History Film / TheFifthElement

* PushyGunTotingVillain: Attempted, but very quickly subverted [[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]]: A thief attempts to rob Korben Dallas at gunpoint when he tricks him into opening his apartment's front door. However, the thief seems too nervous or high to think straight...
-->''[Korben opens the front door after noticing the hallway is empty]''\\
''[the viewpoint turns out to be a [[CameraSpoofing photo of the hallway attached to the thief's hat]]]''\\
'''Thief:''' ''[visibly shaking, points an enormous rifle at Dallas]'' HA! uuuurgh... gimme the caaash...\\
'''Korben:''' ''[visibly confused]'' Been here long?\\
'''Thief:''' [[MotorMouth YEAHOKAYNOWCOMEONGIMMETHECASSSHHHHHHHHHH]]...\\
'''Korben:''' Is that a Z-140?... Deviated Titanium... No-charge assault model...\\
'''Thief:''' YEAH?! YEAH?!\\
'''Korben:''' Good thing for me it's not loaded.\\
'''Thief:''' ''[nervously laughs]'' wh-...what do you mean, it's not loaded?\\
'''Korben:''' Well, you have to... you have to push that little yellow button to load it...\\
''[the thief continues nervously shaking, and he nervously laughs]''\\
'''Korben:''' Take your time...\\
'''Thief:''' ''[slowly reaches for the button]'' ''[snorts]'' oh God!\\
'''Korben:''' ''[tries to help him]'' You want me to...?\\
'''Thief:''' MMM! AH! ''[He straightens his aim at Dallas]''\\
'''Korben:''' okay...!\\
''[the thief slowly presses the button himself]''\\
'''Korben:''' There you go!\\
'''Thief:''' GAH! '''''GIMMETHECASHHHH!!!!!''''' ''[he attempts to fire, only for the weapon to power down]''\\
''[Korben pulls out his own pistol]''

* ProductPlacement: UsefulNotes/McDonalds. Could that sign ''be'' any bigger? Maybe if the camera crashed into... oh, nevermind.

* NothingCanStopUsNow: Munro is assured that Leeloo's containment vessel is unbreakable. Thirty seconds later, she breaks through the glass with her bare hands, no less![[note]]Also counts as SpecialEffectsFailure, as the obviously whole glass has quite clearly been replaced with a visible breakaway circle for Leeloo to punch, and the timing is slow enough that you'll probably notice it without having to pause.[[/note]]

* AnimalEspionage: One of [[TheDragon Zorg]]'s minions uses a cockroach fitted with a [[IncrediblyObviousBug hilariously conspicuous transmitter]] to spy on the president. The roach also seems to have a brain implant that allows him some rudimentary control over it. The president eventually notices the bug and squashes it, causing painful feedback for the listener. (Note that this is a parodical exaggeration. Despite the film being set a few centuries in the future, in real life the technology already exists to do this trick more effectively.)

* LiteralSurveillanceBug: A cockroach with a [[IncrediblyObviousBug really obvious]] set of surveillance gear strapped on its back. Leading to a hilarious moment when the President squashes it (thinking it is just a bug) and the man listening receives the noise of the strike many times louder plus feedback.

* LighterAndSofter: Compared to another humorous action films ''Film/DieHard'' (which also starred Bruce Willis) and ''Film/DemolitionMan'', which both were R-rated, this one is rated PG-13.

* KnightInSourArmor: A minor trope; Korben would rather not be saving the world, but living a nice peaceful life driving his cab instead.

* GunsDoNotWorkThatWay: Played in various ways in the movie. Zorg demonstrated a "replay" feature on his custom machine gun that actually ''makes'' its subsequent shots home in on the target of the first hit, regardless of which direction the gun is actually aimed (much to the surprise, then applause of the prospective buyers). Police fire ricochets off of Korben's cab early on, and Zorg successfully wounds Leeloo through a ceiling ventilation duct.

* GoingByTheMatchbook: Surprisingly, searching for and not finding matches is a repeated in-joke.

* {{Fictionary}}: Leeloo's alien language. It was invented by director Luc Besson and actress Creator/MillaJovovich (who played Leeloo). It was so thoroughly worked out that reportedly by the end of filming, Besson and Jovovich were regularly holding entire conversations in it.

* EvilLaugh: Subverted. Zorg gets one, then breaks down in tears, when he finds that the box he stole is empty (again).

* ChekhovsArmoury: Literal, but averted. Corben Dallas has a retractable ceiling rack full of weapons by his door. But he only uses it to store guns he picks off of desperate and inept robbers; it is never mentioned again.

* AchievementsInIgnorance: As they are trying to activate the stones, there are no instructions or directions found. David lets out a frustrated sigh, accidentally blowing air onto the Air stone. It reacts by slightly opening. After he alerts the others, David remembers about the breath and Korben surmmizes that the stones are simple: air (David's breath) for Air, water (Cornelius' sweat) for Water, earth (dirt) for Earth and fire (Korben's match) for Fire. Good thing he hadn't given up smoking!

* ChanceActivation: David does this with the Air element stone. He sighs at it in frustration, providing the key clue needed to open the three others: they have to use the Four Elements to open the stones — air, earth, water, and fire.

* LuckBasedSearchTechnique: [[spoiler:The Apocalypse clock has minutes to go, with the heroes still baffled over how to get the MacGuffin stones to open. Vito's lackey, David, resigns himself to their fate and sighs, accidentally triggering the "Wind" stone with his breath.]]

* MagicCountdown: Subverted when Zorg stops the bomb with 5 seconds to spare, and then the NotQuiteDead Mangalore sets off his own bomb with a 5 second countdown.
-->'''Mangalore:''' [[KarmicDeath For the honor...]]

* UrineTrouble: The idiot with the nice hat who tries to mug Korben, in addition to his nervousness and possible drug issues, is acting like he desperately needs to take a piss. Korben notices and comments, "Been here long?"

* RealityIsUnrealistic: The Diva's song was designed to be literally impossible for a human to sing, with notes and sudden pitch-shifts far outside the human vocal range...until [[https://www.tvovermind.com/fifth-element-diva-song-literally-impossible-sing-now/ someone pulled it off.]]

* LongList: General Munro's list of all the weapons and vehicles Korben (a former major) is qualified to use is the page image. General Munro tells him that the first reason he's been drafted for the world-saving mission is that "as part of The Elite Special Forces Unit of the Federated Army, you are an expert in the use of all weapons and spacecraft needed for this mission." Cue unrolling of the list.

* DescriptionCut: When Zorg explains what the [[SchmuckBait little red button]] on the [[SwissArmyWeapon ZF-1]] does.

* GilliganCut:
-->'''President:''' Is that your idea of a discreet operation?\\
'''General Munro:''' Don't-don't worry, sir. I know my man, he'll calm things down...\\
''[cut to three Mangalores going down under a hail of bullets and Korben charging out of a door with guns blazing]''

* FoodPills: Leeloo pours a small amount of food pellets into a bowl, puts the bowl in a microwave-like device, closes the door, presses a button, and opens the door again, pulling out an entire roast chicken with all the trimmings. Forget faster-than-light travel; ''that'' is clearly the pinnacle of human achievement.

** During the climax, the Dark Planet is described as having been stopped 62 miles from impact. Previously, the Planet was described as being 1200 miles in diameter. This means an object about three fourths the size of earth's moon is parked in an orbit no more than 62 miles above earth's surface. That's ''closer'' than the orbit of a geosynchronous satellite. Not only would such an orbit be untenable, but an object ''that'' size orbiting ''that'' close to Earth would wreak utter havoc on the planet's surface due to tidal forces. In fact that's so close the limb of the Dark Planet would be ''inside earth's atmosphere''.

* AerithAndBob: In the same character's name, no less. Jean-Baptiste Emanuel... ''Zorg?''

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The head scientist, while referring to the still-a-sample Leeloo, says "I can't wait to meet him.", even though he has complete access to her DNA, so he ''really'' should be able to notice the lack of a Y chromosome. So he either a) misled the general for no good reason, b) gave Leeloo a GenderBender for no good reason or c) he's incredibly incompetent and has this job.
* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: Zorg espouses the "Destruction Equals Employment" mentality, and demonstrates it by destroying a glass and explaining how the machines that clean the glass shards away employ so many people manufacturing them. However, Zorg doesn't mention that only companies like his, which profits off of war, stand to benefit, rather than society as a whole. It's a version of the Parable of the Broken Window, which is explained in more detail at Website/TheOtherWiki.[[labelnote:short version]]Destroying something only benefits those companies that can replace that destruction and nothing else. The theory is that a windowmaker hiring someone to go around breaking windows may benefit the windowmaker (in the short term), but does nothing for society as a whole, as money spent replacing windows is money that cannot be spent elsewhere, and is spent simply on restoring the status quo. Also, disasters are not profitable, as money is spent restoring a status quo that could have been spent on improvements elsewhere absent the disaster in question. War is also a useless expense, as money is spent on bullets that fire and bombs that explode that destroy buildings and machines that money has been spent to create. Money spent on war and the military and the industries that support them are by definition a necessary sunk cost, as a state-sponsored military cannot generate profit or become self-sustaining (relying on continuous infusions of taxpayer money to function) and, at its most basic level, their function is to blow shit up and kill people, neither of which have an inherent economic benefit. This doesn't mean war cannot in the long term create conditions where future economic expansion can flourish, but that is outside the scope of this theory.[[/labelnote]]

** Later, Korben hands a loaded pistol with the safety off to Ruby Rhod, who clearly is terrified of it, and tells him to cover a prisoner. Ruby almost immediately kills said prisoner with an accidental discharge.

** During the climax, the Dark Planet is described as having been stopped 62 miles from impact. Previously, the Planet was described as being 1200 miles in diameter. This means an object about three fourths the size of earth's moon is parked in an orbit no more than 62 miles above earth's surface. That's ''closer'' than the orbit of a geosynchronous satellite. Not only would such an orbit be untenable, but an object ''that'' size orbiting ''that'' close to earth would wreak utter havoc on the planet's surface due to tidal forces. In fact that's so close the limb of the Dark Planet would be ''inside earth's atmosphere''.

* CatchingUpOnHistory: When the [[UltimateLifeForm Supreme Being]] Leeloo is regenerated FromASingleCell, she catches up on the last 5000 years of human history by speed-reading the encyclopedia. This causes [[HeroicBSOD some difficulty]] when she gets to [[HumansAreBastards the entry on War]].

* CreatorsCultureCarryover: Korben lives in New York, and loses all five points left on his driver's license. In America, points are added for traffic violations, whereas in France, points are removed.

* EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: The SealedEvilInACan pops out every 5000 years to attack Earth. Justified in that an Ancient alien race hid a weapon there capable of destroying said evil, which would also have allowed the evil to wipe out all life in creation.
* ElementNumberFive: The movie uses this trope as a central plot point, as the title implies. However, it's not until the very end that this is explained. While Leeloo is called "the Fifth Element", The movie's director says the actual fifth element is [[spoiler:sex]].

* EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce: The personification of evil springs up every 5000 years. The titular element has to be used in conjunction with the four element stones to wipe it out, but it keeps coming back. If evil gets the four stones, however, it can wipe out all life in the universe. No recovering from that.

* HardHead: Vito Cornelius steals the tickets Korben won for Fhloston Paradise by conking him on the head with one of his trophies. Leeloo [[WhatTheHellHero chews him out the entire way]] as they escape.

* IncrediblyObviousBug: Literally: the bad guy uses a cockroach fitted with an antenna to spy on the president. Of course, there's a downside to this: the President squashes the bug (and the microphone) when it climbs onto the desk. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrHMBletjXg Goodbye, eardrums!]] It tries to maneuver a fully grown cockroach right through a bustling and ''absolutely pristine'' room without anyone noticing. The chances for the roach to make it through alive were basically zilch even without the listening equipment grafted to its back.

* LiteralSurveillanceBug: A cockroach with a really obvious set of surveillance gear strapped on its back. Leading to a hilarious moment when the President squashes it (thinking it is just a bug) and the man listening receives the noise of the strike many times louder plus feedback.

* SmartGun: The ZF-1 is packed with features, including "Replay", which sends every bullet to the designated target no matter which direction the gun is actually pointing.

* StarshipLuxurious: The Fhloston Paradise, which is designed to be a luxury line in space. Its interior is a combination of a five-star hotel and the Sydney Opera House. It also works as a low-altitude airship so patrons can visit the beach. Sadly, though not surprisingly, it gets blown up at the climax of the film.

* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot: The movie as a whole doesn't pay a lot of attention to logical progression of time. When the 22nd century sequences begin, it's said that the "Evil" will arrive in only ''48 hours'', yet far more than 24 hours worth of activities take place (not the least of which is the recovery of Leeloo's remains) before Korben Dallas is assigned to go to Fhloston Paradise several hours after it is mentioned that the Diva will be performing "in four hours". Yet Fhloston is located in another solar system, so to travel there requires the passengers to be put to sleep for an unknown length of time, and it's later indicated that the actual concert takes place about a day after the flight. Oh, and we also have to factor in the flight back to Egypt and getting to the chamber. Did I mention all of this is supposed to have taken place in ''less'' than 48 hours?

'''Zorg:''' I'm screwed.

-->'''Zorg:''' I like killer. A real dyed in the wool killer. Cold-blooded. Clean. Methodical. Thorough. A killer, when he picked up the ZF1, would've immediately asked about the little red button on the bottom of the gun.

* WireDilemma: Subverted. When Ruby Rhod discovers a ticking bomb aboard the Phloston Paradise cruise ship, Ruby asks Korben Dallas if he knows how to defuse a bomb. Korben stares in shock a bit, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere before cutting to them fleeing the ship]].

* ActionGirlfriend: Leeloo. She's an UltimateLifeform that was bred for war.

* AffablyEvil: Zorg is cold, calculating, and ruthless, but also devilishly charming and considers his line of work not all that different from Cornelius's.

* AncientOrderOfProtectors: The Mondoshawan's Earth followers seem to have elements of this. One is willing to kill an archaeologist who is on the verge of discovering the elemental weapon.

* ArtificialPerson: Leeloo was created by the Mondoshawan; prior to her reconstruction in a human government hospital, she was in fact treated as nothing more (or less) than the focal point of an elemental ConvergingStreamWeapon.

* AxCrazy: Zorg. His reaction to any slight is to kill whoever does it, usually via explosion or gunfire. It's a perfect showcase of how grateful he is for Father Cornelius saving his life that he decides to spare him.
* BadassAdorable: Leeloo is cute, innocent, has no [[NoSocialSkills social skills]] or [[InnocentFanserviceGirl nudity taboo]] and is perfectly capable of breaking every bone in your body without breaking a sweat. Which she ''will'' do if you cross her, and especially come damn close to doing if you kiss her "without her permission."

* BadBoss: '''Never''' disappoint Zorg, or you might catch a sudden case of [[StuffBlowingUp spontaneous combustion]]. For that matter, his boss isn't that much nicer to him, and is prone to making him, say, bleed from every orifice for any setbacks.

* BadLiar: David the apprentice priest. The man stutters and mishandles the faked Korben Dallas multipass to the point that the airline attendant was starting to think he was suspicious before the real Korben arrived.

* BenevolentBoss: Aside from a few minor jerkass moments, General Munro seems like a pretty nice guy.
* BenevolentPrecursors: The Mondoshawans ("Monduchivans" in the language originally spoken by Leeloo). They set up a [[AncientTradition secret order]] on Earth to safeguard the elements needed to fight the Ultimate Evil. They came back to remove the elements to a safer place when UsefulNotes/WorldWarI threatened them, and they were in the process of returning them when they were shot down by Mangalore warriors flying illegal starfighters supplied by Mr. Zorg. But even then, they had been clever enough to anticipate it and hid [[spoiler:four out of five of]] the Elements somewhere else instead.

* BigEater: Likely a byproduct of the regeneration process, but holy HELL Leeloo was hungry! She polishes off an [[FoodPills instant roast chicken]], dumps the bones in the trash, and immediately goes back for another.

** Not Big, but definitely red, is one mentioned by Zorg: "I hate warriors, too narrow-minded. I'll tell you what I do like though: a killer, a dyed-in-the-wool killer. Cold blooded, clean, methodical and thorough. Now a real killer, when he picked up the ZF-1, would've immediately asked about the little red button on the bottom of the gun." Immediately after, Arnot the Mangalore pushes that button, and the weapon {{self destruct|Mechanism}}s. [[StuffBlowingUp Impressively.]]

* BirthmarkOfDestiny: The eponymous Fifth Element, Leeloo, has the symbols for the four elements on her wrist. As her hand was the only part of her body that survived a space battle, and she was reconstituted from that, she may have had other markings originally.

* TheCasanova: Ruby Rhod. His second act in the entire film is seducing a flight attendant during takeoff (where he also mentions that he's had non-human lovers). Then when introducing some dignitaries at the opera, he mentions an emperor's daughter, and plays a recording of her [[TheImmodestOrgasm talented singing voice]].

* CloneJesus: Leeloo, though she isn't really ''cloned'' per se.

* TheComicallySerious: Korben... at least in comparison to [[FunPersonified Ruby Rhod]].

* ContrivedCoincidence: Some of it is specifically invoked by characters, but the government fixes a radio contest to give Korben a cover story on Fhloston Paradise during his mission to retrieve the four elemental stones for them. He just happens to be the cab driver who, earlier, had Leeloo (the Fifth Element) drop in on him. He dropped her off with a priest, who later heard he won the contest on the radio and shows up at Korben's apartment while the military is there to recruit him.

* CosmicKeystone: Leeloo, who acts as the focal point of a superweapon against evil.

* CuteBruiser: Leeloo is tiny, but she is strong enough to break out of a "bulletproof" glass sarcophagus and knock out a dozen Mangalores in hand-to-hand combat and tough enough to survive [[CarCushion crashing through]] the roof of Dallas's cab.

* DiabolusExNihilo: The movie introduces The Great Evil, an angry, black sphere that doesn't even have a proper name, let alone a motivation. But how would Bruce Willis find a cute thousand-year-old alien girl to nail without it?

* EldritchAbomination: The Great Evil, a sentient planet-sized ball of fire.

* EvilCripple: A mild example: Zorg has a slight limp and Cornelius makes mention of it. Every other footstep from him also seems to have something of a metallic sound to it, suggesting that one of his legs may be prosthetic.

* EvilSoundsDeep: "Mr. Shadow" appears only as a voice on the telephone, and it's about as deep as you can get and still be comprehensible.

* FunPersonified: Ruby Rhod, though he does grate on Korben.

* GeneralRipper: General Staedert, whose recommendation about the Dark Planet before they even know what it is is to blow it up. "My philosophy, Mr. President, is to shoot first and ask questions later. I don't like uninvited guests." Even when President Lindberg expresses some concerns and tries to rein him in, he comes dangerously close to disobeying his superior and fires anyway.
-->'''Lindberg:''' Staedert?\\
'''Staedert:''' Yes sir?\\
'''Lindberg:''' I have a doubt.\\
'''Staedert:''' ''[flatly]'' I ''don't'', Mr. President.

* GlassCannon: As described by the Diva, Leeloo is more fragile than she seems; she can fight, but she can be hurt, and her heart is even more vulnerable than her body.

* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Leeloo, who at first doesn't bother to hide her nudity when changing clothes.
-->'''David:''' They certainly made her...\\
'''Vito:''' ''Perfect''. Yes, I know.

* KavorkaMan: Despite dressing and behaving in a fashion that evokes CampGay, the ladies love Ruby Rhod, and he loves them right back.

* KickChick: Leeloo during the fight scene with the Mangalores. One high kick to a Mangalore's chin was actually done with a prop leg because Mila Jovovich couldn't bend her leg that far.

* KindheartedCatLover: Korben Dallas; our first sign that he's the hero is that he sweet-talks to his cat. He even gets needled that he prefers his cat to women.

* LargeHam:
** Zorg, since EvilIsHammy (as he presents the ZF-1, Creator/GaryOldman even [[AsideGlance winks at the camera]]).
** Ruby Rhod, which takes a nod further by cross dressing.
* LaserGuidedTykebomb: Leeloo acts very naive and flighty at times, but when it's time for business, just pray you're on her side and not her enemy.

* LittleGreenManInACan: The Mondoshawan are only seen in shells that have really big waddling rears with tiny dog-like heads that give them a very odd Humpty Dumpty appearance. The clunkiness is reminiscent of practical space suits and the shell preserves a sense of mystery about their true form-maybe they're giant eggs. The Mondoshawan have extensively modified themselves with cybernetics to adapt to life in space. The outer shell effectively ''is'' their body, and is only barely capable of moving around in terrestrial environments.

* TheLoad: Ruby. Justified: He's a talk show host, not a commando like Korben.

* LoveBeALady: The titular Fifth Element is implied to be Love, and when it is synthesized with the use of biotechnology, it takes on the form of a beautiful woman called Leeloo. Luc Besson later clarified that the Fifth Element is actually sex, or more specifically the ability for life to reproduce. Leeloo being female and carrying enough genetic data to sustain ''thousands'' of species were hints that Leeloo's role as a protector was intended to be more motherly than warrior.

* MadeOfEvil: Mr. Shadow, the living planet that represents evil.

* MeaningfulName:[[IronicName Employed ironically]] with Zorg, whose personal names -- "Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel", (French for John the Baptist and Romanized Hebrew for "God with us") -- are incredibly ill-suited for a CorruptCorporateExecutive who's trying to end the world for his own selfish reasons.
* MechanisticAlienCulture: The Mondoshawan. Are they beings wearing powered suits of armor, or are they MechanicalLifeforms? It's pretty ambiguous. Then again, some of the dialog during Leeloo's reconstruction scene implies that the Mondoshawan have DNA.

* MotorMouth: Ruby Rhod. And Leeloo when she's initially heard speaking her native language, especially her full name.

* MysteriousWaif: Leeloo again, of course. She basically has the market cornered on all [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anima_and_animus anima]]-related tropes.

* OverlyLongName: Leeloominaï Lekatariba Lamina-Tchaï Ekbat De Sebat; she goes by "Leeloo Dallas" a few scenes later. "Ekbat De Sebat" is actually her title; the rest of it translates as a [[NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom description of what she was]] [[ArtificialHuman created to do]].
* OverlyLongScream: Ruby Rhod is prone to these when things get hectic. The biggest explosion in the film is ''accompanied by one.'' He even stops halfway through to draw some ragged breaths before going right back to screaming his lungs out.
* PhlebotinumGirl: Leeloo. She's the ultimate being, created for the sole purpose of unlocking the full power of the stones to bring the Light of Creation to give life where there is none, and to combat evil. Even her DNA is like a human, but far more complex and clearly engineered.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Granted Leeloo's ''current'' body looks to be in its mid 20's or so. But her spirit has been around a ''long'' time if she's fighting evil every 5,000 years.
* ReallyWasBornYesterday: Leeloo is literally Born Yesterday as a fully developed adult woman but has the behaviour, intelligence and attitudes of a young child.

* RetiredBadass: Korben, up until he's unretired.

* SciFiBobHaircut: Leeloo has unnaturally bright orange bobbed hair. Unusually for this trope, it's fairly messy.

* SpaceOrcs: Mangalores are ugly, brutish spacefaring mercenaries with a generically warlike culture, hired by the BigBad to attack the BigGood, steal the MacGuffin, and generally cause havoc.

* UncleTomfoolery: Ruby Rhod an obvious parody of Music/{{Prince}} as a CampStraight musician who's a lothario with the women in spite of his campy style and mannerisms. He's incredibly loud, self-centered and cowardly, making him function in the plot as a comic-relief [[TheLoad load]].

* TheUsualAdversaries: The Mangalores. They seem to have a legitimate grievance with humanity, since they're always violently attacking humans throughout the movie. The last words any of them speak are "for the honor".
* VerbalTic: Ruby Rhod's "Korben, m'man?"
* VibrantOrange: Leeloo has bright orange hair and is a playful, innocent young woman.

* AVillainNamedZrg: Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg. Especially significant as the whole movie is a reconstruction of sci-fi movies and comics of the 1970s and 1980s.

* WaifFu: Leeloo, the supreme being, proves herself supremely flexible and lethal to bad guys.

** The mugger waiting at Korben's door is none other than ''Film/{{Gothika}}'s'' and ''Film/LaHaine'''s French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz.

* MagicalGirlfriend: Leeloo, natch.

* MandatoryUnretirement: Note: Never join the military in the Future.

* MayflyDecemberRomance: Leeloo and Korben. Hard to tell for sure though, it's possibly subverted. They never say if Leeloo is immortal or was just kept in stasis.

* MyBelovedSmother: Korben's mother.

* NakedOnArrival: Add one more trope for Leeloo, though to be fair, they did build her from a severed hand.

* OneRiotOneRanger: Korben Dallas is sent to retrieve [[MacGuffin the elemental stones]], rather than, say, intercepting the Diva with the Navy and avoiding the whole public-place hand-off thing. The movie {{Handwave}}s this with the President saying he wants the operation to be as discreet as possible. Not that it [[HilarityEnsues works out that way...]]
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Again, Leeloo.

* OutrunTheFireball: Korben in the ship as the Mangalore bomb blows up the ship above Fhloston.

* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Twice it happens with Leeloo, with the men whipping around and obscuring her body from the camera both times.

* PostHistoricalTrauma: Leeloo's breakdown towards the end, once reading about the dreaded W for War in the encyclopedia.

* RaceAgainstTheClock: They have 48 hours before the BigBad "becomes acclimated" and is able to attack.

%%* SciFiBobHaircut: Leeloo.

-->'''Zorg:''' I don't like warriors. Too narrow-minded, no subtlety. And worse, they fight for hopeless causes. [[HonorBeforeReason Honor? Ha!]] Honor's killed millions of people, it hasn't saved a single one. I'll tell you what I do like though: a killer, a [[ProfessionalKiller dyed-in-the-wool killer]]. Cold-blooded, clean, methodical and thorough. Now a real killer, when he picked up the [[SwissArmyWeapon ZF-1]], would've immediately asked about the [[BigRedButton little]] [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo red]] [[SelfDestructMechanism button]] on the bottom of the gun.

* UncleTomfoolery: Hope you like Chris Tucker, because boy, do you get ''[[LargeHam a lot]]'' of him in this movie.

** Korben and Zorg never meet or even know about each other and that they're competing for the same goal. They come within feet of one another on an elevator landing and Zorg just keeps on walking because, again, he doesn't even know Korben ''exists''. Korben doesn't know Zorg is behind the Mangalores' activities or that he's working for Mr. Shadow. For that matter, Korben knows nothing of Mr. Shadow -- only that it's an encroaching threat. Likewise Zorg has no idea that Korben stopped the Mangalores on the cruise ship or that he's helping Leeloo. Zorg doesn't even know who Leeloo is when he tries to kill her, not even knowing that if he had succeeded, he would have no need for the stones. Only Cornelius has met Zorg and then only briefly on screen. The most direct harm that Zorg ever does to Korben in the film is fire him from Zorg Industries... via a form letter... that Zorg didn't even write himself... or send himself.

* WeOnlyHaveOneChance: With the Great Evil imminently bearing down on Earth in the climax, the main characters are in a remote temple, activating the only weapon that can stop it. [[spoiler:The activation is revealed to need a fire source. They have a matchbox with ''one'' match...]]

* WorldOfHam: Vito, the military, the President, Zorg, and of course... RUUUUUUBY RHODDDDD! (who seems to be able to induce hamminess in people who are talking ''about'' him and people he is ''talking to''.)

* YouAreAlreadyCheckedIn: Used intentionally to the point of being a RunningGag.

** Of course, there are other sapient alien races, some of whom can don human disguises, so maybe the question really was just standard procedure (though of course deliberately disguised aliens would likely lie about this too).

* BirthmarkOfDestiny: Leeloo carries the symbols of the four elements as a marking on her wrist most identify as a tattoo.

** When the Mangalores fail to deliver the stones to Zorg, [[spoiler:he tricks them into blowing themselves up with the ZF-1's self-destruct function. Guess what happens to Zorg on the ship later?]] (See KarmicDeath below.).
*** Zorg disparages the Mangalores afterwards, saying he prefers cold-blooded killers to warriors, because warriors prefer to fight for honor and hopeless causes. The last words by the Mangalores right before [[spoiler:Zorg is blown up]] is that he's doing it for their honor.

* CarCushion: Leeloo jumps from a building and falls into Korben Dallas's taxi.

* ChanceActivation: David does this with the Air element stone. He sighs at it in frustration, providing the key clue needed to open the three others: they have to use the Four Elements to open the stones — air, earth, water, and fire.

* DespairEventHorizon: Leeloo's reading about war.

* ElementNumberFive: We would have just called it The Fifth Element if this movie hadn't beaten us there.

* EverybodySmokes[=/=]SmokingIsCool: Korben, Ruby Rhod and Zorg all smoke. {{Subverted}} in that cigarettes are pretty much reversed from their real world counterparts, being mostly filter and a tiny part being actual tobacco. And Korben, who is automatically dispensed four (and only four) when he wakes up, is trying to quit.
* EvilCripple: A mild example: Zorg has a slight limp and Cornelius makes mention of it. Every other footstep from him also seems to have something of a metallic sound to it, suggesting that one of his legs may be prosthetic.
* EvilLaugh: Subverted. Zorg gets one, then breaks down in tears, when he finds that the box he stole is empty (again).
* EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce: Mr. Shadow comes back and attacks again every five thousand years. If he wins once, it's all over.
* EvilOverlordList: Zorg practically quotes Number 68 as he lets Cornelius go after Cornelius saves his life.
* EvilSoundsDeep: "Mr. Shadow" appears only as a voice on the telephone, and it's about as deep as you can get and still be comprehensible.

* {{Fictionary}}: Leeloo's alien language.

* FlatWhat: Zorg gets a couple of these.

** The DVD cover (and Page Image for the trope) is even worse: the floating heads take up almost the whole cover, and it looks as if the [[FlyingCar cars]] are frantically running away from them.
* {{Flying Car}}s: Haven't improved New York's traffic problems any, and most people still stay in 2D lanes like they're on the ground.

* FreezeFrameBonus: When Korben receives his letter telling him he's fired, you see the company he's been working for is Zorg's, in a nod to the scene in which Zorg fires a million employees to slow the economy down, "from smaller companies, like the taxi drivers'."
** It also contains a laundry list of code violations, ostensibly from Korben's driving antics earlier in the day, which is probably also why he isn't surprised by the news.
* FromASingleCell: This happens to Leeloo in the beginning. All that's left of her is her armored hand.

* HamAndDeadpanDuo: Korben Dallas, the serious ActionHero, is the Deadpan, and Ruby Rhod, the CampStraight JiveTurkey NonActionGuy is the Ham.

* ImpossiblyTackyClothes: Pretty much everything Ruby Rhod wears, plus plenty of others' clothes as well.

* IncrediblyObviousBug: Literally: the bad guy uses a cockroach fitted with an antenna to spy on the president. Of course, there's a downside to this: the President squashes the bug (and the microphone) when it climbs onto the desk. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrHMBletjXg Goodbye, eardrums!]][[note]]LifeImitatesArt[=/=]TechMarchesOn: ''[[http://wireheading.com/roboroach/index.html We can already do this]].''[[/note]] Bonus points for trying to maneuver a fully grown cockroach right through a bustling and ''absolutely pristine'' room without anyone noticing. The chances for the roach to make it through alive were basically zilch even without the listening equipment grafted to its back.

* LaserGuidedTykebomb: Leeloo acts very naïve and flighty at times, but when it's time for business, just pray you're on her side and not her enemy.

* LittleGreenManInACan: The Mondoshawan are only seen in shells that have really big waddling rears with tiny dog-like heads that give them a very odd Humpty Dumpty appearance. The clunkiness is reminiscent of practical space suits and the shell preserves a sense of mystery about their true form-maybe they're giant eggs, maybe they are octopuses piloting a walking tank.
** Word of god is that the Mondoshawan have extensively modified themselves with cybernetics to adapt to life in space. The outer shell effectively ''is'' their body, and is only barely capable of moving around in terrestrial environments.

* LongList: General Munro's list of all the weapons and vehicles Korben is qualified to use is the page image.

* LoveBeALady: The titular Fifth Element is implied to be Love, and when it is synthesized with the use of biotechnology, it takes on the form of a beautiful woman called Leeloo.
** Luc Besson later clarified that the Fifth Element is actually sex, or more specifically the ability for life to reproduce. Leeloo being female and carrying enough genetic data to sustain ''thousands'' of species were hints that Leeloo's role as a protector was intended to be more motherly than warrior.

* OneNationUnderCopyright: There's a legitimately elected government that has power, but it's also implied that Zorg's business empire pretty much runs everything and employs almost everyone. Early in the movie an underling informs Zorg that "the Council" has asked him to fire 500,000 employees to slow down the economy. Zorg fires 1 million employees instead (incidentally including Korben), ForTheEvulz.

* OverlyLongName: Leeloominaï Lekatariba Lamina-Tchaï Ekbat De Sebat; she goes by "Leeloo Dallas" ([[MemeticMutation Multipass]]) a few scenes later. "Ekbat De Sebat" is actually her title; the rest of it translates as a [[NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom description of what she was]] [[ArtificialHuman created to do]].

* PoliceState: The Federated Territories, or at the very ''least'' New York, are like this. ''"This is not an exercise. This is a police control."'' You have to live with that in your own home, to say nothing of the spaceport. The police are extremely well-armed and can put hundreds of holes in your vehicle just based on ''suspicion'' of you being a ''car thief.'' On the other hand, pretty much anyone is permitted to purchase and own at least a dozen fully-automatic weapons. Or at least such things are permitted for washed-up ex-soldiers who are now extremely reckless cab drivers. And extremely dumb muggers.

* {{Roboteching}}: The ZF-1 does this with bullets. The ZF-1's Replay function was so iconic it [[FollowTheLeader inspired several guns in later works]], like the Bullseye Rifle in ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}}''.

* AVillainNamedZrg: Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg

''The Fifth Element'' is a [[TheNineties 1997]] English-language French ScienceFiction {{Film}} produced by Gaumont. The brainchild of producer, director and screenwriter Creator/LucBesson, it stars Creator/BruceWillis, Creator/GaryOldman, Creator/MillaJovovich, Creator/ChrisTucker and Creator/IanHolm. The soundtrack was composed by Besson's longtime collaborator, Éric Serra. It was released by [[Creator/SonyPictures Sony Pictures Releasing]] under Creator/ColumbiaPictures in North America, while in France it was released by Creator/{{Disney}} under Gaumont Buena Vista International.