John Carter of Mars: Difference between revisions

* [[After the End]]: Martian civilization peaked millennia before the events of the novels - the Barsoom Carter finds himself on is a [[Scavenger World]].

* [[The Ageless]]: John Carter says he is very old, has been a soldier for centuries, but always appears as a man about thirty. The Martians themselves reach maturity, hover in their twenties, then age rapidly to death, if they do not go down the River Iss, or (more likely) die violently. John Carter, however, is pretty clearly not a Barsoomian somehow transplanted to Earth, as his skin color and eye color are not Martian. It is not shown that he will regenerate any wound, but Martian medicine is very effective, and any wound not rapidly fatal is quickly healed, for anyone.

* [[Alien Sky]]: The twin moons of Mars are often mentioned.

* [[All Animals Are Dogs]]: While this is not shown to apply to the majority of Martian creatures, John Carter does manage to gain the undying loyalty of the calot Woola in the early chapters of ''A Princess of Mars'' by treating him with the same kindness he'd show to a dog on Earth.

* [[Almost-Dead Guy]]: In ''A Fighting Man of Mars'', men are found, broken, on the ground; one lives just long enough to tell how of their ship disintegrated under them.

* [[Always Save the Girl]]: Warriors from Helium have a ''bad'' case of this. Though John Carter himself subverts this trope in ''Gods of Mars'' reminding himself that Dejah Thoris herself would never dream of sacrificing the good of Helium for her own sake - and neither should he.

* [[Ambiguously Human]]: Carter himself; he looks human and considers himself such, but there ''is'' that matter of his unexplained agelessness. Interestingly, "human" is sometimes used to describe Red, White, Black, Yellow (all of whom at least ''look'' like humans) and even ''Green'' (who don't look human in the slightest) Martians, though it's plain to the reader none of them are human as we understand it.

* [[Evil Overlord]]: A common variety of villain in the series- the initial loose trilogy alone brings us Tal Hajus (of the Tharks), Matai Shang (of the Therns), Issus (of the First Born- though she's revered as divine across Mars, they're the only ones she actually controls) and Salensus Oll (of Okar).

* [[Exact Words]]: In ''The Master Mind of Mars'', Ulysses Paxton has promised to return the two [[Grand Theft Me]] perpetrators to their own city. With a bit of clever maneuvering, he does manage to arrange a punishment for them that doesn't go back on his promise.

* [[Fantastic Rank System]]: See the trope page for details.

* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: In ''A Princess of Mars'', after John Carter saves Dejah Thoris from an [[Attempted Rape]], she tells him that even if they meet their deaths in their escape attempt he still has her gratitude for saving her from worse than death.

* [[Gladiator Games]]: Not an uncommon entertainment on Mars, often leading to the hero of the current adventure being pressed as a gladiator and leading a revolt.

* [[Gladiator Revolt]]: Occurs in ''Gods of Mars'' and ''Chessmen of Mars''.

* [[God Save Us From the Queen]]:

** In ''The Gods of Mars'', Issus.