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Trolls Trollpedia
Trolls Trollpedia
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Trolls

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This article is about the character species. For the franchise, see Trolls (franchise). For the movie, see Trolls (movie). For other uses, see Trolls (disambiguation).

The Trolls are a species of small creatures of which inhabit the World which the DreamWorks Trolls franchise is based upon. They are musical and magical creatures.

Until Trolls World Tour, the franchise would use the term "Trolls" to explicitly refer to the then-only known Tribe of Trolls, the Pop Trolls. Therefore, some conflicting information exists between "Troll" and "Pop Troll". Thus, just because "Pop Trolls" do something doesn't mean that it applies to all Trolls. Despite this, there are noticeable traits all Trolls share, and the species called "Trolls" is one of great diversity. What separates the Troll species boils down to culture, which has created a great deal of diversity per population, even down to appearances.

History

The Story of the Strings

6 ancestors

The 6 ancestors from King Peppy's speech (left to right: Pop, Techno, Funk, Country, Rock, Classical)

Long ago, the ancestors of the 6 Tribes created the Strings, 6 in total. These were based on their respective cultures, of which each was centralized on a particular type of music: Pop, Classical, Rock, Techno, Funk and Country.

At some point, the Tribes initially coexisted, until the Pop Trolls' leader stole the entire harp out of pure selfishness, which made the Pop Trolls' population to expand. After the remaining Troll elders retrieved their respective strings, they became isolated from each other, each going to their own separate corners of the Troll lands and creating their own kingdoms.

Elderancients

The 6 elders. Left to right: Country, Rock, Classical, Funk, Pop, Techno

The Rock World Tour

Queen Barb invades the other 5 kingdoms to get their Strings and erase all music except Rock. In response, Queen Poppy of the Pop Trolls decides to rally all the Tribes against her.

Barb partly succeeds at her plan, but the Strings end up getting destroyed by Poppy before she finalized everything. With the Strings now gone, the Trolls have finally stopped relying on them and now draw music from themselves. In addition, the isolation of the Tribes ended, and they now live with each other again.

Biology

Appearance

The DreamWorks base-design of the "basic Troll design" stands just 6 inches in height, splitting normally between approximately 3 inches of hair and 3 inches of body. They have hands with 3 fingers plus a thumb on each hand and 4 toes on each foot. An example of a typical Troll is the franchise's main protagionist Queen Poppy and her respective love interest Branch; though both stand just shy of the 6 inches with Poppy being 5 and a half inches tall and Branch being supposedly shorter then her "by a hair". There doesn't tend to be much variation among each actual Tribe's separate population, meaning within a population design tends to be similar.

However, when comparing different populations, the Tribes have variations on this design. For example, while their bodies can be any color as can their hair the color palette can be Tribe-specific; for example, Rock Trolls generate with grey and muddy colors, Techno Trolls bright neon colors, and Funk Trolls generate with multiple bright, rainbow-colored stripes in their fur. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes in terms of body shape. They can vary between bipedal or quadrupedal depending on Tribal origins, though most Trolls are bipedal. A number of them have "good luck gems" where their belly button should be.

Most of the Trolls have soft-felt or fabric-like skin, including the Pop Trolls, Country Trolls and Funk Trolls. There are exceptions that are based on a specific Tribe origin, such as Glitter Trolls (who have metallic, glittery texture), The K-Pop Gang (who have chrome color-switch skin), Reggaeton Trolls (who have soft-felt skin, vinyl-looking and smooth markings), Rock Trolls (who have a soft-rock gradient, stone-like skin), and Techno Trolls (who have a smooth, textureless skin that looks like plastic).

Most designs of each Troll Tribe are randomly generated by DreamWorks themselves; named characters such as the leaders of each Tribe tend to have more unique designs. This is most likely to save time and money and it tends to extend to 2D animation as well. Large crowds of Trolls are made possible with the use of random generated Trolls wherein color of hair, body and attire, as well as attire design, are simply swapped. Only named characters, or characters serving to be a focus of a scene, are given heavy details.

A Troll's heart, which is located in the very center of the chest area, glows to the attunment of the individual's closest musical alignment, regardless of what heritage the Troll is pink for the Pop Trolls, red for the Rock Trolls, orange for the Country Trolls, yellow for the Classical Trolls, purple for the Funk Trolls and blue/green for the Techno Trolls.

They are so far the smallest sentient species of their world.

Common Sexual Dimorphism Traits

The Trolls' sexes aren't easily separated, with the only method of telling a male and a female Troll apart is by looking at a Troll's eyes for long eyelashes, which remains the only consistent sexual dimorphic trait. The design of the eyelashes changes per population, but they normally indicate a female Troll. Males otherwise are only picked out by their lack of eyelashes. Exceptions are only given to "unique" designed characters such as Keith or Trollzart, who have eyelashes despite being male. In Keith's case, the circumstances for having eyelashes is that DreamWorks reused Poppy's baby model for his character.

Pop, Rock and Country Trolls follow a standard design in which males stand the same height as females, but have larger hands with their fingertips resting lower than the groin area with same-length arms. They tend to have a slightly bulkier build with wider shoulders and slightly bigger bellies. However, both cases are subtle compared to many other common differences. In other Tribes, these differences aren't displayed; Funk Trolls have the same limbs regardless of gender, and Techno Trolls and Classical Trolls don't have any body shape changes as they're all variations of the same model.

Other indications of sex occur in certain Tribal clothing (for example, female Rock Trolls tend to wear fishnet tights). In addition, there are many minor feminine and masculine traits that are chosen by the design team of the franchise for each character. For example, Poppy being female has a narrower and more rounded face versus Branch, who has a bigger and wider one; this is inconsistent among overall populations, but is likely to help visualize Poppy as a more feminine character and Branch as a more masculine one.

Genetic traits

The DreamWorks Twitter account hinted that genetics still impact the Trolls and siblings are often similar designs and colors for this reason.[1] The series itself shows even monozygotic twins like Satin & Chenille or Cooper and Prince D, still can have their differences in color and design.

Poppy herself has pink colors on her body scheme likely inherited from her own father, but meanwhile Queen Barb looks nothing like King Thrash. Poppy comments that Cooper looks just like his father King Quincy even though they have very different designs and colorations, so it is implied that Trolls still tend to resemble their parents at least according to each other. Poppy and Viva have the same face, and when they were teenagers Clay, Floyd, Spruce and John Dory all looked the same, except hair color. However, as adults the BroZone members have more unique appearances, including in this Branch.

Other Appearance Notes

A note is that when it comes to uniquely designed Trolls, they tend to stand out in more ways then just their designs being not a standard one. For example, King Trollex has a different hair design and coloration, but he doesn't just stand out for this reason; overall due to having longer fins he stands taller then the other Techno Trolls. Likewise, Queen Essence and King Quincy both stand taller then the other Funk Trolls, with King Quincy standing taller still then Essence making him the tallest of his Tribe. Many members of The Snack Pack stand out not just in their visual design but their colorations; Creek isn't just picked out because of his unique attire but because of his bright colors, this same rule applies to Satin & Chenille who also have a unique coloration in their hair. Poppy herself is visually made to be distinctly pink even compared to other Trolls that are pink by using a brighter pink then any other on scene, likewise Branch's dull grey colors also make him stand out against all the other brightly colored Pop Trolls.

Visual Gags

A note of the people making parts of the Trolls franchise is that from time to time they mess with the visual appearance of the Trolls to create "throwaway" gag ones. These include Skyscraper and Legsly, with the latter fleshing out into a full character.

Other Trolls who are visual gags include Fuzzbert, Biggie, Smidge and conjoined twins Satin & Chenille.

Reproduction

Not much is known about how the Trolls reproduce as of the available information from the franchise. Though child Trolls of each Tribe do have parents, normally both a male and female Troll, little details are given on the Troll reproduction process that leads to the creation of baby Trolls. This is mostly because of the fact the Trolls franchise itself is aimed at children. In fact, the only time any Troll genitalia has been on screen, it was censored out; Biggie accidentally exposed himself during the song in Trolls Holiday. Although, it should be noted that naked Trolls like the Glitter Trolls or Tresillo and his females don't have any genitalia on show, so Biggie's accidental exposure may have been just a gag.

The first witnessed birth is from Guy Diamond in Trolls World Tour, who gave birth to Tiny Diamond despite being male; a silver egg shoots out of his hair, and hatches as Tiny slowly descends down to him. Later, a Country Troll female gives birth to a large, smooth egg with a patchwork pattern on it, and without hair; her own hair simply parted to reveal the egg. Queen Essence held both of her Funk Twin identical eggs in her hair; they had a glossy Funk design on them and strands of dreadlocked hair. A scene removed from Trolls Band Together shows Peppy with Poppy's egg.

Also, just because a parent has a preference for one genre of music, their offspring won't necessarily inherit it and may be one of the subculture Trolls who specialize in a particular niche between the main genres of music. Tiny inherited all of Guy's looks, but his style of music is different from his father's, being a Hip hop Troll. These variations of the basic 6 Troll Tribes are natural occurrences that take place over time.

In the Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episode "The Giver", Cooper tells Poppy his life-story beginning with "Darkness... Then I emerge from the womb...", implying that childbirth may be different between different Troll populations; it implied Funk Trolls are viviparous, compared to other Trolls being oviparous. This was later proven false when Cooper ventured to find other Trolls like him; it turned out he was stolen as an egg from his mother Queen Essence's hair.

Most Trolls look similar to each other when born, especially those within the same Tribe, so a Pop Troll baby looks similar to any other Pop Troll baby.

Variouscreatures

Bruce and Brandy's half-Troll children with Brandy, Poppy and Branch

If they can 'make it work', they can have half-Troll babies with other species. The resulting offspring physically look like a combination of both species. The only example is Bruce and his children. His children, however are much larger then him. They mostly look like normal Vacaytioners, but their hair grows like that of a Troll.

Infants/Juveniles

One of the largest inconsistencies within the franchise comes from infant Trolls. Most information also focused on young Pop Trolls, and information on other Tribes didn't become available until Trolls World Tour. In addition, a large amount of retcons have occurred across the franchise.

As a Troll grows they begin to look a little more unique, as exampled by BroZone, but for the most part the younger the Troll the more alike they are to other members of their family, and Tribe. They also start to wear more unique clothes and develop more unique personalities to each other that makes that Troll who they are later as adults. As shown with Branch, bad experiences in childhood can plague a Troll well into their adult life, whereas Trolls like Poppy who have a good upbringing in turn have a much more positive outlook on life as an adult. The Trolls upbringing therefore is really important to their overall development as an adult Troll and will impact them, such as their overall ego and psyche or outlook on life both emotionally and socially.

The first baby Troll seen in the franchise was Poppy in the opening of Trolls. Poppy only said simple words and repeating phrases such as "Dada" and "No Troll left behind"; she had her own separate baby bio from her adult self. In material related specifically to "Baby Poppy", it was noted that King Peppy kept Poppy in his hair, which acted as a playpen. It was also shown in Trolls during the escape from Bergen Town, where Peppy kept his daughter safe, that Troll babies do hide in their parents' hair. Another reference is found in one of the Troll comics, where Poppy is babysitting baby Trolls and one goes missing after Branch passes by; it turned out the baby Troll hopped into Branch's hair when the pair weren't looking. The model for Poppy was also reused for the character of Keith, but recolored green and blue.

Young Trolls were shown as well with less overall hair than adults, and were still learning about the world. Their designs would be used for the basis of many child Trolls during the franchise's Trolls era, with the basic design being also used for some adult models like Harper's within the movie. One of the roles that Poppy took as a Troll leader was to teach young Trolls on "how to be a Troll".

Trolls: The Beat Goes On! copied the baby Poppy design. Within the series, inconsistences can be found. In the episode Gem Day, Poppy states that the first hair a Troll gets is cut, but no further references to this were ever made in the Trolls franchise, as most Trolls are born with a full head of hair, and none of them have it cut. In the episode "Vega Swift", it's noted that a baby's hair can become out of control, and therefore they need to wear a bonnet to keep it contained, but this isn't shown anywhere else in the series.

Keith was aged up from a baby Troll to a young child, and the series generally remained consistent with the movie's depictions.

Trolls World Tour saw a retcon to baby Trolls. In terms of the Pop Trolls, Hip hop Troll Tiny Diamond can speak full sentences, and looks more like a miniature version of his father Guy Diamond. Tiny also acts much more like an adult Troll than a baby as Poppy did in Trolls. Young Pop Trolls still used the Trolls-era designs, since the retcon hasn't impacted them by that moment.

With the addition of the new Tribes, it also came more variation in baby Troll design. Among the Techno Trolls, a young child (Coral Blush) can be seen with his parents. In another scene, Delta Dawn orders her niece Clampers Buttonwillow to attack Poppy and her friends; the miniature Troll opens her mouth and reveals a set of rotating teeth that move like a buzzsaw; it is unknown if this was done for comical relief, or if this is unique to Clampers or common among the Tribe. The only two examples of a Funk Troll baby both share baby Cooper's design. The only Rock Troll baby shown is loosely based on the Trolls-era baby Poppy design, just with Rock Troll features. Yet all other young Trolls have similar designs to Pop Troll young. The inconsistency can be put down to late movie design changes that were occurring even after its production. Although a baby Classical Troll was seen, its model was created from readjusting the adult one.

As of Trolls: TrollsTopia, it has been confirmed that Tiny Diamond's design is now a full retcon for young Pop Trolls.

Aside from Tiny Diamond, who is 1 month at this point, Branch was also shown as a baby further confirming the retcon of Troll babies.

Most merchandise of babies for the Trolls era was based on Poppy's baby design, although later babies were smaller than Poppy. In toys for Gia Grooves and Poppy, it was also noted that baby Trolls hide in other Trolls' hair for playing safely. Hasbro were mostly the ones who commonly depicted baby Trolls, as most other references to baby Trolls were only of baby Poppy.

No other baby or young Trolls were shown in merchandise outside of books.

Hasbro merchandise for Trolls World Tour depicts all baby and juvenile Trolls as just smaller versions of adult Trolls. This leads to a inconsistency within merchandise of baby and young Trolls. Other companies chose to not make any size difference between adults and babies. In Trolls World Tour, Troll babies were retconned, starting with Tiny Diamond's introduction. This impacted Hasbro's approach to dolls, Hasbro often depicting younger Trolls as oversized dolls rather than in Trolls.

Elders

While inconsistencies have occurred with young Trolls, elders have remained much more consistent throughout the franchise, even among merchandise.

As Trolls grow old, they gain grey streaks in their hair. Many also lose the volume of their hair and get a frizzled hairstyle. Elderly Trolls often show signs of arthritis and other health issues.

There aren't many elderly Trolls shown in the movies, with most Trolls only being of a young adult age such as The Snack Pack. For the Pop Trolls, the absence of elders can be easily explained due to their past issues with the Bergens and the Trollstice event, leaving King Peppy as one of the few elderly Trolls to survive from Bergen Town in the movies.

It's common for elderly royals among the Tribes to hand over their crown when their health renders them unable to perform their royal duties. This was seen with both Pop and Rock Trolls Kings, Peppy and Thrash, who handed over their crown to their respective daughters, Queen Poppy and Queen Barb. They're still referred to by their title of "King", despite not being in charge anymore.

Predators

Due to their diminutive size, the Trolls are subject to being prey to a number of larger creatures, with at least one population once fearing from getting eaten by Bergens. The Trolls aren't on the top of their food chain, and therefore have to be wary of any animal capable of eating them.

Diet

The general extent of the Troll diet is currently unknown, as most of what the different Troll populations eat hasn't been shown. The known diet traits among the Trolls include:

  • The Pop Trolls eat critters and sweets such as cakes and ice cream.
  • The Rock Trolls consume packaged food and drinks.
  • The Country Trolls drink milk and eat meat from Buffalo-like creatures.
  • The Classical Trolls tend to eat Eighth Goats. They also drink tea and specialize in fine dining.
  • The Funk Trolls are known to eat various kinds of "funky" fruit.
  • The Techno Trolls' cuisine generally consists of sweets, including recipes like Gloop Du Jour and Techno Spunnel Cake.

Habitats

Extended map

The current world map as of Trolls Band Together

The Trolls have adapted to a variety of environments, which form "Troll Kingdom" or "Troll's Kingdom". The Kingdom consists of deep oceanic floors, high mountains, forests, volcanic areas and a desert.

For more information on the Trolls' world, see World.

The locations depend on what types of Trolls live there. Troll Forest is inhabited by the Pop Trolls who reside in Pop Village, Volcano Rock City by the Rock Trolls, Lonesome Flats by the Country Trolls, Symphonyville by the Classical Trolls, Vibe City by the Funk Trolls, and Techno Reef by the Techno Trolls.

Some variations of the map show that Bergen Town is southwest of the Troll Kingdom, located on the border of the Trolls homelands. The Bergens' home is just south of Vibe City and far southwest of Troll Forest. The center of Bergen Town was once a woodland area, which was the original home of the Pop Trolls until they migrated in the wake of the last Trollstice to Troll Forest. So, the Pop Trolls originally lived southwest of Vibe City, with Troll Forest, the very center of Troll Kingdom, being actually largely uninhabited by Trolls, but inhabited by many different types of Flora and Fauna.

One note from Trolls World Tour, had Queen Barb won and used the Strings to replace all music with Hard Rock, the only type of habitat left would have been volcanic regions according to her prediction map. It is currently unknown how this terraformation of the landscape would have occurred.

Troll Main Abilities

While individual Tribes have abilities that only apply to them, there are some collectively common abilities shared by all Trolls, including magic and music.

Troll Hair

Troll hair is a defining trait of the Trolls; all of them have it. Their hair has special properties, or magic. According to the Trolls: TrollsTopia episode "Daylight Ravings Time", Jane Hugmere's Disservation of Troll Hair Patterns states; "... on the hair patterns of early Trolls. Chapter 1 - the difference in hair folicle stimulation in our ancestors' hair patterns is a thrilling area of study...". From what little of the audio book was heard in the episode, the speaker is simply explaining that different Troll kinds have different hair based on their ancestors diversification from each other. In "Big Sis B", Rhythm quotes as fact that the average Troll has 1 million hairs.

Basic Capabilities

Trolls have the ability to outstretch their hair and use as it an extra limb for hanging from tree or grab objects. It's also used in part with their ability to camouflage themselves with their environment, as Trolls can change the color of their hair. The Pop Trolls use their hair to make their homes called "pods", so Troll hair is quite strong and endurable. Branch notes in Troll 2 Troll that a Troll's hair is their best defense; mousse and gel limit its movements. Their hair is strong and durable enough to lift up another Troll, though it's not that strong when compared to a Bergen. They can reshape their hair into different forms such as a glider, stairs, a parachute, rotor blades and a large ball to hide in. They carry everyday items in their hair such as tools, though Trolls with a larger head of hair such as Mags Gumdrop can have several Trolls in them. When it comes to Fuzzlings, it was seen in the Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episode "The Imposter" that their hair acts like a pocket dimension between different Fuzzlings, though this may have been only a joke.

In a number of instances within the franchise, they're seen making their hair glow to create light. In the Trolls: TrollsTopia episode "Glitter Rush", Holly Darlin' used hair spray to create a driller out of her hair and drill through rock, though her hair had limitations and TNT was able to break through more solid rock than her hair.

The abilities of a Troll's hair doesn't just apply to the their head hair, and other types of hair often have special properties too. Funk Trolls have fur on their bodies with special properties to make up for the lacking in other areas. Their hair resembles wool, whereas other Trolls' hair is more hair-like, often being completely limp and hanging down rather than sticking up like the other Troll Tribes'.

Growley Pete, a Country Troll, is also seen using his mustache as a lasso, though it's unknown if males of other Tribes are able to do the same. Chaz, a Smooth Jazz Troll, is able to stretch and puff out his chest hair.

There are other miscellaneous traits to Troll hair that can vary per Troll. Demo is shown to sharpen his hair so it's pointy enough to cut or impale things, and Holly Darlin''s hair will twitch near hairicanes. In "Darlin' Dos", Poppy's hair was commented to be some of the best hairs Holly had ever seen. Holly restyles it, and then later Branch's so it's overall big. If a Troll gets into the eye of a hairicane, the storm will re-shape their hair to reflect their personality, giving the Troll a "True You Do".

Protection of Young
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Promotional art depicting Guy Diamond with Tiny Diamond in his hair.

As mentioned elsewhere, Troll hair also helps keep young Trolls safe by providing a place for them to play and hide in. Troll Eggs are also kept in the hair of the Troll, and thus Troll babies are born from the safety of their parents' hair. This is seen in both the Pop Trolls and Country Trolls.

Overall Limitations

Not all the Trolls are able to use their hair in the same way, and thus not all Tribes can make their hair work the same way as another Tribe. The Funk Trolls' hair doesn't seem to be as effective as that of the Pop Trolls for general use. They still can do some of the natural Troll hair abilities, as Cooper was able to join in with the rest of The Snack Pack while creating Bridget's "Lady Glittersparkles" wig.

Their hair doesn't always cooperate. In the Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episode "Trolly Tales 3", Gia Grooves has her hair go out of control, and is told that it'll take her all day to get it back under control. In the ASK POPPY episode "Bad Hair Day", Guy Diamond has the same problem caused by a cowlick, and Poppy finds it impossible to restyle it for him. This was also the plot of one of the Trolls comics from Egmont Group, titled "Bad Hair Day" too.

As seen in "Hairicane", if a Trolls is trapped outside a hairicane, there is a risk of it become so tangled it can take months to treat.

There is also limitations in how much a Troll's hair can endure. In "Model Behavior", Satin & Chenille broke Branch's hair while trying to style it. In "Hair Fracture", Poppy broke her own hair trying to place a statue into position. However, according to her Trolls bio, Smidge has the strongest hair of all Trolls and weas seen in the movie lifting a large weight many times bigger then herself, thus different Trolls have different hair durablity.

When Holly re-shaped Poppy's hair in "Darlin' Dos" the hair style was so big that it got in the way of her everyday life. Meaning there is a limitation to how big a Troll's hair can get before it is a detriment to the Troll itself.

Big hair requires a lot of attention and hair products to maintain such volume and hold have consequences to the hairs health. In "Follicle Fitness", Dr. Moonbloom examined Holly Darlin' and determined her hair was unfit because of Holly's own overuse of hairspray. Hair the size of Holly's loses strength if too many hair products are used. Holly had gotten addicted to hairspray and it now required a 6 week recovery period wherein she could not use the product. She also was forced to go to the Hairnasium to help strengthen it. This requires a lot of hard work as Holly had let her hair go so weak it couldn't even lift the bar of a dumbbell set without any weights on.

Misc. Information

Another note from The Art of DreamWorks Trolls and other merchandise is that when Branch gains his True Colors, his hair grows to its full length; this meant he was finally living to his full potential. A similar event happens with Barb in Trolls World Tour as her hair is notably short. Her mohawk's sudden growth and coloration echoed the way Branch's hair grew, and how Rainbow Trolls show their true colors at their full potential.

It was also mentioned in the Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episode "Much Achoo About Nothing" that critters can become allergic to Troll hair and Funk Troll fur.

In Trolls World Tour, it is shown in a brief scene before the Trolls Wanna Have Good Times medley that Pop Trolls naturally have hair on their legs, but they shave it off.

In Trolls Band Together, the Putt Putt Trolls were introduced who had the ability to use their hair to become puffball and allowing them to play games or be played in games.

Color Changing

A Troll's colors will vary under certain conditions. While they can change the color of their hair, their entire bodies are capable of dulling. Similar to Troll hairs and its properties, this is suggested a form of magic by sources such as The Art of DreamWorks Trolls.

Camouflage
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When Chef went looking for Princess Poppy and King Peppy, this is all she could see; the two Trolls were completely hidden.

The act of turning grey is confirmed in The Art of DreamWorks Trolls to be a natural response for Trolls. It's a camouflage that allows them to blend in and hide with their surroundings. For some Tribes like the Pop Trolls, this allows them to quickly hide away if threatened among their forest environment, as seen when Poppy hid King Peppy from Chef in Trolls. Their forest surroundings provide a great deal of places for them to hide the otherwise vividly-colored Pop Trolls.

This usually lasts for a brief period of time, but can remain for years if the Troll feels deeply saddened, as in the case of Branch. As this impacted Cooper, a Funk Troll, it's not something just restricted to the Pop Trolls, and other Tribes can lose color as well. In addition, their hair can change color, which also aids in their natural camouflage, allowing them to hide in flowers or tall grass. The effectiveness of this natural camouflage varies, as Cooper was caught by Chef in Trolls because his long neck limited his use of effective camouflage compared to the Pop Trolls.

This concept isn't always shown throughout the franchise, as the 2D animatons never touch upon it.

Mood

When a Troll is scared, very unhappy, frightened greatly or most especially when one loses hope, they also gain a grey coloration. Branch is confirmed to change color in 3D animation depending on the mood and lighting color of each scene.[2] Tim Heitz confirmed that Trolls do change color per mood and that Branch is the moodiest Troll,[3] therefore the most likely to change color.

True Colors
2437875

Poppy and Branch (center) with Branch showing his "True Colors", as the other Pop Trolls regain theirs.

When a Troll is at their happiest, they're at their brightest. This makes them have a very bright coloration, as well as glow. Some Trolls such as the Rainbow Trolls even have hidden "True Colors", which is a reference to the song of same name. For other Trolls families, their "True Colors" are expressed differently. Harper's Storypack figurine set for the Trolls era mentioned that as a Maker Troll, her True Colors are instead expressed through her art and she works to bring out the True Colors of others using her artistic skills, though due to this being mentioned in a merchandise-based source, it's unknown if it is canon or not.

Similar to their ability to turn grey if threatened, this isn't always shown throughout the franchise.

Branch generally struggles with maintaining his True Colors, but it's often claimed throughout Trolls-era media that they're "beautiful" to behold for the other Pop Trolls.

Trolls Music Abilities

Trolls have music based magic as well.

Trolls who are grey don't sing, as seen in Trolls, but as seen in Trolls World Tour Trolls also turn grey when they can't sing. As mentioned previously, this mostly is tied to their colour changing abilities and their mood. Music is a vital part of their species and identity and no matter what, denying that part of their identity impacts them. So many aspects of what makes Trolls who they are, is all intertwined together. Trolls not only are impacted by music, but impact their environment with their music.

TBT (1598)

Floyd, having lost most of his talent appears semi-transparent

Trolls can be used to give individuals talent, such as seen in Velvet and Veneer, though Mount Rageons typically do not use Trolls to give themselves talent. This is usually done through external means like diamond bottles. However, the is only ever a temporary boost to individuals and therefore storing Trolls for constant re-use may have to occur. Trolls slowly become transparent as their abilities are stolen. However, there is a greater impact on the Troll then just losing their music. The result of stealing talent is not only painful for the Troll to go through, but dangerous as it weakens the Troll each use, risking their life. The worst case is the exploited Troll having become totally crystallized and thus die. The only Troll to be seen to be put through this is Floyd.

Trolls live in harmony with each other and the more harmony there is, the more powerful their musical powers are. In Trolls World Tour, harmony of the 6 Troll tribes caused them to rediscovery music after the loss of their Strings as each Tribe finally learnt how to live in peace. Harmony among Trolls allows them to live truly as they wish to live, t6o be who they want to be.

Harmony amongst a family is great as well, with family harmony allowing Trolls to shatter diamonds. It is difficult to achieve and BroZone split up over trying initially. The perfect family harmony between a family of Trolls is also able to revive their initially deceased family members.

Despite all things, a lack of harmony has little impact on the Trolls, just their dynamics with other Trolls. Trolls who don't harmonize tend to not get along.

Overall Biological Capabilities

Physical Prowless
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During Crazy Train, Queen Barb of the Rock Trolls was shown leaping very high between Beetle Bikes and her Angler Bus with ease.

Trolls like Poppy, Branch and Barb are shown to be very agile; both Pop Trolls are seen leaping from a chandelier to a table in Bergen Castle in Trolls, while Barb was leaping several times at high heights during Crazy Train in Trolls World Tour. In his youth, King Peppy was able to lift a number of Trolls during the escape from Bergen Town, though it's confirmed that Smidge is the strongest Pop Troll. In the Trolls era, members of the Sporty Troll family were considered among the most physically adapted Trolls of their tribe due to their specialty in a particular sport.

Some physical abilities are due to Tribe. For example, the Country Trolls are very agile overall, and can run at great speeds without breaking a sweat. In Trolls: TrollsTopia, they were also to shown have jumping abitilies that other Trolls lack.

Other Trolls don't often meet these physical capablities. The physical prowless of Trolls varies overall within populations.

Mental Prowless

Intelligence of Trolls varies per Tribe, and seems to be linked partly to the Tribes culture, but variation does occur within and across all Tribes. For example, while most Funk Trolls are shown to be intelligent, with Rhythm & Blues representing some of the smartest of their Tribe, Cooper appears to be a lot more dimwitted even compared to his twin brother Prince D and his parents, though this could be partly due to him being raised by a different culture. Technology of each Tribe varies, and doesn't always reflect the Trolls within that Tribe. Within the Rock Trolls, their membership varies greatly on intelligence, making any Troll with an above average intelligence notable; yet the Tribe has access to eletricity. The Classical Trolls display a high intelligence and whit, yet don't have a highly technological level compared to other Tribes at all; instead, their intelligence is focused on their high level of artistic values.

Other Abilities

Eating a Troll grants the feeling of happiness to Bergens.

Some variants such as Glitter Trolls, Fuzzlings and Putt Putt Trolls have abilities that are only unique to them.

In the Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episode "Gem Day", it is mentioned that the first hair a baby Troll gets is cut and then planted. As the Troll grows and becomes happy, the hair turns into a flower. When it blooms, it produces a specific gem for the Troll, which is known as a "Troll Gem". It can be presumed that the Troll Gems apply to all Trolls and not just the Pop Trolls, as Cooper has one. The gem glows when the owner sings, and isn't the same as the gems found on Treasure Trolls.

Troll Culture

Collectively, Troll culture is generally based on music. All Trolls, regardless of their origin, like to dance and sing. The style of music varies per heritage, and variations of their culture have occurred over time.

To each Troll, a Troll of a different variant can seem alien-like. As King Peppy notes, the other Tribes "don't dance like us and don't sing like us". After failing to impress the Country Trolls, Poppy has to come to the realization that not all Trolls want to have fun.

Sub-Tribes (tribes within a main tribe) also can have slight variations of a particular genres cultures. For example, Glitter Trolls don't wear clothes as they would cover their beautiful bodies and as such, as a result the entire Pop Troll tribe itself saw Glitter Trolls wearing clothes as disgusting, with exceptions.

Laws

Trolls don't appear to have a full fledged law system collectively but individually some societies have a mild one.

Delta Dawn is the mayor and sheriff of Lonesome Flats and since there is a jail in their town it means they do upload the law. But their jail is small and the only use it was shown was when Delta Threw Poppy, Biggie and Branch in it to cool down after Trolls 2 Many Hits Mashup was performed.

In the Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episode "Funishment", it was shown that Pop Trolls have no form of punishment system at all. They do show in "Haircuffed" that minor disputes between Trolls can end with the two Trolls tied with each other together in a special knot they can't break and that only the person who tied it knows how to unlock it. They won't unlock the hair, however, until the two Trolls get along.

For the most part, the main reason there isn't any laws stems from the Trolls themselves, as they don't seem to commit crimes. In Trolls: TrollsTopia, most issues that would be considered a crime will play themselves out without the need for punishment and "The Party Switcheroo" was the only time punishment was handed out in the series to any Troll. In this case, Val Thundershock and Smidge. The next closet any Troll came to a crime was from "The Not So Good Sport" when the K-Pop Trolls went after Gust Tumbleweed for being a bad sport, however he agreed to return to Lonesome Flats to settle his score with the Trolls he wronged.

Technology

The technology that each Tribe uses varies; the Pop, Country and Classical Trolls are low-tech while Rock, Funk and Techno Trolls have modern, digital and futuristic technologies respectively.

While it's not explained why technology can contrast greatly between Tribes, one hint may come from the Country Trolls. Delta Dawn mentions in Born to Die "We don't hope for makin' things better, All we want is to keep it together". The song goes on to point out that their tough life leads to a tough heart, while explaining the low technological advancements of the Tribe.

Another note is that a factor in technology advances contributes a lot to the attitude of each Tribe. The Rock Trolls are seen making use of electricity in their day-to-day lives. They package everything and generally aren't above destruction of things, be it buildings or objects; this can make them seem wasteful. In contrast, the Pop Trolls were introduced in Trolls as living with a eco-friendly approach to life, and while their technology can vary per media (most notably Trolls: The Beat Goes On!), they overall favor a biodegradable approach. Since they rely on Troll Forest for protection, the less they harm it the better for them.

The Trolls often use various Fauna in addition to their technology, with the Funk Trolls being the only Tribe to not use them at all and be completely reliant on technology.

Types of Trolls

The Main 6 Tribes

There are currently 6 described tribes in the series, each with their own appearance:

  • Pop Trolls are based on the 1980s Troll Dolls toyline.
  • Rock Trolls generally resemble Pop Trolls, but are more wild-looking with aggressive imp-like appearances.
  • Country Trolls are centaur-like with four hooves and a tail.
  • Classical Trolls have wings and puffy hair, resembling a cherub, fairy, or angel.
  • Funk Trolls have two or four legs and long necks. They're based on animal Troll dolls.
  • Techno Trolls are aquatic, merfolk-like Trolls with dark bodies covered in bright neon markings.

The Tribes' appearances are distinct enough that it's easy to tell the differences between them.

Other Tribes

Despite most Trolls fallin into the 6 main Tribes, other Tribes do exist, below is a explaination fo their origins.

"Hinterland" Trolls

In Trolls World Tour, a number of Trolls were introduced that did not belong to the main 6 Tribes. These Trolls represent the "everything in between" of the 6 Main Tribes, being niche genres, non-English Trolls. While classified as a Tribe, the Tribe may consist of merely 1 or more individuals, but do not have great numbers to hold terroitories. Though in some cases such as the K-Pop Trolls, more members of these Tribes exist beyond what is shown in Trolls World Tour, however, this is not always the case as Chaz explained he is the only member of his Tribe.

Note: Currently, there's no official collective term for these Trolls. The use of many terminologies are therefore used as superficial terms in the absence of an official one, and these are attempts to describe these Trolls by fans; even "hinterland Trolls" isn't considered the actual collective name of these groups. Originally, the presence of these Trolls were owed to the fact that the plot of Trolls World Tour was about how jealous Barb was of Pop, and these Trolls were said to be "what happens when people stop listening to your music". Thus, they're also called "subtribes" or "subcultures" by fans. In Trolls: TrollsTopia, they're still called "Tribes".

Extinct

The genre of "Disco" is mentioned in passing comment by Branch as a joke, but hinted that Disco Trolls once existed, and have since gone extinct.

Hinted

Hickory hinted that there may be more Trolls covering the Jazz genre or have existed besides Smooth Jazz, when he comments Chaz's Smooth Jazz is enough to put someone off of Jazz in general.

Cut

The original plot for Trolls World Tour involved Barb going after the Pop Trolls because she was jealous of Pop's popularity. Instead of Bounty Hunters in her Rock World Tour, she stopped by a diner where unpopular Troll genres played. Aside from Chaz (named "Jax" at the moment) and the Yodellers, the Trolls she hired were different. The Mariachi Sisters, Little Miss Polka and The Barbershop Boys[4] were all cut from the movie. The Mariachi Sisters were originally in concepts with the name "Los Mariachi Bounty Hunters", and were male before being swapped to female.[4][5] Little Miss Polka was also present in early concepts.[5]

Misc. Trolls

Sub-Tribes

In the franchise's Trolls era, the Pop Trolls, then only known as "Trolls", had also been divided by family or sub-Tribe (in short, a Tribe within a Tribe of Trolls). Because of this, there's also several other minor troll types that developed over time between Trolls and Trolls World Tour within the franchise. These were mostly based on the Trolls' appearance or job, but at times also their abilites.

Each family had at least one Troll who served as the design origin archetype:

The classification was missing in Trolls World Tour where Trolls were identified by their main genre, but it was returned in Trolls Band Together.

All members of a family tended to be the same type of Troll. For example, King Peppy and his daughter Queen Poppy are both Rainbow Trolls, as is Branch and Grandma Rosiepuff; Satin & Chenille meanwhile are Maker Trolls. There are notable exceptions, with both Poppy and Branch having Putt Putt Trolls as siblings (Viva and Clay respectfully). Cooper's family was replaced by the Funk Trolls. The only oddity among the families are Satin & Chenille, as unlike other Trolls from the Trolls era, their unique conjoined twin design wasn't used to create a new family, and they were instead placed in the Maker one.

Historic

The Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episode "BFFF" showed possible future descendants for the Pop Troll Tribe. This is the only theoretical future for any Troll Tribe that has been shown.

Unused Trolls World Tour concept art of Ancient Trolls exists, featuring caveman-like designs.

Alternate Universe Trolls

The main focus of the Trolls movies is that of a Troll world where music is the main focus. However, differences may vary per example of The Multiverse of what a "Troll" is capable of or what their culture is focused on.

In the Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episode "Wormhole", Poppy met an universe where her father King Peppy existed and was the same as her own father, but he didn't know what a hug was. In the same episode, two alternate universe versions of Poppy and Branch appeared, who switched a number of characteristics that their main universe counterparts had each, which freaked them out. These univeses were only slightly different to the main Trolls movies or were lossely based on things from that universe.

But there are Trolls from other dimensions seen in 2D animated media, who aren't always based upon music and are very different to the main universes "Trolls". The only known Tribe of theirs was the "Cockney" Tribe, named by Hollizabeth Darlintonshire.

Influences

Brief History

See Troll Dolls.

DreamWorks Trolls

Their designs are based on elements of the various Troll toys that became popular in the 1990s.

  • The Funk Trolls are based on a giraffe Troll.
  • Many of the toylines by Russ had gems for belly buttons, which is where the presence of gems on Trolls in the DreamWorks Trolls franchise come from.
  • The Rainbow Trolls get their name from a toyline known as "Rainbow Trolls".
    • Queen Barb was likely inspired by the "Punk Rock" Troll of the same line.
  • The Treasure Trolls are also named after a toyline of the same name.
  • Naked Trolls such as Glitter Trolls, Reggaeton Trolls, Classical Trolls, etc. are a reference to the 1990s Troll Dolls, which didn't always have clothing.

Note: Different concepts for the Trolls can be found on their pages throughout the Trolls wiki and this section will only briefly touch on their designs to note the tie-in with Trolls Dolls.

Poppy was one of the first Trolls made, and Branch was made to match her design. The film developers also found during their research the existence of Troll dolls based on animals, with a giraffe doll attracting attention to them; this doll is the basis for Cooper and the Funk Trolls, with Cooper's original design being more giraffe-like. He was later changed and went through a host of redesigns before one was settled on. In The Art of DreamWorks Trolls, it was stated that Guy Diamond had been based on the 1960s Trolls, while Poppy and Branch were based on the 1990s Trolls. Poppy was originally conceptualized in the style of the 1980/1990s curvy style of Trolls, but this was dropped in favor of a more stylized design that was "ugly-cute". During early production, the staff had also experimented with the original "human-baby" look to the designs, but had opted out of this. Throughout the concepts, many Trolls were given gems and then had them taken away, with DJ Suki ending up to be one of the few to keep hers in design.

Freakytrolls

The wormhole scene from Trolls Holiday

Trolls Holiday pays homage to the toys that inspired the film, as when Poppy and her friends venture through a "wormhole", they change to look like the toys.

Despite the numerous dolls in the 1960s and 1980s/1990s, there was a lack of previous animation and story-based literature. This meant that DreamWorks had much freedom to take the Trolls in any direction they wanted and originally they were not based on a musical theme.

For a video on previous Troll shows, see here.

Trivia

  • The 6 Troll Tribes have some influences from mythology:
    • The Pop Trolls are loosely based on elves, though the term "Elf" is considered a racial slur to them. In Trolls World Tour, it was noted they were like "forest sprites".[6]
    • The Rock Trolls are based on rockers, but due to their ears, they likely have been drawn to look like an imp or goblin. Their leader Queen Barb had her design based on a bat, with some concept art of her featuring wings.
    • The Country Trolls are based on centaurs.
    • The Classical Trolls are based on cherubs, fairies and angels.
    • The Funk Trolls are based on animals.
    • The Techno Trolls are based on merfolk.
  • The "Families" from the Trolls era were most likely inspired by the Russ Trolls lore behind their dolls, which mentioned different families of Trolls.
  • According to both Trolls: The Beat Goes On! and Trolls: TrollsTopia, the term "Elf" or "Elves" is a racial slur. The character Marshtato Mary is notable as currently the only character in the franchise to use this term.
  • In How to Train Your Dragon, Stoick the Vast is heard complaining about taking his son Hiccup fishing, only for Hiccup to be distracted and go hunting for trolls. Although the film came out long before the Trolls franchise, it was later confirmed that the trolls he was looking for were the ones based upon this franchise, meaning that the characters of the How To Train Your Dragon franchise are aware of the existence of this franchise's Trolls.
  • In the Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episode "The Giver", Cooper tells Poppy his backstory beginning with "Darkness... Then I emerge from the womb...", implying that Funk Trolls are viviparous, rather than oviparous. This was later proven false, as Trolls World Tour explains Cooper was stolen as an egg from his parents by a bird. That said, it was originally going to be the case that Trolls birthed their young, as shown in a deleted scene for the film where Guy Diamond gives birth to his son Tiny Diamond.[7]

References

Creatures
Trolls
Others

  •  †: retired lore
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