Clarence / Tropes N to Z

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• Naked People Are Funny: In-Between Clarence and Sumo, mostly the latter had gotten this category when it does not involves having clothing being torned or removing them, but mostly being involve in places that has something to do with swimming.
• Negative Continuity: In "Chalmers Santiago", while digging through a box of stuff his mom wants him to drop off at the thrift store, one of the toys of note he found is the broken, old Lil' Buddy doll which he tosses aside in disgust, calling it creepy despite happily playing with the doll by the end of "Lil' Buddy", the episode that preceded this. His change of attitude towards the plaything is notorious considering the recent events.
• Nightmare Sequence: "Clarence's Millions" has this in the middle of the episode.
  • Also in "Honk", when Clarence realizes he has a problem with honking his horn all the time.
• Nightmare Retardant: In “Tuckered Boys”, Jeff goes into a dirty bathroom and sees the face of a random man with a wide-eyed stare. Pretty creepy at first, but then the man speaks.
• No Antagonist: The series is way too goofy and mundane to have any villains or antagonistic characters. Belson sometimes acts in a slightly antagonistic manner towards Clarence, however, Clarence doesn't seem to notice and it is shown Belson has a friendly and soft side too, similar to Harold Berman.
  • Even when the show does introduce a legitimate bad guy like Crazy!Joshua, Balance, or Belson’s father, this is mostly done for experimental effect, as their villainous role is typically a one-time thing that doesn’t change the show’s formula too much.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Lauren's dad, who appears at the end of "Big Trouble in Little Aberdale", gently encourages Lauren to talk about her needs while using puppets, which is highly reminiscent of Fred Rogers, the host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
• No Ending: "Hoofin' It" ends with the pig race descending into chaos and rioting, which even the narrator of the episode is baffled by. Cue test card!
  • "Plane Excited" ends just as Chad is attempting to land the plane, not showing whether or not he succeeded.
• Noodle Incident: What happened between Josh and Sumo that gave Josh his scar.
  • "Dullance" opens with Chelsea cornered by an angry mob when Clarence appears with a painting with a letter hidden inside. We never find out about what led to this. Later in the episode, Clarence runs into various characters asking for his help, but he is too tired to help them out. At the end, Clarence runs over to help them, only to find that their problems have worked themselves out somehow. Of particular note is a girl who looks just like Clarence, who apparently wanted him to take her place; in the end, she bids goodbye, talking about learning a lesson from Gilben.
• No OSHA Compliance: The "Fun Dungeon" has obviously not been inspected lately. How else could Clarence and Jeff get on top of it so easily? It can be said that the whole "Fun Dungeon" is a parody of such play areas such as at McDonald's and Chuck E. Cheese's.
• No Sympathy: In "Zoo" the children are angry at Breehn when his nut allergy prevents them from going to certain parts of the zoo. Then when Breehn has to be taken to the hospital from an peanut butter allergy, Nathan punches him in the arm because him getting sick canceled the field trip. Though Breehn did intentionally eat the peanut butter despite knowing what it would do to him.
• Not-So-Abandoned Building: The house across the street from Clarence's in "Chalmers Santiago", where the title character supposedly lives. It turns out to be Belson, whose father bought the house. He uses it to play videogames alone.
• Not Where They Thought: In "Field Trippin'", when Clarence comes back from the gas station, he mistakenly enters the bus to West Aberdale Elementary instead of Aberdale Elementary. He realizes that he's on the wrong bus when he sees a kid he doesn't recognize in one of the seats.
• One-Steve Limit: There's (presumably) two different unseen characters named Damian; Clarence's biological father and Nature Kate's boyfriend.
• Parental Bonus: In the episode "Company Man" Clarence stumbles into an office building where he is believed to be the boss's son. On a refrigerator in the break room, letter magnets can be seen spelling out "2 BIG 2 FAIL." Especially relevant when the boss is arrested for fraud at the episode's conclusion.
• Parental Obliviousness: In "Patients" Tinia's mom is busy reading a magazine through most of the episode and just lets Tinia have all the candy she wants. But she turns Mama Bear when she thinks Clarence is bothering her daughter.
  • According to "Company Man", Belson's dad doesn't even know what he looks like.
• Parental Substitute: Chad, as a stand-in for Clarence's Disappeared Dad.
• Pooled Funds: Clarence dreams of swimming in Clarence Bucks in "Clarence's Millions".
• Poor Communication Kills: In "Turtle Hats", Ms. Baker is about to give the kids their weekend assignmet when she gets a text from her boyfriend that reads "I think you're turtlehats." She wonders out loud what turtlehats means, and the students think that's the assignment. She doesn't realize her mistake until Monday when she sees the kids working on their projects.
  • Lost in Transmission: Turns out "turtlehats" was an auto-correct mistake and was supposed to read "totally hot". Then he sends a message reading that he sent it to the wrong phone, meaning that he was dating someone else. Ms. Baker erases him from her contacts.
• Previously on…: Used on "Clarence's Stormy Sleepover". Since Clarence provides the narration, they reflect his own unique slant on things.
• Puddle-Covering Chivalry: Discussed in "Clarence Gets a Girlfriend". Clarence practices chivalry with Sumo to impress his new girlfriend; they go to a puddle and Sumo instructs him to throw his coat over it. "What's maybe something you could do? Maybe something you've seen on TV?"
• Punny Name: The judges of Supreme Court Squad Extreme have names that pun on then-current members of the Supreme Court of the United States.
• Radish Cure: In "Honk", Jeff tries to cure Clarence of his obsession with horns by having the other kids honk horns at him. It backfires, as not only does it encourage Clarence more, the other kids start enjoying it too, until the teachers confiscate them all.
• Put on a Bus: Sumo switches schools in Season 3. Subverted in that he's still a regular character, continuing to hang out with the others, only when Clarence is not at school.
• Real Song Theme Tune: The end credits song is "Good Habits (and Bad)" by Saba Lou, a song recorded a few years prior to the start of the series.

• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Sumo gives one to both Jeff and Clarence in "Jeff's New Toy", telling Jeff not to be so uptight, and Clarence not to mess with other people's stuff.
  • Balance gives a big one to Belson when they first met.
• Reckless Gun Usage: In the pilot, a cop attempts to shoot a swarm of bees.
• Reverse Cerebus Syndrome: Both the pilot and "Pretty Great Day With A Girl" from season 1 has a much more laid back and even melancholic tone akin to Hey Arnold!. The rest of the show is a full-on Ed, Edd n Eddy-esque Zany Cartoon with at times even Sadist Show elements and Negative Continuity.
• Rich Bitch: Both of Breehn's parents, who spend the entire episode of 'The Dinner Party' showing off their house, condenscendingly shut down Mary when she tries to start a conversation, and are more worried about the damage done to their house than the fact that several children could've been hurt, and one of them being their own son.
• Running Gag: People calling Josh, Joshua instead, with Josh correcting whoever does it last at the end of the episode.
  • Also, Josh keeps getting new injuries with each appearance.
• Scary Stinging Swarm: In the pilot, Clarence somehow fills a piñata with bees then breaks it open near the end.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In "Dare Day" Jeff refuses to participate in Clarence and Sumo's dares. Halfway through the episode, he actually leaves to go on vacation in Madrid.
• Show Within a Show:
  • Cartoon sci-fi legal procedural Supreme Court Squad Extreme, supporting a toyline.
  • The Blurbs, an old sitcom shown on "Brain TV".
• Slippery Swimsuit: In "Pool's Out For Summer", Sumo once lost his swim trunks after jumping off the diving board. This time he brought suspenders, and made the jump perfectly, but when he attempts to jump off the big diving board, the suspenders get tangled on it and he lies hanging over the pool. With no other choice, he simply takes off his shorts and jumps completely naked.
• Spaghetti Kiss:
  • In "The Forgotten", Clarence finds spaghetti in the dumpster and asks Brady to eat it with him "like dogs do".
  • In "Belson Has a Girlfriend", Clarence tries to make Belson and his girlfriend eat a slice of pizza together like this.
• Special Edition Title:
  • The title sequence to "Goldfish Follies" is in sepia tone, and the theme song is in the style of big-band music.
  • For the "Clarence's Stormy Sleepover" mini-series, the normal title sequence is interrupted by the episode title card.
• Special Guest: NPR's Terry Gross as Deborah Copper, local radio interviewer.
• Spit Take: Jeff has one when Clarence reveals he has a new girlfriend in "Clarence Gets a Girlfriend".
• Stacy's Mom: Mrs. Belson. Who one of the kids describes as "foxy."
• Story Arc: "Clarence's Stormy Sleepover" in season 3.
• Strong Family Resemblance: It's obvious which one of Jeff's moms gave birth to him.
• Suck E. Cheese's: The Pizza Swamp fits this trope to a tee. It's complete with "Big Betty" (That creepy basketball game where you throw the ball into a "breathing" puppet-like target), "The Money Broom" (The old "Shoot-a-coin-into-the-pile-and-see-what-falls-out" game) and a game where you swat seals with a giant mallet. It's basically a carbon copy of the real place.... But it's not!.
• Sucky School: Aberdale Elementary is filled with incompetent staff who can barely do their job correctly.
  • The management would often issue unfair tests, like the gender-biased quills and crayons in "Average Jeff" and the spelling bee that only students with 20/20 vision would be able to win.
  • The detention monitor is susceptible to sugar highs and easily falls asleep during lunch break.
• Sudden Video-Game Moment: In "Chalmers Santiago", Clarence crossing the street is show as a Top-Down View game with sound effects.
  • In "The Tunnel" Belson's trip through the sewers, along with Sumo and Clarence running around on the surface, appear as a platform game. Complete with Belson losing "lives" whenever he runs out of light.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The show utilizes this trope to maximum effect in order to subvert all the cliched premises, tropes, and character types seen in children's slice-of-life shows.
  • In "Straight Illin'", Clarence ate 500 deviled eggs to fulfill the dare made by Belson who's only doing it to take him down a notch. Clarence get sick not just because he ate too many of them, but also because the eggs stayed outside where it was sunny and hot... Rotting them enough to give him the egg virus which infect the whole school.
  Sumo: "Do you think making Clarence eat 500 deviled eggs that sat out in the sun was a bad idea?"
• Sweetheart Sipping: In "Clarence Gets a Girlfriend", a nervous Clarence sees a picture of a couple sipping from the same milkshake and tries the same with Ashley, but just ends up making a mess.
• Synchro-Vox: The principal of Clarence's school.
• Take That!:
  Clarence: Maybe I should just get paid for doing nothing, like a statue, or a senator.
• Teachers Out of School: In "Neighborhood Grill", Clarence is shocked to see Ms. Baker at the restaurant. An Imagine Spot shows that he thought she was a robot that spent the nights at school being charged.
• Time Master: Clarence thinks the watch he got from a cereal box in "Time Crimes" gives him the power to control time.
• Timmy in a Well: Spoofed on "Chimney". After the boys fall down a well, the dog Chimney appears to be going for help at first, but then it just wanders around and eventually starts dropping sticks down the well. Eventually the sticks are made into a ladder and the boys get out on their own, by which time Chimney had simply wandered off.
• Tin Foil Hat: In "Space Race", Clarence becomes paranoid about the moon and starts wearing tin foil on his head. He also uses up all the tinfoil to cover his room.
• The Unintelligible: Sumo seems to be this to everyone except Clarence and possibly Jeff briefly, but the series soon makes it clear that everyone else can understand him.
• The Unreveal: In "Lil Buddy" Clarence is sent to see the principal, but when his chair turns around we see Ms. Baker sitting in it instead, as she's filling in for him temporarily.
• Uranus Is Showing: In "Space Race", Percy puts a banana in Belson's rocket and says it's going to Uranus. The closing title states that Sumo will become the first astronaut to explore Uranus.
• Vocal Evolution: Jeff's voice deepens as the show progresses.
• We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties: The ending of "Hoofin' It".
• Weird Currency: Clarence Dollars in "Clarence's Millions". Benson tried to make his own currency.
• Well-Intentioned Replacement: The fake toy box Clarence makes in "Jeff's New Toy".
• Wham Episode:
  • Lil Buddy. Clarence goes from optimistic bundle of joy into a basic opposite of himself who constantly gets into more trouble than usual, punches Belson in the nose and came very close to getting expelled.
  • Company Man. Clarence meets the boss of a company and he is Belson's father, who mistakes him for his own son. Then it takes a darker turn when it turns out he is a Corrupt Corporate Executive and he was getting away with it for years because he's rich, causing him to get arrested because the undercover agents bugged Clarence to get the conversation recorded. On top of that, Belson is unaware of what happened and he may feel the hit to his rich social life soon because of Clarence.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Mrs. Baker's immediate reaction to Jeff's behavior in "Average Jeff", after landing in the average class.
  Jeff: No! I want my life to be better than theirs!
  Miss Baker: (unamused) Jeff, I want you to think about what you just said.
• Whole Episode Flashback: "Pilot Expansion".
• Why Did It Have To Be Fire Hydrants?: Apparently, Mavis is terrified of them.
• Wild Teen Party: In "Detention", the kids take advantage of Mr. Reese's sugar crashes to turn detention into a nightclub.
  • Clarence, Jeff and Sumo infiltrate one such party in "Attack the Block Party".
• Women Are Wiser: Quietly subverted in "Average Jeff", wherein the kids' class is broken into two groups based on an intelligence test, one smarter group and one dumber group. Paying careful attention to the background characters in every scene reveals that the smarter group is overwhelmingly female, and the dumber group is overwhelmingly male. This seems to be a straight example when noticed, but the episode ends with the whole thing undone as the test came under fire off-screen for being gender-biased.
• Yellow Sash of Power: Jeff is inordinately proud of being made hall monitor in "Detention", even sewing the sash to his shirt. He then abuses his power to turn detention into a happening nightclub. (It Makes Sense in Context)
• You No Take Candle: Blaide in "Dollar Hunt" speaks like this. He seems to be a lost foreigner trying to find a bus stop to get home.
  • However, Blaide is shown to be in Clarence's class, as seen in "Zoo".
• Your Head Asplode: Jeff's head explodes at the end of his nightmare in "Average Jeff".