The Flames of Love and War/Tropes

== Tropes for the film ==
* Actor Allusion:
** Aqua has a wolf-esque plush toy, referencing how her voice actress played Clawdeen Wolf in Monster High.
** Upon learning of Aqua's crush on Phoenix, Amalia shows a level of Genre Saviness you'd expect from Luz Noceda. She also mentions having troubles with her girlfriend's mother after revealing their relationship, even througth she notes they weren't all that subtle. This exact scenario happened in The Owl House episode "Clouds on the Horizon".
*The Alcoholic: Phoenix appears to be the film's equivalent of one.
* An Aesop:
** Prejudice is a destructive force that, if left unchecked, will result in the destruction of all parties involved.
** Sometimes, love is all it takes to change the world.
** Love is an unpredictable force. You may not get the love you seek, but yoy may find the love you need from those you least expect.
** There's nothing wrong with being curious and embracing what's new. In fact, learning new things can actually be helpful for both yourself and others.
** War Is Hell and nothing good ever comes from it. The only way to preserve peace is to teach peace so that others do not seek conflict.
* Awesome Art: The film's hand-drawn animation is a beautiful splash of art and color that feels reminiscent of the Disney Renaissance.
* Awesome Music: Raphael Saadiq truly rocks it in this soundtrack.
* Awesome Moments: 
** Phoenix rebelling against her father by pointing a gun towards one of his henchmen and ordering to take her to the Defiant or else she'll shoot. And when they arrive, she reveals the gun wasn't loaded.
** Earlier in the film, upon learning of the crimes her father commited to start a war, this proves for Aqua the stroke the broke the cammel's back... and punches the asshole in the face, all while throwing a Curse Cut Short. After seeing that asshole get his way, it feels absolutely cathartic to watch him get some sort of punishment.
** Little cat-esque Amabilia manages to track down her owner with the mere use of her nose, and bites one of her captors' leg to help her escape. She's a good kitten, indeed.
** Amica and Sodalistas both get chances to prove they are more than just comic reliefs:
*** First, Sodalistas trues to lead the group into Basileus' ship, but is interrupted by a group of 4 drones. Terrified as he may be, Sodalistas still leads a surprisingly impresive chase for a civilian. Furthermore, he ends the chase and opens access for Aqua to enter via Awesomeness by Analisis: He deduces from how the drones mantain a certain minimal distance from each other they need to keep it, so he uses an artifact hos sister created to force the two drones from behind into joining each other, resulting in a short circuit that not only neutralizes them both, but also forve them to crash onto Basileus' ship, opening a hole for Aqua to enter and taking down the two leading drones thanks to their proximity.
*** Later, when Aqua confronts Basileus, Amica enters the ship discreetly and recoeds him confessing his sins. And when Basileus prepares to kill Aqua, Amica grabs an extintor and fails to launch it at Basileus... because he wasn't the target. Rather, a tube containing toxic material that, combined with extintor material, is highly volatile, resulting in an explosion that temporaly knocks Basileus out cold, whereas Amica and Aqua escaped as he pieced two-and-two together.
*** Hell, the moment they offer themselves to help Aqua is this. She just told them her father, their king, is a genocidal maniac who manipulated everyone into war, and she plans to stop him. Their reaction? Grab some guns, offer themselves as of she asked them help with her homework, and when Aqua points out how dangerous things will be, Amica merely says "Well, it better be!".
** It all seems lost. Aqua was taken down, Basileus is ready to execute her... and then Phoenix blocks his attack, having finally acquired her Evolved form, her and Aqua's letimof sounding in glory as fury flashing througth her eyes as she emits one sentence that channels that rage tremendously: "Get away from my girlfriend!". She then causes Basileus to briefly back down.
*** The battle that follows is amazing too, and not just in visuals. After coming off as The Juggernaut for much of the climax, Phoenix, in her Evolved form, manages to equal him in strength, giving him an actual opponent, and one with more experience in fighting to boot. Which we get to see in how, unlike Basileus attacking like a rabbid animal, Phoenix fights using strategy, looking at weak points, using his anger against him, etc.
** And in the end, after defeating Basileus and after everything he's done, Phoenix... demands him to surrender, which goes to show how much she grew. The old Phoenix would have killed him the first chance she's got, but now she knows hatred is not the way. She is now a merciful queen.
*** It is also thematically awesome in how it takes Basileus' "they are not like me" shtick and throws it in his face. Phoenix really isn't like him... because, unlike him, she can be merciful and is willing to kill only if she absolutely has to, whereas Basileus would have killed her and god knows how many more if their places were switched. She isn't like him. She is better.
**After Phoenix defeats Basileus and demands his surrender, Basileus taunts her, proclaiming she can't stop him forever. Only for Phoenix to respond with a "In that case...", afterwhich Aqua shows up, and overloads his suit with the energy he wanted to use against the Fire people until it explodes, finally giving that POS the karma he's long overdue for,
***For further satisfaction, the camera slows down all so the audience can see Basileus realizing he's a dead man.
*Beware the Nice Ones: Aqua at the start is cute, curious, and timid. By the end of the film, she is still cute and curious, but grows enough of a spine she is the one to shoot her Abusive Father to death.
* Casting Gag: Michael Dorn appears in a cameo as a Benjamin Sisko-esque captain in a TV parody of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; Dorn appeared as Worf in Deep Space Nine.
* Central Theme:
** War Is Hell. Emphasis is put on the physical and psychological consequences war had on many characters. And, at the end of the film, the war is revealed to be a senseless conflict started by prejudice.
** Love and its power over hate. Aqua seeks love but fails because her father is an abusive a-hole that dosen't truly care for her. Phoenix starts prejudiced towards Water people abd holds them in contempt, but ultimately lets go of her hate by loving Aqua, that love also allowing her to come to terms with her PTSD. Meanwhile, the kings' inability to let go of their hatred for one another's species is what drives them to villany and madness. In the end, the princesses chose love and live to create a better world together, whereas the kings chose hate and die because of it.
* Company Cross-References:
** The skeleton in Basileus' room is that of the Beast.
** To The Owl House, created by director Dana Terrace:
*** Basileus' first scene has him saying "Good daughters don't squabble, dear", near word-for-word what Odalia Blight said to Amity during a flashback in an episode of director Dana Terrace's The Owl House.
*** Before shootimg her father, Aqua says "Eat this, sucker!".
*** Aqua and Phoenix recreate Luz and Amity's Grom dance during their wedding.
** The news program shown tjrougth the movie is named "Reitherman News" after late Disney animator and director Wolfgang Reitherman. News tags with the names of Disney directors such as "Musker", "Geronimi", and "Luske" can also be seen.
** One of the buildings in the Fire Kingdom says "Carl's Comic Book Store", a reference to Carl Banks, who is known for his work on Scrooge McDuck comics.
** To The Little Mermaid (1989):
*** Aqua's first scene has her recreating Ariel's iconic hair scene.
*** During the third act, Aqua and Basileus have a discussion about the Fire people that finishes with Aqua admitting her love for Phoenix by saying "Father, I love her!", homaging Ariel and King Triton's argument scene from The Little Mermaid.
** Phoenix has tattooes of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and the name "Iwerks", referencing Mickey Mouse co-creator Bob Iwerks.
** During their second meeting, Phoenix calls Aqua a "big palooka" and later shouts "Awww, phooey", two of Donald Duck's catchphrases. Doubles as a Production Throwback, since director Dana Terrace previously was an episode director on DuckTales (2017).
** A snipet from Night at Bald Mountain can be heard as Aqua and Basileus argue.
** Among the thimgs on Sodalostas' Conspiracy Board is a photo of a bear-like creature resembling Kenai from Brother Bear.
** Phoenix plays some notes from the Cinderella song "So This Is Love" at one point.
** When Aqua finally rebels against Basileus, he asks her, "what do you think you are doing", to which Aqua responds: Something I should've done a long time ago. Standing up to you!!!!", in a clear nod to Amphibia.
*** Additionally, Amica says "time to apply everything I know about chemistry" as a Pre Ass-Kicking One Liner.
**While stopping for a meal, Aqua and Phoenix are given, among other things, spaghetti.
**Sodalistas' dance at the end replicates Jose Carioca's dance from the Melody Time segment "Blame It On The Samba".
**A hidden mickey can be seen at the end of the film as a background element in the Fire Kingdom. Also visible is a store called "Chim-Chiminey Clean Up Shop".
**Sodalistas' ringtone is "The Phony King of England" from Robin Hood (1973).
**Phoenix' sword and shield during the climax are intended to evoke Prince Philip's.
**The vehichle Phoenix and Aqua use after their wedding shares the same color scheme as Cinderella and Prince Charming's carriage from the end of Cinderella (1950).
* Corrupt Character Copy: Basileus is one to King Triton. Both are prejudiced fathers and kings who try to rein on their daughters' curiosity. However, that's were the similarities stop. Whereas Triton, while trying to discourage Ariel from learning about humans, generally lets his daughter have freedom in her life, Basileus takes active actions to derail Aqua's curiosity via lies and manipulation, leaving her afraid of her own curiosity. In fact, Triton quickly knew he made a mistake when he destroyed Ariel's grotto, yet Basileus has no problems taking his daughter's things on a regular basis and essentially denying her freedom. And, as prejudiced as King Triton was towards humans, he never engaged in any conflict with them and tried to avoid them at all costs. Basileus, on the other hand, engages in a war against the fire people out of each other's prejudice. Finally, Triton learned to let go of his hatred of humans and let his daughter live happily ever after, but Basileus never let his own prejudices go and ends up dying because of it.
* Darker And Edgier: The film is one of Disney's darkest love stories in film animation, with War Is Hell being a promenient aspect in addition to its exploration of racism and psychological trauma. There are also two main villains who engage in attempts to murder their own daughters, and one of them having killed his wife in cold-blood. There's also a case of Curse Cut Short (a geniune curse, not like when Timon stopped Pumbaa from saying "farted" in The Lion King) and some geniune (if mild) swear at one point, which can be quite startling to see in a Disney animated film.
* Deadpan Snarker: Phoenix throws a huge number of snarks througth the film. She limits this to people she dosen't actually like, througth, and any snark she does use on her loved ones is more of a Playful Banter than anything else. Word of God is that this was written to her character as a way to alivienate the film's dark tone.
* Deconstructed Character Archetype: Basileus is this for the stereotypical "tgey don't look like me" racist character commonly found in anti-racism stories. The film explores just why would someone care so much if people don't look like him? The answer: a pathological narcissistic Control Freak who sees himself as perfect and wants the world to be like him.
* Does This Remind You of Anything?: After Aqua admits to her father her love for Phoenix, Basileus claims she was "corrupted" and that he will "cure" her after killing her species. Seeing as both are women, this feels eerily similar to coming out to an homophobic parent.
* Elemental Embodiment: The film centers on people who embody water and fire elements, and even have them in some parts of their body, while the rest of the Fire people's body is made of rocks and the Water people's resembles the biology of marine creatures. Word of God is that they took this approach to further distance the film from Pixar's Elemental, another film with themes of prejudice about the romance between physical embodiments of water and fire, but otherwise different in tone and execution.
* Elemental Personalities: Played with. The fire woman Phoenix holds a fiery temper, but otheriwse comes off as cold due to her PTSD. The Water woman Aqua, on the other hand, is ironically the warmer of the two.
* Establishing Character Moment: Phoenix drowns herself on a bar, gets into a brief snark fight with the bartender, intervenes when an abusive father insults a fellow soldier, and describes the Water People as "horrendous bastards" but that even they would know how to treat their offspring. This establishes as rough and a bit prejudiced, but good-hearted and with a mind open enough to change.
* Everyone Has Standards: Sodalistas may be a Conspiracy Theorist, but he never lets that overcome his morality. This is best seen when he learns of Basileus and Calidi's actions, his reaction being not celebrating that he was right about his goverment being untrustworthy, but horror that his king, his best friend's father, is a murderous madman.
* Faux Affably Evil: Basileus may out on a charming front, but is just that, a front. The second things do not his way, he turns hostile towards those who "provoked" him and, by the end of the film, he's reduced to a cackling madman.
* Foreshadowing:
** While drowning herself in drinks (or the film's equivalent of such an act), Phoenix calls out a fellow soldier's father for treating him badly. She later helps Aqua once she notices she's actually being abused by her own father.
** Phoenix' mother also mentions that "you really need a date".
** When Aqua suggests she and Basileus could play like they did with Aqua's mom before the war, only for Basileus to decline due to military issues, he says "I would like to spend time together too, but the moment those red bastards appeared a learned that doing the right thing sometimes means doing sacrifices. Your mother... she could never understand what making sacrifices was about, and we all know how much of cost that had on her, don't we?". This line takes on a much darker context when is revealed that Basileus orchestrated the war from his side out of prejudice for the Fire people, and murdered his wife for refusing to follow his lead.
** Phoenix in her home plays the Cinderella song "So This Is Love", more precisely, the section that says "My heart has wings and I can fly. I'll touch every start in the sky", foreshadowing Phoenix becoming able to fly during the climax as part of her power set in her "Evolved" form.
** At one point, Fire scientists discuss how a failure in their ships' core could result in an artificial black hole. Which pretty much spoils the film's climax.
** Sodalistas is at one point playing with a magnet designed by his sister, Amica. He uses the same magnets to destroy Basileus' drones at the climax.
*Freudian Excuse: Basileus at one point mentions how "ever since [he] was a bpy, [he] was told [he] would lead his people to the right path". He clearly let those words go to his head.
* Fridge Brilliance: 
** Three of the film's Star Trek Shout-Outs hold a much deeper meaning than at first glance.
*** One of Phoenix' tattoes says "Mariner". And just like Ensign Beckett Mariner from Star Trek: Lower Decks, Phoenix suffers from PTSD after losing people she cared for to war, leading to self-destructive behavior.
*** A Water Soldier can be heard telling to a Fire Person that "resistance is futile", the Borg's catchphrase. This symbolizes how, like the Borg, those soldiers have become mindless drones carrying the will of an evil royal who wants the world to be his way and his alone.
*** Tying to the above, Sodalistas watches a parody of The Next Generation episode "The Best of Both World – Part 2", which is when Picard is freed from the Borg, just like how the people of both kingdoms are freed from their kings' influences. Furthermore, the animation looks a lot like Star Trek: Lower Decks, whose lead character is well-known for being a rebel.
**The armor Basileus uses in the climax is named "Project Lues". "Lues" is latin for "plague" or "disease". While fittimg for a suit that can take over any technology, this name also fits for Basileus, who is essentially a plague for his kingdom due tp his narcissistic mindset, megalomania, and negative influence on the Water people.
* Fridge Horror:
** The way Phoenix looks at her hands after learning of the truth behind the war strongly implies she killed Water soldiers. This makes her backstory among the grimmer ones in the Disney Princess canon as, while she isn't the first Disney Princess to kill, Mulan at least did it in a good-guy/bad-guy war. Phoenix, on the other hand, probably killed at least a few soldiers who were good-but-indoctrinated by a lunatic.
** Speaking of blood, keep in mind wars have claimed the lives not only of soldiers, but civilans who were in the crossfire. Basileus and Calidi are probably among the Disney Villains with higher body counts. And they. Don't. Care.
** Sodalistas' reaction to learning the depths of Basileus' evil probably aren't only out of fear for Aqua, but that, had any of his theories ever come close to the truth, he and Amabilia would have been targeted and killed.
*Funny Moments: In the climax, with the Defiant hidden and Faking the Dead, Sodalistas and Phoenix discuss how to stop Caladi's weapon when Sodalistas claims he has a risky idea... before asking Phoenix: "Do you have any triggers regarding... crashes?". Cue an Oh Crap! from Phoenix.
* A God Am I: While Basileus never actually says this, the fact that he thinks the world works according to what he says and thinks to the point of thinking he's justified in killing a race he dosen't like clearly points to this mindset.
* Heartwarming Moments:
** Aqua and Phoenix' entire relationship is this. While Phoenix at first hates her and Aqua is indifferent towards Phoenix, the two develop a bond upon getting to know each other more deeply and discpver an emotional connection. They also help each other with their issues, with Phoenix helping Aqua embrace her curiosity and Aqua in turn helping her heal from her battle scars and subsequent guilt. That bond blossoms into a love that manages to end their people's war without bloodshed. By the end of the film, they even get married.
** Upon realizing Phoenix is unwell, Aqua dedicates herself to research on PTSD to help her. And when Phoenix suffers another flashback, Aqua actually puts what she learned to use, helping her to heal.
** When Amalia finds out Aqua loves the princess of the Fire kingdom, she has no problems with it, nor does her brother. In fact, Amalia is worried more for Phoenix and her relationship with Aqua.
*** And when Phoenix shows up looking for Aqua, Amalia's first instinct is to help her.
** As the navigate througth a river, Phoenix shows Aqua the local flora and fauna. She is marveled by the sights, while Phoenix begins to experience happiness for the first time in years. And when Aqua wants to run alongside some of the creatures, she impulsively grabs Phoenix hand. Instead of being repulsed as she would have been at the beginning, Phoenix is touched. The two soon realize their feelings for each other... and all it takes is a look to each other to make clear that, yes, they feel the same.
** Just the sheer fact that Phoenix is willing to go to therapy because she loves Aqua that much, in spite of earlier dismissing the idea.
** The wedding and celebration. With their friends watching, Aqua and Phoenix not obly bring unity to two once warring kingdom, but also cement their love once met with many obstacles, and heal from their past wounds. Phoenix comes to terms with her PTSD and overcomes her racism, and Aqua embraces her curiosity and finds someone worthy of love who loves her back.
** The looks Aqua and Phoenix give each other as thery go to their honeymoon. Awwww.
*Hidden Depths:
**Phoenix is an adept pianist.
**Aqua is apparently a fast learner, managing to know about PTSD after a night reading.
*Inspiration for the Work: Dana Terrace cited The Little Mermaid (1989), Lady and the Tramp, and Fantasia 2000 as inspirarions for the film's animation.
* Jerkass Woobie: Phoenix can be racist abd quite rude, but its hard to not to feel bad for her upon seeing she suffers from PTSD.
* It's All About Me: This is what Basileus' racism boils down to. Having been told that he's supposed to lead his species to perfection and spoiled all his life, he convinced himself the world would be much better if it was like him. And when he met the Fire people, he convinced himself they shouldn't exist because they don't resemble him.
* Narm Charm: Aqua's comeback to her father's assertion that she dosen't know how to use a sword is a simple "She taught me". This out-of-context seems like a Lame Comeback. However, since Basileus has been telling her to avoid learning anything new in her life, it instead comes off as her rejecting her evil father's teachings.
* Nightmare Fuel: Disney is known for adding a bit of terror in their stories, and romantic ones aren't the exception. Nor is this one, which has the backdrop of war in its story and the showrunmer of one of their darkest shows yet at the helm.
** The opening. It starts off with Phoenix and her squad talking to each other like the good friends they are. And, out of nowhere, they are ambushed. The results leave corpses all around and people in agony. You can actually feel the panic in Phoenix' voice as she tries to survive and help her friends make it alive... only to watch one of her friends being executed in front of her. War is Hell, indeed. 
** The mere fact that two nations have been lead to war by leaders who only want the destruction of the other's race merely because of their own prejudices and feeling that the other should not exist. The worst part? It happened in real life.
** Just how straight the War Is Hell trope is played througth the film. While Disney has tackled the theme before in Mulan, that film balanced it with some typical Disney humor and songs in its first half, where the characters are away from the war itself. In FireWater? The war is already where the main characters are, looming as an spectre that threatens them both. Also, both films showed the cost of war, but this film shows not just the emotional costs, but physical and psychological as well, one of the main characters having PTSD and lost an arm due to her time as a soldier. And, finally, Mulan potrayed the war as a black-and-white conflict, something this film does not.
** Phoenix' literal nightmare. Or more accuretly, a flashback to her time in war. Since this is a Disney film, they can't show us soldiers being killed in a war. So what do the filmmakers do? They hide it. They use shadows or cut back to Phoenix reacting to the nightmare. Still, they leave the rest to the audiences imagination. The result? The closest thing Disney will get to making A Nightmare on Elmm Street. And an eerie showcase of what having PTSD is like.
*** On a similar notes, her flashbacks. The suddeness of their apperances and their as-brutal-as-possible content make for very effective Jump Scares, and nearly male them a Disney version of Perfect Blue.
** The scars and arm loss Phoenix got during the war. Wasn't she a being of fire and stone, they would not have appeared in a Disney movie...
** The first meeting between Aqua and Phoenix. For Phoenix, she's being hunted by what could be an enemy assasin. For Aqua, she's being pursued and later beimg held at gunpoint by a soldier from a race she was taught are remorseless killers and who is clearly willing to shoot her if she has to, all whioe having no idea on how to defend herself...
** The flashback Phoenix experiemves on her home, and the helplesness of Aqua at the sight. None of it is played for laughs. This is a former soldier experiencing a PTSD attack and accompanied bybsomeone who has no idea on what to fo or how to help her.
** The moment Basileus discovers Aqua has defied him, he murders one of his men and blames it on the Fire people just to put her back to her fearful mindset from early in the film. It is one thing for a villain to kill a henchmen. It is another to do it to psychologically manipulate his own daughter by enforcing her worst fears.
** Aqua and Basileus' argument is arguably the film's creepiest moment. First, Basileus reveals with a straight face he's planning to commit genocide, as if it was nothing horrifying. And when Aqua reveals she loves Phoenix, Basileus takes on a creepier vibe as he begins to talk about his daughter being "corrupted" by "monsters" in a fanatical yet silent tone. In that moment it dawns you. She is Alone with a Psycho, and said psycho is her own father. The King. The scene is distressing enought that it makes you wonder what he will do to her. He then crosses the Moral Event Horizon by destroying his daughter's property (which is effectively parental abuse) and ordering his daughter to a dungeon.
*** Adding to the creepiness, a snipet of Night at Bald Mountain can be heard as Basileus calls his daughter "corrupted", implicitly comparing him to Chernabog.
*** When Aqua emphasizes the Fire people (outsode their leader, whom she describes as "the evil exception") are friendly because of her experience with them, Basileus angrily shouts "NO! YOU LISTEN! I'M THE ONE IN CHARGE! SO IF I SAY THOSE THINGS DON'T BELONG IN THE SAME WORLD AS US THEN THAT'S IT!!!!!", exposing in the process his true personality: A narcissistic megalomaniac with no morals who believes the world is the way he thinks he is. Just like the villain of a certain other Disney property helmed by Dana Terrace...
*** Soon, the argument grows more and more... until Basileus shoots his own daughter. That's the moment that illustrates the main characters are now in actual peril.
*** The epitome of this horror show comes alongside the guards. Basileus claims he shot her out of self-defense, and they listen to him just because he is their king, and then he orders Aqua to be locked up, forcing us to watch poor Aqua being forcibly dragged as she pleads them to stop. 
*** If that wasn't enough, the moment is meant to reflect how real-life oppresors, such as facists, gain power and mange to keep it by convincing the population that they are doing what's right simply because they are in charge. The guards do have doubts, but end up putting their faith on the wrong man just because he is a figure of authority. Realism-Induced Horror is all too apt a description.
**Shortly before the climax, Basileus reveals the real reason behind his wife's death: She opposed to his ideals of killing the Fire people... so he killed her implicitly by beating her. He even brags about it to Aqua.
**At the end of the film, both Basileus and Caladi attempt to murder their daughters. Their behavior as a whole is also incredibly terrifying. Caladi remains as cold and calculated as ever in his attempts to kill Phoenix, almost making him look like The Terminator in that aspect. And Basileus? He's become a vicious animal. And unlike Phoenix, Aqua is a civilian with little experience in conflict attempting to defend herself against a maniac.
*** As scary as the scene is, arguably the worst part comes when Basileus says: "You ungrateful brat! I gave you home, food, everything you ever needed! And this is how you repay me!". He expects Aqua to "repay" him for basic descency. A mindset shared by many Abusive Parents.
*** To make matters worse, Basilues isn't just holding a gun, he's wearing a freakin' battle armor. He's essentially the result of what would happen if Freddy Kruger had Iron Man's suit.
*** The light's don't help either. They make Basileus look like a demon straight out of hell.
** Basileus as a whole is terrifying. He's essentially the amalgamation of Emperor Belos and Odalia Blight's personalities and David Xanatos' voice, a dangerous manpulator who gives the vibe of being a bit of a Karen, yet you have this... off-putting feeling about him that tells you he's not a good man even before he reveals himself as a monster. And when he loses it, is as if Robert Downey Jr. was playing a deranged killer instead of a character in a Disney movie. An abusive piece of shit willing to kill anybody for his vision of the world, Basileus fully establishes himself as one of the most monstrous Disney Villains in recent film memory.
*** His theme is also spine-chilling. Even when it plays as he reprimands Aqua, the feeling it gives is more in-line with being trapped with a Serial Killer... which turns out isn't that far off.
*** To add to the horror that is him, every scene where he abuses Aqua is done with smaller backgrounds than the rest of the film's larger, more gigantic backgrounds, giving them a near-claustrophobic feel to them. This perfectly captures one of the scariest parts of growimg up in an abusive household: That you're trapped and can't escape.
*** One could hardly believe Downey's Tony Stark charisma could ever be terrifying. Yet when it comes from the voice of a psychologically abusing father who deceives his daughter into not seeing his villany, it is.
*** Furthering his fear factor is the fact that, much like Frollo and Lady Tremaine before him, he is a very realistic type of villain. For example, the chances of running into a talking crab or an evil king sorcerer are slim to none. And no one has a good publicity like Gaston. But are there corrupt politician willing to commit horrendous crimes via exploiting their power and covering their villany under the guise of a wise and noble leader? Yes.
**Basileus' armor at the climax is the stuff of nightmares. Holding the appearance of a demonic beast and the Venom Symbiote's characteristic goo-like appearance plus giving him the Voice of a Legion, it almost certainly makes Basileus seem like a rotting demon from the depths of hell.
**"You want to be with your little girlfriemd, don't you? Then I'll make sure you end up together. In Death". Basileus to his own daughter, delivering a surprisingly bone-chilling threat for a Disney film.
**Througth the film, we see the kings using media and misinformation to manipukate their kingdoms into vontinuing the war. Tge idea of the media being manipukated so that the gpverment can cpbtinue with inmoral actions is not only petrifying and a good Paranoia Furl, but also utterly realistic.
*Oh Crap!: Phoenix' reaction to duscovering Aqua, her only partner in their investigation, has no idea of how to fight is to utter: "Oh, core. We are going to die".
*One-Winged Angel: While mot an actual transformation, Basileus at the climax takes on nano-armor that makes him look like a monster. The sveme also plays as of he was transforming rather than putting on a suit.
*Production Posee: Dana Rerrace brought from The Owl House writers Rachael Vine and Molly Osterag and cast memvers Sarah-Nicole Robles, Wendie Malick, Alex Hirsch, Zeno Robinson, Matthew Rhys, and Bumper Robinson.
*Production Throwback: While different enough to avoid being consodered an Expy, Basileus does share some (superficial) similarities with Emperor Belos, the main villain of director Dana Terrace's show The Owl House: Both are the oppresive leaders of nations who seek to destroy an species out of Fantastic Racism whose reaction to learning a family member has fallen in love with a member of said species is to assume they were enchanted, and later choose to kill them. While Basileus is far less successful than Belos while trying to kill his daughter, he is eventually revealed to have killed his wife.
* Realism-Induced Horror:
** Arguably one of the scariest part of the film is how realistic both war and its psychological effects are potrayed.
** What makes Badileus so scary as a villain is the fact that, take away the sci-fi stuff, what you are left with is a corrupt politician who abuses his power for his benefit by harming people he dosen't like and abuses his daughter througth manipulation and lies, will kill anyone he gets in his way and cover the crimes up, and all under the guise of a caring leader. Many of which are dangers that have very much existed in history.
* Retraux: The film's animation is intended to replicate the Xerox animation style seen in films such as One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Robin Hood.
* Rule of Symbolism: While watching the local fauna with Aqua, with whom she is already in love, Phoenix is forced to drop her armor outside of her water-proof suit. Metaphorically, she finally drops her façade and shell of a tough warrior and allows herself to feel again.
* Salvaged Story:
** The film having LGBTQ+ leads is a great relief following Disney's poor attempts in cinema to potray queer characters. The fact that most of the film's writers are queer certainly helped.
** Some fans have criticized Disney for its perceived Lighter and Softer approach to their animated films in recent years. This film by contrast takes a much darker tone, more in line with that of the Renaissance period, thanks in part due to its realistoc examination of war and villains incredibly dark for what is supposed to be a family-friendly film, all while avoiding discarding the idealistic themes Disney is known for. Director Dana Terrace even said the film would "bring darkness back to the House of Mouse" and compared it to films of the 90s that balanced dark and light content, such as Tarzan.
** A major criticism of Raya and the Last Dragon was how its insistence on sticking to the Disney formula hampered its storytelling. Director Dana Terrace would state that, for the film, the only elements of the Disney formula that would be included would be those that could help the story and, even then, being altered so that they could fit in with the film's tone and messages (such as the "animal sidekick" being depicted as a therapy pet and the "Everybody Dances Ending" being explicity a party much like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3).
* Shout-Out:
** Upon learning of her father's actions, Aqua says "you maniac".
** Phoenux' unit used to call themselves The Dirty Five.
** The scenes of Aqua after briefly leavimg her kingdom were inspired by Princess Mononoke.
** The opening is an homage to the Ohama Beach scene from Saving Private Ryan.
** Phoenix and Aqua's first kiss was inspired by the kiss scene from Moonlight.
** The reveal of Basileus having killed Aqua's mother was intended to reflect 1985-A Biff revealing to Marty McFly that he killed 1985-A George McFly in Back to the Future Part II. 
*** Speaking of Back to the Future, when Aqua grabs her first word, she struggles to lift it and says "This is heavy", leading an annoyed Phoenix to say "Great Scott", referencing Marty McFly and Doc Brown's catchphrases from the trilogy. 
**The blades on Basileus' gauntlets during the climax resemble those worn by the Shredder in the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. His suit as a whole, meanwhile, behaves more like the Venom symbiote as depicted in Marvel's Spider-Man 2.
**A number of these are done to the Star Trek franchise:
***Two of Phoenix' tattoes says "Mariner" and "Elysian Kingdom", the latter of which is the name of an episode of the series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
***Phoenix drinks of an implicitly-alcoholic (or alcoholic-esque) drink brand named "Quark".
***Phoenix' old ship resembles the USS Cerritos from Star Trek: Lower Decks, througth its named "the Defiant". The idea of the lead characters using a destrpyed ship slowly repaired througth the years to join the climax also evokes the Enterprise crew using the U.S.S. Franklin to stop Krall's plans in Star Trek Beyond.
***Some of Phoenix' protesis look like Sam Rutherford's implants.
***Basileus' room is visually inspired by the interior of the Borg Cube as seen in Star Trek: Picard. 
***Additionally, Basileus' plan to start the war was codenamed "Project Dukat", a reference to Gal Dukat from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Terrace once said on her Twitter account that she personally considered him "one of the best written villains of all time".
***Sodalistas' "one life rule" is "Hear All, Trust Nothing", the 109th Entry in the Rules of Adquisition.
***The war is revealed to be the product of a conspiracy between the leaders both species in hopes of eradicating the other, which is not too different from the conspiration in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. To complete the reference, Basileus uses the Shakesperean quote "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war", which was used by General Change in the film.
***As a Pre-Ass Kicking One-Liner, Amica quotes a line from Benjamin Sisko from the end of Deep Space Nine: "All right, people, what do you say we end this war?".
***According to the credits, all members of The Dirty Five are named after cast members from either Star Trek: The Original Series or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
***During her fight with Basileus, Phoenix recreates Sisko's iconic punch towards Q from Deep Space Nine.
***At one point, Sodalistas watches a parody of Star Trek: The Next Generation, more precisely of the episode "The Best of Both Worlds - Part 2". Furthermore, the animation is reminiscent of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
***The train Phoenix boards at the beginning of the movie says "AR-558".
**One of Phoenix' gadgets resembles a Pokedex.
*Shown Their Work: Phoenix shows a lot of accurate symptoms of war-related PTSD, such as apathy, sleeping problems, and irritability.
*Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: As dark as the film gets with its themes of war and prejudice, and its depiction of PTSD, the film ultimateky sits on the Idealistic end of the scale, being ultimately a romantic story about how The Power of Love can make the world better.
*Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
**Not everyone will buy propaganda, as much as a nation's leader tries. Not only do Aqua's circle of friends and others are show to lack any racism towards the Fire people, but neither do some of the Fire people towards the Water people whenever Aqua is spotted.
**Phoenix loving Aqua does not cure her of her PTSD, and she still keeps suffering from it by the end of the film. However, her love for her does drive her to heal and seek professional help.
* Tearjerker:
** The entire opening. First we have the rather depressing image of Phoenix walking througth the streets, feeling isolated no matter how full they are. Then, when she goes to a restaurant and orders some spaghetti, she ends up reminded of the friends she saw die in the battlefield, experiences a flashback, and briefly points her guns at some other clients as if she was again in the battlefield. What a way for this film to say they aren't going to be as light and soft as one would expect from Disney, right?
** Near the start of the film, Phoenix is wasting herself in a bar (or, as close as such scene is possible in a Disney film). She then mentions how people describe a battle you survive as a victory, an opinion she disagrees with. She is obviously thinking about how she lost her friends in the battlefield, and her wording might even imply suicidal idealization.
** The break-up between Aqua and Phoenix. Even worse is that Aqua dosen't want to break up with Phoenix, but she feels to trapped within her abusive upbringing to defy her father. Phoenix, on the other hand, feels devastated.
** After learning that the war she fought and developed mental issues for was just two men letting out their prejudice on each other and millions of innocents, Phoenix can do nothing but unleashing her rage and cry.
*** Even worse when you remember her trauma comes from losing loved ones to the pains of what she just learned was a senselss war.
*** She also briefly glimpses at her hands, implying that, on top of all of the above, she now also feels guilt over the fact that she possibly killed people who were in the end just indoctrined victims of a madman's delusions.
**Imagine yourself in Amica or Sodalistas' shoes. You see your best friend suffering due to her father's orders, so you try to get her gain the confidence to stand up to him. And, then, you discover her father is a powerful maniac with the will and resources to murder anyone who gets on his bad side. Imagine how guilty you would feel from learning you have been trying to get your best friend to do something that might kill her because you care for her.
**Aqua's reaction to learning of her father's crimes. All this time she wanted a positive and healthy relationship with him, and then discovers the man she cared for deliberatedly caused a war simply out if racism. Worse, she finds out he killed her mother for disagreeing. When she calls him out on his cri,es, she actually soumds in the verge of tears.
**The mere fact that both of the film's leads are, in the end, people with severe mental health issues that want the love of approval of parental figures that ultimately aren't worth the trouble.
*Techbobbable: As part of the film's many nods to Star Trek, the film relies heavily on this.
* There Are No Therapists: Subverted. While Phienix has a strong PTSD, she is never seen attending therapy. However, she makes it clear is by choice, and is mentioned to be seeing one at the end of the film.
* They Also Did:
** Director Dana Terrace and co-writers Rachel Vine and Molly Ostertag were the showrunner and writers, respectively, for Disney's The Owl House.
** ND Stevenson, showrunner of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power also co-wrote the script, in addition to voicing a character himself.
** Melissa Ethridge previously wrote song for Disneytoon Studios' Brother Bear 2.
*Througth the Eyes of Madness: Heavily downplayed, but when the film changes to Phoenix' perspective, it changes to a more aggresive art style. However, this is not to show how Phoenix sees the world, but instead how she perceives it as a product of her PTSD.
*The World Is Just Awesome: This is Aqua's reaction after leaving her kingdom for the first time.
*Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: The film easily falls into one of the darkest Disney films in recent memory. And that can be mainly blamed on its villains: Basileus and Caladi. Aside from being each their kind of Abusive Parents, they are also corrupt kings that deliberatedly led their kingdoms into war simply because of their racism towards each other, and did they indoctrinated millions of people into following them and even to die in their senseless war, but are more than willing to personally murder their daughters if they oppose him even ideologically. As such, they are played straight whenever they appear.
*War Is Hell: Surprisingly for a Disney animated movie, the film goes deep in exploring this. Phoenix even developed PTSD thanks to her experiences as a soldier.
*Water is Blue: Played with. While the Water people themselves aren't blue, they are shown in blue colors while in their kingdom due to the blue lights in it. Outside it, they are transparent.
* What Do You Mean Its For Kids?!: Being a love story by Disney may make people think this is good family-friendly fun. But its potrayal of war is eerily realistic, one of the lead characters explicitly suffers from PTSD, the villains are particularly unsavory, we have very true-to-life depictions of parental abuse, and nightmerish imagery to spare. Safe to say, this isn't one for little kids.
== Tropes for the series ==
* Company Cross-References:
** In episode 1, Aqua and Phoenix watch a photo of them in front of a potrait of The Owl House. Aqua also mentions having met twins named Dipper and Mabel.
** In episode 3, Aqua hums the song "Try Everything" as she returns home.
** In a season 2 episode, Aqua narrates her and Phoenix' baby a tale about a beggar who tricks an evil sorcerer into becoming a genie and getting trapped in a lamp, before marrying a princess.
* Descended Creator: Co-showrunner ND Stevenson voices a shop owner named Nate.
* The Danza: ND Stevenson, real name Nate Stevenson, voices a character named Nate.
* Does This Remind You of Anything?: Aqua and Phoenix's relationship is seen with disdain by more conservative groups. Keep in mind both are women and of different races.
* Sad Clown: While Aqua at first seems happier than she ever was, the truth us she suffers from depression after what happened in the film.
* Shown Their Work: The showrunners deliberatedly sought to depuct depression more realisticly than most animated shows, so they brought in consultants to assist them.
* Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
** Even if the war ceased and people are willing to give other races a chance, that dosen't mean race relations magically healed overnight. Racism is still strong and discrimination is still common.
** Even after the film's events, Phoenix still carries PTSD from her time in war. Because these things take months or even years to heal.
** Aqua's father abused her for years, manipulated everyone into a war, and tried to kill her. As a result, Aqua develops her own mental health issues.
* Tearjerker: Phoenix' reaction to camera flashlights is to experience a flashback. By the time she's done, she can barely speak.