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''Zool'' is a video game originally produced for the Platform/{{Amiga}} by [[Creator/GremlinInteractive Gremlin Graphics]] in 1992. It was intended as a rival to Creator/{{Sega}}'s ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog''. It was heavily hyped upon its initial release, including being bundled with the newly launched Amiga 1200. In 2000 the game was re-released as part of The Best of Gremlin compilation.

Zool is a Gremlin Ninja from the Nth dimension sent to Earth. To complete his ninja training, he has to pass seven worlds filled with enemies.

A sequel, ''Zool 2'', was released in 1993, while a remake of the first game titled ''Zool: Redimensioned'' was released in 2021.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[Film/Ghostbusters1984 Zuul.]]

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!!''Zool'' displays the following tropes:
* AmbiguouslyEvil: It's never clarified in the game itself whether the various enemies of the Sweet World, Music World, Tool World, Toy World and Fairground World are villainous, working for a boss InUniverse, or just citizens of the domains going about their day who happen to try and stop Zool who crash-landed in their universe.
* BeeAfraid: Sweets World contains giant bees as enemies. The stage boss is a giant bee that shoots bouncy sweets and missiles.
* DistaffCounterpart: Zool 2, the sequel, lets you play either as Zool or his (girlfriend? sister? female clone?) Zooz. The two have slightly different abilities.
%%* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Candy, Musical Instruments, Fruit, Toys, Tools, etc.
* TheGhost: The main villain of the series, Krool, was never actually seen in person, let alone fought. The latest UpdatedRerelease, ''Zool Redimensioned'', has Krool attacking from afar you during the last boss fight with Cactus Jake, but you still only see his a projection of his glowing eyes.
* GripingAboutGremlins: Zool is a gremlin ninja, but unlike some examples of this trope, he's a more benevolent gremlin than anything malevolent.
* HarmlessVillain: The jellies in the Sweet World are lethal, but easy to defeat in the game and don't have skills of larger threats in later levels of the game.
* HelpfulMook: These are of the Accidentally Assisting type. In the Tool World, the AnimateInanimateObject drills can actually ''benefit'' Zool, but it takes some figuring out how, while the Fairground World levels feature hammers that can be useful in certain situations, but are equally as lethal.
%%* HoppingMachine: The boss of the Toy World.
* IncidentalVillain: The walking drums and violins of the Music World levels are really just going about their day-to-day business and are only attacking Zool because he's an intruder in their world; they're technically, not ''evil'', and come closer to seeing him as a hostile enemy. In the Fairground World, the sentient bags of popcorn are only trying to kill Zool because, again, he's seen as an intruder in their world.
* InstrumentOfMurder: The boss of Music World is an electric guitar that rains fireballs on Zool.
* InvincibleVillain: The violins of the Music World ricochet Zool's bullets off them and are extremely hard to kill as a video game boss, but this is [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zagged]] in that takes a lot of firepower to kill them off.
* LikableVillain: Some of the game's bosses, which may seem generic by a platformer game standards are pretty unusual; sentient drums and violins in the Music World, and the bags of popcorn in the Fairground World, if only due to their NonMaliciousMonster nature and comedy value.
* MascotWithAttitude: Zool is a parody/{{Pastiche}} of the concept, although he's not actually designed to look "cool", instead he's a gremlin ninja alien. However, he doesn't have the FunnyAnimal, TotallyRadical or HurricaneOfPuns traits, and he's the sole character, with no supporting cast.
* MinimalistCast: Zool is the sole character, ''no supporting cast'' unlike other platformers. Even the supplementary material just shows him in the 1992 manual.
* MonsterClown: The boss of the carnival world. It's a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHNasMdG6Nk#t=06m42s clown head]] hanging from one [[EyeScream disembodied eye]] (that shoots bouncy eyeballs) and has a spring-loaded boxing glove in its mouth.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Zool is a Gremlin {{Ninja}} from the nth Dimension.
* NonMaliciousMonster: There are quite a few:
** In the Music World, sentient drums and violins which walk around the platforms.
** In the Fruit World, sentient peas that fly across the sky which are only doing this as it's their nature to, but they're not actively working against Zool, just flying in their native dimension.
* OneWordTitle: ProtagonistTitle, protagonist has OnlyOneName.
%%* OnlyOneName: Zool.
* ProductPlacement: Levels 1.1 to Levls 1.3, the candy-based levels are full of ChupaChups logos.
* StealthyMook: The sentient drums and violins walk around as if they're just doing nothing, but really they're trying to kill Zool, making it difficult for him to spot the bows being fired from violins or drumsticks.
* SuperDrowningSkills: Zool will ''immediately die'' if he lands in water, so he cannot go through anything water related.
* TakeThat:
** The ending to the Amiga version has Zool [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s97FRBAtrdQ#t=08m00s kicking away]] what looks like a [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog blue hedgehog with red shoes]].
** There's also a music titled "Sonic Basher".
* UnexpectedGameplayChange: Specifically of the UnexpectedShmupLevel variety, as the BonusStage in the original Amiga version sees Zool piloting his spaceship through an ''VideoGame/RType'' style space shooter, in contrast to the usual platform style levels seen elsewhere in the game.
* UpdatedRerelease: The [=CD32=] console got enhanced versions of both games.
* TheVoiceless: Zool does not speak at all on-screen in this iteration, and the only lines of dialogue heard are from other characters, not him.
* WallCrawl: Zool can scale up and down walls.

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