Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: The Younger brothers are incapable of hitting anything they try on purpose. In the first scene, they try practicing on cans over a fence, and after shooting several times, they stop to check on them and not one of them was shot. Instead, the outhouse behind the cans is brought down by the missed shots.
Ironic Name: The Youngers were once young, of course, but having spent 20 years in jail, they're even more out-of-shape to perform robberies anymore, and one of them refers to them as "the Older brothers now".
Mistaken for Thief: Mr. Edwards catches the Younger brothers being held at gunpoint by mail officers they were trying to rob and who turned the tables on them and, assuming they were the robbers, he fires a warning shot to scare them off, saving the Younger Brothers. Then, when he's recognized in town by the mail officers, they assume he's one of the Younger brothers and lock him up. To make things worse, Almanzo and John Carter go visit the town where Edwards was being held prisoner (the Youngers broke him out to take him hostage) and try to clear his name, only to for the Sheriff to assume they are part of the gang too and lock them up.
Non Fatal Explosion: Every time the Younger brothers use dynamite to blow somewhere open, Cole stays too close to the explosion and gets thrown several feet away.
Recycled Premise: Fans of Bonanza will remember a nearly identical story note several of the main protagonists being misidentified as members of a bumbling outlaw gang from 11 years earlier: "The Younger Brothers' Younger Brother."
Rule of Three: The Youngers use dynamite to open their way somewhere three times, and all three of them wind up blasting Cole Younger backwards.
Surrounded by Idiots: Not that Cole is that much smarter than his brothers, but they manage to be even stupider than him, to the point of making Cole seem like The Smart Guy in the team.
Stupid Crooks: The Younger Brothers, despite their reputation, are so incompetent that they can't even properly shoot.
