Night Watch (novel): Difference between revisions

** The spell that the Inquisitors suggest that Anton use {{spoiler|to defeat the ultimate vampire Kostya}}, is called the Sarcophagus of Ages. It locks the victim and the caster in said sarcophagus together until the end of the universe.)

** ''White Haze'', a spell referred to in the ''Last Watch'', essentially made a whole opposing army into the stone statues... [[Nightmare Fuel|while leaving everyone alive and conscious]]. They've spent ''four millennia'' [[Fate Worse Than Death|like that]]. White Haze was also the spell Geser suggested in the above-mentioned duell.

** {{spoiler|Kostya}} in ''Twilight Watch''.

** Arguably {{spoiler|Edgar and Genady}} in ''The Last Watch''.

* [[Content Warnings]]: Made [[In Universe]] -- ''Night Watch'', the first book, opens with a note that its text was approved for publishing by both Night and Day Watches; on the other hand, ''Day Watch'' has a note that it has ''not'' been approved by either; ''Dusk Watch'' is "indifferent" to both; ''Face of the Dark Palmira'' has "no comment" from both (while the Inquisition states that "it's silent [on the matter], as always") and ''The Last Watch'' is "acceptable" for both.

* [[Creator Provincialism]]: Lukyanenko spent much of his adult life in Moscow, so it's not surprising that it's the main setting of the books. On the other hand he was born in Kazakhstan, and Central Asian motifs often show up in the novels.

* [[Dark Is Not Evil]]: Stated often, shown... not so much.

** The main idea seems to be that Dark Others value personal freedom over anyone's well-being, whereas the Light Others see it the other way around. Things get shady when it becomes apparent that personal freedom of a powerful mage comes at the cost of freedoms of less powerful mages and, eventually, humans, but the Dark Others are encouraged not to give a damn. Which doesn't really work. On a side note, Light Others are constantly faced with the dilemma of "killing a thousand to save a million".

* [[Groin Attack]]: {{spoiler|Anton}} to {{spoiler|Edgar}} towards the end of ''The Last Watch''.

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Arina. {{spoiler|Dark Other in ''Twilight Watch'', she becomes a Light Other in ''Final Watch''.}} Subverted: {{spoiler|her turn to the Light doesn't change neither her temper, nor her motives.}}

* [[Hot Witch]]: A number of characters fall into this, with a dash of [[Vain Sorceress]], since both the Light and Dark have powers to maintain youth and good looks and avert aging. In the case of the Dark, they also achieve this affect through the use of glamour.

* [[Knight Templar]]: Maxim, an uninitiated Light Other who kills Dark Others who aren't really that evil (including a werepanther that had only ever killed in self-defense and a Dark wizard out for a night on the town with his wife and child) {{spoiler|He changed his views when he agreed to become an Inquisitor. Inquisition generally tends to do this to people.}}

* [[Mama Bear]]: {{spoiler|Svetlana}}

* [[Masquerade]]: The Treaty explicitly forbids revealing the Others' existence to normal humans, an act often punishable by death. There are, however, a few mortals who have stumbled onto the secrets of the Others on their own, and who are allowed to live.

* [[Mistaken for Gay]]: In the first novel, Anton is temporarily in Olga's body and goes out to dinner with Svetlana, his love interest. The combination of their body language around each other and Olga's short hair makes another character see them as a lesbian couple and react with disgust.

* [[Muggles Do It Better]]: Nukes are the only weapons (except for some extremely powerful spells) that obliterate everything in the area in both the normal dimension and all Twilight layers, leaving the Others nowhere to run. Additionally, as shown in ''The Last Watch'', remote-controlled guns can be extremely effective against the Others due to the fact that machines project no malice and can't be detected with magic. Enchanted guns are even more effective. There is a reason the Others are terrified of humans finding out about the existence of the Others. It would be the witch trials all over again.<br />The first book also mentions the possibility of resurrecting an ancient and powerful Dark Other, who likes to appear as a giant dragon. It's mentioned he would go rampaging across Europe, not caring about the Grand Treaty. However, another character points out that, while devastating, said dragon would be no match for the modern human military. As the character puts it, in a battle between an angry dragon and helicopter gunships, he'd bet on the gunships.

* [[Not So Different]]: A repeated theme is that the line between Light and Dark Others is very fine indeed.

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Afandi, an elderly but weak magician from ''The Last Watch'', "Part 2 - A Common Enemy"

* [[Our Dragons Are Different]]: Fafnir is an ancient and powerful Dark Other, whose favorite Twilight form was that of a giant dragon. He is mentioned several times, and an artifact of his plays a key part in the first book. Since he predates the Grant Treaty, resurrecting him would be ''very bad'' for both the Light and the Dark Others.

* [[Our Vampires Are Different]]

* [[Our Werewolves Are Different]]

** Special mention goes to a scene in the second film where this appears intentionally. Zavulon is playing a fighting game. At some point, he holds and swings his phone like a sword and his movements are imitated in game. That was two years before the iPhone came out. But this game he plays is {{spoiler|actually a vision of a possible future.}}

* [[Power Levels]]: All Others are assigned "Categories", ranging from the seventh (the weakest) to first (the most powerful). Categories are not fixed, as an Other can advance or fall down a rank depending on how often they practice magic. There is also the so-called "peak condition" when a mage jumps up two or three levels during a time of great emotional stress, like it happens to Anton Gorodetsky in the end of the first book. Lastly, there is the [[Over Nine Thousand]] category called "Beyond Categorization".<br />Depending on the power level, an Other can dive to the deeper levels of the Twilight. {{spoiler|There are six Twilight levels (most mages never get past the third), and the seventh is our normal world, so the Twilight is basically a cycle. However, the full cycle can only be traversed by an ultimate mage, such as a Light Messiah like Nadya Gorodetskaya. Or Merlin, who becomes a permanent fixture as the story progresses.}} It is mentioned that the Others actually took the word "level" from video games, replacing the previously-used "rank".

** Even more prominent in the case of alternative-rock band ''Piknik'' known for their esoteric lyrics. The band leader, Edmund Shklarsky is also considered to be an uninitiated Other.

** It is briefly mentioned that [[Rammstein (Music)|Rammstein]] are all werewolves.

* [[Suspiciously Apropos Music]]: Anton, while listening to his mini-disc (later [[MP 3]]) player. He always puts it on random, and often the song that pops up has something to do either with the story, or with his present state of mind.

** This is referenced in the novel with Anton suspecting he might be unconsciously manipulating the player.