History YMMV / CaptainUnderpants

* DesignatedHero: George and Harold have a tendency to slip into this with some of their pranks. In the first book, they cause enough disruption at a school football game to get the school to forfeit it, and subsequently ruin everyone else's day, and Captain Underpants is later created as a result of their attempt to avoid being punished for this. In the second book, they sabotage the school's Invention Convention out of spite because they were banned. Why were they banned? Because the previous year, they played a prank on the teachers and every other student by secretly gluing them to their chairs. These only apply to the first five books, however. As the books continue, we see more outside threats not by them or by returning villains.

** Professor Poopypants. He just wanted people to stop laughing at his name, though George and Harold point out that he could have simply changed it rather than forcing everyone else to change their name into something ridiculous.

** ''Literature/DogMan'' was written by the same person who writes ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants''. Naturally, it only makes sense for fans of the latter to be fans of the former.

** In Book 2, both the boys and Captain Underpants have to face off against an army of talking toilets. [[WebAnimation/SkibidiToilet Twenty-four years later...]]

* {{Woolseyism}}: In ''Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman'', there is a gag where George and Harold change a sign that says “People - Please Wear Your Socks On The Gym Floor” to “Please Go Pee-Pee On Your Socks For Warmth.” In the Japanese translation, the sign originally says “Rouka wa '''shizuka ni''' arukimashou!” (“Please walk quietly in the halls!”), but George and Harold change it to “Rouka wa '''kani''' aruki '''shi'''mashou!” (“Please do the crab-walk in the halls!”)

* {{Woolseyism}}: In ‘’Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman’’, there is a gag where George and Harold change a sign that says “People - Please Wear Your Socks On The Gym Floor” to “Please Go Pee-Pee On Your Socks For Warmth.” In the Japanese translation, the sign originally says “Rouka wa '''shizuka ni''' arukimashou!” (“Please walk quietly in the halls!”), but George and Harold change it to “Rouka wa '''kani''' aruki '''shi'''mashou!” (“Please do the crab-walk in the halls!”)

** A RunningGag is that a ginger child tries to inform their mother of all the crazy things going on right in front of them, but the mother is always distracted by something and never notices. Ten years later, and [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb that sounds very similar to a certain show...]]

** The children affected by the Rid-O-Kid 2000, being stoned faced, robotic and mindlessly obedient to adults (Mr. Meaner even has a LastSecondWordSwap in his commercial where he calls them ''slaves''). What's worse? ''Every single adult in Piqua is perfectly okay with and even supports this.'' '''''[[KickTheDog Including George and Harold's parents]]''''' after past George and Harold get affected by it.

* BizarroEpisode: ''The Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers.'' Not only does the book's WholeEpisodeFlashback have little relevance to the plot going forward, but the flashback itself has a pretty different tone from the rest of the series. It contains no fantastical elements of any kind, nor does it have anything to do with Captain Underpants because the flashback takes place years before George and Harold even invented the character. It's also significnatly longer than any other book in the series.

** There's also an overlap with ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' fans, due to the fact that they were at the height of their popularity during similar times, along with both series having somewhat similar art styles and characters.

!!For the {{Spin Off}}s
* EsotericHappyEnding: The ending of ''The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers''. Billy and Diaper Dog stop Rip Van Tinkle from destroying the city, but they never actually solve the lack of toilets problem, when the lack of toilets was the main conflict of the book in the first place. Despite this, the ending is still presented as a "happy" one.

* EsotericHappyEnding: In book 12, [[spoiler:the final fate of the original incantations of George and Harold is them going on a wild goose chase through space and time in an attempt to rescue Crackers and Sulu. For twenty years, Yesterday George and Harold had no idea where they went, so this means that George and Harold ''never made it back home.'' Their last interaction with their parents was them saying they liked the brainwashed versions of their sons better, they never got to become the future versions of themselves that they were so excited about, and they seemingly failed in their mission to save Crackers and Sulu.]]

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: A common complaint about the series is how unlikable the characters are. George and Harold are {{DesignatedHero}}es who [[KarmaHoudini frequently get away with their actions]], Mr. Krupp is a [[HairTriggerTemper temperamental]] DeanBitterman, [[SadistTeacher the teachers]] are {{Jerkass}}es who torment their students, steal their lunches and force them to [[WritingLines write lines]] like "I'm so ugly, when I was born, the doctor slapped my mom" and Melvin is an [[InsufferableGenius insufferable]] [[TheStoolPigeon tattletale]] who enjoys getting George and Harold in trouble (though to be fair, while he is obnoxious about it, [[JerkassHasAPoint there are a few times where he's justified in snitching on George and Harold]]). Even the actual villains look better. After a while, it's really hard to care about what happens.
* ValuesDissonance: George and Harold often causing mischief at their school hasn't aged very well. Granted, while this was considered rather surprising for a book series aimed at young kids, nowadays, this type of behavior is considered much more inappropriate and would most likely get them more than detention. Instead, they would get expelled.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: A common complaint about the series is how unlikable the characters are. George and Harold are {{DesignatedHero}}es who [[KarmaHoudini frequently get away with their actions]], Mr. Krupp is a [[HairTriggerTemper temperamental]] DeanBitterman, the teachers are major {{Jerkass}}es and Melvin is an [[InsufferableGenius insufferblae]] [[TheStoolPigeon tattletale]] who, [[JerkAssHasAPoint while him wanting to get George and Harold in trouble is understandable]], how unlikable he is depends on the reader. Even the actual villains look better. After a while, it's really hard to care about what happens.

* ValuesDissonance: George and Harold often causing mischief at their school hasn't aged very well. Granted, while this was considered rather surprising for a book series aimed at young kids, nowadays, this type of behavior is considered much more inappropriate and would most likely get them more than detention.

** In Book 3, the boys have to deal with an army of Zombie Nerds. You can’t help but wonder if Tom Warburton read this one, seeing as how an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has almost the exact same premise.

** A {{RunningGag}} is that a ginger child tries to inform their mother of all the crazy things going on right in front of them, but the mother is always distracted by something and never notices. Ten years later, and [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb that sounds very similar to a certain show...]]