History Series / Legendary

* AwesomeMccoolname: The majority of ''Legendary'''s contestants go by a chosen name of some sort + their House name, which tends to be either the name of an esteemed fashion house or something similarly prestigious-sounding ("Icon", "Prodigy", etc.).

* TheMeanBrit: Subverted. The judging panel is comprised of three Americans and a Brit, but the Brit (Jameela) tends to judge with kid gloves and the panel's resident CausticCritic (Law) is one of the three Americans.

Ballroom (which has also been memorably represented in ''Series/{{Pose}}'' (2018-2021), ''Film/ParisIsBurning'' (1990), and Music/{{Madonna}}'s hit song [[Music/ImBreathless "Vogue"]] (1990)) is a largely Black/Latine and queer subculture which first emerged in mid-20th century New York. It is best known for giving rise to a style of dance called "voguing" in which the performer quickly emulates ModelingPoses (hence the dance being named after ''[[FashionMagazine Vogue]]'') in a way that requires acrobatics, flexibility, and skill in vogue's [[SignatureMove Signature Moves]] such as the "dip"[[note]]which is often [[YouKeepUsingThatWord incorrectly referred to as a "death drop" or "shablam"]][[/note]]. However, not all Ballroom participants are necessarily voguers, rather, the events in which they participate (called Balls, naturally) are comprised of a series of mini-competitions called "categories" (which can be anything from [[DanceOff voguing]], to [[FashionShow modeling fashion]], to simply [[BeautyContest being the fittest or most good-looking person]]) in which participants "walk" before a crowd, receive scores from a panel of judges, and receive prizes should they obtain the highest overall score. Ballroom participants overwhelmingly belong to Houses, a FamilyOfChoice made up of a variety of different Ballroom skillsets and led by a [[MentorArchetype House parent]] who uses their expertise to guide and support their House children.

* CausticCritic: Law Roach. It's extremely rare for him to give anything remotely resembling a positive critique, and he delights in AccentuatingTheNegative and being ridiculously bitchy just for kicks, which, while at times frustrating, does provide plenty of entertainment value.

''Legendary'', which takes its name from a formal title given to highly accomplished individuals in the Ballroom scene, translates Ballroom culture to a reality competition format by treating 8-10 five-person Houses as individual contestants and treating Balls as episodes. In a given episode, each remaining House walks a series of categories and, as of Season 2, receives scores on a 10-point scale, with the overall highest-scoring House being named the winner of that episode. Additionally, the two overall lowest-scoring Houses must participate in a "redemption battle" in which each House designates one of its voguers to participate in a DanceOff, with the loser's House being eliminated. Its first season aired in 2020 and it has since been renewed for two more seasons.

* {{Gayngst}}[=/=]TransTribulations: Contestants provide personal backstories before their House's performances that tend to have a deeply tragic and painful bent, particularly as they relate to their queer identities.

* GayCowboy: The looks and categories in Season 1's "Wild Wild West" Ball have shades of this.
* {{Gayngst}}[=/=]TransTribulations: Contestants provide personal backstories before their House's performances that tend to have a deeply tragic and painful bent.

Ballroom (which has also been memorably represented in ''Series/{{Pose}}'' (2018-2021), ''Film/ParisIsBurning'' (1990), and Music/{{Madonna}}'s hit song [[Music/ImBreathless "Vogue"]] (1990)) is a largely Black/Latine and queer subculture which first emerged in mid-20th century New York. It is best known for giving rise to a style of dance called "voguing" in which the performer quickly emulates ModelingPoses (hence the dance being named after ''[[FashionMagazine Vogue]]'') in a way that requires acrobatics, flexibility, and skill in vogue's [[SignatureMove Signature Moves]] such as the "dip"[[note]]which is often [[InsistentTerminology incorrectly referred to as a "death drop" or "shablam"]][[/note]]. However, not all Ballroom participants are necessarily voguers, rather, the events in which they participate (called Balls, naturally) are comprised of a series of mini-competitions called "categories" (which can be anything from [[DanceOff voguing]], to [[FashionShow modeling fashion]], to simply [[BeautyContest being the fittest or most good-looking person]]) in which participants "walk" before a crowd, receive scores from a panel of judges, and receive prizes should they obtain the highest overall score. Ballroom participants overwhelmingly belong to Houses, a FamilyOfChoice made up of a variety of different Ballroom skillsets and led by a [[MentorArchetype House parent]] who uses their expertise to guide and support their House children.

->''[[TitleThemeTune "All I really wanna be is an icon or a statement, no, it's..."]]''

* BattleChant: Most Houses have their own "House chants", typically featuring some BadassBoast-ing and their House name spelled out or otherwise incorporated stylistically.
* BrutalHonesty: Law (and to a lesser extent, Leiomy and Keke) frequently engage in this, in contrast to Jameela and Megan's more NiceGuy judging style.
* CastFullOfGay: As Ballroom is a queer subculture, all contestants are queer-identifying in some way (as are all the judges, as Jameela, Megan, and Keke are unlabeled queer people; Law is a gay man; and Leiomy is a trans woman).
* CausticCritic: Law Roach. It's extremely rare for him to give anything remotely resembling a positive critique, and he delights in AccentuatingTheNegative and being ridiculously bitchy just for kicks.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Before the 10-point scoring system based on actual Ballroom scoring was introduced in Season 2, the way that each episode's placements were determined was much more ambiguous.
* FakeVideoCameraView: Employed frequently on footage of the other Houses reacting to the current performance while seated backstage.

* {{Fanservice}}: Categories related to serving face or body tend to lend themselves to this, as Ballroom is absolutely chock-full of athletic and gorgeous people.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Before the 10-point scoring system based actual Ballroom scoring was introduced in Season 2, the way that each episode's placements were determined was much more ambiguous. Also, the trophy that got passed around between Houses in Season 1 seems to have been retired entirely.

Ballroom (which has also been memorably represented in ''Series/{{Pose}}'' (2018-2021), ''Film/ParisIsBurning'' (1990), and Music/{{Madonna}}'s hit song [[Music/ImBreathless "Vogue"]] (1990)) is a largely Black/Latine and queer subculture which first emerged in mid-20th century New York. It is best known for giving rise to a style of dance called "voguing" in which the performer quickly emulates ModelingPoses (hence the dance being named after ''[[FashionMagazine Vogue]]'') in a way that requires acrobatics, flexibility, and skill in vogue's [[SignatureMove Signature Moves]] such as the "dip"[[note]]which is often [[InsistentTerminology incorrectly referred to as a "death drop" or "shablam"]][[/note]]. However, not all Ballroom participants are necessarily voguers, rather, the events in which they participate (called Balls, naturally) are organized as a series of mini-competitions called "categories" (which can be anything from [[DanceOff voguing]], to [[FashionShow modeling fashion]], to simply [[BeautyContest being the fittest or most good-looking person]]) in which participants "walk" before a crowd, receive scores from a panel of judges, and receive prizes should they obtain the highest overall score. Ballroom participants overwhelmingly belong to Houses, a FamilyOfChoice made up of a variety of different Ballroom skillsets and led by a [[MentorArchetype House parent]] who uses their expertise to guide and support their House children.

''Legendary'', which takes its name from a formal title given to a highly accomplished individual in the Ballroom scene, translates Ballroom culture to a reality competition format by treating 8-10 five-person Houses as individual contestants and treating Balls as episodes. In a given episode, each remaining House walks a series of categories and, as of Season 2, receives scores on a 10-point scale, with the overall highest-scoring House being named the winner of that episode. Additionally, the two overall lowest-scoring Houses must participate in a "redemption battle" in which each House designates one of its voguers to participate in a DanceOff, with the loser's House being eliminated. Its first season aired in 2020 and it has since been renewed for two more seasons.

* AwesomeMccoolname: The majority of ''Legendary'''s contestants go by a chosen name of some sort + their house name, which tends to be either the name of an esteemed fashion house or something similarly prestigious-sounding ("Icon", "Prodigy", etc.).

* BattleChant: Most houses have their own "house chants", typically featuring some BadassBoast-ing and their house name spelled out or otherwise incorporated stylistically.

* DanceOff: Houses resigned to the bottom two must task their best voguer with participating in one of these, with the winner's house getting to remain in the competition.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Before the 10-point scoring system based actual Ballroom scoring was introduced in Season 2, the way that each episode's placements were determined was much more ambiguous. Also, the trophy that got passed around between houses in Season 1 seems to have been retired entirely.
* FakeVideoCameraView: Employed frequently on footage of the other houses reacting to the current performance while seated backstage.

* GayCowboy: The looks and categories in Season 1's "Wild Wild West" ball have shades of this.

* OnceASeason: The first episode (or, since Season 2, the first pair of episodes) of each season sees the houses perform a "Grand March" which features core elements of Ballroom/vogue performance and demonstrates what makes their house unique.

* TeamMom: The House parents are more-or-less a formalized version of this trope; they lead their houses, provide them with guidance and support, and stand as the most esteemed and respected member of their house.