Now that Ardorín's not here to ruin his cool pose...
Cálico Electrónico was a Spanish superhero spoof web animation series created by Nikodemo Animation. Started in 2004 as a marketing strategy (Cálico was initially the mascot of Electrónica Web, casually a store he visits in most episodes), it became one of the most popular Spanish web animation series ever. After three seasons and a one-season spinoff (Huérfanos Electrónicos), the show was discontinued in 2009 when Nikodemo filed for bankruptcy, later revived for two more seasons thanks to another company sponsoring it.
The show revolved around Cálico Jack, an Electronic City janitor who also happens to be The Hero of the town. He's nothing like a typical superhero, though: he's short, somewhat overweight and doesn't really seem to have any superpower, more often than not resorting to the gadgets his longtime friend Manel Muzas (a.k.a. fellow superhero Muzamán) sells at Electrónica Web.
This series has examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: Ardorín just doesn't seem able to pronounce any name right (with the odd exception of Cálico Lúbrico).
- Achilles' Heel: Cálico usually defeats the Villain of the Week by figuring out theirs and buying the appropiate gadget.
- Acrofatic: Despite being short and kind of overweight too, Cálico Lúbrico pulls off some The Matrix-style bullet dodging in his first faceoff with Cálico Electrónico.
- Affectionate Nickname: When they where kids, Cálico called Manel "Muzy".
- Affectionate Parody: Quite a few. For instance, the episode "The Day I Met a Superhero" is one to Big Trouble in Little China.
- Almighty Janitor: Cálico.
- Badass Normal: Parodied, as Cálico often gets curb-stomped in his first meeting with the Villain of the Week.
- Bat Signal: The way Cálico knows something is going on.
- Big Bad: Cálico Lúbrico, Cálico Electrónico's Evil Counterpart and most personal enemy, was the Big Bad in a two-part episode.
- Color-Coded Characters: The two Cálicos. The heroic Cálico Electrónico sports a blue and white attire, while the evil Cálico Lúbrico wears red and black.
- Couch Gag: The show's intro (see picture), aside from a Batman parody, often turns into this. For example when Cálico trains his nephew Ardorín to be a superhero, he wants to show him the importance of presence. But the kid just can't be quiet for long enough:Cálico: Would you please be quiet alre...? (lightning) See what you did? You ruined my cool pose!
- Crimefighting with Cash: Meteoro Sexual pays thieves to let him catch them.
- Criminal Doppelgänger: Cálico Lúbrico is this to Cálico Electrónico.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The series finale was titled "The final episode of Cálico Electrónico".
- Earn Your Happy Ending: In the series finale, Calico Electronico finally manages to have sex with La Ladrona
- Genius Ditz: Muzamán can be really absent-minded at times, but he owns an electronic gadget store, and it's implied that most of the stuff he sells is made by himself.
- Grand Finale: "El último capítulo de Cálico Electrónico" (Season 5 / Episode 6) is the Grand Finale of the entire series.
- Home-Run Hitter: Cálico does it literally against El Corretón. After breaking the prankster's Super-Speed machine and thus paralyzing him, Cálico uses a baseball bat to send him flying out of the city.
- Hostile Show Takeover: Meteoro Sexual briefly manages to be billed as the star of the series instead of Cálico in "Porque yo lo valgo".
- Knight of Cerebus: Cálico Lúbrico is by far more evil than the rest of the Rogues Gallery.
- Local Reference: El Corretón has a very thick Andalusian accent and drops some Andalusian slang when he speaks.
- Meaningful Name: Cálico gives Ardorín his superhero name after "the warrior ardor in his body".
- The Mentor: Cálico is this to his nephew Ardorín, teaching him the tricks of the trade.
- Overly Long Gag: Manel can spend hours laughing at a joke he told. It's shown by way of a Time-Compression Montage — which still can be pretty long itself.
- Rhymes on a Dime: Chacho Migué's preferred sales tactic.
- Also, all the gadgets Cálico buys are introduced in adverts, with taglines in rhyme.
- Running Gag: Whenever Cálico slips into a filing cabinet of his office to start his Transformation Sequence, the drawer will get stuck for a few seconds. Doubles as a Shout-Out to Hong Kong Phooey, who usually had the same problem.
- Super-Speed: El Corretón has a machine that allows him to pull practical jokes on people while moving really fast, so he's never seen by his victims.
- The Trickster: El Corretón isn't portrayed as outright evil, but more like someone who really likes pranking people... and happens to own a Super-Speed machine.
