The series is about Rocky Kwaterner, a young cro-magnon boy from the prehistoric quaternary era. On the day he is tasked to participate in a Rite of Passage to proof he is ready to become a hunter, Rocky decides to take a shortcut across a frozen lake, but falls through the ice into the frozen water and ends up getting frozen. About 35,000 year later, his frozen body is discovered in the Himalayas by Professor Edgar Torpedo, a charlatan and fraudulent researcher. Torpedo hopes to use Rocky to earn the respect of the scientific community, but in his clumsiness the block of ice slips from his hands and slides down the slope, where it ends up at the site of archaeologist Mary Tikka. Mary unfreezes Rocky, who turns out to have survived his ordeal and is alive and well. Mary decides to adopt Rocky. Thus, Rocky becomes part of Mary’s family which consists of her, her husband Peter, and her two children Theo and Luna, who try to teach him everything about modern life while keeping his true origins a secret from everyone. But professor Torpedo still regards Rocky as his discovery, and constantly stalks the boy in an attempt to freeze Rocky again to use him as an exhibit.
Rocky Kwarterner contains examples of:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: In the episode “Me Rocky, You Robot” the Tikka family gets a prototype of a new household robot to test. Theo and Luna are exited, but Rocky does not trust the machine, who proves himself better at everything. When in his anger Rocky hits the robot with his club, the robot goes haywire and turns hostile towards the Tikka’s, forcing them to fight it.
- All Cavemen Were Neanderthals: Averted; Rocky is explicitly stated to be a cro-magnon. He doesn’t look that different from modern day humans, and thus easily blends in appearance wise. He also averts the stereotype of cavemen being dumb brutes; he has learned to speak modern day French/English and while modern tech and customs often baffle him at first, he is shown to be capable of learning how these things work.
- All There in the Manual: In the first episode Rocky is already living with the Tikka family, and while the opening sequence of each episode provides some insight in the show's premise, the exact details regarding how Rocky ended up frozen in the first place, was found by Mary, and adopted by her are mainly provided in promotional material for the show, like the website of Peekaboo Animation. There is however a brief flashback for these events in the episode "The Twist" which contradict the official story (see Trivia page).
- April Fools' Plot: The episode "Crackadoodle Day" is set on april fools day and focusses on Luna and Theo pulling a prank on Rocky where they make him think a science experiment by Theo has gone wrong and turned them both into cavemen. Once Rocky catches on to what is actually going on, he teams up with Jamie, a neighborhood kid who in previous years was a frequent target of Theo and Luna's April Fools pranks, to prank them back by making them think there's a saber-toothed tiger on the loose in the park. In the end both sides have a good laugh about it.
- Batter Up!: Rocky has a wooden club that he tends to pull out against anything he considers a danger, which is a lot considering how confusing the 21th century is for him.
- Beach Episode: In episode 49, "The Big Splash", after the local lake is cleaned of algae, the town has done some work on the park so as to bring "the beach to town." The plot mainly focusses on Theo and Luna teaching Rocky to swim so he can take on Karl in a contest.
- Big Bad: professor Torpedo, another archeologist who discovered Rocky along with Mary, but unlike her sees him as nothing more than a museum exhibit that can make him famous.
- Big Brother Instinct: Rocky may be their adopted brother and about the same age as them, but he gets very protective if Theo and/or Luna are in (real or perceived) danger or someone is bothering them.
- Big Ol' Unibrow: Rocky has a pretty noticeable thick unibrow across his face. In certain scenes it's even visible over his hair for some reason.
- Birthday Episode: Episode 8 is one for Rocky, where the Tikka’s decide to live like cavemen for a day to make him feel more comfortable.
- The Bully: Karl, a kid at Theo's school who has it out for him and Rocky. He serves as a secondary antagonist in the show.
- Catchphrase: Rocky has several that reflect his prehistoric roots, like “Mammoth’s Trunks!” and “by my ancestors”.
- Charles Atlas Super Power: Due to his prehistoric roots Rocky is quite strong and agile for a kid his age. Over the course of the series he is seen performing feats like leaping over the garden fence right onto a passing garbage truck, carrying both Luna and Theo simultaneously, and jumping from the bottom of the stairs in the house straight to the top step.
- Clear My Name: In "Mystery and Mammoths Trunks", Karl accuses Rocky of having wrecked a mammoth statue by wrapping it in toilet paper and knocking it over. Initially all evidence points out Karl might be right. Theo and Luna after some digging find out Rocky did do it, but not on purpose; he was Sleepwalking while reliving a memory about how he once had to save himself and his pet tiger from an angry mammoth by tricking it into getting tangled up in vines. And it wasn't just him; Karl's dog had been following Rocky and knocked the statue over, meaning Karl was also partly responsible.
- Concert Episode: Episode 22, "Rocky's Concert", focusses on Rocky, Theo and Luna trying to get enough money to buy tickets for a concert of "The Kings of the Stone Age", a band Rocky became a huge fan of. Their first tries are unsuccesful, so Rocky tries to earn some money by showing off his own drumming skills. Which end up being noticed by one of the band members, who is impressed enough by it that he invites Rocky to join them on stage.
- Contemporary Caveman: Rocky is a cro-magnon from 35000 years ago who ended up in the present day.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Over the course of the series professor Torpedo uses a wide array of freezing gadgets to try and capture Rocky, never seeming to realize those inventions have great monetary value of their own.
- Dodgeball Is Hell: In "A Fantastic Party", during a neighborhood party, Rocky proposes they play a prehistoric game from his old tribe called 'crush tribe', which is basically dodgeball but with a rock and where trying to knock your opponents out cold is actually the purpose of the game. Luna manages to convince Rocky to use a ball instead of a rock, making it more like modern day dodgeball, but even with a ball Rocky still proves himself capable of knocking out people. Fortunately, nobody suffers lasting injuries and the other players even end up liking this version of dodgeball.
- Dub Name Change: Between the original French and the English dub:
- Marie - Mary Tikka
- Pierre - Peter Tikka
- Torpille - Torpedo
- Ear Notch: Rocky's left ear is notched. It's never revealed how this happened, nor does anyone ever point it out.
- Expository Theme Tune: The theme tune itself is instrumental, but the accompanying footage shows how Rocky is found in the ice by Mary and Torpedo, taken home by Mary, and integrates into the Tikka family.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Rocky, who was frozen 35000 years ago and now has to adjust to living in the 21th century.
- Four Fingered Hand: All human characters are drawn in this manner.
- Freeze Ray: Professor Torpedo has a lot of inventions meant to try and freeze Rocky again, which more often than not end up freezing him instead.
- Goofy Print Underwear: whenever Rocky is seen in his undies, he is wearing the classic white boxers with red hearts.
- Grocery Store Episode: Episode 50 is about the Tikka family going to a large supermarket to do groceries; something that Rocky has never seen before.
- Halloween Episode: Episode 47 is set during Halloween.
- Happily Adopted: The Tikka’s made Rocky a full time member of their family. Rocky always refers to Mary and Peter as mom and dad, and to Theo and Luna as his brother and sister. They in turn fully treat him as a son/sibling.
- Harmless Freezing: Being frozen for 35000 years had no ill effects on Rocky. Professor Torpedo also never suffers any lasting damage from the many times he gets frozen by his own weapons.
- Harmless Villain: Professor Torpedo is more a nuisance than an actual threat to the protagonists, as most of the time they don’t even notice he’s stalking them and he ends up getting taken out by his own weapons or just bad luck.
- Hiccup Hijinks: In episode 29, Rocky gets the hiccups and is convinced that it's a sign he is cursed. Theo and Luna try some home remedies, which fail to work, while Rocky attempts to find a shaman to cure him. Since there are no shamans in this day and age, Peter pretends he is one to try and help Rocky. Ultimately, Rocky is cured of his hiccups when he thinks Theo and Luna are in danger; one of the few things that can genuinely scare him.
- Human Popsicle; How Rocky ended up in modern times. He was frozen in ice until found by Mary Tikka.
- I Owe You My Life: In "The Debt of Honor", Karl saves Rocky from a falling rock during a field trip, which to Rocky means he now must serve Karl as this was custom at his old tribe. Karl being Karl, he greatly abuses Rocky's new loyalty by focing the boy to help bully others. To free Rocky from his debt, Theo and Luna trick a group of squirrels into attacking Karl so Rocky can save him, and film the whole thing as proof.
- Imagine Spot: A Running Gag for professor Torpedo is him having a fantasy where he presents the frozen Rocky to a huge audience, and is given an award for his discovery.
- Lost Pet Grievance: Episode 31 resolves around Rocky trying to find Frida's pet lizard, who got lost after escaping his terrarium, leaving her deeply upset. The trope is also brought up in episode 10 when Rocky recalls how the saber-tooth tiger he used to have as a pet 35000 years ago one day left him without warning.
- Love Interests: Frida, a girl Rocky first meets in episode 6 and instantly falls in love with.
- Mistaken for Stray: In episode 45, the Tikka kids come across a dog in the park, and since the dog is not wearing a collar they assume it's a stray and take him home. They try to convince their parents to let them keep the dog, and they eventually agree, though the dog causes quite some trouble at the Tikka house. Especially when it sets its eyes on a fossilized bone Mary found recently. Eventually, the dog even helps Mary and her kids find a complete dinosaur fossil in the park, and they make the headlines of the newspaper with their find. But at the end of the episode, it turns out the dog had an owner after all, who recognized him on the photo in the newspaper and comes to the Tikka's house to get him back.
- The Napoleon: Professor Torpedo is a short guy, barely taller than the kid characters, and an impatient, easy to anger hothead.
- Pets as a Present: In "Perfect Gift", the Tikka Kids hastily have to find Mary a present for Mother's Day after realizing they forgot all about it. Rocky, based on the gifts people use to give each other back in prehistoric times, decides he wants to give Mary a live chicken. First problem is to actually find one on such a short notice, which he manages with Theo's help. Then more trouble arises when the chicken escapes and Rocky has to find it. Eventually, he catches it just in time and gives it to Mary along with Theo and Luna's gifts. The chicken is not seen or mentioned again in later episodes.
- Quarter Hour Short: Each episode is 11 minutes long.
- Rite of Passage:
- Episode 15 resolves entirely around Rocky wanting to be put through one of these by Theo and Luna so he can truly feel part of the Tikka family. The Tikka's try to come up with several tests for Rocky, but through bad luck he fails to pass any. He finally succeeds when he chases off an Angry Guard Dog that was threatening the rest of the family.
- According to the shows official backstory, Rocky was on his way to participate in a rite of passage to prove himself ready to become a hunter when he got frozen in ice.
- Scare the Dog: Rocky can easily scare most wild animals into submission with his loud screaming/roaring. He does this to an actual angry dog in "Rite of Passage", to a wild boar in "Follow the Leader", and even to a bear in "Rocky has Dissappeared".
- Short Cuts Make Long Delays: According to the shows background story, Rocky got frozen when he tried to take a shortcut across a frozen lake and fell through the ice.
- Ski-Resort Episode: The episodes "Rocky, King of the Slopes" and "A Star for Rocky" both see the Tikka family take a trip to a ski resort; something Rocky is not too thrilled about as skiing and sledding are not his thing.
- Slice of Life: Most episodes focus on Rocky and his adoptive family deal with everyday situations.
- This Is My Side: In “The Peace Fresco”, after Rocky and Theo accidentally ruin Luna’s drawing that she hoped to use for a competition, she blocks off her side of the room and refuses to speak to the boys again.
- Total Eclipse of the Plot: episode 32 resolves around the Tikka family going to watch a solar eclipse. While the eclipse itself is nothing out of the ordinary, problems arrise because Rocky is terrified of it due to a story he heard about a fellow Cro-Magnon who supposedly turned into a mammoth during an eclipse. He finally gets over this superstition by the end of the episode and enjoys the eclipse with his family.
- Trapped the Wrong Target: In “Rocky Stands Guard”, Rocky is convinced an intruder is stalking the house and sets several traps. Unfortunately, he forgets to inform the rest of the family about them and they end up getting caught in the traps instead.
- Weaponized Stench: In episode 21, “the shtinksalot”, after Rocky, Theo and Luna are challenged by Karl and his friends to a basketball match, Rocky recalls how in his tribe they used strong odors to scare off predators, and figures this would make an excellent weapon in the oncoming match. Theo and Luna are not too thrilled at first, but ultimately go along with the plan, combining all the smelly stuff they can find (like dirty laundry and a smelly cheese) to create a foul smelling deodorant, which they spray themselves with prior to the match. The strategy works at first as Karl and his friends are too overwhelmed by the stench to effectively play, giving the siblings an early lead. However, the bullies then decide to fight fire with fire and turn their own smelly socks into bandanas. It helps them make a comeback.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Due to having been frozen for 35000 years, Rocky is naturally not a big fan of cold and snow. In “The Day of the big Brr Brr” he has to overcome this fear to help find Mary and Peter after they get stranded in a cabin.
