By never taking the credit and keeping a low profile, Penny and Brain are actually model special agents. The Robot Chicken parody shows how much danger they'd really be in if anyone figured it out. Indeed, if Dr. Claw ever found out they were the real foils to his plans, he'd likely focus more on getting rid of them rather than Gadget.
Sounds more like Fridge Horror that if Dr. Claw ever found out about Penny he would have his worldwide criminal organization put a hit on her, why did you think "Nervous" Nick Defecto was extremely paranoid when he defected from MAD in “The Quimby Exchange”?
Penny and Gadget's differing aesthetic designs (Penny having a somewhat more real design whilst Gadget is cartoony like everyone else) are meant to show that their personalities and roles differ.
In the first film, "Robo-Gadget" sounds redundant, but Gadget's a cyborg, and RoboGadget's an android.
Also from the first film, Gadget warns Brenda that Dr. Claw is a "liar and a thief and.. well let's just say he's not a very nice guy." At first, this seems like a way for the movie to avoid saying the word "murderer". But think back to who Dr. Claw killed: Brenda's dad. Gadget didn't want to upset Brenda with the shocking news that the man she's working with is the very one who killed her father.
In "The Boat", MAD drops a bomb off at Gadget's house, and in the episode where Dr. Claw plans to trap Gadget by having crimes committed in a pattern of locations that spell "MAD" on a map, he views Gadget on his computer screen while he's INSIDE his house. This means Dr. Claw not only knows where Gadget lives but has surveillance inside the house. If MAD knows where Gadget lives, why not target him (or Penny, who Dr. Claw knows is involved), directly? Because directly threatening the people Gadget cares about (e.g., Penny, Brain, Dr. Slickenstein) is pretty much the worst thing you could do. When that happens, Gadget immediately grabs the Smart Ball, proceeds to getextremelydangerous, and becomes nearly unstoppable. The only reason it doesn't happen more often is because Gadget doesn't usually realize it when Penny or somebody else he cares about is in danger. Frankly, most of the episodes would be over before the 15-minute mark if Gadget realized that it was Penny and/or Brain in danger.
To further this, watch rare episodes where Gadget is knowingly supervising Penny and Brain like the pilot and "Haunted Castle", he actually spends most of them near about competent, keeping a good eye on them and having to constantly rescue them instead. The only time Gadget drops the Idiot Ball in the former in fact is the final trap, when Penny leaves to deal with things in secret, and Gadget has become less alert.
Notice in the Super Nintendo game, you unusually play as Gadget, not Penny, and solve the crime and stop Claw singlehanded. The mission this time round was specifically revolved around saving Penny.
Doctor Claw can be heard threatening several of his agents with the dire consequences of failure. It's only after the episode is aired that you realized those agents are never seen again...
Actually, we get to see the M.A.D. Agents arrested at the end of the episodes. The only ones that don't get arrested are the recurring M.A.D. Agents in season two, who copy Dr. Claw's tactic of escaping until next time.
In the pilot episode, Gadget was able to take care of himself, even if he wasn't particularly smart. After that, he becomes Too Dumb to Live, and practically needs Brain and his niece Penny to pretty much function, let alone foil Dr. Claw's schemes. Gadget is essentially a cyborg...and it may be very likely that the surgery that made him into one required an operation on his brain, and may have decreased his intelligence significantly! Also, the opening scenes show Gadget flying from a bomb and hitting his head hard. Could it be that the injuries he has suffered, particularly head injuries, have contributed to decreased intelligence on his part? Yikes!
It would explain why he gets dumber and dumber throughout the series, as the head injuries pile up....
What on earth happened to Gadget that he has those cybernetic parts? Did he volunteer for it? Did an obviously mentally incompetent person consent to it, or was it done to someone who once was mentally competent, and now is not? With all those things coming out of his hat, what was done with his brain? His limbs? Was he rebuilt like The Six Million Dollar Man? If so, how badly was this poor fool butchered? The guy doesn't even have organic legs anymore. Gadget is absolutely Blessed with Suck.
The contemporary Canadian promos for the show claimed that he slipped on a banana peel. If that doesn't sound like it could possibly account for the degree of injury one might have expected, please remember just who it is we're talking about.
Oddly, a flashback in the original series' final episode implies he had them since he was a baby so- JEEZ, POOR KID!
In the movie, he got it after going through a car wreck and an explosion. He was clearly very upset when he woke up to find that he had robotic limbs. But also consider, robotic arms and legs are understandable, but a toothpaste spray? A helicopter out of his head? Various implements in his fingers? How was that necessary? The idea of stuff like that being stuck inside a person when they're unconscious and unable to consent is creepy!
Dr. Claw's deep voice, his comment that Transylvania's atmosphere is good for his health, and the second season M.A.D. agent Thelma Botkin expressing disbelief at the idea that he had been a child does make one wonder if Dr. Claw is even human. If Claw is not human, then what could he be?
Dr. Claw had hidden cameras everywhere, including Gadget's living room. What was stopping him from installing hidden cameras in Penny's room?
In the first film, Robo-Brenda is giggly, acquiescent, relatively low on intellect and is...programmed to be a cheerleader? Many no doubt shuddered when they realised Dr. Claw built himself a sex-doll version of Brenda. In a kids' film.
Imagine living in a universe where your superhero uncle is a bumbling idiot. Only you and your dog know he is a goof up. For the rest of your life, you would have to keep an eye on your uncle, making sure he doesn't get people, and himself, killed. You won't be able to have a relationship, or get married, without worrying about your uncle blowing himself up. To make things worse, you have an evil criminal mastermind who has connections all over the world, and as mentioned above, if he found you are the actual foil of his plans, you'd be in grave danger. You would have no choice but to tag along with your uncle on his missions. It's a good thing Penny loves playing detective and solving mysteries. If she didn't, she would have a terrible life babysitting her uncle and fighting villains every day.
