History Film / TheBookOfEli

* BewareTheQuietOnes: Eli is a reserve, polite man who doesn't talk much. However, he's more than capable of ripping through anyone that stands in his way.

* YouAreAlreadyDead: Martz accosts Eli at the bar, claiming he raised his hand at Martz's cat. [[spoiler: Eli slams Martz head against the bar, speaks quietly in his ear, then helps Martz straighten up. Martz stands there for a moment, dazed, then hits the floor like a sack of potatoes.]]

* TruthInTelevision: The [[NightmareFuel symptoms]] that the [[CannibalClan cannibals]] showed. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_%28disease%29 Kuru]], a prion disease caused by cannibalism, is characterized by truncal ataxia, headaches, joint pains, and, most importantly, ''shaking of the limbs''. Until the 1950's when cannibalism was outlawed in New Guinea, [[CannibalTribe members of the South Fore]] often contracted it by eating their dead. (It had an incidence that was 8 times higher in women than in men because the men would get the [[Main.ImAHumanitarian better cuts]] and women were left with the brains and spinal cords).

* WeHaveReserves: [[spoiler:{{Averted}}; Carnegie realizes too late that he lost too many men trying to get the book, and his remaining men aren't enough to keep the town oppressed]].

* AffablyEvil: Carnegie responds to Eli butchering almost the entire bar by offering him a job. And giving him a room for the night, a deal that includes Solara. Also, he's seen reading Mussolini's biography when we first meet him. Guess [[GodwinsLaw what that symbolizes]]? Also, one of the books he ordered burnt is Anne Frank's diary.

%%%* BadassLongcoat: Carnegie and Eli.

* BadassPreacher: Played with. Although Eli is not a literal preacher, he is the closest thing to a religious figure in the post-apocalyptic world and he is so totally badass that only God can help you if you mess with him.

%%%* BlindBlackGuy
* BlindSeer: [[spoiler:Eli 'sees' what his mission is, what he needs to do. He literally goes "by faith and not by sight." To the point where you don't realize he's blind until the end. Though more astute viewers can pick up little bits of {{Foreshadowing}} of this fact, such as Eli bumping into things a couple of times, or using his senses of smell and hearing to track prey.]]
* BlindWeaponmaster: [[spoiler:Eli uses a machete, a bow, and a number of guns effectively despite his blindness.]]
* BrainsAndBrawn: Carnegie and Redridge; the former reads the books and the latter fires the guns.

* TheChessmaster: Carnegie is shown playing chess with his wife while manipulating his adopted daughter to do his bidding.

* CoveredWithScars: Remnants of the Flash showing all over Eli's body.

* {{Determinator}}: Eli can't be stopped by anything. [[Film/TheBluesBrothers He's on a mission from God, after all.]]

* TheDrifter: Eli. At a certain point, Solara asks him if he is sure of where he's going. [[spoiler: Made funnier with the last scene's Reveal.]]

* FeudalOverlord: Carnegie rules over his little "kingdom" like an absolute despot, taking whatever he wants from whomever he pleases and enforcing his will with a small army of thugs.

* GoodShepherd: Eli is a good man who teaches prayer and quotes scripture. The only thing he's lacking is formal ordination.
* HandicappedBadass: [[spoiler:Legally Blind Eli kicks the ass of anyone that attacks him]]

* ImmuneToBullets: Carnegie's {{Mooks}} start to believe this applies to Eli. Carnegie disagrees and intends to prove it...

* JerkAss: Carnegie: condoning rape, murder, and the exploitation of other people's faith in order to get what he wants. Oh, and fascist rule over a town and abuse of a mother and daughter, the latter by proxy.
* KarmaHoudini: The girl who would lure travelers into ambushes. Remember the fact that all of her (onscreen) guys were chopped up, and yet she appeared again pulling the same scam with an entirely different group of people.

* MadeOfIron: Eli gets fucking ''gut-shot,'' then patches himself up with duct tape [[spoiler:and survives long enough to recite the entire Bible aloud from memory]].

* OneManArmy: Eli takes on a bar full of hostiles and is the only one left standing.

* SuperSenses: Eli [[spoiler: can shoot an arrow into a cat from a distance despite being blind. Presumably it has to do with his other senses. Eli himself believes it is God's guidance.]]

* WalkingArmory: Let's count 'em: kukri, axe, shotgun, pistol, and bow, plus ammo, sharpening tools. [[spoiler:and a decoy book with a bomb inside.]]
* WalkingTheEarth: Eli has been wandering for thirty years. [[spoiler: Solara starts doing this at the end of the film.]]
%%* WastelandElder: Carnegie is an evil version of this.

* {{Determinator}}: Eli can't be stopped by anything. [[BluesBrothers He's on a mission from God, after all.]]

* AboveTheInfluence: Eli, for obvious reasons, refuses Solara's... solicitations. When she tells him that he ''needs'' to use her, lest her mother be beaten, Eli allows her to stay and report that she was... used.
** He might have had a slight interest in Solara's mother, Claudia. [[spoiler:She too is blind, which obviously moves him,]] and he pays her a compliment about her shampoo - Eli never pays compliments to ''anyone''.

* AlasPoorVillain: Redridge grabs Solara's arm as she's about to drive off after crashing, [[spoiler:only to reveal that he was impaled by Eli's blade that was set on the dash. He then pulls out the blade and steps out of the car, [[FaceDeathWithDignity taking his shades off and kneeling until his last breath]]. [[BigBad Carnegie]] is actually ''crying'' in response to it.]]
** Even sadder if you consider the AlternateCharacterInterpretation of Redridge's interest in Solara.

* BadassLongcoat: Carnegie and Eli.
* [[BadassGrandpa Badass Old People]]: When Carnegie tracks Eli to an elderly couple's house, [[spoiler:they've got a cache of weapons under the couch. When Carnegie tells them to come outside with their hands up, the old lady's response is to cock her gun and curse at them.]]

* [[spoiler: BlindBlackGuy: The hero falls into this category of TwoferTokenMinority.]]

* BlindWeaponmaster: [[spoiler:Eli uses a machete, a bow, and a number of guns.]]

* {{Determinator}}: Eli. [[BluesBrothers He's on a mission from God, after all.]]

* DisappearedDad: Solara tells Eli that Carnegie isn't her father, leaving her real one unknown and unmentioned. There's a fan theory on who is, however [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1037705/board/nest/193018806?ref_=tt_bd_3]]

* KarmicDeath: See LaserGuidedKarma below.

* PetTheDog: At first it seems like Redridge only wants Solara for one thing, but he does show some genuine concern for her well-being later in the movie. See below.

* WalkingTheEarth: Eli has been doing it for thirty years. [[spoiler: Solara starts doing this at the end of the film.]]

** He might have had a slight interest in Solara's mother, Claudia. She too is blind, which obviously moves him, and he pays her a compliment about her shampoo - Eli never pays compliments to ''anyone''.

%%[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/book_eli_250_9679.jpg]]

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/book_eli_250_9679.jpg]]

** [[spoiler: The two cannibals]] are named [[WhosAfraidOfVirginiaWoolf George and Martha]].

** Early on, when Solara is sent to bring Eli water he just bartered for, someone is whistling the main theme from ''Film/OnceUponATimeInAmerica''.

* CozyCatastrophe: Averted. [[spoiler:Except for the remnants in Alcatraz.]] [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since- [[spoiler: 'Everyone knows there's nothing to the West' means no one's going to waste precious resources looking for something they don't believe to exist, and then try and find a boat or some way to get there.]]

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Eli has about thirty years worth of practice surviving the dangers of traveling alone in a post-apocalyptic world but [[spoiler:considering that he's blind the trope counts. Not to mention that a guy with perfect vision would be relying on a lot of luck to get some of those long-distance shots with a 30+ year old semiautomatic handgun, single-handed. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that he might have had some Divine Intervention.]]

** This could be a Played With trope. Given the latter gang's [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil treatment of women]] it's possible the girl was raped at some point and/or agreed to the deals to save herself. Though this is selfish and callous, she did try to warn away Solana, yet showed no regret or remorse at the idea of a man being killed and eaten and didn't tell Eli where the water was. It's also possible the whole ruse was her idea.

*** Based on all of this, this troper suggests that Carnegie's town is one of several in western Amador County.

* HoneyTrap: Solara is sent to Eli's room in order to get information on the secret book.

* TakeThat: Among the pile of books and magazines brought before Carnegie (and subsequently burned) is a copy of ''TheDaVinciCode.''

** When Carnegie puts Eli up for the night, the poster on the wall is for ''ABoyAndHisDog'', another post-apocalyptic movie set in a desert. A thug aiming down from a rooftop can also be seen using a modified Springfield rifle that was used by the main character in that movie.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Natch, given what [[Literature/TheBible the book]] is; Eli quotes from it. Also {{subverted}} when Eli is trying to explain the concept of faith to Solara with the metaphor "flower of light in a field of darkness". She asks if he got that from the book, and he admits that it's a quote from JohnnyCash.

* {{Badass}}: Three guesses as to whom. For proof look at the awesome page; all but two of the entries are Eli's.

* BadassPreacher: Played with. Although Eli is not a literal preacher, he is the closest thing to a religious figure in the post-apocalyptic world and he is so totally {{badass}} that only God can help you if you mess with him.

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The colors are bleached to give a bleak, desolate, post-apocalyptic scenery. [[JustifiedTrope Makes sense]] considering what's affected the environment -- damaged ozone and resultant harsh sunlight, lack of rain, dust blowing everywhere, radiation, pollutants...

* RealIsBrown: Deliberately used and justified considering "The Flash".

* FeudalOverlord: Carnegie rules over his little "kingdom" like an absolute despot, taking whatever he wants from whomever he pleases and enforcing his will with a small army of thugs.