History WesternAnimation / EgoTrip

* BrickJoke: During his pep talk to 12, Dexter calls him [[Film/TheWizardOfOz "A lion! A tiger! A bear!" to which 12 responds "Oh my!"]] Later, when Executive!Mandark pushes his BerserkButton, 12 hulks out, with a lion, a tiger and a bear leaping from his chest, to which Mandark nervously replies "Oh my" before [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown getting his ass handed to him]].

* ChekhovsGun: At the beginning of the special, Deedee wanders into Dexter's Time Machine and is not seen again until the end [[spoiler: when she wanders into the final battle and asks "WhatDoesThisButtonDo"]]

* TroubledFetalPosition: A variant. When Dexter and 12 arrive in the distant future, they hear Mandark's voice yelling at them. 12, still terrified of his abusive boss, drops to his side on the floor and mimes frantically typing at his computer as he shakes and cries "I'm typing! I'm typing!"

Easily the darkest installment of the show, with numerous scenes of violent action and Mandark being upgraded from a petty rival to a full-blown villain. Dexter's parents almost entirely OutOfFocus and Dee Dee only gets one line (albeit a ''very'' important one).

* BrickJoke: During his pep talk to 12, Dexter says calls him [[Film/TheWizardOfOz "A lion! A tiger! A bear!" to which 12 responds "Oh my!"]] Later, when Executive!Mandark pushes his BerserkButton, 12 hulks out, with a lion, a tiger and a bear leaping from his chest, to which Mandark nervously replies "Oh my" before [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown getting his ass handed to him]].

* BadassBeard: Action Dexter as one.

* BadBoss: Mandark, totally. He ''publicly'' uses an electric whip on Number 12 for ''almost'' being late.

* BrickJoke: During his pep talk to 12, Dexter says calls him [[Film/TheWizardOfOz "A lion! A tiger! A bear!" to which 12 responds "Oh my!"]] Later, when Executive!Mandark pushes his BerserkButton, 12 hulks out, with a lion, a tiger and a bear leaping from his chest, to which Mandark nervously replies "Oh my" before [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown getting his ass handed to him]].

* ChekhovsGun: At the beginning of the special, Deedee wanders into Dexter's Time Machine and is not seen again until the end [[special: when she wanders into the final battle and asks "WhatDoesThisButtonDo"]]

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Mandark started out as an EnemyMine and classmate to Dexter and was largely harmless. As a young adult, he stole Dexter's brilliant invention ideas and worked his way up to become the Executive, rich, powerful, in total control and very cruel.

* StableTimeLoop: ''The whole special''. [[spoiler: Dexter's trip to the future was instigated by robots who were seeking to "Destroy the one who saved the future". While in the future, he inadvertently allows Mandark to steal the Protocore and create a BadFuture. After much fighting and teaming up with his selves from various time periods, the day is saved by...''Dee Dee'', who wanders in from the main era and does her thing. Furious at having their thunder stolen, the Dexters create and army of robots to destroy Dee Dee...the same robots that dexter encountered at the beginning. When he realizes this, Dexter has a minor breakdown trying to figure it out, then decides to screw it and get a sandwich.]]

* VomitDiscretionShot: Time travel makes 12 queezy and he throws up in the time machine as soon as he and Dexter arrive in the distant future. During the second trip, he even brings a vomit bag.

* PunBasedTitle: An "ego trip" is another way of saying that someone is full of themselves. Dexter goes on a ''trip'' to the future because he's so self-assured that he genuinely believes that he alone was the one who "saved the future," and the BadFuture Mandark creates is a result of his own selfish desires and, eventually, greed for all of the world's knowledge.

* PlagiarismInFiction: Mandark became head of the company in the future by stealing Dexter's ideas.

* BrainInAJar: Old Mandark has been reduced to this and stuck in a museum.

* NiceJobBreakItHero: While in Number 12's cubicle, Dexter finds the Protocore and the plans for the knowledge spreader. Unfortunately, when he convinces 12 to check out the future with him, they leave those things out, allowing Mandark to swoop in and use the technology for his own conquest.

--> "Stop the typing. Stop the typing. Stop the typing. Stop the typing. Stop the typing. [[SuddenlyShouting STOP THE TYPING!!]]"
--> Dexter, 12, and Old Man Dexter saying hello to one another over and over.

''Ego Trip'' is an hour-long TV special of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' airing on Cartoon Network in 1999. It follows Dexter traveling to the future to meet his future self while battling his rival Mandark, the TitleDrop referring to Dexter's (and [[SmugSnake Mandark's]]) own arrogance leading to their downfall... unless Dexter and his future versions can stop Mandark.

The special is noted for being slightly DarkerAndEdgier with Mandark being a full-on villain here, as well as a lack of screen time with Dee Dee (despite her playing a rather important part) and the kids' parents.

* PunBasedTitle: An "ego trip" is another way of saying that someone is full of themselves. In this case, Dexter and Mandark's egos have become so inflated that Mandark eventually rules the world in the future, and Dexter takes a "trip" there because his own arrogance tells him that ''he'' must be the one who saved the future from his rival.

* FatBastard: Overlord Mandark is huge, to the point that he needs to be carried around by a hook and later a robot.

* BigDamnMovie: Well, as big as a 50-minute TV special can get, but the steaks are easily the highest they've ever been for this show: not only does Dexter have to save the world, but his arch nemesis is a legitimate threat this time! It also had a far more expansive scope and more lavish layouts than anything the regular show ever had (a precursor to Genndy Tartakovsky's [[WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack next show]]) and a full orchestral score.

''Ego Trip'' is an fifty-minute TV special of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' airing on Cartoon Network in 1999. It follows Dexter traveling to the future to meet his future self while battling his rival Mandark, the TitleDrop referring to Dexter's (and [[SmugSnake Mandark's]]) own arrogance leading to their downfall... unless Dexter and his future versions can stop Mandark.

* CorruptCorporateExeutive: In the future, Mandark takes control of the company he and Dexter [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble worked for/will work for]] and uses its resources to advance his plan for world domination.

** BaldOfAwesome: This as well.

* FatBastard: Overlord Mandark is huge.
* KickTheDog: Mandark makes his torture of Number 12 public on the office's television screens, for only being ''nearly'' late.

* BadassBear: Action Dexter as one.

* SexySecretary: Mandark has several of these.