History Headscratchers / TheBoxtrolls

** It seems a very downplayed example, since the Steampunk is less an integral part of the setting and more a plot point with some particular characters (Eggs' father and the box trolls; aside from their inventions, Cheesebridge is relatively normal as a late Victorian-era city technology-wise.) The box trolls are also the only real fantastical elements, although they are treated as being completely "normal" to Cheesebridge even if they're feared.

* The film's setting is Steampunk, right? So, does the Boxtrolls' existence make it a GaslampFantasy?

** Two possible explanations; 1) They do not know the Trolls' biology and may assume they have no blood. 2) No one wants to see a bunch of crushed troll remains so no one check it.

** Two possible explanations; 1) They do not the Troll's biology and may assume they have no blood. 2) No one wants to see a bunch of crushed troll remains so no one check it.

* [[spoiler: No one in-universe questions the fact that the Boxtrolls' boxes [[BloodlessCarnage have no blood and gore]] during their DisneyDeath? At least the adults should know better, but even a child who got hurt before would know that should leave ''some'' blood!]]

* Are the Boxtrolls a OneGenderRace? (That's what the page is called, but in this particular case, I'm actually referring more to sex than gender.) They actually appear to be a "No-Gender Race," as evidenced by the fact that Eggs cannot differentiate between the human genders. However, the abundance of SceneryCensor when [[spoiler: the trolls are without their boxes]] implies that they do have some form of genitalia...which means they must not be sexless. So then, it begs the question, are some of the boxtrolls female (and because of the lack of gender expression, just don't look any different than males)? All of the named boxtrolls are given "he/him/his" pronouns in supplemental material. Does this mean that the entire "tribe" living in the cavern is male as well, or are some of the nameless trolls lurking in the background female?

** The question below this one is somewhat related, and explains that the trolls apparently do speak garbled English. Also, the trolls are collectors, and among other things they have collected vinyl records. Although the one record they showed was in Italian, it's possible they collected other records in English. Eggs might also heard other people speaking English when he went out with the boxtrolls at night, too--even though there's a curfew, he could have heard them through the windows.

* Are the Boxtrolls a OneGenderRace? (That's what the page is called, but in this particular case, I'm actually referring more to sex than gender.) They actually appear to be a "No-Gender Race," as evidenced by the fact that Eggs cannot differentiate between the human genders. However, the abundance of discretion shots when [[spoiler: the trolls are without their boxes]] implies that they do have some form of genitalia...which means they must not be sexless. So then, it begs the question, are some of the boxtrolls female (and because of the lack of gender expression, just don't look any different than males)? All of the named boxtrolls are given "he/him/his" pronouns in supplemental material. Does this mean that the entire "tribe" living in the cavern is male as well, or are some of the nameless trolls lurking in the background female?

* Are the Boxtrolls a OneGenderRace? (That's what the page is called, but in this particular case, I'm referring more to sex than gender.) So far, the named trolls are described with "he/him/his" pronouns in supplemental materials. However, the fact that Eggs can't differentiate between the human genders brings up the possibility that there could be biologically female boxtrolls - they just don't have genders/gender signifiers that would immediately separate them from males and would thus look exactly alike, and therefore Eggs would not recognize gender signifiers when he saw them. (Is it possible that this is some kind of...boxtroll fraternity? Perhaps there are females elsewhere in the world, but this particular "tribe" is solely male?)

** In-universe, I don't think the box-trolls are meant to be speaking another language, just heavily-garbled English. That explains why Eggs sounds normal to humans, but to the boxtrolls he has a speech impediment - but is still speaking the "correct language". Presumably, Winnie was around the Box-trolls long enough to get the gist of what Fish was saying, as many people who know someone with a speech impediment can gradually begin to understand them.

* Near the end of the film, there is a scene where Fish is speaking in his boxtroll language, and Winnie is the one who translates it. When did she learn to speak boxtroll?

** [[RuleOfFunny He has a speech impediment]]

* How is Eggs so well-spoken if he's spent his whole life living among creatures who can't string a sentence?