Atomic Puppet - TV Tropes

Although a tongue-in-cheek action-comedy first and foremost, Atomic Puppet isn't above showing its characters struggle with their emotions from time to time, especially when it comes to Captain Atomic's difficulty with accepting his transformation into AP.

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• Joey and Pauline's friendship falling apart in the Bad Future presented in "Hero's Holiday". The fact it ties very neatly with AP telling Joey that "friendships don't last forever" also suggests this was one of the events that led to Joey becoming a Vigilante Man.
  • AP's bitterness over being turned into a sock puppet rears its ugly head when he learns Commander Cavalier decided to take over Captain Atomic's tradition of putting on the Santa suit.

  AP: And I guess it never crossed your mind to maybe alter it to fit me?! You guys know that being Super Secret Santa's my thing! Well forget it! Who needs you?! Have fun at your stupid party! (destroys the cake and knocks down the Christmas tree)
  Joey: AP, stop it! Just come back and-
  AP: What? Act like everything's just like the old days?
  Joey: Of course not. But we can still have fun.
  AP: One day, when you get a little older, you're gonna realize friendships don't last forever. You grow up, things change, and-Oh, what's the point? Go enjoy the party. I'm just going to kill some time in my old quarters.

  • When the Hero of Holidays Past, Present, and Future shows AP the impact of his actions, we see in the past how he treated Mookie and the Hero calls him out for being overly hard on his sidekick. Given the ending reveal that the Hero was actually a manifestation of his subconscious, it seems that AP deep down regrets how he treated Mookie.
    • Mookie gets a special mention. Unlike other flashbacks of his time as Captain Atomic's sidekick, he was shown trying to be helpful and actually did a pretty good job except for the single mistake of sending Captain Atomic's Secret Santa costume to the dry cleaner when he needed it that night. Captain Atomic flips out at him over that one small error, and Mookie seems hurt by his reaction. It seems Mookie, at some point, did actually want to be a good sidekick to Captain Atomic, but the Captain's overly critical attitude towards his sidekick ultimately led to Mookie's disgruntlement and betrayal.
• In "Worm Boy", AP is furious about Joey's new powers because it means they can no longer become Atomic Puppet. However, when Joey leaves, AP shows his true colors, glumly saying "I can't believe he really went without me." The guy's a lot more sensitive than he lets on.
• AP's fears of being judged by his old friends in "Justice Alliance".

  AP: You don't understand, Joey. I was Captain Atomic! Those guys looked up to me!

• Joey and AP's discussion in "The Big Shift" about Phil's little rant about Captain Atomic shows how much it hurts AP when he finally faces the fact that the citizens of Mega City believe he abandoned them. Captain Atomic may be a Smug Super, but he really did care for Mega City.

  AP: He's right though. Where is Captain Atomic? Is he on a cruise? Did he join the circus? No one knows. But you know what they do know? He's definitely not here protecting Mega City! (slumps over)
  Joey: But you are! And you have been this whole time!
  AP: Nobody knows that, Joey. They think I just up and took off on them. (gets up) When they unveil our statue, that's it. The Search for Captain Atomic is over, along with any chance of the people ever knowing the truth.

  • In Part 2, AP faces an ever harder truth - he simply has too much pride to tell Mega City what really happened to Captain Atomic.

  Joey: What aren't you getting? If we go on TV and tell the world what really happened, then what?
  AP: Then everyone will know the truth!
  Joey: Exactly! And what is the truth, AP?...
  AP: (sighs; sounding defeated) He turned me... into a puppet.

• In "Bucket List", AP admits to Joey that he wanted to travel through time to warn his past self about being transformed into a puppet by Mookie.

  AP: Look Joey, if you could tell your past self to avoid becoming something you didn't want to be, would you do it?
  Joey: Yeah... but I was hoping you started to like being Atomic Puppet...

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