History Series / Cleverman

''Cleverman'' is an Australian TV series co-produced with New Zealand and the United States, starring Hunter Page-Lochard, Deborah Mailman, Frances O'Connor and Iain Glen. The show was created by Ryan Griffen, who wanted to create an Aboriginal superhero for his son, and draws heavily from the mythology of the Indigenous Australians. ''Cleverman'' is broadcast simultaneously on the ABC in Australia and Sundance in the United States.

'''''Cleverman''''' is an Australian TV series co-produced with New Zealand and the United States, starring Hunter Page-Lochard, Deborah Mailman, Frances O'Connor and Iain Glen. The show was created by Ryan Griffen, who wanted to create an Aboriginal superhero for his son, and draws heavily from the mythology of the Indigenous Australians. ''Cleverman'' is broadcast simultaneously on the ABC in Australia and Sundance in the United States.

* AllMythsAreTrue: Waruu is versed in the Dreaming, enough that he recognizes important story related events around him.
** He identifies the creature that killed Uncle Jimmy by its work and its reason for showing up: "when things are out of balance".
** He also recognizes the story from Uncle Jimmy as an indication said uncle made his choice of who will succeed him as Cleverman.
** A story contained in Uncle Jimmy's journal tips Waruu off that sap from a particular tree [[spoiler:can counter the Cleverman's HealingFactor.]]
* AmbiguouslyEvil: It's anyone's guess whether Waruu is a WellIntentionedExtremist or a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist, complicated by his horrible treatment of Koen, his FreudianExcuse, his violent and jealous tendencies, and his genuine desire to save the Zone. [[spoiler:At the end of Season One, he sides with Slade and furiously rants at the people of the Zone when they don't accept him as their leader, but also tries to fight the Namorrodor and has a very ambiguous expression when Koen finally steps up and kills it. At the final scene of the season when they face down the CA, he's nowhere to be seen.]]

* AwfulTruth: [[spoiler:Charlotte eventually learns that Jarrod has been experimenting on her and that their child has Hairy DNA]].

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: A young woman is revived from the dead by Uncle Jimmy.]] It is his last act as the Cleverman before he gives it to Koen.

** Anybody who is struck by the Cleverman's EnergyBall is stripped of their essence, and will simply cease to exist when they eventually die. [[spoiler:Gives way to FridgeHorror, as we learn this '''after''' Koen inadvertently hit Auntie Linda with it while fighting off Mungo's attackers.]]

** TheChooserOfTheOne: Uncle Jimmy.
** TheChosenWannabe: Waruu, a respected community leader who was close with Uncle Jimmy, fully expected to be chosen as the next Cleverman. He's not happy that it went to his screwup brother instead.

* WouldHurtAChild: The young Hairy girl Jyra dies five minutes into the first episode.

* InfantImmortality: Averted. A small child member of the Hairy people is killed by the authorities because her older brother was fighting back, and a 12-year old human boy is killed by the Namorrodor.

* DiegeticSwitch: At the end of the teaser of the final episode, the theme song is [[ThemeTuneCameo briefly played]] as diegetic music with a "cheap radio" audio effect, before the credit sequence proper starts.

* YouAreTooLate: Koen and Auntie Linda return too late to save [[spoiler:Mungo]].
* YourCheatingHeart: Ash is cheating on Blair with Koen. Waruu, with Belinda.

-->[[spoiler:'''Uncle Jimmy:''' Close your mouth, boy. You look like you've seen a ghost."]]

** A story contained in Uncle Jimmy's journal tips Waruu off that [[spoiler:the Cleverman's HealingFactor can be nullified.]]

** In Season Two this gets more complicated, where on one hand we see him using his new position to try to find Nerida and Latani as well as even preparing his luxurious new home for their return; but he also breaks an innocent man's nose to weasel out of a blood test. Later on he pours Koen a drink and tells him that they're brothers no matter what happens, right before attacking him with a knife.

** In Season Two this gets more complicated, where on one hand we see him using his new position to try to find Nerida and Latani as well as even preparing his luxurious new home for their return; but he also breaks an innocent man's nose to weasel out of a blood test. He pours Koen a drink and tells him that they're brothers no matter what happens, promptly before attacking him with a knife.

* AwfulTruth: [[spoiler:Charlotte eventually learns that Jarrod has been experimenting on her and that they're child has Hairy DNA]].

* HeelRealization: Two-for-one in "A Man of Vision", when Waruu's wife confronts him about [[spoiler:killing a man]] and he finds he has no excuse for it, and when Koen [[spoiler:breaks down crying when he remembers the Hairy girl that was killed because he sold her family out]].

* LegoGenetics: [[spoiler: Slade]] funds and runs research into Hairypeople DNA and ways to synthesize it into an enhancing [[BioAugmentation serum]] for humans.
* MagicVersusScience: Averted thus far; the supernatural experiences of the Cleverman are very separate from the experiments of [[spoiler: Slade]], although he does seek Koen as a test subject to further his Hairypeople research.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: It's anyone's guess whether Waruu is a WellIntentionedExtremist or a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist, complicated by his horrible treatment of Koen, his FreudianExcuse, his violent and jealous tendencies, and his genuine desire to save the Zone. [[spoiler:At the end of the season, he sides with Slade and furiously rants at the people of the Zone when they don't accept him as their leader, but also tries to fight the Namorrodor and has a very ambiguous expression when Koen finally steps up and kills it. At the final scene when they face down the CA, he's nowhere to be seen.]]

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: In season 2, Slade experiments on Koen's blood to learn more about the Cleverman's abilities. Cancer is presented as a pathogen that inflects and destroys cells, when it's actually the result of abnormal cell growth.