History Film / TheDarkCrystal

* GoodProstheticEvilProsthetic: [=UrTih=] the Alchemist and his Skeksis counterpart [=skekTek=] the Scientist both possess prosthetic arms and legs. [=UrTih=] wields a right arm and leg carved from wood, while [=skekTek=] has robotic prosthetics. Because the two were once a single entity, they both probably lost their limbs [[{{Synchronization}} at the same time]]. What's even more disturbing, it is mentioned that [=skekTek=] ''did it to himself'' out of a mix of scientific curiosity and sadomasochism, with [=urTih=] just sitting there taking it [[FridgeHorror as his limbs fell off bleeding without rhyme or reason]].

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [=skekZok=]'s actions causes the downfall of the empire, through killing Kira, giving Jen the resolve to heal the Crystal.

* ActualPacifist: The urRu/Mystics are kind, gentle creatures, but they do nothing to stop the Skeksis from destroying the land, enslaving the Podlings and committing genocide against the Gelflings. Justified in that [[spoiler:the urRu could not act against their evil counterparts without destroying themselves in the process. WordOfGod says even if they wanted to commit suicide to stop the Skeksis, the urRu have [[ExtremeDoormat no will to act]], because all the strength and drive of the urSkeks is embodied in the Skeksis themselves.]] Even the narrator states that the [=urRu=] live in a hazy, half-dream state.

* ArtificialLimbs: The Skeksis Slave Master has a hook for a hand while the Scientist has a mechanical arm and leg. [[spoiler:Their Mystic counterparts have wooden limbs in the same places.]]

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: The [[spoiler:urSkeks do this at the end of the film, unless they just return to their homeworld.]]
* AxCrazy: [=SkekZok=], the Ritual-Master, is the first to suggest killing Kira when she is captured and is the one [[spoiler:who stabs her to death]].
* BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil: Literally, since [[spoiler:the Mystics and Skeksis are actually two halves of one being -- if one of them dies, so does their counterpart]].

* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: The reason the Skeksis never sent the Garthims against the Mystics? [[spoiler:Their mutual lives are linked -- if a Mystic dies, so does a Skeksis.]]

* DesperateObjectCatch: Kira throws the Shard to Jen just before [[spoiler:she's stabbed]], so he can heal the Crystal when the three suns align.

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:The Skeksis Scientist. Although it was into a shaft into the center of the planet, and we see his opposite ''burn to death''.]]
* DissonantLaughter: The Chamberlain begins to laugh as [[spoiler:the castle crumbles and the [=urRu=] enter. It's clear he knows exactly what is going to happen next. It's ambiguous as to whether [[EvilLaugh he's pleased]] by the prophecy being fulfilled or simply [[LaughingMad doesn't care]] anymore.]]

** Jen himself when the castle is crumbling. He doesn't care about the danger of it coming down on him; he merely sits with [[spoiler:Kira's corpse]] and mourns.

* DyingRace: The film provides the page quote. The Skeksis and Mystics are both slowly dying out because [[spoiler:they are the two broken and incomplete halves of a single race of immortal beings]].

* EnemyWithout: Played with; [[spoiler:each of the urRu/Mystics and Skeksis are literally two equal halves of a whole being. WordOfGod says that in the past, the urSkeks tried to use the light of the Crystal to purify themselves by burning out the evil in them. Instead of purification, they achieved division because their darker halves were as much a part of their fundamental nature as their lighter halves]].

* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Skeksis castle. [[spoiler:In the end, we see underneath it is really a beautiful [[MageTower crystal tower]] of pure cut diamond]].

%%* FlatCharacter: Most of the characters, actually. It's justified in the case of the Skeksis and Mystics [[spoiler:due to them being only "halves" of an older race]].
* FreakOut: The Skeksis go completely non-linear when the [[spoiler:Crystal is healed]]. Seeing the [=urRu=] casually strolling in [[BigNo just makes it worse]].

** Kira, thanks to the Podlings. [[spoiler:It saves her from being drained by [=skekTek=] later]].

* FusionDance: [[{{Foreshadowing}} Foreshadowed]] by the {{Synchronization}} of the [[spoiler:urRu/Mystics and Skeksis]].

* GoodIsBoring: The urRu. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the passion, drive, and ambition of the [[spoiler:urSkeks]] is embodied within the Skeksis.
* GoodProstheticEvilProsthetic: [=UrTih=] the Alchemist and his Skeksis counterpart [=skekTek=] the Scientist both possess prosthetic arms and legs. [=UrTih=] wields a right arm and leg carved from wood, while [=skekTek=] has robotic prosthetics. [[spoiler:Because the two were once a single entity, they both probably lost their limbs [[{{Synchronization}} at the same time]]. What's even more disturbing, it is mentioned that [=skekTek=] ''did it to himself'' out of a mix of scientific curiosity and sadomasochism, with [=urTih=] just sitting there taking it [[FridgeHorror as his limbs fell off bleeding without rhyme or reason]].]]

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Completely subverted with the Chamberlain. Defrocked and kicked out of the Skeksis' castle, he makes obvious peace overtures to Jen and Kira. When Jen stabs him for his pains, his friendly façade completely drops and he tries to kill Jen and promptly drags Kira back to the castle to redeem himself in the eyes of the other Skeksis. It's pretty clear that his promises of peace are BlatantLies and his whole motivation is to capture a Gelfling or two in order to ingratiate himself with the rest of the Skeksis and get his position back. He is TheStarscream after all]].

* HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath: [[spoiler:Jen has one. He healed the Crystal, but Kira is dead. She comes back, but still... not to mention everything going crazy in the castle that makes one wonder if Jen actually ''succeeded'']].
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Many of the cute little fuzzballs that force [=skekTek=] into the bottomless shaft go down with him. Fizzgig too, though he ends up catching hold of something and gets rescued by Aughra. And of course, Kira]].

** Conversely, it's a MeaningfulName for the Skeksis themselves, as [[spoiler:they extract a life-prolonging potion from the Pod People and Gelflings in there]].

* LoadBearingBoss: An enormous subversion. [[spoiler:Once the shard is rejoined with the Dark Crystal, the [[EvilTowerOfOminousness castle]] appears to fall apart inside and out in great chunks of stone and mortar. Actually the stone and mortar is merely a thousand years of accumulated filth, grime and the Skeksis' own interior fittings, which is disintegrated by the power of the now-pure crystal, leaving a [[MageTower pristine castle of pure cut diamond]] as it originally was. Fortunately, the zombified Podlings were restored too.]]

* MagicalIncantation: [[spoiler:The [=urSkeks=] chant one to bring Kira back to life.]]

* MergerOfSouls: The wise urRu/Mystics and the wicked Skeksis were created when the Dark Crystal shattered. They were two halves of the souls of the urSkeks, powerful immortal beings who sought to purify themselves of evil but instead [[NiceJobBreakingItHero divided themselves]] into two halves: the Mystics and the Skeksis. [[spoiler:In the climax of the film, the crystal is mended by the hero Jen, and the two races are made one once more]].

* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: Jen has to dig through a box of nearly identical crystal shards to find the one that actually is the missing chunk of the Dark Crystal. [[spoiler:He identifies it after using a trick with his flute which he learned from the urRu]].

* OhCrap: The Skeksis concentrate their efforts [[spoiler:on killing Kira]], but forget about Jen. They start screaming their heads off when in Jen's incurred anger and despair he's about to heal the crystal, and there's nothing the tyrants can do about it.

* {{Precursors}}: The urSkeks, [[spoiler:the original form of the urRu/Mystics and Skeksis]].

* UnflinchingWalk: Aughra casually walks through the castle as it [[spoiler:is falling to pieces around her]].

* VillainBall: [[spoiler:One of the Skeksis stabs Kira ''after'' she throws the Shard to Jen, even though holding her hostage is the one thing that might've stopped him from using it. Instead, they're reduced to pleading with him to stop when Kira's blood is fresh on their hands and he's got nothing left to lose; yeah, like that's going to work.]]

* ProphecyTwist: "By Gelfling hand, or else by none." ''Both'' halves of this rhyme come true; Jen unites the Crystal again, but he does it by ''throwing'' the missing shard at it, meaning that ''no hand is touching the Crystal'' when it is healed.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The idea of only female Gelflings having wings isn't as bizarre as it sounds, as there are some real life insects (such as the fig wasp) where only the females have wings. Althought that's usually because the male either isn't as important to the species' propogation as the female (as in the case of fig wasps), or the male gets something else to compensate, such as a stinger.

One thousand years ago, on the planet Thra, the Crystal was whole. When it cracked on the day of the Great Conjunction of the planet's three suns, two new races appeared: the AlwaysChaoticEvil and aggressive Skeksis and the AlwaysLawfulGood but all too passive urRu (aka Mystics). A few centuries later, the Skeksis discovered a prophecy that the elf-like Gelflings would heal the Dark Crystal, thus undoing their reign, so they sent their [[EliteMooks Garthim]] to hunt them down and kill them all. All [[GenocideBackfire except for the protagonists]] Jen and Kira, the [[LastOfHisKind last of their kind]].

* WorldHalfFull: By the ending. Sure, the Crystal is healed, the [=urSkeks=] are restored and the land becomes green and good again, but the Gelfling race is still all but extinct with seemingly [[AdamAndEvePlot only two left]], not to mention the decimation of the Podling race[[note]]well, not really, since there are shots of the zombie Podlings being restored by the healing of the Crystal[[/note]]. There's a feeling that while things are much better, they aren't as good as the time before all the strife began.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The idea of only female Gelflings having wings isn't as bizarre as it sounds, as there are some real life insects (such as the fig wasp) where only the females have wings.

* PinballProtagonist: Jen spends most of the film this way. He doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing or much of anything about the outside world. He requires the Mystics, Aughra and then Kira to tell him what to do and help him out of every jam he gets into. It's not until Jen and Kira make it to the Skeksis castle that he actually starts to take an active role.

* [[WhenThePlanetsAlign When The Suns Align]]

** Even though the name of the planet this story takes place on is never mentioned, it's referred to in the novelization as 'Thra'. (An "e" was removed so it wasn't an obvious anagram for "Earth.")

** Jen is taken to the Podling village by Kira. They have a feast and dance to celebrate... then the [[NightmareFuel Garthim]] arrive. In all likelihood, drawn in ''by'' the loud party.[[note]]Or, you know, the crystal bat Kira brought down but failed to actually kill...[[/note]]

%%* AlienSky: The planet Thra has three suns; a small purple sun, a medium-sized red sun, and a large bright yellow sun.

%%* AlwaysLawfulGood: The Mystics.

** Aughra too is meant to be a combination of male and female genders, but may be far less disturbing to the audience due to her sounding like a [[CoolOldLady bossy old battleaxe of a grandmother]].

** Yet they're never seen to be used to actually fly up. More like [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory falling with style]]. In the novelization, Kira explains to Jen that long ago, female Gelflings were able to fly properly rather than just flutter to the ground.

%%* CuteButCacophonic: Fizzgig.

%%* DeadlyDecadentCourt: The Skeksis.

%%* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Kira.]]

%%* EitherOrProphecy: "...by Gelfling hand, or else by none."
%%* EmptyShell: The Podling slaves and the Garthim.

%%* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Or the beginning. Same thing.

** Par for the course for Creator/BrianFroud, admittedly.

* KillerRabbit: Fizzgig looks cute until he opens his mouth.

* LargeHam: The Skeksis in general, especially [=skekUng=] the Garthim-Master.
** "Trial by STONE!"
** "GARTHIIIIM! ATTAAAAACK!"

* MoodWhiplash: Jen is taken to the Podling village by Kira. They have a feast and dance to celebrate... then the [[NightmareFuel Garthim]] arrive. In all likelihood, drawn in ''by'' the loud party.[[note]]Or, you know, the crystal bat Kira brought down but failed to actually kill...[[/note]]

* NoBodyLeftBehind: Jen's mentor/father figure, [=urSu=] the Master, disappears when he dies.
** Likewise his evil counterpart [=skekSo=] the Emperor crumbles into a pile of ash and dust when he dies.

* RuleOfThree: The Great Conjunction of the three suns, the recurring visual motif of triangles.
** The [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary material]] makes it clear that this is present in Thra on a cultural and spiritual level: their cosmology, mathematics and art are all influenced by the number three, and Aughra criticises the urSkeks for attempting a division based on duality alone when threes are so important.

* VerbalTic: The Chamberlain's whimper.
-->"...mmmmMMMMMmmmmmm..."
** Lampshaded by the Garthim Master:
--->"I hate your whimper!"[[note]]The Chamberlain then decides to ''intensify'' the whimpering to piss him off.[[/note]]

** The prequel comics also reveal that the Skeksis once had ornamental wings that eventually atrophied and rotted away. When the Chamberlain is naked, you can see he has an extra set of limbs (like the Mystics) on his back.

** The [=urRu=]. When the Chamberlain's hand is stabbed, his counterpart says unemotionally, "So, my hand," when a deep gash appears in it. When one of them is consumed by fire, the others glance but continue on unemotionally.

There is a spin-off OELManga prequel, ''Legends of the Dark Crystal'', by Creator/{{Tokyopop}}, and a graphic novel prequel trilogy, ''ComicBook/TheDarkCrystalCreationMyths'', by Creator/ArchaiaEntertainment.

A sequel titled ''Power of the Dark Crystal'' got stuck in DevelopmentHell for years (to the point that ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' did a skit on the matter) and was officially cancelled. The unproduced script however was turned into a 12 issue comic book series by Archaia in 2017. A 12 issue sequel to that series called ''Beneath The Dark Crystal'' was released in 2018.

A Creator/{{Netflix}}[=-produced=] {{prequel}} series, ''Series/TheDarkCrystalAgeOfResistance'', was released in August 2019. The series got its own prequel, a comic book series also called ''The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance''.

A Creator/{{Netflix}}[=-produced=] {{prequel}} series, ''Series/TheDarkCrystalAgeOfResistance'', was released in August 2019. The series got it's own prequel, a comic book series called ''The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance''.

There is a spin-off OELManga prequel (''Legends of the Dark Crystal'') by Creator/{{Tokyopop}} and a graphic novel prequel trilogy (''ComicBook/TheDarkCrystalCreationMyths'') by Creator/ArchaiaEntertainment.

There is a spin-off OELManga prequel (''Legends of the Dark Crystal'') by Creator/{{Tokyopop}} and a graphic novel prequel trilogy (''The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths'') by Creator/ArchaiaEntertainment.

A Creator/{{Netflix}}[=-produced=] prequel series, ''Series/TheDarkCrystalAgeOfResistance'', was released in August 2019.

In 2013, an "original cut" of the film was leaked on Website/YouTube, featuring extended/deleted scenes, less expository dialogue and the alien language that the Skeksis were originally going to speak until test audiences responded unfavorably to it. Though it was taken down, it still can be found on Dailymotion and Vimeo.

* MoodWhiplash: Jen is taken to the Podling village by Kira. They have a feast and dance to celebrate... then the [[NightmareFuel Garthim]] arrive. In all likelihood, drawn in ''by'' the loud party.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thedarkcrystal.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''Another world, another time, in the age of wonder.'']]

* AlasPoorVillain: The Skeksis, when not plotting to kill Gelflings or drain Podlings of their life energy, are an AffablyEvil, warped brethren who get along despite disliking each other, and their desire to keep living [[spoiler:as separate entities]] is somewhat sympathetic [[spoiler:until the priest kills Kira]].

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: The [[spoiler:urSkeks]] do this at the end of the film.

** We are introduced to the friendly nebry and its babies. The next scene? The Skeksis eating a roasted baby nebry.[[note: And let's be honest: It looks DELICIOUS.[[/note]]