History YMMV / SpartacusBloodAndSand

** Saxa kissing Mira becomes this after Creator/KatrinaLaw gets cast as a LipstickLesbian in ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. Her character [[ActorAllusion is even]] an ArcherArchetype.

* EvilIsSexy: Where do we start? For the girls, there's Ilithyia, Lucretia and Seppia. For the guys, there's Glaber, Crassus and Caesar.

** In ''Vengeance'', just how insane is Lucretia really? It's clear that she's [[spoiler: putting it on at least a little to appear harmless and she's very capable of cunning and rationality]]. However, [[spoiler: cutting Ilithyia's baby out of her womb and then throwing herself off a cliff with the child, all so that she can give her dead husband a son]], isn't exactly 'sane' behavior. It raises the question of whether this was Lucretia's endgame from the start, or if she was making it up as she went.

*** The entire show emphasizing how much Spartacus wanted to be eventually TogetherInDeath with Sura becomes harder to watch when Sura's actress Creator/ErinCummings also got cancer in 2016. Fortunately unlike Whitfield, Cummings eventually made a full recovery in 2019.

* AwesomeMusic: A soundtrack the blends end the feel of Film/300 and actual ancient music of the setting along with jittery instrumental rock and metal right beside traditional classical orchestra.... But then again this shouldn't be surprising, considering the man behind the music is Creator/SamRaimi's go-to composer Joseph [=LoDuca=] of ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' fame.

** ''War of the Damned'' introduces Tiberius and Sabinus, who may be [[ChildhoodFriendRomance more than best friends]]. Although Christian Antidormi has said they were not a couple, he and Aaron Jakubenko ''really'' missed their marks in their performances if that was meant to be the case. [[note]] What Antidormi said is that their relationship was supposed to appear ambiguous in early scenes, but it resolved itself as just friendship as the arc went on. [[/note]] Also, the fact that Tiberius seeks revenge for Sabinus' death by raping his father's lover adds the subtext that taking his father's lover was somehow recompense for the loss of his own. He also demonstrates [[spoiler: when he rapes Caesar]] that he is [[DepravedBisexual not averse to sexual contact with men]].
*** GeniusBonus: You can square the WordOfSaintPaul and the onscreen behaviour of the characters perfectly well if you know that male Roman citizens weren't allowed to have sexual relations ''with each other'' (fucking one's slaves or freedmen prostitutes was fine, though). So the two boys probably were attracted to each other and maybe a little bit in love, but didn't go through with it because they knew that doing so would cost at least one of them their civil rights. (A male citizen who voluntarily bottomed or provided oral sex got saddled with the legal status of "infamy", just like a prostitute, actor or freed gladiator; meaning he couldn't be elected to public office[[note]]Which was an absolute must in the careers of men from their social class.[[/note]], he could be subjected to corporeal punishment under the law [[note]]which citizens normally weren't, except for the rare death penalty[[/note]], and he lost the right not to be raped by anyone who wanted to.[[note]]Raping a citizen - female or male - held the death penalty under Roman law. Not because of consent issues, but because of the sacred inviolability of the private civil body. But everyone else - slaves, freedpeople, foreigners, and former citizens who acquired "infamy" through their life choices - was considered "publicly available".[[/note]])
** It was around even as early as ''Blood and Sand'', especially between Spartacus and Varro.

*** {{Lampshaded}} in the commentary for that very episode, by Creator/AndyWhitfield himself.
*** On a further note, Spartacus seems just as distressed by [[spoiler: Varro's death as his wife's]] and he [[BerserkButton really doesn't take it well]] if people bring it up, as Nemetes [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown finds out the hard way]]. Also, in the final episode, when fighting Crassus, Spartacus thinks of [[spoiler: the deaths]] of those closest to him to spur him on, including his wife Sura, his lover Mira…and Varro.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/CynthiaAddaiRobinson become known for her role as Naevia, but later she would get her {{Breakout Role}}s as ComicBook/AmandaWaller in ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' and Tal-Miriel in ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower''.

* TakeThatScrappy: A minor example, but in ''War of the Damned'', after finding out that Naevia [[spoiler:wrongfully killed his friend Attius for helping prisoners to escape]], a furious Gannicus finally confronts her over her actions and calls her a "mad bitch", mirroring what many viewers were thinking at this point.

** Naevia from ''War of the Damned'' and onward, which caused her to go from being TheWoobie to TheScrappy in no time flat (not helping was that her original actress was [[TheOtherDarrin replaced]] with another actress who had a radically different performing style). Simply put, many viewers just didn't feel that her experiences in the mines, as horrific as they were, in any way justifies or excuses her violent behavior and callous dismissal of the Roman civilians, especially seeing as several other characters are shown or implied to have suffered similarly horrible things but don't take them out on innocents. Her attitude runs counter to Spartacus' view that the rebels shouldn't stoop to the Romans' level and even starts to go right into TautologicalTemplar and BlackAndWhiteInsanity territory, especially when she kills [[spoiler: Attius]] on little more than an assumption he [[spoiler:freed their prisoners]] - upon finding out he was innocent, she tries to downplay her actions as him being 'just' a Roman, apparently ignoring that he [[spoiler:willingly helped the rebels infiltrate Sinuessa]] and that she's known at least a few Romans who were pretty decent people (Varro, Aurelia, Lucius Caelius etc.). It does ''not'' help that some of her actions also [[NiceJobBreakingItHero contributes]] to the rebels splitting apart, which ultimately gets many of them killed.

** Ilithyia may be an amoral FemmeFatale and self-absorbed AlphaBitch, but not even she deserved [[spoiler: to be put through a TraumaticCSection before watching her newborn child die, [[AlasPoorVillain knowing she'd soon follow]].]]

** Tullius (from ''Gods of the Arena'') at first is just as vile as the other Roman nobles. He crosses this with [[spoiler: the murder of Gaia]] who was somewhat likable. Even worse, he did it just to show that he could do it and get away with it. He now is a complete psychopath with no redeeming qualities.
*** This leads to Titus's Moral Event Horizon when he blames Lucretia and the victim for the aforesaid murder and forces her and Quintus to cover it up.

** Ashur crosses it in ''Blood and Sand'' by forcing Naevia to [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe become his wife]], [[MaritalRapeLicense raping her]] and then flaunting it in front of Crixus to goad him into attacking him, all so he can get revenge of Crixus for bullying him. Crixus was wrong for his treatment of Ashur, but his actions are [[DisproportionateRetribution comparatively much worse]], especially as the person who gets the worst of it is the completely innocent Naevia (which Ashur expresses zero remorse about; he in fact ''[[KickTheDog mocks her]]'' about it in the second season).
*** Ashur manipulating Dagan into being sodomized by a Roman elite in ''Gods of the Arena'' could be considered an earlier example for him, though this wasn't revealed until the prequel.

** Naevia was late in ''Vengeance'' for some viewers, as she TookALevelInBadass and became one half of a BattleCouple with Crixus after spending much of the season as a DistressedDamsel. Unfortunately, [[TookALevelInJerkass her]] [[RevengeBeforeReason character]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero arc]] in the following season dumped her right back on the Scrappy heap (if not ''more so'' than before) for several viewers.

** Naevia came be seen as this in ''Vengeance'' and especially in ''War of the Damned''. Some viewers found her irtitating in ''Vengeance'' for being a DistressedDamsel and TheMillstone, but did still sympathize with her (see DamselScrappy). However, by the final season many viewers found Naevia to be insufferable due to her violently unstable behavior, self-righteousness, lack of empathy for even Roman civilians and tendency to exacerbate conflict between the rebels, with her tragic backstory being used to excuse much of her behavior. She does get better towards the end of the season, mellowing out and acknowledging her mistakes, though for some viewers it was too little too late. To be fair to Naevia, she was recovering from trauma in an environment where everyone around her talked about "spilling Roman blood" as casually as tying one's shoelaces, and Crixus spent the majority of his time trying to talk Spartacus into more attacks on Romans even ahead of Naevia saying anything. She is hardly the only rebel to be indifferent or eager towards spilling the blood of Roman non-combatants; Agron openly states he would do so were it not for Spartacus, and even Gannicus on the whole seems indifferent to the fate of the Romans, aside from Attius who is his personal friend and who helped them. The main problem is that Naevia was previously defined by her kindness and compassion to others, despite her situation, and most of those virtues were lost in favor of making her a DarkActionGirl.

* ShipToShipCombat: The Gannicus[=/=]X[=/=]Saxa vs. Gannicus[=/=]X[=/=]Sibyl shippers in ''War of the Damned''. Saxa shippers prefer her and Gannicus' more laidback (and [[{{Fanservice}} sexual]]) BattleCouple relationship, and some view Sibyl as being a boring DistressedDamsel with a serious case of StalkingIsLove. Sibyl shippers see her and Gannicus as having a more emotionally deep and romantic relationship, believing that Sibyl's sweet and compassionate nature [[LoveRedeems helped Gannicus face his demons and become a better person]], whilst seeing his relationship with Saxa as being based solely around sex. Of course, there are also fans who believe ''Melitta'' is his OneTrueLove...

* AwesomeMusic: A soundtrack the blends end the feel of Film/300 and actual ancient music of the setting along with jittery instrumental rock and metal right beside traditional classical orchestra.... But then again this shouldn't be surprising considering Joseph LoDuca of HeculesTheLegendaryJourneys and XenaWarriorPrincess fame is the composer.

** Caesar from ''War of the Damned'' is one of the most popular characters from that season, mostly for being a swaggering badass who actually manages to outsmart the rebels despite seeming like DumbMuscle and also [[HiddenDepths displays some surprising compassionate and sympathetic traits]] as the season goes on. That, and being [[UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar Julius fucking Caesar]], arguably even more famous than Spartacus himself. His portrayal in this series is also a rather unique one, in that here, he's presented as being [[YoungerAndHipper younger, more rebellious and still finding his feet in the Roman world]]. The fact he kills [[spoiler: [[TheScrappy Naevia]] in the finale]] and has a direct hand in [[spoiler: [[HateSink Tiberius]]'s]] downfall and death makes him a fan favourite too. This was possibly intentional, as the creators had been considering having a SpinOff centred around Caesar.

** Lugo is popular for being a funny and badass BoisterousBruiser, wielding a huge hammer. He's one of the first Germans to pledge allegiance to Spartacus in ''Vengeance'' and remains loyal to him to the very end, as well as becoming VitriolicBestBuds with Nasir, [[OddFriendship of all people]]. [[spoiler: He also [[DyingMomentOfAwesome dies in a pretty badass way]], taking out several Romans and yelling "Fuck your mothers!" while ''on fire'']].

* EvilIsCool: [[TheChessmaster Batiatus]], [[ManipulativeBitch Lucretia]], Glaber, [[FemmeFatale Ilithyia]], [[OpportunisticBastard Ashur]], [[ImplacableMan Theokoles]], Caburus and [[GeniusBruiser Caesar]] all breathe this trope.

** Before Agron was revealed to be gay (though it was hinted at as soon as he joined the cast), the show caught a lot of flack for apparently playing up the BuryYourGays trope. [[spoiler: Agron and Nasir are the only two of the main protagonists to survive the war.]]

** Caesar near the end of the series becomes this. Whilst he's an arrogant {{Jerkass}} with a few KickTheDog moments, he's a lot nicer than some of the other Romans and has some moments that make him quite likable, such as becoming genuinely upset when he sees what the rebels did to the Roman woman in Sinuessa and by Tiberius's murder of the prostitute, protesting the harsh treatment of Laeta and going out of his way to help Kore, who is a slave. He's really only brutal towards the rebels, which is somewhat understandable, given he ''is'' on the opposite side of the conflict, and none of his actions really warrant being [[spoiler: brutally raped and humiliated by Tiberius, especially as he had been rightly calling him out on his appalling behavior)]].

** Barca during [[spoiler: his death]]. Despite being a [[TheBrute literally]] huge {{Jerkass}} since his introduction, the show suddenly establishes him as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold in his last episode. And while [[spoiler: his death]] wasn't treated with AndThereWasMuchRejoicing, the general attitude towards [[spoiler: his demise]] was "he had it coming", especially since his habit of bullying Rookie gladiators borders on extreme KickTheDog, with the mastermind behind [[spoiler: his FrameUp]] being [[TheDogBitesBack his constant victim for a number of years dating back to the latter's rookie years]]. Speaking of which, it doesn't help that the prequel didn't portray him in a positive light either except for two brief PetTheDog moments.
*** Really, the saddest part of [[spoiler: his death]] is the effect it has on poor [[TheWoobie Pietros]], who certainly ''does not'' deserve any of the horrible things that happen to him in the aftermath of [[spoiler: said death]].
** Naevia from ''War of the Damned'' and onward, which caused her to go from being TheWoobie to TheScrappy in no time flat (not helping was that her original actress was [[TheOtherDarrin replaced]] with another actress who had a radically different performing style). Simply put, many viewers just didn't feel that her experiences in the mines, as horrific as they were, in any way justifies or excuses her violent behavior and callous dismissal of the Roman civilians, especially seeing as several other characters are shown or implied to have suffered similarly horrible things but don't take them out on innocents. Her attitude runs counter to Spartacus' view that the rebels shouldn't stoop to the Romans' level and even starts to go right into TautologicalTemplar and BlackAndWhiteInsanity territory, especially when she kills [[spoiler: Attius]] on little more than an assumption he [[spoiler: freed their prisoners]] - upon finding out he was innocent, she tries to downplay her actions as him being 'just' a Roman, apparently ignoring that he [[spoiler: willingly helped the rebels infiltrate Sinuessa]] and that she's known at least a few Romans who were pretty decent people (Varro, Aurelia, Lucius Caelius etc.). It does ''not'' help that some of her actions also [[NiceJobBreakingItHero contributes]] to the rebels splitting apart, which ultimately gets many of them killed.

** Kore. She's [[spoiler:brutally raped by Tiberius, whom she treated [[LikeASonToMe like a son]], in revenge for his father forcing him to kill his friend]] and her whole life goes to shit. She struggles to tell Crassus because she doesn't want to ruin his relationship with his son and she's afraid of what Tiberius will do; he at one point threatens to [[spoiler: rape her again and tell Crassus ''she'' tried to seduce him]]. When she finally works up the courage to tell Crassus, he reveals he intends to leave her in Sinuessa as an advisor to Tiberius, believing he is honoring her, before remarking that nothing Tiberius could do would make him turn from him. Kore, taking this to mean that Crassus would do nothing and terrified at the prospect of being stuck alone with [[spoiler: her rapist]], [[spoiler:flees to [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere join the rebels]]]], even though she doesn't want to hurt Crassus. She doesn't have much fun with them either; upon learning she was once Crassus's slave, [[spoiler:Spartacus interrogates her until he is satisfied she is not a spy]]. She eventually kills [[spoiler:Tiberius]] and [[spoiler: rejoins Crassus as part of a deal to save some captured rebels, eventually being forced to come clean about killing his son and her reasons for doing so, which devastates them both]]. In the end, Crassus [[spoiler:has her [[CruelAndUnusualDeath crucified]] for her involvement with the rebels, despite having forgiven her reasons for doing so]].
** Aurelia, Varro's wife. Good grief. Her husband has to become a gladiator to pay of gambling debts that have left them broke, and she is [[spoiler: raped and impregnated by a 'family friend' whom she had turned to for help]]. Her husband then ''blames her'' for [[spoiler:the rape]] and rejects her. [[spoiler:Her rapist then comes back for her, forcing her to castrate and/or kill him in self-defense and flee town]]. Just when she and Varro have been reconciled and things are looking up for them, he is [[spoiler: killed by his best friend for the entertainment of a spoilt rich kid]]. With no way of supporting herself, Aurelia [[spoiler:gets an abortion and sells herself into slavery to Batiatus]]. Then, just when she's set free and is off to rejoin her son, she is [[spoiler:captured by the Romans, beaten half to death and nearly publicly executed before being rescued... only to die a slow and agonizing death from her injuries in the middle of a sewer, begging Spartacus to stay away from her son so that he will be spared his parents' fate]].
** Laeta. She's one of the nicest Roman elites in the series and goes through a non-stop TraumaCongaLine for much of ''War of the Damned''. First the rebels invade her city, killing her husband, turfing her out of her villa and keeping her prisoner; the only reason she isn't killed is because Spartacus intervenes...and he's the guy who is technically responsible for her predicament. She then finds out her late husband was [[spoiler: secretly doing deals with Silician pirates behind her back, resulting in a BrokenPedestal]]. She does everything she can to protect the surviving Romans, including risking her life to hide some of them. When she's finally rescued by Crassus however, he [[spoiler: declares her a traitor for having cooperated with the rebels at all and gives her as a SexSlave to Heracleo. And as she's fleeing the city she once called home, she gets stabbed with a spear; although she lives, she feels so downtrodden by it all she even seems to wish she were dead. Luckily, things start looking up for her near the end of the season; although she does end up losing Spartacus, whom she had fallen in love with, she knows he died so that she and the other rebels could live in freedom]].

** ''Vengeance'' tries to pull a FaceHeelDoubleTurn with Lucretia and Illithyia, where the former suffers BreakTheHaughty with some {{Gaslighting}} on Illithyia's part and becoming Ashur's slave. Except, the previous two seasons had shown Lucretia to be an unrepentant villain who is responsible for every bad thing that happened to her. Lucretia had likewise proved herself to be ''worse'' than Illithyia, whose DesignatedEvil of having the ludus doors sealed shut during the slave revolt was brought on because Lucretia was blackmailing her for a murder that was also caused when Lucretia got her drunk and tricked her into sleeping with the wrong man. Any attempts at generating sympathy for Lucretia at this stage just feel like KickTheSonOfABitch.