Line #39 WesternAnimation/AvengerPenguins


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6	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2018_11_15_at_174937.png]]
7	[[caption-width-right:350:Penguins, bike up!]]
8	Created by Creator/CosgroveHall and [[Creator/{{ITV}} Granada Television]] in 1993 and lasting for two seasons, ''Avenger Penguins'' was made as an AffectionateParody of the TeenageMutantSamuraiWombats trope, but with a British spin on it.
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10	It revolved around a trio of motorcycling penguins -- Marlon, the brash leader, Rocky, a large penguin lacking in brains, and Bluey, a small penguin that spoke in a nearly indechiperable language. When they weren't challenging the 'Stink Brothers' or hanging out at their favourite ice cream joint, they were trying to stop evil genius Caractacus P Doom ([[ComicBook/FantasticFour no relation]]), along with his henchman Harry Slime, from trying to TakeOverTheWorld.
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12	This series has a distinction as being the last Cosgrove Hall production to be animated with traditional ink-and-paint methods. From ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantomcat}}'' onwards, the studio would use computers for the ink-and-paint process, with the animation drawings scanned in beforehand and then digitally coloured using UsefulNotes/ToonBoom software.
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14	-----
15	!!This animated series provides examples of:
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17	* AffablyEvil: Doom is a CardCarryingVillain, but is surprisingly likeable despite being a total lunatic.
18	* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Mildy subverted, an alien speaks in a strange language only Bluey can understand, but some of what it says can be recognized as a variation on English.
19	* AmbiguouslyHuman: Caractacus P.Doom ''may'' be human, but he looks slightly owlish and has graying skin, and when he has undergone a KarmicTransformation, has transformed into a snail. It's never made clear ''if'' he is human or not.
20	* AmericaTakesOverTheWorld: Implied in the first episode, "The President is a Fish", where Doom plans to replace the President of "The United Republics of the World", who is a parody of several American Presidents rolled into one.
21	* AnimalSuperheroes: Well, if you consider "BadassNormal" to count, then yes, the world-saving motorcycling Avenger Penguins definitely count.
22	* AntiVillain: Harry Slime is nowhere near as evil as his boss Caractacus P.Doom, and only goes along with the schemes to avoid his boss's wrath. Were he not working for him, he'd probably be on the Penguins'side.
23	* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Doom creates a huge monster made of disgusting things, then Marlon becomes large himself.
24	* BadassBiker: The Avenger Penguins themselves are cool bikers.
25	* BadBoss: Caractacus P. Doom. For instance, his first instinct after testing his ShrinkRay on Harry Slime in "Big City Little City" is to threaten to step on him for no reason. In "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Penguin?", he steals Harry's teddy bear, outfits it with a concealed bomb, and gives it back to Harry, only to detonate it as Harry is cooing over having his "lost" teddy back. Why did he do this? Because he thought it'd be funny.
26	* BondGunBarrel: In "Fishfinger", which spoofed the ''Franchise/JamesBond'' franchise, this was naturally used as the opening card. Rocky is shown in the gun barrel.
27	* BrainlessBeauty: Recurring character Delores Divine. Fittingly, she's a love interest for the equally dim-witted Rocky.
28	* BrandishmentBluff: In "Computer Chaos" the penguins, about to be squished in a press by Doom, bluff that they have explosives in their shorts (in a particular RefugeInAudacity, [[HalfDressedCartoonAnimal they don't wear shorts]]). Doom to his credit doesn't fall for it...but Harry Slime does.
29	* BreakingTheFourthWall: There are a lot of comments and quips directed directly at the audience. Usually from Doom and Slime.
30	* ButtMonkey: Harry Slime, who suffers a lot of physical abuse over the course of the series.
31	* CardboardPrison: ExaggeratedTrope due to StatusQuoIsGod. At the end of the first episode Doom and Harry Slime are in prison, and they're free again at the start of the second episode ''with no explanation whatsoever''.
32	* CardCarryingVillain: Doom makes absolutely no secret of the fact he's a world-conquering MadScientist.
33	* CatchPhrase: Marlon has "Penguins! Bike up!" Doom has several.
34	* ChekhovsGun: Subverted in the episode '[=CatPig=]: Cat Of Iron'. Rocky buys an 'executive penguin grooming kit' (a broken used comb) at the start of the episode. Marlon rubbishes it as useless. When Rocky reveals it again later in the episode during a DeathTrap as a possible means of escape, Marlon points out that it's still useless and it's of no help. 'Maybe we could...flick dandruff at them?'
35	* ChristmasEpisode: "A Christmas Carol", which is more or less [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol a retelling of]] ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' with Caractacus P. Doom in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge and the Avenger Penguins as the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.
36	* ChromaticArrangement: Rocky rides a red motorcycle and wears a red helmet, Marlon rides a blue motorcycle and wears a blue cap, and Bluey rides a green motorcycle and wears a green jacket.
37	* CityOfAdventure: Big City is a played-for-laughs version of this, with its own resident MadScientist bent on world domination.
38	* CityWithNoName: It's simply called "Big City". In TheFuture seen in "The 23rd Century", it becomes either "Mega City" (according to the signs) or "Mega-Big City" (judging from the dialogue). However, it's ''claimed'' to be an {{Expy}} of [[OopNorth Salford.]] Yes, the one in Greater Manchester.
39	** Salford does have some pretty wacky architecture that would not look out of place on this show.
40	* ClassicVillain: Caractacus P. Doom, a flamboyant, organ-playing, CardCarryingVillain of a MadScientist.
41	* ComicalOverreacting: The episode "Beauties and the Beasts" opens with a ''minute long screaming fest'' from Doom over the fact that Harry has just asked him for a pay raise for his work.
42	* ComicTrio: Marlon is TheLeader, Rocky is TheFool, and Bluey [[TheUnintelligible might]] be the StraightMan.
43	* CompressedHair: You wouldn't know it because he's usually wearing his motorcycle helmet, but Rocky actually has a large, blonde Mohawk that pops out completely unharmed whenever his helmet comes off.
44	* DerangedAnimation: Quite a bit, especially from Doom.
45	* DisorganisedOutlineSpeech: Doom gives one at the end of the first episode as an attempted WeWillMeetAgain:
46	--> '''Doom:''' No! NO! '''''NOOOO!!!''''' Come back! I haven't finished with you yet! I have to destroy you! Don't you understand?! Come back! COME...! ...Ruined! My laboratory is ruined! Curse you, penguins! CURSE YOU!! And remember this: I'm going to get you. As sure as the day is dark, and the night is long-- er, the day is...night, and the long -- er, no, the ''dark'' is the...day? OH WHATEVER!! '''''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis I'LL! GET! YOOOOOOOOU!!!]]'''''
47	** In fact, it's something of a RunningGag that Doom's speeches tend to get away from him.
48	* DistaffCounterpart: Doom has a female version of himself in the future - Lascivious Q Doom. As does Harry Slime - Harriet Slime.
49	* DontExplainTheJoke: In "The Hog Jamboree", Doom does this when he says his plan will lead the Penguins "to their doom".
50	* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: Doom not only is named "Doom", but loves to use the word as many times as possible, whenever possible.
51	* DumbIsGood: Rocky, the dumb penguin, is usually cheerful and chipper, while Marlon, who is smarter, is more cynical and grumpy. Likewise, Harry Slime, who is quite stupid, is also less evil than the genius Doom.
52	* EasilyConqueredWorld: After Marlon is disposed of in "I Married An Android", Doom takes over the world quite quickly.
53	* EldritchAbomination: Doom keeps a many-tentacled horror in his cellar called 'Drongal the Gargantuan'.
54	* EnemyMine - In 'Disgusting Or What?' the penguins and the villains have to try and work together to defeat a monster that Doom created, but cannot control.
55	* EpisodeTitleCard: Each episode opens with a title card.
56	* EvilGloating: Doom. In the first episode Marlon says he'd win the gold, silver and bronze medals if gloating was an Olympic sport.
57	* EvilTowerOfOminousness: Which transforms into a giant DrillTank...thing.
58	* ExactWords: The Atomic Warhead Fountain Pen that Doom gives the Raquels in the episode "Beauties and the Beasts"; Doom describes it as needing "one feather touched to the nib" to detonate it, which the Raquels interpret as "any attempt to use it like a pen will set it off". The reality is that Doom meant what he said ''literally''; it works just fine as a normal pen, but touching the nib with your fingertip (or, for a penguin, with a [[FeatherFingers feather-tip]]) will detonate it. The Raquels don't realize this until they accidentally set it off themselves.
59	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The show takes place in 'Big City'.
60	* ExpositoryThemeTune: Downplayed, but the theme tune does convey the basic plot of the show of the Avenger Penguins protecting Big City from Caractacus P. Doom.
61	* FallingIntoJail: "High Doom" features Humongously Big Mad Joe and Caractacus P. Doom's ancestor Beauregard Doom falling into a jail cell.
62	* FeatherFingers: In fact, the Penguins are never shown as having "wings" at all.
63	* FilmFelons: "Star Struck" has Doom and Slime pretend to make a movie to lure the Avenger Penguins into a trap so they can destroy them.
64	* ForcedTransformation: Doom's Monstertron is quite capable of turning people into stuff against their will. In the first episode, he almost ''kills'' the penguins and the president by turning them into fish and letting them suffocate in the air, whilst in season two, he disposes of his traitorous replacement minion Miss [=DeMeanor=] by turning her into an anthropomorphic pelican, the bird she's most afraid of.
65	* FreudianExcuse: An appropriately comedic case. In one monologue, Doom implies that his powerlust stems from childhood resentment over a schoolmaster calling him "least likely to succeed."
66	* GlamourFailure: Due to a timing error on the Monstertron, both of the Raquels are actually hideous monsters, and whilst they can assume a beautiful form, they have a tendency to occasionally revert back to their true repulsive states.
67	* GoodFeelsGood:
68	** Harry Slime discovers how great it is to help others in "A Winter's Tale".
69	** Same for The Quantum Mechanic too. Though, to be fair, QM was only pursuing the penguins because Doom convinced him they were the bad guys. He wised up eventually.
70	* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: The penguins wear jackets, helmets and gloves, but don't wear pants or boots.
71	* HappyFunBall: Doom manufactures these in the pilot.
72	* HeelFaceTurn: The Quantum Mechanic does this in his eponymous episode, turning against Doom when Bella tells him the truth that Doom's evil.
73	* HoneyTrap: In the episode "Beauties and the Beasts", after Harry winds up being buried alive under a mountain of garbage, Doom instead creates two (intended to be) beautiful female monsters, the Raquels, to seduce the penguins and destroy them.
74	* IdenticalGrandson:
75	** "The Wild Wild Wild West" shows that Caractacus P. Doom, Harry Slime, and the Stink Brothers have identical ancestors in the Wild West.
76	** In "The 23rd Century", the penguins, Doom and Harry all have descendants who resemble them exactly.
77	** "High Doom" has the Doc from Saskatoon tell the Avenger Penguins about the adventures of their Wild West ancestors, who each look exactly like the three penguins. The Wild West ancestors of Doom, Slime, and the Stink Brothers appear once more.
78	* TheIgor: Harry Slime serves this role to Doom.
79	* IncredibleShrinkingMan: 'Big City, Little City' involves Doom shrinking the entirety of Big City as part of his latest plot.
80	* InterspeciesRomance: The Avenger Penguins are seen lusting after human women quite often.
81	* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Doom's "Monstertron" machine can turn anything (and anyone) into anything.
82	* ITakeOffenceToThatLastOne:
83	-->'''Rocky''': Hey, garbage guts! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?
84	-->'''Cecil Stink''': My own?! I'm not big, fat, stupid, and ugly!
85	-->'''Rocky''': Hey! Less of the 'ugly', dog breath!
86	-->'''Cecil Stink''': Dog breath?! You guys looking for trouble?!
87	* IWantSong: In "Rock And Roll Penguins", Harry Slime sings about wishing he had someone to love him.
88	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The Quantum Mechanic, who was a one-episode character, acts like a thug, but is really a decent guy at heart.
89	* LanternJawOfJustice: The Quantum Mechanic sports an impressive parody of a super-hero's jawline.
90	* LargeHam: Caractacus P. Doom, and nearly everyone who's seen appearing on TV.
91	* LazyArtist: Parodied with the 'Badly Drawn Brothers', who are deliberately designed to look like poorly animated and incomplete sketches of humanoid figures.
92	* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: The majority of background characters are human or AmbiguouslyHuman, while the Penguins and the Stink Brothers are anthro animals.
93	* LiteralMinded: A common joke with Rocky, and sometimes with other characters.
94	* LocalHangout: Slush City is the diner/icecream bar of choice for the penguins and their buddies.
95	* MadLibsCatchphrase: Doom's VerbalTic of "X? I'll tell you X..."
96	* MadScientist: Doom is a classic example of the conquest-driven, ambitious, brilliant but insane OmnidisciplinaryScientist.
97	* MadScientistLaboratory: Doom Tower, of course, which is also an EvilTowerOfOminousness ''and'' [[MalevolentMugshot covered in various busts of Doom's face to boot]].
98	* MayTheFarceBeWithYou: Doom dresses up as Darth Vader in 'Starstruck', and 'The 23rd Century' has the 'Doom Star' and 'Bow Tie Fighters'
99	** Which, however, are attacking an obvious expy of the ''Starship'' ''[[Franchise/StarTrek Enterprise]]''...
100	* MinionWithAnFInEvil: Harry Slime may have been recommended to Doom by his careers officer, but he's really not a malicious character at all. Gross, yes, but malevolent? Hardly.
101	* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: The reason why Harry keeps turning on Doom is because Doom keeps treating him like rubbish.
102	* MookFaceTurn: Harry Slime, as you really should have predicted, given all the abuse he gets:
103	** In the very second episode, "The Hog Jamboree", Harry becomes so enraged by the insults dished out at his motorcycle form (ItMakesSenseInContext) that he forgets about the plan and starts sincerely trying to win the titular motorcycle race.
104	** In the penultimate episode of season 1, after being kicked out by Doom and befriending a magical fairy, he uses her magic to first save the Avenger Penguins' home from being repossessed by Doom, and then to exile Doom to Mars.
105	** Finally, in the episode "Beauties and the Beasts", he tosses Doom into a monster-inhabited pit to apparently be EatenAlive -- [[LaserGuidedKarma the very same fate Doom had threatened Harry Slime with repeatedly throughout that episode]].
106	* MusicalEpisode: 'Rock and Roll Penguins' is just one song after another.
107	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Caractacus P Doom; the family name is sinister enough, but even his first name sounds pretty menacing.
108	* NightmareSequence: 'Nightmare at Tea Time' is based on this trope. Doom also has nightmares about the penguins in the episode "Mommy's Boy".
109	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: In "Big City, Little City" Doom unleashes a ''flying robot shark made of plutonium'' on the Penguins.
110	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Doom is loosely based on Orson Welles and Harry Slime speaks like Peter Lorre. The [[OurPresidentsAreDifferent President of the United Republics of the World]] even speaks like UsefulNotes/RichardNixon ([[CompositeCharacter yet with]] UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy's catchphrases and a UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan-esque face).
111	* NoFourthWall: Characters address the audience regularly, especially Doom in his villainous monologues. In fact, in "I Married An Android," Doom activates a "scrambling cloak" and explains that this is purely to keep the audience from learning his scheme.
112	* NonMammalMammaries: Bella, the female penguin that runs Slush City, has breasts.
113	* OminousPipeOrgan: Like many villains, Doom plays one, and it even seems to be part of his lab's control panel.
114	* OnceAnEpisode: Doom tries to take over the world and/or destroy the penguins
115	* OnlySaneMan: Marlon is arguably the closest thing to a straightman, albeit a snarky one.
116	* ParodyEpisode: Where to even begin listing the examples here?
117	* PetTheDog: In "A Winter's Tale", the Stink Brothers donate money to prevent the Avenger Penguins from being evicted, stating that they respect the Avenger Penguins as worthy adversaries.
118	* PunnyName: One-episode villain Miss [=DeMeanor=] is a two-fer. Not only does her title and last name come together to form "misdemeanor" (a minor criminal offense), but her full name is "Mean Demeanor" (essentially "bad attitude").
119	* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Used and subverted with Harry Slime, who is literally a gross toad, but isn't really evil.
120	* SeeYouInHell: Doom. Or his ''Film/JamesBond'' parody Fishfinger, said this to Marlon and Bluey while in his DeathTrap. You read that right.
121	** The original title for the series was going to be 'Hell's Penguins' but was changed due to ExecutiveMeddling. They managed to sneak in the H-word in other ways throughout the series.
122	* ShoutOut:
123	** Harry Slime's name is a reference to Orson Welles's character in the movie ''Film/TheThirdMan''. Even better, Dr. Doom is based on Orson Welles himself.
124	** "The 23rd Century" includes a sequence parodying ''Star Trek'', including a scene where Marlon attempts to strike up a conversation with a man in a red shirt, only to be informed that that character has not been assigned a voice actor because [[RedShirt he's going to be killed off in a minute anyway]].
125	* ShrinkRay: Doom invents one as the plot device of "Big City, Little City". Notably it has the reverse effect on beings made of antimatter.
126	* SickeninglySweet:
127	** Recurring character The Sweetheart Fairy Angel is based on this.
128	** Also in 'Nightmare at Tea Time, Doom's worst nightmare is being trapped in 'Planet Cute' which was featured in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula''.
129	* SimpletonVoice: Rocky talks this way to help convey that he's the DumbMuscle of the team.
130	* SpeciesSurname: In "The Hog Jamboree", Marlon's full name is given as Marlon Penguin.
131	* TheStarscream: One-episode villain Miss [=DeMeanor=] is hired by Doom to replace Harry Slime, but ultimately realises she can just steal Doom's tech and use it to conquer the world herself.
132	* StatusQuoIsGod: The first season may have ended with Slime becoming good and Doom on Mars, but at the beginning of the second season, the former was inexplicably evil again and Doom was back on earth.
133	* StealthInSpace: Parodied. In 'The 23rd Century', the ''[[Franchise/StarTrek Enterprise]]'' expy uses its 'cloaking device', which consists of a robotic arm coming out of the side and dropping a black tablecloth with stars painted on it over the ship. [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum It works]].
134	* StealthInsult: In "Big City, Little City," Doom tells Harry Slime that his ShrinkRay will be mounted on an '[[KillSat unmanned satellite]]'...which will be crewed by Harry.
135	** Averted. The satelitte is unmanned, which is why Doom is sending Slime there in the first place, so that he can take it over easily.
136	* StrongFamilyResemblance: Doom has a British cousin who looks exactly like him and even has his own 'Harry Slime', whom the Penguins actually encounter in one episode.
137	* TakeOverTheWorld: Doom's goal - or as he puts it "[[LargeHam I will RUUUUULE the WOOOORLD!]]"
138	* TakeThatAudience: Several of Doom's plans revolve around selling toys with sinister secrets to kids portrayed as stupid and materialistic.
139	* ThatRemindsMeOfASong: [[RunningGag Used shamelessly]] in [[MusicalEpisode "Rock and Roll Penguins"]], where nearly every song begins when the characters notice the change in the background music, say something to the effect "That sounds like the cue for a song" and promptly start singing. Nearly every major character gets a turn at saying it.
140	* TheyCalledMeMad: Doom. In fact it's practically his CatchPhrase.
141	* TitleThemeTune: The theme-tune contains constant refrains of "Avenger Penguins!"
142	* ToothyBird: All of the Penguins have prominent teeth when called for, usually snarling toothily at Doom.
143	* TheUnintelligible: Bluey speaks in a weird babbling tongue that the viewers can't make heads or tails of.
144	** IntelligibleUnintelligible: Yet the others seem to understand him easily enough.
145	* VileVillainLaughableLackey: Harry Slime is a dense MinionWithAnFInEvil who routinely suffers abuse from his CardCarryingVillain boss, Caractacus P. Doom.
146	* VillainSong: In "Rock 'n Roll Penguins", Caractacus P. Doom sings "Caractacus P. Doom Will Rule the World".
147	* TheVillainSucksSong: "Star Struck" has Dolores Divine sing a song to Harry Slime that consists of insulting him.
148	* ViolentGlaswegian Cecil Stink, the leader of the Stink Brothers, talks with a Glaswegian accent to cement his aggressive nature.
149	* VisualPun: In "The Hog Jamboree", Marlon finds a 'choke' switch on his motorcycle ([[ItMakesSenseInContext actually Harry Slime transformed into a motorcycle]]) and it causes a pair of robot hands to come out of the dashboard and start choking him.
150	* WalkThisWay: Used and {{Lampshaded}} in "Surprise Fate":
151	-->'''Caractacus P. Doom''': "How sad. I can't believe people are still using the old 'walk this way' gag."
152	* WeirdnessMagnet: Slush City; Bella complains about her customers all being weirdoes in "The Hog Jamboree".
153	* WhoEvenNeedsABrain: Bluey experiences Type 1 of this trope in "The Quantum Mehanic" when he becomes silent and motionless after Caractacus P. Doom steals his brain.
154	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: One-episode villain Miss [=DeMeanor=] confesses to being terrified of penguins, to the point of doing a WildTake freakout at the mere mention of the word. Ironically, she then claims the Avenger Penguins aren't scary, because they don't ''look like penguins'' to her. Fortunately, she inadvertently admits she's actually scared of ''pelicans'', which Doom uses to scare her into the Monstertron so he can then turn her into one.
155	* TheWildWest: 'The Wild Wild Wild West' and 'High Doom' are both set here, the first via a TimeTravel plot, the second via a story of Big City's ancient past.
156	* XRaySparks: In "Surprise Fate", Harry Slime gets struck by lightning and has his skeleton made visible by it when Caractacus P. Doom orders him to fix an antenna during a thunderstorm.
157	* YetAnotherChristmasCarol: "A Christmas Carol" has the Avenger Penguins pretend to be the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future to convince Caractacus P. Doom to stop ruining everyone's Christmas by severing the city's power.

Context WesternAnimation / AvengerPenguins