History Series / Reaper

** [[spoiler: CainAndAbelAndSeth: subverted as Cady doesn't get involved in the SiblingRivalry and it's never really confirmed if she's the Devil's daughter.]]

* CaliforniaDoubling: The show was filmed in Vancouver, Canada. The license plates are Washington, and there's numerous references to Seattle. At one point someone mentions The Space Needle, and John talks about putting up his Seahawks posters.

* CaliforniaDoubling: The show was filmed in Canada-- StargateCity --and while the series does a good job of showcasing a general location, a couple parts of the show suggest that it might be taking place in Southern California.
** The license plates are Washington, and there's numerous references to Seattle. At one point someone mentions The Space Needle, and John talks about putting up his Seahawks posters.

* BrotherSisterIncest: Sock and his [[NotBloodSiblings stepsister]].
** [[spoiler:One of Sam's girlfriends, Cady, is implied but never confirmed to be a daughter of the Devil. If she is, that means Sam slept with (what he believes to be) his own half sister.]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: A prominent plot device in the first season is that standing inside a circle of any kind (even a chalk-drawn circle on a side walk) makes one immune to the Devil's power; the characters occasionally use this to their advantage by standing inside a circle when they're having a conversation they don't want the Devil to hear. Come the second season, this plot device is abandoned, and the characters never bother to draw a circle even when discussing something they wouldn't want the Devil to know about.

-->'''Devil:''' Quick question: Quoting Shakespeare--too cliche?

* AGoodNameForARockBand: A wannabe rocker/Dreadful Musician whose great idea of a stage name is just "Ryan" almost does a literal DealWithTheDevil and becomes the even-more-ludicrous-sounding "Ryän".

** The premise owes more than a bit to ''Ghost Rider'', but there's a lot of smaller nods as well, most blatantly to ''{{Film/Ghostbusters}}'' in the first and third episodes.

* OutlawCouple: Had a pair of escaped souls in an OutlawCouple relationship. The woman is played by [[HeyItsThatGuy Harmony]] [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer the vampire]].

* GenreSavvy: Alan Townsend, the only escaped soul from Hell smart enough to realize that the Devil can't touch him on consecrated ground, so he immediately takes a job as a gravedigger. He later attempts to move to the Vatican [[spoiler: and fails]].

* ViewerStockPhrases: If you watch ''{{Reaper}}'', you might've said some of the following things once or twice....

* [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even A Comedic Sociopath Has Standards]]: Sock is royally pissed off when he discovers that a cannibalistic soul ate his own mother.

* LikeABadAssOutOfHell: Played straight and subverted. Although all the souls are escapees from Hell, implying a certain amount of badass-ness, the fact that Hell is apparently extremely overcrowded means that pretty much anyone can get out if they set their mind to it.

* AnimatedTattoo - One of the escaped souls.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking / DisproportionateRetribution - The old sins.

* BatmanGambit - The Devil, in "Rebellion," is revealed to have [[spoiler:set Sam, Sock, and Ben in their new apartment next door to two demons who happen to be members of a demonic underground dedicated to fighting the Devil with goodness. Because of Sam's special relationship with the Devil, the demons devise a plan to trap the Devil and kill him - which is just what the Devil wants. He kills all the demons in the rebellion (except for one), because the goodness plan would have eventually worked in about 400 years]]. What's more - [[spoiler: The Devil left a series of clues that he easily could have avoided. Giving them gifts meant for the escaped soul that Sam is chasing, and putting his own name on the lease are the big ones. This allows Ben to figure out what's going on exactly one moment too late to stop it.]]
* BavarianFireDrill - Employed by Sock every once in a while.

* BlandNameProduct - Work Bench, the Home Depot/Best Buy FictionalCounterpart.

* ButtMonkey: Benny

* TheChosenOne: Sam is special even for a Reaper - Satan regularly talks to him. [[spoiler:He might even be the Devil's son.]]

* ChronicPetKiller: Cady.

* ClingyMacGuffin: The vessels.

* ComedicSociopathy: Sock!

* CutShort

* DoorstopBaby - Sorta, a baby was left over after Sam reaped a soul. BabyCarriage also comes into play.
* DownerEnding - [[spoiler: The Devil owns Sam's soul, as well as Andi's.]]

* EstablishingShot - [[AC:_epartment of Motor Vehicles]]
* [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even A Comedic Sociopath Has Standards]] - Sock is royally pissed off when he discovers that a cannibalistic soul ate his own mother.
* EvilMentor - The Devil wants to take Sam under his wing
* FiveManBand - Sam and his friends ''almost'' fit into this:
** TheHero (Sam)
** TheLancer / TheBigGuy (Sock)
** TheSmartGuy (Ben)
** TheChick (Andi [[spoiler:as of "Coming to Grips," since she learns Sam's secret]].)
* FlamboyantGay - Steve, though not as bad as some.
* FreakyIsCool - Sock tells Sam this about having Devil powers - Sam [[{{Wangst}} disagrees]]
* GainaxEnding - [[spoiler:Are Sam and Andi damned or not? Why on Earth would ''[[MoralDissonance Steve breaking Sam's hand]]'' be for the ''best''?]]
* TheGamblingAddict - Alan Townsend.

* GodIsEvil: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]: There's nothing to indicate that God is "evil" per se, but he does come off as something of a jackass. (e.g. having his angel [[spoiler: break Sam's hand to keep him bound to The Devil]], punishing the Devil for his rebellion by making it impossible for him to eat [[TrademarkFavoriteFood ice cream]], etc.)
* GoodbyeCruelWorld - The Devil leaves a fake one of these when he uses PsychicAssistedSuicide on someone.

* HeroicSacrifice - Andi in the finale. [[spoiler: It doesn't go well.]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners - Again, Sam/Sock/Ben anyone?

* IJustWantToBeNormal - Sam

* ImprobableWeaponUser - For each job, Sam gets a new vessel to use to capture the escaped soul. They range from the reasonable (e.g. a taser, a whip, a scythe) to the bizarre (e.g. a remote-control toy car, a dove, or bubble solution).
* InconvenientSummons - How the Devil meets Sam.

* {{Kavorka Man}} - Sock verges on this from time to time.
* {{Jerkass}} - The Devil loves screwing with Sam, and it becomes worse when Morgan is in the picture. Morgan fits this as well, although he doesn't realize it.
* JustFriends - Andi wants to remain just friends with Sam, even when he wants more [[spoiler:until she decides to be his girlfriend]].
* KryptoniteFactor - The Devil seems nearly omnipotent but has some weaknesses that even humans can exploit (although, MagnificentBastard that he is, any or all of these could be carefully disseminated disinformation). Most notably, he cannot enter a circle without an invitation (he has to enter through corners) nor can he see or hear anything that goes on inside. He can also be killed by the sword of the Archangel Michael, though he has that safely hidden away. He is also weakened when people, humans or demons, do good deeds. It's stated that if they had not been killed, Steve's group of rebel demons would have successfully defeated the Devil in 400 years or so by doing good deeds. For a being that existed long before Earth was created, that probably seemed like a very immediate threat.

* MonsterOfTheWeek - practically all the escaped souls Sam catches are these.
* MortonsFork - At the end of the first season, [[spoiler: Tony tests if Sam is the son of the Devil by dropping a laundry machine on him. If Sam dies, it proves he's human (but still dead). If Sam uses his demonic powers to save himself, Tony will execute his plan to kill Sam.]]

* MushroomSamba - Sock gets one in the finale. [[IntoxicationEnsues On accident.]]

* OmniscientMoralityLicense - Steve breaks Sam's hand to prevent him from winning his rematch with the Devil, citing an undefined greater good and orders from "upstairs".
* OneHourWorkWeek - The characters do have jobs at the Work Bench (and its one of the major settings), but the boss is so terribly incompetent that they can come to work, clock in, and just leave. Later, Sam's girlfriend Andi takes over the job and, being in on the Reaper secret, lets them go whenever they need to.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent.

* PluckyComicRelief - Ben and Sock are often relegated to this role
* PointyHairedBoss - Ted, mild overlap with BunnyEarsLawyer. While Ted is a jerk that almost no one likes, he seems fairly good at his actual job.

* PowerTrio - Sam = Ego, Ben = Superego, Sock = Id.
* PutOnABus - John.

* RefusalOfTheCall - Sam, in the second episode, tries to leave the vessel behind. It follows him.

* RelationshipUpgrade - [[spoiler:Sam and Andi]] and [[spoiler:Sock and Josie]] in the episode "Rebellion."
* {{Satan}} - self explanatory
* ScreamDiscretionShot - Subverted. The shot pulls back and you hear a scream, but the person doing the screaming is ''extremely happy.''
* ScrewedByTheNetwork - CW According to The CW = Quality Programming < Impractical Targeting of Particular Audience
* ShirtlessScene - several. The most gratuitous was Ben in the second-to-last episode. Absolutely necessary for the plot.

* StraightGay - Tony

* SmallNameBigEgo - Ted Gallagher. Especially funny when the trope was still called Ted Baxter.

* TitleDrop - Sam is referred to as a "bounty hunter" for most of the series. Only once is he ever called a "Reaper."
* ToadLicking - One the escapees from Hell was a stoner whose preferred method of getting high was licking toads. Fittingly, his demonic power was having a prehensile, OverlyLongTongue.

* TooDumbToLive - Especially in the early episodes, Sam frequently decides it's a good idea to tell the Prince of Darkness off to his face. Then again, if you could do this and get away with it (as Sam obviously can), wouldn't you?

* WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame - Sam meets the Devil here.
* WillTheyOrWontThey - Sam and Andi [[spoiler:until "Coming to Grips"]]

* XMeetsY: {{Chuck}} meets Series/{{Supernatural}}, with a little Film/{{Ghostbusters}} thrown in for good measure.
* [[spoiler: YouAreNotAlone: The last line of the series, followed by a reveal that leaves Sam and Andi speechless.]]

* KryptoniteFactor - The Devil seems nearly omnipotent but has some weaknesses that even humans can exploit. Most notably, he cannot enter a circle without an invitation (he has to enter through corners) nor can he see or hear anything that goes on inside. He can also be killed by the sword of the Archangel Michael, though he has that safely hidden away. He is also weakened when people, humans or demons, do good deeds. It's stated that if they had not been killed, Steve's group of rebel demons would have successfully defeated the Devil in 400 years or so by doing good deeds. For a being that existed long before Earth was created, that probably seemed like a very immediate threat.

* AnimationBump: The live-action equivalent: the {{Pilot}} was directed by ''KevinSmith''.

* XMeetsY: {{Chuck}} meets Series/{{Supernatural}}, with a little {{Ghostbusters}} thrown in for good measure.

* GenreSavvy: Alan Townsend, the only escaped soul from Hell smart enough to realise that the Devil can't touch him on consecrated ground, so he immediately takes a job as a gravedigger. He later attempts to move to the Vatican [[spoiler: and fails]].

** Think about it, God wants Sam to be the next devil, otherwise there will be no hell, and all the sinners will go to heaven. So he sent a hitman to take out his... wrist.

* DoorstopBaby - sorta, a baby was left over after Sam reaped a soul. BabyCarriage also comes into play.

-->'''Sam:''' Well...yeah.

-->'''Sam:''' Well, have you guys ever...eaten anyone?

* ContinuityCreep: Started off as a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Soul of the Week]] show, but about halfway through season one it started with the demon rebellion arc and examining the thorny questions of who Sam's dad is [[spoiler:most likely candidate is The Devil himself]].

* ChessWithDeath: Sam plays coin toss with the Devil. He loses. He plays again and is going to win...[[spoiler:but an angel CRUSHES HIS HAND. Cause the forces of good don't want him to win. While it's all part of their plan, they really didn't need to be such assholes about it.]]

-->'''The Devil''': (Smiling) I'm not. This is me...disappointed. You should see me angry.

* [[spoiler: WordOfGod says that Sam isn't the son of the devil.]]

* WordOfGod: [[spoiler: Sam is actually the son of John and Linda, and not the Devil. John was a demon, and sold the soul of his first born son, in order to become a human. This is why he didn't actually die at the end of season 1.]] All of this would have been explained in season 3.

* [[spoiler: ArchnemesisDad]]

** [[spoiler:One of Sam's girlfriends, Cady, is implied but never confirmed to be a daughter of the Devil. If she is, that means Sam slept with his own half sister.]]