History WesternAnimation / InfinityTrain

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* IronicName: The book's title refers to Tulip, [[SmallRoleBigImpact but she only appears in this and is ultimately the one who changed everything on the train from the Conductor's control after 33 years]].

** [[spoiler:Alrick; while he was shown wearing the black hoodie the Conductor is known to wear, he was a sweet man. His ''wife'', on the other hand...]]

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* NewWeird: An interdimensional train that kidnaps people and forces them to run a gauntlet of random and bizarre pocket dimensions [[spoiler: until they work through their emotional trauma, is piloted by an AI with a LiteralSplitPersonality, continuously builds new cars for itself,]] and is inhabited by everything from talking corgis and sentient blobs of water to mirror policemen and human-sized pencils with limbs.

** When she asks One-One about the significance of the number decreasing, he states that if it reaches zero, then she's gone forever...[[spoiler: from the ''train'', because it's not counting down how long she has to live but how much trauma she's currently going through]].

* WeddingDeathJuxtaposition: As Tulip is watching [[spoiler:Amelia's]] memories, she sees a moment where Amelia proposes to Alrich. The image quickly shifts to people trying to talk to [[spoiler: Amelia about the pending funeral for Alrich]].

* YourDaysAreNumbered: Subverted. After a comment from One-One, Tulip becomes convinced that the numbers on her hand [[DeathsHourglass are counting down to her death]]. When she tells this to The Cat as part of her plea for help, the feline points out that One-One isn't the smartest or most optimistic being out there. [[spoiler: It turns out that the number actually indicates the weight of your emotional trauma. However, Amelia notes that the number can also go up...]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* LogicBomb: [[spoiler: Being forced to leave M.T. when she couldn't follow him through his door was so emotionally traumatizing to Jesse that he actually ended up ''back'' on the train. Because his problem is leaving M.T. behind, who can't have the number that she needs to leave because she's a denizen of the train, his new number can't even settle on a rational ''number'' instead of things like a square root or pi. Trying to figure out the issue drives One-One into such a loop that it even physically affects the train. Jesse even restarts the recursive loop when the One-One [[LackOfEmpathy starts to agree]] with a suggestion that killing M.T. would resolve the issue.]]

* ShipTease: Subverted, as the writers intended Jesse and MT to be platonic. This doesn't stop the audience from viewing the constant hand-holding and blushing, Agent Mace mockingly calling Jesse MT's boyfriend, and [[spoiler: Jesse ''having to come back to the train'' because he was so torn up about leaving MT behind]] as signs of romantic interest.

** [[spoiler: In "The Origami Car", Simon uses the nanobots that The Cat gave him to send Grace into her own tape against her will. He inserts himself into her memories, intentionally uses some particularly painful ones to break her will, ignores all her objections, and then just leaves her to rot when he gets what he wanted. The whole scene carries some horrifying parallels to assault, especially when Grace later wakes up, visibly disgusted and shaken by the whole affair.]]

** "The New Apex" has [[spoiler: [[InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn only Grace's hand depicted]] following Simon's death, now uncovered and showing her number rapidly falling.]]

** Simon's experiences in "Le Chat Chalet Car" further fire his desire to [[spoiler:kill Tuba in a misguided attempt to prevent Hazel from going through his trauma of being abandoned.]] Also in that car, he encounters a statue of a Ghom and briefly [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness panics]], thinking it's real. [[spoiler: At the end of the season, a Ghom kills him.]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Much of the drama with [[spoiler: Simon]] happens from either others telling him information or him misunderstanding what other people want. Most notably if [[spoiler: Grace]] had told him not to kill [[spoiler:Tuba]] period, or [[spoiler:Simon]] had understood [[spoiler:Tuba]] wasn't going to abandon Hazel like Samantha did him, much suffering could've been avoided.

* RewatchBonus: Upon first watch, viewers might notice that Hazel talks with distinctly British phrasing despite not having an accent. [[spoiler: This is likely due to her status as an imperfect clone of Alrick.]]

* BookEnds: The book starts with Ryan and Min-Gi holding a live-show as children in front of their utterly disinterested families. [[spoiler: It ends with them playing together at an open mic in Utica, New York as adults, this time to a much warmer reception, with one spectator even asking them for a cassette.]]

* WeddingDeathJuxtaposition: As Tulip is watching [[spoiler:Amelia's]] memories, she sees a moment where Amelia proposes to Ulrich. The image quickly shifts to people trying to talk to [[spoiler: Amelia about the pending funeral for Ulrich]].

* SurpriseCreepy: The idea of being stuck on a train with no way out is a little unnerving, but helped by some of the whimsical characters and locations that Tulip interacts with. Tulip herself is actually enthused about the whole situation until she realizes she isn't on Earth anymore and surrounded by life-threatening creatures both inside and outside the locomotive.

* ArsonMurderJaywalking: One-One explaining to MT the process of waking up a passenger.

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: One-One explaining to MT the process of waking up a passenger.
--> '''One-One:''' It involves robots and coding and juice boxes and...

During the airing of Book 3, it was revealed that the show's future was uncertain due to Cartoon Network's misgivings about the appropriateness of its themes for younger audiences. The series would end production in December 2020, with series creator Owen Dennis later confirming that Book 4 would be the final season. Dennis, meanwhile, also made it clear that he and his team weren't entirely finished with the show's universe just yet, and are trying to explore other avenues of expanding on the story.

On August 19, 2022, ''Infinity Train'' and all related materials were removed from HBO Max and other streaming services, along with every Cartoon Network and HBO Max social media video and post that ever acknowledged the show's existence. In response to this, Dennis began [[DigitalPiracyIsOkay encouraging fans]] to KeepCirculatingTheTapes, though he also [[https://owendennis.substack.com/p/so-uh-whats-going-on-with-infinity points out]] that the full series remains available for purchase on digital storefronts like [=iTunes=] and Amazon, and that he will have the rest of the story told somehow.

* PerpetualMotionMachine: The train only stops when [[spoiler:passengers zero out]] and is in the middle of a barren wasteland, yet it's apparently been running for centuries and continually expands upon itself, growing ever longer as it produces new cars, with no apparent means of gathering resources.

-->--'''Tulip Olsen'''

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: One of the train cars is full of baseball-playing dinosaurs, as seen in "[[Recap/InfinityTrainS1E5TheCatsCar The Cat's Car]]".

** Empathy. The book starts off with a musical number detailing the joys of understanding other people, and the rest of the season tackles Grace's and Simon's struggles to learn empathy for denizens of the train. [[spoiler:By the end, Grace has learned this lesson, while Simon's LackOfEmpathy for denizens only gets worse and quickly expands to Hazel and Grace, unable to understand why they're beginning to fear and distrust him following his murder of Tuba.]] Ironic, considering that [[spoiler:"Le Chat Chalet Car" has him begging Grace to be emphatic towards his fears and trauma]].
** Poor parental figures and caretakers. Grace alludes to her parents being inattentive, while Simon's parental figure on the train (the Cat) abandoned him to fend for himself. Hazel doesn't remember her parents, but we later learn that [[spoiler:she is a failed clone of Alrick, with Amelia refusing to acknowledge her as a child, much less being anything akin to a daughter.]] More broadly, Grace and Simon are the only source of guidance for the children of the Apex, and act more as manipulative cult leaders than caretakers. The only healthy parent-child relationship shown during the season is Tuba as a surrogate mother towards Hazel.

* DramaticIrony: The Apex raid the Unfinished Car in the first episode... the car made by the Conductor they just so happen to worship. In fact, everything Grace and Simon tells about the Conductor to Hazel in "The Debutante Ball Car" is just filled with this.

** The DownerBeginning has a Tragedy Mask [[spoiler:be the only survivor of the massacre by the Apex. Grace is the only protagonist left at the end of the season as the other main characters either died or left the group. Not to mention that the entire Book is nothing but a tragedy.]]

* HonestyAesop: Grace learns that [[spoiler:her lies and bluff that she ''totally'' knows the Train led to numerous children brainwashed to hurt people, be separated from their families just for ''her'' amusement and ultimately ended with Tuba dead, Hazel's innocence destroyed and Simon dead. All because she couldn't suck up her pride.]] Lesson learned: if you don't know anything, don't give people false hope by being a KnowNothingKnowItAll.

** The climax of Episode 10 contains one for [[spoiler:Simon, as Grace tells him that while he's in a lot of pain and Grace can see that, she is ''not'' responsible for all his problems]].

* ReformedButNotTamed: [[spoiler:Amelia ''is'' trying to be a better person, but 30+ years of limited social interaction has not helped things, and she has a card by One-One to remind her that the passengers matter.]]

* RuleOfSymbolism: The Apex usually stick to one car and only travel to others before going back, showing that they rather stay in their comfort zones than actually grow. [[spoiler:Once Grace admits what's going on and that they need to change, they decide to leave the comforts of the Mall Car to head out into the unknown, signaling that they want to change.]]

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: A theme returning from the previous book. [[spoiler:When Tuba is murdered by him, Simon shows no remorse for his actions, whereas Grace is furious when told and later saddened when forced to dwell on it. In addition, when Hazel is revealed to be a denizen herself, it spurs Grace to become more of a protective mother/older sister figure to her. Unfortunately, Grace degrading her to save her own skin a few episodes later makes Hazel feel that Grace ''doesn't'' care about her, and thus the turtle girl leaves with Amelia (who doesn't even recognize the girl as anything more than a failed experiment). The finale shows that Grace has fully grown as a person when she sees all the origami birds that Simon stomped on and healed them and, in return, not only do they save her from death via train wheels, but one decides to be her denizen partner.]]

On August 19, 2022, ''Infinity Train'' and all related materials were removed from HBO Max and other streaming services, along with every Cartoon Network and HBO Max social media video and post that ever acknowledged the show's existence. In response to this, Dennis began encouraging fans to [[DigitalPiracyIsOkay sail the seven seas]], though he also [[https://owendennis.substack.com/p/so-uh-whats-going-on-with-infinity points out]] that the full series remains available for purchase on digital storefronts like [=iTunes=] and Amazon, and that he will have the rest of the story told somehow.

* ''Book One'' follows the exploits of a teenage girl named Tulip (Creator/AshleyJohnson), who finds herself on the train after running away from home. On her journey to confront the conductor for a way off the train, she is accompanied by a LiteralSplitPersonality RobotBuddy named One-One (Jeremy Crutchley and Owen Dennis) and a talking corgi named Atticus (Creator/ErnieHudson). It ran from August 5 to August 9, 2019.

During the airing of Book 3, it was revealed that the show's future was uncertain due to Cartoon Network's misgivings about the appropriateness of its themes for younger audiences. The series would end production in December 2020, with series creator Owen Dennis later confirming that Book 4 would be the final season. Dennis, meanwhile, also made it clear that he and his team weren't entirely finished with the show's universe just yet, and was trying to explore other avenues of expanding on the story.

During the airing of Book 3, it was revealed that the show's future was uncertain due to Cartoon Network's misgivings about the appropriateness of its themes for younger audiences. The series would end production in December 2020, with series creator Owen Dennis later confirming that Book 4 would be the final season.

On August 19, 2022, ''Infinity Train'' and all related materials were removed from HBO Max and other streaming services, along with every Cartoon Network and HBO Max social media video and post that ever acknowledged the show's existence. In response to this, Dennis began encouraging fans to [[DigitalPiracyIsOkay sail the seven seas]].

During the airing of Book 3, it was revealed that the show's future was uncertain due to Cartoon Network's misgivings about the appropriateness of its themes for younger audiences. The series would end production in December 2020, with series creator Owen Dennis later confirming that Book 4 would be the final season. On August 19, 2022, ''Infinity Train'' and all related materials were removed from HBO Max and other streaming services, along with every social media video and post that ever acknowledged the show's existence. In response to this, Dennis began encouraging fans to [[DigitalPiracyIsOkay sail the seven seas]].

During the airing of Book 3, it was revealed that the show's future was uncertain due to Cartoon Network's misgivings about the appropriateness of its themes for younger audiences. The series would end production in December 2020, with series creator Owen Dennis later confirming that Book 4 would be the final season. On August 19, 2022, HBO Max would pull ''Infinity Train'' off its services, along with Cartoon Network [[UnPerson deleting all social media videos and posts that ever acknowledged the show's existence]]. In response to this, Dennis began encouraging fans to [[DigitalPiracyIsOkay sail the seven seas]].

The original pilot was released on November 2, 2016 as a "Cartoon Network Minisode". The short, which can be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY6kfVWv01k viewed here,]] received over a million views within a month and remains the most popular original short on the company's [=YouTube=] page. On March 2, 2018, a teaser site opened, revealing that a full-length series had been greenlit for a 2019 premiere; the teaser can be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u99ff9v_y6s viewed here.]] The first two seasons aired on Cartoon Network, with the show [[ChannelHop being rebranded]] as an Creator/HBOMax original series for its final two seasons.

* BootstrappedTheme: While each season has its own theme music, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3soghKb1_qg "Running Away"]] is considered the de facto theme of the entire series.

* EvolvingCredits: In the vanity plate, Tulip stares at her hand as it quickly rotates through the numbers. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w-3IOOOZxA final end card]] has [[spoiler:the number stop at zero, then fill the screen with a blinding light, returning her home]].

* WillReturnCaption: The original television airing of "[[Recap/InfinityTrainS1E10TheEngine The Engine]]" had a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJg3RGhZxzw short promo clip]] air before the credits sequence, telling the audience this.

* EvolvingCredits: In the vanity plate during the end credits, MT stares at her hand, with her downtrodden frown reflected back at her. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBmMe8VT174 final end card]] has [[spoiler:her give a relieved smile, her surroundings no longer that of the train but of the meadow by Jesse's home]].

* EvolvingCredits: The vanity plate during the end credits now [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T--uNPalqJg continually changes throughout the book]], showing off the current states of the protagonists. The background changes each episode as well, reflecting the car in which the characters find themselves in that moment.

* EvolvingCredits: Just like the previous season, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IJyiEWUeXA the vanity plate changes]] to fit the car in which Min-Gi and Ryan are in that moment. Their numbers also are visible and static, opposing to Books 1 and 2, and are low enough to be able to keep track of, opposing to Book 3. "The Train to Nowhere" also changes the credits' song to an instrumental version of the homonymous song.

* ''Book One'' follows the exploits of a teenage girl named Tulip (Creator/AshleyJohnson), who finds herself on the train after running away from home. On her journey to confront the conductor for a way off the train, she is accompanied by a LiteralSplitPersonality RobotBuddy named One-One (Jeremy Crutchley and Owen Dennis) and a talking corgi named Atticus (Creator/ErnieHudson). It ran from August 5 to August 9, 2019. ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atutlhoyc_Q Trailer 1,]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYR9pV4f0b8 Trailer 2,]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXPZzXeGD6s Trailer 3.]])

* ''Book Two'' follows MT (Ashley Johnson), Tulip's renegade MirrorSelf, who is evading a pair of reflection officers (Creator/BenMendelsohn and Creator/BradleyWhitford) who wish to capture and execute her. After her most recent close call, she finds companionship in a new passenger, a teenage boy named Jesse (Creator/RobbieDaymond), and a mysterious deer-like entity that Jesse names Alan Dracula. It ran from January 6 to January 10, 2020. ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9livZeXARWU Trailer]])
* ''Book Three'' follows Grace (Creator/KirbyHowellBaptiste) and Simon (Creator/KyleMcCarley), the leaders of a group of child passengers, who get separated from them after a mission gone wrong. While working to get back, they find their ideologies challenged when they encounter Hazel (Isabella Abiera), a young passenger with a broken number, and her gorilla companion Tuba (Creator/DianeDelano). It ran from August 13 to August 27, 2020. ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lCscBFY2Lg Trailer]])
* ''Book Four'' follows Ryan (Sekai Murashige) and Min-Gi (Johnny Young), two childhood friends whose relationship has turned sour come adulthood. After Ryan's attempt to force Min-Gi to follow him to New York in order to launch their music careers ends with them both on the train instead, the duo find themselves under the guidance of a scatterbrained hotel bell named Kez (Minty Lewis). The entire season premiered on April 15, 2021. ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_eiKWvQxZ8 Trailer]])

During the airing of Book 3, it was revealed that the show's future was uncertain due to Cartoon Network's misgivings about the appropriateness of its themes for younger audiences. The series would end production in December 2020, with series creator Owen Dennis later confirming that Book 4 would be the final season for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately, HBO Max pulled ''Infinity Train'' off its services on August 19, 2022, along with Cartoon Network [[UnPerson deleting all social media videos and posts that ever acknowledged Infinity Train ever existed]]. In response to this, Owen Dennis tweeted encouraging people to [[DigitalPiracyIsOkay sail the seven seas]].

Unfortunately, HBO Max pulled ''Infinity Train'' off its services on August 19, 2022.