History WesternAnimation / ThundarrTheBarbarian

* NeverTrustATrailer: The scene from the opening where Gemini shoots EyeBeams at Ariel isn't in either of the episodes where he appears. Likewise, Thundarr breaking his chains in Sabian's gladiatorial arena (or any of Thundarr's origin story in general) never appears in any episode.

* SelfFulfillingProphecy: The series finale "Prophecy of Peril" deals with three women, the hermit barbarian Cinda who wields the Staff of Power, the [[SealedGoodInACan long-entombed]] Egyptian-esque ElementalShapeshifter queen Maya, and the ordinary 20th century fashion model Valerie Storm. In the end, the three women destroy the Gem of Glory, the power source of the evil wizard.

** The wizard of the week, Vashtarr, goes back in time to kidnap Valerie and bring her to his era. The wizard states on camera he ''knows'' the sorceress Ariel cannot time travel. He could have simply let her die, either before or after going to the trouble of "finding" her in the past. Not to mention how he accidentally gives her wings and powers when he tries to blast her.

* SelfFulfillingProphecy: The series finale "Prophecy of Peril" deals with three women, the hermit barbarian Cinda who wields the Staff of Power, the long-entombed Egyptian-esque ElementalShapeshifter queen Maya, and the ordinary 20th century fashion model Valerie Storm. In the end, the three women destroy the Gem of Glory, the power source of the evil wizard.

* SelfFulfillingProphecy: The series finale "Prophecy of Peril" deals with three women, the hermit barbarian Cinda who wields the Staff of Power, the long-entombed ElementalShapeshifter queen Maya, and the ordinary 20th century fashion model Valerie Storm. In the end, the three women destroy the Gem of Glory, the power source of the evil wizard.

* SelfFulfillingProphecy: The series finale "Prophecy of Peril" deals with three women, the hermit barbarian Cinda who wields the Staff of Power, the long-entombed element-shifting queen Maya, and the ordinary 20th century fashion model Valerie Storm. In the end, the three women destroy the Gem of Glory, the power source of the evil wizard.

* TimeTravelEpisode: In "Portal into Time", a magic portal sends Thundarr, Ookla and Ariel to the late 20th century. They receive help in their mission from a 10-year-old girl named Samantha, whom they leave behind at the end, presumably to die in the cataclysm about a decade later.

* FunctionalMagic: Why magic became so prolific after the Cataclysm is never explained. In TimeTravel episodes, magic is shown to work even in the 20th Century, implying that it was really ''re''discovered rather than something which did not exist in the past at all... but that in turn only raises further questions! In the end, it's best to just accept that Thundarr's world is governed by the RuleOfCool.

* KirbyDots: Since Jack Kirby did the storyboarding artwork. Often seen when wizards try to blast the heroes, when their mechas and robots try to blast the heroes, when revived tech or magic tries to blast the heroes -yes, there's a theme there.

* BrainyBrunette: Apart from her knowledge of magic and ancient history, Ariel also has more common sense than any hero or villain on the show.

* ActionGirl: Ariel, whose [[SwissArmySuperpower versatile magic ability]] sometimes [[DistressBall conveniently failed]] when the time came for her to be [[DamselInDistress taken hostage or rescued]] (She can't cast spells when [[StandardFemaleGrabArea her hands aren't free]]). She managed to keep from slipping into FauxActionGirl territory, though, by her wit, intelligence and the genuine usefulness of her powers when the script allowed her to use them.

* ShadowDiscretionShot: Pretty pointless one, too. We see the woman turn into a werewolf onscreen, then we see her shadow changing before she turns to attack a helpless human.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The wizards. The young Merlik and Ariel's stepfather Sabin are the only male magic-users shown or mentioned as good to halfway decent. All others heard of or encountered are bad, bad, bad, dedicated to conquest and exploitation.

* EvilSorcerer: Just about any bad guy who isn't a MadScientist. Vashtar wanted to take over his part of the world via the power of his Gem of Glory, instead of making what he had a nice place to live.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: In "Prophecy of Peril". The heroes find out a prophecy of three heroines who are destined to defeat the wizard Vashtar. One of them lived before the apocalypse, and instead of letting events play out where she presumably dies amidst all the "cosmic destruction", Vashtar brings her to the future so he can kill her himself. Where the source of his power ends up [[SuperEmpowering giving her powers to use against him]], and where she can and does escape to join forces with his enemies.

* PropheciesRhymeAllTheTime: The last episode, "Prophecy of Peril", starts with the Crystal of Prophecy and Thundarr, Ariel, and Ookla's attempt to steal it. The Crystal held an unknown prophecy that told how to bring about the downfall of the evil wizard Vashtar. When the Crystal shatters, because Vashtar zaps it to try to destroy it and the prophecy, the freed spirit tells all present the prophecy of the three women who will bring down Vashtar, with pictures.

''One lies beneath Endor with Silver to bind her;''\\

''Unite them, and Vashtar's power is thwarted!''

* SelfFulfillingProphecy: The episode "Prophecy of Peril" deals with three women, the hermit barbarian Cinda, the element queen Maya, and the ordinary human woman Valerie Storm. In the end, the three women destroy the Gem of Glory, the power source of the evil wizard.

''One lies beneath Endor with Silver to bind her;''\\

''Unite them, and Vashtar's power is thwarted!''
** The wizard of the week, Vashtar, goes back in time to kidnap Valerie and bring her to his era. The wizard states on camera he ''knows'' the sorceress Ariel cannot time travel. He could have simply let her die, either before or after going to the trouble of "finding" her in the past.
** Cinda couldn't care less about Vashtar's tyranny, until he invades her domain. Vashtar was trying to kill her and hopefully Maya, with Thundarr's crew as a possible side bonus. All he did was tick off Cinda and set her on his trail.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: In "Prophecy of Peril". The heroes find out a prophecy of three heroines who are destined to defeat the wizard Vashtar. One of them lived before the apocalypse, and instead of letting events play out where she presumably dies in the cataclysm, Vashtar brings her to the future so he can kill her himself. Where the source of his power ends up [[SuperEmpowering giving her powers to use against him]], and where she can and does escape to join forces with his enemies.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: In "Prophecy of Peril". The heroes find out a prophecy of three heroines who are destined to defeat the wizard Vashtar. One of them lived before the apocalypse, and instead of letting events play out where she presumably dies along with most of humanity, Vashtar brings her to the future so he can kill her himself. Where the source of his power ends up [[SuperEmpowering giving her powers to use against him]], and where she can and does escape to join forces with his enemies.

** Thundarr's ''Sun Sword'', which may have been a ShoutOut to -- or a direct rip-off of -- [[Franchise/StarWars Luke Skywalker's lightsaber]] [[note]]Even though this was 1980, America had yet to hear about [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam robots who could use them...]][[/note]]. Thundarr made sure never to use his Sun Sword on a living creature. He would not start in with the hack-and-slash until after he discovered that his enemies were robots; just to make sure we in the audience understood, he would then bellow something like "They are machines!

Into this broken world rides our muscular hero and his sidekicks, the magic-wielding ActionGirl Princess Ariel([[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas no]], '''[[DontExplainTheJoke not]]''' ''[[Franchise/TheLittleMermaid that one]]'') and the [[Franchise/StarWars Chewbacca]]-like Ookla the Mok, a catlike, superpowered giant [[TheUnintelligible who communicates largely in growls]]. Together these three heroes ride the length and breadth of the post-cataclysmic world righting wrongs and protecting the shattered remnants of humanity from whatever dangers may threaten.

* ActionGirl: Ariel, whose [[SwissArmySuperpower versatile magic ability]] sometimes [[DistressBall conveniently failed]] when the time came for her to be [[DistressedDamsel taken hostage or rescued]] (She can't cast spells when [[StandardFemaleGrabArea her hands aren't free]]). She managed to keep from slipping into FauxActionGirl territory, though, by her wit, intelligence and the genuine usefulness of her powers when the script allowed her to use them.