| 1 | A character sheet for the lead characters and significant recurring characters in ''WesternAnimation/Superbook2011''. (For the recurring characters, "significant" means that they physically appear in at least two episodes and are given special focus in at least one of those.) |
| 2 | |
| 3 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 4 | !!Main Characters |
| 5 | [[folder:Chris Quantum]] |
| 6 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_chris.jpg]] |
| 7 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SamuelVincent |
| 8 | The series' main character, Chris is an avid skateboarder and guitarist who loves video-games and pizza. |
| 9 | * AesopAmnesia: Numerous episodes have Chris needing to learn, again and again, not to be an arrogant, self-centered douche-bag. |
| 10 | * AnimeHair: Chris has the classic voluminous anime spikes in the front, which look pretty strange next to the relatively standard hairstyles of the other characters. This is probably a ShoutOut to his design in [[Anime/{{Superbook}} the original series.]] |
| 11 | ** One episode makes a MythologyGag of this, with his hair temporarily frazzled out in the exact same way as the original Chris's. |
| 12 | * ArbitrarySkepticism: Undergoes an outright ridiculous case of this in "The Fiery Furnace." Sure, Chris interacts regularly with a sentient tablet-computer that can open time-travel portals, he's got a DoAnythingRobot, he's seen angels and demons, he's witnessed Jesus performing miracles firsthand, he's seen that a giant like Goliath actually exists, he's watched Moses interact with a burning bush and part the Red Sea, but in this episode he has trouble believing that the fiery furnace (which, for the record, has nothing supernatural about it just yet) really exists--even after Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego bluntly tell him it exists, then hearing Nebuchadnezzar's herald announce it OUT LOUD FOR EVERYONE IN BABYLON TO HEAR that anyone who refuses to bow down to the king's statue will be thrown into the furnace. The look on the three Hebrews' faces when Chris suggests they'll just be demoted for disobeying the king, knowing what they themselves told him and what the herald announced hours earlier, speaks volumes. |
| 13 | * BerserkButton: If you cause damage to his property, Chris gets extremely vengeful. In "David and Saul," after two thuggish kids smash his guitar out of spite, his attempt at retaliation ''starts'' with him ordering Gizmo to hack into their train-car and cut the lights, and based on Joy's alarmed reaction, it's clear that Chris intends to get physical with the two--though fortunately for all involved, Superbook comes on the scene before Gizmo can start the hacking process. Not even Joy herself is safe from the effects of this particular trigger, as seen in "Jacob and Esau" when she accidentally splashes Gizmo's exposed motherboard with a water-balloon during a water-war in the backyard and messes up his circuitry; while Chris doesn't get physical with her, he does loudly and verbally confront her and then vows never to forgive her (of course, that's when Superbook shows up for its obligatory time-warp). |
| 14 | * BigEater: "In the Beginning" shows Chris drinking five blended fruit smoothies (made by Gizmo from the fruits in the Garden of Eden) in a row with no sign of strain and no hint of stopping. "Let My People Go" begins with Chris proudly recalling how he ate an entire pepperoni-pineapple pizza the previous summer. |
| 15 | * BookDumb: A very downplayed example. While he's smart enough to understand robotics, his general grades at school are average to good, but not nearly as good as Joy's (she tends to get in the high percentile range by comparison). This is likely due to Chris not studying nearly as often as he could or should, as "The Fiery Furnace" sees him freaking out over a quiz he failed to prepare for. |
| 16 | * ButtMonkey: While he doesn't get this as often as Gizmo, Chris can still fall prey to this depending on the episode. "Isaac and Rebekah" is the most prominent example for him. |
| 17 | * CloudcuckoolandersMinder: With Joy, for Gizmo. |
| 18 | * CoolBoard: Like many other kids in the series, Chris has one with a single large spherical wheel on the underside. |
| 19 | * CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Brown hair, brown eyes. |
| 20 | * DeadpanSnarker: He's good at delivering the occasional snarky line. For instance, in "The Good Samaritan," here's his response when Joy wants to trail a schoolmate of theirs who habitually takes all the ketchup packages from their local pizza parlor: |
| 21 | -->'''Chris:''' News at 10--ketchup packs go missing from the pizza shop. Yeah, let's break the story wide open. |
| 22 | * EveryoneHasStandards: Chris has a lot of flaws that he has to rectify throughout the series, including having a hot temper, being obsessed with revenge when he's been wronged, being slow to apologize when he causes offence, being pretty self-centered in general, and oftentimes getting into trouble. However, he does not believe in discriminating against the disabled, as "For Such a Time as This" has him telling Joy straight-up that it's wrong for the Girl's Leadership Club president Janice to try and exclude new student Bonnie from the club just because the latter happens to be in a wheelchair, and urging Joy to stand up to Bonnie for it (Joy's struggling with whether she should speak up and risk being expelled from the club herself). |
| 23 | * {{Fanboy}}: "Paul and the Unknown God, Part 1" starts with Chris being this toward Commander Duke Conrad, to the point of him having a number of memorabilia with the man's face on them. However, Conrad soon becomes a BrokenPedestal for Chris once he mocks Chris's faith in God. |
| 24 | * FourPhilosophyEnsemble: The Realist. He tends to be the self-appointed leader of the group, the Red Oni to Joy's Blue Oni, and often willing to circumvent rules. |
| 25 | * FourTemperamentEnsemble: Choleric. Of the main four, he's most likely to proactively pursue physical solutions to problems; he tends to be the one to give orders to Gizmo more than Joy is (understandable, since he's Gizmo's owner); more than once he's designated himself as the leader of the kids' group (even if he doesn't say it in such obvious words); but he also tends to be rather stubborn and rebellious when it comes to doing things ''his'' way. |
| 26 | * GadgeteerGenius: Not quite on his father's level, but Chris certainly has a scientific mind. In "Nehemiah," for instance, he builds a functioning hoverboard ramp (with a little help from Professor Quantum), and in "Isaac and Rebekah," he's able to assemble a functioning exo-skeleton that Professor Quantum has built (though he initially and deliberately neglects to follow the assembly instructions to the letter). |
| 27 | * GamingClan: He's been a member of at least ''three'' of these at different points throughout the series, and in fact is the team leader for one of them in "Solomon's Temple." |
| 28 | * GarageBand: He's the lead guitarist in one. |
| 29 | * HotBlooded: Since he's usually the Red Oni to Joy's Blue Oni, Chris gets like this a lot, except of course in those episodes where Joy's the one with the moral conflict and their Oni roles are switched. Usually, though, Chris is the one who wants to come up with plans where they do something physical to help the Bible hero of whichever story they're there to witness (wanting to aid Joshua's spies at Jericho or help Daniel and his friends escape Nebuchadnezzar's order to kill all the wise men, for instance). |
| 30 | * ItRunsInTheFamily: Apparently, Chris having a scientific bent came from both sides of his family. His maternal grandfather got several scientific awards in his life, as revealed in "Teach Us to Pray." And, of course, there's his father Professor Quantum, a genius inventor; in "Paul and the Unknown God, Part 1," space explorer Commander Conrad even makes the comparison. |
| 31 | -->'''Commander Conrad:''' Like your father, I suspect you've got science built into your DNA, Chris. |
| 32 | * ItsAllAboutMe: Chris has had to be called out on having this attitude more than once. |
| 33 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Oftentimes selfish, craves stardom at others' expense, rebellious, but he truly does care about Joy, Gizmo, and his family. |
| 34 | * MadeOfIron: |
| 35 | ** "In the Beginning" has him putting on his father's newest jetpack invention without permission. The jetpack's thruster malfunctions, sending Chris bouncing off the ceiling and walls of the lab before crashing through Professor Quantum's blackboard and into the wall behind it. Granted, he's wearing the helmet that comes with the jetpack, but considering how fast he was flying and how hard he was bouncing, at the very least he should be knocked out cold, if not nursing broken bones--and yet the worst that he suffers is a few seconds of dizziness as he gets back up, before eventually reorienting. |
| 36 | ** Downplayed a bit in "Job," where he does suffer a realistic injury. As Gizmo recounts to Joy, with an accompanying video recording for illustration, among the unfortunate events Chris had to suffer that week was a tree crashing through his room's skylight window during a terrible storm and landing on top of him. Luckily, the worst injury he suffered from that event was one broken arm, as opposed to, say, his ''everything'' being crushed by the tree; and even then, when Joy sees Chris not long after, he's casually waving that same arm around even as it's set in a cast, and can even make a fist with the affected hand, all without any visible pain (note that this is mere ''days'' after the arm got broken). |
| 37 | * MagicVersusScience: In the two-parter "Paul and the Unknown God," where the "religion versus science" variant is the crux of the modern-day conflict, Chris is on the religion side of the equation against Commander Conrad's science-based stance, although he (and Joy also) posits that the two sides don't have to be mutually exclusive, citing famous scientists like George Washington Carver and Isaac Newton who also believed in God. |
| 38 | * MusclesAreMeaningless: He's short and doesn't look at first glance like he could mash an ant, yet in "In the Beginning," he's strong enough to grab Joy and Gizmo simultaneously, with one hand each (around the waist for the former and by the scruff of the neck for the latter), and leap himself and them out of the way of a flung Lucifer without a hint of strain. This is especially impressive when you consider that Gizmo's carrying a whole host of things inside his chest-cavity that, {{Hammerspace}} notwithstanding, should rightfully weigh him down. Chris demonstrates this strength again in "Miracles of Jesus," when he grabs a prone Gizmo by the nape of the neck with one hand to yank him out of the way of a stampeding herd of pigs (the same pigs in whom the legion of demons enter after being banished from the possessed man by Jesus). All this could well be explained by his skateboarding skill (skateboarding builds muscular strength as well as cardiovascular health). |
| 39 | * MysteriousMiddleInitial: "Heroes of the Bible" reveals that Chris has a middle initial, "J" (Joy uses it as part of a FullNameUltimatum), but what it stands for isn't revealed. |
| 40 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Chris is usually known for being headstrong and determined, refusing to give up no matter what odds he may be faced with. So when he's [[DespairEventHorizon hit badly enough by despair that he won't even bother to keep going]], it's a serious cause for worry. So far, this has happened twice: |
| 41 | ** In "Revelation," he [[HeroicBSOD shuts down]] and insists that nothing will ever be okay again [[spoiler:after accidentally burning down the family house]]. During the resulting Superbook trip, in which the kids are separated from each other, Joy is insistent on getting back to Chris since now isn't the time for him to be alone, while Satan takes the opportunity to try and tempt Chris to his side by playing on the boy's despair. |
| 42 | ** "Job" starts with Chris in this state after having just lost his beloved grandfather. While he's suffered various other misfortunes throughout that week, his grandfather's death is the latest and most devastating of all, with him openly declaring that there's no point in continuing to try and do good. |
| 43 | * PrimaryColorChampion: A downplayed example. His guitar is red with a yellow edge on its borders, his skateboard and its accompanying helmet are red with yellow designs, and he has a red shirt with yellow lines--but none of those show up in every single episode. His most usual outfit is his school uniform, a white shirt with a green vest and khaki pants. |
| 44 | * {{Protectorate}}: He's this for Gizmo, in accordance with Professor Quantum's design specifications for the robot. |
| 45 | * RedOniBlueOni: Usually the red to Joy's blue (fittingly, one of his casual outfits includes an orange shirt), except when Joy's the one with the moral conflict, in which case the roles are reversed. Both of them are always the blue to Gizmo's red. |
| 46 | * SecretSecretKeeper: With Joy and Gizmo, concerning the fact that [[spoiler:his mother Phoebe]] got LaserGuidedAmnesia after joining them on one adventure. |
| 47 | * TemptingFate: Chris has a rather unfortunate tendency to do this. Just for one example, we get this bit from "Joseph and Pharaoh's Dream," after Superbook deposits the kids into a prison cell: |
| 48 | -->'''Chris:''' Okay, prison. This trip certainly can't get any worse.\ |
| 49 | ''[a huge prisoner comes out of the darkness behind them and grabs Chris and Joy by their shoulders]''\ |
| 50 | '''Joy:''' [[OhCrap And then it did.]] |
| 51 | * TrademarkFavoriteFood: At least two episodes show he's got a liking for pizza. |
| 52 | * TreehouseOfFun: He has one in the family backyard. It includes a staircase for easy access, a slide for easy descent, and on the inside there's furniture to include a table, a beanbag chair, and a periscope to look at what's happening outside. |
| 53 | [[/folder]] |
| 54 | |
| 55 | [[folder:Joy Pepper]] |
| 56 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_joy.jpg]] |
| 57 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ShannonChanKent |
| 58 | Chris's next-door neighbor and best friend, and the series' {{Deuteragonist}}, Joy enjoys sports and is active in several school clubs. |
| 59 | * AcademicAthlete: Joy gets good grades at school, is highly involved in extracurricular activities like the chess club, and has been shown in at least two episodes to be skilled enough at soccer[[note]]football for the British[[/note]] to be a practice partner for Chris. In "Love Your Enemies," she's one of the kids (along with Chris, Jia Wei and Ellie) taking part in the regional All-Stars soccer tryouts. |
| 60 | * ActorAllusion: In "Paul and Silas," Joy has a pink teddy bear that she calls Pinky Bear and provides a "voice" for at one point. Now, [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic what other cartoon with a pink talking animal]] is Shannon Chan-Kent known for? |
| 61 | * AesopAmnesia: How many times has Joy had to learn to trust God's plan and not be vindictive or vengeful toward others, again? |
| 62 | * AllGirlsWantBadBoys: In "Noah and the Ark," Joy has a crush on Pearce, the leader of a group of delinquent extreme skateboarders with whom Chris wants to hang out. For that reason, she's willing to overlook little things like Chris forging a note from his mother, skipping school and breaking into a closed skateboard park, if it means she can get him to introduce her to Pearce. |
| 63 | * BeautyEqualsGoodness: Despite her flaws, she's a kind, cute and beautiful girl. |
| 64 | * BerserkButton: If you're supposed to be helping Joy in a work project that has significant emotional attachments to it, and you slack off on doing your part, or worse, don't bother to show up at all, Joy will ''not'' take it well and she will '''not''' let you off lightly for it. In "Ruth," when Chris displays a lax attitude toward helping Boaz's workers thresh the wheat (which in turn would help Ruth to get some of the leftover grain to carry home to Naomi), Joy's response is to tear into him with a savage TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, then grab his snow-cone that he's snacking on and [[FoodSlap dump it on his head]] (and she gives Gizmo a DeathGlare when he tries to speak up in support of Chris). Also, "Zacchaeus" starts with Joy bursting into Chris's backyard in a maddened rage because he was supposed to come help her do volunteer work at a children's home, but never showed up (and she's not about to listen even when he admits to having honestly forgotten); Jia Wei, seeing Joy's fury up close, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere immediately gets away from Ground Zero]]. |
| 65 | * BigEater: Despite her slender frame, Joy is actually one of these, as "Elisha and the Syrians" reveals that she once ate a whole birthday cake on a dare from Chris. |
| 66 | * CloudcuckoolandersMinder: With Chris, for Gizmo. Though Joy's work gets a little harder when Chris starts acting no better. |
| 67 | * DeadpanSnarker: Joy can occasionally fall into this role; it helps that she gets enough fuel from Chris and Gizmo either TemptingFate or otherwise acting foolish. Witness her response to this exchange in "Joseph and Pharaoh's Dream": |
| 68 | -->'''Gizmo:''' ''[to Chris]'' Statistically, it appears your plan to get Joseph back to his brothers will not work unless they just happen to show up in Egypt on their own.\ |
| 69 | '''Chris:''' Yeah? And the day that happens, I'll shave my head and dress like an Egyptian.\ |
| 70 | '''Judah:''' ''[arriving with the rest of the brothers]'' Excuse me, I am Judah. My brothers and I have traveled here from Canaan.\ |
| 71 | '''Joy:''' ...I'll see if I can borrow Joseph's razor. |
| 72 | * DeathGlare: As demonstrated in "Ruth," when Joy gets ''seriously'' angry, she's got [[https://superbookacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/SBC0301_Lesson2_Icon.png one hell of a stink-eye]]. It's potent enough to make [[MotorMouth Gizmo]] shut up. |
| 73 | * EverybodyHatesMathematics: In "For Such a Time as This," she admits to having trouble with Math. |
| 74 | * ExtracurricularEnthusiast: Chess club, Girls' Leadership club, Girls' Service club, overseer of the school's recycling activities, various types of community and church outreach, soccer practice, cello practice... However, it's deconstructed in "Nebuchadnezzar's Dream," where Joy is overwhelmed to the point of panic by numerous projects and activities that are overlapping with one another, and Chris's suggestion to blow off one or two of them only gets her more agitated. |
| 75 | * FamilyBusiness: Her parents own a pizza shop, [[AlliterativeName Pepper's Pizza Palace]]. |
| 76 | * FourPhilosophyEnsemble: The Cynic. She tends to snark with greater regularity than Chris does, is often the only sane one compared to Chris ''and'' Gizmo, and prefers things to be orderly and for her activities to be well-calibrated. |
| 77 | * FourTemperamentEnsemble: Phlegmatic. She's usually compassionate and sensitive to others' feelings (unless she's the focus of an episode's conflict); and she's also quite people-oriented, given her frequent extracurricular activities that have to do with social service. Plus, she's overall much nicer than Chris. |
| 78 | * GirlNextDoor: Joy is Chris's next-door neighbor, and she frequently visits his house, hangs out in his tree-house, or plays in his yard with him and Gizmo. |
| 79 | * GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: In "Paul and Silas," Joy has a pink teddy bear in her hospital room, which she names Pinky Bear. At one point she provides a "voice" for the bear while sharing it with the girl in the next bed over from hers. |
| 80 | * HeroWorshipper: Joy can usually keep pretty level-headed, but she does occasionally fall into this mode, particularly when interacting with female Biblical figures. "For Such a Time as This" gives a pretty good example of this, where she is quite in awe of Esther on realizing that this woman happens to be the queen of Persia. "Rahab and the Walls of Jericho" and "Ruth" also see her admiring Rahab and Ruth, respectively, with Rahab also becoming a CoolBigSis to her much like Esther does in ''her'' episode. |
| 81 | * HeroesLoveDogs: "Nebuchadnezzar's Dream" reveals that she's got a small dog named Bella. |
| 82 | * ItRunsInTheFamily: The ability to cook seems to be a common trait in Joy's family. She mentions in "Jesus--Friend of Sinners" that her grandmother taught her how to bake, and given that her parents run the family pizza shop, it can be assumed that at least one of them (if not both) has kitchen expertise as well. |
| 83 | * MythologyGag: Her surname, Pepper, is an allusion to Peeper--Chris's last name in the [[Anime/{{Superbook}} original anime]]. |
| 84 | * [[NiceGuy Nice Girl]]: Usually, although she has her BerserkButton moments as mentioned above. |
| 85 | * NotSoAboveItAll: There ''was'' that time she willingly took on Chris's dare to eat a whole birthday cake in one sitting. |
| 86 | * OnlySaneMan: She kind of has to be the sanest of the trio, what with Chris and Gizmo being, well, [[HotBlooded Chris]] and [[CloudCuckooLander Gizmo]]... unless, of course, she's the one facing the episode's conflict, in which case some of her rationality drops a little. |
| 87 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Two examples. |
| 88 | ** Joy tends to either mock or scold Gizmo for not being brave enough to physically defend them against threats that he should be otherwise equipped to handle. So when Gizmo suggests that they beat a very hasty retreat in "Revelation," and Joy ''immediately'' agrees, you know the threat is dangerous enough to warrant them fleeing. [[spoiler:Said threat being Satan having ScaledUp [[WouldHurtAChild and actively trying to kill them]]]]. |
| 89 | ** Throughout the series, Joy's usual response to Chris's moments of selfishness or general misbehavior is to either snark at his expense or, in more critical situations, give him a sharp and immediate verbal dressing-down to try and make him see where he's going wrong (at least, outside of those episodes where ''she's'' the one with the moral hang-up). But in "Peter's Denial," when Chris denies even knowing Joy so as not to lose face with some boys he wants to hang out with, Joy's reaction is to [[HeroicBSOD stare in disbelief, then run outside and break down crying]], followed by largely disavowing him for the bulk of the Superbook adventure--that's how much his denial has wounded her. |
| 90 | * PluckyGirl: Quite often. |
| 91 | * {{Protectorate}}: Along with Chris, she's this for Gizmo, in keeping with Professor Quantum's guidelines (which makes sense, seeing as the two kids are almost always around each other). |
| 92 | * RedOniBlueOni: Usually the blue to Chris's red (appropriately, one of her casual outfits includes a blue hoodie), unless she's the one with the moral conflict, in which case the roles are switched. Both of them are always the blue to Gizmo's red. |
| 93 | * SecretSecretKeeper: See Chris's entry above. |
| 94 | * StrongFamilyResemblance: Joy's hairstyle is similar to her mother's, and she takes aspects of her facial features from both her parents. |
| 95 | * SupremeChef: Joy is shown to be quite handy at cooking. In "Jacob and Esau," she's able to make a stew that's similar to the kind Jacob's mother Rebekah used to make, while in "The Birth of John the Baptist," she assists John the Baptist's mother Anna with preparing spices for their lamb dinner, and in "Jesus--Friend of Sinners," she's overseeing the baking of various pastries (including over three dozen cookies). In the last of those three episodes, she reveals that she got baking tutelage from her grandmother. |
| 96 | * VocalEvolution: Throughout the first season Joy sounds quite young, in some cases sounding slightly younger than her stated age of 12 years. (For perspective, imagine Shannon Chan-Kent trying to emulate Andrea Libman's [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Pinkie Pie]] voice.)[[note]]Shannon provided the pink pony's ''singing'' voice, while Andrea provided her usual ''speaking'' voice.[[/note]] From Season Two onwards, though, she gets a more mature-sounding pitch that levels off throughout the rest of the series; compare her voice in the first episode "In the Beginning" to her voice in the Season Two premiere "Jonah." (By comparison, Sam Vincent and Cathy Weseluck maintain more or less the same vocals as Chris and Gizmo right throughout the show's run.) |
| 97 | * WomenAreWiser: Though she's certainly not immune to her own weak moments. |
| 98 | [[/folder]] |
| 99 | |
| 100 | [[folder:Gizmo]] |
| 101 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_gizmo.jpg]] |
| 102 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/CathyWeseluck |
| 103 | A robot built by Professor Quantum to protect and assist Chris and Joy, Gizmo provides much-needed exposition during their time-travel adventures. |
| 104 | * ArmCannon: A kid-friendly version--he's got a BB-shooter built into his left arm. So far, the only ammo we've seen it use is [[EdibleAmmunition grapes]]. |
| 105 | * BladeBelowTheShoulder: "The Last Supper" has him transforming one of his hands into a pair of scissors. Also, in "Revelation," he's got a pair of buzz-saws built into both arms, which is very useful for cutting through trees. |
| 106 | * ButtMonkey: Gizmo tends to be the unfortunate victim of slapstick in each episode. |
| 107 | * ChangingClothesIsAFreeAction: One of the skills he was programmed with. He can get into a necessary disguise in an instant if he needs to blend in better, although sometimes the clothes he pulls out appear to come from {{Hammerspace}}. |
| 108 | * CloudCuckooLander: Gizmo has a rather... excitable imagination. |
| 109 | * CombatTentacles: In addition to his normal arms and legs, he has four tentacle-arms that can sprout from his back, a la [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Doc Ock]]. They're good for climbing really fast and for catching things, but this series being what it is, Gizmo doesn't use them for actual fights (plus he's too cowardly for that anyway). |
| 110 | * CowardlyLion: Gizmo isn't the bravest robot to have ever existed (one episode shows him recoiling in fright when mistaking an ordinary twig for a snake, among other things), but when it really counts, he'll do everything he can and must to protect Chris and Joy from harm. Lampshaded in "Revelation," where the trio have a front-row view of the Battle of Armageddon: |
| 111 | -->'''Gizmo:''' Quick! Both of you under me! I'll protect you!\ |
| 112 | '''Joy:''' But, Gizmo, that's brave!\ |
| 113 | '''Chris:''' And you aren't brave!\ |
| 114 | '''Gizmo:''' It is the end of the world! Do you think this is a good time to mention my shortcomings?! |
| 115 | * CuteButCacophonic: He frequently exclaims and yells shrilly, often to complain about being a FishOutOfTemporalWater. |
| 116 | * DoAnythingRobot: Gizmo seems to have a device for just about any situation as the plot requires. Buzz-saws in his hands to cut through trees, rocket-boosters in his feet for flight, telescopic eyes, a geo-sensor to tell the time and place where the trio's been brought by Superbook, propellers for underwater travel, the ability to transform into a two-seater mini-jet, a dome-shield installed in his back, a BB-shooter in his left arm that can fire [[EdibleAmmunition grapes]], the ability to transform into a fully-functional jet-powered all-terrain vehicle... |
| 117 | * DreadfulMusician: Zig-zagged. He can play musical instruments just fine, [[HollywoodToneDeaf but his singing is absolutely]] ''[[HollywoodToneDeaf atrocious]].'' The usual response to Gizmo making any attempt to sing is to cringe, cover one's ears, and/or shut him up as promptly as possible. |
| 118 | * EveryoneHasStandards: While Gizmo has a lot of character flaws (of which being a neurotic CowardlyLion is only one), the willingness to [[FriendshipDenial deny being friends with someone]] is ''not'' one of them. In "Peter's Denial," after Chris pretends he doesn't know Joy so as to curry favor with a bunch of popular kids, Gizmo becomes [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness noticeably reluctant to follow Chris's orders]] and then [[WhatTheHellHero chastises him for that denial]]. |
| 119 | * FourPhilosophyEnsemble: The Optimist. He's ditzy, but at the same time he's determined to adhere to his programming to protect the kids, and when he wants to accomplish something, he'll pull out every stop he can to get it done. |
| 120 | * FourTemperamentEnsemble: Sanguine. He's a pretty cheerful robot, loves being around people, but is also very chatty ([[MotorMouth too much so, sometimes]]), oftentimes scatterbrained and prone to distraction. |
| 121 | * GreenEyedMonster: Gizmo has a bad habit of getting this way whenever anyone fawns over any technology that isn't related to him, or if another robot or droid is shown to have superior tech or specs. He's especially initially hostile toward the QBIT droid in the two-parter "Paul and the Unknown God," even being resistant to the latter's offer of a system upgrade. |
| 122 | * {{Hammerspace}}: Related to the DoAnythingRobot trope above, Gizmo is ''somehow'' able to store things inside himself in such a way that really can't be explained any other way aside from this trope. The stuff he's been shown to hold within himself include, but are not limited to: Chris's guitar, a wide variety of clothes for him to change into at a moment's notice, a mechanical parrot, an anvil, a blender, a multitude of stop-signs, over two dozen basketballs, a fire extinguisher, a strobe-light... and that's just from his chest cavity and without counting the many other gadgets he's got installed otherwise. |
| 123 | * HardLight: In "Paul and the Unknown God, Part 2," he gets a system upgrade that lets him create virtual-reality-style imagery using this, which comes in handy for helping with a science presentation Chris and Joy are showcasing. It also allows him to (somewhat imperfectly) [[VoluntaryShapeshifting emulate humanoid figures]]. |
| 124 | * JetPack: He's got the TrickedOutShoes variety, with jet-thrusters built into the bottoms of his feet. |
| 125 | * LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: One of the gadgets Gizmo has that's seen use in more than one episode is a dome-shield that's installed in his back. When activated, it can spread out to cover a large enough area for him, Chris and Joy to take cover under, and it's strong enough to deflect sword-strikes. |
| 126 | * MotorMouth: He tends to chatter on and on, especially when talking about his robotic capabilities, necessitating Chris and/or Joy to shut him up quickly lest he spill the beans to any Biblical characters about the trio being time-travelers. |
| 127 | * NighInvulnerability: His metal exterior is resistant to hazards up to and including literal {{Hellfire}}. This trope's alternate name, "Made of Titanium," is literal for Gizmo, as he reveals he's made of the stuff in "Nehemiah". |
| 128 | * NoIndoorVoice: Gizmo's got ''problems'' keeping his vocal volume down. Chris and Joy frequently have to cover his mouth in situations where they have to keep hidden, lest he give them away. |
| 129 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Two examples. |
| 130 | ** As explained above, Gizmo is a CowardlyLion; programmed to protect Chris and Joy, much more usually ready to shy away from the prospect of danger, but willing to step in when needed even if the kids have to prompt him first. In "Revelation," though, ''he's'' the one prompting ''them'' to get under him in order to be protected by his back-installed dome-shield, and he's not taking any back-sass from either of them. The event that is prompting the urgency? The Battle of Armageddon, including bolts of destructive light and flying swords that put them in very real danger of being injured or killed right there on the battlefield. |
| 131 | ** It's normal for Gizmo to be enthusiastically gung-ho in being on board with Chris's occasional wacky hi-jinks, especially if that entails the use of any of his many gadgets, no matter how anachronistic they may be to the Bible period. What's ''not'' normal for Gizmo is when he follows any of Chris's instructions with a reluctant, somber expression and a subdued attitude. Yet that's what happens in "Peter's Denial," when Chris orders him to set up a basketball hoop in order to practice a complex shot; the reason being, Chris had earlier [[FriendshipDenial denied knowing Joy]] in order to impress a couple of boys he wants to hang out with, after they mocked Joy for being president of the chess club. Even as he sets up the hoop, in an extremely rare display of [[WhatTheHellHero quiet rebuke]], Gizmo reminds Chris that he, Chris, has been friends with Joy for far longer than he's known those boys (not that the rebuke takes hold at first). |
| 132 | * PhraseCatcher: Whenever the kids are taken on a Superbook trip, they'll inevitably say, "Where are we, Gizmo?" or "Get a reading on where we are, Gizmo," or any slight variation thereof, following which Gizmo uses his geo-sensor to tell the time and place of their latest adventure. |
| 133 | * PrimaryColorChampion: His body is red, and his face-plate is bluish-white. |
| 134 | * RedOniBlueOni: The red to the kids' blue (and he, of course, has red metal plating). |
| 135 | * ReligiousRobot: Gizmo is just as reverent toward God as any of the humans are who worship Him. |
| 136 | * RobotBuddy: [[AllThereInTheManual The series' website]] says Professor Quantum built Gizmo specifically to be this for Chris and Joy, as well as to protect them from danger (though ''they'' wind up protecting ''him'' more often than not). |
| 137 | * SecretSecretKeeper: See Chris and Joy's entries above. |
| 138 | * TokenRobot: Gizmo is the only robot among the main cast, having been built by Professor Quantum to serve and protect Chris and Joy (Superbook, despite having the form of a computer tablet, doesn't count for [[EmissaryFromTheDivine fairly obvious reasons]]). He's also of the variety that doesn't get any weird looks in the modern day (because he's from an era where robotics are the norm) or even in Bible times (outside of the occasional moment where a character is briefly not sure what he's supposed to be). |
| 139 | * TransformingMecha: Although he's human-sized, Gizmo has the ability to transform into a mini-jet and an all-terrain car, both of which result in his size increasing significantly so that Chris and Joy can fit inside. One episode shows him also able to transform into a doghouse-sized tent for when the group is out camping, albeit that's for his own sleeping arrangement (Chris and Joy have their own tents already). |
| 140 | * UnusuallyUninterestingSight: No Bible character ever seems put out by Gizmo's inhuman appearance, or if they do take any notice of his appearance or abilities, that wonder never lasts very long and doesn't detract from the main point of the Bible adventure in question (David assumes Gizmo's red plating is armor, while Moses's reaction to seeing Gizmo use a built-in vacuum cleaner to collect manna is merely to ask which of Israel's tribes Gizmo is part of[[note]]if Moses wanted to be technical about it, Gizmo would be one of the mixed multitude[[/note]]). He doesn't get a second glance in the modern day, either, though it's more justified since he's part of an era and society where robotics are the norm. |
| 141 | * VoluntaryShapeshifting: As a result of the HardLight upgrade mentioned above, Gizmo is able to emulate human appearance to a degree, as shown in "Paul and the Unknown God, Part 2," where he briefly takes on the appearance of Isaac Newton. The transformation isn't perfect, though, as Gizmo retains his usual voice and his hands, feet and torso are too obviously oversized (the hologram is framed over Gizmo's naturally stout body). |
| 142 | [[/folder]] |
| 143 | |
| 144 | [[folder:Superbook]] |
| 145 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_the_superbook_device.jpg]] |
| 146 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ColinMurdock |
| 147 | The titular Superbook, here taking the form of a small computer tablet instead of an actual book like its earlier-series predecessor. It draws the kids into time-travel Bible adventures to teach them important lessons. |
| 148 | * AdventuresInTheBible: Superbook puts the kids through these OnceAnEpisode. |
| 149 | * AnimateInanimateObject: You don't normally expect a hand-held computer tablet to fly about on its own, speak, create portals to the past, or teleport people through time. Justified in this case, though; see EmissaryFromTheDivine. |
| 150 | * CantTakeAnythingWithYou: One of Superbook's usual rules is that it doesn't allow the kids to take any technology from the present back with them into Bible times, except of course for Gizmo; any other tech is removed from them during the warp to the past and given back when they're returned home. Technology isn't the only thing to get this restriction, as in different episodes camping backpacks the kids are wearing, a plate of cookies that Joy's carrying from the Quantums' kitchen, and a box of pizza that the kids have purchased are taken from them and later given back at the end of the respective adventures (all of those items are too obviously anachronistic to Bible times, after all). However, there are times when Superbook will make an exception to this rule if the items in question are important to the episode's moral dilemma. In "Revelation," Chris gets to carry a digital picture-frame of himself and his parents since it's part of the episode's dilemma where he's certain they'll never forgive him for his latest bad antic; while in "Elisha and the Syrians," Joy gets to take her cell-phone with her because it's a key element of her current moral dilemma of whether to upload an unflattering video about another girl as revenge for said girl having done the same to her; and in "The Fiery Furnace," Chris gets to carry his cell-phone since it's part of his moral dilemma about whether to use a test cheat-sheet he'd downloaded earlier. Additionally, [[MagicPants clothes are never affected]] even if they are clearly made of modern polyester materials and blatantly anachronistic in design, although Superbook will occasionally garb its subjects in more period-accurate wear (like in "He is Risen!" with Phoebe Quantum). |
| 151 | * CrypticConversation: Whenever it warps the kids into an adventure, Superbook never tells them the name of whichever Bible character they're going to meet, only describing the individual's character traits. The dialogue varies, and in some episodes Superbook doesn't even have to say it's a person they're going to meet; "In the Beginning" has it telling the kids that it's taking them to a time and place when disobedience destroyed the world (Lucifer's rebellion in Heaven and the entry of sin in Eden). |
| 152 | * EmissaryFromTheDivine: "Revelation" implies that Superbook is a manifestation of God's Holy Spirit. |
| 153 | * FlyingBooks: In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH1rnzO0tIM this alternate intro sequence]], which appeared for a few episodes of Season One, Superbook's red-book form is shown as one of these, providing transportation for Chris and Joy (with Gizmo using his rocket-thrusters to fly beside them for one scene and then joining the kids on the book near the end). |
| 154 | * FourPhilosophyEnsemble: The Apathetic. While Superbook does have the kids' best interest in view, it usually remains uninvolved outside of providing time-travel transportation and the occasional exposition. |
| 155 | * FourTemperamentEnsemble: Melancholic. Superbook is the least chatty of the main four (not counting moments of narrating an episode for the viewer), factual and to-the-point, while at the same time being pretty considerate of others where needed. |
| 156 | * HeavenlyBlue: Whenever it pulls its quick-teleport trick on the kids, they're transported in bright blue beams of light. |
| 157 | * HolyBurnsEvil: Or at least, Holy Repels Evil. In "Jesus in the Wilderness," Satan (in human disguise) attempts to put ideas in Chris's head about disobeying his parents--but then there's the slight sound of wind in the background, the fallen angel glances skyward with a knowing scowl, and he has just enough time to give Chris a seconds-long parting shot before quickly taking his leave. A moment after that, Superbook emerges to whisk Chris away so he can witness Jesus's temptations in the wilderness years after that point in time. Considering that Superbook is implied to be a manifestation of God's Holy Spirit, it's little wonder that Satan would excuse himself so quickly (or that he [[BerserkButton goes into a snarling rage]] when Superbook's name is mentioned in his earshot). |
| 158 | * InstantCostumeChange: A variation where Superbook can alter the time-travelers' clothes where needed, including trading their modern garb for Bible-era clothing if they'll need to blend in better. |
| 159 | * InvisibleWall: A non-video-game example. Whenever it takes the protagonists back to witness any of their past adventures in a ClipShow episode, Superbook creates an invisible barrier that prevents them from interacting with anyone else (including their past selves) and also keeps them from being seen or heard by others. |
| 160 | * LaserGuidedAmnesia: [[spoiler:Inflicts this on Phoebe at the end of one adventure. The fact that Jia Wei ''doesn't'' get this treatment in a later episode surprises the kids.]] |
| 161 | * {{Leitmotif}}: Every time Superbook shows up for the first time in an episode and pulls the kids into a time-warp, it's heralded by a musical jingle that consists of soft pipes and strings, then culminates in swelling majestic trumpets. |
| 162 | * MadeOfIndestructium: This little sentient flying computer tablet ''cannot'' be destroyed by fire or crushing. It's caught in a fire in one episode, only to rise up from the smoldering ashes and debris as pristine and functional as ever. Makes perfect sense, considering [[EmissaryFromTheDivine its origin]]. |
| 163 | * ModernizedGod: Or at the very least, implied to be a manifestation of the Spirit of God Himself. It takes the form of a small, oval-shaped hand-held computer tablet, which kids in the 2000s can easily relate to. |
| 164 | * {{Narrator}}: Gets into this role every so often for the audience's benefit, summarizing certain aspects of Bible stories at the beginning and/or end of a given episode. |
| 165 | * NoMouth: As mentioned above, Superbook has a disembodied voice (who may or may not be God Himself) that informs the kids of their destination and the episode's moral. |
| 166 | * NotSoAboveItAll: A low-key example as presented in "Let My People Go." Chris, Joy and Gizmo are speculating about which of their time-travel adventures is the best one they've been on to date, or whether they ''have'' been on the best one as yet. Superbook then shows up and pulls them into the episode's adventure (in this case, meeting Moses when he's campaigning to free the Israelites from Egypt). Note that this one doesn't have any particular moral lesson that either Chris or Joy needs to learn; it's simply to provide an answer to their curiosity. Also note that this is the chattiest Superbook has ever been when introducing an adventure to them; normally it sticks to a very brief synopsis during the first time-warp. |
| 167 | -->'''Superbook:''' I am taking you to see such things that, if you searched all of history from the time God created people on the earth until now, and searched from one end of the heavens to the other, you would know nothing as great as this has ever been seen or heard before. |
| 168 | * NotSoStoic: Superbook may be formal and mostly hands-off outside of providing time-travel transportation, but that doesn't mean it's insensitive to the time-travelers' concerns and feelings. In "He is Risen," when Phoebe is brought along with the kids and is naturally terrified at what's happening, Superbook says, "Be strong and of good courage; do not fear or be dismayed," in a quite soothing tone (though Phoebe's still bewildered at hearing a disembodied voice). In "Revelation," after Chris is distraught that his parents may never forgive him [[spoiler:for accidentally burning the house down]], the first thing Superbook says during the inevitable warp is to confidently declare "There is nothing that cannot be forgiven." And in "Paul and Silas," when it takes the kids into its warp while they're at the hospital, where Joy has been waiting for a tonsil-removal operation and is still in her hospital gown, the first thing Superbook does is [[InstantCostumeChange put her into one of her casual outfits]] to spare her any embarrassment. |
| 169 | * OffscreenTeleportation: Whenever Superbook appears for the first time in an episode, it usually shows up from seemingly out of nowhere, though a few times we get to see that it's been hitching a ride in one of the kids' pockets or book-bags or has been hanging out in some random corner of Professor Quantum's lab. It always heralds its arrival with a specific musical jingle, though, so the kids know it's about to get active. |
| 170 | * OurTimeTravelIsDifferent: Whenever Superbook pulls the kids into an adventure, it's portrayed as the Wormhole variety, with them being drawn toward a great light at the beginning and then returning home in a quick flash of light at the end (or being transported from one place or time period to another in said flash of light if Superbook desires). |
| 171 | * PartyScattering: Superbook has done this more than once, both at the start and in the middle of a given adventure, so that each of the kids can learn an important lesson solo or otherwise get information independent of the others. "Revelation" is the first time it happens, with Chris ending up in a deserted wasteland to encounter Satan's temptations while Joy and Gizmo meet John the Revelator outside the throne-room of Heaven. "Jesus in the Wilderness" has this happen in the middle of the adventure, with Chris being taken solo to witness Jesus's temptations from Satan, with Michael guiding and instructing Chris as they watch; Joy and Gizmo are left behind with Mary and Joseph's group (still during the period immediately after 12-year-old Jesus is found at the temple by his parents) and are only taken to join Chris at the end of Jesus's wilderness encounter with Satan. "Nicodemus" and "Jesus--Friend of Sinners" both show that, during the initial warp at the start of an adventure, Superbook can split the wormhole into two separate tunnels that draw Chris and Joy apart, depending on the needs of the plot (Gizmo is always kept with one of the two). |
| 172 | * PhraseCatcher: Every episode, when Superbook shows up with its musical jingle, the kids inevitably declare, "Superbook!" Less commonly, during time-jumps, "Where is Superbook taking us ''now?"'' |
| 173 | * PortalBook: Superbook, of course, though here it's depicted as an oval tablet-like device small enough to fit in the palm of one hand. When it activates, it shows a virtual depiction of a red-covered book opening and flipping to the appropriate page. |
| 174 | * RedIsHeroic: Superbook's virtual-book form, which is prominently displayed in the show's title sequence (and in the image on the main page), has a red cover. Superbook itself transports the kids through time to teach them lessons that will help them to become better people and followers of Christ, and also shows them the various heroes of the Bible and how they trust in God to help them in their conflicts. |
| 175 | * SpectacularSpinning: On some occasions, whenever Superbook draws the kids into a TimeSkip, it does so via a bright [[HeavenlyBlue blue]] vortex of vertical light that's swirling round and round, like a twister. In "Solomon's Temple," Joy explicitly calls it a time-swirl. |
| 176 | * SpockSpeak: When speaking to the kids, or providing narration for the viewer, Superbook is quite formal, simply telling the facts without much emotion save for a certain level of knowledgeable authority and with almost no speech-inflections. This is helped by Colin Murdock's deep, majestic-sounding delivery, especially during each episode's first time-warp. |
| 177 | * TimeSkip: In a few episodes, Superbook will take the kids forward in time (how far ahead depends on the plot), sometimes showing relevant information to them during the warp. "Samuel and the Call of God," for instance, has them meeting Samuel as a child around the time when he's spoken to by God in the temple; then Superbook warps them to several years later when Samuel is an adult, and during the warp it briefly showcases to them the deaths of Eli and his sons Hophni and Phineas and the defeat of Israel by the Philistines in battle that took place in between the two periods. Likewise in "Philip," shortly after the confrontation with Simon the sorcerer, Superbook takes the kids forward in time to when Philip meets the Ethiopian eunuch, while showing them the disciples' miracles in between the two periods. |
| 178 | * YearInsideHourOutside: Just like in the original series, Superbook can take the kids and Gizmo into adventures that last several weeks or months, then return them home with only a few minutes at most having passed in the modern day. "Gideon" sees Superbook taking them to witness the Israelites' battle against the Midianites and then returning them home less than ''one second'' after the adventure began. |
| 179 | [[/folder]] |
| 180 | |
| 181 | !!Recurring Modern-Day Characters |
| 182 | [[folder:Crispin and Phoebe Quantum]] |
| 183 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crispin_and_phoebe_quantum.png]] |
| 184 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Jan Rabson and Creator/NicoleOliver |
| 185 | Chris's parents, who love their son very much and do their best to raise him right. Crispin, frequently identified by non-relatives as Professor Quantum, is a famous scientist and Gizmo's inventor, while Phoebe is a homemaker. |
| 186 | * BeautyEqualsGoodness: Just look at Phoebe, would you? She's beautiful both in looks and in character. |
| 187 | * {{Bookworm}}: [[AllThereInTheManual The series' character profiles]] inform us that Phoebe is a voracious reader. |
| 188 | * FamilyMan: Crispin may be a busy and famous inventor, but he's also shown to make time for his wife and son, including taking them camping, as in "The Ten Commandments." |
| 189 | * GadgeteerGenius: Professor Quantum is a brilliant inventor. Besides building Gizmo, he's also built a functional jet-pack, a robotic exoskeleton, and a water-purifier that can make clean drinking water in mere hours. |
| 190 | * GoodParents: According to the show at least; both of them are depicted as kind, patient, reasonable, and they clearly care about their son's well-being. They do act more harshly toward Chris on occasion, but this always shown as being justified in the end. |
| 191 | * HappilyMarried: While their screen-time isn't as frequent as that of the kids, Gizmo and Superbook, the interactions we see of the couple show that, indeed, theirs is a happy and healthy union. In "Jesus in the Wilderness," their wedding picture is shown prominently hanging on a wall in the family home's hallway. |
| 192 | * HartmanHips: Phoebe has very huge hips. |
| 193 | * {{Housewife}}: Phoebe is a downplayed example, as while her series' profile describes her as this, she's shown to also have a social life and is active in the community. |
| 194 | * ImpossibleHourglassFigure: Phoebe has a slender waist. |
| 195 | * JockDadNerdSon: Inverted and downplayed, as Crispin is a genius scientist but isn't ever shown engaging in sports, while Chris actively takes part in skateboarding, soccer, and basketball. Though Chris ''does'' also have some interest in robotics and gadgets, his smarts aren't quite on his father's level; nonetheless, unlike the usual application of the trope, Chris's more physical interests don't detract from his relationship with his father. |
| 196 | * LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine: Professor Quantum is never shown without his scientist lab-coat. |
| 197 | * MagicVersusScience: As Crispin admits to Chris in "Paul and the Unknown God," he and his father-in-law, Phoebe's father and Chris's grandfather, were on opposite sides of the Science vs Religion variant of this trope; Crispin, who didn't grow up religious, was on the Science side, while Grandpa, also a scientist, was on the Religion side. However, Crispin also admits to having had occasion to reconsider his position, something helped by his observance of Chris's CharacterDevelopment up to and following the latter's acceptance of Christianity and subsequent baptism. Incidentally, in the earlier-aired "Isaiah," Phoebe--who ''was'' raised religious--admits to having drawn away from God after she started attending college, but she notes that Crispin, courting her at the time, always encouraged her to continue her church attendance despite not being religious himself. |
| 198 | * NiceGuy: Both of them are kind, caring, hard-working and loving. |
| 199 | * RichGenius: The family is shown living in a very impressive house with a sizable backyard, swimming pool, and tree-house, and also enjoy the luxury of a personal robot servant in Gizmo, which seems to be an uncommon privilege in the show's universe. Their wealth may be due to Professor Quantum's scientific fame and know-how. |
| 200 | * SmartPeopleBuildRobots: Well, Professor Quantum ''did'' build Gizmo. |
| 201 | * WomenAreWiser: While Professor Quantum is certainly not an idiot, Mrs. Quantum tends to be a bit calmer and more level-headed. |
| 202 | [[/folder]] |
| 203 | |
| 204 | [[folder:Todd]] |
| 205 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/todd_4_new.jpg]] |
| 206 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/CathyWeseluck |
| 207 | A schoolmate of Chris and Joy at Valleyview Middle School, Todd antagonizes Chris at every opportunity. |
| 208 | * AnimeHair: Just what kind of hair gel is Todd using to make his hair stick out the way it does? |
| 209 | * BookDumb: He'd rather cheat on a test than make the effort to study. On the other hand, "Nehemiah" has him actually needing to be tutored in chemistry, although his attitude toward the prospect of tutoring leaves a lot to be desired. |
| 210 | * TheBully: Chris is his preferred target, in two out of his three in-person appearances thus far. |
| 211 | * CheatersNeverProsper: He ends up on the receiving end of this aesop in "The Fiery Furnace," when his efforts to cheat on a test (and try to make a buck off selling the test-answers to classmates) go belly-up. |
| 212 | * CoolBoard: Like Chris and other kids on the show, Todd has one with a single spherical wheel on the underside. |
| 213 | * HighSchoolHustler: Attempts to be a middle-school version in "The Fiery Furnace," where he strives to make a buck off selling the answers to an upcoming test to his classmates (Chris deciding whether he'll purchase the answers or not is the episode's moral conflict). |
| 214 | * JerkAss: Yup, he's an absolute dick in every episode he appears in. Although [[JerkassHasAPoint he IS right]] in "A Giant Adventure," where, while he and Chris are auditioning as guitarists for the school's band, Todd makes the rather valid point that playing skillfully when alone isn't the same as performing in front of a crowd, where the pressure will be much higher (sure enough, a few minutes later Chris suffers a bad case of stage fright and humiliates himself as a result). |
| 215 | * LeanAndMean: He's skinny as a rake, and he's not a nice person. |
| 216 | * TheRival: To Chris in "A Giant Adventure," concerning the audition to become part of the school's musical band. |
| 217 | * SchoolIsForLosers: This seems to be his overall attitude toward any school subject he considers "nerdy." In "Nehemiah," he definitely has this view toward science. |
| 218 | -->'''Todd:''' Science fair is for losers! |
| 219 | * SmugSmiler: Whenever he's being a douchebag (which is to say, in nearly every scene he's in). |
| 220 | [[/folder]] |
| 221 | |
| 222 | [[folder:Jason Dunning]] |
| 223 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jason_dunning_superbook.png]] |
| 224 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/BrianDrummond |
| 225 | A young thief who first meets Chris, Joy and Gizmo while trying to rob the Quantums' house. |
| 226 | * TheChosenOne: After witnessing how Paul, having been reformed from his persecuting period as Saul of Tarsus, was chosen by God to be the apostle to the Gentiles, Chris theorizes that Jason may likewise have some of kind of special plan in store for his life, "a special job he doesn't even know he's been picked out to do." |
| 227 | * CoolBoard: Another kid with a skateboard that has a single spherical wheel on the underside. Him being a good skateboarder prompts Pearce to try and recruit him into the Skateboard Maniacs in "Samuel and the Call of God." |
| 228 | * {{Delinquents}}: The police note that he's had a history of falling into trouble with the law. |
| 229 | * HeelFaceTurn: It helps that the Quantums don't press charges against him for trying to rob their house. |
| 230 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He may be acerbic, but as Joy (and later Chris) observes, he's not necessarily a bad person--just someone who was caught up in bad circumstances. |
| 231 | * JustifiedCriminal: During their first meeting in "The Road to Damascus," Joy notices that Jason's bag has foodstuffs in it, and going off his rather shabby clothing, she concludes that he must have been robbing the Quantums' house because he was hungry. Jason himself hints that his reason for stealing is a lot more complicated than just being for kicks. |
| 232 | -->'''Jason:''' ''[bitterly]'' You don't know a thing about who I am or where I come from. |
| 233 | * LongHairedPrettyBoy: He's got blond hair that reaches just down to his shoulders, and he's certainly not bad-looking. |
| 234 | * ReformedCriminal: By the time we see him again in "Samuel and the Call of God," he's apparently changed his ways for the better, though he's still in danger of being influenced by unsavory elements like Pearce. |
| 235 | * TroubledTeen: Breaking into people's houses (and assaulting anyone who happens to come by at that moment) is not something a well-adjusted kid would or should do. Breaking into people's houses and specifically stealing food is just an extra indicator of deep-seated social problems. |
| 236 | * VitriolicBestBuds: Develops this kind of association with Chris in "Samuel and the Call of God," despite his own initial resistance to Chris's attempt to make friends after their previous meeting in "The Road to Damascus." |
| 237 | [[/folder]] |
| 238 | |
| 239 | [[folder:Bonnie Scott]] |
| 240 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_bonnie.png]] |
| 241 | ---> '''Voiced by:''' Creator/CathyWeseluck |
| 242 | A classmate of Joy's at Valleyview Middle School, who's in a wheelchair. |
| 243 | * BookSmart: Joy is in awe that Bonnie is taking Algebra class, when she herself is having struggles with Math class. |
| 244 | * BullyingTheDisabled: Bonnie is subjected to a downplayed version of this, courtesy of Girls' Leadership Club president Janice. It takes the form of ostracization, as Janice is unwilling to let Bonnie join the club specifically because she's in a wheelchair (and Janice subtly hints to Joy that her place in the club might be jeopardized if she insists on nominating Bonnie for membership), although Janice never says it directly to Bonnie's face. |
| 245 | * DisabledMeansHelpless: Averted. While Janice, the president of the Girls' Leadership Club, holds this opinion of Bonnie at first and is resistant to letting her join the club because of it, Bonnie herself soon proves (with a little help from Gizmo) that she can be just as much of an asset to the group as the other members. |
| 246 | * FriendlessBackground: When she and Joy first start talking, Bonnie confides that Joy is the first person to actually talk to her despite the fact that she's been at the school for a week up to that point. Considering Janice's resistance to Joy's desire for Bonnie to join the Girls' Leadership Club mere minutes later, it's implied that Bonnie's physical disability was the reason nobody tried to befriend her beforehand. |
| 247 | * GeniusCripple: Middle school variant, as she's good at Math while being in a wheelchair. |
| 248 | * GoodWithNumbers: Good enough to offer Joy assistance with Math homework. |
| 249 | * NewTransferStudent: When she makes her debut in "For Such a Time as This," she reveals that she's been at the school for a week up to that point. |
| 250 | * NiceGirl: Yes, she is, given her willingness to help Joy with Math in "For Such a Time as This," and is one of the volunteers for the local church's food-drive in "The Widow's Mite." |
| 251 | * SmartPeopleWearGlasses: She wears spectacles, offers to help Joy with Math homework, and is herself taking Algebra classes. |
| 252 | * SuperWheelchair: The wheelchair has a GPS system installed in it, and is motorized so she can pretty much drive it all by herself. It can also facilitate Gizmo's party-cannon to shoot confetti, for decorative purposes. |
| 253 | * WheelchairAntics: Motorized wheelchair + Gizmo's party cannon = accolades from schoolmates. |
| 254 | [[/folder]] |
| 255 | |
| 256 | [[folder:Mr. and Mrs. Pepper]] |
| 257 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_mr_and_mrs_pepper_2.png]] |
| 258 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ColinMurdock and Creator/CathyWeseluck |
| 259 | Joy's parents and the operators of their family business, Pepper's Pizza Palace, where Chris, Joy and their friends occasionally hang out. |
| 260 | * BumblingDad: While Mr. Pepper doesn't usually present himself as an idiot (after all, one can't be a business-owner without ''some'' intelligence), he does fumble briefly in "Zacchaeus" where he absentmindedly fails to register that Joy's upset. |
| 261 | * FamilyBusiness: Pepper's Pizza Palace, of which they're the owners. |
| 262 | * FamilyMan: His absentmindedness in "Zacchaeus" aside, Mr. Pepper is shown to be a devoted husband and father. It comes out most strongly in "Paul Keeps the Faith," where he does his best to comfort Joy while they're both concerned over Mrs. Pepper's illness. |
| 263 | * FeminineMotherTomboyishDaughter: We know Joy's very athletic and has gone on some pretty physical adventures. On the other hand, we've yet to see Mrs. Pepper do anything of the sort. |
| 264 | * GoodParents: While they don't show up as regularly as Crispin and Phoebe do, there's no doubt that they love and care deeply for Joy, and she in turn loves them dearly. They're also deeply supportive of her decision to become a Christian and be baptized. |
| 265 | * HappilyMarried: Yes, they are. |
| 266 | * ParentsInDistress: They're subjected to this in "Gideon," after a tree falls on top of their car while they're on the way home during a storm, trapping them inside. |
| 267 | * SupremeChef: Given that they run a pizza shop, it's safe to assume that at least one of them is good at cooking (because in the restaurant business, you kind of ''have'' to be). |
| 268 | * UnnamedParent: Unlike Crispin and Phoebe, their first names have not been revealed. |
| 269 | * WomenAreWiser: Mrs. Pepper certainly is, compared to her husband, as shown in "Zacchaeus." She's far quicker than he is to pick up on Joy's upset feelings, and gives him an annoyed glare when he fails to read the mood. |
| 270 | [[/folder]] |
| 271 | |
| 272 | [[folder:Sam]] |
| 273 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sam_superbook.png]] |
| 274 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KathleenBarr |
| 275 | A Valleyview Middle School student and video gamer. |
| 276 | * BarbaricBully: He's shown physically hassling a random student and then slapping Chris in "The Sermon on the Mount." |
| 277 | * DigitalPiracyIsEvil: In "John the Baptist," he illegally downloads some brand-new games ahead of their official release dates and invites Chris to come play them with him. That sets up the moral dilemma of the episode, with Chris being torn about wanting to play the games while knowing they've basically been stolen. |
| 278 | * FatBastard: Neither of his featured episodes shows him positively, morally speaking. |
| 279 | * KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:He's never shown getting any comeuppance for downloading the pirated games or assaulting Chris]]. |
| 280 | * KidsAreCruel: As "The Sermon on the Mount" demonstrates. He ''is'' a middle-school student, remember. |
| 281 | * OneSteveLimit: Averted, as his name is generally known to be a shortened version of Samuel, and we know that this series has the Biblical prophet Samuel. However, they could not be any more different ("Samuel" means either "name of God" or "God heard," but the modern-day Sam [[IronicName doesn't have any godly traits about him]]). |
| 282 | * RedemptionRejection: [[spoiler:At the end of "John the Baptist," when Chris decides not to play the pirated games and explains his reasoning to Sam, the latter only sneers that ''he'' will still have the games to play for himself]]. |
| 283 | * SecondaryColorNemesis: "John the Baptist" has him wearing an orange shirt under a black-and-green tank top, just in case you needed to know that he's not supposed to be a good influence on Chris. |
| 284 | * TournamentPlay: Chris reveals in "John the Baptist" that Sam has been his partner in several of the toughest gaming tournaments. |
| 285 | * ToxicFriendInfluence: Well, he ''does'' try to tempt Chris into joining him in playing pirated video games. |
| 286 | * WeUsedToBeFriends: Considering his treatment of Chris in "The Sermon on the Mount," which is set after the events of "John the Baptist," they're certainly not friends anymore. |
| 287 | [[/folder]] |
| 288 | |
| 289 | [[folder:Pearce]] |
| 290 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pearce.png]] |
| 291 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MichaelAdamthwaite |
| 292 | The leader of a delinquent gang of extreme skateboarders known as the Skateboard Maniacs. |
| 293 | * BatterUp: In "Noah and the Ark," he shows Chris a video that he and his gang recorded as their audition for the upcoming Insane Games, where they're causing mayhem in a parking lot; in the video, Pearce is wielding a baseball bat. |
| 294 | * BrightIsNotGood: Pearce's jacket may be bright orange, but his character is anything but light-hearted. |
| 295 | * CoolBoard: Like most other skateboarders in this show, his board has a single spherical wheel on the underside. Additionally, it's got booster-rockets installed on it for extra speed. |
| 296 | * {{Delinquents}}: The Skateboard Maniacs are a gang of these. |
| 297 | * GangOfHats: Their "hat" being souped-up skateboards. Pearce's board has booster-rockets on the sides, as noted above. |
| 298 | * JerkAss: In "Samuel and the Call of God," Pearce is shown riding his board inside a skating half-pipe and knocking down two younger skaters, with nary an apology from him. It's just one more example of his deviant behavior, following up from "Noah and the Ark." |
| 299 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Both the name of Pearce's group, the Skateboard Maniacs, and the competition they're looking to enter, the Insane Games. Both names are lampshaded by Gizmo when he's urging Chris not to join up with them. |
| 300 | -->'''Gizmo:''' Why do the words "maniac" and "insane" not worry you? Can't you see that this Pearce person is violent? |
| 301 | * PetTheDog: During his cameo appearance in "The Promise of a Child," Pearce is shown sitting quietly among the crowd in the church watching Chris and Joy's performance of the titular choral song (if you're wondering, he's in the second row from the front, on the right, at the start of that sequence). Even if you question his reason for being there to start with (he probably has a friend or relative on the choir, or he's just taking part in the Christmas festivities like everyone else), it at least shows that Pearce is capable of respecting the setting enough to behave himself. |
| 302 | * SecondaryColorNemesis: He sports an orange jacket, a green T-shirt, and an orange-and-green beanie to match. |
| 303 | * ToxicFriendInfluence: He offers Chris and minor recurring character Jason separate opportunities to join his crew, in "Noah and the Ark" and "Samuel and the Call of God" respectively, but being part of said crew would undoubtedly mean taking part in decidedly unlawful behavior such as breaking and entering, trespassing, and destruction of public property. Fortunately, in the former episode, Chris opts out of joining the Skateboard Maniacs after the obligatory Superbook trip, and then keeps Jason from joining the crew in the latter episode by making a proactive effort to befriend him. |
| 304 | * VillainousCheekbones: In case you needed extra evidence that he's not a good influence. |
| 305 | [[/folder]] |
| 306 | |
| 307 | [[folder:Barbara]] |
| 308 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_barbara.png]] |
| 309 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AndreaLibman |
| 310 | A cheerleader at Valleyview Middle School who antagonizes Joy and, later on, Jia Wei. |
| 311 | * AlphaBitch: A middle-school variant. |
| 312 | * BrightIsNotGood: Barbara has bright blond hair, and her cheerleader uniform is a mix of white, yellow, red and blue. She, however, is decidedly ''not'' nice. |
| 313 | * BroughtToYouByTheLetterS: Her cheerleader outfit has two V's on the front, for '''V'''alley'''v'''iew. |
| 314 | * CruelCheerleader: She's prominently shown in a cheerleader outfit in both of her appearances, and the unflattering video Joy intends to post about her shows her at the top of a human pyramid in a cheer display gone awry. As it relates to the personality aspect of the trope, she's got it down pat. |
| 315 | * GirlPosse: Has two girls following her lead in picking on Joy in "Elisha and the Syrians." |
| 316 | * HeelFaceTurn: A probable subversion between the end of "Elisha and the Syrians" and the beginning of "Paul and Barnabas." While she does apologize to Joy at the end of the former episode, it's left ambiguous whether she really means it (and Joy herself decides it doesn't matter). Then in the latter episode, it's shown that she hasn't quite let go of her mean streak, joining in on Jia Wei's bullying by the other students (although granted, Jia Wei is ''already'' unpopular with the other kids because he's the hall monitor). |
| 317 | * KidsAreCruel: She posts a humiliating video of Joy in "Elisha and the Syrians" and is one of the kids mocking Jia Wei in "Paul and Barnabas." |
| 318 | * LeanAndMean: A skinny and mean-spirited cheerleader. |
| 319 | * ManipulativeEditing: What she does to the video she posts about Joy. The original video shows [[BigEater Joy eating a whole birthday cake]] (on a dare from Chris); Barbara edits the video so that each slice of the cake looks like an entire food item (the image of a whole turkey is superimposed over one slice, for instance). |
| 320 | * PomPomGirl: In "Elisha and the Syrians," she at least has the pom-poms along with the outfit in the video Joy plans to post about her. |
| 321 | * ThinSkinnedBully: Makes a sadistic show of taunting Joy about the latter's humiliating video being posted online, only to panic when Joy reveals that ''she'' has an equally humiliating video of Barbara ready for posting. [[spoiler:Except Joy opts to delete it instead]]. |
| 322 | [[/folder]] |
| 323 | |
| 324 | [[folder:Carson Chandler]] |
| 325 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_chandler.png]] |
| 326 | ---> '''Voiced by:''' Matt Hill |
| 327 | A young science enthusiast who's an especially big fan of Professor Quantum. He's also Valleyview's top science honors student and the president of the local Future Inventors Club. |
| 328 | * BookSmart: He'd have to be, to be the top science honors student in Valleyview. |
| 329 | * ChildProdigy: He's 12 years old, in Chris and Joy's age group. And, again, he's the top science honors student in Valleyview. |
| 330 | * CrushingHandshake: Professor Quantum remarks that Carson has one of these, after the boy greets and shakes hands with him in "King Solomon." It could be chalked up to Carson's excitement at meeting his idol. |
| 331 | * DorkInASweater: He wears a green sweater, and his behavior is...odd. |
| 332 | * {{Fanboy}}: Toward Professor Quantum, to borderline-uncomfortable levels. |
| 333 | * GadgeteerGenius: In "Paul and the Unknown God, Part 2," he's competent enough to design a science presentation where the movement of liquid is controlled using magnets in order to direct its flow to a pre-programmed destination. Plus, as mentioned earlier, he's the Future Inventors Club's president. |
| 334 | * MotorMouth: He ''rambles'' when talking about Professor Quantum's accomplishments. |
| 335 | * NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: He actually gives an unsolicited hug to Professor Quantum when the older man praises his academic credentials. Professor Quantum is clearly uncomfortable, but tries to take it in stride. |
| 336 | --> '''Professor Quantum:''' He's a hugger! ''(checks a nonexistent watch)'' My, how time flies! ''(pries Carson off)'' |
| 337 | * NoSocialSkills: Carson may be bright when it comes to science, but somebody ''really'' needs to explain to him that interrupting a speaker, butting into others' conversations (more than once, at that), and [[NoSenseOfPersonalSpace hugging others uninvited]] are not considered good manners or acceptable behavior. |
| 338 | * SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Wears a red-rimmed pair. |
| 339 | [[/folder]] |
| 340 | |
| 341 | [[folder:Jia Wei]] |
| 342 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jia_wei_1.png]] |
| 343 | --->'''Voiced by:''' James Higuchi |
| 344 | The hall monitor at Valleyview Middle School. |
| 345 | * BullyMagnet: "Paul and Barnabas" shows him being targeted for ridicule by a group of other students. It doesn't help that he's the hall monitor, which has already earned him the disdain of the student populace. |
| 346 | * ByTheBookCop: He may only be a middle school hall monitor, but Jia Wei certainly carries himself like a cop, as shown in "Peter and Cornelius." As his picture here shows, he wears a small badge on his chest with a yellow star like a sheriff, plus his hallway hoverboard has a siren installed on it, and Jia Wei himself is rigid when it comes to adherence to and enforcement of the rules. |
| 347 | * EatingLunchAlone: His debut episode reveals him to be doing this because the other students can't stand his strict enforcing of the school rules. |
| 348 | * HeroOfAnotherStory: [[spoiler:Following his debut episode, he's been going on dozens of solo Superbook trips, including adventures the main trio haven't experienced yet, such as meeting Cain and Abel and witnessing the baptism of Jesus. The trio's response to this is a FlatWhat]]. |
| 349 | * IJustWantToHaveFriends: Type B, as he's absolutely friendless from the start due to his position as hall monitor. The fact that he has no friends bothers him more than he initially lets on, especially when Chris--who dislikes him for his strict adherence to rules--spitefully brings up his habit of [[EatingLunchAlone eating lunch by himself]]. |
| 350 | * TheNapoleon: He's several inches shorter than Chris, and he's definitely on a power-high when we first meet him, due to his hall monitor position. |
| 351 | * SecretKeeper: [[spoiler:He becomes one regarding the trio's Superbook experiences]]. |
| 352 | * TheShortGuyWithGlasses: Well, Jia Wei is short and wears glasses. Concerning the "intelligence" aspect of the trope, one doesn't become a hall monitor with the ability to record student data and observe video-camera surveillance [[spoiler:or go on solo Superbook trips]] by being an idiot. |
| 353 | * SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Smart enough to be able to convince the principal of the value of backing up the school's security footage to review all instances of rule-breaking, and to be able to link said footage to his personal computer tablet for better surveillance. |
| 354 | * SinisterSurveillance: Jia Wei has access to every security camera in the school building via his computer tablet, all the better to catch rule-breakers. It's lampshaded when he uses this feature to lock on to the fact that Chris and Joy, who are late for school, have just entered the building's front door. |
| 355 | -->'''Chris:''' Jia Wei, since when do hall monitors have full video surveillance?\ |
| 356 | '''Jia Wei:''' Since I introduced the principal to the value of backup evidence for every single school infraction. |
| 357 | * YellowSashOfPower: As the resident hall monitor, Jia Wei frequently enforces the school rules and keeps a pinpoint-accurate note of every student's infractions; his record on the two protagonists when they're late for school in one episode shows that it's Joy's first infraction, so she gets off with just a warning, but Chris gets put at risk for detention since it's his third time being late. However, the trope is deconstructed in that Jia Wei's insistence on following the rules so stringently has made him so unpopular with the other students that none of them will even eat lunch with him, and his knowledge of his pariah status bothers him immensely. At the same time, Chris--who initially resents Jia Wei's authority--[[ReconstructedTrope comes to acknowledge]] that the guy's just doing his appointed job of maintaining order and doing it well, and that he himself can choose to be friendly to Jia Wei instead of ostracizing him. |
| 358 | [[/folder]] |
| 359 | |
| 360 | [[folder:Sherman Richards]] |
| 361 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sherman_superbook.png]] |
| 362 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Doran Bell |
| 363 | A soccer player who seeks to join the regional All-Stars team. He's also the son of Chris's soccer coach. |
| 364 | * TheBenchwarmer: Becomes this at the end of "Joshua and Caleb" for trying to cheat in the tryouts, much to his chagrin. |
| 365 | * BlueIsHeroic: His second appearance in "Love Your Enemies" shows him on the same church-based soccer team as Chris, wearing the team's blue-and-white uniform. |
| 366 | * BrightIsNotGood: In "Joshua and Caleb," Sherman is wearing a red, white and blue shirt and red shorts. He, however, isn't a very nice person (at first). |
| 367 | * TheBully: Chris outright calls him this. |
| 368 | * CheatersNeverProsper: His father, the team coach, is definitely ''not'' amused on learning of Sherman's attempt to steal the gear of the opposing team's best player. |
| 369 | * CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Brown hair and eyes. |
| 370 | * HeelFaceTurn: Appears to have undergone one in between the events of "Joshua and Caleb" and "Love Your Enemies." Granted, there's no way he could be on a church-based soccer team if he was still behaving the way he did in the former episode. |
| 371 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: The fact that he uses ''his own gym-bag'' to hide the gear of the opposing soccer team's best player comes right back to bite him when Chris outs his attempt at cheating. |
| 372 | * JerkJock: He certainly doesn't behave honorably in "Joshua and Caleb," pressuring Chris to take part in hiding the gear of their opponents' best player. |
| 373 | * OrderedToCheat: He's the one giving Chris the order to hide an opponent's playing gear in "Joshua and Caleb." |
| 374 | [[/folder]] |
| 375 | |
| 376 | [[folder:Coach Richards]] |
| 377 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_coach_richards.png]] |
| 378 | ---> '''Voiced by:''' Omari Newton |
| 379 | Chris's soccer coach, and the father of Sherman Richards. |
| 380 | * CallingTheYoungManOut: Does this to his son Sherman after the latter's attempted cheating is outed in "Joshua and Caleb." |
| 381 | * CasualSportsJersey: In every appearance he makes on the show, he's wearing a jersey. Justified since he's acting in his capacity as soccer coach on those occasions. |
| 382 | * CheatersNeverProsper: He holds this view, and will not tolerate any cheating behavior from anyone he's coaching, not even from his own son. |
| 383 | * ScaryBlackMan: Downplayed. He's certainly stern when it comes to discipline, but Coach Richards is overall an approachable authority figure. |
| 384 | * SportsDad: He always encourages his charges, including his son Sherman, to do their best in terms of gameplay. However, this does ''not'' extend to cheating. |
| 385 | * SternTeacher: Stern soccer coach, actually. He pushes his players to do their best, while at the same time not condoning any form of cheating. |
| 386 | * TeamDad: To his soccer players. He's also a literal case for his son Sherman, one of said players. |
| 387 | * TokenMinority: Downplayed. He's one of two non-whites among the recurring adult modern-day characters (along with Pastor Aaron), and one of three black modern-day characters (along with Ellie and the aforementioned Pastor Aaron). |
| 388 | * TimeOut: Pulls this on Sherman as punishment for trying to cheat. |
| 389 | * TranquilFury: When he learns of Sherman's attempted cheating, Coach Richards is clearly indignant even though he never once raises his voice while benching Sherman as punishment. |
| 390 | --> '''Sherman:''' Dad! You can't-- |
| 391 | --> '''Coach Richards:''' I can and did. ''Sit down, son.'' |
| 392 | * UnnamedParent: Downplayed, as his first name is never revealed. |
| 393 | * UselessBystanderParent: Averted ''big time''. While he initially doesn't know about Sherman trying to pressure Chris into going along with his cheating scheme in "Joshua and Caleb," once Coach Richards does find out, he takes prompt action by benching Sherman for the rest of the game. |
| 394 | [[/folder]] |
| 395 | |
| 396 | [[folder:Grandma]] |
| 397 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_grandma.png]] |
| 398 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Maxine Miller |
| 399 | Chris's grandmother on his mother's side, a woman of great faith who has been recently widowed after the death of her husband (Chris's grandfather). |
| 400 | * BeautyEqualsGoodness: Phoebe surely inherited it from her. |
| 401 | * BunnyEarsPicturePrank: [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_family_pic.png One of the family photos]] she has in her home shows her jovially pulling this on Phoebe when the latter was a teenager. |
| 402 | * EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry: One of her photos from early in her married life shows her wearing a pendant with a purple gemstone in it. Nowadays she wears a simple pearl necklace and a gold bracelet, plus a pair of earrings. |
| 403 | * GoodParents: She and her husband were certainly this to Phoebe when the latter was growing up, as both clearly share a deep familial love. |
| 404 | * HappilyMarried: She and Grandpa were this before his passing. |
| 405 | * ObnoxiousInLaws: Averted. There's never any indication given that she, or her late husband by extension, ever gave Crispin grief after marrying their daughter (indeed, Crispin himself says in "Job" that Grandpa was a great man). |
| 406 | * SilverFox: Grandma is still quite an attractive lady despite being up there in years. |
| 407 | * StrongFamilyResemblance: In "Teach Us to Pray," Grandma's wedding photo with Grandpa shows that she looked remarkably similar to how Phoebe would later look as an adult. |
| 408 | * TragicKeepsake: All she has to remember Grandpa by are his awards, their various family photos, and most especially a book-marker with the Lord's Prayer inscribed on it. While packing up her things to move closer to Chris's family, seeing the book-marker is enough to bring her to tears, though she later composes herself enough to explain to Chris how significant the prayer was for Grandpa. |
| 409 | * WistfulSmile: Wears this expression while reminiscing about Grandpa during the first half of "Teach Us to Pray." |
| 410 | [[/folder]] |
| 411 | |
| 412 | [[folder:Ellie]] |
| 413 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ellie_declares_jesus_is_the_son_of_god_preview.png]] |
| 414 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Erin Matthews |
| 415 | A classmate of Chris and Joy who shares Math period with them, Ellie has been contemplating several questions about the Bible prior to her on-screen debut in Season Five. |
| 416 | * AcademicAthlete: Ellie's debut episode "Nicodemus" has her displaying both halves of the trope, as it establishes that she takes Math class with Chris and Joy and is a skilled skier. The "athlete" half of the trope is on display in "Love Your Enemies," where she's one of the kids taking part in tryouts for the regional All-Stars soccer team, while the "academic" part is displayed in the two-part episode "Paul and the Unknown God," where she's one of the kids taking part in Commander Duke Conrad's space-themed camp. |
| 417 | * CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Brown hair, brown eyes. |
| 418 | * DontThinkFeel: Her approach to tackling a particularly risky section of the ski-slope in "Nicodemus" is basically "when you're ready, you'll know it." Of course, it helps that she'd been taking skiing lessons sometime prior. |
| 419 | * DreadlockRasta: Her hair is done in shoulder-length braids that look quite similar to dreadlocks, and she herself has some thoughtful questions about the Bible and the whole matter of knowing when or whether one has been converted (though her interest is Christianity rather than Rastafarianism). She shares the hairstyle with her older brother, whose hair more closely resembles locks than braids. |
| 420 | * SecretKeeper: [[spoiler:Becomes the second one for the main trio's Superbook trips, after Jia Wei]]. |
| 421 | * SupremeChef: Implied in "Jesus--Friend of Sinners," where she's one of several kids helping Joy to bake cookies for an upcoming youth group activity. |
| 422 | * TokenBlackFriend: Ellie is the sole black character in the kids' peer-circle and isn't really characterized beyond that, although her ethnicity is never commented on. |
| 423 | * TokenMinority: Along with Jia Wei, she is one of only two recurring non-white characters in the kids' friend group, and one of only four recurring black characters in general (the others being Coach Richards, his son Sherman, and Pastor Aaron). Presumably, she was added in response to complaints on the series' website about the glaring lack of diversity during earlier seasons. |
| 424 | * TurnToReligion: While Ellie's first appearance in "Nicodemus" establishes that she has questions about the Bible and Christianity, her next appearance in "Baptized!" sees her deciding to join Chris and Joy in baptism after having her doubts assuaged, [[spoiler:aided by her joining in on the episodic Superbook trip]]. |
| 425 | * TwoGirlsToATeam: [[spoiler:With Joy in the Superbook group following the events of "Baptized!"]] |
| 426 | [[/folder]] |
| 427 | |
| 428 | [[folder:Pastor Aaron]] |
| 429 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pastor_aaron_3.png]] |
| 430 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Giles Panton |
| 431 | The pastor in charge of the youth group that Chris and Joy attend at church. |
| 432 | * AsTheGoodBookSays: As one would expect of a pastor. |
| 433 | * FriendToAllChildren: He is typically shown working with kids, and is always kind towards them. |
| 434 | * GoodShepherd: He guides his young charges in how to walk the Christian pathway, and frequently gives advice where needed. |
| 435 | * TheMentor: Acts like this mostly to Chris, whenever he shares a scene with the kids. |
| 436 | * TheMissionary: In "Rescued!", he's leading an overseas mission trip that the kids and Professor Quantum have joined in on, during which the kids meet guest character Mateo and have to help rescue his family when a mudslide threatens to sweep their house away. |
| 437 | * NiceGuy: He is depicted as a patient and caring ReasonableAuthorityFigure. |
| 438 | * OneSteveLimit: Averted. Pastor Aaron shares his first name with a one-shot classmate of Chris and Joy who appears and is the focus of the moral conflict in "The Prodigal Son." And, of course, there's also the Biblical Aaron, the brother of Moses, who appears in the series long before Pastor Aaron does. |
| 439 | * ScaryBlackMan: Averted; Pastor Aaron is a tall and strapping figure, but also calm, gentle and approachable. |
| 440 | * TeamDad: To his youth group. |
| 441 | * TokenMinority: He's one of only two recurring adult characters who's non-white (along with Coach Richards), and one of five recurring non-white characters overall (aside from Coach Richards, the others include Jia Wei, Ellie, and Sherman). |
| 442 | [[/folder]] |
| 443 | |
| 444 | [[folder:Commander Duke Conrad]] |
| 445 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_conrad_powered_armor.png]] |
| 446 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Clay St. Thomas |
| 447 | A famous astronaut and deep-space explorer who spearheads the space-themed camp that Chris, Joy and Gizmo attend in the two-part episode "Paul and the Unknown God." Being skeptical as to existence of the divine, he serves as the secondary antagonist of the two-parter as Chris aims to change his mind. |
| 448 | * AgentScully: His stance toward religion. He espouses to Chris that if its truthfulness can't be proven scientifically, it's useless. |
| 449 | * BlueIsHeroic: His space-suit from his past astronaut missions was blue, his outfit for the space-camp he runs (and by extension, the suits worn by the camp attendees) is predominantly blue, and Conrad himself is regarded as a hero for his past exploits, including rescuing his fellow astronauts during a past time-sensitive space-station mission. |
| 450 | * BrokenPedestal: Chris initially looks up to Conrad and is excited to be working alongside his hero, but this is shattered after Conrad mocks his belief in God in front of the other space-camp attendees. [[spoiler:It's implied Conrad might be on the way to becoming a RebuiltPedestal, though, if Part Two's final shot of him sitting alone and contemplating the ramifications of the kids' presentation is any indication]]. |
| 451 | * GadgeteerGenius: He's a scientist on par with Professor Quantum, with astronomy and space exploration as his area of expertise. |
| 452 | * HollywoodAtheist: Conrad needlessly chews Chris out just for muttering a prayer during a training exercise and admonishes him for his beliefs, arguing that in all his years as a space explorer, he's looked into the deepest part of space and seen no evidence of any deities' existence, therefore dismissing the idea of the Christian God as a "fairy tale". He also ignores the fact that Gizmo and QBIT interrupted the exercise and nearly put Chris and Joy in danger. |
| 453 | * InsufferableGenius: When it comes to the [[MagicVersusScience science vs. religion debate]], he'll rub the whole idea of "if science can't prove it, it doesn't exist" in the face of anyone who holds religious beliefs to a [[ExaggeratedTrope ridiculous extent]]. It shows up most prominently when he confronts Chris over quietly reciting a prayer as he prepares for a timed space-mission simulation. |
| 454 | * MagicVersusScience: He's on the science side in the "science vs. religion" debate with Chris. |
| 455 | * PoweredArmor: Back during his deep-space missions, Conrad wore one of these (pictured above), and the camp attendees wear miniature versions during the "space mission" exercises that are based on Conrad's suit. The suit itself grants flight abilities via RocketBoots, but with the kind of show this is, he likely doesn't have any of the offense-based abilities wielded by a certain armored Avenger. |
| 456 | * ScienceHero: His fame comes from the many successful deep-space missions he's performed in his career. One of the training exercises he gives the space-camp attendees to do is actually based on one of his more noteworthy missions where he had to rescue several fellow astronauts within a designated time-limit. |
| 457 | * SkewedPriorities: After Gizmo and QBIT disrupt the space simulation and almost get Chris and Joy hurt, Conrad shows less concern about what just happened to the two kids and is more focused on Chris muttering a prayer. |
| 458 | * SpaceCadetAcademy: Conrad oversees a science camp that is set up as one of these, complete with training simulations for the campers to experience what his actual missions were like. |
| 459 | * TookALevelInKindness: [[spoiler:In "The Widow's Mite," he agrees to use a new hypersonic cargo-deployment space-jet to help distribute items for the local church's food-drive, something he probably wouldn't have even considered in his previous appearance given his skepticism about God and religion. While it's arguably more of a pragmatic choice on Conrad's part, given that he needs a way to do more test-flights for the jet anyway, at least he's not snarking at religion's expense this time around]]. |
| 460 | [[/folder]] |
| 461 | |
| 462 | [[folder:QBIT]] |
| 463 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/qbit_1.png]] |
| 464 | ---> '''Voiced by:''' Creator/SamuelVincent |
| 465 | Commander Duke Conrad's artificial intelligence droid assistant, who appears in the two-part episode "Paul and the Unknown God." |
| 466 | * BroughtToYouByTheLetterS: Has a huge "Q" prominently displayed on his chest. |
| 467 | * FunSize: QBIT's natural robotic form is only slightly bigger than would be able to fit in the palm of one hand. |
| 468 | * HardLight: His tech allows him to use this in order to [[VoluntaryShapeshifting take on any form he wishes]], human or not. This is very useful for hiding his true form from Bible-era characters, at the kids' insistence. However, see the trope immediately below... |
| 469 | * HologramProjectionImperfection: The one biggest issue with his holographic forms is that they can be disrupted by a simple touch, as Gizmo reveals when QBIT briefly morphs into him at one point, and demonstrated later when he accidentally bumps into Joy while disguised as a young boy. |
| 470 | * HoverBot: This is his natural form, when he's not taking on a disguise. |
| 471 | * InnocentlyInsensitive: On first meeting Gizmo, QBIT scans him and determines that the red robot is in need of an operational diagnostic upgrade, even listing the various things Gizmo may need to have checked. Gizmo isn't shy about letting QBIT know--very bluntly--that he does ''not'' want the smaller bot's evaluation, while muttering moments later about how he's been pestering Professor Quantum to give him an operational diagnostic for months prior. Then, during the Superbook trip, QBIT offends Gizmo again by doing a scan of the time and place in micro-seconds, something that would normally take Gizmo mere seconds to do, and providing even ''more'' data than Gizmo normally gives in the process. |
| 472 | * TheRival: Gizmo views QBIT this way. Funnily enough, QBIT [[UnknownRival doesn't even seem to realize]] there ''is'' a rivalry, as he actively tries to be helpful to Gizmo during their initial encounters, even offering the red robot a much-needed system upgrade. |
| 473 | * RobotBuddy: To Commander Conrad. |
| 474 | * SecretKeeper: Naturally, as with other guest characters who've been taken on Superbook trips, he becomes one for the kids. |
| 475 | * VoluntaryShapeshifting: As explained under HardLight above, QBIT has a volumetric cloaking device that allows him to take on different forms as needed. This allows him to emulate a human or humanoid appearance (at one point, for demonstrative purposes, he morphs into Chris, Joy, and Gizmo in rapid succession) while still keeping his original voice, though he can also change ''that'' as the situation warrants (when he takes on the appearance of a random old man and then of a bull while in Bible times with the kids, he changes his voice accordingly). |
| 476 | [[/folder]] |
| 477 | |
| 478 | !!Recurring Bible Characters |
| 479 | [[folder:God]] |
| 480 | [[quoteright:130:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/god_superbook_2011_907_thumb.jpg]] |
| 481 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Jim Conrad |
| 482 | The Father of Jesus, creator of the world and everything in it, and the series' BigGood. While [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/TheBible this page]] has several character-tropes about Him that also come into play throughout the series, the list below will focus on tropes specific to this show. |
| 483 | |
| 484 | * BigGood: As in the Bible, God is depicted as the overarching positive influence throughout all of the series' events. |
| 485 | * BlowYouAway: Like the Book of Job depicts, God speaks to the titular character out of a literal whirlwind in "Job". |
| 486 | * TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: And He's the one making the call. He personally comes to Jeremiah to appoint him as a prophet, and sends the angel Gabriel to John the Baptist's father Zacharias and Jesus's mother Mary to give each of them the news about the children they'll soon have. |
| 487 | * TheChooserOfTheOne: He's the chooser of nearly all the major protagonists the kids meet in each Bible story, mostly among the various prophets like Elijah, Jeremiah, Jonah and John the Baptist, kings of Israel like David and Solomon, and judges like Gideon. |
| 488 | * CompellingVoice: If you didn't know where Jesus got it from, well, now you know. |
| 489 | * CurseOfBabel: A literal example, of course, in "Tower of Babel and the Day of Pentecost." In the episode in question, God accomplishes this by sending numerous tiny balls of light into the people's mouths, making them speak different languages in an instant. Amusingly, one of those light-balls swirls around Gizmo, who's got a problem with his updated language-translator, and the problem is fixed immediately. |
| 490 | * DestroyerDeity: The series seems to drive home a point that you really ought ''not'' to challenge God. The Pharaoh finds this out the hard way in "Let My People Go," when his persistent refusal to release the Israelites results in God sending the ten plagues in succession to show the Egyptians exactly who they're dealing with. Then in "The Ten Commandments" and "Joshua and Caleb," God almost goes this route again when he tells Moses to stand aside so He can smite the Israelites to death for, respectively, their idolatry and rebelliousness, but Moses manages to talk Him out of it. "Noah and the Ark" shows Him in this mode on a more global scale, with the flood that destroys everything and kills everyone who's not in the titular ark. |
| 491 | * DishingOutDirt: "In the Beginning" has the familiar scene of God making Adam out of the dust of the ground, here depicted as God letting a quantity of sand fall out of His hand and taking on Adam's physical form before the breath of life is added. Later in the same episode, when Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden, God causes a giant stone gate to come up out of the ground to block the garden's entrance so they can't go back in (and an angel with a FlamingSword is set at the entrance for extra good measure). |
| 492 | * DivineIntervention: Being a series that retells Bible stories, God naturally partakes on many occasions. Notably, this also occurs in relation to the time-travelers: |
| 493 | ** The first example happens in "In the Beginning" right when Adam and Eve are compelled to leave Eden following their sin of eating the ForbiddenFruit. As Chris, Joy and Gizmo prepare to chase after them, the trio's suddenly confronted by a lion who, earlier, was shown to be completely friendly, but now wants to eat them. As the kids run away desperately, a lightning bolt from the stormy sky above strikes a tree and sets it on fire, causing it to fall right in the lion's path to make the big cat give up the chase. While there are instances of lightning flashing from the clouds above prior to this moment, this particular lightning bolt is the ''only'' one that strikes from heaven to earth, indicating that God seemingly had a hand in the kids' rescue. |
| 494 | ** The second example happens during the unleashing of the CurseOfBabel in "Tower of Babel and the Day of Pentecost." In this show, the confusion of languages is carried out by way of numerous tiny balls of light that enter the people's mouths and change their speech; one of those light-balls swirls around Gizmo, who's been having a glitch with his recently-updated language-translator, and the glitch is immediately fixed. Gizmo, realizing what's happened, [[ReligiousRobot takes a moment to express gratitude]]. |
| 495 | --->'''Gizmo:''' Hey! That sped up my sort-system-scan. ''[waves skyward]'' Thank you! |
| 496 | * DivineParentage: He's Jesus's Father, of course, with Mary as Jesus's human mother and Jesus being placed in her womb through the power of God's Holy Spirit. In "The Birth of John the Baptist," Mary recounts in flashback about how the angel Gabriel explained to her that this would be the case even though she was a virgin. |
| 497 | * DoNotTauntCthulhu: If you so much as challenge or defy God, or worse, ''insult'' His capabilities, He ''will'' respond. Just for a few specific examples: |
| 498 | ** "Let My People Go" has God, through Moses, telling the Pharaoh ten different times to let the Israelites go free. The Pharaoh refuses, blaspheming God in the process. Cue HumiliationConga via the ten plagues. |
| 499 | ** "The Fiery Furnace" has Nebuchadnezzar, in threatening the three faithful Hebrews for refusing to bow down to his image, boldly asking who is their God that will deliver them from his fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego remain faithful to God, they get thrown in the furnace for their faithfulness... and then God proceeds to make the furnace's seven-times-increased heat of utter insignificance. |
| 500 | ** "Isaiah" has the Assyrian king Sennacherib outright mocking Hezekiah's faith in God's power to deliver Israel. God responds by sending an angel to smite a hefty chunk of Sennacherib's army with death that very night. |
| 501 | * EnergyBeings: Whenever God is given a personal appearance, He is shown either as a disembodied orb of light or as a humanoid light-figure (as shown in the image above), though His face is never seen. |
| 502 | * TheFaceless: Only twice has God been shown in person in the series, in the episodes "In the Beginning" and "Revelation," and in both cases His face is never shown. In the former episode He is depicted as [[GodInHumanForm a translucent being of light with a humanoid appearance]] and is only shown from behind or at torso-level with His face just out of sight, and in the latter episode He is shown as a sun-like orb of brightly gleaming light on Heaven's throne with Jesus standing on His right side. |
| 503 | * GoodIsNotSoft: God is naturally depicted as the BigGood, but that doesn't mean He goes soft on those who openly defy Him, as the Israelites, the Pharaoh, and Sennacherib repeatedly have to learn the hard way. |
| 504 | * GiantWallOfWateryDoom: The two notable Biblical examples occur in "Let My People Go," when, with Moses as His vessel, He brings the waters of the Red Sea down on the Egyptian army after it was previously held back to let the Israelites go across, and in "Noah and the Ark", with the worldwide flood killing everyone not aboard the ark. |
| 505 | * {{God}}: [[CaptainObvious Who else could it be?]] |
| 506 | * GodIsGood: A recurring theme in the show, of which He is the obvious focus. |
| 507 | * GodOfGood: Hand-in-hand with the trope immediately above. |
| 508 | * GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: It all stems from Him, as the divine light He's shown covered in is a mix of gold and white. |
| 509 | * GreenThumb: Demonstrated in "In the Beginning" when He reaches His hand toward the stem of a flower that's been plucked and causes a brand-new flower to grow in its place in seconds. And, of course, y'know, the entire Creation scene at the beginning of the episode. |
| 510 | * LightIsGood: As befitting the series' BigGood. |
| 511 | * TheMaker: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." |
| 512 | * MakingASplash: In addition to the two examples of the GiantWallOfWateryDoom mentioned above, He also proves in "Elijah and the Prophets of Baal" that He is the one in control of whether it rains or not. |
| 513 | * TheOmnipotent: Obviously, with the Creation story in "In the Beginning" and the reconstruction of Earth in "Revelation" being the biggest examples. |
| 514 | * TheOmniscient: Also a given. Where the kids are concerned, it's implied on a couple of occasions that He knows all about them (which would certainly be fitting for this trope), and that He's looking out for them during their Biblical adventures (mostly via Superbook). |
| 515 | * ThePatriarch: Jesus frequently makes a point of identifying God this way. |
| 516 | * PlayingWithFire: He shows up to Moses in the form of the burning bush, He writes the Ten Commandments on the tables of stone with a fiery finger, He sends down fire to consume Elijah's offering, He sends chariots of fire to protect Elisha... |
| 517 | * ReasoningWithGod: While He expects His commandments to be obeyed, He's sometimes open to discussion, as demonstrated in "The Ten Commandments," where Moses tells the Israelites that he was able to convince God not to immediately smite all of them dead for their idolatry in making the golden calf. Though on His end, the discussion may take the form of [[ArmorPiercingQuestion pointed questions]] intended to make the other party (such as Adam or Job) acknowledge their place beneath Him. |
| 518 | * TheVoice: As mentioned previously, He only appears physically twice, and otherwise speaks as a disembodied voice in the rest of the series. |
| 519 | * WeatherManipulation: "Elijah and the Prophets of Baal" has Elijah, as God's representative, making it known that He is the only true God who controls whether it rains or not, in contrast to the false god Baal, who is also said to excel at this but in fact isn't capable of it due to being nothing more than an idol. Aside from that, God is also perfectly able to shoot lightning bolts and create clouds, feats demonstrated across different episodes. |
| 520 | [[/folder]] |
| 521 | |
| 522 | [[folder:Jesus]] |
| 523 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jesus_preview.jpg]] |
| 524 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Noel Johansen |
| 525 | The Son of God, Rabbi of the Apostles, and prophesied Savior of the world, as in the original text of the Bible; many New Testament stories as depicted in the series revolve around Him, though being a Protestant Christian program, He also makes a few cameos in the Old Testament episodes as well. Most of the character tropes listed [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/TheFourGospels here]] and [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/TheBible here]] apply to this version of Jesus as well; this list focuses primarily on tropes specific to this show. |
| 526 | * AnAesop: Just like in the Bible, every parable He tells has a lesson to be learned that Chris and Joy apply in dealing their OncePerEpisode personal conflicts back home. The titular parable in "The Good Samaritan," for instance, helps Joy to see that she needs to be neighborly to a schoolmate who she would've previously ignored. |
| 527 | * AllLovingHero: A standard for the character. In this series, it's actually easier to count the times when He ''[[BewareTheNiceOnes isn't]]''. |
| 528 | * AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: "Revelation" has John the Revelator outline, in flashback, how Jesus left the disciples this way, covered in heavenly light as He went. |
| 529 | * BerserkButton: Jesus has in fact gotten angry a few times, or at least has gotten stern, even with His own disciples when it comes to their lack of faith. But as shown in "The Last Supper," just like in the original scripture, you should not ''dare'' to turn His Father's temple into a noisy and irreverent marketplace unless you want for Him to [[FlippingTheTable dash your money-changing tables aside]] and run you out with a whip.[[note]]For those who may be wondering, in the Bible, there are actually two events when Jesus runs the money-changers out of the temple. The first time occurs around the start of His ministry, depicted in John 2:13-17; the second time occurs just shortly before His crucifixion, depicted in Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, and Luke 19:45-46, but those three passages don't mention Him wielding a whip on this occasion. What we see in the episode is basically [[AdaptationDistillation a combination of details from the two events]], since this is the only time in the show where the incident is depicted.[[/note]] |
| 530 | -->'''Jesus:''' My Father's house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations! But ''you'' have turned it into a den of THIEVES! ''[cracks the whip and flings the tables away]'' |
| 531 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: This series frequently shows Jesus' gentle side--His compassion for the sick, His patience in teaching His disciples and the wider community, His readiness to give a reassuring smile to child and adult alike, His willingness to forgive sinners who are truly repentant, even His [[SecretSecretKeeper lightly-hinted]] guidance in solving the time-travelers' personal problems--but if at any point He's wearing a stern expression for any reason, just know that the recipient of that look is ''boned''. The first time we see Him angry is in "The Last Supper," because the money-changers are [[BerserkButton disrespecting the temple of God with their irreverent actions]]; He winds up violently overturning their tables and using a whip of cords to chase them out. |
| 532 | * TheChosenOne: Specifically, to fulfill God's promise to Adam and Eve in Eden. "The Promise of a Child" actually has Superbook take the kids back to witness some of their past adventures where they've interacted with different characters who've all been part of the plan for Jesus to be born of Mary in order to save the world from sin. |
| 533 | * CompellingVoice: If He's banishing demons, or rebuking a storm, they ''obey''. On a more kindly note, He'll combine this with His HealingHands to banish sickness and provide hope to the sick person in the process. |
| 534 | * CoolSword: He's the one who meets Joshua prior to the attack on Jericho in "Rahab and the Walls of Jericho," and He's carrying a sword that's glowing with light (along with the rest of Himself). |
| 535 | * DecompositeCharacter: As explained under the ArchangelMichael trope page, some Christian denominations treat that character as a separate being from Christ, while other groups treat them as the same person, with Michael being just another name for Jesus. For the latter group, this trope would be played straight here, with Michael depicted as his own character separate and apart from Jesus. |
| 536 | * DetectEvil: Due to His divine heritage, He can sense evil when it's close by. "Miracles of Jesus" has Him sensing the presence of the man possessed by the legion of demons long before the individual actually shows up in person. |
| 537 | * DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: He's the recipient of this in "Jacob and Esau," after a fashion, being the divine figure with whom Jacob wrestles [[CueTheSun until daybreak]]. "After a fashion" because He cripples Jacob by touching his thigh to put it out of joint, in order to bring an abrupt end to the struggle; yet in acknowledgment of Jacob's perseverance (both in the physical combat and then in seeking a blessing before facing Esau), He gives Jacob a MeaningfulRename. |
| 538 | -->'''Jesus:''' Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed. |
| 539 | * FriendToAllChildren: When the kids meet Jesus for the first time (from their chronological perspective, anyway) in "Miracles of Jesus," one of the first things He does is to offer them something to eat. At different points throughout the series thereafter, whenever they meet Him, He's a caring mentor who gives them direct or indirect lessons to apply to their personal situations back home. [[spoiler:And as He demonstrates in "Revelation," threatening to harm children who believe in Him will have [[HolyHandGrenade very dire consequences]] for the one giving the threat]]. |
| 540 | * GoodIsNotSoft: If His hands light up for [[HolyHandGrenade any reason that isn't to heal someone]], or He's holding a whip in one hand, and He's giving the soon-to-be-recipient a DeathGlare either way, it will not end well for the unlucky party. Also counts as OOCIsSeriousBusiness, as this kind of violent response has only happened twice in the series to date; the first time is when He's rushing the irreverent merchants out of the temple, while the second time is when He's smiting Satan during the Battle of Armageddon [[spoiler:to save the kids from Satan]]. |
| 541 | * HalfHumanHybrid: His mother is the very human Mary, and His Father is the very heavenly and divine God. Joseph is His legal adopted father on Earth. |
| 542 | * HealingHands: Just like in the Bible, of course. "Miracles of Jesus" shows Him healing a paralyzed man, while "Jesus Heals the Blind" has Him healing three different blind men. |
| 543 | * HolyHandGrenade: In "Revelation," while confronting Satan [[spoiler:to save the kids from being killed by the latter]], Jesus blasts His foe with a burst of light from one hand, utterly disintegrating him. And just prior to that, a whole ''barrage'' of light-blasts shoot down from the sky where Jesus is coming from, decimating a good chunk of Satan's army. "Begone, Satan!" indeed. |
| 544 | * HumbleHero: We know from the Bible that Jesus was never one to seek glory or honor for Himself, or to throw His weight around or force others to do things for Him, even though His followers thought He should make Himself a physical king of Israel. "The Last Supper" really brings it home during one scene where He asks Chris to fetch some water and towels ahead of the titular supper, only for Chris--who's been feeling far too much rock-star hype ever since his GarageBand was chosen to take part in a national competition--to order Joy to fetch the requested items as if he's her overseer. Jesus's reaction is to gently, but in clear disappointment, [[WhatTheHellHero set Chris straight right there and then]]. |
| 545 | -->'''Chris:''' Yeah, we don't jump, right, Jesus? People jump for us.\ |
| 546 | '''Jesus:''' ''[sighs]'' Have I shown you nothing, Chris? |
| 547 | * IncorruptiblePurePureness: On full display in "Jesus in the Wilderness," where He rejects Satan's temptations. |
| 548 | * JesusWasWayCool: Downplayed in this series. He's approachable, ready to give a much-needed lesson or word of advice to anyone who approaches Him, and of course is willing to turn water into wine for the sake of a wedding feast, but at the same time He never loses reverence for the things of God or waters down scripture in His words or actions. Though if you [[BerserkButton desecrate the temple]] or [[GoodIsNotSoft threaten harm to His followers...]] |
| 549 | * LightIsGood: Wears all-white clothes, rides a WhiteStallion, and it's especially clear when He's surrounded by divine light. |
| 550 | * MagneticHero: Naturally, as it relates to the Bible characters. For the time-travelers specifically, they can't help but follow Him and stick close to Him every time they interact with Him. |
| 551 | * MatterReplicator: Water-to-wine, anyone? Plus the whole matter of turning five loaves and two fishes into a feast for 5,000 people. Both miracles are shown in "Jesus Feeds the Hungry." |
| 552 | * NiceGuy: Noel Johansen's calm, soothing vocal delivery convincingly helps Jesus's portrayal in this series as this trope, particularly in how He interacts with the common people, answers the questions of honest truth-seekers like Nicodemus, and [[FriendToAllChildren and it's even present in his mentor-like interactions with the time-travelers themselves]]. Though there are times when he will ''[[GoodIsNotSoft not]]'' be so nice, largely toward evildoers or those who dishonor the name of the Lord (as the merchants [[BerserkButton desecrating the temple]] found out firsthand). |
| 553 | * PlayingWithFire: In "Gideon," He is the heavenly visitor who comes to encourage Gideon to fight against the Midianites, in the process touching Gideon's offering of food with the tip of His staff and setting it ablaze. |
| 554 | * SecretSecretKeeper: While it's never discussed in-universe, the series drops a few light hints here and there suggesting that Jesus is perfectly knowledgeable about the kids' time-travelling nature but simply doesn't say anything. Seeing as He's the Son of the all-knowing God of Heaven, it would make sense.[[note]]Some specific examples include: in "The Last Supper," He addresses Joy and Gizmo by name when they first meet, in a departure from recurring Bible characters not usually remembering the kids when they meet in different episodes; in "The Prodigal Son," He gives the kids a knowing glance while they, a little distance away and supposedly out of earshot, are discussing the problem being faced by one of their friends back in modern times; in "The Good Samaritan," He shows up quite suddenly and outlines the summary of the titular parable to the kids (Gizmo having just finished giving them the longer version minus the story's moral) and then gives Joy a knowing smile as He advises her to "go and do likewise," she having previously been dismissive of a classmate with sketchy habits; and in "Nicodemus," when Gizmo and Joy arrive near Jesus's immediate location and Gizmo does a facial-recognition scan to identify Him, Jesus turns to glance in their general direction (with the larger group of disciples having [[FailedASpotCheck failed]] to see Superbook's teleportation act moments earlier).[[/note]] |
| 555 | * StealthHiBye: Pulls this on the various disciples He shows Himself to after His resurrection in "Doubting Thomas." |
| 556 | * TheStoryteller: Just like in the Bible, this is a frequent method Jesus uses in various episodes of this series to get His points across. |
| 557 | * ThirdPersonPerson: Downplayed, as He usually does this whenever He is prophesying or foretelling what is to come, particularly concerning His crucifixion. |
| 558 | * WeatherManipulation: One of the miracles Jesus displays in "Miracles of Jesus" is the famous stopping of the storm on the sea ("Peace, be still"). |
| 559 | * WhiteStallion: Rides one in "Revelation," and the horse, being of supernatural nature, is capable of running on the clouds. |
| 560 | * WiseBeyondTheirYears: He did astonish the scribes and teachers at Jerusalem's temple with His knowledge of scripture at only 12 years old, after all. "Jesus in the Wilderness" shows the scene in detail, right at the point when Joseph and Mary have found Him after frantic searching. |
| 561 | [[/folder]] |
| 562 | |
| 563 | [[folder:Michael]] |
| 564 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_preview.jpg]] |
| 565 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/BrianDobson |
| 566 | The captain of Heaven's warrior-angels, and the very first Biblical character the kids meet in the show's first episode, Michael makes several appearances (mostly cameos) across the series thereafter. |
| 567 | * AngelicBeauty: Naturally, he's depicted in the series with angelically handsome features. This particular design for Michael is likely done to contrast him to Lucifer, who is similarly conventionally handsome but has a perpetual sneer or frown on his face even when in angelic form. |
| 568 | * ArchangelMichael: Yup. |
| 569 | * TheArmiesOfHeaven: He's the chief of the warrior-angels, answering only to God and Jesus. The only time he's shown ''not'' leading Heaven's armies is in "Revelation," when Jesus is the one leading them Himself. |
| 570 | * AsTheGoodBookSays: A regular user of this trope, though he's far from the only one. Michael is fairly unique, though, as whenever he does it, he quotes scripture passages during situations that chronologically happen long before the passages themselves will be written (for instance, quoting Isaiah 14:12 and 15 while banishing Satan from Heaven, and later quoting 1 Corinthians 10:13 while assuring Chris that God will empower him to resist temptation just as Jesus was equipped to withstand Satan's wilderness temptations moments earlier). |
| 571 | * DecompositeCharacter: See Jesus's entry above. |
| 572 | * FlamingSword: He's armed with one (as are all other warrior-angels). |
| 573 | * FriendToAllChildren: He greets the kids with calm and reassuring words when they first meet in "In the Beginning," and saves Chris from falling off a cliff before then taking him to witness Jesus's temptations in "Jesus in the Wilderness." |
| 574 | * GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: He's a good angel who wears white armor with gold linings. |
| 575 | * GoodIsNotSoft: He's friendly to the kids and loyal to God, but he doesn't hesitate to give the treacherous Lucifer a thrashing or kick him out of Heaven. In fact, for much of the two angels' duel, Michael is on the offensive ''more'' than Lucifer is. The DVD cover for "In the Beginning" outright shows him [[http://ph-en.superbook.cbn.com/episode/in-the-beginning-creation-the-fall knocking out Lucifer with one punch]]. |
| 576 | * HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Male example. He's got blond hair and is an unambiguously sinless angel. |
| 577 | * LargeAndInCharge: As shown in the first episode, Michael leads the warrior-angels of Heaven, and he is a tall figure; Chris and Joy are both shown as measuring up to Professor Quantum's chest, but the two only just reach up to Michael's ''waist''. [[https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts113/v4/c8/2c/84/c82c8494-e1e5-3743-f737-1f2620d98365/mza_6086623328329919887.jpg/600x600bb.jpg If this promotional image is to be believed]] Michael is roughly equal in height to Goliath (not counting Goliath's helmet). |
| 578 | * LightEmUp: Able to make his chest-plate glow with incredible light as a battle tactic. |
| 579 | * LightIsGood: An angel, blond hair, wears white and gold armor, has light-based powers... yes, he qualifies. |
| 580 | * PlayingWithFire: Aside from the FlamingSword, in "Elisha and the Syrians" he's the one driving the fiery chariot that takes Elijah to Heaven. |
| 581 | * TheQuietOne: In every episode where he appears but doesn't have a major speaking role. Most notably in "Job," he's silent as he witnesses Satan making his challenge to God about the pious Job. |
| 582 | * SpockSpeak: A mild example. In every episode where he shows up in a speaking role, Michael never uses contractions in his speech, likely to emphasize his heavenly origin (even Jesus, who grows up among humans while on Earth, and Satan, who's also on Earth for [[FallenAngel obvious reasons]], use contractions every so often), but he occasionally emotes as a way of providing emphasis, and will employ the active style on a few occasions (while witnessing the building of the Tower of Babel, he remarks, "I wonder what God will do?") |
| 583 | * SuperStrength: Let's be honest, it takes a certain amount of strength to be able to [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks throw a sword]] from a far distance and have the blade stick into a rock, then to break off a section of said rock while pulling the sword free without a look or sound of strain, as happens in "In the Beginning." Likely justified by him being an angel. |
| 584 | * ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: He pulls this during his fight with Lucifer in Heaven, when the fallen angel appeals to the kids for help while struggling to hold on to the edge of the rock-face where they're standing; Michael puts a halt on ''that'' encounter by flinging his sword hard enough for the blade to get embedded into the rock right in front of Lucifer's face. While we don't see the initial throw, the way the sword comes into the scene implies that Michael has thrown it like a spear, the way straight-bladed swords could historically be thrown. |
| 585 | * UndyingLoyalty: "I do not fear you, [[BigBad Lucifer]], for I serve the Lord!" |
| 586 | * WingedHumanoid: Like all the angels, he's one. In fact, he's the first one to show up in the series. |
| 587 | [[/folder]] |
| 588 | |
| 589 | [[folder:Satan/Lucifer]] |
| 590 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bible_profile_satan.png]] |
| 591 | [[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Click to see him as Lucifer]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bible_profile_lucifer.png[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 592 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/PaulDobson |
| 593 | A former angel of Heaven known as Lucifer, the being who would become known as Satan led a revolt against God and was banished for his trouble; he now roams the earth while opposing God and all He stands for. Several tropes listed [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/TheBible here]] apply to him; this list focuses on tropes specific to this series. |
| 594 | * BeautyIsBad: His angelic form is quite handsome, and any human guise he puts on is, at least, not unattractive. |
| 595 | * BerserkButton: He will not react well if anyone he tries to tempt into sin rebuffs him; at best, he'll snarl and pull his GameFace, and at worst, he'll actively try to kill the offender right there and then. Also, as shown in "Revelation," hearing Superbook mentioned by name is enough to briefly make him lose his cool, though luckily that happens just when Chris has turned his back to the devil (he doesn't yet realize who he's talking to) and Satan manages to compose himself a moment later so as to keep up his present FauxAffablyEvil facade. |
| 596 | * BigBad: In the show's universe, the whole problem of sin and a lot of the misfortunes in the Bible stories it depicts by extension, are his doing. |
| 597 | * BigRedDevil: Satan's default appearance throughout the series, as shown at right, is based on the typical cultural interpretation as exemplified by this trope; he sports red skin, bat-like wings, horns, and flames for hair, in addition to wearing [[DarkIsEvil black armor]]. However, he can [[VoluntaryShapeshifting change his look as needed]], including taking on his previous WingedHumanoid look from before his fall from Heaven (back when he was known as Lucifer), or assuming a normal human guise if he needs to blend in with mortals. |
| 598 | * CompositeCharacter: With the series being based around teaching the theology of Evangelical Protestant Christianity, he is one of Hassatan, God's appointed prosecutor of the Heavenly Court in the Hebrew Bible and Synoptic Gospels and the origin of the name "Satan", and Lucifer, the fallen angel depicted mostly in later, non-Biblical works such as ''Literature/ParadiseLost'' who is named after the "morning star" (Venus) that the Literature/BookOfIsaiah briefly references when describing the War in Heaven. |
| 599 | * TheCorrupter: He doesn't limit himself to corrupting just the Bible characters; on at least three occasions he's tried to coerce Chris into joining forces with him or to otherwise be disobedient or rebellious against his parents or God in some way. |
| 600 | * DarkIsEvil: Both as Satan and as Lucifer. His default appearance (both in his demonic form and whenever he assumes his angelic form) has him clad in [[EvilWearsBlack black armor]], and when he turns into SuperSmoke, it's always colored black. Even when he masquerades as a human, he wears dark-colored robes. |
| 601 | * DealWithTheDevil: He attempts this with Chris twice, first in "In the Beginning" (where he invokes an image of Chris flying freely with a jet-pack while saying that the kids can be masters of their own destiny as long as they follow him) and again in "Revelation" (where he offers Chris the opportunity to eat a mystical fruit as a way of ridding himself of the guilt he feels over his latest bad choice), and of course there's the famous series of temptations put to Jesus in "Jesus in the Wilderness." In all three episodes, the recipients reject him, much to his visible displeasure. |
| 602 | * EvilCounterpart: To God, Jesus and Michael, in varying degrees. |
| 603 | ** To God, in that while God is the BigGood of the series, Satan is the BigBad. |
| 604 | ** To Jesus, concerning their respective roles as mentors to humans. Focusing specifically on the disciples, Jesus tends to mentor Peter as a future leader of the apostles, guiding him and encouraging him to grow as a follower of God's will and to strengthen the brethren; conversely, Satan is the one who directs Judas to betray Jesus, and Jesus also notes at one point that Satan wants to sift Peter like wheat. |
| 605 | ** To Michael, in a much more obvious way than with God and Jesus, since both of them served together as angels in Heaven before Lucifer's fall. As an angel, Lucifer wears [[DarkIsEvil black armor]] and can transform into black SuperSmoke to contrast Michael's [[LightIsGood white armor]] and LightEmUp powers, and while Lucifer wants to uplift himself above all creation, Michael's all about serving God so as to uplift Him as the Creator. Satan has also sought to corrupt Chris more than once; Michael, in turn, encourages Chris to put his trust in God. And, of course, Satan leads TheLegionsOfHell to counter Michael's command over TheArmiesOfHeaven. |
| 606 | * EvilSoundsDeep: Paul Dobson gives him a very sinister baritone, plus a slight rasp when he's angry. |
| 607 | * FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Literally; he can appear in his original form as a handsome blond angel when he needs to, as in "Revelation." |
| 608 | * FauxAffablyEvil: In his interactions with Chris, Satan behaves very calmly and friendlily as he tries to tempt him, but he [[IncrediblyLamePun loses his cool]] rather quickly when admonished. |
| 609 | * FlamingSword: Wields one during his attempted takeover of Heaven, just like the other angels. |
| 610 | * TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson: Or, in this case, The Devil Knows About 21st-Century Concepts; this shows up on two occasions, both times during situations where he's trying to tempt Chris over to his side. |
| 611 | ** The first time is in "In the Beginning," where he and the kids confront each other while he's in the form of the serpent, shortly after having deceived Eve into eating from the Tree of Knowledge. He [[RealityWarper creates a pool of water out of nowhere]] to show in its reflection Chris flying with a jet-pack, something that obviously hasn't been invented at that time and that none of the kids has openly spoken about in that place (one prior scene implies he's read Chris's mind and knows exactly what emotional buttons to push). |
| 612 | ** The second time is in "Revelation," where, while showing Chris that HumansAreBastards, Satan presents the image of a modern-day army with rifles and ballistic gear--and since the setting of the episode is during the vision of John the Revelator, said modern weaponry obviously has yet to have been invented at that point. |
| 613 | * KnightOfCerebus: Anytime he appears in an episode, expect the tone to be ''significantly'' more dire than usual. |
| 614 | * LargeHam: A lot of times, Satan carries on as if he's on a stage, with all the hamminess that attitude brings. (Plus, remember that Paul Dobson has had prior experience voicing bad guys such as [[Anime/InuYasha Naraku]].) |
| 615 | * TheLegionsOfHell: He is their commander, especially as shown in "Revelation." |
| 616 | * LightIsNotGood: Although he never loses the black armor in his angelic form (presumably for the benefit of letting younger viewers be reminded that he's a bad guy), he's still putting on the appearance of an angel, which leads to Chris--not realizing yet who he is--bowing the knee to him in "Revelation." Incidentally, [[MeaningfulName the name Lucifer itself means "light-bearer."]] |
| 617 | * LovesTheSoundOfScreaming: In "Job", after afflicting the titular character with his bodily sores to the point that Job's howling in utter pain, he says this to himself. |
| 618 | -->'''Satan:''' Agony. Such a pleasing sound. |
| 619 | * MakeThemRot: Satan demonstrates this ability at different points throughout the series, such as causing a blooming flower to wilt with just a touch in "In the Beginning," and a fruit he's just handled turning black and rotted moments later in "Jesus in the Wilderness." |
| 620 | * ManBehindTheMan: In "He Is Risen", Satan is explicitly depicted as the one behind Judas's betrayal of Jesus, whispering to the disciple to follow through with identifying Jesus to the mob when they come for Him in the Garden of Gethsemane.[[note]]This is contested in scripture; while it's mentioned explicitly in Luke 22:3 and somewhat more ambiguously in John 13:27, the other gospels refute it. More glaringly, the same episode depicts Satan as appearing in front of Jesus on the cross to taunt him directly, which is purely a fabrication of this show.[[/note]] |
| 621 | * PlayingWithFire: Aside from the fire he has for hair on his head, "Job" explicitly shows him as being the one who [[DeathFromAbove rains down the fire]] that destroys Job's livestock. |
| 622 | -->'''Satan:''' And now the outlook is cloudy... with a chance of ''fire!'' |
| 623 | * {{Pride}}: His very first line in the series [[EstablishingCharacterMoment shows]] that he's too full of himself. |
| 624 | -->'''Lucifer:''' I am God's greatest work. And I shall ascend above all of creation! |
| 625 | * RealityWarper: What a lot of his powers boil down to, as shown in this series. In no particular order: he's shown Chris visions of modern-day technology and armies as a way of trying to tempt him; he's made trees grow out of parched earth; during his temptations of Jesus, he physically teleports Him from the wilderness to the roof of the temple and back again; and while testing Job, he causes boils to suddenly appear on the godly man's body. There are limits to what he can do, however; in the aforementioned case of Job, just like in the Bible, Satan doesn't try to implement any trials against the man until God explicitly gives him the go-ahead, and even then within certain parameters (at first Satan's not allowed to affect Job himself, and then he's not allowed to take Job's life). |
| 626 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: His default appearance is as a BigRedDevil who wears black armor with red lining, and he's the show's primary antagonist. |
| 627 | * {{Shapeshifting}}: Whenever he appears as an episode's direct antagonist, Satan consistently demonstrates this ability. The first example, of course, is when he turns into [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent the serpent in the Garden of Eden]], but he can also turn into SuperSmoke and [[HumanDisguise assume a human form]]. He can even assume [[WingedHumanoid his angelic form of Lucifer]] from before he was banished from Heaven, in accordance with the Bible passage that says he can appear as an angel of light.[[note]]2 Corinthians 11:14, for the curious[[/note]] [[spoiler:And in "Revelation," he transforms into [[ScaledUp a gigantic cobra]] to attack the kids]]. |
| 628 | * TornadoMove: He uses this twice during his rebellion in Heaven, combining it with his SuperSmoke ability (though his wings are still partially visible so we know he's spinning inside the smoke). The first time, he uses it to dispatch three good angels; the second time, he uses it minutes later to fly up toward Michael for an attack, though Michael is able to block his resulting sword-strike. |
| 629 | * WouldHurtAChild: In "Revelation", after gettinng ScaledUp, Satan lunges venomously at Chris repeatedly after the boy rejects his temptations. |
| 630 | [[/folder]] |
| 631 | |
| 632 | [[folder:Moses]] |
| 633 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_moses.png]] |
| 634 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RichardNewman |
| 635 | God's chosen leader to take the captive Israelites out of Egyptian bondage and to the Promised Land of Canaan, and the one who collects the tables of stone with the Ten Commandments on them along the way. |
| 636 | * TheCommandments: "The Ten Commandments" shows us the scene of Moses getting the tables of stone from God while up on Mount Sinai. |
| 637 | * CoolOldGuy: The very first time the kids meet Moses while he's tending sheep in the episode "Let My People Go," he proves to be quite friendly and informative. |
| 638 | * EmissaryFromTheDivine: Well, God ''does'' appoint him to be Israel's deliverer, and then later on he's the Hebrews' go-between to God. |
| 639 | * HolyBacklight: When he and Elijah appear to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration in "Teach Us to Pray," all of them are covered in holy light. |
| 640 | * MosesInTheBulrushes: Obviously, though like in the original text, he knows of his Hebrew heritage from the outset (helped by his birth mother being taken on as his nursemaid by his adopted mother, Pharaoh's daughter). The whole thing is shown in "The Birth of Moses." |
| 641 | * RedIsHeroic: His robe is striped in two different shades of red in "Let My People Go," and a single red shade in subsequent appearances. The striped version is similar to the red robe Charlton Heston wore when he played Moses in ''{{Film/The Ten Commandments|1956}}''. |
| 642 | * RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Technically, being the Pharaoh's adopted child. He ''tried'' to be proactive in stopping the Egyptians' cruel treatment of the Israelites, but killing that one taskmaster resulted in him having to flee Egypt and live in Midian for the next 40 years. |
| 643 | * TeamDad: Acts like this for the children of Israel, especially in his roles as their intercessor to God in "The Ten Commandments" and "Joshua and Caleb." |
| 644 | * UnaccustomedAsIAmToPublicSpeaking: In "Let My People Go," the first time he tries to talk to Pharaoh, he stumbles on his words and is uncertain of himself, necessitating his brother Aaron--a much better public speaker--to help him. Subsequent visits to the royal palace have Moses being much more confident and able to speak for himself. |
| 645 | * UnstoppableRage: When he sees the golden calf. In fact, he gets mad enough to throw the life-sized idol off its pedestal, despite the fact that it should be ''heavy'' due to the metal it's made of. |
| 646 | * YoungestChildWins: He's the younger brother of Miriam and Aaron, but he's the one chosen by God to lead Israel out of Egypt and to the Promised Land. |
| 647 | [[/folder]] |
| 648 | |
| 649 | [[folder:David]] |
| 650 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bible_profile_david.png]] |
| 651 | [[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Click to see him as a young adult]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/davidanointedking_preview.png[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 652 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AlessandroJuliani (as child David and young adult David), Michael Donovan (as old David) |
| 653 | A shepherd boy who later becomes one of Israel's greatest kings, and the future father of the wise King Solomon. |
| 654 | * BadassIsraeli: Kills a lion with his staff, kills a bear with his sling, kills Goliath by cutting his head off, and much later is hailed as slaying "ten thousands" (in contrast to the mere "thousands" ascribed to King Saul) due to his prowess in Israel's army, and he does all of that without a hint of fear. |
| 655 | * CaneFu: His EstablishingCharacterMoment in "A Giant Adventure" has him using his shepherd's rod to kill a lion threatening one of his lambs. He even twirls it around "martial arts" style beforehand. |
| 656 | * TheChosenOne: Chosen by God, through Samuel, to be the next king of Israel. It earns him resentment from his older brother Eliab. |
| 657 | * DavidVersusGoliath: Duh. Although in this show's rendition of the event, the battle isn't as quick or one-sided as we would traditionally see or hear it depicted. |
| 658 | * TheEvilPrince: Not David himself, but his son Adonijah in "King Solomon." While David is on his deathbed, Adonijah tries to make himself king under the pretense that David has sanctioned it, but Solomon's mother Bathsheba goes to David to ask for his kingly intervention. |
| 659 | * FragileSpeedster: As a boy in "A Giant Adventure," he's fast enough to dodge attacks from bigger opponents like Goliath or a lion, but he has to stay out of range of their much heavier attacks. He presumably grows out of this later as an adult, given that he's a leading figure in the Israelite army when he's seen as a young adult in "David and Saul." |
| 660 | * JustAKid: David is subject to this from both his father Jesse, when Samuel says David is God's anointed future king, and from Saul, when David says he will fight Goliath. |
| 661 | * MartialArtsHeadband: As a shepherd boy in "A Giant Adventure," David is shown wearing a simple brown headband all throughout the episode. As for the "martial arts" part, well, he's definitely skilled enough to kill a lion with his staff, and some of his combat tactics involve hand-flips. |
| 662 | * RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: The very end of "Ruth" shows David in his kingly attire, with his sword and shield at the ready. |
| 663 | * SufferTheSlings: A sling is a ''deadly'' weapon in David's hands. |
| 664 | * TheUnfavorite: Jesse clearly isn't expecting Samuel to point out David as the next king of Israel. Heck, the only reason David gets to meet Samuel at all is because Eliab has been sent to fetch him from tending the sheep, long after Samuel has already arrived and been introduced to Jesse's other sons. |
| 665 | * WarriorPoet: Here's David's list of accomplishments--bear-slayer, lion-killer, giant-conqueror, army leader, and expert harpist and song-writer. On that last point, during his shepherd-boy days in "A Giant Adventure," he helps Chris reignite his passion for music after Chris has suffered a bad case of stage-fright that's made him swear off ever playing his guitar again; and much later as a young adult in "David and Saul," he's Saul's appointed musician when he's not out killing Israel's enemies. |
| 666 | * WhoWillBellTheCat: He is the answer to the question of who will go to fight Goliath, after the rest of Israel's army turns coward because of the giant. |
| 667 | * YoungestChildWins: David is the youngest of Jesse's sons, and he's the one who the prophet Samuel declares has been chosen by God to be the next king of Israel (despite Jesse suggesting that Samuel take another look at his firstborn, Eliab, to be sure). He's also this trope fulfilled on a much larger and longer-term scale, as Superbook shows the kids in "The Promise of a Child," as it is through David's direct lineage that the promise God made to Adam and Eve will be fulfilled through the coming of Jesus. |
| 668 | [[/folder]] |
| 669 | |
| 670 | [[folder:Elijah]] |
| 671 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elijahpraystogod_preview.png]] |
| 672 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MichaelDobson |
| 673 | A fearless prophet of God and rebuker of sin. |
| 674 | * AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: At the very beginning of "Elisha and the Syrians," via Michael and the fiery chariot. Though he later shows up to Jesus as a light-covered figure along with Moses in "Teach Us to Pray." |
| 675 | * CleverCrows: Y'know, the whole "being fed by ravens sent by God" thing, featured prominently in "Elijah and the Widow." |
| 676 | * CoolOldGuy: He's not about to let a little thing like old age slow him down. |
| 677 | * TheFamine: He calls down the three-year drought by the word of God in "Elijah and the Prophets of Baal," and the crops have largely failed in the region as a result. "Elijah and the Widow," which chronologically takes place between the initial curse and the confrontation on Mount Carmel, outlines how the drought's effect has reached as far as Zarephath. |
| 678 | * FriendToAllChildren: He gets along splendidly with the kids during their different encounters, and his assistant in "Elijah and the Prophets of Baal" is depicted as a young boy. Then there's his fatherly attention to the young son of the widow of Zarephath in "Elijah and the Widow." |
| 679 | * HolyBacklight: During his brief cameo alongside Moses in "Teach Us to Pray." |
| 680 | * LastOfHisKind: He himself says it aloud in "Elijah and the Prophets of Baal," that he is the only prophet of God who is left (at that point, anyway; Elisha hasn't shown up yet). |
| 681 | * MentorArchetype: On the occasions he interacts with the kids, he naturally acts as an instructor to them. And, of course, he has Elisha as his student later on prior to him being taken to Heaven. |
| 682 | * NervesOfSteel: It takes having an especially strong pair to be able to mouth off to royalty, and even strike fear into said royalty, without having any sense of fear or concern for oneself. It takes having an even stronger pair to knowingly walk in the direction of said royalty, instead of going in the opposite direction, after they've sent out an order for you to be found and killed. Of course, Elijah's lack of concern is because of his confidence in the power of God. |
| 683 | * NeverMessWithGranny: Gender-inverted. It doesn't matter if you're the king himself; if you're committing sin in the sight of God, Elijah ''will'' call you out and strike fear in your heart while doing so. |
| 684 | * UndyingLoyalty: Remains steadfast that the Lord God is the only true God to be worshipped. |
| 685 | [[/folder]] |
| 686 | |
| 687 | [[folder:King Nebuchadnezzar]] |
| 688 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nebuchadnezzar.png]] |
| 689 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Garry Chalk |
| 690 | The ruler of the Babylonian empire. |
| 691 | * BadBoss: His wise men fail to interpret his dream on demand. His response? To order all of them executed. |
| 692 | * BeardOfEvil: His beard is thick and bushy, and he is ''not'' a nice person (at least, not when he's on the [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Heel side of the revolving door]]). |
| 693 | * BreakTheHaughty: Nebuchadnezzar orders the furnace to be heated seven times hotter just to kill Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. God responds by rescuing the trio from being burned to death. That kind of thing tends to humble people significantly. |
| 694 | * DreamingOfThingsToCome: "Nebuchadnezzar's Dream" has Daniel explain the king's famous dream about the statue made of multiple materials and how it portrays future events and empires to come. |
| 695 | * TheEmperor: Technically, since he's ruler of the entire Babylonian empire, although his title as a monarch is simply identified as that of a king. |
| 696 | * GoldMakesEverythingShiny: That whole business with making an entire statue of gold to uplift his own glory. [[note]]Historically speaking, Babylon was famous for its use of gold in a lot of things, not just commerce; it's why the head of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar's famous dream was made of gold, symbolizing Babylon's time as an empire (Daniel's interpretation outright spells out that point for the king).[[/note]] |
| 697 | * HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Goes through the revolving door between the events of Season 2's "The Fiery Furnace" and Season 3's "Nebuchadnezzar's Dream" (the latter chronologically happens first). As an aside, we don't get to see his full HeelFaceTurn as depicted in Daniel 4, since this series doesn't portray that particular chapter's events. |
| 698 | * KillItWithFire: Refuse to bow to his image of gold? Into the blazing fiery furnace with you! |
| 699 | * KneelBeforeZod: What he attempts to impose with the giant golden image in "The Fiery Furnace," on pain of being thrown into the titular furnace for refusing to comply. |
| 700 | * PetTheDog: During his violent conquest of Jerusalem in "Jeremiah," he orders that the titular prophet should be freed from his bondage for having tried to persuade the Jews not to resist Babylon's onslaught. |
| 701 | * PhonyPsychic: As the events of "Nebuchadnezzar's Dream" illustrate, Nebuchadnezzar has been employing a whole cadre of these in his wise men and astrologers who aren't Daniel or his three friends. |
| 702 | * RoyalDecree: Tries to use this to enforce his command for everyone to bow to his golden statue. It ends up not sticking. |
| 703 | [[/folder]] |
| 704 | |
| 705 | [[folder:Gabriel]] |
| 706 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/st_gabriel.png]] |
| 707 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MichaelDobson |
| 708 | An angel who prominently brings respective messages about the births of Jesus and John the Baptist. |
| 709 | * ArchangelGabriel: Natch. |
| 710 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: When he appears to people to whom he's delivering a message, he'll assure them they don't need to be afraid, since he's there to give them good news. ''However,'' as Zachariah found out, expressing unbelief in whatever message Gabriel's come to give is not a very wise thing to do; Zachariah wound up temporarily deprived of his ability to speak until his son John the Baptist's birth came to pass. |
| 711 | * TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: He's the one delivering the call on God's behalf, to Zachariah concerning the upcoming birth of John the Baptist, and to Mary concerning the upcoming birth of Jesus. |
| 712 | * GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: He wears gold-colored robes, plus a brownish-gold cloak, and his wings are white. Additionally, he's covered in divine light that's colored in a mix of white and gold. |
| 713 | * HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: He has blond hair and he's a good angel. |
| 714 | * HolyBacklight: Accompanies him when he appears in his messenger role. |
| 715 | * LanternJawOfJustice: Just look at his jaw as portrayed in his picture here. |
| 716 | * LightIsGood: He's a good angel, he's coated in light, and he brings good news to those he visits. |
| 717 | * MeaningfulName: The name Gabriel means "God is my strength." Gabriel himself is an angel who delivers good tidings from Heaven. |
| 718 | * WingedHumanoid: Naturally, what with him being an angel. |
| 719 | [[/folder]] |
| 720 | |
| 721 | [[folder:Mary]] |
| 722 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_mary.jpg]] |
| 723 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Teryl Rothery |
| 724 | The human mother of Jesus, who gave birth to Him through the power of God's Holy Spirit despite being a virgin at the time. She appears in the series at various points in Jesus's life, during which the kids meet her either as a young mother or as an older woman during Jesus's adult years. |
| 725 | * BeautyEqualsGoodness: As a young woman, Mary is a beauty, and as an older woman years later she's still pretty attractive. Either way, she's a good-hearted woman. |
| 726 | * CelibateHero: As showcased in "The First Christmas" and "The Birth of John the Baptist," at the time of the angel Gabriel's announcement about her upcoming pregnancy, Mary naturally wondered how it was going to happen since she was still a virgin. Unlike with John the Baptist's father Zachariah, who disbelieved the angel's proclamation about his son's birth in the latter episode, Mary accepted the prediction concerning herself by faith; or, to put it the way her cousin Elizabeth does, "because (she) believed that the Lord would do what He said." |
| 727 | * TheChosenOne: Chosen by God to be Jesus's mother. Lampshaded by Mary's cousin Elizabeth in "The Birth of John the Baptist." |
| 728 | -->'''Elizabeth:''' God has blessed you above all women, and your Child is blessed. |
| 729 | * CoolBigSis: On the few occasions the kids get to interact closely with her, she's this to them, particularly in "The Birth of John the Baptist," where she offers Chris a blanket to protect against the coldness of the night and advises him and Gizmo to stay near the fire for warmth, and in "Jesus in the Wilderness," where she and Joy have a heart-to-heart about the importance of obedience to God. |
| 730 | * GoodParents: She and Joseph would have had to be to raise Jesus right. |
| 731 | * HumbleHero: In "The Birth of John the Baptist," while glorifying God for choosing her to be Jesus's mother, Mary describes herself as a "lowly servant girl." And indeed, throughout her various appearances, she never once draws attention to herself just because of whose mother she's been chosen to be. |
| 732 | * JewishMother: Well, literally she's this, since she's Jewish and she's Jesus's mother. However, she's not the sort to nag Jesus about anything; the closest we see her being that way is in the first segment of "Jesus Feeds the Hungry," where she informs Him of the wedding feast having just run out of wine, expecting that He will do something about it. Even then, the most she does afterward is to quietly nod at Jesus's proclamation that "(His) time has not yet come," and then to inform the servants to do whatever He tells them, which comes across less as her being meddlesome and more as her exercising faith that He won't let the feast fall into embarrassment (and of course He doesn't). |
| 733 | * MysticalPregnancy: Her pregnancy with Jesus, of course. |
| 734 | * OneSteveLimit: She's another aversion, as she shares her name with at least one other Mary (the sister of Lazarus). |
| 735 | * WomenAreWiser: A mild example, as "Jesus in the Wilderness" has her revealing to Joy that, despite her and Joseph's natural worry about having accidentally left Jesus behind and then finding him again after searching for three days, she at least understands how important Jesus's obedience to God is compared even to obedience to them as His earthly parents. We say "mild" because the episode doesn't delve into Joseph's view on the matter following the incident (neither did the Bible, remember). |
| 736 | [[/folder]] |
| 737 | |
| 738 | [[folder:Simon Peter]] |
| 739 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/peter_denies_preview_video.png]] |
| 740 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/BrianDrummond |
| 741 | The most prominently featured of Jesus's original 12 disciples, and the one who gets the most focus during the early days of the apostles after Jesus's death and resurrection. |
| 742 | * BigBrotherMentor: He takes this role toward Chris on occasion, giving him down-to-earth instruction on how to apply Jesus's teachings. This is most prominently shown in "Miracles of Jesus" and "Peter's Denial." |
| 743 | * CharacterDevelopment: Initially hot-blooded, impulsive and somewhat thick, Peter later becomes confident and wise and a leading figure in the early Christian church. Since we don't get to see the development take place in chronological order, though, it zig-zags across different episodes where the kids go to New Testament times. |
| 744 | * FriendshipDenial: Does this to Jesus three times in "Peter's Denial," just like in the original scripture, and despite Jesus specifically warning him that it will happen. Peter's HeroicBSOD when he [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes what he's done]] is palpable. |
| 745 | * GreatEscape: "Peter's Escape" is all about how Peter gets out of prison despite being chained to two guards, with two more stationed just outside his cell, and with several doors and gates between him and freedom--only, like in Scripture, it's an angel who helps him escape while keeping things stealthy. Amusingly, outside the prison the kids are plotting their own means of getting Peter out, although Gizmo has deduced that the only way they'd be able to do so... is by using a tank (which obviously doesn't exist in that time period). |
| 746 | * HeroesPreferSwords: In "Love Your Enemies," we get to see the scene of Jesus's arrest in Gethsemane, where Peter uses a sword to slice off a man's ear (with a GoryDiscretionShot, of course). |
| 747 | * HotBlooded: At first. He improves over time. |
| 748 | * TheLancer: In "Peter's Denial," he's the one Jesus tasks with strengthening the rest of the brethren. |
| 749 | * LastNameBasis: He's most regularly addressed by others as Peter, which is his surname. |
| 750 | * OneSteveLimit: Averted, as he shares his first name, Simon, with three other characters, the disciples' other Simon (the Zealot), Simon the tanner, and Simon the sorcerer. |
| 751 | * RedOniBlueOni: The red to Jesus's blue. On a lesser note, he's also the red to his fellow disciple John's blue. |
| 752 | * RuleOfThree: Peter is subjected to this twice over in "Peter's Denial." First he denies Jesus three times, and then Jesus reaffirms his faith three times in pardoning him. Gizmo comments on it during the latter sequence. |
| 753 | -->'''Gizmo:''' Peter denied Jesus three times... so Jesus is ''restoring'' him three times. |
| 754 | * ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: Happens to him in "Peter's Denial," and with a double-whammy besides: he confidently asserts that he's willing to go to prison and to death with Jesus, only to later deny even knowing the Man out of fear of what the people might do if he admits to being a disciple--exactly what Jesus had warned him would happen. The end result when he realizes it is an episode-long HeroicBSOD. |
| 755 | * WalkOnWater: Peter's attempt to do this to emulate Jesus is referenced by John in "The Last Supper" to mock the fact that Peter sank like a rock shortly after. John brings this up as a reason why Peter shouldn't be the one to get the highest position next to Jesus in (what they assume will be) His kingdom, but Peter retorts that at least he got out of the disciples' boat by faith on that occasion, and then he asks John where ''his'' faith was when Jesus made the invitation at the time. |
| 756 | * WorkingClassHero: He's a fisherman by trade, as are several others among the disciples. |
| 757 | [[/folder]] |
| 758 | |
| 759 | [[folder:John the Disciple]] |
| 760 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_john_the_disciple.png]] |
| 761 | [[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Click to see him as an older man]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/113_spiritgod1_preview.png[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 762 | ---> '''Voiced by:''' John Payne |
| 763 | One of Jesus' more frequently showcased disciples, along with Peter and Judas, and the brother of fellow disciple James. |
| 764 | * AdaptationalNiceGuy: While John is always a good guy, the Bible does record in Luke 9 how he and his brother James were so angry at the Samaritans' refusal of hospitality to Jesus that they offered to call down fire from heaven to consume the people in revenge. In this series, however, James is the only one to make the suggestion in "The Good Samaritan," with John being calm and silent all throughout. (Although John is still involved in the dispute among the disciples as to which of them will sit at Jesus's side in the kingdom they think He will establish, as portrayed in "The Last Supper.") |
| 765 | * CharacterDevelopment: He goes from wanting the top spot in the kingdom he thinks Jesus will establish in "The Last Supper," to being selfless enough to take Jesus' mother into his home in "He is Risen!" |
| 766 | * CompositeCharacter: This series goes with the generally-accepted view that John the disciple and John the Revelator are the same individual. |
| 767 | * OlderAndWiser: By the time the kids meet him again in "Revelation," he's become this. |
| 768 | * OneSteveLimit: Averted, as the series also gives us John the Baptist. |
| 769 | * RedOniBlueOni: Along with the other disciples, John is the red to Jesus' blue. Among the disciples themselves, he's the blue to Peter's red (appropriately enough, his clothing includes a blue cloak). |
| 770 | * SeenItAll: Implied somewhat in "Revelation." During his younger years among the twelve disciples, he's seen Jesus performing all manner of miracles, has been empowered to perform miracles himself, and also saw the resurrected Jesus ascend bodily to Heaven; and now, as an older man at this point, he's been shown all manner of incredible things in vision, to include (in his words) the events of the end of days, the horrors of famine and war, the splendor of angels and the glory of God--and he's telling Joy and Gizmo this while they're standing in a pavilion just outside the throne-room of Heaven itself. With all of that, the idea that the kids are time-travelers who've been brought there by a sentient tablet-computer, and the sight of Gizmo using gadgets such as his wrist-chronometer and rocket-thrusters, don't elicit any stronger response from John than upraised eyebrows; in fact, when Joy tells him about Superbook, he suggests that its activity sounds just like the working of the Spirit of God, the very force that brought him into his vision in the first place. |
| 771 | * TakeCareOfTheKids: A variation where Jesus asks John to take care of His mother Mary even while He's dying on the cross in "He is Risen." John promises to care for her as if she were his own. |
| 772 | * UndyingLoyalty: John is the only one of the twelve disciples to follow Jesus right through from His arrest to His crucifixion (Peter follows John to the high priest's house where the trial is to begin, but denies Jesus to save himself shortly after; Judas disappears from the story shortly after Gethsemane for [[DrivenToSuicide reasons which those familiar with the Bible will know already]]; and the rest of the disciples have fled). His loyalty continues all the way to his old age. |
| 773 | * WorkingClassHero: He's a fisherman by trade, as are several of the other disciples. |
| 774 | [[/folder]] |
| 775 | |
| 776 | [[folder:Judas Iscariot]] |
| 777 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_judas.png]] |
| 778 | ---> '''Voiced by:''' Trevor Devall |
| 779 | The third disciple who gets significant focus among Jesus' followers, but also the one who eventually betrays Him. |
| 780 | * AmbitionIsEvil: He's frequently the most vocal in emphasizing how he thinks Jesus's supposed earthly kingdom should be established, and he winds up betraying Jesus when the latter doesn't act on Judas's expectations. |
| 781 | * CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Brown hair and eyes. |
| 782 | * DeceptiveDisciple: Yes. Unfortunately for him, though, Jesus sees right through him. |
| 783 | --> '''Jesus:''' ''(sotto voce)'' What you do, do quickly. |
| 784 | * HearMeTheMoney: "The Widow's Mite" has Matthew (himself very experienced with money as an ex-tax collector) outline that Judas is able to tell the value of coins just from the sound they make when being dropped into the temple's offering bowls. |
| 785 | * KissOfDeath: He outright says it in "Love Your Enemies," while leading the mob to Gethsemane to arrest Jesus. |
| 786 | --> '''Judas:''' Whoever I kiss, He is the one. Seize Him. |
| 787 | * TheMole: "The Last Supper" showcases him collaborating with the Jewish rulers in monitoring Jesus's actions, even before he makes the fateful "thirty pieces of silver" deal. |
| 788 | * MorallyBankruptBanker: He's the treasurer of Jesus's group, as specified in "The Widow's Mite," but his morals are...not all that noble. |
| 789 | * OneSteveLimit: Averted, as he's one of two Judases among the disciples of Jesus. The other Judas is the one more usually known as Thaddaeus. |
| 790 | * APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: A variation. The word "disciple" literally means "student" or "pupil," and Jesus is recognized as a rabbi (literally "teacher"), so in that sense Judas is one of twelve students getting tutelage from Jesus as a teacher. However, Judas is shown as already covertly feeding intel to the Pharisees about Jesus while at the same time trying to direct Jesus into becoming the Messiah that he (and the rest of the disciples by extension) thinks Jesus should be, which in this case means that Judas was already corrupt long before he accepted the thirty pieces of silver to sell out Jesus. |
| 791 | * TokenEvilTeammate: If you're familiar with the Bible account, his being this is a ForegoneConclusion. |
| 792 | * TraitorShot: He gets more than a few of these across the New Testament-focused episodes where he appears. |
| 793 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The series doesn't depict his eventual act of [[DrivenToSuicide hanging himself]], so unless you're already familiar with that part of it, his absence from among the disciples in "Peter's Denial" and other episodes post-crucifixion will be quite striking. |
| 794 | [[/folder]] |
| 795 | |
| 796 | [[folder:The Disciples of Jesus]] |
| 797 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jesus_disciples.jpg]] |
| 798 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Various |
| 799 | The original twelve disciples of Jesus, and the ones who follow Him most closely during His years of ministry. Peter gets the most focus out of the twelve, along with John and Judas Iscariot. |
| 800 | * ArbitrarySkepticism: While all the disciples had varying degrees of difficulty initially believing Jesus rose from the dead, Thomas has it the worst, outright refusing to believe it unless he can see Jesus for himself. This, after having seen Jesus perform all manner of miracles (including raising Lazarus from the dead) during the three-and-a-half years of the Savior's ministry. |
| 801 | * CharacterDevelopment: By the time of the Day of Pentecost in "Tower of Babel and the Day of Pentecost," they've come to better understand what Jesus wanted them to learn from Him. |
| 802 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Most of the disciples get at least one episode each to showcase either the times they first joined Jesus, or their times in ministry after His death and resurrection. The best examples of this are "The Good Samaritan," which has James learning the episode's aesop about loving all people alongside Joy, "Jesus--Friend of Sinners," which shows Matthew's first meeting with Jesus, and "Doubting Thomas," which is about Thomas's skepticism that Jesus has risen from the dead. |
| 803 | * HotBlooded: All of them to varying degrees, but especially James, considering his desire to call down fire from heaven to burn up the Samaritans in "The Good Samaritan." |
| 804 | * InconsistentColoring: Except for those that tend to get the lion's share of focus (Peter, John, Judas Iscariot), a few of the disciples' hair colors tend to shift from one episode to another; even the picture shown here should not be taken as absolute certainty that the minor disciples will all look exactly the same way across different episodes. Philip is an especially glaring example, being brown-haired in "Baptized!" but a blond in other episodes. |
| 805 | * JumpedAtTheCall: "Baptized!" reveals that quite a few of the disciples, particularly Philip, jumped at the chance to follow Jesus, although the same episode points out Nathanael's initial skepticism because Jesus was from Nazareth. "Jesus--Friend of Sinners" explicitly shows Matthew leaving his tax collection trade to follow Jesus at His invitation. |
| 806 | * KillItWithFire: James wants to do this to the Samaritans who refuse hospitality to Jesus by calling down fire from heaven to smite them in "The Good Samaritan," but Jesus has to talk him out of it. Gizmo, hearing about that later on, is quite impressed that the disciples could have this power. |
| 807 | * OneSteveLimit: Averted. There are two Simons, two Jameses, and two Judases within this group alone, plus Philip shares his name with one of the seven deacons of the early Christian church, the same one who baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch in "Philip." |
| 808 | * OutOfFocus: Most of the disciples will get at least a brief bit of focus in each episode, if not each one getting [[ADayInTheLimelight an entire episode to himself]]. However, outside of general group shots, two in particular--Simon the Zealot and James the son of Alphaeus--haven't even gotten biographies for themselves on the series' website, much less any special focus in any given episode. [[note]]Incidentally, this is the reason the caption originally attached to the above image was removed--it's not certain which of the two is which in the picture.[[/note]] |
| 809 | * RagtagBunchOfMisfits: This group consists of a couple of fishermen, a tax collector, an anti-Roman anarchist, and a definite opportunist who will eventually betray Jesus. |
| 810 | * RedOniBlueOni: All of them are the collective red to Jesus's blue. |
| 811 | * TookALevelInKindness: James does this by the end of "The Good Samaritan," around the same time Joy learns her lesson about being kind to everyone regardless of who they are or where they're from. |
| 812 | * WorkingClassHero: Most of the disciples are fishermen. |
| 813 | [[/folder]] |
| 814 | |
| 815 | [[folder:The Scribes and Pharisees]] |
| 816 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superbook_scribes.png]] |
| 817 | ---> '''Voiced by:''' Various |
| 818 | The Jews' religious leaders during the time of Jesus. |
| 819 | * BrightIsNotGood: Many of them are shown wearing white or otherwise light-colored robes in different episodes, but they are among Jesus' worst enemies. |
| 820 | * CorruptChurch: Jesus calls them out for this in "Jesus Heals the Blind." |
| 821 | --> '''Jesus:''' I entered this world to render judgment, to give sight to the blind and to show those who ''think'' they see that they are blind. |
| 822 | --> '''Pharisee:''' Are you saying we're blind? |
| 823 | --> '''Jesus:''' If you were blind, you wouldn't be guilty. But you remain guilty because you claim you ''can'' see. |
| 824 | * DeathGlare: They constantly give this look to Jesus. |
| 825 | * EvilCannotComprehendGood: They can't understand why the people are so drawn to Jesus, as demonstrated in "The Prodigal Son." |
| 826 | --> '''Priest #1:''' ''(scoffs)'' What is it that they see in Jesus? |
| 827 | --> '''Priest #2:''' He forgives everyone, keeps company with sinners. See the tax collectors. ''(points out a group of them sitting with Jesus)'' And we know they ''need'' forgiveness. |
| 828 | --> '''Priest #3:''' Notice, the crowds that follow Him keep growing. |
| 829 | * GreedyJew: The fact that they were allowing the moneychangers' shenanigans to go on inside the temple in "The Last Supper" cements them as this. |
| 830 | * KangarooCourt: "He Is Risen!" shows them orchestrating this to have Jesus executed. |
| 831 | * MaliciousSlander: "Jesus Heals the Blind" shows them outright denouncing Jesus as not being a man of God because He healed a man's blindness on the Sabbath. |
| 832 | * RulesLawyer: "Jesus Heals the Blind" and "Nicodemus" show them as being more concerned about Jesus healing illnesses on the Sabbath, which they take as a violation of the law since it forbids labor during the Sabbath. However, Jesus asks them in the latter episode [[ArmorPiercingQuestion whether they wouldn't pull their ox or their son out of a well on the Sabbath]]. |
| 833 | * SinisterMinister: A collective group of them. |
| 834 | * TokenGoodTeammate: Nicodemus, as shown in his titular episode, is the only member of the Pharisaical council who's not generally stuck-up or specifically hateful toward Jesus (although he does seek wisdom from Jesus in secret). |
| 835 | [[/folder]] |
| 836 | |
| 837 | [[folder:Paul the Apostle]] |
| 838 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paul_744.png]] |
| 839 | --->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/BrianDobson |
| 840 | The apostle of the gospel of Jesus to the Gentile world, personally called by Jesus to do that missionary work. Formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of Christians. |
| 841 | * TheAtoner: Following his conversion, he recognizes that he's hurt a lot of people in the name of misguided religious zeal. |
| 842 | * BlindedByTheLight: Temporarily, as a result of his encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road. He gets better after Ananias visits him, on instruction from God. |
| 843 | * TheChosenOne: By Jesus Himself, at that. |
| 844 | * TheDreaded: When he was Saul of Tarsus, his name was a by-word for fear among the Christian population due to his ruthless tactics in hunting and arresting them on behalf of the Jewish authorities. Little wonder, then, that Ananias is initially skeptical about Saul's HeelFaceTurn, even though God Himself is the one giving him the news. |
| 845 | -->'''Ananias:''' There is none more relentless to see our light extinguished than Saul of Tarsus. |
| 846 | * FriendToAllChildren: He serves as a mentor and guide to the kids each time they encounter him, and he'll prioritize their safety over his own if they're all caught in a potentially dangerous situation. One of the best examples of this is in "Paul and Silas," where despite himself being in pain from having just been beaten, Paul's first response to the kids' terror (they're already in a prison cell for speaking up for the apostles and are naturally scared at what kind of potential cellmates they might get) is to speak reassuring words to calm ''them'' down. |
| 847 | * GoodIsNotNice: While he's certainly on the good guys' side as Paul the Apostle, he still retains some of his ruthlessness from his days as Saul of Tarsus, though now it's directed toward anyone who either rejects the gospel when he presents it or who shies away from doing missionary work. Unfortunately, this attitude damages his friendship with Barnabas in "Paul and Barnabas" when Paul refuses to allow John Mark to join them on a missionary journey on the grounds that the younger man chickened out and fled back home during a previous trip; Barnabas, who sees the potential in John Mark that Paul refuses to even consider, decides it'll be better for them to take separate paths as a result. |
| 848 | * HeelFaithTurn: "The Road to Damascus" shows us in detail how it happened. |
| 849 | * ReformedButRejected: Narrowly averted after Paul's conversion. When he is presented to the Christian believers as a new follower of Jesus, a few of them openly voice their distrust of him because of his previous actions, with one in particular calling him out for being complicit in the apostle Stephen's stoning and another pointing out that Paul (when he was Saul) had the man's entire family arrested the previous year. For his part, Paul helps in the aversion by acknowledging Jesus's mission to save sinners, of whom he identifies himself as the chief of the lot (and it also helps that news arrives just at that point that soldiers have shown up in the city to arrest him). |
| 850 | * TookALevelInKindness: The end of "Paul and Barnabas" shows Paul softening on his earlier hard-line stance toward John Mark, even taking the younger man as a traveling companion much later on. |
| 851 | * WouldHitAGirl: Back when he was persecuting Christians as Saul of Tarsus, he didn't show women any more compassion than men--both genders were equally dragged off to prison under his orders and supervision. |
| 852 | * WouldHurtAChild: When we first see him as Saul of Tarsus in "The Road to Damascus," he and two Jewish temple soldiers are on horseback chasing the young CanonForeigner Caleb throughout the dark streets of Jerusalem, because Caleb is one of the Christians they are seeking to capture. Following Saul's conversion to Paul, of course, he drops this and becomes a FriendToAllChildren instead. |
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