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[[LoveItOrHateIt There are two basic reactions to this movie]]: People who hate it for being wildly historically inaccurate and starring HeathLedger, and people who love it for being ''[[RefugeInAudacity wildly]]'' historically inaccurate and starring HeathLedger. Also often cited is [[BestKnownForTheFanservice Paul Bettany's nude scenes]].
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[[LoveItOrHateIt There are two basic reactions to this movie]]: People who hate it for being wildly historically inaccurate and starring HeathLedger, and people who love it for being ''[[RefugeInAudacity wildly]]'' ''wildly'' historically inaccurate and starring HeathLedger. Also often cited is [[BestKnownForTheFanservice Paul Bettany's nude scenes]].
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* RefugeInAudacity: One way of getting around historical accuracy.
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*** The costume designer did make all the outfits from period accurate materials and using medieval techniques.
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Not a trope.
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* HeyItsThatGuy: Tons. [[TheDarkKnight The Joker]], [[{{Firefly}} Wash]], [[GameOfThrones Robert Baratheon]], and [[Film/IronMan J.A.R.V.I.S.]] all scamming the hell out of the European chivalric establishment.
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* HeyItsThatGuy: Tons. [[TheDarkKnight The Joker]], [[{{Firefly}} Wash]], [[GameOfThrones Robert Baratheon]], and [[Film/IronMan J.A.R.V.I.S.]] all scamming the hell out of the European chivalric establishment.
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* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Or, in this case, [[spoiler:Awesome Moment of {{Knighting}}]].
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* {{Knighting}}: William's eventual reward, thanks to Prince Edward.
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* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Edward the Black Prince is portrayed as a heroic and likeable individual who values William's courage and knights him despite his common birth. The ''historical'' Black Prince was well-known for conducting brutal scorched-earth campaigns that ravaged the French countryside, and to have despised and scorned the lower classes.
** The characters do mention his pillaging and burning of villages and appear very afraid to the point of immediately submitting defeat when finding out his true identity at one of the early tournaments. Edward's fondness of William despite him being lower class is motivated by William doing him two big favours earlier in the movie when he had no reason to do so, and willingly let himself be arrested instead of fleeing. He also likely did it to spite Adhemar who if not for William, would have become the World Champion.
*** They surrendered rather than facing him because wounding a royal, even in a tournament, was a big mistake. This is explicitly stated in the film.
** The characters do mention his pillaging and burning of villages and appear very afraid to the point of immediately submitting defeat when finding out his true identity at one of the early tournaments. Edward's fondness of William despite him being lower class is motivated by William doing him two big favours earlier in the movie when he had no reason to do so, and willingly let himself be arrested instead of fleeing. He also likely did it to spite Adhemar who if not for William, would have become the World Champion.
*** They surrendered rather than facing him because wounding a royal, even in a tournament, was a big mistake. This is explicitly stated in the film.
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** Ledger certainly; Tudyk in some early scenes veers between pretty convincing, slightly over the top, and WhatTheHellIsThatAccent? (Of course, given the era the film is set, none of these is any more "wrong" than the others). It's generally pretty convincing in the later scenes.
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* MarqueeAlterEgo: The most likely explanation for William removing his armor in the final battle is so we can see Heath Ledger's face.
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* MeaningfulName: William Thatcher, a Thatcher being a tradesman who makes roofs for buildings out of straw mat, in other words, most definitely not a nobleman by birth.
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** Her etching "the mark of [her] trade" (the Nike logo) into her armour, which is also received with ridicule.
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** Her etching "the mark of [her] trade" (the ([[ProductPlacement the Nike logo) logo]]) into her armour, which is also received with ridicule.
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It is, and here\'s why.
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* {{Informed Attractiveness}}: A great deal of fuss is made of Jocelyn's beauty.
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* {{Informed Attractiveness}}: A great deal of fuss is made of Jocelyn's beauty. The other female characters are just as attractive, if not more, but their beauty is not worth mentioning by the male characters.
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not part of the trope, this is not Hot Or Not.com
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* {{Informed Attractiveness}}: A great deal of fuss is made of Jocelyn's beauty, when the other female cast members are just as, if not more, attractive.
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* {{Informed Attractiveness}}: A great deal of fuss is made of Jocelyn's beauty, when the other female cast members are just as, if not more, attractive.beauty.
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* {{Informed Attractiveness}}: A great deal of fuss is made of Jocelyn's beauty, when the other female cast members are just as, if not more, attractive.
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* {{Informed Attractiveness}}: A great deal of fuss is made of Jocelyn's beauty, when the other female cast members are just as, if not more, attractive. It probably doesn't help that Jocelyn was stuck in rather unfortunate outfits and hairstyles for most of the movie.
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* HollywoodHealing: As soon as William wins the championship, he can move his arm without difficulty. And there's no mention of removing the piece of lance stuck in his shoulder, which would be very risky surgery in that age.
** His arm was never the problem, he had no trouble aiming the lance, he just couldn't grip it.
* HotBlooded: Looking at him, you wouldn't think William the type. But when he finds out that his current opponent, the man his rival Adhemar withdrew from rather than face, is Prince Edward the Black? His first response is to ''charge'' the man head-on.
** This wasn't a case of HotBlooded, though - William's reasoning was that they were NotSoDifferent, as both men wanted their station ''ignored'' so that they could simply participate in the tournaments. Charging Edward was showing the man the same level of respect that William wanted.
** His arm was never the problem, he had no trouble aiming the lance, he just couldn't grip it.
* HotBlooded: Looking at him, you wouldn't think William the type. But when he finds out that his current opponent, the man his rival Adhemar withdrew from rather than face, is Prince Edward the Black? His first response is to ''charge'' the man head-on.
** This wasn't a case of HotBlooded, though - William's reasoning was that they were NotSoDifferent, as both men wanted their station ''ignored'' so that they could simply participate in the tournaments. Charging Edward was showing the man the same level of respect that William wanted.
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* HollywoodHealing: HollywoodHealing: William gets a piece of his opponent's lance stuck in his shoulder, and he cannot hold his own lance. As soon as William wins the championship, he can move his arm without difficulty. normally, and there's no indication of injury. And there's no mention of removing the piece of lance stuck in his shoulder, which would be very risky surgery in that age.
** His arm was never the problem, he had no trouble aiming the lance, he just couldn't grip it.
* HotBlooded: Looking at him, you wouldn't think William the type. But when he finds out that his current opponent, the man his rival Adhemar withdrew from rather than face, is Prince Edward the Black? His first response is to ''charge'' the man head-on.
** This wasn't a case of HotBlooded, though - William's reasoning was that they were NotSoDifferent, as both men wanted their station ''ignored'' so that they could simply participate in the tournaments. Charging Edward was showing the man the same level of respect that William wanted.age.
** His arm was never the problem, he had no trouble aiming the lance, he just couldn't grip it.
* HotBlooded: Looking at him, you wouldn't think William the type. But when he finds out that his current opponent, the man his rival Adhemar withdrew from rather than face, is Prince Edward the Black? His first response is to ''charge'' the man head-on.
** This wasn't a case of HotBlooded, though - William's reasoning was that they were NotSoDifferent, as both men wanted their station ''ignored'' so that they could simply participate in the tournaments. Charging Edward was showing the man the same level of respect that William wanted.
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* ArcWords: A man can change his stars.
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* {{Angrish}}: [[FieryRedhead Wat]] is prone to this.
* ArcWords:A "A man can change his stars."
* ArcWords:
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** The knight that gets knocked off his horse in the opening scene of the film? That's HeathLedger's stunt double, and the entire scene is actually footage of an accident he had while filming. He was genuinely knocked unconscious.
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* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: The Black Prince pulls one of these. Nice.
* SelfProclaimedKnight: There are two. One is the classic struggling underdog, William Thatcher, the peasant who's masquerading as the knight Ulrich Von Lichtenstein, and the other is the royal in disguise, Sir Thomas Colville or Edward, the Black Prince.
* SelfProclaimedKnight: There are two. One is the classic struggling underdog, William Thatcher, the peasant who's masquerading as the knight Ulrich Von Lichtenstein, and the other is the royal in disguise, Sir Thomas Colville or Edward, the Black Prince.
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* [[spoiler: ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: The Edward, the Black Prince Prince, pulls one of these. Nice.
these while William is in the stocks, even going so far as to personally knight William himself just to allow him to compete.]]
* SelfProclaimedKnight: There are two. One is the classic struggling underdog, William Thatcher, the peasant who's masquerading as the knight Ulrich Von Lichtenstein, and the other isthe royal in disguise, [[spoiler: Sir Thomas Colville or - otherwise known as Edward, the Black Prince. Prince, jousting in disguise.]]
* SelfProclaimedKnight: There are two. One is the classic struggling underdog, William Thatcher, the peasant who's masquerading as the knight Ulrich Von Lichtenstein, and the other is
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** As noted earlier, this is a factor in Prince Edward's decision to rescue him. "Your men love you. If I knew nothing else about you, that would be enough."
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** [[spoiler: As noted earlier, this is a factor in Prince Edward's decision to rescue him. "Your men love you. If I knew nothing else about you, that would be enough.""]]
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* WarriorPrince: Prince Edward.
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* WarriorPrince: [[spoiler:WarriorPrince: Prince Edward.]]
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* WorthyOpponent: Sir Thomas Colville to William. [[spoiler: Colville is actually the Black Prince, Edward, jousting in disguise much like William is, and anyone who realizes Colville's true identity instantly withdraws rather than risk hurting the Prince. William does not withdraw - much to Edward's delight.]]
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* ChekhovsSkill: Subverted with William's swordsmanship--he's shown early on to be very good in the sword, and wins a tournament in the sport in his first go...then declares that it's Tournament Champion or nothing and he never picks another sword up for the rest of the film.
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Stars HeathLedger as William Thatcher, Paul Bettany as Creator/GeoffreyChaucer ([[InThePastEveryoneWillBeFamous yes]], [[Literature/TheCanterburyTales that one]]) and a whole bunch of people [[HeyItsThatGuy you recognise from cool stuff and kind of like]], even though they've never quite hit the big time (including cast members from ''{{Rome}}'', ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', ''TheFullMonty'', ''GameOfThrones'' and NeilGaiman's ''{{Neverwhere}}'').
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Stars HeathLedger as William Thatcher, Paul Bettany as Creator/GeoffreyChaucer ([[InThePastEveryoneWillBeFamous yes]], [[Literature/TheCanterburyTales that one]]) and a whole bunch of people [[HeyItsThatGuy you recognise from cool stuff and kind of like]], even though they've never quite hit the big time (including cast members from ''{{Rome}}'', ''Series/{{Rome}}'', ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', ''TheFullMonty'', ''GameOfThrones'' and NeilGaiman's ''{{Neverwhere}}'').
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Trope was renamed to Aloof Dark Haired Girl. I can\'t fill in the Zero Context Example myself as I haven\'t seen the movie.
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* TallDarkAndBishoujo: Jocelyn.
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* PairTheSpares: Roland often becomes a BetaCouple with Jocelyn's handmaiden Christiana in fan fics. There are several scenes in the movie in which one can see Roland and Christiana chatting happily in the background. Made explicit in a deleted scene where Chaucer's wife visits the tournament. Jocelyn and William go off together, Roland and Christiana go off together, and Wat attempts to go off with Kate but she just gives him a cookie and walks in the opposite direction.
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* PairTheSpares: Roland often becomes a BetaCouple with Jocelyn's handmaiden Christiana in fan fics. There are several scenes in the movie in which one can see Roland and Christiana chatting happily in the background. Made explicit in a deleted scene where Chaucer's wife visits the tournament. Jocelyn and William go off together, Roland and Christiana go off together, and Wat attempts to go off with Kate but she just gives him a cookie and walks in the opposite direction. He's good. Food is his first love.
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* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Adhemar is almost always wearing black. And looking "good"!
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* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Adhemar is almost always wearing black. And looking "good"!''good''!
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* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Adhemar is almost always wearing black.
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* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Adhemar is almost always wearing black. And looking "good"!
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trivia
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* HeyItsThatGuy: As mentioned at the start, there are plenty of [[InvertedTrope inverted]] examples here. For instance, Jocelyn's adorable handmaiden? That's Bérénice Bejo, now known to American audiences thanks to her leading role in TheArtist.
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* HeyItsThatGuy: As mentioned at the start, there are plenty of [[InvertedTrope inverted]] examples here. For instance, Jocelyn's adorable handmaiden? That's Bérénice Bejo, now known to American audiences thanks to her leading role in TheArtist.
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trope names in trope lists are not supposed to be potholed
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** [[{{TheLancer}} The]] [[IncrediblyLamePun Lancer]]: Wat
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** [[{{TheLancer}} The]] [[IncrediblyLamePun Lancer]]: TheLancer: Wat
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Speculation. At any rate, nobility wouldn\'t come with any money, just a title.
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* BlatantLies: Prince Edward justifies knighting William by announcing that he's discovered Will is descended from nobility, then basically dares anyone to call him on it: "This is my word, and as such is beyond contestation."
** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the real Prince Edward could grant knighthood to anyone he wanted to without having to explain why they were granted knighthood.
** Possibly the Prince declared that Will was 'descended' from royalty rather than declaring him a peasant elevated to Knighthood because that would also grant noble status by implication to his disabled father, noble status which he would theoretically then be able to use to ease his life.
** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the real Prince Edward could grant knighthood to anyone he wanted to without having to explain why they were granted knighthood.
** Possibly the Prince declared that Will was 'descended' from royalty rather than declaring him a peasant elevated to Knighthood because that would also grant noble status by implication to his disabled father, noble status which he would theoretically then be able to use to ease his life.
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* BlatantLies: Prince Edward justifies knighting William by announcing that he's discovered Will is descended from nobility, then basically dares anyone to call him on it: "This is my word, and as such is beyond contestation."
**" [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the real Crown Prince Edward could grant knighthood to anyone he wanted to without having to explain why they were granted knighthood.
** Possibly the Prince declared that Will was 'descended' from royalty rather than declaring him a peasant elevated to Knighthood because that would also grant noble status by implication to his disabled father, noble status which he would theoretically then be able to use to ease his life.knighthood.
**
** Possibly the Prince declared that Will was 'descended' from royalty rather than declaring him a peasant elevated to Knighthood because that would also grant noble status by implication to his disabled father, noble status which he would theoretically then be able to use to ease his life.
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** Possibly the Prince declared that Will was 'descended' from royalty rather than declaring him a peasant elevated to Knighthood because that would also grant noble status by implication to his disabled father, noble status which he would theoretically then be able to use to ease his life.
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[[quoteright:345:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knights_tale.jpg]]
A sports movie about a struggling underdog who, through sheer pluck and hard effort, beats the rich and established players at their own game, gets the girl, wins the respect of the big boss and gets to humiliate his rival in front of a cheering crowd in the big final match.
Pretty standard, then. Except... oh yeah, it's set in Medieval Europe. [[TheTourney The sport is jousting]]. The struggling underdog is a peasant posing as a noble knight. The big boss is Prince Edward of Wales, aka the Black Prince.
Stars HeathLedger as William Thatcher, Paul Bettany as Creator/GeoffreyChaucer ([[InThePastEveryoneWillBeFamous yes]], [[Literature/TheCanterburyTales that one]]) and a whole bunch of people [[HeyItsThatGuy you recognise from cool stuff and kind of like]], even though they've never quite hit the big time (including cast members from ''{{Rome}}'', ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', ''TheFullMonty'', ''GameOfThrones'' and NeilGaiman's ''{{Neverwhere}}'').
A major, completely unashamed AnachronismStew. Features 14th-century courtiers dancing to DavidBowie and peasants doing the ''stomp-stomp-clap'' cadence from [[{{Queen}} We Will Rock You]] ([[ThrowItIn which was actually filmed by the second unit as a joke]], but was [[RuleOfFunny considered funny enough to use anyway]]).
[[LoveItOrHateIt There are two basic reactions to this movie]]: People who hate it for being wildly historically inaccurate and starring HeathLedger, and people who love it for being ''[[RefugeInAudacity wildly]]'' historically inaccurate and starring HeathLedger. Also often cited is [[BestKnownForTheFanservice Paul Bettany's nude scenes]].
----
!!This film contains examples of:
* AdvantageBall: Carefully minded throughout. At the beginning, Adhemar has the advantage by virtue of his greater experience, but once William finds his feet and begins to feel more confident, he begins to win easily. At the end, Chaucer's RousingSpeech gives him the edge he needs.
* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** Widows of blacksmiths and other tradesmen really did take up the job -- not just the PoliticallyCorrectHistory you may have thought ([[AnachronismStew not that it would have been out of place]]).
*** Blacksmiths paid their taxes to the local feudal lord in arrowheads instead of gold, so [[TruthInTelevision nearly all blacksmiths' wives were trained in basic smithing]] so they could make arrowheads and free up their husband to do the earning jobs.
** The real Ulrich Von Lichtenstein -- yes there was a real one! -- was a 13th c. knight who, on one occasion in his career of errantry, rode the tournament circuit in the guise of 'Queen Venus' complete with silk gown over his armor and long braids of false hair dangled beneath his helmet. He was a huge hit and the tour a massive success with a final score of three hundred broken lances without a single fall. Somebody really did [[ShownTheirWork their research]] to unearth Ulrich. That or they read the ''HorribleHistories'' book on knights.
* AnachronismStew:
** More astute viewers may notice that neither "Golden Years" nor "The Boys Are Back In Town" were written in the 14th century.
** Nor was the Millennium Eye erected in London at that time. Not even made of wood.
** Every article of clothing worn by Jocelyn, plus her hair.
** A crowd singing [[{{Queen}} "We will rock you"]].
*** WordOfGod states that the musical anachronism (as well as some of the dialogue "It's called a 'lance', ''hellooo.''") was [[TranslationConvention done intentionally]] to illustrate that people of the era thought of their music pretty much the same as modern people do of current music. No such excuse for the clothes, though; the costume designer simply though they [[RuleOfCool looked neat.]]
* ArcWords: A man can change his stars.
* AristocratsAreEvil: Adhemar, the evil rival, is Count of Anjou. On the other hand, the prince is a good guy, and the hero's friends are seen making up stories about how evil his aristocratic opponents are in order to encourage him to beat them. It works a little ''too well''.
** A count of Anjou is a pretty good choice for an evil aristocratic antagonist!
* AscendedFanboy: William, obviously.
* AudienceParticipationFailure: At one point during the filming, the Czech extras hired to play a crowd watching one of the tournaments (very few of whom actually understood English) were supposed to cheer wildly when Heath Ledger defeated his opponent. But, as most of them didn't understand Englsh, the crowd hadn't actually understood their instructions, and when the fight was over they stood there silently for almost a minute, staring at each other in confusion. When actor Mark Addy abruptly broke into wild cheering, the crowd finally got it and began to cheer as well. Director Brian Helgeland thought this was so funny [[ThrowItIn he actually kept it in the film]] and reshot some sequences before and after to make their reaction more appropriate to the story.
* AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Edward, Prince of Wales.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Or, in this case, [[spoiler:Awesome Moment of {{Knighting}}]].
* {{Badass}}: William:
--> '''Adhemar''': "How would you beat him?"
--> '''Man''': "With a stick! While he slept. But on a horse, with a lance? That man's unbeatable."
* BadassLongcoat: Chaucer and Prince Edward love wearing these.
* TheBard: Chaucer is a variant.
* BattleCry:[[spoiler:[[SayMyName WILLIIIIAAAAM]]]]
* BecomingTheMask:
--> '''William''': "No! I will not run! I AM A KNIGHT!"
* BerserkButton: Roland is initially unwilling to gamble all of their money on the Paris tournament, ignoring the taunts of the Frenchmen, until they go to far:
--> '''Frenchman''': And most importantly, because the Pope himself is French.
--> '''Roland''': ... Well the Pope may be French, but Jesus is English. You're on!
* [[BetterThanItSounds/{{Film}} Better Than It Sounds]]
* BigGame: The world championships. At which William and Adhemar are finally to meet.
* TheBlacksmith: A female one, no less, acting as a farrier and armoursmith.
* BlasphemousPraise:
-->'''Wat:''' And your love? Have you proven that yet?
-->'''William:''' Wat, you remember church as a boy. The fear, the passion. That's what she makes me feel. And for that, I say my rosary to Jocelyn and no one else.
-->'''Wat:''' William, that's blasphemous.
-->'''William:''' Then may I burn in hell.
* BlatantLies: Prince Edward justifies knighting William by announcing that he's discovered Will is descended from nobility, then basically dares anyone to call him on it: "This is my word, and as such is beyond contestation."
** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the real Prince Edward could grant knighthood to anyone he wanted to without having to explain why they were granted knighthood.
* CaliforniaDoubling: Well, the Czech Republic, actually.
* CerebusCallback: In the scene where William first arrives in London, he imagines that a young boy cheering him on is himself as a child. Later on [[spoiler:as he sits in the stocks]] the same boy runs up to him and slaps him in the face.
* TheChampion: Despite being motivated to joust for a variety of personal reasons, partway through the movie Will is ready to lose every single match he competes to prove to Jocelyn he is her true champion, putting at risk all these other goals.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Adhemar is almost always wearing black.
* ComeToGawk
* ComicallyMissingThePoint
-->'''Wat''': It's called a ''lance'', helloooooo!
* CrazyJealousGuy: Adhemar.
* CurtainClothing: "Eh...green. Um...trimmed in a kind of...pale...green...uh, wi-with, uh...wooden toggles."
* DavidVersusGoliath: A plucky peasant with an antique suit of armour versus the combined nobility of Europe and, more specifically, the undefeated champion of Europe.
* DanceSensation: Both in the opening song and the ballroom scene.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Played straight, then subverted. William is stripped of everything, put into the pillory, and humiliated for daring to rise above being a peasant squire. Then the Prince knights him anyway.
* DirtForcefield: Mostly averted, as characters appear just as dusty and dirty as they ought (and the Black Prince has a ''bad'' case of Helmet Hair when William reveals him), most of the time. Played straight, though, when Kate is shown working on the below mentioned Nike armor; a blacksmith working in her forge ought to be ''covered'' in soot, while she's just got a little bit of dust on her forehead.
* TheDulcineaEffect:
--> '''William''': I can’t. Love has given me wings, so I must fly. I can’t explain it. She makes me feel like a poet.
--> '''Roland''': You may feel like a poet... but you sound like an idiot. You don’t even know her name.
--> '''William''': Her name? Her name is Aphrodite. Calypso. Venus. Take your pick.
* FakeBrit: Australian Heath Ledger and American Alan Tudyk both put in pretty convincing performances.
** So convincing is Tudyk that he's often mistaken for being FakeAmerican; he's from Texas!
* FieryRedHead: Wat.
* FiveManBand: Very apparent in the 'Adhemar lying on his back' scene near the end.
** TheHero: William
** [[{{TheLancer}} The]] [[IncrediblyLamePun Lancer]]: Wat
** TheBigGuy and TeamDad: Roland
** TheSmartGuy: Chaucer
** TheChick: Kate
** Prince Edward can count as the gang's SixthRanger.
* ForgingScene: Kate notices that Will wears armor that wasn't made for him. She volunteers to make him some that's so light-weight he wouldn't know he was wearing it. After she is finished the knight is presented with a suit of shiny new armour.
* GrandRomanticGesture: Will purposefully loses a tilting match to prove his love (getting beat up in the process); to paraphrase Jocelyn, when Will tells her he'll win the tournament for her, "You would win the tournament anyway; if you want to prove your love, you will lose." Then, once he's taken his lumps, she sends her handmaiden to tell him if he loves her, he'll win the tournament. This does not go over well with William, or his friends.
-->'''Chaucer:''' There she is, William. The embodiment of love. Your Venus.
-->'''William:''' And how I hate her.
* HammyHerald: Geoffrey for William.
* HerosMuse: Jocelyn is the noblewoman who has never been unhorsed.
-->'''William:''' Your name, lady. I still need to hear it.
-->'''Jocelyn:''' Sir Hunter, you persist.
-->'''William:''' Perhaps angels have no names. Only beautiful faces.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Before he gets the hang of tilting, swordplay is easily William's best skill.
* HollywoodHealing: As soon as William wins the championship, he can move his arm without difficulty. And there's no mention of removing the piece of lance stuck in his shoulder, which would be very risky surgery in that age.
** His arm was never the problem, he had no trouble aiming the lance, he just couldn't grip it.
* HotBlooded: Looking at him, you wouldn't think William the type. But when he finds out that his current opponent, the man his rival Adhemar withdrew from rather than face, is Prince Edward the Black? His first response is to ''charge'' the man head-on.
** This wasn't a case of HotBlooded, though - William's reasoning was that they were NotSoDifferent, as both men wanted their station ''ignored'' so that they could simply participate in the tournaments. Charging Edward was showing the man the same level of respect that William wanted.
* HuddleShot: The CrowningMomentOfAwesome at the end, spoken by the main characters, in turn:
--> '''Watt:''' You have been weighed...
-->'''Roland:''' ...you have been measured...
-->'''Kate:''' ...and you absolutely...
-->'''Chaucer:''' ...have been found wanting.
-->'''William:''' Welcome to the new world. And may God save you, if it is right that He should do so.
* [[ICantDance I Can't Dance]]: Will, who subsequently gets lessons from Geoff and Kate
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: William wants to "change his stars" to become a knight even though he's only a peasant.
* InevitableTournament: The movie is a series of inevitable tournaments.
* InThePastEveryoneWillBeFamous: Chaucer. The Black Prince, too, but that's slightly more justified by the plot.
* {{Informed Attractiveness}}: A great deal of fuss is made of Jocelyn's beauty, when the other female cast members are just as, if not more, attractive. It probably doesn't help that Jocelyn was stuck in rather unfortunate outfits and hairstyles for most of the movie.
* IronicEcho: "You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting."
* ItWillNeverCatchOn:
** Kate invents the Bessemer Process for heating steel 400-500 years before it happened. William is initially ridiculed for wearing thin, light armor. At least until he nimbly leaps onto his horse.
** Her etching "the mark of [her] trade" (the Nike logo) into her armour, which is also received with ridicule.
* {{Jerkass}}: Adhemar, upon first meeting William, immediately insults him several times and he just gets worse from there. They seem to have even gone out of their way to make him completely utterly dislikeable.
* KingIncognito: The Black Prince. Twice, if you count the crowd scene.
* KneelBeforeFrodo: Happens when the KingIncognito gets cognito.
* KnightInShiningArmour: Duh. Just to be really old-fashioned, Adhemar wears black armour. And a scowl.
* LadiesAndGerms: One of Chaucer's introductions.
--> '''Chaucer''': My lords...my ladies... (''Chaucer bows then turns to the audience'')...and everybody else here ''not sitting on a cushion''!
* LargeHam:
--> '''Chaucer''': SIR ULLLLLLLLLLLLLRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICH VON LICHENSTEIN! ({{Beat}}, to wild applause) ''God'' I'm good!
* LikeAGodToMe:
--> '''Wat:''' And your love? Have you proven that yet?
--> '''William:''' Wat, you remember church as a boy. The fear, the passion. That’s what she makes me feel. And for that, I say my rosary to Jocelyn and no one else.
--> '''Wat:''' William, that’s blasphemous.
--> '''William:''' Then may I burn in hell.
* TheLostLenore: A rare male example of this trope being blacksmith Kate's dead husband.
* LoveMakesYouDumb: William fully understands ''this'' trope, as after making a faux pas to Jocelyn, she tells him that if he loves her, he'll lose. And so, at the beginning of the next tournament, after the flag for William's first tilt is dropped, and his opponent spurs on, the four members of the FiveManBand cheering William on...
--> Roland: "What are you doing?"
--> William: (sitting on his horse, going nowhere) "...Losing."
--> Wat: "I don't understand."
--> William: "...Neither do I." CRASH!
* MotivationalLie: At one tournament, Roland tells William that his opponent is cruel to his peasants. After an irate Will has charged off to thrash the opponent, Roland remarks that it's ''probably'' true.
* NomDeGuerre: Two of them, both due to the men in question trying to hide their identities for various reasons:
** William Thatcher styles himself as Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein, to hide the fact that he is a peasant.
** Edward, the Black Prince, goes as Sir Thomas Colville, as nobody would dare tilt with him if they knew who he ''really'' was. Notably, Edward is entirely unsuccessful in hiding his identity as word gets around quick who he is.
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Done deliberately -- Laura Fraser was apparently expecting to be asked to put on a generic English accent, as usual, and was delighted to be allowed to use her natural (sexy) Scots accent.
* NotSoDifferent: A rare complimentary fashion, Edward laments how alike he and William are.
-->'''Edward:''' What a pair we make, huh? Both trying to hide who we are, both unable to do so.
* TheObstructiveLoveInterest: Jocelyn
* TheOner: William and Jocelyn's long walk-and-talk scene in the cathedral.
* PairTheSpares: Roland often becomes a BetaCouple with Jocelyn's handmaiden Christiana in fan fics. There are several scenes in the movie in which one can see Roland and Christiana chatting happily in the background. Made explicit in a deleted scene where Chaucer's wife visits the tournament. Jocelyn and William go off together, Roland and Christiana go off together, and Wat attempts to go off with Kate but she just gives him a cookie and walks in the opposite direction.
* PeerlessLoveInterest: The peasant William falls in love with the noble lady Jocelyn.
-->'''William:''' Geoff, 'tis my lady.
-->'''Geoffrey:''' Oh, geez, william, you aim too high.
-->'''William:''' Oh, if there's another way to aim, I don't know it.
* ProductPlacement: Not that the movie got any money for it, but that trademark that Kate etches into her armor? ''A pair of upside down Nike swooshes.''
** WordOfGod states it was unintentional.
* PurelyAestheticEra
* PurpleProse: Geoffrey Chaucer's job.
* RefugeInAudacity: One way of getting around historical accuracy.
* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: William vs. Count Adhemar, though as he keeps winning tournaments, Will gets considerably less poor.
* RuleOfCool: Face it, this is pretty much the entire point of this movie. [[TropesAreNotBad Not that we're complaining...]]
* RunningGag: "Well, maybe not ''you''..."
* SayMyName: '''WILLIIIIIIIIIIIAM!'''
** Interestingly enough, William is the one who does it.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: The Black Prince pulls one of these. Nice.
* SelfProclaimedKnight: There are two. One is the classic struggling underdog, William Thatcher, the peasant who's masquerading as the knight Ulrich Von Lichtenstein, and the other is the royal in disguise, Sir Thomas Colville or Edward, the Black Prince.
* ShamingTheMob: Subverted in the theatrical cut; Chaucer, having previously demonstrated his ability to work a crowd, tries to shame the mob that gathers around William when he's in the stocks. He gets as far as three words in before the mob silences him with a volley of rotten vegetables. However, in the extended cut of the film, Chaucer succeeds in ShamingTheMob into chastened silence before Prince Edward steps in. This scene was cut to beef up Prince Edward's role.
* ShoutOut: William's choice of nom-de-guerre has a certain appropriateness (see AluminiumChristmasTrees above).
* SigilSpam: There's a deleted scene where the trio discuss their coat of arms and decide on three [[ThePhoenix phoenixes]]. The phoenix can be seen emblazoned into various clothes and other items associated with them.
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Mocked; Jocelyn, admonished for her beauty by a priest, laments it in a deadpan monotone to get him off her back.
* SpoiledSweet:
** Jocelyn is very accepting of William and company.
** She offers to live in a shack with pigs if that's what it takes to keep William un-arrested and brings his blind father to the last tournament. Seems to fit pretty well.
* TheStinger: The four non-Will members of the FiveManBand are having a [[ToiletHumour competition]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LYon31qAi8 to see who pays for drinks.]]
* StockPunishment
* TakeThat: Roland delivers one during a bet to a trio of bragging Frenchmen in a bar.
--> '''Frenchman''': And, most importantly, because the Pope, himself, is French!
--> '''Roland''': ...Well the Pope may be French, but Jesus is English. You're on!
* TallDarkAndBishoujo: Jocelyn.
* ThatPoorCat: Heard in the background during a bar fight.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: William, at one point in the movie, has to lose to all matches in the tournament to prove his love for Jocelyn, all the while [[AmusingInjuries taking loads and loads of punishment]]. See LoveMakesYouDumb for more details.
* ThrowItIn: Besides the aforementioned "We Will Rock You" opening, when Will wins his first sword match, the crowd is silent until Roland spurs them on to cheer. As it happens, the extras who composed the audience were Czech and didn't realize they were supposed to cheer when Chaucer finished his speech.
** According to DVD commentary: Jocelyn's "Oh that is lovely!" in response to a priest's gesture prompting her to kiss his ring was an adlib. "Your entrails will become your extrails" was an audition adlib that helped Alan Tudyk get the part and made it into the film.
* ThrowingTheFight: How Jocelyn tells William to prove his love.
* TiredOfRunning: "I will not run! I am a knight!"
* TheTourney: Central to the plot.
* TrainingMontage: To the tune of "Low Rider", featuring an array of increasingly-inventive lance training set-ups, with Roland and Wat taking most of the punishment from both William's initally terrible jousting skills and his all-too-good swordsmanship.
* TrappedByGamblingDebts: Geoffrey Chaucer.
* TrueCompanions:
** Will and his friends, who all stick together to the bitter end.
** As noted earlier, this is a factor in Prince Edward's decision to rescue him. "Your men love you. If I knew nothing else about you, that would be enough."
* TruthInTelevision: Blacksmiths' wives were taught smithing to produce arrowheads more often than not; a widow taking up her late husband's trade [[RealityIsUnrealistic would not have been odd at that time]].
* UnusualEuphemism: Wat's use of "fong". It's [[DVDCommentary apparently]] ye old slang for 'kick'.
* UptownGirl: William tries to get his {{Blue Blood}}ed love interest to face the realities of life with him, a destitute fugitive from the law.
--> '''William:''' Where will we live? In my hovel, with the pigs inside during the winter so they won't freeze?
--> '''Jocelyn:''' [crying] Yes, William...with the pigs.
* WanderingMinstrel: Geoff Chaucer fills this role.
* WarriorPrince: Prince Edward.
* WellDoneSonGuy: William, to an extent - his father clearly loves him, he just wanted to prove he could [[ArcWords change his stars]].
* WidescreenShot: Two riders coming at each other is just made for this.
----
A sports movie about a struggling underdog who, through sheer pluck and hard effort, beats the rich and established players at their own game, gets the girl, wins the respect of the big boss and gets to humiliate his rival in front of a cheering crowd in the big final match.
Pretty standard, then. Except... oh yeah, it's set in Medieval Europe. [[TheTourney The sport is jousting]]. The struggling underdog is a peasant posing as a noble knight. The big boss is Prince Edward of Wales, aka the Black Prince.
Stars HeathLedger as William Thatcher, Paul Bettany as Creator/GeoffreyChaucer ([[InThePastEveryoneWillBeFamous yes]], [[Literature/TheCanterburyTales that one]]) and a whole bunch of people [[HeyItsThatGuy you recognise from cool stuff and kind of like]], even though they've never quite hit the big time (including cast members from ''{{Rome}}'', ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', ''TheFullMonty'', ''GameOfThrones'' and NeilGaiman's ''{{Neverwhere}}'').
A major, completely unashamed AnachronismStew. Features 14th-century courtiers dancing to DavidBowie and peasants doing the ''stomp-stomp-clap'' cadence from [[{{Queen}} We Will Rock You]] ([[ThrowItIn which was actually filmed by the second unit as a joke]], but was [[RuleOfFunny considered funny enough to use anyway]]).
[[LoveItOrHateIt There are two basic reactions to this movie]]: People who hate it for being wildly historically inaccurate and starring HeathLedger, and people who love it for being ''[[RefugeInAudacity wildly]]'' historically inaccurate and starring HeathLedger. Also often cited is [[BestKnownForTheFanservice Paul Bettany's nude scenes]].
----
!!This film contains examples of:
* AdvantageBall: Carefully minded throughout. At the beginning, Adhemar has the advantage by virtue of his greater experience, but once William finds his feet and begins to feel more confident, he begins to win easily. At the end, Chaucer's RousingSpeech gives him the edge he needs.
* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** Widows of blacksmiths and other tradesmen really did take up the job -- not just the PoliticallyCorrectHistory you may have thought ([[AnachronismStew not that it would have been out of place]]).
*** Blacksmiths paid their taxes to the local feudal lord in arrowheads instead of gold, so [[TruthInTelevision nearly all blacksmiths' wives were trained in basic smithing]] so they could make arrowheads and free up their husband to do the earning jobs.
** The real Ulrich Von Lichtenstein -- yes there was a real one! -- was a 13th c. knight who, on one occasion in his career of errantry, rode the tournament circuit in the guise of 'Queen Venus' complete with silk gown over his armor and long braids of false hair dangled beneath his helmet. He was a huge hit and the tour a massive success with a final score of three hundred broken lances without a single fall. Somebody really did [[ShownTheirWork their research]] to unearth Ulrich. That or they read the ''HorribleHistories'' book on knights.
* AnachronismStew:
** More astute viewers may notice that neither "Golden Years" nor "The Boys Are Back In Town" were written in the 14th century.
** Nor was the Millennium Eye erected in London at that time. Not even made of wood.
** Every article of clothing worn by Jocelyn, plus her hair.
** A crowd singing [[{{Queen}} "We will rock you"]].
*** WordOfGod states that the musical anachronism (as well as some of the dialogue "It's called a 'lance', ''hellooo.''") was [[TranslationConvention done intentionally]] to illustrate that people of the era thought of their music pretty much the same as modern people do of current music. No such excuse for the clothes, though; the costume designer simply though they [[RuleOfCool looked neat.]]
* ArcWords: A man can change his stars.
* AristocratsAreEvil: Adhemar, the evil rival, is Count of Anjou. On the other hand, the prince is a good guy, and the hero's friends are seen making up stories about how evil his aristocratic opponents are in order to encourage him to beat them. It works a little ''too well''.
** A count of Anjou is a pretty good choice for an evil aristocratic antagonist!
* AscendedFanboy: William, obviously.
* AudienceParticipationFailure: At one point during the filming, the Czech extras hired to play a crowd watching one of the tournaments (very few of whom actually understood English) were supposed to cheer wildly when Heath Ledger defeated his opponent. But, as most of them didn't understand Englsh, the crowd hadn't actually understood their instructions, and when the fight was over they stood there silently for almost a minute, staring at each other in confusion. When actor Mark Addy abruptly broke into wild cheering, the crowd finally got it and began to cheer as well. Director Brian Helgeland thought this was so funny [[ThrowItIn he actually kept it in the film]] and reshot some sequences before and after to make their reaction more appropriate to the story.
* AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Edward, Prince of Wales.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Or, in this case, [[spoiler:Awesome Moment of {{Knighting}}]].
* {{Badass}}: William:
--> '''Adhemar''': "How would you beat him?"
--> '''Man''': "With a stick! While he slept. But on a horse, with a lance? That man's unbeatable."
* BadassLongcoat: Chaucer and Prince Edward love wearing these.
* TheBard: Chaucer is a variant.
* BattleCry:[[spoiler:[[SayMyName WILLIIIIAAAAM]]]]
* BecomingTheMask:
--> '''William''': "No! I will not run! I AM A KNIGHT!"
* BerserkButton: Roland is initially unwilling to gamble all of their money on the Paris tournament, ignoring the taunts of the Frenchmen, until they go to far:
--> '''Frenchman''': And most importantly, because the Pope himself is French.
--> '''Roland''': ... Well the Pope may be French, but Jesus is English. You're on!
* [[BetterThanItSounds/{{Film}} Better Than It Sounds]]
* BigGame: The world championships. At which William and Adhemar are finally to meet.
* TheBlacksmith: A female one, no less, acting as a farrier and armoursmith.
* BlasphemousPraise:
-->'''Wat:''' And your love? Have you proven that yet?
-->'''William:''' Wat, you remember church as a boy. The fear, the passion. That's what she makes me feel. And for that, I say my rosary to Jocelyn and no one else.
-->'''Wat:''' William, that's blasphemous.
-->'''William:''' Then may I burn in hell.
* BlatantLies: Prince Edward justifies knighting William by announcing that he's discovered Will is descended from nobility, then basically dares anyone to call him on it: "This is my word, and as such is beyond contestation."
** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the real Prince Edward could grant knighthood to anyone he wanted to without having to explain why they were granted knighthood.
* CaliforniaDoubling: Well, the Czech Republic, actually.
* CerebusCallback: In the scene where William first arrives in London, he imagines that a young boy cheering him on is himself as a child. Later on [[spoiler:as he sits in the stocks]] the same boy runs up to him and slaps him in the face.
* TheChampion: Despite being motivated to joust for a variety of personal reasons, partway through the movie Will is ready to lose every single match he competes to prove to Jocelyn he is her true champion, putting at risk all these other goals.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Adhemar is almost always wearing black.
* ComeToGawk
* ComicallyMissingThePoint
-->'''Wat''': It's called a ''lance'', helloooooo!
* CrazyJealousGuy: Adhemar.
* CurtainClothing: "Eh...green. Um...trimmed in a kind of...pale...green...uh, wi-with, uh...wooden toggles."
* DavidVersusGoliath: A plucky peasant with an antique suit of armour versus the combined nobility of Europe and, more specifically, the undefeated champion of Europe.
* DanceSensation: Both in the opening song and the ballroom scene.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Played straight, then subverted. William is stripped of everything, put into the pillory, and humiliated for daring to rise above being a peasant squire. Then the Prince knights him anyway.
* DirtForcefield: Mostly averted, as characters appear just as dusty and dirty as they ought (and the Black Prince has a ''bad'' case of Helmet Hair when William reveals him), most of the time. Played straight, though, when Kate is shown working on the below mentioned Nike armor; a blacksmith working in her forge ought to be ''covered'' in soot, while she's just got a little bit of dust on her forehead.
* TheDulcineaEffect:
--> '''William''': I can’t. Love has given me wings, so I must fly. I can’t explain it. She makes me feel like a poet.
--> '''Roland''': You may feel like a poet... but you sound like an idiot. You don’t even know her name.
--> '''William''': Her name? Her name is Aphrodite. Calypso. Venus. Take your pick.
* FakeBrit: Australian Heath Ledger and American Alan Tudyk both put in pretty convincing performances.
** So convincing is Tudyk that he's often mistaken for being FakeAmerican; he's from Texas!
* FieryRedHead: Wat.
* FiveManBand: Very apparent in the 'Adhemar lying on his back' scene near the end.
** TheHero: William
** [[{{TheLancer}} The]] [[IncrediblyLamePun Lancer]]: Wat
** TheBigGuy and TeamDad: Roland
** TheSmartGuy: Chaucer
** TheChick: Kate
** Prince Edward can count as the gang's SixthRanger.
* ForgingScene: Kate notices that Will wears armor that wasn't made for him. She volunteers to make him some that's so light-weight he wouldn't know he was wearing it. After she is finished the knight is presented with a suit of shiny new armour.
* GrandRomanticGesture: Will purposefully loses a tilting match to prove his love (getting beat up in the process); to paraphrase Jocelyn, when Will tells her he'll win the tournament for her, "You would win the tournament anyway; if you want to prove your love, you will lose." Then, once he's taken his lumps, she sends her handmaiden to tell him if he loves her, he'll win the tournament. This does not go over well with William, or his friends.
-->'''Chaucer:''' There she is, William. The embodiment of love. Your Venus.
-->'''William:''' And how I hate her.
* HammyHerald: Geoffrey for William.
* HerosMuse: Jocelyn is the noblewoman who has never been unhorsed.
-->'''William:''' Your name, lady. I still need to hear it.
-->'''Jocelyn:''' Sir Hunter, you persist.
-->'''William:''' Perhaps angels have no names. Only beautiful faces.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Before he gets the hang of tilting, swordplay is easily William's best skill.
* HollywoodHealing: As soon as William wins the championship, he can move his arm without difficulty. And there's no mention of removing the piece of lance stuck in his shoulder, which would be very risky surgery in that age.
** His arm was never the problem, he had no trouble aiming the lance, he just couldn't grip it.
* HotBlooded: Looking at him, you wouldn't think William the type. But when he finds out that his current opponent, the man his rival Adhemar withdrew from rather than face, is Prince Edward the Black? His first response is to ''charge'' the man head-on.
** This wasn't a case of HotBlooded, though - William's reasoning was that they were NotSoDifferent, as both men wanted their station ''ignored'' so that they could simply participate in the tournaments. Charging Edward was showing the man the same level of respect that William wanted.
* HuddleShot: The CrowningMomentOfAwesome at the end, spoken by the main characters, in turn:
--> '''Watt:''' You have been weighed...
-->'''Roland:''' ...you have been measured...
-->'''Kate:''' ...and you absolutely...
-->'''Chaucer:''' ...have been found wanting.
-->'''William:''' Welcome to the new world. And may God save you, if it is right that He should do so.
* [[ICantDance I Can't Dance]]: Will, who subsequently gets lessons from Geoff and Kate
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: William wants to "change his stars" to become a knight even though he's only a peasant.
* InevitableTournament: The movie is a series of inevitable tournaments.
* InThePastEveryoneWillBeFamous: Chaucer. The Black Prince, too, but that's slightly more justified by the plot.
* {{Informed Attractiveness}}: A great deal of fuss is made of Jocelyn's beauty, when the other female cast members are just as, if not more, attractive. It probably doesn't help that Jocelyn was stuck in rather unfortunate outfits and hairstyles for most of the movie.
* IronicEcho: "You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting."
* ItWillNeverCatchOn:
** Kate invents the Bessemer Process for heating steel 400-500 years before it happened. William is initially ridiculed for wearing thin, light armor. At least until he nimbly leaps onto his horse.
** Her etching "the mark of [her] trade" (the Nike logo) into her armour, which is also received with ridicule.
* {{Jerkass}}: Adhemar, upon first meeting William, immediately insults him several times and he just gets worse from there. They seem to have even gone out of their way to make him completely utterly dislikeable.
* KingIncognito: The Black Prince. Twice, if you count the crowd scene.
* KneelBeforeFrodo: Happens when the KingIncognito gets cognito.
* KnightInShiningArmour: Duh. Just to be really old-fashioned, Adhemar wears black armour. And a scowl.
* LadiesAndGerms: One of Chaucer's introductions.
--> '''Chaucer''': My lords...my ladies... (''Chaucer bows then turns to the audience'')...and everybody else here ''not sitting on a cushion''!
* LargeHam:
--> '''Chaucer''': SIR ULLLLLLLLLLLLLRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICH VON LICHENSTEIN! ({{Beat}}, to wild applause) ''God'' I'm good!
* LikeAGodToMe:
--> '''Wat:''' And your love? Have you proven that yet?
--> '''William:''' Wat, you remember church as a boy. The fear, the passion. That’s what she makes me feel. And for that, I say my rosary to Jocelyn and no one else.
--> '''Wat:''' William, that’s blasphemous.
--> '''William:''' Then may I burn in hell.
* TheLostLenore: A rare male example of this trope being blacksmith Kate's dead husband.
* LoveMakesYouDumb: William fully understands ''this'' trope, as after making a faux pas to Jocelyn, she tells him that if he loves her, he'll lose. And so, at the beginning of the next tournament, after the flag for William's first tilt is dropped, and his opponent spurs on, the four members of the FiveManBand cheering William on...
--> Roland: "What are you doing?"
--> William: (sitting on his horse, going nowhere) "...Losing."
--> Wat: "I don't understand."
--> William: "...Neither do I." CRASH!
* MotivationalLie: At one tournament, Roland tells William that his opponent is cruel to his peasants. After an irate Will has charged off to thrash the opponent, Roland remarks that it's ''probably'' true.
* NomDeGuerre: Two of them, both due to the men in question trying to hide their identities for various reasons:
** William Thatcher styles himself as Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein, to hide the fact that he is a peasant.
** Edward, the Black Prince, goes as Sir Thomas Colville, as nobody would dare tilt with him if they knew who he ''really'' was. Notably, Edward is entirely unsuccessful in hiding his identity as word gets around quick who he is.
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Done deliberately -- Laura Fraser was apparently expecting to be asked to put on a generic English accent, as usual, and was delighted to be allowed to use her natural (sexy) Scots accent.
* NotSoDifferent: A rare complimentary fashion, Edward laments how alike he and William are.
-->'''Edward:''' What a pair we make, huh? Both trying to hide who we are, both unable to do so.
* TheObstructiveLoveInterest: Jocelyn
* TheOner: William and Jocelyn's long walk-and-talk scene in the cathedral.
* PairTheSpares: Roland often becomes a BetaCouple with Jocelyn's handmaiden Christiana in fan fics. There are several scenes in the movie in which one can see Roland and Christiana chatting happily in the background. Made explicit in a deleted scene where Chaucer's wife visits the tournament. Jocelyn and William go off together, Roland and Christiana go off together, and Wat attempts to go off with Kate but she just gives him a cookie and walks in the opposite direction.
* PeerlessLoveInterest: The peasant William falls in love with the noble lady Jocelyn.
-->'''William:''' Geoff, 'tis my lady.
-->'''Geoffrey:''' Oh, geez, william, you aim too high.
-->'''William:''' Oh, if there's another way to aim, I don't know it.
* ProductPlacement: Not that the movie got any money for it, but that trademark that Kate etches into her armor? ''A pair of upside down Nike swooshes.''
** WordOfGod states it was unintentional.
* PurelyAestheticEra
* PurpleProse: Geoffrey Chaucer's job.
* RefugeInAudacity: One way of getting around historical accuracy.
* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: William vs. Count Adhemar, though as he keeps winning tournaments, Will gets considerably less poor.
* RuleOfCool: Face it, this is pretty much the entire point of this movie. [[TropesAreNotBad Not that we're complaining...]]
* RunningGag: "Well, maybe not ''you''..."
* SayMyName: '''WILLIIIIIIIIIIIAM!'''
** Interestingly enough, William is the one who does it.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: The Black Prince pulls one of these. Nice.
* SelfProclaimedKnight: There are two. One is the classic struggling underdog, William Thatcher, the peasant who's masquerading as the knight Ulrich Von Lichtenstein, and the other is the royal in disguise, Sir Thomas Colville or Edward, the Black Prince.
* ShamingTheMob: Subverted in the theatrical cut; Chaucer, having previously demonstrated his ability to work a crowd, tries to shame the mob that gathers around William when he's in the stocks. He gets as far as three words in before the mob silences him with a volley of rotten vegetables. However, in the extended cut of the film, Chaucer succeeds in ShamingTheMob into chastened silence before Prince Edward steps in. This scene was cut to beef up Prince Edward's role.
* ShoutOut: William's choice of nom-de-guerre has a certain appropriateness (see AluminiumChristmasTrees above).
* SigilSpam: There's a deleted scene where the trio discuss their coat of arms and decide on three [[ThePhoenix phoenixes]]. The phoenix can be seen emblazoned into various clothes and other items associated with them.
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Mocked; Jocelyn, admonished for her beauty by a priest, laments it in a deadpan monotone to get him off her back.
* SpoiledSweet:
** Jocelyn is very accepting of William and company.
** She offers to live in a shack with pigs if that's what it takes to keep William un-arrested and brings his blind father to the last tournament. Seems to fit pretty well.
* TheStinger: The four non-Will members of the FiveManBand are having a [[ToiletHumour competition]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LYon31qAi8 to see who pays for drinks.]]
* StockPunishment
* TakeThat: Roland delivers one during a bet to a trio of bragging Frenchmen in a bar.
--> '''Frenchman''': And, most importantly, because the Pope, himself, is French!
--> '''Roland''': ...Well the Pope may be French, but Jesus is English. You're on!
* TallDarkAndBishoujo: Jocelyn.
* ThatPoorCat: Heard in the background during a bar fight.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: William, at one point in the movie, has to lose to all matches in the tournament to prove his love for Jocelyn, all the while [[AmusingInjuries taking loads and loads of punishment]]. See LoveMakesYouDumb for more details.
* ThrowItIn: Besides the aforementioned "We Will Rock You" opening, when Will wins his first sword match, the crowd is silent until Roland spurs them on to cheer. As it happens, the extras who composed the audience were Czech and didn't realize they were supposed to cheer when Chaucer finished his speech.
** According to DVD commentary: Jocelyn's "Oh that is lovely!" in response to a priest's gesture prompting her to kiss his ring was an adlib. "Your entrails will become your extrails" was an audition adlib that helped Alan Tudyk get the part and made it into the film.
* ThrowingTheFight: How Jocelyn tells William to prove his love.
* TiredOfRunning: "I will not run! I am a knight!"
* TheTourney: Central to the plot.
* TrainingMontage: To the tune of "Low Rider", featuring an array of increasingly-inventive lance training set-ups, with Roland and Wat taking most of the punishment from both William's initally terrible jousting skills and his all-too-good swordsmanship.
* TrappedByGamblingDebts: Geoffrey Chaucer.
* TrueCompanions:
** Will and his friends, who all stick together to the bitter end.
** As noted earlier, this is a factor in Prince Edward's decision to rescue him. "Your men love you. If I knew nothing else about you, that would be enough."
* TruthInTelevision: Blacksmiths' wives were taught smithing to produce arrowheads more often than not; a widow taking up her late husband's trade [[RealityIsUnrealistic would not have been odd at that time]].
* UnusualEuphemism: Wat's use of "fong". It's [[DVDCommentary apparently]] ye old slang for 'kick'.
* UptownGirl: William tries to get his {{Blue Blood}}ed love interest to face the realities of life with him, a destitute fugitive from the law.
--> '''William:''' Where will we live? In my hovel, with the pigs inside during the winter so they won't freeze?
--> '''Jocelyn:''' [crying] Yes, William...with the pigs.
* WanderingMinstrel: Geoff Chaucer fills this role.
* WarriorPrince: Prince Edward.
* WellDoneSonGuy: William, to an extent - his father clearly loves him, he just wanted to prove he could [[ArcWords change his stars]].
* WidescreenShot: Two riders coming at each other is just made for this.
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