Line #15 WesternAnimation/TurboTeen


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/turbo_teen.jpg]]
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3	->''"I'm Brett Matthews. It was a stormy night when a bolt of lightning forced me off the road! My car skidded into a government laboratory where a top-secret experiment was under way! I swerved into the path of Dr. Chase's molecular-transfer ray, causing me and my car to become one! The incredible Turbo Teen!"''
4	-->--'''OpeningNarration'''
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6	''Turbo Teen'' was an AnimatedSeries created by Creator/RubySpears that aired Saturday mornings on the Creator/{{ABC}} Network for twelve episodes between 1984 and 1985. The visual design was developed by comic book great, Creator/JackKirby. The series was once rerun on the Creator/USANetwork's now-defunct USA Cartoon Express block.
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8	The series is about a [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent teenager named Brett Matthews]], who swerves off a road during a thunderstorm and crashes into a secret government laboratory. There, he and his [[CoolCar red sports car]] are [[SuperHeroOrigin accidentally exposed to a molecular beam invented by Dr. Chase and the two become fused together]]. As a result, Brett has the ability to morph into the car when exposed to extreme heat, and reverts back into his human form when exposed to extreme cold. With this [[NewSuperPower ''amazing'' new super hero power]], Brett and his friends (who call him "TT") go on crime fighting adventures and thwart evildoers. As a subplot, Brett constantly searches for a way to return back to normal with the help of the scientists responsible for this.
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10	A reoccurring villain is the mysterious, unseen "[[MysteriousWatcher Dark Rider]]", who drives a monster truck and seeks to capture TT to find the secret behind his abilities.
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12	The concept of a person changing forms when the temperature changes isn't unheard of but this show predates ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' by several years. It was very likely influenced by ''Series/KnightRider'', as the car looks a lot like the Pontiac Trans-Am used for KITT.
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14	!!Turbo Tropes:
15	* BlessedWithSuck: Some of Brett's transformations occur at very bad moments.
16	* BodyHorror: The transformation sequence from boy to car. They show everything, and on some occasions Brett will be stuck between forms, with his upper half being human and his lower half stretched to the width of a car. Gets more wince-inducing when you realize that the sequence of transformation - warping hands, then feet, then dropping to all fours, then elongation of torso and expansion of face - is nearly identical to the ''agonizing'' man-to-beast transition of ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon''.
17	* CarFu: Turbo Teen's capabilities include driving sideways on his wheels, spinning around and jumping on one wheel, launching himself at a helicopter and grabbing on, opening and closing his hood to pick things up and use them, and many more.
18	* CoolCar: The car looks like a slick, red Pontiac Trans-Am.
19	* EpicRace: The "Daredevil Run" from the eponymous episode, a cross-country road race the crew enters to transport an eyewitness to the case she's to testify in. Oddly enough, the episode in question is not a WholePlotReference to ''Film/TheCannonballRun''.
20	* FreakLabAccident: Those darn molecular rays hitting poor teenagers.
21	* IJustWantToBeNormal: Brett is working with scientists to reverse the transformation inflicted on him.
22	* MergingMachine: Dr. Chase's molecular beam becomes this when it merges Brett and his Car together in the freak accident the sets up the premise of the show.
23	* NewSuperPower: Brett struggles with his power when near heat sources and tries his best to [[HowDoIShotWeb figure out all the functions of his new form]].
24	* RequiredSecondaryPowers: The fusion process apparently imbued Brett's car form with a small supercomputer to house his mind. That's not snark -- in car form, he was essentially [[Series/KnightRider KITT]].
25	* {{Shapeshifting}}: Usually of the [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting Involuntary]] variety. The closest Brett could do to VoluntaryShapeshifting was to intentionally expose himself to heat or cold, respectively. In one episode, he wakes up in car form and somehow gets into the bathroom and turns on a cold shower to turn himself back into a human!
26	* SapientSteed: Brett, half-human, half car.
27	* SuperHero: Brett, the Turbo Teen.
28	* SuperHeroOrigin: The first episode, which shows how Brett gets fused with his car and decides to fight bad guys.
29	* TokenBlackFriend: Alex, who is Brett's buddy and Turbo Teen's mechanic.
30	* TransformationRay: Dr. Chase's molecular beam.

Context WesternAnimation / TurboTeen