History Film / ThePatriot

** Although Banastre Tarleton, the prototype for Tavington, was a rather nasty individual (to clarify, note his actions at the Waxhaws Massacre[[note]]and even then, it was arguably more his troops' fault than his own[[/note]] and his fervent support of the slave trade as an MP), he was not nearly as bad as the film would have you believe. Many of the things Tavington does, such as locking up villagers inside their church and then setting it and them on fire were based on German war crimes from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (though the English did do similar things to the Irish during the 1641 rebellion, even if more than 100 years beforehand).

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: No one in the British Army, not even his '''generals''', like Tavington.

* ZeroApprovalRating: No one in the British Army, not even his '''generals''', like Tavington.

* BloodKnight: Despite his comments that he finds war an "ugly business", it's clear that Tavington enjoys his work as a soldier ''way'' too much and longs to kill as many enemies as possible to build himself up as a legend.

* ExpyCoexistence: It requires both [[GeniusBonus a fairly thorough knowledge of the war]] ''and'' [[BlinkAndYouMissIt careful attention to dialog]], but apparently the main historical inspiration for Tavington, Banastre Tarleton, exists in the universe of ''The Patriot'' alongside Tavington. When Gabriel returns home wounded, he talks about the Green Dragoons "falling on the Virginians", an apparent reference to the Waxhaws Massacre, where Tarleton's soldiers thought that the Americans pulled an ISurrenderSuckers and killed Tarleton while surrendering, (the rough consensus is that some elements of the American forces were trying to surrender and others still fighting as the white flag was going out, and Tarleton's horse was killed and he was trapped beneath it at around the same time as the surrender began) and proceeded to kill or injure most of the Americans before order could be restored.

* AppealToForce: Col. Tavington in his introductory scene. When Martin tries to reason with him about his brutal conduct by citing the Rules of War, Tavington responds by aiming a pistol at his head (an unarmed civilian, natch) and asks him if he would "[[DeadlyEuphemism like a lesson in the rules of war]]". [[AndYourLittleDogToo Then he points it at Martin's children]]. Completely [[DeconstructedTrope decontructed]] when it's shown Tavington's superiors hate him for this approach because it violates the rules of war, inspires rebellion against Tavington's cruelty, and tarnishes the desire reputation of OfficerAndAGentleman that his fellow soldiers like his superiors wish to maintain.

Is also known, however, for its extreme cases of PoliticallyCorrectHistory, having plenty of (partly blatant) {{Historical Villain Upgrade}}s for the [[EvilBrit British]] and {{Historical Hero Upgrade}}s for the [[WeHelpTheHelpless rebels]], to make the conflict [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified more justified]].

* ShellShockedVeteran: Benjamin is still traumitized by fighting in the French and Indian War, particularly what happened at Fort Wilderness. It's why he's so reluctant to fight in the Revolutionary War.

* ShipperOnDeck: Judging by the childrens reactions when Benjamin and Charlotte kiss, they've apparently been waiting for them to get together for a while.

* TheStarscream: Tavington has shades of this, such as being angered by Cornwallis scolding him for using brutal tactics, creating the "Ghost", and in the climax he had his troops march on, completely ignoring Wilkins when he brought up Cornwallis not giving orders yet. Though he's not trying to takeover from Cornwallis, he just feels he's holding him back.

* UngratefulBastard: Despite the Martins treating the British soldiers as well as Continentals, Tavington has their home burned down anyway, for "harboring" rebels.

The movie isn't about the actual Founding Fathers, but is instead about some of the biggest and most brutal engagements that were waged in the Southern colonies, as seen through an [[CallToAgriculture Officer turned Farmer]] turned Officer again. Benjamin Martin (Gibson) is a [[OldShame veteran of the]] French And Indian War who was changed by the horrors he has seen (and committed). South Carolina has just voted to join the war, but Ben decides not to participate in the conflict. His eldest son Gabriel (Ledger) decides to go anyway; he isn't seen again until two years later, when he staggers home, wounded and carrying dispatches between two rebel leaders.

* SatelliteCharacter: General O'Hara can only be described as "that other British general with Cornwallis". His sole scene away from the man is when he stops Tavington from picking a fight with Martin during the parley.

* TheCavalry: The French making the save at the Siege/Battle of Yorktown.

* GoodShepherd: Reverend Oliver joins the patriots to defend his flock.

* [[RedShirtArmy Red Shirt Armies]]

* SatelliteCharacter: General O'Hara can only be described as "that other British general with Cornwallis".

* TokenGoodTeammate: The only decent British officer was the guy who thanked the Martins for caring for the wounded redcoats. He gets killed anyway when Gabriel is rescued.

* OneBulletLeft: Benjamin Martin deliberately saves a special bullet made from one of his murdered son's lead soldiers especially for the BigBad who killed him, Colonel Tavington. {{Subverted}} in that while he does get his final, poetic justice-y shot in on Tavington, a cannonball landing nearby throws off his aim and only wounds the villain, leading to a rather fierce duel between Benjamin and the now ''very'' pissed-off Tavington in the midst of the battle.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Captain Wilkins just sort of disappears from the movie during the final battle, and we never find out what became of him.

** When Tavington orders the British lieutenant to have the wounded rebels executed, the latter is left flabbergasted.

->'''Benjamin Martin''': Before this war is over, I'm going to kill you.\\

* PummelingTheCorpse: In the tomahawk fight scene, Martin continues hacking at a British soldier in rage after it is clear that the soldier is already long dead. This is right after the commander of the dragoons shot his second oldest son and tried to have his oldest son hanged as a spy.

* GloryHound: Lord Corwallis is one but Tavington is a more blatant and eager example. As part of a FreudianExcuse, Tavington is overzealous to prove himself and gain riches through brutality due to his father squandering all of his inheritance and leaving him with nothing, while Cornwallis seeks to only reign in Tavington's brutality to maintain and enrich the reputation of his military career. Both end up paying the price for their desire of fame in war.
* GoodShepherd: Reverend Oliver joins the patriots to defend his flock.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: During the French and Indian War, Benjamin and his men hunted down a French unit that had brutally killed some British settler, with the implication the men were tortured and the women and children were raped. As payback, Benjamin had the French soldiers tortured to death. He's still traumatized by it.
* PetTheDog: Ben was kind enough to take care of the two Great Danes he captured.

* AnyoneCanDie: Benjamin's words prove true: "The innocent will die along with the rest of us".
* AppealToForce: Col. Tavington in his introductory scene. When Martin tries to reason with him about his brutal conduct by citing the Rules of War, Tavington responds by aiming a pistol at his head (an unarmed civilian, natch) and asks him if he would "[[DeadlyEuphemism like a lesson in the rules of war]]". [[AndYourLittleDogToo Then he points it at Martin's children]].

* BloodKnight: Despite his comments that he finds war an "ugly business", it's clear that Tavington enjoys his work as a soldier ''way'' too much.

* GeneralFailure: General Gates (who we barely see in the movie) doesn't have a very good track record against the British; despite being in a position of command at Saratoga we see at least two battles with him in command, both of which are Continental losses. It's telling that at Cowpens he's ''not'' in command. Benjamin says he's a fool for trying to fight like the British do, since they're much better at it due to the soldiers having more training in that method of warfare.

** Captain Wilkins is a colonial who sides with the British and serves in British army, considering the rebels to be 'traitors to the crown.' Around a third of the colonists stayed loyal to Great Britain in reality, and many returned there after the war was lost. (Notably, this included Benjamin Franklin's son and the two of them never spoke again)

** Captain Wilkins is a colonial who sides with the British and serves with in British army, considering the rebels to be 'traitors to the crown.' Around a third of the colonists stayed loyal to Great Britain in reality, and many returned there after the war was lost. (Notably, this included Benjamin Franklin's son and the two of them never spoke again)