History Film / District9

* PhlebotinumHandlingRequirements: Only prawns can use the prawn weapons. Thus Wikus becomes of interest to the authorities when he is [[spoiler:infected with alien prawn DNA]].

* BiggerStick: The only reason why Wikus and CJ's [[spoiler:raid on MNU]] succeeds, and their later [[spoiler:escape to the mothership]], is that [[OneHitKill guns that tend to]] [[LudicrousGibs explode enemies in one shot]] and are made to kill armored aliens and a [[spoiler:mech armed with some sort of gauss cannon]] tend to make mincemeat of regular old human firearms and armor.
** And since [[spoiler:that mech is the alien equivalent of a forklift that a bunch of desperate alien prisoners strapped guns onto and the ones the Prawn's actual military (who ''are'' coming based on the belief that CJ returned to the Prawn homeworld and told everyone what's happening to the refugees) are even more unstoppably powerful, humanity is likely absolutely screwed if they ever come to Earth to pull a BigDamnHeroes.]]

** The first call from Tania that Wikus gets? It's her sobbing and crying about him cheating on her, and him declaring [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Bill Clinton style]] that he did not have "pornographic relations" with an alien. It's obviously meant to be awkward and weird, since MNU's explanation of [[spoiler:his transformation]] is that he has an alien STD.

* BlackSpeech: The aliens' language is a very harsh and guttural system of clicks and gurgles. Unusually for this trope, the humans can understand it just fine, it's just not biologically possible for them to speak it themselves.

** After Wikus' first escape in the alien mini-mecha he's still reluctant to enter the fight full-on, and Koobus takes the opportunity to yell at him in the meantime, never thinking of what happens when you anger the Dragon enough. He promptly finds out.

* ClusterFBomb: Wikus seems to drop this whenever he's upset (which is a lot). Koobus and some of the other mercenaries drop them whenever. May challenge ''Film/{{Casino}}'' or ''Film/TheBoondockSaints'' for sheer volume of f-bombs. According to the IMDB, it's dropped 137 times, and a compilation on [=YouTube=] of nothing but the F-Bombs is more than ''six minutes long''. This may or may not be partly due to all of Wikus' lines being [[ThrowItIn improvised]]. He's actually cursing in Afrikaans, though the word in question ("fok") is the same as the f-word in all but spelling.

* IdiotHero: Wikus' own mom refers to him as "not very bright", as does his father-in-law. The outtakes from the documentary say Wikus is ''playing'' dumb as protective colouring. Up to a point.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: The film's portrayal of xenophobic anti-immigrant South Africa is, if anything, ''toned down'' not just from history but from actual modern life:
** District 9 itself is not CGI and wasn't built for the movie, it was an ''actual slum'' where immigrants were really living at the time of filming (and were [[LifeImitatesArt in the process of being relocated by the government.]]) The VoxPops segments where people make racist comments about the prawns on camera? [[EnforcedMethodActing Not actors]], those were [[PoesLaw real South Africans]] asked for their opinions on ''Nigerian'' immigrants, and had no idea they were being interviewed for a science fiction movie.

* RockBeatsLaser: The MNU mercs, after a fair amount of effort, [[spoiler:manage to bring the MiniMecha down.]] However, it takes a lot of small arms fire, at least one rocket, no less than two trucks, and a [[{{BFG}} huge-ass anti-tank rifle]]. In addition, the only reason they ever have a chance is because [[spoiler:Wikus doesn't know exactly what he's doing.]]

* ShockParty: "Baby, listen, I might've crapped in my pants--" "'''SURPRISE!!!'''"

* SomeCallMeTim: The only alien with a name is "Christopher Johnson". The origin of this moniker is explained through Christopher's blog, where he states that the MNU has assigned all aliens new, human names as a form of cultural repression. This is implied in the film itself, but never stated outright.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''District 9'' could be seen as a question: "What if the Tectonese in ''Film/AlienNation'' were insectoid and not humanoid?"

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: A sword that cuts both ways in the final battle. [[spoiler: Wikus might have a MiniMecha that's vastly superior to anything the mercenaries can throw at him, but he's also a NonActionGuy with no combat training, so he spends most of the time running away, and the mercenaries eventually manage to disable it by fighting strategically and pumping it full of [[MoreDakka round after round after round]] of small arms fire, heavy impacts and explosive ordinance. No matter how good the aliens' technology is, it's not invincible and eventually it breaks, an outcome that's doubly likely when piloted by someone like Wikus who doesn't know how to use it. Up until that point, though, Wikus still makes mincemeat of the MNU guys because relative inexperience is irrelevant when guys with small arms ordinance and light body armor are going up against a two-legged WalkingTank that fires ''lightning bolts'', manipulates gravity and can [[LudicrousGibs pop people like water balloons]] with a single hit.]]
** Wikus [[TooDumbToLive learns very quickly]] why you should always wear a protective safety mask when working with dangerous chemicals in an unsanitary environment and alien technology you don't understand how to operate.
** Arguably, the film's whole premise is an example. How would FirstContact go with a heavily-armed (not to mention [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute ugly]]) alien race that's advanced enough to travel to our planet but not organized enough to be an [[AlienInvasion invasion force]]? Judging from our history, it would go [[DeconstructedTrope rather]] [[FantasticRacism poorly.]]
** Although his [[spoiler:revealing MNU's vile genetic experiments to the public]] was [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight obviously a good thing]], Wikus' sidekick Fundiswa [[spoiler:[[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished goes to prison anyway]] because he broke into their computer system to get the information, which is against the law.]] HeroInsurance does not exist in real life, and just because you did something illegal for clearly altruistic reasons doesn't mean you won't be charged with a crime.

* TooDumbToLive: The Nigerian gangster boss is apparently so much of a megalomaniac that his reaction to [[spoiler:the alien MiniMecha slaughtering all his men]] is to start ''ranting'' at it in a fit of annoyed pique. Predictably, [[spoiler:[[YourHeadAsplode his head is impaled and detonated]] [[KilledMidSentence mid-rant]]]].

* BullyingADragon: Let's all commit horrible acts against an alien race that would be classified as crimes against humanity if they were human. Did we mention that the alien race in question happens to have the ability to tear a man limb from limb, [[CoolGuns insanely powerful weapons]], MiniMecha only they can use, a huge ship, [[spoiler:and a messenger who has escaped and is likely to return with friends]]?

** Wikus turns to his coworkers drops a very telling line when Christopher points out that he's been served an illegal eviction notice and the MNU has no legal right to evict him and his child.
-->'''Wikus:''' [[YouAreACreditToYourRace This one's a little smarter than the others, ya?]]

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: We get two for Wikus. His JerkAss attitude when evicting the shantytown is mostly a front he puts on for the camera to impress his MNU bigwigs, but it does indicate that his main concern is always looking out for #1. Later we see him freak out when [[spoiler:forced to kill an innocent prawn]], showing that as self-centered as he is, Wikus is no monster.
** Wikus' redeeming qualities are hinted at early on during the shantytown eviction as well. Despite his wheedling, obnoxiously smarmy "customer service representative" personality when dealing with the prawns, he demonstrates that he's [[EveryoneHasStandards not completely awful]] by frantically warning a prawn to get away from an MNU truck for its own good, and reacting with obvious horror and disgust when said prawn [[AnArmAndALeg rips off the arm]] of the MNU mook who was about to shoot him. When a bunch of other, potentially hungry prawns follow the noise to see what all the fuss is about, Wikus yells at the MNU soldier with him not to fire at them and prevents a slaughter of either prawns and humans by chucking some cans of [[FantasticDrug cat food]] at the crowd of prawns to distract them, showing that he's not a complete moron and has a knack for [[IndyPloy coming up with plans on the fly.]]

* FantasticRacism: Aliens who arrive on Earth are treated as second-class citizens and forced into ghettos by the South African government. Parallels to apartheid are obvious, but the [[WordOfGod writer]] insists that it's not an allegory for apartheid. The film deals as much with hostility of black Africans toward the aliens as the white members of government (for example, the MNU officer accompanying Wikus in the opening sequence is black). The director coaxed EnforcedMethodActing performances from local South Africans by asking them what they thought of immigrants to use as "man on the street" criticisms of the aliens. The original short film, "Alive in Joburg," however, does specifically mention that the government used apartheid laws against the aliens.
** Analogies have also been drawn with UsefulNotes/{{Zimbabwe}}ans seeking refuge from the Robert Mugabe regime.
** The racist interviewees in the beginning of the film were real people asked to give their opinions on recent UsefulNotes/{{Nigeria}}n refugees.
** In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, observe Wikus going to the restaurant the second time (while on the run). There is a very long line of black citizens waiting their turn at the counter, while Wikus walks right up to the counter to order. This may seem odd to non-South African viewers until it is realized that there are two separate lines in the restaurant, one for whites and another for blacks. This is a real life bit of racism that was prevalent in South Africa under Apartheid. It brings forth images of the United States of the 50's, with "White Only" drinking fountains and other separate facilities. This is referenced in dialogue with Wikus stating to the counter employee that the restaurant "by law, has to serve me."

* MeaningfulName: ''Christ''opher ''J''ohnson - just switch the order of his initials. "Christopher" is also the patron saint of travelers. "Van de Merwe" is a generic name given to characters who are the butt of ethnic jokes against Afrikaaners. Dr. Moraneau's name, the MNU head doctor who attempted to fuse human babies with alien DNA, is very reminiscent of [[Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau Dr. Moreau]]. The African King Cricket is an insect considered a pest in urban settings and its primary means of defence if threatened is to spray an unpleasant black faecal gloop over the threat. It is known as the ''Parktown Prawn''. [[note]]According to Website/TheOtherWiki, the Parktown Prawn is attracted, in large numbers, to cat food and will do anything to get it[[/note]]

** It's claimed that District 10 is a major improvement for the prawns in terms of living conditions. [[spoiler: Wikus later regretfully admits to Christopher that, unsurprisingly, D10 is in fact just as bad as District 9. It's compared to a concentration camp.]]

* AlienBlood: Averted, the aliens bleed as red as any human.

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Averted. The prawns ''understand'' English (and the humans who work with them understand their language), but both are physically incapable of speaking the other's language. This is TruthInTelevision in South Africa, a country that has thirteen official languages.

* AsYouKnow: Mainly averted except when CJ, on the last day of his 20 year magic juice collection program, explains the entire thing [[TheWatson to his prawn friend, who probably should know better]]. (Then again, considering how lacking in insight most of the aliens are without their leaders, this might not be his first time having to explain everything over again in minute detail.)

* HollywoodTactics: Averted in the FinalBattle. The MNU mercenaries use proper flanking tactics, get to higher ground, call in suppressive fire with heavier firepower and take cover to get the advantage over Wikus...it's just that the weapons Wikus is using, which can not only tear through cover like tissue paper but ''explode'' anyone they hit even with a glancing shot, tend to make tactics mostly irrelevant.

* InWorkingOrder: Averted, and a major plot point. Humans can't seem to find a way to operate the alien weapons. The only way you can do this is [[spoiler:for someone to turn into an alien, which MNU tries to exploit when Wikus is halfway through his metamorphosis]].

* PardonMyKlingon: Generally averted, as whenever the aliens use whatever equates to profanity in their language, the subtitles simply display regular English profanity.

* PossessionImpliesMastery: Averted with MNU and the Nigerian gangsters, who can't work alien tech. Likewise, most prawns who can't explain it. Played straight with Christopher, who [[spoiler: lives on top of the command module for the mothership, and has been fixing it up for 20 years.]] Also averted with [[spoiler:the alien MiniMecha, despite its ridiculously powerful arsenal, Wikus clearly isn't using it to its full potential and it's eventually outflanked and disabled by the mercenaries after soaking up a metric ton of MNU firepower.]]

* ScaryBlackMan: Generally averted given that the film takes place in South Africa, but ''damn'' the Nigerian gang boss Obesanjo is one scary dude, despite being in a wheelchair and ''never'' raising his voice.

* StarfishAliens: Averted. Although the prawns are far from RubberForeheadAliens, they still have humanoid shape and body language as well as recognizable facial expressions. Blomkamp originally intended on them looking more alien, but realized that they would be harder to empathize with. The original short has the aliens looking much more inscrutable.

* OverprotectiveDad: Smit, who obviously thinks Wikus isn't worthy of his daughter Tania, from his first appearance in that interview.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Some good-natured ribbing has been directed at the almost [[BloodyHilarious cartoonishly exaggerated]] effects of the prawn lightning weapons on enemies, in that they don't so much ''destroy'' their targets as [[LudicrousGibs paint the walls with them.]] While there is obviously no weapons technology we possess in real life that has anywhere close to that kind of destructive capacity, and especially not one that shoots targeted blasts of electricity, the closest thing anyone has yet thought of to the prawn "lightning guns" - [[EnergyWeapon high-power laser weapons]] - ''would'' have very gory effects on a living target, and not cauterize the wound [[RealityIsUnrealistic as one would expect]], since the heat from the beam would boil the water in the target area, causing it to expand and rip the surrounding flesh apart as violently as any knife wound or high-velocity bullet.

* MeaningfulName: ''Christ''opher ''J''ohnson - just switch the order of his initials. "Christopher" is also the patron saint of travelers. "Van de Merwe" is a generic name given to characters who are the butt of ethnic jokes against Afrikaaners. Dr. Moraneau's name, the MNU head doctor who attempted to fuse human babies with alien DNA, is very reminiscent of [[Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau Dr. Moreau]]. The African King Cricket is an insect considered a pest in urban settings and its primary means of defence if threatened is to spray an unpleasant black faecal gloop over the threat. It is known as the ''Parktown Prawn''. [[note]]According to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, the Parktown Prawn is attracted, in large numbers, to cat food and will do anything to get it[[/note]]

[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Has no relation]] to [[Film/TheMightyDucks District 5]] or the [[Anime/MyHime First District]].

** [[spoiler:The Nigerians crank this movie's use of this trope UpToEleven in one of the deleted scenes: one of them features an MNU worker who finds an alien kept in a cryogenic chamber exported from the mothership. It is then explained that the Nigerians force anybody who can't pay up into staying in a cryo chamber until someone can pay up. It's one thing to go in there willingly, but unwillingly? MNU classifies it as illegal activity, but ''still''...]]

* VomitIndiscretionShot: A lot. [[UpToEleven Even a]] [[spoiler: mech suit]] vomits oil at one point.

* HypocriticalHumor: [[spoiler:After telling Christopher not to kill anyone, Wikus kills a guard after being shot at. When questioned by Christopher he responds, "He shot at me!"]]

* ForTheEvulz: Koobus's only real motive is that he loves to kill prawns.

* AssholeVictim: Technically, all of the MNU mooks that [[spoiler:Wikus and Christopher]] kill during the raid are just security guards [[PunchClockVillain doing their jobs]]...but then again, until he got better, [[VillainProtagonist so was Wikus.]]

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: After capturing him in the climax, Koobus tells Wikus "I see why everyone wants a piece of you." Moments later, [[spoiler:a group of prawns surround Koobus and, well, let's just say they ''all'' "[[EatenAlive want a piece of him.]]"]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Wikus is transformed and living in the slums, but Christopher and his son got away in the mothership, promising to return in three years. He's promised to bring help for the rest of the prawns and also cure Wikus. In the meantime, Wikus is leaving gifts for his wife, who is apparently pregnant.]]

* PapaWolf: The thing that snaps Christopher out of his brief mid-battle HeroicBSOD is Wikus desperately yelling at him "[[AdultFear Think of your boy, for fok's sake!]]"

* AdultFear: Christopher's entire situation. You're a single father trying to raise your kid in abysmal conditions while protecting him from people who will not hesitate to kill you, him, or any of your neighbors. One of these guys knocks on your door and demands that you sign an obviously illegal eviction notice, and threatens to have Child Protective Services take your kid away from you if you refuse. [[SadisticChoice You have two options:]] [[MortonsFork Do you sign the form and let them move you where they want, or refuse to sign it and (at best) have them take him away from you anyway?]]

* PaperTiger: The mercs initially seem like a tough, grizzled bunch of killers, but are shown to be pretty inept at fighting anything other than half starved slum dwellers as a result of their HollywoodTactics, when Christopher and Wikus get guns, they go down in droves despite fighting only two opponents with little to no military training.

* EyeOfNewt: The native gangsters chop up Prawns for witchcraft in an attempt to gain the ability to use their biometrically locked weaponry. This is based on [[RealityIsUnrealistic real modern practices]] in parts of Africa where people, especially those with albinism, are killed so their body parts can be [[CannibalismSuperpower used for witchcraft]].

A 2009 science-fiction {{Thriller}}[=/=]{{Mockumentary}} by Creator/NeillBlomkamp, based on his short film ''Alive in Joburg'' (which can be found on [=YouTube=]) and produced by Creator/PeterJackson.

* MohsScaleOfViolenceHardness: Somewhere between a very hard 7 and a moderate 8. While there's a whole lot of spectacularly bloody damage inflicted on humans - limbs ripped off, people [[LudicrousGibs popped like popcorn]] - the camera doesn't usually ''linger'' on the gore, and since the humans who are subject to this almost invariably [[AssholeVictim totally have it coming]], most of the time it's [[BloodyHilarious more comical than disturbing.]] The most cringe-inducing moments of violence are actually the ones that are inflicted on [[FantasticRacism the poor prawns]] (that, and [[spoiler:Wikus]]'s [[BodyHorror unpleasant transformation]].)

* CurbstompBattle: A half-dozen hungry prawns vs. one guy with a sidearm. Bye-bye, [[spoiler:Koobus Venter.]]