Line #17 Film/TimeBandits


1	[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/08fc55ae_738f_4f33_b820_a2bfd0697146.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[OnlyInItForTheMoney Lads, here's to stinking rich!]]]]
3	->'''Kevin:''' What are we going to do here?\
4	'''Wally:''' A robbery.\
5	'''Kevin:''' A robbery?\
6	'''Fidgit:''' Of course. We're international criminals. We do robberies!\
7	'''Randall:''' Shut up!
8
9	A fantasy adventure film produced and directed by Creator/MontyPython animator Creator/TerryGilliam, who co-wrote the screenplay with fellow Python Creator/MichaelPalin.
10
11	Kevin is an imaginative and inquisitive child whose interest in history is not shared by his shallow and materialistic parents. One night he is visited by a gang of time-traveling dwarfs on the run from the "[[ThePowersThatBe Supreme Being]]" (implied to actually be God). Before Kevin can protest, he's kidnapped and forced to accompany them on their adventures through time. The bandits have stolen a map that reveals all the [[CoolGate gaps in creation]], which allows them to visit virtually any place or historic personality. How do they use this power? To steal all the treasure they can find, of course! Meanwhile, their journey is being covertly monitored by the so-called Evil Genius (likewise implied to be the Devil), who has his own big plans for the map, not to mention the rest of the universe...
12
13	With quirky characters, nice historical backdrops, {{Indy Ploy}}s, BlackComedy galore, and ultimately a [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil Good versus Evil battle]], the film makes for a wacky, humorous yet still dramatic time travel adventure. This was the first part of the [[ThematicSeries "Dreamer Trilogy"]]: ''Time Bandits'' represents childhood, ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' represents adulthood, ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'' represents old age.
14	----
15	!!Contains examples of:
16
17	* AdaptationalHeroism: Originally a morally-grey figure, usually resulting in his better aspects being thrown out in various adaptations of the Iliad/Trojan War, here Agamemnon's portrayed as a noble hero. It helps that he's played by Creator/SeanConnery.
18	* AdultsAreUseless: Kevin has more common sense and [[TeenGenius smarts]] than the other bandits, who were written as dwarfs so that audiences would accept Kevin as their equal. Kevin's parents represent the banal, materialistic existence that Evil wants to promote.
19	* AmbiguouslyHuman: The Minotaur that Agamemnon fights looks like a guy with a cow helmet, but it never speaks and instead makes horrible shrieking and moaning noises. Agamemnon removes what appears to be the helmet but we never get a look at the guy underneath to confirm, and he just calls it "The enemy of the people."
20	* AnAesop:
21	** "I think it's something to do with free will." (Also something of an in-universe, and very literal, ShrugOfGod.)
22	** The Evil Genius is obsessed with efficiency, technology and work. Kevin's parents are hopeless consumers. The morally grey bandits want riches and luxury. Only Kevin, the hero, is interested in the wonders that the world offers.
23	* AffablyEvil: The Ogres. The Wife ''may'' be FauxAffablyEvil, but the Ogre himself may be hungry but not ungrateful and is very friendly when offered and given help.
24	* AffectionateParody: Robin Hood is one to Monty Python's "Dennis Moore" sketch, which concerned an incompetent highwayman who stole flowers from the rich and gave them to the poor. That both were played by John Cleese further states the case.
25	* AllJustADream: The film hints that the entire film is Kevin's dream. Both strange occurrences happen just as Kevin dozes off to go to bed, first with a mysterious knight who is a poster figure on Kevin's wall, then when the dwarves arrive. [[spoiler: It's seemingly bizarrely subverted. At the end, Kevin apparently wakes up in his bed as his house is burning down, but finds he still has all the photographs he took on his journey, and his parents blow up after touching a piece of the Evil Genius that found its way back with him. Also, a fireman looking suspiciously like Agamemnon (also played by Creator/SeanConnery) gives him a knowing wink just before leaving. Even the conclusion may be a part of the dream, as hinted by Music/GeorgeHarrison's end credits song "Dream Away".]]
26	* AllPartOfTheShow: The Bandits pretend to be a part of Agamemnon's celebration, performing an elaborate dance routine and pulling Kevin up on stage. Agamemnon doesn't realize that something's wrong until several beats after they all disappear.
27	* AllThereInTheManual: According to a novelization, Kevin's last name is Lotterby and he's eleven years old.
28	* AntiHero: The eponymous Time Bandits are out for personal enrichment, but it's ultimately up to them to keep the Map out of Evil's hands.
29	* AnotherDimension: The Time of Legends
30	* AnthropomorphicPersonification: The Evil Genius. Of evil, of course. Also borders on TheHeartless and {{Satan}}.
31	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Lampshaded when, after the Evil Genius destroys one of his minions who asks him why, if he's the genius, God is still in control of the universe, he nonetheless agrees it's a good question.
32	* ArmyOfTheAges: The title characters do this to battle the Evil Genius. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, it proves to be fruitless.]]
33	* ArtificialHuman: The Evil Genius appears human, but seems to be more machine than organism. His fingertips are on hinges that he can bend back to expose nozzles that fire magic. In the final battle he turns himself into an evil merry-go-round to deal with some cowboys.
34	* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
35	** Napoleon's whole characterization as TheNapoleon. In reality, Napoleon was of average height for his time period, and his reputation as small-statured was an English creation.
36	** One scene takes place on the Titanic, which is for some reason labeled as the S.S. Titanic instead of the proper R.M.S. Titanic.
37	* ArtisticLicenseBiology:
38	** Evil's rant about God "look how he spends his time. Forty-three species of parrots!" : There are actually 410 species of parrots
39	* AsideGlance: The Supreme Being at the end:
40	-->C'mon then, back to creation. I mustn't waste any more time. They'll think I've lost control again and put it all down to ''evolution.''
41	* AscendedFanboy: Kevin always loved history; now he gets to see history in the making.
42	* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: The Supreme Being and the Bandits. Kevin has to stay "to carry on the fight."
43	* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Kevin's parents, who don't seem to care much about him, see a piece of evil in the microwave. Kevin tells them not to touch it. But they ignore him and touch it anyway. [[StuffBlowingUp They blow up.]] On the DVD Commentary [not on the 2013 remaster], Terry Gilliam says "Parents have to listen to their children."]]
44	* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: The giant from the Time of Legends.
45	* BadBoss:
46	** The Evil Genius, by definition. And that's the way his minions like it.
47	** The Supreme Being claims that he ''gave'' the Map to the Bandits to test his creation, Evil, causing a lot of unnecessary suffering, then punishes them by docking their pay, all the while stating, "I'm the good one!" When he resurrects one of the Bandits, it's not out of benevolence, but because he wants the Bandit to get back to work.
48	* BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: The Evil Genius and his minions.
49	-->'''Evil Genius:''' Suddenly, I feel very, very good.\
50	'''Benson:''' Oh, I'm sorry, Master.\
51	'''Evil Genius:''' No, it'll pass, it'll pass.
52	* BaitAndSwitch: We get a shot of Agamemnon's wife looking sour just before Kevin is abducted, suggesting that his abduction is her reaction to the ongoing feud between them, but instead, it's part of an elaborate ceremony by Agamemnon to anoint Kevin his heir.
53	* BavarianFireDrill: The Bandits order around Napoleon's troops so they don't witness them making off with all his loot.
54	* BehindTheBlack: When Wally is climbing up the rope and the other characters are concerned he fell, they only see him there once he appears onscreen. This is despite the fact that there is obviously still weight they can feel climbing up the rope and we are given no evidence of anything obscuring the vision of the characters looking past the bottom of the screen.
55	* BigDamnHeroes:
56	** An unintentional version with Kevin, who arrives when Agamemnon's introduction has him fighting a minotaur. His distraction allows Agamemnon to win.
57	** The finale features warriors from various parts of history showing up to fight the Evil Genius. [[spoiler: And the Supreme Being turning the Evil Genius in a statue.]]
58	* BlindfoldedTrip: When Kevin is taken to become the king's son.
59	* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler:Kevin left alone and parentless, back in the normal world. [[AmbiguousSituation If that isn't still part of the dream his adventure was implied to be]], who knows how he'll manage.]]
60	* Bowdlerise: For the Japanese release back in 1983, part of the scene with Robin Hood and the cannibal couple and the final scene where the parents die were cut, resulting in a running time of approximately 103 minutes, approximately 13 minutes shorter than the original.
61	* BookEnds: The opening and closing are reverse shots of each other, from the Map to a zoom in on Earth and on Kevin's English suburb, then a pull back from Kevin's neighborhood to the Earth to the map.
62	* BuiltWithLego: Evil's inner sanctum is built of giant stone legos, a reference to the many Legos on Kevin's bedroom floor.
63	* ButtMonkey: Pansy and Vincent. Gilliam on the DVD Commentary says "They're gonna be the losers over time."
64	* CaptainObvious: Robin Hood's commentary on the Poor.
65	* CastingGag: Creator/TerryGilliam wrote in, with some humor, the detail in the script that King Agamemnon would resemble Creator/SeanConnery "or an actor of equal but cheaper stature". To Gilliam's surprise, Connery acquired, read and liked the script, [[AwesomeDearBoy offering to accept less money than his usual pay rate in order to appear in the film]].
66	* CaughtInASnare: The Bandits are caught and left hanging by snares set by Robin Hood's merry men.
67	* TheCavalry: A literal cavalry plus other warriors and technology from different eras. [[spoiler: It gets subverted when the Evil Genius makes short work of them all.]]
68	* ChekhovsGun:
69	** Early in the movie, Kevin takes a random Polaroid picture of the dwarfs holding up the map. Later, [[spoiler: after Evil has taken the map and caged them all up, Kevin uses the picture to figure out that there is a time hole nearby the cage]].
70	** In some lost extended scene Agamemnon teaches Kevin an aesop about war and violence (it seems he finds too much amusement in historical wars and fights) and gives him a knife. This token is later used to escape from the cage towards the end.
71	* ChewingTheScenery: Vermin can be seen literally doing this to the stage background while the rest of the Bandits perform their musical number for Napoleon.
72	* CoolOldGuy: Agamemnon. He's a far better parent than Kevin's parents ever were.
73	* CosmicFlaw: The dwarves are using holes in creation to leap through time and space as robbers. It leads ultimately to bad things for them.
74	* CreepyCircusMusic: The demented fairground organ music that blares when Evil gets rid of the cowboys attempting to restrain him. Given that he's spinning them around wildly before cutting their ropes and hurling them to their doom, the tune is meant to make it all feel like a nightmare merry-go-round.
75	* CrypticBackgroundReference: Some of the bandits lament Horseflesh not being in charge anymore, and Randall spitefully retorts, "Horseflesh is ''dead!''" We don't get any more detail on who Horseflesh is or what happened to him. His character was originally a turncoat to Evil's side, and he's actually still in the film as the little horned man in Evil's retinue, but he's DemotedToExtra.
76	* CurbStompBattle: Sadly, Evil vs. all the forces that the dwarves recruit to battle him. But then the Supreme Being shows up..
77	* CuriosityIsACrapshoot: Definitely on the "good" side.
78	* CutLexLuthorACheck: The villain wants to use the map to rule the universe, but the heroes just want to get rich.
79	* DeadpanSnarker: All the Bandits do this at one point or another.
80	* DeathByMaterialism: The main enemy in the film is materialism. Evil wants to remake the world according to his materialistic vision of toil and productivity. The dwarves are frequently foiled by their own greed, and their desire for ever-more riches always results in them losing everything they'd previously stolen. Kevin's parents are more concerned with their appliances than their son, which ultimately [[spoiler:causes their death as well.]]
81	* DeathIsCheap: When [[spoiler:God appears and learns one of the dwarves died fighting Evil]] he says, "Dead? No excuse for laying off work."
82	* DemonHead: How the Supreme Being confronts the Bandits when he initially appears.
83	* DemotedToExtra: Horseflesh had a big role in the script, but his lines were removed, and he's just more of a background character. The one line referencing him is left as a CrypticBackgroundReference.
84	* DeusExMachina:
85	** Agamemnon believes that Kevin was sent by the gods to save him from the minotaur.
86	** Also: [[spoiler:the Supreme Being appears at the end, destroys Evil and cleans up the mess the Bandits have made of things. Which is a Deus Ex Deus.]]
87	* TheDitz: Og.
88	* DontTouchItYouIdiot: "Mum! Dad! It's evil! ''Don't touch it!''" [[StuffBlowingUp Boom!]]
89	* DownerEnding: In the last minute of the movie, Kevin is left homeless and orphaned. Given the film's criticism of the kind of materialism that Kevin's parents represent, it might not have been intended to be ''entirely'' unhappy.
90	* TheDungAges: How the Middle Ages are portrayed. Played for laughs with the contrast between the grimy and violent Merry Men and air-headed Robin Hood in his spotless Lincoln green. Gilliam previously employed it in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' and ''{{Film/Jabberwocky}}''.
91	* EmergencyTemporalShift: The eponymous thieves often end up having to access the Time Holes to escape imminent danger, most prominently the Supreme Being pursuing them across history - though they've also needed to escape being arrested by Napoleon's officers, to get away with loot stolen from King Agamemnon, and to avoid drowning in the North Atlantic following the sinking of the Titanic. Though in the final case, they had help from Evil.
92	* EverybodyLaughsEnding: After the end credits, that is.
93	* EvilLaugh: Done by, well... Evil.
94	* EvilOverlord: The Evil Genius, who else?
95	* EvilPlan: The Evil Genius' plans for the world include stripping everything away except cold, logical efficiency.
96	--> '''Evil Genius:''' If '''I''' were creating a world I wouldn't mess about with butterflies and daffodils. I would have started with lasers, eight o'clock, day one!
97	* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Fortress of Ultimate Darkness. It just keeps on going up...
98	* ExtremeOmnivore:
99	** Vermin. So much so that Randall threatens to [[ImAHumanitarian feed Kevin to him.]]
100	** The ogres. They apparently eat fish but prefer to eat old boots and other junk they find in the ocean. They're also delighted at the idea of eating every part of the Kevin and the Bandits, including their clothing.
101	* FakeShemp: When the Evil Genius has captured the Time Bandits in the cage, he walks up the stairs. It is not Creator/DavidWarner but a double, because Warner suffers from vertigo.
102	* FallenAngel: Although Evil is the most obvious SatanicArchetype in the film, it is Horseflesh who was an angel and revolted. Though technically all the Time Bandits kinda revolted, but you get the idea.
103	* ForcedTransformation:
104	** Og gets hit by a spell that turns his head into a pig's head. He later gets turned into a pig entirely.
105	** Evil turns his minion Benson into a dog, apparently as punishment, but Benson thanks him profusely.
106	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Check out all the toys in Kevin's bedroom.
107	* GainaxEnding: The film gets progressively more surreal as it goes on. The final battle against Evil is super-trippy, and followed by [[spoiler:an inconsistent AllJustADream fake-out, a couple of people blowing up and a fireman who looks suspiciously like Agamemnon winking cheerily at Kevin as he and the other firemen drive off leaving him before the burnt wreckage of his home.]]
108	* GenderBlenderName: Robin Hood's right hand man is named Marian, apparently replacing Maid Marian in the much more glamorous legends.
109	* GeniusDitz: Robert, Evil's horned minion, is generally very slow-witted and is often seen struggling to keep up with Evil's thought processes. However, he seems to be a real whiz about technology. When asked, he's able to seamlessly provide an technical description of various gadgets.
110	-->'''Robert''': A computer is an automatic, electronic apparatus for making calculations or controlling operations that are expressible in numerical or logical terms...
111	* GenreBlind: The dwarves don't recognize Myth/RobinHood and don't appear to realize that the Titanic is going to hit an iceberg.
112	* GenreSavvy: Kevin ''does'' recognize Myth/RobinHood.
113	* {{God}}: Presented here as a slightly peevish no-nonsense elderly businessman.
114	* GodAndSatanAreBothJerks: Evil is, well, evil. Literally. He's [[MadeOfEvil made of it]]. The Supreme Being, however, is a rather unpleasant British gentleman with little-to-no regard for human life.
115	* GodIsGood: Zig-zagged. The Supreme Being is trying to fix things and save His Creations, but is ''very'' cold and unpleasant about it.
116	* GodIsInept: Also zig-zagged. The Time Bandits claim they stole the map from the Supreme Being, who spends many scenes ineffectually chasing them while nevertheless looking very impressive. Evil calls the Supreme Being a lunatic because of all of his pointless creations, like slugs and nipples for men. Ultimately the Supreme Being does resolve everything and states that it was all according to His plan, saying, "I'm not ''entirely'' dim." However, along the way he seems to be a little vague and distracted, doesn't put much effort into explaining why suffering must occur, and doesn't notice that the Bandits leave a chunk of Evil behind. It's also worth noting that he apparently planned the entire scenario simply to test his creation, Evil... whom he then ''blows up'' at the end, making the whole thing pointless.
117	* GodlySidestep: God's explanation for the existence of evil is only partial: it has something to do with free will.
118	* GogglesDoNothing: Randall's flight helmet includes a set of goggles that are always pushed up to his forehead, unused. His headgear is purely ornamental, as is all of the Bandits'.
119	* GoldFever: The primary motivation of the Bandits.
120	* GondorCallsForAid: In the final battle with the Evil Genius, the Bandits go to get help from throughout time.
121	* GoodIsNotNice: The Supreme Being presents himself as either a menacing face in the heavens or a somewhat stern old man. Kevin is rather horrified to learn that He arranged a lot of death and suffering just to test his creation and doesn't seem at all concerned about it. His first act once the bandits surrender is to order them to clean up the mess and punish them with a salary cut even though he claims that all of their actions were part of his plan.
122	* GoodIsOldFashioned: The Supreme Being is an old-fashioned British gentleman, while the Evil Genius wants to reform the world around lasers and technology.
123	* GrandTheftMe: The Evil Genius can do this with weak-willed minds.
124	-->'''[[LargeHam Stannnd byyy for miiind controllll!]]'''
125	* GreatBigBookOfEverything: The map, which includes all of the portals through time left over after an overly rushed Creation.
126	* HeroicBSOD: Wally after Fidget's death.
127	* HistoricalHilarity: Kevin and the Dwarves run into Napoleon, Myth/RobinHood, and the Titanic. All of them are played for laughs, especially Robin Hood.
128	* HistoricalInJoke:
129	** [[TheNapoleon Napoleon]] keeps one hand permanently hidden in the pocket of his jacket, referring to his iconic pose in portraits. It turns out that the reason is because his hand is solid gold.
130	** Agamemnon's wife glares at him, and he sentences her three courtiers to execution. These are references to Greek mythology, in which Agamemnon and Clytemnestra hated each other and their marriage ended in murder.
131	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The Evil Genius' way of dispatching all of the reinforcements the bandits summon.
132	* HollywoodCostuming: Parodied. After the bandits discover that the Merry Men are thoroughly disgusting dwellers of TheDungAges, Robin Hood emerges in a spotless lincoln green tunic and tights that are straight out of an Creator/ErrolFlynn film.
133	* {{Homage}}: When Wally arrives in a spaceship, the musical fanfare is a riff on ''Also Sprach Zarathustra'' from ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''. The camera focuses on the the number "201" inscribed on the spaceship. Presumably the number is smaller because Wally and the spaceship are smaller.
134	* HumanTrafficJam: When the title characters steal Emperor Napoleon's wealth, they are pursued by the French Army troops guarding him. After they go through a time hole and it disappears, the troops come to a stop where the time hole was, with the troops behind running into the troops in front.
135	* HypocriticalHumor:
136	-->'''Randall:''' You want to lead this gang?\
137	'''Strutter:''' No, we agreed no leader.\
138	'''Randall:''' Right, so shut up and do as I say.
139	* IChooseToStay: Kevin is offered the opportunity to remain in Greece as the king's adopted son, but the Bandits drag him away. Considering what we know [[BlackWidow will eventually happen]] [[DoomedByCanon to Agammemnon]], it's just as well...
140	* ImAHumanitarian: The ogre couple intend to eat the Bandits when they're caught.
141	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: The knights' demise. The gruesome-yet-ridiculous tableau of their bodies, tangled up in each other's lances, becomes a fixture for the rest of the film.
142	* ImprovisedLockpick: Wally uses Kevin's knife to pick the lock of the cage they are trapped in. It works, but the knife's blade is noticeably bent and mangled afterward.
143	* ImprovisedZipline: What the gang uses to escape the cage in Evil's citadel.
144	* InsistentTerminology: The Bandits always refer to their former boss as "The Supreme Being." When Kevin asks if they mean "God," they say that they don't know him that well.
145	* InvisibleWall: The bandits run into one and then marvel, "So that's what they look like!" It turns out to be smashable, with something completely different behind it.
146	* {{Irony}}: Agamemnon, who is often represented as a callous villain, is a better father figure than Kevin's own father.
147	* {{Jerkass}}: Randall and Kevin's Parents.
148	* JerkassGods: The Supreme Being created Evil without being able to give a good reason ("I think it has something to do with free will"). Then locked him in the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness and manipulated the Bandits into going there and fighting Evil to "test" him, getting several people killed in the process. He even proves Himself capable of reviving someone from the dead with no ill-effects, but noticeably does not do so to any of the innocent humans killed in the course of His "test". Then He takes away the nearest thing Kevin has to friends, and leaves the poor kid to fend for himself. Even an OmniscientMoralityLicense can surely only stretch so far.
149	* KickTheDog: Evil, being Evil, does this a lot. Including one literal example where he blows up his minion Benson (in dog form) with a DeathRay. We even hear the poor dog howl as it's blown up.
150	* KnightInShiningArmor: Before the dwarfs turn up, a knight on horseback leaps through Kevin's closet. In the final battle, a whole group of them charge at the Evil Genius. It doesn't really work out though, since Evil just creates a smoke cloud and when it clears, all the knights have somehow impaled ''each other''.
151	* TheLancer: Wally to Randall, when they're working together. Wally is always the first to [[TheStarscream challenge Randall's authority]], however.
152	* LetsGetDangerous: [[spoiler:Kevin stays behind to distract the Evil Genius' pursuing {{Mooks}} while the other Bandits get help from other parts of time.]]
153	* LetThePastBurn: The family home burns down at the end. Shortly after the parents pick up the rock of evil that was found in the wreckage and both explode, leaving Kevin an orphan.
154	* MadeOfEvil: The Evil Genius. As in, literally, he's made of pure, concentrated evil, to the point where his alternate name is simply "Evil," and touching a burnt piece of him even after he's dead will turn you into a hermit crab (apparently) or make you blow up.
155	* MagicalLand: The "Time of Legends" is a brilliant subversion of this trope. At first it is described as a place beyond the regular time-and-space, a mythical age/world where wizards and giants still exist and where the most fantastic treasure in the world is waiting... But when we actually see it, the Time of Legends turns out to be a gigantic foggy wasteland inhabited by creatures ranging from the bizarre (the gibberish-shouting trolls) to the dangerous (man-eating ogres), and if it wasn't enough it is also where the Supreme Being imprisoned the embodiment of pure and absolute evil.
156	* MagiTek: The Evil Genius is all about technology, and he's fittingly as much machine as he is man. He can tilt up his finger joints to reveal the nozzles of magical cannons that can destroy or polymorph his targets. To fight the Bandits' legions of time, he turns himself into a clockwork merry-go-round and then an inflatable pincushion. His lair is filled with creepy looking machines that are maintained by his {{Mooks}} who wear rubber industrial gear. When staring into his black cauldron, he instructs his minions, "Stand by for mind-control!" like a factory foreman.
157	* ManChild:
158	** Napoleon. The French have conquered Italy, but he's more interested in watching a puppet show.
159	** The Time Bandits themselves all behave more like spoiled, bratty children rather than the ancient, immortal beings that they are. This was, in fact, the reason that Gilliam cast small people as the Bandits: so that audiences would accept a child as their equal.
160	* {{Metaphorgotten}}: The ocean is so damned... wet. So very, ''very''... wet.
161	* MindControl: The Evil Genius does this to Og to lure the Bandits to the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness with the prospect of "The Most Fabulous Object in the World". True to his mechanical nature, he intones, "Stand by for mind control!" before casting his spell.
162	* MindScrew: ''Holy crap'', what on Earth were the makers of this film smoking?
163	* MinionWithAnFInEvil: The most creative thing Benson can think of is to turn beans into peas...
164	* MisaimedFandom: In-universe example. Kevin thinks of Robin Hood as a hero. The bandits are disgusted by him.
165	* MisterSandmanSequence: When Kevin arrives in Mycenae, there is a short montage of shots around the city set to music, providing ambiance for the time and place.
166	* MomentKiller: Vincent and Pansy are about to kiss when a time door opens above them and the bandits fall on them. Repeatedly.
167	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Evil Genius.
168	* TheNapoleon:
169	** Randall, the pugnacious time bandit.
170	** The actual Napoleon is obsessed with height. It's almost all he'll talk about. He's overjoyed to discover the Time Bandits, who are all shorter than him and promptly makes them all generals.
171	* NiceGuy:
172	** King Agamemnon seems to be a brave and wise ruler who adopts Kevin and becomes his first real father figure, albeit briefly.
173	** Robin Hood is impeccably polite and interested only in helping the poor. He's apparently too dim to realize how out of place he is.
174	* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Fans have interpreted the six titular Time Bandits are all inspired by the six Pythons as seen by Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam.
175	** Randal: The self-appointed leader aka Creator/JohnCleese.
176	** Fidgit: The nice one aka Creator/MichaelPalin.
177	** Vermin: The filth loving one aka Creator/TerryGilliam.
178	** Wally: The acerbic one/TheLancer aka Creator/EricIdle.
179	** Strutter: The smart one aka Creator/TerryJones.
180	** Og: The quiet one aka Creator/GrahamChapman.
181	* NonSequitur: When Robin Hood asks Strutter how long he's been a robber, the bandit replies, "Four-foot-one!" Robin, ever the proper English gentleman, struggles to pretend that this is a perfectly appropriate response to his question. "Good lord! Jolly good. Four foot one? Well... that-that-that is-is- a... long time, isn't it?"
182	* NotSoDifferentRemark: Randall says to Kevin that they both have a lot in common. But Kevin doesn't buy it. Can you blame him?
183	-->'''Randall''': Look, you and me, we've got a lot in common. Not like that lot. We like a risk. We like adventure! Well, this is it. This is the big one! No namby-pamby time holes here. We risk all. We win everything!
184	* OffingTheAnnoyance: The character Evil does this twice.
185	-->'''Evil:''' What sort of Supreme Being created such riff-raff? Is it not the workings of a complete incompetent?
186	-->'''Mook 1:''' But He created you, Evil One.
187	-->'''Evil:''' What did you say?
188	-->'''Mook 1:''' Well, He created you, so He can't be totally...
189	-->'''Evil:''' [blasts Mook 1 out of existence] Never talk to me like that again! No one created me! I am Evil! Evil existed long before Good. I made myself. I cannot be unmade. I am all-powerful!
190	-->'''Mook 2:''' But, if that's the case, [Other minions edge away from him] why are you unable to escape from this fortress?
191	-->'''Evil:''' [blasts Mook 2 out of existence] Good question.
192	* OneSidedArmWrestling: One of the merry men tears the arm off the man he's arm-wrestling and throws it into a pile of other arms.
193	* OnlyInItForTheMoney: The Bandits are traveling through time for no reason other than to steal. Kevin is offended.
194	* OnlySaneMan: Agammemnon.
195	* OutGambitted: [[spoiler:In the end, the Supreme Being appears and notes that he let the Bandits steal the map, and thus have it fall into the Evil Genius's hands, to test his creation.]]
196	* ParentalNeglect: Kevin's parents don't care about him ''at all''. [[spoiler: When the house is on fire, his mother is more concerned with running back inside to get the toaster than making sure he's alright, while his father does nothing about it]].
197	* ParentalSubstitute: Agamemnon briefly becomes an adopted father to Kevin.
198	* PopStarComposer: Music/GeorgeHarrison, also the film's producer. His 1982 song "Dream Away" is played in the end credits.
199	* PosthumousCharacter: An ambiguous example with Horseflesh, the apparent former leader of the Bandits, who Randall claims is dead. The character was originally supposed to have betrayed the group and joined the Evil Genius, but overtly having seven dwarf characters might have brushed against some [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs legal issues]]. The character was demoted to an extra, as the dwarf in the Evil Genius's company, who receives no lines and doesn't do anything. It's unclear if the character is still supposed to be the gang's old leader.
200	* PottyEmergency: "Pansy! The problem!! It's started again!!"
201	* PowerEchoes: The Supreme Being being... well, the Supreme Being, his echo is very pronounced, even by this trope's standards.
202	* PrisonersLastMeal: {{Invoked\|Trope}}. After Evil imprisons the dwarves in a cage that's suspended over a dark void, Vermin starts eating a rat before offering the others a bite, this being a possible "last meal" as his justification.
203	--> '''Vermin''': Rat, anybody? Might be the last meal you get.
204	--> '''Randall''': Oi, leave off!
205	* RageHelm: Agamemnon's helm.
206	* ReactionShot: When Evil is speaking, we sometimes cut to Robert reacting in confusion, such as when Evil considers turning Kevin into something that's "half carrot." He's also frequently seen reacting as a FunnyBackgroundEvent.
207	* RealAfterAll: [[spoiler:After Kevin is sent back, he appears back in his room. Kevin at first thinks it wasn't real, but he still has the pictures from his adventures. And then a chunk of Evil turns up and makes his parents explode!]]
208	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The Bandits, being formerly employed by God, are all thousands of years old.
209	* RecurringCharacter: Vincent and Pansy, throughout time.
210	* RedEyesTakeWarning: Really, the Evil Genius's entire ''face'', when he's about to do something really horrific. He never gets to do whatever it was he intended to do: twice.
211	* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Kevin admonishes Randall and the bandits several times for using the map to gain wealth and not anything else.
212	* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: Robert does this with one of the Evil Genius's questions.
213	* RiddleForTheAges: It's never explained why Robin Hood's savage merry men are humoring his charitable leadership.
214	* RunningGag: The Bandits dropping onto the heads of Vincent and Pansey throughout time.
215	* SchmuckBait: "The Most Fabulous Object in the Universe."
216	* SealedEvilInACan: The Evil Genius can't leave the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness.
217	* ShapedLikeItself:
218	--> '''Robin Hood:''' Have you met them at all?
219	--> '''Randall:''' Who?
220	--> '''Robin Hood:''' The poor.
221	--> '''Randall:''' The poor?
222	--> '''Robin Hood:''' Oh, you ''must'' meet them! Absolutely ''charming'' people! Of course, they haven't got two pennies to rub together, but that's because they're poor!
223	* SignatureHeadgear:
224	** Each of the Bandits wears a hat of some description, from a dusty bowler to a crude mining helmet.
225	** The Evil Genius' [[{{Film/Alien}} H.R. Giger-esque headpiece]] with a skull on the back of it.
226	* SkyCell: After Evil takes the map, he locks the Bandits in a cage hung above a bottomless void.
227	* SmolderingShoes: All that's left of Kevin's parents.
228	* TheStarscream: Wally makes several attempts to wrestle leadership away from Randall.
229	* StealthInsult: Evil Genius says, "Oh, Benson...dear Benson. You are so mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence."
230	* StuffBlowingUp: This happens a lot when the Evil Genius is around.
231	* SubhumanSurfacingShot: During the exploration of the Time of Legends, the voyage by ship is interrupted when a ''giant'' slowly rises from the ocean in a close-up shot. Already thuggish and intimidating, the giant's lack of human reaction is further driven home by the fact that it's using the heroes' ship as a ''hat'' and either doesn't notice or just doesn't care.
232	* SuddenDownerEnding: Evil has been defeated, the Bandits are back in the Supreme Being's employ, all seems well. Then Kevin wakes up to his house burning down, his parents touch a shard of evil and explode, and Agamemnon seemingly doesn't care and takes off, leaving Kevin an orphan in the remains of his home.
233	* SuperVillainLair: The Fortress of Ultimate Darkness.
234	* SurroundedByIdiots:
235	** Evil is surrounded by incompetent henchmen. At one point, he says to one of them who's just said something particularly idiotic, "Oh, my dear Benson, you are so mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence." This is likely his own doing, however, as both of the Mooks who dare to raise serious questions about Evil's plan are blown to smithereens - even when Evil ''himself'' observes that it was a good question.
236	** Evil also thinks Kevin is one, too, noting how he's the only one of the Bandits who is actually intelligent.
237	* SuspectIsHatless: Benson points out "the little one" as the one with the map while they all look at a group of dwarfs and a child.
238	* TankGoodness: The first reinforcement sent to fight Evil is a supersized incarnation of Kevin's toy Chieftain tank, which [[BigDamnHeroes crashes through the wall when all hope is lost.]]
239	* TemptingFate: Randall asks for champagne "with plenty of ''ice''"... on the ''Titanic''. He also says "nothing can go wrong!" about two seconds before a giant walks off with the boat they're all on as a hat.
240	* ThatsNoMoon: A ship ends up being worn as a hat by a giant.
241	* TimeTravel: The Time Bandits have a map of all the holes in time and space, through which they can pass to steal all the riches of the world.
242	* TimeTravelingJerkass: The dwarves. Becoming Time Bandits and time-hopping through history to plunder the riches of King Agamemnon and Napoleon Bonaparte, among others, definitely qualifies them.
243	* TodayXTomorrowTheWorld: Today the Map, and the day after tomorrow, the world!
244	* TooDumbToLive: For time travelers, the Bandits are remarkably ignorant about famous events.
245	** The Bandits are completely blindsided when Robin Hood gives all their stolen loot to the poor. Kevin chastises them, saying ''everyone'' knows that.
246	** The Bandits don't realize the danger of being on the Titanic. Randall gripes, "It didn't say 'Get off before the iceberg' on the ticket!"
247	** The Bandits believe "The Most Fabulous Object In The World" will be easy to get from a place called [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace The Fortress of Ultimate Darkness]].
248	** [[spoiler:Kevin's parents also ignore their son and touch a leftover piece of the burned Evil Genius, which promptly makes them explode. Considering his mother was going to risk her life to save the ''toaster''...]]
249	* TranslatorBuddy: One of Robin Hood's followers translates for the gibberish-spewing Redgrave.
250	* UglyGuyHotWife: [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081633/mediaviewer/rm967943169/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk The hideous ogre has a normal human wife,]] played by the middle-aged but still very presentable Katherine Helmond. The character was originally going to be an ogre as well until she was changed at Helmond's suggestion.
251	* UnfazedEveryman: Kevin takes everything very much in stride.
252	* TheUnintelligible: Redgrave speaks only in gibberish, which is translated by Marian.
253	* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:The Bandits, doubly so. They hand-deliver the map to the Evil Genius in their quest for "The Most Fabulous Object in the World." Meanwhile, The Supreme Being also ''intended'' for them to steal the map the whole time to he could test his creation, Evil.]]
254	* UpperClassTwit: Robin Hood is a chipper gentleman prone to spouting "Jolly good!" and doesn't seem to understand the realities around him.
255	* VillainousBSOD: Napoleon goes almost catatonic while watching the Time Bandits do their musical number. They think he hates them until he snaps out of it and becomes ecstatic with joy.
256	* WarIsHell: Napoleon's conquest of Italy is shown to be pretty brutal, with shots of soldiers being executed by firing squad in the background. Kevin is fascinated by historical warfare throughout the film, which Agamemnon tries to downplay.
257	* WarRefugees: Fleeing Napoleon.
258	* WithFriendsLikeThese: The Time Bandits' relationship with Randall.
259	* WhatHaveWeEar: Part of Agamemnon's very fatherly behavior toward Kevin is to perform a magic trick. Kevin doesn't think he's very kingly but likes him just the same.
260	* YouLookFamiliar: In-Universe: A man looking exactly like Agamemnon appears at the end as a fireman. It's never explained how or why this is (but reportedly it was Sean Connery's idea).
261	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Kevin threatens to burn the map unless Evil calls off his creatures. Evil goes a bit overboard and ''blows up'' all his remaining minions.

Context Film / TimeBandits