History YMMV / MonkeyWrench

* TheWoobie: The Lythop ruler cared deeply for his people, [[spoiler:And he is forced to watch them all be ground up by Dr. Agness and used to power her battle armor. Even though he avenges them, he is still effectively the LastOfHisKind. That fact reduces him to tears once it kicks in as he is taken away by L.A.W. officials to be found a new home.]]

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

* AlternativeJokeInterpretation:
** When the Lythop ruler asks to become Shrike's right-hand guy, they boast that they're "[[ElmuhFuddSyndwome a weally good weader]]". Because they replace both R's and L's in their speech pattern, they're either bragging about what a good leader they are...or, given they mentioned being the oldest of the Lythops immediately prior, they might be bragging about having better reading skills than their kin.

** In "Us & Them," Shrike tries to reassure Beebs about the Lythop genocide by telling him not to think about it too hard--he "can't have regrets." His expression and body language as he says this both imply he has quite a few. Either he shares the same concerns as Beebs, or something ''else'' is on his mind, perhaps a regret from his past.

** In "Us & Them," Shrike tries to reassure Beebs about the Lythop genocide by telling him not to think about it too hard--he "can't have regrets." His expression and body language as he says this both imply he has quite a few. Either he shares the same concerns as Beebs in the moment, or something ''else'' in his past is on his mind.

** In "Us & Them," Shrike tries to reassure Beebs about the Lythop genocide by telling him not to think about it too hard--"can't have regrets." His expression and body language as he says this both imply he has quite a few. Either he shares the same concerns as Beebs in the moment, or something ''else'' in his past is on his mind.

* SpiritualSuccessor: The series focuses on a duo of down-on-their-luck space mercenaries as they go on many ill-fated jobs; one is a reckless gunslinger, while the other is larger, more pragmatic and mellow and sports a beard and a cybernetic arm. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSJEBdgM52Q&t=1538s In the words of youtuber Just Stop]]: "I'd like you to imagine for a moment if ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' never added Faye or Ed and decided to get rid of the theatrics for a space adventure buddy comedy...[[BreadMilkEggsSquick and also Spike is a dumb alien with a hole in his hole in his head]]." It helps that ''Monkey Wrench'' is slowly starting to implement more solemn sadness and lore on top of the action and comedy like ''Cowboy Bebop'' would (though ''Monkey'' will likely never meet ''Cowboy'''s levels of tragedy) and that one of the main duo is an ex-cop here too, even if it's Spike rather than Jet this time around.

* SpiritualSuccessor: The series focuses on a duo of down-on-their-luck space mercenaries as they go on many ill-fated jobs; one is a reckless gunslinger, while the other is larger, more pragmatic and mellow and sports a beard and a cybernetic arm. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSJEBdgM52Q&t=1538s In the words of youtuber Just Stop]]: "I'd like you to imagine for a moment if ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' never added Faye or Ed and decided to get rid of the theatrics for a space adventure buddy comedy...[[BreadMilkEggsSquick and also Spike is a dumb alien with a hole in his hole in his head." It helps that ''Monkey Wrench'' is slowly starting to implement more solemn sadness and lore on top of the action and comedy like ''Cowboy Bebop'' would (though ''Monkey'' will likely never meet ''Cowboy'''s levels of tragedy) and that one of the main duo is an ex-cop here too, even if it's Spike rather than Jet this time around.

* NightmareFuel: The Cataclysm is a viral corruption unleashed by the Terrans that's capable of infecting and assimilating both organics like the once-peaceful Agari and machinery like the Bucket's systems. Those infected turn into murderous, assimilative drones hell-bent on further spreading the corruption. Even a collision with a LeakingCanOfEvil of the stuff is enough to trigger infection. Worst of all, around an ''entire quarter'' of the galaxy has been infected and quarantined.

* TheWoobie: The Lythop ruler cared deeply for his people, [[spoiler:And he is forced to watch them all be ground up by Dr. Agness and used to power her battle armor. Even though he avenges them, he is still effectively the LastOfHisKind. That fact reduces him to a to tears once it kicks in as he is taken away by L.A.W. officials to be found a new home.]]

* AngstWhatAngst: Shrike is [[SkewedPriorities more concerned about a scratched paint job]] than the fact that [[spoiler: he inadvertantly led an entire race of critters that trusted him into extinction]].

** When the Lythop ruler asks to become Shrike's right-hand guy, they boast that they're "[[ElmuhFuddSyndwome a weally good weader]]". Because they replace both R's and L's in their speech pattern, they're either bragging about what a good leader they are...or, given they mentioned being the oldest of the Lythops immediately prior, they might be bragging about having better reading skills than their kin.

* The L.A.W. agents at the end don't seem particularly bothered about handing off potentially deadly cargo. Are they always this flippant about putting people in danger? Or--after seeing the end result of Monkey Wrench v. dangerous arms dealer--do they just have confidence that the cargo is in more capable hands than theirs?

* AlternateJokeInterpretation:

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: ** Just how many of Nobert's annoying traits are due to his personality, and how many are just because he's being intentionally annoying? The smug look he gives while reclining at the end of the travel montage [[spoiler:plus him briefly dropping his obnoxious speech pattern when frightened by his mother]] muddy the issue.