< Nostalgia Critic

Nostalgia Critic/Tropes A To M


We remember the main page so you don't have to!
—The rest of the tropes are HERE

A

  • Accentuate the Negative: While it's in-character for him to usually cry, rage and tear apart awful shit, he also does tributes, So Bad It's Good movies and Guilty Pleasures. Even with some of the real crap, he'll do a more general review at the end and say if they did anything right.
    • Lampshaded in the review for Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. He says right out that it's a movie he generally but genuinely likes, despite a few issues, but as soon as he announces it (Before a crowd at Anime Convention Anime Milwaukee) he's attacked by a mob when everyone assumes that he's going to do a heavily negative review. This continues to be a running theme throughout the review as the 200th Episode cameos all consist of people showing up to beat up the Critic for slamming a film by anime legend Hayao Miyazaki.
  • AcCENT Upon the Wrong SylLABle: Some of his songs' lyrics fit under this trope.
  • Acceptable Targets: In-Universe.
    • Environmental stuff, mostly because the movies are so Anvilicious and the people "delivering the message" are so unlikable and uncaring about anything else.
    • Politicians. He usually tends to attack the right wing, but Obama and Michael Moore have gotten a few take thats too (though such attacks are no where near as harsh).
    • Averted with "Wicca". In his review of the Blair Witch sequel, he says he won't make fun of it because he doesn't know the religion, he just needs Erica to shut the fuck up.
  • Accidental Innuendo: Pointed out in-universe in his review of The Neverending Story 3.

The "Childlike" "Empress": We must not give in to the Nasty.

Critic: Which is the movie that everyone Wax On, Wax Off off to? That sounded really bad.

Critic: The only thing better than a hero is an anti-hero, the person who constantly walks the line between good and evil, and these are two great nuts! (beat) That sounded bad.

Critic: You did it! You actually did it! You ruined the only funny joke in the movie you jingle balls of ass! Damn you! Damn you all to hell!

Critic: It's like a mix between a vibrator and a man who can't get me pregnant. This is every woman's dream come true!

"TIMING!"

    • He says that Bella of Twilight infamy could actually have made a fairly good Shakespeare villain.
    • Presents Sunny, the mascot of Cocoa Puffs cereal, as addicted to the cereal as a result of his grandfather constantly feeding it to him, then trying to live a normal life once his grandfather vanished but kept getting tempted by kids who offered him more cereal.
    • For his Milk Money review, he believes that Frank might just be a younger version of Denny.
    • NC is convinced that Bronx from Gargoyles is actually a Gargoyle with special needs, and everyone just lets him pretend he's a dog.
    • He interprets Santa of Santa Claus the Movie as a mostly unwilling slave to the elves.
    • He also interprets the old man at the beginning of Rad as being grumpy because he killed a family in WW II and contracted PTSD.
  • Anachronism Stew: During the Home Alone 3 review, The Critic pretends to be John Hughes and says that Home Alone 3 is his plan to get out of screenwriting, as no director would ever think to direct it. He asks who would possibly want to direct it, and then mentions the guy who directed Beverly Hills Chihuahua (Raja Gosnell). Said movie wouldn't be released until 11 years after Home Alone 3.
  • An Aesop: There's a few genuine ones scattered around, like "darkness should have a point", "kids shouldn't be mistreated or their intelligence underestimated" and most importantly "everyone's allowed to have their own opinions on movies".
  • And Starring: Orlando Belisle was credited this way in "You're a Dirty Rotten Bastard".
  • And That's Terrible:

"Nintendo: Now, you're playing with pedophilia. And that's just wrong."

Nostalgia Critic: What!? Pumpkin!? Buh? Pumpkin!? What!? What!? What!? Pumpkin?! What?

      • Which is called back in his review of The Thief and the Cobbler.
    • ...and another when his buddy Scratch pulled the string on his glove and made a beautiful woman:

Nostalgia Critic: Wha-!?

"Explain, movie! Explain! JUUUST! EEEEX-PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!!!!!!!!" *causes a nuclear explosion leveling the city, then afterwards he double takes on the wreckage he just caused, then looks at the camera* "Sorry."

    • And then:

"Sorry, I'M GOING FOR TWO!"

Nostalgia Critic: It turns out these machines are built by Nova, as they look forward to having all the robots destroy evildoers, annihilate their enemies, and serve gin and tonics


B

  • Bad Bad Acting: In the Moulin Rouge review, after a lot of very good breakdown, he shoots Brental Floss "for a sad ending" and acts ridiculous to parody Christian's crying that sounded more like laughter.
    • As Turl!Spoony found out, he's horrible at acting angry when he doesn't actually feel the emotion.
  • Bait and Switch Comment: A recent thing for him to do is to repeat some idiot action from the movie he's watching in apparent Sarcasm Mode, but then finish it off in Sincerity Mode with an added how it went wrong for him. For example:

Critic: Yeah, I remember acting like a monkey in eighth grade... God, I was pitied.

Critic: Now it's going to say, "Excuse me, this is the Ghostbusters, isn't it?"
Dana Barrett: Excuse me, this is the Ghostbusters, isn't it?
Critic: "Yes, it is; can I help you?"
Janine Melnitz: Yes, it is; can I help you?
Critic: You see?!

    • The gist of the Top 11 Most Awkward Christopher Walken Moments.
    • The Critic's review of Flubber has an overly long BLAM scene that he can't even bring himself to completely say it.

"A big-lipped--oh god I'm bored..."

Raoul: Non Sequitur Scene? Try Big Lipped Alligator Movie!

Critic: ...I don't know where I am when he calls.

    • The "Rotten Dirty Bastard" special. After that sketch, the Critic went back to his usual characterization, the others carried on like normal (and The Nostalgia Chick even got her best friend killed) and it was never mentioned again.
  • Bland-Name Product: Mocked in his reviews of Steel and It about a beer named Beer, with this quote from the latter.

Critic: Oh no, she dropped a can of "Beer" beer. Is that the drink that Steel made famous?

  • Blatant Lies: In his first of the Star Trek reviews, he promises to never have another commercial break - after the camera decides to take him seriously when told to - and a break has happened in every NC review since then.
  • Bond One-Liner: The Critic makes a few jokes on this trope in the Commando review, even punctuating one with the YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHH!! from CSI: Miami.
  • Borrowed Catchphrase: Less borrowed and more mangled, but we get this from Spoony during the eponymous spooning:

Spoony: In case the Nostalgia Critic here doesn't remember it so I don't have to, I can tell you why. Three words - Ro-hyph-nol!

  • Bottomless Magazines: Seen in his Captain America review.
  • Bound And Bagged: At the start of the Game Heroes promo. And you can see him squirming but not getting much leeway throughout the few minutes it's on.
    • Still on his obsession with trying to get Critic to do a Christmas Carol parody, the Ghost Of Christmas Future ties up Lupa with tape and tinsel. Critic's not amused.
  • Bloodless Carnage: The Critic emphasizes that even though Drake's death in The Pebble and the Penguin didn't have blood, it's still really violent for a kids' movie.
  • Bolt of Divine Retribution: In his comparisons of The Ten Commandments vs. The Prince of Egypt, he claims that God is more likely a kind and loving deity, rather than a vengeful god. He was wrong.
  • Book Ends: With some exceptions, the Critic begins and ends each of his reviews by saying "I'm the Nostalgia Critic: I remember it so you don't have to".
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: How he invokes Santa Christ — by asking Santa to save him, then Jesus, then… Santa Christ.

Nostalgia Critic: Well, I find that name obnoxious, and uncreative. I'm going to call you: obnoxiously uncreative.

    • "Nintendo games ROCK. Movie based off Nintendo games BLOW. Therefore, movies about Nintendo games BLOW ROCKS."
    • "It sucks ASS! It sucks BALLS! It sucks ASS-BALLS!"
  • Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: A few, but the one most seem to remember is in his review of the Tom and Jerry movie:

Critic: I'll do anything! Shave your back, do your taxes, prostitute myself for money! Just please not another song!

"So as you see kids, it's not about physical violence; it's just about hurting somebody somehow. That's what really counts in life."

    • In The Pagemaster, he points out that having an Aesop on literacy makes no sense when the main character is already a bookworm.
    • 3 Ninjas, it's so nice Grandpa is giving his (white) grandkids lethal weaponry to fool around with like shuriken, nunchucks, swords...
    • In The Lost World: Jurassic Park, he notes that a message about protecting endangered species and the environment becomes very much lost when the protagonists who hold to this end up causing most of the problems throughout the film (involving death, destruction, sabotage). There was also the BS about taking the dinosaurs from their "natural habitat," when, in fact, the dinosaurs were CLONED FROM FOSSILS, and therefore, were completely unnatural in the first place.
  • Brown Note: The Critic has a tumour in his brain that grows whenever he listens to the theme song from Doug. He calls it "Porkchop".
  • Buffy-Speak: All the times he describes the action and Technology Porn of Waterworld as "Stufff!" Also "putting things into things" in the "Arnold" song from the Commando review.
  • But Wait! There's More!: The Critic notes that the Rock Biter's sitcom antics in The Neverending Story 3 wasn't enough. It gets worse.


C

  • Call Back: In his "Old vs. New: The Ten Commandments vs. The Prince of Egypt" review, he says that one way The Ten Commandments is superior is that we learn Moses's last name. Clips are then shown of various characters saying "Moses, Moses..." Soon after, we see a clip of the "Super Mario Bros." movie where Luigi explains that he and Mario's last names are just "Mario". The Nostalgia Critic then threatens, "Don't start with me!"
    • In his review of The Neverending Story 3: Return to Fantasia, the Critic asks to be taken to Fantasia. The camera zooms in and out on him, repeatedly hitting him. As he's shouting in agony, he calls back to his review of IT as he yells "WHY IS IT SO MEAN?!"
    • In his The Thief and the Cobbler review, when a pumpkin falls on his predicted by a past recording sent to his phone, he says "WHAT?!? PUMPKIN?!? WHAT?!?! WHAT!?!...PUMPKIN?!? WHAT?!?!" This was done before in his The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog review when he says this after Grounder blows into his hand and a pumpkin pops out the other.
    • Though he doesn't play his Stephen King Drinking Game (from his review of IT) during his review of The Langoliers, he takes a shot anyway after he finds out that it's set in Maine.
    • In his third Nostalgic Commercial Special, he calls back to his Halloween special from 2008 (so therefore from almost two and a half years ago), bringing back Devil Teddy Ruxpin.
    • In his Little Monsters review, Fred Savage's character said "I want my BROTHER!!", to which the Critic said, "As well as some FOOD!!!"
    • In his The Magic Voyage review, when the Critic asks what you'd call someone pulling a telescope out of their pants, there's a callback to the second commercial special; specifically the Wunder Boner ad. "My wife would like that!"
    • In his Inspector Gadget review, the Critic pondered when Inspector Gadget would ever need bubbles. Cuts to a clip from his second "Commercials" special where he said "Fucking bubbles!"
    • A slightly creepy version happened in the B-Team's review of Avatar: The Last Airbender. His cameo is him fondling a book and asking Takei to teach him the "Spocker", becoming embarrassed when the guys are watching him. Spoony raped him with the "Spocker" in Spooning With Spoony II.
    • In his review of Child's Play with Phelous, when Phelous asks "Why would the police ever suspect a doll?" the Critic responds with "Hey, you should see what my Teddy Ruxpin can do."
    • The third Top 11 Fuck Ups video has a callback to his sped-up "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" breakdown in Battlefield Earth. Only this time it keeps going.
  • The Cameo: Mara Wilson.
  • Canon Banned: Even though his character hadn't been cemented at that point, there are still lines in the "Top 11 Animated Hotties" that have been proven wrong or he wouldn't dare say now.
  • Captain Ersatz: He lampshades the use of fast talking supernatural characters by multiple in the 1980s in his Little Monsters video, complete with a long segment of 4 characters (Drop Dead Fred, Genie, Beetlejuice, and Maurice from said movie) all talking at the same time in the same tone of voice.
  • Captain Obvious: Referenced in the Red Sonja review; after Red Sonja's sister dies, Kalidor tells her, "She's dead." The Critic responds to this with, "THANK YOU, CAPTAIN OBVIOUS. If I get hit by an arrow, you'll be sure to tell me, right?!"
    • In-universe example: In his Full House review, after The Critic shoots the heads off the Olsen Twins, he remarks: "Ah. I did it. (Beat) They're dead."
  • In his review of Bebe's Kids
    • Critic: Perhaps you remember my video game review of Bebe's Kids. [Clips of Critic destroying the game angrily] I didn't like it.
  • Catch Phrase: "(Hello,) I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I remember it so you don't have to!"
    • "They did it! They actually did it!" when the film does something bad he thought wouldn't happen.
    • "Why top 11? Because I like to go one step beyond." Lampshaded and changed sometimes, depending on the circumstances.
    • "BUT WAIT!! BUT WAIT!! WAIT A MINUTE!!"
    • (Witnessing a disturbing, morally awkward or offensive scene or line) "...really? You're gonna (description)?" shrugs "All right..."
    • "Which makes the previous scene, ENTIRELY POINTLESS.", complete with a point of the index finger and a ding.
      • "This has been another... POINTLESS MOMENT."
    • "Are you even trying?"
    • More recently, "An abomination of ASSNESS!"
    • "It's X the fucking Y!" seems to be becoming one, for whenever a movie tries way too hard for its subject matter, like, say, Felix the Cat.
    • "BOOBS, you like BOOBS!" whenever he's trying to snap himself out of getting distracted by his man-crushes.
    • "You see?"
  • Catchphrase Interruptus: In several introductions, he fails to get through his Catch Phrase before breaking down in rage, weeping, or laughter (See This Is Gonna Suck below).
  • Caught with Your Pants Down: In the big group review of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the reviewers think that he set it up like he did for Dragonball Evolution the year before. It turns out that he doesn't even know their names and they catch him fapping to George Takei's biography for further insult.

Critic: ...this is awkward.

  • Cerebus Retcon: In early episodes, he's proud of how his generation got raised by television. In later ones, not so much. Check out the bitterness when he discusses how Mike Teevee's parents are useless for letting the box take care of their child.
  • Chewbacca Defense: In his Suburban Commando review, the Critic suggests using the line "I was FROZEN today!" for this.
  • Chewing the Scenery: Aside from the Critic himself being a jewel of an example of this, he points this out in a couple reviews.
    • Specifically the Drop Dead Fred review (page quote for the trope page): "This scenery is wonderful! Oh, hey, there's even more background I can chew!"
    • Also, the BAATTLEFIEELD EAAARTH!! review.
  • Chickification: He calls this "Dumbass in Distress Syndrome." Although originally only used for women went stupid in the third act, he expands the trope to include Distressed Dudes later on.
  • Child by Rape: Parodied and inverted by Chick and Critic in the Fern Gully review. After perfectly happy G-Rated Sex, she forces a never-to-be-mentioned-again pregnancy on him and is seconds away from Evil Laughing while he has a breakdown.
  • Chirping Crickets: The Good Burger review uses the tumbleweed variation. On third instance, the tumbleweed quits it.
  • Christmas Episode: "Top 12 Greatest Christmas Specials", "Jingle All the Way", "He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special", "Jack Frost", "The Return of the Christmas Specials", "The Star Wars Holiday Special", "Ernest Saves Christmas", "Rover Dangerfield", "You're a Rotten Dirty Bastard".
  • Chuck Norris Facts: Mentioned loads of times in the review of Sidekicks.
  • Clark Kenting: Mocked by the Critic in his "Top 11 Dumbest Superman Moments".

Man in Turboman Costume Who is Obviously Ahnold: Your dad is not mad at you.
Kid: How do you know all that.
Critic, as Kid: Yes, do tell strange, muscle-bound, big-teethed, square-jawed, Austrian-accented he-man who isn't in any way my father.

  • Classically-Trained Extra: NC identifies Abe Vigoda as one of these in Good Burger.
  • Clip Show: Parodied and subverted; the Critic plans to foist a 'crummy-ass clip show' on his viewers for his 100th episode, but unfortunately the characters in the clip he shows—Ma-Ti and an earlier version of the Critic—take exception to this. According to the episode's commentary, Walker was originally planning on doing a Clip Show...albeit one with original clips ("Hey, remember when I fought Satan?").
    • The "Top 11 F*ck-Ups" may serve as a clip show in and of itself.
  • "Close Enough" Timeline: After returning from reviewing The Room in the future, the Critic discovers that everything is exactly the same except his walls are a different color and he somehow has a tail.
  • Clothing Damage: He's so angry at the end of his The Neverending Story 3 review that his clothes start coming off. He's a total mess by the time he's finished.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Christopher Walken.

Walken: Jelly donut... Jelly donut. Goodbye.
Critic: I... I don't even know where I am when he calls.

  • Cluster F-Bomb:
    • This video, in which he rants about The Angry Video Game Nerd's review of The Wizard (film) (which came out exactly twelve days before the Critic's review, and one day after he posted his list of movies to review). His insult lasts for well over a minute.
    • At one point in the "final fight" between the Nostalgia Critic and The Angry Video Game Nerd, they start firing insults at each other, and eventually it degrades into them just saying "Fuck" at each other repeatedly. A "Making of" video shows that this caused them both to crack up. Rob jokes that the entire Nerd/Critic rivalry can be summed up by this one exchange.
    • A notable one in his Battlefield Earth review. It was undercranked because it is much, much funnier that way.
    • Also "fuck" was heard a lot in one part of his The Neverending Story 3 review, especially in his comparisons of Rock Biter and his family to a sitcom.

Nostalgia Critic: You've turned this character into a fucking sitcom! Like the fucking Flintstones and the fucking Dinosaurs! Don't fucking believe me? Take a fucking look at these fucking scenes of those fucking shows and then fucking tell me they don't fucking look like the fucking same thing you fucking fuck FUCK!

Maybe I should stab her again. Maybe I should stab her again. Maybe I should stab her again.

    • A Kid in King Arthur's Court: he points out King Arthur could easily had Balasko executed for treason rather than employ the contrived plot they planned instead.
    • Captain N: He notes that Kevin could have easily used his reality altering abilities in several ways to simply shoot Mother Brain.
    • IT: He wonders why the clown torments the children (badly) when he could simply kill them on the spot.
    • Waterworld: He notices that Kevin Costner's character manages to deliver a long speech and drop a flare blowing the boat up while being surrounded by a ton of armed Smokers.
  • Continuity Nod: In Moulin Rouge, the song "Guilty Pleasures" involves a quickfire list of the movies he's liked for being silly, including Commando, Rocky IV and the Ninja Turtles movies.
  • Cool Old Guy: His grandfather ate sandpaper, told people that haunted woods existed and called himself Vanessa, but Critic still seems to like him.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Joe Don Baker's character in Congo. The Critic also comments that shooting down his satellite as revenge for putting the mission before the death of Bruce Campbell's character would put thousands out of work, but was acceptable as long as JDB learned his lesson.
  • Couch Gag: Every episode since the 100th ends with a quote from the movie played over the Channel Awesome Vanity Plate at the end.
  • Courtroom Antics: In his Transformers: Dark of the Moon review, Chester A. Bum takes the Critic to court for stealing his act.
  • Crazy Awesome: aka "Accentuate The Awesome", from the review of Double Team starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dennis Rodman, of all people. Mickey Rourke played the villain. And yet, at the finale of the movie... the only positive thing that the Nostalgia Critic has to say about the movie.

The Critic: Oh my God! We have Mickey Rourke on a mine, in the middle of a minefield, with a FEROCIOUS TIGER, in a COLISEUM, with Jean Claude Van Damme, Dennis Rodman,[1] and a BABY IN A BASKET. If this does not deliver the most f***ing epic imagery I have EVER SEEN in my entire life, I have lost ALL HOPE in mankind.
(after the scene) The Critic: WOOOOOOOOO! BEST! DEATH! EVER!

Nostalgia Critic: They'll print anything these days.

  • Curse Cut Short: This happens at the end of the Free Willy review, when the Critic tries not to say the title of the next movie (because if he says it he will have to review the movie), and finally does say it:

Nostalgia Critic: "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU--" *cut to the evil popcorn man*

  • Cyanide Pill: The Critic has one hidden away when he watches Batman & Robin after being deprived of all his other means of suicide. He tries to swallow it after hearing only two lines of dialogue.


D

"But give him some credit, though. He's tall."

  • Damsel Scrappy: A Top 11 full of them, the "Dumbasses in Distresses".
  • Darker and Edgier: In a few reviews, the Critic voices his disapproval over shows that were normally light-hearted becoming this, as he felt the changes weren't set-up properly.
    • In his review of Cool as Ice, he makes it to a scene where a kid is being kidnapped, being pulled into a corner, and being shot... Before the Critic admits the kid didn't die, he says that would have been such a dark twist, possibly parodying the trope.
    • But he has also praised those who apply this concept properly, such as the more serious Sonic Sat AM and True Grit.
  • A Date with Rosie Palms: "Oh George Takei, teach me the Spocker!"
  • Dawson Casting: He thought the characters in Saved by the Bell were played by people in their twenties, but that's nothing but a common mistake.
  • A Day in the Limelight: The review of Follow That Bird is a Bum Reviews in disguise, as the Nostalgia Critic couldn't face snarking on the first show he ever saw and bowed out early.
  • Deal with the Devil: Vincent Price made one so that he could see into the future with 100% accuracy. He used this to record a conversation with the critic for when he reviewed The Thief and the Cobbler.
  • Death Is Cheap: Although it doesn't stop him from trying again and again.
  • Deconstructive Parody: Of Totally Radical layabouts (such as those in Biodome, which he was in the course of reviewing) with Mr. Lovhaug's help.
    • Of Innocent Fanservice Boy. His naivete does get him punished, something of which Spoony in SWSII is quite happy to rub in his face.
    • Even of being a Caustic Critic, demonstrating just how pathetic, unhappy and masochistic you have to be to keep on doing it.
    • Of Drunk with Power. He's so powerless that one of Doug's main traits for him is that he's constantly the victim (he's said himself that's a glutton for punishment), so whenever he does get it, he clings down hard before it will inevitably slip out of his fingers again.
  • Department of Redundancy Department/Shaped Like Itself:
    • Regarding Good Burger: "It's like if shit could shit, and that shit could shit, and THAT shit could shit, and THAT shit could raise money to put together a team of filmmakers to produce a steamy flaming pile of shit!"
      • Similarly, regarding "Felix the Cat: The Movie" "If a piece of shit took a piece of shit, and that PIECE OF SHIT TOOK A PIECE OF SHIT, AND THAT PIECE OF SHIT TOOK A PIECE OF SHIT etc., etc., etc.,... an that piece of shit made a MOVIE, AND THAT MOVIE TOOK A PIECE OF SHIT! THIS IS A PIECE OF SHIT!"
    • "There are some things we forget about, some things we don't know about, and some things we forget about."
    • "[deadpan] Look, they're all wearing glasses, so they must be part of the losers, because they're all wearing glasses. Losers, glasses, losers, glasses. They're one and the same."
    • From Santa Christ's theme song: "He atoned for all our sins, but he also likes pancakes! He saved puppies from a fire, and he also likes pancakes!"
    • "Here's an insecure douche who's trying to look like a not insecure douche, and yet still comes across as an insecure douche. Douche!"
    • "You know, the lack of logic in the characters' lack of logic really lacks of logic!"
  • Designated Hero: The Critic finds the heroes in The Lost World: Jurassic Park completely unsympathetic, pointing out that they can be held responsible for almost every death in the movie.
    • In Moulin Rouge, Chick rants about how Christian's supposed to be sympathetic and the "good guy" but he completely humiliates Satine in front of everyone, leaving her a sobbing wreck. The boys agree with her.
    • He's not impressed by Hulk Hogan in Suburban Commando detonating a ship with the president on it, senselessly beating people, scaring the shit out the neighborhood and getting the reward of cake.
    • He's equally unimpressed by the usage of this trope when discussing the fictionalized depiction of Patch Adams—perhaps moreso since the movie was supposed to be based around actual events—but especially after Patch and his friend steal from a hospital: "Movie, did you even say this part out loud? Your hero is stealing from a hospital?"
  • Designated Villain: Mocked by the Critic in his reviews of The Wizard and Twister, the "villains" of which were a man who finds lost children for a living, and a rival tornado chaser who dares to have corporate sponsorship.
  • Despair Speech: Said in the first commercials special after he realizes what he's been doing:

Critic: Oh my God that's even more pathetic! I spent all my time watching the shit that people skip? What the hell's wrong with me? God, this isn't life, this is make-believe I'm pathetic, I'm not a man, I'm not a man... [picks up picture of his younger self] Look at you, you had such dreams ahead of you, such promise, you were perfect back then - okay you had stupid glasses, teeth like a chipmunk and a dumb and dumber haircut that only got dumb and dumber - but you had such hope. There's nothing left me for me anymore, I am a loser. You were right, director of My Pet Monster, I'm a loser, a weak, pathetic loser...

Nostalgia Critic: I already had an abortion.

(Casper stares at the Critic, wide-eyed)

Nostalgia Critic: Okay, that was a little disturbing--

Casper: Wow.

Nostalgia Critic: Okay, that was a little dark humor, I mean it's nothing--

Casper: Wow!

Nostalgia Critic: Okay, okay, let's just move on!

Casper: ...You sicken me.

    • The Nostalgia Critic has one of these reactions in his review for Tank Girl.

Nostalgia Critic: Wow, that was offensive and unfunny. It's like a female Jeff Dunham.

    • NC took "Dude, Not Funny!" Up to Eleven in his North review when he referred to a joke about Governor Ho's wife being barren as "the worst thing ever uttered by mankind".
    • Brought up in The Room review, after Johnny laughs at Mark's story.

"Ha ha ha, that's not funny you sick fuck."

    • This is his reaction to both the pranks that the two leads play on random children (which the Critic says are more cruel than funny) in Little Monsters, and to the aftermath.

"Well, maybe the kids' reactions will be funny..."

  • scenes are the kids' parents screaming at the innocent children, the youngest of whom looks to be about four*

"....That was HORRIFIC!"

    • His reaction to the scene in Alaska where one of the hunters use the mother's skin to disturb the baby bear.
    • He found the pain of the robot in Doug's First Movie difficult to watch.
    • He's called himself out on this one, twice;
      • His joke about Splinter's VA sounding like a chain-smoker in TMNT (2007). It was Mako Iwamatsu, who had died of throat cancer before the movie was released, and the movie was dedicated to his memory. He apologized, mentioning he was completely unaware of any of it, and he's made a gag of walking on eggshells around his earlier roles, like in Sidekicks.
      • In the initial version of his Ernest Saves Christmas review, he told a joke about autism as a pot-shot to the puppet show's quality. He considers this a bigger mishap than screwing up basic math, and later edited it out because he found it too offensive.
      • Sometimes, he catches himself about to make a quip that goes too far, stops himself, and the "Joke Aborted" screen shows.
  • Dull Surprise:
    • The Critic mocks Shaq's acting in this fashion with his review of Kazaam and Steel.
    • There's also William Hurt's performance in Lost in Space. "I love you, wife" indeed. "He's so boring the music has to do the acting for him!"
    • And Kevin Costner in Waterworld. The Critic even reacts to a scene where it's said he will be "recycled" with "Into what? Keanu Reeves?"
  • Dying Dream: In Santa Claus the Movie, he makes a joke about this.
    • He has his own near-death one in Surf Ninjas, praising the movie's "GENIUS" after accidentally being shot by That Other Guy at the end of the last episode. He gets better due to Optimus Prime.
  • Dysfunction Junction: Critic himself would turn a therapist's eyes into dollar signs, and none of his recurring guests escape having issues.


E

  • Early Installment Weirdness: The lighting was bad, he didn't have the white shirt and tie, his voice was slower when he was talking and the screaming was more like screeching every word, the videos were much shorter because he was on YouTube and the character was a lot more sterotypically masculine.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: He has to genuinely almost lose the will to live before he gets his self-esteem back. Or at least enough to be proud of his patheticness for the time being.
  • Ear Worm: In-universe, DuckTales (1987)'s theme is the biggest offender to Critic, along with the Animaniacs Theme, The Power Rangers theme, and others.
  • Eats Babies: Arnold Schwarzenegger, apparently.
  • Emotional Torque: The reason why he gives the point to the True Grit remake Mattie. The original has more realistic fear, but the "little girl version of The Terminator is far more engaging because she's so damaged and determined.
  • Episode Title Card: Rare; it usually just begins with The Critic's catchphrase and right into the review. But there are a couple exceptions:
    • "We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story"
    • "TMNT: The Making of The Coming Out of Our Shells Tour", which features an opening sequence followed by the title card "Critic and Nerd".
  • Everything's Better with Monkeys: Definitely averted. In the Dunston Checks In review:

Monkeys! Aren't! Funny!

  • Everything's Better with Princesses: This annoys the Critic when he sees it. The Critic points out that the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon's princess Sally just kept the princess title because it sounds cute, granted the show reveals the king is alive but for health reasons can't resume his duties,so he tells her to "Queen it up, bitch!" He mocks Princess Lana for this too. He makes a joke suggesting that Lana is staying a princess to avoid responsibility. "Politics is fun!"
    • He also guesses that Princess Oriana in the Felix the Cat Movie legally changed her first name to "Princess" (her last name is the name of her kingdom after all...), since we know for certain that both her parents are dead.
  • Evil Laugh:
    • When NC denies the existence of the Star Wars Holiday Special on account of being too stupid to possibly exist, it is immediately followed by a sound clip of Yoda laughing in a menacing way, which freaks out the Critic.
    • In the Junior acid dream sequence, the Judge (as played by Doug's friend Bhargav Dronamraju) has a drawn out evil laugh that borders on Affably Evil.
    • Bennett the Sage chuckles villainously in both his appearances in the Care Bears II and Star Chaser reviews.
    • In his review of A Simple Wish Mara Wilson laughs while Critic is begging for mercy.
  • Eye Scream: At the end of Ponyo, when everyone is beating him for not liking Howl's Moving Castle, someone jabs a DVD edge into his eye. Not in real life obviously, but still looks painful.
  • Eye Take: Constantly.


F

"This movie is so bad, I have to make up a new word to describe how BAD it is. It's... it's... Horibifuckus! Horibifuckus!"

    • At the end of the video, he even put the word on his screen to further prove his point.
  • Face Palm: The Garbage Pail Kids Movie review opens with a two-handed facepalm.
  • Fail O'Suckyname/Name McAdjective: Used by the Critic in his review of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, in which he acts out the pitch by its creator, whom he dubs "Fuckup McDumbass" Likewise with the Critic's worst fan, "Douchey McNitpick". The review of Pound Puppies gives us Pussy McPantaloon-Britches.
  • Failed a Spot Check: In his review of The Langoliers, he points out that the pilot walks past ten rows of seats before realizing the plane is almost empty and later how the blind girl can detect the gun wielding maniac before the people who are looking directly in his direction miss him.
    • In Alaska, he mocks the search and rescue team flying right past the bright yellow plane they are specifically looking for.
  • Failure Hero: In his reviews of Steel and Captain America (1990 film), the Critic seems to view the titular characters as this. Also Hulk Hogan's character in Mr. Nanny - he gets owned by the psychopathic kids he takes care of, as well as the mooks of the big bad.
  • Family-Unfriendly Aesop: The Critic loves to point these out.
    • 3 Ninjas: What parents don't like the grandfather of their children (who happens to be Asian when the rest of the family is white) teaching their kids to use shurikens and swords?
    • The Wizard (film): Too many to list.
    • Blank Check: Money is root of happiness and kids should lie to their parents.
  • Fanon Discontinuity: In-universe. The Critic says, of his disappointment concerning The Neverending Story 2, that he's glad that was the last of the series and they never made The Neverending Story 3. He then turns on the theme music, really loud, to drown out a bunch of voices insisting that they did. He later subverted this, only to regret it severely.
  • Fandom Nod: Sage is practically an Audience Surrogate when he gets creepily turned on by Critic's crying.
  • Fan Service: Giving a victory blowjob to his joystick after the battle with Angry Joe. The gesture is appreciated, Doug.
    • He does like showing off his chest, especially that often-shown scene of when he quits his job.
    • This commercial, with the suffering factor set on deliciously high.
      • Likewise, Spooning With Spoony II had him shirtless, traumatized and shamelessly objectified.
    • In the first Care Bears movie, he thinks that the villain is getting eaten out while she does her lines. He then demonstrates by giving us a series of quite lovely orgasm noises.
      • In his Jaws 3D review, he simulates an offscreen sex scene by himself, providing the orgasmic-sounding voices for both the man and the woman. Goodness.
    • The DVD menus seem to be made for this: the first consists of him wearing an air hostess uniform and the second has Rob barging in on him while he's in the Shower Scene.
    • When you don't see Marobot's title card, the screenshot he used for his DuckTales (1987) episode is the Panty Shot in Suburban Knights. (This one may have been more Blip TV's doing since they often go to stills within a video for screenshots, but it's still appreciated by many.)
    • His chloroforming at the hands of The Nostalgia Chick in her Transformers review. Mostly due how to she's enjoying it and he's, well, not.
    • He's been soaked through at least three times. Doug even said he had to sell his old jacket partly because of it.
    • Done in an equal-opportunity way for the Moulin Rouge review. Girls get pregnant from Critic singing while guys get the Chick, Elisa and Nella in boob-enhancing corsets.
    • Other than it being funny, the only reason why Doug's naked and playing a Depraved Bisexual in this advertisement.
    • Slightly ickier example, but it's hard to miss the "I'm having an orgasm" face when he's pissing on the old Doug theme tune.
    • In-universe, this is his belief as to why Catherine Zeta Jones plays up her character's bisexuality in the remake of The Haunting.
  • False Reassurance: In his Animaniacs tribute, one of the writers for the show mentioned that he thinks Daffy Duck is the perfect cartoon character of all time, and thinks he was a big influence in the creation of the show. The Critic nonchalantly responds: "I-I would know nothing about him being an influence." For those of you who don't know the joke, Doug created the Nostalgia Critic to be a sort of real life version of Daffy Duck, copying his mannerisms and sarcastic and belligerent outlook on life.
  • Faux Action Girl:
    • Nostalgia Critic notes a painfully straight use of this, which he calls "Dumbass in Distress Disorder" in A Kid in King Arthur's Court.
    • Inverted with Sparky from Steel, who was crippled by an accident from the beginning of the film. She was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of the movie, but in the film's climax, it was revealed that her wheelchair had weapons and she used them against the bad guys. The Critic points out that the movie probably should have been about her.
    • In the audio commentary for Quest for Camelot, Doug says he wanted to reference Dumbass in Distress Disorder in reference to Kayley, but wasn't sure people would remember the joke after so long. He does later add her to his top 11 list of Dumbasses in Distress.
  • Faux Horrific: Really horrible things make Critic scream.
  • Female Gaze: He'll always point out Male Gaze in a negative way, but likes catering to his female fanbase. Just look at the Fan Service entries.
  • Filler: Regardless of how much Critic suffers or not, most episodes you can tell Doug is passionate and puts as much effort in as he can to produce a good show. But there a few reviews every now and then where it's obvious he just wants to quiet the fan demand and get it out the way, like Pokémon.
  • Flashback Twist: In his 100th episode, the Critic prepares to roll out a "Crummy Ass Clip Show" while he goes off to smoke a joint. It starts with a clip from the Captain Planet review, with the Critic interviewing Ma-Ti. After a few moments, Ma-Ti notices that the Critic is doing nothing but rolling out a clip show for his 100th episode and calls him a wuss for not doing something special. The Past Nostalgia Critic agrees, and they convince Future Nostalgia Critic to review Battlefield Earth. This means that the Critic re-created the Ma-Ti scene for that episode, down to the relative quality of that recording.
  • Flat What: The twist in the middle of The Secret of NIMH 2 is so incredibly stupid that the Nostalgia Critic can only respond like this, at least at first.
  • Follow the Leader: The Critic points out in-universe 3 Ninjas tries to cash in on Home Alone and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and later points out Surf Ninjas tries to rip off 3 Ninjas.
  • Forced Meme:
    • "I Was Frozen Today" quote from Suburban Commando.
    • Evil Popcorn Man from Free Willy.
    • With Double Team, there's "Frying the coke". Acknowledged in that he knew it probably wouldn't catch on, but he at least wanted to throw it out there.
    • in The Tommyknockers, he explains the gag, which is essentially a moment that is so stupid and ridiculous, it wraps around and becomes a Moment of Awesome. A...SoBadItsGood applied to specific moments, if you will.
  • Foregone Conclusion: Many viewers already knew how the Nostalgia Critic would feel about Independence Day, because he already bashed the movie in his Godzilla review.
  • Foreshadowing: The He Man and The Masters of The Universe & She Ra Christmas Special contained some ominous signs for the upcoming The Star Wars Holiday Special review. The month-long buildup to that review culminated in his Top 11 Christmas Specials review, which ends with a Sequel Hook.
    • Early on in the review of "My Pet Monster", he said that he was pitied by his high school classmates for not acting his age. Cut to the end, and he gets pitied again by the director of the movie for the same reason.
    • In his "Top Twelve Greatest Christmas Specials", he said he thought he was the only one to hide in the cupboard when he got scared. About a year later, in "Old vs. New: Willy Wonka vs. Charlie", we got what he was scared of.
    • The Care Bears review has another rant about how his job makes him lose any pride and the evil book tells him she can give him a happy ending. The very next week, he's obsessively trying to keep control of a country.
    • His breakdown to Lord Kat about the damage done to his ego with LK beating Bebe's Kids is lead-up to his admitting to CR that he can't cope with people going into his territory a few months later.
    • During an argument with the Nerd before they switch jobs for an episode, he asks mockingly if the Nerd thinks his gig is easy. That never came up again.
    • In the Chick's Bratz review, his reason for forcing her to watch it was because he wanted her to be proud of being able to sit through the worst girly movie of all time. His conclusion at the end of his first commercials special is that he's "pathetic but proud".
    • By how often Critic expressed his desire to not have Linkara around in Star Trek month, it would have been more of a surprise if Link hadn't shown up.
    • He set up the Parental Neglect angle early when he mentioned off-hand in the "Top 11 Scariest Moments" that he was allowed to have a gun as a kid.
    • The choice of Star Trek month and the new vast abundance of Doctor Who jokes weren't just Author Appeal, it was setting us up for the fourth anniversary, which was announced as a sci-fi story.
  • Freakier Than Fiction: Well, fiction is stranger than some other fiction, anyway. In reality, he tried to make DuckTales (1987) Darker and Edgier as a joke by suggesting that Scrooge made all his money by racketeering, embezzlement and so on. However, he actually made it in a far worse way: exploiting African natives.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: During his review of "The Pound Puppies Movie", there's a parody of Fight Club where The Nostalgia Critic splices a naughty frame into a children's movie. In this case, it's two dogs humping. The image is only on-screen for a frame.
  • Fridge Brilliance: In-universe, from his review of Chairman of the Board:

"Wait a minute! Edison! Like Thomas Edison, the great inventor! I just got it!" *maniacal laughter*

  • Fridge Horror: In-universe. "Wait a sec, next month is January, and you know what that means! SEQUELS MONTH!...... *his smile slowly turns into a look of worry and shock while he reaches for his Dennis Miller doll to try and cheer him up.*
  • Fridge Logic: In his review of Gargoyles, the Critic also points out in-universe the logic flaw of hiding in "plain, vulnerable sight" when they turn to stone during the day.
    • The Critic also mentions that Kevin from Captain N should be able to use his powers, or the abundant warp zones, to just blast Mother Brain with little problem. He demonstrates both scenarios.
      • Similar example used in The Neverending Story II, when he notes how Bastian could have wished all the troubles away.
    • He also noted in the Free Willy review that if Willy can jump over the rocks, why couldn't he jump over the net, which was considerably lower?
    • In his review of the OTHER Titanic animated movie, he wonders why Tentacles the octopus can't move the iceberg out of the path of the Titanic if he can throw it there.
  • From the Mouths of Babes: In his review of Milk Money, a mother asks her daughter who is with Ed Harris's character. The daughter replies that she's a hooker. The mother seems barely offended by such language. The Critic takes this to the extreme: "She's a bitch ass whore fuck!"
  • Fruit Cart: He is deeply disappointed when Cop and a Half, a 90's buddy cop movie, fails to take advantage of this.
  • Furry Fandom: The Critic acknowledges them in-universe in his review of Sonic SatAM.

"Let's just say in my Space Jam review, when I said there weren't people out there who wanted to fuck bunnies, I was wrong."

    • He actually said that was a little harsh and gave the most general term of the fandom.
    • He later followed this up in his review of Rock-a-Doodle:

Edmond: I'm a[ll] furry!
Nostalgia Critic: Kid, you're a little too young to know what that word means. I'm an adult, and I'm still not exactly sure what it means!...Nor do I wish to find out.

    • Though his review of Rover Dangerfield completely ignores the furry connotations, he does create a furry version of himself at the end, "The Nostalgia Kitten."

Nostalgia Kitty: A CAT CREDIT CARD?!?!


G

"Bonus points to whoever got that What's Up Doc? reference"

    • In the commentary for the Leprechaun review, Doug notes that three people knew the song "Hop On Your Pogo Stick" from the Goofy cartoon "Victory Vehicles".
  • Gilligan Cut: A Running Gag of his goes something like this:

Critic: The only way this could be any more lame/cliche/stupid is if they did [something].
(Cut to a scene of the exact thing he described in whatever he's reviewing).

    • Subverted in his review of Cop and a Half, where after wondering what the next stupid plot event is, it cuts to him for a moment of silence, and he says, "Oh, I don't have a vid, I'm just asking."
  • God Is Evil: And he's not pleased about being mistaken for kind and loving.
  • Godwin's Law: ALL HEIL MONDO BURGER! Though averted in his Garbage Pail Kids review—think about it: a society where it's socially acceptable to imprison and kill ugly people.
    • Also, Nostalgia Critic doing the Can-Can with Hitler.
    • You're just standing there, thinking you're about to shake ha- PSYCH! HEIL HITLER * BANG!*
    • Invoked in a serious way during Bebe's Kids. When Robin is supposed to redeem himself by going back to the kids, Critic's not impressed and likens "he acted abusive but at least he didn't leave them" to "he killed five hundred people but at least he's not Hitler".
  • Good Night Sweet Prick: From The Room:

Critic: And flights of assholes sing thee to thy rest.

  • Gorn: About 80% of the fanfic/fanart with him involves this. The majority of people who do them don't want to actually hurt him though and thankfully, Doug knows this.
  • Grandfather Clause: Like many web review shows, he started out without any intro sequence, theme song or opening credits. Unlike those, however, he still doesn't have them, most probably because it would spoil his introduction style.
  • G-Rated Sex: With The Nostalgia Chick in the Fern Gully review. Confirmed as the characters fucking by Doug and Lindsay in their commentary.
  • Green Aesop: In the Sonic SatAm review.

"It's just Sonic and a group of industrial freedom fighters, trying to stop Robotnik and bring Green back to the valley. Wait Wait Wait, I can't comprehend this, an environmental message that is SUBTLE!"

  • Grey and Gray Morality: Tends to be the case. Santa Christ is a Big Good but can be pushed too far, yet Sage the devil is actually Lighter and Softer than normal Sage.
  • Groin Attack:
    • The Nostalgia Critic does this to himself with a hammer in his Blank Check review.
    • After Conan the Barbarian throws a sword into a guy, the Nostalgia Critic calls it a low blow and calls him "Conan the crotch-stabber".
    • Among the gay overtones perceived by the Critic to exist in Masters of the Universe is the repeated laser shots to the crotch. Granted, the shots often seem, if you examine them closely, to be hitting fairly far away from the crotch, but at regular film speed and at a single glance it is easy enough to make the mistake and it doesn't always seem clear.
    • In Doug and Rob's commentary of "The OTHER Animated Titanic Movie", Rob mentioned that Doug attached clothespins to his scrotum in order to shoot the crying scene.
    • During the Ponyo review, voice actor Spike Spencer comes in and says how much he likes the Critic while the Critic says the same during overlapping conversations. Near the end, Spike Spencer plants a grenade in the Critic's groin and leaves before it goes boom.
  • The Guards Must Be Crazy: The Critic points out the president has no secret service in Captain America.
  • Guilty Pleasures: IN SONG! (from the Moulin Rouge crossover review)
    • The Critic describes the Short Circuit movies and Judge Dredd as this.
    • He also said that he denied watching Gargoyles in public, but he'd actually watch it on a regular basis.
    • He admits that Ernest Saves Christmas is a shallow, stupid movie. He also watches it every year.
    • He just plain adores Commando. And who can blame him?
    • He calls out Hook for its stupidity, but on the whole, he loves the movie. Or at least the first two acts.
    • Through all its faults, he loves Rocky IV.
    • At a Bad Movies Anonymous meeting, he admits that he likes Spider-Man 3, much to the chagrin of the other members.


H

Critic: YOU DON'T MEAN-
Mati: YYYESSSSS!! BATTLEFIELD EAAAAARTH!!!

Critic: But I have to admit, for all the bad times, the Superman movies really do manage to put me in a good mood. Like seeing Christopher Reeve right before he had that tragic accident and died... Or Margot Kidder before she went mentally insane... Or the shots of New York with the World Trade Center in the background... I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I'm going to go kill myself.

  • Have I Mentioned I Am Gay?: Despite it making his guy parts happy, he still takes The Haunting remake to task for how horribly anvilly they made Catherine Zeta Jones's lesbian character compared to the original playing it subtle (along with the horror) and how her sexuality is just used for fanservice.
  • Head Desk: The beginning of "A Kid In King Arthur's Court."
    • He also does a wall version when reviewing "The Room".
  • Heh Heh, You Said "X": The Critic does this to himself thanks to the Stephen King drinking game.

"Heh heh, 'come'."

    • And again when looking back at his unfortunate Mako incident.

"Heh heh, 'marlboros'"

"You could be dying of CANCER and a fucking bandage on your head would fix it!"

  • Homage: The entirety of the We're Back review is performed In the Style Of Hunter S. Thompson.
  • Hookers and Blow: Pops up every now and then. In what is a nice change from the norm, though, he doesn't act like all prostitutes are women and he's pissed at Milk Money for implying that it's easy to get out of that life.
  • Hostile Show Takeover: The Nostalgia Critic's Transformers: Dark of the Moon review ended up being done by Chester A. Bum after he sued him for stealing his style.
  • Hot Scientist: In Bio-Dome, he complains that Kylie Minogue and the brunette woman ("Miss October") look more like GQ models than real scientists.
  • Homoerotic Subtext: Started with "Nerd-On-Critic action" and then went from there.
  • Humans Are Cthulhu: Invoked while reviewing environmentalist movies.
  • Hype Backlash: In-universe. The Critic changes the existence of Kazaam in its review, and accidentally badmouths Citizen Kane.
  • Hypocritical Humor: The Critic says he never gets sick of the "OF COURSE!" joke in the Street Fighter movie, but in the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog review, he said he's sick of it... and Bison didn't let that be. Hilarity Ensues.
    • "This ripping off of classic comedians has got to stop! Enough is enough. This is the final, the - the very, very last straw!"
    • In the Snick segment, he complained that yelling doesn't make anything funny and that anyone who does that must get shot. Guess what happened.
      • As he puts it... "SCREAMING IN EVERY OTHER SENTENCE IS NOT FUNNY! IT IS LOUD AND ANNOYING! AND ANYONE WHO DOES IT SHOULD BE SHOT! *gets shot in the forehead* UNSHOT! *the wound disappears* AND GIVEN A BAG OF MONEY! *a bag of money appears in his hands to his surprise, a beat...* ...how about some lounge music? *lounge music plays* Yeah!"
    • And in the Critic's Captain N: The Game Master review:

Critic: (With a plain white background behind him) "I mean seriously, what moron would just have a plain white background the whole entire time? (Beat) He'd be a fucking idiot."

    • While calling the Nostalgia Critic, "Christopher Walken" objects to painting him the way he did while doing those exact things (pausing and whispering mid-sentence and reading and adjusting cue-cards).
    • In The Nostalgia Critic's Mortal Kombat: Annihilation video, he criticizes the special effects, saying that even The Angry Video Game Nerd could pull them off. The Nostalgia Critic doesn't exactly utilize great special effects either.
    • Street Fighter / Mortal Kombat:

Critic: But luckily all that violence and gore had no disturbing side effects on our decent childhoods! [Drinks from a skull, fires a pistol in the air.] Sorry, I have to do that every twelve minutes.

    • From the Zeus and Roxanne review:

Critic: Next you're going to be telling me internet reviewers can make lives making fun of movies.

    • Any case where he criticises anyone for overacting their anger, preferably with a "I am acting!" scene. Those actors generally don't intend it to be funny.
    • He mocks the concept of a Dark and Troubled Past in his Top Eleven Cliches. He himself has a fair amount of Break the Cutie backstory.
    • He says in his "Top Eleven Saddest Nostalgic Moments" list that a guy can't cry because that makes him a pussy and calls "The Little Match Girl" one of the few things he's got teary-eyed at. Critic... how many times have you broken down again?
    • Parodied in his "Little Monsters" review:

Glen: What the hell is going on? Look at this mess. The hell am I stepping in? Doritos? Jesus!
Critic: (as Glen) This is worse than that fucking time I caught you goddamn swearing!

    • Star Trek: The Motion Picture: "It's like watching clips of a movie and then watching someone comment on it! *beat* Who the hell would want to see that?"
    • Calls the Ba'ku out for their smug superiority complex and anti-technological rants in his review of Star Trek: Insurrection;

Baku: Hey! Thanks for saving us with your technology, by the way, we hate all technology!

I

  • I Am Not Leonard Nimoy: If the actor in any film is famous enough, the Critic will not even bother to learn the characters' names, just referring to them by their actors' names.

Critic: So we see our main character Ian Malcolm. Oh fuck it, let's just call him "Jeff Goldblum" because we all know that's who he's really playing.

  • I Am Not Spock: The Critic refers to the villain in Double Dragon as the Vanilla Ice-1000, in reference to Robert Patrick.
    • Danica McKellar's love interest character in Sidekicks is referred to as Winnie Cooper. The Critic later justifies this by insisting she is just a Captain Ersatz version of Winnie.
      • The Critic himself: The Nostalgia Critic is a character; Doug Walker is the actual person, although as evident by the reviews and comments regarding Disney's "Doug" series, as well as "Doug's First Movie", the Critic's first name is also Doug.
  • Idiosyncratic Wipes: Derides the overuse of curtain wipes in Battlefield Earth. In the Sonic The Hedgehog episode, Nostalgia Critic tried to push the clip with Bison away. In a later review, he kept pulling another shot into frame to see if the Cinema Snob was still talking about Manimal.
  • I Have You Now, My Pretty: The beginning of Starchaser has Sage commit the great feat of giving off major vibes of this without even being in the same room as Critic.
    • Some of the con members in the Ponyo end credits look a little too lusty when they're holding him down or strangling him.
  • I'm a Humanitarian: In the "Follow That Bird" review:

Chester A. Bum: Meanwhile, Bert and Ernie are flying, Super Grover is flying, and Oscar is flying, except on the ground, and Cookie Monster ate his car because he thought it was a cookie! I thought my car was a cookie once! But it wasn't a cookie. Or a car. It was MAN.

  • I'm Going to Hell For This: Invokes this trope after he finished Dunston Checks In.
  • Immune to Bullets: The Critic's gun works on anyone he shoots at, except for Lady Tremaine.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: The NC parodies this in his Commando review by firing his pistol in every random direction he can think of (including at his own head) and still hitting soldiers.
  • Incest Subtext:
    • In behind the scenes videos, Doug and Rob Walker have flirted with this on a couple of occasions. During their slightly drunk Christmas video they managed to go from "I love you, man, you're a kick-ass brother" to "Gay and incestuous! You heard it here, folks!" in about two minutes, via a discussion of Doug's balls.
    • The DVD also has Doug stripping slowly out of wet clothes while Rob films and hums supposedly stripper music, bantering back and forth with lines like "I'm saving this for our honeymoon" and "You know you want this shit".
    • In the second DVD's menu, Rob (or his camera) is rather insistent on seeing Doug in the shower.
    • In the Snob/Phelous review of Troll 4, a weepy, wasted Critic moves his arm down from the Other Guy's shoulder to his waist.
    • In an interview with Random Odds, they admit to being so baity that they didn't even need fic, but Rob still wants more.
    • In a rehearsal video, Doug acts like a pony and asks Rob to ride him. Rob tackles him to the floor and noms on his neck instead.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: This happens a few times, whether or not the Critic is pointing them out in movies, or making them himself. An example from Howard the Duck, which somehow does both:

Howard: Oh no, it's a quake!
Critic: Don't you mean a quack?

Critic: I guess she had to put her face on.
Audience: Boo!

Audience: Boooo!

Critic: Oh, what? What?

    • From The Avengers, when the heroine gets tackled by her clone, who's wearing a giant teddy bear suit.

Critic: Well, it looks like somebody's having a bad bear day. *ducks as the audience tries to shoot him.*

  • Incredibly Long Note: He's a master of these.
  • Index Namer: Sorta. He raised the phrase into infamy at least, so he's at least partially responsible for These Tropes Were Frozen Today.
  • Inferred Holocaust: In his review of Congo, the Critic points out that destroying the satellite puts thousands of people out of their jobs.
  • Info Dump: The Nostalgia Critic often criticizes movies for having forced exposition, like in Congo, The Next Karate Kid (see quote below), and Casper.

Julie: My name is Julie! My mother's name was Susan! She was killed in a car accident with my father and they're both dead!
Nostalgia Critic: And the award for "Worst Exposition Ever to be Uttered in a Movie" is... "The Next Karate Kid"! (applause heard) You suck!

Drago: If he dies, he dies.
Critic: In Soviet Russia, evil catchphrases say you.

  • The Internet Is for Porn: Pops up in his reviews of Once Upon a Forest and Milk Money. And when he reviews Ponyo and sees Ponyo's human father and spirit-of-the-ocean mother holding the father in his hands, he comments macrophiles are enjoying this before telling the viewers to get away from the search tab to look up what he meant.
  • In the Style Of:
    • The Cinema Snob, for a review with him. He drops it after a few minutes and the realization that he lacks the Snob's pitch range.
    • We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, copying Hunter S. Thompson.
  • Ironic Echo: In the Simon Sez review, the breakdown violin music from the commercials special is playing again when he's so overjoyed that someone (Lupa) actually listened to him for once he's got a whole new perspective on life. What makes it this trope and not Triumphant Reprise is that it's a Yank the Dog's Chain.
    • His psychotic breakdown in "fuck-ups part three" starts off being a repeat of his Battlefield Earth tantrum, but then goes into screeching about how stupid and awful everyone is.
    • In the Blues Brothers game review over on the DVD, his getting up in the morning is a forcedly happy version of his morning routine in his look on sports movies.
  • Irony: The Critic making fun of the pretentious goth chick from Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows" is pretty funny considering Doug Walker himself had posted video evidence that he had a pretentious pseudo-goth phase once.
  • I Take Offense to That Last One: He says it's unfair to call Anastasia a cheap Disney knockoff: It's an expensive Disney knockoff.
  • It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY": While most people believe Mako Iwamatsu's name is pronounced Mah-Ko, the Critic prefers to call him May-ko.
    • One of his "Next Top 11 Fuck-ups" was about recurring mispronounciations.
  • It's a Wonderful Plot: The 2010 Christmas special has the Critic's Guardian Angel show him what others' life would be like if the Critic had never existed. Turns out most of them would have much more successful careers (ranging from The Cinema Snob being a successful porn star to Angry Joe being President Evil) and his Guardian Angel would be God's Number Two.
  • It's Been Done: The commentary of the above mentioned video reveals Doug's disappointment upon finding out that subverting It's a Wonderful Plot wasn't as original an idea as he thought it was. Though at least he's the first to have the story explore what the Guardian Angel's own life would be like without the protagonist.
  • It Got Worse: Because of how he and The Sci-Fi Guy were parodying the Face Death With Far Too Much Dignity scene in Star Trek III, his Green-Eyed Monster issues. At least he didn't plan to kill the others whenever they did a review that entered into his "territory".
  • It Will Never Catch On: Critic's attitude towards Power Rangers when he was younger, which he explained in his review of the Power Rangers movie and "this is why [he] is not in the stock market".


J

"What is dumbest fucking possible joke that could be used as a punchline for this scene?" (answer: {I'm turning into a corn dog).

  • Jaw Drop: When he sees the Rock Biter singing while riding a rock motorcycle in The Neverending Story 3.
  • Jerkass: The Nostalgia Critic considers Peter Banning from Hook to be this, then acts out a hypothetical scenario where Peter's kids ask him questions and he answers them bluntly, like refuting the existence of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and God. After Peter's kids cry from this startling info, he insensitively asks, "Oh, WHAT??"
  • Juggling Loaded Guns: The Critic accidentally shoots Bert and Mickey Mouse after watching Quest for Camelot.
  • Jumping the Shark: Used correctly in-universe a few times, but misused other times, like with Independence Day and The Neverending Story 3 uses (since he didn't think those movies were good before the points he mentioned).
  • Jump Scare: CAAAAATTTT!!!
    • CHAAAAIR!
    • In his review of Care Bears In Wonderland, he takes the freaky face the wizard makes during his song and attaches it to the end of the Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark trailer. DAMN, is it effective!
    • In his Superman The Animated Series review he intentionally uses this to draw away the perverts from Lois Lane's panty shot.
    • In his Old VS. New of Manhunter/Red Dragon, at the last second of the review, as he's ordering take-out liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti, Casper jumps out of the phone and latches onto his face.


K


L

(after getting shot in the forehead) "Is it just me or have I been dying a lot recently?" (dies)

Critic: You... dirty, stuck-up, sadistic, shit-eating, cocksucking, buttfucking, penis-smelling, crotch-grabbing, ball-licking, semen-drinking, dog-raping, Nazi-loving, child-touching, cow-humping, perverted, spineless, heartless, mindless, dickless, testicle-choking, urine-gargling, jerk-offing, horse face, sheep-fondling, toilet-kissing, self-centered, feces-puking, dildo-shoving, snot-spitting, crap-gathering, big nose, monkey-slapping, bastard-screwing, bee-shitting, fart-knocking, sack-busting, splooge-tasting, bear-blowing, head-swallowing, bitch-snatching, handjobbing, donkey-caressing, mucus-spewing, anal-plunging, ho-grabbing, uncircumsized, whore mongering, piss-swimming, midget-munching, douche bag, ho-biting, carniverous mail order prostitute...ASSHOLE!

  • Loophole Abuse: He got a lot of request to review The Room, but it was made in 2003 - too recently for the "nostalgia" subject. Fortunately, the Critic's future self turned up to take him ahead in time so he could do it.
  • Losing Horns: He uses the ones from The Price Is Right in his review of The Next Karate Kid. And again in Simon Sez.
    • He has also used the generic "wah wah wah" ones a few times, including one review where he uses his own voice to make them… and keeps increasing the volume every subsequent time.
  • Lost Aesop: Even Santa Christ can't figure out what the moral of "You're a Rotten Dirty Bastard" is.

Santa Christ: And the moral of the story is...! [stares about blankly] Um...[Credits roll]

  • Lost Episode: Old vs. New on The War of the Worlds. As confirmed in the Next Top 11 Fuck-Ups, he decided not to do the video because he felt neither movie held up well enough. Thankfully, Tommy Wiseau sued them so they had an excuse to get out of it.
  • Lonely Piano Piece: Ones from various soundtracks play when he's alone and really miserable.
  • Love Hurts: Or as he puts it... "ain't love a bitch?"
  • Love It or Hate It: His in-universe opinion of Hook. He loves it.
  • Lull Destruction: One of his main criticisms of The Magic Voyage.
    • Ditto with the Felix the Cat movie, which he feels was worse because in The Magic Voyage, you could at least make out what they were saying and the constant noise was all the dialogue, whereas Felix had the background noise being heard over the character's thoughts and sentences.


M

  • Made of Explodium: The Nostalgia Critic's Pun-O-Meter can't count to 6 without exploding.
    • A Running Gag in his and Phelous' review of Child's Play has the Critic 'testing' various objects by hitting them with a hammer, only for them to explode in his face before he can even do it.
  • Male Gaze: In Barb Wire, he lampshades how they try their hardest to make a woman getting tortured be titillating and the man not at all.
    • In the Superman Story Arc, he punishes his male audience with a screamer for being distracted by Lois's partial upskirt shot.
    • According to Elisa's formspring, Team NChick had to force Doug to let them wear the burlesque outfits for the Moulin Rouge review (they enjoy dressing up), most likely because he was worried about this trope.
    • In End of Days when the female lead takes her top off: "hello, pointless breast shot!" *few seconds later* "goodbye, pointless breast shot!"
    • His one complaint about the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Mad Love" is the unneeded fanservice of Doctor Harley and her colleague in short mini-skirts.
    • In his review of Mortal Kombat Annihilation, The Critic initially trashes the Mileena vs. Sonya fight as just pointless violence and pandering, but slowly gets sucked into it due to the fanservice. Eventually, he and three others who show up in the background are hooting and hollering at the fight.
    • Over on the DVD review of Reefer Madness, he's a little weirded out on the wife character getting extra focus when she puts on her stockings. Especially when the prudish doctor is supposed to be telling this story to the group of people.
    • He's fairly disgusted by Shatner inserting in a half naked alien lady dancing for no other reason other than the obvious.
    • He might fancy the fuck out of Catherine Zeta Jones in The Haunting, but his top brain wins out most of the time to voice his distaste with her constant Have I Mentioned I Am Gay? moments.
  • Manipulative Editing: In his Jingle All the Way review, the Critic shows us the scene where Ted's reindeer chases Howard through the house. Since he never mentioned the reindeer previously, it's made to look like this reindeer comes out of nowhere in the film (and thus, sort of a Non Sequitur Scene). In reality, the reindeer was introduced early in the film, where it had a nasty disposition towards Howard. So the reindeer's re-appearance is a Brick Joke.
    • In the same review, the Critic makes fun of Howard's line, "I didn't make it." upon seeing the empty school gym. The Critic thought this was pointing out the obvious, but it's meant to be an Ironic Echo to a line Howard said at the start of the film: "I'm gonna make it.", referring to Howard wanting to arrive at Jamie's karate promotion on time. But those clips were never shown.
  • A Man Is Always Eager: Defied. He says, with disgusted sarcasm, "imagine that, a boy being pressured into something" while discussing how awful Bella is.
    • Also defied with him as a character. Despite his perviness and love of sex, we've mostly seen or heard about the times where he really hasn't wanted to instead of vice versa.
  • Medium Awareness: Often used for comedy.
    • In his review of the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog when he says that Robotnik plans to take over the world it cuts to him sitting in his chair. And he refuses to use the "OF COURSE!" gag and in fact pushes back the transition to the "OF COURSE!" gag when it tries to slide its way in.
    • In his Kazaam! review, he notices all the parallels between the way the hero treats the titular character and slavery, but he can't quite figure out the word. As he tries figure it out, it slowly appears on the screen below him. He then notices the word on the screen and figures it out.
    • In his review of "Baby Geniuses", he looks down as if to look at the video loading bar when trying to see how long he's been talking about the film in his Noir Monologue.
    • Now that advertisements support the show, the Critic starts a joke about advertisements that is usually completed after the commercial break.
  • Memetic Badass: Mocked in-universe in the Sidekicks video which was a clear ego project about how awesome Chuck Norris was. A-CHUCK A-NOOOORIIIIIS!
  • Mid-Review Sketch Show: Very common in his series, and (along with The Angry Video Game Nerd) the reviewer who popularized the usual TGWTG style of mixing sketch comedy with reviews.
  • The Men in Black: The security guards in Bebe's Kids, which prompt the Critic to reference a couple other instances of this trope.
  • sunglasses-clad Nostalgia Critic*: "Mr. African-American."

Douchy's mom: Are you masturbating again?
Douchy: Mom!
Douchy's mom: Just stop doing it to the pictures of the Green M&M! It's unnatural!

  • Mondegreen: In the third commercial special, The Nostalgia Critic misheard Usagi Yojimbo as "You sucky your Jimbo!"
    • He also can't understand what Michael Jackson is singing in Smooth Criminal.
  • Money, Dear Boy: The Nostalgia Critic frequently points out when good actors appear in films he pans; i.e. Abe Vigoda (Good Burger, North) and Christopher Plummer (Rock-a-Doodle). He figures they only do it for the money.
    • In Chairman Of the Board, Critic announces he's going to do a movie called Critic and Trout (co-starring an actual trout). The reason? They offered him too much money to refuse.
    • Assumes this is why Carole King sounds so bored when singing the opening song for The Care Bears Movie.

"Care-a-lot is paying for my new car
So I might as well sing it."

  • Monochrome Casting: He'll often mention it when there's just a movie full of white people or a Token Black character gets shown for only a few seconds.
  • Mood Whiplash: The Critic points out the sudden dark tone the previously light-hearted Short Circuit 2 takes in its third act.

Nostalgia Critic: NOOOO, JOHNNY FIIIIIVE! STOP, YOU MONSTERS! HE'S ALREADY DEA-EA-EA-EAAAAAAAD..! *Breaks down crying*

    • In his "Top 11 Saddest Nostalgic Moments", he notes how the death of Bambi's mother is followed by a scene of birds singing a cheerful song.
    • He points it out while parodying the concept in Cool as Ice, where, after the entire movie was spent with the titular character chasing down the hot daughter of conservative parents, the girl's brother is kidnapped by gangsters, they pull him off screen and you hear a gunshot. The Critic points out that the gunshot didn't happen, but it'd be cool if it did.
    • In his Top 11 Scariest Nostalgic Moments video, he comments on how the creepy tunnel scene in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory comes out of nowhere in an otherwise upbeat movie, and is never mentioned again afterwards.
    • In "Top 11 Dumbest Spiderman Moments", he mentions the Mood Whiplash following the dance scene from Spiderman 3, where, after said dance scene, Peter hits Mary Jane, then sulks about it. He then play it out...

(dances for a few seconds with happy dance music playing, interrupted by him punching someone offscreen) I'm a monster. (turns and blocks his face with thunder sound effect)

 Critic: (angry) LUCAS. (lovingly) Darling!

    • In his "Alaska" film review, the grand and whimsical music (while a plane is flying with nothing happening), leads him to sing Clear! Clear Clear Clear... Your Cleaaaaaaaaaaaaar!
    • "Fuck yeah, sparkle sparkle sparkle!" (from his review of Thomas and the Magic Railroad, when he decides that the line "sparkle sparkle sparkle" is actually profoundly meaningful and awesome)
    • The opening credits of Heavy Metal, which features a car in space. He repeatedly mentions to his co-host, Diamanda Hagan, that said car in space renders all logical fallacies in the film invalid. At the end, The Critic is riding the previously mentioned car in space with CR.
  • Musical Episode: The Critic's review of Moulin Rouge.
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: He frequently does this to Matthew Broderick's character in Godzilla.

 Nostalgia Critic: Good old Testosterone . . .

Matthew Broderick: It's Tatapolous.

Nostalgia Critic: Whatever.

    • Then:

 Nostalgia Critic: So after Mr. Tin-Man-Apolous-

Matthew Broderick: It's Tatapolous.

Nostalgia Critic: Whatever.

    • And finally:

 Nostalgia Critic: So after that, we see Audrey as she comes across Mr. Teka-novan-humpa-shiar-rikki-tikki-hamster-mamster-polly-wolly-wadda-bing-bang-supercalifragilisti-knick-knack-patty-whacky-give-the-dog-a-bannana-fanna-fo-fresca-hickory-dickory-hockety-pockety-wockety-whack-angelina-francesca-the-third.

Matthew Broderick: It's Tatapolous.

Nostalgia Critic: Whatever.

  1. ↑ (the actor who playing Belloch in Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark
  2. ↑ The four-armed "alien prince"
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