Theme Tune Roll Call

Four guesses who the main character is.

ROBOT ROLL CALL!

CAMBOT! (You're on!)

GYPSY! (Oh my god!)

TOM SERVO! (Check me out!)

CROOOOOW!

— Mystery Science Theater 3000 theme song

An Expository Theme Tune for a series that includes a rundown of the main characters, usually with a line or two about each one's role in the show (sometimes overlapping with Job Song if their roles coincide with professions). Especially common in kids' shows. Note that not all examples contain the characters' names in the lyrics. Some examples have songs that only describe them. May also occur in Opening Narrations, and even in shows that have instrumentals (e.g. 1990s X-Men: The Animated Series).

Compare Intro Dump and Introductory Opening Credits. Sub-Trope to List Song. Compare and contrast Welcome Titles, when The Protagonist goes around greeting —and maybe name-dropping— the cast during the Title Sequence. Might end in a Together We Are X introduction (the members of an ensemble introduce themselves first individually and then as a team).

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Examples:

Advertising

• Barbie and the Rockers (also used in the two animated specials^note Which were co-written by Ruth Handler, the original creator of the Barbie doll (and by extension, the Barbie franchise)):
  We're Barbie, and the Rockers (with Ken)!
  Rocking out, we're totally in the groove!
  Dana, Dee Dee, Derek, and Diva too!...^note This part had some variations across the commercials and the specials. There were also commercials that left this part out.
• Blockbuster Video has a rare example of a commercial — in this case, it's the Blockbuster Kids commercial — doing this:
  Player is our man, he's as great as he can be
  And Stopper, she's a friend to you and me
  And then there's Slo Mo, with his dog Pause
  Rewind, he's the greatest, and all our friends are saying
  WOW! What a difference! Blockbuster Video! WOW! What a difference! Blockbuster Video!
• One memorable campaign for Fanta (in all its incarnations) features "The Fantanas", whose names are shown onscreen one at a time.
• An animated, 1974 commercial for Freakies Cereal introduces each of the 7 characters by name.

Animation

• After introducing the premise of the show, BoBoiBoy's theme song lists off the heroes' names: Ying, Yaya, Gopal, "and our hero" BoBoiBoy. The third season adds Fang (a rival turned friend) to the list. Adu Du's version of the song also has a roll call but it accidentally includes the Multi-Monster who, as Adu Du points out, pulled a Heel–Face Turn.
• KikoRiki: The 4Kids dub version of the theme song has this with the characters calling out their names.
• The Noonbory and the Super 7 theme song has the team members give their names and their super senses:
  Jetybory sound!
  Lunabory sight!
  Common senses taking flight!
  Cozybory touch!
  Totobory taste!
  With a little nonsense^note Lukybory along the way!
  Pongdybory smell!
  Now we're on track!
  And Noonbory leads the pack!
• The first Chinese theme song for Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf names, in order, Weslie, Tibbie, Paddi, Sparky, Slowy, Old Mandy, Wolnie and Wolffy.
• The theme song to Simple Samosa consists of four verses, which each describe one of the four main characters. The characters who are introduced in the song are, in order, Samosa, Dhokla, Jalebi, and Vada.

Anime

• The openings to both anime adaptations of Ryohgo Narita's works, Baccano! and Durarara!! respectively list every single major character in text during quick freezeframe closeups. The intro to Baccano! also contains one notable and intentional exclusion, as a train conductor who has a prominent shot in its opening at one point and is apparently cannon fodder early on turns out to also be very much alive and a main character as well.
• Burgess Bedtime Stories: This happens in the intro to Fables of the Green Forest, the English dubbed version of Rocky Chuck the Mountain Rat.
• The theme song to the English dub of Hamtaro. Stan and Sandy are not mentioned, however.
  • Both the original Japanese and English ending themes have a variation. In the original Japanese version the characters' names had the first syllable placed at the end of their names.^note "teruNe, idoMa, maruChibi, daPan, ushiKo, hamuTora, bon-chanRi", etc. For the English dub version, we have this:
  "Snoozer, Penelope, Panda, Howdy, Oxnard, Bijou, and Boss, let's go! zerSnoo, pePenelo, ssoB, daPan, dyHow, nardOx, jouBi, and Hamtaro!..."
• The French version (but not the English version) does this twice during the chorus in the theme song to The Mysterious Cities of Gold:
  AAAAAHHAHAHHAHAHH... Esteban, Zia, Tao, les Cités d'or !
• One Piece:
  • The 4Kids dub Theme Tune Rap. They didn't make it any longer, so each addition to the cast made the lines involving the roll call more cluttered.
  • Two of the Japanese themes, "Share the World" and "We Go!", feature title cards for the characters.
• Similarly the 4Kids dubbed seasons of Pokémon: The Series had the Pokérap. While technically never a title theme, it was a number of tunes played following an episode listing down all the Pokémon of the current region. The original Japanese edit eventually started making its own variations.
• Sailor Moon:
  • DiC's dub theme song was only accurate for the first season. Pluto isn't mentioned once she shows up in R, nor are Any of the Outer Senshi in S, or Chibi Moon in either S or SuperS. Not a very good roll call if you forget half the heroes.
  • It probably sounds worse on Geneon's American DVDs of the third season. The English versions include the American theme song synced with a Japanese opening, causing a part meant to show off the new Sailor Senshi to have singers exclaiming the Inner Senshi's names for no apparent reason.
• The second series of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman calls the five heroes in numbered order by their civilian names.
  • A variation of the Opening Narration to Battle of the Planets has the announcer calling their (adapted) names.
  • This happens in the Opening Narration to the second English dub, G-Force^note Which is the name that was also used for the team in the Battle of the Planets version.
• Pretty Cure:
  • The English theme song for Futari wa Pretty Cure roll calls Cure Black and Cure White ("Cure Black and Cure White will break the chains that bind your heart").
  • The Suite Pretty Cure ♪ theme song cleverly hides the words "Hibiki" and "Kanade" in its lyrics. Of course, it becomes obsolete once Ellen and Ako join...
  • Smile Pretty Cure! had a part in its theme song where they say "Happy! Sunny! Peace! March! Beauty!" which are the names of the 5 main girls.
• The theme song from the English dub of Transformers: Cybertron has a roll call just after Optimus Prime's narration sets the show's stage. After that and dropping the Autobot rallying cry of "Transform and roll out", the theme song itself kicks in.
• The main theme song of Ulysse 31^note "Ulysse (pronounced like "oo-LEASE") Trente et Un", although some French people say "trente un". The song says "trente et un". (a.k.a.: Ulysses 31) doesn't have one proper, but one appears in the alternate French theme song, "Ulysse Revient" (loosely, "Ulysses Returns"), in a line sung by Nono (the Robot Buddy):
  "Je vis dans l'grand vaisseau comme un poisson dans l'eau / Avec Thémis, Télémaque et Ulysse"^note Literally, "I live on the grand ship, like a fish in the water with Thémis, Telemachus and Ulysses". The "great ship" refers to their ship the Odysseus. Additionally, "Thémis" is known as "Yumi" in the English version.

Comic Books

• One of the 1990s Bazooka Joe comics is a "rap" which roll-calls the entire cast.
• The Nextwave comic book actually had a theme song that gave a short blurb about each team member and the Big Bad. "Give us the Nextwave roll call!"
  Monica! Is gonna microwave your *slide whistle*
  Tabby! Is gonna steal all your stuff!
  Aaron! Is going to organize your sock drawer.
  Elsa! Is gonna speak with an accent!
  The Captain! His name is The Captain!
• Crossing over with Opening Narration. Most comic books about superhero teams will have a team lineup at the beginning displaying each character with their name and a brief description of their powers.
  • Older books, back when the inside cover pages were reserved for advertisements, may use the opening splash page for a Dramatis Personae.

Fan Works

• A fan-created sequel for Captain N: The Game Master does this with older and newer characters (as much as Giovanni)
  [map of Videoland appears with various brand new video game sound effects playing in the background]
  Narrator: Return to a world known as Videoland!
  Samus Aran: I have wiped out Mother Brain once and for all.
  Princess Lana: My name is Queen Lana, the future wife of Kevin Keene. The evil Giovanni has taken full control of the Palace of Power. My inhabitants fled during a deadly battle against Dr. Wily, including Mega Man. A new Game Master is summoned through the Ultimate Warp Zone. My older sister, Princess Mariah, is the last survivor of this strange land. My father, King Charles, died during a deadly fight with the evil Giovanni. Now his soul rests in peace. Kid Icarus and Simon Belmont are nowhere to be found. In their place are newcomers Pikachu, Mike Haggar and Spyro the Dragon.
  Ash Ketchum:: Let's go catch some Pokémon!
  Stacey / Captain N: I am the female protector of Videoland! My name is really Stacey Keene but I was known as Captain N: The Game Master. I am a girl. I was brought to Videoland by Kevin and Princess Lana's older sister, Princess Mariah.
  Giovanni: I will not continue the Final Fight until Captain N and Princess Lana's older sister, Princess Mariah are MINE! [evil laugh
• Starland Krew The Series has one during the theme song before the main chorus.
  Sparky: My name's Sparky!
  Sid: And my name's Sid!
  Lizzy: Lizzy, here!
  Sparkle: And Sparkle too!
  Naarky: Don't forget your main man, Naarky!
  All: We're all ready, what about you?

Films — Animation

• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh featurettes
  A donkey named Eeyore is his friend
  And Kanga, and little Roo^note The 2011 film adds a spoken "And Tigger, too!"
  There's Rabbit, and Piglet, and there's Owl
  But most of all, Winnie the Pooh
• Woody's Roundup, the Show Within a Show on Toy Story 2, has one.
• "Take Me There" from The Rugrats Movie has a verse describing each of the main characters (the original show averted this being an Instrumental Theme Tune, its spinoff All Grown Up! had the " each main character gets their own title card" variant)

Films — Live-Action

• Animal House has about 18 characters named in its theme song.
• "Nicest Kids in Town", theme song of the Corny Collins Show from Hairspray, has one of these introducing the Council Members.
• Teen Beach Movie has one during "Surf Crazy", meant to be the introduction song of the Movie Within a Movie Wet Side Story.

Live-Action TV

• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet: ("Here's Ozzie! Here's Harriet!")
• The Barney and the Backyard Gang videos had this type of theme song but the Barney & Friends TV show that followed averted it.
• The Donkey Hodie theme song mentions all four of the child characters.
• The Doodlebops: "Here we are together..." "Deedee!" "Rooney!" "Moe!"
• Filmation's Ghostbusters: "We're The Ghost Busters ('I'm Spencer! He's Tracy!' 'I'm Kong!')!..."
• The Fresh Beat Band: "On guitar... Kiki! On keyboards... Shout! On drums... Marina! And the real MC... Twist in the house!"
• Gilligan's Island ("...with Gilligan, the Skipper too, the Millionaire, and his wife...") Note that it originally left off the Professor and Mary Ann, who were referred to as "and the rest", until Bob Denver (Gilligan) forced the studio to change it.
• The opening of Hallo aus Berlin has all the live-action characters greeting the viewers with "Ich bin [Name]".
• LazyTown's theme song calls the names of most of the main characters:
  You'll meet Robbie with his rotten plan
  and Sportacus saving the day.
  Stephanie is new in town,
  and soon she and Ziggy are friends.
  With Pixel, Stingy and Trixie, too,
  they're gonna have a blast together!
• The Mickey Mouse Club (all three versions). Not to mention Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 ("Robot Roll Call!") Though Dr. Forrester, TV's Frank, and Pearl are name-checked during the Mike-era theme, the Mads are never mentioned by name in the Joel-era and Jonah-era themes. Also, the Mike-era episodes airing on the Sci-Fi channel never name-checked Bobo or Observer either.
• The theme to Pee-wee's Playhouse does this at one point:
  "Globey's spinning, Mr. Window's grinning, 'cause Pterri's flying by..."
  • In the Christmas Special, Pee-Wee introduces all the puppet / claymation / etc. characters, followed by the regular human characters, and the special guest stars.
• Power Rangers Samurai and Power Rangers Megaforce: Each Ranger calls their name out when their credit appears.
• Space Cases — originally aired as the closing theme in the first season but moved to opening theme in the second season and in syndication.
• Several Super Sentai themes have this, including Gosei Sentai Dairanger, Dai Sentai Goggle Five and Mahou Sentai Magiranger. Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger's closing theme, "199 Hero Getter", goes through the name of each of the 35 teams.
• Tokkei Winspector
  Fire, Red!
  Bikel, Yellow!
  Walter, Green!
• Tweenies: "I'm Bella!" "I'm Milo!" "I'm Fizz!" "And I'm Jake!" ("I'm Doodles!")
• The Aquabats! Super Show!:
  With the MC Bat Commander (Commander!)
  Crash McLarson (Crash!)
  Ricky Fitness (Ricky!)
  Eaglebones Falconhawk (Eaglebones!)
  And Jimmy the Robot (Jimmy!)
  Together they fight evil
  So unbelievable!
• Zoobilee Zoo
  "I'm Mayor Ben. I'm here to lend a helping hand." / "I'm Bill Der Beaver. I invent things on command."...
• The 1970s kids' show ZOOM had one, preserved in the show's later 1999-2005 incarnation.

Pro Wrestling

• The 1995-1996 themes for WWF Superstars would name the top wrestlers at the time in the intros, with changes based on who had joined and who had left.
  • For a time, the opening lines were,
  "Diesel's cool, Undertaker
  Shawn Michaels heartbreaker
  Bret Hart show 'em how
  Uh oh here comes Vader now"
  • After Kevin "Diesel" Nash, Scott "Razor Ramon" Hall and Sean "The 1-2-3 Kid" Waltman left for WCW in May 1996, the lyrics were changed.
  "Bret Hart, Undertaker
  Shawn Michaels heartbreaker
  Owen Hart show 'em how
  Uh oh here comes Vader now"
  • What made this odd was that, at the time, Bret Hart was off of TV after having dropped the WWE World Heavyweight Title to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII in March and was sitting home contemplating his future.

Puppet Shows

• The Banana Splits:
  Flipping like a pancake, popping like a cork, Fleagle, Bingo, Drooper and Snork!
• One part of the Donkey Hodie theme song introduces each of Donkey Hodie's friends.
• Fraggle Rock: ("We're Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober, Red!") It's noticeable that the Fraggles say their names very fast, making it hard to remember.
• The opening theme of Lomax The Houndof Music introduces the main characters (Lomax, Delta, Amy, Louise, Clark, and Fred the Conductor).
• An interesting variation for the theme for The Puzzle Place: Each of the kids sing a verse with their names being shouted halfway through, while the supporting cast get introduced in the final moments.
• The intro to Teletubbies introduces the four Teletubbies by name, only for them to repeat exactly what the singer sang.
• Under the Umbrella Tree has a variation: during the theme song, Gloria, Iggy, Jacob, and Holly's names appear onscreen beneath them, but they aren't uttered aloud. When the show aired on the Disney Channel, however, a child's voice was dubbed over the sequence speaking their names, presumably for the sake of child viewers who couldn't read yet.

Theatre

• "It's A Typical Day," the opening number of Li'l Abner, has all the best-known denizens of Dogpatch introduce themselves.
• The Corny Collins Council gets one in "The Nicest Kids in Town" from Hairspray.
• The "Prologue" of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 pretty much introduces everyone appearing in the show, in the style of a cumulative list song akin to "The 12 Days of Christmas". It was necessitated since audiences had difficulty following the plot.
• Hamilton neatly introduces most of the characters and their role in Hamilton's life, although they aren't named until later songs:
  • "We fought with him": Lafayette and Mulligan/Jefferson and Madison - the former fought alongside Hamilton while the latter fought against him.
  • "Me - I died for him": Laurens/Phillip - the former in a battle two weeks after the war ended, the latter defending Hamilton's honor in a duel.
  • "Me - I trusted him": Washington.
  • "Me - I loved him": Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy/Maria Reynolds - Peggy like a sibling and Reynolds as a lover.
  • "And me? I'm the damned fool who shot him": Aaron Burr, of course.
  • And Alexander Hamilton to finish off the song.
• "Alle tanzten mit dem Tod" (Everyone Dances with Death), the opening number of Elisabeth, introduces the main cast in Elisabeth's life with a few lines, all discussing the titular character and their relationship with her. In order: Luigi Lucheni, Archduchess Sophie and Duchess Ludovika, Emperor Franz Joseph, young Crown Prince Rudolf, Duke Max, adult Rudolf, and Death himself. Elisabeth enters (after much chanting of her name by the ensemble) at the end of the song.
• StarlandKrew has two in the theme song. One only listing the characters introducing themselves, and the second during the small rap verse which goes into more detail of the Krew themselves.
• ’’Six'' has part of "Ex-Wives" where each Queen does a brief verse about themselves in the order in which Henry married them (and the order in which they get their numbers).

Video Games

• The iconic and easily-memeable DK Rap, as shown here - this goes a step further by dedicating entire verses to each character!
• Kano. Liu Kang. Raiden. Johnny Cage. Scorpion. Sub-Zero. Sonya. MORTAL KOMBAT!
  • Liu Kang. Sonya. Jax. Kitana. Jade. Sub-Zero. Scorpion. Cyrax. Smoke. Sheeva. Motaro. MORTAL KOMBAT!^note For the record, this version leaves out a lot of the roster at the time.
  • Kano. Liu Kang. Raiden. Johnny Cage. Scorpion. Sub-Zero. Sonya. Jax. Shao Kahn. Shang Tsung. Kitana. Kung Lao. FIGHT! Choose your destiny-- MORTAL KOMBAT!^note This version still leaves out a lot of the roster, even within the game itself.
  • Sonya Blade. Jax. Kano. Shang Tsung. Raiden. Liu Kang. Kung Lao. Sub-Zero. Scorpion. FINAL ROUND! FINISH HIM! FIGHT! Test your might!^note This version lists many of the main characters, leaving out the Original Character Cole Young and the Outworld warriors such as Goro, Nitara, and Mileena.
• Beyond all belief this is what plays when you fight Good King Moogle Mog XII in Final Fantasy XIV. Half way through the fight the BGM shifts and the troupe of moogles you fought before the boss will pull this trope with a little bit of Expository Theme Tune to top it all off by telling you in the song the kinds of things they will do to you.
• This trope is actually Older Than the NES. It was very common for arcade games to show the players a list of any enemies and obstacles along with their point values (if any). However, if we were to list every game that does this, we'd be here all day. Suffice it to say, it goes as far back as Space Invaders at least:
  Play
  
  Space Invaders
  
  * Score advance table*
  [UFO sprite] = ?
  [top invader sprite] = 30 points
  [middle invader sprite^note The series' Mascot Mook] = 20 points
  [bottom invader sprite] = 10 points
• Pac-Man has a (somewhat) more traditional example:
  Character / Nickname
  [Red monster] Shadow / Blinky
  [Pink Monster] Speedy / Pinky
  [Light Blue Monster] Bashful / Inky
  [Orange Monster] Pokey / Clyde^note  [small dot] 10 points / [energizer dot] 50 points / [energizer demonstration] 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600
  • Ms. Pac-Man
  With Blinky / Pinky / Inky / Sue / Starring Ms. Pac-Man
• "Namco Presents Mappy / Starring Mappy as Micro Police / Nyamco^note Renamed "Goro" in the North American version as Boss the Big Bit / Mewkies^note "Meowky" in the North American version as Naughty Folks"
• Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 2 (U.S.) list the enemy characters in the end credits.
• The Donkey Kong Country trilogy for the Super NES has one during the true, in the case of the first game credits sequence of each game.
• Every team theme song in Sonic Heroes has a verse or three singing about every member of its respective trio, except for Team Rose — "Follow Me" doesn't directly mention the trio, but still thematically relates to them. It's appropriate since the entire game's story and atmosphere is reminiscent of a Saturday Morning cartoon.

Web Animation

• The Amazing Digital Circus: In the pilot, the implied intro for the titular computer game starts with a roll call of the members of the circus at that moment. When newcomer Pomni suddenly appears mid-sequence, Jax breaks character and tells Caine that he doesn't want to redo the entire theme song to account for her.
  There's Gangle and Zooble and Kinger too
  Ragatha, Jax, and there's Kaufmo, whoo-hoo!
  Day after day after day we fly
  Past the Moon and the Sun and we don't know why!
• In Teen Girl Squad: "Cheerleader! So and So! What's Her Face! The Ugly One!"
• Homestar Runner: Parodied in the Strong Bad Email "theme song", where Strong Bad envisions such a song which mentions himself, Strong Sad, Strong Mad, The Cheat, and Homestar Runner. In his own words:
  Strong Bad: I'm sure viewership would triple if I had one of those crappy cartoon theme songs that bludgeons you over the head with the blunt end of the show's premise.
  Singers: Strong Bad is a wrestle-man
  He's the email-checking-est guy in the land
  He checks real emails from the 'Net
  He's got two brothers, and The Cheat, his pet (The Cheat, his pet)
  There's nobody dumber
  Than Homestar Runner
  On "The Strong Bad Email Show"!
  Strong Bad: ...And the ratings have gone through the roof.
• In season 2 of Monster High the theme song has changed into a mix of Theme Tune Rap and this.
• DSBT InsaniT: Their names aren't said, but are displayed as each character appears in it.
• The LeBrons

Webcomics

• Happens in The Non-Adventures of Wonderella here. Not an intro, though.
• Andy Weir did once write a cast song for his webcomic Casey and Andy, which was then performed by the band Moosebutter. Albeit only two minutes long, it mentions every character who had appeared in the comic so far, and even one who didn't yet at that point: The Conquistador.

Web Videos

• The intro to every episode of BAMF Girls' Club lists each of the main protagonists (and the video titles repeat it), just to emphasize the big Crossover nature of the show:
  Voice-over: When Buffy, Hermione, Katniss, Lisbeth, Michonne, and... Bella? move into one house, it's an utter BAMFgasm of awesomeness! It's the BAMF Girls Club!
• I Made America opens each episode by listing the Founding Fathers kidnapped from the past and brought to 2012 Chicago: "Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Washington, and John Adams!"

Western Animation

• Aqua Teen Hunger Force:
  • The OG intro:
  My name is...
  Shake zula, the mic rula, the old schoola, you want a trip, I’ll bring it to ya
  Frylock and I'm on top, rock you like a cop, Meatwad, you up next with your knock-knock
  Meatwad make the money see, Meatwad get the honeys G,
  Drivin' in my car, livin’ like a star, Ice on my fingers and my toes and I'm a Taurus.
  • Aqua Something You Know Whatever:
  (Mmm, Frylock es tan caliente)^note Mmm, Frylock is so hot
  I'm the pimp on top, can't never be stopped
  Frylock's on the bottom and yo mama on my
  (Shake Zula es elegante de la casa, el Meatwad es tan grande)^note Shake Zula is the handsome of the house, the Meatwad is so big
  Don't understand why you fuckin' with the "G"
  Cuz Shake got the bling, make the blind man see
  Meatwad got yo mom in my ride
  Rollin' up the hold up and they keep the ho's high
  • Aqua TV Show Show:
  I said Master Shake, Frylock, my little homey Meatwad
  Lotus on the beats, yeah, we heavy on the streets, y'all
  Got the whole planet in the palm of our hands though
  So let's get turnt up for the Aqua TV Show Show...
  
• Alvin and the Chipmunks: "We're the Chipmunks / Alvin, Simon, Theodore!"
• Animal Mechanicals introduces Rex, Unicorn, Komodo, Mouse, and Sasquatch and their powers in its intro.
• The Archie Show has a roll call that gets sung twice.
  • "Archie, Reggie, Veronica, Betty...Jughead too! Archie's Weird Mysteries!"
• This applies to Avatar: The Last Airbender's Power Trio in the Opening Narration in the first season only but not afterwards, as the opening never changed as more characters were added.
• The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes has a theme song containing subtle references to the four presumably most popular Avengers: Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, and The Mighty Thor. (While they appear onscreen in that order, the lyrics reference Hulk first, followed by Cap, Thor, and Iron Man.) Deleted lyrics reference Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Black Panther, and The Wasp, four superheroes who also became Avengers during the first season. The show's second season replaces this theme with an Opening Narration that lists off the "Big Four" Avengers by name, but not any of the other Avengers, despite there being more members shown at the end of the opening sequence.
• Bob the Builder: The theme song of the original series has the lyrics "Scoop, Muck and Dizzy, and Roley too. Lofty and Wendy join the crew". In the 2015 reboot, those lyrics are changed to "Scoop, Muck and Lofty, and Two-Ton too. Leo and Wendy join the crew".
• The reboot of Blue's Clues, Blue's Clues & You!, does this in the extended theme with all of Josh's friends, excluding Side Table Drawer, Mailbox, and Periwinkle.
• The Brady Kids introduces the six kids by name (unlike the counterpart live-action series) along with the animal characters. It rather runs out of steam for the two littlest Bradys, who get "The youngest one is Bob" and "And sister Cindy too", respectively.
• Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars! cartoon:
  "Bucky! Captain Bucky O'Hare! Mutants, aliens and toads beware! If you're looking for adventure, well this is it, with Jenny, Deadeye, Blinky, and Willy DuWitt..."
• The theme song of Bump in the Night has main character Mr. Bumpy introduce himself in the first verse and the second verse has him introducing the supporting cast.
  Squishington: Bump with Squishy!
  Bumpy: He's my very best pal!
  Molly Coddle: Bump with Molly!
  Bumpy: She's my favorite gal! Bump with Closet Monster and Destructo, too, but those guys don't bother Bumpy! He knows what to do!
• The first season of Captain N: The Game Master has a sort of example:
  (map of Videoland appears with various video game sound effects playing in the background)
  Narrator: Welcome to Videoland!
  Mega Man: Mega hi!
  Princess Lana: Wake up, Kid Icarus.
  "Simon Belmont": Welcome to Castlevania! Yahoo! YA-HOO!!
  Kevin / Captain N: It's Kongoland!^note He only appears in a few episodes, and even then, he's a neutral character (well, this version of him, anyway).
  Mother Brain: Mother Brain will get you, little princess! (Evil Laugh)
• Captain Planet and the Planeteers is an example of an Opening Narration doing this. It namedrops Gaia, all five Planeteers (plus their powers) and Captain Planet, and also features cameos of a few Eco-Villains^note Duke Nukem, Dr. Blight, Sly Sludge and Hoggish Greedly, to be exact.
• C.O.P.S. (the cartoon about future cops fighting future criminals) has a roll call end credits sequence.
• Defenders of the Earth:
  Out of the sky, his rockets ignite! Jets into battle flying faster than light (Flash Gordon)!
  "Lord of the jungle, the hero who stalks! The beasts call him brother, the Ghost who Walks (Phantom)!
  Master of magic spells and illusion, enemies grumble in fear and confusion (Mandrake)!
  "His strength is a legend! His skills conquer all! Armed with his power, we never will fall (Lothar^note He was originally Mandrake's assistant. For this show, he was promoted to main character.)!
• Dorg Van Dango: The intro features the instrumental variant of this trope after the Expository Theme Tune.
• Fresh Beat Band of Spies, the Animated Adaptation of The Fresh Beat Band as mentioned above: "You're on a mission with Twist and Shout! Kiki and Marina spy it up to work it out! Bounce with our sidekick, Bo!"
• G.I. Joe Extreme outright yells "ROLL CALL!" before introducing the team's individual members.
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983), another Opening Narration example ("Only three others share this secret - our friends the Sorceress, Man-At-Arms, and Orko.").
  • Naturally, its successor She-Ra: Princess of Power also did this.
• The Jetsons
  "Meet George Jetson" / "His boy Elroy" / "Daughter Judy" / "Jane, his wife"
  (A book of TV theme lyrics adds "And Rosie the robot maid", but spoken rather than sung)
• Muppet Babies (1984) has one in which (except for Animal) the characters describe themselves, without saying their names.
  Kermit: I like adventure,
  Piggy: I like romance,
  Fozzie: I love great jokes,
  Animal: Animal dance!
  Scooter: I've got my computer,
  Skeeter: I flip through the air,
  Rowlf: I play the piano,
  Gonzo: And I've got blue hair, ha!
  Bunsen: Me, I invent things!
  Beaker: Meep meep meep meep!
  Nanny: Is everything all right in here?
  Babies: Yes, Nanny.
• Muppet Babies (2018) also features this kind of song, only this time, it's the singer who describes the characters, and uses their names as well.
  Singer: Kermit loves adventure,
  Miss Piggy is a star,
  Summer loves to paint,
  and Fozzie's jokes are...
  Fozzie: Wocka Wocka!
  Kermit: Hey, that doesn't even rhyme!
  Singer: Animal's on drums,
  Gonzo's off in a flash,
  Everybody duck,
  cause' I think he's gonna...
  Miss Nanny: Is everything all right out here?
  Babies: Yes, Miss Nanny"
• Primos: Tater lists off the names of her cousins near the theme song's end. Apparently, she can't stand it.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) had the theme song name the Turtles and describe their personalities and positions on the team.
  Splinter taught them to be ninja teens, (He's a radical rat!)
  Leonardo leads, Donatello does machines (That's a fact, Jack!)
  Raphael is cool, but rude (Gimme a break)! Michelangelo is a party dude!
  • The 2003 series added a theme tune roll call in the fourth season and also had the Turtles' names listed in the theme songs to the Fast Forward and Back to the Sewer seasons.
  Turtles count it off!
  One! Leonardo's always in control!
  Two! The wise guy is Michelangelo!
  Three! Donatello, he's the brains of the bunch!
  Four! Count on Raphael to throw the first punch!
  • An unused theme song for the 2003 series' final season (Back To The Sewers) has these lyrics:
  Leonardo, leading the pack
  Raphael, always on the attack
  Donatello, the brains and the guts
  Michelangelo, yeah, he's still nuts!
  • The 2012 series does this, as well with the Turtles in the same order as the '87 show, but Splinter moved to the end instead of the top.
  Leonardo, he's the leader in blue! Does anything it takes to get his ninjas through!
  Donatello is a fellow has a way with machines!
  Raphael got the most attitude on the team!
  Michelangelo, he's one of a kind, and you know just where to find him when it's party time!
  Master Splinter taught them every single skill they need to be one lean mean green incredible team!
  • The opening to Rise of the TMNT has this as well, and is noticeably the first opening to use the turtles' nicknames instead of their full names:
  Raph is ready for a fight, Leo's makin' a scene
  Mikey's got mad skills, Donnie rocks machines!
• Warner Bros. Animation's comedy shows in the 90s must have loved this trope; they did it with Tiny Toon Adventures, Taz-Mania, Animaniacs, Road Rovers, and both of the regular themes for Histeria!
  • Taz-Mania has a rapid-fire one rattling off the show's extensive supporting cast, with the screen split into increasingly smaller segments in order to squash them all in. It ends with an exasperated "Have we left anyone out?", followed by the appearance of Taz himself.
  • Their previous primetime (later Saturday morning) anthology series (which had various different names over its 40-year run) had an intro during the 1984-1985 season that introduced a few of the characters this way along their trademark CharacterCatchphrases:
  "There's Porky Pig! (Th-th-th-the name's Porky Pig)
  And Daffy Duck! (You're dethpicable!)
  There's Tweety Bird! (I tawt I taw a puddy tat!)
  Bugs Bunny's luck! (Eh, what's up doc?)
  And Elmer Fudd! (Be vewy vewy quiet)
  Sylvester the cat! (Thufferin' Thuccotash)
  Speedy Gonzales! (Arriba, epah, yeeha!)
  And Sam in the hat!^note referring to Yosemite Sam (You snaggletooth varmint!)"
  • Although Freakazoid! doesn't do this in its normal opening, the first episode features a segment entitled "Freakazoid and Friends!", which is sung to the tune of the Animaniacs theme (by that show's main voice actors no less) and listed off every character to appear in it (and even a few that didn't).
• Mixed Nutz:
  Meet Babak he wants to be the well-accepted kind / Athletic Jae leads the way while Sousanne speaks her mind / Sanjay jokes with all the folks and lastly Michael struts / With Brianna and Damaris, they are called MIXED NUTZ!
• My Friends Tigger & Pooh:
  And if I need help on the way / Buster might save the day, or Piglet, Lumpy or Roo / Eeyore has a paw to lend / Rabbit's got an ear to bend / Now all we're missing is you!
• "Starlight, Sweetheart, Melody, Bright Eyes, Patch and Clover. Bon Bon's making cookies, girls. Hurry up on over. My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My Little Pony Tales!..."
  • The theme song for the G3 and G3.5 cartoons was also one of these. It became the subject of much ridicule (well, moreso than usual) when several characters in the G4 cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic shared names with the G3/G3.5 ponies, but had wildly different personalities (the linked video contrasts Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Dash, for example).
  • Subverted in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic where the ponies are introduced by their elements, rather than by name (except in the Theme Tune Extended and in one toy commercial).
    • The Equestria Girls brand anthem uses one.
  • And once again subverted in My Little Pony: Pony Life, where they are described by their personalities and attributes instead of their elements; Fluttershy being sweet, Rainbow Dash being fast, Rarity being posh, Applejack being fun, and Pinkie Pie being cute... all except Twilight, who is still described as being "magic".
• There's one for Dethklok in the opening of Metalocalypse.
  Skwisgaar Skwigelf, taller than a tree,
  Toki Wartooth, not a bumblebee,
  William Murderface Murderface Murderface,
  Pickles the drummer, doodily doo, ding dong doodily doodily doo,
  Nathan Explosion
• Both the ending and the opening themes to The Powerpuff Girls. The opening lists the three girls as they appear on screen, while the ending has an expanded one that describes their personalities as well.
• The Super Hero Squad Show. "Wolverine and Hulk are fierce, Doctor Doom ends up in tears/when Iron Man joins the fight! Falcon darts in from the sky, Silver Surfer by his side, Thor's hammer has thunder's mi-iiiiight..."
  • The second season changed it slightly: "Wolverine and Hulk are fierce, even Thanos is in tears/when Iron Man joins the fight! Falcon darts in from the sky, Scarlet Witch will zap bad guys, Thor's hammer has thunder's mi-iiiiight..."
• Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated has a roll call in which the characters' names appear onscreen.
• Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! lists off the names of the 5 titular monkeys and Chiro.
• The Tool Street Gang all have their names called out during the Title Theme Tune- oddly, except for Fret, even though a shot of her jumping is included during the intro sequence at the perfect time for her name to be said.
• Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy would be the first Transformers show to incorporate this into the theme song's actual lyrics.
• Team Umizoomi: The end of the theme song has the lines "Milli, Geo, Bot, and you!"
• Half the 3-2-1 Penguins! theme song is the names of the penguins!
• Adventure Time. The regular theme only mentions Finn and Jake, but the Special Edition Titles for the mini-series "Stakes", "Islands" and "Elements" add characters relevant to their respective story arcs.
• "The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour" theme song from The Simpsons (specifically, "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase").
  Marge:

  Remember me? My name is Marge,
  The TV mom whose hair is large!
  (Maggie sucks her pacifier.)
  Bart:

  Step back mom, it's Bart's turn now!
  Eat my shorts! Don't have a cow!
  "Lisa":

  I'm Lisa — peppy, blonde, and stunning!
  Sophomore prom queen five years running!
  Goooo Lisa!

Homer doesn't get his own lyrics because he's too busy being scared by the "special ghost".

• Part of the Jake and the Neverland Pirates theme song is this, with each character acknowledging their name with "Ahoy!" as it's called out.
• Wild Animal Baby Explorers has this, with the characters' names being shouted out loud as the characters themselves appear on-screen. It was only introduced in later airings, though. The earlier episodes have the same opening theme and same animation in the title sequence, but the character names aren't shouted out loud.
• The Animated Adaptation of the El Chavo series has a variation in which the title sequence only shows the characters that appear that episode, similarly to the original show (itself an example) which announced which actors (and characters) were in that show's episode.
  • The English dub of the series on Kabillion plays this completely straight, as pretty much the entire theme song is nothing but introducing all the characters. The lyrics however do not mention the characters by name and instead describes them, while their names are on screen.
• Steven Universe 's theme ends with this:
  That's why the people of this world believe in
  Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, and Steven!
• Les Mondes Engloutis (AKA: Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea) does this in the theme song in the original French version (although Arkana is left out):
  "...Dans toutes les strates et Les Mondes Engloutis, suis Spartakus, Bob^note Renamed "Matt" in the English version, Rebecca..."
• "This is the story of Blinky Bill, and Flap and Nutsy too, and Wombo, Ruff, and Marcia, and Splodge the Kangaroo..."
  • The third season subverts this a little: "Here's Blinky Bill and Nutsy and it's Flap who makes it three. And a mob of circus animals who Blinky helped set free."
• The U.S. theme song to Sky Dancers does this, but the not the international or Region 1 DVD theme songs.
• The theme song to The 7D has one.
• The Bots Master has a theme tune roll call rap.
• Beginning with the first, most incarnations of Hanna-Barbera's ''Super Friends' franchise do this.
• Bubble Guppies did this during its theme song.
• Though the theme song of Budgie the Little Helicopter is mainly about Budgie, it briefly goes over the other main characters.
• The Get Along Gang does this^note Though not in the pilot by Nelvana., although some may have trouble figuring out what some of the other words are.
• The Roman Holidays:
  Gus: You'll love Gus, and Laurie, Precocia too!
  Precocia: And big brother Hap Holiday!
  ?^note Either Hap or Laurie; it's unclear.: And Brutus the Lion, the family cat.
  Gus: He'll eat you out of house and home as quick as that!
• Where's Huddles? plays with this trope:
  "There lives a family down the street, the Huddles! The McCoys live right next door!"
  Claude Pertwee (narrating): Yes, I know! The girls are alright—Marge and Penny—but the fellas...they play football, you know! Savages, that's what they are!"
• From the second season of Shirt Tales:
  Digger: "It's a cinch!"
  Kip: "In a pinch..."
  Rick: "You call..."
  "Pammy!" "Rick!" "Digger!" "Tyg!" "Kip!" "And Bogey!"
  All: "The Shirt Tales!"
  • The first season^note Which didn't have Kip. opening had a non-spoken (or sung) version where they were each given rapid closeups.
• Turbo F.A.S.T features a theme tune rap
  Turbo! He's got super speed!
  Whiplash! He jets to the lead!
  Skidmark! Propeller flow!
  Chet's safe, he'll take it slow!
  Smoove Move with them speakers baby!
  Burn burning that fire crazy!
  White Shadow, big with no fear!
  Now you know the team is here!
• The Marvel Superheroes has a theme song that simply describes them, instead of saying their names outright.
• The theme song for Kaeloo introduces all of its characters, but it has no lyrics. Instead, their names appear while they are shown doing something they’d usually be doing on the show, like Quack Quack eating yogurt, and Mr. Cat doing an Evil Laugh while standing in a completely destroyed war zone which is partially on fire.
• Both seasons of Pound Puppies (1980s) used this, but in different ways. The first season's opening theme was an instrumental that had a voice-over introduce the characters in the beginning, while the second season gave the opening theme lyrics and actually had the characters introduced in the song.
• This isn't used in the normal theme song played on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, but the extended version featured in the program's music album releases has this.
  Prince Wednesday skips royally by / Miss Elena's waving hi / Won't you ride along with me? / Ride along / O the Owl's reading a book / Katerina's twirling, look! / Won't you ride along with me? / Ride along!
• Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation does this with the "Flying My Colors" number near the beginning of the movie.^note It appears later near the end, but as an instrumental.
  • The extended version of the theme for Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot released as a music video has this.
    What do Cheer and Share and Oopsy do? / Bring smiles, give gifts and help you, too / Funshine's a fun one, Grumpy's blue, ooo-wee-ooo...
  • Care Bears: Unlock the Magic: "Good Luck, Funshine, and Cheer the leader / Dibble, Grumpy, and Share, rollin' in the Cloudseeker!"
• "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, then he'll ask for a glass of milk... And then one thing will lead to another, and you never know what's next! Let's go to unexpected places, they'll leave a smile on our faces. With Moose, Pig, Cat and Dog, so come on, come along."
• "There's action! There's comedy! There's danger! There's Penny! There's Bad Luck Hula! There's plenty for everybody, on the Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show!"^note Plastic Man: "Eat your heart out, ape man!"
• Kuu Kuu Harajuku:
  "...Love, Angel, Music, Baby!^note Originally the name of her first album, it also refers to 4 imaginary ideal Japanese girls (according to Word of God), as well as the names of her backup dancers. And G work perfectly!..."
• The Backyardigans:
  "Hi, I'm Pablo!" "My name's Tyrone!" "I'm Uniqua!" "I'm Tasha!" "And my name's Austin!" "And we're your backyard friends, the Backyardigans!"
• PAW Patrol:
  "Whenever there's a problem round Adventure Bay, Ryder and his team of pups will come and save the day! Marshall! Rubble! Chase! Rocky! Zuma! Skye! They're on their way!"
• Stoppit and Tidyup's intro has the narrator give the names of all of Stoppit and Tidyup's friends. The roll call here is quite a long one given that the episodes themselves are only five minutes long.
• Little Robots' roll call takes up about half the intro:
  Narrator: There's Tiny, Messy, Sporty, Stretchy, Rusty, Stripey, Noisy, Spotty, Scary—
  Scary: Whoo!
  Narrator: —Flappy the bat, the Sparky twins—
  The Sparky twins: That's us!
  Narrator: —and that's that!
• The theme song to Megas XLR does the "show characters' names on screen while clips of the characters are shown" variant with Coop, Kiva, and Jamie.
• The theme song of My Time with Jesus introduces the four main characters, Christine, Eva, Enrique, and Joseph, and has them describe their personalities.
• The Opening Narration of Thundarr the Barbarian spends a lot more time describing the After the End setting, but after that it names and describes heroes Thundarr, Ookla, and Ariel.
• Thomas & Friends
  • The earliest series, between episodes, had the main theme play over a montage of characters with names on boards beside them.
  • From Seasons 8 to 21, the series' theme was the "Engine Roll Call", although the actual roll call part of the song only plays at the end of the episode.
  Thomas, He's the cheeky one,
  James is vain but lots of fun,
  Percy pulls the mail on time,
  Gordon thunders down the line,
  Emily really knows her stuff,
  Henry toots and huffs and puffs,
  Edward wants to help and share,
  Toby, well, let's say he's square!
  • In Season 22, the theme song changed yet again for the Big World! Big Adventures! era which includes a roll call. The "Engine Roll Call" song remains at the end and is given updated lyrics, with Nia and Rebecca taking Edward and Henry's positions.
  Thomas, He's the cheeky one,
  Rebecca, she's new and lots of fun,
  Percy pulls the mail on time,
  Gordon thunders down the line,
  Emily really knows her stuff,
  James is always showing off,
  Nia wants to help and share,
  Toby, well, let's say he's square!
• A few segments of Robot Chicken do this:
  • In the final segment of the eighth season episode, "The Unnamed One" there is the Cheese League:
  Colby! (Colby: Let's slice and dice, team!)
  Muenster! (Muenster: (farts) Who cut the cheese?)
  Cheddar! (Cheddar: When in doubt, add it to my account!)
  Brie! (Brie: Girl mouse gonna rock the house!)
  Baby Swiss! (Baby Swiss: I'm not a baby!)
  Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cheese League!
  • One segment of the ninth season episode "Scoot to the Gute" has the Road Hawgs.
  "Manpig, Pigman, Flank, and Steve! They're pigs on wheels, they oink and squeal..."
  • Again in the Squatch Squad segment of the tenth season episode "Musya Shakhtyorov in: Honeyboogers".
  "Bigfoot! Space Squatch! Skunk Ape Stomp! Squatch Squad!"
  • And then again in the segment about Les Marble Mob of the eleventh season episode "May Cause One Year of Orange Poop".
  David! (David: It's better close up.)
  Venus! (Venus: Not armed, still dangerous.)
  Thinker! (Thinker: I think, therefore I kick ass!)
  Mannekin Pis! (Mannekin Pis: You're really pissing me off!)
  Abe Lincoln! (Abe Lincoln: Lincoln smash!)
  Marble Mob!
  • In the next episode, "May Cause Random Wolf Attacks", the Secret Infinity Contests of Crisis Champions sketch has a rock-style number listing all the characters from Cheese League, Squatch Squad, Road Hawgs, Bigfoot and Big Foot, and Marble Mob.
• This was used in the theme "I'm With You, Scout," from the Scout & Friends installments of the Leap Frog specials.
  Scout! (Here!) Violet! (Here!) Penny! (Present!) Eli! (Here!) Axel! Let's go. (Honk, honk!) I'm with you, Scout...
• 101 Dalmatians: The Series: While their names aren't spoken in the lyrics each of the main pups gets their own character title card.
• The opening of Hero: 108 starts with a short narration done by Lin-Chung, followed by the names of First Squad's members (minus Mr No Hands). It's all spoken instead of sung.
• "We're The Save-Ums! Meet the Save-Ums! Jazzi! Foo! Noodle! Ka-Chung! Custard! B.B. Jammies! Puffs, puffs, puffs!"
• Wacky Races introduces each of the racers in narration only; no singing.
• X-Men: The Animated Series had one of these with no lyrics. The Latin Spanish dub, however, had a narrator telling each character's adapted-to-Spanish name as they came on screen.
• The theme to The ZhuZhus introduces the four main Zhus, as well as their owner Frankie.
  Pipsqueak, always plays it cool / To Mr. Squiggles, science rules / Num Nums looks before she leaps / Chunk has style and loves to eat!
  "And I'm Frankie!"
• Zula Patrol has lines about the characters:
  Wake up, Gorga, it's time to play,
  Come on, Captain Bula, let's welcome the day!
  Where's that Zeeter ready to go?
  Wizzy and Wigg are good to glow
  Beaker's bubbling, turning blue, Multo's making something new!
• The theme song to the obscure direct-to-video series Little Dogs on the Prairie lists the main characters^note Hollister, Gilroy, Patterson, the Sheriff, Ms. Kitty, Darcy, Sport, and Scout in the second verse.
• Space Goofs has one in the extended version of the theme song.
  Poor old Stereo / He ain't sure just what he knows
  Etno is intelligent / He's quite a super-head
  Gorgious is great big guy / But he's fat from too much pie
  Bud is cool of course it's true / But he's a TV fool
  
  Candy is the sweetest one / Cleans and cooks and acts like mom
• Yeah, Yeah We're The Eggs
  Benedict: Benedict
  Yolky: And Yolky
  Scramble: And Scramble
  Sunnyside: And Sunny
• Work It Out Wombats!: In the theme song, the characters sing about themselves.
  Zadie: Hey, I'm Zadie, bring on the problems, try some different things 'til we solve them.
  Malik: I'm Malik, we'll work it out, just wait. We make some plans, then we build and create.
  Zeke: I'm Zeke, here's Snout, we like to explore.
  All: Let's go do it! One, two, three, four!
• The intro to Bluey has Bluey's family playing a game of musical statues, with their names called out as each one gets caught dancing when the music stops. In order, Mum, Dad, Bingo, and Bluey are named.
• The theme song to The Weekenders has the "clips of a character is shown with their own title card" variant.
• The theme song for the third season of Atomic Betty, Atomic Betty: Mission Earth, has one (the original theme used for the first 2 seasons doesn't)
• God Rocks!: The theme song names, in order, Chip, Gem, Splinter, and Carb.

Parodies

• Parodied here.
• On Taxi Jim is on a blind date with Marcia Wallace from The Bob Newhart Show, and sings her the lyrics he's made up for the show's theme: "Here comes Bob and Carol/His wife Emily really likes him/He's got five members in his group..."
• Spoofed in the opening number of The Drowsy Chaperone, "Fancy Dress," where all the main characters and their motivations are revealed in song - even a character who only shows up for one scene at the very end of the show.