History Series / TulsaKing

* DirtyCoward: The two corrupt Sheriff deputies on Waltrip's payroll. Whilst happily abusing others when convinced they have the advantage, the moment it's gone they both immediately back down. Their attempts to intimidate Mitch in his saloon fall flat the moment he reveals to them it's built on Cherokee land, meaning they have absolutely no jurisdiction leading to them meekly walking away. Likewise, when Waltrip orders them to kill Dwight, the two end up chickening out when they realise he's perfectly happy to get into a gunfight to death with them, despite the fact they've both already drawn and he hasn't (made all the worse by the reveal immediately afterwards that Dwight didn't even have his gun on him at the time and was banking entirely on intimidation).

* BaitTheDog: At the start of the series Chickie comes across as a bit smarmy, but overall friendly and supportive, it is clear he's the one working to hold the Invernizzi mafia together in support of his ill father and attempts to keep things civil and diplomatic. With him even being an honorary nephew to Dwight. As the series goes on, it becomes clear just how vicious and vindictive Chickie truly is under the surface, with him regularly taking out his frustrations on those unable to fight back, climaxing in him [[spoiler: murdering his father and attempting to kill Dwight. A flashback to the 90s in the final episode, reveals he always was a sadistic little thug who enjoyed hurting those weaker than him.]]

* DirtyCoward: The two corrupt Sheriff deputies on Waltrip's payroll. Whilst happily abusing others when convinced they have the advantage, the moment it's gone they both immediately back down. Their attempts to intimidate Mitch in his saloon fall flat the moment he reveals to them it's built on Cherokee land, meaning they have absolutely no jurisdiction leading to them meekly walking away. Likewise, when Waltrip orders them to kill Dwight, the two end up backing down when they realise he's perfectly happy to get into a gunfight to death with them, despite the fact they've both already drawn and he hasn't.

** Grace comes across as a timid young lady, as well as a huge stoner in her own right. To the point of nearly having a breakdown at seeing Dwight assault security guard Fred. However, when Dwight is training his followers in preparation for war against the Black [=MacAdams=], she's revealed to be the only member (outside of Mitch and Dwight himself) who already knows how to handle firearms, revealing her father took her hunting since she was a little girl. In the final battle, she successfully kills several of the attacking gang members.
* HomefieldAdvantage: [[spoiler: How Dwight defeats Waltrip and the Black [=MacAdam's=] in the final. Despite their many setbacks and Dwight's growing advantages, Waltrip's gang still have them severely outnumbered and outgunned. However, realising his greed is his weakness, Dwight has Bohdie steal his online fortune, provoking the furious Waltrip into having his gang attempt to storm Mitch's saloon and wipe them out. Realising too late they've walked into a trap, a bomb kills most of Waltrip's gang, whilst Dwight's syndicate can open fire on the survivors from defensive positions who in turn have no cover. The result of the conflict was them wiping out their entire enemy gang, whilst only suffering one member being wounded.]]

* ICouldaBeenAContender: Chickie Invernizzi laments the fact that he wanted to be an army officer but his father forced him into a life of crime instead. He even had money saved up for college but his father spent it all.

* MeaningfulName: Dwight Manfredi was named after UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower.

* {{Foil}}: The series draws attention to the similarities and contrasts between Dwight and Chickie. Both of them are hardworking, hands-on gangsters with big ambitions, whose work and sacrifices are not being respected and adequately rewarded by their fellow Mafia members. Dwight is a charming old-school mobster, the son of immigrants, who had the opportunity for an honest life but instead chose to be a gangster buying into glamour and idealisation of codes of honour, only coming to realise how false it all was in his later years. Chickie is the son of the Don and was forced from a young age into a criminal career despite yearning for a normal life, being aware of how phoney it all was from the start. Dwight takes his disillusionment and mistreatment as a drive for him to rise and be the genuine example he believed in, whilst Chickie uses it and his miseries as an excuse to indulge in his more negative impulses and become all the more thuggish and cruel. Dwight is cunning, pragmatic and supremely confident in his capabilities whilst also knowing how to play his cards close to his chest, Chickie meanwhile is impulsive, ruthless, vindictive and struggles with deep-seated insecurities. Fittingly Chickie is convinced that he could have been a great military leader idealising his brief period at the military academy, however, his actual leadership style is shown to be bullying and out of touch. Dwight meanwhile proves to be a brilliant strategist and charismatic leader, living up to his nickname of "the General."

** Clint initially comes across as a dim-witted stoner who appropriates Jamaican culture, however, it turns out he's actually a fully qualified lawyer. Whilst he admits to specialising in property law, he still knows enough about criminal law to get Dwight out when the police attempt to question him.
** Grace comes across as a timid young lady, as well as a huge stoner in her own right. To the point of nearly having a breakdown at seeing Dwight assault security guard Fred. However, when Dwight is training his followers in preparation for war against the Black [=MacAdams=], she's revealed to be the only member (outside of Mitch and Dwight himself) who already knows how to handle firearms, revealing her father took her hunting since she was a little girl. In the final battle, she successfully kills at least one of the attacking gang members.

* {{Foil}}: The series draws attention to the similarities and contrasts between Dwight and Chickie. Both of them experience the feeling of their work and sacrifices not being respected and adequately rewarded by their fellow Mafia members. Dwight is an old school mobster, the son of immigrants, who had the opportunity for an honest life but chose to be a gangster buying into glamour and idealisation of codes of honour, only to slowly realise how false it all was far too late. Chickie is the son of the Don and was forced from a young age into a criminal career, despite yearning for a normal life. Dwight takes his disillusionment as a drive for him to rise and be the genuine moral example he believed it to be, whilst Chickie uses it as an excuse to indulge in his more negative impulses and become all the more thuggish and cruel. Fittingly Chickie is convinced that he could have been a great military leader idealising his brief period at the military academy, however, his actual leadership style is shown to be bullying and out of touch. Dwight meanwhile proves to be a brilliant strategist and charismatic leader, living up to his nickname of "the General."

** Whilst primarily a Biker Gang, the aforementioned Black Macadams also have shades of this, with their leader [[BadBoss Caolan Waltrip]] certainly believing he's entitled to the status and respect benefiting a rival mafia Don. Considering Tulsa his domain, it is made clear that before Manfredi's arrival, they ran all the serious crime throughout Tulsa, dealing in meth, party drugs, guns and murder for hire. They likewise have links to several [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic militia groups]], providing them with arms and explosives (something that's put them on the AFT's radar). Caolan likewise has two [[DirtyCop corrupt Sheriff's deputies]] on his payroll, and responds to any threats to his authority with brutal and often unnecessary violence. The final revealed he had his fingers in more pies than anyone expected, with him managing to build himself a massive fortune well into the millions through his illicit dealings.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Tulsa is treated as a sleepy backwater community with lots of farms and only a small urban population. In actuality, it has over 783,000 residents as of 2022 and while nowhere near as large as New York, is certainly a thriving economy as well as one of the the fifty largest cities of America (47th).

** Mafia law at least. An old-school mafiosi like Dwight would never punch another made man in public. A cardinal rule of the Mafia is that made men are untouchable. Only a don can sanction violence against another made man.
** The gangsters frequently use trains to get around government agents checking their papers. In fact, Amtrak checks papers the same as airlines.

* BatmanGambit: Dwight realizes that Waltrip's greed is his main weakness so he provokes him by [[spoiler: having Bodhi electronically steal Waltrip's money]]. Waltrip loses it and [[spoiler: leads his men into a trap where they are all killed]].
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Bodhi is a NewAgeRetroHippie who crumbles easily under pressure from Dwight but handles himself well against the FBI as well as [=McAdams=]. However, it's not until Episode 7 that it's shown the real reason Bodhi is so accommodating to Dwight about his pot business was because his ''real'' business was running a crypto-currency scam that has already netted him a million dollars.
* ButtMonkey: Bodhi is subject to threats, violence, robbery, and kidnapping for no other crime than being a NewAgeRetroHippie.
* ContrivedCoincidence: Armand Truisi quit the Mafia and fled to Tulsa where he led a quiet life. 19 years later he spots Dwight Manfredi in Tulsa and assumes that Dwight tracked him down and is there to kill him. Dwight only has a faint recollection of Armand and has no idea that Armand is in Tulsa. If Armand failed to spot Dwight that day, the two men might not have met again for the rest of their lives. This is lampshaded by the other mobsters who refuse to believe that Armand is in Tulsa by coincidence and instead suspect that Dwight planned it.
* CoolOldGuy: Dwight is well into his later years and while he struggles to adjust to the modern world due to his time in prison, it's clear he hasn't lost any of his cunning, charisma or toughness.
* CultureClash: Dwight is an old school New York Mobster and he's now living in the 21st century Tulsa, Oklahoma.

** Pete Invernizzi is a literal one, being one of the last mafia bosses in America.
** Caolan Waltrip acts like one but as the head of a local biker gang, Dwight is unimpressed.
* DownerEnding: The end of season 1, [[spoiler: has Dwight arrested for bribery in front of his daughter just as the gang had resolved the vast majority of their problems in Tulsa. Worse, it was done as part of a gambit by Stacy to save her job.]]
* DramaticIrony: While Dwight breaks a large amount of laws during his time in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he's actually primarily generating income from legal businesses that were illegal when he was in jail.

** Dwight spent 25 years in prison for the Mafia and on his release he expects a warm welcome followed by him resuming his role as a captain in the family. Instead he is told that he is being sent to Tulsa with zero resources or support. He is obviously ReassignedToAntarctica and feels that he deserved way better after sacrificing so much of his life for the family.

* FishOutOfTemporalWater: A nonmagical version due to the fact that Dwight has been imprisoned for twenty-five years. As such, he's unfamiliar with anything later than the Nineties. It's implied that even that was something that Dwight considered past New York (and his) prime.
* FromNewYorkToNowhere: Dwight made his living as a New York mafia capo before being sent to prison, and upon release, he is ordered to go to Tulsa and stay there.

* VillainProtagonist: Dwight is a Mafiosi.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bfdb6840_a844_4c8a_9ff5_b068b96a8671.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''Original Gangster. New Town.'']]

''Tulsa King'' is a American streaming series created by ''Series/{{Yellowstone}}'' creator Creator/TaylorSheridan. It stars Creator/SylvesterStallone (this marks his first major television project; he also serves as an [[ProducedByCastMember executive producer]]), Creator/MaxCasella, Creator/DomenickLombardozzi, Creator/VincentPiazza, Creator/JayWill, Creator/ACPeterson, Creator/AndreaSavage, Creator/MartinStarr, Creator/GarrettHedlund and Creator/DanaDelany. It premiered on November 13, 2022.

Currently, the first season is airing on Creator/ParamountPlus.

* ReassignedToAntarctica: Dwight is assigned by the New Jersey Mob to Tulsa, Oklahoma to become a Boss. Given there is no mafia presence in Tulsa, this is essentially making him TheExile.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: Dwight spent 25 years in prison for the Mafia and on his release he expects a warm welcome followed by him resuming his role as a captain in the family. Instead he is told that he is being sent to Tulsa with zero resources or support. He is obviously ReassignedToAntarctica and feels that he deserved way better after sacrificing so much of his life for the family.