Line #19 Series/Cleopatra2525


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d0b5db4116189957bc25efdb514.png]]
2
3	->"Five hundred years into the future, she will enter a world where machines rule the Earth. Mankind has been driven underground. And Cleopatra is about to discover – there's no place like home!"
4
5	''Cleopatra 2525'' is a pulpy 2001 science fiction television series which ran for two seasons.
6
7	In 2525, an exotic dancer named Cleo (Creator/JenniferSky, right) is awoken after being [[HumanPopsicle cryogenically frozen]] after a boob job mishap in 2001. She is rescued from certain doom as a test dummy by two female vigilantes, Helen (Creator/GinaTorres, center) and Sarge (really named Rose) (Creator/VictoriaPratt, left). These two fight to return humanity to the surface, after they have been pushed down into the {{Underground\|City}} - a series of shafts and levels created by an unknown entity - by human-killing robots called Baileys.
8
9	These robots come in a variety of forms. Some are nearly indistinguishable from humans. They are termed Betrayers, and many episodes revolve around killing one or escaping from them.
10
11	One of these Betrayers is Mauser, whose synaptic nets have been reprogrammed by Helen and Sarge. He serves as the technical guru. The final member of the team is Voice, an unknown entity that is connected to Hel via a chip in her brain. Voice is known to work with other teams, and at some point in the past was responsible for causing one team leader to gain telepathic abilities and betrayal from another. Both individuals are considered villains aside from the threat of Baileys and Betrayers.
12
13	----
14	!!This series contains examples of:
15
16	%%* Action Girl: Helen and Sarge, mostly.
17	* AIIsACrapshoot: The Baileys were originally designed as terraforming machines, whose goal was to restore the Earth that humanity has polluted. At some point, however, they decide that humans don't deserve to live on the world they destroyed and start hunting them. They do manage to finish their job, however.
18	* ArbitrarySkepticism: Sarge comes from a tribe who believes the Baileys are aliens, which is treated as absurd. But since no one knows [[spoiler:(until the finale, at least)]] what the Baileys are, "they're aliens" makes about as much sense as anything else. Admittedly, they specifically think the Baileys are ''[[BenevolentAlienInvasion benevolent]]'' aliens, which, [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter well...]]
19	* ATeamFiring: Those gauntlet lasers seem to be inaccurate even for veteran Voice operatives, as any fire fight with them seems to have more damage done to the environment than to the enemies.
20	%%* AudienceSurrogate: Cleo
21	* BigBad: A draw between the Baileys and mutant criminal/terrorist Kreegan. Then the finale reveals that [[spoiler: Kreegan is the one who created the Baileys in the first place, making him THE Big Bad of the show]].
22	* BodyHorror: In a series where generally everything looks a bit silly, there's a legitimately creepy moment when, during a psychic/dream sequence, Cleo is talking to her mother [[spoiler: who suddenly turns, revealing a Bailey face, complete with glowing red lights and twitching bits.]] It's only seen for a moment, [[NothingIsScarier which makes it even more unsettling.]]
23	* ChainmailBikini: {{Lampshaded}} by Cleo in the very first episode.
24	* CharmPerson: Raina can do this, but mostly uses it just for PlayingWithPuppets.
25	* ClipShow: The second season finale is primarily bulked out with footage from previous episodes to 'explain' Kreegan's crimes. This may have been to store up budget for the big CGI battle.
26	* CutShort: The second season ends with [[spoiler: shots of an absolutely ''enormous'' battle taking place between the Baileys and humans. The Baileys are apparently finally trying to wipe humanity out for good, and the human resistance has gotten hold of weapons strong enough to take them down. This is not a BolivianArmyEnding because there's no indication this is hopeless, it's just a massive escalation on both sides. However, as the show was not renewed, no one knows how the battle ended.]]
27	* DeadpanSnarker: Cleo:
28	--> '''Cleopatra''': [commenting on Illana's midriff-exposing outfit, imitating Sarge] You're very concerned about your appearance, aren't you? Like those exposed midriffs of yours are functional.
29	* DoItYourselfThemeTune: Creator/GinaTorres (Hel) sang the theme song.
30	* EnergyWeapon: Everybody uses energy weapons by 2525. The protagonists have their wrist-mounted. The Betrayers have their arms turn into these. The only kinetic weapon seen in the entire show is an old 9mm (in full working condition!) kept by a guy from the 21st century.
31	* EvilDetectingDog: To try and keep Cleo company, Mauser tries to make her a pet, but dogs are long extinct (they were eaten) so what he comes up with more resembles a Furby. [[spoiler: It and the secret Betrayer character take an immediate dislike to each other, with the 'dog' barking annoyedly at it, while the other characters don't catch on. [[FridgeLogic Which makes little sense when the dog is also capable of speaking, but just doesn't, for some reason.]] ]]
32	* FamilyFriendlyStripper: The title character is an exotic dancer by trade, but the few times her talents are called upon, usually in a seedy bar setting of some sort, she never goes down to anything beyond a relatively modest bikini. In one episode, to create a diversion, she even takes over for a dancer who is wearing far less (but still in a skimpy bikini) and ends up enthralling the crowd with her PG-rated striptease.
33	* FeministFantasy: Definitely a "yay girl power!" sort of show, in the vein of ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess''.
34	* FetishFuelFuture: Whew, lad...
35	* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Cleo. And it gets flipped around for Hel and Sarge when Cleo gets trapped in a simulation of her own time, and they have to jump in to rescue her.
36	* FloralThemeNaming: Sarge's real name is Rose and her sister is Lily.
37	* GrandTheftMe: In the episode "In Your Boots" Kreegan does this to Hel.
38	* HolodeckMalfunction: There's an episode in which Cleo is trapped in a simulation and the others have to rescue her. Unsurprisingly there's a bit of handwaving to explain how the shots fired in the simulation will now be actually dangerous.
39	* HumanPopsicle:
40	** Cleo, [[spoiler: her boyfriend]], and [[spoiler: the BigBad]].
41	** Also one of the Voice's team leaders, who has kept a 9mm from his time (useful, as DeflectorShields in the 26th century aren't rated for kinetic weapons).
42	* HumanResources: [[spoiler: One of the later episodes reveals that the Baleyers are constructed using human body parts.]]
43	* IFellForHours: Something of a novelty in that it generally isn't played for laughs. Indeed, it's pretty much the primary mode of transportation in the series.
44	* IntangibleMan: [[spoiler:Kreegan and Hel's father]] have developed a device that allow a person to become phase-shifted. The person becomes invisible and can pass through solid objects. For some reason, the person doesn't fall through the floor. Hel brings this up at one point, only to be {{Hand Wave}}d by [[spoiler:Kreegan]]. While working on the device, [[spoiler:Hel's father]] somehow ends up being able to do this without the device, as long as he's maintaining concentration. He becomes a spy for the Voice.
45	* ItsPersonal: Hel's relationship with Kreegan, as a result of YouKilledMyFather.
46	* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: The villain of one episode ends up using an impenetrable DeflectorShield. That is, impenetrable to the {{Energy Weapon}}s they all use in the year 2525. Not impenetrable to a bullet from a good old-fashioned 9mm (kept and maintained for nostalgic reasons by a guy from the 21st century).
47	* MayDecemberRomance: A brief and tragic one - it turns out that [[spoiler:Cleopatra's boyfriend from the present day chose to be frozen in order to try and find her in the future. Unfortunately, he was revived before she was, so by the time they meet again, he's elderly, and [[StatusQuoIsGod conveniently drops dead]] before Cleo has to decide whether she's willing to marry an old man.]]
48	* MonsterClown: Kreegan - although Clown Monster might be more accurate
49	* NatureIsNotNice: Played for laughs when Hel has to hike across the surface for the first time and finds herself seriously questioning why they are fighting so hard to reclaim it.
50	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: The show was filmed in New Zealand. You could ''occasionally'' tell when the bit players were locals.
51	* OpeningNarration
52	* PsychicNosebleed: Subverted - a telepath spends six months deliberately inducing a nosebleed as part of her escape plan.
53	* RequiredSecondaryPowers: There is a device that keeps showing up that allows one to be phase-shifted. The person becomes invisible and is able to walk through walls. Hel once brings up the problem of falling through the floor. [[spoiler:Kreegan]] simply mentions that he has worked for months on the problem... and that's all we get as far as explanation. Although he mentions something about a polarized field on the soles of the shoes/feet, there is no mention of how that's powered/operated, and there's absolutely no mention of how phased characters can breathe, let alone talk, especially since they can only be heard by each other, or people with special psychic powers like Reina. Which brings up a bunch of FridgeHorror on its own, especially for Hel's father.
54	** During the episode in which [[spoiler:Cleopatra]] is temporarily blasted into the other phase and running around intangibly, her interaction with floors appears to vary. Some she climbs/falls through, others she walks on just fine. And she certainly didn't have any extra equipment.
55	* TheReveal: The final episode is mostly Voice debriefing a captured Kreegan, culminating in the reveal that [[spoiler:he most likely is Bailey, the creator of the Baileys, and that he has thus been alive since before humanity was driven underground]]. The last shot also shows the human resistance is finally launching a full scale counterattack to reclaim the surface. Of course, the Baileys are also preparing for something big.
56	* SciFiBobHaircut: Sported by Cleopatra.
57	* SentryGun
58	* SheFu: Sarge and Hel (Creator/GinaTorres). Hey, what do you expect in a show made by the same people who made ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess''?
59	* ShoutOut: At least once an episode. Cleopatra is fond of making 21st century pop culture references that no one else gets.
60	* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: Cleo.
61	* SpotTheImposter: One betrayer took the form of the hero, Cleopatra. The fact that both the hero and imposter believed themselves to be the original version made it more difficult to figure out.
62	* {{Stripperiffic}}: Heck, at this point, even the three actresses will admit that the biggest part of the show's charm is that it's campy, silly, cheesy, scantily clad fun.
63	* TakingYouWithMe: There are several examples of villains in the story doing or trying this, mostly the Bailey "Betrayers." However, the most notable example is Kreegan. [[spoiler: He designed the Baileys to completely exterminate humanity if he dies. It's the only reason Hel didn't kill him when she had the chance.]]
64	* TitleByYear: It's the year this is set in.
65	* UndergroundCity: As noted, the Baileys pushed humanity underground, so they live in one of these.
66	* VileVillainSaccharineShow: As upbeat and campy as the show was, the villains could be downright terrifying, especially the Baileys themselves (giant faceless robots who show up to shoot you the moment you stick your head over ground) and their Betrayers ([[TheyLookLikeUsNow who look like everyone else]] right up until they [[OneWingedAngel start sprouting massive deadly weapons]]).
67	* VoiceChangeling: Cleo, as revealed in the first episode.

Context Series / Cleopatra2525