History WesternAnimation / ObanStarRacers

Every 10,000 years, teams from all over the galaxy are gathered by the mysterious Avatar to compete in the Great Race of Ōban, a race with much more at stake than just honor or prize money. According to legend, the winner is awarded the Ultimate Prize, which is rumored to grant ''any'' wish, from large-scale destruction to, perhaps, the resurrection of a loved one. Some want it for glory, others as a way of galactic domination. However, the true nature of the Prize is shrouded in mystery, and things are not what they appear to be...

* LoveConfession: Jordan tries unsuccessfully to tell Molly his feelings multiple times, only to get interrupted. [[spoiler:He finally does it in the last episode, but unfortunately, it happens right before he jumps onto the Pyramid of Power and becomes the new Avatar, destroying all chances in pursuing a romantic relationship with Molly]].

On February 25th, 2017, series artist Thomas Romain [[https://twitter.com/Thomasintokyo/status/835702208746270720 tweeted]] that a SequelSeries to original series was potentially in the works. On February 28th, Savin Yeatman-Eiffel tweeted a [[https://twitter.com/EiffelSavin/status/836753768582680577 piece of concept art]] related to the project, depicting Eva and Prince Aikka [[TimeSkip "a few years later"]].

* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:Rick Thunderbolt]], put on a ''giant flying stone egg'' at the end of the Alwas cycle.

* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The blue 'jelly-bunny' creatures that stick to Molly's windshield in episode 17.

* LoveTriangle: Molly, Jordan and Aikka; they seem to be a Type 7 in TriangRelations. [[spoiler:She doesn't pair up with either of them in the end, as Aikka returns to his people and Jordan, while he becomes the first to confess to her, [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ends up becoming the next Avatar]].]]

* {{Pilot}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZT3rbtKWBM Molly Star-Racer]]

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Molly is the only prominent female for much of the series, but she subverts the trope by being TheProtagonist and TheHero.

** TheHero: Rick at first, later replaced by Molly and becomes her BigBrotherMentor.
** TheLancer / TheBigGuy: Jordan

On February 25th, 2017, series artist Thomas Romain [[https://twitter.com/Thomasintokyo/status/835702208746270720 tweeted]] that a SequelSeries to ''Ōban'' was potentially in the works. On February 28th, Savin Yeatman-Eiffel tweeted a [[https://twitter.com/EiffelSavin/status/836753768582680577 piece of concept art]] related to the project, depicting Eva and Prince Aikka [[TimeSkip "a few years later"]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Jordan Wilde becomes the new Avatar, destroying Canaletto and restoring Ōban. However, he does this having just admitted his love for Eva. The last shot of him is one of him [[ManlyTears silently crying]], as the chances of him ever seeing Eva again as the Avatar are unlikely. Everyone else, however, returns home to happier lives - Stan and Koji return to their old boss, who's quite delighted to see them again; Eva failed to bring her mother back from the dead, but she did finally come to accept her loss and reconcile with her father. Aikka parted with Eva on friendly terms and returned home, along with everyone else who survived the Oban races. But behind the scenes, [[GovernmentConspiracy the Earth government]] [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold covers up what happened]], which means that humanity might be even less prepared for the race in 10,000 years, assuming they still exist that far into the future. Furthermore, the government's willingness to resume war early, and their hope to use an Avatar to ensure human supremacy, has illustrated that humanity and the crogs are NotSoDifferent]].

* GenkiGirl: Para-Dice, an energetic gaming CatGirl whose star racer is controlled by a ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution''-style gamepad.

* AllOrNothing: There is only one prize at the end of the race, so only one out of the hundreds of challengers from across the galaxy can take it.
** In the Swedish dub this is Molly's CatchPhrase.

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: Due to being TooPowerfulToLive and disrupting Canaletto's plans, Sul is banished to another dimension and is never seen again.]]
* {{Animesque}}: Is it an [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=3633 anime]] with a Western director/creator or a Western animation series with a lot of anime talent? This series blurs the line.

* AnyoneCanDie: It doesn't matter if you're a villain, a neutral racer, or a hero, very few characters have immunity in this series. It's especially notable once [[spoiler:Canaletto]] takes center stage. Among the casualties are [[spoiler:the Mad Scrub, Toros (although this hinges more on implications), Sul, Kross, Satis, O, and Canaletto himself]] by the end of the series. This also includes non-fatal renditions of this trope: [[spoiler:Rick Thunderbolt is permanently thrust out of the plot halfway through the series due to a CareerEndingInjury and Jordan [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascends to a Higher Plane of Existence]] to save Molly.]]

* BareYourMidriff: Eva/Molly in her Earth Team outfit.

* BigOlEyebrows: Jordan gets his from his grandpa, apparently. And Satis has a pair as long as his beard!
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Jordan Wilde becomes the new Avatar, destroying Canaletto and restoring Ōban. However, he does this having just admitted his love for Eva. The last shot of him is one of him [[ManlyTears silently crying]], as the chances of him ever seeing Eva again as the Avatar are unlikely. Everyone else, however, returns home to happier lives.]]
** Eva, for her part, [[spoiler:failed to bring her mother back from the dead, but she did finally come to accept her loss and reconcile with her father.]]
** [[spoiler: A GovernmentConspiracy [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold covers up what happened]], which means that humanity might be even less prepared for the race in 10,000 years, assuming they still exist that far into the future. Furthermore, the government's willingness to resume war early, and their hope to use an Avatar to ensure human supremacy, has illustrated that humanity and the crogs are NotSoDifferent.]]

* CardCarryingVillain: Lord Furter

* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: O, the Wandering Eye. Enigmatic. Inscrutable. Never speaks. Cruises through the grand finals with an unremarkable score. Doesn't seem in it to win the Great Prize. Probably knows more than anyone else.]]

* CoolOldGuy: Satis/Super Racer.

* DarkIsEvil: The Crogs and [[spoiler:Canaletto]].
* DarkIsNotEvil: [[spoiler:Spirit.]]
* DarkSkinnedRedhead: Prince Aikka, whose reserved personality largely averts the standard traits. Stan, though, plays the trope pretty straight.

* DeadpanSnarker: Most of the main cast except maybe Aikka (unless he's talking to Jordan).

* DrivesLikeCrazy: More flying than driving, actually. Be glad Jordan only flew the ship once.
* DwindlingParty: A necessity of the race format, though there are only a few casualties or fatalities in the qualifying rounds. It soon becomes much closer to a DeadlyGame once everyone is on Ōban, though. [[spoiler:Only five (of nine) teams apparently make it off Ōban judging by the end sequence and the remaining ships around the temple; the Earth Team, Ning and Skun, the Nourasians, Muir, and Lord Furter (and his crew, of course). Of those, only one or two still have flight-worthy racers. Sul is banished to another dimension by Canaletto for being TooPowerfulToLive. Kross is killed in the final race, when Molly manages to crash his star-racer. Ondai is incapacitated in the city by Aikka and likely destroyed when Canaletto crashes the Flying Temple into the city. Finally, O performs a HeroicSacrifice so that Molly, Jordan, and Aikka can face Canaletto.]]

* EpicRace: The whole premise of the show.

* FantasticRacism: Jordan Wilde harbors intense distrust towards nearly every alien race, never missing a chance to call them "scum". He despises the crogs for their invasion of Earth, and accuses the nourasians of being their allies (when in fact they were conquered and vassalized by the Imperium).

* FluffyTheTerrible: [[spoiler:Canaletto.]]

* FreudianTrio: [[TheKirk Molly]], [[TheMcCoy Jordan]] and [[TheSpock Aikka]] are officially designed to fit this trope.

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: [[spoiler: In the end, the Earth government forces the remaining protagonists to swear to secrecy over everything that happened during the Great Race of Ōban; the official story is that humanity and the crog willingly stopped fighting and called a truce, rather than being forced to stop by the new Avatar.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: O. And Jordan, sort of.]]

* IShallTauntYou: Used a few times. Molly defeats Flint by taunting him into taking on the traps judges had been rigging in his favor. Toros defeats Rush by this method as well.

* InvincibleHero: Averted quite nicely; The Earth team is not only a dark horse at best, they've also spent time at the very bottom of the rankings. When they get to the semifinals, against the likes of Toros and Aikka, they come to Ōban in third place... out of three. They lose against better racers often, and are dead last for the majority of races on Ōban itself.

* LastOfHisKind: Ceres, who seemingly subverts the usual angsty portrayal by being extremely proud to be the last surviving member of one of the oldest races in the universe. However, the art book establishes that this is mostly a front and he's actually bitter about being so alone.

* LonelyAtTheTop: The Avatar. [[spoiler:Being a godlike being with a 10,000 year lifespan and immense magical powers sounds cool at first, but it comes with the price of protecting the galaxy alone until a new Avatar replaces you.]]

* LoveConfession: Jordan tries unsuccessfully to tell Molly his feelings multiple times. [[spoiler: Until the last episode, that is...]]
* LoveTriangle: Molly, Jordan and Aikka; they seem to be a Type 7 in TriangRelations. [[spoiler: She doesn't pair up with either of them in the end, as Aikka returns to his people and Jordan [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence becomes the Avatar]].]]

* MissingMom: Maya.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Molly's race with Aikka. [[spoiler:Given that Aikka is a GlassCannon who rides a giant bug instead of an easily repaired vehicle, he was resigned to blowing Molly away in accordance with his government's orders. When Molly approached him with an offer of a straight-up race, he was moved by her competitive yet friendly attitude and was willing to take a loss as long as his wounded mount wasn't killed. She locked down Jordan's turret as the race began, and was winning soundly - until Don Wei ''unlocked'' Jordan's turret and ordered him to open fire. Cue humiliating defeat, as well as a HumansAreBastards comment from Aikka.]]

** BigBad [[spoiler: {{C|reepyCrows}}analetto]], as well.

* PhysicalGod: The Avatar ([[spoiler:that is, Satis, and Jordan after his death]], and formerly [[spoiler:Canaletto]]. Sul blurs the line.

* PlayfulHacker: Paradice
* PosthumousCharacter: Maya

* TheTeam: The Earth Team

* WakeUpCallBoss: Grooor is this to the Earth Team. He's the first opponent they face, which displays how woefully underprepared humanity actually was for the Great Race when he destroys the ''Whizzing Arrow I'' while an AcePilot was at the helm.

* [[WellDoneSonGuy "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl]]: Eva's motivation for most of the series is to get back the love Don Wei denied her for ten years. The irony is that Don doesn't know she's his daughter at all until well into the latter half of the series.

* WindsOfDestinyChange: Sul is famous across the galaxy for this power. However, [[spoiler: Canaletto has the same power, and he's been using it a LOT longer than Sul has.]]

* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Sul vs Canaletto. Sul is almost a god and shoots a really powerful blast at Canaletto, but Canaletto is unaffected and drags Sul into some kind of portal, never to be seen again.]] Before that, [[spoiler:a number of other racers had attempted to eliminate Sul during the race, but he was not only undamaged by any of their attacks, he took them all down easily.]]

* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: O, the Wandering Eye. Enigmatic. Inscrutable. Never speaks. Cruises through the grand finals with an unremarkable score. Doesn't seem in it to win the Great Prize. Could be they knew more than anyone else did.]]

* AnyoneCanDie: It doesn't matter if you're a villain, a neutral racer, or a hero, very few characters have immunity in this series. It's especially notable once [[spoiler:Canaletto]] takes center stage. Among the casualties are [[spoiler:the Mad Scrub, Toros (although this hinges more on implications), Sul, Kross, Satis, O, and Canaletto himself]] by the end of the series. This also includes non-fatal renditions of this trope: [[spoiler:Rick Thunderbolt is permanently thrust out of the plot halfway through the series due to a CareerEndingInjury and Jordan [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascends to a Higher Plane of Existence]] to save Molly]].

* NotJustATournament: The Great Race of Ōban [[spoiler:was devised by the Great Beings as a method of selecting a candidate to become the new Avatar, when the current Avatar's ten-thousand-year reign is ending. By extension, the wish-granting "Ultimate Prize" rumored to be waiting for the victor is possibly a misinterpretation of the prize's true nature, the truth distorted [[TimeAbyss over an unfathomable amount of time]]]].

* AnyoneCanDie: It doesn't matter if you're a villain, a neutral racer, or a hero, very few characters have immunity in this series. It's especially notable once [[spoiler:Canaletto]] takes center stage. Among the casualties are [[spoiler:the Mad Scrub, Toros (although this hinges more on implications), Sul, Kross, Satis, O, and Canaletto himself]] by the end of the series. This also includes non-fatal renditions of this trope: [[spoiler:Rick Thunderbolt is permanently thrust out of the plot halfway through the series due to a CareerEndingInjury and Jordan [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascends to a Higher Plane of Existence]] to save Molly]].

* NotJustATournament: The Great Race of Ōban [[spoiler:was devised by the Great Beings as a method of selecting a candidate to become the new Avatar, when the current Avatar's ten-thousand-year reign is ending. By extension, the wish-granting "Ultimate Prize" rumored to be waiting for the victor is possibly a misinterpretation of the prize's true nature, the truth distorted [[TimeAbyss over an unfathomable amount of time]]]].

* AnyoneCanDie: It doesn't matter if you're a villain, a neutral racer, or a hero, very few characters have immunity in this series. It's especially notable once [[spoiler:Canaletto]] takes center stage. Among the casualties are [[spoiler:the Mad Scrub, Toros (although this hinges more on implications), Sul, Kross, Satis, O, and Canaletto himself]] by the end of the series. This also includes non-fatal renditions of this trope: [[spoiler:Rick Thunderbolt is permanently thrust out of the plot halfway through the series due to a CareerEndingInjury and Jordan [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascends to a Higher Plane of Existence]] to save Molly]].

* NotJustATournament: The Great Race of Ōban [[spoiler:was devised by the Great Beings as a method of selecting a candidate to become the new Avatar, when the current Avatar's ten-thousand-year reign is ending. By extension, the wish-granting "Ultimate Prize" rumored to be waiting for the victor is possibly a misinterpretation of the prize's true nature, the truth distorted [[TimeAbyss over an unfathomable amount of time]]]].

* BoringInvincibleHero: Averted quite nicely; The Earth team is not only a dark horse at best, they've also spent time at the very bottom of the rankings. When they get to the semifinals, against the likes of Toros and Aikka, they come to Ōban in third place... out of three. They lose against better racers often, and are dead last for the majority of races on Ōban itself.

* AnimeThemeSong - Actually in both Japanese ''and'' French, for the French, British English and Japanese versions. The American English release used a somewhat generic English-language song, though they left the end theme the same.

** Hell, the worst you could call Sul is a JerkAss. [[GoodIsNotNice He isn't actually evil]], he has simply done everything-except win the Ultimate Prize, that is-and wants to win just for the sake of doing it. He's actually a fairly nice for someone who's almost god.
* AnyoneCanDie: It doesn't matter if you're a villain, a neutral racer, or a hero, very few characters have immunity in this series. It's especially notable once [[spoiler:Canaletto]] takes center stage. Among the casualties are [[spoiler:the Mad Scrub, Toros (although this hinges more on implications), Sul, Kross, Satis, O, and Canaletto himself]] by the end of the series. This also includes non-fatal renditions of this trope: [[spoiler:Rick Thunderbolt is permanently thrust out of the plot halfway through the series due to a CareerEndingInjury and Jordan [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascends To A Higher Plane Of Existence]] to save Molly]].

* {{Awesome McCoolname}}: Rick Thunderbolt. Jordan C. Wilde qualifies, too.

* BenevolentPrecursors: The Great Beings. [[spoiler: In short, they made everything that exists and set up a system to keep it safe before they died out]]
* BettyAndVeronica: For Molly, Jordan is the former and Aikka the latter. She's initially more attracted to Aikka, but starts to feel more for Jordan later, yet [[spoiler: she doesn't get either of them in the end.]]
* BigBad: [[spoiler:Canaletto, a former Avatar sealed away inside the Temple of Ōban]].

* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler:Canaletto. He was behind the events of the entire series, subtly manipulating Molly so that she would win the title of Avatar, but knew she would turn it down, allowing him to be freed]].

* ConspicuousCGI: On the star racers, the racetracks, and a small number of the characters. It only really gets glaring on the racers that have exposed pilots, like Aikka's and Ceres'.

* DarkIsNotEvil: [[spoiler:Spirit]].

* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:Canaletto]].

* FluffyTheTerrible: [[spoiler:Canaletto]].

* FrothyMugsOfWater: Several instances of this occur throughout the series. In the first episode, Rick is holding a champagne bottle that had its color changed to blue in the US broadcast but was left unchanged on the DVD release. Likewise, the tavern on Alwas is a popular hang out for the heroes, but none of their beverages are ever referred to as alcohol (Molly's drink is "grenadine milk," Rick's drink is "o-fish soda.")

* GlassCannon: Prince Aikka's arrows are very powerful, but his [[strike:ship]] beetle is easily harmed.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: [[ThoseTwoGuys Stan and Koji]].

* NeverSayDie: Played straight most of the time, with one notable edit in the US broadcast; in episode 14, all lines about Toros comitting suicide were cut out. Ironically, this just leads to the implication his superiors pulled a YouHaveFailedMe.

* NotJustATournament: The Great Race of Ōban [[spoiler:was devised by the Great Beings as a method of selecting a candidate to become the new Avatar, when the current Avatar's ten-thousand-year reign is ending. By extension, the wish-granting "Ultimate Prize" rumored to be waiting for the victor is possibly a misinterpretation of the prize's true nature, the truth distorted [[TimeAbyss over an unfathomable amount of time]].]]

** The Crogs. [[DarkIsEvil Pitch-black skin/fur]]? Check. [[GoodColorsEvilColors Red clothes]]? Check. [[EvilSoundsDeep Deep voices]]? Check. [[GlowingEyesOfDoom Yellow eyes]]? Check. [[SpikesOfVillainy Love of sharp, pointy weapons]]? Check.
** BigBad [[spoiler: [[CreepyCrows Canaletto]]]], as well.

* SingleBiomePlanet: Played straight with Alwas, but strongly averted with Oban. [[spoiler: [[WordofGod Savin says]] that the Innas home planet was a subversion, as the seemed to be fighting over it with an unnamed, all male race, meaning there were ''two'' races there.]]

* ThirdPersonPerson: Grooor routinely lapses into this,l at least in the English dub.

* WellDoneDaughterGirl: Eva's motivation for most of the series is to get back the love Don Wei denied her for ten years. The irony is that Don doesn't know she's his daughter at all until well into the latter half of the series.

* YouKilledMyMother: Molly's attitude towards Spirit, the racer who she thinks is responsible for her mother's death. When she faces him in the race, she wrecks the ''Whizzing Arrow'' trying to flat-out kill him. It's only when he shows her the events of that day through his eyes that Molly learns that Maya's death was an accident, and that Spirit actually tried to warn her about the engine fire. [[spoiler:Later, however, it turns out that Canaletto engineered the "accident."]]

Every 10,000 years, teams from all over the universe are gathered by the mysterious Avatar to compete in the Great Race of Ōban, a race with much more at stake than just honor or prize money. According to legend, the winner is awarded the Ultimate Prize, which is rumored to grant ''any'' wish, from large-scale destruction to, perhaps, the resurrection of a loved one. Some want it for glory, others as a way of universal domination. However, the true nature of the Prize is shrouded in mystery, and things are not what they appear to be...

Eva Wei is caught in the middle of it all while trying to find her father, who had abandoned her after the death of her mother. Under the name of "Molly", she joins her dad's racing team to the outer reaches of space, where they take part in the Great Race. Having learned of the Prize, she hopes to win it to bring back her mother and put her family's life back together.

** The Crogs. [[DarkIsEvil Pitch-black skin]]? Check. [[GoodColorsEvilColors Red clothes]]? Check. [[EvilSoundsDeep Deep voices]]? Check. [[GlowingEyesOfDoom Yellow eyes]]? Check. [[SpikesOfVillainy Love of sharp, pointy weapons]]? Check.

* LoveTriangle: Molly, Jordan and Aikka; they seem to be a Type 7 in TriangRelations. [[spoiler: She doesn't pair up with either of them in the end, as Aikka returns to his people and Jordan [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistance becomes the Avatar]].]]

Eva is caught in the middle of it all while trying to find her father, who had abandoned her after the death of her mother. Under the name of "Molly", she joins her dad's racing team to the outer reaches of space, where they take part in the Great Race. Having learned of the Prize, she hopes to win it to bring back her mother and put her family's life back together.

*** [[spoiler: A GovernmentConspiracy covers [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold up what happened]] which means that humanity might be even less prepared for the race in 10,000 years. Furthermore, the government's willingness to resume war early, and their hope to use a human Avatar to ensure human supremacy, has illustrated that humanity and the crogs are NotSoDifferent.]]

* BoringInvincibleHero: Averted quite nicely; The Earth team is not only a dark horse at best, they've also spent time at the very bottom of the rankings. When they get to the semifinals, against the likes of Groor and Aikka, they come to Ōban in third place... out of three. They lose against better racers often, and are dead last for the majority of races on Oban.

* DarkIsEvil: The Crogs.

* DwindlingParty: A necessity of the race format, though there are only a few casualties or fatalities in the qualifying rounds. It soon becomes much closer to a DeadlyGame once everyone is on Ōban, though. [[spoiler:Only five (of nine) teams apparently make it off Ōban judging by the end sequence and the remaining ships around the temple; the Earth Team, Ning and Skun, the Nourasians, Muir, and Lord Furter (and his crew, of course). Of those, only one or two still have flight-worthy racers. Sul and Kross are quite definitely KilledOffForReal. Ondai is incapacitated in the city by Aikka and likely destroyed when Canaletto crashes the Flying Temple into the city. Finally, O performs a HeroicSacrifice so that Molly, Jordan, and Aikka can face Canaletto.]]

* FacialMarkings: Molly and her mother, Maya. WordOfGod confirms that they're tattoos, in case you were wondering.

* FallingIntoTheCockpit: When Rick is unable to fly the ''Arrow'', Don Wei stubbornly refuses to let Molly take his place, despite the fact that she is the only other person on the team with any hope of success. So what does Molly do? While Don's not around, she uses her WrenchWench skills to reconfigure the ''Arrow'''s controls and hijacks the ship for the next race. She [[BeginnersLuck barely manages to win]], but Don is still so angry with her disobedience that he wants to withdraw the whole team from the race. It takes a direct order from the President of the Earth Coalition to keep him from doing so, and another disaster with Rick, to make Molly the team's permanent pilot.
* FantasticRacism: Every alien race hates humans, or treats them as inferior.

* FragileSpeedster: The ''Whizzing Arrow'' is one of the fastest ships in the competition. Only the Krog racers even come close once the MidSeasonUpgrade comes into play. It is, however, ridiculously fragile compared to most other racers, and is armed only with a weak machine-gun turret. Most of its losses come from it being taken out by the competition, sometimes without even trying.
* FreudianTrio: [[TheMcCoy Molly]], [[TheKirk Jordan]] and [[TheSpock Aikka]] are officially designed to fit this trope.

Every 10,000 years, teams from all over the universe are gathered by the mysterious Avatar to compete in the Mos Eisley Pod Racing Championship... Er... Great Race of Ōban, a race with much more at stake than just honor or prize money. According to legend, the winner is awarded the Ultimate Prize, which is rumored to grant ''any'' wish, from large-scale destruction to, perhaps, the resurrection of a loved one. Some want it for glory, others as a way of universal domination. However, the true nature of the Prize is shrouded in mystery, and things are not what they appear to be...

Every 10,000 years, teams from all over the universe are gathered by the mysterious Avatar to compete in the Great Race of Ōban, a race with much more at stake than just honor or prize money. According to legend, the winner is awarded the Ultimate Prize, which is rumored to grant ''any'' wish, from large-scale destruction to, perhaps, the resurrection of a loved one. Some want it for glory, others as a way of universal domination. However, the true nature of the Prize is shrouded in mystery, and things are not what they appear to be...

''Oban Star-Racers'' (2006) is an {{Animesque}} racing series created by Savin Yeatman-Eiffel, co-produced by French and Japanese animation studios.

Every 10,000 years, teams from all over the universe are gathered by the mysterious Avatar to compete in the Great Race of Oban, a race with much more at stake than just honor or prize money. According to legend, the winner is awarded the Ultimate Prize, which is rumored to grant ''any'' wish, from large-scale destruction to, perhaps, the resurrection of a loved one. Some want it for glory, others as a way of universal domination. However, the true nature of the Prize is shrouded in mystery, and things are not what they appear to be...

* AlienInvasion: Type 1. Before the start of the series, Earth was attacked by the Crogs. The aliens retreated only because of the 25 year Truce of Oban, and they have every intention of trying again.

* AllThereInTheManual: ''The Art of Oban Star-Racers'' features an in-depth timeline and backstory on racers like Toros and Ceres - and explains in full the significance of Jordan's grandfather.

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: Sul]]

* AntiVillain: Ning and Skun, after it's revealed that they want the ultimate prize to reunite their people. The same can be said for practically any of the opposing pilots in the Oban cycle except for Lord Furter, Sul, and Kross.

* AnyoneCanDie: It doesn't matter if you're a villain, a neutral racer, or a hero, very few characters have immunity in this series. It's especially notable once [[spoiler:Canaletto]] takes center stage. Among the casualties are [[spoiler:the Mad Scrub, Toros (although this hinges more on implications), Sul, Kross, Satis, O, and Canaletto himself]] bite the dust by the end of the series. This also includes non-fatal renditions of this trope: [[spoiler:Rick Thunderbolt is permanently thrust out of the plot halfway through the series due to a CareerEndingInjury and Jordan [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascends To A Higher Plane Of Existence]] to save Molly]].
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Ceres constantly hurls verbal abuse at his opponents and likes to reiterate his superiority by playing his flute to make them hallucinate and probably crash. Grooor plays it similarly, focusing on humiliating his opponent and disabling their star racer. He confronts Molly after his loss with the serious intention to ''kill her''.

* BadassBiker / BikerBabe: Molly on her rocket seat, which she grafts on the the Arrow's steering column. Ning and Skun's star racers are both essentially flying motorcycles - one is a racing bike and the other's a chopper, based on the handlebars.
* BarBrawl: Molly and Jordan get into one of these with Grooor. Aikka intervenes before too much stuff gets broken.

* BenevolentPrecursors: The Creators. [[spoiler: In short, they made everything that exists and set up a system to keep it safe before they died out]]

* BigBad: [[spoiler:Canaletto]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Jordan Wilde becomes the new Avatar, destroying Canaletto and restoring Oban. However, he does this having just admitted his love for Eva. The last shot of him is one of him [[ManlyTears silently crying]], as the chances of him ever seeing Eva again as the Avatar are unlikely. Everyone else, however, returns home to happier lives.]]

*** [[spoiler: Also a GovernmentConspiracy covers up what happened which means that humanity might be even less prepared for the race in 10,000 years along with the fact that the conspiracy wanted to use "their" new Avatar for human supremacy]]

* BoringInvincibleHero: Averted quite nicely; The Earth team is not only a dark horse at best, they've also spent time at the very bottom of the rankings. When they get to the semifinals, against the likes of Groor and Aikka, they come to Oban in third place... out of three. They lose against better racers often, and are dead last for the majority of races on Oban.

* CoolShip: Whizzing Arrow I-III, and some of the alien ships are pretty cool, too.

* DeathCourse: The race track in episode 4 is this. The first trap is a series of huge spinning turbines, the second is a [[IndyEscape giant, rolling boulder]] that can only be bypassed via flying through a hole in its center. This is followed by tunnels with swinging blades, a guillotine door, collapsing buildings and then a whole freakin' ''labyrinth'' of guillotine doors.

* DwindlingParty: A necessity of the race format, though there are only a few casualties or fatalities in the qualifying rounds. It soon becomes much closer to a DeadlyGame once everyone is on Oban, though. [[spoiler:Only five (of nine) teams apparently make it off Oban judging by the end sequence and the remaining ships around the temple; the Earth Team, Ning and Skun, the Nourasians, Muir, and Lord Furter (and his crew, of course). Of those, only one or two still have flight-worthy racers. Sul and Kross are quite definitely KilledOffForReal. Ondai is incapacitated in the city by Aikka and likely destroyed when Canaletto crashes the Flying Temple into the city. Finally, O performs a HeroicSacrifice so that Molly, Jordan, and Aikka can face Canaletto.]]

* FacialMarkings: Molly, Maya. WordOfGod confirms that they're tattoos, in case you were wondering.

* FallingIntoTheCockpit: When Rick is unable to fly the Arrow, Don Wei stubbornly refuses to let Molly take his place, despite the fact that she is the only other person on the team with any hope of success. So what does Molly do? While Don's not around, she uses her WrenchWench skills to reconfigure the Arrow's controls and hijacks the ship for the next race. She [[BeginnersLuck barely manages to win]], but Don is still so angry with her disobedience that he wants to withdraw the whole team from the race. It takes a direct order from the President of the Earth Coalition to keep him from doing so, and another disaster with Rick to make Molly the team's permanent pilot.

* FemmeFatalons: Skun has these. They are sharp enough to ''cut a hole in the Arrow's hull''.

* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: Oban has flying manta rays, and some of them are really huge.
* FragileSpeedster: The Whizzing Arrow is one of the fastest ships in the competition. Only the Krog racers even come close once the hyperdrive comes into play. It is, however, ridiculously fragile compared to most other racers, and has an under powered weapon. Most of its losses come from it being taken out by the competition, sometimes without even trying.

* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler:Canaletto's EvilPlan involves emotionally scarring a girl with the right background, then ensuring she is the one to represent her planet during the races, and counting on her to win so her scars will cause her to reject the role of Avatar so he can steal it for himself.]] Even with limited precognition it counts as this trope because it is ''limited' so there are many things that he cannot account for.

* GentleGiant: Rush; Oban has the Drudgers (those huge singing creatures).
* GhibliHills: Mostly Oban, though Alwas has elements of this, too.

* GogglesDoNothing: Eva wears hers over her eyes sometimes, though they are more of a keepsake/fashion statement than anything else.
* GoldenSnitch: The later races of the second tournament are worth ''much'' more than the earlier ones, [[spoiler:naturally allowing the Earth team to catch up in the rankings.]]
* GoodIsNotNice: Most of the characters that aren't villains are like this.

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: [[spoiler: In the end, the Earth government forces the protagonists to swear to secrecy over everything that happened during the Great Race of Oban; the official story being that humanity and the crog willingly stopped fighting and called a truce, rather than the crog being forced to stop by the new Avatar.]]

* HumongousMecha: Ondai, the robot from the Oban arc of the show, flies a spaceship that can [[TransformingMecha transform]] into a bipedal robot with a LaserBlade!

* LastOfHisKind: Ceres, who subverts the usual angsty portrayal by being extremely proud to be the last surviving member of one of the oldest races in the universe. The art book establishes that this is mostly a front and he's actually bitter about being so alone.

* LoveTriangle: Molly, Jordan and Aikka; they seem to be a Type 7 in TriangRelations. [[spoiler: She doesn't pair up with either of them in the end.]]
* LukeYouAreMyFather: Though Don Wei puzzles it out on his own.

* MidSeasonUpgrade: After Arrow II gets trashed during the race with Spirit, it gets rebuilt with the help of the Alwas locals... and of course gets a few upgrades in the process!

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Molly's race with Aikka. [[spoiler:Given that Aikka is a GlassCannon who rides a giant bug instead of an easily repaired vehicle, he was resigned to blowing Molly away in accordance with his government's orders. When Molly approached him with an offer of a straight-up race, he was moved by her competitive yet friendly attitude and was willing to take a loss as long as his wounded mount wasn't killed. She locked down Jordan's turret as the race began, and was winning soundly - until Don Wei ''unlocked'' Jordan's turret and ordered him to open fire. Cue humiliating defeat.]]
** As well as a HumansAreBastards comment from Aikka.
* NitroBoost: The Whizzing Arrow has a hyperdrive (no, not [[FasterThanLightTravel that kind]]), Aikka has a spell he can cast on G'Dar, and the Crog's ships have an unnamed speed boost system.

* PinocchioSyndrome: For all his boasts about mechanical superiority, Ondai wants to use the ultimate prize to become an organic creature.

* SecretTest: The entire Great Race of Oban is this. The contestants can use any tactics short of murder to win the Ultimate Prize and have their wishes granted. However, [[spoiler: the real prize is becoming Avatar for the next 10,000 years]]

* ThirdPersonPerson: Grooor routinely lapses into this.

* UnderdogsNeverLose: Played with. On Alwas, the Earth Team won seven out of ten races and had the lowest points of the three playoff teams headed for Oban. After that, they won only TWO out of nine races, and both wins were due to a GoldenSnitch.

* WakeUpCallBoss: Groor is this to the Earth Team.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue

* YouKilledMyMother: Molly's attitude towards Spirit, the racer who she thinks is responsible for her mother's death. When she faces him in the race, she wrecks the Whizzing Arrow trying to flat-out kill him. It's only when he shows her the events of that day through his eyes that Molly learns that Maya's death was an accident, and that Spirit actually tried to warn her about the engine fire. [[spoiler:Later, however, it turns out that Canaletto engineered the "accident."]]

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Most episodes are named using a pattern of "''adjective'' Like ''name''", most of which are alliterative.