Line #20 Main/WildWestTropes


1	This index lists tropes associated with TheWestern genre as a whole.
2
3	Also see NativeAmericansTropes.
4	----
5	!!Tropes
6	[floatboxright:
7	'''Main topics'''
8	* TheWestern
9	* TheWildWest
10
11	'''Sub-index'''
12	* WesternCharacters
13	]
14
15	!!!Genres and general settings
16	* '''TheWestern''': The basic genre of Westerns, typically set in the [[TheWildWest American Old West]].
17	* '''TheWildWest''': The general setting for most classic Westerns. This area is synonymous with the American Old West, set in various US states and territories west of the Mississippi River, during much of the 19th century (though usually between the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar and the 1890s).
18	* CanadianWestern: The Canadian equivalent of a Western, usually set in snowy northern Canada and featuring Mounties.
19	* CattlePunk: {{Steampunk}} science fiction with a Western setting.
20	* DawnOfTheWildWest: Stories set in the western part of North America between the late 18th century and the 1840s.
21	* NewOldWest: Classic Western tropes applied to a more modern, contemporary, or even future setting, usually 1920 and onward.
22	* SpaceWestern: A story that fuses Western tropes together with SpaceOpera, featuring other planets in outer space as a wild frontier.
23	* SpaghettiWestern: DarkerAndEdgier {{deconstruction}}s of TheWestern made in Europe, mainly consisting of Italian productions.
24	* TwilightOfTheOldWest: Stories set in the western part of North America between the 1890s and 1920.
25	* WeirdWest: A Western story with paranormal or supernatural elements.
26
27	!!!Specific settings
28	* BleakBorderBase: A fortress at the farthest corner of the country.
29	* BoomTown: A newly established settlement (town or city) with high population growth, usually due to rare riches being found there (gold, silver, water in an arid region, etc.).
30	* BronsonCanyonAndCaves: A rocky canyon, including several cave entrances. Despite being located in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, the area ''looks'' fairly remote and desolate, making it a popular shooting location for Westerns.
31	* CloseKnitCommunity: A small Western town where its residents look out for each other.
32	* FriendlyLocalChinatown: A massive number of Chinese immigrants worked on the railroads and in mines, and were forced into their own camps and towns elsewhere. This is the time period when a lot of Chinatowns were founded.
33	* GhostTown: A town or village where no one (or next to no one) lives.
34	* InjunCountry: An area where Native Americans, First Nations, or other Indigenous peoples can be found; in the heyday of the Wild West, settlers often clash with these peoples during American expansion.
35	* KirksRock: A distinctive set of striated sandstone slabs, dozens to hundreds of feet tall, sharply-angled and pointed at their tops, that often appear in Westerns.
36	* OutlawTown: A settlement run by and exclusively inhabited by criminals and outlaws.
37	* TheSavageSouth: The Wild West is often stereotyped to barbaric and threatening, or at least more-so than the East.
38	* SouthOfTheBorder: Stereotypical portrayals of Mexico.
39
40	!!!Plots
41	* BankRobbery: Outlaws steal money from a bank, typically by holding the tellers at gunpoint.
42	* CattleDrive: A working cowboy brings his cattle from the ranch to the market.
43	* CleanUpTheTown: A new person (or an old inhabitant returning after years away) takes position of responsibility, in this case usually a Sheriff, and makes things better.
44	* AFistfulOfRehashes: A character walks into a town with two rival factions, plays them both for suckers, and eliminates them when the fighting weakens them.
45	* TheMagnificentSevenSamurai: A helpless community under attack hires heroes (usually seven) to protect them.
46	* ProtectThisHouse: A horror/thriller plot about intruders breaking into a home and the occupants having to fight them off.
47	* QuestToTheWest: A character has to head west for symbolic or significant purposes, e.g. a new life, a quest, or an adventure of some sort.
48	* RailroadPlot: Something gets in the way of a big construction project (often a railroad in Westerns); this something must be destroyed to complete the project.
49	* RunForTheBorder: A criminal tries to escape prosecution or persecution by fleeing the country; whether into Mexico or Canada (or vice-versa) or across Union/Confederate lines, needing to cross the border to safety (or arrest someone before they do) comes up fairly often in Westerns.
50	* SettlingTheFrontier: Moving to new lands, in this case the Western United States, provides new opportunities and dangers.
51	* TheSevenWesternPlots
52	* TrainJob: Outlaws board a train to steal its cargo or rob passengers at gunpoint.
53
54	!!!Costumes and appearance
55	* AmericansAreCowboys: Generalizing the stereotypical fashion of the Old West, especially cowboy hats, to the United States as a whole.
56	* BadassBandolier: Belts that hold bullets, grenades, or just weapons in general are articles of clothing associated with badass characters; cowboys are often depicted to wear these.
57	* BadassLongcoat
58	* BootsOfToughness
59	* DashinglyDapperDerby
60	* EvilWearsBlack: Bad guys wear black hats.
61	* GoodColorsEvilColors: The good guy always wears a white cowboy hat, [[EvilWearsBlack the bad guy always a black hat]].
62	* ManlyFacialHair: Manly men have facial hair.
63	* OverallsAndGingham: Dress code for the DeterminedHomesteader.
64	* PermaStubble
65	* WaistcoatOfStyle
66
67	!!!Guns and gunplay
68	(* = not necessarily gun-specific, but very commonly involve guns in westerns)
69
70	* BangBangBang
71	* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands
72	* BottomlessMagazines: Many old westerns had characters firing a six-shooter more than six times without reloading.
73	* BulletDancing
74	* DeliberatelyJumpingTheGun (*)
75	* DuelToTheDeath (*)
76	* FiringInTheAirALot
77	* FiringOneHanded
78	* GunsAkimbo: Many westerns have characters firing with a gun in each hand.
79	* GunTwirling
80	* ImprobableAimingSkills (*)
81	* InstantDeathBullet
82	* MexicanStandoff (*)
83	* MoreDakka
84	* QuickDraw
85	* RevolversAreJustBetter
86	* SawedOffShotgun: In the actual time and place, probably a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coach_gun cut-down shotgun or coach gun]] rather than what we'd think of as a sawed-off, but the latter is common in the genre whether or not it's historically accurate.
87	* ShowdownAtHighNoon
88	* SmokingBarrelBlowout
89	* ThrowAwayGuns: Generally somewhat downplayed, but needing to pick up fresh guns from the gunmen you just shot comes up now and again.
90	* ShootTheRope (*)
91	* TwoShotsFromBehindTheBar
92	* TheWhyWaitCombatant (*)
93
94	!!!Other tropes
95	* AllDesertsHaveCacti
96	* AutomatonHorses
97	* AwkwardSilenceEntrance
98	* BadassPreacher
99	* BarBrawl
100	* BarSlide
101	* BetweenMyLegs
102	* BloodlessCarnage
103	* TheCavalry
104	* ChairmanOfTheBrawl
105	* ChevalierVsRogue: Usually between TheHero or TheSheriff against the vandals or outlaws, or the cowboys against the Indians.
106	* ClintSquint
107	* CoolHorse
108	* CowboyEpisode
109	* DeadMansHand
110	* DiligentDraftAnimal
111	* DirtForcefield: Common in pre-SpaghettiWestern works.
112	* DramaticWind
113	* EnnioMorriconePastiche
114	* GamblingBrawl
115	* GoldFever
116	* GrievousBottleyHarm
117	* HangingAround
118	* InvulnerableHorses
119	* KnowsTheRopes: Covers lasso skills.
120	* LandInTheSaddle
121	* MobileKiosk
122	* TheMostWanted
123	* NeverBringAKnifeToAFistFight
124	* NotBigEnoughForTheTwoOfUs
125	* ObsessiveCompulsiveBarkeeping
126	* PriceOnTheirHead
127	* RailingKill
128	* RidingIntoTheSunset
129	* RollercoasterMine
130	* SmokingIsCool
131	* TarAndFeathers
132	* TraintopBattle
133	* WantedPoster
134	* WesternRattlers
135	* WhiteStallion
136	* WildWestArmadillo

Context Main / WildWestTropes