Here's the story: In the sewers, in the alleys, in the dumpsters in those alleys, a war rages between two brothers. Ken controls the garbage with his army of rats. Abe leads a ragtag group of resistance fighters who, well, resist. There's Coco, and Nigel, and Madman. There's No-Neck, and Zitzy. They ain't cute, they ain't cuddly, they are Urban Vermin.
And that is the Opening Narration of this obscure, short-lived 2007 Canadian All-CGI Cartoon produced by Decode Entertainment (now part of WildBrain) for YTV and Jetix Europe, and created by Diana Arruda and Tim Thompson. The show's stars, Abe and Ken (voiced by Gabe Plener and Scott McCord, respectively), are two raccoon brothers who had shared the boundless garbage to be found in the dumpsters of The Block, the backstreets and alleyways of an unnamed human town. Dissatisfied with this arrangement, Ken seized control of The Block and all its trash. He quickly made himself The Block's dictator with two loyal henchmen at his side - a rat named No-Neck (Yannick Bisson) who serves as general of his rodent army and an opossum named Zitzy (Adam Reid) who works as his chief scientist.
Unwilling to let his brother's tyranny go unopposed, Abe established the Garbage Liberation Front (GLF) to to free The Block from Ken's iron-pawed rule. Making up Abe's gang of rebels are a hulking mole named Nigel (Dwayne Hill), an inventor squirrel named Coco (Alyson Court), and a lunatic skunk named Madman (Joseph Motiki). Now, two brothers are engaged in a battle for The Block itself, with Ken fighting to control every last dumpster and Abe struggling to let all vermin share the refuse. Who will win this urban war between the vermin of our streets and cities?!
Tropes of the series:
- Big Bad: Ken's rule over The Block drives the series' conflict.
- The Big Guy: Nigel serves this role for the GLF, compensating for his terrible eyesight with his great strength.
- Cain and Abel: Abe and Ken, with Abe being the heroic brother and Ken being the villainous one (note the names). Their sibling rivalry is a central part of the series.
- The Caligula: Ken. He's a colossal Jerkass, a card-carrying tyrant, and a Spoiled Brat who seized control of The Block and made himself the equivalent of a third-world dictator because he didn't want to share its garbage with his brother.
- Catapult to Glory: Ken's Ratapult works this way, tossing his own troops instead of ammo. It also works as a device for punishing others.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Madman's defining trait is his loopiness, which is described as his greatest strength and his greatest weakness.
- Co-Dragons: Ken has No-Neck and Zitzy, with the former functioning in the military role and the latter serving in a more scientific role.
- Cyborg: In "Dog of War", Zitzy creates a cyborg dog named Nero to fight the GLF.
- Defector from Decadence: Coco was originally Ken's chief scientist but defected to Abe's side after seeing how Ken's tyrannical rule harmed the citizens of The Block.
- Dressed to Oppress: Ken dons a military uniform with a Commissar Cap and silver baldric.
- Election Day Episode: "Hearts and Minds" sees Ken holding a democratic election, with the GLF being convinced that he has rigged it.
- Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: All the characters are Funny Animals dressed in full clothing, including shoes.
- Fun with Acronyms: "Arms Race" features Zitzy's Bust A Gut, or B.A.G. The trope is also lampshaded in the same episode during a conversation between Coco, Abe, and a weapons inspector they hired to investigate the B.A.G.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Coco. Her thesis project was a time machine... that takes the user half a second into the past or future.
- The Generalissimo: Ken rules The Block like some third-world tinpot dictator, and is shamelessly card-carrying about that fact.
- Interspecies Romance: Nigel, a mole, has romantic feelings for Coco, a squirrel. Additionally, Madman, a skunk, has feelings for a raccoon named Juanita.
- La Résistance: The Garbage Liberation Front act as this against Ken's dictatorship, battling to liberate vermin and allow the trash of The Block to be enjoyed by everyone.
- The Leader: Abe is obviously this for the Garbage Liberation Front.
- Mad Scientist: Zitzy, being the resident Evil Genius of Ken's dictatorship, has crafted a number of dangerous gadgets and machines to use against the GLF.
- Mouse World: The Block is one of these, with the whole conflict taking place entirely in the sewers, dumpsters, and alleyways of a human town.
- Punny Name: Abe and Ken themselves are a play on Cain and Abel in reference to their intense sibling rivalry, but one episode featured a rat by the name of Kim Jong-Shrill.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The GLF. What else do you call a squad made up of a Rascally Raccoon, a Wrench Wench squirrel, a hulking mole, and a crazy skunk that are fighting for freedom and garbage?
- Rascally Raccoon: Abe and Ken often show signs of this. Their rivalry often results in them performing various sorts of mischief against each other, with Abe being more of a cool-headed leader creating schemes against Ken, who is instead more manic in his "rascally" nature.
- Shout-Out
- In "Arms Race", Coco describes the creation of the B.A.G. in a manner similar to the creation of The One Ring in The Lord of the Rings.
- The sequence of Zitzy turning Nero into a cyborg plays out as a parody of the intro to the The Six Million Dollar Man.
- In "Stink Club", Madman asks the leader of the eponymous club if its number one rule is "Don't talk about Stink Club".
- Smelly Skunk: Notably averted with Madman, who is unable to make the iconic skunk spray due to having his stink glands being surgically removed from his time as a human pet. It's a bit of a sore spot for him, and in the episode "Stink Club", he is overjoyed when he joins a group of skunks who give him his own stink-producing device.
- The Smurfette Principle: Of the show's seven central characters, Coco is the only female one.
- Spinning Paper: Parodied in "The Rat Pack", where spinning newspapers are used to announce Kim Jong-Shrill's coup against Ken. It turns out the papers are spinning because Madman is holding them up and spinning around in a swivel chair to announce the news to the rest of the GLF.
- Terrible Trio: Ken, No-Neck, and Zitzy form the main villainous trio, with Ken as the leader and No-Neck and Zitzy as the henchmen.
- Terrified of Germs: Kim Jong-Shrill is depicted as this. The irony of the fact that he is a rat is not lost upon the characters.
- World of Funny Animals: While set in the backdrop of an otherwise human-dominated world, The Block and its denizens are all various kinds of small mammals.
- Wrench Wench: Coco is the mechanic of the GLF and the sole female member of the team.
- You Dirty Rat!: Ken's mooks are all rats, with their leader No-Neck being a particularly big one.
