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| 5 | %% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. |
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| 9 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cyber_chase.png]] |
| 10 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"Cyberchase! We're moving, we're beating Hacker at his game..."''[[note]]Clockwise from the left: Jackie, Matt, Inez, and Digit[[/note]]]] |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ->'''Narrator:''' Okay, there's this really bad dude named Hacker -- |
| 13 | ->'''Hacker:''' ''[[InsistentTerminology THE]]'' [[InsistentTerminology Hacker, to you!]] |
| 14 | ->'''Narrator:''' Whatever. He wants to take over the Cyberworld from Motherboard. |
| 15 | ->'''Inez:''' (gasps) |
| 16 | ->'''Narrator:''' The three kids are sucked into Cyberspace, And they use brain power to help save everybody. |
| 17 | ->'''Jackie''': Okay, here's the plan... |
| 18 | ->'''Narrator:''' So they travel all over, and run into all these weird creatures ... and have all of these awesome adventures. It's totally up to them to save cyberspace. Can three cool kids and a wacky bird outsmart The Hacker? |
| 19 | ->'''Hacker:''' '''NEVER!''' |
| 20 | ->'''Matt:''' There's only one way to find out! |
| 21 | ->'''Narrator:''' Tune in to "[[TitleDrop Cyberchase]]"! |
| 22 | -->-- '''The Segment that plays on most [=PBS=] airings before an episode''' |
| 23 | |
| 24 | ''Cyberchase'' is an EdutainmentShow that has aired on Creator/{{PBS}} since 2002, with fourteen seasons under its belt. Until 2007, the show was a co-production of WNET New York and Creator/{{Nelvana}} of Canada; WNET has produced the show on its own since then. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | The series revolves around three Earth kids, Inez, Jackie, and Matt, and their "cybird" friend, Digit (voiced initially by Creator/GilbertGottfried and later by Creator/RonPardo), who lives in {{Cyberspace}}. Motherboard, ruler of the virtual world, [[DimensionalTraveler calls the trio inside]] to help defend and repair it from The Hacker (Creator/ChristopherLloyd)--who is not a [[PlayfulHacker playful one]], but an evil cyborg bent on conquering Cyberspace and spreading chaos. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | Originally Motherboard's assistant, Hacker [[FaceHeelTurn went rogue]], was [[TheExile exiled]] for [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters trying to destroy her]], and returned to beam her a [[ComputerVirus virus]]. She suffers only partial damage thanks to her chief technician, Dr. Marbles, but is still weakened and glitched. With Marbles forced into hiding, Motherboard then recruits the three Earthlies. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | Most episodes involve the [=CyberSquad=] traveling to a unique or recurring "cybersite" (a planet-like body in Cyberspace) to thwart The Hacker's latest scheme using the power of Math. |
| 31 | |
| 32 | On PBS airings, the episodes end with a live-action segment called ''Cyberchase For Real'', where a pair of recurring characters, Harry (played by Matthew Wilson) and Bianca (played by Bianca [=DeGroat=]), and sometimes their [[GoldfishPoopGang recurring nemeses]] (Harley and Sleazé), demonstrate how the episode's math lesson can be used in their own lives. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | After a three-year hiatus, the series premiered its ninth season in November 2013. The episodes from this season onward focus on environmental and ecological themes. |
| 35 | |
| 36 | No relation to ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheCyberChase''. |
| 37 | |
| 38 | ---- |
| 39 | !!Cybertropes, we’re movin'! |
| 40 | |
| 41 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 42 | |
| 43 | [[folder:Tropes # to C]] |
| 44 | * ThreePlusFiveMakeFour: In "The Wedding Scammer", the kids and Digit have to input exactly one cup of sand into a device to open a castle gate. Digit has a 2-cup and 3-cup measure, but is missing his 1-cup measure. At first, they try filling the 2-cup halfway, but are unable to get it precise enough. Then they figure out they can fill the 3-cup measure, pour enough sand from it to fill the 2-cup, and be left with exactly one cup. |
| 45 | * FiveFiveFive: In "Crystal Clear", this shows up as the ''DTMF signals'' heard when Jules dials Motherboard's phone number. |
| 46 | * AbortedArc: Ledge, a major villain in Season 8, swears revenge on both the [=CyberSquad=] and Hacker. He's never seen again until Season 12's "Space Waste Odyssey," as a background character at Hacker's party, no bitterness in sight. |
| 47 | * AcrophobicBird: Digit is sometimes afraid of flying very high. It varies between episodes and whether his [[DramaPreservingHandicap rotor is going to be broken]]. |
| 48 | * ActBreak: Surprisingly follows this trope despite being an EdutainmentShow, and has a three-act structure with fades to black for commercial breaks, which are meant for international airings. When it airs on PBS Kids, it doesn't have commercial breaks. |
| 49 | * AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Hacker uses this a whole lot. |
| 50 | -->'''Hacker''': "I'm a potent powerhouse of perpetual pestilence!" |
| 51 | * AnchoviesAreAbhorrent: In one of the Cyberchase For Real segment, Bianca wants to have a pizza with friends. One of them loves anchovies, Bianca's least favorite topping. When she makes a pizza herself, the pizzeria is closing and she's forced to have anchovy pizza. |
| 52 | * AffectionateNickname: Jackie has "Jax" (also spelled "Jacks"), Digit is called "Didge" (which extends to [[MiniMe Widget]] as "Widge"), and Slider has "Sly" from his dad. Matt (and Slider and Digit) have "Nezzie" for Inez [[BerserkButton as much as she hates it being used]] [[IfItsYouItsOkay by anyone who isn't Slider]]. |
| 53 | * AffectionateParody / NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: |
| 54 | ** Dr. Bill in the episode "Penguin Tears", for Series/DrPhil. |
| 55 | ** Shari Spotter and Professor Stumblesnore of Frogsnorts Sorcerer's Academy, for Literature/HarryPotter and Dumbledore. |
| 56 | ** "A World Without Zero" has the Wholesome Twins, Mary-Pat and Brittany Wholesome, for Creator/MaryKateAndAshleyOlsen. |
| 57 | ** Judge Trudy and Sheriff Judy, for Series/JudgeJudy. |
| 58 | * AIIsACrapshoot: Hacker was originally built by Dr. Marbles to help Motherboard, but he [[FaceHeelTurn went rogue]] and had to be exiled to the Northern Frontier. |
| 59 | * AlienSky: Many cybersites have unusual sky colors, but usually aren't too strange. Stranger is cyberspace itself - as shown in the above image, everything exists in a green void, with vast ribbons of binary code meant to resemble the Milky Way, strange indeterminate structures, and floating masses of matter resembling printed circuit boards strewn throughout. |
| 60 | * AllThereInTheManual: |
| 61 | ** The crab prince's friends are identified as Stringie and Bow in the captioning and nowhere else. |
| 62 | ** The story of what happened before the events of the first episode (including Hacker's betrayal and Digit's origins) was relayed via the "How It All Started" webisodes on the Cyberchase website, which now take some digging to find. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that it leaves unclear how Hacker orchestrated much of his plan. |
| 63 | * AlmostOutOfOxygen: Matt risks this in "The Grapes of Plath" when he tests an underwater motorcycle with a limited air supply to see if it can get the [=CyberSquad=] far enough. |
| 64 | * AlphabetSoupCans: Pretty much every challenge the [=CyberSquad=] faces in the first eight seasons is resolved with basic to intermediate mathematical concepts. It ''is'' [[EdutainmentShow edutainment]], after all. Later seasons downplay this with their focus being more on ecological concepts and environmentalism. Math is still involved, but there's less of a theme for the math problems in a given episode. |
| 65 | * AmbiguouslyHuman: Most of Cyberspace’s inhabitants are referred to as [[{{Cyborg}} “cyborgs”]] (or similar nomenclature, like “cyboid/cybird” in Digit's case), which implies they are at least part organic, and many (including Slider, Coop, and Ledge) are completely indistinguishable from regular humans like Matt, Jackie, and Inez. But at the same time, they all seem to be fully native to Cyberspace (which is supposed to literally be [[{{Cyberspace}} the Internet]]) and a number of them like Hacker were literally [[ArtificialHuman “built” from scratch]]. |
| 66 | * AmusementPark: R-Fair City is an amusement park where all the booths have fair games of chance. |
| 67 | * AndCallHimGeorge: Delete wants a bunny he can love, keep, and call George. His wish is ([[FairyGodmother literally]]) granted in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS5E5TheFairyBorgFather The Fairy Borg Father]]". As part of his WoundedGazelleGambit in "Spheres of Fears", Delete claims Hacker sold George. However, "A Garden Grows in Botlyn" shows George is still there for Delete to knit for, suggesting the trope is [[SubvertedTrope subverted]]. |
| 68 | * AndImTheQueenOfSheba: From "Lost My Marbles": |
| 69 | -->'''Motherboard:''' I am Motherboard. … I am protector of all Cyberspace.\ |
| 70 | '''Inez:''' Right. And I'm Series/XenaWarriorPrincess. |
| 71 | * AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: Episodes like "A Crinkle In Time" and "Chaos as Usual" close on Buzz and Delete being indifferent to Hacker's misfortune if not happy, just to drive home how unlikeable he is. |
| 72 | * ArtEvolution: |
| 73 | ** In Season 5, the final season to use traditional animation, the colors were noticeably brighter. Digit also saw some changes with the design of his mouth for this season only: he was no longer drawn with his rounded buck teeth (though they would occasionally reappear in certain close-up shots), and the inside of his mouth was colored red instead of purple. Both of these changes were reverted when the animation switched to Flash. |
| 74 | ** Inverted in the sixth season and onwards when it transitioned to [[MediaNotes/AdobeFlash Flash]] animation, causing the movements to end up getting rather cheap-looking and stilted. The look of the new puppet-rigged approach has improved slightly since Season 8, but it's still noticeably jankier than when the show was traditionally animated. |
| 75 | * ArtShift: |
| 76 | ** For the first four seasons, they were animated using Xeroxed pencils, while season 5 was animated using Xeroxed pens/markers, with thickened outlines and less sharp shading with visible gradients, giving it a less sketchy look. |
| 77 | * AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: |
| 78 | ** Hacker grows to the size of a giant in "Shari Spotter and the Cosmic Crumpets" and goes to get revenge on his bots, Wicked, and the [=CyberSquad=]. |
| 79 | ** Hacker later turns himself into a HumongousMecha to wreak havoc in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS4E5MeasureForMeasure Measure for Measure]]". The [=CyberSquad=] only stops him remotely, by turning off the machine powering his transformation. |
| 80 | * AssemblyLineFastForward: In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu]]", the [=CyberSquad=] get jobs to earn enough Snelfus to get the encryptor chip to cure Motherboard from Hacker's virus. Jackie gets a job packing chocolate candies into boxes, but she quickly gets overwhelmed when the speed picks up and winds up buried in a mountain of chocolate. |
| 81 | * BadBoss: Hacker frequently yells at and insults his henchmen. Dr. Bill calls him out on being a "bully boss" in "Penguin Tears". |
| 82 | * BadassPacifist: Master Pi comes up with a plan to drive off Hacker without resorting to violence. |
| 83 | * BagOfHolding: Justified, as Cyberspace being some sort of virtual reality means that it doesn't have to follow real physics. |
| 84 | ** Matt's backpack. Not only can all of his possessions somehow fit into it, but so too can whatever measuring tool the [=CyberSquad=] needs at the time. |
| 85 | ** Digit himself is an even more JustForFun/{{egregious}} example, fitting everything from an oven and cooking supplies to ''Widget himself'' just in his chest hatch. It seems that objects in the hatch stop exerting physical forces. A magnet only starts attracting other things from inside once Digit takes it out, and he later struggles to lift a giant weight that was just in there. |
| 86 | * TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu: Part 1]]", Hacker [[BatmanGambit successfully dupes the kids into purchasing the encryptor chip]] that had [[TrojanHorse secretly been loaded with an even more powerful virus]] allowing Hacker to completely take over Motherboard and gain control of Cyberspace.]] |
| 87 | * BatmanGambit: In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu: Part 1]]", [[spoiler:Hacker knows the [=CyberSquad=] will save a lot of money to buy the Encryptor Chip. He rigs an auction and gives them every opportunity he can to let them place the last bid while putting on the act that he wants it. With the tampered chip, the [=CyberSquad=] compromises Motherboard for Hacker, putting him in charge. And he gets all their hard-earned Snelfus]]. |
| 88 | * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: In the online story ''Double the Donuts'', Buzz and Delete find a magic donut that will double as many times as it's told to. They're very hungry, so they tell the donut to double 20 times, and end up with 1,048,576 donuts. |
| 89 | * BigDamnMovie: "The [[http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/videos/cyberchase-movie-part-1 Cyberchase]] [[http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/videos/cyberchase-movie-part-2 Movie]]". |
| 90 | * BigGood: Motherboard is essentially the god of Cyberspace. Unfortunately, her position has been somewhat compromised. |
| 91 | * TheBigRace: The premise of "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E5TheCreechWhoWouldBeCrowned The Creech Who Would Be Crowned]]", with some WackyRacing antics thrown in. |
| 92 | * BerserkButton: Mainly by Inez, but Matt sometimes: |
| 93 | ** Inez being called "short" or "tiny". |
| 94 | ** Inez being called "Nezzie," although this usually only applies to Matt. |
| 95 | --->'''Matt''': "Okay, okay Nezzie!"\ |
| 96 | '''Inez''': "Don't call me Nezzie...Ma''tthew''."\ |
| 97 | * {{beat}}* |
| 98 | ** Matt, whenever Slider [[HilarityEnsues shows him up]]. |
| 99 | * BirthdayEpisode: |
| 100 | ** "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Digit's B-Day Surprise]]" and "Buzz and the Tree" for Digit. The latter indirectly reveals his birthdate by simultaneously being set on Arbor Day. |
| 101 | ** "Space Waste Odyssey" for Motherboard, complete with Digit singing an [[HappyBirthdayToYou original birthday song]]. |
| 102 | * BodyUploading: Not referred to as such, but the “portals” the human protagonists, Jackie, Inez, and Matt, use to travel to and throughout {{Cyberspace}} qualify since they are literally transported InsideTheInternet. |
| 103 | * BorrowedCatchphrase: When Motherboard loses her memory in "The Case of the Missing Memory", she calls Matt "Nezzie". In response, he borrows Inez's "This is not good. This is not good at all!" |
| 104 | * BrainwashedAndCrazy: In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS2E8AWhaleOfATale A Whale of a Tale]]", Hacker reprograms Glowla's giant trick whale, Spout, who [[MurderousMalfunctioningMachine goes on a rampage]]. |
| 105 | * BuildLikeAnEgyptian: Pyramidia is a desert containing pyramids and a RiddlingSphinx. |
| 106 | * BumblingHenchmenDuo: Buzz and Delete, Hacker's incompetent henchmen. Frequently shown arguing with each other. |
| 107 | * CaptainErsatz: [[Literature/HarryPotter Shari Spotter and Professor Stumblesnore]]. |
| 108 | * CartoonishSupervillainy: Hacker[[note]]That's THE Hacker to you[[/note]] almost every episode is up to a plan to try and seize control over all of Cyberspace, and is only able to be foiled by the combined efforts of three children, a cybernetic bird, and elementary-to-middle school level math. |
| 109 | * CastingGag: |
| 110 | ** This isn't the first time Creator/GilbertGottfried has played [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} a bird that used to work for a villain but later switched to the good side]]. |
| 111 | ** Speaking of ''Aladdin'', it's also not the first time Creator/BebeNeuwirth [[WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries played an antagonistic character modeled off of an Egyptian cat]], though Binky isn't nearly as villainous as Mirage. |
| 112 | * CatchPhrase: |
| 113 | ** Jackie says "Make room! I gotta pace!" when she needs to think. Not to mention her [[YouCanSeeThatRight "Am I having a moment, or...?"]] and "Ew! Ew! And double EW!" |
| 114 | ** Inez has "This is not good. This is not good at all!" and "[[HatesBeingNicknamed Don't call me Nezzie!]]" |
| 115 | ** Matt has some sports-related catchphrases like "Time out." and "Touchdown!" |
| 116 | ** Digit says "Bada-bing, bada-boom!", "(Even) I knew that!", and "Never fear, the Didge is here!", along with his recurring exclamations "Wuh-oh!" and "Yoikes!" |
| 117 | ** Motherboard, unfortunately, gets "Hacker alert!" |
| 118 | ** Hacker--"That's [[SpellMyNameWithAThe THE Hacker]] to you!" |
| 119 | ** Buzz and Delete take turns with "The Boss isn't going to be happy about this!" |
| 120 | ** Delete uses an AndCallHimGeorge refrain whenever bunnies come up. |
| 121 | ** Bianca's "''Wait'' a ''minute!''" |
| 122 | * CerebusRollercoaster: Most of the show maintains a fairly light tone, but it periodically [[MoodWhiplash has darker and more desperate storylines]] that can become outright NightmareFuel for the target audience. "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu]]" and "Hackerized!" are well-attested examples. |
| 123 | * ChekhovsGun: |
| 124 | ** Matt and his yo-yos, which are initially just a minor detail until “The Grapes of Plath” where they are used as a measuring device. |
| 125 | ** Jackie and her hair scrunchie, which is used to measure circumference in several episodes. |
| 126 | ** In "The Cyberchase Movie", Inez was held up with a bowling match that she choked with a gutter ball in the [[DownToTheLastPlay last roll]]. [[spoiler:In the climax, the only way to lock the Emergency Reset Button and save Cyberspace is for Inez to bowl a heavy, ball-shaped safety lock into a socket across the room.]] |
| 127 | * ChekhovsSkill: |
| 128 | ** Digit’s history as a cook, which turns out to be exceptionally useful for a cookbook cipher in food-themed Aquari-Yum, entering bake-offs in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS2E13ATimeToCook A Time To Cook]]" and "A Recipe for Chaos", and whenever the [=CyberSquad=] needs measuring cups. |
| 129 | ** Slider’s experience with tools and tinkering ends up [[spoiler:being what saves Motherboard in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu: Part 2]]"]]. |
| 130 | * ChildProdigy: Inez mostly, with her SesquipedalianLoquaciousness and mathematical skill despite being the youngest of the kids. This also applies to Matt and Jackie as well to a lesser extent, as both also demonstrate very quick advanced mathematical thinking for their age. |
| 131 | ** Pearl from Canalia invented a TimeMachine. |
| 132 | * ChirpingCrickets: One of Digit's jokes in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS4E5MeasureForMeasure Measure for Measure]]" elicits nothing but a clownish honk noise. |
| 133 | * CircusOfFear: The AmusementPark world of R-Fair City takes on this aesthetic during Spout's rampage in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS2E8AWhaleOfATale A Whale of a Tale]]". The [[AlienSky dark red sky]] doesn't help. |
| 134 | * CityOfCanals: Canalia, which makes one of its residents, Pearl, concerned when the water levels have been dropping. |
| 135 | * ClingyJealousGirl: Wicked, who constantly pines over Hacker in their bizarre on-off romance. |
| 136 | * CloneByConversion: In "Hackerized!", a machine generates a gas that turns people into Hacker clones. {{Downplayed|Trope}} to enhance the NotHimself premise. Hackerization retains the characters' build, facial structure, and most of their outfits, while imparting attributes like Hacker's green skin, [[ThinChinOfSin protruding chin]], hairstyle, and pocket protector. |
| 137 | * CommercialBreakCliffhanger: Frequently of the [[LiteralCliffhanger literal]] variety, and despite commercial breaks only being present in international airings. |
| 138 | * CompulsiveLiar: The Crab Prince becomes this when he succumbs to a glitch in "The Grapes of Plath". |
| 139 | * ComputerVirus: Hacker infects Motherboard while her firewall is down, forcing her to call upon the [=CyberSquad=] and kicking off the events of the show. |
| 140 | * ContinuityNod: Happens often; there are many recurring characters, and plenty of episodes form larger [[StoryArc Story Arcs]] that have permanent ramifications for Cyberspace. [[SeriesContinuityError Later seasons began to ignore the events of a lot of previous storylines, though.]] |
| 141 | * ConvectionSchmonvection: The characters get very close to lava on several occasions. They ''are'' in a computer world; maybe it's supposed to be video-game lava? |
| 142 | ** In "A Perfect Fit", standing on a buoyant tesselating tile bridge is enough to cut off the heat. Digit even gets splashed with a few droplets as a [[AmusingInjuries quick gag]]. |
| 143 | ** Multiple episodes involve entering lava-filled volcanoes. Sometimes the characters bother wearing protective gear, but there's no time for Digit to do even that in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu: Part 2]]", for example. |
| 144 | * CoolGate: Motherboard [[ThinkingUpPortals controls]] the PortalNetwork that allows quick travel within Cyberspace, and [[DimensionalTraveler between Cyberspace and the real world]]. The portals are translucent pink ovals and lead through a swirling void called the vortex, which is filled with [[MediumBlending 3D-rendered]] mathematical objects. |
| 145 | * CoolShip: Hacker has the ''Grim Wreaker'' and the heroes sometimes use cybercoupes. The vehicles seemed to be designed as a big draw of the show early on, as they got specific attention and bios in promotional material. |
| 146 | * CosmopolitanCouncil: All the cybersite leaders who attend Motherboard's meetings at the Cyber Grand Tower conference room. Also, the rogues' gallery that Motherboard invited to Control Central in "The Case of the Missing Memory". |
| 147 | * {{Cyberspace}}: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The main setting]], juxtaposed with the occasional FramingDevice on Earth. |
| 148 | * CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: |
| 149 | ** Played for dark laughs in "Fortress of Attitude", where Hacker sets up a noisy, annoying robot so as to make various worlds surrender. The kids notice the cassette playing the sound is guarded by lasers, and they calculate the exact amount of rope that Digit needs to hover just above them. Hacker comes to bust them, and reveals the off-switch for the lasers. As Matt puts it, "Why didn't we think of that?" |
| 150 | ** The [[FeudEpisode feud subplot]] in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS5E1TheHalloweenHowl The Halloween Howl]]" could've been averted if Inez got Jackie to turn the [[SecretDiary diary]]'s [[PageTurnSurprise page]] earlier and realize she wasn't secretly insulting her friend. |
| 151 | * CowardlyLion: Digit acts the most freaked out about everything in general and struggles to overcome his fears, yet still plows headlong into dangerous situations when needed. |
| 152 | * CrapsaccharineWorld: All the Cybersites fit in their own cozy niche and feature citizens living relatively happy lives, but they are constantly being attacked and disturbed by Hacker (and to a lesser extent, other villains like [[KnightOfCerebus Ledge]]). |
| 153 | [[/folder]] |
| 154 | |
| 155 | [[folder:Tropes D to G]] |
| 156 | * DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Slider's father Coop. He had to go on the run from Hacker and couldn't put his son in danger. |
| 157 | * DangerousForbiddenTechnique: In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS5E6TheFlyingParallinis The Flying Parallinis]]", the Parallinis forbid themselves from tilting and leaning because the last time they used this ability, they saved Hacker and unknowingly released a villain into Cyberspace. |
| 158 | -->'''The Parallinis:''' No tilting, no leaning, and no inbetweening! |
| 159 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Delete got to have one in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS5E5TheFairyBorgFather The Fairy Borg Father]]". |
| 160 | * DeadHatShot: PlayedWith in the odds episode, as the Hacker is deceived in this manner. When Matt's [[IconicItem yo-yo]] outside one of two doors, the Hacker believes the [=CyberSquad=] had been launched into cyberspace and chooses to go through the other door. ''He'' winds up getting launched into cyberspace instead as the protagonists watch from a safe distance before admitting [[GambitRoulette they were merely guessing which door would launch the unlucky opener into cyberspace at random]]. |
| 161 | * DependingOnTheWriter: Is [[RunningGag Hacker's wig gel]] used for styling his wig or gluing it to his head? Does it come in cubes or a tube? Considering what Hacker's like, this inconsistency might actually make sense. |
| 162 | ** Magnetite’s properties are also rather inconsistent. While we're told the stuff has varying effects on cyber citizens, in at least one episode, it has the effect of making any cyber citizen that isn't Digit fall asleep. However, the Magnetite in that episode was a different color than the Magnetite that first appeared, so Magnetite may come in different varieties. |
| 163 | * DiabolusExMachina: Despite the fact that Hacker is defeated in [[spoiler:almost]] every episode (with the ''Grim Wreaker'' even destroyed in several cases), he always manages to [[StatusQuoIsGod come back at full force in the next episode.]] |
| 164 | * DerangedAnimation: In the pilot "[[Recap/CyberchaseS1E7ThePoddlevilleCase The Poddleville Case]]", everything in Poddleville exists on bizarre CGI planes of AlienGeometries, which Jackie {{Lampshade}}s frequently. The episode's animation in general also qualifies; being done by Creator/StudioBProductions and Creator/PhilippineAnimationStudioInc, it employs their very rough and exaggerated style which stands in jarring contrast to the more clean and quasi-realistic look of the Creator/{{Nelvana}}-animated main show. |
| 165 | * DesecratingTheDead: In "A Perfect Fit", Buzz damages [[FrankensteinsMonster Gigabyte]]'s lifeless body while Hacker and Delete are trying to re-energize it. Gigabyte was briefly alive before. |
| 166 | * DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: Hacker does this during a [[WackyRacing racing challenge]] and a cooking challenge. During the cook-off, it backfires on him since the last part of the competition doesn't allow cellphone service so he can simply have someone else make his soufflé for him. |
| 167 | * DilatingDoor: In "Secrets of Symmetria", Ava's factory's door has a very impractical rotating mechanism that must be timed properly to pass through. |
| 168 | * DiligentHeroSlothfulVillain: Hacker is portrayed as the Slothful Villain in select episodes, such as "[[Recap/CyberchaseS2E13ATimeToCook A Time To Cook]]", where he secretly has pre-made meals flown in for each stage of the CookingDuel that the kids try to win fairly |
| 169 | * DisappearedDad: Slider's father Coop. [[spoiler:Eventually fixed when the [=CyberSquad=] helps Slider rescue him.]] |
| 170 | * DisembodiedEyebrows: Part of the design for all the characters and especially evident in the non-humanoid ones. |
| 171 | * TheDitz: Delete, who [[MinionWithAnFInEvil is both too kind]] and too obliviously naïve to accomplish almost any task Hacker assigns him to. |
| 172 | * DoAnythingRobot: Many inhabitants of Cyberspace are this, but Digit takes the cake with the seemingly endless array of appliances stored in his [[BagOfHolding chest hatch]]. Failing that, he can shapeshift his beak into power tools and appliances. |
| 173 | * DownToTheLastPlay: It comes to this in the slugball game for Memoryville's Key to the City, which turns out to be a SkeletonKey. [[InvertedTrope Hacker's team]] [[TheBadGuyWins wins]]. Luckily, the [=CyberSquad=] is still able to beat Hacker at ''his'' game by finding out about the one door that the key shouldn't be used to open. |
| 174 | * DramaPreservingHandicap: On a few occasions, Digit will be restricted from flying. Notably, he is the first to fall victim to Hackerization, which would naturally prevent him from shutting off the device at the top of a mountain. |
| 175 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original pilot, which was produced at least three years before the show debuted (tested three times in 1999 and aired once as a sneak peek in March 2000 on WNET, [[RecycledScript with a re-dubbed and re-edited version airing in January 2002 as part of the first season]] as "[[Recap/CyberchaseS1E7ThePoddlevilleCase The Poddleville Case]]"). It's full of DerangedAnimation[[note]]It was animated by Creator/StudioBProductions and Creator/PhilippineAnimationStudioInc, thus featuring a much sketchier and more exaggerated style than the rest of the series would with Nelvana at the helm.[[/note]] and bizarre jazz music [[note]]done by Peter Lurye, who previously composed for ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'', hence why the music for the pilot is similar to that series.[[/note]], Jackie narrates the story, neither Digit nor Dr. Marbles appear (the final aired version has a mention of Digit dubbed in, however), and the ''Grim Wreaker'' has a black front window, instead of an orange one. Also the ''For Real'' segment accompanying the recut version is hosted by an unnamed presenter portrayed by Kareem Blackwell (best known as Quinn on ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark''), and not by either Bianca or Harry, who had yet to be cast at that point. |
| 176 | ** In Season 1, Motherboard is mostly shown from a static angle; the closing credits headings use the font Mata (of ''Film/SpiderMan1'' and [[Platform/PlayStation3 PlayStation]] infamy) instead of also using Wevli, and the Nelvana logo is a still print logo[[note]]as opposed to the "Blue polar bear in space" logo used the next season (and which was also used on the ''PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch'' shows), or the "polar bear bumping star with haze behind it" logo used until Nelvana dropped out[[/note]]. |
| 177 | * EasilyConqueredWorld: Cyberspace is typically in danger of being conquered by Hacker. On one occasion, he didn't even need to lift a finger in order to conquer cybernates. Nowadays, other villains have threatened to take over Cyberspace, such as Wicked or Ledge. |
| 178 | * EggMacGuffin: The stolen Egg of Benedicta in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS4E10ATikivilleTurkeyDay A Tikiville Turkey Day]]". The Tikians believe it causes prosperity and plentiful harvests, and send the [=CyberSquad=] to retrieve it from Hacker's clutches. Creech eventually realizes that the site's verdancy is [[ItWasWithYouAllAlong a reflection of its citizens' cooperation]] and [[ThePowerOfLove care for each other]], which was lost in the panic of Hacker stealing the egg. |
| 179 | * ElevatorFloorAnnouncement: Digit performs this role himself in “Raising the Bar” since the building’s elevators are disabled. |
| 180 | * ElvisImpersonator: Hacker in "And They Counted Happily Ever After", when he becomes [[PunnyName the King]] of Happily-Ever-After and calls himself "The big E.E.!" (Evil Elvis). His bio on the official Cyberchase site also mentions his general obsession with Elvis Presley. |
| 181 | * EmbarrassingNickname: Inez ''[[HatesBeingNicknamed hates]]'' it when Matt calls her "Nezzie". |
| 182 | * EndangeredSouffle: Matt and Digit are competing in a [[CookingDuel televised cooking competition]] with Hacker and Delete. Delete tries to sabotage Matt and Digit's soufflé by creating a loud noise to make it fall flat, but Digit, who has repeatedly been stated throughout the series to have some degree of cooking skill, says that it was possible to re-inflate the soufflé by using a certain number of drops of water on it at a certain rate. |
| 183 | * EnemyMine: |
| 184 | ** Suffering as a result of Hacker and Buzz's RoleSwapPlot in "Raising The Bar", Delete plays the MysteriousInformant "[[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon Squeaky Throat]]" to help the [=CyberSquad=]. They still seem to [[WrongAssumption assume the worst]] when they find out it was Delete who was helping them. |
| 185 | ** After she takes down the PortalNetwork by "accident", Digit has to team up with Wicked in "A Fraction of a Chance" to rescue the Earthlies. [[FakeDefector Being Wicked, she obviously has ulterior motives]], but [[SadisticChoice Digit has no other way to travel around Cyberspace]] than with her. |
| 186 | ** The final episode of Season 8 has the [=CyberSquad=] teaming up with Hacker to defeat Ledge. |
| 187 | ** The [=CyberSquad=] also has to team up with the main villains in later episodes like "[[Recap/CyberchaseS11E5ARebootEveToRemember A Reboot Eve to Remember]]", "Water Woes", "Hacker Hugs a Tree", and "Living In Disharmony". |
| 188 | * EveryoneHatesFruitCakes: Fruit cakes are #90 on Hacker’s list of things he hates about Starlight Night in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS6E2WhenPenguinsFly When Penguins Fly]]". |
| 189 | -->'''Hacker:''' Cake and fruit should never go together! |
| 190 | * EvilRedhead: Wicked, Cybersite Happily-Ever-After’s resident WickedWitch and occasional romantic interest to Hacker. |
| 191 | * ExplainExplainOhCrap: Digit has one in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS1E3RFairCity R-Fair City]]" when trapped captive in a cage. |
| 192 | -->'''Digit''': Okay, I can deal with not winning the hat—but why am I in a cage? {{Beat}} ''A cage?!'' '''A cage!''' '''''Lemme outta here!''''' |
| 193 | * ExposedToTheElements: |
| 194 | ** Inez and Jackie. In certain episodes when they travel to very cold or snowy cybersites, both girls are well protected at least from the waist up, but Inez still wears shorts. And if you thought that was bad, Jackie still wears an even tinier skirt, which leaves the majority of her legs open to freezing temperatures! |
| 195 | ** Even Cyber-citizens have this too sometimes. |
| 196 | * {{Expy}}: Anyone who's watched ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' will notice how similar Hacker is to Robotnik. They're both the LargeHam [[BigBad Big Bads]] of their respective series, and Hacker's lackeys are also expies of Scratch and Grounder. Granted, Hacker is still a pretty funny villain. |
| 197 | * ExtradimensionalShortcut: The vortex serves this role when used to travel across Cyberspace, rather than to or from it. It's usually [[MediumBlending rendered with 3D objects]], and there's little information on what it even is beyond serving as a tunnel between [[CoolGate portals]]. But it's fast, unparalleledly fast, clocking the user at 1,000 cybermiles per minute. |
| 198 | * EyeGlasses: Inez's and Shari's character design. Like WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}, Inez is shown with BlackBeadEyes when she takes her glasses off. |
| 199 | * EyeOfHorusMeansEgypt: Pyramidia and the Eye of Rom use various fractions of the design. |
| 200 | * FaceHeelTurn: Prior to the events of the pilot, [[BigBad Hacker]] turned against Motherboard after he had been built to help her. |
| 201 | * FailedASpotCheck: Averted in "Secrets of Symmetria", where the [=CyberSquad=] has Digit disguise himself as a robotic double of Hacker when the latter is attempting to destroy Symmetria. The guise they assemble for him is almost perfect… except they forgot about Hacker's pocket protector, allowing the real Hacker to expose Digit as a fake to his cronies. |
| 202 | * FairPlayWhodunnit: A lot of the mystery episodes are written this way, so viewers can solve the conundrum once they know about the math topic of the week. Others have less to do with the educational angle but are still solvable. |
| 203 | * FairyGodmother: In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS5E5TheFairyBorgFather The Fairy Borg Father]]", Zanko serves as Delete's. We also see Roarke from the [[ExtraordinaryWorldOrdinaryProblems Eligibility Department]] of the Fairy Borg Father Program. "Unhappily Ever After" reveals that the king of Happily Ever After used a fairy borg father, too. |
| 204 | * FakeDefector: Every time Digit goes back to Hacker's side. Delete has also pulled this with the [=CyberSquad=] a few times, but genuinely wants to help [[ZigZaggingTrope on other occasions]]. |
| 205 | * FantasticMeasurementSystem: The show occasionally refers to distances or lengths in [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCustomaryMeasurements "cybermiles" and "cyberinches"]], and weights in "cybergrams". However, the occasional mention of "inches", "meters", etc. (without the "cyber-" prefix) is seen. |
| 206 | * FantasticVoyagePlot: "Inside Hacker" opens InMediasRes with Matt [[IncredibleShrinkingMan shrunk down]] inside the villain's body, on a mission to tamper with Hacker's [[HeartDrive H-Drive]]. |
| 207 | * FatAndSkinny: Buzz (short and stout) and Delete (tall and thin). |
| 208 | * FeudEpisode: |
| 209 | ** In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E5TheCreechWhoWouldBeCrowned The Creech Who Would Be Crowned]]", Jackie and Matt make fun of the way Inez talks ''and'' her [[BerserkButton height]]. When Inez finds that Creech has a [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness similarly wide vocabulary]], Inez joins her and says to [[TellHimImNotSpeakingToHim Tell Them She's Not Speaking To Them]]. It takes needing to rescue Inez from a [[QuicksandSucks quicksand pit]] to get the Earthlies to reconcile. |
| 210 | ** In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS5E1TheHalloweenHowl The Halloween Howl]]", Inez and Jackie [[DressesTheSame show up with the same Halloween costume]]. To make matters worse, Jackie finds Inez's [[SecretDiary diary]] open to a page that [[NotWhatItLooksLike looks like]] it calls her mean. Once they make up, Jackie says she shouldn't have read the diary, but Inez insists she finishes the entry to see that she actually wrote "mean[[PageTurnSurprise -ingful]]." |
| 211 | * FloatingContinent: Most of the cybersites. Poddleville is in the minority of spherical, planet-shaped sites. Sure, they're all in (Cyber)space, but it seems like gravity points straight down between the cybersites as a strange side effect of TwoDSpace. |
| 212 | * FlyingBroomstick: Used by [[WickedWitch Wicked]], natch. In "A Broom of One's Own", the [=CyberSquad=] test-drives her new line of brooms. |
| 213 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: The events of "Hackerized" don't seem so out of the blue when you remember that previous episodes repeatedly demonstrate that the Earthlings can eat and drink various foodstuffs in Cyberspace, and thus can be affected by substances the same as any Cybercitizen. It's just that they've dodged being affected by transformative powers before, [[IncredibleShrinkingMan aside from]] the odd ShrinkRay. |
| 214 | * ForcedToWatch: In "A Crinkle In Time", Hacker brings Slider to Clock Rock, counting down the time until his friends are trapped in Tick Tockia forever. |
| 215 | * ForcedTransformation: Though [[StatusQuoIsGod always eventually undone]], there are many examples. |
| 216 | ** Wicked is implied to have turned the prince of Pompadoria into a raven. On-screen, she turns Hacker into a porcupine and a crow, and Sorcerer Abernathy into a firefly. |
| 217 | ** Hacker's schemes at Frogsnorts have also leveraged magic to turn Professor Stumblesnore into a salamander and a mouse. |
| 218 | ** The most extreme example comes from "[[Recap/CyberchaseS5E5TheFairyBorgFather The Fairy Borg Father]]". Delete makes a wish that turns everyone in Cyberspace, except for himself and [[FairyGodmother Zanko]], into bunnies. The Earthlies are also unaffected since they were in the real world at the time. |
| 219 | * ForgottenFirstMeeting: In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS5E6TheFlyingParallinis The Flying Parallinis]]", despite their unique appearances, Hacker doesn’t recognize the Parallinis from when they rescued him from Mount Wayupthere. |
| 220 | * ForgottenFramingDevice: Some episodes start with a FramingDevice on Earth and don't return there in the end. On a macro-level, from Seasons 5 to 13, the real world began to appear as sparsely as Dr. Marbles, and the Earthlies would just be hanging out in Cyberspace for the same narrative purpose as an establishing scene on Earth. |
| 221 | * FourFingeredHands: Averted in the series proper but played straight in the pilot. |
| 222 | * FramingDevice: Earth is often used as this, with the characters encountering a problem that the day's adventure in Cyberspace helps them solve. "Trees, Please" inverts this, using a Cyberspace adventure to frame the events on Earth. |
| 223 | * FrankensteinsMonster: Gigabyte, the robot Hacker tries to bring to life in "Castleblanca" and "A Perfect Fit". |
| 224 | * FullyDressedCartoonAnimal: Baskerville, a yellow werewolf-cyborg typically sporting a green BadassLongcoat. |
| 225 | * FunnyPhotoPhrase: In the end of "Sensible Flats", Delete gets to take a picture of him telling Hacker to say, "Chaos". He does, but only for the flash of Delete's camera angers a nearby herd of buffalo and charges against the villains. |
| 226 | * FunWithAcronyms: In "A Change of Art," Hacker's glowing sculptures are powered by a HASER beam, or "'''H'''acker '''A'''mplification by '''S'''timulated '''E'''mission of '''R'''adiation." |
| 227 | * GameOfNim: In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS1E18ProblemSolvingInShangriLa Problem Solving in Shangri-La]]", both the kids and [[BigBad Hacker]] have to win two out of three games of him before they can leave. Shangri-La being a LandOfDragons, it's played with sentient mini-Terracotta warriors and [[[[DragonsUpTheYinYang dragons]]. They all struggle to find the winning strategy until Jackie realizes to solve the last move and work back from there to control previous turns. |
| 228 | * GambitRoulette: A heroic example in the odds episode, where the kids essentially just guess which door will eject Hacker out into Cyberspace and lead Hacker through it since the odds are 50/50. |
| 229 | * GhostPirate: Ivanka the Invincible, “the most legendary pirate in all of Cyberspace” who now resides at the bottom of the sea. |
| 230 | * GilliganCut: In "Cool It", after Hacker sends contaminated cryoxide to Motherboard's cooling system which causes Motherboard to get sick, the only place to get more cryoxide was in Castleblanca. Inez and Matt asks Two-Headed Sam if they can use the cryoxide. Although they did, they didn't have enough cryoxide to fix Motherboard's cooling system so they tried to ask again, but Inez is concerned that they're going to say no. Matt replies that they won't say no. Cut to Two-Headed Sam saying no. |
| 231 | -->'''Inez:''' What if Sam says no? What do we do then?\ |
| 232 | '''Matt:''' He's not going to say no. |
| 233 | -->'''Inez:''' But what if he does? What's going to happen to Motherboard then?\ |
| 234 | '''Matt:''' Inez, he won't say no. |
| 235 | -->''(cut to the Sam heads)''\ |
| 236 | '''Two-Headed Sam:''' '''NO!''' |
| 237 | * GlitchEntity: Cyberstatic is a large amount of electrical energy that can scramble the data that makes up a cybersite and reduces the site to a glitchy mess. In "A Battle of Equals", Hacker reverses the polarity on Dr. Marbles' cyberstatic satellites to infect three cybersites with cyberstatic, infecting Motherboard's Control Central with a far heavier dose. The [=CyberSquad=] shuts every satellite down in time to mitigate the damage. |
| 238 | * GlobalCurrency: Snelfus are the standard currency of most cybersites… |
| 239 | * GlobalCurrencyException: …except for a few of the more isolated ones like Nowhere, which comes to use donuts instead. |
| 240 | * GoMadFromTheRevelation: When Hacker is trapped in Tick Tockia "[[NegativeContinuity forever]]", all he can do is imitate the cuckoo who dragged him inside, while wearing a ghastly expression. |
| 241 | * GoodParents: All the kids’ parents, though scarcely mentioned, are depicted benevolently, and Slider’s father Coop is also the BigGood of the arc following "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu]]". Creech's dad, Max, has earned the title of Cyberdad of the Year as of "Father's Day". |
| 242 | * GreenAesop: Some early episodes dabbled in this. The cyberstatic that Hacker spreads in "A Battle of Equals" is openly an allegory for pollution. Come Season 9, environmental lessons are the main focus and played much more realistically, ousting much of the pure-math logic that Cyberspace had previously operated on. |
| 243 | * GrimUpNorth: The Hacker's home is the Northern Frontier. |
| 244 | * GrowingMusclesSequence: Wicked casts a spell to make Buzz and Delete more muscular in "Team Spirit". |
| 245 | * GuestStarPartyMember: Happens frequently, usually with characters associated with certain cybersites. "The Hacker's Challenge" featured several of the most recent characters teaming up with the regular [=CyberSquad=], effectively tripling the cast. They were divided into multiple teams to each defeat one of Hacker's challenges. |
| 246 | [[/folder]] |
| 247 | |
| 248 | [[folder:Tropes H to M]] |
| 249 | * HalloweenEpisode: "[[Recap/CyberchaseS2E14TrickOrTreat Trick or Treat]]", "Hugs & Witches", "[[Recap/CyberchaseS5E1TheHalloweenHowl The Halloween Howl]]", and "[[Recap/CyberchaseS11E1WattsOfHalloweenTrouble Watts of Halloween Trouble]]". "Castleblanca" can also be considered a Halloween episode given its titular setting… |
| 250 | * HalloweenTown: Castleblanca, complete with creepy organ soundtrack and TheNightThatNeverEnds. |
| 251 | * HappyBirthdayToYou: The website used to have an original birthday song performed by Inez. "Space Waste Odyssey: Part 1" opens on another one by Digit. |
| 252 | * HarmlessVillain: |
| 253 | ** Buzz and Delete aren't very dangerous despite Buzz being fairly intelligent. |
| 254 | ** Hacker himself becomes this by the later seasons due to VillainDecay both in- and out-of-universe. By Season 13, his evil plans include learning where ducks migrate, using a searchlight to try to see a comet, and pretending not to enjoy a picnic. |
| 255 | * HatePlague: The Spell of the Mean Green in [[Recap/CyberchaseS2E3HarrietHippoAndTheMeanGreen the titular episode]]. It enchants Motherboard to spread a Hate Plague one corrupted cybersite at a time, turning their citizens hostile to each other. |
| 256 | * HatesBeingNicknamed: Inez does not like being called "Nezzie" unless it's coming from Slider. |
| 257 | * HeelFaceTurn: Digit used to be one of Hacker's henchmen along with Buzz and Delete, but he left Hacker and joined the heroes' side after he betrayed Motherboard. |
| 258 | * HeartDrive: The memory chip in Hacker's H-Drive, according to "Inside Hacker", where the kids have hatched a plan to swap the chip out to change his personality. In a later episode, Hacker programs several personality-themed [=CPU=]s for Plantasaurus to be controlled by, and leaves it up to his bumbling henchmen to insert the correct one. |
| 259 | * HomeBase: Motherboard Control Central is very often where the [=CyberSquad=] recieves their mission briefing and stays when they aren't needed on a cybersite. Motherboard and Digit (and formerly Dr. Marbles) live there, whereas the Earth kids are portaled into Control Central to plan and regroup. |
| 260 | * HomeFieldAdvantage: In "Totally Rad", the gang visits Radopolis and competes in a skate-off with the villains, where they find themselves losing at first because the competition rink is different from the practice rink due to Hacker's villainous meddling. |
| 261 | * HopeSpot: Whenever it seems like the characters can finally rid Motherboard of the virus. Particularly harsh in "Fit To Be Heroes", where the new Encryptor Chip really seems to be working for a moment. |
| 262 | * HyperspaceArsenal: Digit carries far more in his [[BagOfHolding chest hatch]] than should be able to fit. Naturally, mainly played for comedy, but can bleed into more serious scenes as it seems to [[MagicAIsMagicA just be how the hatch works]]. |
| 263 | * IdeaBulb: Delete's antennae spark with electricity on the rare occasion that he has an idea. Interestingly, early material cited these discharges as the reason for his memory being ''bad''. Also, there have been a few occasions where Digit's "cyber cam" (the ball on a wire on his baseball cap) flashes when he understands something. |
| 264 | * IdentityAmnesia: Hacker after getting into an accident in "Raising the Bar." He [[EasyAmnesia gets]] [[StatusQuoIsGod better]], at the expense of Buzz developing the same amnesia. |
| 265 | * IdiotHero: Matt, at times, though it's more a result of his recklessness than him actually not being bright. At his rashest, as in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS2E8AWhaleOfATale A Whale of a Tale]]", he [[ATragedyOfImpulsiveness leaps into life-threatening situations]] and is impossible for his friends to dissuade. |
| 266 | * IHaveYourWife: Capturing Marbles has no leverage for Motherboard, since if he's released then he can repair her with an encryptor chip. The ''kids'' on the other hand, would be easy pickings to make Motherboard relent to Hacker or at least bargain with him. Fortunately, negotiations never go past the "I have your wife" video call on the rare occasion that Hacker manages to nab them. |
| 267 | * IJustWantToBeNormal: In "Digit's B-Day Surprise", Hacker {{exploit|edTrope}}s Digit's [[FlawExploitation feelings about his clumsiness]] which escalate into this. |
| 268 | * ImposterForgotOneDetail: Digit disguises himself as Hacker in "Secrets of Symmetria". In the end, the real Hacker notices that the fake's pocket protector is missing -- the one asymmetrical part of his design. |
| 269 | * IncredibleShrinkingMan: The heroes are shrunk down via ShrinkRay in "[[FantasticVoyagePlot Inside Hacker]]", "Soil Turmoil", and "The Lilting Loons", and due to one of Zorgon the Evil Wizard's [[MagicPotion potions]] in the novel, ''Cyberchase: The Search for the Power Orb''. Hacker has also been affected by a shrink ray in "Trading Places", and this trope is one of the ways [[WickedWitch Wicked]] has gotten revenge on him. |
| 270 | * InevitableWaterfall: Happens in episodes like "The Hacker's Challenge" and "Blowin' in the Wind". |
| 271 | * InflatingBodyGag: "On the Line" ''tries'' to play this somewhat seriously, with Hacker transforming himself into a [[AllBalloonsHaveHelium floating]] balloon to slip into Motherboard Control Central. He deflates when the transformation is reversed. |
| 272 | * InsideTheInternet: The basic setting of the show, {{Cyberspace}}, is supposed to be a literal physical representation of the internet. |
| 273 | * InsistentTerminology: Hacker always insists on being known as "''The'' Hacker". |
| 274 | * ItBeganWithATwistOfFate: If the kids didn't argue over a library map they were all trying to use in the first episode, then Hacker wouldn't have infected Motherboard and they wouldn't have been pulled into Cyberspace. |
| 275 | * ItsAllMyFault: Digit blames himself for what happens to Motherboard in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu]]", since he was the one who put in the Encryptor Chip. |
| 276 | * JackassGenie: Warren the Wayward Genie, who is a feared tyrannical conqueror ([[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas who still abides by his mother]]). |
| 277 | * {{Kaiju}}: |
| 278 | ** In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS2E8AWhaleOfATale A Whale of a Tale]]", Hacker reprograms Spout, a giant robotic whale, to [[MurderousMalfunctioningMachine go on a rampage]] through R-Fair City. |
| 279 | ** Hacker takes the idea for Plantasaurus from a horror movie and brings the monster to life. The plan falls flat because Buzz and Delete put in the CPU with the wrong personality. |
| 280 | * KnightOfCerebus: Ledge. [[spoiler:In his first appearance, he not only manages to completely “Hackerize” Sensible Flats and take it over without any difficulty, he outright [[BatmanGambit ''turns the CyberSquad against each other by exploiting their shortcomings'']], with Inez only being able to stop him because she was lucky enough to avoid the gas’s initial effects.]] |
| 281 | * LandfillBeyondTheStars: Discardia and another cybersite named the Garbage Dump both fill this role. The cyberjunk that surrounds the dump makes it hazardous to fly near. Perfectamundo also nearly succumbs to this fate when their own garbage piles up in "Trash Creep". |
| 282 | * LanternJawOfJustice: Inverted with the villainous Hacker and his protruding, upturned jaw. Just ''look'' at that thing, you could cut steel with it! |
| 283 | * LargeHam: Hacker. Jackie also has a habit of announcing that they're "DOOMED!" very loudly. |
| 284 | -->'''Jackie''': Cyberspace is doomed, ''doomed'' I tell you, [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom DOOOOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-OOMED]]! |
| 285 | -->'''Matt''': [[LampshadeHanging And the award for best dramatic outburst of the day goes to... Jackie!]] |
| 286 | * LawProcedural: "Sensible Flats" features the [=CyberSquad=] defending Hacker in Judge Trudy's courtroom, in exchange for the anti-virus code to cure Motherboard. Hacker is later tried for pollution in "The X-Factor", but is [[NotMeThisTime innocent this time]]. |
| 287 | * {{Leitmotif}}: |
| 288 | ** Listen for a soft techno beat when the kids go into educational mode. The extended, more synth-heavy version that is used occasionally is somewhat reminiscent of the Platform/MicrosoftWindows XP setup tune. |
| 289 | ** The victory theme. |
| 290 | ** Crisis Zone. |
| 291 | ** Buzz and Delete's theme, a fittingly bumbling chromatic string melody over techno drum beats. |
| 292 | ** An orchestral piece that sounds similar to the theme from ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' is used in almost every episode whenever the kids are in danger or are being chased by villains. This is likely stock music, as it was also heard in a few episodes of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}''. |
| 293 | * LicensedGame: Quite a few were made on the PBS Kids website, the most notable being an educational [[PointAndClickGame Point-and-Click]] AdventureGame called ''The Quest'', often advertised at the end of episodes. |
| 294 | ** There's also two CD-ROM games released, ''Cyberchase: Castleblanca Quest'' and ''Cyberchase: Carnival Chaos''. |
| 295 | * LilyPadPlatform: A variant appears in the episode about arithmetic and geometric progressions. The kids must get across a wide river, and all they have is a single large lily pad about four feet across. When they put the pad in the water, it starts magically reproducing, generating a new full-size pad every couple of seconds, and the new pads do the same thing. So the total number of lily pads doubles every couple of seconds. It isn't long before they have a bridge of lily pads stretching all the way across the river. |
| 296 | * LiteralCliffHanger: The [=CyberSquad=] gets into a fair few of these. Sometimes used to build quick suspense during an ActBreak. |
| 297 | * LogicalWeakness: When Buzz is transformed into a giant ring donut in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS4E5MeasureForMeasure Measure for Measure]]", Jackie and Matt get past him by diving through the center. The Earthlies, Coop, and Slider also manage to roll Buzz away. |
| 298 | * LogicBomb: In "Size Me Up", Hacker plans to infect Motherboard with a new virus called a "logic buster". Her hard drive would not have survived. |
| 299 | * LuckyRabbitsFoot: "Of All the Luck" had Hacker attempting to kidnap a rabbit to complete his lucky charm collection. |
| 300 | * MacGuffin: The Encryptor Chip, the replacement for Motherboard's vital component that Hacker damaged, at least in the early seasons. Some episodes or arcs will have specific items that the heroes need to obtain to resolve the plot. |
| 301 | * MagicSkirt: Jackie's small blue skirt/skort, which pretty much never moves. |
| 302 | * MassHypnosis: Part of Wicked's plot to scam the buyers of her magic brooms in "A Broom of One's Own". In "Spellbound", she casts a spell on all the citizens of Pompadoria to make them adore her and do whatever she says. |
| 303 | * MassiveNumberedSiblings: In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS5E6TheFlyingParallinis The Flying Parallinis]]", the Parallinis are all related because they’re all parallelograms. |
| 304 | * TheMaze: The [=CyberSquad=] gets a GPS to navigate the Sandmaze in Pyramida, but it breaks before their return trip, forcing them to remember their steps in reverse. ''Cyberchase: The Quest'' features a minigame based on this. There is also Merlin's Maze within Frogsnorts, where Hacker traps Shari Spotter. |
| 305 | * MechanicalAnimals: All animals in Cyberspace use this motif to some degree--even Digit is a robotic cybird. |
| 306 | * MediumBlending: Most of the characters and props are in [[ThickLineAnimation Thick-Line]] 2D, and were cel-shaded until Season 6, which introduced a more automated shading effect. Motherboard, the mathematical objects in the vortex, and the EstablishingShot of Poddleville are all usually rendered in 3D, as is the occasional prop (like the ark in "The Cyberchase Movie"). The backgrounds are nearly always lineless after the early episodes, and use bold texture fills. |
| 307 | * MegaMaelstrom: The show is really fond of this. Sometimes, the whirlpool is an obstacle that the characters need to avoid. Other times, they get sucked in but are spit out high into the air. |
| 308 | * MidairBobbing: Hacker [[AllBalloonsHaveHelium floats]] in this way after [[InflatingBodyGag turning himself into a balloon]] in "On the Line". |
| 309 | * MiniMe: Widget highly resembles a smaller Digit. His backstory is unclear, beyond the original website calling him Digit's ''pet'', strangely enough. |
| 310 | * MinionWithAnFInEvil: Delete is rather kind, loves bunnies, and usually doesn't seem to understand the impact of his boss's villainous orders. When Hacker tries to ruin things like Delete's favorite holidays, the bot is livid, and even quits to help the [=CyberSquad=] on one such occasion. He is contrasted with Buzz, who, though still incompetent as a henchman and like a sibling to Delete, is loyal to Hacker's cause and has distant designs on [[TheCoup taking his boss's place]]. |
| 311 | * MistakenForTransformed: In "On the Line", Matt is chased by a green and purple snake while he knows Hacker has the Transformatron. Interestingly, he's correct to think that Hacker just transformed himself, but doesn't see the evidence until just after the snake backs off. |
| 312 | --> '''Matt''': If you ''are'' [[YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious The]] Hacker, I like the old look better… |
| 313 | * MonsterIsAMommy: In "[=EcoHaven=] CSE", the MonsterOfTheWeek [[{{Kaiju}} Choocrocca]] turns out to be a mother protecting her baby. They use the baby's body proportions to figure out how tall the mother is from her footprint, and use that to narrow down which cave she's hiding in. |
| 314 | * MookFaceTurn: Digit used to work for Hacker, but joins Motherboard's side when he learns of Hacker's evil doings. Expanded material on the website reveals that Hacker forcibly dragged him onto his exile ship anyway, so he was always a MinionWithAnFInEvil and tried to sabotage Hacker. |
| 315 | * TheMovie: Season 9 featured ''The Cyberchase Movie'', a two-part, hour-long special in which the [=CyberSquad=] learn about the importance of living space in animals' habitats. They also re-encounter Dr. Marbles; and yes, they once again get the better of Hacker. "Space Waste Odyssey" is also considered a movie, which retroactively suggests the first two-parter special, "The Snelfu Snafu", might be as well. |
| 316 | * MovingTheGoalposts: When engaging in a skating competition against Hacker in Radopolis, Hacker reveals there's a rule that allows him to change the real arena if he wins a current round. The kids figure out that while the perimeter is the same, the area is smaller after the first two rounds. Jackie bombs her segment, Matt does fairly well despite faceplanting, and Inez eventually realizes that she needs to do small tricks to fit in the arena, getting a full score. They then turn the tables on Hacker and use the rule to make the area even smaller and mess with his last skater. |
| 317 | * MultiPartEpisode: "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu]]", "The Cyberchase Movie", and "Space Waste Odyssey" are double-length episodes that are each split into two parts. "The Snelfu Snafu: Part 1" ends with a [[ToBeContinued To Be Continued…]] caption. |
| 318 | * MusicalSpoiler: In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu]]", [[spoiler:this gives away the twist. When the Encryptor Chip is retrieved at last, it should be a cause for celebration. The protagonists are appropriately happy about it. So why is the music a tense, hanging violin note, which then yields to sinking bass piano the moment the chip is inserted?]] |
| 319 | [[/folder]] |
| 320 | |
| 321 | [[folder:Tropes N to R]] |
| 322 | * TheNapoleon: Inez does ''[[BerserkButton not]]'' take kindly to being called small or any of its synonyms. However, she has no problem with calling herself the smallest, as shown in an "[=EcoHaven=] CSE" where the kids compare footprints.[[note]]In "The Bluebird of Zappiness", she also uses her height to talk about proportions in shadow length, but instead notes that she's taller than Digit.[[/note]] |
| 323 | * NeverRecycleYourSchemes: |
| 324 | ** Hacker has this attitude with his evil plans, and struggles to come up with new ones on multiple occasions. In "An Urchin Matter", he has a file cabinet of unused schemes queued up for when he has the money to make them happen. |
| 325 | ** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] at the end of "Back to Canalia's Future". After losing the chance to use Pearl's time machine, Hacker tries to build his own; it just happens not to work. |
| 326 | ** A heroic example in the chase for the Encryptor Chip, which would [[SeriesGoal cure Motherboard]] if restored. As the virus destroyed her original chip, the new one is an exact replica that Professor Archimedes finished in "Eureeka". Instead of having Archimedes start on another replica, the [=CyberSquad=] searches for the existing one [[spoiler:and sacrifices it in Season 3]]. |
| 327 | ** In "Fit To Be Heroes", the [=CyberSquad=] finds a template for the Encryptor Chip within [[HomeBase Control Central]], not realizing it was for an early model. Though still not involving Archimedes, they do try to complete it, learn it was for an early model of the chip, [[ZigZaggingTrope and are never shown searching for other versions' templates]]. |
| 328 | * NeverSayDie: |
| 329 | --> '''Digit''': Excuse me! We're talkin' life and d- you know what here! |
| 330 | ** Bizarrely [[AvertedTrope averted]] in one of the show's earliest episodes, "Zeus on the Loose", wherein [[SpellMyNameWithAThe The]] Hacker explains to his henchmen Buzz and Delete [[ApocalypseHow just what he plans to release]] from [[PublicDomainArtifact Pandora's Box:]] |
| 331 | --> '''Hacker''': Oh, just a swarming cloud of envy and disease; '''death''' and ''destruction''; ''wickedness'' and ''misfortune'' - [[VileVillainSaccharineShow and there's nothing that Motherboard can do to stop it]]! |
| 332 | ** This was [[AvertedTrope averted]] again in the episode "The Guilty Party" when The Hacker threatens the people of Poddleville. |
| 333 | --> '''Hacker''': I want my key back, and if it isn't returned in 12 hours, [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Poddleville will perish in a pile of pumice]]. |
| 334 | *** The use of pumice, a rock well-known for being full of holes and channels, gives insight into the [[MultipleGunshotDeath method that he had in mind]]. |
| 335 | * NiceCharacterMeanActor: Digit idolized the current champion of "The Fearless Chef" (a cross between ''Iron Chef'' and ''The Amazing Race'') but when Jackie and Inez tried to rescue him after he was kidnapped, he was quickly revealed as a bit of a {{Jerkass}}. And a coward. |
| 336 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: |
| 337 | ** After Hacker's first attempt to destroy Motherboard, Dr. Marbles elected to banish him to the Northern Frontier rather than decommission him. This would come back to bite them all back later when Hacker returned with the virus that crippled Motherboard. |
| 338 | ** In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu: Part 1]]" the group enters an auction to win a copy of the Encryptor Chip that will fix Motherboard's virus. It turns out that the contest was actually set up by Hacker who created a fake Encryptor Chip. Once inserted into Motherboard's computer she is overwritten and replaced by Hacker, allowing him to take over Cyberspace for the first time! |
| 339 | * NiceJobFixingItVillain: This was downplayed in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E12StarlightNight Starlight Night]]" when The Hacker intended to sabotage the Starlight Night celebration, where the stars of Cyberspace are refreshed and relighted for the new Cyber year. He successfully sabotages the production of the new star circuit boards. After that, he takes over the position of the Grand Marshall or the parade. This means that he will be the one to flip the switch that is supposed to relight the stars at the end. Assuming his sabotage was successful, the action of the flipping the switch will cause the stars to go dark forever. However, the [=CyberSquad=] manages to get the circuit boards produced and installed just in time. Therefore, when The Hacker flips the switch, he ensures that the stars in Cyberspace are successfully relighted. |
| 340 | * TheNightThatNeverEnds: {{Inverted|Trope}} in "A Perfect Fit", where the heroes realize they only need to block out the sun for one moment to stop Hacker from resurrecting Gigabyte. |
| 341 | * NoMacGuffinNoWinner: The Encryptor Chip. Because the original Chip has been destroyed by The Hacker's virus on Motherboard, Dr. Marbles has since been desperate in search for a new one. Unfortunately, whenever a new Encryptor Chip shows up, it's always either stolen, lost, or even destroyed in the end. [[spoiler:During the most notable of these times in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu]]", Marbles had to destroy the Chip himself in order to return Motherboard to her rightful place and oust The Hacker's own A.I. from her mainframe.]] |
| 342 | * NoEnding: Because of how the show keeps being resurrected every few years for new seasons, there has never been any kind of conclusive ending with either Hacker being defeated for good or Motherboard being cured of the virus. |
| 343 | * NoodleIncident: When the [=CyberSquad=] first appears in the episode "The Grapes of Plath", they have just finished retrieving an Egyptian sceptre for Binky that The Hacker took. The only information that we get on this incident is that The Hacker apparently convinced Binky that he was King Tut. Whether this was a living King Tut or a living-dead King Tut is unclear. It's also unclear how he managed to convince her. |
| 344 | * NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: {{Downplayed}} with the Encryptor Chip. Only one prototype has been found as of "Fit To Be Heroes", but Professor Archimedes created an exact replica of the final chip back in "Eureeka", mid-Season 1. |
| 345 | * NotMeThisTime: In "The X-Factor", Hacker is tried in a town meeting for polluting Perfectamundo, blocking sunlight with spots forming on the cybersite's glass dome. Besides his penchant for chaos, his factory is giving off orange steam that matches the color of the spots. Hacker proves his innocence by shutting down the factory for a while and pointing out that orange spots are forming regardless. |
| 346 | * NotSoForgottenBirthday: In "Digit's B-Day Surprise", Digit's friends cover up his SurpriseParty by claiming it's for Judge Trudy. Digit is upset enough at this to let Hacker manipulate and nearly [[MindReformatDeath reprogram him]]. Thankfully, the partygoers are ready to reveal the surprise in what is, unbeknownst to them, the last moment. |
| 347 | * NotSoHarmlessVillain: Hacker shifts between this and HarmlessVillain depending on the occasion and how dire the show gets. |
| 348 | * {{Notzilla}}: Chewcrocca. |
| 349 | * NoAntagonist: "Buzz and the Tree" is the first episode not to feature Hacker. The focus is instead on healing Buzz and Delete's friendship. |
| 350 | * OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS6E2WhenPenguinsFly When Penguins Fly]]", Walter Walrus refuses to let the penguins pass until they answer his “riddle”, although it’s less of a riddle and more of a math question. |
| 351 | * OurClonesAreDifferent: "Send in the Clones" features a cloning ray that can instantly duplicate both living beings ''and'' inanimate objects (as Hacker finds out when he's trapped behind a bunch of cloned pylons). The clones in question seem perfectly functional and obedient, but it's shown that too many of them will cause the original to start shrinking in mass; for some reason, they also multiply every time the original sneezes. Most of this is possibly justified by the implication that since they're in, well, {{Cyberspace}}, everything is ''actually'' made of computer data. |
| 352 | * OutOfCharacterAlert: In "Escape from Merlin's Maze", a letter from Matt that Shari finds [[spoiler:really from Hacker]] has three, all of which are pointed out after the fact: 1) Matt hates his full name so he'd never sign anything as "Matthew", 2) being your average 11-year-old boy, he would never sign anything with a heart and 3) he has no idea what Merlin's Maze is or where it is. |
| 353 | * PageTurnSurprise: Inez did this unintentionally in [[SecretDiary her diary]] by splitting the word "meaningful" across two pages. Jackie only reads the first page and [[NotWhatItLooksLike thinks Inez was calling her "mean"]]. |
| 354 | * PaperThinDisguise: Hacker often uses transparent disguises to trick the protagonists. As fair play goes, he also sometimes falls for them, like in "Inside Hacker" where Jackie and Digit pretend to be repairpersons to retrieve Matt from him. |
| 355 | * PetTheDog: Anytime Hacker decides to show he has a heart. |
| 356 | ** Buzz and Delete overall have a lot more of these than Hacker, including a '''literal dog petting moment''' when they watch over and play with Presto, the magician's dog, and grow quite attached to him. |
| 357 | * PhraseCatcher: "Didge, you're a genius!" when Digit makes a helpful observation, especially when he doesn't realize it. |
| 358 | * PhysicalGod: [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Zeus]], ruler of the cybersite Mount Olympus. |
| 359 | * PigLatin: In "Codename: Icky", Matt tries using this to talk to Inez and Jackie without the eavesdropping Hacker understanding. Hacker knows it and responds in turn, to Matt's surprise over the next few scenes, and forcing the [=CyberSquad=] to invent more secure codes. |
| 360 | * {{Pilot}}: "[[Recap/CyberchaseS1E7ThePoddlevilleCase The Poddleville Case]]" was created as the series pilot in 1999, evident from having different character designs and music from the rest of the series. The 1999 version was found and released on the Internet Archive in 2021, and still has some differences from the version that aired as part of the series in 2002, including: |
| 361 | ** The show's logo was different originally. |
| 362 | ** In the original version of the episode, everyone had a different voice actor. |
| 363 | ** Jackie serves as the narrator during the pilot, presenting the episode like it was a flashback. Additionally, two scenes at the beginning and end of the episode featuring her were removed, the opening one shows her about to make breakfast before being summoned to Cyberspace, and the closing one shows her resuming her breakfast and deciding she'd rather have cereal than eggs. |
| 364 | ** Certain lines were redone, removed, or added between the original version and the aired version. Notably, the power pods are always referred to as "eggs" in the original, drawing a parallel to Jackie's FramingDevice where she makes breakfast on Earth. |
| 365 | ** The portal sequence was redone between the original and aired versions to have it look more like the one used in other episodes. |
| 366 | ** Motherboard looked completely different in the original version, more like a sine wave with floating blue eyes. The aired version uses her final design. |
| 367 | ** New scrolling sequences were added in the aired version, possibly to compensate for time lost when certain scenes were removed. |
| 368 | ** Since Digit was added later in the show's production, he doesn't appear in either version. However, the aired version has Inez mentioning his absence. |
| 369 | ** Certain scenes were digitally redone in the aired version. |
| 370 | * PlanetOfHats: Most of the Cybersites the kids visit are based around one specific theme. Perhaps {{justified|Trope}} in that they're based somewhat off websites. |
| 371 | * PollyWantsAMicrophone: Digit, although not specifically a parrot[[note]][[ActorAllusion Funny, considering]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} his voice actor's past role]][[/note]], is an avian who can perfectly mimic anyone he hears. |
| 372 | * PowerCrystal: A number of mystical energy crystals serve as {{Plot Device}}s in several episodes and story arcs. |
| 373 | ** The Crystal of Kalamoor. |
| 374 | ** The Prism of Penguia. |
| 375 | * ThePowerOfFriendship: The [=CyberSquad=] always beat Hacker with their teamwork. |
| 376 | * ThePowerOfTheSun: Planning to bring his robot monster, Gigabyte, back to life in "A Perfect Fit", Hacker tries to harness a special alignment of the cybersun atop the Giant Pyramid of Petaluma. |
| 377 | * PunnyName: For starters, we have the [[TheWildWest Wild West]]-themed town of Sensible Flats. The people are sensible and the land is flat, but the phrase "sensible flats" usually refers to women's shoes (i.e. the opposite of impractical high-heels). |
| 378 | * PuttingOnMyThinkingCap: Jackie paces, Inez does a headstand, and Matt plays with his yo-yo. |
| 379 | * PutOnABus: Dr. Marbles was extremely prominent in the first three seasons, but he's only appeared twice since then. The common explanation is that he's in hiding, trying to develop a cure for Motherboard under the radar, and it's always a special event when the heroes or villains find him. In "The Cyberchase Movie," he's been gone long enough to grow a beard. |
| 380 | * PyramidPower: There are powerful beings, artifacts, and rituals surrounding the [[BuildLikeAnEgyptian Egyptian-style]] pyramids of Pyramidia and the Mesoamerican-style step pyramids on Jimaya. |
| 381 | * QuicksandSucks: Cyber-quicksand appears in several episodes exhibiting this property, and even has version numbers indicating how fast it sucks. |
| 382 | * RaceAgainstTheClock: In nearly every episode, the kids have a limited time to stop Hacker. |
| 383 | * RaisedHandOfSurvival: In "Lost My Marbles", Hacker is buried under a pile of rocks along with his henchmen. However, once the main characters make their escape, Hacker's hand rises out of the rocks before cutting to the next scene. |
| 384 | * RecycledInSpace: ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot''… '''WITH EDUCATION!''' |
| 385 | * RememberTheNewGuy: Wanda in "Designing Mr. Perfect." While Wicked's wand has been around for as long as Wicked, it hasn't been shown as a sentient being before. However, everyone seems to be aware of this and know her by name with no introductions necessary. |
| 386 | * ReversePsychology: In an episode where the trio has to beat Hacker in a GameOfNim, the kids have figured out that they can get a guaranteed win if they go first and make the right moves but they know that Hacker will refuse if they ask to go first. So they tell Hacker to go first, which succeeds in making Hacker grow suspicious and insist that they go first instead to which they cheerfully agree. |
| 387 | * RiddlingSphinx: One of the characters with a clue to the Universal Vortex Opener's location in "A Fraction of a Chance". Naturally, the Sphinx is found on [[BuildLikeAnEgyptian cybersite Pyramidia]]. [[EnemyMine Digit and Wicked]] must figure out how many sand cones to feed it. |
| 388 | * RightOutOfMyClothes: In "Less Than Zero", Hacker loses his clothes and wig as a result of his chair spinning way too fast which the mechanic was trying to get it fixed. |
| 389 | * RoadSignReversal: Hacker [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat stops to cheat]] in this way during "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E5TheCreechWhoWouldBeCrowned The Creech Who Would Be Crowned]]". It doesn't work on Creech, since she's already worried about [[WrongTurnAtAlbuquerque taking a wrong turn]] after her last race. |
| 390 | * RobotMe: Hacker makes a robot clone of an old schoolmate, Max, to crash the Father's Day parade in his honor and ruin Max's reputation. |
| 391 | * RoleSwapPlot: |
| 392 | ** In "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Trading Places]]", Buzz and Delete become smart and take Hacker's place as the episode's villains. |
| 393 | ** In "Raising The Bar", Buzz becomes the boss when Hacker suffers EasyAmnesia and seems to revert to a people-pleasing assistant personality. As Delete is unaffected this time, he hates what his friend has become and works to return things to the status quo. |
| 394 | * ARottenTimeToRevert: In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS4E5MeasureForMeasure Measure for Measure]]", [[BigBad the Hacker]] becomes a giant robot thanks to his transformation machine and tries to lift a castle. However, the [=CyberSquad=] manage to reverse the effect, and the Hacker is reverted to normal while he's still holding the castle, resulting in him being crushed under it - though he survives and vows to return. |
| 395 | * RunningGag: Hacker's wig gel, all of the Earth kids' catchphrases, Wicked's jealousy, Sam Vander Rom and Erica Ram. |
| 396 | ** And most of these eventually get [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]. |
| 397 | * RushmoreRefacement: In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu: Part 2]]", Hacker has made a "Mount Hackermore" out of one of the mountains on cybersite Nowhere. There's a similar gag in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS4E5MeasureForMeasure Measure for Measure]]" where he places a Hacker-headed Sphinx on Pyramidia. |
| 398 | [[/folder]] |
| 399 | |
| 400 | [[folder:Tropes S to T]] |
| 401 | * SeaOfSand: Pyramidia amounts to this when the characters have to stray from the BuildLikeAnEgyptian architecture. |
| 402 | * SecretWord: To find the Universal Vortex Opener in "A Fraction of a Chance", Digit and Wicked use fractions as this. They must solve a riddle using the previous fraction to be given their next hint. |
| 403 | * SeriesContinuityError: |
| 404 | ** "Past Perfect Prediction" reveals that Slider's missing father, Coop [[spoiler:was betrayed by The Hacker and poisoned with magnetite.]] This led him to [[spoiler:flee without telling Slider, while he tried to develop a cure for the magnetite poisoning.]] "[[Recap/CyberchaseS4E5MeasureForMeasure Measure for Measure]]" takes place immediately after the previous episode, right down to The Hacker observing what the kids were saying at the end of the previous episode. In this episode, Slider [[spoiler:is reunited with his father.]] Then in "A Crinkle in Time", somehow puts the story back to before "Past Perfect Prediction". Slider is alone again and he doesn't know what happened to his father. The Hacker even suggests that he had something to do with Coop's disappearance and that Slider has reason to suspect him. |
| 405 | ** "Hacker Hugs a Tree" is a glaring contradiction to how Hacker's exile was presented in previous material. Where previous flashbacks had him launched away in a cyberpod, with Digit secretly in tow, Hacker is here shown to reach the Northern Frontier alone by portal. Season 12 also introduces Harmony, Hacker's niece, and Bridget, Digit's cousin. They imply that unmentioned relatives were created alongside Hacker and Digit, something never suggested before. |
| 406 | * SeriesGoal: Cure Motherboard's virus; fend Hacker off in the meantime. Stymied in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu]]" when [[spoiler:Hacker sabotages the Encryptor Chip, the main cure the heroes were vying to find, though other options remain]]. |
| 407 | * SequelEpisode: |
| 408 | ** "A Perfect Fit" gives Hacker a once-in-a-year opportunity to bring [[FrankensteinsMonster Gigabyte]] to life, after a similar plan failed in "Castleblanca". |
| 409 | ** "On the Line" squeezes another episode out of the previous season's ''Hacker's Transformatron'' StoryArc. |
| 410 | * SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: |
| 411 | ** Inez is about as sesquipedalian as a nine-year-old can get. |
| 412 | ** Creech can get like this too. In fact, it's how they met in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E5TheCreechWhoWouldBeCrowned The Creech Who Would Be Crowned]]". Matt and Jackie decided to make fun of Inez's vocabulary which led to her quitting the [=CyberSquad=] temporarily and working with Creech for most of Creech's introduction episode. |
| 413 | ** Buzz and Delete in "Trading Places" when they're made extra-smart. |
| 414 | * TheShangriLa: Literally appears as a Cybersite, complete with the unflappable, all-knowing [[OldMaster Master Pi]]. There are also [[DragonsUpTheYinYang dragons]]. ''Lots'' of dragons. |
| 415 | * ShesNotMyGirlfriend: In Shari's introduction episode, she refers to Inez and Jackie as Matt's girlfriends. He's quick to say that no; no they're not. |
| 416 | * ShoutOut: |
| 417 | ** In the first episode, when Motherboard introduces herself to the kids, Inez responds with, "Right, and I'm Series/XenaWarriorPrincess." Also, in the same episode, the kids end up on an island, and Matt doesn't know where to go. Inez asks if someone will please just [[Series/{{Survivor}} vote her off this island]]. Jackie replies, telling Inez not to worry because they have a way to survive. |
| 418 | ** Swipe is reported to have stolen the ram from King Ramalamadingdong and the dip from Queen Dipdedipdedip, both references to "Who Put the Bomp" by Barry Mann. |
| 419 | ** Mr. Zero laments that people think he is a [[Music/TheBeatles nowhere man]]. |
| 420 | ** In "Hugs and Witches" Digit exclaims that the world he and the [=CyberSquad=] are currently on is scary and that he keeps waiting for [[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]] to show up. |
| 421 | -->'''Inez''': Uh, they were the [[ItWasHisSled same person]], Didge. |
| 422 | ** The title cybersite of "Castleblanca", as well as Motherboard's statement "Here's lookin' at you, kids" is a ShoutOut to ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''. |
| 423 | ** In the episode "Send in the Clones", Hacker tells Delete's clones to [[Literature/BookOfGenesis go forth and multiply]]. |
| 424 | ** [[Literature/HarryPotter Shari Spotter and Professor Stumblesnore]]; also the episode title "[[Recap/CyberchaseS2E3HarrietHippoAndTheMeanGreen Harriet Hippo & the Mean Green]]". |
| 425 | ** Ada Lovelace → Lady Ada Byron Lovelace |
| 426 | ** [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings "The Borg of the Ring"]] |
| 427 | ** In "[[Recap/CyberchaseS1E7ThePoddlevilleCase The Poddleville Case]]", Jackie remarks that Poddleville looks like "[[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons Jane Jetson]] meets Martha Stewart." |
| 428 | * ShorterMeansSmarter: Inez is TheSmartGuy of the three main characters and the smallest (but [[TheNapoleon she doesn't like being reminded of that]]), although all of them are smart. Buzz is shorter and smarter than Delete, although both of them… not so much. |
| 429 | * SixthRanger: Slider, who appears occasionally with the others. |
| 430 | * SkateHeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth: And it's named Radopolis. …And it's [[{{Cyberspace}} not literally on Earth]], but still. |
| 431 | * SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Falls firmly on the idealistic side, with occasional forays into cynic territory for about 5 minutes. |
| 432 | * SlowDoors: Featured in the Tomb of Rom in "Clock Like An Egyptian". Thanks to building a timekeeping device, the [=CyberSquad=] gets through them just in time. |
| 433 | * TheSlowPath: In "Hugs & Witches", Hacker traps Lady Ada Lovelace and Dr. Marbles inside her time machine, which is operated from the outside and set to travel to the beginning of time. The [=CyberSquad=] turns things around on Buzz and Delete, who are implied to have to wait out returning to the present. |
| 434 | * SpeakInUnison: In "A Broom of One's Own", Wicked's {{brainwashed}} army says "Wicked is our leader, we do what she says" in unison very often. |
| 435 | * SpellMyNameWithAThe: "That's [='=]''The'' Hacker[='=] to you!" Serves as one of the page quotes. Digit, having worked for Hacker, seems to sometimes still include the "The" by habit. |
| 436 | * SpellingSong: The last line of the theme song spells one half of the word "Cyberchase". |
| 437 | -->''The chase is on! Let's wait/And C-Y-B-E-R-chase!'' |
| 438 | * SpotTheImposter: In "Secrets of Symmetria", Digit's Hacker disguise thoroughly fools Buzz and Delete. When Hacker himself shows up, the bots are in a position to decide who the fake is. |
| 439 | * StatusQuoIsGod: |
| 440 | ** Try as they might, the [=CyberSquad=] are never able to get the cure for Motherboard's virus, which is a necessary PlotDevice to keep the show going. The debilitating effects of the virus were the reason that Motherboard had to recruit the [=CyberSquad=] to help her; and if Motherboard got cured, then she wouldn't need to summon her "Earthlies" to Cyberspace anymore. Although they're increasingly shown already being in Cyberspace for recreation, and uncovering Hacker's scheme by coincidence. |
| 441 | ** Immediately after major events (like Hacker taking control from Motherboard for a time), everything goes straight back to the kids foiling Hacker's plans. |
| 442 | ** In addition, Hacker's been the recipient of any number of misfortunes following the destruction of his plans - he's suffered potent viruses, been blasted off into Cyberspace, even bewitched good by Wicked - yet at the beginning of each new episode, he's somehow exactly back to normal. |
| 443 | * SteppingOutToReact: In "Castleblanca", Hacker's henchmen Buzz and Delete had broken a mirror to use moonlight to power a machine to transfer Dr. Marble's mind into his monster Gegabite. He goes into another room, closes the door behind him and screams in frustration. |
| 444 | * StockAudioClip: |
| 445 | ** A clip of Hacker screaming ("YAAAAHHHH!") is used several times in the early seasons. |
| 446 | ** Inez's gasp. It is even used in the introduction segment before the show's funding credits. |
| 447 | ** Inez's giggle from "[[Recap/CyberchaseS1E3RFairCity R-Fair City]]" (when catching Hacker trying to cheat at a carnival game) is re-used in several subsequent episodes. |
| 448 | ** Delete's distinctive laugh from "[[Recap/CyberchaseS1E4SnowDayToBeExact Snow Day to Be Exact]]" is reused several times in the first five seasons (although it's occasionally still used on later episodes after season 5). |
| 449 | ** In "A Battle of Equals", a glitched Motherboard speaks only in scattered words sampled from dialogue from other episodes ("Hacker alert! Find... Find... Find..."). |
| 450 | ** Several characters have small grunts and laughs that are frequently re-used. It's particularly obvious with Buzz for a few seasons after his voice actor changed, but his stock audio didn't. |
| 451 | * StoryArc: Uniquely for an EdutainmentShow, there are many: |
| 452 | ** The initial arc involved the kids trying to retrieve [[MacGuffin a new and rare Encryptor Chip]] (a device of Motherboard's destroyed by Hacker's virus, that would enable her to completely recover), culminating in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E9AndS3E10TheSnelfuSnafu The Snelfu Snafu]]" two-parter. Since it spanned the entirety of the show's first Nelvana/WNET run, it can be considered a MythArc. |
| 453 | ** The second story arc in seasons four and five involved Hacker using a [[TransformationRay Transformatron]] built by him and Coop and searching for its power source, the Network Interface Card (or NIC for short) and the kids trying to keep it away from him. |
| 454 | ** The third and current story arc starting around season eight focuses on Hacker trying to reverse his [[VillainDecay decayed villain]] image after years of being defeated by the [=CyberSquad=], and newer villains, like Ledge and The Zusk, trying to usurp Hacker's spot as the top villain in Cyberspace. |
| 455 | * StrawmanPolitical: In-universe; Matt tries this when Hacker goes up for election in "True Colors". It doesn't end too well. |
| 456 | * SummonEverymanHero: Three Earth kids sent InsideTheInternet. |
| 457 | * SurroundedByIdiots: Hacker to Buzz and Delete. ''Constantly.'' |
| 458 | * TeamPet: Digit to a certain extent as a cybird, although he also often serves as TheLancer and TheHeart to the kids. |
| 459 | * TeleporterAccident: In "Be Reasonable", Hacker and the bots are ejected from the Cybrary by teleporter pad. Unlike when the [=CyberSquad=] traveled by one, it doesn't work quite right. Their physical features are shuffled between them. |
| 460 | -->'''Hacker:''' It can't be! I'm a duncebucket! |
| 461 | * TemptingFate: From "Return to Sensible Flats": |
| 462 | -->'''Buzz:''' Hey, Boss! An angry mob is coming this way fast!\ |
| 463 | '''Hacker:''' Relax, you neurotic numbskull! It would take a herd of wild buffalo to knock down that gate!\ |
| 464 | ''(A herd of wild buffalo knock down the gate)''\ |
| 465 | '''Delete:''' Did you say "buffalo", boss?\ |
| 466 | '''Hacker:''' [[PreemptiveShutUp Zip it.]] |
| 467 | * ThickLineAnimation: It was a show made in the early 2000s, so it’s bound to be this. |
| 468 | * ThreadsOfFate: In "Zeus on the Loose", the [=CyberSquad=] meet the three fates of Greek myth. One of the fates cuts a string [[NeverSayDie when someone's time is up]]. |
| 469 | * TimeMachine: |
| 470 | ** In "Hugs & Witches", Hacker traps Lady Ada Lovelace and Dr. Marbles in Lovelace's time machine, which is set to return to the beginning of time. The [=CyberSquad=] steps in to free them, and Buzz and Delete end up trapped inside once the countdown finishes. |
| 471 | ** In "Back to Canalia's Future", ChildProdigy Pearl invents one to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the water levels are going down in [[CityOfCanals Canalia]]. Hacker steals it but can't manage to travel to the time he wants. He returns to the present and tries to bring the machine to the ''Grim Wreaker'', giving the [=CyberSquad=] a chance to retrieve Pearl's time machine. |
| 472 | * TitleThemeTune: The theme song is bookended with the show's name, in spoken and half-[[SpellingSong spelled]] form: "The chase is on! Just wait and C-Y-B-E-R-chase!" |
| 473 | ** The Spanish dub pushes this even further. The second verse seems to run out of lyrics and resort to restating the show's name. |
| 474 | --->Aqui vamos, Cyberchase / Estamos por entrar / Juntos hasta el final / [[BrokenRecord Ya llega Cyberchase / ¡Preparense! Pues sí / ¡Ya comienza Cyberchase!]][[labelnote:translation]]Here we go, Cyberchase / We're about to enter / Together until the end / Cyberchase is coming / Get ready! Indeed / Cyberchase is starting![[/labelnote]] |
| 475 | * TokenTrio: Matt, Jackie, and Inez, although it subverts the typical example by having two girls and Matt being the only white character. |
| 476 | * TotallyRadical: Radopolis's [[PlanetOfHats hat]]. |
| 477 | ** More. If you read the kids' profiles Matt's favorite music is "anything by Music/WillSmith". Seriously? |
| 478 | ** Basically, this show is from the early 2000s ''[[UnintentionalPeriodPiece and it shows]]''. |
| 479 | * TrademarkFavoriteFood: Donuts for Buzz. |
| 480 | * ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: When Hacker seizes control of Radopolis, Matt steps in and strikes a deal with Hacker that if they beat him in a skateboard competition, he'll be forced to leave. If he wins, the [=CyberSquad=] must never return to Cyberspace. ''Matt accepts the deal'', much to the horror of the others. It isn't until they come dangerously close to losing and Hacker demands that ''Inez be made his cheerleader'' that he realizes how foolish his actions were. |
| 481 | * TraumaButtonEnding: The kids are scared by Hacker's [[MakeMyMonsterGrow growing]] toy frog in "[[HalloweenEpisode Trick or Treat]]", and end up running from a kid in a frog costume once back home. |
| 482 | * TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: Dr. Marbles built Hacker, who turned against Motherboard and him. Ironically, Hacker built Digit, who turned against him for Motherboard and Marbles. Widget breaks this cycle. |
| 483 | * TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Jackie and Inez to Matt. |
| 484 | [[/folder]] |
| 485 | |
| 486 | [[folder:Tropes U to Z]] |
| 487 | * UltimateJobSecurity: Motherboard and Dr. Marbles. Hacker once tried to beat Motherboard in an election, but failed. |
| 488 | * UnderTheSea: Aquari-Yum is a giant fishbowl filled with [[LevelAte food-shaped]] landmarks. Later cybersites like Mermaidos and Coralina involve underwater exploration, but they also have land, whereas Aquari-Yum is fully submerged. |
| 489 | * UnholyMatrimony: Wicked and Hacker are like this when they aren't fed up with each other. |
| 490 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: In the very first episode, "Lost Your Marbles", we learn that it was the kids' attempt to use a library map that allowed Hacker to breach Motherboard's defenses. |
| 491 | * UpTheRealRabbitHole: Even cybercitizens will call the universe containing Earth "the real world", with Delete in "Secrets of Symmetria" being one such example. |
| 492 | * VetinariJobSecurity: The reason why Motherboard needs Doctor Marbles so badly? He's the only one that can fix her, providing the UltimateJobSecurity. Not that this prevents him from being PutOnABus… |
| 493 | ** In "Out of Sync", the Beast (the drum player from one of the best bands on Mount Olympus) was kidnapped and convinced by Hacker that he'd be better appreciated as a solo act. The rest of the team was already thinking of dumping him, as they didn't think that he added anything to the band. Turned out, he was the most important member, since he seems to be the only one who can keep the rhythm and who plays on every beat (the day's lesson). Without him, the music was awful. The drummer is eventually convinced to come back and he reunites with his bandmates, who finally realize how important he is. |
| 494 | * VillainDecay: Hacker used to be a GadgeteerGenius who committed some grand crime OncePerEpisode. After the show ran for so many years and had the kids defeat Hacker so many times, this was eventually heavily lampshaded. As of Season 8, Hacker is trying to renew his evil image because no one in Cyberspace is afraid of him anymore. The StoryArc involves a humanoid borg named Ledge trying to outsmart him as a villain; Ledge being Hacker's former fan until becoming disillusioned when Hacker dismissed him for his failure. |
| 495 | * TheWallsAreClosingIn: Happens a few times, most notably inside the Hacker statue in “Fortress of Attitude”. |
| 496 | * WeirdCurrency: The "Trading Places" episode has ''donuts'' being used as currency to trade ship parts with. |
| 497 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In "Eureeka", an episode halfway through Season 1, Professor Archimedes finishes building a replacement Encryptor Chip. After it is lost, Archimedes only reappears in "Starlight Night", and his knowledge of the Encryptor Chip never comes up again, with Dr. Marbles being treated as the only one who can restore the chip. |
| 498 | * TheWildWest: Sensible Flats is based on an Old West town. Hacker seems partial to the place, and wins a plot of land there to use as a secondary base of operations. |
| 499 | * WilyWalrus: Walter is a crafty prankster walrus who guards the Ice Palace. He stalls the marching penguins and refuses to let them enter unless [[OnlySmartPeopleMayPass they solve a problem]]. |
| 500 | * WithAFriendAndAStranger: Downplayed; the kids all met each other before entering Cyberspace, [[JumpedAtTheCall although literally only a few minutes beforehand]]. Digit is a stranger to them all at the beginning, however. |
| 501 | * WoundedGazelleGambit: Delete uses one to convince the [=CyberSquad=] to come to the Northern Frontier so Hacker can trap them. While it's used to set up Delete's acting skills, [[SubvertedSuspicionAesop Digit knows the bot too well to believe the gambit]], and gets in an "[[IWarnedYou I told you this would happen!]]" once [[YouCantThwartStageOne the trap]] is [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption sprung]]. |
| 502 | * WrongTurnAtAlbuquerque: Cost Creech an [[TheBigRace important race]] in her backstory in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E5TheCreechWhoWouldBeCrowned The Creech Who Would Be Crowned]]". |
| 503 | * YouCantGoHomeAgain: Discussed in "[[Recap/CyberchaseS11E1WattsOfHalloweenTrouble Watts of Halloween Trouble]]" when it looks like the frozen portal system has trapped the Earthlies in Cyberspace. |
| 504 | * YouMeanXmas: "[[Recap/CyberchaseS3E12StarlightNight Starlight Night]]" seems to combine elements of Christmas (gift-giving and caroling) and New Year's Eve (relighting the stars of Cyberspace in a fashion similar to the countdown to the midnight balldrop in Times Square). [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with "[[Recap/CyberchaseS4E10ATikivilleTurkeyDay A Tikiville Turkey Day]]", where despite the title, the holiday is exclusively called Thanksgiving within the episode. |
| 505 | * YoungerThanTheyLook: When the [=CyberSquad=] finds Coop, they discover this trope applies since he was time warped from magnetite exposure. At first, Slider refuses to believe the old man in front of him is really his father; [[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay fortunately Coop still remembers the secret handshake he and Slider shared before his disappearance]]. |
| 506 | [[/folder]] |
| 507 | |
| 508 | !!Stay right where you are—it's Cybertropes For Real. |
| 509 | * ButtMonkey: Harry. Toned down in the later seasons' sketches. |
| 510 | * CosmeticCatastrophe: In the segment following "A Perfect Score", Bianca accompanies her friend Natalie to a cheerleading audition. Just before the audition, Bianca thinks Natalie's makeup "could look better", and tries to do her entire face just as the audition is starting. Bianca only has enough time to apply an extreme amount of eye shadow and a big smudge of blush on Natalie's left cheek, which is one of several reasons her audition flops. |
| 511 | -->'''Natalie:''' How am I going to get on the squad looking like this?! |
| 512 | -->'''Bianca:''' Well, you could always do something else with your free time. |
| 513 | * CousinOliver: In Season 11, new characters were added: Bianca's nephew, Jaden, and Harry's niece, Courtney. All of the segments featured the adults accompanied, assisted, and educated by the children. In Season 12, Bianca and Harry were dropped from the show entirely, effectively being replaced by Jaden and Courtney, and even younger characters were added alongside them: Jaden's cousin, Kimmie, and Courtney's friend, Alex. In Season 13, all of ''these'' characters were replaced by entirely new children, who have no known relation to Bianca or Harry. Since Season 12, adults are no longer prominently featured in the segments. |
| 514 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The ''For Real'' segment accompanying "[[Recap/CyberchaseS1E7ThePoddlevilleCase The Poddleville Case]]" does not feature either Bianca or Harry, with the presenter instead being an unnamed host portrayed by ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' actor Kareem Blackwell. In lieu of playing a character with a specific everyday problem as was customary for later segments, Kareem instead just gives the audience a straightforward documentary-style tour of the STOMP stage show in New York City. |
| 515 | ** This was supposedly the first ''For Real'' segment filmed, [[TheOtherMarty and neither Bianca nor Harry had been cast at that point]].[[note]]This seems to suggest that the recut version of the "[[Recap/CyberchaseS1E7ThePoddlevilleCase The Poddleville Case]]" was the first episode recorded with the current voice cast for the [=CyberSquad=] and Hacker, since the [[AnachronicOrder canonical first episode]], "Lost My Marbles", prominently features Bianca in its ''For Real'' segment.[[/note]] |
| 516 | * HandOrObjectUnderwear: A rare variant where the character IS wearing underwear, In "Harry Does Lunch" when Harry is asked to return the Captain Pomodoro costume after being fired he runs home in red longjohns covering his crotch with a newspaper (despite the fact that what he's wearing would cover up necessary parts) |
| 517 | * HangingJudge: In "Harry Makes a Mess", Harry [[PowerFantasy imagines]] one sentencing Mr. Sleazé to a fifty-year laundry-cleaning prison sentence, all for [[DisproportionateRetribution reading off a false blanket claim in a stain remover ad]]. The judge's decision is final, even when both parties protest that it will destroy Sleazé's family, and she doesn't let Harry withdraw the charges. Lucky it was a FantasySequence. |
| 518 | * ItsACostumePartyISwear: Harry accidentally does this to himself in the segment following "Codename: Icky". His friend gave him a coded note in a Viking rune cipher, and Harry translated the first part telling about the time, but only translated up to "Co" on the last bit and assumed that the rest meant "Costume Party" based on how long the words were. He arrived at his friend's house dressed in a homemade Viking outfit, only to have his friend correct him saying the note read "Concert Start". |
| 519 | * LotsOfLuggage: One of the segments has Bianca going camping with her friend. The friend mocks her for taking three bags. Bianca says it's nothing, only for the friend to open one bag and remove a sequined party dress. |
| 520 | * NoFourthWall: In contrast to the main show; both Bianca and Harry speak to the viewer directly when explaining their predicaments and devising solutions to them, also providing instructions for viewers on how to find any activities referenced on the official website. |
| 521 | * OneSteveLimit: While ''For Real'' host Bianca [=DeGroat=] goes by her real name, Matthew A. Wilson has his name changed to Harry Wilson instead. This is likely because the animated portion of the show already has a main character named Matt. |
| 522 | * PronouncingMyNameForYou: In one of the segments: |
| 523 | -->'''Mr. Sleaze''': It's... ''Sleazé.'' |
| 524 | * RecursiveCanon: The true plot of the ''Cyberchase: Know Your Dough Marathon'' is that Bianca and Harry are playing fictional versions of themselves that viewers are familiar with. They interact with the director and crew. Harry needs the money from hosting the marathon so he can afford a dinner date in the final episode's ''For Real'' segment… which is in-character and makes no mention of being scripted like the marathon itself. |
| 525 | * SequelHook: At the end of "Keeping it Positive", Harry fails to make the team, but sees a flyer for an astronaut training program. Oddly enough, the segment with the program was a Bianca segment. |
| 526 | * {{Undercrank}}: Fast motion is frequently used in the "For Real" segments, especially in the early seasons. One of many examples is when Bianca measures an entire running track twice to see if the inner and outer lanes are the same distance to the finish line despite having different starting positions. She tires herself out from this and collapses when the actual race starts. |
| 527 | * UpTheRealRabbitHole: ''Cyberchase For Real'' seems to be set in a completely different universe from nearly everything else ''Cyberchase''-related, with any references to the main animated show only made within the context [[RecursiveCanon of it being a fictional series in-universe]]. Numerous episodes see the hosts go to the actual Cyberchase website and print off activity sheets that they encourage the viewer to also check out themself, for example, and in "Bianca's Dogged Pursuit", Matt helps Bianca out… as a lifeless plastic figurine on her ''Cyberchase'' alarm clock. |
| 528 | * WealthyYachtOwner: In "The Dumas Diamond", Harry imagines himself receiving a yacht as a reward for returning the titular lost diamond to its billionaire owner -- and shows up to search for it in a ridiculously over-the-top captain's hat and blazer. |
| 529 | |
| 530 | ---- |
| 531 | ->'''Digit:''' ''See you in Cyberspace!'' |
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