Line #38 WesternAnimation/Minoriteam


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6	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minoriteam.png]]
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8	''Minoriteam'' was a low-budget animated series that first aired on Creator/AdultSwim in 2005 and ran [[ShortRunners for a single season.]]
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10	The story revolves around [[FiveTokenBand five super heroes]], consisting of Dr. Wang, El Jefe, Jewcano, Fasto, and Non-Stop, each based on a racial or ethnic stereotype, who join up to fight discimination. Their main opponents are [[OddlySmallOrganization The White Shadow]], headed by the White Shadow, a man with the Illuminati pyramid as a head. The show only lasted one year, but being a racially charged show, was crammed with racial tropes, played straight, subverted, and averted. All members of the team, with the exception of Dr. Wang, have non-stereotypical civilian identities.
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12	----
13	!!This show provides examples of:
14	* AmbiguouslyHuman: White Shadow looks like a human with a pyramid with a single eye on it for a head. It's unclear if he is wearing a mask he never takes off or if it is really his head. In "Tax Day", a woman who is presumably his sister looks like a normal human.
15	* AmoralAttorney: The White Shadow employs one called Loophole, who is a literal loop of string.
16	* AnachronismStew: An InUniverse example in "His Story". A time-travelling Corporate Ladder mentions Jesus to Moses. Except since Jesus hasn't been born yet, Moses has no idea who he is talking about. It is also PlayedForLaughs in the rest of the episode.
17	* AsianAndNerdy: Dr. Wang, Chinese Human Calculator represents the stereotype that Asians are highly intelligent.
18	* AsianBuckTeeth: Dr. Wang is an offensively stereotypical depiction of a Chinese man, and that includes having noticeable buck teeth.
19	* BadassIsraeli: Jewcano
20	* BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: The Mirror World from "And Justice For Some" operates on this. So, Minoriteam ends up on trial for doing good deeds.
21	* BizarroUniverse: The Mirror World is a dimension where everything is backwards. The characters repeatedly poke holes in the idea. [[spoiler: This proves to be the undoing of White Shadow's plan to hold Minoriteam trial because, in the Mirror World, "minorities are actually tried by a jury of their peers" meaning ethnic people who are sympathetic to Minoriteam.]]
22	* BlackAndNerdy: Civilian Fasto is a book worm, and a college professor.
23	* BoisterousBruiser: Racist Frankenstein loves to party.
24	* TheCameo: Master Shake as an alarm clock.
25	* CaptainEthnic: All of the Minoriteam. Played for laughs.
26	** Humorously, their civilian identities subvert this completely. It's only in their hero identities that they become walking stereotypes (with the exception of Dr. Wang, who's just like that.)
27	** And most of the White Shadow's group, ''white'' Captains Ethnic.
28	* CaptainErsatz: Balactus.
29	** The Weatherman is based on the original [[SmallNameBigEgo Ted Baxter]].
30	** Jewcano is a jewish [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]].
31	** Racist Frankenstein is more or less based on Solomon Grundy from ''Challenge of the WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}''.
32	* {{Catchphrase}}: White Shadow will often say, "I won this time, Minoriteam!" before escaping a battle with Minoriteam, whether he was winning or not.
33	** "Racist Frankenstein hit Blacks with hands!"
34	* ChineseLaunderer: Guess where the team meets?
35	* CluelessAesop: This is arguably the main problem with the series. Basically, the series is trying to [[PrejudiceAesop talk about racism]]. However, the presentation is so garbled that it can be unclear what the actual point is supposed to be. For a specific example, "El Dia Gigante" is about how El Jefe's dad, El Yo, views El Jefe as promoting negative stereotypes of Mexican culture. Given the fact El Jefe is a combination of various Mexican stereotypes by design, you think the story would take El Yo's side. However, he unleashes a Main/{{Kaiju}} on the city to [[DisproportionateRetribution kill people for praising El Jefe]] and attempts to murder Fasto and Jewcano. This seems to suggest we aren't supposed to agree with him. So, this just begs the question of [[LostAesop what the story is trying convey]].
36	* DumbMuscle: Racist Frankenstein - body of a monster, mind of a racist!
37	* EnemyMine: In "Illegal Aliens", Minoriteam is kidnapped by aliens. [[spoiler: White Shadow rescues them because of [[VictoryIsBoring how boring life is without them]].]] Everyone is very uncomfortable about this.
38	* EthnicMenialLabor: El Jefe's greatest fear is becoming a stereotype like this... despite already being one.
39	* EvilVersusEvil: Parodied in "Tax Day", where the White Shadow Organization is opposed by the IRS, who are said to be even eviler than White Shadow.
40	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: White Rapper is a white rapper, Dirty Cop is a policeman made of filth and grime, Loophole is a rope tied into a loop, Racist Frankenstein is... well, you get the idea.
41	* FiveTokenBand: The Minoriteam, natch.
42	* FrankensteinsMonster: Racist Frankenstein is a Frankenstein monster who hates black people.
43	* FullBodyDisguise: [[spoiler: Jewcano]] uses one to disguise himself as [[spoiler: an IRS agent in "Tax Day".]]
44	* GeniusCripple: Dr. Wang is confined to a wheelchair, making him a spoof of Professor X of the ''ComicBook/XMen''.
45	* GratuitousSpanish: El Jefe's dialogue is all in Spanish, but slowly and in very simple terms - like someone who barely spoke Spanish wrote his dialogue. This is probably intentional for the sake of parody, though.
46	* HairTriggerTemper: Fasto is extremely irritable as per his personality.
47	* {{Homage}}:
48	** The general artstyle is clearly a homage to Creator/JackKirby.
49	* HiddenDepths: Other than Dr Wang, the members of Minoriteam's civilian counterpart averted their persona's stereotypes.
50	** Fasto (Landon K. Dutton) worked as a college professor in Woman Studies.
51	** Jewcano (Neil Horowitz) is an accountant who dated a black woman--Fasto's cousin--and is interested in black culture.
52	** El Jefe (Richard Escartin) is a handsome billionaire.
53	** Non-Stop (Dave Raj) is an extreme sports skateboarder that complimented his superhero's magic carpet ride.
54	* HulkSpeak: Racist Frankenstein. "Raaargh! Me hit blacks with hands!"
55	* JerkAss: Most of the Minoriteam are jerks especially Doctor Wang. How jerkish they are depends on the episode. The most infamous example is from "Tax Day" where [[spoiler: they consider [[AccidentalMurder accidentally]] [[WouldHurtAChild getting White Shadow's niece and nephew killed]] a victory.]]
56	* Main/{{Kaiju}}: "El Dia Gigante" features a giant, rampaging pinata that spews salsa.
57	* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: In "Heaven Can Wait", Fasto ends up in [[Myth/NorseMythology Vahalla]] and learns he is the prophesied "man of charcoal" who will [[MundaneMadeAwesome open the 10,000 doors of Vahalla]]. [[spoiler: It turns out that the Norse Gods were expecting Fasto to [[SelfImmolation burn himself alive]] so the Norse Gods can use [[HumanResources his bones to make the keys]] to open the doors. Needless to say, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Fasto is not pleased]].]]
58	* KirbyDots: Show is rife with them, which makes sense since it is a homage to Creator/JackKirby.
59	* LargeHam: The White Shadow.
60	* MaskedLuchador: El Jefe's father, El Yo. He even challenges his son to a match with the fate of Jewcano and Fasto at stake.
61	* MightyWhitey: Parodied. In "His Story", a time-travelling White Shadow manages to convince the Atzecs to make him their king by showing them a lighter. Later on, the Corporate Ladder convinces the Moses he is the ladder of Jacob.
62	* MirrorUniverse: Subverted. The Mirror World is more of a BizarroWorld than this trope.
63	* MistakenForGay: When El Jefe explains he can't El Yo because [[ArchnemesisDad El Yo is El Jefe's dad]], the kid assumes this is a "gay thing" much to El Jefe's anger.
64	* MoneyFetish: Jewanco has one, which is best shown off in "Illegal Aliens". [[spoiler: He may or may work for the IRS, who the narrator says is [[FelonyMisdemeanor eviler than White Shadow]].]]
65	* MonsterClown: Halfpint, the evil gangster clown.
66	* MortonsFork: In "Illegal Aliens", Minoriteam are kidnapped by aliens and forced to go through a "labyrinth of terrors" that in 99 percent of case leads to death. Anyone who survives will be made slaves of the aliens. [[spoiler: White Shadow ends up saving them because VictoryIsBoring.]]
67	* MyBrainIsBig: Dr. Wang, Chinese Human Calculator has a high forehead, both because he's the brains of Minoriteam and to reinforce his nature as a representation of the "intelligent Asian" stereotype.
68	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In "Tax Day", [[spoiler: Jewcano pretends to be an IRS auditor in order to get the financial information of White Shadow. In the process, he accidentally causes White Shadow to be late in picking his niece and nephew leading to their deaths.]] [[{{Jerkass}} The heroes don't seem too broke up about this.]]
69	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Doctor Brilliant is clearly a parody of Stephen Hawking.
70	* NoIndoorVoice: Jewcano.
71	* OddJobGods: Valhalla has a god of incoming faxes, a god of produce, and a god of refurbished waterbeds.
72	* {{Oireland}}: Seamus [=McFistycuffs=], a member of The White Shadow, is this shade of racism.
73	* PlantPerson: The Plant is an anthropomorphic houseplant who [[Main/{{Pun}} plants evidence to frame innocent people]].
74	* PlayingWithFire: Jewcano has this power.
75	* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Despite fighting an organization devote to keeping minorities down, Minoriteam can also be quite bigoted themselves. For example, Fasto is racist against whites ("His Story") and Inuits ("And Justice For Some").
76	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: White Shadow and the White Shadow Organization's entire shtick is that they're racist villains. They are a [[WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}} Legion of Doom]]-styled super villain team devoted to keeping minorities down.
77	* PsychopathicManchild: Racist Frankenstein is a violent brute with the mind of a child.
78	* RoboSpeak: The Standardized Test, though occasionally he busts out colloquialisms and contractions.
79	* SassyBlackWoman: Jewcano is dating one in his civilian disguise - Fasto's cousin Tamika
80	** "Illegal Aliens" reveals Fasto's mother is like this.
81	* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: The plot of "His Story" is Minoriteam trying to undo the meddling of White Shadow's time travelling.
82	* ShiksaGoddess: Jewcano's girlfriend again.
83	* ShoutOut:
84	** In "Tax Day", the White Shadow Organization tries to kill Jewanco [[Film/TheGodfather by planting a car bomb, which ends up killing his girlfriend instead of him.]]
85	** A whole episode is based on ''Film/GoodFellas''.
86	** In "His Story", Jewanco brings the Arc of the Covenant to the Civil War to help Fasto and Non-Stop. When he opens it, [[Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk the arc kills all the bad guys present]].
87	** In "And Justice For Some", White Shadow cites ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'' as the inspiration for the episode's scheme.
88	* ShownTheirWork: Some of their villains are based on real obstacles to minorities in the real world that aren't immediately apparent, such as the Standardized Test and Corporate Ladder.
89	* TheStarscream: The Corporate Ladder is constantly plotting behind the White Shadow's back.
90	* TheStoner: Non-Stop's secret identity is that of a slacking burnout former pro skater.
91	* StopBeingStereotypical: El Yo became a villain because he views his son as [[EthnicScrappy a corporate sell-out who promotes sterotypes of Mexican culture]].
92	* SuperSpeed: Fasto is the fastest man alive
93	* TimeTravel: "His Story" revolves around the members of White Shadow travelling through time to undo events important to minorities.
94	* TwoferTokenMinority: Dr Wang, an Asian confined to a wheelchair.
95	* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Fasto's weakness is white women. He just can't control himself around them.
96	* WhoWritesThisCrap: Fasto calls the ending of the episode [[spoiler: "And Justice For Some"]] a "bullshit ending".
97	* VictoryIsBoring: In "Illegal Aliens", [[spoiler: the White Shadow Organization finds this is case after they get rid of the heroes.]]
98	* VillainHasAPoint: El Yo from "El Dia Gigante" accuses his son of promoting stereotypes of Mexican culture and people. Even the fact that the entire point of the show is how all the main characters are over-the-top stereotypes of minorities, he's not terribly wrong.
99	* VillainousRescue: [[spoiler: In "Illegal Aliens", White Shadow saves the heroes because VictoryIsBoring.]]
100	* YellowPeril: Dr. Wang is based on this type of character.
101	* YesMan: The Corporate Ladder
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Context WesternAnimation / Minoriteam