Robin Hood: Men in Tights

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The legend had it coming.

We're men We're men in tights, Always on guard, Defending the people's rights! —The Merry Men

Really, it was only a matter of time before Mel Brooks turned his sights on the venerable legend of Robin Hood and completely shredded it (again - see When Things Were Rotten). This anachronistic, irreverent romp through one of the best-known tales of the Western world runs roughshod over classic and modern adaptations alike, aiming most of its quips at Kevin Costner's Prince of Thieves version but getting in a good many jabs at the classic Errol Flynn The Adventures of Robin Hood as well.

And unlike some other Robin Hoods, this one has an English accent! (Instead of an Australian, New Zealand, or American one, that is. It Will Never Catch On.)

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Robin Hood: Men in Tights is the Trope Namer for:

• Bad News in a Good Way
• Just You and Me and My Guards

Tropes used in Robin Hood: Men in Tights include:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Latrine. Even her cardboard picture of Rottingham ends up cringing.
• Accidental Aiming Skills: "To tell you the truth, I was aiming for the hangman!"
• Actor Allusion: "It's good to be the king!"
  • Dick Van Patten (apart from being part of Mel Brooks' Production Posse) was likely cast as the Abbot as a Shout-Out to his role as Friar Tuck in When Things Were Rotten, Mel's first Robin Hood parody.
• Affectionate Parody: Mel Brooks' raison d'etre.
  • The sheer number of Shout Outs to previous Robin Hood films (especially The Adventures of Robin Hood) is really impressive, especially the sets.
• Aliens of London
• All Women Are Lustful: Brumhilda immediately tries to pick up on Little John and Maid Marian seemed REALLY pissed when she found out the Chastity Belt wouldn't open. And let's not even get started on Latrine.
• Altar the Speed: Subverted.
• Always Lawful Good: Rabbi Tuckman.
• Anachronism Stew: Because it's funny, dammit!
• Angrish: The Sheriff of Rottingham, numerous times. Normally he just transposes two words ("Over that boy hand"), or swaps syllables of words ("Struckey has loxed again") when mildly annoyed. But watching Robin and Marian kiss at the ball causes him to rant out the following sentence with every single word out of order.

The Sheriff of Rottingham: KING ILLEGAL FOREST TO PIG WILD KILL IN IT A IS!!!

• Arrow Cam: Parodied.
• Arrow Catch: See Disability Superpower below.
• Arrows on Fire

"Every time they make a Robin Hood movie, they burn our village down!" "LEAVE US ALONE, MEL BROOKS!"

• Automatic Crossbows: Used by a sniper, complete with laser sight and lots of clicking.
  • Not to mention a long assembly sequence.
• Award Bait Song: "Marian" is a parody of the Disney Animated Canon award bait, especially with the soft rock cover of it that plays over the credits, which was a quite common of various animated award bait songs at the time (such as Celine Dion & Peabo Bryson's version of Beauty and the Beast's title song, Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram's cover of An American Tail's Somewhere Out There, and Bryson & Regina Belle's cover of Aladdin's A Whole New World).
  • It also may be more directly parodying Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
• Badass Back: Accidentally.

"Your back just got punched twice."

• Bait and Switch Comparison: At the feast after Robin deposits a hog on Prince John's table.

Sheriff;"That's a wild boar!" Robin:"No, that's a wild pig." (Points at Prince John) "That's a wild bore!"

• Big Damn Heroes: Robin's crews came to his rescue just as a chandelier fell on him during his fight with the Sheriff's guards.
• Bishonen: Will Scarlett O'Hara.
• Blade Lock: Subverted.
• Blind Mistake: Blinkin's entire reason for being.
• Brawn Hilda: Broomhilde.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Repeatedly. It's a signature Mel Brooks trope.
  • Also, literally. When the camera is dollying in towards maid Marian's bathroom during her bath tub song, it crashes through the window, interrupting her. She looks up, and you see the camera retreating.
• Butt Monkey: Rottingham.
• Camera Abuse: The camera moving in on Marian singing in the bath crashes through a window before sheepishly retreating. Also, the Abbott's staff smashing into the camera lens.
• Captain Obvious:

"I will take these cotton balls from you with my hand and put them in my pocket." "They call me Little John. Oh, but don't let my name fool you; in real life, I'm very big."

• Cardboard Prison: Parodied (as with everything else) in the intro, with the Robin and Ahsneeze escaping from Le Dungeon within five minutes of Robin getting tossed in.
• Cary Elwes Is About To Shoot You: With Six Arrows At Once!
• Celebrity Paradox: At one point, they pull out the script to see what happens next.
  • Or during the wedding:

Person in Crowd: Good morrow, Abbot. Abbot: Good morrow. Person in Crowd: Good morrow, Abbot. Abbot: Good morrow. Person in Crowd: Heeeeey Abbbboooot! Abbot: ...I hate that guy!

• Character Filibuster: Played for laughs.
  • Twice, and in quick succession. First with Robin as Winston Churchill, then with Achoo as Malcolm X (complete with glasses).
• Check, Please!: Prince John, when the fight during the banquet scene lands on his table
• Chosen One: Subverted. Robin's key fits Marian's chastity belt, but it doesn't work.
  • The sheriff had been using a jackhammer on the lock earlier, that can't have been good for the mechanism.
  • Perhaps it did rust in the bath.
    • Call a locksmith!
      • Call a locksmith!
        • CALL A LOCKSMITH!!!
• Combat Breakdown: Damn substandard quarterstaves...
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: As punishment for his treachery, King Richard names all the toilets in England after Prince John, then has him locked in the Tower of London and makes him part of the tour.
• Cough-Snark-Cough: Yeah, we all believe that the misdeeds were totally the Sheriff's fault...
  • *cough* Bullshit! *cough*
• Creator Cameo: Mel Brooks as a Jewish rabbi selling sacramental wine.

"Faygeles?"

• Creepy Changing Painting: Played for Laughs with the sheriff's cardboard cutout.
• Deus Angst Machina: Parodied.
• Disability Superpower: Blinkin.

"I heard that coming a mile away!" "Right-o, Blinkin, very good." "Pardon? Who's talking?"

• • Don't forget when he beats the hell out of that pillar. For a blind man, Blinkin is really, really fast.
    • And he bear-hugged Robin.
• The Don: The Sherriff enlists the help of Don Giovanni (Dom DeLuise), a mafia boss from Jersey, to get rid of Robin Hood.
• Don't Explain the Joke: "And why not? It worked in Blazing Saddles."
  • Possibly justified in that younger audiences might not have seen Blazing Saddles.
• The Duenna: Broomhilde.
• Easy Come, Easy Go: "I CAN SEE!" [CRASH!] "No, I was wrong."
• Embarrassing First Name: Mervyn, the Sheriff of Rottingham.
• Everybody's Dead, Dave: Mercilessly parodying a similar scene in Prince of Thieves.

Robin Hood: Blinkin, listen to me. They've taken the castle! Blinkin: I thought it felt a bit drafty. Cor, this never would have happened if your father was alive. Robin Hood: He's dead? Blinkin: Yes. Robin Hood: And my mother? Blinkin: She died of pneumonia while... oh, you were away... Robin Hood: My brothers? Blinkin: There were all killed by the plague. Robin Hood: [sounding a little sadder] My dog, Pongo? Blinkin: Run over by a carriage. Robin Hood: [sounding a little more hopeful] My goldfish, Goldie? Blinkin: Eaten by the cat. Robin Hood: [on the verge of tears] My cat? Blinkin: Choked on the goldfish. [[[Beat]]] Blinkin: Oh, it's good to be home, ain't it, Master Robin?

• Exact Words: Constantly.

Robin: Watch my back! [a soldier runs up and hits him in the back two times] Atchoo: Your back just got punched twice.

• • "Lend me your ears!"
• Expy: Cary Elwes is essentially playing Westley playing Robin Hood.
• Eye of Newt: And Latrine's the cook...
• Fake Brit: Strangely enough, averted with Robin Hood. That's because unlike some other Robin Hoods, this one's can speak with an English accent.
• Falling Chandelier of Doom: Right trope... wrong rope.
• False Reassurance: Semantics, semantics...
• Fanfare: The Sheriff gets a hilarious one, played without trumpets.

"SHUT UP, YOU BLOODY FOOLS!"

• • During the archery tournament, trumpets are played directly into Prince John's ears.
• Fate Worse Than Death: The Sheriff of Rottingham's fate is to spend the rest of his life with Latrine.
• Flynning: Parodied, played straight, and then spanked like a naughty child.
• Fun with Subtitles: As Marian's hefty nurse prepares to drop into the saddle, her horse's thoughts are translated. ("You've got to be kidding!")
• Gag Penis: By way of a suggestive shadow puppet and a scabbard. It makes the Merry Men burst into spontaneous applause.
• Gesundheit: A common gag regarding Ahchoo.
• Glove Slap:

Sheriff of Rottingham: I challenge you... to a duel! (Sheriff slaps Robin Hood across the face with his glove. Robin then grabs a gauntlet from a suit of armor and slaps the Sheriff back, flooring him.) Robin Hood: I accept!

• Godiva Hair: Maid Marian, coming out of the bath.
• Groin Attack: Unintentional on Blinkin's part:

Achoo (extending his hand): What's up man? Blinkin: How do you do? (reaches out to shake Achoo's hand, but ends up hitting him in the happy spot) Achoo (in much pain): I've been better.

• • Another unintentional one when Robin "accidentally" finds Maid Marian's chastity belt.

Maid Marian: It's an Everlast. Robin: [in pain] I'll bet..

• Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?

"We're butch!"

• Home Guard: The Sheriff and his men. Robin takes a cheap shot at the Sheriff, who seized his family's property while Robin was fighting in the Crusades.

Robin: My father couldn't get me into the National Guard. Crowd: Oooooooohh...

• Incessant Music Madness: Prince John calls for the knights to stop Robin and his men. About 50 men in suits of armor start marching into the room from all sides, the clanging of their armor getting louder and louder and louder. After several minutes of this, Prince John, who has taken refuge under a table and is holding his ears, says, "I hope this is worth THE NOISE!!!"
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: ... too bad about the chastity belt, though.

"That's going to chafe my willy." "No matter what you do, I shall never submi-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-it!"

• I Know Kung Faux:

Robin: Do you know "Praying Mantis"? Ahchoo: You're looking at him.

• Improbable Aiming Skills: Subverted. He was aiming for the hangman.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: Many.
  • The use of a 12th Century Fox to fox people messages.
  • The laser-guided "Patriot Arrow."
  • This exchange:

Ahchoo: Eh, Blinkin? Blinkin: Did you say Abe Lincoln?

• • Latrine's "magic pill that can save your life"...one guess as to what it is.
  • Marian's horse is named "Lady." Her attendant's horse is named "Fahrvergnügen."
  • "You know, a mime is a terrible thing to waste."
• Innocent Innuendo: See Gag Penis, above.
• Insurmountable Waist High Fence: The bridge that Little John guards, spanning a stream that's only a few inches wide and deep.
  • Ahchoo notices this and tries to explain it to Robin. Robin tells him it's "the principle of the thing."
• It Will Never Catch On:

"A black sheriff?!?" "Hey, why not? It worked in Blazing Saddles..."

• Knife Nut: Will Scarlet.
• Knife Outline: Using six arrows, fired all at once.
• Knighting: One of the few things played straight. Robin Hood gets knighted by King Richard after the climax.
• Land in the Saddle: Marian leaps from a balcony onto her horse. When her large lady-in-waiting attempts to do the same, her horse dodges.
• Large Ham: King Richard. This should come as no shock, though, being played by Patrick Stewart. Prior to him, the Sheriff handles the rest of the movie's hamminess; more than half his lines are either intensely sinister whispers or resounding shouts.
• Last-Second Word Swap: Marian hopes someone will come along who has the key to her.... heart.
• Left the Background Music On: When Robin sings "The Night is Young" to Marian, some of the Merry Men join in as the background music. Marian keeps turning her head every time they pitch in, wondering where it's coming from.
• Malcolm Xerox: Ahchoo's Rousing Speech to the villagers.
• Mistaken for Gay: Rabbi Tuckman mistakenly labels all of the Merry Men as this upon their first meeting.

Rabbi Tuckman: (shaky hand motion) Faygeles? Robin Hood: No, we're straight. Just...merry.

• Misplaced Wildlife: Like everything else in the movie, intentional and played for laughs. The fox they use to send a message is a grey fox, which aren't native to England. To add to the absurdity, it makes the sound of Flipper as it runs off.
• Moment Killer: Marian's nursemaid. That's her job. And, of course, a shout out to Spaceballs.
• Multishot: Featured on the posters.
• Name's the Same:

Random voice: Hey Abbot! Abbot: I hate that guy!

• • And here's the kicker: the random guy looks like Lou Costello. Get it?
• No Fourth Wall: Constantly.
• Noisy Crossbows: As with everything else, done for giggles.
• Offhand Backhand: Do You Know Praying Mantis?
• One-Scene Wonder: Patrick Stewart as Richard the Lionhearted.

Rabbi Tuckman: "It's good to be the king."

• Pig Latin: Or, the New Latin used by the Abbot.

"Oh ordlay, ivethgay usway ouryay essingsblay. Amen-ay!"

• Piss-Take Rap: The Merry Men at one point.
• Precision F-Strike: When Blinkin is trying to get down from the observation tower, he ends up knocking over the ladder, which he only discovers after leaning forward to grab it.

Blinkin: "Oh, shit!"

• Production Posse: Dick Van Patten and Dom De Luise return.
• Produce Pelting: At Robin, after he actually loses an archery contest.

Blinkin: "Oh, they've opened the salad bar."

• Promise Me You Won't X: "All right. I promise you won't go."
• Rage Against the Author: The villagers in the opening sequence yell at Mel Brooks for burning down their village - again.
• Real Men Wear Tights: Tight tights!
• Repeat After Me: Walk this way, indeed.
• Rousing Speech: Subverted and played straight, in that order.
• Running Gag: Robin lapsing into long-winded speeches, him and Maid Marian being prevented from kissing, people mistaking Achoo's name for a sneeze, the Sheriff's dyslexia, Prince John's mole moving around his face......

Prince John: I have a mole?

• Scarpia Ultimatum
• Sequel Snark: The rapping Greek Chorus jokes about reappearing in Robin Hood 2.
• Shadow Discretion Shot: Subverted for laughs.
• Shaggy Dog Story: Robin is revealed about midway through the film that he has the key to Maid Marian's chastity belt. By the end of the film, after defeating the Sheriff of Rottingham and marrying Maid Marian, when he and Marian finally prepare to do the deed it turns out his key isn't the right one after all... unless Rottingham's attempts to break the lock open messed it up. Or Marian just spent too long in the bath.
• Shoot the Rope: Not what he was aiming at.
• Shotgun Wedding: Marian volunteers for one with Rottingham to save Robin from the gallows. Later, Rabbi Tuckman seems to think that Robin's gotten Marian pregnant (it's actually to get Broomhilde to quit cockblocking):

"Married in a hurry! Please invite me to the bris."

• Shout-Out:

"A black sheriff?! "Hey, why not? It worked in Blazing Saddles."

• • Also, that hangman sure looks familiar...
  • Also:

"Wasn't your mole on the other side?" "I have a mole?"

• • And...

Rabbi Tuckman: "It's good to be the king."

• • Don't forget the screaming kid:

"Well, it's getting late and I've got to go Home Alone now. Ahhhhhh!"

• Something Else Also Rises: The moonlight serenade.
• Spiritual Successor: To When Things Were Rotten.
• Stop Drowning and Stand Up: In about an inch of water.
• Sword Over Head
• Sword Sparks: Lampshaded.
• Take That: To Prince Of Thieves, most obviously in the line: "Unlike other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent."
  • The Italian version says: I'm not someone who Dances with Wolves.
  • The German version has him say that he doesn't cost ("Kosten") the producers several million.
• Theme Tune Rap
• Throwing Down the Gauntlet: Parodied: the Sheriff of Rottingham slaps Robin with a glove to challenge him to a duel, and Robin counters with an actual gauntlet by way of accepting the challenge. Rottingham then lays out the terms of the duel, which happen to include calling in a whole mess of guards.
• Throw It In: The part where Achoo pumps up his sneakers during a fight came about because Dave Chapelle happened to be wearing the shoes on set along with his costume. At first Mel Brooks pointed out that they were somewhat anachronistic but decided to make a joke about it.
• Title Drop: A funny variation.

Rabbi Tuckman: Robin of Locksley? I just came back from Maid Marian, the lady whose heart you stole. You prince of thieves you!

• Training the Peaceful Villagers: Parodied.
• Trick Arrow: Laser-guided Patriot Arrow.
• Troll Bridge: Guarded by Little Jon.
• Uncle Tomfoolery: Parodied by Dave Chappelle.
• Understatement: Robin briefly complains that his noose is a little tight. Lampshade courtesy of the hangman.
• Unfortunate Names: Latrine. Her ancestors changed it to Latrine-- it used to be "Shithouse."
  • Also Ahchoo, son of Ahsneeze.
    • Gesundheit. BLESS YOU!!!
• Villains Want Mercy: Prince John tries to beg his way out of trouble with King Richard.

John: It's not my fault. I got a lot of bad advice from Nottingham. Merry Men: (cough) Horseshit!

• Visual Innuendo: The moonlight serenade.
• Visual Pun: Look closely the magic pill Latrine gives the Sheriff to "save his life."
  • Also,

"Lend me your ears!" [cue inevitable joke] "...that's disgusting."

• Walk This Way: Led by the Sheriff of Rottingham after the archery contest.
• Wedding Deadline
• We Will Meet Again: Parodied and subverted.

Thug: You haven't seen the last of us! (Robin does his six arrows at once thing, pinning him to the tree) Thug (sheepishly): You've seen the last of us.

• What Are You in For?
• Whatever: "Hold this, Father." "Rabbi." / "Thank you, your majesty, here's your knife." "Sword."
• What Happened to the Mouse?: We never see the results of Prince John and Latrine's plan to get the Sheriff drunk.
  • Or, for that matter, the potion she promised John to poison Robin.
• Yiddish as a Second Language: Really, most movies Mel Brooks has been in.
• You Fight Like a Cow
• You Haven't Seen the Last of X: Parodied.