L to R: Hayley, Jake, Mr. Stockley, Felix
Remember the days of Nickelodeon that featured ordinary kids getting thrust into wild and wacky supernatural situations with a healthy dose of comedy and danger? No? Well apparently Nick decided that the kids of today needed a refresher course, hence the science fiction comedy show The Troop.
The show focuses on three Oklahoma high schoolers that suddenly are thrust into a secret society, courtesy of their school counselor, that protects humankind from all the supernatural scourges in existence that we think aren't real, but most assuredly are. The main characters consist of:
- Jake (Nick Purcell): A massive comic book/superhero buff who is more than enthused that he has been enlisted into the world of... world-saving.
- Felix (David Del Rio): The resident brains of the group. Somewhat awkward in regards to social norms, he wants to reveal to anyone and everyone what the group does in order to boost his status, but due to a previously taken oath, reluctantly refrains.
- Hayley (Gage Golightly): The school's most popular beauty queen, good at everything and anything, but discovers her monster-battling abilities are less than subpar. Usually ends up being the voice of reason when she's not concerned about her popularity.
- Kirby Cadworth-Bankroft III (Matt Shively): A rich kid who used to be part of the Tulsa Troop and transfers in after Felix leaves to go to Troop International.
- Mr. Stockley (John Marshall Jones): The current school administrator/counselor who enlists the kids into the world of The Troop. Loves his job a little TOO much, which tends to disturb the trio at times.
- Cadence Nash (Malese Jow): Joins the group late in Season 2. She is half-monster and a Foil to Hayley
The show ran for two seasons and was canceled midway into the second, leaving seven unaired episodes (in the US at least). While other countries managed to get the full series run, all but three of the unaired episodes made their way to the Nicktoons network in the US.
Not to be confused with F Troop or Goof Troop, or the horror novel The Troop.
This show provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: Daniella Monet playing the sister of the Eris Fairy (played by Victoria Justice) was obviously a reference to Victorious, where Monet and Justice play sisters. Interestingly, Monet played the good one and Justice played the troubled one.
- Kelsey Grammer voices Dr. Cranius. Cranius boasts of having attended Harvard, which Frasier Crane also did.
- It's not the first time Malese Jow has played a monster.
- Adults Are Useless: Literally, once you hit 18, you lose your courage and cannot fight monsters.
- An Alien Named "Bob": In "Eris Returns", the Eris Fairy Cecillia's Psycho Ex-Boyfriend is a monstrous, multi-armed Vrog from Another Dimension... named Todd. Cecillia herself has a human name, which is in stark contrast to her sister's Unpronounceable name.
- Alpha Bitch: Subverted. Hayley is the school's number one popular chick and can be shallow, yet she can take the reins of the team if need be due to the realization that it's no longer always about her, thus making her less of a bitch.
- Ambiguously Gay: Pick one? Mostly Felix. (See also Camp Straight)
- And Starring: The credit for John Marshall Jones, who plays Mr. Stockley.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Phoebe
- Ascended Fanboy: Kirby was a big admirer of Felix's and was honored to take his place on the team.
- Awkward First Sleepover: Awkward geek Felix shows up in drag to crash the slumber party thrown by Hayley because there's a monster they have to hunt, but he has such a good time and is actually accepted by the girls more in his "Felice" persona that he goes racing back to the party after they've defeated the monster.
- Badass Adorable: Jake
- Beware the Silly Ones: Don't let the fact that he's a living car wash sponge fool you. Dr. Cranius is one of the most dangerous and cunning villains The Troop has ever faced.
- Big Damn Kiss In the episode "Road Trip", Jake and Hayley kiss. Sparks were literally flying.
- Big Eater: Cadence. In each episode, she has been featured in (so far, not many), there is at least one scene where she eats (off-screen) quite a large amount of food for someone her age. In the first episode, she was in she eats 3 whole pizzas by herself. This is probably due to the fact that she is really half monster.
- Betty and Veronica: Jake with Hayley (Betty) and Cadence (Veronica)
- Butt-Monkey: Felix, Felix, Felix.
- Cain and Abel: Cadence and her brother Chino. Cadence is the Abel and Chino is the Cain.
- Chain of People: the Troop forms one to save Jake's little sister Phoebe from being pulled into another dimension in "Itty Bitty Baby Dragon".
- Christmas Episode: "The Good, the Bad and the Ickie Doll" from Season 1. The Vapor Monster can control the eponymous dolls and is going to use them to attack numerous humans on Christmas.
- Clothing Damage: The Borlak from "Lost in Translation" produces an acid from its mouth that can dissolve clothing like acid. In their first encounter with it, Felix, Jake, and Hayley are rendered completely naked, (only seen via Shoulders-Up Nudity).
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Augustus's new sidekick Fredo.
- Cool Old Guy: Mr. Stockley
- Covered in Gunge: The first Nickelodeon show to take advantage of the network's roots in a long time.
- Cute Creature, Creepy Mouth: The Hideocute in one episode looks like a normal rabbit... until its eyes turn red and it opens its mouth to reveal sharp teeth.
- Disguised in Drag: Jake and Felix in "Pajama Game... of Death"
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The episode where Cadence gets captured by Troop International seems to have some undertones that racism is wrong.
- The End... Or Is It?: "No More Master Nice Guy" ends with Gus revealing he was able to block out the snark's effects and keep his memory of monsters.
- Evil Makes You Monstrous: The Vapor Monster in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ickie Doll" does this to a scarecrow and a product line of Ickie Dolls. The scarecrow donned a Nightmare Face equipped with Glowing Eyes of Doom and a Slasher Smile. The Ickie Dolls became obese and hunched with razor-sharp teeth.
- False Friend: The first time Gus returns, he's faking his memory of monsters being wiped and buddying up to Felix in order to gain access to Troop technology.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: A few people on this show have been killed and eaten by monsters. One episode's intro featured a guy getting dissolved in a gelatinous cube monster.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Hayley and Cadence
- Foreshadowing: A literal example in "The Triangle" where Cadence's shadow what appears to be a tail.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: Jake and Hayley end up in each other's bodies in "Taming of the Cube"
- Fun-Hating Confiscating Adult: Jake and Phoebe each have something confiscated by their neighbor. Jakes takes advantage of the neighbor having been temporarily petrified by a Basilisk to get their stuff back from his box of confiscated toys.
- Gas Leak Cover Up:
- When the gym is destroyed by enormous worm monsters during a big dance, the Troop destroys the monsters and uses their miniature memory zapper monster (the snark) on everyone. As everyone surveys the wreckage, the Troop's adult advisor cheerily tells them that there had been a simple plumbing leak.
- In a later episode, they open a portal to a monster dimension and cover it with a tent and a gas leak sign. Unfortunately, the sign looks like one used by a band named "Gas Leak" and the heroes find themselves surrounded by fans who won't let anyone explain they're talking about an actual leak instead of the band.
- Gelatinous Encasement: The titular monster in the episode "Taming of the Cube" is a gelatinous cube that envelops people and swaps the minds of the victims. It also had a victim before The Troop found him, who was rather unfortunate in his fate of "being instantly dissolved without even a trace of evidence."
- Grass is Greener: One episode has a subplot where Stockley meets up with his old Troop buddies. They all have very successful careers, so he feels embarrassed about working in the school. They, however, think it's more impressive that he's mentoring a Troop team.
- Growing Up Sucks: When Troop members grow up, they find the monsters too scary to fight and thus need to be retired.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Cadence is half Blood Trasher, as is her brother.
- Halloween Episode: In "The Great Punkin," Jake accidentally allows all the monsters to escape. Meanwhile, Haley's haunted house project leaves a lot to be desired and Felix goes trick-or-treating in an elaborate costume.
- Harmless Villain:
- A monster called a Danker is locked up in the Halloween Episode. According to the Troop monster guide, it has a razor-sharp tongue, but there's nothing to suggest that it's ever used or that represents a danger to society. When the power grid goes down and the monsters escape, terrorizing the city, the Danker stays in its cell and keeps Jake company. If anything it seems more annoying than threatening.
- Also the Sniffer, who is locked up is the highest security, not because he's dangerous, but because he is incredibly annoying
- Hate Plague: Inverted in one episode, where insects called The Swarm feed on people's angst and anger, causing everybody to like each other.
- Hero-Worshipper: Jake to Lance in "Tentacle Face"; Hayley (and to a lesser extent, Felix) to Bianca Stonehouse in "The Substitute"; Keiko and Yuki to Felix in "Lost in Translation". Also, Kirby once wore a shirt with Felix's face and the inscription WWFD (What Would Felix Do?)
- I Am a Humanitarian: Blood Thrashers are meat-eaters in general, but aren't shy about making a human a meal. Cadence has struggled not to be this, but her brother has no problem with it.
- Killer Rabbit: Plenty in this show, including one that actually looks like a rabbit.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Snarking is this universe’s form of neuralizing.
- Masquerade: Maintained by "snarking" anyone else who finds out about the monsters.
- Mexican Standoff: When the three of them can't figure out which one is possessed by the monster.
- Mister Seahorse: Jake in "Snarked Up"
- Mood Motif: The twinkling glockenspiel of "wow he's suitable for the Troop!"
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: Kirby once addresses a group as "Ladies, Gentlemen, Cadence"
- "No Peeking!" Request: In "Lost in Translation", Felix, Jake, and Hayley are all hit with the Borlak's slime, which doesn't injure them but it makes all their clothes melt away. Just as Felix and Jake start to turn around to look at the naked Hayley behind them, they hear her circutron gun charging and she warns them not to turn around if they don't want to get evaporated.
- Non-Malicious Monster: Cadence, who is also a Reluctant Monster. At worst, simply petty and obnoxious, but Cadence actively represses the worst traits Blood Thrashers have and just wants to live in peace.
- Noodle Incident: When Troop International showed up to arrest Cadence, Kirby commented that all he knew about International Law was about having parties on boats and importing white tigers. While Kirby being a rich kid might explain him being no stranger to those parties and laws that affect them, one must wonder how he'd know about the tiger part.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Dr. Cranius. You'd think a sponge couldn't cause so much trouble, but you'd be wrong.
- Note to Self: Gus once told the heroes they couldn't erase his memory since he had hidden reminders. They instead sent him to a mental institution where his tales about monsters will be disregarded as delusions.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Jake
- Our Vampires Are Different: Vampsters, vampires with hamster attributes
- Poor Communication Kills:
- "Oh Brother" might as well be titled this! First, not only will Cadence not tell Jake she's half-monster, she keeps it a secret that her maneating brother is hanging around, which would've saved her the trouble of being held at gunpoint by Hayley and being forced to tell Jake in that manner. While that's a bit understandable because she still loves her brother, Jake could've solved everything if he'd just told Cadence that her brother wasn't dead...and was unconscious in a crate right beside him!
- "Batteries Not Included" played it for laughs. Hayley rejected setting Jake up with a friend of hers, saying they were in different leagues. Jake spends a subplot grousing about this and considering it a huge insult, finally having it out with her. Hayley explains that she didn't mean the friend was too good for Jake; she meant that Jake was too good for her friend. Ship Tease ensues.
- Two Guys and a Girl: Jake, Felix, and Hayley
- Proud to Be a Geek: Felix
- Put on a Bus: Felix leaves very early into Season 2 to take a position in Troop International.
- "Rashomon"-Style: "I, Monster" has a shape-shifting monster escape and cocoon one of the trio before taking that form. During the stand-off and back-and-forth accusations over who is who, each one comes up with a story over how a given person was replaced.
- Hayley's story: Jake is portrayed as a hopeless, comic book-reading slacker that constantly says "Dude"; he gets cocooned because he was goofing around and not listening to Hayley. Felix is also portrayed as a stereotypical nerd.
- Jake's story: he hits back with a version that portrays Hayley as a massive Control Freak too involved in her club activities; she gets replaced because she obsessed over trivial details rather than keep her guard up. Felix is portrayed as an even more pathetic nerd.
- Felix's story: he offers a scenario where he himself was replaced. He portrays himself as a James Bond-esque spy, Hayley fawning all over him, Jake completely dependent on him, Stockley as a general, and the monster talking like a supervillain. Felix concedes he doesn't believe any of this happened or that he was ever replaced; he was just annoyed with how pathetic he was portrayed in the other two stories.
- The final reveal is that Jake was replaced. What really happened involves bits of all three stories: the talking monster attacked Jake after distracting him with a trivial question, though he tries to save face by lying about getting in a few good punches.
- Retool: Between the first and second seasons to create a more comic-book feel complete with a new theme song.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Mr. Stockley
- Secret-Keeper: Initially, Hayley for Cadence being Half-Blood Thrasher.
- Sequel Hook: In "Itty Bitty Baby Dragon", Phoebe insists on helping lure Sam the dragon back to the portal where his mother will follow him. Stockley compliments her on her bravery, holds up his badge, and says: "We'll see you in high school."
- Ship Tease: Jake and Hayley start developing this towards the end of Season 1's "Batteries Not Included" (where she explains what she meant when she said a particular girl wasn't in the same league as him).
- Somebody Doesn't Love Raymond: Hayley had an episode devoted to trying to win over a girl who absolutely refused to like her. In one scene, the girl starts to apologize to Hayley for being rude, but it goes downhill and the girl decides she hates her again. Hayley eventually learns that it's not important if everyone likes her.
- Taken for Granite: In the pilot, they had to face a basilisk.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Cadence and Hayley.
- Troperiffic: It's supposed to be reminiscent of old Nickelodeon Sci-Fi shows.
- Two Guys and a Girl
- Wealthy Yacht Owner: Kirby once said all he knew about International Law was about tiger importation and yacht parties.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Augustus. Before he tried to destroy the troop and take over the monsters, he was always bullied by his peers.
- You Have to Believe Me!: Since Gus was exploiting Note to Self to ensure the group couldn't simply erase his memories, Stockley turned him over to the higher-ups to deal with. Gus is next seen locked in a mental institution, constantly raving about the monsters out there and the secret organization dedicated to keeping them under wraps.
