History WesternAnimation / SWATKats

* TheOtherDarrin: The stoic [[NoNameGiven Enforcer Sergeant]] was voiced by [[TaleSpin Ed Gilbert]] for almost all of the first season. JimCummings took over his voice for the final two episodes of season one, and all his appearances in season two. Likewise, Dr. Greenbox was voiced by [[TheTerminator Robert Patrick]] in "Chaos in Crystal" but [[ConAir Nick Chinlund]] in "Unlikely Alloys".

* TheOtherDarrin: The stoic [[NoNameGiven Enforcer Sergeant]] was voiced by Ed Gilbert for almost all of the first season. JimCummings took over his voice for the final two episodes of season one, and all his appearances in season two. Likewise, Dr. Greenbox was voiced by [[TheTerminator Robert Patrick]] in "Chaos in Crystal" but [[ConAir Nick Chinlund]] in "Unlikely Alloys".

* BadassFurry: Pretty much every hero and villain in the series.

* {{Irony}}: While Ted Turner canceled the show due to the violence, any personal vendettas notwithstanding, the classic HannaBarbera shows weren't exactly clean either, showing that Turner DidNotDoTheResearch when he compared SWAT Kats to the older shows. First, there's the [[ValuesDissonance racial and chauvinistic attitudes]] you'd normally see in cartoons from the 50s through the 70s, and even the 80s. For more specific examples though, you have YogiBear stealing peoples' food, TopCat's mooching, a {{retcon}} in an episode of ''TheJetsons''' second season that [[spoiler:George and Jane were never actually married due their priest being a conman, [[UnfortunateImplications interpret that how you will]], making Judy and Elroy bastards]], and ''CaptainPlanet'' taking on issues ''way'' outside of its scope and premise, with more out there. Whereas the SWAT Kats were hard working characters applying their skills to protect innocent people, with equipment they made ''solely'' by rebuilding junked machinery, while also helping them in their day jobs.

* LoveTriangle: Callie and The SWAT Kats. One of the reasons Felina was introduced in Season 2 was to intentionally avert this on further episodes. It kinda-sorta backfired: now, instead of one triangle, fans started shipping two entirely different ones: One involving the SWAT Kats and Callie, and other involving The SWAT Kats and Felina. What the fuck do you even call that? A parallelogram with two sets of boobs?

* BarefootFunnyAnimals: T-Bone and Razor in their pilot suits (but ''not'' in their civilian clothes, curiously enough), as well as Dark Kat and Dr. Viper. Proven useful when the SWAT Kats are able to use their foot claws easily. Otherwise averted -- no other kat goes without footwear.

[[BoisterousBruiser Chance "T-Bone" Furlong]] and [[BadassBookworm Jake "Razor" Clawson]] were once two humble officers of the Enforcers, teaming up as the [[AcePilot pilot]] and [[ImprobableAimingSkills gunner]] of a fighter jet in the Enforcers' Air Force Squadron--until they accidentally destroyed their command headquarters and caused sizeable amounts of damage while in pursuit of a criminal. Their former superior, [[JerkAss Commander Ulysses Feral]], stuck them in long-term community service in a military junkyard until Chance and Jake managed to pay off their debt...which, considering their salaries, was likely to be never. (Never mind that the incident was Feral's fault in the first place; see OnlyICanKillHim for more details.)

* AirVentEscape: In "Destructive Nature".

* ShowAccuracyToyAccuracy: The ''SWAT Kats'' action figures were all redesigned from the characters' TV versions. Most drastic change: Dark Kat was apparently a [[HollywoodCyborg cyborg]], a revelation the show never even hinted at. YourMileageMayVary as to whether these alterations were canonical--or a good idea.

** You can count the number of times T-Bone and Razor's real names (Chance and Jake, respectively) are used on one hand

* SwordInTheStone: "Bride Of The Pastmaster".

* ShipTease: There were a few hints that Ann Gora's relationship with her cameraman Jonny was [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean more than just professional.]]

[[BadassBookworm Jake "Razor" Clawson]] and [[BoisterousBruiser Chance "T-Bone" Furlong]] were once two humble officers of the [[strike:law]] Enforcers, teaming up as the [[AcePilot pilot]] and [[ImprobableAimingSkills gunner]] of a fighter jet in the Enforcers' Air Force Squadron--until they accidentally destroyed their command headquarters and caused sizeable amounts of damage while in pursuit of a criminal. Their former superior, [[JerkAss Commander Ulysses Feral]], stuck them in long-term community service in a military junkyard until Chance and Jake managed to pay off their debt...which, considering their salaries, was likely to be never. (Never mind that the incident was Feral's fault in the first place; see OnlyICanKillHim for more details.)

The show has a very strong cult following that continues to this day, becoming the source of numerous fan sites, a fair amount of fan fiction, and even online [=RPG=]s. What makes ''SWAT Kats'' fansites different from other shows' fansites? They developed a good reputation for their interlinking and close cooperation, which means most fansites will provide resource lists/links to most of the other fansites--and almost all of these sites, including a wiki dedicated to the show, ''are regularly updated to this day''. This dedication remains a standing testament to the show's popularity.

!!Tropes:

* AirborneAircraftCarrier: Featured twice, in differing forms: in "Cry Turmoil" and "When Strikes Mutilor".

* {{Awesome McCoolname}}: "SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron". Also pretty much everyone and everything associated with them, and for bonus points the names sometimes start with "Mega" or "Turbo".

* FurryFandom: Duh.

* [[IdenticalGrandson Identical Granddaughter]]: Taken to the extreme - Princess Callista is Callie Briggs' ''ancestor'', but they're both completely identical.

* INeverSaidItWasPoison: The elderly kats Razor accidentally injures in "Razor's Edge" are doing a good job of layering on the guilt and tearing his self-esteem apart when they taunt "You'd never be able to stop Dark Kat." No one up until this point knows that Dark Kat is behind the episode's attacks. [[spoiler:This clues Razor in that the two kats are neither injured nor elderly, and the event was ''not'' an accident.]]

* {{Irony}}: While Ted Turner canceled the show due to the violence, any personal vendettas notwithstanding, the classic HannaBarbera shows weren't exactly clean either, showing that Turner DidNotDoTheResearch when he compared SwatKats to the older shows. First, there's the [[ValuesDissonance racial and chauvinistic attitudes]] you'd normally see in cartoons from the 50s through the 70s, and even the 80s. For more specific examples though, you have YogiBear stealing peoples' food, TopCat's mooching, a {{retcon}} in an episode of ''TheJetsons''' second season that [[spoiler:George and Jane were never actually married due their priest being a conman, [[UnfortunateImplications interpret that how you will]], making Judy and Elroy bastards]], and ''CaptainPlanet'' taking on issues ''way'' outside of its scope and premise, with more out there. Whereas the SWAT Kats were hard working characters applying their skills to protect innocent people, with equipment they made ''solely'' by rebuilding junked machinery, while also helping them in their day jobs.

** The worst part is the whole thing is vaguely hypocritical: Violence was cited as one of the main reason Turner personally pulled the plug despite the show's high ratings. However, the violence in ''SWATKats'' is stylized and largely not imitative, compared with other HannaBarbera series which feature stunts and slapstick violence that kids could easily recreate on their own.

*** This is weird, as the version of "The Giant Bacteria" on the DVD contains a scene cut from the broadcast versions where Viper [[spoiler: feeds a farmer to his bacteria monster]]. It also restores "The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice"'s long missing EpisodeTitleCard. The episodes themselves appear to be uncut, and all that seems to be missing is the "Today on SWAT Kats" promos before the TBS-era (season one) episodes, which are a fairly negligible omission. The real reason would appear to be that Warner used the wrong end credits for many of the episodes.

* OnlyICanKillHim: Played unapologetically straight - The SWAT Kats are the only ones who can win the fight. Everyone else, since, unlike our heroes they don't have gigantic testicles of steel, fails miserably. [[ThisIsSparta Every. Single. Time]].

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: In "The Wrath of Dark Kat," Steele insists his name is spelled with two E's, implying it is "Steel." However when we see his nameplate on his desk in "Enter the Madkat," it's spelled "Steele." Most fans take the latter spelling as the correct one, despite Steele's apparent preference. [[WildMassGuessing Possibly the nameplate is a misprint the Enforcers didn't bother to correct]]?

* TanksForNothing: The only purpose the Enforcer tanks serve is getting stomped by the MonsterOfTheWeek so the heroes can save the day.

* WhyWeCantHaveNiceThings: A priceless historical site gets obliterated in "The Deadly Pyramid." Granted, it wasn't entirely their fault.

* XtremeKoolLetterz: Starting with the title.

** This actually became a plot point in a later episode, where Razor believes he blew up a warehouse and injured two innocent bystanders. The first indication that the whole thing is a set-up, is that the missiles were non lethal, yet the warehose clearly blew up.

** The name of the episode is also a case of FridgeBrilliance when you realize [[spoiler:[[OhCrap that the episode has the Metallicats take over the future, and literally make it "A Bright And Shiny Future"]].]]

* FridgeBrilliance: Remove the letters S, O, U and L from the name "Elrod Purvis" and rearrange it a bit, and you get "Dr. Viper".
** Make that double, as those missing letters fit perfectly with him being a CompleteMonster.
* FridgeHorror: Every single kat skeleton we see (and we see plenty of them) has a skull complete with ears. ''[[NightmareFuel Bone]] [[{{Squick}} ears]].''

* AmazonBrigade: Turmoil's gang. which may or may not have been a ShoutOut to [[ThePhantom Sala and her Sky Pirates]]. Turmoil herself is most definitely a ShoutOut to [[StreetFighter M.Bison]].

* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Subverted in "Mutation City". Razor immediately realizes that T-Bone is [[{{Nakama}} no longer in control of himself]] and without any hesitation, leaves him pinned to the wall with a spider missile.

* DestinationDefenestration: The Metallikats do this to Callie when she reveals that she was the one who denied thier parole. [[spoiler:Good thing the SWAT Kats were there for one of their BigDamnHeroes moments...]]

The show was cancelled after its second season, passed over in favor of Turner's "What A Cartoon!" project (which gave birth to future Cartoon Cartoons such as ''DextersLaboratory'', ''ThePowerpuffGirls'', and ''JohnnyBravo''). At the time of its cancellation, ''SWAT Kats'' was one of Hanna-Barbera's highest rated syndicated shows, and there were three unfinished episodes in production (as well as established outlines for up to seven more episodes), which all got left hanging. Turner's excuse for the decision was that Hanna-Barbara had other cartoons which didn't "encourage kids to shoot people".

''SWAT Kats'' suffered from not having any true home video release following its demise (except for a pitiful handful of VHS tapes). Once the series was moved from Cartoon Network to Boomerang, that network's ever-changing schedule made it hard to figure out when/if they were showing it. In December 2010, the Warner Archive program started offering the complete series on DVD as an "on-demand" release, but stopped in 2011 due to unspecified issues (likely the fact that syndication cuts were used for the DVDs). Episodes were--and still are--widely circulated over the Internet, however, so it's not hard to watch the series if you're interested.

!!''SWATKats'' contains examples of the following tropes:

* TheDeterminator: Both of them.

** Which is a good thing, considering how incompetent Mayor Manx is.

*** This is weird, as the version of "The Giant Bacteria" on the DVD contains a scene cut from the broadcast versions where Viper [[spoiler: feeds a farmer to his bacteria monster]]. It also restores "The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice's" long missing title card. The episodes themselves appear to be uncut, and all that seems to be missing is the "Today on SWAT Kats" promos before the TBS-era (season one) episodes, which are a fairly negligible omission. The real reason would appear to be that Warner used the wrong end credits for many of the episodes.

*** This is inaccurate, as the version of "The Giant Bacteria" on the DVD contains a scene cut from the broadcast version where Viper [[spoiler: feeds a farmer to his bacteria monster]]. So the episodes ''were'' the original prints and not EditedForSyndication versions.

** This is inaccurate, as the version of "The Giant Bacteria" on the DVD contains a scene cut from the broadcast version where Viper [[spoiler: feeds a farmer to his bacteria monster]]. So the episodes ''were'' the original prints and not EditedForSyndication versions.