Line #0 YMMV/Kickboxer


1	!!First film
2	* CatharsisFactor: The final fight scene in the 1989 film is this for the audience and arguably Kurt too. After hearing the cheering crowd and witnessing his brother safe, Kurt gets a HeroicSecondWind and delivered a satisfying NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Tong Po.
3	* MemeticMutation:
4	** The scene from the first film in which Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme dances hilariously with the two ladies. Its popularity eventually overtook the entire film, to the point a lot of people WatchItForTheMeme nowadays.
5	** In Spanish-speaking countries, there is a particularly popular meme that has the aforementioned scene with its soundtrack (originally "Feeling so good today" by Beau Williams) replaced by the 2011 hit "La vaina loca" by Fuego. The scene and Fuego's theme are now practically inextricable.
6	** "[[PostRapeTaunt You bleed like Mylee. Mylee... GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD FUCK!]]"
7	* MoralEventHorizon: No matter how badass one thinks of Tong Po, the scene where he beats and rapes Mylee is his way of reminding the viewers how much of a bastard he is and why one should root for Kurt to win.
8	* {{Narm}}: Tong Po's PostRapeTaunt is meant to be a KickTheDog moment, but the hilarious delivery of the line and Van Damme's BigNo after hearing it made it hard for many viewers to take it seriously.
9	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Kurt seems way angrier at Mylee for not telling him she got raped than he is at Tong Po for, you know, raping her.
10	* TheWoobie: Mylee's quite possibly the most tragic character in this franchise.
11
12	!!Sequels
13	* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Frank Lane]], from ''The Art of War'', is a corrupt murderer in Brazil who secretly runs a [[SexSlave sex slaving ring]] that enslaves women and [[WouldHurtAChild children]], all to [[{{Greed}} put money in his pocket]]. Lane [[EstablishingCharacterMoment opens the film]] executing a runaway in front of the other slaves as a "lesson", and when he becomes obsessed with a young woman named Isabella, he kidnaps her to make her into his own slave. When hero David Sloane is on to him, he uses Isabella's life to force Sloane into a grueling training regimen so he loses a kickboxing match so Lane can profit. Even at the end, Lane shows no remorse, bragging he gave women a chance to be "part of something" in his dirty business.
14	* FanonDiscontinuity: Fans of the first film tend to ignore all of the numbered sequels made after it. ''Vengeance'' and ''Retaliation'' are the exceptions as they're are a reboot of the original series.
15	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The main protagonists tend to suffer SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome, and the main antagonist - Tong Po - tends to demonstrate JokerImmunity despite his brutal defeats. This can make the series feel like one big ShootTheShaggyDog story - and also makes Po come out as a KarmaHoudini since he never really faced any serious consequences for his previous actions. The remake averts this by having Kurt actually kill Po in self defense at the end.

Context YMMV / Kickboxer