Misfits (TV series)

"What do you mean premature ejaculation isn't a superpower?!"

Curtis: So, what happens now? Is this it? We gonna be like this forever?
Simon: What if we're meant to be, like, superheroes?
Nathan: You lot! Superheroes? No offense, but in what kinda fucked up world would that be allowed to happen?

Misfits is a British Speculative Fiction series about a group of young offenders on a community service programme, who get caught in a freak electrical storm that imbues them with superpowers. The series debuted in November 2009 and the second series aired the following year with a bonus Christmas special. A third was broadcast in late 2011, minus Robert Sheehan (Nathan) and a fourth series has been confirmed for 2012. It won the BAFTA award for Best Drama Series in 2010.

The 'Misfits' are a group of five 20-somethings who are united by a series of traumatic events, and the emergence of their freaky new superpowers. These newfound abilities all relate to their deepest personality traits and psychological drives; turning their desires into realities, and their greatest weaknesses into weapons.

Curtis is a former star athlete who was caught in possession of cocaine and publicly shamed - haunted by regret, Curtis develops the power to manipulate time. Simon, a shy and intensely introverted young man who has been ignored and bullied all his life, develops the power to turn invisible. Mouthy and aggressive Kelly, always worried about what people think of her, is granted the power of Telepathy. Shallow and vain party girl Alisha, who flaunts her sex appeal in order to use and abuse the men around her, develops the ability to inspire uncontrollable lust in anyone who touches her skin. The last Misfit, snarky Jerkass Nathan, at first doesn't seem to have a power, much to his consternation. It turns out that he's immortal and can talk to the spirits of the dead.

In series three, Nathan has left to seek his fortune in Vegas, and has been replaced by Rudy, who has confidence issues resulting in a Literal Split Personality. The other characters have all swapped their original powers for new ones - Alisha now can see through other people's eyes, Simon can see briefly into the future, Kelly is a rocket scientist, and Curtis can change his sex.

The series is described by The Other Wiki as a "live-action superhero comedy drama", but is more frequently deemed Heroes with ASBOs.

Not to be confused with the band of the same name. Or Misfits of Science, which has a similar premise.

Tropes used in Misfits (TV series) include:
  • Accidental Murder: Kind of a plot-motor here. The Misfits kill a lot of people. Curtis has on multiple occasions warned them ahead of the crime that somebody must die for the greater good. Becomes somewhat of a prominent theme of the third season finale.
    • It is frequently brought up for black comedy purposes. For instance, when Nathan claims that they're the good guys because they don't rape or murder anyone, and he's reminded that they've actually killed quite a few people, but brushes it off with "We didn't mean to."
  • An Aesop: Rudy is subjected to one in episode 6, when he finally learns to stop mistreating women through his constant one-night stands, or as he puts it "living for himself." Hilariously, he goes on about how he's a better person and how "We're all in this together" right up until his other self walks in, having been forced to spend a night in the cells thanks to Rudy forgetting about him.
  • All Guys Want Cheerleaders: Averted by Rudy. When he was thirteen, he witnessed a Primal Scene in which his mother was dressed as a cheerleader. Now the very sight of them makes him nauseous.
  • All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Inverted - the Misfits ransack Superhoodie's flat for clues, and Nathan takes a dump in his bed. Oops, that should read what they thought was Superhoodie's flat.
    • More conventionally, both Virtue Girl and 'Jesus' have based themselves in the community centre.
    • Don't forget the Nazis!
  • Alternate Universe: A natural side-effect of Curtis's time winding. Notable examples include...
    • Season 1, Episode 4: Where Curtis never got caught in the drug bust, and everyone (save Nathan) died when the probation worker attacked them.
    • Season 2, Episode 6: When the Misfits, and many other people with powers become famous, but are all killed by a young man with the power to manipulate lactose because they were more famous than him.
    • Season 3, Episode 4: The premise of the entire episode, where an old Jewish man uses Curtis' power to try and kill Hitler. He fails, and Hitler ends up with his phone, which he then uses to accelerate Germany's technological development and win WWII.
  • Anti-Hero: Type III. Basically every protagonist.
  • Anti-Villain: So far the bad guys they have come across - Lucy, Sally and Tony - have been fairly sympathetic in their own way, and not just evil for evil's sake. Again, a major aspect of the third season finale.
    • Averted with Brian, who admits up front, gleefully, he knows killing 'shitloads of people' with his cheese abilities is wrong, but does it anyway just to get attention.
  • And I Must Scream: Season 2, Episode 6 What Monsieur Grand Fromage does to Nathan
    • Although if they just cut open his brain and removed the cheese his power would allow him to heal up fine.
      • Which could happen only if he's found by someone knowing what happened to him and aware of his power.
  • Anticlimax Boss: In the Christmas special the man known as "Jesus" might be the most powerful foe the gang have faced. How is he defeated? He uses his psychic powers to pull a cabinet too hard and hits himself in the head. Hoist by His Own Petard. But hey, the gang still won.
  • Anyone Can Die: ...but Curtis' time travel powers can save the main cast. After Nathan learns his power, he dies a lot.
    • Used repeatedly in the third season: Shaun is finally killed in episode 5, and Alisha is murdered in the finale; Simon goes back in time to save her, effectively dooming himself to die in the past.
      • Actually Future!Simon goes back in the past knowing full well he's going to die and eventually Alicia will die. He's actually just returning to the past to fall in love with Past!Alicia again. Which makes Past!Simon fall in love with Past!Alicia. Which means Future!Alicia will die and Future!Simon goes back...well, you get the point...
  • Arc Words: it's not down to you (as of series 2 anyways)
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:

Alisha: My friend Chloe did crystal meth and she nearly shagged her brother. And he's really ugly.

  • Attempted Rape: This happens to Alisha a fair bit due to her powers -- before changing them at the end of S2.
    • And technically to the men she touches, considering they don't necessarily want to have sex with her.
    • It happens to Melissa and Emma too.
  • Attention Whore: Nathan will do virtually anything to get attention, including simulating oral sex on a mop, performing strange and lengthy Bono impersonations, and pretending to masturbate with a paint-brush. Sometimes his extravagant attention-seeking actually get the group out of trouble - after Tony gets killed, Nathan flat out tells Sally that they killed him. She passes it off as a load of bullshit. Alisha has her moments too, though she specifically craves positive male attention rather than just needing to be noticed in general. Plus she becomes a lot more mature in the second series and doesn't display nearly as much attention-seeking behaviour, whereas Nathan, if anything, gets worse.
  • Ax Crazy: Tony the probation worker, who is transformed into a crazed murderer by the storm, and does literally hack a young guy to pieces with an axe.
    • To drive the point home, when he chases Kelly, he grabs an axe-shaped piece of metal fencing to use as a weapon.
    • Video Game Guy
  • Back from the Dead: Technically this happens a fair few times, due to Curtis' time-turning ability which he uses to reverse several deaths, namely Alisha's, Kelly's, Simon's and Sam's. Most notably, though, it happens to Nathan, whose immortality allows him to recover from being dead.
    • Given a hilarious nod, with Nathan's waking up in his coffin, and going "I'm alive! I have a power! I'm alive! ...You buried me alive, you dicks!"
    • The power Seth acquires in 3.6 and gives to Curtis.
    • The third season finale introduces us to Medium who can bring back the spirits of the dead, bringing back Tony and Sally the probation workers and The Virtue Girl who then become the primary focus of most of the episode.
    • Averted with Alisha. Curtis could have resurrected her, but she'd be a zombie; Simon goes back in time to save her, but You Can't Fight Fate...
  • Badass Biker: "Super Hoodie", the mysterious BMXer who saves Nathan.
  • Beauty Is Bad: Especially noticeable with Lucy, who, compared to all the other crazies, is practically a goddess.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Nathan and Kelly, in spades.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: Curtis desperately wanted the chance to undo the mistakes he'd made, but he didn't bargain for the problems meddling with history would involve. Also, Nathan spent much of the series whinging about the fact that he doesn't have a superpower. He does, but it isn't paticuarly useful. Nikki really wanted a heart, the teleporting ability with it is not always controllable.
    • There's also an episode when Alisha abused her power, until she realised the lack of value and meaning in her sexual encounters.
    • Curtis wishes for a chance to run again, but it complicates his life in unforeseen ways.
  • Berserk Button: Call Kelly a chav, and she might just literally kick your face in.
    • Also Tony the probation worker, after being struck by the storm, wound up having his button stuck, in a manner of speaking.
    • Do not suggest that Shaun the Probation Worker was sexually abused as a child.
  • Better as Friends: Kelly's decision regarding her and Nathan.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Super Hoodie, twice.
  • Binge Montage: Nathan and Ruth getting wasted together.
  • Bittersweet Ending: The series 3 finale. Simon and Alisha locked in a time loop of falling in love and dying for all eternity. Lampshaded when Rudy asks whether he should be happy or sad and Curtis tells him "both".
  • Black Widow: Simon appears to be dating one. Turns out she's a virgin, and her Overprotective Dad is killing off all potential lovers.
  • Blatant Lies: Angry at 'Jesus' for misusing their powers, Nathan states that it's not as if the main cast have murdered and raped. Curtis quickly shoots him down, reminding him that actually, they have.

Nathan: When we had our powers, we didn't rape or kill anyone!
Curtis: What? She raped me, and we've killed loads of people!
Nathan: Well...yeah, but...we're the good guys!

    • Curtis: We'll get you an ambulance. Hold in there. You'll be fine.
  • Blessed with Suck: Everybody, to a degree. The show focuses a great deal on the annoying and inconvenient aspects of having a superpower. Some people have powers that are practically useless, or just drove them crazy.
  • Blood From the Mouth: Kelly gets this in 2.4.
    • Happens to Charlie in 3.1 when she gets stabbed
    • And the person who gets it in 3.2 actually had it coming.
    • In series 3's finale, it's Alisha, courtesy of getting her throat slit by Virtue Girl.
  • Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress: Poor Kelly has shades of this come 2.4 when Tim kidnaps her, his power causing him to view everything as playing a violent videogame. He sees her as his ex-girlfriend who stole his money and jilted him at the altar. He forces her to wear a wedding dress.
  • Body Horror: Lucy the shapeshifter and her Painful Transformation sequences, during which she writhes, screams and appears to claw her own face off.
    • Rudy's penis after his one-night stand curses it. Thankfully we don't see it, we only get vague descriptions, including that it's going black.
  • Break the Cutie: The torrent of pain and misfortune endured by Simon could be seen as this, although he was well on the way to being "broken" anyway: years of being bullied and humiliated at school caused him to Freak-Out one day and attempt to burn down his worst tormentor's house. Until he realised that would involve killing a cat, and extinguished the flames. By pissing through the letterbox.
    • Sally also did this to him by accident near the end of season 1, which, well...let's just say there were unforeseen consequences.
  • Brick Joke: A very dark one comes in series 2. Nikki tells Curtis that someone with his power would normally use it to travel back in time to kill Hitler. Come the Christmas Episode and the powers dealer says he sold Curtis' power to an old Jewish man planning to do that. Come series 3 we see the attempt.
  • British Brevity: The first series has six episodes, the second has seven (including the Christmas Special), and the third has eight.
  • Brought Down to Normal: All of the cast in the Christmas Special by their own choosing. Causes some complications.
    • All of the main cast apart from Rudy in the Nazi timeline. Presumably none of the Misfits were out in the open when the storm hit.
  • Buried Alive: Nathan, the first time he dies.
  • Butterfly of Doom: Curtis encounters this problem in episode 4.
  • Butt Monkey: Simon.
    • It seems whenever someone's power starts messing with people, it's always Nathan. Sometimes it's not even powers--the universe just loves screwing Nathan over. Although his misfortune is very often a direct result of his own idiocy, arrogance and/or general jerkassery, whereas Simon is undeservingly victimised. Plus Simon is painfully aware of his own butt monkey status, while Nathan remains ridiculously over-confident despite leading a life of near-constant humiliation.
    • Ollie, up until his prompt death, anyway.
  • Call Back: In the Nazi episode, a few powered people the group encountered before appear when the Nazis are looking for people with powers.
    • Another one in the season 3 finale.

Kelly: There was a guy who could control cheese and he was a fucking psycho

  • Call Forward: Nathan and Curtis each accuse the other of being about to shit themselves. Oddly, because of Curtis' time manipulation, neither of them remember the other saying it to them when they say it.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Nathan in series 2, episode 2.
  • The Cameo: Phil Daniels' brief yet memorable guest appearance as the voice of Kelly's filthy-minded dog. No, really.
    • Also, Nicholas Burns (from Nathan Barley, and various other British comedies) plays the horny policeman in episode 2.
  • Can't Have Sex Ever: Oddly enough, the effective result of Alisha's first power. She and Curtis can't have mutually consenting sex.
    • It's a grey area, but theoretically he could give her prior permission to use her power on him, making the act consensual. It's more a question of intimacy, though. Her pheromone manipulation causes him to forget who he is momentarily - he stops caring about her and just wants to have sex with her, and once the physical contact is broken, he can't remember any of it. Because they want to preserve their emotional connection, they are forced to resort to more unconventional methods of intercourse...
  • Cassandra Truth: In Episode 3.7, which also makes this Arbitrary Skepticism considering the conversation and who is involved in it.

Kelly: You gotta kill 'er! She's a fookin' zombie!
Seth: [shoves Kelly down the hall, then slams the door in her face]

  • Casting Gag: Let's see, Michael Obiora playing a policeman called by a woman named Sally to investigate disappearances in a sci-fi show? Did he blink, just for a second?
  • Catch Phrase: Rudy suggests they come up with some in the series 3 premiere.
    • "I'm a fucking rocket scientist!" is a legitimate one.
    • "Now you see me, (beat) now you see two of me!" is said once by Rudy as a joke. Him saying to his copy "Come on, get back in here" while gesturing to his chest is a more legitimate catchphrase.
  • Caught with Your Pants Down: In Nathan's defence, Curtis and Alisha really should have locked the door...
  • Character Focus: Happens in several of the episodes. In series 1, episode 2 was for Nathan, episode 3 was for Alisha, episode 4 was for Curtis, and episode 5 was for Simon. In series 2, it's a bit more jumbled and less obvious, but episode 1 was for Simon and episode 2 was for Nathan. You could argue episodes 3 and 4 are for Alisha.
    • Series 3 episode 1 was for Rudy. 2 for Curtis. 3 for Simon. 4 for Kelly/Seth.
  • Cell Phone: Superhoodie saves a mugging victim. The victim goes for his phone to take a picture, but the phone didn't survive the mugging.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Simon's videography.
    • Also, Curtis being lactose intolerant.
  • Christmas Episode
  • Compelling Voice: The baddie in the series 1 finale.
  • Competence Zone: Power users are almost always about the same age as the Misfits, with lots of the exceptions having bought their powers rather than obtaining them naturally. And an even more disproportionate number of them end up doing Community Service!
  • Contrast Montage: The gang's stunning and diverse array of attitude problems are depicted in this scene.
  • Cozy Catastrophe: Nathan seems remarkably cool about being buried alive - after an initial short outburst, he just lies back and starts listening to his iPod. To be fair, he can't really do anything else.
  • Creepy Child: Looks like we've found our "daddy" counterpart of the Doctor Who "Are you my mummy" kid, in episode 5's toddler with the power of inducing surrogate fatherhood. Kelly advises the mother to find the real father and show him the baby, promising her the father will change his mind.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Virtue Girl appears to be the comic relief for the final episode of season three, until she turns out to be one of the few people able to kill off a main character for good.
  • Crying Wolf: This happens to Nathan a few times due to his penchant for telling extravagant lies. He both figuratively and literally cried wolf in episode two.
  • Cursed with Awesome: All of the main characters apart from Simon largely resent the superpowers they've received. Curtis however is one of the most keen to lose his powers, when his is incredibly useful.
  • Dark Messiah: In the Christmas episode we get a false Jesus.
  • A Date with Rosie Palms: The mutual version - how Curtis and Alisha get around the physical intimacy problem of their relationship.
    • Melissa does this a lot after discovering she can multiple orgasm.
    • Curtis doing it to pass the time and then switching to Melissa because she can multiple orgasm and using the same tissues to clean up afterwards results in Curtis getting Melissa pregnant.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Each episode focuses mainly on a different character (or couple of characters).
  • Deadpan Snarker: Nathan, in spades. Also Shaun, the probation worker from Series 2.
  • Death by Falling Over: Sally. Simon just pushes her away and she hits the back of her head against a metal door handle.
    • In the first episode of Series 3 girl who could stop time dies this way after Rudy kicks her.
  • Defence Mechanism Superpower: Nathan. His immortality literally won't kick in until after he dies first, only then will he be able to heal from whatever killed him and resurrect himself. If it's not a fatal wound, he can't heal himself... which is exactly what the "Milk Guy" in Season 2 does. He incapacitates him in such a way that he's been turned into a vegetable, but still alive, so he can't heal himself.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Alisha in series 2.
  • Diegetic Switch: Played with in the series 1 finale. Three characters wear iPods in and each one is given their own backing theme.
  • Dirty Mind Reading: Kelly doesn't always enjoy knowing what people are thinking.
  • Disappeared Dad: Nathan's father. Implied to have been the 'psychologically absent' type before leaving Nathan and his mother altogether.
  • Discard and Draw: The apparent fate of most of the cast at the end of the 2010 Christmas special. Alisha in particular, as her powers presumably died with "Jesus". One can't imagine why she'd want it back though...
    • Curtis in 3.6 because due to getting his female body pregnant through messy masturbation, he gets stuck in the female form and has to go back to Seth for a power removal.
  • Disc One Final Boss: The third season finale has this in spades. The first five minutes imply the medium might be the big bad of the episode, then Ghost!Tony soon after, by halfway through we're sure it's Ghost!Sally but in the end it turns out they should have kept their eye on Ghost!Virtue Girl all along.
  • Disgusting Public Toilet: The toilet in the scuzzy club in episode 4, of which we get loads of unpleasant close-ups while Curtis is trying to flush away the cocaine. The toilets in the community centre aren't so peachy either...
  • Disposing of a Body: Two have been buried in the concrete foundations of a building, one is kept in a freezer for a while and then dropped in the river.
    • All things considered, the bodies are disposed of pretty well. The two buried in the concrete foundations are unlikely to be found ever, and the frozen body if found will be a nightmare for forensics to decipher thanks to all the time spent in the freezer.
      • 3.1 has the bodies of the two girls buried in a very shallow grave. May become Chekhov's Gun in later episodes
  • Dramatic Unmask: The revelation that Superhoodie is Future!Simon.
  • Drawing Straws: Curtis, Rudy, Simon and Alisha do this to determine who finally kills Mr. Miggles.
    • And again, when they determine who has to kill the new probation worker.
  • Dreaming of Things to Come: Power-reversed Curtis sees himself in a superhero costume with a girl he doesn't recognise yet.
  • Dress-Coded for Your Convenience: Peter when he fights Superhoodie/Simon wears a variation on the Superhoodie outfit, except with evil-looking red lines, reminiscent of Marvel's Carnage.
  • Dressing as the Enemy: In the series 1 finale Nathan dresses up in a pale grey suit to fit in with the other brainwashed kids.
  • Drop What You Are Doing: Fin'Nazis!Kelly drops the plate of food she just poisoned in order to help rescue the Power Broker from a suicide attempt.
    • 3.6: Rudy drops his icecream upon discovering while urinating what his one night stand did to his nether regions.
  • Drunk Driver: Alisha, even after getting banned from driving (hence her being sentenced to community service in the first place).
  • Drunk on the Dark Side: The main villain in the Christmas Episode.
  • Dude, She's Like, in a Coma:
    • Season 3, Episode 2: Rudy goes down on Curtis who is in his female form and drugged.
    • Season 3, Episode 6: Averted by Simon telling Rudy in no uncertain terms "that's rape".
  • Early-Bird Cameo: All the Misfits, and Tony and Sally, are present in the club the night Curtis travels back to try and fix things for his ex-girlfriend Sam.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: in season 1, episode 4, Curtis uses his power several times, first to prevent his girlfriend Sam from being sent to prison, later to keep his friends from getting killed by Tony. He has to try it a few times before he gets it all right, but eventually he succeeds.
  • Entitled Bastard: Nathan, despite tormenting Simon and being warned by Kelly not to because of his fragile emotiontal health, expects Barry Simon to save him when they're both in trouble.
  • Exactly What It Says on the Tin: said verbatim by Curtis in reference to Kelly's new choice of power in the series 3 premiere.
  • Fan Disservice: Plenty in series 1, episode 2. Both seem to revolve around Nathan: a middle-aged naked man running around naked, thinking he's a dog; and the revelation the Girl of the Week Nathan has sex with is really a 82-year old woman, as her true age is shown mid-orgasm. It's really as disturbing as it sounds, and Nathan's horrified reaction is... understandable.
  • Fan Service: Alisha's bit with the bottle in the first episode, I'm sure every man watching that had the exact same expression as Curtis, Nathan and Simon.
    • Nathan and the sun tan lotion. Or was that just me?
  • Fantastic Drug: Subverted in that standard pills reverse the nature of powers as a side effect. Kelly begins announcing every thought that pops into her head, Curtis flashes forward in time, Alisha repels everyone she touches, Simon becomes the centre of attention and An Ice Person gets fire powers.
    • This is also the episode where Nathan learns he can also see the dead.
  • Failed a Spot Check: Played with; after sneaking back into the community center in episode 1, Nathan notices the bloodstains and hacked-open bathroom stall door, he just doesn't seem to care.
  • Fake-Out Make-Out: Alisha with Shaun in the Fookin' Nazis! Timeline so Simon can sneak away with his stolen antibiotics. Although it's played with, in that Shaun had convinced himself that Alisha really liked him.
  • Fate Worse Than Death: Brian in series 2, episode 6 strangles Nathan's cerebral cortex, potentially leaving him in a vegetative state forever.
  • Femme Fatale: Alisha, big-time, particularly when you consider her power. Not that she wasn't enough of one in the first place.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: Let's be honest - the five of them wouldn't usually hang around each other any other day. But nothing like shared pain, murder, mayhem and fighting off mind control to get the team spirit going.
  • Fetish Fuel: Invoked and then Defied in 3.7:

Alisha: [after having beaten a zombie to death with a baseball bat] ... Still want me to dress up as a cheerleader for your birthday?
Simon: ... No.

  • Five-Man Band - notable that the misfits do not and likely will never fit the types clearly (in fact, they often subvert them entirely), and unlike most Five Man Bands, the only role never clearly defined is The Hero.
  • Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: In-universe libido control version in Alisha's personal Blessed with Suck.
  • Foreshadowing: Nathan's power is alluded to in episode 4 where he is the only one to be found alive after Tony's attack. The paramedics speculated that he was "just lucky" and he himself admits he has no idea how he survived.
    • The opening credits are literal examples, as the kids' shadows hint at the powers they develop.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: You'd probably have to be a mad fan to find this in any way entertaining, but in the scene towards the end of episode 2 when Nathan and his mum have just reconciled, Nathan walks over to Jeremy and makes a comment. Freeze the frame, zoom in, and just look at the cup Jeremy's holding.
  • Freaky Friday Flip: Kelly and Jen, 3.5
    • and Lampshaded by Simon, who called it that, correcting Rudy who misidentified it as Face Off
  • Freudian Excuse: Nathan despises his father, and at one point suggests that his own problems are due to the fact that his dad was never around. Also, while Simon never actively blames his psychological issues on his past misfortunes, they do offer quite a solid explanation for his current fragile state.
  • From a Certain Point of View: Although there is a little more to it, turns out Nathan's crime did start with him eating some pick-and-mix. Then it became petty assault and being a dick to a cop.
  • Future Badass: Superhoodie, aka Simon. Curtis' brief jump forward implies he's this, too, though it later turns out he's simply at a fancy dress party doing surveillance.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: Although Kelly's new "rocket scientist" power doesn't seem too useful at first, it turns out that it can be applied to other kinds of machines, enabling her to fix a car's engine within seconds and easily deactivate a security alarm.
  • Genre Savvy: Simon appears to be aware of the tropes involved when it comes to superpowers.

Simon: "So you're not Aquaman then?"
Nathan: (emerging breathless and bedraggled from a large bucket of water) "Apparently not."

    • A gem from Series 2 about this trend.

Nathan: "She's a beautiful girl and she's here, in the community centre!"
Simon: "So?"
Nathan: "So I seem to remember a similar scenario that resulted in me having sex with an 82 year old woman!"
Curtis: "And there was that shapeshifter girl, she was mental"
Kelly: "Yeah look what happened with him and that probation worker"

    • Curtis suggests that they should all watch more Sci-Fi in order to become more Genre Savvy.
    • Peter the fanboy from Season 3 is also Genre Savvy and very excited to have figured out Superhoodie's secret identity.
  • Gender Bender: Curtis' new power is the ability to transform into a woman at will.
  • Girlfriend in Canada: This exchange from a season two episode.

Simon: Then what's her name?
Nathan: Errrr...Mon...Eiiiik..........Ka. Moneeka. She's French.
Simon: Well, you should invite her to the party.
Nathan: Oh well, she's in France, on account of being French.

  • Girl of My Dreams: Curtis bumps into the woman from his Flash Forward at the end of the episode. Great first impression, breaking into her flat while your mate shits on her bed...
  • Ghostly Goals: After Nathan's dead brother convinces him to reconnect with his father, he and Ice-girl do the usual wave-goodbye-and-walk-into-the-distance thing. Remains to be seen if they're gone for good though.
    • It's also the focus of the season 3 finale.
  • Godwin's Law of Time Travel: Curtis gets told by Nikki that most would use his power to kill Hitler. In series 3 a Holocaust survivor tries to, after buying it off Seth.
  • Good Thing You Can Heal: Nathan once his immortality powers are revealed. He comments at one point while jammed on a pipe that yes, it's extremely painful, before dying.
  • Grand Theft Me: It happens to Kelly in Season 3.
  • Harmless Freezing: Lily freezes Nathan's arm accidentally, but does him no damage beyond momentary pain. Averted however when Captain Smith gets her power in the Nazi timeline- he freezes poor Gary to death in seconds.
  • Have We Met Yet?: Curtis faces this when he reverses time and meets several of his "present-day" companions, all of whom fail to recognise him.
  • Heart is a Deadly Power: Lactokinesis; who would have though one could use it to create a Kill'Em All scenario.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Superhoodie takes a bullet intended for Alisha in episode 4 of the second series, ending his mission.
    • And Simon later takes a knife in the gut to save Curtis, in order for Curtis to be able to rewind time to save the others.
      • Rudy attempts one to save Alisha from Time-Control Girl but they're rescued before he actually dies.
  • Heroic Sociopath: Nathan, probably literally.
  • High Turnover Rate: Try to think of an episode where someone does not die, even if its temporary? Having trouble? Well it's episode 3 in series 1. This trope even gets lampshaded a few times.
    • More specifically, they get through a lot of parole officers. The Misfits are forced to kill two, one loses his job after falling prey to Alisha's lust-inducing powers, they kill Shaun in a reversed timeline and then he's finally killed by Jen. It's eventually Played for Laughs - we don't even learn the latest one's name before she's mauled to death by a zombie cheerleader.
  • Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Nathan's anecdote about his eighth birthday definitely qualifies - it involved him being abandoned in Ikea by his father, and spending the day eating meatballs with a paedophile. Similary, Nathan's story about a camping trip where his mother's friend badtouched him. It's possible that it's because he's such a pathological liar people assume he's just trying to get attention.
  • Hit You So Hard Your X Will Feel It: Kelly:"If you call me that one more time. I'll kick you so hard in the cunt your mum will feel it!"
  • Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act: Hitler overpowered the septagenarian time traveller and took his phone, spurring advances in Nazi technology and winning them the war. At the end of the episode Kelly gains the time travel power and goes back and retrieves the phone. She also "kicks the shit out of Hitler." Kelly is the only one to remember the alternate timeline.
  • Hold Me: 'Hold my hand Bev!'
  • How Do I Shot Web?: So far, Simon seems to be the only one to learn how to invoke his power entirely voluntarily. Kelly and Alisha's are always on, and Curtis and Nathan's are Defence Mechanism Superpowers.
    • The new powers in series 3 seem to have avertted this except for Rudy
  • Humanity Ensues: Bruno. The gorilla
  • I Believe I Can Fly: Discussed when Nathan is trying to work his power out.

Of course! There's always someone who can fly!

Nathan: It's just so hard when you're so cute, and I'm so horny. And there's only a couple of thin layers of cotton separating our genitals.

  • If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Nathan to his mother's boyfriend [1]: "If you ever hurt her, I'll take you up the vet's and have you put down.", though in context it's a (literal, really) Pet the Dog moment for him.
  • I Just Want to Be Normal: Alisha, Kelly, Curtis.
  • I Just Want to Be Special: Nathan.
  • "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Nathan tries this with Kelly, and the brainwashed Virtue minions. It doesn't work.
  • I'm a Man, I Can't Help It: "The siren call of the blowjob renders all men powerless!"
  • Immortal Life Is Cheap: Nathan.
  • Impairment Shot: Simon, after Nathan's younger brother slips a pill into his beer.
    • Melissa and Emma after the track coach roofied them.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Nathan is actually making a habit of dying this way.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: Superhoodie, with a paper aeroplane.
    • Also Simon, able to throw a peanut into Vince's mouth, while lying on the floor, and being strangled.
    • Bear in mind, they are both the same person, so really it's just Simon that has REALLY impressive aim.
  • Improvised Weapon: The Misfits regularly use these.
  • Inspector Javert: Series 2 features a cop who suspects the gang of murdering their parole officers. He can't prove it though.
  • Institutional Apparel: Although everyone wears their jumpsuit slightly differently, to reflect their attitudes and personalities.
    • Curtis generally wears a vest or t-shirt on top, tying the jumpsuit's sleeves around his waist. This shows off his upper body, makes him look hardworking, and also reflects the fact that he doesn't feel like he really belongs in a Community Payback jumpsuit. He also always wears a medallion of a saint and a cross.
    • Alisha generally shows some cleavage and rolls up her sleeves, pops her collar and rolls her trouser legs into capris. She also always wears a belt around her waist, further showing off her figure. She usually wears make-up, jewelry and ballet flats, despite the fact that they're doing manual labor.
    • Kelly, like Alisha, doesn't wear a shirt under her jumpsuit. She keeps hers open at the collar, though doesn't undo as many buttons as Alisha. Kelly doesn't go to much effort to make hers more flattering or fashionable, more sort of surrendering to the ugliness. She does, however, keep on her jewelry and make-up and is (according to her twitter) devoted to Adidas, wearing them both for community service and civilian life.
    • Nathan's is worn open to about the belly button with a visible t-shirt underneath. His jumpsuit is also the most stained, covered in paint and blood. The word 'pay' in the phrase 'Community Payback' has been crossed off and replaced with 'blow'.
    • Simon wears his jumpsuit buttoned up to the chin: precise, neat, and respectful. This, of course, makes him "look a bit like a paedophile" according to Nathan, but fitting his shy personality it also looks like he's trying to hide in/it.
    • Rudy wears his with popped collar, rolled up sleeves and partly unbuttoned.
  • Interplay of Sex and Violence: Alisha's trick with the bottle is intercut with Kelly running away from an Ax Crazy Tony
    • Done again in the third season finale, although this time it's Ghost!Virtue Girl trying to get herself off on Curtis while Kelly once again, runs from Tony
  • Invisibility: Simon. He apparently also becomes inaudible... although they might just be ignoring him.
    • This is more likely a Perception Filter effect. In 1x05 we see from Sally's POV that while Simon is standing in an open doorway, she doesn't even register that the door is open. This is supported by Simon's reversed power when everyone can't help but notice him.
  • In the Hood: Sort of. In the series 2 episode with the Lactokinesis kid, Simon pulls up his hood (for some reason he'd been wearing a hoodie along with his Ian Curtis-looking attire throughout series 2 in distinctly badass fashion as he goes looking for his friends' murderer. Subverted in that he's invisible anyway, so it's not like he needs his face to be hidden.
    • And, of course, Superhoodie. Naturally, since they're the same person.
  • I Reject Your Reality: This is Tim's "superpower", his personal reality being that of a popular videogame franchise.
  • I See Dead People: Nathan, as a later side effect of his power. Namedropped, of course.
  • It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Played with - Nathan mentions this to Curtis as a laugh, who uses this line seriously to try and break up with Sam. It works - but only because Sam recognized it from Spider-Man and got angry.
  • I Was Quite a Looker - Ruth/old lady Ruth, who was more of a self-only age changer than a shapeshifter, and doing so apparently overtaxed her body.
  • Kill'Em All:
    • Series 2, episode 6. At least until Curtis pushes the Reset Button on it all.
    • Invoked by Simon when they are confronted by a zombie outbreak. If they do not kill every zombie, the infection will just keep spreading.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Nathan at the end of the day, though he does tread the line into Jerkass territory at times.
    • Played completely straight with Kelly, who is a genuinely nice person despite being a bit...confrontational.
  • Killed Off for Real: As of the series 3 finale, all of the probation workers (Tony, Sally, Shaun + his unnamed replacement), Nikki, Alisha and Simon.
  • Killed to Uphold the Masquerade:

Kelly: What do we do if he finds out [about our powers]?
Simon: We kill him. [horrified silence] ...just kidding.

    • It's never clarified but Simon might well have been serious - he's already aware that they've killed quite a few people already.
  • Lamarck Was Right: A bit of a variation, Nikki inherits Ollie's ability to teleport after receiving his heart from a transplant. Somehow.
    • That could lead to some Fridge Horror; after all, there's already a guy who's made a business out of trading superpowers for cash, so what happens when somebody tries to same thing via Organ Theft or even Human Resources?
      • Likewise, its quite possible that there were other organ donors amongst all those people they've managed to top. They might've even sold some of the powers back to Seth (or lost them for good).
  • Late Arrival Spoiler: The trailer for season 2 featured Nathan recapping the group's powers, and spoilt Nathan's death & immortality. Likewise, trailers for the third season make it implicitly clear that Superhoodie is actually Simon, spoiling a major season two arc. Considering that season 3 ends with Simon & Kelly being Killed Off for Real, it's hard to see how season 4 can be marketed without spoiling, at the very least, their actors not being around anymore.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Courtesy of Nathan, naturally; "You mean, after all these weeks of buildup, we're not even gonna have sex?"
    • The show as a whole loves this trope, in plenty of episodes, the characters will refer to the events of the previous episode as "last week". It goes further in episode 2.3, when Nathan points out he hasn't died this week, this being the first episode since 1.5 that he doesn't die, and Simon points out that it's only Thursday - Misfits airs on Thursdays.
    • The first episode of series 3 ends with this glorious exchange:

Curtis: Why do we need catchphrases?
Rudy: You know, for when shit goes down, man! C'mon, do you really think we're just gonna spend the next seven weeks amblin' about pickin' up litter?
Simon: He's got a point.
Alisha: Well, maybe it'll be different this time. Maybe there won't be any shit going down.
Rudy: Trust me, there'll be shit. I can smell it.

    • In episode 3.3, when the group is upset that Superhoodie turned on them and they were on the receiving end of an ass-kicking. Rudy replies: "I'm fucking new! I don't know anything about this shit!"
  • Life Imitates Art: when they joked on Mock the Week that everything the channel four writers were coming up with ended with "crossed with Skins" it looks like they may have been right... Heroes crossed with Skins anyone?
    • Actually before the show aired the E4 voiceovers would promote it during the end of every Skins type show and superpower movie by mentioning how it is an X Meets Y of the just shown show/movie.
  • Lethal Harmless Powers: Brian, the guy whose only power is to manipulate milk, uses it to drag up the stomach contents of those who had recently consumed dairy products into their trachea, choking them to death.
  • Lightning Can Do Anything
  • Lock and Load Montage: parodied.
  • Loners Are Freaks: Simon, though he gradually reveals his intense and introverted nature as his Character Development progresses.
  • Long List: When Simon rattles off every insult Nathan has ever directed at him.
  • Long-Lost Relative: Nathan's half-brother
  • Love Potion: Alisha causes violent surges of lust in anyone who touches her skin.
  • Lower Class Lout: Kelly is one of the most realistic examples of a chav, portrayed sympathetically.
  • Magical Abortion: Curtis gets Seth to take back his power to change sex in exchange for taking on the Back from the Dead power Seth just acquired.
  • Make Way for the Princess: Alisha gets one of these moments in the nightclub at the start of episode 3, with a Sex Montage thrown in for good measure.
  • Male Frontal Nudity: We get a glimpse of Curtis' when he shakes off the roofie he was given while in his Melissa form just in time for him to punch the track coach in the face for attempting to rape Melissa.
  • Male Gaze: 3.7 - Cheerleaders practicing bends, and splits, right up to the camera.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Of all people, Sally, who gets pretty ruthless in trying to get justice for her dead boyfriend.
  • A Man Is Not a Virgin: according to Nathan, anyway.
  • Mass Super-Empowering Event: The Storm.
  • Meaningful Name: Surely the writers didn't name the immortal character Nathan Young by accident.
    • This may just be a coincidence, but "Nathan" translates as Gift from God, which certainly sums up his cocky attitude.
    • It is also a hiliarous coincidence that the entire series was created by one "Howard Overman".
  • Mental Time Travel: Curtis.
  • Messianic Archetype: It may be the absolute height of irony, but ultimately, Nathan arguably meets the criteria by the end of the series, losing his life in his attempt to free the others from the "Virtue Girl", and being resurrected some time later.
  • Memetic Outfit: The orange overalls.
  • Meta Guy: Slacker Nathan and nerd Simon take turns in Lampshade Hanging tropes, dropping Shout Outs, and generally Leaning on the Fourth Wall.
  • A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: Kelly's relationship with her fiance ended because she could hear what he was thinking about her. She is constantly being hurt by the unflattering snap-judgments people make based on her appearance, or startled by their unsavoury thoughts (sometimes both at once). Plus, she tends to react aggressively, which makes her look completely insane and irrational:

Nathan's Inner Voice: Would I..? I think I would. Oh my God, I'm thinking about shagging a chav...
(Kelly looks outraged, snarls and pushes him over)
Nathan: What was that for?! Jesus!

Curtis: I sound retarded.

    • Played straight with Brian in the same episode, who turns out to be a villain and ends up being really happy with his moniker 'Monsieur Grand Fromage (Mister Big Cheese).
  • Neat Freak: Simon.
  • Necessary Fail: Curtis ultimately realizes that he has to get arrested and robbed of his athletic career, in order to save the lives of Alisha, Simon and Kelly when Tony tried to murder them.
  • Negate Your Own Sacrifice: Subverted by Nathan.

Nathan (RE: a virtual stranger who's just been killed in front of the group): Better him than me!
Curtis: You can heal.
Nathan: Better him than one of you!

    • However, he does later in the same episode volunteer himself (very reluctantly) to be temp-killed to save the others, although he doesn't actually have to go through with it.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: Not the worst example ever, but the trailers are normally misleading. For example, the trailer for S 2 E 4 made it appear as if newcomer Ollie would be an important character in the episode, probably getting his new teammates in some kind of evil mafia-run game and lots of generic danger. What actually happened was that Ollie died in the first fifteen minutes or so, with the rest of the episode dedicated to the others trying to defeat Tim, his killer who lives in a Grand Theft Auto-esque video game fantasy, and Nikki's emerging superhero powers after she was given Ollie's heart.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the third season finale, Rudy tells Ghost!Virtue Girl how the probation workers passed on after one of them first mistakenly thinks the reason they were brought back was revenge. This makes Ghost!Virtue Girl realise that that is the reason she's back. Which eventually results in the death of Alisha.
  • The Nicknamer: Nathan, naturally. Poor Simon (a.k.a "Weird Kid," "David Atten-wanker," "Panty Sniffer," "Melon-Fucker," "Barry" etc) definitely ends up with some of the more random monikers.
  • No Bisexuals:

Rudy: "All I'm saying is that maybe your boyfriend is a proud, beautiful gay man who likes to-"
Alisha: "He's not gay! He's the best shag I ever had!"

    • Averted in Season 3 with Emma, who appears to find both Curtis and 'Melissa' attractive, and one of the girls Rudy thought he slept with in episode 6.
  • No Dead Body Poops: Averted; one of the more mundane problems with immortality.
  • No Ontological Inertia: the Creepy Christian
  • No Periods, Period: Averted hard in series 3, episode 2. Poor Curtis...
    • Simon awkwardly tries to support Alisha's excuse for Kelly by saying "she's got period pains."
  • Le Parkour: Superhoodie.
    • The Christmas Episode and the beginning of series three show Simon starting to learn this.
  • No Pregger Sex: Averted. Nathan immediately hits it off with the heavily pregnant Marnie, although he does reference the reason for the trope:

Nathan: I don't wanna poke the baby's head with my dick, or anything.

  • Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Subverted in Season 2 episode 6, thanks to Curtis' superpower, and then played straight in episode 7.
  • Not Wearing Tights: Superhoodie wears a mask, a hoodie, trainers, light body armour and sometimes night-vision goggles. His costume focuses on practicality, for his parkour, rather than style.
    • Lampshaded in series 2. The main cast go to a fancy dress wearing superhero outfits of lycra etc., and just look odd.
  • Of Corpse He's Alive: Once it's decided that Gary and Tony's corpses have to be buried under the flyover, the bodies are cleaned up as best as possible and sat in wheelchairs for the journey.
  • Older Than They Look: Ruth
  • Oh Crap: The ending of 3.7. The crew raises beers in a toast.

Alisha: Are you actually saying we saved the world?
Simon: We saved the world.
Kelly: That's proper superhero shit.
Rudy [vulgar comment about cheerleaders]
Curtis: Wait -- what happened to Mr. Miggles?!

  • One Person, One Power: Subverted. Although it appears at first that everyone only got one power, Nathan and Simon got secondary powers, and Seth's power allows Jesus and Simon to gain multiple powers.
  • One Phone Call: Nathan ends up in prison, tries to call Simon, saying he only gets one phone call.
  • One Steve Limit: Averted, but not with first names. Kelly and Alisha both have the surname Bailey.
  • Only Sane Man: This is how Curtis (who compared to the others is a relatively normal, polite and well-adjusted individual) appears to view himself in episode 1. He is initially horrified by the group of anti-social, dysfunctional and aggressive delinquents he is being expected to mingle with, protesting that his conviction was unfair and that he shouldn't even be there. He does gradually loosen up, but not because his opinions of the group change radically - he simply gets used to them.
  • Open the Iris: When the effects of the Fantastic Drug take hold.
  • Orifice Evacuation: In "Vegas", Nathan attempts to use his new ability as a Reality Warper to make a $1000 casino chip emerge out of Marnie's downstairs... except it ends up getting lost until she goes to the bathroom.
    • Later used as a distraction by Nathan, on himself.

Nathan: Have you ever seen a man shit a rabbit out of his anus? Prepare to be amazed... and disgusted.

  • Our Time Travel Is Different: The Time Travel power appears to work thusly: a) User feels an intense guilt or regret over an incident; b) User mentally time travels back to that incident and has the opportunity to change it; c) once done, he either snaps back to the present or, if he's already at the present, time keeps moving on; d) User remembers how history used to be, but doesn't remember the alternative history unless he experiences it himself.
    • Point d) could count as Rule of Drama or Rule of Funny. (I mean, come on, did you see that look on Curtis` face when he found out Sam was still his girlfriend??)
  • Our Zombies Are Different: The zombies in the Season 3 appear, for all intents and purposes, to be act and function perfectly normal even when they themselves are informed that they are zombies until their hunger for flesh takes over. Could result in Fridge Horror if you think the last thing the Probation Worker in that episode sees before she dies is Rudy with a baseball bat about to smash her skull in. The zombie cheerleaders are a bit more messy, reanimated with gaping wounds.
  • Overprotective Dad: The real killer in s2e5
  • Papa Wolf: Nathan, of all people, twice. Once with Finn, and again with Marnie's baby.
  • Parental Abandonment: Nathan's mum kicked him out of the house rendering him homeless, and before that his dad apparently wasn't there for him.
  • Parent with New Paramour: The situation with Nathan's mum and her new partner Jeremy. Notable in that it averts the "evil step-parent" cliche entirely. Jeremy is portrayed as a sweet, sensitive (if slightly odd) guy who is upset by his step-son's constant tirade of abuse. Nathan does ultimately accept his mum's new relationship and try to make amends though.
  • Patrick Stewart Speech: Nathan (of all people) on the glory of misspent youth.
  • Peek-a-Boo Corpse: When the gang find Gary's body in the locker.
  • Performance Anxiety: At first, Simon has difficulty using his power in front of people -- becomes pretty funny given that his power is turning invisible.
  • Personality Powers: All of the people who get powers have them relate in some way to their personality.
    • For example, ignored Simon gains invisiblity and regretful Curtis gains time-travel.
  • Pet the Dog: In spite of his obvious flaws, Nathan has a fair few redeeming moments over the course of the series, largely in his treatment of Kelly and later Simon.
  • Phrase Catcher: Nathan sure is a prick, and gets called on it frequently.
  • Picture-Perfect Presentation: Peter the fanboy draws a comic of Superhoodie beating up the Misfits. It occurs shot-for-shot, with the final shot of them laid out under a vent dissolving into the action shot of Curtis, Kelly, Rudy and Alisha lying there after Superhoodie has gone.
  • Power Incontinence: It could simply be a bad case of How Do I Shot Web? at this point, but four out of five protagonists (plus most of the supporting characters) have absolutely no idea how to summon their powers at will, or restrain or mitigate their effects.
  • Power Perversion Potential: Several of the group's powers potentially lend themselves to abuse.
    • We're looking at you, Simon. Well, we're not, but you know...
    • Also, Alisha definitely uses her power for questionable purposes at times (not that it even has any non-questionable purposes, but still...)
    • "If I had your power, I'd wait til I came, then go back a couple of seconds and just... hover"
  • Power Walk: Parodied several times, to hilarious effect.
  • Powers as Programs: Apparently, getting a heart transplant gives you the donor's powers- albeit in an almost uncontrollable form. In addition Seth can remove others' powers, store them in his body and then grant them to a buyer.
    • If someone with powers takes ecstacy, then their power gets reversed temporariliy into a new one. For example Curtis travels forwards in time instead of back, and Alisha inspires revulsion rather than lust.
  • Powers in the First Episode: Four of the five protagonists, plus Tony.
    • Nathan is also granted powers, though it's not revealed what it is until later on.
    • Technically every single person who has one got their power in the first episode during the storm, although it has yet to be seen if Curtis could go back and perhaps give someone powers by getting them hit by the storm. But that's just a bit of Wild Mass Guessing.
    • Seth can grant powers to people who didn't have any to start with, like 'Jesus' in the christmas episode, but those powers still originally came from people affected by the storm.
  • Prison Rape: Nathan references this trope in the second episode.

Nathan: If they actually knew anything, they wouldn't be dicking around sticking notes on our lockers. They would have gone to the police, and we'd all be banged up in prison getting gang raped in the showers!

  • Put on a Bus: Nathan.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Well, duh.
  • Railing Kill: In the finale of series 1, Nathan and Rachel. Nathan, at least, got better.
  • Raising the Steaks: In 3.7, Mr Miggles the zombie killer cat
  • Rape as Drama:
  • Rape Is OK When It Is Female On Male: Lampshaded Values Dissonance with Alisha and Curtis in ep 3. And finally averted-ish in Season 2 episode 7 when Curtis calls her out - sort of.
  • Reality Warper: Peter the fanboy in 3.3 who can make things happen by drawing comic book pages of them.
    • This is also the power of Nathan after he sells his immortality. But all we seem him do is create or alter small objects.
  • White Eyes Take Warning: Tony, the probation officer.
    • Played straight with the killer in 02x05. When his rage kicks in, his eyes turn a shade of red and his cheeks start to...ripple. It's scarier than it sounds.
  • Red Shirt: Ollie, who now has the distinction of being the shortest-lived Misfits character.
  • Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain
  • Reset Button: Curtis' powers, especially in the premier and series 2, episode 6.
  • Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Curtis, when he travels through time and changes history.
  • Room Full of Crazy: Super Hoodie resides in a room plastered with photographs of the group (and possibly others), as well as huge LED clocks.
  • Romantic Runner-Up: Ben the charity worker from episode 3.
    • Also, Samantha. Although she got a reasonable amount of character development.
  • Running Gag: Nathan deliberately calling Simon "Barry".
    • "I really want to shag her... oh shit, she can hear that!"
      • "WHEN WILL I LEARN?!?!?"
    • The group have their more quiet bonding experiences, usually when disposing of dead probation workers.

Nathan: Can we please stop killing our Probation Workers!

    • Series 2 is having Nathan repeatedly refuse to do something dangerous or confront the villain because it might kill him, leading to one of the others (usually Curtis) exasperated reply of "You're IMMORTAL!". Nathan often points out that it still hurts.
    • And then subverted when Nathan finally stands down a gunman in the Christmas episode.

Nathan: You can't kill me... I'm immortal!
Simon: No you're not!
Nathan: OH SHIT!

    • Nathan forgetting (well, not bothering to remember) someone's name, and Simon reminding him. Gets to the point where Nathan leaves a pause for Simon to fill in the name.
    • "Prick!"
  • Sacrificial Lamb: Gary.
  • Sanity Slippage: Simon, oh Simon. He constantly teeters on the brink of mental breakdown.
  • Scary Black Man: Tony, after the lightning gets to him.
    • The gaggle of criminals Nathan eggs on for the sake of his brother and his dad in the boot of the car.
  • Scooby Stack: Rudy, Simon, and Curtis do one when trying to figure out why the Power Broker is in the Community Centre.
  • Screw Yourself: One of Rudy's copies worries the other will do this, although he may just have been teasing.
  • Second Coming: On the Christmas Episode, an evil Priest manages to acquire an array of flashy superpowers, including the ability to walk on water, in order to convince the local population that he is the second coming of Jesus (so he can steal vast quantities of money from the poor and sexually abuse women without repercussions).
  • Series Continuity Error: Photo of Curtis touching Alisha during a photoshoot in episode four of series one, obviously he shouldn't be able to due to her power, or the photoshoot would be inevitably far more interesting.
    • Another in season 3, Curtis' power has always been Mental Time Travel, but after he sold it to Seth, it turns into physical time travel to anywhere, allowing an old Jewish man to go back to try and kill Hitler by appearing in his office as an old man, and Kelly to go back decades before she was even born. Curiously enough, this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened when Seth got involved: Nikki's teleportation power was almost impossible to use voluntarily, and often activated when she didn't want it to- hence why she sold it to Seth; when "Jesus" bought the power off Seth, he was able to use it without any of Nikki's old problems.
  • Set Right What Once Went Wrong: The catalyst for triggering Curtis's power.
    • As of series 2, Superhoodie has travelled from the future to fix the present.
    • Holocaust survivor Friedrich tries to do this by assassinating Hitler. Sadly he fails, and when Hitler finds his mobile phone, the timeline changes so that the Nazis win the war using the phone's technology
    • Kelly later in the episode goes back in time to just after the assassination attempt to steal the phone back from Hitler.
  • Shapeshifter Baggage: Lucy turns into a tiny mouse.
  • Shout-Out: Verging on Reference Overdosed, especially Nathan's dialogue.

"Uma Thurman did it and she's just a girl..."

  • Shrinking Violet: Simon is a rare male example.
  • Slipping a Mickey: Nathan's brother does this to Simon in S2 E2. It's ecstacy; nothing more exotic.
    • The track coach at the community center does it to Melissa and Emma.
  • Sitting on the Roof: A surprising amount of action takes place on the Community Centre roof.
  • The Slacker: Nathan.
  • The Slow Path: Averted for Curtis, who after Setting Right one epic flash-way-back gets sent back forward to his present, with no memories of his alternate history.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Nathan
  • Smarter Than You Look: Kelly upon trading in telepathy for the intellect of a rocket scientist.
  • Soapbox Sadie: Ollie
  • Speaks Fluent Animal: Kelly can hear her dog's and Bruno in gorilla form's thoughts, as well as humans'.
  • Speculative Fiction
  • Literal Split Personality: Rudy's power; he can manifest himself into two separate personalities at times of self-doubt and stress. There's a minor aspect of Evil Twin in that when the split happens, one side of him acts even more socially unacceptable while the other acts in a much more sensitive manner.
  • Spoiler Opening: see Foreshadowing above.
  • Stable Time Loop Superhoodie seems to be in one of these. Alisha falls in love with him and he dies shortly after he reveals his true identity of Future!Simon to her, saying it was meant to be this way. She starts warming up to Simon as a result and his curiosity eventually gives him the truth. In the Christmas special, Simon is seen learning Le Parkour.
    • The loop finally gets stabilised in the third season finale. Poor Alisha.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Lucy. Dear God, Lucy...
  • Stealth Pun: "The new boy will save you more than once. He has heart." Oh, god, Superhoodie, really?
    • The guy they go to in the Christmas Special is a Power Broker.
  • Stepford Smiler: Good lord, kids being nice and polite and talking about self respect. Something is very wrong...
  • Stood Up: Seth, by Kelly...who did have a good reason. She was quite literally not herself at the time.
  • Stuffed Into the Fridge: Of course given the genre this happens and a literal one to boot, courtesy of Simon putting Sally into a freezer after accidentally killing her.
  • Super Loser: All of them really. Bless them.
  • Superpower Lottery: 'Powers' granted by the storm range from making people bald and believing you're a dog at night, to telekinesis, mind control, time travel and limited reality warping. Not that any of the powers seen so far are at comics' power levels.
  • Superpower Meltdown: the death of Jamie and Lily, when sex makes her ice-to-fire reversed superpowers go out of control.
  • Superhuman Transfusion: Nikki inadvertently gains the ability to teleport through a heart transplant from Ollie. She never learned to control it like he could.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Rudy is this for Nathan. He is just as crude as Nathan, just as sex-focussed, just as dislikable, he has an obsession with stealing vending machines, he even makes a similar comment about wearing two condoms at once.
  • Talking the Monster to Death: This is how Simon convinces Lucy not to turn him in to the police.
    • Fails utterly when Ollie tries it on Grand Theft Auto guy and gets drilled before he finishes his first sentence.
  • Technically Living Zombie: : The Misfits breed of zombie
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork
  • Telepathy: Kelly.
  • Teleporters and Transporters: Nikki experiences her semi-controllable teleporting ability as suddenly being thrown in one direction or another, and having the world shift on the way. No word yet on what might be able to come along for the trip.
  • Terminator Twosome: Friedrich goes back in time in series 3 to assassinate Hitler, but fails and accidentally creates a present where the Nazis rule. So Kelly goes back in time to the same moment to fix the damage he causes.
  • There Are No Therapists: Simon in particular could really do with a bit of counselling. Although it's later revealed that he was in fact briefly admitted to a psychiatric ward after the attempted arson, no mention was made of him getting any follow-up therapy (which he is very clearly in need of).
    • Truth in Television; one of the major problems with the British mental health system is the lack of follow-up on patients after they've been released from wards--not to mention the severe understaffing of the wards in the first place...
    • Averted with Rudy in the episode 5 of Season 3; showing that there is in fact a therapist. Although she appears to be in need of some therapy herself.
  • They Would Cut You Up: Simon's response to Alisha's inquiry of what will become of them once the public knows of their powers.
  • This Was His True Form: Bruno in series 2, episode 5 is a gorilla whose power in the storm was to become human. He still has violent instincts, left over though.
  • Those Wacky Nazis: Series 3 Episode 4 concerns an alternate timeline where they win the war.
  • Time Master: Curtis, though apparently it only extends to reversing time (and only works when he's feeling guilty about something that's just happened). For now.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Kelly and Alisha.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Nathan in the finale.
    • Also, arguably, Simon's development over the course of the series:

Nathan: Did you just grow a set of balls?
Simon: I've always had a set of balls, it's just you've never seen them.
Nathan: That is about the gayest thing I ever heard...

    • Even more so in Series 2, where the mysterious Superhoodie is revealed to be Future!Simon
  • Token Evil Teammate: Early in series 1, it appeared as though Simon was headed in this direction, especially when you consider how creepy he was when he killed Sally it seemed as though this would be his Start of Darkness, however this was averted as it became obvious later on that he was actually the most noble of the group. [2]
    • Nathan is a more hurtful than harmful one, but (being a most likely literal sociopath) still definitely qualifies.
  • Too Much Information: Simon's rather distressing reaction to Alisha's power, although it was hardly his fault. And then there's Nathan and his "special" sock.
  • Trust Password: An ineffective one when the shapeshifter appeared, since it involved one word instead of an exchange and who said it was basically arbitrary. They ended up saying it to the shapeshifter, who then knew the password.
  • Tsundere: Kelly borders on this, and is notably aggressive at times - assault was the crime for which she was given community service in the first place. She seems to particularly enjoy hitting Nathan, though in all fairness he usually deserves it (at one point he even admits to liking her violent temper and the fact that she isn't afraid to slap him).
  • TV Teen: Heavily averted, like Skins but more so.
  • The Unintelligible: Kelly is perceived as this by the others at first. For some fans, she still is this.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: How do you respond when a heroic stranger dives in and rescues you from a very dangerous situation? Why, you gripe at them for dropping you on the floor of course!
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: Nathan and Kelly's tentative flirtation. He frequently thinks about having sex with her, only to berate himself when he realises that she can obviously hear his thoughts. It's possibly the embarrassment of this (and their general social ineptitude) that has prevented them from taking their relationship any further thus far...
  • VideoGamesAreEvil: guy starts thinking he lives some GTA-like game, casually murders people (including one of the main cast) and hit-and-runs a granny for extra points.
  • Visionary Villain: Rachel the "Virtue Girl", while being decidedly sinister, seemed to genuinely regard herself as a nice person acting in accordance with the greater good. She seemed to honestly believe that she was helping people and ultimately making the world a better place. She could have used the power to set straight criminals who couldn't be reformed any other way. But she went and tried to use it on the whole world.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Although none of the group are openly affectionate (or even vaguely respectful) towards each other for the most part, it does become apparent that they genuinely care for one another. Nathan even eventually admits to being fond of Simon, despite spending most of his time belittling the poor guy.
    • In the ASBO-Five timeline, where powers are now public the first person Simon considers asking for help is Nathan, who doesn't even bat an eyelid about letting him kip on his sofa for as long as he wants.
      • This could in fact be because Nathan is a Cloudcuckoolander whereas the others would notice that Simon was up to something.
  • Voices Are Mental: Averted a bit too much. When a Jen Body Swaps with Kelly, she still speaks with Kelly's accent.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: Lucy, Simon's friend from the psychiatric ward.
  • Weirdness Censor: In the Christmas Special.

Woman: Our lord Jesus Christ has come again.
Nathan: Oh... Good for him.
Marnie: It's nice of him to come just in time for Christmas.

  1. ↑ whose "power" is lycanthropy minus the "turning into a wolf" part
  2. ↑ As seen in storyboards, the initial plans involved Simon going Ax Crazy in the finale, so there was good reason for the hints.
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