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** He Who Walks Behind - though its real name is technically a long mental montage of horror and agony.
** The Lords of Outer Night, the upper nobility of the Red Court.
* [[Narrating the Obvious]]: Occasionally, Harry will say things related to characters that everyone knows already, such as feeling the need to tell us in ''Death Masks'' that yes, he really is a wizard. It's never too obtrusive, though. Overlaps with [[Inner Monologue|Harry]] being a [[Private Detective|private]] [[Hardboiled Detective|eye]]. As the stories move away from "[[Detective Drama|whodunit]]", and gets much [[Darker and Edgier|darker]] this correspondingly gets toned down a bunch.
* [[Nay Theist]]:
** One of Harry's best friends carries around a sword containing a nail of the True Cross that cuts through all manners of demonic baddies, Harry dallies with the supernatural daily and {{spoiler|he has had a fallen angel tied to one of Judas' coins rattling around in his skull}} -- but he does not hold much truck with gods, and believes that the faith that powers them is just another example of [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|emotion fueling magic]]. It should be noted that Harry does believe in God; he just doesn't think God is all that interested in ''him'' (despite having the Archangel Uriel looking out for him), and has some doubts as to his own worthiness as a follower. Harry said it best when he said "I wouldn't burden a decent system of faith by participating in it."
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** Whatever happened to Murphy and Kincaid in Hawaii during the events of ''Dead Beat''. Whatever it was, it broke Murphy's arm and impressed Kincaid enough that he gave her a gift-wrapped submachine gun as a memento. According to [[Word of God]], Murphy also demonstrated her skills with a katana there.
** Whatever it is Bob the Skull did to make Queen Mab want to kill him...
*** {{spoiler|This is later to be shown as what Bob the skull KNOWS. Specifically, how to kill an immortal.}}
* [[No Bisexuals]]: Averted. The Raith family is almost entirely bisexual, except for Inari, Thomas, and Lord Raith.
* [[Noble Male, Roguish Male]]: Michael and Harry.
* [[No Eye in Magic]]: When a wizard looks directly into someone else's eyes<ref> They have to be human, as other creatures don't have souls the way humans understand them</ref>, they can see the essence of that person's soul. This ability is called a "soulgaze." Unfortunately, this is an automatic effect, once it is activated it can not be stopped, and since it is eye-to-eye it is very much reciprocal, so the other person sees into the wizard's soul as well, and whatever you see, no matter how beautiful or horrific, you can ''never'' forget it. Harry himself spends most of the series avoiding direct eye contact with people, unless he has a good reason for it. He specifically points out breaking people's gazes when he ''knows'' they're [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]], because the thought of that sort of evil and darkness indelibly etched in his memory would drive him insane. It's implied that it's done that more than a few times to other wizards.
* [[No Pronunciation Guide]]: The first two audio books pronounce Marcone with a long 'e' at the end: Mar-CONE-ee. For the third audiobook, there is an introduction from [[Word of God|Jim Butcher]], mostly about how the series hits its stride here at ''Grave Peril''. From that point on, Marcone has been pronounced as simply: Mar-CONE. Perhaps he said something about it when he recorded the intro. (incidentally, the sound editing also gets much better at around book three.)
* [[Nothing Is the Same Anymore]]: After ''Changes'', the status quo of the books is effectively gone.
* [[Not Now, Kiddo]]: Harry brushes off friends and allies trying to give him important information because he is concentrating hard on some task or problem. He has done it once with Bob (in ''Dead Beat'') and once with Susan (in ''Grave Peril''), to his remorse. In ''Fool Moon'' one of the minor practitioners that Harry mentors came to him for help and [[Subverted Trope|he looked at what she needed, recognized that it was dangerous and told her not to get involved]]. {{spoiler|[[Double Subverted|Then he promptly forgot about her, so when she tried to do it anyway she was killed because she never received the thorough training he could have given her]]. Of course, if she hadn't been asked to keep the precise details a secret from him and everyone, [[Honor Before Reason|Harry would've done it himself]].}}
* [[Not Himself]]: Various possession plots, and Harry himself is {{spoiler|later possessed by a fallen angel}} and brainwashed by {{spoiler|one of the fairy queens}}.
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* [[Orphan's Plot Trinket]]: Which is made of inherited silver.
* [[One Steve Limit]]: Despite there being 12 books in the series there have been very few duplicate names, and never amongst the primary cast. Archangel Michael and Michael Carpenter come close, but the former never appears "on screen". Michael did name his youngest son Harry after Harry.
{{quote|
** If you're willing to give a little, there's Justin, Harry's former teacher, and Justine, Thomas's lover.
** Also, Molly's full name is Margaret, just like Harry's mom {{spoiler|and his daughter.}}
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** {{spoiler|Murphy}} does a decent impression of him in ''Changes''.
** Harry himself tends to avoid this, however, because a) he's not as powerful as he'd like to be, and b) he doesn't believe in getting into a fight when he can't win.
*** Power isnt really the problem in Harry's case. As far as that rating among the magic community hes up among the top 30, possibly top 20, most powerful in the known world. He just doesnt have the experience or the fine control over that power to really make good on it. As he said a few times, hes the one you go to when you need something done big, dumb, and loud.
* [[One Mario Limit]]: Averted. Harry is very aware of [[Harry Potter|the other wizard named Harry]], and he is also aware that his father named him after several stage magicians, his first name coming from [[
* [[OOC Is Serious Business]]: Mac [[The Bartender]] is also [[The Quiet One]]. The seriousness of any particular book is proportional to the number of words that he says. A complete sentence or two is enough to scare Dresden. In ''Changes'' he goes on for a good-sized paragraph.
** In ''Warrior'', the villain got [[Nice Guy|Michael]] mad enough to actually swear, another thing that shocks Harry.
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** [[All Trolls Are Different]]
** [[Our Demons Are Different]]: The Fallen associated with the Knights of the Blackened Denarii are [[Fallen Angel|Fallen Angels]]; but there are also lesser supernatural creatures called "demons" that are usually just mindless grunts like the toad demon in "Storm Front."
** [[Our Dragons Are Different]]: True Dragons (like Ferrovax) are shapeshifters with a power level on par with Fairy Queens and gods. Ferro says that his true form would outright break Harry's mind. [[Word of God]] says that in a three way fight between [[Always a Bigger Fish|Eldest Gruff]], [[The Fair Folk|the Leanansidhe]] and Ferrovax, Ferrovax would [[Curb Stomp Battle|curb stomp]] them both. Apparently in the Dresdenverse, dragons are every bit the terrifying monsters the original myths made them out to be. Think less [[The Lord of the Rings|Smaug]], more [[Norse Mythology|Jormungand]].
** [[Our Fairies Are Different]]: From [[The Fair Folk|Mab and Lea]] to the Gruffs to [[Fairy Companion|Toot-toot]] to [[Emotion Eater|the fetches]] to ''Santa'', they definitely run the gamut.
*** Santa, according to [[Word of God|Word of Jim]], is the Winter King, on par with Mab power wise. Think about what that means.
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** [[Our Ghouls Are Creepier]]: They are beastial, shapeshifting monsters that [[I'm a Humanitarian|want to eat you]] and are ludicrously difficult to kill. They also {{spoiler|come in a larger variant that is even bigger and meaner and is able to disregard the [[Chunky Salsa Rule]].}}
*** [[Word of God]] implies that the lesser ghouls are a result of crossbreeding the nastier format with human stock.
** [[Our Goblins Are
** [[Our Vampires Are Different]]: The series manages to have its cake and eat it too by ''simultaneously'' subverting and playing straight several now-classic vampire tropes. Butcher took three of the broadest elements of the concept of vampires (undead monsters, bloodsucking monsters, and [[Vampires Are Sex Gods|sexy lords of lust]]) and created a specific Court for each type: "modern" [[Anne Rice]]-inspired vampires who are humans converted into batlike bloodsuckers (Red Court), [[Horny Devils|succubi and incubi]] (White Court) who are born that way but can theoretically be inoculated against it, and classic [[Dracula]]-inspired vampires (Black Court). The last group is particularly subject to considerable [[Lampshade Hanging]] as Dresden notes that "[Bram] Stoker told everyone how to kill them;" and only the strongest and cleverest of them remain after the beginning of the 20th century. There may or may not be even more types of vampire, though, as an Asia-only "Jade Court" (presumably [[Chinese Vampire|Jiang Shi-inspired Chi vampires]]) is very vaguely mentioned in ''Death Masks.''
** [[Our Werewolves Are Different]]: From the [[Black Magic]] of the ''Hexenwulfen'' and the all-but-unstoppable cursed ''loup-garou'' to the simple transformation of the "true" werewolf and {{spoiler|the wolf that takes on human form}}, ''Fool Moon'' pretty much covers the entire range of possibilities. There are even the Lycanthropes, who only change in their own minds, becoming animalistic beserkers every full moon. Only anthropomorphic wolf-men are non-existent, and the contagious bite is notably absent (as per Bob: "Bah, no. Hollywood stole that from the vampires"). In an early scene, Bob lists off all the different types of werewolves, [[Chekhov's Gun|so you know Harry's going to run into every type.]]
*** [[Our Werebeasts Are Different]]: Were-buffalo, Were-Crowa and were-goats are also mentioned.
*** Listens-to-Wind is pretty much a Were-whatever-the-hell-he-wants.
** [[Our Zombies Are Different]]: ...[[Your Vampires Suck|and your zombies suck]]. Dresdenverse zombies are more like [[The Terminator]] than a traditional zombie, much stronger and faster than a normal human. Also, [[The Dresden Files/Awesome|more than]] [[Tyrannosaurus Rex|just humans]] [[Raising the Steaks|can be made into zombies]], and a zombie is more powerful the older it is...
*** Chicago is well-known for having {{spoiler|the 67-million-year-old T-Rex Sue on display at the Field Museum.}}
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* [[Prehensile Hair]]: Deirdre.
* [[Police Are Useless]]: Averted with the Special Investigations unit in The Dresden Files, led by Karrin Murphy, who among other things has taken down a tree-monster with a chainsaw. Though the unit still calls in Dresden for consulting, it's mentioned a few books in that they've learned enough to handle most of your usual supernatural riff-raff without the wizard's help. There are also things with enough power that getting the police involved would lead to a bloodbath. Several times Dresden convinces Murphy not to involve her unit by telling her what he's facing is "worse than the loup-garou", a [[Nigh Invulnerable]] variety of werewolf that rampaged through the station in the second book. It's played a bit straighter with the rest of the Chicago cops, who refuse to believe in anything supernatural. They're probably very competent in normal situations, but when it comes to the average supernatural menace... hoo boy. And a lot of them think of him as a charlatan.
* [[Polite Villains, Rude Heroes]]: Most major villains move in circles where people are expected to present a civilized facade when not actively ripping each other limb from limb. Harry's snarky insouciance has taken more than one of them by surprise.
** Almost lampshaded in ''Death Masks''. Harry is about to initiate a duel against a powerful Red Court vampire named Ortega. The duel's moderator tells them they can make an opening statement. Ortega says something almost poetic and respectful. Harry takes a swig of his anti-vampire-mind-control potion and burps.
* [[Pop-Cultured Badass]]: Harry, Harry, Harry. His somewhat outdated references are [[Lampshaded]] by Molly in ''Changes'' (and sub-sequentially mirrored in ''Ghost Story''.)
{{quote|
'''Harry:''' That is why you fail. }}
* [[The Pornomancer]]: Deconstructed. Thomas can not keep a minimum-wage job because his [[Incubus]] powers make people sexually assault him and, thanks to the [[Double Standard]], he gets fired for it.
* [[Portal Network]]: With significant knowledge of its pathways, the Nevernever can be used this way.
* [[Post-Modern Magik]]: Pretty much built around it. The series' original name was going to be ''Semiautomagic'' even.
* [[Power Glows]]: Often.
** When Harry faces down Cowl and Kumori in ''Dead Beat''.
** Later in ''Dead Beat'', when facing Corpsetaker, Harry describes a variety of ways that holding power manifests around wizards, many of which fall at least loosely into this category.
** Harry borrows the power of Summer to administer a [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] to a seriously powerful elder fetch with an epic [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]]:
{{quote|
** Mouse's paws glow when he's preparing to kick some evil ass.
** The Swords of the Cross frequently glow when wielded. The light is seen to be inherently painful to various evil beasties.
* [[The Power of Love]]: White Court vampires cannot abide the touch of [[The Power of Love|True Love]]. It causes them burns and physical pain.
** Harry's love for Susan burned one such, and lack of that reaction was a clue to him that {{spoiler|Anastasia Luccio}} does ''not'' love him.
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* [[Pragmatic Villainy]]: Gentleman Johnny Marcone shows how to succesfully use this trope for fun and profit.
* [[Precision F-Strike]]: Stronger curse words are relatively rare in the books, so when someone drops an F bomb you know that either someone is ''very'' angry, or something is ''very'' wrong.
** When Harry and Michael discuss Harry's {{spoiler|buried Blackened Denarius}}, and what he had to do to get rid of {{spoiler|Lasciel's Shadow}}.
{{quote|
'''Michael:''' "Walk away from your magic. Forsake it. Forever."
'''Harry:''' "Fuck that." }}
** The scene at the end of ''Dead Beat'' when Harry is talking to {{spoiler|Mavra}}.
{{quote|
** In ''Proven Guilty'' Harry has to convince Molly that she needs to stop acting like a child, take him seriously, and not try to manipulate him like he is just kindly ol' Uncle Harry who has never been anything but sweet to her. So when she tries to go back on her promise to do what Harry tells her, he looks at her threateningly and says "Now get the fuck into the car."
** Harry to Molly again in ''White Night'' during his [[Scare'Em Straight]] attempt. He only uses words like "damned" and mentions that it is just as effective because he doesn't even curse lightly around Michael's family.
** After Father Roarke kidnaps Alicia to get at Fidelacchius and Amoracchius, Harry and Michael go to Forthill for info. When Forthill tries to reason with them:
{{quote|
* [[Private Detective]]: Harry, technically, and Vince in ''Turn Coat''. {{spoiler|Elaine Mallory, as of ''White Night.'' She admits that she stole the idea from Harry}}
* [[Private Eye Monologue]]: The books are narrated by Harry in the first person and he ''is'' a [[Private Detective]], so we get hardboiled inner monologues like this:
{{quote|
* [[Properly Paranoid]]: Harry, of course, and Murphy. The funny thing is, by ''Changes'', even Butters has been infected with paranoia.
* [[Public Domain Artifact]]: Several times. The Knights of the Cross each have a magical evil-fighting sword that supposedly has a nail from the True Cross in the hilt, and ''Ghost Story'' confirms that they are {{spoiler|[[King Arthur|Excalibur]], [[The Song of Roland|Durendal]], and [[Japanese Mythology|Kusanagi]]}}. The Shroud of Turin itself is the [[MacGuffin]] in the fifth book. In addition, Nicodemus wears the same noose Judas used to hang himself and the Blackened Denarii are probably the very same 30 pieces of silver that Judas received for betraying Jesus.
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* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: At Dragon*Con 2010, Jim told the audience that, when his son was 8, they had to move to Pennsylvania. To make up for leaving his friends behind, the Butcher's got him a dog. Jim then explained that Mouse was based on how his dog saw himself.
* [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]]: Several of the Denarians are 2000 years old or close to it. The Red King, Arianna Ortega, and pretty much every high ranking god or wizard qualifies.
{{quote|
* [[Remember That You Trust Me]]: Harry's interaction with Murphy. Both are guilty of this. This is actually a recurring theme; Harry is both [[Properly Paranoid|paranoid]] and protective of his friends, remembering to trust them is a lesson he learns again and again.
* [[Remember the New Guy?]]: Michael. He was introduced in ''Grave Peril'' and has known Harry for at least five years, but he had neither appeared nor was mentioned in the preceding two books or any of the short stories that take place in the earlier time periods.
* [[Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?]]:
** The Zombie Dinosaur incident from ''Dead Beat'' is mentioned numerous times in the series. It is often used to justify the fear and trepidation of [[Badass|Badasses]] when going up against Harry.
** The donut incident from ''Small Favor'' also gets a lot of play. Even ''Odin'' thinks it was worthy of acclaim.
* [[Rescue Romance]]: Charity and Michael's [[Backstory]].
* [[Rivals Team Up]]: Marcone and Dresden team up numerous times to fight common foes, first in ''Death Masks''. In ''White Night'', {{spoiler|Marcone teams up with Dresden to defeat a gang of ghouls in the Raith-owned Deeps.}}
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== S-U ==
* [[Sacred Hospitality]]: Most of the supernatural community is hundreds of years old and grew up in a different social world (the Old World). This shows up in the treaty which outlines the rules for hospitality and diplomacy among supernatural communities. Guests in a home are privy to protection by the host, but are also expected to act honorably towards the home's owner, and they treat violations of these customs as grave offenses. Harry used this and a bit of [[Quote Mine|Quote Mining]] to talk his way out of being killed by the denizens of {{spoiler|the Erlking's Hall}} when he accidentally ends up there in ''Changes'', and extends the traditions of hospitality himself to others.
{{quote|
{{spoiler|He flashed me a quick, guilty glance.}}
{{spoiler|"You came to me for help and I'm doing my best. Hell, the kid has put herself in harm's way, trying to protect you. I've done everything for you that I would have for blood family, because you are my guest. There are monsters from whom I would expect better behavior, once they had accepted my hospitality. What's more, they'd give it to me." }} }}
* [[Sad Clown]]: Harry.
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* [[Scaled Up]]: [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] by Quintus "Snakeboy" Cassius. His demonic form is (surprise!) a giant naga (snake-man). {{spoiler|However, he regains he legs in order to avoid being skewered by a pair of holy swords. Just in time for Harry to break his kneecaps. [[The Mafia|That is how we do things in Chicago]], [[This Is for Emphasis, Bitch|bitch!]].}}
* [[Scars Are Forever]]: Averted, Harry's (numerous) scars fade over time.
* [[Science Is Wrong]]: The series goes on to something more like "Science is missing some important facts." Science comes in kinda handy for Harry in what is probably his most epic [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] so far, in ''Dead Beat''. Without it, where would he have gotten the {{spoiler|dinosaur}}? Butters kind of helps this along, chalking up Harry's [[Walking Techbane]] status to a "[[Murphy's Law|Murphyonic Field]]" surrounding him, and that the immediate physical reason for the [[Wizards Live Longer|wizards' longevity]] is because their cells divide much better.
** The series actually tends to stay very close to normal physical laws, especially for one about magic. Harry often uses (and lampshades) the laws of momentum, gravity, thermodynamics, etc. in order to assist his spells or amplify their damage. Turned against him when his magical shield stops napalm just fine, but it can't stop the ''heat'', burning his hand so badly it almost has to be amputated.
* [[The Scottish Trope]]
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* [[Soul Jar]]: The Blackened Denarii.
* [[Sophisticated As Hell]]
{{quote|
** When called on this:
{{quote|
*** [[Lampshade Hanging]]: "You just used obviate and ain't in the same sentence."
* [[Spirit Advisor]]:
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* [[Spirit World]]: the Nevernever, realm of faeries, demons, and other supernatural whatsits.
* [[Squick]]: In-universe. Harry is understandably... perturbed... by the nature of the relationship between Nicodemus and his daughter, Deirdre.
{{quote|
Nicodemus smiled at her. "Not at all. Give us a kiss."
She slid onto his lap and did. With tongue. Yuck. }}
* [[Squishy Wizard]]: Averted. Wizards are physically weaker than most of the supernatural creatures encountered in the series, but that still leaves them (slightly) physically tougher than normal humans, able to heal and recuperate from damage that would normally prove fatal or debilitating. In addition, most wizards we see are veterans of some kind of combat, so what they lack in physical ability they deliberately make up for in spells or enchantments.
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* [[Take Up My Sword]]: Subverted with Fidelacchius and Amoracchius. While {{spoiler|they are both left in Harry's possession after the death/crippling of their bearers}}, neither of them are actually meant for him.
* [[Talking in Your Dreams]]
* [[Taking You with Me]]: The principle of a Wizards Death Curse, which [[Cast
* [[Tall, Dark and Snarky]]: Harry. He is also fond of making his own snarky variations of "[[Tall, Dark and Handsome]]" to refer to supernatural beings.
{{quote|
* [[Tell Me About My Father]]: Harry never has to ask his father about his mother; he notes that his father had told him so much about her that he felt as if he had known her, so he never felt the need.
* [[Tempting Fate]]: Harry. ''All the time.''
{{quote|
* [[Terror Hero]]: Harry is an unintentional Type 3.
* [[Thanatos Gambit]]:
** A wizard's death curse uses every last bit of their life energy to fuel a powerful, destructive spell as a last resort -- in other words, [[Cast
** {{spoiler|Martin}}. [[Xanatos Roulette|He arranged the entire events of his dying book specifically to get to that one scenario]].
** {{spoiler|Harry himself.}}
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* [[Time Abyss]]: [[Word of God]] has it that Demonreach pre-dates the ice age.
* [[Time Skip]]: About a year or so passes between each book, but the exact length of time varies from case to case. This averts [[Comic Book Time]] in that a few characters age visibly, and provides space for [[Noodle Incident|Noodle Incidents]] to have happened in.
* [[Took a Level
** Morty is confirmed to have power on par with a White Council wizard, his power is just too narrow. Unlike Harry he also solves problems before they threaten the world.
** Similarly, Butters too has leveled up in Badass stakes as of ''Ghost Story'', most notable in {{spoiler|his take-down of Aristedes.}}
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** The wyldfae ''looooooove'' pizza.
** Harry loves his Coke; he even has a cap with a silver-on-black Coca-Cola logo. He also adores Burger King.
* [[Training
* [[Trenchcoat Brigade]]: Harry's black leather duster and occult focus confirm him to be a card-carrying member. And he revels in it.
* [[Trope Overdosed]]: Understandable after 12 books, a TV series, an ongoing comic book series, and an RPG.
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* [[Vegetarian Vampire]]: c.f. Thomas using {{spoiler|hairdressing}} to sate himself {{spoiler|until the events of ''Turn Coat''}}.
* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: Arianna, Grevane, Lord Raith, Victor Sells, Paolo Ortega, Nicodemus and the Red King all experience this after Harry either kicks their asses or demonstrates that he's as strong as they are.
* [[Virgin Power]]: The White Court find virgins a particular delicacy, so to speak.
* [[Waif Fu]]: The possessed Lydia in ''Grave Peril''. Karrin Murphy's Aikido skills may also qualify.
* [[Wait Here]]: If Harry has not said this or "[[If I Do Not Return]]", then you have not finished the book yet.
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** Donald Morgan
** {{spoiler|Aurora.}}
** Kumori from ''Dead Beat''. Yes, she is a necromancer. Yes, she is palling around with a guy who may {{spoiler|very well be on the Black Council}}. And yes, she is taking part in a necromantic ceremony that will scythe a good chunk of Chicago clean just so the victor can claim awesome godlike power. But she uses her necromantic abilities to keep people alive until they can get medical treatment, and has the stated goal of creating a world where death does not exist.
** At the end of ''Changes'' {{spoiler|Martin the [[Double Agent]]}} is confirmed as this. And when we say "extremist", ''we are not kidding''.
* [[We Help the Helpless]]
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* [[White-Haired Pretty Girl]]: The Queens and Ladies of the Faerie courts are probably the most prominent example, but Justine also fits this trope after her brush with death.
* [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]]: Mentioned as one of the reasons against Harry and Murphy hooking up; {{spoiler|Molly}} also angsts about this in ''Ghost Story'', and how her youngest brothers will be dying of old age before she's even old enough to be taken seriously on the White Council.
* [[Wicked Cultured]]: Nicodemus, the host and compatriot of a fallen angel, definitely qualifies. He's the scariest and evilest creature in a series full of scary, evil creatures who could squash him with their pinkies, but he does it with impeccable taste.
** Gentleman Marcone comes off as this, but it will likely never be confirmed due to the fact that he's, well, Marcone.
* [[Windows of the Soul]]: Wizards can see a person's soul with their Sight if eye contact is maintained (this is why you don't look at a wizard too long. They see too much). However, there are two drawbacks: the other person can see you, too, and you can't forget what you see. Ever
* [[The Windy City]]: Harry is based in Chicago ([[Artistic License Geography|with some minor geographical oddities]]), so every book takes place in the city at least in part.
* [[Wizards Live Longer]]: Waldo Butters actually reveals the immediate physical reason for this. Compared to normal humans, wizards have vastly superior cellular repair and healing: broken bones heal without a trace, scars fade, and even Harry's toasted-to-the-bone hand will heal completely. They DO age, but their bodies last a few centuries and we have not heard of any wizards dying of cancer or such diseases.
* [[Wizard Duel]]: There's one true [[Wizard Duel]] in {{spoiler|''Storm Front''}}, in which {{spoiler|Harry's greater strength and experience gave him an advantage he needed to make up for fighting on Shadowman's home turf}}, a couple in ''Dead Beat'' against various necromancers, the fight pitting first Harry and then Archive against the Denarians in ''Small Favor'' and another in {{spoiler|''Changes''}}, between Harry and {{spoiler|Duchess Arianna Ortega, a vampire with magical powers}}. But other than that, [[Wizard Duel|Wizard Duels]] are surprisingly rare in the series. Harry has been in formal [[Trial by Combat|Trials By Combat]] three times, but two were against vampires. Once, a Warden attacked Harry when he believed Harry had murdered another Warden, but {{spoiler|Harry knew it was an honest misunderstanding and was willing to let himself be killed}}. Most antagonists in the series are not actual wizards, most of those who are tend to be [[Chessmaster|Chessmasters]], and when it has come down to an actual fight there has usually been a severe power imbalance on one side or another, so the duel is [[Curb Stomp Battle|over before it starts]].
* [[Woman in White]]: The White Court vampires, as Queen Mab.
* [[Working the Same Case]]: Harry is often working on two cases at once, a police investigation that has stymied the mundane authorities and something on the occult side of things, and they turn out to be related. Alternately, one case comes from his private business or personal connections and the other comes from the White Council of wizards. It is not quite [[Once an Episode]], but ''Storm Front'', ''Fool Moon'', ''Death Masks'' and ''Proven Guilty'' use this trope straightforwardly and most other books have at least some elements of it. ''Changes'', as with so much else, skips this trope, with one main plot that finds Harry personally.
* [[World Half Full]]: Yes, the world is full of demons, monsters, [[Things That Go Bump in the Night]] (and ''[[Eldritch Abomination|worse]]'') ready to pounce, but there's always someone like Harry, Murphy, or Michael around to kick evil's ass up around its ears and protect the innocent.
** At least, in Chicago this is the case. As we find out {{spoiler|after Harry dies}}, things are a lot less safe in regions that aren't protected by a powerful wizard. That said, the Paranet and various other interests are working to change this.
* [[World of Badass]]: Even the [[Muggle|Muggles]] who are ignorant of magic are often badass. Everyone else is, too, or becomes that way very quickly. (Or doesn't survive.) The self-proclaimed cowards are [[Crazy Prepared]] and/or [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|Crouching Morons Hidden Badasses]], goblins are more dangerous than vampires rather than being comedy relief like in many settings, and the [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|Three Billy Goats Gruff carry submachine guns]].
* [[World of Snark]]
* [[Worthy Opponent]]: Marcone, a polite and efficient mob boss; and the Eldest Gruff, an extrordinarily powerful fairy who does not want to kill Harry but must obey the Summer Queen Titania.
* [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl]]: Harry is chivalrous to the point of it interfering with his ability to defend himself from female attackers. He ''knows'' it is a weakness and a stupid one in a world where female vampires and werewolves and fae can all kill him with trivial effort, but he can not stop himself. If pushed really hard, he can make himself attack a woman, but it takes a ton of pressure to get him to that point.
* [[Xanatos Gambit]]: Multiple times, most commonly in relation to the White Court vampires who are pretty much an entire race of Chessmasters. Examples include:
** The plot of ''Grave Peril,'' and even events leading up to the book, is a huge Gambit by Bianca, Mavra and the Leanansidhe for numerous reasons depending on the person involved — to gain an advantage on Harry and/or teach him a lesson, to kill him, to destroy an exceedingly rare Holy Sword and give the Red Court of vampires a chance to launch its long-planned war against the White Council of Wizards. It backfires majorly on Bianca but half of it still succeeds, fulfilling the gambit.
*** Lea specifically pulls a small but nasty one in ''Grave Peril'' during the confrontation in the graveyard. After driving off the Nightmare, she waits until Harry has ''Amoracchius'' in hand before confronting him with his promise. Then, she confronts him, and he is forced to choose between surrendering to her or using the Sword. If he does not use the Sword, she gets him as a pet, while if he does, the Sword will be rendered useless and she can steal it. Either way, Lea wins.
** In ''Turn Coat''. Dresden gets one of these by inviting three renegade factions to the same location to play them off against each other. He later reveals that this was all a setup to get surveillance photos of the real traitor when they find out about the fray. He would have liked to catch the traitor on the scene; the photos (and Mouse) were just a backup plan. He lays it out once the gambit pays off: "But lately I've thinking that you don't ever plan on a single path to victory. You set things up so you've got more than one way to win." This particular gambit, while it succeeds, is a bit undermined when Ebenezar points out the ways it could have failed, to which the only sensible reply is "I got lucky."
* [[You Can Barely Stand]]: Harry is rarely in any decent shape to even be walking by the time the real fighting has rolled around. Take for instance ''Fool Moon'' where he actually has to ''work'' to blow out a camera, or ''Dead Beat'', where the only reason he can move at all for most of the Final Battle is Lash's assistance. Taken [[Up to Eleven]] in ''Changes'' where Harry eventually {{spoiler|gets his back broken so he ''literally'' cannot stand}}. However, he {{spoiler|makes a deal with Mab, The Winter Queen, and becomes her Knight, but he gets to save his daughter first.}} After that, he is fit as a fiddle and ready to rock. Lampshaded in the RPG, when he complains about how he is always beaten up in the pictures. Quoth Billy:
{{quote|
* [[You Have Failed Me...]]: Every odd numbered lackey.
* [[You Keep Using That Word]]: Snarl.
* [[Your Vampires Suck]]: Not just vampires; Bob has opinions on werewolf stories.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:The Dresden Files]]▼
[[Category:Split Trope Lists]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dresden Files, The/Tropes N-Z}}
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