History Film / DjangoUnchained

* IdiotHero: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], given the time period. Django starts off the film as well-educated as you'd expect the typical 19th-century slave to be; he's ignorant, uneducated, and needs things repeated a few times before he fully grasps them. Under Schultz' influence and tutelage, though, he graduates to a competent, cunning badass with some GuileHero abilities. This is also downplayed by the fact that Django's biggest qualifier for this entry was simply that he was illiterate, which demonstrably doesn't automatically mean he's stupid.

* IdiotHero: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], given the time period. Django starts off the film as well-educated as you'd expect the typical 19th-century slave to be; he's ignorant, uneducated, and needs things repeated a few times before he fully grasps them. Under Schultz' influence and tutelage, though, he graduates to a competent, cunning badass with some GuileHero abilities.

* FanDisservice: Both Broomhilda and Django are shown naked or nearly naked, but in such abusive and humiliating circumstances that there's nothing erotic about it; Broomhilda [[GirlInABox sentenced to solitary confinement in a "hot box"]], and Django [[spoiler:suspended from his ankles to be castrated]]. Other scenes give the same treatment to ToplessnessFromTheBack; nudity in this film always seems to be more associated with exploitation and cruelty than eroticism.

* GirlInABox: Broomhilda's introduction, having been thrown in the "hot box" for attempting to escape.

** The emblem of the Cleopatra Club where Django and King meet Candie for the first time is the famous bust of Nefertiti, and a reproduction is seen in the hallway. It was actually discovered in 1912.

** When Django sees John Brittle, he relives a traumatic memory -- him on his knees before John, begging to take the blame for his and Broomhilda's failed escape (and the lashing she's about to get), to which John simply says [[KickTheDog "I like the way you beg, boy."]] After he approaches and shoots him, Django says "I like the way you die, boy."
** Schultz asks Django if he is positive that he can identify Ellis Brittle, explaining that "positive" means "sure"; Django answers in the affirmative, and after Schultz shoots Ellis, he says, "I'm positive he dead!"

* FanDisservice: Both Broomhilda and Django are shown naked or nearly-naked, but in such abusive and humiliating circumstances that there's nothing erotic about it; Broomhilda [[GirlInABox sentenced to solitary confinement in a "hot box"]], and Django [[spoiler:suspended from his ankles to be castrated]]. Other scenes give the same treatment to ToplessnessFromTheBack; nudity in this film always seems to be more associated with exploitation and cruelty than eroticism.
* FanserviceWithASmile: The girl who answers the door in the 'comfort house' is dressed in a [[FrenchMaidOutfit sexy maid's outfit]].

* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: Calvin Candie is described by Dr. Schultz as being "an abysmal winner". It is Candie's insistence on rubbing his victory in Schultz's face that causes [[spoiler:Schultz to shoot him]].

** Schultz is by far the nicest character in the movie. Although his Germanic origins mean that he already doesn't share the same attitudes towards black people and slavery as the denizens of the South, it's still telling how far he's willing to go to help Django rescue his wife. However, when it comes to bounty hunting, Schultz is willing to grievously injure and kill every last one of his marks rather than capture them alive. He has no qualms against shooting a man in cold blood, even in front of his own son. The bounties are "dead or alive", but the payout's the same either way, and a corpse is a lot easier to bring in (can't try to run away and doesn't have to be fed).
** Django is sympathetic, but some of his feelings and actions are not nice. Being a former slave, his vengeful attitude towards white Southerners is perfectly understandable and generally justified by their despicable actions. Although Django's desire to reunite with his wife is admirable, the way he goes about fulfilling his goal is very morally questionable: he lets another slave die when saving the poor soul would have compromised his attempts at rescuing his wife. Furthermore, while Schultz sees his profession as a profitable but necessary evil, Django uses it as an outlet for revenge. However, even then, he feels morally uncomfortable murdering a "wanted" white man in front of his young son, and has to be heavily persuaded by Schultz in order to do so.

** This isn't the [[Film/{{Ray}} first time]] [[ThoseTwoActors Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington]] have played a married couple.

* AintTooProudToBeg: Prior to the events of the film, Django and Broomhilda unsuccessfully attempted to run away from their owner together. While Broomhilda was being prepared for "stripping" (whipping), Django frantically pleaded with overseer Big John, trying to convince him to spare Broomhilda because she was a house slave. Big John had no intention of letting Brunhilde go, but he smilingly watched Django fall to his knees anyway.
* AlmightyJanitor: Stephen, despite being on paper a house slave, is functionally the real manager of Candieland.

** This isn't the first time [[ThoseTwoActors Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington]] have played [[Film/{{Ray}} a couple]].

* PositiveDiscrimination: Averted strongly. Django, the hero, is a bitter, driven man hardened after years of slavery. Stephen, the head house slave, is the most ''evil'' character in the whole movie.

The film tells the story of Django (Creator/JamieFoxx), a slave who is freed by German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Creator/ChristophWaltz) with the promise that, in return for Django's assistance in a few bounty recoveries, he will aid Django in finding and rescuing his lost wife Broomhilda (Creator/KerryWashington) from the sadistic plantation owner Calvin J. Candie (Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio). However, Calvin's head house slave and second-in-command Stephen (Creator/SamuelLJackson) has other plans.

In 2014, a sequel was announced - a comic CrossOver with Franchise/{{Zorro}}, written by Tarantino and [[Comicbook/{{Grendel}} Matt]] [[Comicbook/MageTheHeroDiscovered Wagner]], and "produced" by Creator/ReginaldHudlin. It is now officially being made into a film.

** David Steen plays Mr. Stonesipher, Candie's dog handler. Last time Steen worked with Quentin Tarantino, he played a dog-handling cop in ''Film/ReservoirDogs''.
** Calvin's sister at one point asks Schultz if he can tell her a story from "the circus". Creator/ChristophWaltz had previously played a mental circus director in ''Literature/WaterForElephants''.
** This wasn't the first time [[ThoseTwoActors Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington]] played [[Film/{{Ray}} a couple]].

* AintTooProudToBeg: Prior to the events of the film, Django and Brunhilde unsuccessfully attempted to run away from their owner together. While Brunhilde was being prepared for "stripping" (whipping), Django frantically pleaded with Big John, trying to convince him to spare Brunhilde because she was a house slave. Big John has no intention of letting Brunhilde go, but he smilingly watches Django fall to his knees anyway.
* AlmightyJanitor: Steven, despite being on paper a house slave, is functionally the real manager of Candyland.

* AlternateHistory: On top of the AnachronismStew listed below, Django's stunt towards the end where he kills ''dozens'' of an aristocrat southern slave owner's men and blows up his plantation would definitely have warranted a mention in history books and had a huge historical impact. That's a similar (white) death toll to Nat Turner's rebellion (which definitely did send shocks), except mostly by one man. The opening of the film [[RewatchBonus alludes to this]] by implying the American Civil War started a year early in this universe.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Billy Crash, who is disappointed that he does not get to cut off Django's testicles, [[spoiler:runs a finger down Django's nutsack]], and walks swishy.
-->"Oh, I'ma go walkin' in the moonlight with you."\\

* AmbiguouslyJewish: Dr. King Schultz is a German immigrant in the mid-19th century, when the first Jews came to America from Germany with the stereotypically Jewish profession of dentist. He clearly has a strong German identity due to his fascination with German folklore, but Jews were much more assimilated in Germany than any other European country (prior to Hitler, of course), and most Jews viewed themselves as wholly German, at the time. The surname Schultz, like many German names, is common among Ashkenazi Jews.
* AnachronismStew: Quite a lot for a story set in pre-Civil War America, but most of them ''are'' deliberate. And it's not as though proper spaghetti Westerns (or Westerns in general) were famous for their historical accuracy, anyway.
** While straws are a very old invention, the high quality, plastic kind that Candie uses had not yet come into being.

** As is often the case in westerns, many of the firearms and weapons used in the film did not yet exist during the movie's timeframe.

*** The Sharps ''1874 Buffalo'' shotgun was not invented until... you guessed it-- 1874!

*** While the Cobra Big Bore derringer that Django and Schultz use didn't enter production until the 1980s, it's clearly a stand-in for a visually similar but much older Remington derringer that's a staple of the Western genre. But since that gun is the Remington ''Model 1866'' that doesn't make it any less of an anachronism.
*** A ''lot'' of Remington New Army revolvers seem to be in circulation despite only prototypes and pre-production samples existing in 1858 (full-scale production didn't start until 1861). And one of them even has a brass frame, a configuration that never existed until the late 20th century Italian reproductions hit the market.

** The scantily clad slave woman Sheba wears something that looks like it was made at least in the 1930s.
** Candie's harpist was playing "Für Elise" on the harp, but the piece wasn't published until 1867.

** Both Schultz and everyone else refer to his home as "Germany", even though, at in the 1850s, [[UsefulNotes/AllTheLittleGermanies Germany did not exist as one country yet]]. At one point he mentions Düsseldorf (it's part of a fake identity, but the hometown might be accurate), which would make him a Prussian national. However, as an academic and an expatriate, he might simply associate more with a pan-German identity than any particular state[[note]]There was an attempt at such back then; see the YMMV page[[/note]], or just be simplifying things for the sake of others. If he is [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Prussian]], that might explain his relaxed attitude to violence and dislike of slavery: Prussia had already abolished the near-equivalent serfdom earlier that century, and later signed an international treaty to suppress the slave trade. It's also possible Schultz was a "Forty-Eighter", one of the many Germans who emigrated to the United States after the Revolutions of 1848 failed--mostly because they were supporters of the revolution and German unification who did not want to end up on the business end of the post-revolutionary purge. The Forty-Eighters were also known for anti-slavery views and once naturalized were a major constituency for the radical wing of the Republican Party. Many fought in the American Civil War on the Union side.

** The type of metal-framed kerosene lamp (technically a tubular hot-blast lantern) liberally seen in the beginning of the film wasn't invented until 1867, patented in 1868 and they were incorrectly set in the movie - the wicks were set way too high. Perhaps that was to squeeze every last lumen for filming. The later cold-blast lantern (1900) made twice the light.
** The area now known as Lubbock, Tx wasn't settled until 1890, and wasn't incorporated as an official town until 1909. There was Lubbock County, Tx before the town of Lubbock existed but even the county wasn't established until 1876.

** Schultz is by far the nicest character in the movie. Although his Germanic origins meant that he did not share the same attitudes towards black people and slavery as the denizens of the South, it's still telling how far he would go to help Django rescue his wife. However, when it comes to bounty hunting, Schultz is willing to grievously injure and kill every last one of his marks rather than capture them alive. He has no qualms against shooting a man in cold blood, even in front of his own son. The bounties are "dead or alive", but the payout's the same either way and a corpse is a lot easier to bring in (can't try to run away and doesn't have to be fed).
** Django is sympathetic, but some of his feelings and actions are not nice. Being a former slave, his vengeful attitude towards white Southerners is perfectly understandable and generally justified by their despicable actions. Although Django's desire to reunite with his wife is admirable, the way he goes about fulfilling his goal is very morally questionable: he would go so far as to let another slave die when saving the poor soul would have compromised his attempts at rescuing his wife. Furthermore, while Schultz sees his profession as a profitable but necessary evil, Django uses it as an outlet for revenge. And even then, he feels morally uncomfortable murdering a "wanted" white man in front of his young son and has to be heavily persuaded by Schultz in order to do so.

* ArbitraryGunPower: The guns seem to deal whatever damage makes the coolest shot at the time. During the final showdown, Django shoots [[spoiler:Lara Lee]] and the body is thrown clean backwards into the next room despite her being hit diagonally, while another victim merely drops to the floor where he stands.
* ArtImitatesArt: Django's valet costume was inspired by Thomas Gainsborough's 1770 oil painting, ''The Blue Boy''.
* AristocratsAreEvil: {{Played with}}. Wealthy southern slaveholders like Big Daddy and Calvin Candie like to think of themselves as sophisticated and intellectual aristocrats and style themselves after what they presume to be their European counterparts. However, they are, in reality, nothing more than barbaric thugs who engage in violence, slavery (including sex slavery), bloodsports, and now-discredited pseudo-sciences (although at the time, phrenology really was viewed as valid by many, [[ZigZaggedTrope but not by actual scientists]]). Actual aristocratic Enlightenment figures they superficially admire such as Alexandre Dumas[[note]]Dumas in particular was quarter-Black through his Haitian slave grandmother, and was notoriously anti-slavery and anti-racist.[[/note]] and Ludwig van Beethoven[[note]]once thought to have African heritage, though it is disputed by scholars; in any case, given that he sympathised with the values of the French Revolution and liberté, égalité, fraternité, it's unlikely he approved of slavery[[/note]] would abhor them on principle.

** The opening of the movie states: "1858: Two years before the Civil War". In reality, the American Civil War started in 1861. Or, since the movie probably exists in [[TheVerse the same world as Inglorious Basterds]] it might be a case of AlternateHistory.
** The price for slaves goes all across the board. The average price for a slave in 1860 was $800. Calvin bought D'Artagnan for almost half of this, at $500, while he was prepared to sell Eskimo Joe for $12,000.

** Despite what the movie shows, you were most certainly ''not'' allowed to immediately assassinate people wanted by the law in the Old West, except for the absolute most dangerous, lethal criminals. I mean the kind of outlaw who massacred an entire town and defiled the church with the victim entrails: MAYBE you could instantly gun him down without being arrested yourself. Every bounty killing shown in this movie, of men who were despicable bastards but not an immediate threat to anyone, would have certainly resulted in a murder charge and not a cent of bounty.
*** Not to mention -- for a "dead or alive" bounty, the dead reward was usually a fraction of the prize: they ''wanted'' the criminals alive to stand trial. As clever and resourceful as Schultz is shown to be, certainly he would find a way to take them down non-lethally. However, this wouldn't be keeping with the Blaxploitation theme of the movie.
* AsTheGoodBookSays: "Big John" Brittle has torn pages from the Bible stitched to his clothing, including one hovering over his heart (which Django shoots clean through). Brittle recites passages while preparing to whip one of Big Daddy's slaves over a matter of some [[VillainousDemotivator broken eggs]].

-->'''Schultz:''' I hear at least two of them are overseeing up in Gatlinburg, but I don't know where. That means we visit every plantation in Gatlinburg till we find them. And when we find them, you point them out, and I kill them. You do that, I agree to give you your freedom, twenty-five dollars per Brittle brother -that's seventy-five dollars, and, [[LampshadeHanging as if on cue]], here comes the sheriff.

** Interestingly enough, [[TrailersAlwaysLie one of the trailers]] shows Schultz [[LampshadeHanging lampshading the idiocy of the question]] by turning to give the tooth a long glance before his answer.
* AuthorAppeal: In-universe: As Schultz explains the legend of Siegfried and Brunhilde, he notes that it being German and all, it involves a big mountain.
* AvengingTheVillain: [[spoiler:After Schultz kills Candie and gets himself also killed in the process, Stephen and Candie's sister Lara Lee get to work devising a suitable scheme to punish Django for his death.]]
* BadassBookworm: Schultz is an erudite former "dentist" - at the very least, an intellectual of some sort - who took up bounty hunting about five years ago. He's pretty damn good at it.

** The powder blue costume was made by the costume designer as [[https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/01/django-unchained-costume-design-oscar-nomination a reference to the famous Blue Boy painting]] by Gainsborough — the symbol of everything Little Lord Fauntleroy (i. e. an innocent poor boy benevolently uplifted to high society), and also approximately 80 years in the past for characters in the film. It was so impractical that the costume designer had to take out/in various parts of it for different motions such as riding a horse or running.

** Schultz repeatedly gains access to slavers' estates by taking advantage of their Southern hospitality once he dangles a lucrative slave-purchasing deal in front of them, knowing they would treat him as a guest once he's a potential business partner.
** Schultz relies on the Marshal of Daugherty being level-headed enough to [[spoiler:hear out his claim at being a legal bounty hunter and not simply gun him down the moment he sticks his head out of the saloon]]. He takes the time to make sure that the Marshal will give them a "trial" and not just shoot them.
** Schultz takes Django into a saloon, knowing full-well the innkeeper will run out screaming for help at the sight of Django in a place where blacks are not tolerated. So Schultz calls after him telling him to specifically bring the sheriff, not the marshal.
** Schultz and Django carry out a very clever one against Candie. Knowing that if they directly buy Broomhilda from Candie he would charge them an enormous amount, they trick him by offering $12,000 (which comes out to about $315,000 in today's money) for a third-tier slave fighter (Eskimo Joe) in order to get to Candie's plantation and meet Broomhilda, buy her for a few hundred dollars, and leave, under the pretense of returning with the promised money, a doctor, and a lawyer, never to be seen again.

* BeautifulSlaveGirl: Seen several times. Candie owns at least three of these. Sheba is made to wear alluring attire, and is apparently something of a consort to Candie. She seems pretty happy with her role, at least outwardly. Broomhilda, on the other hand, is openly made available to Candie's visitors to show his "hospitality", and is traumatized by it. He also owns a slave who's forced to wear a FrenchMaidOutfit.
* BecomingTheMask: Django, in his role of the black slaver, plays it so far to the hilt that Schultz stops him because he thinks that Django is taking it too far. Completely warranted, as [[spoiler:Django later allows a slave to be painfully ripped apart by hunting dogs.]]
-->'''Django:''' ''You niggers gonna understand something about me! I'm worse than any of these white men here! You get the molasses out your ass, and you keep your goddamn eyeballs off me!''
* BigBadDuumvirate: Candie and Stephen. With Candie as the ''de jure'' superior, and Stephen as the ''de facto'' one. It still remains this trope as well as DragonInChief for Stephen because he remains fiercely loyal to Candie and works only to serve his interests.

* BigNo: From Stephen, when [[spoiler:Calvin dies.]]
* BigotWithACrush: Calvin Candie is one of the most unapologetically racist characters, owning a plantation's worth of slaves and organizing death matches between them. This doesn't stop him from keeping one of them, Sheba, as a mistress.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: As typical for Quentin Tarantino's films. The villains are racists and murderers, but the heroes are murdering bounty hunters willing to make a number of morally ambiguous decisions to their own ends. Django himself doesn't really seem too concerned about the plight of other slaves; he is only interested in saving Brunhilda, and he was even willing to play the role of a slave trader, [[spoiler:though it's thankfully just an act.]] Even Dr. Schultz, the most heroic and moral character in the film, has no problem killing people for money, and later coerces a reluctant Django into shooting a father in front of his own son.
* BlackComedy: Several examples, for instance, Billy Crash's InstantSoprano when Django [[GroinAttack shoots him in the nads]].
* BloodierAndGorier: Well, compared to other Western films, anyway.
* BlownAcrossTheRoom: Mostly averted, but played straight in a couple instances, such as when [[spoiler:Butch Pooch shoots Schultz with a sawed-off shotgun and Schultz's body is thrown backwards into a bookshelf. A very weird example happens with the "Bye, Miss Lara!" scene, when Django shoots Lara and she is thrown backwards at a completely different angle than she was shot from, resulting in her getting yanked into the next room ''Film/ParanormalActivity''-style (so it'd be more like "Blown ''Out of'' the Room".)]] That, of course, was a reference to the SpaghettiWestern genre of old, of which this movie is based on. Deaths of women were usually less gory or not entirely shown.

* BookEnds: The way Schultz deals with the Speck brothers at the movie's start by suddenly and surprisingly dropping a lantern and drawing a pistol (and subsequentally freeing Django and the rest of Speck slaves) is reminiscent of the end, where Django suddenly drops a candle and draws a pistol (and subsequentally frees Broomhilda and the other Candyland slaves).
* BoomerangBigot: Stephen is as racist as his white entourage - if not more so. He ''especially'' hates free blacks like Django. [[spoiler:Especially when it's heavily implied Stephen is the real power in charge of Candyland, content in manipulating Candie's riches for his own gain. Which makes Stephen calling Django uppity in the end quite ironic.]] This is also Django's cover ID for infiltrating the Candie estate: he's a black slaver.

* BulletproofHumanShield: Both averted and played straight in the big shootout near the end, where Django shoots through several mooks and hitting the person behind them, but when he picks one of them up to act as a shield, none of the mook's bullets can penetrate despite a large number of rounds being emptied into the body.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Dr. Schultz's introduction is him rolling up in a wagon with a bouncy tooth on a spring on the top. ''Way'' too goofy to take seriously. That's [[ObfuscatingStupidity probably what he was counting on]], because he is deadly good at his job.
* ButtMonkey / FriendOrFoe: Both Moguy and an unnamed henchman during the shootout in Candyland. They both get shot multiple times as they're lying wounded on the ground, and live long enough to scream/complain about it.

** The [[RemakeCameo original Django]], Franco Nero, plays a small role as Amerigo Vassepi, the owner of a slave engaged in mandingo fighting with Candie's slave.

** Among Mr. Stonesipher's trackers one may notice Creator/TomSavini, [[Film/KillBill Michael Bowen]], [[Film/RevengeOfTheNerds Robert Carradine]], [[Music/JesusChristSuperstar Ted Neeley]] and Tarantino's favorite stuntwoman Creator/ZoeBell (she's the one with the bandanna covering her mouth and chin; itself possibly another reference to the original ''Django'').
** Russ and Amber Tamblyn appear as a father and daughter who watch Django come into town riding a horse near the beginning of the film. They're appropriately billed as Son of a Gunfighter, and Daughter of A Son of a Gunfighter.
** Quentin Tarantino, [[CreatorCameo as in all his films]], plays one of the Le Quint Dickey Mining Company employees, and also as Robert, one of the bag heads.
** Bruce Dern, as a sadistic slave-owner.

** Tarantino revealed in a 2012 Comic-Con interview that Django and Broomhilda ([[TheVonTropeFamily von Shaft]]) are the great-great-great-great grandparents of [[Film/{{Shaft}} John Shaft]].

** Franco Nero, who plays the mandingo fighter owner Amerigo Vassepi in the film, was the title character in the 1966 spaghetti western ''Django'' from which Tarantino adapted the title of this film.

** Schultz insists that Django keep the handbill for his first bounty since it's "good luck". Django later uses it to bargain his [[spoiler:escape, post-climax, with slave traders about to transport him to a FateWorseThanDeath]].

* ChekhovsGunman: Rodney, one of the slaves Django antagonizes during the ride to Candyland, later verifies Django's story.
* ChekhovsSkill: Early in the film, Broomhilda is revealed to be able to speak German. Schultz uses this as a plausible excuse to buy her from Candie, stating that he would like to have a fellow person to converse with in his native language. He also tells Broomhilda about his and Django's plan to free her in German, since nobody in the Candie mansion would be able to understand German. Overlaps with HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier, below.
* ClusterFBomb: N-bombs in this case. It gets dropped ''a lot'' in this movie (110 times to be exact). Of course, it's perfectly natural given the time period and setting. This movie probably has the most uses of that word (in a wide-release film) in any serious film made since ''Film/BlazingSaddles''.

* ChunkySalsaRule: One of the slave traders in the intro, when turned on, takes a rifle shot to the head. Needless to say, his face turns into PinkMist.
* CigarFuseLighting: Django does this in the final scene to [[spoiler:blow Candyland to smithereens]].
* ColdBloodedTorture: Aside from the whippings done to both Django and Broomhilda, Broomhilda is first introduced for real by having been put in the "hot box", a metal enclosure in the ground exposed to the humid Southern heat, naked, as punishment for trying to escape Candyland. There's also what Billy Crash tries to do to Django's privates after [[spoiler:he is forced to give himself up to save Broomhilda following the first Candyland shootout]].
* ComplexityAddiction: Dr. Schultz, which proves to be his biggest flaw. He repeatedly risks life and limb unnecessarily, starting in the sequence at the start where he kills the sherrif for a bounty and tricks him into coming to him.

* ContemptCrossfire: Django explains that "house niggers" (slaves who serve in a plantation rather than in the fields) are the lowest of the low, being looked down by whites for being black and hated by other slaves for their cushy job and [[TheQuisling Quisling]]-like position.
* CoolButImpractical: Spencer Bennett's and his posse's Klan-esque white hoods. Sure, they're meant to look scary, but Willard's wife did such a terrible job cutting out the eyeholes, it obscures everyone's vision. That makes them easier to be taken out by Schultz and Django: they are unable to notice that the "bodies" they're trying to kill are actually bedrolls until "[[PreMortemOneLiner Auf wiedersehn]]".
* CoolOldGuy: Dr. Schultz.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: [[spoiler:When their plan to rescue Broomhilda... well, [[JustForPun goes south,]] [[VillainHasAPoint Candie pretty much tells Django and Schultz that if they had just been honest in the first place, he probably would have given her to them for practically nothing.]] Sure, Candie and Stephen would still be kicking and Candyland would still be in operation, but at least Django and Broomhilda would be together again and Schultz would still be alive. Sadly, Schultz had to come up with a [[ComplexityAddiction needlessly complicated plan]] that ends up getting him killed and nearly gets Django sold back into slavery.]]
* CountingBullets: Steven tries this, but Django just switches guns.
* CoveredWithScars: Django and Broomhilda's backs are both covered in whip-scars. The con falls apart when the villains show Broomhilda's scars to Django, and notice his reaction to them.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: Candyland is the most beautiful plantation in the movie -- if you can get past the abused slaves, the armed guards, and the sadism underneath its slick host.

* CreatorCameo: Quentin Tarantino plays one of the dimwitted Le Quint Dickey Mining Company slave transporters. This small role is actually critical to the plot.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Stephen, on first appearance, almost out-Fetchits Stepin Fetchit, bowing and scraping and acting servile, but underneath that act....well, Tarantino says it best, in the script:
-->Who's STEPHEN? Stephen is a very old black man, who with his bald pate, and tufts of white curly hair on the sides, looks like a character out of [[Creator/CharlesDickens Dickens]] - [[CrossOver if Dickens wrote about House Niggers in the Antebellum South.]] Stephen has been Calvin's slave since he was a little boy. And in (almost) every way is the 2nd most powerful person at Candyland. Like the characters Creator/BasilRathbone would play in [[Film/CaptainBlood swashbucklers]], evil, scheming, intriguing men, always trying to influence and manipulate power for their own self interest. Well that describes Stephen to a tee. The Basil Rathbone of House Niggers.

* CulturedBadass: Schultz. He peaks in a refined, proper manner and has a decent knowledge of German folklore. He knows English, French and his native German. He's also a GuileHero who's a pretty mean quickdraw and badass bounty hunter.
* CurseCutShort: Stephen to Django, [[spoiler:shortly before biting the big one, manages "Django! You uppity son of a--" before Candyland explodes gloriously with him in it.]] Most likely a reference to ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', which ends with a similar line.
* DamselInDistress: Broomhilda. She exists entirely on the level of plot device, receiving very little characterization aside from being Django's wife, having a tendency to attempt to escape, and being able to speak German. Oddly for a Tarantino film, played completely straight. (Kerry Washington says she took the role specifically because African-American actresses are rarely offered this type of part - after all, in Hollywood, when the plot is driven by a woman being in danger, it's usually a [[MissingWhiteWomanSyndrome pretty white woman or young girl]].)

* DeathInAllDirections: The Marshal and, by all appearances, the ''entire population'' of Daughtrey drawing down on King Schultz and Django outside the tavern.

* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: When Schultz loads the tooth on his cart with dynamite he whistles the ''Django'' theme.

* TheDogBitesBack: Pretty much the entire premise of the film. Django (a slave) gets recruited by [[BountyHunter Schultz]] to take down a group of criminals in exchange for a chance to rescue his wife and gain his freedom. It also worth mentioning that those criminals once oversaw the plantation that Django was at and that they whipped his wife for trying to escape.

* TheDragon: Stephen.
* DragonAscendant: Stephen seems to have more practical authority in the house than Calvin does, even with the white folks.
* DragonInChief: Calvin isn't the brightest; it is definitely Stephen who is the brains of Candyland.
* DramaticAmmoDepletion: DefiedTrope; In the finale, Django shoots Miss Candie & her entourage with his revolver, and Stephen then points out that he fired all 6 shots. Django promptly pulls out a second revolver.
* DropTheHammer: Calvin gives his slave fighter a hammer to finish off his opponent in his introduction scene. He later uses a hammer to make an "evolutionary" observation on the Negro skull. Having lulled his guests into an uneasy silence, he turns the hammer on Broomhilda and threatens to bludgeon her to death on the spot.

** Stephen comes out and immediately demonstrates an almost warm, paternal banter with Candie (who reciprocates) and in the same breath, has a near fit when he sees Django on a horse, summing up his complete psyche in one paragraph. Also, the first shot of him slightly before this shows him stamping checks with Calvin's signature, demonstrating his position at Candyland.

** One of the proto-KKK members was quite upset when his gang criticized the masks that his wife made; he rides off in a huff.

** Schultz, is a morally gray version, so "evil" is severely pushing it here. He's quite frank that he earns his living by murdering people, often quite ruthlessly, and more or less forces Django to shoot a man in front of the man's young son. However, when he meets Candie and [[spoiler:is forced to witness D'Artagnan being torn apart by dogs]], even he is sickened.

** It's subtle, but when we get close-up shots on character reactions to the 'Mandingo fight' in the Cleopatra club, Candie's henchman Butch Pooch looks rather unamused and even a little sad. Certainly, he's not whooping and hollering like Calvin and Moguy.

** Creator/SamuelLJackson's portrayal of Stephen is also over the top, bordering on caricature. However, this is a case of ObfuscatingStupidity: Stephen is ''much'' more sinister and calculating than even Candie himself. He's the person really in charge of the goings-on at Candyland.

** The Brittle Brothers about to whip a girl for breaking eggs.

** During the Candieland massacre one of the thugs entering through the main door is hurt in his eye by splinters of the nearby wall that's been shot at by Django. He screams and shouts. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], especially compared to the Mandingo fight, as the harm is neither direct nor entirely deliberate, and we don't see too much of the wound.

** [[spoiler:Schultz]] does this after shooting [[spoiler:Calvin]], posing dramatically and even throwing off a PostMortemOneLiner before getting shot.

* FanServiceWithASmile: The girl who answers the door in the 'comfort house' is dressed in a [[FrenchMaidOutfit sexy maid's outfit]].

* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Technically, "Fate Worse than Getting Your Balls Chopped Off and Then Being Killed": Stephen explains Django's punishment in this way. Instead of just castrating him and then torturing him to death (as many of the others want to do to him), Stephen suggests that they sell him to the [=LeQuint=] Dickey Mining Company, where he will do backbreaking mining work until his back gives out- at which point they'll bludgeon him with a sledgehammer and throw his body down the "nigger hole".]]

** Calvin Candie plays a jolly, genial sadist, who seems to treat his slaves properly (if you ignore the fact that he's introduced watching slaves fight each other to the death, and encourages them to kill and maim their opponents) and is nowhere as disgusting as the previous bounty targets, but when finally provoked, the jolly and genial part goes right out the window in a hurry. Just to remind us that he's the villain, he casually lets [[spoiler:a slave get torn apart by dogs]].
** Stephen play-acts as the curmudgeonly but affable house slave, but as soon as he's in private, he turns into a frigging Bond villain.
** Big Daddy is initially rude to Schultz...until he hears that money is up for grabs, at which point he is indulgent, welcoming, and a generous host. Similarly, perhaps because he is in a good mood due to the probability of imminent financial gain, he is, if not respectful, then at least pleasant with Betina when he gives her instructions about how to treat Django...but then we learn that he has ordered a slave whipped for breaking eggs. And then when the Brittle Brothers are killed, he tries to have all of them killed by his band of Regulators.

* FoodPorn: Like ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'', right before the "shooting the sheriff" scene in Daughtrey, we have the camera doing close ups as Dr. Schultz pours beer into glasses and cuts the foam off with a foam scraper. Later we have a just long enough shot on the cake slices Candie serves.

** Schultz describing the legend of Siegfried in terms of three challenges that must be overcome to claim Broomhilda. Siegfried climbed a mountain [[spoiler:(Django infiltrated Candyland)]], then slew TheDragon [[spoiler:(Django kills Crash and slaughters Candie's posse)]], and finally walked through hellfire [[spoiler:(Django ambles through the burning rubble of the estate)]]
** Django telling Schultz that a black slaver is the lowest kind of negro there is. The second lowest? The head house slave.

** Stephen complains about having to burn everything in Django's room when he leaves. [[spoiler:That actually happens.]]
* FrenchMaidOutfit: One of Candie's slave girls is made to wear this.

* FullFrontalAssault: When Django [[spoiler:is captured after the gunfight where Calvin and Schultz (and a number of Mooks) are killed]], he's seen hanging upside down, butt-naked, with his schlong in full view.

** As Django is [[spoiler:just about to start killing]] the Brittle Brothers, a tall, dusty, framed mirror to the right of the tree where Lil' Jodie is tied that happens to catch his reflection. It's quite reminiscent of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Boy famous painting The Blue Boy]] by Thomas Gainsborough.
** Again, right before Django shoots his first Brittle brother, while he's walking toward his target, you see a slave in the background joyously swinging on a swing like a carefree schoolgirl.
* GallowsHumor: Frequent, such as the exchange when Schultz is about to snipe a bounty:

'''Django:''' I don't know what "Positive?" means.\\

* GenreThrowback: To the {{spaghetti western}} and {{blaxploitation}}.
* TheGhost: US Circuit Court Judge Henry Allen Laudermilk. He's the guy who gives Schultz his warrants, but he never makes any appearances.

* GoodIsNotNice: Django and Schultz respectively. Years of growing up on plantations has hardened Django to the point where he does not bat an eyelash to the inhumanities that the slaves suffer. Schultz, on the other hand, having grown up in Germany, is more emotional since he lacks any experience in this aspect. That still doesn't deter him from taking out criminals in a coldblooded manner.
* {{Gorn}}: Definitely one of Tarantino's gorier films, right up there alongside ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. The slaves in the opening scene executing their owner shows flesh flinging up to the height of the men and blood forcefully spraying out to ''twice'' their height, and the final shootout has entire walls covered in blood.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Some female deaths contain a surprising lack of gore despite [[{{Gorn}} this being a Tarantino flick.]] Whilst some characters instead get BlownAcrossTheRoom, [[spoiler:Big Daddy]] surprisingly get this in that you only see his horse get blood splattered before he falls instead of [[ChunkySalsaRule chunky salsa.]]

** [[spoiler:Django nearly gets castrated when he's captured at Candyland. Discussed and deconstructed when Stephen mentions most of the whites' uncreative ideas to torture Django "had t' do with fuckin' with your foreign parts"; he secretly hated the concept because, although it may ''seem'' exceptionally cruel on paper, cutting off his testicles would cause him to bleed out in seven minutes or so, and Stephen knew a lifetime of grueling labor would be infinitely worse punishment.]]
** [[spoiler:He kills two of Candie's remaining enforcers by shooting them in the nads]].

* GrumpyOldMan: Stephen, Candie's butler, combines this with being a completely remorseless JerkAss. Still [[BlackComedy hilarious]].
* GuileHero: Schultz, who has a nigh-on supernatural ability to talk his way out of incredibly dangerous situations. It rubs off on Django, who uses this to [[spoiler:trick the [=LeQuint=] Dickey people into giving him a gun so he can turn the tables and kill them]].
* GunTwirling: Django frequently does this before reholstering his pistol.

* HarpOfFemininity: A woman at Candyland plays Beethoven's "Für Elise" on one of these -- at least, she does until Schultz angrily demands for her to stop, since he can't stand to hear Beethoven in Candie's house.

* HerosJourney: Django fights and kills to rescue an innocent loved one (his wife), in a harsh, unjust place. Even taking in account his necessary moments of brutality the Tarantino protagonist comes the closest to a moral, old-fashioned hero. Schultz even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades this]] by drawing a parallel between Django and Siegfried before undertaking their mission.

* HiddenWeapons: Django and Schultz keep tiny Derringer pistols in their sleeves as backup guns and use them with devastating efficiency on a few occasions.

* HighPressureBlood: ''Definitely'' the case in this movie - hell, the first movie's death sees blood spray from a man's head around 8 feet up into the air. The final shootout is a tad more downplayed, but it still has blood bursting out of gunshot holes at least twice as thick as it probably would.

** This could be an homage to Film/BlazingSaddles where the racist villains were portrayed as morons instead of evil.
* HitmanWithAHeart: King Schultz, to the point where it's hard to believe he kills people for money. Then again, we only see him shooting criminal (and/or racist) southerners, whom he considers barbaric. All of them are also murderers, making it easier to tolerate.

** This film seems to go on the notion that local judges could write warrants that gave bounty hunters like Schultz nation-wide jurisdiction to track down criminals anywhere and murder them on sight. Even back in the 1850s, this was ''not'' the case.

* HollywoodTactics: Early in his bounty hunter career, Django and Schultz ambush bunch of people with bounty on their heads, by standing on opposite sides of the trail they were travelling and rapidly firing on the passing gang. Apparently [[Film/Ronin1998 two shooters across each other won't kill each other dead]].

* HypocriticalHumor: After Schultz casually guns down the sheriff, the Marshall turns up with a posse and demands his surrender. Schultz puts his guns away and asks for the Marshall's word that he won't be shot out of hand.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Django's excuse for playing such a convincingly callous slaver while on his mission to rescue his wife.
* IHaveYourWife: Figuratively speaking, the entire plot. [[spoiler:Though the trope itself only comes in play in the last arc.]]
* IdiotHero: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], given the time period. Django starts off the film as well-educated as you'd expect the typical 1800s slave to be; he's ignorant, uneducated, and needs things repeated a few times before he fully grasps them. Under Schultz' influence and tutelage, though, he graduates to a competent, cunning badass with some GuileHero abilities.

** A morally gray example, early in the film. Django and Schultz's target is a (possibly former) stagecoach robber... and a family man. Schultz wants Django to kill him while he's plowing the field with his son, and Django hesitates. Schultz chides Django, who was willing to kill people up until now ([[IronicEcho quoting his iconic 'kill white folk' line at him back]]), and reminds him that bounty hunting requires a clear head and a gray conscience. [[spoiler:Django takes the shot with guilt.]]
** Candie is distrustful of Django's story as a callous mandingo expert and so has [[spoiler:a runaway slave torn apart by dogs so that Candie can watch him closely and see if he betrays any sympathy]].
* ImpossiblyTackyClothes: Django's first choice of clothes as a free man, which [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j_Gck9USDxI/UP2FZ2yMcDI/AAAAAAAAAS4/U2YuYHACT18/s1600/Blue+boys.jpg are almost identical]] to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Boy "The Blue Boy"]] painting by Thomas Gainsborough. One of the slaves he talks to is astonished to find out that he picked the outfit out for himself.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Django, oh so very much. {{Lampshaded}}:

* IncestSubtext: A bit between Calvin and his sister. He gushes on and on about her beauty, and often kisses her on the cheek[[note]]Which, given his francophilia, isn't all that remarkable[[/note]] whenever he can (even on the lips at some point). A man of Calvin's age and social status at the time and period would usually be long married by this point, making it even more suspicious. Throughout his on-screen time, he shows the most affection to her by far.

* InsultMisfire: When the Marshal tries to shame Schultz for murdering the sheriff.

** The horse tricks.

* {{Irony}}: During the raid scene, several raiders complain that they can't see, due to the bags on their heads. Big Daddy yells "Goddamn it, this is a raid! I can't see, you can't see, ''so what?'' All that matters is can the fuckin' ''horse'' see!" Not five years later, the Ku Klux Klan formed... and [[http://www1.assumption.edu/ahc/1920s/eugenics/unsignedKansasKKKpainting20.jpg guess what animal the bags were put on.]]

* JawDrop: Candie, after Schultz tells him that Alexander Dumas is black.
* JumpScare: After Candie [[spoiler:figures out that Django and Schultz were about to dupe him out of Broomhilda (after a '''LOT''' of help from Steven)]], Schultz sits as Candie's sister plays "Für Elise" on the harp while the images of [[spoiler:poor D'Artagnan being torn apart by the dogs]] flash, each with the slave's ''very loud screams''.
* JustFollowingOrders: Once Schultz finalizes the sale of Django to him, he suggests to the other slaves that they can either head north towards freedom, or go to a nearby town to get help for the trapped slaver, and continue a life in bondage. As Schultz and Django leave, one of the slaves cocks the shotgun Schultz gave them, and the slaver tries to reason with them, saying that all he's done to them and the other people he helped keep in slavery was because he was just doing his job and even tries to cut a deal with them. [[BoomHeadShot It doesn't work.]]

* KarmicDeath: Django (former slave) killing a bunch of racist slave owners, overseers, and transporters. Also, [[spoiler:Stephen, the unscrupulous house slave, is left to go up with the very house he served.]]
* KickTheDog: Every slaver, slave-owner and overseer we see gets at least one of these, but Candie is the worst of them, what with forcing slaves to fight to the death, having one slave ripped apart by dogs for not having it in him to fight anymore, and ''everything'' he does to Broomhilda, up to and including the hot box.

-->'''Django:''' [[spoiler:You've been in this house for 76 years, you've seen all manners of shit done to niggers]]. But I noticed... you didn't mention kneecapping! *BANG*

* LargeHam: Candie. All together now: "WHERE IS MY BEAUTIFUL SISTER?!?!" Ranging from his ham as he [[spoiler:threatens Django and Schultz]] to giddily encouraging his slave to gouge out another's eyes and hammer his face in.
* LeadYouCanRelateTo
* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: When Candie is drawing up the receipts, Beethoven's "Für Elise" plays in the soundtrack. Schultz, extremely distressed at Candie getting the better of him (and having a flashback of D'Artagnan's horrific death by dogs) angrily makes the harpist stop.
* LetThePastBurn: The film ends with Django and his wife leaving an exploding slave plantation, on horseback determined to live a free life.
* LineOfSightName: Sort of. Dr. Schultz, after "purchasing" and freeing Django, introduces him as "Django Freeman". It was actually pretty common for former slaves to take on the last name Freeman. Slaves had no last name except possibly that of their master's, but after being freed, they would need a last name. Freeman works both to fill the role of a necessary last name and as a title/status marker to distinguish them from slaves.
* LivingMacGuffin: Broomhilda. Django occasionally fantasizes about seeing her in various places he comes across, shown to remind the audience of his motivation.
* LongingLook: What brings the BatmanGambit down. [[spoiler:Lara notices Hildie looking a lot at Django, which makes Stephen suspect they know each other and deduce she's the real reason they're there.]]
* LudicrousGibs: Most of the gun fights in the film came with large amounts of blood splatter.

* MaidCafe: The Cleopatra Club, where Candie is first introduced, seems to be an antebellum-South version of this. Each of the female servers in the club wear a maid outfit, act as waitresses, and there is a brief clip where several waitresses and patrons sing a song together.

** Shortly after, when Django massacres the trackers, one of the trackers gets out of the bath only to have his genitals shot off.

* MeaningfulEcho: When saying farewell to Candie, Schultz refuses to use the traditional German farewell of ''"auf Wiedersehen"'', because it implies they will meet again. Instead, he says "goodbye", as he does not want to meet Candie ever again. [[spoiler:After escaping a slave convoy and returning to Candyland, Django pays his last respects to Schultz's body with "auf Wiedersehen" and tells the maids to say "goodbye" to Lara.]]

** Broomhilda (spelled in German as Brunhilde and also known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brynhildr Brynhildr, among other names]]), as explained by Schultz, is named after a Valkyrie from [[Literature/TheSagaOfTheVolsungs German legends]] who is imprisoned and eventually rescued by a hero who overcomes many dangerous obstacles.

* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Averted. [[spoiler:Zoë Bell's tracker character is shot unceremoniously with the others and Miss Lara gets gunned down at the climax.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: While Django mostly masks his regret to pass off as a slaver, it's extremely clear that he can barely hold in his guilt and anger when he [[spoiler:allows a slave to be torn apart by dogs to maintain his cover.]]
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Stephen horrifically embodies this. For all the discussions of slavery, this is one of the few works that emphasizes just how much this trope was a main ingredient in slavery.

** The mask-wearing racist southerners complaining about not seeing a thing are very similar to a group of villains in the original, who wore bright red hoods over their faces. While they didn't complain, they certainly looked like they couldn't see much out of them. They were both deliberately evocative of the KKK, despite being set in a time before them, however.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Candie's all set to release Broomhilda; they're nearly home free. However, Schultz must first shake Candie's hand, due to something of a legal technicality (in truth, it's bullshit; contracts have never required handshakes -- although Calvin ''could'' probably find a nearby judge with a sympathetic ear). If he doesn't, Calvin would be well within his rights to call the deal cancelled (again, not really, but what Candie probably meant was that, if Schultz didn't shake his hand, he'd just kill him and Django) and to have Broomhilda shot. As easy as it would have been to pull off, Schultz hates Candie enough that he just can't bring himself to do it, and ''shoots Candie in the heart.'']]
* NiceHat: Django and Schultz.

** Schultz, to pretty much every slave he comes across. Also serves as his EstablishingCharacterMoment.

* NoBadassToHisValet: [[spoiler:Candie. Stephen is more than willing to call him a dipshit when he's making a mistake, and is revealed to be the smarter of the two]].

* NotSoSmallRole: {{Subverted}} -- Creator/AmberTamblyn is visible through a window in Daughertry. This is merely a nod to her father, Russ Tamblyn, star of ''Son of a Gunfighter'' (who also cameos in this film).
* NothingUpMySleeve: Schultz has a special sleeve rig for a derringer, used to kill the sheriff of Daughtrey and later by Django to kill John Brittle. [[spoiler:Later Schultz uses it to kill Candie]].
* NWordPrivileges: In spades, from both black and white characters, as would be realistic for the time period. The only character who seems even a little bit squeamish about the word is Schultz, until he starts acting the part of a slave trader, and primarily uses it to ingratiate himself with slave traders and plantation owners. A couple of other slurs of the period, such as "jimmie", "garboon" and "pickaninny" also get used.

** Stephen plays the part of a foolish, if somewhat irascible, head house slave, when in fact he is far more cunning and observant than his master Calvin.

** Calvin Candie and Stephen, the planter and the slave. Stephen even seems to be Candie's equal in many ways.

* OneHitPolykill: During the Candyland gun battle, one of Django's bullets pierces two guards at once. Reflexively, the morons twirl around and blast each other ''again'' for good measure.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted. One of the raiders is named Willard. And Sheriff Bill Sharp [[spoiler:is revealed to be a criminal named Willard Peck, using Sharpe as a pseudonym.]]
* {{Overcrank}}: Really overused in the Candieland massacre shootout. After Candie is shot, we see Stephen scream "[[BigNo NOOOOO!! CALVIN!]]" and hurry to Candie's side, with the slo-mo making it obvious he's probably bolting past Schultz. Butch Pooch turning around is also done in slo-mo, and when he shoots Schultz with his shotgun and Schultz is blasted into the bookcase, we are in super slo-mo, and then we suddenly ramp back up to real time as within merely three real-time seconds of Schultz getting shot, Django grabs Butch's revolver and shoots him, and at various points in the foyer part of the gunfight, it is overcranked up to eleven.
* OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank: The Candieland massacre is one of the bloodiest gunfights you'll ever find on screen as upwards of 20 people are killed in the foyer and the adjoining rooms of the plantation. By the end, not only is the floor littered with bullet riddled corpses, but during the gunfight, we have people who get shot many times past the point of death who survive, and the walls look like someone splashed a big bucket of blood all over them.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: Both Django and Schultz are [[AntiHero Anti-Heroes]] who do morally ambiguous things throughout the film. But their morally questionable/violent acts are almost always directed at {{Asshole Victim}}s.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Averted to the point that it verges on parody. The 'nigger on a horse' gag as they ride into Daughtrey is clearly an homage to the 'welcoming the sheriff' scene in ''Film/BlazingSaddles'' -- right down to the porch-front reaction-shots.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Calvin Candie, a Mississippi plantation owner and utter bigot. Ironically, his black servant Stephen [[BoomerangBigot is one as well]].
* PositiveDiscrimination: Averted strongly. Django, the hero, is a bitter, driven man hardened after years of slavery. And Stephen, the head house slave, is the most ''evil'' character in the whole movie.

** Done by Candie's entourage as they walk back to the mansion before the climax.
** Django walking amidst the flames of [[spoiler:the demolished Candyland.]]

** Schultz kills [[spoiler:Big Daddy's thugs]] following a friendly ''"Auf Wiedersehen!"''

* ProfaneLastWords: [[spoiler:Before Stephen gets blown up along with Candyland, he spends his last minutes cursing at Django that he will be caught and killed for his crimes, ending with "Django! You uppity son of a--" [[CurseCutShort before the explosion cuts him off]].]]

-->'''Sharp:''' You ain't got nothin' better to do, than comin' to Bill Sharp's town, and Show. Your. ASS?

** A lot of people complained that the movie used the N-word too much. However, the N-word was one of the only ways to refer to black people in the 1850s; even they commonly used it to refer to themselves. People also complained about the way the slaves were tortured. According to Quentin Tarantino, most of the torture in the movie is based on real things that were done to slaves.
** The obscene amount of gore in most kills can be seen as over-the-top compared to most films where gunshots leave little more than a trickle. This is justified in that the film takes place in the 1800s, where guns were nowhere near as powerful or accurate as they are today. Back then, the best way to ensure a target hit was to maximize the spray, and a slower moving bullet is far more likely to hit a bone and push it out the back of a person's body than to simply go through the bone.

** Candie gives what he ''thinks'' is a scientific one to Django when he finds out he's there to save Broomhilda, using [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrenology Phrenology]] to 'prove' that Europeans people are more creative and independent than Africans, whom he says are more close-minded and submissive.
** Schultz, in turn, gives one to Candie, pointing out the shallowness of Candie's faux-Francophilia, and his hypocrisy, by pointing out that Creator/AlexandreDumas was black, something a real Francophile would have already known.

** "Snowy [=McSnow=]" (the Marshal the two men meet during their wintertime hunt) is, unlike the Daughtrey sheriff, rather accepting of a freed Negro slave.
* RedHerringTwist: In the scene where Candie is really, really insisting Schultz 'shakes his hand', his recently wounded and still bandaged other hand is clearly in view, and it seems probable that Schultz is going to shake that hand. Hard. [[spoiler:Schultz kills Candie instead.]] This might not be a deliberate RedHerring though, since that hand wound wasn't in the script, and Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio really cut his hand by accident during shooting - they just decided [[ThrowItIn the scene worked better with the cut hand]].
* RemakeCameo: Franco Nero, who played the title character in the original ''{{Film/Django}}'', makes a brief appearance and discusses the pronunciation of the main character's name.

* RoyalBrat: Tarantino wrote the Candie character as a spoilt princeling.
* RuleOfFunny: Lara [[spoiler: flying backwards into another room after getting shot by Django makes zero sense from the angle it happens, but it is undeniably very funny. Auf wiedersehen!]]

** Hildy's introduction in the main story; she's pulled out of the ground, in a fetal position, soaked with sweat, and when the water is dumped on her, she starts screaming. Pretty much looks like she's being born. Also a nod to the Germanic legend of her namesake, Brunhilde who was trapped inside a ring of fire until Siegfried rescued her. The "ring of fire" in this case being the hot box.

* ScarsAreForever: Django and Broomhilda's scars never really go away and are there to show the cruel conditions they've had to endure.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Willard, after the other proto-Klansmen repeatedly criticize the job his wife did making their bag-hoods.

* ScrewYourUltimatum: [[spoiler:Following Candie's ultimatum that they buy Broomhilda immediately for $12,000 lest she die, he then gives another ultimatum demanding Schultz's remaining dignity (by sharing a friendly handshake) or the deal is off. Schultz responds to this by putting a bullet in Candie's chest.]]

** Stephen uses the phrase, "That will be the story of you," when detailing Django's ignominious end as a mining slave. This exchange is lifted from the scene where Bill warns the Bride against showing cheek to Pai Mei; A morally-ambiguous protagonist kills a RetiredMonster in front of their child, though, here, the protagonist is extremely reluctant.

** Stephen is last seen severely injured but alive and screaming abuse at Django, same as Elle after her fight with The Bride. They're both also left in very precarious situations and we don't see their bodies after the fight. While it's possible that Elle could have left the trailer without getting bitten by her own black mamba, it's highly unlikely 79-year-old Stephen could survive a load of dynamite exploding over his head. Both of them are {{Evil Counterpart}}s of the protagonists: The Bride and Django (both on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge over a loved one and tutored by white-haired masters) fight more or less fairly while Stephen and Elle (both very cozy with the enemy and use others to do their fighting) are incredibly {{Manipulative Bastard}}s.

* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Schultz takes this up to eleven, as several occasions have him use more diverse English than Americans, who get confused and request he talk properly.

* SherlockScan: Stephen uses one of these to see through Schultz's plan.

** An especially pointed one to ''Film/{{The Birth of a Nation|1915}}''. The scene in which the proto-KKK riders charge in to the music from Wagner's "Music/RideOfTheValkyries" is lifted directly from the former movie, where it's the Klan's BigDamnHeroes moment. Given that "Django" immediately goes on to savagely mock the Klansmen with five minutes of SeinfeldianConversation followed by most of them dying in Schultz's trap, it's pretty clearly intended as a TakeThat.
** TheStinger has one of the (former) Candyland slaves ask "who was that nigger?" in reference to Django. This phrase is very possibly a subtle reference to ''Radio/TheLoneRanger'', another vigilante hero widely known for his supreme marksmanship and fighting skills.
* SickeningCrunch: What we hear as one of the [[InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath mandingo]] fighters finally subdues the other--implying most likely a broken back--after which Candie gives the victor a hammer and orders him to deliver the [[FinishHim coup de grace]].

* SlaveBrand: Both Django and Broomhilda have an "r" (for "runaway") branded on their right cheekbone.
* SlaveMarket: It naturally features a slave market scene when Django and Schultz arrive in Mississippi to look for Broomhilda following Django's TrainingMontage in the winter. The original script and the comic adaptation has Schultz describe the market as "a scene out of Dante", to which Django, who has had first-hand experience with such markets, says, "You should see it from the other side."
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Mentioned when Django is talking about posing as a black slaver in the pre-Civil War South. He mentions a black slaver being considered "lower than the head house nigger, and that's pretty fuckin' low!" amongst the slave population. And Django should know: [[AssholeVictim he executes Calvin Candie's smarmy house slave without remorse]].

** When the proto-KKK ride down the hill a-la Birth of a Nation, they appear set on a direct immediate ambush on the wagon... only for it to cut to them standing around and discussing the pragmatics of their hoods and a speech about the pragmatics of killing.
* SoundOnlyDeath: [[spoiler:D'Artagnan's grisly demise to Candie's dogs]] [[GoryDiscretionShot abruptly cuts]] to a ReactionShot of a shocked Dr. King and an ice-cold Django watching it happen.
* SoundtrackDissonance: InUniverse. During the negotiations over Brunhilde, a harpist plays Beethoven. Since Schultz is reminscing about the slave torn apart by dogs, he becomes so agitated, he forces the harpist to stop playing.
* SouthernBelle: Calvin's sister, Lara, introduced as such.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Hildy's name is obviously intended to be Brünnhilde (or Brynhildr, Brunhild or Brynhild), given that the mistress who named her was German. The only times we see it written down, however, it is spelled Broomhilda.

** Who killed [[spoiler:Candie? A dentist]].

** The girl at the Cleopatra Club that's attending to Candie is wearing a ''chocolate'' brown dress.
* StepfordSmiler: Lara's default setting is to wear a giant grin at all times and act like nothing is unusual. She only breaks this routine off once, when Calvin tries to show off Hildy's scars at dinner.

** The proto-KKK raiding party assaulting Schultz and Django are hung up for way too long on how bad their masks are, and most of Candie's trackers and the phony sheriff are mush-mouthed scum-of-the-earth.

** The Regulators are a proto-KKK of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=843Q5-6j5Zw breathtaking incompetence]], trying to ride horses in masks with eyeholes that don't fit, arguing whether or not to wear the masks, and end up blundering straight into a trap set by the heroes.

* SuperFunHappyThingOfDoom: Calvin Candie's plantation is called Candyland.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: As it turns out, attempting a raid while horseriding in the middle of the night with poorly eyehole-cut bags on your head makes seeing where you're going rather difficult.
* TakeThat: The proto-Klansmen's issues with their bags is a reference to Creator/JohnFord's accounts of his playing a Klansman in ''Film/{{The Birth of a Nation|1915}}'', where he apparently was the one who kept holding up his hood so he could see. Quentin has been ''very'' vocal about how disgusting he finds Ford having taken the role--let alone brag about it--and Word of God is that this part of ''Django Unchained'' is specifically meant to be this trope.
* ATasteOfTheLash: Django and Hildy were both flogged for attempting to run away from their original plantation. Django interrupts another flogging by the Brittle brothers on Big Daddy's plantation, and one of the Brittle Brothers [[IronicDeath gets whipped by Django before he dies.]]
* TimeCompressionMontage: Django and Schultz's partnership over the winter months is relegated to a short montage that consists of them journeying through snowy mountain ranges and taking out several bounties.

* ToThePain: Lara Candie and the ranchers devise a smorgasbord of possible deaths for Django in the wake of [[spoiler:Calvin]]'s death, including cutting off his testicles and letting him bleed out. Stephen [[HintDropping casually remarks]] to each suggestion that the Le Quint Dickey Mining Company slaves have it ''way'' worse than any of that. What they do is they make you break big rocks into little rocks until the day you die. They take away your name, [[YouAreNumberSix give you a number]] and a sledgehammer, and say "Get to work!" No back-talk is allowed because if you do, they cut out your tongue (and you won't bleed out, because they're really good at it). You are worked until your back gives out, at which point they'll strike you over the head with a sledgehammer, and throw your body down the nigger hole. And ''that'' will be [[MakeAnExampleOfThem the story of you]].

** The [=LeQuint=]-Dickey Mining Company slave transporters are easily taken in by Django's story about a bounty. Then they untie him, a man who has just sold them on his skill at killing people, and just hand him a revolver. ''*Bang, bang, boom!*''
** Also, Miss Lara. [[spoiler:You'd think might have used the opportunity while Django was carrying out his bloody revenge on Billy Crash to run away. Although it's quite likely that Django would still have an opportunity to shoot her anyway, she makes no attempt at all to ensure her own safety. Though she was likely petrified just seeing what Django has already done to the remaining plantation henchmen.]]
* TrailersAlwaysLie: The commercials make it out to be a Western with almost nonstop action, with a heavy emphasis on bounty hunting, and set up Candie to be some sort of mastermind (as well as implying, by juxtaposition, that he's one of the Brittle brothers, when they're only {{Starter Villain}}s). In the film, the action is only in a few parts (as is common with Tarantino's films), Candie isn't introduced until just over halfway through the film and isn't especially intelligent [[note]] he doesn't figure out Schultz and Django's plan until [[DragonInChief his butler]] tells him [[/note]], and the duo are only shown taking down a couple of relevant bounty targets -- the majority of their work is done off-screen.

* TheUnintelligible: Mr. Stonesipher.

* UnfoldingPlanMontage: Played with in the "raid" scene. At first, it looks like there's a massive raid of Klan members who ride down and circle around the cart to get Django. Cut back to the planning stage where they complain about the plan and how they can't see through the eyeholes in the bags over their heads. ''Then'' cut back to the main scene, where the raid continues as planned.

* UnwillingSuspension: This happens to Django [[spoiler:after Candie's murder, waiting to be sold to a mining company infamous for working slaves to death.]]

** Calvin insisting that Schultz shake his hand just to rub his victory in.

** Every antagonist in the movie basically walks into Schultz and Django's guns for some reason. Maybe it's a homage to badly choreographed 70s western flicks, or maybe not.
* TheVillainMustBePunished: [[spoiler:Calvin Candie is apparently willing to sell Brunhilde to Schulz and Django... except that he insists that Schulz, who is utterly disgusted by his brutality and racism, shake his hand on the deal. Schulz shoots him dead, leading to Django and Brunhilde nearly getting killed and the eventual mass murder by Django of all Candie's surviving relatives and employees, plus Steven. According to Word of God, Calvin genuinely wasn't planning any further treachery and would have allowed Django, Schulz and Brunhilde to leave peacefully.]]

* VillainousIncest: There are several instances where this type of incest is heavily [[IncestSubtext implied]] between Calvin Candie and his sister Lara Lee. Now then, "WHERE IS MY BEAUTIFUL SISTER?!?!?!"

* TheWestern

* WilhelmScream: Heard when one of the escaping riders falls off his horse after Schultz shoots the hidden explosives in his van.
* WorkingOnTheChainGang: [[spoiler:After Django is captured following Schultz killing Calvin and dying himself, Stephen explains to Django that for the past several hours all the whites on the plantation have been thinking up various [[CruelAndUnusualDeath torturous ways]] to kill him (normally involving [[GroinAttack castration]]). Throughout the process, Stephen kept saying that each method of execution was far too quick and painless for what Django deserved, mentioning that the slaves they sold to the [=LeQuint=] Dickey Mining Company suffered much harsher fates. Eventually, Calvin's sister got the message, and decided "as if out of nowhere" to sell him to [=LeQuint=] Dickey, where he would spend the rest of his days breaking down rocks with no rest until his body gave out, after which they would finally kill him.]]

** [[spoiler:Django pulls this off twice in the climax. The first one was ambiguous; he shot a woman who had her face covered up with a bandana. The other one was clearly female (Lara Lee, an unarmed bystander), and he didn't really have a problem with it- even [[PreMortemOneLiner joking while doing it.]]]]
* YesMan: Stephen behaves this way around Candie, the plantation owner, exploding with laughter at all of his jokes. Stephen furthermore stands at his master's side and parrots his statements, though [[spoiler:this is revealed to be an act]].
* YouAreACreditToYourRace: Mr. Candie discuss the theory of the "exceptional nigger" and considers Django as one. However [[spoiler:he finds out that Django actually wants his wife back]], he amends that he's actually an unexceptional nigger.
* YouAreAlreadyDead: [[spoiler:Invoked with John Brittle and Mr. Candie due to their significance in the plot; despite other characters flat out ''exploding'' from gunshots, they both bleed mildly from a heart shot, and take a second to realize before keeling over and dying.]]
** [[spoiler:Justified in that most of the gun kills in this movie come from revolvers and shotguns. Candie, Bill Sharp and John Brittle are killed with the little hideaway derringer.]]

-->''Who was that nigger?''

* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Schultz takes this UpToEleven, as several occasions have him use more diverse English than Americans, who get confused and request he talk properly.

* PronouncingMyNameForYou: When Django shoots Billy Crash in the groin, Billy screams, "Da-jango! You son of a bitch!'' Django educates him before delivering the coup de grace:

** This wasn't the first time [[ThoseTwoActors Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington]] played [[Film/Ray a couple]].

** This wasn't the first time [[ThoseTwoActors Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington]] played a couple.

* KarmaHoudini: Carrucan, who is never killed by either Django or Schultz.

* KneelBeforeZod: Calvin demanding that Schultz shake his hand, or else his bodyguard will mow them down with his sawed-off shotgun.

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: When Candie is drawing up the receipts, Beethoven's "Für Elise" plays in the soundtrack. Schultz, extremely distressed at Candie getting the better of him (and having a flashback of D'Artagnan's horrible death) angrily makes miss Lara stop.

** Jamie Foxx's Django meets Creator/FrancoNero, who played the original Film/{{Django}} in the 1960s.
--->'''Django:''' The 'D' is silent.\\
I ''know.''

** Schultz asks Django if he is positive that he can identify Ellis Brittle, explaining that "positive" means "sure"; Django answers in the affirmative, and after Schultz shoots Ellis, he says "I'm positive he dead!"

** This film seems to go on the notion that local judges could write warrants that gave bounty hunters like Schultz nation-wide jurisdiction to track down criminals anywhere and murder them on sight. Even in the 1850s, this was not the case.

** Schultz, in turn, gives one to Candie, pointing out the shallowness of Candie's faux-Francophilia, and his hypocrisy, by pointing out Creator/AlexandreDumas was black.

* ComplexityAddiction: Dr. Schultz, which proves to be his biggest flaw. He repeatedly risks life and limb unnecessarily, starting in the sequence at the start where he kills the sherrif for a bounty and tricks him into coming to him. Candie openly says that if Schultz and Django had come to him openly wanting to buy Broomhilda, he'd have sold her to them cheap.

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: When Candie is drawing up the receipts, Beethoven's "Für Elise" plays in the soundtrack. Schultz, extremely distressed at Candie getting the better of him (and having a flashback of D'Artagnan's horrible death) angrily makes the Candyland harpist stop.

* ActionDuo: Django and Dr. King Schultz.

* AgentPeacock: When given the chance to dress like a white man, Django goes a bit overboard by dressing up in an outrageously flamboyant and ill-fitting ''thing''. Even the other slaves on Big Daddy's plantation think it's a bit over-the-top.

* AintTooProudToBeg: In a flashback, Django frantically negotiates with Big John, warning him not to "strip" (i.e. whip) a prized house slave. Big John has no intention of letting Brunhilde off the hook, but he smilingly watches Django fall to his knees anyway.
** Averted with [[DefiantToTheEnd Steven]]. Not that it would have done any good.
* AllGermansAreNazis: Averted; the German King Schultz is the only non-racist white character in the film.

* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Technically, "Fate Worse than Getting Your Dick Chopped Off and Then Being Killed": Stephen explains Django's punishment in this way. Instead of just castrating him and then torturing him to death (as many of the others want to do to him), Stephen suggests that they sell him to the [=LeQuint=] Dickey Mining Company, where he will do backbreaking mining work until his back gives out- at which point they'll bludgeon him with a sledgehammer and throw his body down the "nigger hole".]]