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"Síganme los buenos!"(!) 
Oh, ¿y ahora quien podrá defendernos?
("Oh, and now... who could defend us?")

Más ágil que una tortuga.
Más fuerte que un ratón.
Más noble que una lechuga.
Su escudo es un corazón.
("More agile than a turtle. / Stronger than a mouse / Nobler than a lettuce / His emblem is a heart.")

El Chapulín Colorado is a legendary Mexican Sitcom (and staple of popular culture) from Chespirito, the creator of El Chavo del ocho (which this show uses most of the cast of). Airing during 1973-1979 on Televisa, it centers on the adventures of a Comedic Hero, whose name vaguely translates as The Red Cricket (The Crimson Grasshopper is more accurate, but sounds too serious given the context of the show), rescuing people who say his Phrase Catcher. Not that he is really that useful, or even helpful. But El Chapulín Colorado is well meaning and at least tries to help, so it's okay.

Unlike El Chavo, the adventures of El Chapulín happened in a wider range of places and even times. While most of his adventures were urban, there were a lot of episodes set in The Wild West, or against The Mafia, and even parodying monster movies. Or even against the Third Reich. The cast remained the same, but with the exception of Chapulín they changed roles every chapter (although in the more "themed" episodes some actors have recurring roles)

While not as popular as El Chavo, El Chapulín remains loved and well remembered. Despite its relatively cheap production values, it has very interesting ideas for a comedic show. It even pioneered the use of Chroma Key in Latin America.

Bumblebee Man, a recurring figure on The Simpsons, is essentially a Captain Ersatz of this character. He was created because whenever the writers flipped through the channels, El Chapulín Colorado was always on (similar to how Bumblebee Man is always on television, at least when Krusty, Itchy and Scratchy, or Kent Brockman aren't).

An Animated Adaptation has been airing since 2015.


El Chapulín Colorado provides examples of:

  • Alas, Poor Villain: An In-Universe example Played for Laughs. In an episode, after a villain accidentally eats a cake he himself poisoned and el Chapulín goes to help him, the baker cries for the villain's fate... of having to suffer El Chapulín's assistance. His daughter soon joins him.
  • An Aesop: Occasionally:
    • "Don Chapulín de la Mancha": El Chapulín tries to convince an old man that he's not El Chapulín Colorado, by pretending to be his conscience. The old man replies that he wants to be El Chapulín Colorado because he does a lot of important acts unlike himself. The aesop El Chapulín gives is that any job well done (in the old man's case, being a health inspector, and not take any bribes) is much more important than anything El Chapulín does.
    • "Se regalan ratones": A secretary is in danger of being fired because she got two wedding gifts from her boss switched around: a piece of cloth for the gatekeeper's daughter; and a TV for a minister's daughter. El Chapulín manages to convince her boss with a lesson on generosity, on giving people what they don't have, to let the poor gatekeeper's daughter have the TV, the minister's daughter the piece of cloth, and for the secretary to keep her job.
    • "La Ley del Chipote Chillón": Invoked by one of the townspeople at Villa Chaparra. Early on, when El Chapulín learns of El Rascabuches, El Matoncísimo Kid and Rosa la Rumorosa teaming up, he tries to convince the town to rally against them and use the "unity in strength". Everyone runs away... until the very end, where they effortlessly defeat the Big Bad Ensemble when everything seemed lost. All the townspeople cheer for El Chapulín for giving them that idea.
  • Adolf Hitlarious: In the hour-long episode where El Chapulín faces Adolf Hitler, the dictator plays a war game with his staff (which he wins by dropping a bomb on the opposing figurines), goes on a rant when he finds out that what he though was a sea in a Europe map was actually Austria (and crying that it must never be painted yellow), and then realizes he sent submarines to strike on that country. It ends with Hitler accidentally killing himself and his staff after an officer sets off the Self-Destruct Button of his bunker.
    Chapulín: And history will say that they commited suicide, that the allies bombed, or something and so and so...
  • Affectionate Parody:
    • Of a superhero series, among others. And then some: Creator Roberto Gómez Bolaños invoked indicated repeatedly that for him a real hero was somebody like the Chapulín, who was knowingly weak, distracted, clumsy, cowardly and ugly, but who engaged in heroic actions anyway. It's been stated more than once in-show, on his cowardliness, that "courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability of facing your fears", which is essentially what Chapulín's heroic deeds amount to. In fact, it seemed not so much a parody than a Take That! against then-established and famous superheroes, his description runs contrary to bragging about his abilities and instead, focuses on the ridiculousness of them; he is for example "nimbler than a turtle". Then during an episode, he throughly deconstructs the super-hero genre, by acting clumsily and being more harmful than helpful, even if in the end he saves the day.
    • As proper parodies, there have been episodes based around Don Quixote (featuring an old man who believes he's El Chapulín Colorado), Faust, My Fair Lady, and more.
    • La función debe continuarnote : This saga consists of six episodes. A movie studio owner longs for a room that was going to be destroyed to build a condominium there. He calls Chapulín Colorado and they both begin to remember various movies that were made over the years. From there, the entire cast of Chespirito begins to parody those films:
      • Part 1: Charlie Chaplin, Frankenstein, The Nutty Professor and Laurel and Hardy.
      • Part 2: The Pink Panther, Charlie Chaplin's His Musical Career, Carol Burnett and Laurel and Hardy.
      • Part 3: Dios se lo pague, Don Quixoteand the William Tell movies.
      • Part 4: Tim McCoy and Tom Mix movies, Madame Butterfly and Napoleon Bonaparte.
      • Part 5: Allá en el Rancho Grande, Solomon and Sheba and Gene Kelly's Singing in the Rain.
      • Part 6: La Dame aux Camélias and Quo Vadis. This part features a song named Cácaro that talks about a movie usher who wants to be an actor by profession.
  • Agent Scully: He has fought against martians, robots, pirates, ghosts, ghost pirates, etc. But he still dismisses anything outside of the ordinary as fake. If he is justified in his skepticism or not depends on the episode.
  • All There in the Manual: If you ever wondered, you will need to Google to find references to a certain interview in order to learn about Chapulín's origin story. An agonizing scientist wanted to pick someone to give his top invention, the chiquitolina pills, he called upon people to meet him so he could choose to whom to give the pills. Chapulín was the only honest person that went, that's how he got his only real superpower.
  • Always Identical Twins: The episode "Cuando los gemelos no son buenos cuates" is about a janitor who is being ordered around by two twin performers (invokedplayed by Carlos Villagrán)who are constantly telling him to do stuff and immediately pull back. Given that he never sees the two of them together until the end, he naturally assumes it's the same guy messing with him. At the end, the girlfriend of one of the twins (played by Florinda Meza) shows up revealing that she too has a twin sister.
  • Always Someone Better: Super Sam, a cross between Uncle Sam and Superman, was sometimes treated as this for Chapulín. After all, Super Sam had money on his side; as in, his main weapon was an actual bag of money he used to club villains with, all with a cash register sound.
  • Animate Inanimate Object: If you apply volatile energy extract to inanimate objects, they gain life and can move on their own, more often than not their movements being birdlike. And in one point or another, the walls of a house are going to be affected by it in the episodes it appears.
  • Anti-Climax: In one episode, Chapulín and Super Sam are staying the night on a hotel to look out for a burglar that specializes on robbing hotels. Both heroes happen to book the same room, but never realize the other is there. To the very end of the episode they are oblivious to each other's presence and the burglar never appears.
  • Anti-Climax Boss: In-Universe in one of the Wild West episodes. El Rascabuches and Rosa la Rumorosa constantly threaten El Chapulín and the sheriff that, once El Matoncísimo Kid arrives, they will be set free. Not only El Chapulín and the sheriff are incapable of helping due to them being incarcerated due to their clumsiness, but El Rascabuches, Rosa la Rumorosa and El Matoncísimo Kid are all defeated in a few seconds by the extras offscreen.
  • Applied Phlebotinum:
  • Arranged Marriage: Most of the episodes featuring the Chicharra Paralizadora involved El Chapulín trying to avert one.
  • Ascended Extra: For most of the series, actor Horacio Gómez (incidentally the creator's brother) just played occasional bit parts with a couple of lines. In the last season, after two main cast members left, he became one of the principal actors, even though Gómez had always planned to be the show's marketing director, not an actor.
  • As Himself: In-Universe in the Beach Episode. The production crew of a Chapulín Colorado movie finds out the actor playing the hero resigned, so they ask El Chapulín Colorado to play as himself in it. Naturally, the movie's plot does not go on as desired thanks to El Chapulín's clumsiness.
  • Ash Face: In the end of gas leak episode.
  • Beach Episode: One episode was set in Acapulco, in which the production crew ask El Chapulín Colorado to play as himself in a movie.
  • Banana Peel
  • Big Bad Ensemble:
    • El Cuajináis, El Tripaseca and La Minina were often seen together in the present times episodes. They were occasionally joined by El Botija or El Shory.
    • El Rascabuches and Rosa la Rumorosa sometimes teamed up in the Wild West episodes (though the latter would mostly mind her own business). They were joined by El Matoncísimo Kid in "La Ley del Chipote Chillón".
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: La Minina and Rosa la Rumorosa have used this trope to take advantage of El Chapulín and his allies, though La Minina is generally too much of The Ditz to be any dangerous.
  • Blessed with Suck: Don Severiano Mirón, is the most famous spy in the world. This means he is easily recognized by everyone, and therefore is not hired for any kind of work. When a journalist recognizes him, he quickly bursts into tears.
  • Bragging Theme Tune: There is an extended version of his theme tune sung by Chespirito himself. In it, there's even a lyric where it says that Tarzan and Kalimán admire him and Batman and Superman ask forgiveness when facing him.
  • Brought to You by the Letter "S": The old Spanish letter CH on the hero's costume.
  • Butt-Monkey: Every non-villainous role Ramón Valdés played was this. In fact, pretty much every non-villain (the titular hero included) is prone to this.
  • The Cameo: Characters from El Chavo del ocho sometimes appear. "El disfraz, el antifaz y algo más", which takes place at a costume party, turns this up to eleven, as several characters from other Chespirito sketches and one-shots also appear, such as Quico/La Popis/La Chilindrina (depending on which version), El Chavo, El Chómpiras and El Peterete/El Botija, Doctor Chapatín and parodies of Charles Chaplin, Jerry Lewis and Laurel and Hardy.
  • Captain Obvious: In one episode, el Chapulín wants to help an innocent perison to escape prison, and tells him he brought a file to cut the bars.
    Man: I see, you will cut the bars so I can escape.
  • Cardboard Prison: One episode revolves around a police precinct from where prisoners keep escaping and no one has any idea why. The answer comes at the end: the precinct has a sliding door which also works as the back wall of the only cell of the place!
  • Carry a Big Stick: The "Chipote Chillón" ("Squeaky Mallet"), a silly-looking but effective hammer.
  • Cartridges in Flight: One episode revolved around our clumsy hero wearing a wig made of Samson's actual hair, discovered in an archeological dig. This not only gave him nigh invulnerability, but when one of the bad guys fired a bullet he caught it with his teeth. As in caught the entire bullet, casing, prime and all. The thing looked pristine.
  • Character Catchphrase: Many!
    • "¡No contaban con mi astucia!"; "They did not count on my cleverness!" (he says this mainly after he makes his presence announced, or after defeating the bad characters—even when they're not the bad characters)
    • "¡Síganme los buenos!", "Good guys, follow me!"
      • A variation is used by recurring Big Bad, the pirate "Alma Negra / Black Soul": "¡Siganme los malos!", "Bad guys, follow me!".
      • One episode had a Mad Scientist saying "¡Síganme los locos!", "Crazy people, follow me!"
    • "Se aprovechan de mi nobleza...", "They take advantage of my nobility..."
    • "Calma, que no panda el cúnico.", "Remain calm, don't let renic paign."
    • "¡Mis antenitas de vinil están detectando la presencia del enemigo!", "My little vinyl antennae are detecting the enemy's presence!"
      • His antennae also detect whenever someone asks "Y ahora...¿Quién podrá defenderme?" "And now...Who could defend me?", which prompts a variation of the catch phrase about his antennae. However, this is seldom seen as he's usually offscreen when someone asks for a defender, and the few times he's onscreen while the call happens he's stopped by somebody or something.
    • "Lo sospeché desde un principio.", "I suspected it from the beginning.", when he's told he made a mistake or he learns about an obvious fact.
    • "Todos mis movimientos están fríamente calculados.", "All my movements are coldly calculated.", usually said after he has done something clumsy.
    • This whole gag:
      "Y ahora...¿Quién podrá defenderme?" "And now...Who could defend me?"
      (the Chapulín Colorado appears from nowhere) "¡Yo!" "me!"
      (the person rejoices) "¡El Chapulín Colorado!"
      (and then the aforementioned) "No contaban con mi astucia" "They did not count on my cleverness!".
      Then he trips and falls or gets hit.
    • Mad Libs Catch Phrase: After the aforementioned gag, then comes
      ¿"Te lastimaste, Chapulín?" "Are you hurt Chapulín?"
      "No, lo hice intencionalmente para [X]" "No, I Meant to Do That so I could [X]" [X] is obviously a bad excuse for the clumsy action.
    • "Yo opino...", "I think that..." when he wants to express his opinion. He is always interrupted accidentally or intentionally.
    • One gag when someone asks to do something dangerous.
      (the Chapulín, shy and reluctant) "Sí lo hago..." "I'll do it..."
      (the one that asked him, happily) "(lo sé)" "I know"
      (the Chapulín, again) "Sí lo hago..."
      ''(the person, showing some irritation) "(muy bien)" "alright"
      (the Chapulín, Once More) "Sí lo hago..."
      (all the presents, totally exasperated) ¡PERO YA! "BUT NOW!"
      • Sometimes it's "Sí voy..."("I'll go...")
    • "Es exactamente lo que iba yo a decir"("That's exactly what I was about to say"), whenever someone comes up with a good suggestion.
    • The whole set of catchphrases: usually played when Chapulín gets hit unconscious and gets awakened very rudely (a punch, a kick, a splash of water) and decides to say every. Single. One. Of his catchphrases in an incredibly quick speed.
    • Super Sam has "Time is money! Oh yeah!".
    • Whoever Chapulín is helping always say "¡Bravo, Chapulín Colorado! ¡Eres lo máximo!" ("Bravo, Red Cricket! You're the greatest!") whenever he would best the bad characters and save the day.
  • Chest Insignia: The CH-heart.
  • Chroma Key: Used very extensively in the series, for most of its special effects (Such as El Chapulín when shrunk or two identical characters played by the same actor) or Toon Physics.
  • Clip Show: The episode 'Conferencia sobre un Chapulín' and the untitled last episode.
  • Clothes Make the Superman: The episode where Chapulín foils a band of smugglers ends with the chief inspector thanking him for his good work. Chapulín then admits tha he's not the real Chapulín, but a guest dressed like Chapulín, and figured that since he was wearing the costume, he had to do something. Soon after, the real Chapulín arives, and apologizes for being so late.
  • Clothing Damage: To Chapulín. Result of the last explosion in the gas leak episode.
  • Comedic Hero: Chapulín himself
  • Comically Invincible Hero: In spite of his hilarious incompetence, El Chapulín never loses.note  Even when he does not defeat the villain, either someone else (such as Super Sam) saves the day, or the villain atones for his mistakes.
  • Crossover:
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite his overall clumsiness, Chapulín would sometimes be quite able and competent against the villains, especially when he had the use of his gadgets.
  • Crying Wolf: One episode featured a boy who threw away the toys he didn't want anymore and told his parents somebody stole them. Nobody believed him when it really happened. Chapulín tried to warn the boy it would happen by stating it could happen to him the same it happened in "Peter and the Wolf" (another title for 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf') but the boy didn't know the story and Chapulín told his own version of it, describing a wolf that lied so much that, when he met The Three Little Pigs, he claimed to be Little Red Riding Hood. When the kid points out at the end that he excluded Peter from the story, Chapulín says that Peter was the author. At least he had the wolf replace Peter as the liar.
  • Cultural Cross-Reference: One episode had Chapulín helping a young woman and her elderly father, whose house was being threatened of being demolished with the two still inside. The old man is not happy about being helped by a hero of the likes of Chapulín, angrily saying to his daughter: "You could have called any other hero! Any other! Superman! Batman! Dick Tracy! Donald Duck!".
  • Cursed with Awesome: The spell the Wicked Stepmother from the Snow White Affectionate Parody used to create a poisonous apple carries a curse to the one that casts it if the one who ate it gets kissed by a Prince Charming (Which happens to be el Chapulín...'s Squeaking Mallet). Once it happens, the Stepmother stares in horror as the curse is about to be cast on her. The result? She becomes an attractive woman. And el Chapulín asks her out after he finishes telling the story.
  • Damned by Faint Praise: The opening parodies The Adventures of Superman by saying El Chapulín is "faster than a turtle, stronger than a mouse, smarter than a jackass".
  • Dangerous Backswing: Chapulín would often pull back his Chipote Chillón to hit a villain, then would accidentally hit somebody behind too (either a villain trying to sneak up on him, or a good guy trying to get up or just happening to be there at the wrong time).
  • Dastardly Whiplash: The villain in a story of an old abandoned mine that dates back to the 17th Century, and is about to collapse.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Chapulín often took on this role, but sometimes others, be it victims or villains, threw in the own dose of snarking.
  • Delayed Reaction:
    • "If you believe that hit did hurt me, let me tell you that it did" and then El Chapulín faints. In other times, he'd simply not react from being hit until a few seconds later.
    • An especially ridiculous version is when Chapulín hits pirate Almanegra over the head with a stool and he does not faint (as is expected to happen in this show). Instead, he just stays where he is with his drinking mug raised. It turns out the mug was holding him up, and once removed, Almanegra falls to the floor. Don't think too much about it.
  • Devil in Plain Sight: Sometimes, when the character that summons El Chapulín does not have time (or simply forgets) to explain who is causing him/her trouble, El Chapulín will often be fixated in thinking the villain is an ally and viceversa, until he's finally told he got the sides switched around. In these cases, even his Vinyl Antennae usually fail to detect the proper enemy.
  • Demoted to Extra: Maria Antonieta de Las Nieves played all the lead female roles for the first season or so, then left the program for a while. Florinda Meza took over from her, and when de Las Nieves returned to the ensemble, she only appeared occasionally, such as the rare occasions when a Chapulín episode had two female characters.
  • Didn't Think This Through: There was one time El Chapulín was trying to help a scientist (Ramón Valdéz) stop a mosquito-sized Martian. El Chapulín comes up with a plan...
    El Chapulín: First of all, we have to defeat the Martian.
    Scientist: How?
    El Chapulín: That's the only detail I have to resolve.
  • Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: Chapulín once told an In Name Only tale of Faust, about someone who sold their soul in exchange of a magical device that made people and things disappear and appear as the user wishes. When the Devil showed up to collect, they used the device to make the contract vanish.
  • Disney Villain Death:
    • A Running Gag througth the episode "De noche, todos los gatos hacen miau" involves a non-conflict-related subversion of this trope: whenever the husband of a lady falls asleep, he's woken up by throwing some water at him. Unfortunely, this causes him to believe that he's in a sinking ship, and desperately jumps off the window, causing him to fall to the street. However, Ruleof Funny would save his life by several means, such as landing on a nightwatcher, falling to the trash, sinking on the street, etc. This happens enough times that Chapulín suggests to purposefuly throw the person off the window to find a cat that keeps making noises and is supposedly on the street, arguing that "[he] knows the road".
    • An offscreen example occurs at the end of a Chapulín sketch in Chespirito tited "La muerte del bulldog", as El Chapulín reveals that famous criminal Bulldog, who faked his death in order to commit any crime he pleases, fell off a balcony to his death. However, given the very loose continuity of the show, he appears in subsquent episodes alive.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: In the Affectionate Parody of Romeo and Juliet, Rumiet's father tells Juleo that, for their love, he could forgive the latter's father, grandfather and great-grandfather murdered the former's respective ones. What he cannot forgive is that the Montesco support Chivas while the Capuletto support América.note 
  • Distracted by the Sexy: In the costume party episode,note  the detective claims he's following clues towards a smuggling ring when he's following a woman in a devil outfit. Turns out, she is indeed one of the smugglers.
  • Does Not Like Guns: In one episode, El Chapulín uses this excuse after returning the gun he had taken from the villain.
  • Does Not Like Men: In one occasion, El Chapulín had to help El Rascabuches and Matoncísimo Kid to escape from a prison owned by a man-hating woman.
  • Dr. Fakenstein: Doctor Panchostein, who is explicitly described as "Dr. Frankestein's totonac version."
  • The Dreaded: The entirety the Rogues Gallery of the Wild West episodes, with the exception of Rosa La Rumorosa, who is a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing. The mere mention of their names can bring horror to every townsperson, the marshal included.
  • Dumb Is Good: El Chapulín tends to leave much to be desired in terms of intelligence, yet he's The Hero and the one person both victims and villains consider as the symbol of goodness in the series.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: Early sketches had a darker sense of humor. Frequently, Chapulín would rescue the characters in distress, only to kill them through his own clumsiness. Once, when the villain threatens the victims with a machine gun, and Chapulín manages to wrestle it away with him...but shoots up the victims at the same time. Sometimes if he´s helping a lady and explains how he saved her, he just kills her father and doesn´t seem all that bothered by it.
  • Economy Cast: Just like with El Chavo, while in most episodes all the charaters but Chapúlin are supposed to be completly different, they are always played by the same group of 4-10 actors.
  • Eagleland:
    • Super Sam, The Rival of Chapulín for heroic deeds. A mix of flavors 1 or 2, as Sam is a satire of American interventionism who meddles in Chapulín's quests for selfish reasons, and his weapon just happens to be a sack of money. But in at least one episode he acts in a more humble way, and ends up saving the day on his own merits.
    • Sometimes the Chapulín encounters a tourist during some adventures that is an obvious Flavor 2.
  • Eleventh Hour Super Power:
    • Used just once during a TV special: Chapulín turned a dial on his Vinyl Antennae to go into "Overdrive Mode," gaining super-speed and super-strength to quickly defeat a gang of pirates.
    • He also used it on a wild west episode where an outlaw said he'd reform if Chapulín proves himself the fastest of the two. Chapulín said he didn't like using that power but would open an exception if it'd reform a criminal.
    • In one episode he used the ability of teleporting, which he was only shown to have at the end of one episode (aside from it being , freely during a fight. Willfully Weak?
  • Enemy Mine:
    • In one episode, El Chapulín was summoned by El Rascabuches to help him and Matoncísimo Kid escape from a prison owned by a man-hating woman. However, Matoncísimo Kid turns out to be The Mole.
    • Once, El Chapulín was asked to stop El Tripaseca after he steals the wallet from someone (pants included). However, a restaurant owner kept beating all three up when they accidentally entered his building, so El Chapulín ended up siding with them and El Tripaseca to defeat the owner.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Parodied, the Cuajinais in an episode said "I use a false bomb, because the real one could hurt someone".
  • Everything Explodes Ending: In the gas leak episode. Near of the end, Chapulín opens an oven (Which is where the gas leak comes from) and he complains that is too dark to see anything. He lights a match, causing a huge explosion.
  • Evil Hand: Played for Laughs in an episode in which El Chapulín loses his right arm and has it replaced through surgery. El Chapulín later tries to approach the surgeon to know why his new hand acted in a very graceful and feminine way - turns out, the arm was taken from a ballerina. In the end, he has his arm replaced again, getting a chimpanzee arm. A female chimpanzee arm, to El Chapulín's dismay.
    Chapulín: Who would ever think that I, the prototype of goodness, would be given the hand of a thief!
    Nurse: Oh well, bad luck Chapulín. (Closes jail cell) Do you want me to refer you to another doctor?
    Chapulín: A doctor for what? Get me a lawyer! Oh, who could ever defend me?
  • Exactly What I Aimed At: In one episode el Chapulín used his Paralyzing Horn, but the bad guy had already shot. He mocked Chapulín for missing, but he reveals that he actually paralyzed the bullet, then deparalyzed it and it hit a nearby wall.
  • Faking the Dead: El Cuajináis and El Tripaseca tried to do this so that they could commit crimes with no one casting suspicion on them. The first time involved putting an asleep Chapulín Colorado into the coffin, and the second time involved a wax statue.
  • The Family for the Whole Family: It doesn't matter how feared a villain character is, they can be as incompetent as El Chapulín at critical moments. For example, in "No seas torpe, Chapulín", El Cuajináis, El Tripaseca, El Shory and La Minina try to lure El Chapulín to a trap, but they have to make several changes to their plan due to their own mistakes, and they get defeated not long afterwards.
  • Far East: Episodes that involve Japanese families will inevitably include a gong... which is a Chinese instrument.
  • Family-Friendly Firearms: "El Chipote Chillón", a rubber hammer. Many villains use guns and occasionally shoot, though.
  • Faustian Rebellion: In El Chapulín's retelling of Faust, the titular character is given a riding crop that makes things appear and disappear from Mephistopheles in exchange of signing a contract. When Faust realizes he sold his soul, he made the contract vanish.
  • Flat-Earth Atheist: Chapulín tend to always dismiss anything about ghosts, witches or other paranormal things as fantasy. Sometimes he is right, sometimes not.
  • Forgotten Friend, New Foe: In "Un bandido bastante muerto", El Chapulín claims that El Tripaseca, who had seemingly died and is one of his most dangerous enemies, was a classmate and childhood friend of his. Considering El Chapulín had already seen El Tripaseca's wax statue and knew the whole gambit, it's unknown if he was telling the truth.
  • Frankenstein's Monster: El Chapulín Colorado once tried to save a young woman from the monster Doctor Panchostein, described as Frankestein's totonac version, made. El Chapulín ends up defeating the monster by explaining it the current costs of living. The monster had El Chapulín tell Doctor Panchostein not to bring it back from the dead again.
  • "Freaky Friday" Flip: In one episode a mad scientist created a brain-switching machine and the victims were a thin female doctor and a fat male one. It's a weird case where the voices changes in live-action. At the end, Chapulín accidentally switched another doctor's brain with the scientist's pet dog.
  • Gainax Ending:
    • Several episodes have this kind of ending. The most usual one is that El Chapulín Colorado inexplicably turns out to be right on what seemed to be a mistake at the beginning of an episode.
    • An episode set in a theater ends with the sudden revelation that all the villains, a "dead guy", a barrel and the Chapulín himself that they weren't who they said they were during the episode but rather "actors" who liked to play those roles, followed by a Flat "What" from Ramón Valdés' character.
    • Another episode ends with el Chapulín using the "La Chicharra Paralizadora" to permanently stun everyone, including accidentally hitting himself with it so that no one can undo the stun.
    • One episode involved El Chapulín Colorado trying to stop a martian from stealing poultry. At first, he mistakes someonewearing American football equipment to be the alien. In the 1977 version, after El Chapulín manages to force the Martian to flee, El Chapulín comments on his earlier mistake to them, who then teleports away, just like the Martian.
    • At the end of the episode where Chapulín foils a criminal gang in a costume party, the undercover detective thanks him after he captures the leader. Chapulín then admits that he's just a partygoer disguised as El Chapulín Colorado, and since he was in costume he decided that he had to do something. Just then, the real Chapulín arrives, and apologizes for being so late.
  • Gold Digger: In "La romántica historia de Juleo y Rumieta", Juleo asks El Chapulín if Rumieta only wants to marry him because she knows he won 25 million pesos in the lottery. El Chapulín reassures him that she'd marry him even if he got 25 million pesos through work.
  • Gossip Evolution: In the Samson's story. There was the story that he killed a lion in the Sinai desert and got 100 thousand dollars as reward. He clarifies (one mistake at a time) that actually he killed an angora kitten on the Chapultepec zoo and got a 100 pesos fine.
    Samson: But everything else is true.
  • Gratuitous English: Chapulín's flashy rival, Super Sam, speaks exclusively in highly stereotypical American phrases. "Time is money, OH YEAH!"
  • Hat of Power: A wig made out of Samson's hair is treated this way in several episodes. Just wearing it gives the user Super-Strength and Nigh-Invulnerability, just as removing it instantly removes those two powers.
  • Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: El Chapulín met one in one episode.
  • Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act: Averted; he actually fought Hitler in an episode.
  • Identical Stranger:
    • "El caso de dos hombres que eran tan parecidos que eran idénticos, sobre todo uno de ellos" involves El Rascabuches finding out there's another person that looks exactly the same as him (both are played by Ramón Valdéz), and plans to kill him to fake his own death. At the end of the episode, while El Chapulín is discussing with the lookalike about this trope, his daughter brings her boyfriend, Roberto, who is played by Roberto Gómez Bolaños and therefore looks identical to El Chapulín Colorado.
    • The man one thought was El Chapulín Colorado in "El disfraz, el antifaz, y algo más" turns out to be an ordinary man in a costume. He looks and acts exactly like the titular hero.
  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Most of the time, episodes are named as if they were proverbs.
  • In Name Only: Some of the Chapulín's re-stagings of fairly tales fall under this. Lampshaded when he told a random interpretation of "Peter and the Wolf". When the person he was telling the story to pointed out that Peter wasn't in his story, he replied that Peter was the author.
  • I Meant to Do That: Said very often whenever he does something clumsy, and almost always followed by "All my movements are coldly calculated!". Sometimes he'd add some suspiciously specific reason to justify his clumsiness. For example, if he crashes into a wall, he'll claim he was "testing the endurance of the walls"; if he steps into a bucket full of rainwater, he was "checking the rainfall".
  • I Take Offense to That Last One: When other characters say they trust El Chapulín as their national hero even though he's small, ugly, weak, dumb, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera... El Chapulín always complains about the two extra exceteras.
  • Jackass Genie: The magic wand Dr. Faust gets in the retelling of Faust causes him several problems when his spells are not specific enough:
    • His maid Margarita (and Faust's love interest) wants to dine turkey, so he summons a turkey. A live turkey appears.
    • After desummoning the turkey. Faust asks Margarita if she wants silver or gold plates - she wants the latter. Faust summons "el oro" (gold), which the wand interprets as "el loro", and summons a parrot instead.
    • Angry, Faust wants to summon the parrot away, but he calls it a "cotorra", which both means "parrot" and is also jargon for someone that talks too much. Therefore, the wand makes Margarita disappear.
    • Even more frustrated, Faust gets rid of the parrot and then asks the wand to give him the queen of his heart. The wand summons a Queen of Hearts card.
    • Faust throws the card away decides to be a little more specific so he asks the wand to summon Margarita with the person she loves. The wand successfully summons Margarita... and her boyfriend.
    • Furious, Faust wants to summon "that idiot" away. The wand makes Faust himself disappear.
  • Large Ham: Every actor on the series is this sometimes, but even if they play their character straight, they will take the melodramatic acting over the top the moment they say “¡Oh! ¿Y ahora quién podrá defenderme?”
  • Laugh Track: In the first years. The last seasons, when the Chapulín was included along with other Chespirito characters, the program started with the message "As a matter of respect for our audience, this program does not contain a laugh track".
  • Latex Perfection: The Master of Disguise in the episode of the same name. He appeared under several identities of other actors (Edgar Vivar, Florinda Meza and Carlos Villagrán) dubbed by Ramón Valdéz, and Ramón Valdéz himself in one scene. And at the end, where he was supposedly sent to prison, it's revealed he disguised himself as the old woman (María Antonieta de las Nieves) El Chapulín was trying to protect, to his shock.
  • Long List: Once, after el Chapulín has spent the entire episode lousing things up for the old man he was supposed to help, the man begins rattling off a list of people who would have been better to call instead of el Chapulín, and it lasts through the entire ending credits. He begins with Superman, and then works his way down to Speedy Gonzalez, Fidel Castro, the Wizard of Oz, Mannix, and Rin Tin Tin. He even says "El Chapulín Col- no, not him...". During all this, el Chapulín, covered in mud, shuffles his feet and looks embarrassed.
  • Often, a character will say something nice to him, then add on “... even though you’re short, ugly, stupid, weak, etc., etc., etc., etc...” Chapulín’s response is always “You could have at least left out a couple of et certeras.”
  • The Mafia: Part of El Chapulín's Rogues Gallery.
  • Magic Wand: "El Chirrín Chirrión del Diablo", a wand (actually a riding crop) that allows the wielder to summon or cast away anything he says (usually interpreted in the worst way).
  • Malaproper: El Chapulín. He was specially prone to the butchered rendition of several, intermixed proverbs usually ended with "Bueno, la idea es ésa" ("Well, that's the idea"), even when it was impossible to grasp any idea relevant to the situation.
    • The proverb mangling can get pretty awesome. For example, when Cría fama y échate a dormir ("Cultivate a good reputation and go to sleep (i.e., rest on your laurels)") and Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos ("Breed crows, and they shall pluck out your eyes") get mangled into Cría fama y te sacarán los ojos ("Cultivate a good reputation, and they shall pluck out your eyes") and Cría cuervos y échate a dormir ("Breed crows and go to sleep").
    • El Chapulín (and sometimes other characters) would also accidentally mix syllables of a few words when shocked or speaking really quickly. Most commonly "¡Escápenlo que se agarra!" ("Escape him that he's catching!"). This includes Chapulín's catchphrase Que no panda el cúnico ("Don't let renic paign").
  • Childish: An episode involves an elderly man that is living his second childhood and becomes a danger to everyone else because he eventually gets a gun.
  • Meaningful Name: At the very end of the Samson's wig episode, the maid of the archeologist who chops up the wig, to ensure no one abuses the wig's ability to give its wearer Super-Strength and Nigh-Invulnerability, is named Dalila.
  • Medium Awareness: Sometimes, when summoned after a character just had a Split-Screen Phone Call, El Chapulín would show up next to him, behind one of the halves of the screen, becoming visible only after the screen stops being split.
  • Mephistopheles: Mephistopheles appears when Chapúlin tells the story of Faust to someone trying to steal the projects of his father-in-law. In the story, the demon gives Faust a magic riding crop that can make anything appear and disappear in exchange for signing a contract.
  • Mundane Utility: El Chavo of all people found another use for the Chiquitolina pills: Eat a regular-sized torta de jamón while reduced in size was like having a feast!
  • The Napoleon: Half of the jokes about El Chapulín are about how short he is, with Chapulín gleefuly insulting back.
  • Napoleon Delusion: An episode involves an elderly man who thinks he's El Chapulín Colorado after watching him too many times on TV, and starts viewing everyone else as villains or victims. After El Chapulín talks him out of it, the elderly man reveals he's not actually crazy, but he wanted to be El Chapulín Colorado because he's a hero unlike himself, a health inspector - and El Chapulín also talks him out of that as well.
  • New-Age Retro Hippie: Samson in El Chapulín's retelling of his story (perhaps because he was long-haired?). He wears a crown made of flowers.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Some of the actors in the Beach Episode have names based on celebrities. The lead actress, Sofía Welch (Florinda Meza), gets her name from Sophia Loren and Raquel Welch, while "Chato" Heston (Horacio Gómez), the actor who was initially going to portray El Chapulín Colorado, gets his name from Charlton Heston.
  • No Man Should Have This Power: At the very end of the Samson's wig story, once the bad guy who wants to possess the wig is defeated, the maid of the archeologist who invoked Chapulín's help chops up the wig in such a way that it can't be remade into a wearable hairpiece. Chapulín matter of factly states that it's the only way to make sure no one abuses the wig's ability to give its wearer Super-Strength and Nigh-Invulnerability, though the archeologist considers it a great loss to academia.
  • Non-Fatal Explosions: In the gas leak episode, two times, despite the last one causing a huge damage.
  • Non Sequitur, *Thud*: When he suffers a severe enough trauma, El Chapulín starts uttering his Catch Phrases one after another in rapid succession until coming back to his senses.
  • Overt Operative: One story featured the world's most famous spy. It was a case of realistic outcomes as, because of the spy's fame, nobody hires him. Once he got word of a formula that made things invisible, he decided to steal it so he could use it to gain an edge his fame wouldn't ruin. By being able to enter places without being seen.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: El Chapulín's preferred disguise is a fake moustache; he doesn't even try to hide his costume, his insignia or even his vinyl antennae. The effectiveness of this disguise varies per episode, but generally the person to see El Chapulín talking about the disguise doubts about its usefulness; the first person to see the "disguised" Chapulín fails to recognize him, and the second person to see him does not even realize he's disguised at all, which prompts El Chapulín to drop it.
  • People Puppets: In the episode where Rubén Aguirre's character cannot control his hand movements, because of the wristwatch he is wearing.
    • (hits Chapulín) "It was not me, it was my hand!"
  • Phony Psychic: In one episode, El Chapulín encounters a man that claims to be a Rajah and a fakir, but he's actually neither, and is trying to steal a crystal ball he himself sold to a family by faking a curse. The so-called Rajah even tries to use the crystal ball to see the future:
    Rajah: I see something... a railway. And an accident! You will die when you are on the Acapulco railway and it derails!
    Man: There is no Acapulco railway.
    Rajah: What a close save...
  • The Plan: El Chapulín elaborates one in order to defeat an extremely tiny martian, and he explains it to a scientist (Ramón Valdéz). Except not.
    Chapulín: First of all, we have to defeat the martian.
    Scientist: How?
    Chapulín: That's the only detail I don't know yet.
  • Poisoned Chalice Switcheroo: In one story, El Chapulín is helping two pirates to defect and a girl offers the Captain a cup of wine while El Chapulín is given a drink from a similar cup. Suspecting the Captain's wine to be poisoned, he and Chapulín keep playing switcheroo behind each other's backs until Chapulín pretends to switch and the Captain ends up drinking a sleeping potion.
  • Power Perversion Potential:
    • After introducing how the Paralyzing Horn works to an attractive woman, El Chapulín would lure her to get paralyzed with her lips wide, so that El Chapulín would kiss her without her noticing what happened.
    • In a very early sketch, El Chapulín steals a magic wand from a stereotypical Wicked Witch and threatens to use it on her. Eventually he uses it... and turns her into a beautiful woman.
  • Priceless Ming Vase: At the final moments of the episode "De noche todos los gatos hacen miau" (All cats meow at nightnote ), Chapulín finds the noisy cat, that did not let people sleep, inside an expensive vase. Then Chapulín pets the cat and drops the vase.
  • Recycled Soundtrack: Just a couple of examples:
    • When Chapulín first shows up in any episode, Elmer Bernstein's score for The Ten Commandments' parting/crossing of the Red Sea can be heard.
    • The ending theme for many episodes is "Baroque Hoedown" by Jean Jacques Perrey, who also recorded "The Elephant Never Forgets", which was used as the theme song for El Chavo del ocho.
  • Real Life Writes the Plot: In one episode Chapulín has a cast in his forearm, and when someone asks about it, he mentions that he got hurt on a previous mission and had to get medical help. In real life Chespirito did hurt his arm, and had to have it bandage for some time, including while filming El Chapulín Colorado and El Chavo del ocho.
  • Repeated Rehearsal Failure: Played for Laughs when the eponymous superhero tries to say some proverb tied with the case he has to solve, but he changes the half of it with another proverb different to that. And then he mixed up everything to get a messy phrase. This is an example of many can be found on the series:
    Chapulín: As the old proverb says "a bird in the hand is a friend indeed"... no, I mean "a friend in need is worth two in the bush". No... eeehh, "A bird friend who has a hand... and indeed has two friends in a bush..." Well, you got the idea.
  • Rhymes on a Dime: "La historia de Don Juan Tenorio", an entire episode where the entire cast is speaking in rhymes.
  • Rogues Gallery:
  • Running Gag: Too many to mention but the most noteworthy are:
    • The typical episode would go like this:
      Protagonist/s: Oh, who could ever help/protect me/us?
      Chapulín ME!!
      Protagonist/s: El Chapulín Colorado!!
      Chapulín: They didn't count on my cleverness! Good guys, follow me!
    • Right after the introduction, Chapulín would sometimes trip and break something, he would be asked if he's alright to which he says "of course, all my movements are coldly calculated". The person who invoked him, would tell him someone is causing problems, Chapulín would say his vinyl antenna are detecting the enemy, Chapulín attacks him, while also unknowingly helping the antagonist, and this would go on until someone informs Chapulín of his mistake.
    • Someone gives Chapulín a description, but he leaves out the final syllable, and the other person finishes it. For example:
      Woman: Thank goodness you're here Chapulín, my father wants me to marry a man I don't love all because he's a zillionaire.
      Chapulín: Because he's a zillio— what?
      Woman: —naire.
      Chapulín: Chanfle!
    • Episodes titles either rhyme, are alliterative, or are very long.
    • Individual episodes also often have their own running gags:
      • In the Chespirito hourlong episode revolving around Samson's wig, the archeologist would be asked a question and the exchange would something like this:
        Wife: Are going to eat lunch?
        Archeologist: What?
        Wife: I asked if—
        Archeologist: Oh no, I'm much too busy for that.
        Wife: Is that object very interesting?
        Archeologist: What?
        Wife: I said—
        Archeologist: Oh yes, very, very interesting indeed.
      • The only one who doesn't fall for that trap is the maid because either someone interrupts the archeologist, or because she decides not to ask a question.
      • In one version of the Volatile Extract Energy story, all of the main cast comprising of Chapulín, the Sheriff, Profesor Inventillo, the person who inadvertently sent his house flying, their daughter, and a thief who took advantage of the situation all got wet by falling at least once into a bathtub that was inexplicably full for the duration of the story.
  • Sanity Slippage: In one hour-long version of the volatile energy extract story, Raúl "Chato" Padilla's character asks Profesor Inventillo why did the walls and roof disappear from his house, to which Inventillo casually states that the extract causes any object that's been injected to fly away. The rest of the episode centers on Padilla as he becomes more and more unhinged, injecting more furniture in house and giddily laughing as his belongings fly off into the unknown.
  • Saw a Woman in Half: A lumberjack once tried to hit El Chapulín with an axe but a witch interfered. Until he was made one again, his legs walked around while the rest of him kept floating in air.
  • Secret-Identity Identity:
    • El Chapulín doesn't seem to have a "real" identity besides being a superhero, and if he ever had one it may have been absorbed completely by the hero persona (for American audiences, it's kind of like The Tick). In an episode it's revealed that "Chapulín Colorado" is really the given name of our hero, from before he took his superhero role—apparently, his father was an entomologist and named his children after insects ("Chapulín" was picked in a raffle). And it’s implied that his real mother is Lois Lane.
    • And there are Chapulín imitators in-universe...professional ones, in fact. In at least one episode, we find out at the end that the Chapulín we'd been following through today's adventures was only an actor hired to play Chapulín at a birthday party. He just happened to be passing by when he got mixed up in this episode's dilemma, as the real Chapulín had arrived late.
  • Self-Offense: Chapulín's antennae act as his equivalent of Spidey Sense; they beep in the "presence of an enemy". When he hears them, he attacks the next person who approaches, and it's always, always someone who's on his side.
    • In the episode where he investigates a toy theft, he knocks out the thief with "el chipote chillón." He chuckles triumphantly when he gets hit by the hammer. He looks at it and says "not me, dummy!" and loses consciousness.
  • "Shaggy Frog" Story: Trying to discourage a boy from his habit of telling lies, Chapulín says the kid might end up like the boy from "Peter and the Wolf". After the boy says he doesn't know the story, Chapulín, who doesn't know it either, makes up one on the spot about a wolf that liked to tell lies to the point that, when he met the three little pigs, he claimed to be Little Red Riding Hood. In the end, he forgets to include Peter in his version and, when called out for this, he says Peter wrote the tale.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Sizeshifter: One of El Chapulín's secret weapons, the Chiquitolina Pills, make him shrink significantly for a few minutes.
  • Slapstick: There was one instance of El Chapulín accidentally hitting a woman with an object that was paralyzed while it was thrown, however.
  • Smuggling with Dolls: In the costume party episode, a smuggling ring is taking advantage of this to hand over a doll stuffed with stolen jewelry, and Chapulín is asked for help to figure out who are the criminals and stop them.
  • El Spanish "-o": El Chapulín after encountering a Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist while helping someone to pick some sacks said "Voy a subireishon los costaleishon a la camioneishon"note 
  • Spanner in the Works: Chapulín's modus operandi boils down to this. He doesn't outsmart or overpower the criminals he goes against, but rather, he mostly stumbles into annoying them, distracting them and provoking them into making mistakes while trying to fend him off. He's not much in the matter of heroics, but he's a major nuisance for the people that oppose him.
  • Stop Trick: Generally used to display magic, and it was shown very extensively in "La sortija de la bruja" for the spells caused by the ring. It is particularly noticeable as the shot angle is a little different between the two sections of the episode.
  • Stripping the Scarecrow: A thief named El Peterete goes to a farm to take revenge on the old lady who put him in prison. He switches his clothes with those of a scarecrow to confuse everyone and sneak up on them.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: El Chapulín Colorado stated once that El Chómpiras is his cousin. Both are played by Roberto Gómez Bolaños. Subverted in the end, where it's revealed that El Chapulín Colorado was actually an imitator, and not the real one.
  • Styrofoam Rocks:
    • Rocks, chairs, tables... The whole set! In the Beach Episode, where El Chapulín helps a production crew of a film about himself, this trope was invoked and Played for Laughs in a more literal by one of the actors (Played by Ramón Valdéz), explaining a fan (María Antonieta de las Nieves) that film props are not real, and just made of styrofoam. He proves his point by having the styrofoam rock he was holding float on a pool nearby. After that, the film director arrives and believes the fan is looking for a doll floating in the pool, and tries to step on the rock to reach the doll. Yet again, later, when the actor holds the rock in one hand for a photo, El Chapulín mistakes him for a madman that believes he's The Six Million Dollar Man, and tries to defeat him.
    • Styrofoam props were actually used to showcase the main property of the potential weakener - making items incredibly fragile.
  • Super Zeroes: El Chapulín is a textbook example, despite always managing to come out on top.
  • Superman Substitute: Although the actual Superman is stated to exist in-universe, he nevertheless has a substitute in the form of Super Sam. While he may lack superpowers or morals often expected from the trope, Super Sam is a Captain Patriotic hero that dresses just like Superman (mixed with Uncle Sam's beard and hat).
  • Swallow the Key:
    • When Alma Negra imprisoned Chapulín and part of his crew, he then swallows the key so they can't escape. Parodied in that he even added some salt to the key before swallowing it. Also a subversion since he actually needed to release them later on to help him hide his treasure, and it wasn't until he swallowed the key that he noticed the flaw with his plan.
    • In "El regreso de Super Sam", El Pocastrancas locks a couple in a room and then eats the key. At the end of the episode, the couple asks El Chapulín how he freed them when Pocasteancas had eaten the key. El Chapulín then replies that patience is one of humanity's best virtues. The couple is NOT happy to hear that.
  • Taking Advantage of Generosity: One of Chapulín's catchphrases points out when someone is doing this to him ("Se aprovechan de mi nobleza" — although literally it means "They take advantage of my nobility"). More often than not, "they" are those who summoned him for help, and what makes him says this is when they make him do something dangerous and make clear that they won't help.
  • That's All, Folks!: The last episode of the half-hour show. Unfittingly, it continued as part of the Chespirito sketch show for much longer.
  • Those Wacky Nazis: El Chapulín once fought against Adolf Hitler (Also played by Chespirito). El Chapulín won after Hitler accidentally set off the Self-Destruct Button of his bunker.
    Chapulín: And people will surely say that he killed himself or something and so and so...
  • Time Master: El Chapulín can control time through clocks, as seen once when trying to save a woman and her father from a vampire (In later versions, it's a madman that believes he's a vampire). Since it's noon, El Chapulín manipulates a clock to advance a few hours, only for sunlight suddenly appearing and defeating the vampire.
  • Time Stands Still: The "Chicharra Paralizadora" was capable of doing this. Chapulín used it often to set up embarrassing situations for his enemies.
  • Trivially Obvious: Done by Chapulín's own introduction. It states that he is more agile than a tortoise, stronger than a mouse, and kinder than a lettuce.
  • Toilet Humor: Implicitely, but references to farts sometimes come up, especially in the gas leak episode - in that case, it's referred as there being another gas leak.
  • Toon Physics: Unusually for a live-action series, it's all over the place. Chroma Key was used for things like El Chapulín suspending himself in mid-air when trying to pull someone down, El Chapulín being sent to the sky with one punch (Except for his shoes, which stay on the floor), people flying, etc.
  • Twist Ending: In one hour long episode, Chapulín is summoned because an escaped mental patient, with martial arts training, has been spotted near the vicinity of an isolated cabin. Suspicion falls on the cabin's owner, a traveler, a roughed up man, and even Chapulín himself as to who may be the maniac. At the end of the episode, the roughed up man reveals that he's a cop that was beaten up by the maniac and is in the area looking for the escapee. At the very end, it's revealed that the the maniac is Florinda Mesa's character who scares off the men with a karate yell.
    Florinda: (looking at the camera) Men: they're so selfish, they think they own everything, including insanity.
  • Un-Paused: The entire schtick of the paralyzing horn. El Chapulín normally exploited it so his opponents would hurt themselves or one another (most of the episodes with the paralyzing horn involve two bad characters).
  • Unreliable Narrator: El Chapulín is terrible at telling stories:
  • Unusual Euphemism:
    • "¡Chanfle!" (a soft swear, similar to "Holy Mackerel!" or "Crikey!")
    • "Al fondo a la derecha", as an euphemism for bathroom.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: In "Jamás volveré a jugar apostando dinero, y te apuesto todo lo que quieras a que cumplo", there are two people playing chess in the background during the whole episode. None of the events that happen during it, not even El Chapulín and El Cuajináis swordfighting with pool sticks right above the board, faze them.
  • Vampire Episode: Episode "Los hombres vampiro no saben hacer otra cosa mas que estar chupando sangre", in later seasons remade as "El Vampiro" and "El Conde Terranova".
  • Visual Pun: In "Más vale ratero en jaula que ciento robando", the checkers board the policeman and an inmate play with has the ladies' bathroom sign in the other side. In Spanish, both "checkers" and "ladies" use the same word: "damas".
  • Victoria's Secret Compartment: In "El extraño y misterioso caso del difunto que se murió" (1977), La Minina (Florinda Meza) tries to hide a key using this trope, but fails and the key falls to the floor.
  • Villain Decay: Botija. At beginning was a true threat. But in the end he become in a Harmless Villain.
  • "Wanted!" Poster: El Chapulín Colorado once helped a western town to post wanted posters with the criminal's face and the inscription "Lo Queremos Vivo o Muerto - Mucho Cuidado". (Roughly "Wanted dead or alive - extreme caution") When confronted by the criminal Chapulín tried to appease him by ripping a piece of the poster so it reads "Lo Queremos Mucho" ("We love him/you a lot"). After Chapulín realized that the criminal didn't fall for the trick, Chapulín tried to buy his way out stating that the criminal in the poster did not look like the real criminal (played by Ramón Valdés) at all, even though it was an obvious caricature of Valdés on the poster. Chapulín insisted it was actually a bald bearded guy... and flipped the poster upside down to prove his point.
  • Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?:
    • "El Chipote Chillón" ("The Squeaking Mallet"), "La Chicharra Paralizadora" (a bike horn that can paralyze people by honking once, and release them by honking twice) and the "Chiquitolina" Pills (that shrink him down to the size of a small action figure.) Also, his suit included a par of vinyl antennae, which detected the "presence of the enemy" (The detection was real, but Chapulín couldn't identify WHO was the enemy.) The Squeaking Mallet relies on his own strenght, but it's capable of stopping cold people much bigger than him, and to damage otherwise unsurmountable obstacles, his Vynil Antennae work as a Spider-Sense of sorts, but they also double as radar, two-way radio, and multipurpose sensors that can study, for example, a wall to look for weaknesses in the material. The Paralyzing Honking-Horn was a device ahead of his time (even for most comic books and sci-fi series) in that it effectively put any person or object caught in its blast radius in a perfectly stable and self sustaining sleep; a couple episodes even theorized that people paralized this way, could be left alone for years and they'd be alright after coming out of the honk's effects. Chespirito would say in later years that they came from an agonizing scientist who wanted to pick someone to give his inventions, and when he called upon people to meet him so he could choose to whom to give the pills, Chapulín was the only honest person that went, that's how he got his only real superpower.
    • Also, you'd have to wonder what a "proper" superhero could achieve with access to the Chapulín's teleporting device. El Chapulín could appear at any location the instant his cry for help was uttered. He'd even pop out of ridiculous and hard to reach places, like a trash can, or just literally drop from a place off-camera in between the assailant and its victim; of course, pretty much getting wrong who was who and hilarity ensuing.
    • Not to mention he can also travel in time, unless he's immortal, as some episodes are set during the The Golden Age of Piracy (around the 1600s-1700s), the Wild West (1800s), and even inside the Führerbunker during Adolf Hitler's last days (1945), up to others that are set in the future when Casual Interstellar Travel is possible.
  • The Wild West: Some episodes were set in there. It was the only type of episode in which El Chapulín had recurring allies.
  • Wire Dilemma: One episode has permutation number 10 (throwing the bomb out the window) happening twice. Actually, the second time used a door.
  • You Are Number 6: Played for laughs in an episode where Chapulín helps a jail where all the prisoners are known by their number, and we focus on "the 24", but aside from being know only by his number, he actually has an amicable relation with the jailer, to the point that he actually leaves the cell door unlocked (it probably has to do with the fact that he is the only prisoner that hasn't escaped yet). It's implied this is the same with all prisoners, as Chapulín mentions a "13" (which they nicknamed the "14").
  • You Wouldn't Hit a Guy with Glasses: El Chapulín once tried to get out of a fight by claiming he was not allowed to hit a guy with glasses. When the bad guy said "But I don't wear glasses", El Chapulín said "But I do" and then put on a pair of sunglasses.

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