Arc Words in Western Animation.
- DuckTales (2017):
- "The Spear of Selene" for Season 1. When Dewey and Webby find a note from Della Duck apologizing to Scrooge for taking the Spear of Selene, they spend the season trying to find out not only what it is but why she took it in the first place.
- "Family is the greatest adventure of all", representing the bond between the main cast.
- Four Eyes!: "I hate this planet(!)", as uttered a few times by Emma, the alien protagonist who has been forced to repeat the fifth grade on Earth instead of her home planet.
- Gargoyles: "What have I...what have they done to you?!" This question is asked only twice, but illustrates the circular nature of revenge and the danger of an Ignored Epiphany.
- Gravity Falls:
- "Search for the Blind Eye" served as one in the shorts that aired after the first season, foreshadowing the existence of a secret society the characters would encounter in Season 2.
- "YROO XRKSVI GIRZMTOV" (which translates to "Bill Cipher Triangle," which itself is an Arc Symbol) was one for the second season, uttered twice by McGucket and tying in with the series' enigmatic villain Bill Cipher.
- Kid Cosmic:
- "Heroes help, not hurt." This phrase is first used to scold Rosa for being too violent against Chuck. This phrase is used by Kid against the Biker in Black to tell him that he's little more than a bully, and then towards himself to denounce his earlier misunderstanding of what real heroism is.
- "Freakin' out? Breathe it out." This phrase is used several times to teach the other characters to take a moment, calm down and think about the situation instead of recklessly charging in headfirst. This phrase is how Jo and Kid activate their powers.
- Season 2 has Grandma Mo's recipe, highlighting the important of empathy and kindness towards others. It is frequently used to contrast with Queen Xhan's harsh leadership advice.
A cup of compassion.
A teaspoon of tenderness.
An ounce of understanding.
Mix with care and kindness.
- Metalocalypse: Variations of "Go into the water" and references to water in general. The phrase first appears as simply the title of one of Dethklok's songs, but as the seasons proceed it becomes more and more apparent that the band's rapidly emerging musical superpowers are related to the ocean in some way. This culminates in the fourth season where it's revealed that in order to save the world from Mr. Salacia they will have to write a song in the deepest point in the ocean. The phrase even appears in Galaktikon II, a music album created in part to be a pseudo-finale to the series after it got Screwed by the Network.
- Milo Murphy's Law: Pistachios, of all things, appear in some form or another across every episode of the first season. Gradually, it's revealed that Those Two Guys in the weird outfits, Cavendish and Dakota, are Time Police who've been sent to prevent them from going extinct, but since Milo is always in the vicinity, they aren't having much luck. And then it's revealed that a race of Plant People descended from a mutant pistachio plant have been slowly implementing a Take Over the World scheme, tying it neatly into the Arc Villain of Season 1.
- Molly of Denali: In "Wise Raven and Old Crow," Molly keeps seeing apparitions of Grandma Catherine, who tells her each time "I have something for you."
- The Owl House:
- Variations on the phrase "us weirdos have to stick together" comes up multiple times in reference to Luz, Eda, and King's familial relationship, especially when they're at threat of being separated.
- In a single episode example, "Eclipse Lake" has the recurring phrase "awesome girlfriend", which serves to highlight Amity's insecurity regarding her recent Relationship Upgrade with Luz.
- Puppy in My Pocket: Adventures in Pocketville:
- According to William, the Friendship Heart can grant any wish as long as it's shared by true friends. In the case of Kate, it's returning to her home in the Big City with her father. Throughout the episodes as Kate and Magic go to and from Pocketville helping children across her city receive their ideal pets, Kate says, "My puppy and I together forever. That's all that I want", and Magic replies, "Katie and I together forever. That's all that I want."
- "Magic" is a very common word brought up (as the Pocket Kingdom itself is a Magical Land), and Magic was named this because Kate explained that so many magical things happened since she got teleported to Pocketville. The fountain of the castle itself is called the Magic Fountain, being no ordinary fountain at all because of its use in the Friendship Ceremony, and the crystallized drops which come from it are Magic Drops.
- One of the lines of the second chorus in the show’s theme song says "Making friends forever is magical," which is related to how the show keeps the theme of connecting friendship to magic.
- "Friendship" comes up a lot as well, especially with important items and events such as the Friendship Heart and Friendship Ceremony. This is related to how the Friendship Heart helps find pets to be sent as companions to children, as with how it brought Magic and Kate together.
- Ready Jet Go!: Whenever Mitchell fails to expose Jet's alien identity, and his parents tell him that he has a "great imagination", Mitchell always tells them that he has no imagination. He even says this to his mom in "Mindy's Moon Bounce House", his first appearance. However, in "Moon Face", he finally sees a face on the moon and realizes that he does have an imagination after all. "Moon Face" is also Mitchell's final appearance in a regular episode. In his final appearance overall, the One Small Step special, he says that Jet has "quite an imagination".
- Aku's entire opening narration in every episode of Samurai Jack, starting with the words "Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shapeshifting master of darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil...." In the finale, it's revealed to be Aku's In-Universe address to the citizens of his world, taunting them as he prepares to execute Jack on live broadcast.
- Scooby-Doo:
- In the Jerry Reed episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, the word "FEBAG" is seen written on walls in a haunted house several times, causing Shaggy and Scooby to freak out when they see or hear it. At the end, Jerry plays the notes F-E-B-A-G on a xylophone and reveals a cache of stolen money.
- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power:
- During the finale of Season 3, "Everything is perfect". In the alternate reality, people who don't have their memories keep mentioning that everything is perfect to the people who are getting their memories back.
- "Imperfections are beautiful." Entrapta says this to Hordak during Season 3, when she tells him to not be obsessed with perfection. She repeats the phrase, enphatizing that HIS imperfections are beautiful after they briefly meet again during Season 5, while Swift Wind drags her away.
- Season 4 has "I can fix this." and "Destiny", for Adora. She states the former multiple times as the situation on Etheria continues to deteriorate and the Horde gains more ground, while her friendship with Glimmer keeps getting more and more strained, with her declaration becoming more and more desperate each time. Glimmer eventually angrily calls her out on this. The latter is from Light Hope's insistence that activating and activating the Heart of Etheria is Adora's, even though it will destroy a huge swathe of the wider universe in service of a war that, as far as we know, ended a thousand years ago.
- Season 4 has "I'm coming back for you." Glimmer utters those words while staring at Hordak in the distance, after he led the siege against Salineas. Entrapta also says this line to her mini-mecha on Beast Island.
- The words "Stay" and "Promise" often come up during moments that land-mark Catra and Adora's relationship.
- Star vs. the Forces of Evil:
- "On the fritz" is used whenever magic stuff stops working properly, something that happens more and more often as the show continues. Eventually it's revealed that "the fritz" is an actual phenomenon that's causing magic to slowly vanish from the universe, and it's steadily getting worse and worse.
- "Cleave." In the Season 1 finale, Moon says that the wand has been "cleaved," and Glossaryk notes that that's an interesting word, since it can mean "separate" or "combine." The series finale, titled "Cleave," has the characters destroy all magic, "cleaving" the multiverse apart, but somehow also "cleaving" Earth and Mewni into one world.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: "Good soldiers follow orders." Being a show that focuses a sizeable amount of time on the Faceless Mooks clone soldiers, their individual beliefs on what makes them good soldiers is a constant question. However, as of Season 6, these words are used to foreshadow the inevitability of Order 66.
- Star Wars Rebels:
- "I'll be right behind you." Something big happens whenever this quote is spoken ( usually bad and usually to the person who said it.)
- "All paths are coming together," in the final season, which is both a symbolic nod to the series nearing its end and an oblique reference to the World Between Worlds.
- "Strong/Stronger". Ultimately, every single one of the Crystal Gems—even Garnet—harbors doubts and fears about their own strength, and a recurring theme of the show is that being "strong in the real way" isn't about the physical body at all, but emotional strength.
- "Miserable Planet" has been used in reference to the Earth on a few separate occasions by characters aligned with Homeworld. Peridot uses the term when complaining about being stranded in her audio logs in "Keeping It Together". Lapis Lazuli uses the term (through Malachite) as she drags Jasper and herself into the ocean in "Jail Break". Yellow Diamond uses the term in Message Received when expressing her satisfaction that the planet will finally be of use to her.
- "I'm Not My Mom/I Am My Mom", about the major character arc of the show's titular protagonist: him having to learn that he's Steven, not Rose/Pink as almost every Gem in the series says.
- In Young Justice (2010): Invasion, Bart peppers his dialogue with Future Slang, particularly "crash" (good) and "the mode" (the state of being bad). This takes on greater significance when you know that these terms are modified from the Reach, who rule the Earth in the Bad Future that Bart is trying to prevent.
