Ryan & Beth/Tropes

Ryan & Beth is an animated series created by Xavier Mosley, which follows the titular character and his obnoxious best friend living normal everyday lives and go to high school together.

Tropes
Beth: (watching TV) Hey, maybe I should be on that show. Ryan: (sarcastically) You are on that show. Beth: I am?! Ryan: No! Beth: Aw.
 * Abusive Parents: Beth's father fits this trope as her mother is more "abrasive".
 * Acrofatic: Despite her girth, Beth's able to do a flip and fight.
 * Adorkable: Beth.
 * Animation Bump: The show first used Rough Draft Studios to animate the first season, then Sugarcube takes its place in the second season.
 * Annoying Laugh: Ryan's laugh is more hysterical and sounds like he's loosing his sanity. His VA/creator based his laugh off Captain Underpants' laugh from Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie.
 * Back in the Saddle: Beth helps Roseanne date again in the episode "Double Date".
 * Berserk Button: Ryan most of the time raises his voice at Beth for whatever shenanigan it is.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Beth will sometimes threaten to hurt Ryan to get her way and have her fair share of acting selfish.
 * Big Beautiful Woman: Even though she's not that attractive in-universe, Beth takes the cake with the fandom.
 * Big Eater:
 * Maria is usually this.
 * Ryan becomes one in "Bye Bye, Big Beth" to spite Beth who starts losing weight.
 * Big Fun: Beth's a friendly cuddly one to be with.
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Eve at the series finale.
 * Blatant Lies: Ryan will occasionally lie to Beth in a sarcastic or deadpan way.
 * Brains and Brawn: Ryan and Beth, respectively.
 * Brilliant, but Lazy: Ryan may be smarter than Beth, as well as have priorities. But all in all, he's your average slacker.
 * Brutal Honesty: Ryan and Roseanne are the only ones that give it.
 * Butt-Monkey: Ryan. He's usually crushed by Beth's hugs and tends to receive the best of his backlash which bites him back.
 * Catch-Phrase: In most episodes, Beth goes "Heh?" when she nudges Ryan.
 * Christmas Episode: "Ryan's First Christmas".
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Beth, can you blame her?
 * Comically Missing the Point: Beth, at times.
 * Comic Trio: Ryan, Beth and Maria, mostly.
 * Freudian Trio: The Id/Beth, the Ego/Ryan, and the Superego/Maria.
 * Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Respectively Beth, Ryan and Maria.
 * Curse Cut Short: This happens to Ryan in almost every episode.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Ryan.
 * Determinator: Ryan. Beth fits in this trope as well.
 * Did Not Get the Girl:
 * Beth was rejected by exchange student Jacob Malvin in "New Student".
 * Ryan breaks up with Eve in the series finale after realizing she wanted him only for his father's inheritance.
 * Diet Episode: "Bye-Bye, Big Beth."
 * Distracted by the Sexy:
 * Ryan can't resist the look of his crush Eve van Hellen.
 * Beth gets turned on when Ryan's shirtless.
 * Does This Make Me Look Fat?: Beth asks Ryan this question in three episodes.
 * Don't Explain the Joke: Beth does this whenever Ryan doesn't respond to her jokes or that she'd told a joke that doesn't make sense.
 * Everyone Has Standards: Even though Ryan's lazy and selfish, he's not one that enjoys anyone making a mess in his house when he throws a party.
 * Fat and Skinny: Beth and Ryan, respectively.
 * Fat Best Friend: Ryan's annoying roommate Beth.
 * Fat Girl: Beth.
 * Formerly Fat: Maria was once overweight like Beth when working at a family restaurant.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: The show tends to do a few innuendo jokes from episode-to-episode.
 * Genki Girl: Beth definitely qualifies.
 * Hartman Hips: Maria has quite a pair. This is downplayed with Eve.
 * Heavy Voice: Ryan's voice gets deep when he puts on weight in "Bye Bye, Big Beth".
 * High School: Ryan and Beth attend their soon-to-be named high school.
 * Hypocritical Humor: Beth's prone to this.
 * Improbable Age: Beth may be a teenager, but has the personality of a little girl.
 * Insomnia Episode: "Night Time Walk" has Ryan staying up to prevent Beth from sleepwalking at night.
 * Jerkass: Even though Ryan's selfish, his rival Terry Martin is a huge one.
 * Jerk Jock: Terry. See Jerkass above.
 * Jerk With A Heart of Gold: Ryan, obviously.
 * Large Ham: Ryan tends to yell and scream in most episodes. His laugh also counts for it.
 * Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Done in "Never Say Uncle".
 * Love Triangle: This happens between Beth, Ryan, Eve at the end of "Graduation After Party" when Ryan kisses his girl of his dreams Eve. Beth encounters it before she could tell him her feelings. This trope ends in the series finale.
 * Malaproper: Beth is this.
 * Manipulative Bastard: Ryan for the win.
 * My Beloved Smother: Beth's mother. She greets her with hugs and documents her life through a photo album.
 * Narcissist: Ryan doesn't like it when his hair's messed up.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Invoked by Beth, and mostly Ryan.
 * Oh, Crap!: Whenever Ryan gets himself in a situation he can't get out of, or whenever he realizes what he had done.
 * Oh, God, What Have I Done?: Beth does this a bunch while Ryan gets a fair share. See Oh, Crap! above.
 * Only Sane Man: Ryan, to the oblivious, perky, narrow-minded Beth.
 * Pass the Popcorn: Happens in school episodes whenever there's a fight between the main characters or with them and someone else.
 * Popping Buttons: In "Bye Bye, Big Beth", the button on Ryan's pants flies across the school cafeteria after his huge belly couldn't stay detained, due to his junk food spree causing him to become so obese.
 * Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: A good way to describe Ryan and Beth's dynamic.

Ryan: Go ahead. You're just gonna feel guilty after this. That's all you are: You're soft. You're weak! You care about me. You never will stand up for yourself. [she lets him go from her grip] Yeah, that's what I'd thought. Beth: Why? I'll tell you why. It's because you're the most selfish, mean, self-centered person I've ever met in my life. Throughout my life living with you, I'd expected you to show a little empathy, but no. You treated me as know-nothing know it all, as your foil, as your only person you can call names at! And I took it. I took it like a failure. You're always nice to everybody, but not me. No matter how many times you cheer me up, the next week, you go back to being selfish. And I wanted to stand up to your condescending-ness, but I didn't. Because I stayed loyal to you. Maybe someday you'll change, but until then, I don't think we should see each other anymore. [as Beth leaves, Ryan looks on after listening to her] Ryan: Do you always have to wear a shirt over your dress at times? Beth: Eh. It's a fashion statement to me. [beat, deadpan] Also, I can't afford another dress.
 * Shout-Out: The show does a few references to other media from Paramount.
 * At the beginning of "Never Say Uncle", the theme song from The Brady Bunch is heard on Ryan and Beth's TV.
 * In "Ryan's Date with Destiny", the Mission: Impossible theme plays during Ryan's attempt to put his love letter in Eve's locker.
 * In the "Double Date" episode, Roseanne's date asks the titular characters if they've traveled the world, whereas Beth claims that they've traveled to "Space. The final frontier...", in which Ryan retorts that was from Star Trek.
 * In a subplot of the episode "Bad Hair Day", Ryan searches for a new jacket in place for his old one that was ruined. The first jacket he finds is a leather jacket. When trying it on in the fitting room, he quips, "I don't wanna look like Fonzie."
 * <p itemprop="headline" class="entry-title">Slice of Life: Very down-to-earth and has episode plots focused on everyday problems.
 * <p itemprop="headline" class="entry-title">Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Beth seems to take in more screentime than Ryan in most episodes. And you'd expect the creator's character to hog it.
 * Stylistic Self-Parody: The looks of the characters resemble what its main universe characters look like.
 * Temporary Bulk Change: This happens to Ryan once in "Bye-Bye, Big Beth" and twice with Beth in "New Student" and the aforementioned "Bye-Bye, Big Beth".
 * The Klutz: Beth.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
 * Ryan gives one to Beth in "Put to the Limit", when she's about to punch him.
 * Beth hits Ryan with one in the series finale "The Big Chance", when the latter kicks the former out of his house.
 * Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Eve's about an extra inch taller than Ryan.
 * Took a Level in Kindness: Ryan after the series finale.
 * Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Beth's dad's with a hunch in his back, a potbelly, and is missing two teeth, while her mom is completely slim and good looking.
 * Unlimited Wardrobe: Downplayed with Beth, as she will sometimes wear a shirt over her dress. This also serves as an allusion to her VA's role as Star Butterfly.
 * Lampshaded in "Bad Hair Day".
 * Verbal Tic: Ryan addresses Beth or anybody else as "Dude", with the exception of Petirage.
 * Weight Woe: Beth will sometimes get stuck in tight spaces and have trouble seeing her feet.

Trivia

 * Actor Allusion:
 * Ryan calls Beth "Ms. Susy Q." and "princess" most of the time. Those nicknames reference Eden Sher's roles as Sue Heck from The Middle and Star Butterfly from Star vs. the Forces of Evil.
 * Eve van Hellen owns a red guitar, as does another Olivia Olson character.
 * Channel Hop: The second season aired March 18, 2024 on Disney XD.
 * Dawson Casting: The teenagers in this show are voiced by adult actors, something anyone would expect.
 * 22-year-old Xavier Mosley voices 16-year-old Ryan Ferd.
 * 31-year-old Eden Sher voices 16-year-old Beth Percy.
 * 30-year-old Olivia Olson voices 17-year-old Eve van Hellen.
 * 42-year-old T.J. Miller voices 18-year-old Jeff Jones.
 * Spiritual Successor: To The Looney Tunes Show, if you count the style of humor and having its writers Hugh Davidson and Rachel Ramras on board.
 * Those Two Actors: The show includes actors and actresses from other shows and works.
 * Tara Strong with:
 * Tom Kane on The Powerpuff Girls
 * Khary Payton on Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go!
 * Tara Strong with John DiMaggio on Chowder
 * Olivia Olson with:
 * John DiMaggio on Adventure Time
 * Tom Kane on The Powerpuff Girls (2016)
 * Fred Willard with:
 * Tom Wilson on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
 * Jennifer Coolidge on The Loud House
 * Eden Sher with Carl Weathers on Star vs. the Forces of Evil
 * Xavier Mosley with Cristina Pucelli on Millvale

YMMV

 * Ear Worm:
 * The music video shorts shown each commercial break.
 * The song playing in the Season 2 promo, They Might Be Giants' "Boss of Me" (The Malcolm in the Middle theme song)
 * Just Here for Godzilla: The only reason people would watch the show is because it has both Eden Sher and Olivia Olson.