History Main / TheWarriors

* ''VideoGame/TheWarriors'', video game adaptation of the film.

* ''VideoGame/TheWarriors'', video game adaptation of the film.

[[redirect:Film/TheWarriors]]

[[quoteright:301:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Warriors_01_small_8959.jpg]]

-->''"Warriors! Come out to '''plaaaay'''!"''

-->''There is such little glory in a poor man's life''
-->''He works for his money, and he takes a wife''
-->''[[TakeUpMySword But a poor man's son can be a hero in the night]]''
-->''With a fist full of anger, and the will to fight''
-->Desmond Child, "Last of an Ancient Breed"

''The Warriors'' is a cult 1979 crime/action movie that tells the story of nine members of New York street gang known as the Coney Island Warriors.

The movie starts with the Warriors going to the Bronx to attend a summit called by Cyrus, the intelligent and charismatic leader of New York's most powerful street gang. Cyrus has an ambitious proposal: unite every single street gang into an army capable of taking on the cops, the mob, and anyone else who gets in their way. In the midst of his speech to the mass of assembled gangsters, however, Cyrus is shot and killed, and the Warriors are framed for it. As the police converge on the scene, all of the Warriors except for their leader Cleon manage to escape, but they are now faced with a nearly impossible task: trying to make their way from literally one end of New York City to the other while being hunted by every gang member in the city, as well as the cops.

Notable for being very loosely based on Creator/{{Xenophon}}'s ''Literature/{{Anabasis}}''.

More than 25 years after the film came out, [[VideoGame/TheWarriors it was used as the basis for a video game]] that has been generally considered to be a spectacular aversion of TheProblemWithLicensedGames.
----
!!The 1979 film features examples of:
* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: Mercy spills an account of her woeful life to Swan while the two are wandering through an empty subway tunnel.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Mercy, the girl who tags along and with the Warriors and for whom Swan falls in love, looks and sounds Puerto Rican, but the movie never makes this clear. Actress Deborah [[TheVonTropeFamily Van Valkenburgh]] is of Dutch descent, making this possible FakeNationality as well. Van Valkenburgh was reportedly surprised when she was cast in the film, assuming that the producers wanted the character to be played by "some blonde."
* AmbiguouslyGay: The Lizzies are hinted at being a lesbian gang, due to two members who are seen dancing with each other during the party scene. Their name might be a play on "lezzies," or a reference to Lizzie Borden, or maybe even both.
* AnnouncerChatter: DJ Lynne Taylor.
* AntiHero: The heroes of the film are a street gang, who probably do some pretty lousy things when they're not running for their lives. We sympathize with them because they're honorable and unjustly accused.
* AnyoneCanDie: Out of the nine Warriors at the start of the film, only six of them make it to the end. [[spoiler: Cleon is implied to be killed by the Riffs, Fox is run over by a train, and Ajax gets arrested.]]
* AssKickingEqualsAuthority: Cleon and Swan appear to be the most capable fighters of the Warriors.
* AxCrazy: Luther. Ajax isn't far behind him, though.
* BadAss: The Warriors. Pound-for-pound, they prove to be one of the toughest gangs in NYC.
* BadassCrew: Nine guys, outnumbered 1000 to 1, chased from Van Cortland to Coney Island. And they do it CrazyAwesome style.
* BatterUp: The Baseball Furies use bats as their signature weapon. The Warriors pick up a few of their bats during their rumble.
* BigApplesauce: Naturally.
* BigBad: Luther.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Cleon, the black DecoyProtagonist, dies first to make room for the real hero of the film, Swan, whose name even reflects his whiteness.
* BrooklynRage: [[UpToEleven the Movie.]]
* ChairmanOfTheBrawl: Used in the skirmish with the Lizzies.
* ComeOutComeOutWhereverYouAre: One of the most-quoted scenes of the film is Luther calling out the Warriors to "come out to play" while clinking beer bottles together. This was mostly improvised by the actor. He originally wanted two dead pigeons, but beer bottles are easier to get.
--->'''''Luther:''''' Wa-a-a-rior-r-rs... come out to pla-a-a-ay!
* CounterAttack: This seems to be Swan's preferred style of combat. Nearly every single attack he does in the movie is either a counter to someone else attacking him, or disarming a foe.
* CueTheSun: [[spoiler: The Warriors, having reached home and had their name cleared, play on the beach while the sun rises during the credits]].
* DeathBySex:
** While not killed, [[spoiler:Ajax is arrested when he gets rough with a woman (who turns out to be an undercover cop) he's trying to pick up.]]
** [[spoiler:Three of the Warriors are seduced and then ambushed by the Lizzies, but they all manage to escape. Originally Vermin was supposed to get killed by the Lizzies, but this was changed when the filmmakers were forced to kill Fox instead due to his actor's departure.]]
* DecoyProtagonist: Cleon, the gang's leader, is the first to go. The focus then shifts on Swan, the former second-in-command.
* DidNotDoTheResearch: Sol Yurick, author of the original novel, was a Californian who didn't really know New York City's geography.
* DirtyCoward: [[spoiler: Luther, the leader of the Rogues, and the one who framed the Warriors in the first place.]]
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Fox. The character was originally written as the love interest for Mercy, but the actors did not get along. Swan was rewritten as the love-interest and Fox gets hit by a subway train halfway through the film. The actor had already quit by the time his death scene was filmed.
* EnemyMime: The Baseball Furies paint their faces similar to mimes and never speak. There's also the Hi-Hats, who wear more traditional mime attire and are seen in the background of the gang conference. They're major characters in the video game.
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: All the action takes place over the course of a single night/morning.
* TheFaceless: All we see of the DJ is her mouth next to the microphone.
* FightMagnet.
* ForTheEvulz: Luther kills Cyrus and blames it on the Warriors. When asked why, he responds, "No reason. I just like doing things like that."
* GangOfHats: New York's streets are apparently ruled by these. Each gang has a theme, which carries into their dress and behavior. The Orphans dress shabbily and are total wimps. The Turnbull [=ACs=] are a large gang of skinheads. The Baseball Furies never speak, wear face-paint and baseball uniforms and wield baseball bats. The Lizzies are all female. The Warriors themselves wear red leather vests and Native American accessories. Needless to say, the New York underworld [[UncannyValleyMakeup comes across as very surreal]]. In any case, this movie is definitely one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s.
* GangsterLand: Nearly every character is a gangbanger.
* GrandfatherClause: The book that ultimately inspired TheMovie was published in 1965, and in various ways ''The Warriors'' is a 1960s film made about a decade too late. The youthful impulse of the various gangs to seize control of their collective destiny, as well as their naive belief that they can affect sweeping social change through their sheer numbers alone, reflects many of the famous factions of TheSixties, from the Berkeley Free Speech Movement to the various antiwar movements to Black Power. By the time the movie was actually made, American street gangs had generally moved away from political activism and were more concerned with exploiting the then-burgeoning market in illegal drugs. Despite what the film seems to imply, they had started openly using guns by this point. The clause could have been avoided by making the film a period piece, but then Walter Hill would probably not have been able to introduce the various fantastical elements.
* GreekChorus: The DJ, in DeadpanSnarker mode.
* HarmlessVillain: The Orphans weren't even invited to the meeting in the park and lamely try to intimidate the Warriors with newspaper clippings detailing their misdeeds, all while holding weapons like belts and straight razors. The video game uses them as villains for the early, easier levels.
* HomageShot: Swan's showdown with Luther is a shot-for-shot reference to a scene from ''Yojimbo''.
* IAmNotShazam: In the original Sol Yurick novel, the main gang was actually called the Dominators. The film avoided this trope by renaming them "the Warriors".
* IAmSong: "Last of An Ancient Breed." Which also is CrowningMusicOfAwesome.
* ImprovisedWeapon: Characters are occasionally seen whacking each other with objects they grab in the middle of a fight. Just before the final showdown, several Warriors rip off a piece of metal or wood from the alley they're standing in. Few guns and blades are actually seen in the movie. In the video game, random items such as beer bottles and bricks come in handy during street fights.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The Lizzies, who [[spoiler:only manage to graze a single Warrior after ambushing them at close range. In the original script, Vermin was supposed to die.]]
* FakeShemp: [[spoiler:The actor who played Fox left during filming, so a stand-in was used when they recorded Fox's death scene.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ajax is a real {{Jerkass}} who doesn't seem to get along with anyone. Still, Cowboy has to admit, "He saved my ass back there." He and Snow even try to save Ajax from the police, but without success. In the video game, Ajax is protective of Rembrandt, the youngest and weakest member. In the comic book mini-series ''The Warriors: Jailbreak'', a flashback by Rembrandt during an art class shows that a supportive Ajax was the one who recruited Rembrandt into the gang with the promise that he would be protected.
* JiveTurkey: The film features a small lexicon of slang terms with somewhat dubious authenticity. To "bop" is to fight, and gang-bangers are called "boppers." To "soldier" means to keep your mouth shut and move with your gang. The words "waste" and "wasted" are almost always used instead of "kill" or "dead." Cyrus's triumphant rallying cry to the assembled gangs is, "Can you dig it?"
* LargeHam: Cyrus. ''CAN YOU DIG IT??''
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Luther gets ratted out by his own man, and his murder of Cyrus gets avenged by Cyrus's own gang.]] The game takes it further by [[spoiler: letting you beat the crap out of him while playing as Masai (Cyrus's second-in-command) as the credits roll]].
* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Their Kind]]: The Warriors are one of the last gangs on the street still living by a traditional tribal code, with leadership being informal and decided by consensus. This is emphasized by their theme song "Last of an Ancient Breed" and further developed in the video game, where a different man serves as the boss for each mission and will gladly cede his powers to another if the situation becomes too large for him to handle.
* LetsGetDangerous: At least two examples. Cowboy, who comes off as whiny and a little cowardly in earlier scenes, kicks major ass in the subway men's room brawl. And Rembrandt, the smallest and weakest of the crew, punches a guy out in that very same scene.
* LighterAndSofter: The original book is far bleaker. The Coney Island gang is composed of {{Villain Protagonist}}s who murder an innocent man and commit multiple rapes and various acts of vandalism on the way back to their territory. The other gangs are never particularly gunning for them; the fights they get into are primarily instigated by themselves.
* LyricalDissonance: Arnold [=McCuller's=] rather upbeat rendition of "Nowhere To Run" is a naked threat to the Warriors' lives.
* MeaningfulName: Ajax is the DumbMuscle, as was his mythical namesake. Rembrandt is in charge of tagging, making him the gang's "artist." Fox is the gang's scout. Snow always stays cool. Swan is calm and dignified. Cleon is named after a famous Greek general. Cyrus's namesake was a powerful king in ''Anabasis'' who was killed trying to reclaim a Persian empire.
* NewOldWest: There are a lot of Western plot elements. The NYPD are the U.S. cavalry, complete with dark blue uniforms (although they're the {{Designated Villain}}s here). Cyrus is Tenskatawa, the famed Shawnee prophet and revolutionary in the early 19th century. The Warriors themselves operate according to a tribal system of government, and they have the whole Native American theme.
* NewYorkSubway: Since its the middle of the night, it's basically the only way across town.
* OneSceneWonder: Cyrus.
* OpeningNarration: Present in the special edition.
* {{Overcrank}}: A truly ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome]]'' yet restrained use by WalterHill during the fight scenes. Specifically, the Lizzies and Subway bathroom fight scenes combine SlowMotionFall with DramaticShattering (of a chair and a stall door, respectively) to incredible effect.
* PimpDuds: The Boppers.
* PreMortemOneLiner: Ajax: "I'm gonna shove that bat up your ass and turn you into a Popsicle!"
* RealMenWearPink: Swan must be a pretty tough guy to get nicknamed "Swan" and still command respect.
* RevolversAreForAmateurs: An alternative to ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy diplomas for the Lizzies and [[spoiler: Luther]]. Street kids in NYC in the late 70s would have found revolvers much easier to acquire than semi-autos, but finding a place to practice would've been problematic.
* SearchingTheStalls: The Punks line up in a bathroom to kick all the stalls open at the same time. The Warriors open the doors first and a brawl ensues.
* SinisterShades: Masai wears these.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: On this particular axis, the film's ideology shifts all over the place. In one sense, ''The Warriors'' is about as anti-progressive and nihilistic as a movie can get: the leaders of modern society are full of it, but the unwashed masses have been so barbarized by their mistreatment that if they ever did take over, [[FullCircleRevolution they'd just become the same sort of hypocritical oppressors that have always been]]. ("We could tax the crime syndicates, and the police! Nothing would move without us allowing it to happen!") On the other hand, the film demonstrates that [[VillainousValor even cheap thugs can have a sense of honor]], and if they're for real then they will certainly not tolerate anyone violating their [[BlueAndOrangeMorality particular moral code]].
* SoundtrackDissonance: JoeWalsh's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUAacbCcouA In The City]]" over the closing credits.
* SubvertedInnocence: A fairly common motif here. The Warriors' hideout is the old, abandoned section of the Coney Island amusement park. Cyrus addresses his congregation from atop what appears to be a crude jungle gym. The Turnbull A.C.'s run down their prey in a graffiti-strewn school bus. The Furies have a baseball theme. The Punks wear overalls and travel around on roller skates. And then, there's a gang known as "The Orphans."
* TheThemeParkVersion: Played straight and averted. The film offers a somewhat cartoonish vision of gang life in New York, with gangs wearing elaborate costumes and getting up-to-the-minute coverage on rumbles from the local radio station. However, the film is also rather brutal, with a number of characters getting killed. One particular scene, in which the surviving members of the gang are contrasted to some suburbanites coming from prom, emphasizes the relative grittiness of the setting. The film became infamous when real gang members attended showings and got into fatal fights.
* ThisIsSparta: Cyrus's rallying cry of "Can you dig it?" gets repeated and emphasized until it fits this trope.
* ThrowItIn: David Patrick Kelly ad-libbed the iconic scene in which he clanks the empty bottles together and calls out a challenge to the Warriors. Ajax's James Remar also ad-libbed his line, "I'm gonna shove that bat up your ass and turn you into a Popsicle!"
* TooDumbToLive: Ajax, [[spoiler: He decides to break away from the group to score with a lone woman in the park, despite the others' warnings over how stupid the idea was.]]
* TrappedBehindEnemyLines: The whole premise.
* TravelMontage: The movie opens with The Warriors going to the big meeting in one of these.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Particularly ironic since - at least according to director Walter Hill - the film was supposed to be set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: The Warriors' outfit includes a vest worn open, exposing their manly chests in the New York heat. Strangely, Ajax wears a black tank-top beneath his vest in spite of having the best physique.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: This is basically Cyrus' message at the Bronx summit.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** We never do find out to whom Luther was speaking during those phone conversations. It might be the DJ, seeing as how she's getting constant updates. Whoever it is, it has to be someone Luther knows very well ("Yeah, take care of yourself") and who is relatively unacquainted with the gang scene but still knows the lingo ("This guy, Cyrus... had an... [[NeverSayDie "accident"]]).
** Because of the time frame of the film, we never find out what become of Ajax after getting arrested.
* WhiteGangBangers: The Warriors gang is mixed-race. On the DVD, the director admits that he bowed to [[ExecutiveMeddling executive pressure]] to cast some white actors. Most of the other gangs appear to be homogenous, though not all are. Even the apparently all-black Riffs can be seen to include a white member or two in the background of some scenes, possibly due to a limited supply of black extras.
* YeahShot: A relatively restrained example, with [[spoiler: Swan, Mercy, Vermin, Cowboy, Snow, Cochise, and Rembrandt]] [[RidingIntoTheSunset walking off into the sunrise]] just after the end credits. If you look closely, you can see (far off in the distance) [[spoiler: Swan and Mercy]] raise their hands in a "Yeah!" gesture just before the fade to black.
----
"''Gonna stand our ground, on this part of town''...."

* BrooklynRage: [[MostTriumphantExample the Movie.]]

* BrooklynRage: the Movie.

* InvisibleDarrin: [[spoiler:The actor who played Fox left during filming, so a stand-in was used when they recorded Fox's death scene.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ajax is a real JerkAss who doesn't seem to get along with anyone. Still, Cowboy has to admit, "He saved my ass back there." He and Snow even try to save Ajax from the police, but without success. In the video game, Ajax is protective of Rembrandt, the youngest and weakest member. In the comic book mini-series ''The Warriors: Jailbreak'', a flashback by Rembrandt during an art class shows that a supportive Ajax was the one who recruited Rembrandt into the gang with the promise that he would be protected.

Notable for being very loosely based on {{Xenophon}}'s ''Literature/{{Anabasis}}''.

More than 20 years after the film came out, [[VideoGame/TheWarriors it was used as the basis for a video game]] that has been generally considered to be a spectacular aversion of TheProblemWithLicensedGames.

** While not killed, [[spoiler:Ajax is arrested when he gets rough with a woman he's trying to pick up.]]

* BarBrawl: The sign on the window says "Pizzeria," but since the only things inside beside couches and [[ChairmanOfTheBrawl chairs]] are a pool table and a jukebox, the encounter with the Lizzies seems to qualify.

** Critic Danny Peary makes the point that the entire film is analagous to a baseball game, which would make it the most surreal BaseballEpisode ever.

* BatterUp: The Baseball Furies use bats as their signature weapon. The Warriors pick up a few of their bats during their rumble.

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The Lizzies, who [[spoiler:only manage to graze a single Warrior after ambushing them at close range. In the original script, Vermin supposed to die.]]

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: On this particular axis, the film's ideology shifts all over the place. In one sense, ''The Warriors'' is about as anti-progressive and nihilistic as a movie can get: the leaders of modern society are full of it, but the unwashed masses have been so barbarized by their mistreatment that if they ever did take over, [[FullCircleRevolution they'd just become the same sort of hypocritical oppressors that have always been]]. ("We could tax the crime syndicates, and the police! Nothing would move without us allowing it to happen!") On the other hand, the film demonstrates that even cheap thugs can have a sense of honor, and if they're for real then they will certainly not tolerate anyone violating their [[BlueAndOrangeMorality particular moral code]].

More than 20 years after the film came out, [[VideoGame/TheWarriors it was used as the basis for a video game]] generally considered to be a spectacular aversion of TheProblemWithLicensedGames.

More than 20 years after the film came out, it was used as the basis for a video game. Developed by none other than RockstarGames, this is generally considered to be a spectacular aversion of TheProblemWithLicensedGames. Since this game is quite different in many respects from the film that inspired it, a separate section for the game is provided below.

!!The 2005 video game features examples of:
* AdaptationExpansion: The video game includes the entire plot of the film, but the game also adds a backstory to the foundation of the gang and the time leading up to the fateful night.
* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: In the movie, when Masai demands to know who The Warriors are no one can answer him. This is kept in the game, but it seems very unlikely given how many gangs the Warriors have beaten and the dangerous reputation they develop because of it.
* AmusementParkOfDoom: The Hi-Hats confront the Warriors in the eighth level, chasing them into an abandoned (but still operational) fun house on the Coney grounds. The Warriors beat up some Hi-Hats in an "African village" exhibit before fleeing from a runaway "mine-cart" ride and finally facing off against Chatterbox at the center of the fun house.
* BadGuyBar: Several:
** The Red Devil, which is "neutral ground" despite being in the Gun Hill district of the Bronx (the Turnbull A.C.'s' territory). A band in the corner plays punk rock.
** The Stripes and Solids. Located in East (Spanish) Harlem, it has a definite [[SouthOfTheBorder Latin American]] look to it.
** The Black Cat (actually a strip joint) in Harlem. In the bonus level "Sharp Dressed Man," you have to repeatedly tip a stripper so that she will tell you where to find the leader of the Boppers. (We also visit a pool hall and a discotheque during the Harlem sequence.)
* BilingualBonus: Several characters in East Harlem speak Puerto Rican Spanish, while several in Chinatown speak Cantonese; neither tongue is translated, making for some [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar pretty sneaky profanities]]. (In East Harlem, for example, one Hurricane threatens to "shit on your mothers.")
* CharacterExaggeration: Snow, although particularly stoic in the original film, is noticeably boisterous in the video game adaptation.
* {{Chickification}}: Mercy joins the fray during the subway restroom brawl toward the end of the 1979 film, leaping atop one of the overalled thugs. In the game, she's been reduced to a DamselInDistress whom, as Swan, you must rescue from those same thugs. If you fail, Mercy dies and the game is over.
* DirtyCoward: Luther of course, but also Sanchez, a thug in East Harlem who owes the Warriors some money. When you confront him, he repeatedly runs away while his homies try to make short work of you. Ajax finally manages to corner him on top of a tenement, presses him toward the edge - and then shouts "BOO!", causing Sanchez to scream and fall backward onto a car in the street below. Also Sully (the leader of the Orphan's and Mercy's former boyfriend) whose boast about taking on the Warriors rings hollow once the Warriors themselves confront him and his goons in Tremont. Sully panics, retreats behind a locked gate....and ''then'' [[MilesGloriosus continues to taunt the Warriors]].
* GeniusBruiser / MadArtist: Chatterbox is a short-tempered, potty-mouthed FatBastard who also happens to be a patron of the fine arts. He is an amateur artist himself, and his "masterpieces" are clearly inspired by the classic works of such artists as Botticelli and Van Gogh.
* HaveANiceDeath: Die in the game and the DJ mocks you.
* HowWeGotHere: The video game begins with the movie's opening, then jumps back in time; the gameplay starts ninety days before the movie's story, with Rembrandt joining the Warriors, and follows the chain of events leading up to the meeting. The movie itself is covered in the final missions. Bonus levels extend the backstory even further, going back one year prior to the events of the movie, when Cleon and Vermin quit the Destroyers, recruited Swan and Cowboy (who had actually left the Destroyers earlier), and initiated Ajax, Snow, Fox, and Cochise.
* LargeHam: The voice cast embraces the setting's cheesiness with gusto. The bosses in particular don't chew the scenary so much as demolish it.
* LaughingMad: Virgil (Cleon's old [[MentorArchetype mentor]] whose double-crossing of him sets the events of the game in motion) has clearly lost every shred of his sanity by the time Cleon finally confronts him. ("Ain't none of your boys gonna protect you against ''MEE-EEE''!")
* ManOnFire: Molotov cocktails are relatively common in the game, since you can always raid a liquor store and make one yourself. The Destroyers wield these as their signature weapon - and Virgil, their leader, [[spoiler: is [[KarmicDeath killed]] by this very method]].
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: One of the Moon Runners in the Pelham train yard is overheard talking about "that space movie." Given the game's time frame, he is probably referring to ''StarWars''. Humorously, he says [[{Prequel{}} "Nothing they do could ever ruin that movie for me!"
* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: Averted by Rockstar's video game adaptation, which received a generally favorable response and was quite loyal to the film. Unlike most licensed games, it was made decades after the film had been released, so that there was no ExecutiveMeddling to have it rushed to completion by the time the film entered theaters.
* RhymesOnADime: An occasional quirk of some of the black characters. The bouncer at the Red Devil takes it UpToEleven.
* ScaryBlackMan: Big Moe, the hulking boss of Harlem's Boppers. Except for Luther himself, he's the hardest opponent in the game to beat.
* ShrineToSelf: Chatterbox's art gallery is crammed with paintings and sculptures that all depict himself in vulgar tributes to classic works of art - including [[{{Squick}} a naked Chatterbox posed like the Roman love-goddess Venus]].
* ShoutOut: In the video game, there's a bonus game you can play called ''Armies of the Night'', which is a nod to the old days of beat-'em-up games. The game is based on ''DoubleDragon'' and it mimics the opening scene of a gang punching a girl (Mercy) in the stomach and kidnapping her while you (Swan) have to fight through the whole city and every gang to get her back. If you happen to reach the end in 2 player mode, the players will be forced to fight each other to the death to see who takes the girl home, just like in ''DoubleDragon''. This feature might count as PresentDayPast, since side-scrolling beat-'em-ups wouldn't appear in video arcades until several years after the events depicted in ''The Warriors''.
* TattooedCrook: Diego, TheBrute for the Hurricanes.
* ThisIsReality: At certain points in the game, you can hear your enemies taunting you in the background by shouting: "This ain't no movie, Warriors!" Which is technically true: [[WrongGenreSavvy it's a video game]].
* ThoseTwoGuys: Officers Harrison and Garrison.
* VomitIndiscretionShot: "Man, I drank, like, twice as much as you! You don't see ''me'' [[UnusualEuphemism spraying lasagna]] all over the street!"
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Possibly. In the arena mode, two of the stages are at the graveyard the Warriors regroup at after Cyrus is shot. They are the only stages not present in the actual levels. In one mission you can overhear a conversation between a group of Jones Street Boys, and sometimes they'll talk about a time The Warriors screwed them over in the graveyard, which is mentioned no where else in the game. It seems that at least one additional level was planned, but scrapped for whatever reason.
* WhiteHairedPrettyBoy: Ghost, the spooky leader of the Savage Huns.
----

Notable for being very loosely based on Xenophon's ''{{Anabasis}}''.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Mercy, the girl the Warriors "kidnap" and with whom Swan falls in love, looks and sounds Puerto Rican, but the movie never makes this clear. Actress Deborah [[TheVonTropeFamily Van Valkenburgh]] is of Dutch descent, making this possible FakeNationality as well.
** Van Valkenburgh was reportedly surprised when she was cast in the film, assuming that the producers wanted the [[GirlOfTheWeek Girl Of The Film]] to be played by "some blonde."

** Some also speculate that Rembrandt is secretly gay, based mostly on his cold reception to the Lizzies' advances, as well as his generally meek manner and the fact that he wears a pink scarf.

* ComeOutComeOutWhereverYouAre: One of the most-quoted scenes of the film is Luther calling out the warriors to "come out to play" while clinking beer bottles together. This was mostly improvised by the actor.[[spoiler:It was revealed that two dead pigeons were supposed to be in Luther's hand, but beer bottles are easier to get.]]

** While not killed, [[spoiler:Ajax is arrested when he moves on an undercover cop.]]

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Fox. The character was originally written as the love interest for Mercy, but the actors did not get along. Swan was rewritten as the love-interest and Fox gets hit by a subway train halfway through the film. The actor had already quit by the time his death scene was to be filmed.
* EnemyMime: A whole gang of them called the Hi-Hats. They're just background extras in the film, but take up a large part of the video game.

* GangOfHats: New York's streets are apparently ruled by these. Each gang has a theme, which carries into their dress and behavior. The Orphans dress shabbily and are total wimps. The Turnbull [=ACs=] are a large gang of skinheads who only listens to Punk Rock music. The Baseball Furies are a gang of silent guys in face-paint and baseball uniforms. The Lizzies are all female. The Warriors themselves wear red leather vests and Native American accesories. Needless to say, the New York underworld [[UncannyValleyMakeup comes across as very surreal]]. In any case, this movie is definitely one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s.

* GrandfatherClause: The book that ultimately inspired TheMovie was published in 1965, and in various ways ''The Warriors'' is a 1960s film made about a decade too late. The youthful impulse of the various gangs to seize control of their collective destiny, as well as their naive belief that they can affect sweeping social change through their sheer numbers alone, reflects many of the famous factions of TheSixties, from the Berkeley Free Speech Movement to the various antiwar movements to Black Power. By the time the movie was actually made, American street gangs had generally moved away from political activism and were more concerned with exploiting the then-burgeoning market in illegal drugs (and, despite what the film seems to imply, they had started openly using guns by this point). The clause could have been avoided by making the film a period piece, but then Walter Hill would probably not have been able to introduce the various fantastical elements.

* HarmlessVillain: The Orphans weren't even invited to the meeting in the park, and lamely try to intimidate the Warriors with newspaper clippings detailing their misdeeds while holding weapons like belts and straight razors. The video game uses them as villains for the early, easier levels.

* ImprovisedWeapon: Several. Few guns and blades are actually seen in the movie. In the video game, random items such as beer bottles and bricks come in handy during street fights.

* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Their Kind]]: The Warriors are one of the last gangs on the street still living by a traditional tribal code, with leadership being informal and decided by consensus [[ArtisticLicenseGovernment (although any reputable anthropologist will tell you that a gang leader should then technically be called "the big man" rather than "the war chief")]]. This is emphasized by their theme song "Last of an Ancient Breed" and further developed in the video game, where a different man serves as the boss for each mission and will gladly cede his powers to another if the situation becomes too large for him to handle.

* LighterAndSofter: The original book is far bleaker, the Coney Island gang are really {{Villain Protagonist}}s, murdering an innocent man and committing multiple rapes and various acts of vandalism on the way back to their territory. Nor are the other gangs particularly gunning for them; the fights they get into are primarily instigated by themselves.

* MeaningfulName: Ajax is the DumbMuscle, as was his mythical namesake. Rembrandt is in charge of tagging, making him the gang's "artist." Fox is the gang's scout. Snow always stays cool. Cleon is named after a famous Greek general. Cyrus's namesake was a powerful king in ''Anabasis'' who was killed trying to reclaim a Persian empire.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: On this particular axis, the film's ideology shifts all over the place. In one sense, ''The Warriors'' is about as anti-progressive and nihilistic as a movie can get: the leaders of modern society are full of it, but the unwashed masses have been so barbarized by their mistreatment that if they ever did take over, [[FullCircleRevolution they'd just become the same sort of hypocritical oppressors that have always been]]. ("We could tax the crime syndicates, and the police! Nothing would move without us allowing it to happen!") On the other hand, the film demonstrates that even cheap thugs can have a sense of honor, and if they're for real then they will certainly not tolerate anyone violating their [[BlueAndOrangeMorality particular moral code]]. (For example: On the streets survival of the fittest reigns, but shooting an unarmed person with a gun is definitely an abomination.)

* TooDumbToLive: Ajax, [[spoiler: He decides to break away from the group to score with a lone woman in the park, despite the others' warnings over how stupid the idea was. The woman in question turns out to be an undercover cop and Ajax gets arrested.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never do find out to whom Luther was speaking during those phone conversations. It might be to the DJ, seeing as how she's getting constant updates. Whoever it is, it has to be someone Luther knows very well ("Yeah, take care of yourself") and who is relatively unacquainted with the gang scene but still knows the lingo ("This guy, Cyrus....had an....[[NeverSayDie "accident"]]).
** While we know that Ajax was arrested, we never find out if he was released, went to trial, was killed by rival gangs at some point, or if he was busted out by the other Warriors once the events of the movie was over.

* ShoutOut: In the video game, there's a bonus game you can play called ''Armies of the Night'', which is a nod to the old days of beat-'em-up games. The game is based on ''DoubleDragon'' and it mimics the opening scene of a gang punching a girl (Mercy) in the stomach and kidnapping her while you (Swan) have to fight through the whole city and every gang to get her back. If you happen to reach the end in 2 player mode, the players will be forced to fight each other to the death to see who takes the girl home, just like in ''DoubleDragon''.
** This feature might count as PresentDayPast, since side-scrolling beat-'em-ups wouldn't appear in video arcades until several years after the events depicted in ''The Warriors''.

* ForTheEvulz: Luther kills Cyrus and blames it on the Warriors simply because he "does stuff like that."

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: One of the Moon Runners in the Pelham train yard is overheard talking about "that space movie." Given the game's time frame, he is probably referring to ''StarWars''.

* AnyoneCanDie: Of the 9 Warriors at the start of the film, only 6 of them make it to the end. [[spoiler: Cleon is implied to be killed by the Riffs, Fox is run over by a train, and Ajax gets arrested.]]

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Cleon, the black DecoyProtagonist, dies first to make room for the real hero of the film, Swan, whose name even lampshades his whiteness.