Accidental Innuendo: "The only tongue I want in my mouth is my own tongue!"note Jack Spicer after one of his bots serves him animal tongue.
In the sixth episode when Clay mentions a hoedown, Omi says "What is a hoedown? A showdown with hoes? Count me in!" Presumably he was talking about gardening tools.
In episode 5 Omi describes an excellent "hoe technique." This time he does quickly bring a hoe onscreen, though.
Alternate Character Interpretation: Good Jack's alternative lifestyle portraying himself as a savior figure, in addition to his crazier actions during the showdown can allow one to see him as a cult leader. He honestly believes in his actions for improving people and signs on with Wuya, who he knows as evil, to spread his lifestyle to any and all, making him seem more of a Well-Intentioned Extremist than a full on good-guy.
Ass Pull: In the series’ finale, Omi is revealed to have the purest element out of the monks, which enables him to awaken Tai Shui, the Cosmic Dragon who can defeat Chase Young at this point. The problem? This revelation comes with no foreshadowing whatsoever, and is a jarring shift from the narrative that had been building up Kimiko as the hero instead.
Furthermore, Moontana (who has been Kimiko’s spiritual guide throughout the finale) states that if Omi had bonded with a dragon first, Chase’s defeat would’ve been assured. This effectively pulls the rug underneath Kimiko, and renders her plotline of being the first dragon rider pointless. It also leads to…
A contradiction with the dragon riders plot: it states that dragons choose riders who are worthy (which played a factor into Chase’s turn to evil) and while Kimiko is deemed worthy, Omi is not. That makes the whole ending contrived for the sake of presenting him as the hero. Considering how selfish and rude he's acted throughout the series, it's a title Omi hasn't earned.
Awesome Music: Jack Spicer's theme. If ever there was a tune that embodied mechanized evil, this is it.
Shadow is seen as a competent partner to Chase and an interesting new villain. She also seen as being too competent and her plan in the series’ pilot too similar to Dyris from the original series. There’s also the fact that she and Chase constantly flirt, even after the reveal she’s his daughter (in a sense).note Chase created her out of spawn of his rib. Thus making them father and daughter in context.
Ping Pong is derided for looking exactly like Omi, having a high-pitched voice and speaking mishmash languages, and praised for being incredibly talented by the other characters. However, he is a genuinely nice person who wants nothing more than to be a great Xiaolin Warrior like his role model Omi.
Omi was already a base-breaker from the original series. But amplifying his negativetraits and the writers’ preference for him made his status even more divisive. Not helping the matter are his actions in the series’ finale, which also doubles an Ass Pull.
Contested Sequel: General consensus is that the original is far superior in characterization, pacing, and writing; the debate is whether or not Xiaolin Chronicles is decent in its own right.
In Tokyo Madness, Jack manages to snatch the episode’s Shen Gong Wu and outmaneuver Omi all the while on a pair of ice skates and wearing a gaudy costume to boot.
Tomoko is introduced as an interdimensional spy with a purple pterodactyl as her partner and single-handedly taking down a UFO.
La Mime attained a similar response and it helps that unlike his original counterpart, he is actively more dangerous and could trump the monks without much problem.
Fanon Discontinuity: There are some fans who usually like to pretend this series doesn't exist, largely due to such big changes in the series continuity that seem to come out of nowhere, not liking the animation or voice changes, character personalities not matching with what they were initially or the fact that it doesn't properly continue where Showdown left off. The fact that it was eventually declared an Alternate Continuity didn't help matters.
Genius Bonus: Jack Spicer states that using a kill command won't work after he hacks the virtual world Kimiko's father made, stating that "it's a zombie". While seeming like a strange remark, "zombie" is an actual computing term for a state that can cause a process to not respond to kill signals.
Dojo and Master Fung. While in the original series there was subtext, in Chronicles however, it’s blatant, to the point where Dojo calls Rocco a temple-wrecker when seeing him with Master Fung.
Jack Spicer and Chase Young, carrying over from the original series. The first time Jack meets Chase again in Chronicles he compliments Chase’s muscles and in a later episode, compliments his soft skin.
Les Yay: Shadow and Kimiko Tohomiko. There’s even a point where Shadow promises Kimiko that she and her will have ‘a special relationship’ someday.note Though in context, Kimiko had been brainwashed and turned into one of Chase's jungle cats.
The Scrappy: Dojo gained a bit of detestation mostly due to the exaggeration of his relationship with Master Fung, particularly his lamenting of being separated from him. While in the original series he could at least pull himself together afterwards, here he shuts down altogether, usually at the worst time for the monks. There’s also the copious amount of gross-out humor and gags he’s subjected to.
Ship-to-Ship Combat: Chack shippers verses Chase/Shadow shippers. The revelation about Willow's past meant that the Chack shippers could easily find as much Squick in Chase/Shadow as was being hurled at them, too, so it's gotten worse.
There is a lot of vomit; at least two characters are shown to be vomit on (the latter twice in the same scene) and Dojo is shown eating his own in one episode. The worst part is that he states it tastes better going down the second time.
Shadow is a lot more animalistic than Chase. She is shown eating bugs and implied to eat rats, among other nasty crawlies. Let’s not forget the pair continue to flirt, even after the reveal Shadow is Chase’s magically created spawn.
Clay is suggested being a little too fascinated with animals, particularly their butts. There’s his infamous line, spoken twice in the pilot, and the reveal of his childhood sweetheart being an actual goat. Bear in mind said reveal comes after it’s established he’s been writing letters and dreaming about, in his words, their soft, mushy lips.
Salvador Cumo is a cunning, manipulative villain who’s implied to have a history with Wuya and later caught the attention of Chase. At the end of the episode, he gives Raimundo the Jitsusara Amulet (which so happens to be the next talisman), with the suggestion they might cross paths again. Despite the setup and his popularity, Salvador never makes a second appearance.
Princess Kaila is a princess who’s been trapped 500 years until the monks had manage to break the seal that imprisoned her, which also granted them a new temple. But how she was imprisoned is never elaborated nor her connection with the Xiaolin Temple. Furthermore, Kaila disappears after her introduction – at least until the series finale.
Rocco is a muscular dragon that used to be Dojo’s friend before they had a falling out. Eventually, the two settle their differences and proceed to not only rescue the monks, but also defeat Chase Young in a showdown. Unfortunately, while the potential of Rocco being a recurring character was there (more so now he and Dojo are friends again) his introduction episode is currently his only appearance.
Good Jack (or at least a version of him) appears in the aftermath of a Shen Gong Wu mix-up. He manages to get a number of villains and even Dojo to join his self-help group. However, what his lifestyle constitutes is never elaborated, along with the extent of Jack’s changes.
In the original series, Raimundo is promoted to Shoku Warrior, the leader of the Xiaolin Dragons. He is given special robes to commemorate his new position before leading his friends to battle in the finale. In Chronicles, everyone is promoted to Shoku Warrior, which is now another rank and deprives the possibilities of showing Raimundo struggling with leadership.
Master Fung leaves for a long walk at the end of Chronicles’ three-episode pilot – only to appear in person the very next episode. He continues to appear in person several times throughout the series, such as promoting Ping Pong to Shoku Warrior, which makes his ‘long walk’ rather pointless. He finally does return towards the series’ end but doesn’t participate in the final battle.
After the Xiaolin Temple is destroyed, the monks go on a journey to find a new temple. Said journey consists of finding mystical talismans that would lead to the new temple, several of which are conveniently in the hands of allies and adversaries. In the end the monks settle down in their new home without much conflict or fanfare.
As the series progressed, Shadow starts to question Chase’s authority and her own identity, which happens after the former reveals he created her. Both of these issues are zig-zagged between her legitimately being upset and the two continuing to flirt. She eventually leaves Chase to pursue her own course with the initial help from Wuya – and then series ends.
Unpopular Popular Character: Jack Spicer, once again. It helps that aside from actually becoming a more capable villain for a time, he's one of the characters that has changed the least from his old self.
" is an actual computing term for a state that can cause a process to not respond to kill signals