History WesternAnimation / CarmenSandiego

* AdaptationExpansion: The novelization ''Who is Carmen Sandiego?'' expands on Carmen's childhood, what happened after she sneaked out with the graduates, and her encountering Paper Star in origami class.

** After she sneaked out the first time, all Brunt does to Carmen is give her a bone-crushing hug and says, "I blame myself." It's not that much different that a normal parent would have to their child sneaking out for a dangerous place. She was obviously relieved that Carmen wasn't badly hurt from fighting her classmates and getting chloroformed.

** Coach Brunt reacts this way when Mime Bomb communicates that "Black Sheep" sneaked out with the graduates.

** Shadow-san refuses to show any favoritism to Carmen and it's implied he fails her on purpose so she can't graduate with her class. This led to her defection because she sneaked out to spite him and his rigged exam. [[spoiler: It turns out his intention was to keep her from becoming a thief because he was worried she was throwing her life away]].

* TrashTheSet: At the end of Season 2, [[spoiler: V.I.L.E. evacuate and then blow up their island headquarters after they fear it's been compromised by Carmen and Shadow-san's defections.]]

* AdaptationalDumbass: Zack and Ivy, though not as bad as Chase, also suffer from this a bit. In the ''Where on Earth'' series the two were some of A.C.M.E.'s best agents and were really the only ones capable of keeping up with Carmen's intelligence. In this series, they act more as Carmen's backup or TheWatson, never displaying the top class detective skills they had their original series. Some of their first dialogue suggests they were just common thieves before meeting Carmen (which is half-confirmed in "The Boston Tea Party Caper").

* ProWrestlingEpisode: "The Luchadora Tango Caper" has Carmen going to Mexico and getting involved with a luchadora who had the same name as her mother. Notably, however, it actually averts ProWrestlingIsReal, as Carmen goes to wish her not-mom luck in her match, and the wrestler acknowledges it's fake, saying she already knows she'll win because it's scripted that way. She asks Carmen not to tell Zack, though, so as not to ruin the magic for him. [[spoiler:It becomes real, however, when Coach Brunt steals the mask from the wrestler's rival in order to try and catch Carmen.]]

* EnemyMime: Mime Bomb, naturally. He's Carmen's enemy. And a mime.

* OoohMeAccent'sSlipping: All of the principal cast are voiced by actors who share their character's ancestry. When we get to Australia however (Gray aside), the Doctor's off pronunciation of "Launch the Boomerang" is noticeably jarring. Double points for the fact that the character is hypnotised and is repeating this phrase 'ad nauseum'... and getting it wrong every time.

** In season 2 Carmen acquires a long-term base of operations, a factory once owned by Carmen's of San Diego, the clothing outlet that she took her name from. The sign is still up.

---> '''Carmen:''' "I meant to me."

** The car chase on the streets from San Francisco is very reminiscent of the iconic car chase from ''Film/{{Bullitt}}''.

** During Carmen's flashback to her childhood, her geography lesson has her identifying [[Music/TheyMightBeGiants "Istanbul, not Constantiniple"]].

** "The Opera in The Outback Caper" is set during a performance of Theatre/{{Carmen}} (fittingly enough). The similarities of the characters is referenced often.

[[https://twitter.com/CarmenSandiego/status/1339246156191248384 The fourth season of the show, released January 15, 2021, is also its last.]]

The series premiered worldwide on January 18, 2019 on Netflix.

* CentralTheme: Season 3's theme seems to be masks and disguises, both physical (with Carmen and crew encountering masked luchadoras, going undercover at a masquerade, and foiling an attempt to steal some highly valuable masks) and metaphorical (the crew [[spoiler:removing Roundabout's "mask" of being a respectable Secret Services agent]]).

** In "The Duke of Vermeer Caper", Ivy attempts to drive the getaway van over a rising bridge...but she's unable to do it unlike her brother so she presses the breaks.

* LetsYouAndHimFight: Dr. Maelstrom invokes this idea to his colleague Coach Brunt in order to break apart [[spoiler:the alliance of the traitors Carmen and Shadowsan]] by revealing to the former [[spoiler:Shadowsan killed Carmen's father on orders from the leadership council]]. What this plan fails to account for [[spoiler:is the trust the two have in each other allows Carmen to work through her anger and just asks Shadowsan to confirm the details he can, and when third party evidence backs up his version of events, the alliance is stronger than ever]].

* LetsGetDangerous: [[spoiler:Chase Devineaux is an incompetent agent with an unfortunate tendency to think with his fists instead of his head. His hotheadedness and tendency to shoot first and ask questions later got him fired from A.C.M.E. and sent back to Interpol, along with a demotion from inspector to file clerk. This kick in the pants motivates him to step up his game, and he manages to do in one month what A.C.M.E. couldn't do in 20 years, by figuring out the exact location of V.I.L.E.'s headquarters. Unfortunately [[MissedHimByThatMuch he doesn't make it to V.I.L.E. Island until after the evil organization has already moved out and blown their old HQ to smithereens]], but he still definitely showed that he really did deserve his title of Inspector.]] He becomes more competent in general from that point onwards.

* LetsGetDangerous: [[spoiler:Chase Devineaux is an incompetent agent with an unfortunate tendency to think with his fists instead of his head. His hotheadedness and tendency to shoot first and ask questions later got him fired from A.C.M.E. and sent back to Interpol, along with a demotion from inspector to file clerk. This kick in the pants motivates him to step up his game, and he manages to do in one month what A.C.M.E. couldn't do in 20 years, by figuring out the exact location of V.I.L.E.'s headquarters. Unfortunately [[MissedHimByThatMuch he doesn't make it to V.I.L.E. Island until after the evil organization has already moved out and blown their old HQ to smithereens]], but he still definitely showed that he really did deserve his title of Inspector.]]

* AllAsiansWearConicalStrawHats: When Carmen has {{Imagine Spot}}s and dreams of a younger Shadowsan [[spoiler:around the age when he found her as a baby]] he is wearing one of these hats. It is revealed when Shadowsan recounts his past from that era and before, he isn't actually wearing one.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: The ending of the series: [[spoiler: while Shadowsan has returned home to his brother, Zack and Ivy have joined ACME and are working with them to hunt the remaining free V.I.L.E. operatives, with occasional help from Carmen]].

* BadassBureaucrat: Nigel Braithwaite, aka Roundabout. He's the deputy director of British Secret Service, and a V.I.L.E. mastermind, [[spoiler:who even manages to beat Shadowsan in a swordfight at the end of season 3. Though it's implied Shadowsan let him win, the fact that he even manages to hold his own is impressive.]]

** This topic was taught by Dr. Maelstrom using two brief cases with Tigress as the other person in the demonstration. He acquired her cash, and she acquired his bait, as in worms, bugs, and other slimey and disgusting things people bait animals with.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Carmen's story -- that she was raised in a privileged life by people who loved her and gave her so good an education that she realized they were villains and turned on them -- rings a bell with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathers_and_Sons_(novel) how children's politics vary from their parents' between generations]]. Of course, most parents aren't criminal masterminds.

** Countess Cleo's training presumibly involves this type of heist. This involves teaching her students proper posture, diction, table manners, the ability to absorb talking points about certain matters.

** Carmen tells the Bookkeeper she's ashamed of the pranks she pulled over the years. Cookie buys it hook, line and sinker, allowing Carmen to switch out the harddrive with her tool box.

* BreakTheHaughty: Season 1 is this for Chase Devineaux, as misfortunes pile up on him, largely due to his own arrogance and tendency to rush in without thinking. [[spoiler:It actually turns out good, as it inspires him to show what he can ''really'' do, when he spends season 2 investigating on his own, and tracks down V.I.L.E.'s headquarters by himself, only arriving just a little too late.]]

* ButtMonkey: Chase. Poor, poor Chase. In order: [[spoiler:he takes a 2-story plummet into the bonnet of his car, gets insulted by the Chief in favour of Argent when he joins A.C.M.E. (admittedly justified though it was), tortured by Brunt to the point of being comatose, fired by the Chief as he wakes up from said coma, is told to never talk to Argent again even though she is the only friend the show has revealed he has, gets sent back to Interpol by the Chief who has decided to bust him down to "File Clerk" out of sheer pettiness, spends all his time at work doing boring paperwork, continues his investigation into Carmen in his own time at his own expense and figures out exactly where V.I.L.E. Island is only to arrive one week after they destroyed and abandoned it, finds himself stranded on said island for another week, is rescued when he accidentally burns down his shelter; and is finally fired from his File Clerk job upon his return for not turning up for a fortnight.]] Tough times. The length of bare screen alone shown here gives a good idea how much he goes through.