Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context WesternAnimation / WildKratts

Go To

1%%
2%% Image selected per Image Pickin thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=17086152620.46272100
3%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
4%%
5[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tilelg_wildkratts_0.jpg]]
6[[caption-width-right:350:[[ThemeTune We're gonna save some animals today with Creature Powah!]]]]
7
8->"TO THE CREATURE RESCUE!"
9
10''Wild Kratts'' is an [[LongRunner long-running]] educational TV show produced for PBS Kids and TVO Kids which premiered in January 2011 and is currently ongoing. It's an animated and live action-mixed cartoon starring Martin and Chris Kratt of ''Series/KrattsCreatures,'' ''Series/{{Zoboomafoo}},'' and the short-lived ''Series/{{Be the Creature}}'' fame. They travel around the world in a turtle-shaped, go-wherever transport they call Tortuga HQ along with three techies: Aviva, the head techie who built the creature power suits and other gadgets, Koki, who does a lot of data monitoring and communications work, and Jimmy Z, whose jobs seem to be teleport master, pilot, and eater of pizza. With the Creature Power Suits (devices that scan an animal's DNA and allow the user to transform into that animal), Martin and Chris can become any animal in the world, in a rather {{mecha}}-like way. Like its predecessors, the show's focus is on animal education and conservation, but because of the animated environment it's not limited by what the brothers happen to catch on tape. This means that they can show rare, ridiculously cool things like [[CoolVsAwesome a bull sperm whale and a colossal squid battling it out]].
11
12It reached its [[LongRunner 10th year mark]] in January 2021.
13
14Not to be confused with ComicBook/{{WildCATS|WildStorm}}.
15
16----
17!!Activate Troping Powers!!!!
18[[foldercontrol]]
19
20[[folder:Tropes A to M]]
21
22%%* {{Acrofatic}}: Gourmand. It's almost [[BadassNormal a superpower]].
23%%* {{Ahem}}: The girls are subject to using these to attract the brothers' attention from time to time, usually to indicate they've been caught doing something.
24* AIIsACrapshoot: Zach's bots often misunderstand his commands, taking his words literally.
25--> '''Zach''': I must be dreaming! Somebody pinch me! *A Zachbot pinches him* OW! I didn't mean literally!
26* AirVentPassageway: How Koki escapes an air-pocket after the rogue wave from "Puffin Rescue" swamps the ''Tortuga'' at sea.
27* AllDesertsHaveCacti:
28** The bros feed Koala Balloon some prickly pear cactus to hydrate him, because there's no eucalyptus available in the desert. Justified, because there ''are'' prickly pear in Australia, albeit as an invasive species.
29** Also justified in the episodes set in the Sonoran desert, since that's where cacti ''are'' native to.
30* AllGirlsLikePonies: In one episode, the team heads for the Virginia coast and meets up with some of the famous wild ponies of Chincoteague. Koki and Aviva go nuts over the ponies.
31* AlliterativeName: Chris Kratt, Donita Donata, and Gaston Gourmand. Justified with Chris since that's his real name. Also to the extent that Donita's henchman's name is Dabio.
32* AlwaysABiggerFish:
33** First, mama sperm whale vs. giant squid. Mama is taken out by fishing net, leaving baby sperm whale Bumper at risk. Enter ''[[OhCrap colossal squid]]''. Enter papa sperm whale, who eats the colossal squid.
34** Both "Stuck on Sharks" and especially "This Orca Likes Sharks" features orcas preying on great whites.
35** At one point in the penguin episode, the Kratts in penguin form are chased by a leopard seal, which is chased by an orca.
36* AmbiguouslyBrown: Chris (even though he is fairly dark skinned in real life). Donita would fit, if she weren't a [[TheFashionista fashionista]] (it could be argued that she tans). Rex as well, although his complexion may be an intentional contrast to Paisley's chalk-white skin.
37%%* AmusingInjury: Staple of the Kratt Brothers. Also with [[ButtMonkey Zach and Jimmy Z]].
38* AndIMustScream: Donita Donata specializes in "living jewelry" i.e. live animals frozen in suspended animation. Not all of them are rescued either. Sure she doesn't kill them (at least not intentionally), [[FateWorseThanDeath but this could arguably be worse]].
39* AngryAngryHippos: True to real life, hippos are portrayed as aggressive in several appearances. In "Mom of a Croc", it's pointed out that their jaws can chop a crocodile in half.
40* AnimalJingoism: "Whale of a Squid" focuses on the famed animosity between sperm whales and giant squids.
41* AnimalThemedSuperbeing: The Creature Power Suits and Discs convey Type IV (any animal) powers upon their wearers.
42%%* {{Animorphism}}
43%%* AppliedPhlebotinum
44* ArtisticLicenseOrnithology:
45** In "Day of the Dodo", the great auk is described as a penguin. It was actually... well, [[ShapedLikeItself an auk]]. This one is actually justified though-- when great auks were discovered, they were initially called penguins, and only later was the name [[CallASmeerpARabbit given to the birds that bear that name today]].
46** In "Roadrunner", the titular bird has three toes facing forward and one backward in some shots. Like all cuckoos, they actually have two facing forward and two backward (though the roadrunner is correctly shown with this arrangement when standing).
47** The pelican in "Capture the Fishmobile" only has three toes webbed (a real pelican has all four toes webbed).
48* ArtisticLicensePaleontology:
49** Averted in "Raptor Round-Up", where they point out how similar some dinosaurs were to birds-of-prey, including having feathers. Heck, in the end [[ShownTheirWork dinosaurs are described as still existing today as birds]].
50** Also averted in "The Dhole Duplicator" where Martin properly uses the term "saber-toothed cats" for machairodonts (rather than "saber-toothed ''tigers''").
51* ArtShift: The animation and character designs are slightly different starting from "Polar Bears Don't Dance", although this was fixed by "Snow Runners".
52* AsHimself: The Kratt Brothers, obviously, and adorably, some of their real-life kids.
53* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever:
54** "Whale of a Squid" featured two giant sea monsters duking it out. Then there's an extreme example with Seven in "Octopus Wildkratticus".
55** Aviva with praying mantis powers. Since female mantises are much larger than males, she grows to roughly the size of the Tortuga.
56* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Martin-the-Bass has a little problem with lure reactions. Also averted with a LOT of the episodes--okay, fine, every episode--because the Kratts always get distracted, and never stay on their ONE task assigned, although they come to their senses eventually.
57* AuthorAvatar: Chris and Martin Kratt pretty much play animated (and more physically able) versions of themselves in nearly all of each episode
58* BackportedDevelopment: Octopus Wildkratticus showed two things at the same time: 1) Scenes that never happened, 2) In Creature Power Suits that do not exist either a- in the state they were shown or b- at all (such as Martin's Honey Badger suit- there was never a second disc. Chris was the Honey Badger that episode). The series has {{Plot Hole}}s overall, because the episodes are out of order.
59%%* BadassBookworm: Chris.
60* BagOfKidnapping: In "Birds of a Feather" Donita's henchman Dabio kidnaps Aviva with this method because he thought she was a giant Bird of Paradise when she was wearing a bird Creature Power Suit.
61* BambooTechnology: Chris sometimes whips up catapults and other contraptions from logs, vines, and whatever bits of fabric or wire are left over from the latest crashed or creature-destroyed equipment that got him and Martin stranded.
62* BatmanInMyBasement: In "Praying Mantis," two brothers call the Wild Kratts when they discover the cocoon they brought home hatched thousands of baby praying mantis, which are crawling all over their bedroom.
63-->'''Ronan:''' Mom, can we have a Wild Kratts adventure in our room?\
64'''Mom:''' Okay!\
65'''Gavin:''' Cool!
66* BerserkButton:
67** Chris has one whenever animals are directly threatened (to be technical they both do, but it could be argued Chris gets angrier than Martin does).
68%%** Martin's is pressed in "Flight of the Draco". See PunctuatedForEmphasis.
69** Also in "Flight of the Draco", don't tell Aviva she throws like a gi-
70--> '''Aviva''': ''Don't you say it!''
71** On that matter, don't lose the creature power suits, disagree with her on whether or not it's more important to find said suits or a new species... just... [[BewareTheNiceOnes just don't make her mad at all]].
72* BewareTheNiceOnes:
73%%** As mentioned in BerserkButton, just don't make Aviva mad at all.
74** Chris to Martin in "Raptor Roundup"- Martin was standing on top of the Tortuga, slipped and fell and slid down the clothesline, knocking off the sleeping bags Chris had just hung up, and covering his brother in feathers. Chris growls, Martin gives an OhCrap and starts running with Chris on his heels. [[FridgeLogic What would Chris have done if he'd caught Martin?]]
75** There's also Martin to Donita in "Flight of the Draco" when his BerserkButton was pressed.
76** Koki is a very good fit for this trope as well, due to her bad temper.
77* BigBrotherInstinct: Very much in existence, though Chris has got quite the Little Brother Instinct of his own.
78%%* BigDamnHeroes: Being a series about creature rescue, Chris and Martin pull this on a regular basis, occasionally even to each other (such as Martin saving Chris in "Raptor Roundup").
79* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: Zach mistakes Martin for a yeti when a power-suit glitch turns the latter into a human-sized Himalayan monkey.
80* BigNo: Many times, and often. Usually comes after OhCrap
81* BigRedButton: The ink defense button in "Octopus Wildkratticus," and pretty much every button on all of Zach's controls. Donita's buttons are more like big pink buttons. To note, the Octopod also had a big green button.
82%%* BioAugmentation
83* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: [[spoiler: In Alaska: Hero's Adventure, a school of salmon complete their upstream migration, lay their eggs, and promptly die. The eggs hatch into salmon fry, which start the salmon life cycle again by swimming downstream.]]
84* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: One special goes into detail about the adaptations of and challenges faced by salmon. The salmon die upon completing migration, but the eggs they lay hatch and start the salmon life cycle again.]]
85* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Martin, Chris/Aviva, and Jimmy. (Koki's hair is black, so she doesn't fit this trope.)
86* BloodlessCarnage: Although it's quite frequently discussed that animals kill each other, actual bloodshed is avoided. Predators will either [[SwallowedWhole gulp down their prey]], miss their targets, or finish a kill off-screen. Wounded animals may limp, but don't bleed on-camera. Carcasses, if shown, are either cleanly-intact or already disassembled into tidy, ambiguous chunks or bones.
87** This was averted once, when a secretary bird was shown in the act of killing a snake, complete with visible blood.
88* BreakingTheFourthWall:
89** Sometimes the characters will look into the camera, but they won't necessarily be talking to the audience. The only real time the fourth wall was genuinely broken was in the basilisk lizard episode - Chris and Martin were trying to catch a basilisk to activate their suits. Chris assumes a funny pose and declares it the "dead tree pose". Martin then looks into the camera, tries to stifle his smile, and indicates Chris with his thumb in a way that suggested the audience was supposed to know about his actions, but Chris wasn't.
90** Another example can be found in "Termites vs. Tongues", although Martin says he's talking to himself and not necessarily to the audience, but they could take it a different way.
91--> Martin: You heard me talking to myself, didn't you? Yeah, thought so.
92* BriarPatching: Used by Martin on Zach in "The Gecko Effect". Of course, Zach is an idiot when it comes to animals, so Martin has to go and explain what geckos "are," while still pretending he doesn't know Zach is listening.
93* BrutishBulls: In “Where the Bison Roam”, a dominant bull bison tosses Jimmy into the air after he invades its personal space while trying to get a teleportation ring that ended up around his horn. Martin dubs said bison Raging Bull. In a subsequent episode, Raging Bull makes another appearance to head-butt Martin out of a fence he’s stuck in.
94* CastFullOfWriters: 3/4 of the writers have fairly regular roles on the show. See WrittenByCastMember.
95* CasualDangerDialogue: It's common for the cast to stop to describe animal traits even when time and danger are serious factors.
96* CatchphraseSpoutingDuo: Most episodes of the show end with Chris saying his SigningOffCatchphrase and Chris complimenting it with his own.
97* CharacterCatchphrase:
98** "To the creature rescue!" and "Living free and in the wild!" and less frequently, "Saving the planet with creature powers!" spring to mind.
99** "I'll get you, you Wild Ratts!" Zach, every time.
100** Also, "Mission accomplished!" (Considering the Creature Missions throughout the episodes...)
101** "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "I think we're thinking the same thing."
102** "This gives me a great idea for a video game."
103** In the live-action segments: "We'll see you on the creature trail!" and "Keep on creature adventuring!"
104* CheatedAngle: Aviva's hair, every single episode.
105* CelebrityToons: A Saturday morning cartoon-influenced show starring two beloved zoologist brothers.
106* ChekhovsSkill: Any mentioned creature power inevitably gets used to save the day.
107* ChronicHeroSyndrome: When the brothers in particular see animal in distress, they feel morally obligated to help. They have a tendency to seek out animals to observe even when they're not working, and it feeds into it.
108* ChronicallyCrashedCar: More like Chronically Crashed ''Everything''; if any of Team Kratt is off exploring in a one- or two-man vehicle, the odds are good that said vehicle will crash, break down, get chomped by a creature, or otherwise strand its occupant in the middle of nowhere. The Buzzbikes and Amphipod in particular must be impossible to insure by now, they've been wrecked so many times.
109* CirclingBirdies: Takes the form of whatever animal featured in the episode.
110* CoconutMeetsCranium: A coconut (an immature one, judging by its green husk) dropping onto Chris's head is what snaps him out of his [[GoMadFromTheIsolation hallucination from being stranded on a deserted island]] in "Puffin Rescue."
111* ColorCodedCharacters:
112** Martin wears blue, Chris wears green. Becomes one of the more obvious hints that something's up in "Let the Rhinos Roll!". Also happens to be how Zach identifies them, as "Blue Boy" and "Green Guy".
113** Played with when the brothers go out of their way to retain their color-coding. In "Blowfish Blowout", when the miniaturized Kratts need to conceal themselves among plankton, Martin passed up the chance to disguise himself with dark green sea scum, handing it over to Chris and riding a (transparent, yet ''depicted'' as light blue) bubble instead. Their favored dragonfly-forms likewise match their colors.
114** Also, Aviva in "Octopus Wildkratticus" and "Birds of a Feather", seeing as how her scuba suit and her Bird of Paradise suit were purple.
115** Koki was a later addition to the trope. Throughout the episodes, we could tell that she favored orange, but it was made offical in The Amazing Creature Race, when she transformed into an orange cheetah.
116* ComedicUnderwearExposure: Happens to Gaston Gourmand in the episode "Rainforest Stew".
117* ComicallyMissingThePoint:
118** Jimmy. According to him, sharks give birth to puppies. As in "baby dogs". (Sharks babies are called "pups".) Seems to be mixed with ObfuscatingStupidity.
119** In "Seahorse Rodeo", Dabio sees the diamonds are holograms projected from the Tortuga. Looking at the diamonds, then at the projector , apparently trying to put two-and-two together. Then he tries to take a bite of his club sandwich.
120* CommLinks: The Creature Pods, which (when not lost/broken/forgotten) allow the bros to keep in touch with the ''Tortuga'', the Wild Kratts Kids, and each other.
121* ContinuityNod:
122** The episode "Little Howler" has a flashback involving the episode where Chris used the Creature Power Suit to become a gazelle. Also in "Let the Rhinos Roll"- the reason Chris Bot was wearing red is because when in certain countries during ''Kratts' Creatures'', Chris would wear a red shirt.
123** Speaking of ''Kratts' Creatures'', occasional episode titles get dropped (such as "Maximum Cheetah Velocity!" in both "Mimic" and "Cheetah Racer"), and both that series and ''Be the Creature'' get occasional moment nods.
124** Other episodes can be littered with several nods to past ones. "Raptor Round Up" is a good example, cameoing the honeyguide (or at least ''a'' honeyguide) from "Honey Seekers", while Chris also references the dough balls incident from the same episode a little while later.
125* CrazyPrepared:
126** Martin thinks he's this.
127-->'''Chris''': Snowshoes? In the rainforest?\
128'''Martin:''' Hey, you may be more organized, but I'm better prepared.
129** Subverted however in "Koala Balloon" when Martin is rummaging for eucalyptus leaves to feed to Koala Balloon, but only finds various other kinds of leaves.
130* {{Crossover}}:
131** The Kratt brothers appeared in the beginning of the ''Series/OddSquad'' episode "Night Shift".
132** The show had a crossover with ''WesternAnimation/NatureCat'' called "Wild Batts!", where Chris and Martin appeared as bats.
133** The Kratts guest-star in the ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'' episode "Cry Wolf", where the characters search for a missing wolf pack.
134* CruelCoyotes: In the episode "Roadrunner", Chris, using roadrunner powers, chases a collared lizard (referred to in the episode as a "mystery lizard" until the end) which suddenly retreats into some bushes. When Chris tries to catch up to the lizard, a coyote jumps out from said bushes, mistakes Chris for a roadrunner and starts chasing him, resulting in a certain scenario many ''Franchise/LooneyTunes'' fans may recognize. While trying to escape from the coyote, Chris incorrectly assumes that roadrunners are too fast for coyotes before Martin tells him through a wrist communicator that coyotes ''can'' outrun and catch roadrunners. Sure enough, the coyote has managed to catch Chris, but is then startled and runs off when he deactivates his roadrunner powers and returns to normal.
135* CruellaToAnimals: Surprisingly averted for the most part. Most of the villains' mistreatment of animals is out of apathy and indifference to the creatures' well-being than outright sadism. But Gourmand ''did'' once say that the thought of cooking endangered animals always picks up his mood. As for Zach, it's only when the Kratts try reasoning with him that Zach [[KickTheDog goes out of his way to harm animals]] [[ForTheEvulz just to spite them]].
136* CurbStompBattle: Zach can send out all the bots he wants. He's only making the Bros look more awesome.
137* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to other Kratt shows, and PBS Kids in general -- some of the villains are genuinely threatening, and the show is not above showing animals killing and eating their prey.
138* ''WesternAnimation/WildKratts'':
139** In "Koala Balloon", Chris, Martin and the titular koala baby are chased by a pack of dingoes. To throw them off, Martin creates a decoy of Koala Balloon made out of wood to fool them. It works, but only for a short time, as the dingoes quickly realize they were tricked and the trio is chased up a tree, forced to spend the night there due to the threatening dingoes on the ground.
140** In "Kickin' It With the Roos", a dingo chases after a group of kangaroos, including Chris and Martin, who are transformed kangaroos. Once the group gets to a watering hole, Roo Boss fights the dingo and attempts to drown him, after which the dingo quickly makes his escape.
141* DemotedToExtra: There have been episodes where either Jimmy or Koki (or, on rare occasions, both of them) have little to no dialogue spoken. This seems to be happening less and less as the show goes on.
142* DesertedIsland: In "Puffin Rescue", the Kratts end up on separate ones after the Tortuga is hit by a rogue wave. Martin washes up on a rocky island where Atlantic puffins have nested, while Chris is sent flying onto a [[FarSideIsland small island with a lone coconut tree]].
143* DesperateObjectCatch: Koki does a DivingSave to catch the remote time-trampoline when Martin carelessly drops it. Also happens occasionally when a Power Disc is teleported to the bros.
144* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: In "To Touch a Hummingbird," Martin wakes Koki and Aviva by playing the show's theme song on a bugle. [[LiteralMetaphor Aviva puts a sock in it]].
145* DisproportionateRetribution: When Donita wants to turn a baby cheetah into a fashion ornament, the brothers trick her into stealing a visually similar [[PintSizedPowerhouse honey badger]], which goes berserk. While cheetahs are endangered, it's only the show's kid-friendly tone that prevented the honey badger from killing Donita.
146* DoIReallySoundLikeThat: Chris, after Martin imitates his growling, in "Tazzy Chris".
147* DoingItForTheArt: In-universe example with Chef Gourmand. Besides the fact that food made from rare animals make for especially expensive - and therefore profitable - dishes, this is the reason he specializes in cooking with endangered animals. He even firmly insists that he never, ''ever'' makes the same dish twice.
148* DontTryThisAtHome: "Rattlesnake Crystal" starts and ends with a disclaimer about not touching wild snakes.
149* {{Doppelganger}}: Zach makes one of Chris. Martin nearly doesn't figure it out in time.
150* DrivesLikeCrazy:
151** Martin does a bit of this off-screen in "Let the Rhinos Roll!", in which he apparently drives their jeep ''flying over a ravine''. Chris good-naturedly chews him out over it while he fixes the poor thing.
152** There's some ''on''-screen bad driving by Martin in the beginning of "Aardvark Town." It could be argued that Chris can't drive either, judging by his handling (or lack thereof) of the sub at the beginning of "Whale of a Squid", as well as the Butterflier XT.
153* DumbBlonde: Played straight in one case and averted in another. Dabio is [[TooDumbToLive an idiot]], but Martin is [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} just goofy]].
154* DoofyDodo: Part 1 of "Back in Creature Time" plays with this by portraying dodos as intelligent, but clueless about the dangers brought to their island due to years of isolation from predators. You know, [[TruthInTelevision just like real dodos]]. They even point out that [[ShownTheirWork it's a misconception that dodos are stupid, being members of the pigeon family and all]].
155%%* DumbMuscle: Dabio, Donita's blond henchman.
156* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
157** The pilot episode, "Polar Bears Don't Dance," sports different animation, different rules for the power suits (which seem to be actual suits in this episode alone, rather than entire body transformations), a different director, and different designs for both the exterior and interior of the Tortuga.
158** The show's first season's episodes don't open with a globe that tells the audience where in the world the Kratts and the featured animal are, something that would be adopted in the rest of the show's runtime.
159%%* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Zach has really pale skin and really dark hair.
160%%* EldritchAbomination: Seven in "Octopus Wildkratticus". Even though the Creature Power Suits are ultimately the reason, still...
161%%* ElephantInTheLivingRoom:
162%%** If you've ever seen Elephant in the Room, this trope is self-explanatory.
163%%** This could also apply to Nubs and the lion cub in "Let the Rhinos Roll!", along with a few episodes in Season 2 and none in Season 3...yet.
164%%* EmotionlessReptile: In “Mom of a Croc”, Aviva has a hard time believing a crocodile could be a good mother because she only sees them as aggressive and cold-blooded. She learns her lesson at the end of the episode once she sees crocs do care a lot for their children and will go against anything to protect them.
165* EskimosArentReal: Koki, Aviva and Jimmy all assume narwhals are imaginary, so the brothers set out to show them one. TruthInTelevision; narwhals are sometimes believed to be imaginary.
166* EverybodyLaughsEnding: Almost every episode. It's rare to see an episode end with no one laughing. The only exceptions to this are Snow Runners and Creature Power Challenge, among some others.
167* ExitPursuedByABear: Or rhino, or Tasmanian devil, or pigeon...
168* EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: It's not enough that the Kratts and Zach grew up in the same neighborhood (and presumably went to the same school); Aviva spent a summer in science camp with him.
169* EvilEggEater: They show up a few times, even if [[DownplayedTrope they're ultimately normal animals trying to survive]] and treated accordingly. The first episode for instance has a Nile monitor lizard serving as the closest thing to its villain, trying twice in the episode to raid a Nile crocodile's nest. Both the croc itself and later the Kratt Brothers chase it off before it does.
170* EvilPoacher: All the main villains, except for Paisley Paver, who's more interested in developing on land which happens to be inhabited by animals than harming them directly, though she will capture animals if a) they get in the way of her plans, b) she plans to make them work for her, or c) it's for another villain's scheme.
171* EvilTastesGood: "Poached, roasted or barbecued... rare, endangered animals make the best food!" Gourmand singing to himself in "Platypus Café".
172%%* {{Expy}}: Martin is one of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Pinkie Pie]].
173* {{Fartillery}}: Averted with the warthogs--they just have warthog breath, as opposed to [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Pumbaa]], whose gas came from the other end.
174* TheFashionista: Donita. She's very successful with her animal based line, and when frustrated starts sketching out ideas on a sketchpad.
175* FatalFlaw: The villains all have AmbitionIsEvil, but aside from that, display several others. Donita--{{Greed}}. Gourmand--{{Jerkass}}, {{Pride}}. Paisley--ATragedyOfImpulsiveness. Zach--has all of them except for DeliciousDistraction.
176* FelonyMisdemeanor: The villains on the show are often not breaking any laws, just being callous toward wildlife -- sometimes down to the point of only endangering one or two members of a populous species. These are always considered dire threats worth risking life and limb to prevent, even in an environment where the animals are common and under constant natural threat.
177* FieryRedHead: Inverted--Jimmy is the calmest member, and Aviva is the most temperamental.
178* FierySalamander: Martin reads about the "salamander born of fire" myth in a very old book, so the Kratts investigate and debunk it.
179* {{Filler}}: Alaska: Hero's Adventure lasts forty-five minutes, so a segment from ''WesternAnimation/NatureCat'' is used to fill the hour allocated for broadcasts.
180* FinishDialogueInUnison
181-->'''Martin:''' This raccoon family needs a home, so we should show them-\
182'''Chris and Martin (in unison):''' [[FinishingEachOthersSentences -that old]] [[AreYouPonderingWhatImPondering raccoon den!]]
183* {{Foil}}:
184** Zach and Donita. Zach is dark, brooding, pale, excessively cruel to animals (particularly the babies) and literally does not give two cents about learning anything about them and is surrounded by his robot servants/slaves. Donita, on the other hand, is tan, very successful with her fashion line, a bit genre savvy, actually shows interest in knowing about the animals that will be part of her fashion line, and has only one henchman (Dabio).
185** Chris and Martin could be considered foils to each other, with their varied heights and appearances, as well as their differences in personality--Chris is (generally) the calmer and more collected one, and has been pointed out to be more organized than his brother, who's the goofy, occasionally ditzy one. Aside from that, they often have opposites in favorite activity (Chris is the better climber, Martin is the better swimmer/flier) or in the suits they have when they both don't have the same one (such as squirrel and blue jay, or sperm whale and giant squid).
186%%* FoodPorn: For those who like brownies, "A Bat in the Brownies".
187* FreeRangeChildren:
188** The Wild Kratts Kids, especially in "The Blue and the Gray"- Ronan and his friend were just wandering in the woods with no previous adult supervision. At least in other episodes, the kids were close to home or being monitored by the Wild Kratts themselves. And of all things, there was a bear in those woods! Apparently, SocialServicesDoesNotExist.
189* FriendToAllLivingThings: Two rare male examples. To the consternation of their team mates, [[FluffyTamer this is not limited to obviously nice animals]].
190%%* FriendlyPlayfulDolphin: Expect this trope if the episode stars dolphins. Including if they're orcas.
191* FriskyFerret: One episode featured a black-footed ferret named Bandito that Martin met in the praries. Even though he can be cute, sometimes he can be sneaky. This is shown by him popping up behind Martin and biting his behind.
192* FreudianExcuse: Why is Zach so angry at these brothers? Well apparently they foiled his childhood plans of a security robot--powered by a frog--when they were kids!
193%%* FreudianTrio: There are two- Chris/Martin/Aviva, and Aviva/Koki/Jimmy. In each trio, the roles shift from episode to episode.
194* FromBadToWorse: "Whale of a Squid" is the episode that embodies this trope. While Chris the sperm whale is fighting a losing battle against a colossal squid, and Martin the giant squid is trying to save the Animal of the Day's mother:
195-->'''Chris''': Martin, help!\
196'''Martin''': Uh Chris, I was just gonna ask you the same thing!\
197'''Chris''': Why?\
198'''Martin''': Because we're sinking right towards underwater volcanoes! And they're active!\
199'''Chris''': But the squid just chewed off one of my fins!\
200'''Martin''': But I'm drifting straight into a pool of bubbling lava!\
201'''Chris''': The spinning hooks are shredding my back!\
202'''Martin''': The volcanoes are erupting!\
203'''Chris''': Chewing through the glass!\
204'''Martin''': Giant gas-filled rocks hurtling towards me!\
205'''(Later)'''\
206'''Martin''' (while being snared by the colossal squid): I got no strength to fight back!\
207'''Chris''' (ditto): She's almost torn through my suit!\
208'''Koki''': The sperm whale only has five minutes of air!\
209'''Aviva''': It's too deep for us to help you!\
210'''Jimmy''': [[LampshadeHanging Can anybody say 'uh-oh'?]]
211* GamblersFallacy: The brothers know that 1 in 500 narwhals have two tusks, so they keep re-activating their Narwhal Powers to try and get two. They openly state that every failure increases their odds of success, and both brothers finally get the double-tusks they're looking for after about 500 attempts.
212** The brothers know that 1 in 16 jaguars is of the melanoid "Black Panther" variant. When activating their Jaguar Powers, Chris gets the Black Panther variant on the first try, while Martin has to keep reactivating to get it.
213* GirlishPigtails: Young Aviva (as shown in "Bass Class"). They were in buns, but still.
214* GivingThemTheStrip:
215** When the others try to drag him away from Madagascar by his heels, Chris (determined not to leave without seeing a fossa) unties his bootlace and slips away with one bare sock.
216** Martin loses his boot to a gila monster's bite this way, as the stubborn lizard won't let go of it when Koki and Jimmy (not realizing the reptile's teeth hadn't penetrated the boot) haul Martin back to the ''Tortuga'' for emergency medical treatment.
217** In "Musk Ox Mania", Zack gets chased by Baby Tooth's pack because his thick fur coat makes him look like a musk ox. Aviva suggests he take off the coat to escape the Arctic wolves, and he does so when Baby Tooth grabs its coattails. This saves the day as well as Zack, as an item he'd stolen from Chris is in one of the coat pockets.
218* GoryDiscretionShot: In "Temple of the Tigers", we see Queen Stealth the tigress pounce on a sambar buck in an ambush attack and sink her teeth into his neck, and then the Kratts get run over by the struggle. In the next scene, the Kratts find Queen Stealth walking out from a bush with a chunk of deer flesh in her mouth.
219* GoshDangItToHeck: Martin in "Polar Bears Don't Dance".
220-->'''Martin''': Darn camouflage...
221* GratuitousSpanish: Subverted, as Aviva will occasionally make an exclamation in Spanish, but has never really outright code switched. She does it less and less as the show goes on.
222%%* GravityIsAHarshMistress: Especially to the Bros.
223* HalloweenEpisode: "Masked Bandits" is one, although PBS Kids has just released a video of their "Weird Kratts Week", stating that other shows include The Gecko Effect, Secrets of the Spider's Web and A Bat in the Brownies, among other non-related Halloween episodes (like Seasquatch, Googly-Eye The Night Guru (although this is debatable) and Quillber's Birthday Present).
224** The hour-long special "Creepy Creatures", which focuses on the villains stealing animals for a haunted house.
225%%* HartmanHips: Aviva has these.
226%%* HeadPet: Not a pet, but an elf owl lands on Chris' head in "Desert Elves".
227%%* HeterosexualLifePartners: The titular Kratt bros, naturally.
228* HeyThatsMyLine:
229--> [[IronicEcho "I'd better make like a pearl and roll!"]]
230%%* HilarityEnsues: Pretty much every episode, whether in the dictionary sense or the trope sense of the word.
231* HonorableElephant: "Elephant Brains!" focuses on the intelligence and altruistic behavior of Asian elephants.
232%%* HumongousMecha: All the airships can qualify (the Tortuga, Zach's jet, Donita's jet and Gourmand's plane). They all do so much more than fly.
233* IdenticalGrandson: In the "Back in Creature Time" two-parter, the bros encounter Gourmand's fifteen-greats grandpa on 16th century Mauritius, and the great-grandparents of Donita and Dabio on 19th century Tasmania. By their looks, voices and behavior, all three could be their modern descendents' siblings.
234%%* {{Idiosyncrazy}}: Donita's live-animal fashion line and Gourmand's endangered-only restaurant. Zach doesn't qualify since his motives and plans change based on the situation.
235* ImpossiblyCompactFolding: Many of Aviva's inventions fold up into a much smaller space than their components could occupy in RealLife. Possibly explained by the fact that the first such compact-folding gadget introduced was the ''miniaturizer''.
236* IncredibleShrinkingMan: The brothers have a shrinking machine that they regularly use to get up close and personal to smaller creatures, though this isn't without its hazards.
237** Including but not limited to Chris getting captured by Gourmand while miniaturized in "Platypus Cafe" and almost ending up as a side dish.
238%%* InevitableWaterfall: Played straight in "Build It Beaver" (where Chris sought it out), and subverted in "Platypus Café" (when Martin was blindfolded, there was one, but it was a little one).
239* InkSuitActor: Chris and Martin Kratt pretty much play animated (and more physically able) versions of themselves in nearly all of each episode
240* IntergenerationalFriendship: The Wild Kratts and the Wild Kratts Kids.
241* InMediasRes: The episode "Little Howler" begins with the Kratts returning to the Tortuga after an adventure, then covers the adventure itself to figure out how they picked up a wolf pup found in Martin's pack. The second half of the episode deals with taking the cub back.
242* JekyllAndHyde: The mouse lemur is a low-key example, shifting from SugarBowl cuteness to "monster lemur" each time it spots prey.
243* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Aviva- Donita acts the exact same way Aviva does, yet everyone loves Aviva and hates Donita. She bullies the boys to the point she doesn't have to do anything but give them the ThousandYardStare, thinks she's better than nature itself (and has even tried to beat it [Cheetah Racer]), and more often than not doesn't listen. However, at least she's saving animals instead of enslaving them, and she has been known to give out hugs (whether or not the recipient expects one). Because of the episodes being out of order, could be TookALevelInJerkass.
244* {{Kaiju}}: Hercules the beetle temporarily becomes one of these due to a Miniaturizer accident, tearing up a long strip of rainforest and parts of an unspecified city.
245* KarmaHoudini: Downplayed… Most of the time, the when the villains are defeated, they typically end up flying/retreating in defeat, or often flee in humiliation, but they are never punished by the law for their (definitely) illegal poaching activites.
246* {{Keet}}: Chris and Martin are so enthusiastic about what they do that it's like they're a two-man fraternity. When they're ''really'' in the zone, it is [[HiveMind as if they share a single mind]].
247* KickTheDog: Zach has taken baby animals captive a few times in order to get what he wants.
248* KnifeOutline: Happens with porcupine quills, when Chris's bright idea to yank a bunch of them out of Martin quickly using rope and a power winch sent the quills flying.
249* KnowNothingKnowItAll:
250%%** Zach.
251** Very minorly, Aviva, at least in "Platypus Café". She assumed she knew enough to figure out the platypus' electrosensory power by herself. In the end, she couldn't do it without the platypus to help her.
252%%* LackOfEmpathy: The main thing that makes the villains the villains.
253* LarynxDissonance: Chris [[GenderFlip imitating a girl]], [[FemininityFailure with pure swagger, no less]], in "When Fish Fly". The purpose? To mock Koki and Aviva. About one minute later, the said girls [[TakeThat reflect the same sentence Chris had spoken right back to the two brothers,]] resulting in a CollectiveGroan from both of them.
254* TheLastStraw: "Flight of the Draco" when Chris falls out of the tree, grabs a branch, and a Draco landing on it causes it to break off.
255* LaughablyEvil:
256** Zach to the biggest degree, given his mostly cowardly nature.
257** Gourmand is this when not creeping out the viewers.
258** Donita's funny when her plans go awry, but other than that, she's pretty formidable.
259** Paisley has a panic attack whenever she gets even slightly dirty or steps on the ground.
260%%* LavaAddsAwesome
261* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In “City Hoppers”, Zach informs Gourmand of Paisley Paver’s existence. Not to mention that she’s a villain like them. He also tells Gourmand that a new villain doesn’t appear very often. Which is true for the show in general.
262* LegionOfDoom: Zach, Donita, and Gourmand apparently form one against the Wild Kratts as time goes on. However, they always start fussing amongst themselves and may cause their own plans to fail due to their bickering.
263** In "City Hoppers", Zach calls Donita and Gourmand to his building so that they can all get acquainted with Paisley Paver, the new villain. During the meeting, Zach welcomes Paisley to the "Legion of [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Villainous Villainhood]]", showing that Zach has actually thought of a name for the group.
264* LEGOGenetics: Aviva found the "horn gene" for rhinos. If you know anything of genetics besides what they taught you in school, you know this isn't how genetics works.
265* {{Leitmotif}}: There's several of them in the show. The transformations have their own theme, as well as most of the villains, plus the typical "DANGER APPROACHES" music.
266* LimitedWardrobe:
267** Given that this is PBS, and the viewers are [[PeripheryDemographic usually]] young children.
268** They change their outfits in winter though--think their sweatshirts, minus black, plus grey, minus khakis, plus pants...you get the point. They're the same colors too.
269%%* LiteralMinded: The Zachbots.
270%%* LonersAreFreaks: Zach.
271* MagicAIsMagicA:
272** Subverted with the Creature Power Suits. Most of the time, they need a disc, DNA, and a button press. On occasion, they've been activated without a disc ("Tazzy Chris", where the activation button was bitten), from the other brother's suit ("Mom of a Croc", where Chris activated his dragonfly suit off Martin's already activated dragonfly suit), with the wrong disc ("Mom of a Croc", where they activated their Gharial discs off a crocodile; it just didn't last as long), and even vocally ("Whale of a Squid").
273** Zach once figures out how to use past activations to re-activate creature powers, giving the Kratts some trouble. Surprisingly, (to this viewer anyway), Aviva doesn't try to figure this out for herself so that the Kratts would be able to reactivate at their leisure.
274* MaliciousMisnaming: Zach to Chris and Martin.
275-->'''Zach''': I'll get you, you Wild Ratts!\
276'''Chris and Martin''': That's Wild Kratts!\
277'''Zach''': Whatever!
278* MamaBear: Implied in "An Elephant in the Room", when the brothers mention their mom calling both of them that morning, and how she's regularly checking up on them. And of course there's all the literal examples, some of which (like the streaked tenrec that took on a mongoose four times her size to defend her babies) qualify in ''both'' senses. Inverted in "Amazing Amazon Adventure", when the baby capybara bites the tail of the green anaconda to try to aid its encoiled mother, Blockhead.
279* ManChild:
280** Subverted with Martin- he can get serious when he needs to be, but other than that, he acts more like the target audience than the PeripheryDemographic.
281** Zach Varmitech. A lot of times, he's shown whining and throwing tantrums like a bratty child.
282** Dabio, to a degree, when he's not being an out and out idiot.
283* MeaningfulName:
284** Corcovado (Aviva's last name) is a city in South America. Aviva is of Spanish or Hispanic descent.
285** The Tortuga (Spanish for "tortoise" or "turtle").
286** Aviva is actually a relatively common girl's name in Hebrew, meaning "springtime." Nothing comes up when you search for its meaning in Spanish.
287** "Aviva" ''could'' be a diminutive offshoot of "Vivian", which is Latinate for "life". Not a bad choice for a character on a show about Nature's living wonders.
288* {{Mecha}}: The creature power suits. While dormant they consist of a vest and gloves, but stick in a disc and press a button and they become mecha-like animal suits. The Tortuga itself could also qualify.
289* MechaMooks: Zachbots, of course. Also Donita's flying mannequins starting from "Snowy Owl Invasion".
290* MellowMantas: An episode focusing on sharks has a calming interlude with a manta ray (and a few remoras) where the brothers gush over its gentle majesty. Unfortunately, said gushing is cut short by the intrusion of a great white shark.
291* MindControl: Both Donita and Zach use this, but Donita's could arguably be considered more "body control" than "mind control". With Zach, it's UnwillingRoboticisation.
292* MindControlDevice: Zach specializes in them to force animals to do his bidding.
293%%* MindControlEyes: When Zach uses the mind control skull caps on his victims.
294* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody:
295** The creature power suits sometimes affect how Chris and Martin think, though this seems far more likely if it's malfunctioning.
296* MinorInjuryOverreaction: "Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus", when the pearl case snaps shut on Zach's finger: "I cut my finger in half!" When he pulls it off, his "finger cut in half" has what amounts to a paper cut. It didn't even bleed!
297* MisleadingPackageSize: Chris's ''huge'' present in the ChristmasEpisode, which makes Martin jealous based on its size alone. [[spoiler: Its contents? A ''gift certificate'' pledging that Aviva will make another Time Trampoline.]]
298* MisplacedWildlife: Returning the koala from the desert to the rainforest is the entire point of "Koala Balloon".
299* MixAndMatchCritters: Happens to a poor octopus in "Octopus Wildkratticus". He had walrus tusks, shark teeth and a ''whale body''.
300** Also happens to the guys in the events of power-suit malfunctions ("Creepy Creatures", "Uh Oh, Ostrich!"), or jamming of specific components ("The Great Creature Tail Fail").
301* MobySchtick: Gourmand goes full-blown Ahab in "Last Largest Lobster", so obsessed with eating the Miniaturizer-enlarged lobster that he ends up tying ''himself'' to its carapace. Had Chris not cut him loose, he'd been dragged away to drown like Ahab, too.
302%%* MotionlessChin: Averted. It's hard to tell, but they move.
303* TheMovie: Several:
304** The first of them was "Back in Creature Time", which was really just two episodes sewn together to make a movie.
305** The next one was "A Creature Christmas", which aired before the premiere of ''WesternAnimation/NatureCat''.
306** The next one was "Creatures of the Deep Sea", which aired before the premiere of ''WesternAnimation/SplashAndBubbles''
307** The one after that was "Alaska: Hero's Journey", which was part of PBS Kids' initiative to bridge the summer learning gap.
308** "Creepy Creatures", an extended HalloweenEpisode.
309** "Amazin' Amazon Adventure": ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, it takes place in the Amazon Rainforest.
310** "Cats and Dogs", where the gang has to stop Zach from stealing wild canines and felines.
311** On July 5, 2021, an interview with Variety lead to a brief announcement that a feature-length film based on the series is in production. It will mark the first theatrical production made by the Kratt brothers as well as their first theatrical appearance.
312* MultiPartEpisode: "Back in Creature Time" two-parter.
313* MundaneUtility:
314** Martin and Chris have been known to use the Creature Power suits to just goof off instead of saving animals.
315** In the ChristmasEpisode, Aviva talks Koki into donning a Power Suit so she can use Blue Jay Powers to string lights and ribbon on the very tall tree they're decorating.
316* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Chris in "Build It Beaver", when he removed his kayak paddle from the beaver dam, causing the entire thing to break apart, drain the lake, and strand many animals (both water and land). It doesn't help that this happens nearly 3 other times before the episode's end. They fixed it, though.
317* MythologyGag: A whole set of episodes is dedicated to exploring Madagascar and the lemur species exclusive to the island. Longtime fans of the Kratt Brothers may recognize this as a nod to ''Series/{{Zoboomafoo}}''.
318[[/folder]]
319
320[[folder:Tropes N to Z]]
321* NakedPeopleAreFunny: This happens to the brothers in "To Touch a Hummingbird", losing their clothes in the middle of a rescue and ending up shamefully slinking away covering their modesty with giant leaves. Played with in "Pangolin Rescue", when the outer scales fall off Chris's prototype Pangolin Power-mode, and he covers his crotch and dives behind the bushes ''even though he's still fully clothed'' by the Power Suit's inner layer.
322* {{Narrator}}: ''A Creature Christmas'' was narrated by Aviva.
323* NeverSayDie: Wholly averted. The Kratt Brothers make no attempt to sugarcoat any potentially deadly situations, and any of the proper terms for death are used when appropriate.
324* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: "Mom of a Croc" tries to subvert this, by depicting crocodiles as the good mothers as they are in real life. Played straight in episodes where crocodilians are a threat which the featured species must evade.
325* NiceJobBreakingItHero: A beaver steals Chris's paddle and puts it in his dam. Chris's attempts to get it back somehow manage to destroy ''the entire dam''. When they finally manage to fix it, Martin leans on a half-chewed-down tree, which manages to set off a domino chain of half-chewed-down trees, which of course breaks the dam ''again''. And then the beavers steal the paddle ''again'', but Chris decides enough is enough.
326* TheNicknamer:
327** Martin names all of their animal friends. ''All'' of them. This is justified as this was a staple in the previous shows of the Kratt brothers; it's to help children connect with the animal of the day.
328** Gourmand, Zach and Donita each have their own nicknames for the Bros. Gourmand calls them Blueberry and Green Grape. Zach calls them Blue Boy and Green Guy. Donita calls them Martino and Chrisangelo (although she calls Chris "Christo" once), perhaps to distinguish herself as one who comes up with unique and artistic ideas, unlike the others, whose nicknames are based on [[ColourCodedForYourConvenience their favourite colours.]]
329* NoCartoonFish: Most of the fish we see are drawn realistically, and also act that way. Then again, all the animals are portrayed realistically.
330* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Donita's henchman/male model Dabio who is based off the once famous model/celebrity Fabio, star of romance novel covers around the globe.
331* NominalImportance:
332** Any animal Martin names can be counted on to survive the episode, even if others of its kind get snapped up by predators. Particularly conspicuous in "Squirmy Wormy", as ''lots'' of (unnamed) worms get gobbled by birds or moles even as the brothers struggle to save Pinkie.
333** Subverted in "The Cobra King" where an Indian mongoose kills an Indian cobra Martin named "Hoodie".
334* NonHumanSidekick: All the animals that lend their DNA to the Creature Power Suits.
335%%* NoodleIncident: Due to the out-of-order airing by PBS. If they were showing it in order, there likely wouldn't be any.
336* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: In "Chameleons On Target", Aviva claims she'll have to repeat an ''entire year's'' work to recreate the ring chip she's been working on. Evidently ''without'' taking any notes or making a backup copy ... even though she'd need two to equip both the Power Suits.
337** The "No Backup" aspect of this trope is broadly applicable for a ''lot'' of episodes. There's only one set of keys for the Tortuga or Createrra, only one Miniaturizer or Time Trampoline recall device, no backup radios on the Buzz Bikes in case the Creature Pods get damaged, no reserve tellurium in the Tortuga's stocks, etc...
338* NotADate: Donita and Zach in "Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus". Maybe Donita was there for just the pearl (and money making opportunity), but Zach was in a different emotional zone than [[VillainousCrush she]] was.
339%%* OddCouple: Chris and Martin. Also slightly subverted as RedOniBlueOni- with Martin being the Red Oni and Chris being the Blue Oni.
340* OddNameOut: Among the names that Martin gives the crocodile hatchings we have Chomp, Crunch, Jaws, Munch, Snap, and... Fred.[[spoiler: After finding out there all girls he renames them Chompella, Crunchina, Jawsana, Muchette, Snappifer, and Frederica respectively.]]
341%%* OhCrap: Quite a lot. A notable one was when the brothers got stuck ''between'' a fighting squid and sperm whale.
342%%* OnlySaneMan: Koki.
343* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent: After a Tasmanian devil bites Chris's creature power suit, it starts to malfunction and he spends the rest of the episode flipping back and forth, parodying the common werebeast portrayal.
344* PantheraAwesome: In the episodes that star big cats (cheetahs in "Cheetah Racer", [[KingOfBeasts lions]] in "Bad Hair Day", jaguars in "Shadow: The Black Jaguar", tigers in "Temple of the Tiger").
345* PapaWolf: The Kratts whenever baby animals are in danger. And of course there's all the species in which the males are fiercely protective of their offspring, including wolves.
346* PaperThinDisguise: The Creature Power Suits were used as this at least once, in "Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus".
347-->'''Zach''': "I'll get those Wild Ratts if it's the last thing I do!"\
348'''Donita''': "Or the next thing you do."\
349'''Zach''': "Yeah, or the next thing I- what?"\
350'''Donita''': "They're the walruses that don't resemble walruses whatsoever!" *spins him around; the Kratts wave sheepishly*
351* {{People Puppet|s}}: Donita uses a "Pose Beam" to physically manipulate Martin to act as her unwilling runway model in "Flight of the Draco". Needless to say the posing--and the ridiculous clothes--were great for a laugh from his brother.
352* PhlebotinumBreakdown:
353** A blue jay pecks Martin's suit while he's holding an acorn. Cue Martin-the-tree, which was definitely ''not'' supposed to happen.
354** Also when a T-Devil bites Chris' suit in "Tazzy Chris".
355** The way Seven becomes a mishmash MixAndMatchCritter can be attributed to the octopus wearing ''two'' power suit vests at once, which caused a serious glitch such that each new animal's powers were added to previous ones instead of supplanted by them.
356* PiranhaProblem: Subverted; red-bellied piranhas are realistically portrayed as prey for larger predators such as the electric eel.
357%%* PlentyOfBlondes: Ronan, Gavin and Aidan team-up to help the Kratts (Martin the blond one) in "Happy Turkey Day".
358%%* PlotHole: The out-of-order airing has caused these. This page is full of examples.
359* PolarBearsAndPenguins: The brothers debunk this trope for Jimmy when he's reluctant to leave the ''Tortuga'' in Antarctica, for fear of polar bears. Then they have to ''avert'' this trope by rescuing some penguins from the Arctic, where Donita Donata had dumped them after deciding they weren't good fashion accessories. Also a case of TruthInTelevision, in that penguins are from a continent where they have no terrestrial predators, which means bad news for said penguins in a world inhabited by polar bears and arctic wolves.
360* PrimalStance: The brothers sometimes pose this way when they're pantomiming animal-like behavior, or when taking on or shedding their creature powers.
361* PsychoElectricEel: Averted; "Eel-lectric" depicts electric eels realistically, with moderately-ranged electrical powers, and even as protective fathers.
362* PunctuatedForEmphasis:
363** "You've GOT! To LET! Them GO!"- Martin, "Flight of the Draco" (upon finding out Donita's plans for the draco lizards).
364* PungeonMaster: Martin is usually the one making the bad {{Pun}}s, but Chris has his share.
365* PunnyName: Played straight with some episode titles. "To Touch a Hummingbird" was an obvious pun of ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. Another notable example is A Bat in the Brownies, which someone pointed out was a play on the phrase "a bat in the belfry".
366* PuppyDogEyes:
367** In "Rainforest Stew", Jimmy used this on Aviva to make a sloth suit.
368** The Kratt Brothers in "Desert Elves" when they were begging Aviva.
369* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
370** The episode for the Tasmanian Devils was based on an incident in Australia that a bacteria was causing the T-Devils to drop dead.
371** Later in "Stuck on Sharks" which aims to raise awareness of the meal known as Shark Fin Soup, which involves hunting and killing sharks only to use a small part of their body. This has significantly impacted shark populations which still have yet to recover.
372** In early 2014, Martin found a snowy owl outside and was inspired to create a Season 4 episode titled "Snowy Owl Invasion".
373* {{Retcon}}: Played straight and justified. Played straight in one episode where they showed scenes from "Honey Seekers" that supposedly happened in canon that the audience didn't see. Justified for the rest of the series because the episodes were initially aired out-of-order (for instance, we saw Donita dating Zach in one episode, then in a later episode, she had him confirm his identity).
374* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The baby animals that the brothers find. Most notably we have Thornsly (an elephant), Spot Swat (a cheetah cub) and Little Howler (a wolf pup).
375* RoguesGallery: Zach Varmitech, Donita Donata, Gaston Gourmand, and much later Paisley Paver round this out.
376* RubeGoldbergDevice: In "Platypus Cafe", a miniaturized Chris comes up with one utilizing all the messiness of Gourmand's kitchen involving, among other things, ''[[RuleOfCool shuriken waffles]]''.
377* RuleOfAnimationConservation: Chris and Martin weren't as young and spry as they used to be; they couldn't get physically involved in their work to the same extent they did in ''Series/KrattsCreatures'' or ''Series/{{Zoboomafoo}}''. Wild Kratts enabled the brothers to show and show themselves doing much more then would otherwise be possible by giving voice to their animated selves. Besides, it's much easier and less expensive to incorporate fantasy elements into 2D animation as opposed to using computer generated imagery or combining with live action.
378* RuleSixtyThree:
379** Amusingly enough, an in-series example! Chris falls victim to this through FridgeLogic in "Kickin' It With the Roos", as only female kangaroos have pouches (and he had one). One [=YouTube=] user also pointed out that Martin is the "blue" brother, and female roos are also blue (but he didn't have a pouch, so YMMV on that one).
380** This happens again in "Birds of a Feather." Not only is Aviva lent a power suit to use with ''male'' Bird-of-Paradise power, but Martin activates off of a female one later, which even becomes a plot point.
381** In the opossum story, both brothers' opossum-power suits have pouches, probably because they'd both touched Jill the mother opossum to activate their disks.
382* TheRuntAtTheEnd: Not the ''smallest'' exactly, but squat little Dandelion the groundhog lags behind the crowd of animal babies that rush to the [=WK=] team, trampling the villains in the process, at the end of "A Creature Christmas".
383%%* SayMyName: Martin gets a ''huge'' kick out of this trope in "The Other Martins".
384%%* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl:
385%%** "Termites Vs. Tongues", with Martin's and Chris's "girlish screams".
386%%** In "Octopus Wildkratticus", with Chris. He yelled and screamed for his life...and he was ''this close'' to sounding like a girl. Example? Right here.
387%%-->'''Chris, Martin, Aviva''': [[AndIMustScream *scream and yell*]]\
388'''Martin''': [[NoIndoorVoice It's a sea monster!]]\
389'''Chris''': [[BearHug *squeezes Martin and Aviva*]] [[DialogueReversal It's a new species!]]
390%%* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: All the villains to a minor extent, but mostly Zach by far.
391* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Chris once descended into severe {{technobabble}} ("Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy", as they were setting up the miniturizer) and has spouted words like "monotremes" ("Platypus Café").
392* ShapeshifterModeLock: When this happens, it's usually due to a creature power suit malfunctioning, but sometimes it's a matter of taking on the form which makes it difficult to reach the suit's button. Also, on at least one occasion, Zack Varmitec has deliberately jammed said button.
393* SharePhrase: "To the creature rescue!" has been said by member of the ''Tortuga'' crew, and a few Wild Kratts Kids also.
394* ShoutOut:
395** [[Franchise/IndianaJones The Arctic Pearl belongs in the museum!]]
396** [[Film/FreeWilly Martin jumps over Chris]] in "Bass Class".
397** Zach has Zachbots. They look pretty similar to [[WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown Jack-Bots]].
398** "Creature Power Challenge" [[Series/AnimalFaceOff isn't the first time we've seen an elephant & rhino fight]].
399** The episode title "A Bat in the Brownies" is a play on the phrase "bat in the belfry".
400** In "Attack of the Tree Eating Aliens", Chris turns into a woodpecker that's pecking is out of control, screaming "[[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons Stop this crazy thing!]]"
401** In "Back in Creature Time - Part 2", Martin wanted to bring a baby Tasmanian Tiger "Franchise/{{back to the future}}".
402*** '''Zach:''' "I'm gonna jump back to the future!"
403** "Road Runner" has various shout-outs to [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner the classic ''Looney Tunes'' Road Runner cartoons]]:
404*** In the process of trying to catch a fast-moving lizard, Chris and Martin fall off a cliff, slam into the side of a cliff, and use a giant slingshot (which lands Chris into a cactus).
405*** At one point, Chris (with road runner powers) is chased by a coyote. Chris notes he thought he'd heard "from somewhere" that road runners could outrun coyotes, wondering if it was at the "[[WesternAnimation/BugsBunny Albuquerque Zoo]]." Unfortunately, Martin notes that coyotes ''can'' catch road runners (which Chris finds out the hard way).
406** The brothers warn Zach that it's unwise to [[Literature/{{Discworld}} call Huge-O the orangutan a "monkey"]].
407** In "Build It Beaver", a rescued raccoon toys with Kokie's computer screen, and brings up a video game that looks very much like ''VideoGame/PacMan'', except with Zackbots in place of ghosts.
408** Martin reads ''Literature/TheJungleBook'' at the beginning of "The Dhole Duplicator", and narrates a passage from the story "Red Dog".
409** In "Iron Wolverine", Martin's otherwise-blue Wolverine Power Mode has [[ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} yellow blaze-marks on its black torso]]. Also, Aviva [[WolverineClaws effortlessly cuts a rope with a claw-slash]] while testing out the new mode's forelimb-armature.
410* SiblingTeam: The only person who can match Chris stride for stride is Martin, and they are very productive together.
411* SigningOffCatchphrase: Most episodes end with Martin saying "Keep on creature adventuring!" and Chris adding "We'll see you on the creature trail!"
412* SkywardScream: With LargeHam and ChewingTheScenery in "Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy".
413-->'''Martin''': Don't dry on me, Pinky! DON'T DRYYYYYYYYY!
414-->He then does it again in the following live segment.
415-->'''Martin''': I'm dryyyyyyyiiiiiiing! *pretends to die*
416%%* SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism: As plot dictates.
417* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: So far toward idealism that it occasionally wraps around to cynical again, treating humans as capable of being monsters for endangering a single fish.
418%%* SmartPeopleSpeakTheQueensEnglish: Chris and Martin's [[FakeBrit British accents]] in "Where the Bison Roam".
419* SmellySkunk:
420** Naturally, the episode "Skunked!" with spotted skunks. One thing notable in the episode is that they break the old "[[TomatoSkunkStinkCure Tomato juice gets rid of the skunk smell]]" myth, instead using the proper antidote for skunk smell: [[ShownTheirWork a mixture of peroxide, baking soda, and detergent]].
421* SnakeVersusMongoose: One episode features snakes and mongooses and shows a mongoose killing a snake, while [[{{Edutainment}} explaining]] the physiological mechanism that allows the mongoose to be [[NoSell immune]] to the snake's venom.
422* SomewhereAHerpetologistIsCrying:
423** Nile crocodiles are portrayed with alligator-like overbites. Like all crocodiles, they actually have their lower teeth interlocking with their upper teeth. Gets egregious in "Crocogator Contest", which accurately point out that crocodiles are differentiated from alligators by having the lower teeth visible when the mouth is closed.
424** Crocodilians are depicted with too many claws on their hands and feet. As archosaurs, they should have claws on only three of their fingers and toes.
425** The episode featuring Komodo dragons perpetrates the myth that they take one bite of their prey and wait until it dies.
426* SomewhereAMammalogistIsCrying:
427** When African bat-eared foxes are discussed in "The Food Chain Game", a red fox is shown.
428** Another episode perpetuates the claim that honey badgers follow honeyguides to bee nests, which is [[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/09/19/lies-damned-lies-and-honey-badgers/ extremely dubious at best]]. Also, mustelids like the honey badger are no longer considered to be "cousins" (or at least not ''first'' cousins) to skunks, which have their own Family now.
429** "A Huge Orange Problem" claims orangutans are the only apes in Asia, while forgetting about gibbons and siamangs. They probably meant to say the only ''great'' apes in Asia, which orangutans are (not counting humans).
430** "This Orca Likes Sharks" makes the common mistake of claiming that orcas are dolphins but not whales. Dolphins are actually a type of toothed whale.
431* SouthernFriedGenius: Gourmand is extremely cunning. Even Chris underestimated him, and said so in "Raptor Round Up".
432%%* SpoiledBrat: Zach. Big time.
433* SpotTheImposter: A Zachbot disguises itself as Chris in order to convince Martin that everything's okay, as opposed to, say, locked in a cell and glaring at his impostor from off-screen. Martin gets it in the end though.
434* StockFootage: Some of the animal clips are from Kratt's Creatures, Zoboomafoo, and Be The Creature.
435* SuperpowerLottery: Depending on how many disks they have on hand and whether they think to bring along samples of animal fur, scales, feathers, antlers, and so forth, the brothers' Power Suits can give them access to an ''amazing'' number of diverse creature abilities.
436* SwallowedWhole: Happens to plenty of prey animals, as the show practices BloodlessCarnage yet doesn't shy away from the fact that animals in nature eat one another a ''lot''.
437** Played with in "Cheeks the Hamster", when Martin shoves Cheeks into his mouth whole ... not to eat him but to ''protect'' him, by holding the little rodent in his Hamster-Power cheek pouches long enough to elude the fox kits.
438* TakeThat: In a live-action segment, Martin, holding an alligator, is quick to point out it's not Chris.
439* TalkingIsAFreeAction: No matter how strenuous and life-threatening the situation is, Martin and Chris always have enough time to narrate at great length whatever creature power they're currently observing or using.
440* TalkingToThemself: Somewhat justified when a character has to expound so that the audience will understand, since the Kratts (or an alternative writer) don't seem to want to BreakTheFourthWall. However, Gourmand talks to himself just for the heck of it, and even sings little jingles he makes up about eating endangered animals to himself.
441* TechnoBabble: Aviva is often the culprit of this, though Martin and Chris have their own special ''bio''babble.
442* TelescopingRobot: Most of the robots and airships can do this, including the creature power suits, the shrink ray, and the Tortuga's feet.
443* TemptingFate: This is pretty much Chris's shtick.
444-->'''Chris:''' "No worries Bro! I'm getting this roo kickboxing thing down better than I thought-" *WHAMTHUD* "...Scratch that."
445%%* TenorBoy: By trope definition, Zach. By musical definition, both Zach and Jimmy.
446* ThreateningShark: Attempted subversion in "Stuck on Sharks". Played straight in episodes where large predatory sharks are a threat.
447%%* TitleDrop: Usually done OncePerEpisode, with a few exceptions.
448* TokenMinority: Koki and Aviva. Everyone else is Caucasian, with the exception of some Wild Kratts' Kids and ''[[AmbiguouslyBrown possibly]]'' Rex.
449* TomatoSkunkStinkCure: In "Skunked!", the crew attempt to have Jimmy bathe in tomato soup when he gets sprayed by a spotted skunk. It doesn't work.
450%%* TopHeavyGuy: Dabio and Gourmand.
451* ToonTransformation: Each episode starts with the Kratt Brothers in live-action form, talking to the viewers about animals. They then ask a question "What If?" and magically transform into cartoon characters.
452* TormentByAnnoyance: Aviva coerces Donita into coughing up some coordinates by offering (i.e. threatening) to have the Wild Kratts team come ''hang out with her''. Given a choice between spilling some information she doesn't much need to hide or being pestered by a bunch of annoying nature-lovers, Donita tells Aviva what she needs to know.
453* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Pizza for Jimmy Z and chocolate for Martin. Moderately subverted with Jimmy, as he has been shown eating other foods like bananas.
454* TransformingVehicle: Gourmand's truck and boat each unfold into a small covered-patio restaurant and kitchenette.
455* TruthInTelevision: Donita's fashion line is a subversion of this, but Gourmand in Stuck on Sharks played this trope painfully (and {{squick}}ily) straight- Shark Fin Soup is a real (and real expensive) thing.
456* TwoGirlsToATeam: Koki and Aviva. Latecomer Paisley Paver makes the villains an example (two women out of 6, counting Dabio and Rex).
457* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny:
458** The bull sperm whale vs. colossal squid battle, something never actually seen because of the depth of the ocean at which the battle takes place.
459** Invoked by Zach when he plots to roboticize a walrus and a polar bear, then have them fight each other to entertain his arctic hotel's guests.
460* UnnamedParent: Unless the bros happen to meet the adult(s) first, Martin tends to name baby animals, but not their parents. Even recurring animal-characters like "Bumper's Mom" are referred to in the manner of this trope.
461%%* UnusualEuphemism: Gummed up gears, Koki uses these a lot!
462* UnwillingRoboticization: Zach does this to ''animals'' to turn them into marketable products. Fortunately it's reversible.
463* VagueAge: Everyone, really, but especially the Kratt brothers. In real life, they're 47 (Martin) and 43 (Chris). They have stated in an interview only that they're in the best shape of their lives, but did not explicitly say their cartoon counterparts are younger, although one website reveals that Martin and Chris are in their late 20s. Given Gourmand and Donita's aged look, you can sort of assume there's an age discrepancy regarding the brothers, but we don't know for sure.
464* VerySpecialEpisode: "Animals Who Live to Be 100 Years Old", in which the Kratt brothers try to discover the world's oldest living creatures. 100th episode of the series? Check. Broadcast during Earth Week? Check. Obligatory death scene, and the aftermath thereof being depicted? ''Check''.
465* VillainTeamUp: Occasionally, the villains team up for a plan that catches similar interests or to try to defeat the Wild Kratts.
466* VocalEvolution: Due to Martin and Chris's real life children voicing the characters sharing their names, it can be easy to tell a modern episode from an earlier installment due to the deepness of their voices; Gavin and Aiden are the most significant in this regard, with both of their recent appearances having their voices drop a few octaves due to puberty.
467%% Note that this example could use some revision, since I haven't seen it in years.
468* VolatileTasmanianDevil: Tasmanian devils were featured in the episode ''Tazzie Chris'', and they notably gross out Koki because of their scavenging habits and believe firmly in this trope (she gets better), but cause Chris' Power-Suit to malfunction hard, turning him into a Wre-Devil per se. However, they're generally portrayed as they are in RealLife and so aren't the crazed creatures in other examples, making this a DownplayedTrope.
469* VoluntaryShapeshifting: The entire point of the creature power suits. See above for a signficant one.
470* VomitIndiscretionShot: A tree swallow is shown spitting up a small black blob, to illustrate how predators learn not to prey on bad-tasting monarch butterflies.
471* WatchOutForThatTree: If there's a tree around, there's a good chance one of the boys will smack into it; heck, one on the part of Chris even made it into the opening. Note this isn't limited to trees either (Martin running down a lion twice in the same episode, ''also'' in the opening, is a noteworthy example).
472%%* WaterIsDry: Varies from episode to episode.
473%%* WhatDoesThisButtonDo: Martin's ''exact'' words in "When Fish Fly".
474* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the episode "Rattlesnake Crystal," Chris and Martin disembark from the ''Tortuga'' on horses. (They don't mention where they got the horses or if they routinely store horses in the ''Tortuga''.) Later, in separate incidents, each of the horses runs off, leaving the Kratt brothers on foot. Not only do the brothers make no remark about the horses when they run away, but they also make no effort to find them; and at the end of the episode, the horses are still missing and are apparently not at all missed by any of the ''Tortuga'' crew.
475** During the "Creepy Creatures" Halloween special, Gourmand is seen pursuing a spotted hyena and putting it into his vehicle along with a bat-eared fox. These animals are never displayed in Zach's Scary Animal Mansion and are never shown being rescued, so their fate is unknown.
476* WhatIf: The premise of the show entails Chris and Martin fantasizing about what it would be like if they possessed the natural adaptations of other animals. Most of each episode takes place in their imaginations.
477* WhatMeasureIsANonCute: "Mom of a Croc" and "Bat in the Brownies" played this trope straight before trying to subvert it to teach the target audience that sometimes humans get animals all wrong.
478* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Played straight with the Zachbots, but slightly subverted with the animals Donita and Zach capture, since no true harm ever comes of them. [[FateWorseThanDeath But that's debatable.]]
479* WhoWillBellTheCat: Martin will bell the cat. Actually, make that ''raccoon.''
480-->'''Koki:''' We need a way to get her into the Miniaturizer.\
481'''Chris:''' Well, she may just need a little bait.\
482''(everyone looks at Martin)''\
483'''Martin:''' Wait a sec. [[OhCrap Why don't I like the sound of that?]]
484* WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: In "Polar Bears Don't Dance".
485-->'''Jimmy''': If Chris and Martin made a comedy show, I'd watch it!\
486'''Koki''': *laughing* I think we just did!
487* WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises: The show uses this trope to a ''liberal'' extent.
488* WilliamTelling: In a non-projectile example, Aviva tests the raptorial forelegs for the Praying Mantis Power Disc on Martin, snatching an apple from on top of his head. Martin is clearly nervous that he's going to be struck by the oncoming appendages.
489* WordAName: Many of the names that Martin gives animals are simply the name of the species with an "-a" on the end, such as "Crocodilla".
490* WorthlessYellowRocks: Seeking protection for his vulnerable abdomen while using hermit crab powers, Chris finds a treasure chest on the beach. He dumps its gold coins on the sand without a glance, and wears the ''chest''.
491%%* WoundedGazelleGambit: Chris, literally, in The Food Chain Game. Martin pulled a Wounded Pigeon Gambit in Falcon City.
492* WrenchWench:
493** Aviva, the original inventor of the Creature Power Suits, as well as several other gadgets. It could be argued that she built the Tortuga as well, though between her inventing and Koki's knowledge and repair skills, it's debatable.
494** Koki also counts since she's the repairwoman of the Tortuga.
495%%* Chris in "Let the Rhinos Roll!" But they only got so far.
496* WrongTurnAtAlbuquerque: Dabio and Donita somehow wind up on an ''iceberg'' while trying to drive to south to Mexico.
497* YouGetMeCoffee: Dabio to Donita; the rest of the crew (Chris, Martin, Koki, and Jimmy) play minor roles of this to Aviva; and the Zachbots to Zach. Essentially, Gourmand is the only character who has to get his own coffee.
498* YouSayTomato: [[http://gerryduchemin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/krattsseason3_sample2.pdf This storyboard from an upcoming episode]] hints this to Aviva, though Chris and Martin don't comment on it so much as they [[ExactlyWhatIMeantToSay correct her]] and use a bit of FacialDialogue.
499[[/folder]]
500----

Top