39,327
edits
Shannara: Difference between revisions
m
Mass update links
m (trope=>work) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 7:
==== The [[The Sword of Shannara Trilogy
* ''The Sword of Shannara''
* ''The Elfstones of Shannara''
Line 17:
A few decades later, in ''The Elfstones of Shannara'', Allanon returns, having spent the intervening years in magical sleep, and conscripts Shea's grandson Wil and elven princess Amberle to save the world. It seems that long before human history, the elves (revealed to be the real thing, not mutant humans) and other good faeries locked all the evil faeries, known as Demons, [[Sealed Evil in
A generation later,in the third book, ''The Wishsong of Shannara'', we discover that using the Elfstone's gave Wil's children Brin and Jair the inherent magic of the [[Reality Warper|Reality Warping]] Wishsong. Unable to penetrate the [[Garden of Evil]] known as the Maelmord to destroy the Ildatch, the [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]] that corrupted the Warlock Lord, Allanon recruits Brin, believing that she may be able to succeed where he has failed. Easily the darkest of the three, it explores the idea of the inherent unpredictability of magic, and the addiction to it in far greater detail than Sword or Elfstones.
==== [[
* ''The Scions of Shannara ''
* ''The Druid of Shannara ''
Line 95:
* [[Badass Family]]: The Ohmsfords, the Leahs, and the Elessedils have saved the world how many times now?
* [[Big Bad]]: One in each of the first three books and then one for each main series - the Warlock Lord in ''Sword'', Dagda Mor in ''Elfstones'', [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|The Ildatch]] in ''Wishsong''; [[The Heartless|the Shadowen]] led by Rimmer Dall in the Heritage series; [[Evil Sorcerer|the Morgawr]] in the Voayage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy, [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|Tael Riverine]] in the High Druid trilogy, and [[Hero-Killer|Findo Gask]] in the Genesis trilogy.
* [[Big Creepy
* [[Big Good]]: Allanon in the classic series has many aspects of this.
* [[Captain Ersatz]]: A lot of the characters from the first book bear some resemblance to those from ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. Brooks gets much better about not doing that in subsequent volumes, however.
Line 141:
* [[Hidden Elf Village]]: Arborlon, literally, in "Genesis of Shannara".
* [[Hive Mind]]: Heavily implied with the communal, bodiless [[Shape Shifter|Shapeshifters]].
* [[Hollywood Cyborg]]: The Creepers are what happen when this trope and [[Big Creepy
* [[Human Mom, Nonhuman Dad]]: Shea's biological parents. A lot of the Ohmsfords are like this, with Elves and Men marrying and remarrying.
** Inverted with Truhls Rohk, whose father was human and whose mother was a shapeshifter.
* [[Humans Are White]]: Everyone in the Four Lands era is either white or [[Ambiguously Brown]]. Given that it was only America that (barely) survived the apocalypse, it makes sense that after millenia of interbreeding there would be no one very dark. In the pre-''Shannara'' books, the ethnic demographics are what you'd expect (i.e. majority Caucasian, recognizable African-American and Latino minorities).
* [[In the End You Are
* [[Knife Nut]]: Many. Brooks doesn't seem to have the usual stigmas about knives, and doesn't view them as particularly good, particularly bad, or even particularly [[Badass]]. As such, knives in his books are simply a lightweight, reliable weapon, carried by both sides, good and bad.
* [[La Résistance]]: The Freeborn to the Federation.
Line 164:
* [[Our Dragons Are Different]]: Well, there's Valg, the giant, firebreathing, venemous serpent waiting under the pool in the Hall of the Kings. And then there's the Demonic Dragons, which are a type of evil fairy with six-legs, one eye, no wings, and no fire.
* [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same]]: Brooks distinguishes his Dwarves from those of other fantasy series by having them deeply unsettled by underground spaces (because their ancestors were forced there by the Great Wars). They're also largely predisposed to woodsmanship, and their most famous landmark is the Meade Gardens. Outwardly, though, they look mostly like other Dwarves, beards and all.
* [[Our Elves Are Better]]: Relics from the time of [[The Fair Folk]] who are a lot more mortal than they used to be. In fact, the only thing that sets Elves apart from humans is their appearance and a natural propensity toward magic. And as ''[[
* [[Our Gnomes Are Weirder]]: They actually fill the same role as [[Our Goblins Are Different|goblins]] and [[Our Orcs Are Different|orcs]]--primitive tribesfolk who often serve the forces of darkness. They're not [[Always Chaotic Evil]], though, as at least one heroic Gnome (Slanter) has appeared, and a tribe of them help one of the heroes in ''Armageddon's Children''. There's also the Stors, a society of [[Lawful Neutral]] healers who mostly keep to themselves, but occasionally aid the good guys.
** The Gnomes are basically a very primitive [[Chaotic Neutral]] who due to intense superstition tend to blindly follow anything that seems at all magical.
Line 175:
* [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent]]: Many of the monsters, demons, and other beasts in series are described as "scaled" or "reptillian". And then there's the Mwellrets or "lizards" a shapechanging Troll species that has yet to have a single "good" representative, and their master, the [[Complete Monster|utterly vile]] [[Evil Sorceror|Morgawr]].
* [[Ruins of the Modern Age]]: They pop up every now and then, along with the occasional killer robot.
* [[Sealed Evil in
* [[Single Line of Descent]]: The Ohmsford family. Sure, we've seen it branch out a few times, but you'd think it would happen a lot more. Also the Leahs, the Elessedils, the Creels... Brooks likes this trope.
** On the other hand, most of these family trees get pruned on a regular basis.
Line 196:
* [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]: Most of the enemies were people who used the magic irresponsibly and were overcome and corrupted by it. Protagonists use the magic sparingly for this reason.
* [[You Will Know What to Do]]
* [[Zeppelins
{{reflist}}
| |||