Line #144 Series/Reaper


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5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reapercw01.jpg]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:Meet Satan's favorite tools.]]
7
8	''Reaper'' is an UrbanFantasy [[FantasticComedy Comedy]] series that ran on the Creator/TheCW from September 2007 to May 2009. It starred Creator/BretHarrison, Creator/TylerLabine, and Creator/MissyPeregrym, and with Creator/RayWise in the role of {{Satan}}.
9
10	Meet Sam Oliver. He's a college drop-out working at the Work Bench with his two best friends, Ben and Sock, and the woman who he's had a crush on since high school, Andi. Then he turns [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday twenty-one]] and learns that his parents accidentally [[DealWiththeDevil sold his soul to the Devil]] before he was born. Now he has to work for the Devil as a {{bounty hunter}} for [[InfernalFugitives escaped souls]].
11
12	One could call it a comedic SpiritualSuccessor to ''Series/{{Brimstone}}''.
13
14	The show was cancelled after the second season. There were talks to [[ConclusionInAnotherMedium continue the series as a comic book]], though nothing seems to have materialized on that front.
15	----
16	!!This series provides examples of:
17
18	* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Sam, Ben and Sock once had to search the sewers for an escaped soul made of green nuclear-waste goo. The sewers were fairly dank and smelly, but they were easily big enough for three people to walk through.
19	* ActionSurvivor: Every mortal in the cast.
20	* AffablyEvil: TheDevil seems to treat Sam like a son, giving him advice on dating, although he can be mean, too.
21	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: The show plays with this trope with Nina. She's a demon, so as she says herself for one thing she can't help but be a little attracted to evil, and for another 'bad boys' are what she's used to by default. She's initially attracted to Ben [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan because of his caring nature]], but is put off a little when he gets too clingy. She even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the trope, saying bad boys "treat you like crap, but at least it's exciting". She eventually decides to go back to Ben, but kisses Sam after being attracted to the dark side she thinks he has [[spoiler:from being the Devil's son]]. This later comes back when Nina seems attracted to Morgan, [[spoiler:but this turns out to be a ruse so she can lure Morgan to a group of demons so she can kill him.]]
22	* AmbigouslyBi: Sock has only shown to have romantic (and sexual) relations with women. However, he's also made a lot of suggestive comments towards various other male characters along the way, including his friends and Morgan. Out of the three, he's also the most prone to {{Freudian Slip}}s around gay-demon couple Steve and Tony, which one could misread as him fumbling to not out himself on some level.
23	* AmbulanceChaser: One of the villains was one who returned from the dead with leech powers. Bloodsucking attorney indeed.
24	* AnimatedTattoo: One of the escaped souls.
25	* AnimationBump: The live-action equivalent: the {{Pilot}} was directed by ''Creator/KevinSmith''.
26	* AntiAntiChrist: The presumed spawn of Satan is fairly depressed to learn that it's his apparent destiny to end the world. He takes comfort from the fact that he's not really all that good at anything, so he'll probably suck at that, too. Subverted in that [[spoiler:Sam is not the only son of the Devil. Satan's been around a ''long'' time, and has a ''lot'' of kids. And he's disappointed in each and every one of them.]]
27	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking / DisproportionateRetribution: The old sins.
28	-->'''Devil:''' Did you know I used to get the people that ate shrimp? Just ate shrimp. Do you have any idea how ''immensely'' unsatisfying that is?
29	* AscendedDemon: Had a group of demons who were trying to overthrow Lucifer through being nice. One of them apparently ascended to angelhood after death, though the finale indicates that angels can be pretty ruthless too.
30	* AssholeVictim: Sam has to save his old SadistTeacher from an escaped soul wanting to kill him in revenge, and it would have been better had they just let him get killed first. Fortunately he got his comeuppance in the end.
31	* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Averted in "I Want My Baby Back", where the baby of an escaped soul is the primary conflict of the plot. The boys get away with dumping the kid off on Tony who is apparently a natural parent (as all gay demons are bound to be), but this only works for so long [[spoiler:as The Devil wants the baby's soul in Purgatory, and it's generally a bad idea to take things back from demons.]]
32	* BadassNormal: Sam's friends do not have superpowers, but the three of them are able to capture souls with ease with their know how from the Work Bench.
33	* BatmanGambit: The Devil, in "Rebellion," is revealed to have [[spoiler:set Sam, Sock, and Ben in their new apartment next door to two demons who happen to be members of a demonic underground dedicated to fighting the Devil with goodness. Because of Sam's special relationship with the Devil, the demons devise a plan to trap the Devil and kill him: which is just what the Devil wants. He kills all the demons in the rebellion (except for one), because the goodness plan would have eventually worked in about 400 years]]. What's more: [[spoiler:The Devil left a series of clues that he easily could have avoided. Giving them gifts meant for the escaped soul that Sam is chasing, and putting his own name on the lease are the big ones. This allows Ben to figure out what's going on exactly one moment too late to stop it.]]
34	* BavarianFireDrill: Employed by Sock every once in a while.
35	* BewareTheNiceOnes: The Devil seems like a pretty relaxed, happy, friendly guy. Then Sam saves a random guy's soul from him, and the Devil congratulates him on doing so... right before the Devil collapses several giant shelves on top of Sam.
36	-->'''Sam:''' ''(terrified) I thought you said you weren't angry!''\
37	'''The Devil:''' ''(smiling)'' I'm not. This is me... [[DisappointedInYou disappointed]]. You should see me angry.
38	* BlandNameProduct: Work Bench, the Home Depot/Best Buy FictionalCounterpart.
39	** Averted elsewhere. Sam's Prius is heavily featured thanks to Toyota paying a promotional consideration, and the first episode features Sam using, what else, [[IncrediblyLamePun a Dirt Devil]] as a vessel. They also usually don't bother to cover logos on the wide shots when Sam and company are stealing massive amounts of merchandise yet again.
40	* BookDumb: While Sam, Ben, and Sock might not be particularly smart about other things, some of their plans to capture souls are really elaborate and complicated. Ben is slightly smarter than Sam, they are both much smarter than Sock. That being said, none of them are intellectuals.
41	* BountyHunter: Sam works as a bounty hunter for the Devil: instead of escaped criminals, he catches escaped souls.
42	* BringMyBrownPants: Referenced often.
43	* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler:One of Sam's girlfriends, Cady, is implied but never confirmed to be a daughter of the Devil. If she is, that means Sam slept with (what he believes to be) his own half sister.]]
44	%%* ButtMonkey: Benny
45	* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:Morgan and Sam.]]
46	* CainAndAbelAndSeth: [[spoiler:subverted as Cady doesn't get involved in the SiblingRivalry and it's never really confirmed if she's the Devil's daughter.]]
47	* CallBack: In the two episodes "Unseen" and "Cancun", Sam asks the Devil to give him a straight answer and just tell him the truth. In both cases, Sam asks about [[spoiler:the Devil's children. In "Unseen" he's asking about Cady, in "Cancun" he's asking about himself.]]
48	** The CallBack also shows how the Devil's relationship with Sam has changed. In the earlier episode "Unseen", the Devil flippantly replies that he'll tell the truth. In "Cancun", the Devil decides to be honest and tells Sam that he's probably [[ILied going to lie.]]
49	* CannotSpitItOut: A lot of problems come from Sam's inability to tell Andi about his problem with the devil.
50	* CassandraTruth: Sprong. Though he [[{{jerkass}} deserves it]].
51	* CastFromLifespan: Kissing a succubus takes years off the end of your life. You temporarily gain super-strength, super-speed, and the good effects of a hundred cups of coffee.
52	* ChekhovsGun: the "[[GetOutOfJailFreeCard Get Out of Hell Free]]" card [[spoiler:used in "Greg, Schmeg" to null and void Greg's deal with the Devil]].
53	* ChessWithDeath: Sam plays coin toss with the Devil. He loses. He plays again and is going to win... [[spoiler:but an angel CRUSHES HIS HAND. Cause the forces of good don't want him to win. While it's all part of their plan, they really didn't need to be such assholes about it.]]
54	* TheChosenOne: Sam is special even for a Reaper: Satan regularly talks to him. [[spoiler:He might even be the Devil's son.]]
55	** [[spoiler:He's special even as one of the devil's children. It is implied God had a plan for him, but we never find out what it is.]]
56	** Series 2 implies [[spoiler:the reason the Devil favours Sam to be his eventual successor over his other children, such as the more obviously evil, Morgan, is that while their personalities are in line with his own and willingly obey him, they don't have any drive to complete the tasks he assigns them. Sam on the other hand, despite his protests, is the only one who ''actually gets the job done''.]]
57	* ChristianityIsCatholic: The show tries to make its theological underpinnings as ambiguous as possible, but whenever we get exposition (especially from Ben) the result is clearly Catholic.
58	%%* ChronicPetKiller: Cady
59	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Sam's brother disappears after the second episode.
60	** Josie vanishes after the first season.
61	* CitizenshipMarriage: [[spoiler:Ben]] gets into one.
62	* ClingyMacGuffin: The vessels tend to stick with Sam no matter how much he tries to get rid of them.
63	* ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere: Alan Townsend escapes from his deal with the devil by winning a poker game. The condition of his release is that he is forbidden to sin again or he goes directly back to Hell. The problem with this is that he's a [[TheGamblingAddict gambling addict]] and gambling is a sin. He eventually ends up back in Hell when the devil arranges for his plane to be grounded in Las Vegas.
64	%%* ComedicSociopathy: Sock
65	* ContinuityCreep: Started off as a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Soul of the Week]] show, but about halfway through season one it started with the demon rebellion arc and examining the thorny questions of who Sam's dad is. [[spoiler:The most likely candidate is the Devil himself]].
66	* CursedWithAwesome: Subverted. At first it seems like the devil owning Sam's soul looks like the best thing that's ever happened to him: he gets a cool job as a hunter of escaped souls, powers specially designed for each soul so he shouldn't have too much trouble with them, and the big guy's inside advice on how to get laid. However, the devil also occasionally screws with Sam's life just for the hell of it, and he can't say anything about it to the girl he really loves since it would jeopardize her ownership of her own soul.
67	* CutShort: The series was cancelled, resulting in this.
68	* DangerousSixteenthBirthday: The 21st birthday is the dangerous one.
69	* DarkIsNotEvil: Tony, as well as most of the other fallen angels.
70	** [[spoiler:And Sam, as the son of the Devil.]]
71	* DartboardOfHate: Sam, Sock and Ben have one of Ted.
72	* DeadpanSnarker: sometimes Sock and Ben, always the Devil. Occasionally Gladys and Andi.
73	* DealWithTheDevil: True to form, {{Satan}} really likes to make these and, of course, he usually exploits ExactWords as much as he possibly can, and sees to it that there is always an ironic twist or two included somewhere in said deals. The protagonist is the victim of once such deal that was made by his parents before he was born, that forces him to work for the Devil as the title character.
74	* DepravedBisexual: The Devil admits to "swinging both ways".
75	* DevilButNoGod: God is mentioned several times but never appears or intervenes [[spoiler:until the end of the series, when an angelic Steve sabotages Sam's attempt to get out of his contract with the Devil. This implies that God actually ''wants'' Sam to keep working for the Devil, which might make this a JustifiedTrope.]]
76	* DevilInPlainSight: The Devil, appropriately (or strangely) enough, who apparently sets off no alarm bells when he's interacting with humans other than Sam.
77	* DevilsJobOffer: The premise. Sam's parents sold him to the devil before he was born and now the devil has come to collect - by making Sam track down souls who have escaped hell and sending them back.
78	* DiabolusExMachina: [[spoiler:In the season 2 finale, there is a perfectly logical opportunity to end the series -- Sam will win the contest, he and Andi go free, and the devil is sad. Presumably in order to make way for Season 3, the Diabolus is employed: picking up on some rather vague hanging plot threads, ''an angel'' comes out of nowhere and ''ruins everything'' by breaking Sam's hand. And then the show got canceled.]]
79	* DiscriminateAndSwitch:
80	-->'''Sock:''' Yes, Steve and Tony smell terrific, and yeah, they've got great taste in beer, but They. Are. [[DramaticPause oh-so-short pause]] Demons.[[note]]They're also gay...[[/note]]
81	** Steve and Tony initially assume Sam and the others stopped hanging out with them because they're gay, until Sam mentions it's because they're demons.
82	--->'''Steve:''' The homophobia, I understand. I don't agree with it, but I understand. But fallen angels cursed to walk the Earth for all eternity--and ''that'' freaks you out?!\
83	'''Sam:''' Well... yeah.\
84	'''Steve:''' Just explain what it is that worries you.\
85	'''Sam:''' Well, have you guys ever... eaten anyone?\
86	'''Tony:''' ...That is rude.\
87	'''Steve:''' That is rude, and uncalled for, and we are ''not'' going to answer that.
88	* DisproportionateRetribution: A bunch of rebellious demons set up a human sacrifice so that Sam can get out of his deal with the Devil. When Sam protests, saying he won't send an innocent soul to Hell in his place, Tony contends that the guy isn't innocent, he's a drug dealer who tried to sell him weed in the park.
89	-->'''Tony:''' It's a gateway drug!
90	* DivineParentage: Cady ''might'' be the devil's daughter. [[spoiler:And Sam might be the devil's son.]]
91	* DoorstopBaby: Sorta, a baby was left over after Sam reaped a soul. BabyCarriage also comes into play.
92	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The Devil owns Sam's soul, as well as Andi's.]]
93	* DramaPreservingHandicap: Sam had [[spoiler:his hand broken right before he could beat the Devil in a game of coin-tossing and win his soul back. By an angel, no less!]].
94	* DudeWheresMyReward: Pretty much the story of Sam's life.
95	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
96	** In the pilot episode, Gladis has reptilian eyes on top of horns on her forehead. For the rest of the show, her eyes are normal.
97	** A prominent plot device in the first season is if you stand inside a circle of any kind (even a chalk-drawn circle on the side walk), the Devil will be unable to hear what you're saying if he's not physically present; the characters occasionally use this to their advantage by standing inside a circle when they're having a conversation they don't want the Devil to hear. Come the second season, this plot device is abandoned, and the characters never bother to draw a circle even when discussing something they wouldn't want the Devil to know about.
98	* EscapedFromHell: It's Sam's job to capture souls who had escaped Hell and bring them back. Exactly ''how'' they escaped isn't revealed until later in the series: the demon [[TheMole Gladys was helping some escape]].
99	* EstablishingShot: [[AC:_epartment of Motor Vehicles]]
100	* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Devil is a petty S.O.B. with no moral compass, but he takes umbrage at the idea of desecrating the dead, whether it's Sam and co. stealing ashes out of urns to keep them away from a soul or using a corpse as a proxy. He also seems to think of the idea of having claim over a soul over pettier indescresions (like coveting and eating shellfish) to be beneath him, though it doesn't stop him from wanting to keep their souls in Hell.
101	* EvilFeelsGood: The Devil clearly has fun getting a reaction from Sam and clearly enjoys tempting humans, he even encourages Sam to be evil because of how much fun he'll have.
102	* EvilMentor: The Devil wants to take Sam under his wing. When he's not treating Sam like an underling to be ordered and abused, the Devil will sometimes try to tempt Sam into acting evil in some way or trick him with a BatmanGambit into doing his dirty work.
103	* FirefighterArsonist: The very first {{infernal fugitive\|s}} Sam is tasked with capturing is Ned Schmecker, an arsonist from TheFifties who died trying to burn down his parents' house. Escaping from Hell in present day, he continues his fire-starting antics whilst disguised as a fireman, now with PlayingWithFire powers.
104	* FlamboyantGay: Steve, though not as bad as some.
105	* FlirtyStepsiblings: In season 2, Sock finds out that his mom had gotten remarried to a Japanese man and he now has a stepsister. A noticeably attractive stepsister with no personal boundaries. Their interaction is then played for laughs. They eventually do have sex, but then her dad finds out, hits him over the head and sends her back to Japan.
106	* FreakyIsCool: Sock tells Sam this about having Devil powers: Sam [[{{Wangst}} disagrees]]
107	* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler:Are Sam and Andi damned or not? Why on Earth would ''Steve breaking Sam's hand'' be for the ''best''?]]
108	* TheGamblingAddict: Alan Townsend.
109	* GoodbyeCruelWorld: The Devil leaves a fake one of these when he uses PsychicAssistedSuicide on someone.
110	-->'''Devil:''' Quick question: Quoting Hamlet -- too cliche? ''[glances at corpse]'' Nah, he'd totally do that.
111	* AGoodNameForARockBand: A [[{{DreadfulMusician}} wannabe rocker]] whose great idea of a stage name is just "Ryan" almost does a literal DealWithTheDevil and becomes the even-more-ludicrous-sounding "Ryän".
112	* HeroicSacrifice: Andi in the finale. [[spoiler:It doesn't go well.]]
113	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Again, Sam/Sock/Ben anyone?
114	* IDontWantToRuinOurFriendship: Andi, [[spoiler:when she realizes that she really likes Sam romantically.]]
115	* IJustWantToBeNormal: Sam
116	* ILied
117	-->'''Sam:''' I need to ask you something, but I need you to promise me you'll tell me the truth.\
118	'''Devil:''' Sam, I like you. So I'm going to be honest: I'm probably going to lie to you.
119	* ImprobableWeaponUser: For each job, Sam gets a new vessel to use to capture the escaped soul. They range from the reasonable (e.g. a taser, a whip, a scythe) to the bizarre (e.g. a remote-control toy car, a dove, or bubble solution).
120	* InconvenientSummons: How the Devil meets Sam.
121	* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Sock's stepsister is blissfully unaware that he's got the hots for her.
122	* InsultBackfire: One episode has this exchange:
123	-->'''Sam:''' You're a real [[{{Jerkass}} ass]]!\
124	'''TheDevil:''' Sammy, I am the Dark Lord of asses.
125	* InterspeciesRomance: Ben hooks up with a demoness named Nina after she kidnaps him. She can transform between looking like a winged monster and a pretty blonde.
126	* IronicHell: Although we never see it first-hand, apparently this is the case for most souls.
127	* {{Kavorka Man}}: Sock verges on this from time to time.
128	* {{Jerkass}}: The Devil loves screwing with Sam, and it becomes worse when Morgan is in the picture. Morgan fits this as well, although he doesn't realize it.
129	* JerkassGods: Some of God's actions may come across as jerkass-y (having an angel [[spoiler:break Sam's hand to keep him bound to The Devil and leaving Andi's soul sold for colateral]] for unspecified reasons) or petty (punishing the Devil for his rebellion by making it impossible for him to eat [[TrademarkFavoriteFood ice cream]]).
130	* JobTitle: Even though its only called that once, its apparently the title of Sam's job as a bounty hunter of souls that escaped from hell.
131	* JustFriends: Andi wants to remain just friends with Sam, even when he wants more [[spoiler:until she decides to be his girlfriend]].
132	* KryptoniteFactor: The Devil seems nearly omnipotent but has some weaknesses that even humans can exploit (although, MagnificentBastard that he is, any or all of these could be carefully disseminated disinformation). Most notably, he cannot enter a circle without an invitation (he has to enter through corners) nor can he see or hear anything that goes on inside. He can also be killed by the sword of the Archangel Michael, though he has that safely hidden away. He is also weakened when people, humans or demons, do good deeds. It's stated that if they had not been killed, Steve's group of rebel demons would have successfully defeated the Devil in 400 years or so by doing good deeds. For a being that existed long before Earth was created, that probably seemed like a very immediate threat.
133	* LeftHanging: Cancellation is a bitch.
134	* LimitedWardrobe: Given their level of income, the main cast has maybe three outfits apiece. Sock is the most noticeable in this regard because one of his shirts is prominently stained.
135	* LockAndLoadMontage: Starting with the first episode when Sam and Sock suit up to face off against Schmecker, and to varying degrees afterward...''always'' using stuff that happens to be on sale in their place of work.
136	* LoopholeAbuse: In The Cop, [[spoiler:the detective sells his soul for catching five high profile killers. Satan then turns around and gives him four and the fifth ends up with the detective shooting himself since he failed to specify what he meant by catch thoroughly enough.]] Satan admits it was a little sneaky.
137	** Used against the devil himself in one episode where a man makes a deal for all the material wealth he wants but refuses to sign the contract for his soul.
138	*** The man argues that he doesn't have to sign the contract with the devil since he's under no obligation to sign it until the devil's side of the bargain is fulfilled; which logically means the devil cannot have his soul until he says so (which will be never).
139	*** [[MortonsFork Sam angrily argues that the man's blatant materialism and endless greed will inevitably condemn the man's soul to hell anyway.]]
140	*** The man agrees that Sam has a point but states he plans on repenting at the eleventh hour [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu (a loophole the Devil himself claims does actually work)]].
141	*** The Devil responds by trying to kill the man since he's under no obligation not to do so [[ReadTheFinePrint (since the clause preventing the mans early death would only count if the man signed the contract)]].
142	*** The man then proceeds to simply repent on the spot and sell all of his material possessions; meaning the devil would have to trick him again to claim his soul.
143	*** [[RageQuit The Devil gives up and decides to not go after him after that, since the man is clearly more trouble than he's worth.]] [[ButtMonkey But not before punishing Sam]] [[YouHaveFailedMe since it was his job to get the contract signed in the first place.]]
144	* MeaningfulName: One of the escaped souls is named Jack King, who uses sperm banks to trick women into carrying his children.
145	* MonsterOfTheWeek: Practically all the escaped souls Sam catches are these.
146	* MortonsFork: At the end of the first season, [[spoiler:Tony tests if Sam is the son of the Devil by dropping a laundry machine on him. If Sam dies, it proves he's human (but still dead). If Sam uses his demonic powers to save himself, Tony will execute his plan to kill Sam.]]
147	* MsFanservice: Nina. Her demon form... not so much.
148	* MushroomSamba: Sock gets one in the finale. [[IntoxicationEnsues On accident.]]
149	* {{Narcissist}}: This is TheDevil's weakness. The secret to beating him in a contest is to bring a mirror to the competition ground with you, because TheDevil is incapable of not looking at his own reflection.
150	* NecessarilyEvil: The Devil sees himself like this; he believes the bad souls need severe punishments for their crimes and they need to be returned to hell. He also believes that his deals cull the herd between ''true'' good souls and bad ones since he never forces people to accept his offers.
151	* OhCrap:
152	** When [[spoiler:The Devil confronts [[NobleDemon Gladys the DMV Demon]] about allowing souls to escape from hell, her face says it all]].
153	** Alan[[note]]a gambling addict who will go to Hell if he sins a single time[[/note]], when he realizes that the plane he's in is stopping over in Las Vegas en route to the Vatican, and he's been given $100 in poker chips. And the Devil is right behind him.
154	* OmniscientMoralityLicense: Steve breaks Sam's hand to prevent him from winning his rematch with the Devil, citing an undefined greater good and orders from "upstairs".
155	* OneHourWorkWeek: The characters do have jobs at the Work Bench (and its one of the major settings), but the boss is so terribly incompetent that they can come to work, clock in, and just leave. Later, Sam's girlfriend Andi takes over the job and, being in on the Reaper secret, lets them go whenever they need to.
156	* OneWordTitle:
157	** The show's title, as a JobTitle where the job is one word long.
158	** Episodes:
159	*** ''Rebellion''
160	* OnlyGoodPeopleMayPass: Alan Townsend takes advantage of this to hide from TheDevil after he wins his freedom from his contract. He hides in a cemetery, which is consecrated ground. This prevents TheDevil from tempting him into sin.
161	%%* OurZombiesAreDifferent
162	* OutlawCouple: Had a pair of escaped souls in an OutlawCouple relationship. The woman is played by [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Harmony the vampire]].
163	* PinkIsErotic: In "Coming to Grips", an escaped soul calling himself [[PunnyName Jack King]] started working in a sperm bank and selling his sperm to oblivious mothers and becoming a father to hundreds of children who aren't aware of their relation to him or their half-siblings. Jack is a narcissistic pervert who has the power to multiply himself and wears a salmon pink dress shirt in the final confrontation within a hospital that's covered with pink wallpaper.
164	* PluckyComicRelief: Ben and Sock are often relegated to this role
165	* PointyHairedBoss: Ted, mild overlap with BunnyEarsLawyer. While Ted is a jerk that almost no one likes, he seems fairly good at his actual job.
166	** Until he [[spoiler:gets fired, and for excellent reason.]]
167	* PreserveYourGays: Tony, is the only survivor after the Devil killed all the other demons, and his boyfriend Steve is then redeemed and goes to Heaven as an angel.
168	* PutOnABus: John.
169	** Sam's ex-girlfriend, Cady, says that she's going to New Mexico for a short amount of time while taking a break with Sam. She never appears in the series again.
170	* RefusalOfTheCall: Sam, in the second episode, tries to leave the vessel behind. It follows him.
171	-->'''Ben:''' You put it on a truck to Delaware? You think that'll work?\
172	'''Sam:''' Can ''you'' find Delaware on a map?\
173	'''Ben:''' ...good point.
174	* RelationshipUpgrade: [[spoiler:Sam and Andi]] and [[spoiler:Sock and Josie]] in the episode "Rebellion."
175	* {{Satan}}: Sam's boss [[spoiler:and father]].
176	* ScreamDiscretionShot: Subverted. The shot pulls back and you hear a scream, but the person doing the screaming is ''extremely happy.''
177	* SharedUniverse: With ''Series/KevinProbablySavesTheWorld'', as Sam and Sock appear in at least one episode.
178	* ShirtlessScene: several. The most gratuitous was Ben in the second-to-last episode. Absolutely necessary for the plot.
179	* ShoutOut
180	** The premise owes more than a bit to ''Ghost Rider'', but there's a lot of smaller nods as well, most blatantly to ''{{Franchise/Ghostbusters}}'' in the first and third episodes.
181	** One episode deals with a soul of an assassin named [[Film/TheProfessional Léon]]. The assassin is named after the actual assassin of President Mckinley, Leon Czolgosz, making this more of a [[HistoricalInJoke historical in-joke]].
182	** In one second-season episode, The Devil mentions having contracted an advertising agency to improve Hell's image. This mirrors the plot of ''The Hades Business'', a short story by Creator/TerryPratchett, which was the first thing Pratchett ever published. (The story is collected in ''A Blink of the Screen''.)
183	* SoulSuckingRetailJob: Sam and his friends spend as much time dealing with the incompetent management and obnoxious customers of The Work Bench as they do chasing down escaped damned souls. It's a toss-up which job is worse.
184	* StealthPun: Episode 4: The MonsterOfTheWeek is a woman scorned, and controls a swarm of bees.
185	* StigmaticPregnancyEuphemism: Sock attempts to cheer Sam up by telling him a story about a girl he knew in 11th grade who got shipped off to convent school for getting pregnant in high school.
186	* StraightGay: Tony
187	* SummoningRitual: Subverted: You can summon the Devil by calling him on his cell. (The area code is Phoenix.)
188	* TarotTroubles: VillainOfTheWeek tarot reader lady understood that Sam is working for Satan by drawing several devil cards in a row.
189	* SmallNameBigEgo: Ted Gallagher. Especially funny when the trope was still called Ted Baxter.
190	* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: Deliberately invoked by Sock when he and everybody went to the mining town to find the soul to get with Kristen. [[spoiler:It works.]]
191	* TitleDrop: Sam is referred to as a "bounty hunter" for most of the series. Only once is he ever called a "Reaper."
192	* ToadLicking: One the escapees from Hell was a stoner whose preferred method of getting high was licking toads. Fittingly, his demonic power was having a prehensile, OverlyLongTongue.
193	* TonightSomeoneDies: The season one finale was heavily promoted as, "Someone Will Die". However, [[spoiler:it seems that this death is John, buried alive and presumed dead by the characters. In the last few minutes Linda seems to have dug the still-alive man out of the ground. In a later episode, it was revealed that the commercials were technically correct. John is no longer alive. Apparently ExactWords matter when making a DealWithTheDevil.]]
194	* TooDumbToLive: Especially in the early episodes, Sam frequently decides it's a good idea to tell the Prince of Darkness off to his face. Then again, if you could do this and get away with it (as Sam obviously can), wouldn't you?
195	** He is also frequently shocked and offended that Satan, known as the Father of Lies, would ''lie'' to him.
196	** Not to mention how frequently Sam trusts Sock, of all people, with aspects of his job.
197	** Sam's parents are the worst of the whole bunch for thinking they could trick the ''DEVIL''. You didn't honestly expect the Prince of Lies to play fair did you?
198	** Sam ''announcing'' to the escaped souls that he's a bounty hunter. Because, you know, element of surprise is overrated.
199	** Alan Townsend, if only for the fact that his plan to fly to Vatican City to be protected from TheDevil clearly didn't factor in the several hours that TheDevil would have to get to him while he was on the plane.
200	* TricksterMentor: The Devil to Sam.
201	* TrickedIntoSigning: In "My Brother's Reaper", Sam had to get a guy to sign the [[DealWithTheDevil contract for his soul]], so he slipped it in with a delivery receipt. Unfortunately for Sam, the guy knew what he was up to and signed it with an alias.
202	* TropaholicsAnonymous:
203	** The Devil runs an AA meeting to promote relapse.
204	** The demon resistance under Steve also ran a meeting to talk about their attempts to do good and avoid evil. Sample day: Did some recycling, put quarters in a stranger's parking meter, almost ate a child.
205	* UltimateJobSecurity: Sam, Sock and Ben routinely slack off on their jobs, do it wrong and just flat-out steal from the store, but Ted never fires them. He ''threatens'' to fire them on a regular basis, but he never does, thinking that his own ineffective penalties will somehow teach them to do better. It never does. It takes them not showing up for work for weeks for him to fire them in the Second Season premier, and he very easily caves to Sock's blackmail.
206	* UnwittingPawn: Sam, constantly. He plays a major role in undoing the demon rebellion. As the series progresses, though, he becomes more savvy and sometimes comes out ahead.
207	* VillainsBlendInBetter: In one episode, the next escaped-from-hell soul that the protagonist Sam must capture is a thirteenth-century Mongolian warrior. Sam's [[{{Satan}} employer]] urges him to hurry lest the Mongolian adapt to our world well enough to start conquering it. It never goes that far, but after the heroes lose the Mongolian for several days, he's wearing an expensive tailored suit by the time they catch up with him. Subverted in that he's still a roaring, raving and destructive brute [[spoiler:attacking Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese restaurants]]. Doubly subverted when the heroes attempt to repeat a previously successful trick and scare the Mongolian with the ringing of a cell phone. [[spoiler:The Mongolian grins and shows them his brand-new Bluetooth head-set.]]
208	* WalkingWasteland: Cady. She's mostly a nice girl, though there have been hints of {{Yandere}} tendencies, but flowers and small animals die in her presence. [[spoiler:She may or may not be the devil's daughter.]]
209	* WeaponsThatSuck: In the first episode, Sam is given a demonic Dirt Devil vacuum in order to recapture a soul that escaped Hell.
210	* WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame: Sam meets the Devil a one of these places once.
211	* WillTheyOrWontThey: Sam and Andi [[spoiler:until "Coming to Grips"]]
212	* WomanScorned: Dumping an ordinary woman is bad enough. Dumping a ''demoness'' who's got a crush on you and is really, '''really''' trying to overcome her murderous cannibalistic urges is criminally and suicidally insane!
213	* TheWormThatWalks: A woman made of bugs.
214	* YouAreNotAlone: The last line of the series, followed by a reveal that leaves Sam and Andi speechless.
215	* YouCantFightFate: One guy manages to weasel out of his DealWithTheDevil. [[spoiler:The Devil gets his soul anyway.]]

Context Series / Reaper