History Franchise / TheCrow

->''"People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right."''
-->-- '''Sarah''', from the movie version

[[quoteright:262:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_thecrowa1_1383.png]]
[[caption-width-right:262:Love is forever.]]

The comic book was adapted into a film in 1994. The film is a cult classic, much of its fame unfortunately deriving from the accidental death of its lead actor, Brandon Lee.

Plans to reboot/remake ''The Crow'' as a film have bounced around Hollywood in recent years, however, none of these plans have come to fruition. Most recent news as of writing: Both the director and lead actor leaving in mid 2018.

* KarmicDeath: This can be said for about ''all'' of the antagonists' deaths, mixed with DeathByIrony. In the first film, for example: Tin-Tin [[spoiler:[[KnifeNut is stabbed with his own knives]]]]. Funboy [[spoiler:is given a lethal overdose of heroin, though given a more painless death in the comic]]. T-Bird [[spoiler:[[StuffBlowingUp is incinerated by his own car full of explosives]]]]. Skank, [[spoiler:[[TheBrute who has been taken so much of a pounding, especially from beatings by men larger than him and getting run over by cars]], finally dies after a long fall from a several story building]]. Myca, [[spoiler:who's fond of using stolen eyeballs in rituals, has her eyes pecked out by the crow when she tries to take its power]].

* VengefulGhost: The franchise is mostly about this with LoveMakesYouEvil. In all incarnations, a couple of lovers are killed by a gang, an organization or even by {{Dirty Cop}}s. The male is revived as "The Crow", seeking a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against [[KillEmAll EVERYONE]] in the group that killed him and his lover, not just limited to the killers, but also the highest ranks who managed that event. In this case though, it's "vengeful zombie".

* CodeName: All the gang members have them. Lampshaded by Detective Torres in the movie:
-->'''Torres:''' Don't any of your street-demons have real grown-up names?
** Also ''furiously'' lampshaded by Eric at Gideon's:

* KarmicDeath: This can be said for about ''all'' of the antagonists' deaths, mixed with DeathByIrony. In the first film, for example: Tin-Tin [[spoiler:[[KnifeNut is stabbed with his own knives]]]]. Funboy [[spoiler:is given a lethal overdose of heroin, though given a more painless death in the comic]]. T-Bird, [[spoiler: [[StuffBlowingUp is incinerated by his own car full of explosives]]]]. Skank [[spoiler: [[TheBrute who has been taken so much of a pounding, especially from beatings by men larger than him and getting run over by cars]], finally dies after a long fall from a several story building]]. Myca, [[spoiler:who's fond of using stolen eyeballs in rituals, has her eyes pecked out by the crow when she tries to take its power]].

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: The protagonists could technically could be described as {{Revenant|Zombie}}s, spirits of vengeance driven to avenge their death and take revenge on those who did them harm during their mortal life.

* RecurringElement: The basic plot is always the same (Protagonist is killed by bad guys, along with someone else close to him, revenge ensues) and all the protagonists' names reference crow or raven (Draven, Corven, Corvis, Cuervo).

* RevenantZombie: The protagonists of series are classic revenants who are brought back to life by the title bird in order to seek justice for themselves and the people they loved. As long as the bird is alive, and as long as they remain focused on their quest for revenge and do not develop emotional ties to the living, they can heal any wound dealt them and cannot be killed. They also have the ability to cleanse others of whatever poison is in their systems, they can see through the eyes of the bird, and they have some measure of {{psychomet|ry}}ric ability in regards to things that remind them of their former life and what happened to them, as well as the ability to transfer any memories they have by touch.

* WouldHurtAChild: Kali (a metal clad hitwoman) doesn't just kill children, she takes a perverse delight in doing so. Going so far as to becoming aroused just by the thought of killing.

* ''The Crow: The Lazarus Heart'' (1998) by Creator/PoppyZBrite

* ''The Crow: Wicked Prayer'' (2000) by Norman Partridge (the fourth film in the franchise was ''very loosely'' based on this novel)

* VengefulGhost: The franchise is mostly about this with LoveMakesYouEvil. In all incarnations, a couple of lovers are killed by a gang, an organization or even by {{Dirty Cop}}s. The male is revived as "The Crow", seeking a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against [[KillEmAll EVERYONE]] in the group that killed him and his lover, not just limited to the killers, but also the highest ranks who managed that event.

* AntiHero: Eric is the darkest type of well-intentioned anti-hero, PayEvilUntoEvil his driving motivation.

* FollowTheLeader: Well, somewhat, anyway. The appearance of Eric Draven in the film was the inspiration for the gimmick change of {{professional wrestl|ing}}er Wrestling/{{Sting}} in 1997 from a happy-go-lucky, bleached-blonde uber-face to an enigmatic, trenchcoat-wearing, bat-wielding loner; allegedly, fellow wrestler Wrestling/ScottHall suggested the idea to him (which wouldn't have been surprising, as Hall was known to look to famous movies as inspirations for his in-ring gimmicks).[[note]]Hall's "Razor Ramon" persona was derived from ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}.''[[/note]]

---> "Go fuck yourself, ''you dried up BITCH!''"

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Myca, who's fond of using stolen eyeballs in rituals, has her eyes pecked out by the crow when she tries to take its power.]]
** This can be said for about ''all'' of the antagonists' deaths, mixed with DeathByIrony. In the first film, for example: Tin-Tin [[spoiler: [[KnifeNut is stabbed with his own knives]]]]. Funboy [[spoiler: is given a lethal injection of his drug of addiction, though given a more painless death in the comic.]] T-Bird, [[spoiler: [[StuffBlowingUp is incinerated by his own car full of explosives.]]]] And Skank [[spoiler: [[TheBrute who has been taken so push of a pounding, especially from beatings by men larger than him and getting run over by cars,]] finally dies after a long fall from a several story building.]]

* MeaningfulName: Eric Draven (D Raven...get it?)
** WordOfGod is that Eric is named for Erik, the titular tortured and scarred maybe-ghost in Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera. Shelly is named for Creator/MaryShelley, who wrote [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} another work of fiction about grief, resurrection, and revenge.]]

** WordOfGod is that Eric is named for Erik, the titular tortured and scarred (and maybe supernatural) AntiHero in Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera. Shelly is named for Creator/MaryShelley, who wrote another literary work about grief, resurrection, and revenge.

[[Film/TheCrow The page for the film franchise can be viewed here]].

Plans to reboot/remake ''The Crow'' as a film have bounced around Hollywood in recent years, however, none of these plans have come to fruition.

In 1978, a drunk driver killed James O'Barr's fiancée, Bethany. O'Barr later heard a story about a couple killed for the woman's twenty-dollar engagement ring. The two incidents became one in O'Barr's mind, leading him to write ''The Crow'', in an attempt to work out his angst over the incidents.