Western Animation / Trollz

It's a hair thing!^note Left to right: Sapphire, Topaz, Amethyst, Ruby, Onyx.

It's a hair thing
It's a pink thing
It's a tech teen fantasy
It's a hair thing
It's a big thing
Music, fashion, magic make us happy
Welcome to the Trollz world!

— Theme song

Trollz is an American animated television series created by DiC Entertainment and produced by Andy Heyward in 2005, loosely based on the Troll Dolls toyline. The show revolves around five young Troll girls, each with different personalities—Amethyst (a total sweetheart), Ruby (a willful leader), Sapphire (a studious brainiac), Topaz (a ditzy fashionista) and Onyx (a snarky goth).

While the girls are certainly different from each other in many ways, they're also BFFLs ("Best Friends for Life"). Together, they fight evil with The Power of Friendship, try to impress cute boys, and get their homework done, all while learning about the magic in the world they live in.

Not to be confused with Hanna-Barbera's Trollkins, a 1981 cartoon based on Troll dolls, or DreamWorks Animation's Trolls, a animated movie franchise also based on Troll dolls (both that franchise and this series have a provenance in Thomas Dam's original dolls).

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This show provides examples of:

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Seen with Trollzopolis High School, the mall, and the girls' houses, which are CG in wide shots.
• Abusive Precursors: The trolls of Angermore used their magic for evil. They vanished one day, but their magic was sealed in powerful gemstones that became used in rings. Simon uses one of them as a power conduit.
• All Just a Dream: Happens in the beginning of the first episode as a Fake-Out Opening. Amethyst has a dream that her friends don't know her and ignore her altogether, like she isn't there.
• All There in the Manual:
  • Some of the backstory involving Simon is only found on the website. Besides destroying the old Trollz world by grabbing most of the magic and turning it evil, which is mentioned in the show, Simon also unleashed Black Amber, which nearly destroyed the planet but is never seen on the show.
  • Aside from Amethyst's dog, Wa-Wa, the Trollz' pets are only seen on the website and in UK-only toys. ^note Ruby has a cat named Za-Za, Topaz has a bunny named La-La, Sapphire has a hamster named Ya-Ya, and Onyx has a lizard named Na-Na.
  • Mr. Trollheimer's first name is Slate, which isn't mentioned in the show but is in several episode summaries.
  • The tie-in book All That Glitters details five trees and their blossoms that represent the five facets of life, which are descended from five trees that made up the first Trollz habitat. The modern-day tree genera include rosalea, blumeria, vitronic, ebonthorn, and auroriana. Ebonthorn is also seen in other books as a powerful magic conductor.
• All Trolls Are Different: These trolls are cute and can cast magic.
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Simon successfully takes over Trollzopolis in the Middles Ages arc and the brainwashed girls arc, though by the end of things he's ousted and things go back to normal.
• Allergic to Evil: The school principal is allergic to goldenrod and beasts from the realm of darkness, so when Snarf is nearby he breaks out in sneezes.
• Alpha Bitch: Coral and her friends Opal and Jade are rude, stuck-up cheerleaders who harass the BFFL.
• Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The Italian opening is different from the openings in other countries.
• Amplifier Artifact: Several magical artifacts enhance existing magic, such as Amethyst's grandmother's necklace, the Ring of the Ancients, and Simon's magic staff.
• And I Must Scream: For 3,000 years for multiple characters:
  • Zirconia was turned into a tree for 3,000 years and was conscious the whole time. When Simon tries to turn Onyx into a tree, he at first simply imprisons her within one. Eventually she'd become part of the tree, like what happened with Zirconia.
  • Spinell was turned into a dragon that couldn't speak for 3,000 years.
• Anime Hair: Everyone but Simon, Jasper, and Snarf has big, impossible hair, and Jasper did originally sport anime hair as well.
• Animesque: It's western animation but with speedlines, anime-style eyes, and a general anime look.
• Arc Villain: Shale and Mica are antagonists for episodes 7 through 9 and don't reappear afterwards, with Simon taking the main villain role for a majority of the series.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever:
  • A giant stone ogre appears in episode 9 and begins attacking the group when she's enraged at Mica lying to her.
  • The episode "Homecoming" has a dragon vs. a fifty-foot cat.
• Audience Surrogate: Amethyst is this for the first few episodes, as she returns to Trollzopolis from summer vacation and learns the ways of magic when her gem gets its glow.
• Backstory Horror: Simon wiped out the old Trollzopolis 3000 years before the series began, forever changed the Trollz' way of life by turning most of the good magic evil and minimizing the rest, and according to the website he almost destroyed the planet by unleashing Black Amber.
• Badass Adorable: The Trollz are cute high school girls with big hair, and save the world several times over.
• Beach Episode: Three of them make up the last story arc, as the Trolls go on vacation to a tropical island.
• Beauty Is Bad:
  • Ruby can be pretty nasty at times, Coral definitely is, and both girls are fairly self-centered and proud of their beauty.
  • Onyx advises Amethyst that the prettiest prefabricated spell beads can cast the nastiest spells.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Making Amethyst or Topaz angry is a sure way to get defeated, as Simon finds out.
• Big Bad: Simon is the main villain who destroyed Trollzopolis 3000 years ago and intends to finish the job. His powers caused Trollzopolis to be like it is now, and he was also responsible for imprisoning two of the five Ancients.
• Big "NO!":
  • Done to exaggeration with Topaz as she dramatically jumps over a table to stop Sapphire from eating a cucumber sandwich. Sadly, that wasn't the friend in danger.
  • Also done by Onyx in the fourth episode when she notices her gem is dimming.
  • Done by Simon in "Where the Trollz Are" when the girls use a spell to banish him and Simon to the Shadow World for 1,000 years.
• Birdcaged: The cliffhanger of "When Good Girlz Go Bad" has Obsidian captured and locked in a birdcage.
• Blinded by the Light: Ogres don't like light, which comes in handy in episode 11 when Sapphire's feet magically glow thanks to a misfired spell.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Topaz is the blonde, Onyx the brunette, and Ruby the redhead.
• Book Ends:
  • Episode 2 has everyone saving Amethyst from falling into a pit. The last episode has them saving her from falling into a volcano.
  • The first and last regular solo spells were cast by Ruby.
  • The first and last post-episode Spell Moments were hosted by Sapphire.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: The girls have this happen when everyone but Ruby eats Simon's magic cookies, making them slowly turn evil and completely loyal to Simon.
• Broken Aesop: In the story arc where the girls turn evil, Ruby worries that her meanness has influenced them into becoming mean. Obsidian tells her that if she sets a bad example, she can change it by setting a good one. It's a good moral, until Ruby cleans up her act and it doesn't work because Simon's magic was too strong.
• Brought Down to Normal: Done in the arc where the Trollz break the Sacred Altar, causing all magic to disappear. The next episode has them working to fix things.
• Brutal Honesty:
  • Onyx and Ruby have this as character traits, never failing to voice their displeasure (or excitement) about something.
  • In episode 9 the stone ogre hates liars and only accepts the truth, even when it's negative. She asks the trolls if she's ugly, to which Amethyst agrees, but when Mica lies and says she's gorgeous she flies into a rage and attacks him.
• Butt-Monkey: Mr. Trollheimer and Snarf are often the subjects of comic mistreatment.
• Call-Back: In episode 16, the altar the girls practice the stone-to-flesh spell on is the same one they used to undo a spell cast on Coal in episode 2.
• Can-Crushing Cranium: Rock does this to soda cans enough times that Sapphire recognizes his distinctive forehead print. He later weaponizes this skill to destroy Simon's trophy when the latter calls him a blockhead.
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': In episode 8 the Trollz participate in an illegal Skoot race. In the next episode they're caught and punished with community service.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Simon and Snarf are evil and proud of it. Simon attempted to seize power in the past by turning the good magic evil and grabbing most of it, and hates friendship and other happy things.
• Cerebus Syndrome: The latter half of the show's a bit darker than the first, with story arcs about the two remaining Ancients who have undergone a Forced Transformation, the girls accidentally causing magic to disappear, and Simon taking over Trollzopolis via brainwashing 4 of the girls to become evil.
• Chekhov M.I.A.: While there were originally five Ancients, only three remain, with the other two being a mystery that gets resolved later on.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Both Topaz and Zirconia come across as this.
• Coincidental Broadcast: In the episode "Onyx's Gem," a disguised Snarf appears on TV offering a quick fix to the girls' gems losing their glow just as they wonder what to do. Justified that it was most likely magically assisted.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Each of the main cast is associated with a color. Amethyst is pink, Ruby is red, Topaz is yellow, Sapphire is blue, Onyx is a deep purple, and Simon is green.
• Compilation Movie: All of the DVD releases are 3 episodes edited together as movies:
  • Best Friends For Life has "Best Friends For Life", "Five Spells Trouble", and "First Day of School".
  • Magic of the Five has "Onyx's Gem", "Topaz Possessed", and "The Big Test".
  • Hair Over Heels has "Troll Fast Troll Furious", "The Great Race", and "Into The Woodz".
• Compressed Hair: The trolls manage to fit all of that hair underneath their helmets.
• Convection, Schmonvection: Zig-Zagged. Amethyst is close to the center of an active volcano and comes out fine...though Ruby's hair doesn't, and is frizzed and burnt from being near it.
• Cool Bike: The Skoots, which run on amber and float instead of hugging the ground. A tie-in book reveals that they originally used fossil fuels, but due to pollution switched to amber converters.
• The Corruption: Simon grabbed most of the Trollz' magic and turned it evil for him to control.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Amethyst remarks in "Onyx's Gem" that if they had just talked to each other about their gems fading, they could've gone to Obsidian instead of falling into a trap.
• Creepy Child: Simon has the personality and temperament of a 9-year-old, making his truly evil acts stand out even more.
• Creepy Crossdresser: Simon when possessing Topaz and pretending to be Garnet. Snarf when he pretended to be Miss Tourmaline and a cute female poodle.
• Cruel Cheerleader: Coral, Opal, and Jade are mean cheerleaders who pick on the BFFL. Coral gets extra mean points for being the head cheerleader.
• Cryptic Background Reference: "Forever Amber" mentions the ancient Troll village of Angermore, who used their magic for evil but disappeared without explanation. It's hinted Simon might have something to do with it, but it's never outright confirmed.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: More like curb stomp football match between the Ogreville Dandelions and the Trollzopolis Trolls. The Trolls got stomped, somewhat literally.
• Curse Cut Short: In one of the Valli Girls' background songs for the series, "The Power of Five", the lyrics go:
  It doesn't matter if you scream or what spell you cast / We're five strong girls and we're gonna kick your—
• Cursed with Awesome: Being a dragon for 3,000 years doesn't sound too bad, though Spinell didn't like it at all.
• Curtains Match the Window: Many of the Trolls, including the main girls, have hair that matches their eye colors. Played with in Ruby's case, as her naturally brown hair is dyed red to match her eyes.
• Cut Short: The show only lasted one season of 27 episodes. A second season was planned at one point, but it never materialized, presumably due to low ratings.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: Amethyst to an extent, and Topaz. Coal is a male example.
• Cute Witch: The majority of Trolls, especially the main group.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Onyx likes gothic clothes and has morbid interests, but is a main hero.
• The Dark Side: One of Simon's plans had Sapphire fall prey to this. Coaxed by a magic mirror, she grew narcissistic and power-hungry, deciding she didn't need her friends anymore. Though she did have regrets about it, and apologized once things were set right.
• Deadpan Snarker: Onyx tends to be very snarky as is Spinell.
• Debut Queue: The first episode introduced the BFFL, and two of the boys, Flint and Rock. Obsidian, Jasper, and Coal are introduced in the second episode, Mr. Trollheimer, Coral, her Girl Posse, and Snarf (first physically) were introduced in the third, Simon and Alabaster were introduced in the fourth, and Amethyst's Grandma was introduced in the fifth.
• Demonic Possession: Topaz is possessed by Simon when she loses her self-esteem.
• Descriptiveville: Trollzopolis is full of trolls, and neighboring town Ogreville is full of ogres.
• Diving Save: In "The Day the Magic Died", Topaz saves Alabaster from getting crushed by a giant chunk of falling amber.
• The Dragon:
  • Snarf is Simon's second-in-command, though he's not a literal dragon.
  • Simon also has a dragon who's a literal dragon, until he changes him back to Spinell.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: At least one case for Onyx, when she was desperate to find her Ancient. Also Zirconia seems to have had a few.
• Drives Like Crazy: Onyx is reckless when driving her Skoot, which makes it hard when she decides to race Mica. Simon can't drive one at all.
• Dumb Blonde: Topaz has moments of not understanding stuff or the gravity of a situation.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Coal, Coral and her Girl Posse make brief non-speaking cameos in the first episode before being properly introduced in the second and third, respectively.
• Egopolis: Every time Simon manages to take over Trollzopolis, he renames it after him. In fact, he has quite a few names on hand to choose from.
• Element No. 5:
  • In the series, amber is the source of all magic and is generally treated as a fifth element.
  • One of the tie-in books, All That Glitters, is about the girls collecting five tree blossoms that represent the five facets of life. The fifth plant, auroriana, is rainbow-hued and protects against evil magic.
• Enchanted Forest: The Haunted Woodz are a repository of magic and mysterious creatures where the ruins of the old trolls' world is located. Simon and Snarf tend to hang around in the Woodz to concoct their schemes, and the main characters visit infrequently to practice magic or make discoveries.
• Engineered Heroics: Onyx and Sapphire pull this on Amethyst and Ruby in the first episode, by turning Topaz into an ogre to capture Amethyst so Ruby can save her and re-induct her back in the group.
• Enhanced on DVD: The DVDs have additional scenes after the televised episodes' endings, as well as extended end credits.
• Evil Costume Switch: Seen when the Trollz (except Ruby) are brainwashed to be evil. Unlike most female examples, they're less revealing, more like MIB suits. Given Simon's fashion sense it may be justified.
• Evil Laugh: Simon, Snarf, and Coral all have various evil laughs, with Ruby once recognizing Coral by hers.
• Evil Makeover: When Simon turns the girls evil, their hair becomes messy, their eyes lose the catchlights and they gain black sweatsuits.
• Exact Eavesdropping: A villainous example when Snarf overhears Coral, Opal, and Jade talking about where the BFFL are headed for vacation.
• Expository Theme Tune: The theme tune describes how the girls use magic to fight evil, as well as their everyday activities.
• Expressive Hair: It's mentioned in episode 1 that when a Troll experiences emotional turmoil their hair goes floppy.
• Extreme Doormat: Amethyst used to only do what her friends wanted to do, and a big part of the first episode is her realizing she can't be like that anymore.
• False Innocence Trick: Simon uses this to escape the Shadow World, pretending to be a scared little boy who'd been trapped there.
• Famous Ancestor: Accordng to Obsidian, Ruby's a direct descendant of King Trollemange the First. Her last name, "Trollman," is even a watered-down version of "Trollemange."
• Fangs Are Evil: Simon, they tend to become more prominent when he's showing just why he was locked away in the first place. Although they do come across as Cute Little Fangs at times.
• Fantastic Naming Convention: All the citizens of Trollzopolis have "troll" as part of their last name.
• Fantasy Counterpart Appliance: Spell phones, which act like flip cell phones that can send spells to other phone users, as well as having a group call feature.
• Fashion Show: Topaz tries one of these after seeing Jasper looking at models; however, he thought they looked silly.
• Fiery Redhead:
  • Ruby has quite the temper and, overall, is hot-blooded.
  • Alpha Bitch Coral can be like this when agitated.
• Fighting from the Inside: Topaz does this while possessed by Simon, but it doesn't work until her friends help out with a spell and she grows confident enough to say it with them.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Once he's released from the Shadow World, Simon finds he has 3,000 years of technology to catch up on.
• Flintstone Theming: Many Troll names, terms and expressions have the word 'troll' in them, to the point that molecules are called trollecules.
• Forced Transformation: Zirconia's transformation into a tree left her unable to move, talk, or use magic, and Spinell's transformation into a dragon left him unable to talk or cast spells.
• Foreshadowing: In "The Tree and the Dragon" Obsidian saves the Trollz from the dragon by summoning musical instruments. Both the dragon and Onyx cover their ears, clearly disliking the music. The girls and their Ancients have similar traits, and the dragon turns out to be Spinell, Onyx's Ancient.
• Forgotten Superweapon:
  • Villainous example with Snarf. He went One-Winged Angel a grand total of four times in a 27-episode series, and two of those times were in the first two episodes he appeared in. The third time was in episode 11—for about 5 seconds of screen time. The fourth time was the last episode he appeared in, without even a Transformation Sequence.
  • Simon's staff was used in Episode 6 and never seen again, despite the fact that it amplified his magic.
• Four-Fingered Hands: Everyone has four fingers instead of five.
• Fridge Horror: An in-universe example happens when Amethyst, Sapphire, and Onyx visit Miss Tourmaline's shop and see her huge collection of gems. Amethyst wonders whose tummies gave them up, with Onyx remarking that it's creepy. The fact that Miss Tourmaline is Snarf makes it worse.
• Fun with Acronyms: BFFL stands for Best Friends For Life.
• Gender-Restricted Ability: Only girl Trollz can use magic. Originally boys could too, until Simon got his hands on it.
• The Ghost:
  • Ruby mentions having a cat a few times, but Za-Za is never seen in-show.
  • Onyx and Topaz mention having little brothers, but they're never seen either.
• Girliness Upgrade: Compare these to the Troll dolls they were based off of.
• Glamour Failure: Throughout the series, magically disguised people can be revealed by their reflections.
• Good All Along: The dragon Simon rides initially seems to be on his side and follows his orders, but is later revealed to be one of the Five Ancients, having undergone a Forced Transformation. Once he connects with Onyx, he's all too eager to stop Simon.
• Good Hair, Evil Hair: Normally, the girls' hair is curved. When they are upset or turn evil, it's all spiky.
• Grand Finale: The final story arc had the BFFL sealing Simon and Snarf away for 1,000 years, reaffirming their friendship, and ending with a Farewell Luau.
• Great Offscreen War: The backstory mentions Simon going to war against the Trolls, and the episode "Field Trip" mentions Trolls warring against one another with their magic in the past.
• Green Aesop: The tie-in book "Oops, I Polluted Again" dealt with pollution caused by skoot smoke, Sapphire's attempts to solve it, and Simon's attempt to use it against Trollzopolis.
• Griping About Gremlins: Simon plays this straight and averts this; he's skilled at building magical machines, but has no aptitude for modern-day technology.
• Gross-Up Close-Up: Miss Tourmaline gets a closeup of her scratching her hairy legs.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop: The tie-in video game, Hair Affair, has this as the plot. The BFFL use a spell to relive the same day over again until they can stop Simon from stealing their magic. In one loop he steals Obsidian's magic instead, forcing them to make the spell themselves.
• Hair Reboot: All troll hair seems to have this quality.
• Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Jasper is seen with an afro at first. Then Amethyst's spell makes him lose his hair permanently. He gets over it pretty quickly.
• The Heart: Amethyst acts as the glue to hold her friends together, with her gem and accessories even shaped like a heart.
• Heel–Face Turn: Shale and Mica turn good after Onyx and Sapphire risk their lives to save them.
• Hidden Depths:
  • In one episode Topaz is adept at using jumper cables, surprising and impressing Onyx.
  • While Sapphire is generally smart and ambitious she also has a mischievous side, pranking Topaz in episode 25 for fun.
• Hufflepuff House: In All That Glitters four of the five facets have stated uses. Rosalea is used for potions, vitronic is used for energy and fighting off illness, ebonthorn is a powerful magic conductor, and auroriana protects against evil magic. Whatever function blumeria has isn't described.
• Idiosyncratic Wipes: Hairspray covering the screen, a hairbrush brushing the scene away, lipstick covering the screen, a spell phone entering the screen, lightning cracking the screen, and a spell bead exploding are all used to transition between scenes.
• In Name Only: This show was based on the classic troll dolls, though it and the accompanying toyline only have the big hair and belly button gems in common.
• Introductory Opening Credits: The theme song's first verse features a sequence of the five main girls with their names displayed alongside with their gems. Interestingly, Ruby was up first, with Amethyst being shown second.
• In-Series Nickname: Trollhiti's volcano is unnamed, so Topaz names it "Mount Krakatrolla."
• Ironic Echo: In the episode where Sapphire becomes proud and power-hungry, a Magic Mirror is egging her on by telling her she's special. Later, when it's revealed to be Simon, he captures her. When she protests that he told her she was special, he says "You ARE special—the Blue Plate Special!" and calls in orcs to eat her.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ruby is frequently the source of initial conflict among the group, but she's also the most determined to help her friends if they're in trouble. A later story arc emphasizes this when she realizes her friends are acting mean like she does at times, so she vows to clean up her act.
• Jive Turkey: Jasper is fond of using slang, and got into hip-hop over summer break.
• Kick the Dog: Simon frequently mistreats Snarf, even though the latter is unwaveringly loyal to him.
• Killer Rabbit: Snarf normally appears as a red cute-looking puppy, but get him mad and he turns into a vicious, hulking ogre.
• Laughably Evil: Simon is a 3000-year-old gremlin who destroyed Trollzopolis once and wields powerful magic, but he looks and acts like a 9-year-old boy and has no aptitude for modern technology, leading to humorous moments. He's also quite proud of being evil, as is his sidekick Snarf.
• The Leader: Ruby is the Trollz' self-proclaimed leader, even though Amethyst is the main heroine.
• Loose Lips: In the beach arc, Topaz bragging about where the Trollz are going for vacation leads to more and more people being told, and Simon catches wind of it.
• Magic A Is Magic A: Several rules of magic are seen throughout the series.
  • Spells vary depending on how you word them; Sapphire wanted to dance and be 'light on her feet', but made her feet glow when she rhymed with 'my feet feel light'. Spell beads can come in prefabricated form to cast specific spells, or blank for the user to create a spell on their own.
  • Girl trolls generally need spell beads to cast magic. This rule is only broken when the girls cast a beadless transformation spell that requires five to be used effectively, and when they're under Simon's control.
  • Only girl trolls can use magic. Originally everyone could until the Big Bad grabbed most of it and turned it evil, minimizing magic as a result.
  • The most powerful magic is done with five trolls from five different gem alignments (the Magic of the Five).
  • Magic is powered via amber, found in the Amber Caves.
• The Magic Comes Back: "Bringing Back the Magic" has the girls and boys working together to restore magic to the world after it disappears.
• The Magic Goes Away: This was the focus of an entire arc when the heroes accidentally cause magic to disappear.
• Magic Is Feminine: Played with. In the present day, only female Trolls can use magic. The one male magic user is Simon, who is a gremlin. This wasn't always the case however; in older times, before Simon messed with magic and made Black Amber, both genders could use magic. Two ancient male trolls who lived during that time are thus able to use magic in the show's present: Mr. Trollheimer and Spinell.
• Magic Misfire: Happened a fair amount of times, usually with Ruby's spells.
• Magical Girl: The Trollz are of the Cute Witch variety, using magic to make life less boring, though they also use it to fight against Simon when necessary.
• Magical Incantation: Spells are initiated this way, and they mostly rhyme.
• Magitek:
  • Trollzopolis is like this now. Originally it was totally magic-based, with boy Trollz as well as girls being able to use magic. When Simon came along, he stole most of the magic, and technology was built as a result.
  • During the arc where the Sacred Altar is broken and magic disappears it's shown that most of the Troll technology uses magic as a power source at some level. The results include mass blackouts and more.
• Mana Drain: In the backstory, Simon grabbed a lot of the magic and turned it evil, taking it from male trolls and minimizing it for girl trolls. His abilities in the present day include magic-draining as well.
• Manipulative Bastard: Mica and his girlfriend Shale exploit Sapphire's crush on Mica and fake Shale breaking up with him to use her for their own means.
• Medieval Stasis: Simon invokes this in the time travel arc, sending Trollzopolis to the Middle Ages with plans to make sure it stays that way.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Being an Ancient means you get to either save the day or be captured. Or, in Zirconia and Spinell's case, turned into a tree and dragon.
• Merchandise-Driven: The show was made to help sell Trollz dolls.
• Mind-Control Eyes:
  • The girls' eyes turn into swirling spirals when they eat Simon's brainwashing cookies which turn them evil, as do those who are affected by a "do-as-you're-told" spell bead.
  • When the girls fully turn evil, the shines disappear from their eyes.
• The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Hinted at with the dragon, who is actually Spinell.
• The Mirror Shows Your True Self: Reflections show the true forms behind magical disguises, including mirrors and reflections in water.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Snarf occasionally has a huge mouthful of sharp teeth.
• Morphic Resonance: When trolls are transformed into animals, they retain their distinctive hairdos.
• Muggles Do It Better: The male Trollz' technical skills are greater than those of the females, on a whole. This became useful in the arc when magic disappeared.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: The school principal, Mr. Trollercrombie, is allergic to goldenrod and beasts from the realm of darkness which cause him to sneeze. Needless to say, when he starts sneezing you know something is going down.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: In one episode Sapphire meets a friendly ogre named Sandstone, who teaches her how to swim.
• Named by the Adaptation: The Magic of the 5 board game gave Simon the full name of Simon Finkle, which is never mentioned in the show or website.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Averted; Simon isn't exactly the kind of name you'd want to run from. Also averted with the football team the Ogreville Dandelions.
• Nerves of Steel:
  • In the first episode, Ruby takes on who she thinks is an ogre with nothing but a tree branch.
  • In "Field Trip" Ruby and Rock face the ghost dogs out in the open, using magic and torches to fend them off.
• Never Mess with Granny: Amethyst's Grandma is normally doing things like baking cookies, but mess with her granddaughter or her friends and she'll come to the rescue. Obsidian and Zirconia, while not literal grandmothers, fit this trope as well.
• Never Say "Die": Lampshaded in "The Day the Magic Died."
  Amethyst: Ruby was going to tell the boys that she's sorr—
  Ruby: I thought we weren't going to say the s-word. Besides, I'm just apologizing to Rock!
  Amethyst: But Rock almost died when—
  Ruby: We weren't going to say the d-word either.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Of the BFFL, Topaz is The Ditz, Ruby is the bossy and needy one, and Amethyst is the in-between and well-behaved member.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • Very early on, the girls let Simon and Snarf out of their prison, and spend much of the series trying to put them back there for good.
  • In another episode, the girls and boys manage to break the Sacred Altar in the Amber Cavez, causing magic to disappear and endangering the Ancients' lives.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: Simon is this once, though it doesn't work. When his dragon betrays him and frees Onyx, the two fly away. Simon's response is to change the dragon back into his true form, the troll Spinell... while he and Onyx are still in the air.
• Non-Human Humanoid Hybrid: Snarf is said to be half ogre and half dog.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Simon has his moments of this, particularly in the arc where he turned the girls evil.
• Now Do It Again, Backwards: Saying a spell's incantation in reverse undoes its effects.
• Odd Name Out: Shale's friend Nicki is the only female Troll to not have a gem or rock themed name, though it could be short for Nickeline.
• Old Master: Of the Ancients, Obsidian and Mr. Trollheimer fit this the most, teaching the girls and preparing them to fight Simon.
• Older Than They Look: Most of the Ancients look suitably old, except for Mr. Trollheimer who looks like he's in his thirties. Why this is so is never brought up.
• One-Winged Angel: Snarf can turn from a cute puppy into a snarling ogre-demon.
• Only Sane Woman: Usually Amethyst fills in this role, but every now and then Ruby or Onyx will also fit in it.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Only one is seen, though it hates certain kinds of music, is afraid of cats, has painful fire-breathing sneezes, and is really a transformed Troll.
• Parental Abandonment: Of the girls, we only see Amethyst's mom and grandma, Sapphire's mom, and Ruby's dad; the latter only appeared in one episode. Where Onyx and Topaz's parents are is never addressed. We never see the boys' parents at all, though Alabaster's very rich father is mentioned a few times.
• Parental Bonus: The beginning of the music video for the Trollz theme song is a shout-out to the opening of the song "Baby Got Back".
• Pet the Dog: In the arc where the town was sent back to the Middle Ages, Amethyst stood up for Coral, the Alpha Bitch, when Simon threatened her. When things went back to the present Coral thanked her, even if she couldn't remember why.
• Percussive Maintenance: Alabaster kicking the school bus gets it started in "Field Trip".
• Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Simon often sets these up. Justified as their friendship is the key to defeating him.
• Power Glows: Female Trollz' gems glow when they first gain their magic and cast spells. Since a Troll has her magic all her life, a gem fading or not glowing at all is a sign something's wrong.
• The Power of Friendship: The Power of the Five runs off of this, and is often the key to defeating Simon.
• Powers in the First Episode: Amethyst's powers manifest after her friends' already have, and the first episode has spells cast by a single Troll. In the second episode they cast their first spell together, turning Coal into ice and opening the rift to unleash the Big Bad.
• Precursors: Simon turning most of the magic evil scared the Trollz' ancestors enough to diminish what was left for girls and neutralize it for boys, reducing magic to a plaything. Obsidian feels the girls will bring a new era of magic to the Trollz.
• Really 700 Years Old: Simon is over 3,000 years old, but looks/sounds/acts like a little kid.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter:
  • Amethyst's dog Wa-Wa, which even has her hairstyle. The other girls have equally cute pets on the website.
  • The Trollzopolis school mascot, Trollipuff, is a cute kitty.
  • Snarf, when he's in puppy form. Most of the time.
• Rock Theme Naming: Girl trolls are generally named after gems, while boys get rocks and minerals. They even use obscure gems like tourmaline.
• Romantic False Lead: Sapphire develops a crush on Mica, although she eventually ends up with Alabaster.
• Rhyming Wizardry: Spells are cast when the caster chants a rhyme according to the matching result.
• Sailor Earth: With the whole Rock Theme Naming going on, there's a high potential for fan characters. A popular one is Emerald, as green isn't represented in the color spectrum the girls have.
• Scotireland: Spinell has an accent like this.
• Second Episode Introduction: The second episode introduces Amethyst's love interest Coal, the girls' mentor Obsidian, and Simon's second-in-command Snarf in silhouette.
• Secret Legacy: Amethyst's Grandma is an Ancient who helped save the world from Simon 3,000 years ago. The third episode features her magical, powerful necklace that aids in sealing Snarf away.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Simon and Snarf are this. The girls accidentally let them out.
• Sealed Good in a Can: Zirconia is more like Sealed Good in a tree.
• Self-Disposing Villain: In episode 6, Simon's magic blasts knock a missing ingredient, a stalactite, into a potion, resulting in his banishment.
• Short-Runner: The show only lasted for one season and, overall, only has 27-episodes.
• Shout-Out:
  • Amethyst's last name, van der Troll, is a reference to Anneliese van der Pol.
  • In the tie-in books, Simon sometimes calls the Trollz "Trollkins", a shout-out to another cartoon based on Troll dolls.
  • Some lines from Alabaster's official description alludes to Superman. "If they got to know him, people would realize that Alabaster is less like a poindexter and more like a Clark Kent. He may not be faster than a speeding bullet or leap buildings in a single bound, but underneath his nerdiness... WAY underneath there... keep looking... it's there I promise... way underneath is the classy, cool, and collected Alabaster."
• Sickly Green Glow: Simon's evil magic is a sickly green.
• Signature Sound Effect: The school principal's arrival or exit is always accompanied by the sound of squeaky/squishy footsteps.
• Silver Fox: Mr. Trollheimer is quite good-looking compared to the rest of the Ancients. Sapphire even commented that he was cute.
• Species Surname: Pretty much every Troll's surname has some form of the word troll in it.
• Speed Stripes: Shows up several times, mostly whenever someone is running or casting a spell.
• Species Title: About boys and girls of the troll species. Mainly the girls, though.
• Spiritual Successor: It received one in SpacePOP, which was produced by the same person that made Trollz. The SpacePOP girls have similar archetypes and character designs to the Trollz characters, as do the villains, up to their pets resembling them.
• Spoiled Brat:
  • Ruby's the most well-off of the girls and isn't afraid to flaunt her wealth at times.
  • Coral is equally showy, as befits an Alpha Bitch. At one point she even comments about spending money to buy some friends.
• Spontaneous Crowd Formation:
  • A crowd gathered to watch a Mexican Standoff between Sapphire and Shale; however, some of their spells hit the audience members.
  • This also happens during Coral and Ruby's spelloff at Jasper's party.
• The Stinger:
  • After every episode is a segment called "Spell Moment", featuring one of the girls in the Boom Room testing out a spell on Kaboom.
  • On the DVDs each episode has an extra scene added at the end.
• Stock Punishment: In the Middle Ages arc, the girls were put in pillories. Among other things, croutons were thrown at them.
• Story Arc: The show's 27-episodes consist of nine three-episode story arcs.
• Stylistic Suck: In one episode the Trollz see a 50s-style video about then-new technology, such as dishwashers.
  Ruby: This movie was old when my grandparents were young!
• Suddenly Speaking: Coral's friends, Opal and Jade, never had speaking lines until the first episode of the very last story arc.
• Sugar Apocalypse: The Trollz' way of life was destroyed in the past, as was their city. The world almost bit it, too, and some story arcs touch on this happening again if Simon isn't stopped.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Simon, a magical gremlin, has gold eyes.
• Tag Line: "It's a hair thing!"
• Taken for Granite: In the second episode, the girls turn Coal into ice by mistake. Obsidian said that the spell would only wear off when he melted, so they had to reverse things quickly.
• Tame His Anger: Played with in the final episode, where the girls have all lost their tempers. Rather than losing their anger, they control and use their anger as a positive force.
• Tender Tomboyishness, Foul Femininity: Sapphire is the tomboyish bookworm of the BFFL who has a big heart, while Ruby is the feminine-dressed leader who's always demanding.
• Theme Naming: All the girls are named after gemstones. The boys are named after rocks and minerals.
• Thick-Line Animation: The animation is very thick-lined, especially in closeups.
• Tom the Dark Lord: Simon was sealed away for 3000 years after turning most of the good magic evil and destroying the world of the Trollz as they knew it, but it's still hard to take him seriously with that name.
• Trail of Bread Crumbs: When Onyx and Topaz head into the Haunted Woodz, Onyx leaves a trail of wild jellybeans to find their way back. Unfortunately, Topaz ate most of them.
• Training Montage: The girls put Onyx through one to help her win the Skoot race.
• Transflormation: Zirconia was imprisoned within, and eventually became, a tree for 3000 years, with her magic being used as a conduit by Simon. He later tries to do the same to Onyx, and in the Beach Episode he tries again with Zirconia; she's partly turned into a palm tree to fit the tropical setting.
• Tsundere: Ruby is this for Rock.
• Two Girls to a Team: Gender-inverted with the Ancients, who consists of three women (Ruby, Amethyst and Topaz's ancients) and two men (Sapphire and Onyx's ancients).
• "Uh-Oh" Eyes:
  • When Simon's disguised as a Troll, his pupils are larger than real Trolls' are.
  • Shale has noticeably different eyes than the other girls, though it's revealed that they're contact lenses. When she takes them off her eyes are normal.
• Uncatty Resemblance: All the Trollz' pets look like them to a degree, sharing hairstyles and presumably personalities.
• Use Your Head: Rock defeats Simon this way by smashing his talisman against his head.
• Utility Magic: Thanks to Simon stealing a lot of magic in the past, magic in the present-day Trollzopolis is mainly used for convenience and getting around. Most technology is magic-powered to some degree, including spell phones, watches, and Skoots.
• Virtual Paper Doll: You could customize your Troll on the website, choosing their gender, clothes, skin tone, hairstyle, and hair color.
• Voices Are Mental: Seen when Simon possesses Topaz, who explains the vocal change by saying she has a gremlin in her throat.
• Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: The Trollz sometimes have to balance world-saving with schoolwork.
• We Can Rule Together: The first time the BFFL and Simon face off, he offers this and even gives them a chance to discuss it among themselves. Naturally, they turn down the offer.
• Wham Line: In episode 4, the Trollz think Simon's a nice little boy and help free him from the Shadow World. Then Snarf catches up to them and approaches Simon.
  Snarf, to Simon: Did Snarf do good, Master?
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Zirconia and Spinell, despite having been introduced before the Brought Down to Normal arc, are not mentioned among the possible Ancient casualties. Their absence in the arc where the girls turn evil is Hand Waved away by saying they were safely out of reach, but too weak to help. To make up for this, the Beach Episode arc revolves around them a lot.
• When Trees Attack: In "The Big Test" Simon sends walking fir trees to capture Ruby.
• Wizards Live Longer: Implied to be the case with the Ancients, who are over 3000 years old.
• Worldbuilding: The show has a detailed system of magic, several historical events are mentioned, and in one episode the wheres and whys of how girl trolls get their magic is explained. They even have a different calendar system.
• Xanatos Gambit: Simon pulls off one of these in the Story Arc where the girls turn evil. It relies on the likely outcome, but he also plans for the initial plan to fail. He poses as a new girl in school and befriends them, at the same time ostracizing Fiery Redhead Ruby. He and Snarf feed the other four girls cookies, which makes them brainwashed. However, that episode he's defeated, so that would be the end of it, right? Wrong. In the next episode it's revealed that the cookies were time-delayed, and slowly turning the girls evil. He uses Ruby's fondness for pranks and occasional jerkish tendencies to make her think it's her fault they're acting rowdy, and Ruby doesn't realize his involvement until it's too late.
• Xtreme Kool Letterz: Lots of things that end in 's' end with 'z', including the title of the show.
• Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Done in the arc where Simon turned back time to the Middle Ages. Instances of stuff ending in '-eth' abounded.
• Year Outside, Hour Inside: When the girls enter the Shadow World during the day, they were only there for a short time, but when they came back the mall was closed and it was late at night.
• Yes-Man: Shale's Number Two, Nicki, agrees with whatever she asks even if she has reservations about it.
• You Don't Look Like You: Some clip art◊ has Onyx's hair and eyes as blue, not purple.

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