History Film / TheManWhoWouldBeKing

* BrainsAndBrawn: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Both protagonists are quick-witted battle-hardened veterans of the British Army, who can hold their own in a fight. But Peachy is [[TheSmartOne smarter and more likely to solve a confrontation by means of his ingenuity and wit]]. Among other examples, he is the one to see that they can use the fact that the locals have mistaken Daniel for a god to their advantage and he is quick to understand that they cannot refuse the high priest’s summon to the holy city of Sikandergul under penalty of losing face with their followers. He has also enough good sense to advise Danny to get out of the country with their booty as soon as possible before their deception is discovered. Conversely, Danny is more quick-tempered and impulsive. [[RunningGag He also has difficulties with basic math]].

* {{Brownface}}: Peachy and Danny use this in-universe to cross the border, posing as Kakirs.

* {{Brownface}}: Peachy and Danny use this in-universe to cross the border, posing as fakirs.

** The Freemasons' Eye medallion

** Upon being offered a chance to flee on a donkey, Billy responds, "Gurkha foot soldier, not cavalry! Rifleman Majendra Bahadur Gurung wishing you many good lucks!" and charges into the crowd with his kukri, where he takes out one or two men before dying horribly.

* GodGuise: The villagers hail Daniel as a god after an arrow gets [[PocketProtector stuck in the bandolier under his jacket]]. Penny convinces him to roll with it because it will make conquering the country easier. When he arrives at a temple though, the priests want to [[GodTest see if he can duplicate the feat for them]]. They are convinced of his divinity after seeing the Masonic emblem he wears, which echoes Alexander the Great (who they believe was divine, and hail Dravot as his heir). Later he bleeds when his bride-to be bites him though, and they come after him.

-->'''Danny''': You are going to become soldiers. A soldier does not think. He only obeys. Do you really think that if a soldier thought twice he'd give his life for queen and country? Not bloody likely.

* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: Billy Fish, on being offered a horse to escape the lost battle: "Gurkha is foot soldier, not cavalry." Then he runs to confront the entire army and dies a warrior death.

* ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest: Peachy steals a pocket watch from Kipling at a train station. Peachy sees the watch fob is a Masonic emblem and, being a Mason himself, "has" to return the watch, hopefully without giving away his thievery. He does (or thinks so) and thus meets Kipling. Later Peachy and Daniel meet with Kipling and tell him of a grand adventure they are about to embark on. Later still, as they leave for this adventure, in an impulsive gesture Kipling gives the watch fob to Dravot. It later saves their lives.

* KickTheDog: Peachy throws an friendly, eager-to-please Indian out of a moving train at the start of the film, establishing himself as a VillainProtagonist.

* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler:Gurung's attempt at YouShallNotPass was made purely out of HonorBeforeReason and [[CurbStompBattle gets him torn apart by an angry crowd in three seconds, tops.]] Danny and Peachy don't even get any further in their escape even for just a few moments, since they just stand there speechless and watch him die.]]

* ShortLivedLeadership: Danny Dravot, being corrupted by his power, claims Kafiristan his kingdom. He even dares to begin a hereditary monarchy, but [[spoiler: his bride inflicts a bleeding wound that exposes him as mortal. Dravot is given a DisneyVillainDeath, while his partner is given a crucifixion, which he somehow survives, and lives to tell the tale]]. Danny's ascension and reign all transpire in one season, so less than one hundred days total.
* SinisterMinister: The HighPriest of Kafiristan. He's stern and imperious, but he's also completely justified in his doubt over Danny's legitimacy.

* ThereAreNoCoincidences: After getting so many lucky breaks, Danny starts to think that he really was [[BecauseDestinySaysSo destined]] to [[AGodAmI become a god or at least a ruler]].

* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: Peachy and Danny do a lot of it in order to build up their Kingdom.

* GiveMeBackMyWallet: A different take on this is in The Man Who Would Be King. Peachy steals a pocket watch from Kipling, only to realise he's a fellow Mason. He then boards the train and blames an Indian passenger for the loss of the watch so he can return it. Kipling points out that he noticed his watch was missing...back at the station.
* AGodAmI: Danny is mistaken for the god of an Afghan tribe. He and Peachy decide to go along with the ruse.
* GodEmperor: The protagonists' goal is for one of them to achieve this status, by finding a remote and relatively primitive society and playing on their superstitions to be thought supernatural beings.
* GodGuise: The main characters take over an isolated, mountainous country when Daniel is mistaken for a god descended from Alexander the Great. The proof of divinity comes in two forms: Daniel [[spoiler:survives an arrow to the chest because it happens to hit his bandolier]], and later, [[spoiler:when the natives go "pitchfork" and intend to execute him, they see the Masonic pendant he wears [[AncientConspiracy exactly matches the carved Masonic symbol]] Alexander left behind, which only the oldest priest knows about]].
* GodTest: Daniel is acclaimed as a god when struck by an arrow which fails to penetrate his uniform (it hit his bandolier). When he arrives at a temple, though, the priests want to see if he can duplicate the feat for them. They are convinced of his divinity after seeing the Masonic emblem he wears, which echoes Alexander the Great (who they believe was divine, and hail Dravot as his heir). Later he bleeds when his bride-to be bites him though, and they come after him.
* {{Greed}}: The only motivation the protagonists have, at least at first. Ironically, unlike in most stories, if it ''remained'' their only motivation, [[spoiler: they would have walked away from the whole thing unscratched and filthy rich]].

* HeroicVow: The Contract.

* DoomedPredecessor: PlayedWith. The main characters journey through an area, relying on documents from a British mapping party. They eventually find a loan survivor from that party, who was stranded in the area due to a landslide that wiped out all of his companions, which of course raises the question of how the map they used to make it that far made it back to civilization.

* WarForFunAndProfit: Subverted. As Danny and Peachy find first-hand, a poor, desolated and remote region of Afganistan isn't exactly a place where [[spoiler: war loot is going to be anything but worthless junk. If not for Alexander's treasure, Danny and Peachy would never even see a single golden item, while taking over entire country]].

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Peachy had to live through being crucified between two trees and carry his dead friend's head all the way back to India with him.]]
* AlasPoorYorick: In the end [[spoiler: Peachy Carnehain reveals that he has been carrying the severed head (now little more than a skull) of Daniel since his death]].

* AncientConspiracy: Peachy and Danny are members of the Freemasons. When this is found out, it marks them as the descendants of Alexander the Great to the Holy Men, as Alexander left behind Masonic symbols.

* BackToBackBadasses: In the end, Peachy and Danny are surrounded by the angry natives, without any bullet left. They stand back-to-back ready to fight.

* BattleInterruptingShout: Priests walk across the battlefield and the War stops.

-->'''Peachy''': By telling the editor what I know about his sister, and a certain government official in these parts.

* BookEnds: An early scene has Danny and Peachy visiting the office of Kipling's newspaper. Peachy [[spoiler:comes back at the end, with only Danny's head.]]

* CelibateHero: Inverted and ultimately subverted - Daniel and Peachy are doubtlessly as sly with women as they are with men's money and trust, but both make a pact not to dabble in matters of the opposite sex until their quest to become kings is achieved. Despite their unscrupulous nature, they stick to this surprisingly well. [[spoiler:Until Danny lets godhood get to his head and he demands a wife...]]

* CoolClearWater: The duo use their military skill and advanced weaponry to help one of the local tribes attack another tribe, one of their grievances being that they are pissing upstream from their village. When that village is conquered, they're used to form another army to attack the next village up the river, whose inhabitants have also been pissing in the water...

** Danny and Peachy incite a tribe to attack a rival village, who among other sins are accused of urinating upstream from their village. Once defeated they enlist this new tribe into their army as well, inciting them to attack the next village up the river, whose inhabitants have also been pissing upstream...

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Aside the original short story, the film is also partly based on the travels of American adventurer Josiah Harlan and James Brooke, the English "white Raja" of Sarawak in Borneo.

* UndeadAuthor: The main characters are venturing into the unknown, following the records of a mapping expedition some years earlier. They come across a member of that mapping expedition, who says that he was stranded from civilization by a landslide that killed all of the others. This raises the question of how that map that got Daniel and Peachy that far made it back to civilization in the first place. Presumably either someone else did survive but was stranded on the other side of the landslide, or they'd sent back a courier with what they'd mapped already prior to the disaster.
* Or of course, there had been some earlier expedition, and/or a non-British one, that had survived, other than the rather more unfortunate one under Colonel Robertson.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The film is based partly on the travels of American adventurer Josiah Harlan and James Brooke, the English "white Raja" of Sarawak in Borneo.

* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler:Gurung's attempt at YouShallNotPass was made purely out of HonorBeforeReason and [[CurbStompBattle gets him torn apart by an angry crowd in three seconds, tops]].]]

* BadassMoustache: Danny Dravot has one, combined with HotBloodedSideburns.

* ExperiencedProtagonist: Peachy and Daniel are both former noncommissioned officers of the British Army with years of experience in combat as well as training soldiers. These skills come in handy as they begin conquering Kafiristan and forming small armies of loyal followers.

* BrainsAndBrawn: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]].Both protagonists are quick-witted battle-hardened veterans of the British Army, who can hold their own in a fight. But Peachy is [[TheSmartOne smarter and more likely to solve a confrontation by means of his ingenuity and wit]]. Among other examples, he is the one to see that they can use the fact that the locals have mistaken Daniel for a god to their advantage and he is quick to understand that they cannot refuse the high priest’s summon to the holy city of Sikandergul under penalty of losing face with their followers. He has also enough good sense to advise Danny to get out of the country with their booty as soon as possible before their deception is discovered. Conversely, Danny is more quick-tempered and impulsive. [[RunningGag He also has difficulties with basic math]].

* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler: Once their ruse is no longer effective, Peachy, Danny and Billy try to fight their way through. When they end up surrounded and without any bullets left, they still are eager to attack anyone who even dares getting close. Danny eventually FaceDeathWithDignity when he's put on the bridge he ordered to build and thrown into the ravine below]].

* DueToTheDead: One of the Kafiri customs is to take the head of a defeated enemy or a fallen chieftain and use it as the ball in a game similar to polo. [[spoiler:Peachy recovers Danny's crowned head after his death to spare it from this fate]].

** [[spoiler:After his loyal subjects discover that he's not a god or a devil, but only a man, Daniel and Peachy are overwhelmed by an angry mob. Faced with certain death, Daniel asks for Peachy's forgiveness, then sets his crown upon his head and walks proudly to his doom, singing The Son of God goes forth to war and yelling mocking encouragement to his executioners]].

* LoveableRogue: The protagonists manage to be this despite being extremely racist and greedy conmen who don't see anything wrong with starting out a tribal conflict for their own profit.

* ThwartedEscape: The end of the film - [[spoiler: their loyal troops get surrounded and killed by angry villagers, most of the treasure is lost and eventually both conmen are captured once they are out of ammo. All of this in a very quick succession]].

* WorthlessYellowRocks: A poor, desolated and remote region of Afganistan isn't exactly a place where [[spoiler: war loot is going to be anything but worthless junk. If not for Alexander's treasure, Danny and Peachy would never even see a single golden item, while taking over entire country]].

* RealityEnsues: A poor, desolated and remote region of Afganistan isn't exactly a place where [[spoiler: war loot is going to be anything but worthless junk. If not for Alexander's treasure, Danny and Peachy would never even see a single golden item, while taking over entire country]].

* GoOutWithASmile:
** The epitome of StiffUpperLip, Danny and Peachy are like this each time they believe their death is imminent. They're even saved when their laughing causes an avalanche. In the end [[spoiler:Danny sings his marching song to the end]].
** [[spoiler:Billy Fish is all smiles as he charges to his [[SenselessSacrifice pointless death]]]].

* ITakeOffenseToTheLastOne: Danny and Peachey's record has them guilty of everything from smuggling to swindling to receiving stolen goods to bare-faced blackmail. Peachey objects to the charge of blackmail.

* AlasPoorYorick: In the end [[spoiler: Peachy presents Danny's skull to Kipling]].

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Both of the leads. [[spoiler: And Peachy survives]].
* FeudEpisode: Brought on by the AGodAmI trope. Ultimately, [[spoiler: the power of the god-king]] goes to Danny's head, putting him at odds with Peachy.

* AGodAmI: Danny develops this attitude.

* GodGuise: The basis of most of the plot.

* HonorBeforeReason: “Billy Fish” is a former member of the [[UsefulNotes/NepaliWithNastyKnives Gurkha regiments]] of the British Indian Army, a unit notorious for its uncompromising [[BadassCreed warrior ethos]]. True to form, at the end he prefers to charge into a lynching mob, instead of taking the chance to flee unscathed.

* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder:
--> '''Billy Fish:''' ''(after refusing his chance to escape in a horse)'' Gurkha is foot soldier, not cavalry.

* MrExposition: Kipling explains about Freemasons, then Kafiristan and Alexander the Great, early in the movie.

* ShortLivedLeadership: Dravot, being corrupted by his power, overthrows the chieftain, and claims Kafiristan his kingdom. Dravot even dares to begin a hereditary monarchy, but his bride inflicts a bleeding wound that exposes Dravot as mortal. Dravot is given a DisneyVillainDeath, while his partner is given a crucifixion, which he somehow survives, and lives to tell the tale. Dravot's ascension and reign all transpire in one season, so less than one hundred days total. The film helps explains his bride cutting him, as she's exposing him as an impostor rather than Alexander the Great, which leads to his downfall.

* {{Greed}}: The only motivation the protagonists have, at least at first.

* FeudEpisode: Brought on by the AGodAmI trope.