul Power was created instead.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It was never revealed what happened to Wade from the first episode. Nor was he mentioned again.

* EnemyMine - Seen in "Romeo in the Mix" (Static + Hotstreak + Ebon + Talon trying to escape Leech) and "No Man's an Island" (Static and Hotstreak spend most of the episode cooperating - see HoYay up ahead).

* BodyScreenFillUp: Several times
** For instance at the very end of "Attack of the Living Brain Puppets"
** "The Usual Suspect", where Marcus attempts to beat up Virgil. "I'm gonna knock you into a whole new ZIP code."
** "Romeo in the Mix" has it close to the end, where the police take the Leech away. The cops carry the leech and one says, "We'll take him downtown with the others."

* ArtEvolution - The first two seasons featured almost-painfully bright, solid colors and fairly traditional character designs. Starting with the third season, the artwork became more angular and the colors were toned down.

* GenreSavvy - Virgil and Richie are into comic books and live in TheDCU.
--> '''Gear''': Wow, I just got my ankle X-rayed by {{Superman}}! I'm never gonna wash it again!

* AdaptationDistillation - Virgil's mother, who had a large presence in the comics, was given a DeathByOriginStory in this series. It wasn't totally bad however, as it led to a stronger portrayal of his dad ''and''. And to a TearJerker of an episode in which [[spoiler: Virgil {{time travel}}s to the day where his mother died and is given the chance to both speak to her and learn [[DyingmomentOfAwesome the exact circumstances of her death]] ... but cannot change the past and save her.]]

* AdaptationDistillation - Virgil's Mother, who had a large presence in the comics, was given a DeathByOriginStory in this series. It wasn't totally bad however, as it led to a stronger portrayal of his dad.

* ClarkKenting - Both Static and Gear have masks to cover their face, but questions are raised when it becomes apparent that Gear's mask is ''see through''.

* Humanshifting: Replicon aka Marvin does this trope best during "Duped"

* SidekickGlassCeiling - Richie, played straight and then subverted. When he first gained the GreenLanternRing style powers and lost them, and later when he gained super intelligence.

* SequelHook: Despite being the SeriesFinale, [[spoiler:it was left open how many Bang Babies may have been repowered by the end of the episode, or if Ebon and Hot-Streak had really met their end or if they could still be a threat.]]

* HeyItsThatVoice:
** PhilLamarr is Static.
** JasonMarsden is Richie.
** Danny Cooksey([[InvaderZim Keef]] and [[DaveTheBarbarian Dave]]) is Hotstreak.
** KevinMichaelRichardson is Robert Hawkins.
** RonPerlman is Dr. Koenig
** JohnDiMaggio is Tarmack.
** ColleenOShaughnessey is Nightengale.
** HyndenWalch is Permafrost.
** CreeSummer is Candide.
** RichardHorvitz is Jimmy Osgood.

* [[HideYourLesbians Hide Your Gays]] - WordOfGod [[WordOfGay says that Richie is gay]], but the show never dealt with or revealed this fact.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl - Onyx and Puff, respectively.
* HulkSpeak - The monster in the episode "Tantrum". He's even an {{Expy}} of Hulk, only purple instead of green.

* InkSuitActor - The cameos of real life celebrities (Shaquille O'Neal, [[BackstreetBoys AJ McLean]], Karl Malone[[hottip:* :the only member of the Hoop Squad who was voiced by himself; Steve Nash, Yao Ming and Tracy [=McGrady=] had other voice actors]], Li'l Romeo - who performed the sho's theme from the third season onwards) plus Replikon, who was appropriately enough voiced by Coolio.

* OldSuperhero - Soul Power. See also DiscoDan and SoulBrotha, verging on {{Blaxploitation}}.

* OverprotectiveDad - Mr. Hawkins. Nearly veering into LawfulStupid territory.

* PowerIncontinence - All Static's electricity is released in an EMP if gets wet while charged up. There was also one time that his powers fluctuated wildly due to interference from a solar flare.

* RecursiveAdaptation - Sadly averted. ''All'' the other DC cartoons to this very day have comics based on them, but the ''Static Shock'' comic is simply the ''{{Comicbook/Static}}'' comic with the show's logo slapped on.

* TakenForGranite - Omnifarious

* TheBGrade: Richie gets one of these during the series finale. [[spoiler: It's the first hint he's losing his Bang Baby super smarts.]]
** Not exactly a B grade, but a classmate of Ritchie and Virgil flipped his shit when he got a 99 percent on a test instead of the usual one hundred. Oh, and he was [[UnfortunateImplications Asian]].

** Edwin Alva Senrior is very similar to Norman Osbourbe. Corrupt businessman? Check. Has it out for the local hero? Check. Disappointed in his son? [[PrecisionFStrike Fucking check]]!
** Slipstream looks and sounds like Fat Albert. Except he's a total jerk.

* VerySpecialEpisode - Several; the most prominent ones focused on racism, guns, dyslexia, and poverty.

!!''StaticShock'' has examples of the following tropes: