Line #71 Film/FantasticBeastsTheCrimesOfGrindelwald


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fantasticbeaststhecrimesofgrindelwald_9.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"I can't move against Grindelwald. It has to be you."'']]
3	->''"Mr Scamander. The wizarding and non-wizarding worlds have been at peace for over a century. Grindelwald wants to see that peace destroyed and for certain members of our community his message is very seductive. [[{{Foreshadowing}} Many purebloods believe it is their birthright to rule not only our world but the non-magic world as well]]."''
4	-->-- '''Arnold Guzman'''
5
6	''Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald'' is the sequel to ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'', the second film in the ''Film/FantasticBeasts'' series and the tenth film overall in ''Creator/JKRowling's [[Franchise/HarryPotter Wizarding World]]''. It is directed once again by Creator/DavidYates. Rowling herself returned to write the screenplay.
7
8	The story is set in 1927 and takes place primarily in Paris, with scenes in London and the rest of the U.K. as well as New York City. [[Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem At the end of the first film]], the powerful dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, after committing (under the guise of MACUSA Director of Magical Security Percival Graves) a devastating terrorist attack upon the City of New York using a young Credence Barebone's Obscurus, was captured by MACUSA with the help of Magizoologist Newt Scamander. But, making good on the threat he made, Grindelwald now has escaped custody and has set about gathering followers to his cause, most of whom are unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards and witches up to rule over all non-magical beings.
9
10	In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore enlists his former student and protégé, Newt Scamander. Newt agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly dark, dangerous, and divided wizarding world.
11
12	The cast includes Creator/EddieRedmayne, Creator/KatherineWaterston, Creator/AlisonSudol, Creator/EzraMiller, Creator/ZoeKravitz, Creator/JohnnyDepp, Creator/JudeLaw, Creator/CallumTurner, Claudia Kim, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, David Sakurai, Carmen Ejogo, Dan Fogler, Ingvar Sigurdsson, William Nadylam, Kevin Guthrie, Derek Riddell, Creator/BrontisJodorowsky, and Creator/PoppyCorbyTuech, among others. The film was released on November 16, 2018.
13
14	An extended cut was released with the film's digital release on February 15, 2019. A sequel, ''Film/FantasticBeastsTheSecretsOfDumbledore'', was released on April 15, 2022.
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16	'''Previews:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sEaYB4rLFQ Trailer 1]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvFybpmyB9E Trailer 2]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bYBOVWLNIs Trailer 3]].
17	----
18	!!''Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald'' contains examples of:
19	* AccidentalChildKillerBackstory: A variant. [[spoiler:Leta Lestrange feels responsible for the death of her infant brother Corvus, due to switching him with another infant to get some peace from his crying while they were sailing to America. When the ship sank, the real Corvus was lost at sea, while the other child, presumed to be Corvus, was put into hiding and grew up to be Credence. The drowning infant became her boggart when she was older.]]
20	* AllThereInTheScript: The identity of the woman who was taking Credence to America ([[spoiler:his aunt]]) isn’t ever confirmed in the movie itself but is in the script.
21	* AmbiguousEnding: At the very end of the film, Grindelwald tells Credence his supposed real name, [[spoiler:Aurelius Dumbledore and says his “brother” is trying to kill him]]. However, something doesn’t quite add up and there’s reason to believe it’s anywhere between an exaggeration ([[spoiler:using “brother” liberally to mean another relative]]) and complete BS. The former ended up being the truth.
22	* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler:Since Corvus Lestrange is dead,]] it's unclear whether or not Yusuf is still bound by his Unbreakable Vow; canonically, breaking the vow is fatal, but there's no word as yet about what happens if the Vow cannot be fulfilled regardless of intent.
23	* AmnesiaMissedASpot: As Jacob says, the rain seeded by the Swooping Evil venom only erased his bad memories of the wizarding world. Thing is, most of his memories about the wizarding world are good, and Queenie is more than happy to fill in the blanks.
24	* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Jacob to Queenie when she [[spoiler:joins Grindelwald.]] Also, Leta before she tries to kill Grindelwald. Interestingly, she's looking at both Newt and Theseus when she says it, making it unclear which of them she means.
25	* AnomalousArt: The entrance to Montmarte (the Parisian equivalent of Diagon Alley) is guarded in plain sight by a bronze statue depicting a woman sitting on a pedestal. When a witch or wizard approaches it, the statue will move its leg and dress away from the pedestal it was set on, opening the passage.
26	* ArcSymbol: In the announcement teaser, the symbol of the Deathly Hallows briefly forms in the smoke. It shows up again in the second trailer and several of the film's posters.
27	* ArtNouveau: The designs of the French Ministry of Magic are pure Art Nouveau, which indicates it might have been built or renovated in the 1900s.
28	* ArtifactTitle: ''Fantastic Beasts'' is clearly a {{Prequel}} series tackling the PredecessorVillain of the ''Harry Potter'' books and films, even though it does include fantastic beasts (there are less of them this time around, and they're less centre stage). Although it has been revealed that the Maledictus is Nagini, who qualifies as a "fantastic beast".
29	* ArtisticLicenceHistory: Although the term "Indonesia" has existed since 1850, the territory of the modern-day country was still commonly known as the Dutch East Indies in 1927.
30	* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:By the end of the film, Grindelwald has accomplished all of his goals: he has converted Credence to his cause, as well as large numbers of purebloods who will spread the word to others, and he successfully goaded the Aurors into killing one of the attendees of his rally, painting the Ministries as the aggressors and his followers as martyrs.]]
31	* BadassTeacher: As usual, Dumbledore. Everyone is aware that if anyone is going to beat Grindelwald one on one, it's him.
32	* BadFuture: In order to try to convince the pureblooded wizards to believe in his evil philosophy that Wizards need to control Muggles for their own good, Grindelwald [[spoiler:shows the pureblooded wizards the future, which in this case is ''UsefulNotes/WorldWarII''.]]
33	* BaldOfEvil: One of Grindelwald’s henchmen, named Macduff, is a bald man who murders a Muggle couple in their home.
34	* BashBrothers: Newt and Theseus, literally, when they simultaneously cast the "Finite" spell to help save Paris from Grindelwald.
35	* BatmanGambit:
36	** Throughout the film, Grindelwald is manipulating events for the sole purpose of driving the very powerful but emotionally lost Credence into his arms. Grindelwald wins.
37	** The events of the first ''Fantastic Beasts'' film are implied to be set in motion by Dumbledore. Suspecting Grindelwald was in the U.S., Dumbledore ''happened'' to lead Newt to the Thunderbird, which he knew Newt would try to return to its home (Arizona). Doing that, Newt traveled through New York, the largest Muggle port where he was most likely to be able to get his animals into the country, which ultimately led to Grindelwald being found and captured there.
38	*** The extended edition outright confirms it was a deliberate gambit. As Dumbledore tells Newt, Grindelwald had a vision of an Obscurial killing the man he fears most, i.e. Dumbledore, and has been searching for it ever since. Dumbledore sent Newt to New York in the hopes he would find the Obscurial before Grindelwald -- of course, neither side counted on the trigger-happy Aurors being the SpannerInTheWorks.
39	* BattleCouple: Newt and Tina are showing signs of this, particularly after he clears up the misunderstanding regarding his engagement.
40	* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Previously given mentions in the books but never seen, this film introduces Nicolas Flamel, the famous 12th century French scribe and manuscript seller who was purported to be an alchemist after his death. In the ''Harry Potter'' universe, he is an alchemist, and AlchemyIsMagic.
41	* BellyScrapingFlight: In a rare ''deliberate'' example, Grindelwald steers the flying prisoner-transport vehicle low enough to dunk the coach in the sea, filling the interior with water and half-drowning the occupants.
42	* BigScrewedUpFamily:
43	** The Scamander brothers, despite being very close. As a schoolboy Newt had at least a very close friendship with Leta Lestrange, which ended with Newt taking the heat for something Leta did and being expelled from Hogwarts as a result. Now as an adult Leta is engaged to Newt's older brother Theseus.
44	** Leta, who was a little girl at the time, [[spoiler:exchanged her constantly crying baby brother for a quieter baby in the neighboring room, intending to switch them back once she'd gotten some sleep, but the boat sank before she could. Credence was the exchanged baby, while the real Corvus died.]]
45	** Also, Leta's mother was already married and had a son, Yusuf Kama. [[spoiler:Leta's father used the Imperius curse to make her come with him, and then she died giving birth to Leta. This drove Yusuf's father to madness, and he made Yusuf swear to kill the person closest to Lestrange's heart. Yusuf thought to kill Leta, his own half sister, for a while before realizing that her father never loved her, and switched to wanting to kill Corvus, who was loved by his father.]]
46	** Adding from the previous series, it turns out the Dumbledores are even ''more'' screwed up than once thought. In addition to the family drama of Albus and Aberforth and the death of Ariana, [[spoiler:Grindelwald claims that Credence is actually Aurelius Dumbledore by birth, making him a long lost relative of Albus's]]. However, this particular bit of information comes from a dubious source with an agenda and probably shouldn't be taken at face value.
47	** Queenie [[spoiler:joins Grindelwald and thereby alienates not only her sister but also her erstwhile fiancé.]]
48	* BloodOath: A crucial MacGuffin in the film is [[spoiler:Grindelwald's phylactery, which contains the magical BloodOath that he and Dumbledore swore to never fight each other. Which is why Dumbledore must rely on proxies like Newt to oppose Grindelwald (and vice versa). Teddy the Niffler manages to steal it from Grindelwald during the rally, setting the stage for their future duel in 1945]].
49	* BoxedCrook: An inverted example. By the end of the film, we learn that [[spoiler:Albus Dumbledore is a boxed ''hero'', prevented from taking an active role in the fight against Grindelwald thanks to a blood oath he made in his youth when he was infatuated with Grindelwald.]]
50	* BreakingTheFellowship: By the end of the film, the close-knit group that formed in New York is broken, with [[spoiler:Queenie's defection to Grindelwald.]]
51	* CallForward:
52	** A flashback scene shows Dumbledore teaching students how to use the Riddikulus charm against a boggart in almost the exact same way as Lupin in ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban''. The scene shows exactly what Newt's worst fear is and provides foreshadowing at Leta's greatest fear/regret.
53	** [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows The main cast get into a secured location by pretending that one of them is a [=LeStrange=]]]. Except this time, there isn't a third person to cast the Imperius curse.
54	* TheCameo: Former Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams as Professor Eulalie "Lally" Hicks of Ilvermorny, she's the witch who communicates with Flamel in his magic book on Dumbledore's behalf.
55	* CardboardPrison: Played with. MACUSA has kept Grindelwald successfully for six months, thanks to truly draconian measures. When the Ministry of Magic takes over, the Ministry's attempts to contain Grindelwald are evaded within minutes, mainly because one of their trusted employees was actually on his side.
56	* ChekhovsGun: The Zouwu is described as being able to travel enormous distances in a single leap. Later [[spoiler:it carries Newt and company from the French Ministry of Magic to the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in a single leap, just in time for the climax.]]
57	* ChekhovsGunman: When Grindelwald begins spreading black cloths over the buildings in Paris, Newt is shown standing next to a red headed witch. This same witch [[spoiler:is killed by an Auror during Grindelwald’s rally as an example to trick other witches and wizards that the Ministries are the aggressors]].
58	* ChekhovsLecture: Dumbledore tells Newt about the legend that a phoenix will come to any Dumbledore in need. Grindelwald recounts the legend when [[spoiler:telling Credence where he comes from while a phoenix appears before them]].
59	* ChildByRape: [[spoiler:Leta]], whose mother was under the Imperius curse when she was conceived and therefore couldn't consent.
60	* ChildhoodFriends: Newt and Leta.
61	* ContinuityNod: [[spoiler:Nicholas Flamel appears in person in this movie, and there's a scene of the Philosopher Stone exactly as it appeared in ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' inside the locker at his home in Paris.]]
62	* ContinuitySnarl: A flashback from Leta's school days, i. e. the 1910s, shows a cameo of Professor [=McGonagall=], who doesn't have a canonical birth year (though Pottermore had previously listed her birth year as 1935) but had been implied to be much younger than Dumbledore. Additionally, in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', which takes place in 1995, [=McGonagall=] tells Umbridge that she has been teaching at Hogwarts for 39 years, meaning she shouldn't have been there until around 1956. The film's screenplay and a deleted scene make it worse, as they confirm that it is Minerva [=McGonagall=] and not someone else with the same surname.
63	* ContrivedCoincidence: Credence's Obscurus is the result of this. It wouldn't exist if:
64	** Credence wasn't sent to America on the same ship as the Lestrange children;
65	** Corvus wasn't crying so loudly that [[spoiler:his sister swapped him for Credence;]]
66	** the ship wasn't wrecked; and
67	** the Lestranges had checked up on him every now and then instead of leaving him in an abusive household that turned out to believe magic was evil.
68	* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Inverted in that this film is a prequel. But Grindelwald behaves in a completely different fashion than Voldemort later would. Grindelwald relies heavily on persuasion to woo his followers, converses with them in a civilized fashion and only seems to (openly) punish those who are disloyal. Voldemort will be a classic BadBoss who bullies even his closest followers. Also, Grindelwald is very stylish and creative in his use of magic, and tends to do more things himself, whereas Voldemort favoured blunt displays of power on the rare occasions he actually did his own dirty work.[[note]]On the other hand, Voldemort is portrayed as having been more subtle and suave during his younger Tom Riddle days. Apparently, he gave up the pretense at some point.[[/note]]
69	* CrapsaccharineWorld: Paris and by extension, the French Wizarding world are portrayed as this, albeit subtly. Paris's equivalent of Diagon Alley is gorgeous, however the entertainment is a freak show where fantastic creatures are treated horribly. More subtly is the fact that [[spoiler:Corvus Lestrange IV either did not face or managed to avoid any legal punishment for using the Imperius Curse while the same crime would have landed him in Azkaban for life should he be convicted of it in Britain.]]
70	* CrazyPrepared: Albus Dumbledore, as usual. He anticipated that Newt would get himself in trouble while in Paris, and gave him the address of Nicholas Flamel's house in case he needed to lay low for a while.
71	* CreativeClosingCredits: Memorable scenes from the film are depicted in multicoloured smoke, created by [[spoiler:Grindelwald's blood pact phylactery]]. [[JuxtaposedHalvesShot Juxtaposed halves shots]] of the main characters accompany the actors' names to highlight romantic and antagonistic relationships.
72	* CueTheRain: Done twice and befalls the same couple.
73	** Queenie storms off during an argument and leaves Jacob on the street outside Newt's house. As if on cue, the street is suddenly drenched with rain.
74	** Queenie sees Newt and Jacob in Paris and tries to follow them. When she loses them, the street is suddenly drenched with a downpour.
75	* CurbStompBattle: Grindelwald once again manages to deliver utterly one-sided defeats of any opponent he faces in the film, starting from nonchalantly taking down his captors during his escape to then casually annihilating all of the 50 or more so squad of Aurors sent to stop him during his rally, the only one who even puts up any semblance of a fight being Newt, Theseus, Tina, and Leta, and even those four end up being overwhelmed to where Leta has to sacrifice herself, subsequently being almost instantly burned to death, so they can escape.
76	* CurbStompCushion: [[spoiler:While Grindelwald may have achieved all his objectives in this movie (see TheBadGuyWins) and defeated the good guys, Newt ends up preventing it all from being a complete loss: In addition to once again fending off Grindelwald and surviving while the Aurors didn't, Leta's sacrifice also allows Newt to save Theseus and he then along with Flamel, Kama, Tina, and his brother save Paris from Grindelwald's spell that would have destroyed it. The most important victory that Newt was able to achieve, however, was that the blood pact phylactery preventing Dumbledore and Grindelwald from fighting each other is now in Dumbledore's hands thanks to Teddy the [[ThievingMagpie niffler]], meaning he will eventually find a way to destroy it since he canonically wins his legendary duel with Grindelwald.]]
77	* DarkerAndEdgier: The film is a lot darker and more violent than [[Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem the previous instalment]], and is easily one of the darkest films in the ''Wizarding World'' as a whole. It revolves around trying to stop Grindelwald, who's basically a wizard fascist leader and unlike in the first film is free to use all his power, and involves multiple onscreen deaths in the plot.
78	* DarkReprise: The opening features a darker, epic version of ''Hedwig's Theme'', the main theme of the ''Film/HarryPotter'' series.
79	* DarkSecret: Leta blames herself for the death of [[spoiler:her little brother Corvus. When he was a baby and she a little girl, they travelled to America on a ship. Corvus kept crying the whole time, so Leta, being just a little girl herself, exchanged him for the quietly sleeping baby next door so she could get some sleep. Directly afterward the ship sunk however. The exchanged baby survived with Leta, while the real Corvus drowned.]]
80	* DeathByChildbirth: Both of Corvus Lestrange IV's wives supposedly died in childbirth. This is highly-suspicious considering that wizarding magic has been shown to be able to heal most natural injuries quite easily. But then Corvus was both an extreme misogynist and quite possibly a full-on sociopath.
81	* DeathOfAChild: One with a Muggle French child in the beginning, and in the backstory [[spoiler:the true Corvus Lestrange.]]
82	* DefensiveFailure: Both times Queenie tries to defend herself, she's up against people she herself knows she can't beat in a fight and it shows as she fails miserably. She first tries to protect Jacob from Newt's protest but Newt makes it clear he will get through her if needed and she ends up backing down without trying to fight him. Then she tries to defend herself against ''Grindelwald''. Fortunately, the person who can absolutely annihilate her with ease ends up being someone who wants her help, but she is scared enough of him and his unnerving words that Grindelwald doesn't need to draw his wand or even use wandless magic at all. He just slowly walks up to her and eventually takes the wand out of her hand, giving it back to her to show he means her no harm.
83	* DemotedToExtra: President Picquery, since most of the film is set in Europe. She only appears in the beginning, overseeing the preparation for Grindelwald's transfer.
84	* DeusExitMachina: Dumbledore is unable to move against Grindelwald himself [[spoiler:due to the two of them taking a blood oath to never fight each other]], and chooses to act through Newt and his allies instead. It ends as badly as anyone can expect, all but the main protagonists being thoroughly destroyed by Grindelwald, and the end of the film has Newt and the heroes firmly decide to help Dumbledore move against Grindelwald himself rather than continuing to try to use numbers against him by giving Dumbledore the blood pact to be destroyed, having felt and suffered enough of a humiliating defeat to come to the grim realization that no army can overwhelm Grindelwald. ''Only'' Dumbledore can defeat him.
85	* DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler:Leta dies,]] leaving Theseus alone weeks before their planned wedding. And while not losing her per se, [[spoiler:Queenie's defection creates a wall in her and Jacob's relationship, since they are on opposing sides now.]]
86	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Grindelwald's slogan, "For the Greater Good", is a catchy slogan used by a leader with fascist leanings, similar to many other historic regimes.
87	* TheDogBitesBack: Leta is bullied at school. In return, she curses the bullies.
88	* DontCreateAMartyr: Dumbledore tells Theseus to not rise to Grindelwald’s provocations of violence at the rally because that’s what he wants. Theseus, for his part, does try to take his advice but things end up not working out as planned.
89	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Grindelwald has successfully recruited Credence to his army and slandered the ministries in the eyes of the wizarding world, Queenie defects to his side, Leta is dead and Paris is nearly destroyed by Grindelwald's spell. The sole silver lining of the film is that Teddy manages to retrieve the blood oath phylactery that prevents Dumbledore and Grindelwald from directly fighting each other and then Newt relays it to Dumbledore for an attempt at destroying it.]]
90	* EvilRedhead: Grindelwald has a red headed henchwoman named Carrow, who [[WouldHurtAChild personally executes a little boy simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time]]. He also has another {{Mook}} named Krafft who has red hair with corresponding beard
91	* ExactWords: During his search for Credence, Grindelwald tells his inner circle of followers that Credence is the only entity alive that can kill Dumbledore. In part this is because of his incredible power as an adult Obscurial that he believes he can use to his own ends, but also because [[spoiler:Grindelwald and Dumbledore swore a magical blood oath not to fight each other when they were younger, meaning he couldn't face him directly even if he chose to. Grindelwald himself also indicated that he is frustrated with having made the blood pact as it prevented him from attacking Britain and even seemed to suggest he would have been willing to duel Dumbledore had circumstances been different and attack Britain.]]
92	* EyeScream: There is a part in which Yusuf has a ''very'' long worm removed from his eye. Subverted in that he keeps his eye.
93	* FaceHeelTurn:
94	** Abernathy, Tina's Auror supervisor, was persuaded to change sides by Grindelwald sometime before the events of the film and assists in his breakout during transfer to another prison.
95	** Queenie [[spoiler:joins Grindelwald in the end.]]
96	** Credence has always been a wild card, but in the end, [[spoiler:he joins Grindelwald as well.]]
97	** Leta [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] this. It looks as though she might join Grindelwald too, [[spoiler:but she's actually trying to kill him.]]
98	* FamilyPortraitOfCharacterization: Corvus Lestrange IV kept his family tree in a telling way -- he only recorded the men, while the women were only portrayed as flowers. Fittingly, the only person he appeared to ever love was his son.
99	* FantasticRacism:
100	** The crux of Grindelwald's argument for wizard supremacy is that they are superior to Muggles. Dumbledore disagrees.
101	** Nagini is subjected to this because she is a Maledictus--she'll eventually be doomed to become a snake forever. In the wizard social hierarchy she's considered less human than a werewolf is. She's forced to eke out a miserable existence in the Circus Arcanus under an abusive ringmaster, being gawked at by other wizards until Credence frees her.
102	* FluffyTamer: Newt again, this time with a Kelpie and a Zouyu.
103	* {{Foil}}: [[spoiler:Queenie and Jacob's relationship, in which Queenie used mind magic (a magic spell having the same effect as a {{love potion}}) on Jacob to get him to marry her because, while he loves her, he's reluctant to marry her as it is illegal in America,]] to Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle Sr. who never loved his wife and left her when she stopped giving him the love potion.
104	* ForegoneConclusion:
105	** Carrying over from the first film, Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Newt will survive, since their exploits later down the timeline are known.
106	** Grindelwald will escape from MACUSA's custody. Warner Bros. doesn't even consider it a {{Spoiler}}, referencing the event directly in its official plot summary very early after the film's initial announcement.
107	** Jacob will regain his memories of the wizarding world.
108	** Nagini will also survive and be unable to escape her fate of turning into a snake permanently. Tina will also survive as she will marry Newt in the future.
109	** It was established way back in ''Philosopher's Stone'' that Grindelwald won't be defeated until 1945 so we know the heroes have no chance of ending his crusade in this film.
110	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
111	** Abernathy gives Grindelwald's wand to the European Aurors just before they leave, except it's ''not'' the Elder Wand, clueing the audience that Grindelwald might not be secure as they think. Then when they leave Abernathy flashes out the Elder Wand ...
112	** Being forced to love a person. Queenie uses a love enchantment on Jacob; even if the two sincerely love each other, the action is still shown in a negative light and she gets called on this multiple times. [[spoiler:Then much later, Yusuf reveals that Leta was the product of forced marriage: her father had cast an Imperius Curse on their mother so she would be with him.]]
113	*** Even before being called out for using a love enchantment on Jacob, Queenie's revelation that she and Tina aren't on speaking terms foreshadows the breaking of the fellowship from the first movie.
114	*** The aforementioned love enchantment incident also shows that she is willing to go extremes to marry Jacob. [[spoiler:At the end, we're shown that this extends to joining Grindelwald's Army, thanks to a dose of MoreThanMindControl.]]
115	** In Dumbledore's first scene, it is revealed that owning a loyal phoenix is not just his quirk. According to a legend, apparently all Dumbledores have a natural inclination to own one (although not all choose to do so, since Aberforth doesn't). [[spoiler:At the end of the film, Credence reclaiming his birthright as a Dumbledore is accompanied by the transformation of his pet bird, which is shown to be a phoenix.]]
116	** Both Dumbledore and Grindelwald claim that they can't fight each other. On the surface, it sounds like the two men are refusing to fight an old friend. [[spoiler:As it turns out, they ''literally'' can't; they swore a magical blood oath as young men to never fight, and Dumbledore intends to break this pact at the end to finally confront Grindelwald.]]
117	** Near the beginning, during a conversation with Newt, Dumbledore casually casts a spell that covers all of London's sky in fog, showing that Dumbledore's prime level can cast city-spanning spells. Indeed, [[spoiler:Grindelwald, who is stated to be at the same level in terms of power, effortlessly casts [[{{Hellfire}} Protego Diabolica]] that summons so much fire that it is stated it could have destroyed all of Paris]].
118	* TheFreakShow: Nagini is first seen in a travelling freak show along with other outcasts and creatures considered odd even by the wizarding world before she escapes with Credence.
119	* FreezeFrameBonus: When Flamel checks his cupboard, one can get a brief glimpse at The Philosopher’s Stone.
120	* FriendToAllLivingThings: Newt has a certain way with magical animals that allows him to befriend them very quickly.
121	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: When the good guys go back to Hogwarts at the end, Jacob is looking around with exactly the expression you'd expect from a [[https://i2.wp.com/caps.pictures/201/8-fantasticbeasts2/full/crimes-grindewald-movie-screencaps.com-14381.jpg?strip=all Muggle seeing Hogwarts]].
122	* {{Gayngst}}: As WordofGod confirmed, Dumbledore and Grindelwald were in fact in love with one another and used to be lovers. The film demonstrates that neither Dumbledore or Grindelwald have fully gotten over one another: Dumbledore sees Grindelwald as his most desperate desire and still remembers the times they had. Despite his desire to kill Dumbledore killed, Grindelwald also appears to still have lingering love for Dumbledore and is still bitter and even perhaps somewhat saddened over their failed romance, with how jealous he is of Newt being Dumbledore's favorite and how he speaks of his former lover not with resentment like Voldemort did, but with more of resignation and bitterness.
123	* GayParee: Most of the film is set in 1920s Paris.
124	* GivenNameReveal: Double subverted with Credence. The audience is initially set up to believe that he is Corvus Lestrange, but Leta reveals later that [[spoiler:the real Corvus is dead. At the end of the film, Grindelwald alleges that Credence's true name is Aurelius Dumbledore.]]
125	* HateSink: [[AristocratsAreEvil Corvus Lestrange IV]] lusted after Laurena, the wife of Mustafa Kama and put her under the Imperius Curse, [[WouldHurtAChild attacking her son Yusef when he tried to stop him]]. Corvus raped Laurena for months before she died giving birth to a girl, who Corvus [[HeirClubForMen showed no love for as she could not continue his line]]. Corvus brushed off Laurena’s death and subsequently took another wife (whom he didn't truly love either) who bore him a son. Knowing that Yusef would target his son, Corvus sent both his children to America despite [[DidntThinkThisThrough knowing the person he sent them to would be abusive]]. In short, Corvus Lestrange committed a particularly [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil heinous crime]] for the Wizarding World and [[KarmaHoudini managed to avoid the consequences]].
126	* HeirClubForMen:
127	** The French branch of the Lestrange Family in general and Leta's father in particular, are ''incredibly'' sexist and only consider sons as worthy of love or carrying out the legacy. Even their official magical family tree doesn't feature pictures or names of the girls, only flowers where they should be.
128	*** This is hammered home when ''even the Black Family'' include the women on their tree, pictures and names and all! When Sirius Black's incredibly fucked up family are ''less sexist than you'', you know you're doing something wrong!
129	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Leta]] buys the Scamander brothers time to escape the Lestrange Cemetery by attracting Grindelwald's attention, and [[spoiler:her]] breaking of his skull artifact distracts him enough that his Protego Diabolica doesn't prevent them from Disapparating like it did the other Aurors.
130	* HistoryRepeats: In a retroactive example, [[http://www.mugglenet.com/2018/08/meet-the-new-faces-of-the-crimes-of-grindelwald/ a set report]] confirms that some of Grindelwald's followers have familiar surnames like Carrow and Rosier, whose descendants became Death Eaters. See also: MookCarryover.
131	* HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier: Grindelwald and co. take advantage of Queenie’s inability to understand non-native English speakers’ thoughts at least twice during the film. Vinda gets sent to recruit her and he himself gives her the recruitment spiel in the apartment since they don’t think in English and she doesn’t realize their ulterior motives.
132	* HomoeroticSubtext: While Rowling herself confirms they were lovers, the movie never explicitly says Dumbledore and Grindelwald's past relationship was romantic, though hints at it. Dumbledore says they were "closer than brothers" and later sees Grindelwald in the Mirror of Erised, which shows the viewer their greatest desire, and there is a scene of them holding hands as teenagers. Grindelwald meanwhile speaks of Dumbledore with some actual sadness and shows jealousy of Newt's close relationship with Dumbledore.
133	* HotterAndSexier: This film contains a lot of adult romantic pairings, and the creatives have repeatedly called the film "romantic" and even "erotic". This is also the first film to hint at Dumbledore's complicated relationship with Grindelwald being more than simply friendship, since he says they were "closer than brothers". The design of the characters (silk dresses revealing cleavage, sharp suits, stilettos, leather, sparkly leggings) is also a tad more suggestive than usual.
134	* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Grindelwald's most powerful argument during his rally is not the appeal to the purebloods' FantasticRacism, but instead [[spoiler:showing them true images of the future: the unspeakable horrors of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and the unleashing of UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons.]] It's so convincing that [[spoiler:even Jacob is horrified.]] Of course, [[{{Hypocrite}} Grindelwald]] quickly proves himself to be little better; [[spoiler:unleashing a powerful, hellish Protego Diabolica curse that he uses to murder the Aurors who refuse to join him and leaving the inferno to consume Paris without so much as blinking, though only after his followers have left to spread the word of his supposedly higher calling so as not to betray his true intentions.]]
135	* {{Hypocrite}}:
136	** During his rally [[spoiler:one of Grindelwald's main arguments was that Muggles could not be trusted to rule themselves because they would soon unleash atomic bombs upon the world. After all the audience has left and he has dealt with the Aurors, Grindelwald himself triggers a FantasticNuke spell powerful enough to destroy all of Paris unless contained.]]
137	** Grindelwald also [[spoiler:tries to paint himself as the non-aggressive side, compare to the Ministry, despite the fact that he and his army murder a Muggle family in cold blood, just cause they needed a house to stay in while in Paris]].
138	** Also during his rally, [[spoiler:Grindelwald acts as if the Ministry are the evil murderers and not his followers, but one of his followers tries to attack the Aurors who enter, and said Auror fires back in self-defence. Grindelwald even paints her as a victim of the "evil of the Ministry", when the follower in question was told not to harm them, yet did so anyway.]]
139	* IgnoredEnamoredUnderling: Bunty, Newt's assistant who cares for the beasts at his home while he's away, has an unrequited crush on him.
140	* IgnoredExpert: Dumbledore ''warned'' Travers [[DontCreateAMartyr not to use violence against any of the people attending Grindelwald's rally, because that's exactly what Grindelwald wants.]] Theseus tries to follow this advice, but the other Aurors don't listen.
141	* IncomingHam: When Jacob and Queenie show up at Newt's place.
142	--> '''Jacob:''' Heeeeyyyyyy, Newt! Get over here, you maniac! ''[hugs Newt]''
143	* IronicEcho: Before storming off from Newt's house, Queenie states that Jacob considers her crazy for forcing him to marry her with a love enchantment. Queenie is a Legilimens, but since Jacob denies it, it's unclear if he thought so. [[spoiler:Then comes the climax. Just before Queenie leaves to join Grindelwald (once again, because she wants to marry him), Jacob personally says that she really is crazy.]]
144	* KarmaHoudini: Corvus Lestrange IV (Leta's father) seems to have faced no legal repercussions for [[spoiler:using the Imperius curse to compel a woman to abandon her family, marry him, and bear his child, effectively kidnapping and raping her, and doing it by way of a curse that is otherwise a one-way ticket to Azkaban.]]
145	* KickTheDog: Grindelwald throws his loyal pet Chupacabra to its death because it is "too needy."
146	* KillItWithFire: Grindelwald does this [[spoiler:to a lot of Aurors and nearly all of Paris in the finale]], along with using it to separate his true followers from those whose loyalty might waver.
147	* KudzuPlot: One of the main criticisms of the film. There are too many subplots running around simultaneously for the audience to follow and for some, the inclusion of the deleted scenes just made things ''even more convoluted''. According to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zccnq-VvEx4 Filmento]], it is implied that this was due to was having Creator/JKRowling write the movie's '''screenplay''' like a '''book'''. The result was many important details being left to a non-existent narration, leaving viewers lost. The film’s runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes is rather truncated for a big blockbuster franchise (who are about 15 minutes longer than that these days) and was mandated by WB. There’s reason to believe that the film was originally longer and therefore probably more coherent than the theatrical cut [[note]] The existence of many deleted scenes and scenes with completed CGI that didn’t make the official extended cut[[/note]] and the mandate came late in the process. See the trivia page for details.
148	* LastOfHerKind: Leta Lestrange is the last remaining member of the French branch of the Lestrange family. [[spoiler:Since her brother Corvus really ''did'' die in infancy, with Leta's death, her branch of the family becomes extinct.]] Similarly, Yusuf Kama says he's the last male from his family.
149	* LeeroyJenkins: Leta casts a Stunning spell at a Matagot right when Newt says they don't attack unless threatened.
150	* LongLostRelative: Yusuf Kama and Leta Lestrange are maternal half-siblings. Credence's birth name is allegedly [[spoiler:Aurelius Dumbledore]], though the specifics of his relationship (or perhaps lack thereof) with the others remains unknown.
151	* LoopholeAbuse: Yusuf is charged by his father with an Unbreakable Vow to kill the person Corvus IV loves most. He thought, at first, it would be Leta, his half-sister. [[spoiler:Turns out to be her ''other'' half-brother, Corvus V, from a different mother]]. It is unknown how [[spoiler:everyone involved being dead]] may affect the Vow, whether Yusuf is now free of it or not.
152	* LoveDodecahedron: Newt formerly had a close relationship with Leta Lestrange, who is now engaged to his brother Theseus. He also has UnresolvedSexualTension with Tina and is the object of an unrequited crush from his assistant Bunty.
153	* LoveHurts: Dumbledore and Grindelwald's old romance is clearly a source of sadness for Dumbledore. He still loves him but his expression in the Mirror of Erised makes it clear remembering it agonizes him. Even Grindelwald seems to feel this to an extent: It's clear he is deep down hurt over the possibility that he will have to kill his old lover, taking on a colder tone when Krall asked him, and he is more than happy to lash out at Newt for having Dumbledore's favor.
154	* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler:Queenie joins Grindelwald]] because he promises her a society that allows her to marry Jacob (never mind that No-Majs like Jacob would be subjugated under his rule).
155	* LoveMakesYouEvil: Or at least side with it [[spoiler:in Queenie's case.]]
156	* LoveMakesYouStupid: Dumbledore is extremely reluctant to face Grindelwald himself because of his old feelings for him. [[spoiler:Then it's revealed as a subversion, since it's not that he doesn't want to, but he actually can't fight him himself due to them taking a blood pact to never fight each other.]]
157	* LovePotion: It's revealed that [[spoiler:Queenie has used a love enchantment on Jacob]]; not to make him love her, as he already does, but to convince him to marry her, which he has refused to do since it's illegal in the United States for a witch or wizard to marry a No-Maj and he doesn't want her to get into trouble for his sake.
158	* LuredIntoATrap: Grindelwald's rally at the mausoleum in Paris ends up being a trap. He goads the Aurors into violence, making them seem like the extremists. He's been manipulating Credence the entire time into being there and finally [[spoiler:wins him over with the prospect of his alleged birth name]]. He also manages to [[spoiler:sway Queenie to his side with the promise that when he takes over, she will be free from her status as an outsider in regards to her abilities and free to marry Jacob]].
159	* MacGuffin: A couple of them pop up in the film.
160	** The Lestrange family tree, [[spoiler:stolen from the French Ministry by Abernathy and Rosier, and placed in the Lestrange family crypt. It seemed meant to prove that Credence is the lost Corvus Lestrange V (and lures the heroes to the tomb exactly as Grindelwald wants), but Leta reveals the baby swap no one else knew about, so the book does not actually reveal who Credence really is]].
161	** Grindelwald's phylactery, which [[spoiler:contains drops of blood from Grindelwald and Dumbledore as part of their BloodOath never to fight one another. So long as it exists, Dumbledore cannot personally oppose Grindelwald. The problem is that it may take a while for Dumbledore to figure out how it can be destroyed and thus recovering it is not an immediate solution to the impending wizarding war.]]
162	* MagicFire: ''Protego Diabolica'' is an assumed variation of the Shielding Charm cast by Grindelwald that creates black flames that burns the caster's enemies while leaving their allies unharmed.
163	* MalignedMixedMarriage: They're not married yet, but the relationship between the witch Queenie and the muggle Jacob is forbidden by law. [[spoiler:Which is the main reason she joins with Grindelwald in the end.]]
164	* ManipulativeBastard: Queenie gets stranded in the middle of the street in Paris and suffers PowerIncontinence with her Legilimency due to her stress. Then a strange woman approaches her and takes her to her house. The woman avoids answering when Queenie asks her name. Then the woman prevents Queenie from leaving and insists that she has to greet the house's host first. To Queenie's shock, the "host" is revealed to be Grindelwald, ''the'' most wanted fugitive and terrorist.
165	* MetaphoricalMarriage: [[spoiler:When they were younger, Dumbledore and Grindelwald performed a ritual to create a "blood troth," a magical pact that takes physical form as an ornate pendant and constitutes a binding agreement that the two will be committed to each other and can never harm each other. "Troth" is the root word of "betrothed" and the pendant is something of a physical representation of their relationship. The legality of same-sex marriage in the wizarding world is never addressed, but between the terminology and visuals (the ritual involves entwining their hands), the ceremony is heavily coded as being a stand-in for marriage.]]
166	* MissingMom: Leta's mother died giving birth to her. [[spoiler:She was also Yusuf Kama's mother, so he has this too.]]
167	* MistakenForRomance: Queenie assumes Vinda is married to Grindelwald before she knows he's who they're waiting on in the apartment but there's nothing to suggest that they are more than partners in crime.
168	* MoreThanMindControl: Grindelwald's main MO, as Picquery notes, is that he is ''very'' good at getting into somebody's good graces, to the point that he had to be silenced so the Aurors tasked to guard him in New York wouldn't succumb to his sweet talks. [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption One turns out to have succumbed anyway]], leading to his breakout. Throughout the movie, it's made painfully clear that most of his followers follow him because they are promised the things they desire the most. [[spoiler:By the end, even Queenie has been swayed to serve him.]]
169	* MundaneSolution: Newt discovers that Yusuf has a magical parasite floating around in his eye. What spell does Newt use to remove it? The "pull-it-out-with-a-pair-of-tweezers" spell.
170	* NeverTrustATrailer: The marketing implied Theseus and Leta were much more nefarious characters than they ended up being.
171	* NewEraSpeech: Grindelwald's speech in the secret amphitheater at the Père Lachaise cemetery is basically this, kickstarting his grand project of wizard supremacy over the Muggle world and rallying numerous wizards and witches to his cause, helped by his vision of the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII bleak future]] Muggles are heading to.
172	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Whew, Tina. She lies to Queenie about being in Paris on official work when she's really there off the books. When Queenie gets to the Ministry and can't find her, she breaks down sobbing in the middle of the street when she gets overwhelmed trying to find Jacob's thoughts in a crowd of French speakers. [[spoiler:It doesn't take long for Grindelwald's followers to swoop in to bring her to him to manipulate her into coming to the rally. He convinces her there that this is the only way to marry Jacob and she joins him]].
173	* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: The ship that was boarded by Leta, Corvus, and their servant Irma sunk in 1901. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_in_1901 There were quite a few shipwrecks that year,]] but they avoided mentioning any specific one in the film.
174	* NonindicativeTitle: The subtitle, "The Crimes of Grindelwald", gives the audience the impression the film's focus will be on Grindelwald's ReignOfTerror. In truth, the main focus of the film is Credence and the various factions hunting him down for their own reasons - the wizarding governments of the world consider him too dangerous to live and all the Aurors in the world are looking him with orders to kill on sight, Dumbledore, Newt, and Tina believe he can be redeemed and want to save him, while Grindelwald wants him as a LivingWeapon for his cause. [[spoiler:In the end, Grindelwald is the winner.]]
175	* NotQuiteDead: As confirmed by WordOfGod shortly after the release of the first ''Fantastic Beasts'', Credence Barebone didn't die at the end of the first film, as the audience was made to believe.
176	* OhCrap: World War I veteran Jacob's quietly horrified reaction when Grindelwald shows what is to come: World War II.
177	--> "Not another war..."
178	* OnceMoreWithClarity: Dumbledore's desire, as seen in the Mirror of Erised, gained a whole different meaning after the reveal of [[spoiler:the BloodPact pendant.]]
179	* OnlyFriend: Newt and Leta towards each other during their Hogwarts years.
180	* OnlyTheWorthyMayPass: A dark variant when Grindelwald creates a circle of magical fire that can only be traversed by his true followers. One minion who doubts Grindelwald tries to pass through and is burned to ashes.
181	* OpenSecret: Dumbledore and Grindelwald's teenaged relationship doesn't seem to be a particularly well-kept secret at this point in time, at least to high ranking officials. Travers explicitly asks if Dumbledore isn't fighting him due to lingering feelings and Dumbledore admits they were "closer than brothers" without much prodding. There's also a deleted scene that has Theseus and Leta talking about it.
182	* OurKelpiesAreDifferent: Newt Scamander keeps a Kelpie in a tank full of sea weed. It is depicted as a gigantic legless horse-headed creature with strands of seaweed growing from its body, and Newt has managed to train it enough that it lets him ride around on its back.
183	* PersonalHorror: Leta is dealing with this [[spoiler:after swapping her constantly crying brother for baby Credence who wasn't crying so she could get some sleep. The ship sunk directly afterwards and Leta kept quiet about the swap, continuing to clutch Credence while watching her brother end up in another lifeboat, which capsized. Her brother drowned as Credence’s aunt plunged into the icy water trying to save him, with the very young Leta, frozen in horror, never saying a word.]]
184	* PlayingTheVictimCard: Grindelwald consistently portrays all wizards and witches, but followers of his especially, as victims of Muggle persecution. However, most Muggles no longer even know they exist, and so aren't persecuting anyone. He, meanwhile, murders some Muggles simply to take their house, and implies Muggles will be slaves under his rule. When the Aurors come, he tells his followers not to resist in a manner that is sure to goad someone into attacking instead, and paints a follower who is killed (after going for her wand to make a first strike against the Aurors) as a victim of the Auror who killed her (in self-defence), while later ruthlessly killing the rest of the Aurors himself and attempting to destroy all of Paris.
185	* PlotArmour: When Grindelwald begins [[spoiler:unleashing hellfire on the main characters and the Aurors who've come to stop him]], the only people who appear to survive are the main characters and major allies introduced during the film.
186	* PlotHole: Grindelwald is shown to have mastery of the Elder Wand at the start of this film, and makes extensive use of it throughout. However, at the end of the [[Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem previous film]], while disguised as Percival Graves, he was restrained and disarmed by Newt and Tina, respectively. Curiously, neither of these acts appear to have caused the Elder Wand to switch allegiance from Grindelwald to either of them, despite other similar actions leading to such.
187	** However, as it was never stated exactly ''when'' Grindelwald became master of the Elder Wand, it is possible that he somehow acquired mastery in between the two films. This is still unlikely, as the previous film has him be taken into MACUSA's custody with little chance of escape until the start of this film. It would also still contradict the continuity of the films themselves, as the first ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'' film depicts a much younger Grindelwald acquiring the wand by stunning Gregorovich.
188	** Alternatively, it's quite possible that Grindelwald had acquired it during his youth after all, but before he disguised himself as Graves, Grindelwald, being the genius and great wizard that he is, used some kind of magic to ensure even if he were defeated, the Elder Wand would still remain under his control. Dumbledore had indicated that had he wanted to, he could keep his mastery over the Elder Wand intact upon his death in order to ensure it's power would break once Snape killed him rather than earning another master, so there must be some ways to tamper with the Elder Wand or at least bend some of its rules in a way if you have studied its lore well. As Grindelwald is someone who is very near Dumbledore's level in skill and they both knew the Hallows more than anyone else, he would have most likely knew how to tamper with the Elder Wand to ensure it remains his and made it so that losing while using Graves wand wouldn't affect his mastery of the Elder Wand.
189	* PoorCommunicationKills: This plays a big part in Newt and Tina’s personal conflict. Newt never really mentioned his brother’s relationship with Leta in his letters to her. Once Tina sees him in a tabloid magazine that Leta is engaged to him, she immediately cuts off writing to him. Once things are cleared up, they both admit that Newt should have brought that up, and Tina should have asked him sooner.
190	* ProxyWar: Turns out Dumbledore and Grindelwald are engaging in this.[[spoiler:The blood pact that they created in their youth prevented direct confrontation.]]
191	* QuestForIdentity: Credence spends most of the film trying to discover his identity. In fact, most of the characters spend the film wrapped up in the mystery of who Credence is and what Grindelwald wants with him.
192	* RashPromise: Yusuf Kama was pressured into an Unbreakable Vow by his father on his deathbed to take revenge against the man who brainwashed and kidnapped Yusuf's mother, or else Yusuf would die. In it, Yusuf swore to kill the person Corvus Lestrange IV loved the most - Corvus's long-lost son, rumored to be Credence Barebone. This causes Yusuf a lot of grief for ''decades'', only for it to turn out [[spoiler:Corvus's son died many years ago, meaning Yusuf's vow had been null and void all along.]]
193	* RayOfHopeEnding: [[TheBadGuyWins Grindelwald won.]] The good guys are divided and lost some of their loved ones to Grindelwald's schemes, but Newt's Niffler manages to steal the Blood Oath necklace from Grindelwald without him noticing and Newt returns it to Albus Dumbledore. This means that if he can find a way to destroy it, he can finally act against Grindelwald personally.
194	* {{Recut}}: There is an extended version of the film available on the various home releases. The extended cut of the film is about fourteen minutes longer than the theatrical version and consists of mostly expositional scenes, with the Credence/Nagini subplot in particular being significantly beefed up in runtime.
195	* RedHerring: Used much more extensively in this than any other piece of Harry Potter canon:
196	** The prophecy that both Travers and Yusuf Kama are convinced refers to Credence turns out to be irrelevant to Corvus, [[spoiler:as Corvus Lestrange really did die in infancy.]]
197	** As mentioned under SheepInSheepsClothing, Leta Lestrange was set up for a FaceHeelTurn that never happened.
198	** The many clues pointing to Credence being [[spoiler:Corvus Lestrange]].
199	* RedshirtArmy: Any Auror who isn't named gets killed, and there are quite a lot of them.
200	* RefusalOfTheCall: Newt does this twice. Both the Ministry and Dumbledore tell him to go to Paris to look for Credence, but he refuses them both. When he does go to Paris, it's to reunite with Tina.
201	* RepulsiveRingmaster: Skender, the ringmaster of the Circus Arcanus, who has imprisoned Nagini as his star attraction.
202	* TheReveal:
203	** The extended edition reveals exactly ''why'' Grindelwald is so obsessed with Credence. Many years ago, Grindelwald had a vision of an Obscurial of killing the man he fears most -- Dumbledore. So he spent decades looking for an Obscurus until his search led him to New York. Dumbledore sent Newt there, hoping he would find Credence before Grindelwald would.
204	** Credence's identity is a double whammy: [[spoiler:No, not Corvus Lestrange, but allegedly Aurelius Dumbledore.]]
205	** The reason that Dumbledore couldn't act against Grindelwald? [[spoiler:They were bound by a blood oath to never fight each other.]]
206	* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The baby nifflers are ''intensely'' cute, and help to add some levity to a rather dark film.
207	* RunningGag: Tina having the eyes of salamander. To Newt's surprise, when Tina figures out what he is going to say during a tender moment, she isn't the least bit offended by it.
208	* SatelliteLoveInterest: For all the hype surrounding her, in the theatrical cut Nagini plays the part of Credence's love interest/emotional cushion and little else. Granted, her having a role other than the one the fanbase is used to is amazing in itself, and she does break the satellite part in the very end by [[spoiler:not following Credence to join Grindelwald, instead remaining with the heroes (!)]]. However, this isn’t the case in the extended edition where she comes off as more of a well rounded character since her and Credence’s subplot is the most significantly different and expanded on from the theatrical cut.
209	* SceneryPorn: There are beautiful roof views of both London and Paris, but the sceneries that really stand out are those of the French Ministry of Magic, which have ArtNouveau designs.
210	* SearchingForTheLostRelative: Credence Barebone seeks out answers about his long-lost wizarding family, following rumors that he might be Corvus Lestrange, Leta's long-lost brother. Leta, however, insists that the rumors aren't true [[spoiler:because she [[MyGreatestShame accidentally caused Corvus's death]] as an infant. Credence, however, does discover the truth about his family -- he's a ''Dumbledore'', not a Lestrange]].
211	* SensoryOverload: Queenie gets overwhelmed by the thoughts of the French speakers around her (since she can't understand them) while she's lost in Paris.
212	* SequelGoesForeign: Relative to the first ''Fantastic Beasts'' film, which was set in America. In the larger franchise, this is the first film to take place primarily in a non-Anglophone country, namely France. In fact, while French characters have appeared in the ''Potter'' canon before, this is the first time that France itself has been seen, unless you count the video game ''VideoGame/HarryPotterQuidditchWorldCup''.
213	* SeriesContinuityError:
214	** The wizarding government in America is referred to as the "American Ministry of Magic", rather than the "Magical Congress of the United States" as in the previous movie.
215	** [[spoiler:[=Minerva McGonagall=]]] cameos as a Hogwarts in the 1910s, even though most people had deduced her birth year as 1935 from Pottermore. Even if you accept this as a Retcon or don't consider Pottermore canon, in ''Order of the Phoenix'' [[spoiler:[=McGonagall=]]] says that she's been teaching at Hogwarts for 39 years, meaning that in this movie she's a professor about thirty years too early.
216	* SheepInSheepsClothing: Leta Lestrange is a nice person and very courteous to the heroes. Her DarkAndTroubledPast, however, alerts the audience that she would somehow turn evil, not the least because the main ''Harry Potter'' series has taught us that someone who is a Slytherin shouldn't be trusted and the most well known character of the "Lestrange" name was [[DarkActionGirl Bellatrix]], even though she only married into the family. [[spoiler:And later Leta seems to do a FaceHeelTurn at the end, accepting Grindelwald's offer to defect, despite the Scamander brothers' plea. Then she lets her hand go and points a wand at him, showing exactly whom she sides with. In the aftermath, she dies a hero's death.]]
217	* ShipperOnDeck: Queenie and Jacob both seem to support Newt/Tina:
218	** When Queenie first tells Newt that Tina's upset about him, there's a note of disapproval in her voice as she reads the magazine article claiming that he's engaged to Leta (especially since she discovered with her Legilimency in the previous movie that their previous relationship ended badly). And then when Newt quickly corrects her that Theseus is the one marrying Leta, Queenie seems both delighted that Newt hasn't forsaken Tina after all and concerned by the misunderstanding.
219	** Newt confesses to Jacob as they head to France that he's nervous about seeing Tina again and isn't sure what to say. Jacob does his best to give him advice on how to confess his feelings to her and win her back. He's also excited in general to be PuttingTheBandBackTogether, and when it comes to finding Tina, seems to particularly want to do so for Newt's sake.
220	* SinsOfOurFathers: Yusuf Kama wants to kill [[spoiler:Corvus Lestrange]] not because of anything he did, but because his father kidnapped Yusuf's mother and caused her death.
221	* SplashOfColour: When Grindelwald is calling his followers and then at Grindelwald's rally, [[spoiler:the witch the Auror kills has bright red hair. Downplayed, as the scenes aren't completely monochrome, just heavily grey and black.]]
222	* StarCrossedLovers:
223	** Jacob and Queenie are enamored with each other, but since the MACUSA maintains an absolute separation between wizards and No-Majs, they cannot marry. [[spoiler:Queenie is so frustrated by this that she decides to join Grindelwald under a promise of a society where she can marry Jacob, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero which ends up creating a rift between them]].]]
224	** [[spoiler:Theseus Scamander has to watch as his wife-to-be Leta Lestrange sacrifices herself defending him from Grindelwald.]]
225	* StraightGay: Dumbledore, who doesn't show any stereotypical gay traits.
226	* StrangeSecretEntrance: The secret entrance to the wizarding world of Paris is the pedestal of a statue (which happens to be a copy of ''[[https://femmesetdeesses.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/pythie-garnier.jpg The Pythia]]'' by Adèle d'Affry aka Marcello). The statue briefly [[LivingStatue animates itself]] to open the passage to wizards.
227	* StoryBreakerPower:
228	** The film demonstrates exactly how the power and skill that Dumbledore and Grindelwald has makes them such a class of their own that squads of other wizards and witches mean literately nothing before them and they can only be opposed by one another. Dumbledore is prevented from acting against Grindelwald due to their blood pact, but as Grindelwald flat out says, it doesn't matter much as Dumbledore can and may still hand out [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomp Battles]] to any of his followers, as he is still a ''very'' credible threat, and the only one who even has a chance against Dumbledore are the likewise handicapped Grindelwald and the Obscurus Credence. The heroes are expectedly quite reluctant to face Grindelwald without Dumbledore's help, Theseus admitting himself that he would be no match for Grindelwald, Tina despairing over the idea of having to tangle with Grindelwald, and Newt trying to avoid a confrontation with Grindelwald and instead pursue Credence until Grindelwald makes it clear it's not going to happen and Newt has to focus more on surviving after he has summarily wiped the floor with all but him, Theseus, and Tina. The only reason those three are still alive is because Leta sacrifices herself, and they then seek out Dumbledore after having firmly realized Grindelwald is just too powerful for them.
229	** Queenie is such a powerful and natural Legilimens that the story has to dampen her powers so she doesn't know everything which is done by having her only interact with non-Native English speakers whose thoughts she can't understand. From the end of her very first scene at Newt's house at the half hour mark until she and Jacob meet back up at the rally, she doesn't speak to a native English speaker once. The language barrier is exploited by the French Vinda to first get her off the street and then the vaguely German Grindelwald to manipulate her into coming to the rally since she can't understand their thoughts to realize their ulterior motives. [[spoiler:At the rally, Grindelwald is able to convince her joining him is the only way she'll be able to marry Jacob and be free from being an outsider because of her abilities]].
230	* SummonBiggerFish: Cornered in the French Ministry, Newt, [[spoiler:Tina, and Leta]] have no place to seek refuge from the Matagots except in Newt's case. Which is fine for protection, but leaves them stuck in an object anyone else can pick up and move around. Then Newt flies out on the back of the Zouwu he'd caught earlier, which delivers a CurbStompBattle to the Matagots before transporting everyone to safety.
231	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Even if Newt ''did'' help catch Grindelwald in New York, as well as figure out it was an Obscurial and not a beast causing the trouble, his association with the chaos that happened there (only in small part by some of his own beasts getting loose) means that the Ministry has banned him from leaving the country; they try to bribe him into locating and killing Credence for them in exchange for travel papers but he refuses. When he decides to go to Paris anyway he has to use an illegal portkey to do it.
232	* TemptingFate: Jacob is very keen to find Tina and Queenie and get the group get together just like in New York. [[spoiler:It doesn't turn out that way.]]
233	* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Newt and Theseus look like this when Grindelwald addresses them and mocks them for being in Dumbledore's good books, realizing they are about to tangle with the most dangerous dark wizard who can absolutely wipe the floor with them and that it's quite personal for Grindelwald.
234	* TimeShiftedActor: Jude Law plays a young Albus Dumbledore in this film, while in the ''Harry Potter'' movies, which In-Universe take place decades later, the old Dumbledore was played by Richard Harris and Michael Gambon. Johnny Depp plays Grindelwald, who was portrayed by Jamie Campbell Bower and Michael Byrne (as "young, in a photograph" and "old", respectively) in the ''Harry Potter'' movies.
235	* UndersideRide: At the start of the film, Grindelwald clings to the underside of the carriage that is supposed to be taking him to Europe to face punishment for his crimes.
236	* VillainHasAPoint: For all that Grindelwald is a horrible person some of his points (that both wizarding society and muggle society have been hurt by TheMasquerade, that Wizards shouldn't have to hide what they are from the world) are legitimate to a degree (Dumbledore himself thinks the Statue of Secrecy is stupid and should be overturned.) And as anyone who knows anything about history can say, Grindelwald is 100% correct that [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII another full-scale muggle war that will be even more destructive]] is coming.
237	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: One of the main differences between Grindelwald and Voldemort. While the latter sought to rule the Wizarding World through terror, intimidation and brute force, Grindelwald always seeks to present the image of a reasonable, peace-seeking individual. [[spoiler:This movie shows Grindelwald working towards this goal. During his rally he uses reasonable-sounding arguments and engineers the situation so that one of the Aurors ends up killing one of the attendees. All this to paint the wizarding governments as the violent, murderous aggressors. Notably, Grindelwald waits until the onlookers and his newly recruited followers have left before he shows his true colours and starts slaughtering the Aurors.]]
238	* VillainyDiscretionShot: When the members of Grindelwald's inner circle murder a French muggle family [[CensoredChildDeath including their little child]] to take over their home, only the green flashes of the killing curse are shown.
239	* WasOnceAMan: It is revealed that [[spoiler:Voldemort's pet snake Nagini]] was once a human witch -- a Maledictus, born with a hereditary curse passed down through women, that will lead to her eventual permanent transformation into a snake. ''Curse of Nagini'' was trademarked in 2005 as a potential title for ''Deathly Hallows'', implying it was originally meant to be introduced there.
240	* WhamLine:
241	** The first trailer had the Ministry of Magic questioning a professor at Hogwarts about why Newt decided to go to Paris. They then ask: "What do you have to say for yourself, '''Dumbledore'''?"
242	** Credence addressing a beautiful woman as [[spoiler:"Nagini"]], a name that Potter fans should be ''very'' familiar with.
243	** Leta turns the potential [[TheReveal reveal]] of Credence's identity on its head:
244	---> [[spoiler:Corvus Lestrange is already dead. ''I killed him!'']]
245	** And as a follow-up to the above, the very last lines of the film contained a reveal that ''no one'' saw coming:
246	---> '''Grindelwald:''' [[spoiler:It is your birthright, my boy. As is... the name I now restore to you. Aurelius... Aurelius '''[[ThereIsAnother Dumbledore]]'''.]]
247	* WhamShot:
248	** The trailer reveal that [[spoiler:Nagini '''is a transformed human.''']]
249	** A phoenix bursting to flame ''on Grindelwald's command'' and flying to [[spoiler:Credence as "proof" of his identity as a Dumbledore.]]
250	* WouldHurtAChild: One of Grindelwald's followers uses the Killing Curse on a small French boy.
251	* WoundedGazelleGambit: Grindelwald portrays the Ministry as the aggressors when an Auror kills a witch at his rally. However, the fact that she caused her own death by going for her wand when faced with that Auror lets the audience know that Grindelwald is full of it.
252	* YankTheDogsChain: In meeting Irma, Credence finds a maternal figure who actually cares about him. [[spoiler:Grindelwald has her killed to manipulate Credence into turning to him for emotional support.]]
253	----

Context Film / FantasticBeastsTheCrimesOfGrindelwald