Xiaolin Showdown

"GONG YI TANPAI!" [1]

A Emmy Award-winning Warner Bros cartoon, Xiaolin Showdown (2003-2006) follows the adventures of four teens (well, three teens and one child) selected to become the next Xiaolin Dragons:

Omi, the precocious young Chinese monk and Dragon of Water;

Clay, the strong, steady Texan cowboy and Dragon of Earth;

Raimundo, the sharp-tongued Brazilian surfer dude and Dragon of Wind;

and Kimiko, the tech-savvy Japanese hothead and Dragon of Fire.

Along with their standard monk training, they are tasked by Master Fung to collect mystical Xiaolin artifacts known as the Shen Gong Wu, which were scattered around the world by the original Xiaolin Dragon, Dashi, and Dojo Kanojo Cho, a cowardly size-shifting dragon. Whenever two (or more) people enter a standoff over a Wu, a Xiaolin Showdown occurs, with the winner taking all the gambled Shen Gong Wu.

In their quest for the Wu, they battle an assortment of villains, including Jack Spicer, a Teen Genius mech designer who just wants to be taken seriously; Wuya, a Heylin witch sealed as a ghost inside a puzzle box who will do anything to regain her living form; Chase Young, an immortal Visionary Villain with designs on Omi; and Hannibal Roy Bean, who is indeed a bean. The numerous Shen Gong Wu change hands rapidly, permitting neither side any real advantage until one of the characters - hero, villain, or otherwise - decides to get serious.

Perhaps best known for its surprisingly well-developed central cast, its collection of voice acting talents, and its general aversion to Anvilicious Aesops, Xiaolin Showdown was the ratings darling of the Kids WB Saturday morning block. However, it only lasted three seasons, or 52 episodes, all of which are readily available on Youtube.

A revival titled Xiaolin Chronicles started in Spring 2013. It wasn't very good.

Tropes used in Xiaolin Showdown include:
  • The Abridged Series: Here.
  • Acrofatic: Tubbimura.
  • Actor Allusion: Jennifer Hale playing a cat-like cat burglar.
  • Aesop Ju Jitsu: The Enemy Mime episode.
  • Affably Evil: Jack Spicer.
  • All-Star Cast: The show has some of Western Animation's most famous voice acting names in it. See Hey, It's That Voice! on the Trivia page for details.
  • Ambiguously Gay: Jack has more than a few girly atributes. As well as a somewhat suspect admiration for Chase Young. He did call himself a queen, and in the evil future where he takes over? He apparently has Chase Young constantly being tied up in nothing but his underwear, dripping wet, and with yellow paint being slathered on his abs.
    • Well, he seems more ambiguously bi than anything, since in the evil future, Jack had Wuya hanging on the wall wearing a short cheerleader outfit, and in an earlier episode he created countless cheerleader androids and enjoyed kissing one, so yeah.
  • Americans Are Cowboys: Clay. Odd in that it's an American cartoon.
  • And the Adventure Continues...
  • Anime Accent Absence: Western example: Grey DeLisle uses her typical American pre-teen voice for Kimiko, although her character is born and bred in Japan.
  • Animesque: The show's Chinese setting, the constant face faults, the kung fu movie-like plot and the Asian-like art style. Not a surprise, since the show's creator is Chinese.
  • Art Evolution: The second and third seasons' animation improves significantly from the first.
  • Art Shift: The flashback of Guan's fight against Chase is shown in a sketchy, black-and-white, but otherwise more realistic art style.
  • Artifact of Doom: The Sapphire Dragon, the only wu we see that can act on its own, and easily one of the scariest. Its breath turns people into sapphire statues, which it can then control once it grows powerful enough. The Heart of Jong may also qualify.
  • As Long as There Is Evil: A theme at the ending of the series is that no matter how many times the monks defeat evildoers, as long as there are people in the world, evil will never truly be defeated. The last two episodes are even called "Time After Time" which implies this theme even more.
    • Master Fung says that evil is never defeated, it merely changes its path and form.
  • Atlantis: An aside mention from Master Fung revealed that Dojo is the main reason Atlantis sunk in the first place, due to being evil at the time. It later appears, is overrun with giant spiders, and is destroyed to lock the spiders away.
  • Attack Pattern Alpha:
    • In the middle of season 2, the Xiaolin Apprentices learn to do this: "Dragon X-Kumai Formation!"
    • In the third season, they learn a more advanced and more powerful version: "Wudai Orion Formation!"
  • Badass Grandpa: Master Fung and the blind old man.
  • Badass Long Hair:
    • Chase Young.
    • Wuya in her flesh form.
    • Omi in his dream world.
  • Bad Future: The first part of the two-part series finale.
  • Bald of Awesome: Too many to list here.
  • Bash Brothers: The Xiaolin warriors, who have actually used more than a few of the moves described on the trope page. Clay and Raimundo also enjoy this kind of relationship.
  • Beat Still My Heart: Chase Young rips out the "heart" of one of Wuya's rock monsters.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Raimundo and Kimiko, even filling the correct character types. Although the attraction is seldom played up, the episode "Dream Stalker" makes it perfectly clear that Raimundo is interested in Kimiko.
  • Berserk Button:
    • Never call Dojo a gecko.
    • Additionally, never touch Clay's cowboy hat... or his hot dogs.
    • Don't talk about how big or "dome-shaped" Omi's head is...not unless you don't value your eardrums
  • Big Bad Ensemble:
    • Wuya, Chase Young, Hannibal Bean, and Jack Spicer.
    • Specific episodes also have Panda Bubba, Sabini, the Sapphire Dragon and Mala Mala Jong, amongst others.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Clay, to Omi and Kimiko. Raimundo to Omi as well, though their relationship often verges on Sibling Rivalry.
  • Big Ego, Hidden Depths: Omi, Raimundo, and Kimiko each get at least one of these, which are described in greater detail on their character pages.
  • Bishonen: Chase Young. Especially 1500 years ago, in Time After Time, when we first see what he looked like when he was a Xiaolin monk.
    • YMMV Most of the female fanbase sees Jack Spicer as this.
  • Bizarrchitecture: A Xiaolin Showdown warps the competitors (and their friends) into a just-plain-surreal version of their surroundings. We never find out what this looks like to people outside the Showdown area.
  • Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: "Grandpappy's Texas Tin-Horn Sizzlin' Salsa Sauce". It lives up to its name.
  • Blind Seer: The blind old man.
  • Blow You Away: Raimundo's powers.
  • Blunt Metaphors Trauma: A Running Gag with Omi. Raimundo eventually turns this into a threat: "What Omi did to that sentence is what we're going to do to you!"

Omi: I command you to spill your internal organs now!
Jack: What kind of sick people are you?!
Raimundo: I think he means "spill your guts".

  • Bolivian Army Ending: Has the whole rogue gallery outside of the monks' base, waiting to attack them. Though it's in no way a tragic ending, we all know the monks are gonna kick all their asses, and do it in style.
  • Book Ends: The very first Xiaolin Showdown in the series is fought for the Eye of Dashi. So is the very last.
  • Brain Bleach: Kimiko feels the need to wash her brain out when she learns Jack's been invading the group's dreams with the Shadow of Fear. All of the monks have this reaction when they walk in on Dojo clipping Master Fung's toenails.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Literally. During the theme song, Dojo spirals in toward the camera before crashing into it. The screen shatters and falls away, revealing the next part. Also, in Episode 8 he tries hiding in the bars below the screen. It doesn't work.

Raimundo: Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah. "Previously, on Xiaolin Showdown." (Raimundo holds open his eyes wider which shows the Xiaolin Showdown logo.)
(Everybody grins and gives a thumbs up or two to the camera.)

  • Breakout Character: Raimundo.
  • Breath Weapon: Dojo (though he needs a little fuel for it to qualify as a weapon) and the Sapphire Dragon.
  • Brilliant but Lazy: Dashi is implied to be this at first; when Omi first meets him, he would rather sleep than help him. Also, Raimundo.
  • Butt Monkey: Jack, all the time. He's constantly abused by everyone, even people on the same team as him. Incidentally, the Monkey Staff is his favorite Wu.
  • Calling Your Attacks: Everyone, but also played for laughs with Omi and Chase's kung fu attack names. A few examples of many: Duck Flipping Burgers, Sparrow Eating Hot Dog, and Dogs Playing Poker.

Raimundo: Okay, they've gotta be making some of these up.

  • Card-Carrying Villain: Every villain explicitly announces themselves as evil, and practically revels in being so - even Raimundo and Omi did so during their brief stints on the side of evil.
  • Cassandra Truth: Raimundo, frequently, to the other monks. Although they seldom have a valid reason to doubt him, his reputation as an impulsive Jerkass hedonist (albeit one with a heart of gold) often makes them skeptical of him. Related to The Complainer Is Always Wrong.
  • Catgirl: Katnappe; not an actual cat girl but cat-themed, so she still qualifies.
  • Cerebus Syndrome: After the arrival of Chase Young, the show became more of an action/drama than an action/comedy. Admittedly, this was still an action/drama with regular fart jokes.
  • Character Name Alias: Chase Young is known at least to a couple other characters as the Prince of Darkness...there was another guy who had the same alias as that. He was the guy who got kicked out of the big, shiny house by his dad and is also known as the "Father of Lies" and "The Roaring Lion."
  • Chekhov's Gag:
    • In a Season 2 episode, Clay is seen playing with a number of dolls (most of them resemble Transformers dressed as cowboys, along with a dinosaur and a covered wagon). This is funny enough on its own, but they reappear in "Life and Times of Hannibal Roy" (Season 3, Episode 3) being played with by Raimundo, Kimiko, and Omi.
    • At one point, Clay rambles about the desiccation process spiders use to feed. At the monks' strange looks, he replies, "What? A cowboy can't have a hobby?" Then, some dozen or so episodes later:

Clay: Nothin' I dislike more than a smart-alec Tersiops truncatus. (Beat) Bottlenose dolphin.

    • The whole "What? A cowboy can't X?" is actually a Running Gag, albeit an infrequent one.

Clay: Whoo! Looky there! A triple Salchow! (Beat) What? A cowboy can't like figure-skatin'?

  • Chekhov's Hobby: Clay's ability to use a lasso comes into play constantly.
  • Chekhov's Skill: The monks are shown using Shen Gong Wu to play a giant game of chess in an episode during the second season. Two dozen episodes later, Raimundo plays a giant game of chess in a Showdown in which he uses the same Wu.
  • Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Le Mime can create invisible objects just by thinking about them. However, once he's made them, other people can also influence them, something Kimiko and Omi realize when Raimundo pretends to rattle the "bars" on the box, which they didn't know existed until then. Omi then imagines a door for them.
  • Color-Coded Elements: As evidenced by the first season Stock Footage and by the Wudai Orion Formation:
    • Water: Blue. Interestingly, Omi is often associated with cherry red (and yellow, obviously).
    • Wind: White, but also green. Raimundo has Green Eyes and wears predominantly white and green.
    • Fire: Red. Of course, Kimiko's wardrobe changes too often for her to be associated with a particular color.
    • Earth: Brown, but also green (brown doesn't make for a good color when Power Glows). However, Clay is often associated with sky blue, which seems to have its foundation in colors as personality theory [2]
  • Combat Haircomb: The Tangle Web Comb.
  • Comforting Comforter: Omi, to Jack.
  • Competitive Balance:
  • The Complainer Is Always Wrong: Being something of a jerk, Raimundo gets this a lot, but he isn't always wrong, at least not in the traditional sense - typically, his "complaints" are sympathetic if not outright justified, and the others suffer for ignoring his concerns just as much as he does for refusing to compromise.
  • Conservation of Ninjutsu: Wuya, Chase Young, Hannibal and Master Monk Guan vs Raimundo.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Raimundo seems to have a good memory - his subconscious in "Dream Stalker" contains nods to numerous earlier episodes (the mansion Wuya gave him, Kimiko's kimono and her outfit from "The Return of Pandabubba," and Hannibal Bean turning into the final boss from Goo Zombies 4, among others).
    • An example is in the episode "Shadow of Fear", Jack enters the temple to steal the Shen Gong Wu. Omi shouts "Jack Spicer!" and Jack replies "In the flesh." More famously, this is what Wuya said when she first returned to her solid form all the way back in episode 13.
    • Also, in episode 48, Chucky Choo is the dragon referenced in Dojo's story about the friend who stole his "family yo-yo", episode 36.
  • Contractual Genre Blindness: Most of the characters, but especially Jack. To paraphrase:

Jack: No, no, no! Gloating first, then we crush them!

  • Cooking Duel: The actual challenge of a Xiaolin Showdown can be just about anything, although the surroundings usually play a part.
  • Cool and Unusual Punishment: In "The Return of Master Monk Guan".

Guan: Since Raimundo insists on behaving like a clown, he should have a clown's name. He will be called Bobo![3]
Rai: Bobo?!
Guan: YOU LOOKIN' AT ME, BOBO?!

    • Turned out to be a Subversion: Raimundo was the Reverse Mole and the whole thing, including the punishment, was a set up to make Hannibal Bean believe that Raimundo could be turned to his side.
  • Cool Train:
    • Jack built one that turned into a mecha for the New York episode. Dojo briefly shapeshifted into an organic train to keep up with it, but he prefers to avoid doing so -- that third rail really chafes.
    • In "Treasure of a Blind Swordsman", Jack robs the protagonists and makes his getaway on a flying train. The monks catch up later, leading to multiple fights atop the train.
  • Crazy Jealous Dragon: Dojo has certain issues with living apart from Master Fung for any length of time. Particularly evident when Fung temporarily hires a new female dragon assistant and when Good!Jack starts doing all of Dojo's jobs.
  • Creepy Child: Heylin!Omi while kicking Raimundo and Clay's asses. He gets even creepier when he speaks:

Omi: Heylin Power! Tsunami Water Blade! ICE

  • Curb Stomp Battle:
    • Heylin!Omi v. Raimundo and Clay in "Saving Omi."
    • Raimundo v. Omi in "The Return of Master Monk Guan."
  • Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Jack should have realized that "evil" genius isn't quite as profitable as "normal" genius.
  • Cute Bruiser: Kimiko.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Although he's not exactly deadpan, Raimundo is still quite snarky.
    • Kimiko also.
  • Deal with the Devil: Chase Young and Hannibal Bean are prone to making these. In fact, Chase Young became evil by taking one from Hannibal.
  • Death Course: Apparently, they're standard protocol for Xiaolin training.
  • Decoy Protagonist: Omi, for Raimundo. Raimundo saw the most Character Development, while Omi suffered the most Flanderization, so maybe it wasn't so much of a surprise.
    • An ongoing part of the series revolved around Omi thinking he was better than everyone else and that he was the most deserving of becoming the new Xiaolin Dragon. Arguably, the two-part series finale was dedicated to showing how incredibly misplaced these beliefs were. Omi's special blend of ego and naivete caused nearly all of the problems in the finale, and although he ultimately righted the situation, it was only with Raimundo's determination, leadership, and planning that anything went right.
  • Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: Quite often, Jack Spicer tends to stop to cheat.
  • Different in Every Episode: Kimiko's outfits and hairstyles. There's no explanation why she wears something different each time. She just does.
  • Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Dojo does not like this idea.
  • Ditzy Genius: Jack can build small armies of robots, transforming trains and a working time machine, but is laughably bad at being a supervillain and almost everything that doesn't involve robots. Of course, there is his Future Badass self.
  • Do I Really Sound Like That?: In "Royal Rumble", Kimiko made fun of the way Clay talked.

Kimiko: I can't understand a single word dem folks are singing about. And I use the term "singing" miighty loosely.
Clay: I do not talk like that! Do I?

Kimiko: (giggle) You know, if I wasn't me (snort) I could be... (Beat) Somebody else! (psychotic giggle)

Raimundo: Sounds like "end of the world" time again.

Master Fung: It has already begun: a thousand years of darkness!
Kimiko: Why a thousand?
Master Fung: It is actually 962 years, but "a thousand" sounds more ominous.

  • Face Heel Turn: Chase Young and Guan by Hannibal Bean (but seperate occasions). Chase Young had his first out of immortality, but he's proven to be more evil than Hannibal Bean. Omi went back in time to prevent this. It worked, but it wound up making Guan making his face heel turn. However, Chase had no choice but to have a face heel turn himself.
  • Failure Is the Only Option: The Shen Gong Wu change hands very quickly, preventing any side from gaining a real advantage. See Easy Come, Easy Go.
  • Fighting Series
  • Fire-Breathing Diner: Dojo uses some of Clay's family recipe hot sauce to weaponize this trope.
  • Five-Man Band:
  • Flanderization: In the first season, Omi's sizable ego was clearly shown to be the result of his youth and lack of social skills.[4] From the second season onward, Omi's ego became his defining characteristic rather than a side-effect of his other traits.
    • A specific example: Omi's "sexism" towards Kimiko was originally a one-off gag in episode 3 playing on his naivete. He had no idea that his words were offensive or even incorrect. In season 2, Omi developed an actual sexist attitude towards Kimiko and insulted her with full awareness that she would be offended, but only when he was jealous or mad at her for some reason.
    • Omi has repeatedly abused Raimundo with this as well, bringing up the fact that Raimundo has betrayed the team, and took him the longest to be promoted anytime it is convenient to kick Raimundo down. And it usually happens when Rai is right next to him.
  • Foot Focus: Wuya in her sexy human form.
  • For the Evulz: Katnappe.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: Kimiko is sanguine, Omi is melancholic, Raimundo is choleric, and Clay is phlegmatic.
  • Full Set Bonus: The Shen Gong Wu.
  • Funny Foreigner: Mostly Omi, although each of the cast members have their moments.
  • Future Badass: Jack, who somehow managed to defeat the Xiaolin Dragons and every other Big Bad on the show before taking over the world and converting it into a squalid dystopia.
  • Genius Bruiser: Clay's hobbies include animal identification, taxonomy, trivia, etc. Sadly, this never becomes a Chekhov's Hobby (though it is used as a Chekhov's Gag, above).
  • Genre Savvy: Raimundo, who enjoys lampshading whenever it "sounds like end of the world time again."
    • When the monks fail to open the Treasure of the Blind Swordsman, Raimundo's Genre Savvy enables him to recognize that the blind old man was "talking like the Fung-meister". He subsequently figures out the koan and successfully opens the Treasure.
  • Go-Karting with Bowser: After their team-up to defeat Wuya in the season 2 opener, Omi tries to convince Jack to switch sides permanently. Jack isn't persuaded, but suggests they go out for ice cream sometime when they're not fighting over Wu ("My treat."). Sadly, we never actually see this.
  • Gotta Catch Them All
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Kimiko.
  • Handicapped Badass:
    • At the start of season three, while a temporarily disabled Master Fung fends off Chase Young alone. Whilst in a wheelchair. And typing out his attacks with chopsticks on a laptop.
    • Also the blind old man guarding the Treasure of the Blind Swordsman.
  • Hands Play in Theater: In "Dream Stalker," when Raimundo dreams he's watching a movie with Kimiko.
  • Hannibal Lecture: True to his name, Hannibal Bean uses these often. Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes he doesn't.
  • Heel Face Revolving Door:
    • Raimundo switches sides a couple of times throughout the length of the series.
    • Omi, too.
    • Jack as well.
  • Heel Face Mole:
    • Subverted in Jack's case. While he does betray the team it's revealed that he did honestly make a genuine effort at being a hero.
    • The Yin and Yang Yo-Yos separately also constitute revolving doors, as shown in the showdown between Kimiko and Wuya in which they switch between good and evil several times.
  • Heroic Sacrifice:
    • In the first part of the series finale the elderly Xiaolin Warriors during, and the alternate Chase in part two, allowing himself to become evil in order to help restore the timeline.
    • Good Jack does the same thing in "Finding Omi," allowing himself to be turned evil again in order to save the others' chi. During the same sacrifice, Good Jack uses the Ring Of Nine Dragons to split himself up into two, and one pulls another sacrifice for the other, holding back a monster in the Ying Yang World while the other retrieves the chi and leaves (turning evil in the process). This has the result of making regular Jack even more evil than usual, though in general it doesn't end up mattering much.
    • In the warped future where Jack rules the planet and Chase Young is good, Chase agrees to turn evil to buy the Dragons time to find the frozen Omi and revert the world to normalcy.
  • The Hit Flash
  • Hollywood Hacking: Kimiko, frequently.

Kimiko: I cross-referenced the username with a double-helix tracer decoding worm! (Somehow this produces an image of Wuya.)

  • Hood Ornament Hottie: Wuya, when offering Raimundo truckloads of stuff to keep him on her side.
  • Horde of Alien Locusts: The Giant Spiders from "Dangerous Minds". According to Master Fung: "The spiders are neither good nor evil. They are simply... consumers. They consume vegetation, animals, buildings, even the earth itself. They eat until there is nothing left to eat."
  • Hypocritical Humor:
    • In "Hear Some Evil, See Some Evil", when Kimiko read Clay's mind about her being angry all the time:

Kimiko: Angry? Me? I'm not angry. I'm the least ANGRY PERSON I KNOOOWW!!!!

    • Raimundo is also a fan of this.

Raimundo: Tsk, tsk, tsk. Should've done your homework.

Omi: If I had hair, it would be standing on end!
Dojo: If I had boots, I'd be quaking in them!
Clay: Wanna borrow mine?
Dojo: No thanks, no feet.

  • Important Haircut
  • Incredible Shrinking Man: The Changing Chopsticks shrink the user to the size of a grain of rice.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: Thrown left and right. The worst offenders are Clay and Katnappe, though.
  • Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Jack, of course. Subverted in the first part of the series finale when he actually succeeds in taking over the world, imprisoning both the monks and the much more powerful bad guys.
  • Informed Ability: Hannibal Bean is made out to be the worst possible evil there could ever be but he never succeeds in a single venture. Even his one accomplishment, turning Chase Young evil, didn't work out how he wanted.
    • On the otherhand, he actually succeeded in causing a character to undergo a Face Heel Turn (two, technically, even if one was in an alternate timeline) that they never reverted from, which Chase Young and Wuya had both tried and failed to do on multiple occasions, and is Chase's equal in combat when the two actually fight. So this may have some truth in it after all.
  • Intangible Man: The power of the Serpent's Tail, and one of the effects of Raimundo combining the Sword of the Storm and the Eye of Dashi.
  • Interesting Situation Duel: Once an Episode. It is the premise of the series, after all.
  • Invisibility Cloak: The Shroud of Shadows.
  • Ironic Echo: In the same scene: after losing Omi back to the side of good, Chase Young claims that after tasting evil, Omi wouldn't be able to resist the next time, claiming "I believe the evil in you is stronger than you know." When Omi turns around and apologizes to his friends for not using the secret to defeating evil when he had the chance instead of abiding by his word, Chase admits that he caused Omi to see the secret to defeating good instead, and thus not abiding his word would have been catastrophic. Omi then points out that telling him that was uncharacteristically good of him, claiming "I believe the good in you is stronger than you know" and taking his leave.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Raimundo
    • Omi too, but unintentionally so.
  • Ki Attacks: Master Monk Guan finishes his showdown against Chase with one.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Chase Young.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: In "Bird of Paradise," the monks save a little old lady rather than try to capture the Bird. Guess what the little old lady turns out to be?
  • Leitmotif: Several. Omi has a very prominent one, and some other characters (like Wuya, whose is dark and sinister, or Good Jack, whose Tastes Like Diabetes as much as he does) have themes that occasionally play. In addition, all four of the Dragons get brief motifs in the theme song.
    • Lampshaded by Jack who tries to create his own theme and subsequently takes advice from Dojo on how to improve it.
  • Lethal Joke Item: The Changing Chopsticks give their user the ability to... shrink to the size of a rice corn. Jack uses them to steal almost all of the monks' Wus. Successfully.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Everyone but Kimiko, who appears in a different outfit and hairdo in almost every episode, some bordering on Cosplay at times.
  • Loophole Abuse:
    • In the second episode, the monks are competing to get the fastest time on a circular obstacle course (the aim being to get past the obstacles and rescue a toy dog). Clay just turns around and picks it up.
    • Near the end of the first season, Omi and Jack have a showdown that involves holding a glass of water "without spilling a drop". Jack uses the Monkey Staff and holds it with his tail. After a few near-misses, Omi just swallows the water, catches up to Jack, and then spits it back into the glass once he's won.
    • Master Fung's jade elephant test. The goal was for the monks to grab the jade elephant, but when they get close to doing so Fung just smashes it, making them fail.
  • MacGuffin Melee: One of the central premises of the series, especially when the showdowns had mulitple players.
  • Mad Scientist Laboratory: Jack's basement. Even lampshaded by Katnappe.
  • Magic Mirror: The Reversing Mirror. It has no effect in and of itself, but instead reverses the effect of another Shen Gong Wu. So when Wuya uses it with the Serpent's Tail...
    • Some episodes have shown it to have deflecting properties as well, though this is limited to Wu effects, such as making the Eye of Dashi zap the wielder and not the target.
  • Magic Skirt: Kimiko has one especially during the Dragon X-Kumai/Wudai Orion sequences (she's upside down).
  • Making a Splash: Omi's primary abilities. Also the primary use of the Orb of Tornami, so Omi uses it a lot.
  • Malaproper: Omi, constantly.
  • Man of a Thousand Voices: Tom Kenny, of course.
  • Meaningful Name: Chase Young, who traded his soul for power and eternal youth. Hannibal Roy Bean, named for colorful Texas judge Roy Bean and, well, the fact he is a bean shaped creature. And even Master Monk Guan's name may be a reference to the general/war hero Guan Yu, who is famous in China for his role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty.
  • Memetic Mutation: In-universe, Jack's constant failures cause "I got Jacked" to be the hip thing to say when one loses everything.
  • Merchandise-Driven
  • Me's a Crowd: Speciality of the Ring of Nine Dragons. The catch is that your intelligence gets spread between the copies along with everything else
  • Mighty Glacier: Clay's fighting style.
  • The Mind Is the Plaything of The Body: In his monstrous form, Chase Young is much more aggressive, energetic and expressive, a marked change for a character who is usually The Stoic.
  • Mirrored Confrontation Shot: The opening theme.
  • Mobile Suit Human: Hannibal Bean's giant, spiky armor which he first appears in. He's quickly revealed to be only an inch tall. Then he gets the Moby Morpher and you only see it once again, as he's actually more effective as a giant version of his true self and doesn't need it.
  • Mooks: Well, it is a a fighting series. Jack Spicer's robots are usually the Butt Monkeys of the series.
    • Lampshaded.

Wuya: Why do you build these stupid machines?! They're useless!
Jack: Mom said I needed a hobby.

  • Moral Dissonance: The Xiaolin warriors once beat up Jack and stole his belt, shoe, a huge chunk of his hair and his underwear as part of a bet. And while the hair isn't really stolen, it becomes a little disturbing when you realized that Clay ripped it off of Jack's head.
  • Multi-Armed and Dangerous:
    • The Third Arm Sash, especially when Clay turns it into a flexible stone fist.
    • There's also an episode where the team faces an animate snowman. Omi knocks off the monsters arms and makes a quip about disarming him. Cue six new arms sprouting.
  • Multinational Team: From Texas, China, Japan, and Brazil.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: Often, the characters use flashy and over-the-top martial arts or magical skills to do fairly mundane things - chores, games, you name it. Applies to several of the showdowns as well, which brings simple contests into insanely impressive magical arenas.
    • Special mention goes to "Something Jermaine," where Jermaine and Omi have a fight which escalates into a competition to see who can eat dinner in the most impressive way. Point goes to Jermaine for stealing Omi's rice by bending his spoon and tossing it like a boomerang. In slow motion.
  • Mundane Solution: In the same episode as his Loophole Abuse, Clay wins a sparrow-catching showdown by gathering seeds for it while Jack flies around trying to grab it with the Third Arm Sash.
  • My Friends and Zoidberg :

Omi: Wudai Warriors, double your efforts! Raimundo, triple yours.

Dojo: I hate to admit it, but, for an evil villain, you have been very hospitable!

Clay: That's the second biggest tongue I have ever seen!

Raimundo: Dojo! Get out of the shot!

Raimundo: Can't anyone speak normally around here?

Clay: Omi, that's about as lowdown as a snake's bellybutton!
Kimiko: Snakes don't have bellybuttons!

Kimiko: It's Spicer! He took the seed!
Clay: And the hot dogs! (runs after, losing his hat in the process and not even caring) Come back here with them doggies, you no-good low-down snake, you yellow-bellied dirty little sidewinder I'M GON' GET YOU!

    • And from "Wu Got the Power":

Clay: MY SANDWICH! NO! NOOOO!

Raimundo: Clay, man, haven't you heard? Chivalry is dead.

  • You Will Know What to Do: Somewhat subverted in the first season finale; Master Dashi's new puzzle box "will only open when the one who needs to open it, opens it."
  1. ↑ Roughly, "Ready, Set, Go!" or literally, "Begin the showdown!"
  2. ↑ Namely, a "blue" personality maps to traits associated with most Earth signs in Western astrology, such as calmness, aversion to change, and sincerity.
  3. ↑ "Bobo" is both Spanish and Portuguese slang for an idiot or fool.
  4. ↑ Basically, Omi is shown with underdeveloped empathy. Like a young child, he cannot view the world from any perspective other than his own. Think about how a toddler might blurt out, "Mommy, why is that man so fat?" without any regard for the man's feelings, or how a four-year-old might be bewildered by someone who holds a different opinion than his own. The child has no awareness of others as individuals and instead views them as extensions or reflections of himself.
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