Duke: Yeah, right!
Gawayn is a Zany Cartoon in which Princess Gwendolyn is about to be crowned queen before the villainous Duke decides to interrupt, placing a curse upon her which shrinks her down to size... Literally! In order to reverse this curse and regain her lost kingdom (now in the hands of the Duke), she must go on a quest to find the crystal of Gawayn. Accompanying her along the way is knight Sir Roderick, William the young knight-in-training, his sister and sorceress Inept Mage Elspeth, and Xiao Long, skilful in the area of martial arts. Together they set off, experiencing all kinds of adventures, obstacles and setbacks on their journey, meanwhile the Duke and his snarky companion Rex frantically try to stop them using one outrageous scheme after another.
Gawayn provides examples of the following tropes:
- Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Played for Laughs with Sir Roderick in numerous instances.
- All Asians Know Martial Arts: Xiao Long is the team's martial artist.
- Amplified Animal Aptitude: Griselda the horse seems able to understand what the characters around her are saying most of the time, even seen at some points doing very unhorse-like things, such as reading a newspaper.
- Amusing Injuries: Happens all the time, with Sir Roderick being the main victim, but with the Duke also giving him a good run for his money.
- Animal Facial Hair: Rex has this, and on occasion he is even shown with stubble.
- Appease the Volcano God: A group of islanders plan to do this Sir Roderick after first feeding him 26 pizzas.
- Ash Face: Elspeth's entire body is covered in ash after suffering some Harmless Electrocution
- Asian Drivers: Inverted. Sir Roderick is driving recklessly, and then Xiao Long disdainfully goes, "Ugh, Western drivers!"
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: In the second Season, Gwendolyn's size varies with her mood. In some episodes, she grows to giant size when angered.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: Sir Roderick and Princess Gwendolyn are the large ones, Elspeth is the skinny and tall one, and William and Xiao Long are the short ones.
- Cutlery Escape Aid: Xiao Long manages to dig a very long tunnel in an attempt to help himself and the other questers (sans Roderick) escape jail in an episode with a fork.
- Disembodied Eyebrows: Rex sometimes gets this.
- Dumb Blonde: Sir Roderick is a male example."You have my word as a knight, and a blonde!"
- "Fantastic Voyage" Plot: In one episode, Gwendolyn and Roderick have to travel inside a dragon to kill the germ causing its acid reflux.
- Fast Tunnelling: Xiao Long manages to dig a very long tunnel in an attempt to help himself and the other questers (sans Roderick) escape jail in an episode with a fork.
- Fattening the Victim: In one episode, a group of natives feed Sir Roderick plan to sacrifice Sir Roderick to the volcano god. However, they first feed him 27 pizzas to fatten him up and make him a suitable sacrifice.
- F--: When Elspeth has to go to magic school to get her diploma, the Duke sabotages her exams; causing her to get an F, then an F minus, then an F minus minus.
- For the Evulz: The Duke's words and actions often fall into this trope.Duke: What do you expect? I'm evil.Rex: When he's not being stupid.
- Funny Animal - Rex is caught somewhere between this and Civilised Animal thanks to the occasional Furry Reminder and Anthropomorphic Zig-Zag.
- Furry Confusion: There are a lot of animals present, but they cover an entire spectrum in regards to where they stand anthropomorphically speaking. You have Funny Animal characters like Rex, and then characters which simply show Amplified Animal Aptitude, such as Griselda, and then all kinds in-between.
- Gadgeteer Genius: William.
- The Gambling Addict: Sir Roderick becomes one for an episode in Casino Quest.
- Good-Times Montage: Gwendolyn and Kenneth the doll have one of these in Play Date.
- Great Big Book of Everything: Elspeth's spell book, the Great Book of Magic.
- Hammerspace: Sir Roderick's armour. He can also completely retreat inside of it...
- Harmless Villain: The Duke falls under this category in many instances.
- Heads, Tails, Edge: Happens in the first episode when the coin that was flipped gets stuck in a small gap in the bridge.
- Humanlike Animal Aging: Rex and the Duke have been shown to know each other since before they could talk.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: Xiao Long in some episodes. In fact, there was an episode devoted to the group's over-reliance on him.
- Rex would also count in regards to the Duke.
- Incredible Shrinking Man: What kickstarts the plot: the Duke places a curse on Princess Gwendolyn the day of her coronation that shrinks her to the size of a doll. The heroes must find the legendary Crystal of Gawayn in order to restore her back to normal and reclaim her lost kingdom.
- Interesting Situation Duel: Played for Laughs, Roderick is Driven by Envy from all the attention the newly brought-to-life toy Kenneth is receiving from Gwendolyn, and so challenges him to a duel. When the Clock Strikes Twelve however, the spell on the Kenneth doll is broken and he turns back into a normal, lifeless toy... which doesn't stop Sir Roderick from trying to fight it, as he doesn't seem to really notice. And he loses.
- Iron Butt-Monkey: Sir Roderick takes this trope up to eleven, and literally, being encased in armor.
- Laugh with Me!: In the first episode, the Duke pauses his his Evil Laugh and asks Rex in annoyance, "Why aren't you laughing?"
- Leitmotif: The same ominous piece of music plays every time we get a shot of the Duke's castle, or when the scene simply changes to show what he's up to. The show also has several common tunes which serve as the background music at various points.
- Lost Him in a Card Game: When Sir Roderick becomes The Gambling Addict in "Casino Quest," he ends up losing William in a bet.
- Magic Misfire: Elspeth specialises in these.
- Mineral MacGuffin: The Crystal of Gawayn.
- Noodle People: Elspeth.
- Obviously Evil: The Duke, complete with Red Eyes, Take Warning, Villainous Cheekbones, Beard of Evil and his outfit is Red and Black and Evil All Over for good measure, and a Sinister Schnoz to boot.
- Opening Narration: "To restore her royal name, the Princess and her friends must find the crystal of... Gawayn."
- Parachute Petticoat: Princess Gwendolyn in "The Way We Used To Be, Part 1". After a horse pulling a cart comes to a halt, she, Sir Roderick, Elspeth, William, and Xiao Long are launched into the air. Princess Gwendolyn's dress gets an updraft, revealing her pink undies and breaking her fall, before she slowly descends safely.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Xiao Long's "Big... Mistake!"
- Princesses Rule: Gwendolyn is portrayed as the rightful ruler of her kingdom. Her parents have never been seen or even mentioned, however this trope is probably justified in that Gwendolyn was shown as just about to be crowned queen before her kingdom was hijacked.
- Road-Sign Reversal: The Duke employs this in an episode in order to send the questers off into the wrong direction.Rex: That is the lamest plan ever! You're gonna get them lost?! How exciting...
- Schizo Tech: Rule of Funny, the setting is a Medieval European Fantasy land, with shopping malls, wooden motorcycles, NASCAR races...
- The Scream: Whenever the Duke gets hurt, or alternatively shouts a Big "NO!", almost inevitably the screen pans out to a shot of the castle, and then a view of Earth from space.
- Secondary Character Title: The heroes are searching for the crystal of Gawayn in order to break the curse on Princess Gwendolyn, but it is not clear who Gawayn actually is (or was).
- Series Goal: Finding the Crystal of Gawayn.
- In the second season, finding the Great Book of Magic.
- Servile Snarker: Rex always points out the flaws of the Duke's plans and how they would fail, also serving as a Snarky Non-Human Sidekick.
- Shout-Out:
- When Elspeth is casting spells on a wooden doll, the first time it ends up looking like Elvis Presley, and then Gene Simmons of KISS.
- The two beavers in "Nevercross Bridge" look similar to two other beavers...
- Sizeshifter: Gwendolyn in Season 2 changes size depending on her mood. According to the new intro, it was due to Roderick interrupting the spell that would restore her to normal size.
- Spirit Advisor: Xiao Long's Grandfather.
- Stock Footage: The show is particularly fond of this.
- Surveillance as the Plot Demands: The Duke's Viewing Stone provides this.
- Taken for Granite: The beavers from the first episode do this to anyone who fails to ask them a question they can't answer.
- Tempting Fate: "Don't worry Princess, we're safe now!"
- Token Non-Human: An all-human cast... And then Rex, a cockroach!
- Tongue on the Flagpole: Having won a fake Crystal of Gawayn in a game show, Roderick tries to get it to work by licking it. At this point, he discovers it is actually made of ice as it sticks to his tongue.
- Trap Door: All of the questers (except Xiao Long) fall victim to this in an episode.
- Troll Bridge: Nevercross Bridge, except it's guarded by beavers instead of a troll(s). The typical set-up of the travellers needing to answer a question is also inverted; those wishing to pass must ask the beavers a question that they can't answer in order to be able to cross.
- Zany Scheme: Or, the Duke's ideas of what constitutes an "Evil Plan."
