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* AntiVillain: Carmen, especially later in the series. In fact, she often gets to the point where the AntiHero label could even apply sometimes.
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* TheStarscream: [[spoiler: Sarah Bellum]] in "When It Rains".
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'''''Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?''''' is a Saturday morning cartoon based on the ''Franchise/CarmenSandiego'' EdutainmentGame series. ''Where on Earth...'' ran on {{Fox}} in [[TheNineties 1990s]].
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'''''Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?''''' is a Saturday morning cartoon based on the ''Franchise/CarmenSandiego'' EdutainmentGame series. ''Where on Earth...'' ran on {{Fox}} in [[TheNineties 1990s]].
1990s]]. It is ''not'' to be confused with the {{PBS}} GameShow by the similar name ''Series/WhereInTheWorldIsCarmenSandiego''
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'''''Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?''''' is a Saturday morning cartoon based on the ''CarmenSandiego'' EdutainmentGame series. ''Where on Earth...'' ran on {{Fox}} in [[{{TheNineties}} 1990s]].
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'''''Where on Earth is Is Carmen Sandiego?''''' is a Saturday morning cartoon based on the ''CarmenSandiego'' ''Franchise/CarmenSandiego'' EdutainmentGame series. ''Where on Earth...'' ran on {{Fox}} in [[{{TheNineties}} [[TheNineties 1990s]].
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!!This show provides examples of:
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* {{Jerkass}}: Lee Jordan, who later evolves into a [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] Complete Monster.
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* {{Jerkass}}: Lee Jordan, who later evolves into a complete [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] Complete Monster.sociopath]].
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* PlayfulHacker: Carmen, her henchman Manny, and Zack.
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* PlayfulHacker: Carmen, her henchman Manny, Manny Mistakes, and Zack.
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* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Carmen leaves a clue in the Paris Sewers for Zac and Ivy.
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** And yet she tops herself in "By a Whisker" when she steals a beach (forgot which one)[[spoiler:which she planned to use as a huge litter box for two white lion cubs]]. Ivy's response? "The entire beach?!"
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** And yet she tops herself in "By a Whisker" when she steals a beach (forgot which one)[[spoiler:which ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaim%C5%AB,_Hawaii Kaimu Beach in Hawaii]])[[spoiler:which she planned to use as a huge litter box for two white lion cubs]]. Ivy's response? "The entire beach?!"
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* DaChief: Uh, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Chief]]
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** ShoutFactory [[TitleSequenceReplacement replaced that with the newer intro]] on their DVD.
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* CommonTongue: Regardless of the country, all the cop cars have '''POLICE''' emblazoned on the sides instead of local equivelents.
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* ACMEProducts: Acme Detective Agency, Acme Bug Net.....
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* LeotardOfPower: The Tigress,[[spoiler: a.k.a. Ivy.]]
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* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Ever hear the "original" theme song? [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMUOUVFpS4U&list=ELKwP3jzWuCuo&index=1&feature=plpp_video You'll be glad they changed it to the more soothing version we've become familiar with.]]
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* BunnyEarsLawyer: Henchwoman Hannah Lulu. She's so good at disabling alarms that Carmen puts up with her superstitious nature.
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''Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?'' (1994-1999) was a Saturday morning cartoon based on the ''CarmenSandiego'' EdutainmentGame series. ''Where on Earth...'' ran on {{Fox}} in TheNineties.
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* AlternateContinuity: The ''Where on Earth...?'' arc is separate from the rest of the CarmenSandiego series. The black-haired Carmen in this cartoon has not appeared in any other story; even in the ''Junior Detective'' computer game, her canon foes Zack and Ivy were chasing the original, brunette Carmen.
** The FaceBook game may possibly be the closest version to match Carmen's characterization from the cartoon, not only in described appearance (black hair, light-colored eyes), but also her BackStory as an orphan and aversion to violence.
** The FaceBook game may possibly be the closest version to match Carmen's characterization from the cartoon, not only in described appearance (black hair, light-colored eyes), but also her BackStory as an orphan and aversion to violence.
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* AlternateContinuity: The ''Where on Earth...?'' arc is separate from the rest of the CarmenSandiego ''Carmen Sandiego'' series. The black-haired Carmen in this cartoon has not appeared in any other story; even in the ''Junior Detective'' computer game, her canon foes Zack and Ivy were chasing the original, brunette Carmen.
** TheFaceBook Facebook game may possibly be the closest version to match Carmen's characterization from the cartoon, not only in described appearance (black hair, light-colored eyes), but also her BackStory as an orphan and aversion to violence.
** The
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* BilingualBonus: Sometimes the foreign languages in the show aren't always subtitled, though in the dvd releases that seems to have been fixed.
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* BilingualBonus: Sometimes the foreign languages in the show aren't always subtitled, though in the dvd DVD releases that seems to have been fixed.
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* ChristmasEpisode: ''Just Like Old Times''
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* ChristmasEpisode: ''Just "Just Like Old Times''Times".
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* DigitalDestruction: Eleven of the episodes included on the Complete Series DVD are encoded to play stretched to fill an HDTV when viewed with a Blu-Ray player.
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* DigitalDestruction: Eleven of the episodes included on the Complete Series DVD are encoded to play stretched to fill an HDTV when viewed with a Blu-Ray Blu-ray player.
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* EnemyMine: A good chunk of the ''Retribution'' episodes. A minor example also happens in ''When It Rains''.
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* EnemyMine: A good chunk of the ''Retribution'' "Retribution" episodes. A minor example also happens in ''When It Rains''.
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* FakingTheDead: In ''Follow My Footprints'', [[spoiler: Carmen faked her own death and left a set of clues for her henchmen and Acme to solve. It was all to figure out who was worthy to be her successor . . . ironic that Zack and Ivy were the only ones to actually solve all three clues.]]
* FeaturelessProtagonist: The Player. We can see his skin, and get a vague notion of age (around 12 or so) and he ''appears to be'' white, but that's about it.
** Some episodes had a dark-skinned girl as The Player. We still never see a face, and ultimately know nothing of The Player's personality other than having a solid determination to catch Carmen.
* FeaturelessProtagonist: The Player. We can see his skin, and get a vague notion of age (around 12 or so) and he ''appears to be'' white, but that's about it.
** Some episodes had a dark-skinned girl as The Player. We still never see a face, and ultimately know nothing of The Player's personality other than having a solid determination to catch Carmen.
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* FakingTheDead: In ''Follow "Follow My Footprints'', Footprints", [[spoiler: Carmen faked her own death and left a set of clues for her henchmen and Acme to solve. It was all to figure out who was worthy to be her successor . . . ironic that Zack and Ivy were the only ones to actually solve all three clues.]]
* FeaturelessProtagonist: ThePlayer.player. We can see his skin, and get a vague notion of age (around 12 or so) and he ''appears to be'' white, but that's about it.
** Some episodes had a dark-skinned girl asThe Player. the player. We still never see a face, and ultimately know nothing of The Player's the player's personality other than having a solid determination to catch Carmen.
* FeaturelessProtagonist: The
** Some episodes had a dark-skinned girl as
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* GuestStarPartyMember: Non-video game example (FanonDisContinuity notwithstanding). In some episodes Ivy and Zack will request the assistance of other Acme detectives when they need help, other times the Chief will tell them who they'll be working with.
** It gets reversed in ''Skull and Double-Crossbones'', where Zack and Ivy are the [[GuestStarPartyMember Guest Star Party Members]].
* HalloweenEpisode: ''Trick or Treat''
** It gets reversed in ''Skull and Double-Crossbones'', where Zack and Ivy are the [[GuestStarPartyMember Guest Star Party Members]].
* HalloweenEpisode: ''Trick or Treat''
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* GuestStarPartyMember: Non-video game example (FanonDisContinuity notwithstanding). In some episodes episodes, Ivy and Zack will request the assistance of other Acme detectives when they need help, other times the Chief will tell them who they'll be working with.
** It gets reversed in''Skull "Skull and Double-Crossbones'', Double-Crossbones", where Zack and Ivy are the [[GuestStarPartyMember Guest Star Party Members]].
* HalloweenEpisode:''Trick "Trick or Treat''Treat".
** It gets reversed in
* HalloweenEpisode:
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* ImpossibleThief: SerialEscalation
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* ImpossibleThief: SerialEscalationSerialEscalation.
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* MagicCountdown: In ''Follow My Footprints'', Zack and Ivy have 60 seconds to catch Sarah Bellum on the Moon, and if the Chief missed with the C5 they'd all be stuck there. As the mainframe's going into its final countdown, the Chief pops up to have a BigDamnHeroes moment, but that takes longer than the 5 seconds remaining.
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* MagicCountdown: In ''Follow "Follow My Footprints'', Footprints", Zack and Ivy have 60 seconds to catch Sarah Bellum on the Moon, and if the Chief missed with the C5 they'd all be stuck there. As the mainframe's going into its final countdown, the Chief pops up to have a BigDamnHeroes moment, but that takes longer than the 5 seconds remaining.
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* NoFourthWall: The characters are ''not'' aware that they're characters on a tv show, but they ''are'' aware that they're characters in a computer game, and speak directly to the player often.
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* NoFourthWall: The characters are ''not'' aware that they're characters on a tv TV show, but they ''are'' aware that they're characters in a computer game, and speak directly to the player often.
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* RecurringDreams: Carmen suffers from nightmares in the episode ''Shaman Spirits.''
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* RecurringDreams: Carmen suffers from nightmares in the episode ''Shaman Spirits.''"Shaman Spirits".
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* TheStinger: Each episode from the last season has an extra scene play during the end credits.
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[[caption-width-right:200:Where on Earth can she be?]]
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''Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?'' was a Saturday morning cartoon based on the ''CarmenSandiego'' EdutainmentGame series. ''Where on Earth...'' ran on {{Fox}} in TheNineties.
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''Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?'' (1994-1999) was a Saturday morning cartoon based on the ''CarmenSandiego'' EdutainmentGame series. ''Where on Earth...'' ran on {{Fox}} in TheNineties.
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* GameBetweenHeirs: Carmen's will placed her main henchpeople and the main detectives on a scavenger hunt to decide who's fit to inherit her place as head of VILE.
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http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/WhereonEarthCarmenSandiego.jpg
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In the ''Earth'' series, a BrotherSisterTeam tracks Carmen, who gradually became more and more of FriendlyEnemy than she ever was in the computer games. ''Earth'' seems to be set in an AlternateContinuity in relation to the rest of the series, although Broderbund did include some characters from it in ''Carmen Sandiego: Junior Detective Edition''.
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In the ''Earth'' this series, a BrotherSisterTeam tracks Carmen, who gradually became more and more of FriendlyEnemy than she ever was in the computer games. ''Earth'' seems to be set in an AlternateContinuity in relation to the rest of the series, although Broderbund did include some characters from it in ''Carmen Sandiego: Junior Detective Edition''.
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* DigitalDestruction: Eleven of the episodes included on the Complete Series DVD are encoded to play stretched to fill an HDTV when viewed with a Blu-Ray player.
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Dropping completely undetailed entry
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* PrisonerOfZendaExit
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* {{AFGNCAAP}}: The Player. We can see their skin, and it ''looks'' white, but that's about it.
** Some episodes had a dark-skinned girl as The Player.
** Some episodes had a dark-skinned girl as The Player.
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* FeaturelessProtagonist: The Player. We can see his skin, and get a vague notion of age (around 12 or so) and he ''appears to be'' white, but that's about it.
** Some episodes had a dark-skinned girl as The Player. We still never see a face, and ultimately know nothing of The Player's personality other than having a solid determination to catch Carmen.
** Some episodes had a dark-skinned girl as The Player. We still never see a face, and ultimately know nothing of The Player's personality other than having a solid determination to catch Carmen.
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misuse as emphasis
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* {{Beyond The| Impossible}} ImpossibleThief: She manages to swipe Mona Lisa's smile and even tries to make off with the Statue of Liberty in the opening. And that's leaving out the things she swiped in her first time travel heist that changed history, or technology to steal musical talent!
** Lampshaded in "The Stolen Smile," where the Chief, after saying Carmen has [[DoNotAdjustYourSet stolen all the world's TV signals]], adds quietly, "Don't ask me how she did it."
** And yet she tops herself in "By a Whisker" when she steals a beach (forgot which one)[[spoiler:which she planned to use as a huge litter box for two white lion cubs]]. Ivy's response? "The entire beach?!"
** Lampshaded in "The Stolen Smile," where the Chief, after saying Carmen has [[DoNotAdjustYourSet stolen all the world's TV signals]], adds quietly, "Don't ask me how she did it."
** And yet she tops herself in "By a Whisker" when she steals a beach (forgot which one)[[spoiler:which she planned to use as a huge litter box for two white lion cubs]]. Ivy's response? "The entire beach?!"
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* ImpossibleThief: SerialEscalation
**She manages to swipe Mona Lisa's smile and even tries to make off with the Statue of Liberty in the opening. And that's leaving out the things she swiped in her first time travel heist that changed history, or technology to steal musical talent!
** Lampshaded in "The Stolen Smile," where the Chief, after saying Carmen has [[DoNotAdjustYourSet stolen all the world's TV signals]], adds quietly, "Don't ask me how she did it."
** And yet she tops herself in "By a Whisker" when she steals a beach (forgot which one)[[spoiler:which she planned to use as a huge litter box for two white lion cubs]]. Ivy's response? "The entire beach?!"
**She manages to swipe Mona Lisa's smile and even tries to make off with the Statue of Liberty in the opening. And that's leaving out the things she swiped in her first time travel heist that changed history, or technology to steal musical talent!
** Lampshaded in "The Stolen Smile," where the Chief, after saying Carmen has [[DoNotAdjustYourSet stolen all the world's TV signals]], adds quietly, "Don't ask me how she did it."
** And yet she tops herself in "By a Whisker" when she steals a beach (forgot which one)[[spoiler:which she planned to use as a huge litter box for two white lion cubs]]. Ivy's response? "The entire beach?!"
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* HeyItsThatVoice: [[SpongeBobSquarePants Squidward]] voices the Chief.
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ptitle killing
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* [=~Chekhov's Gun~=]: The [[spoiler:anti-crime sticky foam]] Carmen had stolen at the beginning in ''Deja Vu'' becomes this when the time came for Carmen to make her getaway. Interestingly enough, [[spoiler:Suhara knew from the beginning the sticky foam didn't fit Carmen's MO in the episode, and prepared a BatmanGambit, but not without subjecting Zack to some [[TricksterMentor Trickster Mentoring]]]].
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* [=~Chekhov's Gun~=]: ChekhovsGun: The [[spoiler:anti-crime sticky foam]] Carmen had stolen at the beginning in ''Deja Vu'' becomes this when the time came for Carmen to make her getaway. Interestingly enough, [[spoiler:Suhara knew from the beginning the sticky foam didn't fit Carmen's MO in the episode, and prepared a BatmanGambit, but not without subjecting Zack to some [[TricksterMentor Trickster Mentoring]]]].
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\"This index has no examples and should not be used as a trope elsewhere. A simple failure of research on one point does not make a trope. Any example should be labelled as a registered trope or it simply doesn\'t get marked down at all. Otherwise, everything would end up here. \"
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* DidNotDoTheResearch: Mostly averted, but there are inaccuracies that only people who are into specialized knowledge would catch. The most glaring example can be seen in ''Retribution, Part 1'' - in a flashback, Carmen (as a detective) mentions the ''RMS Carpathia'' never sank, however [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Carpathia#Sinking the ''Carpathia'' was torpedoed and DID sink during World War I]].
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** And yet she tops herself in "By a Whisker" when she steals a beach (forgot which one) Ivy's response? "The entire beach?!"
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** And yet she tops herself in "By a Whisker" when she steals a beach (forgot which one) one)[[spoiler:which she planned to use as a huge litter box for two white lion cubs]]. Ivy's response? "The entire beach?!"
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** And yet she tops herself in "By a Whisker" when she steals a beach (forgot which one) Ivy's response? "The entire beach?!"
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http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/WhereonEarthCarmenSandiego.jpg
''Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?'' was a Saturday morning cartoon based on the ''CarmenSandiego'' EdutainmentGame series. ''Where on Earth...'' ran on {{Fox}} in TheNineties.
In the ''Earth'' series, a BrotherSisterTeam tracks Carmen, who gradually became more and more of FriendlyEnemy than she ever was in the computer games. ''Earth'' seems to be set in an AlternateContinuity in relation to the rest of the series, although Broderbund did include some characters from it in ''Carmen Sandiego: Junior Detective Edition''.
----
!!This show provides examples of:
* TheAce: Lee Jordan, initially. Despite having solved over a hundred cases in four years, capturing Carmen at one point in his career, and having saved Ivy's life in the most dramatic way possible, though, his poor treatment and disrespect towards Ivy [[spoiler:(along with sabotaging the Pentagon's computer systems, forcing Zack to pull out of the case temporarily) and Carmen (when he starts working for her after defecting from Acme)]] [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructs]] him into the {{Jerkass}} and ''much'' [[TheSociopath worse.]]
* ActionGirl: Ivy, with her multiple black belts. Carmen could also kick a fair amount of ass back in her detective days as well.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Carmen went from brown hair to black hair.
* AffablyEvil: Carmen.
* {{AFGNCAAP}}: The Player. We can see their skin, and it ''looks'' white, but that's about it.
** Some episodes had a dark-skinned girl as The Player.
* AIIsACrapshoot: There's an "evil" twin of the Chief in one of VILE's training facilities.
* AlternateContinuity: The ''Where on Earth...?'' arc is separate from the rest of the CarmenSandiego series. The black-haired Carmen in this cartoon has not appeared in any other story; even in the ''Junior Detective'' computer game, her canon foes Zack and Ivy were chasing the original, brunette Carmen.
** The FaceBook game may possibly be the closest version to match Carmen's characterization from the cartoon, not only in described appearance (black hair, light-colored eyes), but also her BackStory as an orphan and aversion to violence.
* BadassLongcoat: Carmen's got a sexy red one.
* {{Beyond The| Impossible}} ImpossibleThief: She manages to swipe Mona Lisa's smile and even tries to make off with the Statue of Liberty in the opening. And that's leaving out the things she swiped in her first time travel heist that changed history, or technology to steal musical talent!
** Lampshaded in "The Stolen Smile," where the Chief, after saying Carmen has [[DoNotAdjustYourSet stolen all the world's TV signals]], adds quietly, "Don't ask me how she did it."
* [[BigBrotherInstinct Big Sister Instinct]]: Ivy often has to protect Zack as he's the younger and weaker of the two.
* BilingualBonus: Sometimes the foreign languages in the show aren't always subtitled, though in the dvd releases that seems to have been fixed.
* BrandX: The Illuma Pad toy in ''Moondreams'' looks and seems to function very similarly to Hasbro's Lite Brite toys.
* BrotherSisterTeam: Zack and Ivy.
* ButNotTooEvil: Broderbund on the title character; the show's writers responded, ultimately, by making Carmen into an AntiVillain.
* CallBack: When Zack tells [[GuestStarPartyMember Tatiana]] he could kiss her after solving one of Carmen's clues, she tells him, "I never kiss on the first case." Later in the series [[{{Jerkass}} Lee Jordan]] says the exact same thing to Ivy, and Ivy shoots him down with the same exact words Tatiana said to Zack.
** Another CallBack: After getting the history of the American Revolution back to normal in "A Date With Carmen: Part 2", Zack set down the Chronoskimmer just for a second -- in which it gets swiped. In "Labyrinth: Part 1", Zack recalls the stolen Chronoskimmer and the Chief recalls his British accent from the first time travel incident.
* CatchPhrase: Carmen's signoff, "Until next crime."
* [=~Chekhov's Gun~=]: The [[spoiler:anti-crime sticky foam]] Carmen had stolen at the beginning in ''Deja Vu'' becomes this when the time came for Carmen to make her getaway. Interestingly enough, [[spoiler:Suhara knew from the beginning the sticky foam didn't fit Carmen's MO in the episode, and prepared a BatmanGambit, but not without subjecting Zack to some [[TricksterMentor Trickster Mentoring]]]].
* ChristmasEpisode: ''Just Like Old Times''
* CoolCar: The C-5 car could qualify as one. All the VILE vehicles certainly count, too.
* CriminalMindGames
* DidNotDoTheResearch: Mostly averted, but there are inaccuracies that only people who are into specialized knowledge would catch. The most glaring example can be seen in ''Retribution, Part 1'' - in a flashback, Carmen (as a detective) mentions the ''RMS Carpathia'' never sank, however [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Carpathia#Sinking the ''Carpathia'' was torpedoed and DID sink during World War I]].
* DoesntLikeGuns: Carmen and ACME.
* DressingAsTheEnemy: Zack and Ivy end up dressed as VILE henchmen a few times, and Ivy takes on the mantle of The Tigress to make Carmen jealous of a new thief in town.
* EccentricMentor: Suhara.
* EnemyMine: A good chunk of the ''Retribution'' episodes. A minor example also happens in ''When It Rains''.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Carmen and [[spoiler:Lee Jordan]] have a falling out over his unwillingness to play by her "rules" by attempting to ''murder'' Zack and Ivy.
** Also Carmen's non-violent brand of thievery as contrasted with Maelstrom's and [[spoiler: Sara Bellum's]].
* EvilCostumeSwitch: Carmen [[spoiler:and Lee Jordan]].
* {{Expy}}: Russian ACME agent Tatiana bears an unmistakable resemblance to Russian [[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Planeteer]] Linka. They also share the same voice actor: KathSoucie.
* FaceHeelTurn: Carmen's BackStory, same as in the game canon. Ditto for [[spoiler: Lee Jordan]] not long after he was introduced. Maelstrom was mentioned to have been a brilliant marine archaeologist before turning to a life of crime.
* FacelessGoons: Any generic VILE henchman.
* FakingTheDead: In ''Follow My Footprints'', [[spoiler: Carmen faked her own death and left a set of clues for her henchmen and Acme to solve. It was all to figure out who was worthy to be her successor . . . ironic that Zack and Ivy were the only ones to actually solve all three clues.]]
* ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself: Zack initially assumes this is how Ivy decided on her costume in the HalloweenEpisode, complete with a [[PaperThinDisguise Paper Thin Mask]]. [[spoiler: It turns out [[DressingAsTheEnemy Ivy was really dressed as Carmen]], and [[MasterOfDisguise Carmen had disguised herself as Ivy]].]]
* ForTheEvulz: Carmen.
* FriendlyEnemy: Carmen.
* FullNameUltimatum: Mild version, since Zack and Ivy don't seem to have last names - Zack is rarely called by his given name (Zachary) unless he's done something to royally piss off Ivy.
* FunWithAcronyms: Back in Carmen's detective days, the Chief was better known as the '''C'''omputerized '''H'''olographic '''I'''maging '''E'''ducational '''F'''acilitator.
* GoshdangItToHeck: Carmen's pretty fond of saying "blast" or "blasted."
* GuestStarPartyMember: Non-video game example (FanonDisContinuity notwithstanding). In some episodes Ivy and Zack will request the assistance of other Acme detectives when they need help, other times the Chief will tell them who they'll be working with.
** It gets reversed in ''Skull and Double-Crossbones'', where Zack and Ivy are the [[GuestStarPartyMember Guest Star Party Members]].
* HalloweenEpisode: ''Trick or Treat''
* HardLight: The Chief's hologram will sometimes behave like this, but at other times things will pass right through.
* HeroicBSOD: The Chief has one through the majority of "Follow My Footprints".
* {{Hologram}}: How the Chief is usually displayed while the detectives are out in the field, via their communicators.
* InsideAComputerSystem: The C5 malfunctions due to Carmen's interference, dumping Zack and Ivy inside the Acme Mainframe.
* {{Jerkass}}: Lee Jordan, who later evolves into a [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] Complete Monster.
* LatexPerfection: How Carmen pulls off her disguise as Marcus Aurelius in ''Labyrinth Part III.''
** [[spoiler:Frank M. Poster]] also engages in this trope as well. See TheRealRemingtonSteele below.
* LimitedWardrobe: Everyone on the show- ACME detectives and VILE henchmen alike- suffers from this.
* LineOfSightName: This is how Zack and Ivy get into one of Carmen's training facilities.
* MadScientist: Sarah Bellum. She eventually has a VillainousBreakdown stemming from a NoodleIncident that was never fully explained.[[hottip:*:*The closest explanation Sarah herself provides is that she got tired of being Carmen's "main brain".]]
* MagicalComputer: The Acme Mainframe can do damn near anything, including teleporting the detectives the whole way to the Moon at one point.
* MagicCountdown: In ''Follow My Footprints'', Zack and Ivy have 60 seconds to catch Sarah Bellum on the Moon, and if the Chief missed with the C5 they'd all be stuck there. As the mainframe's going into its final countdown, the Chief pops up to have a BigDamnHeroes moment, but that takes longer than the 5 seconds remaining.
* MasterOfDisguise: Carmen occasionally dons various outfits and costumes depending on what she's trying to accomplish. Gets turned UpToEleven in the HalloweenEpisode when she disguised herself as [[spoiler: Ivy, even fooling Zack]]. Carmen's henchman [[PunnyName Frank M. Poster]] was also described as this trope.
* MissionControl: The Chief.
* MonumentalTheft: In this series, it was ''slightly'' toned down. As in, "This blank sheet of printer paper weighs ''slightly'' less than this sheet with the word "Hello" printed on it."
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Dr. Maelstrom and Professor Sara Bellum.
* MotorMouth: Carmen's attorney, Lee Galease, is one.
* MundaneUtility: Zack and Ivy have occasionally used the Acme Mainframe to play trivia games or just to keep score when playing indoor sports.
* NiceHat: Carmen's red fedora.
* TheNineties: The show's internal chronology places the events of the series in the 1990s, when it was produced.
* NobodyHereButUsStatues: Done in the Louvre Museum in the very first episode. Subverted when the guards spot them instantly and capture them, and Ivy berates Zack for coming up with such a stupid plan.
* NoFourthWall: The characters are ''not'' aware that they're characters on a tv show, but they ''are'' aware that they're characters in a computer game, and speak directly to the player often.
* NoHonorAmongThieves: Carmen gets betrayed by her henchmen no less than three times during Season 2 alone.
* [[NotHimself Not Herself]]: Zack and Ivy wonder if Carmen has [[SanitySlippage lost her mind]] when some of her crimes border on pure destruction, especially with the theft of the Spruce Goose and torching the Amazon rainforest. They become even more suspicious with some of the clues they receive, saying it wasn't like Carmen to leave extremely easy clues. [[spoiler: It was actually Sarah Bellum [[WigDressAccent impersonating]] Carmen, during the midst of a VillainousBreakdown]].
* NotMeThisTime: The only time that Ivy and Zack actually catch Carmen is when she didn't do what they caught her for.
* NotSoDifferent: Both Lee Jordan and Maelstrom tell Carmen that she is no better than them, despite her "lofty moral superiority."
** Subverted in that Carmen never says this to Zack and Ivy, even though she considers them her successors.
* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Conversed with between Zack and an archaeologist detective.
-->'''Zack:''' Amati, if I fell, would I survive?
-->'''Amati:''' Sure, until you hit the bottom.
* OldShame: The Chief would like to forget he once had a body.
* OneSteveLimit: Subverted. There are three characters who share the name Lee, the first one is [[{{Jerkass}} Lee Jordan]], the second is Lee Galease, and the last one a [[GuestStarPartyMember Guest Star Acme Detective]] who works in Macao. Granted, the Guest Star Detective's name could be spelled a variety of ways and might even be his [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_(surname) surname]], not his first name, but short of closed captioning, his name spelling remains unknown.
* OrientExpress: In "The Gold Old Bad Days", Carmen Sandiego and her V.I.L.E. gang [[SelfImposedChallenge set out to prove they don't need all their high-tech toys and gadgetry]] to pull off several western-themed heists. Carmen's goal is the train.
* OrphansPlotTrinket: Carmen's locket, unseen until the series finale.
* ParentalAbandonment: Zack and Ivy's parents are never seen, also Carmen is apparently an orphan.
** The latter was [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowed]] in a Season 1 episode. It also provides a RedHerringTwist subplot near the end of the series, where Carmen learns she ''might'' be the long-lost daughter of the wealthy industrialist she's stealing from.
* PlayfulHacker: Carmen, her henchman Manny, and Zack.
* PrisonerOfZendaExit
* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Used "Singt dem grossen Bassa Lieder" by Mozart as the opening theme but with a more "modern" sound and obviously different lyrics. The ending theme was sometimes an instrumental version.
* PunnyName: Good Lord, and how. Sara Bellum, Ace Bandage, Clara and Cora Net, Paige Turner, Phill M. Critic, Al Loy, every one of Carmen's henchmen who wasn't a [[FacelessGoons Faceless Goon]] had a job-specific name.
* [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil A Pupil of Mine Until She Turned To Evil]]: Carmen was this for Suhara.
* TheRealRemingtonSteele: Played with. [[spoiler:Sir Nigel Fenwick, an inspector working for Scotland Yard,]] appears briefly in ''A Higher Calling'', but Zack and Ivy don't actually meet [[spoiler:him]] until much later in the series. Who they thought was [[spoiler:Sir Nigel Fenwick]] in ''By a Whisker'' was actually [[spoiler:Carmen's henchman Frank M. Poster [[LatexPerfection impersonating]] him.]] They meet the real deal in ''Birds of a Feather''
* RecurringDreams: Carmen suffers from nightmares in the episode ''Shaman Spirits.''
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: The Chief is effectively a MagicalDatabase with an AI interface, but he's still capable of all the emotions a human is.
* RoguesGallery
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: See TemporalParadox below.
* SiblingRivalry: Zack and Ivy went their separate ways in ''Split Up'' when Ivy wanted to handle the case [[GoodOldWays via old-fashioned detective work]], Zack felt [[PlotTechnology his security system]] was more than enough to handle Carmen's thefts, and the two simply could not cooperate together with their constant bickering.
* SpotTheImposter: The climax of "When It Rains".
* SurroundedByIdiots: The episode "All for One" makes it clear that Carmen is not only VILE's CEO, she's also its [[OnlySaneEmployee Only Sane Employer]].
* TeamPet: Stretch, a K-9 basset hound. [[GuestStarPartyMember Only appears in one episode]], ''Where in America's Past'', and the Junior Detective game, though.
* TechMarchesOn and/or MagicFloppyDisk: The Acme Detective Agency's entire database, Chief AI and all, can supposedly fit on a single standard CD. Granted, it was one of Carmen's own pieces of tech that pulled it off but still, she effectively stole TheOtherWiki and put it on a ''CD''.
* TeenGenius: Zack, and according to her backstory, Carmen.
* TeleportersAndTransporters: The C5 Corridor, highly prone to [[PhlebotinumBreakdown dumping you in the last place you want to be.]]
** This was lampshaded when the detectives travel to the future during Carmen's second time travel heist. After being dumped into yet another ridiculously precarious location, Zack complains that having been 100 years since they left, you'd think they could have worked out the kinks by now.
* TemporalParadox: Happens several times in the series.
** ''A Date With Carmen'': Carmen swipes things from the American Revolution, and causes it to fail. The Chief turns British and the USA is still a colony. A little later on in that heist, she swipes Ben Franklin's key and takes out electricity (along with both time machines) until it's returned.
** ''Timing Is Everything'': Mason Dixon steals a ride in Carmen's time machine, and screws up the past to the point where Carmen's just a low ranking member of VILE with poor self-esteem.
* TemptingFate: Happens every now and then. Zack is generally the instigator when it looks like things can't get any worse.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: This would explain why Carmen is talking to a hypnotist after the traumatic events of the series finale, instead of...you know...a shrink.
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Pretty much the plot of ''Curses, Foiled Again'' - everything in the episode takes place on Friday the 13th.
* TimeMachine: Two of them: the Chronoskimmer, which looks like a PDA or remote control and is used along with the C5, and Carmen's timepod, which looks like a more traditional time machine.
* TitleDrop: The Player drops the title of "Music to My Ears" in his end talking with Carmen Sandiego.
* TranslationConvention: Averted. Instead of everybody around the world speaking English, people in non-English-speaking countries actually speak their native language (often with subtitles). Fortunately, Zack knows a large-but-never-specified number of languages and can almost always translate.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It's really, '''REALLY''' Nineties.
* UniversalDriversLicense: Played with in Zack's case, interestingly enough. He can barely drive the C-5 car, but seems to have no problems operating single (or double, at most) passenger hovercrafts and vehicles, even if it belongs to VILE.
* VillainExitStageLeft: Zack and Ivy always get to Carmen just in time to ''watch her escape'', after which one of them says something like, "Maybe next time!" Yeah, right.
* VillainProtagonist
* VillainousRescue: Carmen saves Zack and Ivy's bacon numerous times, but it especially applies to her defeat of Maelstrom and Lee Jordan.
* VillainsOutShopping: Literal example in ''Moondreams'', where Carmen and two of her henchpeople went to a toy store and actually paid for a toy. Subverted when the Chief mentions an uptick in VILE activity around the world and that Carmen was possibly planning something in the works.
* WhenIWasYourAge: Carmen points out she didn't have all the fancy technology Zack and Ivy take for granted back when she was an Acme detective. The flashback in ''Retribution, Part 1'' shows how [[JustifiedTrope justified]] she was.
* [[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys Where Does She Get All Those Wonderful Toys]]: Zack and Ivy undoubtedly wonder that of Carmen, and the master thief herself said something like that of Maelstrom in a flashback episode.
* WorthyOpponent: Carmen is sometimes depicted as genuinely liking Zack and Ivy, and enjoying the ongoing battle of wits she has with them.
** Zack and Ivy seem to have some form of respect for Carmen as well, even letting her have a MercyLead in one episode.
* XanatosGambit: One episode has Carmen creating a huge diamond, which she then uses to scramble the laser that somehow runs ACME's main computer system, effectively shutting it down. Zack then reconfigures it so that, instead of scrambling the system, the diamond ''increases'' the computer's efficiency, letting them ''almost'' catch her. Toward the end, Ivy mentions that Carmen must have known that was a possibility, and she and Zack are left wondering if she did the whole thing to give herself more of a challenge.
----
''Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?'' was a Saturday morning cartoon based on the ''CarmenSandiego'' EdutainmentGame series. ''Where on Earth...'' ran on {{Fox}} in TheNineties.
In the ''Earth'' series, a BrotherSisterTeam tracks Carmen, who gradually became more and more of FriendlyEnemy than she ever was in the computer games. ''Earth'' seems to be set in an AlternateContinuity in relation to the rest of the series, although Broderbund did include some characters from it in ''Carmen Sandiego: Junior Detective Edition''.
----
!!This show provides examples of:
* TheAce: Lee Jordan, initially. Despite having solved over a hundred cases in four years, capturing Carmen at one point in his career, and having saved Ivy's life in the most dramatic way possible, though, his poor treatment and disrespect towards Ivy [[spoiler:(along with sabotaging the Pentagon's computer systems, forcing Zack to pull out of the case temporarily) and Carmen (when he starts working for her after defecting from Acme)]] [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructs]] him into the {{Jerkass}} and ''much'' [[TheSociopath worse.]]
* ActionGirl: Ivy, with her multiple black belts. Carmen could also kick a fair amount of ass back in her detective days as well.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Carmen went from brown hair to black hair.
* AffablyEvil: Carmen.
* {{AFGNCAAP}}: The Player. We can see their skin, and it ''looks'' white, but that's about it.
** Some episodes had a dark-skinned girl as The Player.
* AIIsACrapshoot: There's an "evil" twin of the Chief in one of VILE's training facilities.
* AlternateContinuity: The ''Where on Earth...?'' arc is separate from the rest of the CarmenSandiego series. The black-haired Carmen in this cartoon has not appeared in any other story; even in the ''Junior Detective'' computer game, her canon foes Zack and Ivy were chasing the original, brunette Carmen.
** The FaceBook game may possibly be the closest version to match Carmen's characterization from the cartoon, not only in described appearance (black hair, light-colored eyes), but also her BackStory as an orphan and aversion to violence.
* BadassLongcoat: Carmen's got a sexy red one.
* {{Beyond The| Impossible}} ImpossibleThief: She manages to swipe Mona Lisa's smile and even tries to make off with the Statue of Liberty in the opening. And that's leaving out the things she swiped in her first time travel heist that changed history, or technology to steal musical talent!
** Lampshaded in "The Stolen Smile," where the Chief, after saying Carmen has [[DoNotAdjustYourSet stolen all the world's TV signals]], adds quietly, "Don't ask me how she did it."
* [[BigBrotherInstinct Big Sister Instinct]]: Ivy often has to protect Zack as he's the younger and weaker of the two.
* BilingualBonus: Sometimes the foreign languages in the show aren't always subtitled, though in the dvd releases that seems to have been fixed.
* BrandX: The Illuma Pad toy in ''Moondreams'' looks and seems to function very similarly to Hasbro's Lite Brite toys.
* BrotherSisterTeam: Zack and Ivy.
* ButNotTooEvil: Broderbund on the title character; the show's writers responded, ultimately, by making Carmen into an AntiVillain.
* CallBack: When Zack tells [[GuestStarPartyMember Tatiana]] he could kiss her after solving one of Carmen's clues, she tells him, "I never kiss on the first case." Later in the series [[{{Jerkass}} Lee Jordan]] says the exact same thing to Ivy, and Ivy shoots him down with the same exact words Tatiana said to Zack.
** Another CallBack: After getting the history of the American Revolution back to normal in "A Date With Carmen: Part 2", Zack set down the Chronoskimmer just for a second -- in which it gets swiped. In "Labyrinth: Part 1", Zack recalls the stolen Chronoskimmer and the Chief recalls his British accent from the first time travel incident.
* CatchPhrase: Carmen's signoff, "Until next crime."
* [=~Chekhov's Gun~=]: The [[spoiler:anti-crime sticky foam]] Carmen had stolen at the beginning in ''Deja Vu'' becomes this when the time came for Carmen to make her getaway. Interestingly enough, [[spoiler:Suhara knew from the beginning the sticky foam didn't fit Carmen's MO in the episode, and prepared a BatmanGambit, but not without subjecting Zack to some [[TricksterMentor Trickster Mentoring]]]].
* ChristmasEpisode: ''Just Like Old Times''
* CoolCar: The C-5 car could qualify as one. All the VILE vehicles certainly count, too.
* CriminalMindGames
* DidNotDoTheResearch: Mostly averted, but there are inaccuracies that only people who are into specialized knowledge would catch. The most glaring example can be seen in ''Retribution, Part 1'' - in a flashback, Carmen (as a detective) mentions the ''RMS Carpathia'' never sank, however [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Carpathia#Sinking the ''Carpathia'' was torpedoed and DID sink during World War I]].
* DoesntLikeGuns: Carmen and ACME.
* DressingAsTheEnemy: Zack and Ivy end up dressed as VILE henchmen a few times, and Ivy takes on the mantle of The Tigress to make Carmen jealous of a new thief in town.
* EccentricMentor: Suhara.
* EnemyMine: A good chunk of the ''Retribution'' episodes. A minor example also happens in ''When It Rains''.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Carmen and [[spoiler:Lee Jordan]] have a falling out over his unwillingness to play by her "rules" by attempting to ''murder'' Zack and Ivy.
** Also Carmen's non-violent brand of thievery as contrasted with Maelstrom's and [[spoiler: Sara Bellum's]].
* EvilCostumeSwitch: Carmen [[spoiler:and Lee Jordan]].
* {{Expy}}: Russian ACME agent Tatiana bears an unmistakable resemblance to Russian [[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Planeteer]] Linka. They also share the same voice actor: KathSoucie.
* FaceHeelTurn: Carmen's BackStory, same as in the game canon. Ditto for [[spoiler: Lee Jordan]] not long after he was introduced. Maelstrom was mentioned to have been a brilliant marine archaeologist before turning to a life of crime.
* FacelessGoons: Any generic VILE henchman.
* FakingTheDead: In ''Follow My Footprints'', [[spoiler: Carmen faked her own death and left a set of clues for her henchmen and Acme to solve. It was all to figure out who was worthy to be her successor . . . ironic that Zack and Ivy were the only ones to actually solve all three clues.]]
* ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself: Zack initially assumes this is how Ivy decided on her costume in the HalloweenEpisode, complete with a [[PaperThinDisguise Paper Thin Mask]]. [[spoiler: It turns out [[DressingAsTheEnemy Ivy was really dressed as Carmen]], and [[MasterOfDisguise Carmen had disguised herself as Ivy]].]]
* ForTheEvulz: Carmen.
* FriendlyEnemy: Carmen.
* FullNameUltimatum: Mild version, since Zack and Ivy don't seem to have last names - Zack is rarely called by his given name (Zachary) unless he's done something to royally piss off Ivy.
* FunWithAcronyms: Back in Carmen's detective days, the Chief was better known as the '''C'''omputerized '''H'''olographic '''I'''maging '''E'''ducational '''F'''acilitator.
* GoshdangItToHeck: Carmen's pretty fond of saying "blast" or "blasted."
* GuestStarPartyMember: Non-video game example (FanonDisContinuity notwithstanding). In some episodes Ivy and Zack will request the assistance of other Acme detectives when they need help, other times the Chief will tell them who they'll be working with.
** It gets reversed in ''Skull and Double-Crossbones'', where Zack and Ivy are the [[GuestStarPartyMember Guest Star Party Members]].
* HalloweenEpisode: ''Trick or Treat''
* HardLight: The Chief's hologram will sometimes behave like this, but at other times things will pass right through.
* HeroicBSOD: The Chief has one through the majority of "Follow My Footprints".
* {{Hologram}}: How the Chief is usually displayed while the detectives are out in the field, via their communicators.
* InsideAComputerSystem: The C5 malfunctions due to Carmen's interference, dumping Zack and Ivy inside the Acme Mainframe.
* {{Jerkass}}: Lee Jordan, who later evolves into a [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] Complete Monster.
* LatexPerfection: How Carmen pulls off her disguise as Marcus Aurelius in ''Labyrinth Part III.''
** [[spoiler:Frank M. Poster]] also engages in this trope as well. See TheRealRemingtonSteele below.
* LimitedWardrobe: Everyone on the show- ACME detectives and VILE henchmen alike- suffers from this.
* LineOfSightName: This is how Zack and Ivy get into one of Carmen's training facilities.
* MadScientist: Sarah Bellum. She eventually has a VillainousBreakdown stemming from a NoodleIncident that was never fully explained.[[hottip:*:*The closest explanation Sarah herself provides is that she got tired of being Carmen's "main brain".]]
* MagicalComputer: The Acme Mainframe can do damn near anything, including teleporting the detectives the whole way to the Moon at one point.
* MagicCountdown: In ''Follow My Footprints'', Zack and Ivy have 60 seconds to catch Sarah Bellum on the Moon, and if the Chief missed with the C5 they'd all be stuck there. As the mainframe's going into its final countdown, the Chief pops up to have a BigDamnHeroes moment, but that takes longer than the 5 seconds remaining.
* MasterOfDisguise: Carmen occasionally dons various outfits and costumes depending on what she's trying to accomplish. Gets turned UpToEleven in the HalloweenEpisode when she disguised herself as [[spoiler: Ivy, even fooling Zack]]. Carmen's henchman [[PunnyName Frank M. Poster]] was also described as this trope.
* MissionControl: The Chief.
* MonumentalTheft: In this series, it was ''slightly'' toned down. As in, "This blank sheet of printer paper weighs ''slightly'' less than this sheet with the word "Hello" printed on it."
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Dr. Maelstrom and Professor Sara Bellum.
* MotorMouth: Carmen's attorney, Lee Galease, is one.
* MundaneUtility: Zack and Ivy have occasionally used the Acme Mainframe to play trivia games or just to keep score when playing indoor sports.
* NiceHat: Carmen's red fedora.
* TheNineties: The show's internal chronology places the events of the series in the 1990s, when it was produced.
* NobodyHereButUsStatues: Done in the Louvre Museum in the very first episode. Subverted when the guards spot them instantly and capture them, and Ivy berates Zack for coming up with such a stupid plan.
* NoFourthWall: The characters are ''not'' aware that they're characters on a tv show, but they ''are'' aware that they're characters in a computer game, and speak directly to the player often.
* NoHonorAmongThieves: Carmen gets betrayed by her henchmen no less than three times during Season 2 alone.
* [[NotHimself Not Herself]]: Zack and Ivy wonder if Carmen has [[SanitySlippage lost her mind]] when some of her crimes border on pure destruction, especially with the theft of the Spruce Goose and torching the Amazon rainforest. They become even more suspicious with some of the clues they receive, saying it wasn't like Carmen to leave extremely easy clues. [[spoiler: It was actually Sarah Bellum [[WigDressAccent impersonating]] Carmen, during the midst of a VillainousBreakdown]].
* NotMeThisTime: The only time that Ivy and Zack actually catch Carmen is when she didn't do what they caught her for.
* NotSoDifferent: Both Lee Jordan and Maelstrom tell Carmen that she is no better than them, despite her "lofty moral superiority."
** Subverted in that Carmen never says this to Zack and Ivy, even though she considers them her successors.
* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Conversed with between Zack and an archaeologist detective.
-->'''Zack:''' Amati, if I fell, would I survive?
-->'''Amati:''' Sure, until you hit the bottom.
* OldShame: The Chief would like to forget he once had a body.
* OneSteveLimit: Subverted. There are three characters who share the name Lee, the first one is [[{{Jerkass}} Lee Jordan]], the second is Lee Galease, and the last one a [[GuestStarPartyMember Guest Star Acme Detective]] who works in Macao. Granted, the Guest Star Detective's name could be spelled a variety of ways and might even be his [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_(surname) surname]], not his first name, but short of closed captioning, his name spelling remains unknown.
* OrientExpress: In "The Gold Old Bad Days", Carmen Sandiego and her V.I.L.E. gang [[SelfImposedChallenge set out to prove they don't need all their high-tech toys and gadgetry]] to pull off several western-themed heists. Carmen's goal is the train.
* OrphansPlotTrinket: Carmen's locket, unseen until the series finale.
* ParentalAbandonment: Zack and Ivy's parents are never seen, also Carmen is apparently an orphan.
** The latter was [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowed]] in a Season 1 episode. It also provides a RedHerringTwist subplot near the end of the series, where Carmen learns she ''might'' be the long-lost daughter of the wealthy industrialist she's stealing from.
* PlayfulHacker: Carmen, her henchman Manny, and Zack.
* PrisonerOfZendaExit
* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Used "Singt dem grossen Bassa Lieder" by Mozart as the opening theme but with a more "modern" sound and obviously different lyrics. The ending theme was sometimes an instrumental version.
* PunnyName: Good Lord, and how. Sara Bellum, Ace Bandage, Clara and Cora Net, Paige Turner, Phill M. Critic, Al Loy, every one of Carmen's henchmen who wasn't a [[FacelessGoons Faceless Goon]] had a job-specific name.
* [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil A Pupil of Mine Until She Turned To Evil]]: Carmen was this for Suhara.
* TheRealRemingtonSteele: Played with. [[spoiler:Sir Nigel Fenwick, an inspector working for Scotland Yard,]] appears briefly in ''A Higher Calling'', but Zack and Ivy don't actually meet [[spoiler:him]] until much later in the series. Who they thought was [[spoiler:Sir Nigel Fenwick]] in ''By a Whisker'' was actually [[spoiler:Carmen's henchman Frank M. Poster [[LatexPerfection impersonating]] him.]] They meet the real deal in ''Birds of a Feather''
* RecurringDreams: Carmen suffers from nightmares in the episode ''Shaman Spirits.''
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: The Chief is effectively a MagicalDatabase with an AI interface, but he's still capable of all the emotions a human is.
* RoguesGallery
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: See TemporalParadox below.
* SiblingRivalry: Zack and Ivy went their separate ways in ''Split Up'' when Ivy wanted to handle the case [[GoodOldWays via old-fashioned detective work]], Zack felt [[PlotTechnology his security system]] was more than enough to handle Carmen's thefts, and the two simply could not cooperate together with their constant bickering.
* SpotTheImposter: The climax of "When It Rains".
* SurroundedByIdiots: The episode "All for One" makes it clear that Carmen is not only VILE's CEO, she's also its [[OnlySaneEmployee Only Sane Employer]].
* TeamPet: Stretch, a K-9 basset hound. [[GuestStarPartyMember Only appears in one episode]], ''Where in America's Past'', and the Junior Detective game, though.
* TechMarchesOn and/or MagicFloppyDisk: The Acme Detective Agency's entire database, Chief AI and all, can supposedly fit on a single standard CD. Granted, it was one of Carmen's own pieces of tech that pulled it off but still, she effectively stole TheOtherWiki and put it on a ''CD''.
* TeenGenius: Zack, and according to her backstory, Carmen.
* TeleportersAndTransporters: The C5 Corridor, highly prone to [[PhlebotinumBreakdown dumping you in the last place you want to be.]]
** This was lampshaded when the detectives travel to the future during Carmen's second time travel heist. After being dumped into yet another ridiculously precarious location, Zack complains that having been 100 years since they left, you'd think they could have worked out the kinks by now.
* TemporalParadox: Happens several times in the series.
** ''A Date With Carmen'': Carmen swipes things from the American Revolution, and causes it to fail. The Chief turns British and the USA is still a colony. A little later on in that heist, she swipes Ben Franklin's key and takes out electricity (along with both time machines) until it's returned.
** ''Timing Is Everything'': Mason Dixon steals a ride in Carmen's time machine, and screws up the past to the point where Carmen's just a low ranking member of VILE with poor self-esteem.
* TemptingFate: Happens every now and then. Zack is generally the instigator when it looks like things can't get any worse.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: This would explain why Carmen is talking to a hypnotist after the traumatic events of the series finale, instead of...you know...a shrink.
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Pretty much the plot of ''Curses, Foiled Again'' - everything in the episode takes place on Friday the 13th.
* TimeMachine: Two of them: the Chronoskimmer, which looks like a PDA or remote control and is used along with the C5, and Carmen's timepod, which looks like a more traditional time machine.
* TitleDrop: The Player drops the title of "Music to My Ears" in his end talking with Carmen Sandiego.
* TranslationConvention: Averted. Instead of everybody around the world speaking English, people in non-English-speaking countries actually speak their native language (often with subtitles). Fortunately, Zack knows a large-but-never-specified number of languages and can almost always translate.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It's really, '''REALLY''' Nineties.
* UniversalDriversLicense: Played with in Zack's case, interestingly enough. He can barely drive the C-5 car, but seems to have no problems operating single (or double, at most) passenger hovercrafts and vehicles, even if it belongs to VILE.
* VillainExitStageLeft: Zack and Ivy always get to Carmen just in time to ''watch her escape'', after which one of them says something like, "Maybe next time!" Yeah, right.
* VillainProtagonist
* VillainousRescue: Carmen saves Zack and Ivy's bacon numerous times, but it especially applies to her defeat of Maelstrom and Lee Jordan.
* VillainsOutShopping: Literal example in ''Moondreams'', where Carmen and two of her henchpeople went to a toy store and actually paid for a toy. Subverted when the Chief mentions an uptick in VILE activity around the world and that Carmen was possibly planning something in the works.
* WhenIWasYourAge: Carmen points out she didn't have all the fancy technology Zack and Ivy take for granted back when she was an Acme detective. The flashback in ''Retribution, Part 1'' shows how [[JustifiedTrope justified]] she was.
* [[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys Where Does She Get All Those Wonderful Toys]]: Zack and Ivy undoubtedly wonder that of Carmen, and the master thief herself said something like that of Maelstrom in a flashback episode.
* WorthyOpponent: Carmen is sometimes depicted as genuinely liking Zack and Ivy, and enjoying the ongoing battle of wits she has with them.
** Zack and Ivy seem to have some form of respect for Carmen as well, even letting her have a MercyLead in one episode.
* XanatosGambit: One episode has Carmen creating a huge diamond, which she then uses to scramble the laser that somehow runs ACME's main computer system, effectively shutting it down. Zack then reconfigures it so that, instead of scrambling the system, the diamond ''increases'' the computer's efficiency, letting them ''almost'' catch her. Toward the end, Ivy mentions that Carmen must have known that was a possibility, and she and Zack are left wondering if she did the whole thing to give herself more of a challenge.
----
