History YMMV / ShadowRaiders

* IAmNotShazam: The main characters of the show aren't called "The Shadow Raiders"--they're called "The Alliance". The title, in fact, has barely anything to do with the story, and seems to have been mainly chosen because the network couldn't call the show ''War Planets'' in some markets.[[note]] The one (very tenuous) connection to the story is that the denizens of the Cluster are forced to habitually steal natural resources from one another's planets to survive, which is officially called "raiding". And the Beast Planet, whose primary element is [[CastingAShadow darkness]] (or "shadow"), is driven to consume the planets of the Cluster for sustenance--which is effectively "raiding" on a bigger and more destructive scale.[[/note]]

** [[TheBrute Blokk]] is a brutish warrior who firmly believes in the power of absolute force over everything else, preferring to overrun worlds through his armada to destroy all they see whilst basking in the carnage. Blokk's repeated attempts to attack the planets in the Cluster result in numerous deaths and the successful destruction of Planet Jungle. Blokk personally attempts to trick Cryos into killing his own daughter whilst leaving his planet vulnerable, and grows more and more vicious after his repeated punishments at the hand of the Beast. [[PostClimaxConfrontation In the finale of the series]], Blokk takes over Planet Rock by force by besting and [[KickTheSonOfABitch killing Lord Mantle]], while promising to give the Alliance members he's captured--[[WouldHurtAChild two children among them]]--a slow death at the Beast's hands. Once he's left stranded on Rock, Blokk slaughters his way to Rock's World Engine, [[HeroKiller personally executes]] [[MauveShirt Feldspar]], and sets the entire planet on a collision course with the nearest star out of sheer spite.

%%* UncannyValley: The CGI has ''not'' aged well.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Nothing the heroes do has any chance of destroying the Beast Planet; if anything, they kill as many innocent people as it does.

** A mechanical monster planet whose first shown act is eating a world of living robots, only to have their one survivor deliver exposition on its identity to the heroes later? [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie Déjà vu]]. Even better, the [[Creator/MainframeEntertainment creators of the show]] made the [[WesternAnimation/BeastWars sequel show to the movie.]]

*** Also when Pyrus drops a bridge with Beast Drones on it into lava, both the bridge and the Drones simply disappear in orange clouds instead of splashing into the lava.

** [[ManipulativeBitch Lamprey]] is a master of deceit and subterfuge who weakens worlds from the inside out through complex gambits, occasionally pausing to murder people who cross her path for little other reason than [[ForTheEvulz to amuse herself]]. Lamprey introduces herself tricking Emperor Femur into installing a device meant to drain all the life from Planet Bone. After this, Lamprey possesses Tekla and tries to use her to destroy the Alliance from the inside out, contenting herself with subjecting her to horrific MindRape of her planet's destruction and trying to slowly kill her from the inside once this fails. After this fails, Lamprey murders a resident of Planet Fire and pins it on Jade's hands, intending for her to be horribly executed by being dipped into a fall of lava. Lamprey's final crimes in the series [[EvilIsPetty stem purely from petty spite]]: Seeking revenge against Tekla, Lamprey has her Beast drones attack a bar with the intent to kill everyone inside, personally disintegrates Captain Blaze once he gets in her way, and furiously attempts to kill everyone who stands between her and Tekla before her own demise.

** [[TheBrute Blokk]] is a brutish warrior who firmly believes in the power of absolute force over everything else, preferring to overrun worlds through his armada to destroy all they see whilst basking in the carnage. Blokk's repeated attempts to attack the planets in the Cluster result in numerous deaths and the successful destruction of Planet Jungle. Blokk personally attempts to trick Cryos into killing his own daughter whilst leaving his planet vulnerable, and grows more and more vicious after his repeated punishments at the hand of the Beast. [[PostClimaxConfrontaton In the finale of the series]], Blokk takes over Planet Rock by force by besting and [[KickTheSonOfABitch killing Lord Mantle]], while promising to give the Alliance members he's captured--[[WouldHurtAChild two children among them]]--a slow death at the Beast's hands. Once he's left stranded on Rock, Blokk slaughters his way to Rock's World Engine, [[HeroKiller personally executes]] [[MauveShirt Feldspar]], and sets the entire planet on a collision course with the nearest star out of sheer spite.

** [[TheBrute Blokk]] is a brutish warrior who firmly believes in the power of absolute force over everything else, preferring to overrun worlds through his armada to destroy all they see whilst basking in the carnage. Blokk's repeated attempts to attack the planets in the Cluster result in numerous deaths and the successful destruction of Planet Jungle. Blokk personally attempts to trick Cryos into killing his own daughter whilst leaving his planet vulnerable, and grows more and more vicious after his repeated punishments at the hand of the Beast. In the finale of the series, Blokk takes over Planet Rock by force by besting and [[HeroKiller killing Lord Mantle]], while promising to give the Alliance members he's captured--[[WouldHurtAChild two children among them]]--a slow death at the Beast's hands. Once he's left stranded on Rock, Blokk slaughters his way to Rock's World Engine, personally executes [[MauveShirt Feldspar]], and sets the entire planet on a collision course with the nearest star out of sheer spite.

** A mechanical monster planet whose first shown act is eating a world of living robots, only to have their one survivor deliver exposition on its identity to the heroes later? [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie Déjà vu]].

* UncannyValley: The CGI has ''not'' aged well.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: A CosmicHorrorStory... aimed at kids. Tons of horrific imagery, violence, death, and the onscreen obliteration of entire planets and their inhabitants beside the general premise. [[spoiler:Even the ''ending'' is depressingly bleak, although this is more fault of being CutShort.]]

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Femur. Fans of the show generally can't decide amongst themselves whether he is an [[TheScrappy obnoxious line-stealing distraction]] from the main plot, or a [[PluckyComicRelief much needed comic relief character]] in an otherwise nihilistic cosmic horror series.

** A mechanical monster planet whose first shown act is eating a world of living robots, only to have their one survivor deliver exposition on its identity to the heroes later? [[WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie Deja vu]].

* TheScrappy: Lord Mantle is a warmongering {{Jerkass}} whose attempts to usurp leadership of the Alliance from Graveheart and establish Rock as the supreme power in the Cluster only make things worse for the Alliance. Granted, it seems he was an ''[[HateSink intentional]]'' example.

* GeniusBonus: As with all MainframeEntertainment productions, classic quotations and references abound throughout the series, particularly in episode titles. ''J'accuse'' deals with a murder accusation against respected soldier Jade and ''Ragnarok'' brings about the end of the traditional Cluster society. As with WesternAnimation/ReBoot and WesternAnimation/BeastWars, Mainframe shows that being a children's show does not mean intelligence is left at the door.