History WesternAnimation / WordGirl

* EleventhHourSuperpower: [[spoiler:Subverted]]. When Miss Power [[spoiler: takes over Fair City, intending eventual world domination]], Captain Huggyface takes [=WordGirl=] to a Lexiconian lair which holds their tome of "Super-Advanced Secret Battle Rules". While the local villains rampage against Miss Power, [=WordGirl=] gets a montage of devouring the whole book. However, after all the build-up, when [=WordGirl=] shows up for the showdown, she [[spoiler: doesn't have ''any'' new superpowers, but she has the power of ''knowledge''. [=WordGirl=] knows that Miss Power doesn't have ''any'' powers, neither superhuman nor ordinary, as long as other people are happy with themselves. This time, when Miss Power begins showering vitriol at her and the villains' way, [=WordGirl=] doesn't stand for it and begins lifting everyone up. Left powerless, Miss Power and Colonel Gigglecheeks are forced to flee. The world is saved]].

* YouAreGrounded: [[spoiler: At the end of "The Incredible Shrinking Allowance", Mrs. [=McCallister=] grounds Tobey (a ten-year-old) for a year as punishment for his latest scheme]].

* TheVoiceless: Scoops's grandpa hasn't said a single word. If he did, it probably wouldn't be anything nice judging by the look of his perpetual frown.

** Granny May's cat "Colonel Mustard".

* AnAesop: "The Rise Of Miss Power" has quite a few:
** Words have a ''lot'' more power than you think they do, so be very careful with how you use them.
** If bullies really are as superior as they want you to believe, they wouldn't have to stand on the self-worth of others to feel tall. If they can't put other people down, then bullies have no confidence at all.
** Having power ''' does not''' entitle you to use it however you want. "But I'm the good guy, and the people I have power over are the bad guys!" isn't an excuse, because if you use your power to do more harm than good, can you really consider yourself a "good guy"?

* EtTuBrute: After being [[spoiler:betrayed by the Learnerer, the Amazing Rope Guy experiences a VillainousBreakdown. [[SincerityMode Yes, that's are really what they're called]]]].

* CatchPhrase: Warden Chalmers has "...I'll eat my hat!" Made funny by the fact that he actually ''will'' eat his hat, and seems to enjoy the taste. He started having them made out of meat after his first one didn't taste so good.

* YouAreGrounded: In "Super-Grounded" and the two-parter "Dinner or Consequences", Becky (a child) experiences this. Special note, however, goes to the latter in which she gets "mega-grounded" after missing two of her father's special dinners. This means that not only does she get sent to her room, but her room has been wiped off all her favorite things and she's not allowed to go anywhere or do anything fun.

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: More like, "Where The Hell Is Fair City?]".

* EleventhHourSuperpower: [[spoiler:Subverted]]. When Miss Power [[spoiler:takes over Fair City, intending eventual world domination]], Captain Huggyface takes [=WordGirl=] to a Lexiconian lair which holds their tome of "Super-Advanced Secret Battle Rules". While the local villains rampage against Miss Power, [=WordGirl=] gets a montage of devouring the whole book. However, after all the build-up, when [=WordGirl=] shows up for the showdown, she [[spoiler: doesn't have ''any'' new superpowers, but she has the power of ''knowledge''. [=WordGirl=] knows that Miss Power doesn't have ''any'' powers, neither superhuman nor ordinary, as long as other people are happy with themselves. This time, when Miss Power begins showering vitriol at her and the villains' way, [=WordGirl=] doesn't stand for it and begins lifting everyone up. Left powerless, Miss Power and Colonel Gigglecheeks are forced to flee. The world is saved]].
* AccentRelapse: Guy Rich speaks with a Southern accent until [[spoiler:he reveals himself to be an ordinary person, not the affluent man he lead everyone to believe he was]].

** Having power '''does not''' entitle you to use it however you want. "But I'm the good guy, and the people I have power over are the bad guys!" isn't an excuse, because if you use your power to do more harm than good, can you really consider yourself a "good guy"?

* TheBadGuyWins: Downplayed example. [[spoiler:In "[=WordGirl=] and Bobbleboy", TJ's success in his [=WordGirl=] bobblehead dolls business distracts our heroine so much that she gets smashed to the ground by Chuck's Crusher. Luckily she gets better, but the villain featured for the rest of the episode is Dr. Two-Brains and not Chuck]].
* BadMoodAsAnExcuse: What was Tobey's reasoning/excuse for why he was having one of his robots wreck havoc around town? He was mad he didn't get invited to Katie's birthday party.

-->'''Mayor:''' Whoa - a dog from the old days! That dog is probably dead now.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Subverted in "Don't Mess with the Best". Dr. Two-Brains tells Victoria Best that if she ''really'' wants to get rid of [=WordGirl=] and prove she's the best villain, she should push that red button on the back of his cheese ray. Turns out [[spoiler:it just sprays Victoria in the face with gunk, causing her to drop it and allowing Dr. Two-Brains to pick it back up]].

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Many of the characters speak redundantly as a means for the show to indirectly teach kids synonyms. Warden Chalmers gets special mention though.
-->'''Warden Chalmers:''' Today is a historic day in history, for, on this historic day, history will show that we have indeed made history.

** In "Re-Enter, The Butcher", Reginald refers to The Butcher as "smelly wiener man".

* EpisodeTitleCard: Every episode has one. In most episodes, it's during the title card where the narrator explains what vocabulary words to watch out for.

** [=WorldGirl=] does this to ''herself'' at one point. As she's lecturing the Learnerer about why his VerbalTic of adding suffixes unnecessarily to words is annoying, it suddenly occurs to her that he said that he ''had been learning her moves''!

* FeudEpisode: The titular villains from “Rhyme and Reason” have this when the latter is fed up with the former that he breaks up with her.

** Implied in "Vocab Bee". When Scoops is starting to suspect Becky is [=WordGirl=], he points out how Becky went as [=WordGirl=] for Halloween.

* GamesOfTheElderly: In the episode "Bonkers For Bingo", Granny May retires from crime and takes up playing bingo, becoming a city bingo champion thanks to a massive streak of luck. [[spoiler:It turns out that her "luck" was really as a result of her [[GoodLuckCharm lucky charm]] - a magnetic duck, which allowed her to manipulate the metal bingo balls to control which numbers were called]].

* HandRubbing: There are times the villains rubs their hands together when in the villainous mood. The Narrator once [[LampshadeHanging called one of them (i.e. Tobey) out]] on it.

* IdiotBall: The Botsfords throw a holiday party during the ChristmasSpecial, and the theme is...cheese. In a city where the number one villain is infamous for stealing cheese almost on the daily. Three guesses what happens to kick off the episode's conflict.

* ImpliedDeathThreat: [=WordGirl=] ''physically folds a large bar of steel into a small, crude ball live on broadcast'' to represent what would happen if the villains were doing any crime. In other words, she literally broadcasts the fact that she allows the villains to live. The best part is that she did this to ''ensure'' that she wouldn't get interrupted while watching her favorite TV show again, because she missed the finale the last time she was busy fighting crime.

* IncestSubtext: Becky/[=WordGirl=] and TJ. Averted a bit, because technically she's adopted. She still finds it gross, though. And, to be fair, TJ has no idea that [=WordGirl=] is his sister.

* ItsBeenDone: In "Mr. Big Words", the reason that Mr. Big makes the entire town speak in only big words is so that [[spoiler:he can make a profit off his new product - a book he's invented that gives them the definitions of those big words. [=WordGirl=] is quick to point out that Mr. Big just created a dictionary, which he had no idea existed already]].

** Dr. Two-Brains's ex-number one fan Glen Furlblam. After failing to impress his idol, now he wants to outdo him.

-->'''Mr. Big:''' I don't get it, Leslie. [=WordGirl=] has always dominated me in the past, both in her battle skills as well as her flawless way with words. Something... mmm... fishy is going on around here.\\

* MonsterFangirl: One episode reveals Tobey has a fangirl who adores him '''and''' is aware of his villainy.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Becky has a moment of this after she wishes that [=WordGirl=] never existed, not knowing that the birthday cake was enchanted due to the Energy Monster's overload]].

* NeverMyFault: When a group of rightfully pissed-off super villains asks Mr. Big why he hypnotized his allies just to build him a miniature golf course, his justification for his actions is to blame Guy Rich (a villain who faked being richer than him). As he puts it, if Guy Rich hadn't shown up to brag, none of what happened would've happened.

* NightmareFuelColoringBook: Tobey has one of these in the episode "Cherish is the Word" - he draws Valentine's Day card for [=WordGirl=] picturing him holding hands with her and a robot ready to destroy her in the background (the robot happens to be dressed like Cupid and is aiming its bow and arrow).

* OneJokeFakeShow: More like fake movie series, but the episode "A Questionable Pair" has Scoops taking Becky to see the seventh "Whoopsie" movie, which are comedies about a man who keeps disguising himself into wacky situations and saying "Whoopsie!" every time something funny happens.

* OnionTears: It's shown in one episode that [[spoiler:Raul Demiglasse, a chef who challenged others' cooking skills on his TV show, used onion flakes to make his opponents cry]].

* PlayingATree: Scoops gets cast as a wall in the school play. It's an interesting twist, considering [[spoiler:he saves the play when the other characters are off dealing with villains by narrating it himself]].

-->'''The Mayor:''' All by assisting the city's favorite superhero, Smile and put hands up... Uh, what? (Aside) You should have put it in parentheses.

%%* SecretKeeper: Besides the ones on the Characters page, we have Bampy Botsford and [[spoiler:Rose]].

-->'''Beatrice Bixby:''' He's just lucky that my thirty-minute lunch break is only a half-hour long.

** [[spoiler:Scoops gets some with Becky once he learns of her SecretIdentity, because sharing the secret brings them closer together]].

** A variation: The [=WordGirl=] episodes are followed by a segment featuring a GameShow that stars its characters (and Captain Huggyface). Like the main segment they're intended to [[{{Edutainment}} teach the meaning of words to the audience]].

* ShutUpKirk: Before her final "fight" with her, [[TheHeroine [=WordGirl=]]] gives Miss Power some heroic speech, and the latter responds via saying it was garbage.

* StatusQuoIsGod: Averted in "Invasion of The Bunny Lovers". [[spoiler:Scoops learns [=WordGirl=]'s secret identity and promises to keep it a secret, defying both his own reporter's instincts and the long-running tendency of wiping the memories of anyone who learns [=WordGirl's=] identity.]] Followed up in "News Girl", [[spoiler:where the school paper's new IntrepidReporter Rose captures Becky's transformation on tape and presents it to Scoops, but he convinces her to keep it a secret]].

** In "Answer All My Questions and Win Stuff", Captain Huggyface tries to grab Seymour Orlando Smooth, but keeps sliding down his body, as if he were unusually [[spoiler:smooth]].

* TemptingFate: [[spoiler:At the end of "By Jove, You've Wrecked My Robot!", when Mrs. Botsford tells Tobey he's in big trouble, he scoffs at her and tells her she isn't his mother. Cue the sudden arrival of Mrs. [=McCallister=], complete with ominous lightning flashes]].

-->'''Prof. Boxleitner:''' Oh boy. This is gonna sting.

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Snappy Snaps for the Botsford's and the city in general (it seems to be their default cereal).

* {{Unishment}}: In "House Arrest", Chuck the Evil Sandwich-Making Guy is placed under house arrest at the Botsfords' residence while his jail cell is being repainted. He enjoys the way Mrs. Botsford is treating him as a guest enough that when he's free to go, he deliberately commits crimes in an attempt to get arrested and go back to the house.

* VerbalTic: Mrs. Botsford typically can't speak a sentence without bursting into laughter some point midway.

** Literally in "Mouse Army". When Dr. Two-Brains creates an army of super-intelligent mice, [[spoiler:they are all reverted to normal in the end... except for one, but we never hear of it again. In the episode "Birthday Town", Mr. Botsford is watching TV and the mouse is seen in the news. It seems to have furthered its career in science and fused a cat and dog's minds]].

** Lady Redundant Woman's copies get destroyed right and left, yet in "The Young And The Meatless" and even "Lady Redundant Woman Gets The Blues", it's implied that the copies have separate personalities and even feelings. [[spoiler:Dupey doesn't get turned back into paper in "The Young And The Meatless", most likely because she is shown to experience love]].
%%* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: More like, "Where The Hell Is Fair City?]".

** A couple times [[SmallNameBigEgo Victoria]] claims the titular heroine is just being jelly of her. In her debut, for instance, she claims Becky was being jealous when she calls her out on the fact she didn't win all the awards she has.

* ArtShift: Most of the stories are drawn by Steve Young and Andy Price, whose art styles differ greatly from that of the show.

* InstantFanClub: "Super Fans" has TJ arranging a [=WordGirl=] convention, with the fans showing up acting like this and hindering [=WordGirl=] in her attempts to fight Lady Redundant Woman. [[spoiler:When [=WordGirl=] finally gets used to them and decides to incorporate them into her plan to stop the villainess, their attentions are instantly diverted to a teenage heartthrob]].

'''Fashion Judge 2:''' Only someone desperate for attention. Next!

* YouAreGrounded: [[spoiler:At the end of "The Incredible Shrinking Allowance", Mrs. [=McCallister=] grounds Tobey (a ten-year-old) for a year as punishment for his latest scheme]].

* IJustWantToBeNormal: Becky/[=WordGirl=] constantly misses out on fun things due to her obligations as a superhero, leading her to actually wish she was normal in "A World Without Wordgirl".

* ToothStrip: Every character has undivided strips of teeth.

* OffModel: The characters usually have {{Tooth Strip}}s, but in "Of Two Minds", [=WordGirl=] gives [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/f65ab5b3c9f277edd31a4be4bb13b95e/tumblr_ox5x6r39US1wt5b1eo1_1280.pnj a toothy fake smile]] when she visits Dr. Two-Brains.

** "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" is a load of bull.

* AdultsAreUseless: It's a kids' show. Surprised?
** Averted with some of the villains.
** Becky's parents also seem to be getting smarter and more useful throughout the show, as both show off the ability to outwit villains when needed.
** Becky's Grandpa Bampy can defeat a giant robot with just a screwdriver!

* BitingTheHandHumor: This is [[InvertedTrope inverted]] in the short "Play Date". While at Becky's house, Tobey calls the Botsfords "imbeciles" for having a TV. Becky[[note]]who, at this point, doesn't know that Tobey is a villain[[/note]] says that she and her family are not idiots because they "only watch Creator/{{PBS}}." She gestures to the PBS logo and smiles.

* SpiritualSuccessor: The premise is similar to ''Series/TheElectricCompany1971'''s short "Letterman" segments, and the Electric Company comics had yet another hero named [=WonderWord=].

* SucksAtDancing: Becky's idea of dancing is [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/5672130e1db40bc1290b8ce6a06ed08b/026b0b54ee81ec5b-b2/s400x600/d7e47b7dd9ac1496b20412cfe4259967823c94a6.gif pumping her arms up and down while awkwardly shimmying]]. She's done this as Becky and [=WordGirl=], which still doesn't compromise her secret identity.

''[Huggyface winces]''\\

[=WordGirl=] uses her great vocabulary to fend off villains such as The Butcher, Dr. Two-Brains, Granny May, Tobey, and Chuck The Evil Sandwich-Making Guy. She never reveals her alter-ego to anyone, including her own family. She and Huggy use their crashed spaceship as a secret hideout.