History Series / DragonsDen

--> '''James Caan:''' What have you got a patent for? \\

* EveryoneHatesMimes: Mark turned down a wine brand for the (stated) reason was that a mime was involved in the pitch. When asked if he doesn't like mimes, he flat-out states that "Nobody likes mimes, except for the mimes!"

* {{Fanservice}}: The first pitch of Series 11 started with three women in bikinis dancing, in order to show off the product in question (a tanning lotion and cellulite reducing cream).

* FollowTheLeader: [[invoked]]Discussed regularly. When a Shark is talking about whether a product is "proprietary" or not, that's the technical term for "Can a competitor copy your product and rip you off?" The Australian Sharks also have little patience for people who do not have the patents or the trademarks (with one notable exception, where they were more disappointed because the person who had the patent only had 3 years left on it)
** ''Shark Tank'' also had at least one show following ''its'' lead. Food Network briefly aired ''Food Fortunes'', which had some format changes (such as a studio audience that their investors can poll) but is still largely ''Shark Tank'' [[AC:[[RecycledInSpace for food/kitchen/restaurant businesses]]]].

* GetOut: Theo Paphitis delivered an '''epic''' one of these after an entrepreneur revealed that he owned a company that could have funded his product, but expected the Dragons to take the bulk of the financial risk associated with it.

* HappilyEverBefore: Kevin O'Leary's introductions mention how he started what became Creator/TheLearningCompany in a basement and helped grow it into a success that was acquired by Mattel. What the intros don't mention is that the acquisition is considered to be one of the worst of all time and ended up being a multi-billion-dollar loss for Mattel within a year[[note]]The Learning Company was accused of churning out software to maintain the illusion of productivity and success when it was actually operating at a loss. Such allegations date back to when the company was known under its original name, [=SoftKey=], and it undercut competitors and accrued significant debt while bying out other companies for their brand names and [=IPs=]. Because of the debts, staff and R&D budgets were cut, leading to a lack of development and stagnant titles. The fallout from the deal was so great, the implosion of the educational-software industry that followed was comprable to the UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983.[[/note]].

* HopelessWithTech: Duncan Bannatyne. He has stated he knows almost nothing about computers, and therefore never invests in pitches that relate to them.

* LighterAndSofter: The Canadian version of the show features dragons who are friendlier to each other than the dragons of other iterations. The Canadian dragons will tease each other, joke around with entrepreneurs, and go into joint deals more often than other countries' dragons.

%%* MamaBear: Hilary Devey.

** The Australian version also seems to be heading this way. In particular, they will often provide some sort of connection or offer to the entrepreneur that is not what they came for in terms of money, but can still benefit them in the long-term (for example, a "vegan snack food" company had Janine [owner of Boost Juice] agreeing to put them in touch with her buyer). For the child entrepreneurs on the show, they have also agreed to act as their mentor[[note]]due to various legal issues, the mentorship is usually what's given to child entrepreneurs in the Australian version in lieu of money[[/note]].

--> '''Barbara''': Why don't we go and knock 'em out? Let's go together and drop the royalty.
--> '''Mark''': Yeah, but I don't want to do the work!
--> '''Barbara''': I'll do the work! You know it'll work.
--> '''Mark''': You'll do the work?
--> '''Barbara''': Yeah, let's go and knock 'em out!

* StageMoney: The UK set includes ostentatious stacks of banknotes on the table beside each Dragon, which they would occasionally use to illustrate "throwing your money away".
** The Canadian version also has this as well, often in focus during the openings or in [[EyeCatch eye-catches]].

* StealthPun: For about the first decade, Peter Jones was introduced in the opening montage as a "telecoms giant". He's REALLY tall.
** The Australian host (Sarah Harris) seems to be fond of these.

* TooDumbToLive: The Canadian version featured a company by the name of ''Ms.'' Lube by Mechanchix. Presenting a company that blatantly infringes on the trademark of Mr. Lube would have been stupid enough, but it takes some sheer idiocy to present said company in front of a panel that includes Jim Treliving, '''co-owner of Mr. Lube'''. Even the other Dragons commented on the inevitability of a lawsuit (with Jim blatantly hinting that one was coming) and, after the episode aired, that's exactly what happened, leading to Ms. Lube going out of business.

* WorstWhateverEver: Duncan Bannatyne has variously stated the white glove idea mentioned near the top of this page or the cardboard beach furniture featured in [=S01E03=] are the worst ideas he's ever seen in the Den.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Kevin O' Leery may admit to being greedy, but even he won't endorse (let alone invest in) a product that's obviously a scam.

*** "Sooner or later, all roads lead to Mr. Wonderful."

* HappilyEverBefore: Kevin O'Leary's introductions mention how he started what became The Learning Company in a basement and helped grow it into a success that was acquired by Mattel. What the intros don't mention is that the acquisition is considered to be one of the worst of all time and ended up being a multi-billion-dollar loss for Mattel within a year[[note]]The Learning Company was accused of churning out software to maintain the illusion of productivity and success when it was actually operating at a loss. Such allegations date back to when the company was known under its original name, [=SoftKey=], and it undercut competitors and accrued significant debt while bying out other companies for their brand names and [=IPs=]. Because of the debts, staff and R&D budgets were cut, leading to a lack of development and stagnant titles. The fallout from the deal was so great, the implosion of the educational-software industry that followed was comprable to the UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983.[[/note]].

* HappilyEverBefore: Kevin O'Leary's introductions mention how he started what became The Learning Company in a basement and helped grow it into a success that was acquired by Mattel. What the intros don't mention is that the acquisition is considered to be one of the worst of all time and ended up being a multi-billion-dollar loss for Mattel[[note]]The Learning Company was accused of churning out software to maintain the illusion of productivity and success when it was actually operating at a loss. Such allegations date back to when the company was known under its original name, [=SoftKey=], and it undercut competitors and accrued significant debt while bying out other companies for their brand names and [=IPs=]. Because of the debts, staff and R&D budgets were cut, leading to a lack of development and stagnant titles. The fallout from the deal was so great, the implosion of the educational-software industry that followed was comprable to the UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983.[[/note]].

* {{Adorkable}}: Robert Herjavec, especially if there's a dog in the room.

** ''Do not accuse the Dragons of mansplaining''. Especially when you can't do basic math (see ArtisticLicenseEconomics above for explanation).

** Touker Suleyman frequently mentions giving an entrepreneur 'Touker time'.

** The Australian version also seems to be heading this way. In particular, they will often provide some sort of connection or offer to the entrepreneur that is not what they came for in terms of money, but can still benefit them in the long-term (for example, a "vegan snack food" company had Janine [owner of Boost Juice] agreeing to put them in touch with her buyer). For the child entrepreneurs on the show, they have also agreed to act as their mentor[[note:due to various legal issues, the mentorship is usually what's given to child entrepreneurs in the Australian version in lieu of money]].

* StealthPun: In the opening montage, Peter Jones is introduced as a "telecoms giant". He's REALLY tall.

** The Den/Tank occasionally features teenagers, to whom the Dragons/Sharks are noticeably nicer than they are to other entrepreneurs. The Dragons also compliment them on being so driven at a young age. ''Shark Tank'' had an episode in Season 5 dedicated solely to child entrepreneurs, with the youngest of them being ''six years old''. (She was with her father who did most of the talking.)

->'''Duncan Bannatyne''': Apart from the castle, what have you got for your £120,000?
->'''Entrepreneur''': You may be able to see a fence here.

* SchoolIsForLosers: On the U.S. ''Shark Tank'' (possibly other versions as well), when a kid comes on with a pitch, certain of the Sharks, particularly Kevin, will ask if the kid is ready to quit school to devote their full time to their business. And they're perfectly serious, too.

** Kevin O'Leary's speech to the owner of "Pretty Padded Room" (an online counseling service). He uses a metaphor about how the first seal leaving the beach and being eaten by sharks serves to warn other seals to not go in the water. He proceeds to tell her that she has messed up her presentation so badly but not knowing enough about her "numbers" that she will now serve as a warning to other contestants to never make the same mistake.

** ''Do not accuse the Dragons of mansplaining''. Especially when you can't do basic math (see ArtisticLicenseEconomics above for details).
* BigEater: Mark. He ate at least ''three'' jars (one of which was originally Robert’s) of "Wicked Good Cupcakes” during the product’s pitch. He even tried to get some of Desmond’s sample!