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Theme_Song_🎶_-_Amphibia_-_Disney_Channel

Theme Song 🎶 - Amphibia - Disney Channel

Welcome to Amphibia!

Amphibia is a 2019 Disney Channel cartoon created by Matt Braly, who was a director on Gravity Falls. It premiered on June 17, 2019, and ended its third season on May 14, 2022. Anyone can view the first episodes on YouTube.

Anne Boonchuy is a girl who opened a mystical music box with her two friends, Sasha Waybright and Marcy Wu, where all three are transported to Amphibia. The inhabitants consist of giant flora, fauna, and sapient amphibians of frogs, toads, and newts. The three members of the Plantar family take her in: the energetic Sprig who becomes her new best friend, the brutal Polly who wishes to throw down with this monster, and the grandfather Hopediah or Hop Pop. Anne goes on many adventures with her new friends while searching for her old ones and finding a way back home.

Tropes used in Amphibia include:
  • Accidental Hero: It wasn't Leif's intention when she ran with the Calamity Box and hid it on Earth, but given it happened a thousand years ago, she ended up saving humanity. Given the typical invasions stripped planets, genocide was likely to happen once Aldrich and Andrias got all the resources they needed. If Leif hadn't hidden the box on Earth, likely none of the three girls would have been able to save Amphibia or Earth from the Core.
  • Action Survivor: Anne, Sasha, and Marcy manage to adapt to this hostile place surprisingly fast.
  • Action Girl: Pretty much every female member of the cast (even Polly at times) can fight, and in the case of the Calamity Trio, get better at it as the show progresses.
  • Adorkable: Both Anne and Marcie (especially Marcie), Polly, Sprig, quite a few minor recurring characters.
  • Adults Are Useless: Ultimately defied throughout the series.
    • In Amphibia, all the adults are shown as those that can fight and protect their homes, they children, or their grandchildren, when the chips are down. Hop Pop is shown to be an accomplished boxer, able to take down Mayor Toadstool, while Felicity Sundew uses innkeeping training to prepare Ivy for whatever is out there in the world. Stumpy Stumpson has lost both his hands, but is a Handicapped Badass and Chef of Iron.
    • Also, while Anne's father is something of a Bumbling Dad, her mother is a Mama Bear who catches on fast. With that said, Anne doesn't want to tell them about everything that happened in Amphibia because it was pretty traumatic, and she's sure they would never let her out of their sight again. Turns out after the killer robot exploded, both her parents become uber-competent at protecting their daughter and houseguests, keeping a tracking chip on Hop Pop and outsmarting the FBI. They help the group escape back to Amphibia when Anne's powers combine with Terri's portal, and then tell off Mr. X for how poorly handled the situation. The series finale shows them taking on Andrias's invasion head-on, much to the Plantars and Anne's delight.
  • Alien Lunch: A Running Gag in season one involved Anne being grossed out by the food in Amphibia, which tended to have bugs in it. After about a month in Wartwood, however, she starts craving pillbug pancakes and bug jerky. In Marcy's theme song takeover, she gobbled a whole plateful of bug appetizers at a party.
  • All Animals Are Dogs: Some insects and arachnids are kept as pets where they show dog-like behavior. There is one episode where Anne takes in a large wild caterpillar she names Domino II that resembles and acts like a cat but later changes into a meat-eating moth that almost ate her and the Plantars.
  • Alternate Realm Boon: The three girls had the energy of the Calamity Stones when they were transported into Amphibia. This energy allows them to go enter Super Mode where they become superhuman and have energy-based powers.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population: Amphibians consist of different species of frogs, toads, and newts comprised of various skin tones.
  • And I Must Scream:
    • Each of the Curator's exhibits in "Wax Museum" is a living creature that he encased in wax. Polly notices their eyes moving around, which gives her the creeps. He nearly does the same to Anne, trapping Anne in a wax machine that nearly suffocates her if not for the Plantars' timely rescue. Sprig and Polly says that Anne was stupid to trust the Curator by coming alone when they thaw her in front of the morning campfire.
    • When Marcy rejects the fantasy world the Core has created for her, because she knows the Anne and Sasha that they summoned aren't really her friends, the Core turns the world into a void. They "reassure" her that while it would have been easier for her to join them willingly, but she can sit and wait in the darkness while they forcibly assimilate her brilliant mind and body. Marcy pulls her her picture of the real Anne and Sasha, saying she trusts her friends to rescue her.
  • Androcles' Lion: Anne rescues a caterpillar that resembles and sounds like her cat Domino, sneaking "Domino II" into the house when Hop Pop sternly says no pets as she brings up the question. Later, she has to shoo Domino II into the wild using a cat toy when Domino II is revealed to be a Killapillar that eats frogs. In season three, it's shown that because Anne saved Domino II all those months ago, she grew up to be an alpha butterfly, with a flock and babies to boot! Anne convinces Sprig to rescue Domino II and her flock from Andrias's power generator, and Domino II reveals that she kept the cat toy, showing she never forgot Anne. She also convinces the flock to not eat Sprig, or any of the amphibians that have joined the Resistance. This pays off big-time, as the flock gives the Resistance aerial support for the final battle, much to Sasha's delight.
  • Anger Born of Worry: In "Truck Stop Polly," Polly invites this from her family when her prank to swap an rock into her bed with her eye mask backfires; turns out it was a Rukh egg that hatches and nearly eats the Plantars. After she shoos it away with some quick thinking and Swampy Joe's help, she expects they'll be mad at her for the prank. No; as Hop Pop puts it, he's mad because she chose to leave the wagon and hide at the truck stop right when they were leaving. She could have been hurt or killed, and no one would have known where she was.
  • Artifact of Doom: The Calamity Box, the MacGuffin that drives the whole plot. This device was created by a godlike entity to determine if mortals were capable of possessing unlimited power - it seems, in most cases, they are not, Anne being the only user not to use it for evil purposes.
  • Ascended Fridge Horror: Andrias falls over, crying, when Sprig reads aloud Leif's farewell letter, revealing that it was in the Plantar basement. Leif never forgot about Andrias, and she changed her name to Lily Producer, later Plantar, to hide from the King and Barrel. Andrias practically has a breakdown on realizing that his best friend truly didn't betray him for a selfish reason but because she did have Amphibia's best interests at heart, and wanted to save the planet. It also hits him that he nearly killed Leif's descendants, out of sheer pettiness and pain.
  • Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence:
    • Possibly the Core’s true goal, although it seems it believes itself to be a god in all but name.
    • In the finale, Anne is given the opportunity for this, the Guardian wanting her to be its successor. Anne, however, refuses, claiming her successes have been marred by numerous mistakes, and she doesn’t want them to mar up all of existence. The Guardian sees her point, but implies it will make the offer again in 78 years.
  • The Atoner:
    • In season three, Sasha resolves to protect Wartwood to make up for betraying Anne and Marcy in season 2. While Grime at first helps out with his friendship with Sasha, he starts bonding with the residents for real. "The Hardest Thing" shows him happily settled down in Wartwood.
    • "The Hardest Thing" shows Andrias reacting in horror as Leif's vision comes true because the Core wants to make a suicidal run on the planet. He uses the last of his robot army to help the girls fight the Core, and destroys the Crown connecting him to his father's spirit. While he does not think he's earned Marcy's forgiveness, in part because he nearly killed her and let the core assimilate her, he wishes her well. The Time Skip shows him going around Amphibia, planting the flora that he destroyed in his campaign.
  • Big Creepy-Crawlies: The world's fauna consists of various giant predatory insects and arachnids. Plus a lot of Mix and Match Critters who combine such with birds, reptiles, or mammals.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Each season ends this way:
    • "Reunion": While the Plantars and Wartwood manage to rescue Hop Pop and overthrow the local Toad Regime while they're at it, Anne fails to rescue Sasha from what would have been a deadly fall. Grime has to do that, and shoots a Death Glare at Anne. Realizing that her friendship with Sasha is damaged, Anne starts bawling, as the Plantars hold her. The next day, the Wartwood residents return home, exhausted, as Anne promises the Plantars that they'll stick together, no matter how bad things get.
    • "True Colors": It's very close to a Downer Ending. King Andrias reveals that he is Evil All Along, nearly killing Sprig, smashing Frobo to bits, and outright impaling Marcy when she activates the Calamity Box to help save Anne and the Plantars. Sasha and Grime try to hold off Andrias in Sasha's first truly selfless action but get beaten. Anne and the Plantars, however, escape to Earth, and she still has a fragment of her powers from the Calamity Box. It means that she has the best chance of stopping Andrias's invasion of Earth. Anne also realizes they're in Los Angeles, close to her house.
    • "The Hardest Thing": The sad part is not Anne dying via Heroic Sacrifice, with her body disintegrating after Sprig and Frobo return her to Amphibia, where the Resistance mourns her saving the planet. The Cosmic Guardian of All Realms restores Anne to life, after learning that if it considers her worthy at thirteen, she will be even more qualified to replace them after a long time of growing and changing for the better. They also give Anne gem shards that will allow a one-way trip back to Earth. It means, however, that none of them will see their friends for a while, depending on if Terri can find a suitable power source for her portal. Grime and Sasha have a tearful goodbye, as she sobbingly asks him to find Percy and Braddock on her behalf. Marcy forgives Andrias, who can't look her in the face while wishing her well. Hop Pop says that he's proud of his honorary granddaughter and there will always be a home for Anne with the Plantars, while Polly says she'll miss her "big sister". Sprig clings to Anne, realizing he has to let go of his best friend and this may be a final goodbye. Anne gives him a final hug, and her cellphone since it is charged for infinity. The Time Skip further emphasizes this: while indeed Anne, Sasha and Marcy are still friends, Marcy did eventually move with her parents' job, while Anne and Sasha joined different cliques in high school. They reunite at Anne's workplace, where she maintains amphibian terrariums. Back in frog world, Andrias is spending the rest of his life repairing the damage he caused to Amphibia, content for the first time ever, as Hop Pop has settled with Sylvia, Polly has grown into a young lady, and Sprig plans to explore a new continent. Grime has also settled in Wartwood, while Olivia and Yunan have gotten married and Toadstool has helped Toadie become mayor. They end the day mounting a statue of Anne, as their Town Hero, as Sprig smiles fondly.
  • Black Comedy: Practically a staple of the series, especially when it references how easy it is to die in Amphibia.
  • Both Sides Have a Point: One that comes up in the series finale. Hop Pop gently tells Sprig that he may need to prepare for saying goodbye to Anne forever, as Anne has to return to Earth once Amphibia is safe and reunite with her parents. Sprig responds cheerily that he thought he would have to say goodbye to Anne forever back in Newtopia when Andrias betrayed them, and no matter what happens, they will always be best friends. They'll cross that bridge once they come to it. "The Hardest Thing" shows both of their points coming to life: The girls have to use the gems to stop the Core, and the Guardian provides enough shards for a one-way trip back to Earth when Anne sacrifices her life and dies temporarily to save Amphibia. Once they do so, the Calamity Box becomes dust. With that said, Anne reassures Sprig that no matter what, as they tearfully say goodbye before she goes through that final portal, he will always be her best friend, and gifts him with her phone so that he will have a piece of her with him, that will last forever. Hop Pop also tearily tells Anne that if she ever comes back to Amphibia, and there's at least a chance in the future with Terri's portal machine and blueprints, she always has a home as a Plantar and as her granddaughter.
  • Brought Down to Normal: In "The Hardest Thing," all the girls lose their power upgrades after Anne uses the gems' power to save Amphibia from the Core, dying in the process. The Guardian restores Anne to life after the latter declines taking their place, with gem shards that can send them home but for not much else. Anne can't be happier to be a normal girl with a long life ahead of her.
  • Chekov's Gun: Tons:
    • Anne's missing shoe. In the pilot, she is understandably dirty and disheveled, having been in Amphibia for weeks before finding Wartwood, and only has one shoe. Later, when Captain Grime is introduced and the viewers discover what happened to Sasha, it's is revealed he found it, and now is looking for the owner. Also used as a Brick Joke, as when Anne returns to Amphibia in season 3, she can't believe that she's lost it again.
    • The letter Sprig finds in the Plantar family tunnels in Season One that nobody can read; it's a love letter to Andreas that pretty much turns the tide of the Final Battle when he learns about it.
    • Also, when “Darcy” (what the Core calls itself after stealing Marcy’s body) first appears, there seems to be an obvious Achilles' Heel, a cord tethering the helmet Marcy is wearing to the main Core. Sasha eventually figures this out and defeats Darcy by severing the cord.
  • Could Have Avoided This Plot:
    • As Anne berates herself in season one both in "Best Fronds" and "Reunion," she could have avoided the whole adventure to Amphibia if she had not given into Sasha and gone to the birthday party that her parents were planning, rather than shoplifting the Calamity Box from the thrift shop. She learns from this mistake, telling Sasha that she should have stood up to her a long time ago when the latter tries killing Sprig for slinging mud in her face.
    • "Wax Museum" has Anne apologize to the Plantars for sneaking into the Curator's museum at night and meet him alone at his request. If she had waited to go in the morning with them as a group, as Hop Pop originally planned, the Curator wouldn't have seized the opportunity to make her into a living wax statue. Hop Pop says he's still mad at her for not listening to him, but the important thing is none of them got turned into wax and Anne is safe, if still thawing in front of the campfire because she has paraffin stuck to her skin.
    • "Fight at the Museum" has Dr. Jan become sympathetic when asking Anne why not ask her for knowledge about the mysterious pot. While she doesn't know the full details of how Anne's human friends betrayed her in the previous season, she can relate to the need to work on a serious project solo. Dr. Jan says that she'll help, but Anne has to get several nights' sleep and allow herself a break.
    • "If You Give A Frog A Cookie" ends with Anne admonishing the Plantars about this, as they make their escape with Kelli from Dr. Frakes. She says that she understands they are homesick, but she can't keep giving into their guilt about accidentally stranding them on Earth. They have to be cautious about who they trust regarding portal technology.
    • Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy tell off Mr. X for hunting down their daughter and houseguests like criminals once Anne and the Plantars have returned to Amphibia through Kelli's portal, with both parents saying they love her. They say that if he had just asked them about the Plantars and where Anne had been for five months, they would have told him. Mr. Boonchuy tells Mr. X that he needs to sit down, shut up, and listen about the real invasion that Anne and the Plantars are trying to stop.
    • After Sasha rescues Marcy from the Core and she revives in Sasha's and Anne's arms, Marcy admits this, apologizing to them. She says that she should have told her friends about her dad's job transfer, rather than lie and manipulate them to live out her fantasy adventures. This, plus realizing that the Core was using Marcy as a host, allows Sasha to forgive Marcy for the betrayal.
    • A really sad one in "The Hardest Thing". When Andrias realizes that Leif's vision was about the Core using the moon to destroy Amphibia out of spite and to get the Calamity Box powers, he defies Aldrich's orders and sends the remains of his army to help the girls stop the Core. He angrily tells his father that he should have stood up to him a long time ago, realizing that Leif was right all along.
  • Crazy Prepared:
    • It's revealed that Leif spearheaded building the secret chambers in the Plantar home, while her descendants filled them with booby traps, puzzles, and scientific experiments. She also left a letter for Andrias in a private bedroom, knowing that if someone found it beneath the Wartwood Earth, Andrias would have restarted his campaign to invade Earth.
    • The Boonchuys become this after the killer robot forces Anne to come clean about what actually happened in Amphibia, and about the oncoming invasion. They put a tracking device on Hop Pop, send warning texts to Anne when they get wind of the FBI hunting her down, and quickly pull a switcheroo to save her and the Plantars from being detained. In "Escape to Amphibia," they reveal that they bought a plastic lightsaber for Anne to use as a weapon after the playfight in the mall and packed her backpack full of supplies that she'll need once she travels through the portal. They're also more emotionally prepared for this goodbye than she is, as Anne starts crying when she realizes that she has to leave her family and home again to save both worlds.
  • Darker and Edgier: The second season is much darker than the first, and by the time the third comes around, most viewers will be likely be saying to himself, "This is a freakin' Disney cartoon??" To give just one example of how dark it is, Captain Grime loses an arm in the Final Battle against Darcy, and while any blood is concealed via shadow, it doesn't leave much to the imagination, leaving no doubt at all that he is bleeding to death.
  • Dramatic Irony:
    • "Best Fronds" ends with Anne hoping that Sasha and Marcy are okay whenever they are. Rapid cut to Commander Grime confronting a chained-up Sasha, with Anne's missing shoe.
    • In season three, Agent X is convinced that the "frog aliens" are planting an invasion when he sees traffic camera footage of them fighting a robot. All the while, Anne and the Plantars are trying to figure out how to build a portal back to Amphibia to stop Andrias. He's floored when the Boonchuys tell him off for these assumptions because the Plantars are planning to prevent an invasion, which will be much worse if it comes to Earth.
    • After capturing Anne, Darcy gloats about her plan to dissect her - while she is still alive.[1] Horrific and cruel, yes, but very ironic, seeing as Anne is a high school student. What sort of animals would are typically dissected in high school biology class?
    • Marcy Theme Song Takeover ends with Marcy proclaiming "Hope nothing bad happens to me!" Uh, yeah, in hindsight, of all the bad things that happen to the heroes, Marcy likely got the worst of it.
  • Easily Forgiven: Season three more so than season two, and it's duly lampshaded:
    • Sasha tearfully asks Anne how can the latter trust her wholeheartedly again, after she lied to stage a coup and tried to separate Anne from the Plantars forever. Notable is that trope wasn't in effect when they reunited in Season Two, and Anne remained prepared for another Sasha betrayal. Anne says that being on Earth, not knowing if she or Marcy was okay, gave her some perspective. She understands that Sasha made some mistakes, and is now working to fix them. That Sasha has protected the Wartwood residents with her life, something the old Sasha wouldn't have done before, is enough for Anne. Even when she reluctantly obeys Sasha's orders to let an auxiliary raid team rescue themselves, Anne doesn't accuse Sasha of being selfish or controlling.
    • Discussed between Sasha and Anne about Marcy using them for one of her fantasy escapist plans. Sasha admits that she knows Marcy didn't mean to hurt them, but she did. She doesn't know if she can forgive Marcy for the lying and getting them stranded in Amphibia. Anne says they at least need to hear her out and try to save their friendship. When they learn that the Core has possessed Marcy, Sasha's confused feelings switch to protective instinct; she demands that the Core lets go of her friend now before it becomes a bucket of bolts. Fighting Darcy allows Sasha catharsis, and as soon as Marcy is free, Sasha is more concerned about reviving her. The three girls talk it out, and decide they can still be friends..
    • Much to Andrias's shock, Marcy doesn't hold a grudge for the whole lying to her, taking her friends hostage while planning to kill them, impaling her in the back, or sacrificing her to the Core. Marcy bids Andrias farewell and shows that she understands he's sorry. Unable to look her in the eye, Andrias tells her to take care of herself.
  • Easy Logistics: This is the Core’s fatal flaw. Believing itself to be invincible, it fails to do much reconnaissance of Earth and is ignorant of how much humans have evolved over the past millennia. Mistaking Marcie’s mobile phone for the apex of human military technology, it believes humans are “pathetic”. Granted, its army is capable of handling the job, but it underestimates its target, failing to understand that Machiavelli Was Wrong.
  • Entertainingly Wrong:
    • Anne thinks that she was the only one sucked into Amphibia because she woke up alone in the swamp. Episode 2 ends with The Reveal that Sasha ended up in toad territory, and Grime captured her. In Season 2, when Anne realizes that Sasha was transported, she commits to finding Marcy as well.
    • Played for Drama with the reason that Leif stole the Calamity Box from Andrias. Her vision showed the moon crashing into Amphibia and causing an apocalypse. She assumed that using the Box would upset some sort of natural order and that Andrias's invasion would lead to the disaster. It was entirely logical, given the name "Calamity" and the fact that they were invading other worlds to exploit them for resources. The series finale, however, has the Cosmic Guardian reveal that the Calamity Box is not the cause of evil or chaos. Instead, it was a Secret Test of Character: could someone use the power to travel universes for selfless reasons? While Leif had good intentions, she didn't pass the test owing to the fact that her actions prevented the eventual disaster in her vision, delaying the moon crashing into Amphibia and not needing to sacrifice her life as a result. And in the end, the box itself doesn't cause that disaster. The Core does, in a bid to reclaim the box's power and get revenge on Amphibia's residents for the thwarted invasion.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: While it first it seems that the corrupt Mayor Toadstool only likes Toadie because the latter is a Professional Butt-Kisser and a competent Bugball player, season two confirms that their bond runs stronger than that. Mayor Toadstool realizes that he can't leave Wartwood for a promotion because it would mean, among other doubts he's been having, leaving Toadie behind. Toadie goes further by cheerfully telling Sasha as they prepare to do a duo act for the Battle of the Bands that he believes love is standing by someone and rooting for them, even if you don't agree with their opinions. The series finale "The Hardest Thing" implies they have become an official couple after their real Heel-Face Turn, as a retired Toadstool helps Toadie campaign for mayor.
  • Even Evil Has Standards
    • Toadstool tries to bribe Hop-Pop into throwing the election against him. When Hop-Pop refuses the bribe, Toadstool is actually impressed and considers him a Worthy Opponent. Not that it matters since Hop-Pop lost anyway due to a political loophole, but Toadstool says that he would have accepted having a frog for mayor.
    • A flashback in the season 3 finale reveals that while still hiding his true colors from everyone, Andrias protested the Core's order to kill Marcy immediately after Lady Olivia presented her to the king. He pointed out pragmatically that they need her alive to find the box, but also protested that she was only a child. Unfortunately, that sentiment didn't last long.
    • King Andrias has shown he's willing to murder children, impales his Only Friend Marcy when she turns on him, and turns his own subject into slaves while devastating Amphibia's natural habitats for his planned invasion. What makes him finally come to his senses? Two things: When Sprig reveals that Leif never forgot about him, and advised him to not close his heart off to new friends in a letter she wrote but never sent, and when the Core made a suicidal run on Amphibia, planning to destroy the planet to reclaim the Calamity Box's powers. Leif ended up being right all along that using the Box would lead to the moon crashing into their home. Andrias realized that planetary genocide of his own people is not what he wants, and to atone for not listening to Leif, he sends the last of his robot forces to help the girls fight the Core, and severs his connection to Aldrich.
  • Evolving Credits: The Season 2 intro changes their sequence where it shows Anne and Sasha fighting with swords while Marcy is depicted with the Calamity Box in the background. The outro has Anne looking at the night sky while Hop Pop drives the fwagon.
    • Season 3's intro changes to the show:
      • Anne and the Plantars are transported to Earth.
      • The Plantars adapting to life on Earth and characters that become friends with them.
      • The citizens of Wartwood becoming a rebellion led by Sasha against the Newtopian Empire.
      • Marcy is put in a recovery tank, followed by Andrias and the Core.
      • An army of robots could invade Earth.
      • Anne using her Super Mode to take them down.
      • Later on, the tank portion is replaced with Marcy being possessed by the Core (dubbed Darcy).
  • Fantastic Voyage Plot: "Mother of Olms", where the Calamity Trio have to go inside Mother Olm's skull to apply a cream to her brain to help job her memory. No shrinking required here, as Mother Olm is so enormous. Sasha is really grossed out by the whole thing, especially when they have to exit Mother Olm's body by being sneezed out.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • Season One
      • Anne's eyes glow blue in the pilot when she rescues Sprig from a giant mantis. Season two reveals that it's an aftereffect of her using the box; the girls absorbed the Gem's powers.
    • Season Two
      • Valeriana tells Anne, "We have been waiting for someone like you for such a long time." Anne is confused but attributes it to Valeriana being quirky. Turns out that Valeriana was referring to herself and the Cosmic Guardian, who has been looking for a replacement.
    • Season Three
  • A Form You Are Comfortable With:
    • "All In" has the Core attempt to convince Marcy's mind to willingly meld with theirs by appearing in the form of wise guardians while giving her all the puzzles and quests that she wants. Aldrich shows his true form when Marcy resists, sensing something is wrong.
    • "The Hardest Thing" shows the guardian first trying to do this by appearing as a 90s computer. Anne tells the Guardian they're two decades out of date. The Guardian then changes into a version of Domino that can talk. Anne finds this preferable, though she learns that this kitty doesn't want to be snuggled.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: Anne's eyes flash blue during certain high-intensity moments. There are also instances where Marcy's shine green and Sasha's red.
  • Funny Animals: All the civilized natives of Amphibia are anthropomorphic frogs, toads, and newts.
  • Grail in the Garbage: Anne, Marcy, and Sasha initially find the Calamity Box in a Thrift Store. Exactly how it wound up there is never explained.
  • Grail Quest: Season two has Anne, Marcy and Sasha navigate to three temples to recharge the Calamity Box gems. To do so, the temples contain tests and puzzles that seek them to look inward. Marcy, for example, has to know when to fold on a dangerous game, Anne has to face her past mistakes, and Sasha has to persist against insurmountable odds. With that said, the tests don't necessarily make the girls grow as people: Sasha still plans to launch a coup against Andrias, Marcy is still keeping it a secret that she got her friends stranded in Amphibia on purpose. That and Valeriana had a suspicion that Anne would need to keep her powers to face Andrias and the Core, testing if she was a worthy replacement for the Cosmic Guardian.
  • The Heart: Anne would never consider herself as this at the beginning of the series. She thinks that she's a selfish bratty teenager that sneaks out to have fun without thinking of the consequences. Yet thanks to her influence, Sprig gains the courage to talk to his crush Ivy, Hop Pop dances for Sylvia Sundew while winning her heart, Mayor Toadstool pulls a confirmed Heel Face Turn in season two when refusing to leave Wartwood for a promotion, and cleans up the local restaurant out of pure kindness. In "Anne of the Year," this trope is discussed; Hop Pop and the town said they didn't nominate Anne for Frog of the Year because she's perfect, but because of how much joy that she has brought to their lives.
  • Heel Face Turn: Mayor Toadstool, Captain Grime and King Andrias start as antagonists; all are eventually redeemed, though it takes Andrias the longest. The only major villain who seems completely irredeemable is Andrias' jerk of a father, King Aldrich.
  • Hollywood Healing: In the Marcy Theme Song Takeover short, Marcy says she was so overjoyed to find herself in the fantasy world she always dreamed of that she fell down a long flight of stairs and broke her leg. Lucky for her, Newtopia offered free universal healthcare. (This is confirmed in a flashback in "All In", showing her leg in a cast the first time she meets Andreas).Having said that, had she truly broken her leg it seems unlikely she could have done the heroic accomplishments she mentions in the rest of the short, plus all the things she spoke of in the actual show, especially since she had only been there three months by the time she and Anne reconnected.
  • Humans Are Ugly: In the pilot, Anne's attempts to ask Wally for help send him off screaming, claiming that a monster tried attacking him. He leads an angry mob in the town. When Sprig meets Anne, after she set snare traps to protect herself, he at first alls her "beast". Later, however, after she saves him from a giant mantis, he calls her an "ugly hero". Even after Anne proves that she's not a monster, the town still calls her the "scarecrow".
  • Large and In Charge: Mayor Froderick Toadstool is the largest resident of Wartwood Swamp, the town where most of season 1 takes place; justified, as he is a toad while most other residents are frogs. However, the king of Amphibia as a whole is King Andrias Leviathan, who towers over any of his subjects, clearly the biggest non-monster character on the show as of the end of season 2.
  • Lima Syndrome: Sasha's experience after being captured by Captain Grime was... well, maybe Sasha herself can summarize it better. While this may seem to overlap with Stockholm Syndrome, by the way, it does not; it took a long time before Sasha actually started to care enough about Grime and his men to regard them as anything other than tools.
  • Machiavelli Was Wrong: Initially, Grime had a Machiavellian method of leading his troops, and they were a mess. Sasha manages to convince him that this Trope is better, and it does make his troops more efficient and competent. Of course, Sasha never says a leader has to be sincere when respecting his men, as she initially only does this to manipulate them.
    • Also, the Core is so full of overconfidence and hubris it believes Earth will be an Easily-Conquered World. It doesn't quite go as planned.
  • The Man Behind The Man: This show lives on this Trope:
    • Mayor Frodrick Toadstool was the first antagonist, the greedy and corrupt mayor of Wartwood, but he was mostly penny-ante as a villain.
    • Later, it seemed Captain Grime was the higher-ranking antagonist, with Sasha on-track to be a Dragon with an Agenda.
    • Still later (in the “True Colors” Wham! Episode) it seemed King Andrias was the true villain, though even before that, it seemed Andrias was being supported by a thing that lived in his palace’s dungeons.
    • The “thing” turned out to be the Core, the true Big Bad. A computer Mind Hive of all of Amphibia’s former rulers that had been plotting invasion and conquest of Earth for over a millennia.
  • Mecha Mook: Andrias' army are Magitech Mooks!
  • My God, What Have I Done?:
    • Anne has this reaction for many moments throughout the seasons when her ideas or stubbornness get the Plantars into trouble or mortal danger. She spends the end of the episode apologizing when that happens and making up for her mistake. In fact, this is why she turns down the Cosmic Guardian's offer to become the new Guardian; Anne points out that shes' done good, but has made so many mistakes.
    • Sasha goes through an extended version of this in season three when kicking herself over prioritizing Grime's invasion over rebuilding her friendship with Anne and Marcy. If she hadn't done that, she could have stopped Andrias's hostile plans and saved Marcy from being impaled. Grime has to tell her to stop beating herself up, she's no good to anyone in Heroic BSOD.
    • In season three, the Core's illusion eyes reveal that Marcy has been deeply ashamed of herself and guilty about stranding Anne and Sasha in Amphibia, as well as trusting Andrias. It summons her worst fear from her subconscious: Anne and Sasha calling Marcy out for her selfishness and saying that they can't be friends anymore after what she did. Unlike with the Grubhogs being a childhood phobia for Yunan, Marcy starts crying and admitting that what she did was "dumb". She gives them a proper apology in the series finale, after Sasha saves her from the Core and Anne comes to check on her, which they accept because they were more worried about her well-being after the Core possessed her for months and understand she didn't want any of this to happen.
    • Andrias has two of them in the series finale. First is when Sprig reveals that he found a letter to Andrias from Leif, which was in his family's basement. Leif wrote a farewell letter, apologizing to her best friend for betraying his trust to save Earth and Amphibia from the future she saw, and begging him to not close his heart to others because of her. It hits Andrias that Leif was never using him, that he sent away Barrel in a fit of pain, and he nearly murdered Leif's great-great-great-grandchildren. On top of that, his pain motivated him to hurt Marcy, his Only Friend in the present, and deliver her to the Core. Then "The Hardest Thing" happens, and he sees the Core activating the moon as a giant superweapon, to wipe out all life on Amphibia. Leif's vision comes to life, and Andrias realizes belatedly that the vision was about the Core causing a suicidal run out of pure spite. He warns Anne and the Resistance about this, and stands up to his father for the first time ever by sending robots to help the girls fight the Core..
  • OOC Is Serious Business:
    • When Sprig as the impulsive one of the PLantars is advocating caution on approaching a sign saying "DANGER" or actually following instructions? That means things are about to get serious.
    • Likewise, if sweet Blood Knight Polly is scared, to the point that she's running from a fight, that means the threat is real. "Night at the Inn" shows this prominently where she has to face her fears of being alone in the dark to rescue her family, including Anne.
    • Anne gets suspicious when the normally controlling Sasha is ceding authority of the Resistance to her after she and the Plantars return to Amphibia. She asks if this is another mind game since Anne's lack of experience is endangering the small recon team. Sasha tearfully reveals that she hasn't forgiven herself for choosing power over her friends in the previous season, and is worried she'll mess up the bond that she and Anne are tentatively rebuilding.
    • Grime spent seasons one and two hating Anne's guts, putting on a mere veneer of civility when they have to spend time together, because she's a rival for Sasha's friendship, a bit of a rebel to the Toad Regime, and a thorn in his side. The series finale has him sobbing over Anne's remains when she sacrifices her life to save Amphibia. He then joins in the Group Hug when the Cosmic Guardian restores Anne to life, in a new body to boot.
    • Likewise, Grime and Sasha try to remain professional when putting on their game faces for official military business. They both burst into tears when saying goodbye before Sasha returns to Earth, with Grime's Inelegant Blubbering being even louder than hers because he says he's never had a friend like her. Sasha also begs him to find Percy and Braddock, to apologize on her behalf now that she won't ever get the opportunity. She reveals she hasn't forgotten how she endangered them recklessly.
  • Ordinary High School Student: Well, The three human girls (Anne Boonchuy, Sasha Waybright, and Marcy Wu) are ordinary middle school students.
  • Organic Technology: Amphibia's technology consists of plants that act as appliances, such as mushrooms that can shine light through bioluminescence.
  • Out of Character Alert: This is what alerts Marcy in the series finale that the fantasy world that she's in isn't real; when she expresses the wish for her friends to go with her on the quest that the Core provides, the Core summons versions of Anne and Sasha that agree to do everything Marcy wants. They also speak in unison. Marcy takes a moment. One flashback showed Sasha outright saying she's not interested in Marcy's favorite movie, while Anne started a pillow fight to distract from Sasha's insensitivity. They also fell asleep way before the end credits. Also, Marcy knows that Sasha and Anne are mad at her for getting them stranded in Amphibia so they would never agree to go on another adventure like that. She rejects this world, saying it's not real and these aren't her friends.
  • Perspective Flip: Season one starts with the typical Trapped in Another World, season 2 expanding it with Sasha and Marcie trapped with her; Season three, however, starts with Anne escaping back to Earth, having to take the Planter family with her, resulting in them trapped in our world for several episodes.
  • The Power of Friendship: A major point plot of the whole series. Not only is this what helps the heroes survive, it is what convinces Andrias to switch sides, a never-delivered love letter from a childhood crush he believed a traitor making him see the light and distract the Core long enough for Sasha to Cut the Juice on it.
  • Predecessor Villain:
    • Ragnar the Wretched; little is known about him, but seeing as General Yunan will never let you forget she is the one who defeated him, he must have been one bad amphibian.
    • Zigzagged with King Aldrich, Adrias’ father and predecessor. He was certainly rotten, but as part of the Core, his influence isn’t quite gone.
  • Properly Paranoid: It's revealed that when Leif became Lily Plantar, she was the one who started the tradition of strict rules to go with farming and lifestyle, to the point that every matriarch and patriarch in the Plantar family rules with an iron fist. Given the lore, it's hinted that she wrote about the Calamity Box in Hop-Pop's book with all the warnings. But why was Leif so paranoid? She wanted her descendants to keep their heads down and hide their roots from Andrias because Andrias would never forgive her for the betrayal. From Leif's perspective, if the Calamity Box ever returned to Amphibia, and the Olms warned her that it was possible, it would cause the disaster that she saw in her vision.
  • Reality Ensues:
    • Anne falls in love with a caterpillar that resembles her cat Domino, luring it to the Plantars' house with a cat toy. She finds out belatedly that while Domino II loves her, she is still a wild animal, who wrecks the basement and eventually endangers the Plantars. As Anne sweeps the basement after shooing a grown Domino II back into the wild, she laments that she ought to have realized you can't take a wild animal home and expect it to work out.
    • Spending six months in Amphibia and having no access to modern hygiene facilities results in Anne needing extensive dental work when she gets home. As her mother puts it, "Seven cavities, plus lots of cricket legs between her teeth."
    • Likewise, while Anne's grades were not the best before she ended up in Amphibia, she ends up super behind on her schoolwork after returning home. Her mother tries to help her catch up by sending her to the museum to work on a science report.
    • Towards the end of season three, Anne hopes that Andrias's campaigns and invasions will motivate the frogs, newts, and toads to work together. She points out that Grime and Sprig learned to work out their differences for a greater good. Hop Pop, before things go to hell, wisely points out that not everyone will work towards self-preservation. Grudges run long and hard between the species. Sure enough, despite Anne's numerous attempts at team building between the three armies, she only gets them to listen when activating her Blue Super Mode and reminding them about the high stakes.
  • The Reveal: Quite a few in each season:
    • Season One
      • "Anne vs. Wild": Hop Pop finds out that the box that transported Anne to Amphibia is called a Calamity Box. One of his books illustrates it, with plenty of warnings about how dangerous it war.
      • "Hop Popular": Toads rule the valley through unfair elections. While a frog can technically run against a toad, it's unheard of and Toadstool is scared what Toad Tower will do to him if he loses.
    • Season Two
      • Amphibia is a monarchy, and Andrias is the newt ruler.
      • The Calamity Box didn't work because the gems lost their charge when transporting the girls to Amphibia.
    • Season Three
      • Leif was the first Plantar. After stealing the Calamity Box and hiding it on Earth, she used its power one last time to return to Amphibia and settle down in Wartwood. She changed her name to Lily Producer, shortening it to Plantar over time. That's why Andrias reacted so negatively to Sprig's fighting spirit and tried to kill him; Sprig subconsciously reminded him of his dear friend who betrayed him. Andrias himself has a breakdown when Sprig reveals Leif's final letter to Andrias, falling over on realizing he nearly murdered Leif's descendants.
  • Sadistic Choice:
    • Both Anne and her parents suffer this in "Escape to Amphibia". They know she needs to go back to face Andrias, and she hopes stop the invasion of Earth before he can unleash his robot army. But to do that, they have to separate again, and this time Anne may not come back for a long time, or ever if she gets killed. If Anne stays while the Plantars go, she'll be waiting for the inevitable invasion. Anne starts crying about it when the reality hits her, but her parents put on a brave face. They tell her that they love her, and trust her to make the right decision, complete with packing her backpack full of supplies that they think she will need. It's only after Anne and the Plantars go through the portal that the parents lay into Mr. X for chasing down their daughter and houseguests, showing they were actually terrifed.
    • In the past, Leif faced this choice about Earth's invasion when she got a vision that if the invasion happened, the moon would crash into Amphibia. She tried to do the reasonable thing and warn King Aldrich about her vision, saying they needed to halt Earth's invasion until they learned more about what she saw. When Aldrich refused to listen to her and Andrias said that the invasion had to go on as planned because it's his duty, Leif made the hard choice to steal the box and run from the palace with a Moss Man. She knew that it would mean certain death if she were caught, and exile if she succeeded. Caught in the middle, she went to the Olms for advice, who told her to hide the box on Earth. Leif's final letter had her admit that it was one of the hardest choices she ever made because she never wanted to betray her best friend.
    • In the same episode, Andrias himself faced a similar one: either listen to Leif and defy his father, or go on with the invasion as planned. He told Leif that even if he believes her, he still has to carry out his royal duties, the way that Barrel has to defend the castle and she has to tend to the Moss Men. Aldrich trusts him with this responsibility, and one day he will have to rule the kingdom so he has to make hard choices for what he believes is the greater good. He only learned later that what Leif saw was the Core preparing to destroy Amphibia out of spite. Andrias angrily admits in the series finale to Aldrich and the Core, long after Leif and Barrel have passed on, that he ought to have stood up to them a long time ago and makes up for lost time by helping the girls fend off the moon.
  • Ship Tease: From the way that Leif's final letter is written and how Andrias bursts into tears upon hearing that she never forgot him, they seemed to be much closer than normal friends. In fact, Leif mentioned how hard it was to "open her heart" before she found another frog and had a family.
  • Schizo-Tech: Most of the Amphibian technology would be around that of medieval times. Later on, it is revealed that ancient ruins were actually robot factories. Newtopia was even revealed to be a Flying Fortress where they used the Calamity Box to invade other dimensions for their resources until it was stolen.
  • Secret Test of Character:
    • Each of the temples has one for those that hold the Gem's power. Marcy has to learn when to not sacrifice her friends for a win, Sasha persists to protect everyone out of sheer stubbornness, and Anne faces her flaws readily, accepting them when Valeriana tests her.
    • According to the Cosmic Guardian, the Calamity Box is this, in their quest to find a successor. It can give you the power to travel worlds, to explore them, and make them better. Or... you can use the box's power for selfish reasons, to exploit other planets or drag along others with you that don't want to travel. The secret power is if you use all the gems' for a super-form, but sacrifice your life doing so, meaning you would either be a fanatic or prepared to make a Heroic Sacrifice. As the Guardian explains, Anne was the only being in 10,000 years that made such a sacrifice, all the while knowing the consequences. Leif didn't pass the test all those years ago because she didn't have to sacrifice her life to save the planet or use the box, only her former way of living. That and she didn't really solve the problem, only delayed it by a few millennia.
  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: This is practically a Running Gag in the series and a motif:
    • Part of the reason why Sasha is so controlling is that she's worried Anne and Marcy would otherwise have no reason to hang out with her. Her actions in "Reunion" cause Anne to stand up to her when Sasha nearly stabs Sprig, and in "True Colors" Anne outright disowns her as a best friend. Fortunately, the three truly reconcile by the end of season three, when Anne sees that Sasha has protected the Wartwood residents with her life, and Sasha fights Darcy to save her best friend, as well as Earth.
    • Hop Pop buries the music box after Anne and Sprig try to seek answers at an underground market, fearing that revealing it will endanger his family. Only problem? He considers Anne part of that family. When she finds out in "After the Rain" that he lied to her and buried it in the backyard, and it went missing, Anne calls him out and actually goes back to the cave in the woods because in her mind, he prioritized his own fears over her quest to return home. Sprig and Polly proceed to endanger themselves getting the box back from the magpie beetles. Yes, this is lampshaded, and the next episode has Hop Pop and Anne acting awkward around each other because she needs time to forgive him.
    • Marcy convinced Sasha to make Anne shoplift the Calamity Box because she thought traveling to other worlds would mean they would stay friends. When Andrias callously reveals the truth in "True Colors", Anne and Sasha are horrified with her. Granted, Anne tries to protect her, and shouts at her to get into the portal when seeing Andrias is behind her. Sasha is more conflicted, talking with Anne in "The Beginning of the End" that she still feels betrayed by how Marcy used them for indulging in a fantasy. Fighting Darcy helps work out some of her frustrations about how she and Marcy enabled each otehr's selfishness.
    • A more ambiguous one with Leif. The box gave her a vision that if the invasion of Earth happened, the moon would turn red and crash into Amphibia. She sought an audience with the King, begging him to stop using the box until they learned more about the vision. He dismissed her and warned Andrias that Leif was using him for her benefit since he would be king soon. Leif ran away with the box, seeking the Olms for advice. This ended up saving Earth for a few thousand years, but the series finale shows the moon turning red and heading towards Amphibia just as Anne and the Amphibian residents are celebrating the end of the war. A captive and injured Andrias becomes horrified, as he recognizes it as the Core's last stand; the Core has turned the moon into a giant superweapon, to wipe amphibian life out of pure spite at being defeated. And why did the Core make this suicidal last stand? Because Leif hiding the box on Earth set the circumstances for Anne and her friends to find it, and help the humans stop the invasion.
  • Series Goal: Anne is trying to reunite with Sasha and Marcy while finding a way home. In season 3, her goal then changes to going back to Amphibia after returning to Earth to bring back her friends while stopping the Newtopian Empire's invasion.
  • Shared Universe: In If You Give A Frog A Cookie, one of Dr. Frake's photos is a blurred image of The Owl House. There is also the season 2 finale of Owl House shows an article featuring Anne Boonchuy on Camila's tablet.
  • Shipper on Deck: Anne loves romance, where she even obsesses over Sprig and Ivy being together.
  • Sissy Villain: Mr. X; "Villain" might be stretching the definition (he's sort of an Inspector Javert-type of antagonist) but he clearly fits the "sissy" part, with his lavender suit complete with purple lipstick.
  • Title-Only Opening: This happens in episodes that have plot development, are drama-heavy, or both.
  • Trapped in Another World: The three human girls are trapped in Amphibia due to the music box. Each one is sent to different locations: Anne near Wartwood, Sasha taken prisoner of Toad Tower, and Marcy in Newtopia.
    • In season 3, the Plantars are sent to Earth with Anne without Marcy and Sasha as they try to find a way back to Amphibia.
  • Wham! Episode: Two words, "True Colors."
  • Whole Plot Reference:
    • The series makes loving homages of Fushigi Yuugi, a story where two best friends end up in a magical world and become mortal enemies after enemy factions find them. Their school uniforms also become indicators of their connection to their homes, and fundamental goodness, much as how Miaka's uniform connected her to Yui until they switched places by accident in the real world and in the book. Anne sticks to her St. Catherine's uniform while traveling throughout Amphibia, while Sasha trades it in for Grime's toad armor, and Marcy wears the Newtopian guard colors. In the end, despite all the girls making more than their fair share of mistakes and realizing belatedly that they empowered the Big Bad they pull through, save the world, and return home wiser.
    • The series finale combines plot points from the Sailor Moon manga and anime. As with the Silver Crystal, the gems kill Anne after she uses their power to protect all of Amphibia. She then meets the Cosmic Guardian, who takes Domino's like Luna, and offers Anne a job as the new guardian. Anne declines, much as Usagi did in the first manga arc to rebuild the Moon Kingdom because she is just a teen and not ready to handle that much responsibility. Much as in the Sailor Moon anime, Anne is restored to life and prepares to live it properly on Earth.
  • You Killed My Father: The giant cybernetic herons that Andrias uses for the invasion are the beasts who killed Sprig and Polly’s parents; Hop Pop somberly says he’d recognize them anywhere, and Sprig still has nightmares of the terrible screeching they made. The mere sight of them terrifies the Planters so much they are unable to fight them… Until, that is, it seems likely Anne’s parents are going to be next. Cue the Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
  1. Technically that is called "vivisection", by the way.