One thousand years ago, the titular crystal was whole. When it cracked on the day of the Great Conjunction of the planet's three suns, it split itsUrSkek keepers into theExclusively Evil and aggressive Skeksis and theAlways Lawful Good but all too passive Mystics (aka urRu). A few centuries later, the Skeksis discover a prophecy that the elf-like Gelflings will heal the crystal, thus undoing their reign, they sent theirGarthim to hunt them down and kill them all. All except for the protagonists Jen and Kira, thelast of their kind.
Though it didn't do as well on its initial theatrical run, it spawned a cult following large enough to warrant a string of spin-offs, mostly in print. First cameLegends of the Dark Crystal, a two-volumeManga prequel byTokyo Pop, thenThe Dark Crystal: Creation Myths, aGraphic Novel prequel trilogy byArchaia Entertainment. Afailed attempt at a film sequel gave rise instead to two comic book limited series,Power of the Dark Crystal andBeneath the Dark Crystal.Netflix released a prequel series,Dark Crystal, Age of Resistance, in 2019, but cut it after one season despite critical acclaim.
Tropes used inThe Dark Crystal include:
Action Survivor: The Chamberlain is a villain example. The Skeksis as a whole are depicted as lazyUpper Class Twits, and the Chamberlain is more so than the others, being frail and gaunt, losing the test of strength against the General. Despite this, after being humiliated, stripped of his robes, and banished from the castle, he copes surprisingly well, not only surviving but managing to reclaim his position by capturing Kira.
Age Without Youth: Applies to both the Mystics and Skeksis (though they're not technically immortal), but the Skeksis suffer a bit more from it, especially when youlearn that they weren't originally evil, but rather represented the passionate, hedonistic side of the Urskek, and were rather pleasant to party with. Then they aged, for a thousand years.
Alien Lunch: Some of the things the Skeksis eat are still alive.
Artificial Limbs: The Skeksis Slave Master has a hook for a hand while the Scientist has a mechanical arm.Their Mystic counterparts have wooden limbs in the same places.
Balance Between Good and Evil: Literally; sincethe Mystics and Skeksis are actually two halves of one being - if one of them dies, so does their counterpart.
The Beast Master: Kira can call out to just about any animal out there and coax it into helping her. There are alot or weird animals out there and this ability comes in very handy.
Beauty Equals Goodness: Played with. The protagonists, the Gelflings, are obviously intended to be attractive, despite anyUncanny Valley that may be invoked by looking at them. The pure urRu are made to look noble and sagacious, and when they die, they fade into sparkles. The Skeksis on the other hand, are clearly intended to look twisted, deformed and vulture-like, which is made even worse by their advanced age. Aughra, however, is quite hideous and warty, yet proves to be a helpful character. A bit of background checking shows that in the grand scheme of things, she's actually supposed to beTrue Neutral, and not one to take sides. It gets really confusing with the Podlings, who are supposed to be a good,Closer to Earth race, yet somehow they wound up looking cute yet ugly at the same time. Brian Froud did admit that he toned down their appearance from the earliest incarnations, because those were far too grotesque and potato-like.
Jen: Wings? I don't have wings. Kira: Of course not.You're a boy.
Yet they're never seen to be used to actually fly up. More like|falling with style.
In the novelization, Kira explains to Jen that long ago, female Gelflings were able to fly properly rather than just flutter to the ground.
A Boy and His X: Though, Fizgig, an alien something like a cross between a terrier and a Pirahna, belongs to the girl, the trope is played straight in the prequel manga.
Cast of Snowflakes: The Skeksis all have complex personalities, hobbies, and goals, mostly given in novelizations, and each has his own elaborate and unique style of clothing. However, as far as the movie is concerned, only the General, Chamberlain, and Scientist have roles that are important to the plot.
Even Evil Has Standards: Hilariously addressed when the Garthim bring Aughra to the banquet hall; for all their faults, the Skeksis aren't too fond of cussing, the Ritual Master telling her to "watch your tongue!"
Eye Scream: Aughra can remove her own eyeball at will and use it like a remote camera. While it doesn't hurt her, it certainly is weird...
In the backstory, she lost her other eye and came to be how she looks in the film when she laid on the ground to watch the Great Conjunction. A beam of intense light struck her eye, destroying it and burning her badly.
Genocide Backfire: If there's only one race of people that can end your reign of tyranny you better make sure you wipe them all out rather then leaving a few behind.
Giant Enemy Crab: Garthim. They've even got a bit of Fiddler-Crab likeness to them. One arm is a massive slicing claw, the other is a powerful gripping hand.
Grotesque Gallery /Ugly Cute: A fascinating case, since the entire world is composed of muppets and environment that are either deliberately alien or designed off of nature'sless cute critters, making the whole thing one dark fairy tale based on look alone.-
Heel Face Turn:Completely subverted with the Chamberlain. Defrocked and kicked out of the Skeksis' castle, he makes obvious peace overtures to Jen and Kira. When Jen stabs him for his pains, he promptly kidnaps Kira and scuttles back to the castle to redeem himself in the eyes of the other Skeksis. Whether he did it because of thehostile reception he got, or because he wasEvil All Along, is left for the viewer.
Heroic Sacrifice:Many of the cute little fuzzballs that force SkekTek into the bottomless shaft go down with him. Fizzgig too, though he ends up catching hold of something and gets rescued by Aughra. And the Landstriders, who throw themselves at the much-stronger Garthim to protect Jen and Kira. And of course, Kira herself.
Hobbits: This is more or less what gelflings and/or Podlings are supposed to be. They're much smaller than all the other people in the setting, and the podlings are definitely merry.
Immortality Seeker: The Skeksis' goal; given how the Emperor dies of old age at the beginning and the rest of them seem pretty old themselves, they aren't making much progress towards it.
Ironic Name: The Skesis scientist's laboratory, where he keeps all those jailed critters and drains Podlings and Gelflings from their vital essence? Its official name is "the Chamber of Life".
Conversely, it's aMeaningful Name for the Skesis themselves, asthey extract a life-prolonging potion from the Pod People and Gelflings in there.
Jabba Table Manners: The Skeksis, Sans SkekEkt, who happens to be a dainty eater.
Killer Rabbit: Fizzgig looks cute until he opens his mouth.
Furthermore, the animals in the Skeksis' laboratory use their combined cute fluffiness to escape and savagely maul the Scientist down into the furnace, saving Kira.
Also justified, since he was raised in a rather sheltered environment, by very gentle and passive minded beings, and wasn't taught much in the way of survival skills (instead receiving education in things like writing and music, which howeverdoes prove useful in the course of the story).
Mordor: The castle of the Skeksis and the land surrounding it are dark, barren, and forbidding. That is until the Skeksis are no more.
Mythopoeia: The book The World of the Dark Crystal covers alot of back story.
Needle in a Stack of Needles: Jen has to dig through a box of nearly identical crystal shards to find the one that actually is the missing chunk of the Dark Crystal.He identifies it after using a trick with his flute which he learned from the urRu.
Earlier in the ruins if you pay attention to the wall art, you can see some of the figures have wings.
Nice Job Breaking It, Herod: Variation. The Skeksis try to foil the prophecy by mass-murdering every gelfling they can find, the Garthim orignally designed for this purpose. As always, they miss a couple...
Noisy Nature: Most of the scenes of the flora and fauna of Thra are rife with animal/insect sound and there's a plant with seed pods that take off like little copters with an audible 'pop'
Also,in the final scene, the Garthim collapse into empty shells, due to whatever magic used to create them now gone.
Not Quite Flight: Kira's wings let her glide and slows her fall - even when holding Jen - but she can't use them to gain lift. The novelization claims female gelfling couldactually fly many ages ago, presumably evolution has caused their wings to atrophy.
Overly Long Gag: The banquet scene was two minutes showcasing the Skeksis' atrocious table manners. Whether this was done for humor or to unnerve the viewers (or both) is hard to say.
Positive Discrimination: The female protagonist gets big pretty butterfly wings and superpowers. The male protagonist gets... um... to hook up with the female protagonist?
Staff of Authority - The Skesis emperor carries a scepter which designates his office. In the death scene of the first emperor, Chamberlain indicates his eagerness to take over by reaching for the scepter.
Stupid Good: Jen's adoptive father even admits he shouldn't have waited until he was on his deathbed to explain what to Jen what his quest is, and this lack of foresight requires Jen tofigure the whole thing out himself, something he clearlycould not have done without Kira's help. He also apparently never saw reason to teach Jen how to read, a skill which would have beenvery useful in said quest, something which, again, was helped by Kira having more sensible guardians.
What Could Have Been: as seen in some of the DVD extras, the Skeksis were originally going to speak an "alien" language. A lot of Skeksis words were kept in the novelization.
The Podlings were also supposed to have many eyes coming out of their heads (since they were based off potatoes), but that looked too unnerving, so it was scrapped.
When the Planets Align: Jen has to heal the Crystal when the three suns are in alignment.
Women Are Wiser: Or men are dumber. Or both. Kira is far more on the ball than Jen, and Aughra, while pretty rude, knows far more than most of the adults.
World Building: What Brian Froud and Jim Henson did before making the movie.