Lord of Light: Difference between revisions

* [[Ancient Astronauts]]: And they're ''human'' astronauts, at that.

* [[Anthropomorphic Personification]]: Yama believes that the gods have become truly divine by identifying themselves so thoroughly with a single concept, such as love, war, or death, that they become it. [[Shut UP, Hannibal|Sam thinks he's full of it.]]

* [[Back From the Dead]]: {{spoiler|Sam. Twice.}}

* [[Bad Habits]]: Sam privately admits that he's merely posing as the Buddha, and doesn't believe the dogma he preaches.

* [[Bring My Red Jacket]]: Yama wears red, though he tends not to be wounded as much as the trope implies.

* [[Body Surf]]: The process of "reincarnation." Each body is known as an "avatar."

* [[Character Filibuster]]: Sam gets one in almost every chapter. Tak and Yama also get in one each.

* [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]: Taraka. Even though he's a demon, this always surpises Sam.

* [[Dark Messiah]]: Sam, definitely.

* [[Deader Than Dead]]: To forgo reincarnation, or be denied it, is to "die the real death".

* [[Death Glare]]: Yama, being the god of death, can [[Eye Beams|physically affect]] people with his, as well as just intimidating the hell out of them. He kills {{spoiler|Indra and Taraka}} with it.

* [[Deface of the Moon]]: Sam once mentions the time when Agni burned the face of all three moons with his wand built by Yama.

* [[Do Not Call Me Paul]]: Sam seals his fate with the gods when he dares refer to Brahma by his birth name: Madeleine.

* [[Don't Call Me "Sir"!]]: Sam has dozens of titles, but likes none of them.

{{quote| ''"Go away. This is not a place to be. If you do try to enter here, you will fail and also be cursed. If somehow you succeed, then do not complain that you entered unwarned, nor bother us with you deathbed prayers." Signed, "The Gods."''}}

* [[Earth-That-Was]]: "Lost Urath."

* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: The Mothers of the Terrible Glow are implied to be something like that.

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Yama, Rathri, Tak, Kubera, Krishna, and Rild all have them.

* [[Hindu Mythology]]: Sort of a given.

* [[How Much More Can He Take?]]: Yama and Rild have one of these fights, since Rild is [[Made of Iron]] and Yama is the world's greatest swordsman.

* [[I Have Many Names]]: He is Mahasamatman, Siddhartha, Buddha, Kalkin, Maitreya, Tathagatha, the Enlightened One, Binder of Demons, and Lord of Light. You may call him Sam.

* [[Sdrawkcab Name]]: Mara, the Lord of Illusion, disguises himself as a beggar named "Aram." [[Sarcasm Mode|Shockingly, Yama sees through this ruse.]]

* [[Schizo-Tech]]: Necessary, so that the gods can maintain their "divine" cover when dealing with their followers, who are still living in [[Medieval Stasis]].

* [[Shapeshifter Guilt Trip]]: attempted during Mara's clash with Yama, resulting in Mara's death.

* [[Shock and Awe]]: Sam's power is the ability to redirect electrons, which has a surprising variety of uses, such as calling down lightning or controlling mechanical devices. It's very hard to zap him with an [[Energy Weapon]], because he can turn it off with his mind.

* [[Vibroweapon]]: The Bright Spear, which vibrates itself clean of gore.

* [[Warrior Monk]]: Rild, both before and after his conversion to Buddhism.

* [[The World Is Not Ready]]: The antagonists use this as a justification for keeping their vast technology restricted to a tiny portion of the population. The protagonist calls them on it by asking why they've been actively quashing the spontaneous invention of technology.

* [[A Worldwide Punomenon]]: The entire ''book'' was written for the single purpose of a single pun.