History Characters / TropicThunder

* TheBigGuy: As the fattest of the team and being the PluckyComicRelief.

* PrimaDonnaDirector: Subverted; it's the ''actors'' who are the prima donnas, and he's unable to control them.

** His biography on the now-defunct promotional website states that his drug addiction may have stemmed from having spent the first seven months of his life under heavy sedation in an incubator following a disastrous surgery to correct his birth defects.

'''Lazarus:''' ''Land of Silk and Money'' with Gong Li. Second Globe, third Oscar. Prepped for that one by working in a Beijing textile factory for 8 months.
** [[spoiler:...Which turns into gibberish, much to the consternation of the guards.]]

* UncleTomfoolery: aside from the blackface, Kirk's performance as a black man is highly stereotypical, using slang incorrectly and [[WaxingLyrical quoting the themesong for]] ''Series/TheJeffersons]] as an inspirational speech. In the opening scene, he also refers to Alpa Chino's Motown as "Detroit Jukebox Jheri Curl ass", when Jheri curl as a hairstyle wouldn't be invented until the 1980's, long after the Vietnam war.

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/BenStiller\\

* GreenEyedMonster: Feels a lot of animosity toward Kirk Lazarus for having the prestigious acting career that he wants, though he also clearly wants his recognition as an actor. [[spoiler: By the end of the movie, he gets both.]]

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/RobertDowneyJr\\

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's infamous in the media for his reckless off-camera antics and sees no problem with doing {{Blackface}} for a role, but he offers Tugg constructive criticism for his critically reviled performance as ''Simple Jack'' (rather than punch him down for it as others do) and gives a sincere (though rightfully unaccepted) apology to Alpa when it finally sinks in to him that what he's doing is offensive. [[spoiler: He's also clearly very happy to give Tugg an Academy Award at the end of the movie.]]

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/JackBlack\\

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/BrandonTJackson\\

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/JayBaruchel\\

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/NickNolte\\

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/SteveCoogan\\

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/DannyMcBride\\

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/TomCruise\\

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/MatthewMcConaughey\\

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/BillHader\\

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/BrandonSooHoo\\

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/ReggieLee\\

* [[DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible So Bad, It's Horrible:]] InUniverse, his attempt at a [[TomHanksSyndrome "serious" role with ''Simple Jack'']], is regarded as being the worst film ever made, and Tyra Banks, on her talk show, told him that if ''Tropic Thunder'' fails, it will be the end of his career. Later, in the story proper, when they are formulating a rescue plan, Alpa and Kirk see Speedman playing out ''Simple Jack'' for the Golden Triangle gang, and Alpa tells Kirk he "thought the movie was bad."
* TomHanksSyndrome: He attempted to invoke this in-universe with ''Simple Jack'' and failed miserably.

** It's speculated that Tom Cruise modeled his performance on Harvey Weinstein (whom Cruise allegedly had a low opinion of after their negotiations broke down over Weinstein trying to court him for the film ''Literature/ColdMountain'') - according to Ben Stiller, it was Cruise's idea to include a "gross" studio head as the secondary villain, and his physical appearance (big, fat, hairy, balding) as well as his hot temper, foul mouth, general obnoxious attitude and terrible treatment of his employees are all reminiscent of Weinstein's behaviour (Weinstein was also known for [[TrademarkFavoriteFood loving diet coke]])... although considering what Weinstein is mostly known for these days, it's almost a relief that Les wasn't a ''lot'' worse.

* CharacterDeath: He's killed by a land mine shortly into the movie.
* LudicrousGibs: He steps on a land mine and gets blown to pieces.

%%* WalkingSpoiler

* AChildShallLeadThem: There's a bit of FridgeLogic when you realize that the movie never explains why this is.

-->'''Played By:''' Brandon Soo Hoo\\

* DancePartyEnding: Tom Cruise performing a one-man Dance Party Ending over the credits.

-->''Grossman:''' Let's face it, the kids aren't exactly dressing up as The Scorcher for Purim anymore.

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/BenStiller
-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/EnzoFortuny (Latin-American Spanish dub), Creator/KenyuuHoriuchi (Japanese dub)

* BigNO: PlayedForLaughs [[spoiler: when he kills a panda.]]

* ChasedByAngryNatives: [[spoiler: As he escapes the Laotian drug-manufacturing compound and runs to the helicopter.]]

* HeroicBSOD: He loses it after he [[spoiler: kills a panda, an animal he loves more than anything else in the world.]]

* ImColdSoCold: [[spoiler: Somehow parodied for "real". Tugg claims to not be able to feel his legs while they're trying to escape from the drug compound. Turns out it's just that he's sitting in a pool of cold, muddy water.]]

* IChooseToStay: He eventually believes he is already at home with the Flaming Dragons and refuses to go back home. [[spoiler: It doesn't last long.]]
* IronicEcho: "I can't feel my legs." First as part of the film within a film, and then [[spoiler: said during the final escape sequence. Except that Tugg's able to cry and can't feel his legs because he's sitting on a cold puddle.]]

* MetaCasting: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. Ben Stiller plays mostly comedic roles, not action heroes. Though he gets a handful of funny moments in the movie, his role is one of the most serious.

* NemeanSkinning: [[spoiler: Does this to a panda.]]

* OutrunTheFireball: [[spoiler: Subverted. Tugg does this near the end, when the bridge to his helicopter's landing spot is rigged with explosives. He isn't quick enough, but he's alright afterwards.]]

'''Alpa''': "Vietcong"!\\
'''Tugg''': What?\\
'''Alpa''': It's "Vietcong." There's no "S." It's already plural. You wouldn't say "Chineses."

* {{Sequelitis}}: Parodied [[InUniverse In-Universe]]. Tugg Speedman's ''Scorcher'' series received no less than five sequels. The 6th one, ''Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown'', turned the concept of the Earth, being a giant fireball in the previous movies, to a frozen wasteland because the previous films had exhausted the previously mentioned concept.

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/RobertDowneyJr
-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/BernardGabay (European French), Dafnis Fernández (Latin-American Spanish dub), Creator/TakuyaKirimoto (Japanese dub)

-->'''Kirk''': Every day that I wake up, I thank my father for being an abusive alcoholic, telling me I was nothing, and that he was going to kill me, because it was that exact kind of environment, that I find makes great talent.

-->'''Kirk''': Y'know, that's a true story? Lady lost her kid. You 'bout to cross some fuckin' lines!

* HeroicBSOD: Kirk has a breakdown after [[spoiler: Tugg convinces him that he's having an identity crisis while Kirk is trying to get Tugg to snap out of the role he's immersed in.]]

--> '''Kirk''': I don't read the script, script reads me.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: He’s so committed to the idea of being LostInCharacter that he genuinely doesn’t realise how appallingly racist his interpretation of an African American man is.
* InopportuneImpersonationFailure: [[spoiler: Kirk disguises himself as a farmer in order to get onto the BigBad's compound. The ruse almost works, until he mistakenly says he has a poppy farm when earlier in that same conversation he claimed to have a rice paddy.]]

** Is it Kirk Lazarus playing the dude disguised as another dude (Kirk Lazarus as Lincoln Osiris as [[spoiler: lead-farming Indochinese infiltrator]]) or [[Creator/RobertDowneyJr Robert Downey, Jr]]. (as all of the above)?

* MagicPlasticSurgery: Kirk's transformation from white to black in itself is not that impressive. What's really impressive is that [[spoiler: it "wears off" over time.]]

--> '''Kirk''': I don't read the script, script reads me.

--> '''Portnoy''': How the hell do you know Chinese?
--> '''Lazarus''': ''Land of Silk and Money'' with Gong Li. Second Globe, third Oscar. Prepped for that one by working in a Beijing textile factory for 8 months.
** [[spoiler: ...Which turns into gibberish, much to the consternation of the guards.]]

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/JackBlack
-->'''Voiced by''': Christian Strempler (Latin-American Spanish dub), Takeshi Maruyama (Japanese dub)

--> '''Jeff''': SHUT THE FUCK UP!

--> ''"They only laugh at my farts!"''

* NoMatterHowMuchIBeg: One scene has Portnoy going through withdrawal, and he asks to be tied to a tree until he "gets it out of his system." He tells the others not to untie him, no matter how much he begs. Predictably, he does, even going as far as to promise [[spoiler: recently outed]] Alpa Chino a blowjob.

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/BrandonTJackson
-->'''Voiced by''': Javier Olguín (Latin-American Spanish dub), Creator/FuminoriKomatsu (Japanese dub)

-->'''Lazarus:''' All right, fellas, we're gonna make camp, rest up. Y'all might be in for a treat. You know, back before the war broke out, I was a saucier in San Antone. I bet I could collar up some of them greens, yeah, some crawfish out the paddy, yo'! Ha! I'm makin' some crabapples for dessert now, yah! Hell yeah, ha!
-->'''Alpa:''' [''mocking Kirk''] Hell yeah! Ha! That's how we all talk? We all talk like dis, "suh"? Yes suh, ha! Yeah mmm-hmm get some crawfish, and some ribs, ha! Ye-aah. [''normal voice''] You're Australian! Be Australian! Excuse me, ''Film/KangarooJack''!
* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: The lyrics to his song ''I Love Tha Pussy'' reek of this. [[spoiler: He outs himself later in the movie.]]
* HiddenDepths: He actually donates millions from his "Booty Sweat" deal to his community and is a very profficient tailor, which demonstrates he isn't all glitter. [[spoiler: He also has a thing for ''Lance'']].

* StraightGay: [[spoiler: You wouldn't know he's gay if he hadn't come out.]]

-->'''Kirk''' [''to Tugg'']: Huh? What do you mean ''you people''?\\
'''Alpa''' [''to Kirk'']: What do '''you''' mean ''you people''?

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/JayBaruchel
-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/VictorUgarte (Latin-American Spanish dub), Noboru Yamaguchi (Japanese dub)

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/NickNolte
-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/GabrielPingarron (Latin-American Spanish dub), Creator/AlainDorval (European French), Kousei Hirota (Japanese dub)

* TheAtoner: He tells Cody to hand him the flamethrower during [[spoiler: the climactic battle]] as way of making up for [[spoiler: letting him down on account how his "memoir" was faked,]] while Cody goes and [[spoiler: rigs up the explosive charges on the bridge.]]

* ObfuscatingDisability: [[spoiler: He never really lost his hands. It was all a part of his act as a phony veteran.]]
* PhonyVeteran: [[spoiler: He wasn't an Army infantryman but rather did laundry in the Coast Guard, and weakly tries to claim he wrote the book as a 'tribute' to the real heroes.]]

* WalkingSpoiler: The fact that the man is [[spoiler: a fraud]] is a pretty major reveal.

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/SteveCoogan
-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/RicardoTejedo (Latin-American Spanish dub), Hisashi Izumi (Japanese dub)

* ADayInTheLimelight: He’s the main focus of the mockumentary [[https://youtu.be/7UCEcgvDuLo Rain of Madness]] which reveals his history as an acclaimed Broadway director who was in way over his head when he bought the film rights to ''Tropic Thunder'', not realizing that directing a big budget Hollywood war movie would be a very different experience compared to a stage play. Throughout the experience he suffered increasing SanitySlippage thanks to a combination of Les Grossman’s interference, the main actors' various problems, and his own denial that everything was not a disaster.
* AllPartOfTheShow: Nope. [[spoiler: Tugg Speedman thinks his death was an act, but it was real]].

* ButtMonkey: ''Dear God''. He can't control his actors, his movie goes way over budget in little time, he is punched in the face at the request of Les Grossman and [[spoiler: he steps on a landmine and gets blown up]].

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/DannyMcBride
-->'''Voiced by''': Andrés García (Latin-American Spanish dub), Tomoyuki Shimura (Japanese dub)

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/TomCruise
-->'''Voiced by''': Jorge Ornelas (Latin-American Spanish dub), Creator/ToshiyukiMorikawa (Japanese dub)

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/MatthewMcConaughey
-->'''Voiced by''': Óscar Flores (Latin-American Spanish dub), Junpei Morita (Japanese dub)

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: The [=TiVo=]. It is used as target to the rocket that would blow up the helicopter in which the film crew was escaping on.]]

* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler: He uses the money and the G5 offered by Grossman to save Speedman from the Flaming Dragon.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: DoubleSubverted towards Tugg. [[spoiler: At first, it looks like Pecker ditched his friend for a G5. Then he uses the plane to rescue him, playing the trope straight.]]

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/BillHader
-->'''Voiced by''': Kaihiamal Martínez (Latin-American Spanish dub),

-->'''Played By:''' Brandon Soo Hoo
-->'''Voiced by''': Bruno Coronel (Latin-American Spanish dub), Creator/FujikoTakimoto (Japanese dub)

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: He is never killed or arrested. The actors just escape, and his business probably goes on as usual.]]

-->'''Played By:''' Creator/ReggieLee
-->'''Voiced by''': Ricardo Mendoza (Latin-American Spanish dub)

* BigNO: [[spoiler: When he kills a panda.]]

* ChasedByAngryNatives: [[spoiler: As he escapes the Laotian village and runs to the helicopter.]]

* CrucifiedHeroShot: He does it in the movie-within-a-movie, and then looks ridiculous as he overreacts getting shot.

* SanitySlippage: After he accidentally [[spoiler:kills a panda]] he starts losing his mind. By the time Kirk finds him he's convinced he's found his true people among the Flying Dragons since they appreciate his acting.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: With him going to extreme lengths to perform his method acting show that he is not completely sane.

* ADayInTheLimelight: He’s the main focus of the mockumentary [[https://youtu.be/7UCEcgvDuLo Rain of Madness]] which reveals his history as an acclaimed broadway director who was in way over his head when he bought the film rights to ''Tropic Thunder'', not realizing that directing a big budget Hollywood action movie would be a very different experience to stage play. Throughout the experience he suffered increasing SanitySlippage thanks to a combination of Les Grossman’s interference, the main actor’s various problems, and his own denial that everything was not a disaster.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: InUniverse. He and the Laotian villagers are big fans of ''Simple Jack''.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: A blonde, beloved, heavyset comedian with drug issues is reminiscent of Creator/ChrisFarley, while his films (a whole lot of VulgarHumor and ActingForTwo) seem to reference the later career of Creator/EddieMurphy.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Downplayed. Despite playing a [[GutturalGrowler gravelly-voiced]] ActionHero, Tugg himself is a good-natured, slightly timid man who loves pandas (funding charities for their preservation) and once co-authored a children's book.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Seems to channel elements of at the time-relevant rapper Music/SouljaBoy. His promotion for "Booty Sweat" and "Busta Nut" also parallel the Vitamin Water ad campaign with rapper Music/50Cent, who would also enter acting around the late 2000's.

-->'''Alpa Chino:''' ...they had one good role for a black man, and they gave it to Crocodile Dundee!
-->'''Kirk Lazarus:''' ''[[[BerserkButton stops smiling]]]'' Pump your brakes, kid, that man's a national treasure.

* WTHCastingAgency: This is more in-universe for the movie within the movie. Having a blond haired blue eyed Australian playing a black man?
** The joke was even carried to his Oscar nomination, as Cuba Gooding Jr. cut off halfway through his praise of Downey's risk in taking the role with "What the hell were you thinking, man?"

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Seems to channel elements of at the time-relevant rapper Music/SouljaBoy.

-->Oh, okay. Flaming Dragon, fuckface. First, why don't you take a big step back and literally [[SuddenlyShouting FUCK YOUR OWN FACE]]?! I don't know what kind of pan-Pacific power play you're trying to pull here, but Asia, jack, is my territory. So whatever you're thinking, you better think again because otherwise I'm gonna have to head down there and rain down an ungodly fuckin' firestorm upon you! You're gonna have to get the fuckin' United Nations to sign a fuckin' binding resolution to keep me from utterly destroying you! I am talking scorched earth, motherfucker! I will massacre you! I WILL FUCK YOU UP!!!

* BaitTheDog: His sudden, serious change in demeanor upon meeting Four-Leaf Tayback seemingly indicates he might not be all that bad a person deep down. Then, well…
-->Oh, wow. You're a great American. This nation owes you a huge debt. Now SHUT THE FUCK UP and let me do my job!!!

* ClusterFBomb: As seen in BadassBoast he really likes this trope.

---> ''"Let's face it, the kids aren't exactly dressing up as The Scorcher for Purim anymore."''

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: He wants to make a movie so he gets lots of money. He doesn't care one bit if the lead actor is kidnapped and can be killed.

* WouldHitAGirl: He threatens to rip off secretary Helen's breasts.
** DisproportionateRetribution: All because she didn't have staples that he wanted.

* AmbiguouslyBi: He shows some lecherous traits about women (see above), but he's also ''extremely'' loyal to Tugg and his ringtone for Tugg's number is the love song "Sometimes When We Touch."