History Main / Underworld

* The tabletop game.

* [[Music/UnderworldBand a British band]].
* The Music/Divinyls album.

* Music/{{Underworld}}, a British band.

* Music/{{Underworld}}, a British band.

* ''[[Film/{{Underworld1927}} Underworld]],'' a [[SilentMovie silent]] gangster picture from 1927.
* ''Film/{{Underworld}}'', an action film series featuring vampires and werewolves.
* Music/{{Underworld}}, a British band.

* ''[[Film/{{Underworld1927}} Underworld]],'' a [[SilentMovie silent]] gangster picture from 1927.

* Music/{{Underworld}}, a British band.

[[redirect:Film/{{Underworld}}]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Underworld.jpg
The '''Underworld''' series is a set of horror-action movies revolving around the conflicts of [[FurAgainstFang Werewolves and Vampires]], complete with an AncientConspiracy, an intricate {{Backstory}}, plenty of DarkWorld imagery, and lots of gratuitous gory action.

The main plot revolves around the struggle between the Lycans, a former slave race to the vampires, rebelling and the latter vowing to exterminate them. All because Lucian, a Lycan, and vampire lord Viktor's daughter fell in love and conceived a child. Viktor ordered her killed to ensure the [[HybridMonster "Abomination"]] would not come to term. Lucian escaped and the rest, as they say, is history.

In the modern day, Lycans have been "hunted to near extinction", or so the Vampire nobles think, but in reality they are gathering in numbers and planning on wiping out the vampire leadership with a plot to create their own hybrid on the eve of the vampire elders switching power. This is where Michael comes in. He is, among the descendants of the Corvinus clan, the only one with the genetic makeup capable of letting him be turned into a vampire ''and'' a werewolf. Normal humans can only be turned into one or the other, trying to "mix" causes death. Selene, a vampire Death Dealer with a personal vendetta against all werewolves, notices the Lycan's botched kidnapping of Michael, and helps him escape capture. Along the way, they begin to fall in love, an issue that gets all the more complicated when he gets bitten and starts turning into a werewolf. Can their love survive their species' natural hatred?

The series consists of four movies at the moment:

* '''''Underworld''''' (2003) introduces the basic setting, as well as the main characters: Selene and Michael, who are caught in the conflict between Viktor's vampire court and the rebellious Lycans led by Lucian.
* '''''Underworld: Evolution''''' (2006) picks up immediately where the first movie ended: with Viktor and Lucian dead, Selene and Michael ([[spoiler:now the dreaded Vampire-Lycan hybrid]]) find themselves on the run from Marcus, the father of all vampires. Luckily, they are helped by Marcus' immortal father, who is just as interested in stopping him as they are.
* '''''Underworld: Rise of the Lycans''''' (2009) depicts the origin of the Lycan rebellion against their Vampire masters, sparked by the StarcrossedLovers Lucian and Sonja, Viktor's vampire daughter. [[ForegoneConclusion As may be expected from a prequel]], it has a DownerEnding.
* '''''Underworld: Awakening''''' (2012) is set approximately 12 years after ''Evolution'' and revolves around Selene, fresh out of torpor, trying to find her and Michael's daughter in the midst of [[BrokenMasquerade the extermination of both Vampires and Lycans at the hands of humanity]].

Not to be confused with TheUnderworld, [[{{Hell}} that underworld]], ''UltimaUnderworld'', the band Music/{{Underworld}}, [[CoronationStreet this one]] or a MetroSpecificUnderworld, which it may loosely reference.
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!!Tropes include:
* AbnormalAmmo: Silver bullets are to be expected, but special liquid silver nitrate bullets are used to prevent the projectiles from being easily removed. The Lycans, for their part, have developed UV rounds for use against the vamps.
* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Victor's sword, which Selene uses against him.
* AnachronismStew: ''Rise of the Lycans'', in which the vampire nobles (the women, at least) seem to be wearing modern evening wear, some even featuring bare midriffs. The date and setting of the film is inexact, but it is clearly supposed to be a medieval setting.
** Based on the first two movies, this takes place roughly 600 years ago, as Selene's family was murdered "the winter of Lucian's escape."
* AnatomicallyImpossibleSex: Selene and Michael's infamously awkward sex scene in ''Underworld: Evolution''. The way their bodies are positioned, Michael is basically making love to Selene's stomach, though they were sensible enough to photoshop out his penis. This scene is particularly awkward when you realize that Kate Beckinsale is married to the director, who obviously would have been watching the whole time.
** To quote Mrs. Beckinsale during an interview about this very scene: "...if they move, then it’s terribly embarrassing, but if it doesn’t move it’s terribly insulting and you think they’re gay. So he lashed it to his leg, tied it in three knots and... I think was in physical torment as well as everything else"
** To be fair, that was just for the first few shots of the scene, probably just 'foreplay'. In the last few shots Michael actually looks positioned right.
* AncientConspiracy: Both the masquerade setting itself, and ''within'' the vampire clan under the noses of its members.
* AntiClimax: In the first movie, a Lycan starts to transform and it looks like it's going to have a knock-down drag-out fight with a vampire. Said vampire is quickly knocked down and torn to pieces.
* AntiVillain: By the end of the first movie, [[spoiler:Lucian]] is a villain only by virtue of being on the opposite side.
* AristocratsAreEvil: The vampires.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Selene's automatic pistols. Apart from the required BottomlessMagazines, pistols are too underpowered to reliably stop mere people, inherently inaccurate even when shot one at a time and in Selene's case, don't even produce particularly good results with the in-universe issue of Lycans extracting or pushing out silver bullets. Notable despite RuleOfCool because EVERYONE else uses at least a heavy magnum pistol or submachine gun.
** Possibly a case of FridgeBrilliance. Vampires thought they had all but exterminated their old slaves, only to find a surprisingly significant Lycan population growing (literally) under their noses. Maybe the Lycans were purposely playing possum and the vamps didn't realize their weapons and tactics weren't so effective anymore.
* {{Badass}}: Most of the cast, especially Selene.
* BadassBaritone: There are no special effects involved in Kevin Grevioux's voice.
* BadassLongcoat: Vampires and Lycans both wear them, and they have a noted tendency to catch the breeze.
* BadassNormal: Raze when still human. First thing he does when confronted with one of the wild and feral Werewolves? Punches the damn thing down.
** Detective Sebastian in ''Awakening''. He may look as if he bought his detective outfit at a Halloween costume store, but when the chips are down he still shoots lycans with some sort of giant gun and survives a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from [[spoiler:Jacob Lane in lycan form.]]
* BatOutOfHell: The vampire Elder Marcus, on account of his becoming a hybrid, seems to have grown leathery gray skin and enormous, sycthe-like bat-wings.
* BigBad: Viktor in the first movie and ''Rise of the Lycans'', Marcus in ''Evolution'', Dr. Lane in ''Awakening''.
* BoomHeadshot: When Selene is escaping in ''Awakening'' a guard shoots her in the head. [[NoSell It just pisses her off.]]
* BottomlessMagazines: Selene's automatic pistols must just be magical, roaring with one continuous noise as they spew bullets like water out of a hose. Her infamous [[BulletholeDoor Bullet Hole Trap Door]] is only one example.
** Averted a few times, actually. I've seen Selene reloading her pistols more than once in the movies. I suppose you just have to be watching for it.
* BulletHoleDoor: Selene makes one through the floor. With ''silver bullets'', no less. ''MythBusters'' attempted to reproduce this specific stunt, and couldn't do it, even with 10 times the ammo.
** The stunt itself was no picnic. Kate Beckinsale states in the commentary that the shrapnel from the broken floor tile was exploding into her face.
** Inverted with the bottom of a rapidly descending elevator in ''Awakening''. [[spoiler:The elevator lands on her, but the bullets made the floor weak enough (and she's ''tough enough'') that it doesn't particularly bother her.]]
* CapuletCounterpart: Selene.
* CallingTheOldManOut: Selene in ''Evolutions'' to Alexander Corvinus, in response to his NotSoDifferent lecture.
-->'''Selene:''' Everything I've done can be laid at YOUR feet - hundreds of thousands have died because of your inability to accept that your sons are monsters, that they CREATE monsters!
* CatFight: Subverted in the second film. Twice. In the span of ''[[CurbStompBattle ten seconds.]]''
* CleanupCrew: Alexander Corvinus leads a group of men, appropriately called [[ShapedLikeItself The Cleaners]], who cover up the evidence of lycans and vampires. [[spoiler:They are all killed by Marcus in ''Evolution'', which is what probably led to humans learning of the existence of lycans and vampires in ''Awakening''.]]
* ColdBloodedTorture: On Lucian, in ''Rise of the Lycans''.
* CreatorCameo: Raze is played by Kevin Grevioux, who was one of the co-creators of the story.
* CreepyBlueEyes: The vampires and the lycans.
* CuteLittleFangs: Selene.
* DarkActionGirl: Selene.
* DelayedCausality: [[spoiler:Selene's duel with Viktor.]]
* DemotedToExtra: Michael in ''Awakening''.
* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: UV rounds for killing vampires, silver nitrate rounds for killing Lycans.
** Arguably, the special rounds should have averted the ArmorIsUseless trope since both rounds are essentially fragile liquid containers and would probably have splashed harmlessly across any decent armor.
* DiagonalCut: [[spoiler:Selene's duel with Viktor.]]
* DidNotDoTheResearch: The "silver nitrate" bullets the werewolves use have a liquid metal inside them, but actual silver nitrate is clear and colorless, not metallic. [[RealityIsUnrealistic Probably mostly there for the convenience of the audience]].
* DifferentAsNightAndDay: Markus and William were twin brothers, yet wound up as different breeds of supernatural creature.
* DirtyCoward: Kraven.
* TheDogBitesBack: Literally when Lucian leads the Lycan rebellion. [[spoiler: Lucian himself runs afoul of it when Kraven kills him]].
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Kraven, right at the beginning of ''Underworld: Evolution''.
* DyingLikeAnimals: [[spoiler:In ''Awakening'' after the humans have hunted vampires and lycans to the brink of extinction. Lycans apparently went out like boars, rose up and fought the humans; and were massacred. Vampires seem to be chickens, mostly just hiding. The leader of one coven is like a mouse; but in fairness he saw what happened to the boars. Subverted in that the lycans weren't wiped out, they were able to infiltrate the government. They used humans to wipe out vampires, while secretly making themselves stronger.]]
* EveryHelicopterIsAHuey: Very nearly averted in ''Evolution'' - the helicopter shown in long-shots is a modified SA 360 Dauphin that just happens to [[TheCoconutEffect sound like]] a Huey. Unfortunately, sometime between the helicopter landing and TheSquad piling out the back, it's turned into a Huey anyway. In an apparent compromise, the prop used after it inevitably crashes and turns into a HelicopterBlender looks like some unholy fusion between the two.
* EvilBrit: Seemingly played straight with Lucian in the first film. But then subverted when it turns out [[spoiler:he isn't the villain, or at all evil.]]
* {{Fanservice}}: Selene's entire wardrobe composes of leather catsuits. The men are lucky--or villains--if they get more than pants.
** And for the ladies, Michael almost always fights shirtless, while in the third film, Lucian shows off just about ''everything''.
* {{Expy}}: Thomas in ''Awakening'' is basically a more cowardly, not-as-evil version of Viktor. CharlesDance clearly took lessons in being BillNighy for the part -- just listen to his first line-''uh''.
* FauxActionGirl: Sonja in ''Rise of the Lycans''. Despite being the leader of the Death Dealers, Sonja needs almost constant rescuing.
* FollowTheLeader: The setting was similar enough to White Wolf's ''WorldOfDarkness'' tabletop RPG that there was a legal fracas over it around the time of the first film's release. Otherwise, the film is generally thought of as ''TheMatrix'' with vampires and werewolves.
* ForegoneConclusion: If you watched the movies in production order, there's no way you didn't know how ''Rise of the Lycans'' was going to end.
** Watching them in ''chronological'' order, however, takes away the first movie's twist that [[spoiler:Kraven didn't kill Lucian]] as Selene claimed in her OpeningNarration. Either way, you will be spoiled--though the chronological order can still work okay if you like {{internal reveal}}s.
* FurAgainstFang: The premise.
* GeneticMemory: Carried in the blood of both werewolves and vampires are the "parent's" memories, which can be accessed by drinking.
* TheGhost: Marcus in the first movie. He's only mentioned as one of the three vampire elders, who was supposed to take power before Selene awakened Viktor instead. We don't actually see him until ''Evolution'', where we learn how important he really is to the series' backstory.
* {{Gorn}}: There's a scene in ''Evolution'' where an exiled vamp is having a threesome. One of his partners bites him. [[HemoErotic Bleeding just made it hotter]].
* HealingFactor: Both vampires and lycans (except against silver in the latter's case). Best illustrated in the second film, when Selene suffers severe burns from short-term exposure to the sun, which are gone minutes later.
* HelicopterBlender: Used at the end of ''Evolution''.
* HellBentForLeather: Selene. Just look at the poster.
* HemoErotic: The vampire threesome in 2.
* HeyItsThatGuy: Lycan doctor Singe managed to put behind [[DasBoot his U-boat experience]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Viktor, letting Selene live and turn her into a vampire, because she reminds him so much of Sonja, only to end up [[spoiler:getting killed by his "daughter"]]. In the second film, [[spoiler:Selene rips off one of Marcus's spiked wings and stabs him with it.]]
** And Viktor again, in ''Rise of the Lycans''. When Lucian is born, he gets the feeling that he should kill the infant, but doesn't, leading to the following exchange:
-->'''Viktor:''' I should have crushed you under my heel the day you were born!\\
'''Lucian:''' Yes, you should have. *stabs Viktor through the mouth* But you didn't.
** Dr. Lane in ''Awakening'' [[spoiler:has his neck ripped out through his throat by the hybrid he created.]]
** The super lycan in the same film is [[spoiler:doomed by his own HealingFactor. See LuckilyMyPowersWillProtectMe.]]
* HissBeforeFleeing: Vampires in general.
* HumansAreBastards: In ''Awakening''. [[spoiler:Subverted when at least part of the anti-monster purge and subsequent genetic research turns out to be a lycan plot.]]
* HybridOverkillAvoidance: Why there are no hybrids before Michael.
* HybridMonster: Michael Corvin becomes one, specifically [[spoiler:the first Half-vampire-half-Lycan]]. Later, [[spoiler:Marcus also becomes one]]. There's also Subject 2, the daughter of Michael Corvin created in a lab. Oddly, none of them are quite the same kind of hybrid, despite being mixes of the same species.
** Michael started out as a lycan with the dormant Corvinus gene who had the [[spoiler:vampire]] DNA added later. [[spoiler:Marcus]] was the other way around. Subject 2, on the other hand, was born from Michael's already-existent hybrid DNA mixing with Selene's vampire DNA [[spoiler:which had already mixed with pure immortal DNA from Alexander Corvinus]]. These different combinations and scenarios could explain the different appearances of the hybrids.
** [[spoiler: Lucian and Sonja's child would have been a hybrid if it had lived.]]
* IdiotBall: Viktor, why did you leave the closable roof of the room in which you intended to torture Lucian open '''on the night of a full moon'''?
** That depends on which movie you're watching. In ''Rise of the Lycans'', Lucian can change at will, rather than under a full moon.
*** Also, it's never actually stated that Lycans who can't change at will even need to be in direct moonlight to transform.
** A more likely candidate would be Kraven. From slipping up and dropping Lucian's name in argument with Selene to...just about everything else his ego leads him to do.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo:
-->'''Selene:''' It wasn't the Lycans. It was you. How could you bear my trust knowing that you killed my family?\\
'''Viktor:''' Yes, I have taken from you but I have given so much more. Is it not a fair trade for life I have granted you? The gift of immortality?\\
'''Selene:''' And the life of your daughter? Your own flesh and blood?\\
'''Viktor:''' [[BerserkButton I loved my daughter! But the abomination growing in her womb was a betrayal of me and the coven!]] I did what was necessary to protect the species! [[HereWeGoAgain As I am forced to do yet again!]]
* IHateYouVampireDad: Both Sonja and Selene suffer this.
** Selene initially averts this. She is ''very'' loyal to Viktor, and is well-enough known for the trait that Andreas Tannis flat-out disbelieves her when she states [[spoiler:she killed him.]]
** Arguably, Sonja also doesn't really suffer from it early on.
* ImmuneToBullets: Not exactly, but they don't seem to be very effective. Older werewolves can just push them out of their flesh (or skull, in Lucian's case), and vampires seem able to survive all sorts of impalements. In the second film, Selene takes a shotgun blast to the torso without visible injury, and Marcus survives five or six such shots in a row and is only slowed down with minor bleeding.
** Silver bullets do kill lycans, but they can heal from it. The silver nitrate liquid rounds kill them very quickly; and the UV bullets are similarly effective against vampires. Marcus can shrug them off ''because he's that tough'', and Selene's corset may be bulletproof.
* ImplacableMan: Marcus.
* JustAStupidAccent: In the first film, Viktor's accent is somewhere between Colonel Kurtz and Colonel Sanders. By ''Rise of the Lycans'', it's a pretty standard English sneer.
** Probably this is TranslationConvention at work, as it's unlikely that genuine period speech would be intelligible to audiences even if they'd been speaking English.
* LargeHam: Lots of them, but Viktor takes the cake. Or at least shares it with Kraven.
** He has his moments in the first, for example coming out of nowhere nasally saying, "What's... this... ruckus?". But in the third, he definitely goes for it. "I whanted to believe your liessss. I KNEW it couldn't be truenotmyowndaughter, ''how could youuu?''"
* LuckilyMyPowersWillProtectMe: When Selene is fighting the GiantMook lycan at the end of ''Awakening'', she punches a hole through him [[spoiler:and leaves a grenade inside]] and he announces, as he heals instantly, "I heal instantly!"
* LoveAcrossBattlelines: Sonja and Lucian in ''Rise of the Lycans''. The [[FurAgainstFang never-ending feud]] between vampires and werewolves becomes a full-out war because of their relationship.
* MadScientist: The lycans have their own mad scientist, complete with German accent, in the first film. Dr. Jacob Lane in ''Awakening'' also fits the part.
* MalevolentMaskedMen: The Death Dealers in all incarnations whether its full-face medieval helmets or gas masks.
* MamaBear: [[spoiler:Selene in ''Awakening''.]]
* TheMasquerade: It's revealed in the second film that Sir Derek Jacobi and his merry men have been following the vampires around and cleaning up their mess. They even mention bribing witnesses to keep their mouths shut. [[spoiler:The fact that Markus kills all of them is probably what led to the BrokenMasquerade.]]
** TheUnmasquedWorld: In ''Awakening'', humans have [[BrokenMasquerade found out about vampires and lycans]] and started hunting down both of them. Selene, while breaking into a sporting goods/gun store, sees vampire and lycan teeth on sale.
* MeaningfulName: Viktor is surprised when putting someone named [[http://definr.com/craven Kraven]] in charge of his household doesn't turn out so well.
** Selene, which means "moon".
* MonogenderMonsters: Going by the movies, there was exactly ''one'' female Lycan, Lucian's mother, who was infected while pregnant. Though presumably the virus is just as contagious to both genders, the use of this trope was {{justified}} as the vampires wanting only male lycan slaves.
** Alternately, proto-lycan females could've been culled after Lucian's birth, because [[MamaBear their instinct to protect their offspring]] made them unmanageable even for whip-wielding vampires. Lucian's mom ''did'' look ready to pounce on anyone who came near when she was killed.
** Although Lucian's mother is the only ''prominent'' female Lycan, technically two can be seen the background in the first movie. One sits on a raised platform as Raze brings his injured comrade back to the den. Another is visible among the imprisoned Lycans in the Lucian/Sonja flashback.
** There's also a few distinct mentions of female Lycans within the novels of the movies.
* MonsterProgenitor: William Corvinus is the Progenitor of all Lycans. Markus Corvinus, his brother, is the progenitor of all Vampires. Unlike other Lycans, William cannot change back to a human. Markus, unlike other vampires, is capable of changing form to that of a vampire with bat wings, giving him flight; but only after he becomes a hybrid.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Selene. By ''Awakening'', she's able to jump through concrete and [[spoiler:bring other vampires back to life by sticking her hand into them and squeezing their heart.]]
** Somewhat justified as, in ''Evolution'', she [[spoiler:became a hybrid 'True Immortal' and Vampire thanks to Alexander Corvinus.]]
*** Additionally, the [[spoiler:heart-pump was preceeded by slashing her own palm open, presumably to allow her enhanced blood to infuse and alter the deceased, albeit to a lesser extent or on a temporary basis.]]
* NighInvulnerable: Hybrids are TOUGH. [[spoiler:Markus, original vampire, has a magazine emptied into his face (courtesy of Selene) and then crushed between a truck and a cliff-side. He shrugs it off. Selene is only able to kill him after impaling him through the head, with his own razor wing, and throwing him into helicopter blades. WordOfGod is that while the HelicopterBlender killed him, he would have recovered from the impaled head. Michael is [[ImpaledwithExtremePrejudice impaled on a pipe]], which does seem to kill; only for him to be OnlyMostlyDead. Selene, a vampire immortal hybrid, might actually be indestructible.]]
* NoOntologicalInertia: As the first vampire, Markus managed to convince the other vampires that killing him would destroy all of them, and killing his brother William (the first lycan) would destroy all lycans--thus depriving them of their slaves. When Selene hears about this a thousand years or so later, she immediately sees it for the [[SubvertedTrope lie it is]], but the one telling it to her notes that Victor believed it enough to not risk it.
* NotSoDifferent: Alexander Corvinus gives both this and a ReasonYouSuckSpeech to Selene when she asks him for help killing Markus. For her response, see CallingTheOldManOut.
-->'''Selene:''' ''(on whether or not Corvinus could have stopped the war)'' Yes!\\
'''Alexander Corvinus:''' Could you kill your own sons?\\
'''Selene:''' You know what Marcus will do! If he finds me, he finds William's prison! You have to help us stop him!\\
'''Alexander Corvinus:''' You are asking me to help you kill my son - YOU, a Death Dealer? How many innocents have YOU slain in your six-century quest to avenge your family? Spare me your self-righteous declarations! You are no different from Marcus and even less noble than William - at least HE cannot control his savagery!
* OfCorsetsSexy / SpyCatsuit: Selene's outfit.
* TheOlderImmortal
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The vampires are stereotypically pale, blood-drinking, almost completely immortal, highly athletic, and use plenty of GunFu, but the entire condition is supposedly just the result of a mutant [[TheVirus virus]].
** Keep in mind that the GunFu vampires are the "death dealers", the assassins/soldiers of the vampires. The main population seems to be standard "we get to live forever so let's just sit around and drink blood."
** They're also not undead, and do not require special things to kill them. For example, sunlight will cause them to burst into flame. However, a stake through the heart is unnecessary; sufficient bullet wounds and similar gore will kill them. A stake through the heart is likely to kill them, if only because that's a pretty nasty injury for anybody to go through.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Caused by the brother strain of the above virus, these Weres are large, vaguely humanoid, also immortal, and most can shift at will.
** Also there are three different "species" of Werewolf in this series. First there's William; the first one to ever exist, who looks the most Wolf-like. Then there's those who are infected by William, known as "1st Generation" Werewolves. Like William, they are unable to return to their Human form ever again. And then there are the "2nd Generation" Werewolves, otherwise known as Lycans. This breed came about when Lucian's mother was bitten and turned into a "1st Generation" when she was pregnant and gave birth to him whilst imprisoned by Viktor. Lucian was born in his Human form and could change between that and his Werewolf form. And when he grew older, Viktor used him to turn more slaves for the Vampires to use, resulting in the majority of the Lycan population.
** ''Awakening'' features super lycans, enormous beasts at least twice the size of regular lycans, with commensurately greater strength and stamina. They're also immune to silver.
* PartialTransformation: Lucian can give himself fangs to bite someone without fully transforming. Even more practically, the beefed-up lycan in awakening and transform his hand to acquire sharp claws.
* RazorWings: Marcus uses his wings to impale targets, as well as fly.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Kraven, probably accurately, believes that Viktor only turned Selene because she reminded him of his dead vampire daughter. [[spoiler:Which becomes ''really'' awkward when its revealed Viktor killed his daughter, and Selene's family.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Selene does this in ''Awakening'' [[spoiler:first to search for Michael and later to rescue Eve.]]
* SealedEvilInACan: William, in his sarcophagus. [[spoiler:{{Justified}}, however, in that it was all a trick by Marcus to make sure that the vampires wouldn't kill his brother.]]
* SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler:Marcus, and also Selene, if you consider Viktor, the vampire who infected her, to be considered her "father."]]
* ScaryBlackMan: Raze.
* SingleLineOfDescent: {{Subverted}}, at least partly. Alexander Corvinus, the originator of the virus, had one human son, who did (in fact) produce plenty of modern-day progeny, if the wall of Xed-out photos is any indication. But the only one of those people still carries his special genes, and happens to also share his last name.
** LineageComesFromTheFather does seem to ring true, however, as the surnames shown are all variants of "Corvinus", suggesting the Lycans didn't bother tracking the bloodline through any of Alexander's female descendents.
*** It might have been that tracking down the female descendants would have been lot harder, due to the name change, so they just focused on the male-line descent.
* SissyVillain: Kraven.
* SlobsVersusSnobs: Werewolves are the Slobs, living in a derelict industrial complex, wearing earth tones, long hair, PermaStubble, and generally being gritty/dirty. Vampires are all pale, wear almost exclusively blacks and reds, are immaculately groomed, beautiful, and live in a decadent Victorian manor...while being arrogant d*cks.
** Overlaps with SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty.
** Keeping in mind, the lycans have had to survive on the fringe for the past several centuries, biding their time while being persistently hunted by the Death Dealers. They simply haven't had the time or resources to properly integrate into advanced society.
* SmugSnake: Kraven. Also Tanis, to a lesser extent, in ''Evolution'' and ''Rise of the Lycans''.
* StairwellChase: In the first film, when the Lycans find Michael and Selene's safe house.
* StarCrossedLovers: Lucian and Sonja in the backstory, later ([[spoiler:and with far happier results]]) Selene and Michael.
* StockSubtitle: The sequels.
* StyrofoamRocks: In the commentary, the movie's creators point out in a scene towards the end of the movie that some of the stone debris from someone getting thrown through a wall can be seen to float in a pool of water. Oops.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:Kraven]] in ''Evolution''.
** And apparently [[spoiler:Michael]] in ''Awakening''. [[spoiler:Although it turns out to be a DisneyDeath.]]
* ThoseTwoGuys: Pierce and Taylor.
* TransformationIsAFreeAction: Happens in the first movie when a death-dealer simply stands idly by as a Lycan transforms. [[GenreBlind Bad idea]]!
** Would have been much smarter to just shoot the Lycan, thus stopping him mid-shift. It's mentioned, just minutes later, that having silver in a Lycan's body stops them, not just from transforming, but also from regenerating.
*** He does appear to have lost his gun.
* TreasureChestCavity: Viktor and Amelia have the key's to William's prison hidden inside their chests.
* UnreliableNarrator: {{In-universe}}, nearly everyone. Virtually none of the mythology that is passed down is actually true and the one story that Viktor openly mocks is.
* VampireMonarch: Marcus Corvinus is the first of the vampire elders.
* ViralTransformation
* WeHaveBeenResearchingPhlebotinumForYears: when Selene tells Michael about the werewolves and the vampires.
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The city that the films are set in not only doesn't conform to any one location, but the ''continent'' that it's on can't even be conclusively determined. Characters speak with a mix of American, British and European accents, while the city contains a mix of North American and European characteristics in the vehicles (Mercedes police cruisers alongside large Ford sedans) and architecture.
** The first movie shows German words in Michael's address, the second movie has Russian or Eastern European cops going after Michael (when he tried to eat normal food) and the fourth movie seems to be set up in either a Future American City or an AirstripOne Expy. Notice that in all movies, vehicle license plates resemble those used in European Union countries sans the country indicator.
* WorldOfHam
* WouldHitAGirl: Kraven gives Selene a vicious slap to the face.
* WrittenByTheWinners: Viktor rewrote vampire history to appear as if he was the original vampire, when, in fact, [[spoiler:it was another Elder, Marcus]]. While he is quite willing to acknowledge the legend that vampires and werewolves came from the brother Corvinus ("One bit by a bat, the other bit by a wolf"), but he makes fun of it, probably to diminish the connection between Lycans and Vampires. On the other hand, he's quite willing to rewrite [[spoiler:his murder of Selene's entire family.]]
** Selene [[GenreSavvy shows signs of being aware of this]]. She recognizes that Kraven is not enough of a warrior to have actually killed Lucian, but as the only survivor could claim that he did. She also initially comments that the Lycans started the war, but then admits that that is what is said anyway. By the second film, she's (accurately) assumed virtually everything Viktor has said is a lie.
* YouSexyBeast: Vampires are sleek and seductive, dressing in stylish gothic fashions. Werewolves are brawny, rough-and-tumble men in leather. [[TheyFightCrime They have sex]].
** The vampires have plenty of sex, but Lucian is the only Lycan ever shown having sex. Plenty of Lycans brawling naked, though.
* ZeroGSpot: In ''Rise of the Lycans'', a vampire and a lycan have gravity-defying sexy, hanging off the edge of a cliff.
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* DungeonmastersGirlfriend: The vampire that [[MarySue is smarter, better looking, and a better fighter]] than anyone else is played by the director's wife.
** In fairness, she wasn't when she was cast in the first film. They met on said film.
*** Yeah, before that, she was married to Michael Sheen. Waaaaait a minute...

* NoOntologicalIntertia: As the first vampire, Markus managed to convince the other vampires that killing him would destroy all of them, and killing his brother William (the first lycan) would destroy all lycans--thus depriving them of their slaves. When Selene hears about this a thousand years or so later, she immediately sees it for the [[SubvertedTrope lie it is]], but the one telling it to her notes that Victor believed it enough to not risk it.

** And apparently [[spoiler: Michael]] in ''Awakening''. [[spoiler: Although it turns out to be a DisneyDeath]].
* ThoseTwoGuys: Pierce and Taylor

The '''Underworld''' series is a set of horror-actions movies revolving around the conflicts of [[FurAgainstFang Werewolves and Vampires]], complete with an AncientConspiracy, an intricate {{Backstory}}, plenty of DarkWorld imagery, and lots of gratuitous gory action.

** She does it again with the bottom of a rapidly descending elevator in ''Awakening''. {{Subverted}}, ''[[OhCrap it doesn't work]].'' [[spoiler:The elevator lands on her, but the bullets made the floor weak enough (and she's ''tough enough'') that it doesn't particularly bother her.]]