A joint Japanese-American animation project, developed by Man of Action Studios, Stephen Berman, and Jeremy Padawer for Fremantle Media.65 Million years ago, a meteor crashed to Earth loaded with alien DNA. Sometime in the future, Core-Tech scientist Jeredy Suno uses this DNA and combines that of several Earth animals with it, creating the Monsuno. After going missing, his son, Chase Suno, embarks on a journey to find him, along with his friends Jinja and Bren. In the process, they come across Monsunos of their own, along with two separate factions aiming to control the Monsunos for their own purposes: S.T.O.R.M., the Strategic and Tactical Operations for Recovery of Monsuno, an ultra-secret Government Agency of Fiction which wants to control all Monsuno activity on Earth and Eklipse, a criminal organization lead by Dr. Emmanual Klipse, a megalomaniac ex-scientist ally of Dr. Suno who wants to wipe out humanity and replace it with a New World Order run by Monsunos.The show details the gang's efforts to find the missing Dr. Suno while avoiding the efforts of both groups.Season 2, known as Monsuno: Combat Chaos, premiered April 21, 2013 on Nicktoons network.
Above Good and Evil: Dr. Klipse has explictly stated he does not care about right or wrong, only Monsunos (read: power).
Action Girl: Jinja has shades of this, even with a Monsuno battling at her side. In the course of the first three episodes she has knocked two guys out with flying kicks, and hot-wired a military truck by herself.
Animesque: The show, from one point of view. Considering it's an American-Japanese co-production, it can just as easily be called an anime as it can a western series.
Anti-Villain: S.T.O.R.M. is a Type III, though they tend to act a bit hypocritical; Jon Ace, on the other hand, is a Type IV.
Artificial Limbs: One-Eyed Jack's left arm and leg are metallic due to complications taming Freedom Striker. The same incident took out his left eye, requiring an Eyepatch of Power.
Authority Equals Asskicking: Charlemagne and Dr. Klipse are the leaders of the antagonistic factions (S.T.O.R.M. and Eklipse respectively). Both of their Monsuno are powerful enough to have defeated all protagonists' at the same time.
Ax Crazy: Medea. Even her own minions think she's nuts.
And yet she seems rational when compared to Dom Pyro.
Big Bad Ensemble: Both Charlemagne and Dr. Klipse, though Charlemagne gets a bit more face time as Klipse's hand is seen more through his mercenaries, at least at first.
Same goes for Grandma Future as well; though her appearance kinda gives it away, Chase, Bren, and Jinja fall for it anyway.
Borrowed Catchphrase: In episode 13, Beyal calls Jinja "Princess" (Dax's nickname for her) in an attempt to flirt. Earlier in the same episode (more vague, but it's pointed out regardless), Bren talks about destiny (which is usually Beyal's thing).
Building Swing: Dax and Lock do this from a bridge in episode 22.
Butt Monkey: Bren. By the end of season 1 even Beyal's had a few jokes at his expense.
Calling the Old Man Out: The events of an earlier episode and the more recent revelation that Chase's mother is still alive leads to Jeredy being confronted by a very angry Chase in episode 20.
Colour Coded Armies: So far, the Monsunos have a main color scheme to show who they were manufactured by: blue by Jeredy Suno/Core-Tech, yellow by S.T.O.R.M., red by Eklipse, and orange by Forge. Wild Monsunos are colored green. All the protagonists wear blue (aside from Jon Ace, both in-monster and out), all the villains wear predominantly red outfits and S.T.O.R.M. wears black and yellow (Though justified for S.T.O.R.M. as it's uniform). Even their Monsuno are color-coded.
Cowardly Lion: Bren tends to act scared most of the time, pointing out how creepy or dangerous situations are. Yet, he had enough courage to face Quickforce when taking it back to its core, and doesn't mind fighting.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: Dom Pyro is smart enough to take Dax by surprise and shock him before he launches his Monsuno when they first meet him. He doesn't do the same with the others, but for the most part, it just serves to show he doesn't really need to.
Even more impressive in his second appearance, where he shocks them all unconscious before the fight begins, leaving only their Monsuno without anyone to give them orders, then just distracts them long enough until they are forced to return to their cores.
Death Glare: Lock's default expression in battle, with a slightly softer version out of battle.
Deader Than Dead: If a Monsuno exceeds the core's time limit, but are too far away to return, this happens to them.
Disappeared Dad: As well as a Missing Mom, mentioned below, Chase has his father vanish for a complete set. Two thirds of the way through season one, we learn that Chase's mom may still be alive.
Distressed Dude: Jeredy at the end of episode 22 and most of the following episode until he's rescued...and then kidnapped again in episode 24.
Doomed Hometown: Dax's was revealed to have been destroyed by Eklipse.
Drama-Preserving Handicap: Monsunos can only survive out of their cores for 8 minutes. Considering the destruction they can wreak, it's completely warranted.
Dub Name Change: In the Japanese version. Jinja is changed to Vicky, Beyal to Noah, and Dax to Ash among others. May also fall under Keep It Foreign.
Evil vs. Evil: In "Endgame", Chase convinces the Desert Wolves to form an alliance and provide a distraction so Team Core-Tech can sneak into Eklipse's base. Jack eventually catches on that he was used, and starts attackingbothsides.
Exposed to the Elements: Inverted when Beyal continues to wear his heavy robe when at the hot and sunny beach and Averted when the kids make their return trip to the snowy Mandala mountain range. Played straighter with Medea and her exposed midriff.
Eyecatch: The Japanese dub has these, usually having the Monsunos focused on in a given episode.
The Hero: Chase. Definitely a gutsy one, though, as he stood in front of a moving military truck without moving, forcing it to stop an inch from him and that's just early on.
Fusion Dance: Lock/Evo, Driftblade/Blackbullet, and Backslash/Shadowhornet each fuse when Klipse's core reactor explodes in the season 1 finale.
Interestingly, all three gained the power of flight thanks to this.
Genre Savvy: Jinja. When receiving a call on their computer, she makes sure it goes to message (otherwise it could be traced). And also wanted to make sure the call was legit before doing anything else. Of course, she was right to be this cautious as it turned out to be a trap.
Charlemagne in episode 23 — when Chase splits Team Core-Tech up to distract the guards while he frees Jeredy, the entire squad was waiting for him instead.
Mix-and-Match Critters: This series seems to love this trope. Lock (polar bear, gorilla and tiger hybrid), Quickforce (antelope and raven hybrid, which resembles a hippogriff) and Charger (armadillo, bison and moose hybrid) are the tip of the iceberg so far.
Dr. Suno revealed that Monsuno are hybrids of various types of animal DNA, mixed with elemental energies. So, all Monsuno are Mix-and-Match Critters by nature.
Mons: Debatably a Deconstruction, as the series shows how dangerous a world where people can summon animals of mass-destruction as their pets would be; Monsuno are exploited by both S.T.O.R.M. and Klipse as weapons, treated violently, and the protagonists are hunted like criminals. And the case of One-Eyed Jack shows that Monsuno can and will occasionally harm and mutilate humans.
Not So Different: Dax and Jinja during the attack of the Library while they are distracting the Bookman's henchmen:
Jinja: This is your idea of distraction?
Dax: No. This is my idea of fun.
Jinja (chuckle): Mine too, actually...
Oddly Small Organization: Not counting the mercenaries (e.g., Darkspin and Dom Pyro) it employs, Eklipse seems to be made up only of Dr. Klipse and Hargrave.
Parental Abandonment: The Core-Tech kids as a whole to different extents. The majority of season one is spent trying to find Chase's dad Dr. Suno and along the way we learn that his mom may still be alive. Bren and Jinja's parents may or may not have gotten a passing mention throughout the season, but other than that, nothing. Which makes you wonder how they could up and leave them to look for Dr. Suno with Chase or if they even have any. Beyal is out right stated to be an orphan and he and Master Ey are the last of the true monks of the Library of Tebab, the rest of whom were killed by the treacherous Bookman. Dax's parents were both killed by Eklipse in an attack on his village.
Power Gives You Wings: The fused Monsunos in season 1's finale, but particularly Lock 2.0.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Jon Ace borders on this, as he sympathizes with the Monsunos, helps Chase and his friends at risk to himself, and likes to think of himself as being on the "right side". Despite this, Jon hasn't left his faction, and was forced to follow orders to fight Chase. He leaves S.T.O.R.M. in episode 11 and joins the heroes in the next episode, but is killed in episode 13...only to later find out that he was mutated into a human/Monsuno hybrid monster.
Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Played straight initially, as most Monsuno used by random villains are either reptiles or/and insect hybrids. Eventually subverted with protagonists Beyal (whose Monsuno Glowblade is a three-headed cobra/spider hybrid) and Dax (whose Monsuno Airswitch is a hawk/vulture/lizard hybrid).
Revenge: Though the details aren't clear, Mr. Droog seems to want this on the Monsunos for his race's destruction.
Dax is revealed to want Klipse taken down for good in "Kidnapped" due to the death of his parents.
Seers: Beyal, though he is still learning. Chase too often has visions, which at first Beyal liked when he was new, as it was one of the reasons Chase excepted him so readily, only to eventually grow jealous when his visions disappeared temporarily, though he does seem to get over it when they return later.
Sequel Hook: Not everything is wrapped up with season one's end. Chase may have reunited with his dad, but his mom is still unaccounted for. Jon Ace is still a monster, S.T.O.R.M. and Eklipse are still out there, and the Monsuno essence will still eventually destroy the Earth. Plus, we've only just begun getting into Mr. Droog's revenge, and Chase not activating the failsafe devices and destroying the Monsuno essence in the planet may have made him a new enemy. And Monsuno fusion!
Sixth Ranger Traitor: Subverted with Dax; he apparently betrays the group to S.T.O.R.M. for Monsuno essences... all according to a plan pulled out by Chase and him. Once they got what they wanted, he cuts contact with Charlemagne.
Jinja and Dax in "Bright". Bren lampshades the Ship Tease and possible Ship Sinking to Beyal.
The Stoic: Beyal. Even a Heroic BSOD doesn't make him display much more emotion.
Not So Stoic: His Big Damn Heroes moment in episode 23 manages to be awesome and hilarious at the same time.
Take a Third Option: During the season finale, Jeredy gives Chase the final choice of whether to activate the failsafe devices or not. If so, it will destroy all the world's Monsuno essence, but the Monsunos themselves will be gone for good. If not, the Monsuno essence deep within the earth will eventually cause the entire planet to explode. He chucks the trigger into the sea and says that they'll find another way to save the planet without destroying the Monsunos they've befriended.
Technical Pacifist: Beyal. He says that violence won't solve anything, but isn't hesitant to spin out a Monsuno with the rest of them.
Techno Wizard: Bren is this, with a dose of nervousness thrown in and a bit of occasional giddy haughtiness. His expertise is with hacking computers.
Tragic Keepsake: Sort of — Chase's dogtag belonged to his mother (who is still alive, but was assumed dead), though he never knew this until episode 22.
Tsundere: Jinja comes across as this, especially to Bren and Dax whom she shows more of her dere-dere side to later on.
True Companions: Team Core-Tech by season one's end. Chase even acknowledges themselves as such.
Unusual Euphemism: Chase and some other characters seem to like using "krag" as a general-purpose curse word.
Wham Line: Not actually a line, and it's very subtle, but when looking at the tablets of the 'Five Tribes', there are S.T.O.R.M. and Eklipse symbols on their carvings. However, these tablets are at least 20,000 years old.
The season premiere of Combat Chaos introduces a new enemy faction, the Forge Resistance, and kills off Quickforce.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: When setting up his failsafe device plan, Jeredy didn't take into account the possibility that the Monsunos on their side might not take kindly to being destroyed.
What the Hell, Hero?: Under orders from his father, Chase is forced to destroy the Well of Pure Life, the source of most Monsuno essence from 65 million years ago, to prevent S.T.O.R.M. and Eklipse from using it for evil. And though Beyal is deep in Heroic BSOD, his words to Chase certainly have this feel.
And Chase, equally weighed down by what he had to do, responds:
Chase: S.T.O.R.M. and Eklipse would have only used it to destroy us. It's better that nobody has it.
In the next episode, Chase finally lets Dax have it for hiding that he's been keeping contact with Jeredy behind their backs.
Wild Card: The Desert Wolves, in a sense. One-Eyed Jack's Japanese name is Joker, further hinting at this.
Mr. Digby Droog as well.
Worthy Opponent: By the end of Antithesis, Chase considers the S.T.O.R.M. Strike Squad this, particularly their leader Alpha. The way Alpha lets Team Core-Tech go after his defeat seems to imply the feeling is mutual between him and Chase.
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