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This is the Aquabats! Super Show!
It's a TV show!
The Aquabats!, "Super Show! Theme Song"

Somewhere, on a TV Tropes page...

The Aquabats! Super Show!, starring superhero team and musicians The Aquabats!, airs on Hasbro's channel The Hub. It's an Affectionate Parody of kids' shows from The '80s and The '90s with a good helping of Batman. It follows The Aquabats — The MC Bat Commander, Crash McLarson, Jimmy The Robot, Ricky Fitness, and Eagle Bones Falconhawk — as they play shows, fight crime and boredom and defeat monsters.

The show is notable in that Matt Chapman, whom many people know as one of the co-creators of Homestar Runner, is one of the show's directors and writers.

The first season, with a total of 13 episodes, premiered on The Hub on March 3, 2012, with the season finale on June 16, 2012. The show has also begun broadcast on ABC 3. A second season was later confirmed by the Aquabats! on Twitter, though director Jason DeVilliers said that it would be more of a Season 1.5, with only 5 new episodes. Season 1.5 premiered on June 1st, 2013.

An episode guide is currently in progress.

Following The Hub shifting to Discovery Family, the show was not picked up for another season. However, in August 2018 a Kickstarter campaign was created with the purpose of funding more Aquabats content, with 9 brand new mini-episodes being created to promote the campaign. The campaign ended on September 29th of 2018, raising enough money to create a brand new 12-episode season, this time taking the form of a web series.


Tropes

  • AcCENT upon the Wrong SylLABle: The team initially pronounces ManAnt's name as Mahn-aunt.
    Eaglebones Falconhawk: Maybe we've been saying it wrong.
    MC Bat Commander: Maybe Mahn-aunt's been saying it wrong.
  • The Ace: Super Magic Power Man and Lanolin Lady.
  • Acme Products: Gloopy
  • Ad-Break Double-Take: Several episodes.
  • Aerith and Bob: We have Ricky, Jimmy, Crash and Eaglebones. The Commander's name might even actually be "Commander".
    • Sort of lampshaded in "Night of the Cactus" with Ronmark and Zalga.
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The Cowboy Android's villainy comes from the desert heat melting his circuitry.
  • Air-Vent Passageway: The band uses a trash chute to escape Moon Cheese's lair in the cartoon segment of "EagleClaw!".
  • All Up to You: Crash saving the day in "The Thingy!"
  • Always Someone Better: Subverted. The Aquabats are briefly upstaged by the Ninja Kids when they stop the Sandfleas from escaping with bags full of stolen bank money, but both teams wind up letting the villains escape.
  • And Knowing Is Half the Battle: Parodied whenever An Aesop pops up.
    Learning and Growing!
  • Animal Motifs: The Falconhawk brothers have birds of prey, most notably eagles.
  • Antagonist Title: Not the show itself, but most episode names.
  • Arm Cannon: Jimmy makes one to battle The Floating Eye of Death.
  • Artistic License – Geography: Considering the show is filmed in and around the Orange County, the depiction of Detroit in "Pilgrim Boy!" may not be all that accurate.
  • Art Shift: The main cartoons are done in a 70's Animesque style, while Pablo's shorts are more The Pink Panther style.
    • The origin shorts for season 2 are all set in different styles. For example: Jimmy's is animated in primitive CG similar to the Money For Nothing music video. The Commander's origin is animated in the aforementioned 70's Animesque style. Ricky's origin is animated through Robot Chicken-type stop-motion with action figures. Crash's origin is animated in typical 2D animation. Eaglebones' origin is animated in Heavy Metal-esque rotoscope.
  • Attack Animal: The Dude is a spirit bird that Eaglebones Falconhawk can summon.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: the potato bug, Floating Eye of Death, and Space Monster M. Also Crash when he gets emotional.
  • Badass Adorable: Pablo, aka Lil' Bat. He punches sharks, scares ghost skeletons, and always has some kind of giant ray gun at his disposal.
  • Badass Normal: The MC Bat Commander is the only member without any actual superpowers. And as often as he's the butt of jokes, but it's not uncommon at all for him to be the one to solve a problem confounding the rest of the team.
    • "Summer Camp!" explains that what he lacks in powers, it's his knowledge and using what he knows of his teammates' powers is what saves the day.
  • Bald of Evil: Space Monster M, Moon Cheese
  • Band Toon: The gang will stop what they're doing on e an episode to watch a Saturday morning style cartoon based on themselves.
  • Batman Can Breathe in Space: In the cartoon segments.
    MC Bat Commander: Man, I love that moon air!
  • Bearded Baby: When the MC Bat Commander fantasizes about what might be inside the egg, he imagines a baby with his own head. Complete with drawn-on moustache.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: The premise of Lotto Fever where while the individual wishes of the Aquabats work perfectly well, the way they collide don't. Case in point, MC Bat Commander wishes to be the world's greatest superhero and gets to be one for all of a few minutes before Ricky wishes for world peace, leaving no crises for the Bat Commander to face.
  • Beam-O-War: Eaglebones vs. Eagleclaw with guitars that fire lasers.
  • Bee Afraid: SPACE BEES The deadliest bees in space!
  • Berserk Button: Crash's is anyone who hurts his friends. Eaglebones' deliberately uses this in Return of the Aquabats when Ronmarc starts bullying Crash.
  • Big Creepy-Crawlies: The ants in "ManAnt!" and the potato bug in "Pilgrim Boy!"
  • Big Eater: Ricky, when it comes to healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, nuts and grains, cheese and eggs. But in one episode, he loves cookie dough as it was revealed by Jimmy the Robot that he chugged cookie dough into his mouth in under 2 minutes.
    • In No Fit Shape, Crash, Eaglebones, and the Bat Commander eat nothing but chocolate pudding for three whole months after the team rescues a rare plant that naturally dispenses the stuff.
  • Big "NO!": Given by Eagleclaw when The Dude destroys his guitar.
    • Done by MC Bat Commander to Moon Cheese while the latter attempts to drain the former of his mind energy.
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: Crash in the cartoons.
  • Bigger on the Inside: The Battle Tram has a roomy lounge, a lab, and various hallways, all of which look like they could take up the entire inside of the vehicle.
  • Blowing a Raspberry: "Mysterious Egg!", in the cartoon segment, done by the MC Bat Commander to show that he refuses to help Moon Cheese destroy the Earth.
  • Body Horror: MC Bat Commander's arm in "Night of the Cactus!"
  • Book Ends:
    • Sort of. In the cartoon segment of the first season finale, the Aquabats meet the Time Sprinkler, who sends them back to the birthday party the live-action Aquabats were playing at in the first scene of the first episode. Also, the live-action portion of the episode ends with the Aquabats floating helplessly towards the moon, which was how the cartoon segment in the first episode began.
    • In the season two premiere, the episode begins and ends with the band confronting a pair of turtle-like aliens.
  • Bound and Gagged: "It's our old pal, Trusty Dusty!"
  • Brick Joke: The beginning of "Shark Fighter!" has MC Bat Commander recalling the video game he fought and using gold coins as power-ups against the landsharks. Close to the end of the episode, the Landsharks are attacking a local park, knocking Bat Commander into a fountain...where he finds it's full of gold coins.
  • Broke Episode: "Showtime!"
  • Bullet Dancing: The robot gunslinger does this to MC Bat Commander in "Cowboy Android!".
  • Cain and Abel: Eaglebones' relationship with his brother Eagleclaw.
  • Call on Me: "I summon THE DUDE!!!"
  • The Cameo: Rip Taylor as a genie in "ManAnt!".
    • Mega64 in "Mysterious Egg!".
    • Jon Heder and Lou Diamond Phillips in "EagleClaw!".
    • "Weird Al" Yankovic is President Stuncastin in "Pilgrim Boy!" and SuperMagic PowerMan in "Showtime!".
    • Pinkie Pie makes a "blink and you miss it" appearance in "Cowboy Android!" during the "Winging It" song.
      • She also appears in the very first shot of the episode "Showtime!", layered over the graffiti in the background.
    • And Matt Chapman himself is the ghost in "Haunted Battletram!" and as Carl, the evil sideshow runner who steals the band's Battletram, in "Cobraman!" (more specifically, in "Cobraman!", it's Matt Chapman as Strong Bad as Carl).
    • Former Aquabats members Courtney "Corey" Pollock and Boyd Terry appear in the season 1 finale "Showtime!" as their respective Aquabats personas Chainsaw and Catboy (although they are depicted as separate heroes in the series).
    • Leslie Hall is Jewel, the head camp counselor in "Summer Camp!", complete with her interest in gem sweaters making its way into the episode.
    • Mark Mothersbaugh is Jimmy the Robot's father/creator in "Bad Apple!".
  • Camp: The show is deliberately done this way, with Bad "Bad Acting", low production values, and melodrama everywhere- but done in a MST3K kinda way, where you can tell it's meant to be silly.
  • Cassandra Truth: In "Summer Camp!", neither the rest of the Aquabats or the Aquacadets believe MC Bat Commander when he informs him that Jewel is the were-ape that's been kidnapping the fellow campers, thinking that he's just jealous of how much the Aquacadets look up to Jewel.
  • Catchphrase Interruptus: Eaglebones has one happen to him when he tries to summon The Dude (putting on a magic falcon glove and saying, "I summon The Dude!") when he has to fight the were-ape version of Jewel, the camp counselor.
    Eaglebones: I SUMMON THE- (gets knocked out before he can get the last word out) .
  • Character Focus: Season 2 each has an episode dedicated to a specific Aquabat. Eaglebones has "Return of the Aquabats!", MC Bat Commander has "Summer Camp!", Jimmy the Robot has "Bad Apples!", Crash is in "The Thingy!" while Ricky has "The AntiBats!"
    • Season 3 continues this: "Christmas with the Aquabats!" is about Ricky while "Shark Fighter!" is mostly about Crash and the Bat Commander.
  • Chick Magnet: Ricky Fitness.
  • Choke Holds: How the Bat Commander defeats the Cobraman.
  • Christmas Episode: "Christmas with the Aquabats!"
  • Chronic Hero Syndrome: Eaglebones gets into this in Return of the Aquabats (much to everyone else's chagrin) as he wants to help everyone and easily gives him and the others away because of him helping the townsfolk. It's deconstructed due to a) how he helps everyone else gets them spotted and b) the townsfolk want them to do very tedious things (and one wants them to hurl annoying pests to the moon), becoming angry when the Aquabats can't do as they ask for. In the end, Eaglebones eventually learns that he's unable to help everyone with their problems.
  • Combat Tentacles: Snakey, the lint monster, the Floating Eye of Death, the Cobraman
  • Comedic Sociopathy: The team isn't afraid to partake in this at times, most notably MC Bat Commander.
  • Comical Angry Face
  • Comically Missing the Point: In "Shark Fighter!" Bat Commander asks Jimmy the Robot to use seaweed to make a golden rope to stop the sharks.
    Jimmy the Robot: What do you mean Commander? We have a golden rope in the Battletram!
  • Cool Car: The Battletram.
  • Cowboy Episode: "Cowboy Android!"
  • Clothes Make the Superman: Magicians use enchanted clothing to cast spells and perform sleight-of-hand.
  • Clothing Damage
  • Compressed Vice: The Commander and betting in "Cobraman!", Crash and cowardice in "The Thingy!"
  • Creepy Cemetery: As seen in "Haunted Battletram!".
  • Crossing the Desert: The Aquabats cross one in "Cowboy Android!" to find gas for the Battletram. Eaglebones is crossing one when he finds the bar where he meets the other Aquabats in his origin flashback.
  • Defeat Equals Explosion: Snakey, the potato bug, Space Monster M
  • Denser and Wackier: Due to their shorter run times, Radventures! cuts out the gloopy and animated segments while ramping up the pacing to breakneck speeds.
  • Depending on the Writer:
    • How good are the Aquabats at fighting crime? Some episodes(Manant, Pilgrim Boy, The Anti-Bats) depict them as dedicated, well known, and well equipped, if often bumbling. In others (Showtime, Uberchaun) they're seen as incompetent nobodies.
    • How popular/successful are the Aquabats as a band? They're often seen performing gigs with screaming crowds, and even have their own Summer Camp with adoring young fans. Yet they also often seem down on their luck and desperate for cash.
  • Diegetic Switch: Inverted in "EagleClaw!" while Eaglebones is singing "B-R-O" while riding his motorcycle. The song plays through the bike's radio as he arrives at his destination.
  • Disintegrator Ray: How SuperMagic PowerMan's magic headband/amulet functions.
  • Driven to Suicide: The giant bug in "Pilgrim Boy!"
  • Driving a Desk:
    • Done in Eaglebones' motorcycle ride in "EagleClaw!", along with real-time footage of him driving down the road.
    • Usually in effect when the team is driving down the road in the Battletram.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: The first few episodes feel a little weird and disjointed compared to the rest of the series; it's not until about "Eagleclaw!" that they seemed to find the groove they wanted.
    • The show's (ultimate) pilot ''Tortilla Troubles!'' was quite different from the actual program in a lot of ways.
      • The Dude was originally a hand-drawn cartoon eagle.
      • Different special effects for Ricky and Crash's powers.
      • A different opening theme song.
      • The Narrator speaking way more often as to what was occurring in the story.
      • Episodes being cleanly split between a live-action and (much longer than the It's a Cartoon! portions) animated segments.
      • Jimmy's robotic hands were just chrome gloves instead of the grungier, more elaborate segmented ones they ultimately went with. They also couldn't shoot lasers.
      • The MC Bat Commander and Jimmy delivering their lines in very stern and straightforward manners.
  • Easily Forgiven: Averted at the Christmas Episode of all things. Santa forgives Krampus for all of the bad-doings he's done. However, the Krampus doesn't want that because forgiving naughty kids makes the naughty kids easily get away with all their crimes and insists that Santa kick his ass. Santa obliges.
  • Egg MacGuffin: "Mysterious Egg!"
  • Emergency Presidential Address: Delivered by guest star "Weird" Al as President Stuncastin in "Pilgrim Boy!":
    "...what can be only be described as some kind of...giant space-cricket was seen moving rapidly outside the city of Detroit, headed for the pineapple plantations. This is a major emergency!"
  • Emotional Powers: Crash McLarson's size-shifting which is usually shown when he's very angry or upset. "Shark Fighter!" reveals that it also works if he's crying.
  • Every Car Is a Pinto: The motorcycle in "EagleClaw" and the van in "Ladyfingers!" blow up spectacularly.
  • Everything's Better with Rainbows: "Mysterious Egg!":
    Crash McLarson: And I painted a picture. (holds up crudely drawn rainbow) It's a rainbow!
  • Expository Theme Tune:
    We're a band of five heroes
    We're out to save the world you know!
    We'll travel the land in our Battle Tram
    We're the Aquabats, the Aquabats!
  • Expy: Carl in Cobraman! is Strong Bad, right down to his unmistakable voice and the fact that he inexplicably wears Strong Bad's Luchadore mask, despite being otherwise dressed as a magician.
  • Eye Beams: The Floating Eye of Death's stare
  • Eye Scream: Jimmy the Robot uses a MacGyvered arm cannon to neatly slice the Floating Eye of Death open.
    • Not to mention The Commander getting lodged waist-deep in Space Monster M's eyeball.
  • "Fantastic Voyage" Plot: In several of the cartoon segments, the band has to shrink in size and enter Jimmy the Robot's body in order to reboot his system and rid him of his parasites.
  • Farside Island: The setting for a Lil' Bat short in which he tries to open a coconut.
  • Fastball Special: Giant Crash throws the Bat Commander and Jimmy the Robot at Space Monster M; while Space Monster M is distracted with the Commander, Jimmy attempts to remove M's magic headband.
  • Finger Firearms: Jimmy the Robot has lasers built into his fingers.
  • Firing in the Air a Lot: Jimmy the Robot is driven to fire in the air with his robot hand lasers after trying to choose between protecting Jimmy Jr. or the rest of the band in "Mysterious Egg!".
  • Five-Man Band:
    The Hero — M.C. Bat Commander
    The Lancer — Eaglebones Falconhawk
    The Smart Guy — Jimmy The Robot
    The Big Guy — Crash Mc Larson
    The Heart — Ricky Fitness
  • Five-Man Band Concert: This is the show's premise. M.C. Bat Commander is The Hero and lead vocalist; Eaglebones Falconhawk is The Lancer and guitarist; Jimmy The Robot is The Smart Guy and keyboardist or saxophonist; Crash Mc Larson is The Big Guy, DJ, and bassist; and Ricky Fitness is The Heart and drummer.
  • Flashback:
    • "ManAnt!": ManAnt's origin story.
    • "EagleClaw!": Eagleclaw's Freudian Excuse for trying to defeat his brother.
  • Flaw Exploitation: Done with the MC Bat Commander's fascination with bets in "Cobraman!".
  • Follow the Bouncing Ball: The song sung by the Aquacadets in "Summer Camp!" which the Aquabats note by looking down.
  • Food Songs Are Funny: Burger Rain, The Good Life
  • Forced to Watch: After the MC Bat Commander agrees to a bet made by Carl pitting the Commander against the Cobraman for the Battletram, the rest of the team is tied up and forced to watch the fight through the room's monitor.
    "Bahahahahahahaha! ...He's in the desert! ...That's bad!"
    • Played with earlier when Carl accidentally manages to get the team to watch the mandatory cartoon segment.
  • Forgot I Could Fly: The 'Bats tend to forget to use their powers when most convenient. Ricky in particular only occasionally uses his super-speed, despite constantly ending up in situations where being super fast would be useful.
  • For the Evulz: The Thingy has the perfectly peaceful goal of wanting to return to his home planet. He chooses to do this by impersonating members of the team and melting them into rocket fuel.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: Some of the Lil' Bat episode names from "Cowboy Android!":
    Lil' Bat Visits Someone's Mom
    Lil' Bat Writes Comments On The Internet
    Lil' Bat vs. Pablo?!
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: Ronmark
  • Gender-Blender Name: The Dude, Eaglebones' pet bird, is female.
  • Glad I Thought of It: In the cartoon segment of "Uberchaun!":
    Ricky Fitness: Commander! What if we shrink ourselves and fight them from inside Jimmy?
    MC Bat Commander: Maybe, (discards crowbar) or even better! We can shrink ourselves and fight them from inside Jimmy! Let's do it!
  • Gluttony Montage: "The Good Life" montage in "Laundry Day!".
  • A Handful for an Eye: During the animated flashback in "The Thingy!", MC Bat Commander attempts to throw sand into the eyes of the rest of the team. However, a gust of wind blows the sand into the eyes of a kid completely unconnected with the fight.
  • Hand Signals: Done by the team in "Cobraman!" while in stealth mode, to set up an ambush for Carl. As might be expected for the show, they're actually iconic gestures from The Three Stooges.
  • Hard-Work Montage:
    • The cartoon segment in "Laundry Day!" where they try to fix a spaceship:
    Fixing stuff and using heavy tools, it's GUY STUFF! GUY STUFF!
    Working together and laughing at danger, it's GUY STUFF! GUY STUFF!
    • "The Floating Eye of Death!" has one set to "Feel My Steel" from earlier in the episode while Jimmy assembles an Arm Cannon.
    • "Doing Science" in "Night of the Cactus!".
  • Hat of Power: SuperMagic PowerMan's headband/amulet.
  • Heel–Face Brainwashing: At first, the magic horn the Wizard of Hollywood gives to the MC Bat Commander during the Radventures! premiere seems to ignite the latent love for the titular band that people have deep in their hearts. In reality, it just forcibly turns them (willingness/consent aside) into fans. Silver Skull conveniently breaks said horn before the moral implications of its usage are entertained.
  • Here We Go Again!:
    • After the trouble that was "Floating Eye of Death!" Jimmy suggests reading another story known as "The Flaming Rhino of Darkness". Crash is hesitant.
    • Said by Eaglebones in Cowboy Android! right before Commander sings Winging It.
    • Jimmy says this in Return of the Aquabats. See Book Ends to find out why.
  • Human Resources: In "The Thingy!", the Thingy plans to convert the Aquabats into fuel for its spacecraft.
  • Humongous Mecha: Piloted by Space Monster M. A rare case where only the villain has one, but none of the heroes do. Not even the one they had a song about.
  • Idiot Hero: The MC Bat Commander, to a greater extent than the rest of the 'Bats.
  • Imagine Spot: Each member has one in "Mysterious Egg!" about what the titular egg could hatch into... except Ricky, who only thinks about eating it.
  • Incredibly Obvious Bomb: Eagleclaw gives "a clock...shaped like a bird" with sticks of dynamite as a "bird backpack" to Eaglebones in "EagleClaw!"
  • Indy Ploy: A skill of The MC Bat Commander that's emphasized in "Cowboy Android!"; he even sang a song about it!
    Collecting facts, while I'm out there in the action, just winging iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
    You're making a plan, while I'm being a man, just winging iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
  • In Medias Res: How the cartoon segments began until "Showtime!" where the last scene is the first scene of the first episode.
  • Instrument of Murder: Eaglebones Falconhawk and his brother Eagleclaw have guitars that shoot Frickin' Laser Beams.
  • It Has Only Just Begun: "Cobraman!":
    MC Bat Commander: The game is over!
    Carl: Oh, but the game has only just begun! Ha ha ha, (flips some switches) TECHNOLOGY!
  • Karma Houdini: Martian Girl gets away with eating three kids and almost devouring Ricky after promising to leave Earth and to never return.
  • Killed Off for Real: From the looks of things, SuperMagic PowerMan and Lanolin Lady.
  • Knockout Gas: Jimmy the Robot activates this function of the Battletram in "Cobraman!" to free the team sans the MC Bat Commander from Carl's clutches.
  • Lame Comeback:
    • "Showtime!", while the MC Bat Commander is in Space Monster M's clutches:
    Space Monster M: Did you fools think you could stop me?!
    MC Bat Commander: No! But...you're ugly!
    • "Night of the Cactus!":
    Ronmark: Oh that big dude better not make a move on my girl!
    Jimmy the Robot: Please shut up!
    Ronmark: (grumbling) ...you shut up.
  • Layman's Terms: "ManAnt!":
    Jimmy the Robot: It's low energy, Commander. Your blood sugar levels have dipped dangerously low.
    MC Bat Commander: Speak English, robot, English!
    Jimmy the Robot: (in an English accent) Uh, it's low energy, Commander. Your blood sugar levels have dipped frightfully low.
  • Leitmotif: An instrumental version of the song "Hello, Good Night" (From the album that shares its name with the episode) plays several times during "The Floating Eye of Death!", including a creepy reprise when the band's in danger.
  • Leprechaun: "I am NOT a leprechaun! I am ÜBERCHAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!"
  • Lethal Joke Character: Crash. He's kind of a space-case, but the fact that his power is to get really big, coupled with that it only works when he gets really mad or upset, means he can do a ton of damage when things get really desperate. In the first season finale he's going hand-to-hand against the most powerful villain in the band's entire mythology.
  • Let Me at Him!: "Showtime!", after Space Monster M reveals himself and starts wreaking havoc:
    MC Bat Commander: Aquabats! This is it! Let's go save the world!
    (The rest of the team restrains him)
    Jimmy the Robot: Commander, that giant alien machine is far too powerful for us!
    MC Bat Commander: NO! We can do it! We have to do it!! We have to believe we can do ANYTHING!!!
    • The MC Bat Commander's reaction to Ronmark's "Didn't you guys used to be popular or something?"
    MC Bat Commander: Why I oughta-!
  • Let's Get Dangerous!:
    • MC Bat Commander delivers on his promise to save the world in "Showtime!", contrasting with all the other times that he's been the Idiot Hero.
    • The ending where he lures the giant mole bat to eat the Cowboy Android in "Cowboy Android!" also counts.
    • Again in "Summer Camp!" where he organizes the campers and they capture a monster that easily defeated the other Aquabats.
  • Let's Split Up, Gang!: In "Uberchaun!" the team has to split up to complete three challenges within an hour to remove their curse. MC Bat Commander and Eaglebones opt to tie a ribbon to the top branch of an ancient tree; Ricky and Jimmy choose to pull the flag from the 13th hole; Crash is left to fetch the Uberchaun a cherry soda from the clubhouse vending machine. Sounds easy, right?
  • Little Bit Beastly: In the cartoons, Crash appears to have slitted pupils like a cat and fangs to match.
    • Eagleclaw and, to a lesser extent, Eaglebones.
  • Lizard Folk: The Cobraman
  • Lock-and-Load Montage: The Aquabats go through a particularly epic one in the first season finale, appropriately set to a song called "Showtime!"
  • Lyrical Dissonance: The song the Aquacadets sing in "Summer Camp!" is about how they'll carry on the legacy of the Aquabats when they're dead and long forgotten...with the Aquabats on stage.
  • Mad Scientist: Evil example in Dr. Eva Mudlark, who kidnaps the 'Bats! and tortures them with a dirt monster. She even has an evil laugh!
    • Heroic example in Dr. Monty Corndog, who gave the Bats! superpowers (well, except for MC Bat Commander).
    • Benign example in one Lil' Bat short (Season 2, Episode 2). He laughs triumphantly as a beam of lightning comes down onto his operating table... to power his microwave, so he can eat a TV dinner while watching The Aquabats! on TV.
  • Magic Meteor: The meteorite in "Night of the Cactus!" transforms the Bat Commander's arm and creates the cactus monster.
  • Makes Just as Much Sense in Context: Some of the clips in the Previously on… segments. Emphasis on some, but judging by how weird the rest of the show is this was done deliberately.
  • Manchild: All five of them qualify, but Crash McLarson is the most blatant example.
  • Meat-O-Vision: The Aquabats were snowed inside their Battletram in "The Thingy!", and MC Bat Commander got so hungry that he saw Ricky as a big steak, only to stop and realize he really wanted "chicken", or to eat Eaglebones. Later, he takes out a salt shaker and sprinkles some on Eaglebones before he gets called out on it.
  • Mid-Battle Tea Break: Played with in "ManAnt!". While ManAnt's goons are beating up everyone but the MC Bat Commander, the Commander stops to look at some grilled chicken. "It's like no one wants me to eat! I'm starving, okay?!"
    • And then Jimmy the Robot fires a buttermint at the Commander, after which ManAnt lampshades the trope: "What is this, a kindergarten snack break?!"
  • Mr. Exposition: The Thingy in the form of Jimmy The Robot lets the audience (and Crash) in on his evil plans via an expository song.
    • Jimmy in general falls under this category.
    Jimmy: It worked, Commander! The ants are no longer under Manant's control!
  • Mr. Fanservice: The fandom seems to have mostly latched onto Eaglebones Falconhawk, but every member of the team has their own dedicated fans.
  • Monster of the Week
  • Mood Whiplash: "Showtime!" starts out seeming like another goofy episode...until Space Monster M shows up, which leads to much more action and much less joking around. And then the cartoon happens. Then back to the butt-kicking.
  • Mountain of Food: A variant: at the end of "ManAnt!", Crash finds a whole cache of burgers stolen by ManAnt in a nearby giant anthill. Cue "Burger Rain".
    • A tray filled with two hundred doughnuts in Laundry Day!, which the Aquabats (minus Ricky) eat all of and spend the rest of the episode with bulging bellies.
  • Muck Monster: Several courtesy of Dr. Eva Mudlark.
  • Multiple-Choice Past: In season 2 the cartoon serial segments are replaced with animated flashbacks about each member of the team joining up. Absolutely none of them are compatible with any of the others.
  • Multiple Head Case: Quera, Hera and Vera, the Siren from "Ladyfingers!"
  • Mummy: The guardians of the underworld in "Ladyfingers!".
    • The Mummy Spray commercial from Gloopy
    Mummy spray in every room
    "Send those mummies to the tomb"
  • My Little Phony: One of the Once an Episode Parody Commercials featured a toy like this called the Scruffy Scruff, except the toy was exceptionally ugly. The kids in the commercial played with and adored it as if it were just as pretty as its real-world counterpart.
  • Mysterious Benefactor: Whoever helped repair the Battletram in "Return of the Aquabats!" is this.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • The Floating Eyeball of Death was originally featured in the title and cover of the band's third album, "The Aquabats! vs. the Floating Eye of Death and Other Amazing Adventures"
    • Space Monster "M" and the Time Sprinkler are both mentioned in songs ("Theme Song!" and "Tiger Rider vs. the Time Sprinkler!" respectively).
    • When Eaglebones first met the Aquabats they were wearing horns.
    • MC Bat Commander's telling of the Aquabats origins is based on the actual superhero mythology of the band from their song "Theme Song!" (right down to how there were originally eight or nine island inhabitants who survived the attack by Space Monster M).
    • The Bats' "Stealth Mode" is the Aquabats' original purple shirts.
    • The episode "Shark Fighter!" is based on the song of the same name off of the band's "Hi-Five Soup!" album.
    • Former real-life Aquabats Chainsaw the Prince of Karate and Catboy have cameos as fellow second-string superheroes in "Showtime!"
    • In "Bad Apple!" we see the 'bats attacked by a group of nameless thugs who have black heads, derpy eyes, and green and red-striped sweaters like the Sandfleas, an early group of bad guys in the band's history.
    • Combined with Waxing Lyrical, Crash's flashback in "Bad Thingy!" begins with the lyrics to the song "Pizza Day".
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Space Monster M. The people disperse real fast not long after he states his name (which is after murdering a pair of famous superheroes).
  • Nature Spirit: The Spirit of the Sun, as played Lou Diamond Phillips.
  • Neat Freak: Ricky Fitness.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: At the start of "Cowboy Android!", a miner tells the Aquabats off for sealing a monster in the mine rather than getting rid of it, as this means they still can't work in the mine. By the end of the episode, they do take care of it.
    • Kitty Litter and his minions used to be a gang of giant, talking cats. However, the Aquabats tossing them into their own portal device (something Kitty Litter begged them not to do since he didn't know what would happen to live beings sent through the machine) gave them powerful (albeit flawed) teleportation abilities.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: Jimmy can casually smile while reading the story about The Floating Eyeball of Death stealing the souls of humans to create a zombie army.
    • In the recap at the beginning of "The Thingy", we see Crash settling down to sleep...while happily snuggling with a pile of charred skeletons.
  • Non-Human Sidekick: Jimmy the Robot.
  • Non-Uniform Uniform: Eaglebones' outfit has knee braces.
    • The Commander's anti-negativity helmet is the only one that has a strap.
    • Jimmy The Robot's helmet, in addition to being built into his head, continues and covers his chin.
  • Noodle Incident: Crash once went on a rampage in Tampa when he couldn't find enough cash to buy a truck stop snack.
  • Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Several of the series' antagonists turn out to be this way.
  • Obsessively Organized: Ricky Fitness always seems to have hand sanitizer and Wet-Naps on hand. Comes in handy in one episode of the show when they're fighting muck monsters. At the end of the episode, he learns not to be so uptight about cleanliness- as long as the other guys learn to be a bit more clean.
  • Oculothorax: The Floating Eye of Death
  • Oh, Crap!: Snakey in "Mysterious Egg!" before Jimmy the Robot fires his laser.
    Snakey: Oh poo-poo.
  • Once per Episode: Every episode will have a cartoon about the Aquabats, a cartoon about Pablo (AKA Lil' Bat,) and a fake commercial.
  • Overly Long Gag: Jimmy the Robot booting up the DVD in "ManAnt!" by randomly typing on a keyboard for about a full minute.
  • Pac Man Fever: Whenever the Aquabats! are playing a video game in the Battletram, though the games they play are fictional and drawn in an 8-Bit style. However, you can the Super Mario Bros. pause sound effect in "Haunted Battletram!" and Asteroids sound effects in "Pilgrim Boy!" They even play their games with wireless NES controllers!
  • Parody Commercial
  • Perpetual Poverty: The band's lack of cash motivates a few of the episode plots.
  • Pilot: Three of them; an Old Shame made in 1998, the 1999 The Aquabats! In Color! pilot, and the 2008 pilot.
  • The Power of Rock: Eaglebones' guitar.
    • Pilgrim Boy destroys a giant space bug with a song.
  • Precious Puppy: How ManAnt lures Crash McLarson into the truck and how Moon Cheese lures the Bat Commander into his trap, both in the same episode. The puppy that lures Crash turns out to be a fake, and the other one is a hologram.
  • Previously on…: Every episode has one, but only about half the clips are actually from the last episode. Most are just random quick shots that never happened or are picked from the original pilot.
    • Averted with the Previously on… segment for "Night of the Cactus!" that aired with the "Cobraman!" episode. Not only did the segment only include clips that were from the episode, but the majority of them were also of a Jerkass supporting character getting slapped. Repeatedly.
  • Public Domain Character: The Invisible Man, a tackily dressed superhero who has modeled himself after the literary character of the same name while lacking his powers.
  • Punny Name: Weird Al as President Stuncastin. Stunt casting.
  • Putting the Band Back Together: The plot of the Kickstarter Mini-sodes follows the Commander tracking down the rest of the team after they each had to get "real jobs" to support themselves after the Super Show ended.
  • Reactive Continuous Scream: The Previously on… recap for "Haunted Battletram!" is a montage of freaking out.
  • Real Men Hate Sugar: Subverted with Ricky. He doesn't hate it per se, but he's given it up to pursue a healthier lifestyle.
  • Recursive Canon: Played with; the Kickstarter minisodes are a continuation of the Super Show, taking place in the same canon... about getting enough fan support to produce new episodes of the Super Show. It's best not to dwell on it.
  • Recursive Reality: Season 2, Episode 2 has A CARTOON! with MC Bat Commander watching Lil' Bat, who is watching Manant! on TV.
  • Ridiculously Human Robot: Jimmy the Robot can crack jokes, love, and play a mean keyboard.
  • Roar Before Beating: The giant mole bat at the beginning of "Cowboy Android!"
  • Robo Cam: Jimmy the Robot
  • Robotic Reveal: The Bat Commander hits the Cowboy Android Sheriff in "Cowboy Android!" with a chair, revealing the robotic exterior beneath his face.
  • The Scrappy: Invoked with Ronmark. The Aquabats don't want to put up with him. Although considering how much of a colossal jackass the guy is, it's not really a surprise.
  • Screams Like a Little Girl: The M.C. Bat Commander
  • Screen Shake
  • Senseless Phagia: "Haunted Battletram!":
    Jimmy the Robot: Fellow Aquabats, I've completed testing on the unknown orange sticky substance we discovered in the graveyard.
    Crash McLarson: Yeah, what was that stuff? Tasted like barf!
    MC Bat Commander: (pauses his game) Wait...you ate that stuff?
    (everyone gives Crash a disgusted look)
    Crash McLarson:...No.
  • Sentai: The monsters they fight come right out of Sentai shows.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Speaking of Sentai, a shot at the end of the intro- where five colored stripes are wiped onto the screen (via multiple Lil Bat symbols going up and down) and the Aquabats promptly step forward over the stripes- is very similar to a shot from the intro to Choujin Sentai Jetman (where it was the five Jetmen and the wiping effect was done via depictions of their mecha).
    • In "ManAnt!", the villain responds to his giant ants turning on him with "Get your mandibles off me you dirty ant!"
      • From the same episode, the titular villain's logo is a reference to Kamen Rider.
    • "Mysterious Egg!" has one for Point Break.
    • Eaglebones' brother looks like a bird-themed version of Sabretooth from the X-Men comics.
    • In "Ladyfingers!" there's one to "Friday".
    • "The Haunted Battletram!" is one long shout-out to Poltergeist.
    • The titular antagonist of "Cowboy Android!" is an obvious homage to the Yul Brynner character in Westworld.
    • In "Pilgrim Boy!", the titular Pilgrim changes into a caricature of Michael Jackson to defeat a giant potato bug with a song.
    • In "Cobraman!" the magician is a blatant live-action Strong Bad Expy, down to the mask and Matt Chapman portraying him. Meanwhile, the Commander being forced to fight the Cobraman in the desert is a direct reference to the Star Trek episode "Arena".
    • The fates of Super Magic Power Man and Lanolin Lady in Showtime! are identical to the fates of people who look in the trunk of the Chevy Malibu in Repo Man.
    • The season two premiere, "The Return of the Aquabats!", features a pair of turtle-like aliens similar to the ones in Laserblast. The redesigned Battletram's wings have rockets on the tips with the markings NCC-1701. Also, Eaglebones flashback to how the band met in the episode is done in the style of Heavy Metal.
      • The MC Bat Commander spends a great deal of the season two premiere quoting lyrics from Pixies songs.
    • "But that means it would lead back ... home!" and the smoldering skeletons from Bad Apple! are straight out of Star Wars.
    • The episode "The Thingy" is a spoof of The Thing (1982).
  • Silly Love Songs: Don't break my heart, don't break my heart in twoooooooo...
  • Sizeshifter: Crash McLarson's power, which is affected by his emotions.
  • Skyward Scream: In "EagleClaw!":
    MC Bat Commander: Oh I get it, soloing again, huh? Well, why do you have to go after him alone?
    Eaglebones Falconhawk: Because...HE'S MY BROTHEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
    • Also, the UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBERCHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUN!
  • Smoldering Shoes: The fate of SuperMagic PowerMan and Lanolin Lady.
  • Solar-Powered Magnifying Glass: Lil' Bat tries to fry some ants with this method, and gets eaten.
    • Also, less obviously, The MC Bat Commander.
  • Spell My Name With An S: Is it EagleBones Falconhawk or Eagle "Bones" Falconhawk? Show-related materials use the former, while band-related materials use the latter.
  • Spot the Imposter: In "The Thingy!", MC Bat Commander and Eaglebones are confronted with two versions of Ricky Fitness, and have to work out which one is the shape-shifting alien Thingy. Naturally, the Commander picks the wrong one and declares him to be the real Ricky.
  • Squee: MC Bat Commander in "EagleClaw!":
    MC Bat Commander: Does that mean we can fight, and like, sing songs and stuff?
    Eaglebones Falconhawk: Totally!
    (The Bat Commander squeals and skips in place)
    • The Commander does this fairly often. His "Oh my gosh!" after being offered elegant robes in Laundry Day! is particularly squeeful.
  • Squishy Wizard: Eaglebones, in that he has hollow bones like a bird. Not that this really comes into play with the kind of show this is.
  • Stable Time Loop: The first episode's cartoon takes up where the first season finale leaves off. The finale's cartoon has the Time Sprinkler zap them back to the party the Bats played at the beginning of the first episode. This gets broken in the episodes afterward, but they never really do say how.
  • Stock Scream: The Wilhelm Scream occurs several times in "Ladyfingers!", and once in "Cowboy Android!"
  • Strange Minds Think Alike: "Cobraman!":
    MC Bat Commander: Ah, there's nothing like being a band on the road! The truck stop food, the public restrooms, the lack of showers, it's so awesome!
    • Later, when Carl steals the Battletram:
    Carl: Yeah! We got it! Finally we can go out on tour! Out on the open road! The truck stop food! The public restrooms! The complete lack of showers! It's like heaven on wheels!
  • Strong Ants: ManAnt
    • In his DVD to the Aquabats:
    Ricky Fitness: (witnessing ManAnt lifting a bagel) Booooooring!
    MC Bat Commander: But that giant bagel looks so delicious!
    • Later, when ManAnt grows to human size, MC Bat Commander tries to punch him. "What do I look like to you, Bat Commander, a helpless bug?!"
  • Summon Bigger Fish: MC Bat Commander lures the giant flying mole rat from the mines to help defeat the Cowboy Android.
  • Stuff Blowing Up: Of course! Special mention goes to the giant ants in the first episode who explode in midair after being kicked.
  • Sudden Downer Ending: Showtime. It starts off goofily, but then about a third of the way through the world's greatest hero is effortlessly eradicated by a horrifyingly powerful and ruthless villain. The 'bats manage to get their stuff together and save the day, but even as the villain explodes he throws the helpless team into space. Worse, the cartoon segment reveals they're actually trapped in a Stable Time Loop and doomed to repeat the events of the season over and over. Luckily a couple more episodes were made showing the Aquabats managed to escape this fate. Somehow.
  • Super Zeroes: How the Aquabats are generally portrayed, even if they do always get the job done in the end.
  • Technicolor Science
  • The Bet: The Bat Commander's loyalty to a bet about seeing the Cobraman instigates the plot of "Cobraman!".
  • Theme Tune Roll Call
  • The Team Normal: The Bat Commander, which becomes a bit of a running gag in "Summer Camp!" as he doesn't mention his lack of superpowers to the kids.
  • Think of the Children!: In the season finale, "Showtime!":
    MC Bat Commander: Think of the kids, Crash! No more SuperMagic PowerMan! He is gone! Children are crying right now! IT'S SO SAD!!!
  • Title, Please!
  • Title Theme Tune
  • Took a Level in Jerkass:
    • Everyone besides Eaglebones in "Pilgrim Boy!". The fact that the Pilgrim's Voluntary Shapeshifting is exceedingly painful flies completely over their heads as they keep asking him to transform into various bizarre items.
    • Eaglebones in the first half of Eagleclaw! goes into overly long guitar solos, throws gifts from fans in a dumpster and coldly blows off the rest of the Aquabats to pursue his brother.
    • The Bat Commander zigzags on just how dedicated he is to fighting crime from episode to episode. In Eagleclaw he is eager to help Eaglebones fight his evil brother, while in Haunted Battletram he blows off the rest of the team to play video games.
  • Totally Radical:
    • Done on purpose as part of the eighties nature of the show.
    • The MC Bat Commander, throwing up gang signs and calling others homies. He's been doing this long before the Super Show, however.
  • True Sight: Eaglebones' Eagle Vision.
  • Uncanny Family Resemblance: Crash's mother in "ManAnt!" is played by Crash himself.
  • Underwater City: In the cartoon segments, the underwater city beneath the moon's surface.
  • Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Space Monster M
  • Villain Song: "I'm a Bad Thingy." The show's soundtrack also includes one for Cobraman.
  • Visible Invisibility: The Dude.
  • Visual Pun: MC Bat Commander and Jimmy the Robot play Fantasy Football with wizards and dragons in "Pilgrim Boy!".
    • In "Uberchaun!" Jimmy defeats the turf monster with a hand grenade...as in, he detaches his hand, which sticks to the monster and explodes.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifter: Pilgrim Boy.
  • Waxing Lyrical: Crash's narration for his origin starts with the first two lines of the Aquabats song "Pizza Day"
    • The MC Bat Commander's origin story is a paraphrased version of the Aquabats song "Theme Song" from their second album, which was essentially an Expository Theme Tune for an Aquabats TV show and ... you know what, my brain hurts.
    • In the season 2 premier episode "Return Of The Aquabats!", this happens at a press conference:
    Journalist: I think the question the world really wants to know is how did y'all become The Aquabats!?
  • Weaponized Car: The Battle-Tram.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Jimmy's relationship with his scientist father in "Bad Apple!" It turns into So Proud of You when Jimmy's mom shows that his father taped the TIM cover of the Aquabats return to Earth and how they saved the day.
  • Wham Episode: The first season was made up of mostly comical villains, but then there was "Showtime!", where the villain actively murders another pair of superheroes before the Aquabats' eyes and steals their powers to become a gigantic engine of destruction and immediately starts laying waste to a major city. Its ending reveals that the whole season is a "Groundhog Day" Loop: the last cartoon segment ends at the beginning of the first episode—the pool party—while the end of the live-action segment mirrors the cartoon segment's beginning (the Aquabats in space)
  • What the Hell, Hero?: The Aquabats! give one to Jimmy the Robot twice in "Mysterious Egg!". Once after Jimmy blows up Snakey, a monster that the rest of the Aquabats were planning on capturing and returning to a zoo...
    Ricky: You just blew that guy up?!
    Eaglebones: Jimmy, that was hardcore...
    Jimmy: It was? But that thing was dangerous, I thought we were trying to destroy it!
    Crash: Well, I was just going to punch it a couple of times...
    MC Bat Commander: We were going to take it back to the zoo!
    Ricky: That's pretty cold, Jimmy!
    Eaglebones: What's your problem, Jimmy?! I had a clear shot!
    MC Bat Commander: Yes, and why did you let him go?!
    Jimmy: I couldn't let you harm... my baby!
    MC Bat Commander, Ricky, Crash, and Eaglebones: YOUR BABY?!
    Jimmy: Yes! RUN, JIMMY JR.! RUN!!
  • When Trees Attack: In "Uberchaun!", the Bat Commander and Eaglebones try to tie a ribbon to the top branch of a tree that attacks them when they do so.
  • Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Ronmarc and Zalga in "Night of the Cactus!":
    "Their names are Ronmarc and Zalga? Where are they from? Mars?"
    • Stated outright by Crash in the same episode:
    "Who names their kid Denmark anyway?"
  • World of Ham
  • X Meets Y:invoked According to this article, Christian Jacobs says this about the show:
    “If the person is over 30, I’d say it’s like Batman meets The Monkees, with a little bit of Sid and Marty Krofft’s in it,” Jacobs said. “If they’re under 30, I’d say Power Rangers meets Flight of the Conchords, very sarcastic. If they’re kids… superheroes fighting monsters.”
  • X-Ray Sparks: Eaglebones in "Night of the Cactus!", while doing science.
  • You Can Talk?: "Cobraman!":
    Cobraman: Hahahahahahahaha! I thank you so very much, Bat Commander, for being such a gentleman and letting me go.
    Eaglebones Falconhawk: He can talk!

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I'm A Bad Thingy!

A shapeshifting alien named The Thingy pretending to be Aquabats! keyboardist Jimmy the Robot sings about his plans to melt the rest of The Aquabats! into spaceship fuel while Aquabats! bassist Crash McLarson secretly watches from an air-vent passageway.

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