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The 10th Kingdom: Difference between revisions
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Take just about every well-known [[Fairy Tale]], myth, legend, oral history, and fantasy story known to man. Cross them with screwball comedy, an epic [[The
Not the [[Wicked Stepmother]]'s potion, but the 2000 NBC miniseries ''The 10th Kingdom.'' At almost eight hours long (ten with commercials in the original airing), this film is not for the faint of heart, and will probably require a lot of breaks (for the bathroom, if nothing else).
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Not to be confused with [[The Twelve Kingdoms]].
{{tropelist}}
* [[Addictive Magic]]: The magic shoes. The Troll King appears to already be suffering from a crippling addiction to them at the story's outset, and Virginia falls under their spell very quickly. Somewhat deconstructed as well: the Troll King has an established shoe fetish and Wolf thinks Virgina just has a strong desire to be invisible, shrugging it off himself. Played with and lampshaded in that one of the pieces from the soundtrack is [[Invoked Trope|actually entitled]] "Addicted to Magic"...but instead of playing during anything to do with the magic shoes, it appears when Wolf tempts Tony with the magic bean, during the Dog Prince's [[Urine Trouble]] scene, and when the magic mushrooms are tempting Tony to eat them in the Deadly Swamp.
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* [[Another Dimension]]: The world of the Nine Kingdoms to ours (and vice versa), linked via [[Magic Mirror]]. The scene where Prince first crosses over to New York (as well as when Virginia and Wolf return there at the end--but [[Rule of Drama|no other time]]) displays a whole series of mirror frames the traveler smashes through, [[Wild Mass Guessing|implying]] there may be a whole network of alternate dimensions, mirror worlds, and alternate universes. (One rather exceptional [[Fanfic]], [http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/kingdomspress/b/novels/reality/index.html ''Reality''], made use of this notion by having the Wicked Stepmother continually try and change the course of events through different "shard" worlds splintered off by the power of her mirrors). The original VHS artwork, as well as the opening title sequence shown in the page picture, [[Incredibly Lame Pun|reflects this]] by making the New York skyline and the fantasy world of the Nine Kingdoms literal parallel images in the water. It's a very interesting design motif that sadly [[What Could Have Been|didn't get pursued]] in the actual story. Whether it would have been in sequels, we'll never know.
* [[Apple of Discord]]: The trolls are holding Virginia captive, and Wolf throws a box into the room. The note says that it's a present for the strongest, bravest troll. Cue all three knocking each other out.
* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: When the trolls walk towards the Queen's cell in the prison, three signs pop up which say, in order of appearance: "Absolutely no communication with the prisoner", "Absolutely no physical contact with the prisoner", and "No food beyond this point".
** [[Fridge Brilliance|Considering]] who the Queen [[Master Poisoner|is]], that third one makes quite a lot of sense, actually.
* [[Asshole Victim]]: {{spoiler|Sally Peep and Relish the Troll King}}.
* [[Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny|Attention Deficit Ooh Tasty]]: Wolf is extraordinarily distracted by food.
* [[Auction]]: Thanks to the old Elf [[Grail in The Garbage|revealing what it really was]] (and [[Laser
* [[Awesome Moment of Crowning]]: A very interesting subversion: the crowning of King Wendell goes off with all the pomp and circumstance you could hope for, with tons of rich courtiers and royals in attendance, a panoply of gorgeous decorations and architecture, and a final speech just prior that borders on [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]. But not only does the royal toast which follows this end up {{spoiler|seemingly}} killing all the guests, {{spoiler|but it isn't even really Wendell being tested or crowned, [[Freaky Friday|it's the Evil Queen's dog under a spell]]}}. There is, however, a genuine version of the trope later when, after the heroes have saved the day, they're all given medals and other rewards.
* [[Babies Ever After]]: Averted at the end. {{spoiler|At the same time that he is asking her to marry him, Wolf tells Virginia (who is completely unaware of anything unusual) that she is pregnant with their "wolf cub", claiming that he "just knows these things". But, as she says at the end, they did not have a [[Happily Ever After]], as there was more trouble ahead of them in the other kingdoms (though she [[What Could Have Been|does not mention what ever happened to the child]]).}}
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* [[Banister Slide]]: {{spoiler|Fake!}}Prince Wendell at his coronation ceremony.
* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: See [[Literal Genie]], particularly the swamp example.
* [[Because Destiny Says So]]: Played with. It is apparently Virginia's destiny to stop the Evil Queen, save all the monarchs of the Kingdoms, and restore Prince Wendell to his rightful throne, but the whole reason she is able to do so is because {{spoiler|the Queen is her [[Mysterious Parent|long-lost mother]]}}, so thus she has a special advantage; this might even be seen as her responsibility, a personal problem she must clean up after. She is also receiving help from her [[Spirit Advisor]], Snow White, and at least part of her motivation in doing so is simply so [[
* [[Big Applesauce]]: The portal which opens between our world and the world where fairy tales are real is, of course, located in New York's Central Park. What makes this miniseries a particularly striking example of the trope is how the opening titles quite conspicuously, and jaw-droppingly, magically morph the New York City skyline into a fantasy land to suggest the crossing over of magic into the real world. The sequence, quite justifiably, won an Emmy. To watch the sequence, go [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysNjUGQJ6EQ here.]
* [[Big Bad]]: The Queen.
* [[Biggus Dickus]]: Sally Peep mistakes Wolf as one of these when she sees the bulge in the back of his pants caused by his tail.
* [[Book Ends]]: "My name is Virginia, and I live at the edge of the forest."
* [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick]]: Wolf's list of self-help books. Granted, he picked the last one up by mistake.
{{quote| '''Wolf:''' Don't worry, I'm not who I used to be. I've had extensive therapy. I realize I have been using food as a substitute for love and I have the books to prove it - "Breaking the Cycle", "Heal Yourself in 7 Days", "Stop Blaming Yourself, ''Please'', and "Help for the Bedwetting Child".}}
* [[Burn the Witch]]: The Little Lamb Villagers' answer to the wolf problem. [[Truth in Television]] for people once believed to be werewolves (since most werewolves were also believed to be witches who received their new shapes as part of a [[Deal With the Devil]]), though how a [[Real Life]] medieval attitude ended up in the Kingdoms is...[[Wild Mass Guessing|thought-provoking]]. (See [[Fantasy World Map]].)
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* [[Cave Mouth]]: The cave entrance is not just a dragon's head, it's an actual dragon's head.
* [[Chalk Outline]]: Parodied--after Sally Peep is murdered, the location of her body is outlined in chalk, including her shepherd's crook. The [[Novelization]] [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades this]] by having [[Deadpan Snarker|Tony]] reflect in his thoughts: "They were nothing if not thorough."
* [[Cliff Hanger]]: Not as many as you might think, since not every commercial break was at an exciting, momentous development. The endings of each of its five parts, however, do all count. Part 1 ended with an actual freeze-frame of the Traveling mirror being thrown onto a boat, leaving it till the next night to reveal if it broke or not. (It didn't. {{spoiler|[[Tempting Fate|That time]]}}.) Part 2 ended with the capture of Virginia by the Huntsman, Part 3 with the revelation that the mirror was now at [[Auction]] at a price they could never pay, and Part 4 ended when Virginia and Tony realized {{spoiler|the Queen was [[Luke, I Am Your Father|Virginia's mother]]. And Part 5 ends with mention that there was soon another crisis in the kingdoms.}}
* [[Cold
* [[Courtroom Antic]]: A rather amusing version has Virginia exclaim, after Wolf has practically incriminated himself while being grilled by the Judge, "Your Honor, my client is suffering from post-menstrual tension!" Not to mention Wolf's memorably existential self-defense: "Ohhhh, I'm twisting everything I'm saying!"
* [[Courtroom Episode]]: In Little Lamb Village.
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* [[Fake Defector]]: A particularly well-done example in {{spoiler|Wolf}}, who seems to change sides at the speed of light. Only in the very end we find out whose side he had been on.
* [[Fantastic Arousal]]: Wolf's tail. See the entry on "What Do You Mean, It's Not For Kids?", as well as [[Freud Was Right]].
* [[Fantastic Racism]]: Most inhabitants of the Nine Kingdoms are very prejudiced against half-wolves. Other than Wendell (and presumably, [[Captain Obvious|Red Riding Hood]]), the only ones shown on-screen to possess it are the people of Little Lamb Village which, thanks to wolves predating on their flocks, would seem to be at least slightly justifiable...except even they take it farther than is fair or humane (see [[Kangaroo Court]] and [[Burn the Witch]]). There are also a few uncomfortable similarities, surely intentional, to an inverted [[Where Da White Women At?]]/[[All Girls Want Bad Boys]] in how Wolf reacts to the shepherdesses and they to him. [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment|Let's leave it at that]].
** It is played at first as if the Gypsies are also guilty of this, but once Wolf reveals the Gypsy Queen's grandson is also a wolf, he is accepted happily among them. [[Hypocrite|Ironically]], ''Wolf'' was the one who seemed to indulge in [[Roma]] stereotypes when warning Virginia and Tony as they came into the Gypsies' camp.
* [[Fantasy World Map]]: on the wall of Snow White Memorial Prison, so that both the hapless heroes [[Trapped in Another World]] and the viewers can learn exactly what the Nine Kingdoms look like. Unlike most versions of the fantasy map, it displays places which are never visited in the miniseries, since the story remains confined to the Fourth Kingdom (with brief forays into the Third and Ninth). It also has the amusing location marker "You Are Imprisoned Here" -- this becomes a slight [[Running Gag]] in the [[Novelization]] with a map in Kissing Town marked "You Are Romantically Here" -- and has the interesting feature of being remarkably similar in outlines to Europe... a feature which has led to some interesting [[Epileptic Trees]] among the fandom, ranging from [[Alternate History|the Nine Kingdoms having diverged from our timeline centuries ago]] to our world being a nonmagical, cursed offshoot of the Kingdoms.
** According to [[Word of God]], if any of the sequels he'd planned to write had been allowed to make it out of [[Development Hell]], they would have involved visits to or taken place entirely in each of the other kingdoms. The first sequel, which was to be called ''House of Wolves'' (about Wolf's past), would have been set in the Second Kingdom, Red Riding Hood's.
* [[Fortune Teller]]: The self-styled [[Roma|Gypsy Queen]]. Interestingly, we see her use three different forms of it--[[Tarot Troubles|Tarot cards]] for Tony, palm-reading for Wolf, and scrying for Virginia (with a bit of [[Sympathetic Magic]] thrown in through a lock of her hair). Of course Tony's fortune consists of nothing but gaining and losing wealth and a whole series of fictitious cards painting him out to be an idiot. (The only real one, the Fool, might have been misread thanks to Hollywood stereotypes, since Tony does turn out to later have some [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]] traits.) In the [[Novelization]] she even says [[You Suck|"I see nothing more beneath the surface"]]--whether this is completely accurate or an example of the fortune teller being misled by her own first impressions [[Your Mileage May Vary|is left to the reader to decide]]. Wolf and Virginia's fortunes, in any event, [[Prophecies Are Always Right|are insightful and correct]], with his predicting the future (albeit [[Prophetic Fallacy|taken out of context]] to cast him in the worst possible light) and hers hinting at her [[Dark and Troubled Past]] and [[Because Destiny Says So]] heroine status.
* [[Fractured Fairy Tale]]
* [[Freaky Friday Flip]]: The Queen makes her pet dog switch bodies with Prince Wendell, which is what gets the entire plot going.
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* [[Goldfish Poop Gang]]: The troll children.
* [[Grail in The Garbage]]: The mirror which allows passage between our world and the Nine Kingdoms turns up for dirt cheap at an auction. When the auctioneers find out what it can do, however... It was also this to begin with, since it was first found amid piles of junk in the basement of Snow White Memorial Prison, something which is never explained.
* [[G
* [[G Rated Mental Illness]]: Played with. {{spoiler|Christine}} is described as having been mentally ill and was “getting worse and worse”. No specifics are given about the illness but {{spoiler|her homicidal tendencies toward young Virginia are disconcerting to say the least.}}
* [[Happily Ever After]]: An in-universe principle, but one which also comes true for Wendell and, to some extent it seems, for Wolf and Virginia.
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* [[A Little Something We Call Rock and Roll]]: In a "shepherdess contest" which includes a singing portion, Virginia goes with "We Will Shear You" (in the style of Queen's "We Will Rock You").
* [[Love Is in The Air]]: The entire purpose of the ludicrous [[Tastes Like Diabetes|Kissing Town]], which makes this trope quite literal, since not only are there magical hearts floating everywhere around every happy couple getting married, but every time Virginia seems ready to dismiss Wolf as a love interest, in swoop the hearts to change her mind and turn her into a hopeless romantic. [[Anvilicious|They even form a gigantic heart over the pair's heads when they share their first kiss]].
* [[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: {{spoiler|Gender-switched ''and'' inverted!}}
* {{spoiler|[[Luke, You Are My Father]]}}: {{spoiler|[[Gender Flip|Gender-flipped]]. Virginia has to tell the Evil Queen that she is her long-forgotten daughter.}}
* [[Mage in Manhattan]]: The trolls, but only for a short while.
* [[Magic
* [[Magic Mirror]]: Lots of these. Besides the main set of mirrors that the Evil Queen has ("mirrors to travel, mirrors to spy, mirrors to remember, mirrors to forget, mirrors to rule the world!"), people can use them like videophones. The Huntsman even has a small pocket mirror that acts as a video cellphone!
** At one point, the heroes are shown to a mirror which answers questions, and finds that that particular kind of mirror is incapable of even ''understanding'' a question that isn't spoken in rhyme.
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* [[Mushroom Samba]]: Via the magic mushrooms in the Deadly Swamp. Literally, since they sing and sway.
* [[Mysterious Parent]]: {{spoiler|Virginia's mother, who is the Evil Queen.}}
* [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished]]: Virginia frees the magic birds from the Gypsy camp, so they won't get eaten and used in youth and beauty spells--and what does she get for her troubles? [[Gypsy Curse|A curse]] of hair that never stops growing, which ends up getting her captured by the Huntsman. Sure, taking away the Gypsies' livelihood after they had shown the travelers hospitality ([[Secret Test of Character|sort of]]) wasn't a wise move on her part, but [[Disproportionate Retribution|it certainly doesn't seem fair]] to punish her for being sympathetic to a [[Talking Animal]]. Of course the Gypsies immediately get [[Laser
* [[Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here]]: In an odd variation, despite living in the [[Big Applesauce]] Virginia thinks to herself (in voiceover narration) on the way to work at the beginning of the miniseries that she knew "nothing exciting was ever going to happen" to her and "some people just lead quiet lives". Cue her running into a golden retriever on her bicycle [[Freaky Friday|who is actually a transformed prince]] [[Fractured Fairy Tale|from the world of fairy tales,]] [[Call to Adventure|and...]]
* [[Novelization]]: Co-written under the pseudonym Kathryn Wesley, by the husband and wife team of Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith, and based on an earlier version of the screenplay. See Trivia for more details.
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** Alternatively, the "I always lie" rule might only apply once the puzzle has properly begun (his descriptions of the doors certainly are truthful), in which case Virginia and Wolf are majorly overthinking a very straightforward puzzle.
* [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same]]: Though conspicuously beardless. And apparently Communist. (Which considering what hard workers they are, and how much they would surely hate being exploited and [[Incredibly Lame Pun|looked down upon]], [[Fridge Brilliance|makes a twisted kind of sense]].)
* [[Our Werewolves Are Different]]: Though admittedly we only meet a half-wolf, not a true werewolf. To judge from Wolf, Nine Kingdoms wolves do not seem to be vulnerable to silver, change only on the three nights of the full moon, and while changed have no control over their actions and no memory of what they have done. They also seem to be afflicted by the 'take on lupine mannerisms and characteristics' aspect of this trope, since Wolf is constantly scratching at his temple, whines and whimpers and growls, nuzzles Virginia, and scrapes the ground with his feet to cover his tracks—although this may merely be a product of actor Scott Cohen's enthusiastic character immersion. What makes the half-wolves interesting is the twists: they ''always'' possess tails, even in human form, [[Freud Was Right|which change size with the time of the month]] and apparently act as [[Fantastic Arousal|erogenous zones]], and explicit reference is made to the female cycle by how Wolf starts gaining PMS-like symptoms as the full moon approaches and, when fighting the change, ends up with...[[Does This Remind You of Anything?|cramps]]. Still more interestingly, it is never truly explained what the term 'half-wolf' actually means. Are they the literal product of [[Hot Skitty On Wailord Action|a coupling between a full wolf and a human]], and this is what grants them their ability to change forms? Or is it merely a euphemism for werewolf, which could be considered a half-wolf because they can also appear as humans? Or is it even possible, taking into account the [[Fantastic Racism|prejudice]] against them in the Kingdoms, that the term is meant to be parallel to mulattos, quadroons, and octaroons in the real world—so if a half-wolf had a child with a human, their offspring would be a quarter-wolf, and so on? Wolf's sole [[Transformation Sequence]] during the miniseries is inconclusive, since all we see is him becoming a typical Lon Chaney [[Wolf Man]]. According to [[Word of God|Simon Moore]], however, Wolf was intended to become a Dire Wolf, but they didn't have the budget for such special effects. What this says about the nature of half-wolves isn't clear.
* [[Out Gambitted]]: The Troll King arrives early for his meeting with the Queen in an orchard to position his men to ambush her. The queen had already been there hours before to poison all the apples, even choosing a poison that would take just long enough to kick in at the dramatically appropriate moment.
* [[Plot Device]]: The [[Magic Mirror]].
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* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: While various points in the miniseries could be called this, none stands out more than the entire character of Wolf (and how Scott Cohen chose to portray him). Of particular note is his scene {{spoiler|trying to cook Virginia's grandmother}}, especially his commentary during it.
* [[Rescue Romance]]: Subverted: Wolf believes his rescue of Virginia from the Trolls will earn him her love, but she refuses to trust him because, as she points out, "You tried to eat my grandmother!"
* [[The Reveal]]: {{spoiler|The Queen is Virginia's mother}}. See also {{spoiler|[[Luke, I Am Your Father]]}} above. Made particularly well done because the few bits of [[Foreshadowing]] relevant to it were very subtle. {{spoiler|The [[Backstory]] about Christine seems on first viewing to be merely setting Virginia up as yet another protagonist dealing with [[Parental Abandonment]] issues, not a [[Missing Mom]] who will actually become directly relevant to the plot; the fact the Queen has another Traveling mirror (and thus could conceivably have come from Earth) is only noticeable using [[Freeze Frame Bonus]] or if the viewer is paying very close attention (and is revealed in the narrative only a short time before her identity is); and the "strange feeling" Virginia gets in her cell could easily be chalked up to magic.}}
* [[Rich Bitch]]: Or, rather, a rich ''son'' of a bitch -- Prince Wendell, that is.
** And for most of the miniseries, that's quite literal.
* [[Right in Front of Me]]: While defending Wolf in court, Virginia gets a seemingly bright idea. The real criminal is a man who was wearing a wolf mask for the village festivities the day before; the victim's shouts of "Wolf!" were directed at him. Virginia proceeds to call the 'criminal' all sorts of names... until she is told that the judge was wearing the mask and her argument falls flat.
* [[Rock Bottom]]: After Virginia finds out Wolf spent all the money he'd won at gambling on dinner instead of buying the Traveling mirror, she walks out on him, thinking he's a selfish bastard who doesn't really love her. Feeling depressed, she sits down on the steps, and says aloud that at least things can't get any worse. At exactly that moment, her father Tony, climbing around on the roof, drops the Traveling mirror, and it smashes into a million pieces right at Virginia's feet. This is a fairy tale land we're talking about, and breaking a mirror has its consequences...
* [[Running Gag]]: After entering New York and discovering what Earth culture was like, the three Troll siblings come upon a CD boom box with the Bee Gees' ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack in it. Upon hearing it, they immediately become instant fans, toting it everywhere with them and singing along as loudly and annoyingly as possible until the batteries on the boom box die. They attempt to explain the music and its origin to their father, with genuinely hilarious results — although the usage of the Bee Gees' full name as the Brothers Gibb, hardly common knowledge, seems rather out of place, especially coming from such moronic characters who can't even read properly. (See: East Eighty-onest Street.) Presumably this was included in order to [[Viewers
** Possibly also a nod to "the Brothers Grimm", famed collectors of fairy tales.
* [[Scarily Competent Tracker]]: The Huntsman.
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* [[Skewed Priorities]]: From the first meeting of Wendell's privy council, after they have been discussing Wendell not stopping in Beantown, his conspicuous absence and lack of communication, and the Evil Queen's breakout.
{{quote| '''Lord Rupert:''' Now to the ''real'' crisis. There is a shortage of bluebells throughout the Kingdom, [[Camp Gay|my color scheme for the coronation banquet will have to be]] ''[[Camp Gay|completely]]'' [[Camp Gay|rethought]].}}
* [[Sophisticated As Hell]]/[[Precision F
{{quote| ''The magic mirror being consulted can only hear rhyming verse.''<br />
'''Virginia:''' Our mirror's smashed - what can we do? Where the hell are the other two? }}
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* [[Surrounded By Idiots]]: The Troll King, who is fairly clever and competent (though no match for the [[Magnificent Bitch|Queen]]), is supported only by his dimwitted children and soldiers. He doesn't seem happy about this lack of competence in his henchmen. (In the [[Novelization]], when one of his advisors questions why they were in the apple grove so long before meeting the Queen, Relish thinks to himself that this Troll was no longer his advisor, though "[[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|he didn't know that yet]]".)
* [[Swamps Are Evil]]: The [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Deadly]] [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|Swamp]]. Not only is it the home of the Swamp Witch (Snow White's [[Wicked Stepmother]]), it has [[The Fair Folk|mischievous fairies]] that enjoy being "naughty" to travelers and [[Mushroom Samba|magic mushrooms]] which tempt people to eat them...after which they fall asleep and are [[I'm a Humanitarian|consumed by the swamp]].
* [[A Taste of the Lash]]: Tony's punishment for trying to break into the Governor's office with the copied key. What is particularly odd, considering the history of flogging in Britain and Simon Moore being British, is that there seems to be no consequences to this: the very next time Tony is shown [[Unexplained Recovery|he doesn't seem to be unduly suffering]], nor is he ever shown favoring his back, nor is it ever mentioned again in the miniseries. Either despite Tony's cries beanstalks aren't particularly painful (note that in [[Real Life]] whipping can kill at ''forty'' lashes), or this is another example of straddling the line between [[What Do You Mean
* [[Tempting Fate]]: See [[Rock Bottom]].
* [[Trailers Always Spoil]]: NBC was notorious for doing this during most if not of all of their miniseries "events", but a particularly [[Egregious]] example occurred twice for [[The Tenth Kingdom]]: just after the suspenseful scenes in which Virginia and Tony were trying to buy the Traveling mirror at auction, the trailer revealed {{spoiler|that it gets broken}}, and right as we're wondering if the heroes will get to the ball and stop the Evil Queen's plot in time, the trailer revealed {{spoiler|all of Wendell's guests collapsing from poison}}. Next commercial break then shows us both {{spoiler|the same guests awakening, revealing they weren't really dead}} and {{spoiler|Prince and Wendell switching back—though granted, this was something of [[The Untwist]] by that late in the game}}. About the only major plot point not revealed by the trailers, thankfully, was that {{spoiler|the Evil Queen was Virginia's mother}}. Not to mention {{spoiler|Wolf stopping the Huntsman from killing Virginia at the end}}.
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{{quote| '''Wolf''': The days of Happy Ever After are gone. These are dark times.}}
* [[Wacky Marriage Proposal]]: Wolf's proposal to Virginia. Not only does he preface the evening, when Virginia initially tries to weasel out of dinner, by saying he "spent a lot of time planning this spontaneous evening", he: has a song composed especially for her, played by a string quartet ''on the roof of their carriage'' (which is filled to overflowing with flowers); rents an entire restaurant just for the two of them, with a meal consisting of 13 main courses; and purchases the most expensive engagement ring he can find—a magical singing ring with a saccharinely cute cherub face and shimmering, bell-like voice which extols the virtues of their love to Virginia. She turns him down out of outrage when she learns he spent money they could have used to accomplish their goals on the proposal instead. At the end of the miniseries, he tries again, in a much more restrained manner, and she accepts.
* [[What Do You Mean
* [[What Happened to The Mouse?]]: We never actually see what happens to the Troll siblings. {{spoiler|The novelization reveals that they were originally going to be put to death, but Tony pleads for them and they are returned to their kingdom to rule as the Troll King is no longer living. A deleted scene reveals that they did originally film something along the lines of this. Funny enough, it was a blooper scene that was shown during the credits of the ''Making of'' featurette.}}
** {{spoiler|We never find out what happened to the Peep Family after Wilfred Peep is revealed to be Sally's killer, and that the family had stolen the magic well water and hoarded it for themselves for decades. Chances are, they either fled the town in shame, they were banished, or some of them might've been jailed.}}
* [[The White Prince]]: Prince Wendell, quite literally.
* [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?]]: Something of this comes through in the Troll King's impatient, sardonic, and contemptuous attitude to the Evil Queen when she continues to pursue her plan to train the Dog Prince as an imposter, take over the Fourth Kingdom, and then through him rule the Nine Kingdoms as the power behind the power--since his modus operandi is to invade and take the kingdom by force. In a perhaps delicious twist, the Evil Queen eventually decides, after receiving advice from her own dark [[Spirit Advisor]], to heed Relish's advice...by using it against ''him'' with a handy bit of poison after he has become too large a thorn in her side.
** Also invoked by Wolf when they have the Huntsman at their mercy. Virgina stops him from doing it. Justified, since Virginia doesn't want to be [[Technical Pacifist|a murderer]].
* [[Wicked Stepmother]]: The Queen to Prince Wendell. Snow White's shows up {{spoiler|as the Swamp Witch.}}
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* [[Xanatos Gambit]]: The Queen's main plan would be one of these, with even a bit of [[Xanatos Speed Chess]] thrown in: originally she clearly intended to hold Wendell prisoner while training the Dog Prince, with his escape necessitating the involvement of Wolf and the Troll children (to ensure he did not warn anyone of her plans or find a way to switch back) but her training plan continuing without a hitch. This plan, in turn, was meant merely to allow her access to Castle White and the chance to poison all the ball guests; whether or not the Dog Prince succeeded in passing his tests, was crowned, or even fooled anyone was only a smokescreen to keep anyone from becoming suspicious until the toast could be performed, so in the end it didn't really matter what happened to the prince. Explained by the fact she had seven years in prison to plot it.
** Her method of dealing with the Troll King is even better: after using [[I Have Your Wife|a threat to his children]] (whom she didn't even have) to get him to agree to a meeting, if Relish had agreed to withdraw his armies and cease threatening the Fourth Kingdom, her plans would be back on schedule. But if he didn't agree and [[The Starscream|tried to kill her]], she planned to poison him, counting on his greed and [[Through His Stomach|gluttony]] (as well as being [[Genre Blind]]--meeting the protege of Snow White's stepmother in an apple orchard?) to be his undoing. This not only eliminated his threat to the kingdom (and Wendell's advisors signing away sovereignty so she couldn't use the Dog Prince's coronation for her murder spree), it provided an "act of bravery" to present to the courtiers at the ball. And when Relish revealed he had arrived early and broken her demand to [[Come Alone]], she in turn revealed [[Out Gambitted|she'd arrived even earlier]], and the poison was thus there to eliminate not just him, but his soldiers too.
* [[You Shall Not Pass]]: Tony does this when the heroes are pursued by the Trolls in the castle, [[Took a Level In Badass|eventually]] [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|defeating]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|all three]].
{{reflist}}
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