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A series by Mervyn Peake made of the novels ''Titus Groan'', '''''Gormenghast''''', and ''Titus Alone'' and the lesser-known novella "Boy In Darkness", which [[Interquel|take place sometime before the second book]]. They are fantasy and take place in an [[The Verse|imaginary world]] but do not have any elves, dragons, magic, or [[Patchwork Map]]. They focus on [[Dysfunction Junction|a group of weird and horrible people]] who live inside a [[City in
Titus Groan, the 77th Earl of Groan, is the ruler of '''Gormenghast''', the eponymous castle. He dreads the long life before him, a life of ruling a single building, never leaving the moth-eaten, rusted-shut, claustrophobic, crumbling halls of pointless, decaying ritual. The castle/city's other inhabitants include the [[Magnificent Bastard]] [[Nietzsche Wannabe]] [[Anti-Hero]] (or [[Anti-Villain]]) terrorist Steerpike, Titus's sister [[Broken Bird|Fuchsia]], the good Dr Prunesquallor, [[Evil Chef|chef Abiatha Swelter]], Titus's gloomy father [[Meaningful Name|Sepulchrave]], and Titus's mother Gertrude, the original [[Crazy Cat Lady]].
The novels are ''very'' gloomy, disguising their actually fairly left-handed place on the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]. They have been described variously as [[This Is Your Premise
The series should have been the first three in a series which should have followed the protagonist's entire life; sadly Peake's rapidly-evolving Parkinson disease prevented this goal from being realized; the fourth novel would have been entitled "Titus Awakes" and a fragment of it is said to have been penned by Peake before he became totally incapacitated, along with a list of events which would have taken place in the following volumes. It has since been found and edited by Peake's daughter, and published June 2011.
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In 2000, the BBC adapted the work for the small screen as a project explicitly for the new millennium, focussing on the first two books involving Steerpike. Peake purists criticised it for being [[Lighter and Softer]] than the books.
Brian Sibley adapted the books for BBC [[
There have also been several stage adaptations AND an opera adaptation!
{{tropelist}}
* [[Affably Evil]]: Steerpike {{spoiler|at first...}}{{context}}<!-- which part does he lose as the story progresses, "affable" or "evil"? -->
* [[A Man Is Not a Virgin]]: averted with Prunesquallor, who is a fifty-something virgin and probably the single most [[Badass]] character in the novels (a [[Badass Bookworm]], no less!). [[Manly Tears]] are shed in many scenes involving him.▼
* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: Prunesquallor.
** His vocal disgust with Steerpike's naked chest is a little ''too much'' protest.
*** Also, in [[The Series]] , he is played by [[
* [[Anyone Can Die]]
* [[Appropriated Title]]: ''In''appropriately appropriated - the focus of the series was Titus Groan, title character of the first book, not Gormenghast, the childhood home that he departed from two books into [[Author Existence Failure|what should have been]] a much longer series.
* [[Asshole Victim]]: Most people in Gormenghast are complete and utter tools. Steerpike kills a lot of people. Do the math.
** [[Ax Crazy]]
* [[Author Existence Failure]]: Peake was planning on a cycle of seven novels, but contracted Parkinson's Disease, which aggravated his emotional and mental instability, before writing the third and died after finishing only one chapter of ''Titus Awakes'', which would have been the fourth.
** The omnibus edition ends with a ''list of the tropes Peake intended to use later on'' (although not referred to by [[Wiki Word]], of course) and the words "what these books could have been." This was, for him, the biggest [[Tear Jerker]] of the whole damn series.
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* [[Awesome Moment of Crowning]]: So, so subverted...
* [[Awesome Yet Practical]]: Steerpike kills people with a ''slingshot'' and a '''''sword cane.'''''
** The gag is that whenever a character ''plans'' a particularly dramatic method by which to kill somebody, it inevitably fails. (The Twins' execution axe device, Steerpike's initial plan for Barquentine, Swelter's obsessively detailed cleaver ritual) The library burning is the only instance that ''doesn't'', and is particularly poignant in the post-9/11 conspiratorial era.
* [[Back for
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: {{spoiler|Muzzlehatch}}
* [[Broken Bird]]: Fuchsia.
* [[Building of Adventure]]: Castle Gormenghast.
* [[City in
* [[Cobweb Jungle]]: The attic in which Flay and Swelter fight.
* [[Consummate Liar]]: Steerpike is possibly the only character in literature who ''never'' makes a ''single'' unambiguously truthful statement.
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* [[Evil Albino]]: Steerpike's physical description (in the book) borders on this.
* [[Fisher King]]: Sepulchrave.
** All the Earls have this potential, and it seems like Titus is the only one ''aware'' of the curse of being captain aboard the sinking ship that is Gormenghast.
* [[From Nobody to Nightmare]]: Steerpike
* [[Future Imperfect]]: Oh so very much.
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: {{spoiler|Fuchsia, then Titus. They are not unrelated...}}
* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: [[Real Life]] example: Peake and [[A Clockwork Orange (
* [[I'm a Humanitarian]]: Swelter; implied.
* [[Incendiary Exponent]]: Steerpike seems to do a lot of important things while on fire {{spoiler|as does Muzzlehatch}}.
* [[Interesting Situation Duel]] Flay and Swelter have it out on the flooded, cobweb covered attic.
* [[Judge, Jury, and Executioner]]: The Masters of
* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: Fifty-five major characters and many more bit parts.
* [[Love Martyr]]: Fuchsia all the way.
▲* [[A Man Is Not a Virgin]]: averted with Prunesquallor, who is a fifty-something virgin and probably the single most [[Badass]] character in the novels (a [[Badass Bookworm]], no less!). [[Manly Tears]] are shed in many scenes involving him.
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Just about every character in the series.
* [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate]]: subverted. Dr Alfred Prunesquallor is used by Steerpike, but he's still probably the most genuinely ''good'' character in the entire series.
* [[Mrs. Robinson]]: Irma Prunesquallor, {{spoiler|plus Juno in ''Titus Alone'' with rather more success}}.
* [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]: ''Guess.''
** The Philosopher leads a small cult of existentialist professors that only see the errors in his theories after he has been immolated.
* [[Noble Savage]]: [[Deconstruction|Deconstructed]] with the Bright Carvers.
* [[Old Maid]]: Avoiding becoming an [[Old Maid]] is the motivation of Irma Prunesquallor. She marries an eighty-six year old man out of desperation, meeting him after holding a party with no women invited, wherein the only invitees were hopelessly pathetic professors of the castle's school.
* [[Only Sane Man]]: Prunesquallor.
** Bellgrove is sane, but lazy.
* [[The Ophelia]]: '''''Guess.'''''
* [[Pragmatic Adaptation]]: The 2000 serial adaptation, ''Gormenghast'', which covered the first two novels, altered some plot and character elements (particuarly the circumstances surrounding {{spoiler|Fuchsia's}} death).
* [[Purple Eyes]]: Titus
* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Steerpike's actions are this trope incarnated as a crazy-awesome [[Batman Gambit]].
** Swelter's plans.
* [[Royally Screwed
* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]: Idealistic, although the gloominess disguises this ''very'' well.
* [[Space Amish]]: The world outside Gormenghast has [[Raygun Gothic]] technology and a [[Crystal Spires and Togas]] feel. It isn't clear if this is the future, another planet/universe, or both, though.
* [[Stranger in
* [[Stuff Blowing Up]]: The end of ''Titus Alone''.
* [[Sympathetic Murderer]]: Steerpike, before he murders the twins.
* [[That Reminds Me of a Song]]: Peake was never shy about inserting his nonsense poems into the narrative, usually apropos of nothing.
* [[
* [[The Vamp]]: {{spoiler|Cheeta}}
* [[Villain Protagonist]]: Steerpike in the first two books, though he does not serve as the only protagonist.
▲* [[Upperclass Twit]]: Almost every character except Steerpike and Swelter, who aren't upper class. Justified in that Gormenghast was written as a parody of English society.
▲* [[Villain Protagonist]]: Steerpike in the first two books, though he does not serve as the only protagonist.
* [[Villainous Glutton]]: Swelter
{{reflist}}
{{The Big Read}}
[[Category:Fantasy Literature]]
▲[[Category:Gormenghast]]
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