History Series / TheSerpentQueen

* AmbiguouslyBi: Diane and Aabis, although in both cases it could just as easily be PragmaticPansexuality.
** Aabis has an affair with King Francis, but later is also shown sleeping with perfumer Angelica. The series doesn't really make it clear if she's bisexual or if she's a lesbian who had sex with Francis in order to assure her safety in France.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: A ''lot''; below are some of the major ones.
** Dauphin Francis is given a major HistoricalVillainUpgrade, being portrayed as a JerkJock when he had actually become bookish and solitary during his years as a hostage in Spain.
** Diane de Poitiers was a lot of things, but she wasn't a violent murderess (at least, not that we know of).
** In the series, Charles V (Creator/RupertEverett) is the Holy Roman Emperor at the time of Henri's [[spoiler: fatal joust]] in 1559. In reality, Charles V had abdicated in 1556, being succeeded by his younger brother Ferdinand I. (In fact, Charles V actually died in 1558.)

* BerserkButton: Diane ''really'' doesn't like it when people bring up her age.

* ColdHam: Catherine. Particularly as an adult, when she's played by Creator/SamanthaMorton, her voice rarely rises much above a whisper, and yet people are often intimidated by her.
* ColorMotif: Diane always wears black and white. Henri often wears these colors as well, symbolizing the extent to which he is in her thrall.

** Having her son sign a law making Protestantism illegal is also ''not'' something she desires for she knows it will tear France apart and that religious tolerance is a ''much'' better route to go.
* FallGuy: Montmorency, King Francis' right hand man, tells Catherine that either she or her dressmaker Sebastio will be executed for causing the death of [[spoiler: the dauphin]], even though he doesn't actually believe either was responsible. Catherine ultimately lets Sebastio--a very loyal mentor and arguably her only genuine friend in France--take the fall, indicating her increased ruthlessness, and the fact that none of the other members of her retinue are safe.

* FreudianExcuse: Dauphin Francis begins a sexual relationship with Mathilde, Catherine's dwarf maid. He later reveals that when he and his brother were held captive in Spain, a dwarf was one of the few people who treated them with kindness.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: The teenaged Henri is depicted as being interested in animals, particularly frogs, which he delights in catching and showing to any woman who catches his fancy. As an adult he's also shown to be [[FriendToAllChildren good with his and Catherine's children.]]
* TheFundamentalist: Mary, Queen of Scots is very strident in her Catholicism, to the point where even members of the court who are Catholics themselves call her a religious zealot. This results in multiple funny moments, including this exchange at the wedding of Mary and the Dauphin:
--> '''Louis de Bourbon:''' We, uh...we wish you all the best.
--> '''Mary, Queen of Scots:''' ''(smiling)'' Ah! And I pray you'll be spared God's wrath, as I pray for all Protestants.

** Diane de Poitiers was by modern standards a sexual predator; this much is true. What she wasn't was a murderess, as the show depicts.

* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: Diane is [[VanityIsFeminine obsessed]] with appearing younger than she is, and her (often rather disturbing) beauty rituals are shown on-screen.
-->'''Angelica:''' You want to be noticed?\\
'''Diane:''' I want to be ''unforgettable.''

* InformedAttribute: The way others talk about her, one would think that Catherine is hideously ugly, even though in reality she's (at worst) somewhat plain.

* MellowFellow: Henri is generally shown to be very passive and indecisive, and also SuperGullible and easily influenced, much to the dismay of his father--and the delight of almost everyone else.
* MsFanservice: Diane is seen naked on numerous occasions and even gets a bit of GirlOnGirlIsHot when she French-kisses Angelica. Surprisingly enough this is TruthInTelevision, at least to an extent: the RealLife Diane de Poitiers enjoyed posing nude for artists, and some of the resulting paintings survive to this day.

* {{Outgambitted}}: For reasons that are as yet unclear, Rahima lies to Catherine by claiming that she can't read. Aware that she is being misled, Catherine decides to teach Rahima a lesson by sending her to retreive information from the room of Mary, Queen of Scots (something she wouldn't have been able to do if she was actually illiterate), where she's caught almost immediately by one of Mary's ladies-in-waiting, also sent by Catherine minutes later. After this, Rahima is locked in a small cell as punishment, and when Catherine visits, she [[{{Gaslighting}} gaslights]] Rahima about her own role in everything.

* PetTheDog: Despite her ''many'' flaws, it does seem like Diane genuinely cares about Henri, particularly since their (admittedly very creepy) relationship began at a time when--being only the second son of the king--his political relevance was minimal to non-existent. Much later on, she begs him to let Francois de Guise take his place in battle against the Holy Roman empire, and immediately becomes worried when she realizes that he intends to take part in his [[spoiler: ultimately fatal]] tournament joust.

* IWantToBeARealMan: Henri finally gets fed up with everyone seeing him as a pushover who is always under Diane's thumb, and decides to prove his masculinity by [[IdiotBall participating in a joust with another knight]], whom he specifically orders not to go easy on him. This leads to his [[spoiler: suffering a significant head injury and, ultimately, dying from the wounds.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: For all her failings - and there are ''many'' - Catherine flies into a rage and attacks Rugerri when her husband is killed in a joust given that he told her, via his magic, that if she spared Diane, ''Henry'' would live. Whatever their relationship, she did not want him dead - she's in a much weaker position if he dies and, despite everything, she ''did'' genuinely love him.

''The Serpent Queen'' is an American period drama television series about the life of the 16th century French queen, Catherine de' Medici, portrayed by Creator/SamanthaMorton as an adult and Creator/LivHill as a teenager.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Mary, Queen of Scots had her flaws, but she was not as viciously anti-Protestant as the show depicts.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: For all her failings - and there are ''many'' - Catherine flies into a rage and attacks Rugerri when her husband is killed in a joust given that he told her, via his magic, that if she spared Diane, ''Henry'' would live. Whatever their relationship, she did not want him dead - she's in a much weaker position if he dies and, despite everything, she ''did'' genuinely love him. She's also horrified when she realises that Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, has ''chosen Henri's funeral'' to flirt with her ''and'' has his hooks into Mary, Queen of Scots.