History YMMV / BLACKADDER

* GeniusBonus: Darling is TheSoCalledCoward if his medal ribbons are taken at face value. The Other Wiki handily lists them as The Military Cross, The Queen's South Africa Medal, The 1914 Star and the French Croix de Guerre. While in real life they were probably just something that the costume department threw on in universe they show that he served in the Second Boer War prior to 1901, presumably as a teen soldier, rejoined the army at the outbreak of The Great War and managed to do something that got him not one but two medals for gallantry in the face of the enemy, (as the Croix de Guerre wasn't instituted until April 1915 he was serving somewhere where he could get shot at until at least the Summer of that year). It's notable that he's more highly decorated than Blackadder himself and it adds another layer of FridgeHorror to the idea that Darling's twitch is the result of PTSD.

* MagnificentBastard: [[HyperCompetentSidekick Edmund Blackadder Esq.]], the third [[Characters/BlackadderEdmundBlackadder Blackadder]], is the butler to the idiotic [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover Prince George of Regency England]]. A roguish cheat who constantly scams money out of his employer, Blackadder is also left with the task of running the country, manipulating the election of his completely idiotic sidekick Baldrick to the House of Commons to vote down a measure harmful to the prince by setting up a Rotten Borough and taking over the position as the only voter as well as the supervisor of elections by [[MurderIsTheBestSolution murdering his predecessors]]. When a bet is made for him to one-up ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'', he simply opts to head down to a coffee house and find an aristocrat at the French embassy. When the real Scarlet Pimpernel is about to reveal his treachery, Blackadder promptly murders him and wins a great award from Prince George by claiming to be the true Scarlet Pimpernel. Even in the finale, Blackadder sees Prince George dead when they've switched identities and takes the chance to claim to be the real prince to the insane King George III, gleefully ascending to the throne of England several years later.

* MagnificentBastard: [[HyperCompetentSidekick Mr. Edmund Blackadder Esq.]], the third [[Characters/BlackadderEdmundBlackadder Blackadder]], is the butler to the idiotic [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover Prince George of Regency England]]. A roguish cheat who constantly scams money out of his employer, Blackadder is also left with the task of running the country, manipulating the election of his completely idiotic sidekick Baldrick to the House of Commons to vote down a measure harmful to the prince by setting up a Rotten Borough and taking over the position as the only voter as well as the supervisor of elections by [[MurderIsTheBestSolution murdering his predecessors]]. When a bet is made for him to one-up ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'', he simply opts to head down to a coffee house and find an aristocrat at the French embassy. When the real Scarlet Pimpernel is about to reveal his treachery, Blackadder promptly murders him and wins a great award from Prince George by claiming to be the true Scarlet Pimpernel. Even in the finale, Blackadder sees Prince George dead when they've switched identities and takes the chance to claim to be the real prince to the insane King George III, gleefully ascending to the throne of England several years later.

* NightmareFuel: TheStinger to "[[Recap/BlackadderS2E6Chains Chains]]" more than qualifies. After the credits, [[spoiler:we hear a [[ForDoomTheBellTolls tolling bell]] and eerie wind noises (from the intro to Music/EltonJohn's "Funeral for a Friend") as the camera pans over the murdered, wide-eyed bodies of Edmund, Percy, Queenie, Nursie, Baldrick, and Melchett. We then see Queenie there, alive and well, before she turns to the camera, gives a chuckle in a strange voice and says, in the master of disguise Prince Ludwig's voice, "Now this is a disguise I'm really going to enjoy. If I could ''just'' get the voice right." A more ''creepy'' than funny end to the series.]]

* NightmareFuel: Edmund's ColdBloodedTorture at the hands of Phillip the Hawk in the final episode, and Phillip's ToThePain speech.

* EvilIsSexy: Lord Blackadder.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: The final episode is the most beloved of the whole series. It's also a strongly anti-war CharacterFilibuster that ends with the entire cast being killed.

* RetroactiveRecognition: A young Creator/JimBroadbent as Don Speekingleesh, translator to the Infanta in "[[Recap/BlackadderS1E4TheQueenOfSpainsBeard The Queen of Spain's Beard]]".

* {{Anvilicious}}: The show has been criticized by its over-the-top anti-war message. This is despite the fact, that if you actually watch the season, it's more "anti-war for stupid or selfish reasons, and while in war don't do stupid things or send others to certain death" than "anti-war."

* AcceptableEthnicTargets: Nothing like repeatedly insulting the French. And the Welsh. Really, this season is quite merciless. Ditto Germans.
* AcceptableProfessionalTargets:
** Actors:
-->'''Blackadder''': You mean they actually rehearse? I thought they just got drunk, stuck on a silly hat and trusted to luck.
** Judges too:
-->'''Blackadder''': Well, you could appoint him a high court judge.
-->'''George''': Is he qualified?
-->'''Blackadder''': He's a violent, bigoted, mindless old fool.
-->'''George''': Sounds a bit overqualified!
** Politicians too:
-->'''Blackadder''': Criminal record?
-->'''Baldrick''': Absolutely not.
-->'''Blackadder''': Oh, come on, Baldrick, you're going to be an MP, for God's sake!

* MagnificentBastard: [[OnlySaneEmployee Mr. Edmund Blackadder Esq.]], the third [[Characters/BlackadderEdmundBlackadder Blackadder]], is [[HyperCompetentSidekick the butler]] to the idiotic Prince George of Regency England. A roguish cheat who constantly scams money out of his employer, Blackadder is also left with the task of running the country, manipulating the election of his completely idiotic sidekick Baldrick to the House of Commons to vote down a measure harmful to the prince by setting up a Rotten Borough and taking over the position as the only voter as well as the supervisor of elections by [[MurderIsTheBestSolution murdering his predecessors]]. When a bet is made for him to one-up ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'', he simply opts to head down to a coffee house and find an aristocrat at the French embassy. When the real Scarlet Pimpernel is about to reveal his treachery, Blackadder promptly murders him and wins a great award from Prince George by claiming to be the true Scarlet Pimpernel. Even in the finale, Blackadder sees Prince George dead when they've switched identities and takes the chance to claim to be the real prince to the insane King George III, gleefully ascending to the throne of England several years later.

* MagnificentBastard: The third Blackadder, Edmund Blackadder, is the butler to the idiotic Prince George of Regency England. A roguish cheat who constantly scams money out of his employer, Blackadder is also left with the task of running the country, manipulating the election of his completely idiotic sidekick Baldrick to the House of Commons to vote down a measure harmful to the prince by setting up a Rotten Borough and taking over the position as the only voter as well as the supervisor of elections by murdering his predecessors. When a bet is made for him to one-up the Scarlet Pimpernel, he simply opts to head down to a coffee house and find an aristocrat at the French embassy. When the real Scarlet Pimpernel is about to reveal his treachery, Blackadder promptly murders him and wins a great award from Prince George by claiming to be the true Scarlet Pimpernel. Even in the finale, Blackadder sees Prince George dead when they've switched identities and takes the chance to claim to be the real prince to the insane King George III, gleefully ascending to the throne of England several years later.

* NightmareFuel: PlayedForLaughs it may be, but any writer will probably cringe at least a bit at the LifesWorkRuined plot of "Ink and Incapability," and Edmund's panicky attempts at undoing the damage. [[spoiler:Subverted when it turns out that the Dictionary was never actually destroyed. DoubleSubverted when it is revealed that the manuscript of Edmund's novel, however, was. Triple Subverted when the manuscriptof the dictionary is then destroyed at the end.]]

* NightmareFuel: PlayedForLaughs it may be, but any writer will probably cringe at least a bit at the LifesWorkRuined plot of "Ink and Incapability," and Edmund's panicky attempts at undoing the damage. [[spoiler:Subverted when it turns out that the Dictionary was never actually destroyed. DoubleSubverted when it is revealed that the manuscript of Edmund's novel, however, was.]]

** Baldrick is the descendent of a long line of Dung Gatherers. Creator/TonyRobinson would later learn that there were many different permutations of the Dung Gatherer (called Pure Collectors) profession when he did ''Series/TheWorstJobsInHistory'' (which also meant he actually had to do it), each in a different era no less! Apparently there were a lot of uses for literal shit.

* SignatureScene: Blackadder attempting to teach Baldrick maths using beans. Probably the most famous scene of the series' after the ending of ''Blackadder Goes Forth.''

* NightmareFuel: TheStinger to "[[Recap/BlackadderS2E6Chains Chains]]" more than qualifies. After the credits, [[spoiler:we hear a [[ForDoomTheBellTolls tolling bell]] and eerie wind noises (from the intro to Music/EltonJohn's "Funeral for a Friend") as the camera pans over the murdered, wide-eyed bodies of Edmund, Percy, Queenie, Nursie, Baldrick, and Melchett. We then see Queenie there, alive and well, before she turns to the camera, gives a chuckle in a strange voice and says, in the master of disguise Prince Ludwig's voice, "Now this is a disguise I'm really going to enjoy. If I could just get the voice right." A more ''creepy'' than funny end to the series.]]

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: "[[Recap/BlackadderS1E1TheForetelling The Foretelling]]" opens with a darkly comic depiction of the Battle of Bosworth Field and even has a scene where Edmund takes one look at the fighting and decides to run away, all played for laughs. "[[Recap/BlackadderS4E6Goodbyeee Goodbyeee]]" also deals with war, but plays it completely straight, and this time Blackadder doesn't get away.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: "[[Recap/BlackadderS1E1TheForetelling The Foretelling]]" opens with a darkly comic depiction of the Battle of Bosworth Field and even has a scene where Edmund takes one look at the fighting and decides to run away, all played for laughs. "[[Recap/BlackadderS4E4Goodbyeee Goodbyeee]]" also deals with war, but plays it completely straight, and this time Blackadder doesn't get away.