History Awesome / ThreeHundred

** When Leonidas is contemplating kicking the messenger and his pals down the well, he first turns to Gorgo as if asking for permission, who silently nods, giving him the OK to do it. ''Then'' he commences said kicking. Even though he's a badass monarch, he makes sure his wife and queen approves of it as well.

* Leonidas' fight with the [[TheBrute Uber Immortal]].

* When the 300 are first assembled before Leonidas, Stelios is the first of them to speak out his loyalty to the coming fight.

* "Madness? This! Is! SPARTA!"

-->'''King Leonidas''': Persians! Come and get them!

* '''This! Is! SPARTA!!'''
** Which, despite the MemeticMutation surrounding it, isn't anywhere near [[ThreeHundred Leonidas']] Crowning Moment Of Awesome. The fight against the GiantMook and his response when the Persians demand that they drop their weapons are both arguably superior.
-->'''King Leonidas''': ''Persians. Come and take them!''
*** ...which is TruthInTelevision and OlderThanFeudalism. Famously, in real life Xerxes offered to make Leonidas king of all Greece if he would join him. Leonidas replied that it was better to die for Greece than to rule over it. Xerxes then ordered the Greeks to surrender their arms, to which Leonidas replied ''molon labe'' (the original Greek of "Come and take them"). That is the motto of more than one modern-day Greek army unit, including I Army Corps.
*** It says something when a phrase keeps being badass for more than 2000 years.
-->"Our arrows will blot out the sun!"
-->"Then we'll fight in the shade." Motto of the 20th Armored Division of the Greek Army.
** Again, according to the Greeks it is TruthInTelevision. There's a reason we remember them. Unfortunately, all other crowning moments of awesome pale in comparison to what they supposedly did back then.
*** This becomes a ReverseFunnyAneurysm later when the Persians fire a [[RainOfArrows massive cloud of arrows]]. The Spartans' response? Take cover in the ''shade'' of their shields.
** There's also:
-->"Spartans! Ready your breakfast and eat hearty, for TONIGHT! WE DINE! IN HELL!"
*** All of them are TruthInTelevision. Yes, even kicking the messengers into a pit. Truth. In. Television. Herodotus has the Spartans doing all of that in his epic ''The Histories''. The Spartans: '''Actually that awesome'''.
*** The Persians asked for earth and water, symbolic of submission to the Persian King. Athens and Sparta threw the emissaries into a [[ExactWords pit and a well]] respectively, suggesting that they dig it out for themselves. That might be one case where real life is more badass than fiction.
*** "Molon labe" (the original Greek for "Come and get them!") is the motto of more than one Greek army unit and many gun-rights groups worldwide.
*** Rich Burlew was actually surprised that [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0425.html this strip]] was [[OlderThanTheyThink considered a reference to]] ''300''.
** Even Queen Gorgo gets one, stabbing the corrupt senator ([[ScarpiaUltimatum who forced her to have sex with him]]) right in the middle of the senate floor. Then as she pulls the sword out, it slices open his money bag, revealing loads of Persian coins from the bribes he was taking. To that, the ''whole senate'' got their awesome moment examining the money and all, from young to old, start yelling "'''Traitor!'''"
--> [[IronicEcho "This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this.]] I am not your Queen!"
** Also, when Leonidas threw the spear at Xerxes. The very act of hitting in the face an emperor who considered himself a god, ''making him bleed'', and humiliating him before his entire army gave Leonidas a first-class ticket to Elysium.
** That was also a fulfilling of the promise "The world will know [...] before this battle is over, [...] that even a God-King can bleed."
** Leonidas managed FOUR in one conversation:
--> '''Xerxes:''' "There is much our cultures can share."
--> '''Leonidas:''' "Haven't you noticed? We've been [[YouShallNotPass sharing]] [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy our]] [[BadassArmy culture]] with [[{{Mooks}} you]] all morning."

--> '''Xerxes:''' "Imagine what horrible fate awaits my enemies when I would kill any of my own men for victory."
--> '''Leonidas:''' "And I would die for any one of mine."

--> '''Xerxes:''' "Consider the fate of your women."
--> '''Leonidas:''' "Clearly, you don't know our women. I might as well've marched them up here, judging by what I've seen."

--> '''Xerxes:''' "[...]if you will but kneel at mine."
--> '''Leonidas:''' "[...]but the idea of kneeling... you see, slaughtering all those men of yours left a nasty cramp in my leg, so kneeling will be hard for me"
** Stelios and Astanos fighting off the Persians [[BackToBackBadasses back-to-back]]; ''[[OneManArmy forty-two]]'' dead Persians in that two-minute ownage scene.
* This one:
--> '''Leonidas:''' "Give them nothing! but take from them '''everything!'''"
** ''This is where we fight! This is where '''they''' die!''
* The scene with the other Greeks, when Leonidas explains what his 300-man army can contribute to the Greek force, composed mainly of draftees:
--> '''Leonidas:''' Spartans! WHAT? IS YOUR? PROFESSION?

--> '''Leonidas:''' You see, old friend, I brought more soldiers than you did.
* Even though the Persians took the pass eventually, they lost around 20,000 soldiers to an army of about 5,000, led by 300 Spartans. Cut to a few months later, when the Persians faced an army comprising, among others, ''10,000 Spartans''. Many a Persian soldier knew what it was like to lose bowel control that day.
** Heck, Dilios (already having gotten a mini-moment for his MajorInjuryUnderreaction earlier) gets a BadassBoast on behalf of the entire army, some fifty thousand soldiers cheering behind him all the while pushing him into a full-fledged MomentOfAwesome.
--> '''Dilios:''' The enemy outnumbers us a ''paltry'' three to one! [[ILikeThoseOdds Good odds for ANY Greek!]]

-->'''Dilios''': Give thanks, men! To Leonidas, and the brave 300! '''''TO VICTORY!'''''
* Xerxes' messenger becomes indignant that Leonidas' wife talks freely among men, and asks why she feels she has the right. Her response?
--> "Because only Spartan women can give birth to real men."

** Heck, Dilios (already having gotten a mini-moment for his MajorInjuryUnderreaction earlier) gets a BadassBoast on behalf of the entire army, some fifty thousand soldiers cheering behind him all the while pushing him into a full-fledged CMoA.

*** This becomes a ReverseFunnyAneurysm later when the Persians fire a [[MoreDakka massive cloud of arrows]]. The Spartans' response? Take cover in the ''shade'' of their shields.

*** ...which is TruthInTelevision and OlderThanFeudalism. Famously, in real life Xerxes offered to make Leonidas king of all Greece if he would join him. Leonidas replied that it was better to die for Greece than to rule over it. Xerxes then ordered the Greeks to surrender their arms, to which Leonidas replied ''molon labe'' (the original Greek of "Come and take them"). That is the motto of more than one modern-day Greek army unit.

-->"Then we'll fight in the shade."

** Which, despite the MemeticMutation surrounding it, isn't anywhere near [[ThreeHundred Leonidas']] Crowning Moment Of Awesome. The fight against the GiantMook and his response when the Persians demand that they drop their weapons are both ([[SubjectiveTropes arguably]]) superior.

** Also, when Leonidas threw the spear at Xerxes. The very act of hitting in the face an emperor who considered himself a god, ''making him bleed'', and humiliating him before his entire army gave Leonidas a first-class ticket to Valhalla.
*** Presuming the above ''meant'' to say [[SadlyMythtaken Valhalla]] instead of ''Elysium'', I don't doubt that the 300 Spartans would easily have a ''hell'' of a time fighting undead Vikings for all of eternity. They'd probably get on like a house on fire.

** Stelios and Astanos fighting off the Persians [[BackToBackBadasses back-to-back]]. This troper personally counted ''[[OneManArmy forty-two]]'' dead Persians in that two-minute ownage scene.

* Even though the Persians took the pass eventually, they lost around 20,000 soldiers to an army of about 5,000, led by 300 Spartans. Cut to a few months later, when the Persians faced an army comprising, among others, ''[[OhCrap 10,000 Spartans]]''. Many a Persian soldier knew what it was like to lose bowel control that day.

*** Actually, the Athenians did the same thing to ''their'' heralds with just as much defiance.

*** Presuming that reference was actually meant to say ''[[SadlyMythtaken Valhalla]]'' instead of ''Elysium'', I don't doubt that the 300 Spartans would easily have a ''hell'' of a time fighting undead Vikings for all of eternity. They'd probably get on like a house on fire.

*** Presuming that was meant to be ''[[SadlyMythtaken Valhalla]]'', I don't doubt that the 300 Spartans would easily have a ''hell'' of a time fighting undead Vikings for all of eternity. They'd get on like a house on fire.

*** That was also a fulfilling of the promise "The world will know [...] before this battle is over, [...] that even a God-King can bleed."

**

-->"Spartans! Ready your breakfast, and eat hearty, for TONIGHT! WE DINE! IN HELL!"

** Even Queen Gorgo gets one, stabbing the corrupt senator (who forced her to have sex with him) right in the middle of the senate floor. Then as she pulls the sword out, it slices open his money bag, revealing loads of Persian coins from the bribes he was taking. To that, the ''whole senate'' got their awesome moment examining the money and all, from young to old, start yelling "'''Traitor!'''"
*** [[IronicEcho "This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this.]] I am not your Queen!"

* '''ThisIsSPARTA!'''

** This troper particularly liked:

** [[Tropers/{{Muse}} This Troper]] will admit that when she saw this in theaters with her uncles and this line came up, she squealed in a totally undignified fangirl manner.
*** Again, according to the Greeks it is TruthInTelevision. There's a reason we remember them. Unfortunately, all other crowning moments of awesome pale in comparison to what they supposedly did back then.

**** The Persians asked for earth and water, symbolic of submission to the Persian King. Athens and Sparta threw the emissaries into a [[ExactWords pit and a well]] respectively, suggesting that they dig it out for themselves.
**** That might be one case where real life is more badass than fiction. This troper remembers the same one-liner from history class.

** My personal favorite:
--> ''This is where we fight! This is where '''they''' die!''
* This troper's particular favourite was the scene with the other Greeks, when Leonidas explains what his 300-man army can contribute to the Greek force, composed mainly of draftees:

* And don't forget the end: Even though the Persians took the pass eventually, they lost around 20,000 soldiers to an army of about 5,000, led by 300 Spartans. Cut to a few months later, when the Persians faced an army comprising, among others, ''[[OhCrap 10,000 Spartans]]''. Many a Persian soldier knew what it was like to lose bowel control that day, I can tell you.
** This troper doesn't remember the 5000 soldiers. Isn't that confusing the RealLife to the action Movie?. What this troper remembered where [[OneManArmy 300]] Spartans [[WeakButSkilled making]] a World Tour slaughtering for several days, each taking around a 100 soldiers with them and some other [[RedShirtArmy Greeks]] screaming in one of the Ambush... Then ''[[OhCrap 10,000 Spartans]]'' rolling against a three to one Army. That was beautiful.
-->"The enemy outnumber us a paltry three to one...[[IlikeThoseOdds good odds for any Greek!]] This day we rescue a world from mysticism and tyranny and usher in a future brighter than anything we can imagine!"
* So, what you're saying is that most of the movie's lines are a CrowningMomentOfAwesome. I sympathize, completely.
** Not just the lines. The Whole. Goddamn. Movie.
** That's why we make graphic novels and movies about this battle, more than 2000 years after it took place. To celebrate the extreme awesomeness.
*** It's from an entirely different movie altogether, but it fits this movie so well:
-->''[[ConanTheBarbarian No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that today, two stood against many. That's what's important!]]''

--> "Because only Spartan women can give birth to Spartan men."

* Xerxes' messenger becomes indignant that Leonidas' wife feels free to talk among men, and asks why she feels she has the right. Her response?

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