History YMMV / Willow

** Despite being a HeroKiller with limited characterization, Kael is one of the film's most iconic characters due to his CoolHelmet and status as TheUnfettered.

* FanPreferredCutContent: The original script has a lot of information about Sorsha's father (one of the frozen people in Tir Asleen) that makes her HeelFaceTurn feel more layered and interesting.

* FairForItsDay: Using little people to play a separate species from humans would come across as pretty insensitive today, but back at the film's time, ''Willow'' was considered a spectacular advance in their history in cinema, allowing Creator/WarwickDavis to become the most prominent advocate of their cause. The characters are respectful and well-rounded (for what they are, as this film does love its clichés), and the fact that such an actor is the ''main character and hero'' on its own stands out from other media, both then and now. Of particular note are the Nelwyn warriors, who could easily have been reduced to a punchline, but instead get to be genuine badasses. Even today, when many little actors are reduced to playing "leprechaun parts" where their stature is exclusively used for comedy, ''Willow'' is a breath of fresh air.

* FairForItsDay: Using little people to play a separate species from humans would come across as ''incredibly'' insensitive today, but back at the film's time, ''Willow'' was considered a spectacular advance in their history in cinema, allowing Creator/WarwickDavis to become the most prominent advocate of their cause. The characters are respectful and well-rounded (for what they are, as this film does love its clichés), and the fact that such an actor is the ''main character and hero'' on its own stands out from other media, both then and now. Of particular note are the Nelwyn warriors, who could easily have been reduced to a punchline, but instead get to be genuine badasses. Even today, when many little actors are reduced to playing "leprechaun parts" where their stature is exclusively used for comedy, ''Willow'' is a breath of fresh air.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: One that didn't make it to the final cut. At one point, Willow has to cross a river. A strange hairless boy asks him what he's doing, and warns Willow that the water is cursed, just before jumping in himself. Later, as Willow rows across, the boy resurfaces, but this time his teeth are long and sharp, like a carnivorous fish. He resurfaces again a moment later, and now has a fin on his back. Finally he resurfaces as a monstrous fish and attacks Willow's boat, capsizing it and pursuing Willow through the water. Willow manages to escape by throwing one of his magic acorns at it and turning it to stone (which explains why he was given three acorns, yet only seen using two). The scene was not cut for time, or because it had nothing whatsoever to do with the plot. It was cut because they could never get the fish monster to look right. As it turns out, it lifted easily out of the story because it comes out of nowhere, is never explained, and is never mentioned again. [[https://www.ign.com/videos/2013/03/11/willow-fish-boy-deleted-scene Parts of it are available as a special feature on the DVD.]]

* CompleteMonster: [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Bavmorda]] is an [[SorcerousOverlord evil conqueror]] who learns of a prophecy of a child destined to defeat her, so she has all pregnant women in her kingdom imprisoned. After the child is saved from death, Bavmorda has the mother and midwife killed, who barely gets the child to safety before being torn apart by the Queen's hounds. To stop Willow and the child from getting help, Bavmorda turns a kind sorceress into a brushtail possum and the inhabitants of a castle into [[TakenForGranite stone]]. When confronted, Bavmorda tries to cast a spell to [[WouldHurtAChild destroy the prophesied child's soul]] so none can oppose her and attempts to [[OffingTheOffspring kill her own daughter for turning against her]].

* FanonDiscontinuity: The ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheShadowWar'' sequel novels, depending on your mileage, of course. Or you can pick and choose among the novels too. The first is DarkerAndEdgier but still has the same general feel of adventure and tension as the movie. The following ones follow an Elora Dannon who at one point [[{{Narm}} melodramatically]] recites a story that's basically ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' [[InSpace with dragons]]. The whole trilogy is basically a deconstruction of TheChosenOne and fantasy tropes in general; like the movie, several characters are ludicrously powerful with backstories about how super special they are to the setting but they're all really just support for a relatively weak sorcerer. Has ascended to full on CanonDiscontinuity with the release of the ''[[Series/Willow2022 Disney + series]]''.