Inhumanoids was a 13-episode
Western Animation show by
Sunbow that aired in 1986. Like most 80's cartoons, it naturally had
an accompanying toyline.
The main story focuses on a group of scientists called the Earth Corps. An enormous monster, called D'Compose, is discovered encased in amber in the Big Sur. By taking him out, they don't realize that they have unleashed evil on their world. Following that, many more discoveries of grotesque monsters happen. Tendril and D'Compose are two of those
eldritch abominations. With the help of The Redwoods, they try to put down the monsters again.
The show in its day had a lot of
Family Unfriendly Violence and remains a great source of
High Octane Nightmare Fuel. More importantly, it was an unusual kids' show for its use of good subplots, strong pacing and suspense.
Tropes used by the series:
- Alliterative Name: Sandra Shore.
- Antagonist Title
- Beneath the Earth: At least half of every episode is spent beneath the Earth.
- Big Bad: Metlar.
- The Brute: Tendril.
- Body Horror: And how! Just one example: DECOMPOSE!
6:37 into the video. "He's turned her into a nightmare!" indeed. - Card-Carrying Villain: Blackthorne Shore. "I'm not sick, I'm evil!"
- Dem Bones: The skeleton warriors in the third episode.
- The Dragon: D'Compose.
- The Eighties
- Eldritch Abomination: The hideous beings led by Metlar. Their origin story speaks of their imprisonment long ago.
- Family Unfriendly Violence: Especially some of the deaths! It's shocking what the show managed to get past the radar.
- Five-Man Band:
- The Hero: Herc Armstrong
- The Lancer: Sandra Shore (Remarkably, since she is the only female member of the team, and the newest member, which might make one expect her to be The Chick)
- The Smart Guy (The Spock): Dr. Derek Bright
- The Big Guy: Eddie "Auger" Auguter
- The Chick: Johnathan M. "Liquidator" Slattery (He is the emotional, instictive one, who talks about the "vibes" he gets from certain places.)
- Sixth Ranger: Tank and Sabre Jet
- Green Rocks: Glavacite
- Hey, It's That Voice!: Chris Latta as D'Compose. He was also recognized for other Hasbro villains such as Cobra Commander and Starscream.
- Intercontinuity Crossover: With all those related cartoons in the eighties, like G.I. Joe and Transformers, with sharing Hector Ramirez.
- Kent Brockman News: Hector Ramirez, as shared with the other shows.
- Kaiju: The Inhumanoids, despite being smaller than regular Kaiju, and being intelligent and able to talk.
- The Man Behind the Man: Sslither for Metlar.
- Meaningful Name: Everyone in Earth Corps and the Redwoods, too.
- Merchandise Driven
- Michael Bell: The voice of Auger.
- Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Who the Hell names their kid "Blackthorne?"
- Never Say "Die": "If his friends release him, we're ended."
- This is a weird case, in which you can't say "die", but saying "death" is A-Ok.
- Non-Human Undead: D'Compose and some of his undead army.
- Painful Transformation: Felt by Sandra Shore after D-Compose touched her cheek.
- Personality Swap: Magnokor and Metlar switched alignment after the former boosted their magnetic powers through a boulder of galvacite to finally defeat their arch-enemy.
- Powered Armor: The Earth Corps scientists wear Powered Armor designed for subterranean exploration.
- Rated M for Manly: Verging on Testosterone Poisoning at times.
- San Francisco: Where D'Compose will be released.
- Science Hero: Earth Corps.
- Shared Universe: Hector Ramirez, a No Celebrities Were Harmed version of Geraldo Rivera, is the subtle link between this, G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Jem.
- And Sabre Jet begins as pilot Brad Ambruster. Savvy viewers could recognise him as the former G.I. Joe member Ace.
- Smart People Play Chess: Tank.
- Standard Female Grab Area: Averted. Sandra Shore is grabbed by her brother's security goons and manages to fight them off even after one of them has made contact with her forearm.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The Earth Force seems on the verge of a fistfight with each other at times.
- Terrible Trio: Lacking the numbers for a Five-Bad Band, the Inhumanoids consist of three giant monsters.
- This Is a Drill: Auger has, yes, an auger attached to his exosuit.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Blackthorne cries out for the Earth Corps to save him from Tendril in one episode. When they do, he shouts, "Thanks, SUCKERS!"
- Weaksauce Weakness: D'Compose, badass human-corrupting zombie dinosaur man is vulnerable to two things: sunlight and tree sap.
- Weaponized Landmark: One of the animated-statue guardians of Metlar's lair appears to be the Colossus of Rhodes. In a later episode, Metlar animates the Statue of Liberty. Subverted, as he marries her rather than uses her as a weapon.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Severing Tendril's tentacles caused their pieces to grow into new Tendril creatures, yet what became of the umpteen Tendril-clones spawned in this manner was rarely addressed.
- Obviously they get re-absorbed by the main Tendril or they die offscreen like uprooted plants. In the Marvel Comics, Metlar tells Tendril that his clones will no longer be necessary, and then Tendril causes them to decay away.
- When Trees Attack: The Redwoods are senitent trees that give assistance to the heroes every so often.
- Your Size May Vary: The best flaw this show is known for is the size of the giant monsters changing between episodes or even frames. One episode they look about 20-30 feet tall and can fit indoors, in another Metlar is just as tall as the Statue of Liberty.
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