History WesternAnimation / TheIronGiant

* PrecisionFStrike
** General Rogard grabs a walkie-talkie during the robot's rampage and yells "All battleships fire at the robot! Now! Now, ''damn it'', now!"
** Mansley gives off a hearty "'''''Screw''''' our country!" when faced with the prospect of dying with Rockwell's populace.

* TemptingFate: When Mansley tells General Rogard to [[spoiler:launch the nuclear missile on]] the Giant, Rogard asks, "Are you mad, Mansley?" [[spoiler:because the Giant is standing about fifty feet away from them and is in the middle of town]]. When the Giant gives Mansley a DeathGlare, Mansley flips out and snatches the radio from Rogard to [[spoiler:order the launching of the missile]], not realising that this means [[spoiler:[[LethallyStupid the deaths of everybody in town]], [[TooDumbToLive including himself]]]]. So, Rogard, is Mansley mad? Yes, yes he is.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: That educational film shown in Hogarth's class, telling people that they can survive a blast by ducking and covering their heads, [[Film/DuckAndCover is based on a real thing]].

The Iron Giant appears as a playable fighter in ''VideoGame/{{Multiversus}}''. He also appears in the film ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018''; however, it's not the actual character but rather a custom avatar skin option covering a mecha vehicle.

* GreaterScopeVillain: In a deleted scene, we see that The Giant was part of a series of giant robots created to [[spoiler:attack and destroy planets. Presumably, they and their creators are still out there somewhere, but aren't necessary to the plot beyond providing a glimpse into the Giant's origin]].

* TrackTrouble: The Giant pulls on some tracks just as the train approaches. Hogarth gets him to put the tracks back, but he takes too long and is hit by the train.

** Also hilariously done when Hogarth says it during dinner and he's just noticed the giant's hand in the living room... and he turns it into part of the prayer he's saying.

The Iron Giant is set to appear as a playable fighter in ''VideoGame/{{Multiversus}}''. He also appears in the film ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018''; however, it's not the actual character but rather a custom avatar skin option covering a mecha vehicle.

The Iron Giant is set to appear as a playable fighter in ''VideoGame/{{Multiversus}}''. He also appears in the film ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018'', but it's not the actual character, but rather a custom avatar skin option covering a mecha vehicle.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Mansley launching [[spoiler:a nuclear missile]] on the Giant's current location... which is about 30 feet away from him and ''in the middle of town''.

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* CameFromTheSky: A fisherman lost in storm first sees something fall from the sky, then runs into the Giant thinking its glowing eyes are the lighthouse.

* LethallyStupid: Mansley when he orders the missile be launched [[spoiler:at the Giant while he is in the middle of Rockwell. Meaning when the missile hits, it would decimate the Giant and everyone else in town, including Mansley himself]].

* BigBad: Kent Mansley, the government agent pursuing the Giant. Played with in that while his [[DirtyCoward cowardice]] and [[WhatAnIdiot irrational behavior]] [[spoiler:nearly gets the town of Rockwell nuked]], it's made clear he's something of a laughingstock with no real authority.

* AdultFear: Annie is rightfully frightened when her son Hogarth goes missing when he finds the iron giant in the woods like any good mother.

-->-- '''Dean McCoppin''', [[MeaningfulEcho later used by]] '''Hogarth Hughes'''

-->-- '''Hogarth Hughes'''

The Iron Giant is set to appear as a playable fighter in ''VideoGame/{{Multiversus}}''. He also appears in the film ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018'' but it's not the actual character, but rather a custom avatar skin option covering a mecha vehicle.

* AdaptedOut: The film follows Ted Hughes' novel's first half [[AdaptationExpansion and builds upon it]]. The second half of the book involving the Iron Man and Hogarth attempting to deal with an enormous Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon is omitted entirely.
* AdaptationalBadass: In the book, the Giant was a force to be reckoned with especially as he deals with the Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon. In the "Signature Edition" with the "Giant's Dream" segment restored, it's shown he was part [[spoiler:of an army of planet-killers equipped with a wide array of lethal alien weaponry.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: The Giant is certainly not portrayed as a villain in the film, but film does show he has an ominous past and purpose. Brad Bird has said that the idea that inspired him to make the film was "What if a gun had a soul and didn't want to be a gun?" This guiding thought required the Giant to be reworked from a mysterious being from space into a robot that was clearly designed to be a weapon.

** "Guns kill"/"I am not a gun."

** "Superman"

* BigBad: Kent Mansley, the government agent pursuing the Giant. Played with in that while his cowardice and irrational behavior [[spoiler:nearly gets the town of Rockwell nuked]], it's made clear he's something of a laughingstock with no real authority.

* BluffingTheAuthorities: When paranoiac JerkAss Kent Mansley finally convinces the US Army that the title character is loose in Rockwell, Maine, they arrive at Dean [=McCoppin's=] studio to find a huge robotic figure. Dean explains that it's a modern art sculpture he's going to be selling to a wealthy industrialist.

* {{Foil}}: Dean is unconventional and hip, while Mansley portrays the ideal manly man of the time - a hard-boiled authority figure with PatrioticFervor and a fear of the unknown. Dean is a LOT faster on the uptake and more flexible in his thinking than Mansley. Finally, Dean is willing to put himself in harm's way to save Hogarth, whereas Mansley immediately tries to flee once he realizes he's going to die from the missile.
* {{Foreshadowing}}

* GoshDangItToHeck: Noticeable averted but not surprising given the mature themes explored by the movie.
* GreaterScopeVillain: In a deleted scene, we see that The Giant was part of a series of giant robots created to [[spoiler:attack and destroy planets. Presumably, they and their creators are still out there somewhere, but aren't necessary to the plot beyond providing a glimpse into the Giant's origin.]]

* HateSink: We have Mansley, the obnoxious, smarmy, arrogant and cowardly government agent who instigates almost everything that goes wrong in the story. He definitely loses any audience sympathy when he threatens to have Hogarth separated from his mother and when his desire to destroy the Giant [[spoiler:nearly gets the entire town of Rockwell killed as a result]].

* {{Hypocrite}}: Mansley presents himself as a patriotic American who takes his job as a federal agent very serious. When faced with the prospect of dying for his country, he says in no uncertain terms that he'd rather run.

* IdiotBall: Mansley plays around with it for the majority of the movie. It's the finale where he firmly grasps it by ordering [[spoiler:the nuclear strike on the Giant. [[OhCrap While he's in the same town full of innocent civilians as said giant.]] Note that the general actually ''warned him only minutes before about this''.]]

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Sort of, while not impossible it's highly improbable. At one point, Dean jokingly describes espresso as "coffee-zilla" when warning Hogarth against drinking it. Franchise/{{Godzilla}} wasn't a household name in America in 1957. There were only two ''Godzilla'' movies in existence at the time, and only one (''[[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1956 Godzilla: King of the Monsters!]]'') had actually been released in the United States. Although it's entirely possible that both Dean and Hogarth may have been familiar with it (Dean with his interest in avant-garde art and Hogarth being a fan of horror movies), Godzilla simply hadn't permeated pop culture enough yet for him to use that phrase. Even if they both saw the movie and Dean coined the phrase on the spot, it's unlikely Hogarth would immediately understand it.

'''Hogarth:''' So she goes "Huh-uh, you don't have a challenge! You need a challenge!" So, now I'm challenged, all right. ''I'm challenged to hold on to my lunch money'' Because of all the big mooses who wanna pound me because I'm a shrimpy dork who thinks he is smarter than them! But I ''don't'' think I'm smarter, I just do the stupid homework! If everyone else ''just did the stupid homework'', they could move up a grade and get pounded too. Is there any more coffee?

'''Hogarth:''' So she goes "Huh-uh, you don't have a challenge! You need a challenge!" So, now I'm challenged, all right. ''I'm challenged to hold on to my lunch money'' Because of all the big mooses who wanna pound me because I'm a shrimpy dork who thinks he's smarter than them! But I ''don't'' think I'm smarter, I just do the stupid homework! If everyone else ''just did the stupid homework'', they could move up a grade and get pounded too. Is there any more coffee?

-->'''Hogarth:''' She goes 'Uh-uh, you don't have a challenge. You need a challenge.' So, now I'm challenged, all right, I'm challenged to hold on to my lunch money because of all the big mooses who wanna pound me because I'm a shrimpy dork who thinks he's smarter than them. But I ''don't'' think I'm smarter, I just do the stupid homework! If everyone else ''just did the stupid homework'' then they could move up a grade and get pounded too. Is there any more coffee?"

* AnswerCut: When Mr. Stutz says that he really did call the government and that they were sending someone to investigate, Dean asks, "Who in the hell would the government send?" Cut to the power plant where Kent Mansley gets out of his car.

* AerithAndBob: Dean and Annie, Kent and ''Hogarth''.

* DelayedOhCrap: During the climax of the film, Mansley, refusing to accept the Giant isn't a threat to humanity even as the rest of the military does, furiously snatches the radio out of General Rogard's hands and orders the ''Nautilus'' to launch a nuke at the Giant. He immediately has to be reminded by a furious Rogard that the nuke is targeted to the Giant's current position, and at the moment, the Giant is standing right in the middle of a town of innocent civilians, ''less than ten feet behind him''.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Mansley launching [[spoiler:a nuclear missile]] on the Giant's current location... which is about ten feet away from him and ''in the middle of town''.