Line #144 Film/Legend1985


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3	%% Note that the name of Jack's girlfriend is Lili, not Lily.
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7	[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/legendbr.jpg]]
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9	->''"I require the solace of the shadows and the dark of the night. Sunshine is my destroyer."''
10	-->-- '''Darkness'''
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12	''Legend'' is a 1985 fantasy/adventure film directed by Creator/RidleyScott and written by Creator/WilliamHjortsberg, starring Creator/TomCruise, Creator/MiaSara, Creator/TimCurry, and Tim Curry's ''massive'' pair of horns. It is part of TheEighties fantasy boom in film, [[ClicheStorm sharing many of the same elements as its contemporaries]]. The movie was a flop at the time, but is now a bit of a CultClassic, mainly for its creative visuals and Creator/RobBottin's masterful practical effects. Whatever other problems it has, this movie looks ''great''.
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14	[[BigBad The Lord of Darkness]] (Curry) plots to cover the world in eternal night. He sends his servant, the goblin Blix (Alice Playten), to kill the light-bringing unicorns and take their horns. The unicorns only appear before the pure of heart, so a lure must be used. Enter Jack (Cruise) and Princess Lili (Sara), pure denizens of the forest. When the stallion is killed, Jack and Lili are separated as snowstorms envelop the world. She and the mare are captured by the forces of Darkness, and he must band together with the woodland fairies to rescue her.
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17	Nothing to do with [[Film/{{Legend 2015}} the 2015 film of the same name]], or the short-lived Creator/RichardDeanAnderson western fantasy dramedy [[Series/{{Legend}} also of the same name]].
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21	!!''Legend'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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23	* AimForTheHorn: PlayedForDrama. Much to Jack's horror, BigBad Darkness's [[AlwaysChaoticEvil goblins]] wound and kill a unicorn by poisoning it and cutting off its horn.
24	* AllJustADream: At least, Lili ''thinks'' so when she wakes up at the end of the DirectorsCut, and Jack doesn't confirm or deny it. She doesn't get to see Jack waving goodbye to the elves and unicorns after she's left. The theatrical edition changes the ending completely, and she sees them together with Jack.
25	* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: The Lord of Darkness's goblins capture the beautiful Princess Lili and take her to the dark castle, where Darkness falls in love with her and plans to marry her.
26	* AnnoyingArrows: Darkness takes a few from Gump and Jack and he doesn't even slow down.
27	* TheAntiChrist: Darkness is effectively this, as he is ultimately in service to his unseen and unnamed father.
28	* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: "Big D" tries to invoke this, presumably to convince Jack not to kill him. This is likely true, however, see TheEndOrIsIt below.
29	* AwardBaitSong: "Is Your Love Strong Enough?" by [[Music/RoxyMusic Bryan Ferry]] and "Loved by the Sun" by [[Music/{{Yes}} Jon Anderson]].
30	* BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: The goblins feel this way. Blix compares Lili unfavorably to rotting meat (he'd prefer the latter), and the goblins also refer to the unicorns as "ugly one-horned mules."
31	* BaitAndSwitch: Oona seemingly abandons the quest to save Lili after Jack refuses her affections, only to unlock the door that has them trapped a moment later.
32	* BallOfLightTransformation: The fairy Oona can change into a small ball of light and fly around. She does so in Darkness's dungeon to escape a prison cell and obtain the key to the cell.
33	* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Averted, as when Lili is captured, she is a complete and total mess, resembling nothing like a princess, and looking more like a dirty waif.
34	* BerserkButton: Darkness has entitlement issues. When Lili tells him, "I do ''nothing'' for your pleasure!" he loses his temper.
35	* BigBad: The Lord of Darkness himself, who is the main villain of the movie.
36	%%* BigOlUnibrow: The BigBad Darkness has one.
37	* BigRedDevil: Darkness is one of the more ambitious depictions of this trope in live action history, with red skin, hooves, and some truly gigantic horns. All he's missing is the batlike wings. There's a reason he's the most iconic visual element of the movie.
38	%%* BigThinShortTrio: The goblin trio made up of lanky Blix, portly Pox, and Blunder.
39	* BlackAndWhiteMorality: The heroes are an [[VirginPower innocent]] PrincessClassic and a group of forest inhabitants trying to protect the [[UnicornsAreSacred sacred unicorns]] [[CosmicKeystone who make life possible]]. The villain Darkness is a demonic EvilOverlord who rules over an army of evil goblins and cannibalistic pig-men executioners and wants to create an eternal night to bring about the end of the world.
40	* BlowGun: Blix uses one to fire a poisoned dart into a unicorn and kill it so he can cut off its horn.
41	* {{Bookends}}: Only in the DirectorsCut. When Jack first appears at the start of the film, a myna bird flies down from the sky and lands on his shoulder. Once Darkness has been defeated and Lili returned to the castle, Jack turns away to survey the forest, and the myna bird returns, once again landing on his shoulder.
42	* BreakoutPopHit: "Is Your Love Strong Enough" in the US version was high on the Billboard charts.
43	* BumblingHenchmanDuo: Trio, actually. The three goblins have moments of this, being much more overtly comedic in their characterization than Darkness himself, although they can also be genuinely effective henchmen.
44	* CardCarryingVillain: All of them, though Darkness comprehends he's just one side of the coin. The others, though...
45	-->'''Blix:''' May be innocent, may be sweet... ain't half as nice as rotting meat.
46	* CharacterTic: Jack crouching on his heels, which emphasizes his wildness.
47	* CookingTheLiveMeal: Darkness' castle has a hellish-looking kitchen in which boar-like cooks place live prisoners in giant pies to cook them and serve them up as lunch.
48	* CorruptTheCutie: Darkness is advised to "woo" Lili, attempting this trope.
49	* CrossCastRole: The swamp hag Meg Mucklebones is played by Creator/RobertPicardo.
50	* DamselInDistress: Lili, who gets kidnapped fairly early on, and whom Jack and friends must rescue.
51	* DarkIsEvil: The demonic villain Darkness is a personification of the concept and wants to extinguish all life so he can subsist in the dead icebound world...
52	* DisneyVillainDeath: Subverted with [[spoiler:Blunder]], who appears to fall to his death but later appears unharmed.
53	* DistractedByTheLuxury: Whilst running around Darkness's lair in a complete panic, Lili is briefly lulled into calm by the sight of a giant diamond necklace, part of his ploy to [[CorruptTheCutie woo her]].
54	* DoomedFellowPrisoner: Jack and his friends slide down the tunnel into a cell in Darkness's dungeons. They find a fellow prisoner, Blunder, a fairy who worked for Darkness but betrayed him and was punished with imprisonment. While they're talking to him, one of Darkness's minions enters his cell and takes him out to be baked in a pie (no blackbirds, though). They eventually rescue him before he meets his fate.
55	* EasilyForgiven: Invoked. When Gump hears that Jack led Lili to the unicorns for love, he promises to forgive Jack for his part in the unicorn's death if Jack can answer a riddle. When Jack does, Gump throws a brief tantrum over it, but then he promptly gets over it and assists Jack to rescue Lili and the unicorns.
56	* EatsBabies: Blunder contemplates eating a human baby in its crib. This oddly [[EvenEvilHasStandards horrifies]] his fellow goblin, Pox.[[note]]Considering Blunder is TheMole, he was probably overcompensating.[[/note]]
57	-->'''Blunder''': I simply adore milk-fed meat!\
58	'''Pox''': What are ya, some kind of animal?
59	* EndlessWinter: There are two unicorns that provide Light. When one is slain, winter ensues. If the second is killed, the winter will be made permanent.
60	* TheEndOrIsIt: At the end of the U.S. version, Darkness (who was apparently destroyed earlier) is shown laughing in a dissolve shot.
61	* EngagementChallenge: At first not particularly difficult--dive into a small pond and find the ring the princess threw there. Becomes much harder after the death of one unicorn freezes everything over in eternal winter. Later linked, [[RuleOfSymbolism somehow]], to TrueLovesKiss after the horn is restored and the pond thaws.
62	* EvilCostumeSwitch: Lili in the Bride of Darkness outfit, black lipstick and stylized tear stains included.
63	* EvilDesiresInnocence: Darkness seeks to cast the world into eternal night. But he is captivated by the purity and innocence of Lili. His father recommends he CorruptTheCutie, and she even makes it seem like it's working when she pulls a FakeDefector.
64	* EvilIsHammy: Despite his discomfort with the extensive makeup (see below under RealLifeWritesThePlot), Tim Curry still turns in a marvelously hammy performance as the wicked Darkness.
65	* EvilLaugh: Both Darkness and Meg Mucklebones are prone to this. Darkness's is more of a deep, gloating laugh, while Meg, being a hag, has the classic witch's cackle.
66	%%* EvilOverlord: Darkness.
67	* EvilPlan: The Lord of Darkness seeks to kill all unicorns so he can plunge the world in darkness.
68	* EvilSoundsDeep: Tim Curry's voice is pretty deep to begin with, but here it's even deeper and more booming than usual.
69	%%* ExactEavesdropping
70	* ExploringTheEvilLair: Jack and his friends enter Darkness's lair to rescue Lili and the unicorn.
71	* ExpositionOfImmortality: Darkness, during the ending fight with Jack, boasts about how he's been here since the beginning, because there's no Light without Darkness.
72	* FaintInShock: When she first meets the terrifying villain Darkness, Lili faints and collapses to the ground. She wakes up a few seconds later and has a long conversation with him.
73	* TheFairFolk: Even when the world is in peril, Gump tests Jack with a riddle before deciding to help him, when he finds out that he took Lili to see the unicorns. In a deleted scene he even forces Jack to dance with his magic fiddle before asking the riddle.
74	%%* FairyCompanion: Oona.
75	* FairySexy: Oona the FairyCompanion wears a ''very'' short dress.
76	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
77	** At the beginning of the movie Darkness says "I require the solace of the shadows and the dark of the night. Sunshine is my destroyer." Just in case the audience forgot, while Darkness is in the underground cave with Lili he says it again. Guess how the good guys defeat him at the climax?
78	** When Lili enters Nell's cottage she sees a clock on the wall. While she looks at it, it is suddenly covered with frost, a warning of the winter that will descend when one of the unicorns is killed and has its horn cut off.
79	** The heroes defeat Darkness by reflecting a beam of sunshine against him. This is [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowed]] early on when Lili uses the heart charm on her necklace like a laser pointer to shine a tiny beam of light in Jack's eyes.
80	* FriendToAllLivingThings: Jack.
81	* TheGhost: Lili's father, the king, is mentioned but never seen.
82	* GluttonousPig: The [[PigMan pig-like goblin]] Pox wants to use the unicorn's magical horn to "turn everything into garbage, a great towering mountain of slop" for him to eat.
83	* GoGoEnslavement: Lili is made to wear an EvilSorceress ensemble after being kidnapped by Darkness.
84	* GreaterScopeVillain: We never get any details, but Darkness calls out for his father for advice about Lili and calls out to him in desperation at the moment of his defeat.
85	* HiddenDepths: Lili. And yes, they are hidden pretty deep.
86	* HollywoodTorches: Both the goblins and Jack have one at some point.
87	* HornAttack: Subverted when Darkness charges Jack with his horns foremost as though he's planning on piercing him with them, but ends up with the horns touching a wall with Jack trapped between them.
88	* HornsOfVillainy: Darkness sports what is still probably the largest pair of horns in the history of costume design. They were so heavy that they had to be detached so Tim Curry could rest between shoots.
89	* ImAHumanitarian: Not only do prisoners in Darkness's lair get cooked and eaten, we also have Meg Mucklebones who thinks Jack is a "juicy boy." Then there's the goblins. Blunder contemplates eating a baby, and then he and Pox discuss how they want to eat Lili's brains and bones.
90	%%* ImNotHungry
91	* KarmaHoudini: Blix and Pox, due to the troubled production resulting in them being cut halfway through filming. [[spoiler:One can only hope that they both died horribly off camera.]]
92	* LargeHam:
93	** Large Deviled Ham: the Lord of Darkness.
94	** Small Elven-Ham: Gump. "Do you think you can upset the order of the universe, ''and not pay the PRICE?!?''" In the DirectorsCut Gump throws a ''massive'' hissy fit after Jack solves his riddle.
95	* LastOfHisKind: The two unicorns. After the stallion is killed by the goblins, the mare becomes, much like in that other '80s fantasy movie, WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn. At the end, the stallion is magically revived, however.
96	* LarynxDissonance: Gump's voice is notably more restrained than his acting. See LargeHam. This is partly because he's dubbed; the producers felt that actor David Bennent sounded "too German" (technically he's Swiss), so he was dubbed over by Alice Playten (who also plays Blix).
97	* LightAndMirrorsPuzzle: The heroes must reflect a beam of sunshine all the way down to the bottom of hell.
98	* LoveOverridesTheLaw: {{Subverted}} where Jack takes Lili to see the unicorns. Lili's purity lures one of them to her and makes it vulnerable to attack, which leads to one of them being killed and one captured and the sudden onset of winter. Later on, a fairy named Honeythorn Gump confronts Jack and demands to know if he had anything to do with it. Jack admits everything, but says that he did it for love. Instead of forgiving Jack, the Gump tells him that he must answer a riddle first. If he can't, then Gump will kill him.
99	* MadeOfEvil: Darkness is literally made of darkness, portrayed as the equivalent of evil. He's a BigRedDevil who wants to bring about an eternal night (even though it means the end of the world) because he needs it to thrive. Before his ultimate defeat he also taunts the hero that [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil darkness can't exist without him]].
100	* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:The Director's Cut leaves the door open as to the future of Jack and Lili's relationship, as she returns to the human world and he goes back to his forest and the fae, though they do kiss and she expresses a desire to visit again]].
101	%%* MeaningfulEcho: "I trust you, Lili."
102	%%* MilkingTheGiantCow: Gump.
103	* TheMole: Blunder, one of Darkness's goblin minions ([[spoiler:who was a disguised elf all along]]).
104	* MsFanservice: Lili's black dress has a plunging neckline and shows her bare legs.
105	* MustMakeAmends: Lili inadvertently lures a unicorn into position to be attacked, which leads to its death. She tracks down the other unicorn and finds Brown Tom guarding it.
106	-->'''Brown Tom:''' You! You're the cause of all our sorrow.\
107	'''Lili:''' I'm -- I'm so sorry. I didn't know. Please, please forgive me.\
108	'''Brown Tom:''' I'm not the one you should be askin'.\
109	'''Lili:''' Try and understand. I'm only trying to make things right. Darkness has sent the goblins back for the mare. It's not safe to stay here. You'll have to hurry! Leave now! Go!
110	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When Lili realizes her actions have caused a unicorn to die. [[spoiler:It gets better.]]
111	* MythicalMotifs: Meg Mucklebones is a reference to water hag characters in folklore like Jenny Greenteeth and Peg Powler.
112	* NatureHero: Jack. He's not given a lot of context.
113	* NavelDeepNeckline: Lili's "Bride of Darkness" outfit. It's telling that her dress is a sacrificial dress, with her belly exposed for a dagger.
114	* NeckLift: Done by Darkness to Jack, but by grabbing his ''face''.
115	* TheNightThatNeverEnds: The BigBad Lord of Darkness is attempting to bring this trope about by killing the world's unicorns (the source of the world's light.)
116	* NoodleIncident: How [[spoiler:Blunder]] ended up with the goblins. Even in the Director's Cut, there's little more than a throwaway line.
117	-->[[spoiler:'''Blunder:''']] It's a long story. Let's just say I went looking for adventure, and found more than I could handle.
118	* NostalgiaFilter: While there was nothing inherently wrong with the Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack, many of the fans who saw the American cut first found nothing wholly remarkable about it either. Most fans seem to appear attached to the American cut due to the Tangerine Dream soundtrack which they felt made the film memorable.
119	* OneWordTitle: It's just called ''Legend''.
120	* PigMan: Pox is a distinctly porcine goblin. There are also some much larger pig-like [[OurOgresAreHungrier ogres]] in the dungeons.
121	* PlayingWithFire: Darkness has fire-based powers, and the unicorn horn can cause and throw fire.
122	* PrincessClassic: Princess Lili starts out as a quintessential princess classic, only to go through a BreakTheCutie process, accumulating in an intense case of CorruptTheCutie, only for [[spoiler:this to be revealed as a ruse she put on in order to trick Darkness into letting her get close enough to free a captured unicorn]].
123	* QuirkyMinibossSquad: Blix, Blunder and Pox.
124	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Darkness is introduced largely in shadows because Tim Curry had injured himself while removing his make-up[[note]]he'd suffered a panic attack and ripped off the prosthetics before the spirit gum could be softened and took off large amounts of skin in the process[[/note]]. Creator/RidleyScott was so horrified at what had happened and came up with this technique so that Curry would only have to wear sections of his make-up while he healed and the make-up crew could redesign the prosthetics so that Curry would be more comfortable.
125	* RebelliousPrincess: Lili is this to a certain extent. It's implied that she frequently sneaks off into the woods to visit friends, one of whom even comments that she should be back at the palace and not hanging out with poor folks like them.
126	* ReCut: The American version released in 1986 was about 25 minutes shorter than the Director's Cut and five minutes shorter than the European version. Many scenes and shots were dropped or reordered, and new lines of dialogue were added in an effort to emphasize the love story between Jack and Lili. In addition it had an entirely new music score by Tangerine Dream (plus two pop songs) substituting for Jerry Goldsmith's original score, which was retained for European release ([[Film/{{Alien}} not the first time his music was meddled with in a Ridley Scott film]], but the last - they never worked together again). The Director's Cut became legally available with the 2002 [=DVD=] release. Details are [[http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0089469/alternateversions here.]] According to Scott's introductory note on the Blu-Ray edition, it was believed lost until an answer print was found in 2000.
127	* {{Redubbing}}
128	** In English, the voice of Gump was done by the same actress who played Blix; in German, he voiced both.
129	** In fact, all of the forest scenes had to be dubbed over in post-production because the noise on the set was so loud, according to Mia Sara on the Ultimate Edition DVD.
130	* RedRightHand: Blunder has a chicken foot for a left hand (explained in a deleted scene).
131	* RhymesOnADime: Blix. It seems that all of the goblins' dialogue (and possibly Darkness's) was originally intended to be in rhyme, but this was toned down in the finished movie.
132	* RiddleForTheAges: Who is the father of Darkness?
133	* RiddleMeThis: "What is a bell that never rings, yet its knell makes the angels sing?" The answer is [[spoiler: the Bluebell flower]].
134	* RidingIntoTheSunset: Jack and Lili walk off together into the sunset in one version of the film. In the director's cut, Jack walks off by himself while Lili goes to her castle.
135	* RumpRoast: Blix uses the unicorn horn to set Blunder's butt on fire.
136	* ShapeshiftingSeducer: While the protagonists are trapped in Darkness's jail, the fairy Oona tries to get Jack to kiss her by creating an illusion that she's Jack's girlfriend Lili.
137	* SicEm: When Darkness first summons Blix, he tells him to find and destroy the unicorns.
138	* SlowLight: At the conclusion of the movie, the sunlight takes 20 seconds to reflect off all of the shields and reach the underground chamber where it blows away Darkness.
139	* StormingTheCastle: Jack and his friends attack the Lord of Darkness' castle to rescue Lili and a sacred unicorn.
140	%%* TableSpace
141	* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Jack defeats Darkness with a well-thrown unicorn horn.
142	* TheTimeOfMyths: Ridley Scott's goal with ''Legend'' was to create a story and setting reminiscent of fairy tales and myths.
143	* TrueLovesKiss: Jack does this to wake Lili.
144	* {{Unicorn}}: Two of them are key to the plot.
145	* UnicornsAreSacred: Killing the last two unicorns that guard the power of light would allow the demon lord to roam the world free in darkness. Also, Darkness shows just how evil he is by ordering a unicorn's horn to be cut off, which causes the world to freeze over.
146	* UnicornsPreferVirgins: Lili's "innocence" allows her to approach the unicorns. This is taken advantage of by Darkness and the goblins to lure the unicorns into the open so that they may kill them.
147	* UnseenEvil: The disembodied voice that helps Darkness seduce Lili, presumably the being he calls [[GreaterScopeVillain Father]].
148	* VillainousCrush: The Lord of Darkness has one on Lili, attempting to seduce her and intending to make her his bride.
149	%%* VirginityMakesYouStupid
150	* WeakenedByTheLight: "The sunshine is my destroyer!"
151	* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove:
152	** The Lord of Darkness is "distracted" by the captured princess's {{beauty\|EqualsGoodness}} and innocence and advised by his mysterious 'father' to woo her into temptation. There follows probably the best (and most eloquently written) scene in the film, where the devil's seduction rather backfires when the newly-darkened Princess plays His Lovesick Evilness like a two string harp. [[note]] The first draft of the screenplay was very different: his pursuit of princessly love leads him to turning her into a bestial cat-woman and the two of them having lots and lots of sweaty monster sex.[[/note]]
153	** Implied of the fair folk, who know love exists, and is powerful, but they have no idea what it is. [[spoiler: Which may be why Gump is upset at Oona for 1) hiding her true form, and 2) being interested in seeing what love really is by taking Lili's form.]]
154	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse
155	** Nell and her family. Last seen flash-frozen in their house, they're completely forgotten about at the end of the story (even in the script!). Presumably they [[HarmlessFreezing thawed out]] with the rest of the world after the unicorn's horn was restored.
156	** Blix and Pox:
157	*** They just disappear about halfway through the movie, after their encounter with Darkness, despite having had an important role until then. Reportedly, they were cut half way through filming due to budget problems following the loss of most of the sets due to a studio fire. More scenes with Nell and her family may have been cut for the same reason.
158	*** In one version of the script, Blix and Pox are present while Jack and Darkness are fighting, and when Pox wonders if they should help, Blix proposes they stay where it's safe and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere they slink off into the shadows.]]
159	* WhatTheHellHero: The forest creatures are understandably upset by Lili's actions. Gump is even more upset by Oona's "secret".
160	* WickedWitch: Jack briefly scuffles with a hideous swamp hag named Meg Mucklebones.
161	* WomanScorned: Oona, although she shows her quality by not allowing it to dissuade her from doing her part to stop Darkness.
162	* WorldLimitedToThePlot: This film is set entirely in the magic forest and Darkness's castle with only [[HandWave one throwaway line to Princess Lili's King father and a search for a husband]]. Nor has there been, interestingly enough, any serious fan attempts at WorldBuilding probably due to observing the "if it aint broke.." rule.
163	* YourHeartsDesire: Jack's heart's desire is his girlfriend Lili. When the fairy Oona and Jack are trapped in the dungeon of the villain Darkness, Oona offers Jack his heart's desire by assuming Lili's appearance and trying to get him to kiss her.

Context Film / Legend1985