Line #9 Series/KyleXY


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6	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kyle_xy.jpg]]
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8	As part of a new wave of television shows that debut during the early summer, ''Kyle XY'' is a modern-day sci-fi show built around the title character of Kyle that aired 2006-2009. In the first episode, Kyle (Creator/MattDallas) is a mute, naked, wide-eyed teenager with no memory and no belly button found wandering out of the woods and into the Puget Sound area of Washington state. After a short stay at a juvenile delinquent center, social worker and psychiatrist Nicole Trager (Creator/MargueriteMacIntyre) sees a benign personality in Kyle that doesn't belong there, so she obtains permission to provide a type of foster care with her own family.
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10	Her family is hesitant at having a stranger around, but Kyle shows a certain affection for them and his simple honesty despite not saying a word wins them over. At the end of the first episode, Kyle says his first words to his surrogate family and their story begins, but not without him having strange traits like preferring to sleep in the bathtub.
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12	The rest of his new family consists of patriarch Stephen Trager (Creator/BruceThomas), a brother in Josh Trager (Creator/JeanLucBilodeau) who is convinced Kyle is an alien, and Lori (Creator/AprilMatson) as a big sister who shows him the nuances of teenage life. Kyle quickly gains a crush in the literal GirlNextDoor Amanda Bloom (Creator/KirstenProut) and a best friend in Declan [=McDonough=] (Creator/ChrisOlivero), who has an on/off relationship with Lori. Also included is a shadowy stalker Tom Foss who knows where Kyle is from.
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14	Over time, Kyle gathers an array of impressive abilities that no human should have. It appears that all of these abilities are a result of [[NinetyPercentOfYourBrain using far more of his mind then anyone else.]] He learns entire languages and memorizes the encyclopedia in minutes. He is capable of instantaneously solving graduate level calculus. He jumped off a roof without any harm and recreated a .jpeg image after briefly seeing the base computer code.
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16	While it doesn't take too long for the mystery to be solved, there are other problems surrounding it, not the least being that there is someone else exactly like him, Jessi (Creator/JaimieAlexander).
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18	Airing on the Creator/ABCFamily network, part of the success of the show comes from the impressive advertising campaign, including viral marketing and several obvious sponsors. Critical reception has been very warm, with a lot of praise going out to actor Matt Dallas for a tone-perfect performance as the title character.
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20	The series concluded with its third season, [[LeftHanging leaving a myriad of questions unanswered]], in true ''Kyle XY'' style. WordOfGod did, however, say a few things about where the show [[http://olliewo.blogspot.com/2009/03/writerco-producer-julie-plec-answers.html would have gone had it continued for a couple more seasons.]]
21	----
22	!!This show provides examples of:
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24	* NinetyPercentOfYourBrain: Specifically, Kyle [[spoiler:(and later Jessi)]] uses around 50% of his brain, which is why he is so gifted and intelligent.
25	%% * AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Declan and Lori.
26	* AlmostKiss: Kyle is FINALLY about to kiss Amanda at the dance when Jessie blows a fuse... Literally!! The ensuing light show throws them off their first kiss at the very last nanosecond. [[YourHeadAsplode Audience's heads asplode.]]
27	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Played with. Kyle, drunk out of his head, instantly sobers up after violently puking, then explains that "I [[ReversePolarity reversed the polarity]] of my liver to return my body to homeostasis!" This is implied to be a joke, though, in response to Josh suggesting that he do something like that earlier in the episode--which begs the question of how he ''actually'' sobered up so quickly.
28	* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Kyle and Jesse both have super advanced brains and can copy anything by watching or doing the math. A good example is when Kyle joins the basketball team at school and can make any shot just by measuring the angles or learns how to fight by watching martial arts movies (he also learned Chinese this way).
29	* BecomeARealBoy: A great deal of the first season's most poignant moments deal with Kyle expressing his desire to fit in with the rest of humanity, and more specifically, be a real son to the Tragers.
30	* BettyAndVeronica: The naively kind Kyle (Betty) and the JerkJock Charlie (Veronica) for Amanda, the relatively nice, normal Lori (Betty) and the violent, aggressive Jessi (Veronica) for Declan, the EndearinglyDorky Mark (Betty) and the JerkWithAHeartOfGold Declan (Veronica) for Lori, ''and'' the nice Catholic girl Amanda (Betty) and the more aggressive Jessi (Veronica) for Kyle.
31	%% * BilingualBonus
32	* BirdsOfAFeather: Kyle and Jessi are both naïve but super-strong and intelligent with mysterious backgrounds. Josh and Andy are both slackers who love video games.
33	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Charlie. He starts out as Amanda's boyfriend and seemingly a genuinely nice guy to Kyle and other protagonists. [[spoiler:It turns out he's a serial cheater and a general tool.]]
34	* BlitheSpirit: Kyle's innocent naivete, kindness, and intuitive intelligence allows him to disrupt the dysfunctional status quo of the Trager family and their various friend groups.
35	* BuffySpeak: Lori: "I could see the sparkage in your eyes."
36	* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Josh smokes pot only a couple of times and his parents come down on him. Hard. Even more bizarrely, the pot he was smoking [[ItMakesSenseInContext belonged to his parents.]]
37	* ChangelingFantasy: Subverted at the end of the first season when the Kyle supposedly found his real parents. In fact, [[spoiler:he was grown in a lab, the parents are actors, and Kyle goes along with the plan to protect his adoptive family, a situation which lasts a whole episode and then requires Kyle to make up another story for why he's returned.]]
38	* CharacterizationMarchesOn:
39	** Hilary was an outstanding example of this. When we first meet her in Season One, she starts out as an unlikeable an AlphaBitch, but as time goes on, she gradually evolves into a ''much'' better person, genuinely repentant for her past misdeeds, and actually becoming one of the most likable characters by the time of the final season.
40	** Similarly, Declan, who went from being a jealous jock with a dislike for Kyle to his best friend and confidant.
41	%% * CircumcisionAngst: Kyle averts this, even though Lori has an issue with it.
42	* ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory: Kyle is given a plausible backstory for his lack of memories, intelligence and absence of a navel. His female counterpart, Jessi, however, is given false memories because an agent for a CorruptCorporateExecutive finds her first.
43	%% * CorruptCorporateExecutive: Most of the [[BigBad Big Bads]], since the series' primary antagonist was a MegaCorp. Miss Thatcher from Season 1 and Mr. Ballantine from Season 2 are prime examples.
44	%% * CuteBruiser: Amanda, actually, though it's double subverted. She hits Nathan with a vase, smashing it over his head. Jessi tells her that he'll wake up soon, "because you don't hit hard enough." This time she punches him out ''much harder.''
45	* DarkerAndEdgier: The series got progressively darker as it went along, but Season 3 marked a definite shift.
46	* DistaffCounterpart: Kyle gets one in Season 2; Jessi is a girl with an identical background to him.
47	* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Jessi has this kind of look, and is eerie because she was raised to be violent and has a sinister background.
48	%% * EvilBrit: Michael Cassidy in Season 3.
49	* DysfunctionJunction: The Tragers used to be like this -- Hilary was an AlphaBitch, Josh was a gaming DumbassTeenageSon, Stephen was TheWorkaholic and prone to dishonesty, and Nicole's therapeutic experience failed to help them. Enter [[BlitheSpirit Kyle]] who reorients their priorities and makes them question their own philosophies.
50	* EvilMentor: After a long time of being a benevolent mentor, it seemed that [[spoiler:Foss]] was this to Kyle because of a secret message that Kyle couldn't trust him, until it turned out that the message was actually condemning [[spoiler:Taylor]]... who then becomes the EvilMentor to Jessi by training her to be violent.
51	* {{Foreshadowing}}: The brief advert for [=MadaCorp=] in the second episode of Season One foreshadows that [[spoiler: MadaCorp made Kyle.]]
52	* GamerChick: Andy, full on. Her goodbye party is playing G-Force and eating junk food. This is one of the reasons Josh falls for her.
53	* GenderBlenderName: Andy (short for Andromeda), which in classic tradition causes some identity mix-up. Josh didn't know she was a girl until she told him her screen name, which left him with his jaw hanging open because she'd been the one kicking his ass online.
54	* GeniusBruiser: Jessi is as smart as Kyle, but has a more of a tendency to get violent - and [[BloodKnight enjoys it]].
55	* GreenEyedMonster:
56	** Amanda and Jessi sure have a lot of tension concerning Kyle once Jessi's [[spoiler:programmed into developing feelings for him.]]
57	** Jessi actually is described as having green eyes, making this trope that much more fitting.
58	* HappilyMarried: Stephen and Nicole have few problems in their marriage, though this doesn't mean their kids are free from problems.
59	* HilarityEnsues: A lot of the pranks in the show, while funny, would be extremely illegal (as per the description). Notably, Josh sneaking in to Amanda's house and covering for her while she visits Kyle (ItMakesSenseInContext), is probably some sort of felony.
60	* IAmSpartacus: When Jesse tries to jump from the roof, Kyle, Lori, and Josh all step forward and say they'll try too.
61	%% ** Kyle leads the basketball team on this in season 1.
62	* ImportantHaircut: Lori cuts Jessi's hair near the end of season 2 when [[spoiler:Sarah, who has shorter hair, comes]] and Jessi [[spoiler:leaves her "father", Brian Taylor]]. Lori even utters the line, "Once we do this, there's no turning back."
63	%% * InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: Since the series was a mystery drama, many episodes fell under this.
64	* InvincibleHero: Kyle became one of these after Season 1 -- after a little basic training, nobody could resist his super strength.
65	* JerkJock: At first it seems that Declan is this trope, but he ends up becoming one of the most awesome characters on the show, and a great friend and confidante to Kyle (and love interest to Lori). Whereas [[spoiler:Charlie, Amanda's boyfriend, starts off as a subversion of this but by Season 2 he's taken to cheating and eventually they break up. Also, he turns out to be highly homophobic - [[HilariousInHindsight ironic considering]] [[Series/{{Glee}} the role his actor would land later on in a highly LGBT-friendly environment.]]]]
66	* LadykillerInLove: Declan, as a JerkJock, cold explicitly have any girl in the school, but he genuniely falls for Lori.
67	* LeftHanging: And how! If anything, the series finale raised more questions than it answered.
68	* LiteralMinded: Because of his naivete, Kyle takes things very literally at first. He gradually gets better. Lampshaded when Kyle does ''not'' take Amanda's "we need to talk" literally when it actually was meant literally, and Amanda jokes that of course this would be the one time Kyle doesn't take things literally.
69	%% * LivingLieDetector: One of the side effects of Kyle's hyper awareness powers.
70	* LovableAlphaBitch: Hillary is a self-identified "slut" who is happy to bully unpopular kids, but she gets more likable as the series goes on, showing genuine caring for Lori, Josh, and Kyle. That being said, she does get a ''nasty'' CharacterCheck in season 2 in which her jealousy of Jessi's powers leads her to be appallingly mean to her and try to get her to jump off a building.
71	* LoveTriangle: Kyle/Amanda/Charlie, Lori/Declan/Jessi, Declan/Lori/Mark, and Amanda/Kyle/Jessi.
72	%% * MagicFloppyDisk: A couple throughout the series, equipment that's been tampered with just so to trigger Kyle and Jessi's powers.
73	* MakingASplash: Kyle develops hydrokinesis in "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades."
74	* {{Mentors}}: Several...
75	** [[TeamMom Nicole]] and [[TeamDad Stephen]] to Kyle, Lori, and Josh (as parents ought to be)... and to [[SixthRanger Jessi]] and Andy as needed.
76	** Baylin and Foss mentor Kyle in mental and physical disciplines, respectively.
77	* MidSeasonTwist: In season 1, Kyle [[spoiler:sees Foss in his dreams, which have begun to show flashes of memory]].
78	* MisplacedWildlife: UsefulNotes/TheOtherRainforest doesn't have rattlesnakes.
79	* MuggleFosterParents: Twice. In the first season, Kyle lives with a foster family while he himself is unaware of his true origins. In the second season, Kyle returns to live with his foster family because he wants to live the normal life his genetic father was never allowed to have.
80	* NaiveNewcomer: And how. Much of the first season's comedy was derived from Kyle's attempts to understand various social mores and ideas.
81	** Jessi, despite having memories tends to be like this for most social situations because he was trained for violence.
82	* NakedOnArrival: Kyle and Jessi are naked when they first wake up, which gets Kyle in trouble with the cops.
83	* NoNavelNovelBirth: Kyle's stomach has no belly button, one of the first clue to others that he's not quite normal. This is because [[spoiler:he is a clone, and thus never had an umbilical cord.]]
84	* NoSocialSkills: Kyle was not raised by anyone and so is not familiar with any social norms.
85	* NotMeThisTime: When social services gets called in to investigate Kyle everyone assumes (not without reason) that Mrs. Bloom is responsible. Though at the time she disliked Kyle immensely, she had nothing whatsoever to do with it.
86	* NotWearingTights: Technically, both Kyle and Jessi could be considered superheroes because they have superhuman powers that they use for good...mostly. However, they only wear normal clothes.
87	%% * NotWhatItLooksLike: (Also, Not What It Sounds Like). Variously examples played straight and subverted throughout the series.
88	* AnOddPlaceToSleep: Kyle preferred the family bathtub over a bed.
89	* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: Latnok, complete with shadowy figures sitting around a table watching Kyle on TV screens. Later in the series, it becomes less shadowy as Kyle actually meets some of the members.
90	* PhotographicMemory: Kyle goes one step further, having a holographic memory, reliving events in three-dimensional space.
91	* ThePlan: [[spoiler:Kyle and Jessi hatch one to ensnare Cassidy at the end of Season 3.]]
92	* PlayboyParody: Josh has a stash of "Playpen" magazine, which he keeps a stash of in an Ouija board box. He ends up lending one to Kyle so that he can avoid a Raging Stiffie.
93	* PornStash: Josh keeps one ([[AllMenArePerverts of course]]). It's the source of much hilarity, especially in Season 1. Arguably the [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments best moment]] being when he doesn't want to play the Ouija Board, because that's where the magazines are hidden.
94	* PortmanteauCoupleName: Many, a surprising amount of which are actually in-universe: Leclan (Lorri and Declan), Keclan (Kyle and Declan), Kylanda (Kyle and Amanda) and Kessi (Kyle and Jessi).
95	* PowerIncontinence: Kyle and Jessi use their PsychicPowers unintentionally when they feel distressed.
96	* ProductPlacement: Kyle's TrademarkFavoriteFood for most of the first season was, quite specifically, Sour Patch Kids. This actually served to make the character more endearing.
97	* PromIsForStraightKids: Happens as one of the principal's KickTheDog moments; forgetting that in a public school, having a straight-only prom is not actually legal (not that this stops many schools in real life).
98	* PsychicNosebleed: Happens to Kyle [[spoiler: and Jessi]] when they strain or over-use their mental powers. It's a kind of warning since over use of their powers without developing their bodies to cope can kill them.
99	* RedHerring: In the first episode a news reporter talks about a girl who washed up on a beach with no memory like Kyle. [[spoiler:She's never identified, does not show up in the plot, or really impact the story in any way whatsoever.]]
100	* RefugeInAudacity: Apparently in the past Adam Baylin's girlfriend [[spoiler:/counterpart]] Sarah wrote all the answers to a college test on the ceiling of a classroom. The professors, while angry, were far too impressed and shocked to expel her.
101	* RuleOfPool: Averted. In the first episode, Kyle has a fight with a Police Officer by a swimming pool, yet no one ends up getting thrown into it.
102	* SarcasmBlind: Kyle does not get sarcasm at first, but it doesn't take him long to figure it out.
103	* SexinessScore: In "Diving In", Josh is trying to convince his sister Lori into talking and getting the name of an incredibly beautiful girl who smiled at him in the pool. But after Lori follows the girl to the lockers and sees her naked in the showers, she doesn't believe a "10" like her would be ever interested in someone like Josh and tells him to forget about her.
104	-->'''Lori:''' Josh, she's a 10. There is no way a girl that hot would come within a mile of you.
105	* ASharedSuffering: Kyle and Jessi, due to both being born in the same lab and having similar abilities, were both abused by MadaCorp in the same way and both had the same traumatic introduction to normal life, leading to them having an intuive romantic interest in each other. It helps that their genetic donors were once lovers.
106	* ShirtlessScene: Kyle in "Grounded." It also overlaps with [[InnocentFanserviceGirl Innocent Fanservice Guy,]] because of the context:
107	-->'''Amanda:''' I know you're one of those guys who'll give the shirt off his back to help, but...(''Kyle takes off his shirt'') [[ExactWords I didn't mean it literally.]]
108	* SleepCute: Kyle sleeps in a bathtub, which usually invokes this trope.
109	* SpockSpeak: Kyle uses very formal wordslike "quench my hunger" to describe ordinary things, especially in his narration.
110	* SupernaturalSoapOpera: The show is mainly a teen drama, but Kyle and Jessi have mysterious, sci-fi infused backgrounds that gradually get explored.
111	* TeamDad: Stephen Trager really cares about Kyle and his friends, but is most inclined to call them out when they misbehave.
112	* TeamMom: Nicole Trager is very kind and patient to her kids and Kyle and helps them with their problems.
113	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Kyle delivers one to Josh about his habit of documenting Kyle's odd behaviours.
114	-->'''Kyle:''' Josh! I don't want to hear any more! How is this supposed to make me feel? "Searches for alien mother ship"? "Sleeps in a bathtub"? "Memorizes the encyclopedia"? "Predicts lightning"? This is fun for you. Everyone around here gets a kick out of it, but this notebook, this is the only thing I know about my entire life!
115	* ThereIsAnother: Jessi is a female counterpart to Kyle and [[spoiler:Adam Baylin's female counterpart Sarah is another BigGood who knows Kyle's background..]]
116	* ThinkUnsexyThoughts: Suggested by Josh to Kyle so he can avoid [[RagingStiffie embarrassing public erections]], in addition to masturbation (for which Josh lends Kyle one of his [[PornStash girly magazines.]])
117	-->'''Josh:''' Zits. Old people. Zits. Old people. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments GRAPEFRUIT!!!]] [[TwoPersonPoolParty (jumps out of the pool in a panic)]]
118	* TitleDrop: "I'm Kyle XY!" - said by a very drunk Kyle in Season 3.
119	* TwoFirstNames: Brian Taylor.
120	* TwoPersonPoolParty: Josh gets one in "Diving In" with a Catholic girl he had a crush on. [[ParentsWalkInAtTheWorstTime Not that it goes anywhere...]]
121	%% * WellDoneSonGuy: Jessi, to Taylor and later [[spoiler:Sarah]].
122	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The fate of Miss Thatcher and the Head of Security at Zzyzx is never revealed, although it is implied that they were killed when Foss firebombed the facility. Similarly, many minor characters appear in only one episode and never show up again, and even main antagonists can simply drop off without a word. After [[MegaCorp MadaCorp]] is defeated in Season 2, the corporation - and the newly-promoted Emily Hollander - are seen in one further episode, and are then never mentioned again. In Season 2 alone, there were three separate {{Big Bad}}s, all of which pretty much went unmentioned after they were defeated.
123	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Jessi had the same traumatic experience of being put traumatically exposed to the outside world and abused by [=MadaCorp=].
124	* WrongGuyFirst: Amanda with Charlie, who ends up cheating on her.
125	* XCalledTheyWantTheirYBack: "Music/HilaryDuff called, she wants her shirt back."
126	* {{Yandere}}: Kyle came off this way to Amanda at first, especially once she saw the drawings of her he'd made in his room. Respect and keeping his distance helped her warm up to him again.
127	** Jessi. Not quite AxCrazy, but she does have a very strong tendency to force out the competition, [[MoodSwinger emotional instability]], and ''very strong'' protective instincts toward anyone she considers family. She even threatens Cassidy with death if he touches the Tragers.

Context Series / KyleXY