While returning from a space voyage, Jimmy and his friends get zapped by the Van Pattern Radiation Belt and gain superpowers. Cindy gains super-strength, Sheen gains super-speed, Libby gains invisibility, and Carl can produce sonic belches. Jimmy simply turns orange and seems to lack powers entirely, resulting in his friends and the townspeople mocking him. But Jimmy loses control of his temper due to Cindy's relentless insults, he turns into an orange Hulk-like monster and begins rampaging through Retroville. His friends must figure how to reverse his monstrous transformation so he can save them and himself from radiation poisoning.
This episode provides examples of:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When the N-Men weaken except for Jimmy, Jimmy tries to finish them off and Cindy is reduced to grovelling and apologizing for how she treated him, she nearly admits she loves him and that was enough to calm Jimmy and shrink him back to normal.
- An Aesop:
- Bullies don't need an excuse to mistreat you, even if it's because they secretly like you. Stand up to them.
- On the other hand, it's wrong to keep your true feelings bottled up, especially when you’re being picked on.
- On the inverse: treat someone poorly, and they'll eventually return the favor.
- Bullying a Dragon: Sam, the Candy Bar owner, throws produce at the large hulking Jimmy just as his parents begin to calm him down. It does not end well for him.
- Butt-Monkey: Poor Jimmy seemingly gets the lamest transformation of the group (he turns orange with green hair and that's about it) and everyone else in the group won't let him hear the end of it. That is, until they find out how dangerous his transformation really is.
- Condescending Compassion: When Cindy and the N-Men arrive to help a Hulk Jimmy, Cindy urges him to surrender or else the army is going to kick his orange butt. Naturally, Jimmy didn't respond well to that, especially coming from the person who caused him to transform in the first place and instead attacks them.
- Continuity Nod:
- The kids are riding in the hovercraft they won back in "Win, Lose, and Kaboom".
- A Twonkie can be seen yelling in alarm at Hulk Jimmy.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Hulk Jimmy lays an absolute thrashing to anyone who dares to fight him. The N-Men didn't fare better against Hulk Jimmy individually, especially Cindy, and had to rely on teamwork to have a chance against him. Of course, even their teamwork could do no more than subdue Hulk Jimmy only for a brief period. It takes Cindy apologizing to Jimmy for all of her harassment to calm him down.
- The Dog Bites Back: There was only so much bullying and insults Jimmy could take, you can't blame him for snapping and trying to get revenge. And Jimmy bites back hard.
- Foreshadowing: Jimmy's Hulk powers aren't fully revealed until halfway through the episode, but there are several hints that the radiation belt did more to him than it initially seems. He was arm wrestling with Cindy when they went through the field, hinting at his hidden strength when angered. He also gets angry very easily from Cindy and the others making fun of him, much more than he normally is, and the Hulking Out transformation of the titular hero is most famously triggered by anger.
- Gasshole: Carl becomes one, where his burps Blow You Away.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Jimmy seems aware of what he's doing during his rampages as a monster. Twice, he sees his human reflection, trying to consciously regain control and remind himself of how much danger his friends were in, but his attempts were always cut short when the military and Cindy respectively attack him, unprovoked. It takes Cindy apologizing for making fun of him to finally calm him down.
- Hates Everyone Equally: Hulk Jimmy's attitude when he rampages. All except for his parents, whom he spares from his rage as they never once wronged him in the slightest.
- Hope Spot: Jimmy's parents seem to be able to get through to their son during his Roaring Rampage of Revenge... until Sam and other residents ruin the moment by mocking and throwing things at Hulk Jimmy.
- Interrupted Declaration of Love: Cindy tries to tell Jimmy that she loves him, but falls unconscious due to her powers beginning to sap her life force. She gets as far as "I lo..."
- Invisibility: Libby's power. She can make other people invisible, too.
- Irony: The N-Men, at first, believed Jimmy was powerless (other than having orange skin) and outright mocked him for it, and Cindy believed herself to be the most powerful of the N-Men, given her Super-Strength and Flight abilities. The N-Men later learn the hard way that Jimmy was the most powerful all along; being capable of Hulking Out with powerful strength and durability that far surpasses Cindy's, and Jimmy gives the N-Men a piece of his mind for all of the grief they've caused him.
- I Warned You: The army arrests the N-Men and has them locked up for recklessness and lack of training, just as Jimmy warned them many times.
- Jerkass Ball: Sam, General Abercrombie, and the N-Men (Cindy especially) are at their worst here, even Carl and Sheen. They laughed at and mocked Jimmy so much that he became an enraged monster and throw all of their balls back at them hard.
- Jerkass Realization: Cindy and the others realize that their mistreatment towards Jimmy has caused him to turn into a rage-filled monster, especially since he still promised to save them despite how they treated him, but it's already too late. Even after that, Cindy attacks Jimmy unprompted (only to learn that his strength surpasses hers), and as she's weakening and left under Jimmy's mercy, Cindy drops to her knees and finally apologizes for how she treated him.
- The Juggernaut: Jimmy's hulk form is indestructible, not even military tanks and Cindy's Super-Strength can faze him (even when Libby turned Cindy invisible to give her an edge, he quickly gets back up). Even when he was subdued from Carl's super belch, he quickly shakes it off like nothing in no less than a minute, which just further cements to Cindy and the others that Jimmy was the most powerful of the N-Men all along.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Happens to every person listed in Jerkass Ball above.
- Sam gets attacked for trying to hurt a Hulk Jimmy and has his heavy seltzer water stolen by Sheen.
- The General and his soldiers get utterly crushed by Hulk Jimmy for their foolish attack on him and had to be saved by the very team he held captive.
- The N-Men get beat up and insulted by Hulk Jimmy after they were the ones who treated him like garbage in the first place.
- Doubly so for Cindy. Despite her Jerkass Realization earlier, she flat out refuses to go through Carl's plan to apologize to Jimmy for the way they treated him, and instead, Cindy sends the N-Men to attack him. When that doesn't work out, she resorts to outright attack him herself (only to realize Hulk-Jimmy's strength suppresses hers), and not even Libby's invisibility giving her an edge helped. When she grows too weak and Jimmy's about to crush her with a boulder, she quickly goes with Carl's solution at the very last minute and finally apologizes.
- Megaton Punch:
- Hulk Jimmy gives one out to Sheen when the latter attempts fight him and it launches him in the air. Thankfully, Libby caught him with her force-fields before he could get far.
- Hulk Jimmy also gives a more satisfying one to Cindy, who threw the first punch at him and he responds by slamming her to the ground with his more superior strength (though Cindy is lucky she also had strong durability).
- Never Say "Die": The kids' powers are said to be "draining their life forces and they'll be gone".
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The N-Men get themselves locked up by causing too much damage to the city with their powers. The stress this puts on Jimmy, combined with their constant mockery of him, causes him to Hulk Out and start rampaging the city.
- Pet the Dog: Even in his enraged monster form, Jimmy immediately mellows down upon seeing his parents, and even spares them from his rage after they tried to defend their son from the Apathetic Citizens. Justified that they're Jimmy's parents; they love their son as much as he loves them in return. Why would Jimmy ever wanna harm his own loving family?
- Personality Powers: The kids powers are based on what they were doing when the passed through the Van Patten belt.
- Cindy and Jimmy were arm wrestling, resulting in Super-Strength, though the former's ego causes it to manifest as a Flying Brick, and while the latter's resentment at nearly losing the match was suppressing his power, it alternatively manifested through the fruity soda he was drinking. It was that feeling, the resentment against those who mock him, that caused him to "sprout uncontrollably".
- Libby, who was applying vanishing cream to a zit, gains Invisibility.
- Sheen, who was enjoying the vibration massage feature of his chair, gains Super-Speed.
- Carl, who was burping due to drinking too much soda, gains supersonic burps.
- Potty Emergency: For some reason, Sheen's Super-Speed gives him frequent ones. When everyone starts training to fully control their powers, Sheen notes that he no longer has bladder control issues.
- Race Against the Clock: The second half of the episode becomes this as Jimmy discovers his friends' superpowers are burning their metabolisms and has about six hours to give them the antidote before their life forces drain.
- Rage Breaking Point: Jimmy undergoes one when he questions why he cares about everyone else's lives being on a timer when all they did was mock him, especially Cindy; it's him wishing he had a power of his own to make them pay for their torment that caused him to hulk out.
- Riddle for the Ages: Why would Sheen's father agree with Sam in keeping his son and friends locked up?
- Rival Turned Evil: Jimmy himself has become one to Cindy upon Hulking Out. Only she stops him in the end.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The whole reason why Jimmy turned into a monster in the first place is due to the ridicule he suffered from people with the Jerkass Ball.
- Shout-Out: The kids got their powers from flying through the Van Patten radiation belt, which is how the Fantastic Four got their powers. Sheen's initial team name "The Fantastic League of Avenging Men" is a combination of the four most well known superhero teams: Fantastic Four, Justice League of America, The Avengers, and X-Men.
- Each of the kids' powers are based on a famous superhero from Marvel Comics and DC Comics:
- Jimmy (Incredible Jerk) - The Incredible Hulk and The Thing
- Carl (Burp Boy) - Banshee and Black Bolt, with Cyclops' angst regarding his destructive powers thrown in for good measure.
- Sheen (Vibrating Lad) - The Flash
- Cindy (Special Girl) - Wonder Woman and Super Girl
- Libby (Invisible Sister) - Invisible Woman
- One scene has Jimmy toss a tank in a manner similar to the Ang Lee Hulk movie.
- Each of the kids' powers are based on a famous superhero from Marvel Comics and DC Comics:
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Jimmy lets everyone who wronged him have it.
- Stating the Simple Solution: After realizing how much they ticked Jimmy off, Carl suggests that they apologize to Jimmy rather than attacking him. Cindy considers... and attacks unprompted. When that fails and they're left under Hulk-Jimmy's mercy, Cindy follows through Carl's plan and apologizes to Jimmy. And it works.
- Superpowers for a Day: Flying through the Van Patten radiation belt gives Jimmy and the gang superpowers and they form a super team in return; he ends up curing them in the end because their powers are burning their metabolisms and killing them.
- Super-Scream: Carl gets this power in the form of burps.
- Super-Speed: The power Sheen gets.
- Take Me Instead: Played With. When the N-Men gets captured by the government, Jimmy insists that they take him as well. Everyone just laughs (including the captured N-Men), assuming he's not dangerous... initially.
- Team Hand-Stack: Sheen and the others do this as they decide to use their new powers and form a superhero team.
- Too Dumb to Live: Anytime somebody tries to attack Hulk Jimmy. Special mention goes to Sam and the citizens of Retroville who thought that throwing produce at the muscular behemoth would make him back off.
- The Unapologetic: Zig-Zagged. While the N-Men eventually do feel bad about mistreating Jimmy, only Cindy apologizes for it. To be fair, she was the one who mistreated Jimmy the most, while the others merely followed. One could also make an argument that she was speaking on the behalf of all of them, especially since the others were already unconscious or close to it at this point (and could have given their own apologies off-screen once cured).
- Ungrateful Bastard: The N-Men mocking Jimmy and attacking him is not what you do when he is trying to free them.
- Voice of the Legion: Jimmy speaks this way after hulking out.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Subverted. Initially, it appears that the only thing the radiation belt did to Jimmy was make his skin orange. It's eventually revealed that it gave him the ability to hulk out.
- Who's Laughing Now?: Hulk Jimmy's feelings towards his friends, and very much justified feelings given how they treated him.
- With Friends Like These...: It was extremely harsh for the N-Men to make fun of Jimmy. So, it's no surprise for Jimmy to snap and literally hulk out, especially against Carl and Sheen.
- Would Hit a Girl: This episode further highlights just how much Jimmy could care less that Cindy and Libby are the "two girls" of the N-Men; he gives them equally well-deserved paybacks for their harassment and mockery.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Jimmy realizes eventually the radiation belt's effect on his friends is burning up their metabolisms and will eventually drain their life forces and kill them.
