Line #62 WesternAnimation/Numberblocks


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3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/numberblocks_logo_6.jpg]][[caption-width-right:350:You can count on us, we're the Numberblocks!]]
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5	Numberblocks is a British children's CGI-animated TV series currently running on Creator/CBeebies since 2017. The Show teaches children about numeracy, including simple arithmetics. It was created by Joe Elliot, who also created ''WesternAnimation/{{Alphablocks}}''.
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7	The show follows the adventures of cute block characters in Numberland, with the number of blocks determining which numeral they stand for and a tiny black floating number above them to show how many blocks they are made of, which they call a Numberling. When one of the blocks hops on top of another, they transform into a different character to make a new number. It helps toddlers and young kids learn numeracy skills, especially how to count and do simple maths.
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9	See also ''WesternAnimation/{{Alphablocks}}'', another block show created by Joe Elliot that ran between 2010 and 2013 while reruns are still airing, and ''Colourblocks'', another show by Joe Elliot made in 2022.
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11	!!''Numberblocks'' contains examples of the following tropes:
12	* SixIsNine: In "The Wrong Number", Nine asks One to help him find the thief who stole everything from his apartment. It turns out that he actually went into Six's apartment, but because the number on the door was upside-down, he thought it was his own apartment.
13	* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Whenever Thirteen says his name, he splits into ten and three.
14	* AffablyEvil: The Terrible Twos are normally LaughablyEvil HarmlessVillain twos, but in "Peekaboo" they're… nice? Or at the very least, they don't PokeThePoodle like they normally do.
15	* AmbiguousSituation: Does Seventeen know that pretty much everything he painted in his debut became real?
16	* AmusingInjuries: More like amusing reaction to an injury. In "Fifteen," Eight breaks his leg and yells "Octoblock, ouch! I've got an octo-boo-boo!"
17	* AndTheAdventureContinues: As appropriate for an educational show about numbers. Several season endings encourage the watcher to keep asking questions and learning.
18	** Twenty-One's personal gimmick: she goes "on and on".
19	* ArtInitiatesLife: Seventeen, though he seems oblivious.
20	* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: In "The Case of the Missing Blocks", [[spoiler: Big Tum grows to a big size]] after the word Big is spelt.
21	* BornLucky: Seven is known for having good luck, in reference to the LuckySeven trope. Fourteen, Twenty-One, and presumably other multiples of seven, are also prone to luck when they split.
22	* BornUnlucky: Thirteen, who cannot say his name without splitting into Ten and Three. Twenty-Six is also shown to split into two Thirteens upon hearning his name, so it's possible that all multiples of thirteen are like this.
23	* BreakingTheFourthWall: Sometimes, a Numberblock will address the viewer during the show.
24	* TheBusCameBack: Zero returns in "Fifteen's Minute of Fame" after being absent for 25 episodes since her debut episode.
25	* CartoonCreature: Squarey and Oblongy. They just look like furry rectangles, and are also examples of AllAnimalsAreDogs.
26	* CharacterCatchphrase:
27	** Three: "Look at me!"
28	** Seven: "That was lucky!"
29	** Eight: "Octoblock, [command]! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, [said command]!"/ "Have no fear, Octoblock is here!"
30	** Thirteen: "Unlucky me!"
31	** Fourteen: "Extreme!"
32	** Fifteen: "Hush, hush!"
33	** Eighteen: "Refreshing!"
34	** Twenty-Four: "Super-Duper!"
35	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Thirty-One only appeared in his figured-out form in "Figure It Out" and isn't seen nor mentioned again after this episode.
36	* ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames: Not a comic-book based property, but Fifteen is referred to only by her real name. Averted with Eight, codename Octoblock, but his identity is no secret.
37	* CountingSong:
38	** "10 Numberblobs and Me" has the Numberblocks counting to their number along with a different number of objects (from one bun and one sun to ten pens and ten hens).
39	** There are many songs about the multiplication tables that list all the numbers up until ten[[note]]sans six through nine[[/note]].
40	* DistressedDude: In "Octoblock to the Rescue", Eight is captured by the Terrible Twos and [[UnwillingSuspension suspended over a giant pie]]. The other Numberblocks rescue him.
41	* EarlyBirdCameo: Eleven can be briefly seen on the sidewalk in one scene of "The Wrong Number", an episode before her proper debut.
42	* FingerlessHands: The main characters have little nubs for hands and feet, making their limbs look like sausages.
43	* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: At the end of "The Legend of Big Tum", Big Tum eats the camera.
44	* FriendlyTickleTorture: Eight briefly tickles the cast in his debut episode.
45	* GenderEqualEnsemble:
46	** For numbers One to Ten, there are five females (One, Three, Five, Six, and Ten) and five males (Two, Four, Seven, Eight, and Nine).
47	** For numbers Eleven to Twenty, there are five females (Eleven, Twelve, Fifteen, Sixteen, and Nineteen) and five males (Thirteen, Fourteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, and Twenty), meaning that from numbers One to Twenty, there are a total of ten females and ten males.
48	* GentleGiant: Blockzilla seems big and imposing at first, but is a perfectly sweet creature who just wants to play with others.
49	* GravityIsAHarshMistress: Near the end of "Octoblock to the Rescue!", [[HarmlessVillain Octonaughty]] tries to escape from Eight and as he escapes, he stands midair next to a cliff until he realizes he doesn't know what's down in the pit and then, he falls into a giant pie.
50	* InvisibleAnatomy: Seventeen allegedly keeps his brush behind his "ear," Six mentions that her step squad have their "fingers" on buzzers, and Twelve tells the compounds to touch their "toes." The Numberblocks are not drawn with any of these body parts.
51	* LampshadeHanging: One acknowledges that she only has one eye when she says “No, this is my eye.”<!--* LaughablyEvil: Octonaughty.-->
52	* LuckySeven: Seven considers himself lucky all the time.
53	* MasterOfDisguise: Subverted with Fifteen. She calls herself one, but it's an InformedAbility, and she has only been seen using the occasional PaperThinDisguise.
54	* NearlyNormalAnimal: The CatUpATree in "Fifteen" is mostly a normal cat, but has human-like facial expressions.<!-- * NoirEpisode: "The Wrong Number" is done in this style.-->
55	* NumerologicalMotif: Several of the Numberblocks have a design and/or interests classically connected to their number:
56	** Three is a clown as clowns use 3 juggling balls and there are three points of a jester's cap.
57	** Four loves squares since [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_number he is a square number]].
58	** Five loves stars as they have five points and hands (to give "high fives").
59	** Six loves dice as they have 6 faces.
60	** Seven loves rainbow as there are [[RainbowMotif 7 colors of the rainbow]] and is lucky because of the LuckySeven trope.
61	** Eight is an octopus-themed superhero as octopuses have 8 legs.
62	** Nine: Same as Four.
63	** Ten: Same as five, plus rockets (a ten-second countdown).
64	** Eleven: Football (of the European variety).
65	** ThirteenIsUnlucky.
66	** Fifteen is a "Super Secret Step Squad" as a reference to her being a triangular number.
67	** Twenty-Two: Same as Eleven.
68	** Twenty-Four: Like Twelve, she has a watch, and wands with images of the Sun and the Moon.
69	** Twenty-Seven's gimmick centers around her being a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cube_(algebra) cube number]].
70	** Thirty-One loves calendars as a month has 31 days at maximum.
71	** Thirty-Two's gimmick is based on [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_of_two powers of two]].
72	* ObliviouslySuperpowered: Implied. Seventeen doesn't show awareness to his paintings becoming real, but since he watches it happen, it's quite possible that he knows.
73	* OfficialCouple: It's heavily implied One and Two are more than just best friends.
74	* OvertOperative: Fifteen. You wouldn't know it from how she looks around to prevent anyone from hearing her tell you she's a secret agent, but it seems she told everyone anyway. She's called "Agent Fifteen" in Step Squads, meaning they know she's an agent!
75	* PinkGirlBlueBoy: Inverted with Five and Fifty (who are blue female Numberblocks) and Eight and Eighty (who are pink/magenta male Numberblocks).
76	* RealAfterAll: In "How To Count" when the numberblocks believe that one of their four flapjacks is missing after Three miscounts them, Three suspects this to be the fault of a block creature called The Flapjack Snaffler, which at first seems to be made up, especially since she describes him as having 3 of every body part (which later results in her misidentifying Five as him). However, at the end when the problem is resolved, they notice that all of their flapjacks have disappeared for real, as the camera cuts to the Flapjack Snaffler hiding in the trees behind them, exactly as how Three described him.
77	* RhymesOnADime: Six constantly speaks in rhyme.
78	* RubberMan: Eight has the ability to stretch his limbs really far. So far, his record is nine blocks.
79	* ShoutOut: The episode featuring the Star Block titled "Block Stars" is a long one to ''Film/StarWarsANewHope'', including a TrenchRun.
80	** The episode "Double Trouble" has One (who eventually multiplies into Eight) exploring a cave a la ''Franchise/IndianaJones''. Four says "Why did it have to be round things?", Eight makes the Wilhelm Scream, and One of her even has to save her hat from being stuck inside a collapsing temple.
81	** In "More to Explore", we see a sketch of the Forty-Two, who wears a dressing gown and carries a towel, mimicking [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxyTrilogy Arthur Dent]] (as a reference to 42 being the answer to life, the universe and everything).
82	** The episode "Odd Side Story" references the opening act to ''Theatre/WestSideStory'', as well as its title.
83	* SiblingYinYang: Twelve and Eighteen turn out to be siblings, even though they're complete opposites.
84	* SillyAnimalSound: Sixteen often snorts like a pig.
85	* SmallNameBigEgo: Three toward the beginning. The episode "How to Count" is spent watching her miscount just so she can say her name. She gets better about this, but still has her moments.
86	* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Fifteen understands the NearlyNormalAnimal CatUpATree, even though it can only meow.
87	* SuperheroOrigin: Eight acquired his superpowers when he was tickled by a radioactive octopus.
88	* TickleTorture: The Terrible Twos and Terrible Twenties like to tickle other Numberblocks with feathers, which is how they PokeThePoodle.
89	* TotallyRadical: Fourteen speaks like this.
90	* UncannyFamilyResemblance: The Hundreds after One Hundred all look very much alike their one-percenter counterparts, except every square is replaced by a 10x10 checkerboard. Same for the Thousands, except they're made of 10x10x10 cubes. Subverted and downplayed in that they haven't been stated to be blood family.
91	* UnknownCharacter: Pi and 42, who both have official artwork but have never physically appeared in an episode.
92	* VoluntaryShapeshifting: The Numberblocks are able to shift their blocks around into new shapes. Nineteen's and Twenty-Eight's personal gimmicks are based around this fact.
93	* WannabeSecretAgent: Exaggerated for Fifteen, who has a spy lair but can't even stay hidden long enough to be an agent proper.
94	* WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises: Whenever someone is scared, shocked or freaked out, their pupils shrink.
95	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Four is afraid of round things, demonstrated in episodes like "Octoblock to the Rescue" where he freaks out upon getting trapped in a bubble and in "Eleven" where he can be seen cowering in fear of a football in a few scenes. Strangely, he dosen't have this reaction when meeting the Circle in "Flatland," but does when he sees a circle in "Go Go Domino."

Context WesternAnimation / Numberblocks