Code Lyoko

Can you keep a secret?

Code Lyoko is an Animesque show that's written and produced in France in English and French for simultaneous release in its home nation as well as the US -- and about 160 countries, including Japan (a rarity for a foreign animated show).

It follows the adventures of a group of students at a Boarding School who discover a supercomputer in the basement of a nearby abandoned factory. The computer has modules that allow people from the real world to "virtualize" into the Cyberspace of Lyoko, where an evil A.I. named XANA is apparently hunting down a good A.I. named Aelita. The computer also has the ability to effect a temporal recursion (in Layman's Terms, rewind time) up to 24 hours in the real world.

XANA manifests in Lyoko indirectly through a variety of monsters with various attacks and tactics, trying to capture Aelita and repulse her protectors from the real world. XANA also attacks the real world, which at first resembles the results of The Cracker, doing damage through various interfaces, but these attacks slowly gain a supernatural edge, including monsters in the real world, and possession of students and teachers.

The students often use the Return to the Past to repair damage and effect a kind of Masquerade to protect Aelita, however with the knowledge that death is permanent -- not even time travel will bring them back. Later it is revealed that each Return to the Past makes XANA slightly stronger.

The five main characters (Aelita and her protectors) are occasionally referred to as "The Lyoko Warriors" or Team Lyoko. See the character sheet for individual descriptions.

There is a short (5 minutes long) film made in 2001 by the creators of the show, Garage Kids, that is considered a test Pilot for the series. It introduces the main characters and some future elements of Code Lyoko, though there are differences both visually and plot-wise. Code Lyoko began broadcast in France in 2003 on France 3 and Canal J, and in the United States in 2004 on Cartoon Network. The TV series ended in 2007 after four seasons and 97 episodes (including a two-parter prequel).

The original series, called simply Code Lyoko, aired from 2003 to 2007.

The sequel series, Code Lyoko: Evolution, was a mix of 3D animation and live-action that aired in 2013. It was never dubbed into English.

A novel series is currently[when?] being produced by Atlantyca Entertainment; three of a planned four novels have been released.

  • The Underground Castle: March 2009 (Italy), September 2010 (France)
  • The City with No Name: November 2009 (I), March 2011 (F)
  • The Return of the Phoenix: April 2010 (I)
  • The Army of Nothing: November 2010 (I)

The series, currently officially available in 11 languages that are not English, takes place in a heavily expanded Alternate Continuity which promises to tie up some of the plot threads left hanging by the show. There are no known plans for an English release.

Other projects tentatively planned for the franchise included a MMORPG, which was to be released in 2010 but never got farther than production videos and a test client (unusable without a password, and now all lost). However, with the announcement of the new series, an MMORPG was revealed to still be in the works. A Code Lyoko stage show was also produced and performed in Spain in March of 2011.

Tropes used in Code Lyoko include:

Code Lyoko provides examples of:

  • Absurdly Spacious Sewer
  • Achilles' Heel: Megatanks are potentially the most powerful of all of XANA's monsters. However, because they're so big and bulky, they have trouble controlling their momentum, and this sometimes leads to them plunging straight into the Digital Sea. In fact, if you get enough running momentum going, you can literally push them to their doom. Consequently, they're the one kind of monster most frequently taking a dive in the show. Yet they are also seen repeatedly stopping instantly to aim at one of the heroes.
  • Action Girl: Yumi; Aelita (post-Season 3)
  • Action Survivor: Sissi
  • Adults Are Useless: On most of the occasions that adults did become aware of XANA's actions, they attempted to barricade the heroes for their own safety, often at times in single room at the school. On the odd occasion they actually did help the kids, the Reset Button abuse resulted in them forgetting everything after they found out just what the kids were really doing. In fact, adults were often XANA's targets when he decided to possess someone, and one of the side effects of XANA's possession is total memory loss for its duration.
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: XANA
  • Alice Allusion: A rather odd example, but do you think Odd's Lyoko form is a "giant purple cat" just because? Do note the one episode where teleportation in-Lyoko causes cloning... Maybe Mr. Cheshire can do that.
  • All There in the Manual: A lot of the "game" mechanics in Lyoko are rarely if ever explained in the show itself (and are often contradictory there); we only know about them because of supplementary material. And even then, despite figures given about every combatant's weapons and Life Points, everything defaults to the Rule of Drama. Any shot fired will either miss wildly, bring its target to a ridiculously low amount of Life Points, or inflict a one-hit kill. The monsters' laser beam can be stopped by the Lyoko Warriors' defenses, though. In addition, it's stated elsewhere that Aelita loses half her life points every time she uses her Creativity, despite the fact that in-universe there's no evidence to suggest this is true.
  • All Your Powers Combined: William's Super Smoke is Ulrich's Super Sprint combined with Aelita's flight with the added bonus of making him invulnerable. He can also deflect attacks (like Odd), use telekinesis (like Yumi), fire energy (like Aelita), and use at least one form of Aelita's Creativity (i.e. manipulating electronic locks). Finally, he can enter the Code XANA in the towers.
  • Almost Kiss: "Routine". Real badly-timed Return to the Past, there.
  • Alpha Bitch: Sissi, though she gradually develops to Jerk with a Heart of Gold Lovable Alpha Bitch status, although the development is rocky due to constant abuse of the Reset Button.
  • Always Save the Girl: Particularly in Season One, when Jérémie would rather risk XANA destroying the world than turning off the supercomputer and losing Aelita.
  • Animesque
  • Animals Lack Attributes: Averted. Odd's dog Kiwi is most definitely not neutered, as evidenced by the two lumps between his hind legs.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: Hiroki Ishiyama
  • Applied Phlebotinum: In spades.
  • Art Evolution: Lyoko looks a lot different in Season 1 than from Season 2 onwards. In Season 2 they removed the lighting effects, made the colours a lot brighter and removed various background details. YMMV on whether it was an improvement.
  • Artificial Human: Played straight with Polymorphic Clones; eventually subverted with Aelita.
  • Artistic License Nuclear Physics: Most of episode "Seeing Is Believing", and any episode thereafter that mentions the nearby nuclear power plant.
  • Artistic License Physics:
    • In "Zero Gravity Zone", Jérémie proposes that XANA's anti-gravity power-of-the-week works by offsetting "the magnetic attraction of the Earth".
    • In "The Trap", Odd grabs a metal bar to defend Jérémie and himself against a possessed robotic arm in the factory. The arm then grabs the bar and twists it all to heck. While Odd is still holding it.
    • Any time someone throws a skateboard ahead of them so that it starts rolling, while in the same motion jumping onto it (legs offscreen).
  • Art Shift: Some flashbacks (mostly of Aelita's previous life) are rendered with still frames in a graphic style more pronouncedly Animesque than the rest of the show.
  • As You Know
  • Attack Reflector: A tactic sometimes used against the monsters and their laser beams, especially by Ulrich.
  • Badass Teacher: Jim. The man has apparently had just about every job in the world and is more than capable of fighting off XANA's monsters when they got into the real world by using a nail gun. He also knows how to survive just about any situation you can throw at him, period.
  • Bad Dreams: Aelita
  • Bare Your Midriff: A popular trope among Kadic's female students, but in the main cast we have Yumi and Sissi. And Odd for some reason, although he wears a second shirt underneath that covers him up, unless there are coloring errors...
  • Battle Couple: Ulrich & Yumi
  • Beat the Curse Out of Her: In the episode "Valentine's Day", XANA slips Aelita a Hypno Trinket. To force him to relinquish his grip on her, Odd shoots her repeatedly, until she is within an inch of her life. XANA surrenders, as he needs her alive as much as the children do.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Yumi with both Ulrich and William.
  • Berserk Button: Never question Milly when having an interview, and don't insult Odd with food.
  • Beta Couple: Jérémie×Aelita as a more stable parallel of the Sissi/Ulrich/Yumi/William Love Tetrahedron.
  • Between My Legs: Of Aelita in the episode "Unchartered Territory".
  • BFS: William's big fragging sword.
  • Big Eater: Odd

Ulrich: (seeing Odd wolfing down food for the first time) You always eat like this?
Odd: No, it's just I'm not very hungry today.

  • Bilingual Bonus:
    • Yumi's teacher speaks Italian in "Tidal Wave".
    • Odd sometimes uses Chinese when greeting Yumi (which ticks her off because she's Japanese).
    • Odd appears to be quite proficient in Italian as evidenced in "Attack of the Zombies"
  • Bittersweet Ending: Although XANA is eventually destroyed, Franz Hopper goes down with him.
  • Blade Brake
    • Ulrich does this in "Bad Connection" to prevent both himself and Yumi from falling in the Mountain sector.
    • Odd in "Teddygozilla" with Aelita, only with his claws in the Desert sector.
  • Boarding School
  • Body Count Competition: Odd and Ulrich (especially in "The Pretender").
  • Body Horror: Don't put two living beings inside one scanner at the same time. Just don't.
  • Boxing Lessons for Superman: The Lyoko Warriors go to boot camp under Jim in one episode to get in shape. It isn't much help on Lyoko, but learning to run faster and farther in the real world is quite helpful when faced with physical threats from XANA.
  • Brick Joke
    • In "Image Problem", Jérémie makes a passing, non-serious remark about the scanners becoming a health problem (in reference to Yumi/XANA being unable to tell the rest of the group what happened before getting devirtualized unconscious). In "Franz Hopper", XANA masquerading as Franz "confirms" that the scanners are having a negative effect... on Yumi.
    • In "A Fine Mess" (which, as mentioned below, is Code Lyoko's Freaky Friday Flip), Jérémie points out that if Odd and Yumi go back into Lyoko and are devirtualised, the program might mess up again and they'd end up with no bodies at all. In season 3, "Nobody in Particular" sees exactly this happen to Ulrich (complete with XANA taking over his Lyoko-bound body...).
  • Butt Monkey: Odd, Sissi and her gang, and especially Jim.
  • Calling Your Attacks
    • Odd: "Lazer Arrows!"
    • Ulrich: "Impact!"
    • Aelita: "Energy Field!"
  • Camp Straight: Odd. See "Keet" and "Kidanova".
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Ulrich, all the time.
  • Can't Live Without You: Aelita with the Supercomputer in Season 2.
  • Car Fu
    • Ulrich on his Overbike.
    • And William with a car vs. Krabe battle in "A Bad Turn".
  • Cast from Hit Points: The bulk of Aelita's powers cost half her life points per use until she gains the Energy Field attack and wings (both free).
  • Catch Phrase
  • Catgirl: Both Odd Della Robbia's virtual Cat Boy avatar, and Odd-as-Yumi Catgirl cosplay (see Freaky Friday Flip).
  • Cell Phone: Ubiquitous amongst the students, and a vital tool for the Lyoko Warriors. Even center to the plot of episodes "Satellite" and "Bad Connection".
  • Character Development: Many characters on the show go through this.
    • Aelita goes through the most out of all of the characters, becoming increasingly less naive, less impulsively selfless, more worldly-wise and much more of an Action Girl as time goes on.
    • Ironically (for a never-seen character), so does XANA. At first he just attempts to wreak havoc on humanity without much planning involved. From season two onwards, he has clear objectives which he puts a lot of thought into fulfilling. In addition, he becomes more powerful with each season.
    • Sissi gets a lot as well. In "Frontier", she can't stand the thought of helping Yumi, and insists that Ulrich date her for several weeks. Yet later, in "Missing Link", she's prepared to help Yumi for no reward whatsoever. Her role in the two-part prequel further helps develop her character and by the end, her becoming an "official" friend of the group just feels RIGHT.
    • More subtly, the group as a whole become a lot closer throughout the four seasons. In earlier episodes (especially before Aelita was materialised), the group are often very disjointed to the point where it's questionable if they even like each other. By season four, they've managed to evolve into True Companions (partly out of necessity), and while there are still frequent Teeth-Clenched Teamwork scenarios (Rule of Drama at play), they always forgive each other in the end.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Played straight in episodes like "Cruel Dilemma" (with the one-shot materialization program), "Just in Time" (with Aelita's hair) or "Wrong Exposure" (with the Supercomputer reboot procedure).
  • Class Trip: "Lyoko Minus One"; "The Lake"
  • Conspicuous CG: Some CG are mixed with the real-world animation, notably computer displays or water effects. In a strange inversion of the trope, the real-world CG effects become more obvious with each passing season (a couple CG door swings in Season 3, for example).
  • Convenient Color Change: Ulrich's katana usually glows blue when striking or parrying, but in the hand of a XANA-controlled warrior (like a polymorphic clone, a brainwashed Aelita, or William), it glows red instead. The color change also happened in reverse during "Revelation" when Ulrich stole his Doppelganger's katana and killed him with it.
  • Cool Bike: Ulrich's Overbike.
  • Cool Boat: Skidbladnir in Season 4.
  • Cosmic Keystone: The Lyoko Core in Sector 5.
  • Cultural Translation: Despite Euro coins floating about, hacked military databases emblazoned with derivatives of the French flag, and even a frigging zoom in from a satellite showing exactly which country they are in, the dub seems adamant about the show taking place somewhere other than the suburb of Paris. For the curious, the Factory is based on an old Renault plant and headquarters located in Boulogne-Billancourt that got demolished in 2004. And Kadic Academy is remarkably similar to a school a few kilometers away. This is taken to the extreme in one episode where Milly mentions a foreign exchange program with France, despite the fact that they're already in France. Also, in the episode "Guided Missile", Jérémie gives his GPS co-ordinates as N47.4313 E01.3445, which is just south of Blois, France
  • Curb Stomp Battle: The first Tarantula to show up beat the whole team at once. Possibly a Justified Trope due to the computer-game-like nature of Lyoko. Think about how many times you played a game and the first few bosses later show up as common enemies... It might not even have taken a stat hit, it's just that the Lyoko Warriors now know the weaknesses and powers of the Tarantula so all future encounters fall a lot easier.
  • Cut and Paste Translation: Averted. The cartoon series was translated into English by the same company that produced the series (MoonScoop), so aside from a feeble attempt at convincing us the show took place in America (calling Euros "dollars", a character proposing an exchange program with France (England in the original), etc.) the English script is fairly faithful. But played completely straight with the Subdigitals CD, where all but three or four of the songs had their lyrics junked and rewritten for English release, with less than stellar results.
  • Cut the Juice: During Seasons 1-2, XANA's schemes aim at preventing the heroes from doing this.
  • Cyberspace: The virtual world of Lyoko, and the Digital Sea in Season 4.
  • Darker and Edgier: If compared to the more idealistic song, "Un Monde Sans Danger", the closing credits for the later seasons come off as this.
  • Deflector Shields
    • Odd gains a personal shield in Season 2.
    • In Season 4, the Skidbladnir and Navskids are protected by deflector shields.
    • Aelita also creates a Beehive Barrier in "Replika".
  • Depending on the Writer
    • The level of sympathy Sissi is treated with changes from episode to episode. She was mostly sympathetic throughout Seasons 2 and 4, while mostly unsympathetic in Seasons 1 and 3.
    • Whether or not the gang find Odd's jokes funny.
    • When the scanners are offline, losing all your life points either: a) does nothing, and you remain virtual OR b) leads to your death.
  • Demonic Spiders: From the group's perspective, Megatanks. Tarantulas started this way, but as Team Lyoko gained experience with them, they stopped being so threatening.
  • Designated Victim
    • Aelita is XANA's primary target, although for a different reason each season:
      • Season 1: Stopping her from deactivating the towers.
      • Season 2: Cracking her Neuro Vault for the Lyoko keys.
      • Season 3: Possessing her so that she'd enter the Code: XANA and delete the Lyoko Sectors.
      • Season 4: Throwing her in the Digital Sea to lure out Franz Hopper.
    • Yumi too, for no plot-related reason. It runs throughout the entire series, but it's most obvious in the first half of season 1 (a batch of five consecutive episodes of her being targeted was dubbed "Pick on Yumi Week") and season 3.
  • Digital Avatar: The characters become this when they enter Lyoko, complete with Medium Blending to 3D.
  • Disney Death
    • Yumi -- once ("Cruel Dilemma");
    • Franz Hopper -- twice ("The Key", "Final Round");
    • Aelita -- thrice straight ("Just in Time", "The Key", "Distant Memory") and a few cases of Can't Live Without You (in Season 2) or Decoy Getaways with her clones.
  • Damsel in Distress: Aelita plays this entirely straight in season 1 (no weapon other than Creativity, and dies if she loses all her life points), almost to the point of being a Damsel Scrappy. She gets a bit better in season 2, but still finds herself depending upon the other three most of the time. By season 3 she's upgraded to Action Girl status...
    • Distress Ball: Despite being an Action Girl, she always panics whenever the Scyphozoa is involved, and ends up getting possessed. This is particularly frustrating in "Wrong Exposure", where she forgets that she has wings, and thus could escape the Scyphozoa by flying away.
  • Doppelganger Attack
  • Doppelganger Spin: Ulrich's Triangulate power.
  • The Dragon
    • The Scyphozoa, being a unique monster central to XANA's schemes, fits the role in Seasons 2 and 3.
    • Replaced by William in Season 4, though he's Not Himself.
  • Dreaming of Things to Come: Aelita in the penultimate episode.
  • Drill Sergeant Nasty: Jim, briefly escalating to The Neidermeyer before Odd exposes his sordid Disco past, thus making him assume Sissi's previous Jerk with a Heart of Gold position.
  • Drool Hello: Happens to Sissi in "End of Take".
  • Deus Ex Machina: In "Cruel Dilemma", Odd drops some candy on Jérémie's keyboard, which somehow types out the exact line of code he needed to finish his materialization program.
  • Dumb Muscle: Nicolas, albeit with more emphasis on the "dumb" part of the description.
  • Early Installment Weirdness: Not only is season one almost completely different to the rest of the series, but the very earliest episodes also feature some strange nuances. The voice acting is very different, for a start (Odd and Sissi had different voice actors, and Jérémie's voice actor hadn't found the right pitch for the boy yet), and certain aspects of Lyoko act differently, such as Ulrich's clones being able to fight (rather than just being decoys), and Megatank lasers not being one-hit kills.
  • Elevator Action Sequence: Several times.
  • Elite Mooks: The Tarantulas.
  • Embarrassing Old Photo: Yumi's in "Cold Sweat".
  • Enemy Mine
    • The gang cooperating with XANA's monsters to destroy the runaway "Marabounta".
    • Jérémie and XANA in "Common Interest".
  • Enforced Cold War
  • Epileptic Flashing Lights: Any wound on XANA's monsters.
  • Everybody Do the Endless Loop
    • The girls in Odd's music video.
    • Yumi at the dance during Aelita's first stint as a DJ in "Final Mix".
  • "Everybody Laughs" Ending: A few times.
  • Everyone Looks Sexier If French
  • Everyone Meets Everyone: The prequel episode "XANA Awakens".
  • Everything Is Online
  • Everything's Better with Princesses
  • Everything's Better with Samurai
  • Everything's Better with Spinning: Yumi's spinning move.
  • Everything's Deader with Zombies: "Attack of the Zombies"
  • Evil Only Has to Win Once: Played straight in Season 1, subverted in Season 2. Afterwards, there are multiple victory conditions for XANA, and not all of them lead to a final Game Over.
  • Executive Meddling: In-universe example: In "Opening Act", Chris of the the Subdigitals points out that this is why they're looking for an opening DJ and why they changed their name from the Subsonics.
  • Eyecatch: One for each member of Team Lyoko in each episode.
  • Fake-Out Make-Out: Odd and Aelita, to protect the secret of the Factory.
  • Fan Disservice: Any "fanservice" provided by Jim Moralès.
  • Fan Service: Oh God, the fanservice. Nearly every main character has had a shirtless/underwear scene of some sort. And yes, it's all in the dub. Which was run on Cartoon Network. In the afterschool slot. With a TV-Y7FV rating.
    • Despite this, Aelita's first two civilian outfits include Magic Skirts; for reasons known only to MoonScoop, she has never had an underwear scene (except that time her heart was restarted and she appeared to be wearing a slip). Instead, she is seen stepping into a shower and standing under the water in Season 4.
    • There is even Sissi in her cheerleader outfit, with several frames of animation in which you can clearly see up her skirt (she's sitting down and crossing her legs). She is also seen walking around her room in her underwear in early episodes -- including the first episode, 6 minutes in; how's that for quick to please?
    • To recap, we have: Bare Your Midriff, Censor Steam, Foot Focus, Furo Scene, Lingerie Scene, Modesty Towel, Panty Shot, Pool Scene, Sensual Spandex, Shirtless Scene, Shower Scene, Zettai Ryouiki (Yumi in "TeddyGozilla")...
  • Fate Worse Than Death: Falling into the Digital Sea. Yumi and Aelita have fallen in but subsequently been saved, but if there's nothing to save you, you remain virtualised forever, lost in the vast realms of the Internet.
  • Fictional Video Game: Various video games played by Odd or Hiroki.
  • Feathered Fiend (Type A): Ravens in "The Pretender".
  • Fetal Position Rebirth
    • Aelita on her first materialization in "Code Earth".
    • William after his Evil Costume Switch in "Final Round".
  • Find the Cure: Season 2's main plot.
  • Five-Man Band
  • Flashback Nightmare: William has dreams about things that should have been erased with the Return to the Past -- one of the factors that led to his becoming a Lyoko Warrior.
  • Forehead of Doom: Gratuitously so.
  • Foreshadowing: The show is very clever about its foreshadowing, repeatedly putting in hints that will only be glimpsed in hindsight. For an example, one episode has Yumi's parents fighting...the next, Yumi's dad lost his job and they might be going back to Japan.
  • Freaky Friday Flip: Odd and Yumi in "A Fine Mess".
  • Frickin' Laser Beams: The monsters' primary projectile weapon.
  • "Friend or Idol?" Decision
    • Conducted in Season 1 episode "Cruel Dilemma" when Jérémie (with assistance from Odd's candy) creates a one-shot program to materialize Aelita, but must use it to extract Yumi from the Digital Sea.
    • And then the tables turn in Season 4's "Hot Shower", in which Aelita gets herself devirtualized to make XANA choose between letting an incoming asteroid destroy the Supercomputer (and her with it) or destroy it with the good old Kill Sat to give both of them another day.
  • Future Spandex: In Season 4, the new Digital Avatars of the heroes -- boys and girls alike -- have a serious Future Spandex look. Being virtual costumes, they don't have to be realistic... but still, they're supposedly designed by Jérémie, a 13-year-old Teen Genius (except for William up there, who got his custom-made by XANA). You have to wonder what was going through their minds... (though on the other hand, maybe that makes it a Justified Trope).
  • Gay Paree: Averted hard.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: Tons of it, though it's worth noting that the English dub was produced by MoonScoop alongside the original French, rather than it being dubbed by an American company. They aren't Getting Crap Past the Radar, they are the radar. Still, Cartoon Network could have edited out some of the more blatant stuff if they really wanted to. Some of this may be simply Values Dissonance, though. What could be considered racy in North America would be deemed completely innocuous by the French. (That still doesn't excuse the Sensual Spandex in Season 4...)
  • Giant Enemy Crab: Krabes. It should be noted that their Weak Point is on the top of their shells, not under them. Under them is where their pile-driver laser is. Still, they have been stabbed there, even if it didn't do the job.
  • Giant Flyers: Frelions; Mantas
  • Giant Mook: The Kolossus in the last episodes.
  • Good Colors, Evil Colors: XANA has a thing for the color red.
  • Gratuitous Disco Sequence: Paco, King of Disco.
  • Gratuitous Japanese: "Lyoko" is "travel" in Japanese. Due to the improper romanization, however (it should be "ryoko"), Lyoko is often mistaken for a Japanese-sounding nonsense word.
  • Green Eyes: Aelita, and notably the only one to even have a proper eye color on Lyoko.
  • Groundhog Day Loop
    • "A Great Day"
    • And Franz Hopper, voluntarily, on June 6th 1994 in the backstory.
  • Hacker Cave: The Lyoko Supercomputer, and to a lesser extent Jérémie's room.
  • Half Arc Season: Seasons 2 and 4 follow this route. Season 3 does as well to some extent, but it's more like "Three-Quarters Arc Season".
  • Hard Light: Polymorphic Clones, and the translated heroes in Season 4.
  • Hell Is That Noise: The Scyphozoa makes a really, really creepy noise, which Aelita quickly learns to dread.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Franz Hopper sacrificed himself in the second-to-last episode in order to provide the necessary energy to run the XANA-destroying multi-agent program.
  • Hero Secret Service: Yumi, Odd and Ulrich; especially in Season 1.
  • He Who Must Not Be Seen: XANA
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: XANA creating the Kolossus and revealing that he had hundreds of replikas around the world defeated Team Lyoko for one mission, but it also made it clear to Jérémie and the other Warriors that they couldn't stop XANA just by knocking out his replikas, forcing Jérémie to develop the Multi-Agent Program.
  • Holographic Terminal: All over the place within towers and the Celestial Dome in Sector 5 (itself neither an actual dome or really all that celestial). The Supercomputer proper also has a Holosphere in the middle of the room, but it's just there for fluff.
  • Homage
  • Hopeless Suitor: And how!
    • Milly and Émilie for Ulrich (in Season 1)
    • Sissi for Ulrich
    • Hervé for Sissi
    • Johnny for Yumi
    • Jim in the early stages, for Dorothy/Yolande till he (and we) learns she is engaged. In later episodes, he seems to develop a thing for Ms. Hertz.
  • Horrible Camping Trip: "The Lake"
  • Hostage for Macguffin: Inverted twice, first in "Saint Valentine's Day" and again in "Hot Shower". Aelita tends to be both the Hostage and the MacGuffin.
  • Hover Board
    • Odd's Overboard
    • Yumi's Overwing
    • Ulrich's Overbike (can hover, but doesn't normally)
  • Hulk Speak: William and other XANA-possessed humans are quite monosyllabic (Polymorphic Clones even moreso). At least, once the influence has become obvious. (And sometimes, even using words is beyond their means. "YAAAAAAAAAR!") As season 4 goes on, William gets more talkative in XANA mode, eventually being able to speak in complete sentences.
  • Human Popsicle: Well, sort of... Aelita was trapped inside the Supercomputer for around ten years, during which time she didn't age at all.
  • Hypnotize the Princess: Aelita falls victim to this several times, especially in Season 3. Across the whole series, it's happened in exactly six episodes: "Saint Valentine's Day", "Lyoko Minus One", "The Pretender", "The Secret", "Double Trouble" and "Wrong Exposure".
  • I Am Who?: Aelita is really the daughter of Lyoko's creator, Franz Hopper.
  • Identical Stranger: Taelia
  • "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: William in "The Lake"; it only worked for a few seconds.
  • Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: XANA's monsters rarely hit the heroes... even sometimes at close range or when they are stationary targets. Odd and Yumi also appear to be graduates in the early seasons, though that may just be Frelions acting as Goddamned Bats. Although it depends on Rule of Drama. When the Tarantula was first introduced, it was very accurate and brought down the whole team.
  • Impostor Exposing Test: By Season 4, the kids sometimes check out the eyes of those they suspect to be polymorphic clones to see if XANA's symbol doesn't briefly flash.
  • Inane Blabbering: Some victims of XANA's latest attack, occasionally, especially Sissi or Jim.
  • Indy Escape: The rolling Megatanks sometimes force the heroes into this.
  • In Medias Res
    • The show starts without a Pilot or Premiere episode, almost a year after the fight against XANA began. There was no explanation of how Team Lyoko discovered the Supercomputer, programmed their virtual avatar appearances and abilities, or came to meet Aelita, until a two-parts prequel in Season 3.
    • Many episodes also begin in the middle of the action on Lyoko. This strongly implies that not all of XANA's attacks are shown, several happening off-screen. There is even a How We Got Here in "Bragging Rights".
  • Invocation
    • Jérémie: "Transfer... Scanner... Virtualization!" and "Return to the Past now!"
    • Odd: "Laser Arrow!" - "Shield!"
    • Ulrich: "Super Sprint!" - "Triplicate!" - "Triangulate!"
    • Aelita: "Tower deactivated."
    • William: "Super Smoke!"
    • Even Yumi said "Telekinesis" once to activate her power, but it was spoken rather than shouted.
  • Ironic Echo: "Friends, that's all."
  • It's Always Spring: And it never rains, nor is any other climatic phenomenon seen except when relevant to the plot (ex: "Cold War").
  • It Tastes Like Feet: Said by Odd twice:

Odd: Hey, what's the matter with the hot chocolate today? It tastes like sweat socks and an old pair of sneakers.
Odd: ... no, the soup tastes like dishwater.

  • Just Friends: Yumi actually thought this would help end all the confusion in her relationship with Ulrich.
  • Just in Time: Ridiculously overused in the first season, in which virtually every time XANA is defeated with approximately 0.001 seconds to spare; at one point, a laser beam is halted inches from Yumi's face when the "Code: LYOKO" activated. Later seasons toned this down a bit. Actually a Season 1 episode title, although not the Trope Namer.
    • A role reversal ends up occurring in "Lab Rat" when XANA uses William to enter and steal control of the tower the gang is using to translate to the site of the Replika supercomputer with the XANA code. Odd is shown to be a mere one syllable away from firing the shot that would destroy that supercomputer when he and Aelita vanish from the site.
  • Katanas Are Just Better
  • Keet: Odd; Johnny
  • Kidanova: Odd Della Robbia
  • Killer Robots: Most notably in Season 1 episode "The Robots", and an army of them in Season 4. XANA's materialized monsters in "False Start" and "A Bad Turn" may count too.
  • Kiss Me, I'm Virtual: Yumi acts very romantic towards the William clone, though it's an act to keep Sissi and the newshounds from picking up a trail that might lead to Lyoko.
  • Larynx Dissonance: In-universe example in "A Fine Mess", when Odd and Yumi are each rematerialized in the other's body by mistake. Yumi barely even tries to sound like Odd from what we see, but Odd attempts a bad falsetto to sound like Yumi... and despite being the only male lead voiced by a man, he already has a higher voice than Yumi to start with.
  • Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: The Kankrelats, the littlest Mooks in Xana's army, really look like Halo's Flood Infection Forms. Mercifully, the similarities only extend to physical appearance.
  • Layman's Terms: Jérémie is often asked to switch for those.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In episode 29 "Exploration", Ulrich voices his desire to just shut down the supercomputer and be done with it. This leads to the following comment from Odd:

Odd: Uh, you missed an episode, Ulrich. Remember Aelita's carrying...

    • Note that "you missed an episode" is a perfectly valid French expression in everyday conversation. Still this trope, here.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Lampshaded in "Ghost Channel"; averted to a degree with new ensembles in Season 4 for the main cast.
  • Literal Cliff Hanger: Very common in Lyoko, and a few times in the real world too.
  • Literal-Minded: William's clone.
  • The Load: Aelita, especially in Season 1. Grows out of it throughout Season 2, and definitely no longer by Season 3.
  • Lotus Position: Aelita uses this pose when "listening to XANA's pulsations" in Season 1.
  • Lovable Alpha Bitch: Sissi through Character Development.
  • Love At First Punch: Ulrich & Yumi
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: Franz Hopper and Aelita, except it's done in flashbacks following the lockdown and recovery of Aelita's human memories.
  • Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: Aelita
  • Magical Computer: Yes, it's worth linking to the entire index. About half, such as Computer Equals Monitor, are subversions and aversions, though.
  • Magic Countdown
    • The "3 minutes" timer before hitting the key in Sector 5.
    • And the detonator in episode "The Secret".
  • Malaproper
    • Jim is particularly fond of malapropisms in his psyche-up speeches.
    • Sissi is prone to this too.
    • Few characters are completely immune, anyway.

Aelita: You're as stubborn as a fool!
Jérémie: It's stubborn as a mule...

  • Malevolent Architecture: Sector 5 or "Carthage" embodies about every example of this trope.
  • Martyr Without a Cause: Aelita is often a bit too eager to sacrifice herself in Seasons 1 and 2. Sadly Justified Trope in that it would end XANA's menace once for all. XANA even tries to take advantage of this in "Missing Link". He uses the Scyphozoa to steal Yumi's DNA sequence code because he knows that Aelita will transfer hers over to Yumi (stating that "Yumi's place is on Earth"). This leaves Aelita's memory exposed for him to take at will.
  • Matrix Raining Code: Of the Zeroes and Ones variety.
  • Meaningful Name: Not overused, but...
    • Odd Della Robbia's first name and Ulrich Stern's surname certainly fit well with their characters.
    • Also, the gym teacher is Jim Moralès and the science teacher is Suzanne Hertz.
    • Yumi Ishiyama: "yumi" is the Japanese word for bow, as in a bow-and-arrow.
    • "Sissi" is a nickname, but still very fitting for Élisabeth Delmas, the self-proclaimed "princess" of the school.
    • Plus, Kadic Academy owes its name to science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick.
  • Mecha-Mooks: XANA's various monsters on Lyoko. And actual robots on Earth in Season 4.
  • Medium Blending: The two worlds of the show are depicted in completely different mediums, as to make very clear the transition from the "real" world to Lyoko. Ironically, the "virtual" world rendered in CG has naturally a more "realistic" look than the standard animation of the "real world". But you get used to it.
  • The Men in Black
    • The Men in Black chasing Franz Hopper in the flashbacks.
    • And the two unrelated (?) secret agents in "False Lead".
  • Mind Control Eyes: All of XANA's creatures have his eye-like symbol. Those he mind-controls have their irises and pupils replaced with this symbol. Doesn't happen all the time, but they've been caught by flashing the eyes unnecessarily.
  • Missed the Call: In aforementioned prequel episode, it was Sissi, not Yumi, who found the factory with the others. She even planned on entering the "game" later, but before she did XANA got loose for the first time, and Sissi tattled because this was getting too real. As a result, the whole group was nearly arrested, and the others unsurprisingly agreed to keep her in the dark after returning to the past.
  • Missing Mom: Anthéa Hopper, whose role in this mess has yet to be explained. The fact that Sissi doesn't have a mother is completely ignored.
  • Mission Control: Jérémie at the Supercomputer console.
  • Mistaken Nationality: Yumi in "XANA Awakens".
  • Mobile Maze: Sector 5
  • Multiple Demographic Appeal
  • Mundane Utility
    • Addressed in "The Chips Are Down", when Ulrich uses the Reset Button to rig a lottery ticket and win several million euros. It's completely possible to do this, but not a good idea since each Return to the Past makes XANA stronger. At the end of the episode, Ulrich donates the proceeds to an African development project, preserving the series status quo.
    • Played completely straight when Ulrich, who was a Virtual Ghost at the time because of Jérémie's latest bit of mad science, possessed Jim to use him as a pawn to keep himself from being knocked down to a remedial class.
  • My Skull Runneth Over: Jérémie tries to use the Reset Button's quantum components to enhance his own brainpower in Season 2. Bad idea to start with, worse because XANA slipped him bad code.
  • Naughty Tentacles
    • The Scyphozoa, which mainly targets Aelita (though Yumi and William each got caught once).
    • Also, with the Season 3 episode "Sabotage" and the creeping vines, particularly for Yumi.
  • Neuro Vault: Lyoko's keys were hidden inside Aelita's memory.
  • Never Recycle a Building
    • The kids go to an abandoned factory every episode. There's never any presence of demolition crews, and the plot only revolves around saving the factory from destruction when it's some attack from XANA -- at least in the animated series. The non-canon spin-off comics have one story with a demolition crew about to raze the Factory, before being thwarted by the kids. Ironically, the factory that the series' factory was based on was demolished in 2004.
    • There is also the Hermitage, a posh house in the woods that is left abandoned for 10 years. However, there are some hints of squatting (vandalism, tags on the walls...) and since the first time Team Lyoko visited it XANA was playing poltergeist, maybe this chased any squatter earlier and gave it a Haunted House reputation.
  • Never Say "Die": Refreshingly averted.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: XANA occasionally ends up helping the group by accident. For instance, in "Is Anybody Out There?", Odd gets devirtualised after he finds the activated tower. This happened to be extremely fortunate, because if it hadn't happened, no one would have been around to type in the code 'Scipio', and XANA would have stolen Aelita's memories!
  • Non-Action Guy: Jérémie
  • Noodle Incident: Given the amount of times Jim would "rather not talk about it", the man seems to be made entirely of this trope. It is slightly subverted in the episode "I'd Rather Not Talk About It" (of course), in which Jim does talk about it, although it's only with Jérémie and we don't get to hear it. Nevertheless, it causes Jérémie to gain a healthy respect for Jim.
    • Two minor ones are also referred to in the episode "Crash Course" (What exactly DID happen in the gym and at the swimming pool?). Three if you count whatever led to the protocol moniker "Big Fat Cheese-Head".
    • Even better, at a skate demo, when Jim showed he was knowledgeable about skateboarding, it was a time when he did want to talk about it; rather, he was a little busy and didn't have time to talk about it right then.
  • No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Most of the tech works like this, despite being computer programs. The Lyoko Warriors wouldn't have had nearly as much of a hassle guarding the Core if they could load Lyoko onto some backup CDs.
  • Official Couple: Jérémie and Aelita is the only couple officially backed by Word of God.
  • Older than She Looks: Aelita is chronologically 23-24, but ten of those years were spent asleep in Lyoko (and another full year in avatar form), so she looks, acts, and pretty much is 12-13. Finally confirmed in "Wrong Exposure".
  • Once Per Episode: Season 1 is defined by this: Virtualization on Lyoko... Tower deactivation... Return to the Past, regular as clockwork. Later seasons toned the last part down.
  • Only Six Faces: Eyebrow shapes and hairstyles vary, but the all the faces are pretty much the same. Except for the adults like Jim and Delmas.
  • Orgasmic Combat: Nothing voluntary, but some of the grunting and other fight audio for Yumi and Aelita (d)evolves into this after a while.
  • Other Me Annoys Me
  • Out of Focus: Sissi, from Season 3 up until near the end of Season 4 (when the gang's suspicious activities increases to such a level that she can't ignore it anymore.)
  • Override Command
    • Code: LYOKO
    • Code: XANA
  • Pac-Man Fever: Largely averted; not surprising, since the relationship between kids and video games is a big inspiration for the series. The fictional video games discussed in the show are realistic for modern games (though rarely seen on-screen). However, the "penguin cup-and-ball" game played by Jean-Pierre Delmas do use Pac-Man music -- but here it's more of a shout-out.
  • Pair the Smart Ones: Jérémie & Aelita
  • Parody Sue: Brynja Heringsdötir
  • Phlebotinum Breakdown: Statistically rare considering how often the scanners are used; nonetheless, sometimes the problems faced by the heroes aren't due to XANA's sabotages but to some bug of the Supercomputer or wrong manipulation. Notably:
    • A botched virtualization that stuck Jérémie in the limbo between Earth and Lyoko in "Frontier".
    • Switching Odd and Yumi's minds in "A Fine Mess".
    • Toying with a teleportation power that results in three Odds in "Triple Trouble".
    • Melding Kiwi with Odd in "Dog Day Afternoon".
    • A random bug causing spontaneous devirtualizations in "Hard Luck".
    • Really, just about any time Jérémie tries out a new program he's hacked together, it will screw up somehow.
  • Phlebotinum Rebel: Franz Hopper created XANA to destroy "Project Carthage", which he was previously working on.
  • Picture Day: "Missing Link"
  • Pillar of Light: Whenever a monster or hero falls in the Digital Sea (save for William).
  • Playing Sick: A standard excuse to get out of class and go save the world.
  • Pointless Band-Aid: Jim Moralès
  • Poster Gallery Bedroom: Including the obligatory Einstein pic in Jérémie's room.
  • Post-Kiss Catatonia: Jérémie in "XANA's Kiss".
  • Powers as Programs
  • Powers That Be: For most of the series, we do not see XANA, just his influence.
  • Precision-Guided Boomerang
  • Prima Donna Director: James Finson in "End of Take".
  • Princesses Prefer Pink
    • Aelita is often said to be the "princess" of Lyoko (hence Ulrich and Odd's nickname for her), and she sure seems to like pink. Even her hair and Energy Balls are pink.
    • Sissi is a self-proclaimed princess with pink clothes and underwear.
  • Promotion to Opening Titles: William in Season 4.
  • Psychic Dreams for Everyone: Aelita, and possibly William.
  • Psychic Powers: Aelita's second sight, Odd's future flash and Yumi or William's telekinesis.
  • Puppy Love: Hiroki×Milly
  • Rapid-Fire Typing
  • Real Name as an Alias: Waldo Schaefer, a.k.a. Franz Hopper, changed his monicker for his middle name and the maiden name of his wife.
  • Recruit Teenagers with Attitude
  • Red Herring: In Season 4, the fourth Navskid (obviously prepared for William) ends up never being used.
  • Remember the New Guy?: Hiroki is nowhere to be seen in season 1, even though we see the Ishiyama household a few times. Even in "Holiday in the Fog", when the family are going on vacation, Hiroki isn't seen in the car. Yet when he shows up in season 2, no-one draws attention to his sudden appearance.
  • Replacement Goldfish: Arguably, the William clone planted to cover for the real thing. He tends to exemplify the "Goldfish" part more than the "Replacement" part, though.
  • Reset Button: Nearly every episode, via Mental Time Travel. The main kids aren't affected by it, but students and faculty who discover them (and become allies or enemies) go back to being ignorant. It's used more sparingly in the second season, after they discover that using it empowers XANA. Even after the link to XANA is severed at the end of Season 2, the Return to the Past is still employed conservatively, if mostly to prevent mucking with the narrative (see Just in Time above).
  • The Resolution Will Not Be Televised: Sort of. See Missing Episode above.
  • Robot War: XANA is preparing one, but is shut down just as he starts production.
  • Robo Cam: XANA's monsters, robots, Polymorphic Clones, and XANA-possessed people.
  • Role Playing Game Terms: Characters under attack by XANA's monsters in Lyoko will lose Life Points, de-virtualizing when they reach zero.
  • Romantic False Lead: William for Yumi (starting Season 2).
  • Sarcasm Blind: In "Final Mix", Sissi is banned by her father from going to the dance party because she didn't study for her exam. Naturally, she ignores this and goes to the dance anyway. Cue the following exchange with Nicolas:

Nicolas: You snuck out?
Sissi: No, no. My father said, "You're gonna repeat the year, but it's no big deal sweetie. It doesn't mean you can't have a good time."
Nicolas: Is that what he said?
Sissi: (agitated) Oh you're such an idiot! Of course I snuck out, what do you think?!

  • Sauna of Death: In "New Order", for a Getting Hot in Here moment.
  • Save Both Worlds
  • Saying Too Much: The fake Franz Hopper criticizes Jérémie about letting his diary be ruined, something the real Franz Hopper would have had no way of actually knowing, thus revealing himself to be XANA in disguise. This, however takes a bit to register in Jérémie's mind because his whole group effectively turned against him.
  • Scenery Porn: Frédéric Perrin's work on the backgrounds used almost endlessly in the animated sequences fits this to a capital "T".
  • School Newspaper Newshound: Milly & Tamiya
  • School Play: The classical Romeo and Juliet in "Laughing Fit", and Cyrano De Bergerac in "Temporary Insanity".
  • Science Fiction
  • Screaming Woman: Sissi; parodied in "End of Take".
  • Secret Diary: Twice, in the episodes "Logbook" and "Lost at Sea". Thrice if you count Jérémie's video logs in the last episode, "Echoes".
  • Shock and Awe: Lightning is a common weapon of XANA-possessed people and polymorphic clones.
  • Shoot the Dog
    • The first time that the party dematerialized one of their number with their weapons, it looked like this, with Yumi sounding grimly resolute and Badass when she suggested it. (Later on, as the gang becomes more experienced, it becomes more of an accepted way of salvaging the mission when Jérémie's unable to act.)
    • Aelita intentionally invoking Code: XANA and nuking the Ice Sector in "Sabotage," saving the rest of the Supercomputer.
  • Shout-Out
    • Kadic Academy was named after Philip K. Dick (look at his middle initial and last name); this is confirmed by MoonScoop themselves.
    • Several times, a Totoro plush toy can be seen in Yumi's bedroom.
    • At the end of episode "Vertigo", Odd comments that he would love to turn invisible, like Susan of the Fantastic Four. Note that MoonScoop also produced Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, although this comment predates it.
    • In episode "The Secret", the demolition worker controled by XANA distinctly looks like Mario. William even calls him a "super-plumber".
    • XANA accusing Jérémie of being "the sorcerer's apprentice."
    • In one episode, Odd comments on being great with women; immediately, a girl walks up to Odd and smacks him; he has just finished commenting on 'not knowing what this is about' when another girl, seeing the first, walks up and smacks him for being seen with the other girl. Odd then admits he might have deserved that one.
  • Show Within a Show: Hospital of Horrors
  • Sixth Ranger → Sixth Ranger Traitor: William; this was humorously lampshaded by Ulrich.
  • Smart People Play Chess: Aelita & Jérémie
  • Snap to the Side
  • Sorcerer's Apprentice Plot: Invoked at one point, when Franz Hopper accuses Jérémie of being "the sorcerer's apprentice" and screwing everything up by using the Supercomputer. Actually, it's XANA trying to get Jérémie out of the way for his latest plot.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Xana, XANA or X.A.N.A.? Jeremy or Jérémie? Sissy or Sissi? Herb or Hervé? Antea or Anthea? And should you use the accented letters? This one'll put fans up in arms faster than tying Ulrich or Yumi down to a permanent love interest.
  • Spike Balls of Doom: Three of these defend the International Space Station taken over by XANA in Season 4.
  • Spinning Out of Here: The teens rotate in the scanners before being transported to Lyoko.
  • Spoiled Sweet: Sissi started out this way, became the Alpha Bitch, gradually developed into a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and ended the series back this way. Yeah, it's complicated.
  • Spot the Imposter: Happens frequently with the Polymorphic Clones.
    • The first occurrence was with XANA himself impersonating Jérémie in "Ghost Channel".
    • Aelita could tell Jérémie apart from his double in "XANA's Kiss". It happens a second time in the same episode: Odd has to decide between the Polymorphic Clone and Yumi, and figures it out because the real Yumi called him "pea-brain".
    • Jim isn't so lucky with his nephew Chris in "Opening Act".
  • Staying Alive: Franz Hopper. In three season finales, he sacrifices himself for Aelita. The third time seems definitive, though.
  • Stepping Stone Sword
    • Happens a few times with Ulrich's katanas; sometimes for himself, sometimes for other characters.
    • Everyone also seems to use William's BFS for this whenever he gets it stuck in a wall.
  • Stock Footage: To the point where even the first episode has reused scenes (see Garage Kids below).
    • It gets really obvious at certain points. For instance, during season 2, they switch between using new footage for Aelita deactivating the tower, and the old footage from season 1, despite the fact that Art Evolution has taken place and the difference is clear for all to see...
  • Stop or I Shoot Myself: A variation is used where Aelita's friends threatened to kill her before the Scyphozoa could Mind Probe her (which would kill her too), forcing XANA to order the monster to release her.
    • In "Hot Shower," Aelita sets up a situation where the Supercomputer can't be destroyed without killing her, and XANA aborts his Colony Drop attempt.
  • Strictly Formula: For the first season only though, then it gets better. See Once Per Episode above. The plot of just about every episode is: Something strange happens around the school (blatant Foreshadowing optional). → Jérémie thinks it's XANA, Odd doesn't. Heads up: It's XANA. → Jérémie and one or two of the Lyoko Warriors go to the factory. The remaining one or two of the three must stay behind in danger to heighten the drama. → The virtualized Warriors fight 3-5 monsters, while Aelita takes her sweet time getting to the tower. (Life Points are referenced only for Rule of Drama as well.) → The in-danger team members are saved Just in Time by the tower de-activation plus a Return to the Past. → The team returns to a scene from the beginning of the episode, usually Played for Laughs.
  • Super Drowning Skills: Falling into the Digital Sea is immediately lethal for the Lyoko Warriors or the monsters. The backstroke in ordinary bodies of water, however, is perfectly fine for the heroes (but terrestrial monsters can't swim). Although it is confirmed in Season 4 that the Digital Sea is not a literal sea, but rather the edge of Lyoko. Also, it's implied in "Cruel Dilemma" that the person wouldn't actually die, but simply be trapped, unable to return.
  • Super Smoke
    • William is the Trope Namer.
    • Also a power for Polymorphic Specters.
  • Super Speed: Ulrich's Super Sprint.
  • Tagalong Kid: Hiroki; Johnny
  • Tagline: "Can you keep a secret?"
  • Taking the Laser Beam: Frequent in Season 1, especially for Odd.
  • Team Pet: Kiwi
  • Techno Babble: Second nature to Jérémie and Aelita.
  • Teen Genius: Two, Jérémie and Aelita. Two and three-quarters counting Hervé.
  • Teens Are Short
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Every other episode due to some sort of betrayal, XANA-mitigated or otherwise.
  • Tempting Fate: Way too often. Those kids should learn to shut up....
  • Tentacle Rope: In "XANA Awakens" and "Ghost Channel", XANA possesses electrical cables which then restrain Jérémie.
  • Thanks for the Mammary: Jérémie accidentally "touches" Aelita while she's invisible in "Vertigo".
  • The Password Is Always Swordfish: The password to deactivate the towers is the name of the virtual world. However, only Aelita can enter it properly, because she holds the keys to Lyoko.
  • The Power of Friendship: Despite frequent Teeth-Clenched Teamwork scenarios, the only reason the gang don't simply shut down the supercomputer in the first two seasons is because they don't want to lose Aelita.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Sandwich: Happens regularly, despite Odd just hating this trope.
  • Those Two Guys
    • Sissi's sidekicks and fanboys, Hervé and Nicolas.
    • Also Milly and Tamiya.
    • As well as Hiroki and Johnny starting with Season 3.
  • Three-Point Landing: Yumi in Lyoko form, following some of her acrobatics. Including sometimes when just virtualized.
  • Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Ulrich and William are very guilty of this. Ulrich's katana even wanders into Precision-Guided Boomerang territory at times.
  • Title Theme Tune: Both in French and English.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Yumi & Aelita -- or Yumi & Sissi as rivals go.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Aelita, and how. In season 1, Aelita was practically helpless without Odd, Ulrich and Yumi around, and her only use was deactivating towers. In fact, out of all 26 episodes of season 1, she only destroys one monster. By season 4, she's probably the most capable Lyoko Warrior of all -- not only does she have Energy Fields, which are more powerul than any other Lyoko weapon, she also has wings for flight. It's also worth noting that XANA-possessed Aelita has only ever been defeated once....
  • Traveling At the Speed of Plot: The amount of time until XANA's current plot completes is always just long enough that the Lyoko Warriors will beat it with a couple of seconds to spare, if that; same with the Sector 5 countdown or the second layer of the Core shield. (They rarely run out of time, either; if XANA wins, it's nearly always by defeating the heroes, not just running out the clock.)
  • Triang Relations: Overlaps with Hopeless Suitor and Romantic False Lead like crazy:
    • Ulrich and Yumi perennially fit as the B and C of a Type 4, with Sissi and William taking turns as the A (Ulrich's the B in the former, Yumi in the latter).
    • Ulrich gets stuck as the B in a Type 5 a couple times in Season 1 (Émilie and Milly being the As, Yumi as the C).
    • Hervé as the perennial A in a Type 5 with Sissi as the B and Ulrich as the C.
  • True Companions: Largely averted until the end of Season 2; the Lyoko Warriors only start to qualify afterward (and it still doesn't prevent some Teeth-Clenched Teamwork moments).
  • Turned Against Their Masters
    • XANA rebelled against his creator, Franz Hopper.
    • And Jérémie walked in Franz's footsteps with the "Marabounta".
  • Twice Shy: Ulrich and Yumi.
  • Undead Tax Exemption: Averted; Jérémie's initial plans to materialize Aelita are jeopardized as much by filing one of these as by cracking the necessary code.
  • Unhinged Scientist: Franz Hopper
  • Unknown Rival
    • Sissi. She considers Yumi her rival, but Yumi for the most part barely acknowledges a rivalry, most likely knowing Sissi is a Hopeless Suitor anyway.
    • Also, Hervé seems to consider Jérémie a rival in school achievements. Jérémie doesn't notice.
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: Ulrich and Yumi, to the greatest excesses possible in Western Animation. Sissi and Odd to a far lesser extent.
  • The Un-Reveal: So just what does Jérémie look like when he's on Lyoko? Big source of Epileptic Trees among fans.
  • Virtual Ghost: Franz Hopper never bothered taking a corporeal form on Lyoko; XANA's more basic specters also apply.
  • Vocal Dissonance: One of the government agents in "False Lead".
  • Volcanic Veins: The Kolossus
  • Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World: The premise of the series.
  • Weapon of Choice: According to Jérémie, the gang's weapons were selected based on subconscious data extracted in their initial virtualizations.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: A whole Ulrich-centered episode has him constantly seeking approval from his ultra-exigent father. He gets it in the end... at the apparent cost of his father's life. And then promply has it Reset Button'd. Poor guy.
  • Wham! Episode: "Final Round" and, to a lesser extent, "The Key".
  • What Is This Thing You Call Love?: Subverted; when Aelita is first materialized she often gets confused by emotions such as embarrassment, and by physical feelings such as hunger. In "Cruel Dilemma", though, Aelita is confused when Jérémie starts blushing when she says, "We can finally be face to face in the same room, touch each-other, and even kiss."
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Twice over.
    • Ulrich suffers from vertigo every now and then, and some spots involving him and high places are particularly rocky. It's not that he's afraid of heights, it's that high places are more likely to agitate his condition. He tries his best to suppress this, though.
    • Aelita has a bad thing for wolves. They frequently show up in her dreams or hallucinations.
  • Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: Sure, Jim has a stable job now, but he's had 21 different ones in the past, from from sewer worker to basketball star to safecracker locksmith to professional ping-pong player. All but a few of which he'd rather not talk about, and all in addition to 20 years at Kadic.
  • Will They or Won't They?: Ulrich and Yumi, to such a ridiculous extent that it makes their own shippers cringe. Though the last episode hints that they will. Eventually.
  • World in the Sky: The four main sectors of Lyoko are composed of floating islands above the Digital Sea. The Mountain Sector, in particular, evokes this trope.
  • Xtreme Kool Letterz: Kankrelat, Blok, Krabe, Kongre, Rekin, Kalamar, Kolossus... Justified in-show by Odd coming up with most of these.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Aelita's pink hair is sort of justified at first because she's actually a computer program, so her hair could be any color. But then it turns out that she was human after all, so this makes little sense. Especially since, except for Odd's big purple spot (which could have easily been dyed like that), almost everybody else has regular hair colors -- but seem to find Aelita's hue perfectly normal. The few exceptions are: Aelita's mom; William's mother (whose hair is conspicuously green); a girl candidate at the Subdigitals' talent audition; and White-Haired Pretty Boy Chris Moralès.
  • Your Mind Makes It Real: Justifies the phantom pains felt by Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd upon taking damage, since they're non-natives to Lyoko.
    • In one episode, a virus uploaded into the computer by XANA makes it TOO real, with one shot hitting causing immense pain.
  • Zeroes and Ones
  • Zombie Apocalypse: "Attack of the Zombies."

Garage Kids provides examples of:

The games provide examples of:

  • Camera Screw: The first DS game is very bad about this, especially since you can fall off nearly any platform and have a quarter of the health of that character lost for the effort.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: The game Quest for Infinity has at least one instance. While battling a boss, one weak spot they show is a rather large golden sack-like thing hanging off the monster... Clearly they took cues from the Gonarch in Half-Life.

The novel series provides examples of:

  • Adaptation Expansion: Yes, it can be this and Compressed Adaptation at the same time! The story focuses more on the backstory that was only touched on in the show.
  • Alternate Continuity
  • Ax Crazy: Eva. Being an incarnation of XANA will do that to a person.
  • Break the Cutie: Implied with XANA. In the "Mysterious City" flashback, he was a token cutie, while in the present, he is clearly already broken.
  • Canon Foreigner: About ten of them -- Eva Skinner/XANA and Grigory Nictapolus, most prominently. Most of them are featured for a chapter, then disappear.
  • Compressed Adaptation: Only bits of "XANA Awakens", "Code: Earth"/"False Start", and "Fight to the Finish" still exist in this continuity. Everything else in the show is erased and replaced with the plot that ties those three together, occurring in maybe half the time. The major plots of Seasons 2, 3, and 4 are solved in one battle.
  • Darker and Edgier
  • Dirty Old Woman: Heavily implied with Marie Lemoine.
  • In Medias Res
  • Love At First Sight: Odd, with Eva Skinner (who he doesn't know is XANA).
  • New Transfer Student: Eva Skinner
  • Orphan's Plot Trinket: The sailor's knot pendant might qualify.
  • Pink Haired Girl: Played with. Aelita has pink hair on Lyoko... but she and her mother have red hair in the real world.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Suzanne Hertz's name is changed to Susan, and Antea's name is writen as Anthea (or Anthéa?). Jeremy, Sissi, Herve, and XANA are written in those forms.

Return to the trope now!

    This article is issued from Allthetropes. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.