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Elisabeth / Elisabeth - Tropes A to L

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Tropes that have appeared in Elisabeth.

For the rest:

  • Absurdly Youthful Mother: Archduchess Sophie takes charge of her oldest grand-daughter from her mother Elisabeth, claiming that it was because a child couldn't raise a child. In real life, Sisi gave birth at the age of 17, ten months after her wedding. Her other children (Gisela and Rudolf) were born when she was 19 and 21, and was also whisked away by Sophie senior for the same reason. The musical featured what amounted to a custody battle, which Sisi won at the end of act 1.
  • Adaptation Expansion: Some productions add scenes and subplots.
  • Adaptation Name Change: In this case, it's songs, rather than characters. Between the 2006 cast recording and other adaptations, there are a lot of name changes, given that this album lists many songs by the location where they take place. This list does not include titles that have double-credited the location and the song. Brackets have been added to indicate titles that are somewhat similar between albums.
    • "Halle in Schloss Possenhofen" note  - "Wie du" note 
    • "Kein Kommen Ohne Geh'n" note  - "Rondo - schwarzer Prinz" note 
    • "Am Ufer des Starnberger Sees" note  - "So wie man plankt und denkt" note  (The 2006 album cut this song in half and squeezed "Jedem gibt er das seine" in between. The second part is called "Bad Ischl".)
    • "Hofburg Wien, Audienzsaal" note  - "Jedem gibt er das seine" note 
    • "Zwischen Himmel und Erde" note  - "Nicht ist schwer" note 
    • "Augustinerkirche in Wien" note  - "Alle Fragen sind gestellt" note 
    • "Ballsaal im Schloss Schönbrunn" note  - "Sie passt nicht" note 
    • "Die Gaffer" note  - "Liebe mit Gaffern" note 
    • "Elisabeths Gemächer in Laxenburg" note  - "Eine Kaiserin muss glänzen" note 
    • "Ein Wiener Kaffeehaus" note  - "Die fröhliche Apokalypse" note 
    • "Vorzimmer der Erzherzogin Sophie" note  - "Kind oder nicht" note 
    • "Elisabeths Schlafzimmer" note  - "Elisabeth, mach auf (mein Engel)" note 
    • "Marktplatz in Wien" note - "Milch" note 
    • "Elisabeths Ankleidezimmer" note  - "Eine Kaiserin muss glänzen (Reprise)" note 
    • "Ich will dir nur sagen" note  - "Ich gehör nur mir (Reprise)" note 
    • "Vor der Kathedrale in Buda" note  - "Éljen" note 
    • "(Eine) Nervenklinik (in der Nähe von Wien)" note 
    • "Zwischenmusik I" note  - "Salon (der Erzherzogin Sophie) in der Hofburg" note 
    • "Zwischenmusik II" note  - "Das Wolf'sche Etablissement (in Wien)" note 
    • "Elisabeths Gymnastikzimmer in Schönbrunn" note - "Die Maladie" and "Die letzte Chance" note 
    • "Streit Mütter und Sohn" note  - "Mama, ich bin ausser mir" note 
    • "Streit Vater und Sohn" note - "Kaiserliches Arbeitszimmer" note  - "Rudolf, ich bin ausser mir" note 
    • "Loggia einer Villa auf Korfu" note - "Wie du (Reprise)" note 
    • "Totentanz" note  - "Mayerling(-Walzer)" note 
    • "Kapuzinergruft" note  - "Totenklage" note 
    • "Kitsch (Reprise)" - "Mein neues Sortiment" note 
    • "Eine Terasse bei Cap Martin" note - "Boote in der Nacht" note 
    • "Am Deck der sinkenden Welt" note - "Alle Fragen sind gestellt (Reprise)" note 
    • "Epilog/Uferpromenade in Genf" note - "Das Attentat" and "Der Schleier fällt" note 
  • Adapted Out:
    • Elisabeth's second daughter Gisela is barely mentioned in act I and is completely forgotten in act II, while her youngest child Marie Valerie isn't included in the story at all.
    • Franz Joseph's father Franz Karl, who actually outlived his wife Sophie by six years, is not seen or mentioned in the entire show.
    • Similarly, Katharina Schratt, Franz Joseph's long time mistress and confidante (their relationship was actually endorsed and encouraged by Elisabeth) is also not present or mentioned at any point in the show.
    • Rudolf's wife Princess Stephanie of Belgium and daughter Erzsi are also omitted.
    • Mary Vetsera is a curious case. Often, an actress in the cast is credited as her (as late as 2012 Vienna with Alice Macura), but she is given no role, line, or mention. In older productions, Death wears a dress during Mayerling to signify Mary's presence.
  • Affectionate Gesture to the Head:
    • Shirota Yu's Death pats a kneeling Rudolf (Furukawa Yuta) on the head. Although, given the fact that Rudolf's eyes go into Mind-Control Eyes mode whenever Death's hand gets near his face, the gesture might not be all that affectionate. note  He also strokes Rudolf's hair, then cheek, and then brings that same hand to his mouth as if tasting the Prince's soul right after Yami ga hirogaru (Die Schatten) and the Mayerling Waltz.
    • Tamaki Ryou (Takarazuka, 2018) strokes Rudolf's hair possessively in "Mama, wo bist du?" (Ranze Keito as young Rudolf) and after the Kiss of Death (Akatsuki Chisei as adult Rudolf). He also stroked the back of Sisi's (Manaki Reika)'s head in "Der letzte Tanz".
  • Age Cut: The Takarazuka Revue version of Rastlose Jahre has young/preteen Rudolf singing about longing for his mother, exiting, and re-entering at the end of the song as an adult, holding an incendiary newspaper.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: Sophie is a jerk who makes her daughter-in-law and grandson miserable, but the productions that include "Bellaria" explain her motives and give her a brief humanising moment immediately before she dies.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys:
    • Killing two of your children: It pretty much doesn't get any badder than this.
    • Averted in the Takarazuka version, at least. Elisabeth actively resists Death's attempts to seduce her, and doesn't start to fall for him until after Rudolf's death.
  • Amicable Exes: While not exes, given that Royalty were not allowed to divorce, Elisabeth and Franz Joseph do separate, and though both are sad, they end on warm terms. As in real life, the Empress and Emperor, while seldom seeing each other in person after Prince Rudolf’s death, remained in correspondence with each other the rest of their lives, and in a way, their separation only drew them closer together as the dearest of friends.
  • Anachronism Stew:
    • The musical is really accurate (see Gorgeous Period Dress), but the design of Madame Wolf's "salon" and the costumes in this scene in most versions is very modern. Justified, though. Or would you actually recognize a realistically portrayed nineteenth-century brothel? You usually don't learn this in history class...
    • The original Vienna production features some very bizarre and abstract anachronistic elements that were scaled back with subsequent revivals.
    • Mark Seibert's Death costume is markedly modern compared to everyone else, with the most glaring detail being that it has zippers up his sleeve.
    • The Toho version averts No Swastikas during "Hass" to inform the audience what was to become of the anti-Semitism displayed in this song, with Rudolf pulling down the flag. In real life, however, the Nazis didn't adopt the symbol shown until 1920, more than 30 years after Rudolf's death.
    • Death's costume and hairstyle in every version is obviously out-of-place in the setting. Justified in this case, because he's Death.
  • Angry Mob Song: "Milch" and "Hass" ("Milk" and "Hate").
  • Artistic License – History:
    • The real Lucheni was horrorstruck when he learned that Elisabeth had been pro-democracy and in favor of a free Hungary, as well as enormously charitable and kind, rather than simply another selfish royal who believed she could let them eat cake. It's actually theorized that this is what lead him to hang himself in his cell. Lucheni-the-narrator, on the other hand, remains spitefully opposed to her and her whole social caste through and through, though certain actors play this as his desperately trying to convince himself in the afterlife that he didn't murder a decent person.
    • (Takarazuka and Toho productions) In real life, Rudolf never attended/organized any public action against Franz Joseph (that we know of). His revolutionary activities only extended to writing firebrand anonymous articles, published with the help of Moritz Szeps (one of the conspirators in the show). The question of disinheriting Rudolf never came up either, though some people have stated that father and son had a major quarrel before Mayerling.
  • Aside Glance:
    • Death does this during the Takarazuka versions. The more obvious instances can be spotted at the end of "Mama, wo bist du?" and the Mayerling Waltz during Rudolf's dance with the angels.
    • Inoue Yoshio's Death looks at the camera and gives a Slasher Smile as Rudolf hugs him at the end of "Die Schatten werden länger".
  • Awesome Moment of Crowning: Both Elisabeth and Rudolf (though in a dream/fantasy) get this in the Takarazuka and Toho versions.
  • Ax-Crazy: Some Rudolfs seems deranged during the Mayerling Waltz.
  • Back from the Dead: A possible interpretation of what happens when Elisabeth has a terrible fall during childhood, and is carried back on stage by Death. However, since he never kisses her, it could also be interpreted as him turning up to take her life and then changing his mind.
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Subverted, though only mildly. Elisabeth is at least stated to be aging and developing gray hairs as the show goes along, but not every production gives the actress age makeup and streaked wigs over the course of the time skips (though the Hungarian productions age her fairly heavily).
  • Betty and Veronica: Franz Joseph is the Betty, the option she is expected to go with by society and one that offers her safety and unconditional love; Death, the Veronica, who is mysterious and sexy but also dark, visiting her in dreams and controlling her. Elisabeth tries to find a Third-Option Love Interest, so to speak, in her own independence. None of these end well for anyone involved except possibly Death.
  • Big Entrance: Death makes one in the opening number in some productions. Toho has him descending from the ceiling with huge wings. Takarazuka Revue has him brandishing a sword, dressed in armor, with a wing as part of his costume. The 2019 concert in Vienna has him entering the frame with two of his angels on either side, making it look like he's dressed in white with huge black wings. All productions has Lucheni being a Hammy Herald, though.
  • Big "NO!":
    • Elisabeth when her first daughter Sophie dies of illness.
    • The mother who tries to save her son from execution in "Jedem gibt er das Seine" does this when her plea for mercy is refused.
    • Depending on the actor, Franz Joseph may also do this when Death throws the file at Lucheni in "Am Deck der sinkenden Welt".
  • Big "WHAT?!": The crowd does this in "Milch" when Lucheni reveals that the milk shortage is caused by Elisabeth's habit of bathing in milk.
  • Bilingual Bonus: Lucheni often uses Italian expressions in his monologue, which aren't really necessary to understand the plot, but give insight into his opinion/thoughts. One of his first lines to the Judge translates to "Go fuck yourself."
  • Bittersweet Ending: Elisabeth's murder ends up looking like a release into the arms of her one true love, Death. Depending on version, this can be a Downer Ending when he then kills her with a kiss, or a Died Happily Ever After as they ascend to the netherworld.
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: Death, as befits an otherworldly figure whose job is destruction, doesn't seem to have the same morality scale as humans. Some productions/actors even have him being surprised that Elisabeth is unhappy when he takes her child, Sophie.
  • Bowdlerize: The Takarazuka version removes any mention of the death of Elisabeth's young daughter, anti-Semitic violence in Vienna, and other darker aspects of the show.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Toho Rudolf. He tries to escape several times during Mayerling, and his choreography as he begs Death for the gun looks rather deranged.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall:
    • Lucheni does this all the time in his narrations. Tsukishiro Kanato (2018 Takarazuka)'s Lucheni even asks the cameraperson at one point note  to come closer and make sure he looks handsome (they obliged).
    • Furukawa Yuta's Death, after kissing Sisi, looks at the audience and beckons them with his hand. Blackout. Everybody dances with Death, after all.
  • Break the Cutie: Sisi, Rudolf and, to an extent, even Franz Joseph.
  • Broken Bird: Elisabeth, though this has been subverted in some productions which present her as partially responsible for her misery due to her own neurosis and a tendency to make things even worse than they already were because of her erratic and self-destructive behavior.
  • Broken Pedestal: As a young girl, Elisabeth wistfully, though fairly happily, accepts her father Max's habit of shrugging off her questions and finding feeble excuses for leaving her home on his travels, because she admires his free spirit. As a middle-aged woman, she holds a seance to communicate with his ghost and discovers that even in the afterlife, he doesn't have any answers for her and doesn't care about her needs enough to stay around and comfort her. The reality of what he was like- and how much trying to be like him damaged her own relationships- finally dawns on her.
  • Caged Bird Metaphor: Lucheni uses this to describe Elisabeth in "Die Gaffer".
  • Call-and-Response Song: The stanzas of "Milch".
    Lucheni: Do you want to know who takes the milk from you?
    Crowd: Tell us who!
    Lucheni: All the milk is only meant for her!
    Crowd: For whom?
    Lucheni: For your Empress, she needs it for...
    Crowd: For what?
    Lucheni: Her bath!
    Crowd: What?!
    Lucheni: Yes!
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Franz Joseph calls Sophie out in "Streit Mutter und Sohn", on her treatment of her son's marriage. Later, Rudolf calls Franz Joseph out in "Streit Vater und Sohn", on his reactionary policies.
  • Cape Swish: Death loves this in some Japanese productions, both Takarazuka and mixed-gender. At one point he has his Todesengel put the cape on him just so he can swish it.
  • Chess Motifs:
    • In the German productions "Wir oder sie" is set on a chessboard, with Sophie and her minions wearing horse costumes so they look like chess pieces.
    • In the earliest Toho productions Death sits in front of a chessboard for the first verse of "Kein Kommen oder Geh'n", then gives Elisabeth one of the pieces. Elisabeth later throws it at him after "Die letzte Chance".
  • Circling Monologue: "Wenn ich tanzen will" often has Death and Elisabeth circling each other after Elisabeth breaks free from his hold.
  • Closed Door Rapport: Franz Joseph sings about how much he misses Sisi's company and wants to be comforted by her thanks to his stressful duties as the Emperor. She has none of it, confronts him on his (and his mother Sophie)'s treatment of Rudolf, and demands final say on how her children are raised.
  • Cool Sword: Death gets one in the Japanese versions.
  • Counterpoint Duet:
    • "Boote in der Nacht" ("Ships in the Night") turns into one in the end.
    • The 2012 Viennese revival instates a version of the song "Every Path is a Maze", but makes it a duet between Death and Elisabeth rather than a solo for Death. It, too, turns into this toward the end.
    • "Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär" starts as a solo, then segues into a counterpoint duet to show that Sisi and Rudolf aren't so different. The main melody of Spiegel complements Sisi's leitmotif and "I Want" Song, "Ich gehör nur mir" perfectly.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The Takarazuka production has a Chekhov's Knife. Sisi tries to stab herself with it at the beginning of "Ich gehör nur mir", doesn't go through with it, and drops it when she faints. Death picks it up and brandishes it at her after she rejects him in "Elisabeth, mach auf". Finally, he gives the knife to Lucheni as the murder weapon, instead of the historically accurate file.
  • Creepy Monotone: A musical version; Rudolf lapses into this with his harmony to Death's melody in "Die Schatten werden länger".
  • Dances and Balls: Two to three of the show's songs have the word 'dance' in the title ("Der letzte Tanz" ("The Final Dance"), "Wenn ich tanzen will" ("If I Want to Dance"), and "Totentanz" (roughly, "The Dance of the Dead") depending on how you classify it) and one of the scenes takes place in a mirrored ballroom.
  • Dance of Despair: The Mayerling Waltz is a frantic dance sequence with Rudolf either chasing the Angels for a gun, or running from them. It ends with him shooting himself, usually with Death's helping hand.
  • Darker and Edgier: If you expected a musical version of the Sissi trilogy, you are wrong. So wrong.
  • Dark Reprise:
    • There are plenty of reprises of already fairly dark songs throughout Act II, but two stand out for being dark echoes of brighter songs: the reprise of "Wie Du" ("Like You"), and especially "Boote in der Nacht", a poignant, resigned ballad in which the aged Elisabeth and Franz Joseph conclude that they were never meant to be together, set to the exact same melody as the love duet they sang as naive teenagers.
    • Also, the waltz that Elisabeth and Franz Joseph happily dance to at their wedding gets a reprise titled "The Mayerling Waltz," which is the scene where Rudolf kills himself. The wedding music becomes the suicide music, with no alterations.
    • While not an entirely happy song when one first hears it, Alle Fragen Sind Gestellt gets one during The Eleven O'Clock Number Am Deck der Sinkenden Welt amidst Lucheni telling us about the fates of Elisabeth's relatives.
    • In "Prolog", Death sings about his love for Elisabeth. Several scenes later, the same tune is used for "Der letzte Tanz", where he tells Elisabeth he'll win in the end.
    • "Mama, wo bist du?" is a depressing song. Its reprise, "Rudolf, wo bist du?", is even more depressing.
  • Death and the Maiden: Death and Sisi are in the same pose as the trope picture at the end (both are fully clothed in white), after he's kissed her.
  • Death of a Child: The birth and death of Elisabeth's first child Sophie are mentioned/shown during "Die ersten vier Jahre".
  • Death Glare: Guess who? In the 2007 Takarazuka version in particular, Death has some truly terrifying glares.
  • Death Is Dramatic: Averted for Sisi, whose final scene plays out as a lover's reunion. Played straight for Rudolf, who goes through a frenetic dance with the Todesengels, then being bodily spun round by der Tod violently, then the gun goes off. The Takarazuka version, as mentioned below, even drags out the dance further than the German original.
  • Deconstruction: The whole thing is technically a Deconstruction Fic of the mythos of Sisi as propagated by the film (and the tourism industry of Austria), and in extension the clichés of the glorious life at court in general.
  • Despair Event Horizon: For Rudolf, it's his plea for help being turned down by Sisi. This leads to Sisi's own DEH, in which she begs Death to take her in the Kapuzinergruft.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?:
    • "Die Schatten werden länger" is full of this. Death trying repeatedly to kiss Rudolf, dragging him around the stage, getting very close to him... It looks less like Death is trying to seduce Rudolf into suicide, and more like Death's just trying to seduce him.
    • "Der letzte Tanz" has Death throw Elisabeth to the ground, then kneel down in front of her. Some actors get very close to her at this point. So close, in fact, that it looks like Death's kneeling between her legs... Doubles as Nightmare Fuel, since this is definitely without Elisabeth's consent.note 
  • Doom Magnet: Elisabeth brings death (literally) with her wherever she goes.
  • Downer Ending: Decidedly so in the Hungarian version, where after Elisabeth kisses Death in the underworld, he suddenly turns silent and cold. He leads her into a tower, then emerges alone from a balcony, brandishing cloth from her dress as a trophy.
  • Dramatic Irony: Played for comedic effect during "Die Maladie". In productions where it's very obvious Doctor Seeburger is actually Death, the audience knowing that Death is actually the one saying "If I'm not mistaken... and I never am... this is that certain malady." makes the line all the funnier. It sounds like he's deliberately, gleefully Trolling her.
  • Dramatic Necklace Removal: At the end of "Maladie/Die letzte Chance", Elisabeth takes off the necklace Franz Joseph gave her and throws it at Death.
  • Dragged by the Collar: Sometimes during "Die Schatten", Death can impatiently haul Rudolf back by the collar. A particularly violent example can be seen here at the 1:09 mark. He also usually does it in order to get Rudolf to bend back so he can be kissed in Mayerling as well.
  • Driven to Suicide: Rudolf.
  • Driven to Madness: Some productions choose to do this with Mayerling - Furukawa Yuta's Rudolf in the Toho production in particular seems a little bit... deranged... note 
  • Ending by Ascending: The Takarazuka versions end with Death and Elisabeth standing on a moving platform as it raises them above the stage.
  • Enemies with Death: The titular character has a love-hate relationship with Death. She doesn't fear him and continually rebuffs his advances (romantic or otherwise) throughout the show, until her Despair Event Horizon (at which he refuses to take her because he realized in that moment she wanted to use him as an escape). In the German version, Lucheni implies that Death goes out of his way to mess Sisi's life up out of spite.
  • Establishing Series Moment: Many people went to the premiere expecting a musical similar to the romantic, heart-warming, and extremely inaccurate Sissi trilogy. To a lesser extent people unfamiliar with the musical still have that expectation when they watch it for the first time. The musical disabuses them of that notion as soon as the curtain rises; the prologue has Elisabeth's murderer posthumously defending himself, followed immediately by the ghosts of her relatives rising to sing about Elisabeth and Death himself declaring his love for her.
  • Ethereal White Dress: Death wears white at some point of every production. In some versions he only wears white in the prologue and final scene, and in others he spends almost half the show in white.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: The Death Angels/Black Angels (particularly in Takarazuka Revue) may look like they're having way too much fun tormenting a young girl on her wedding day (Der letzte Tanz/Saigo no Dansu) or driving a young man to suicide (the Mayerling Waltz), but it doesn't stop them from looking absolutely disgusted and judgmental at Elisabeth weeping in the Imperial Crypt. It's because her refusal to help Rudolf was the last straw that led him to kill himself.
  • Evil Laugh:
    • Death, at Elisabeth's wedding just after the "I do".
    • In some versions, Death gets another Evil Laugh during "Der letzte Tanz".
    • Park Hyung-sik's Death laughs during "Die Schatten werden länger".
    • In the South Korean versions, Death laughs after Rudolf is caught at the end of "Die Verschwörung"/
  • Evil Matriarch: Elisabeth's mother-in-law, Sophie, is depicted (somewhat erroneously) as a cruel and domineering woman driven at all costs to break the spirit of the young empress and maintain an iron grip on Franz Joseph. In history, Sophie was more along the lines of a Knight Templar Parent.
  • Eyelid Pull Taunt: Takarazuka version - young Sisi and Rudolf both do this to playfully mock the adults coming after them.
  • Expy: Lucheni is heavily patterned after Che, the sarcastic All-Knowing Singing Narrator from Evita.
  • Final Love Duet: "Der Schleier fällt", for Death and Elisabeth. Some productions have it more bitter than sweet, with Death kissing her and having his angels carry her away, and some (like Takarazuka) play it straight, with Sisi clinging to Death as he shows her the underworld, which she will be queen of.
  • Fear Song: "Mama, wo bist du?" opens with a scared young Rudolf calling for his mother, because his room is dark and he's cold.
  • For Doom the Bell Tolls: Heard after Mayerling.
  • Foregone Conclusion: Par for the course for a show based on historical events. Elisabeth is taken by Death after being murdered by Lucheni, who later hangs himself in prison, Rudolf commits suicide with his mistress, and the Habsburg Empire falls, along with most of the other European royal dynasties as the world gets sucked into World War I.
  • Foreshadowing: The 2022 Elisabeth in Concert has a loving shot of adult Rudolf crumpled at Death's feet in the opening number as Death sings about his feelings for Sisi, foreshadowing that he will fall as a helpless pawn into Death's machinations to get into Sisi's affections.
  • Foreign Cuss Word: Lucheni has a habit of cursing in Italian.
  • Fourth-Date Marriage: Elisabeth and Franz Joseph's marriage appears to be this, since it follows directly after the scene in which they meet, though from Lucheni giving dates in his narration we know that it is actually 10 months later.
  • The Gentleman or the Scoundrel: Sisi struggles with a choice: life with the kind, noble Emperor Franz Joseph who loves her unconditionally but is too busy with state affairs and being a Mama's Boy to defend her, or suicide/death with the roguish, darkly attractive but cruel Death? She runs into Death's arms and embraces him at the end.
  • Get Out!: Takarazuka Sisi says this to both Death and Franz Joseph at several points in the show.
  • Ghost Song:
    • The prologue could count, though the setting leaves it ambiguous as to whether they're ghosts or the dead raised bodily for the purposes of reenacting the story. The reprise of "Wie Du" in which Elisabeth begs her father's spirit for guidance definitely counts, though.
    • The Hungarian and original Dutch versions also had Sophie's ghost sing a verse during Elisabeth's lament after Rudolf's suicide.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Sisi got her way alright, traveling the world and doing whatever she damn well wanted, unburdened by the rigmaroles of court and a loving (the feeling quickly became non-mutual for her) but ineffectual husband. It, however, came at the cost of/resulted in:
    • The death of two of her children, Sophie by sickness due to a trip Sisi insisted she go on, Rudolf by suicide due to Sisi choosing non-interference in his issues because she had cut her bonds with the Emperor long ago.
    • Franz Joseph cheating on her and infecting her with a STD. He regretted it, but the damage was done.
    • Her turning into a bitter and cold Broken Bird, only able to find solace in the arms of Death. Takarazuka Revue's treatment has Death calling for Sisi as Lucheni stabs her, turning it into a suicide rather than a murder.
  • Gorgeous Period Dress: Lots of fun to be had with this, including several reproductions of dresses worn by the real Elisabeth.
  • Grief-Induced Split: Elisabeth breaks up with her husband in stages, the three stages resulting from the tragedies of Sophie's death, her contraction of syphilis from Franz, and Rudolf's suicide. The last of these finally gets Elisabeth and Franz Joseph to admit that they are too different to ever reconcile. Although they are royalty and as such cannot divorce, Sisi spends so much time away from Franz Joseph that they are functionally separated. Despite their differences, Franz Joseph never stops loving his wife.
  • Grief Song: "Rudolf, wo bist du?", sung by Elisabeth after Rudolf's suicide.
  • Groin Attack: In some productions, Madame Wolf punches Lucheni in the groin at the end of "Nur kein Genieren".
  • Headbutt of Love: Death and Rudolf do this after their kiss in the Toho production.
  • "The Hero Sucks" Song: "Milch" and "Kitsch" are both about Elisabeth's vanity and selfishness.
  • High Collar of Doom: Sophie wears one◊ in the Korean productions.
  • Historical Beauty Upgrade: The real Luigi Lucheni in no way complements some of the actors◊ who portrayed him on stage.
  • Historical Domain Character: Most of the musical's characters. All of Elisabeth's family, Franz Joseph, Sophie, Rudolf, Lucheni and even some of the obscure minor ones. One could say everyone — Death is certainly present in history...
  • Historical Downgrade: Frau Wolf's establishment wasn't just your average brothel. It was also a spy network, which Rudolf used to spy on, among other people, his cousin Wilhelm II of Prussianote  and vice versa. This wasn't mentioned at all in the musical.
  • Historical Hero Upgrade:
    • The show removes most of Rudolf's more unsavory character traits, such as being a drug addicted philanderer who infected his wife with gonorrhea and coerced a naive 17 year old girl into a murder/suicide pact.
    • The show also cut much of Sisi's poor parenting decisions and painted her in a more sympathetic light in general. She fought for the right to decide on her children's lives, but abandoned her responsibilities to Rudolf as soon as his education ended. She worked herself up into a paranoia that everyone else in her family was out to harm her and her daughter Valerie (she suspected Rudolf of this, particularly). While her decision to turn Rudolf down in the German version can be looked at sympathetically as her being too fed up with the court to try and intervene again rather than actively malicious or callous toward her son's suffering, the Japanese version dials up the upgrade further by having Sisi being visibly disappointed that Rudolf is begging her help on a political matter and very reasonably/well-meaningly telling him that he is grown and should handle his own affairs. That being said, there is no indication (publicly or in Rudolf's personal writings) that such a meeting ("Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär") ever happened in real life.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade: Just like many other dramatizations of Elisabeth's life, Sophie is portrayed as a scheming, malicious witch who will stop at nothing to subjugate her son and daughter-in-law to her will. Franz initially thinks she's a Reasonable Authority Figure, but wound up Calling The Old Woman Out.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: It never seems to occur to Rudolf that the embodiment of Death might not have his best interests in mind. But then again, with the way he was raised, he is probably overjoyed at anyone at least acting like they care about him and supports him. As mentioned below, More than Mind Control may come into play as well, as everyone belongs to Death.
  • Hot Consort: Invoked by Franz Joseph and his advisors when they attempt to coerce Elisabeth into using her charm and beauty to quell the civil unrest in Hungary.
  • I Have You Now, My Pretty: Tamaki Ryou as Death embraces two characters and strokes their hair to emphasize (to the audience, complete with a Breaking the Fourth Wall look into the camera) their vulnerability and his influence over them. (Sisi in Saigo no Dansu/Der letzte Tanz, Rudolf in Mama, dokona no?/Mama, wo bist du? and the Mayerling Waltz).
  • I Just Want to Be Free: Elisabeth.
  • I Love You Because I Can't Control You:
    • Both Franz Joseph and Death toward Elisabeth. It backfires on both of them — Franz Joseph turns into a Love Martyr for her, and Death becomes frustrated with the situation very quickly.
    • Inverted with Rudolf. Compared to his mother, he falls into Death's thrall pretty much the moment they met, and this can be interpreted as the reason some Deaths coldly throw him to the floor after Mayerling.
  • I Want My Mommy!:
    • Rudolf is introduced as a young child, and his first lines are him calling out for his Mama because he was frightened in a cold, dark room. Elisabeth is nowhere to be seen - instead, Death befriends Rudolf and comforts him.
    • As an adult, while confronting an aged Sisi on her negligent treatment, he flat out says "Mother... I need you." Some actors speak the line, others sing it to the earlier tune of "Mama, where are you?".
    • For Mayerling, Sakuragi Minato (2016 Takarazuka Rudolf) mouthed "Mama!" as he dances with the angels. As Rudolf (Lukas Perman) is thrown offstage for the 2019 Elisabeth in Concert, there's a short, strangled cry that sounds like "Mama!" as well.
    • During "On the Deck of the Sinking World/All Questions Have Been Asked (Reprise)", some Rudolfs try to reach out to Sisi in between his struggle to stay on the sinking ship.
  • "I Want" Song: "Ich gehör nur mir" ("I Belong to Me"), despite starting out as an "I won't" song. At the time the play is set in, a woman wanting freedom like Elisabeth did would usually have been an impossible dream, but her heart still wants it.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: A variation with Franz Joseph. While he doesn't quite let her go and still retains hope that they'll be together, Franz Joseph allows Elisabeth to raise their son and to wander the world because he is devoted to her. Later, he does concede with her that they weren't meant to be together.
  • Immediate Self-Contradiction: A nonverbal one. Tamaki Ryou's Death gives an annoyed-looking Aside Glance right after he has smilingly promised that he was Rudolf's friend and would come whenever the prince calls.
  • Interactive Narrator: Lucheni. Particularly in the Takarazuka version where, at minimum, he takes pictures of the audience so Sisi can collect images of the great beauties. Sometimes accompanied by shoutouts if there happens to be any (current or former) Takarasienne in attendance.
  • Ironic Echo:
    • "Also lässt du mich im Stich" ("So, you have abandoned me") said first by Elisabeth to Franz Joseph, and later by Rudolf to Elisabeth.
      • Averted by the Takarazuka production, in which Rudolf says, "That's it. There's nothing left to live for."
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Sophie's policy of "Be hard! Be cold!" is actually a good survival/winning strategy in this Crapsack World. She's consistently right: Sisi is not suited for Franz (and courtly life in general), Sisi's insistence on taking her daughters to Hungary killed little Sophie, and Rudolf's fragile mind did him no favors at court. In the end, the "hard and cold" ones win - Sophie successfully drove a wedge between Franz and Sisi (minimizing Sisi's influence on him and Austrian politics), and Death gets the girl (plus the boy, in adaptations where he cares for Rudolf).
  • Kill the Cutie:
    • Poor, poor Rudolf.
    • Elisabeth herself, though depending on the production this may be a case of Died Happily Ever After.
  • Kiss of Death: Quite literally in Rudolf's case, and slightly delayed for Elisabeth who is only kissed by der Tod after her death, though not for lack of trying on his part. The Elisabeth in Concert production seemingly does away with the idea of the Todeskuss being his method of claiming souls, as he's only shown kissing Elisabeth at the end when he finally has her (and quite aggressively).
  • Kick the Dog: The Mayerling Waltz, when compared to "Mama, wo bist du?" and even "Die Schatten werden länger". In the Takarazuka productions, der Tod literally kicks Rudolf, sending him rolling across the stage.
  • Kneel Before Zod: Toho Rudolf kneels on both knees in "Die Schatten werden länger". Takarazuka Rudolf goes down on one knee (at a gesture from Death) for Mayerling.
  • Laughing Mad: Takarazuka Lucheni as he's being arrested for Sisi's murder.
  • Large Ham:
    • Elisabeth herself, depending on the actress.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: "Der letzte Tanz" has the line "Unsichtbare Augen seh'n uns beiden zu" ("Invisible eyes watch us both"), a possible reference to the audience. The 2022 Elisabeth in Concert proshot has a wide shot of the audience at this line, with the added irony of said people sitting in the 36-degree heat as Death sings about how the air in the ballroom is "muggy and sticky" earlier.
  • Leitmotif:
    • The same melody, Totentanz (Dance of the Dead) plays as Sisi's wedding dance and during Rudolf's suicidal dance with the Death Angels. They are the two characters that die onstage.
    • Sisi herself gets three leitmotifs.
      • "Elisabeth..." sung by Death and Franz Joseph when they're coaxing or begging her.
      • "Elisabeth, Elisabeth!", from the chorus of the dead.
      • The first/last few lines of "Ich gehör nur mir". It returns in "Ich will dir nur sagen",note , "Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär", and "Der Schleier fällt".
    • Rudolf has the melody of "Mama, wo bist du?" which returns in "Totenklage"/"Rudolf, wo bist du?"
  • Lemony Narrator: Lucheni.
  • Lighter and Fluffier: The Takarazuka withholds any mention of precursor social currents to national socialism or Franz Joseph's (alleged) venereal disease. Additionally, rather than at long last consuming Elisabeth's soul, Zuka Death shows her the Kingdom of the Underworld she shall implicitly rule as their new queen.
  • Light Is Not Good: Typically, Death wears white in scenes where he's supposed to show softer emotions, and black during darker scenes. However, given that he's Death, those "light" scenes are still pretty dark. "Wenn ich tanzen will" has him physically restraining Elisabeth and asserting his control over her and "Mama, wo bist du?" has him easing his way into little Rudolf's affections. The lightest scene, perhaps, is him discussing the nature of his feelings for Sisi in "Alle tanzten mit dem Tod". Elisabeth running into a white-clad Death's embrace in "Der Schleier fällt" is only light and fluffy for shippers, otherwise it has disturbing implications (as pointed out in Nightmare Fuel).
  • Love at First Sight: Elisabeth and Death. Then, direly, Elisabeth and Franz Joseph, too. Oops.
  • Love Cannot Overcome: Elisabeth's lines in "Boote in der Nacht" are this trope in song form. The first line translates as (roughly) "Love can do much, but sometimes love's not enough".
  • Love Mother, Love Son: Death falls in love with Elisabeth, then years later has a relationship with Rudolf — though whether it's love or manipulation depends on the actor.
  • Love Triangle: Death/Elisabeth/Franz Joseph. After her wedding to the Emperor, Death comes along and sings to her,
    Es ist ein altes Thema, doch neu für mich
    Zwei, die dieselbe lieben — nämlich dich.
    Which translates to,
    It is an old story, but for me, new
    Two have the same beloved — namely, you.
    • Technically, it's a love quadrangle if you count Rudolf.

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