History Film / Underworld2003

The main plot revolves around the struggle between the Lycans ([[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]]) the vampires. After centuries of conflict, the vampires are able to gain the upper hand when Lucian, the leader of the Lycans, is seemingly killed.

## Having their necks cut open, as seen with Sonja fighting against Viktor's elite Death Dealers (not even full on decapitation) and Selene killing Antigen guards with a scalpel (of course, at that point, any cuts she deals would be equal to being cut open by a full-length sword). Viktor being an Elder, survived having a full-length sword stabbed into his mouth and out the back of his head. He survived an injury that more than likely damaged the top of his spinal column. That's not something you easily walk away from)

## Being hit with explosive force. (Yes, Trix and Taylor were killed by a silver grenade, but even taking that into consideration, their bodies and everyone else in the ladder chute were gibbed beyond recognition. That grenade was not only loaded with silver, but had more than enough explosives packed into it to render 4 maybe 6 full-grown men into messy chunks.)

** Michael Corwin becomes a werewolf-vampire hybrid by getting subsequently bitten by [[spoiler:Lucius, a werewolf, and Selene, a vampire]].

** Their apperance seems to depend on what order they were turned in. Michael was bitten by a Lycan first and then a Vampire, and he looks like a wolf-man, although more man-like than the Lycans. Marcus was a Vampire first and then ingested Lycan blood, and he became a winged bat-monster, capable of shape-shifting into a human form.

* YouSexyBeast: Vampires are sleek and seductive, dressing in stylish gothic fashions. Werewolves are brawny, rough-and-tumble men in leather. [[TheyFightCrime They have sex.]] Downplayed with Michael, who's a human-turned-vampire/Lycan hybrid.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The vampires are stereotypically pale, blood-drinking, almost completely immortal, highly athletic, and their assassins/soldiers use plenty of GunFu, but the entire condition is supposedly just the result of a mutant [[TheVirus virus]]. They're also not undead, and do not require special things to kill them. For example, sunlight will cause them to burst into flame. However, a stake through the heart is unnecessary; sufficient bullet wounds and similar gore will kill them. They do breathe, but it looks like they've got a substantially increased lung capacity, since Selene was able to hold her breath underwater during their infiltration of William's prison. She was also resuscitated by Michael, during the first movie, and she was shown out of breath. Vampires are also able to reproduce. Similar to ''Film/{{Blade}}'', those born of vampire parents are called "purebloods".

* AnAxToGrind: When Selene's BottomlessMagazines finally run dry as she's battling lycans, she grabs an ancient silver war axe to cleave one's skull in two.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: The whole Vampire/Werewolf conflict is more {{grey and gray|Morality}} or black and black. ''Rise of The Lycans'' and ''Evolution'' are the only films where the protagonists can be argued to be the more heroic participants in the conflict, rather than the guys with the current viewpoint.

* AnachronismStew: The animated shorts have Selene using semi-automatic handguns...in ''1890.'' This isn't AS anachronistic as you may think. Many early semiautomatic pistols, such as [[RareGuns the Borchard C93 or the Shonberger-Laumann 1892]] began production in the 1890s, perhaps the vampires obtained early prototypes. Selene still has [[BottomlessMagazines apparently infinite ammo]] though.

* {{Fanservice}}: Semira, one of the highest-ranking vampires of the Eastern Order, is played by gorgeous Creator/LaraPulver and doesn't seem to possess clothes without AbsoluteCleavage at the very least. She wears [[VaporWear even less]] in at least two scenes.

The main plot revolves around the struggle between the Lycans, a former SlaveRace to the vampires, rebelling and the latter vowing to exterminate them. All because Lucian, a Lycan, and vampire lord Viktor's daughter fell in love and conceived a child. Viktor ordered her killed to ensure the [[HybridMonster "Abomination"]] would not come to term. Lucian escaped and the rest, as they say, is history.

* InvincibleHero: Whether you agree that Selene is the 'hero' in the early parts of the series once you find out she's been doing everything based on disinformation Viktor gave her, she fits the 'invincible character' trope very well, as she rarely takes damage of any kind compared to other characters in the franchise, including ''Michael'', who became superfluous as a character seemingly the very minute after Selene kills Viktor. To the point that he doesn't even appear in the fourth film except in flashback being apparently killed, and then found to be frozen in ice. Selene is pretty much unstoppable to begin with, but then she got {{up|ToEleven}}graded to the point that the concern over a Hybrid might as well have been equivalent to being scared of the boogeyman being in your closet when there's an actual armed serial killer loose in your neighborhood.

* MessianicArchetype: Selene is a rather twisted example, as she is viewed as a traitor by fellow vampires after the first movie. Come ''Awakening'', however, she comes back [[spoiler:from being effectively dead, walks in the sunlight, rallies the younger vampires, and goes around ''resurrecting their dead'']]. Gets eventually TurnedUpToEleven in ''Blood Wars''.

** David gets in on the action in ''Blood Wars'', [[UpToEleven taking up several notches by]] [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe just cutting the poor guy in half]].

* WorkingClassWerewolves: Taken UpToEleven in this setting, as Lycans were once slaves to the vampires, living in squalor and wearing rags. After their rebellion their conditions improved slightly, but they still seem to be stuck living in abandoned buildings or even sewers and have far fewer resources than the vampires, who tend to live in mansions and throw swanky parties. A notable aversion is ''Film/UnderworldAwakening'', where it's revealed that Lycans control [[spoiler: Antigen, a wealthy pharmaceutical company]].

* GroinAttack: [[OneHitKill With a sword]]. [[UpToEleven From underwater]]. Poor lycan bastard...

Not to be confused with ''Film/Underworld1927'', TheUnderworld, [[{{Hell}} that underworld]], ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld'', the band Music/{{Underworld}}, or a MetroSpecificUnderworld, which it may loosely reference.

** Lucian is shot in the head (and various other appendages) by Selene in the first movie. It's not much more effective, though it does slow him down a bit.

The ''Underworld'' series is a set of horror-action movies revolving around the conflicts of [[FurAgainstFang Werewolves and Vampires]], complete with an AncientConspiracy, an intricate {{Backstory}}, plenty of DarkWorld imagery, great British actors [[LargeHam chewing all the scenery in sight]] and lots of gratuitous gory action.

* ExpositionOfImmortality: Alexander reveals himself to have been the father of the original Marcus Corvinus; still alive after approximately 2600 years.

* ColorWash: The series is famous for heavily saturating their visuals in blue.

--->'''Sonja:''' Was it not you who told me that I should show a little gratitude in such instances? And what of yourself? Have you no gratitude to one who rescued your daughter?
--->'''Viktor:''' [[SarcasmMode I am awash in it. That he yet breathes shows the depths of my magnanimity.]]

--> '''David''': Fucking piece of shit! ''*stab*''

--> '''Sebastian''': You wouldn't need a fucking gun to kill me.

--> '''Sebastian''': Fuck you!

Not to be confused with ''Film/Underworld1927'', TheUnderworld, [[{{Hell}} that underworld]], ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld'', the band Music/{{Underworld}}, [[Series/CoronationStreet this one]] or a MetroSpecificUnderworld, which it may loosely reference.

* CallingTheOldManOut: Selene to Alexander Corvinus, in response to his NotSoDifferent lecture.

* NotSoDifferent: Alexander Corvinus gives both this and a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Selene when she asks him for help killing Marcus. For her response, see CallingTheOldManOut.

The main plot revolves around the struggle between the Lycans, a former slave race to the vampires, rebelling and the latter vowing to exterminate them. All because Lucian, a Lycan, and vampire lord Viktor's daughter fell in love and conceived a child. Viktor ordered her killed to ensure the [[HybridMonster "Abomination"]] would not come to term. Lucian escaped and the rest, as they say, is history.

* HybridMonster: Michael Corvin becomes one, specifically the first Half-vampire-half-Lycan. Later, Marcus also becomes one. There's also Subject 2, the daughter of Michael Corvin and Selene created in a lab. Lucian and Sonja's child would have been a straight Vampire-Lycan hybrid if it had lived. Michael started out as a lycan with the dormant Corvinus gene who had the vampire DNA added later. Marcus was the other way around. Subject 2, on the other hand, was born from Michael's already-existent hybrid DNA mixing with Selene's vampire DNA which had already mixed with pure immortal DNA from Alexander Corvinus. These different combinations and scenarios could explain the different appearances of the hybrids.

* TheMasquerade: It's revealed in the second film that Sir Derek Jacobi and his merry men have been following the vampires around and cleaning up their mess. They even mention bribing witnesses to keep their mouths shut. [[spoiler:The fact that Marcus kills all of them is probably what led to the BrokenMasquerade.]]

** Selene, a vampire immortal hybrid, might actually be indestructible.She survived falling through an elevator shaft while the Lycan who tackled her wasn't so fortunate, and she also survived having a grenade go off near her. She also managed to tackle a van with enough force to flip it a couple of times without any long term damage.