History WesternAnimation / WildKratts

* InMediaRes: The episode "Little Howler" begins with the Kratts returning to the Tortuga after an adventure, then covers the adventure itself to figure out how they picked up a wolf pup found in Martin's pack. The second half of the episode deals with taking the cub back.

* BerserkButton: Chris has one whenever animals are directly threatened (to be technicaly they both do, but it could be argued Chris gets angrier than Martin does). Martin's is pressed in "Flight of the Draco". See PunctuatedForEmphasis Also in the same episode, don't tell Aviva she throws like a gi-

* ExecutiveMeddling: PBS generally showing them out of order, [[MindScrew which makes no sense]]. Potentially, Zach's transformation from Jerkass to MommasBoy. (See "What Could Have Been" below.)

* {{Anthropomorphism}}: Namely BioAugmentation.

* Fartillery: Members of the weasel family have this in real life, but the honey badger has been the only one to openly use this on the show so far. Averted with the warthogs- they just have warthog breath as opposed to [[LionKing Pumbaa]], whose warthog breath came from the other end.

* GeniusBonus / ShoutOut: Chris' "Have flippers, will travel" from "Polar Bears Don't Dance" is a paraphrasing of the sci-fi book "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel".

* GoddamnedBats: "Bat in the Brownies" tried to teach us that they aren't so bad.

--> Martin: Darn camouflage…

-->Zach: I'll get you, you Wild Ratts!
-->Bros: That's Wild Kratts!

-->Martin: Don't dry on me, Pinky! DON'T DRYYYYYYYYY! "Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy"
He then does it again in the following live segment.
--> Martin: I'm dryyyyyyyiiiiiiing! *pretends to die*

* Top Heavy Guy: Dabio and Gourmand.
* TruthInTelevision: Donita's fashion line is a subversion of this, but Gourmand in Stuck on Sharks
played this trope painfully (and [[Squick squickily]]) straight- Shark Fin Soup is a real (and real expensive) thing.

* ContinuityNod: The episode "Little Howler" has a flashback involving the episode where Martin used the Creature Power Suit to become a gazelle. Also in "Let the Rhinos Roll"- the reason Chris Bot was wearing red is because when in certain countries during Kratts' Creatures, Chris would wear a red shirt.

* BerserkButton: Chris has one whenever animals are directly threatened (to be technicaly they both do, but it could be argued Chris gets angrier than Martin does). Martin's is pressed in "Flight of the Draco". See "This! Is! SPARTA!" Also in the same episode, don't tell Aviva she throws like a gi-

* BigRedButton: The ink defense button in "Octopus Wildkratticus", and pretty much every button on all of Zach's controls. Donita's button are more like big pink buttons. To note, the Octopod also had a big green button.

* [[ChekhovsSkill Chekhov's Skill]]: Any mentioned creature power inevitably gets used to save the day.

* ContinuityNod: The episode "Little Howler" has a flashback involving the episode where Martin used the Creature Power Suit to become a Gazelle. Also in "Let the Rhinos Roll"- the reason Chris Bot was wearing red is because when in certain countries during Kratts' Creatures, Chris would wear a red shirt.

** There's some ''on''-screen bad driving by Martin in the beginning of "Aardvark Town." It could be argued that Chris can't drive either, judging by his handling ([[DrivesLikeCrazy or lack thereof]]) of the sub at the beginning of "Whale of a Squid", as well as the Butterflier XT.

* EvilTastesGood: "Poached, roasted or barbecued… rare, endanged animals make the best food!" Gourmand singing to himself in "Platypus Café"

** {{The Hero}}/TheLancer: Martin and Chris take turns being these to each other.

** TheChick: Koki

* HeyItsThatVoice!: Athena Karkanis (Aviva) was Agent Lindsay Perez in the Saw movies, not to mention the Kratts themselves.

* InvoluntaryTransformation: There are a few of these when the creature power suits malfunction.

* KangaroosRepresentAustralia, [[EverythingsWorseWithBears bears]], [[EverythingsBetterWithPlatypi platypus]], [[EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks sharks]], [[EverythingsNuttierWithSquirrels squirrels]], butterflies, [[EverythingsSquishierWithCephalopods squid]], otters, [[EverythingsWorseWithBees killer bees]], [[PantheraAwesome large cats]]... ah hell, just go over to EverythingsBetterWithIndexes and scroll down to the animals list.
* KarmaHoudini: None of the villains get hurt (except for Zach, [[ButtMonkey but he does it to himself]]), none of the villains go to jail, and in fact, most of the time, they don't even get a tongue-lashing or an {{Aesop}}. Most of the time, they're sent on their merry way, either flying away, floating away, driving away…

* PaperThinDisguise: The Creature Suits were used as this at least once, in "Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus".

* PeoplePuppet: Donita uses a "Pose Beam" to physically manipulate Martin to act as her unwilling runway model in "Flight of the Draco". Needless to say the posing--and the ridiculous clothes--were great for a laugh from his brother.

* RetCon: Played straight and justified. Played straight in one episode where they showed scenes from "Honey Seekers" that supposedly happened in canon that the audience didn't see. Justified for the rest of the series because the episodes were initially aired out-of-order (for instance, we saw Donita dating Zach in one episode, then in a later episode, she had him confirm his identity).
* RichBastard / SpoiledBrat: Zach. Big time.

* RuleSixtyThree: Amusingly enough, an in-series example! Chris falls victim to this through FridgeLogic in "Kickin' It With the Roos", as only female kangaroos have pouches (and he had one). One Youtube user also pointed out that Martin is the "blue" brother, and female roos are also blue (but he didn't have a pouch, so YMMV on that one).
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Everyone that gets the SCETV stations 29.1 and 49.1 were [[ScrewedByTheNetwork screwed]] out of seeing the first airing of Ker-Honk after the Riverbanks Zoo obtained the 5:00PM time slot to show an episode of Riverbanks Round-Up. What's even more ironic is that the zoo, when the show first started, had rented that slot every last Friday of the month, then dropped it for a while. This was the first time in at least 4 months that Riverbanks Round-Up had been shown. The episode "Ker-Honk" was not shown until 2:00PM the following Sunday. (What makes this [[UnfortunateImplications even more ironic]] is that Riverbanks Round-Up is shown [[PunctuatedForEmphasis EVERY. DANG. SUNDAY]], at 3:00PM on the point-1 channels, whereas Sunday cartoon reruns are shown on the point-2 channels.)

* ShoutOut: [[IndianaJones The Arctic Pearl belongs in the museum!]]
** [[FreeWilly Martin jumps over Chris]] in "Bass Class".

* SpotTheImpostor: A Zachbot disguises itself as Chris in order to convince Martin that everything's okay, as opposed to, say, locked in a cell and glaring at his impostor from off-screen. Martin gets it in the end though.

* ItGotWorse: "Whale of a Squid" is the ''[[{{Understatement}} embodiment]]'' of this. While Chris the sperm whale is fighting a losing battle against a colossal squid, and Martin the giant squid is trying to save the Animal of the Day's mother:

* PlotHole: The out-of-air ordering has caused these. This page is full of examples.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Everyone that gets the SCETV stations 29.1 and 49.1 were [[ScrewedByTheNetwork screwed]] out of seeing the first airing of Ker-Honk after the Riverbanks Zoo obtained the 5:00PM time slot to show an episode of Riverbanks Round-Up. What's even more ironic is that the zoo, when the show first started, had rented that slot every last Friday of the month, then dropped it for a while. This was the first time in at least 4 months that Riverbanks Round-Up had been shown. The episode "Ker-Honk" was not shown until 2:00PM the following Sunday. (What makes this [[UnfortunateImplications even more ironic]] is that Riverbanks Round-Up is shown [[ThisIsSparta EVERY. DANG. SUNDAY]], at 3:00PM on the point-1 channels, whereas Sunday cartoon reruns are shown on the point-2 channels.) Another airing of Ker-Honk is scheduled for January 30th, 2012.[[hottip:*: Please leave this bit of information up until after the episode is aired for any viewers who may have missed it.]] All others stations seem to be airing it on the 31st instead.

* [[ThisIsSparta This! Is! SPARTA!]]: "You've GOT! To LET! Them GO!"- Martin, "Flight of the Draco" (upon finding out Donita's plans for the draco lizards)

---> '''Zach''': I must be dreaming! Somebody pinch me! *A Zachbot pinches him* OW! I didn't mean literally!- "Polar Bears Don't Dance"

* ArtShift: the animation and character designs are slightly different in the episode ''Polar Bears Don't Dance''.

* BerserkButton: Martin's is pressed in "Flight of the Draco". See "This! Is! SPARTA!" Also, don't tell Aviva she throws like a gi-
--> '''Aviva''': "Don't you say it!" ("Flight of the Draco")

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Aviva. Chris to Martin in "Raptor Roundup"- Martin was standing on top of the Tortuga, slipped and fell and slid down the clothesline, knocking off the sleeping bags Chris had just hung up, and covering his brother in feathers. Chris growls, Martin gives an "OhCrap" and starts running with Chris on his heels. [[FridgeLogic What would Chris have done if he'd caught Martin?]] Martin to Donita in "Flight of the Draco" when his BerserkButton was pressed.

* BiologicalMashup: Happens to a poor octopus in ''Octopus Wildkratticus''. He had walrus tusks, shark teeth and an ''anglerfish angler'' for crying out loud!

* CatchPhrase: "To the creature rescue!" and "Free and in the wild!" spring to mind.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Martin wears blue, Chris wears green. Becomes one of the more obvious hints that something's up in ''Let the Rhinos Roll''. Also happens to be how Zach identifies them, as "Blue Boy" and "Green Guy".
* ContinuityNod: The episode ''Little Howler'' has a flashback involving the episode where Martin used the Creature Power Suit to become a Gazelle. Also in "Let the Rhinos Roll"- the reason Chris Bot was wearing red is because when in certain countries during Kratt's Creatures, Chris would wear a red shirt.

** Subverted however in ''Koala Balloon'' when Martin is rummaging for eucalyptus leaves to feed to Koala Balloon, but only finds various other kinds of leaves.

* DoingItForTheArt: In-universe example with Chef Gourmand. Besides the fact that food made from rare animals make for especially expensive - and therefore profitable - dishes, this is the reason he specializes in cooking with endangered animals. He even firmly insists that he never, ''ever'' makes the same dish twice. "Rare talent deserves rare ingredients!"- Platypus Cafe

* DrivesLikeCrazy: Martin does a bit of this off-screen in ''Let the Rhinos Roll'', in which he apparently drives their jeep ''flying over a ravine''. Chris good-naturedly chews him out over it while he fixes the poor thing.

* KangaroosRepresentAustralia, [[EverythingsWorseWithBears bears]], [[EverythingsBetterWithPlatypi platypus]], [[EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks sharks]], [[EverythingsNuttierWithSquirrels squirrels]], butterflies, [[EverythingsSquishierWithCephalopods squid]], otters, [[EverythingsWorseWithBees killer bees]], [[PantheraAwesome large cats]]... ah hell, just go over to EverythingsBetterWithIndexes and scroll down to the animals list.

* InevitableWaterfall: Played straight in "Build It Beaver" (where they sought it out), and subverted in "Platypus Café" (when Martin was blindfolded, there was one, but it was a little one).

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Thankfully averted, but it could use a few more main characters. (There are only 9 truly main characters, and the rest/majority are the Wild Kratts Kids.)
* MagicAIsMagicA: Subverted with the Creature Power Suits. Most of the time, they need a disc, DNA, and a button press. On occasion, they've been activated without a disc ("Tazzy Chris", where the activation button was bitten), from the other brother's suit ("Mom of a Croc", where Martin activated his firefly suit off Chris' already activated firefly suit), with the wrong disc ("Mom of a Croc", where they activated their Gharial crocodile discs off an Austrailian alligator; it just didn't last as long), and even vocally ("Octopus Wildkratticus").
* MamaBear: Implied in ''An Elephant in the Room'', when the brothers mention their mom calling both of them that morning, and how she's regularly checking up on them. And of course there's all the literal examples.
* ManChild: Subverted with Martin- he can get serious when he needs to be, but other than that, he acts more like the target audience than the PeripheryDemographic. (This troper observed that during the introductory live-action segment of "Tazzy Chris", Chris seemed minorly annoyed by Martin's pretending to be attacked by the Sugar Glider. He smiled, but it looked forced.) Dabio, to a degree.

* NeverSayDie: Averted ''hard'' in ''Voyage of the Butterflier XT'', which follows the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. Having a named animal die in the arms of one of the main characters? Not something you see every day in a kid's show.

* NoCartoonFish: Heavily averted- this IS a nature show. Most notably "Bass Class" & "Stuck on Sharks".

* PeoplePuppet: Donita uses a "Pose Beam" to physically manipulate Martin to act as her unwilling runway model in ''Flight of the Draco''. Needless to say the posing--and the ridiculous clothes--were great for a laugh from his brother.

** Later in "Stuck on Sharks". 3 words: [[Squick Shark Fin Soup]].

* RubeGoldbergDevice: In ''Platypus Cafe'', a miniaturized Chris comes up with one utilizing all the messiness of Gourmand's kitchen involving, among other things, ''[[CrazyAwesome shuriken waffles]]''.

* EarWorm: The theme song's catchiness borders on [[TheNineties NINETIES]] territory!

* {{Leitmotif}}

* EverythingsCoolerWithLava

* EverythingsBetterWithKangaroos, [[EverythingsWorseWithBears bears]], [[EverythingsBetterWithPlatypi platypus]], [[EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks sharks]], [[EverythingsNuttierWithSquirrels squirrels]], butterflies, [[EverythingsSquishierWithCephalopods squid]], otters, [[EverythingsWorseWithBees killer bees]], [[PantheraAwesome large cats]]... ah hell, just go over to EverythingsBetterWithIndexes and scroll down to the animals list.

''Wild Kratts'' is an educational TV show produced for PBS Kids which first aired in January 2011. It's an animated cartoon starring Martin and Chris Kratt, of ''[[KrattsCreatures Kratt's Creatures]]'', ''{{Zoboomafoo}}'', and ''[[BeTheCreature Be the Creature]]'' fame. They travel around the world in a turtle-shaped, go-wherever transport they call Tortuga HQ along with three techies: Aviva, the head techie who built the creature power suits, Koki, who does a lot of data monitoring and communications work, and Jimmy Z, whose jobs seem to be teleport master, pilot, and eater of pizza. With the creature power suits, Martin and Chris can become any animal in the world, in a rather {{mecha}}-like way. Like its predecessors, the show's focus is on animal education and conservation, but because of the animated environment it's not limited by what the brothers happen to catch on tape. This means that they can show rare, ridiculously cool things like [[UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny a bull sperm whale and a colossal squid battling it out]].

->'''Martin:''' *points*

* Ear Worm: The theme song's catchiness borders on [[TheNineties NINETIES]] territory!

* FoeYay: There has been fan speculation of Zach and Aviva having been in a relationship at one point, and let's just say that she remembers things about him that no one else would remember about someone they purport to dislike. Also, in "Aardvark Town", she knew the code to disable the skullcaps without being told- either Zach is that much of a moron/creature of habit that he'd use the same code knowing his opponents knew it as well and could disable his systems before he knew anything, or else she knows him a lot better than she's putting on.

* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Chris once descended into severe {{technobabble}} ("Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy", as they were setting up the miniturizer) and has spouted words like "monotremes" ("Platypus Café"). [[YourMilageMayVary Pity he hasn't done it since.]]

** ---> "I'll get you, you Wild Ratts!" Zach, every time.

* CruellaToAnimals: Surprisingly averted for the most part. Most of the villains' mistreatment of animals is out of apathy and indifference to the creatures' well-being than outright sadism. But Gourmand ''did'' once say that the thought of cooking endangered animals always picks up his mood. As for Zak, it's only when the Kratts try reasoning with him that Zak [[KickTheDog goes out of his way to harm animals]] [[ForTheEvulz just to spite them]].

* {{Foil}}: Zak and Donita. Zak is dark, brooding, pale, excessively cruel to animals (particularly the babies) and literally does not give two cents about learning anything about them and is surrounded by his robot servants/slaves. Donita, on the other hand, is tan, very successful with her fashion line, a bit genre savvy, actually shows interest in knowing about the animals that will be part of her fashion line, has only one henchman (Davio), and despite wanting to use live animals for a fashion show [[EvenEvilHasStandards she has an utter dislike of stealing as seen with the Arctic Pearl incident.]]

* FreudianExcuse: Why is Zak so angry at these brothers? Well apparently they foiled his childhood plans of a security robot--powered by a frog--when they were kids!

* KickTheDog: Zak has taken baby animals captive a few times in order to get what he wants.

* WrenchWench: Aviva, the inventor the creature power suits, as well as several other gadgets.

* EldritchAbomination: Seven in "Octopus Wildkratticus". Even though the Creature Power Suits are ultimately the reason, [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel still…]]

** One episode about predators in prey in Africa stated that the lion was the "top of the food web" and that it didn't have any natural predators. Apparently, the writers of the show forgot/didn't realize that Nile Crocodiles have been known to occasionally eat lions.

** Including but not limited to Chris getting captured by Gourmand while miniaturized in "Platypus Cafe" and [[AccidentalNightmareFuel almost ending up as a side dish]].