Western Animation / Operation: Z.E.R.O.

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Zero
Explanation
Reveals
Origins

Operation: Z.E.R.O. is The Movie to the cartoon Codename: Kids Next Door.

In this movie, an old evil named Grandfather is recommissioned by his son, Father and takes control of the world. He turns everyone into Senior Citizombies and soon, the KND begins falling apart as one by one, all of its operatives turned into Senior Citizombies... including Numbuhs 2, 3, 4, 5, 362, 60, and 86...

It looks like Numbuh One is going to have to turn to a hero... a hero named Numbuh Zero...

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Operation: Z.E.R.O. provides examples of:

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Most notably, the Moon Base is cel-shaded 3D CGI (very obvious with the intro doing an Orbital Shot around it) in an otherwise 2D cartoon.
• Abusive Parents: Grandfather to his two sons. One of them rebelled, while the other sided with him out of cowardice. Though Grandfather does say that he prefers Monty.
• Adults Are Useless: For a show that usually ran on this trope, this movie provides the ultimate subversion in that Numbuh One's father, who turns out to be the fabled Numbuh Zero, ultimately ends up saving the day.
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us:
  • The opening act sees the Moonbase and the KND Museum simultaneously under attack. However, the operatives soon learn that the Moonbase was just a distraction, because the villains' actual objective is in the Museum.
  • Grandfather's slave armies take over KND bases, zombify their operatives and turn their treehouses into tapioca pudding factories. They later attack the Moonbase, the last remaining KND base.
• Almost Kiss: Numbuh Three and Numbuh Four look like they're seriously close to doing so when Numbuh Five corners them... but they get interrupted by hamsters.
• Amnesiacs are Innocent: Without his memories of being an Evil Overlord, Grandfather is just a feeble, harmless old codger that seems a bit pleasant if clueless.
• Antagonistic Offspring: Numbuh Zero is in fact the son of Grandfather...he grew tired of making tapioca for him and decided to fight back.
• Anyone Can Die: Grandfather spares no one in his senior citizombie apocalypse, as everyone, from kids to teens to adults, is transformed. And to really hammer in the trope, Numbuh Five, one of the main characters, is the first KND operative to get zombified, with the rest (save Numbuh One), eventually getting infected.
• Apologetic Attacker: Numbuh One uses the Birthday Suits from "Operation: G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S." to partially reverse the Senior Citi-zombification on his teammates so they can work together to launch the Moonbase onto Grandfather. Numbuh Two keeps kicking Numbuh One and says: "Sorry. The lower half of my body is still evil."
• Archnemesis Dad: Grandfather to his eldest son, Numbuh Zero.
• Ascended Fanboy: Numbuh One is positively giddy over working with Numbuh Zero. And doubly so after he discovers that Numbuh Zero is his dad.
• Autobots, Rock Out!: After Numbuh One finishes narrating the prologue, the opening credits sequence rolls featuring a tricked-out remix of the show's opening theme, complete with electric guitar after the logo.
• Bait-and-Switch: The zombified hamsters break into Numbuh One's room, snarling as they find their quarry gone. They then proceed to happily jump up and down on Nigel's bed.
• Balking Summoned Spirit: Father reawakens the ancient evil Grandfather in his latest plan to bring the Kids Next Door to his knees. He thanks his son for doing so... and then immediately casts him out, knowing that he's only being summoned now because the villainous adults need a Godzilla Threshold. He then takes over his whole plan and nearly takes over the world.
• Batman Gambit: Father had planned on having Nigel come to the convention center to try to stop any recommissioning to acquire his booger so the recommissioning module could be activated.
• Big Bad: Grandfather, who sets out to reclaim his dominion of the world after Father recommissions him.
• Big Damn Heroes: Sector V saves the Kids Next Door Museum and the Moon Base.
• Big Damn Movie: The scope is at an even larger scale than the series is known for. With the awakening of the Greater-Scope Villain of the series, all odds are tipped heavily against the heroes.
• Big Good: Monty Uno, Numbuh One's father, is revealed to be Numbuh Zero, the founder of the modern age of the KND Organization. After getting recommissioned, he comes up with a plan to help his son save the world from the clutches of his evil father, Grandfather.
• Big "NO!": In the Distant Prologue, Grandfather shouts this as his powers are destroyed.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Father does this when the assembled villains keep talking over him at the meeting.
• Big "WHAT?!":
  • Numbuh One when he learns Sector Z is reverting to the Delightful Children.
  • Numbuh Four when he finds out what they're going to be firing at the surface is the Moonbase itself.
• Bittersweet Ending: Grandfather is defeated and the world is saved... but the Moonbase had to be destroyed to get there, though a new, radically-changed one is built some time later. Monty's identity and actions as Numbuh Zero are revealed to the Kids Next Door, and he is hailed as a hero, but he has to decommission himself to ensure his maturity sticks and that he remains a good father, something that even Nigel had a rough time accepting. On top of that, Sector Z is still stuck as the Delightful Children with no possible permanent cure for their condition, with only Nigel so far being aware of that knowledge, and Father is still at large. For the most part, however, Nigel's bond with his Sector V teammates and Numbuh 362 is stronger than ever before and the organization is widely more united behind his sector.
• Black Dude Dies First: Numbuh Five is the first kid to get senior citizombified. Cree, the one who infected her, is also the first and only teen we see get infected.
• Bond One-Liner: "Catch."
• Book Ends: At the start of the movie, Numbuh One talks about how some kids tell a story about when the world was ruled by an evil adult — a story about a boy, a book and a tree — and states that if he finds the Book of KND some day, he'll write in it just five words: "I. Am. Kids. Next. Door." At the end, he states some kids tell a story about when the world was almost ruled again by an evil adult — a story about a boy, a book, his dad and a tree — and states that he did indeed write just five words in it: "We. Are. Kids. Next. Door."
• Both Sides Have a Point: Numbuh 362 (the current head of the KND) admits that Numbuh One was ultimately right to prioritize the KND Museum over the Moonbase and for believing in Numbuh Zero. Numbuh One admits that she was right about him putting himself before his teammates, without whom he wouldn't have been able to pull off The Plan.
• Brain Bleach:
  • The museum visitors get grossed out when they learn the statues of the Rogues Gallery are all made out of earwax.
  • Everyone else is repulsed by a zombified Numbuhs 3 and 4 making out.
• Brawler Lock: Between Grandfather and Numbuh Zero during the finale, with the latter resisting Grandfather's Rapid Aging power by force of will.
• Brought Down to Normal: Grandfather needs his memories in order to use his powers, hence the reason why Father recommissions him. As such, when Monty Uno transforms him back into a normal old man, everyone who had been transformed into a Citizombie turns back to normal.
• Bully Hunter: According to Numbuh One, he met Numbuh Four by beating up bullies that were hassling him on his first day of school.
• But Now I Must Go: Nigel's dad Monty re-erased his memories as part of the plan to destroy Grandfather. He also destroyed the Recommissioning Module beforehand to prevent his son from re-restoring them. He explains in a recorded holographic message on the module that he did so because "I am simply not a kid anymore. I'm an adult and now I must carry the greatest mission of my life...to be a good father to my son". In this case, he is not physically gone but simply took away his Numbuh Zero persona to identify this trope.
• By the Lights of Their Eyes: Wally and Kuki hiding inside a closet. Kuki's eyes are zombified.
• Cain and Abel: Numbuh Zero and Father.
• Call-Back: In the climax, upon launching the Moon Base towards Earth, Numbuh Two yells "hang onto your underwear" which is the very same phrase he used in the show's pilot episode "No P in the OOL".
• Calling the Old Man Out: Grandfather gets called out for his jerkassery near the end of the movie. Somewhat surprisingly, it's Father who calls him out, instead of Numbuh Zero.
• Captain Obvious: Numbuh One: "B-but, if you're my uncle, then that makes Grandfather my grandfather!" Lampshaded by Father:
  Father: What are you, president of the obvious club or something?
• Chekhov's Gag:
  Numbuh One: This will take perfect aim and timing, old friend. Sure you can do it?
  Numbuh Two: Nope!
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • During the tour of the Kids Next Door Museum, the Recomissioning Module is introduced as a 2x4 device created by Numbuh Zero that has been damaged beyond repair. Not only do we later learn that the Module was the true goal of the attack on the Museum but it also contained a booger from Numbuh Zero, allowing Numbuh One to track down his adult self with the KNDNA Tracker (also introduced during the tour).
  • As part of a last ditch effort to combat Grandfather, Numbuh Two attempts to modify their Age-O-Tonic Birthday Suits to resist Grandfather's Seniorcitizombification but only manages to complete one before being transformed himself. After the Seniorcitizombified Sector V is defeated, Numbuh Two stumbles into the closet filled with the Birthday Suits, with the one he finished falling onto his head.
• Chekhov's Gunman: At the beginning of the movie, one of the museum exhibits destroyed is Numbuh 101's diorama of the treehouse of the long-lost Sector Z. Later on in the movie, Numbuhs Zero and One learn that the Delightful Children from Down the Lane are Sector Z.
• Colony Drop: Sector V fires the entire Moon Base at Grandfather. He survives!
• Continuity Nod:
  • Numbuh 86 nervously explains that she had to restore the Recomissioning Module to working condition to undo the decommissioning the members of Sector V suffered from Chad's sabotage. She just decided to never tell anyone and hoped it wouldn't become a problem.
  • Underneath his dark exterior skin, Father looks exactly like his counterpart from the Negative Universe seen in "Operation P.O.O.L.", albeit with a much less gaudy color scheme.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: After Grandfather is defeated, Numbuh 362 admits to Numbuh One that he was right, and if she had just listened to him in the first place, the whole mess probably would've never happened.
• Counting to Three:
  • In the Distant Prologue, Grandfather reacts to Zero's rebellion by giving him three seconds to go to his room or else. He slowly starts counting backwards, but Zero remains firm and ultimately triggers his attack to destroy Grandfather's powers.
  • In the present, when Grandfather demands he hand over the Book of KND, the adult Zero again defies him. This time, though, Grandfather's done counting to three.
    Grandfather: You know what I did wrong last time?! I gave you a choice between going to your room or being punished. I won't give you that choice AGAIN! [lunges at him]
• Crazy Is Cool: Numbuh One's methods are noted in-universe to be mind-blowingly dangerous.
  Numbuh Five: Man, Numbuh One. I'm glad I'll never have to fight you. You're crazy.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: A result of decommissioning. See "Adults Are Useless" above
• Cuteness Proximity: Numbuh Three is more interested in finding out "who's the most huggable kitty" than fighting Crazy Old Cat Lady's feline minions.
• Dare to Be Badass: "I'll show you what the number zero can do."
• Darkest Hour: Grandfather takes full command of the world's villains and slowly dismantles the KND sector by sector. By the time Zero is found and recommissioned, Grandfather has already won and just needs to finalize his victory by destroying the Book of KND.
• Did You Actually Believe...?: After surviving without even a scratch the Moonbase crashing right into him, Grandfather scolds his son this way. Zero retorts that he actually had a different endgame in mind.
• Dirty Coward: Father, ironically, was this as a child. Instead of trying to save the world with his brother Monty a.k.a. Numbuh Zero, he sticks with Grandfather just to save his own hide. He's long since grown out of this trope, but he STILL refuses to join his brother in fighting their father. (Though this time it isn't so much out of fear as it is him being too dejected from Grandfather disowning him to even care anymore.)
• Distant Prologue: The movie starts a few decades ago with Numbuh Zero rebelling against Grandfather's oppression.
• Doomy Dooms of Doom: Kids Next Door V.A.C.D.O.O.M. (Very Airy Cannon Delivers Oscillating Oomph Massively)
• Dwindling Party: The KND gradually fall to Grandfather, sans Numbuh One who is immune to the infection due to being one of Grandfather's direct descendants.
• Enemy Mine: Numbuh One and Numbuh Zero work together with Father and the Delightful Children a.k.a. Numbuh Zero's brother and Sector Z, respectively.
• "Eureka!" Moment: The manual targeting system requires five operatives peddling on bikes all at once. Numbuh One doesn't know what to do, until he sees a birthday suit helmet on the unconscious Numbuh Two's head.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Father calls Grandfather a jerk for disowning him and not letting him take part in ruling the world.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Defied. Grandfather fully recognizes why he lost last time and isn't going to stop after everyone's been turned into a Senior Citizombie. He knows that even as powerful as he is now, the Book of KND can still inspire hope in others to overthrow him again, and devotes his forces to making sure the Book of KND is destroyed.
  Grandfather: When my son discovered that book, he became filled with the kind of hope that only snot-nosed kids are stupid enough to believe in. That is why this time, I shall personally destroy every trace of the Book of KND! And anyone that stands in my way!
• Eviler than Thou: Grandfather turns all the villains into his elderly undead slaves very quickly, which lets you know that things are really bad now that he's back in town.
• Evil Is Hammy: Grandfather is even hammier than Father!
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Almost immediately after being recommissioned, Grandfather harshly dismisses his son with no true signs of thanks for reawakening him, pointing out that the only reason he needed to be brought back is because Father and the other villains weren't able to stop the KND themselves.
• Evil Laugh: The first thing Grandfather does after being recommissioned is give a maniacal cackle.
• Evil Old Folks: Grandfather, and anyone he turns into Senior Citizombies. Subverted by Grandfather in his De Powered state; he doesn't have his dark powers or remember being an evil dictator.
• Evil Overlord: Grandfather is an archetypal one.
• Evil vs. Evil: Grandfather makes it clear to Father that he never stated or intended to share control of world domination with the latter. Father at first challenges him to a fight, but chickens out (when he clearly was frightening Grandfather) and lets his brother Monty handle it himself yet again.
• Exactly What I Aimed At: Sector V drops the entire KND moonbase upon Grandfather. He survives, and gloats to Monty that it didn't crush him at all. Monty retorts that the plan was not to crush him to death, but to bring the Decommissioning Chamber (planted in the Moonbase).
• Exact Words: Nigel expresses confusion when Monty tells him to "say uncle" after tearing off Father's silhouette suit, retorting how they haven't lost until Father drops the bomb that he's been his Evil Uncle this entire time.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: When Grandfather announces he'll zombify not only children, but anyone who has ever been a child, the villains continue cheering and applauding. But after a moment, they realize what he really means when he says that...
  Knightbrace: Genius! Sheer...Wait a second. I used to be a kid!
  Mr. Boss: Me too!
  Chester: We've been double-crossed!
  Grandfather: How observant...
• Eye Beams: Grandfather uses fiery eye beams on Father.
• Facepalm:
  • Crazy Old Cat Lady, because instead of running from her, Numbuh Three decided to Cuddle Bug all her cats.
  • Numbuh 362 and 86 have a few too.
  • And a double-facepalm for Nigel.
• "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner: Grandfather gives one to Numbuh Zero just before the Decommissioning Chamber erases both their memories.
  Grandfather: You're out of my will, you brat!
• Fanboy:
  • Numbuh 101 is this for Sector V. He geeks out at being saved by the team, has various items that belonged to the members of Sector V from past episodes and even has all their autographs!^*But not in red.
  • Numbuh One is this to Numbuh Zero, as he clearly states to Numbuh 362 in an inspirational speech about how important Numbuh Zero is not only to the KND's history but to himself as well. He also squees at the realization that Numbuh Zero is his dad, and tears up at not seeing his hero again after Numbuh Zero gets himself decommissioned and destroys the recommissioning module, delivering his message why he chose to do so.
• Fighting Your Friend: Numbuh One is forced to fight the rest of Sector V because they've all been turned into Senior Citizombies. Naturally, he doesn't give it his all and quickly finds himself on the losing end, until Sector Z came to help.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing:
  • While in a dark closet with Numbuh Four, Numbuh Three suddenly has a raspier voice. This is an indicator that she's been turned, before Zombie Numbuh Five opens the door and the lights spill in.
  • The secret escape rooms in Numbuh One's bedroom, from the hatch to the slide, and finally the secret room, looks suspiciously familiar. It's the same one that Numbuh Zero discovered during the Distant Prologue.
  • Zero refers to the Delightful Children as Father's "so-called children" right before they're revealed to be Sector Z.
• Foreshadowing:
  • What comes before the number 1?
  • Also, Numbuh Five says to Numbuh One that she's glad she'll never have to fight him, since he's crazy. Sure enough, he does end up fighting her, along with the rest of his zombified team.
• Forgot About His Powers: The KND are equipped with vehicles that allow them to fly into space including their Moon Base. When the Senior Citizombies come for them, the first KND Treehouse base chooses to counterattack, failing to realize just how vastly outnumbered they are and retreat before it's too late.
• Freudian Excuse:
  • Father's got a damn good one. It seems that being raised by a horrendous asshole who enslaves every child in the world and turns people into zombies doesn't exactly inspire you to be a good person, hence his transformation into The Dragon of the adults.
  • The reveal that Zero is Monty highlights how, for all his bumbling and embarrassing behavior, he is genuinely trying to be a better father than the one that used him and his brother as slave labor. He believes it so much that he willingly goes back to being decommissioned.
• From Nobody to Nightmare:
  • Before Father revived him with the Recommissioning Module, Grandfather was just a senile old man who had no clue what's going on and had to be supervised so that he doesn't walk out of the Villains Convention.
  • Following his zombified transformation from Grandfather, Toilenator is upgraded from a whiny villain wannabe to a solid and competent supervillain.
• Funny Background Event: When Father was explaining his plan to Numbuh One, you can see Grandfather (not yet recommissioned) trying to walk off stage, only to be stopped by the open palm of someone off-screen. Twice.
• Generation Xerox: The Hero is a british person with glasses who fights a Humanoid Abomination who likes Playing with Fire. Are we talking about Numbuh One or Numbuh Zero?
• Gone Horribly Right: Father's delightfulization of Sector Z, even almost saying the trope name word-for-word. He brags about them being "delightful" even in spite of the fact that they just shoved him.
• Godzilla Threshold: Numbuh Zero isn't too surprised at being recommissioned and is ready to go back into action, and knew that Numbuh One would have only done so if the situation was so dire.
• Go to Your Room!: Grandfather said this to Numbuh Zero word for word, followed by a healthy dosage of "Or else!"
• Growing Up Sucks: Zero's goodbye message acknowledges the ups and downs of growing up. He acknowledges how going on more missions would be the more fun option, but he sadly notes that no longer being a kid means he just can't do that sort of thing anymore. He says that being a good father to Nigel is what he has to focus on and proudly considers it to be the most important thing he will ever do.
• Heartbreak and Ice Cream: Father sits in his mansion and binges on rocky road ice cream after being disowned by his own father and also because his father loudly announced he'll never share world domination with him.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam:
  • Father tries to redeem himself by joining forces with brother and nephew to defeat Grandfather. Unfortunately, this does not last as he immediately chickened out again.
  • Also, the Delightful Children From Down The Lane were relieved from their delightfulization and recommissioned as the missing operatives of Sector Z. Unfortunately, they forcibly revert back into their delightfulized selves due to the delightfulization being permanent.
• The Hero Dies: Even Numbuh 362 falls victims to the Senior Citizombies. Averted with Numbuh One who is the only KND agent that never becomes a senior citizombie.
• Heroic BSoD: Numbuh One has this in the middle of the movie for a while.
• Heroic Build: Once recommisioned, it kinda looked like Numbuh Zero's portly belly shifted to his upper chest area, giving him a more imposing stature.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Numbuh Five fought off an age-ified Cree to give her teammates time to escape, but ended up being infected by her in the process.
• Heroic Willpower: Numbuh Zero is able to resist Grandfather's senior Citi-zombification for a very long time, to the villain's shock. When questioned how he is able to, his defiant son reveals that he has the Book of KND, apparently giving him the strength to do so.
• Hero-Worshipper: An interesting case where the worshipper is The Hero, and the one being worshiped is a past legendary hero, Numbuh Zero. Further irony that the past hero was The Hero's Bumbling Dad all along.
• Hidden Badass: Monty Uno, who is Numbuh Zero, despite how he seems like a clueless, gullible Bumbling Dad for the most part.
• Hollywood Darkness: Grandfather converts KND treehouses into tapioca factories that emit smog thick enough to wrap the entire Earth in a blanket of blackish-green air pollutants. And yes, this is to go with the flow of the movie being Darker and Edgier than a standard-length episode of the show. Aside from their new elderly ages from Senior-Citizombification, it could also be the heavy smog that's making the zombies cough.
• Hope Crusher: Because it was hope that led Numbuh Zero to overthrow Grandfather, he intends to destroy, "anyone's hope of ever being a child again."
• Hope Springs Eternal: Grandfather knows kids with hope can still defeat him, which is why he sets out to find the Book of KND and destroy it.
• How Is That Even Possible?: Grandfather lampshades this by asking his son Monty how he can hold on for so long while the two are locked in combat as Monty's arms start to turn a grayish green. Monty explains the Book of KND in his back pocket is what is keeping him from being fully turned into a senior citi zombie.
• Humanoid Abomination: Grandfather. A reality-bending, indestructible, zombifying, pyrokinetic silhouette-man.
• I Ate WHAT?!: Numbuh Two, who usually has no problem with Gramma Stuffum's disgusting cooking, is grossed out to find out that her Chef's Surprise is refried platypus intestines.
  Numbuh Two: PLATYPUS?!
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Numbuh One fights off the age-ified Sector V, with little luck trying to remind them of why they are all his best friends (except for Kuki, whom he can't think of a reminder for).
• I Will Show You X!: In the prologue, after Benedict tells Monty they have zero chances of winning against their father and leaves, turning down being a Kids Next Door operation, Monty declares that he will show him what the number Zero can do.
  Numbuh Zero: So that's it? You think there's no hope? You think I have zero chance?! Well, I'll show you what the number zero can do!
• Impact Silhouette: Tommy crashing through a wall, propelled by a burst of hamsters.
• Informed Ability: In the beginning, Numbuh One says he knows a fighting technique that he can use to defeat four enemies at once which he's "always wanted to try." This becomes sort of a Brick Joke; at the climax of the special, he's attacked by his Brainwashed teammates and mentions it again, but says he did not want to try it on them. He never actually gets a chance to try it, so we can only assume this is true.
• In the Blood: Numbuh Zero's resistance to his father's powers directly stems from being his kid. Numbuh Zero's own son enjoys similar resistance. According to WoG this renders them immune to mundane Senior-Citizombies. Though then again, both Numbuh One and Zero successfully avoided being touched by a Senior-Citizombie directly by hand, minus the punch that zombified Numbuh Two inflicted on One.
• Invincible Villain: Grandfather. It's more or less a given that attacking him head on is pointless because he's so powerful (including how even touching him warrants an infection) and the heroes resort to finding the last person who took him down instead of creating a plan themselves. He chides the heroes for thinking that crashing the Moon Base, something he outright admits is at least a several million ton impact, would leave a single scratch on him. They're forced to decommission Grandfather to finally stop him (though it's implied Father could have legitimately beaten him in a one-on-one if he actually followed through on his Rage Breaking Point rather than give up before throwing a punch).
• It Has Been an Honor: Zero concludes his goodbye message with a salute. As it cuts out, a teary-eyed Numbuh One does the same.
• It's Quiet… Too Quiet: Parodied...
  Numbuh Four: It's quiet in here...
  Numbuh Three: Yeah... three quiet.
  Numbuh Four: Three quiet? What the crud is that supposed to mean?
  Numbuh Three: It's one more than "two quiet"!
• It Was with You All Along: Numbuh One goes on a journey to find who is Numbuh Zero (having to be an adult now). Turns out his dad is Zero.
• Jumped at the Call: In the Distant Prologue, Zero immediately thinks about how he can use the Book of KND and the available tech to make the world a better place for kids everywhere.
• Karma Houdini: Father remains free of any repercussions for triggering Grandfather's resurrection. Though then again his mansion was demolished by the Moonbase collision, leaving him homeless.
• Kiss of Death: It's not so much a kiss than a love bite that turns Numbuh Four into a senior citizombie.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: The Decommissioning Chamber from previous episodes makes an appearance again as the KND's secret weapon to defeat Grandfather by decommissioning him.
• Legion of Doom: Father (and later Grandfather) gathered an army of villains to destroy the Kids Next Door.
• Little "No": Numbuh One when the Recommissioning Module falls apart in his hands.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: The good news is Numbuh One finds out the legendary Numbuh Zero is his father! The bad news is he also learns that his Arch-Enemy Father is his Evil Uncle! He's just as horrified by the second discovery as he is excited by the first. Both of these also logically mean that Grandfather is literally Numbuh One's grandfather, the obviousness of which Father lampshades. And to a more understated extent, the latter reveal also means that the Delightful Children from Down the Lane are his (adopted) cousins.
• MacGuffin:
  • The Book of KND, left behind by the previous incarnation of the KND in a secret chamber inside an old tree. It contains plans for 2x4 technology, battle plans, instructions on how to build treehouse bases and contains spaces for every operative to write down their adventures. Finding it allowed Numbuh Zero to start a revolution against Grandfather and bring an end to The Dark Times. After being rewakawened by Father, Grandfather recognizes this and refuses to accept victory until the book has been destroyed.
  • The Recommissioning Module is also this to a lesser extent. It is used by the heroes and villains alike to bring back the Greater-Scope Paragon and Greater-Scope Villain respectively.
• Made-for-TV Movie: The movie was made for TV before DVD.
• Manly Tears: Numbuh One tears up while watching Zero's goodbye message.
• Meaningful Echo: "I am Kids Next Door/We are Kids Next Door." Doubles as Book Ends.
• Meaningful Name: Numbuh Zero's brother being named Benedict, obviously alluding to Benedict Arnold and also foreshadowing the revelation that he's also Father.
• Mirthless Laughter: Numbuh 86's response to Numbuh 101 questioning why the villains bothered stealing the supposedly broken Recommissioning Module.
• Misanthrope Supreme: Not only does Grandfather want to zombify and enslave all children, but also everybody who has ever been a child at any point in their life—meaning, everyone on Earth.
• Motive Misidentification:
  • At first, it was believed that the villains stole the Recommissioning Module to restore the memories of decomissioned adult operatives. Turns out that Father actually planned to use it on Grandfather, which would reawaken his evil personality and restore his powers.
  • After the entire Moon Base crashes right on top of Grandfather, he effortlessly climbs out of the wreckage, completely unscathed and unimpressed by what he thinks was a plan to crush him.
  Grandfather: Did you really think a mere seventy gazillion tons of red hot metal and duct tape would crush me?!
  Numbuh Zero: Wasn't trying to crush you, pappy...I just wanted to see what would happen when you put an adult into a decommissioning chamber.
• Motive Rant: A hapless senior on the stage doesn't inspire any confidence from the other villains, so Father does this to explain why he's going to use the Recommissioning Module on him.
  Father: This man... this hunchified, liver-spotted creature with hair growing out of his ears was once the supreme power in the world, until he was defeated by a misguided boy and his stupid book! A boy who wiped Grandfather's memories clean and evaporated his powers before my eyes! But now, I — his son — will restore his evil abilities and together, we shall return the world's snotty brats to their rightful place!
• The Movie: Of the KND cartoon.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Numbuh One gets this when he realizes that by going to the convention center to try to stop the villains, he had given them the key to their victory.
• My Hero, Zero: Numbuh Zero was the biggest KND hero of them all. In fact, he still is.
• Near-Villain Victory: Grandfather comes extremely close to achieving ultimate victory as by the time Numbuh Zero and One finally form a counterattack, they, Father and the Delightful Children are the only people on the planet not turned into Senior Citizombies. And it takes a lot of lucky breaks and willpower for them to turn things around.
• Negated Moment of Awesome:
  • Numbuh One boasts that he has a super cool new move that can take down four enemies at once. Unfortunately, the first time he tries to use it, the villain had just succeeded with their goal and called a retreat before he could even attack one of the four guys around him. Then he thinks to use the move a second time later in the movie, but because it's against his zombified team, he hesitates and ends up defending the whole fight until Sector Z comes to help.
  • There's also Father's little burst of raw anger against Grandfather (during which even he seemed to be cowering in fear), but then decides Screw This, I'm Outta Here when he gets too depressed to fight. This could really be seen as Trope Codifier.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: It was because of Numbuh One's rash decision to stop the villains' convention that Father managed to recommission Grandfather. After Father harshly thanks him for it, he got a Heroic BSoD long after Grandfather's reign reignites.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Grandfather. They crash the Moon Base on him and he dusts it off like it was nothing! (To be fair, the KND didn't expect it to hurt him; it was part of a plot to make him lose his memories, which did work.
• Nightmarish Factory: Grandfather has his child slaves, and later on his Senior Citizombies, working in factories cooking tapioca pudding.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: The Senior Citizombies, which are not only zombies by nature, but are age-ified into elderly people.
• Nobody Here but Us Statues: The Villains masquerade as their own (ear)wax statues in the KND museum.
• No Ontological Inertia: Everything goes back to normal after Grandfather is decommissioned.
• Offhand Backhand: David (Numbuh 0.2) of Sector Z to Citizombie Numbuh Two.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • The villains have this as a collective reaction when Grandfather declares he was going to age-ify everyone who's ever been a kid. They first cheer, but then they all realize they used to be a child, and the cheering halts.
  • Numbuh Four gets an epic one when he discovers that Numbuh Three is now a senior citizombie and by extension realizes what's going to happen when she kisses him.
  • Grandfather himself during the climax, even if he still survives.
    Grandfather: [after grabbing the Book of K.N.D from Numbuh Zero] Yes! My victory is complete! With the destruction of the book, I can RULE THE EARTH UNCHALLENGED! And nothing can ever stop me EVER AGAIN!!! NOT EVEN...[looks up and in a meek voice]...a gi-hugic flaming moon base?!
  • Beforehand he had another one seeing Father finally reaching his breaking point (before he decides to give up). Notable for implying he was actually afraid of Father's raw power.
• Oh, No... Not Again!: This is basically Grandfather's expression when Monty tells him he's standing in a Decomissioning Chamber.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The Delightful Children hate Numbuh One so much that they outright defy Father's orders that they work together and disobey him to his face.
• Our Zombies Are Different: The Senior Citizombies. They're always old no matter how old they actually were before they're transformed, but they're still very capable fighters and are able to age-ify others through mere touch. They also retain their basic memories and personalities (which partially explains the Romance Ensues moment between Numbuh Three and Numbuh Four), although they are totally subservient to Grandfather.
• Parental Favoritism: Ironically, Grandfather always favored his oldest son, the one who defied him and disappointed him by refusing to use his skills for evil (and instead overthrew his evil empire). Father is just as evil as he is but has still always been The Unfavorite for being a constant failure. Even after being recommissioned by the latter, Grandfather still says he prefers the former despite destroying his powers, mostly because Numbuh Zero actually had the guts to stand up from him.
• Pet the Dog: Father sincerely congratulates the assorted villains for their actions during the big assault.
• Playing with Fire: Father, of course. Apparently he got it from his dad.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Father supports the Enemy Mine on the grounds that Grandfather winning means he'll have and be nothing.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner:
  • "Zero!" (Numbuh Zero to Grandfather, once Grandfather gives him three seconds to go to his room or to be punished)
  • "Special delivery from Numbuh One, you salty old pirate!" (Numbuh One to Stickybeard)
  • "I'm going to throw Numbuh 60 a retirement party." (Numbuh 362 to Numbuh 60, once he becomes a senior citizombie)
  • "This is going to be...delightful." (Sector Z, with the line specifically coming from Numbuh 0.3 taking on the zombified Sector V)
  • "Next stop: way down the lane!" (Numbuh One to the Delightfuls)
• Pun: "And it looks like I couldn't have picked a better operative." Said by Father as he...collects Numbuh One's genetic material.
• Pungeon Master: Numbuh Two, as always. Numbuh Three and Numbuh 86 do it as well.
• Rage Breaking Point: Father, after being attacked by Pappy/GrandFather, his own father, he gets so pissed that he nearly incinerates his brother Monty Uno/Numbuh Zero in his literal flames of fury. He then lets his flame die and walks away to binge on ice cream leaving his brother to fight their father. Some help he is.
• Raising the Steaks: The KND's hamsters are turned into Citizombies as well.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: Numbuh 362 manages to hold off an age-ified Numbuh 60 all on her own before finally being age-ified herself.
• Rapid Aging: Grandfather's primary ability is to age everything he touches, though not only does he age them rapidly, he turns them into his "Senior Citizombie" minions, who in turn gain the ability to do it to others.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: As he takes Numbuh One's booger to activate the Recommissioning Device, Father gives him a very short but highly effective form of this trope that completely demolishes his self-confidence and leaves him curled up on the floor.
• Regained Memories Sequence: Numbuh One decides to try to recommission his father after discovering a hidden room in his treehouse. It works and while Monty regains his memories of being a member of "Kids Next Door", rapid-fire images of various places, events and items associated with the organization flash in his eyes.
• Retcon: This story is completely contradictory to Numbuh One's story in "Operation A.R.C.H.I.V.E." (although Father does look like Mr. Wigglestein without the shadow covering him here), so we can assume this retcons the previous one. However, it's rather vague on just how accurate Numbuh One's story was in that episode, so it's less changing established history and more correcting what was presented via an Unreliable Expositor.
• The Reveal: Hooo boy, we got a triple reveal over here. This is gonna be a doozy, so hold on!
  • First, there's the identity of Numbuh Zero, who turns out to be none other than Numbuh One's Bumbling Dad, Monty Uno!
  • Second, it turns out that Father is actually Monty Uno's brother Benedict, the one who refused to fight Grandfather years ago. Making him Numbuh One's biological uncle, and Grandfather his grandfather!
  • And lastly, there's the fact that The Delightful Children are actually the legendary Sector Z! Numbuh One has a temporary freak out due to this:
    Numbuh One: The Delightful Children from Down the Lane are the missing Kids Next Door members of Sector Z! Dad, the Delightful Children from Down the Lane are the missing Kids Next Door members of Sector Z!
  • Keep in mind that all of these reveals happen within ten minutes of each other!
• Rhetorical Question Blunder: Father asking the villains what could be more evil than him leads to a bunch of silly suggestions for someone who could be scarier by the assembled villains.
  Father: First of all, that was a rhetorical question...
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Father becomes even scarier when he's mad, with his fire powers becoming more powerful than ever before and seemed like it was about to match Grandfather's. Subverted, he doesn't even do anything after shouting and simply goes back to his house to eat some ice cream.
• Sarcasm-Blind: Tommy replies to Numbuh Four's insult by saying "Ha ha, that was so funny, I forgot to laugh." Numbuh Three proceeds to ask why he doesn't laugh now, seeing as he forgot and all. They both give her a bemused look.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • Sector V decides to blow it from the museum before Numbuh 101 can ask for their autographs.
  • Chad when all the other villains are being zombified.
    Chad: They're getting all wrinklified and stuff! I'm out of here!
  • Grandfather believes that Father is doing this when he notices a rocket leaving his estate once he goes hunting for the Book Of KND. In reality, it's just Nigel blasting off to the moon base.
  • Father decides to go back to his mansion and binge on rocky road ice cream rather than get involved in the conflict between his brother and his father. He might actually be stronger than Grandfather, but a lack of self-esteem means he just doesn't care anymore.
• Security Cling: After Numbuh Three and Numbuh Four activate Numbuh Two's defense system, they just hang onto each other for a moment, catching their breath.
• Series Continuity Error: The Delightful Children from Down the Lane are revealed to be the missing K.N.D. members of Sector Z. While an interesting twist, it causes an inconsistency in the series because back in "Operation: G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S.", the Delightful Children are not affected by Father's animal transformation ray because it only works on KND members; it only worked on them when Tommy took some of their DNA and placed it in the code module. So if they are missing KND members, shouldn't they have been turned into animals when the ray hit them?
• Shaped Like Itself: This dialogue in the prologue.
  Numbuh Zero: And all [Grandfather] does is sneer, like he's the Evil King of the World or something.
  Ben: He is the Evil King of the World.
• Ship Tease: Sonia and Lee hold hands while exploring the museum.
• Shout-Out:
  • The zombified Toiletnator swings around using toilet paper, and lowers himself upside-down in a posture typical of Spider-Man.
  • One of the villains at the convention center looks like a human version of the titular character of Sheep in the Big City, which Curious Pictures also did for Cartoon Network.^note That show's creator, Mo Willems, also worked on KND and Sheep made a few cameos — once as one of Numbuh Three's stuffed animals in "Operation: T.H.E.-F.L.Y.", and Bruce, the leader of the DCFDTL looked a lot like Sheep when affected by the animal energy field in "Operation: G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S.").
• Shrouded in Myth: Numbuh Zero is known as a great hero that heralded the current age of the KND and saved the entire world, but most operatives just consider him a made-up story and nothing more. Unsurprisingly, he's very real and lives up to the hype. However, he reminds Numbuh One that, despite what the story says, he didn't save the world singlehandedly and humbly says he was only ever as good as the team that stood with him.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!:
  Grandfather: Even you, my son, are zero compared to me.
  Zero: That may be, but my son is Numbuh One!
• Silence, You Fool!: Grandfather, after the other villains make increasingly inane guesses in response to him saying there's only one thing more powerful that he is.
• Something Only They Would Say: Numbuh One realizes that he has in fact recommissioned Numbuh Zero (who was his father the entire time) when he mentions wanting blurpleberry ice cream and that it's similar to the fourth flavor.
• Squee: Numbuh One goes into complete fanboy mode when he finds out that Numbuh Zero is his own father.
• Squick: In-universe examples:
  • The tour group at the museum are grossed out when they find out that the wax sculptures are made by the local operative and wax artisan's earwax.
  • When Numbuh Two (with Numbuh 362 and Numbuh 86 behind him) contacts Numbuh Three and Numbuh Four, he is greeted with the two of them age-ified and holding hands, declaring they've found each other before kissing on-screen! All three of them are horrified by this, and Numbuh 362 immediately orders to end transmission. Which they do. By shooting the computer screen.
• Taking You with Me: In order to stop Grandfather, Monty allows his memories to be erased alongside Grandfather's, along with breaking the recommissioning module so it can't be abused by anyone else.
• Tempting Fate: Numbuh Three wishes Numbuh Five was in Sector V's treehouse when she and Numbuh Four were there. She shows up the next second as a Senior Citizombie
• This Cannot Be!: Played for laughs when Numbuh One uses the KNDNA Tracker to search for Numbuh Zero and arrives at a door.
  Numbuh One: Wait a minute... This is my house!
• Throat Light: All the characters turned into Senior Citizombies have streams of light pouring out of their eyes, mouths, and other parts of their bodies during the transformation.
• Thrown Out the Airlock: How Numbuh One gets rid of the Delightful Children from Down the Lane - he kicks them into a pod and fires them out of the KND Moonbase, and they're last seen screaming as they're hurled into space.
• Time Skip: The final scene picks up one month after the world is saved, with a new Moonbase fully operational and the KND back to full strength.
• Title Drop: Though the phrase "Numbuh Zero" is thrown around quite a lot, there are two instances where a character exclaims "Zero!" can count:
  Grandfather: I'm giving you three seconds to go to your room, or else! Three...Two...One...
  Numbuh Zero: Zero!
  [and...]
  Grandfather: Even you, my son, are zero compared to me.
• Too Dumb to Live: Despite seeing Grandfather harshly dismiss a loyal son who did so much to bring him back, it never occurs to the other villains that he'd have even less regard for those who aren't blood relations. After Grandfather announces his intention to zombify anyone who was ever a child, it takes an Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap! moment for them to realize that not only won't they be spared this, but that they'll be the first ones to be transformed. Grandfather takes a moment to mock them belatedly realizing it before getting the ball rolling.
• Trash the Set: In defeating Grandather, the KND Moonbase is destroyed. A new one is built in its place, complete with a commemorative statue to Numbuh Zero.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Zigzagged. Grandfather does thank Father for recommissioning him and restoring him to his evil self...before harshly berating him and ordering him to leave, knowing that Father only brought him back in the first place because he was unable to defeat the Kids Next Door by himself.
• Unstoppable Rage: Father after being blown off by Grandfather one time too many.
  Father: You...big...JEEEEEEEEERK!
• [Verb] This!: This exchange occurs between Numbuh Zero and the Delightful Children from Down the Lane:
  Delightful Children from Down the Lane: [pushing Father aside after refusing to help] Right after we blast these K.N.Doofuses!!!! ...Huh?
  Numbuh Zero: Blast this! [blasts the delightfuls with the Recommissioning Module]
• Vertigo Effect: Numbuh One gets one focused on him when it's revealed to him, to his horror, that Father is his uncle, and that by extension, Grandfather is his grandfather.
• Victory-Guided Amnesia: Monty Uno (a.k.a. Numbuh Zero) defeats the villain by using a device created to erase the memories of decommissioned KND operatives.
• Villainous Breakdown: The Delightful Children from Down the Lane unleash a brutal attack on Numbuh One after they've re-Delightfulized, willfully ignoring the Zombie Apocalypse and crashing Moon Base around them just to rip him a new one.
• Villain Team-Up: Many of the KND villains assemble to attack the Museum and the Moon Base.
• The Virus: Anyone Grandfather or a Senior Citizombie touches becomes a Citizombie themselves. A secondary ability is the morphing of inanimate objects into vintage ones, such as zombie Numbuh Five morphing Numbuh Four's G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. into an old gumball machine.
• Weaksauce Weakness:
  • Stickybeard and his pirates fear salt. During the battle at the Moonbase, Numbuh 1 defeats the entire pirate army by shooting a ton of pretzels into the cannon on Stickybeard's ship, which blows up and covers all of them in salt. Stickybeard orders a full retreat while he and the pirates complain they are now salty instead of sweet.
  • Grandfather is so evil that the one thing he fears is hope, which the book of KND represents. When Monty finally confronts him at the climax, the book is able to protect him from Grandfather's powers.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Father, ironically.
• We Need a Distraction: Numbuh Zero's main plan is to keep Grandfather occupied while Numbuh One infiltrates the Moonbase and set it for a collision course right on top of Grandfather. To do so he actually has to grapple with Grandfather for a bit while the latter tries to turn him into a Citizombie. Considering Numbuh One ran into trouble with his zombified teammates before he could enact the plan, that speaks volumes of his willpower. Even Grandfather is surprised he's able to resist his power for so long.
• Wham Line:
  • Grandfather's plan has one added caveat that leaves even the other villains shocked:
    Grandfather: And to ensure my total tranquility, I shall ageify everyone who has ever been a kid!
  • A whole minute of lines by virtue of Father:
    Father: [to Numbuh One] I'm your dad's brother, Benedict. Your Uncle!
    Numbuh One: M-M-M-M-My… my… my Uncle?!
    Father: Yeah, yeah. You know, the one who wouldn't join him after he found the Book of KND, blah, blah, blah.
    Numbuh One: But if you're my uncle, then that makes Grandfather my grandfather!
    Father: What are you? President of the obvious club or something?
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • We never find out whether or not if Chad was zombified like almost all the other characters, though it was implied that it happened to him eventually.
  • Also Numbuh 101 — he's last seen at the Convention Centre speaking through a can to sound like a voice in Numbuh One's head as well as to finally get his autograph. (In red. He doesn't.) Though it is worth noting that a citizombie that looks an awful lot like him can be seen in the background during one of the Moonbase scenes.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Numbuh One gets chewed out by Numbuh 362 for prioritizing saving the Museum over saving the Moonbase, claiming the former was just a diversion. She later apologizes and admits he had the right idea ("If you'd listened to me we'd all be making tapioca right now."), to which Numbuh One replies that she had a point in that he was ultimately prioritizing himself over his team.
• When Elders Attack: The Senior Citizombies fit this combined with Zombie Apocalypse.
• Why Couldn't You Be Different?: When confronting Zero as an adult, Grandfather expresses disappointment over how his favorite son was such a do-gooder and asks why he couldn't have been evil or at the very least unpleasant.
• World-Healing Wave: When Grandfather is defeated, his influence on the whole Earth is erased, returning the KND trees changed into factories to their original state.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Numbuh One's initial reaction to discovering that because no-one else is in the house, his own Bumbling Dad must be Numbuh Zero. Heck, he doesn't even fully believe it until he actually recommissions him, after which he proceeds to geek out big time.
• Zerg Rush:
  • The Senior Citizombies swarming over the KND trees. Apparently becoming a citizombie grants some measure of Grandfather's own Nigh-Invulnerability.
  • Also the zombified hamsters in the Uno house.
• Zombie Apocalypse: Grandfather's plan to Take Over the World is to turn every kid and everyone who's ever been a kid (i.e. everyone in the world) into Senior Citizombies and force them to work in tapioca factories. He very nearly succeeds.

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