History Series / The10thKingdom

* BabiesEverAfter: Played with at the end. [[spoiler: At the same time that he is asking her to marry him, Wolf tells Virginia (who is completely unaware of anything unusual) that she is pregnant with their "wolf cub", claiming that he "just knows these things". But, as she says at the end, they did not have a HappilyEverAfter just yet, as there was more trouble ahead of them in the Kingdoms very soon after]].

* BabiesEverAfter: Played with at the end. [[spoiler: At the same time that he is asking her to marry him, Wolf tells Virginia (who is completely unaware of anything unusual) that she is pregnant with their "wolf cub", claiming that he "just knows these things". But, as she says at the end, they did not have a HappilyEverAfter, as there was more trouble ahead of them in the other kingdoms (though she [[WhatCouldHaveBeen does not mention what ever happened to the child]]). So it isn't clear if she really was pregnant or had the child, but even if so, it didn't make their life HappilyEverAfter either.]]

* BrokenAesop: Snow White tells Virginia the original version of how she died, that the Evil Queen visited her three times, once with a poison comb, once with a corset to crush her ribs, and then finally with the iconic poison apple. When she gets to that part, she mentions the Dwarves warned her not to answer the door or talk to strangers. But she then says to Virginia, "Why did I let her in? Didn't I know she was bad? Of course I did. But you can't keep the door closed your whole life, just because it's dangerous, just because there's a chance of getting hurt." On the surface this would seem to be a good Aesop about not letting fear control your life...but if she hadn't opened the door to a suspicious old stranger woman, she wouldn't have ended up being poisoned and killed at a young age, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath dying choking in the woman's arms]]--meaning she was ''wrong'' to take the risk. There's a difference between "not being afraid" and just grabbing an IdiotBall. Granted, Snow White was the reassurected by the Prince and lived out a long enough life for her grandson Wendell to remember her, but she had no way to know that when she opened the door to the old woman.

Not to be confused with ''LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms'', ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', any of the several works named ''SevenKingdoms''.

* PlayingAgainstType: Dianne Wiest (mainly known for playing soft spoken and kind characters) as the Evil Queen

* ForWantofaNail: About half way through the second episode Tony interupts Wolf when he's taking to the Queen in a mirror. If Wolf hadn't managed to turn the mirror over he and Virginia would have known about Wolf's conflicted loyalties far earlier. And if he got a good look at the Queen's face it's very possible he would have have recognized her as [[spoiler: His ex wife and Virginia's mother]]. Assuming he told Virginia straight away this would have probably lead to them confronting her far earlier as Virginia would have wanted to see her... if only to to get answers to all the questions she had about why she left and how she ended up in the Nine Kingdoms

* LawOfInverseFertility: [[spoiler: Virginia and Wolf]] have a single tryst, from which she gets pregnant.

* AbusiveParents: Relish the Troll King. Upon hearing that his three children were captured without killing any enemy soldiers, he yells out, "Who wants to be whipped first?!" He wasn't just bluffing, either: after hearing that he's dead, the troll siblings cheer each other up by reminding each other that this means "No more beatings!"

** The Gypsies are also portrayed as this, because...[[AcceptableEthnicTargets they're Gypsies]]. (And, to be fair, because of the {{Curse}} they cast on Virginia.) Not to mention they traffic in [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman sentient creatures.]]

* BrokenAesop: Snow White tells Virginia the original version of how she died, that the Evil Queen visited her three times, once with a poison comb, once with a corset to crush her ribs, and then finally with the iconic poison apple. When she gets to that part, she mentions the Dwarves warned her not to answer the door or talk to strangers. But she then says to Virginia, "Why did I let her in? Didn't I know she was bad? Of course I did. But you can't keep the door closed your whole life, just because it's dangerous, just because there's a chance of getting hurt." On the surface this would seem to be a good Aesop about not letting fear control your life...but if she hadn't opened the door to a suspicious old stranger woman, she wouldn't have ended up being poisoned and killed at a young age, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath dying choking in the woman's arms]]--meaning she was ''wrong'' to take the risk. There's a difference between "not being afraid" and just grabbing an IdiotBall.

* KarmicDeath: A number of characters throughout, minor and major. From major, [[spoiler:The Troll King, killed by the Queen while attempting to backstab her; the Huntsman, killed by his own magic crossbow (which he even fired the time it killed him); and the Queen herself, of course, killed by a poison comb, after attempting to poison the royalty of the Nine Kingdoms and making poison her weapon of choice in general.]]

** It's also heavily implied that the Queen killed an entire family including a young girl because the Dog Prince told them too much about her plans. [[spoiler: Not to mention that she tried to drown her own daughter years before becoming Queen]].

* ExplodingCloset: Happens to Wolf with a broom closet near the end when he, Tony, and Virginia are looking in Wendell's palace for the Evil Queen's room of {{Magic Mirror}}s. Played with in that as a wolf his senses should have told him it was the wrong room, except [[spoiler:at the time [[TheMole he was actually working for the Queen]] ([[ReverseMole but only to fool her]] so he could save the poisoned guests and eventually Virginia), so he did this on purpose to keep anyone from being suspicious]].

* HoldingOutForAHero: The Fourth Kingdom's entire defense strategy seems to be "let the prince take care of it". When the Trolls invade while he's missing they put up no resistance whatsoever. Relish even comments that war's much more fun when there's no enemy.

* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** The Huntsman: He'll massacre an entire gypsy camp, shows almost no regret for killing his own son, and does pretty much everything the Evil Queen asks of him, but apparently poaching just pisses him right the hell off. Although this could just be a case of [[EvilIsPetty not wanting anyone to steal from]] ''[[EvilIsPetty his]]'' [[EvilIsPetty forest]], or that [[ItsAllAboutMe only he is allowed to poach there]].
** Little Lamb Village might have ridiculous show trials that are nothing more than a prelude to a lynching, but using SlutShaming on a murder victim for a "she was asking for it" defense ''really'' pisses them off.

** [[spoiler: Sally Peep and Relish the Troll King]].

* BalefulPolymorph: Both Human and Dog Wendall are transformed into the other by the Queen's magic, and both are unhappy about their respective new forms.

* DeathEqualsRedemption: Not entirely, but for all the horrible, evil acts she had done, [[spoiler:Wendall does ensure that Christine's body is treated with dignity and respect, most likely of his gratitude to both Virginia and Tony.]]

* PrinceCharmless: Wendall starts out this way, spoiled, selfish and arrogant. However as Snow White suspects, his stint as a dog teaches her grandson the humility and kindness it takes to be TheGoodKing when he is turned back into a human.

* AmbiguouslyGay: Lord Rupert.

* AccidentalMurder: In Part Five, [[spoiler:Virginia pulls the poison comb out of the Queen's hair and scratches her neck. You can clearly see the horror in Virginia's face as she watches her mother collapse and die from the poison.]]

* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:The Queen.]]

* EmbarrassingFirstName: [[spoiler: Juliet]] The Blind Woodsman.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Despite being abusive and dysfunctional to the extreme, the Troll King Relish and his children genuinely love each other. The Troll Siblings do gleefully remark once they learn that their father is dead that it means "No more beatings!" Doesn't stop them going after a framed Virginia for revenge, though.

* BrokenAesop: Snow White tells Virginia the original version of how she died, that the Evil Queen visited her three times, once with a poison comb, once with a corset to crush her ribs, and then finally with the iconic poison apple. When she gets to that part, she mentions the Dwarves warned her not to answer the door or talk to strangers. But she then says to Virginia, "Why did I let her in? Didn't I know she was bad? Of course I did. But you can't keep the door closed your whole life, just because it's dangerous, just because there's a chance of getting hurt." Though it's a touching scene and meant to be inspiring, and on the surface this would seem to be a good Aesop about not letting fear control your life...if she hadn't opened the door to a suspicious old stranger woman, she wouldn't have ended up being poisoned and killed at a young age, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath dying choking in the woman's arms]]--meaning she was ''wrong'' to take the risk. There's a difference between "not being afraid" and just grabbing an IdiotBall.

* CourtroomAntic: A rather amusing version has Virginia exclaim, after Wolf has practically incriminated himself while being grilled by the Judge, "Your Honor, my client is suffering from post-menstrual tension!" Not to mention Wolf's memorably existential self-defense: "Ohhhh, I'm twisting everything I'm saying!" It's a bit darker at the beginning; her first attempt is the "she was asking for it" defense, complete with open SlutShaming.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The trolls frequently use "sucking elf" as a swearword. You can figure out yourself what that rhymes with.

** The fairy tale universe has some [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar interesting cover-ups for swearing]]. The Trolls are fond of the phrase “Suck an elf!”, the phrase “What in the fairying forest?” is heard at least twice, and Mrs. Merrypip uses "Fruit of the forest!"

* KnightsAndKnaves: Parodied, lampshaded, and otherwise completely hung out to dry. Oddly enough this is still completely in the spirit of the original, since the puzzle as presented here contains a logical contradiction and ''cannot'' be solved normally.

* SequelHook: The closing narration mentioned that "this is the end of the first book of the Tenth Kingdom". Nothing came of it, though. The writer Simon Moore has had the sequel written for years but hasn't been able to get it made yet.

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* TheSouthpaw: Virginia, most noticeable when she signs up for the shepherding contest.

Take just about [[FairyTaleFreeForAll every]] well-known FairyTale, myth, legend, oral history, and fantasy story known to man. Cross them with screwball comedy, an epic [[TheHerosJourney Hero's Journey]], fantastic (for television, anyway) special effects, and a lot of surprising twists. Add a dash of tragedy and mystery, a sprinkling of some rather serious ([[IncrediblyLamePun or should we say, ''Grimm''?]]) issues, and some great British casting, and what do you get?

* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler:Virginia pulls the poison comb out of the Queen's hair and scratches her neck. You can clearly see the horror in Virginia's face as she watches her mother collapse and die from the poison.]]

** [[spoiler:Not spoken, but Virginia's mother's reaction when she realized that she was trying to drown her own daughter says it all.]]

* TheseHandsHaveKilled: An "almost killed" variation--in flashback, after [[spoiler:nearly [[OffingTheOffspring drowning her own daughter]]]], Christine runs sobbing into Central Park and stares in horror at her hands.