History WesternAnimation / SWATKats

* AnimationBump: Season 2. Not only was the animation of much better quality, the style more closely matched the tone and feel of the series. Somewhat similarly, four of the episodes in the first season[[labelnote:list]]"The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice", "Night of the Dark Kat", "Metal Urgency" and "Katastrophe"[[/labelnote]] clearly had a lot more money spent on them than the others, with more detail and smoother animation. The same company (Creator/MookDLE) went on to animate the entire second season.

** Done briefly in "Unlikely Alloys" when Molly teams up with the SWAT Kats and Dr. Greenbox after [[spoiler: her husband, Mac, gets absorbed by Zed]].

%% * 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.

* TrappedInThePast: In "Bride Of The Pastmaster".
* TrappedInAnotherWorld: "The Dark Side Of The SWAT Kats".

* {{Unobtainium}}: Aggresite from "Caverns Of Horror". Also played straight in "When Strikes Mutilor" with ''water'', of all things. Turns out plain old aqua is actually unobtanium for aliens, which is the reason for Mutilor's attack on Earth or wherever the hell they are (Yeah, yeah, "Haven't they heard of ice?").

* VillainTeamUp[=/=]LegionOfDoom: The "Alliance of Evil" between Dark Kat, Dr. Viper and The Metallikats in "Katastrophe".
** "A Bright and Shiny Future", meanwhile, sees a brief alliance between the Pastmaster and the Metallikats.
* VillainessesWantHeroes: Turmoil wants T-Bone.
** In the unfinished episode "Succubus!", Katrina Moorkroft explicitly wants Commander Feral, although, admittedly only to drain his life force.
* WakingUpAtTheMorgue: "The Origin of Dr. Viper."

* WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys: From the military-owned junkyard, that's where!
** Played straight in a few cases. Razor says that a couple of his missiles are diamond-tipped. Who the hell would throw away diamonds, or even diamond dust?!
*** Unless they're industrial diamonds, which are usually artificial.
* [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse What Happened To The Cat]]:

** "Razor's Edge". [[spoiler:Granted, it really ''wasn't'' his fault.]]

** [[spoiler:He ends up guessing. Whaddaya know, it worked!]]

* WorldOfFunnyAnimals: Although unlike many examples of this trope, Megakat City has only one intelligent species.

* RedShirtArmy: The Enforcers. The idea behind them's the same as UNIT from ''Series/DoctorWho'': to show something's being done about all the monsters and villains, but to be totally useless [[TheWorfEffect to make the villains look strong]] and so the heroes aren't redundant.

** In "The Metallikats," the mobsters who are with Katscratch and Fango are all literally identical. They have the same fur color and they're all wearing identical gray business suits and fedoras. The only thing different about them are their voices. Hanna-Barbera could've at least given them different fur and suit colors.

* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: In "The Metallikats", when the titular villains show up to the mob they used to run, the mob's current leader tries to get rid of them, but they kill the leader first. Then, they declare that Megakat City belongs to them now, and all the mob goons, out of fear, immediately say they're with the Metallikats. The Metallikats sarcastically thank them for the vote of confidence, but since they were willing to switch sides rather than avenge their leader, the Metallikats tell them that "traitors like you don't fit into our new plan", and the Metallikats kill the goons with an exploding cigar.
** They try to, anyway; although at least two die due to proximity, the SWAT Kats put out the fire the explosion starts, saving at least three mobsters, allowing them to be tended to by fire fighters and paramedics.
* RidingTheBomb: "Destructive Nature". Complete with a "Yeeeeeeeeeeeee-haaa!" from Razor, and Razor also does so in "Wrath of the Dark Kat" as he disables the bomb midflight.
* RobotBuddy: Cybertron from "The Deadly Pyramid".
* RoguesGallery: See above.
* RoguesGalleryShowcase: "Katastrophe", "A Bright and Shiny Future".

** Well, in the writers' defense, it can be pointed out that their centrifuge device or whatever was going around in circles, which means they do have a definite turning angle set, which is their benchmark for testing g's. Thus, although the statement of '10 seconds at mach 5' won't mean anything to the audience, it's reasonable to expect our two heroes who are familiar with the machine to understand precisely what it means relative to previous training efforts.
* SealedEvilInACan: Pastmaster in "The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice".

* ShipTease:
** There were a few hints that Ann Gora's relationship with her cameraman Jonny was more than just professional.
** Then there was that scene where Callie flirtily says "Bye, Jake." right after Chance bragged (out of earshot) about her "obviously" digging him. RuleOfFunny, yes, but a tease nonetheless. Callie's [[IdenticalGrandson nigh-identical]] ancestor also had a blatant interest in Razor when the SWAT Kats were sent back in time by the Pastmaster.
** Dr. Street also flirts with Ann at the beginning of "The Ci-Kat-A." It's very subtle, but the way he tells her to "drop by the space center tomorrow" suggests he fancies her a bit. His being taken over by the alien queen, though, puts paid to anything that might've come of ''that''.
** There was more of the Jake and Callie dynamic in the unfinished episode "Succubus!" They attend an orchestra performance and even call it a date. Admittedly, Callie only went because Manx was insistent she go for PR reasons, and she needed a plus-one, but the scene nevertheless would've made many Jake/Callie shippers ''very'' happy.

* ShootingGallery: The SWAT Kats have one in the Hangar.

** [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} Puma-Dyne]], anyone? (Although as noted, they used a hyphen.)
** There's another, more subtle one in "Unlikely Alloys", when Mac [[Film/CaptainEO descends towards the camera from the ceiling]], supported by various wires.

** Nobody mentioned [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Cybertron]] yet?

* SittingOnTheRoof: T-Bone and Razor at the end of "Mutation City". The city is flooded, after all.
* SkyPirate: Turmoil.
* SlashFic: Tons of them involving the main characters, both male and female.
* SlasherSmile: Most of the villains do this at least once. Strangely, the SWAT Kats do it fairly often, including in most of the publicity and fan artwork. Just check out the page pic.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: In "The Wrath of Dark Kat", Steel 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 Steel's apparent preference. [[WildMassGuessing Possibly the nameplate is a misprint the Enforcers didn't bother to correct]]?
** Or Steele was refering to the middle of his name: Steele vs Steale.
** Actually, it's referring to the word "stele", which is a type of writing implement. He wants his name spelled with two e's because then it's a type of strong metal, as opposed to something like a pen.
** Confirmed to be S-T-E-E-L in the storyboards for "Enter the Madkat." Making the nameplate an error (the storyboards even spell his name "Steel" on the nameplate when he puts it on the desk).

* {{Sssssnaketalk}}: Dr. Viper.
* StabTheScorpion: How Lt. Felina Feral is introduced in "Mutation City". Her helicopter airlifts Callie Briggs away from the dangerous mutant liquid, and the former tells the latter that this isn't a good night for the deputy mayor to be out in the city. Then Lt. Feral seems to point her laser gun at Callie, but actually she fires at a spiky mutant tentacle that was about to grab Callie.

* TheStarscream: Lt. Steel.
* StatingTheSimpleSolution: In "Night of the Dark Kat", Hard Drive questions Dark Kat's decision to put the SWAT Kats in a ConveyorBeltODoom DeathTrap instead of killing them outright. ("I still say you should’ve let me fry those two!") Dark Kat should have listened to him.
** A similar occurrence happens in 'Katastrophe'. The Metallikats have Razor trapped and are about to [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim finish him]], when Dr. Viper stops them, telling them that Dark Kat wants to take him alive. Razor escapes while they're arguing:

* StevenUlyssesPerhero: Rex Shard.
* StockFootage: Pieces of animation regarding the SWAT Kats entering the [=TurboKat=] and exiting the hangar was frequently reused. And in reverse, about a decade later, various backgrounds, the Pastmaster's vortex and an Enforcer chopper (with the symbol on the front covered up) were all reused for ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce''.
* SuperHero

* SwissArmyWeapon: The SWAT Kats' Glovatrixes, metal gauntlets (or in season 1, a wrist device) which could fire things like grappling lines, bolas, and scaled-down [=TurboKat=] missiles; it was also equipped with attachments like buzzsaws, retractable, multi-section shields, a radar, and other devices depending on the mission.

* TalkingAnimal: The entire freaking population.

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Between the SWAT Kats and Feral at times. Also between Dark Kat, the Metallikats, and Dr. Viper in "Katastrophe"
--> '''Dark Kat:''' Choose now, my villanous friends! Who do you hate more? Me or the SWAT Kats!?
--> '''Mac:''' ... We'll settle with you later, Dark Crud!
--> '''Molly:''' First things first!
* TenMinuteRetirement: "Razor's Edge".
* ThatPoorPlant

* ThisIsADrill: Drillbit Missiles, and the [=TurboMole=].
* ThoseTwoGuys: Burke and Murray.
* [[TimeForPlanB Time For Plan Z]]: It involves shutting off the Turbokat's engines in mid-flight to lose heat-seekers. Razor hates Plan Z.
** And to make it worse, they even have a decoy missile to help. The writers apparently never heard of flares.

* ToastedBuns: The jetpacks in "Unlikely Alloys".

** "Radical" was used a few times in the second season; thankfully, it didn't catch on.
* ToonPhysics: Normally averted, though one episode had Chance briefly doing it after watching "Scaredy Kat", naturally.

* TheHyena: Chopshop may or may not be a literal one. [[spoiler:For all of his 5 minutes in the series.]]
* HypercompetentSidekick: Describes Callie to a T. Also Sergeant Talon, especially in comparison to Steel.

** Though in at least one episode they DO actually run out of missiles.
*** Another episode implies that they DO restock their missiles between missions (you can see stocks of missiles lying around the hangar sometimes).
** Not to mention additional vehicles like the Cyclotrons (bikes), [=HoverKat=] (hovercraft), [=TurboMole=] (drill-tank), and so on.
*** The Cyclotrons are implied to be part of the seats of the Turbokat as part of their customizations (it's deployed from the bomb bay like a missile, with a heatshield retracting when it lands). Also in the episode with the Turbomole, they ''saw'' on TV miners needing their help and loaded the Turbomole into their jet.
*** Lampshaded by Mutilor, when the [=TurboKat=]'s cool customizations lets them follow him into space (specifically, it sprouts four extra boosters and a heatshield covers the canopy; it's referred to as ''Speed-of-Heat Mode'').
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: The Pastmaster kidnaps Queen Callista (in "Bride of the Pastmaster"), and then her [[IdenticalGrandson lookalike descendant]] Callie Briggs (in "The Deadly Pyramid"), in separate attempts to marry them. The SWAT Kats rescue the withered wizard's intended victim both times. [[NoYay Thank God]].

** Except for [[ClarkKenting Callie's glasses]], which the Pastmaster (who's in love with Callista) doesn't notice until "The Deadly Pyramid".
* IdiotBall: The Enforcers and some of the villains often carry this around.
* ImprovisedWeapon: After getting trapped in the past in "Bride of the Pastmaster", T-Bone and Razor trick out the [=TurboKat=] with whatever's at hand, including ''pepper stew''.

* InSPACE!: One could describe the series as "If ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' got a UsefulNotes/FurryFandom cartoon."
* InTheBack: "A Bright And Shiny Future" had ''three'' double-crosses: [[spoiler:one by the Metallikats, one by the Pastmaster, and one by the SWAT Kats themselves.]]
** Weird. "Katastrophe" ''also'' had three different ones: [[spoiler:Dark Kat always planned to screw over everybody, so Viper anticipated that and decided to screw him first, and he recruited the Metallikats to screw Dark Kat with him. Also averted, in the sense that Dark Kat thought he could force the Metallikats to do his dirty work for him and screw Viper first. Please do not take any of these statements literally. If you do, considering we're talking about robots and mutated monsters, keep a bottle of BrainBleach handy. Thank you for visiting Website/TVTropes. Have a nice day.]]

* JustThinkOfThePotential: Really, what was Puma-Dyne expecting when they made a device that ''[[AppliedPhlebotinum disables all weapons]]''? To say nothing of what might have happened [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity if the Enforcers had started abusing it]].
** Doctors Zyme and Hackle have good intentions on their side, but that doesn't help a bit when dealing with the fallout of their attempts to benefit kat-kind, a.k.a. ''Dr. Viper and the Metallikats''.

* TheLadette: Felina Feral.
* LanternJawOfJustice: Commander Feral. And his hair-cut is ''fierce!''
* LeitMotif: Almost every major character. T-Bone & Razor had one, as did Commander Feral. So did Viper, and Dark Kat. Heck, even the ''[=TurboKat=]'' has its own LeitMotif.
* LiterallyShatteredLives: The fate of [[spoiler:Warden Meece]] in "Chaos in Crystal".
* LockAndLoadMontage: Apart from happening in the series, this can also be seen in the intros for both seasons.
** Part of the LockAndLoadMontage from the first season became part of the intro for the second season.

* MacrossMissileMassacre: "Night of the Dark Kat", "When Strikes Mutilor".
* MadScientist: Dr. Viper.

* ManEatingPlant: Dr. Viper's specialty.

* MeaningfulName: In gangster slang, a "moll" is the female associate of a gangster, and were often criminals themselves; it is also short for "Molly", as in Mange.

* MegaMicrobes: "The Giant Bacteria".
* MirrorUniverse: "The Dark Side of the SWAT Kats".

* MoreDakka: The Enforcers, ''always''. Razor also uses this twice: once each in "When Strikes Mutilor" and "Razor's Edge".
* MonsterClown: Madkat.
* MonsterOfTheWeek: One of the series' central tropes.
** Lampshaded in "Unlikely Alloys".
-->'''Razor:''' What's that? Monster of the week?

* {{Mummy}}: "The Deadly Pyramid".

* NameTron: The Cyclotron.
** And Cybertron.
* TheNeidermeyer: Lt. Commander Steel.
* NerdsAreSexy: According to some fans, Callie Briggs practically defines this trope.
** So does Jake, to a certain extent.
*** Unsure why. Does ''any'' woman with glasses, regardless of profession, count as a nerd, now? Callie's really more management than full-on nerd. Dr. Sinian would seem to fit this description better.
*** A better example is Callie seeming to fancy Jake, who is unabashedly nerdy, as stated above.
* NeverMyFault: Feral unfairly blames Jake and Chance for the damage to Enforcer HQ, even though it's his own fault the incident happened (he interfered with their attempt to catch Dark Kat, because he couldn't accept someone else might catch the crook).

** Those [[{{Bowdlerise}} poor]] [[RedShirt RedShirts]], though...

** If you keep count you can find, conservatively, 73 deaths in the first season ALONE. Some of which are pretty brutal. Not counting the casualties when Chance and Jake's Enforcer jet crashes into the headquarters. Additionally, there are 3 or 4 times where Feral should have died--them's some [[PlotArmor safety equipment]]. Hot damn. All the deaths, or even the near-fatal injuries are never mentioned.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: David Litterbin, the TalkShow host from "Enter the Madkat", is obviously based on Creator/DavidLetterman.
** The storyboards also suggest there's a little bit of Garry Shandling in him as well.

** This was quite common among the shows writers. The storyboards for "Enter the Madkat" described Katzmer the antique store owner as being based off of Keye Luke in '"Film/{{Gremlins}}'', while the script for "Chaos in Crystal" says Warden Meece and Dr. Greenbox are based off of M. Emmet Walsh and Creator/WoodyHarrelson, respectively.

* NotMyDriver: How the Metallikats kidnap Manx and Callie in one episode.
* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: In "The Giant Bacteria", Razor and T-Bone drop Morbulus into the ocean from what has to be at least a hundred feet up.
* NoWaterproofingInTheFuture: Averted with the Metallikats, at least in their first appearance - Callie tries to defeat them with a fire hose. It didn't work.
** PlayedWith in "Razor's Edge" with Dark Kat's Black Widow. The outside was waterproof, but the inside was not.

* NukeEm: Attempted by Dark Kat in "The Wrath of Dark Kat".
* OffScreenTeleportation: Madkat. Subverted in that he does this both on ''and'' off screen.

* OneHeadTaller: Molly to Mac.

** You can count the number of times T-Bone and Razor's real names (Chance and Jake, respectively) are used on one hand.
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield: "Bride Of The Pastmaster".

* OurGargoylesRock: The Pastmaster brings a gargoyle on Old Megakat Bridge to life briefly in "A Bright and Shiny Future." It's basically just a horned, demon-like head with MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily at the end of an extending neck.

* OurLichesAreDifferent: The Pastmaster.
* [[PapaWolf Uncle Wolf]]: Feral may seem harsh and quick-tempered, but he genuinely loves his niece and would do anything to protect her. In fact, he tried to prevent her from joining the Enforcers for just that reason.
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: As the series progressed, there was less and less focus on Chance and Jake's job as mechanics. In season one, they could be seen repairing cars, towing people, etc. Apart from one scene of them towing a car in "A Bright and Shiny Future" (which they ''ditch'' to rush off and fight the Pastmaster), their car repair business was never mentioned again in season two. The only repairing they're shown doing after that is on the Turbokat. The even get rid of their tow truck entirely in "When Strikes Mutilor," and even ''it'' is never seen again, despite being a pretty important part of their business.
** It would've come up again in the unfinished episode "Succubus!", wherein they're seen repairing Callie's car, though.

* PutOnABus: Lt. Commander Steel. Apparently, Steel's ineptitude eventually got him replaced by Feral's more competent and able-bodied niece Felina, and he has not been seen since.
** Also, Burke and Murray from season one, despite their apparent stated role as Chance and Jake's "babysitters", disappear completely by the time season two rolls around with no explanation given (then again, given how they are ''colossal'' jackasses, them not showing up is pretty good in our books).

* RedOniBlueOni: Chance/T-Bone and Jake/Razor.

* ConvectionSchmonvection: Flying around inside a volcano...right above the lava... piece of cake!
* ConveyorBeltODoom: Dark Kat tries to kill the heroes with one in "Night of the Dark Kat". [[ComplexityAddiction He should]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption have]] [[BondVillainStupidity known better]].

* CoolBike: The Cyclotron and the [=SandKat=].
* CoolGarage: The Hangar.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Tiger Conklin from "Caverns Of Horror".

* CrazyPrepared: You name it, the SWAT Kats have a gadget/mod for it.

** To be fair, the junkyard they're working at is the junkyard where the Enforcers send their scrapped gear. Given how many choppers get knocked out of the sky an episode, this qualifies as FridgeBrilliance.
* CyberPunk: Hard Drive, the "technology pirate".
* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster: Mac and Molly Mange.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The show was more violent than most action cartoons of the era. "The Giant Bacteria" has the highest number of on-screen deaths in a single episode (see BusFullOfInnocents above). This also marks the beginning of T-Bone & Razor's "Kill if everything else fails" policy. Quite a punch, consider this was the show's first completed episode (it was second in broadcast order). Then there's Season 2 compared to Season 1.
* DatingCatwoman: T-Bone's relationship with Turmoil.
* DeadHandShot: When Katscratch gets killed in "The Metallikats," we see his burned, smoking hand poking out from behind a crate. Nevermind they'd already shown him get killed almost entirely onscreen, so the DeadHandShot is rather like shutting the barn door ''after'' the horses have already left.
** It's used again for the security guard in "Razor's Edge." We see his hand sticking out from underneath the boxes, twitching, and then it slowly inches over to press an alarm before falling limply to the floor.
* DeathBySecretIdentity: In "Metal Urgency", the Metallikats learn the [=SWAT=] Kats true identities. However, despite wanting to know who they were, Commander Feral refused to make a deal with the Metallikats and deactivated them. It's then subverted when the Metallikats are brought back in future episodes, [[LaserGuidedAmnesia but don't remember the SWAT Kats identities]].
* DeathTrap: "Night Of The Dark Kat".

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

* TheDeterminator: Both SWAT Kats.
** Also Feral.
* DieHardOnAnX: "Destructive Nature" is ''Film/DieHard'' with {{Man Eating Plant}}s.
* DirtyCoward: Lt. Steel, especially in "The Wrath of Dark Kat". Despite making it plain he wants to be commander of the Enforcers and even betraying Feral to get it, when actually put in the thick of the action, he chickens out and hides. He won't even save his ''own'' hide by shooting back!
** Then there's Manx, who often lacks even ''moral'' courage, as he is quick to try and offer deals to the villains if it'll spare him/make his life easier. And somewhat more nefariously, in "The Giant Bacteria", when he and Callie are being chased, he shoves her off of a rescue ladder so he can climb up ahead of her.

* TheDocumentary: "SWAT Kats--A Special Report".
* DontCelebrateJustYet: From "The Metallikats", when T-Bone and Razor pull a "Plan Z". {{Lampshaded}} with "We're not out of the woods yet."

* EarthShatteringKaboom: Mutilor attempts to do this after he's defeated. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]

* ElaborateUndergroundBase: The Hangar.
* EmergencyTransformation: The origin of the Metallikats.
* EnemyMine: A villainous example by the end of "Katastrophe". Though their [[LegionOfDoom alliance]] has fallen apart, Dark Kat, Dr. Viper and the Metallikats still have one thing in common: the SWAT Kats.

* EnterEponymous: "Enter the Madkat".
* EpisodeTitleCard
* EveryCarIsAPinto: And they '''all''' explode.

* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: The Pastmaster rings up a buncha zombies in his first appearance. Why? Just 'cuz!

* EvilTwin: In "The Dark Side Of The SWAT Kats", for T-Bone, Razor and [[spoiler:Callie.]]
* ExactlyWhatIAimedAt: Razor to [[spoiler:Mutilor]].

--> "No excuses!"
* FaceHeelTurn: Both [[spoiler:Zed ''and'' Dr. Greenbox.]]

* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence[=/=]FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: The series had plenty of both, which presumably led to the ExecutiveMeddling, although both of these tropes got ''more'' frequent over time, not the other way round. There's a theory that the creators were going for something closer to their original concept as the series went on, which suggests that the ExecutiveMeddling was at the ''beginning'' of the show--probably because HB was skeptical as to how it was going to be received. Its high ratings and popularity, however, may have enabled the Tremblays--and Glenn Leopold, who wrote the majority of the episodes--to wriggle free from some of the meddling, hence the DarkerAndEdgier Second Season
* FighterLaunchingSequence: The heroes taking off in the [=TurboKat=] in the intro.
* FiveRoundsRapid: This is ALWAYS the Enforcers' one and only solution to a problem.

* [[RidingIntoTheSunset Flying into the Sunset]]: "The Giant Bacteria" ends this way.
* {{Foil}}: All over the place. There's T-Bone and Razor to each other, then there's Felina and Commander Feral, Felina and Callie, Callie and Mayor Manx, and also Mac and Molly (at least when they're not trying to kill each other).

* GadgeteerGenius: Razor.

* GoryDiscretionShot: In "The Ci-Kat-A", a Giant Bug gets knocked off the [=TurboKat=] and is seen plummeting towards the rotorblade on an Enforcer chopper; the camera then cuts back to the other one that's still hanging onto the [[CoolPlane cool jet]].)

* GRatedDrug: "The Metallikats" starts with a band of mobsters smuggling, you guessed it, catnip.
** Also, when Chance and Jake throw themselves down the couch to get some testosterone-filled entertainment, they bring out a six-pack of... not beer, but condensed milk.

** And in "Bride of the Pastmaster", Queen Callista has Tabor bring goblets of milk for her dinner with Razor.
** Carbonated milk exists in real life (although it tastes bad and isn't widely available), so they might be drinking that.
* GratuitousLaboratoryFlasks: Seen both in Dr. Viper's MadScientistLaboratory in the swamp, and in Megakat Biochemical Labs. Professor Hackle also has chemistry equipment for some reason, despite never actually needing it since he is a robotics expert and not a chemist or biologist.

* GuyInBack: Razor acts as one in the [=TurboKat=], with T-bone as the pilot.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: The SWAT Kats/Chance and Jake.

* HighSpeedMissileDodge: Multiple examples. Subverted in "A Bright And Shiny Future", in which [[spoiler:the SWAT Kats of the future are killed by FiveRoundsRapid.]]

* HonorBeforeReason: Feral's response to the Metallikats' offer to give away the identities of the SWAT Kats in exchange for their freedom: "I don't deal with ''scum''."
** That earned Feral the respect of many fans.
* HumanlikeFootAnatomy

* HumongousMecha: The bridge robot from "A Bright And Shiny Future", and the two robots piloted by the Metallikats in "Metal Urgency". Zed also turns into this after he [[spoiler:goes Evil.]]

* AbortedArc: The first episode implied a bit of a LoveTriangle with Chance crushing on Callie who was implied to have a thing for Jake who didn't seem to notice. This was never brought up again, as the SWAT Kats acted professionally with Callie both in and out of uniform.
** This [[invoked]] [[WhatCouldHaveBeen would've]] been brought up again in "Succubus!"; the script has Callie taking Jake to the opera, while T-Bone and Felina (who were developing a relationship, as seen in "Razor's Edge") try to stop the titular monster together. However, the episode was never finished due to the series being canceled.
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: How Dr. Viper gets around town.
* AcePilot: T-Bone, with Razor as his GuyInBack.

* AIIsACrapshoot: Averted with Cybertron, played straight with [[spoiler:Zed.]]
* AirborneAircraftCarrier: Featured twice, in differing forms: in "Cry Turmoil" and "When Strikes Mutilor".
* AirVentPassageway: In "Destructive Nature".
* AlasPoorVillain: You can't help but feel sorry for Morbulus in "The Giant Bacteria", as he was not only mutated into a giant, subdividing BlobMonster by Dr. Viper, but also destroyed rather than cured.
* AlienInvasion: "The Ci-Kat-A", "When Strikes Mutilor".
* AlienSky: In most episodes, the sky during the daytime is green. It's also been yellow several times, red at least twice, and is more purple than black at night. One of the only times it was ever actually blue was in "Chaos in Crystal", because Monster!Shard was green and would've likely blended into the usual green sky too much.

* AllUpToYou: Done awesomely with Cybertron in "The Deadly Pyramid". SWAT Kats and The Enforcers are elsewhere, and he is forced to defend Callie from two giant mummies all by himself.

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

* AnimalSuperheroes: Of course.
* AnimationBump: Season 2. Not only was the animation of much better quality, the style more closely matched the tone and feel of the series. This isn't to say that the animation in the first season is bad (quite to the contrary), it just went from good to ''great''.
** Somewhat similarly, four of the episodes in the first season[[labelnote:list]]"The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice", "Night of the Dark Kat", "Metal Urgency" and "Katastrophe"[[/labelnote]] clearly had a lot more money spent on them than the others, with more detail and smoother animation. The same company (Creator/MookDLE) went on to animate the entire second season.

* ArtifactOfDoom: The Pastmaster's TimeTravel watch and Tome of Time spellbook ("The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice"), and the Jeweled Headdress of Katchu Piccu in "The Deadly Pyramid".

* AwesomeButImpractical: Most of the customized weapons in Razor's arsenal.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:The Metallikats (twice!) and Dr. Viper. Despite being a ghost, the Red Lynx probably qualifies as well.]]

* {{Badbutt}}: Razor and T-Bone are borderline cases, but also sprinkled liberally throughout the show itself.
* BadFuture: The [[IronicEpisodeTitle oh-so-ironically-named]] "A Bright And Shiny Future".

** Parodied in [[http://jackasaurusrex.deviantart.com/art/Bare-feet-196383582 this]] piece of fan art.

* BerserkButton: Jake and Chance are this to each other if someone tries to hurt one of them. And if you so much as scratch a single hair on Callie's head, they'll ''both'' be on your ass. Also, shooting down Felina's plane with the hi-tech laser in your alien mothership? Baaaaaad idea. Feral's gonna bring his entire frickin' ''squadron'' around for a house call.
** For all their bickering and insult-trading, [[HappilyMarried Mac and Molly]] (the Metallikats) really do care for each other. You hurt one of them, the other will be out for blood.

* BigDamnHeroes: Guess who? Feral and Felina also get this honor sometimes.
* BigGuyLittleGuy: Chance and Jake, somewhat, while Burke and Murray play this trope straight.
* BigNo: Callie in "Night of the Dark Kat", while putting Megakat City's money to good use by using a bag of cash to bring down Dark Kat.

* BlatantLies: "The ENFORCERS can handle this!"

* BodyHorror: What happens to Morbulus in "The Giant Bacteria", as well as the fate of anyone bitten by the alien bugs in "The Ci-Kat-A".

* CapeBusters: The Enforcers on occasion.

* TheCavalryArrivesLate: Seems to be part of the Enforcers' M.O.

* ChaseScene: At least once an episode.
* ChekhovsGun: The chili pepper in "The Wrath of Dark Kat".

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Whenever the different villains team-up, this is almost always the case.
* CityOfAdventure: Megakat City.

** Vaguely understandable, seeing as how Feral probably had very little interaction with Chance and Jake ever, except the few minutes discharging them from the service.
* ClearMyName: "Night of the Dark Kat". Also [[spoiler:"Razor's Edge"]], even though it's actually T-Bone and Felina who go looking for answers.
* ClipShow: "SWAT Kats--A Special Report".

* TheCommissionerGordon: Callie Briggs.

The RoguesGallery includes, but is not limited to: the criminal mastermind [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Dark Kat]], the undead sorcerer [[TimeTravel Pastmaster]], mutated sociopathic Kat-turned-snake [[MadScientist Doctor Viper]], and [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot married robotic gangsters]] Mac and Molly Mange (better known as the Metallikats).

* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: Happens about six times every five seconds. There's the Megasaurus Rex, The Giant Bacteria, The Giant Mummy, The Cyclops in "Bride Of The Pastmaster", Rex Shard the Crystal Giant, The Madkat, The Mutation City Monsters (and a giant Dr. Viper himself), The Giant frikkin' ''alien mothership'', Dark Kat's Giant Black Widow, Turmoil's Giant Airship, The Giant Mutated Scorpions, Volcanus, and that's not even mentioning all the giant robots. Whew.

** In fact, the [=TurboKat=] only rarely ever uses normal missiles; there's even a button on Razor's control panel marked "[[LampshadeHanging Plain Old Missile]]".

* ConvectionShmonvection: Flying around inside a volcano...right above the lava... piece of cake!

* DubNameChange: The Hindi dub of the show, for UsefulNotes/{{India}}n audiences, had some hilarious name changes. Chance and Jake became Bholu and Billu (child-like, innocent nicknames), while T-Bone and Razor became Bade Meow (Big Meow) and Chote Meow (Small Meow) respectively, a play on a ''Film/BadBoys1995''-inspired UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} film called ''Bade Miyan Chote Mian''. The Pastmaster was called something that meant King of Demons.

* UnexpectedCharacter: ''Nobody'' expected them to show up on WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa's checklist of other Cartoon Network series at the end of his crossover with WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse, especially considering they were right in the middle, between [[WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee Juniper Lee]] and [[WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack Flapjack]], when logically, they should've been at the top (as they predated everything else on the list).

* BotanicalAbomination: The RecurringVillain Doctor Viper began as an assistant botantist before turning evil. Viper routinely creates giant plant-monsters in his quest to overrun Megakat City, plus a corps of smaller plant-mooks to deal with intruders. One such abomination is a BlobMonster that incubates spores, which when loosed, would cause the city to be ReclaimedByNature, tangled in vines and ivy and moss galore. Another abomination guarded the entrance to the office tower that Viper had commandeered; this plant-creature kept a corps of soldiers at bay.

* DubNameChange: The Hindi dub of the show, for UsefulNotes/{{India}}n audiences, had some hilarious name changes. Chance and Jake became Bholu and Billu (child-like, innocent nicknames), while T-Bone and Razor became Bade Meow (Big Meow) and Chote Meow (Small Meow) respectively, a play on a ''Film/BadBoys''-inspired UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} film called ''Bade Miyan Chote Mian''. The Pastmaster was called something that meant King of Demons.

* HeroicSacrifice: The ''show itself'' essentially did this in real life- it, along with all of H-B's other ongoing series at the time, ended so they could focus on ''WesternAnimation/WhatACartoon''- which helped to bring so many beloved cartoons to our screens. So in essence, ''SK'' died to give the other projects a fighting chance.

On July 23, 2015, the Tremblays began a Website/{{Kickstarter}} [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1820796125/swat-kats-revolution campaign]] to help fund a SequelSeries called ''SWAT Kats: Revolution''. Their initial goal was $50,000. When the campaign ended a month later, they'd collected $141,500 in pledges from 2,014 backers, which meant that we should've seen at least a two-minute teaser (among other materials) for the new show. In 2022, after nearly five years of DevelopmentHell, the series reboot has been picked up by India-based Toonz Media Group. Ironically, India is [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff one of the countries with the biggest fanbase for the show]].

The cartoon was created by Christian and Yvon Tremblay, two brothers from UsefulNotes/{{Montreal}}. It ran on Creator/{{TBS}} and in syndication from 1993 to 1995, alongside ''WesternAnimation/TwoStupidDogs'', and it also occasionally airs on Creator/CartoonNetwork's sister network Creator/{{Boomerang}}. There were a total of 23 original episodes over two seasons, with one special ClipShow episode capping the series off. The story takes place in "[[CityOfAdventure Megakat City]]", which is inhabited by [[TalkingAnimal Anthromorphic Kats]], and chronicles the adventures of two BadassNormal {{Superhero}} [[HeterosexualLifePartners best friends]] who fight [[SuperVillain super-crime]] under [[SecretIdentity secret identities]].

The cartoon was created by Christian and Yvon Tremblay, two brothers from UsefulNotes/{{Montreal}}. It ran on Creator/{{TBS}} and in syndication from 1993 to 1995, alongside ''WesternAnimation/TwoStupidDogs'', and it also occasionally airs on Creator/CartoonNetwork's sister network Creator/{{Boomerang}}. There were a total of 25 original episodes over two seasons, with one special ClipShow episode capping the series off. The story takes place in "[[CityOfAdventure Megakat City]]", which is inhabited by [[TalkingAnimal Anthromorphic Kats]], and chronicles the adventures of two BadassNormal {{Superhero}} [[HeterosexualLifePartners best friends]] who fight [[SuperVillain super-crime]] under [[SecretIdentity secret identities]].

The cartoon was created by Christian and Yvon Tremblay, two brothers from UsefulNotes/{{Montreal}}. It ran on Creator/{{TBS}} and in syndication from 1993 to 1995, alongside ''WesternAnimation/TwoStupidDogs'', and it also occasionally airs on Creator/CartoonNetwork's sister network Creator/{{Boomerang}}. There were a total of 23 original episodes over two seasons, with one special ClipShow episode capping the series off. The story takes place in "[[CityOfAdventure Megakat City]]", which is inhabited by [[TalkingAnimal Anthromorphic Kats]], and chronicles the adventures of two BadassNormal {{Superhero}} [[HeterosexualLifePartners best friends]] who fight [[SuperVillain super-crime]] under [[SecretIdentity secret identities]].

** Mustaches: Warden Meece in "Chaos Crystal," the MASA reactor guard who is first to get turned in "The Ci-Kat-A," the Megakat Super Conductors guard in "Razor's Edge," the jumbo jet pilot in "Cry Turmoil," the islander in "Volcanus Erupts!" and Emil in "The Origin of Dr. Viper."

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Dinosaurs are ''all'' over the place, mostly because of the Pastmaster. Even some of the robotic designs are dino-inspired.

** This [[invoked]] [[WhatCouldHaveBeen would've]] been brought up again in "Succubus!"; the script has Callie taking Jake to the opera, while T-Bone and Felina (who were developing a relationship, as seen in "Razor's Edge") try to stop the tituar monster together. However, the episode was never finished due to the series being canceled.

* ActionGirl: Felina Feral, who was introduced in the second season to fill this role. Callie has her momen ts (especially int he first season), but she's more of an ActionSurvivor.

** This actually became a plot point in "Razor's Edge", 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 warehouse clearly blew up.

** This [[WhatCouldHaveBeen would've]] been brought up again in "Succubus!"; the script has Callie taking Jake to the opera, while T-Bone and Felina (who were developing a relationship, as seen in "Razor's Edge") try to stop the tituar monster together. However, the episode was never finished due to the series being canceled.

* ActionGirl: Felina Feral.

* AbortedArc: The first episode implied a bit of a LoveTriangle with Chance crushing on Callie who was implied to have a thing for Jake who didn't seem to notice. This was never brought up again, as the Swat Kats acted professionally with Callie both in and out of uniform.
** It [[WhatCouldHaveBeen would've]] been brought up again in "Succubus!" but the episode was never finished due to the series being canceled.

* DarkerAndEdgier: "The Giant Bacteria" has the highest number of on-screen deaths in a single episode (see BusFullOfInnocents above). This also marks the beginning of T-Bone & Razor's [[spoiler:"Kill if everything else fails"]] policy. Quite a punch, consider this was the show's first completed episode (it was second in broadcast order). Then there's Season 2 compared to Season 1.

** In the unfinished episode "Succubus!", HornyDevil Katrina Moorkroft explicitly wants Commander Feral, although, admittedly only to drain his life force.