History WesternAnimation / CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers

** The climax of the episode “If It’s Doomsday, This Must Be Belfast” [[spoiler:has Gaia transporting everyone [[AfterTheEnd 10 years into the future]] to witness the destruction the potential nuclear race war will bring upon each location featured in the episode. A bit of [[ArtisticLicenseNuclearPhysics Artistic License]] is at play though, since South Africa is depicted as in the throes of a nuclear winter—while the exact scale of the war is never stated, the possible nuclear winter from even a large scale nuclear conflict would have long since dissipated after 10 years.]]

* ApocalypseHow: The episode "Planeteers Under Glass" has the Planeteers and a female scientist (Dr. Derek) enter a virtual planet where pollution is sickening the planet in centuries (sped up in minutes), starting from Class 0 up to Class 3. But then Dr. Blight traps them all in the rapidly wasting virtual planet, bringing the Apocalypse Class up to 4 and closer to Classes 5 and 6 before destroying them all (not even Captain Planet can save them)... or so Blight thinks. Fortunately, the team of Planeteers have a backup spot before they vanish so they can return safely to stop Blight.
* ArtisticLicenseNuclearPhysics: Ted Turner does not like nukes, and Duke Nukem is the walking embodiment of why we should never use nuclear technology. Actual technical errors include having mushroom clouds form from any explosion of nuclear materials, including a bomb detonating in space, and a highly inaccurate portrayal of a nuclear power plant in one episode, which among other errors displayed radioactive smoke coming from a cooling tower after Duke Nukem blasted a hole in it.

** Ted Turner [[http://www.mnn.com/family/family-activities/mnntv/captain-planet/captain-planet-ted-turners-agenda really wanted the show to cover the subject of overpopulation]], which manifested in the episodes “Population Bomb” and “Numbers Game”, both of which feature some rather UnfortunateImplications, even going so far as to praise China’s then-current “One-child policy” and advocate its global adoption.

** A multi-racial American army is depicted in the Hitler episode. The U.S. military was for the most part racially segregated during World War II- such as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States) 442nd Infantry Division,]] which was formed almost entirely out of second-generation Japanese and was one of the most heavily decorated units in the war.

** Completely thrown out the window in "If It's Doomsday, This Must Be Belfast". The slur "kaffir" is even thrown in South Africa. Though the way the slurs are used is... questionable, in their accuracy, in places.

* CluelessAesop: The show provides at least three stellar examples. Many have questioned whether it was really appropriate for a show about kids and their superhero buddy fighting supervillains and saving the world to tackle gang violence, AIDS, and UsefulNotes/TheTroubles in Northern Ireland.
** The show tackled gang violence all throughout its run, with ''four'' episodes on the topic... "Utopia", "Teers In the Hood", "Talkin' Trash", and "One of the Gang", and even in episodes where another social issue is raised, there are moments of gang violence in the story. Gang violence is a huge part of the series because it is a topic that affects youth.
** Ted Turner [[http://www.mnn.com/family/family-activities/mnntv/captain-planet/captain-planet-ted-turners-agenda wanted the show to cover the subject of overpopulation]]. The team who did Captain Planet also brought in child psychologists to review some of the more controversial episodes. This includes the episodes "Mind Pollution" and "A Formula For Hate".

* BroughtDownToNormal: In "No Place Like Home", Gaia gets reduced to a mortal by Dr. Blight. This also causes Captain Planet to not only lose his own powers, but it also prevented him from splitting off into the rings, which also robbed the Planeteers of their ring powers.

* DrugsAreBad:
** One episode features Linka's cousin Boris, who is about her age, being injured and subsequently dying as a result of drug overdose.
** "Mind Pollution". Skumm's drug Bliss is realistic, in that it does make people feel good for a while, but you must take more and more to get the same high. Though dragging down the gritty realism factor somewhat are its effects on its users (glowing red eyes, turning addicts into literal raving zombies), and how it is made and peddled exclusively by a malevolent human rat mutant.

* AdultFear: Consider how much danger the characters are regularly put in, it's predictable that many of it would deal with the kinds of peril that parents and adults who care about children would be terrified of. Especially Ma-Ti, who is in one episode tied to a chair in a ''burning building'' with another kid.
** One episode features Linka's cousin Boris, who is about her age, being injured and subsequently dying as a result of drug overdose. Another features kids about the age of the other planeteers engaging in group violence (as in, ''buying guns'' illegally) while another features FreeRangeChildren in New York possibly being used as {{scapegoat}}s for Skumm's plots, while another is flat out ''killed'' off-screen after jumping on a train because he hit the tunnel.
** Unlike most kids' cartoons, where the villain simply wants to get the heroes out of the way of their plans, the villains here will try to not only murder the Planeteers, but even other children who stand up to them. And in "Future Shock", a child is the villains' target as her death would alter the future in their favor.
** Even villains aren't immune to this. In "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS1E15SmogHog Smog Hog]]", Hoggish Greedly mass-produces a smog-generating car and the added pollution eventually becomes harmful to his son, making him desperate enough to beg the Planeteers to summon Captain Planet.

* DrugsAreBad: "Mind Pollution". Skumm's drug Bliss is realistic, in that it does make people feel good for a while, but you must take more and more to get the same high. Though dragging down the gritty realism factor somewhat are its effects on its users (glowing red eyes, turning addicts into literal raving zombies), and how it is made and peddled exclusively by a malevolent human rat mutant.

** The show tackled gang violence all throughout its run, with FOUR episodes on the topic..."Utopia", "Teers In the Hood", "Talkin' Trash", and "One of the Gang", and even in episodes where another social issue is raised, there are moments of gang violence in the story. Gang violence is a huge part of the series because it is a topic that affects youth.

** On the whole, the environmental messages don't translate very well to real life because of how [[BlackAndWhiteMorality reductive and simplistic]] they usually are in dealing with the subject, as though the energy production, manufacturing, and waste disposal industries cause environmental damage [[ForTheEvulz just for the sheer hell of it]].

** It's notable that in the first episode, Hoggish Greedley just ''has'' a backpack-mounted spray weapon loaded with toxic waste, before any of the eco villains even knew Captain Planet existed or what his weaknesses were.

** Also applies to Gaia. Motherly, patient, and generally friendly, but she can become a MamaBear when the Planeteers are in danger.
* BirthdayEpisode: Wheeler's birthday is celebrated in the episode "Numbers Game".

** Talkin' Trash: Yeah, Skumm's EvilPlan failed and Trish has been reformed, but Frankie is dead.
** Mind Pollution: Again, Skumm's EvilPlan failed, and Linka has found the willpower to face her addiction, but her cousin is dead.
** Radiant Amazon: Nukem and Sludge have been stopped from dumping their toxic waste in the rainforest near Ma-ti's village, but Ma-ti is still crying at the end because he knows his village will face further attacks before long.

** In Who's Running the Show, the network manager asks the Planeteers if they want to star in their own show called "Captain Planet and the Planeteers"
** In Hog Tides, Captain Planet starts singing the show's own theme song.

* EvilTwin: Captain Pollution was an evil version of Captain Planet who was summoned by the villains, could be defeated by beams of sunlight since he's all dirty and stuff, and [[ValleyGirl talked like a surfer]] to contrast Captain Planet, who had a sense of humor, but sounded and acted like a wise mature adult.

* GRatedDrug: In the episode "Mind Pollution", Verminous Skumm handed some drugs called Bliss to everyone. Of course, it doesn't turn out well for the users.
** It has some exceedingly nasty side effects; in addition to completely negating the ability to feel pain (to the point where potentially fatal injuries are flat-out ignored), it is quite toxic and, judging from the fact that all the victims are in a hospital afterwards, has a ''really'' unpleasant withdrawal.

* HumanLadder: Wheeler and Kwame in "A Mine Is a Terrible Thing to Waste (part 2)."

* ObviouslyEvil: Played straight with Hoggish Greedly, Sly Sludge, Verminous Skumm, and Duke Nukem, who are all ugly, rude, and at times dirty. Other Eco-Villains looked better but still had obviously evil names.

* OutsideContextProblem: Captain Planet himself and the Planeteers. In the early episodes, it's obvious the villains didn't expect a bunch of kids with super-powered rings to interfere in their plans, and Captain Planet's even more of a surprise. It's best summed up by Rigger's reaction in the pilot: "Holy smokes, what the heck is that? ''Huh, huh?''"

* PapaWolf: Captain Planet. When Skumm gets Linka hooked on Bliss, Captain Planet tosses Skumm out a helicopter.

** Even villains aren't immune to this. In one episode, Hoggish Greedly mass-produces a smog-generating car and the added pollution eventually becomes harmful to his son, making him desperate enough to beg the Planeteers to summon Captain Planet.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Do ''not'' anger Gi or Ma-Ti. Ever. It's hard to piss them off, but if someone does? ...''wow''. [[note]]Gi tries to drown a gang member for critically injuring a friend of hers. She is nearly successful.[[/note]]
** Also applies to Gaia who can become MamaBear when the Planeteers are in danger.

** In Who's Running the Show, the network manager asks the planeteers if they want to star in their own show called "Captain Planet and the Planeteers"

** Somewhat inverted in "Mind Pollution," when Wheeler is the one who talks sense into Linka when she's high on [[GRatedDrug Bliss]].

** The air conditioner episode, in which Wheeler is just trying to cool off the Planeteers during a ''heat wave''.

* {{Evil Brit}}s: Argos Bleak, MAL, and Zarm are all villains with British accents.

* IAteWhat:
** In "Horns Aplenty", Wheeler eats some authentic Chinese food, where Gi warns him that this isn't the kind of Chinese food he's used to.

** Done again in the same episode at the end where Wheeler eats what he thought was pasta.
--->'''Wheeler:''' ''[eating]'' Mmmm! I love pasta!\\
'''Mabu:''' Uh... what pasta? It is grub worm stew.\\
''[the four other Planeteers go wide-eyed, then look at Wheeler in morbid fascination as he continued to eat until he cleaned off his plate, obviously not hearing what Mabu said]''\\
'''Kwame:''' Do you think we should tell Wheeler?\\
'''Kwame, Linka, Gi, Ma-Ti and Mabu:''' ... NAAAAAAAAH! ''[laughter]''

* CanaryInACoalMine: One episode shows the origins of the Planeteers in flashback. Linka's shows a group of Russian miners escaping from a mine after the air goes bad. One of them, Linka's father, carries the now dead canary and laments that she will be devastated. She is.

** "The Deadly Glow" is based on a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goiânia_accident creepily similar instance in Brazil]].
** The main storyline in "Scorched Earth" is based off the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwaiti_oil_fires Kuwaiti oil fires]].
** Ma-Ti's backstory of his parent's murder is an allusion to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Mendes real life murder of Brazilian environmentalist Chico Mendes]].
** "Formula For Hate" is based off [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_White the reaction of the school to Ryan White's HIV diagnosis]].
** "Bitter Waters" grows thirsty cash crops in a desert, which [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea caused the doom in the Aral Sea]].

* ChristianityIsCatholic: The episode "Nothing's Sacred" implies that Linka is Catholic, by making her reference the Vatican. However, Eastern Orthodoxy was far more common among Christians in the Soviet Union, although there were Catholics, usually among specific ethnic groups (Lithuanians, Poles, Rusyns, and some of the Byelorussians, [[UsefulNotes/GermanRussians Germans]] and Ukrainians for instance). Of course, another name for Eastern Orthodoxy is Orthodox Catholic and the relationship is... [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Church#Catholicity_of_the_Orthodox_Church complicated]], so a member may legitimately think of themselves as Catholic and not be an example at all.
** Then again, the Vatican is strongly believed to be the place where St. Peter is buried. And it's worth noting that both Catholic and Orthodox Christianity are very fond of the Apostles[[note]]The Orthodoxes do seem to prefer St. Andrew over his brother, Peter, but that's beside the point.[[/note]]. Plus, Linka is appalled after hearing that some stolen Orthodox icons are being sold as well.

* StalkerWithACrush: Wheeler is like this towards Linka.

--> '''Mah-ti''': He is quite good!

* MundaneSolution: The Planeteers get covered in polluted water, causing their rings to not work. Whey come across hose linked to clean water in which Gi tries to use her ring on it, but doesn't work. She wonders how they can get the water, until Mah-Ti simply turns on the valve, making her feel embarrassed.

* NewYearHasCome: Right at the end of "Two Futures, Part 2". Linka brings out an accordion and sings out "Auld Lang Syne", and in a few moments the Planeteers join in the song, in a ShoutOut to ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife''.

* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: It is pointed out that Heart is the most useful power even more then fire. Really, if Ma-Ti wasn't such a NiceGuy he would brainwash everyone. (In an alternate timelime in which Wheeler [[RefusalOfTheCall Refused the Call]] and didn't take the Fire ring, he does just that.) He did use it to convince business men to give him money, which he gave to needy families to buy food for their children. The TropeNamer, too.

* {{Invocation}}: "Let our powers combine!" and "Go, Planet!"

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Played with. In "Bitter Waters", ''Linka'' actually is the one who questions if Looten Plunder is up to no good this time - because he went to an impovershed reservation and invested in the land specifically to give the people living there jobs and money to spend.

* FlawlessToken: Kwame, Gi, and Ma-Ti come off as this way. Primarily due to Linka and Wheeler being the only ones who have any significant focus on their backstories, are the only ones to suffer losses, or undergo CharacterDevelopment. Wheeler also ends up being the only one who has any actual character ''flaws''.

* FlawlessMinority: Kwame, Gi, and Ma-Ti come off as this way. Primarily due to Linka and Wheeler being the only ones who have any significant focus on their backstories, are the only ones to suffer losses, or undergo CharacterDevelopment. Wheeler also ends up being the only one who has any actual character ''flaws''.

** The Wind ring is gold, has a dark blue gem with white wisps, and emits a white light;

->''"Our world is in peril. Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, can no longer stand the terrible destruction plaguing our planet. She sends five magic rings to five special young people: Kwame, from Africa, with the power of Earth... From North America -- Wheeler, with the power of Fire... From the Soviet Union''[[note]]or [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp "Eastern Europe"]] in the later seasons[[/note]] ''-- Linka, with the power of Wind. From Asia -- Gi, with the power of Water... and from South America -- Ma-Ti, with the power of Heart. When the five powers combine, they summon Earth's greatest champion, '''Captain Planet'''."''

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: Linka of "The Soviet Union" is one of the good guys (albeit described as from 'Eastern Europe' after the Berlin Wall fell), and Russia was never played in a negative light until a late episode in the show's run ("Missing Linka"), when Linka goes back to her home in Russia to discover that a hastily abandoned and poorly dug iron mine was responsible for spreading sickness through the groundwater table, highlighting the rampant environmental problems in Russia.