History WesternAnimation / KirikouAndTheSorceress

* {{Mordor}}: Not an entire nation or country, but the area surrounding Karaba's hut looks pretty dead.

* ProtagonistTitle: Kirikou's name is in the title. It's coupled with AntagonistTitle, though.

It tells the story of a tiny baby boy, named Kirikou, who is born in a spectacular way (all by himself, without effort of his mother nor outside help) and can speak and walk immediately after being born. After a couple of questions, he learns that a wicked sorceress, Karaba, has cursed the village and devoured all the men and boys, except his uncle, who is on his way to fight the sorceress. He tricks the sorceress, saves his uncle as well as the children of the village (twice!), brings the water back to the dried-up spring and, among other things, discovers the sorceress' true motivations.

''Kirikou et la Sorcière'' (''Kirikou and the Sorceress'') is a 1998 French animated film, directed by Creator/MichelOcelot, loosely based on "Fereyel and Debbo Engal the Witch", a West Myth/{{African|Mythology}} ([[Myth/FulaniMythology Fulani]]) {{fairy tale}}.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: Some of the fetishes (Karaba's {{mooks}}), the one serving as lookout included, have red eyes.

* DarkestAfrica: Africa mixed with dark magic.

''Kirikou et la Sorcière'' (''Kirikou and the Sorceress'') is a 1998 French animated film, directed by Creator/MichelOcelot, loosely based on "Fereyel and Debbo Engal the Witch", an Myth/{{African|Mythology}} [[Myth/FulaniMythology Fulani]] {{fairy tale}}.

''Kirikou et la Sorcière'' (''Kirikou and the Sorceress'') is a 1998 French animated film, directed by Creator/MichelOcelot, loosely based on "Fereyel and Debbo Engal the Witch", a [[Myth/FulaniMythology Fulani]] {{fairy tale}}.

''Kirikou et la Sorcière'' (''Kirikou and the Sorceress'') is a 1998 French animated film, directed by Michel Ocelot, loosely based on "Fereyel and Debbo Engal the Witch", a [[Myth/FulaniMythology Fulani]] {{fairy tale}}.

* AllLovingHero: Kirikou.

* BigBad: Karaba, the sorceress.
* {{Bookends}}: Kiricou's first line in the film is, ''"Mère, enfente-moi!"'' ("Mother, give birth to me!") [[spoiler:His last line, after he comes back to the village and nobody believes it's him, is, ''"Mère, reconnais-moi!"'' ("Mother, recognize me!")]]

* HatesEveryoneEqually: Karaba.

* ImAHumanitarian: Karaba. [[spoiler:Not really! The men were not eaten but [[ForcedTransformation turned into Karaba's fetishes]].]]

* WickedWitch: Karaba, obviously, [[spoiler:although she is less wicked than she lets on.]]
* WonderChild: Kirikou.

''Kirikou et la Sorcière'' (''Kirikou and the Sorceress'') is a 1998 French animated film, directed by Michel Ocelot, loosely based on "Fereyel and Debbo Engal the Witch", a Fulani {{fairy tale}}.

''Kirikou et la Sorcière'' (''Kirikou and the Sorceress'') is a 1998 French animated film, directed by Michel Ocelot, loosely based on a Fulani (a people in West Africa) {{fairy tale}}.

* {{Gainaxing}}: With every women not wearing a top, this was inevitable.

* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler:The witch's army consists of men she has transformed into fetishes. When Kirikou tears out the source of her suffering and her witch powers, they all turn back to their true forms.]]

* ImAHumanitarian: Karaba. [[spoiler:Not really! The men were not eaten but [[BalefulPolymorph turned into Karaba's fetishes]].]]

''Kirikou et la Sorcière'' (''Kirikou and the Sorceress'') is a 1998 French animated film, directed by Michel Ocelot, loosely based on a West African {{fairy tale}}.

* EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry: Karaba wears lots of jewelry, including in her hair and on her breasts, and forces the women of the village to give up all their gold and jewelry to her.

* BaldOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Kirikou after his OvernightAgeUp.]]

* BeeAfraid: In ''Kirikou and the Wild Beasts'', Kirikou gets rid of a black hyena pursuing him by dropping a wild bees nest on it. After that, he mends the nest and puts it back on its place on the tree while [[AllLovingHero apologizing to the bees]].

It tells the story of a tiny baby boy, named Kirikou, who is born in a spectacular way (all by himself, without effort of his mother nor outside help) and can speak and walk immediately after being born. After a couple of questions, he learns that a wicked sorceress, Karaba, has cursed the village and devoured all the men and boys, except his uncle, who is on his way to fight the sorceress. He tricks the sorceress, saves his uncle as well as the children of the village (twice!!), brings the water back to the dried-up spring and, among other things, discovers the sorceress' true motivations.

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Karaba is evil because of all [[DrivenToVillainy the suffering she went through]] at the hands of men, including a very subtly implied [[RapeAsDrama rape]]. All the bad things that she allegedly had done are ultimately proved to be false. She does hate everyone, but she [[HeelFaceTurn gets better]].]]

* AudibleSharpness: When Karaba's fetish passes her the Poisoned Lance, the camera lingers on the nasty-looking blade. It shines and sounds very sharp indeed.

* CassandraTruth: Twice, when [[spoiler:the now adult Kirikou returns to his village and tells everyone that he is the very child they knew and love. If his mother didn't come forth and recognize him as her own son, they never would've been convinced. The next one is when he tells the villagers that Karaba is no longer a sorceress. They only interpret it as her still being a sorceress who just lost all her powers and decide to kill her. At that moment, Kirikou's grandfather, accompanied by all the men who disappeared from the village and turned into Fetishes by Karaba, comes forth and convinces the villagers that Kirikou wasn't lying about Karaba.]]

'''The Wise Old Man of the Mountain:''' You're quite right to keep asking me "why", but from one "why" to the next we'll go right back to the Creation of the World — and beyond that knowing you. We'll never have time to talk about Karaba, the Sorceress.

* DiscardAndDraw: [[spoiler:When Karaba's nail is removed by Kirikou, she loses her power over the men she turned into Fetishes and her [[WalkingWasteland aura that destroys all life around her]]. Instead, life starts actively blooming around her, and one kiss from her turns Kirikou into a grown man.]]
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Everyone is going barefoot.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Even after saving the other children from the sorceress several times, bringing back the water supply, and even turning Karaba good, the villagers still treat Kirikou like complete crap.

* ImAHumanitarian: Karaba. [[spoiler:Not really! The men she allegedly had eaten were, actually, [[BalefulPolymorph turned into Fetish]].]]

* {{Mooks}}: The Fetish (''no'', not ''that'' kind of {{fetish}}).

* ParentsKnowTheirChildren: [[spoiler:Kirikou's mom is the only one who is able to recognize her son after his OvernightAgeUp courtesy of Karaba.]]
* PoisonousPerson: Not in the traditional way, but Karaba is associated with poison and blight nevertheless as a motif. Her personal weapon is a wicked poisoned spear, all life withers and dies under her influence, one of her minions is a venomous viper, and [[spoiler:she derives her sorcerous powers from a venomous thorn in her back.]]
* PowerAtAPrice: [[spoiler:The nail in Karaba's back gives her magical powers, but it also causes her intense pain. When Kirikou removes it, she feels much better and hardly even regrets the loss of ([[FertileFeet most of]]) her magic.]]
* RampageFromANail: Karaba has [[spoiler:a massive thorn in her back, stuck so deeply in the only way to remove it is with your teeth. When it's removed]], she gets better.

* SurroundedByIdiots: When Kirikou stole Karaba's jewels, she utter this and called her [[{{Mooks}} Fetishes]] a bunch of useless imbeciles. In doing so, she ends up leaving herself completely exposed

* TheUnreveal: [[spoiler:We never learn why Karaba had that venomous nail driven into her back. Kirikou asks the question, but his grandfather deflects it.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: When Karaba's jewels are stolen, she goes into a fit of rage and [[ItsPersonal goes deal with Kirikou herself]]. [[spoiler:This leaves her exposed and far away from the all-seeing Fetish that could have potentially warned her about Kirikou's impending attack.]]

* CassandraTruth: Twice, when [[spoiler:The now adult Kirikou returns to his village and tells everyone that he is the very child they knew and love. If his mother didn't come forth and recognize the man as her own son, they never would've been convinced. The next one is when he tells the villagers that Karaba is no longer a sorceress. They only interpret it as her still being a sorceress who just lost all her powers and decide to kill her. At that moment, Kirikou's grandfather, accompanied by all the men who disappeared from the village and turned into Fetishes by Karaba, comes forth and convinces the villagers that Kirikou is also telling the truth about Karaba.]]

* PoisonousPerson: Not in the traditional way, but Karaba is associated with poison and blight nevertheless as a motif. Her personal weapon is a wicked poisoned spear, all life withers and dies around her, one of her minions is a venomous viper, and [[spoiler:she derives her sorcerous powers from a venomous thorn in her back.]]

* CassandraTruth: Twice, when [[spoiler:The now adult Kirikou returns to his village and tells everyone that he is Kirikou. If his mother didn't come forth and recognize the man as her own son, they never would've been convinced. The next one is when he tells the villagers that Karaba is no longer a sorceress. They only interpret it as her still being a sorceress who just lost all her powers and decide to kill her. At that moment, Kirikou's grandfather, accompanied by all the men who disappeared from the village and turned into Fetishes by Karaba, comes forth and convinces the villagers that Kirikou is also telling the truth about Karaba.]]

* EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry: Karaba wears lots of jewelry, including in her hair and on her breasts.
* FertileFeet: [[spoiler:During Karaba's HeelFaceTurn, the plants and flowers she previously had eroded with her WalkingWasteland ability, comes back to life prettier than before.]]

* SurroundedByIdiots: When Kirikou stole Karaba's jewels, she utter this and called her [[{{Mooks}} Fetishes]] a bunch of useless imbeciles.

* VillainousBreakdown: When Karaba's jewels are stolen, she goes into a fit of rage and [[ItsPersonal goes deal with Kirikou herself]].
* WalkingWasteland: Karaba strikes barren the ground she walks on.

* BeeAfraid: In ''Kirikou and the Wild Beasts'', Kirikou gets rid of a black hyena pursuing him by dropping a wild bees nest on it. After that, he mends the nest and puts it back on its place on the tree while apologizing to the bees.

* ConstantlyCurious: Kirikou's defining trait.

* HotWitch: Karaba.

* KidHero: Kirikou and just after being born for no more than a few days.
* LadyOfBlackMagic: Karaba, a dignified, regal sorceress with dark magic and cursed soldiers at her command.
* LikesOlderWomen: Kirikou.
-->'''[[spoiler:Karaba]]:''' One day, you will say that to a nice little girl.\\
'''Kirikou:''' I don't like little girls!

* RampageFromANail: The sorceress's reason to be -- [[spoiler:a massive thorn in her back, stuck so deeply in the only way to remove it is with your teeth. When it's removed,]] she gets better.

* SuperSpeed: Kirikou's defining trait. It's never truly explained why, but it's a key plot point.

* WalkingWasteland: Karaba.