The Borribles: Difference between revisions

{{work|wppage=The Borrible Trilogy}}

{{quote|''It is sad to pass through life without one good Adventure.

''It is better to die young than to be caught.

The trilogy was originally published in the late 1970s and early 1980s and immediately was the target of [[Moral Guardians|reactionary criticism]] for its "antisocial" and "anti-authority" themes. The release of the third volume was actually ''canceled'' in 1985 by a nervous publisher who felt that in the wake of well-publicized riots that year the political climate had changed too much for it to be considered "acceptable" anymore; fortunately, a less squeamish firm then took up the challenge. Despite this, the trilogy became, and remains, a cult classic, with literary figures such as [[China Mieville]], [[Diana Wynne Jones|Diana Wynne]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20010714113837/http://www.leemac.freeserve.co.uk/newquestions.htm Jones], [[Neil Gaiman|Neil]] [http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008_07_17_archive.html Gaiman] and [[Cory Doctorow|Cory]] [http://boingboing.net/2014/01/16/the-borribles-are-back.html Doctorow] touting its influence on their work and eagerly evangelizing it to anyone who will listen. And the movie rights have been optioned many times over the years, although no production has yet to escape [[Development Hell]].

 

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00HQKF8HM/downandoutint-21 ebook] and [http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1447251792/downandoutint-21 print] formats.

 

 

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* [[Action Girl]]: Sydney and Chalotte.

* [[Adults Dressed as Children|Adults Dressed as Borribles]]: See ''A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing'', below.

* [[Disney Death]]: {{spoiler|At the end of the first book Knocker, Stonks, Oroccoco and Napoleon Boot all appear to have died covering the remaining Adventurers' escape from the Wendle tunnels; it's discovered in the second book that they didn't die, but were captured and used as slave labor.}}

* [[Earn Your Title|Earn Your Name]]: The ''only'' way to get any kind of name as a Borrible: until you've earned a name by an impressive feat of daring {{spoiler|such as assassinating a leader of a rival gang}} the best you can expect is to be referred to as "Mush" or "hey, you!" The plot of the first novel is driven in part by the protagonist's desire to get a ''second'' name (which is not unprecedented; one of his associates has several names, each commemorating some memorable deed).

* [[Elmuh Fudd Syndwome]]: The Rumbles have a universal lisp. Since their racial name starts with an "R", it forces them to pronounce it as "Wumble", emphasizing their origin as a [[Parody]] of ''[[The Wombles]]''.

* [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"]]: The District Assistant Commissioner.

* [[Fell Off the Back of a Truck]]: Played with. Mentions of things falling off the backs of lorries would be followed by comments about how bumpy the roads are in London, or what a useful thing gravity is. As every Borrible is a thief by definition, all the uses of the phrase are clearly very ironic.

* [[Final Solution]]: What Inspector Sussworth is hoping to enact upon all Borribles, everywhere.

* [[Friend to All Living Things]]: Sydney.

* [[Funny Animal]]: The Rumbles qualify for this trope in every way -- and are a definite reminder that "funny animals" are not necessarily humorous.

* [[Gladiator Games]]: Flinthead's favorite entertainment is to set prisoners loose one at a time in the maze of the Wendle tunnels and let them be hunted down by his people.

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]:

** At the end of ''The Borribles'', {{spoiler|Knocker, Stonks, Oroccoco and Napoleon Boot hold the mouth of a tunnel against a numerically superior force of Wendle warriors so that the other Adventurers can escape Wandsworth. In Napoleon's case it's especially telling, as he is betraying his Tribe to do so.}}

* [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]]: Although Borribles are theoretically immortal, few survive long enough to enjoy it. Spiff, however, admits to having been around London Borrible society since the days of Queen Victoria.

* [[Rodents of Unusual Size]]: The Rumbles, who are likened to several different types of rodents (including rats and rabbits) and are the size of human children.

* [[Runaway Hideaway]]: Borrible society provides many examples of the Type 3 variety; some are long-established, others are temporary squats. Perhaps the most permanent (and impressive) example are the Wendle tunnels under the neighborhood of Wandsworth.

* [[Satisfied Street Rat]]: Spiff, Flinthead and many others, despite not technically being adults.

** It's possible to narrow down the location of Dewdrop's home to a ''specific block''.

** And sometimes even ''specific buildings'' can be identified, such as Spiff's house. See the Flickr streams on the [[The Borribles/Image Links|Image Links]] subpage.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Literature]]

[[Category:Fantasy Literature]]

[[Category:Urban Fantasy]]

[[Category:Pages Original to All The Tropes]]

[[Category:Pages with working Wikipedia tabs]]