History Film / NapoleonDynamite

* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: Napolean, a high school junior, with his older brother Kip (who is 32 years old).

* {{Jerkass}}: Summer, Uncle Rico, and the Principal.

* DumbassHasAPoint: Despite giving an, at best, mediocre martial arts demonstration, Rex demands that all students use the "buddy system" and travel in pairs, which legitimately ''is'' good advice for self-defense.

* AlphaBitch: A downplayed example. The worst thing Summer Wheatley does is refuse Pedro's offer to go to the dance and the [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain "Chiminy-changas" crack]] she makes about him.

* ShmuckBait: The "time machine" couldn't be any more this.

* TestosteronePoisoning: Rex is insanely macho:

* GoryDiscretionShot: While waiting for the school bus one morning, across the road Napoleon sees a farmer preparing to shoot a cow. Just before he does, the bus drives into the scene and Napoleon doesn't see the shot. The kids on the bus, however, do, and scream.

* BaitAndSwitch: Pulled ''twice'' with [=LaFawnDuh=]. Firstly when she actually turns out to be beautiful and cool, and then when she's ''actually'' interested in Kip.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: In-universe: Napoleon's dance sequence is completely unexplained. It is unrelated to any aspect of Pedro's campaign, style, or personality (which was, itself, very random). It does not respond to Summer's campaign promises by any means. It comes out of nowhere and makes zero sense and has very little context. Everything goes quiet, and then - [[spoiler:thunderous applause; Pedro wins]]. It's a rare [[JustifiedTrope justified]] BLAM - Napoleon only did it because he had no idea that he and Pedro were required to perform a skit, so he just did the first thing that popped into his head to stall for time. [[spoiler: It works beautifully]].

* CloudCuckoolander: ''Everyone.''

** Kip tries to defend Rico’s idiotic football video when Napoleon calls it the “worst thing of all time” by pointing out that no one can ever know that for sure. It’s a pretty weak retort, but also technically true.

* HatedHometown: Averted. None of the characters seem like they dislike living in Preston[[spoiler: and even Kip ''brings'' his girlfriend to the town rather than moving out to her]]. Most of the characters seem very content with their small town life, and have no plans of leaving which is in stark contrast to most media featuring such communities.

** Uncle Rico is probably the closest thing this film has to a villain, but he’s more of a delusional douchebag than evil.

-->'''Napoleon:''' It took me like 3 hours to finish the shading on your upper lip. It's probably the best drawing I've ever done."
-->''(Trisha cringes)''
** Summer and Trisha’s dance to Larger than Life is pretty good for a bunch of high school kids. But nowhere near the standard of a professional actor and singer like Haylie Duff.

--> ''"The strength...of a GRIZZLY! The reflexes...of a PUMA! And the wisdom...of a MAN!"''

* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: In the post-credits scene, all of [=LaFawnduh's=] relatives are clearly in shock and disbelief at the fact that she's [[spoiler: marrying]] Kip.

** She may be at Pedro's party congratulating him for [[spoiler: winning the school election]] but it's hard to tell from the way it's photographed.

!!''Napoleon Dynamite'' provides examples of:

The movie aims to be as deadpan awkward as possible, and the results have caused quite a bit of HypeBacklash for those who expected a regular teen comedy. It was the breakout role of Creator/JonHeder, who plays the title character and has gone on to mainstream roles alongside stars like Will Ferrell and Billy Bob Thornton. The filmmakers themselves, [[WriteWhatYouKnow Idaho natives]], went on to make ''Film/NachoLibre'' with Jack Black.

* BaitAndSwitch: Pulled ''twice'' with LaFawnduh. Firstly when she actually turns out to be beautiful and cool, and then when she's ''actually'' interested in Kip.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The liger is a real animal but not bred for its skills with magic. In fact, since lion and tiger genes aren't exactly compatible with one another, ligers tend to have genetic defects which lead experts to discourage trying to breed for ligers.

* PlayingGertrude: Sandy Martin plays the grandmother of Napoleon and Kip, despite being less than 30 years older than Jon Heder or Aaron Ruell. Creator/JonGries, who plays their uncle, is also just 7 years younger than her, though it's unknown whether or not he's her son.

The eponymous Napoleon is not just a nerdy -- he's a real genuine dork, not particularly skilled at anything, angry at the world, incapable of even the most basic friendly conversation, and a mouth-breather to boot. He has [[DullSurprise exactly one]] facial expression. People don't like him and he doesn't like people.

The eponymous Napoleon is not just a nerdy -- he's a real genuine [[{{Nerd}} dork]], not particularly skilled at anything, angry at the world, incapable of even the most basic friendly conversation, and a mouth-breather to boot. He has [[DullSurprise exactly one]] facial expression. People don't like him and he doesn't like people.

* {{Nerd}}: In an odd case, Napoleon isn't even particularly smart or hard-working, but has all the cornerstones of a stereotypical nerd - poor social skills, awkward posture, mouth breathing, eccentric habits, thick, ugly glasses, crappy fashion sense...

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/napoleon-dynamite.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Napoleon's happy face.\\
And sad face.\\
And angry face.\\
And indifferent face.\\
And...[[DullSurprise okay, you get the idea.]]]]

* CreditsBrandProducts: In the opening credits and DVD menus.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Napoleon's awkwardness goes ''way'' beyond the level of your average unpopular kid, and is just packed full of odd quirks and ticks. Many fans and critics of the film believe he has [[UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome Asperger's syndrome]].

* GoodTimesMontage: The ending of the movie after the election shows a montage of everyone is up to. Kip and [=LaFawnduh=] were shown boarding a bus together, Grandma reuniting with Tina after being released from the hospital, Uncle Rico meeting a woman on a bicycle, and Pedro and his family celebrating his victory. The montage ends with Napoleon and Deb reconciling and playing tetherball.

* JerkJock: Don.

Creator/{{IDW|Publishing}} published a ''ComicBook/NapoleonDynamite'' comicbook series with Napoleon in his senior year.

* TwoDecadesBehind: While the movie takes place in the mid-2000s, it seems ''very'' reminiscent of the 1980s. TruthInTelevison large parts of rural Idaho really are that far behind the times.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Napoleon Dynamite. (Fun fact: Music/ElvisCostello was using "Napoleon Dynamite" as a pseudonym nearly twenty years before this movie came out. This nearly got the film into legal hot water.)

* TwoDecadesBehind: While the movie takes place in the mid-2000s, it seems ''very'' reminiscent of the 1980s. TruthInTelevison: large parts of rural Idaho really are that far behind the times.

The eponymous Napoleon is not just a HollywoodNerd -- he's a real genuine dork, not particularly skilled at anything, angry at the world, incapable of even the most basic friendly conversation, and a mouth-breather to boot. He has [[DullSurprise exactly one]] facial expression. People don't like him and he doesn't like people.

[[caption-width-right:300:Napoleon's happy face. And sad face. And angry face. And indifferent face. And...okay, you get the idea.]]

-->'''-- Opening lines of the movie[[note]][[RandomEventsPlot he's not kidding]][[/note]]'''

*** He also claims to be "chatting online with babes all day", every day, and then to have snagged one as his girlfriend. Then [[spoiler:we meet [=LaFawnduh=] and, on top of her being black while he's white, we unexpectedly see that he was right!]]