Line #25 Franchise/CarmenSandiego


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4	[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carmen_sandiego.png]]
5	[[caption-width-right:325:Careful. She ''could'' steal this wiki.]]
6
7	->''Well, she glides around the globe and she'll flimflam every nation''\
8	''She's a double-dealing diva with a taste for thievery''\
9	''Her itinerary's loaded up with moving violations''\
10	''Tell me, where, in the world, is Carmen Sandiego?''
11	-->-- '''Rockapella''''s theme to ''Series/WhereInTheWorldIsCarmenSandiego''
12
13	''Carmen Sandiego'' is an EdutainmentGame series created by now-defunct Creator/BroderbundSoftware in 1985. The series became phenomenally successful in the [[TheNineties 1990s]], spawning no fewer than ''three'' television shows, two on Creator/{{PBS}} and one on Creator/{{Fox}}, then falling into obscurity shortly around the TurnOfTheMillennium before resurrecting around TheNewTens, starting on Platform/{{Facebook}}. The series is now owned by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. There probably have been plenty of games released, and Carmen just ''stole them all''.
14
15	The standard case involves an educational quest to find [[MacGuffin The Loot]], [[ArtisticLicenseLaw The Warrant]] and [[CardCarryingVillain The Crook]].
16
17	Carmen Isabella Sandiego is an international thief, and it's down to the Interpol-esque ACME Detective Agency to stop her plans. Fortunately, she plays CriminalMindGames with her pursuers to provide the obligatory AlphabetSoupCans. But don't worry; she's a FriendlyEnemy--at least [[DependingOnTheWriter some of the time]].
18
19	Her BackStory? Carmen was a star ACME agent until she decided that catching crooks was just too darn easy. Therefore, she did a FaceHeelTurn and became a [[GentlemanThief Gentlewoman Thief]]. Then she decided to have FunWithAcronyms by founding an organization called the '''V'''illains' '''I'''nternational '''L'''eague of '''E'''vil (V.I.L.E.). Although V.I.L.E. is progressive enough for EqualOpportunityEvil, you absolutely must have a PunnyName to join.
20
21	The thievery of Carmen is second to none. She doesn't just steal jewels; she steals ''[[MonumentalTheft national monuments]]'', even ones that should be [[ImpossibleTheft physically impossible]] to "steal." For example, she once stole the Grand Canyon. Since the Grand Canyon is basically a giant hole in the ground, we shall leave it to you to figure out how that works. She's even been known to ''time travel'', just so she can find more stuff to steal.
22
23	%%Given a massive DarkerAndEdgier {{homage}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYhodCCUyBs here]].
24
25	Plans to make a live-action movie starring the character by both Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media (both Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Lopez have been suggested to play the role) have been in {{development hell}} since the late 1990s. However, it was announced in 2017 that Creator/GinaRodriguez (''Series/JaneTheVirgin'') had been tapped to portray the character in (and serve as a producer for) a live-action film to be produced by Creator/{{Netflix}}, which also spawned an animated series in 2019 with Rodriguez in the same role.
26
27	----
28	!!Games in the franchise include:
29	[[index]]
30	* ''VideoGame/WhereInTheWorldIsCarmenSandiego'' (1985, remade in 1992 and 1996)
31	* ''VideoGame/WhereInTheUSAIsCarmenSandiego'' (1986, remade in 1992 and 1996)
32	* ''VideoGame/WhereInEuropeIsCarmenSandiego'' (1988)
33	* ''Where in North Dakota Is Carmen Sandiego?'' (1989)
34	* ''[[VideoGame/WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego1989 Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' (1989, remade in 1997)
35	* ''Carmen Sandiego in Japan'' (1989)
36	* ''VideoGame/WhereInAmericasPastIsCarmenSandiego'' (1991)
37	* ''VideoGame/WhereInSpaceIsCarmenSandiego'' (1993)
38	* ''VideoGame/CarmenSandiegoJuniorDetectiveEdition'' (1995)
39	* ''[[VideoGame/WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego1997 Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' (1997, retitled ''Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time'' in 1999)
40	* ''VideoGame/CarmenSandiegoWordDetective'' (1997)
41	* ''VideoGame/CarmenSandiegoMathDetective'' (1998)
42	* ''VideoGame/CarmenSandiegosThinkQuickChallenge'' (1999)
43	* ''VideoGame/CarmenSandiegoTreasuresOfKnowledge'' (2001)
44	* ''Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums'' (2004, for game consoles instead of [=PCs=])
45	* ''Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'' (2011-2012 remake for Facebook)
46	* ''Carmen Sandiego Returns'' (2015)
47	[[/index]]
48
49	Carmen also makes a surprise {{crossover}} appearance in ''VideoGame/TheClueFinders: Mystery Mansion Arcade'' (2002).
50
51	!!TV shows in the franchise include:
52	[[index]]
53	* ''Series/WhereInTheWorldIsCarmenSandiego'' (1991-1995, a game show with kid contestants)
54	* ''Series/WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego'' (1996-1997, a spin-off of the first game show)
55	* ''WesternAnimation/WhereOnEarthIsCarmenSandiego'' (1994-1995 and 1998-1999, an animated series)
56	* ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'' (2019-2021, an animated series)
57	[[/index]]
58	----
59	!!The ''Carmen Sandiego'' franchise contains examples of:
60
61	* AcmeProducts: Possibly parodied, as the name is given to a detective agency rather than a product.
62	** Some versions combine this trope with the in-game suffix "-Net." At default it's "Acme Crime-Net," but it could also be "Time-Net" and in the game show it was often used as ACME (fill in the blank)-Net.
63	* AffablyEvil: She steals all kinds of items, and it's implied that she's doing this primarily for the thrill of it, but she's given a fairly endearing personality.
64	* AffectionateParody:
65	** [[Creator/{{Dropout}} CollegeHumor]]'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYhodCCUyBs Where the Fuck Is Carmen Sandiego?]], how the game show would look like with a whopping dollop of grimdark.
66	** Series/SaturdayNightLive's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgWWube0M1c Where in the World is Kellyanne Conway]], where they recreate the sets, costumes, and Rockapella (lead by Creator/ChrisPine) of the [[Series/WhereInTheWorldIsCarmenSandiego tv series]], and having actual child actors perform live as the Gumshoes; [[spoiler:only to comedically end the sketch after two minutes, after the Gumshoes refuse to participate in trying to find Kellyanne Conway!]]
67	* AllThereInTheManual: In a rather strange variation, some of the background information for the Acme detectives introduced in ''Treasures of Knowledge'' appears in the manual for ''Secret of the Stolen Drums''.
68	%%* AlphabetSoupCans: Newer games are generally worse offenders here than the earlier ones.
69	%%** Justifiable in the sense that you are trying to find a culprit, so are gathering evidence to suggest where they went. Some clues make sense, such as they describe where the suspect is going, but other times it seems rather contrived, such as naming the country where something was invented or finding the birthplace of a celebrity.
70	%%** ''Word Detective'' and ''Math Detective'', which teach language arts and mathematics respectively, play it completely straight.
71	* AlternateContinuity: {{Creator/FOX}}'s ''Where on Earth...'' series appears to have its own continuity. The two PBS shows may be set in [[TheVerse the same universe]], but that's not too clear since they have NoFourthWall and are {{game show}}s. And don't even try to figure out which of the computer games take place in the same universe...
72	** This appears to be the case with the 2019 animated Netflix series, if the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shbiwCCMDHQ trailer]][[NeverTrustATrailer is to be believed.]] V.I.L.E. exists independent of Carmen and recruited ''her'' to become a thief for ''them'', and while Carmen is still very much a Gentlelady Thief as she always has been, it appears she TookALevelInKindness and is now stealing treasures to [[AdaptationalHeroism keep them out]] of V.I.L.E.'s hands, instead of [[ForTheEvulz for the thrill of it]].
73	** It could be said ''Treasures of Knowledge'', ''Secret of the Stolen Drums'', and the [[NoExportForYou DS game]] do form one continuity as they share a few common characters and Carmen's backstory, but the games can be played without ContinuityLockout being an issue.
74	* AntagonistTitle: Even if she's AffablyEvil, Carmen Sandiego is clearly the antagonist.
75	* AntiVillain: While Carmen is a thief, the franchise tends to treat her as relatively harmless as she's not malicious and nobody is ever reported being hurt by her thefts. The 1994 cartoon occasionally had ''actual'' threats appear, in which Carmen would side with ACME to stop them. The 2019 cartoon ramps this up and makes her an AntiHero instead who only targets worse thieves than herself.
76	* ArtShift: Has happened a few times. Two of the most notable are ''Word Detective'' and ''Math Detective'', which make the series still have a rather cartoony look, but they look much DarkerAndEdgier compared to the earlier ones.
77	* BadassInANiceSuit: Carmen Sandiego's signature red BadassLongcoat and FedoraOfAsskicking.
78	* BigBadFriend: The Facebook version occasionally enlists [[BreakingTheFourthWall people from the player's friends list]] as some of Carmen's mooks.
79	* BroadStrokes: The Brøderbund-era games tend to follow this, with only a few basic details staying consistent throughout the series. For example, ACME headquarters is always in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco, at least every time it's mentioned, but the actual appearance of the building is completely different nearly every time it shows up.
80	* CanonImmigrant:
81	** ''Where on Earth'' established Carmen's BackStory as a former ACME detective, adopted by later games in the franchise.
82	** Zack and Ivy, the two leads of ''Where on Earth'', eventually appeared in ''Junior Detective''. The AI Chief of that continuity and {{Guest Star\|PartyMember}} TeamPet Stretch the Crime Dog appeared as well, the latter as an AscendedExtra.
83	* CardboardPrison: Extremely blatant: Carmen gets captured at the end of every computer game and maybe 30% to 50% of the time on the PBS game shows. Despite this, she's at large in the next game/episode. This also applies to many of the lesser villains.
84	* CheatedAngle: More often than not, Carmen is depicted with her hat covering one of her eyes.
85	* ClassyCatBurglar: Carmen's practically an archetype.
86	* CollectionSidequest: Finding all 450 amulets in ''Secret of the Stolen Drums''. Not necessary for HundredPercentCompletion, but on the SlidingScaleOfCollectibleTracking, it varies from "Could Be Anywhere" to {{Permanently Missable\|Content}}, especially since once you moved to the next location there was no way to travel back to a previous location. Just to make things worse, the [=PS2=] version has one amulet DummiedOut for no apparent reason.
87	* ContinuityReboot:
88	** The [=WiiWare=] games and ''Carmen Sandiego Returns''.
89	** Earlier on, ''VideoGame/CarmenSandiegoTreasuresOfKnowledge'' seems to have been intended as one, although it basically went nowhere.
90	* CopyProtection: Horrible, horrible copy protection. Arguably some of the most frustrating of all time. You can play all you want, but to get promoted and even have a chance to capture Carmen, you have to enter certain words from certain pages of the included travel guides every few cases. Sound easy enough? Then remember that these games were incredibly common in schools...where the manuals would often get ''lost.'' And even the teachers couldn't exactly summon new copies of a travel guide (now often several years, if not a decade out of date) at will.
91	* CriminalMindGames: It can depend on the game or other medium, but Carmen is often interpreted as leaving clues behind for detectives deliberately as a way to challenge herself.
92	* DaChief: There were a couple throughout the series, but perhaps the two most famous are Creator/LynneThigpen and the [[FunWithAcronyms Computerized Holographic Imaging Educational Facilitator]], both of which originated in the TV shows.
93	* DependingOnTheArtist: Carmen always has the red coat and hat, but beyond that how she looks in any given depiction can vary quite a bit.
94	** For example, the ''Where on Earth?'' cartoon kept her coat closed but showed a yellow scarf or collar around Carmen's neck. It also gave her black hair instead of the usual brown and icy blue eyes rather than dark colored eyes.
95	** Mid-90s games had her coat open enough to see a yellow dress underneath. The 1996 game notably added a pearl necklace, which was critical to identify her among a crowd of imposters.
96	** Later games had the coat completely open and over a black bodysuit, a look which debuted in 1999's ''VideoGame/CarmenSandiegosThinkQuickChallenge''. The 2019 cartoon uses this outfit but shows both her eyes where traditionally at least one would be hidden from view, often by her hat.
97	* DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent: According to her backstory in the 80s version, Carmen ''was'' one of these, ostensibly for the small country of Monaco, but she decided she liked crime more than espionage. This was dropped after ''Where on Earth'' came up with the idea of Carmen being a former ACME agent instead.
98	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
99	** Games made prior to 1990 had the sight of a hand firing a warning shot from a gun or a knife/axe tossed across the screen to let you know you were closing in on a thief. It comes off as relatively violent to people who played the later games that had more comical animations (eg. an alligator snapping its jaws at the player, or a spring-loaded boxing glove punching into view) at the end of a case.
100	** Carmen herself didn't have her trademark red trench coat and hat in the original games, but a standard beige one as seen on the cover.
101	** You didn't work for ACME in the original game, but instead for Interpol.
102	** Carmen's henchmen lack the {{Punny Name}}s that the later games would become known for.
103	** The crimes committed by Carmen and her gang were plausible, as opposed to the ImpossibleTheft in later works.[[note]]For example, if there was a theft in Tokyo, Japan, early versions would have something like a prized samurai sword stolen. Later versions would have, say, ''all'' the koi or the Tokyo Tower taken instead.[[/note]]
104	** Early books and games made Carmen simple, if time-consuming, to catch. The idea of her always slipping away at the last minute started with the first GameShow and became a staple of the franchise from there.
105	* EpisodicGame: ''Adventures in Math'' on UsefulNotes/WiiWare.
106	* EqualOpportunityEvil: V.I.L.E. has about an equal number of men and women criminals.
107	* EvilGloating: Oh, how Carmen loves this. In any game where you receive messages from the Chief on a VideoPhone, expect Carmen to occasionally break into your communications for gloating purposes.[[labelnote:*]]The 1996 game has specific criteria for this: if you are playing at least two cases in a row, don't receive a promotion and don't decipher any messages picked up from captured crooks, Carmen is due to call.[[/labelnote]]
108	* EvilIsEasy: {{Inverted\|Trope}}. Carmen made her FaceHeelTurn specifically because evil was ''harder'', and she wanted more of a challenge.
109	* {{Expy}}:
110	** Most likely an unintentional example, but Ivan Idea from the v3.0 games/''Great Chase'', Ben from the junior novels, Shadow Hawkins from ''Treasures of Knowledge'', and Adam Shadow from the DS game share similar traits with Zack from ''Where on Earth'' (blonde-haired male detectives who happen to be tech-savvy). However, Adam borders on being not just an expy but also a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute--not only does [[http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9550/wallpapercarmen1.jpg his default outfit]] looks near identical to [[http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4162/zackconceptart.jpg Zack's outfit]], considering the DS game is set in the same continuity as ''Treasures of Knowledge'', Shadow is nowhere to be seen.
111	** The ACME Detective Agency sort of started off as a fictionalized version of Interpol. In fact, in the original versions of ''World'' and ''[=USA=]'', the organization you worked for actually ''was'' Interpol.
112	** In the games released since 2000, The Chief of ACME is often designed as a BlackBossLady (based on Lynne Thigpen's iconic portrayal from the game shows).
113	* EyeObscuringHat: One consistent design element of Carmen's is that she always has at least one eye hidden by her hat.
114	* FaceHeelTurn: Carmen, way back when...
115	* FedoraOfAsskicking: She's never seen without her wicked-cool fedora.
116	* ForTheEvulz
117	-->'''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick:''' Carmen's not really in it for keeping the stuff but more the thrill of the hunt, but most of all, just proving she can.
118	* FriendlyEnemy: Carmen runs the gamut on this trope DependingOnTheWriter, varying from a borderline AntiHero in ''WesternAnimation/{{Where on Earth\|IsCarmenSandiego}}'' to what amounts to a GenderInverted, mustache-lacking DastardlyWhiplash in ''Series/{{Where in Time\|IsCarmenSandiego}}'', and everywhere in-between.
119	* FunWithAcronyms: V.I.L.E. is pretty appropriate for a criminal organization.
120	* GenreShift: ''Secret of the Stolen Drums'' is a platformer, which is a far cry from previous games in the series.
121	* GentlemanThief: Carmen is a female version, considering she is generally cordial with her pursuers and doesn't cause harm other than stealing. Her stylish outfit certainly doesn't hurt her here, either.
122	* GuideDangIt: There are a few examples where they give a rather obscure hint that's not explained in-game because you're supposed to look in the guide book. The Facebook game justifies this because they know you're going to use Google.
123	* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: The Chief of the ACME Detective Agency is a mysterious, shadowy character in the early games. Later iterations had Chiefs like Lynne Thigpen, a posh British gentleman, and the Hologram Chief from ''Where on Earth''.
124	* HighlyVisibleNinja: That red trenchcoat with matching fedora won't help you sneak past ACME, Carmen.
125	* HowWeGotHere: ''Secret of the Stolen Drums'' starts out with Cole explaining why he failed to obey the Chief's orders to return to headquarters. Repeatedly.
126	* ImpossibleTheft:
127	** The Mona Lisa's smile.
128	** ALL the goulash.
129	** All the tea in China.
130	** Every last drop of salsa.
131	** The Headwaters Of The Amazon River[[note]]which haven't yet been discovered[[/note]]
132	** The entire Trans-Siberian Railway[[note]]the world's longest railway[[/note]]
133	** The Olympic flame[[note]]which doesn't exist until a few weeks before the Olympics[[/note]]
134	** ''WesternAnimation/WhereOnEarthIsCarmenSandiego'' worked hard to make Carmen Sandiego's seemingly outrageous crimes semi-plausible in their execution. A later plot to steal an uncracked Liberty Bell is accomplished by hijacking a Russian military time-travel project and then using it to travel back to the 18th century.
135	* ImprobableAge: Both ACME and V.I.L.E. seem to regularly employ teenagers. Zack and Ivy of the ''Earth'' cartoon are 14 and 18, respectively. Patty Larceny, Sarah Nade, and Jacqueline Hyde are teenagers, though their exact ages are never specified. According to the user's manual included with the 1997 version of ''Where in Time'', Ivan Idea is a "teenage whiz kid" and Polly Tix is "still too young to vote". And that's not even taking into account the hundreds of kids who served as [[CallARabbitASmeerp "gumshoes" and "time pilots"]] on the PBS gameshows. It actually appears that ACME was worse about this than V.I.L.E.
136	* IntangibleTheft:
137	** Linguistic thefts:
138	*** The Portuguese language.
139	*** The English alphabet.
140	*** The Korean ''Hangeul'' alphabet.
141	*** The letter ñ in Spanish.
142	** The alien henchwoman Kneemoi is responsible for most of the bizarre thefts, particularly of concepts that don't exist in any physical sense, like the following:
143	*** The Mason-Dixon Line, an imaginary line dividing the north and south of the UsefulNotes/UnitedStatesOfAmerica.
144	*** The Portuguese language.
145	*** Tai chi, a martial art.
146	** The Hope Diamond's shine.[[note]]Which would mean she chemically reconfigured it and left it there.[[/note]]
147	** The ABC: A television channel.[[note]]No, not just the deed to or controlling stock of the corporation either; that would be physically possible and thus not this trope.[[/note]]
148	** The UsefulNotes/InternationalDateLine, an imaginary concept that is part of the basis for time.
149	** The Internet.
150	** Periods of history.
151	** ''WesternAnimation/WhereOnEarthIsCarmenSandiego'' worked hard to make Carmen Sandiego's seemingly outrageous crimes semi-plausible in their execution. One episode has her stealing the talent of famous athletes and musicians by using a prototype neural scanner to scramble their nervous systems while overlaying her own with an imprint of their abilities.
152	** Knowledge of all types in ''[=ThinkQuick=] Challenge'', even down to basics like ''alphabetical order''.
153	* ItsASmallWorldAfterAll: The clues you are given are about the ''entire country'' the crook went to rather than any specific place. Fortunately, knowing ''just'' the country is always enough to get you to another destination with more clues.
154	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjRw6XZhgf8 Gets taken to a ludicrous degree]] in ''Secret of the Stolen Drums'' where Cole figures out Carmen's fled to France just because she spoke French--[[FridgeLogic never mind the fact French is the official language of at least 29 countries]].
155	** Subverted in the Facebook game, the clues point to a specific city within a given country as some countries have multiple locations. [[WordOfGod The developers]] [[http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32992/Interview_Making_Friends_With_Carmen_Sandiego_On_Facebook.php confirmed]] the game was created with the mindset that people would use Google for the clues.
156	** In the older games, clues intended to direct you to Moscow will sometimes mention places that were part of the U.S.S.R. at the time, but which are now independent of Russia.
157	* JokerImmunity: She can be caught, but never held, no matter what version she appeared in. For example, the contestants in the game shows captured her by winning the bonus round, but that only lasted until the next show. It seems they've yet to make a jail strong enough to hold her. Carmen herself {{lampshade\|Hanging}}s this after you finally catch her in the deluxe CD-ROM version of ''Where in the World?'':
158	-->''"Stripes don't suit me. I won't be in them for long!"''
159	* LadyInRed: Carmen is never seen without her red coat, hat, and high heels.
160	* LuckBasedMission: In games made pre-1996, not every witness interviewed will yield characteristic traits of the suspect (hair color, vehicle, favorite food, etc.). It's possible to not have enough information to narrow down a suspect and issue a warrant at the time of the arrest even if you interviewed everyone during a case. This is especially problematic in early cases when there are fewer locations to travel and fewer witnesses to interview.
161	* MediumBlending: In some of the games, Lynne Thigpen of the PBS game shows plays the Chief in live-action footage, while everyone else is a cartoon character. Try to figure that one out. Also, in some of the older games, the characters are cartoons running around in still photographs.
162	* MissingStepsPlan: 1. Steal huge national monuments/treasures/etc. 2. ??? (As far as is known, neither Carmen nor any V.I.L.E. henchman, once having stolen something, have tried to ransom it back or sell it to fences, etc.) 3. Profit (It's been assumed Carmen does this for the thrills, but what about the V.I.L.E. Henchmen? And how does V.I.L.E. stay in business?)
163	* MonumentalTheft: The former TropeNamer. She could steal things like:
164	** The Moon, [[NoEndorHolocaust damage to the Earth be damned]]. Maybe she stole the damage, too?
165	** Entire countries.
166	** TheBermudaTriangle. She probably made it get lost in itself.
167	** The Ozone Layer. According to the Chief it has caused a worldwide disaster (of course the detectives are on the advice of the Chief wearing SPF 9 Zillion Sunblock so that they can track down and arrest Robocrook before the environment gets any worse).
168	** The frickin' Milky Way Galaxy. [[FridgeLogic Theoretically, that means she stole Earth as well.]]
169	** The World Trade Center towers, one that is a whole lot less whimsical-seeming now.
170	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3O66Uuayn8&list=PLEEC10AB6D9832C64 The Roman Forum.]]
171	** In "The Case of the Unsolved Crime", Carmen and henchman Sam O'Nella steal the Pantheon from Rome, Italy. However, Carmen, punishing Sam for a past betrayal, ditches him immediately after the heist, leaving him with a thousand-ton stone monument of a white elephant. Sam unsuccessfully tries to sell the stone to be used in paperweights before being caught.
172	** ''WesternAnimation/WhereOnEarthIsCarmenSandiego'' worked hard to make Carmen Sandiego's seemingly outrageous crimes semi-plausible in their execution. True to herself, she always commits her crimes just to prove she can, and allows the stolen goods to be recovered once the theft's been accomplished.
173	*** The opening credits have her stealing a Chinese stone lion, The Sphinx, and the Statue of Liberty in rapid succession.
174	*** A plan to make her the most famous crook in time by stealing the Roman Colosseum from Ancient Rome, deals with stolen miniature landmarks, ACME's first Chronoskimmer, a bust of a Roman leader, an electric magnet from the future, and Hannibal's elephants.
175	* {{Mooks}}: Many street-level thugs can be detected to show you are on the right trail!
176	* TheMostWanted: Carmen, in her various incarnations, due to her numerous {{Impossible Theft}}s, which range from the Mona Lisa's smile to [[MonumentalTheft national monuments]]. This, combined with the fact that she used to be one of them, has made her the seemingly sole focus of the ACME Detective Agency as well as nearly every law enforcement organization on the planet.
177	** Judging from the logo seen in the 1996 versions of ''World'' and ''USA'', ACME's motto is literally, "dedicated to the pursuit of Carmen Sandiego." Also, some game manuals make reference to an "ACME Institute of Carmenology." One wonders what ACME even did back when Carmen worked for them.
178	* MythologyGag: The Facebook game has a few, mostly to previous TV shows.
179	** The Chief looks very much like Lynne Thigpen from the game shows, specifically ''Where in the World''.
180	** Carmen's wanted poster references lyrics from the theme song to the [[Series/WhereInTheWorldIsCarmenSandiego World game show]].
181	** While Carmen has yet to make an actual appearance, her characterization and described appearance from the various papers on the bulletin board and databases share similarities with how Carmen was portrayed on ''Where on Earth''. Even the logo for the Facebook game looks similar to the logo from ''Where on Earth''. WordOfGod has not confirmed this, though.[[invoked]]
182	* NoNameGiven: The chief of ACME Detective Agency is unnamed beyond the title of Chief.
183	** One series of Carmen Sandiego junior novels named the Chief "Velma". She was made an aunt of one of the {{Kid Detective}}s and seems to have been loosely based on Lynne Thigpen's portrayal on the game shows.
184	** Averted in the DS game, where the Chief was named Margaret O'Hara.
185	** Also averted in the 2019 cartoon when [[spoiler: the [[PlayfulHacker computer expert in Carmen’s gang, Player, hacks into ACME’s files to confirm Shadow-san’s account of what happened to Carmen's father]], and discovers that the Chief’s real name is Tamara Fisher.]]
186	* OddballInTheSeries: ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_in_North_Dakota_Is_Carmen_Sandiego%3F Where in North Dakota Is Carmen Sandiego?]]'', a game proposed by a North Dakota school board, which was never sold through retail -- though retail copies were sent to the education officials who worked on it.
187	* PetTheDog:
188	** One episode of the ''Earth'' cartoon establishes Carmen has a deep fondness for ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'', her favorite book as a kid. Of course, in that episode she's after the Smithsonian's pair of Dorothy's slippers...
189	** Not to mention, ''Where on Earth'' apparently states that Carmen doesn't want to ''hurt'' the ACME Detectives.
190	** Carmen is mentioned to have a soft spot for D-List criminals, and offers them employment out of pity.
191	* PhantomThief: Carmen hits most of the main points, including being elusive, honorable, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and well-dressed]].
192	* PrettyInMink: Early box art covers had Carmen wearing a dark-colored fur coat, with ''[[http://www.mobygames.com/game/where-in-the-usa-is-carmen-sandiego/cover-art/gameCoverId,565/ Where in the USA]]'' and ''[[http://www.mobygames.com/game/where-in-europe-is-carmen-sandiego/cover-art/gameCoverId,8607/ Where in Europe]]'' being the most prominent examples. Carmen had a red fur coat on the original cover of ''Where in Time'' as well.
193	* PunnyName: It seems that getting into V.I.L.E. requires you to have some sort of pun in your name, as this tends to come up with every goon you capture. This is absolutely ubiquitous in the Brøderbund games; Creator/TheLearningCompany apparently didn't like them as much. For the Facebook game, it's initially [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] as most of the crooks have mundane names (or ''your own friend's names''; see BigBadFriend above). It's played straight once you start solving the Hard cases that PunnyName criminals start showing.
194	* RaceLift: Carmen is usually unambiguously Hispanic, but at times she has been changed to a paler skin tone. Arguably she just gets turned into a {{Mukokuseki}}-type lighter-skinned Hispanic, though. Perhaps she stole her own skin tone?
195	* RedBaron: Carmen's been referred to many times as the Queen of Crime, and less often as the Duchess of Thievery. But most of all, she's been called the "World's Most Notorious Thief".
196	* RespawningEnemies: The elemental spirits in ''Secret of the Stolen Drums''. Averted with Carmen's robots--any robots Cole has destroyed will remain destroyed, even if you saved, quit, and reload the game again.
197	* {{Retcon}}: Lots of 'em. Most notably, Carmen's original BackStory had her being a former spy for the Intelligence Service of Monaco--don't expect that to show up in any game made after Czechoslovakia split up.
198	* RevengeOfTheSequel: ''Carmen Sandiego Returns''
199	%%* RewardingVandalism: In ''Secret of the Stolen Drums''.
200	* RightHandCat: In ''Junior Detective'' and the 1996 versions of ''World'' and ''U.S.A.'', Carmen has a pet cat named Carmine. Sadly, we never see Carmen stroke Carmine in the usual villainous fashion (although Carmine being a ginger cat against Carmen's red would create a terrible color clash). In those games, Carmine being seen was one of the signs that the player was on the right track, with ''World'' in particular having her at each case's final destination.
201	* RoguesGallery: V.I.L.E. in the PBS shows has several recurring villains.
202	%%* SavingTheWorld
203	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: ''Treasures of Knowledge'' spells Carmen's middle name as "Isabela". The [[AllThereInTheManual manual]] for ''Secret of the Stolen Drums'' spells it as "Isabella".
204	* SupervillainLair: Carmen occasionally has one of these.
205	** The 1996 version of ''U.S.A.'' has her lair hidden in Washington D.C., [[spoiler:all the better to steal the Declaration of Independence at the end of the final case]].
206	** In ''Word Detective'' and ''Math Detective'', you teleport between various V.I.L.E. hideouts around the world (and one, from ''Math Detective'', in outer space) to find the games needed to unlock the {{Plot Coupon}}s.
207	* SurroundedByIdiots: V.I.L.E. seems to be stocked with complete idiots; given a HandWave in one of the game manuals, which said that Carmen has a soft spot for people less capable than herself.
208	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: While every ''Carmen'' TV show and game has its own cast of characters, many fulfill similar niches:
209	** Scientists: Dr. Belljar, Sarah/Saira Bellum, Jane Reaction
210	** Musicians: Sarah Nade, Mel Ancholy, Carri Daway, Esther Odious
211	** Aliens: Kneemoi, Dr. Ima [=LeZaard=], A. Leon Being
212	** Nobles: Contessa, Baron Wasteland, Baron Grinnit, Countess Cleo
213	** ThePigPen: Hugh Stink, Top Grunge
214	** Hackers: Dee Cryption, Cy Berpunk, Telly Phone, The Troll
215	* TimePolice: The whole point of ''Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?'' and ''Where in America's Past'' as well.
216	* TimeTravel: ''Where in Time'' and ''America's Past'', obviously, and there were time machines in ''Where on Earth''.
217	* TomboyishName: Subverted with Jules. One clue Carmen left behind addressed Jules [[http://youtu.be/gac52fo6rA8?t=5m31s as Julia]] in ''Treasures of Knowledge''. This actually caused a DubNameChange in the DS game.[[labelnote:Explanation]]The developer of the DS game, Strass Productions, is French. Jules is the male French form of "Julius", as in Creator/JulesVerne.[[/labelnote]]
218	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Tacos, something established as early as the first game. (Identifying the suspect's food preference was one of several clues you would need to identify him her in most games, and if the suspect was Carmen herself, the right choice would be "Tex/Mex".)
219	* UnwinnableByDesign: If you spend too much time going to the wrong places, before you figure out some of the more obscure hints (Especially in the later cases where there is almost ''no'' room for errors), you'll run out of time or battery power.
220	** Can easily veer into the Cruel version of this trope. While there may be ample clues to show ''where'' the crook is going, you still have to figure out ''who'' the crook is via investigating clues and getting a warrant. You might find yourself questioning multiple witnesses, eating up valuable time, and lose the case because you took too long. See LuckBasedMission above.
221	* VideoGameRemake: ''World'' and ''U.S.A.'' were both remade twice. ''Time'' was remade once.
222	* VillainBasedFranchise: The protagonists change almost every time, but Carmen is always the one they're going after.
223	%%* WeirdnessSearchAndRescue: A TimeTravel focused ''Carmen Sandiego'' game had these.
224	* WorldOfPun: Oh, is it ever. Not least of which are all of the villain names.
225	* WorldTour: One of the most famous examples.
226

Context Franchise / CarmenSandiego