The Elric Saga: Difference between revisions

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''That wizardry's my trade, and I was born to wade through gore''<br />

''[[I Just Want to Be Normal|I just wanna be a lover]], not a red-eyed, screaming ghoul''<br />

''I wish it picked another to be its [[Artifact of Doom|killing tool]]"''|"Black Blade", as performed by '''[[Blue ~~Oyster~~ Cult ~~(Music)~~|Blue Oyster Cult]]'''}}

''I wish it picked another to be its [[Artifact of Doom|killing tool]]"''|"Black Blade", as performed by '''[[Blue Öyster Cult|Blue Oyster Cult]]'''}}

Originally a six book series by [[Michael Moorcock]], the story follows the titular Elric of Melnibone in his journey from a sickly king to a top class warrior and sorcerer involved with the affairs of the gods. His weapon is Stormbringer, one of two evil demonic runeblades that feast upon the souls of those their wielders slay with them, have wills of their own, and tend to take over their wielders on occasion.

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* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: Elric also uses this from time to time. Evil cousin take your throne, and, more importantly, your girl? ''Burn the entire nation to the ground, abandoning your race and countrymen to the men of the Young Kingdoms''.

* [[Doom Magnet]]

* [[Dungeons and Dragons]]: The original edition of ''Deities & Demigods'' had a chapter devoted to the Elric Mythos (and another chapter devoted to the [[HP Lovecraft|Cthulhu Mythos)]], but copyright disputes prevented these chapters from appearing in later editions of the book (the [[Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser]] chapter got to stay, though).

* [[Dungeons and Dragons]]: The original edition of ''Deities & Demigods'' had a chapter devoted to the Elric Mythos (and another chapter devoted to the [[H.P. Lovecraft|Cthulhu Mythos)]], but copyright disputes prevented these chapters from appearing in later editions of the book (the [[Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser]] chapter got to stay, though).

* [[Dying Race]]: Elric's.

* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: The Chaos Gods qualify.

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** In one short story, ''[[Not So Different|one of the Gods of Law]]'' is this. However, it's also mentioned that that particular Law God had [[He Who Fights Monsters|been fighting Chaos for far]] [[Knight Templar|too long]].

* [[Empathic Weapon]]: Elric's sword Stormbringer is sentient and capable of compelling Elric to certain actions.

* [[The End of the World As We Know It]]: Initiating this is Elric's final act, destroying the current world in order to create a new one -- ''[[The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You|ours]]''.

* [[The End of the World as We Know It]]: Initiating this is Elric's final act, destroying the current world in order to create a new one -- ''[[The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You|ours]]''.

* [[Evil Albino]] / [[Heroic Albino]]: Elric jumps between the two.

* [[Evil Prince]]: Yyrkoon.

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* [[God Is Evil]]: The Gods of Chaos are pretty much [[Always Chaotic Evil]], though one may come up now and then that's [[Chaotic Neutral]].

* [[The Gods Must Be Lazy]]: The Lords of Order are too weak to intervene in the collapse of the universe itself until the very end of the saga.

* [[Gotterdammerung]]: Elric's ultimate destiny is to create a world free of the influence of gods or cosmic powers, resulting in [[The End of the World As We Know It]].

* [[Gotterdammerung]]: Elric's ultimate destiny is to create a world free of the influence of gods or cosmic powers, resulting in [[The End of the World as We Know It]].

* [[Heavy Mithril]]: Moorcock wrote the above-quoted ''Black Blade'' for Blue Oyster Cult, and additionally saw his saga reworked by Hawkwind into the album ''The Chronicle of the Black Sword''.

** Deep Purple was aware of the Elric books when they wrote "Stormbringer" and chose the name for the song because of this, but the song itself isn't about the eponymous sword (they figured that Moorcock got the name from mythology, but he actually made it up himself).

** The [[Power Metal]] band Domine has a large number of Moorcock related songs. Elric himself even being on multiple album covers.

** [[~~Blind Guardian (Music)|~~Blind Guardian]] also have a couple of songs based on the series.

** [[Blind Guardian]] also have a couple of songs based on the series.

* [[Here There Were Dragons]]: Most of Melnibone's dragons have died off, and the few remaining are weak to the point that they must sleep for ''centuries'' between flights.

* {{spoiler|[[The Hero Dies]]}}: At the end of ''Stormbringer''.

* [[Historical In-Joke]]: [[The Song of Roland ~~(Literature)~~|Roland]], the semi-mythical French paladin who served under Charlemagne, is implied to be a future incarnation of Elric.

* [[Historical In-Joke]]: [[The Song of Roland|Roland]], the semi-mythical French paladin who served under Charlemagne, is implied to be a future incarnation of Elric.

** Tie-ins from other Moorcock stories indicate that so is [[King Arthur]].

* [[Ill Girl|Ill Guy]]: Until he acquires Stormbringer, Elric requires constant medicinal treatments just to be able to stand upright or dress himself.

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* [[King Trope the Nth]]: Elric VIII, 428th emperor of Melnibone, son of Sadric LXXXVI.

* [[Life Drinker]]: Elric, via Stormbringer.

* [[Loyal to ~~The~~ Position]]: Valharik, the captain of the guard in Melnibone in the first novel, claims this as his reason for betraying his mistress Cymoril and following Yyrkoon's evil orders when he takes power in Melnibone, including cutting down one of his own men who tried to defend her against Yyrkoon and feeding the poor guy to Cymoril's slaves. Needless to say, Elric doesn't buy it.

* [[Loyal to the Position]]: Valharik, the captain of the guard in Melnibone in the first novel, claims this as his reason for betraying his mistress Cymoril and following Yyrkoon's evil orders when he takes power in Melnibone, including cutting down one of his own men who tried to defend her against Yyrkoon and feeding the poor guy to Cymoril's slaves. Needless to say, Elric doesn't buy it.

* [[Magitek]]: In ''The Sleeping Sorceress'' Elric rides a sentient, talking mechanical bird.

* [[One-Man Army]]: Pretty much anyone who wields [[Artifact of Doom|The Black Sword]], be it Mournblade, Stormbringer, or one of their equivalents in other stories of the Champion Eternal. [[Justified Trope|Justified]], since the Black Sword is a [[Soul Drinker]] and can pass on the stolen vitality of its victims onto the wielder, providing them with supernatural strength and endurance for [[Evil Weapon|as long as they keep killing]]. Elric, however, takes it [[Up to Eleven]], since not only does he have [[Summon Magic]], he's also known as one of the most powerful sorcerors in the world, effectively making him a [[Person of Mass Destruction]].

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* [[Planar Champion]]: Elric, as an incarnation of the Champion Eternal, is one of the best-known examples, possibly even the [[Trope Codifier]].

* [[Plea of Personal Necessity]]: Darnizhaan tells Elric and Dyvim Slorm that killing him will begin the death of the world they know. When they decide to do so anyway, he says, "Fools! In destroying me, you destroy yourselves!"

* [[Powered By a Forsaken Child]]: Pan Tang's war machine is fueled by conscripting the adult men of their tribute states, then ''sacrificing their wives and children'', on arcane altars which are in operation 24 hours a day, ''depopulating an entire continent in the process'', to summon the Lords of Chaos

* [[Powered by a Forsaken Child]]: Pan Tang's war machine is fueled by conscripting the adult men of their tribute states, then ''sacrificing their wives and children'', on arcane altars which are in operation 24 hours a day, ''depopulating an entire continent in the process'', to summon the Lords of Chaos

* [[Precursors]]: All the civilizations of the "Young Kingdoms" were built on the ruins of the old Melnibonean empire.

* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]