History WesternAnimation / Blackstar

* TheFuture: Blackstar comes from a future Earth which has developed interplanetary flight. In "Space Wrecked," we learn that Earth has an entire fleet of spacecraft, and has developed a time-traveling space-ship as well.

* LastNameBasis: (John) Blackstar, to the point that even his friends on Sagar don't even know he has a first name. Indeed, Lt. Katana (from "Spacewrecked") is the only person to actually call him "John" in the show.

* LukeNounverber: Again, John Blackstar.

** Taleena is a green-skinned witch with fire powers who enslaved a kingdom in the West and controls fire and winged minions, much like [[Film/TheWizardOfOz The Wicked Witch of the West.]] For bonus points, [[Literature/LandOfOz she gets her powers from a golden crown, much like the Wicked Witch in the original book.]]

* AlchemyIsMagic: The FunctionalMagic favored by Belkar, whose spells take the form of potions and elixirs. Makes sense given that the tree he lives in is a natural source of highly potent magical ingredients.

* BigGood: Belkar, who is the primary caretaker and guardian of the Sagar Tree the entire planet depends on. Sadly, as is typical of this trope, he's no match for the BigBad in combat and must rely on Blackstar to be his champion.

* GivingThemTheStrip: Done by Belkar and Rif when Typhot tries to feed them to his sea monsters.
* TheGoodKing: Belkar is officially titled King of the Trobbits, and is even referenced as King Belkar by a few characters in the show. Arguably before Blackstar showed up he was also the leader of the Resistance.

* {{Panacea}}: The Healing Stone, which can cure any malady by placing it on the afflicted's body. It's the only thing Belkar knows that can save Poulo from the Poison of the Pond.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Filmation's previous series ''WesternAnimation/{{Flash Gordon|1979}}'' was clearly an influence on ''Blackstar'' (a FishOutOfWater PlanetaryRomance about an Earthman leading a rebellion against a tyrant), and ''Blackstar'' in turn was clearly an influence on ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' (a WalkingShirtlessScene hero with a magic sword on a planet where [[FantasyKitchenSink magic and technology co-exist).]]
** According to ''The Toys That Made Us'', ''He-Man'' was basically a re-skinned ''Blackstar'', because Mattel basically promised a cartoon based on ''He-Man'' to Toys R Us to get them to carry the toys -- out of nowhere. Filmation used the ''Blackstar'' template directly for ''He-Man'' to quickly mock up two ''He-Man'' pilot specials on short notice.

Interestingly, the eponymous hero was designed as an African-American (this was in keeping with Filmation's predilection for [[AndKnowingIsHalfTHeBattle socially positive messages]] in its shows), but was subsequently changed to a deeply tanned Caucasian. It has been asserted that this was done [[ExecutiveMeddling at the behest of the network]], but Filmation producer Lou Scheimer has disclaimed all memory of any such directive. Many fans assume that Blackstar is a Native American, but there is no mention of this in the original series, and he differs somewhat in appearance from Filmation's later Native American hero, WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: As mentioned above, Blackstar was originally going to be African-American, but ended up just sort of brownish with straight hair. {{Fanon}} holds that he's Native American.

* CaptainErsatz: The "Trobbits" were at one and the same time expies of Peyo's [[ComicBook/TheSmurfs Smurfs]], Creator/JRRTolkien's hobbits, and {{Creator/Disney}}'s [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Seven Dwarfs]].

* EarWings: Gossamer the Trobbit

* OffModel: In "The Zombie Masters," Blackstar, Balkar, Rif, and and guest-star [[OurElvesAreDifferent Prince Dal]] disguise themselves as [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]] by [[DeliberatelyMonochrome covering themselves with mud]]. Somehow the mud covers ''even the flame on Rif's hat.''