Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny

A 2006 film starring Tenacious D founders Kyle Gass and Jack Black, known in the story as Jables and Kage. It's a spin off of a lesser known HBO series that premiered back in 1997. In it, the explicit details of the band's origins are explored, and a strong change in dynamic is observed (from just sitting around doing random shit to sitting around doing random shit and going on an adventure on the big screen).

The film has two main parts to the plot. The first part deals mainly with the formation of the band. In the beginning, Jables, a young rocker living in an oppressive, religious household, prays to a poster of Ronnie James Dio, and is given a vision of his future. He is bidden to run away from home to California, where he is to meet his best friend and band partner. After traveling far, he meets this man, Kage, who turns out to be something of a bum wanna-be. Kage gives him extensive rock "training."

The second part involves the two trying to create a masterpiece song to pay their rent. During a jam session, they stumble onto the secret of an ancient rock artifact known as the Pick of Destiny. It happens to be Satan's tooth. The two then go on an adventure to retrieve said artifact, and get into all sorts of trouble along the way.

The movie, like the band itself, has a strong cult following.

Tropes used in Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny include:
  • Animated Credits Opening
  • Badass Boast: "I DO NOT NEED. - (he does not need...) - A MICROPHONE - (a microphone...) MY VOICE IS FUCKING - (fucking) - POWERFUL!!!"
  • Beyond the Impossible: Jables' fantasy of what it will be like once he has the Pick. He literally blows someone's mind with his voice.
  • Big Brother Mentor: Kage.
    • And then abruptly reversed about the time Kage takes off his wig.
  • Big Eater: Kage, who orders fried chicken, steak, and chicken fried steak during the diner scene.
  • Big No: Jables lets one out after realizing that the Devil has him and Kage outmatched. By the end of the rock-off, the Devil ends up having an even bigger 'no' while being sent back to Hell.
  • Big Red Devil: Provides the page image.
  • Birthmark of Destiny: JB and Kage have matching birthmarks, one says "TENAC" and the other says "IOUS D"
  • Black Sheep: JB by his own admission: he's an aspiring rock star in a family of anal-retentive fundamentalist Christians.
  • Blatant Lies: The entirety of History.
    • "We defeated the Devil... with our rock!"
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: In the diner scene:

"Let me have the fried chicken, and a steak, and the chicken fried steak."

  • The Cameo: Neil Hamburger has a very short one as himself, performing at the same open mic night as Tenacious D themselves.
    • Meat Loaf playing Jables's dad, and Ronnie James Dio singing as a poster of himself, IN THE SAME SONG.
    • Ben Stiller also plays a receptionist at Guitar Center who actually ends up telling the D all about the legend of the Pick of Destiny.
  • Chase Scene: "Car Chase City".
  • Chekhov's Armory
  • Chekhov's Skill: Power-slides and cock push-ups both turn out to be very useful tools for stealing the Pick of Destiny.
  • Chess with Death: Not so much chess as a rock off, and not so much Death as Satan himself.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: Throughout the movie, but especially whenever Jables is improvising song lyrics. Just listen to "Classico".
    • Satan's initial boast and reaction definitely qualifies. See Oh Crap below.
  • Double Standard Rape (Male on Male): It's even used as a joke in the song lyrics of Beelzeboss... twice.
  • Et Tu, Brute?
  • Fantasy-Forbidding Father
  • Foreshadowing: Jables' father warned him that the rock music would make him Satan's puppet and bring chaos to the world. He would have been right if Jables and Kage hadn't defeated Satan in the rock-off.
  • Fun with Acronyms: "That's where the POD lies now." "POD?" "The Pick of Destiny!" "Oh."
  • Groin Attack: Jack slips and falls, straddling a tree branch. "OW, SWEET BABY!" indeed.
  • Guile Hero: Jables, see Fridge Brilliance.
  • Heroic Fantasy: The second half of the movie, when Jables and Kage go after the Pick of Destiny, the plot basically shifts to this. I mean, it's still set in the real world, but all the tropes are there.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners Jables and Kage Their "Friendship Song" on the original Tenacious D album.
    • Kage refers to Jables as his "partner" in an awkward way in the sequence where they're apart.
  • Hey, It's That Guy!: Jeff Portnoy escapes the tyrannical rule of his dad Eddie by being inspired by the greatest voice in heavy metal history, starts a band with... What's His Face, receives cryptic advice from Gaylord Focker, dreams of performing in front of Giselle, is nearly killed by Andy Dufresne & has a battle of the bands with The Devil... who looks a lot like That One Drummer.
  • Idiot Ball: JB agrees to put KG up as a bet for their rock-off with the devil...despite the Devil having said that he literally CANNOT decline a rock-off challenge.
    • Averted: In order to send Satan back to hell from whence he came. Jables HAD to strike a deal with him of some sort. Souls are probably the only thing The Devil would substantially benefit from (thus making it a deal), and he was about to take both their souls anyway if they lost. Plus it's quite likely that Satan, being who he is, wouldn't have let an opportunity like this slide by without specifically defining a Rock-Off as having some sort of stakes involved.
  • Invisible Backup Band
  • Large Ham: Jables, Jack Black after all. And Dave Grohl as Satan.
  • Laser Hallway
  • Louis Cypher: The open mic night host.
  • MacGuffin: The eponymous Pick of Destiny.
  • Magic Feather: An inspiring, heart-rousing speech about how "the devil is inside all of our hearts."
  • Metalhead
  • Mushroom Samba: When Jables gets lost out in the woods, he survives by eating unidentified mushrooms, which results in this trope.
    • Specifically, he has a trip wherein he becomes a baby sasquatch, and then begins singing about how his dad is awesome and shall protect him.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Literally, breaking it: Jables and Kage fight over the pick and break it in half. It then gets picked up by the devil, and the shit immediately hits the fan.
  • No Indoor Voice: An in-story example, Jables ends up daydreaming that with the eponymous pick, his voice will become so loud he will lose any need for microphones.
  • Oh Crap: The song that plays when Satan gets the pick

Satan: I AM COMPLEEEEEEEEETE!
Tenacious D: Fuuuuuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
Satan: YES, YOU ARE FUCKED! SHIT OUT OF LUCK!
NOW I'M COMPLETE, AND MY COCK YOU WILL SUCK!

    • Satan gets one a few seconds later:

Jables: "Wait! Waiit, you muthafucka! We challenge you to a rock off! Give us one chance to rock your socks off!"
Satan (realizing he can't decline because of the demon's code): *angrily* "FUCK! FUCK!! *dramatically* FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK..."

    • Satan gets yet another one when after accidentally blowing off his own horn, he realizes that he has given Jables a way to send him back to Hell.
  • Parental Favoritism: "You disobeyed my orders son, why were you ever born?/Your brother's ten times better than you, Jesus loves him more!"
  • Double Standard Rape (Male on Male): Suggested between Satan and Kage.
  • Rock Me, Asmodeus
  • Rule of Cool: Overused in the songs to the point that it becomes funny how much it's overused. Particularly in the Master Exploder dream sequence.
  • Rule of Funny
  • Satan

Satan: I'M THE DEVIL! I LOVE METAL!

  • Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll: During the reunion, Kage says it was supposed to be in that order. Kage goes off to a party, Jables into the forest and eats mushrooms, and then they both get the Pick together.
  • Shout-Out: The Devil's guitar is Dimebag Darrell's famous lightning bolt Dean ML.
  • Slasher Smile: Jack Black shows his off a few times, revealing that it looks like a cross between the Joker and the Grinch.
  • Tarot Motifs: The opening sequence is based around them.
  • The Quest
  • The Power of Rock: Obviously. Taken to ridiculous extremes in "Master Exploder" and "Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)".
  • Unnecessary Combat Roll: Jables does some while breaking into the Rock and Roll History Museum, and yet the camera continues to see him (and only the camera).
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?
    • "It's a sign...a legacy. *proceeds to show birthmark on ass*
    • "Taste my lightning, fuckers!"
    • Power sliding past the security guards under the security door.
  • When You Snatch the Pebble: "When you snatch the remote control out of my hand, you will have earned the right to change the channel."
  • Your Head Asplode: In the "Master Exploder" Imagine Spot, Jables causes a man's brain to fly out by singing epically.

Jables: "I did not mean . . ."
Kage: (He did not mean)
Jables: "To blow your mind!"
Kage: (To blow your mind!)
Jables: "But that shit happens to me . . . all the tiii-yiii-hiiiime!"

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