History WesternAnimation / ActionLeagueNOW

* FailureMontage: In "And Justice For None", the Action League standing before council to see whether they should retain their hero status or be declared a danger to the public for their incompetence. Each of the Leaguers' flashback to their past exploits don't really help their case, but the icing on the cake is Flesh's recollections which are presented in such a montage of how his clumsiness or carelessness only did more harm than good to the people he was trying to help.
* {{Flanderization}}: The League started out as pretty effective heroes (albeit still stupid), but became more inept with each episode. Come "Stink or Swim", a person is actually unhappy that the League has come to save him from being flushed down the toilet.

* WithCatlikeTread: What kicks off the conflict in "Caged Thunder". Thunder Girl is sent to spy on a secret missile site owned by the Mayor, and does so by taking pictures and [[WhatAnIdiot singing her song while doing so]]. You can guess what the Mayor decided to use as target practice.

* [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway What Kind of Lame Power Is Melting Anyway?]]

%% commented out as Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * WalkingShirtlessScene: The Flesh. Also, Walking ''Pantsless'' Scene.
* WeCanRuleTogether: The Mayor asks Thunder Girl to join him in ruling the world "as King and Queen". Thunder Girl declines...but not for any heroic reason.
-->'''Thunder Girl:''' It's taco night!
-->'''The Mayor:''' You pretty little fool! They'll only give you gas!
* WeaponsThatSuck: In "In the Belly of the Beast", The Mayor attempts to suck up the Action League with a vacuum cleaner. He sucks up The Chief, Stinky, and Thunder Girl, but has to break The Flesh apart before he can suck him up (as his build is too big for the vacuum hose). As Meltman evades The Mayor in the bathroom, he gets him to suck up an entire roll of toilet paper, clogging the hose and causing the vacuum to malfunction and explode. When The Chief asks The Mayor why he did this, The Mayor asks him, "Would you believe I'm a neatnik?".

* {{Flanderization}}: The League started out as pretty effective heroes (albeit still stupid), but became more inept with each episode. Come "Stink or Swim", a person is actually unhappy that the League has come to save him from being flushed down the toilet.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: The League started out as pretty effective heroes (albeit still stupid), but became more inept with each episode. Come "Stink or Swim", a person is actually unhappy that the League has come to save him from being flushed down the toilet.

* WeaponsThatSuck: In "In the Belly of the Beast", The Mayor attempts to suck up the Action League with a vacuum cleaner. He sucks up The Chief, Stinky, and Thunder Girl, but has to break The Flesh apart before he can suck him up. As Meltman evades The Mayor in the bathroom, he gets him to suck up an entire roll of toilet paper, clogging the hose and causing the vacuum to malfunction and explode. When The Chief asks The Mayor why he did this, The Mayor asks him, "Would you believe I'm a neatnik?".

* MissedHimByThatMuch: [[spoiler:After arresting two criminals pretending to be The Flesh's parents, he wonders if he'll ever meet his real parent. Then, his real (naked) parents drive by wondering the same thing, and crushed the Action Mobile.]]

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: A part of the LemonyNarrator's speech.

Our heroes were The Flesh (a ''Series/ConanTheAdventurer'' doll modified to replace his hips/loincloth with a Ken type bulge who was described as "super-strong and super-naked"), Thunder Girl (a superheroine with a [[=Sindy=]] doll head who just flew around and complained about how stupid her teammates were, even though she could be just as clueless as the others), Stinky Diver (a loose cannon with a thick British accent and perpetual body odor, made from a Franchise/GIJoe Shipwreck action figure) and Melt-Man (a not-too-bright melted {{GI Joe}}-like figurine "with the power to... ''melt!''"). They tended to suffer horrible injuries. They were accompanied by The Chief, who would often shout "BLAST IT!" and berate the team for their screw-ups; Justice the Dog, and Bill the Lab Guy, who spoke in monotone, and often made strange inventions and devices to help the League, though these would often be stolen or otherwise used to harm the League.

Our heroes were The Flesh (a ''Series/ConanTheAdventurer'' doll modified to replace his hips/loincloth with a Ken type bulge who was described as "super-strong and super-naked"), Thunder Girl (a superheroine with a [[=Sindy=]] doll head who just flew around and complained about how stupid her teammates were, even though she could be just as clueless as the others), Stinky Diver (a loose cannon with a thick British accent and perpetual body odor, made from a GIJoe Shipwreck action figure) and Melt-Man (a not-too-bright melted {{GI Joe}}-like figurine "with the power to... ''melt!''"). They tended to suffer horrible injuries. They were accompanied by The Chief, who would often shout "BLAST IT!" and berate the team for their screw-ups; Justice the Dog, and Bill the Lab Guy, who spoke in monotone, and often made strange inventions and devices to help the League, though these would often be stolen or otherwise used to harm the League.

-->''(The garage door that Hodge Podge rigged is about to come crashing down on the League)''
-->'''Announcer:''' With a door closing on any hope, the league has one last card to play...\\

* ShooOutTheNewGuy: Bill the Lab Guy's teenage daughter, Quarky. Introduced in ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam's'' second season premiere (if we're going by production order), and was in a bunch of episodes from that season. After "The Quarky Syndrome", she never appeared again.

Originally a segment on {{Creator/Nickelodeon}}'s live-action TV series ''Series/AllThat'' and then on its AnimatedAnthology ''WesternAnimation/{{KaBlam}}!'', ''Action League NOW!'' centered on the crudely stop-motion-animated adventures of four superhero toys, who were forever going off on missions that were either ill-defined or just plain weird, and nearly always involved trying to stop the corrupt "The Mayor" in some zany scheme of his. What made it distinct was that the toys were all shown in their "natural state" of being 6 inches tall in a human world, seldom even moving on their own (unless being thrown or the like, which is why the show was sometimes described as being filmed in "Chuck-imation").

* LastNoteNightmare: The music heard at the end of each short.

* MyGreatestFailure: Years ago, Stinky Diver's brother fell into a flushing toilet. He was about to jump but was afraid his wallet would get wet. He was too late to save him. That event has haunted him since. He told the League about this after he failed to save someone from a flushing toilet.

* PunchClockVillain: The Mayor isn't always evil; in one episode, he opens up a legitimate poolside resort (the League even shows up to enjoy it) and sells hot dogs. Granted, they're fifty dollars each, but he's just trying to make money. Though when the giant trophy bass attacked, afraid he'll lose his business the Mayor tried to convince everyone the water is safe, only to get chewed up and spit out.

* BloodlessCarnage: With so many instances of people being run over by cars, decapitated by fans, crushed by various objects and all other sorts of violence which would never be allowed on Nickelodeon if it was [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar a hand-drawn cartoon]], it's pretty much clear that this show's use of this trope is justified.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** In "Flesh and Blood":
-->'''Meltman''': How come Flesh gets to be on TV?
-->'''Thundergirl''': It's only because he's naked!
-->'''Stinky Diver''': They should see me naked! I'm GLORIOUS!!!
** The sheer violence of the show, but it's okay because they're just action figures!
** An example in "When Pigeons Dare":
-->'''Stinky:''' I don't know Thundergirl, what's the difference between Meltman and a sack of manure?
-->'''Thunder Girl:''' The sack!

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