< Phineas and Ferb

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Doofenshmirtz: Speaking of wishes, you know what I never understood? Genies. They tell you to wish for aaaaanything you want, and then they add some terrible twist. Like, you wish to jump high, so he turns you into a frog. Why? Who gains from this? The genie? I... where's the benefit? You should be fighting genies, man, not me. I'm not the problem: genies. Genies are the problem.

  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Candace, while not a jerk per se. For all her obsession with busting her brothers, she does care about them, she's just too impulsive to stop and realize it.
    • Doofenshmirtz is one, especially in the episode "Finding Mary McGuffin" when he told Vanessa that he's spent about a decade searching for the Mary McGuffin doll she asked for as a kid non-stop. He may be obsessed with taking over the Tri-State Area, but it doesn't mean he's not a dedicated father.
    • Buford, definitely. Everyone refers to him as a "bully", though it's probably more accurate to say he's just a friend who threatens you a lot.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Khaka Peü Peü's motive is revealed to be sympathetic: he never had a best day ever. So Phineas and Ferb stop being the Beak and invite him to join in on their best day ever. His response is to insult their idea for the day, stating "that sounds terrible!" He promptly recieves a comeuppance, and deservedly goes without a best day ever again.
  • The Jimmy Hart Version: Those with an expansive memory of music in pop culture, as well as a sharp ear, will realize most of the best numbers are heavily-altered versions of already famous songs.
    • Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man is heard in "Rollercoaster" and elsewhere.
    • "He's a Bully" in the episode "Raging Bully" sounds like the Jimmy Hart version of "Eye of the Tiger".
    • The instrumental that plays during Candace's hallucinations in "Badbeard" (with the droning sitar/tanpura and backwards drums) sounds like the Jimmy Hart version of "Open Up Said the World at the Door".
    • The showstopper "Summer Belongs To You" from the hour-long special is clearly ripped from "You Can't Stop The Beat" from Hairspray.
    • "Better With Perry" from the TV movie has an arrangement extremely similar to "One More Chance" by the Jackson 5.
    • "A-G-L-E-T" sounds like something the Dave Matthews Band would perform.
    • "Meatloaf", by the Fake Band Tiny Cowboy, is pretty clearly cribbed from "Wonderwall" by Oasis.
  • Joker Immunity: Doof. Lampshaded by Vanessa in "Dude, We're Getting The Band Back Together":

Vanessa: He'll be fine. He blows up all the time.

Doofenshmirtz: Well, that's done. And I got no comeuppance! ... Why do I feel so empty?

    • Phineas and Ferb, but only from Candace's point of view.
      • And Candace, from the point of view of anyone who doesn't know she's telling the truth (she never seems to get punished for what her parents might view as lying about her brothers... probably because the audience knows she isn't lying and Disney doesn't want impressionable young kids to know that No Good Deed Goes Unpunished).
    • The best and special mention goes to Doofershmirtz's parents.
  • Keet: Phineas Flynn
  • Kick the Dog: Vanessa at the end "Finding Mary McGuffin" winds up making a little girl cry. Her father is proud. To be fair, though, her father had spent years upon years searching for the doll just to prove his affection for her.
    • While Mayor Roger Doofensmirtz is indirectly responsible for a lot of Heinz's misery, he seems to be a pretty nice guy. Then, when faced with a situation he can't handle, he lets Doof have the office for one day so he can be a fall guy.
  • Kidanova: For a Butt Monkey, Baljeet seems to have a lot of success with girls his age. He went on a romantic cruise with his childhood friend Mishti, actually kissed a female friend named Wendy, was hit on by several girls while he was dressed as a fish, and managed to unwittingly become the crush of Fireside Girl Ginger.
    • Ferb apparently thinks he is one, though we've yet to see him have as much success.
      • Hey, "Vanessassary Roughness". It was just a kiss on the cheek, but not many kids his age could get any attention from a hot 16-year old.
        • Also, an adult woman flirts with him in "Run Away Runway."
    • A disproportional number of teenage girls show up at what they think is Phineas and Ferb's party in "Candace Gets Busted." Think about it.
  • Killed Mid-Sentence: In "Gaming the System" (Though it was a Disney Death):

Phineas: Alright, Candace! Way to-

  • Killer Rabbit: Perry, Meap, the dodo, and the zoo platypus (though unintentionally on the part of the last).
    • Plus a literal one with Dennis the Rabbit.
  • Knight of Cerebus: The Drill Sergeant Nasty from "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted". He's pretty similar to the Coachman.
  • Knight Templar: Candace seems to feel this way about her "busting" tendencies.
  • Lampshade Hanging: Deserves its own page. Arguably, the plot of 7/8 (or more) of the episodes consist entirely of Running Gags; therefore, they must be lampshaded in every single possible way. Not to mention the fact that the above listed Catchphrases are constantly lampshaded, and that there are two episodes (or one, if you consider that they were 15-minute segments) dedicated almost entirely to Lampshade Hanging.
  • Landmarking the Hidden Base: In "Candace Loses Her Head", Doofenshmirtz has a base in Mt. Rushmore.
  • Large Ham: Dr. Doofenshmirtz has a nefarious plan to spread this trope across the entire Tri-State Area!
    • Candace counts for this, mostly for overreacting dramatically to everything.
    • Khaka Pëu Pëu should count as well, thank you very much.
    • As well as the one-time villain, The Regurgitator, seeing as how he has a tendency to talk in a loud, booming voice accompanied by dramatic thunder.

Regurgitator: (holding out a coffee pot to Doofenshmirtz) You can start by making me a fresh pot of coffee!! (cue dramatic thunder).

  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: The entire purpose of the "Forget-About-It-Inator", which works on Linda several times in the space of a few minutes.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Candace and Doofenshmirtz.
    • No one in the series is immune from this. Phineas and Ferb are doing fine running on top of giant ball of gumballs until they decide to show off. Suzy gets away with dumping on Candace all she likes, but gets slapped down when she tries to directly interfere with her brother's warm and fuzzy moment.
  • Laughably Evil: Doofenshmirtz, to the highest possible degree. Yes, he wants to take over the entire Tri-State area, and has created everything from Killer Robots and mind-control helmets... but he's so bad at it, it's hilarious!
  • Laugh Track: There was one in the "Cliptastic Countdown".
  • Least Rhymable Word: In the episode "Does This Duckbill Make Me Look Fat?", Doofenshmirtz tries to write his own evil jingle to replace a fast food Ear Worm, but can't come up with any good rhymes for evil.
  • Leitmotif: Almost every character has their own theme. Phineas and Ferb build things to an upbeat little diddy (called "Quirky Worky Song"), Perry of course has spy jingles play at certain places, Candace has a tune akin to the Wicked Witch's theme play whenever she gets suspicious of her brothers, and Doof has an Acapella group open whatever scene he's in. They tinker around with this almost as much as they do running gags and catchphrases.
    • There's one for the line 'I know what we're gonna do today!', which is even used when Doofenshmirtz says it. There's also one for Isabella's entrance and 'What'cha doooin'?', but it's almost exclusive to her. (Or she wishes it was.)
    • If you listen closely, Phineas' theme is almost the same as Perry's. The difference is that the boys have a scat, instrumental version while Perry has a spy version with lyrics.
    • The Fireside Girls have their own theme, although it isn't heard often.
  • Lethal Chef: Inverted in "Moon Farm", where despite getting the recipe wrong and including things like a blender and self righteous flower, and cooking it at 9000 degrees, it turns into perfect lamb cobbler. Despite the fact that they didn't put any lamb in it to begin with.
  • Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Buford and Baljeet agree on this after their clothes get blown off by Ferb test-driving Meap's repaired spaceship.
  • Let's Get Dangerous: While Isabella is normally pretty competent, anytime Phineas looks to be in real danger, she becomes even more so.
  • Like a Son to Me: Doofenshmirtz's father and his dog, Only Son.
    • Norm wishes for this reaction from Doofenshmirtz after the doctor is hit with Laser-Guided Amnesia from his "Forget-About-It-Inator."
  • Little Boy Seeks Big Girl: Ferb, who's age is estimated to be about eleven, has a crush on Vanessa, who is sixteen. Word of God says that they will eventually go out in the future, when the age difference isn't as glaring.
  • Limited Social Circle: Lampshaded with prejudice - Candace has only four people on her cell phone phonebook.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Commonplace for such shows, but Lampshaded by Candace:

Candace: I am gonna wear my cute white skirt with my favorite red blouse, white shoes and matching red socks! Whaddaya think?

    • Ironic, considering the fact that she and, to a lesser extent, Stacy, seem to be the ones who most regularly get wardrobe changes, and probably the only ones who get wardrobe changes that aren't just silly.
    • Later Lampshaded again by Phineas and Ferb, when their mom has them go shopping for school clothes and it takes them less than five seconds. "Well, we do have a signature look."
    • Coltrane would have one, if the animators would just decide what outfit he would stay in.
  • Lipstick Mark: Parodied by Doofenshmirtz having a pawprint on his cheek.
    • Played straight in another episode. "Oh, there you are, Perry. Why ya all covered in lipstick?"
  • Literal Genie: The Supercomputer in "Ask a Foolish Question"
  • Literal-Minded: Linda is confused to see that a band called "Tiny Cowboy" consists of two tall guys who clearly aren't cowboys.
  • Literal Split Personality: Happens to Candace and Major Monogram when they accidentally get hit with Phineas and Ferb's molecular splitter.
  • Little Boy Blue Note: Many of the songs invoke this.
  • Long List: "Mom's Birthday" has a scene with an increasingly-frantic Candace going through a list of instruments with the letter "b" as they're shrunk into nothingness by Doofenshmirtz's latest invention.
  • Loony Fan: Irving, especially in the episode "Hide and Seek". Phineas and Ferb are slightly creeped out by him (understandably) - most likely an Affectionate Parody of the show's own fanbase.
    • He's since become a recurring character who winds up being the Sixth Ranger of Phineas and Ferb's group.
  • Lovely Assistant: Parodied in "Let's Take a Quiz!" While Phineas plays game show host, the role of the Lovely Assistant is taken by Ferb, who appears in several glamorous women's outfits.
  • Love Makes You Dumb: In the episode where Candace is split in two, the Candace that is obsessed with Jeremy is a total flake.
  • Lower Deck Episode: "Bubble Boys"/"Isabella and the Temple of Sap".
    • And technically "Unfair Science Fair" and "Unfair Science Fair Redux (A Different Story)", though the latter takes place a day or so before the main chunk of the former.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: Parodied, but averted in "The Chronicles of Meap".

Mitch: Just so we're clear, I am not your father.

  • Lyrical Dissonance: In Meapless In Seattle, we have the Tastes Like Diabetes song about the Meap army...going to war and destroying their enemies.
  • MacGuffin: The Pizzazium Infinionite in "Vanessassary Roughness". One episode involving Candace losing her favorite childhood doll, who is appropriately named Mary McGuffin...
  • Made of Explodium: In "Ask a Foolish Question", Doofenshmirtz lampshades this by, after a series of violent explosions, saying "Why does everything explode so easily?" followed by another explosion.
    • "Road Trip" has Doofenshmirtz driving a truck full of "Boom Juice".
  • Made of Iron: Major Monogram has stated that he is 35% metal in "Summer Belongs to You". Everyone probably fits the normal manner of this trope, but it's most obvious with Doofenshmirtz and Candace.
  • Mad Scientist: Dr. Doofenshmirtz. As usual. Baljiet became one when he thinks his intelligence is declining. When Phineas and Ferb creates a helment that increases intelligence, Baljiet wound up making various plans to the point, he creates a plan to divide the Earth's atmosphere with the Earth's. In dangerous levels than the mad scientists in Danville.
  • Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: Vanessa Doofenshmirtz. Played with in that instead of betraying her father for good, she more-or-less tries to ignore the moral battle she has to deal with every other weekend.
  • Magician Detective: Dr. Doofenshmirtz imagined Agent P as one of these in the Show Within a Show "Doof 'n' Puss".
  • Magic Carpet: "Magic Carpet Ride".
  • Magic Skirt: Candace and the Fireside Girls (Not so much Candace), in numerous episodes.
    • In "Leave to Busting to Us!" Candace and Isabella's skirts defy both gravity and inertia in order to always cover their panties during the waterslide sequences.
    • "The Paper Pelican Floor Show", a musical number in the episode "De Plane! De Plane!" has Isabella completely upside down at one point, but her skirt acts like it's made of fiberglass. Candace's skirt does the same trick when she's on the monkey bars in "Journey to the Center of Candace".
    • Even when Isabella's in a zero-gravity environment, her skirt does not behave as such.
    • In one episode the Fireside Girls are on a rollercoaster track with a high gust wind. Mother nature made sure she didn't flip their skirts all the way up.
    • In "The Ballad of Badbeard" an eagle is carrying Candace by the edge of her skirt in shots of her front, but in shots of her rear it switches so the talons are gripping the middle of her skirt. So her panties are invisible from all angles, even if it creates a continuity error.
    • In "Hawaiian Vacation" Candace falls down a water fall feet first, her hair flies up but not her dress.
    • "Backyard Aquarium" is even more blatant, as she gets thrown around by huge sea creatures and her skirt never flies up despite falling feet first.
    • "Run Candace Run" brings this up to new heights. She's running so fast that her skirt constantly flips and flops around, but it stays glued to her crotch area.
    • In "Let's Bounce", Linda implies that Candace is wearing a skort.
  • Magic Versus Science / The Magic Versus Technology War: Well, sci-fi verus fantasy in "Nerds of a Feather".
  • Manatee Gag: Given that most of the songs are there only for the Once an Episode flavor, their lyrics sometimes devolve into Word Salad Lyrics involving some pretty bizarre stunts, most of which get animated anyway. Lampshaded in "The Secret of Success" when an actual Manatee hangs out with them for portions of the song, leaving the boys with a rather uncomfortable look on their faces.
    • Played straight in "Chez Platypus" and "Rollercoaster".
  • Man Child: Doofenshmirtz. He's physically in his 40s, but mentally around 8.
  • Manipulative Bitch: Suzy.
  • Manly Tears: In the episode "Oh, There You Are Perry", Perry discoveres that he is being transferred to another villain and, therefore, will never see his family again. Back at the house, Phineas is inside, scared that his pet is missing and stating that he would be devastated if anything happened to him. Cut to Perry, watching from the window, stopping by to get one last look at them. And you can tell he's on the verge of tears.
  • Masculine Lines Feminine Curves: Phineas is blocky with a triangular head; Doofenshmirtz is the the same but his edges are rounded off. Ferb, Lawrence and Major Monogram are made of a series of boxes. Candace is quite angular but has a round face; Isabella and the Fireside Girls are similar. Linda and Vanessa are all curves.
  • Masquerade: Maintained only by incredible luck. The boys appear to their mother to be regular kids, with no ability to do anything extraordinary.
  • May Contain Evil: Baljeet's curry-flavored gelatin is suspected to be the cause of the gelatin monster.

"It is not inherently evil."

  • May-December Romance: The age difference between Ferb and Vanessa doesn't stop people from Shipping them.
    • Of course, this may be because Dan Povenmire thinks that they'll get together when they're older and the age difference is less important.
    • Baljeet's parents must be a case of this. Baljeet's father is already a mustached adult by 1957 according to "Tour de Ferb", indicating that he's probably 70. Since Baljeet's mother looks like she's as old as Linda...
  • Meaningful Name: The name "Doofenshmirtz" can be rather amusing to viewers with German knowledge because it loosely translates to "stupid pain" in German.
    • Made more amusing in the original pitch; originally his name was 'Meddleshmirtz' but pronounced 'Mittleshmertz' (for those who don't feel like reading the full definition, 'Mittleshmertz' is a term for a pain that occurs prior to ovulation)
    • Many of the historical figures as well.
    • Phineas is an energetic boy who tries to make summer as fun as possible while making expert use of Refuge in Audacity. Sounds a lot like another boy named Phineas. However, Word of God claims that he was named after Phi(n)leas Fogg.
  • Meganekko: Gretchen and Charlene Doofenshmirtz.
  • Merit Badges for Everything: The Fireside Girls have patches for just about everything, including those that shouldn't be undertaken by nor rewarded to little girls. Like "Wrestling an Alligator In A Sewer Patch" or "Reckless Disregard for Life and Limb Patch". Naturally, the patch they're working on usually jibes with whatever they need to do to help with the P&F's scheme-of-the-day.
    • Subverted. There's no patch for Persistence, and there's also no Underwater Equestrian patch, because seahorses are too small to ride.

"Not if you scoop a big bunch of them and ride it!" It works.** There's also no patch for Help Phineas and Ferb. Adyson shouldn't make up patch names like that.

  • Messy Hair: Both the titular characters have rather unkempt hair.
  • Meta Guy: Dr. Doofenshmirtz has become more and more aware of the Fourth Wall as the series has gone along. Usually he does this by poking fun at his own increasingly complex and nonsensical backstory, but he also told a chorus girl to wait to leave until the show faded to black in "Rollercoaster: The Musical", and complains when Perry disrupts the usual order of their story.
  • Metaphorgotten: The band Love Händel fall to infighting:

"Lines were drawn. Then lines were crossed. Eventually, the lines were erased and the piece of paper was crumpled up and thrown away."

    • Phineas's narration in "Finding Mary McGuffin" goes a little farther than necessary:

Phineas: The sun beat down on the city like a hammer; a relentless, hot, beating hammer hammering down like a big metaphor that was... hot, for some reason.

Ferb: Well, he was all up in my face.
Buford: Ugh, what happened?

  • Mirror Morality Machine: The Turn-Everything-Evil-inator and the Misbehave-inator, which also turns Buford temporarily nicer.
  • Mismatched Eyes: Ferb; same color, different size.
    • The big eye and little eye even switch places.
  • Misplaced Wildlife: The title sequence shows the boys discovering a dodo bird on a mountaintop. Dodos lived exclusively in the undergrowth of tropical deciduous forests, and would be ill-suited to an alpine environment.
    • The episode "Greece Lightning" claims that vipers and badgers are the natural predators of platypi. Platypi are exclusive to Australia, which had neither badgers nor vipers until the latter were accidentally introduced in recent times.
    • Steve the North American chameleon. Though the New World anole lizards are sometimes called "chameleons" and have some color-changing ability, true chameleons (which Steve is clearly based on) are known only from the Old World (mostly Madagascar).
  • Mission Control: Major Monogram. Isabella and the Fireside Girls in "Out to Launch". (In the usual "ground control for space mission" way.)
  • Mistaken for Aliens: In "Invasion of the Ferb Snatchers", a series of unlikely coincidences convinces Candace that Ferb is an alien. He wasn't, though he and Ferb were fixing a spaceship for one.
  • Mistaken for An Imposter: "Not Phineas and Ferb" plays it straight, attempted unmasking and all. "Get That Bigfoot Outta My Face" is a subversion because it's a more elaborate imposture and Candace is in on the joke.
  • Mistaken for Subculture: Candance and Vanessa end up wearing each other's clothes after their dry cleaning is switched. Candace is mistaken for being a Goth, and Vanessa is mistaken for being a clown by her father.
  • Mister Exposition: Major Monogram.
  • Mister Seahorse: Referenced, as a joke, in "Oh, There You are Perry!"

I am not here to apply for an internshi-...Ooh, you offer maternity leave!

  • Modesty Towel: Candace spends almost the entirety of "Gaming the System" in one, despite running, jumping, and fighting her way through a video game.
    • Also Candace and Stacy in "Spa Day".
    • And now Linda in "Tour de Ferb". What's with this trend?
  • Mood Motif: Several.
    • Candace being frantic to bust the boys.
    • The A Capella Choir of Whimsy sings when the boys are industriously building something.
    • Doofenshmirtz's theme is also an A Capella Choir of Whimsy, and so is Perry the Platypus' theme.
  • Montages: Generally Once an Episode.
  • Mood Whiplash: Immediately after the cutest Villain Song ever written, "Evil Love", Doofenshmirtz's date gets her love removed and indifferently leaves him heartbroken.
  • Moral Guardians: Given quite the Take That in "Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo". They basically destroy society.
  • Morality Pet: Vanessa to Doofenshmirtz, but of course, he's not exactly a nasty guy as it is.
  • Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate: Dr. Doofenshmirtz admitted to obtaining his degree over the internet with his ex-wife's money. He also has a scheme involving offering these in the Doofenshmirtz Institute of Evilology, and apparently took Evil 101, but he never got a diploma. There seems to be a lot of support for the evilological field in this universe.
  • Most Writers Are Adults: There are some jokes and shout outs that would be hilarious to anyone but the target audience. There's a 2001: A Space Odyssey parody, for crying out loud.

Doofenshmirtz: I know, weird, right? They go all Kubricky on it.

Phineas: We should do the whole thing again, but this time, we'll break into spontaneous song and choreography with no discernible music source.

  • Musical World Hypotheses: The characters do definitely a musical world, although an...interesting one. While people do burst into song and dance at random times, Doofensmirtz has been known to hire back-up singers specifically for this purpose. Also, the Musical Episode lampshades it to hell and back.

Phineas: Why don't we burst into spontaneous singing and dancing with no discernible music source?

    • Also, they appear to be able to hear the soundtrack- and their singers. They have, in fact, had arguments with them
  • My Friends and Zoidberg: "Friends... Bullies... Irving."
    • Ferb also addressed Isabella as this during his speech in "The Lizard Whisperer".

Ferb: And we few. We happy few. (To Phineas) We small band of brothers -- (To Isabella) and girl from across the street.

  • My Future Self and Me: Candace in "Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo".
  • My God, What Have I Done?: In "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!", Candace yells this out after her brothers' personality wipeout ended up as the result of her finally managing to expose their experimentations to their mom. Luckily, this turned out to be a double nightmare Perry was having. Of course, Candace continues her fruitless attempts to bust her brothers, but at least the episode showed that she loves them regardless.
    • Or at least that Perry thinks she does.
  • My Significance Sense Is Tingling: In "Thaddeus and Thor", when Candace hurriedly stacked cans in the kitchen so her mother could see Phineas and Ferb's latest creation, we cut to Doofensmirtz who says "I just sensed a disturbance in the cup stacking universe. I think my record's been broken".
  • Myspeld Rokband: Love Händel.
  • Name and Name
  • Name's the Same: The fact that Vanessa shares her first name with Vanessa Paradis might be why her boyfriend is named Johnny Depp.
  • Negative Continuity: In "Ain't No Kiddie Ride", Carl mentions that he was born without nostrils, but in "Brain Drain" he said he was afraid of the smell of garlic and he takes a smell of perfume in "The Curse Of Candace". Other than that, this trope is averted very well.
  • Nerd: More major and minor characters than it is possible to list here, but the two most prominent examples are Baljeet and Carl.
  • Nerd Core: This show writes songs about everything, and "nerdy" subjects are certainly included. There's even a few songs on Baljeet's part about actually being a nerd.
  • Nerds Love Tough Schoolwork: Baljeet, oh so very much. He is introduced in the show reading a big pile of school books...during summer vacation.
  • Never My Fault: Doof blames Perry for his plans failing, even when he screws them up himself. In "That Sinking Feeling" he curses Perry when his lighthouse rocket ends up lodged in the Evil, Inc. building even though Perry had completely failed to foil him that time.
    • Also, when Doof failed to destroy the adult diaper factory, he blamed Perry despite acknowledging Perry had no role on it whatsoever.
  • Never Say "Die": Actually averted by Candace in Gaming the System when she thinks Phineas and Ferb went to a better place.
  • Never Live It Down: Invoked:

Baljeet: Hey Buford! We are going to be floating like little woodland pixies!

Buford: You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?

  • Never Trust a Trailer: Many scenes from fake trailer for "Meapless in Seattle" were incorporated when they made actual episode the way that completely alters their meaning.
    • For example, the scene with Major Monogram ordering Perry to turn over his hat suggest Agent P would be fired but it was revealed it was just to upgrade the hat. The scene with Perry throwing a chair at Monogram's screen was revealed to be a way to test the screen's unbreakable aspect. It passed and Monogram ordered an unbreakable chair.
    • The trailer scene featuring Suzy for "Meapless in Seattle" became a trailer for the prequel. Doofenshmirtz even called everyone's attention to this.
  • New Media Are Evil:

Monogram: You know, that building across town with the giant vacuum cleaner on top? Man, I can't believe that place closed. I blame the internet.

  • Nice Guy: Phineas. Seriously. He has gotten truly angry perhaps twice[1] so far in the entire series and managed to recover fairly quickly on both occasions. He even agreed to help his sister bust him once without batting an eye just because it would make her happy, and that was on the one occasion where he even acknowledged that she was trying to bust him at all.
  • Nice Hat: Perry. To the point where, without it, nobody recognizes him, although this is more Clark Kenting than anything else.
    • At one point, he loses his hat and instinctively reverts to mindless-animal mode, despite being in the company of Doofenshmirtz and Vanessa. He also appears almost incapable of doing anything important before donning his hat (a particularly glaring example is in "Traffic Cam Caper").
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Linda is the one who gave Doof the idea of taking over the Tri-State Area.
  • Nightmare Face: ...Everything okay, Candace?
  • Nightmare Fuel: Doofenshmirtz's own personal case: He tumbled through an assembly line while being pelted with hundreds of Perry the Platypus look-alikes from "Toy to the World". He spent most of it screaming, and when he got a brief break he remarked how disturbing it was.
    • In the commentary for "The Chronicles of Meap", Major Monogram says Meap is this, even using the term "Nightmare Fuel".
  • Nightmare Retardant: An in-Universe example: In the episode "One Good Scare Ought to Do It", when Baljeet (dressed as a failed math test) and Buford (disguised like Suzy Johnson) try to scare Phineas and Isabella.
  • Ninja Pirate Robot Zombie: Ninja vampires from Heinz's show.
    • The good Doctor also cast himself as a "rogue trillionare-inventor-extreme fighting champion FROM THE FUTURE! in "Doof n'Puss".
  • "El Niño" Is Spanish for "The Nino": "As they say in Mexico, 'Dasvidaniya!' Down there, that's two vidaniyas!"
    • Made even better by "Dasvidaniya" actually being Russian for "Goodbye".
  • No Big Deal: To be put simply, 99% of the population of Danville would require an extreme amount of weirdness to be confused/shocked by something, the only exception being Linda and Candace (Though that's usually only if said weirdness is made by Phineas and Ferb)

"You know what I like about our friends? We say things like, 'We're gonna douse you in ant pheromones.' And they're just like, 'Okay, whatever'. They're so cool."

  • No Fourth Wall: Everyone in 'Phineas And Ferb's Musical Cliptastic Countdown' and Phineas in 'Finding Mary McGuffin'.
    • In "Make Play":

Monogram: Oh wow, what are the odds?
Carl: Well it is a cartoon, sir.
Monogram: What did I tell you about breaking the fourth wall, Carl?

    • One only has to watch the first couple of minutes of "Rollercoaster: The Musical" (not to mention the rest of it) to see that the creators really don't care about the integrity of the fourth wall anymore.
      • During the "Moon Farm" episode's song, Baljeet gets into an argument with the "Disembodied Reggae Space Voice" singing.
      • The show edges towards this more and more. Like how characters remark that they have to do things because its in the theme song? Or Ferb saying that it usually takes them "at least a montage" to build things? Doof saying his head hurts to much to go into Flash Back mode? Phineas insulting advertisements for ruining his visual gags?
  • No Infantile Amnesia: Invoked with Dr. Doofenschmirtz, who claims that his parents somehow missed witnessing his birth date, even though logically his mom should be present.
    • Not necessarily.
  • Noir Episode: "Finding Mary McGuffin".
  • Non-Action Guy: Baljeet, normally, though you shouldn't push it.
  • Non-Indicative Name: "Wizard of Odd" gives us this gem:

Phineas: [After Candace and various others start falling from a plane] Wow, dumb luck. And over the Sea of Razor Sharp Rock Spires too!
The Others: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
Phineas: Good thing it was so inappropriately named!
[Que them falling onto an extremely bouncy mountain of pillows]

  • No Peripheral Vision: One of the main reasons Linda never sees the boy's inventions.
  • Non-Singing Voice: Played with in "Summer Belongs to You"; when the first song begins, we hear a voice that is obviously not Phineas singing as we pan up a body dressed in Phineas's clothes...and then we find out that it's Clay Aiken, dressed in Phineas's clothes. And then Chaka Khan dressed in Ferb's clothes enters.
    • Played for Laughs whenever a song has Ferb as the primary singer; these tend to be things like rap or reggae songs, and the voice actors sound nothing like Ferb.
  • Non-Standard Character Design: Vanessa, minorly. She's literally the only high school age character on the show to have a "womanly" kind of body.
    • Also, pretty much every time there's a guest star, their Ink Suit Actor is slightly more realistic than most characters.
  • Noodle Implements: "Why don't you grab your peanut butter and your swimsuit and meet me at the flagpole?"
    • The outlandish items the parents pack for their trip in "Summer Belongs to You".
      • To be fair, those are just handed by Lawrence to Linda to be packed. If you watch closely, you'll see that she tosses most of them aside or under the bed. The only thing she packs is the T-shirt.
  • Noodle Incident: Comes up from time to time. Sometimes played straight (the time Candace got her head stuck in the sink), and, since one of the creators of the show used to work on Family Guy, there will obviously be some subversions (Dr. Coconut).
    • Whatever Linda did to embarrass Candace at her 5th grade graduation "with the inflatable..."
    • Doofenshmirtz and his strange obsession with using Eulg (which destroys stickiness) on the Tri-State Adult Diaper Factory. It is, apparently, backstory worthy. Perry the Platypus chose, wisely perhaps, not to find out.
    • Whatever happened when the Fireside Girls went to see what Baljeet is doing to earn a patch. It was rather implied that it was a bad decision.

Holly: That patch wasn't worth it.

    • Also from the same episode, whatever happened when Milly went back one afternoon after the other Fireside Girls went home.
    • In "We Call It Maze" we hear the beginning of Doof's backstory:

Doof: Ten years ago I was backpacking across Europe when I came across a group of Canadian college students. Dylan was the most popular among the group, but I was the oldest, so rivalry was inevitable...

    • But not the middle, just the end:

"...then the ambassador's wife filed a complaint: long story short, I am never welcome in Albania ever again. But the point is I ended up alone in Italy..."

    • Doof's actually full of these:

Doof: (Upon seeing a dodo, expressing his disappointment) "... it looks like a turkey! It's like Thanksgiving! (the dodo starts attacking him and we hear, from off screen) Exactly like Thanksgiving!"

  • No OSHA Compliance: Apparently, the boys are a little young to know anything about OSHA. Some examples:
    • The set of armor that almost chopped Candace's head off. Admittedly, it was due to power overload, but still...
    • The giant gap in their maze which Candace, Isabella, & Melissa had to cross.
    • Using the teleporter to get to the ground after launching themselves high into the air. Now think what would have happened if the teleporter had a malfunction...
    • It became a major plot point in the episode "The Beak" when the boys built a set of power armor because they realized they otherwise won't survive their obstacle course.
  • No Snack for You: Poor Baljeet falls victim of this in "Ain't No Kiddie Ride".
  • Nostalgia Ain't Like It Used to Be: See the example directly below.
  • Nostalgia Filter: The kiddie rides outside the store that can be ridden for a quarter.

Phineas: You know, in retrospect, I may have over-romanticized those memories.

    • Also, in the future episode, when Candace claims she and her brothers were always friendly with each other.
  • No Sympathy: Averted without shame, especially by Jeremy toward Candace. Unlike other series which would have Jeremy getting frustrated with Candace's constant shenanigans, her no-showing to their dates (due to Phineas, Ferb, Suzy, or any combination of the three), Jeremy is understanding and helpful toward Candace, always with a kind word or action to cheer her up after a seemingly ruined day.
  • Note to Self:: Perry utilises this to fight Doofensmirtz's brainwashing by writing "I Fight Evil" backwards on his chest, so he'll be able to read it in the mirror.
  • "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer: Invoked by Monogram when describing Doofenshmirtz's scheme in "The Ballad of Badbeard".
  • Not So Above It All: Candace sometimes gets involved in the boys projects in a friendly way even while she's trying to bust them. "It's a Mud, Mud, Mud World" and "Spa Day" are but two examples out of many. Taken Up to Eleven in "Finding Mary McGuffin" when she actually gives them their project. (To be detectives.)
    • Also done by Linda, of all people, with Lawerence and his brother.

Next time, destroy him. Smear the punk. Annihilate him. Make him cry.

  • Not-So-Imaginary Friend: Steve the chameleon.
  • Not So Stoic: Ferb's completely out-of-the-blue-46-second-long speech in "The Lizard Whisperer". This is coming from a guy who almost never makes any sort of facial expression or dialogue even in life-threatening situations!
    • Perry has been given a few. A Played for Laughs example would be him crying while watching a soap opera in "Oil on Candace".
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Doof may be playing this; his plan in "It's About Time!" was an outright Batman Gambit that almost took down a large portion of O.W.C.A. And his "incompetence" while working for the Regurgitator.
    • He was even able to pull a whole Xanatos Roulette in "The Doof Side Of The Moon", even though at the same time he was holding the Idiot Ball during that episode.
  • Oblivious to Love: Was a typical case with Phineas and Isabella, with Isabella making obvious advances towards him as early as the pilot episode, and him being so obsessed/distracted with his latest project that he fails to notice, but the "Summer Belongs To You" special takes the cake.
    • In a show known for leaning frequently on the fourth wall, this episode has Isabella singing an adorably sad song about her affections for him, followed by a sour depression when he fails once again to notice her affections, all of which takes place in Paris (referred to by the various characters as "The City of Love"), but not a minute later, he laments for each of the OTHER unfortunate couples, who have very obvious attractions to each other, causing Isabella to shake in rage. All the while the idea of Isabella perhaps liking him is completely alien to him. Despite that, though, she does get a well-deserved hug from him later in the episode after she rallies him from an unrelated depression on his part.
    • In an episode where Phineas is fully aware of everyone randomly breaking into song and non-discernible music sources (Rollercoaster: The Musical), he STILL doesn't notice Isabella and her song, "Whatcha Doin'?"
      • Alternatively, he may be hiding his own mutual feelings. This train of thought is given credibility by the events of the movie.
  • Obliviously Evil: Baljeet, of all possible people, in "Cranius Maximus".
  • Obviously Evil: Doofenshmirtz, in an affable way.
    • This apparently is a necessary trait to posses in order to be a member of the evil group "L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N". Watch the song "We're Evil", and try saying otherwise.
  • Obvious Object Could Be Anything: In "Summer Belongs to You", Phineas and Ferb makes a series of machines to travel around the world, which looks ridiculously similar to famous world sites if put under a big cloth.
  • Odd Friendship: Buford and Baljeet, who are an oddly sympathetic bully and a Bollywood Nerd.
    • Isabella and Candace are, as different as they are, on quite friendly terms. One might call them close acquaintances.
  • Off-Model: Isabella's height seems to vary; in some episodes she seems to be half a head taller than Phineas, in others she's just slightly bigger.
    • Also in "Nerds of a Feather", Albert's glasses are noticeably thinner than in other episodes. (He's been in three, and Nerds of a Feather was the second, so it wasn't likely a design change).
    • Does not help that there's close to five different animation studios (Wang Film Productions and Rough Draft Studios being the main ones) on the series.
    • "Bubble Boys", done by Synergy Animation, is probably one of the most Off-Model episodes of the series, (i.e. Doofenschmirtz's hand disappearing for a split second). The musical number "Yodel Odle Obey Me" must have been done in flash because of the animation being so off model.
  • Official Couple: Candace and Jeremy, by admission of Jeremy's voice actor.
    • In the show as of the episode "It's About Time!"
      • Officially-official as of Summer Belongs To You! with their referring to each other as Boyfriend and Girlfriend and their first on-screen kiss.
    • This also applies to Stacy and Coltrane (the bassist in Jeremy's band) as of "The Baljeatles".
    • The episode "Brain Drain" now added Vanessa and Johnny.
      • And then dropped in "Minor Monogram", where Vanessa breaks up with Johnny. Though it adds Ship Tease of Vanessa and Monty Monogram to compensate.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The majority of the rescue sequence in "Doof Dynasty".
  • Oh Crap: Happens to Doofenshmirtz a lot.
    • Perry, at the end of "Minor Monogram".
  • Oh Wait, This Is My Grocery List
  • Old Shame: In-universe: Linda's "Lindana" career, though the creators themselves describe it as their "favorite thing" about her.
  • Ominous Pipe Organ: Doofenshmirtz plays one in "Bad Hair Day".
    • Invoked in "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!"; the haunted house is controlled by Ferb playing one.
  • Omniglot: Ferb knows Dolphin, Martian, Japanese, French, and pretty much whatever else the plot requires.
  • Once an Episode: The show runs on this trope. Every episode features one original song, a plan hatched by Phineas and put into action alongside Ferb, Perry trying to stop an Evil Plan created by Doofenshmirtz. Too many running gags to count. In later episodes, a good chunk of the comedy comes from Lampshading, parodying, and/or subverting these.
  • One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Linda's first phone call to Lawrence in "What Do It Do?". Linda believes they're talking about the anti-romance rocket; Lawrence thinks they're talking about his birdhouse.
  • One of Us: Dan Povenmire and Jeffrey Marsh are very aware of the large community/following that the show has. Marsh is a known contributor to the P&F Wiki, and they have confessed to at least being aware of this very site.
  • One Steve Limit: Flamboyantly averted, enough to make you think the creators knew of the trope name. The boys lose their chameleon, which they named Steve, after Dooofenshmirtz' "Gigantinator" ray... Well, what do you think? When they're looking for him, they discover an entire convention of people named Steve in the middle of Danville, which Steve told them about after they waved Steve off.
    • A more subtle aversion: the time machine was invented by Xavier Onassis, while Xavier is also the name of Candace's future son. Made more interesting because they both start out as characters mentioned but never appearing...then appear for the first time in the same episode, "Quantum Boogaloo" (though Onassis isn't referred to by name).
    • Just recap how many characters were named Elizabeth among the years, including Rodney.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Ferb is short for something, but nobody, not even his own sister, knows what it is.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Doof and Perry.
    • Candace treats her brothers this way, though sometimes she also allows other people to bust them.

Candace: Nobody picks on my brothers but me!

  • OOC Is Serious Business: Phineas is barely ever sad, scared or angry, but when he is...things are either teetering on true hopelessness, or sweet platypus, you are screwed.
    • "The Lizard Whisperer": Ferb must really love Steve the chameleon, because when Steve goes missing and Phineas and Isabella are on the verge of giving up the search, he delivers a long and epic speech to urge them on.
  • Opening Shout-Out: Lampshaded by Ferb in "Swiss Family Phineas". The episode "Fireside Girl Jamboree" has a quick cameo by the unicorn-turtle thing shown with "discovering something that doesn't exist", with those words even used.

Candace: You're giving a monkey a shower?!
Ferb: Yep, had to be done.

    • Happens again in both "Canderemy" (the boys build a giant robot dog, and the monkey is referenced again) and "Last Train to Bustville" (Ferb's list of things in the title sequence).
    • And again in "Last Train To Bustville":

Phineas: A dodo bird! What's next on the list?
Ferb: [as he crosses out all but one thing listed in the opening song] Discovering Frankenstein's brain.
Buford: Aaahhh, that was in my balloon.

  • Open Says Me: "Atlantis" has Phineas noticing a door with rune instructions on how to open it. Buford simply punches it and it opens.
  • Organ Autonomy: Phineas and Ferb controlling Candace's arms and legs in "Journey to the Center of Candace".
  • Orphaned Punchline: Done fairly often, most notably in 'The Lake Nose Monster'. Lawrence Fletcher attempts to tell the boys about his capture of a giant fish named Big Mouth Ramon, but the boys leave. Through the episode, we hear snippets of this tale.

"A chilly April morning, 1980, disco was on the way out, and it was just beginning to dawn on everyone how ridiculous they looked in their...so it was either go up the fire escape or lose the pants altogether...I said, John, it's great, I love the tune, but the words! 'All you need is a Philips-Head screwdriver'? It just doesn't really ring true, now does it?...It seemed there was no way we could get through the entire petting zoo...and well, haha, and he was...and that was when I saw the way down, I saw Ted standing on the handles of the swing...so anyways there I was, four hours from the nearest dental supplies store, oh, there you are, Perry, and what a burglar I gasped...so I learned that it was too late, we were already headed off for Southampton...and that is the story of how I caught the Big Mouth Ramón."

    • In "Leave the Busting to Us":

Candace: And then Ferb says...
Ferb: And that is why I will never wear suspenders in public.

  • The Other Darrin: John Dimaggio voices Johnny in "Dude, We're Getting The Band Back Together". In "Brain Drain", he's voiced by Logan Miller.
  • Other Me Annoys Me: This is also how Busintg Candace seems to feel about Romantic Candace in "Split Personality"
  • Other Stock Phrases: Plenty, though many used in unexpected ways. 'Tis Phineas and Ferb, after all.
  • Our Werebeasts Are Different: In "That's the Spirit!", we get a Doof as a Were Cow.
  • Out-of-Character Moment: Buford suddenly changing from surly, arrogant boy who won't accept the fact that he lost to a girl to a humble, praising, fun person due to Doofenshmirtz's Misbehave-Inator in "Got Game?". Lampshaded by Ferb, too.
    • Phineas actually yells angrily at Candace to "Get on the trike!" in "Summer Belongs To You!"
      • Invoked with Doofenschmirtz's Least-likely-inator
  • Out of Focus: In "Vanessassary Roughness", Phineas does nothing but sit in a massage chair for the entire episode, leaving it to take a closer look at Vanessa and Ferb's exploits.
  • Oven Logic: Stacy applies it in "Moon Farm", which is pretty foreboding considering she and Candace weren't even using actual food to begin with. It works.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Candace. And who can blame her.

Candace: Why is it when Phineas and Ferb have an idea, everyone's like "Oh, wow, you guys are really clever!" and when I come up with something everyone's like "What, did you say something, Candace?"

  • Overly Long Gag:
    • Candace running and screaming all the way to the panic room in "I, Brobot".
    • The "Fossils! Dun-dun-dun!" bit from The Stinger of "It's About Time".
  • Overly Long Name: Aloyse Everheart Elizabeth Otto Wolfgang Hypatia Gunther Galen Gary Cooper von Roddenstein aka "Rodney".
    • Some of Doof's inators, like the "Platypus Secret Agent Arrival In Order To Foil My Evil Plot Capture-Inator".
  • Overly Narrow Superlative: Reversed. The teenage Doofenshmirtz isn't particularly fond of the song "What Do It Do?", even after putting it in one of these:

Doofenshmirtz: Eh, it's in my top seven, eight favorite songs about reverse engineering.

  • Overprotective Dad: Doofenshmirtz sent a man to another dimension once for hitting on Vanessa ("She's sixteen!" ZAAAP!) Subverted with her crush/boyfriend Johnny, whom Doofenshmirtz apparently didn't mind:

Doofenshmirtz: (on Vanessa's birthday party): I took the liberty of going through your address book and inviting all your little friends! Including a nice fella named Johnny.
[Vanessa looks horrified as something like a Scare Chord plays]
Doofenshmirtz: He had hearts by his name. I think I know what that meeeans...

    • In the in-character DVD commentary for "The Chronicles of Meap", Doof thinks that Ferb looks like a "hooligan" and is less than pleased when he starts hitting on Vanessa. He even mentions that he plans on warning Charlene not to let Ferb come hanging around their house.
  • Pac-Man Fever: The game in "Gaming The System".
  • Painting the Fourth Wall: Jeremy is in a band named "Jeremy and The Incidentals". Who are the other members? Exactly.
    • Almost - Coltrane is one of them.
  • Pandaing to the Audience: Peter the Panda.
  • Panty Shot: In "Ain't No Kiddie Ride" when the rocket is spinning upwards with Candace holding on. It's very hard to see at regular motion since they're the same color as her skirt. Usually this is assiduously avoided, though.
    • Also in "Mommy Can You Hear Me?" when Candace is going to the backyard to tell her mom what was built in the backyard, she hops over to her and her skirt is flying up each time she hops and once more they are the same color as her skirt.
    • Oddly enough those two incidents are nothing compare to what she really does but still doesn't get any upskirts. See "Run Candace Run" to fully understand me.
  • Papa Wolf: Dr. Doofenshmirtz. He may be evil, but he still loves his daughter a great deal and would do pretty much anything to keep her safe and happy. He doesn't succeed at this most of the time, but hey, he gets points for trying.
    • He gets a CMOA one time when he covers himself in honey and taunts a swarm of bees so they will sting him instead of her.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Doofenshmirtz is completely incapable of recognizing Perry without his hat. Partially justified in "Oh, there you are, Perry", when it was revealed there were so many platypi Phineas had to take a close look on all of them before being sure none of them was Perry.
    • Also played with in that when Perry and Candace switch bodies, Doofenshmirtz can still recognize Perry by the hat.

"A teenage girl?" * Perry in Candace's body puts on his hat* "Perry the teenage girl?!"

    • In 'Oil on Candace', Doofenshmirtz wants to impress his professor, stating "Look, I even have my own nemesis!" only to receive the scornful reply of "He doesn't even have a hat."
      • All it takes is for Perry to simply do nothing and look dumb for a while for Doofenshmirtz to say "Well, I guess it's just a platypus. I could have sworn it was him!"
      • The movie suggests that one of the reasons alternate-Doof was so successful was that he could see through this. (Albeit the best one seems to be the fact alternate-Doof is better about keeping the self destruct button safe) Even after an extended scene with him trying to convience everyone the platypus was a secret agent, and Perry busting out of "mindless" pet mode, all the original-Doof can say is "Wait, I'm confused. Why can their platypus fight so good?" Remember: at this point, original-Doof already knew said platypus was named Perry. Alternate-Doof was frustrated Perry still needed the hat to be recognized by the original.
    • Irving has to show his apparently insightful brother Phineas and Ferb, who are occupied, and hastily throws together bad costumes that Buford and Baljeet wear. He's stunned when it actually works.
    • In 'The Lemonade Stand', when Perry shows up as a plumber, Doof doesn't question it at all, calling him "A platypus plumber". Then, when Perry dons his fedora, Doof calls him, questioningly, "A Perry-The-Platypus Plumber?" When Perry scowls and removes the plumber's belt, THEN Doof yells in his usual inflection.
    • Perry uses it to his advantage again in "Ladies and Gentlemen, Meet Max Modem!". He's forced to do battle woth a robot that has been programmed with all of Doofenshmirtz's knowledge of Perry's personality and battle strategies. He foils it by taking off the hat, which confuses the robot and causes it to assume that the OWCA provided Perry with a cloaking device.
  • Paranoia Gambit: Candace falls to pieces when the boys decide to take the day off and do nothing, and ends up building a project herself to try and encourage them.
  • Parental Abandonment
    • The title characters are missing a biological dad and a biological mom, respectively. However, their remaining parents are Happily Married to each other and have Happily Adopted their stepchildren, so any issues with this are pretty much confined to Fanfic.
    • As a side-note, some fans have noted that throughout the whole first two seasons, Vanessa seems to be the only child/teen character with two biological parents; everyone else seems to have a mom but no dad (or in Django's case, a dad but no mom). This recently changed when we finally saw Jeremy's father.
    • Doofenshmirtz's parents couldn't even be bothered turning up for his birth.
  • Parental Bonus: By the bagful, though mostly in the form of obscure socio-cultural and literary references.
    • Ain't that the truth! Hanuman Man, anyone?
    • "Rollercoaster: The Musical!" cuts to scenes of a dozen different broadway musicals that young children aren't likely to recognize.
    • In "Get That Bigfoot Outa My Face!" Dr. Doofenshmirtz's "woodland retreat" is Falling Water by Frank Lloyd Wright. I'd wager not many kids got that.
    • "Don't Even Blink" ends with Ferb lecturing Candace on the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. Yeah.
    • The ending scene of "Mommy, Can You Hear Me?" may be the best example yet. Heck, most of the viewers were probably scared at that point.
    • "Phineas' Birtday Clip-o-rama" has a clip of Isabella as a beat poet, saying "I've seen the best girls of my troop hungry, badgeless and out of uniform". Allen Ginsberg references for the pre-teens?[2]
  • Parents for a Day: Phineas, Ferb and Candace are all left to care for "Perry's" egg in "Perry Lays an Egg" As it turns out, it was just a very unusual bird.
  • Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Isabella and Adyson at the beginning of "Isabella and the Temple of Sap". Their relationship is generally amicable, though.
  • Percussive Maintenance: In "Hide and Seek": "What do you know, random pounding works!"
  • Periphery Demographic: In universe, Ducky Momo is implied to have one that includes Candace and even (as hinted in "My Fair Goalie") Major Monogram, though at the same time it also appears to have a large Periphery Hatedom.
  • Periphery Hatedom: In Universe, Ducky Momo. Unfortunate for Candace who lies well outside the target demographic.
  • Perplexing Plurals: In "Greece Lightning", the narrator of an educational filmstrip is unsure how to refer to platypi. Platypuses. Platypeople?
  • Personality Powers: The neighborhood kids imagine themselves as superheroes with such abilities.
    • Except for Ferb, who wound up as a Badass Normal; possibly Fridge Brilliance, considering his usual role.
  • Persona Non Grata: Doofenshmirtz is "never welcome in Albania ever again" for reasons involving a bunch of Canadian college students, a rivalry with a guy named Dylan, and a complaint from the ambassador's wife.
  • Pettanko: 15-year old Candace and Stacy are this, minus the insecurities that normally come with it. But it's Disney.
    • In fact, Candace is so skinny and unbumpy that a ballgown tailored for a platypus fits her perfectly in the episode "Gaming the System".
    • Candace has some insecurities; in "De Plane! De Plane!" she notes that Nicolette looks better in the same swimsuit.
    • Candace does eventually grow out of it. Future Candace has a visibly larger bust.
    • Lampshaded in "S'winter":

Ice Fisherman: Too scrawny. Throw it back.

    • Actually, with the obvious exception of Vanessa, just about every teenage girl on the show, major or minor, is a Pettanko. It may just be part of the show's art style.
  • Phrase Catcher: "Perry The Platypus!". Perry get these a lot. (Although Phineas does get "Whatcha doin'?" from characters other than Isabella on rare occasions). Hell, he even delivers it on occasion. (Isabella doesn't mind when he does it).
  • Pig Latin: "Ferb Latin". You take the first letter of every word, you move it to the end, and then say -erb!
  • Pinball Gag: Part of the boys' and Candace's subplot of "Bowl-A-Rama Drama".
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Meap and many of the animal agents, but especially Sergei the Snail.
  • The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Subverted with Dr. Doofenshmirtz. His goal is supposedly to take over the tri-state area, but most of his "evil" plans don't involve this.
    • Buford is referred to as the local bully. After the first episode or two with him, it's hard to find much proof of that.
  • Play-Along Prisoner: Perry has a distinct tendency to stay in a trap and break out and stop Doofenshmirtz at the very last second. In "Greece Lightning" he was trapped by chair-cuffs, removed his hand to grab some popcorn, then put it back.
    • In "Candace's Big Day", after Doofenshmirtz had been stuck in an elevator and Perry has entered his apartment, Doof tells him that he "at least could've gotten into [his] trap" (it was on the coffee table). Perry does so while Doof explains his plan.
    • Doofenshmirtz seems to even be aware of it, he gets very miffed at Peter the Panda when he does not wait out the Villain Song.
  • Played for Laughs: All the torment that Candace, Doofenshmirtz and Baljeet go through.
  • Playing Pictionary: In "Put That Putter Away", Candace apparently has such poor handwriting that when she writes the word "busted" on a piece of paper, both Stacy and Phineas mistake it for a drawing of dancing weasels.
  • Plot Hole: The classic knowledge version, during the birthday clip show, Phineas flashes back to things he never saw. And Irving has footage of things that happened in dreams, in alternate timelines, and that were supposed to have been erased from every computer and memory in the world.
  • Pluto Is Expendable: In "Science Fair Unfair", a kid enters with a project on Pluto. Doof insults his project, quoted in the trope. Needless to say, the kid was just holding it for his brother, who gave Doof a beating.
  • Pointy-Haired Boss: Major Monogram. Consider this: He refuses to ever give Perry a vacation, even though he only ever pits him against an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain that any marginally competent crimefighter could've handled easily. And you sometimes get the impression that he haven't bothered to do any research on said villain's activites recently ("Uh...Stop Doofenshmirtz"). Heck, one time Heinz actully called in sick to be bothered with their usual routine. Monogram's response while he was sick no less: "How dare he call in sick when everyone already gathered. Screw that, were going on as planned!".
  • Poke the Poodle: Doofenshmirtz lives this. In the case of "Perry Lays an Egg" the Doctor actually had a scheme so ridiculous that Perry came to investigate, saw the entire plan... and turned around and left without even bothering to stop it. Doof then spends the rest of the episode chasing Perry, popping into every place he tries to hide, and demanding, "Thwart me"!
    • Khaka Peu Peu indulges in this until he gets to fight The Beak.
  • The Pollyanna: Phineas, who has near-constant optimism and a can-do attitude. Because of this, he quite literally can and does achieve the impossible, every episode, with the help of his friends and family. That being said, he can occasionally crack...
  • Poor Communication Kills: More like (very) Poor Reading Skills Kill, but... Candace receives a text message from Stacy saying "CYL. BFF. S." Candace misreads this as "Candace, you loser. Bad friendships fail. Stacy." What Stacy actually meant was "Call you later. Best friends forever. Stacy."
  • Poorly-Disguised Pilot: "Isabella and the Temple of Sap". A NY Times article, back in June of 2010, brought rumors of a possible spin-off show focusing on the Fireside Girls. The above episode would probably be the closest thing you would get to it. The creators said in another roundtable dicussion that they are still considering doing it.
    • In an article that surfaced on the internet around August of 2011, it was reported that Disney has hired them to do a pilot for potential Spin-Off (or another show entirely) but whether or not it will be this, well wait and see.
  • Power Armour: The Beak.
  • The Power of Rock: Perry uses the highest voted Phineas and Ferb music video to counteract Doofenshmirtz's scheme in the "Cliptastic Countdown". Somewhat justified in that said plan involved a mind-controlling song catchy enough to get stuck in its victim's heads.
    • * hypnotized* His name is Doof... and I'll do what he says...Whoop whoop!"
    • Also to a certain extent in "Dude, We're Getting The Band Back Together", especially "Danny's Story".
    • Perry also employs this when he drives away a herd of aliens in "The Lizard Whisperer".
  • Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: Ferb-a-lot gives a rather lengthy one in "Excaliferb"

Ferb-a-lot:Behold evil wizard Millifishmirtz, I hold the sword Excaliferb. This mystical vorpal blade was given to me by The Lady of the Puddle. Get a good look at it, for it is the instrument of your demise! (The blade of the sword falls off the hilt) Well, uh, okay. So big deal, the end comes off.

  • Precocious Crush: Ferb has this on Vanessa.
    • Irving is attracted to Candace and Stacy, judging by "Moon Farm".
  • Preemptive "Shut Up": Doofenshmirtz to Perry: "I'm not an idiot! ... And not one word out of you."
  • Prehensile Hair: In "Canderemy", Perry manages to get out of his trap by picking the lock with the three little hairs on his head.
  • Prepositional Phrase Equals Coolness: "He's a semi-aquatic, egg-laying mammal OF ACTION!" Platypodes just became Badass.
  • Princess And Pauper: "Make Play".
  • Pretty Boy: Jeremy, very much so.
  • Pretty in Mink: Isabella and the Fireside girls wear fur-trimmed coats in "S'Winter".
  • Princess for a Day: Happens to Candace in "Make Play".
  • Prison Episode: Phineas And Ferb Get Busted. While what they are sent to is called a reform school, it is most certainly run like a prison.
  • Prophetic Name: Dr. Doofenshmirtz. "Doof" means "stupid" in German (though it's not pronounced like in the show) and "Schmerz" means "pain".
  • Puff of Logic: The Bad Future adult Candace disappears in one of these after Phineas points it out to her that said bad future had been undone. However, she wasn't technically from the Bad Future.
    • No, but she was the Candace that busted the boys that created the bad future. Stopping the busting from happening meant that the Candace who discovered the bad future (aka the one who did the busting) didn't logically exist since, well, she didn't bust the boys.
  • Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat: Dr. Doofenshmirtz tried to become a Stage Magician in his youth, but his tricks always ended up with him getting sprayed by a skunk.
    • Also, after he first recounts his failure to do this, he makes Perry disappear with a trick. Naturally, Perry later jumps out of Doof's hat and beats him up.
  • Punch Clock Hero: Perry The Platypus dons his hat and does his duty as a secret agent whenever Monogram contacts him. The rest of the time he doesn't do much.
  • Punch Clock Villain: Suzy Johnson is revealed to be one of these in the episode "Suddenly Suzy".

Candace: Aren't you going to do something horrible to me?
Suzy: Oh no, making you look bad is just one of the ways I control Jeremy. If he's not here, I'm off the clock!

    • Doofenshmirtz comes off like one of these. His Mad Scientist activities really are treated more like his job than anything he does for personal enjoyment. Lampshaded occasionally when Perry the Platypus bursts in on him doing nothing particularly evil.

Doofenshmirtz: It occurs to me that all this machine does is open and close a lobster cage, so, you know, that's not even illegal, much less evil.

Mitch: You're all trapped! On my ship! FOREVER!!

  • Pungeon Master: Doofenshmirtz. Phineas also has hints of this, mostly in 'A-G-L-E-T' and 'The Beak'.
  • Puppy Dog Eyes: Phineas uses these on Candace at the end of "The Lake Nose Monster". It works.
    • Ferb also got these in "I Scream, You Scream" when he sees Vanessa.
    • The Fireside Girls use these when selling their cookies, prompting Dr. Doofenschmirtz to build an invisibility ray.
    • Candace gains a pair of these in "Perry Lays an Egg" while watching an Animal Planet parody.
      • She also attempts to use these on her brothers in the episode "Suddenly Suzy". It fails horribly.
    • Also done by Major Monogram, of all people, in "Perry the Actorpus"
  • Putting the Band Back Together: In the appropriately titled episode "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together!". It even provides the page quote.
  1. ↑ Not counting "Phineas and Ferb and the Temple of Juatchadoon", as that was an alternate version of him
  2. ↑ From the much-quoted poem "Howl" - " I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical, naked..."
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