The Dresden Files



""My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. When things get strange, when what goes bump in the night flicks on the lights, when no one else can help you, give me a call. I'm in the book.""

- Harry Dresden

A horror/fantasy/mystery series of novels, fifteen and counting plus associated short stories and comic miniseries and the like, by Jim Butcher. Harry Dresden is a wizard and private detective operating out of modern day Chicago, and reluctantly hired by a special police task force as a consultant on supernatural crimes. A cross between urban gothic fantasy and Film Noir, the Genre Savvy main character cracks jokes about the various tropes it uses. Adapted into a drama series on the Sci Fi Channel. There's also a tabletop RPG, which is much more faithful to the books, as it's written from the characters' perspective.

Harry meets a wide variety of characters in the series, including Karrin Murphy, the Action Girl cop who's aware of the city's supernatural underworld; Bob, a spirit of intellect who lives in a skull -- human-shaped ghost in the television series -- is Harry's literal Magical Computer; Michael Carpenter, a modern-day paladin wielding a holy sword; Billy the Werewolf and his pack of Alphas (a group of young heroic wannabes); Thomas Raith, the Loveable Rogue incubus White Court vampire; Harry's on-and-off love interest Susan Rodriguez; and Molly Carpenter, Michael's oldest daughter and Harry's |apprentice. Like many detective stories, Harry meets a ridiculous number of femmes fatale, crime bosses, and hired goons, which is frequently lampshaded in the series.

As of September 29, 2020, there are 17 novels in the series:


 * 1) Storm Front (2000)
 * 2) Fool Moon (2001)
 * 3) Grave Peril (2001)
 * 4) Summer Knight (2002)
 * 5) Death Masks (2003)
 * 6) Blood Rites (2004)
 * 7) Dead Beat (2006)
 * 8) Proven Guilty (2007)
 * 9) White Night (2007)
 * 10) Small Favor (2008)
 * 11) Turn Coat (2009)
 * 12) Changes (2010)
 * 13) Ghost Story (2011)
 * 14) Cold Days (2012)
 * 15) Skin Game (2014)
 * 16) Peace Talks (2020)
 * 17) Battle Ground (2020)

Novels 1 - 9 have been collected in 4 different omnibus editions, Wizard for Hire, Wizard by Trade, Wizard at Large and Wizard Under Fire.

Additionally, there are 31 short stories:
 * 1) "Something Borrowed" (published in My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding and Side Jobs)
 * 2) "It's My Birthday, Too" (published in Many Bloody Returns and Side Jobs)
 * 3) "Heorot" (published in Many Bloody Returns and Side Jobs)
 * 4) "Harry's Day Off" (published in Blood Lite and Side Jobs)
 * 5) "Backup" (published in Side Jobs)
 * 6) "The Warrior" (published in Mean Streets and Side Jobs)
 * 7) "Last Call" (published in Strange Brew and Side Jobs)
 * 8) "AAAA Wizardry" (published in the Our World RPG Book and Brief Cases)
 * 9) "Even Hand" (published in Dark and Stormy Knights and Brief Cases)
 * 10) "Restoration of Faith" (published in Side Jobs)
 * 11) "Publicity and Advertising" (published in Side Jobs)
 * 12) "Aftermath" (published in Side Jobs)
 * 13) "Love Hurts" (published in Songs of Love and Death and Side Jobs)
 * 14) "Curses" (published in The Naked City and Brief Cases)
 * 15) "I Was a Teenage Bigfoot" (published in Working for Bigfoot and Brief Cases)
 * 16) "Bigfoot on Campus" (published in Hex Appeal, Working for Bigfoot, and Brief Cases)
 * 17) "B is for Bigfoot" (published in Working for Bigfoot and Brief Cases)
 * 18) "Bombshells" (published in Brief Cases)
 * 19) "Jury Duty" (published in Brief Cases)
 * 20) "Cold Case" (published in Brief Cases)
 * 21) "Day One" (published in Brief Cases)
 * 22) "A Fistful of Warlocks" (published in Brief Cases)
 * 23) "Zoo Day" (published in Brief Cases)
 * 24) "Christmas Eve"
 * 25) "Monsters"
 * 26) "Mike" (published on the author's website)
 * 27) "Journal" (published on the author's website)
 * 28) "Goodbye" (published on the author's website)
 * 29) "Job Placement" (published on the author's website)
 * 30) "Everything the Light Touches" (published on the author's website)
 * 31) "The Good People" (published on the author's website)

Two comics have been released so far:
 * 1) Welcome to the Jungle: A prequel to the series.
 * 2) Storm Front: An adaptation of the first novel.
 * 3) Fool Moon: An adaptation of the second novel.

Word of God says that the series will have at least twenty books, which will then be capped off by an apocalyptic trilogy. Because, to quote the author, "Who doesn't love apocalyptic trilogies?"

Two adaptations and spinoffs have been made so far:
 * A single season TV adaptation was produced in 2007 and can be viewed here; tropes specific to it go on its own page.
 * A Tabletop RPG set in the world of the series. Trope Page here

In addition to the page links at the top, there is also a shout out page. The recap page is under major construction, so help with it would be appreciated.

Due to length, the trope list has been split off to subpages:
 * Tropes A-M
 * Tropes N-Z