10,154
edits
Belgariad: Difference between revisions
m
Reverted edits by Gethbot (talk) to last revision by Robkelk
(Work.) |
Tag: Rollback |
||
| (29 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 3:
Before we get into this entry, [[Interactive Narrator|I'd like to tell a story]]. A story of [[High Fantasy]].
Once upon a time, [[MacGuffin|a stone]] which possessed the power to [[Winds of Destiny Change|change destiny]] was stolen. If this "Orb", belonging to the benevolent
In pursuit of the Orb, however, followed the legendary sorcerer Belgarath, his gorgeous daughter Polgara, the humble [[Farm Boy]] Garion, and many other colorful allies: a thief, a berserker, a noble horseman, a paladin, a snotty princess, and so on.
The companions encountered kings, wizards, dryads, politics and treachery, but they ultimately succeeded in returning the Orb to its rightful place. There, Garion's true identity and [[The Chosen One|destiny]] were revealed. And so Garion took up the massive [[Blade of Fearsome Size|Sword of the Rivan King]] and met the dark god Torak in [[Duel to the Death|personal combat]].
That's the plot of [[David Eddings]]'s ''Belgariad''. [[Hero's Journey|And a whole lot of]] other things, too. The series is [[Strictly Formula]], but that was Eddings' intention from the start. He wrote the series after taking a course on literary criticism, [[Troperiffic|digging out all the tropes he could find, and deciding to actually build a good story with them]]. He also deliberately focuses on the characters rather than the tropes, injecting liveliness and sardonic humor into stock situations -- and the end result is a series that's incredibly popular and well-loved by fantasy fans the world over.
Line 13:
The original books were followed up with a sequel series, ''The Malloreon'' (which is basically "''The Belgariad'' all over again but everyone is older", as the characters themselves quickly notice) and then much later by two standalone [[Prequel|prequels]], ''Belgarath the Sorcerer'' and ''Polgara the Sorceress'', which tell the life stories of the titular characters. All of Eddings's works are likely [[Spiritual Successor|Spiritual Successors]] of this one.
* ''The Belgariad''
** ''Pawn of Prophecy''
Line 34:
See also ''[[The Elenium]]'', Eddings' third series and [[Spiritual Successor]] to ''The Belgariad'' and ''[[The Malloreon]]'' - albeit with a much stronger focus on over-the-top battles and [[Bond One-Liner|Bond One Liners]].
{{franchisetropes}}
=== A-C ===
* [[Achievements in Ignorance]]:
** Garion succeeds in bringing a horse back to life, simply because he doesn't ''know'' that it's supposed to be impossible.
Line 44 ⟶ 46:
* [[The Ageless]]: The sorcerers.
* [[Alien Geometries]]: Belgarath has a stick with [[Mind Screw|only one end]]. He uses it to [[Mundane Utility|keep children occupied so they don't bother him]].
* [[All Deaths Final]]: Due to universal agreement of the
* [[Alliterative Title]]: ''Pawn of Prophecy'' and ''Enchanters' End Game''.
* [[All Powerful Bystander]]: Both Prophecies by mutual agreement. If they directly clashed, they would blot out entire tracts of existence.
* [[Alternative Character Interpretation]]: In the Angarak world, Belgarath is apparently [[Complete Monster|something used to scare children into behaving]].
{{quote|''Belgarath'': No matter what you've been told, I don't make a practice of biting off the heads of Murgo babies just for amusement.}}
* [[An Odd Place to Sleep]]: Belgarath is able to doze in the saddle, allowing him to dedicate less time for rest and remain alert for longer when it's required. In ''The Malloreon'', Garion also picks up this skill.
* [[Ancestral Weapon]]: Both the Orb and the Sword of the Rivan King.
* [[Ambiguous Syntax]]: Lots of it, in the various written prophecies both sides are using. Also, deliberately used on Polgara by Aldur, when he says that the gods will bring Durnik back to life for her to marry, if she'll agree to live the rest of her life with no more sorcerous power than he has. She assumes they mean that she'll be stripped of her power.
* [[Amnesiac God]]: {{spoiler|Eriond}}
* [[Annoying Arrows]]: In the second book, an arrow shatters on Barak's mail shirt, something arrows are generally designed specifically not to do.
Line 57 ⟶ 59:
** {{spoiler|Zedar gets buried alive... ''forever''.}}
** Torak felt the burning of the Orb's fire for God knows how many thousands of years as strongly as the moment the fire first touched him. Gods in this universe can't heal from wounds, and since [[Purpose Driven Immortality|the Prophecy needed him to stay alive for a very long time]]...
* [[And Now You Must Marry Me]]: Had the Dark Prophecy won instead of the Light, {{spoiler|Polgara would've become Torak's wife}}.
* [[Animal Motifs]]: Each of the gods has a totemic signature, and they and their chosen race mimic these animals in a characteristic, if not always physical, way. More directly, each of the sorcerers trained by Aldur has a preferred alternate form: the women like [[The Owl-Knowing One|the owl]] (Aldur's own totem), the men, [[Big Badass Wolf|the wolf]]. Belgarath is even introduced as "Old Wolf" in the series.
* [[The Antichrist]]: The Child of Dark. It's [[Captain Obvious|Torak]] for the first series, and Zandramas for {{spoiler|most of the second.}}
Line 71 ⟶ 74:
** Garion and Torak both become enormous for the final battle. Polgara does it herself earlier.
** Also Durnik {{spoiler|when he banishes the Demon Lord Nahaz}} and {{spoiler|Poledra when she fights as a wolf against Zandramas who is in the form of a dragon}}, both in the Malloreon.
* [[Audible Sharpness]]: The Sword of the Rivan King is described as making a steely slithering sound when pulled out of its scabbard.
* [[Awesome Moment of Crowning]]: The Rivan King, of course. A sword drawn from stone? Check. Heralded as such by a keystone of creation? Check. Massive numbers of people bowing? Check. [[Big No]] from the girl who realized this means she has to marry you, even though she secetly wants to? Check. Awakening of a god, the god he is destined to duel? Big Goddamned Check.
* [[Axe Crazy]]: Urvon, Taur Urgas, and possibly Torak.
* [[As You Know]]: Happens from time to time, with a fairly egregious example in ''The Seeress of Kell:''
Line 94 ⟶ 98:
** This is pretty much a standard threat issued by sorcerers throughout the novels. A fun game is to count the times Belgarath, Polgara, Beldin, and Garion threaten to turn people into toads or radishes.
** Beldin also subverts this once with a casual mention that he wouldn't turn someone into a frog, because they breed like crazy. He'd rather have "one annoying person than a million aggravating frogs."
* [[Bargain with Heaven]]: The big one is Polgara's bargain with Aldur to restore Durnik (which includes a second, internal one when Belgarath bargains with Mara to get its cooperation in the venture.) There are several others scattered through the series, though, since the
* [[Bastard Understudy]]: Harakan/Mengha to Urvon.
* [[Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me]]: In a rare gender flip, Salmissra has this done to Garion. Plus lots of drugs and poisons to make him compliant.
* [[Bavarian Fire Drill]]: Silk - frequently. The best example is when, as the party is escaping from {{spoiler|Rak Cthol after Ctuchik's death}}, he gets them past several Grolim search parties by pretending to be a higher ranking Grolim and ordering them to move their search elsewhere.
* [[Because Destiny Says So]]: Literally. Expect the voice of destiny to get cranky at times.
* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: Garion {{spoiler|avenging his parents' death by burning Asharak alive}}.
* [[Berserk Button]]: Don't lie to Polgara. Or threaten Garion's son. (This goes for Ce'Nedra too.) Or threaten Garion anywhere near Barak.
* [[The Berserker]]: Barak's an unwilling heroic example. Apparently this kind of thing is common in Cherek warriors, even the ones who ''don't'' turn into bears. [[The Brute|Taur]] [[Axe Crazy|Urgas]] is an evil example.
Line 105 ⟶ 110:
* [[Big Bad]]: Torak in the first series and Zandramas in the second. Of course, the real villain is the [[Bigger Bad|Dark Prophecy]] itself.
* [[Bigger Bad]]: The Dark Prophecy. In a way, both the series' [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] were just its Dragons, as they only existed to be instruments of its will. Still counts as this though, since it's never physically confronted, and like the Prophecy of Light, has to work through earthly instruments, specifically Torak and Zandramas.
* [[Big Good]]: The Prophecy of Light. It can defeat
* [[The Big Guy]]: Several characters in the (slightly more than) [[Five-Man Band]] could qualify, but the standouts are Mandorallen in ''The Belgariad'' and Toth in ''The Malloreon''. As pointed out in the [[Five-Man Band]] section, when the Big Band (Barak, Hettar, Mandorallen, Relg, and Lelldorin) get together, Mandorallen is the only one who doesn't assume another role in the group. That's right: he's [[The Big Guy|The Big Guys']] [[The Big Guy|Big Guy]].
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: The Big Guys that are left behind in the Malloreon get an illusionary [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment.
Line 130 ⟶ 135:
** Garion gets hit with a mild version of this early on, suddenly seeing his allies as malicious strangers that he must escape from.
* [[Chainmail Bikini]]: Justified, [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]], all-around 'verted, mocked mercilessly, and in general, has just about everything you can do with a trope done to it in book four; when Ce'Nedra is off purchasing some ceremonial armor to wear while raising up an army, she says this is necessary for what the armor is supposed to help her with--and she's more or less right. Ce'Nedra, at age sixteen, was tiny and flat-chested--she can't do anything about the height, but she needed people to respect her as an adult, long enough for them to listen to her. Having the armor the right shape--even if she technically isn't--would help her audiences see her as an adult. It takes her a while, but she persuades the armorer to modify the breastplate to an acceptably female shape, and relies on his good taste for the exact dimensions. The final result works out well and satisfies all people involved, but the scenes with the armorer are fun to read.
* [[Brought Down to Normal]]: The possibility of this happening is enough to keep Belgarath [[Locked Out of the Loop]] in the fourth book after his nearly fatal duel with Ctuchik. Later, Polgara is threatened with this as a condition of {{spoiler|having Durnik brought back to life}} -- fortunately, the
** It's strongly implied, towards the end of ''The Malloreon'', that Cyradis didn't actually lose her powers.
** The Light Prophecy explicitly tells Garion that she was no longer a seer... but that she ''had'' looked into the future, and she has a ''very'' good memory.
* [[Capital Letters Are Magic]]: The word <small>EVENT</small>, rendered in small capitals, refers specifically to an event required for the fulfillment of prophecy. These <small>EVENTS</small> are in essence instantaneous conflict between the two opposing Wills of the Universe, settled by a choice made by a mortal. The reason that they are instantaneous is that longer conflicts would destroy the universe.
* [[Catch Phrase]]:
{{quote|'''Garion''': "Why me?"}}
{{quote|'''{{spoiler|Poledra}} and Polgara''' (on occasion): "How remarkable."}}
{{quote|'''Silk''': "Trust me."}}
* [[Character Title]]: Eddings had originally envisioned ''The Belgariad'' as a trilogy with the titles ''Garion'', ''Ce'Nedra'', and ''Kal Torak''. In the end this was averted by Eddings' publisher, who mandated five books instead of three and insisted on [[Chess Motifs]] for the titles.
* [[Charm Person]]: Asharak the Murgo's favourite trick, along with [[Tongue-Tied]], pulled liberally on Garion practically since birth.
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: Sprinkled liberally throughout the series, but most obviously in ''The Malloreon''. Examples include Zith, Sadi's pet snake, whom Velvet uses to {{spoiler|kill Harakan}}; the whole business with the Grolims being afraid to go near Kell; the subtle cannon at the beginning, where Garion says 'Fortune tellers are never right- one of them once predicted Durnik will live twice. How silly is that?'; and most especially the frequent references to the Turim reef, which ends up being {{spoiler|The Place Which Is No More}}, but nobody noticed due to language drift.
* [[The Chessmaster]]: Both the [[Big Good|Light]] and [[Bigger Bad|Dark]] Prophecies. Having eons to prepare helps. Zandramas is also a decent Chessmaster, although whether it's personal skill, or the result of having been infused with the Spirit of Dark is up for debate. She certainly manages to plan ahead, with each of her moves ready to fall into place the minute that a previous one fails.
Line 143 ⟶ 152:
* [[Childless Dystopia]]: Belgarath spends a very depressing winter in a town cursed with sterility.
* [[The Chooser of the One]]: Cyradis.
* [[The Chosen One]]: Whoever the Child of Light and Child of Dark are at the time.
* [[Chromatic Arrangement]]: The gods.
* [[Church Militant]]: The Bear-Cult, and many, many factions of the Grolim Priesthood, which includes: [[Evil Sorceror|Evil Sorcerors]] galore, [[Hell Hound|The Hounds of Torak]], the Chandim (Hounds who've changed back into humans) and the Temple Guardsmen (evil knights sworn to Torak and Urvon).
* [[Church Police]]: Grolims are pretty much this in the various Angarak nations, though the extent of their power and the balance of power between them and civil or military law enforcement (if they even exist) varies.
* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: Aldur and anything associated with him, including his disciples (the various sorcerers) and his Orb, is blue. Torak is fond of black and red.
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]:
Line 151 ⟶ 161:
** Zakath is a minor subversion in that instance. Garion magically cheats, Zakath refuses to...only a minor subversion, because he does improvise an unusual jousting technique that works to perfection.
* [[Coming of Age Story]]: Especially in the first couple books.
* [[Cool Horse]]: While he doesn't have [[Awesome McCoolname|a cool name]] (''Horse'') or wear badass armor, Errand's teleporting horse probably still counts.
* [[Cool Old Guy]]: Belgarath. Being the first disciple, he's the designated "old" one, even though Beldin and the twins are ''also'' several thousand years old.
* [[Covers Always Lie]]: Averted, at least for the paperbacks; you can match the cover images to exact moments in the books.
Line 159 ⟶ 170:
** Each and every damn prophecy. In the case of the Mrin Codex, this turns out to be only because the oracle was stark raving mad; the Voice of the Universe tells Garion that unfortunately, this nutcase was all he had to work with.
** That and the reader will eventually get the feeling that the Voice did it that way because it ''annoys Belgarath so very, very much.''
* [[Cult of Personality]]: Worship of Torak. The ''Book of Torak'' is the core of the Angarak religion and contains a rewritten history of the world where Torak and the Angaraks are cast as the Good Guys.
* [[Cursed with Awesome]]:
** Barak's "curse" is to turn into a bear when Garion {{spoiler|Heir to the long-empty throne of Riva and Overlord of the West by treaty}} is threatened. A rampaging, unstoppable bear. At first he thinks it's just a progressive ailment and attempts suicide, but once he gets filled in on the trigger conditions (i.e., his family is now the hereditary protector's of Garion's), he contemplates tasteful ways to work it into his coat of arms. Who wouldn't want to advertise that?
Line 164 ⟶ 176:
* [[Cute Monster Girl]]: The Dryads are technically a race of this, but look identical to humans.
* [[Cute Mute]]: Errand, at least until ''The Malloreon'', and [[Lampshaded]] there: "I see you've learned to talk, boy."
=== D-F ===
* [[Day Hurts Dark-Adjusted Eyes]]: Ulgos.
* [[Dark Messiah]]: Zandramas to many Grolims, and the people of Darshiva. Harakan also enjoys playing this role, as evidenced by his Ulfgar and {{spoiler|Mengha}} personas, which he uses to subvert the Bear-Cult and the Karands respectively. Neither one of them really cares about the people that they're supposedly representing, and are only using it for power.
* [[Dashed Plotline]]: The prequels can skip centuries between chapters. Having main characters who are immortal makes this almost essential -- a biography of Polgara that tried to cover everything would make the Oxford English Dictionary look small, and her father's over twice as old as her.
* [[Dead Man Writing]]: In the Malloreon, the message from Torak to Belgarion they find in an uncorrupted copy of the Ashabine Oracles is one of these.
* [[Dead Person Conversation]]: In ''The Seeress of Kell'', a necromancer questions Naradas's spirit in order to reveal his true nature to the king of Perivor.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]:
** Everyone to an extent -- one of the big draws of the series is reading the characters' often clever back-and-forth banter. This is epitomized, however, by the ''Purpose of the Friggin' Universe'', who takes up residence as a snarky voice in Garion's consciousness and comes across as nothing so much as a long-suffering [[Game Master]] constantly annoyed that his players won't follow the script.
Line 175 ⟶ 190:
* [[Death by Materialism]]: Most people who stray into Maragor.
* [[Death Seeker]]: Garion strongly suspects [[The Emperor|'Zakath]] of being one of these in [[The Malloreon]].
* [[Deconfirmed Bachelor]]: Silk, especially in ''the
{{quote|'''Garion:''' "Is ''everybody'' getting married?"
'''Silk:''' "Not ''me'', my young friend. In spite of this universal plunge towards matrimony, ''I'' still haven't lost my senses. If worse comes to worse, I still know how to run." -- ''(From the last few pages of the Belgariad)'' }}
Line 181 ⟶ 196:
* [[Defeat Means Friendship]]: Zakath is one of the rare ''pre-emptive'' examples of this trope, in that after finally dawning to just how thoroughly the odds are against him he decides to just skip the 'defeat' and go straight to the 'friendship'.
{{quote|"You know something, Garion? I've always believed that someday you and I would go to war with each other. Would you be terribly disappointed if I decided not to show up?"}}
* [[Democracy Is Bad]]: Played with when Silk reveals that the first king of Sendaria was elected.
{{quote|'''Garion:''' How do you elect a king?
'''Silk:''' [[No Except Yes|Very badly, Garion. It's a poor way to select a king. The other ways are worse, but election is a very bad way to choose a king.]]}}
* [[Demon Lords and Archdevils]]: In [[The Malloreon]], it's revealed that Demons/Devil-Spirits, have rank the same way that people do. [[Dragon-in-Chief|Nahaz]] and [[Dragon with an Agenda|Mordja]] are the two that Garion and co. encounter.
* [[Den of Iniquity]]: Several of the rooms in Ctuchik's tower in ''Magician's Gambit''
Line 187 ⟶ 205:
* [[The Devil Is a Loser]]: Torak. Sure, he's the resident evil god of the setting, but he spends all of the series and most of the backstory horribly maimed because of several monumentally stupid decisions; the main characters have absolutely no respect for him and regularly refer to him by such epithets as "Burnt-face" and "One-eye"; he has no ability to either anticipate or cope with change in the world; and he has absolutely no subtlety, sense of military tactics, or awareness of human nature whatsoever, relying entirely on brute force. One gets the impression that the only reason he was ever a credible threat was that, as a god, he has a ''lot'' of brute force to throw around, and Garion wins their final battle by [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|pointing out how very pathetic he is]] behind all the bluster.
** Revealed in the Malloreon that {{spoiler|it isn't entirely his fault - Much of Torak's mindset is influenced by the fact that he was, for a very long time, the host of the Spirit of Dark. Which is flat out described as being completely unable to change, thus the above inabilities to cope with change, as Darkness is constant, inflexible. Light is change in its nature.}}
** Also, it turns out that he was {{spoiler|never supposed to be a
* [[Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat]]: Zandramas' efforts to sway events to her favour ultimately hasten the Event she is trying to avoid. And, probably, bias the Choice against her.
* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: {{spoiler|Garion gets to add Godslayer to his constellation of grandiose titles at the end of the fifth book}}. Of course, this is explicitly justified as his purpose for existing in the first place, and he's aided by a power a wee bit higher than Torak.
Line 193 ⟶ 211:
* [[Disposable Woman]]: Hilariously and spectacularly subverted at the climax of book three. Grolim High Priest [[The Dragon|Ctuchik]] is ecstatic at having lured the heroes into coming after him in his fastness, gloating that he need merely kill any one of the party to stop the Prophecy from coming true, only to be [[Oh Crap|somewhat disconcerted]] to find out that the only member of the group vulnerable enough that he actually ''can'' kill them before Belgarath and Polgara can finish blocking Ctuchik's attack -- Ce'Nedra -- is not only not there, but has been safely left ''a thousand miles away''. In a hidden city ''buried underneath a continental shelf''. With '''the over-deity UL''' as her personal bodyguard. As Belgarath made sure to point out, Ctuchik really should have taken a headcount first before allowing the group inside.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: Belgarath's punishment of Zedar is viewed by several of the heroes as this, as the majority of his villainy was conducted [[Offscreen Villainy|offscreen]]. Belgarath, however, was a firsthand witness to it and Zedar's protestations of [[I Did What I Had to Do]] fall on deaf ears.
* [[Divine
** The materials to make the Sword of the Rivan King are provided by Belar, who drops a meteorite onto the Isle of the Winds.
** Aldur and Ul assist {{spoiler|Poledra in defying Torak's will during the Battle of Vo Mimbre.}}
* [[Divine Chessboard]]: Everyone is guided by one of two opposing Purposes of the Universe. The dialogue between the two, especially the bickering, makes it sound like there's a literal board game going on.
* [[Divine Delegation]]: Ul created the other seven gods, who then went on the create the rest of the universe.
* [[Doomy Dooms of Doom]]: Martje of Val Alorn likes to talk about Barak's Doom.
{{quote|'''Durnik''': "What was all that talk about Doom?"}}
* [[Doorstopper]]: The hardcover editions of ''Belgarath the Sorcerer'' and ''Polgara the Sorceress'' are hefty enough to be used as blunt weapons.
* [[Double Standard Abuse (Female on Male)]]: Vella and Yarblek, [[Played for Laughs]], and [[Justified Trope|justified]] by Nadrak culture, in which all women are property of a man, but own the rights to their ''person'', and are free to [[Knife Nut|cut up]] any man who tries to take advantage.
* [[The Dragon]]: The hierarchy of evil's leadership across both series goes, roughly, Disciple (Ctuchik, Zedar, and Urvon for Torak; Naradas for Zandramas), Child of Dark (Torak, Zandramas), Dark Prophecy. In ''[[The Belgariad]]'' [[Evil Sorceror|Ctuchik]] and [[Driven to Villainy|Zedar]] play Dragon to [[Physical God|Torak]] (not that he especially needs protecting), while [[Starter Villain|Asharak]] and [[Ninja|Brill]] are Ctuchik's [[Co-Dragons]]; Brill may have been Asharak's Dragon as well, although he was [[Dragon Their Feet|strangely absent during the latter's final moments]]; the details of the relationship are never fully explored. In ''[[The Malloreon]]'' Zandramas has [[Number Two|Naradas]], [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|Mordja]], and an actual Dragon, while Urvon has [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|Nahaz]] and [[Bastard Understudy|Harakan]]. Most of those in the Malloreon have [[Dragon with an Agenda|their own agendas]].
* [[Dragon with an Agenda]]: The Demon Lords Nahaz and Mordja to Urvon and Zandramas respectively. Nahaz doubles as a [[Dragon-in-Chief]], after brainwashing Urvon into insanity; Urvon's second Dragon, {{spoiler|Harakan/Mengha}}, is also conspiring against him, with the help of Nahaz, who he believes he has under his control, allowing Nahaz to be [[Dragon with an Agenda]]/ [[Dragon-in-Chief]] to ''both'' of them.
* [[Dressing as the Enemy]]:
** In ''Magician's Gambit'', the party dresses in Grolim robes to get around Rak Cthol undisturbed.
** And again in ''Enchanters' End Game'', when Garion, Silk, and Belgarath disguise themselves as natives to pass through Morindland.
* [[Driven to Suicide]]: Belsambar and Belmakor. In the prequel, Belgarath expresses a suspicion that Zedar had somehow played a part in the latter (though he never explains ''how''), and goes on to say that if he ever discovers proof, he'll go back and put Zedar somewhere even ''worse''.
* [[Driven to Villainy]]: Zedar claims this, although the prequels undermine his position. He initially joined Torak of his own free will, intending to act as a [[Fake Defector]], and then Torak's touch on his mind obliterated his ability to resist. The implication is that [[Pride]] was his [[Fatal Flaw]] for assuming that he, or ''any'' mortal, could mount that kind of deception against a god. At the end, Zedar tries to shrug off responsibility by arguing that he was merely playing his role in the prophecy, but Belgarath doesn't buy it.
* [[The Drunken Sailor]]: Captain Greldik is possibly the best sailor alive and almost always drunk while on the sea.
* [[Duel to the Death]]: Garion vs. Torak.
* [[Dye or Die]]: Zakath grows a beard after joining the heroes in ''The Malloreon'' to avoid being recognized as Emperor. Ce'Nedra also dyes her hair temporarily after running away.
Line 215 ⟶ 242:
* [[Epic Fail]]:
** In ''[[The Belgariad]]'' Lelldorin manages to extend an epic fail over the course of several weeks. When he announces that he's going to get back to the main group, his beloved refuses to stay behind. During the departure and trip he manages to break her father's leg, run his cousin through the leg "just a little bit", punch out all of a priest's teeth, and cause enough assorted mayhem to get a bounty put on his head by the crown. And all of this was ''without trying''. This is also an example of [[Disaster Dominoes]]. He did successfully marry the girl in the process, though! (Only because traveling alone with her would cause more trouble.)
** In ''[[The Belgariad|The
* [[Eunuchs Are Evil]]: The kingdom of Nyissa seems to have a lot of evil eunuchs. Considering that you have to be a eunuch to work at the royal palace, and the palace is filled with intrigue, this is a [[Justified Trope]]. Remedied in the second series when {{spoiler|[[Evil Chancellor|Sadi]]}} turns out to be <s>a pretty decent guy</s> no worse than the protagonists. And pretty [[Badass]] to boot.
* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]:
Line 227 ⟶ 254:
* [[Evil Sorcerer]]: Ctuchik, Zedar, Urvon, Chamdar, Zandramas, Naradas, the vast majority of unnamed Grolims, and pretty much every single Morind magician and Karandese wizard.
* [[Evil Tower of Ominousness]]: Ctuchik's tower atop Rak Cthol, and Torak's giant iron tower in Cthol Mishrak. Torak's tower was so tall that a noticeable chunk of a 24-hour day can be spent going up the stairs to the top, doing something which takes maybe five minutes, and then going back down. When he invades the West, he has a giant wheeled iron tower pulled about by his army for him to live in. Lampshaded by Belgarath, who mentions that all sorcerers seem to have a pathological drive to live in towers.
* [[Exclusively Evil]]:
** Angaraks are portrayed this way in ''[[The Belgariad]]'', but get a makeover in ''[[The Malloreon]]'' when they get a less black and white treatment.
** The demons are [[Exclusively Evil]] in both series, but justified because, well, ''[[The Legions of Hell|demons]]''.
** Nyissa was portrayed as a nation of [[Smug Snake|Smug Snakes]] in ''[[The Belgariad]]''. In ''[[The Malloreon]]'', this, like the Angarak example, is made much less black and white.
* [[Expansion Pack World]]: Eddings added the south & east of the second continent and the bottom of the first one only after the ''[[Malloreon]]'' was a go.
* [[Expressive Mask]]: After Torak becomes maimed, he takes to wearing a steel mask which covers his face and moves as his unburned face would.
Line 245 ⟶ 276:
* [[Fat Idiot]]: [[Subverted Trope|Rhodar isn't one.]] In fact, he is fat because he loves to sit and read, and is one of the best educated people in the world.
* [[Fiery Redhead]]: Ce'Nedra, very much so.
* [[First Time in the Sun]]:
* [[Five-Bad Band]]: Torak is [[The Big Bad]], Ctuchik and Zedar are his [[Co-Dragons]], with Zedar doing double duty as [[The Evil Genius]], Taur Urgas is [[The Brute]], [[The Dark Chick]] position is kept open for Polgara, and the actual dragon is the [[Team Pet]].
* [[Five-Man Band]]:
Line 263 ⟶ 294:
* [[The Fundamentalist]]: The Bear-Cult. [[Religious Bruiser|Relg]] starts out this way (albeit as a more positive variant), but after several books worth of [[Character Development]] he manages to lose the worst aspects of it, while remaining a deeply religious man.
* [[Funetik Aksent]]: Generally restricted to minor characters; the two most prominent examples are the juggler Feldegast, who has a thick brogue, and Th' Ol' Farmer I' Th' Tavern Wit' Th' Peg. (that's "pig", by the way.) Garion imitates the Old Farmer's accent at times when he's trying to amuse Ce'nedra or irritate Belgarath.
=== G-I ===
* [[Genre Blindness]]: The Child of Dark seems to feed from an unending stream of ignorance about the harm its [[You Can't Fight Fate|attempts to subvert the Prophecy]] do to its own cause. Then again, this is [[Lampshade Hanging|pointed out by the heroes]] as one of the reasons the Dark needs to be defeated -- it's incapable of changing or even acknowledging the need for change.
* [[Gentleman Thief]]: Silk is a prime example.
* [[Go-Go Enslavement]]: A male example -- in the second book, Garion is kidnapped and drugged by the Queen of Nyissa and forced to sit on her throne wearing makeup and a short loincloth.
* [[God in Human Form]]:
** In ''Belgarath the Sorcerer'', assumedly to remain inconspicuous, Aldur takes the form of an old man riding a rickety cart.
** {{Spoiler|Eriond}}.
* [[God Is Flawed]]: Most of the gods depicted in the series have their own distinct personality; many of them also have personality flaws that often mirror the nature of their people.
* [[God of Evil]]: Played straight with Torak, who is very fond of human sacrifice.
* [[God's Hands Are Tied]]: Applies to both the gods and the Prophecies, as there are rules that the Prophecies have agreed to, one of these being that the Prophecies only battle each other through proxy.
* [[The Good Chancellor]]: Brand is the latest in a line of Rivan Warders who govern Riva until the king returns.
* [[Good Is Not Soft]]: Most characters in Garion's party and their allies in the Western Kingdoms generally fall into this category. While they do their best to avoid violence, they shed no tears after cutting down the Big Bad's mooks, nor do they suffer sleepless nights over what friends and family of those they killed may have left behind. {{spoiler|With the exception of Durnik, of course. Though he eventually gets over it.}}
Line 283 ⟶ 321:
* [[The Heart]]: Garion is this within the Brotherhood of sorcerers. Not yet jaded by aeons of duty, he constantly wants to go out of his way to help people even when it hurts his cause, is extremely reluctant to kill people, and feels ashamed about using sorcery for malicious purposes. The other sorcerers are often irritated by his idealism, but sometimes grudgingly admit that doing something just because it's right is necessary from time to time.
* [[Heel Face Turn]]: {{spoiler|Drosta, the Nadraks and many Thulls}} in the first series, {{spoiler|[[The Emperor|'Zakath]] and [[Eunuchs Are Evil|Sadi]]}} in the second.
* [[Heel Faith Turn]]: In ''Sorceress of Darshiva'', the group meets a Grolim who has turned to worshipping the future god of Angarak ({{spoiler|Eriond}}) and has given up human sacrifice for decorating the temple with flowers.
* [[Hell Hound|Hell Hounds]]: The Hounds Of Torak. Actually Grolims who've transformed themselves into giant dogs. Some have since changed back to form the Chandim; they aren't noticeably more pleasant.
* [[Hellish Horse]]: The Hrulgin: carnivorous, horse-like beasts that the party has a brief encounter with. Hettar, true to his Horse-Lord nature, takes a stab at riding one. He regretfully kills it after he makes mind contact with it and realizes how utterly insane it is. At one point he muses that if he could raise one from a colt, he might be able to train and ride it, but relents after being reminded that it would look at the Algars' prized cattle as food.
Line 291 ⟶ 330:
* [[Hope Spot]]: Interestingly, engineered by the good guys in the last book. Garion pretends to be about to choose the wrong successor, so that when he gets it right Zandramas will be pissed off and put off-balance.
* [[Human Sacrifice]]: Practiced by the Grolims in honor of Torak. Belgarath admits that it may or may not have been Torak's idea to begin with, but Torak never did anything to stop it.
* [[Hypnotize the Princess]]: {{spoiler|Zandramas}} does this to {{spoiler|Ce'Nedra, twice}}.
* [[Hypocritical Humor]]:
** There are many occasions where characters complain about traits in others that they themselves possess. Usually some variation of dramatizing (i.e. Belgarath, who spent years as a professional storyteller, complains that Beldin is being too ostentatious). They are frequently called on this.
** In ''Belgarath the Sorcerer'', Belgarath and Beldin at one point meet for the first time in a while, and ask what the other has been up to; Belgarath had just finished a rigorous mathematical proof that three and three made six, while Beldin had been trying to determine the exact difference between the concepts of "right" and "good." Both men wonder why the other was doing something [[Mad Mathematician|so]] [[Contemplate Our Navels|pointless]].
* [[Hysterical Woman]]: Played straight with Ce'Nedra in ''The Belgariad'' and taken even further in ''The Malloreon''. In the first series she's prone to hysterics, often throws tantrums, and at one point almost gets her friend and Garion's cousin Adara killed because she was bored. In ''The Malloreon'' she becomes even more unstable with the theft of Geran, and her major contributions to the party are unreasonable demands that someone get her baby back that very second followed by crying fits when it's pointed out that she's asking for the impossible.
* [[I Am Who?]]: Garion and {{spoiler|Errand.}}
* [[Idiot Ball]]:
** In ''Guardians of the West'', neither Garion, Porenn, or Silk pick up on the the extremely obvious hints General Haldar drops about his involvement with the Bear Cult. Even Silk – the [[Guile Hero]] of the group – doesn't put two and two together.
** In ''Sorceress of Darshiva'', Garion, Belgarath, and Beldin find out from the Ashabine Oracles that Ce'Nedra will reveal their next destination to Zandramas. They also let Polgara know about this, and she promises to keep an eye on her. However, by the time they've gone to Kell and found out what their next destination is, ''all four of them have completely forgotten about this.'' Not even Ce'Nedra getting unusually sleepy to the point of not being able to ride horse makes them remember, and after Ce'Nedra has done the thing she was destined to do, Garion gets angry at Cyradis for not revealing to them this information they already knew. Makes you wonder whether this was a failed attempt at playing the trope for drama and/or if Eddings himself forgot about it.
* [[Ignorance Is Bliss]]: Garion, deliberately. Also played with in Errand/Eriond.
* [[I Gave My Word]]: Garion in ''Pawn of Prophecy'', after unwillingly being taken into confidence about a plot to kill the king of Arendia and promising not to reveal where he got the information.
* [[I Have Many Names]]: Belgarath and Silk especially. Most of the party is royalty and have at least one title of some description.
* [[I Have You Now, My Pretty]]: A recurring threat against Polgara is that Torak will [[Mind Rape]] and force her into marriage. Indeed, the turning point of the final battle comes {{spoiler|when Polgara is able to tell Torak exactly where he can go stick what, despite his attempts to force her. Belgarath specifically points out that if Torak had had the emotional support of Polgara's "love", however false, Belgarion would never have been able to defeat him.}}
* [[I Just Want to Be Normal]]: Garion. Everyone's response: You're not. Get over it.
Line 307 ⟶ 350:
"Does the ambassador know that you know?" Hettar asked.
"Of course he does." The fat man laughed. "But he doesn't think that I'm aware of the fact that he knows that I know." }}
* [[Impossible Task]]: Aldur had to resort to this in order to make Belgarath find out about the Will and the Word. Played for laughs when Belgarath tries to pull the same trick on Beldin, who, as it turned out, already knew about sorcery.
* [[Improbable Antidote]]:
** In ''Magician's Gambit'', Relg discovers that using his ability of passing through solid rock got rid of his cold.
Line 318 ⟶ 362:
** Even Garion and Ce'Nedra, as she isn't technically human; it's stated that the Dryad strain breeds true in the female Borunes.
* [[In the Back]]: An interesting prevention tactic employed by Mimbrate tax collectors is mentioned in ''The Rivan Codex'': a thick, well-fitting wooden plank under the chainmail to protect the back from Asturian arrows. Apparently it's not unusual for a tax collector to just ignore the arrows stuck in his back.
* [[Insistent Terminology]]: Invoked a few times, especially with boats vs. ships.
{{quote|"Ships," Anheg corrected. "They're called ships. A boat is something else."}}
* [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons]]: Averted. Dragons are quite pathetic creatures in the world of the Belgariad and in the original series they are only mentioned in one page in ''Magician's Gambit'' and even then not referred to as dragons or in fact any name at all. Their portrayal – or lack thereof – makes one wonder if Eddings's publisher demanded he add dragons just because he was writing a fantasy series and it was only done to fill an arbitrary quota.
* [[Invisible to Normals]]: In ''Enchanters' End Game'', Belgarath teaches the Orb how to make itself, the Sword of the Rivan King, and even Garion appear "unremarkable" to most people.
* [[Involuntary Shapeshifter]]: Barak's hereditary "curse" is to turn into a bear when Garion is threatened. He passes the trait to his son, with respect to Garion's son.
=== J-L ===
* [[The Jester]]: Beldin's role and one of his disguises.
* [[Kill It with Fire]]: How Asharak/Chamdar [[You Killed My Father|killed Garion's parents]], [[Ironic Death|and thus]], how Garion kills Chamdar. And in ''Belgarath the Sorcerer'', Belsambar suggests throwing burning pitch into the Angarak cities.
* [[Kill the God]]: {{spoiler|The plot of ''The Belgariad''.}}
* [[King Incognito]]: All the main characters do their best to maintain anonymity whenever they're traveling, which is pretty much always.
** For the first half of ''Pawn of Prophecy'', the real identities of almost all members of the party are unknown Garion. Of course, Garion stays incognito from himself for three-and-a-half books.
Line 332 ⟶ 382:
** There is only one dragon in the series, who is both the first and the last of her kind. The gods made three, but the two males killed each other in the first mating season. The entire depiction of dragons is an intentional [[Subversion]] of the basic fantasy archetype of the creatures -- just dumb lizards. Garion is also the [[Single Line of Descent|last surviving descendant]] of the Rivan royal family, and Taiba is the last Marag.
** As for Taiba, not anymore, Mara and Relg saw to that. Hettar even complains that his wife Adara can't keep up when it comes to making babies with Taiba and accuses Mara of cheating.
* [[Law of Inverse Fertility]]: Played straight with {{spoiler|Garion and Ce'Nedra}} in ''the Malloreon''.
* [[The Legions of Hell]]: Alluded to in the ''Belgariad'' and introduced in more detail in the ''Malloreon'' as one of several competing evil factions. Even the Grolims prefer to avoid dealing with them if at all possible, but they ''can'' be manipulated, if you are ''very'' careful. (Nobody is that careful.)
* [[Lethal Chef]]:
Line 339 ⟶ 390:
* [[Locked Out of the Loop]]: Belgarath in the fourth book, when it seems like he may have {{spoiler|lost his powers}}. Garion and Ce'Nedra's marriage, as well -- both principals were not told about it to guarantee that they actually showed up for the wedding. Given their [[Slap Slap Kiss]] relationship, this was probably for the better. Garion, himself, is the ultimate example; he was intentionally raised in complete ignorance of his origin and potential powers "for his own safety". Justified, in that it's stated in-universe that there are sorcerers that can read minds. So if Garion knew exactly what he was, and thought about it too much, he could easily be pin-pointed. As well, it could have changed the way he did things, and then things might have turned out quite differently, for good or ill.
* [[Loveable Rogue]]: Belgarath, Silk (undisputable King of this trope), Yarblek, Beldin...
* [[Love Goddess]]: Mara.
* [[Love Hungry]]: Torak, which guides much of his motivation.
* [[Love Potion]]: [[Discussed Trope|Discussed]] in ''Polgara The Sorceress''. The members of Duke Kathandrion's court exasperate Polgara with requests for such a potion, which she notes is a [[Trope|literary device]] prevalent in Arendish epics.
=== M-O ===
* [[Mad God]]: Torak and Mara. The latter was driven insane by the grief of {{spoiler|apparently}} having all of his worshippers slaughtered in a war, while the former went mad from [[And I Must Scream|the constant, unending pain of being burnt by magical fire]].
* [[Magic A Is Magic A]]:
** Magic is rather flexible... but you may ''not'' unmake anything. Breaking things is fine, as that just changes its state, but using magic to make something "Be not!" causes it to backlash and take ''you'' out. Which means that you technically ''can'' unmake something, so long as the something is ''you''. A couple of sorcerers in the [[Backstory]] actually committed suicide this way.
** Magic comes in several types in Eddings' world: Sorcery uses "the Will and the Word"; Witchcraft utilizes nature spirits; and Magic involves summoning a demon to do your bidding for as long as you can hold him in the shape you create for him (generally, not long enough.) Necromancy exists, which is the magic of speaking with the dead spirits and commanding them. There are Wizards, whose power is never specifically defined in either set of books. It is also hinted at that there are more types of magic than that, such as that Salmissra has a type of magic which appears to be specific to the Brides of Issa. Also, it's worth mentioning that Alchemy isn't a form of magic. It is considered a science. Senji just happens to be a
** Also: Magic requires you to pay homage to physics, meaning the
* [[Magic Knight]]: Garion, who's frighteningly proficient with both weaponry and sorcery.
* [[Magical Nanny]]: Polgara plays this role as caretaker of the Rivan line for two thousand years. And her cooking... divine!
* [[The Maker]]: Almost every deity in the series, {{spoiler|with the exception of Eriond}}. UL created the rest of the other gods, who then created the rest of the world. Each of the seven then chose <f
* [[Malfunction Malady]]: After Belgarath collapses from overexertion, Polgara worries that he could find his powers greatly reduced or even completely gone. While this ultimately turns out not to be the case, Belgarath acknowledges it was a definite possibility.
* [[Mama Bear]]:
Line 368 ⟶ 423:
* [[Mind Your Step]]: Belgarath has a loose step on the stair to his tower. It turns out that he put a diamond under it, in order to see how long it took for it to be ground to dust. Then he forgot he'd done so and simply developed the habit of skipping that step, since it wobbled...
* [[Mineral MacGuffin]]: The Orb of Aldur and the Sardion -- both halves of the original stone at the center of the universe and the embodiment of the power of the Prophecies of Light and Dark, respectively.
* [[Missed the Call]]: In a very ironic and somewhat sad way, Torak could be said to embody this trope for the Prophecy of Dark. It's discovered in ''The Malloreon'' that he was {{spoiler|never intended to be the seventh
* [[Mordor]]:
** Cthol Mishrak is the name of a city where the evil god Torak stayed for about two thousand years, but it's also applied to the region surrounding the city. The name means 'City of Endless Night,' because Torak created a huge mass of totally black clouds and parked them the city and its surrounding region. It really is as dark as night there, at all hours of the day. Due to the lack of sun, most plants don't grow and water doesn't evaporate quickly, leaving the place reeking of decay, fungus, and stagnant water. Torak's iron tower, which he knocked down in a fit of rage, has rusted down to a kind of metallic-reeking goop, and definite adds to the smell. The city's also far in the north, far enough for it to experience an arctic winter of extended periods of night. Put it next to an arctic swamp, and it's really miserable. Beldin described it as a suburb of Hell.
Line 378 ⟶ 433:
* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]:
** Garion's horror and self-loathing over Asharak's death (no matter how badly it was deserved) is a major plot element of ''Queen of Sorcery''.
** Also a major plot point for {{spoiler|Zakath}} and his back story which affects his behaviour and decisions in much of ''the Belgariad'' and
* [[Narrative Profanity Filter]]: Eddings uses this a great deal, most notably with Beldin. Only missed in a couple instances, but in referring to female dogs. Usually played for entertainment purposes. The descriptions of (and reactions to) people swearing can be as or more entertaining than the swearing itself.
{{quote|'''Garion:''' (in response to Ce'Nedra) "Why dear, I didn't even think you knew what half of those words meant!"}}
Line 392 ⟶ 447:
* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Belgarath has elevated this to an art form. Garion's not bad either. Anheg uses it with great skill for political purposes.
* [[Offered the Crown]]
* [[Omniscient Morality License]]: The Prophecy really screwed around with Belgarath. {{spoiler|Letting him suffer for four thousand years because he was lied to about his wife dying while he had - as he saw it - abandoned her?}} Harsh, man.
* [[One-Gender Race]]: The nonhuman Dryads. They kidnap human men and force them to father children. This goes one of two ways: a girl will always be a Dryad, and a boy will be human with Dryad genes lying dormant. These Dryad genes can then be passed on to the children of that male - and they are, resulting in Ce'Nedra, who, thanks to dilution, is half Dryad. (It's not stated explicitly, but the implication is that the Dryads, left to their own devices, kill male children.)
** Pure dryads don't have male children. In "Belgarath the Sorcerer", Belgarath notes that crossbreeding dryads with the House of Borune did some odd things, since a pure dryad "would never give birth to a male child".
* [[One-Handed Zweihander]]: Since the Orb – when attached to the handle – magically makes almost all the weight disappear, the Sword of the Rivan King can be used one-handed.
* [[Only Child Syndrome]]: A hereditary trait of the Rivan line, largely due to the interference of the Prophecy. Retconned in ''Polgara the Sorceress''. Apparently at least a few of Garion's ancestors had multiple children, but only the direct line mattered, so none of Garion's various great-great-etc-aunts and uncles ultimately mattered, and the only cousin he ever knowingly meets is from his mother's side of the family. The founder of the hidden line is explicitly the king's youngest grandson, implying that any male in an unbroken male line descended from Riva would work. Let's hope there aren't any more unbroken male lines. A direct sibling is never portrayed; while Polgara mentions having lots of children to play with in Cherek, they could've been maternal cousins or some such.
* [[Only the Chosen May Wield]]: The Orb, and as a consequence the Sword of the Rivan King due to its immense weight when Orb-less.
* [[Only the Pure of Heart]]: After its misuse by Torak, the Orb refused to bear the touch of any except one with a pure heart. This turned out to be Riva, and his descendants bear the mark of their bond with the Orb.
** Later Eriond, in ''The Malloreon''. His demonstration of this during Zandramas' first attack on the heroes nearly gives Polgara a heart attack.
* [[Only You Can Repopulate My Race]]: Relg, a zealot who's sworn to celibacy and believes [[Sex is Evil|sex is sin]], is chosen to revive the Marag race with Taiba.
* [[Orcus on His Throne]]: Although Torak is technically the [[Big Bad]] of the first series, he spends almost all of it asleep.
* [[Orgasmically Delicious]]: Dryads like sweets (and chocolate specifically) ''[[Better Than Sex|very much]]'', to the point that Belgarath is too embarrassed to watch the effects of a dryad eating some.
* [[Our Nudity Is Different]]: Relg rants about how Ulgo women tries to entice him by showing their calves and forearms.
* [[Outsourcing Fate]]: At the end of ''The Malloreon'', {{spoiler|Cyradis makes the final choice between the Light and Dark Prophecies}}.
=== P-R ===
* [[Pals with Jesus]]:
** Before the gods left the world, Belar, god of the Alorns, used to live among his "rowdy, undisciplined, and drunk" people. The admiration that Alorn girls displayed towards him [[Divine Date|didn't seem entirely religious either]].
** Aldur took a number of disciples and interacted with them on a regular basis.
** Though it's never mentioned explicitly beyond these two examples, it can probably be assumed that many of the rest of the gods also hung out with their worshippers before they had to depart from the world.
* [[Panacea]]: The "sovereign specific", i.e. Adara's Rose. It's used to purge Zakath's poisoning.
* [[Papa Wolf]]:
Line 410 ⟶ 474:
** Zakath literally pets the cat in the Belgariad - he has a kitten which he apparently found in an alley somewhere. He spends most of his time watching it. He doesn't really say why, but as a literary device, it's effective.
** In the Malloreon the female cat has remained his companion and is now an adult though he frequently is trying to find homes for her kittens because, as Zakath himself says "She has been unfaithful to me... again." Amusingly, a female cat is called a "queen". What better companion pet for an Emperor than a Queen?
* [[Phosphor Essence]]: After {{spoiler|Eriond}} becomes a
* [[Physical God]]: Eight of them, at least in the [[Backstory]]. After Torak used the Orb of Aldur to break the world, the other seven agreed not to directly intervene lest such a catastrophe happen again. Except for UL, all of them are portrayed as fairly human. The real gods, by a more modern definition, are the two competing Purposes of the Universe, who can't fight directly and thus have to play out their conflict using the characters.
* [[The Pig Pen]]: Beldin, deliberately. He's so physically ugly that he sees no point in trying to appear neat.
Line 416 ⟶ 480:
** Each of the nations of the world, overlaid on their [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]]. Drasnians are devious, Tolnedrans are greedy, Arends take [[Honor Before Reason]] to truly ridiculous levels, Nyissans are decadent hedonists, Alorns are sailors and party animals.
** Again, justified. The gods chose people who had traits that appealed to them to follow them, and have spent umpteen-thousand years cultivating those traits. Extra justified in the case of the Angaraks, who were split into nations based on physical characteristics after Torak returned from a few thousand years of doing god-stuff. Too bad those characteristics were caste-related and not tribal, like he thought.
** With the Murgos, as stated by Belgarath in ''Belgarath, the
* [[Plot Tailored to the Party]]: Each of the many companions has a specific skill (some more broadly applicable than others) which is necessary at some point.
* [[Power Limiter]]: Sorcery has some serious limitations. Its use results in physical exhaustion, and it makes noise that other people with the same talent can hear and use to locate you. The latter is especially cumbersome if you're trying to sneak around in enemy territory.
* [[The Power of Love]]: Torak isn't able to take over the world because Polgara {{spoiler|loves Durnik}}, and holds on to that while he's trying to bend her will to his.
* [[Power Strain Blackout]]: Since using sorcery always results in some amount of physical exhaustion, this is a very real risk, and not even the worst case scenario. Happens to {{Spoiler|Belgarath in ''Castle of Wizardry''}} and {{spoiler|Polgara in ''Enchanters' End Game''}}.
* [[Powers That Be]]: The two Prophecies.
* [[Pretty Boy]]: Torak ''was'' one, before the whole burning thing. He was often described as "over-pretty".
* [["Previously On..."]]: Found in some form in both series. Sometimes – especially in the Malloreon – part of the dedicated prologue section recaps events of both series on a general level. In pretty much all the books, though, more specific information is trickled out during the first few chapters with varying degrees of obviousness. Sometimes this exposition is rather well disguised, pretending to be mere context for a character's current thoughts, while other times party members are spouting [[As You Know]] dialogue in a rather out-of-character manner.
* [[Primal Fear (trope)|Primal Fear]]: [[Justified Trope|Justified]] and [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] with the underground-dwelling Ulgo people, who have a fear of ''non-enclosed'' spaces.
* [[Professional Killer]]: {{spoiler|Brill}} and the rest of the Daghashi, and Issus, a Nyissan poisoner and assassin. Silk, Liselle, and the other members of Drasnian intelligence have this as one of their skill sets.
* [[Prolonged Prologue]]: The entiriety of ''Guardians of the West'' is basically just a long, 450 page setup before the meat-and-potatoes of ''the Malloreon''. Even within the book itself, the first half is mostly about Garion's relatively ordinary everyday life before the plot starts to happen.
* [[Prophecies Are Always Right]]: [[Deconstructed Trope]]. The reason for the prophecies in the first place is that a pure accident caused the original Purpose of the Universe to be threatened, so it split apart to protect itself. The competing Purposes then each set about to cause a course of events to occur such that their preferred outcome would come to pass. They create prophecies specifically to set out instructions for their pawns to make those things happen -- or more specifically, to give meaning to the events. Moreover, the competing prophecies sometimes describe mutually exclusive outcomes that do not come to pass until they are resolved in a moment of Choice, which can only be made by a mortal.
* [[Prophet Eyes]]: The blind seer that Polgara cures has them. Naradas, Zandramas' [[The Dragon|Dragon]] in ''The Malloreon'' has something similar, but his pupils are visible and his eyes function -- just the rest of his eyes are blank white. Seeing as how he's neither blind or a prophet, the integrity of the trope is maintained.
* [[Protagonist-Centered Morality]]: To the point of caricature, but still played completely straight. It's even [[Discussed Trope|discussed]] by the heroes at a few points, and acknowledged that, while it may not necessarily be a good thing, it's absolutely necessary to fulfil the Prophecy. Belgarath performed assassinations as well as coerced marriages to create the families of the [[True Companions]], and is quite unapologetic about it. Yes, it was wrong, but [[Papa Wolf|he doesn't really care.]] At one point, he [[Lampshade|Lampshades]] this when he tells Garion that he's less interested in Good vs Evil than Us vs. Them.
* [[A Protagonist Shall Lead Them]]: Eventually played straight with Garion, but averted during the events of ''The Belgariad''. Ce'Nedra ends up being the one to rally the people of the West and lead them in the war against the Angaraks, since {{spoiler|Garion sneaks off with Silk and Belgarath to face Torak}}.
* [[Proud Warrior Race]]: The [[Boisterous Bruiser|Chereks]], [[Fragile Speedster|Algars]], [[Honour Before Reason|Arends]], and [[Blood Knight|Murgos]] all represent different flavors of this trope.
* [[Puberty Superpower]]: Beldin theorizes that their particular type of "talent" only shows itself during puberty as a safety precaution, since having baby sorceres around could be highly inconvenient.
* [[Rape as Drama]]: It's implied that Barak raped his [[Arranged Marriage|arranged wife]] Merel during the events of ''Pawn of Prophecy''. And since they already had two children, it's probably happened before. Merel [[Domestic Abuse|puts him through marital hell]] in retaliation, including occasionally [[Asshole Victim|preventing him from seeing his kids]] (and [[Parental Neglect|vice versa]], of course).
* [[Really Gets Around]]:
** Thull women have this reputation, but not in a good way - pregnant women aren't acceptable sacrifices to Torak, so they try to ''always'' be pregnant. The line of Salmissras in Nyissa also act this way, because the potion that keeps them looking young stimulates their [[Anything That Moves|libido]]; one of the reasons the last one doesn't mind being turned into an immortal snake is because, for the first time in years, she ''isn't'' horny. This is the reason why all the functionaries in Salmissra's palace are eunuchs. Even the Nyissans acknowledge that this is a necessity, because if they weren't then nothing would really be able to get done in the palace... for rather obvious reasons if you think about it.
Line 434 ⟶ 505:
** Theories as to how this works are more or less confirmed in the prequel books, when Belgarath theorizes something to the effect of, "Old and distinguished on a man is perfectly natural and accepted. Old and distinguished on a woman equals crone," and there's no way Polgara would have put up with something like that.
** Inverted in the case of Salmissra, Queen of Nyissa and consort of the snake god Issa. She takes a potion to maintain her resemblance to the "original" Salmissra, who died ages ago, but she's really a mortal woman like all of her predecessors. Polgara [[Baleful Polymorph|"remedies"]] the situation.
* [[Reasoning with God]]: Gorim essentially annoys Ul into taking the godless ones and the monsters under his wing.
* [[Rebellious Princess]]: Ce'Nedra.
* [[Red Right Hand]]: Torak's not called the Maimed God for nothing. Also Urvon (piebald) and Naradas (white-eyes) in [[The Malloreon]].
Line 448 ⟶ 520:
** There are many minor examples. In the main series, Polgara acts as though she's unaccustomed to a task such as raising Garion or that it's beneath her, while Belgarath is surprised when Garion calls him "grandfather". In the prequels, Polgara has been caretaker of the Rivan line for five hundred years, and Belgarath has been "grandfather" to that same line for even longer.
* [[Revenge Through Corruption]]: Torak's plans for Polgara.
* [[Roaring Rampage of Rescue]]: In ''Queen of Sorcery'', bear form Barak and Polgara rip through Salmissra's palace to get to Garion.
* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Hettar's parents were murdered by Murgos when he was young, and he made his mission in life is to kill as many Murgos as possible. {{spoiler|He does ease off a bit after noticing Adara.}}
* [[Robe and Wizard Hat]]: Sorcerers maintain that this image of them is a fiction invented by [[Muggles]] who know nothing about them. The few times Belgarath is forced into such an outfit, he is notably apoplectic about it.
* [[Ruling Couple]]: Belgarion and Ce'Nedra of Riva, and Korodullin and Mayaserana of Arendia.
* [[Running Gag]]: Garion asking {{spoiler|'Zakath}} if he's sure he's not part Arendish. Comes up whenever the latter is behaving too enthusiastically in [[The Malloreon]].
=== S-U ===
* [[Sarcastic Devotee]]: At one point Garion notes that he understands now why Belgarath was so consistently irritated at Silk throughout the entire series - leadership is hard enough without someone standing behind you providing a sarcastic running commentary.
* [[Scaled Up]]: Zandramas turns into a dragon. She seems to go out of her way towards being as ostentatious as possible.
Line 459 ⟶ 533:
* [[Secret Legacy]]: Garion's "Aunt Pol" is revealed to actually be many times removed -- she's the sister of his ultimate grandmother. Belgarath is his ultimate grandfather.
* [[Secret Test of Character]]: In the [[Final Battle]] of ''The Belgariad''. {{spoiler|Garion realizes that defeating Torak isn't about killing him, but rejecting him utterly.}}
* [[Secular Hero]]: Garion grew up in Sendaria, where it's commonplace to worship pretty much all the gods, and whether he ever worshipped any god in particular is never brought up.
* [[Serrated Blade of Pain]]: Ulgos use knives with all sorts of nasty hooks to do more damage.
* [[Shapeshifting Squick]]: Garion's first reaction when he finds out that Belgarath's wife Poledra wasn't originally a human:
Line 472 ⟶ 547:
* [[Sixth Ranger]]: Many characters join up with the group along the way, but the best example is probably {{spoiler|'Zakath}} in [[The Malloreon]]. He joins the group towards the end of the fourth book, after having been a major stumbling block to their progress during the first part of the series, and an antagonist in [[The Belgariad]]. He soon becomes something of a second [[The Lancer|Lancer]] to Garion (Durnik is his first one).
* [[Shower of Angst]]: After witnessing his first lethal fight, Garion takes a very thorough bath.
* [[Skunk Stripe]]: Polgara has one. All the
* [[Smug Snake]]: [[Eunuchs Are Evil|Sadi]], before a boatload of [[Character Development]] in [[The Malloreon]]. By the end he's just a straight up [[Manipulative Bastard]]. Most Nyissans (and all Nyissan eunuchs) seem to have this as their [[Planet of Hats|hat]]. Harakan is another good example, and even [[The Dragon|Ctuchik]] has his moments.
* [[The Sneaky Guy]]: Silk.
Line 480 ⟶ 555:
* [[Spy Catsuit]]: Subverted in the ''Malloreon''. Velvet frequently dresses in tight-fitting leather, but it is described as looking masculine, workman-like, bleak and completely uninteresting.
* [[Spy Couple]]: Silk and Velvet.
* [[Staff of Authority]]: [[Exploited Trope|exploited]] by Belgarath multiple times in ''Belgarath the Sorcerer''.
* [[Stalker Without a Crush]]:
** Anyone who wants to be a disciple of Aldur has to stalk him until he gets irritated enough to grant their wish, just so they'll quit stalking him. The situation may be reversed when he wants you to be his disciple.
** The first Gorim convinced Ul to become the god of the godless ones by waiting for him for years on a mountaintop, and still more years so he would concede to become the god of the monsters who sustained him while he waited.
* [[Standing Between the Enemies]]:
** Near the beginning of ''The Malloreorn'', Belgarion pulls this, mostly to demonstrate how much he's grown up since the previous series. He stops a civil war in Mimbre by basically riding out between the two armies, unhorsing everyone who gets in his way, and then calling down a cataclysmic thunderstorm between them, while suggesting that anyone who wants to start fighting, can start by fighting HIM. Considering how eager [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Mimbrates]] are to go to war, nothing less would have done the trick, probably.
Line 508 ⟶ 586:
* [[Tap on the Head]]:
** The safe way to deal with a sorcerer, apparently.
** Averted in ''the
* [[Tell Me About My Father]]: In ''Pawn of Prophecy'', a young Garion asks his Aunt Pol about his mother. A few years later he asks Mister Wolf to tell him about his parents.
* [[Terrain Sculpting]]: In the backstory, Torak, after stealing the Orb, is faced with a war against all the other gods and their followers. To protect himself and his people, he uses the Orb to crack the entire continent in two, turning a pangaea into two distinct landmasses and causing lots of geological fallout and mayhem.
Line 522 ⟶ 600:
* [[Throwing Down the Gauntlet]]: Mandorallen, except he "missed" the floor, much to his opponent's detriment.
* [[Thunderbolt Iron]]: The [[Blade of Fearsome Size|BFS]] is made of this.
* [[Token Religious Teammate]]: Relg.
* [[Tomboyish Name]]: Beldaran. Despite being the [[Tomboy and Girly Girl|Girly Girl]] to the adolescent Polgara's Tomboy her name has the masculine 'Bel' prefix and Daran is used as a name with no comment by several of her male descendents.
* [[Tongue-Tied]]: Asharak places a magical compulsion on Garion to prevent him from ratting Asharak out.
* [[Took a Level in Badass]]:
** {{spoiler|Durnik, twice, both at the hands of the
** In [[The Malloreon]], 'Zakath doesn't so much take a level in [[Badass]], as he does regain one, regaining the fencing and riding skills that he'd let go rusty during his time as [[The Emperor]]. Sadi is a straight example, developing from an [[Evil Chancellor]] and [[Sissy Villain]] into a capable combatant with his own [[Knife Nut|unique]] [[Poisoned Weapons|style]], becoming one of the few [[Badass]] Eunuchs in fiction.
* [[Top God]]: Ul created the rest of the gods and as a father figure, assumedly could excert authority over his "children". It's not clear whether he actually has powers that the other gods don't.
* [[Traumatic Superpower Awakening]]: This is standard for sorcerers. Garion, particularly, first uses his power consciously when Chamdar [[Berserk Button|slaps Aunt Pol]]. In the ''Malloreon'', the sorcerers muse that this tendency might be the reason there are fewer of them around: most people's instinct in such a situation might be to destroy something, but unmaking is forbidden, resulting in them being destroyed instead.
* [[Trial by Combat]]: Being, as it is, a reference to Arthurian epics, the Arendish culture uses this from time to time. It comes into play in the second book when Garion accuses a Murgo ambassador of plotting against the king without evidence, and Mandorallan champions his assertion, resulting in a minor bloodbath that clears up the problem.
Line 533 ⟶ 613:
* [[The Unfair Sex]]: The characters' banter about this is practically a [[Running Gag]], especially in ''The Malloreon''.
* [[Universe Bible]]: ''The Rivan Codex'', Eddings's notes that he put together on all of the nations and their influences before he wrote the books.
* [[Unreliable Illustrator]]: Almost none of the illustrators of the official book covers get the basics of Belgarath's appearance right (fairly closely cropped white hair and beard), and seem to prefer a [[Wizard Beard]] of impractical length or at best a short ''gray'' beard. The exception is the Japanese illustrations, though this could also be [[Anime Hair|a happy coincidence.]]
* [[Unrequited Love Lasts Forever]]: This is what makes Mandorallan's [[Courtly Love]] with Nerina so tragic. Belgarath says himself that if they had followed their urges, they could have got it out of their systems and moved on with their lives. Instead, the two spend years mooning after each other hopelessly. Ultimately, this is subverted when Nerina's husband dies in the war, and the two, thanks to Garion's timely intervention against their instinct of noble suffering, are married.
* [[Unstoppable Rage]]: When Polgara gets angry, even Belgarath keeps his head down. Polgara's explosion of rage in ''Castle of Wizardry'' (upon finding out that her father and Belgarion had sneaked out to face Torak without her) shook the entire royal palace of Riva and altered weather patterns for miles around. They go to some effort in ''The Malloreon'' to avoid a similar catastrophe. Of course, Belgarath takes a perverse interest in inspiring the rage, when it suits him. Also Barak, when Garion is in trouble; and Garion himself is goaded into this by Zandramas in ''The Malloreon''.
* [[Upbringing Makes the Hero]]: [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] by Polgara; she deliberately raises Garion as a [[Farm Boy]] to give him a solid moral foundation for when he ends up having to save the world.
=== V-Z ===
* [[Vain Sorceress]]:
** Zandramas definitely has some traits of this.
Line 549 ⟶ 632:
** Let's not forget Vella and Beldin in ''the Malloreon'', which virtually becomes {{spoiler|part of their courtship before they end up mated as a pair of hawks at the end of the series}}. The level to which they go to in their language towards one another makes even some who are already used to Beldin blanch.
* [[Voluntary Shapeshifting]]: A power of sorcerers- most develop a fondness for a particular animal form. Wolf for Garion and Belgarath, owl for Polgara, human for Poledra (who ''started out'' a wolf), and dragon for Zandramas. We also see Beldin take the form of a hawk and Ctuchik (or maybe Urvon) use the form of a [[Hell Hound|Hound of Torak]] in ''Belgarath''.
* [[The Wall Around the World]]: The Eastern Escarpment (also called the Algarian Escarpment in ''The Rivan Codex''), a mile high sheer basalt cliff that acts as a natural barrier between some of the Kingdoms of the West and the Angarak kingdoms to the east.
* [[Wanted Poster]]: Silk gets this treatment a lot, much to his disgust. Beldin too, in Mallorea, thanks to his vendetta against Urvon, much to his delight. Specifically, he creates a series of masterful characters with the help of shapeshifting that render the posters useless--but every century or so, drops into Urvon's home base and butchers a lot of priests and guards to let Urvon know he's still kicking around and wanting to continue a discussion they once had about white-hot hooks and Urvon's guts.
* [[Weak-Willed]]: Ce'Nedra spends a lot of time getting mind-controlled. At one point, Belgarath shows his [[Genre Savvy]] by leaving her behind so this can't happen.
Line 556 ⟶ 640:
* [[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!]]: Garion and Ce'Nedra's relationship in a nutshell.
* [[Wizard Duel]]: Belgarath vs. Ctuchik in Book 3 is an awesome scene. Also Belgarath vs. Zedar on the fifth book and prequel.
* [[Wizards Live Longer]]: Since all the sorcerers we meet
:In any case, all the sorcerers encountered in the books get immortality as a package deal with their powers, and witches like Vordai have a few more centuries than the average person in them (magicians' lifespans are never specified, though it's likely few reach their natural span ''anyway'', considering how [[Evil Is Not a Toy|dangerous]] what they do is).
* [[When Trees Attack]]: An unnamed species of a deadly, flesh-eating tree makes a short appearance in ''The King of the Murgos''. It's described as having golden leaves, colorful blossoms, and rich-looking purple fruit. It extrudes a sweet smell that makes one regard the tree with affection. All this to lure prey to the range of its tendrils. According to [[Plant Person|Ce'Nedra]], the tree feeds on the agony of its victims as much as on their flesh.
* [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]]:
** Mostly averted - the [[Magic A Is Magic A|local rules of magic]] mean that learning sorcery instantly conveys immortality. Sorcerers never bitch about it, and instead find ways to stay busy for all of those years. This is [[Justified Trope|explored further]] in ''The Malloreon'' and the supplemental novels. Sorcerers do spontaneously pop up from time to time, but there's some attrition due to accidentally (or deliberately) unmaking themselves. The ones that survive this process are the ones who learn how to handle immortality. Belgarath even admits that part of the sorcerer aloofness and tendency to hole up in their towers in study and ignore the passing of a few centuries, every now and then, is a vital coping technique, lest grief drive them insane. It also makes Polgara that much more incredible, as she was forced to forgo this tactic for a thousand years...living with a family line whose every member (''every'' member, ''from birth to death'') she was intimately involved with. It would be interesting to see how Garion copes in ten to twenty years time when the [[True Companions]] start dying off...<ref>Silk, the oldest non-immortal member of the group, is pushing fifty by the end of the ''
** Played very straight with Belgarath. Two of his sorcerer brothers – who he has lived with in the Vale for hundreds of years – take their own lives due to depression. After losing his wife of 500 years, he goes insane and has to be chained to his bed and constantly supervised to make sure he doesn't take his own life. After a year he starts [[Walking the Earth]] and becomes [[Drowning My Sorrows|a drunken beggar]] and eventually ends up [[Sex for Solace|entertaining women in Maragor]].
* [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?]]: Silk's dislike of enclosed spaces is tipped over into a full-blown [[Claustrophobia|phobia]] after a traumatic event in the first series. He also doesn't like snakes. This becomes a major plot point when his love interest in the second series starts to carry a highly venomous snake in her bodice. Some have speculated that she did this strictly to mess with Silk; however this is neither stated nor even strongly implied in the books. She has, however, commented on more than one occasion that Zith was cold and it was a place for her to be warm. Liselle is a pragmatist as well, and it is suggested that (possibly at the unknown prompting of the Prophecy of Light) she began doing so because it might be useful in the future. And it was. She did admit to Silk that the first time she did it it made her skin crawl and it was all she could do to keep from screaming.
* [[With Us or Against Us]]: Invoked by Belgarath in ''The Malloreon'', but it's at least [[Justified Trope|justified]] by the fact that there really ''are'' only two sides in the great conflict.
* [[Women's Mysteries]]: Played very straight with anything to do with women's biology.
* [[World of Snark]]: Both heroes and villains make liberal use of sarcasm. It's hard to go a page without somebody making some snarky comment.
* [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe]]: The
* [[Yin-Yang Clash]]: The two Prophecies.
* [[You Can't Fight Fate]]:
** [[Lampshaded]]. The majority of the conflict in the books comes from the truly ridiculous amount of effort spent by the Child of Dark in attempting to suborn the Prophecies. This ''[[Genre Blindness|always]]'' turns out to be its ultimate downfall.
Line 577 ⟶ 663:
[[Category:Fantasy Literature]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Literature of the 1980s]]
[[Category:Literature of the 1990s]]
[[Category:The Epic]]
[[Category:Young Adult Literature]]
[[Category:Literature]]
| |||