History WesternAnimation / TheMightyDucks

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->''"See if you can keep up with this string of complete illogical nonsense: In 1992, Creator/{{Disney}} released a slobs vs. snobs comedy about a pee wee hockey league called ''Film/TheMightyDucks'', in which [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits a group of rag-tag kids]] came together under the guidance of Emilio Estevez.''
->''"Then in 1993, Disney founded [[{{Defictionalization}} an actual professional hockey team that they also named the Mighty Ducks]], and while you'd think they would've filled out the roster with a team of good-hearted but clumsy and disadvantaged youths, they went with the usual professional athletes.''
->''"'''Then''' -- and this is where any kind of logic breaks down -- they made an animated series in 1996 called The Mighty Ducks, and despite the fact that they were still making live-action movies, the animated series was about a group of hockey-playing, crime-fighting anthropomorphic ducks that were led by a duck named [[AwesomeMcCoolname WILDWING FLASHBLADE]]. Wildwing. F---ing. Flashblade. And for bonus points, he was voiced by Creator/IanZiering."''
-->-- Comics Alliance, in a review of [[https://comicsalliance.com/the-ten-most-insane-characters-from-stan-lees-nhl-guardians/ a totally different series about hockey-playing superheroes.]]

''The Mighty Ducks'' animated series was, to put it gently, [[ShockingSwerve rather a surprise for viewers expecting a comedy series about misfit kids playing hockey]]. This animated series lasted from September, 1996 to January, 1997 on Creator/{{ABC}} (during their transition to Disney ownership -- the season after this brought in ''Creator/OneSaturdayMorning''), and also aired in syndication (as part of the remnants of what was ''WesternAnimation/TheDisneyAfternoon'').

It was instead about a team of [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic]] [[AnimalSuperheroes duck superheroes]] descended from '''alien dinosaurs''' who [[IKnowMaddenKombat fight aliens with hockey-themed gadgets]]. Oh, and somewhere in space there were two dinosaur-derived races: the race descended from Ceratopsians, led by [[BigBad Lord Dragaunus]], were evil and the Therapod (more specifically, duck) descended race was good. By an incredible coincidence, the Ducks' entire culture was based upon hockey.

When the Ducks pursue Lord Dragaunus to Earth (more specifically Anaheim, Southern California), the Ducks form an NHL team where they can [[HiddenInPlainSight hide in plain sight]]. Their arena, known only as "The Pond," has a hockey rink that doubles as a landing pad for the [[CoolPlane Aerowing]] above and has an HQ below. The Ducks and Dragaunus continue their fight, although there are [[MonsterOfTheWeek other villains]] that sometimes challenge the Ducks.

Compare ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaucers}}''.

Despite being ducks created by Disney, they are not [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse part of the Disney Duck Canon]]. One would be intrigued to see Scrooge's reaction to these guys...

----
!!This series contains examples of:

* AbnormalAmmo: ''Explosive'' hockey pucks.
* TheAce: The Ducks' original leader, Canard, to some extent; though even he can't get a puck past Wildwing the goalie.
* AdaptationalBadass: Wildwing was based on the actual NHL team's costumed mascot [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Wild Wing]]. Wildwing (the cartoon character) was the badass leader of the squad; Wild Wing (the mascot) was best known at that point for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHsckg8_MGM failing to clear a fire pit in a pre-game jump]], and for being featured on [[https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55ec0901e4b0a48732cf47a4/t/55ed5e36e4b097dd68b92fb0/1441619520479/ a notoriously short-lived alternate jersey]].
* AliensSpeakingEnglish
* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: Puckworld is much like Earth, only much colder.
* AllThereInTheManual: Save for Mallory and Duke, none of the Ducks' last names are ever mentioned in the show itself. So how are they all around and 100% canon? They were provided by [[WordOfGod the writer, David Wise]], specifically for the fanbase to use.
* ArtisticLicenseSports: Although hockey is accurately portrayed, the Ducks don't respect a few prerequisites for a team...
** Almost {{Lampshaded}} in an episode when Wildwing [[TenMinuteRetirement temporarily leaves the team]], and their manager hires a professional hockey player in a mascot costume.
* AmbiguouslyJewish: Tai Quack Do, Grim's mentor.
* AnimalSuperheroes: The heroes are ducks.
* AnimatedAdaptation: Though it seems to be more an adaptation of the ''name'', with the only other tie to the original movies being the hockey theme.
* AnotherDimension: The HeroicFantasy-ish version of Anaheim seen in "Dungeons and Ducks" and "The Return of Asteroth."
** Technically, the ducks and the bad guys ''also'' came from another dimension. ''Another'' another dimension.
* {{Atlantis}}: Plays a part in the episode "The Final Face Off."
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Dragaunus loves using his DNA Accelerator to create giant-sized monsters.
* BadassBookworm: Tanya. How many [[GadgeteerGenius tech experts]] do you know that can also hold their own in a hockey ring and on the battlefield?
** Or pick up a fellow duck with only one hand? See "Monster Rally."
* BadFuture: In "[[PunBasedTitle Beak]] [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture to the Future]]."
* BigBrotherWorship: Nosedive displays this on occasion towards his older brother, Wildwing.
* BondVillainStupidity: Dragaunus has proven himself more than a match for most of the ducks in hand-to-hand combat, yet on many occasions he puts them in an over the top DeathTrap that they'll be able to escape fairly easily. And he's not the only villain guilty of this either.
* BrattyHalfPint: Buzz Blitzman, though in all fairness, he's a ChildProdigy without a family who's pretty much [[FosteringForProfit forced to invent stuff for people who won't even let him see hockey games when he wants]].
* ByTheBookCop: Captain Klegghorn, a police officer for Anaheim who initially doesn't trust the ducks.
* TheCameo: Actual Mighty Ducks of Anaheim goalie Guy Hebert shows up in the series.
* CityOfAdventure: Almost everything that happens to the ducks, happens in Anaheim. Justified in the fact that Lord Dragaunus landed there first, and is hiding out.
* ClearMyName: This happened to the ducks in "Puck Fiction." It was up to Nosedive and Grin to save the others in jail.
* CommLinks: The ducks use wrist communicators. The Saurians have them too, but theirs double as teleportation devices.
* CompilationMovie: ''Mighty Ducks the Movie: The First Face-Off'' is a compilation movie made of "The First Face-Off" parts 1 & 2 and "Duck Hard".
* ContinuityNod: In "Return of Asteroth" the ducks start the show by looking over a bunch of items they picked up in previous episodes, one of which is reused as the plot device of that one. As a nod within a nod, at the end they put the new plot resolution item they used in ''that'' episode in their collection at the end.
* CoolOldGuy: Hockey Master, Tai Quack Do.
* CoolStarship: The ''Raptor'', which is a giant jet-like ship equipped with a cloaking device that can make it look like anything from a tower the size of itself to a standard-sized camper van.
* CreatorProvincialism: It is set in the same Anaheim of Disneyland. Justified by the existence of the real life Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (current Anaheim Ducks).
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Inverted in the case of Dr. Droid, who is implied to have been mentally unbalanced ''before'' he started replacing his body parts with machinery.
* DonutMessWithACop: During "Duck Hard," Klegghorn is knocked out. As the villains take out the ducks, a box of doughnuts falls to the floor, with one rolling right past Klegghorn's nose. Klegghorn quickly revives, and holds the baddies at gun point.
* DinosaursAreDragons: Writ large (look at the BigBad's name), at least for all the dinosaurs who aren't hockey playing ducks.
* DoesntLikeGuns: Grin.
* TheDogBitesBack: Happens to Dragaunus in "Bringing Down Baby" and "Jurassic Puck."
* DramaPreservingHandicap:
** Mainly for the benefit of the Ducks, as damage inflicted on the ''Raptor'' early in the series leaves Dragaunus forced to focus more effort on finding a new source of power for his ship than actually conquering the planet.
** A more distinct example occurred in the episode "The Human Factor", when damage to the Mask forced the Ducks to rely on more conventional detective work to investigate odd events in a small town when [[spoiler:the Mask would have quickly revealed that everyone in that town had been replaced by robots]]; when Wildwing observed at the end that recent events would have been easier with the Mask, Tanya noted that it [[BreakingTheFourthWall would have made for a much shorter episode]].
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: The Ducks' contract allowed them to build a headquarters under the hockey rink. You shoulda seen the fine print on that one.
* EverythingSensor: The Mask of Drake Ducaine is an example of this; as well as being the sign of leadership, the Mask is also the only way to see through the personal shields of the Saurian Empire, as well as acting as a 'conventional' X-ray machine and able to see through other disguises. Quite a few plots rely on the Mask being the only way to see through certain disguises or deceptions, with one episode involving the Mask being damaged early on solely so that the subsequent plot would take longer (as [[spoiler:the Mask would have quickly revealed that the town the Ducks were visiting was populated entirely by robots rather than people as part of a complex trap]]).
* EvilSorcerer: There are two, Wraith and Asteroth.
* FakeDefector: Duke in "To Catch a Duck."
* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: For some reason, the local [[DonutMessWithACop donut-loving]] CowboyCop Klegghorn also has a blaster pistol.
* FemmeFatale: Lucretia [=DeCoy=] in "A Traitor Among Us."
* TheFinalTemptation: Dragaunus eventually gets tired of the Ducks constantly thwarting his schemes and offers them the means to go back to Puckworld, leaving Earth to him. His henchmen were ready with a bazooka in case they refused the offer. [[spoiler:The BadFuture seen in that episode is the result of the Ducks accepting the offer.]]
* TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson: Chameleon frequently makes references to Earth pop culture.
* HardHead: Nosedive in "Phil in the Blank." Guy gets a concussion but wakes up and proceeds to drive to the rocket and then later jumps out of it to land in Wildwing's borrowed jet, all with no side effects.
** Though he ''is'' an alien from another planet; that ''may'' be a factor.
* HeelFaceTurn: Duke l'Orange started out as a GentlemanThief before using his skills for good.
* HeadTurningBeauty:
** This was pretty much the reaction Lucretia [=DeCoy=] got when she showed up. Even Phil seemed to think she was hot, which he lampshaded by saying "and I'm not even a duck!". (Of course, he also planned on making money off said hotness.)
** Mallory got this same reaction at the end of the same episode [[SheCleansUpNicely after changing from her hockey uniform into a little red dress]].
* HeroicSacrifice: In the pilot, Canard Thunderbeak, the Ducks' original leader, throws himself into an inter-dimensional vortex to save the rest of the team.
** The fact that it was a DisneyDeath is relevant in at least one episode, where the idea of said leader returning was toyed with.
* [[HeroWithBadPublicity Heroes With Bad Publicity]]: Klegghorn would always tell the ducks they were a menace, regardless of the evidence to the contrary.
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: "The Most Dangerous Duck Hunt."
* InNameOnly: This series might be called ''Film/TheMightyDucks'', but don't expect any connection at all to the live-action films outside of the hockey theme.
* IKnowMaddenKombat: The ducks and their hockey based combat.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Dragaunus' troops almost never hit what they aim at.
* IncredibleShrinkingMan: "Microducks."
* ItIsPronouncedTropay: The unscrupulous scientist, Dr. Swindle, insists that his name is pronounced "Swin-''del''."
* {{Jerkass}}: Phil Palmfeather, the Ducks' money-grubbing manager.
** [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Not the worst guy in the world, mind]]. He also has terrible fashion sense.
** Captain Klegghorn is a much straighter example.
* LeftHanging: They set things up so another season was possible (Nosedive even breaks the fourth wall about it). One never came (likely due to the deterioration of what had been ''WesternAnimation/TheDisneyAfternoon''- where the show had aired in syndication- and the establishment of ''Creator/OneSaturdayMorning'', which was pretty much all E/I shows to comply with FCC regulations).
* MagicVersusScience: Wraith the warlock doesn't think too highly of the technology that Dragaunus has embraced, even if it did free them from the dimensional limbo and allow them to conquer Puckworld.
* MaskOfPower: The mask of Drake [=DuCaine=], with the power to see through [[InvisibilityCloak invisibility cloaks]] and possessed XRayVision, which can see through any kind of [[GlamourFailure disguise]].
* MechaMooks: Dragaunus' basic foot soldiers.
* MindControl: "Phil in the Blank."
* NoFourthWall: A particular example is when in "Puck Fiction" Nosedive asks why the gangster parody has suddenly become a damsel-in-distress one.
* NonMammalMammaries: Despite being birds, all the female ducks that appear have breasts.
* NonMammalianHair: All of the ducks in the series, one could make the case for Canard, Wildwing, and Duke’s just being feathers stylized into different styles. Mallory, Tanya, Nosedive, Grin and Lucretia’s though...
* OffModel: This is a mid-Nineties Disney Cartoon after all. And five of the animation studios [[note]]Creator/AnimalYa, Creator/SunwooEntertainment, [[Creator/WaltDisneyAnimationUnits Walt Disney Animation Japan]], Creator/WangFilmProductions and Creator/KokoEnterprises[[/note]] used to work on ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' too. This was also Creator/PlusOneAnimation's first Disney series as well.
* PoliceCodeForEverything:
-->'''Mallory''': I don't know what bothers me more: the fact that we're being ''attacked'' by a dinosaur or the fact that you've got a ''category'' for it.
* PunBasedTitle: Mostly related to ducks ("Beak To The Future", "The Iced Ducks Cometh") or hockey ("Power Play", "Jurassic Puck"), if not both ("Mad Quacks Beyond Hockeydome") or neither ("Phil In the Blank").
* PunnyName: "Duke l'Orange."
* RedOniBlueOni: Two sets in the team.
** Nosedive and Grin.
** Mallory and Tanya.
* LaResistance: The Mighty Ducks, after Dragaunus took over Puckworld and before everyone came to Earth.
* SacrificialLion: Canard Thunderbeak, although he's not dead, just trapped in AnotherDimension.
* SeriousBusiness: Puckworld's entire culture is based around hockey, if it wasn't obvious from the name. Though the Ducks don't have much trouble fitting in on Earth after a while.
** Just in case any of the viewers missed it from the premise and name, there is a field of puck-shaped asteroids near it, along with ''a nebula shaped like a hockey mask''.
** Apparently it is in our universe too; one episode has the Ducks captured to participate in an intergalactic bloodsport version of hockey.
* ShoutOut:
** "Puck Fiction" is an AffectionateParody of ''Film/PulpFiction''.
** Ditto for "Puck Hard", an AffectionateParody of ''Film/DieHard''.
** When a [[HeroicBSOD disillusioned]] Wildwing [[TenMinuteRetirement temporarily leaves the team]], Nosedive gets to wear the leader's mask and tells his worried comrades "[[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Hakuna Matata]]" (which, as you know, means no worries for the rest of your days.)
* SpeechImpediment: Tanya stutters pretty badly, and tries to switch from {{Technobabble}} to LaymansTerms mid-sentence. It's said she does so because her brain moves faster than she speaks.
* SquishyWizard: One of Dragaunus' ''two'' Squishy minions is a conventional version of this. The other is a tiny ShapeShifting creature who, of course, [[OneWingedAngel turns into a big scary guy]] during combat. Rounding out the Four Bad Band is... Another [[TheBrute Big Scary Guy]].
* StatusQuoIsGod: There are too many opportunities where either side could have just ended the conflict permanently (like the time the Ducks ended up grabbing a Saurian comm, or the various petty uses of the dimensional gateway), but they don't bother.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Dragaunus says so in no uncertain terms ''very'' often.
* TakeUpMySword: Right before he lets himself fall into dimensional Limbo, [[spoiler: Canard tells Wildwing to take the mask of Drake [=DuCaine=] and with it the position of resistance leader]]. Wildwing only does so at the end of the pilot after overcoming his feelings of guilt and inadequacy.
* TakenForGranite: Once happened to Phil in "Return of Asteroth". Mallory thought he'd make a good lawn ornament.
* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: In ''Power Play'' Grin resolves to see the best in the transformed MonsterOfTheWeek and seeks to reach out to him against all reason aside the fact that the ducks couldn't match him physically.
* TheTeam: In this case, a six-anthropomorphic duck hockey team.
** TheLeader: Wildwing is the team leader both in the hockey team and the superhero team, "Team Captain".
** TheLancer: Two of them.
*** Duke was not a hero or a solider but a ''thief'' pre-series. This sets quite a contrast to the noble Wildwing, who was a civilian.
*** Nosedive is Wildwing's little brother, and so the contrast between them is also played up. On the ice, he is also better at scoring while his brother is the goalie.
** TheSmartGuy: Tanya maintains all their gear and innovates new stuff.
** TheBigGuy: Two of them.
*** Grin is the biggest, tallest and broadest of the ducks.
*** Unlike the rest of the team, Mallory was actually part of Puckworld's military and well-versed in bot hand-to-hand and puckblasters.
* TeenageMutantSamuraiWombats: Although the only actual teenager is Nosedive.
* TeleportInterdiction: The Ducks have a defense shield over the Pond that keeps the Saurians from teleporting into their base, but it's of limited usefulness the one time they just walk in.
* TeleportSpam: Averted; while the Saurians do teleport a lot, it's more to run back to the ''Raptor'' than any real advantage in combat.
* ThemeNaming: The ducks are, of course, named after birds and duck related foods. The most obvious being Duke's name. Which is, of course a pun on the dish "Duck à l'Orange."
* TheyFightCrime
* ToothyBird: It's not that noticeable, but it briefly shows up on a few episodes. ''Dungeons and Ducks'', however, goes totally nuts with it; throughout the episode, many characters' facial expressions pretty much explode, giving us more than a couple clear views at the Ducks' teeth.
* TownWithADarkSecret: Featured in "The Human Factor", in which [[spoiler:the town's entire population has been replaced by robots]].
* ToylessToylineCharacter: Here's another cartoon that was affected by TheSmurfettePrinciple. There were 5 lines of action figures. How many lines did Mallory make it into? Just two. Also, her action figures are extremely rare. Why? There was only '''one''' of her per case. And Tanya? ''She never had an action figure at all'', although Creator/{{Mattel}} did make her as part of a line of small, non-articulated figures.
** In a case that doesn't involve the principle, Canard and Wraith were never made into action figures either.
* TravelCool; As the [[TeenageMutantSamuraiWombats setting]] demands:
** CoolCar: The Migrator, borderline BaseOnWheels.
** CoolPlane: [[LastOfHisKind The last of the military's]] Aerowings.
** CoolBike: Enough for each Duck.
** CoolBoat: The Duckfoil, used at least once.
* UnderdogsNeverLose: The Ducks only lose one hockey game and only because Nosedive failed to make the winning goal in time.
* VillainExitStageLeft: See VillainTeleportation.
* VillainTeleportation: Done to ridiculous extremes; the villains tend to teleport away when things go bad.
* VoidBetweenTheWorlds: Dimensional Limbo, a swirling purple void always seen whenever there's an active dimensional gateway.
* WeNeedADistraction: This is one of the Saurians' primary tactics, keeping the ducks busy while they are working on a scheme (commonly involving recharging the ''Raptor''). Despite this, the ducks ''still'' manage to foil them.
* WeaponOfChoice: Each Duck (and each of the villains) has their own personal weapon. Wildwing has his [[IKnowMaddenKombat explosive puck]] launcher (essentially a grenade launcher,) Duke l'Orange uses a [[LaserBlade laser sword]], Tanya has various gadgets on her wrist device including a [[ChainsawGood small chainsaw]], Grin [[BarefistedMonk fights with his fists]], and the rest of the ducks mostly use pistols.
** As for the villains, [[BigBad Dragaunus]] prefers his gauntlet-mounted blaster, Wraith has a FlamingSword in the pilot and uses various FunctionalMagic, shapeshifter Chameleon likes to use VoluntaryShapeshifting and Siege likes the heavy weapons.
* WitchSpecies: The Saurians are this, even though the only one who truly specializes in magic by the time of the show is Wraith. All the others favor technology.
----

* InNameOnly: This series might be called ''Film/TheMightyDucks'', but don't expect any connection at all to the live action films.

** When a [[HeroicBSOD disillusioned]] Wildwing [[TenMinuteRetirement temporarily leaves the team]], Nosedive gets to wear the leader's mask and tells his worried comrades "[[Disney/TheLionKing Hakuna Matata]]" (which, as you know, means no worries for the rest of your days.)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mighty_ducks_pan.gif]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Left to right: Grin, Duke l'Orange, Wildwing, Tanya, Mallory and Nosedive.]]

* CityOfAdventure: The city of Anaheim.
* CityOfWeirdos: Almost everything that happens to the ducks, happens in Anaheim. Justified in the fact that Lord Dragaunus landed there first, and is hiding out.

* HelloNurse: This was pretty much the reaction Lucretia [=DeCoy=] got when she showed up. Even Phil seemed to think she was hot, which he lampshaded by saying "and I'm not even a duck!". (Of course, he also planned on making money off said hotness.)

* ConspicuousCG: It's aged better than some examples due to the cel shading.

* DramaPreservingHandicap: Mainly for the benefit of the Ducks, as damage inflicted on the ''Raptor'' early in the series leaves Dragaunus forced to focus more effort on finding a new source of power for his ship than actually conquering the planet.

* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Canard Thunderbeak.]]

* TownWithADarkSecret: "The Human Factor."
* ToylessToylineCharacter: Here's another cartoon that was affected by TheSmurfettePrinciple. There were 5 lines of action figures. How many lines did Mallory make it into? Just two. Also, her action figures are extremely rare. Why? There was only '''one''' of her per case. And Tanya? ''She never had an action figure at all''.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mighty_Ducks_cartoon_7281.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Left to right: Grin, Duke l'Orange, Wildwing, Nosedive, Mallory and Tanya.]]

It was instead about a team of [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic]] [[AnimalSuperheroes duck superheroes]] descended from '''alien dinosaurs''' who fight aliens with hockey-themed gadgets. Oh, and somewhere in space there were two dinosaur-derived races: the race descended from Ceratopsians, led by [[BigBad Lord Dragaunus]], were evil and the Therapod (more specifically, duck) descended race was good. By an incredible coincidence, the Ducks' entire culture was based upon hockey.

->''"'''Then''' -- and this is where any kind of logic breaks down -- they made an animated series in 1996 called The Mighty Ducks, and despite the fact that they were still making live-action movies, the animated series was about a group of hockey-playing, crime-fighting anthropomorphic ducks that were led by a duck named [[AwesomeMcCoolname WILDWING FLASHBLADE]]. Wildwing. F---ing. Flashblade. And for bonus points, he was voiced by Creator/IanZeiring."''

->''"'''Then''' -- and this is where any kind of logic breaks down -- they made an animated series in 1996 called The Mighty Ducks, and despite the fact that they were still making live-action movies, the animated series was about a group of hockey-playing, crime-fighting anthropomorphic ducks that were led by a duck named [[AwesomeMcCoolname WILDWING FLASHBLADE]]. Wildwing. F---ing. Flashblade. And for bonus points, he was voiced by Ian Zeiring."''

-->-- Comics Alliance, in a review of [[http://tinyurl.com/oszvwsl a totally different series about hockey-playing superheroes.]]

When the Ducks pursue Lord Dragaunus to Earth, the Ducks form an NHL team where they can [[HiddenInPlainSight hide in plain sight]]. Their arena, known only as "The Pond," has a hockey rink that doubles as a landing pad for the [[CoolPlane Aerowing]] above and has an HQ below. The Ducks and Dragaunus continue their fight, although there are [[MonsterOfTheWeek other villains]] that sometimes challenge the Ducks.

It was instead about a team of [[PettingZooPeople anthropomorphic]] [[AnimalSuperheroes duck superheroes]] descended from '''alien dinosaurs''' who fight aliens with hockey-themed gadgets. Oh, and somewhere in space there were two dinosaur-derived races: the race descended from Ceratopsians, led by [[BigBad Lord Dragaunus]], were evil and the Therapod (more specifically, duck) descended race was good. By an incredible coincidence, the Ducks' entire culture was based upon hockey.

* PettingZooPeople: The Ducks are bulky humans -- complete with hair and breasts -- with variants of WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck's face slapped on.

* ToothyBird: Comes with the PettingZooPeople territory. It's not that noticeable, but it briefly shows up on a few episodes. ''Dungeons and Ducks'', however, goes totally nuts with it; throughout the episode, many characters' facial expressions pretty much explode, giving us more than a couple clear views at the Ducks' teeth.

* OutOfOrder: Many of the series episodes were originally aired out of order, including the series finale. (Presumably this was due to airing on ABC and syndication at the same time.)

* ShowAccuracyToyAccuracy: The Aerowing toy is a lot smaller, and can only hold one Duck (as opposed to the entire crew in the show); it also has puck launchers as opposed to the show's lasers.

* TeenageMutantSamuraiWombats: Although the only actual teenager is Nosedive.
* TeleportInterdiction: The Ducks have a defense shield over the Pond that keeps the Saurians from teleporting into their base, but it's of limited usefulness the one time they just walk in.

* Duke was not a hero or a solider but a ''thief'' pre-series. This sets quite a contrast to the noble Wildwing, who was a civilian.
* Nosedive is Wildwing's little brother, and so the contrast between them is also played up. On the ice, he is also better at scoring while his brother is the goalie.

* Grin is the biggest, tallest and broadest of the ducks.
* Unlike the rest of the team, Mallory was actually part of Puckworld's military and well-versed in bot hand-to-hand and puckblasters.

* HelloNurse: This was the reaction Lucretia [=DeCoy=] got when she showed up. Even Phil seemed to think she was hot, which he lampshaded by saying "and I'm not even a duck!". (of course, he also planned on making money off said hotness.) Mallory got this same reaction at the end of the same episode [[SheCleansUpNicely after changing from her hockey uniform into a little red dress]].

* TheTeam: In this case, a Six Anthropomorphic Duck hockey team.
** TheLeader: Wildwing is the team leader both in the hockey team and the superhero team, "Team Captain".

*** Duke was not a hero or a solider but a ''thief'' pre-series. This sets quite a contrast to the noble Wildwing, who was a civilian.
*** Nosedive is Wildwing's kid brother and so the contrast between them is also played up. On the ice, he is also better at scoring while his brother is the goalie.
** TheSmartGuy: Tanya maintains all their gear and innovates new stuff.
** TheBigGuy: Two of them
*** Grin is the biggest, tallest and broadest of the ducks.
*** Unlike the rest of the team, Mallory was actually part of Puckworld's military and well-versed in bot hand-to-hand and puckblasters.