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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/horrible_histories.jpg]]
2
3->''Gory stories, we do that,''
4->''And your host, a talking rat!''
5->''The past is no longer a mystery''
6->''Welcome to...'' HORRIBLE HISTORIES!
7-->-- '''Theme'''
8
9''Horrible Histories'' (2009-2013) is the hit live-action SketchComedy adaptation of Terry Deary's eponymous books. Running for five series, the half-hour-episode show aired on CBBC in the UK and various affiliated cable channels overseas.
10
11Lifting its premise, (most) content and general BlackComedy sensibilities directly from the books, ''HH'' the TV series is hosted by a puppet sewer rat and romps irreverently (but always with conscious accuracy) through all the strangest, silliest and most bodily-fluid-intensive moments on the road to Western Civilization. Live-action sketches -- which frequently parody current UK TV programs and personalities -- are intercut with quizzes, short animations, and at least one [[EducationalSong music video]] per episode, likewise usually a parody of a classic pop/rock genre or song.
12
13Despite all the goofiness, the show has picked up a sizeable PeripheryDemographic, thanks both to increasingly sophisticated writing -- riffing largely off adult comedy classics like Creator/MontyPython and ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' -- and a core troupe of talented character comedians who also happen to be some of the most attractive {{Parental Bonus}}es on television today: Creator/MathewBaynton, Jim Howick, Ben Willbond, Simon Farnaby, Laurence Rickard and Martha Howe-Douglas.
14
15According to WordOfGod it had in fact been deliberately designed from the outset as a 'family show'; both writers and performers insisted throughout that they were 'just making a comedy series'. This became more obvious when the second series won not only three children's UsefulNotes/{{BAFTA}}s for writing, performing and Best Comedy, but a surprise British Comedy Award for Best Sketch Comedy. Followed the next year by a successful [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWn9jJ9ptvY BBC Prom]] concert, another Best Comedy UsefulNotes/{{BAFTA}} and a (less surprising) Best Sketch Comedy BCA... and the next year by another UsefulNotes/{{BAFTA}} for Best Comedy.
16
17As a result a six-part prime-time version was made for main adult channel [=BBC1=], which featured the best sketches as introduced by Creator/StephenFry. Back over in the original series, [[Series/MockTheWeek Chris Addison]], [[Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton]] and Creator/MarkGatiss make special guest appearances as well.
18
19While the original incarnation of the show formally ended with the fifth series, a rebooted series of topical specials involving a (largely) brand new cast, format and production team began airing in 2015. Meanwhile, the original core performers plan to continue working together as a troupe for the forseeable future, writing and starring in both a new TV project (the family fantasy comedy ''Series/{{Yonderland}}'') and feature film (''Film/{{Bill}}'', a spoof on the origins of William Shakespeare), and the more adult leaning comedy sitcom ''Series/GhostsUK''. The troupe has the FanNickname Creator/TheSixIdiots.
20
21Not to be confused with [[WesternAnimation/HorribleHistories the 2001-2002 animated series, approximately based on the books.]]
22----------
23!!Thanks to its sketch-based, genre-hopping nature, the series contains examples of many, many tropes, helpfully organized below:
24
25[[foldercontrol]]
26
27[[folder:Tropes # to H]]
28* ZeroPercentApprovalRating:
29** Neville Chamberlain is convinced to resign in "Neville Chamberlain's Desktop" when he sees a Commons opinion poll that indicates exactly the trope name.
30** King John also suffered from this, as shown in his desktop segment.
31* AbnormalAmmo: A real-life example in which Hannibal of Carthage had snakes thrown onto an enemy ship was used for a ''Film/SnakesOnAPlane'' parody called ''Snakes on a Ship.''
32* TheAbridgedHistory: Each episode is an anthology of sketches about different historical eras painted in a comedic tint.
33* AccidentalMisnaming: Neil Armstrong insists upon calling the ''second'' man on the moon "Bazz Alldrains".
34* AccidentalRhyme: After a Celtic king makes a decree forbidding poetry because his name, Áed mac Ainmuirech, is the LeastRhymableWord, suddenly everybody in the room can't stop making Accidental Rhymes, including the king.
35* AccentSlipUp: In "Mardy Mary Queen of Scots", Mary switches from a French accent to a Scottish one when the more aggressive, boisterous part of her personality rears its head.
36* AccentuateTheNegative: It's called '''Horrible''' Histories for a reason.
37* AcePilot: In the RAF pilots' song, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLUyEXO-jI0 The Few.]]"
38* ActionGirl: You do ''not'' want to mess with [[UsefulNotes/{{Boudica}} Boudicca]]. Or for that matter several of the other female characters. The show actually makes something of a point of celebrating this trope, as a way of compensating for the fact that most of their subject matter is male-oriented.
39* AdaptationDistillation: Of the show itself, as per above.
40* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: "World War II [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ0stWPc2FY finally finds a fittingly foul finale.]]"
41* AdiposeRex: Henry VIII, George IV, and Victoria all have sketches highlighting their obesity.
42* AdolfHitlarious: The Fuhrer is a surprisingly frequent target of mockery. The highlight is probably when he shuts down a reluctant Hitler Youth recruit's protest with the familiar salute: "Talk to ze hand, cos ze face ain't listening."
43* AffablyEvil: A favourite satirical approach, used with among others Blackbeard the pirate, Emperor Elagabalus, Athenian lawmaker Draco, Pope Alexander VI, William the Conqueror and Henry VIII. Inca emperor Pachacuti takes it to the extreme in a chipper pop video celebrating ''exactly'' how viciously he mutilated his enemies' bodies... complete with little bouncy skulls following the lyrics.
44** Becomes a specific plot point in the "Burke & Hare" song:
45--->'''Dr. Knox:''' They seemed such cultured gentlemen, I never did suspect\
46That Burke and Hare were not so nice (I really should've checked!)
47* AgentPeacock: The producers concede that as a general rule, their versions of historical figures tend to "somehow..." end up more camp than the reality, including badass men. Sometimes it's much more overtly played with, as in the course of recasting the greatest flying aces of the Battle of Britain as a boy band.
48** Also by having barbarian warriors from the Burgundian, Frankish, and Alan tribes give fashion advice in ''Danke'' magazine.
49* AGodAmI: In Alexander's song, he upgrades his moniker from "the Great" to "the Greatest", and ''then'' decides that's too boring, and opts for "the Living God".
50** [[TheCaligula Caligula]] was planning on it in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZgzdg14b4U this sketch]]. His advisor talked him out of it.
51* AlasPoorYorick: The lead Viking of "Literally!" dramatically sings to a skull for part of the song.
52* AllWitchesHaveCats: In the 'Witchfinders Direct' advert, the entire [[KangarooCourt witchcraft trial]] consists of finding a warty old woman and asking her if she has a cat. When she says "Yes", she is immediately declared a with and [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake]].
53* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents:
54** Richard I's mother at the end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdBQBg6XEUM this sketch]].
55** Also, George III, due to his madness, often embarrassed his son George IV.
56* AndStarring: Series One had two lead actresses, Martha Howe-Douglas and Sarah Hadland. Hadland left after the first series and Series' Two and Three had Howe-Douglas as the sole female lead with three or four supporting actresses. When Hadland returned for Series Four, she was given the 'And' position in the closing credits.
57* AnachronismStew:
58** Much of the humour comes from the mesh of historical characters/situations with modern attitudes.
59** A bit less intentionally, since the show features a static list of defined time periods it focuses on, a few sketches are shoehorned into ones that they don't obviously belong to. For example, the "Who Wants to be a German Millionaire?" skit, about the Weimar Republic's 1923 hyperinflation crisis, is filed under "Woeful Second World War".
60* AncientGrome: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] for the most part. However, at least one sketch has Caligula state he wants to go to war with ''Poseidon'', rather than Neptune.
61* AnnoyingLaugh: Elagabalus has one of these to underscore his immaturity.
62* AntiClimax: Bobby Leach's Stupid Death. After going over the Niagra Falls in a barrel and being rescued several times from the rapids he was trying to swim, he met his end by slipping on an orange peel and dying of gangrene.
63* AntiquatedLinguistics: Usually averted; no sense trying to educate the kiddies if they can't understand what you're saying, and besides which it's funnier that way.
64* {{Antidisestablishmentarianism}}: In a segment on Victorian school punishments, one boy is punished for misspelling it.
65* AreYouPonderingWhatImPondering: Used by the Victorian Historical Paramedics. "...That top hats are fabulous?" "No. (...They are!)"
66* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
67** In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X07qnxXmeQ0 Joan of Arc song]], Joan is pronounced "guilty of heresy - and wearing men's trousers!"
68** In the Magna Carta rap, the irate barons list the civil rights they're demanding from King John.
69--->'''Baron:''' There's vital stuff here that you've got to give us!\
70There's also some stuff about fishing in the rivers...
71** In one of the Ready, Steady, Feast sketches, the guest brings along weird food such as an elephant's trunk and [[spoiler:the heart of King Louis XIV]]. The final item is a pound of sprouts.
72** Words We Get From The Vikings starts by listing some predictably unpleasant and violent ones, and then throws in CAKE!
73* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Mostly (and impressively) averted -- there's apparently a production assistant on-set at all times whose sole charge is to ensure historical accuracy, and when they are made aware of a slip, they'll do their best to correct it in a later show (or in at least one case, the DVD release). On the other hand they're often deliberately trying to keep things simple to avoid confusing their young audience (they routinely modernise geographic references, for instance) and are always giving RuleOfFunny as much priority as they can. The net result, as one academic put it, is best thought of as a slightly more conscientious ''Series/{{Blackadder}}''.
74** Rattus claims that the Hundred Years' War lasted a hundred years; it did not, it lasted 116 years. There are other factual slips as well. But you generally do have to be a historian to notice them.
75** Sometimes this is obviously the result of their working off the generally-accepted legend, rather than the frequently less hilarious reality -- the Tudor and French Revolution segments especially do this a ''lot''. And while Horatio Nelson did say, "Kiss me, Hardy" while ''in extremis'', it's now [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelson#Nelson_is_hit generally conceded]] those weren't actually his LastWords.
76** The DI Bones sketch involving the velocipede. While yes a real Victorian era vehicle, velocipede is an umbrella term for human powered land vehicles with one or more wheels such as a bicycle. What they were riding in the sketch is actually a quadracycle which is a type of velocipede.
77** InUniverse, Shakespeare is notorious for it. "I'm William Shakespeare! I write plays and make stuff up! If I wrote it how it was in real life, it would be rubbish, and boring! Like school."
78** Richard III's HistoricalVillainDowngrade is overcompensated to the point where he gets a HistoricalHeroUpgrade; he's portrayed as 100% innocent of killing the Princes in the Tower (in actual fact, their fate is unknown, although as early as his own time, it was believed that he did have them bumped off). His Anti-VillainSong blithely glosses over becoming RegentForLife after accusing his late brother of bigamy with "Why not? I'm nobody's fool!"
79** Another bit is when his ghost complains to Shakespeare about the historical inaccuracy of the play by pointing out horses weren’t common in the English countryside til 1485. In actuality horses were in fact being domesticated in Britain as early as 2500 BC and were more formally introduced as early as the 3rd century.
80** Giovanni Borgia is seen commiserating with his siblings over the death of Rodrigo. In reality, he pre-deceased his father by six years by getting brutally stabbed and thrown into the Tiber- quite possibly murdered by Ceasare or Geoffrey.
81* ArtisticLicenseBiology: [[https://youtu.be/UXgr8L2suUY One skit]] runs on the joke that two gentlemen can’t hear each other as both had their ears cut off as punishments. In reality while it would certainly be difficult to hear, you wouldn’t go completely deaf if your ear was cut off. The outer part of your ear, the pinna, acts as a megaphone in reverse. When it’s cut off everything would sound quieter as there’s no funnel for the sound to go down the ear drum.
82* AsideGlance: An amusing meta-example in the Stone Age ''Series/DragonsDen'' skit, when the inventor pitching the concept of 'beer' seems suddenly to [[MediumAwareness remember what show he's really on]]: "It grown-up drink. [[DontTryThisAtHome Not for children]]."
83* AssShove:
84** The Stupid Deaths of the unfortunate Edmund II (not to be confused with Edward II) and Humphrey de Bohun. As for Edward II, the "Kings and Queens" song mentions the infamous poker but not its method of use.
85** The woman advertising human computer Katherine Johnson ''tries'' to do this to Katherine in an attempt to figure out where to plug in the keyboard in "Moon Mayhem".
86* AttackAttackRetreatRetreat: Used in the 'Plague Comes North' sketch, in which a raiding party from plague-free Scotland heads gleefully out to ransack the plague-weakened English, only to hastily backtrack -- too late -- when they realize the glaring flaw in this strategy. Then -- too late -- they realize the problem with hurrying home...
87* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Bob Hale goes off-topic very quickly. As when listing off the names of Roman emperors somehow turns into the Macarena...
88* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Isaac Newton is portrayed this way as a parody of ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' in a sketch portraying his time as Warden of the Royal Mint. His acts include immediately calculating the number of forgers in Britain, deducing his deputy is the head of a forging ring, and calculating the physics necessary to bring down a fleeing criminal with a thrown apple.
89* AxCrazy: Caligula, so much. Possibly also Mandy the assistant in the "Historical Dentist" sketches, although it's not clear whether she's an active participant in the orthodontic crazy or just obliviously going for an Employee of the Month plaque.
90** Also Henry VIII who killed so many people they made a stretch about it, including two of his wives
91** Dick Turpin who shot "not one but two men dead"
92** Patachuti who sings a song about his war crime and how he treats dead enemies
93** Emperor Nero who "killed Christians for no reason" but also killed his mother, his wife and his girlfriend
94* BadBoss: The Victorian bosses in the Work Terrible Work song who happily admit to making their employees work long hours and using child labour.
95* BadNewsInAGoodWay: The point of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wZJ0k0BJGY a sketch]] in which Henry VIII's jester Will Somers desperately works the news of the Queen's infidelities into a comedy routine.
96* BadNewsIrrelevantNews: In response to a Greek athlete's disappointment that his prize for winning the Isthmian Games is a crown of celery (not a 'salary').
97-->'''Reporter:''' Well, the bad news is your prize is just a celery hat.\
98'''Athlete:''' Then what's the good news?\
99'''Reporter:''' The good news is that I just bought this delicious Greek dip. ''[Dips celery stick in said dip]'' [[{{Pun}} Now that is rich]]. ''[Athlete {{Death Glare}}s]''.
100* BaitAndSwitch: Sir Arthur Aston's Stupid Death. As he explains, he fell off his horse while showing off for some young women, and broke his leg, which turned septic. Much to Death's initial disappointment, though, that wasn't what killed him... however, the grim reaper is more than satisfied when he learns that the wooden leg Arthur acquired as a result was used, during a battle some years later, to ''beat him to death''.
101* BankruptcyBarrel: Diogenes. Well, he's not so much bankrupt as voluntarily eschewing material possessions, and he's not so much wearing the barrel as living in it... but still, he's definitely penniless, naked, and in a barrel.
102* BattleCouple: Mr. and Mrs. Sparta from the Ancient Greek "Historical Wife Swap" sketch have the potential to be the ultimate power couple.
103* BeamMeUpScotty: Discussed; Richard III never said "A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" William Shakespeare made it up.
104* BedsheetLadder: Making the ladder too short led to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Oi2YCzGxO4 Stupid Death]] of Griffith Ap Llewelyn...
105* BeingGoodSucks: Elagabalus finds that giving only good lottery prices to people of Roman gets "boring".
106* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' play a sketch about killing rats! Rattus will be very cross.
107** As will Richard III over references to his alleged villainy.
108** Describing Elizabeth I as anything but an angelic, ravishing beauty routinely triggers tantrums.
109** As does any attempt to deny a Roman emperor ''anything''. For instance, suggesting to Caligula that taking on Poseidon, god of the sea, might be just a ''teensy'' bit problematic. You should also never imply that something might be more significant than him.
110** As per above, there's an entire sketch based on how carefully courtiers were forced to tiptoe around Henry VIII re: his latest marital issues.
111* BewareTheNiceOnes: Played with in a sketch in which a soft-spoken monk manages to bring the Viking assault on his monastery to a dead halt simply by asking what on ''earth'' they're doing there, which completely baffles them -- for about a minute. "Oh yeah, 'cos violence is fun!". Cue the monk running for his life.
112** Along similar lines, another monastery raid sketch features a literate monk who calmly convinces the Vikings to spare him so he can record their badassery for all time. ("Write about my biceps!") Unfortunately for the monk, the raiders quickly start arguing over who's ''the'' bravest and most fearsome, and they're still carrying axes...
113* BigBallOfViolence: Animated ones frequently appear to denote major battles in the background of Bob Hale's reports.
114* BigEater:
115** As per the usual cliches, the Tudors' diet was....very rich. "Do you want to have a body like King Henry VIII's? Now you can, thanks to the ''Henry VIII Tudor Diet Plan''! With just seven hours of dedicated feasting a day, you too can have a body to ''die'' for!"
116** Emperor Elagabalus's cook reels off all the dishes that will be served at his dinner party -- so many that the camera fades to black and fades back in at the end of the list. Whereupon...
117-->'''Elagabalus:''' That sounds like a really nice starter. What's the main?
118** One of the defining characteristics of George IV. During ''Georgian Come Dine With Me'', he is the only able to eat the curry. He then looks at everyone else's unfinished portions and asks "Are you going to eat that?".
119* BigotVsBigot: Parodied in the "Historical Wife Swap" sketches, which tend to pit naturally antagonistic couples against one another (Cavaliers vs. Puritans, Athenians vs. Spartans, etc).
120* BilingualBonus: In the "Le Survival Guide" sketch, we get this line from Mat Baynton's young soldier: "Vive Napoléon! Super cool!" The French accent, however, makes that last word really sound like [[ForeignCussWord something else]]. Later, "not cool!" is pronounced similarly when a French soldier is shot in "mon derrière", so the whole thing was probably intentional -- especially given that Baynton studied clowning in France.
121* BlackComedy: Cheerfully dialed up to eleven, although careful to stop short of DudeNotFunny.
122* BlackSpot: In a sketch on the pirate tradition, a pirate who expects to be marked for death keeps seeing black spots everywhere in a busy tavern, up to and including a Dalmatian dog that nearly sends him into fits. His buddy finally manages to convince him he's being silly, and he leaves the tavern much relieved... revealing a huge black spot ''pinned to his back''.
123** In a rare but grievous error for the series, the concept of the black spot is in fact entirely fictitious, having been invented by Robert Louis Stevenson for ''Literature/TreasureIsland''.
124* BlandNameProduct: The historical-character-uses-the-internet sketches incorporate historically-themed renames of familiar software and websites: [[VideoPhone Trype]], [[Website/{{Google}} Gargoyle]], [[Website/{{Facebook}} Macebook]], [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows Stained-Glass Windows]]...
125* BlitzEvacuees: One sketch recounts the RealLife descriptions that evacuees gave of things they encountered in the country, like cows, as if it were a trailer for a horror movie.
126* BloodKnight: William Wallace.
127* BluntMetaphorsTrauma: In the Pizarro sketch. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKeB82retLs "Easy peasy, squeeze de lemon."]] Also turns up in (of all things) Ivan the Terrible's Stupid Death, wherein the fearsome Russian Tartar Emperor signs off with "see you later, crocodile!"
128* BoastfulRap: The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFihfYDCByY&feature=relmfu Celtic Boast Battle]]". Charles II's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA5abHKvUBQ King of Bling]]" rap can also be considered this, as Charles brags about his popularity in general and having done "what was right and proper" during the Great Fire of London in particular ("Proved I'm more than a bopper -- I'm a ''fire-stopper!''"). He even lists the names of several women he, ah, "broke the wedding rules" with.
129** More obviously, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKwxeTkTNpI I'm Minted]]" by Marcus Licinius Crassus is all about his incredible wealth... and we do mean ''all''. ("These Romans think they're minted/But they ain't rich like me/You can't call yourself loaded/Till you can buy an army...")
130* BoomerangComeback: Of the "thrower gets hit" variety, when an Egyptian hunter tries to show off his cat's ability to fetch.
131* BoyBand: Parodied twice, complete with angsty spotlights and precision dance moves. The '4 (King) Georges' sing "Born 2 Rule" in the first series and '[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLUyEXO-jI0 The Few]]' (WWII RAF pilots) specifically send up Music/TakeThatBand in the fourth.
132* BraidsOfBarbarism: Vercingetorix sports these.
133* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Things [[PsychopathicManchild Elagabalus]] might let you "win" in "Romo Lottery Millions" range from the useful (a house, a slave, actual money) to the useless (a dead dog) to those that would ''actively harm you'' ([[ScaryStingingSwarm a box full of bees]]).
134* BreakingTheFourthWall: Used with Rattus (the rat puppet who hosts the series) between segments. More specifically, the Stone Age ''Dragon's Den'' example above.
135* BringMyBrownPants:
136** After being intimidated by a Viking warlord online, Ethelred the Unready decides he might as well go clothes shopping as well... and posts an order for brown leggings.
137** Henry VIII bursts in on the matchmaking consultation of the Earl of Arran and the infant [[UsefulNotes/MaryOfScotland Mary, Queen of Scots]], and declares war on Scotland. One of the dating agency employees notes that someone needs changing and she doesn't think it's the baby.
138** When Cutlass Liz pulls a five-barreled pistol and robs her partner on the Pirate Shopping Network, she says she doesn't want his coat as it is covered in poo. He then says that she won't want his trousers either.
139* BritishStuffiness: Played for laughs in the '[=WWII=] Codebreakers' sketch, among others.
140* BritishTeeth: Used as a contrast between American and British soldiers in a WWII sketch. Also implied by a few Horrible toothpaste recipes, including one whose main ingredient is ''sugar-paste''.
141* {{Brownface}}: The show's Egyptian, Aztec, and Incan sketches often have the white actors in this, with the sketches often featuring the actors plastered with layers of makeup to make them look darker skinned. This is continued well into the 2015 reboot, where the act would no longer be considered acceptable today.
142* BumblingSidekick: Several, notably over-sharing Pedro in 'Francisco Pizarro's Very Rough Guide to Mexico': "...and then we steal all their gold!"
143* BullyAndWimpPairing: Again, several, notably Caveman Art Show hosts Ug and Grunt. The Cro-Magnon Ug clearly enjoys clubbing his poor Neanderthal co-host Grunt, frequently just for the hell of it. ("Now, the next thing we do... is hit Grunt!") In the sketch about cave painting, Grunt goes on to make fun of [[FatBastard Ug's weight]] and [[TheDogBitesBack hit Ug]].
144* BunnyEarsLawyer: The Stonewall Jackson sketch is a succinct demonstration of this trope in action; quirks displayed, disbelief from the [[NaiveNewcomer newbie]] and competency proved.
145** Similarly, the Reformation sketch shows how Martin Luther, the creator of the Reformation, made his office into a big bathroom and took notes on his own excrement.
146* BurnTheWitch: The point of an advert for 'Witchfinders Direct'. "Had something bad happen to you? Wasn't ''your'' fault? We'll find an old woman and blame her for it!"
147* TheCaligula: Many, including the trope namer himself.
148* CallBack: In his second-series debut, Charles II raps "Is today my birthday, I can't recall/Let's have a party anyway, because I love a masked ball!" Cut to the final episode of the third season, in which his hungover majesty opens a sketch with "Easy, Southerby, I had a rather major un-birthday party last night..."
149** In one early Bob Hale Report, he uses "except NOT helicopters" in his MadLibsCatchPhrase (see entry below). It became one of the character's most-quoted lines, leading to this in a fourth-series Report involving Leonardo da Vinci: "Except obviously NOT helicopters. But then -- hm? Oh... apparently he did invent a helicopter. Knew that one'd come back to bite me someday."
150** Ben Willbond offhandedly decided to spice up Alexander the Great's otherwise-innocuous first-series debut by sniffing ominously at his subordinate general's hair. The scene became so iconic a followup sniff (involving a different subordinate) was deliberately scripted into a sketch four series later.
151* TheCameo: A truly epic one in ''We're History,'' the final song of the series. [[spoiler:Almost every single historical figure that's ever appeared on the show, from Alexander the Great to Baynton's unnamed awkward peasant, shows up by the last chorus.]]
152* CampGay: The host of the 'Fashion Fix' skits, a broad parody of popular UK fashion guru Gok Wan. The fashionable advice-giving barbarians of ''Danke'' magazine may also be counted.
153* CampingACrapper: Edmund II's Stupid Death - killed by a sword up the rear from a Viking hiding ''in his toilet''.
154* CanisLatinicus: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Rattus in the course of explaining that the Romans made sandwiches before Earl Sandwich ever did: "...so we should probably call it a ''sandwichus''! Hahahaha! 'Cause that's - [[DontExplainTheJoke if you put an ''-us'' on the ends of words]], it makes it sound Roman...?"
155* CaptainColorbeard: One episode had Captain Saltybeard giving a weather forecast as dictated by pirate superstitions.
156* CardCarryingVillain: Many including Adolf Hitler and the Aztec Priests who "aren't very nice". But most notably in the Evil Roman Emperors song were four emperors try to prove themselves EvilerThanThou.
157* CatchPhrase: "HI, I'M A SHOUTY MAN!"
158** "Good day!"
159** "Hot sausage!"
160** "Amazing!.."
161** Rattus: "That's 100% accu-rat" and "The rat knows all!" To a lesser extent, "Ooh I'm imagining it, I'm imagining it..." and "Ahhh, suit yerself!" after one of his puns falls flat (again).
162** Bob Hale has several (and yes, all delivered in capslock): "THANK YOU SAM!" "BUT NOT FOR LONG!" "WRONG!" "OR SO THEY THOUGHT!"
163** Death (at least in the first season): "You're ''dead'' funny!" Later, "You're through to the afterlife!"
164** Cliff Whiteley: "Whallop!"
165** In-universe, in the course of French prankster Robert of Artois trying to develop his own reality series: "Wooo-OOO! You've been ''ARTOIS'D!''" It doesn't exactly catch on.
166** King Charles II: "Big time!"
167* CatFight: Not shown, but very much talked about in the Roman funeral sketch:
168-->'''1st Roman dude:''' My uncle Centillus had it written into his will that he wanted a fight to the death [over his grave] between two beautiful women!\
169'''2nd Roman dude:''' That's disgusting!\
170'''1st Roman dude:''' His funeral's in ten minutes.\
171'''2nd Roman dude:''' ...can I come?
172* CatsAreMean: Rattus, naturally, isn't a fan. Especially not in one segue when a loud and angry meow is heard, chasing him offscreen.
173* CeilingBanger: John Sublett, a.k.a. John W. Bubbles, the inventor of tap dancing, talks about how everyone loves him. Apart from his downstairs neighbour, who keeps pounding on the ceiling and telling him to knock it off.
174* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Occasionally, when a character goes from being a one-off sketch to a more recurring or at least, notable figure. For instance, in Richard III's first appearance (in a sketch where his ghost comes to edit Shakespeare's ''Richard III'') he is quite a bit angrier and [[OopNorth more northern]] than his later, more {{Woobie}}-ish portrayal.
175* ChariotRace: A parody ad for a historically accurate chariot racing video game based on famous charioteer Scorpus. Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axeufNT5Q7Q here]].
176* ChimneyEntry: A Victorian sketch about chimney sweeps has the latest hired help discover that a rich household's chimney was blocked by older chimney sweeps ... and Santa Claus.
177* ChristmasEpisode: ''Horrible Christmas'', featuring among other things the WWI Christmas Day truce, weird Victorian holiday cards and the decidedly uninspiring truth behind various favourite carols.
178* ClaspYourHandsIfYouDeceive: Exaggerated by Cesare Borgia with his "I am the mostest powerfullest evilest of all!"
179* {{Cloneopoly}}: A "Measly Middle Ages" sketch depicts [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy William The Conquer]]'s invasion of Medieval England through a board game called "Normanopoly". It is a circular board with Medieval versions of Monopoly player spaces, and the player pieces are a crown, a wooden ship, and a wild pig. As players go around the board, churches and abbeys are constructed in order to appease the gods after the murder of thousands of Saxons. Board spaces can be renamed, just as the real-life town of Nottingham was renamed as such from the more disgusting sounding Snottingham. [[CalvinBall The rules are even made up as the players go]].
180* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Bob Hale, as revealed when discussing anything that isn't actual history.
181* CombatPragmatist: Hannibal. He fights ''Carthaginian'' dirty, y'all.
182* ComicallyIneptHealing: The "Historical Paramedics" sketches feature 'paramedics' from different historical eras applying period remedies to modern day patients, and usually leaving the patients in a worse condition than when they started, to the horror of the patient and onlookers. Similar ideas are used in the "Historical Hospital" and "Historical Dentist" sketches.
183* ConstantlyCurious: What the show uses to explain the Socratic method.
184-->'''Socrates:''' ''(singing)'' People found me irritating\
185Thanks to my interrogating\
186Like a toddler, was always asking ''why''...
187* ConsultingMisterPuppet:
188** The show's version of Caligula makes this a trademark. Usually using his own hand with a face drawn on, but he's also chatted happily with a wooden mallet that he named Whackus Bonkus and which doubled as a murder weapon. The worm attached to the dead man's armour he was wearing may also count [[{{Squick}} although he ended up eating it]].
189** Death's relationship with his two (literal) skeleton sidekicks -- joined by a mummy in the fourth series -- has definite overtones of this; they're supposed to be an [[Series/TheXFactor X-Factor-esque]] judging panel, but Death's apparently the only one that can hear the others' opinions (and berates them loudly when he disagrees). He also occasionally holds staring contests with them.
190* ContinuityNod: In the four King Georges' song, George III claims that he was as 'batty as a bonkers kangaroo'. In a later song (where George IV goes solo), a dead George III introduces himself as a kangaroo. Not to mention George III's first word in the second song is the same as his last word in the first - '[[InherentlyFunnyWords banana]]'.
191** This example is actually also an aversion -- the show usually maintains strict continuity in re: who performs what historical character, but in this case George III from the first song (Simon Farnaby) wasn't available for the second so a replacement (Lawry Lewin) was brought on. The same situation led to another aversion in which Mat Baynton took over from Farnaby as Caligula.
192** One of the rebooted episodes focuses on King George III. Simon Farnaby and Jim Howick reprise their roles as Georges III and IV, respectively. The kangaroo joke is carried over too.
193** In one sketch, Jim Howick plays a Georgian army recruit whose CO berates him as "You horrible little man!" Cut to a sketch a few episodes later featuring Howick as a ''Roman'' army recruit whose similarly cranky CO uses the same epithet.
194* ContinuityCavalcade: The aforementioned finale song.
195* CourtJester: Based on real-life Tudor court clown Will Somers. He's the only one who can speak honestly to UsefulNotes/HenryVIII about his wife cheating on him.
196* CoverInnocentEyesAndEars:
197** In "Monstrous Musicians", a mother covers her child's eyes with a leaf of lettuce when a pack of flagellants walk past.
198** In "Formidable Florence Nightingale", Florence's father tries to cover her sister's eyes when they see Florence spend her trip around the world nursing with the nuns at a covenant.
199* CoveredInGunge: All the time. The gunge is usually meant to be poo, and it's almost always Rickard covered in it. The rule seems to be "You write a sketch about a man covered in poo, you have to play the man covered in poo."
200* {{Cowboy}}: A musical number describes what the life of a working cowboy was really like.
201* CrazyPrepared: Parodied in the 'Race to the South Pole' sketch, in which the proudly under-equipped British explorers believe the Norwegian team to be sissies for bringing along such luxuries as sled dogs and warm clothing.
202* CreatorCameo: Terry Deary, author of the Horrible Histories books, quite often turns up in sketches when a kindly elder gent (usually monk) is concerned, notably playing the Bishop in [[http://youtu.be/1__I_looDNA The Monks' Song]].
203** Production assistant (in charge of fact-finding) Greg Jenner often appears in the background of sketches, usually as the mute-but-loyal flunky. Notably, he's William the Conqueror's knight-assistant in both the "Kings & Queens Song" and the 'Mud & Matilda' sketch.
204** Series producer Caroline Norris appears in Death's waiting room during the jingle as a housewife with a sooty face, presumably blown up by her gas oven.
205* CurbStompBattle: Often showcased in the video game segments. These include Vikings slaughtering English monks or conquistadores crushing the Aztecs using their superior weapons.
206* DatedHistory: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL2se6BzIHk "Sweet King Richard III"]] was recorded before King Richard's body was found and exhumed, so the song dismisses Richard's scoliosis as an invention of his enemies.
207* TheDeadCanDance: Death dances to the Stupid Deaths opening jingle, and, in the Scary Special song, even gets a team of Thriller-esque backup-dancing corpses.
208** During the Plague Song, the dead rise from the dead-collector's cart to sing and dance about the disease that killed them.
209* DeadpanSnarker: Apparently, history was full of 'em. The talking rat has his moments too: "It's true! William the Conqueror really did explode at his own funeral... try finding ''that'' on Art/TheBayeuxTapestry."
210* DeadHatShot: The Tudore version of ''Literature/{{Thumbelina}}'' ends with with Thumbelina travelling to London in search of her prince. However, because this is Tudor era London, the streets are covered in human excrement, and Thumbelina, being just six inches high, sinks and drown. The final shot is her hat floating atop a pool of poo.
211* DeathAsComedy: More or less constantly (although BloodyHilarious is largely averted). They even have an entire recurring sketch devoted specifically to the concept.
212* DelusionsOfDoghood: George III is frequently portrayed as believing he is a kangaroo.
213* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment:
214** Oh yeah. "The sugary paste in all new Tudor Sugar Paste Toothpaste is made up of sugar in a paste!"
215** From Horrible Histories Prom: "Henry VIII and Charles II arrive for this unusual royal variety performance, in which a variety of royals will perform."
216** From the Stone Age Tool Kit sketch: "Sharp stone is sharp."
217* DepravedDentist: The "Historical Dentist" sketches feature all the excruciating and unsanitary practices that earned the profession its bad reputation in the first place, with the eager participation of modern dentist Mandy.
218* DesecratingTheDead: Pachacuti sings a whole song about it!
219* DidYouDie: A variation on this happens when Charles II meets Thomas Blood, the (unexpectedly goodnatured) man who stole the Crown Jewels:
220-->'''Charles II:''' You must come 'round to the palace for tea! You can regale us with your funny stories!\
221'''Blood:''' I've got a fantastic one about the time I was plotting to kill you\
222'''Charles II:''' Did you succeed? No no no, don't tell me, I'll wait until you come round!
223* DidntThinkThisThrough: The sheepish conclusion (twice) of the aforementioned Scots whose raid on the disease-weakened English was responsible for a) giving the raiding party the plague and b) thereby introducing plague to Scotland.
224** Also, the main reason why the French lost the battle of Agincourt.
225--->'''1st French soldier:''' Okay... heavy armour, too many knights, too little room, lots of arrows and lots of mud.\
226'''2nd French soldier:''' We probably should have thought this through a little better...
227** A Saxon farmer who's just burnt all his crops to the ground to ward off ghosts [[OhCrap comes to the same conclusion]] when his wife asks him what exactly he thinks they're going to eat now.
228** This is also the reaction of the treacherous General Pausanius when he tries to hide from the Spartan army in a temple to Athena, only to be bricked in.
229** The whole point of the 'Dodgy War Inventions' animated sketches.
230** Amateur scientist Robert Cocking designed a parachute, carefully calculating how big it would need to be to support him... but forgot to factor in the weight of the parachute itself. Needless to say, he ended up in a 'Stupid Deaths' sketch.
231** After stating that he would randomly shoot members of his crew, Blackbeard realizes he's lost so many that the Royal Navy can board his ship and take him captive.
232* DisguisedInDrag: Used in a 'Putrid Pirates' sketch about tricks they used to entice ships close enough to attack (since a shipful of women wouldn't be perceived as a threat).
233-->'''Random pirate:''' ''(on seeing his bearded captain in drag)'' [[BrainBleach Right, I'll just put my eye-patch over my good eye...]]
234* DisproportionateRetribution: Cesare Borgia will kill a man who dares to, like, invade his personal space. Also this, courtesy of TheCaligula in the "Evil Emperors' Song":
235-->'''Caligula''': I'm very hairy, but take note\
236If you so much as whisper 'goat' \
237With an iron rod you will be smote!
238-->(In a good mood today, so I won't slit your throat.)
239* DistaffCounterpart: Inverted and played with in the 'Joan of Arc' sketch, in which the skeptical heroine suggests God's angel must mean to call her (fictional) neighbor ''John'' of Arc. Who immediately comes running up in chain mail -- why, yes, he ''has'' always wanted to lead the French to glorious victory and restore the rightful king to the throne! There's no arguing with the Divine will... so John ends up taking over Joan's domestic chores instead.
240** Also played straight with the "Shouty Georgian Woman" - a one-shot Distaff Counterpart to the Shouty Man.
241* DontExplainTheJoke: Death has a ''problem'' -- sometimes the corpses even call him out on it. Rattus is frequently guilty of it too.
242** As is a BumblingSidekick of Saladin in one sketch. Saladin is trying to explain his plan to cut off the Crusaders' access to water, but the sidekick doesn't realize that this is intended to kill them and says, "they'll have nothing to wash their salad in...get it, it's your name, Saladin!"
243* DontFearTheReaper: Although you may justifiably worry a bit if your death throes weren't sufficiently entertaining, as you then -- as per one Stupid Deaths sketch -- have to get back into the 'long and boring' Boring Deaths line.
244* DontTryThisAtHome: Sometimes appended to sketches, apparently more because the writers thought it'd be funny than out of any actual desire to avoid lawsuits. Still, yes: drilling holes in your family's skulls, ''definitely'' a bad idea.
245** Used with a surprising amount of seriousness in one sketch. Being that that sketch involves the Viking Historical Paramedics determining the seriousness of a wound by ''tasting the injured person's blood,'' it's fair enough that this has something to the effect of "do not do this, EVER, WE ARE SERIOUS, NEVER" plastered underneath it.
246* DoubleMeaningTitle: The finale song, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-LemeejdjA We're History]]". The people singing are ''literally'' from history, but they're also [[VisualPun "history"]] in the colloquial sense [[MediumAwareness because the show is ending!]]
247* DracoInLeatherPants: An in universe example, Dick Turpin sings a song about how he doesn't deserve this treatment.
248* DramaticDrop: In the Boudica special, Boudica snatches a pot of a Roman who has come to the reading of her husband's will. When she finds out he has left everything to the Roman Empire, she drops the pot, and and the Roman complains about her breaking his pottery.
249* DramaticThunder: Margaret Thatcher changing her voice to sound more commanding in "Putrid Politics" is accompanied by this.
250* DrillSergeantNasty: The knight preparing Crusaders for the monsters they'll be likely to meet on their way to the Holy Land (in a loose takeoff of the classic Creator/MontyPython "Self-Defense Against Fresh Fruit" sketch).
251* DumbassHasAPoint: In "Moon Mayhem", the ditzy Sebastian points out that the Americans' plan to nuke the moon would be massively unpopular and lead to the extinction of all life on Earth. One DopeSlap from Sophie later, and he apologises, not knowing what came over him.
252* DumbMuscle:
253** A gladiator in one sketch, who keeps misunderstanding his trainer's motivational metaphors ("You want me to ''lick'' him?") until they're reduced to "Go - out - there - and - kill - him!".
254** Unsurprisingly, this is the cause of a few Stupid Deaths: notably strongman Milo of Croton, trapped by a tree he was trying to split, and the unnamed Greek boxer who beat on his rival's statue until it toppled over on him.
255* DunceCap: In "Moon Mayhem", John Wilkins puts one on a student who points out that there's no air in space. Since it's not actually done anymore in real life, she has no idea what a dunce even is.
256** Often given in Dodgey War skeches.
257* EagleLand: A downplayed example as the U.S.A. doesn’t come up often but the actual heading for the segments is “Awesome U.S.A.” and the characters are often those viewed as cool or heroic, like the Pilgrim Fathers, cowboys, WWI and II soldiers, and civil rights fighters.
258* EagleSquadron: Referenced in the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLUyEXO-jI0&ab_channel=CBBC The Few]]":
259-->''The finest British pilots\
260That the world could hope to have\
261Binky, Stinky, Squiffy\
262Frantiek and Stanislav\
263\
264Hold fire! Is that some foreign chaps\
265Risking their necks?\
266That’s right, some of the bravest men\
267Were Polish and Czech''
268* EarTrumpet: Type 2. At one point during the Prom special, famously deaf Music/LudwigVanBeethoven is provided a literal trumpet by Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart, in order to more comfortably argue over which of them was the Greatest Composer Who Ever Lived.
269* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first series is trying harder to be children's edutainment (onscreen song lyrics etc), on a much lower budget; by the second they've made comedic potential the priority over demographics, and they've clearly got much more to spend on it, a trend that intensified with each series. Originally, as well, skits were based pretty much entirely on stories from the books, and hence have a similarly cartoonish feel, featuring lots of over-the-top grossout gags and violence. As the show has progressed -- and, arguably, gained in sophistication -- a larger percentage of ideas are from more conventional sources, and based around more subtle limitations of human nature.
270** Also, compare the simple song-and-dance routines with cardboard props of Series One to the green-screen and dry-ice filled music videos that came later.
271** Death's makeup and set dressing get a ''major'' upgrade between the first and second series -- though, strangely, they went from giving him an actual scythe to using obviously tinfoil-wrapped cardboard ones as decorations in series two.
272* EatTheDog: Or the horse named Dobbin. Or the goose filled with the Holy Spirit. Or the goat filled with the Holy Spirit. Or an actual dog, if you're Aztec.
273* EconomyCast: Entire armies, angry mobs etc. tend to be played by about five-six people.
274* EducationalSong: Yes, they are technically supposed to be this. At least one an episode.
275** Let's face it- there are a whole bunch of kids in their late teens/early twenties who can still recite (well sing) all the monarchs of England/UK - in order - from 1066. That's pretty educational!
276* {{Egopolis}}: The settlers in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p-bWA1FOqs "Colonisation Colonisation Colonisation"]] have to give landmarks names that will please King James. Thus James River, Jamestown, etc etc. One man has the audacity to name a fort after himself... fortunately, his name happens to be James too.
277** As per both history and ThisIsMyNameOnForeign below, Alexander the Great established cities named Alexandria pretty much ''everywhere'' in his conquered territories.
278* ElmuhFuddSyndwome: Caligula (and occasionally Nero), mirroring the Roman belief that a lisp was a sure sign of an aristocrat.
279* EroticEating: In "Ridiculous Romantics", Anne Boylen provocatively sucks an olive off a toothpick in front of Henry VIII during the "Historical First Dates" sketch.
280* EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped: "The News in Tudor Criminal Slang" begins with a translator accurately translating the slang, gradually getting confused, and finally giving up.
281** In the "Aztec Priests' Song", two of the priests rattle off the gods they worship, with the third explaining who they are, until the first two get completely tongue-tied over the multi-syllable names -- to which the third hastily improvises "Erm... Some other gods' great lives!"**
282* EverybodyHatesMathematics: Death invokes this after failing to wrap his head around the Pythagorean Theorem.
283* EveryoneHasStandards:
284** The host, Rattus Rattus, is, naturally, [[ShapedLikeItself a sewer rat]] who cultivates his (flatulent) fleas as pets, happily admits to eating filth and often laughs at the more gross elements of the show. However, even ''he'' is repulsed at the concept of "Mellified Man".[[note]]A medicine from Medieval Arabia that was literally made from [[{{Squick}} mummies that had been soaking in honey for 100 years.]][[/note]]
285--->'''Rattus:''' ...Y.U.C.K: yuck! And that's not a word I use often.
286** He's also a lot more sombre after a Titanic sketch when discussing what the aftermath was, since it ''was'' a tragedy.
287* EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes: Emperor Nero, of all people.
288* EvilEyebrows: Ivan the Terrible has some [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPDAxB38hWc truly magnificent ones.]]
289* EvilIsHammy: Used frequently, largely as a way to get across truly irredeemable nastiness -- Emperor Nero, Hitler, the Borgias etc. -- without completely freaking out the kiddies.
290* EvilerThanThou: The theme of the "Evil Emperors' Song" (a pastiche of Music/MichaelJackson's "Bad") featuring Caligula, Elagabalus, Commodus and Nero. Nero handily proves himself the most evil of them all.
291* ExcessiveEvilEyeshadow: Ivan the Terrible, so much. Dick Turpin's infamous GuyLiner also qualifies.
292* ExcrementStatement: Diogenes urinates on people he doesn't like, "...and let's just say when I'm ''really'' offended, I switch to Plan B!"
293* TheExitIsThatWay: Used at the end of both the Columbus sketch and King Canute's Movie Pitch.
294* ExpositoryThemeTune: Presumably to ensure viewers know exactly what they're getting into.
295* {{Fainting}}: A staple, used to especial comic effect in the segments on the Black Death.
296* FaceDeathWithDignity: The old lady in the 'Witchfinders Direct' advert. She initially protests her innocence, but then faces her imminent burning with solemn silence.
297* FakeRabies: One of the scams on "Real Victorian Hustle" involves a StreetUrchin eating soap to make it look like he is foaming at the mouth.
298* FalseReassurance: In a "Gross Designs" sketch, Vlad III Dracula, Prince of Wallachia, corrects a misunderstanding caused by his name:
299-->'''Kevin [=McLeod=]:''' Hi, welcome to Gross Designs. I'm here in Middle Ages Romania to meet a man with a truly awe-inspiring new design project to defend his country. His name is Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia.
300-->'''Vlad III:''' Please, my friends call me Dracula.\
301'''Kevin [=McLeod=]:''' You're not going to bite my neck and suck out all the blood, are you?\
302'''Vlad III:''' No, I'm not vampire.\
303'''Kevin [=McLeod=]:''' You're not some crazed killer.\
304'''Vlad III:''' Mm, well, I'm not vampire anyway.
305* FashionHurts: One Stupid Deaths sketch involves a Georgian woman coming in after a vicious cycle of using lead based paint to cover her smallpox scars, which led to more scars and then more make up, and then more scars and more make up until she died. Immediately afterwards another Georgian woman comes in, caked in the same stuff, causing Death to quip "Lead me guess."
306* FatSweatySouthernerInAWhiteSuit: Turns up as the foil in a (not-particularly-subtle) sketch about the disguises Harriet Tubman used to lead slaves to freedom.
307* FateWorseThanDeath: Invoked by Greek ruler Draco in sentencing a hapless apple-snatcher: "Guards! Take him away and make him dead! Oh, and if you can think of anything worse than death, do that too, OK? OK."
308* FauxAffablyEvil: Even a show as satirical as Horrible Histories still manages to make these types of people:
309** Oliver Cromwell seems to be this as the first sketch features him saying this and locking his own relatives on Christmas along before telling them gently "Merry Christmas":
310---> Oliver Cromwell: (calmly) Oh relatives. (angrily) How did you get past the guard?
311** Adolf Hitler in the Hitler Youth sketch, but given its Hitler its hard to make him genuinely friendly.
312** Nero, as the show makes it clear that even with some funny moments he is a genuinely terrible and mean person with even the other evil Roman Emperors commenting that he is truly mad and evil with him throwing parties while using live Christians as candles and softly telling how in a sketch he's going to kick Poppaea to death softly to himself while hugging her.
313* FauxHorrific: "The Farm" sketch involves a British evacuee who is terrified when he sees a cow. It goes further when he runs away screaming from other farm animals and when his foster mother offers to give him a bath.
314* FieryRedhead: Boudicca. To a certain extent, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.
315* FiringInTheAirALot: Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid do this repeatedly in one of the Cliff Whiteley sketches. Cliff is not happy about the damage to his ceiling.
316* FishOutOfWater: One "Historical Masterchef" sketch focuses on a Stuart era head cook... who has no idea how to use a modern stove.
317-->''AAAHHHH! That's the work of a witch!''
318* FloweryInsults: The show's version of Creator/WilliamShakespeare, just like the real one, is a master of these. He manages to literally ''knock out'' an opponent in a battle of words, using a barrage of insults collected from the real Shakespeare's works:
319-->'''Shakespeare:''' How can I respond to a beslubbered, pebbling, churlish clotpole, a beef-witted gleeking bum-bailey, a gorbellied, mewling, hedge-born, onion-eyed, fustilarian cob-loaf! Flappy-eared, knotty-pated measle, you ruttish, reeking coxcomb, you bugger-mugger moldwarp! Pottle-deep, maggot-pie lewdster! Yeasty, tickle-brained, whey-faced, nut-hook skainsmate!
320* FollowTheBouncingBall: Both played straight and parodied, as per the bouncing skulls in the Pachacuti song referenced above.
321* FootballHooligans: Exaggerated by the Tudor-era origins of the sport, in which the entire game was essentially two villages beating the living daylights out of each other... with an inflated pig's bladder somewhere on scene. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QekjU1j1RB8 sketch]], naturally, doesn't ''show'' the extent of the violence, but makes it clear that participants commonly ended up dead.
322* ForbiddenHoliday: In S2 E2, UsefulNotes/OliverCromwell bans Christmas celebrations among many other things. The sketch can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBCxE8tUIWM here]].
323* ForeignQueasine: Another staple of the show, although "foreign" is usually more a matter of time than of geography. Pretty much the entire point of the Ready Steady Feast and Historical Masterchef bits, among others.
324* ForgotToFeedTheMonster: Nigel the Historical Paramedic forgot to feed the spiders for the asthma cure ("Are you insane in ye brain? We can't feed her ''dead'' buttered spiders!") Earlier, a Viking navigator forgets to feed the navigation raven, putting a distinct crimp in plans to release it and follow it to land.
325* ForTheEvulz: As per history, what tends to happen when Roman emperors get bored. Caligula randomly kills people, Elagabalus serves his dinner guests painted rocks and hands out dead dogs as lottery prizes, and Nero describes his persecution of Christians as "just a fun game I played, y'know..."
326** Cesare Borgia as well. As per history, he gleefully explains in the 'Borgia Family Song' that he's ready to kill at [[DisproportionateRetribution the slightest provocation]] or for no reason at all.
327* FreezeFrameBonus: Plenty in the "Historical Internet" sketches, among others. For example, Cleopatra getting an email from her sister and Henry VIII's mistress Bessie Blount being on his top 8 on "Yebo".
328* FriendlyEnemy: Done for a gag in the English Civil War song. “Why’s it called civil?” “May I kill you, please?” “Sure.”
329* FrivolousLawsuit: After a rat chews off one of his toy soldiers' heads, Tsarevich Peter III [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NP7VBAAzWc takes it to court]].
330* FullFrontalAssault: Fighting in the nude is one of the {{Badass Boast}}s made by the duelling Celtic warriors in the "Boast Battle" rap.
331* FullyClothedNudity: The "naked man" in Elizabeth I's throne room is still wearing undergarments that cover him completely from the waist down. (And a woolly hat.)
332* TheFunInFuneral: Several sketches on ancient burial rites turn out to involve this, especially one in which it's revealed Romans sometimes had their favourite slaves -- male ''and'' female -- fight to the death over their graves, which evolved into the concept of gladiators.
333* {{Gasshole}}: There are quite a few fart gags.
334** In the aforementioned 'Real Live Cowboys' number, one of them farts a solo because of all the beans they eat.
335** Similarly, "Aztec Come Dine With Me" is set during Etzalcualiztli, the month of eating maize and beans, and the beans have made everyone humorously gassy.
336** There's also a sketch about professional Gasshole Joseph "Le Pétomane" Pujol.
337** And also Roland the Farter, who entertained at the court of Henry II by ... well, guess.
338* GassyGastronomy: The "Real-Life Cowboys" song, in a likely ShoutOut to ''Blazing Saddles'', includes a verse with the cowboys eating beans at a campfire and farting, culminating in one of the cowboys performing a brief "solo" comprised entirely of farts.
339* GenuineHumanHide: An "Historical Educators" sketch has Burke and Hare employed as business teachers. When they are fired, they present the headmaster with a leather bound journal as a farewell gift. He is delighted with it until he notices the cover has freckles.
340** Also, the William Wallace song contains the lines:
341---> Celebrated Stirling Bridge, another Scottish win \
342By decorating my sword with the English general's skin!
343* {{Gesundheit}}: Augustus to Agrippa, the man never given credit for many accomplishments claimed by Augustus, or, apparently, for even having a name.
344** Weirdly inverted in a sketch about the Persian army: "It doesn't even sound like a sneeze, it just sounds like you're saying 'Wazoo.'"
345* GildedCage: Passionately invoked by King John Balliol when his lawyer questions why the former Scottish King is so desperate to get out of the Tower of London despite the luxurious treatment he's getting. Balliol insists that his heart and soul belong in Scotland and he ''must'' get back home... until the lawyer offers to get him banished to France.
346* GirlsWithMoustaches: A false beard finishes off Cleopatra's beauty regime, though it only appears for a moment in her song. Hatshepsut likes her beard so much she decides to keep it.
347* GiverOfLameNames: The guy in Pilgrim Fathers who says "I'm from Newcastle, can we call this New Newcastle?"
348* GladiatorGames: Multiple sketches about them, including a memorable one in which they run out of animals.
349* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Elizabeth I might have the body of "a weak and feeble woman", but she definitely has the heart and stomach of an absolute monarch who can casually have her subjects' heads chopped off for displeasing her. Similarly, Mary I is absolutely gleeful about burning people alive for being Protestant.
350* GoodLuckGesture: In the "Queen for Nine Days" sketch, when sending a letter to Mary Tudor asking Mary to recognize her as Queen Lady Jane Grey does the classic 'Fingers crossed!' while holding them up.
351* GratuitousDiscoSequence: The Aztec Priests song ("Ain't Stayin' Alive"), a bit.
352* GratuitousFrench: In many sketches dealing with France, most noticeably the Joan of Arc song.
353* GraveRobbing: A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyKoKVR6ilg cheery song]] about the gruesome activities of historical grave robbers Burke and Hare.
354* TheGrimReaper: He loves his job. He really does. Except during that one humongous backlog in afterlife applications caused by the 'Measly Middle Ages' (Crusades, floods, plague, Hundred Years' War, etc. etc...).
355* HandOrObjectUnderwear: The man who has his toga stolen during the Shouty Man's ad for the Roman Baths uses a book from the bath library to preserve his modesty.
356** In a sketch about ancient Egyptian fashion, an Egyptian peasant in historically accurate utter lack of clothing is shown holding a basket in front of his bits.
357* HardHead: Turns up with surprising abandon in a supposed children's educational programme. Most notably in the 'Caveman Art Show' sketches, wherein Grunt takes multiple club bashings from his co-host without apparent injury -- of course, when he finally turns the tables, his co-host isn't so lucky.
358* HereComesTheScience: Used in several mock-adverts. "Here's the sciency bit!"
359* HereWeGoAgain: After the death of his wife Mary Tudor, Philip II of Spain promptly starts plotting to marry her half-sister Elizabeth.
360* TheHighwayman: The dashing legend, and specifically the romanticisation of Dick Turpin, is [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] in song... how well is debateable, given it's being performed by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYU-vSh7ORA an eyeliner-wearing Baynton]], but still.
361** In the era of the Slimy Stuarts, we have James Hind, who lived during the English Civil War and [[JustLikeRobinHood robbed rich Roundheads to give to poor Loyalists]] ([[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished and ended up hanged by the Roundheads for his politics]]). Then, a Series 5 sketch shows a French highwayman named Claude Duval, who dances and plays the flageolet with the wife of a man he's trying to rob. When asked if he wants to be a musician, Claude replies, "Non, [[HypocriticalHumor zey are full of crooks]]."
362* HistoricalCharacterConfusion: One Cliff Whiteley segment opens with Cliff on the phone telling a newspaper "Albert Einstein was the one with a theory of relativity. Frank''en''stein was the one with a monster. Now print an apology!"
363* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Notorious highwayman Dick Turpin sings a song about his life which takes some time to lampoon how he was romanticized after he died.
364* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] and played straight in one sketch about Richard III, in which his ghost gripes about how his Shakespearean portrayal is pure fiction. There's a continuation in a third series song, in which Richard III lists all the ways in which he's remembered and complains that he's a nice guy, really, and that Shakespeare made up the phrase "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse" out of whole cloth.
365* HoistByHisOwnPetard: At the end of the Greek Historical Wife Swap, the Athenian man suggests they vote on whose way of life is the best. The Spartan man votes Spartan. His wife votes Spartan. The Athenian man votes Athenian. ''His'' wife... doesn't get to vote, she's only a woman!
366* HollywoodHistory: George IV gets a solo song complaining about how all anyone ever [[LampshadeHanging remembers about his reign is that he was really fat]]. Also falls into this in a few other areas.
367* HollywoodToneDeaf: In the Christmas special, the HH carolers briefly lapse into this while singing about medieval wassailing to the tune of "Silent Night":
368-->'''Male Carolers''': They are out wassailing!\
369'''Female Caroler''': If they think that's in tune, [[EpicFail they're failing]].
370* HomeGuard: Several sketches reference the British version in [=WWII=], notably one based on how they frequently contrived to injure themselves with their makeshift weapons.
371* HookHand: In the pirate sketches. {{Lampshaded}} exasperatedly when one such character is offered a high-five: "Seriously, ''why'' would you do that?"
372* HopeSpot: Happens from time to time, usually PlayedForLaughs. For example, a well-off Roman couple, having lost their home and virtually all of their possessions in the Great Fire, are delighted to see that Nero is taking personal involvement in reconstruction efforts... only for him to reveal that he's [[ItsAllAboutMe building a palace for himself]] on top of the burned rubble and tell them to go live in the slums.
373* HornyVikings: The show makes a point of not giving its Vikings horned helmets, and providing occasional reminders that they never really wore them (although Rattus does wear one from time to time). The trope is otherwise mostly played straight.
374** ...And then completely subverted in a Series 5 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqGJ1F63OhM song]], which portrays the Vikings as Simon-and-Garfunkel-esque flower children.
375* HumanMail: One sketch was about a pair of suffragettes attempting to have themselves mailed to 10 Downing Street. Rattus tells us that suffragettes really did attempt to have themselves mailed to the Prime Minister, and this was the reason why a law was passed making it illegal to send humans through the Royal Mail.
376* HumanSacrifice: As the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqNHbrVsfVQ&feature=related "Aztec Priests' Song"]] makes clear (using, erm, [[ItMakesSenseInContext a Bee Gees pastiche]]), this was very much that empire's founding principle:
377-->To win at war, make crops grow more, to cure our kids when ill,\
378The sun to shine, this song to rhyme, more victims we must kill!
379* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Occasionally invoked from Rattus' POV. According to him, rats think of Florence Nightingale as "The Lady with the ''Broom'', 'cos that's what she used to hit us with!"
380* HumanShield: Not human, but same general principle: the Persian army uses [[EverythingsCuterWithKittens adorable little kitties]] to protect itself from the cat-worshipping Egyptians.
381* HurricaneOfPuns: Not nearly as punny as the books overall, but used in some sketches, notably one involving Henry VIII's jester. Rattus sometimes indulges as well.
382** Death also gets in on it during the "Stupid Deaths" sketches, and complains when his skeleton lackeys -- who, it should be noted again, are actual skeletons -- don't laugh.
383* HypocriticalHumor:
384** In the "Victorian Names" sketch, the substitute teacher expresses amazement at the bizarre names of the pupils... only to reveal that her name is "Miss Farting Clack".
385** Similarly, the two confused peasants in the [[WhosOnFirst "Wat Tyler"]] sketch call "Wat" a silly name. However, it turns out that their names are "Who" and "When".
386--->"Oh, whatever!" ''(offscreen)'' "Yes?"
387** There's also the Newgate Prison guard who refuses to allow a pig in the prison on the grounds that they're "filthy animals" and then sticks his finger up his nose.
388** The correspondent at the prom warns Charles II not to mention Victoria's late husband in her presence -- then, once she arrives, welcomes her to the Royal Albert Hall, causing her to rush off in tears.
389** The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UueAyDBCnig Tudor Sugar-Paste Toothpaste]]" commercial. Elizabeth I says, "As a famous monarch, I'm always being asked how I keep my teeth so bright, white and healthy," at which point she opens her mouth to reveal very yellowed teeth.
390** When Mary Shelley mentions her friendship with Lord Byron, one of the Movie Executives tells her "I hate namedroppers, and so does my good friend Brad Pitt."
391[[/folder]]
392
393[[folder:Tropes I to P]]
394* IAmGreatSong: Sung by (who else?) Alexander the Great. Although he prefers "the Greatest".
395* IAteWhat: One of Admiral Nelson's crew proposes a toast to the fallen admiral. He then does a SpitTake on being told that the body is pickling in the brandy they're drinking.
396** Greg also has this reaction to most of what he eats in the "Historical [=MasterChef=] sketches, due to him stuffing his face ''before'' hearing what the ingredients are.
397%%** Which is also a fairly common reaction from the host upon trying the historical 'delicacies' in the "Ready Steady Feast" sketches. Somehow, she never learns to ask what the ingredients are ''before'' trying them... %%Explain the reaction
398* ICallItVera: Caligula calls his hammer "Whackus Bonkus".
399* IFoughtTheLawAndTheLawWon: Mentioned word-for-word in the Luddites song.
400* IgnorantAboutFire: A scene featured an elderly Victorian gentleman [[PainToTheAss catching his rear end on fire]] and more concerned about his daughter's suitor's bad language than the fact that he's on fire. (To him, words like "bottom", "trousers" and "leg" aren't fit for mixed company.)
401* IResembleThatRemark: The motivation behind Guy Fawkes' Gunpowder Plot:
402--> "Because you're a Catholic and I'm a Catholic, and the king hates Catholics! He seems to think we're always plotting something."
403* IveGotAnXAndImNotAfraidToUseIt: While reporting on the Battle of Marston Moor during the picnic the Royalists are having just prior, Mike Peabody is caught in a surprise attack by the Roundhead forces. He snatches the closest bit of cutlery off Prince Rupert's table and announces "I've got a butter knife and I'm not afraid to use it! You--get back or I ''will'' spread you, I am not joking!"
404* IWantMyMommy: Invoked by a young student warrior in the "Spartan High School Musical" song, and by a fully-grown Spartan warrior in a sketch involving preparation for [[Film/ThreeHundred the battle of Thermopylae]]. Made even funnier when you realise that, as per what the show has already established, 'mommy' would most likely have just clocked them upside the ear and thrown them right back out into the battle.
405** At the end of the "Celtic Boast Battle Rap" the Celt who was stabbed runs out of the tent yelling "MUM!"
406** The general cry of "Mummy!" is used again in a Historical Hospital episode. Only this one makes total sense, considering that the speaker is from Ancient Egypt, is being chased out the door, and has just nearly run into a patient covered head to toe in bandages.
407* IWasBeatenByAGirl: Used nearly word-for-word by a Roman soldier in the Boudicca song.
408* IWasQuiteAFashionVictim: The Georgian period is treated like this, with an entire song dedicated to how Georgian ladies made themselves fashionable. Note that this includes replacing your eyebrows with mouse fur, wearing toxic lead makeup and hanging carrots from your ears.
409* IWouldSayIfICouldSay: Describing Oliver Cromwell during his song, Charles II scoffs that "Old Ollie wasn't jolly, he was glum and he was proud/Would be miserable as sin/Only ''sinning's not allowed''."
410* IdenticalGrandson: Inevitable in a show with all the variously interrelated characters of history played by just a few actors, but particularly noticeable in the Stuart dynasty, with Baynton playing all the Jameses and Charleses shown (plus cousin Rupert). They do however get someone else (semiregular Lawry Lewin) to play Bonnie Prince Charlie.
411* ImagineSpot: What if gladiator school was run like a modern junior high? Or if Henry VIII had access to the internet? Usually courtesy Rattus -- complete with 'imagine if...' and wavy dissolve cut ([[MediumAwareness "Ooh, I'm imaginin' it, I'm imaginin' it...!"]]).
412* IncrediblyLongNote: The kings and queens in the English Kings and Queens Song sing "VIC-TOR-IIIIIIII-AAAAAAAAA" with incredibly long notes to represent the fact that Victoria was (at the time) the longest-reigning English monarch. "I ruled for sixty-three years, you know."
413* InelegantBlubbering: The actors seem to have a penchant for making funny faces when crying. The worst offenders are Jim Howick, Martha Howe-Douglas, and Mathew Baynton.
414* InherentlyFunnyWords: To show his insanity, George III is particularly fond of throwing them around at random, especially "kangaroo" and "banana".
415* InsaneTrollLogic: In "Moon Mayhem", the Russian military leader decides that sending out a dummy that recites subpar recipes for borscht is a great idea for demoralising the Americans, because the recipe will make them doubt their tastebuds, which will in turn make them doubt their government and the whole concept of Western democracy.
416* InstrumentalWeapon: During the musical number "Literally", two of the Vikings are playing guitars that are really axes.
417* InsufferableGenius: Creator/WilliamShakespeare achieves this in the prom special, just before finally being belted unconscious by the caveman he's been insulting. "Uggh! Talks too much!"
418* InsultBackfire: From the Vlad the Impaler sketch:
419--> '''Vlad:''' You know what the Ottomans will say when they see the bodies of 20,000 of my own people spiked on the border?\
420'''Interviewer:''' YoureInsane!\
421'''Vlad:''' Exactly!
422* InsultToRocks: Rattus reveals that George IV's nickname was "Prince of Whales". Then hastily adds how unfair this was -- to the whales.
423* InteractiveNarrator: Used occasionally, notably in the Hatshepsut sketch. Sometimes, as in "Love You to Death", the narrator appears to interact with the cameraman.
424* InternalHomage: Bob Hale's "Fact, fact, fact, and amusing anachronism, except not the last one" MadLibsCatchPhrase is referenced, quite unexpectedly, in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX9spQBSLVo "Spartan Girl"]] mock-advertisement.
425* TheInternetIsForPorn: Yes, it's a kids' show. No, they didn't have the Internet during most of history. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDVgUvkVLEg Yes, it still manages this trope.]]
426* {{Irony}}: Often, as a byproduct of the concept. On the Historical Masterchef sketches, for instance, the most sophisticated food is served by a caveman named Nug.
427* IsThisThingStillOn: After discussing her marital prospects on a Skype equivalent with William Cecil, Elizabeth I announces that she is married to England. Cecil says goodbye and then mutters "She's finally lost it", prompting Elizabeth to respond "I'm still here, Cecil!".
428** Also used at the end of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRWq5Nn5KDk HHTV Sport report]] on Emma Sharp, who ran one thousand miles in a thousand hours. "I mean, she must have cheated, there's no way a ''woman'' - ah, we're not still on air, are we, Pete?"
429* ItWillNeverCatchOn:
430** In one sketch, a monk is called a crackpot for believing that the Earth is round and the Moon causes tides.
431** In another, a Georgian sports presenter claims football is just a fad, and that long after people have gotten over football they'll still be into pinching matches and greased goose grabbing.
432** On scientific exploration into the causes of illness: "A microscope? What do you expect to find, tiny little creatures?!"
433** Another sketch revolves around cavemen studying plans for an ambitious new invention: the 'city'. The idea guy is mocked for coming up with pointlessly 'fancy-pants' concepts like "streets" and "trade".
434** In another, a Parliamentary aide is laughed at for citing research that suggests dumping raw sewage into the Thames ''might'' not be the best idea, and that the subsequent traces of sewage in the drinking water are probably the cause of the current cholera epidemic.
435** A Stuart merchant who encourages his friends to try tea is laughed off at first. "Dead leaves in water? Like a puddle in Autumn?"
436** One of the guests in the Georgian Come Dine With Me sketch believes this about the first Indian restaurant in Britain. The future George IV promptly asks if he's going to finish his curry.
437** After being compelled to sign the Magna Carta, King John scoffs that he'll have the Pope undo it anyway, and "No one will even remember this tomorrow!"
438* JudgementOfTheDead: PlayedForLaughs where one reoccurring sketch called "Stupid Deaths" has Death himself judging the deaths of various people throughout history to determine whether they make it through to the afterlife. However unlike most version of this trope he judges based on how much [[ItAmusedMe the deaths are able to make him laugh]], and if they entertain him enough then he lets them into the afterlife.
439* JustAStupidAccent: Most sketches set somewhere other than England use this. The usual exceptions to this rule are [[TheQueensLatin Ancient Rome]], Ancient Greece, the Aztecs and Incas.
440* KangarooCourt: In the Witchfinders Direct sketch, the 'trial' of the old woman consists of asking her if she owns a cat.
441* KavorkaMan: George IV.
442* KentBrockmanNews: What inevitably happens when a sleek modern news crew (on the 'News at When' broadcast) tries to report on messy historical events. And that's not even ''mentioning'' poor Bob Hale, who was apparently originally meant to be the weatherman. "Our forecast is for lots of Vikings heading down from the north -- but look! The Saxons are fighting back! Wait, here come the Vikings again..."
443* KickTheDog: Shows up a lot, historical class divisions being what they were among other things. A high point of sorts is reached during the Georgian Wife Swap sketch, in which wealthy Lord Posh, ''deeply'' moved by Mrs. Peasant's complaining over her lot at dinner, summons his personal orchestra to play sad music while she tells him all about it... then informs the whole Peasant family that he's razing their cottage... then summons the orchestra ''again'' when they get upset about it.
444** Earlier in that particular skit, Lady Posh, annoyed that Mr and Mrs Peasant's starving little girl has possibly stolen an apple ''out of her ridiculously elaborate hairstyle,'' concludes with a sigh that she'll just have to have the child hanged.
445** Similarly, the Victorian Wife Swap's ending has the Tombleby-Pumblechooks informing the Smikes that the latter will be moving out of the slum... only to be thrown in jail for stealing a lump of coal. To add insult to injury, the T-P's throw the lump away because it was touched by poor people.
446* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: Death is very excited to meet "''the'' Draco," and keeps a collection of autographs from some of history's most famous baddies.
447* LargeHam: Several of the historical figures, of whom Henry VIII, Charles II and Caligula are unsurprisingly foremost. The SHOUTY MAN and Death have their moments as well. Really, watch any sketch with members of the core troupe in the background and you'll see some fairly shameless scene-stealing going on.
448* LastSecondWordSwap: This exchange from the Starbucks -- er, ''Stuart-era'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbYHs3x0gCk coffeehouse sketch]]:
449-->'''Customer:''' Well, tell the king that he's very smart, and in no way at all a silly old -\
450'''Frank:''' Don't push your luck.\
451'''Customer:''' ...farmer.
452** Combined with PerfectlyCromulentWord in the 'Historical First Dates' sketch on the "Ridiculous Romantics" special. Catherine Howard attends her first date with Henry VIII accompanied by Francis Dereham. When Henry asks who he is, Francis starts to say he's her boyfriend, but is kicked by Catherine under the table after he says "boyfr...", and Catherine hurriedly finishes the sentence by saying "Boyfr...ump! It's a new word meaning companion. Or servant."
453* LaughablyEvil: Where to even start. The entire show seems to be made of these guys.
454* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: After the siege of Dunbar Castle ends in abject failure.
455-->'''The Earl of Salisbury:''' If anyone asks, we've been on a walking holiday in the Highlands.
456* LifeOfTheParty: Charles II, who describes himself as "the king who brought back partying". His love of parties is mentioned very often on the show.
457* ListSong: Several, including the Greek and Victorian inventions songs, the English Kings and Queens Song, the list of phrases coined by Shakespeare, and the list of books by Charles Dickens.
458* LiteralMetaphor: The core concept of "Literally", the Viking invasion anthem. "We're gonna set this sleepy town alight/Literally!"
459** Also lampshaded by the Crusader who has just spent hours trying to find the Holy Land by following a goose "filled with the holy spirit": "I never thought I'd be part of a walking metaphor, but that was ''literally'' a wild goose chase."
460* LuxuryPrisonSuite: Newgate, as long as you can afford it. King John Balliol of Scotland also gets one of these in the Tower of London, and ''hates'' it ("You wouldn't keep an animal like this! It's inhumane!") He cheers up noticeably, though, when his lawyer offers to get him banished to France instead.
461* LyricalDissonance: "Work, Terrible Work", an upbeat, catchy song about the horrors of child labor in Victorian England. Based loosely on "Food, Glorious Food", itself an upbeat, catchy song about the horrors of workhouses in Victorian England, from the musical ''{{Theatre/Oliver}}''.
462** As noted above, "Do the Pachacuti" is probably the most relentlessly cheerful, upbeat song about mutilating dead enemies you will ever hear.
463* MadArtist: Their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DCcPLNdUuI portrayal]] of medieval French troubadour Bertran de Born shows shades of this.
464* MadLibsCatchPhrase: Bob Hale has a tendency to give lists in the form of "X, and Y, and Z, except ''not'' Y," where X and Z are historical facts and Y is a humorous anachronism. Usually helicopters. Or mutant sea monsters...
465** Also, HHTV's war correspondent invariably signs off with "This is Mike Peabody, reporting for HHTV News live from [historical event], ''really'' wishing he were somewhere else...!"
466** Anchorwoman Sam does her own version of this to introduce Bob's reports: "Hello, and welcome to the News at When. When? [Time period], when [description of important event]. To tell us more, here's Bob Hale, with the [Subject] Report."
467* MakeupIsEvil: Oliver Cromwell certainly thinks so. ("Especially that eyeshadow with that top.")
468* MarriedToTheJob: Elizabeth I. She claims she married to England.
469* {{Mayincatec}}: Refreshingly averted. The Aztecs and the Incas are appropriately treated as two distinct cultures; The Mayans would eventually appear in the reboot.
470* MeaningfulName: Oh yeah. Notables include Abigail Tight-Corset and Matilda Never-Wash. There are a couple of names that are meaningful but more likely to sail over kid's heads; one character, a Victorian drunk, is named Florence Guttersnipe.
471* MedicalGame: There's a very complicated licensed game that has a mini-game about putting leeches on a sick person's stomach.
472* MediumAwareness: Frequent. At one point, Cliff Whiteley asks Mary Seacole if she'd like to appear on a "historical sketch show for the BBC". When she skeptically asks him "It any good?" he turns and [[BreakingTheFourthWall grins into the camera]]: "It ain't bad!"
473* {{Metaphorgotten}}: A Saxon farmer giving his neighbor advice regarding his barren field reminds him that "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence - unless you're me, 'cause ''that'''s not!"
474* MichaelJacksonsThrillerParody: Death's song in the Scary Special was built up to be this, but surprised audiences by being a pastiche of [[Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic "My Favorite Things"]] instead, except for the Thrilleresque dancing ghouls.
475* MilkingTheGiantCow: Used as a dance move and referred to by name in a behind-the-scenes vid.
476* MiseryTrigger: Mentioning her dear deceased 'Albert' will instantly cause Queen Victoria to dissolve into floods of tears.
477* MistakenForAliens: One [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtOCb2Pck_E Scary Story]] tells the tale of the Green Children of Woolpit, a mysterious, otherworldly-green pair of siblings from the far-off planet of.... ''Belgium.''
478* MistakenForFakeHair: "Victorian Undercover Proprietor" (a parody of ''Series/UndercoverBoss'') has Sir Titus Salt going undercover in one of his mills and discovering how horrible conditions are for his workers. At the end of the sketch, after he reveals himself, one of his workers says "I knew that were a disguise, as soon as I saw the daft fake beard." He yanks on it only to discover it is Sir Titus' real beard.
479* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: The "Real Victorian Hustle" sketch ends with Mat Baynton's crime boss character being ratted out by his young accomplice for refusing to give him his share of the money.
480* MoodWhiplash: After sketches, Rattus will sometimes become a bit sombre when describing the reality behind the funny, especially in re: the First & Second World Wars. ("Well, what do you expect? [[MediumAwareness It is 'Horrible' Histories, after all."]]) They manage to pull it off with impressive tact and taste... to the point where the rat's finally moved to protest after an especially horrible scene: "Do you know, if I'm honest, I'd rather just do the funnies. Couldn't we get [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail a badger or something]] in for the sad bits?"
481* MoralGuardians: A feature of the 'Slimy Stuarts' sketches especially, thanks to the Cavalier/Roundhead conflict. The show is characteristically unsubtle about which side it's on, as per a sketch in which Oliver Cromwell has his relatives arrested for simply showing up at his door to wish him Happy Christmas.
482-->'''Charles II:''' ''(rapping)'' Old Ollie wasn't jolly, he was glum and he was proud\
483Would be miserable as sin, only ''sinning's not allowed!''
484* MotorMouth: Bob Hale's Reports are essentially very extended, very detailed and ''very'' enthusiastic monologues.
485* MourningAnObject: One sketch revolves around Tsarevich Peter III treating one of his toy soldiers getting its head chewed off by a rat as akin to an ''actual murder'', complete with putting the rat on trial, sentencing him to death, and hanging him with a rat-sized noose.
486* MrFanservice: None of the characters specifically -- but the combination of extremely attractive actors and frequent shirtlessness is much too obvious to be entirely coincidental.
487* MumblingBrando: UsefulNotes/PopeAlexanderVI, one of the most [[CorruptChurch corrupt]] popes ever elected, is portrayed as a "[[TheDon mafia boss]]" type of character in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD9PqpG1FFY this sketch]], complete with his actor doing a Marlon Brando impression.
488* MummiesAtTheDinnerTable: One sketch features an unlucky couple enduring dinner at the Raleighs' after Sir Walter's been executed for treason... and thus having to make conversation with his preserved head, in order to avoid upsetting his wife.
489* MundaneMadeAwesome: "If the pirate captain really wanted to kill you, [[MarkedToDie he'd send you...]] '''[[BlackSpot A LITTLE NOTE!]]'''"
490* MyLittlePhony: One sketch in a fifth season episode included the Victorian My Little Pit Pony. This doll described what life was like for horses that worked in coal mines, including breathing coal dust and getting stuck in tunnels. They only came in one color: black.
491* MyLocal: [[TheGrimReaper Death's]] (so he claims) is called "The King's Head Being Chopped Off".
492* MysteryBox: The prizes in Elagabalus's Romo Lottery Millions. Could be a slave or a new house, could be a dead dog, or could be [[ScaryStingingSwarm a swarm of angry bees]]...
493* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Nudity or partial nudity is a common source of humor in the show. In one sketch, Queen Elizabeth and Lord Cecil keep informing a man the articles of clothing he's wearing have recently been made illegal, leaving him standing there with no shirt. In everything relating to the ancient Greek Olympics, including the song "Flame", the participants are naked as well.
494-->'''Greek runner''': No girls could compete or watch, [[ValuesDissonance this may sound rude]], But makes more sense when I tell you we competed nude!
495* NamesakeGag: One sketch showed the Earl of Sandwich inventing the sandwich. This was then followed by the culinary creations of of his friends Baron Hotdog (silly) and Lord Turkey of Twizzler (very silly).
496* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast:: Incan warlord Pachacuti helpfully translates his name as "He Who Shakes the Earth" before he starts describing all the other reasons you should be running.
497* NeverNeedsSharpening: Paul Revere's All-American Toothpaste. You'll never need to use another toothpaste, because once the formula of sugar, butter, breadcrumbs, and gunpowder have done their trick, you won't have any teeth left! (Warning: [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment new gunpowder formula may contain gunpowder]])
498** Also a stone age bed guaranteed never to sag... because it's made of stone.
499* NeverSayDie: Averted throughout the show, most prominently in the "Stupid Deaths" sketches.
500* NewspaperThinDisguise: In the ''Mission: Incompetent'' sketch detailing the attempts of the Black Hand to assassinate the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the first assassin Muhamed Mehmedbašić is hiding behind a newspaper at a cafe, but is too scared of the policeman standing nearby to act.
501* TheNicknamer: There's a sketch about Elizabeth I being this, including her most well-known nickname of "Pygmy" for one of her ministers.
502* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The 'hot Egyptian' (or 'gorgeous Viking', or 'surprisingly handsome Anglo-Saxon') scientist host of the Wonders of the Universe skits is named Brian, looks like him and speaks like him but is totally ''not'' UK pop-science presenter Brian Cox. Totally.
503** Also, the 'angry, shouty' chef host of "Roman Kitchen Nightmares" is so completely ''not'' [[Series/HellsKitchen Gordon Ramsey]].
504** The Shouty Man totally doesn't sound almost identical to infomercial reader Barry Scott, never mind how one sketch about how medieval peasants used fermented urine for clothing detergent happens to include a parody of the tagline from his Cillit Bang infomercial.
505** The Scary Stories narrator totally isn't Vincent Price.
506* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: A hapless man who wants to present a fish to Emperor Tiberius ends up being assaulted with it thanks to the emperor's paranoia. He comments that [[TemptingFate it's a good thing he didn't bring the emperor a crab]]...
507* NoIndoorVoice: Bob Hale and The Shouty Man. Other notable sketches include one with Caligula: "THINK YOU'RE BIGGER THAN ME?!".
508** The show's version of Greg Wallace on the Historical Masterchef segments. After an Aztec chef tells him what a howler monkey is, this ensues:
509--->'''Greg''': That must be the LOUDEST CREATURE ON EARTH!\
510'''Aztec''': [[DeadpanSnarker It's one of them]].
511** From the same sketch:
512--->'''Greg''': I'M SHOUTING FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER!
513* NoJustNoReaction: This is Margaret Tatcher's voice coach's reaction to her attempting a Cockney accent in "Putrid Politics".
514-->'''Voice coach:''' Please, never, ever do that again.
515* NoKillLikeOverkill:
516** The SHOUTY MAN.
517** The conclusion to a song about Victorian inventions... did you know they invented dynamite during that era?
518* NonverbalMiscommunication: In a segment on the sign language of Saxon monks, a monk's attempt to tell his brothers that the Vikings are attacking is first interpreted as "the gorillas are making clay pots" and then "the gorillas are ringing the bells".
519* NotAMorningPerson: The "Wake Like an Egyptian" song depicts both Pharaoh UsefulNotes/{{Hatshepsut}} and Amun-Ra, Egyptian god of the sun, as non-morning people, which is unfortunate as both of them are required by the Egyptian religion to literally get up before the sun.
520* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: Richard III is given this treatment, with a whole song about how he wasn't the cold-hearted murderer that Tudor propaganda described him as.
521* NotHelpingYourCase: A suffragette running out onto a horse race course (and being trampled by a horse) to get the attention of her MP. He reacts by saying "We can't let women vote if they're so silly they'll do that!"
522* NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer: Signs pop up during sketches, to the effect that they're not making up certain historical details... or that they are. (The sign that they are usually says "Silly" or, at least once, "Very Very Silly".)
523** The '[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMp_xGeQ2v0 Victorian Names]]' sketch includes a pop up (as well as a disclaimer beforehand) after ''every single name'' just to reassure us that they're real, and given that they include names like "Never" and "Baboon" this is entirely justified.
524* ObviousObjectCouldBeAnything: In the "Scary Special", a deliveryman delivers what is obviously a scythe wrapped in brown paper. Death wonders what it could be, and when the deliveryman tells him it's a scythe, Death tells him off for ruining the surprise.
525* OhCrap: Several times per episode, although the most spectacular is probably Emperor Elagabalus' dinner guests upon finding a live lion in the powder room.
526* OldTimeyAnkleTaboo: The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMZuObBv8uM Surfing the Web Safely"]] video has a prudish Victorian going online and being shocked by all kinds of smut: such as women showing their ankles, or appearing in public without gloves.
527* OldTimeyBathingSuit: The sketch "Victorian Beach Watch" demonstrates some problems with these, namely that they are hard to swim in as well as hard to put on, leading to lifeguards not being able to save someone before he shows up and clocks them upside the ear.
528* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: Real-life Aristotle was the original, and the show's version sings it thus: "I took all their theories higher / Discovered water, ether, earth, air, and fire / Mastered every science, I'm Mister Know-It-All!"
529* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: King George IV complains that he's most known for his obesity, rather than his achievements or interesting life.
530* OneSteveLimit: Deliberately -- not to say enthusiastically -- averted by writer Rickard, who [[https://twitter.com/#!/Lazbotron/status/139464859321503744 has admitted]] to shoehorning 'Geoff's into his sketches wherever possible. Most noticeable with the various Historical Paramedics, who regardless of era are invariably named Geoff and Nigel (Rickard's father's name).
531** Every horse is named Dobbin (or in the Roman chariot racing sketch, 'Dobbinus').
532** Averted with Mary Queen of Scots, who had four ladies-in-waiting during her time in France, all called Mary. Cue several jokes about Mary Queen of Scots wanting to speak to Mary, and all four answering her together.
533* OnlySaneWoman: Anchorwoman Sam is appropriately perturbed by Bob Hale's weirdness... which doesn't stop her from taking advantage of it from time-to-time in the service of a good punchline, as in the Human (Evolution) Report.
534** In a sketch with a Saxon husband and wife, the wife is the only one to realise that burning their crops will mean they starve.
535* OnTheNext: "Historical Wife Swap" sketches generally end with one of these, as does 'My Big Fat (Medieval Scottish) Wedding'.
536* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: In the WWI special when covering the incredibly brutal Battle of the Somme, Bob Hale starts off as his usual chipper self ("and the funny thing about the Somme is..."), but then drops all of that and admits that it really wasn't funny at all. It's quite a sombre moment for the series in general.
537* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Played with to heighten the absurdity of historical cliches -- most notably during the 'Savage Stone Age' segments, in which the performers routinely switch from subliterate grunts to perfect English without missing a beat.
538** Also used to great effect during a 'Putrid Pirates' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwn5K89dE5c sketch]] featuring the notorious Captain Black Bart listing off his rules to the new recruits. He starts off in bog-standard 'Arrr, me mateys!' mode... right up until "Rule One: Fighting!":
539--->'''Black Bart''' (abruptly switching to modern 'posh' accent): "''No fighting''. It's antisocial, and it's a good way to lose an eye, isn't it Mulligan?"
540** During the Dick Turpin song, sung otherwise with an assumed accent, the words "that's lame" are in the actor's normal voice.
541* OopNorth: The 'Home Guard Injuries' sketch is taken specifically from the accident reports of the Durham division. The attempts at the accent are almost as hilarious as the intended comedy.
542* PaintTheTownRed: "We're gonna paint the whole town red / Literally! / With the blood of the dead / Literally!"
543* ParentalBonus: Basically the entire thing, although see of course ParentService.
544* ParentService: Go on, just try to find one clip on Website/YouTube with [[PrettyBoy Mathew Baynton]] in it that doesn't have comments gushing over how 'fit' (British for 'gorgeous') Mat is. Seriously, they're even on the one in which he plays an eighty-year-old Charles Darwin.
545** Larry Rickard, one of the writers/performers, has also referred to costar [[SilverFox Ben Willbond]] as 'mum candy' in [[http://fuckyeahhorriblehistories.tumblr.com/post/2992581549/montague-foselpeck-witchfindersdirect-omg one of his tweets]] -- and of course, Rickard himself and Jim Howick get their share of this as well. It's all become something of a behind-the-scenes RunningGag.
546** Which was in turn lampshaded during a 2011 pre-UsefulNotes/{{BAFTA}} ceremony interview with the cast. "What's the secret to your tremendous success?" Rickard (completely deadpan): "Mat's eyes." Rickard also referred the 'why does the show appeal to adults?' question to Willbond the mum candy.
547* ParodyCommercial: Several, including "God Compare" and "We Buy Any Monk."
548* PerfectlyCromulentWord: Combined with LastSecondWordSwap in the 'Historical First Dates' sketch on the "Ridiculous Romantics" special. Catherine Howard attends her first date with Henry VIII accompanied by Francis Dereham. When Henry asks who he is, Francis starts to say he's her boyfriend, but is kicked by Catherine under the table after he says "boyfr...", and Catherine hurriedly finishes the sentence by saying "Boyfr...ump! It's a new word meaning companion. Or servant."
549* PervertedSniffing: Alexander the Great takes an ominously casual sniff of his general Hephaestion's hair, in the [[HoYay notorious]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvRWUCfAPs0 "Alexandria" sketch.]] According to Ben Willbond's [[https://twitter.com/221Bea/statuses/262459948225683456 Twitter]], this was a ThrowItIn by Willbond himself.
550* PieInTheFace: A sketch on Victorian manners, in which almost everything a gentleman does whilst on a picnic results in him being slapped by his lady, ends with him oh-so-politely ascertaining that there's nothing ''at all'' improper about an apple pie... then shoving it into her face. "Just be grateful I forgot the cream!"
551* PirateGirl: Cutlass Liz who co-hosts the Pirate Shopping Network (until her partner pulls out a bag of sugar. Then she draws a pistols and robs him. She is a pirate, after all).
552* PlankGag: In a sketch about Edward III's wedding in the unfinished Yorkminster, his bride - Philippa of Hainault - gets clonked on the head when a workman carrying a beam turns around.
553* PleaseShootTheMessenger: Pausanius's messenger is savvy enough to read the message and survive.
554* PoirotSpeak: Sometimes. For example, the sketch at a German supply store during the Battle of Stalingrad -- the whole thing is in English, except for the words ''Herr'' and ''Auf Wiedersehn''.
555* PokeThePoodle: When the Goths take over Rome, they plan to destroy it... only to decide against destroying the arenas, the aqueduct, the houses, and the art. They eventually content themselves with smashing a few jugs, before heading off to tidy up in the Roman baths.
556* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Averting this is pretty much the entire point.
557* PottyFailure: Happens to one of the ladies in the Georgian Court Toilets sketch, where they have to wait in line to ask the queen permission to use the toilets.
558* PorkyPigPronunciation: This happens in an episode.
559-->'''Tudor Woman:''' William Shakespeare was fenome-fenomena-fenom- *sigh* he was good.
560* PoweredByAForsakenChild: For the Victorian ''Series/DragonsDen'' segment, all of the new labour saving inventions being presented consist of a street child. Something of a running theme in the 'Vile Victorians' segments generally; see also the "Work, Terrible Work!" song, an advertisement for New! Victorian Child (ie. chimney sweeps) and a sketch in which among a kid's fifth birthday presents is a job in the factory alongside his dad -- who then implies that they thus won't have to worry about a ''sixth'' birthday present.
561* PrettyBoy: Mathew Baynton. The thumbnail for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEQ2fJEzTz8 this compilation]] of him has several pink hearts scattered throughout the image; his name is also written in pink.
562* PrincelingRivalry: This is a common pastime among the various royal families. Cleopatra murders most of her siblings to facilitate her rise to power. Royal cousins Stephen and Matilda fight over the crown of England in the Anarchy. Tudor siblings Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth (as well as their cousins Jane Grey and Mary Stuart) vie to succeed Henry VIII.
563* PronouncingMyNameForYou: PR agent Cliff Whitely always has to remind people that his name is pronounced "White-LEE", not "White-LIE".
564* PsychopathicManchild: In the "Historical Dentist" sketches, Mandy the modern dentist seems all too gung-ho about using historical remedies for toothache, or at least allowing the historical dentists to do so. This is particularly prominent with the Roman dentist, one of whose cures involves a ''violently-killed man''!
565%%** [[RoyalBrat Elagabalus]], [[TeensAreMonsters natch]].
566%%* PublicExecution: Several.
567* PuffOfLogic: Merlin disappears upon being told that he's not real in the "It's Not True!" song.
568* {{Pun}}: Not quite as bad as the books, but still manages to get off some ''serious'' groaners. "At night, the Vikings navigated by the stars. Take a right at Britney Spears, then a left at Angelina Jolie! Hahaha!"
569* PunctuatedForEmphasis: In one of the Fashion Fix segments, a Celtic warrior reacts badly to his makeover and starts to work himself into a berserker frenzy. The Gok Wan {{Expy}} presenter cuts him off with "Not. On. My. Show. ''Sister''."
570* PungeonMaster: Death quite fancies himself as one, as does Rattus. Also a favourite tactic of Tudor jester Will Somers, though in his case it's justified somewhat as he's frantically trying to keep Henry VIII happy.
571[[/folder]]
572
573[[folder:Tropes Q to Z]]
574* TheQueensLatin: Standard in the 'Rotten Romans' sketches.
575* QuintessentialBritishGentleman: The animated character who introduces the "Vile Victorians" segments is one of these, complete with bowler hat. He even ends each statement by tipping his hat and saying "Good day."
576* ARareSentence: In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07cCre_iwxw this sketch]]: "This is Dom Duckworth, in Stuart England, covered in the remains of an ancient Egyptian mummy - a sentence I thought I'd never hear myself say."
577* ReadingsBlewUpTheScale: Bob Hale's [[ThingOMeter Thing-O-Meters]] frequently get broken by the sheer magnitude of whatever they're measuring, whether it be the number of heads cut off in the French Revolution or the drama level of World War II.
578* ReadingTheEnemysMail: A sketch has Sir Francis Walsingham advertising his new postal service where your mail will be picked up, sorted, read by a spy...
579* ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud: Florence Nightingale does this with the directions "thumbs up" and "point" in the "Florence Nightingale School of Nursing" skit in "Formidable Florence Nightingale".
580* ReallyGetsAround: Henry VIII has six wives. Charles II often "broke the wedding rules". Rameses II also has six wives . . . at the same time, not to mention all his girlfriends. George IV has "loved more girls than [he] [[BigEater ate pies.]]"
581* RealJokeName: The point of the "Real Victorian Names" sketch (as for instance "Minty Badger" and "Princess Cheese").
582* RealMenWearPink:
583** Vercingetorix - "a man so deadly, he can wear pigtails and still look hard."
584** Death uses a fluffy pink pen.
585* RealityIsUnrealistic: Inherent in the premise.
586* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: As per FloweryInsults above, Creator/WilliamShakespeare wins a fight with a tavern patron by giving him an ''epic'' version of this.
587* RecklessGunUsage: Mat Baynton's portrayal of Dick Turpin involves a lot of dramatic gesturing, including at his own face and chest, while DualWielding pistols.
588* RedplicaBaron: Manfred von Richthofen appears in a sketch in the "Frightful First World War Special". He is portrayed as a GloryHound who tells terrible jokes and is surrounded by a band of [[YesMan yes-men]] who cheer him on and laugh at his jokes whose demands for a new war trophy are hampered by a shortage of silver.
589* ReducedToRatburgers: Unsurprisingly the show has done several sketches about the various unappetising things people have been reduced to eating over the centuries. For example, one Historical Masterchef had a First World War soldier eating the lice he plucked out of his clothing, which visibly squicked the hosts.
590* RegalRuff: Turns up, naturally enough, in the "Terrible Tudors" sketches. One sketch in particular--in "Mardy Mary Queen of Scots" (Series 6, Episode 4)--shows the problems caused when ruffs reached there most ridiculous extremes, with men meeting in public being forced to feed each other with overlong spoons due to the size of their ruffs.
591* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: As per history, a distinctly premature obituary is Alfred Nobel's inspiration for establishing his eponymous prizes (as it revealed that otherwise he would be remembered solely as the 'Merchant of Death', ie the inventor of dynamite). "And I will call them... Prizemite!"
592* RhetoricalRequestBlunder: A sketch involves Henry II explaining to HHTV's ''Royalty Today'' correspondent how he accidentally became responsible for his friend Thomas Becket's murder in history's most famous example of this trope. Thing is, Henry's still being followed by the three "idiot knights" whose over-literal interpretation of "Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest!?" led to Becket's death. This becomes a new and immediate problem when, pressed for more details, Henry jokingly asks if no one will rid him of this troublesome interviewer...
593* RidiculousExchangeRates: Interbellum hyperinflation complicates an episode of “Who Wants to Be a German Millionaire?”, as the purchasing power of the mark keeps dropping between rounds until it is not enough to buy the wheelbarrow the contestant needs to carry the money home. It starts at 64 million German Marks, then 128 million, then 128 ''billion'', then 128 '''trillion''', all which can afford just a wheelbarrow, then ''that'' not being enough to afford the wheelbarrow just a few seconds later.
594* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: As his song says, William Wallace's rebel career possibly began as this, depending on the veracity of stories of English forces harassing his family and killing his wife.
595* RockersSmashGuitars: The Luddites do this at the end of their punk-rock musical number. After that, one of them then calls out "Solo!" and another one, now that they have no instruments, says "On what... exactly?"
596* RogerRabbitEffect: Happens a few times early in Series 1, as when the cartoon Roman from the era introductions walks in on a Shouty Man advertisement to inform a disgusted audience that Romans used urine for mouthwash.
597* RooflessRenovation: A sketch shows the marriage between [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfPlantagenet Edward III]] and Philippa of Hainault in the still unfinished Yorkminister. The builder is trying to remember what it is he still has to finish. He remembers it is the roof when it starts snowing.
598* RoyalBrat: Emperor Elagabalus. Also George IV, in all but actual age.
599* RoyallyScrewedUp: Lots of fun had with this one.
600* RumpRoast: In one sketch a Victorian man's trousers have caught fire. The funny part isn't only that his bottom is on fire, it's that any of the words another Victorian man is trying to use to inform him of this, even "trousers" and "legs", are considered too rude, so all the man who's on fire is doing is reprimanding the other man for his language. At the end, he finally realizes what's happening and yells "My trousers! My legs! My BOTTOM!"
601* RunningGag: The numerous [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Not Making This Up Disclaimers]].
602* SadistTeacher: A carryover from the books, and even less subtle. One sketch on Stone Age burial rituals fades out to Rattus and a single tiny pea on a plate: "Here's a brain I've prepared myself. As you can see, from a PE teacher! Hah!"
603** When a fed-up Death decides to quit in one Stupid Deaths sketch, the queue of corpses asks what other job a 'miserable, sick-looking' Grim Reaper could possibly do. He suggests becoming a school headmaster. Everyone nods thoughtfully.
604** Then there's this doozy from Elagabalus in the "Evil Emperors' Song":
605--->''You'd think to children, I'd be cuter\
606No, I was their biggest executor\
607Used their guts to read the future\
608Says here I should get a job as a school tutor!''
609** Also the 'Historical Headmasters', who threaten to beat/cane students for arriving at school after dawn, wearing shoes and being caught stealing (it should be clarified that it's not the student stealing that's the problem, it's his getting ''caught'').
610* SadlyMythtaken: Downplayed but still present. Viking Heaven is shown as only [[WarriorHeaven Valhalla]] and Viking Hell (or Hel) is shown only as Náströnd (made out of Serpent's bones and the only drink is Goat's Urine) and called Viking Hell/Hel, ignoring the other parts of Hel(which is closer to PurgatoryAndLimbo apart from Náströnd anyway) and Fólkvangr is never mentioned.
611* ScarpiaUltimatum: ''Yes'', still a children's show. King George I still manages to heavily imply this in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPtYmq5qFVA Born 2 Rule]]:
612-->I was a hunk, girls adored me, ladies all swooned before me
613-->They would do ''anything'' for me, or I'd have their husbands killed...
614* SceneryCensor: Used on two different naked Celtic warriors - one on Historical Fashion Fix and one in the "Celtic Boast Battle" song.
615* SchoolhouseRockLesson: A musical number about a historical figure or event OnceAnEpisode.
616* ScoutOut: "The Hitler Youth. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzhgAtA_1Y0 It is just like ze Scouts... only EVIL!]]"
617* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Cesare Borgia gleefully invokes this in "The Borgia Family Song": it's no problem being a violent, power-hungry sociopath when your dad's the Pope!
618* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem:
619** As per history, King Charles I tries this tactic on Parliament in the "English Civil War Song". Also as per history, it doesn't go over at all well.
620** Also applied to Nero's, erm, "contributions" to the 67 AD Olympics:
621---> Crashed my racing chariot, but still awarded gold\
622Hey, my Olympics, my rules, to argue would be bold!
623** UsefulNotes/PopeAlexanderVI -- ''aka'' Rodrigo Borgia -- uses this to get away with his decadence and corruption.
624* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Rodrigo Borgia became Pope via bribery.
625* SelfDeprecation: A few people on the Stupid Deaths sketches find their deaths just as funny as TheGrimReaper does.
626* SerkisFolk: The video-game advertisement sketches ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2DBfEHodDY "Warrior"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27UdLzEqUCY "Duat"]], et cetera) all star video-game animation versions of the main cast.
627* ShirtlessScene: Quite a few for a supposed kids' show, to the point where it may overall be second only to ''Film/{{Twilight}}'' for shirtless FanService. One sketch about the Greek Olympics, where most games were played naked, had a sports presenter cover up the Greek athlete with his clipboard, followed by a report on the Greek wrestling, featuring a Greek athlete in a loincloth.
628** Often {{lampshaded}} by said shirtless men covering up their chests rather obviously. Most obviously of all in the aforementioned 'preparation for Thermopylae' sketch, in which the warrior complains outright that the shield he's been given "won't even cover my nipples!"
629* ShootTheBuilder: In his "Stupid Deaths" appearance, UsefulNotes/IvanTheTerrible explains to Death the acts that earned the sobriquet "the Terrible". This includes the blinding of Postnik Yakovlev--the architect who designed St. Basil's--so he could never make anything so beautiful again
630* ShootTheMessenger: The trailer for the ''Pausanias'' movie has the messenger Pausanias sends to King Xerxes wonder why none of the other messengers Pausanias has sent to Xerxes have ever returned. He discovers the message is full of treasonous offers, and ends with an instruction to kill the messenger after reading the message.
631* ShoutOut: ''So many.'' The songs in particular, featuring references to artists such as Music/TheBeeGees, Music/MichaelJackson, Music/TheMonkees, Music/LadyGaga and Adam and the Ants. Recognisable personalities include [[Series/HellsKitchen Gordon Ramsay]] ("Hello, I'm an angry shouty Roman chef!") and UK newscaster Peter Snow (as sent up by Bob Hale). A lot of the sketches are more-or-less direct takeoffs of Creator/MontyPython (especially the ones set in Rome) or ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' (the Tudors). Entire segments are based off various types of reality shows, eg. Masterchef, Wife Swap, Come Dine With Me, etc. [[ShoutOut/HorribleHistories See Here.]]
632* ShovelStrike: A sketch on the Saxon weregild features a Saxon woman who keeps killing members of the family she is involved in a blood feud with by hitting them in the head with a shovel; much to the frustration of the king who is attempting to explain the new law.
633* ShrunkenOrgan: One sketch on Stone Age burial rituals fades out to Rattus and a single tiny pea on a plate: "Here's a brain I've prepared myself. As you can see, from a PE teacher! Hah!"
634* SignatureLaugh: Rattus punctuates his stories with a distinctive "Hahahah!" and excited little paws.
635** Elagabalus' delightfully obnoxious laugh.
636* SigningOffCatchPhrase:
637** "Back to you, Sam!"
638** "This is Mike Peabody live from___ for HHTV News, ''really'' wishing he was somewhere else...!"
639* SkewedPriorities: A Pilgrim expresses disbelief at one of his fellows for carrying 150 pairs of shoes in his pack. "Now that's wack."
640** Also see the entry for RumpRoast; you'd think someone would pay more attention to the fact that their [[UnusualEuphemism biscuits are burning]] than the fact that their friend is daring to use such foul language as "trousers."
641* SlapSlapKiss: William the future Conqueror pursues his courtship of his future wife Matilda of Flanders by pulling her hair and knocking her down, to the shock of the trailer narrator for the [[ShowWithinAShow (fictional) romantic drama about the couple "Mud and Matilda."]]
642* SlaveBrand: In a sketch on the Tudor punishment of branding perjurers with a large 'P' in the middle of their forehead, a perjurer applying for a job firstly claims it is a birthmark, and then that he slipped a fell on to a hot branding iron.
643* SlaveGalley: [=S1E6=] has "Things to remember when you're a Galley slave": a two-part parody of airline passenger announcements.[[note]]This is one of the show's rare slips, as the people rowing Roman galleys were almost always regular members of the Roman navy and not slaves. However, there were a few desperate occasions when slaves were pressed into service as rowers for a naval battle, with the promise of their freedom if the battle was won. [[AccidentallyCorrectWriting One of them happened to be a battle mentioned in the sketch.]][[/note]]
644* SlobsVersusSnobs: Many of the "Historical Wife Swap" videos involve a wealthy family from a certain time period swapping wives with a poor family of the same time period.
645* SnowMeansDeath: This is the case at the execution of Earl Thomas of Lancaster--and is taken gleeful advantage of by the audience, much to the exasperation of the earl, who finds it tricky to FaceDeathWithDignity while being pelted with snowballs.
646* SoUnfunnyItsFunny: Used in the aforementioned 'stay calmer when you want to harm a llama' sketch.
647* SpecialEffectFailure: InUniverse examples when Jasper Maskelyne -- and later, in the Renaissance Report, Bob Hale -- fail to dramatically disappear in a puff of smoke. Bob at least is sanguine about this. "Yep, didn't work in rehearsal, either."
648** Occasionally happens simply because the show can't afford CGI elephants or snakes. They do a valiant job with two stagehands and some grey felt though.
649* SpeciesSurname: Actually, Species Full Name. Rattus Rattus is also the scientific name for the black rat.
650* {{Spinoff}}: ''Horrible Histories: Gory Games''.
651* SpitTake: A frequent reaction.
652* SpringtimeForHitler: After having his ship fouled up by [[ItMakesSenseInContext seasick cattle]], pirate Basil Hood tries to get himself arrested by the Royal Navy. However, the captain finds the ship so disgusting that he lets the pirates go.
653* StealthPun: The Owain Glyndwr song is a pastiche of "Delilah" by Music/TomJones -- however, when Owain mentions being given the title of Prince... of Wales, it segues into a pastiche of "Kiss", which was also performed by Jones, but originally by Prince.
654* StockFootage: Used in the Monarchs song, including some footage from earlier HH episodes. The Neil Armstrong sketch also features footage from the Apollo landings.
655** Used liberally throughout ''We're History,'' the final song of the series.
656* StockYuck: Sprouts. Also, Turkey Twizzlers.
657* StrawMisogynist: The Victorian man in the Mary Anning sketch takes this trope up to eleven. He is in such disbelief that a woman found so many fossils he patronizes her and [[StealingTheCredit pretends to have found them himself]]. Fortunately, he gets his comeuppance when Mary Anning [[TheDogBitesBack hurls her fossils at him]]!
658* StuckInAChimney: A sketch from the Victorian era featured aristocrats hiring a child chimney sweeper to clean the chimney out, leading to him dislodging three teenagers {{and|Zoidberg}} Santa Claus.
659* StupidCrooks: How Guy Fawkes and his band of conspirators are portrayed.
660* StylisticSuck: The awkward but earwormy jingles, acting and singing in many of the parodies -- notably "Stay Calmer When You Want a Harm a Llama" -- are 110% deliberate and meant to evoke cheap adverts and infomercials.
661* SubParSupremacist: In ''Awesome [=USA=]'', the series shows how Agent Moses freed slaves and showed how she outsmarted the slave owners; she was actually [[SweetPollyOliver a woman called Harriet Tubman]], she hid by simply reading a newspaper, and distracted slave owners with a chicken.
662--> '''Slave''': Lady, either you very, very clever, or these slave owners are very, very stupid.\
663'''Agent Moses''': A little bit of both boys, little bit of both.
664* SubvertedKidsShow: More like a subverted kid's album, but still, in the form of a Parody Commercial for a children's album made by Joseph Stalin. Also, a rare over sixes example in the Make Show segments.
665* SuddenlyShouting:
666** Before the [=aBook=] came out, the only way to get your poetry to the masses was by writing it on long, ''awkward'' scrolls, OR BY SHOUTING REALLY LOUD!
667** The initially amiable Edward I displays this whenever dealing with his unhappy Welsh neighbors, to the consternation of the Gross Designs host.
668** The spoof of Greg Wallace once said "I'M SHOUTING FOR NO REASON"
669** Inverted when William Wallace takes issue with his further home expansion plans.
670--->'''Wallace:''' [[Film/{{Braveheart}} YOU MAY TAKE OUR LIVES]] -- but you will ''never'' get planning permission to build loads of castles in Scotland.
671* SuffrageAndPoliticalLiberation: "The Suffragette Song" gives a potted history of the Woman's Suffrage Movement in Britain. You think you know some fierce girls? You ain’t heard nothing yet. According to the song, the one thing that worked was WWI when women put down their banners, supported the men’s fight and worked hard to help them win the war. After that, men were finally all "Okay ladies… You were right!"
672* TheSuffragette: "The Suffragette Song" has suffragettes sing about their plight and fight.
673** Millie Fawcett is identified as a founder of the cause who started the battle for women's rights. She argued that the government should change the laws. Women have to obey laws and rules, they work and pay taxes, so they should be able to influence those rules, too.
674** Emmeline Pankhurst is their new leader for peaceful protests that started in 1903, but they got no reaction, so they needed "drastic action". They proceed with civil disobedience, vandalism, attacking [=MPs=], smashing up shops, burning down churches, chaining themselves to palace gates etc.
675** Miss Davison and her heroic sacrifice gets a shout-out. (Though in all probability she didn't deliberately jump in front of the horse and was in fact trying to attach a "Votes for women" badge onto the King's horse as a statement. Unfortunately it went wrong and she ended up getting trampled to death by horses.)
676--->Miss Davison please take the mic\
677We became more extreme\
678Derby day June 13\
679In front of king and queen\
680Committed sacrifice supreme\
681Crept unseen between the team\
682And crowds watching the race\
683And threw myself under a horse\
684To try and make our case\
685Became a famous martyr
686* SurroundedByIdiots: Saladin has to (very slowly) explain his plan for the Battle of Hattin to a couple of them, and then one of them asks him to ''repeat'' it...
687* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Francis Walsingham's new postal service ''definitely isn't'' having your mail read by spies. ("Wait -- by denying we're using spies, [[DiscussedTrope it's pretty clear that we ''are'' using spies]], isn't it...")
688* TakeThat (possibly more TakeThatCritics): Simon Cowell... for some reason, the only person this show has it in for more than teachers. They're not too fond of [[Series/MasterChef Greg Wallace]], either.
689** "A ''three-hour'' poem? Still, I suppose it's better than some of the acts on ''Series/BritainsGotTalent'', ha ha!"
690* TalkingAnimal: Rattus Rattus (named for his species) -- a puppet {{Expy}} of a similar rat character from the books -- hosts the original series, explaining and clarifying the historical information presented in each sketch... in his own inimitable fashion (describing the cause of TheBlackDeath: "So that's Rats 1, Humans 0.") Despite the tiny swords and top hats, he appears to be quite content merely to snigger at the horrible humans from beneath their floorboards... at least until the behind-the-scenes vid that reveals he's moved to Hollywood to become a Star, or barring that become a historical consultant to Creator/StevenSpielberg.
691* TangledFamilyTree: The poor "This is Your Reign" presenter gets very confused (and {{squick}}ed) by Cleopatra's family tree -- including her marrying [[BrotherSisterIncest two of her brothers]] [[ParentalIncest and her father]] -- when she appears on his show. Also comes up in the "Norman Family Tree" song (which covers the medieval battle for the English throne between Henry, Stephen and two would-be Empress Matildas), to the extent that at one point they resort to an onscreen diagram.
692* TeensAreMonsters: Elagabalus was quite possibly the original... something the show plays up for all it's worth. "I'm so random! Huhuhuhuhuhuh!"
693* TemptingFate: At one point in the "Court of Historical Law" sketch featuring Tsar Peter III's case against a rat (or possibly 'a mouse, with delusions of grandeur') that he found nibbling his toy soldiers:
694-->'''Judge:''' Well, this certainly can't get any weirder...\
695'''Peter:''' ''(triumphantly produces a teeny little gallows)''\
696'''Judge:''' ...Yes it could. It could get weirder.
697** Used again in the Borgias' song:
698---> '''Cesare:''' I am the mostest powerfulest, evilest of all\
699As long as Dad's alive, there's not a single chance I'll fall!\
700'''Rodrigo:''' ''(Dies)''\
701'''Cesare:''' [[OhCrap Aw, no...]]
702** And earlier, in a 'Fashion Fix' segment making over a Georgian peasant into a nobleman:
703--->'''Host:''' Now, the next thing we need to do is get you out of those filthy clothes!\
704'''Peasant:''' ''(staring at himself wearing white makeup and rouge)'' Well, I certainly can't look any more ridiculous...\
705''(GilliganCut to peasant in full lordly costume, complete with brocaded satin, rhinestones and high heels)''\
706'''Peasant:'''... I stand corrected.
707** In the "English Civil War" song:
708--->'''King Charles I''': Your pathetic war will finish even before it's begun!\
709'''The Roundheads''': We've taken Charles prisoner, THE ROUNDHEADS HAVE WON!\
710'''King Charles I''': [[OhCrap Oh.]]
711* ThickerThanWater: Namechecked in the Borgia Family song.
712* ThievesCant: Two sketches explored these: one where [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9akhuIQNlc the news was read out in Tudor criminal slang]], and another where a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IotMiYGKFv4 newbie crook is stumped by his partners' Victorian criminal slang.]]
713* ThingOMeter: Bob Hale is fond of them. The "French Revolution Report" has a Head-Cutting-Off-O-Meter and a [[Series/BlackAdder Cunning-Plan]]-O-Meter, for example.
714* ThisIsMyNameOnForeign: Alexander the Great decides to name one of his cities something other than Alexandria for once. He'll name this one Iskenderun. "Why Iskenderun?" "It's Turkish." "...is it Turkish for ''Alexandria''?" "'''YES'''."
715* ThisPageWillSelfDestruct: The ''Mission: Incompetent'' sketch detailing the Black Hand's assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand ends with their briefing saying "This message--and most of western Europe--will self-destruct in 90 seconds". The assassins sit around the table looking smug until they realize they were receiving their briefing by phone. They hurriedly shove it around the table before it explodes, leaving them with AshFace
716* ThoseWackyNazis: The particular version of EvilIsHammy (see above) used in the WWII sketches. "Join the Hitler Youth: Just like the Scouts... only EVIL!"
717-->'''Small boy:''' But I'm only 10...\
718'''Hitler:''' ''(gives Nazi salute)'' Talk to ze hand, 'cos ze face ain't listening.
719** And from a later sketch, detailing how the German response to D-Day was delayed thanks to his guards' reluctance to disturb 'Mr. Grumpy Pants' at his nap:
720--->'''SS Guard 1:''' But if we wake ze Fuhrer, he will... why, he will... get in ''such'' a paddy!\
721'''SS Guard 2:''' Ooh, such a paddy he will get in!
722* ThrowTheBookAtThem: In the Shouty Man's ad for 'New Emperor Statue', the bookworm emperor kills the warrior emperor by hitting him over the head with a massive tome.
723* ToiletHumour: Up to and including a couple sketches actually set in the Roman communal toilets.
724* TooDumbToLive: Fittingly, a number of people in the Stupid Deaths sketches. Perhaps most notably Hannah Twynnoy, who, when a travelling circus came to her small Georgian village, thought it would be hilarious to ''repeatedly poke the tiger with a stick.''
725* TotallyRadical: In-universe, as used by the title character in the ''"You've Been Artois'd!''" sketch. "I know these words, you see? I am 'street', yes?"
726* TrialBalloonQuestion: Bonnie Prince Charlie sounds out a potential helper by pretending to be conducting a door-to-door poll about himself in a silly voice.
727* {{Tsundere}}: Elizabeth I was one of the originals.
728** Mary Queen of Scots is portrayed as a Sweet type in her special episode. Her ''deredere'' side is distinguished by her French accent, and her ''tsuntsun'' side by her Scottish accent.
729* TwinkleSmile: Elizabeth I's disgustingly rotten teeth twinkle yellow in the "Tudor Sugar-Paste Toothpaste" sketch.
730* UncannyValleyMakeup: In the "Gorgeous Georgian Lady" song, the usually lovely Martha Howe-Douglas models historical Georgian cosmetics that make her look horrifying from the DeliberateValuesDissonance. The lyrics explaining that the ingredients include lead and dead mice just make it worse.
731* UndignifiedDeath: Showcasing these is the point of the Stupid Deaths skits.
732* UnfortunateNames: According to "King of Bling," ''Hortense Mancini''~!
733* {{Unishment}}: In one Historical Masterchef sketch, starving Saxon peasant Eidbert is arrested for trading his son for a chicken. Upon being told the jail has food, he's thrilled.
734* UniversalAdaptorCast: The core troupe tend to fit into this, playing the same basic types across all historical eras.
735* UniversallyBelovedLeader: Charles II claims to have this in his IAmGreatSong.
736-->'''Charles II:''' I'm the King loved by everyone, my song is done.
737* UnknownRival: Arguably, Mary Seacole to Florence Nightingale.
738* UnusualEuphemism: As noted above, the Charles II rap covers his legendary libido thusly: "As King, I must admit I broke the wedding rules..."
739** "Carthaginian" is used as an Unusual Euphemism during "Snakes on a Ship." Specifically, they're [[ShoutOut tired of these Carthaginian snakes.]]
740* UnwantedRescue: Socrates explains it thus: "Look, no real philosopher fears death. If you rescue me, people will still find me ''really annoying''; I'll end up in prison again."
741* UnwantedSpouse: Caroline of Brunswick to George IV. In his song it's portrayed as one-sided, as she hugs an unenthused George while smiling brightly and is said to die after finally realizing that he hates her.
742* UpperClassTwit: A staple, as exemplified by Blenkinsop & Maltravers in the 'Causes of [=WWI=]' sketch. Mike Peabody narrowly escapes lynching over being mistaken for one in the 'Fall of the Bastille' sketch.
743* UrExample: And possibly TropeNamer: a late TheSixties history show for children called ''The Complete and Utter History of Britain'' which covered historical event in the same irreverent way. The influence of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Complete_and_Utter_History_of_Britain TCAUHOB]], which primarily starred and was scripted by Creator/MichaelPalin and Creator/TerryJones, may well explain the Python-reminiscent moments in HH.
744* VandalismBackfire: The cop in charge of investigating the Great Fire of London tells one his subordinates to "Clear his desk!" and then dramatically sweeps everything off the desk to emphasize his point. His subordinate then looks from the desk to his boss and says "That's not my desk".
745* VillainSong: Several. Henry VIII's especially is deliberately styled in the traditional Disney manner: "I'm Henry the Eighth, I had six sorry wives/Some might say I ruined their lives..."
746** Dick Turpin, Blackbeard, Cleopatra and Pachacuti also have their own villain songs, albeit much less traditional versions. The Pachacuti song in particular, considering it's styled as an annoyingly catchy summer novelty song.
747** The Borgia Family also gets its own villain song.
748** The most JustForFun/{{Egregious}} villain song is probably the aforementioned 'Evil Emperors Song' by Caligula, Elagabalus, Commodus and Nero.
749** Let's not forget "I'm Minted", where Crassus gleefully recounts his cruelty.
750** There's also "Ain't Staying Alive", sung by the Aztec priests.
751** Don't forget "Literally" by the Viking raiders. ''Vikingland'' [[InvertedTrope inverts this]] by explaining how the Vikings built nice villages, set up trade routes, and in general improved life in England and Northern Scotland.
752** There's also an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] by legendary royal villain Richard III, who sings about how he was in reality ''not'' evil.
753** 'Bloody' Mary Tudor also gets a musical chance to explain that she really was ''trying'' to be good (yes, back then that could easily include burning 'heretics' at the stake) and wasn't so much unsuccessful as pathetically naive and unfortunate.
754* VisualPun: In the Pilgrim Fathers, some time after explaining that one of them brought 150 pairs of shoes, Mat's character holds the shoes up and says "Does this mean that we'll meet with de-''feet''?"
755* VomitDiscretionShot: Standard. Since they then have no problem showing the actual vomit afterwards, this is likely a limitation of their special effects.
756* WarElephants: The show did its own take on Hannibal, of course, with a fake trailer for ''Elephants on a Plain'', starring Hannibal as a '[[MilitaryMaverick maverick Carthaginian general]]'(complete with a Southern accent).
757* WarriorPoet: [[DiscussedTrope Invoked by,]] of all people, [[Creator/DrSeuss Erik the Viking]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrBnIoONit0 Who speaks only in rhyme]].
758* WeMeetAgain: Spoofed relentlessly in the aforementioned WWII POW sketch. It starts with [[ThoseWackyNazis Commandant Klinsman]] admitting that he and Squadron Leader Higgins haven't actually met before, "I just like ze vay I sound vhen I say zat." Higgins then proceeds to disappear every time the commandant looks away, getting dragged back in each time:
759-->'''Higgins:''' ''(cheerily)'' So, we meet again!\
760'''Klinsman:''' Don't say zat, ''I'' say zat!
761* WhatsAHenway: From the Horrible Hearts Club Band song:
762-->'''Cleopatra:''' I play this very nicely.\
763'''Lyre Player:''' Lyre?\
764'''Cleopatra:''' No, I can!
765* WholesomeCrossdresser: There's one skit about Scottish soldiers in World War I wearing ladies' tights under their kilts, both to keep warm and to defend against gas attacks.
766* WhoNamesTheirKidDude:
767** The teacher in the [[https://youtu.be/HiqY8YK_7pw "Victorian Names"]] sketch is absolutely bewildered that the kids in her class would have ridiculous names like "Toilet" and "Never".
768** In Restoration Historical Wife Swap, the Cavalier husband asks the Puritan wife what her first name is, and when she tells him her first name is "Fight-The-Good-Fight-Of-Faith", he says "Mrs. Miserable it is!" Later, he asks her what the name of her baby is, and she says her name is "Silence Discipline Search-The-Scriptures", and says her husband chose it, with her commenting that she wanted to call her "If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-Thou-Hast-Been-Damned", which the Cavalier husband laughs at and calls "ridiculous".
769* WhoWritesThisCrap: Combined with MediumAwareness:
770-->'''Tudor Executioner''' ''(walking down a row of gibbets)'': Now, [[IncrediblyLamePun this is your seven o'clock noose... this is the nine o'clock noose... this is the noose at ten...]]\
771''(stops at a body in modern dress sprawled on a chopping block)''\
772...and this is the person that wrote that joke.
773* WhosOnFirst: Deployed shamelessly in a sketch about rebel leader Wat Tyler. "So, what's our leader's name?" "Yes."
774** Also in the Victorian names sketch.
775--->'''Ms. Farting Clack''': Toilet and Baboon? Your parents must be evil.\
776'''Toilet''': No, that's Evil over there.
777** And by the medieval Historical Paramedics:
778--->'''Geoff:''' Nigel, treacle!\
779'''Nigel:''' ''(puts hand on his shoulder, tenderly)'' Yes, honey?\
780'''Geoff:''' No, no, ''get the treacle.''
781** In Restoration Wife Swap, the Cavalier husband asks the Puritan wife what her new baby's name is and gets the answer "Silence." He thinks she's telling him to be quiet, but she later explains Silence ''is'' the name of the baby.
782* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Justified in the WWII POW sketch:
783-->'''Commandant Klinsman:''' You gif me one good reason vhy I shouldn't just shoot you right here on ze spot.\
784'''Squadron Leader Higgins:''' Because the Geneva Convention means you can't shoot officers.\
785'''Klinsman:''' ''(disappointedly)'' Yes... forgot about zat.
786* WilliamTelling: One of the Stupid Deaths involves a Tudor archer telling his friend, "I bet you can't hit my hat!"
787* WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath: In a Vicious Vikings sketch depicting a ''Franchise/MortalKombat''-style video game in which Vikings fight monks, some of the slaughtered monks' souls, coloured blue with angel wings, fly off after they are killed.
788* TheWonka: MotorMouth Bob Hale seems like your typical CloudCuckooLander if it wasn't for the fact that everything he says is true.
789* {{Workaholic}}: Winston Churchill, much to the dismay of his secretary and a general.
790* WorstAid: As administered by various physicians of the past in the recurring Historical Hospital sketch. As you might imagine, it's not uncommon for a patient to come in with a blister and be dead ten minutes later.
791** Similarly, the Historical Paramedics sketches, although their patients rarely die -- presumably because the [=HPs=] are forced to flee the scene too quickly to avoid the present-day EMS.
792** Subverted by the Arabian healer, who pleasantly surprises his apprehensive patients with his thoroughly reasonable remedies and ends up chasing away a far less knowledgeable Crusader doctor with his own bone saw.
793** The Egyptian doctor is also set up to be a subversion, with a nurse skeptic of his remedies only to be confirmed by a modern GP (honey being antibacterial, the calcium carbonate in limestone being a cure for stomach trouble etc), only to [[DoubleSubversion suggest a complicated and bonkers cure]], which prompts the doctor and nurse to chase him off.
794** Also, unsurprisingly, comes up in Stupid Deaths from time to time.
795* WouldHurtAChild: Emperor Elagabalus is the only one to openly boast of it, but several of the other historical figures the show mentions were guilty as well.
796** Depending on your definition of 'hurt', the "Work, Terrible Work!" song could also be considered an excellent example, being a song about children being put to gruelling work in the terrible, unsafe conditions of Victorian workhouses for awful pay.
797** The fate of the young boy who shot Richard I, despite express instructions from Richard otherwise.
798--->'''Death:''' Ah. I take it Richard's men didn't obey his order.\
799'''Boy:''' ''(shrugs)''
800* WrongInsultOffence: Shakespeare is offended when the best that his opponent in an insult contest can do is "rogue" and "saucy knave". He proceeds to knock him out with a string of proper Shakespearean insults.
801* XRaySparks: When Bob Hale pulls the plug on the buzzer in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvNZ209UyLw Mary, Queen of Scots report.]]
802[[/folder]]
803----
804->''Gory, ghastly, mean and cruel,''
805->''Stuff they don't teach you at school!''
806->''The past is no longer a mystery''
807->''Hope you enjoyed...'' HORRIBLE HISTORIES!

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