History YMMV / HoratioHornblower

* InternetBackdraft: A more literal case, rumor has it that so many people went on the A&E boards to react after [[spoiler: Archie Kennedy's death]] that the servers crashed.

* EstrogenBrigade: Why, you thought swashbuckling adventures, officers of the Royal Navy, wooden ships, gory scenes with blood spattering around, wars and fights would appeal mainly to guys? There is this one thing that ladies can't have enough. Hot men in uniforms? Yes please. Hot men out of their uniforms? YES PLEASE. Hot men being {{shirtless|Scene}} and [[SexySoakedShirt wet]]? YEEES! PLEASE MORE. Mr Bush and Archie Kennedy seem to attract special attention, and they appear to be winning over the main man Hornblower, but he shouldn't worry too much. Female fans are known to like and write SlashFic, and Hornblower/Bush or Horatio/Archie are the most popular ships. Pellew is a great favourite as well, as are other characters like Mr Wellard, Major Edrington, Mr Orrock and Majot Côtard. So much eye candy! And they have deep and interesting personalities as well.

** It's noticeable especially between Hornblower and Archie Kennedy. Archie was caressing Horatio's shirt and chest at one point!

* TheScrappy: Maria. In and out of universe. Hornblower marries her largely out of a sense of guilt because he's too passive to reject her unwanted affection and hurt her feelings. He manages to spend his marriage under a cloud of guilt and repressed, hidden unhappiness. Her presence generally results in making Hornblower less likable as a character by bringing out his emotional/social cowardice. Her fate makes her a Woobie as well.

** Lt. Eccleston from "The Even Chance" who served aboard ''Justinian'' and also ''Indifatigable''. He seems nice enough and fairly competent on the first glance, but on a second thought, he's not that great and his behaviour is open to interpretation. Eccleston severely punishes Horatio for getting beaten up -- and asks who he fought with -- ''just'' after Simpson came back. He then pairs Simpson and Horatio and sends them on a shore mission. He later does it again when he puts Simpsons in Horatio and Archie's boat for the operation of capturing ''Papillon''. Is he so clueless? Or so monstrously sadistic? Does Eccleston know about Simpson's abuse? If no, he's incompetent and shouldn't be in the Navy, and certainly has no place to serve under the top notch captain like Pellew. If he does know and does nothing to stop it, he's beyong useless and beyond evil and just as sadistic as Simpson. Or could Simpson have power over Eccleston as well, perhaps with a dirty little secret of his own?

** Lt. Eccleston from "The Even Chance" who served aborad ''Justinian'' and also ''Indifatigable''. He seems nice enough and fairly competent on the first glance, but on a second thought, he's not that great and his behaviour is open to interpretation. Eccleston severely punishes Horatio for getting beaten up -- and asks who he fought with -- ''just'' after Simpson came back. He then pairs Simpson and Horatio and sends them on a shore mission. He later does it again when he puts Simpsons in Horatio and Archie's boat for the operation of capturing ''Papillon''. Is he so clueless? Or so monstrously sadistic? Does Eccleston actually know about the abuse of midshipmen from Simpson? If no, he's incompetent and shouldn't be in the Navy, and certainly has no place to serve under the top notch captain like Pellew. If he knows and does nothing to stop it, he's beyong useless and beyond evil and just as sadistic as Simpson. Or could Simpson have power over Eccleston as well, perhaps with a dirty little secret of his own?

** Lt. Eccleston from "The Even Chance" who served aborad ''Justinian'' and also ''Indifatigable''. He seems nice enough and fairly competent on the first glance, but on a second thought, he's not that great and his behaviour is open to interpretation. Eccleston severely punishes Horatio for getting beaten up -- and asks who he fought with -- ''just'' after Simpson came back. He then pairs Simpson and Horatio and sends them on a shore mission. Is he so clueless? Or so monstrously sadistic? Does Eccleston actually know about the abuse of midshipmen from Simpson? If no, he's incompetent and should not be in the Navy, and certainly has no place to serve under the top notch captain like Pellew. If he knows, he's just as sadistic and evil as Simpson.

** In Series Two, the interpretation of how [[spoiler: Captain Sawyer fell down the hatchway]]. The question of whether or not it was an accident leads often enough to the secondary question, whether it was in the nature of any of the characters present to [[spoiler: actively push the captain]].

** In ''The Hornblower Addendum'', UsefulNotes/GeorgeIII. It's 1812 and he's gone completely bonkers, and we are treated to one of his doctors telling Hornblower the king's typical (and utterly horrific) treatment plan. The king himself is completely sweet to Hornblower and fearless in the face of sea action, but cowers badly when faced with his own doctor. It's hard not to want to give him a hug and punch his doctor.

** In ''The Hornblower Addendum'', George III. It's 1812 and he's gone completely bonkers, and we are treated to one of his doctors telling Hornblower the king's typical (and utterly horrific) treatment plan. The king himself is completely sweet to Hornblower and fearless in the face of sea action, but cowers badly when faced with his own doctor. It's hard not to want to give him a hug and punch his doctor.

* HoYay: Between Hornblower and Bush. Bush is never shown to have romantic interest in anybody (male or female), but he's devoted to Hornblower. He could be {{Asexual|ity}} and merely devoted to his closest friend, but given the [[HideYourLesbians Hide Your Gays]] period the author was writing in, Bush could be homosexual and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy supporting his hetero captain's relationships]]; the text gives no clues. From ''Flying Colours,'' while Bush is recovering from his serious injury:

* HoYay: Between Hornblower and Bush. Bush is never shown to have romantic interest in anybody (male or female), but he's devoted to Hornblower. He could be {{Asexual}} and merely devoted to his closest friend, but given the HideYourGays period the author was writing in, Bush could be homosexual and [[IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy supporting his hetero captain's relationships]]; the text gives no clues. From ''Flying Colours,'' while Bush is recovering from his serious injury:

** In Series Two, the interpretation of how [[spoiler: Captain Sawyer fell down the hatchway.]] The question of whether or not it was an accident leads often enough to the secondary question, whether it was in the nature of any of the characters present to [[spoiler: actively push the captain]].

* AwesomeMusic:

* EstrogenBrigade: Why, you thought swashbuckling adventures, officers of the Royal Navy, wooden ships, gory scenes with blood spattering around, wars and fights would appeal mainly to guys? There is this one thing that ladies can't have enough. Hot men in uniforms? Yes please. Hot men out of their uniforms? YES PLEASE. Hot men being [[ShirtlessScene shirtless]] and [[SexySoakedShirt wet]]? YEEES! PLEASE MORE. Mr Bush and Archie Kennedy seem to attract special attention, and they appear to be winning over the main man Hornblower, but he shouldn't worry too much. Female fans are known to like and write SlashFic, and Hornblower/Bush or Horatio/Archie are the most popular ships. Pellew is a great favourite as well, as are other characters like Mr Wellard, Major Edrington, Mr Orrock and Majot Côtard. So much eye candy! And they have deep and interesting personalities as well.

* RomanticPlotTumor: In "The Frogs and The Lobsters", Horatio gets into a brief romantic subplot with Mariette, a local peasant girl, during a mission in France. The story was already dealing with three separate plot threads and the romance could have been taken out without changing any major events, and since Mariette's never mentioned after the conclusion of her little story arc, its usefulness as character development for Horatio is questionable. She mostly seems to be there to provide female eye candy, and eventually to [[spoiler: [[ShootTheShaggyDog get killed in the final act]] so Hornblower could have some angst.]] [[note]] By all appearances, it seems they just took the character of Marie Ladon from the books, and moved their meeting to before she married the son of the Comte de Gracay. Both women notably suffered similar fates, albeit under very different circumstances.[[/note]]

* SeasonalRot: The third series loses its previous excellent production values, going for half-measures and ConspicuousCGI instead. The characterization is also sloppy--Pellew, as noted above, goes from being an excellent captain to almost a parody of an admiral, and Styles becomes completely unlikable. Rather than combining AdaptationDistillation with AdaptationExpansion as they had previously, the story only loosely resembles the events of ''Hotspur'' and turns minor mentions of Irish unrest into the whole plot; there are some frankly absurd moments with the deep-cover Irish agents (both in terms of narrative plausibility and their ability to survive explosions without a scratch). That said, unimpressive Hornblower still makes for pretty impressive television and the acting doesn't suffer.
* SpecialEffectsFailure: In the first episode's scenes in the longboat, Hornblower translates the French complaints that they're not yet in sight of the coast. The coast, however, is easily visible over his shoulder. (Doubtless it wouldn't have been safe to stick the boat entirely out to sea for filming, though ''filming in the opposite direction'' would have solved this problem.)

* SpecialEffectsFailure: In the first episode's scenes in the longboat, Hornblower translates the French complaints that they're not yet in sight of the coast. The coast, however, is easily visible over his shoulder. (Doubtless it wouldn't have been safe to stick the boat entirely out to sea for filming.)

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Sawyer's fall and later death in ''Lieutenant Hornblower'' deliberately invites it. Was it Hornblower or Wellard who pushed him? Was it ''really'' a convenient accident? There is also a popular theory (put forward by Parkinson's unofficial biography) that Hornblower killed Sawyer during the prisoner uprising and blamed the Spanish, as it would be strange for a straitjacketed man to be killed in a battle and Hornblower has been known to ShootTheDog. But then there's also the question of whether Hornblower could do such a thing as a young man, as he's shown to not be completely inured to death and killing yet. Then there's the short story "The Hand of Destiny", in which it is made clear that it was the other man who shot a tyrannical captain and Hornblower let him. All in all, a subject for consideration.

* AngstDissonance: Hornblower has a habit of becoming ''more'' depressed after successes, taking himself to task for the "foolish" risks he's taken. [[GenreSavvy His awareness]] of this doesn't actually help. Conversely, he sometimes gets more cheerful when facing difficulties.

* NoYay: In the first instalment, if you're prone to noticing subtext, the Inquisition scene is full of this. Simpson leaning in way too close to Hornblower and suggesting he fancies other boys? Add to that the popular RapeAsBackstory interpretation of Simpson's interactions with Kennedy, and it gets really suspicious.

* FailOSuckyname: In-universe, Hornblower considers his name ludicrous. He's not fond of 'Hornblower' but prefers a LastNameBasis to the alternatives.

** And after the fall down the hold, [[AlasPoorVillain Captain Sawyer himself]]. The injury and trauma shatters what sanity he had left and reduced him to a straightjacketed, weeping wreck who saw an enemy in every person that came into his cabin. When he's [[spoiler:murdered during the prisoner mutiny]] even Bush, one of his victims, thinks that Hell couldn't be hot enough for the person who did it.

* HoYay: It seems to be just about every man in the British Navy towards Hornblower, apart from Lady Barbara's husband.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Dreadnought Foster, played by Denis Lawson, was presumably promoted to Captain based on his impressive record as a starfighter pilot in the [[Franchise/StarWars Rebel Alliance.]]

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

* BaseBreaker: Archie, to an extent, caught between those fans who dislike his addition into the series as he wasn't in the books, and those who think he added a nice element to the narrative and a more accessible side to the title character.

** Archie Kennedy, first to the writers and cast, ''then'' to the fans. Archie was only intended to be in "Even Chance" but he (and his actor Creator/JamieBamber) were so well liked by the cast and crew that he got written into "The Duchess and the Devil and "Frogs and Lobsters", making him a favorite among fans. The substantial expansion of his role in the series gets him beyond an Ensemble Darkhorse and pushes him to the realm of {{Breakout Character}}s. This led to the events in ExecutiveMeddling.

* TheyJustDidntCare: The first series was filmed on ships, and it looked ''awesome''. The second series wasn't; still looked pretty good. But in the third series, they denoted snow at sea just by painting the sets white -- there are paint drips clearly visible when the gunports are opened.
* [[WhenSheSmiles When He Smiles]]:
** Horatio. Attractive at the best of times, but positively endearing when he's happy.
** Archie Kennedy. When he's happy, the sun comes out.

** Captain Pellew is prone to such a treatment. In Series One, he is universally loved, and everybody is impressed and awed by his character and abilities. In Series Two, his reputation suffers a serious blow because of his favouritism and lack of interest in other officers other than Hornblower. In Series Three only proves than the truth and honesty might not be an integral part of his character and his morals are questioned. Some fics try to find deeper meaning in his lack of concern for other sailors, and many {{Fix Fic}}s in AlternateUniverse try to absolve him.

** Archie Kennedy, first to the writers and cast, ''then'' to the fans. Archie was only intended to be in "Even Chance" but he (and his actor Creator/JamieBamber) were so well liked by the cast and crew that he got written into "The Duchess and the Devil and "Frogs and Lobsters", making him a favorite among fans. The substantial expansion of his role in the series gets him beyond an Ensamble Dakrhorse and pushes him to the realm of {{Breakout Character}}s. This led to the events in ExecutiveMeddling.
** [[GentlemanSnarker Major Edrington]] in "The Wrong War"/"The Frogs and the Lobsters". Only appears in one instalment, but he's very popular among the fans.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Being written from 1937 to 1967.

** "The Even Chance": Midshipman Jack Simpson ruthlessly torments his fellow midshipmen, both physically and [[MindRape psychologically]]. He is a {{sadist}}ic [[TheBully bully]] who takes great pleasure in his evil games. He claims that he knows the guys' secrets and what gnaws their souls, and uses it as blackmail. He keeps [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beating them]] [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown mercilessly]]. His abuse of Archie Kennedy is the worst as he is the one most terrified of him, and Simpson's mere presence gives him stress-induced ConvulsiveSeizures. Simpson is able to manipulate the situation and is never held responsible, and the others are punished instead. Later he tries to kill his shipmates in the middle of a raid by setting one adrift in a boat and shooting the other. When challenged to the DuelToTheDeath, he cheats and claims it was a misfire. Finally, when his life is spared, he's unable to deal with CruelMercy and tries to stab his opponent InTheBack.
** "The Frogs and the Lobsters": Colonel [[AristocratsAreEvil Marquis]] Moncoutant is one of the leaders of French Royalist troops who set on a mission to restore the monarchy in France during the French Revolution with the help of the British Navy. However, he doesn't care much about the cause and not at all about his soldiers. The fate of other aristocrats doesn't concern him either, but he's very proud that he's BlueBlood and he believes that common people are impossible to improve, comparing them to animals. He killed a mayor and nearly [[WouldHurtAChild shot a child]] for singing ''Marseillaise'' upon his arrival to his village, and later he keeps gleefully [[OffWithHisHead killing off villagers with his personal guillotine]] one after another for no bigger offence than [[DisproportionateRetribution selling old bread]]. He never shows any remorse for his evil deeds.
* CrossoverShip: The fandom has taken to pairing Major Edrington with [[Literature/{{Sharpe}} Richard Sharpe]] [[CrackPairing despite]] or [[SlapSlapKiss perhaps]] ''[[BelligerentSexualTension because]]'' he's exactly the kind of officer Sharpe would despise if he was incompetent. Major Edrington isn't, so he's precisely the officer [[FridgeBrilliance Sharpe wishes he was.]]