Line #17 WesternAnimation/Catscratch


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7	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f0475ac3_6d8f_4fd6_9e1d_0a16b913aae9.png]]
8	[[caption-width-right:300:From left to right: [[OnlySaneMan Gordon]], [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist Mr. Blik]], and [[BuffoonishTomcat Waffle]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext riding in a car-turned-spaceship to get some moon rocks for a barbecue pit]]. And THEN it gets weird!]]
9
10	->''La la la la la la la, Catscraa-atch!\
11	Gordon and Waffle and Mr. Blik\
12	When the old lady died she left them rich\
13	A mansion, cars, life's a kick! Catscratch!''
14	-->--The ExpositoryThemeTune
15
16	A loose [[LighterAndSofter lighthearted]] adaption of Creator/DougTenNapel's ''ComicBook/{{Gear}}'', ''Catscratch'' was a [[Franchise/{{Nicktoons}} Nicktoon]] made in 2005 that [[ShortRunners only lasted for a season]]. That season was stretched out over two years, and it then got a short run on Nicktoons Network before being cancelled again. Since then, it's lain forgotten among the other castaway shows of Nickelodeon.
17
18	Old Mrs. Cramdilly had three cats, all from the same mother, whom she loved very much. So, when she died, [[PetHeir she gave them her house, her fortune, and her butler, Hovis.]] Now, they spend their days hanging out in their awesome house, drinking root beer, and facing off against anything from the vastness of space to a zombie horde to those jerks next door.
19
20	The three cats are best described as thus:
21	* '''Mr. Blik''': The de facto leader. Greedy, self-serving, and envious. Basically, [[Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow Ted]] [[SmallNameBigEgo Baxter]] in cat form.
22	* '''Gordon Quid''': An inexplicably Scottish cat, who has a huge crush on Human Kimberly, the girl next door with a unicorn obsession.
23	* '''Waffle''': A goofy cat who's fascinated by everything. And we mean everything. Though his favorite things would be the word Splee and his pet newts, lead by Gomez.
24
25	----
26	!!This series has examples of:
27
28	* AccidentalTruth: In "Tale of a Tail", Mr. Blik convinces Gordon to come along on a fishing trip (and carry the cooler) by lying about the existence of the Kraken, and how it will grant the wish of any who defeat it. By the end of the episode, this turns out to be true.
29	* AdaptationTitleChange: ''Catscratch'' is a loose adaptation of the comic book ''Gear''.
30	* AllLovingHero: Waffle. A giant cat-hating dog? Waffle makes friends with it.
31	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Blik is often upstaged by SixthRanger Katilda, who moves into the neighborhood later in the show. She's as good a leader as him, slightly more conniving, and has a much better (and saner) attitude toward things in general.
32	%%* AmbiguouslyBrown: Human Kimberly.
33	* AreYouPonderingWhatImPondering:
34	--> '''Mr. Blik:''' Look! (points to moon rocks)
35	--> '''Waffle:''' A finger!
36	* ArtisticLicenseSpace: In the episode "Love Cats," after Mr. Blik [[DefaceOfTheMoon carves the moon into a heart]], Gordon activates a black hole to rearrange the stars into a constellation of Human Kimberly, which then sucks away the heart-shaped moon. No stars are close enough for the black hole to be able to suck in the moon, and if a black hole were close enough to engulf the moon, it would also destroy the Earth.
37	* BalloonBelly: In the "King of All Root Beer" episode, Mr. Blik is set to be in a parade to celebrate becoming the King of Root Beer. However, rather than have him ride on the float, they instead fill him up with carbonation so that he's actually a parade float himself. Waffle also inflates himself so he can fight Mr. Blik, [[CheatersNeverProsper who stole the title from him]].
38	* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: In the pilot episode, "To The Moon," all three cats are able to breathe perfectly fine on the moon.
39	* BearsAreBadNews: In the show's intro, Mr. Blik gets eaten by a bear. Who turns out to be a recurring character. Who causes trouble for the cats in most cases.
40	* {{Blackmail}}: The episode "Blikmail". Blik is very uncomfortable with his brothers knowing of his doll, Commodore Nougat.
41	%%* BigFancyHouse: The mansion.
42	%%* BigEater: Gordon
43	%%* BodyHorror: Gordon, when suffering from allergies.
44	* BrickJoke: A particularly well-done example. In the pilot, Gordon tries to convince Blik to not enter a barbecue contest by telling him an old Scottish tale that involves the Duke Irk Splee trading his heart to a seal woman for moon rocks to make perfect barbecue ribs (and it gets even sillier). Waffle's interpretation of the {{Aesop}} is to never trust a seal woman. in the 14th episode, Gordon turns the attacking Banshee to stone using a falsetto voice (look, just roll with it), and the Banshee statue cracks open to reveal [[spoiler:...a seal woman]].
45	* BrokeEpisode: Waffle once spent the entire fortune on valuable vases so he could play with the bubble wrap. This forces the cats to go work in the mall. Luckily, they return the vases with the receipts at the end of the episode.
46	* [[invoked]]BrokenAesop: Lampshaded in-universe at the end of "Off the Leash" where Waffle spends a majority of the episode believing he was a dog.
47	--> '''Mr. Blik:''' Well Waffle, I hope you've learned something from all of this.\
48	'''Waffle:''' I have, Mr. Blik. I learned that I should just be myself, and not what others want me to be.\
49	'''Gordon:''' But Lad, no one wanted you to be a dog.\
50	'''Waffle:''' Oh. Well... [[ShaggyDogStory I guess I didn't learn]] ''[[ShaggyDogStory anything]]'' [[ShaggyDogStory then]].
51	* BrownNote: Gordon's 'Song of the Sea'. It's not too damaging to living matter, but it cracks walls, breaks glass bottles, turns banshees to stone, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking rips beards off]].
52	* ButtMonkey: Out of all three of the cats, Mr. Blik is put through hell the most and is the butt of the most jokes and misfortunes. Not to mention, the slapstick he endures is much more extreme than what Gordon and Waffle get. Needless to say, [[AssholeVictim he deserves it]] due to his {{Jerkass}} tendencies, and given that he's a black cat, this isn't surprising.
53	* BuffoonishTomcat: Waffle, while he is also a part of sharing a ButtMonkey status with the feline trio, he can be shown to be quite [[TheKlutz klutzy]] as well, while he is a total [[CloudCuckooLander goofball]].
54	* CannotSpitItOut: Gordon with Kimberly. Later [[spoiler: Mr. Blik with Katilda, and vice versa]]
55	* CatchPhrase:
56	** Waffle: "Splee!"
57	** Blik: "Yeah!"
58	** Gordon: "Great Gopher!"
59	* CharacterExaggeration: In the original comic, Mr. Blik (then Mr. Black) was - at the absolute worst - ''somewhat'' impatient and sarcastic. The show turned him into a selfish, hot-headed, arrogant jerk.
60	%% * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Of the four main cats in ''Gear'', only Simon is completely absent.
61	* {{Cloudcuckooland}}: There's a secret door in the mansion that houses an impossible world. Naturally, Waffle's the king of this land.
62	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Waffle. He'd eat donuts right off of donut trees and likes smelling flowers painted on shirts.
63	* CoincidentalAccidentalDisguise: Gordon has a violent allergic reaction to broccoli (that doesn't actually debilitate him in any way), which coincidentally makes him look exactly like the monster from a movie his brothers were watching. Later, Gordon has a different reaction to chocolate, which makes him look like another monster from a comic book his brothers were reading.
64	* ComicTrio: Mr. Blik is the schemer, Waffle is stupid, Gordon is the OnlySaneMan.
65	%%* CoolCar: Gear and the Chumpy Chumps' car
66	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: When Waffle has to drive Gear in a race against the Chumpy Chump Boys due to height regulations, he's at first completely useless. Then, his pet newt Gomez ends up on the Chumpy Chumps car. He then becomes a ridiculously good DrivesLikeCrazy driver, who can even ''steer with his tail''.
67	* DeadpanSnarker: Hovis. So very much Hovis.
68	%%* DefeatMeansFriendship: The Kraken.
69	* DeusExMachina: Double subverted in the pilot. By an absurd series of events, Blik ends up at the barbecue with a plate of nicely baked ribs in time for them to be judged. But, [[spoiler: they were cooked in rocket flames so they taste like rocket fuel. But, Blik still 'won' the "Worst Ribs Ever" ribbon, so it all ends happily]]
70	%%* TheDitz: Waffle.
71	* DontTryThisAtHome: Make fools out of an "Exclusive" Country Club.
72	%%* ElephantInTheLivingRoom: Mitchell The Mammoth
73	* ExplainExplainOhCrap: In "Lovesick," both Blik and Waffle tell Human Kimberly that Gordon can't have broccoli and detail what happens if he has broccoli, concluding with them adding that he looks just like the monster that they were running from before they both realize that the monster they've trapped in an electric net ''is'' Gordon.
74	--->'''Blik:''' You gave broccoli to Gordon? Gordon can't have broccoli! He gets one huge bloodshot eye!\
75	'''Waffle:''' In his head!\
76	'''Blik:''' And a big puffy arm!\
77	'''Waffle:''' Right where his arm goes!\
78	'''Blik:''' And hideous teeth!\
79	'''Waffle:''' In his mouth!\
80	'''Blik:''' And a rash all over his body!\
81	'''Waffle:''' Just like the monster!\
82	'''Blik:''' Yeah, just like the monster...\
83	'''Blik and Waffle:''' GORDON! THAT GORDON ''IS'' GORDON!
84	* FaceHeelTurn: Spoofed by Waffle, when he is convinced that he's become evil and goes on to build a [[SupervillainLair castle lair]] next door, spoofing a crapload of villain clichés along the way.
85	%%* FeudingFamilies: The Chumpy Chump brothers and the cats.
86	* ForeignQueasine: Just about anything Gordon concocts when he's allowed near the kitchen, though special mention goes to what he makes for Hovis' breakfast.
87	--> '''Gordon:''' "It's mah specialty: beef liver wrapped in wet goat fur!"
88	--> '''Hovis:''' "...I asked for ''toast.''
89	* FreudianTrio: Mr. Blik's the Id, a schemer who frequently refuses to do things unless something's in it for him. Gordon's the Superego, an honorable cat who is the most rational of the three. Finally, Waffle's the Ego, a friendly ditz who often gets caught in the middle of whatever Blik and Gordon are up to.
90	* FriendToAllLivingThings: Waffle. Besides being able to speak Newtuguese, Waffle has befriended pretty much every animal on the show. Except bees. And of course the bear.
91	* FunnyForeigner: Subverted with Gordon, as he's not actually Scottish, he just acts like he is.
92	* FurryConfusion: A quick joke in one episode involves the cats getting a job in a pet shop (Furry Confusion as it stands) and Mr. Blik encountering a non-anthropomorphic kitten. [[LampshadeHanging He wonders aloud what the heck it even IS]] before simply tossing it aside and walking away.
93	* GeekyTurnOn: Mr. Blik once temporarily fell in love with Kimberly after she insults him.
94	%%* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: [[spoiler: Kraken's mom.]]
95	* HalloweenEpisode: "Scaredy Cat".
96	* HugeSchoolgirl: One of Kimberly's 9-year-old friends is inexplicably a giant.
97	* InNameOnly: [[ExaggeratedTrope And not even in name, for that matter!]] It's an adaptation of ''ComicBook/{{Gear}}'', but you'd never know that given how wildly it diverged from the comic. Instead of being a violent comic about cartoon animals killing each other with giant robots, it's a silly animated TV show about cartoon animals getting into shenanigans. The only thing connecting it to ''Gear'' is the fact that it has the same main characters. (Minus [[AdaptedOut Simon]], [[WeHardlyKnewYe but he doesn't make it very far into the comic anyway.)]]
98	* InformedSpecies: Waffle and Mr. Blik don't resemble cats due to their long pointy ears.
99	* InterspeciesRomance: Gordon & Human Kimberly, it's one-sided on Gordon's part.
100	* InTheNameOfTheMoon: "In the name of the Highland Quid clan, feel my sting!"
101	%%* InherentlyFunnyWords: Splee
102	* ItRunsInTheFamily: The Highland Quid clan is quite fond of beards. Yes, even the women. ''Yes'', even the babies.
103	* ItTastesLikeFeet: The judge at the barbeque contest tells Mr. Blik his ribs taste like rocket fuel. He isn't wrong, given how the fire from the fuel was used to cook the ribs.
104	%%* {{Jerkass}}: Mr. Blik.
105	* KillerRabbit: The last episode had a duck that Gordon feared from his childhood. The other two ignore his fears until it's proven that the duck is actually a competent fighter.
106	%%* LargeHam: Mr. Blik.
107	* {{Leitmotif}}: Charlotte, a HugeSchoolgirl and one of Kim's friends, has a rather imposing one.
108	%%* LethalChef: Again, Mr. Blik.
109	* LighterAndSofter: ''ComicBook/{{Gear}}'', this series' original source material, is outright GrimDark on its own, let alone when compared to ''Catscratch''.
110	* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: 3 out of 4 animals can talk. And no one ever finds that weird.
111	%%* [[OnlySaneEmployee Liz Lemon Job]]: Hovis. So very much Hovis
112	%%* LovableCoward: Mr. Blik, most of the time.
113	* MadeOfIron: The cats. In the first couple of episodes, they fall from the height of a skyscraper and from the outer atmosphere.
114	%%* ManChild: Waffle
115	%%* ManInAKilt: The entire Highland Quid clan.
116	* MarsNeedsWomen: Gordon loves Human Kimberly, who is human. Gordon is a cat that thinks he is Scottish.
117	* MistakenForOwnMurderer: In "Lovesick," Gordon's allergy to broccoli causes him to swell up and resemble a monster in a movie the cats were watching earlier. When he grabs the broccoli in the elevator and swells up again, Mr. Blik and Waffle mistakenly assume the monster ate Gordon. When Gordon tries to show them that it's really him in the weapons cave by letting go of the broccoli, they then assume that the monster has taken over Gordon and refuse to believe it's him and trap him in an electric net until Human Kimberly comes in to explain that she gave him broccoli, not knowing about his allergies.
118	* MundaneMadeAwesome: Waffle's moon-gravity basketball dunking.
119	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Gear. Considering the first episode had it converted into a spaceship in less than an hour, you learn to expect this. Driving through the Atlantic Ocean, giant drill, whatever is needed, Gear had it.
120	* {{Narcissist}}: Mr. Blik has shades of this.
121	* NiceMeanAndInbetween: Waffle, Mr. Blik and Gordon, respectively.
122	* NintendoHard: Apparently, ''Spindango Fundulation'' is this. Justified, as it's really [[spoiler: a test made by an alien race to see who would be mighty enough to defeat the other evil alien race.]]
123	* NightmareSequence: Waffle has a couple when he's temporarily convinced that he's evil.
124	* TheNoseless: Gordon, Waffle, and Mr. Blik all lack one.
125	* NotSoAboveItAll: Hovis normally acts reasonable and clever enough, but he tends to make snarky comments whenever he finds a way to throw jabs at Mr. Blik, such as joining the fun of calling him "Mr. Pickles" when his fur turned green.
126	%%* OldRetainer: Hovis.
127	* PaperThinDisguise: The cats once tried to sneak into Kimberly's sleepover to get some root beer (they ran out). The disguises consisted of wigs and dresses. This would actually be half-plausible if they weren't cats.
128	* ParentalBonus:
129	** Pronounce the word, and you'll get it.
130	-->'''Blik:''' Hovis, from now on, you will call us ''cats-tronauts''.
131	-->'''Hovis:''' That sounds painful.
132	** Not to mention an ''entire episode'' about Gordon wanting a larger ''tail'' after being laughed at by the neighbors. ''Female'' neighbors, to be specific. And he was significantly comforted when his crush said she liked it.
133	* PerspectiveMagic: One of the aspects of the world inside the secret door.
134	* PestEpisode: "Bringing' Down the Mouse" has Waffle trying to catch a mouse to be a part of a mouse-catching brotherhood like Blik and Gordon. He ends up facing a dreaded mouse named Squeakus, who even his brothers are afraid of.
135	%%* PetHeir: Guess who.
136	* PlanetaryCoreManipulation: In "Core-uption", Gordon feels sorry for Human Kimberly when she gets an "F" on her science project, a diorama which says that the Earth's core is made from unicorns and rainbows and the like. He decides to make the core just as she thinks it is by drilling to the center of the Earth and sticking the diorama into it, which turns the world into a SugarBowl.
137	* PowerIncontinence: Blik temporarily gets magnetic powers from static buildup in his fur. As the episode progresses, it slowly grows more powerful and more uncontrollable, to the point that it was dragging large freight ships towards Blik.
138	* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Parodied
139	--> ''"101 Signs that You are Evil. 'Sign #1 that you're evil: Consorting with serpents.' Good thing you're a newt!"''\
140	''"'...or newts.'"''\
141	''"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"''
142	* SelectiveMagnetism: Averted big time. When Blik accidentally gets uncontrollable, increasingly stronger magnetic powers, everything starts flying at him, up to giant freight ships.
143	** Well, technically it's played straight. At that level of magnetism, he would have probably been pulling iron from the ground beneath him.
144	* [[SpeciesSurname Species Given Name]]: [[SubvertedTrope Human]] [[MemeticMutation Kimberly]] [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment is]] human.
145	%%* SphereEyes
146	%%* RuleOfFunny: The reason for everything.
147	* SelkiesAndWereseals: In one episode, the banshee that's haunting the Highland Quid Clan is in fact a selkie (called a "seal woman" in the show) under a curse.
148	* ServileSnarker: Hovis.
149	* ShoutOut: The cats ride in a ridiculously awesome car named ''{{ComicBook/Gear}}'', a shout out to the inspiration of the show.
150	** "Two of a Kind" might have been a WholePlotReference to ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', it even had a scene featuring Waffle communicating with Lunk from atop the balcony at night.
151	** "Zombie Party a Go-Go" has [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda's Lullaby]] play after Blik yells at Waffle.
152	* ShortRunners: The show lasted for one season spread out across two years. It has forty eleven-minute episodes.
153	* SiblingRivalry: The cats, quite often.
154	* SlowClap: Played with near the end of "Love Jackal". After Hovis' band finishes playing their (rather mediocre) music, the three cats each slowly begin to clap...and no one else joins in. Meanwhile, Waffle goes "Whoo!"
155	* SmartBall: Waffle occasionally states the definitions of words like fulcrum or gimlet, as if he was a judge at a spelling bee contest.
156	* SnapBack: Mr. Blik has died on two occasions (first getting eaten by sharks and second getting eaten by [[MakesSenseInContext a giant meteor worm)]] and has come back in the next episode fine.
157	* SpaceWhale: Wish-Granting Space Kraken, actually. Get it right!
158	* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Gordon and Waffle]], in keeping with the LighterAndSofter tone of the show and its [[NegativeContinuity general absence of continuity]].
159	%%* StalkerWithACrush: Katilda.
160	* SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat: Dear Mrs. Cramdilly used to have a collection of medieval weaponry.
161	* TamerAndChaster: The show's origins are rooted in being an extremely loose adaptation of [=TenNapel=]'s comic ''ComicBook/{{Gear}}''. The original comic contained graphic violence, swearing and strong religious overtones. In the original comic, the main characters were more "adult" in personality as well: Gordon was an AxCrazy BloodKnight, Waffle had suicidal impulses due to knowing he was TheLoad to his brothers and Mr. Black was the OnlySaneMan of the Newton Cats. The show was drastically changed when it was adapted to the world of cartoons, with the characters and setting changing for comedic potential.
162	* TeamChef: Gordon, and a very good one as long as his food's not too...Scottish.
163	* TelevisuallyTransmittedDisease: Gordon's 'allergies'
164	%%* TerribleTrio: The Chumpy Chump Brothers
165	%%* TheDitz: Waffle
166	%%* TheGrays: [[spoiler:The Halloween episode aliens.]]
167	%%* TheJeeves: Hovis
168	* ThisIsMySide: One episode has the house split up between the cats; Mr. Blik taking the yard, Gordon taking the kitchen and Waffle taking the restroom. Eventually, Gordon needed to use to the restroom, Waffle wanted his newts to play outside, and Mr. Blik got hungry, so they crossed into each other's sides, resulting in a full-blown war for control of the whole mansion.
169	* TooDumbToLive: Gordon refuses to believe he is allergic to broccoli, despite doctors flatly telling him as such [[NoodleIncident repeatedly]] just because Kimberly gifted him with some, not knowing of his allergy.
170	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Well, favorite drink. The cats like root beer enough to (1) have an entire vault dedicated to the drink and (2) disguise themselves as girls and sneak into a child's sleepover to get it.
171	* TransplantedCharacterFic: What ''Catscratch'' is to ''Gear''.
172	* {{Tsundere}}: Katilda is closest to Type B. She's usually a relatively nice cat (a bit crazy, but nice) but when it comes to [[AbhorrentAdmirer Blik]], things tend to get violent.
173	* UnclePennybags: All the cats. Well, they don't actually give out money, but they're okay for the most part.
174	* UndisclosedFunds: The cats are rich. How rich, we don't actually know.
175	%%* VaporWare: The DVD.
176	* VetinariJobSecurity: When Blik temporarily moves out to live with hobos, Waffle and Gordon enjoy time without Blik bossing them around. But, then they realize that Blik, being the bossy de facto leader, was the only one who knew how to do important things like use the remote or use the telephone.
177	** Or sign Hovis' paychecks.
178	* WalkIntoCameraObstruction:
179	** "Bringin' Down the Mouse" Twice. With Squeakus when he walking to Waffle about to tie him up. Again when Waffle is attacking Gordon after Squeakus tricks him.
180	** "Slumber Party" with Mr. Blik when he and his brothers begin looking for Root Beer in the store.
181	%%* TheWarRoom: Apparently, the cats' mansion has one.
182	* WallOfWeapons: In the finale of the "allergies" episode, there is an entire arsenal of various weapons.
183	* WorldOfChaos: Again, secret door. The place runs on cartoon physics.
184	* ZanyScheme: Pretty much any scheme that the cats come up with.
185	* ZombieApocalypse: Waffle inadvertently causes one of those by grabbing the wrong book on a bookcase. [[spoiler: He then defeats them with [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]].]]
186	-->'''Gordon''': Laddie, I said ''blue'' cookbook, ''green'' room. Green cookbook, blue room is... '''The Scottish Book of the Dead!'''
187	-->'''Waffle''': Oh. That explains the long and mysterious incantation with sour cream.
188	----
189

Context WesternAnimation / Catscratch