History WesternAnimation / TheMask

* WireDilemma: This happens in the episode "Shrink Rap". While attempting to disarm a nuclear missile Pretorius launched, The Mask tries cutting ''all'' the wires. When that doesn’t work, he goes for Plan B; [[ExtremeOmnivore eating it]].
* WishFulfillmentCharacter: The Mask functions as this for anyone who wears it, giving them the power necessary to carry out their wildest dreams with no inhibitions. Whether this turns out good or bad for everyone involved depends on how much self-control the host has.

** Stanley Ipkiss is shy, sweet, polite, and friendly, but is a push over and can be easily taken advantage of by others. The Mask is more of an AntiHero, but Stanley’s niceness keeps him on the side of good.

** One episode most of the police force are busy looking for missing pastries instead of responding to a hostage situation involving Lonnie the shark, and only Kellaway and Doyle are respond to it.

* PracticallyJoker: The Mask is a joke-based fighter who is also semi-insane, just like ComicBook/TheJoker. However, Stanley is a good person and so the Mask is too, unlike previous hosts such as Attila the Hun and Blackbeard. Also, he has actual reality warping powers that Joker obviously doesn’t.

* RealAfterAll: In "Santa Mask"
* Really700YearsOld: Skillit. He’s over 4,000 years old, but doesn’t look a day over twelve.

** Pretorius and Walter are also aware- though Pretorius never tells any of the other villains for some reason and Walter can't talk.

* TakeThat: The "Dan Quayle Center For Space Cases" mental hospital from "For All Mask-Kind".

-->'''The Mask''': You've been here for over 30 years. [[LampshadeHanging You've built a nuclear reactor out of coconuts.]] [[SuddenlyShouting FOR PITY’S SAKE, MAN!]] ''[[JustEatGilligan FIX THE HOLE IN THE BOAT!!]]''

* WeaksauceWeakness: Wearing The Mask while ill will screw up Stanley's powers and eventually kill him. So naturally, the city's attacked by a giant mucus monster while he's got a cold.

* {{Wedgie}}: The Mask gives Kellaway one at least OncePerEpisode.

* WireDilemma: This happens in the episode “Shrink Rap”. While attempting to disarm a nuclear missile Pretorius launched, The Mask tries cutting ''all'' the wires. When that doesn’t work, he goes for Plan B; [[ExtremeOmnivore eating it]].

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The main characteristic of the Mask is not that it's good or bad, but that it's ''crazy''. What makes it use its power for right or wrong is the morals of its host (Stanley is a good person, so The Mask becomes nominally heroic (same with Evelyn when she puts it on and becomes Eve). Previous hosts have been driven on murderous rampages if they themselves aren't very nice people, though there are some who can be {{Affably Evil}} such as Dr Neuman who wore it and became a polite AntiVillain who still retains some morals).

[[caption-width-right:300:''[[{{Catchphrase}} Sssssmokin'!]]'']]

* AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle: Pretorius constantly pronounces Stanley's last name "IPP-kiss."

* AntiHero: The Mask is Type II. He's lazy, a {{troll}}, and prefers to party and goof off, but he will still do the right thing in the end. Stanley on the other hand is rather weak and timid, so he falls into Type I.
* ArmCannon

* BackFromTheDead: Subverted in "All Hallow’s Eve". While The Mask has technically never faced them before, Skillit reanimates three of the mask’s previous wearers; Billy the Kid, Atilla the Hun, and [[SdrawkcabName Nilrem]], a medieval wizard who became a monster after an “accident” with a spell.
* BadFuture: In "Comedy of Eras" and "Future Mask"

* BananaRepublic: Mentioned on "Counterfeit Mask" and "Mr. Mask Goes to Washington."

* BottleEpisode: The episode-long ClipShow episode "Convention of Evil" has most of the series' villains in one room and "The Green Marine," which took place inside the courtroom (and only departed from that place during flashback sequences).

* BungledHypnotism: In the episode "Power of Suggestion," at the Fluff Ball, Stanley gets hypnotized to [[HypnoFool act like what he's told]], but as the hypnotist is about to undo his trick, Kablamus interrupts, and Stanley and the Mask are subject to suggestion for most of the episode, with Kablamus taking advantage. The hypnotism wears off when the Mask tricks him into suggesting he forget what happened at the ball, which includes getting hypnotized.

* ChainedHeat: In "The Terrible Twos," Kellaway handcuffs himself to Stanley so that way if Stanley turns into The Mask, he'll know about it and have Stanley arrested. Stanley manages to distract him time and again, and eventually is let go so that he can personally handle the villains.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: A nerdy, white guy named Smedley appeared as the Mayor's assistant in the season two episodes "Going for the Green" and "Flight as a Feather." He hasn't been seen since then [[spoiler: (though he may have quit or was fired following the Cookie [=BaBoom=] incident, since his final line to Mayor Tilton after Tilton ordered Smedley to disarm Cookie was, "On ''my'' salary? I don't even get overtime, ya cheapskate!")]].
* ClipShow: Two of these -- a partial one on "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Green Mask" and an episode-long one on "Convention of Evil."

* CoolCar: The show often featured the ''Mask Mobile'' (which is the Mask applying his shapeshifting powers to [[TheAllegedCar the Loaner]] - once it even reversed as Stanley was forcibly unmasked while driving), which also had a prominent role in the Mask toyline.

* DealWithTheDevil: Played straight on the season two episode "Boogie With the Man."
* DefeatByModesty: The Mask defeats Cookie [=BaBoom=] in "Flight as a Feather" by [[spoiler: yanking her suicide belt bikini off her body so he can make a cocktail out of it]]. Though [[spoiler: considering Cookie is a strip... er "exotic dancer," the word "modesty" in the trope is used very loosely.]]

* DistractedByTheSexy: "Flight as a Feather," when Kellaway and Doyle go to capture the Mask, the Mask [[spoiler: takes Cookie [=BaBoom=] -- who has been spinning around for at least two to three scenes -- and stops her so her naked body faces Kellaway and Doyle. While the Mask gets away, these guys melt right in front of her]].

* EmbarrassingFirstName: According to Cookie [=BaBoom=] on "Flight as a Feather," Mayor Tilton's real name is [[spoiler: Mortimer]] (though that wasn't his real name in the movie adaptation).

** Skillit is akin to [[GreatGazoo Mr. Mxyzptlk]] (extra-dimensional trickster being, can only be banished by saying a name backwards - in this case, "KSAM") with an "evil Literature/PeterPan" appearance.

* TheFairFolk: Skillit from "All Hallows Eve," "Shadow of a Skillit," and "Enquiring Masks Want to Know."

** On "Split Personality," The Mask/Stanley goes to a tough guy bar and orders a red-hot, battery acid piledriver with extra formaldehyde in a dirty glass with a black widow spider riding on the olive. [[spoiler:They were out of olives.]]
** On "Flight as a Feather," the Mask poses as a bartender who turns two megatons worth of dynamite into a drink called the Bikini Cocktail.

* InspectorJavert: Kellaway, so very much - even more so than in the movie.

* LargeHam: The Mask, especially in season three's "To Have and Have Snot." He gets called out on it by Pretorious, who's voiced by Creator/TimCurry, ironically.

* LosingYourHead: Dr. Pretorius
* LoudOfWar: "Flight as a Feather" had a scene in which The Mask uses a large boombox and a cassette entitled "The Mask's Greatest Hits" as a form of torture on Mrs. Peenman - first out loud, then through headphones.

* {{Laughably Evil}}: Masked Dr Neuman is very funny like the Mask, but also much crueler. He puts anyone he sees into wedgie straightjackets, and after Praetorius won’t tell him about his plans, he tries ''actually'' injure him with a mallet and chainsaw among other things.

* MistakenForTransformed: "Little Big Mask" features Stanley Ipkiss testing an anti-aging cream on himself and suffering [[FountainOfYouth a downward spiral of regression as a result]]. After taking the now-infant Stanley to the hospital, Peggy wakes up to find that his enclosure is deserted except for empty baby clothes - leading her to tearfully assume that Stanley has [[DeathByDeaging regressed out of existence altogether]] and the clothes are all that's left of him. Fortunately, it turns out that one of the doctors just removed Stanley from the room for a quick check-up and he's exactly the same age he was the last time she saw him.

* MostWritersAreMale: Subverted with "Flight as a Feather." [[spoiler:Would you believe that, in spite of the appearance of (and subsequent {{Fanservice}} provided by) Cookie [=BaBoom=] (the Mayor's exotic dancer ex-girlfriend), that the episode was written by a woman? Yeah, there may have been some male writers pitching ideas -- [[SomethingElseAlsoRises among other things]], but an actual woman -- named Julia Lewald -- is credited for writing "Flight as a Feather"]].

* MythologyGag: In "Sister Mask", when Pretorius wears the mask, Peggy refers to him as "Big Head" - the name given to the mask wearer in the original Dark Horse comic series.
** In "The Mask is Always Greener on the Other Side," the Mask once again produces a framed (and signed!) photograph of Kellway's wife.

** In "Santa Mask," the Mask performs a ''mambo'' version of "Jingle Bells" in the Cuban Pete costume.

* NuclearMutant: Nuclear power (with a dash of WrongGenreSavvy) is how Dak and Eddie became Putty Thing and Fish Guy respectively on the episode "The Terrible Twos."

* PetPositiveIdentification: Zig-zagged in "The Aceman Cometh", where {{Film/Ace Ventura|PetDetective}} is able to deduce that the Mask is Stanley Ipkiss due to Milo's fondness for him - and also because his pet monkey Spike took pictures of Stanley transforming.

* RebusBubble: In "Split Personality," when Stanley is thinking of what would happen if his old high school bully found and wore The Mask. He was mostly right. Luckily, the mask had been split in half at the time and Chet was only wearing it on one half of his body, allowing his normal self to stop his Mask persona when he went too far.

* RememberTheNewGuy: Cookie [=BaBoom=] and Smedley, the Mayor's assistant were never shown prior to "Flight as a Feather," yet they've been established as being regular characters (despite that Cookie is a [[OneSceneWonder One-Episode Wonder]] and Smedley only appeared in two episodes: "Flight as a Feather" and the previous episode, "Going for the Green.")
* RevelingInTheNewForm: In "Little Big Mask," Stanley Ipkiss creates an anti-aging formula and uses it on himself, only to find himself regressing uncontrollably into childhood. He's initially alarmed by the process, but once he starts wearing the Mask, he quickly adapts and starts having fun -- no doubt aided by the fact that the Mask is a bit of a ManChild anyway; he even spends the day playing on the swings with an increasingly horrified Peggy. Indeed, Stanley is having so much fun that it's not until he regresses from toddler to baby that he finally understands that if he doesn't help Peggy find a cure, ''he'll [[DeathByDeaging regress out of existence]].''
* RidiculousProcrastinator: One of the Mask's {{Catchphrase}}s is "But ''first''...", meaning he's going to goof off before saving the city. This happens in nearly every episode.

* SeriousBusiness -

* SexyCoatFlashing: A warped variation done by Cookie [=BaBoom=] on "Flight as a Feather." After Smedley tries to stop Cookie from rushing the stage after Mayor Tilton, she supposedly flashes her naked body by opening her trenchcoat. Smedley lecherously growls, "Dy-no-mite!" As the [[DressHitsFloor trenchcoat hits the ground]], the camera pans up, revealing the [[spoiler: two megatons worth of dynamite strapped to Cookie's body - only to have the Mask give her a ShamefulStrip]].
* ShamefulStrip: [[spoiler:The Mask does this to Cookie Ba Boom in ''Flight of a Feather'' to save the Mayor's life but more importantly to himself to get his feather back when he yanks her suicide bombs off her - and then uses her very public nudity to stun Kellaway and Doyle]].

** "Sister Mask" has Pretorius seeking four meteor shards that give powers - [[Comicbook/FantasticFour invisibility, fire-making, elasticity and invulnerability]], [[LampshadeHanging "just like in comic books"]].

* SomethingElseAlsoRises: Kellaway and Doyle's reaction (of the melting variety, though there was that kinky twang noise prior to Doyle's and Kellaway's reaction) to the now-naked Cookie [=BaBoom=] on "Flight as a Feather."
** The Mask's reaction to seeing Davida Steelmine perform magic tricks on the season three premiere "Magic."
* SongParody: In "Flight as a Feather," The Mask has a cassette of himself singing a parody of "O, Christmas Tree" which makes fun of Mrs. Peenman and makes her listen to the song on full blast.

* TakeThat: The "Dan Quayle Center For Space Cases" mental hospital from ''For All Mask-Kind''.

** When Fish Guy puts on the mask and becomes Shark Dude in "The Good, The Bad, and the Fish Guy."

* TimeStandsStill: Done on the two episodes that have Chronos as the villain: "Comedy of Eras" and "What Goes Around Comes Around."

* UnlimitedWardrobe: Although The Mask's can be explained by his RealityWarper powers, Dr. Pretorius has an unusual take on this, in that he seems to have a large amount of ''bodies'' for his cyborg head to go onto - black-tie and tuxedo, ice-cream man, and his standard outfit of BadassLongcoat.

* AlmostKiss: Happens between The Mask and Chronos in "What Goes Around Comes Around", and ends up {{squick}}ing The Mask out so much that he has to literally get his head examined.

* OneBookAuthor: Heidi Shannon, who voiced Peggy, doesn't seem to have any other credits besides this show, and very little is known about her, not even having a page on Wikipedia.

%% * 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.

* [[OverprotectiveDad Overprotective Aunt]]: Mrs. Peenman is revealed to be this in "Mask au Gratin" when it comes to her niece Jennifer. She makes a deal with Stanley to show Jennifer around town since she’s busy preparing for a paintball tournament, and in exchange, she’ll look the other way about his rent being late. When he and Jennifer are about to head out, Mrs. Peenman reminds her niece, who is a grown woman, to “be careful crossing streets” and “don’t talk to strangers”. She then threatens Stanley with a ''shotgun'' that he better not try anything with her niece.

* ChallengingTheBully: In the episode "Split Personality", a high school bully, Chet Bozzack, who tormented Stanley Ipkiss, to the point that he was expelled from the school, gets empoyed in the same bank where Stanley works. He initially seems to have mellowed out, with occasional moments of Jerkassery here and there. Then the mask gets split in half and ''then'' Chet finds one half and puts it on, releasing his repressed personality, which is a big bully. He ends up challenging Stanley (who still has the other half of the mask) for a fight in their old high school campus, as an act of revenge for [[NeverMyFault getting him expelled]]. Unfortunately for Chet, while Stanley's normal self is still afraid of his former school bully, his repressed half (i.e The Mask) isn't and he is far more experienced with the powers of the mask. The resultant fight is almost one sided (though Chet does get his occassional moments), before things take a murderous turn and even Chet is horrified by his masked half's actions and manages to fight his inner demons, meanwhile, Stanley's masked half reveals [[IAmNotLeftHanded he was only pretending to be helpless]] [[ItAmusedMe for fun]]. The episode ends with Chet [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realising he still needs help]] and deciding to start a new life in a new city.

* ArtStyleDissonance: "The Aceman Cometh" combines the relatively realistic character designs of ''The Mask'' universe with the deformed, more cartoony look of the ''Ace Ventura'' cartoon, so whenever Stanley and Ace are on-screen together, their designs clash. This is exasperated by there being two credited studios (Creator/FilCartons and [[Creator/WangFilmProductions Cuckoo's Nest]]) for the episode.

* AnimationBump: Thanks to having overseas animation studios such as Creator/FilCartoons, Creator/PlusOneAnimation and Creator/DaiWon working on it, Season 3's animation is easily and consistently the most expressive and fluid in the entire series.

* ArtStyleDissonance: "The Aceman Cometh" combines the relatively realistic character designs of ''The Mask'' universe with the deformed, more cartoony look of the ''Ace Ventura'' cartoon, so whenever Stanley and Ace are on-screen together, their designs clash.

* ILoveNuclearPower:
** A lot of the low-level, one-shot criminals in the series love using nuclear power (or dynamite) to annihilate themselves and the city.
** Nuclear power (with a dash of WrongGenreSavvy) is how Dak and Eddie became Putty Thing and Fish Guy respectively on the episode "The Terrible Twos."

* AnimationBump: Thanks to having overseas animation studios such as Creator/FilCartoons, Creator/PlusOneAnimation and Creator/DaiWon working on it, Season 3's animation is easily the most expressive and fluid in the entire series.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: Peggy was, in a deleted scene, [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves killed by Tyrell]] in the original film. In the cartoon, she's his trusted confidant and SecretKeeper, as well as the implied LoveInterest.

* PapaWolf: Stanley and The Mask love Milo deeply and won’t hesitate to go after anyone who tries to hurt him. Same with any kids that the Mask happens to notice are in trouble.

Open up wide and really shout, Ohhhhh, look out!\\
This is The Mask! Smokin[='=]!''

-->'''The Mask:''' Well, ''I'' know you’re there, guys, but he's ''obviously'' got a problem, you know what I mean?

* BreakingTheFourthWall: "Split Personality": After the Mask gets him and Stanley out of a trap designed to split them in half, Stanley asks [[LampshadeHanging why he didn't do that sooner]]. "Sense of jeopardy! Keeps them ''(points at the viewer)'' on the edge of their seats."

** In Broadway Maladay The Mask got very pissed off after learning his favourite movie Mad Monkey was being made into a musical and went berserk over it.

* ChaoticNeutral: The Mask itself is this, with any further alignment comign from the nature of its host. In the hands of someone nice like Stanley, it causes goofy chaos without actually hurting anyone, and will occasionally stop actual bad people. In the hands of someone evil like Blackbeard, it will straight-up ''murder'' people.