History Film / Willow

* ChekhovsSkill: The pig trick. Willow actually screws it up when he tries to perform it for his fellow Nelwyns at a festival, but later succeeds [[spoiler:when it's a matter of life and death]]. (To be fair, his first attempt ''did'' work, [[NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals but the pig itself gives the trick away]].)

* BalefulPolymorph:
** Fin Raziel has fallen victim to this. She changes shape several times over the course of the film.
** This is pulled on the good guys' ''entire army'' near the climax.
--->'''Bavmorda:''' ''You're all pigs!''

** Additionally, Bavmorda left a loose end untied when she merely subjected Fin Raziel to a cruel BalefulPolymorph instead of killing her outright, thus providing the forces of good with a powerful and angry sorceress ally when they free her from the curse.

* AprilFoolsDay: In 2006 StarWars.com announced that ''Willow'' was going to be [[CanonWelding Canon Welded]] into the ''Franchise/StarWars'' universe. Being set on a primitive planet with no space travel and that magic was actually an aspect of The Force. Sadly this turned out to be an April Fools joke.

* {{Expy}}: The movie is clearly influenced by ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' (and released 13 years before the [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings film series]]). Willow is a little person protagonist who has Frodo's [[TheChosenOne Chosen One]] status and Sam's courage, Madmartigan is a darker version of Strider/Aragon, and Razel is a female Gandalf.
** Arguably, the film has an even closer influence: Lucas's own Star Wars series. Virtually all the major characters in ''Willow'' have a clear counterpart in the first Star Wars trilogy: Willow is Luke, Madmartigan is Han, Sorsha is Leia (a bit of Vader too), Airk is Lando, High Aldwin is Obi-Wan Kenobi, Fin Raziel is Yoda, Bavmorda is Palpatine, Kael is Vader, and the brownies are the droids.

* UnseenEvil: Bavmorda seems to follow orders from an unknown entity.
** Bavmorda and Raziel were both servants of the spirits, Bavmorda just let her power go to her head.

There is also ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheShadowWar'', a trilogy of sequel novels by George Lucas and Creator/ChrisClaremont. They do provide a great deal of additional CharacterDevelopment, as well as WorldBuilding that the movie lacked.

* DissonantLaughter: When [[spoiler:Fin Raziel gets the better of Bavmorda during their fight at the end]], she gives a laugh that's downright ''creepy'', suggesting that, even if she was a good person, maybe her motives here weren't so noble.
** Even without the novel's added backstory of the bad blood between them ([[spoiler:Bavmorda seduced Raziel's lover, among other things]]), what is explained in the movie is enough to give her a pass. Sometimes you can do things for noble reasons and still enjoy the vengeance it brings in the process.

* AllTrollsAreDifferent: Trolls are hairy, unintelligent ape-things approximately Willow's own size.

Willow is aided by the disillusioned swordsman Madmartigan (Creator/ValKilmer), who has turned to a life of roguery, sorceress Fin Raziel (Creator/PatriciaHayes), who has been turned into a possum by Bavmorda, as well as two diminutive brownies Franjean and Rool (Creator/RickOverton and Creator/KevinPollak). They are initially thwarted, but later joined, by the queen's daughter Sorsha (Creator/JoanneWhalley). As their journey continues, they face troubles and hardships beyond what any of them had imagined. Through it all, they find love, friendship, and wisdom. In the end we learn that the people we would never suspect are sometimes the bravest of all.

In May 2019, a [[SequelInAnotherMedium sequel in the form of a series]] has been confirmed to be in development for release on Creator/DisneyPlus, and was formally announced in December 2020. It is set to be released on November 30 2022; the page can be found [[Series/{{Willow}} here.]]

In May 2019, a [[SequelInAnotherMedium sequel in the form of a series]] has been confirmed to be in development for release on Creator/DisneyPlus, and was formally announced in December 2020. It is set to be released sometime in 2022.

* ButtMonkey: Poor Willow was one when the movie began. Bullied by Burglecut, a failure with even the simplest magic tricks, and after he rescuses Elora Danan, he is made a convenient scapegoat. As the journey progresses, the ButtMonkey status slowly to Burglecut... and all humourous.

* DarthVaderClone: General Kael. Don't think you can miss the Death's Head mask.

In May 2019, a [[SequelInAnotherMedium sequel in the form of a series]] has been confirmed to be in development for release on Creator/DisneyPlus, and was formally announced in December 2020.

* TakenForGranite: Willow's magic acorns can turn whatever touches them to stone. Also, [[spoiler:Willow and Madmartigan are instructed by Fin Raziel to take Elora Danan to Tir Asleen to be cared for. Unfortunately, Bavmorda got there first, and [[AndIMustScream encased all the residents in translucent crystal long ago.
]]]].

* ContemptibleCover: The DVD release doesn't use the well-made movie poster for its artwork, but rather a rushed clip job featuring Willow doing an extremely cheesy "Ta-da!" flourish.

** [[spoiler:After Madmartigan runs Kael through with Airk's pata, he props up Kael's own sword by his foot on the hilt, and skewers him ''again'' with it!]]

* {{Hobbits}}: The Nelwyn are basically halflings with the serial numbers filed off, being a collection of homebodies who live in burrows and tend to be shorter than humans. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, mind you.]]
** The novels, perhaps actually inspired by the look of the actors, actually describes them with traits more often used in association with fantasy dwarves than hobbits/halflings: stocky, broad, and with impressive upper-body strength. In fact the village is presented as something of a cultural outlier there, with the mainstream Nelwyn culture being [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame miners and smiths living in underground cities built into mountains]].

* HumansByAnyOtherName: Daikini, which may or may not be a racial slur.
** ''The Making of...'' says that Daikini is a Nelwyn word meaning "tall person", implying that humans might call themselves human.

* SpitefulSpit: [[spoiler:When Airk gets fatally stabbed by Kael, he lives long enough to spit in the general's face]].

** The visor of Kael's helmet is a human skull. Great for intimidation, not so great for actual protection. When Madmartigan lands a blow against the helmet with his sword, part of the helmet breaks off quite easily and Kael gets a nasty wound on his face, something that likely wouldn't have happened with a proper helmet.
* TakenForGranite: Willow's magic acorns can turn whatever touches them to stone. Also, [[spoiler:Willow and Madmartigan are instructed by Fin Raziel to take Elora Danan to Tir Asleen to be cared for. Unfortunately, Bavmorda got there first, and [[AndIMustScream encased all the residents in translucent crystal long ago.]]]]

* RealityEnsues:
** The High Aldwin combines his magic with a lot of showmanship in order to get the desired results from the superstitious Nelwynn village. The thing is, showmanship sometimes doesn't work out as well as simply telling them what to do would. For example, when Willow and company are about to set forth from the village, the High Aldwin dramatically transforms a rock into a bird, then proclaims that the party should travel in the same direction the bird flies. The bird starts flying back towards the Nelwyn village, leaving the exasperated Aldwin to tell them to ignore the bird and follow the course of the river.
** After Airk is killed by Kael, Madmartigan dramatically takes up Airk's sword, (which is a different type of sword than he normally uses) and charges directly at Kael so he can avenge Airk with Airk's own blade. Kael immediately parries the blow, breaks the blade, and almost kills Madmartigan before he can recover. It turns out that using an unfamiliar weapon in the middle of a pitched battle, especially against an opponent as capable as Kael, is a very bad idea. (Although later in the duel Madmartigan delivers one of the [[RasputinianDeath many, many, wounds]] that contribute to Kael's death with the broken blade of Airk's sword, so the symbolism and karma is still there.)
** The visor of Kael's helmet is a human skull. Great for intimidation, not so great for actual protection. When Madmartigan lands a blow against the helmet with his sword, part of the helmet breaks off quite easily and Kael gets a nasty wound on his face, something that likely wouldn't have happened with a proper helmet.

* SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset: General Kael’s helmet.

* IndyPloy: Right at the climax, Bavmorda has Willow and Elora cornered. The only thing Willow can think of is to try and protect Elora [[spoiler:using the same sleight-of-hand trick that brought him ridicule at in the beginning of the film]]. This time, it saves the day.

This film has had three game adaptations: one in 1988 by Mindscape for the Amiga, Atari ST and DOS; two in 1989 by Creator/{{Capcom}} for the Arcade and NES. The Arcade one is a side-scrolling platform/action game where the player switches between Willow and Madmartigan, while the NES game is more of an Action RPG in the vein of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda''.

This film has had three game adaptations: one in 1988 by Mindscape for the Amiga, Atari ST and DOS; two in 1989 by Creator/{{Capcom}} for the Arcade and NES. The Arcade one is a side-scrolling action game, while the NES game is more of an Action RPG.