History Series / Empire

* BigScrewedUpFamily: In public the Lyons seem like the perfect family. In private is when the dysfunction begins.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: On television, the Lyons seem like the perfect family. Off camera is when the dysfunction begins.

* TheDitz: Carol has shades of this.

** Season 2 has Lucious vs. District Attorney Roxanne Ford.

* AlcoholInducedStupidity: In “Rise by Sin”, a drunken Carol shows up at the ASAs, leaving Cookie reasonably pissed and [[FromBadToWorse ups the ante]] by [[spoiler: blurting out to Freda that Lucious killed her father.]]

* Berserk Button: Even mentioning Freda's father with the wrong tone nets your passport a stamp for Hurtsville, USA.

!!!Tropes found in ''Empire'' are:

* ButNotTooBlack: Even if most of the show's cast is African American, all of the the main ensemble's skin tone is very, very pale.

-->'''Lucious:'''You mean the three and a half-minute piece of crap that he keeps telling me to kiss his ass?'''

* BrokenAesop: Jamal's entire story arc for the first season suffers from this. [[AnAesop Yes, the message that someone's sexuality doesn't matter is an important and valid one]]. However, it's sort of undermined when Jamal's homosexuality is his central character trait.

* TokenWhite: Rhonda. The only other prominent white character is Elle Dallas who is a RecurringCharacter.

* OpenSecret: Andre's bipolar disorder. At first, it's implied that only Rhonda and Vernon--Andre's closest confidants--knew about it. Turns out the entire family (except Cookie due to her incarceration) was aware but swept it under the rug per Lucious' insistence.
** Subverted. [[spoiler: Andre and Vernon are the only ones who know Lucious's sole involvement in Bunkie's murder.]]
** In the season finale, [[spoiler:Cookie learns and attempts to suffocate Lucious in his sleep in anger, and tells Jamal. Lucious is later arrested in his own legacy concert by the Feds after Vernon sold him out to them. By Season 2, The entire family knows full well that Lucious killed Bunkie as he awaits trial]].

* EvilVsEvil: The rivalry between Lucious and Barretti.
** Season 2 has Lucious vs District Attorney Roxanne Ford.

* TakeThat: Two to Music/FiftyCent, who produces the [[DuellingShows rival series]] ''Power'':

-->'''Porsha:''' Ooh, 50 Cent been calling!
-->'''Cookie:''' (''dismissively'') Thirsty ass...

* TakeThat: Two to Music/FiftyCent:

** And at 2x06 when [[spoiler:Hakeem is kidnapped by a group of thugs]]:

* DudeWheresMyRespect: Cookie believes in this.

* ReplacementFlatCharacter: Black Rambo. Just as Lucious finally comes to accept Jamal's sexuality, [[spoiler: and names him as heir to Empire Records]], homophobic Rambo makes a scene at the press conference and says he refuses to work for a "batiman".[[note]]Derogatory Jamaican slang for a gay person.[[/note]] While Jamal later earns a Crowning Moment of Awesome by shutting Rambo down in a freestyle battle, it's clear the character's purpose is to show how much Lucious had developed.

The show centres around a hip hop music and entertainment company, Empire Entertainment, and the drama surrounding founder and successful rapper Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard), and his three sons: business-minded but bipolar Andre (Trai Byers), who will do anything to depose his brothers and impress his wife Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday); musically passionate Jamal (Jussie Smollett), the black sheep of the family thanks to his homosexuality, and aspiring rapper Hakeem (Bryshere Grey), Lucious' favorite because he takes after him the most. Wait, did we say that Lucious was the founder? Turns out that's actually his ex-wife, Cookie (Creator/TarajiPHenson), who's just been released from prison after taking the fall for Lucious during their drug running years and is hell-bent on reclaiming the company she believes is rightfully hers. Rounding out the cast is Vernon Turner (Creator/MalikYoba), Lucious' business partner, and Anika Calhoun (Grace Gealey), Lucious' romantic partner.

* KickTheDog: When the reporter at the Teen Choice Awards thoughtlessly introduces Hakeem as "The son of Lucious Lyon" without even bothering to give his name. Even Tiana calls her out on this despite still being angry with him about an unrelated issue.

** Andre: Protects Lucious' secrets since childhood, helps him expand Empire, and is the reason that it becomes a publicly trading company. Continues to support Lucious and his business, and is a huge part of Lucious keeping the number of artists that he did when others migrated to Creedmore. And what does he get? Complete negligence(unless Lucious needs something from him), the opportunity to watch the company that he kept alive [[spoiler: go to Jamal]] and [[AbusiveParents emotional abuse due to his mental illness and his decision to educate himself and go into business instead of pursuing music like his father and brothers.]]

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The music, fashion, and guest appearances will firmly plant this show in TheNewTens in the future.

* SuperDickery: While Lucious freely acts like a dick throughout the show, one promo clip showed him saying to Jamal "The first rule of touring is you don't bring your girlfriend," while Jamal's boyfriend Michael is [[ImStandingRightHere standing right there]]. But in the actual episode, Lucious is civil in Michael's presence and waits until he leaves before saying the line, then adds, "I'm sorry, ''boyfriend''" at the end, though whether he truly misspoke or was intentionally being a dick at that point is unclear.