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* ComicBookAdaptation: Prequel comic stories based on the show were featured in ''Cartoon Network Action Pack''.

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* ComicBookAdaptation: Prequel comic stories based on the show were featured in ''Cartoon Network Action Pack''.''ComicBook/CartoonNetworkActionPack''.
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Removed per thread.


* AnAesop: Family means sticking together and watching out for each other.
** In Season 2, "you are who you choose to be, not what anyone else says you are."
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One of the most [[NetworkRedHeadedStepchild under-appreciated]] series to air on the network, ''The Secret Saturdays'' was [[ScrewedByTheNetwork shuffled from timeslot to timeslot and given virtually no advertising or reruns]]. The characters made an appearance years later in the ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' episode "T.G.I.S. (Thank Goodness It's Saturday)", albeit with different voice actors.

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One of the most [[NetworkRedHeadedStepchild under-appreciated]] series to air on the network, ''The Secret Saturdays'' was [[ScrewedByTheNetwork shuffled from timeslot to timeslot and given virtually no advertising or reruns]]. The characters made an appearance years later in the ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' episode "T.G.I.S. (Thank Goodness It's Saturday)", albeit with different voice actors.
actors and character designs.
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* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Doc Saturday's real name is Solomon, but the only people who call him that are [[MenInBlack Epsilon]] and his childhood mentor.

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* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Doc Saturday's real name is Solomon, but the only people who call him that are [[MenInBlack [[TheMenInBlack Epsilon]] and his childhood mentor.
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* OneEyedBats: Vladats have a projectile called a Corruptura that takes the form of a one-eyed bat. Anything they hit becomes mind controlled, to fit with their vampire themeing.

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* OneEyedBats: Vladats have a projectile called a Corruptura that takes "The King of Kumari Kandam" has the form of Saturdays fight a one-eyed bat. Anything they hit becomes mind controlled, bat-like creature that resembles the Popobawa from Tanzanian mythology.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' has one-eyed bats that petrify living creatures and turn people
to fit with their vampire themeing.stone.
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*OneEyedBats: Vladats have a projectile called a Corruptura that takes the form of a one-eyed bat. Anything they hit becomes mind controlled, to fit with their vampire themeing.
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Cloning Blues renamed to Clone Angst as per TRS, specifically about angst from a character discovering that they're a clone.


* CloningBlues: [[spoiler:Francis's "people" found their perfect agent 100 years ago and have been "repeating" him ever since. One day Francis will be an Epsilon, and he'll have a Francis of his own. This has lead to some mile-high expectations on his shoulders, and he's clearly not happy about how set in stone his future is.]]

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* CloningBlues: CloneAngst: [[spoiler:Francis's "people" found their perfect agent 100 years ago and have been "repeating" him ever since. One day Francis will be an Epsilon, and he'll have a Francis of his own. This has lead to some mile-high expectations on his shoulders, and he's clearly not happy about how set in stone his future is.]]
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* TakenDuringTheEnding: In Season 2 "The Legend of Garuda", when the Saturdays, the Secret Scientists, and the Nagas temporarily team up to stop Gokul from [[spoiler:killing Zak to kill Kur]] by using the Flute of Gilgamesh for his ritual, they succeed in stopping Gokul but he escapes and they believe he took the flute with him. After everyone part ways, it turns out the flute was left behind at the ritual site and Argo shows up at the end to take the flute for himself. He would later use the flute in "And Your Enemies Closer".

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trope about IU colorism


* ButNotTooBlack: Doc is black and Zak is biracial but both are notably light skinned, with Zak in particular being almost white in complexion. When the two were redesigned for ''Ben 10: Omniverse'', they both received considerably darker skin tones.



** “Two is plenty”

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** “Two "Two is plenty”plenty"
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* ExplosivePropulsion: In "Where Lies the Engulfer," Zak uses the blast from one of Doyle's grenades to propel himself through a skylight.
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[[caption-width-right:300:A BadassFamily like no other. [[note]]Clockwise beginning center: [[KidHero Zak Saturday]], [[GeniusBruiser Doc Saturday]], [[GiantFlyer Zon]], [[TheUnintelligible Fiskerton]], [[ActionMom Drew Saturday]], and [[ADogNamedDog Komodo]]. Not pictured: [[CoolUncle Doyle Blackwell]].[[/note]]]]

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[[caption-width-right:300:A BadassFamily like no other. [[note]]Clockwise beginning center: [[KidHero Zak Saturday]], [[GeniusBruiser Doc Saturday]], [[note]]Beginning from the back at the top: [[GiantFlyer Zon]], [[TheUnintelligible Fiskerton]], [[GeniusBruiser Doc Saturday]], [[ActionMom Drew Saturday]], [[KidHero Zak Saturday]], and [[ADogNamedDog Komodo]]. Not pictured: [[CoolUncle Doyle Blackwell]].[[/note]]]]
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[[caption-width-right:300:A BadassFamily like no other. [[note]]Clockwise beginning center: [[KidHero Zak Saturday]], [[GeniusBruiser Doc Saturday]], Zon, [[TheUnintelligible Fiskerton]], [[ActionMom Drew Saturday]], and [[ADogNamedDog Komodo]]. Not pictured: [[CoolUncle Doyle Blackwell]].[[/note]]]]

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[[caption-width-right:300:A BadassFamily like no other. [[note]]Clockwise beginning center: [[KidHero Zak Saturday]], [[GeniusBruiser Doc Saturday]], Zon, [[GiantFlyer Zon]], [[TheUnintelligible Fiskerton]], [[ActionMom Drew Saturday]], and [[ADogNamedDog Komodo]]. Not pictured: [[CoolUncle Doyle Blackwell]].[[/note]]]]



The show follows the titular Saturdays, a family of [[OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious cryptozoologists]] consisting of parents [[BattleCouple Doc and Drew]], their biological son, [[KidHero Zak]], their adopted son, a Fiskerton phantom named Fisk, and their pet Komodo dragon. They belong to an international organization known as the Secret Scientists, whose mission statement is to uncover the secrets of the world before those who would use them for ill get the chance.

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The show follows the titular Saturdays, a family of [[OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious cryptozoologists]] consisting of parents [[BattleCouple Doc and Drew]], their biological son, [[KidHero Zak]], their adopted son, a Fiskerton phantom named Fisk, and their pet pets, a Komodo dragon.dragon named Komodo and a pterosaur named Zon. They belong to an international organization known as the Secret Scientists, whose mission statement is to uncover the secrets of the world before those who would use them for ill get the chance.

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[[caption-width-right:300:A BadassFamily like no other. [[note]]Clockwise beginning center: [[KidHero Zak Saturday]], [[GeniusBruiser Doc Saturday]], [[PteroSoarer Zon]], [[TheUnintelligible Fiskerton]], [[ActionMom Drew Saturday]], and [[ADogNamedDog Komodo]]. Not pictured: [[CoolUncle Doyle Blackwell]].[[/note]]]]

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[[caption-width-right:300:A BadassFamily like no other. [[note]]Clockwise beginning center: [[KidHero Zak Saturday]], [[GeniusBruiser Doc Saturday]], [[PteroSoarer Zon]], Zon, [[TheUnintelligible Fiskerton]], [[ActionMom Drew Saturday]], and [[ADogNamedDog Komodo]]. Not pictured: [[CoolUncle Doyle Blackwell]].[[/note]]]]



* AllAnimalsAreDomesticated: The Saturdays have a pet Komodo dragon, although it ''has'' been genetically modified for AmplifiedAnimalAptitude. They also adopt a PteroSoarer named Zon. WordOfGod has said that Komodo is roughly equivalent to the family dog, while Zon is more like a horse - too wild to keep in the house.

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* AllAnimalsAreDomesticated: The Saturdays have a pet Komodo dragon, although it ''has'' been genetically modified for AmplifiedAnimalAptitude. They also adopt a PteroSoarer pterosaur named Zon. WordOfGod has said that Komodo is roughly equivalent to the family dog, while Zon is more like a horse - too wild to keep in the house.



* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: "The Undrground Bride": A teenage boy finds out that his sister is [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys smitten with a young man of questionable morality]], gets overprotective of her, realizes that said boy is only using her as and plans to dispose of her in a horrific way, and his sister won't believe him...we're talking about Zak, [[PteroSoarer Zon, and the Duah]].

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* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: "The Undrground Bride": A teenage boy finds out that his sister is [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys smitten with a young man of questionable morality]], gets overprotective of her, realizes that said boy is only using her as and plans to dispose of her in a horrific way, and his sister won't believe him...we're talking about Zak, [[PteroSoarer Zon, and the [[TerrorDactyl Duah]].



* PteroSoarer: Zon, a ''Tropeognathus'', and the Duah. They're more accurate than most, however -- see ShownTheirWork below.


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* TerrorDactyl:
** Zon is a downplayed example. She's a ''Tropeognathus'' with some glaring inaccuracies (she can walk bipedally, her wing membranes end at her hips rather than going down to her feet, she looks hairless apart from a mane-like crest), and is initially hostile toward the Saturdays when they destroy her nest, but Zak manages to tame her and she becomes a friendly family member.
** The Duah is a straight example, a vicious pterosaur-like monster with bat-like wings, a mostly scaly body (apart from a ruff around his neck), a toothy beak combined with a short crest, and a long reptilian tail. [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Zon still finds him attractive]].

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* ArbitrarySkepticism: In "Paris is Melting," the assembled Secret Scientists express disbelief that an AlternateUniverse and {{Evil Doppelganger}}s are the cause of Fiskerton's rampages, despite all the other fantastic things they've encountered.

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* ArbitrarySkepticism: ArbitrarySkepticism:
**
In "Paris is Melting," the assembled Secret Scientists express disbelief that an AlternateUniverse and {{Evil Doppelganger}}s are the cause of Fiskerton's rampages, despite all the other fantastic things they've encountered.



--> '''Zak:''' I thought Kumari Kandam was destroyed...that it sunk under the sea after a big earthquake?
--> '''Doc:''' What? Who's been feeding you ''that'' garbage?

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--> '''Zak:''' -->'''Zak:''' I thought Kumari Kandam was destroyed...destroyed... that it sunk under the sea after a big earthquake?
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earthquake?\\
'''Doc:''' What? Who's been feeding you ''that'' garbage?



** Zak - tiny and cute, 11 years old, but he's always had a penchant for danger, and grows into the role of hero as the show continues.
** Fiskerton - cuddly and comical, but do ''not'' get between him and the family. As sweet as he is, he's still a seven-foot tall gorilla-cat.
* BadassBoast: Argost taunts the family with one in "Once More The Nightmare Factory."
--> '''Argost''': Men have tried to break into Weird World before. But as they all tragically discovered, Weird World is the kind of home that ''breaks back.''

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** Zak - -- tiny and cute, 11 years old, but he's always had a penchant for danger, and grows into the role of hero as the show continues.
** Fiskerton - -- cuddly and comical, but do ''not'' get between him and the family. As sweet as he is, he's still a seven-foot tall gorilla-cat.
* BadassBoast: BadassBoast:
**
Argost taunts the family with one in "Once More The Nightmare Factory."
--> '''Argost''': --->'''Argost''': Men have tried to break into Weird World before. But as they all tragically discovered, Weird World is the kind of home that ''breaks back.''



---> '''Argost''': [[spoiler:This is Kur, boy! He was ancient before man's time began! His power has laid waste to ''civilizations!'' And who...are ''you?'']]

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---> '''Argost''': --->'''Argost''': [[spoiler:This is Kur, boy! He was ancient before man's time began! His power has laid waste to ''civilizations!'' And who...are ''you?'']]


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* SadlyMythtaken: Some cryptid portrayals diverge from their original accounts, in some cases by quite a bit.
** The Ahuul is depicted as a monkey with pterosaur wings on its back. Real-life descriptions of the creature typically describe it as a giant bat.
** The Garuda seen in the show is a huge eagle with no other outstanding traits. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda The mythological Garuda]] is usually depicted as a winged man, a humanoid bird (usually with distinct arms and legs), or some middle ground between the two, and usually carries weapons or armor. This is downplayed, however, insofar as the actual Garuda doesn't appear; the creature seen on-screen is an illusion.
** The Grootslang is depicted as a giant green elephant with four tusks, horns, and a long, spikes-tipped tail. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grootslang The folkloric Grootslang]] as described by South African folklorists and travelogues was a fifty-foot python with diamonds for eyes. The closest thing to the show's version is from the 2001 book ''Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth'', which describes the beast as "huge, like an elephant, with a serpent's tail".
** The Mapinguari is depicted in the manner common in cryptozoology -- that is, as essentially a surviving giant ground sloth. The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapinguari Mapinguari]] of Amazonian folklore is a cyclops with a mouth on its belly.
** The Piasa Bird is depicted as a horned, pterosaur or wyvern-like creature with an arrowhead-tipped tail, hands on its wings, and no mammalian traits beyond a small beard. The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piasa Piasa]] depicted on the Mississippi River murals is somewhat poorly known due to the original depiction being lost, but the contemporary descriptions on which the modern replica was based describe it as having deer antlers, a bearded human face, and an extremely long tail tipped in a fish fin. The wings in the modern version aren't recorded by earlier sources.
** The Rakshasa is a horned, tusked, and purple tiger. The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakshasa Rakshasa]] of Indian myths are depicted as monstrous humanoid demons, and are only rarely specifically tiger-like.
** The Shedu is essentially a ''Dimetrodon'' with a monstrous face and a lizard tongue. The Shedu of Babylonian myth and art was a counterpart to and often synonym for the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamassu Lamassu]], a bull or lion with wings and a human head.
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[[caption-width-right:300:A BadassFamily like no other. [[note]]Clockwise beginning center: [[KidHero Zak Saturday]], [[GeniusBruiser Doc Saturday]], [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Zon]], [[TheUnintelligible Fiskerton]], [[ActionMom Drew Saturday]], and [[ADogNamedDog Komodo]]. Not pictured: [[CoolUncle Doyle Blackwell]].[[/note]]]]

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[[caption-width-right:300:A BadassFamily like no other. [[note]]Clockwise beginning center: [[KidHero Zak Saturday]], [[GeniusBruiser Doc Saturday]], [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs [[PteroSoarer Zon]], [[TheUnintelligible Fiskerton]], [[ActionMom Drew Saturday]], and [[ADogNamedDog Komodo]]. Not pictured: [[CoolUncle Doyle Blackwell]].[[/note]]]]
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* BitterSweetEnding: The Season 2 finale. [[spoiler: Sure, Argost is finally defeated and the Cryptid War ended as quickly as it began, but Van Rook died sacrificing himself for Drew, and the episode ends on his funeral]].

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* BitterSweetEnding: BittersweetEnding: The Season 2 finale. [[spoiler: Sure, Argost is finally defeated and the Cryptid War ended as quickly as it began, but Van Rook died sacrificing himself for Drew, and the episode ends on his funeral]].
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* AllMythsAreTrue: To an extent. [=UFOs=], cryptids, and {{AlternateUniverse}}s have been confirmed to exist, and most mythological creatures fit under the cryptid umbrella. Argost says it best:

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* AllMythsAreTrue: To an extent. [=UFOs=], cryptids, and {{AlternateUniverse}}s [[AlternateUniverse Alternate Universes]] have been confirmed to exist, and most mythological creatures fit under the cryptid umbrella. Argost says it best:

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TRS cut


* AuthorAppeal: While the series normally tries to use [[SeldomSeenSpecies cryptids that don't get much focus]], creator Jay Stephens couldn't help putting his favorite cryptid in. [[spoiler:Argost, it turns out, is a yeti.]]

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* AuthorAppeal: While the series normally tries to use [[SeldomSeenSpecies cryptids that don't get much focus]], focus, creator Jay Stephens couldn't help putting his favorite cryptid in. [[spoiler:Argost, it turns out, is a yeti.]]



* SeldomSeenSpecies: Almost every cryptid in the show (of which there are ''dozens'') is based on a real-life cryptid, mythological creature, or prehistoric animal, and it's very difficult to recognize even three on sight. Most prominently, Komodo is a [[ADogNamedDog Komodo dragon]], Zon is a ''Tropeognathus'', and Fisk is a Fiskerton Phantom.
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Updating Link


** Since creator Jay Stephens hails from the world of comics, Van Rook appears to reference ComicBook/IronMan, and Munya's transformation sequence is reminiscent of ComicBook/IncredibleHulk.

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** Since creator Jay Stephens hails from the world of comics, Van Rook appears to reference ComicBook/IronMan, and Munya's transformation sequence is reminiscent of ComicBook/IncredibleHulk.the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]].

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* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: The holograms studied by the Saturdays spin in one plane.


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* SpectacularSpinning: The holograms studied by the Saturdays spin in one plane.
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Dewicked trope


* AdultFear: [[spoiler:Your life-long friends turn on you when they find out your child has been born different and are now actively trying to hurt him out of fear.]]
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* MokeleMbembe: The Mokele-Mbembe appears twice in the series; once in a vision in the second part of the pilot episode, and in the very last episode in person, where several under Argost's control are shown attacking cities, and then fleeing from the Grootslang after Argost is defeated.
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You Gotta Have Blue Hair is no longer a trope.


* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Epsilon's son Francis has pale green hair.
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No longer a trope


* SkunkStripe: Doc has a white patch on top of his head, probably from age, while Zak appears to have inherited some leucism from his mom.
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* LoveTheProductHateTheProducer: Weird World is an extremely popular TV show run and hosted by V.V. Argost, the Saturday's most hated and dangerous enemy, who repeatedly tries to kill them all when they attempt to foil his plans for world domination. Despite this Zak still watches Argost's show regularly and has various Weird World merchandise in his room, much to his parent's chagrin.

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* WeakenedByTheLight: In "The Owlman Feeds at Midnight", the titular MonsterOfTheWeek really doesn't like fire or bright light. The Saturdays use this to try and subdue it, but Doyle ends up giving it ''too much'' light when he resorts to bringing a jetpack into the mix and ends up ''vaporizing'' it.



* WeakenedByTheLight: In "The Owlman Feeds at Midnight", the titular MonsterOfTheWeek really doesn't like fire or bright light. The Saturdays use this to try and subdue it, but Doyle ends up giving it ''too much'' light when he resorts to bringing a jetpack into the mix and ends up ''vaporizing'' it.
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* WeakenedByTheLight: In "The Owlman Feeds at Midnight", the titular MonsterOfTheWeek really doesn't like fire or bright light. The Saturdays use this to try and subdue it, but Doyle ends up giving it ''too much'' light when he resorts to bringing a jetpack into the mix and ends up ''vaporizing'' it.

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I Ate What clean up. The trope is when a character eats something, unaware of what they are consuming, and then reacts in disgust after they find out what it is. Misuse will be deleted or moved to another trope when applicable. Administrivia.Zero Context Examples will be removed or commented out depending on the amount of context within the entry.


* IAteWhat: In "The Vengeance of Hibagon", Drew attempts to snap Doc out of his distracted state by feeding him a sandwich made from Fiskerton's hair. Doc doesn't notice until it starts coming back up.
** Doyle tries some of Groshomme's dumplings. When he asks what's in them and is told that it's panda, he spits it out and asks Groshomme what's wrong with him.

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* IAteWhat: In "The Vengeance of Hibagon", Drew attempts to snap Doc out of his distracted state by feeding him a sandwich made from Fiskerton's hair. Doc doesn't notice until it starts coming back up.
**
Doyle tries some of Groshomme's dumplings. When he asks what's in them and is told that it's panda, he spits it out and asks Groshomme what's wrong with him.
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* MixAndMatchCritters:
** Fiskerton, who has both gorilla and cat characteristics.

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* MixAndMatchCritters:
** Fiskerton, who
MixAndMatchCritters: Fiskerton has both gorilla and cat characteristics.characteristics.
* MonsterInTheIce: In the Season 1 finale, the gigantic cryptid thought to be Kur [[spoiler:(actually a RedHerring)]] is discovered frozen in the Antarctic ice along with its symbiont cryptids, awakening and breaking free thanks to Argost's efforts.

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