Wild Kratts (Western Animation) - TV Tropes
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Western Animation / Wild Kratts

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tilelg_wildkratts_0.jpg
We're gonna save some animals today with Creature Powah!

"TO THE CREATURE RESCUE!"

Wild Kratts is an long-running educational TV show produced for PBS Kids and TVO Kids which premiered in January 2011 and is currently ongoing. It's an animated and live action-mixed cartoon starring Martin and Chris Kratt of Kratts' Creatures, Zoboomafoo, and the short-lived Be the Creature fame. They travel around the world in a turtle-shaped, go-wherever transport they call Tortuga HQ along with three techies: Aviva, the head techie who built the creature power suits and other gadgets, Koki, who does a lot of data monitoring and communications work, and Jimmy Z, whose jobs seem to be teleport master, pilot, and eater of pizza. With the Creature Power Suits (devices that scan an animal's DNA and allow the user to transform into that animal), Martin and Chris can become any animal in the world, in a rather mecha-like way. Like its predecessors, the show's focus is on animal education and conservation, but because of the animated environment it's not limited by what the brothers happen to catch on tape. This means that they can show rare, ridiculously cool things like a bull sperm whale and a colossal squid battling it out.

It reached its 10th year mark in January 2021.

Not to be confused with WildCATS.

Activate Troping Powers!!!!

    open/close all folders 

    Tropes A to M 

  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Zach's bots often misunderstand his commands, taking his words literally.
    Zach: I must be dreaming! Somebody pinch me! *A Zachbot pinches him* OW! I didn't mean literally!
  • Air-Vent Passageway: How Koki escapes an air-pocket after the rogue wave from "Puffin Rescue" swamps the Tortuga at sea.
  • All Deserts Have Cacti:
    • The bros feed Koala Balloon some prickly pear cactus to hydrate him, because there's no eucalyptus available in the desert. Justified, because there are prickly pear in Australia, albeit as an invasive species.
    • Also justified in the episodes set in the Sonoran desert, since that's where cacti are native to.
  • All Girls Like Ponies: In one episode, the team heads for the Virginia coast and meets up with some of the famous wild ponies of Chincoteague. Koki and Aviva go nuts over the ponies.
  • Alliterative Name: Chris Kratt, Donita Donata, and Gaston Gourmand. Justified with Chris since that's his real name. Also to the extent that Donita's henchman's name is Dabio.
  • Always a Bigger Fish:
    • First, mama sperm whale vs. giant squid. Mama is taken out by fishing net, leaving baby sperm whale Bumper at risk. Enter colossal squid. Enter papa sperm whale, who eats the colossal squid.
    • Both "Stuck on Sharks" and especially "This Orca Likes Sharks" features orcas preying on great whites.
    • At one point in the penguin episode, the Kratts in penguin form are chased by a leopard seal, which is chased by an orca.
  • Ambiguously Brown: Chris (even though he is fairly dark skinned in real life). Donita would fit, if she weren't a fashionista (it could be argued that she tans). Rex as well, although his complexion may be an intentional contrast to Paisley's chalk-white skin.
  • And I Must Scream: Donita Donata specializes in "living jewelry" i.e. live animals frozen in suspended animation. Not all of them are rescued either. Sure she doesn't kill them (at least not intentionally), but this could arguably be worse.
  • Angry, Angry Hippos: True to real life, hippos are portrayed as aggressive in several appearances. In "Mom of a Croc", it's pointed out that their jaws can chop a crocodile in half.
  • Animal Jingoism: "Whale of a Squid" focuses on the famed animosity between sperm whales and giant squids.
  • Animal-Themed Superbeing: The Creature Power Suits and Discs convey Type IV (any animal) powers upon their wearers.
  • Artistic License – Ornithology:
    • In "Day of the Dodo", the great auk is described as a penguin. It was actually... well, an auk. This one is actually justified though— when great auks were discovered, they were initially called penguins, and only later was the name given to the birds that bear that name today.
    • In "Roadrunner", the titular bird has three toes facing forward and one backward in some shots. Like all cuckoos, they actually have two facing forward and two backward (though the roadrunner is correctly shown with this arrangement when standing).
    • The pelican in "Capture the Fishmobile" only has three toes webbed (a real pelican has all four toes webbed).
  • Artistic License – Paleontology:
    • Averted in "Raptor Round-Up", where they point out how similar some dinosaurs were to birds-of-prey, including having feathers. Heck, in the end dinosaurs are described as still existing today as birds.
    • Also averted in "The Dhole Duplicator" where Martin properly uses the term "saber-toothed cats" for machairodonts (rather than "saber-toothed tigers").
  • Art Shift: The animation and character designs are slightly different starting from "Polar Bears Don't Dance", although this was fixed by "Snow Runners".
  • As Himself: The Kratt Brothers, obviously, and adorably, some of their real-life kids.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever:
    • "Whale of a Squid" featured two giant sea monsters duking it out. Then there's an extreme example with Seven in "Octopus Wildkratticus".
    • Aviva with praying mantis powers. Since female mantises are much larger than males, she grows to roughly the size of the Tortuga.
  • Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Martin-the-Bass has a little problem with lure reactions. Also averted with a LOT of the episodes—okay, fine, every episode—because the Kratts always get distracted, and never stay on their ONE task assigned, although they come to their senses eventually.
  • Author Avatar: Chris and Martin Kratt pretty much play animated (and more physically able) versions of themselves in nearly all of each episode
  • Backported Development: Octopus Wildkratticus showed two things at the same time: 1) Scenes that never happened, 2) In Creature Power Suits that do not exist either a- in the state they were shown or b- at all (such as Martin's Honey Badger suit- there was never a second disc. Chris was the Honey Badger that episode). The series has Plot Holes overall, because the episodes are out of order.
  • Bag of Kidnapping: In "Birds of a Feather" Donita's henchman Dabio kidnaps Aviva with this method because he thought she was a giant Bird of Paradise when she was wearing a bird Creature Power Suit.
  • Bamboo Technology: Chris sometimes whips up catapults and other contraptions from logs, vines, and whatever bits of fabric or wire are left over from the latest crashed or creature-destroyed equipment that got him and Martin stranded.
  • Batman in My Basement: In "Praying Mantis," two brothers call the Wild Kratts when they discover the cocoon they brought home hatched thousands of baby praying mantis, which are crawling all over their bedroom.
    Ronan: Mom, can we have a Wild Kratts adventure in our room?
    Mom: Okay!
    Gavin: Cool!
  • Berserk Button:
    • Chris has one whenever animals are directly threatened (to be technical they both do, but it could be argued Chris gets angrier than Martin does).
  • Also in "Flight of the Draco", don't tell Aviva she throws like a gi-
Aviva: Don't you say it!
  • On that matter, don't lose the creature power suits, disagree with her on whether or not it's more important to find said suits or a new species... just... just don't make her mad at all.
  • Chris to Martin in "Raptor Roundup"- Martin was standing on top of the Tortuga, slipped and fell and slid down the clothesline, knocking off the sleeping bags Chris had just hung up, and covering his brother in feathers. Chris growls, Martin gives an Oh, Crap! and starts running with Chris on his heels. What would Chris have done if he'd caught Martin?
  • There's also Martin to Donita in "Flight of the Draco" when his Berserk Button was pressed.
  • Koki is a very good fit for this trope as well, due to her bad temper.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Very much in existence, though Chris has got quite the Little Brother Instinct of his own.
  • Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Zach mistakes Martin for a yeti when a power-suit glitch turns the latter into a human-sized Himalayan monkey.
  • Big "NO!": Many times, and often. Usually comes after Oh, Crap!
  • Big Red Button: The ink defense button in "Octopus Wildkratticus," and pretty much every button on all of Zach's controls. Donita's buttons are more like big pink buttons. To note, the Octopod also had a big green button.
  • Birth-Death Juxtaposition: In Alaska: Hero's Adventure, a school of salmon complete their upstream migration, lay their eggs, and promptly die. The eggs hatch into salmon fry, which start the salmon life cycle again by swimming downstream.
  • Bittersweet Ending: One special goes into detail about the adaptations of and challenges faced by salmon. The salmon die upon completing migration, but the eggs they lay hatch and start the salmon life cycle again.
  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Martin, Chris/Aviva, and Jimmy. (Koki's hair is black, so she doesn't fit this trope.)
  • Bloodless Carnage: Although it's quite frequently discussed that animals kill each other, actual bloodshed is avoided. Predators will either gulp down their prey, miss their targets, or finish a kill off-screen. Wounded animals may limp, but don't bleed on-camera. Carcasses, if shown, are either cleanly-intact or already disassembled into tidy, ambiguous chunks or bones.
    • This was averted once, when a secretary bird was shown in the act of killing a snake, complete with visible blood.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall:
    • Sometimes the characters will look into the camera, but they won't necessarily be talking to the audience. The only real time the fourth wall was genuinely broken was in the basilisk lizard episode - Chris and Martin were trying to catch a basilisk to activate their suits. Chris assumes a funny pose and declares it the "dead tree pose". Martin then looks into the camera, tries to stifle his smile, and indicates Chris with his thumb in a way that suggested the audience was supposed to know about his actions, but Chris wasn't.
    • Another example can be found in "Termites vs. Tongues", although Martin says he's talking to himself and not necessarily to the audience, but they could take it a different way.
    Martin: You heard me talking to myself, didn't you? Yeah, thought so.
  • Briar Patching: Used by Martin on Zach in "The Gecko Effect". Of course, Zach is an idiot when it comes to animals, so Martin has to go and explain what geckos "are," while still pretending he doesn't know Zach is listening.
  • Brutish Bulls: In “Where the Bison Roam”, a dominant bull bison tosses Jimmy into the air after he invades its personal space while trying to get a teleportation ring that ended up around his horn. Martin dubs said bison Raging Bull. In a subsequent episode, Raging Bull makes another appearance to head-butt Martin out of a fence he’s stuck in.
  • Cast Full of Writers: 3/4 of the writers have fairly regular roles on the show. See Written by Cast Member.
  • Casual Danger Dialogue: It's common for the cast to stop to describe animal traits even when time and danger are serious factors.
  • Catchphrase Spouting Duo: Most episodes of the show end with Chris saying his Signing Off Catchphrase and Chris complimenting it with his own.
  • Character Catchphrase:
    • "To the creature rescue!" and "Living free and in the wild!" and less frequently, "Saving the planet with creature powers!" spring to mind.
    • "I'll get you, you Wild Ratts!" Zach, every time.
    • Also, "Mission accomplished!" (Considering the Creature Missions throughout the episodes...)
    • "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "I think we're thinking the same thing."
    • "This gives me a great idea for a video game."
    • In the live-action segments: "We'll see you on the creature trail!" and "Keep on creature adventuring!"
  • Cheated Angle: Aviva's hair, every single episode.
  • Celebrity Toons: A Saturday morning cartoon-influenced show starring two beloved zoologist brothers.
  • Chekhov's Skill: Any mentioned creature power inevitably gets used to save the day.
  • Chronic Hero Syndrome: When the brothers in particular see animal in distress, they feel morally obligated to help. They have a tendency to seek out animals to observe even when they're not working, and it feeds into it.
  • Chronically Crashed Car: More like Chronically Crashed Everything; if any of Team Kratt is off exploring in a one- or two-man vehicle, the odds are good that said vehicle will crash, break down, get chomped by a creature, or otherwise strand its occupant in the middle of nowhere. The Buzzbikes and Amphipod in particular must be impossible to insure by now, they've been wrecked so many times.
  • Circling Birdies: Takes the form of whatever animal featured in the episode.
  • Coconut Meets Cranium: A coconut (an immature one, judging by its green husk) dropping onto Chris's head is what snaps him out of his hallucination from being stranded on a deserted island in "Puffin Rescue."
  • Color-Coded Characters:
    • Martin wears blue, Chris wears green. Becomes one of the more obvious hints that something's up in "Let the Rhinos Roll!". Also happens to be how Zach identifies them, as "Blue Boy" and "Green Guy".
    • Played with when the brothers go out of their way to retain their color-coding. In "Blowfish Blowout", when the miniaturized Kratts need to conceal themselves among plankton, Martin passed up the chance to disguise himself with dark green sea scum, handing it over to Chris and riding a (transparent, yet depicted as light blue) bubble instead. Their favored dragonfly-forms likewise match their colors.
    • Also, Aviva in "Octopus Wildkratticus" and "Birds of a Feather", seeing as how her scuba suit and her Bird of Paradise suit were purple.
    • Koki was a later addition to the trope. Throughout the episodes, we could tell that she favored orange, but it was made offical in The Amazing Creature Race, when she transformed into an orange cheetah.
  • Comedic Underwear Exposure: Happens to Gaston Gourmand in the episode "Rainforest Stew".
  • Comically Missing the Point:
    • Jimmy. According to him, sharks give birth to puppies. As in "baby dogs". (Sharks babies are called "pups".) Seems to be mixed with Obfuscating Stupidity.
    • In "Seahorse Rodeo", Dabio sees the diamonds are holograms projected from the Tortuga. Looking at the diamonds, then at the projector , apparently trying to put two-and-two together. Then he tries to take a bite of his club sandwich.
  • Comm Links: The Creature Pods, which (when not lost/broken/forgotten) allow the bros to keep in touch with the Tortuga, the Wild Kratts Kids, and each other.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • The episode "Little Howler" has a flashback involving the episode where Chris used the Creature Power Suit to become a gazelle. Also in "Let the Rhinos Roll"- the reason Chris Bot was wearing red is because when in certain countries during Kratts' Creatures, Chris would wear a red shirt.
    • Speaking of Kratts' Creatures, occasional episode titles get dropped (such as "Maximum Cheetah Velocity!" in both "Mimic" and "Cheetah Racer"), and both that series and Be the Creature get occasional moment nods.
    • Other episodes can be littered with several nods to past ones. "Raptor Round Up" is a good example, cameoing the honeyguide (or at least a honeyguide) from "Honey Seekers", while Chris also references the dough balls incident from the same episode a little while later.
  • Crazy-Prepared:
    • Martin thinks he's this.
    Chris: Snowshoes? In the rainforest?
    Martin: Hey, you may be more organized, but I'm better prepared.
    • Subverted however in "Koala Balloon" when Martin is rummaging for eucalyptus leaves to feed to Koala Balloon, but only finds various other kinds of leaves.
  • Crossover:
    • The Kratt brothers appeared in the beginning of the Odd Squad episode "Night Shift".
    • The show had a crossover with Nature Cat called "Wild Batts!", where Chris and Martin appeared as bats.
    • The Kratts guest-star in the Molly of Denali episode "Cry Wolf", where the characters search for a missing wolf pack.
  • Cruel Coyotes: In the episode "Roadrunner", Chris, using roadrunner powers, chases a collared lizard (referred to in the episode as a "mystery lizard" until the end) which suddenly retreats into some bushes. When Chris tries to catch up to the lizard, a coyote jumps out from said bushes, mistakes Chris for a roadrunner and starts chasing him, resulting in a certain scenario many Looney Tunes fans may recognize. While trying to escape from the coyote, Chris incorrectly assumes that roadrunners are too fast for coyotes before Martin tells him through a wrist communicator that coyotes can outrun and catch roadrunners. Sure enough, the coyote has managed to catch Chris, but is then startled and runs off when he deactivates his roadrunner powers and returns to normal.
  • Cruella to Animals: Surprisingly averted for the most part. Most of the villains' mistreatment of animals is out of apathy and indifference to the creatures' well-being than outright sadism. But Gourmand did once say that the thought of cooking endangered animals always picks up his mood. As for Zach, it's only when the Kratts try reasoning with him that Zach goes out of his way to harm animals just to spite them.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Zach can send out all the bots he wants. He's only making the Bros look more awesome.
  • Darker and Edgier: Compared to other Kratt shows, and PBS Kids in general — some of the villains are genuinely threatening, and the show is not above showing animals killing and eating their prey.
  • Wild Kratts:
    • In "Koala Balloon", Chris, Martin and the titular koala baby are chased by a pack of dingoes. To throw them off, Martin creates a decoy of Koala Balloon made out of wood to fool them. It works, but only for a short time, as the dingoes quickly realize they were tricked and the trio is chased up a tree, forced to spend the night there due to the threatening dingoes on the ground.
    • In "Kickin' It With the Roos", a dingo chases after a group of kangaroos, including Chris and Martin, who are transformed kangaroos. Once the group gets to a watering hole, Roo Boss fights the dingo and attempts to drown him, after which the dingo quickly makes his escape.
  • Demoted to Extra: There have been episodes where either Jimmy or Koki (or, on rare occasions, both of them) have little to no dialogue spoken. This seems to be happening less and less as the show goes on.
  • Deserted Island: In "Puffin Rescue", the Kratts end up on separate ones after the Tortuga is hit by a rogue wave. Martin washes up on a rocky island where Atlantic puffins have nested, while Chris is sent flying onto a small island with a lone coconut tree.
  • Desperate Object Catch: Koki does a Diving Save to catch the remote time-trampoline when Martin carelessly drops it. Also happens occasionally when a Power Disc is teleported to the bros.
  • Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: In "To Touch a Hummingbird," Martin wakes Koki and Aviva by playing the show's theme song on a bugle. Aviva puts a sock in it.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: When Donita wants to turn a baby cheetah into a fashion ornament, the brothers trick her into stealing a visually similar honey badger, which goes berserk. While cheetahs are endangered, it's only the show's kid-friendly tone that prevented the honey badger from killing Donita.
  • Do I Really Sound Like That?: Chris, after Martin imitates his growling, in "Tazzy Chris".
  • Doing It for the Art: In-universe example with Chef Gourmand. Besides the fact that food made from rare animals make for especially expensive - and therefore profitable - dishes, this is the reason he specializes in cooking with endangered animals. He even firmly insists that he never, ever makes the same dish twice.
  • Don't Try This at Home: "Rattlesnake Crystal" starts and ends with a disclaimer about not touching wild snakes.
  • Doppelgänger: Zach makes one of Chris. Martin nearly doesn't figure it out in time.
  • Drives Like Crazy:
    • Martin does a bit of this off-screen in "Let the Rhinos Roll!", in which he apparently drives their jeep flying over a ravine. Chris good-naturedly chews him out over it while he fixes the poor thing.
    • There's some on-screen bad driving by Martin in the beginning of "Aardvark Town." It could be argued that Chris can't drive either, judging by his handling (or lack thereof) of the sub at the beginning of "Whale of a Squid", as well as the Butterflier XT.
  • Dumb Blonde: Played straight in one case and averted in another. Dabio is an idiot, but Martin is just goofy.
  • Doofy Dodo: Part 1 of "Back in Creature Time" plays with this by portraying dodos as intelligent, but clueless about the dangers brought to their island due to years of isolation from predators. You know, just like real dodos. They even point out that it's a misconception that dodos are stupid, being members of the pigeon family and all.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness:
    • The pilot episode, "Polar Bears Don't Dance," sports different animation, different rules for the power suits (which seem to be actual suits in this episode alone, rather than entire body transformations), a different director, and different designs for both the exterior and interior of the Tortuga.
    • The show's first season's episodes don't open with a globe that tells the audience where in the world the Kratts and the featured animal are, something that would be adopted in the rest of the show's runtime.
  • Eskimos Aren't Real: Koki, Aviva and Jimmy all assume narwhals are imaginary, so the brothers set out to show them one. Truth in Television; narwhals are sometimes believed to be imaginary.
  • "Everybody Laughs" Ending: Almost every episode. It's rare to see an episode end with no one laughing. The only exceptions to this are Snow Runners and Creature Power Challenge, among some others.
  • Exit, Pursued by a Bear: Or rhino, or Tasmanian devil, or pigeon...
  • Everyone Went to School Together: It's not enough that the Kratts and Zach grew up in the same neighborhood (and presumably went to the same school); Aviva spent a summer in science camp with him.
  • Evil Egg Eater: They show up a few times, even if they're ultimately normal animals trying to survive and treated accordingly. The first episode for instance has a Nile monitor lizard serving as the closest thing to its villain, trying twice in the episode to raid a Nile crocodile's nest. Both the croc itself and later the Kratt Brothers chase it off before it does.
  • Evil Poacher: All the main villains, except for Paisley Paver, who's more interested in developing on land which happens to be inhabited by animals than harming them directly, though she will capture animals if a) they get in the way of her plans, b) she plans to make them work for her, or c) it's for another villain's scheme.
  • Evil Tastes Good: "Poached, roasted or barbecued... rare, endangered animals make the best food!" Gourmand singing to himself in "Platypus Café".
  • Fartillery: Averted with the warthogs—they just have warthog breath, as opposed to Pumbaa, whose gas came from the other end.
  • The Fashionista: Donita. She's very successful with her animal based line, and when frustrated starts sketching out ideas on a sketchpad.
  • Fatal Flaw: The villains all have Ambition Is Evil, but aside from that, display several others. Donita—Greed. Gourmand—Jerkass, Pride. Paisley—A Tragedy of Impulsiveness. Zach—has all of them except for Delicious Distraction.
  • Felony Misdemeanor: The villains on the show are often not breaking any laws, just being callous toward wildlife — sometimes down to the point of only endangering one or two members of a populous species. These are always considered dire threats worth risking life and limb to prevent, even in an environment where the animals are common and under constant natural threat.
  • Fiery Red Head: Inverted—Jimmy is the calmest member, and Aviva is the most temperamental.
  • Fiery Salamander: Martin reads about the "salamander born of fire" myth in a very old book, so the Kratts investigate and debunk it.
  • Filler: Alaska: Hero's Adventure lasts forty-five minutes, so a segment from Nature Cat is used to fill the hour allocated for broadcasts.
  • Finish Dialogue in Unison
    Martin: This raccoon family needs a home, so we should show them-
    Chris and Martin (in unison): -that old raccoon den!
  • Foil:
    • Zach and Donita. Zach is dark, brooding, pale, excessively cruel to animals (particularly the babies) and literally does not give two cents about learning anything about them and is surrounded by his robot servants/slaves. Donita, on the other hand, is tan, very successful with her fashion line, a bit genre savvy, actually shows interest in knowing about the animals that will be part of her fashion line, and has only one henchman (Dabio).
    • Chris and Martin could be considered foils to each other, with their varied heights and appearances, as well as their differences in personality—Chris is (generally) the calmer and more collected one, and has been pointed out to be more organized than his brother, who's the goofy, occasionally ditzy one. Aside from that, they often have opposites in favorite activity (Chris is the better climber, Martin is the better swimmer/flier) or in the suits they have when they both don't have the same one (such as squirrel and blue jay, or sperm whale and giant squid).
  • Frisky Ferret: One episode featured a black-footed ferret named Bandito that Martin met in the praries. Even though he can be cute, sometimes he can be sneaky. This is shown by him popping up behind Martin and biting his behind.
  • Freudian Excuse: Why is Zach so angry at these brothers? Well apparently they foiled his childhood plans of a security robot—powered by a frog—when they were kids!
  • From Bad to Worse: "Whale of a Squid" is the episode that embodies this trope. While Chris the sperm whale is fighting a losing battle against a colossal squid, and Martin the giant squid is trying to save the Animal of the Day's mother:
    Chris: Martin, help!
    Martin: Uh Chris, I was just gonna ask you the same thing!
    Chris: Why?
    Martin: Because we're sinking right towards underwater volcanoes! And they're active!
    Chris: But the squid just chewed off one of my fins!
    Martin: But I'm drifting straight into a pool of bubbling lava!
    Chris: The spinning hooks are shredding my back!
    Martin: The volcanoes are erupting!
    Chris: Chewing through the glass!
    Martin: Giant gas-filled rocks hurtling towards me!
    (Later)
    Martin (while being snared by the colossal squid): I got no strength to fight back!
    Chris (ditto): She's almost torn through my suit!
    Koki: The sperm whale only has five minutes of air!
    Aviva: It's too deep for us to help you!
    Jimmy: Can anybody say 'uh-oh'?
  • Gambler's Fallacy: The brothers know that 1 in 500 narwhals have two tusks, so they keep re-activating their Narwhal Powers to try and get two. They openly state that every failure increases their odds of success, and both brothers finally get the double-tusks they're looking for after about 500 attempts.
    • The brothers know that 1 in 16 jaguars is of the melanoid "Black Panther" variant. When activating their Jaguar Powers, Chris gets the Black Panther variant on the first try, while Martin has to keep reactivating to get it.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Young Aviva (as shown in "Bass Class"). They were in buns, but still.
  • Giving Them the Strip:
    • When the others try to drag him away from Madagascar by his heels, Chris (determined not to leave without seeing a fossa) unties his bootlace and slips away with one bare sock.
    • Martin loses his boot to a gila monster's bite this way, as the stubborn lizard won't let go of it when Koki and Jimmy (not realizing the reptile's teeth hadn't penetrated the boot) haul Martin back to the Tortuga for emergency medical treatment.
    • In "Musk Ox Mania", Zack gets chased by Baby Tooth's pack because his thick fur coat makes him look like a musk ox. Aviva suggests he take off the coat to escape the Arctic wolves, and he does so when Baby Tooth grabs its coattails. This saves the day as well as Zack, as an item he'd stolen from Chris is in one of the coat pockets.
  • Gory Discretion Shot: In "Temple of the Tigers", we see Queen Stealth the tigress pounce on a sambar buck in an ambush attack and sink her teeth into his neck, and then the Kratts get run over by the struggle. In the next scene, the Kratts find Queen Stealth walking out from a bush with a chunk of deer flesh in her mouth.
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck!: Martin in "Polar Bears Don't Dance".
    Martin: Darn camouflage...
  • Gratuitous Spanish: Subverted, as Aviva will occasionally make an exclamation in Spanish, but has never really outright code switched. She does it less and less as the show goes on.
  • Halloween Episode: "Masked Bandits" is one, although PBS Kids has just released a video of their "Weird Kratts Week", stating that other shows include The Gecko Effect, Secrets of the Spider's Web and A Bat in the Brownies, among other non-related Halloween episodes (like Seasquatch, Googly-Eye The Night Guru (although this is debatable) and Quillber's Birthday Present).
    • The hour-long special "Creepy Creatures", which focuses on the villains stealing animals for a haunted house.
  • Honorable Elephant: "Elephant Brains!" focuses on the intelligence and altruistic behavior of Asian elephants.
  • Identical Grandson: In the "Back in Creature Time" two-parter, the bros encounter Gourmand's fifteen-greats grandpa on 16th century Mauritius, and the great-grandparents of Donita and Dabio on 19th century Tasmania. By their looks, voices and behavior, all three could be their modern descendents' siblings.
  • Impossibly-Compact Folding: Many of Aviva's inventions fold up into a much smaller space than their components could occupy in Real Life. Possibly explained by the fact that the first such compact-folding gadget introduced was the miniaturizer.
  • Incredible Shrinking Man: The brothers have a shrinking machine that they regularly use to get up close and personal to smaller creatures, though this isn't without its hazards.
    • Including but not limited to Chris getting captured by Gourmand while miniaturized in "Platypus Cafe" and almost ending up as a side dish.
  • Ink-Suit Actor: Chris and Martin Kratt pretty much play animated (and more physically able) versions of themselves in nearly all of each episode
  • Intergenerational Friendship: The Wild Kratts and the Wild Kratts Kids.
  • In Medias Res: The episode "Little Howler" begins with the Kratts returning to the Tortuga after an adventure, then covers the adventure itself to figure out how they picked up a wolf pup found in Martin's pack. The second half of the episode deals with taking the cub back.
  • Jekyll & Hyde: The mouse lemur is a low-key example, shifting from Sugar Bowl cuteness to "monster lemur" each time it spots prey.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Aviva- Donita acts the exact same way Aviva does, yet everyone loves Aviva and hates Donita. She bullies the boys to the point she doesn't have to do anything but give them the Thousand-Yard Stare, thinks she's better than nature itself (and has even tried to beat it [Cheetah Racer]), and more often than not doesn't listen. However, at least she's saving animals instead of enslaving them, and she has been known to give out hugs (whether or not the recipient expects one). Because of the episodes being out of order, could be Took a Level in Jerkass.
  • Kaiju: Hercules the beetle temporarily becomes one of these due to a Miniaturizer accident, tearing up a long strip of rainforest and parts of an unspecified city.
  • Karma Houdini: Downplayed… Most of the time, the when the villains are defeated, they typically end up flying/retreating in defeat, or often flee in humiliation, but they are never punished by the law for their (definitely) illegal poaching activites.
  • Keet: Chris and Martin are so enthusiastic about what they do that it's like they're a two-man fraternity. When they're really in the zone, it is as if they share a single mind.
  • Kick the Dog: Zach has taken baby animals captive a few times in order to get what he wants.
  • Knife Outline: Happens with porcupine quills, when Chris's bright idea to yank a bunch of them out of Martin quickly using rope and a power winch sent the quills flying.
  • Know-Nothing Know-It-All:
  • Very minorly, Aviva, at least in "Platypus Café". She assumed she knew enough to figure out the platypus' electrosensory power by herself. In the end, she couldn't do it without the platypus to help her.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In “City Hoppers”, Zach informs Gourmand of Paisley Paver’s existence. Not to mention that she’s a villain like them. He also tells Gourmand that a new villain doesn’t appear very often. Which is true for the show in general.
  • Legion of Doom: Zach, Donita, and Gourmand apparently form one against the Wild Kratts as time goes on. However, they always start fussing amongst themselves and may cause their own plans to fail due to their bickering.
    • In "City Hoppers", Zach calls Donita and Gourmand to his building so that they can all get acquainted with Paisley Paver, the new villain. During the meeting, Zach welcomes Paisley to the "Legion of Villainous Villainhood", showing that Zach has actually thought of a name for the group.
  • LEGO Genetics: Aviva found the "horn gene" for rhinos. If you know anything of genetics besides what they taught you in school, you know this isn't how genetics works.
  • Leitmotif: There's several of them in the show. The transformations have their own theme, as well as most of the villains, plus the typical "DANGER APPROACHES" music.
  • Limited Wardrobe:
    • Given that this is PBS, and the viewers are usually young children.
    • They change their outfits in winter though—think their sweatshirts, minus black, plus grey, minus khakis, plus pants...you get the point. They're the same colors too.
  • Magic A Is Magic A:
    • Subverted with the Creature Power Suits. Most of the time, they need a disc, DNA, and a button press. On occasion, they've been activated without a disc ("Tazzy Chris", where the activation button was bitten), from the other brother's suit ("Mom of a Croc", where Chris activated his dragonfly suit off Martin's already activated dragonfly suit), with the wrong disc ("Mom of a Croc", where they activated their Gharial discs off a crocodile; it just didn't last as long), and even vocally ("Whale of a Squid").
    • Zach once figures out how to use past activations to re-activate creature powers, giving the Kratts some trouble. Surprisingly, (to this viewer anyway), Aviva doesn't try to figure this out for herself so that the Kratts would be able to reactivate at their leisure.
  • Malicious Misnaming: Zach to Chris and Martin.
    Zach: I'll get you, you Wild Ratts!
    Chris and Martin: That's Wild Kratts!
    Zach: Whatever!
  • Mama Bear: Implied in "An Elephant in the Room", when the brothers mention their mom calling both of them that morning, and how she's regularly checking up on them. And of course there's all the literal examples, some of which (like the streaked tenrec that took on a mongoose four times her size to defend her babies) qualify in both senses. Inverted in "Amazing Amazon Adventure", when the baby capybara bites the tail of the green anaconda to try to aid its encoiled mother, Blockhead.
  • Manchild:
    • Subverted with Martin- he can get serious when he needs to be, but other than that, he acts more like the target audience than the Periphery Demographic.
    • Zach Varmitech. A lot of times, he's shown whining and throwing tantrums like a bratty child.
    • Dabio, to a degree, when he's not being an out and out idiot.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • Corcovado (Aviva's last name) is a city in South America. Aviva is of Spanish or Hispanic descent.
    • The Tortuga (Spanish for "tortoise" or "turtle").
    • Aviva is actually a relatively common girl's name in Hebrew, meaning "springtime." Nothing comes up when you search for its meaning in Spanish.
    • "Aviva" could be a diminutive offshoot of "Vivian", which is Latinate for "life". Not a bad choice for a character on a show about Nature's living wonders.
  • Mecha: The creature power suits. While dormant they consist of a vest and gloves, but stick in a disc and press a button and they become mecha-like animal suits. The Tortuga itself could also qualify.
  • Mecha-Mooks: Zachbots, of course. Also Donita's flying mannequins starting from "Snowy Owl Invasion".
  • Mellow Mantas: An episode focusing on sharks has a calming interlude with a manta ray (and a few remoras) where the brothers gush over its gentle majesty. Unfortunately, said gushing is cut short by the intrusion of a great white shark.
  • Mind Control: Both Donita and Zach use this, but Donita's could arguably be considered more "body control" than "mind control". With Zach, it's Unwilling Roboticisation.
  • Mind-Control Device: Zach specializes in them to force animals to do his bidding.
  • The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body:
    • The creature power suits sometimes affect how Chris and Martin think, though this seems far more likely if it's malfunctioning.
  • Minor Injury Overreaction: "Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus", when the pearl case snaps shut on Zach's finger: "I cut my finger in half!" When he pulls it off, his "finger cut in half" has what amounts to a paper cut. It didn't even bleed!
  • Misleading Package Size: Chris's huge present in the Christmas Episode, which makes Martin jealous based on its size alone. Its contents? A gift certificate pledging that Aviva will make another Time Trampoline.
  • Misplaced Wildlife: Returning the koala from the desert to the rainforest is the entire point of "Koala Balloon".
  • Mix-and-Match Critters: Happens to a poor octopus in "Octopus Wildkratticus". He had walrus tusks, shark teeth and a whale body.
    • Also happens to the guys in the events of power-suit malfunctions ("Creepy Creatures", "Uh Oh, Ostrich!"), or jamming of specific components ("The Great Creature Tail Fail").
  • Moby Schtick: Gourmand goes full-blown Ahab in "Last Largest Lobster", so obsessed with eating the Miniaturizer-enlarged lobster that he ends up tying himself to its carapace. Had Chris not cut him loose, he'd been dragged away to drown like Ahab, too.
  • The Movie: Several:
    • The first of them was "Back in Creature Time", which was really just two episodes sewn together to make a movie.
    • The next one was "A Creature Christmas", which aired before the premiere of Nature Cat.
    • The next one was "Creatures of the Deep Sea", which aired before the premiere of Splash and Bubbles
    • The one after that was "Alaska: Hero's Journey", which was part of PBS Kids' initiative to bridge the summer learning gap.
    • "Creepy Creatures", an extended Halloween Episode.
    • "Amazin' Amazon Adventure": Exactly What It Says on the Tin, it takes place in the Amazon Rainforest.
    • "Cats and Dogs", where the gang has to stop Zach from stealing wild canines and felines.
    • On July 5, 2021, an interview with Variety lead to a brief announcement that a feature-length film based on the series is in production. It will mark the first theatrical production made by the Kratt brothers as well as their first theatrical appearance.
  • Multi-Part Episode: "Back in Creature Time" two-parter.
  • Mundane Utility:
    • Martin and Chris have been known to use the Creature Power suits to just goof off instead of saving animals.
    • In the Christmas Episode, Aviva talks Koki into donning a Power Suit so she can use Blue Jay Powers to string lights and ribbon on the very tall tree they're decorating.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Chris in "Build It Beaver", when he removed his kayak paddle from the beaver dam, causing the entire thing to break apart, drain the lake, and strand many animals (both water and land). It doesn't help that this happens nearly 3 other times before the episode's end. They fixed it, though.
  • Mythology Gag: A whole set of episodes is dedicated to exploring Madagascar and the lemur species exclusive to the island. Longtime fans of the Kratt Brothers may recognize this as a nod to Zoboomafoo.

    Tropes N to Z 
  • Naked People Are Funny: This happens to the brothers in "To Touch a Hummingbird", losing their clothes in the middle of a rescue and ending up shamefully slinking away covering their modesty with giant leaves. Played with in "Pangolin Rescue", when the outer scales fall off Chris's prototype Pangolin Power-mode, and he covers his crotch and dives behind the bushes even though he's still fully clothed by the Power Suit's inner layer.
  • Narrator: A Creature Christmas was narrated by Aviva.
  • Never Say "Die": Wholly averted. The Kratt Brothers make no attempt to sugarcoat any potentially deadly situations, and any of the proper terms for death are used when appropriate.
  • Never Smile at a Crocodile: "Mom of a Croc" tries to subvert this, by depicting crocodiles as the good mothers as they are in real life. Played straight in episodes where crocodilians are a threat which the featured species must evade.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: A beaver steals Chris's paddle and puts it in his dam. Chris's attempts to get it back somehow manage to destroy the entire dam. When they finally manage to fix it, Martin leans on a half-chewed-down tree, which manages to set off a domino chain of half-chewed-down trees, which of course breaks the dam again. And then the beavers steal the paddle again, but Chris decides enough is enough.
  • The Nicknamer:
    • Martin names all of their animal friends. All of them. This is justified as this was a staple in the previous shows of the Kratt brothers; it's to help children connect with the animal of the day.
    • Gourmand, Zach and Donita each have their own nicknames for the Bros. Gourmand calls them Blueberry and Green Grape. Zach calls them Blue Boy and Green Guy. Donita calls them Martino and Chrisangelo (although she calls Chris "Christo" once), perhaps to distinguish herself as one who comes up with unique and artistic ideas, unlike the others, whose nicknames are based on their favourite colours.
  • No Cartoon Fish: Most of the fish we see are drawn realistically, and also act that way. Then again, all the animals are portrayed realistically.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Donita's henchman/male model Dabio who is based off the once famous model/celebrity Fabio, star of romance novel covers around the globe.
  • Nominal Importance:
    • Any animal Martin names can be counted on to survive the episode, even if others of its kind get snapped up by predators. Particularly conspicuous in "Squirmy Wormy", as lots of (unnamed) worms get gobbled by birds or moles even as the brothers struggle to save Pinkie.
    • Subverted in "The Cobra King" where an Indian mongoose kills an Indian cobra Martin named "Hoodie".
  • Non-Human Sidekick: All the animals that lend their DNA to the Creature Power Suits.
  • No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: In "Chameleons On Target", Aviva claims she'll have to repeat an entire year's work to recreate the ring chip she's been working on. Evidently without taking any notes or making a backup copy ... even though she'd need two to equip both the Power Suits.
    • The "No Backup" aspect of this trope is broadly applicable for a lot of episodes. There's only one set of keys for the Tortuga or Createrra, only one Miniaturizer or Time Trampoline recall device, no backup radios on the Buzz Bikes in case the Creature Pods get damaged, no reserve tellurium in the Tortuga's stocks, etc...
  • Not a Date: Donita and Zach in "Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus". Maybe Donita was there for just the pearl (and money making opportunity), but Zach was in a different emotional zone than she was.
  • Odd Name Out: Among the names that Martin gives the crocodile hatchings we have Chomp, Crunch, Jaws, Munch, Snap, and... Fred. After finding out there all girls he renames them Chompella, Crunchina, Jawsana, Muchette, Snappifer, and Frederica respectively.
  • Our Werebeasts Are Different: After a Tasmanian devil bites Chris's creature power suit, it starts to malfunction and he spends the rest of the episode flipping back and forth, parodying the common werebeast portrayal.
  • Panthera Awesome: In the episodes that star big cats (cheetahs in "Cheetah Racer", lions in "Bad Hair Day", jaguars in "Shadow: The Black Jaguar", tigers in "Temple of the Tiger").
  • Papa Wolf: The Kratts whenever baby animals are in danger. And of course there's all the species in which the males are fiercely protective of their offspring, including wolves.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: The Creature Power Suits were used as this at least once, in "Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus".
    Zach: "I'll get those Wild Ratts if it's the last thing I do!"
    Donita: "Or the next thing you do."
    Zach: "Yeah, or the next thing I- what?"
    Donita: "They're the walruses that don't resemble walruses whatsoever!" *spins him around; the Kratts wave sheepishly*
  • People Puppet: Donita uses a "Pose Beam" to physically manipulate Martin to act as her unwilling runway model in "Flight of the Draco". Needless to say the posing—and the ridiculous clothes—were great for a laugh from his brother.
  • Phlebotinum Breakdown:
    • A blue jay pecks Martin's suit while he's holding an acorn. Cue Martin-the-tree, which was definitely not supposed to happen.
    • Also when a T-Devil bites Chris' suit in "Tazzy Chris".
    • The way Seven becomes a mishmash Mix-and-Match Critter can be attributed to the octopus wearing two power suit vests at once, which caused a serious glitch such that each new animal's powers were added to previous ones instead of supplanted by them.
  • Piranha Problem: Subverted; red-bellied piranhas are realistically portrayed as prey for larger predators such as the electric eel.
  • Polar Bears and Penguins: The brothers debunk this trope for Jimmy when he's reluctant to leave the Tortuga in Antarctica, for fear of polar bears. Then they have to avert this trope by rescuing some penguins from the Arctic, where Donita Donata had dumped them after deciding they weren't good fashion accessories. Also a case of Truth in Television, in that penguins are from a continent where they have no terrestrial predators, which means bad news for said penguins in a world inhabited by polar bears and arctic wolves.
  • Primal Stance: The brothers sometimes pose this way when they're pantomiming animal-like behavior, or when taking on or shedding their creature powers.
  • Psycho Electric Eel: Averted; "Eel-lectric" depicts electric eels realistically, with moderately-ranged electrical powers, and even as protective fathers.
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
    • "You've GOT! To LET! Them GO!"- Martin, "Flight of the Draco" (upon finding out Donita's plans for the draco lizards).
  • Pungeon Master: Martin is usually the one making the bad Puns, but Chris has his share.
  • Punny Name: Played straight with some episode titles. "To Touch a Hummingbird" was an obvious pun of To Kill a Mockingbird. Another notable example is A Bat in the Brownies, which someone pointed out was a play on the phrase "a bat in the belfry".
  • Puppy-Dog Eyes:
    • In "Rainforest Stew", Jimmy used this on Aviva to make a sloth suit.
    • The Kratt Brothers in "Desert Elves" when they were begging Aviva.
  • Real Life Writes the Plot:
    • The episode for the Tasmanian Devils was based on an incident in Australia that a bacteria was causing the T-Devils to drop dead.
    • Later in "Stuck on Sharks" which aims to raise awareness of the meal known as Shark Fin Soup, which involves hunting and killing sharks only to use a small part of their body. This has significantly impacted shark populations which still have yet to recover.
    • In early 2014, Martin found a snowy owl outside and was inspired to create a Season 4 episode titled "Snowy Owl Invasion".
  • Retcon: Played straight and justified. Played straight in one episode where they showed scenes from "Honey Seekers" that supposedly happened in canon that the audience didn't see. Justified for the rest of the series because the episodes were initially aired out-of-order (for instance, we saw Donita dating Zach in one episode, then in a later episode, she had him confirm his identity).
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: The baby animals that the brothers find. Most notably we have Thornsly (an elephant), Spot Swat (a cheetah cub) and Little Howler (a wolf pup).
  • Rogues Gallery: Zach Varmitech, Donita Donata, Gaston Gourmand, and much later Paisley Paver round this out.
  • Rube Goldberg Device: In "Platypus Cafe", a miniaturized Chris comes up with one utilizing all the messiness of Gourmand's kitchen involving, among other things, shuriken waffles.
  • Rule of Animation Conservation: Chris and Martin weren't as young and spry as they used to be; they couldn't get physically involved in their work to the same extent they did in Kratts' Creatures or Zoboomafoo. Wild Kratts enabled the brothers to show and show themselves doing much more then would otherwise be possible by giving voice to their animated selves. Besides, it's much easier and less expensive to incorporate fantasy elements into 2D animation as opposed to using computer generated imagery or combining with live action.
  • Rule 63:
    • Amusingly enough, an in-series example! Chris falls victim to this through Fridge Logic in "Kickin' It With the Roos", as only female kangaroos have pouches (and he had one). One YouTube user also pointed out that Martin is the "blue" brother, and female roos are also blue (but he didn't have a pouch, so YMMV on that one).
    • This happens again in "Birds of a Feather." Not only is Aviva lent a power suit to use with male Bird-of-Paradise power, but Martin activates off of a female one later, which even becomes a plot point.
    • In the opossum story, both brothers' opossum-power suits have pouches, probably because they'd both touched Jill the mother opossum to activate their disks.
  • The Runt at the End: Not the smallest exactly, but squat little Dandelion the groundhog lags behind the crowd of animal babies that rush to the WK team, trampling the villains in the process, at the end of "A Creature Christmas".
  • Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Chris once descended into severe technobabble ("Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy", as they were setting up the miniturizer) and has spouted words like "monotremes" ("Platypus Café").
  • Shapeshifter Mode Lock: When this happens, it's usually due to a creature power suit malfunctioning, but sometimes it's a matter of taking on the form which makes it difficult to reach the suit's button. Also, on at least one occasion, Zack Varmitec has deliberately jammed said button.
  • Share Phrase: "To the creature rescue!" has been said by member of the Tortuga crew, and a few Wild Kratts Kids also.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Sibling Team: The only person who can match Chris stride for stride is Martin, and they are very productive together.
  • Signing Off Catchphrase: Most episodes end with Martin saying "Keep on creature adventuring!" and Chris adding "We'll see you on the creature trail!"
  • Skyward Scream: With Large Ham and Chewing the Scenery in "Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy".
    Martin: Don't dry on me, Pinky! DON'T DRYYYYYYYYY!
    He then does it again in the following live segment.
    Martin: I'm dryyyyyyyiiiiiiing! *pretends to die*
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: So far toward idealism that it occasionally wraps around to cynical again, treating humans as capable of being monsters for endangering a single fish.
  • Smelly Skunk:
  • Snake Versus Mongoose: One episode features snakes and mongooses and shows a mongoose killing a snake, while explaining the physiological mechanism that allows the mongoose to be immune to the snake's venom.
  • Somewhere, a Herpetologist Is Crying:
    • Nile crocodiles are portrayed with alligator-like overbites. Like all crocodiles, they actually have their lower teeth interlocking with their upper teeth. Gets egregious in "Crocogator Contest", which accurately point out that crocodiles are differentiated from alligators by having the lower teeth visible when the mouth is closed.
    • Crocodilians are depicted with too many claws on their hands and feet. As archosaurs, they should have claws on only three of their fingers and toes.
    • The episode featuring Komodo dragons perpetrates the myth that they take one bite of their prey and wait until it dies.
  • Somewhere, a Mammalogist Is Crying:
    • When African bat-eared foxes are discussed in "The Food Chain Game", a red fox is shown.
    • Another episode perpetuates the claim that honey badgers follow honeyguides to bee nests, which is extremely dubious at best. Also, mustelids like the honey badger are no longer considered to be "cousins" (or at least not first cousins) to skunks, which have their own Family now.
    • "A Huge Orange Problem" claims orangutans are the only apes in Asia, while forgetting about gibbons and siamangs. They probably meant to say the only great apes in Asia, which orangutans are (not counting humans).
    • "This Orca Likes Sharks" makes the common mistake of claiming that orcas are dolphins but not whales. Dolphins are actually a type of toothed whale.
  • Southern-Fried Genius: Gourmand is extremely cunning. Even Chris underestimated him, and said so in "Raptor Round Up".
  • Spot the Imposter: A Zachbot disguises itself as Chris in order to convince Martin that everything's okay, as opposed to, say, locked in a cell and glaring at his impostor from off-screen. Martin gets it in the end though.
  • Stock Footage: Some of the animal clips are from Kratt's Creatures, Zoboomafoo, and Be The Creature.
  • Superpower Lottery: Depending on how many disks they have on hand and whether they think to bring along samples of animal fur, scales, feathers, antlers, and so forth, the brothers' Power Suits can give them access to an amazing number of diverse creature abilities.
  • Swallowed Whole: Happens to plenty of prey animals, as the show practices Bloodless Carnage yet doesn't shy away from the fact that animals in nature eat one another a lot.
    • Played with in "Cheeks the Hamster", when Martin shoves Cheeks into his mouth whole ... not to eat him but to protect him, by holding the little rodent in his Hamster-Power cheek pouches long enough to elude the fox kits.
  • Take That!: In a live-action segment, Martin, holding an alligator, is quick to point out it's not Chris.
  • Talking Is a Free Action: No matter how strenuous and life-threatening the situation is, Martin and Chris always have enough time to narrate at great length whatever creature power they're currently observing or using.
  • Talking to Themself: Somewhat justified when a character has to expound so that the audience will understand, since the Kratts (or an alternative writer) don't seem to want to Break the Fourth Wall. However, Gourmand talks to himself just for the heck of it, and even sings little jingles he makes up about eating endangered animals to himself.
  • Techno Babble: Aviva is often the culprit of this, though Martin and Chris have their own special biobabble.
  • Telescoping Robot: Most of the robots and airships can do this, including the creature power suits, the shrink ray, and the Tortuga's feet.
  • Tempting Fate: This is pretty much Chris's shtick.
    Chris: "No worries Bro! I'm getting this roo kickboxing thing down better than I thought-" *WHAMTHUD* "...Scratch that."
  • Threatening Shark: Attempted subversion in "Stuck on Sharks". Played straight in episodes where large predatory sharks are a threat.
  • Token Minority: Koki and Aviva. Everyone else is Caucasian, with the exception of some Wild Kratts' Kids and possibly Rex.
  • Tomato Skunk Stink Cure: In "Skunked!", the crew attempt to have Jimmy bathe in tomato soup when he gets sprayed by a spotted skunk. It doesn't work.
  • Toon Transformation: Each episode starts with the Kratt Brothers in live-action form, talking to the viewers about animals. They then ask a question "What If?" and magically transform into cartoon characters.
  • Torment by Annoyance: Aviva coerces Donita into coughing up some coordinates by offering (i.e. threatening) to have the Wild Kratts team come hang out with her. Given a choice between spilling some information she doesn't much need to hide or being pestered by a bunch of annoying nature-lovers, Donita tells Aviva what she needs to know.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Pizza for Jimmy Z and chocolate for Martin. Moderately subverted with Jimmy, as he has been shown eating other foods like bananas.
  • Transforming Vehicle: Gourmand's truck and boat each unfold into a small covered-patio restaurant and kitchenette.
  • Truth in Television: Donita's fashion line is a subversion of this, but Gourmand in Stuck on Sharks played this trope painfully (and squickily) straight- Shark Fin Soup is a real (and real expensive) thing.
  • Two Girls to a Team: Koki and Aviva. Latecomer Paisley Paver makes the villains an example (two women out of 6, counting Dabio and Rex).
  • Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny:
    • The bull sperm whale vs. colossal squid battle, something never actually seen because of the depth of the ocean at which the battle takes place.
    • Invoked by Zach when he plots to roboticize a walrus and a polar bear, then have them fight each other to entertain his arctic hotel's guests.
  • Unnamed Parent: Unless the bros happen to meet the adult(s) first, Martin tends to name baby animals, but not their parents. Even recurring animal-characters like "Bumper's Mom" are referred to in the manner of this trope.
  • Unwilling Roboticization: Zach does this to animals to turn them into marketable products. Fortunately it's reversible.
  • Vague Age: Everyone, really, but especially the Kratt brothers. In real life, they're 47 (Martin) and 43 (Chris). They have stated in an interview only that they're in the best shape of their lives, but did not explicitly say their cartoon counterparts are younger, although one website reveals that Martin and Chris are in their late 20s. Given Gourmand and Donita's aged look, you can sort of assume there's an age discrepancy regarding the brothers, but we don't know for sure.
  • Very Special Episode: "Animals Who Live to Be 100 Years Old", in which the Kratt brothers try to discover the world's oldest living creatures. 100th episode of the series? Check. Broadcast during Earth Week? Check. Obligatory death scene, and the aftermath thereof being depicted? Check.
  • Villain Team-Up: Occasionally, the villains team up for a plan that catches similar interests or to try to defeat the Wild Kratts.
  • Vocal Evolution: Due to Martin and Chris's real life children voicing the characters sharing their names, it can be easy to tell a modern episode from an earlier installment due to the deepness of their voices; Gavin and Aiden are the most significant in this regard, with both of their recent appearances having their voices drop a few octaves due to puberty.
  • Volatile Tasmanian Devil: Tasmanian devils were featured in the episode Tazzie Chris, and they notably gross out Koki because of their scavenging habits and believe firmly in this trope (she gets better), but cause Chris' Power-Suit to malfunction hard, turning him into a Wre-Devil per se. However, they're generally portrayed as they are in Real Life and so aren't the crazed creatures in other examples, making this a Downplayed Trope.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: The entire point of the creature power suits. See above for a signficant one.
  • Vomit Indiscretion Shot: A tree swallow is shown spitting up a small black blob, to illustrate how predators learn not to prey on bad-tasting monarch butterflies.
  • Watch Out for That Tree!: If there's a tree around, there's a good chance one of the boys will smack into it; heck, one on the part of Chris even made it into the opening. Note this isn't limited to trees either (Martin running down a lion twice in the same episode, also in the opening, is a noteworthy example).
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: In the episode "Rattlesnake Crystal," Chris and Martin disembark from the Tortuga on horses. (They don't mention where they got the horses or if they routinely store horses in the Tortuga.) Later, in separate incidents, each of the horses runs off, leaving the Kratt brothers on foot. Not only do the brothers make no remark about the horses when they run away, but they also make no effort to find them; and at the end of the episode, the horses are still missing and are apparently not at all missed by any of the Tortuga crew.
    • During the "Creepy Creatures" Halloween special, Gourmand is seen pursuing a spotted hyena and putting it into his vehicle along with a bat-eared fox. These animals are never displayed in Zach's Scary Animal Mansion and are never shown being rescued, so their fate is unknown.
  • What If?: The premise of the show entails Chris and Martin fantasizing about what it would be like if they possessed the natural adaptations of other animals. Most of each episode takes place in their imaginations.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Cute?: "Mom of a Croc" and "Bat in the Brownies" played this trope straight before trying to subvert it to teach the target audience that sometimes humans get animals all wrong.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Played straight with the Zachbots, but slightly subverted with the animals Donita and Zach capture, since no true harm ever comes of them. But that's debatable.
  • Who Will Bell the Cat?: Martin will bell the cat. Actually, make that raccoon.
    Koki: We need a way to get her into the Miniaturizer.
    Chris: Well, she may just need a little bait.
    (everyone looks at Martin)
    Martin: Wait a sec. Why don't I like the sound of that?
  • Who Would Want to Watch Us?: In "Polar Bears Don't Dance".
    Jimmy: If Chris and Martin made a comedy show, I'd watch it!
    Koki: *laughing* I think we just did!
  • Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: The show uses this trope to a liberal extent.
  • William Telling: In a non-projectile example, Aviva tests the raptorial forelegs for the Praying Mantis Power Disc on Martin, snatching an apple from on top of his head. Martin is clearly nervous that he's going to be struck by the oncoming appendages.
  • Word A Name: Many of the names that Martin gives animals are simply the name of the species with an "-a" on the end, such as "Crocodilla".
  • Worthless Yellow Rocks: Seeking protection for his vulnerable abdomen while using hermit crab powers, Chris finds a treasure chest on the beach. He dumps its gold coins on the sand without a glance, and wears the chest.
  • Wrench Wench:
    • Aviva, the original inventor of the Creature Power Suits, as well as several other gadgets. It could be argued that she built the Tortuga as well, though between her inventing and Koki's knowledge and repair skills, it's debatable.
    • Koki also counts since she's the repairwoman of the Tortuga.
Troping Free and in the Wild!

 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Smoochy Face, Silly Monkey

Using her Pose Beams, Donita dresses Martin in a tacky outfit, and forces him to pose, walk, and make faces, before declaring that he'll be her new runway model.

Example of:
People Puppets

I shouldn't hav...

Kratt Brothers ...

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top

Smoochy Face, Silly Monkey

Using her Pose Beams, Donita dresses Martin in a tacky outfit, and forces him to pose, walk, and make faces, before declaring that he'll be her new runway model.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (5 votes)

Example of:

Main / PeoplePuppets

Media sources:

Report

Smoochy Face, S...

I shouldn't hav...

Kratt Brothers ...