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{{work}}
[[File:carnivale_promo.jpg
{{quote|''"Before the beginning, after the great war between Heaven and Hell, God created the Earth and gave dominion over it to the crafty ape he called Man. And to each generation was born a creature of Light and a creature of Darkness. And great armies clashed by night in the ancient war between Good and Evil. There was magic then, nobility, and unimaginable cruelty. And so it was until the day that a false sun exploded over Trinity, and Man forever traded away wonder for reason..."''|Samson's prologue}}
A semi-surreal television drama set in 1930s Depression-stricken America,
Reminiscent of the sinister visual style of [[David Lynch]] -- it even features Michael J. Anderson from ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' -- this sprawling, mega-budget HBO production treads the line between fascinating psychodrama and frustrating gobbledegook. [[Executive Meddling|Interference from the network]] weakened series creator Daniel Knauf's vision, truths were learned at a snail's pace, and the show ends on an excruciating cliff-hanger. But
The show was originally intended to be six seasons long, each two seasons comprising one "book" of a trilogy, but HBO canceled the show after the second season due to budget constraints.
{{tropelist}}
* [[Aborted Arc]]: A number of subplots in the second season were cut thanks to HBO's [[Executive Meddling]]. In particular, Lodz was going to have a bigger role. Lodz's line to Lila about seeing her again "in the flesh" was supposed to refer to the
▲* [[Aborted Arc]]: A number of subplots in the second season were cut thanks to HBO's [[Executive Meddling]]. In particular, Lodz was going to have a bigger role. Lodz's line to Lila about seeing her again "in the flesh" was supposed to refer to the Carnivale coming across his mummified corpse in another traveling freak show.
* [[Abusive Parents]]: Both Ben and Sofie's mothers were the emotional kind. It's also implied that Justin and Iris's birth mother was also emotionally abusive (dragging two kids across Russia on a train, telling them their father is a monster, etc).
* [[And I Must Scream]]: Apollonia is stuck in a catatonic state, only able to psychically communicate with her daughter.▼
** {{spoiler|Dora Mae's fate in Babylon}} also counts as an example.▼
* [[Ascend to A Higher Plane of Existence]]: Stated to be what happens to Light Avatara when they die.▼
* [[Affably Evil]]:
** The garrulous and agreeable contract killer Varlyn Stroud.
** The child-killing Evander Geddes who enjoys nothing more than good company and hot cider.
** When he goes full bore evil, Justin's fairly affable ("Blessed are the meek? Hah, how banal.").
* [[All in The Manual]]: Knauf has revealed much about the characters' histories and the series' mythology outside of the show. Much of it is explained in the [https://web.archive.org/web/20120208131345/http://savecarnivale.org/html/rousties_month_thalidar_gospel.htm Gospel of Knaufias].
▲* [[And I Must Scream]]: Apollonia is stuck in a catatonic state, only able to psychically communicate with her daughter.
* [[Anti-Villain]]: Brother Justin, at least earlier in the series.▼
* [[The Antichrist]]: What Brother Justin becomes after [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope]].
** Heavily implied to be
▲* [[Anti-Villain]]: Brother Justin, at least earlier in the series.
* [[Arc Words]]:
** "Every Prophet in his house."
** "Pain is an unavoidable side effect."
** "[[Because Destiny Says So|Because Management says so.]]"
▲* [[Ascend to
* [[Attempted Rape]]: In the pilot, Ben saves Sofie from this. Jonesy [[Values Dissonance|implies she'd asked for it]].
** In "Babylon", the miners attempt to do this to Dora Mae. Stumpy and the other rousties get her out of there.
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* [[Axe Crazy]]: Ben's grandma is this.
* [[Backstory]]: From just a generation before the show to all the way back to before the Flood.
* [[Badass]]: Ben and Justin by the end of Season 1
** [[Badass Abnormal]]: A key part of the life cycle of
** [[Badass Normal]]: Jonesy and Samson. The latter qualifies as
** [[Badass Preacher]]: Brother Justin.
** [[Badass Family]]: The families Crowe and Hawkins, as well as the Houses of Light and Dark.
* [[Balance Between Good and Evil]]: The entire point of the battle between Light and Dark Avatars is to determine whether that generation of man rises toward enlightenment or falls toward barbarism.
* [[Balancing Death's Books]]: To heal someone who is dead, Ben has to kill someone else.
* [[Because Destiny Says So]]
* [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy]]: All of human history from before the Flood onward has been heavily
* [[Beta Couple]]: Jonesy and Libby.
* [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]]: The ''really'' dangerous one? Sweet, innocent, Iris Crowe.
* [[Black Eyes of Evil]]: Members of the House of Dark display these when their evil flares up.
* [[Blessed
** Ben has the power to give life, but at the cost of taking it from others.
** Sofie's psychic abilities allow her to see visions of confusing, at best, events, and act as a medium for her comatose mother.
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* [[Brother-Sister Incest]]
* [[Buried Alive]]: The fate Ben almost suffers at the hands of his relatives.
* [[Cain and Abel]]: [[Word of God]] states that the first two
* [[Career-Ending Injury]]: Jonesy was a professional baseball player before his knee injury.
* [[The Chessmaster]]: Explicitly referenced with Management.▼
{{quote| '''Samson:''' He don't care much for people. Like pieces moving 'round on a board.}}▼
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: Multiple, throughout the series:
** Justin's manipulation of the asylum patients in "Lonnigan, Texas" - specifically, his use of the phrase "be still" to freeze them in place - pays off big in the finale when he
** All of Ben and Justin's dream sequences foreshadow actual events.
** The use of Ruth Etting's "Love Me or Leave Me" as Flora Hawkins' and Henry Scudder's theme in "After the Ball Is Over", underlying Ben's diner dream and Scudder's actual appearance in "The Day That Was
▲* [[The Chessmaster]]: Explicitly referenced with Management.
* [[Chosen One]]: The entire point of Prophets and their Princes.
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: Gecko, one of the carnival freaks, disappears after the first season, without any further mention or explanation of where he went.▼
* [[Christmas Cake]]: Ruthie and Iris.
▲* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: Gecko, one of the carnival freaks, disappears after the first season, without any further mention or explanation of where he went.
* [[Circus Brat]]
* [[Crappy Carnival]]: The carnival referred to in the title is an OSHA-compliant variant. Strangely, it's the good guys running it.
* [[Crapsack World]]: Start with the fact that it's set during the Great Depression. Then add in A LOT of [[Black and Gray Morality]], severe supernatural events, and the overarching theme of [[Balancing Death's Books]].▼
* [[Creepy Child]]: Young Iris and Justin.
** The creepy girl Sofie sees in "Day of the Dead" who first tells her [[Arc Words|"Every prophet in her house"]].
▲* [[Crapsack World]]: Start with the fact that it's set during the Great Depression. Then add in A LOT of [[Black and Gray Morality]], severe supernatural events, and the overarching theme of [[Balancing Death's Books]].
* [[Crucified Hero Shot]]: Ben gets one at the end of Season 2.
* [[Cryptic Conversation]]: Every single interaction between Ben and Management. Actually, any interaction with Management at all.
* [[Curtain Camouflage]]
* [[Cycle of Revenge]]: The battle between
* [[Dark Is Not Evil]]: Henry Scudder, the Dark Prophet, is actually a pretty decent guy considering he's destined to spread pain and suffering throughout the world and may or may not be metaphysically responsible for the Great Depression and the rise of fascism. Unlike Justin, Scudder wants nothing to do with his destiny.
* [[Dark Messiah]]:
** Brother Justin defines this trope from start to finish.
** And
* [[Deal
**
** Also, this wonderful exchange:
{{quote|
'''Tommy Dolan''': Aw, come on. I'm not that bad.
'''Justin''': No. [[Isn't It Ironic?|You're]] not.
* [[Death
* [[Decapitation Presentation]]: Justin does this with
* [[Delivery Guy Infiltration]]: You'd think security would be tighter at New Canaan/Crowe House/[[Fan Nickname|Casa de Creepy]], but Ben manages to get all the way up to the house and into Justin's bedroom before Iris catches him.
* [[Dirty Business]]: Ben does a lot of things that fall into this, like
* [[The Dragon]]:
** Iris is Justin's at the beginning, then Varlyn Stroud becomes one.
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* [[Dysfunctional Family]]: One is left to wonder whether there even is such a thing as a truly functional family in this series.
* [[Equivalent Exchange]]: Healing has a toll.
{{quote|
* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: {{spoiler|Even after accepting that he's evil, Justin is still disturbed by Iris burning down the orphanage and her lack of remorse over it
* [[Evil Laugh]]: Of course, when you have Clancy Brown in the cast, the [[Evil Laugh]] is nearly a requirement.
* [[Eyeless Face]]:
* [[Face Heel Turn]]: In the finale,
* [[False Widow]]: In one episode, Sofie pretends to be a widow in order to get into bed with a random stranger in town.
* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]:
* [[Good Eyes, Evil Eyes]]: When using their full power, Light Avatars get an invisible aura (read: the [[Tranquil Fury|righteous]] [[Unstoppable Rage|fury]] of [[God in Human Form|God himself]]) while Dark Avatars have their eyes go completely black (read: [[Oh Crap|Oh, Shit!]]).
* [[Gory Discretion Shot]]: At one point, someone makes Henry Scudder angry. Henry Scudder then proceeds to rip their intestines out. You don't see the tearing, but you do see the bits being tossed about.
* [[The Grotesque]]: A number of the supporting and some of the main cast. Pretty standard for a traveling carnival, but they're all given distinct characters separate from their appearance.
* [[Healing Hands]]: A hallmark of Light
* [[Horrible Judge of Character]]: Just about everyone has this for Justin, but in particular, {{spoiler|Sofie}}, has a bad case. Although the real wolf in sheep's clothing hanging around New Canaan is [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent Bitch]] Iris.▼
* [[Heroic BSOD]]:
** Apollonia and, later, Sofie.
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** Ben in "The Day That Was the Day".
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Most of the light avatars are prone to these, [[Lampshaded]] by Samson in the finale.
{{quote|
* [[Homage]]: To everything from sports history to The Bible to ''The Wizard of Oz''.
▲* [[Horrible Judge of Character]]: Just about everyone has this for Justin, but in particular, {{spoiler|Sofie}}, has a bad case. Although the real wolf in sheep's clothing hanging around New Canaan is [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent Bitch]] Iris.
* [[Hourglass Plot]]: Ben and Justin.
* [[Hypocritical Humour]]: There's a lot of snarky in-jokes in the dialogue referring to the characters' darker sides; see [[Deal
* [[I Cannot Self-Terminate]]: Ben
* [[Incest Is Relative]]: The Crowe family likes this one. Not only do we have [[Brother-Sister Incest|Justin and Iris]], but Justin also has an eye for his daughter (although he [[Surprise Incest|doesn't know about their relation)]].
* [[In the Blood]]: The
* [[It Got Worse]]
* [[Kick the Dog]]: Justin's treatment of Balthus in the second season falls under this.
* [[Kneecapping]]: Jonesy's limp is the result of being kneecapped by mobsters when he refused to [[Throwing the Fight|throw a game]].
* [[The Knights Templar]]: The Knights Templar play a role in the first season, and it's implied {{spoiler|Scudder}} was one.
* [[Light Is Not Good]]: Management,
* [[Lipstick Lesbian]]
* [[Little People Are Surreal]]: One of the strongest [[Subverted Trope|subversions]] in the history of fiction. Samson is a main character for the duration of the series, and a three-dimensional one at that. He wears well-fitting suits and acts dignified at all times. As the series grows darker and more ambiguous, he ends up being the only character the audience can really trust. He's also the narrator, and thus the [[Audience Surrogate]].
* [[Lost in
* [[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: Nasty surprises for Belyakov, Ben, Justin, and Sofie.
* [[
* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Management, to a diabolical tee. Iris, {{spoiler|following in her father's footsteps}}, doesn't do too bad at this either.
* [[Meaningful Name]]:
** Benjamin '''Hawk'''ins, Justin '''Crow'''e . Daniel Knauf explained this in an interview, saying, "Birds are, to me, the creatures that have lowest flesh-to-soul ratio. They are barely carnate."
** The names of several towns visited by the
** The stage name of the balding, weightlifting dwarf? Samson.
** The name Belyakov is derived from the Russian word беляк (belyak), which means "white hare" (or "white rabbit"). "Lucius" is pretty reminiscent of "Lucifer", which also means "light-bringer", and
** There's also all the names from [[
** Justin's given name is "Alexei", which in a nice twist of irony, means "defender". Iris's given name
* [[Mind Rape]]: Brother Justin's preferred use of his powers, particularly on young women.
* [[Mind Screw]]
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* [[Monochromatic Eyes]]
* [[Mysterious Past]]: ''Everyone''.
* [[New Powers
* [[Parental Abandonment]]: Ben's father, Justin and Iris's mother and father, Sofie's father. The reasons behind all of this are eventually brought to light.
* [[Passing the Torch]]: Not a fun process for Prophets,
* [[Pre-Approved Sermon]]▼
* [[Psychic Dreams for Everyone]]: No, really. ''Everyone''.
* [[Psychic Nosebleed]]: Ben.
▲* [[Pre-Approved Sermon]]
* [[Racist Grandma]]: Played for laughs with Stumpy. Not so much with Ben's militantly racist grandmother, whose husband was a founding member of the Ku Klux Klan.
* [[Rage Against the Mentor]]: Ben vs. Management.
* [[Rape
* [[Rape
* [[Running Gag]]: "Shut up, Osgood!"
* [[Russian Naming Convention]]: Averted (or ignored). As siblings, Alexei and Irina would not have called each other by their full proper names, but would have used familiar (and most likely, affectionate) diminutives. Thus, Alexei would be called at least Aloysha, if not something more affectionate, like Alyoshenka; Irina would have been called Ira, if not something more affectionate like Irochka or Irinushka. It's possible that the writers either decided against having the siblings use diminutives, for fear that it would confuse the audience, or simply did not know about their usage.
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* [[Shown Their Work]]: Depression-era America is painstakingly and beautifully recreated. There is an incredible focus on small details.
* [[Signs of the End Times]]: Brother Justin says that the depression and all the traits of the [[Crapsack World]] in which the show takes place are surely signs of the apocalypse. He isn't wrong, but what he isn't aware of at that point is that he's the one who's bringing it.
* [[Sins of Our Fathers]]: Ben, Sofie, Iris, and Justin.▼
* [[Sinister Minister]]: Brother Justin is probably one of the most iconic examples.
* [[Sinister Scythe]]: Justin's sickle.
▲* [[Sins of Our Fathers]]: Ben, Sofie, Iris, and Justin.
* [[Supernatural Soap Opera]]
* [[Tar and Feathers]]: In "Lincoln Highway",
* [[Tarot Motifs]]: Right from the opening credits.
** We also have Sofie's tarot readings for Ben in "After the Ball
** There's also the flashback to
** There was an original card created for the show - ''Le Passeur'', the Usher - which refers to an important plot point.
* [[Thanatos Gambit]]:
* [[Those Two Guys]]: A few, especially Osgood.
* [[Throwing Out the Script]]: In one episode, Brother Justin is given a [[Pre-Approved Sermon]] which he starts to read then rips apart in favor of his own words.
* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: Almost every character on the show eventually. Most pronounced in the case of Sofie and Ben. [[Lampshaded]] as a literal part of the Avataric cycle.
* [[Town
* [[Trailers Always Spoil]]: The DVD menus give away the Crone
* [[Tsundere]]: Rita Sue, who only shows her softer side when it comes to her family. And sometimes not even then.▼
▲* [[Trailers Always Spoil]]: The DVD menus give away the Crone {{spoiler|having no eyes}}, something which in the episode is intended to be somewhat of a shocking moment.
* [[Trickster Mentor]]: Management and Lodz.
▲* [[Tsundere]]: Rita Sue, who only shows her softer side when it comes to her family. And sometimes not even then.
* [[Two-Part Trilogy]]: The series was originally planned to be a trilogy of 'books' with each book being represented by two seasons.
* [[Vicious Cycle]]
* [[Villainous Incest]]: Of both the brother/sister and father/daughter variety.
* [[Villain
* [[Walking Wasteland]]: Episode 1 shows us the little girl {{spoiler|recently healed by Ben}} running after the
* [[What Happened to
* [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]: [[Word of God]] says this is the fate of anyone born of Avataric blood who isn't an actual Avatar. It's certainly proving true in the case of Iris.
* [[Woman Scorned]]: Sofie's revenge on Jonesy and Libby. Ironically, it led the two to becoming the [[Beta Couple]].
* [[Working
▲* [[What Happened to The Mouse?]]: As it was too expensive to continually apply the actor's extensive makeup, the character of Gecko disappeared after the first season.
** [[Word of God]] is that
▲* [[Working On the Chain Gang]]: Ben escaped from a chain gang before the beginning of the series and, in the first episode, is still wearing a broken iron manacle around his ankle. What he did to get there is [[Noodle Incident|never revealed to the audience]], other than that he's wanted for murder.
▲** [[Word of God]] is that {{spoiler|he assaulted a bank teller after his farm was foreclosed, and later killed one of the guards when he made his escape from the chain gang}}.
* [[Yandere]]: Iris. So genteel and pleasant on the surface, so "crazier than a shithouse rat" (in the words of [[Word of God|Dan Knauf]]) when it comes to her brother underneath.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:American Series]]
[[Category:HBO]]
[[Category:Supernatural Soap Opera]]
[[Category:The Great Depression]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 2000s]]
[[Category:TV Series]]
[[Category:Noughties Drama Series]]
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