History Arthur / TropesNToR

* NiceMeanAndInbetween: Nice (Fern, George, Sue Ellen), Mean (Binky, Francine, Muffy), and In-between (Arthur, Brain, Buster).

** Technology seemed to be marching forward in the first few season, as by S6, they have had full computer voice acting, cutscenes, (relatively) realistic computer graphics, and actually pretty decent computer music as shown in S6's "Best of the Nest". But then regressed by the S10 episode, "The Squirrels" and the S11 episode, "Arthur Sells Out", video games were played on a console that looks a lot like a Sega UsefulNotes/{{Dreamcast}} which is a 64-bit console, but the games played have 8-bit graphics and sounds. By S12's "D.W.'s Stray Netkitten, the technology seemed to have marched slightly slightly forwards again -- while the graphics are less realistic and the music sounds a little more primitive and not many games seem to have voice acting as long or elaborate compared to "Best of the Nest", it was leaps and bounds ahead of the tech in "Arthur Sells Out". Or maybe it's just that console technology just isn't up to par with PC technology in their universe.

* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: In-universe, the Dark Bunny game in "Arthur Sells Out" turns out to be [[spoiler:an 8-bit, Egyptian themed ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' rip off on the [[UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast Dreamcast]].]]

* RaptorAttack: A ''Film/JurassicPark''-styled dromaeosaurid appears in the ColdOpen of "Jenna's Bedtime Blues", although justified in that it's a video game character.

* NoHuggingNoKissing: Mostly PlayedStraight, but surprisingly {{Averted|Trope}} on a few specific occasions.
** [[HappilyMarried Mr. and Mrs. Read]] kiss in "[[Recap/ArthurS1E9ArthurBabysitsArthursCousinCatastrophe Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe]]," "[[Recap/ArthurS8E9FleaToBeYouAndMeKissAndTell Kiss and Tell]]," and "Happy Anniversary."
** In "[[Recap/ArthurS2E3DWThePickyEaterBusterAndTheDaredevils Buster and the Daredevils]]," the titular daredevils dare Buster to kiss Francine straight on the lips, which he does. [[RageBreakingPoint Francine does not take it well]].
** In "Muffy Gets Mature," Muffy has an ImagineSpot of kissing Buster on the lips after a teenage girl tells her she was kissed by her boyfriend. [[AffectionHatingKid She finds it gross]] (and also [[BewitchedAmphibians turns into a toad]] in her imagination as a result).
** In "[[Recap/ArthurS8E9FleaToBeYouAndMeKissAndTell Kiss and Tell]]," Emily brags to D.W. about being kissed on the hand by a boy, leading D.W. to seek out a kiss from a boy as well out of jealousy. [[spoiler:She gets one on the cheek in the end, but decides it wasn't all it was cracked up to be]].
** PlayedWith in "[[Recap/ArthurS14E2TheAgentOfChangeDWUntiesTheKnot D.W. Unties the Knot]]", where D.W. is inspired to plan her dream wedding after watching a reality show about fancy wedding parties. However, being four years old, she fails to realize that a wedding is not just a fancy party, but also an occasion where you actually marry someone. Once she finds out the truth, she's no longer willing to go through with it.
* NoirEpisode: "The Case of the Girl with the Long Face" is monochrome as Buster tries to figure out why Fern is feeling sad. [[LampshadedTrope Lampshaded]] by Muffy, who points out her colored bows "would look better if they weren't in black and white."

** "The Great MacGrady": When Mrs. [=MacGrady=] becomes sick with cancer, her LethalChef of a cousin Skip has to take over her job at school.

** "The Great MacGrady": When Mrs. MacGrady becomes sick with cancer, her LethalChef of a cousin Skip has to take over her job at school.

* NotSoFast: On several occasions, Arthur pulls off something cool at school despite screwing up, then ends up with extra homework, or having to redo it. Buster is occasionally included.

* PrecociousCrush: Season 6's "Crushed" has Arthur having a tremendous crush on his new babysitter, then later being heartbroken when he learns she has a boyfriend.

** Arthur's name sounds like the word "author", and his last name is Read.

** The [[VideoGame/LivingBooks Living Book]] for ''Arthur's Birthday'' characterizes Francine as having a crush on Arthur. She fantasizes about playing Spin The Bottle and kissing him.

* OutDamnedSpot: In "[=MacFrensky=]" (a parody of sorts of [[Theatre/MacBeth the trope namer]]), Francine gets slimed by Buster's alien robot toy thing. When her conscience starts to haunt her, she utters the famous line, though understandably [[GoshDangItToHeck censored]] to fit the show demographics.

** "Binky vs. Binky" featured a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Lance Armstrong called Vance Legstrong, but in the "The Great [=MacGrady=]" he was retconned into his real life counterpart, only he's still a rabbit, but his design was changed to closely resemble Lance Armstrong.

* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: In-universe, the Dark Bunny game in "Arthur Sells Out" turns out to be [[spoiler:an 8-bit, Egyptian themed ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' rip off on the [[UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast Dreamcast]].]]

* NegativeContinuity: In season 19, Arthur and his class finally move up to 4th grade. In the following seasons, they are back in 3rd.

** In "Big Brother Binky", the Barnses adopt a baby named Mei-Lin from China, and Binky learns how to be a brother.

** The Living Book for ''Arthur's Birthday'' characterizes Francine as having a crush on Arthur. She fantasizes about playing Spin The Bottle and kissing him.

* NiceHat: Rattles' red baseball cap, always worn backwards and almost never taken off his head.

* PantyShot: "Popular Girls" (S3) has one for Jenna for some reason.

* ResentfulOutnumberedSibling: Grandma Thora lived this growing up, being the youngest sibling to three older brothers; the flashback in, "Clarissa is Cracked," show that at times, Thora was not particularly content with not having her own (gender-appropriate) toys, and having to settle with playing hand-me-downs from her brothers (which were mostly things like toy soldiers, miniature log forts, and toy airplanes). D.W. sympathizes with Thora for not only being the younger sister (like herself), but having three older brothers (on the grounds that three brothers isn't as bad as having one Arthur).

* OutnumberedSibling: Grandma Thora lived this growing up, being the youngest sibling to three older brothers; the flashback in, "Clarissa is Cracked," show that at times, Thora was not particularly content with not having her own (gender-appropriate) toys, and having to settle with playing hand-me-downs from her brothers (which were mostly things like toy soldiers, miniature log forts, and toy airplanes). D.W. sympathizes with Thora for not only being the younger sister (like herself), but having three older brothers (on the grounds that three brothers isn't as bad as having one Arthur).

** S1's "Arthur and the True Francine" showed that Muffy officially joined the gang in 2nd grade. Later episodes have stated that she's known them since kindergarten.
*** In the original book, Muffy joins the other kida on their first day of third grade.