Line #162 WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja


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12	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cb0c451683de83af1441b6bcbc2135ac_randy_cunningham_th_grade_ninja_ninjas_4.jpg]]
13	[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} Best bros to the end. (Which could be today)]]]]
14	->''For 800 years, Norrisville High has been protected by a ninja.\
15	No one knows that every four years, a new warrior is chosen.\
16	A freshman to fight the forces of evil.\
17	I am the ninja. I am Randy Cunningham!''
18
19	''Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja'' is Creator/DisneyXD animated action/comedy series created by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas, a writing duo who previously worked on shows such as ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' and ''Series/TheHauntingHour''. The series was produced by Creator/{{Titmouse}} (''WesternAnimation/{{Motorcity}}'') and Creator/BoulderMedia (''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'').
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21	As the {{opening narration}} helpfully explains, the American town of Norrisville has a frequent target of monsters, robots, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and bullies]] for hundreds of years. Thankfully, the student body of its local high school has always been host to a legendary protector known only as "The Ninja". Of course, the Ninja isn't as much of a monolithic, legendary figure as everyone has been led to believe, as the position is passed from teenager to teenager as each one proceeds to graduate from the school. And at the start of his freshman year, via a package left in his bedroom, the unlikely Randy Cunningham discovers that he has been chosen to be the next Ninja. Joined by his best friend Howard, Randy now must protect the school from the likes of monsters sent to destroy him by the evil [=McFist=] Corporation as well as keep his new identity a secret. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCqOtkbaVko&feature=youtu.be&t=8 Cue the theme song!]]
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23	If the show's aesthetic is making you wonder why there isn't more dark comedy about how much humanity is a collection of morons, it may be because Creator/JhonenVasquez (''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim''), served as one of the main character designers, with the series' background design also taking on a lot of his influence.
24
25	The series ran from August 2012 to July 2015, with its second and final season being quickly [[ScrewedByTheNetwork burned off with little fanfare]]. Post-cancellation, the show is currently streaming on Creator/DisneyPlus.
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27
28	!!This show provides examples of:
29	[[foldercontrol]]
30	[[folder: Tropes A-F]]
31	* HundredPercentHeroismRating: Due to the ninja being a protector of the school and by extension the town for 800 years, the ninja is practically a celebrity in the eyes of the townsfolk.
32	* AbortedArc: A good number of plots go unresolved, in no small part due to the show's cancellation, but some don't even stretch into the second season before being dropped.
33	** The Sorceress is imprisoned in the Land of Shadows at the end the ''Sorcerer in Love 2'' and never reappears, despite the Land of Shadows gaining prominence in the second season's Evil Julian arc.
34	** Whatever The Creep meant by the lines of "Your greatest battle is just around the bend" in the episode ''Ball's Well That Friends Well'' is also a mystery, thanks to that being the show's final episode.
35	* ABirthdayNotABreak: Played with in ''Julian's Birthday Surprise'', where Randy and Howard go to Julian's birthday party and unintentionally cause chaos because Julian mistakes the sorcerer orb that Randy brought with him for a birthday present.
36	* AbsurdlySharpBlade: The Ninja Sword can cut through anything... but stupidity.
37	* ADayInTheLimelight: Howard in ''The Ninja Supremacy'' when he substitutes for an amnesia struck Randy until the end when Randy has regained his ninja memories.
38	* AccidentalMisnaming: Heidi does this most of the time to Randy. She called him Sandy, Andy, Brandy, etc. Hilariously, she is Howard's sister.
39	--> Heidi: ...and his best friend Andy.
40	--> Randy: Randy, name's Randy, known you my whole life.
41	** Though in [[spoiler: ''Debbie Meddle'', Heidi finally said his full name right, which Randy points out. At the end of the episode, she only remembers his first name, but mispronounced his last]].
42	* AccidentalPublicConfession: In "[=McOne=] Armed and Dangerous", the Ninja tries to expose [=McFist=] as a villain during a ceremony but, since [=McFist=] isn't up to anything evil at this moment, he manages to preserve his reputation until the Ninja's efforts cause a commemorative statue to be destroyed and the first [=McSquiddle=] to be lost, making [=McFist=] too furious to remember he's in public and he ends up blurting his true purposes.
43	* AccidentallyRealFakeAddress: In "Swampy Seconds", Randy protects his identity as the Ninja from Catfish Booray by making up the name "Ranginald Bagel". In "Bring Me the Head of Ranginald Bagel!", Randy and the viewers learn there ''is'' a student named Ranginald Bagel.
44	* AffectionateParody: Jackie Cous, an artist for the show, [[http://comments.deviantart.com/1/318844466/2737025153 has said]] the show "doesn't take itself seriously and pokes fun at a lot of the tropes and cliches, rather than falling right into them un-ironically."
45	* AllPartOfTheShow: In ''Grave Puncher: The Movie!'', everyone assumes that a giant version of the Grave Puncher coming to life and attacking everyone is part of the movie.
46	* AllThereInTheManual: You can learn more of the story if you play the game "Enter the Ninjanomicon".
47	* AnimatedOuttakes: Outtakes appear as TheStinger for the SeriesFinale, showing the characters flub up various moments from Season 2.
48	* AnimationBump: In the episode "Let Them Eat Cake Fries", [[MaleGaze the attractive French teacher's butt]] is animated rather smoothly while she's crossing her legs, in contrast to the rest of the scene.
49	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Done deliberately because [[RuleOfFunny the show doesn't take itself seriously]]. Norrisville is somehow 800 years old[[note]]far older than European settlement of the Americas[[/note]], and a flashback in ''Sorcerer in Love'' shows that it was somehow culturally Japanese back then, but inhabited by mostly white people.
50	* ArtShift: The Ninjanomicon is in a sort of traditional Japanese cut-out style, while Randy stays in the usual style even while in the book's world.
51	* AsYouKnow: Randy and the viewers learned about Terry [=McFist=] (Hannibal's big brother) being the real heir to [=McFist=] Industries and yearly signing over the company to Hannibal when he overheard Viceroy reminding Hannibal of that fact.
52	* AscendedFanboy: Randy was The Ninja's biggest fan in middle school, and now he has ''become'' The Ninja.
53	* AsteroidsMonster: The mutant potatoes from ''Attack of the Killer Potatoes''. Cutting them just multiplies them as Randy found out and he had to use Viceroy's robot to mash the potatoes to defeat them.
54	* AttackTheTail: Randy does this twice in ''Viva El Nomicon'' to destroy two monsters. However, the second time played straight into Viceroy's hands (see also BearsAreBadNews below).
55	* AttackItsWeakPoint: The only way to "destank" someone, is to destroy the thing they hold most dear (mostly a item of some kind), it's the only way to free them from their monster state. Fortunately for Randy, the monsters tend to have the item on them after they were stanked.
56	** Can also become a bit of a difficulty curve if the dearest possession in question is something abstract such as a relationship or winning streak.
57	*** Or, you know, a person...
58	** As of ''True Bromance'', it's also possible to destank someone [[spoiler: if the conflict is resolved through some sort of apology to those wronged. This is also how Randy avoids having to slice Howard in half]].
59	* [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny Attention Deficit... Is That a Choco Fountain?!]]
60	%% * BadassInDistress: Randy in the more recent episodes.
61	%% * BadLiar: Randy, according to Howard.
62	* BattleOfTheBands: Briefly, in ''Unstank My Hart''.
63	* BaitAndSwitch: In the finale, [[spoiler: the Nomicon tells Randy he needs an "Unlikely Ally" to beat Evil Julian. Randy thinks it's Howard, but the savvy viewer will know it's Julian, right?]] WRONG. [[spoiler: it's the Sorcerer.]]
64	* BearsAreBadNews: In ''Viva El Nomicon'' Randy fought a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Mexican Death Bear]]. Debbie Kang thinks they are cute though and even dresses-up as one on Halloween.
65	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Not a wish, but Howard demanded that Randy tell him 'everything' after he found out that his best friend doesn't share his most intimate thoughts the same way he does with him, and forces him to do so in exchange for helping defeat the MonsterOfTheWeek. Randy does so...and Howard plugs his ears and tells him to stop talking when Randy starts to tell him all about how he thinks Howard's big sister Heidi is hot.
66	* BecomingTheMask: Randy in ''Brolateral Damage'', when he tries to get information about the mysterious BBD plot.
67	** The Ninjanomicon even warns him about this. Of course, Randy doesn't pick up on it at all.
68	* BeeBeeGun: in the form of the Ninja Bee Ball.
69	* BerserkButton: The robo-apes actually have a built in one.
70	--> Mcfist: WHY DID YOU BUILD AN APE-MODE!?! (Runs from rampaging robo-ape.)
71	** Viceroy's EvilGenius really comes to the surface when he's without Otto.
72	* BetterTheDevilYouKnow: In the episode featuring Hannibal [=MsFist=]'s brother Terri, the Ninjanomicon [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] the trope by bringing up the possibility of the unknown ally being more dangerous than the known enemy.
73	** In an episode where Randy outs [=McFist=] as a villain, he ends up having to restore his reputation as Hannibal's stank'd form brought about by his distress is far too powerful for Randy to defeat.
74	* BigBad: The Sorcerer, for the overall series, though he gets [[BigBadEnsemble some competition in season 2]] in the form of [[EvilCounterpart Evil Julian]].
75	%% * BlackAndNerdy: Viceroy.
76	* BlatantLies: In ''Wave Slayers'', the Ninjanomicon, when Randy asks it about what he should do after breaking one of the team's vehicles, doesn't give him a cryptic answer as per usual, but very clearly tells Randy to own up to his mistakes. Randy, however, pretends not to understand.
77	* BlindBlackGuy: S.Ward Smith the metal shop teacher. He still able to craft some amazing swords and can make surprisingly balloon swords.
78	* BlobMonster: In ''Monster Dump'', they start off harmless, but then get deadly later on. The only one that stayed harmless was Nicholas.
79	* BrainBleach: A main plot point in the episode "Gossip Boy" is Randy's attempts to find a mind-wiping spell in the Ninjanomicon, his original reason being to apply this to the more "shnasty" memories of things he's seen while doing duty as the Ninja.
80	* BrainUploading: The Ninjanomicon
81	** While it does have written words, the [[InSeriesNickname Nomicon]] puts Randy into a drooling state and spells out a somewhat cryptic answer to whatever question he asked but likes to do so by throwing him into a sort of surreal world inside the book.
82	** [[spoiler: When a Ninja's duty is done they "learn" the "Ultimate Lesson", in which they upload everything they've learned into the Ninjanomicon for future Ninjas to learn.]]
83	* BreakingTheFourthWall:
84	--> '''Randy''': [Debby Kang's] whole report was in Spanish, so she may have been giving a flan recipe.\
85	'''Howard''': ''(looks directly at the screen)'' Man, how good is flan?
86	** The entire episode of ''Debbie Meddle''.
87	** During the end of "Fudge Factory", Randy was looking at the screen while explaining the consequences of lying.
88	* BrokenWinLossStreak: Norrisville High's Chess Team has defeated Flackville High's eleven times in a row. When they tried the twelfth time, Hannibal [=McFist=] replaced one of Flackville's players with a robot that broke that streak, making several Norrisville students depressed enough to be stanked by the Sorcerer. The students reverted back to normal when Howard Weinerman, who knows practically everything about chess except for the pieces' names, defeated the robot.
89	%% * TheBully: Bash.
90	%% * ButtMonkey: Doug.
91	* BystanderSyndrome: The Ninja of '85, instead of curing Dickie, he froze Stanked!Dickie to attend prom instead and leaves the problem for a future Ninja (Randy) to deal with.
92	* TheCameo: There's been a strange orange-haired man with a fedora hat since #1, who is implied to have given Randy the Ninja suit and Ninjanomicon. You have to be really looking to spot him in every episode.
93	** He resembles Creator/ChuckNorris.
94	* CallingYourAttacks: More of Randy's choice rather than anything else.
95	** Also exaggerated in that he calls out ''everything''. "Ninja Sprint!" "Ninja Stop Ninja Stop Ninja Stop!" "NINJA FLIP!" "Ninja Rotating-Table-Slide!"
96	* CassandraTruth: Randy knows Hannibal is an enemy, but due to the public being useless in connecting two-and-two together, Hannibal says nobody will believe the Ninja.
97	** In ''[=McOneArmed=] and Dangerous'', [[spoiler:the trope was subverted. It ''did'' take a while before anyone believed him though, to be fair. Later, it's inverted again, back to everyone thinking Hannibal's the best.]]
98	* CastOfSnowflakes: Each character has a unique character design. Even the background characters too.
99	* ChekhovsArmory: Randy uses several of the weapons, attacks, and lessons he's accumulated over the course of the first season to fight the [[spoiler:Sorcerer in the 13th Century.]] [[spoiler:He fails]].
100	* ChristmasEpisode: ''Silent Punch, Deadly Punch''
101	* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: The Ninja Suit. The Nomicon has the ability to "turn off" the Ninja Suit, thus technically making the Nomicon the thing that gives you powers, although it does this by using the Suit as a medium...
102	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Randy is definitely more than a bit odd and spastic, though he is often CloserToEarth than his best friend Howard.
103	* CountingToPotato: Randy hides the Ninjanomicon under a math book cover that reads "easy as 1-2-C".
104	* CrazyPrepared: What kind of MadScientist would Viceroy be if he didn't have a killer robot with him everywhere he goes?
105	%% * CreepyCemetery: There's one in ''Night of the Living [=McFizzles=]''.
106	* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: [=McFist=] when the ninja stop the Shark-Dermanator from killing him and Viceroy and sending it back to the lake to sleep.
107	-->Randy: Wait, ''I'll'' pay for ''saving'' your life?
108	-->Viceroy: You gotta give it to him baby, he's consistent.
109	* ContinuityNod: Randy still has the HealingHands as of ''Silent Punch, Deadly Punch''.
110	** As a whole the show seems to be pretty good with obeying its continuity.
111	%% * TheCorrupter: The Sorcerer stanking people count as this.
112	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Terry [=McFist=] fears to become like this like his father and brother.
113	%% * CutenessOverload: How to defeat the Halloweenja's army.
114	* DanceBattler:
115	** ''So U Think U Can Stank'' gives us this in the form of Stank'd dancers. It proves to be a double edged sword, however, as their thing held most dear WAS their dance moves. Randy simply trips them for a De-Stanking.
116	** In ''Everybody Ninj-along'' Randy... Well, he ''Ninj-alonged''.
117	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Nukid on the Block''. If Howard hadn't stepped in and helped, '''[=McFist=] would have won'''.
118	** In ''Fudge Factory'' it was ''pure luck'' that the Ninja went on to live another day.
119	** In ''Stanks Like Teen Spirit'', so much chaos was caused that The Sorcerer ''nearly escaped.''
120	*** In ''13th Century Ninja'' [[spoiler: '''he did''']].
121	** The show is definitely, gradually edging towards this, with the villains becoming smarter, the stakes higher and Randy seemingly not progressing in his smarts as fast as his enemies. However, everything's still pretty goofy.
122	** In ''Mastermind of Disastermind'', when Howard thought [[spoiler: Ninja killed Julian, who was actually Evil Julian]]
123	** [[spoiler: Julian is still in the Land of Shadows]]... [[spoiler:At least until the season 2 finale]]
124	%% * DelinquentHair: Randy, in ''Brolateral Damage''.
125	* DemonicPossession: Howard was possessed by the Tengu.
126	** Perhaps Catfish too, in ''Welcome Back Catfish''.
127	* DeadpanSnarker: Viceroy is pretty much in permanent snark mode, especially around [=McFist.=]
128	%% * DemBones: Jerry Driscoll.
129	* DevilInPlainSight: Hannibal [=McFist=] is this to the general public, who in turn adore him a lot for being the head of the city's major consumer products company. It's incredible how everybody ignores the right cyborg arm ''with a brain with eyes on the wrist.'' That is SO TOTALLY not evil-looking, oh no!
130	* DidntThinkThisThrough: In ''The [=McHuggers=] Games'', the Ninja stole a [=McHugger=] from Hannibal [=McFist=] before the product was available in stores. Knowing the Ninja, like every other townsperson in Norrisville, would be attracted to the publicity event created to advertise the [=McHuggers=], Viceroy sent a robot to the event and programmed it to attack whoever was wearing [=McHuggers=], thinking the Ninja would be the only one. He forgot that, given the publicity campaign's goal, the spokesman would be wearing one as well.
131	* DistaffCounterpart: The Sorceress to the Sorcerer. They're apparently boyfriend and girlfriend, though, a certain Ninja did wonk things up for them, causing them to be separated nearly all the time.
132	* [[DistressedDude Distressed Dudes]] Both Howard and Randy respectively. Makes sense that while Howard was the primary dude in distress in a lot of episodes (both older and recent episodes), Randy is slowly becoming this in the more recent episodes since the show itself is getting [[DarkerAndEdgier darker and edgier.]]
133	* DominanceThroughFurniture: In "Swampy Seconds", Catfish Booray shows off his control over the animals of the swamp by making them form a chair for him to sit on. Randy points out that this can't be very comfortable.
134	%% * TheDragon: Hannibal [=McFist=] to The Sorcerer.
135	* DumbJock: Bash. Even though he's strong and tough, he is very childish and thinks C is a number.
136	%% * EggSitting: Except it's a bologna.
137	%% * EldritchLocation: The Land Of Shadows.
138	* EpicFail: Randy's first attempt at fixing his sword. Not even a blinder clip, duct tape, stamps, bandaids, cement, paper clips, and string could keep it together.
139	* EskimosArentReal: Howard Weinerman doesn't believe isosceles triangles are real.
140	* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies[=/=]OurZombiesAreDifferent[=/=]TechnicallyLivingZombie: In ''Night of the Living [=McFizzles=]'' they are not really dead but look like it and they crave candy.
141	* EverythingsBetterWithSamurai: One of the Stank'd monsters forged his own samurai armor to protect itself.
142	* EvilBrit: Levandar Hart [[spoiler: when he's stank'd. And famous. Mostly when he's famous. In fact, quite possibly, only when he's famous. But he's also only famous when he's stank'd.]]
143	%% * EvilGenius: Viceroy. And Driscoll.
144	* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The [=McFist=] Corporation has a rather foreboding structure set up in the middle of the city. Though personally it looks more like a futuristic pyramid than a tower.
145	* {{Expy}}: Background character Nameless Girl with Eyelashes looks similar to Candace from WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb
146	* FanDisservice: The Sorcerer in "Brolateral Damage." He is seen wearing a towel and at the end of the episode, the towel drops offscreen with the Sorcerer's rat companion making a disgusted reaction, implying that it got an eyeful of the Sorcerer's genitalia.
147	* FatAndSkinny: Howard & Randy and [=McFist=] & Viceroy, respectively.
148	* FinalBattle: In ''Randy Cunningham and the Sorcerer's Key'' Randy and Howard learn from the Nomicon that the final battle with the Sorcerer is approaching. Naturally, Randy is freaked out.
149	** It happens in [[spoiler: ''Ball's Well That Friends Well'']]
150	* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Dickie, who was from '85, was unfrozen in the present day.
151	* {{Foreshadowing}}: At the end of the finale episode, some of the sorcerer orbs scattered, with one being found by Catfish Booray.
152	** In ''Sorcerer in Love 2: Sorceress's Revenge'', the Land of the Shadows makes its first appearance. It seems to be a throw-away plot device though.[[spoiler: Until it reappears in Julian's Birthday Surprise]].
153	** As of ''All the Juice that's Fish to Swim'', Debbie Kang is trying [[spoiler:to find out who the Ninja is.]]
154	** At the end of ''Julian's Birthday Surprise'' we see [[spoiler: Shadow Julian in the Land of Shadows, angered that he no longer possesses an orb. Considering the poster design for Season 2...]]
155	* ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself: In ''Dawn of the Driscoll'', Randy is able to sneak into [=McFist=]'s house... because [=McFist=] thinks he's just a kid trick-or-treating dressed as The Ninja.
156	* ForgottenBirthday: Randy forgets about Howard's birthday in ''Space Cow-Bros''. He tries to make up for it by lying every time when Howard asks about his surprise party or gift.
157	* FreezeFrameBonus: This show is really big on sight gags, most notably with the neon scribbles that appear, but also try pausing to see [[http://askkira-td.tumblr.com/post/41965974676/does-anyone-else-get-a-pattern how much Randy and Howard spent on [=McFist=] Industries items]] next time you're watching ''[=McFists=] of Fury'' for absolute hilarity.
158	* FreudianExcuse: Doug decided to become a tattletale back when he was six years old and Marci berated him for not telling her on Randy and Howard as soon as he saw them sneaking out of her day care center.
159	* FullNameBasis: Randy and Howard both call Debbie Kang by her whole name when they mention her.
160	[[/folder]]
161
162	[[folder: Tropes G-M]]
163	* {{Gasshole}}: Ironically played with, since the robo rhino scans then farts a conjuring of your worse fears. [=McFist=] lampshades this by saying it feels like a cheap gag.
164	** Then theres [=McFist=] older brother wind power idea.
165	%% ** Barnabutt Jones. Nuff said.
166	* GodzillaThreshold: [[spoiler: Freeing the Tengu and allowing it to possess Howard so that Randy can control him with the suit. Randy refuses when Howard asks him never to do it again, implying it may be needed in the future.]]
167	* GoodIsBoring: Howard asks Randy why he (Howard) can't be the nice judge in ''So U Think U Can Stank''. Two seconds later, he laughs at it with Randy.
168	* GreatBigBookOfEverything: The Ninjanomicon. [[spoiler: It has all the accumulated knowledge of all previous Ninjas.]]
169	* GrossGumGag: In "Gossip Boy", Randy recalls how he once saw the school janitor chewing some old gum he'd just scraped, with the resulting bubble containing an insect within.
170	* GymClassHell: While Coach Green thinks his lessons are great, with his strange ideas for activities like flamethrower jump-rope, most of his students do ''not'' agree.
171	* GymClassRopeClimb: The plot of ''The Tale of the Golden Doctor's Notes'' is how to get out of Coach Green's version of it.
172	* HalloweenEpisode: In order, ''Dawn of the Driscoll'' and ''Night of the Living [=McFizzles=]'', taking place right after one another on, presumably, the same night of Halloween.
173	* HandbagOfHurt: A giant, killer robot made out of satchels to be precise.
174	* HanukkahEpisode: The episode "Happy Hanukkah, Howard Weinerman!" is about Jewish character Howard learning "the true meaning of Hanukkah."
175	* HappyFlashback: The Sorcerer had this in ''Stank'd to the Future'' to the 1985. [[spoiler: It just showed him sitting annoyed in his prison, as a different rat did the moon walk.]]
176	** Hannibal [=McFist=] had one in ''[=McOne=] Armed and Dangerous''. [[spoiler:It was similar to the one Anton Ego had in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'']].
177	* HealingHands: Deconstructed. Randy learns to shoot healing beams out of his palms, with knowledge obtained from a forbidden section of the Ninjanomicon, leading him to accidentally reanimate the skeleton of an evil mad scientist.
178	* HenshinHero: Randy becomes The Ninja by putting on the mask of the suit, complete with TransformationSequence.
179	** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''Tale of the Golden Doctor's Note'':
180	--> '''Howard''': All dressed? Good.
181	%% * HeterosexualLifePartners: Randy and Howard, obviously.
182	%% ** Perhaps less obviously, Hannibal and Viceroy.
183	* HighlyVisibleNinja: The Ninja operates in broad daylight and has been a highly regarded public figure for years.
184	%% * HollywoodChameleons: Possibly subverted, seeing as they were robots.
185	* HowIsThatEvenPossible: In a HalloweenEpisode, the reanimated skeleton of Jerry Driscoll is recognized by a retina scan in spite of, as Viceroy points out, not having a retina.
186	* HumanPopsicle: Stanked!Dickie was frozen by the Ninja of '85 and awoken in present day when the power to the school freezer was cut.
187	* IAmAHumanitarian: {{Subverted}} Catfish Booray isn't going to eat Howard, His brainwash animal army will.
188	* IAmSpartacus: How Howard foiled [=McFist=]'s and Viceroy's plan using the Truth Tone to find out who the Ninja is in ''30 Seconds to Math''.
189	* ILoveTheDead: Mrs. Driscoll brings around her deceased husband's bones and still makes out with him... ''yeeeeeeeah...''
190	* ImprobableWeaponUser: Randy seems to be a fan of this trope when he does not use the weapons in the suit.
191	* InstantFlightJustAddSpinning: In the episode "Der Monster Klub", Randy uses his scarf to snatch a baton thrown at him and spin it fast enough to fly like a helicopter. He calls it the [[CallingYourAttacks "ninja-helicopter-baton flying manuever"]].
192	* InkSuitActor: Debbie Kang and Coach Green bear some resemblance to [[Creator/PiperCurda their respective]] [[Creator/JohnOliver voice actors]].
193	* InvisibleParents: With the notable exception of Hannibal [=McFist=] and his wife Marci, we don't see any parent in at any moment (unless you count [[TheVoice Bucky's mother]]). In fact, Randy's parents are not seen in at any moment, although he names his mom sometimes. In Season 2, however, we finally can see Mort Weinerman, Howard and Heidi's father.
194	* IsThisThingStillOn: In "[=McOne=] Armed and Dangerous", the Ninja's efforts to [[spoiler:denounce Hannibal [=McFist=] during a public event would have been in vain if not for this trope.]]
195	* {{Jerkass}}: In ''So U Think U Can Stank'' Howard acts like this a few times, but he becomes popular when exploiting it while being a judge in the school's talent show. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Randy was the one to suggest this to him, and it inadvertently makes every single downcast participant turn into hideous monsters for Randy to fight behind the curtains.]]
196	%% * KamehameHadoken: The Ninja Air Fist.
197	* KickTheDog: Viceroy and [=McFist=] were jerks to that Shark Kaiju with the dry skin.
198	* KidHero: Also see AffectionateParody above.
199	** Later deconstructed, as at least one of the past ninjas has abused his power. [[spoiler: Mac Antfee, the ninja of 1985, locked a kid in a freezer rather than destank him so he could have time to go to prom. This resulted in the [[FridgeHorror kid being trapped in monster form for over 20 years]]. He was also extremely violent, resulting in the Ninjanomicon having to expel him of its abilities so he couldn't abuse it any further.]]
200	* KiddieKid: Both Randy and Howard are 14, yet they act as 10 year old kids, being obsessed with junk food, candies and being prone to play some rather childish pranks on other people. This is justified, as this is a children’s show, and depicting 14 year olds in mature situations would exceed the boundaries of such programming.
201	%% * KillItWithFire: The weakness of the Blob monster in ''Monster Dump''.
202	* LamePunReaction: This one after Viceroy shows [=McFist=] the zombie making candy.
203	-->'''Viceroy:''' Congratulation, you created a confection of mass destruction.
204	-->'''[=McFist=]:''' ''(gives annoyed look)'' Proud of yourself for that one?
205	-->'''Viceroy:''' A little.
206	** From ''Nukid on the Block'':
207	-->'''Randy:''' Well, I guess you have to know the difference between your Franz and your enemies!
208	-->'''Howard:''' Too soon, Ninja. Too soon.
209	%% * LargeHam: "I NEED! TO USE! THE BATHROOM!"
210	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Randy spends most of ''Gossip Boy'' searching for a "Mind Wipe" in the Ninjanomicon. [[spoiler:There isn't one that can be used. Only a piece of wisdom, "The way to forget, is to remember".]]
211	* LastNameBasis:
212	** Howard pretty much exclusively calls Randy by his last name.
213	** Hannibal [=McFist=] is called by his last name by everyone except his wife and his brother. Sometimes by Viceroy as well.
214	** Viceroy is always referred to by his last name. According to ''Dawn of the Driscoll'' and the "Enter the Ninjanomicon" game, his full name is Willem Viceroy III.
215	* LegacyHero: Every four years a new ninja is chosen to protect Norrisville High.
216	* LegacyImmortality: [[LivingLegend The Ninja]] is believed to have been the same person for over 800 years, but of course, Randy is only 14.
217	* LegacyOfTheChosen: Throughout the series, Randy meets several previous Ninjas. [[spoiler:He helps establish the overall legacy of the Ninja when time travel allows him to meet the original]], he met the Ninja of 2005 when he was just a kid, and the Ninja of 1985, Mac Antfee, became the main villain for two episodes.
218	* LosingHorns: A running gag is that the trombone player for the marching band will pop up, and play a Type B when something bad happens.
219	* MadeOfEvil: The Sorcerer orbs, which also seem to have some connection to the Land Of Shadows.
220	* MadScientist: Both Jerry Driscoll and Viceroy. There's even a university for mad scientists that they both attended as part of the same class (and as rivals). Said university even has a policy that a successful completion of a DoomsdayDevice guarantees the creator valedictorian, even though the only way to test if such a thing works is to ''destroy the world''.
221	* MagicKnight: The Ninja; intense melee skills and weaponry along with mystical ElementalPowers and KiManipulation.
222	* MaleGaze: In "Let Them Eat Cake Fries", we get [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWD644UZh9s a close-up shot of the French Teacher's rather shapely ass]] from behind the desk. The focus on her ass was important enough to warrant [[AnimationBump smoother animation]].
223	* MaskOfPower: The Ninja mask, creates the suit.
224	* MacGyvering: "All I need is some chewed gum, a pencil, and that thing Flute Girl plays."
225	* MayContainEvil: McFist Industry's Soupsicles, frozen bowls of soup on a stick that contains a secret ingredient the excessive consumption of which leads to mutation into a soup crazy monster.
226	* MechaMooks: Robo-Apes are this to [=McFist=], though we see them doing a multitude of things, including fighting The Ninja and catering [=McFist=] social events. They even have their own KingMook in the form of one having a built-in mohawk.
227	* MistakenIdentity: In ''Bash Johnson: 11th Grade Ninja'', Bash is mistaken for the ninja and gets all the adulation and is almost killed by [=McFist's=] robo-apes.
228	** During Randy's first run-in with Catfish Booray, Randy introduced himself as "Reginald Bagel", leading Booray to believe that to be the Ninja's true identity. It's revealed in a later episode there ''is'' a boy named Reginald Bagel and the Ninja has to protect him from [=McFist=].
229	* MonsterOfTheWeek: Alternates between [=McFist=] and Viceroy's mechanical monstrosities and The Sorcerer turning people in despair to monsters.
230	* MookMaker: Randy actually get this one, in the form of Earth Attack. At first it went kinda wrong as Randy accidentally created a monster sandworm but played straight with the Sandja's.
231	%% * MultiArmedAndDangerous: The Krakenstein.
232	[[/folder]]
233
234	[[folder: Tropes N-Z]]
235	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Bucky at the end of ''Got Stank?'' and the beginning of ''Silent Punch, Deadly Punch''. [[RuleOfFunny Humorously]], he's the only character whose [[MagicPants clothes are destroyed]] by turning into a monster.
236	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: You wonder how most everyone in Norrisville doesn't suspect someone named ''Hannibal [=McFist=]'' is evil, though that might be part of the joke since it is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded.]]
237	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Escape from detention island is like one HUGE showing of this trope.
238	** When Mac Antfee returns, he's a motivational speaker and becomes nice, Randy believes it's an act and reminds Mac of the ninja mask with all it's cool weapons, powers, and the Nomicon, causing Mac to turn back to his old self while practically exposing himself as the ninja. Randy also accuses the Nomicon of doing this for not mind wiping Mac when it fired him as the ninja.
239	** Those pale in comparison to when Randy and Howard broke into [=McFist=]'s TimeMachine and went back in time to the day the original Ninja imprisoned the Sorcerer. They altered the past, freeing the Sorcerer. [[{{Irony}} And Mc Fist wasn't even planning to use the time machine to do anything to harm the Ninja and / or free the Sorcerer]].
240	* {{Ninja}}: ''The'' Ninja.
241	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: A stanked Scorpion centaur robot.
242	* NoIndoorVoice: [=McFist=] seems almost entirely unable to keep himself from yelling. About ''anything''.
243	* NoNameGiven: Several recurring characters have no name. A notable example is Flute Girl.
244	* NoodleIncident:
245	** How Jerry Driscoll became a skeleton.
246	** Also, hold the cheese.
247	** This exchange between Heidi and Howard in "So U Think U Can Stank":
248	-->'''Heidi:''' Wonk this up, and I will webcast that video of you two taking a bath together!\
249	'''Howard:''' We were three!\
250	'''Heidi:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Not. That. Video.]]\
251	'''Howard:''' ''Oh.''
252	** Whatever Theresa Fowler tasted in ''Der Monster Klüb''.
253	** Howard's booger story
254	* NotWhatItLooksLike: In-universe, there was a misunderstanding with a student named Becky when she was only just bloated.
255	** Of course, there have been other incidents of "It's not what it looks like" in-universe... But the above example is the most notable.
256	%% * ObnoxiousInLaws: Marci's mother to [=McFist=].
257	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Even science teacher Mrs. Driscoll calls the girl who plays flute in the marching band "Flute Girl."
258	%%* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent
259	* OverlyLongTongue: Bash suffers this in "Best Bud" due to one of the Viceroys inventions literally turning his tongue into a huge squid monster.
260	%% * PerkyGoth: Julian
261	* PiratesVersusNinjas: In ''Club Ninja-dise''; [=McFist=], Viceroy and marauder bots as the pirates vs. the Ninja Randy Cunningham.
262	* PosthumousCharacter: [[DemBones Jerry Driscoll]], until he becomes [[PerfectlyCromulentWord post-posthumous]] in ''Dawn of the Driscoll''. Of course, he goes back to being dead by the end of the episode.
263	* PressurePoint: Randy occasionally employs the "Ninja Puking Poke" to make a target puke up an important object. He does it with his scarf.
264	%% * ProphetEyes: The Sorcerer.
265	* PungeonMaster: Jerry Driscoll sure loves his skeleton puns but somewhat understandable since he's a living skeleton at the time.
266	%% * RaginCajun: Catfish is definately this.
267	* RedRightHand: Hannibal [=McFist=] has an artificial arm that seems to have a mind of its own. Literally, you can see parts of a brain inside of it.
268	* RedShirts: Mac Antfee has an army of these (though they're technically {{Mooks}}) and they're even called that.
269	* RippleEffectProofMemory: When the Sorcerer's past was altered and his eight-century-long imprisonment erased, he still remembered it. Later, when Randy and the original Ninja imprisoned the Sorcerer back in the 13th century, Present-time Sorcerer didn't forget his brief freedom.
270	* RightForTheWrongReasons: In ''Bash Johnson: 11th Grade Ninja'', a de-stanked student thinks Bash was the one who turned him back to normal because he thinks Bash is the Ninja. He's wrong about Bash being the Ninja but is right about Bash being the one who turned him back to normal.
271	* RockersSmashGuitars: In ''30 Seconds to Math'', Howard does this to his sister Heidi's guitar; he does this to smash the Truth Tone which also inadvertently disqualified Heidi from the Battle of the Bands by lack of instrument. Bash also jumped on his turntables, presumably for the same reason.
272	* RunningGag:
273	** Just about every time Randy uses the Nomicon, he either gets hit on the way down or drools.
274	** The Principal's car is destroyed nearly every episode.
275	** Flute Girl saying, "You guys are idiots" whenever Randy and Howard do or say something dumb.
276	** Stevens playing his SadTrombone whenever the situation calls for it.
277	* SadistTeacher: The gym teacher is either this or just insane. Case in point, he wanted the group to play a sport he invented that involved a flamethrower.
278	* SarcasmBlind: [=McFist=].
279	--> '''Viceroy''': [[SarcasmMode Congratulations, sir, I don't know how you did it.]]
280	--> '''[=McFist=]''': Sometimes I amaze even myself! Now, what kind of power should I ask for?
281	--> '''Viceroy''': [[LampshadeHanging How about the power to recognize sarcasm?]]
282	--> '''[=McFist=]''': When would I ever use that?
283	* ScarfOfAsskicking: It even doubles as both a rope and a whip!
284	* SealedEvilInACan: The Sorcerer, who is a sealed evil underneath ''a high school'' and seeks to free himself by causing chaos with [[VillainPossessedBystander the people he mutates.]]
285	%% * SecretIdentity: Randy has a hard time grasping this concept.
286	* SecretKeeper: Howard is the only one who knows Randy is the Ninja.
287	* SensoryOverload: When Randy asks for some super taste to cheat in a blind taste competition, the Nomicon gives it to him. Along with jacking all his other senses up to agonizing levels as punishment for cheating.
288	* SequelHook: The end of "Randy Cunningham: 13th Century Ninja" foreshadows a new threat in Form of [[spoiler:the Sorcerers Power Balls]]. Season 2 ends with one as well [[spoiler:with the Creator/ChuckNorris {{Expy}} proclaiming that Randy's real fight has just begun.]]
289	%% * ServileSnarker: Viceroy.
290	* ShadowArchetype: Mac Antfee was the '85 ninja, and although he had some skill like Randy, he had none of Randy's good qualities, like how Randy tries to make up for his mistakes and stop monsters at personal cost. In fact, Mac was essentially fired, and he wanted revenge.
291	* SharePhrase: Randy likes using the CatchPhrase "What the juice?!" so much that other characters eventually say this.
292	** He has a number of other {{Catch Phrase}}s in the form of odd euphemisms and lingo, such as "that's the cheese" (that's the best), "so honkin' bruce" (that's freaking awesome), "shnasty" (extremely gross), and "so wonk" (so lame). The fandom likes using these a lot too.
293	* ShipTease:
294	** Between Randy and Theresa, several times throughout the first season. Less so in Season 2, but it is still there.
295	** More subtly between Randy and Heidi at the end of ''Grave Puncher: The Movie''.
296	*** In "welcome back catfish", Randy tells Howard that he finds Heidi attractive in the right light, much to Howards horror. Randy then goes into detail...
297	** A bit between Randy, as the Ninja, and Debby Kang.
298	** Flute Girl and Stevens seem to be canon, but as it isn't clear...
299	%% * SickAndWrong: These types of events happens and Randy usually responds with "Shnasty."
300	* SickEpisode: Subverted in ''Randy Cunningham's Day Off'', Randy is back in school by the end of the episode and only winds up having a half-day off.
301	* SignatureInstrument: This show has a character who is only ever referred to as Flute Girl. Unsurprisingly, she's known for playing the flute.
302	* SimpleSolutionWontWork: In "Dawn of the Driscol" [[MadScientist Jerry Driscol]] attempts to complete his DoomsdayDevice following his accidental resurrection. In the final battle Viceroy desperately tries to find a way to shut it down before it destroys the world, Howards suggests simply [[CutTheJuice cutting the power]] only for Viceroy to reveal that its powered by an internal nuclear reactor meaning there is no way to do so.
303	%% * SitcomArchNemesis: Brent, S. Ward Smith's apprentice, is apparently this towards Howard.
304	* SkewedPriorities: Averted. A teacher wasn't gonna let Randy get his backpack during a drill. Even if he's standing very close to it.
305	** Played straight in "Randy Cunningham: 13th Century Ninja", out of fear [=McFist=] was implementing another evil plan, Randy and Howard decided to sneak away from the tour at [=McFist=] Industries. When a student reported them to Principal Slimovitz, Slimovitz ignored them and had the other students do the same and keep their eyes on the "tattle-tale" because he hates tattle-tales more than he hates troublemakers. Not knowing it'd somehow result in the Sorcerer being free does not excuse him.
306	* SlowClap: Howard (and Randy) received one in ''Gossip Boy''.
307	%% * SmokeOut: "Smoke bomb!"
308	%% * SpitTake: In ''Gossip Boy'', Randy did this when Howard mentioned that he knows who the Ninja is live on Heidi's blog show.
309	* {{Squee}}: Debbie Kang's reaction when finding out there's a Mexican Death Bear at school. Also Rachel. SO MUCH RACHEL.
310	* StatusQuoIsGod: In "[=McOne=] Armed and Dangerous", [[spoiler:Hannibal [=McFist's=] status as a VillainWithGoodPublicity is destroyed thanks to the Ninja telling the people about [=McFist's=] attempts to have him killed and [=McFist=] falling victim to IsThisThingStillOn. The Sorcerer then Stanks [=McFist=]. After [=McFist=] is brought back to normal, the Ninja decides to restore his reputation by claiming [=McFist=] only tried to kill him because he had been turned into a monster. It happened to so many students before everyone in Norrisville bought that and called off the boycott on [=McFist=] Industries.]]
311	* SureLetsGoWithThat: Hannibal [=McFist=] once tried to destroy the Ninja with an PoweredArmor. When the Ninja removed the helmet, he assumed [=McFist=] was being forced. [=McFist=] tried to play along but the Ninja wondered why somebody would force him. Since [=McFist=] failed to come up with an excuse, the Ninja figured out [=McFist=] is a VillainWithGoodPublicity.
312	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial:
313	** When Randy and Howard meet [=McFist=] at Bash's birthday party, Randy at fist spoke like he already met [=McFist=] before, forgetting that, up to this point, it was only as "The Ninja" he already met him. His efforts to mask that slip was claiming they never met before. Howard then added that [=McFist=]'s stepson Bash wasn't a jerk.
314	** Randy was specifically invoking this trope in ''Wave Slayers'' to avoid having to confess the truth when the Ninjanomicon told him to fess up about what happened to Buttermaker.
315	** After expresing hope that a then six-year-old Randy never becomes the Ninja, the Ninja of 2005 quickly mentions there wouldn't be a chance anyway because the Ninja is the same Ninja during all those centuries.
316	* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: When the thing held most dear is something abstract like a relationship or irreplaceable like a person, victims can be de-stanked by having their feelings assuaged by an earnest talking to.
317	* ThereWasADoor: In ''Got Stank?'', Stanked!Bucky busts through walls instead of going through doors or even windows.
318	* TheMostDangerousVideoGame: Viceroy created Jack Hammer's control as an arcade machine so that the perfect beings could control it. Teenagers, which is made worse because Howard is one playing the game doesn't believe Randy about it being this trope due to him messing with Howard's head at the arcade.
319	%% * ThreateningShark: Kaiju level.
320	* TimeMachine: [=McFist=] had Viceroy build one in "Randy Cunningham: 13th Century Ninja". To Viceroy's disappointment, instead of using it to destroy the Ninja, [=McFist=] wanted to use it to travel back to a time, when his favorite breakfast cereal hadn't been discontinued.
321	* TimeyWimeyBall: Randy Cunningham: 13th Century Ninja follows this to a T. [[spoiler: When the past was altered so the Sorcerer's imprisonment never happened, it got the Sorcerer free but didn't change the world in any way that reflected the damages he would have caused during eight centuries of altered history.]] No explanations were given.
322	%% * TitleDrop: in ''Debbie Meddle''; complete with AsideGlance!
323	%% * ToiletHumour: but arguably not the gross kind. They tone it down in Season 2.
324	* TotallyRadical: All the teen characters unabashedly speak in made-up slang like, "Shoob-tastic" or "So Honking Bruce". Adult characters like Hannibal [=McFist=] try and fail to speak "teen lingo" and end up coming off like this.
325	%% * UglyGuyHotWife: [=McFist=] and his wife, Marci.
326	* {{Unobtainium}}: Viceroy invents a TimeMachine that is fueled by hardtogetium. He cannot get more fuel than needed for a round trip.
327	* UnusualEuphemism: [=McFist=]'s stepson Bash uses the phrase "make a Mr. Grumpy" to refer to defecation.
328	* UnwantedAssistance: In ''Escape from Detention Island'', Randy as both himself and the Ninja tries to help the students with their punishments but the Disciplinarian considers it cheating and amps up the danger making it worse.
329	** [[LampshadeHanging Even the Nomicon was trying to tell him he should have stayed out of it from the beginning.]]
330	* VillainPossessedBystander: [[BigBad The Sorcerer]] has the ability to "Stank" any person that has been heartbroken or is going through emotional trauma, and transform them into a monster.
331	%% * VillainWithGoodPublicity: [=McFist=].
332	* VomitChainReaction: How the "candy zombies" from ''Night of the Living [=McFizzles=]'' were defeated.
333	* WhamEpisode:
334	** ''Randy Cunningham and the Sorcerer's Key'' revealed that Randy will be the ninja to partake in the final battle with the Sorcerer.
335	** ''Snow-Klahoma!'' [[spoiler: Randy inadvertingly lets out Anti-Julian from the Shadow Dimension who no doubt will be after the Sorcerer's Ball he has hidden away. What's more the real Julian is stuck in the Shadow Dimension.]]
336	* WhatDoTheyFearEpisode: Viceroy once invented a robot that created personifications of people's fears. Randy fears chickens ([=McFist=] and Viceroy were disappointed); Heidi Weinerman fears looking like her mother in the future; Viceroy fears the kid who used to bully him at school; [=McFist=] fears clowns; and Bucky is afraid of minotaurs playing smooth jazz.
337	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Randy has a fear of chickens (Also roosters).
338	** In fact Rhinosaurus' power was to INVOKE this trope
339	%% * WontTakeYesForAnAnswer: Was seen in Evil Spirit Week
340	* ZergRush: Robo-Apes usual tactic when fighting the Ninja. This actually becomes effective when they go berserk and attack everything else, rendering Randy unable to stop all their rampages.
341	[[/folder]]

Context WesternAnimation / RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja