History Series / SonsOfAnarchy

* LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub: Although they're a motorcycle gang rather than the Italian mob, SAMCRO uses this trope in the exact same fashion. Everybody knows what they do for a living, but whenever they're accused of being a biker gang by law enforcement officers, they'll assert that they're just a club of Harley enthusiasts.

* ToThePain: "If you ever talk that way about Tara again, I will pound those half-dead hands so hard into this table, you won't ever be able to hold that gavel again."

* CoolOldGuy: Bobby, also Piney and, to a lesser extent, Unser.
* CombatSadomasochist: Tig, and how!

* CoolOldGuy: Father Ashby easily tosses Jax on his ass when the younger man rushes him. Notable in that he's one of only two characters to do so throughout the show, the other being [[spoiler:Nero]].

* TheMafiya: Led by Viktor Putlova. [[spoiler: But not anymore. It's just business.]]

* MushroomSamba: Tig and Half Sack get dosed with mushrooms to test their efficacy before SAMCRO sells them.

** [[Tara's death is this for Jax, coming in the same season that he has a woman murdered on the off-chance she might rat on him and the club. Nero specifically mentions this in Foreshadowing.

** Charming, in spite of SAMCRO's claims that they keep out bad influences, is a crime-ridden and corrupt little podunk town. In season four, Tara calls it "poisonous."

** Otto suffers this in Season 6, courtesy of Lee Toric, in revenge for him having murdered Toric's sister.

%%* RatedMForManly: Yup, definitely.

** In season 6, Gemma murders Tara because she inaccurately believes Tara informed on Jax to the police.

* RecordNeedleScratch: In "Fun Town," the beginning of the Sons' raid on a house is underlaid with a heavy metal soundtrack. However, after they open the doors, the song is cut off by a RecordNeedleScratch, which segues into a light acoustic guitar piece as they discover that they've barged in on a Christian revival meeting.

* RevengeByProxy: In the Season 4 finale, Tig [[MurderByMistake unwittingly killed]] the girlfriend of another gangster during a [[GanglandDriveBy Drive-By Shooting]] when he was aiming for the gangster in retribution for another crime (his culpability for which had been fabricated by Jax). It turns out that the girlfriend was the daughter of Damon Pope, the undisputed kingpin of black crime in Oakland. ''His'' retribution for Tig's stupidity is to burn Tig's daughter alive.

* SandNecktie: When the Sons visit their allies at the local Native Reservation who supply them with homegrown drugs, they witness the Indian tribal leader disposing of a man who crossed him by burying the man up to his neck, covering him in honey and setting fire ants on him. When the condemned man later overhears the biker leader conspiring behind the chief's back, the bikers kill him to make sure [[HeKnowsTooMuch he won't be able to talk]].

** The Grim Bastards are a biker gang full of them, though they're allied with the Sons. [[spoiler: Or, well, they were.]]

* PlotArmor: Whenever some rock music kicks in during an action scene, every major character is completely encased in it.
* PoliceAreUseless: The Sons have the local police chief and county sheriff deputies on their payroll so they see little interference from them in their criminal activities. The ATF agents who go after them have their own private agendas and grudges and the Sons are able to use this against them to neutralize them. Season 4 averts this with new, more competent police moving in and providing an escalated threat. The Sons still get several digs in at them, such as serving two officers chili from a pot containing [[spoiler: a severed head]].

** [[spoiler:Gemma is again put in this situation by two prison guards, this time with Clay. They go through with it]].

* YouRemindMeOfX: In episode 4.08, Piney says to Jax "I'm not going to tell you how much you just sounded like your old man."

-->'''I'm afraid I'll turn into you.'''

-->'''I stopped you from becoming the guy you wanted to kill.'''

** In Season 5, Jax asks Opie if he's afraid Jax will turn into Clay. Opie's response? "I'm afraid I'll turn into you."

* AnythingThatMoves: Tig seems to have every fetish in existence, from transexuals to corpses, which technically goes ''beyond'' "anything that moves."

** Chuck Marstein is a skilled criminal accountant who develops a compulsive tic: unconscious masturbation. [[spoiler:He has his problem "cured" by a rival gang leader who amputates all but his forefingers]].

** In a still-living example [[spoiler: at first]], the club also venerates The First 9, the founding members of the club, with a special patch. John Teller and Piney co-founded the club, as evidenced by Piney's aging denim cut. Clay was the final member and the youngest, as shown by his willingness to move with the times by wearing a leather cut like the rest of the club. Season 3 introduces Keith [=McGee=] , the President of the Belfast charter aka SAMBEL, and Lenny "The Pimp" Janowitz, third founding member and former Sergeant-At-Arms of SAMCRO who was convicted of murdering 3 ATF agents.

On the civilian side, there is [[TheMedic Tara Knowles]] (a doctor who was Jax's childhood sweetheart, who serves as the chief threat to Gemma's control over her son), corrupt Police Chief [[CorruptCop Wayne Unser]], the straight-as-an-arrow deputy (and potential successor) [[ByTheBookCop David Hale]], his brother Jacob Hale, a prominent member of the community who has his eye on profiting from the town, and a number of law enforcement agents as the show progresses.

** In a still-living example [[spoiler: at first]], the club also venerates The First 9, the founding members of the club, with a special patch. John Teller and Piney co-founded the club, as evidenced by Piney's aging denim cut. Clay was the final member and the youngest, as shown by his willingness to move with the times by wearing a leather cut like the rest of the club. Season 3 introduces Keith [=McGee=]]] , the President of the Belfast charter aka SAMBEL, and Lenny "The Pimp" Janowitz, third founding member and former Sergeant-At-Arms of SAMCRO who was convicted of murdering 3 ATF agents.

** In a still-living example [[spoiler: at first]], the club also venerates The First 9, the founding members of the club, with a special patch. John Teller and Piney co-founded the club, as evidenced by Piney's aging denim cut. Clay was the final member and the youngest, as shown by his willingness to move with the times by wearing a leather cut like the rest of the club. Season 3 introduces McGee, who is the President of the Belfast charter aka SAMBEL, and Lenny "The Pimp" Janowitz, third founding member and former Sergeant-At-Arms of SAMCRO who was convicted of murdering 3 ATF agents.