History Franchise / Rocky

*** [[spoiler: After Rocky gives Tommy quite a beat down, he offers him his hand, where Tommy practically [[GracefulLoser accepted his defeat]] and [[HeelFaceTurn ended the fight on good terms with Rocky.]] He even starts getting the respect he always wanted.

At this point, the series had become less about the characters and more of a showcase of an interesting or unique opponent for Rocky to fight. Five years after the fight at the end of the previous film, Rocky has become the heavyweight champion and a major celebrity. Another young up-and-comer, [[MeaningfulName Clubber Lang]] (played by the inimitable Creator/MrT) wants a shot at him, though, and the film contrasts Rocky's newfound cockiness with Clubber's intensity (a reversal of Rocky and Apollo's roles in the first film). Rocky loses his fight against the better-trained Lang just as his beloved mentor, Mickey, passes away -- which leads to Apollo Creed offering to become Rocky's trainer. Apollo initially makes the offer just to get back at Lang, but over the course of their training, he and Rocky bond and become close friends. Rocky wins against Clubber in a rematch, and the film ends with a final match between Apollo and Rocky, though now only as a friendly spar. This film also spawned the legendary song [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome "Eye of the Tiger"]], performed by Survivor.

Rocky is pitted against Russian super-athlete Ivan Drago in a heavily ColdWar themed film, which mostly revolves around the two fights with Drago. In the first, the once-again retired Rocky coaches Apollo for an exhibition match with Drago that leads to Drago killing Apollo in the ring. In the second, Rocky uses good ol' fashioned patriotism to beat down the cold-hearted Russian as an act of revenge. While the film is not as well regarded critically (or by the fanbase) as the previous three, it is the highest grossing film in the series, and numerous fans and critics consider this film's TrainingMontage to be the best directed one of the series. It also spawned a pair of CrowningMusicOfAwesome songs -- namely "Burning Heart", performed by Survivor, and "War", performed by Vince Dicola -- though neither of them ''quite'' managed to surpass "Eye Of The Tiger" in the [[PopculturalOsmosis public consciousness]].

In the final numbered film in the series, which picks up directly from the previous film, Rocky is forced to retire when he learns he has brain damage from the fight with Drago; additionally, the manager put in charge of his fortune lost most of the fortune Rocky had accumulated over the years, thus leading to him retiring to his old working-class neighborhood (again) and his wife returning to her job at the pet store (again; [[{{Sequelitis}} notice a pattern?]]). Working at a local gym, Rocky tries to train a young up and comer named Tommy Gunn, which ruins his relationship with his own son Robert. Tommy quickly turns to TheDarkSide, however, when he becomes frustrated at being seen only as Rocky's student and not as a fighter in his own right; Gunn falls in with a [[LawyerFriendlyCameo Don King ersatz]] who takes over his management, giving him the title bouts and money he's been craving. The film leads into Rocky having a street fight with Tommy, which Rocky wins despite his age and lack of practice. The film, expected to be the centerpiece of the holiday season of 1990, was knocked out early by sleeper hit ''HomeAlone'' and was the worst reviewed (and worst performing) film of the series. The franchise appeared to have effectively ended on a low note, and stayed that way for sixteen years (even SylvesterStallone disowned this film), until...

Despite [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome losing Adrian to cancer]] some years prior and having a strained relationship (at best) with his son, Rocky has something of a good life -- he has become a living landmark in Philadelphia, [[BrickJoke running his]] [[Music/WeirdAlYankovic own restaurant]] and telling boxing stories to his customers. Over in the boxing world, current reigning heavyweight champion [[PunnyName Mason]] "[[IncrediblyLamePun The Line]]" [[StealthPun Dixon]] is disliked by pundits and fans alike for his [[BoringInvincibleHero easy fights finished in the first round]]. When a realistic computer simulation pits Dixon against an in-his-prime Balboa -- with Dixon ''losing'' -- publicists see a goldmine of an opportunity in an exhibition match between Rocky and Dixon to improve their client's image. Rocky is unsure of accepting the challenge because of his age and his relationship with his son, but he eventually accepts out of a desire to have one last great fight and rid himself of all of his inner demons. The film was intended to be the true ending to the franchise, serving as a coda to the series -- it even ended with a tribute to the longtime fans of the series by showing them running up the famous steps themselves. ''Rocky Balboa'' found critical and commercial success, and between it and ''Rambo'', the film briefly revitalized Stallone's lagging career.

In the final numbered film in the series, which picks up directly from the previous film, Rocky is forced to retire when he learns he has brain damage from the fight with Drago; additionally, the manager put in charge of his fortune lost most of the fortune Rocky had accumulated over the years, thus leading to him retiring to his old working-class neighborhood (again) and his wife returning to her job at the pet store (again; [[{{Sequelitis}} notice a pattern?]]). Working at a local gym, Rocky tries to train a young up and comer named Tommy Gunn, which ruins his relationship with his own son Robert. Tommy quickly turns to TheDarkSide, however, when he becomes frustrated at being seen only as Rocky's student and not as a fighter in his own right; Gunn falls in with a [[LawyerFriendlyCameo Don King ersatz]] who takes over his management, giving him the title bouts and money he's been craving. The film leads into Rocky having a street fight with Tommy, which Rocky wins despite his age and lack of practice. The film, expected to be the centerpiece of the holiday season of 1990, was knocked out early by sleeper hit ''HomeAlone'' and was the worst reviewed (and worst performing) film of the series. The franchise appeared to have effectively ended on a low note, and stayed that way for sixteen years, until...

* BlondGuysAreEvil / BlondesAreEvil: Ivan and Ludmilla Drago's matching hair cuts.

** Ivan Drago = Max Schmeling. Schmeling was a German boxer who fought Joe Louis in two fights that were seen as conflicts between the United States and Nazi Germany, the same way Drago's fights with Apollo and Rocky were Cold War conflicts. And like Schmeling, Drago dramatically won the first fight and received a vicious beating in the second, the major difference being Joe Louis was avenging his previous loss instead of the death of a friend. Max Baer, another fighter from the same era as Louis and Schmeling, may have been another influence, as Baer killed a man in the ring in a rather similar manner to how Drago killed Apollo.

* CasualtyInTheRing: Apollo in ''IV''.

* DeathSeeker: An interpretation of Apollo Creed in ''Rocky IV''. He's fed up with retirement and growing old gracefully, and wants to go out fighting like a warrior.

* FakeShemp: All of Rocky's flashback footage to his fights against Creed in ''Rocky Balboa'' used a stand-in for Carl Weathers; while Mr. T & DolphLundgren gave their permission for Stallone to use archive footage of them from their movies, Weathers apparently wanted to be in the movie (despite his character [[spoiler:dying]] in ''Rocky IV''. Stallone refused, so Weathers wouldn't allow his likeness to be used, forcing them to use a lookalike.

* GoodOldFisticuffs: Mentioned in the fifth movie; despite being a trained boxer, Rocky was also a former mob-enforcer and knew how to act as a street fighter. Tommy Gunn's new manager even berates him for expecting to use the same skills in a street fight.
-->'''Rocky''' (to Tommy): "My ring's the street!"

* InelegantBlubbering: Rocky in ''Rocky III'', just after Mick dies.
* InformedJudaism: Mickey. There is no hint of this until his funeral.

* LonelyAtTheTop: Mason Dixon. He's without a doubt the most talented boxer in his generation, but gets no respect from his fans, the media, or even his publicists and managers. He has no real friends or peers other than his entourage and his former manager, whom he left behind after making it big.

* MadeOfIron

* MasterApprenticeChain: Mickey Goldmill > Rocky Balboa > Tommy Gunn (who later turns on Rocky in one of the classic plotlines associated with this trope).

** Once Mickey dies, Apollo steps in as the BigBrotherMentor version for ''Rocky III'' and ''IV''. Apollo may or may not be older than Rocky (Carl Weathers is actually about a year and a half ''younger'' than Sylvester Stallone), but he is certainly more experienced as a professional-level boxer, so the trope holds.
** Rocky, when he is OlderAndWiser himself in ''Rocky V'', attempts to be this to Tommy Gunn, but [[RageAgainstTheMentor it doesn't go nearly as well]] through no fault of Rocky's. He gave his best effort, but [[SocietyMarchesOn the sport, and particularly the corruption at its top levels, had passed him by since he stepped out of the ring]], and Gunn didn't have the sense to realize that Rocky (unlike George Washington Duke) sincerely had his best interests in mind.

* SimpleYetAwesome: Duke's gameplan for Rocky's training. Since Rocky can no longer match an opponent's speed, and his body's no longer fit for his previous hard-running cardio, then the focus of training and beating Mason is simple: pure, raw power.

* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Both Rocky and Paulie feel this way about Adrian in ''Rocky Balboa.'' A deleted scene even has Paulie breaking down and saying it should have been him who died.
-->'''Paulie''': (sobbing) Why didn't I die instead of my sister? I miss my sister, Rocky, I miss her! She never hurt nobody, Rocky!
-->'''Rocky''': I know.

* UnderdogsNeverLose: Averted in the first and last movies where a moral victory is deemed to be more significant (in the first, Rocky going the distance with Apollo, in the last, Rocky ridding himself of his demons), but aside from that, if you're an in-story underdog, it's physically impossible for you to lose in the Rocky universe. Even the antagonist benefits from this in ''Rocky III''.

* WearingAFlagOnYourHead: Apollo's trademark ring getup, and the one he's wearing when slain by the Russkie from Hell, Drago. Rocky wears his friend's boxing shorts to symbolically avenge him -- and the U.S.A.

* WhateverHappenedToTheMouse: Tommy Gunn practically disappeared in the events of Rocky Balboa, as did most of Rocky V.
** The loan sharks pretty much disappeared from existence after Rocky II, although with Paulie's state of life in Rocky III, it's implied that something happened to them, or they screwed Paulie over somehow. Although a deleted scene in Rocky Balboa has the leader reminiscing on old times with Rocky.
** On that matter, what about Apollo Creed's family? They never got a passing reference even half way into Rocky IV, let alone any screen time.

** Real life: Joe Frazier, a tough champion from Philadelphia famous for his left hook and riding high after his victory over Muhammad Ali, decides after the death of his beloved trainer[=/=]manager Yank Durham to defend his title against hard hitting slugger George Foreman, despite Durham objecting to the match before his death. Overconfident and believing that Foreman is too slow and clumsy to pose a threat, Frazier's management team overlooks the fact that Frazier has never really been the same physically since defeating Ali 2 years earlier, and sign the match, only for Frazier to be annihilated in 2 rounds. A year later Foreman faces Ali, and in that bout Ali makes a tactical decision mid-fight to stop using his famous HitAndRunTactics, and instead stands in front of Foreman, [[StoneWall defending against everything Foreman throws]] while taunting Foreman about how George is unable to knock out or hurt Ali. A furious Foreman tires himself within a few rounds of attempting to pound Ali, and Ali then knocks him out. ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ2G2wU3Cm0&t=2m0s Link]])
*** Rocky III: Rocky Balboa, a tough champion from Philadelphia famous for his left hook and riding high after his victory over Apollo Creed, decides against the objections of his beloved trainer[=/=]manager Mickey Goldmill to defend his title against hard hitting slugger Clubber Lang. Among the reasons that Mickey cites is that "The beatings you got from Apollo should have killed you" and he doesn't believe Rocky is the same man physically or mentally since. Rocky goes into the fight overconfident, and is knocked out in two rounds. Mickey dies as a result of heart complications during the fight. Afterward, Apollo Creed, (who is the analogue for Muhammad Ali) trains Rocky to fight in a different way, mirroring Apollo's own style. Rocky begins well with boxing, HitAndRunTactics, but when Lang finds a way to start getting to him, Rocky makes a mid-fight switch, starts using StoneWall defense to defend against the worst of Lang's punches while taunting Lang to just knock him out already. Lang tires after a few rounds, and is knocked out by Rocky. ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZhn6v9mHvc Link]])

* OurFounder: Philadelphia unveiled a Rocky statue on the museum steps, which was seen in ''IV''. Paulie later comments on the statue being taken down, which also happened in real life (it was moved to the base of the steps).

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Sylvester Stallone originally wanted to use "Another One Bites The Dust" by ''{{Queen}}'' for ''RockyIII''', but couldn't get the rights. Instead, he contacted the band Survivor to write a new song, which became "Eye Of The Tiger". It's safe to say it turned out better than Stallone could have hoped.
** One version of the script for ''Rocky Balboa'' had Creator/MrT reprising his role as Clubber Lang as a commentator for the Balboa/Dixon fight.
** Carl Weathers wanted to have a cameo in ''Rocky Balboa'' as Apollo Creed. This would have removed his death in ''Rocky IV'' from continuity. Stallone didn't agree, and Weathers refused permission to use any footage of him in the opening montage.
** There was also the alternate endings for both Rocky and Rocky Balboa. Both intend to have [[spoiler: Rocky win the fight.]]
*** Rocky V's original ending had [[spoiler: Rocky getting killed during the street fight.]]

** The adult Rocky Jr. is played by Milo Ventimiglia, aka [[Series/{{Heroes}} Peter Petrelli]].

** Tommy Gunn = Mike Tyson. Both were young and talented fighters who came from rough upbringings and abandoned the men who made them successes in favor of greedy businessmen.

** Rocky himself is on the receiving end in the climax of his rematch with Clubber Lang in part ''III'''s [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfAwesome CMoA]] as he {{no sell}}s the increasingly panicking and frustrated Lang's devastating blows.

* TrainingFromHell

* WhateverHappenedToTheMouse: Tommy Gunn practically disappeared in the events of Rocky Balboa.

* WorthyOpponent

--> '''Rocky''' (upon seeing Apollo's outfit): "He looks like a flag!"

** It was actually Mickey's gym, which Mickey had given to Rocky's son in his will (effectively giving it to Rocky, as Robert is still a minor in ''V''). So Rocky wasn't ''entirely'' out in the cold -- he owns a business directly suited to his talents and is in a position to market it ''very'' effectively just on his name alone. He's not as rich as he was, but he's not exactly back to square one either.

** Paulie is missing a tooth in ''Rocky Balboa'', likely because is was knocked out when Tommy Gunn decked him in ''Rocky V''.

Notably, Rocky ''loses'' the climatic boxing match. But he proves his determination by remaining on his feet all the way through the final round.

Everything changes, however, when reigning heavyweight champion Apollo Creed sees his next opponent back out of an upcoming match and has to pick a replacement on short notice. He ends up picking Rocky ''just because he liked his nickname "The Italian Stallion'', giving Rocky a chance to make it to the big time for the first time in his life. No-one seems to treat him as a serious contender, but Rocky is determined not to let this opportunity go to waste, to show the world that he "ain't some bum from the neighbourhood".

-->"Rocky gets his own pinball games. Pet Store Lady starts wearing fur coats."

* TantrumThrowing: In a fit of anger, Rocky throws a helmet at his statue. Paulie impotently throws a liquor bottle at a "ROCKY" pinball machine during an drunken fit of resentment, feeling like Rocky has left him out in the midst of his success.

!!Rocky V

* CreatorBacklash - Stallone was also not happy with what ended up as ''Rocky V''.
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Rocky V'' was an attempt to recapture the grittier feel of the first film after the apogee of over-the-top excess that was ''Rocky IV'' (still enjoyable, though). Not a bad idea in principle, but it went way too far in the other direction.

* DeceptiveDisciple: Tommy Gunn of ''Rocky V''.

* DudeWheresMyRespect?: In "Rocky V", everybody seems to think they can take Rocky in a fight. I mean did Union Cane really not see the Drago fight where Rocky got the hell beat out of him and still came out on top? And Tommy Gunn should know better, but still he thinks he can take Rocky, who used to break people's thumbs for a living in a street fight, no less.

* ExecutiveMeddling: As dissapointing as ''Rocky V'' was, it could've been even worse. The original script and filmmakers had intended the final fight with Gunn to [[WhatCouldHaveBeen actually end with Rocky's defeat and death]], bringing the entire series to a conclusion and sending him out as he came in -- the underdog, the everyman, and ultimately the loser. United Artists thankfully decided otherwise (no doubt realizing what a horrible idea it was to kill off Rocky).

* OhCrap: George Washington Duke pulls this towards the end of ''Rocky V'':
-->'''George Washington Duke:''' Touch me and I'll sue.\\
''Rocky smirks, then punches the lights out of Duke.''\\
'''Rocky Balboa:''' Sue me for what?
** Apollo does a somewhat understated version of this towards the end of his fight with Rocky in the first film, when he gets up for the last time in the 14th round. Apollo's already celebrating, and Rocky drags himself to his feet and is all "Come on!" Apollo looks at Rocky like "You've ''got'' to be kidding me."

* RealityEnsues: Seemed to be the mission statement during the production of Rocky V. ''Of course'' Rocky's crappy defense and countless headshots would result in brain damage. ''Of course'' his lousy bum of a brother-in-law would screw things up. ''Of course'' his criminal record would come back and bite him (it prevents him from doing endorsements).

* SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome: Rocky Jr (Robert). was nine in ''Rocky IV'' when Rocky went to Russia to fight Drago. When he and Adrian return home at the beginning of ''Rocky V'', his son is now in early adolescence. How long were they in Russia?!