Line #136 Film/TheHarderTheyFall2021


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15	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thehardertheyfall.jpg]]
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18	->''"Now let it be known that I don't particularly enjoy violence. That being said, you are currently in the company of extremely violent individuals."''
19	-->-- '''Cherokee Bill'''
20
21	''The Harder They Fall'' is a 2021 American [[TheWestern Western]] film directed by Jeymes Samuel, who co-wrote the screenplay with Boaz Yakin.
22
23	After the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Civil War]], gunslinger outlaw Nat Love reassembles his former gang to [[YouKilledMyFather seek revenge against the man who murdered his parents]].
24
25	The film stars Creator/JonathanMajors as Nat Love, Creator/IdrisElba as Rufus Buck, Creator/ZazieBeetz as Stagecoach Mary, Creator/LakeithStanfield as Cherokee Bill, Creator/DelroyLindo as Bass Reeves, Creator/ReginaKing as Trudy Smith, Creator/DanielleDeadwyler as Cuffee, Creator/EdiGathegi as Bill Pickett, and Creator/RJCyler as Jim Beckwourth.
26
27	The film was released in select theaters on October 22, 2021 and on Creator/{{Netflix}} on November 3, 2021. The trailer can be watched [[https://youtu.be/pKz5kZr8mrg here]].
28
29	----
30	!!''The Harder They Fall'' provides examples of the following tropes:
31	* ActionGirl: Both Trudy and Mary. Their fight at Redwood is by far the most physical as they fight with knives, fists, and anything they can get their hands on to bash each other with.
32	* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When Nat and co. take in the captured member of the Crimson Hood Gang, Nat tells the man to exhale before shooting him free of his restraints. [[spoiler:During the last showdown, when the CHG gets the drop on Nat and catches him with a bullet to the shoulder, the former captive tells Nat "Exhale, motherfucker."]] Nat can't help but chuckle at the circumstances.
33	* AffablyEvil: Cherokee Bill, in a unique twist on the SouthernGentleman. Although he has multiple SmugSnake moments and has no problem shooting people InTheBack, he's usually very polite and [[ReluctantWarrior dislikes]] unneeded violence. [[spoiler:In the final battle at Redwood he dishonorably kills two of the heroes but makes several attempts to deter Jim from fighting him and [[SympathyForTheHero tries to calm]] a dying Pickett]].
34	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Beckwourth has gotten ''real'' sick of hearing Cherokee Bill's name every time he shows off his QuickDraw skills. He plans to seek him out to put the matter to bed for good.
35	* ApologeticAttacker: Cherokee Bill seems to lament the violence he partakes in and tries to talk people out of dying by his hand. It doesn't stop him from killing them, though, often by employing dirty tricks.
36	* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: Lt. General Abbott's rank. When Ulysses Grant was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general during the Civil War, no previous officer had held the rank since George Washington, and he had command of all Union armies at that rank before being raised even higher to Commanding General of the US Army. It's utterly implausible for an officer of that rank to be put in command of ten men for a prison transfer without raising huge questions throughout the military and civilian government.
37	* AuthorAppeal: The film is a Revisionist Western starring an entirely black cast, featuring an anachronistic soundtrack by black artists. The co-writer and director, Jeymes Samuel, is a black recording artist.
38	* BackToBackBadasses: Nat and Mary do this during the Redwood battle.
39	* BadassBoast:
40	** Cuffee says that she's seen a faster draw than Jim "in the mirror." [[spoiler: Cuffee later shoots down Cherokee Bill.]]
41	** Bass Reeves gets a few early in the film.
42	---> '''Reeves:''' Y'know, a lot are fixin' to kill me. They just all seem to die before it happens.\
43	'''Reeves:''' [When several guns are pointed at him] You shoot, he dead. You miss... all ya'll die.\
44	'''Reeves:''' Everybody in here know who I am... Anybody try to follow me, ya'll know what I do.
45	* BankRobbery: The Crimson Hood Gang pulls one of these in the beginning. Nat's gang happily takes the loot off their hands. Later, [[spoiler:Nat's gang is forced to pull another bank robbery to pay off the "interest" on the stolen loot to Buck.]]
46	* BasedOnATrueStory: Played with. Right off the bat the movie tells you the story is fictional, but makes a point of emphasizing that all the ''characters'' are [[HistoricalDomainCharacter based on real people]].
47	* BattleCouple: Despite Mary's objection that they are going their separate ways after this, she and Nat obviously have something between them and they are remarkably in synch when they fight together.
48	* BlackAndGrayMorality: With the exception of maybe Reeves (he's still pretty ruthless for a USMarshal and not opposed to bending the rules to get his man) everyone in both gangs is an outlaw for one reason or another. Nat has a reputation of only robbing other outlaws, but he makes no hesitations in killing.
49	* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Jim Beckwourth [[GunTwirling twirls his gun]] then shoots a Crimson Hood gang member's gun out of his hand.
50	* BlingBlingBang: Rufus is shown to be wielding gold plated pistols.
51	* ButNotTooBlack: The actress playing Stagecoach Mary is significantly lighter-skinned than the [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Mary_Fields.jpg/800px-Mary_Fields.jpg actual woman]].
52	* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:Invoked by Rufus Buck when he kills his half-brother Nat Love's family. He did so in the hopes of turning Nat into a HeWhoFightsMonsters. To obtain revenge against their father, Buck even [[ThanatosGambit plans for his own death]]]].
53	-->[[spoiler:'''Rufus''': You gon' surpass even me. Because...I couldn't kill my brother. Yet here you are about to kill yours.]]
54	* CarvedMark: After slaughtering his parents, Buck carves a cross into the young Nate's forehead. Nate spends his life assuming it was so he would never forget Buck and what he did to him. [[spoiler:It turns out Buck did it for himself, so he would recognize Nate when he came for his revenge.]]
55	* CastingGag: Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, a veteran mixed martial artist who is famous for accepting fights with anyone at any time, has a cameo as a cowboy who chickens out from a fight.
56	* CasualDangerDialog: Pickett and Beckwourth chit-chat and argue casually before they've actually dispatched all of the Crimson Hood Gang. They only interrupt their banter for Beckwourth to shoot a gun out of a survivor's hand and scold him for making the attempt to get the jump on them while they seemed distracted.
57	* ColdSniper: Bill Pickett is the marksman of the Love gang and is more [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] and stoic compared to the [[TheCharmer charming]] Nat, HotBlooded Mary, and [[TheGadfly loud-mouthed]] Jim.
58	* CombatPragmatist: Despite Cherokee Bill's reputation as a QuickDraw, he has no problem taking an easier route. [[spoiler: He shoots Beckwourth while the latter is counting down to their QuickDraw showdown, and shoots Pickett in the back.]]
59	* CowboyCop: Bass Reeves is asked what the Marshals might think about him teaming up with an outlaw gang. His response is that catching Buck is the more important goal.
60	* CriminalCravesLegitimacy: After escaping prison and being pardoned, Buck seems ready to retire from crime, before discovering that Escoe had taken all the funds they'd stored away.
61	* CurbStompBattle: Wiley Escoe gets in a good first hit on Buck, but that's all he gets. Buck demolishes him with mostly direct hits to the face. He knocks out more than a few teeth and leaves Escoe writhing in pain in the dirt.
62	* CuteBruiser: Cuffee's success as a bouncer relies in a combination of people underestimating her by her small stature (which usually gives her the element of surprise) and her amazingly fast fighting and gunslinging skills.
63	* CurseCutShort: Trudy shoots a train engineer in the face as he starts to call her the N-word. All he gets out is the 'N'.
64	--> '''Cherokee Bill:''' You know, he might coulda said nincompoop.\
65	'''Trudy:''' We ain't no nincompoop.
66	* CycleOfRevenge: [[spoiler: Rufus killed Nat's father for killing his biological mother and his wife from a previous marriage. Now Nat wants revenge on him for killing said father and his own mother.]]
67	* DamselInDistress: Lampshaded. When Nat arrives to free Mary, Trudy taunts him, asking if he's here for his damsel.
68	* DastardlyDapperDerby: Trudy rocks one.
69	* DeliberatelyJumpingTheGun: It turns out Cherokee Bill's reputation as a quick draw is in part due to his tendency not to wait for the count to finish.
70	-->'''Cherokee Bill:''' Why do they always count so slow?
71	* DesignatedBullet: Beckwourth has a round with Cherokee Bill's name on it, which he loads in anticipation of their quickdraw showdown.
72	* DesignatedGirlFight: Mary and Trudy get into a brawl in the finale of the film. Though this is a grudge match as Trudy had tortured Mary while waiting on Nat's gang and Mary's itching to return the favor once she's freed from captivity.
73	* DisappearedDad: [[spoiler: Why Buck hunted down Nat's father. He was ''his father as well.'' He had disappeared after killing Buck's mother in an alcoholic rage.]]
74	* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: Killing his father for the abuse of himself and the death of his mother? Makes sense. Killing said father's new wife and scarring his half-brother, who had nothing to do with his shitty childhood? A step too far.]]
75	* TheDragon: Trudy to Buck. If you're going to pick a fight with anyone in his gang, don't pick her. She'll shoot anyone dead for looking at her sideways.
76	* EnemyMine: [[CowboyCop Bass Reeves]] teams up with [[KarmicThief Nat Love's]] gang and [[TheStarscream Wiley Escoe]] to take down the far more dangerous Rufus Buck.
77	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Rufus Buck is an evil bastard with a reputation for being Satan in the flesh. However, even he expresses disgust that Wiley would put personal profit over [[VisionaryVillain the goal]] of creating a safe haven in Redwood for other black people.
78	** He later reveals to Nat that [[spoiler: he couldn't bring himself to kill his younger brother.]]
79	* EverybodyKnewAlready: [[spoiler: Cuffee’s biological sex.]] Well, everybody but Jim.
80	* FakingTheDead: In the end [[spoiler: Pickett and Beckwourth of Love's gang are buried with three graves: an empty one for Nat]]. When asked if the law will really believe that they are dead, Reeves responds that he ''is'' the law, and he says they are dead.
81	* FastestGunInTheWest:
82	** Beckwourth believes himself to be this and wants to try himself against Cherokee Bill, who has this reputation.
83	** When Beckwourth asks Cuffee if Cuffee has seen anyone faster than him, Cuffee replies "In the mirror." [[spoiler: Cuffee later does outdraw Cherokee Bill, and tells him that Beckwourth was faster.]]
84	* FauxAffablyEvil: Buck presents himself as a distinguished gentlemanly sort, but not-so-deep-down is a SoftSpokenSadist who will brutally kill anyone, even civilians, for the slightest reason. He often keeps people on edge with the knowledge that there's no way of knowing how he'll respond in a given situation (since he's equally detached in normal conversations as when gunning people down in cold-blood).
85	* FemininityFailure: When [[spoiler: Cuffee]] dons a dress to make them appear non-threatening for the bank heist. She stumbles upstairs, struggles to find her gun in her skirt folds, and has trouble riding.
86	* FirstKiss ''and'' LastKiss: [[spoiler: Cuffee to Mary at the end of the movie.]]
87	* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Buck first arrives at Nat's house in the flashback, Nat's father recognises him on sight and tries to deflect any violence Buck plans onto himself alone, claiming Buck's issues are with him alone. [[spoiler:He recognises his own son and accepts that he [[KarmicDeath deserves to die at his hands]] for what he did to Buck's mother.]] Relatedly, the lyrics during the film's opening sequence actually foreshadow the later twist [[spoiler:as well as Buck's [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim ultimate plan]] for {{Revenge}} against his father]].
88	--> [[spoiler:Sins of the father darken the doorstep, I became you]].
89	* FriendshipMoment: Nat Love stages [[TrojanPrisoner his arrest]] by Bass Reeves so that his gang won't involve themselves in his [[MoreHeroThanThou revenge mission]]. They aren't fooled and tag along anyway.
90	* GenderReveal: [[spoiler: Cuffee is a woman.]]
91	* GoodLuckCharm: Pickett's lucky coin, which eventually blocks a bullet for him. [[spoiler:Only once though.]]
92	* GunsAkimbo:
93	** Cuffee shoots out a balcony's floor with two pistols, to get an enemy hiding on it.
94	** Bass Reeves holds a gun on Nat and another one on Mary when he arrests Nat in Mary's saloon.
95	** Nat fights with two guns in the final battle in Redwood.
96	* GunsDoNotWorkThatWay: During the scene where Buck's gang kills [[spoiler: the soldiers on the train]], we are treated to slow-motion view of [[SpentShellsShower the cartridges hitting the floor]]. This is unrealistic as all the shooters are using revolvers which retain spent shells until they are manually ejected (usually when reloading).
97	* GunsInChurch: In the scene after the ColdOpen, Nat Love shoots a former Rufus Buck gang member dead before he can even get a shot off. They're both inside a church.
98	* TheGunslinger: Obviously examples are all over, with Jim, Cuffee, and Bill being the QuickDraw; Nat, Reeves, and Pickett being the [[ImprobableAimingSkills Trick Shot]]; and Mary and Trudy being something of [[QuickMelee the Woo]].
99	* GunTwirling: Jim Beckwourth is very fond of twirling his guns.
100	* HatesWearingDresses: [[spoiler: Cuffee]] is in slacks for every scene except when she dons a HarmlessLadyDisguise for the [[spoiler: bank heist]]. She is clearly very displeased about it.
101	* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: Most of the characters, while having gained recognition or notoriety for their exploits in the Wild West, were not nearly so accomplished or badass as they're depicted.
102	* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: The real-life Stagecoach Mary did not exactly look like a showgirl. She actually beared more of a resemblance to Trudy.
103	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: A significant portion of the cast, although they never interacted in real life in the way the movie shows:
104	** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Love Nat Love]] (b. 1854), a famous rodeo performer, author, and cowboy.
105	** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Buck_Gang Rufus Buck and his Gang]], a Creek Indian outlaw gang active in Oklahoma and Arkansas in the year 1895.
106	** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Fields Stagecoach Mary]] (b. 1832), the first Black woman to work as a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service, who was well known for her reliability, beginning her job at age 60, and using a rifle to defend her Stagecoach from mail thieves.
107	** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Beckwourth Jim Beckwourth]] (b. 1798) an American mountain man, fur trader, army scout, and explorer who discovered the lowest mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada (Beckwourth Pass).
108	** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Pickett Bill Pickett]] (b. 1870) a cowboy, rodeo star, Wild West show performer, and actor known for inventing steer wrestling, also known as bulldogging.
109	** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawford_Goldsby Cherokee Bill]] (b. 1876) a Native American outlaw with mixed ancestry who went on a two-year crime spree as part of the Cook Gang before being executed at age 20.
110	** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Reeves Bass Reeves]] (b. 1838) the first black deputy U.S. marshall in the West, who was famed for his marksmanship and detective skills, had over 3,000 arrests over 32 years, and was the inspiration for Franchise/TheLoneRanger.
111	** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathay_Williams Cathay Williams]] (b. 1844) the first Black woman to enlist in the United States Army under the pseudonym William Cathay ([[spoiler: Cuffee]]).
112	** Averted for Gertrude Smith (a murderer and pickpocket in real life) and Wiley Escoe (a deputy U.S. Marshall), about whom there are next-to-no other historical information or pop culture depictions.
113	* HotterAndSexier: Most of these historical figures, but it's taken way up to eleven with Stagecoach Mary being portrayed by Zazie Beetz. In real life, Mary was very dark-skinned and mannish, resembling Harriet Tubman. In the film? Ha. Not even close.
114	* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Buck's final plan for revenge hinges on this. [[spoiler: If he can goad his half brother, his father's ''better'' son from his new, virtuous life, into killing him it will make Nat so much worse than Buck ever was. As he says, ''he'' couldn't bring himself to kill his own brother. While Nat does kill him it isn't as he wanted and ultimately Nat moves on with his life away from outlawing regardless. Symbloized by having his makeshift gravestone bearing his name.]]
115	* InNameOnly: In some cases. While, as the movie makes clear, all the principal characters are named after people who really existed, with occasional name drops of their historical titles, how accurate its depiction of those people is... varies. Few of the main characters were outlaws in life, some rather far from it, and most of the heroes were wildly re-imagined to fit more standard western character types [[labelnote:note]]Mary Fields, for instance, was famous for being the complete opposite of an outlaw, fighting bandits as a courier and mail driver, rather than the MissKitty bordello madame archetype she's depicted as here[[/labelnote]]. This applies a healthy dose of AdaptationalVillainy to much of the cast, extremely in cases like Jim Beckwourth, and results in many of them barely resembling their historical counterparts.
116	* KarmicThief: The Nat Love gang exclusively robs other outlaws and maintains that they would NeverHurtAnInnocent.
117	* KissKissSlap: Stagecoach Mary literally goes from a deep kiss with Nat to knocking him on his ass in seconds.
118	* KnightTemplarBigBrother: Trudy recounts her childhood and her relationship with her kind, but sickly, elder sister. She always did anything necessary to protect her, [[spoiler:Culminating in the murder of her bully.]]
119	* LetsFightLikeGentlemen:
120	** Subverted between [[spoiler: Cherokee Bill and Beckwourth. The latter who expected an honorable duel only to be gunned down by Bill during the count.]]
121	** Played straight between Mary and Trudy in the climax. While both have their guns, they decide to put them aside and settle it in a one-on-one brawl, using anything they can get their hands on in the surrounding area.
122	* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: Rufus eventually reveals in his backstory that his father was Nat's father, making them brothers. [[BlatantLies Naturally, Nat is happy]] to hear this.]]
123	* LivingLegend: Bass Reeves is treated with [[RespectedByTheRespected respect]] and/or reverence by almost every outlaw he meets. With good reason considering he was the man who first captured [[TheDreaded Rufus Buck]]; and he did it ''alone''.
124	* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler: Rufus and Nat.]]
125	* MakeAnExampleOfThem: When Rufus takes over Redwood from Wily, he demands the townspeople pay him tax. One speaks out against him and refuses, to which Rufus instantly guns him down on the spot (despite the man claiming to have a family) to show he's not kidding around.
126	* ManlyFacialHair: While almost all the principal male cast has facial hair, Bass Reeves is the only one sporting a pretty glorious mustache and may well be the most badass character in the film.
127	* MeaningfulEcho: On the worst day of his life, Nat Love screamed out for mercy as Scorpion held him down for Buck to carve a cross into his head. Needless to say, when [[VillainsWantMercy Scorpion]] begged an older and colder Nat to be spared, the latter can't resist mocking the attempt.
128	* TheNapoleon: Cuffee is the shortest member of the cast and very slender as well, but serves as Stagecoach Mary's {{bouncer}} and [[QuickDraw is fast with a gun.]] [[spoiler: Faster than Cherokee Bill.]]
129	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Buck gives one to Wiley via pistol whip, knocking out his gold teeth as revenge for Escoe's attempts to take control of Redwood for a quick profit.
130	* NoHoldsBarredContest: Trudy and Mary's fight, involving everything from knives to biting to throwing fabric at each other. [[spoiler: Mary wins.]]
131	* OhCrap: The bank teller goes from laughing at them to shocked silence when [[spoiler: Cuffee]] pulls out her gun and points it at her face.
132	* OlderThanTheyLook: Cuffee is short, slender, and has extremely big and childlike eyes for [[{{Bouncer}} a club's bouncer.]] She's often called a "boy" because of this, but she is [[TheNapoleon perfectly able to kick out unruly patrons]] and serve as Mary's NumberTwo when they go on Nat's quest for revenge. Not too much older, though: she's still younger than Nat, and presumably Mary.
133	* OpenSecret: [[spoiler: Cuffee's]] biological sex as a woman. Beckwourth makes a huge deal when they strip to change into the dress provided for the heist. He's quickly told he was the only one who hadn't figured it out.
134	* ThePardon: The Buck gang somehow swings this at the film's start, despite their infamously cruel reputation.
135	* PistolWhipping: Rufus Buck bashes his old gang member Wily Escoe in a street of Redwood with his revolver.
136	* PocketProtector: [[spoiler: Pickett's lucky coin manages to shield him from a bullet to his amazement. Unfortunately it doesn't protect him from Cherokee Bill who shoots him in the back not long after he makes this discovery.]]
137	* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: [[spoiler: Nat and Rufus]] are probably twenty or twenty-five years apart, being half-siblings through their father.
138	* PriceOnTheirHead: Nat tells the priest to turn in the body of the bandit that had been extorting his church to claim the $5,000 bounty on his head. When the incredulous priest asks why Nat doesn't take the bounty for himself he smiles and wryly informs him that he is worth ''ten.''
139	* QuickDraw:
140	** Nat shoots first in such a situation inside a church in the opening.
141	** Cherokee Bill is notorious for his gunslinging, but it's partly because [[PragmaticVillainy he doesn't wait for people to finish talking.]] [[spoiler: He's out-shot by Cuffee.]]
142	** Beckwourth is very fast, and Cuffee may be faster.
143	* RaceLift: The real Rufus Buck was a Native American, and his gang was composed of fellow Creek Indians. In the film, he and his comrades are portrayed as black Americans.
144	* RetiredOutlaw: [[spoiler:Nat discovers that his father was a cruel outlaw that turned [[StartingANewLife his life around]] and found God after killing his first wife. Nat later follows his father's lead, FakingTheDead and beginning anew with Mary.]]
145	* RevengeThroughCorruption: [[spoiler: The true reason that Rufus Buck killed Nat Love's family. Love's (and Buck's) father was cruelly abusive to the latter, killing his mother one day before abandoning the young Rufus in order to start a new life. Rufus got his vengeance in [[TheCorrupter corrupting]] the son that Buck Sr. actually loved, turning him into a [[StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred revenge-obsessed]] outlaw and ensuring that their father's crimes would follow him even in death.]]
146	* AScarToRemember: After Buck killed Nat Love's parents, he carved a cross in the boy's forehead. In an interesting twist, Buck didn't make the scar so that Nat would remember him, but so that ''he'' would remember Nat when they next met.
147	* ScopeSnipe: Pickett pulls one on an enemy sharpshooter shortly before [[NoMacGuffinNoWinner blowing up]] the money meant for the Buck gang at long-range.
148	* SelfMadeOrphan: Buck. [[spoiler: It takes him a decade to hunt down and kill his abusive, murderous father, but we see him take his revenge in the first scene.]]
149	* SequelHook: [[spoiler: While Nat plans to put his past behind him and gets on with his life with Mary and Cuffee joins Bass as his Deputy. The final shot of the movie is someone watching them ride off in the distance, implied to be Trudy due to holding her signature bowler hat.]]
150	* SophisticatedAsHell: Almost everyone gets in on this to some degree.
151	-->'''Cherokee Bill''': Now I don't particularly enjoy violence. That being said, you are currently in the company of extremely violent individuals. [Swigs some liquor] Ugh. Shit. So, don't do no stupid shit. All right?
152	* StandardEvilOrganizationSquad: Rufus Buck's gang is notorious for its ruthlessness and the standard response to them is absolute fear.
153	** BigBad: Rufus Buck, the DiabolicalMastermind with a reputation for being the Devil himself. As the man who took over the town of Redwood and [[FamilyExtermination killed]] Nat Love's parents, he's the top enemy.
154	** CoDragons: Trudy and Bill are this to Rufus with Trudy [[NumberTwo heading the gang]] in Buck's absence while Bill does most of the [[TheFace talking]] for the other two.
155	** TheEvilGenius: Wiley Escoe, the conniving ManipulativeBastard tasked with running Redwood, who instead used the opportunity to get rich. [[spoiler:He turns out to be the reason, by way of [[TheInformant informing]] on his boss, for both of Rufus Buck's defeats]].
156	** TheBrute: [[MauveShirt Angel]], as the physically largest member who operates primarily as a MookLieutenant. His few lines include ''attempts'' at [[TheBully intimidating]] Bass Reeves and Stagecoach Mary and he's the one brought in to torture [[spoiler:the captive Mary and Nat Love]].
157	* StiffUpperLip: Trudy never seems to smile, get upset, or flinch, even when facing a speeding train. She just gives it a DeathGlare as it screeches to a halt in front of her.
158	* StrollingThroughTheChaos: During the final battle, Reeves is seen calmly walking across the main square, while scoring at least five consecutive headshots.
159	* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: During a lull in the action, [[spoiler: Pickett]] pulls out a coin from his pocket that stopped a bullet that would have killed him and makes a remark about it not being his time. He is immediately shot in the back by [[spoiler: Cherokee Bill.]]
160	* SweetOnPollyOliver: Jim was somewhat attracted to Cuffee even before finding out her biological sex and is rather {{unsettl\|ingGenderReveal}}ed that he was the only one who didn't know.
161	-->'''Beckwourth''': Hoo! Close shave! Close fuckin' shave. [Chuckling] I thought I was falling for a fella for a little bit. That's why I didn't say nothing. Well, I ain't the only one. I can't... I can't... It wa'n't just me! [Dead [[SeriousMode serious]]] It ''wasn't'' just me.\
162	'''Pickett''': [[OpenSecret It was just you, Jim.]]
163	* TheManTheyCouldntHang: Beckwourth reveals that Nat rescued him from the noose at some point in the past.
164	* TooDumbToLive:
165	** The train engineer stops the train because Trudy is sitting on a horse on the tracks, even though it's quite obvious that she's intending to rob the train. He's immediately shot in the ensuing robbery.
166	** The train passenger who challenges a mob of armed bandits to fisticuffs.
167	** The lieutenant general's son was apparently just wandering around the passengers' cars after the train made a sudden stop in the middle of the desert, basically inviting himself to be killed or captured by bandits.
168	* TrainJob: Buck's gang is introduced as they pull a train job, only the bounty they are after is [[spoiler:Buck.]]
169	* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Trudy recounts a childhood story of her meek sister and a bully who hit her with an apple and caused her to fall and break her ankle. Their father had beaten her for not protecting her sister properly, and then went to exact punishment on the bully. [[spoiler: He arrives to find that "someone" had slit the girl's throat that evening]]. He's so disturbed that Trudy is sent away to live with relatives.
170	* UndyingLoyalty: Mary gets this from Cuffee, Nat from his friends, and Buck from his gang (barring [[TheStarscream Escoe]]).
171	* UnflinchingWalk: When he's freed from a safe in which he was transported as a prisoner, Rufus just walks undisturbed while a fight erupts between the US cavalry soldiers guarding him and the gang that came to free him.
172	* VillainousFriendship: Rufus Buck with Treacherous Trudy Smith (with [[ImpliedLoveInterest hints]] of UnholyMatrimony) as well as Cherokee Bill. The first thing Buck does when freed by his gang is tap both with a surprisingly tender HeadbuttOfLove.
173	* VillainousGoldTooth: Buck pistol-whips the gold teeth out of Escoe's mouth as revenge for his attempts to take control of Redwood for a quick profit.
174	* VisionaryVillain: Buck built up Redwood to be a haven for black people to live under their own rule. His first act upon being freed is to hurry back to the town to check on its well-being and save it from destruction. Then he murders a citizen for saying he won't pay taxes.
175	* VisualPun: The characters express concerns about attempting a robbery in "a white town." When they get there, not only are all the buildings white-washed, but the people are wearing primarily white clothes, and even the dirt roads are white. [[DontExplainTheJoke There's a helpful title card identifying it as "Maysville (it's a white town)."]]
176	** A lesser one, but Rufus Buck has two almost identical gray streaks in his beard that look...like buck teeth.
177	* VitriolicBestBuds: Beckwourth and Pickett spend most of their time insulting or annoying each other, but Bill has a fair amount of BigBrotherInstinct for Jim [[spoiler:and loses it when he gets killed.]]
178	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Members of Buck's gang claim their crimes are to gain funds for fighting the uphill battle of making Redwood a thriving black town in the postwar South. And they won't let anyone, including the [[IOwnThisTown people living there]], get in the way.
179	* WaifFu: The diminutive Cuffee kicks the snot out of men twice her size.
180	* TheWestern: Specifically of the "Revisionist Western" variety, in which the cast is entirely black, the soundtrack is modern, and all the white/Latino characters are incompetent and/or evil.
181	* WhamLine: When Rufus tells Nat about finally tracking down his murderous, alcoholic father.
182	--> "He was clean, sober. He had his own church, a pretty little wife... [[spoiler: and he had a son...about the age of ten years old...whose eyes blazed like mine.]]"
183	* WhamShot: The final shot of the film [[spoiler: pans from our heroes riding off to new adventures to a feminine figure on a hill watching them go… with Trudy's bowler hat in their hand.]]
184	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Buck's sudden need for cash was motivated by his need to save Redwood from white developers as the territory transitioned to statehood. [[spoiler: With the money blown up at the end and Buck and his crew (mostly) dead, the town seems to be left without any financial backers and in utter shambles from the showdown.]] The heroes simply ride off and never speak of the town again.
185	* YoungGun: Beckwourth; although he has one of the fastest draws in the setting, he tends to care too much about getting the reputation and accolades of being the FastestGunInTheWest. Reeves, Cuffee, and Pickett all warn that focusing on flashy tricks and looking cool are going to be the death of him. [[spoiler:They're proven right when Jim challenges [[CombatPragmatist Cherokee Bill]] to a duel; the latter cares way more about not dying than being the best, so he has no problem shooting first.]]

Context Film / TheHarderTheyFall2021