History WesternAnimation / InspectorGadget

* PsychopathicManchild: The Grappler from "Gadget Meets the Grappler" is a Type A. He is a childlike brute who obeys orders in exchange for candy (and often donuts). His sweet tooth was used by Penny to stall him from his mission of destroying Gadget and eventually get him to betray M.A.D.

** The malfunction often involved, instead of whatever gadget was requested, a [[DropTheHammer big hammer]] coming out of Gadget's head and bonking either him or some other object/person in the area (which occasionally actually turned out well).

** ''Inspector Gadget and the Circus of Fear'' (1987) - Platformer for the UsefulNotes/Commodore64. Gadget has to investigate mysterious disappearances and how they're connected to the International Circus.

** ''Inspector Gadget'' (1993) - Side-scrolling action game for the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] where Gadget has to save Penny after she's kidnapped by MAD.
** ''Inspector Gadget: Operation Madkactus'' - Action side-scroller for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor. Players control Gadget, Penny, and Brain as they aim to stop Dr. Claw from unleashing the Madkactus virus.

** ''Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Crazy Maze'' (2001) - Puzzle game for the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation where Gadget has to stop MAD from hypnotizing the world.

** ''Inspector Gadget: Mad Robots Invasion'' (2003) - A UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 [=2.5D=] platformer game where Gadget has to progress through five levels to defeat MAD and rescue Penny and Brain.
** ''Inspector Gadget: MAD Time Party'' (2023) - A party/open-world game for UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, and Platform/{{Steam}}, where Gadget must contend against his ancestors to build a time machine to travel back in time and rescue Metro City from MAD's reign.

** ''Inspector Gadget: MAD Time Party'' (2023) - A party/open-world game for UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, and UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, where Gadget must contend against his ancestors to build a time machine to travel back in time and rescue Metro City from MAD's reign.

* SomebodySetUsUpTheBomb: The opening credits end with Gadget handcuffing himself to Dr. Claw's wrist only to discover that it is a fake arm attached to the chair and the chair has an IncrediblyObviousBomb sitting on it.

* ComedicUnderwearExposure: In one episode Chief Quimby loses his pants after a message explosion, revealing pink underwear with hearts.

* PlotSensitiveButton: Penny's watch could do a lot, from firing a laser, to remote controlling things, to being used as a VideoPhone. It only had three buttons.

* NoManShouldHaveThisPower: In "The Emerald Duck", the ancient crystal weapon of the Aztec sun god proved to be one of the most destructive forces in the series, able to harness sunlight into a devastating beam that could destroy anything. To prevent Dr. Claw from getting his hands on it, Penny blasts it with her book's laser to blow it up.

* PlotSensitiveButton: Penny's watch.

** All three main characters have one of these: Penny has a watch phone, and Brain has a collar phone.

* StockPunishment: In "Gadget's Clean Sweep", Thelma Botkin locks Penny in a kneeling pillory, made of what looks like metal.
* StockSoundEffects: The first-season episodes created some unique sound effects for Gadget's gadgets, the Gadget Van turning into the Gadgetmobile (and vice-versa), and Penny's computer book and communication watch. Many familiar Creator/HannaBarbera and Creator/WarnerBros sound effects were also utilized, and even some ''Franchise/StarWars'' sound effects were used at times. The second season dropped most of these effects, and often used more unfamiliar {{Animesque}} sounds for Gadget's gadgets and generic beeping for Penny's devices.

** And the MAD-mobile, which could transform into a jet or a submersible. And packed weaponry to boot.

* UnnecessaryRoughness: In ''Race to the Finish'' Dr. Claw enters a car race for the prize money. He blatantly forces the other cars off the track in front of everyone, but isn't actually disqualified until he activates the Madmobile's jet mode and ''flies'' to the finish.

* CreepyTwins: In the episode "Dry Spell", M.A.D. agent Kirk Boulder was assisted by a pair of identical trolls, one wearing orange and one wearing blue. Whenever the one in orange said something, the one in blue would repeat it... [[StrangeSyntaxSpeaker changing the order of the words]].

* AmbiguouslyHuman: The Grappler in "Gadget Meets The Grappler". He ''looks'' human, but seems to also have abilities that no human could stand, in addition to looking like Frankenstein's monster.

* BananaPeel: In a surprisingly realistic depiction for a children's cartoon, Gadget becomes a cyborg super-investigator (well, sort of) after suffering serious injuries from getting tripped up by one.

* PsychopathicManchild: The Grappler from "Gadget Meets the Grappler" is a Type A. He is a childlike brute who obeys orders in exchange for candy (often donuts). His sweet tooth was used by Penny to stall him from his mission of destroying Gadget and eventually get him to betray M.A.D.

** Also, The Grappler in "Gadget Meets the Grappler", ''but'' he was a MinionWithAnFInEvil anyway and more of an AntiVillain and ForcedIntoEvil

His namesake body was loaded with an assortment of non-lethal slapstick crime-fighting tools that he could activate by [[ByThePowerOfGreyskull saying aloud]] "Go-Go Gadget..." and then naming the tool he wanted to use. Among the most prominent were his telescoping arms, spring loaded legs, inflatable trench coat, a hat that contained a {{helicopter p|ack}}ropeller that allowed him to fly, and a miniature laser gun [[FingerFirearms built into one finger]]. (But given the tone of the show, never had to use it to lethally blast anyone)

--->''The Gadgetmobile is dropped through the air by a plane.''\\

''Gadget emerges from the car in helicopter mode.''\\

''The copter goes back into his hat, and the mechanical hand throws out a paper airplane.''\\

* NeverBareheaded: Gadget is never seen with his hat off. It very well could be built onto his head and unremovable.
** Gadget is occasionally, albeit briefly, seen without his hat in some of the spinoff incarnations, varying between having full hair or being bald underneath.
** In "Haunted Castle," a flash of lightning scares Brain so bad that he jumps into Gadget's coat. When Gadget's hat flies up for a few frames, a closer look reveals that he has a widow's peak!

* KillSat: The evaporator ray in ''Focus on Gadget''.

* ClockTower: The Clock Maker's factory in "The Coo-Coo Clock Caper" has a rather fancy one, where the climax of the episode takes place in: however, the factory winds up destroyed due to [[spoiler: the Clock Maker's watch set to make Gadget's gadgets malfunction occurring in the wrong place at the wrong time]].

** Bounces around with Gadget himself. Sometimes no one seems to notice Gadgets obviously strange appendages, sometimes onlookers stare with a confused expression. However no one freaks out or asks questions.

* WouldHurtAChild: While she was usually just BoundAndGagged, there were at least three M.A.D. Agents who actually tried to ''kill'' Penny. The first was the Archaeologist in "All That Glitters", who tried to throw Penny off a cliff and only stopped because she pointed out that too many people would see. The second was the Clockmaker from "Coo-Coo Clock Caper", who tried to crush Penny with a mannequin wielding a mallet set to strike at 5:00. The third was the hired agent to create diamond suits in "A Clear Case," who tied Penny up on a ConveyorBeltODoom leading to a laser.

* WiltingOdor: In "Smeldorado", M.A.D. agent [[MadScientist Dr. Stench]] has invented a formula that gives gold an overpowering stink. When he uses it on the gold bars in the vault of Metro City's bank, the odor is so bad that when Penny opens the door of a florist's, it wilts every flower in the place.

* GRatedDrug: In "Race to the Finish" at a pitstop a MAD agent gives Gadget a mysterious liquid that makes him drunk.

--->'''Clockmaker:''' [[WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve When the clock strikes five]]... GUESS WHO WON'T BE ALIVE!