The S.W.I.P.E. Team/Tropes

The S.W.I.P.E. Team is a CGI-animated television series on Nickelodeon developed by George Evelyn and Denis Morella, both of whom previously created Higglytown Heroes and Sheriff Callie's Wild West for Playhouse Disney/Disney Junior. It is a spin-off of Dora the Explorer, and the third one in the franchise after Go, Diego, Go! and Dora and Friends: Into the City!. It premiered on Nickelodeon from September 9, 2019 to April 30, 2021, adding up to 2 seasons and 52 full-length episodes. The series takes inspiration from cartoons such as Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers and T.U.F.F. Puppy.

In this incarnation of the Dora franchise, Swiper the fox, once known for trying to purloin from Dora and Boots during their adventures, is now the leader of the titular super spy organization, S.W.I.P.E., which stands for Spies Working In Perfect Efficiency. Aided by his fellow teammates, Percy the Persian cat, Gizzy the raccoon and Fray the barn owl, Swiper and his team go around their hometown of Blueberry Hills confronting an assortment of baddies, with the three most prominent ones being Kodiak the James Bond villain-esque bear, Professor Algae the mad scientist alligator and Frostbite the cold-obsessed walrus.

Tropes

 * Actionized Adaptation: Whereas the original series was primarily about traveling from one place to another, this one is focused more on threatening villains, science and spy fiction and action sequences.
 * Actor Allusion: Atticus Shaffer once again voices a bird with strong eyesight who works as part of a team.
 * Adaptational Badass: Swiper's grandmother in this series initially starts off as her usual kindly, doting self depicted in Dora the Explorer (most specifically, her sole physical appearance in "Swiper's Favorite Things"), but later reveals that she's a retired super spy who briefly comes out of her retirement just this once to help the team foil Kodiak's latest plan. To put the icing on the cake, she's even visibly unhappy with Kodiak making fun of her grandson and proceeds to confront him about it.
 * Adaptational Heroism: In the original Dora the Explorer series, Swiper was an antagonistic thief whose entire character revolved around trying to swipe random items from Dora and Boots, though he had several nicer moments here and there to prove he wasn't completely heartless. This series makes Swiper a full-on hero who leads the titular team and fights bad guys with them. In addition to that, his "swiping" now refers to his role of scavenging and/or recovering lost items during missions.
 * Adorable Evil Minions: They may be a rabbit and a squirrel respectively, two animals you normally wouldn't expect to be antagonistic, but Buck and Scurry are still willing to serve Kodiak, help him with his diabolical plans and confront the S.W.I.P.E. team in an attempt to stop them from interfering with their boss's schemes. To a lesser extent, there's also a duo of silent penguins who are the henchmen of Frostbite.
 * A.I. Is a Crapshoot: In "Good Bot, Bad Bot", Kodiak secretly steals a robot that Gizzy is working on, sabotages its programming to make it hostile and sics it on the S.W.I.P.E. agents in an attempt to defeat them.
 * All-CGI Cartoon: The first installment in the Dora franchise to be such, later followed up by the 2023 Dora reboot on Paramount+.
 * Alternate Continuity: Confirmed by the crew to take place in one, which explains the absence of Dora and Swiper now being a complete good guy.
 * Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: A grandparent variation with Swiper's grandmother, who unintentionally embarrasses her grandson by treating him as if he was still a child, garnering a few chuckles from Percy, Gizzy and Fray. Kodiak even gets in on the fun, but not in a good way, as once he learns about Swiper's grandmother, he exploits this to sadistic degrees by calling the fox a "granny's boy" to humiliate him.
 * Animate Inanimate Object: In "Frostbite's Abominable Snowmen", Frostbite creates several snowmen that start off lifeless and are later brought to life by his new invention, after which they then go out into Blueberry Hills at his request and terrorize the townspeople.
 * Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Pork Chop is a villain who uses his kung fu skills to wreak havoc in Blueberry Hills, and said skills are so quick and unpredictable he actually defeats the S.W.I.P.E. team... that is, until they learn the art of kung fu themselves and face him a second time.
 * Art Attacker: Le Painter, one of the many villains opposing the heroes, attacks by tossing paint balls.
 * Bears Are Bad News:
 * The main villain of the series is a brown bear named Kodiak who regularly schemes to cause trouble in Blueberry Hills or even try to take control over it.
 * One of the minor bad guys faced by the team is a panda called Pyro Panda, whose fire-based suit allows him to blast fire from his hands and set things ablaze because he can.
 * Big Bad: The three main villains of the show are Kodiak, Professor Algae and Frostbite.
 * The Big Race: In "Ready, Set, S.W.I.P.E.!", the S.W.I.P.E. agents participate in Blueberry Hills' annual racing derby, but they are joined by Chester Quick, who is driving a race car that's able to move as fast as he is and even contains several gadgets designed to help him cheat during the race.
 * Bumbling Henchmen Duo: Buck the rabbit and Scurry the squirrel, Kodiak's minions.
 * The Bus Came Back: "Grandma Fox Comes to Visit" sees the return of Swiper's grandmother, who last appeared in "Swiper's Favorite Things" from the original series, and prior to that, she was mentioned twice in "A Letter for Swiper" and "Swiper the Explorer".
 * Canon Foreigner: Swiper, and later his grandmother, are the only characters from Dora the Explorer to appear; the rest of the characters are new ones created specifically for the series.
 * Cats Are Mean: Averted with Percy the Persian cat and Officer Valerie the mountain lion, but played straight with Chester Quick the cheetah.
 * Catchphrase:
 * Swiper:
 * "Oh, man!", just like in the original series, although while he said it in the former whenever he was discouraged from swiping by Dora and Boots, he now says it here whenever things go awry during missions.
 * "No need to worry, no need to gripe! Hear it from us, you can count on S.W.I.P.E.!"
 * "Not so fast/hold it/stop right there, (name of villain)!"
 * Percy: "Holy hairballs!"
 * Gizzy: "Goodness gizmos!"
 * Fray:
 * "Well, I'll be feathered!"
 * "I'm alright!"
 * Cats Hate Water: Percy, being a cat, naturally expresses this in "One Wet Mission", which gets in the way of the team's mission for the day.
 * Clone Army: Frostbite clones his penguin minions several times to create one in "Mr. Frostbite's Penguins" with the help of Professor Algae's newly-invented cloning machine.
 * Colony Drop: In "The Iceteroid Cometh", Frostbite creates the titular object in outer space with his Iceinator H2O and lets it fall from space to Blueberry Hills, calling the S.W.I.P.E. team into action to stop it.
 * Con Man: The aptly-named Con-dor, who, in his first appearance, went around Blueberry Hills tricking the poor citizens into giving him their valuables and money.
 * Cool Key: The key to Blueberry Hills, which Mayor Flattail awards to the S.W.I.P.E. team, is the MacGuffin of "A Key Crisis", as Kodiak's minions steal it out of nowhere and bring it to their boss in an attempt to allow him to take over the town, prompting the agents to spring into action.
 * Cunning Like a Fox: Let's just say that Swiper does a really good job at leading the S.W.I.P.E. agents in their missions.
 * Darker and Edgier: Not as extreme as most examples of the trope, but compared to Dora the Explorer, The S.W.I.P.E. Team contains aspects you normally wouldn't expect from the franchise, such as villains who pose a legitimate threat to our heroes and even come close to trying to kill them, intense action sequences (though no physical violence is seen), more perilous storylines and higher stakes. It's about as dark as PAW Patrol can get.
 * Denser and Wackier: Again, not as much as many examples, but this series has a slightly more pronounced emphasis on comedy than Dora the Explorer, with the most prominent being the running gags with Fray and the antics of Buck and Scurry.
 * Distressed Dude: Mayor Flattail and Swiper are abducted by Kodiak in "Kodiak for Mayor" and "Swiper's Been Swiped!", respectively.
 * Donut Mess with a Cop: When they're not going after the mundane criminals in Blueberry Hills, officers Gifford and Valerie can be seen snacking on donuts.
 * Egg-Laying Male: The male albatross villain, Awful-tross, can somehow lay eggs which he weaponizes against the S.W.I.P.E. team.
 * Enemy Mine: "Hench-Masters" sees Kodiak reluctantly teaming up with the S.W.I.P.E. agents to stop an intelligently-boosted Buck and Scurry from terrorizing Blueberry Hills and bring them back to normal after feeding them an intelligence-granting chemical brewed by Gizzy.
 * Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: The villain of "Kung Fox" is a pig named Pork Chop who easily outdoes the S.W.I.P.E. agents with his lightning-quick kung fu skills. To defeat him, the team decides to learn kung fu themselves, and despite a few foibles here and there, they come back to face Pork Chop again, this time armed with some impressive kung fu skills.
 * Evil Chef: In "A Recipe for Domination", Kodiak creates a stew compelling its consumers to bow to its creator and enters it into Blueberry Hills' stew competition disguised as a chef called "Chef McGrizzly". He lets every member in the audience have a free taste, causing them to succumb to the effects and antagonize the agents and Mayor Flattail at his request.
 * Evil Laugh: Kodiak, Professor Algae and Frostbite all engage in this as per villain tradition. Kodiak in particular has a unique-sounding cackle that sounds a bit like a bear's grunting.
 * Expy:
 * Kodiak is basically an ursine version of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, though he has a few elements from other James Bond villains incorporated into his character as well.
 * Frostbite is partially based on Tuskerninni from Darkwing Duck, as both are villainous walruses who have penguins as minions, though while Tuskerninni's schemes involve filmmaking and he had three penguin minions, Frostbite's were more winter and ice-themed and he had only two penguin henchmen.
 * Eyepatch of Power: A villainous example with Professor Algae, who wears an eyepatch over his right eye.
 * Fake Interactivity: Notably eschewed unlike the other Dora installments.
 * The Family That Slays Together: Awful-tross' family in "Awful-tross Lays Egg-ain" is just as mean as he is and is willing to help him spread his crimes across Blueberry Hills.
 * Feathered Fiend: Awful-tross, one of the several villains faced by S.W.I.P.E., is an antagonistic albatross who attacks the heroes with his laid eggs. When he reappears in "Awful-tross Lays Egg-ain", he's joined by his family, who are as every bit as unpleasant as he is.
 * Foul Flower: The Skunkflowers planted by Stinker Belle in the almost identically-named episode "Foul Flowers" emit a smelly odor capable of causing regular flowers to wilt.
 * Fragile Speedster: Chester Quick, being a cheetah, is able to outrun the S.W.I.P.E. agents using his super speed and agility, though once he is actually caught and restrained, he rather easily accepts defeat.
 * Frame-Up: The entire premise of "A Foxy Frame-Up", involving Professor Algae inventing robots in the likeness of the S.W.I.P.E. agents and sending them out to spread mayhem and crime across Blueberry Hills in order to ruin the reputation of the real team.
 * French Jerk: Le Painter, one of the team's enemies in their rogues gallery, is a poodle hailing from France whose crime spree involves vandalizing buildings by painting all sorts of artistic designs on them.
 * Fun With Acronyms: S.W.I.P.E. stands for Spies Working In Perfect Efficiency.
 * Gadgeteer Genius: Gizzy the raccoon helps the S.W.I.P.E. team by inventing a plethora of gizmos and machines, most of which are crucial to their missions.
 * Grand Finale: "The Triple Threat" sees Kodiak, Professor Algae and Frostbite band together to defeat S.W.I.P.E. for good and take over Blueberry Hills, prompting our heroes to go up against the trio of villains one last time and save Blueberry Hills.
 * Hairball Humor: He doesn't actually cough out any, but Percy tends to express surprise with his catchphrase, "Holy hairballs!".
 * Humongous Mecha: In "The Giant Gizmo Gator", Professor Algae invents one in his likeness that he uses to stomp around Blueberry Hills and cause mayhem. Since it is too strong for the S.W.I.P.E. agents to defeat normally, Gizzy counters this by building a Swiper-shaped mecha back at the headquarters to fight Algae with.
 * Injured Limb Episode: In "Break a Wing", Fray crash-lands and ends up breaking his wing in the process, and as a result is told by Swiper to stay at the headquarters to wait for his wing to recover; he is temporarily taken over by a robot butterfly invented by Gizzy who serves the same function as he does.
 * Jerkass to One: Kodiak is openly hostile towards all four members of S.W.I.P.E. and everyone in Blueberry Hills in general, but he especially exhibits a very special hatred of Swiper, frequently calling him a troublesome fox and exclusively cursing him once he and his team foil his plans.
 * The Leader: Swiper.
 * Mad Artist: Le Painter is a very talented artist who unfortunately uses his skills to criminal ends, covering the buildings of Blueberry Hills in works of art.
 * Mad Scientist: Professor Algae.
 * Mama Bear: As Kodiak learned the hard way in "Grandma Fox Comes to Visit", making fun of Swiper in front of his grandmother will get you on her bad side.
 * Minion with an F in Evil: Ignacio, the iguana minion of Professor Algae. He's undyingly loyal to Algae and is willing to assist him with his evil plots, but he's also genuinely worried about what might potentially happen if he goes through with them and even acts more cordially and politely to our heroes than his boss does.
 * Mythology Gag:
 * Swiper retains his signature "Oh, man!" catchphrase from the original series.
 * Blueberry Hills, the series' main location and the hometown of the characters, is named after Swiper's residence from the original series.
 * While Dora is nowhere to be found in the series, physically or otherwise, her family name does show up as the name of Blueberry Hills' local Marquez Museum.
 * In "Break a Wing", Gizzy invents the same robot butterfly built by Swiper in the Dora the Explorer episode "Dora's Got a Puppy", though here it is now programmed to do Fray's role in the team, as he has broken a wing in another one of his crash-landings.
 * Never Mess with Granny: Grandma Fox may still be the loving grandparent Swiper has known, but (in this continuity, at least) she is also a retired super spy who can still dish out some serious action when she goes out of her way to assist the S.W.I.P.E. agents.
 * Never Smile at a Crocodile: Professor Algae, one of S.W.I.P.E.'s three main arch-nemesis, is an American alligator and an evil genius who frequently terrorizes Blueberry Hills with his malevolent inventions.
 * Noble Wolf: Officer Gifford is a wolf who is one of the two police officers in Blueberry Hills.
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: Ignacio's voice sounds unmistakably similar to Peter Lorre's.
 * Number Two: Percy acts as one to Swiper, jotting down notes that might be vital to the team and coming up with another strategy for when the team's main one fails.
 * Polar Bears and Penguins: Frostbite is frequently accompanied by his duo of penguin henchmen. Neither walruses nor penguins co-exist in real life as they live on different poles.
 * Police Are Useless: Subverted with officers Gifford and Valerie, who are competent at stopping mundane crimes in Blueberry Hills; it's just the evil plans of the villains that are too much for them to handle and are taken care of by S.W.I.P.E. instead.
 * Proj-egg-tile: Awful-tross' main method of attack is firing eggs out of his cloaca.
 * Psycho Poodle: Le Painter is an antagonistic poodle painter who attempts to paint every building in Blueberry Hills in his first appearance.
 * Robot Me: The main antagonists of "A Foxy Frame-Up", besides Professor Algae himself, are robotic doppelgangers of Swiper, Percy, Gizzy and Fray programmed to do the complete opposite of the real team (i.e. cause mayhem and crime in Blueberry Hills).
 * Rodents of Unusual Size: "When Guinea Pigs Fly" involves Professor Algae rounding up the guinea pigs in Blueberry Hills and using his Merge-O-Matic 9000 to merge them into one mammoth-sized guinea pig that later runs amok in the town.
 * Rogues Gallery: The titular team's three main arch-nemesis are Kodiak, Professor Algae and Frostbite, and on the lesser side of the rogues' gallery, there's also Chester Quick, Con-dor, Awful-tross, Stinker Belle, Le Painter and Pork Chop.
 * Running Gag: Whenever Fray first appears onscreen, he will almost always bump into objects or even crash-land, after which he will then exclaim, "I'm alright!".
 * Scary Stinging Swarm: Kodiak's evil plan in the series premiere is to unleash a swarm of robotic bees upon the helpless citizens of Blueberry Hills.
 * Shout-Out:
 * Stinker Belle's name is a blatant spoof of the Peter Pan character Tinker Bell.
 * The title of "The Iceteroid Cometh" is a reference to the Eugene O'Neill play The Iceman Cometh.
 * The title of "Mr. Frostbite's Penguins" is a reference to the children's book Mr. Popper's Penguins.
 * Sinister Swine: Pork Chop is a villainous pig who commits crimes in Blueberry Hills using his kung fu abilities.
 * Smelly Skunk: Stinker Belle, one of the many minor bad guys the S.W.I.P.E. team faces, though she doesn't spray like a real skunk does, she spreads stink through other manual ways. In "The Big Stink", she goes around Blueberry Hills dropping harmless bombs that release a malodorous gas upon exploding, and in "Foul Flowers", she plants special flowers called Skunkflowers around the town that possess a foul musk powerful enough to kill regular flowers.
 * The Starscream: After consuming Gizzy's Smartypants Serum in "Hench-Masters", Buck and Scurry, now with not just boosted intelligence but evilness, betray Kodiak and start plotting a scheme against Blueberry Hills for themselves.
 * Stink Bomb: Stinker Belle's arsenal in "The Big Stink".
 * Stock Animal Diet:
 * Percy is often seen making salmon sandwiches which he then digs into.
 * Kodiak's scheme in "The Honey Thief" is, you've guessed it, stealing honey from the apiaries of Blueberry Farms.
 * Sudden Intelligence: In "Hench-Masters", Buck and Scurry become intelligent after Kodiak feeds them Gizzy's Smartypants Serum, which he stole from the S.W.I.P.E. headquarters. Unfortunately, their evil tendencies also increase to the point that they overthrow Kodiak and enact a scheme to cause trouble in Blueberry Hills for themselves.
 * Super Speed: Chester Quick moves so fast that the S.W.I.P.E. agents must rely on a new invention by Gizzy to catch him.
 * Take Over the City: Kodiak's primary goal in the series, next to merely stirring up trouble, is to dominate Blueberry Hills.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Percy is really fond of salmon sandwiches.
 * Tricked-Out Gloves: Swiper's gloves now have the ability to let him see through walls for hidden objects like an X-ray when he presses his hands against them.
 * Villain Team-Up:
 * In "Mr Frostbite's Penguins", Frostbite enlists the help of Professor Algae to invent a cloning machine in his scheme to terrorize Blueberry Hills with a penguin army made from his henchmen.
 * "The Triple Threat", the finale of the series, involves Kodiak, Professor Algae and Frostbite teaming up to defeat the S.W.I.P.E. team after one too many defeats at their hands.
 * What the Hell Is That Accent?: Professor Algae speaks in a rather strange and unique accent that could only be described as half-Russian and half-German.
 * Wily Walrus: S.W.I.P.E.'s third main arch-nemesis is a walrus named Frostbite who incorporates winter and/or ice elements in his schemes.
 * World of Funny Animals: Unlike the other series in the Dora franchise, this series is entirely comprised of anthropomorphic animal characters with no humans, even Dora herself, in sight.
 * Wrench Wench: Gizzy.