Western Animation / BraveStarr

"It was the toughest of planets.
They needed a thousand lawmen.
They got one.
He was enough."

BraveStarr was a Space Western action cartoon, produced by Filmation, which aired during that long acid trip we all know and love as The '80s. It aired in the wake of He-Man's success in 1987 and lasted one season.

As the Expository Theme Tune explains, sometime in The Future, the planet New Texas is experiencing Days of Future Past with settlers coming to the planet to mine its deposits of "Kerium", an energy-bearing variety of Green Rocks. Unfortunately, the planet has to deal with the threat of Tex Hex, a mystically empowered outlaw who, with his gang, tries to steal as much Kerium as he can, and will overpower anyone in his way.

To keep law and order on the planet, The Federation sends Marshall BraveStarr. BraveStarr, thanks to his upbringing by the Magical Native American Shaman, is able to use the powers of spirit animals to gain super powers: "Eyes of the Hawk", "Ears of the Wolf", "Strength of the Bear", and "Speed of the Puma". With these powers, and the help of Thirty-Thirty (his Cool Horse who can become a humanoid BFG-toting Sidekick when he's not BraveStarr's mount), BraveStarr keeps the peace for both the settlers and the native "Prairie People".

More details are available at Wikipedia.

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Eyes of the hawk! Ears of the wolf! Strength of the bear! Speed of the puma! List of the tropes!:

• 10-Minute Retirement: Happens to several characters.
  • BraveStarr in "BraveStarr and the Law" because he refused to enforce a court order to evict Shaman after the land he lived on was incorrectly awarded to Tex Hex.
  • Deputy Fuzz in "Revolt of the Prairie People" because being an officer of the law conflicted with his participation in a revolt against the Galactic Council's order to build a force field around the valley of the Prairie People.
  • Effectively also Thirty Thirty in "The Disappearance of Thirty Thirty", in which he went back to his original home due to feeling hurt after an argument with BraveStarr.
• Absent Animal Companion: In "The Good, the Bad and the Clumsy" Fuzz obtains a robot dog called a Houndbot which isn't seen again afterwards.
  • In "Handlebar and Rampage" Handlebar befriends a cybernetic bull named Rampage, who is never seen again.
• Action Girl: Judge J.B., at least some of the time.
• Action-Hogging Opening: and HOW!
• The Aggressive Drug Dealer: The main villain in "The Price."
• Alien Sky: New Texas has three suns, and the sky is pinkish red.
• And Knowing Is Half the Battle: As with nearly all of Filmation's 1980s series. Even villain Outlaw Scuzz gets to deliver one.
• Artistic License – Law:
  • In "BraveStarr and the Law", Tex Hex's claim is fairly adjudicated in court, and this is as it should be. This said, he is a wanted criminal. Not an alleged one. He is minimally a person of interest in dozens of cases - one known to the judge since she was a kid - to be detained on much firmer ground than many people in real life are for much less. Even if his claim had been legit and judged in his favor, he should have been hearing about this victory while indictments flowed like prospectors to a kerium strike.
  • In "Tex But No Hex", Tex Hex almost gets acquitted at his trial by rigging the jury with one member who was supposed to vote "not guilty". In real life, this would not cause an acquittal but a hung jury, resulting in a retrial, and in the case of a criminal of the caliber of Tex Hex, most likely a guilty verdict.
  • Judge MacBride often rides out with BraveStarr. Judges aren't supposed to take part in the policework so they can remain impartial during the trial.
• The Atoner: Handlebar is a former criminal. An ex-Space Pirate, no less!
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Used in "Balance of Power". Stampede steals Shaman's staff and uses its magic to turn a robot, and later Thunderstick and Scuzz, into giants to fight BraveStarr.
• Automaton Horses: Thirty-Thirty, somewhat literally.
• Ballad of X: The episode "The Ballad of Sara Jane".
• Barefoot Cartoon Animal:
  • Evidently, every one of the Prairie People goes barefoot.
  • Neither does Hawgtie, a Pig Man member of Tex Hex's gang.
• Batman Can Breathe in Space: A rare aversion in an eighties cartoon. The pilot episode actually shows the characters having to deal with decompression due to a hole getting knocked in their ship.
• Battle Bolas: Hawgtie is a humanoid pig dressed in a Union Army uniform who uses bolas to capture or bind his victims.
• Beast Man: Half of the alien races in the show are just anthropomorphic versions of Earth animals; The Equesteroids are horses (albeit cyborg ones), the Dingos are coyotes, the Krang are cats, the Fuffta are sheep, Hawgtie is a pig, etc. Several one-off and background characters have also appeared as various anthropomorphic rodents and reptiles.
• Big Bad: Stampede, the Eldritch Abomination who gave Tex Hex his powers.
• Big Good: Shaman, who raised the young BraveStarr and is still his beloved mentor.
• Binary Suns: New Texas' "sky of three suns".
• Birth-Death Juxtaposition: Happens at the end of "Sunrise, Sunset." Dorn's father passes away moments after his grandson is born.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Thirty-Thirty is always up for a fight.
• Bragging Theme Tune: The first verse of the Expository Theme Tune (as performed by Lou Scheimer himself) sets the scene by describing how New Texas became threatened by kerium-seeking outlaws. The second verse:
  Then one day a lawman appeared
  With powers of hawk, wolf, puma and bear
  Protector of peace, mystic man from afar
  Champion of justice, Marshall BraveStarr!
• Broken Aesop:
  • The episode "BraveStarr and the Law", in which the And Knowing Is Half the Battle segment has BraveStarr talking about how one should always obey the law even if you don't agree with it. However, in the episode (in which Shaman is about to be evicted), he's ready and willing to quit his job as a lawman, but stops short of (and anguishes over) actually breaking the law up until the true facts are revealed and Shaman's home is no longer endangered. On top of this, the intended message is brought across in a confusing way. BraveStarr goes back to his job not so much because of a respect for the law per se as because he realizes that without him as Marshal, not only Shaman but all of society is in danger from Tex Hex. Furthermore, there is a strong dissonance between the very explicit message at the end of the episode that we should obey the law even if we don't agree with it and the shaman's invitation to BraveStarr to consider for himself what he should do in the situation he was in, accompanied by the arguably confusing and morally ambiguous analogy of BraveStarr having had to ponder as a boy whether it was justified to rescue a bird by disturbing the sacred water it was drowning in. On the whole a rather difficult story to digest for an adult, let alone for a kid.
  • There's also one in the episode "Eye of the Beholder", where a blind girl manages to prove that there is something good even in Tex Hex, the main antagonist. The given aesop however, is that blind people don't need pity but can take care of themselves and even be useful to a community.
• Broken Pedestal: The plot of "Fallen Idol", in which BraveStarr learns that his former teacher is now wanted for murder.
• Brought Down to Normal: In "Strength of the Bear", BraveStarr loses his animal-based super powers and has to go on a Vision Quest (without weapons or tools) to regain them — all while protecting himself and an elderly blind man from outlaws.
  • Secret Test of Character: The blind man turns out to be the embodiment of BraveStarr's spirit animals, making sure that the marshall is worthy of his powers.
    • Another example: In "Lost Mountain", the weird magnetic field that causes BraveStarr and Fuzz to crash their plane also interferes with BraveStarr's powers.
    • A villainous example: Stampede strips Tex Hex of his powers to teach him a lesson in "Tex But No Hex".
• Cats Are Mean: Klawto, an evil, felinoid alien wizard, and the felinoid Krang warriors.
• Cassandra Truth: Ursula asked Tex not to go to New Texas in search of Kerium, sensing that she would never see him again if he did. She was right.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Tex is not only a cackling, thieving killer, he's PROUD of it. When his rap sheet was read at his trial, he gleefully confessed to everything and more, and proclaimed he would do it all over again in a heartbeat. The rest of his gang is just as bad.
• Celibate Hero: Thirty/Thirty is the only main character without a love interest.
• Character Title
• Christmas Episode: "Tex's Terrible Night"... the Shaman subjects Tex to Yet Another Christmas Carol, though other than decorations glimpsed in the framing scenes and a few mentions of Christmas dinner being prepared, the holiday itself doesn't play a large role, (Plus, due to the random order episodes were broadcast in syndication, in some markets it didn't even play during December.)
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Tex and his men seem incapable of following through with any alliance they make with BraveStarr, regardless of how dire the situation is.
• Cigar Chomper: Skuzz smokes cigars, mostly so the other characters can complain about how disgusting smoking is.
• Citadel City: Fort Kerium, which can convert into "fortess mode" when necessary.
• Clip Show: "The Disappearance of Thirty-Thirty" and "Tex's Terrible Night", which both use footage from The Movie.
• Cool Horse: Thirty-Thirty, an indefatigable talking mount who carries BraveStarr on his back in travel and in battle is a ferocious humanoid warrior who watches BraveStarr's back.
• Courtroom Episode:
  • Used in "Tex But No Hex", where the people of Fort Kerium finally take Tex Hex to court for his crimes after Stampede strips him of his powers to teach him a lesson. Tex manages to get his minion Hawgtie onto the jury, which essentially guarantees a hung jury. Hawgtie votes him guilty after BraveStarr reminds him how badly Tex treats him.
  • Of course, in real life, a hung jury does not equal an acquittal — see Artistic License – Law above.
• Creator Cameo: Maybe? Around 18 minutes into BraveStarr: The Movie, a group of townspeople appear who have a 1980s look about them. These could conceivably be portraits of people who worked on the movie.
• Cry into Chest: A rare male-on-male example at the end of "The Price"; Brad cries into BraveStarr's chest in sorrow that he didn't tell him about Jay's downward spiral earlier.
• The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: Tex soon forgot the whole reason why he went to New Texas in the first place, and upon becoming Tex Hex, he quickly lost all semblance of his former self.
• Days of Future Past: As with the other Space Western cartoons, clothing and architecture reminiscent of The Wild West and the Victorian era co-exists with futuristic technology. The spaceships look like sailing ships complete with rigging.
• Death by Origin Story: Tex Hex in "Tex's Terrible Night," which went into more detail in BraveStarr: The Movie, which told how Tex's freighter crashed with his body found by Stampede, who thought he could do with Tex at his side once brought back to life with Stampede's powers (though Tex first had to be turned to ashes, then restored in Evil Glory). Scuzz is also brought back when Tex tries his powers out consciously.
• Defeat Means Friendship: BraveStarr first meets Thirty-Thirty this way. He's looking for a secret weapon which the Shaman told him lay in an ancient ruin. BraveStarr finds a BFG there, but it is guarded by its owner, Thirty-Thirty. They tussle at first and BraveStarr apologises and tries to leave, but Thirty-Thirty refuses to let him go without the fight being decided first. BraveStarr cleans Thirty-Thirty's clock — and gains his respect. It turns out the secret weapon the Shaman sent him to find was The Power of Friendship.
• Death of a Child: In "The Price", Jay, a pre-teen/teenage boy, dies after becoming an addict to drive home the episode's anti-drug message.
• Descent into Addiction: "The Price", in which a teenage boy named Jay becomes hooked on "spin" and gets progressively more focused on getting more.
• Disintegrator Ray: BraveStarr's mentor Jingles Morgan used this kind of weapon. BraveStarr rightfully called it "a dangerous weapon", and admired Morgan for his ability to use it properly. This admiration was misplaced; he later discovered that his hero was wanted for murder, having used his weapon to kill someone after losing his temper.
• Disney Death: Deputy Fuzz in the movie pilot.
• Do Not Do This Cool Thing: Several episodes with Aesops about how dangerous guns are come across as this, in light of the creatively designed lasers and Western-style gun slinging that goes on in the series. This especially resonates in-universe in "The Ballad of Sara Jane", where a young "Fuffta" (whose people would rather be slaves than have to use weapons, are obvious parodies of the Amish, and are symbolically given the appearance of anthropomorphic sheep) is forbidden by his father from even playing a BraveStarr vs. Tex Hex game with the New Texas children...and ends up running off with Sara Jane just when Thirty Thirty fitted her with an add-on to enable her to shoot unbelievably powerful laser beams.
• Downer Ending: "The Price". BraveStarr busts up the drug ring, but the kid we've been following through the bulk of the episode dies from his addiction.
• The Dragon: Tex Hex. However, as with Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, Hex gets a lot more screen time than his boss Stampede.
• Drugs Are Bad:
  • Again, "The Price". Unlike most 80's examples it makes it's point but doesn't pull any punches while doing it. Your friend or son could get caught up in the drug scene and die from the effects.
  • Not to mention how Outlaw Scuzz is a heavy smoker who practically wheezes every time he talks.^note This was intentional though; Erika Schiemer on the movie's commentary track, mentions that they wanted to show kids the dangers of smoking, so they frequently had the other bad guys berate Scuzz for his habit (see below) and showed him coughing or wheezing to show that smoking isn't cool.
• Easily Forgiven: Vipra in "Who Am I?". She bullies Scuzz to get information on a magic book, uses the magic book to completely overthrow Tex Hex, establishes herself as the new leader of the Carrion Bunch, and even tries to talk directly to Stampede, but by the time the next episode rolls around, she's still in Tex's gang, taking orders as if nothing's happened.
  • As with most 80s cartoons, Status Quo Is God.
• Eccentric Mentor: The Shaman.
• Episode Title Card: As usual with Filmation series from the 80s.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Shaman, whose actual name is unrevealed.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Tex Hex and his gang berate Skuzz's smoking habits.
• Evil Counterpart: Skuzz, to Fuzz. Also Stampede to the Shaman.
• Evil Is Petty: In "No Drums, No Trumpets" Thunderstick and Skuzz bully Paco for carrying his daughter's toys.
• Evil Laugh: Tex Hex does this a lot, including in the Title Sequence.
• Expository Theme Tune: "In a distant time and faraway place/The planet New Texas floats deep in space..."
• Eye Beams: One of Tex Hex's powers. One episode even has him create a laser rope out of his eyes in order to strangle one of his henchmen for talking back to him.
• Fat Bastard: Outlaw Scuzz, Hawgtie.
• Fantastic Racism: In "Kerium Fever", the indigenous Prairie People find a kerium vein just when it seems that New Texas is tapped out, causing some of the human prospectors to resent them. Taking advantage of the tension, Tex Hex and his gang kidnap Judge J.B., frame the innocent Prairie People, then try to steal the kerium while everyone else is busy with the racial conflict.
• Fantastic Slurs: Also during the "Kerium Fever" episode, the Prairie People are called "critters", which is explicitly shown as offensive and wrong. Even BraveStarr uses the word in an angry moment after he sees some Prairie People (actually Tex Hex's robots) kidnap J.B., but he realizes he's hurt Deputy Fuzz's feelings and immediately apologizes to him.
• Femme Fatalons: Vipra has them, as was usual for villainesses of the 80's cartoons.
• Flaw Exploitation: BraveStarr once reluctantly agreed to a bargain with Tex Hex, because he knew that Tex was such a compulsive backstabber that he would never honor his own end of the deal, which would then leave BraveStarr free to break it as well.
• Floating Island: In "Nomad Is an Island", Queen Singlish and her servants travel in a spaceship that looks like an island.
• The Friendly Texan: BraveStarr and J.B., respected members of the Law and Order of New Texas, are also much beloved for their friendly dispositions with the residents.
• Friendship Moment: BraveStarr and Thirty-Thirty do have a few amount of these moments, especially in "The Disappearance of Thirty-Thirty" and "Big Thirty and Little Wimble".

• God Save Us from the Queen!: Queen Singlish from "Nomad Is an Island". Not only is she mean to her servants, she kidnaps Thirty/Thirty (because she wants a horse as a gift for her 1000th birthday) and some random Prairie People (because she wants slaves).
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Scuzz. He's seen smoking a really dirty-looking cigar at all times, can't speak more than a sentence without coughing, and at one point in The Movie, he actually lights his cigar with a stick of dynamite. None of the other villains look too favorably on his habit, though.
• Homage: The series homages many old classic Westerns. Most notably, the whole set-up of a single Marshall and his somewhat comical deputy defending a little frontier town, full of quirky locals and regularly visited by interesting characters passing through, is from Gunsmoke; and the regular flashbacks to BraveStarr's youth spent learning from an exotic wise man, the Shaman, are from Kung Fu (1972).
• Honor Before Reason: The Fufftas would rather be enslaved than stand up for themselves and fight for their freedom. They even criticize people who use violence in self-defense or in defense of the Fufftas themselves.
• Horse of a Different Color: Nearly everyone rides jet-propelled motorbikes made to look like legless metal horses, called "Mules". They're also used to pull the stagecoach (rather than say, using a self-propelled vehicle like a Greyhound bus or something). Mr. MacBride has a floating Convalescence Chair, BraveStarr has Thirty Thirty, and Tex Hex has a hover-scooter. Some background characters (and Skuzz) have dune buggies.
• Human Shield: In "BraveStarr and the Medallion", Tex Hex fires at the marshal while his henchman Parluke is standing in front of him. BraveStarr simply turns Parluke around so he can take the blast.
• I Call It "Vera": Sara Jane, Thirty-Thirty's BFG.
• In-Series Nickname: Thirty-Thirty is often called "Big Partner" by BraveStarr.
• Insistent Terminology: Thirty-Thirty is a Techno-Horse, not a horse.
• I've Come Too Far: In "Eye Of the Beholder", Alli asks Tex why he needs to steal Kerium so badly.
  Tex: Because... because it's too late for anything else...
• Imposter Forgot One Detail: Dingo Dan tries to fool BraveStarr with his human form but BraveStarr can tell it's him because of his clothes.
• Incredible Shrinking Man: In "Thoren the Slavemaster", the titular villain uses a "minisizer" to shrink BraveStarr and several other characters.
• Just a Machine: The status of Mecha-Mooks varies from one episode to another, but series regulars Cactushead and Thunderstick are clearly considered people (albeit rotten ones).
• Kick the Dog: Several of the villains have their Jerkass moments throughout the series, but special mention goes to the scene in "No Drums, No Trumpets" where Thunderstick and Outlaw Scuzz go out of their way to harass and berate a man in front of his young daughter just for carrying her baby dolls.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: BraveStarr's got a pretty square jaw to go with his heroic persona.
• Last of His Kind: Thirty-Thirty.
• Lawman Gone Bad: Jingles Morgan in "Fallen Idol".
• Let's You and Him Fight: How BraveStarr and Thirty-Thirty met, as depicted in The Movie.
• Magical Native American: BraveStarr and his Shaman both qualify.
• Meaningful Name:
  • BraveStarr is brave… and a Native American… and wears a star… in space.
  • Thirty/Thirty wields the Ray Gun version of a Winchester 30-30 rifle.
  • The Magical Native American isn't just a shaman, he's named Shaman.
• Mechanical Monster: Stampede's Bronco-Tank.
• Mineral MacGuffin: Kerium, a highly energized red crystal that's used as a power source for pretty much everything and is described as "ten times more valuable than gold." It's a plot point in a lot of different ways, and a lot of parallels are drawn between it and gold.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Somewhat in "Nomad is an Island" despite the fact that Queen Singlish's "only two subjects" don't really seem to respect her much to begin with, their superficial token groveling notwithstanding. Also, they seem well aware of the fact that she needs them more than they need her. It hardly comes as any shock that at the end of the episode, after her defeat, there's a slight change in how things are done aboard the island.
• Morality Pet: Tex-Hex's ex-girlfriend Ursula is this for him; he sabotages his own mission once when it would endanger her.
• Multicultural Alien Planet: New Texas is populated by humans of different races, Prairie People, and various cyborgs/humanoid aliens.
• My Fist Forgives You: Thirty-Thirty's response to BraveStarr's offer of a hand up after their first meeting, as revenge for BraveStarr sucker punching him unconscious.
• Never Say "Die": Averted; the words die, death, and murder are used when appropriate, and the situations do come up, with "Fallen Idol" being one of the most prominent examples.
• Non-Mammalian Mammaries: Vipra has a pronounced rack.
• One Riot, One Ranger: This trope was the basic concept behind the show.
• One-Word Title: The series itself, as well as the episodes "Rampage", "Memories", "Eyewitness", "Hostage" and "Buddy".
• Our Dragons Are Different: Stampede is a giant, magic-using cyborg ghost dragon with a head shaped like a cow-skull - and, at least for the era when this show was produced, he is terrifying.
• Our Robots Are Weird: Cactushead has to be one of the weirdest-looking robots ever designed. He looks like a Joke Character, but he's actually one of Tex's more competent underlings. Then there's Thunderstick, who not only looks odd but speaks a sort of Robo Speak patois that causes him to repeat phrases in a herky-jerky manner.
• Palette Swap: In Mattel's toy line, the Tex Hex figure is just a repainted BraveStarr figure with a new head.
• Papa Wolf: Thirty-Thirty is this to Deputy Fuzz at times.
  Thirty-Thirty: If Thunderstick lays a hand on my little buddy, he'll have to answer to me!
• Perfect Pacifist People: The Fooftas in "The Ballad of Sarah Jane".
• Pet the Dog: A few times, for Tex Hex, usually regarding his ex-girlfriend Ursula or someone who reminds him of her.
• Pig Man: Hawgtie from Tex's gang.
• Pilot Movie: BraveStarr: The Movie, aka BraveStarr: The Legend. It was meant to be a theatrically released introduction to the series, but due to a botched distribution deal, it only had a few limited screenings and was rarely seen until its DVD release.
• Planetville: New Texas.
• Poorly Disguised Pilot: Arguably the most obvious example ever - the two-part "Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century" (in which BraveStarr himself is the only regular who appears - it's not even set on New Texas), which never became a Filmation series. The similar Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century was made by DiC Entertainment several years later.
• Protagonist Title
• Proud Warrior Race Guys: The Krang, a ra
• The Power of Love: Saves the day in "Ship of No Return". When Angus MacBride and his estranged son reconcile, Arkon (an alien AI who had planned to destroy humanity for being so violent) realizes that the species has redeeming qualities and relents.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "I! Never! Lose!" in "Fallen Idol" by Lawman Gone Bad Jingles Morgan.
• Quirky Miniboss Squad: Tex Hex's henchbeings.
• Rearing Horse: Who else but Thirty-Thirty?
• Sapient Steed
• Scaled Up: In "The Vigilantes", Tex Hex turns himself into a giant dragon in Handlebar's saloon in order to attack BraveStarr. It doesn't go well for him.
• Scare 'Em Straight: "The Price", which shows just what happens to people who use drugs.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: One episode has a prospector stake a claim on Star Peak after he finds the Kerium deposits under the mountain. Tex Hex attempts to steal the claim for himself and evict Shaman. BraveStarr is torn between the law and his friendship to Shaman, and is unsure what to do, even quitting as marshal. To help BraveStarr, Shaman reminds him of a time as a child when he got into trouble for swimming in a lake sacred to the tribe. Young BraveStarr states he wasn't swimming for fun, he saw a young bird had been injured and was drowning and swam in to save it, even questioning if a life is more important then the tribe's rules. Shaman tells the adult BraveStarr to think again about if the rules are more important then a drowning bird.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Outlaw Scuzz tries to pull this a lot whenever the villains are losing, due to his ability to burrow underground. One episode even has him producing mechanical wings from behind his back and flying away the moment BraveStarr breaks into the villains' hideout.
• Science Fantasy: Aliens, spaceships, and magicians. The hero uses Native American magic to channel the abilities of his Spirit Animals, and the villain is a zombie cowboy.
• Settling the Frontier: The main background of the story is the settlement of New Texas.
• The Seven Western Plots: A marshal story in the vein of Gunsmoke, focusing on Marshal BraveStarr and Thirty-Thirty as they fight outlaws and keep the peace on New Texas.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Fuzz is not in "The Price".
• Shout-Out: In Call to Arms, Alderaan is mentioned.
• 65-Episode Cartoon
• Snake People: Vipra
• Sore Loser: "Fallen Idol" showed how the Pride of one made a Broken Pedestal: Jingles Morgan lost a fighting match and fell off a bridge into mud. People laughed at his defeat, even his victorious opponent (which seems too close to Unsportsmanlike Gloating). In a moment of Uncontrollable Rage, he grabbed his nearby disintegrator pistol and blasted the opponent with it, killing him.
• Space Western
• Spell My Name With An S:
  • The makers of the show couldn't decide whether Tex Hex's prairie person henchman is called Outlaw Skuzz or Outlaw Scuzz. An episode title uses the "Skuzz" spelling, but "Scuzz" appears on the merchandise.
  • The humanoid pig that's sometimes seen riding with Tex's gang is named Hawgtie, not Hogtie.
• Spock Speak: Shaman's manner of speech is this.
• Start of Darkness: For Tex Hex.
• Strawman Pacifist: The elder Fuufta, especially Omeesh in the episode "The Ballad of Sara Jane".
• Stock Footage: Several extended sequences from the feature film were used routinely as stock footage (and padding) in the series: the space montage opening almost every episode; BraveStarr riding Thirty-Thirty through the desert; Fort Kerium going into Fortress Mode. Conversely, some shots from the series' Title Sequence were integrated into the film's action sequences (the two were produced simultaneously). The four stock sequences of BraveStarr summoning his animal powers were used regularly. Filmation's heavy use of stock and rotoscoped character motions may also qualify.
• Super-Senses: "Eyes of the hawk!" and "Ears of the wolf!"
• Super-Speed: "Speed of the puma!"
• Super-Strength: "Strength of the bear!"
• Swiss-Army Weapon: Judge "J.B." MacBride's weapon of choice is a gavel that sports a laser gun and a rope launcher. It also explodes like a grenade when thrown.
• This Cannot Be!: When BraveStarr sees the warrant For Jingles Morgan, his mentor at the Marshals' Academy in "Fallen Idol," he gets this reaction when he says this in disbelief. When Fuzz asks what Jingles is wanted for, BraveStarr can only say in a smaller disbelieving voice, "Murder."
• Transformation Sequence: Seen when Thirty-Thirty converts from humanoid to robot horse form (and vice versa). The Stock Footage seen when BraveStarr uses his animal powers may also qualify. There is also the mechanical sequence of Fort Kerium transforming into a fortified city, also shown using Stock Footage.
• Turned Against Their Masters: In "Night of the Bronco Tank", Stampede creates the titular mechanical monstrosity to destroy BraveStarr and finally take over New Texas. Once the Bronco Tank becomes powerful enough, it decides to go after Stampede as well and rule New Texas itself.
• Undertaker: In BraveStarr: The Movie, a corpse-like robot wearing a top hat takes an unsolicited measurement of Handlebar after he threatens to deal with Tex Hex's gang himself. Then, when Tex Hex appears and tells the crowd that he is now the law, the undertaker starts offering his business card.
• Unexpectedly Dark Episode: "The Price". You think you're in for another preachy Drugs Are Bad episode, but then the ending hits you like a nuclear blast of feels. The episode deals with a kid who is turned onto a topical controlled substance called Spin. The perps are caught but the tag is tainted: The boy is found in his treehouse, dead of a Spin overdose. The episode ends with the boy's mother in agonized hysteria, with the final "pro-social message" scene showing BraveStarr laying a wreath at the boy's grave.
• Ungrateful Bastard:
  • A Fuffta parent chastises BraveStarr for using weapons and violence to rescue him and his people in "The Ballad of Sarah Jane" instead of thanking him for saving his life and the lives of his fellow Fufftas.
  • Wild Child's bullies continue to make fun of him even after he helps BraveStarr get the fever flower medicine.
• Verbal Tic: Half of the non-human cast seems to have one of these. Stampede punctuates his speech with bull-like snorts, Vipra hisses like a snake when she talks, Thunderstick repeats random words, Thirty-Thirty whinnies like a horse...
• Victory Is Boring: In "Tex But No Hex", Thirty-Thirty worries that if Tex Hex ever gets sent away to a prison planet, his gang will disband and there will be no more outlaws to beat up.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Dingo Dan, one of the series regulars, is an anthropomorphic dingo who can magically disguise himself as a human.
• Was Once a Man: Tex Hex was once a normal man who was driven to madness by his greed for Kerium, and eventually transformed into a hideous undead magician by Stampede.
• Weird West: Drop that the setting is IN SPACE! and you have a cartoon about a Magical Native American marshall and his belligerent talking robot horse fighting a zombie cowboy wizard, his posse of outlaws (one of which [Hawgtie] is an orc), and their dragon boss.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: In "Big Thirty and Little Wimble", Thirty-Thirty ends up adopting Wimble, an orphaned Prairie Person child. Wimble doesn't appear in future episodes.
• Yet Another Christmas Carol: The episode "Tex's Terrible Night."
• You No Take Candle: The Prairie People, as well as half of Tex's gang, speak in broken English.
  • Exceptions: Fuzz speaks perfect English in a few episodes ("The Witnesses" and "Who Am I?") as well as his anti-smoking And Knowing Is Half the Battle segment. He even manages to snark at Thirty-Thirty in "Fallen Idol" when the latter collapses the tunnel the pair are using by being trigger-happy, saying "There; now you happy? From now on, leave digging to experts: me!" in clear English albeit with his standard accent.
• Wunza Plot: One's a Galactic Marshal. The other's a Techno-Horse. They catch outlaws!

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