Books of Kings/Characters

Solomon
""Consider the lilies of the field. Not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed as well as these"."


 * Author Filibuster: Ecclesiastes. The topic, "Life Sucks Without God".
 * Casanova: He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, which is more than anyone else in the Bible. Also if you read the Song of Songs of Solomon, you can see that he sure knows how to sweet talk women
 * Elemental Powers / Speaks Fluent Animal: According to Islamic tradition.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Wrote the Song of Songs (aka Song of Solomon), a steamy love poem(!) that got canonized as holy scripture(!!) The Radar has responded by saying it's a metaphor of self-sacrificing love between God and his people. Suuuuuuuure.
 * Fallen Hero
 * I Lied: Nobody seriously believes he was going to cut a baby in half...
 * Infant Immortality: See the Third Option below.
 * Judgment of Solomon: Trope Namer.
 * Lonely at the Top: According to Ecclesiastes, not even the wisdom he asked from God had made him happy.
 * Polyamory: Again, he had a thousand women. Who led him to worship pagan gods, leading to the kingdom of Israel fracturing.
 * The Purge: Appointed as the next king and secured it by killing all his rivals including his brother and David's general Joab.
 * The Smart Guy: There was a reason why he was consulted for miles around for answers to problems.
 * Take a Third Option: Two woman came up to him with a baby, one of the woman had accidentally smothered her own child in her sleep, and swapped it with the other woman's baby. Now both claim to be the mother of the surviving child. How does Solomon decide which woman should get the baby? He orders it to be split in half, with each woman getting one half. One woman, bizarrely, is perfectly okay with this, the other begs him to give the baby to the other woman. He gives it to the woman who actually cared about the baby. It was his plan all along, he never intended to actually cut the baby in two.
 * Youngest Child Wins: Youngest of 7, but the first son of his father's favorite wife.

The Queen of Sheba

 * Did They or Didn't They?: Debate rages to this day as to whether or not she was ever intimately involved with Solomon during her visit
 * The Smart Girl: Was pretty well-read and eloquent
 * Where The Hell Is Sheba? Debates range to this day.

Zimri, king of Israel

 * Driven to Suicide: Set his palace on fire.
 * Klingon Promotion: Became King by assassination. His "reign" lasted a week. Before Judas, Zimri was the byword for traitor. Jezebel called Jehu a "Zimri".

Ahab
""I will purge the house of Ahab like I had done to the houses of Jeroboam and Baasha. Anyone who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs and anyone who dies in the country will be eaten by birds!""


 * Corner of Woe: After Naboth refused to sell his vineyard to Ahab, Ahab proceeded to curl up on his couch, refuse to eat, and go into a truly royal sulk.
 * Heel Face Revolving Door
 * Heel Realization: After Elijah declared to him the fate of his family, Ahab tore his clothing and fasted, humbling himself before God.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: His plan to get Jehoshaphat killed in battle backfired and Ahab was killed instead.
 * Manipulative Bastard: Was always scheming to displace the Davidic dynasty in Judah.

Jezebel
"The very dogs will eat up Jezebel in the plot of land of Jezreel"


 * Apocalypse Maiden
 * Beauty Is Bad
 * Curse: Elijah foretold that Jezebel would be eaten by dogs when she died. He was right, and it gets described in gory detail.
 * Disney Villain Death: At least the thrown out of the tower bit. What comes after, on the other hand....
 * Face Death with Dignity: She knew that she wasn't going to survive her confrontation with Jehu, so she just put on her best clothes and got ready for whatever it'd come.
 * Flanderization: Over the years her defining feature has become a sexual, seductive nature, when in reality she was an influential and powerful, if evil, Queen.
 * Name's the Same: she is confused with a pagan cult leader mentioned in Revelations.
 * God Save Us From the Queen
 * Kick the Dog: After her husband failed to buy Naboth's vineyard, she just coldly arranged his death. And embarrassed him in the process.
 * Lady Macbeth: The Older Than Feudalism example
 * Moral Myopia
 * Poisonous Friend: Lead her husband Ahab down the path of Baal worship and is usually considered to be a bit more evil than he.
 * The Dreaded: Even Elijah, who could call down fire from heaven, was scared of her.
 * The Purge: Ordered the deaths of the Israeli prophets.
 * Trope Namer: Her name is associated with the Flanderization.

Elijah the Tishbite
"He went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook."


 * Angel Unaware: Jewish tradition has him taking up this role. Elijah was human back in Biblical days, but he never died and, according to legend, ascended to heaven while still alive. To this day, it is believed he turns up on Earth sometimes to deliver unexpected help.
 * Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: He went to heaven in a fiery whirlwind, rather than die. When he ascended, his robes/coat fell onto his apprentice/friend/padawan Elisha, thus inventing the phrase "Taking up The Mantle of The Prophet". Many still leave a seat open for him at feasts, because they believe that he will come back. In fact, the last verse of the Old Testament refers to Elijah coming back to announce the Day of the Lord.
 * Badass Longcoat: The Coat, or Mantle of The Prophet. It was instrumental in Elijah and Elisha's first meeting, Elijah threw The Coat at Elisha, who instinctively caught it. Later, Elijah parted a river with with it, just before giving it to Elisha, who also used it perform miracles.
 * Friend to All Living Things: When he was hungry ravens would bring food to him. Despite his skill in killing people he was very good with animals and kids. It might have something to do with how he grew up in the wilderness.
 * Last of His Kind:
 * He thought that he was the last surviving prophet and the last faithful person left for a while. God told him that he was not alone and, even if he is the last prophet, he can always train some more prophets, like Elisha.
 * He and Elisha were also the last major Old Testament characters to work miracles. (Though many characters in the New Testament worked miracles.)
 * Playing with Fire: His specialty.
 * Platonic Life Partners: Him and the widow, arguably.
 * Ravens and Crows: God sent ravens to feed him.
 * The Obi-Wan: To Elisha, his successor. Another interpretation is that Elijah was the Kamina to Elisha's Simon. Everyone remembers how awesome Elijah was, but Elisha was way more awesome.
 * You Are Not Alone: God showed up, not in a maelstrom of fire, not in a howling wind/hurricane, but in a still, small voice to tell Elijah this.

Elisha
"The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha."


 * Arc Words: His last words to Elijah, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.", were spoken to him also as he lay dying. No one knows what it means even now.
 * Badass Longcoat: Given to him by Elijah, later used to part the sea, proving himself the true prophet, thus inventing the phrase "Taking up the mantle of the prophet".
 * Bald of Awesome: Never, under any circumstances, insult him for it. Ever. Forty-two youths learned this the hard way.
 * Berserk Button: Never insult his mentor and NEVER mock his baldness in front of him.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: 42 youths died for insulting his baldness. Not the best reaction...
 * Dub-Induced Plot Hole: A nice prophet guy summoning bears to maul what King James and co. translate as "children" makes a lot more sense when you look at the actual Hebrew word and see what it means and how it was used. He was being mocked by a gang of 42 young men, which could have been a threat, especially if they were soldiers.
 * Everything's Worse with Bears
 * Good Is Not Nice
 * Nice Guy: Surprisingly so, especially when compared to his mentor, Elijah. While most of Elijah's miracles were powerful, violent, and fiery, Elisha's miracles were mostly to heal, save, or help people. Elijah showed thousands of people the power of God, while Elisha preached to individuals, and showed God's helpful, loving side. Just don't insult Elijah, or mock his Bald of Awesome. However, Elisha was not good with kids, nor was he as good with animals as Elijah. Maybe it was because he was a city kid?
 * Think Nothing of It: he refused to take a material reward for curing Naaman of leprosy; however, his friend Gehazi, gladly took Naaman's stuff, and for that he got leprosy himself.

Jehu, king of Israel

 * Drives Like Crazy: His master the king recognized him (2 Kings 9:20) because he drives his chariot "like a madman".
 * The Purge: Killed Jezebel and all Baal priests as well as Ahab's relatives.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Appointed by God to eradicate pagan worship in Israel but his penchant for mass murder went far beyond what was expected of him.

Joash, king of Judah

 * A Child Shall Lead Them: Sadly, he got worse as he got older.
 * Moses in the Bulrushes: Saved from being killed during his grandmother's purge.

Athaliah, queen of Judah

 * Apocalypse Maiden
 * Generation Xerox
 * God Save Us From the Queen: Was one kid close from destroying David's royal line.
 * Offing the Offspring
 * The Purge: What her father Ahab couldn't do with intrigue and manipulation, she tried to do with force.

Hezekiah, king of Judah

 * Ill Guy: Once was this close to death...
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Nice job showing those Babylonian envoys all Judah's treasures, putting your nation on Babylon's hit list.

Josiah, king of Judah

 * A Child Shall Lead Them
 * The Ace: The greatest king of Judah bar none.
 * Heroic BSOD: He found a "Book of the Law" (possibly Deuteronomy) and ripped his clothes and mourned because he realized how far his nation had forgotten its roots.
 * Tragic Mistake: Going to war with Egypt. He was killed in battle and Judah just couldn't recover.

Jeremiah
""Before you were formed I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart""


 * Break the Cutie
 * The Cassandra
 * Chosen One
 * Heroic BSOD: Seems to be in this state every day of his life.
 * Mad Oracle
 * Unaccustomed as I Am to Public Speaking: At first.

Hosea
""Go and get married; your wife will be unfaithful, and your children will be just like her. In the same way my people have left me and became unfaithful"."


 * Arranged Marriage: God told him to marry an unfaithful harlot as an object lesson to Israel's idolatry.
 * Love Martyr
 * My Girl Is a Slut
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Amos' red. He spoke out against Israel's internal spiritual problem.
 * World of Cardboard Speech

Jonah
"The Lord spoke to Jonah and said "Go to Nineveh, that wicked city, and speak out against it". Jonah set out in the opposite direction."

"But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”"
 * Belly of the Whale
 * Refusal of the Call: More like he didn't want to preach in the Assyrian capital which would have got him killed.
 * Calling the Hero Out: God did this after Jonah became upset after the people repented:

Amos
""Let justice flow like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!""


 * Everything Is Worse With Bears: 5:19
 * Justice Will Prevail
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Hosea's blue. He was a plain spoken Judean farmer who railed against Israel's corrupt affluence.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: See above

Ezekiel
"They are a hard and obstinate people so I will make you as hard and obstinate as they"."


 * Celebrity Is Overrated: People finally listened to him when Jerusalem fell but it was clear to him that they have still not taken God's words to heart.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: At one point, he makes a model of Jerusalem and besieges it in the city square for about fourteen months. Another time, he shaves his head and beard with a sword, then runs about town with a portion of the hair hitting it with the sword.
 * Good Shepherd: He cultivated the image of God as a shepherd better than anyone.