History WesternAnimation / Brave

''Brave'' is Creator/{{Pixar}}'s 13th feature-length film, their first journey into the {{Fantasy}} genre, and their first film with a female protagonist.

** Deconstructs ScrewDestiny. So Merida wants to totally defy tradition, without back-up plans or thoughts of how this could affect her ''and'' others? [[spoiler:Her mother Queen Elinor and her three little siblings shall forcibly be transformed into bears when she asks a ''very'' mischievous witch for help to "change her mom" [[ExactWords without specifying anything]].]] And for worse, [[spoiler: when a ReasonableAuthorityFigure like Elinor disappears, then the clans that she and Fergus held together to start fighting against each other, and that means war will start soon... with one of the reasons being Merida's "PluckyGirl" action of [[TakeAThirdOption "winning her own hand"]], which [[BerserkButton the noblemen saw as a massive insult]] from their royalty.]] So it's up to Merida to go into a quest not ''just'' to prove her worth as a person, but to [[spoiler: rescue her bear-ized mother and siblings]] and fix up the '''massive''' mess that has been left - alongside becoming physically, mentally ''and'' emotionally stronger on the way.

** Also, just as King Fergus has restored order during the brawl between Clans MacGuffin, MacKintosh and Dingwall, the boys drop a mace on Lord Dingwall’s foot and his scream of pain starts the whole bloody thing up again.

* BloodlessCarnage: None of Mor'du’s wounds bleed and none of the huntsmen he attacks even ''receive'' any visible wounds.

* CassandraTruth: Fergus doesn't believe in magic. Nor does he believe Merida’s belated explanations that [[spoiler:the bear in the castle is actually his wife until it's almost too late.]]

* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Merida demands a spell from the witch that will change her mother, Elinor in order to make Elinor forget about Merida's betrayal. Merida doesn’t even give herself time to consider the actual consequences for the spell. She can’t even assume that she’s asking for a spell that would transform her mother into an animal or creature. Without heeding the witch’s warning, Merida jumps straight to her conclusion.
-->'''Witch:''' You’re sure you know what you’re doing?\\

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Merida has this moment when [[spoiler:she and her mother stumble across the ruins of an old castle. When Merida finds the ruins of the throne room, she sees a stone tablet depicting four brothers, one split off from the rest. Remembering the story of the four princes that her mother had told her, Merida comes to the terrifying conclusion that not only is the legend true, but the spell that transformed her mother has happened before, and the eldest prince from the legend is none other than Mor’du. And to make matters worse, he’s [[RightBehindMe standing right behind her]].]]
-->'''Merida''': [[spoiler:The spell… it's happened before. “Strength of ten men”… “Fate be changed”… Changed his fate. Oh, no! The prince became... (''turns around, seeing a very monstrous but familiar face'') ''[[SpeakOfTheDevil Mor'du]]''!]]

* NoPeripheralVision: When Elinor [[spoiler:as a bear]] sneaks into the crowded ballroom by backing against the wall and tip-toeing, Merida distracts everyone by having them focus on her. No one — not even those who face her — notice Elinor moving around [[spoiler:in her large form]] and occasionally even actively waving to draw Merida’s attention, even though she should be in their cone of vision. The only person who gets suspicious is a guard who has his back to the wall [[spoiler:and even he believes her to be a stuffed bear when she poses as one.]] Even King Fergus, who [[AnimalNemesis has it out bad]] for ''any'' bear, and was '''''facing''''' in that direction, fails to see her.

* PoorCommunicationKills: After Merida and her mother understand what has happened, Merida could've conspicuously drawn her father aside and told him just what had happened so that he would not freak out and that nobody would unintentionally cause harm. Instead, they choose the option of first trying to hide and then outright escaping the castle — the place with the greatest safety potential for them given that they were its rulers. When they have to get back inside the castle after escaping, once again they choose to try and sneak in on their own and (again) not tell Fergus anything beforehand. Finally, when Fergus does locate them in the castle, the only thing Merida tells him is meaningless drivel — right until it’s already too late to convince him of anything and [[RuleOfDrama prevent him from making any dramatic bad decisions]]. It's all somewhat justified in that Fergus doesn't believe in magic and might have simply gone ballistic sooner, but that the two never even discuss this is still bad.

** Merida must have been taking archery lessons from WesternAnimation/{{Robin Hood|1973}}, their style, skills, and even their winning tournament shots are very similar.

** Merida must have been taking archery lessons from WesternAnimation/RobinHood, their style, skills, and even their winning tournament shots are very similar.

* TheLostWoods: The woods outside the town are home to a witch and spirits and an old abandoned castle.

* AdultFear: Several instances:
** Running into the tapestry room and finding what looked like the same bear who killed Elinor attacking his daughter.
** Merida is down in the abandoned castle and [[TheDreaded Mor'du]] shows up and tries to kill her. Elinor is helpless to protect her daughter who is trapped with this [[BearsAreBadNews bear]] because she cannot fit through the hole.
** The whole scene where Mor'du is relentlessly pursuing Merida and manages to trap her beneath him, snarling straight into Merida's face as he prepares to rip her apart and then likely ''eat'' her. And Fergus is lying off to the side, unable to reach his daughter in time to save her. It's this act that finally makes [[spoiler: bear Elinor]] go ballistic and square off against Mor'du in a battle of MamaBear vs. [[BearsAreBadNews Evil Bear]]. The entire sequence is a showcase of a frightened and vengeful mother desperately trying to protect her child from one of the most dangerous creatures in existence.
** What both Elinor and Fergus may have thought after realizing that they had sent their tiny daughter into the woods to fetch the arrow, alone, defenseless, with that very same giant bear stalking her the entire time, where he could have attacked and killed her without their knowledge.
** When Merida runs off after the fight with her mother, her mother is clearly very relieved to see her again and voices that she had no idea when she'd be back or if she was all right -- after all, her daughter was running on horseback in the woods, roamed by a monster bear, without her bow or any kind of protection. Even without the threat of a bear attack, there's still the fact that she could be hurt or killed in many other ways out there on her own, such as being thrown by her horse and injured with no one to help her. She was thrown but thankfully wasn't harmed.
** Elinor is hesitant about leaving the castle temporarily because she doesn't want to leave the triplets behind. Merida assures her they'll be fine. [[spoiler:And they are... except they decide to sample the magic cake and turn into bears themselves.]]
** The fear of war breaking out if the marriage isn't arranged properly.

* OutnumberedSibling: Merida has three little brothers, though unlike most examples, they get along just fine.

'''Character tropes go on to the [[Characters/{{Brave}} Characters Sheet]].'''

* AdultFear:
** In the beginning, when Fergus sees the giant demon bear Mor'du bearing down on his wife and young daughter, who are completely defenseless, when they'd been feeling completely safe, or what Elinor must have felt taking Merida and running away on horseback, leaving her husband and his men behind to fight the bear, with no way of knowing the outcome until after the whole affair.
** Though long since over it by the time the main length of the movie occurred, Queen Elinor was probably quite distraught over her husband suffering the loss of limb at the hands of Mor'du.
** The scene where Fergus finds [[spoiler:Elinor's]] torn dress... just think what awful scenarios he must have been imagining.

''Brave'' is Creator/{{Pixar}}'s 13th feature-length film, their first journey into the {{Fantasy}} genre (of the FairyTale kind), and their first film with a female protagonist.

* BigThinShortTrio: The three Lords Macintosh (Big), Macguffin (Thin), and Dingwall (Short) and their sons.

* ColorCodedCharacters: The four lords have red ([=MacGuffin=]), blue ([=DunBroch=], Merida's clan), green (Dingwall), and yellow (Mackintosh) tartans.

* {{Hunk}}: The only guy Merida seems impressed with at all if only because of his sheer size, is a guy who looks like this. Too bad he's not ''really'' Lord Dingwall's son. [[spoiler:Also, that guy ends up being interested in Maudie, the maid.]]

* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: The only suitor that Merida seems to like is Wee [=MacGuffin=]. He's TheDutifulSon, and GentleGiant and EndearinglyDorky, with how he's loyal to his father but otherwise won't show violence or [[DramaQueen Drama King]] antics. What's more, he's the only one to express that [[spoiler:if Merida doesn't want an ArrangedMarriage, then it's not fair to her and says it should be her choice]].

''Brave'', Creator/{{Pixar}}'s 13th feature-length film, is their first journey into the {{Fantasy}} genre (of the FairyTale kind), and their first with a female protagonist.

''Brave'', Creator/{{Pixar}}'s 13th feature-length film, is their first journey into the {{Fantasy}} genre (of the FairyTale kind), and their first with a female protagonist. It tells the tale of a RebelliousPrincess named Merida (Creator/KellyMacdonald) in the mythical Scottish kingdom of [=DunBroch=], who wants only to live as freely as she desires. Her father, the rough and boisterous King Fergus (Creator/BillyConnolly), has an eternal grudge against all bears since he lost his left leg to a demon bruin named Mor'du. Her mother, the restrained and graceful Queen Elinor (Creator/EmmaThompson), [[ArrangedMarriage wants her to marry]] the eldest son of the head of one of the three neighboring clans, all brought together under her rule. When mother and daughter have a falling out, Merida encounters a mysterious witch in the forest and buys a spell to change her mother, hoping to reverse her decision on the marriage. Said spell has unforeseen consequences for Merida and her family, leading to a race to undo it before the damage becomes permanent.

* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: The only suitor that Merida seems to like is Wee [=MacGuffin=]. He's TheDutifulSon, and GentleGiant and EndearinglyDorky, with how he's loyal to his father but otherwise won't show violence or DramaKing antics. What's more, he's the only one to express that [[spoiler:if Merida doesn't want an ArrangedMarriage, then it's not fair to her and says it should be her choice]].

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Merida has this moment when [[spoiler:she and her mother stumble across the ruins of an old castle. When Merida finds the ruins of the throne room, she sees a stone tablet depicting four brothers, one split off from the rest. Remembering the story of the four princes that her mother had told her, Merida comes to the terrifying conclusion that not only is the legend true, but the spell that transformed her mother has happened before, and the eldest prince from the legend is none other than Mor’du, the monstrous bear from the beginning of the movie. And to make matters worse, he’s [[RightBehindMe standing right behind her]].]]

* NotSoDifferent: The boys from each clan agree with Merida [[spoiler:that none of them want to get married because of tradition or political power. Wee Macintosh says that they all should have the chance to choose their fates, while Wee Dingwall points out that just because Merida is the princess doesn't mean he wants to wed her. Meanwhile Wee [=MacGuffin=] says in his brogue that it's not fair to the princess if she doesn't like any of them]].

* TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson: If you [[FreezeFrameBonus freeze-frame]] during the witch's [[BlatantLies "just a woodcarver"]] montage, you'll see that one of her carvings is an off-road vehicle like a Range Rover.