On a hot summer day, Rupert and Pong Ping receive a visit from the snowman Rupert built last winter with some terrible news – Billy Blizzard has captured all the snowpeople, frozen their ruler King Frost, and taken over the North Pole. Now it’s up to Rupert, his snowman, and his friend Rika, the keeper of Santa’s reindeer, to stop him.
This episode provides examples of:
- Adapted Out: The Sage of Um and Jack Frost, who both appear in the original comic, don’t appear at all in the episode.
- Art Initiates Life: All snowpeople ever made come to life in this world.
- The Bait: The heroes give Rupert’s snowman the job of luring Billy Blizzard into the open.
- Big "NO!": Rupert shouts this as he’s frozen.
- Blow You Away: Billy’s freezing powers come from the wind powers of his Wind Whistle.
- Blue Means Cold: Billy Blizzard and King Frost both have blue skin and blue outfits.
- Composite Character: In the original comic story, the snowman who accompanies the team to the North Pole is explicitly not Rupert’s snowman, whom he saw get taken away by Billy (as the original story takes place in winter).
- Cowardly Lion: The plot centers around Rupert’s snowman, who acts like a coward the entire time, finding the courage to fight Billy Blizzard instead of running away.
- Decomposite Character: Billy Blizzard has all the powers and negative qualities typically associated with Jack Frost, who also exists in this world with only his positive qualities.
- The Dreaded: The snowpeople would rather leave the North Pole and melt than risk fighting Billy Blizzard.
- Evil Is Deathly Cold: Billy Blizzard
- Finishing Stomp: The fight against Billy Blizzard officially ends when Rika stomps on his whistle, shattering it.
- Flying on a Cloud: Billy Blizzard gets around on one of these.
- Harmless Freezing: It’s understandable that King Frost and the snowpeople can shake off being frozen solid with no problem, but apparently, so can Rupert.
- Ice Palace: King Frost has one, naturally.
- I'm Melting!: Rupert’s snowman runs back to Nutwood after Billy Blizzard takes over the North Pole, whichmeans he’s melting a little every second and has no choice but to go back with the heroes.
- An Ice Person: Both Billy Blizzard and King Frost have these.
- Knight of Cerebus: Billy Blizzard could very well be the most powerful foe Rupert ever faces. The stakes are the highest Rupert’s ever seen (as his snowman explains, if Billy Blizzard is allowed to rule the North Pole, all the future snowpeople will have no place to go and just melt and die every year).
- Morton's Fork: Rupert’s snowman has 2 choices — go back to the North Pole and risk getting frozen by Billy Blizzard, or stay in Nutwood and melt.
- Mr. Exposition: Rupert’s snowman helpfully tells the viewer not just about Billy Blizzard’s takeover but all about the snowpeople’s home at the North Pole, which the boys already know about.
- No Name Given: It looks like snowpeople don’t have names, as Rupert and Rika address his as “snowman” the whole time, even after they’re surrounded by tons more.
- No Ontological Inertia: Destroying Billy Blizzard’s whistle unfreezes everything and everyone he froze.
- Rage Breaking Point: Rupert’s cowardly snowman loses it when he sees his friend and creator get frozen and charges at Billy Blizzard.
- Rousing Speech: Rupert’s snowman gives one that gives his fellow snowpeople the courage to help them fight.
- Santa Claus: He’s been frozen, though, so he doesn’t get to contribute to the plot.
- Snowball Fight: How else would you expect snowpeople to fight?
- Snowlems: In this world, all “snowpeople” kids make every winter are alive and taken to live at the North Pole by King Frost so they don’t melt.
- The So-Called Coward: After begging to be left out of the fight the entire episode, Rupert’s snowman finally find the courage to join the battle after Billy Blizzard freezes Rupert.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: King Frost is Billy Blizzard’s uncle in the comics. There’s no mention or indication of such a relationship in the episode, and the two sure don’t act like they’re family.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Rupert’s snowman eventually stops trying to hide how scared he is and plead that he’s not brave enough to join the fight, but Rika convinces him he’s wrong.
