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Changed line(s) 166 (click to see context) from:
* InkSuitActor: While many of the actors in the film are animated to look completely different than their real-life appearance (especially Ray Winstone), several actors are accurately depicted by their CG counterparts, namely [[MsFanservice Angelina Jolie]], Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright, John Malkovich and Brendan Gleeson. Even Grendel resembles Crispin Glover under all that deformity.
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* InkSuitActor: While many of the actors in the film are animated to look completely different than their real-life appearance (especially Ray Winstone), Creator/RayWinstone, with Creator/AlanRitchson being used as Beowulf's reference model), several actors are accurately depicted by their CG counterparts, namely [[MsFanservice Angelina Jolie]], Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright, John Malkovich Creator/AngelinaJolie, Creator/AnthonyHopkins, Creator/RobinWright, Creator/JohnMalkovich and Brendan Gleeson. Creator/BrendanGleeson. Even Grendel resembles Crispin Glover Creator/CrispinGlover under all that deformity.
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* AbusiveParents: Played with. Grendel's mother seems quite harsh towards him and he fears her almost as much as he loves her, but she is quite right in her belief that, if Grendel disobeys her by disturbing humans, they will come and try to kill them (or at least him, who is not a magic user like she).
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* AbusiveParents: Played with. Grendel's mother seems quite harsh towards him and he fears her almost as much as he loves her, but she is quite right in her belief that, if Grendel disobeys her by disturbing humans, they will come and try to kill them (or at least him, who is not a magic user like she). On the other hand, a possible interpretation of the story is that she uses her children to perpetuate the CycleOfRevenge, which would make her a straight example. [[spoiler:Especially if the implication of her being Beowulf's mother is correct, which would make her full-on emotionally and sexually abusive.]]
* AllThereInTheManual: The novel expands a great deal on the film's narrative and gives more perspective on what a lot of the characters are actually thinking during it's events.
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* AnimalMotifs: Beowulf uses a wolf as his sigil (and is called a wolf by Grendel's mother) and the kings use a dragon.
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* AnimalMotifs: Beowulf uses a wolf as his sigil (and is called a wolf by Grendel's mother) and the kings use a dragon. Beowulf switches from one to the other after becoming king, symbolizing his moral lapses and transition from a mighty free warrior to a royal burdened by his sins and duties. Dragons in general are a prominent symbol, usually relating to decidedly unheroic activities.
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* TheAtoner: Beowulf becomes this towards the end, when he is unwilling to just sit back to let some other hero clean up his mess (and start the whole thing over again). He seems well aware that he's likely to pay for his past with his life.
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* AttentionWhore: One of Beowulf's major flaws; his actual achievements and the praise he gets for them aren't enough, he has to make himself out to be even more awesome and get even more attention.
* TheAtoner: Beowulf becomes this towards the end, when he is unwilling to just sit back to let some other hero clean up his mess (and start the whole thing over again). He seems well aware that he's likely to pay for his past with hislife.life, [[spoiler:which he does]].
* TheAtoner: Beowulf becomes this towards the end, when he is unwilling to just sit back to let some other hero clean up his mess (and start the whole thing over again). He seems well aware that he's likely to pay for his past with his
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* BeAllMySinsRemembered:
** Beowulf instructs this "Keep a memory of me, not as a king or a hero; but as a man: fallible and flawed." However, after he dies, Wiglaf and Wealthow both intend to have him remembered as a great hero.
** Beowulf also tries to confess his sins to Wiglaf a few times, but Wiglaf won't have any of it insisting that Beowulf is a hero, and that is all he needs to know.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The old Beowulf complains that being king was not like what he imagined when he was young.
** Beowulf instructs this "Keep a memory of me, not as a king or a hero; but as a man: fallible and flawed." However, after he dies, Wiglaf and Wealthow both intend to have him remembered as a great hero.
** Beowulf also tries to confess his sins to Wiglaf a few times, but Wiglaf won't have any of it insisting that Beowulf is a hero, and that is all he needs to know.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The old Beowulf complains that being king was not like what he imagined when he was young.
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* BeAllMySinsRemembered:
**BeAllMySinsRemembered: Beowulf instructs this "Keep a memory of me, not as a king or a hero; but as a man: fallible and flawed." However, after he dies, Wiglaf and Wealthow both intend to have him remembered as a great hero.
**hero. Beowulf also tries to confess his sins to Wiglaf a few times, but Wiglaf won't have any of it insisting that Beowulf is a hero, and that is all he needs to know.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The old Beowulf complains that being king was not like what he imagined when he wasyoung.young and comes to hate how everyone buys in his hype.
**
**
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The old Beowulf complains that being king was not like what he imagined when he was
* BittersweetEnding: Or DownerEnding, depending on how you interpret it. [[spoiler:Beowulf dies killing the Dragon, both of them a victim of the senseless CycleOfRevenge and their own flaws, but the former at least saves his people and city in the process, while also coming to terms with his mistakes and finding a kind of redemption. Wiglaf becomes king, and it's not clear if he'll finally break the cycle or fall victim to it like his friend did.]]
* CentralTheme: The folly of spinning lies about one's own heroism for the sake of glory and cycles of violence, how people respond to a changing world, sexual unease, and gender roles in patriarchal societies.
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* CycleOfRevenge: [[spoiler:Hrothgar killed a dragon (implied to also be descendant of Grendel's Mother), and then went to fight Grendel's Mother. She seduced him and gave birth to Grendel who then plagued the lands. Beowulf killed Grendel, his mother killed Beowulf's men. He went to kill her, but was also seduced by her and their child became a dragon, who also ravages the land. Beowulf even states that he won't send someone else to kill the dragon, as that will simply start the cycle all over again. Beowulf kills the dragon, but dies in the process. The film ends with Grendel's Mother beckoning to Wiglaf, so it's unclear whether or not the cycle ends.]]
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* CycleOfRevenge: [[spoiler:Hrothgar killed a dragon (implied to also be descendant the son of the prior king with Grendel's Mother), and then went to fight Grendel's Mother. She seduced him and gave birth to Grendel who then plagued the lands. Beowulf killed Grendel, his mother killed Beowulf's men. He went to kill her, but was also seduced by her and their child became a dragon, who also ravages the land. Beowulf even states that he won't send someone else to kill the dragon, as that will simply start the cycle all over again. Beowulf kills the dragon, but dies in the process. The film ends with Grendel's Mother beckoning to Wiglaf, so it's unclear whether or not the cycle ends.]]
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* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: There's unsubtle phallic symbolism in how Beowulf's [[PhallicWeapon erect sword]] melts under the caresses of Grendel's mother.
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* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: There's unsubtle phallic symbolism in how Beowulf's [[PhallicWeapon erect sword]] melts under the caresses of Grendel's mother. Not to mention the emasculation symbolism of [[spoiler:Hrothgar and Beowulf both becoming sterile after they're seduced by Grendel's mother.]]
* EndOfAnAge: A major cloud hanging over the story is the ending of an age of heroes and monsters, with Beowulf and Grendel both representative of a dying breed. Highlighted by how Denmark is in the process of Christianization, it's original pagan faiths falling out of fashion alongside it's heroes.
* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: [[spoiler:Implied with Beowulf and Hrothgar, who both struggle deeply with the fact that Grendel and the Dragon are their sons. The latter may be motivated to commit suicide partly because of grief over knowing he sent Beowulf to kill his son. The former is visibly heartbroken after killing the Dragon, finally acknowledging the creature as his child.]]
* EvilIsSterile: Grendel is indicated to be sterile due to lacking genitals; possibly a result of his half-human nature. Additionally, [[spoiler:Hrothgar and Beowulf both become sterile after sleeping with Grendel's Mother.]]
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* {{Foil}}: Wealthow is this to Grendel's mother. [[spoiler:It's likely for this reason as well that she refuses to give Hrothgar the son he needs.]]
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* {{Foil}}: Wealthow is this to Grendel's mother. [[spoiler:It's likely for this reason as well that she refuses to give Hrothgar the son he needs.needs... if he even can produce such a son.]]
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* HalfHumanHybrid: Grendel. He may be sterile (given his apparent lack of reproductive organs), and though it may just be because he's a monster he gives a good impression of being sickly. He's hideously deformed, has what appears to be a nasty skin condition, and is sometimes heard whimpering as if in pain (though that's probably just because loud noises irritate his [[AchillesHeel super-sensitive ear]]). The dragon at the end of the film is also a HalfHumanHybrid, [[spoiler:born of a mating between Beowulf and Grendel's mother]]. This is also very much unlike the original poem, where no human ancestry was suggested for Grendel except that he was a distant [[TheDescendantsOfCain descendant of Cain]], and there was no evidence of the dragon having any trace of humanity.
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* HalfHumanHybrid: Grendel. He may be sterile (given his apparent lack of reproductive organs), and though it may just be because he's a monster he gives a good impression of being sickly. He's hideously deformed, has what appears to be a nasty skin condition, and is sometimes heard whimpering as if in pain (though that's probably just because loud noises irritate his [[AchillesHeel super-sensitive ear]]). The dragon at the end of the film is also a HalfHumanHybrid, [[spoiler:born of a mating between Beowulf and Grendel's mother]]. This is also very much unlike the original poem, where no human ancestry was suggested for Grendel except that he was a distant [[TheDescendantsOfCain descendant of Cain]], and there was no evidence of the dragon having any trace of humanity. [[spoiler:Beowulf himself may be one, depending on how you interpret his final lines and some scattered hints; it would certainly explain some of his more superhuman feats.]]
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* TheHeroDies: Like in the original poem, Beowulf dies at the end, but his death here is reworked as a HeroicSacrifice, RedemptionEqualsDeath, and HeelFaceDoorSlam.
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* TheHeroDies: Like in the original poem, Beowulf [[spoiler:Beowulf dies at the end, but his death here is reworked as a HeroicSacrifice, RedemptionEqualsDeath, and HeelFaceDoorSlam.]]
* HourglassPlot: At the start, Beowulf is prone to boasting and glory-seeking even at the expense of the truth, while Wiglaf is critical of his exaggerating and attention-seeking. By the end, Beowulf has gone through a HeelRealization and regrets the lies he's told about himself, while Wiglaf is no longer willing to hear any suggestion that Beowulf isn't the perfect hero he claimed to be.
* ImmuneToBullets: Grendel and the dragon shrug most weapons until Beowulf [[AttackItsWeakPoint attacks their weak point]]. The mother may be inmune to any blade for all we know.
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* ImmuneToBullets: Grendel and the dragon shrug most weapons until Beowulf [[AttackItsWeakPoint attacks their weak point]]. The mother may be inmune to any blade for all we know.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Beowulf not only dies battling his own progeny, who he created in a moment of selfish weakness and left in the care of the monstrous sea hag, but is killed partly because of blood-loss from cutting off his left arm just like he did to Grendel year earlier.]]
** Beowulf is disturbed when his own soldiers savagely gang up on and beat Finn of Frisia into the ground, chastising them for acting little better than the monsters and demanding they let the man die with some semblance of dignity.
* KinslayingIsASpecialKindOfEvil: One possible interpretation is that [[spoiler:Beowulf's misfortunes in the second half of the film are punishments for his kinslaying by killing Grendel, given the latter ''might'' be his half-brother. See LukeYouAreMyFather and ParentalIncest.]]
* KinslayingIsASpecialKindOfEvil: One possible interpretation is that [[spoiler:Beowulf's misfortunes in the second half of the film are punishments for his kinslaying by killing Grendel, given the latter ''might'' be his half-brother. See LukeYouAreMyFather and ParentalIncest.]]
* TheLastDJ: What Beowulf increasingly comes to see himself as; the last remnant of an age of heroes that is passing by in the face of modernization and the tides of history. Symbolized by his continued adherence to the pagan faiths as the kingdom around him largely converts to Christianity.
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* LivingLegend: He plays with this. He actually does some really awesome things, but he's willing to lie to look more awesome than he really is.
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* LivingLegend: He plays with this. He actually does some really awesome things, but he's willing to lie to look more awesome than he really is. This adds some irony to his GlorySeeker issues; Beowulf is genuinely badass, but isn't satisfied with what he has and wants even more, to his own detriment.
Changed line(s) 173 (click to see context) from:
* LukeYouAreMyFather: [[spoiler:The Dragon reveals to Beowulf that they are actually father and son]]. However this happens in a dream before their first encounter.
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* LukeYouAreMyFather: [[spoiler:The Dragon reveals to Beowulf that they are actually father and son]]. However this happens son in a dream before their first encounter.encounter, though the latter doesn't admit it until after he's killed the Dragon. Also Grendel's Mother ''might'' also be ''Beowulf's'', [[ParentalIncest with all the horrific implications that brings]].]]
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* NonstandardCharacterDesign: Grendel is the only one of his race that isn't draconic, although his few patches of skin seem to feature golden scales. The implication seems to be that his deformed body is because Hrothgar and the Mother's genetics did not mix well at all.
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* NonstandardCharacterDesign: Grendel is the only one of his race that isn't draconic, although his few patches of skin seem to feature golden scales. scales; he almost looks like [[BodyHorror he's stuck between humanlike and dragon forms following some failed transformation]]. The implication seems to be that his deformed body is because Hrothgar [[spoiler:Hrothgar]] and the Mother's genetics did not mix well at all.
* ParentalIncest: [[spoiler:''Maybe'' between Beowulf and Grendel's mother, depending on how you interpret some things. Beowulf himself clearly considers the possibility in his dying moments and is rightfully horrified by the implications.]]
* PsychosexualHorror: Definitely has a lot of overtones of this, with a fair bit of phallic imagery and themes of emasculation, sexuality, and toxic masculinity, all applied to the nightmarish situation that Beowulf finds himself in.
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* TragicMonster: Grendel, as part of the general AlternateCharacterInterpretation of the plot.
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* TragicMonster: Grendel, as part of the general AlternateCharacterInterpretation of the plot. He is a vicious, bloodthirsty monster who kills the men of Herot without mercy, but only because he is a malformed, mentally unwell being wracked with constant agony and torn between two worlds, neither of which he seems to fit with, while being reared by a ManipulativeBastard of a mother who's morality is strange at best. He generally comes off like a feral child who doesn't fully understand the implications of what he's doing or how he hurts people, lashing out primally at a world that hurts him, and the story suggests he's only really violent because of how he and his kind are forced onto the outskirts of society by humans.
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* TheVamp: Grendel's mother. While her attractiveness is a big factor on her ability to seduce men, she also uses promises of power and glory to entice them as opposed to only sexual pleasure.
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* TheVamp: Grendel's mother. While her attractiveness is a big factor on her ability to seduce men, she also uses promises of power and glory to entice them as opposed to only sexual pleasure.ple
* VictoriasSecretCompartment: The beginning scene shows a girl sneaking a gold coin down her corset.asure.
* VictoriasSecretCompartment: The beginning scene shows a girl sneaking a gold coin down her corset.asure.
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* VictoriasSecretCompartment: The beginning scene shows a girl sneaking a gold coin down her corset.
* VikingFuneral: Beowulf gets one at the end.
* WhamLine: While speaking privately with Beowulf after the latter returns from the cave, Hrothgar asks him if he really killed Grendel's mother. When Beowulf starts again about how he fought the hag, Hrothgar has this to say:
* VikingFuneral: Beowulf gets one at the end.
* WhamLine: While speaking privately with Beowulf after the latter returns from the cave, Hrothgar asks him if he really killed Grendel's mother. When Beowulf starts again about how he fought the hag, Hrothgar has this to say:
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*
* WarIsHell: In contrast to the glory of heroes fighting monsters, Beowulf's army fighting the Frisians in a mundane war is depicted as disturbing and gruesome, with brutality a plenty from both sides. Beowulf is deeply upset and unsettled by the more human kinds of violence he encounters later in life.
* WhamLine:
** While speaking privately with Beowulf after the latter returns from the cave, Hrothgar asks him if he really killed Grendel's mother. When Beowulf starts again about how he fought the hag, Hrothgar has this to say:
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** One of Beowulf's last lines. Less for what's said and more for what's ''not'' said, but clearly thought.
-->'''Beowulf''': [[spoiler:Grendel's mother - my son's mother - my... ''[[OhCrap my]]'' — (''He trails off, [[ParentalIncest leaving the word "mother" unspoken]]'')]]
-->'''Beowulf''': [[spoiler:Grendel's mother - my son's mother - my... ''[[OhCrap my]]'' — (''He trails off, [[ParentalIncest leaving the word "mother" unspoken]]'')]]
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* GiveMeASword: What Hrothgar yells during Beowulf's first attack on Heorot, but even after he gets one, the monster refuses to fight him - [[spoiler:possibly because he refuses to attack his father, or because he knows that leaving Hrothgar alive to look over the devastation Grendel has made of his kingdom is a FateWorseThanDeath.]]
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* NightmareFetishist: Beowulf's hidden side. He is attracted to beautiful creatures, which is shown by [[Spoiler:the mermaid and exploited by Grendel's mother]].
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* NightmareFetishist: Beowulf's hidden side. He is attracted to beautiful creatures, which is shown by [[Spoiler:the [[spoiler:the mermaid and exploited by Grendel's mother]].mother.]]
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* SuperNotDrowningSkills: Thanks to his seaside upbringing, Beowulf is undoubtedly a great diver, possibly to an inhuman degree if he actually [[Spoiler:made love to the mermaid while underwater all the time]].
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* SuperNotDrowningSkills: Thanks to his seaside upbringing, Beowulf is undoubtedly a great diver, possibly to an inhuman degree if he actually [[Spoiler:made [[spoiler:made love to the mermaid while underwater all the time]].that time.]]
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Changed line(s) 181 (click to see context) from:
* NightmareFetishist: Beowulf's hidden side. He is attracted to beautiful creatures, which is shown by [[Spoiler: the mermaid and exploited by Grendel's mother.]]
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* NightmareFetishist: Beowulf's hidden side. He is attracted to beautiful creatures, which is shown by [[Spoiler: the [[Spoiler:the mermaid and exploited by Grendel's mother.]]mother]].
Changed line(s) 246 (click to see context) from:
* SuperNotDrowningSkills: Thanks to his seaside upbringing, Beowulf is undoubtedly a great diver, possibly to an inhuman degree if he actually [[Spoiler: made love to the mermaid while underwater all the time.]]
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* SuperNotDrowningSkills: Thanks to his seaside upbringing, Beowulf is undoubtedly a great diver, possibly to an inhuman degree if he actually [[Spoiler: made [[Spoiler:made love to the mermaid while underwater all the time.]]time]].
