History YMMV / Snowpiercer

** Some fans wish that some of the deleted subplots and world building from the original pilot (the maintenance of the train archives-mixture of oral histories and written records- and midwestern greenhouse families being almost at the bottom of the pecking order-just above the tail section stowaways-but still doing work that mattered to them) had been preserved in some form for the show, even in a lesser capacity.

** [[spoiler:LJ]] choking on [[spoiler:a glass eye]] in a freak accident is a fate that some fans are reluctant to [[IncrediblyLamePun swallow]] until further notice, with them speculating she may just be unconscious.

* EnsembleDarkhorse:

** Pike's BackStory as a convict who broke out of jail during the freeze and made it to the train before it took off is AllThereInTheManual, when it could have been used to shed a different light on some of his actions if included in the show's dialogue.

* FanonWelding: A popular fan theory by [=YouTuber=] Rhino Strew describes it as a sequel to ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' way darker than anything Creator/RoaldDahl ever wrote, with Wilford as a grown-up Charlie Bucket after Willy Wonka (or should it be, ''Wilford'' Wonka?) left him his business empire. The film even uses "Pure Imagination" in the score, as if to acknowledge the similarities between Wilford and Willy.

** [[spoiler:LJ]] choking on [[spoiler:a glass eye]] in a freak accident is a fate that some fans are reluctant to [[IncrediblyLamePun swallow]] until further notice, with them speculating she may just be unconscious m.

** Whether or not [[spoiler:Melanie]] will survive being stranded in the season 2 finale attracts some debate.

** [[spoiler: Mr. Headwood and the Last Australians]] dying of influenza during the TimeSkip between seasons might be taken with a grain of salt.
** [[spoiler:LJ]] choking on [[spoiler:a glass eye]] in a freak accident is a fate that some fans are reluctant to [[IncrediblyLamePun swallow]] until further notice.

** Dr. Pelton the ClosestThingWeGot medical examiner is one of the best-liked Allie’s Layton makes in season one.

* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Grey has gotten a great amount of love for being TheVoiceless and his knife-throwing skills.
** HandicappedBadass PapaWolf Andrew.

** Bojan, the husky yet surprisingly tender worker tasked with BravingTheBlizzard, who gets an impressive moment of heroism during a mechanical failure and interesting CharacterDevelopment in season 2 .
** Among the tail section rebels, Big John, Santiago and Winnie stand out.
** Miss Gillies the primary school teacher gets some moments to shine.
** Dr. Pelton the ClosestThingWeGot medical examiner.
** The WildCard AlmightyJanitor Terrence.

** Javi, for coming across as the OnlySaneMan of the Engineers at times and getting a BigDamnHeroes moment in episode 9.
** Bojan, the husky yet surprisingly tender worker tasked with BravingTheBlizzard, who gets an impressive moment of heroism during a mechanical failure.
** Among the tail section rebels, arguably Big John, Santiago and Winnie.

** The six months between the departure and return of the Pirate Train, with Ruth setting up and leading LaResistance, Wilford trying to smoke her out, the hardships aboard the crippled train, the influenza epidemic, could very well make a spin-off midquel of its own, if not an entire episode; they're mostly brushed aside off-screen and completely resolved by the end of episode 2, when Season 3 devolved an entire bizzarro episode to Layton's comatose trip in ''Ouroboros''.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Pike's BackStory as a convict who broke out of jail during the freeze and made it to the train before it took off is AllThereInTheManual, when it could have been used to shed a different light on some of his actions if included in the show's dialogue.

** Then there's the front section passengers who all swarm Minsoo at the end. Is it the truest example of the rich's disdain for the poor that they all organize together and set aside their hedonist ways just to stop the tail-sectioners from threatening their luxury? Judging by their rather young ages, it is likely that they had spent most of their life on the train being conditioned to revere the engine and Wilford as divine, and thus stepped in to put down the threat to their god-leader...or maybe they're all a bunch of drug addicts mad that Minsoo took their Kronol.

** The [[GreenAesop delicate balance of the train's life support]] is referred to ''constantly'' as the reason for [[TheNeedsOfTheMany the abuse heaped upon the tail-sectioners]], though critics usually ignore this in favor of condemning the tyranny du jour. This makes most {{Green Aesop}}s kind of horrifying, as they often boil down to, "The place is more important than happiness, well-being or lives of the people who live there." Especially since [[spoiler:the train is destroyed in the ending; if the place demands dehumanizing sacrifices of humans, ''it '''should''' be destroyed!'']]
** Even worse, the film's message could very easily be "a strictly segregated social hierarchy may be oppressive, but any attempt to rise above your station would only bring ruin". As much as the film plays up the "shoe/hat" metaphor as ridiculous and oppressive, the decision by the shoe (Curtis) to overthrow and replace the hat (Wilford) is what directly causes [[spoiler:the train to be destroyed, condemning humanity to extinction]].
** The real Aesop is listen to science. Observe nature and respond in kind as Nam figures out that the snow has been steadily melting all these years and its possible that a balance will return. In other words, the Engine need not be eternal and it isn't eternal as the parts and components break down anyway.
* AdaptationDisplacement: Did you know it was based off of a comic series? Neither did a lot of people outside of the Francosphere! When the books were released in 2014, they were riding off of the film by saying this inspired the film. So much that when one of the authors returned to the work years later, the film was basically adopted into {{canon}}.

** Was Gilliam [[spoiler: truly a traitor to the tail-end section]] or was he so traumatized by [[spoiler: the cannabilistic melee from]] the train’s early days that [[WellIntentionedExtremist he thought population control was the only way of preventing another outbreak]]? Also, he urged Curtis to just kill Wilford outright, and not even give Wilford a chance to talk with him. Was Gilliam regretful [[spoiler:that he let Wilford manipulate him for all these years and didn't want the same thing to happen to Curtis, or did he just want to keep his collaboration with Wilford a secret?]]
** Sure, [[spoiler:Gilliam worked with Wilford all this time]], but in the aftermath of the Yekaterina Tunnel incident, he urged Gray to follow Curtis. This could be seen as a dick move on his part, but he may have figured out that Wilford would be gunning for him, so he wanted to get Gray as far from him as possible. It seems like he was trying to maximize Gray's chances of survival.
** For that matter, was [[spoiler:Gilliam ever ''really'' working with Wilford?]] We know that Wilford has [[BigBrotherIsWatching security systems monitoring the entire tail section of the train]], so it's quite possible that he found out enough to manipulate Curtis that way, and [[UnreliableNarrator we have no one's word but Wilford's]] to go on that he was actually telling the truth.
** Wilford. Evil SOB who keeps hundreds of people in horrible conditions to maintain the system that keeps him in comfort, while totally indifferent to human suffering? Or a man who unexpectedly finds himself responsible for keeping the entire human race alive, and who is resigned to having to [[IDidWhatIHadToDo make terrible choices]] for the [[TheNeedsOfTheMany greater good]].
** Then there's the Front Section Passengers who all swarm Minsoo at the end. Is it the truest example of the rich's disdain of the poor that they all pull themselves together just to stop them from succeeding? Judging by their rather young ages it is likely that they spent most of their life on the train, being conditioned to revere the engine and Wilford as divine, and thus stepped in to stop the threat to their master. Or maybe they're all a bunch of druggies mad that Minsoo took their Kronol.
* {{Anvilicious}}: Class differences are bad. The rich exploit the poorer and don't care about them at all, and that's bad. Trying to claim that everyone has a "proper place" in society is really, really bad. Did we mention that class differences are bad?
* AwardSnub: Received no UsefulNotes/AcademyAward or UsefulNotes/GoldenGlobeAward nominations, despite it being critically acclaimed and named by some as one of the best films of the year, though Creator/TildaSwinton did receive some recognition for her work as Mason. Somewhat justified though as it was released in Korea in 2013, making it ineligible for the Oscars, though it did get a 2014 release in the States.
* BrokenBase: Fans of Creator/BongJoonHo's previous works are split about whether the movie was great or not.
* CompleteMonster: The Snowpiercer's creator, [[BigBad Wilford]], is a [[AGodAmI selfish megalomaniac]] who wishes to control the remnants of mankind. Combating global warming with a risky procedure that ends up freezing the world over, Wilford takes advantage of the catastrophe to seemingly save mankind with the titular ever-running train. Creating a caste system, Wilford tries to starve the impoverished people at the tail end of the train, resulting in them having to resort to cannibalism to survive. Under his iron-fisted authority, the upper-class of the trains have their children educated to worship him as a godlike figure, and he continues to mistreat the lower-class people of the train's rear-end, feeding them disgusting bars made from cockroaches. To keep the tail-enders under his control, Wilford uses his mole, Gilliam, to occasionally organize riots doomed to fail, ostensibly to let them purge their anger and costing many of them their lives. When Curtis tries to incite his own rebellion against Wilford, Wilford has Gilliam killed for failing to stop him and orders a massacre of the tail-enders, putting the slaughter on speakerphone to mock Curtis. Revealed to [[PoweredByAForsakenChild run his train with children in the engine]], Wilford is a callous man with a god-complex, who only saved humanity at all to create a cult where he could feel adored as a messiah.
* DeathOfTheAuthor: It's been [[https://web.archive.org/web/20140220001320/http://thekoreanforeigner.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-philsophy-of-snowpiercer.html argued]] that Creator/BongJoonHo wasn't making a film about class warfare, but about tyranny itself; maintaining the train - both its life support and its rigid caste system - demands that everyone aboard make inherently dehumanizing sacrifices. The tailenders obviously get the worst of it (living in squalor and eating gel bars [[spoiler:made from ground-up cockroaches]]), but the frontenders also have no freedom as the system permits no growth or change [[spoiler:and when the population climbs too high, they are sacrificed just as callously as the tailenders in Wilford and Gilliam's revolution]]. Wilford cannot risk interacting with the population, as they have come to see him as a divine figure - breaking the illusion risks the system breaking down. The frontenders are as dependent on the tailenders for survival as the tailenders are on the frontenders--and the architects of the revolution are the least free of all. Unless everyone is free, no-one is.

* EndingFatigue: The film seems as if it's about to end during a tense scene near the exit of the train... And then Wilford's door opens.

* EsotericHappyEnding: The shackles of tyranny have been cast off, and life is returning to Earth, but, [[spoiler:humanity might be effectively wiped out, and that beautiful polar bear sure seems awfully interested in our two remaining heroes]]. ''Terminus'', however, confirms that [[spoiler:our two remaining heroes have not only survived, but made it to a safe spot]].

* GenreBusting: The film has qualities of science fiction, Western, action-adventure, even at times feels (fantastically) like an RPG video game, yet none of these titles would fit perfectly.
* HarsherInHindsight: In Creator/BongJoonHo's previous film, ''Film/TheHost2006'', [[spoiler:Creator/SongKangHo's character Gang-du lives, while Go Ah-sung's character Hyun-seo dies.]] In ''Snowpiercer'', Song and Go once again play father and daughter, only [[spoiler:Song's character dies while Go's lives (longer).]]

** It's been a thing for watchers of the movie to recommend others to bring "yanggaeng", a type of jelly sold in Korea, to eat during the movie, because of its similarity to the protein blocks within the movie. In the same vein, other foods recommended are sushi, eggs, steak, and [[spoiler:Coca-Cola.]]
** Thanks to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEX52h1TvuA this popular video]], it's become a popular fan theory that the movie is actually a sequel to ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' of all things.

--->'''Mason:''' What are you doing, you dozy boger?! Don't look at me! Look... THEEEEEEEEEEEAH!

** The sight of [[spoiler:the children performing the functions of train parts]] is...odd to say the least.
** The use of a polar bear of all things to showcase that [[spoiler:life still persists in the outside world. By then, the two sole survivors are an unarmed 17-year-old and an even less resilient 5-year-old, whereas polar bears are lethal apex predators in a biome where food is scarce with or without a man-made ice age apocalypse. Put those two things together and this uplifting moment becomes decidedly less so. Supplemental material reveals that the two characters survive, but you won't know that by just watching the film.]]
* OneSceneWonder: The LargeHam, PregnantBadass kindergarten teacher who provides the main characters with a surprising amount of trouble during her few minutes of screen-time.

** The film shares a '''lot''' amount of similarities to the first ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' game. The class division, a protagonist with a shadowy past, Wilford's egocentric propaganda, [[spoiler:children being brainwashed to serve the society]] -- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1utJKkMEXE it's all there.]] Some fans even go on calling this film "''VideoGame/BioShock'' as directed by Creator/TerryGilliam". Furthermore, while ''[=BioShock=]'' sought to {{deconstruct|ion}} the [[UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}} Objectivist]] themes of Creator/AynRand's ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'', one could see the villains here as the kind of bad guys that Rand herself could have written. Wilford is a fascist tyrant who preaches that salvation comes from serving him, [[spoiler:Gilliam is a socialist tyrant who preaches that salvation comes from serving each other (at his command, of course), and the two of them are ''[working together'' to maintain the train and its oppressive system.]]

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: One scene that has provoked [[EpilepticTrees a number of interpretations]] amongst viewers is the scene of the Axe Gang members marking their axe blades with the blood of a gutted fish shortly before the fight begins. Some claim it's because the fish's blood is poisonous or [[FridgeHorror even contains an antiseptic that would prevent wounds from clotting up]], effectively ensuring a slower and more painful death. Others believe it serves as some sort of ritual equivalent to [[ThisMeansWarpaint war paint]]. Some even believe it's more straightforward than that: they're gonna gut our heroes like a fish. The latter is the most accurate guess, as according to director Bong Joon-Ho, [[RuleOfCool it was just meant to look intimidating]].

** There's a horrible moment in episode 5 when her parents tell LJ the key thing to repeat on the stand is that Erik forced to do everything - to which a suddenly-emotional looking LJ tells her parents he ''did'' force her, then asks "you do know that, right?" in a tone that suggest she's about to cry. Given how her parents react (Lilah just walks away while Robert mouths false reassurance), there's an excellent chance she's actually referring to her relationship with Erik, one both her parents have already been shown to have turned a blind eye to.
* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: As mentioned below, the trailer wasn't well-received as people thought it would be inferior to the film and would be a generic post-apocalyptic show. When it premiered, it surprisingly got a generally positive critical reception with the audience reception being slightly higher. It did so well that a second season was commissioned but it ended up getting delayed until January 2021 due to the pandemic.
* AssPull: Characters suddenly coming BackFromTheDead generally comes to mind. Melanie’s reapperance really stretches believability in the harsh nature of the setting. While it was a case of LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt, especially when the actor started reappearing in dream-sequences, the explanation quickly glosses over the implausible situation. She just happened to know some sort of maintenance vehicle was within walking distance, this vehicle was then able to be repaired and stay operational for 3 months+ and the maintenance hut also had experimental cryogenic drugs lying around.

* LoveToHate: Joseph Wilford has swiftly proven himself as a very enjoyable villain, thanks to his shamelessly self-centered actions, monstrous ego, relationship with Alexandra and Sean Bean's performance being an enticing mix of playful charm and coiled menace. In a show where most characters at least pretend to be motivated by higher ideals such as freedom or order, it's fun to see someone truly out for themselves at the expense of the remaining human race.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: While initially hated for being very selfish and self-centered, many people found Zarah redeemed herself after becoming a more supportive figure to Andre and [[TookALevelInKindness became a mother]]. It helped that she buried the hatchet with Josie, even being the one to tell Andre she was still alive, and eventually accepted that even if she and Andre will never be ''in'' love again, they still cared for each other as the parents of their baby.

** Asha is introduced as a new main character for Season 3, the SoleSurvivor of a group of researchers outside of Snowpiercer, and made into a figurehead to maintain hope of their being a way to recolonize after the Freeze. Many had hoped to see her interact with Melanie, especially after she began wondering how she fit in with everyone on Snowpiercer. [[spoiler:Instead, she dies before the season even ends, the episode ''right before'' Melanie [[TheBusCameBack came back]].]]

** [[spoiler:Bojan's]] fate in the season 2 finale is considered slightly ambiguous by some.

* TheScrappy: Zarah has gotten a bit of hate from fans for her selfish tendencies.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Murray and Emilia have a lot of potential for a rich subplot and relationship after meeting each other and finding out that neither of them is the last Australian, but they only share a couple of scenes and [[spoiler:both are reported as having died offscreen in the influenza epidemic.]]

* JerkassWoobie: Ruth is a grade-A kiss-up-and-kick-down toady with a snotty disdain for the lower classes and a downright religious devotion to Mr. Wilford (who in no way deserves it, and doesn't even seem to know that she exists). But she has ''just'' enough moments of vulnerability and humanity that it's hard to really hate her, and it feels a lot like her more odious traits are caused by a desperate desire for things to just ''make sense'' in a terrifying post-apocalyptic world.