History WesternAnimation / Disenchantment

* ConstructedWorld: Much like many other fantasy stories, ''Disenchantment'' is set in a fictional world that doesn't quite resemble real-life Earth. Perhaps the most obvious difference about this alternate planet is that [[FlatWorld it's flat]], [[note]]it doesn't seem to be supported by four elephants standing on the back of a great turtle swimming through space - but the ethos is reminiscent of the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' in terms of UpToEleven fantasy parody[[/note]] and comes with an edge leading to a seemingly bottomless abyss. Though bizarrely, Odval nonetheless has a round globe in his office. Even more oddly, some throwaway lines [[OrphanedEtymology mention the terms "French" and "German"]], even though France and Germany are nowhere to be seen.

* CrapsaccharineWorld: The [[HiddenElfVillage village]] of [[SugarBowl Elfwood]]. Although this place does look [[invoked]][[TastesLikeDiabetes constantly happy and cheerful]], and bad things very rarely ever happen to its inhabitants, it's strongly implied that the [[HappinessIsMandatory happy atmosphere is forced and artificial]]. As Elfo finds out the hard way, questioning the saccharine status quo will make you ostracized. Oh, and if you piss off the Elf King hard enough, [[FelonyMisdemeanor such as attempting to sleep with his daughter]], he will have you ''sentenced to death by hanging'' from the Gumdrop Tree, all while your fellow elves [[LyricalDissonance sing another cheerful song for your execution]].[[note]](Un)fortunately, elves are too small to get their necks broken by the noose, so they can only get slowly strangled or die of old age.[[/note]] It's really no wonder why Elfo gets sick of this place, he wants the right to choose to be openly happy ''or'' sad, in a much more realistic way.

* BackToCameraSwitch: One promotional image for Part 2 depicts Bean with her back to the viewer looking at a faraway kingdom.

* AdultFear: [[spoiler:Zog's slow slippage into insanity, complete with several discussions about if he's still fit to rule and who will handle the kingdom if he's not,]] plays similarly to an adult dealing with an aging parent with dementia, and the discomfort that comes with having to make decisions about what's best for them even if it's in defiance of said parent's own autonomy and puts a lot more responsibilities on said adult.

* PoisonedDrink: Twice In "Dreamland Falls",

** Elfo [[spoiler:is not a full-blooded elf. His father eventually reveals that Elfo is a hybrid that he had conceived with a non-elf mother, however Elfo runs out of time [[TheUnreveal before he can learn exactly who (or what) his mom was]]. And according to some additional information provided by Elfo's father, his mother may (possibly) be deceased, though there are hints that she might be alive (and may even be an ogress).]]

** Season 2: [[Recap/DisenchantmentS2E10TiabeanieFalls Tiabenie Falls]]

* DownerEnding: All of the first three {{season finale}}s end on downer {{cliffhanger}}s:

** Zøg (a human) married Oona (a [[LizardFolk Dankmirian]]), and their son Derek is a HalfHumanHybrid. Played with, because it's really more of a [[AwfulWeddedLife loveless]] [[ArrangedMarriage political marriage]]. [[spoiler:Later in Season 2, Zøg (briefly) dates Ursula, a [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent bear selkie]].]]
** Elfo (an elf) has a (so far one-sided) crush on Bean (a human). [[spoiler:It later turns out that Elfo himself is the product of an inter-species love affair, as his father Pops had conceived him with a non-elf mother of an unknown species.]]

** [[spoiler:We never find out exactly what species Elfo's mother was. Season 2 heavily implies that she was an ogress, but we still don't get a straight answer.]]

* ArcSymbol: The tiny house symbol seen in the background of some of the staircases of Dreamland.

** Spoofed with Elfo. [[spoiler:The Trogs consider him an apparent savior, but are perfectly happy with killing him, because dying is what generally happens to saviors anyhow.]]

* DarkSecret: As the show goes on, it becomes clear something pretty nasty happened somewhere in Dreamland's past. Namely [[spoiler:it used to be the elf homeland, until some humans violently threw them out. Zog's family have known about this all along, but Bean has been kept in the dark.]]

** The identity of Elfo's mother

** Meanwhile, non-human characters have varying amounts of fingers, depending on race/species. For example, Elfo (an elf) has ''four'' fingers on each hand; while Luci (a demon) and Oona (a Dankmirian) have ''three'' fingers on each hand. Amusingly, ''God'' appears to have four-fingered hands, an inversion of what happened on ''The Simpsons''.
* FreezeFrameBonus:

* ForgottenPhlebotinum: The ElixirOfLife is a major MacGuffin in the first season, and returns in the second season where it is last seen [[spoiler:reviving the [[TakenForGranite petrified]] residents of Dreamland]]. However, when [[spoiler:King Zog is shot]] toward the end of Season 2, the Elixir is never mentioned or considered as a solution.

* HeavyMetalUmlaut: King Zøg and his ancestors Yøg, Xøg and so on. The ø is always pronounced like an ordinary O.

* OurFairiesAreDifferent: So far only a few fairies have been seen, and only one of them has a speaking role; this unnamed Fairy is an elderly prostitute who lives in the Enchanted Forest. She's a small, winged pixie that looks like a (much older) {{expy}} of [[Franchise/PeterPan Tinkerbell]]. Her name was revealed in Part 3 to be [[PunnyName "Sagatha"]].

* ActorAllusion: Zog yelling "Bite my shiney, metal axe!" in Stairway to Hell is an obvious parody of Bender's famous catchphrase in Futurama. Both characters happen to be voiced by the great John DiMaggio.

* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler:By the end of Season 2, [[EvilChancellor Odval]] has established himself as a major villain by plotting to execute Bean and usurp the throne from the dying Zøg, by ruling Derek as a PuppetKing, with the Arch-Druidess and Sorcerio in on his plan. Meanwhile, Queen Dagmar turns out to be NotQuiteDead and even ''[[VillainousRescue saves]]'' Bean and friends, but is still likely up to no good]]. By the end of Season 3, the major players are revealed to be Odval and The Arch-Druidess, Dagmar and [[spoiler:Alva Gunderson]], while [[spoiler:King Lorenzo was (and possibly still is) after Dreamland and that's not going into whoever Princess Tiabeanie is forced to marry as part of her destiny, who may or may not be the GreaterScopeVillain of the setting]].

--->'''Big Jo:''' "Can you imagine such disrespect?"\\
'''Bean:''' "[[BlatantLies No, I cannot imagine. Such disrespect.]]"

* DownerEnding: All of the {{season finale}}s so far end on downer {{cliffhanger}}s:

--->'''Man:''' "This validates my bigotry!"

* InhibitionDestroyingPuppet: Late in season four, [[spoiler:King Zøg can only speak through his hand puppet, Freckles, after being tortured.]]

* ThemeNaming: Major human characters, Bean herself excluded, seem to be [[NamedAfterSomebodyFamous named after various real historical figures]], such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zog_I_of_Albania King Zøg]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagmar_of_Bohemia Queen Dagmar]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcomer Prince Merkimer]] (slightly altered).

The show premiered on Netflix in August 17, 2018, with a 10-episode first half-season, titled "Part 1". The second part of the season (or "Part 2") with another 10 episodes premiered on September 20, 2019. Another 20 episodes (comprising the second season, or "Part 3" and "Part 4"), were announced shortly after the premiere of the first season. Part 3 aired on January 15, 2021. Part 4 is slated to release on February 9, 2022.

* DarkerAndEdgier: {{Downplayed}}. With the laxer censorship on Netflix, ''Disenchantment'' has a little more adult content (nudity, violence and language) compared to Groening's previous cartoons, though it doesn't take it too far to the point of being gratuitous either. It ends up being more akin to the later episodes of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', the show is still rated TV-14.

The show premiered on Netflix in August 17, 2018, with a 10-episode first half-season, titled "Part 1". The second part of the season (or "Part 2") with another 10 episodes premiered on September 20, 2019. Another 20 episodes (comprising the second season, or "Part 3" and "Part 4"), were announced shortly after the premiere of the first season. Part 3 aired on January 15, 2021.

* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler:By the end of Season 2, [[EvilChancellor Odval]] has established himself as a major villain by plotting to execute Bean and usurp the throne from the dying Zøg, by ruling Derek as a PuppetKing, with the Arch-Druidess and Sorcerio in on his plan. Meanwhile, Queen Dagmar turns out to be NotQuiteDead and even ''[[VillainousRescue saves]]'' Bean and friends, but is still likely up to no good]]. By the end of Season 3, the major players are revealed to be Odval, Dagmar and [[spoiler:Alva Gunderson]], while [[spoiler:King Lorenzo was (and possibly still is) after Dreamland and that's not going into whoever Princess Tiabeanie is forced to marry as part of her destiny, who may or may not be the GreaterScopeVillain of the setting]].

* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: Mermaids apparently live on Mermaid Island off the coast of Dreamland, and are believed to be [[SirensAreMermaids deadly sirens who]] [[EnthrallingSiren sing hypnotic songs]] that lure men to their doom; however, [[SubvertedTrope it soon turns out that]] the enchanting siren song is actually produced by a pack of ''walruses'' from nearby Walrus Island. At the very end of Season 1 though, [[spoiler:Elfo's lifeless body]] washes up on a beach, and gets taken away by two obscured women, who are later revealed to be actual mermaids in Season 2. The mermaids are quite friendly and hospitable to visitors on their island. However, they like to eat corpses (they were marinating [[spoiler:Elfo's dead body until he came back to life]]).

** Elfo (an elf) has a (so far one-sided) crush on Bean (a human). [[spoiler:It later turns out that Elfo himself is [[MixedAncestry the product of an inter-species love affair]], as his father Pops had conceived him with a non-elf mother of an unknown species.]]
** Kissy (another elf) does this nonstop, starting with [[spoiler:the aforementioned Elfo (not that either of them even knew about his MixedAncestry at the time)]]. Later in Season 2, Kissy (briefly) dates Luci (a demon); but then she leaves and hooks up with [[ReallyGetsAround not just other elves, but several gnomes and humans as well]].

** It later turns out that [[spoiler:Elfo's name is another example, because he's the only elf in all of Elfwood who ''[[MixedAncestry isn't]]'' a pure-blooded elf]].

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/disenchantment.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[Creator/MattGroening He]] took us to [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons the present]]. He took us into [[{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}} the future]]. So what's next? The past, of course![softreturn][-From left to right: [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elfo]], [[RebelliousPrincess Bean]], and [[TokenEvilTeammate Luci]].-]]]