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{{quote|"We now have over a thousand confirmed cases of individuals with these so-called [[The Magic Comes Back|magical abilities]] on the continent alone. The faculty has descended into a terrible uproar over the proper nomenclature for such specimens. All manner of [[Gratuitous Latin|Latin phrases]] have been bandied about. Professor Gerard even suggested Grimnoir, a combination of the old French Grimoire, or book of spells, with Noir, for Black, in the sense of the mysterious, for at this juncture the origin of said Powers remains unknown. He was laughed down. Personally, I’ve taken to calling them wizards, for the very idea of there being actual magic beyond the bounds of science [[The Professor Is Crying Again|causes my esteemed colleagues to sputter and choke]]."|Dr. L. Fulci, ''Professor of Natural Science, University of Bern, Personal Journal'' 1852}}
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{{quote|"The learned gentlemen from the university have asked me if I relied on Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity or if I used the simpler rules of Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation on the evening in question when I accidentally took Sheriff Johnson’s life . Shit. I don’t know. [[A Wizard Did It|I just got angry and squished the fucker]]. But I’ve gotten better at running things and I promise not to do it no more."|Jake Sullivan, ''Parole Hearing, Rockville State Penitentiary'' 1928}}
''Jake Sullivan is a [[World War
''[[It Got Worse]]. Jake found out that not only have the Feds been lying to him, but there was a secret war being waged by opposing forces of magic-users. Worst of all, he had attracted the attention of one side's ruthless leaders-who were of the opinion that Jake was far too dangerous to be permitted to live...''
The first in the series is
The sequel
----
{{tropelist}}
* [[An Ice Person]]: Iceboxes
* [[Anti-Hero]]: {{spoiler|Harkeness turns out to be a Grimnoir knight, who killed Pershing as part of a longer plan to defeat the Chairman. When Browning finds out, he still kills him for it.}}
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* [[Batman Gambit]]: {{spoiler|Harkeness}} is running one against the Chairman.
* [[Battle Couple]]: Jake & Delilah. Faye and Francis, briefly.
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Faye very calmly vows to kill both Madi and the Chairman himself. She
* [[Beware the Superman]]: Part of the Imperium's plan for taking over the world is to sow distrust of Actives in the United States, by framing them for a Peace Ray attack.
* [[
* [[Boxed Crook]]: Jake is a fairly free-range one at the beginning of the book.
* [[Big Bad]]: The Chairman.
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* [[Dark Action Girl]]: Toshiko.
* [[Defector From Decadence]]: {{spoiler|Toru}}
* [[Designated Girl Fight]]: Faye vs. Toshiko. Despite this, it's an ''awesome'' fight scene featuring frenetic [[Teleport Spam]] on a [[Battle Amongst the Flames|flaming]] [[Zeppelins
* [[Differently-Powered Individual]]: in-universe, supers are variously referred to as Actives, Magicals and more.
* [[Dumb Muscle]]: An in-world sterotype of Heavies (but not necessarily the more common Brutes). How true this is is unclear, since the only Heavies the story shows in any real detail are Sullivan, who runs directly counter to this {{spoiler|and his brother, who also does}}. The one unrelated Heavy with any speaking role of note, {{spoiler|a man at one of FDR's camps }}, is a simple man whose wife has a major role in his family decisions, but otherwise doesn't come off as particularly dumb.
* [[Elite Mooks]]: The Iron Guard and Shadow Guard are superpowered, ''very'' highly trained and magically enhanced to boot.
* [[The Empire]]: The Imperium, natch.
* [[Encyclopedia Exposita]]: Each chapter is opened with some historical quote, throwing out hints about the [[Alternate History]], such as Hitler being executed before rising to power, [[Theodore Roosevelt]] dying in [[World War
* [[Evil Counterpart]]: see [[Evil Twin]]. Same applies to Faye and Toshiko.
* [[Evil Twin]]: Not a twin ''per se'', but Jake and his brother ({{spoiler|Madi}}) look similar enough that {{spoiler|Faye shoots him on sight}}.
* [[Fiction 500]]: Cornelius Gould Stuyvesant is the richest man in the world, and owner of [[Zeppelins
* [[Gadgeteer Genius]]: Much of the current technology is produced by Cogs, whose Power is a supernatural aptitude for science.
* [[Genius Bruiser]]: Jake. Exceptionally well-read, brilliant enough to figure out what the Power really is, and a giant hulk of a man.
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* [[Healing Factor]]: Passive Healers. Also, anyone with one or more kanji of healing.
* [[Heavyworlder]]: Apparently, all [[Gravity Master|Spikers/Heavies]] are huge, stocky types.
* [[Hero
* [[Historical Domain Character]]: John J. "Black Jack" Pershing and John Moses Browning are both Grimnoir knights, and Sullivan has some unpleasant dealings with J. Edgar Hoover.
** In the second book, Buckminister Fuller makes a brief but significant appearance.
* [[Historical Person Punchline]]: The UBF accountant (who helped in the climactic battle, explaining that he fought with the Gordon Highlanders in [[World War
* [[Historical Villain Upgrade]]: In [[Real Life]], [[Imperial Japan]] was racist, militaristic, and expansionist, with an array of atrocities to its name. The Imperium is all of that, turned [[Up to Eleven]], and more succesful. Averted with [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], where his actions are exactly what he did in real life, just with a different target.
* [[Hope Spot]]: Just after defeating the Bull King, {{spoiler|Delilah gets run through by a ninja}}.
* [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl]]: The massive Jake and the petite Delilah.
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* [[Jerkass]]: Charles. Gould. Stuyvesant.
* [[Living Lie Detector]]: Justices, such as Hammer.
* [[Living
* [[Little Miss Badass]]: Faye, who may or may not be 18 yet and is pretty small. She irritates everyone trying to fight her by not being where they think she is and, in the final battle, kills around a hundred Imperium marines and wounds the Chairman.
* [[Made of Iron]]: Madi and Rokusaburo in particular, Brutes, Massives and people with [[Power Tattoo|kanji]] of durability in general.
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* [[Mind Control]]: Beasties such as Lance can control animals and see through their eyes for reconnaissance. Mouths like Dan can control people to a limited extent, but can't make them do anything they wouldn't consider anyway.
* [[Mind Over Matter]]: Francis comes from a long line of Movers.
* [[Mirror Match]]: Twice, Sullivan has to go head-to-head with his brother, pitting gravity powers against gravity powers. See also Faye vs. Toshiko
* [[Near
* [[Necromancer]]: In-setting, an Active (such as Hiroyasu) that can raise and command zombies is called a "Lazarus."
* [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]: The Chairman's philosophy has elements of this; Madi takes those elements and runs with 'em as far as they can go.
* [[Ninja]]: The Shadow Guard. Membership is restricted to highly trained [[Intangible Man|Fades]] and [[Teleporters and Transporters|Travelers]].
* [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]]: Ninjas, pirates, and zombies all come together for the big climactic fight scene of ''Hard Magic''.
** Then, of course, robots show up in the sequel ''Spellbound''.
* [[Noble Bigot]]: Travelin' Joe hates the Okies that pass by his farm, but not so much that he doesn't adopt one to keep her from killing herself with her power.
* [[One Person, One Power]]:
* [[Pet the Dog]]: In a very human and even kind moment, the Chairman {{spoiler|consoles Sullivan over Delilah's death and helps him come to terms with it; Sullivan even sincerely thanks him for it. . . right before saying that he still plans on killing him regardless.}}
* [[Playing
* [[Playing
* [[Poisonous Person]]: Harkeness is a Pale Horse, an Active so rare they border on mythological status. He can control his power at will, but that doesn't make Stuyvesant any less wary of him.
* [[Power Tattoo]]: The kanji used by the Imperium to enhance their operatives. They are technically brands though as opposed to actual tattoos. The Russians are preported to have their own, even more horrific, variant {{spoiler|and Sullivan figures out how to make a few himself}}.
* [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]]: The Chairman {{spoiler|is indeed the very first Active, and is thus considerably older than he looks.}}
* [[Required Secondary Powers]]: Traveler Fae has a mental mini-map that prevent her from [[Tele Frag]]ing herself. {{spoiler|It turns out this is actually not a secondary power at all: It's actually her ''primary'' one, as Fae is actually a Cog}}.
* [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]]: Francis.
* [[Rule of Cool]]
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* [[She Cleans Up Nicely]]: Faye turnes out to look really good in a nice dress.
* [[Shock and Awe]]: Cracklers, although they prefer to be called "Edisons."
* [[Shout
* [[Sky Pirate]]: The last piece of the Geo-Tel is protected by Southunder, who preys on Imperium ships in the Pacific ocean from his zeppelin.
* [[Super Fun Happy Thing of Doom]]: Tesla's "Peace Ray." [Wikipedia:Teleforce It's a real concept he came up with, and a name actually given to it by the press].
* [[Super Strength]]: Delilah, enough said.
* [[Technician Versus Performer]]: Zig-zagged; while Faye's natural talent lets her run circles around the well-trained Toshiko, Jake's greater power does not generally keep him from getting smacked around by the more skillful Madi.
** Given his [[Training
* [[Teleport Spam]]: Any fight involving a Traveler such as Faye, Toshiko, Travelin' Joe, etc.
* [[They Would Cut You Up]]: A practice Unit 731 does to Actives with unusual powers.
* [[The Dragon]] / [[The Heavy]]: Madi, to the Chairman.
* [[Training
* [[Un
* [[The Unmasqued World]]: While Actives are public knowledge, {{spoiler|The Grimnoir's existence is made public at the end of the second book, and the true nature of Actives, kept secret by The Chairman, is made public at the end of the third.}}
* [[Walking the Earth]]: The Chairman's backstory includes a long period of doing this.
* [[What Happened to
* [[Wicked Cultured]]: The Chairman. Madi tries to emulate his mentor in this, but fails miserably.
* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: The Chairman just wants humanity to be strong so we'll be able to fight The Enemy when it arrives. {{spoiler|Harkeness curses the General in order to set up a [[Batman Gambit]] against the Chairman}}
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* [[You Fight Like a Cow]]: Faye ([[Irony|who grew up on a dairy farm]]) spends much of her fight with Toshiko tossing insults at the ninja.
* [[You Killed My Father|You Killed My Adoptive Grandfather]]: Why Faye joins the Grimnoir.
* [[Zeppelins
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Fantasy Literature]]
[[Category:Alternate History Literature]]
[[Category:
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