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* AffablyEvil: Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee is unfailing polite to Brown during their negotiations, offers Brown a chance to surrender without further violence, pats one of his soldiers on the back out of appreciation for a shot the soldier made, and says that as a soldier, it isn't his place to decide if slavery is right or wrong (which his future real-life actions contradict). However, he isn't really a DesignatedVillain either, as he kills Brown's companions without remorse and sounds like he agrees with UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson when saying that he heard the former president didn't view African-Americans as real people.
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* AffablyEvil: Lieutenant Colonel [[UsefulNotes/RobertELee Robert E. Lee Lee]] is unfailing polite to Brown during their negotiations, offers Brown a chance to surrender without further violence, pats one of his soldiers on the back out of appreciation for a shot the soldier made, and says that as a soldier, it isn't his place to decide if slavery is right or wrong (which his future real-life actions contradict). However, he isn't really a DesignatedVillain either, as he kills Brown's companions without remorse and sounds like he agrees with UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson when saying that he heard the former president didn't view African-Americans as real people.
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* EqualOpportunityEvil: Downplayed. The villains are all prejudiced against African-Americans, but a meeting of the most powerful and ruthless plantation owners in the region has one woman attending and being taken seriously by her peers, over half a century before women could even vote.
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A 2020 HistoricalFiction UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica piece. Shields "Emperor" Green (Creator/DayoOkeniyi) is an educated slave who goes on the run after killing a white overseer for abusing his son. Shields finds himself becoming a symbol for the African-American community, which leads to him accompanying the abolitionist John Brown on a risky raid meant to spark a slave revolt. Creator/MCGainey, Creator/MykeltiWilliamson, and Creator/BruceDern also appear.
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A 2020 HistoricalFiction UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica piece. Shields "Emperor" Green (Creator/DayoOkeniyi) is an educated slave who goes on the run after killing a white overseer for abusing his son. Shields finds himself becoming a symbol for the African-American community, which leads to him accompanying the abolitionist John Brown on a risky raid meant to spark a slave revolt. Creator/MCGainey, Creator/MykeltiWilliamson, Creator/JamesCromwell, and Creator/BruceDern also appear.
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[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/emperor_2020.png]]
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%%Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1657131264072442200
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
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[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/emperor_2020.png]]
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* AffablyEvil: Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee is unfailing polite to Brown during their negotiations, offers Brown a chance to surrender without further violence, pats one of his soldiers on the back out of appreciation for a shot the soldier made, and says that as a soldier, it isn't his place to decide if slavery is right or wrong. However, he isn't really a DesignatedVillain either, as he kills Brown's companions without remorse and sounds like he agrees with UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson when saying that he heard the former president didn't view African-Americans as real people.
to:
* AffablyEvil: Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee is unfailing polite to Brown during their negotiations, offers Brown a chance to surrender without further violence, pats one of his soldiers on the back out of appreciation for a shot the soldier made, and says that as a soldier, it isn't his place to decide if slavery is right or wrong.wrong (which his future real-life actions contradict). However, he isn't really a DesignatedVillain either, as he kills Brown's companions without remorse and sounds like he agrees with UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson when saying that he heard the former president didn't view African-Americans as real people.
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* LooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Shields Green, John Brown, and the raid on Harper's Ferry are all real, but Green's backstory is completely made up, Brown's raid kills more soldiers than in real life, and [[spoiler:Green's survival and escape are fictional.]] This gets a HandWave InUniverse, with Green's son commenting the Civil War histories have all been written by white men who have a vested interest in inaccurate versions of what happened and that this is the story as his father told it to him.
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* PragmaticVillainy: Plantation owner Randolph Stevens is a pitiless and venal man who has Shields whipped just to MakeAnExampleOfThem. However, he's only cruel when it won't cost him any money. After Shields escapes and becomes a symbol for the slave community and another slave owner suggests killing Shields' son in reveng to punish Shields, Stevens says "I've already lost one slave. I'm not destroying any more of my property." [[spoiler:Later, after being offered four times a slave's value, he sells the boy to someone who plans to free him.]]
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* PragmaticVillainy: Plantation owner Randolph Stevens is a pitiless and venal man who has Shields whipped just to MakeAnExampleOfThem. However, he's only cruel when it won't cost him any money. After Shields escapes and becomes a symbol for the slave community and another slave owner suggests killing Shields' son in reveng to punish Shields, Stevens says "I've already lost one slave. I'm not destroying any more of my property." [[spoiler:Later, after being offered four times a slave's value, he sells the boy to someone who plans to free him.]]
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* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Shields Green, John Brown, and the raid on Harper's Ferry are all real, but Green's backstory is completely made up, Brown's raid kills more soldiers than in real life, and [[spoiler:Green's survival and escape are fictional.]] This gets a HandWave InUniverse, with Green's son commenting the Civil War histories have all been written by white men who have a vested interest in inaccurate versions of what happened and that this is the story as his father told it to him.
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A 2020 HistoricalFiction UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica piece. Shields "Emperor" Green (Creator/DayoOkeniyi) is an educated slave who goes on the run after killing a white overseer for abusing his son. Shields finds himself becoming a symbol for the African-American community, which leads to him accompanying the abolitionist John Brown on a risky raid meant to spark a slave revolt. Creator/MCGainey, Creator/MykeltiWilliamson, and Creator/BruceDern also appear.
!!Tropes:
* AffablyEvil: Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee is unfailing polite to Brown during their negotiations, offers Brown a chance to surrender without further violence, pats one of his soldiers on the back out of appreciation for a shot the soldier made, and says that as a soldier, it isn't his place to decide if slavery is right or wrong. However, he isn't really a DesignatedVillain either, as he kills Brown's companions without remorse and sounds like he agrees with UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson when saying that he heard the former president didn't view African-Americans as real people.
* BankRobbery: Shields hides in a wagon to escape from slave catchers only to discover it's the home and getaway vehicle of Rufus Kelly, who has just robbed a bank and is being chased by the local lawmen.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Truesdale seems like a kind-hearted GoodSamaritan who is awed by Shields' heroism and wants to give him shelter for selfless reasons. However, he shows some smarminess and forcefulness when he makes his reluctant wife agree to hide Shields, and then it turns out he's planning to betray Shields for the bounty on his head.
* BountyHunter: Luke [=McCabe=] hunts down anyone with a price on their head, whether they're white outlaws or escaped slaves. His first scene shows him lassoing an unnamed man who's running through a field, then shooting him while he's down and getting into a gunfight with the man's brothers when they try to take his body back. He's next seen negotiating a fee to kill Shields and crush the LivingLegend surrounding him.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The bank robbery loot ends up being used to buy Tommy Green's freedom.]]
* DividedWeFall:
** Ruthless BountyHunter Luke [=McCabe=] gets into a standoff with two men over the body of his latest bounty, but regains the advantage because his would-be ambushers get distracted debating whether to give the body a proper burial or turn it in for the reward themselves.
** Abolitionist leaders John Brown and Frederick Douglas can't agree on whether they should attack an armory to trigger a slave rebellion or merely help more slaves flee to non-slave states. Douglas disapproves of Brown's willingness to risk the lives of his men and sons and feels that as a white man, Brown isn't in as much danger and can't appreciate the risks. Brown feels drastic action is necessary even if it means being {{Inspirational Martyr}}s, goes ahead without Douglas, and fails (although his pro-slavery enemies only get a PyrrhicVictory, as UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar isn't far away).
* FaceHeelTurn: Downplayed. A preacher gives Shields refuge and treats his wounds despite how he's obviously one of John Brown's men, but he does acknowledge that Shields in hiding in the church when [=McCabe=] and Grady show up and offer him a choice between part of the reward or getting killed if he resists them. Since they already know Shields is hiding there, the preacher's acquiesce doesn't mean too much and may not be too wholehearted, but he doesn't make a HeroicSacrifice rather than aid the slave catchers either.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: Shields is horrified when his wife is shot during his escape, but afterward, she's forgotten about entirely outside of a brief nightmare Shields has.
* HiddenInPlainSight: Shields and the slave in the swamp sneak past the slave catchers inside a hollow log that they push across the river like it's floating.
* HowWeGotHere: The film begins with the raid on Harper's Ferry, prominently featuring Shields, then cuts back to months earlier, when Shields was still a slave.
* JumpedAtTheCall: Heroic and villainous versions appear.
** Shields volunteers for John Brown's near-suicidal raid on Harper's Ferry within hours, if not minutes, of meeting Brown and hearing his plan.
** [=McCabe=] and Grady encounter several farmers going to help the Army put down the raid on Harper's Ferry.
* LivesInAVan: A Western version. When a {{Posse}} shoots up bank robber Rufus Kelly's wagon, he complains that they're ruining his house.
* LivingLegend: Shields becomes hated and feared by pro-slavers and respected by slaves and anti-slavery guerrillas as a result of his actions on the run.
* LooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Shields Green, John Brown, and the raid on Harper's Ferry are all real, but Green's backstory is completely made up, Brown's raid kills more soldiers than in real life, and [[spoiler:Green's survival and escape are fictional.]] This gets a HandWave InUniverse, with Green's son commenting the Civil War histories have all been written by white men who have a vested interest in inaccurate versions of what happened and that this is the story as his father told it to him.
* LovableRogue: Rufus Little is proud of being a bank robber and doesn't hesitate to shoot {{Posse}} members who pursue him. However, he's also quite friendly and one of the few non-racist white men in the movie. He's surprised to find Shields hiding in his getaway wagon, but he doesn't really mind, works with Shields to try to escape, and later thanks Shields for not just stealing the wagon, telling him to take half of the money if Rufus survives his wounds and all of it if he doesn't.
* MadeOfIron: Rufus wrestles with a pursuer and kicks him out of the wagon while suffering from an AgonizingStomachWound.
* PapaWolf: When Shields sees whip scars on his son's back, he beats the white overseer (a lynching offense in the time period), then shoots him and one of his men after a fight.
* PragmaticVillainy: Plantation owner Randolph Stevens is a pitiless and venal man who has Shields whipped just to MakeAnExampleOfThem. However, he's only cruel when it won't cost him any money. After Shields escapes and becomes a symbol for the slave community and another slave owner suggests killing Shields' son in reveng to punish Shields, Stevens says "I've already lost one slave. I'm not destroying any more of my property." [[spoiler:Later, after being offered four times a slave's value, he sells the boy to someone who plans to free him.]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When Lt. Colonel Lee and his men put down John Brown's Rebellion, Shields flees on horseback rather than join the other remaining raiders in a doomed effort to fall back to the catacombs.
* SympatheticSlaveOwner: Mostly averted, but Shields' first owner, Duvane Henderson, comes across as a flawed UpperClassTwit, but one who is far more humane than his peers. He appreciates and listens to Shields' comments about the running of the plantation when Shields' new owner whips him for not acting subservient enough later in the movie, and Duvane' actions seem to go beyond PragmaticVillainy. He respectfully tips his hat to Shields as he and his family leave their former home. He also lets Shields' son Tommy take books to read and listen to Duvane's children's nursery stories. Once Randolph wins Duvane's plantation in a card game, things rapidly go downhill for the slaves.
* TongueTrauma: The first person to help Shields is a slave who had his tongue cut out because of how talkative he was.
* VillainHasAPoint: Lieutenant Colonel [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Robert E. Lee]] is a ruthless racist who has no qualms about putting down Brown's abolitionist rebellion, but he does validly point out that UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson, the man who wrote "All men are created equal", [[HypocrisyNod was a slave owner who probably wasn't thinking of ''everyone's'' rights]].
----
!!Tropes:
* AffablyEvil: Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee is unfailing polite to Brown during their negotiations, offers Brown a chance to surrender without further violence, pats one of his soldiers on the back out of appreciation for a shot the soldier made, and says that as a soldier, it isn't his place to decide if slavery is right or wrong. However, he isn't really a DesignatedVillain either, as he kills Brown's companions without remorse and sounds like he agrees with UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson when saying that he heard the former president didn't view African-Americans as real people.
* BankRobbery: Shields hides in a wagon to escape from slave catchers only to discover it's the home and getaway vehicle of Rufus Kelly, who has just robbed a bank and is being chased by the local lawmen.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Truesdale seems like a kind-hearted GoodSamaritan who is awed by Shields' heroism and wants to give him shelter for selfless reasons. However, he shows some smarminess and forcefulness when he makes his reluctant wife agree to hide Shields, and then it turns out he's planning to betray Shields for the bounty on his head.
* BountyHunter: Luke [=McCabe=] hunts down anyone with a price on their head, whether they're white outlaws or escaped slaves. His first scene shows him lassoing an unnamed man who's running through a field, then shooting him while he's down and getting into a gunfight with the man's brothers when they try to take his body back. He's next seen negotiating a fee to kill Shields and crush the LivingLegend surrounding him.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The bank robbery loot ends up being used to buy Tommy Green's freedom.]]
* DividedWeFall:
** Ruthless BountyHunter Luke [=McCabe=] gets into a standoff with two men over the body of his latest bounty, but regains the advantage because his would-be ambushers get distracted debating whether to give the body a proper burial or turn it in for the reward themselves.
** Abolitionist leaders John Brown and Frederick Douglas can't agree on whether they should attack an armory to trigger a slave rebellion or merely help more slaves flee to non-slave states. Douglas disapproves of Brown's willingness to risk the lives of his men and sons and feels that as a white man, Brown isn't in as much danger and can't appreciate the risks. Brown feels drastic action is necessary even if it means being {{Inspirational Martyr}}s, goes ahead without Douglas, and fails (although his pro-slavery enemies only get a PyrrhicVictory, as UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar isn't far away).
* FaceHeelTurn: Downplayed. A preacher gives Shields refuge and treats his wounds despite how he's obviously one of John Brown's men, but he does acknowledge that Shields in hiding in the church when [=McCabe=] and Grady show up and offer him a choice between part of the reward or getting killed if he resists them. Since they already know Shields is hiding there, the preacher's acquiesce doesn't mean too much and may not be too wholehearted, but he doesn't make a HeroicSacrifice rather than aid the slave catchers either.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: Shields is horrified when his wife is shot during his escape, but afterward, she's forgotten about entirely outside of a brief nightmare Shields has.
* HiddenInPlainSight: Shields and the slave in the swamp sneak past the slave catchers inside a hollow log that they push across the river like it's floating.
* HowWeGotHere: The film begins with the raid on Harper's Ferry, prominently featuring Shields, then cuts back to months earlier, when Shields was still a slave.
* JumpedAtTheCall: Heroic and villainous versions appear.
** Shields volunteers for John Brown's near-suicidal raid on Harper's Ferry within hours, if not minutes, of meeting Brown and hearing his plan.
** [=McCabe=] and Grady encounter several farmers going to help the Army put down the raid on Harper's Ferry.
* LivesInAVan: A Western version. When a {{Posse}} shoots up bank robber Rufus Kelly's wagon, he complains that they're ruining his house.
* LivingLegend: Shields becomes hated and feared by pro-slavers and respected by slaves and anti-slavery guerrillas as a result of his actions on the run.
* LooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Shields Green, John Brown, and the raid on Harper's Ferry are all real, but Green's backstory is completely made up, Brown's raid kills more soldiers than in real life, and [[spoiler:Green's survival and escape are fictional.]] This gets a HandWave InUniverse, with Green's son commenting the Civil War histories have all been written by white men who have a vested interest in inaccurate versions of what happened and that this is the story as his father told it to him.
* LovableRogue: Rufus Little is proud of being a bank robber and doesn't hesitate to shoot {{Posse}} members who pursue him. However, he's also quite friendly and one of the few non-racist white men in the movie. He's surprised to find Shields hiding in his getaway wagon, but he doesn't really mind, works with Shields to try to escape, and later thanks Shields for not just stealing the wagon, telling him to take half of the money if Rufus survives his wounds and all of it if he doesn't.
* MadeOfIron: Rufus wrestles with a pursuer and kicks him out of the wagon while suffering from an AgonizingStomachWound.
* PapaWolf: When Shields sees whip scars on his son's back, he beats the white overseer (a lynching offense in the time period), then shoots him and one of his men after a fight.
* PragmaticVillainy: Plantation owner Randolph Stevens is a pitiless and venal man who has Shields whipped just to MakeAnExampleOfThem. However, he's only cruel when it won't cost him any money. After Shields escapes and becomes a symbol for the slave community and another slave owner suggests killing Shields' son in reveng to punish Shields, Stevens says "I've already lost one slave. I'm not destroying any more of my property." [[spoiler:Later, after being offered four times a slave's value, he sells the boy to someone who plans to free him.]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When Lt. Colonel Lee and his men put down John Brown's Rebellion, Shields flees on horseback rather than join the other remaining raiders in a doomed effort to fall back to the catacombs.
* SympatheticSlaveOwner: Mostly averted, but Shields' first owner, Duvane Henderson, comes across as a flawed UpperClassTwit, but one who is far more humane than his peers. He appreciates and listens to Shields' comments about the running of the plantation when Shields' new owner whips him for not acting subservient enough later in the movie, and Duvane' actions seem to go beyond PragmaticVillainy. He respectfully tips his hat to Shields as he and his family leave their former home. He also lets Shields' son Tommy take books to read and listen to Duvane's children's nursery stories. Once Randolph wins Duvane's plantation in a card game, things rapidly go downhill for the slaves.
* TongueTrauma: The first person to help Shields is a slave who had his tongue cut out because of how talkative he was.
* VillainHasAPoint: Lieutenant Colonel [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Robert E. Lee]] is a ruthless racist who has no qualms about putting down Brown's abolitionist rebellion, but he does validly point out that UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson, the man who wrote "All men are created equal", [[HypocrisyNod was a slave owner who probably wasn't thinking of ''everyone's'' rights]].
----
