One of the most powerful elements of Dexter's Laboratory is its razor-sharp cultural sense and its versatility in finding ways to incorporate the many cultural elements which inspire the characters. Dexter is another of the recent archetypical "geek heroes" who, despite their social ineptness, still manage to find a way to succeed.

Dexter's Laboratory advanced the geek hero genre by allowing the characters to actually advance within the plot, ending up in a different place than where they started. This is a relatively new convention in animation particularly. Most less recent shows would activate the "great reset" prior to completing an episode, while Dexter's Lab, like many others, would allow an episode to end sometimes quite a distance from where it started. This makes the show similar to story-arc animated shows for its character advancement.

One need look no further than the show's insistence on incorporating "mechs" similar to those found in numerous science fiction anime series like Macross and Martian Successor Nadesico.