Krapopolis is a 2023 adult animated fantasy sitcom created by Dan Harmon. It stars Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry, Hannah Waddingham, Pam Murphy, and Duncan Trussell.
Set in Ancient Greece, the series follows a dysfunctional family of gods, demigods, and mystical beings as they attempt to run one of the first cities in the world. The series premiered on Fox September 24, 2023. Three seasons have already been ordered.
Krapopolis contains examples of the following:
- Abusive Parents: Jerkass Gods do not make good parents for their demigod children.
- Actor Allusion: Not Matt Berry's first time playing a sex-obsessed monster. Not even his second time, either.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: How the death of Shlub's father is described, as he was just that hated a tyrant.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: After an entire episode of squabbling, Tyrannis defends Deliria's honor when Athena dismisses him, and Deliria shows up to defend him afterwards. When Athena turns him into a snake later, Deliria gives a Big "NO!" in response.
- Bamboo Technology: Despite the setting, the characters use a lot of items that approximate modern conveniences. Daily newspapers are replaced with vases, and in one episode, a hydra fills the same role as phones/internet.
- Deconstructor Fleet: As expected from a Dan Harmon show, the series deconstructs many story and genre conventions. In this shows case, it plays with both family sitcoms and Classical Mythology.
- Divine Conflict: There are a lot of conflicts between gods that teeter between comedic and dramatic because they're all a Big, Screwed-Up Family. The first episode is about Deliria's issues being exiled from Olympus and getting into a fight with Athena in the climax.
- Dysfunctional Family: Tyrannnis, Shlub, Deliria, Stupendous, and Hippocampus all create a very flawed and dysfunctional family dynamic.
- Eye Scream: In the clip, Hippocampus' machine to protect against Medusa does so by shoving lit matches into the eyes of its wearer, rendering them blind.
- Fish People: Hippocampus is an anthropomorphic fish that wears a bowl of water on his head.
- Forced Transformation: Gods can freely transform mortals into whatever they want. The first episode has Deliria and Athena turning the people of each other's respective cities into snakes.
- Genius Cripple: Hippocampus can't breathe air and is incapable of walking without support on land but is practically the smartest mortal or monster anywhere.
- Genius Ditz: Shlub will occasionally have his moments of wisdom such as in the pilot when he helps his son Tyrannis deal with his relationship with his mother by asking him the question "If your divine gift is for deal making, why is it you can't deal with your mother?"
- The Gods Must Be Lazy: As seen in the clip, the goddess Deliria is more interested in sitting around and drinking wine than actually helping with the Medusa problem.
- Gossipy Hens: Hermes is depicted performing his messenger duties, though most of his messages are just him running the latest gossip by Deliria.
- Hybrid Monster: Shlub is basically this as he is a Mantitaur, part Centaur and part Manticore. Pretty unique, don't ya think?
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Hephaestus is an Insufferable Genius who believes he's above everyone but is also desperate for his family's approval so he works to build them whatever they like, no matter how petty or frivolous it is. He's perfectly aware that they're dysfunctional and insane, but has decided that it's the only worthwhile thing he can work towards.
- It Will Never Catch On: A Running Gag in the first season is multiple characters mocking the idea of written language.
- Jerkass Gods: The first episode shows how self-centered Deliria is, particularly when it comes to her social standing among other gods since she's banished from Olympus. She justifies it as mortals dying regardless of how they're treated, while immortal lives means immortal social lives.
- Mobile Fish Bowl: Hippocampus wears a fish bowl on his head at all times due to being an aquatic being.
- Nice Guy: Shlub can fall under the Mr. Vice Guy trope as well as he can be inappropriate and Innocently Insensitive sometimes. Despite that, he is a rather likable and agreeable person (or mythical creature) as well as a loving and supportive dad to Tyrannis, Stupendous, and Hippocampus.
- Parental Issues: Tyrannis's anxieties comes from his troubling relationship with his mother, Deliria.
- Semi-Divine: The primary cast has the king Tyrannis, his cyclops half-sister Stupendous and his fish-man half-brother Hippocampus. Tyrannis is the son of the manticore/centaur hybrid Shlub and the goddess Deliria, with Stupendous being Deliria's daughter with a cyclops and Hippocampus being Shlub's son with an unknown being.
- Taken for Granite: As the clip ends, Medusa's head falls out of its bag and most of the people attending the meeting are turned to stone.
- Tech Bro: Hephaestus is revealed to be a Classically Mythological version of this. While everyone knows him as the God of "Makin' Stuff", it turns out that he doesn't actually do any inventing. Instead, he charms actual inventors into doing all the work for him and he peddles their work as his own. He even throws conventions where he works up the crowd with elaborate performances, recruiting nay-sayers to make him look humble.
