Queen Seondeok is a 2009 South Korean historical drama that chronicles the life of Queen Seondeok of Silla.
Deokman (Queen Seondeok's childhood name) was born as Princess Cheonmyeong's twin and a member of the Silla royal family, but a prophecy leads to her abandonment as a baby. She was later brought back to the Silla palace, where she joined forces with her twin sister to oppose Mishil, a royal concubine who wanted to seize power. Mishil devised sinister plans to have the two Silla princesses exiled from the kingdom.
Contains examples of:
- Character Development: Alcheon initially was introduced as a Consummate Professional, Honor Before Reason guy (though this was the norm among Hwarangs). After the war against Baekjae, he softens up and is shown to more open with his emotions.
- Chickification:
- For some reason, Deokman stops being an Action Girl once she regains her princess status.
- Lady Mishil's chickification is justified, as she clearly aged.
- I Know Your True Name: Sort Of. A document uncovered by Mishil reveals that Deokman's birth name is actually Inmyeong.
- Kansas City Shuffle: In a pivotal plot point, Deokman has Wolcheon compute the date of the next solar eclipse, apparently determines that no eclipse is to occur, then sends Bidam and Yusin off to trick Mishil with a supposedly fake date. The eclipse is supposed to happen; Deokman correctly predicts that Mishil will believe Bidam and Yusin are out to deceive her and then announce that no eclipse is to occur. This leads to a major credibility hit for Mishil and sets the stage for Deokman's Big Entrance.
- Mighty Glacier: Yusin is a downplayed version of this. He is not slow, but he doesn't have the agility that Munno, Bidam and Chilsuk all have.
- Murder the Hypotenuse:
- Subverted in the finale when Yusin kills Bidam.
- Averted by Mishil's husbands. Chunchu instigates an Enemy Civil War via power struggle within their families, but Lady Mishil arrived to halt the "family crisis"..
- Parental Abandonment: Deokman was exiled from Silla to be spared from Mishil's wrath. Prince Chunchu was later orphaned following Cheonmyeong's death and Bidam was abandoned by his mother at an early age, and his Parental Substitute was killed off too.
- Old Maid: Queen Seondeok near the end. Unfortunately, she dies unmarried.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: Princess Cheonmyeong is usually seen wearing pink.
- Polyamory: Mishil have two husbands, Prime Minister Saejong and General Seolwon.
- Prophecy Twist: Deokman being abandoned in the first place was because a prophecy stated that if the king was to have twins, the royal family would have no more sons. But Cheonmyeong having Chunchu defies this.
- Averted. The prophecy states the royal family would have no more sons of royal blood status. Chunchu is not considered royal blood status because his father was not of royal status.
- True Blue Femininity: Deokman after regaining her status as princess until being crowned as queen. Also, this is Misil's second favorite color after purple.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Granted, Seondeok, Yusin, Alcheon, the three kings, Cheonmyeong, Chunchu, and (maybe) Mishil were all real people. And Queen Seondeok really did order the construction of Cheomseongdae (which still stands). Basically everything else is completely made up.
- Deokman and Cheonmyeong weren't twins. Some historical records have Deokman as the older princess, and others Cheonmyeong, so the scriptwriters decided to compromise by writing them as twins in this show.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Deokman was a Teen Genius, so is Chunchu. Yusin is also full of wisdom. Lady Mishil is (yet again) an antagonistic example.
