Line #1 Series/LevelUp


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/levelup.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: ''I'm the bomb and about to blow up.'' [[note]] L to R: [[ActionGirl Angie,]] [[BigManOnCampus Lyle,]] Wyatt, and [[TheBigGuy Dante.]] [[/note]]]]
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4	A 2012 live-action show on Creator/CartoonNetwork based on a pilot TV film released in November 2011. The story follows the adventures of a group of gamers who call themselves "Never Fail" and cooperate well together on a MMORPG called ''Conqueror of All Worlds.'' However, they are unaware that they go to the same school, where they hate each others' guts. During a usual gaming session, the three unwittingly open a portal in the game to their world which is exactly the opportunity that the game's main villain, Maldark, was waiting for. He starts sending his minions to take over the real world. But Never Fail also find that if the monsters can become real, so can their weapons. Thus they take it upon themselves to put aside their hatred for each other, stop the monsters, and prevent Maldark from getting through.
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6	It was made with the consultant help from Jagex (best known for the MMORPG ''VideoGame/RuneScape'') and Creator/RoosterTeeth (of ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' and ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' fame).
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8	The final live-action scripted series produced by the network, the show lasted two seasons, with its final episodes airing in 2013.
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11	!! ''Level Up'' provides the following tropes:
12	* TheAce: Joaquin is better than everyone at everything. In the words of Dante, [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame he beats the jock at jock stuff and the nerd at nerd stuff]]. Eventually, Never Fail refers to this as "[[PersonAsVerb being Joaquined]]".
13	* ActionGirl: Angie has a black belt.
14	* AllTrollsAreDifferent: The Trash Troll in "Leroy", who appears, wrecks the scenery, and can make off with everything portable that you own (including your character). Also, the Swamp Trolls (particularly the one Maldark sends to the real world) and the Demon Troll in the movie.
15	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Hideo doesn't know what he is going to send after Max now that he knows about the leaks, but he knows that it is going to include claws and lightning, as well as riddles because he doesn't completely want to abandon the puzzle game concept.
16	* AuthorAppeal: An In-Universe example, nothing in Conqueror of All Worlds is capable of jumping diagonally because Max hates checkers.
17	* AwesomeButImpractical: The War Hammer of Splat is a powerful weapon, but unlike his game avatar Joaquin is barely able to pick the thing up.
18	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Don't piss off Courtesy Cat, or he might just turn into a wrestler and beat you silly.
19	* BeyondTheImpossible: According to Max, who created it, the final weapon is supposed to kill the heroes using it with its recoil. The heroes survive it and he is shocked.
20	* BigBad: Maladark, an evil sorcerer from the game world whose EvilPlan is to TakeOverTheWorld.
21	* BigBrotherInstinct: The members of Never Fail towards Angie. For example, in "Leroy," the group lets it go when Leroy trashes Double Dash Dan, they aren't too angry when he gets Wyatt sent to detention, and they even let it slide when he deliberately screws them up in the game, but when he [[spoiler: stands Angie up for a date]], they're [[TranquilFury royally]] pissed off.
22	* BigGood: Max who is Never Fail's benefactor and opposes the BigBad, but he's a {{Jerkass}}.
23	* BigManOnCampus: Lyle is the football star and chick magnet.
24	* ButterflyOfDoom: A case could be made for parody (or taking the phrase too literally) when the Blast-A-Ton fired a butterfly that flew to a frozen Trash Troll and exploded in "Leroy".
25	* CurbstompBattle: Bob the Barbarian rips the elves apart.
26	* DeadpanSnarker: Angie is a sarcastic girl and Dante's antics make great material for catty comments.
27	* DisproportionateRetribution: Leroy may have been a major {{Jerkass}}, but he didn't deserve to be attacked by a giant Trash Troll. In Never Fail's defense, that was an accident: the troll was supposed to attack his character in the game, not come out into the real world and find him.
28	* EccentricMillionaire: Max, the creator of the game. Also a self-admitted MadScientist.
29	* EccentricTownsfolk: There are some oddball students at this high school, from the sensitive bully to the piercing enthusiast who kept her braces on as a body modification after she didn't need them any more. The aptly-named Weird Carl is actually one of the more normal ones.
30	* EekAMouse: Lyle can face trolls, in the real world, but can't handle rodents (i.e. mice, hamsters).
31	* EndearinglyDorky: Wyatt, the "socially awkward wimp". One girl said it was her type as opposed to overly macho guys.
32	* EvilIsNotAToy: Max leaks his 10th most evil programmed villain, the Merchant, to help promote his expansion pack of the game. [[spoiler: Since he's the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Villain of the Week,]] [[TheDogBitesBack the Merchant retaliates]] and plots [[TheStarscream to be the #1 villain.]]]]
33	* ExcaliburInTheRust: Angie's Fist of Schoolage looks like a common work glove. Then it becomes a mighty steel gauntlet, leading up to GrailInTheGarbage.
34	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: the object in the title of the episode "[[CharmPerson Charm Bracelet]]"
35	* ExactWords: Lyle challenges Joaquin to a race, which Joaquin wins by taking a bus since Lyle said it was a race and not a footrace. Dante (who technically wasn't competing in the race) picked up on the logic as well and used his skateboard, but he still lost to both of them.
36	* {{Expy}}: Of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' obviously.
37	* TheFace: In the game world Never Fail lets Wyatt do all the talking with other players because he's TheCharmer. In the real world, however, he's a dork and Lyle's the one with school-wide friends.
38	* TheFairFolk: The Rainbow Rider.
39	* FiveManBand: The expanded version of Never Fail.
40	** TheLeader: Wyatt. In "Acid Spitting Mini-dragons" Lyle and Dante frankly admit they can't have a successful raid without his leadership.
41	** TheLancer: Lyle. Who better than a popular jock to contrast the adorkable nerd? Or fill in when he can't lead?
42	** TheSmartGuy: Max, the super genius who created the game. Never Fail goes to him when they have a tech problem.
43	** TheBigGuy: Dante the aggressive guy with the club. He's also Never Fail's tank in the game world.
44	** TheSmurfettePrinciple: Angie. The sole girl of the group and, as the non-gamer, sees herself as the voice of reason.
45	* ForScience: Consider this quote from Max "If it bleeds code, it's a leak. If it bleeds blood, it'll be a crying shame, but at least the mystery will be solved." This is presumably the reason for his experiments too.
46	* FourTemperamentEnsemble:
47	** Sanguine: Dante.
48	** Choleric: Angie.
49	** Melancholic: Wyatt.
50	** Phlegmatic: Lyle.
51	* GamerChick: Inverted. Angie doesn't play nor like the game.
52	* GenreSavvy: When things go wrong at school, TheTeam has to rush back to base to get their gear, or they could just use the weapons that Angie put in her locker.
53	* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Never Fail's battle cry, "Tulta munille," is Finnish for "[[GroinAttack Fire at for their balls.]]"
54	* HatesBeingTouched: Max created a body suit that would shock anyone that touches him.
55	* HenPeckedHusband: Bob the Barbarian is very much afraid of having to go back into the game to his wife.
56	* HypocriticalHeartwarming: Dante once declared that no one calls his mother annoying except for him.
57	* InsufferableGenius: Max and Wyatt both indulge in this. The former makes sure everyone knows they are less intelligent than him and Wyatt loves rubbing his face in the fact that he, himself, is smarter than everyone.
58	* ItOnlyWorksOnce: The final weapon Never Fail has to use to defeat Maldark in the movie has only one shot. They can't use it in the series when Maldark comes back.
59	* InsaneTrollLogic: Dante's solution to Wyatt no longer acknowledging teamwork due to the effects of the [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity Blast a tron 2.0]] is that everyone needs new weapons that would make them all crazy so they could be a team again.
60	* {{Jerkass}}
61	** Max is rude, usually cowardly, and by his own admission, doesn't care about anyone else's well being.
62	** Leeroy loves screwing people online and in real life.
63	* {{Keet}}: Dante's energy is non-stop and quirky.
64	* KillerRabbit: Acid Spitting Mini Dragons are this due to their small size making them seem harmless until they of course spit acid at you.
65	* KingKongCopy: One of the [=NPCs=] in Conqueror of All Worlds is a giant gorilla, [[Film/KingKong2005 albeit smaller than the one in the Peter Jackson movie]].
66	* LeeroyJenkins:
67	** Dante, who shouts "Leeroy Jenkins!" before charging in to an attack. {{Lampshaded}} in the film:
68	-->'''Wyatt:''' And he jumps in. Why does he do that?
69	** Paid tribute to in "Leroy", when Lyle's old friend Leroy ruins their carefully planned raid in the game, though he did this on purpose to screw them over.
70	* LetsGetDangerous:
71	** Normally, Angie doesn't take leak busting seriously but when she does:
72	-->--''Boys....Where's my Fist Of Schoolage?''
73	** Dante is like this too. He's often lazy and irresponsible, but he is not someone to be taken lightly.
74	* LoopholeAbuse: Angie doesn't want Joaquin joining Never Fail, but Wyatt points out to Dante and Lyle that she never said that Joaquin couldn't play Conqueror of All Worlds, and get him to take down the Wind Titan so it doesn't leak while the Fire Titan is still on the loose.
75	* MixAndMatchCritters: The [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Hampire]]: a [[RaisingTheSteaks vampiric hamster]], and the [[SmellySkunk Skunk]] {{Bear\|sAreBadNews}}, among various others.
76	* MonstersOfTheWeek: Leaks, various monsters, warriors, and other things that have come out of the internet. Occasionally, a Leak will be spawned from something else on the internet, but mostly they're from the Conqueror of All Worlds video game.
77	* MsFanservice: Angie.
78	* NoBodyLeftBehind: "Leaks" disappear upon defeat to respawn back in the game.
79	* NoSell: Bob the Barbarian catches a Mini-Sun blast from Wyatt's Blast-A-Ton and eats it.
80	* NoodleIncident: Angie was once almost [[FoodEatsYou eaten by a dancing bannana]], and it seems she still holds a grudge against the rest of Never Fail about it since they supposedly let it happen.
81	* PilotMovie: The BigDamnMovie received promotion a month in advance of airing, even getting Website/YouTube spotlights on promoted videos. In other words, you can bet your ass this was another series in the making.
82	* PortalNetwork: A worm eat parts of reality to create one these. It linked the HQ to Angie's house, the school and other places. Too bad using it using too often in a small amount of time can cause bad things to happen in the real world!
83	* PowerTrio: The original members of Never Fail
84	** TheId: Dante who acts on impluses and is always eating.
85	** TheSuperEgo: Lyle whose concerned about social norms and doing what is expected of him.
86	** TheEgo: Wyatt is a mix of both and mediates them. It's seen most clearly in the 3rd act of the movie.
87	* PreferableImpersonator: Dante thinks that the dating profile of Max that leaked out should replace the real Max due to this trope as he is a lot nicer. He changes his mind when he hears that said Max plans on shutting down Conqueror of All Worlds.
88	* ScissorsCutsRock: With the exception of the Water Titan, the Fire Titan can evaporate any water it comes into contact with, and even then running into the Water Titan was a MutualKill.
89	* RainbowPimpGear: When the trio first venture out in RealLife, their improvised gear is essentially this, including multi coloured helmets and sports gear and a ''beret''.
90	* ShoutOut:
91	** In the first episode, when the group clean up Bob the Barbarian, he's wearing an outfit similar to Ed's from ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy''.
92	** The series is set in [[VideoGame/KingsQuest Daventry]] Hills.
93	* SixthRanger:
94	** Angie joins the group in the movie as a SecretKeeper.
95	** [[spoiler: Her little brother, Joaquin, joins in the series.]]
96	* SociallyAwkwardHero: Wyatt finds talking to girls and dealing with school bullies a lot harder than busting leaks. Lyle is more worried about his football record and social calendar than a leak attacking him.
97	* SwissArmyGun: Wyatt's Blast-A-Ton. It has over 100 modes.
98	* TakeOurWordForIt: [[CurbstompBattle Bob the Barbarian vs. Elves]]. We see some of it, but most of it happens off-screen. [[GrievousHarmWithABody He apparently rips one of their arms off and beats them with it]], after which we see one get sent hurdling passed Never Fail at high speeds, and he [[OffWithHisHead tears off another's head]], but we just see Never Fail's reaction to it.
99	* TokenAdult: Max is the only person working with Never Fail that isn't in High School
100	* TongueOnTheFlagpole: A variant of this is weaponized against the Ice Titan, as it is so frigid that shooting water on a pole (in pretty standard temperatures) causes it to freeze to the pole when it runs into it making it a lot easier to take down.
101	* TrueCompanions: Never Fail. Lyle says it best "This is my team."
102	* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Averted in "Leroy". Lyle outlines the prank against Leroy just before he does it: Find a Trash Troll, teleport it on Leroy, and have it steal his gear. That's exactly what happens: they find a Trash Troll, teleport it on Leroy, and it steals all his gear; [[GoneHorriblyRight in real life]].
103	* WeaponBasedCharacterization: Never Fail's team use weapons that are appropriate for their in-game classes (and in Angie's case, martial art experience).
104	** BatterUp: Dante's Skull Cracker for a knight tank.
105	** {{BFG}}: Wyatt's Blast-A-Ton which has to be held in two hands works well for his demolition theme.
106	** MagicStaff: Lyle's Thunder Pole for a mage. It's big enough to be a staff but he only uses it as a MagicWand.
107	** PowerFist: Angie's Fist of Schoolage helps out with her Krav Maga.
108	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The Blast-A-Tron 2.0 is stronger than its original counterpart, but it also comes with the side effect of making its users go mad with power.

Context Series / LevelUp