History WesternAnimation / Delgo

* BrokenAesop: An anti-war story. Two civilizations learn that they shouldn't fight each other... and then they team up to fight the armies of trolls, goblins and other monsters. Moreover, the fact that the monsters are Always Chaotic Evil severely undermines the anti-bigotry message.

* BadassPrincess: Kyla. Notably, she kills [[spoiler:Sedessa]] in the climax once she attempts to backstab Delgo.

[[quoteright:220:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/220px_delgo.jpg]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/delgo.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Even a little InterspeciesRomance couldn't draw in the crowds.]]

As an epic love-in-a-time-of-war story set on another world and driven by an auteur's singular, risky vision, it's sort of like a Bizarro-world ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. The filmmakers certainly thought so, and [[http://www.cinematical.com/2009/08/27/delgo-creators-mull-avatar-lawsuit/ actually considered suing Fox and Cameron]] after seeing ''Avatar's'' first trailer. Not much seems to have come from that.

* AllAnimalsAreDogs: Sedessa's weird bald gryphon-thing. Completely apropos of nothing, right in the middle of dramatically gloating before the defeated king, is a "comedy" scene where it urinates on the king in explicitly doglike fashion.

* ConstructedWorld: It's clearly a labor of love.

* NoFlowInCGI: The characters have pointy hair, or no hair at all, and mostly wear pants. Work began in 1999, and it was released in 2008, and this is the result.

* SceneryPorn: The biggest praise the film tends to get is the imaginative world and beautiful environments. A couple of the monsters and bits of fantasy tech are cool, too.

* MeaningfulEcho: "You're on your own, kid." Repeated, with a flashback, for the [[ViewersAreMorons slower members of the audience]].

* BloodlessCarnage: All over the place. Most weapons are blunt, most hits scored are with "blasting" powers, and stabbings or impalings occur just off screen. You have to wonder why they gave characters sharp weapons at all.And when one character gets stabbed and pulls out the knife/arrow/whatever it was, it is pretty darn clean.

* PositiveDiscrimination: Played with. The climactic battle is sparked when King Zahn declares war on the Lokni, believing them to have his daughter. The Lokni, meanwhile, are clearly portrayed as fighting out of concern for their people. ''Played with'', mind you, because an earlier scene shows Lokni villagers starting a small riot against Nohrin villagers.

* BoundAndGagged

* DamselInDistress: Kyla is captured by Sedessa so that she can sever her wings.
* DisappearedDad

* GasChamber

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Sedessa.

* MissingMom
* TheMole

* ViewersAreMorons: There are a large number of flashbacks to stuff the audience should remember pretty clearly from the first time around.

* SaveTheVillain: Played straight, then negated soon after.

* BrokenAesop - The film's anti-war message really doesn't seem to stick once both warring sides make peace...and then [[spoiler:join forces to fight Sedessa's army]].
** A twofer--the races, one of which has been constantly derided as a race of "savages"--join forces to [[spoiler:take out a race of savages with no redeeming value. Jeez, doods]].

* DamselInDistress: With a token effort to make her seem more actiony.

* HonorBeforeReason: At the end of the movie, Delgo [[spoiler:recalls some pro-mercy words of his mentor and decides to [[SaveTheVillain save Sedessa from falling to her death]]. Surprise surprise, she tries to stab him, and ends up falling to her death anyway]].

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Sedessa's army of orc and kobold-like Ando. Runs severely counter to the whole "racial harmony" theme.

->''"I... purchased a ticket to ''Delgo'', in the process doubling its gross for the week... [It] sends out the heartwarming message that if you [[{{Determinator}} overcome all manner of obstacles en route to realizing your biggest, most ambitious aspiration]] [[ShaggyDogStory then you too can become a laughingstock to the entire world.]]"''
-->--'''Creator/NathanRabin''', [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/floppiest-flop-case-file-126-delgo,16751/ My Year of Flops]]

* InterspeciesRomance: From the above-linked My Year of Flops entry: "Instead of rooting for these star-crossed lovers to overcome the odds and unite their people I found myself wondering if it was even ethical or right for a lizard-man and a dragonfly-lady to knock boots."

* ConstructedWorld: It's clearly a labor of love, just not a compelling or interesting one.

* BloodlessCarnage: All over the place. Most weapons are blunt, most hits scored are with "blasting" powers, and stabbings or impalings occur ju-u-ust off-screen. You have to wonder why they gave characters sharp weapons at all. And when one character gets stabbed and pulls out the knife/arrow/whatever it was, it is pretty darn clean.

->''"I... purchased a ticket to ''Delgo'', in the process doubling its gross for the week... [It] sends out the heartwarming message that if you overcome all manner of obstacles en route to realizing your biggest, most ambitious aspiration then you too can become a laughingstock to the entire world."''

->''"I... purchased a ticket to ''Delgo'', in the process [[BoxOfficeBomb doubling its gross for the week]]... [It] sends out the heartwarming message that if you overcome all manner of obstacles en route to realizing your biggest, most ambitious aspiration [[ShaggyDogStory then you too can become a laughingstock to the entire world]]."''

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Sedessa's army of lizardmen and kobolds. Runs severely counter to the whole "racial harmony" theme.

The story is set in the land of Jhamora, where a group of lizard-people called the Lockni allow a group of displaced dragonfly-people called the Nohrin to settle on their lands. The Lockni immediately regret this decision when a power-hungry Nohrin named Sedessa (Anne Bancroft in her last performance) tries to enslave them. Sedessa is exiled but returns fifteen years later, bent on conquest and with an army of ogre-like monsters calles Ando backing her up. It's up to Delgo, the telekinetic son of one of Sedessa's victims, and a cast of colorful side characters to stop her.

The story is set in the land of Jhamora, where a group of lizard-people called the Lockni allow a group of displaced dragonfly-people called the Nohrin to settle on their lands. The Lockni immediately regret this decision when a power-hungry Nohrin named Sedessa (Anne Bancroft in her last performance) tries to enslave them. Sedessa is exiled but returns fifteen years later, bent on conquest and with an army of ogres backing her up. It's up to Delgo, the telekinetic son of one of Sedessa's victims, and a cast of colorful side characters to stop her.

* CrossDressingVoices: Young Delgo was voiced by a girl.