History WesternAnimation / CarmenSandiego

* ChekhovsGun: In "The Sticky Rice Caper" while Dr. Bellum is moving past different screens to find the surveillance shot of Carmen boarding a plane, two of her screens show a rocket's designs and an exploding rocket. Both would prove intergral to her next plot in "The Opera in the Outback Caper."

* DuelingHackers: Player and Troll in The Jolly Good Caper.

* HollywoodHacking: Player's role in Carmen's team. Also Troll, his EvilCounterpart, for V.I.L.E.

* SpellMyNameWithAThe: The Troll, V.I.L.E.'s counter to Player, protests upon being addressed as just "Troll." Dr. Bellum says addressing him as "The Troll" sounds wrong to her ears. No one seems to have any such problem with Le Chevre or El Topo, which are the French and Spanish equivalent.

* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: In order to be promoted to Faculty Member of V.I.L.E, potential applicants must carry out a successful mission in direct opposition to Carmen. Of course they all fail until Roundabout succeeds. [[spoiler: Then Carmen [[FramingTheGuiltyParty frames him for a crime he did commit and gets him arrested]], ending his earlier successful promotion.]]

* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: In order to be promoted to Faculty Member of V.I.L.E, potential applicants must carry out a successful mission in direct opposition to Carmen. Of course they all fail until Roundabout succeeds. [[spoiler: Then Carmen [[FramingTheGuiltyParty frames him for a crime he did commit]], ending his earlier successful promotion.]]

* HidingInPlainSight:

* DarkSkinnedRedhead: Carmen is noticeably darker-skinned in this continuity than in previous incarnations, and her hair is a deep red. Player nicknames her "Red" as a result of her red hair/outfit.

* WouldntHurtAChild: Even when young Carmen tagged along on the graduation trip, V.I.L.E. just knocked her out and put her on a serious education regiment. [[spoiler:Earlier, they (at least most of them) adamantly refused to kill her as a baby when Shadow-san brought her back from his accidentally-successful attempt to ensure her father was dead. (He didn't actually kill her father, but he did bear witness.) Averted by Maelstrom, however, who casually suggested killing baby Carmen, but got out-voted by the other

* WouldntHurtAChild: Even when young Carmen tagged along on the graduation trip, V.I.L.E. just knocked her out and put her on a serious education regiment. [[spoiler:Earlier, they (at least most of them) adamantly refused to kill her as a baby when Shadow-san brought her back from his accidentally-successful attempt to ensure her father was dead. (He didn't actually kill her father, but he did bear witness.) Averted by Maelstrom, however, who casually suggested killing baby Carmen, but got out-voted by the others.]]
* Xanatos Speed Chess:
** In "The Jolly Good Show Caper", Carmen plays this game with the new Faculty member, Roundabout

* AbsenteeActor:
** Neither Zack nor Ivy are seen in "The Chasing Paper Caper" and Ivy isn't seen in "The Lucky Cat Caper".
** On V.I.L.E.'s side, El Topo (who is always seen with Le Chevre) is nowhere to be seen in "The Chasing Paper Caper" even though Le Chevre does appear.
** On the law enforcement side, Chase Devineaux and Julia Argent aren’t around in “The Opera in the Outback Caper”.
** During season 2, A.C.M.E. is not involved in "The Daisho Caper", although they refer back to its events in the following episode so they were still keeping tabs even if they weren't present.
** After being shoved back into Interpol in the Season 2 premiere, Chase doesn't appear until "The African Ice Caper".
** Shadow-san is mentioned being on the "Malaysia Caper" by Player in "The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper".

You can watch the first season trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shbiwCCMDHQ here]]. The season two trailer can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVPgMERW42c here.]] An interactive special titled ''Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not to Steal'' was released on Netflix on March 10, 2020. The special's trailer can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07jnFUoVzFg here.]]

* AdultFear:
** After she snuck 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.
** The idea of dying when you are trying to give your child a better life, and not knowing if they are okay. [[spoiler:Carmen's father suffered this fear when Interpol raided his safe house]].

** The name of one character is [[FamilyThemeNaming Vera Cruz]], which could be a subtle pun on the name of the Mexican city Veracruz. Carmen points out that it sounds like an alias.

** [[spoiler:Had V.I.L.E. not promoted the brainwashed Carmen to faculty, she wouldn't have been able to lead law enforcement to their headquarters after being freed of mind control since only faculty would have that exclusive knowledge.]]

* 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. Upon his reinstatement to A.C.M.E. at the beginning of Season 3, he becomes much more competatnt over the rest of the series. It also helps that the Chief made him take a defensive driving course.]]

* AmnesiacsAreInnocent: After [[spoiler:Gray]] gets his memories wiped, fears of his being a ManchurianAgent aside, he lacks any of the criminal impulses that led him to sign up for V.I.L.E. in the first place, even worrying that he and Carmen are "the good guys" after she tricks him into helping on a caper. Turns out to be invoked. V.I.L.E. intentionally alters a subjects personality when their memories are wiped to keep them out of situations that would stir up lingering traces of their time with V.I.L.E. [[spoiler:After A.C.M.E. attempts to return Gray's memories in season 4, at his own request, his criminal impulses come back with a vengance and he outright tells Carmen that needing to be the "good guys" was never who he was. He gladly rejoins V.I.L.E.]]

* HypnotizeThePrincess: In episode 6, Carmen and a female scientist get brainwashed into enabling a defective rocket planned to desecrate the Australian Outback.

* RealityEnsues:
** Carmen tries to pull a prank by tossing water balloons at the Bookkeeper, as she did when she was a child. It might have been cute then, but when she becomes a V.I.L.E. student, the action nearly leads to her expulsion.
** Carmen's first attempt to leave the V.I.L.E. academy involved forcing open a drainage grate in the AbsurdlySpaciousSewer. When she tries it again the following year, she finds that the staff (who learned of her escape and how from Mime Bomb) has taken steps to ensure that nobody can get in or out that way again by bolting the grate in place.
** Paper Star may be able to create [[AbsurdlySharpBlade Absurdly Sharp Throwing Stars]] from paper, but they're still paper, and as such, can easily be blown away in the wind.
** As impressive as Carmen's physical abilities are, exploring sunken ships found in the sea followed by walking around Quito, the second-highest capital city in the world, without taking the time to adjust to the change in pressure is a bit of whiplash for the body. She quickly succumbs to altitude sickness.
** Carmen gets subject to a [[spoiler:NoHoldsBarredBeatdown in the first season finale, courtesy of Coach Brunt. Shadow-san convinces her to escape with him because, as he points out, she can't walk on her own and the police will catch her]].
** Chase's continual bumbling and tendency to [[LeeroyJenkins act without thinking]] [[spoiler: eventually causes A.C.M.E.'s Chief to remove him from active duty and replace him with his HypercompetentSidekick Julia.]]
** When the Chief is angry enough to [[spoiler: reinstate him as a field agent]], she still makes him take a defensive driving course before allowing him behind the wheel, considering he's drowned two very expensive vehicles. After he drives the third into the Louisiana bayou, he loses driving privileges altogether.
** During ''The Stockholm Syndrome Caper'', Carmen gives her coat to Ivy to throw off the A.C.M.E. agents. [[spoiler:After crashing her hang-glider in a forest in the middle of winter, she nearly dies from her injuries and exposure, and the next episode shows her spending at least a month laid out, and is easily overpowered by Tigress in a fight.]]
** [[spoiler:It's revealed that the [=A.C.M.E.=] Chief killed Carmen's father in a raid when she was under the impression that he was a murderous thief. Which, to be fair, he was. Carmen decides not to ally with the Chief and lets Player hack into [=A.C.M.E.=] to verify if the story is true. With law enforcement, GoodIsNotSoft and PoliceBrutality is bound to happen when there are violent criminals]].
** The end of "The Daisho Caper" has Shadow-san ask to atone for his sins in regards to [[spoiler:stealing the sword from the museum his brother was the curator for. It ends with said older brother walking away without a word. Just because you decide to amend for your misdeeds does ''not'' immediately equate to EasilyForgiven.]]
** At the opening of "The Fashionista Caper", Shadow-san quickly discovers that walking around dressed like a samurai tends to attract unwanted attention most places. This prompts him to seek less conspicuous clothing.
** Running a massive criminal undertaking costs a lot of money, so if you fail to turn a profit, you could find yourself in the red quickly. Sure enough, Season 2 shows that V.I.L.E. has suffered major financial losses due to regularly taking it on the chin from Carmen.

* NotSoDifferent: Player and Carmen became friends when they both realize they want to use "evil" skills for good reasons.