Buzz Lightyear of Star Command



Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was a 2000-2001 animated television show from Disney television animation, based on the space character Buzz Lightyear from the movie Toy Story. The Buzz in this show is not a toy, but an actual Space Ranger - remember how Toy Story alluded to a Show Within a Show that pre-dated the toy line? ("The world's greatest superhero, now the world's greatest toy!") This show is what that show might have looked like.

The story chronicles the adventures of Buzz Lightyear (Patrick Warburton), an agent of the galactic peacekeeping force Star Command, who frequently battles the Evil Emperor Zurg (Wayne Knight) and other threats to the galaxy. Buzz is accompanied in his missions by his partners on Team Lightyear: Mira Nova (Nicole Sullivan), the butt-kicking princess of Tangea; Booster (Stephen Furst), the trademark big lovable lug, and XR (Larry Miller/Neil Flynn), the wisecracking fast-talking Robot Buddy.

Tropes:
""How did you stop wanting to phase through energy?"
 * The Ace: Fop Doppler. When Mira is desperately trying to get out of their arranged marriage, she challenges him to complete Space Ranger training; guess who now holds the record for fastest completion of Space Ranger training ever? This guy can take out a room full of opponents handily, barely looking at them and never losing his cool or his style.
 * Buzz too.
 * Action Girl: Mira, Savy SL-2
 * Actor Allusion: Brad Garrett voiced Torque, a bounty hunter who rode in a spacecraft shaped like a motorcycle and after a while could clone himself at will. Those were traits also shared by The Main Man himself, Lobo -- who also happened to be voiced by Brad Garrett in his DCAU appearances.
 * Adorkable: Buzz when he's in Sympathy Mode.
 * Adult Child: Booster.
 * A Father to His Men: Commander Nebula, even to XR and XL who decide he is dad based on approving their construction. Buzz is also this to his team.
 * Affably Evil: Every villain has moments of this, but Zurg most often.
 * Air Vent Passageway: Both lampshaded and subverted.
 * All Your Base Are Belong to Us / Storming the Castle: NOS-4-A2 is really good at this, pulling it on both Star Command and Planet Z.
 * Alternate Universe: Buzz Lightyear is evil and has taken over all power, Zurg is ineffectual and all other characters are Darker and Edgier due to their traumatic experiences.
 * He's not ineffectual, he makes great burgers
 * Always Second Best: Ty Parsec.
 * Amazing Freaking Grace: On bagpipes. Played by XR. No, seriously.
 * Amazon Brigade: The Valkyran Raiders.
 * An Aesop: In the G-Rated Drug episode mentioned below, when she turns to her father for help, the conversation is a remarkably serious discussion of her problem, including the revelation that her father did much the same in his own youth.

"You don't.""

""Suspect: Torque, wanted in all 50 sectors for terrorism, smuggling, arson and unpaid parking tickets""
 * An Asskicking Christmas: "Holiday Time". It's a generic "villain steals Christmas" plot with an awesome fight scene between Zurg and Buzz Lightyear featuring Bullet Time and backed by a pounding techno track
 * Animation Bump: The direct-to-video movie, as well as several episodes.
 * Arch Enemy: Zurg is this for Team Lightyear, especially Buzz.
 * More importantly, he's the "sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance".
 * Arm Cannon: Warp's cybernetic arm can morph into this, and the hornets have cannons for arms.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Torque as described by a computer:

""As citizens of my empire, you will all be fitted with the latest in subservient fashion. Brain control modules will make you all mindless drones in the service of my evil. Your 167 hour work week will consist of grueling labor in lunchbox-sized cubicles that allow zero privacy. Oh! And no dental benefits."
 * In 'The Planet Destroyer,' Zurg cheerfully informs the council of the Galactic Alliance of what life will be like after they follow his only demand of complete surrender, the last of which causes the entire council to gasp in shock:

"XR: Laser beam... acid spray... "Break out of prison"? No WONDER he keeps escaping!"
 * Art Shift: At least part of the intro is animated by Pixar, to drive home the Show Within a Show aspect of the series.
 * Ascended Fanboy: Booster.
 * Asteroid Thicket: In three episodes - "Tag Team," "Downloaded," and "Super Nova".
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: Even with a pegleg, Commander Nebula can still kick ass with the best of them (helps that said pegleg doubles as an ion cannon), and Evil Emperor Zurg can usually curbstomp anyone aside from Buzz himself.
 * Awesome McCoolname: Mira Nova. Rocket Crocket. Warp Darkmatter.
 * Utterly subverted with Booster's full name: Booster Sinclair MUNCHAPPER.
 * Badass Bookworm: Professor Triffid is fairly competent fighter but only when augmented by his Organic Technology space suit.
 * Badass Beard: The evil Buzz Lightyear.
 * Badass Longcoat: Buzz in "Conspiracy" - he even wears a fedora briefly.
 * Badass Princess: Mira again.
 * Beard of Evil: Evil Buzz from the Alternate Universe.
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: Buzz and Ozma.
 * Beta Test Baddie: XL.
 * Between My Legs: In "42", two Valkyran Raiders between Mira's legs.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Booster.
 * Beware the Silly Ones: Zurg come off as incredibly goofy at times, but the series does show that he's capable of causing immense destruction and cruelty.
 * Big Bad: Zurg
 * Big Damn Heroes:
 * Big No: Booster's reaction to being told by Petra that they can be Just Friends.
 * Bizarre Alien Biology: Mira and Booster have some odd organic quirks sometimes.
 * Booster manages to break out of Mind Control by virtue of his brain not being entirely in his head. Try not to think too hard about it.
 * Though given his status as a Big Eater, you might say he's always thinking with his stomach.
 * The Blind Leading the Blind: In the pilot, when the Uni-Mind is out of commission, the LGMs are next to useless; nonetheless, in spite of being disoriented and slightly retarded in this unfamiliar state of extreme individuality, they soldier on trying to repair XR, which results in his distinctive personality.
 * Blondes Are Evil: Subverted with Fop Doppler; played straight with an android body.
 * Boisterous Booster
 * Blowing a Raspberry: XR, once.
 * Boldly Coming: XR, on Mira, Sally, or whatever Green-Skinned Space Babe is nearby.
 * Brain In a Jar: Zurg's brainpods.
 * Bratty Half-Pint: XR delves into this.
 * The entire plot of an episode when Zurg clones the team, only to find out that clones take time to grow, thus he fields a team of evil adolescents.
 * Can't Get Away with Nuthin': And how!
 * Averted on at least one occasion. XR accidentally mentions a poker game he's going to later, Buzz calls him out on illegal gambling, XR quickly backpedals and tries to make it out as a sting operation, Buzz rolls his eyes knowingly and lets it slide. Besides another one-off joke about it a little later, it's never mentioned again.
 * Cape Snag: Entirely averted. Zurg's cape seems to be for purely dramatic and sometimes Large Ham purposes only.
 * The Captain: Buzz.
 * Captain Space, Defender of Earth!: Buzz is a straightforward example.
 * Cardboard Prison: Lampshaded: One episode has XL and XR switching bodies, with XR ending up going to prison with XL's body. When he flips through XL's list of weapons to try and break out, he finds the following:

"Warp: What plot? You think Zurg is behind every kitten stuck up a tree!
 * Card-Carrying Villain: Zurg.
 * Casting Gag: Epoch & Era of the Chlorm are voiced by the late Jonathan Harris & Billy Mumy, who both previously worked together on Lost in Space.
 * Casual Danger Dialogue: So much so with so many characters that one must wonder if these people really do ever get scared. And then you remember Booster's and XR's various coward moments.
 * Catch Phrase: Buzz's ever-popular "To infinity, AND BEYOND!"
 * Also, Zurg's "CURSE YOU, BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!"
 * Celibate Hero: Buzz, but only nominally.
 * Character Development: For a series so heavy on Status Quo Is God, the character development of King Nova is impressive. With each chronological appearance, his attitude towards off-worlders, Star Command, and Mira's career choice softens more and more. See Shout-Out.
 * The Chew Toy: XR.
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Warp and Nos-4-A2.
 * Completely Missing the Point: In the pilot, Buzz & Warp are investigating an asteroid, and Buzz immediately makes a remark about how he "knows" Zurg is behind whatever they may find there.

Buzz: The fiend! Why can't he leave kitty-cats out of his nefarious schemes?"

"Buzz: Yes Gravitina, you may conquer worlds, but you must learn that you cannot bend the will of men. Gravitina, you're a very, very ... evil lady, but somewhere out there there's a guy who thinks being evil and having a great big head are just about the best two things a girl can have!
 * Compressed Hair: Mira, whenever she wears her space hood. We only ever see her tuck her hair in once, and it really looks like the hair below her jawline just disappears.
 * Cool Old Guy: Commander Nebula, especially that one time he rescues Team Lightyear.
 * Crazy Enough to Work: Buzz's and Mira's plans tend to be this.
 * Da Chief: Commander Nebula
 * Dating Catwoman: Gravitina has a thing for Buzz.
 * Unfortunately for Gravitina, it's not reciprocated, leading to a combo Crowning Moment of Funny / Heartwarming Moment in Opposites Attract:

Gravitina: Really?

Buzz: Sure! And when they let him out of that tiny little room they've got him locked up in, he'll move the heavens to find you, because that's what love is. In the meantime, you keep that pretty little nose of yours clean."

""I'm not going to kill you. Nooo. No, I have a much more delicious idea. I'm going to take the galaxy's greatest hero and turn him into me.""
 * In a later episode, she seems have gotten the best of both worlds by getting into a relationship with Evil Buzz Lightyear (though she hints she still prefers the original Buzz).
 * Death World: Welcome to the planet Karn! Watch your step.
 * Debut Queue
 * Defictionalization: The show itself.
 * Demoted to Extra: The rookies of Team Lightyear in "War and Peace and War," the ostensible finale for the series. Each rookie gets only a handful of lines - the story focuses on Buzz and his crusade to learn the truth.
 * Desk Jockey: Commander Nebula repeatedly and loudly states that he hates the fact that his rank forces him off the front lines and into paperwork. He's often shown fleeing his own semi-intelligent desk just to avoid more tedious form-filing.
 * Determinator: Quite a few of these, but perhaps most notably in the pilot, "Nos-4-A2," and "Wirewolf":
 * In the pilot, it takes Buzz's capture and the revelation of Warp's true nature to convince him that he needs a partner... "or two... or three."
 * In "Nos-4-A2,"
 * In "Wirewolf,"
 * Detonation Moon: In "Wirewolf"
 * Diabolical Mastermind/Evil Genius: Zurg purports to be this. To be fair, he's not always far from the mark.
 * Did You Just Harness Natron?
 * Disney Villain Death: Evil Buzz Lightyear.
 * Ditto Aliens: The Little Green Men. Lampshaded once where an LGM called Mira Booster, and when corrected, said "Whatever. You all look the same."
 * Do Androids Dream?: XR does. He even talks in his sleep.
 * Do-Anything Robot: XR.
 * Do They Know It's Christmas Time?
 * The Dragon: Warp to Zurg. A lot of the other villains answered to Zurg, but Warp did so the most frequently.
 * Drunk on the Dark Side: Oh, Zurg just loves being evil!
 * Elemental Punch: Plasma Boy uses an electrically charged punch on Booster after a really ugly argument with him
 * The Empire: Zurg Empire... which seems to consist entirely of Planet Z and the occasional Moon Base.
 * Enemy Mine: Buzz and Zurg team up in one episode to fight aliens who plan to conquer the entire galaxy including Zurg's home.
 * Buzz and Warp teamed up once to find out who planted tracking devices in them while they were still in the academy.
 * Enfant Terrible: The Clone Rangers.
 * Eureka Moment: The one time Zurg and Buzz speak in sync, complete with a sudden flash of lightning.
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: "What? An Evil Emperor can't have a mother?!"
 * Let's not forget the infamous Nana Zurg.
 * Zurg's not the only villain who loves his mommy. XR finds this out about Varg the hard way.
 * Everything's Better with Princesses: Mira
 * Evil Counterpart: XL and Warp Darkmatter to XR and Buzz, respectively.
 * Evil Is Hammy: Every. Single. Villain.
 * Evil Is Not Well Lit: Then again, what else do you expect when the walls are purple?
 * Evil Overlord: Zurg
 * Who has read some of the Evil Overlord List but still could use a refresher from time to time.
 * Evil Pays Better: Warp Darkmatter's prime motivation.
 * Evil Tower of Ominousness: Zurg's palace.
 * Evil Twin: Both in the usual sense (ie. an alternate universe counterpart), and from a set of clones created by Zurg.
 * Face Heel Turn: Warp Darkmatter. In the pilot, he appears to make a Heroic Sacrifice to save Buzz, then reveals this when he returns. However, it turns out he's been secretly working for Zurg as The Mole since the "academy days" (one episode shows it in a flashback), and faking his death was just his way of switching to "full-time".
 * Face Palm: Buzz and XR.
 * Faked Rip Van Winkle
 * Family-Unfriendly Violence: Nos-4-A2 in some scenes and Ty's transformation into Wirewolf.
 * Fate Worse Than Death: The HYPER DEATH RAY!, apparently provides something 20% worse than death.
 * Also Zurg's intention for Buzz in The Adventure Begins:

"Booster: Ok, What do you see?
 * Fearless Fool: Buzz and Mira. Booster and XR are more on the wimpy side, much as they profess to be warriors.
 * The Federation: The Galactic Alliance
 * Four Man Band:
 * The Hero: Buzz Lightyear
 * The Lancer/The Chick: Mira Nova
 * The Big Guy: Booster
 * The Smart Guy/Kid Appeal Character: XR
 * Fighter, Mage, Thief: The three rookies all fit this. Booster (fighter) is absurdly strong and tough, Mira (mage) has found many uses for her ghosting powers, and XR (thief) uses a wide variety of unpredictable tools.
 * Flying Car: A lot of these, most noticeably Buzz's car from his Academy days.
 * For the Evulz: See Drunk on the Dark Side.
 * Four-Fingered Hands: XR's.
 * Fur Against Fang: Recycled with ROBOTS!
 * Future Slang
 * Galactic Conqueror: Zurg's purpose in life. He actually did take over the galaxy a few times, but the protagonists make sure it never lasts.
 * Galaxy of Ham
 * G-Rated Drug: Mira can ghost through energy which, in true comic book fashion, gives her extreme powers... but leaves her extremely addicted for the next "power-up".
 * Gentle Giant: Booster
 * Genre Savvy/Dangerously Genre Savvy: Zurg seems to have taken some notes from the Evil Overlord List and displays this more often than not. When building a new base, he insists on "no airducts big enough for hero-sized people to crawl through" and on constructing an incinerator as opposed to an escapable trash compactor. There are also times where he sensibly refuses to brag about the details of his evil plans to Buzz. (Not that Buzz still doesn't figure things out with the bare minimum of information.)
 * Although he does have moments of severe Genre Blindness.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar:
 * In the pilot, XR is reading Victoria's Circuits and seems rather annoyed by the fact that Booster keeps distracting him; the magazine reappears multiple times throughout the series.
 * When Mira jokingly suggests a bite mark left by NOS-4-A2 could actually be a "robot hicky". Heh.
 * "But, as we say on Rhizome, bloom where the sun shines." "I got another idea, Triffid, why don't you stow it where the sun--" "BUZZ!"
 * "Care to make it a threesome?"
 * Let's not forget when XR is woken up and says "I didn't know she was under warranty!"
 * "Let's kick some asteroid.''
 * Zurg, yelling at his minions while he's stuck in a power coupling: "Don't just stand there! Hoist! Hoist! Lift and separate!"
 * Booster helps XR prep for his psychiatric testing, with an Inkblot Test:

XR: I don't see- ooh, a very limber sirenian snake dancer.

(Booster shows another sheet)

XR: two very limber sirenian snake dancers!

(last sheet)

XR: MIRA! Where did you learn to snake dance?"

"Buzz: "I don't think she wanted to kill me."
 * And let's not forget the episode "Gravitina" -- it is MADE of this trope.
 * Good Thing You Can Be Repaired: XR... though actually, the first time he got destroyed (in the movie) is when he got switched from a near-perfect Space Ranger (miniature copy of Buzz) to his annoying, lovable, nowhere-near-perfect self.
 * This trope was XR's intended purpose, though; the LGMs say his name stands for "eXperimental Ranger" because they all this stuff they do that's crazy dangerous to test on real people is no problem, because if something goes wrong, XR can be repaired. Commander Nebula expands the acronym as "eXpendable Ranger" because he doesn't much care for the notion of automated Space Rangering.
 * Gravitina Is a Harsh Mistress:

XR: "No, she wanted to date you. But with her, it's pretty much the same thing.""

"Buzz: Okay, so you're the real Santa Claus?
 * Green Aesop: Just about any episode located on Rhizome or involving Doctor Triffid.
 * Green-Skinned Space Babe: Mira and Gravitina are both blue, but the idea is the same.
 * In all fairness, Gravitina was always more of an aquamarine...
 * Played straight with the college-age, hip Petra Hammerhold.
 * Also played straight with three extras: a serving girl on Warp’s moon who pops up in two other places, Keno Kentrix’s girlfriend, and Buzz’s blind date in a flashback.
 * Ham-to-Ham Combat: Whenever Buzz and Zurg go at it.
 * Heel Face Turn: XL after his team-up with NOS-4-A2.
 * Hive Mind: The LGMs are a rare heroic example.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: The way Zurg tends to get his due, especially in the climax of "Lost in Time".
 * I Like Those Odds: (Buzz) "Fast. Risky. I like it."
 * Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: "You could have at least used an adapter."
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: Gravitina has a crush on Buzz.
 * Also present in NOS-4-A2's name. Spell it out phonetically, what do you get? Nosferatu - and considering NOS-4-A2 is designed to look like a certain blood-sucking Transylvanian pest...
 * Inkblot Test: Used several times. Buzz thinks every blot looks like Zurg. Except for a picture of Mira. Who, he muses, helps him fight Zurg.
 * Insistent Terminology:
 * Professor Lapton Professor Von Maaaaadmaaan!
 * XL: It's a CENTRIFUGATOR!
 * Zurgatronic VS Zurgariffic. Although Zurg does like the sound of "Zurgariffic"...
 * And let's not forget the Hydro-Trandibulator. Making up words is a perk that comes with the Evil Emperor business, after all.
 * Intangible Man: Mira.
 * The entirety of Tangean Overworlder race has this power. They don't even bother installing doors anywhere.
 * Interspecies Romance: Romac and Mira.
 * Iron Butt Monkey: XR again.
 * Ironic Echo
 * James Bondage: Ty Parsec, much to his annoyance.
 * Karma Houdini: Evil Buzz Lightyear apparently is quite the successful villain in his dimension.
 * Kick Chick: Mira.
 * Kidnapped Scientist: The LGM called "Independent Thinker."
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * Lantern Jaw of Justice: Buzz Lightyear
 * Large Ham: Zurg. A good example would be the fact the way he describes his Hyper Death Ray HYPER DEATH RAY!
 * The weapon itself is a Large Ham. Every time it's mentioned, there's evil music.
 * The suave NOS-4-A2 also fits the bill. As Buzz puts it, "Leave it to Zurg to create a villain even more arrogant than himself!"
 * Latex Space Suit: Especially on Mira Nova.
 * Light Is Good: The climatic fight between Zurg and Buzz in the pilot. The enormous light in the backdrop is actually Zurg's emblem, but Buzz uses it to defend himself.
 * Almost exaggerated in this scene, actually, as Zurg appears as a towering, menacing black silhouette, and Buzz, when he turns to face the light, becomes purely white, despite the fact that the light is actually yellow.
 * Literal Cliff Hanger: Buzz, twice in the series.
 * Little Green Men: The LGMs. The people of the planet Rozwell are a play on this trope, as they look the part but act just like 1950's Americans.
 * Living Legend: Captain Buzz Lightyear, as legendary to his own universe as Captain Kirk and Anakin Skywalker are to their universes.
 * A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away
 * Love Hurts: The look on Mira's face when she realizes that she can't be with Romac as long as he's working for Zurg.
 * Love Makes You Crazy: Gravitina
 * Luke, I Am Your Father: Hilariously subverted, and an homage to Toy Story 2.
 * Machine Monotone: XR, until Agent Z blows him up and the LGMs put him back together without the aid of the Unimind.
 * Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: Bonnie Lapton, daughter of Professor Von Madman.
 * Mass Hypnosis: Zurg's mind control ray (from The Adventure Begins) is, technically, an example of this.
 * Manly Tears: A few times, most noticeably in "The Crawling Flesh."
 * Married to the Job: Buzz's first love is, and always will be, to Star Command and the battle against evil.
 * Mecha-Mooks: Hornets, Beetles, and other insect-themed members of Zurg's army.
 * Meaningful Name: NOS-4-A2, energy sucking villain. If you don't get it, it's Leetspeak for Nosferatu.
 * Lampshaded with Warp Darkmatter, when he chews Buzz out for not realizing he was a mole. "My name's DARKMATTER. Who's surprised here?"
 * Missing Episode: When the series was rerun on Disney Channel, "Inside Job," "Conspiracy" and "Super Nova" were left off the schedule. (The first two dealt with terrorism assassination plots and the third dealt with a substance abuse.)
 * Missing Mom: Then again, Mira is techically a Disney Princess. What did you expect?
 * Modest Royalty: Mira Nova. She hates being singled out as royalty.
 * Monster Mash: A robotic variant in one episode, which featured a team-up between NOS-4-A2, the Wirewolf, and XL (the Frankenstein's Monster equivalent).
 * Mr. Vice Guy: XR seems to go out of his way to find new applications of his various personality flaws.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Gravitina.
 * My Name Is Not Durwood: Despite his habit of transforming into one, Plasma Boy hates being called Plasma Monster.
 * My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Tangean culture's tendency for stuffy arrogance and contempt for off-worlders is a source of great frustration and embarrassment for the rebellious Mira.
 * Mythology Gag:
 * In the pilot, the LGMs use "The Claw" to bring the Unimind.
 * Also in the Christmas episode, there's a girl who resembles Jessie from Toy Story 2.
 * From the same episode:

Santa: You're mocking me, aren't you?"

"Grub:...But if I don't get my vacation request form in by 5pm, I'll miss my brother's bachelor party next week!
 * One episode begins with the opening of a Pizza Planet.
 * At Becky's tea party during the end of Stranger Invasion, Buzz is in a hat and apron that bears an unmistakable resemblance to Mrs. Nesbitt.
 * Naive Newcomer: The Rookies (Mira, Booster, and XR) all serve as this under Buzz.
 * Never My Fault: Many of the villains. XR also rarely takes responsibility for his mistakes.
 * Never Say "Die": Strongly averted.
 * Never the Selves Shall Meet: Lampshaded and averted.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Mira, after being repeatedly told to not interfere, drags the other rookies along to follow Buzz in "Shiv Katal". This ends up blowing Buzz's cover as "Shiv", greatly endangering the team (they only escaped with outside help), and costing Star Command a very valuable set up for easily transporting defecting Zurg minions.
 * Noble Male, Roguish Male: Booster and XR, respectively.
 * Also Buzz and Warp at any given point in their relationship.
 * No Such Thing as Alien Pop Culture
 * Not Good with People: Depends on the writers, but Buzz tends to have poor people skills.
 * Not Brainwashed: Warp, in the pilot.
 * Oh, the Humanity!: Parodied, XR says "Oh, the technology!" when face with robotic carnage.
 * Only Child Syndrome: XR is the only member of Team Lightyear unaffected by this trope.
 * Only Sane Man: Mira in regards to her teammates. Commander Nebula could count too.
 * Opposites Attract: The title of an episode!
 * Buzz and Ozma; Mira and Romac.
 * The Other Darrin: In The Adventure Begins, Tim Allen reprises the role of Buzz. For the series proper, however, Patrick Warburton took over. (When The Adventure Begins was re-cut into three regular episodes, Warburton also re-dubbed Buzz's lines in order to remain consistent with the rest of the series.)
 * Our Doors Are Different: Just about every type of high-tech door/hatch you could think of, plus the occasional doorknob.
 * Our Vampires Are Different: NOS-4-A2, a robotic "energy vampire" that can drain power from as well as control machinery.
 * Our Werewolves Are Different: Continuing the trend, the Wirewolf.
 * Painful Transformation:  turning into the Wirewolf is downright cringe-worthy.
 * Perfect Pacifist People: The Rhizomians.
 * Planet of Hats: Tangea. Rhizome. Capital Planet. Planet Z.
 * Justified with Jo-Ad, an agricultural planet and the Alliance's biggest food producer; Bathyos, an ocean planet; and Tradeworld, a city-planet like Coruscant and the galaxy's proclaimed Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy.
 * Playing Against Type: Warp is voiced by Diedrich Bader. Yes, that Diedrich Bader.
 * Not anymore.
 * Plucky Comic Relief: XR and Booster most of the time. Nearly always when they're together.
 * Politically-Incorrect Villain: (Zurg) "Innocent politicians?! Don't be oxymoronic!"
 * The Power of Friendship
 * Princesses Prefer Pink: Guess what color teen!Mira wore in flashbacks?
 * Punch Clock Villain: Some of Zurg's henchmen

Zurg: UGH! Which copy is mine, yellow or pink?"

""LIGHTYEAR!""
 * Punctuated for Emphasis:
 * Varg's order to Crumford Lorak -- "You! Bring. TAPE!!"
 * Buzz to the LGM "commandoes" -- "This is not - and I repeat, NOT - a REVENGE MISSION!"
 * Punny Name: NOS-4-A2
 * Puny Humans: Mira's father, the king of Tangea, holds humans in contempt referring to them as monkeys and considers his species to be above them. It is ironic however that in one episode where Buzz's team, save for XR, were reverted back to a more primitive form, Buzz morphed into a half ape, while Mira became a giant amoeba.
 * The Chlorm are even worse, calling all other sapient species "lesser beings", which Mira really hates.
 * Not to mention they view all other sapient species as wild animals: keeping them in zoos, using them for product testing, etc.
 * Puppy Dog Eyes: Mira, as rendered by one animation house.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: NOS-4-A2, along with anyone under his control, and Zurg.
 * Plus the side-effect of being blasted by the Zurgatronic Ray. The mind-controlled Rangers are particularly creepy.
 * Red Herring: The A.F.D., the only piece of machinery that XR has but his evil "brother" XL doesn't. When XL rips it off inside XR, it leaves an empty hole where you usually would have a heart. Can you guess what the A.F.D. is?
 * Refusing Paradise: Buzz is the only good guy who refuses to go along with the Heed in "War and Peace and War." Needless to say, he was right to do so.
 * Retcon: XR's first meeting with Buzz in "First Missions".
 * Though it could happen in the pilot, after Buzz brought him back to be repaired and before the ranger meeting.
 * Ridiculously Human Robot: XR, in spirit, anyway. Even the LGMsrecognize this: "You're almost human. So many character flaws!"
 * Rival Turned Evil: Warp Darkmatter, Buzz's old academy chum. Of course, he was The Mole from day one, Buzz just didn't know that . ..
 * Ty Parsec's introduction works a bit this way, too: Ty places a distress call, and then when Buzz shows up to help, Ty gets immensely annoyed. They used to be friends or classmates or something, but since the early days it's always been Buzz who takes the spotlight, and Ty is sick of it. When, you might expect it to come to a bad end... but it turns out Ty is a little more honorable than the tropes would lead you to believe, and even in later episodes he's still a hero, not a villain.
 * Rogues Gallery: Let's see, there's Zurg, Warp, NOS-4-A2, Gravitina, Torque, XL, Evil Buzz, the Chlorm, the Gargantians, the Raenoks and that Klerm guy... I'd say we have a pretty sizable gallery here.
 * Royal Guards Are Useless: The Tangean Royal Guards really are.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: Mira and Fop Doppler (eventually); the rest of the Tangean Royal Court makes it seem like they're the only ones.
 * Sapient Cetaceans: The Bathyosians.
 * Say My Name: Always humorously by Zurg.

"Buzz: How do I safely remove this thing... from my neck?
 * Once in reverse when Buzz was ANGRY.
 * Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Norbert Q. Klerm, The Corrupt Corporate Executive of CompuKlerm.
 * Screw the Rules, I Make Them: Subverted by Buzz. He's written half the rules in the official manual, but is also a stickler for the existing ones (esepcially the "backup" rule as seen in the pilot).
 * Scully Syndrome: Buzz again. He often accuses Zurg of being behind every possible misdeed and/or theorizes overly complicated evil plots - sometimes making him look obsessed. However, it is subverted, as Buzz is almost always proven right when he does this.
 * One episode is built around this idea, with Buzz claiming what looks like a pen is a key part of Zurg's latest plan. He comes across as so obsessed and on edge, that the others force him to take some downtime. In actuality, the "pen" is the trigger for Zurg's HYPER DEATH RAY.
 * It also helps that Zurg is responsible for most of the recurring villains.
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: Natron the First in "Ancient Evil".
 * Sesquipedalian Smith: Reccurring villain Rentwhistle Swack.
 * She Is All Grown Up: Bonnie Lapton in "Eye of the Tempest", Buzz hadn't seen her since she "was this big".
 * She's Got Legs: Dr. Ozma Furbanna, making all three males in Team Lightyear gape at her when her armor comes off.
 * Shout-Out:
 * Becky, Booster's friend from Rozwell, appears to be an expy of of Webby from DuckTales. It helps that they have the same voice too.
 * In one episode, Zurg's attempt to clone the heroes results in kid-chibi duplicates with a bad attitude. Naming Buzz's duplicate Zzub, Zzub then sarcastically retorts that all he did was take the hero's name and spell it backwards. The episode in question was written by Greg Weisman and was a reference to the Thailog storylines in Gargoyles.
 * It’s a tentative connection, but, considering all the show’s throwback’s to Star Trek, could there be another such throwback in King Nova, Mira, and the Tangean Royals? Consider:
 * King Nova had disapproved of the notion of Mira’s joining Star Command. In Star Trek the Original Series episode “Journey to Babel,” Ambassador Sarek makes it painfully clear that he disapproves of Spock’s membership in Starfleet.
 * Just like Sarek, King Nova's attitude towards his child's career choice develops and softens over time, to the point where, in the last time Nova gets a speaking role in the series, the tone of the scene is not unlike Spock's brief conversation with his father at the end of Star Trek IV the Voyage Home.
 * Mira, like Spock, is different from the rest of her race (though emphatically not half-human, as Spock is), and she did join Star Command against her father's wishes, just like a certain half-Vulcan. Furthermore, she can sometimes play The Spock to Buzz's Kirk, though she can just as often be The McCoy, as well.
 * The Tangean Royals as a race have pointed ears... and telepathic abilities...
 * Again, pure conjecture, but is it just possible that the Grubs wear red for a reason?
 * Sidekick Glass Ceiling: if Mira, Booster or XR out-anything Buzz, you can be sure it won't last beyond the end of the episode.
 * Sissy Villain: Um, Zurg. Just look at the man's reaction to bunzel bees.
 * Oh, yeah, and let's not forget Warp's shriek when Mira drops a hornet on him.
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Way on the idealistic side. *coughcough* Star Trek, anybody?
 * Slobs Versus Snobs: Tangean Royals VS. Tangean Grounders.
 * The Smurfette Principle: Mira Nova as the only recurring female.
 * In the main cast, yes. There is also the recurring Madam President of the Galactic Alliance.
 * Also appearing semi-regularly is Dr. Ozma Furbanna the scientist from Karn who Buzz does not have a crush on.
 * Same deal with Sally, the waitress at the diner Buzz and team often eat at.
 * And Gravitina, who shares a voice actress with Sally.
 * Sneeze of Doom: Inverted.
 * Space Police: Star Command.
 * Something They Would Never Say: How Buzz and Mira figure out that NOS-4-A2 is in control of Star Command.
 * Squick: A fair amount of it, including jelly-like parasites and the two-people-in-one-gooey-blob creature Buzz and Mira become in "The Crawling Flesh," which totally squicks the Rangers out.
 * Star-Killing: "Star Smasher".
 * The Starscream: NOS-4-A2 actually takes over Planet Z from his creator Zurg.
 * Stealth in Space: Star Command's cloaking technology is so effective that a person inside a cloaked ship can't see any bit of it.
 * Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: The Chlorm.
 * Surrounded by Idiots: Zurg's general attitude towards his staff, even though he never says it in so many words... "That is, if the freak show known as my staff can do ONE. THING. RIIIGHT!"
 * Take a Third Option: A big part of Buzz's modus operandi.
 * Tall, Dark and Snarky: Warp. Hard.

Warp: If you're referring to your head, I completely understand your desire to exchange it for a new one."

"Nebula: How's that different to a normal death ray?
 * Talking to Himself: Patrick Warburton does it in half the episodes, as he voices Buzz and the LGMs!
 * Diedrich Bader also does it in "Ancient Evil," when he plays Natron the First and Natron's victim, a veeery unlucky Warp Darkmatter.
 * Techno Babble: Most notably Mira in the climax of "Opposites Attract" - and XR, a robot, has no idea what she's saying.
 * Teleporter Accident: A big part of "Rookie of the Year," in which Mira, Booster, and XR get merged into a three-headed body. At the end of the show, the LGMsare still trying to fix them.
 * The Red Planet: Planet Z, of course!
 * There Is No Kill Like Overkill: The HYPER DEATH RAY of course. Lampshaded by Commander Nebula.

LGM: More death."


 * Those Two Bad Guys: The Grounder bounty hunter duo.
 * Toilet Humor: A different take on the trope during a flashback showing how or heroes got Reassigned to Antarctica. They were tasked with watching over some alien emissaries that were reportedly "sensitive about their appearance", then Buzz says What Could Possibly Go Wrong? and we finally see the aliens... who all resemble toilet bowls. After that, well...
 * Token Human: Buzz... well, he's probably human, anyway.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Sooner or later, everybody fits this trope. Good thing it's a kids show.
 * Too Many Mouths: The president of the galaxy has two, one atop the other.
 * Toyless Toyline Character: Three of the four main characters were made as action figures. The missing one was, you guessed it, Mira Nova. Thanks (for nothing) again, Smurfette Principle!
 * She did get a toy in a McDonald's Happy Meal series, though.
 * A 'whole lot' of villains were never toys, either.
 * Trojan Prisoner
 * Unusual Euphemism: "Craters!"
 * Booster has "Hot Rockets!", which might also cross into Catch Phrase, as he's the only one who ever says it.
 * There's also "sweet mother of Venus." Golly.
 * Unwinnable Training Simulation: Level 10 in the pilot. Mira beats Buzz's record, who can beat only Level 9.
 * A Very Star Wars Parody: Subverted. An episode of the show had its plot nearly completely taken from The Phantom Menace.
 * Villainesses Want Heroes: Gravatina to Buzz
 * Wave Motion Gun: The HYPER DEATH RAY! (insert evil music here)
 * We Will Meet Again: (Buzz to Zurg) "But the next time we meet, I'm bringing you down and taking you in."
 * Wham! Line: "Lightyear, I've been on Zurg's payroll since the Academy."
 * Buzz's reaction is the saddest Heroic BSOD in the entire series.
 * What Measure Is a Non-Human?
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Mira and Booster do this to Buzz when he shrugs off Bonnie Lapton's feelings for him as a stereotypical "damsel in distress" situation and doesn't even try to take her seriously. Bonnie runs off utterly crushed, as her feelings were quite genuine, and is hurt that once again someone she cares about refuses to take her seriously. It's only after Mira and Booster point out just what Buzz did that he fixes his mistake.
 * Where's the Kaboom?: "Where's my big universe-altering explosion?!"
 * Whole-Plot Reference: Professor von Madman's a big one to Forbidden Planet.
 * William Shatner: He speaks the song in the movie’s credits.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Professor von Madman as a human/crystal cyborg.
 * World-Healing Wave
 * Worthy Opponent: Twice invoked (not quite in so many words) by Zurg regarding Buzz in the pilot.
 * Wretched Hive: Tradeworld, especially Killerville.
 * Villain Decay: Warp in "Ancient Evil". In no way does it constitute a Badass Decay.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Zurg, possibly the most in the climax of "Lost in Time".
 * You Mean "Xmas": The Christmas Episode, oddly, refers to Christmas only as "the holiday", despite the obvious appearance of Santa Claus.
 * Maybe Zurg stole the word too!
 * Zeerust: Intentionally invoked in the series' aesthetic, even including references to Tomorrowland such as Buzz living in the House of the Future or Star Command's close resemblance to Space Mountain.