Literature / Odd Squad Agent's Handbook

The Odd Squad Agent's Handbook is a invoked Defictionalization of the Odd Squad Agent's Training Manual seen and mentioned in the TV series Odd Squad. It is written by the show's creators, Tim McKeon and Adam Peltzman, and is meant to be read in the perspective of an agent-in-training about to graduate from the Odd Squad Academy and about to become an Investigation agent.

An audiobook version was released on April 29, 2022, courtesy of Orange Sky Studios.

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This book contains examples of:

• All for Nothing: Orchid busts her butt and goes through three different gadgets in an effort to defeat giant evil pancakes, and ends up getting nothing for her efforts (aside from usage of the Bubble-Bath-inator) because the pancakes went away of their own accord.
• Alliterative Name: The composer of the Odd Squad Anthem is Oliver Octavius Olivander.
• Alternate History: The "Famous Moments in Odd Squad History" section features unique, odd twists on historical events, monuments, and landmarks.
  • In 300 BC, the Great Wall of China shrunk down to become six inches tall, which upset the Chinese emperor so much that he renamed the monument to the Not-So-Great Wall of China and proceeded to cry in his palace for forty days. Afterwards, he called Odd Squad, who apprehended the culprit — a villain named Smallsy Wallsy, who agreed to hand his shrink ray over if Odd Squad wrote about him in a history book one day.
  • In 1503, following the completion of The Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci found out that Mona Lisa herself had escaped from the painting. Once Odd Squad was contacted, they found her at a local market, gathering things like puzzles and food to take with her into the painting, having been resigned to the realization that she will be stuck in a painting all of her life. According to legend, the reason why she is smiling in the painting is because an agent helped her with a Crossword Puzzle.
  • In 1969, Neil Armstrong was set to become the first man on the moon...that is, if it weren't for the fact that the moon was actually a moon pie and not an actual moon. Two Odd Squad agents were sent to the moon via an Odd Squad-branded rocket and blasted the dessert with an Un-Moon-Pie-inator gadget, which turned it back into a regular moon. Neil Armstrong eventually did become the first man on the moon, while the two agents were the first people to skip and jump rope on it.
  • The book even manages to predict the future course of history thanks to time travel. In the year 5086, Patty, a gerbil that serves as the ruler of the entire universe, will discover that she has become a victim of oddness in the form of her Palace of Peace being turned into a pile of tan-colored socks. Eventually, Odd Squad agents equipped with Teleportation and Mind Control abilities will come and rebuild the palace using their powers.
• Always Someone Better: According to Oprah, Odd Squad is the best kid-run organization on Earth...but is the second-best kid-run organization outside of Earth.
• Animorphism: Peter "Honeytoes" Galea is a human who has been transformed into a bipedal goat (aside from his hands, which are still humanoid). His wife is no better, having been turned into someone who is more goat than human.
• Anthropomorphic Food: Orchid once battled gigantic evil blueberry whole-wheat pancakes using three different gadgets. The only reason why she used three different gadgets instead of just one was because she didn't know the pancakes had blueberries and were whole-wheat.
  • Subverted in the case of floating sandwiches, which is considered an odd creature to some in Odd Squad due to a rumor that there are tiny creatures living in them that make them float. Others think they may either be a rare odd virus and thus it is an odd disease, while others believe it has a (rather mean or evil) personality and is an Elective Mute and thus it is an odd villain. No one knows exactly what a floating sandwich is, but considering it can actually float and one image implies that one floating sandwich and another non-floating sandwich (the latter of which has been given floating abilities by the former) are happily married, it falls under the trope.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: One chart tells the difference between the Odd Squad Mission Statement, the Odd Squad Anthem, the Odd Squad Oath, and bighorn sheep.
  • The "Guide to Headquarters" notes that in precincts' Headquarters, there are many rooms, hallways, odd creatures, departments, employees, and places to hang up your hat.
• Artistic License – History: The first video game is noted to have been Space War! in 1971. This is mostly accurate (the game was developed in 1962), but the timeline doesn't explain that it's the first video game to be played outside of an institute. The actual first video game is thought to have been Tennis for Two, created in 1958. Although since the book dabbles in Alternate History, it's possible that Space War! is the actual first video game.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Day shift agents don't need to worry about cleaning up their desk in Headquarters to make room for the night shift agents that share their desks — Maintenance agents take all of the stuff, destroy it, and then replace them with fresh copies of said stuff for the next day. Given what night shift agents generally do, however, this might not be so impractical.
  • The Clap-inator gadget has the shape of an egg and can produce clapping sounds...that is, if an agent is willing and able to follow all of the instructions needed to make it work.
  It's shaped like an egg, with an odd crank. But do you think you crank it? No. You have to cackle at it. Like a villain. The [egg] will start shaking until the crank can turn by itself. It then bakes a cookie. Resist eating it! Throw it into the mouth of a dragon. The dragon will breathe fire. If you dare not run, you'll hear clapping. Take a bow.
  • Precinct 13579 is also in possession of a Chaos-inator, which, of course, was taken out by Ohlm. The only way the gadget could be practical is if it were in the hands of a villain, and one has to wonder why it even exists at all.
  • A lot of the gadgets under the Guide to Commonly-Used gadgets qualify — the Move-That-Pen-To-The-Left-inator, Name-a-Ferret-Daniel-inator, and the See-You-Later-Alligator-inator look neat, but their purposes are so useless that it's a wonder they're used so often.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Stoic and cold he may appear to be, but Otis has a soft spot for Olympia that makes it clear their partner chemistry is very strong.
  Otis: Anyway, I want to say that your partner is not just somebody you work with. Your partner is a friend. Somebody who knows you better than anybody else. Somebody who supports you when times are tough and challenges you to be a better agent, and a better person, than you ever thought you could be.
  Olympia: Wait a minute, Otis. Are you saying that about me?
  Otis: ...
  Olympia: Aww. That guy.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: It's revealed that the reason Odd Squad agents wear business suits is because Odd Squad is a professional organization, so they must look professional.
• Bag of Holding: The Ball Pit is endless and can give agents whatever they need, just by thinking about what they need. A complex equation answers the question as to how it can give agents whatever they need.
• Bait-and-Switch: In the instructions for Blob Wrestling, the "Do This" section lists being the king of Canada for a day as the prize for winning the match. A footnote at the bottom of the page reveals that Coach O pulled a fake-out as he states that Canada does not have a king. ^note This isn't an In-Universe Factoid Failure — Canada indeed does not have a king. They have a Prime Minister.
• Batman Gambit: One of the tips agents can try in interrogating unicorns is going on a magical journey with it in order to make the unicorn feel happy and free. Once it is, agents can then ask if they are the suspect in an odd crime.
• Be the Ball: Agents are advised to not use other agents as a ball and not to mistake them for actual sport balls.
• Black Comedy: In the "Welcome to Odd Squad" section, it states that Odd Squad isn't top-secret...and then mentions a Mind-Erase-inator gadget that doesn't need to be used because Odd Squad agents have no Secret Identities to protect.
  • Floating sandwiches could potentially be considered an odd creature in Odd Squad due to a rumor among agents that there are tiny creatures living in them that make them float, which puts Oprah eating one in "First Day" into an entirely new light.
  • The instructions for doing Brain Sit-Ups tell agents that if they for some reason can't find their brain, to borrow another agent's brain instead, which implies that lobotomy is a thing in the world of the franchise.
• Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Among the list of juice flavors that Oprah likes is "CranApple", "CranGrape", and "CranAppleCranPeachCranOrangeCranGrapeCranPineappleApple". Hilariously, the bullet point at the bottom of the Overly Long Name reads "Any Other Flavor Whatsoever".
  • In the "Gadgets" section, Oona advises the reader to talk things out with their partner, write thoughts down using a pencil, or talking things out with a talking pencil when faced with a problem.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Owen, of course. He may be loyal to Odd Squad, but he takes a hell of a lot of breaks to the extent that his dreams consist of him taking breaks and nothing else.
• Caps Lock: Coach O's section is written entirely in all caps because he wants to make the reader feel like they're being shouted at, which fits well with his Drill Sergeant Nasty behavior.
• Captain Obvious: Yes, Dr. O, an odd disease is, indeed, a disease that so happens to be odd. Thanks for the heads-up.
  • And in the very next section, "Odd Villains and Floating Sandwiches", the latter is described as "sandwiches that make you float".
• Child Prodigy: True to his name, Ozart resides in the Piano Room at Precinct 13579 and is continuously playing the piano with ease.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Otto mentions that he was unable to finish and turn in his sections for the "A Guide to Your Uniform" because he was too busy trying to catch Centigurps, which may serve as a reference to "The Trouble with Centigurps".
  • The Shrink-inator, which was prominently seen in "Reindeer Games", is listed on The Guide to Commonly-Used Gadgets has the Shrink-inator, the Pudding-inator, the Day-inator, and the Flip-Flop-inator^note which also mentions flipping the digits of 12 so it becomes 21, flipping the digits in your age, and the gadget itself not working on those who have double-digit ages — all things that happened in "Trading Places".
  • One of the sections in the handbook is aptly titled "How to Interrogate a Unicorn".
  • The Form O-135 that is filled out in the book covers the events of "Reindeer Games" and is filled out by Olive.
  • The book mentions that over 45,000 agents can be employed in precincts' Headquarters at any given time, with most of them being invisible. This holds some legitimacy, given a statement Olive made in "Whatever Happened to Agent Oz?" where she estimated that about 100 invisible agents (Oz himself included) were working at Precinct 13579.
• Continuity Snarl:
  • There are numerous snarls in the book's timeline which contradicts canon from other franchise media, which isn't surprising given this franchise's infamous track record with continuity. Generally speaking, however, the timeline seen in the book is taken at face value by many fans, and all of the events have become an accepted part of the unofficial series timeline. The timeline in the book also features time travel having been invented in 2015, causing multiple timelines to be created and the main timeline to become jumbled — which implies that, in spite of all the Call-Backs and Continuity Nods, continuity just doesn't exist.
  • In the "Letter From Ms. O", Oprah states that perhaps the agent reading the book will be picked to work with her at Precinct 13579. Doubles as an instance of Idiot Ball, since not only should she know that Directors pick their own graduates, but she picked Olympia specifically when she became an agent.
  • The jackalope was chosen as the Mascot of Odd Squad after being the first odd creature discovered by an agent. This contradicts a live interview with Oprah held on Facebook, where she states that the jackalope was picked after numerous agents were surveyed and it was determined that it was their favorite animal.
  • The name "watch tablets" is canonized here. However, the correct term for the device is "smartwatch", and it's unknown why the show actively avoids the word and settles on "watch tablets" (which is quite ironic, given how high-tech it is).
  • The Athletics and Conflict Resolution department is simply known as "Fitness" when it was explicitly stated that the purpose of the department was to deal in both athletics and settling conflicts. The episode "Welcome to Odd Squad" would make the same mistake, referring to the department as "Athletics" with no mention of the "conflict resolution" part.
  • Otto's decorated desk looks vastly different than as seen in the show. It's meant to emphasize his The Pig-Pen trait, but his desk has never been that messy. It is, however, far more disorganized when compared to Olive's. Likewise, Otis's desk doesn't look as empty as it is in the show, and his "no ducks" decal isn't seen on his desk at all.
  • An agent suit seed is needed to make a uniform, which contradicts a Training Video that states a uniform capsule must be used in order to create a new Investigation agent uniform. The way to make a uniform, however, is pretty much the same otherwise.
  • The Day-inator is listed as gadget #632,000. 10,000 gadgets were already stated to have already existed in the entirety of Precinct 13579 (which the book bases its information on) in "Odds and Ends", with no mention of any other gadgets above that number.
  • In the "Questions and Answers" segment, there is a question posed about contradicting facts regarding Oscar working at Odd Squad. The question is, if they saw a picture of Scientists in the Old West and a photo of Oscar as a kid wearing a lab coat, then why is it claimed that Oscar invented the Science department only a few years ago. The answer? Time Travel, which is more of a creator-driven answer ^note Tim McKeon has been noted to enjoy various media about time travel and not a general answer. It may also double as a Take That! towards older fans who have long been asking that exact question, as well as similar questions regarding what is canon and what is not, and why canon is often contradicted.
• Crew of One: Omorro is the only agent in the Odd Squad Book Publishing department.
• Critical Staffing Shortage: Inverted. This book reveals that there can be over 45,000 employees working at Odd Squad precincts at any given time. In other franchise media, the number of agents in Precinct 13579 specifically doesn't exceed 100, but the book states that most of the 45,000 agents are invisible.
• Dangerous Workplace: There is a section on safety hazards in Odd Squad Headquarters (read: just the bullpen) that show what dangers are lurking about for agents to avoid. One alarming one is the sandbox turning into a box full of quicksand for two minutes every day, while another alarming one is the pointing-out of two of the poles holding up the second floor being held up with arts-and-crafts glue.
• Department of Redundancy Department: Boy howdy, does the Odd Squad Oath have a mouthful.
  Pledge to take breaks in the middle of lists of pledges like this one. Break suggestion: Read another list entitled "List of Break Suggestions for Taking Breaks in the Middle of Lists." But also take a break in the middle of that list.
• Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: For varying values of "soundtrack" — it's a print medium — but the official Odd Squad Mission Statement is just the description of what Odd Squad does from the opening theme.
• Dissimile: A case is defined as "an odd problem that needs to be solved". A mission, on the other hand, is defined as "like a case, but a super-serious one that you should be all super-serious about." So essentially, a mission is an upgraded version of a case, but aren't quite the same thing.
• Droste Image: Lampshaded when a question about the Odd Squad seal asks why there are an endless number of jackalopes in it. The answer is that that "there are an endless number of jackalopes in the world. We're just trying to be correct."
  • The Figure 1 of the Glossary of Common Odd Squad words falls under this trope as well.
• Every Device Is a Swiss-Army Knife: Oona explains that while gadgets are handy weapons for fighting oddness and are very powerful (among a myriad of other uses depending on the gadget), they aren't as powerful as hard work, thinking things through, or persevering if you can't solve a problem. In this World of Weirdness, all three "tools" are just as powerful as gadgets, and brains are just as much Swiss army knives as gadgets themselves are.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": According to this book, every single head tailor found in most precincts' Headquarters is named O'Que. Unlike with "Mr. O" and "Ms. O", however, the name "O'Que" doesn't seem to be a title and is the tailors' actual collective name.
• Failed a Spot Check: The "Watch Out For Each Other" section is all about this.
• Fearsome Critters of American Folklore: Although the jackalope is Odd Squad's mascot, there is a section in the book on how to catch a jackalope that paints them as outright villains, when in reality they're just harmless odd creatures. This is invoked, however, since the word "jackalope" is meant to be replaced with the word "villain", and the entire supposed rant serves as a tip on how to catch villains.
• Flat Joy: Olympia cracks a joke about doubling yourself using the Double-inator, and all Otis can give is a simple "ha" in response.
• Four-Star Badass: Oofa is a General in the Great Worm War. A picture of her can be seen hanging in the Museum of Natural Odd in the first part of the Season 3 premiere, "Odd Beginnings: Part 1".
• Genius Ditz: Oona, natch. Her section, "Gadgets", has her talking about overalls as her favorite topic before listing gadgets as her second favorite topic.
• Girls with Guns: Subverted. O'Tassle is known in Odd Squad history for being the fastest gadget-drawer in the West. However, being the fastest gadget-drawer in the West refers to actually drawing gadgets really fast, not using gadgets in place of guns.
• Good with Numbers: Creatures apparently love to do math and are quite proficient in it, a difference that they share with animals.
• Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Most every odd creature wears only underwear that is usually obscured by fur or protective skin. This isn't seen in the show or in any other franchise material, however.
• Hellish Horse: Unicorns are known enemies of Odd Squad who enjoy causing oddness, which serves as Fridge Logic as to why agents have been known to either eat them and their parts, or if the episode "Oona and the Oonabots" is any indication, dispose of them in some manner outside of eating.
• Heroic Vow: The Odd Squad Oath is recited after the Odd Squad Anthem and must be read with one hand on your head and another on your stomach (with agents who have multiple hands being encouraged to shake all of their hands). Whomever wrote it, however, seems to be greatly regretting doing so, and delivers some Self-Deprecation by calling it "long and sour".
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The flow chart on "When Nothing Odd is Happening" doesn't really make much sense after the release of Odd Squad Book of Games.
• Identical Stranger: O'Tassle and Oofa look exactly alike, but aren't related to each other. This is what made Oofa in particular famous in Odd Squad history.
• Immediate Self-Contradiction: The section sharing tips for nervous agents who are using Tube Travel states that tube travel is the safest way to travel. And then comes a list of far-safer transportation methods...followed by getting shot out of a cannon and going over a waterfall in a barrel.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Olympia is so confident that she and Otis have strong partner chemistry that she goes so far as to claim they (metaphorically) share a brain. She then asks Otis what she's thinking about at the moment, and he answers with "This book", only for her to correct him by saying that she was actually thinking about pandas.
• "Jar of Jellybeans" Contest: One question asked in the "Infrequently Asked Questions About Odd Squad" section is how many jellybeans could fit inside of an entire Odd Squad Headquarters. The answer is 63 billion.
• Jumped at the Call: Olympia and Otis were both asked to contribute to the writing of the handbook. Being an Odd Squad historian, having read the 37th edition of the book over and over to the point where she learned it front to back, Olympia is more than eager.
• Kids Are Cruel: Par for the course with Orchid, whose favorite non-extinct animal is a duck simply because she enjoys watching Otis be horrified when she shows him one. Given his past, the horror factor of her tormenting him with his phobia is amped up.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Oprah specifically calls out agents who are this trope in her letter, stating that since they know everything, they probably won't need the handbook.
  Think again.
• Lazy Bum: Owen, natch. He's loyal to Odd Squad and is there to help agents stay safe in a Dangerous Workplace, but he throws in the towel and requires a break after only working for an hour straight.
• Let's Duet: In addition to conversation starters, partners can perform a "getting to know you" song together. The way this works is by having each agent write down everything about themselves, getting two banjos, taking banjo lessons, tuning them, and then singing the contents of the lists to each other (also, square dancing, if partners are so inclined).
• Literal Metaphor: The "Get to Know Your Partner" section advises that partners take a field trip. That is, going to an actual empty field and forcing each other to get along.
  • The appendix of the book is just a diagram of the large intestine with a line pointing to where the appendix is.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: The reason why the jackalope holds a shield in the Odd Squad seal is for protection against falling meteors.
• Masochist's Meal: Orvalsson, a Viking agent hailing from Norway, used to eat Hydroclopses for breakfast. Yes, he ate what is essentially, in this universe, Cthulhu. The only thing that made him stop was him growing tired of eating Hydroclopses and switching over to eating cornflakes. There's a good reason why he has a tooth gap.
• Meaningful Rename: Children who are hired onto Odd Squad have their names changed as soon as they graduate the Odd Squad Academy, although the organization tries as best they can to keep the old name intact (for example, a child named Alexander would probably become Olexander — essentially the old name, but starting with O instead).
• Medium Awareness: Continuing with the trend of Odd Squad agents realizing they're in a TV show, this book reveals that Oprah was approached by the creator of the television and invited to make a TV show about Odd Squad. She turns him down and tells him to try again in 87 years ^note or 2014, which is the year that the Odd Squad TV show premiered.
• Minor Injury Overreaction: Sprained your pinkie? According to Coach O, you didn't do enough calisthenics with it.
• Mistaken Identity: Otto was once mistaken for a shrunken (adult) businessperson due to his professional-looking uniform. As a result, he had to go to an office building and make important decisions all day. He notes that the business is unfortunately no longer around.
• Mistakes Are Not the End of the World: The "Goodbye Letter from Ms. O" has Oprah telling the reader that they will make mistakes, and that even she's made mistakes she's learned things from. She ends the letter by stating that if the reader does fail at something to be a Determinator and never give up.
• Motor Mouth: Olympia's sign-out for the Invisible-inator has her describing her entire day up to that point in extensive detail (taking up 83 pages) under the "How Is Your Day Going?" section. It's the same story for the "What Did You Dream About Last Night?" section, which is 97 pages long and describes every single detail of her odd dream.
• National Anthem: Parodied. The Odd Squad Anthem isn't so much a national anthem as it is a song for the organization — agents just use the word "anthem" in place of "song" due to Rule of Cool. In addition, Scientists are encouraged to sing the low notes, Tube Operators are encouraged to sing the high notes, and everyone else can sing in whatever way they desire.
• Never Say "Die": In keeping with the franchise's tradition of avoiding "dumb", "stupid" and other synonyms of "not smart", Coach O uses the latter to describe doing less-than-ideal things with your lazy brain.
• No Indoor Voice: While Dr. O is generally a quiet person, she has an odd illness that makes her yell whenever she types out words. Since she's typing out a section in a print medium that takes up two pages, this proves to be detrimental for the agent working in the next room over.
• Non-Indicative Name: The Reasonably-Priced-Beans-inator sounds and looks like an ordinary run-of-the-mill gadget that doesn't do much. However, an agent who uses it on themselves will be granted flight abilities, infinite strength, and never-ending joy, something that the book lampshades.
  This gadget might be more popular if it had a different name.
• Noodle Incident: Oona has apparently talked to a few talking pencils in her time as Precinct 13579's Lab Director, and encourages agents who come across talking pencils to use the Un-Talk-inator gadget on them as "things can get awkward fast."
• One-Hour Work Week: All of Precinct 13579's tube operators each work seven-minute shifts every nine weeks.
• Passionate Sports Girl: Othens was the first winner of the O Games and was considered to be the greatest athlete in Odd Squad's history. She's also a Pintsized Powerhouse who is capable of throwing a javelin from Greece all the way to Arkansas with no sweat.
• The Power of Friendship: Don't think that this book cuts back on one of the organization's modus operandis being friendship.
  Partner: An agent you are assigned to work with. He or she or they will watch out for you and help you be the best that you can possibly be. They have been known to become a lifelong friend.
• Rage Breaking Point: Downplayed. Throughout the day, Orchid goes from happy, to annoyed, to outright pissed off, all because she has to answer a couple questions on the gadget sign-out sheet.
• Ret-Canon: This book makes the "All Kids Are Equal, All Kids Belong" Tagline present at the 2014 PBS Annual Meeting canon, as Olive mentions it in "A Guide to Your Uniform".
• Roman à Clef: Parodied. The "When Something Very Odd Has Happened" section has a case form filled out by a person named Peter Honeytoes Galea...only his middle name has been changed to "Honeytoes", and not his first or last name, all for the sake of protecting his identity.
• Rule of Three: The gadget sign-out sheet for Precinct 13579 has Orchid signing out three different pancake-related gadgets. The fourth sign-out of hers is a subversion, however — it's the Bubble-Bath-inator.
• Russian Reversal: The normal food option served for breakfast on Fridays is make-your-own-omelet. The Odd Option, on the other hand, is "The Omelet Serves You!"
• Schizo Tech: Odd Squad is a very high-tech organization that is usually ahead of the curve on technology, but agents wield badge phones that look like flip phones but have capabilities exclusive to smartphones, such as swiping phones left or right to respectively play and turn off music
• Secret Room: One of the rooms that is found in some Headquarters is aptly named the Secret Room. It's not revealed what's inside, and when asked what is on the door that indicates what's inside, the response is "Oh no, you already know too much."
• Seers: The end of the book has Oprah revealing that she can see the reader's future via time travel, and that "it's so bright it's blinding".
• Spy Speak: Hidden throughout the book are secret messages that serve as tips on how to defeat villains and are written backwards. The reader is meant to decipher them by turning to certain pages in the book and following the backwards-written instructions.
• Stealth Pun: Olive tells the reader that "we're all counting on you" when giving her goodbyes. Otto removes all substance of "stealth" from the trope and points out that he thinks she said that because Odd Squad dabbles in a lot of mathematics.
  • A pie chart that cites the reasons for replacement uniforms has "pie stains" as the most common reason, at 75%.
• Stock Animal Diet: Unicorns enjoy eating boiled hay with rainbow sprinkles.
• Subverted Catchphrase:
  • Oprah leaves the reader off with a "Well, what are you waiting for? Go...turn the page."
  • The section on "Your Partner" has Olympia mention that if an agent didn't have a partner, Oprah would be saying "There you one are" instead of "There you two are".
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The agent depicted in the section of "How to Ride in the Tubes" is just Omar, but as an Investigation agent and in appropriate attire instead of being part of the Mobile Unit department.
• Take Over the World: Ohlm's section on the gadget sign-out sheet reveals that had he succeeded in defeating Odd Squad, he would have then set his sights on world domination.
• Take That!: For both of the show's genuine, lighthearted features of Segways, this book delivers a harsh jab at them by having agents abandon Tube Travel in place of riding Segways around, then going back to using the tube system the next day.
  • To say nothing of the jabs aimed at both villains and adults at various places in the story. While the villain jabs are justified, the adult jabs wouldn't be if it weren't for the fact that Adults Are Useless in this universe.
  • And speaking of adults being useless, a question from a woman named Ms. Williamson as to why adults can't join Odd Squad is answered with "adults get scared by oddness while children take it in stride and are Fantastically Indifferent to it."
• Talking the Monster to Death: In order to prevent becoming victim to a blob's slime, an agent can try talking to it and befriending it. It sometimes doesn't work, however, leading the agent to try wrestling it and pinning it down, then storing it in a box.
• Terrible Artist: O'Tassle's drawings of gadgets weren't very good. But that's a price one had to pay for being the fastest gadget-drawer in the West.
• Time Dissonance: Ocean is such a Mellow Fellow that he couldn't care less about the time of day, as evidenced by his section on Precinct 13579's gadget sign-out sheet.
• Tomato in the Mirror: Invoked. During unicorn interrogations, agents are encouraged to hold up a mirror to a unicorn and ask them one simple question: "Who did it?" The unicorn is then supposed to point at their own reflection. It doesn't always work, though.
• Tongue Twister: Orchid's favorite tongue twister is "old Ollie oils oily otters".
• Trademark Favorite Food: It's already a well-known fact that Olaf loves potatoes. This handbook takes it up to eleven by giving him two whole pages just to talk about potatoes, with the second page being a list of only pros about potatoes and no cons.
• Viewers Are Morons: An In-Universe example. The section on the Ball Pit has a flow chart for agents to follow in order to determine whether they're actually in the Ball Pit or not.
  • There is also another in-universe example in whether an agent is wearing their uniform correctly.
• Weird World, Weird Food: The Odd Squad Cafeteria menu has both normal food options and "Odd Options" (meant as a parody of healthy options on school lunch menus) that are upgraded but bizarre versions of the normal food options. Such delights presented every weekday include Patio Thai, Scrambled Toast with Gregs (whether they're human Gregs remains up for debate), and Assorted Piano Keys, among others.
• Who's Laughing Now?: Orchid uses this against the in-universe authors of the handbook in her own dedicated section.
  When I was asked to join Odd Squad I agreed under one condition: if there was ever an agent's handbook, I would get four pages to do whatever I want. The bosses said, "Yeah, sure, no problem." They thought they'd never make a handbook. Well...here we are! And who's laughing now? I am!
• Wingdinglish: There is an Odd Squad bylaw that states a page of the handbook must be written in Ancient Jackalopian, noted to be the primary language of the first Odd Squad agents. The text happens to be the last villain tip: "Wow, you are really good. You do not need any more villain tips because you are way smarter than they are. Nice work, agent."
• Worldbuilding: In spite of the franchise's infamous history with terrible continuity, this book has quite a lot of things revealed, from creature history to badge usage to what odd diseases exist.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: If Otto's words are any indication, Olive is capable of giving out kind words of this nature all the time.
  Olive: Remember, while wearing your uniform you are representing Odd Squad and all that it stands for. You have big shoulder pads to fill, but I know you can do it.
  Otto: Awwww. Olive always says nice stuff like that.
• You Are Too Late: Due to being too busy with Centigurps, Otto misses the chance to write his own sections for "A Guide to Your Uniform", but the Odd Squad Printing Press allows him to write in the margins. As a result, Olive's advice is written in the typical Agency FB font seen in the book, while Otto's advice is written in regular handwriting.
• You Can't Miss It: The process of making a bookmark for the book involves making your own paper with the help of a lumberjack and a paper processing plant. The trope is then lampshaded by the very next page, which provides a pre-made bookmark (dubbed the "Bookmark-inator") for the reader to cut out and use.

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