Riddick or
The Chronicles of Riddick (sometimes described as "
Conan In Space") is a series of
Low Science Fantasy movies and
video games set in the 27th century. Its titular character, Richard B. Riddick, is notable for being a
badass antihero, for being
one of the last descendants of the
Furyan race, and for being portrayed by
Vin Diesel.
In 2000,
Pitch Black was a surprise hit and quickly gained a cult following. The studio execs believed that Riddick's adventures had the making of a
Cash Cow Franchise, and so began the expansion of the
Riddick universe. In 2004,
Pitch Black was given a prequel story in the form of the game
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and an animated film,
The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury, detailing the events shortly after
Pitch Black's conclusion. Both of these were tie-ins to the big-budget sequel
The Chronicles of Riddick, with
Dark Fury bridging the gap between the films.
Whilst the game and animation were well-received, opinion is
very divided over the sequel, to put it kindly. Both critically and among the fandom, it received a lot of criticism and even outright
disownment. Though it does have its fans, the addition of
fantasy elements probably didn't help things.
The Films:
The Games:
The Animated Film:
This franchise contains examples of:
- Alliterative Name: Richard B. Riddick. In a perfect world, the middle name would be "Broderick"...
- All There in the Manual
- Anti-Hero(Type V )/ Anti-Villain (Type I): Riddick is one of the few characters you could make an strong argument for both. He is very much a criminal but his general attitude is "I don't care if you're good or you're bad, just don't get in my way." In general though, being a protagonist makes him more often an Anti-Hero. In Pitch Black he is treated as essentially the villain.
- Appropriated Title: The first release in canon was called Pitch Black; the Riddick-based titles didn't start until the second film. This goes along with the complete change in tone and focus the series underwent after the first installment.
- Crapsack World : The ENTIRE FUTURE UNIVERSE throughout the Riddick series.
- Expansion Pack World
- Genre Shift: Pitch Black was horror that happened to have a sci-fi setting. The Chronicles Of Riddick is High Fantasy that happened to have a sci-fi setting.
- The Milky Way Is The Only Way: The films don't mention galaxies but the novelizations contradict each other. The novelization to Pitch Black by Frank Lauria implies that humans have colonized several galaxies, saying that Riddick worked in the Sigma Galaxy and that Johns chased him across 3 galaxies, but the novelization to The Chronicles of Riddick by Alan Dean Foster implies that everything takes place within one galaxy.
- Numbered Homeworld: There's Helion Prime and then up to Helion Five. The planet in Pitch Black is called M6-117.
- Only in It for the Money: The usual motivation of the mercenaries hunting for Riddick, who are all after the substantial reward offered for his capture. Examples include Johns, and Toombs and his mercenary crews.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: It is hinted that the Furyans have elements of this.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Riddick seems to just appear out of shadows and fade away into them when necessary. It helps that he can see in the dark.
- Super Weight:
- Type -1: Lynn Silverman
- Type 0: Johns, Fry, Jack*
Who's the same character as Kyra
, Imam, Toombs, Kyra* Who's the same character as Jack
, Dame Vaako, Chillingsworth, Hoxie, Jagger Valance, Dacher, Ellen Silverman - Type 1: Vaako, Revas, Spinner, Abbott, Junner, Necromonger soldiers
- Type 2: Riddick, the Purifier, Bioraptors, the Quasi-Dead, Lensers, Hellhounds, Pitt Dwellers, Ghost Drones
- Type 3: The Lord Marshall, Aeron, people in Mech units, Butcher Bay's robotic guards, Alpha Drones
- Type 5: The Necromonger fleet
- Used Future: Everything is in dire need of a new paint job in the future.
- Weapon Twirling: Riddick does some fancy knife-twirling.
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