History YMMV / TheBorgias

* NightmareFuel: Has its own [[NightmareFuel/TheBorgias sub-page]].

* StuffedInTheFridge: [[spoiler:Maria, the maid in "The Assassin". Micheletto seduces, then brutally murders her, with her death being the "proof" needed for Micheletto and Cesare to set up della Rovere to be banished from Rome. She basically dies so the audience can see how ruthless Micheletto and Cesare are, and to set up della Rovere's revenge angle.]]
** Arguably, a male version [[spoiler:with Paolo. His story function was to give Lucrezia the natural-born son she may have had in history and a paramour whom she loved, then die tragically. He's more or less a PuritySue.]]
** And now, [[spoiler: Ursula is dead too. Since she's regarded as TheScrappy by most people, it's unlikely anyone will be too upset by this, even though Cesare all but lampshades the fact that her role was to make him more ruthless; "[her death] has released my heart of all emotions but one: vengeance".]]

* HoYay: Micheletto and Cesare. With themes of TooKinkyToTorture in that whipping scene, no less. Oh my.

* IncestYayShipping: The majority of Internet fans ship Cesare and Lucrezia. To be fair, so does history...really Lucrezia seems to have been sexually linked with both her older brothers ''and'' her father (who is the assumed father of her known child).
** There's absolutely no evidence towards Lucrezia being "sexually linked" to any of her family members. It was almost definitely a rumor spread by their enemies. Most schoalrs believe that while the Borgias were a close family, they were not incestuous.

* CopyCatSue: In-universe, Ursula to Lucrezia. With her blond hair, hairnets, the way she meets Cesare directly after his dance with Lucrezia, and abusive husband, she is basically a stand in for Lucrezia that Cesare can actually have an affair with without the historically-accurate incest.
** Actually, it's highly debatable that the incest is historically accurate, since like most of the claims about the Borgias, it was primarily a rumor spread by their enemies.

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* ChaoticEvil: Juan didn't start out this way. Constant failure and venereal disease kind of does things to your mind.
* ChaoticNeutral:
** Rodrigo really is not an evil man; in fact, he's no worse than most of his enemies in terms of assassinations, etc. He hates the thought of harming children, and loves his family to a fault.
** Cesare started out a lot more neutral than evil. He's gradually come to the point wherein he largely looks out for his and his family's interests, and will do anything to advance them.
** Lucrezia does not have a taste for blood--unless you [[MamaBear threaten her loved ones]]--but also doesn't have a great sense of morality. Particularly when it comes to, ah, [[FemmeFatale matters of the heart]].

* TrueNeutral: Machiavelli arranges for Florence to support the Borgias against della Rovere mostly on the condition that they in turn take care of Savonarola.

* XMeetsY: ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' meets ''Series/TheSopranos''.

* CompleteMonster: Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan. Giovanni Sforza probably counts too- yes, he's finally stopped brutally raping Lucrezia on a nightly basis and treats her with dignity and respect now, but it's only because [[TheDogBitesBack Lucrezia and her boyfriend arranged for him to be injured and put out of commission]].

* TooGoodToLast: While three seasons is a pretty good run and it managed to get most of what the fanbase needed, the fanbase still claimed for one final season where the borgias would finally meet their downfall. Showtime didn't.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler: Micheletto]] views himself this way.

* FridgeHorror: Giovanni Sforza repeatedly rapes & abuses Lucrezia. This ( because of the Truth in Television of that time) would be frightening enough but, (if actual history is to be respected) it gets worse Giovanna had already married Maddalena Gonzaga, who was 17 at the time, before she died and he married Lucrezia. Then, after the annulment of his and Lucrezia's marriage, he (in about 1504) he married Ginevra Tiepolo. This troper knows that the Real Giovanni Sforza was probably not as much as a monster as in the show, but still, in the show-verse, Fridge-Horror
** [[spoiler: Averted then, as Giovanni suffers DeathByAdaptation.]]

* FanPreferredCouple: Cezare and Lucrezia, so far. Historically speaking, they may have actually been a couple, as well.

** While it's mostly for the sake of being allowed on television, cutting out the incest within the Borgia family does remove a rather important dimension of their dynamic as well.

* CopyCatSue: In-universe, Ursula to Lucrezia. With her blond hair, hairnets, the way she meets Cesare directly after his dance with Lucrezia, and abusive husband, she is basically a stand in for Lucrezia that Cesare can actually have an affair with without incest.
* FanPreferredCouple: Cezare and Lucrezia, so far.

* IncestYayShipping: The majority of Internet fans ship Cesare and Lucrezia.

* NightmareFuel: The scene in 1.03 where the Prince of Naples shows della Rovere what his father had done to some enemies who'd plotted against him: [[spoiler:fed them a poisoned buffet, then locked them into an airtight room. They're still there after ''decades''.]]
** [[spoiler: The Prince (now King) of Naples]] being forced to give the French King a tour of the famous torture dungeons, knowing he's almost certainly going to be their next victim ([[spoiler: he's right]]). [[TruthInTelevision Made worse for the viewers by the knowledge that all those horrible devices really have been used in the past.]]
** [[spoiler: [[PayEvilUntoEvil Cesare killing Giovanni Sforza]]]] may be extremely well-deserved, but it's still pretty horrible, especially where his head gets forced slowly forward onto the point of his knife.
** [[spoiler: Della Rovere's assassin poisoning Rodrigo at the end of season 2]] has a shot him trying to maintain his usual DissonantSerenity despite going into convulsions while TearsOfBlood pour from his red eyes.

** Jokes involving AssassinsCreed are also extremely popular (specially regarding [[{{Badass}} Micheletto]] being a member of the Assassin Order).

* TearJerker: Rodrigo Borgia burying [[spoiler:his son Juan]].

* AlasPoorScrappy/ AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Juan.]]

* FridgeHorror: Giovanni Sforza repeatedly rapes & abuses Lucrezia. This ( because of the Truth in Television of that time) would be frightening enough but, (if actual history is to be respected) it gets worse Giovanna had already married Maddalena Gonzaga ,whom (who?) was 17 at the time, before she died and he married Lucrezia. Then, after the annulment of his and Lucrezia's marriage, he (in about 1504) he married Ginevra Tiepolo. This troper knows that the Real Giovanni Sforza was probably not as much as a monster as in the show,but still, in the show-verse, Fridge-Horror

* XMeetsY: ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' meets ''Series/TheSopranos''.

** Cesare and Djem in "The Moor", with Djem calling Cesare's name as he's dying and clutching him tightly.

* MemeticMutation: Ursula is referred to as [[WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants Squidward]] on LiveJournal and {{Tumblr}} so often, in many cases her real name isn't even brought up and the fans still know who's being discussed.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The murder of [[spoiler:Paolo is more or less resolved in logical but very undramatic fashion in the first fifteen minutes of the episode following. Lucrezia remembers Paolo did not read or write and couldn't sign his name, much less leave a suicide note; she knows of only three people who even possibly knew about them and two of them, if not in favor, were at least accepting; and the third reacted violently to even the possiblity. She mentions Juan to Rodrigo, who confronts him with Cesare and their mother, and Juan admits it, because he's ''proud'' of "defending her honor".]]

* XMeetsY: ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' meets ''TheSopranos''.

** Cesare's candidates: He ordered the murder of an innocent bystander in order to save his father's political career. Building a relationship with Ursula completely around lies, then killing her husband. [[spoiler:The ruthless torture of French soldiers, and lastly, the murder of Giovanni Sforza]], though we hardly mourn for either. Finally, [[spoiler: murdering his brother Juan]] may have been necessary given his increasingly dangerous behaviour, but the fact that he carries out with no remorse or emotion shows the ProtagonistJourneyToVillain is finally complete.

** Cesare's candidates: He ordered the murder of an innocent bystander in order to save his father's political career. Building a relationship with Ursula completely around lies, then killing her husband. [[spoiler:The ruthless torture of French soldiers, and lastly, the murder of Giovanni Sforza]], though we hardly mourn for either. .