Line #69 WesternAnimation/DragonBooster


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/db.jpg]]
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3	->'''''"[[ByThePowerOfGreyskull RELEASE THE DRAGON]]!"'''''
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5	''Dragon Booster'' (2004-2006) was a Canadian-created show from Creator/NerdCorpsEntertainment (as their first original animated series) that aired on Creator/{{CBC}} in Canada and on both Creator/ToonDisney and [[Creator/{{Freeform}} ABC Family]]'s Jetix block in the U.S.
6
7	The series is about a FarmBoy named Artha Penn who becomes the legendary Dragon Booster, a hero who stopped a war between dragons and humans 3000 years before the present, and Artha must stop another from occurring by riding a dragon against other [[DragonRider Dragon Riders]] in a series of ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal''-style racing combat events. In the way of his quest is the evil Word Paynn, who seeks to cause a new dragon-human war, then dominate whatever happens to be left of the world afterwards.
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9	The show was originally planned for five seasons, but did not get beyond the three that were commissioned due to no more being ordered (probably due to lack of viewership and toys being sold). Nonetheless, the series does have a surprisingly resilient fanbase, although it helps that this was made by former [[Creator/RainmakerEntertainment Mainframe]] workers.
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11	Not to be confused with a certain DiepIo build.
12	----
13	!!This show provides examples of:
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15	* TenMinuteRetirement: In "The Chromatic Dragon", Artha fails to stop the Army of the Dragon from advancing Word Paynn's latest scheme. When Mortis chews him out for this, Artha angrily declares that he's done being the Dragon Booster and storms off to sulk. He changes his mind after stumbling across a recording of the original Dragon Booster and learning that his predecessor had doubts about his own ability to lead.
16	* AbusiveParents: Word, who sends his son on dangerous missions (and lets his crew take the bad image generated by those missions that involve stealing gear/dragons or threatening people). He shows no regard to what happens to his loyal son during Wraith Booster, or the "Return of Drakkus" two-parter where he attacked the Penn team only slightly more than Moordryd and Cain.
17	** Arguably Connor, since he abandoned his sons in the pilot, and was only found out during the Return of Drakkus to be StealthMentor-ing them through the guise of Mortis. One of his kids is ten, and as Mortis he knew what they were getting into. It seemed like a bit of the whole "sacrifices must be made for the greater good" thing.
18	* AllThereInTheManual: A lot of WordOfGod went into the forums when cancellation became imminent, but even before then a lot of stuff about the first war was told since it might not have made it in anyways:
19	** All the different colored crews were different empires 5000 years ago. The Black Empire started the war, but then turned around to help the Dragon Booster end it (Foreshadowing Moordryd's clear eventual HeelFaceTurn).
20	** Everything we know about Artha and Lance's mom and a bit about Zulay (Moordryd's mom) was in an un-aired flashback called "Episode Zero" by the creators.
21	** A fair amount of detail about the Dragon Academy, such as the general layout, the classes, and how it runs is available on [[http://www.dragon-city.org/Dragon_Temple/dragon_booster_academy.htm this website]], which went online before the official cancellation.
22	* AllYourPowersCombined: In "The Chromatic Dragon", Word Paynn uses an artificial bonemark to concentrate the powers of twelve stolen dragons--one from each color of draconium--into one dragon. The result is the titular chromatic dragon, an immensely powerful and misshapen mutant.
23	* AntiVillain: Moordryd Paynn
24	* ArtifactDomination: Bonemarks exert an influence over nearby dragons and humans, compelling them to pick the bonemark up so it can possess them.
25	* ArmoredDragons:
26	** Blue Draconium Gear includes Absorption Armor: aerodynamic flip up plates designed to dampen mag blasts and spread the energy out in such a way that it actually drains more from the attacker.
27	** Red Draconium Gear includes Heat Armour: low-impact, high heat resistant body armour that can deflect reasonable blows but can also resist heat. Heat storing power can be added to be used with venting and speed gear.
28	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Moordryd spends most of the series insulting Cain, barking orders at him, and generally taking him for granted... but when Cain confronts him on just how badly Moordryd has treated him in "Cain's Mutiny", accusing him of keeping secrets and abandoning him, Moordryd trusts him enough to reveal his secret identity as the Shadow Booster. He also assures Cain that if he gets into Dragon Academy, Cain will be coming with him -- that he wouldn't leave him behind. ''Aww!''
29	* BeamOWar: What happens when two opposing mag streams meet.
30	* BrainMonster: The orange dragons of the Prophets crew have large, exposed brains. Fittingly, they have PsychicPowers.
31	* BrokenAesop: In the episode "The Mouth that Roared", a blatant "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" story. Except the boy in question is Lance Penn, who aside from occasionally being immature, is probably one of the most moral characters in the whole series and has ''never'' shown a habit of lying. And he never lies in the episode either, he's telling people about a black-market gear dealer who in fact does exist--it's just that the guy is good at hiding and never shows up when Lance brings people to see (he's even smart enough to call the police the second he finds out!). So, in one episode we get PoliceAreUseless ''and'' [[AdultsAreUseless People Over Ten Are Useless]].
32	** How useless are they? Instead of scoping the area thoroughly for evidence, they just hunker down wherever Lance was hanging out and wait a few minutes. If the guy doesn't show up, the kid must have been lying! despite the fact that one of the racers is using gear that must have come off the black market and this kid says he saw a black market guy, he must be lying!
33	** Though the first big one of the series was in "Pride of the Hero". It starts with Artha's ego yet again getting over-inflated. Then we see Fan-Favorite AntiVillain Moordryd suddenly stopping Wraith Dragons after what looked like a fight with his BigBad father. While we admit it seems a bit abrupt for a HeelFaceTurn, at least Artha's getting called out for the fact that [[WhatTheHellHero the main reason he doesn't trust Moordryd is because he's jealous.]] In order to make a point, and possibly because he sense the good in him, Beau then lets Moordryd get on his back, shocking Artha into admitting that maybe there is good in Moordryd...only for Moordryd to whip out an ArtifactOfDoom and ''spill his whole evil plan.''
34	*** The Aesop gets slightly repaired when Artha gets through to Moordryd, with Artha admitting he was wrong and there is a hero inside Moordryd. The episode ends with Artha telling Moordryd "the dragon chose you too", hinting Moordryd may have a good side... that we don't see much of for another 8 episodes. [[FlatWhat What]].
35	* ByThePowerOfGreyskull: "Release The Dragon!" for Artha Penn/Dragon Booster, "Unleash The Shadow!" for [[spoiler:Moordryd Paynn/Shadow Booster]].
36	** Going by this formula, we probably would have gotten similar catchphrases from the other Boosters once they showed up.
37	* CameraAbuse: The opening sequence ends with Beau roaring with enough force to crack the screen.
38	* TheChosenOne: Artha Penn.
39	** After it is revealed that there are four more Boosters (Shadow, Energy, Power, and Fire), it seems that this extends to Moordryd, Lance (or some new guy if Lance was deemed "too young"), Parm, and Kitt. They're just... slightly less chosen than Artha. See WeAreTeamCannonFodder.
40	* ConflictBall: Typically avoided by the fact that the 12 Down-City crews are implied to have power struggles despite the governing body of The Council of Twelve. However, a lot of them seem weirdly eager to fight even when it's obviously a trap (the only time a semi-convincing argument was made was in "Cain's Mutiny" and even then it seemed weird that the Dragon Flares and Army of the Dragon joined the Shadow Booster within a one-minute speech).
41	** Or not, since Pyyrah and Wulph both undergo HeelFaceRevolvingDoor as necessary for the plot.
42	* ConstructedWorld: Although a lot of it [[AllThereInTheManual didn't make it into the show itself]], there is an amazing amount of worldbuilding regarding the culture and history of Dragon City.
43	* DangerousSixteenthBirthday: The plot kicks off in the pilot because Conner decides that sixteen year old Artha is now old enough to fulfil his destiny as the Dragon Booster.
44	** It's also mentioned that Beau is sixteen as well -- he and Artha actually [[AllThereInTheManual share a birthday]], making this a double hit of the trope.
45	* DefeatMeansFriendship:
46	** Sort of. In the episode it happens, yeah, but some crews, especially the above mentioned Flares and Army, seem to forget it. This was especially jarring since Wulph made one hell of a speech about how his crew values teamwork above all else and Word clearly doesn't protect his own and therefore they cannot work together any more. This is later lampshaded by Kitt who notes that the Army switch sides all the time (no reason was given for the Dragon Flares, though).
47	** Defied by Propheci after his debut episode. Despite letting Artha and company go free as thanks for saving him at the end of "The Track of Doom", he goes right back to his old human-hating ways from that point on.
48	** Played with in the final episode with Artha and Moordryd: Moordryd could beat Artha and was willing to, but his father's insistence on cheating against the already-injured Artha pushed Moordryd into saving Artha so they could tie the match instead.
49	* DelightfulDragon: Beau naturally stands out as this for his loyalty, friendship, and sense of humor. Fracshun and Cyrano get a few comedic moments of their own also.
50	* DesignatedGirlFight: Between Marianis[[note]] Dragon Fish crew leader[[/note]] and Spynn[[note]] Voice of the Dragon crew member[[/note]] whenever a disagreement in the Council of Twelve escalates into an all-out street brawl despite them not having an issue with each other otherwise. Averted with Pyrrah since there aren't any other [[SmurfettePrinciple female crew members]] for her to fight.[[note]]Female crew members are shown in the meetings but seemingly don't take part in the fighting.[[/note]]
51	* {{Dracolich}}: The grey bone dragon Libris certainly looks the part, being a giant skeletal dragon who's been around for thousands of years. Whether it's truly undead or a living creature is never explained.
52	* DraconicAbomination: The Muhorta is a vampiric dragon that's been alive since the original Dragon-Human War. While the creature's body is never seen in full, its visible parts show it to be very different from any other dragon in the series, having four eyes, NestedMouths, and multiple energy-draining, cephalopod-like tentacles.
53	* DragonRider: Not the winged flying kind -- the racing kind.
54	* DragonTamer: Artha Penn's father Connor is a dragon breeder. He bred and raised Beau, the first golden dragon in years. He also bred and raised Chute's dragon Turbulence.
55	* DragonVarietyPack: The series has a variety of dragon types, each one correlating with a specific draconium color. For example, magma-class dragons are red draconium, energy-class dragons are blue draconiums and bull-class dragons are green draconium.
56	* DramaticIrony: In episode 6, Word Paynn decides to counter the Dragon Booster by creating a wraith dragon powerful enough to defeat the gold dragon of legend. And what dragon does he choose to be this new wraith? Why, Beau[[note]] In his untransformed red-and-blue form[[/note]] of course.
57	* EngineeredHeroics: In one episode, Moordryd uses a stolen wraith dragon controller to stage attacks throughout Down City. He then makes a show of driving off the attacking wraith dragons so that the people he "saves" will spread word of his heroism and improve his reputation.
58	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Moordryd becomes a good poster-boy for this later. He's horrified by his father's plan in "Wraith Booster" once he see what it really does, gets mad at Arrmeggadonn for calling his best friend Cain a nobody, and while he was willing to take advanatge of Artha's injuries to win at Drag Ball, he refused to let his father use a wraith dragon to cheat against him.
59	* EverybodyLaughsEnding: The show is quite fond of ending most episodes this way, capping off the events with a lesson and a joke or slapstick gag.
60	* FalseFlagOperation: In one episode, Moordryd has one of his goons rob a bank while dressed as a member of the Grip of the Dragon crew. He does this to discredit the Grip's leader, Phistus, so Moordryd can challenge him for leadership of the Down City Council.
61	* FantasticRacism: This crops up between humans and dragons sometimes, one episode even worked to reveal and remedy the human heroes' own racism towards dragons.
62	* FauxActionGirl: Kitt, touted as being the best racer in Dragon City, falls by the wayside as the series goes on.
63	** Pyyrah was never really touted as this, but as the first female crew leader viewers met, something was to be expected. She just was there as a convenient HeelFaceRevolvingDoor (mostly heel by the third season).
64	** Chute and Marianis only really avoided this because they were only important in one episode each and ignored after.
65	** Marianis showed up to fight in the [[LivingProp background,]] and seemed to do a good job with it.
66	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
67	** In "The Horn of Libris" Beau draws Red, Blue, Green, and Black energy (aka the four empires that helped the original Dragon Booster end the first war) from Kitt, Lance, Parm, and Moordryd. As soon as people knew there was a Black amulet, the existence of extra Boosters was a given (even though the names were only confirmed later and only Moordryd became one pre-cancelation).
68	** The series has been dropping some not-quite-subtle hints about the Black Draconium empire (and Moordryd in particular) pulling a HeelFaceTurn and working with the Dragon Booster for the greater good.
69	*** Again, "The Horn of Libris" is the first episode to reveal that Black is one of the draconium colors of balance alongside Gold, Red, Green, and Blue, and Moordryd's dragon Decepshun willingly gives her Mag energy to help Beau and the Penn Racing Crew's dragons stop the gray dragon Libris's rampage.
70	*** The episode "Pride of the Hero" is full of these: Artha jumps onto ''Decepshun'' of all dragons and directs her to follow a bonemark-possessed Beau and Moordryd back to Word's citadel. She does so without any protest beyond a slight QuizzicalTilt. In direct contrast to this, just minutes before this Beau has willingly allowed Moordryd to climb onto him. Even Moordryd himself is taken aback by this, although he quickly subverts it by hijacking Beau with the Furox bonemark. After Artha manages to talk both of them down, the episode ends with Moordryd considering that Beau willingly chose him and Artha, having recovered Beau, acknowledging that "there's a hero in everyone", maybe even Moordryd. Even before all of this, Word sarcastically yells that Moordryd "might as well be helping him [Dragon Booster]" while railing at Moordryd over losing that episode's race and his other recent failures.
71	*** And then there's "The Wraith Booster", where both Artha and Beau have been successfully turned into wraiths and are immobilizing everyone in their path. After seeing that not even [[JustAKid Lance]] was able to escape this, Moordryd finally says enough is enough and successfully undoes the influence of his father's wraith gear on the two heroes.
72	** "Prophet's Motive" is the first episode to demonstrate the ancient Mag Pulse, Mag Claw, and other such techniques which call for a dragon to channel Mag energy through its human rider to wield. In this case, Mortis was being forced to do this as Propheci's puppet, so it isn't until "The Return of Drakkus" two-parter that we're shown that it could be willingly learned and performed.
73	* FreakyFridayFlip: Happens to Artha and Beau in the episode "Changelings".
74	* FutureSlang: A little. "Drac" mean cool and "scales" seemed to be a stand in for most swear words. Also, money was "drakkals" and distance was measured in "drakometers".
75	** Characters also have a habit of adding the word "dragon" to common sayings. "More than meets the dragon eye" and "wrong side of the dragon tracks" are two of the most memorable examples.
76	* HandSignals: Wulff gives orders to his subordinates through hand signals, giving them an edge over their opponents.
77	* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: '''Pyyrah.''' She was introduced as nice and friendly (face) and was mind-controlled into being aggressive and mean (heel via MindControl). While sometimes shown to be reasonable and support the protagonists, she still tricked Kitt to get the Furox (season 1), was always swayed by Word's promises, and in every major ConflictBall fight within the Down City Council, she was always on the "wrong" side (thought by her last appearance in "Cain's Mutiny" she and the council all made nice... somehow).
78	** In every episode bar one [[note]]"Prophet's Motive" --they stood by the heroes the entire time[[/note]], The Army Of The Dragon crew seems to always find themselves jumping at the chance to join the wrong side whenever the opportunity arises, despite being convinced to go back to the side of good by the episode's end. It even gets lampshaded by Kitt in "Cain's Mutiny" when she comments ''[[HereWeGoAgain "Oh look. Once again the Army of the Dragon has switched sides."]]'' and sounds more irritated than shocked.
79	* HorseOfADifferentColor: The dragons of the series are basically reptillian riding horses though some are more raptor like and others are bull like.
80	* HowDoIShootWeb: Artha in "The Changelings", gets trapped in Beau's body and has a hard time trying to figure out how to mag gear, Beau(in Artha's body), etc.
81	* HumansAreBastards: According to the ''[[AllThereInTheManual History of Draconis]]'', the reason the first Dragon-Human War began was that the dragons of all 12 Draconium Empires, after centuries of fighting each other for their human masters'/allies' campaigns of conquest, realized that they were simply being used as beasts of war and revolted. While the original Dragon Booster was able to reestablish peace and unity between dragons and humans, there are still some, like Word Paynn, and Propheci and the Orange Prophets Crew [[note]] the dragons (and not all of them), not their riders[[/note]], who remain bitter enough about it to implicitly attempt to start a second war in which dragons will emerge the undisputed victors.
82	* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Moordryd has a successful one with a brainwashed Dragon Booster... despite ''not actually knowing who the Dragon Booster is''. Bravo.
83	** Artha had two earlier ones with Beau when Beau was brainwashed.
84	* IdiotBall:
85	** Sadly common, usually so Artha can look more heroic and less ThisLoserIsYou. Memorable ones are "Three Times a Hero" (scheduling conflict), "The Stand" (taking free gear from a shady new corporation when your BigBad is a gear maker), and "The Mouth That Roared" (was there seriously that little reason to trust Lance?)
86	** Word Paynn of all people grabs it in "No Paynn, No Gain". He plants and tries to remotely detonate a Black Mine pod that he's loaded with highly toxic dragonsbane in the Penn Crew's tent. When it doesn't go off, Word, apparently having not ever watched the Dragon Booster universe's equivalent of ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadrunner'', goes to inspect it. Sure enough, the bane-laced pod picks that moment to detonate and infects him.
87	* InnocentlyInsensitive: Artha in "Misjudged", when he angrily asks his dragball partner, Kawake, why he didn't block a winning shot from Moordryd and Cain only for Kawake to reveal that he is a paraplegic. Kitt's lampshading doesn't help Artha feel any better about it, either.
88	--> '''Kitt:''' [[OpenMouthInsertFoot Open mouth, insert dragon-sized foot.]]
89	--> '''Artha:''' You can say that again.
90	--> '''Kitt:''' Open mou--
91	--> '''Artha:''' Kitt, please don't.
92	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Moordryd, which is why he's the Ensemble Darkhorse... it's just that the heart of gold part only comes out when he doesn't need to be the episode's villain.
93	* JustAKid: With Lance it's usually averted unless it's needed for the plot, despite the fact that in all the other episodes he's going around with the group. Ironically the best known use of this phrase in regards to Lance came from [[AntiVillain Moordryd]].
94	* LandOfOneCity: No other cities besides Dragon City are ever mentioned in the show, even off-handedly. Parm's non-standard accent (British, in comparison to most of the cast's American) seemed to indicate that he wasn't from Dragon City originally, but the topic was never brought up in-universe.
95	** This was supposed to be averted in the Dragon Academy series -- WordOfGod says that they would have showcased other cities, including the one Parm was originally from.
96	* LayeredMetropolis: And how. Dragon City is comprised of seven layers; (from lowest level to highest) Old City, Down City, Work Town, Shadow Town, Precinct, Mid City, and Sun City. Although the lowest level was abandoned (see the UnderCity entry below), every other level is inhabited. It is implied that the lower levels are associated with a lower socio-economic status, whereas Mid City can be seen as middle and upper-middle class, while Sun City is home to upscale establishments and wealthy inhabitants. Kitt grew up among the street crews in Down City, while Artha and Lance have always lived with their father in Mid City, and it can be assumed that Moordryd lives with his father in Sun City.
97	* LovableCoward:
98	** Cain flits between this and DirtyCoward. He's not very brave, but allows Moordryd to drag him into danger out of loyalty (by episode 27, it's confirmed that they are best friends, and both acknowledge it). He is often the last person to abandon Moordryd, and usually only does so in situations that show the entire crew outside of Moordryd running or for a gag. Made even funnier since he's the most physically intimidating member of the Dragon Eyes, especially in comparison to Moordryd, who almost pushes WaifFu when he fights.
99	** Parm, often being the OnlySaneMan as well as a CowardlyLion, tends to be the cautious one on the Penn Racing Crew and is often the first to suggest when/that Artha should back down from or vacate a dangerous situation. Inevitably, Artha chooses to forge onward with Parm simply sighing and following along and as one might expect, this leads to several IWarnedYou situations after Parm has pulled Artha's butt out of the fire. Still, Parm would never dream of abandoning his best friend.
100	* LovesMyAlterEgo: During early episodes, it was implied that Artha had a crush on Kitt, who admired the Dragon Booster after being rescued by him, possibly leading to this trope. However, she learned his secret in "Fanning the Flames" and any romance subplots were dropped and failed to resurface in the episodes since.
101	* MarkOfTheSupernatural: People possessed by a bonemark develop GlowingEyesOfDoom with black sclera and gain tattoo-like markings across their faces. In "The Rules of Power", Parmon's entire body turns blue, clothes and all, while he's possessed by the Samurox bonemark. Dragons, in addition to the above, gain TronLines and tend to grow spikes or longer teeth while under a bonemark's thrall.
102	* MookHorrorShow: Parodied in "Three Times a Hero", where Moordryd kidnaps Kitt and holds her hostage to bait a trap for the Dragon Booster. The compound is then infiltrated by ''three'' Dragon Boosters: Artha, and Lance and Parmon wearing a pair of shoddy knockoff Dragon Booster suits. As the three of them stumble around trying to mount a rescue, their antics convince an increasingly horrified Moordryd and Cain that the Dragon Booster is an inhuman monster who can appear in multiple places at once, survive decapitation, and even detach his own hands to throw them at people.
103	* MookLieutenant: Cain (he answers to [[TheDragon Moordyrd]], who answers to [[BigBad Word]]).
104	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: While it did not happen in show due to cancellation, fans on the official forum all agreed that they explicitly ''did not'' want Moordryd's obviously-going-to-happen HeelFaceTurn to include a situation where he said "What have I done" in any way shape or form. Since the series was ScrewedByTheNetwork, we'll never know, but he seemed to be shaping up to be able to do without it.
105	** Ironically stated by Artha in the episode "Faster than Fear" when [[spoiler:he succumbs to the Shadow Track's illusions.]]
106	* MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours: Artha and Mordred are learning the mag claw techniques and use them to compete against each other
107	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: What ''are'' Artha's powers again?
108	** [[InvincibleHero Winning, mainly]].
109	** Gets lessened once Artha begins to release the human, training in mag claw.
110	** But then he and Moordryd are overpowered, and they just pull mag claw techniques out of nowhere instead or random ones.
111	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Oh where do we even begin with Artha?
112	** [[RhetoricalQuestionBlunder His pride off-putting possible allies (including Kitt at first) and/or getting him into traps]], scheduling three meeting for the Dragon Booster at once (well, two for the Booster and one or himself), turning his own allies against him ("Fanning the Flames", "Misjudged", "Pride of the Hero", "Artha the Drac" and "Slithercorp", respectively), being TooDumbToLive rather often...
113	* OddNameOut: Of the five main characters, we have Artha, Kitt, Parmon, Moordryd, and... Lance.
114	** It fits with the ThemeNaming with Artha and Moordryd, but just the fact that it's spelled normal can be considered weird.
115	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Beau. His real name is Beaucephalis.
116	* OpeningNarration: The TitleSequence has Word Paynn monologue about the relationship between humans and dragons, hint at his own ambitions of taking over the world, and introduce the one person who can stop him.
117	-->'''Word Paynn:''' The dragon... is ''power''. Once they were our equals. Today, humans control the dragon, to race, compete, and fight, at nearly 200 miles per hour. Now, dragons are once again ready to be released. And the powerful dragon of legend would choose a young hero to save the planet: a Dragon Booster.
118	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: This world's dragons resemble more giant horse-like komodo dragons than the traditional winged variety.
119	* OutOfFocus: Essentially everyone in the third season who isn't Artha or Moordryd unless they're given ADayInTheLimelight episode like "Professor Stubborn"[[note]]Parm[[/note]] or "Cain's Mutiny"[[note]]Cain[[/note]]
120	* ParentalAbandonment: Only Artha, Lance and Moordryd have on-screen parents, and Parm is the only other character who mentioned them. Kitt was apparently abandoned, though, according to WordOfGod.
121	** Not quite. The creator revealed that she sometimes sneaks out to see them and that they really do love her. Although this raises the question of ''[[NoodleIncident why]]'' Kitt has to do this.
122	** Word plays the trope fairly straight; he's neglectful of Moordryd unless he needs him to carry out a mission or has something to berate Moordryd about and lets his son take the fall for any legal repercussions resulting from his schemes. The backstory mentioned below shows he was even like this when Moordryd was an infant.
123	** "The Return of Drakkus" revealed that [[spoiler: Connor/Mortis]] had been subverting this trope up to that point.
124	** The script for an unproduced backstory episode revealed that Cain also has a father...[[DisappearedDad somewhere]]. His name was Abyll and he worked for Word Paynn until the two had a falling out at some point. Further digging reveals that Abyll is odds with Cain's decision to join the Dragon Eyes Crew, implying IHaveNoSon is possibly in play.
125	* PlotTailoredToTheParty: Thanks to Artha, this is required to make the other crew members plot-relevant.
126	** Was the most noticeable with Lance, who was relevant (but not the hero) of Wraith Booster because the rest of the team was Brainwashed/frozen, the 'hero' of "The Mouth That Roared" (see the BrokenAesop entry above).
127	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In "Pride of a Hero", Word gives Moordryd a vicious dressing-down after the latter suffers yet another defeat on the racetrack.
128	-->'''Word:''' What happened out there on the street track today, Moordryd?\
129	'''Moordryd:''' Just having a little fun with the Penn brat.\
130	'''Word:''' "Fun". ''(Chuckles, then explodes)'' [[SuddenlyShouting When's the last time you won a race!?]] You are a disgrace to the name of Paynn! You’re supposed to be a ''winner!'' Your stupid pride cost you that race. And worst of all, you had to be saved by the Penn brat. You are defeated by the Dragon Booster at every turn. [[{{Foreshadowing}} You might as well be]] ''[[{{Foreshadowing}} helping]]'' [[{{Foreshadowing}} him!]] Out of my sight! ''You disgust me!''
131	* SaveTheVillain:
132	** Throughout the series, Artha and Beau have found themselves having to save Moordryd in "Pride of a Hero", Propheci in "The Track of Doom", and Cain in "Cain's Mutiny" from suffering a DisneyVillainDeath.
133	** "No Paynn, No Gain" has Word fall victim to his latest scheme when it backfires and end up in a poisoned coma as a result. Rather than leave him like that, Artha and his crew grudgingly decide to risk their own lives to find a rare flower that can cure him.
134	* SealedEvilInAcan: Going by the end of "Faster than Fear", it seems that Armageddon was sealed in the Shadow Track, most likely how his spirit is still around 5000 years later.
135	* SeasonFinale: "The Return of Drakkus", which was the last episode of season 2 and the first of season 3 thanks to being a 2-parter.
136	* SecretIdentityApathy: Near the season 3 finale Artha and his racing rival Moordryd both discover each other's super identity as the Dragon Booster and Shadow Booster, respectively, but both agree to keep it a secret between them (and their respective companions, of course) since that knowledge could get them kicked out of a racing competition for the city's prestigious racing academy, and each of them have made enemies in their super identities.
137	* SequelHook: Not so much a hook as a blatant announcement in the last episode of a new series... which never eventuated.
138	* ShockAndAwe: Dragons can control and generate mag energy. Humans can only wield it once they train in the old ways.
139	* SkyscraperCity: A literal example. [[AllThereInTheManual According to official sources]], Dragon City is 12 kilometres tall, although as it was built in a deep canyon, the elevation above sea level is likely much lower.
140	* SmokeOut: In "If It Ain't Broke", Stewardd throws down smoke bombs to get away from Moordryd and[=/=]or Cain on two separate occasions.
141	* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Kitt, and probably most of the other female characters.
142	* SoulJar: Every bonemark contains the spirit of an ancient warrior dragon which fought in the original Dragon-Human War.
143	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: In "If It Ain't Broke", Parmon boasts that his homemade [[DeflectorShields deflection gear]] can take the hits for its user. When it fails during the demonstration, Lance snarkily asks if it takes the falls for them too, to which Parmon nervously replies that it must need tweaking. Later, Moordryd and Cain--having been tricked into taking this very same piece of gear--have the exact same conversation while demonstrating what the gear can do for Word, with Moordryd saying Parmon's lines and Cain providing Lance's snark.
144	* StylisticSuck: In "Three Times a Hero", Parmon makes himself a Dragon Booster costume so he can fill in for Artha at an important meeting. The costume is visibly of low quality, with obvious stitching and tape in many places and cartoonish designs on the pauldrons and belt buckle. Worse, it doesn't fit: the pants keep falling down at inopportune times.
145	* SurveillanceAsThePlotDemands: Word Paynn seems to have cameras everywhere in Dragon City, letting him spy on the heroes whenever he wants. Conveniently enough, there's never one around whenever Artha transforms into the Dragon Booster or Moordryd into the Shadow Booster.
146	* TournamentArc: The whole third (and final) season was essentially a series of events to see who got into the prestigious racing academy.
147	* TransformationSequence: Any time Artha becomes the Dragon Booster, expect the same dramatic 30 second transformation sequence -- despite it being implied several times that the transformation really only takes a few seconds, and can be instantaneous if need be.
148	* UnderCity: The lowest level of Dragon City is a two thousand-year-old vast wasteland, referred to as Old City. It's implied that it used to be inhabited, although now it's only home to wild dragons and ancient abandoned temples.
149	* VillainEpisode: "Cain's Mutiny", which is ADayInTheLimelight for Cain, Moordryd's lieutenant.
150	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Word Paynn plays with this:
151	** On the one hand, people buy gear from him, and clearly nothing has been successfully brought against him, since he's not in jail and has apparently never been arrested. Kwake trusted him simply because he had no PROOF of Word being evil, despite several people stating that he was.
152	** But on the other, a lot of Down City (or at least the people we see) distrust him, though some just seem to distrust him due to his son Moordryd heading the thieving Dragon Eyes (unaware that Word tells them to do a lot of that). Essentially, the Dragon Eyes take the PR fall so Word remains just trustworthy enough. In any case, the Down City crews straddle the line with this--again some, like Phistus and Khatah, know he's up to no good and is trying to start a second Dragon-Human War but are polite to his face, possibly because they know pissing him off would be a bad idea anyway. Meanwhile, the others simply want access to his gear and see it as a business relationship for better or for worse.
153	** And again, that's only Down and Mid City. We're unsure of how Sun City and most of the Academy view him. He might play the trope straight there, if the usually bombastic Race Marshall Budge's deferential response to his presence at the races is any indication. On the flip side, Sentrus, the Academy scout, is polite enough in his presence but apparently knows enough about his dealings to identify him as an "enemy" to/of the Penn Racing Crew, as shown in "No Paynn, No Gain".
154	* VoiceChangeling: In "The Chromatic Dragon", a member of the Army of the Dragon lures Artha away at a crucial moment by imitating the sound of Lance calling for help.
155	%%* WackyRacing
156	* WeaponSpecialization: A lot of characters were known for using certain weapons or gear (and a lot of it comes in stock footage):
157	** Artha first used a staff but upgraded to his Jakk-Stick (which he mostly used as a simple staff anyways, since the hacking powers were used in a PlotTailoredToTheParty)
158	** Moordryd's energy whip, sometimes traded for a staff
159	** Kitt using Red Acceleration Gear on her dragon in almost every race
160	** Rivett uses an odd little device on his wrist to shut down other electronics -- it also had a built-in CloakingDevice
161	** Lance started being seen with a Flash Stick
162	** Phistus' huge war-hammer
163	** Pyrrah's LaserBlade hacksaw
164	* WeAreTeamCannonFodder: Everyone on Penn Racing Team except Artha and Beau. In the third season, it extended to essentially all the racing crews as well, whose only roles were to be mind-controlled and be beaten up by Artha and Moordryd on the track.
165	** While the latter made sense with Wulph, as the Army of the Dragon crew was shown to work best in teamwork-oriented plans and fell apart when on their own, Khatah supposedly had ''graduated'' from the Academy (but of FridgeLogic as to why he'd want to go again) and built up as great (if stoic) and Phistus was the leader of the Down City Council (if a frequent WorfEffect sufferer).
166	* WellDoneSonGuy: Moordryd, to the point where it's actually the main reason he's a villain -- to please his BigBad father.
167	* WhatTheHellHero: Artha is called out rather often, but a lot of times it's subverted because he was actually right despite being so for the wrong reasons, such as in "Pride of the Hero" (he was right that Moordryd was tricking everyone, but he mostly thought that because he was jealous of Moordryd) and "Misjudged" (he was right that Word was using Kwake, but had previously proven himself to be bad at judging things to the same person).
168	** Played straight in "Artha the Drac" where he actually apologizes for his ego after it gets him in huge trouble.
169	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The Furox/Samurox bonemarks, which not only cause the user and their dragon to become possessed by the spirits of ancient dragons, but can also draw certain people to them via MindControl.
170	* TheWorfEffect: Phistus: Leader of Down City Council. Big, hulking, muscly Badass-looking guy. Shown to be very intelligent and not just DumbMuscle... and gets his butt handed too him ALL. THE. TIME.
171	** Extended to every non Penn Crew racer not named Moordryd by the third season (except for spotlight episodes).
172	* WorldOfTechnicolorHair: Most of the characters in the show have brightly coloured hair with no explanation, to the extent that Lance and Conner's bright orange hair, as well as Moordryd and Word's white hair, look positively normal.

Context WesternAnimation / DragonBooster