Tales of Arcadia

A Netflix exclusive saga, animated by DreamWorks Animation and written by Guillermo del Toro, Tales of Arcadia focuses on the many strange going-ons of the little Californian town of Arcadia, Oaks.

The trilogy's shows are:

• Trollhunters (2016-2018)
• 3Below (2018-2019)
• Wizards (2020)

After Wizards aired, a Netflix original movie, Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, was announced as the Grand Finale of the saga, released in July 2021.

Tropes used in Tales of Arcadia include:

• Adaptation Expansion: Trollhunters was originally a novel by del Toro which was broadly adapted into the first show but you can be sure that there were no aliens and wizards in the book.
• Blue Is Heroic: All the shows play this very straight.
• City of Adventure: Arcadia Oaks.
• Conveniently Empty Building: Arcadia has quite a lack of people moving about the streets whenever there's something strange going on.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Jim, Claire, and Blinky in 3Below. It normally wouldn't be worth noting, since it's not their show, but AAARRRGGHH!!! and Toby become main characters in Part 2 of 3Below.
  • Toby, Krel and AAARRRGGHH!!! then have very little to do in Wizards.
  • All of the 3Below cast in Rise of the Titans.
• Earth Is the Center of the Universe
• Interspecies Romance:
  • Barbara Lake and Walter Strickler in Trollhunters, the latter being a Changeling.
  • Jim/Claire starts out as two human teens in love but Merlin makes Jim half-Troll. As Claire is still committed to the relationship, this trope fits perfectly before Wizards sees Jim become fully human once again.
  • 3Below has two Human/Akiridion romances. Steve/Aja and Varvatos Vex/Nancy.
• Ironic Name: Arcadia is, functionally, a synonym for utopian farmlands. Arcadia Oaks is an urbanized Crapsaccharine World full of monsters, magic, and aliens.
• Muggles Do It Better: Across both shows, the magic users seem fascinated by human technology with Usurna noting that the destructive potential of human weapons make the Troll ones look like toys and Blinky being fascinated by cars.
• Puny Earthlings: Despite the above, there isn't much that humans can do against Trolls or aliens.
• Science Fantasy: Features both magic and aliens.
• Simultaneous Arcs: Part 1 of 3Below takes place at the same time as Part 3 of Trollhunters.
• Two-Teacher School: Arcadia Oaks has only three (formerly four but Strickler resigned) teachers. Coach Lawrence, Ms. Janeth, and Señor Uhl.
• Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World: The first two shows feature the leads balancing their social lives with saving the world.
• World of Ham: In Arcadia, you have to shout to be heard.