Western Animation / World of Quest

Nestor: "You may be in large, but I'm in charge!"
Quest: "Without me, kid, you wouldn't get too far..."

Nestor: My pal Quest does whatever I want.
Quest: Man, I gotta lose this little runt.
Nestor: I get to boss him around when we're in a mess!
Quest: This Prince Nestor is a royal pest.

—Nestor and Quest explaining the nature of their relationship in the series intro

World of Quest is a Canadian-American animated fantasy series loosely adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Jason T. Kruse and produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment for Teletoon and Kids' WB!. The show ran from 2008 to 2009 for 2 seasons and 26 episodes.

Set in the land of Odyssia, World of Quest focuses on the charismatic but vain and entitled Prince Nestor, the heir of the throne of the land. Unfortunately, his parents, the king and queen of Odyssia, have been captured by the villainous Lord Spite. In order to defeat Spite and free his parents, Nestor must find the legendary Shattersoul Sword. But since he's a very short and scrawny thirteen-year-old, his first move is to recruit the legendary warrior Quest, a surly, laconic, muscular man with a freakishly large chin whom his mother had banished years beforehand. By the unsubtle means of tricking Quest into reading an allegiance spell that forces him to do whatever Nestor commands him to, Quest is forced by the runty annoyance to serve as his bodyguard and accompany the prince on his mission to find the sword whether he likes it or not.

While Quest and Nestor don't exactly have the best relationship with each other (especially since Nestor's allegiance spell has no control over how Quest carries out his demands), the two must nonetheless work together if they are to find the five pieces of the Shattersoul Sword and defeat Lord Spite and his henchmen (including his Dragon General Ogun, the witch Deceit, and the beastly Katastrophe Brothers). Along the way, Quest and Nestor are accompanied by a variety of powerful fellow warriors, including the burly griffin Graer (an old friend of Quest and Nestor's original companion), the cyborg mercenary Gatling (a rival and former companion of Quest), the rookie sorceress Anna Maht (who also happens to be Quest's biggest fan), and Way, a magical shapeshifting entity who functions as a living map of Odyssia. Riding atop a gigantic tortoise-like Bastionite named Albert, Nestor, Quest, and their companions travel the land of Odyssia getting into one mind-blowingly weird scrape after another as they look for the five pieces of the Shattersoul Sword.

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This show contains examples of:

• Adaptation Distillation: The original graphic novel is set in a more or less typical swords and sorcery world; the television program is filled with Schizo Tech devices like hovercarriers, Mechanical Animals and flying platforms.
• Adventure Towns: Since this is a broad parody of the sort of heroic quests seen in literature, the towns and villages the Questers find themselves in are stocked with weird people.
• Affectionate Parody: The series in general is a spoof of quest-centered fantasy series, particularly stuff like Masters of the Universe, combing fast-paced action with a fairly comedic tone.
• Ambiguously Brown: Anna Maht, all while also being red-haired and green-eyed, adding to the ambiguity. Her garb is also ambiguously oriental.
• Big Bad: Lord Spite, who was responsible for capturing Nestor's parents, setting off the show's story.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Prince Nestor; since he adds complete unawareness of his surroundings to the standard compliment of annoying traits, his chief use to the quest is to become an impromptu bludgeon in Quest's hands. To his credit, he manages to downplay this and he does improve.
• Burn the Witch!: "The Trial of Anna Maht", though instead of burning them, they push them over a cliff.
• Butt-Monkey: Nestor frequently gets hit, bullied, or otherwise abused. Most of this happens thanks to Quest.
• Catchphrase: Catchphrases!! I hate catchphrases!!
• Continuity Snarl: It was made very clear Deceit had legs and feet, however later in the series she is often mockingly called "legless".
• Determinator: You gotta give it to Nestor — he doesn't have much in the way of skills, but he doesn't give up. While Quest is happy to quit immediately when he decides something isn't worth doing, Nestor continues pushing on to find the swords and rescue his parents from Lord Spite.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • One of the main reasons why Quest doesn't want to help Nestor. His father, the King, gave him the title of "nanny for life" (a title he didn't even want, but couldn't exactly refuse). When Ogun kidnapped the then-baby Nestor and Quest was forced to save him, the Queen found out and punished Quest by banishing him from the kingdom... despite, you know, saving her son.
  • In Nestor's past, he was always being bullied by a kid. Nestor, fed up, told an adult, and — beyond Nestor's control — the bully was put to stable cleaning for the rest of his life, while being told that his parents were given a new son. Nestor never got over the guilt.
• The Eeyore: Quest is a very surly individual, and he dislikes pretty much everyone and everything.
• Epunymous Title: The series' name refers to both Quest, the warrior charged with guarding Prince Nestor, and the fact that he and Nestor are traveling through Odyssia in search of a magic sword to free Nestor's parents.
• Exact Words: When Nestor gives him a command he doesn't like, Quest will use this Trope to humiliate, embarrass, or otherwise greatly inconvenience the prince.
• Extreme Omnivore: Graer Bugfeathers, the griffin. Spite has taken advantage of Graer's appetite on more than one occasion.
• Eyedscreen: Used whenever Quest declares that he hates something; given how foul Quest's temper is, this means that half of every episode is in a letterbox format.
• Fetch Quest: Nestor has to collect all the pieces of a mystical Shattersoul Sword to save his kingdom. He tricks Quest into becoming his magic-bound protector to make that mission feasible.
• Fusion Dance: The Katastrophe Brothers. Khaos, Konfusion, and Kalamity (who are an anthropomorphic vulture, lizard, and bull) are able to merge into a monster named Katastrophe under certain conditions.

• Hollywood Cyborg: One of Nestor and Quest's companions is the polite and soft-spoken Gatling, whose body is 95% steel.
• Hypocritical Heartwarming: Quest makes it quite clear, only he is allowed to abuse Nestor and call him a runt.
• Idiot Hero: Nestor is an arrogant and incompetent Royal Brat whom Quest has been forced to take guard against his will. While Quest is all too happy to abandon Nestor whenever the opportunity arises, Nestor does actually become a somewhat more mature and sensible character as the series progresses - although Quest's attitude towards him remains the same.
• Implacable Man: The Guardian of the Shattersoul Sword. Not only is he tens of thousands of years old, he's one of the few people Quest can only fight to a standstill.
• I'm Thinking It Over!: In the first episode, Spite offers Quest the deal of working for him and to bring him Nester.
  Nestor: Quest would never work for you. Right, Quest?
  Quest: (Doesn't reply)
  Nestor: (Worried) Quest?
  Quest: I'm thinking. (Brief pause then breaks the communicator)
• Inept Mage: Anna Maht has rather... situational control of her magical powers. She does, however, eventually gain better hang of it as the story progresses.
• Insane Troll Logic: Whatever misfortune befall the Shrieks? A witch did it!
• Jerkass to One:
  • Quest is the crueler to one variety. He dislikes anythnig besides Albert, is an extreme grump and pushes people away if he isn't forced to work with others, but he is the meanest towards Nestor, often insulting and causing him physical pain.
  • Nestor is sort of the cruel to one variety. He likes to brag about his status and achievements, is stubborn and can be downright unpleasant at times, but he normally doesn't insult others and is actually civil most of the time, besides him losing his temper in a few occasions and giving a few snide remarks here and there. He has also shown care and respect for other characters multiple times, even though they almost never praise him, showing that while he does have an ego, he gets along with others for the most part. Quest is the only exception, as Nestor would almost constantly insult and boss the latter around. However, this is mostly because during their first encounter Quest refused to help him save his parents and kingdom and regularly assaults him both mentally and physically.

• Kid with the Leash: Nestor tricks Quest into what's essentially magical slavery. Quest not only has none of it, but does his very best to be Literal Jerkass Genie, only saving Nestor from trouble because he has to - but first letting the prince to get harmed by whatever they are facing.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Quest is this trope in spades. He REALLY doesn't like having to be Nestor's bodyguard (not to say there is very much he does like), but he'll do as Nestor says and help save the world from Lord Spite (even if he is largely compelled by magic to do so).
• Lantern Jaw of Justice. Both Quest and Gatling have enormous chins.
• Lizard Folk: The Shrieks are a race of twitchy frill-necked lizard people with a paranoid hatred of magic-users. Spite and Deceit fit this as well, given their reptilian qualities.
• Merchandising the Monster: In one episode, the group comes across a town that lives close to the lair of a creature called the Croca-Doodle-Doo, which they need to combat to activate the Earth Sword. The town, named Crocadoodle Ville, has built a whole economy on selling the Croca-Doodle-Doo as a vicious creature, and is pretty much dependent on it to keep the village from economic ruin.
• Morality Pet: Albert the Bastionite; not only is he the Quester's primary means of transportation, he's about the only creature in the world that Quest likes.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Quest's voice actor, Ron Pardo, does a flawless impression of Patrick Warburton (with a hint of John Wayne).
• Our Gryphons Are Different: Graer, one of Quest and Nestor's companions, is a large and burly one; in fact, his lack of tail and cartoonish proportions (namely, a deep, heavy beak) means some might not recognize him as a griffin immediately when first seeing him.
• Perpetual Frowner: Why if it isn't none other than Quest himself, as a whole in general, of course. C'mon, if there's only one thing he hates more than everything and everyone, is being asked and told to smile, or at the very least in that case for that matter, take some advice and sympathy, but mostly, it's just smiling he can't and won't do for darn sure, especially unlike his twin clone in one episode.
• Reset Button Ending: Both seasons end with one, as the pieces of the Shattersoul Sword are accidentally lost, prompting a new search.
• Shout-Out: Gatling in his past was once on a quest to rescue a Princess from an Ogre. It turned out she eloped with the Ogre, because the King and Queen didn't consent
• Smarter Than They Look: Graer might appear to just be a big baffoon, but he has been able to deduce Spite's plan with very little information as well as solve a difficult math problem. He admits he was the top of his class in Griffin School.
• Squee: Anna's fangirl-like squeal upon meeting Quest.
• Strange-Syntax Speaker: Way, the living compass on whose directions Quest and the others rely, speaks English in a jumbled, roundabout manner; trainee sorceress Anna Maht's real job is making sense of her declarations.
• Subverted Catchphrase: "A runt without words!! I like a runt without words!!"
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Quest and Nestor. The two butt heads very regularly, and Quest finds Nestor irritating, but circumstances (and magic) mean the two have to work together to save Odyssia.
• Theme Naming: Griffins in Odyssia are named after the first sound they make after birth; Graer's best friend is a fellow named Upchuckawakblah.
• Toilet Humour: To almost disturbing levels, as vast majority of jokes is scatological in nature.
• Toothy Bird: Graer, despite having a beak, also has a set of very human-like teeth.

• The Un-Smile: Once again, special mention goes straight directly to Quest, whom everyone hates to see the look on his face.
• Villain Decay:
  • Quest's rival, General Ogun, went from a fairly competent Dragon to Lord Spite's pathetic friend, simpering about how the sorceress Deceit got all of Spite's attention.
  • Spite himself also qualifies. He went from being a competent villain in the graphic novel to an idiot in the show.
• Villains Want Mercy: When they're all about to be dissolved by a carnivorous mountain in one episode, Spite is quick to grovel at Quest's feet and beg for help.
• Water-Triggered Change: Dousing the Katastrophe Brothers in water causes the three of them to merge together into a stronger hybrid form, which can be undone by pulling out the cork in the back of their head. However, they are capable of bypassing this weakness by being somewhere where it's raining, which allows them to instantly merge again seconds after being separated.

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Stingers! I hate stingers...

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