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Left to right: Chuck, Kimo, Tabe, Reed, Too Much and Pepper.

"Chuck Norris! Chuck Norris, man of action! Chuck Norris stars in Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos! Chuck Norris! He's got nerves of steel and strength to match..."
—From the opening narration (see also Drinking Game in the YMMV tab)

Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos was an animated 5 episode mini-series that ran in 1986 and produced by Ruby-Spears. It starred Chuck Norris as Chuck Norris, a government agent who works with a team of operatives which consist of Pepper, a female Gadgeteer Genius; Reed Smith, Chuck's apprentice and Pepper's brother; a Tagalong Kid named Too Much; Kimo, a samurai; and Tabe, a sumo champion and The Big Guy. They fight the evil forces of VULTURE led by The Claw and Super Ninja.

The series was released on DVD in April 2011.


"Chuck Norris! He's got tropes of steel and strength to match..."

  • Cool Bike: The Kommandos' Samurai Cycle and the evil Ninjas' Ninja Banzai Cycle.
    • Also, "That's my bike!" "This is an emergency... I'M CHUCK NORRIS."
  • Cool Car: The Kommandos' Karate Corvette.
  • Cool Plane: The Kommandos' helicopter, the—wait for it—Karate Chopper.
  • The Dragon: Super Ninja, the Claw's second-in-command. He leads the Claw's army of evil ninjas, although he espends most of his time obsessed with defeating Norris.
  • Episode Title Card: As with most Ruby-Spears productions.
  • Everything's Deader with Zombies: "Island of the Walking Dead" has the characters visiting an island ruled by a voodoo doctor and his zombies. Naturally, only Chuck can fight them.
  • The Heavy: Super Ninja. While The Claw is the main villain, he's more of a schemer. Thus Super Ninja is present to give both give a more physically dangerous enemy for Chuck to fight and to act as a more fitting Arch-Enemy of sorts.
  • Heroic Dolphin: Dolphins help to catch Devilfish, Claw's Psycho for Hire in "Deadly Dolphin".
  • Hero Stole My Bike: "Sorry kids, this is an emergency. I'm Chuck Norris!"
  • Master of Disguise: The assassin who hunts Chuck in "Target: Chuck Norris" is supposed to be one of these—but see Paper-Thin Disguise below.
  • McNinja: Super Ninja and the ninja army led by Claw.
  • Merchandise-Driven: The series was accompanied by an action figure line from Kenner.
  • Mighty Whitey: The series is all about Japanese martial arts, but the white Chuck Norris is The Hero and leader of the Karate Kommandos.
  • Name Drop: The infamous Opening Narration makes damn sure you know who the star is.
    Narrator: Chuck Norris is, Chuck Norris in, Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos.
  • Never Smile at a Crocodile: The villain in "Menace from Space" employs alligators alongside his mooks.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Too Much, whose real name is never revealed.
  • Overly Long Gag: In one episode, Too Much gets kidnapped by one of the Claw's henchmen, resulting in a chase scene that goes on for three and a half minutes. They start on a boat, get on jetskis, switch to a car chase (the origin of the "This is an emergency! I'm Chuck Norris" line), and then Chuck jumps off of his stolen motorcycle to board a plane the henchman had hijacked. You'd think it'd be over after this, but ohhhh no. The henchman steals a truck with an attached parachute and drives out of the plane, prompting Chuck to jump after them. Finally, the henchman puts on a personal parachute, grabs the kid, and cuts the truck's parachute, prompting Norris to just grab the henchman, untie Too Much with one hand, and then interrogate the guy. Lampshaded towards the end with the henchman and Chuck saying "I don't believe this guy!" and "Here We Go Again!", respectively. Watch it here.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: A Master of Disguise assassin/Mook Lieutenant Imposter hired by the Claw in "Target - Chuck Norris" sports several of these and Chuck sees through them every time after their first meeting. He doesn't even attempt to conceal his face or distinct accent!

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