Series / The Barbarian and the Troll

A troll burned his bridge
A warrior lost her crown
I'm not being poetic
That's literally what went down!
Together their journey has begun
Combining might and melody
To quest and smite a demon
And find their true family!

— The opening to the series

The Barbarian and the Troll is a live-action puppet series that premiered on Nickelodeon on April 2, 2021.

Evan, a spirited bridge troll prince in search of excitement and a place to perform his songs, finds adventure when he meets Brendar, a fierce female warrior and former princess on a quest to avenge an attack on her family.

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The Barbarian and the Troll provides examples of:

• Affectionate Parody: Of Sword and Sorcery.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
  • In the pilot when Kyle asks Brendar for her order:
    Kyle: "What can I get you?"
    Brendar: "Gee, I don't know. I just got kicked out of the Royal Order, lost my favorite sword, had to fight a band of goblins for a new one, haven't slept in four nights, and I don't like a lot of sauces!"
  • In "Off to See the Wizard", the path to Castle Gnarlia is through the Dark Forest of Torment, through the Black Mountains of Despair, and across the Light Gray River of Mild Inconveniences.
• Deal with the Devil: Kendar agrees to steal Axe from Brendar to get Alvin to leave his family alone.
• Didn't Think This Through: When the heroes have to entertain Christoph the mapmaking unicorn, Kyle is in charge of food and decides to serve a meat-centric meal, even though equine animals don't eat meat. When Christoph tells Kyle he's a vegetarian, they don't have anything to serve him for dinner except grapes and pudding.
• Exact Words:
  • When Brendar is outraged to find Axe isn't magically bound by dragon tears, she points out that when they first met, after all her boasting on her powers, she did throw in a line on "certain restrictions apply." Brendar lampshades how Axe could have clarified the "restrictions" included not really being magical.
  • When Horus berates Gnarlia for having turned Stacee into an owl, her only rebuttal is that Stacee was asking for it. Eventually he undstands that Stacee literally asked to be turned into an owl because of the perks that came with such a transformation and Gnarlia simply granted her wish.
• Gilligan Cut: In "Off to See the Wizard", after Evan is allowed to go on the journey:
  Brendar: We're going to get into a lot of dangerous situations.
  Evan: You won't regret this.
  [the episode cuts to them in the woods]
  Brendar: I'm beginning to regret this.
  [Evan is shown stuck in the web of a giant spider]
• Fluffy the Terrible: The name of the Snowgre name really is Fluffy.
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Evan. His father forced him into a role he didn't want, his mother kept trying to eat him and his bedroom was a cabinet drawer.
• Hope Spot: Played for Laughs. In the first episode, Brendar's princess status is revoked by Queen Shimmerian, making her lose her tiara, her shiny armor, and her sword, but it initially looks like Queen Shimmerian forgot her sword. Queen Shimmerian promptly appears in a vision again just to snatch the sword right out of Brendar's hands.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Aside from the first, all the episode names are related to music in one way or another.
• Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: It's only when fellow warrior Sharon literally laughs in her face that Brendar discovers Axe is not enchanted with dragon tears but just some random axe Horus bought from a merchant.
  Brendar: Apparently, those axes are so rare, I don't even know what one looks like!
• Literal Metaphor: After Evan finally gets fed up with his father, he promptly leaves with his stuff, but accidentally burns down the bridge he watched over for most of his life. His father notes that he literally just burned a bridge.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Brendar tears a serpent in two in the first episode of the series, with the serpent's response being a casual "Eh, I'm okay."
• Mood Whiplash: Used frequently, one notable example being when Alvin threatens to kidnap Kendar again, only this time there wouldn't be any Pizza Mondays!
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner:
  • When Alvin the Demon pushes Brendar's last button when she said she sounds like a sleepy walrus, that was the last straw for Brendar and started attacked her.
  Brendar: "You’re going down...literally!!!"
• Red Eyes, Take Warning:
  • Skely has red eyes, unlike the rest of Horus' skeletons.
  • In "Blood, Sweat, and Fears", the gang's fear selves all have red eyes. It's most obvious on Brendar, Stacy, and Axe, but a bit more subtle on Evan, due to his eyes being orange, and Horus, due to him just having small pupils with no irises.
• Reveling in the New Form: Stacey was turned into an owl, but she appreciates it a lot because of all the perks, like night vision and being able to poop whenever she wants. Actually, she wanted her mother to turn her into an owl.
• Talking Animal: All the animals in this show speak perfect English.
• Tom the Dark Lord: The demon who murdered Brendar's mother and kidnapped her brother is named Alvin.
• Troll Bridge: Trolls run every toll bridge in Gothmoria, with Evan accidentally burning his down while quitting his job setting the story into motion.
• Villain Song: Performed by the Queen when she reveals her true identity as Demon Alvin.
• Widely-Spaced Jail Bars: When Evan is on trial for animal cruelty, he can easily walk through the bars but refuses. When he's acquitted, he walks through.

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