History WesternAnimation / CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers

* ForTheEvulz: The most common motivation when it comes to Captain Planet villains is to cause harm to the environment solely for the sake of doing so. While technically some of them were also ostensibly gaining money for it, they usually still ended up being more complicated than legitimate alternatives would be. In the episode where Dr. Blight tried to sell an atomic bomb to Hitler, one must wonder how she intended to profit on wiping out her own timeline, and presumably herself. Verminous Skumm technically wanted to ruin the world for humans so he and his rats could take over, but his methods tended to make little sense, and he often just tried to make life miserable for humans because he hated them, though given his hatred of humans his desire to harm them is at least explicable.

** The Planeteers' five rings have the powers of [[FourElementEnsemble Earth, Fire, Wind, Water]] and Heart, and able to call upon Captain Planet [[AllYourPowersCombined when they combine]].

* EveryoneHasStandards: Captain Planet is an environmentally-friendly super hero, but he had his fill of Zarm in the "Summit to Save Earth" two-parter after he caused a BadFuture of Earth being literally trashed all over.

* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: While some episodes showed the villains wielding lasers, this trope was actually averted in many episodes that depicted real fire arms, mostly by minor thugs or soldiers not associated with any of the Eco-Villains.

The villains -- who all had ObviouslyEvil names like Duke Nukem (not [[VideoGame/DukeNukem that one]]), Hoggish Greedly, and Looten Plunder -- were strawmen who often seemed to want to destroy the planet just because it was the evil thing to do, as well as profit. This was a sincere, if ''exceptionally'' hamfisted, way of avoiding offense: if the villains had been given grayer morality, then kids might have compared them to their parents or their parents' employers, who are only trying to do their jobs in an efficient manner. To avoid friction, the writers created villains who were intentionally exaggerated and [[AllegoricalCharacter made to represent]] the planet's environmental problems[[note]]Dr. Blight = unethical scientific research; Duke Nukem = irresponsible use of nuclear power and radiation; Hoggish Greedly = overconsumption; Looten Plunder = corporate greed; The Slaughters = animal poaching; Sly Sludge = waste production; Verminous Skumm = disease and urban decay; Zarm = hatred and war[[/note]] rather than the actions of individuals.

* AnAesop: "Bitter Waters" is about Looten Plunder actually showing a rare PetTheDog moment - he wants to open up an agricultural firm on the reservation, which will provide its residents with jobs and money. However, where he messes up is the fact that he is using cash crops that are a little too thirsty for the land it grows on, which [[http://www.columbia.edu/~tmt2120/environmental%20impacts.htm is very similar to what happened in the Soviet Union]] when they tried to grow cotton. In the end, he even admits their ideas were better when they use native and more appropriate agricultural products ''and'' use the land for green energy plants. The moral of this story is that the road to hell is paved with good intentions after all.

** First, keeping a sapient person capable of logic and reasoning against their will is imprisonment. The show acts as if preserving an endangered condor in a safe environment is the same as kidnapping people and stripping them of basic human rights.

-->--OpeningNarration

"''We're the Planeteers! You can be one, too\\

** Although the "Heart" power is useless in a fight, it ''does'' come with immunity to the Idiot Ball, especially in Ma-Ti's character focus episodes.

* BareYourMidriff: A male example, Captain Planet's outfit seems to do this (Though it isn't known whether this is because animation of cartoons at the time was still getting there.) Linka in at least 2 episodes has her wear a shirt that shows her stomach.

* 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 businessmen to give him money, which he gave to needy families to buy food for their children. The TropeNamer, too.

** 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.]]

* 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.

* HotScientist: Dr. Blight is pretty good-looking, as long as you don't look under that hair covering part of her face.

* MundaneSolution: The Planeteers are covered in polluted water, causing their rings not to work. They then come across a hose linked to clean water and Gi tries to use her ring on it, but it doesn't work. She wonders how they can turn on the water, until Ma-Ti simply turns the valve to the water supply, embarrassing her.

* TownWithADarkSecret: In "A Formula for Hate", nearly all the townspeople are so damn pliable they'll fall for ''anything''.

** The same episode also launches an attack at ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'', which is one of the programs the Eco-villains produce a parody of during "Operation Sweeps Week." It's also the advertisement that causes [[CommanderContrarian Wheeler]] to comment that the programming has gone too far.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Several examples exist

** In "Hog Tides", Captain Planet starts singing the show's own theme song.
* BriarPatching: In "The Unbearable Brightness of Being", Gaia in Dr. Blight's body tricks Dr. Blight in Gaia's body into striking Captain Planet with lightning so he can power the machine needed to switch their minds back by convincing her that lightning can destroy Captain Planet.

* ChainOfPeople: Kwame and Wheeler form one after Ma-Ti falls off the Capitol while being pursued by zombie drug addicts. It... [[ItMakesSenseInContext makes sense in context.]]

* 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.

** 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. Granted, gang violence tends to affect younger people the most, so its inclusion has some merit, but it’s still pretty jarring.
** 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 greatly mishandled the subject, even going so far as to praise China’s then-current “One-child policy” and advocate its global adoption. This is a show for kids, mind you.

*** And again, when he talked Gi out of killing the guy who shot her friend.

** All five Planeteers break down crying in "Summit To Save Earth - Part 1" after Zarm transforms Gaia into a very old mortal woman who appears to be dead.
** A group of villagers in "The Dream Machine" burst into tears upon seeing their once peaceful and prosperous community turned into an industrial wasteland by their greedy wishes for unnesscary technology.

-->'''Captain Planet''': ''(at Zarm)'' You're nothing but trash! And this is one time I'm NOT recycling!

* FlawlessToken: Kwame, Gi, and Ma-Ti come off as this way. Primarily due to Linka and Wheeler being the only ones to suffer losses, or undergo CharacterDevelopment. Wheeler also ends up being the only one who has any actual character ''flaws''. Ma-Ti comes off as this way less so (See TruthInTelevision)

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** Addressed in "The Unbearable Blightness of Being," where Gaia!Blight's attempted radical ecological alterations (first on her list being to turn the Sahara into a garden) would ultimately end up being just as destructive as the stuff Blight usually does, addressing why Gaia didn't do that herself. Yet this creates ''another problem'', because the Sahara Desert is a natural part of the environment and of course turning it into a garden would be bad (although there are a few theories that it was massively expanded by overgrazing in early history). But there's plenty of places ruined by man that she ''could'' be affecting that she just... doesn't. Like cleaning up Chernobyl, or putting out the coal fires in Centralia or refilling the Aral Sea or making ''countless'' nuclear or toxic waste sites safe again.
*** In the same episode, Gaia in Blight's body spends the episode fixing ecological problems with Blight's technology. It seems that while she ''could'' use her own power to fix the world, she'd much rather teach mankind to clean up after themselves instead, and being in Blight's body gave her the chance to show humanity it was possible. Which is better? Her fixing everything for humanity and them learning nothing, if anything making the problem ''worse'' by making humanity [[HoldingOutForAHero expect her to just clean up after them]] or actually forcing mankind to take responsibility for the problems they created and learn to fix them themselves?

*** Hoggish Greedly to Creator/EdAsner
*** Dr. Blight to Creator/MegRyan
*** MAL to Creator/TimCurry (though MAL already looked like that when Creator/DavidRappaport voiced him)
*** Looten Plunder to Creator/JamesCoburn
*** Sly Sludge to Creator/MartinSheen
*** Duke Nukem to Creator/DeanStockwell

* ItsAWonderfulPlot: "Two Futures Parts 1 and 2" has Wheeler learn what would happen if he never joined the Planeteers.

* MamaBear: Gaia becomes enraged when the Planeteers were threatened by Zarm in the "Summit to Save Earth, Part 1" episode.

* MonikerAsEnticement: In the theme song, it says that if the viewers help the environment, they can be a planeteer too.

* MundaneSolution: The Planeteers are covered in polluted water, causing their rings not to work. They then come across a hose linked to clean water and Gi tries to use her ring on it, but it doesn't work. She wonders how they can turn on the water, until Ma-Ti simply turns the valve to the water supply, embarassing her.

* 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. However, prior to this, it's shown that Linka comes from a country with a ''lot'' of civil unrest.

** The multi-racial American army unit depicted in the Hitler episode is actually a subversion; while 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), a number of units on the European front such as the 26th Infantry Division were informally desegregated against army policy by 1945, which is around when the infamous Hitler segment is set.
** Averted in the Wild West episode, where only Wheeler and Linka are permitted to go into a shop, while the others have to stay outside.

** Hoggish Greedly in the episode "OK at the Gunfight Corral". He hired a bunch of racist white men to attack the local "Injuns" so he could claim their land as his and sell it to Sly Sludge, but otherwise he never even commented on anybody's race or did anything remotely discriminatory.

--> ''(Wheeler tests out the gun provided to him)''
--> '''Ma-ti''': He is quite good!
--> '''Kwame''': I hope he does not shoot himself...
--> '''Henchman''': He can't. He ain't got no bullets. ... Ooops!
--> '''Linka''': WHAT!? WHEELER! YOU AIN'T GOT NO BULLETS!
--> '''Wheeler''': Huh!? ''([[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks loses his grip on the gun, which flies and conks Greedly on the head]])''

* SailorEarth: A common fanfiction concept is a sixth, Australian Planeteer, as it is the only inhabited continent not represented on the team. Even without the potential Planeteers with rings coming from Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica, the show does induct new Planeteers all the time. They're almost always kids who help in one episode, then never show up again, and they don't have any rings or powers (The only exception is Goki in "Gorillas Will Be Missed"). Given that there are about six or seven ''billion'' humans, almost all of whom could probably join the Planeteers in this capacity, you have an entire ''species'' of Sailor Earths!

* SevenDeadlySins: The eco-villain cast can be seen as such. Verminous Skumm is {{Lust}} due to his bloodlust for death, destruction, and chaos. Hoggish Greedly, despite his name is [[VillainousGlutton Gluttony]], while Looten Plunder is an embodiment for {{Greed}}. Dr. Blight is [[GreenEyedMonster Envy]], because she envies other scientists, her sister's accomplishments and even Gaia's powers, and seeks to destroy them, while Duke Nukem takes {{Pride}} in his superpowers. Sly Sludge is the embodiment of [[LazyBum Sloth]] with his lazy waste disposal schemes, while Zarm represents [[UnstoppableRage Wrath]] due to his need to start conflicts to get revenge on Gaia, as are the poachers Mame and Stalker Slaughter.

* UnfinishedUntestedUsedAnyway: In the episode "Population Bomb", General Claw decides to use a sonic cannon -- which has never been tested -- and ends up starting an earthquake, which ultimately destroys the island.

->'''Planteers:''' "''Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart!'' '''''GO, PLANET!'''''"
->'''Captain Planet''': "''By your powers combined, I am'' '''''Captain Planet!'''''"
->"''Captain Planet, he's our hero!\\

Bad guys who like to loot and plunder!''"
->'''Looten Plunder:''' "''You'll pay for this, Captain Planet!''"
-> "''We're the Planeteers! You can be one, too\\

Hear what Captain Planet has to say...''"
-> '''Captain Planet:''' "''The power... is'' '''''yours!'''''"

Looting and pollution is not the way!\\

->'''Planteers:''' "Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart!'' '''''GO, PLANET!'''''"
->'''Captain Planet''': "By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!"

->'''Looten Plunder:''' "You'll pay for this, Captain Planet!"

-> '''Captain Planet:''' "The power...is '''''yours!'''''"

->''The power is '''yours'''!''

* FriendToAllLivingThings: Ma-Ti, from ''before'' getting his "lame" heart powers. Linka and Gi are also good with animals.

* 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 businessmen to give him money, which he gave to needy families to buy food for their children. The TropeNamer, too.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Wheeler is often less patient and more hotheaded than the other Planeteers, but he still cares about doing the right thing and comes to his friends' aid when they need it.

* RelativeError: "Missing Linka", where Wheeler mistakes Linka's older brother for her boyfriend.

* CorruptHick: Hoggish Greedly isn't as rich as Looten Plunder, he has a redneck subordinate named Rigger, and his operations are much more local.

Definitely not to be confused with Anime/CaptainEarth or ''VideoGame/CatPlanet''.

* NebulousEvilOrganization: The Eco-villains occasionally organize with each other, though they're more likely to appear alone. None of them are really nice to each other, though Sly Sludge usually uses Dr. Blight's technology. See also the "LegionOfDoom," trope above.

* RecklessGunUsage: Averted in the time travel episode where Wheeler shows off his GunTwirling skills with a revolver. Kwame worries that he might accidently shoot himself, until Greedly's henchman accidentally spills the beans that the gun is empty.

--> '''Kwami''': I hope he does not shoot himself...

** 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. This is a show for kids, mind you.

*** Worst of the bunch, Verminous Skumm to Creator/JeffGoldblum. No, they don't look alike at all, but Skumm is a [[UnfortunateImplications human/rat mutant-type character]], which falls (likely unintentionally) into [[GreedyJew unfortunate]] [[SpaceJews casting]] when you remember that [[JewishAndNerdy Goldbum is Jewish]], and Jewish people have been [[NationalAnimalStereotypes portrayed as rats]] in various forms of media.

** The same episode also launches an attack at ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'', which is one of the programs the Eco-villains produce a parody of during "Operation Sweeps Week." It's also the advertisement that causes [[TokenEvilTeammate Wheeler]] to comment that the programming has gone too far.

* AbusiveParents: Wheeler's alcoholic father is the whole reason he left home.

* AchillesInHisTent: Ma-Ti in "Rain of Terror" and Kwame in "Kwame's Crisis".

* AIIsACrapshoot: Averted-ish. MAL, Dr. Blight's computer henchman, was originally a nice AI who liked to play games, but was reprogrammed by Blight into his current malicious incarnation. He was reverted to his original programming in one episode and then proceeded to help the Planeteers.
** He's also clearly in love with the bad doctor, and is very loyal to her.[[note]]At least, this became the case when Creator/TimCurry took over for David Rappaport as the voice of MAL. David Rappaport's take on MAL was a typical computer program with no feelings.[[/note]]

** Third, an animal that is genuinely in danger of dying out while in it's natural habitat, and preserving them by bringing them to zoos, is one thing - humans, regardless of how bad they are making the environment, are in no danger of dying out - if anything, the opposite.

** Wheeler goes here in "Two Futures, Part 2", where Hoggish Greedly and Rigger TakeOverTheWorld, and the other Planeteers live a very rough life, protecting what's left of the environment. [[NightmareFuel/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers And as for Gaia...]]

* ClingyJealousGirl: Linka is a {{Tsundere}} who always denies her crush on Wheeler, but openly shows jealousy and possessiveness when he has a GirlOfTheWeek in the figure of Teresa, a homeless Mexican girl.

* RecklessGunUsage: Averted in the time travel episode where Wheeler shows off his gun-twirling skills with a revolver. Kwami worries that he might accidently shoot himself, until Greedly's henchman accidentally spills the beans that the gun is empty.

* TakeThat: A particularly bizarre one in "Who's Running The Show?" where one of the low-brow programs the Eco-Villains put on is a [[ProfessionalWrestling studio pro wrestling show]] akin to the ones Ted Turner relied on for viewership in the 80s and 90s. Given that Ted Turner at the time owned Wrestling/WorldChampionshipWrestling and had repeatedly rebuffed efforts from Turner executives to remove pro wrestling, it's either tone-deaf or a rather subtle form of SelfDeprecation.

* TeamMom: Gaia the Spirit of the Earth, and Gi to some degree.

* TimeyWimeyBall: Wheeler jumps into a time portal and makes his past self [[RefusalOfTheCall refuse the call]]. This destroys the world. Wheeler travels back in time and stops his other self from stopping his past self. Then both of them are sucked back to the present, ''fusing together'' en route.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Gi and Linka, but Linka is still an ActionGirl.

* UnresolvedSexualTension: Linka and Wheeler express hostility towards each other that's implied to be difficulty in handling their feelings for each other.

* VerbalTic: Hoggish Greedly snorts like a pig when he talks.

* BadFuture: Wheeler goes here in "Two Futures, Part 2", where Hoggish Greedly and Rigger TakeOverTheWorld, and the other Planeteers live a very rough life, protecting what's left of the environment. [[NightmareFuel/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers And as for Gaia...]]