Line #75 Film/KnightsOfBadassdom


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/87ecdfba164a180affa479e5aa060d6b.jpg]]
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3	''Knights of Badassdom'' is an independent film from Creator/JoeLynch that focuses on the world of {{LARP}}. It features an EnsembleCast culled from SciFi and {{geek}} culture, featuring Creator/RyanKwanten and Creator/SteveZahn, with supporting roles from Creator/SummerGlau (''{{Series/Firefly}}''), Creator/DannyPudi (''{{Series/Community}}''), and Creator/PeterDinklage (''Series/GameOfThrones''). It also features the music of Music/BearMcCreary.
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5	Joe (Kwanten) is a complacent homebody who is a classic car mechanic by day, wannabe DoomMetal singer by night. Sick of his lack of accomplishment or drive, his girlfriend Beth dumps him. Joe returns to his home (shared with millionaire friend Eric (Zahn), and gets drunk and high, but his friends Hung (Dinklage) and Eric have another idea -- drag him along to their LARP game this weekend and take his mind off of her.
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7	At the event, Joe (who is something of a legend among the [=LARP=]ers for a past RPG success against the event's game master, Ronny) meets Gwen, a blisteringly attractive young woman who plays in the LARP guild in order to chaperone her cousin Gunther, who is always in "[[BecomingTheMask game mode]]". Circumstances lead to Joe and Gwen spending a lot of the movie traveling together.
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9	During the game, Eric uses his prop book as part of a game spellcasting, but unbeknownst to him, [[TomeOfEldritchLore his book is more than a prop]]. Long story short, his [[UnexpectedlyRealMagic seemingly farcical incantation actually summons a demon]], who takes on the form of Beth, Joe's recent ex, and begins to slaughter [=LARP=]ers one by one. As the main characters start to realize something isn't right in Evermore, they struggle to figure out what has happened, how to stop it -- and how to do it before all the other players get up the next morning for the game's epic FinalBattle, which is destined to become a lot more epic.
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11	----
12	!! This film provides examples of:
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14	* AccidentalIncantation: Eric's prop book contains a real spell that summons a [[SuccubiAndIncubi Succubus]] that takes the shape his friend's ex-girlfriend.
15	* AchievementsInIgnorance: Deconstructed. Eric had ''no idea'' that the book he was using for his LARP sessions was a genuine TomeOfEldritchLore, nor that he accidentally summoned ''a genuine Demon'', until Ronny explains it to him.
16	* AndStarring: "and Creator/PeterDinklage as Hung".
17	* AnachronismStew: Unavoidable, but some stand out.
18	** One of the faction's kings is a player in a wheelchair; it has been decked out to look like a chariot. Of course, nothing is pulling it.
19	** Ronny, the game master of the event, makes his announcements via PA system.
20	** A RunningGag is that someone is told to "return to the Outskirts of Eliphaz," but they don't remember where that is; the other players must resort to clarifying it as "the parking lot."
21	* AudibleSharpness: All of the real swords, obviously. But the foam dagger in the opening scene has to be the most ridiculous example.
22	* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: The paintballers are all swiftly gibbed by the monster when they crash the LARP's final battle.]]
23	* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Hung in the finale, summoned by ThePowerOfRock]].
24	* BellyMouth: The succubus, after it is changed into [[OneWingedAngel a more monstrous form]].
25	* TheBigGuy: Gunther.
26	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: {{Downplayed\|Trope}} by the upbeat WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, but it still qualifies when you think about it. On the one hand, Joe and Gwen are together and form their own doom metal band, and Eric finally levels up his character. On the other hand, Hung, Lando and Ronny are dead, most of the [=LARPers=] were brutally slaughtered along with [[AssholeVictim the paintballers]] (one of whom was a Sheriff's Deputy), and Gunther, having faced a demon in real life, is now (somehow) even ''more'' obsessed with [=LARPing=] than ever.]]
27	* BloodSplatteredWeddingDress: Blood-Spattered ''Prom'' Dress- the Demon, while impersonating Beth, wears the Prom dress from Joe's old photo, and the dress gets increasingly blood-spattered ([[ClothingDamage and torn]] as the Demon keeps killing people).
28	* BoyMeetsGirl: Joe and Gwen lock eyes during their first encounter... [[MomentKiller Then Hung attacks Joe when his back is turned]] [[FinishHim and pretends to behead him at Gwen's command]].
29	* BreathWeapon: [[spoiler: the Demon's OneWingedAngel form]] has a fire breath. [[spoiler: It can incinerate even the previously-indestructible book, though not the gem on its spine]].
30	* TheCameo: Creator/BrianPosehn makes a brief appearance as Gilberto, one of Joe's coworkers at the auto garage.
31	* CampGay: The guy playing an elf displays stereotypical effeminate mannerisms and rejects the succubus's seduction attempt by saying she's "marching down the wrong battlefield, honey".
32	* CarFu: Ronny and Gwen take turns using the bullies' pickup truck to keep their foe literally pinned down.
33	* CavalryBetrayal: PlayedForLaughs- [[spoiler: Joe and Gwen's attempt to call the police only results in the Paintball rednecks turning up, only to [[AssholeVictim get killed by the Demon]]. Averted for their [[CarFu pickup truck]], however]].
34	* ChainmailBikini: Unsurprisingly, many of the female role-players are wearing these. Averted for Gwen, who is wearing a corset stylized like a cuirass, and the Demon, who is wearing the prom dress Beth was wearing in the old photo [[spoiler: before shedding it entirely for a FullFrontalAssault post-transformation]].
35	* ChekhovsGun: The metal song that Joe is singing at work in the beginning of the film. [[spoiler: That same song is used to banish the Demon in the climax via ThePowerOfRock]].
36	** Subverted with [[spoiler: the Enochian runes that were burned onto a paintballer's head. Ronny is killed when unsuccessfully attempting to read the runes, and the head is presumably destroyed as well]].
37	* ChekhovsSkill: [[spoiler: Joe's heavy metal singing that wasn't getting him anywhere in life? It turns out to be what saves the day.]]
38	* ClingyMacGuffin: The book returns to Eric after he loses it in the woods. Nothing can destroy it [[spoiler: except for a demon's fire breath, apparently.]]
39	* ClothingDamage: Beth's blue prom dress, which the Demon is wearing in her Beth form, gets progressively torn up and blood spattered as the movie progresses. [[spoiler: First one slit was cut open, then another, and after killing Lando and Hung the skirt below the knees was trimmed off. The Demon abandons it entirely by the time it goes OneWingedAngel]].
40	* CloudCuckoolander: Gunther never breaks character... even outside the game. There was an... incident at Medieval Times.
41	* CloudCuckoolandersMinder: Gwen is this to her cousin Gunther.
42	* TheCuckoolanderWasRight:
43	--> '''Gunther:''' It would surprise me not, wizard, if thou hath brought forth something vile and unholy.
44	** Hung [[CassandraTruth initially isn't taken seriously]] when his mushroom-induced hallucinations actually allow him to see the demon's true form.
45	* DepravedBisexual: The Succubus is an equal opportunity seductress.
46	* {{Doppelganger}}: The demon, for Beth.
47	* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: Hung]] uses his last moments to [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu cuss out]] the succubus.
48	-->"'Tis a cruel act of the gods to waste such a sweet backside on such a filthy beast."
49	* FinishHim: Said word for word by Gwen when Hung is showing Joe LARP-style damage examples, and has him [[ItMakesSenseInContext on the ground]].
50	* EmergencyStash: Eric has a cache of contraband real (i.e. not foam or blunted) swords and other weapons that he brings for lucrative trades. Suddenly they become useful.
51	* EmpoweredBadassNormal: [[spoiler:Hung temporarily comes back from the dead during the climax, ready to kick some serious demon ass with the power of a demon]].
52	* EnemyMine: PlayedForLaughs with [[spoiler: King Kerry and King Diamond teaming up against the Paintball Rednecks in the final battle. Averted with [[MoodWhiplash the Demon that crashes the fight moments later]], since they ''don't'' team up with the rednecks against her (not that it matters much, since they all die shortly after)]].
53	* EvilLaugh: The transformed succubus gets one.
54	* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Ronny is in the middle of a FreakOut, while recovering from his encounter with the Succubus, when he ''finally'' realizes that Eric's book is a genuine TomeOfEldritchLore. And then he realizes he's lost.
55	--> Ronny: Oh fuckity fuck! Get a hold of yourself, man. Get a hold of yourself, man! What the fuck was that, man? Oh my God, she was not normal! She was like some kind of she-beast from the- Oh my sweet shit. Oh, my sweet, sweet shit. Eric, you fucking asshole! I have to warn him... Where the fuck am I? ... [[RunningGag They suck at making maps!]] Where the hell am I?
56	* FunWithSubtitles: This exchange soon after the group arrives at the LARP.
57	-->'''King Diamond:''' Aye, Sir Dragonoth hath been detained by Minerva--the sea hag.
58	-->'''Subtitle:''' ''Ed's frickin' wife is making him clean the garage this weekend--the bitch.'' \
59	'''King Kerry:''' His bewitchment by the siren's song shall be the nail thine army wantest, King Diamond the Red. \
60	'''Subtitle:''' ''She found the porn folder on his PC and now your army is screwed.''
61	* GirlOnGirlIsHot: {{Subverted}}, as one of the girls [[spoiler: is a heart-devouring demon]].
62	** Subverted again, when [[spoiler: the boyfriend who put his girlfriend up to it is horrified to find out that she liked it so much, she's cheating on him.]]
63	* GlowingEyesOfDoom: As it turns out, [[spoiler: Peter Dinklage]] looks quite fetching with a pair.
64	* GorgeousPeriodDress: One background extra during one of the first scenes in the parking lot is a woman wearing a Tudor-era farthingale dress and gable hood.
65	* GoryDiscretionShot: [[spoiler: Hung and Lando each get one at the public restrooms]]. Averted for most of the Demon's other kills, since she normally kills people in full view of the camera.
66	* HiddenDepths: Ronny, the group's DM, has enough knowledge of Occult Lore to act as the MrExposition of the Book to Eric, after realizing what happened.
67	* HumanSacrifice: Subverted. The intro scene features a group of red-robed, hooded figures in the woods surrounding an altar with a person lying on it. A priestly figure repeatedly stabs the person with an intricately curved blade. Another figure approaches the priest and notes, "Your appeasement of the gods of Vinsibus... has failed." The priests remove their hoods and object; the sacrifice complains about the "blood" stains on his clothes. It's all part of a LARP campaign.
68	* IdleRich: Eric is wealthy enough that he doesn't have to work, and spends most of his time on his roleplaying hobbies.
69	** Eric actually has a job; he owns a small business that reproduces LARP-style weapons with non-foam materials (real swords, maces, etc...). Though, it's suggested at one point that it actually doesn't do very well as he has a large stock in the back of his van.
70	* IncompatibleOrientation: When the succubus tries to seduce him, the guy playing an elf says she's "marching down the wrong battlefield". Naturally it doesn't stop her from killing him.
71	* IncrediblyLamePun: ''All'' of the quest groups' names.
72	-->Freakend Warriors\
73	The Medieval Kenevils\
74	Gnomeland Security\
75	Fair-Leather Friends\
76	The Norse Whisperers
77	* ItsPersonal: The Paintball redneck who got the runes burned on his face by Eric's book at the beginning of the film has this as his motivation for [[spoiler: crashing the LARP at the climax]].
78	* JerkJock: The Paintball rednecks, who have apparently made a hobby out of crashing LARP events [[spoiler: [[AssholeVictim this gets them killed]] when an actual Demon is also present]].
79	* JewishAndNerdy: One of the two co-runners of the LARP event is Jewish, wearing a yarmulke and 'borrowing' his Synagogue's Shofar after the LARP's official horn went missing.
80	* KnightOfCerebus: The Demon, being a monster that kills people for real, is one for any scene she appears in, often becoming a source of MoodWhiplash as a result.
81	* LargeHam: Ronny and Hung.
82	* LaserSight: On the paintballers' guns.
83	* LetThePastBurn: Hung swallows Joe's old photo of him and Beth at Prom, as a non-fiery variant of this trope. [[spoiler: Subverted when the Demon tears the still-intact photo out of Hung's stomach]].
84	* LockAndLoadMontage: The sight of the gang breaking out the real weapons is quite satisfying.
85	* LudicrousGibs: With the exception of [[spoiler: Hung and Lando]] (who each instead get a GoryDiscretionShot), most of the Demon's kills are quite graphic- jaws, heads, limbs, entrails, and hearts get torn out and thrown around left, right, and center. Especially so in [[spoiler: the final battle, where LARP players and Paintball rednecks alike get explicitly torn apart]].
86	* MagicMusic: In this movie, real spells must be ''sung'' in order to work. [[spoiler: Not just the spells in the book, but the gem in the book's spine can turn ''any'' music into a spell with the right lyrics]].
87	* MaleGaze: Lingering shot of [[Creator/SummerGlau Gwen]]'s "+3 Ass of Perfection".
88	** +3? Clearly you underestimate her endowments.
89	* ManChild: Eric and Hung. Neither of them appear to have jobs (though in Eric's case, at least, [[IdleRich he's rich enough not to need one]]), and spend nearly all of their time getting high and playing [=RPGs=], literally living in a fantasy world. Their house is even shaped like a medieval castle.
90	** Eric at least actually has a job despite his wealth, see IdleRich.
91	* MassOhCrap: Two in quick succession, both by the LARPers in the climax- first when [[spoiler: the Paintball rednecks show up again]], followed a couple minutes later by [[spoiler: the Demon's OneWingedAngel form attacking]].
92	* MelancholyMusicalNumber: Eric and Hung quickly deduce that Joe broke up with Beth, when they walk in on him playing a sad gentle ballad on his guitar.
93	* MoodWhiplash: Once Eric accidentally summons [[KnightOfCerebus an actual Succubus]], the movie frequently cuts between dark and gory scenes of her killing people and light-hearted scenes of LARP comedy. Most notable when, in the final battle, [[spoiler: the light-hearted scene of King Diamond and King Kerry pulling an EnemyMine against the Paintball rednecks is ''immediately'' followed by the Demon attacking and killing everyone but Joe, Eric, Gwen, and Gunther]].
94	* MsFanservice: Gwen is this. Along with the [[MaleGaze male gaze]] example above, there's a few shots focusing on her legs.
95	* TheMunchkin: Lando constantly tries to bend the LARP's rules to his own advantage, especially to keep himself alive during battle when by all rights he should be out. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Gunther after [[spoiler: they find his remains in the restroom.]]
96	-->Gunther: [[spoiler: One cannot cheat death forever.]]
97	* MusicSoothesTheSavageBeast: [[spoiler: Or in this case, banishes the Demon.]]
98	* NoodleIncident: The only thing known about what got Gunther banned from Medieval Times was that the Red Knight was hospitalized.
99	* OhCrap: Several times, but especially for Eric. (See below once you unspoiler it.)
100	* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Thanks to Eric casting a spell that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero buffs the demon instead of banishing it.]]]]
101	* OurElvesAreDifferent: A CampGay roleplayer is seen roleplaying as what appears to be a standard D&D type Elf.
102	* OurFairiesAreDifferent: One of the in-story guilds is a group of fairies... who seem to just be a group of people who wear large costume butterfly wings and prance around.
103	* PickyPeopleEater: [[spoiler: The succubus removes its victims' hearts, and eats them.]]
104	* PoliceAreUseless: Or in this case, more interested in the ''opposite'' of helping you.
105	* PoorMansPorn: Apparently Joe caught Ronny pleasing himself to the art of the succubus in the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' Monster Manual.
106	* ThePowerOfRock: [[spoiler: How Joe finally manages to defeat the monster in the final battle]].
107	* PrinceCharmingWannabe: Ronny tries to hit on Gwen early on, putting on his full repartee of YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe, which actually turns her off.
108	--> '''Gwen:''' The game hasn't started yet. Do we ''have'' to speak in Dorkinese?
109	* PunnyName: All of the named guilds revealed in a montage, such as a group of gruff-looking barbarians called "Fair Leather Friends".
110	* RousingSpeech: Joe gives one to Eric right before the final battle, when Eric considers running away.
111	--> Joe: That thing [[spoiler: slaughtered our best friend]]. You gonna let that stand? You been out here, practicing this shit every weekend for years. Face it man. You've got everything but you earned nothing. Are you gonna hide from that thing the way you hide from real life? Or are you gonna man up and [[spoiler: avenge the death of our friend]]?
112	* RunningGag:
113	** Thy map ''sucks!''
114	** Giving people's characters magical syphilis.
115	** Hung getting high and hallucinating.
116	* ShoutOut: Joe is introduced as a struggling heavy metal musician and the theme carries through the rest of the film with virtually all of the LARP's locations and a few key participants named after numerous real-life heavy metal songs and bands.
117	** The opening exposition appears to be an homage to the similar openings of the Franchise/EvilDead films.
118	** The reference to ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' Monster Manual art being used for [[PoorMansPorn unsavory purposes.]] [[ShownTheirWork As late as 3.5 Edition]], art in the books featured humanoid beings with [[InnocentFanserviceGirl no nudity taboo]] [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl or no standards of modesty]].
119	** Eric at one point shouts "Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt!" while throwing bean bags, a reference to an infamous Youtube video of [=LARP=]ers.
120	** The succubus is mistaken for a TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade [=LARP=]er at one point due to the blood on her.
121	** One of the faction leaders is named Music/KingDiamond. The other is named [[Music/{{Slayer}} King Kerry]].
122	** "The Temples of Syrinx" is one to "[[Music/RushBand 2112]]."
123	** One of the shots of the Demon shows her crouched over a mangled corpse, as if she were just eating the body's innards, visually similar to a shot in the Picadilly Circus scene in ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon''.
124	** The arrival of [[spoiler: the Demon's OneWingedAngel form at the final battle]] is preceded by [[Film/JurassicPark1993 a shot of water rippling in a puddle]].
125	** In the final battle, [[spoiler: the roar of the "dragon" sounds [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} awfully familiar]]]].
126	* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler: The Demon massacres an entire LARP session, of which only Joe, Eric, Gwen, and Gunther are the only known survivors]].
127	* SpellBook: Eric's impressive-looking book, which he found on Ebay and uses in [=LARP=]ing as a prop. [[spoiler:Zigzagged, as the presumably plain old book is actually in fact a UsefulBook of incantations for summoning demons. Which ''works''.]]
128	* SpikedWheels: King Kerry has some (blunted) ones on his wheelchair-chariot. While delivering a RousingSpeech to his troops, he accidentally [[KneeCapping kneecaps]] one of his own men. Seems they still hurt a lot even if they're fake.
129	* TheStoner: Hung owns a bong that's almost as tall as he is, and spends most of the LARP tripping on 'shrooms.
130	* SuccubiAndIncubi: The BigBad of the movie is a Succubus that was accidentally unleashed on a LARP event. She apparently doesn't understand English, since her only lines are to haltingly repeat sentences she has already heard.
131	* ThisIsNotADrill: Joe and Gwen invoke this to another LARPer right before the final battle, when they call 911 and start bringing out real weapons.
132	--> Joe: "We're so far out-of-Game, we're somehow back in it."
133	* TitleDrop: When the gang arrives at the Outskirts of Eliphaz and Joe agrees to play. It appears to be their faction name.
134	* TomeOfEldritchLore: Eric's book was actually written by the mystic John Dee in the early 16th Century, while trying to summon angels. It was written in a supposedly-divine language called Enochian. Eric doesn't know Enochian, so he thinks the book is just a prop until Ronny tells him.
135	* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:The roleplayers who still tried to attack the demon even though it's actually killing people.]]
136	* TookALevelInBadass:
137	** Most of the main characters end up having to do this, although Gunther may be an aversion.
138	** Joe is the biggest leveler, although this is thanks to [[spoiler: his singing]] being NotCompletelyUseless.
139	* UnexpectedlyRealMagic: The {{LARP}}-party's wizard bought a creepy old tome off the internet to add to his get-up and accidentally used it to summon a real succubus from hell.
140	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: [[spoiler: Joe gets over Beth, starts dating Gwen and forms a doom metal band with her. Eric finally becomes a Level 27 Sorcerer. Gunther (if it's even possible) becomes even ''more'' obsessed with [=LARPing=], having faced down a real demon (though the Medieval Times restraining order still stands). Ronny is posthumously declared "GM Extraordinaire." Hung's death, resurrection, and defeat of the demon go down into [=LARP=] legend.]]
141	* TheXOfY
142	* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Another RunningGag, with a major character referring to it as [[BuffySpeak "Dorkinese."]] Almost every time it's spoken, it's done poorly.
143	** One conversation particularly thick with this is subtitled.

Context Film / KnightsOfBadassdom