History Awesome / InheritanceCycle

* Not an epic battle, or a well-planned siege, but Roran again, and still awesome nevertheless. In ''Inheritance'', Katrina is growing increasingly frustrated doing laundry, when Roran offers to do it to give her a break. She protests because people would think it unseemly, but he ''insists'' on doing it, indicating that he really doesn't care ''what'' other people would think and that it would be good to do something with his hands other than swinging his hammer.

** This also counts as a moment for the hero himself. If he were like the elves, he'd probably just ignore Elva, but he was willing to at least listen to other people.

* The steps Eragon takes at the very end of the series to avoid becoming another "Galbatorix" is pretty amazing as well. He's more than aware of how easy it would be for him to become a powerful, unmatched ruler, and yet he resists all temptation and takes steps to ensure he will not be made king or leader. It may not seem amazing, but turning down power like that isn't easy as it may look.

* Sloan's calling out Eragon in ''Brisingr'' is a truly magnificent WhatTheHellHero moment, and Eragon's reaction subtracts the "Hero" part from the SociopathicHero normally associated with him.

*** [[TenMinuteRetirement He slept through the first day.]] [[note]] [[RrealityEnsues He was utterly exhausted from riding for several days straight.]][[/note]]

*** [[TenMinuteRetirement He slept through the first day.]] [[note:]] [[RrealityEnsues He was utterly exhausted from riding for several days straight.]][[/note]]

** Except they didn't really appear.

*** [[TenMinuteRetirement He slept through the first day.]]

* Roran [[spoiler:capturing Aroughs.

* At the end of the first book, Eragon is outmatched in a fight with Durza in the main chamber of Tronjheim, surrounded by urgals, while Saphira and Arya are stuck in the Dragonhold a mile above his head, separated from him by the seemingly indestructible Star Sapphire, a sixty-foot wide and thick gemstone that is the heart of the dwarves' city. Right when Eragon is injured and a moment away from defeat, Arya uses her magic to ''break'' the Star Saphhire, shattering it, while she and Saphira fly down through the falling fragments toward him, Saphira breathing fire for the first time. Durza is momentarily shocked and stares, distracted, and in that one brief moment, Eragon summons up the last of his strength, sets his sword on fire, and stabs him through the heart, utterly destroying the Shade.
* In the second book, ''Eldest'', Roran (a minor character from the first book, ''Eragon'',) proves his awesomeness by not only rallying the village into taking up arms against a squad of trained military soldiers and a pair of human-like condors who eat flesh, but afterwards convinces nearly the ''entire village'' to abandon their home, march over freezing mountains, steal a cargo ship from a guarded city, sail through a whirlpool, and join a rebel movement. This troper sometimes opens the book just to read his parts of the story!
* In ''Eldest,'' [[spoiler: Murtagh]] earned the respect of many when he [[spoiler: announced his return by kicking Eragon's ass ''all over the place'', even ''after'' Eragon's elven power-up]]. Even the fact that he had just done it to [[spoiler:the protagonist]], did little to diminish the awesomeness. Thorn also cemented his badassery by [[spoiler: holding his own against and wounding Saphira even when he was severely injured and Saphira was armored.]] According to WordOfGod, Murtagh would have overpowered Eragon like this even if Eragon hadn't just been through a battle.

* In previewing ''Book IV'', Christopher Paolini actually used the term "crowning moment of awesomeness" in relation to Angela, stating “There is a lot more to Angela than meets the eye. If you like her, you’re in for a treat with Book Four. Angela gets several crowning moments of awesomeness therein.”
* Oromis and Glaedr not only battling Murtagh and Thorn above Gil'ead, but also holding their own before Galbatorix intervenes. Another mention goes to the elves, who enter the war against the Empire not by marching to join the Varden or sending out messengers, but by capturing ''one of its major military bases.'' And then mocking ''frickin' Galbatorix.''

** For those out there who don't know what this means, this guy basically just [[spoiler: turned himself in a frickin' nuclear bomb. ''A nuclear bomb.'']]

* Roran [[spoiler:capturing Aroughs. The guy had ''3 days'' to capture the nearly-impregnable city, only 800 warriors (with an insubordinate commander) + several truster villagers and a magician of modest abilities. He slept through the first day. He spent the 2nd day thoroughly studying anything of use for his plans. Then on the 3rd day, he and a force of warriors near single-handedly snuck into the city's waterways with barges, and captured it's center, through nothing more than sheer determination.]]

* From a narrative standpoint, the buildup and [[TheReveal Reveal]] of [[GiantFlyer Shruikan]]. You're left stunned by how big he's ''implied'' to be from outside Uru'baen. When he actually shows himself, you can ''feel'' how dumbstruck Eragon is by how freaking [[{{Kaiju}} HUGE]] he is, through some surprisingly good wording by Paolini, with only a small bit of PurpleProse.

* The steps Eragon takes at the very end of the series to avoid becoming another "Galbatorix" is pretty awesome as well. He's more than aware of how easy it would be for him to become a powerful, unmatched ruler, and yet he resists all temptation and takes steps to ensure he will not be made king or leader. It may not seem all that awesome, but turning down power like that isn't easy as it may look.

--> The dragon was enormous. Eragon at first had difficulty comprehending that the entire shape before them was a single living creature. He saw part of Shruikan's corded neck and thought he was seeing the main part of the dragon's body; he saw the side of one of Shruikan's hind feet and mistook it for a shin. A fold of a wing was an entire wing in his mind.

** [[spoiler:And before this, when a small force is charging towards their camp, he has every single person besides himself hide. Some time later, this very same force ''retreats away from him, a single man''. He scared an entire cavalry force away with nothing more than words, sheer confidence, and a very simple magicians trick.]]

* In ''Eldest,'' [[spoiler: Murtagh]] earned the respect of many when he [[spoiler: announced his return by kicking Eragon's ass ''all over the place'', even ''after'' Eragon's elven power-up]]. Even the fact that he had just done it to [[spoiler:the protagonist]], did little to diminish the awesomeness.
** Thorn also cemented his badassery by [[spoiler: holding his own against and wounding Saphira even when he was severely injured and Saphira was armored.]]
*** The only part that diminishes it was that Murtagh had just entered the battle, while Eragon and Saphira had been fighting for hours and were tired.

* Sloan's calling out Eragon in ''Brisingr'' is a truly magnificent WhatTheHellHero moment, and Eragon's reaction subtracts the "Heroic" part from the HeroicSociopath normally associated with him.
* Elva getas a similar moment later on in the book. When Eragon attempts to [[spoiler: strip her powers from her]], she calls him out for his self-righteousness, and points out that he has no right to do something like that to her simply because he didn't approve of her. "That way lies the depraved pleasure of controlling others for your own satisfaction. [[NotSoDifferent Galbatorix would approve]]." Eragon is so shocked that he is ''brought to his knees'' and is ''unable to even phrase a reply'', because he can't think of anything to defend himself against her accusations.

* Roran, when in ''Brisingr'' he defied poorly formed orders from his commander to win a battle and kill nearly 200 soldiers.

* Nasuada [[spoiler: getting captured by Murtagh and withstanding massive amounts of pain and torture from Galby himself without giving in. And when Galby starts making her hallucinate, she ''plays along,'' and ''laughs as she goes through crazy visions and horrors.'']]

** YourMileageMayVary.

* Eragon [[spoiler: defeating Galbatorix, by making him ''feel'' the pain he has ever inflicted on anyone or any dragon, inadvertently or not, over the century he has lived.]]

* Eragon [[spoiler: defeating Galbatorix, by making him ''feel'' the pain he inflicted on all the dragons he's connected to.]]

* Oromis and Glaedr not only battling Murtagh and Thorn above Gil'ead, but also being on the verge of ''[[BadassGrandpa winning]]'' before Galbatorix intervenes. Another mention goes to the elves, who enter the war against the Empire not by marching to join the Varden or sending out messengers, but by capturing ''one of its major military bases.'' And then mocking ''frickin' Galbatorix.''

* Only mentioned, but the Old Rider Thuviel, who magically converted some of his body's mass directly to energy in the Battle of Doru Areaba, horribly killing himself and poisoning his home with radiation, just to conceal the [[spoiler: last dragon eggs and Eldunarya from Galbatorix.]]

* Only mentioned, but the Old Rider Thuviel, who magically converted some of his body's mass directly to energy in the Battle of Doru Areaba, horribly killing himself and poisoning his home with radiation, just to conceal the last dragon eggs and Eldunarya from Galbatorix.

*** And after Elva leaves, Angela ''slaps Eragon in the face''. Yes, she-the eccentric human spellcaster-slaps Eragon, the Dragon Rider with the super-fast reflexs and enough strength to smash through an armoured man's chest. (Well, "human".)

* Oromis and Glaedr not only battling Murtagh and Thorn above Gil'ead, but also being on the verge of ''[[BadassGrandpa winning]]'' before Galbatorix intervenes. Another mention goes to the elves, who enter the war against the Empire not by marching to join the Varden or sending out messengers, but by capturing ''one of its major military bases.'' And then mocking ''frickin' Galbatorix.''

*** And after Elva leaves, Angela ''slaps Eragon in the face''. Yes, she-the eccentric human spellcaster-slaps Eragon, the Dragon Rider with the super-fast reflexs and enough strength to smash through an armoured man's chest.

* In previewing ''Book IV'', Christopher Paolini actually used the term "crowning moment of awesomeness" in relation to Angela, stating “There is a lot more to Angela than meets the eye. If you like her, you’re in for a treat with Book Four. Angela gets several crowning moments of awesomeness therein.”

*** And after Elva leaves, Angela "slaps Eragon in the face". Yes, she-the eccentric human spellcaster-slaps Eragon, the Dragon Rider with the super-fast reflexs and enough strength to smash through an armoured man's chest.

* In previewing ''Book IV'', Christopher Paolini actually used the term "crowning moment of awesomeness" in relation to Angela, stating “There is a lot more to Angela than meets the eye. If you like her, you’re in for a treat with Book Four. Angela gets several crowning moments of awesomeness therein.”
* Oromis and Glaedr not only battling Murtagh and Thorn above Gil'ead, but also being on the verge of ''[[BadassGrandpa winning]]'' before Galbatorix intervenes. Another mention goes to the elves, who enter the war against the Empire not by marching to join the Varden or sending out messengers, but by capturing ''one of its major military bases.'' And then mocking "frickin' Galbatorix".

* Oromis and Glaedr not only battling Murtagh and Thorn above Gil'ead, but also being on the verge of ''[[BadassGrandpa winning]]'' before Galbatorix intervenes. Another mention goes to the elves, who enter the war against the Empire by capturing ''one of its major military bases.''

* In the second book, ''Eldest'', Roran (a minor character from the first book, ''Eragon'',) proves his awsomeness by not only rallying the village into taking up arms against a squad of trained military soldiers and a pair of human-like condors who eat flesh, but afterwards convinces nearly the ''entire village'' to abandon their home, march over freezing mountains, steal a cargo ship from a guarded city, sail through a whirlpool, and join a rebel movement. This troper sometimes opens the book just to read his parts of the story!

* In previewing ''Book IV'', Christopher Paolini actually used the term "crowning moment of awesomeness" in relation to Angela, stating “There is a lot more to Angela than meets the eye. If you like her, you’re in for a treat with Book Four. Angela gets several crowning moments of awesomeness therein.”