History Film / TheScorpionKing

* OurMinotaursAreDifferent: An minotaur guards the entrance to the Underworld.

* WholePlotReference: Most of the film's plot, especially the climax, which is more or less 1:1, is copied from Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade.

* AFateWorseThanDeath: Anyone killed by Nebserek has their souls trapped inside the Book of Souls and exist in eternal torment and darkness. [[spoiler:As a result, the Book herself Amina suffers every time someone is slain because she can sense their pain and agony]].

A SpinOff[=/=]{{Prequel}} to ''Film/TheMummyReturns'', released in 2002.

* BareYourMidriff: The Sorceress, Layla, Silda, and Valina, the love interests in the later three films, are this as well. Really, most of the women who appear in the films show off this trope.

* ActionGirl: The sorceress Cassandra, despite clearly not being an actual trained fighter, still isn't afraid to pick up a sword and either defend herself or others... and isn't bad at it for an amateur, either.
** Also Queen Isis and her Amazons.
** Layla from the second film is an action girl too.
** As is Silda in the third movie and Valina in the fourth. The series likes its leading ladies to kick ass.

** It's a series where animated corpses and artifacts of ancient magical power are practically trip-over-them common. For all we know [[AWizardDidIt someone cursed the scorpions first]].
** The Sorceress almost gets it right when she quips: "The poison was made with scorpion venom. If he does live... the blood of the scorpion will always flow through his veins." Maybe not, but he'll definitely have antibodies for scorpion venom.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: So apparently Viking warriors are well known for having blood feuds with assassins from Akkadia before the pyramids were built. Also, Greek warlords apparently regularly commandeer what appears to be Babylonian warriors so they can base their capital cities in modern day Iraq. Also, those iron swords sure look nice in 5000 BC.
** If it was 5000 BC; ''The Mummy Returns'' tells us that the Scorpion King lived around 3000 BC, and archeology informs us that King Scorpion (Surprise! Yep, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Scorpion there really was such a guy]]) preceded Menes, the first Pharaoh of united Egypt, around 3100 BC.
** One of those, at least, is justified. A Greek is commanding Babylonians for the same reason why an Akkadian is commanding them by the end; because the Babylonians religiously adhere to AsskickingEqualsAuthority, as stated in the intro sequence. That probably [[VoodooShark isn't historically accurate either]], but then in narrative terms they aren't actually Babylonians, just a made-up ProudWarriorRace.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: It is mentioned early on by the narrator that the reason Memnon is the king of his empire is because he is the army's most skilled warrior. [[spoiler:After Mathayus defeats and kills Memnon in the climax, he is automatically hailed as the new king.]]

* BadBoss: Thorak, discovering two of his Mooks have failed to stop Mathayus from leaping out the window, yells at them to "go after him" and tosses '''them''' out the window. About ''five stories up''. [[spoiler: Mathayus lands on a series of wicker screens that break his fall; the guards land on the roof tiles on either side and die.]]

* RatedMForManly: The whole damn first movie, from arrows that strike people back at an impossible distance being fired from a bow that only the incredibly manly protagonist can use, to the same incredibly manly protagonist taking an arrow from his back to fire it at the BigBad. Did we mention when The Rock and Michael Clark Duncan cross their swords and end up cutting [[UpToEleven the swords themselves, at the same time?]]

* LandingInSomeonesBathtub: Mathayus lands on sorceress Cassandra's bathing chamber.

* LetsYouAndHimFight: Balthazar is needlessly antagonistic to people who are on his side - even taking into account that he doesn't trust Mathayus. So, naturally, he and Mathayus end up fighting in a situation that probably could've been easily avoided.
* MermaidArcEmergence: Cassandra is seen dramatically flipping her hair backward when [[SexySurfacingShot surfacing from her bath]] when Mathayus [[LandingInSomeonesBathtub crashes on her bathing chambers]].
* MookHorrorShow: The sandstorm sequence.

* OnlyAFleshWound: Mathayus gets an arrow in his back during the final battle. Then, he takes it off, defeats the BigBad and everyone (even him) forgets he was even wounded.
* ProphecyTwist: The sorceress sees Mathayus being hit by an arrow and presumably dying... But then, when it happens, he pulls the arrow out of his back and uses it on Menmon.

* ScrewDestiny: The sorceress tells Matthias that he's destined to fall at the hands of Memnon. He just tells her he'll make his own destiny, thank you very much.

* SlashedThroat: Memnon kills Jesup after he's captured.

* YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo: Averted: Mathayus gives his word that he won't kill Horse-Thief and will obey his commands in exchange for Horse-Thief saving him from ants (it makes sense in context). Afterward, Mathayus uses the camel and essentially forces Horse-Thief to walk, causing him to protest that they had a deal, and Mathayus tells him that he's upholding the deal, as he is not going to kill him... at least, he won't kill him yet.

* PantyShot: We get a quick one from the Sorceress when she straddles Mathayus while performing the ritual.

* LargeHam: Billy Zane in ''Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption'' does what he does best and makes the whole experience ''very'' enjoyable.

* JustThinkofthePotential: Philos, Memnon's captive scientist, is trying to reproduce gunpowder from a Chinese formula, saying that it could ''"do great things, wonderful things... or terrible things."'' One wonders if he's dragging his feet just a little, knowing that Memnon is only interested in his inventions' military applications.

The film also spawned four direct-to-video prequels/sequels. The second film, subtitled ''Rise of a Warrior'' (2008), is a prequel showing how Mathyus became the badass he is at the start of the first film, as well as his quest to avenge the deaths of his father and brother at the hands of the evil sorcerer-king Sargon. It also started off the sequels' tradition of having one DesignatedGirlFight per film between the ActionGirl female lead and a token DarkActionGirl.

* ALoadOfBull: An minotaur guards the entrance to the Underworld.

* {{Seer}}: The Sorceress main gifts that she uses to help Memnon in his conquests.

The film also spawned four direct-to-video prequels/sequels. The second film, subtitled ''Rise of a Warrior'', is a prequel showing how Mathyus became the badass he is at the start of the first film, as well as his quest to avenge the deaths of his father and brother at the hands of the evil sorcerer-king Sargon. It also started off the sequels' tradition of having one DesignatedGirlFight per film between the ActionGirl female lead and a token DarkActionGirl.

The third film, subtitled ''Battle for Redemption'', is a straight sequel to the first film, revealing that Mathyus eventually fell from kinghood after a terrible tragedy and returned to his old life as a mercenary. However, his current mission to help a beautiful princess save her kingdom from the evil warlord Talus offers him a chance for redemption for what he sees as his past failings as a king.

The fourth film, subtitled ''Quest for Power'' appears to be set at an indeterminate point between the first and third films (i.e. after Mathayus lost his throne but before the events of the third film), has Mathayus betrayed by his apprentice Drazen, a power-hungry prince who used him to steal a relic that could lead to unimaginable power. Mathayus now finds himself in a race against time to beat his former friend to the power he craves, aided by the members of the royal family Drazen's father overthrew to become a king.

The fifth movie, subtitled ''Book of Souls'', has Mathayus teaming up with a Nubian princess called Tala to find a legendary relic known as the Book of Souls to defeat the evil warlord Nebserek, who had acquired an cursed artifact known as the Fang of Anubis, which can steal the souls of those slain with it and only the titular book can stop him.

* HaveThisFriend: One of Memmnon's generals insists that "the men" need to see Cassandra in person to reinforce their morale and be convinced she is still there, although Memnon (probably correctly) believes the man is speaking about himself.