Hector is unhappy with his height, so Gumball and Darwin try to create one of Mrs. Jotunheim's potions to shrink him but it goes terribly wrong when they miss a crucial ingredient.
Tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: Hector approaches Gumball and Darwin, demanding they return him to his normal size. When they ask why:Hector: Yeah, I don't want to be insulting, but living down amongst people is like living amongst gross, selfish, bacteria-riddled cockroaches.
Darwin: Wow, glad you weren't trying to be insulting.
Hector: Sorry, I apologize.
Darwin: Thank you!
Hector: To cockroaches. - Be Yourself: The reason Mrs. Jotunheim doesn't make a shrinking potion for Hector is that she wants him to accept himself for what he is. After spending the whole day normal sized, Hector realizes that it just makes him like everyone else and wants to go back to being a giant again.
- Brought Down to Normal: Hector gets to be average size at last. Unfortunately, after the initial thrill wears off, he finds that being just another kid has its drawbacks as well, and wishes to be big again.
- Call-Back: For this episode Hector finally gets to live his dream of being normal size, and he grows to hate it. In both episodes he also mentioned using volcanoes for toilets and being embarrassed by being naked, which is why his bottom is bald since all the hair is burned off by the heat. He also mentions that the last time he kissed a girl he accidentally swallowed her whole.
- Comically Missing the Point: Darwin is pretty dense for this episode, misunderstanding directions and suggestions.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Hector.
- Eye of Newt: The recipes for Ms. Jotunheim's potions require things like wolf milk. The third act is set off by Darwin leaving out the vital ingredient of orangutan toenails for a growth potion to restore Hector to normal and them trying to sneak some away.
- Grave Robbing: When Darwin and Gumball concoct the initial shrinking potion, Gumball says the last ingredient was a head of rosemary flower. Darwin regrets not asking to double check sooner, because he already dug up the head of Rosemary Flower.
- Gross-Up Close-Up: One of the things Hector enjoys about being average sized is being able to look at people's faces up close. After seeing some faces in photorealistic detail, he decides he doesn't like it.
- Height Angst: Hector wanting to be shorter is the focus of this episode.
- Humans Are Bastards: One of the things Hector doesn't like about being small is realizing how awful everyone can be.
- Insubstantial Ingredients: Most of Mrs. Jotunheim's potion ingredients are just weird, but a shrinking potion needs a "shard of a broken dream", for which Richard's expired gym membership card turns out to be a valid example.
- Insult to Rocks: After being shrunken down, Hector, after multiple hardships, compares other people to "gross, selfish, bacteria-riddled cockroaches." He then apologizes... to the cockroaches.
- Invisibility Cloak: Gumball, Darwin and Hector use one to hide from Mrs. Jotunheim.
- The Not Catch: When one of Hector's growth spurts sends Gumball up in the air, Hector tries to catch him, but his arms shrink at the last second and Gumball hits the ground.Hector: I thot gis! ...I don't thot gis.
- Partial Transformation: Without orangutan toenails the growth potion's effects become unstable, making Hector's body warp as it disproportionately grows and shrinks.
- Poor Communication Kills: The growth potion fails because Darwin misread one of the ingredients, orangutan toe nails. He thought the O in orangutan was a zero and so didn't put any. It's also implied that he dug up a grave because he thought a head of rosemary flower meant the head of Rosemary Flowers.
- Series Continuity Error: In "The Lesson", the rotten cupcake was a boy that Gumball and Darwin mistook for a girl. In this episode, the rotten cupcake is among a group of girls Hector tries to hit on.
- Smug Super: Hector is so used to being an invulnerable giant, he's shocked that people are able to hurt him when he's human-sized, and starts ranting about how disgusting and horrible everyone else is.
- Suddenly Shouting: When Hector gets bored with being normal-sized and approaches Gumball and Darwin, he's in no mood for their insistence he ask nicely.Gumball: What's the magic word?
Hector: Now.
Gumball: No, dude. The magic word is-
Hector: NOW!!! - Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When shrunken down to normal size, Hector can't run very far since he doesn't have the stamina, due to his giant size normally only requiring a few steps to get anywhere.
- Tempting Fate: Mr. Small is protesting for the Great Barrier Reef, saying that one day Nature will have its revenge. The passing goblin Chanax CEO laughs at this and dares Nature to hit him. As if on cue, the Great Barrier Reef diorama that Hector accidentally blew away hits him square in the face.
- Trauma Swing: Hector sits on a swing feeling depressed after being shrunk down. The 8-bit dog then asks to let him get a turn, and there's a long line of people wanting to be depressed on the swings.
