Warbreaker: Difference between revisions

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In a world where magic is ruled by three aspects (color, voice, and Breath, [[Soul Power|the essential power of one's soul]]), where those who die nobly can return to life and [[A God Am I|be worshiped as gods]], the minor kingdom of Idris wants to stay as far away from such things as possible. They wear muted colors, usually a simple gray or white, and look upon the use of Breath magic as an abomination. But in the neighboring kingdom of Hallandren, where the immortal [[God-Emperor|God King]] rules over [[Our Zombies Are Different|a court of deities returned from the dead]], sinister plots are stirring and many are calling for war against the "rebels" in Idris.

* [[And Call Him George]]: Tonk Fah and his pets. {{spoiler|Interestingly, this is at least ''implied'' early on, yet it's still a dark twist when we learn that he's not killing them by accident a la [[Of Mice and Men|Lennie]], but to satiate his psychopathic tendencies}}.

* [[Anti-Villain]]: {{spoiler|Bluefingers}} and {{spoiler|Denth}} are arguable examples.

* [[Arranged Marriage]]: Siri and the God-King Susebron. {{spoiler|Becomes a [[Perfectly Arranged Marriage]] once he is revealed to not be the evil dictator she thought.}}

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Blushweaver to Lightsong, about [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|his former life:]] "What if you were a murderer, or a rapist? Worse, what if you had bad fashion sense?"

** [[Artifact of Death]]: it has a distressing tendancy to try and kill whoever draws it, or make nearby people kill each other (but only if they're evil; good people get violently ill when they get too close), something Vasher was clever enough to weaponize- see [[Throwing Your Sword Always Works]] below for details.

* [[The Atoner]]: {{spoiler|Vasher}}

* [[Beleaguered Assistant]]: Llarimar, Lightsong's high priest, who does his best to keep his religion running despite its god's total lack of interest in it.

* [[Big Bad]]: Teased constantly. At first it looks like {{spoiler|Susebron}}, but he turns out to be harmless. Then it looks like {{spoiler|Denth}}, but it quickly becomes apparent that someone else is paying him. All the characters' suspicion then falls on {{spoiler|High Priest Treledees of the God King}}, but it turns out he's a deliberate red herring for {{spoiler|Bluefingers.}}

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Pretty much everyone has their moments, but Lightsong unquestionably earns the grand prize.

* [[Distaff Counterpart]]: [[Word of God]] has it that {{spoiler|Llarimar and Lightsong's}} relationship is supposed to be a parallel of {{spoiler|Vivenna and Siri's. Lightsong (or Stennimar as he used to be called) liked traveling and enjoying his bachelor lifestyle whereas Llarimar was the one who always did what he should, but Llarimar also always admired his brother for his sense of adventure, his proactiveness, and his simple kindness toward other people.}}

* [[Evil Chancellor]]: {{spoiler|Bluefingers.}}

** This appears to be a subversion at the start, however, so it's not played 100% straight.

* [[Fish Out of Water]]: Siri, the [[Rebellious Princess]] who finds herself in a [[Princess Classic]] plotline. And, for that matter, Vivi, a [[Princess Classic]] in a [[Rebellious Princess]] plotline.

* [[Flat Earth Atheist]]: Lightsong describes himself as the only god who doesn't believe in his own religion.

* [[Functional Magic]]: BioChroma.

* [[The Fundamentalist]]: Vivenna starts out as a mild version of this--she's not violent, but she is arrogant, judgmental, and closed-minded. [[Character Development]] helps her get over it.

* [[Get Into Jail Free]]: Vasher gets arrested in order to get Breath from a captured rebel.

* [[A God Am I]]: {{spoiler|Susebron is an oddly humble version of this. He firmly believes he's a god, having been raised almost entirely by his own priests, but he doesn't make a big deal out of it. It's just part of who he is.}}

* [[A God I Am Not]]: Lightsong, who constantly denies his godhood, though he does acknowledge the powers that come with it. {{spoiler|Until, right at the end, he regains his memory and decides he is a god after all. Cue [[Heroic Sacrifice]].}}

* [[Gods Need Prayer Badly]]: Variation--the gods are Returned and in order to survive, need a Breath given to them once a week in order to continue existing.

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: The Gods are each able to perform a single miracle, at the cost of their own lives. {{spoiler|The only one we actually witness is Lightsong's.}}

** {{spoiler|Also the way Lightsong became a god: he died saving his brother's child.}}

* [[Hidden in Plain Sight]]:

** {{spoiler|Denth ''constantly'' told Vivenna what he was capable of, and she didn't take it seriously because he said it with a grin and likeable banter}}.

** We don't know for sure. It seem likely that {{spoiler|Blushweaver is average}} among the gods in jerkass-ness, although more competent at it, but whether that means they all aren't so bad or she is worse is hard to say.

** [[Justified Trope|Justified]] and explained during Lightsong's philosophizing: When each god can only perform one miracle to help their people, and that at the cost of their own life, the truly good and noble ones die off quickly and those who stick around are the less compassionate.

* [[Kaleidoscope Hair]]: The Royal Locks, the sign of Idrian royalty, change color according to the owner's mood. It also can be grown out at will.

* [[Lampshaded Double Entendre]]: Blushweaver, ''constantly''. It's in her ''name'' for crying out loud.

* [[Luke Nounverber]]: Many of the Returned have very [[Noun Verber]] names, although not all. Gods like Peacegiver, Warbreaker, and Blushweaver fit the trope, but there are others, like Lightsong, Mercystar, and Weatherlove, who do not. Allmother kind of looks like she works, but not quite.

* [[The Magocracy]]: Inverted. Being a powerful Awakener isn't a guarantee of social status, but most of the wealthy and powerful buy lots of breaths so that they have the power available if they need it. In other words, magic is a sign of status, rather than the other way around.

* [[May-December Romance]]: {{spoiler|Siri and Susebron}} are a... complicated example. Chronologically, he's in his fifties and she's in her late teens. ''Mentally'', she's an adult {{spoiler|while he starts out almost childlike.}} ''Physically'', they're about the same age because of how {{spoiler|a Returned's powers keeps them ageless as long as they have a steady supply of Breath.}}

** This veers into Mayfly territory when the shippers pair Vivenna with {{spoiler|Vasher.}}

* [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]]: {{spoiler|Vasher and Denth.}}

* [[Rebellious Princess]]: Siri is a free spirit living in a very conservative culture, though she's able to get away with being somewhat rebellious because she's the youngest of four children and thus not very important in the grand scheme of things. Ironically, this independence is what helps her adjust to Hallandren, and she comments in the narrative that Vivenna, who was ''trained'' to go, would have been hindered by that very training.

** Vivenna herself is a subversion--even when she does go against her father's wishes, it's only out of what she sees as her royal duty.

* [[Rousseau Was Right]]: Pretty much every character in the story has good (or at least sympathetic) motivations for their actions. In the end, the only truly evil person in the novel is {{spoiler|[[Axe Crazy|Tonk Fah]]}} who is ultimately just [[The Dragon]]'s hired help.

** On his blog, Sanderson revealed that he felt it would be better to get his extremely ambitious ''Stormlight Archive'' series established before the release of what he admits will be a tonally different follow-up to the first book.

* [[Shapeshifter Baggage]]: Averted. Siri can make her hair grow from short to very long in a matter of moments, but it makes her very, very hungry.

* [[The Sociopath]]: {{spoiler|Tonk Fah}} is heavily implied to be this in the novel; [[Word of God]] confirms it.

* [[Soul Power]]: The Idrians believe Breath is a person's soul, and thus hold Awakening to be the worst sort of heresy. The people of Hallandren are less convinced of this, and don't revile Awakeners or believe losing one's Breath is so terrible, as long as they're paid well for it (or do it for a good cause, like [[Gods Need Prayer Badly|sustaining the Returned]]).

* [[Stuffed in The Fridge]]: {{spoiler|Parlin.}}

** Ahem, not to mention {{spoiler|Blushweaver.}}

** {{spoiler|Also Bluefingers and his conspiracy. All they want is independence and freedom from opression for their homeland--and they're willing to start a world war if that's what it takes to make that happen.}}

* [[White-Haired Pretty Girl]]: The princess (who could be Siri or Vivenna) depicted on the cover. In the text itself, their hair (and all their family's) changes color to match their mood, and it's only white when they're scared or very nervous.

** {{spoiler|Susebron,}} whose entire experience of the world consists of a book of fairy tales his mother read him as a child.

** Vivenna has a real tendency to view everything in terms of absolute black and white. She gets better.