History Film / TheBalladOfBusterScruggs

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: In "All Gold Valley," we are treated to shots of incredible natural beauty, animals living in peace, flowers blooming... but ''something'' approaches, and the butterflies scatter, the deer flees, and the owl puffs up in alarm... the Something comes into view, an old man who sees none of the beauty of the valley, and only cares about the gold he can dig up.

* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:The Prospector in "All Gold Canyon"]] pretends to be dead after [[spoiler:being shot in the back by a man who had sneaked into his digging path to steal the gold. Once the skunk jumps into the hole to steal the gold, the Prospector then begins to attack the man, dazing him with dirt, then steals his gun and kills him.]]

''The Ballad of Buster Scruggs'' is a [[TheWestern Western]] AnthologyFilm by Creator/TheCoenBrothers. It was released on November 16, 2018, on Creator/{{Netflix}}. The film tells six unconnected stories set in TheWildWest, with the framing device of a disembodied hand flipping through an illustrated book of short stories.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:The Impresario]] gets away with cold-blooded murder.

** Maybe, maybe not. While the impact of the bullets would definitely be something he couldn't shrug off, the cast-iron pots and pans back then were thick and sturdy, and the bullets were slower and softer. They'd leave dents but likely wouldn't be able to penetrate.

* {{Greed}}: The prospector in "All Gold Valley." He's looking for gold, happily despoils the valley to find it... and he throws away nuggets in his quest to find the elusive "pocket" of gold, in a careless and wasteful manner.

* "The Mortal Remains": Five strangers (Creator/SaulRubinek, Tyne Daley, Chelcie Ross, Creator/BrendanGleeson, and Jonjo O'Neill) converse on a stagecoach ride.

** The end of "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" has Buster and the Kid sing a duet [[spoiler:despite the fact that the former is dead]]. During the song, while Buster is singing and [[spoiler:[[WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath and flying towards heaven]]]], the Kid is silent and looks to the sky. This implies that the reason they can sing so well together is because the Kid [[spoiler:can hear the deceased Buster Scruggs]].

* AwkwardSilenceEntrance: Buster Scruggs draws a stunned silence from the grizzled outlaws in a BadGuyBar due to his dapper ManInWhite duds.

* EvilWearsBlack: [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter The Kid]] dresses in black, the better to contrast Buster Scruggs' [[ManInWhite dapper white duds]], though he's no better or worse.

* ManInWhite: Buster Scruggs wears a snazzy white cowboy outfit, though he tells the cantina barkeep not to let his "white duds" fool him: Buster is known to "violate the statutes of God and man" when the whim strikes him.

* BadassGrandpa: Several of the characters.
** The bank teller in "Near Algodones", who outsmarts the much younger Cowboy and pistol-whips him into unconsciousness.
** The prospector in "All Gold Canyon", who [[spoiler:outfights and kills the much younger claimjumper who just shot him in the back.]]
** Mr. Arthur in "The Gal Who Got Rattled", [[spoiler: who guns down dozens of Indians to protect Alice Longabaugh.]]

** The end of "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" has Buster and the Kid sing a duet [[spoiler:despite the fact that the former is dead]]. During the song, while Buster is singing and [[spoiler:[[WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath and flying towards heaven]]]], the Kid is silent and looks to the sky. This implies that the reason they can sing together is because the Kid [[spoiler:can hear the deceased Buster Scruggs]].

** The end of "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" has Buster and the Kid sing a duet [[spoiler:despite the fact that the former is dead]]. During the song, while Buster is singing and [[spoiler:[[WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath and flies towards heaven]]]], the Kid is silent and looks to the sky. This implies that the reason they can sing together is because the Kid [[spoiler:can hear the deceased Buster Scruggs]].

** During the duet at the end of "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs", the Kid looks to the sky while [[spoiler:a singing Buster Scruggs [[WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath flies towards heaven]]]], implying that he [[spoiler:can hear the dead cowboy]].

** During the duet at the end of "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs", the Kid looks towards the sky while [[spoiler:a singing Buster Scruggs [[WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath flies towards heaven]]]], implying that he [[spoiler:can hear the dead cowboy]].

* AmbiguousDisorder: The Artist in "Meal Ticket" never says a word or makes a sound when he's not on stage. His face is aware and expressive but he always seems blank or resigned. Is he an IdiotSavant? A ShellShockedVeteran? Or maybe his living situation has put him in near-catatonic depression that only lifts when he can perform?

** Grandma Turner, a character from the Coens' previous western ''Film/TrueGrit'', makes an appearance at the beginning of "The Gal Who Got Rattled".

* TheChewToy: The Cowboy from "Near Algodones".

* CompanionCube: The prospector in "All Gold Canyon" speaks to the vein of gold he's trying to find, addressing it as "Mister Pocket".

* DeconstructiveParody: Buster Scruggs is essentially Creator/RoyRogers from Hell. He's a "white hat" singing cowboy dressed all in sparkling white, and inverts the famous quote - although he claims not to [[MisanthropeSupreme hate his fellow man]], it certainly seems like he's never met a man he didn't ''hate'', or at least never met one he wouldn't shoot. His depiction takes apart the whole "singing cowboy" archetype by showing how utterly ''insane'' (and terrifying) someone would come across as in real life if he killed a man and then sang a musical number about it ([[KickTheDog right in front of the guy's brother]], no less.)

** Just like Buster Scruggs is a (somewhat deconstructed) homage to the old "singing cowboys" like Creator/RoyRogers, [[spoiler:the man who finally kills him]] is a homage to the "serious cowboy with a gimmick" character like [[Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest "Harmonica".]]

* HollywoodToneDeaf: Realistically downplayed in "All Gold Canyon". When Music/TomWaits's prospector character sings to himself, he sounds merely unskilled and out-of-practice, not exaggeratedly obnoxious or comically awful.

* KilledOffscreen: [[spoiler:The Artist in "Meal Ticket".]]

* ThereAreTwoKindsOfPeopleInTheWorld: According to the woman in "The Mortal Remains", they are "Upright and Not Upright". For the Englishman and the Trapper, it's "Dead or Alive".

* ZanyCartoon: Buster Scruggs' story runs on cartoon logic. His shooting skills are implausibly wacky, his echoes harmonize with him as he sings his way through the country, and one of the more memorable gags has Buster pat himself off, leaving a [[MotionLines cloud of dust in the shape of his own body]] hanging in the air as he steps out of it. He's basically a deconstructed ScrewySquirrel sort of character, whose wacky gags result in real blood and an actual body count.

* MisanthropeSupreme: Averted with the title character. "Misanthrope" is one of his nicknames, but he refutes it and never lives up to it aside from killing a few people in cold blood.

* ButForMeItWasATuesday: the undertakers look practically jaded as they [[spoiler:carry Buster Scruggs’ body away.]]

-->"I'm not a devious man by nature... but when you're unarmed, your tactics might gotta be downright Archimedean."

* ShootTheDog: In "The Gal Who Got Rattled," when the other homesteaders in the caravan complain of President Pierce's barking, Mr. Knapp offers to literally shoot himself to spare Miss Longabaugh the worry. [[spoiler:He fails]].

* AssholeVictim: No tears are shed for Miss Longabaugh's brother Gilbert, who gives his sister some [[DamnedByFaintPraise damningly faint praise]] and is later revealed to be a bit of a liar as well as a Confederate sympathizer.