History Characters / TheSecretOfKells

* DidNotThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:He spends so much time with the wall that it never occurs that he should have ''also'' spent that much time with the scaffolding. And by the time he realizes...]]

* LackOfEmpathy: When the leader reads the Book of Iona (a.k.a the Book of Kells), the book that has touched everyone who's read it (even [[ControlFreak Cellach]]), his response was to tear out the pages, throw said pages in Aidan's and Brendan's faces and walk off with the gold cover. [[LanguageBarrier Though, another possibility is that he just didn't understand Gaelic.]]

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: She states outright in the opening that she's "lived through many ages", and [[spoiler:decades later, when Brendan is an adult, she looks exactly the same as she did when he was a child]]. She makes a [[https://41.media.tumblr.com/760ec1295cc641fcd1c7256dda43261e/tumblr_nk3z9sZXPV1so3spio1_1280.jpg brief cameo]] in the movie ''WesternAnimation/SongOfTheSea'', which is set during TheEighties, and she certainly doesn't look a thousand years older.

* CatsAreSnarkers: Of the SilentSnarker variety.
* DefrostingIceQueen: She really starts to warm off Brendan. [[spoiler:Eventually, after Aidan's death, she now travels with an adult Brendan.]]

* TheDreaded: Aisling is absolutely terrified of it, and refuses to even speak its name when she's in its temple. It's implied that Cellach is afraid of Crom, too, at least afraid of its cult.

* TheDreaded: To Aisling, and it's implied that Cellach is afraid of him, too. Or at least afraid of his cult.

* HumanlikeAnimalAging: She's rather long-lived for an ordinary cat. By the end of the film, [[spoiler:she's outlived Aidan and continues to accompany Brendan into his adulthood.]]

* Really700YearsOld: Maybe? [[spoiler:Pangur-Ban is shown to outlive Aidan and continue to accompany Brendan into his adulthood. That is ''very'' long-lived for a cat. Perhaps slipping into the spirit world with Aisling's help made her a bit other-worldly and extended her lifespan?]]
** On the other hand, if she was a young cat at the beginning of the story (say a year old or a little less), it's not unreasonable to assume that she lived a roughly normal lifespan. For Pangur Ban to live [[spoiler: ten years or more]] would be unlikely under the circumstances, but still within the realm of possibility. [[note]]Under ideal conditions and with good genes, cats can live into their 20s. The average lifespan of an indoor cat today is fifteen years, while those allowed outdoors average about eight. For Pangur Ban, a cat living centuries ago (before modern veterinary care) and being outside quite a bit where predators might get her, the odds of living a long time are somewhat slim, so the trope could still stand.[[/note]]

* InformedAbility: It's frequently hinted at that he may have been a monk Iona along with Brother Aidan considering that he mentioned, "You were always good at the old drawing, Cellach." Which was said in Cellach's room and as Aidan was observing his wall plans scribbled on his bedroom walls. But in the time since he took Brendan under his protection, he's obviously lost his talent as can be seen for how warped and colourless his dawings were in the present.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_96.jpg]]

* LargeAndInCharge: The abbot dwarfs everyone else living in Kells.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:His focus on supporting the walls and not the scaffolding means that when the former is destroyed and the latter has numerous people climbing it to escape, it ends up with ''numerous'' people dead at his feet.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: His actions aren't ideal (his actions being working his subjects from day to night and locking Brendan in his room), but his motives are good (his motives being protect Kells from [[KnightOfCerebus The Northmen]]).

* TheBadGuyWins: While a small squadron of them were mauled to death by Aisling's wolves, it's implied that, not only is their ravaging of Ireland still going, but they get away ''[[KarmaHoudini scot free]]''.

The main antagonists of the story.

* KickTheDog: Aside from their constant raid and pillaging of Ireland, the leader has a quite literal example. When Pangur-Ban lunges herself at the leader he slaps her away.

The secondary antagonist of the movie.

* SoleSurvivor: ''Maybe''. [[spoiler: The only brother seen after the siege of Kells is Brother Tang, which could imply that the others were killed during the attack.]]

* {{Leitmotif}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk9-ALPPXJs Vikings]]

* ScaryBlackMan: Averted. Brother Assoua, who hails from Africa, towers over the rest of the illuminators, but is in incredibly NiceGuy.

[[/folder]]

* InnocentBlueEyes: To show his naiveté (especially from his uncle's POV) and his curious nature.

* InnocentBlueEyes: To show his naiveté (especially from his uncle's POV) and his curious nature.

* {{Adorkable}}: Brendan's a NiceGuy, but he's also utterly clumsy and suffers from AttentionDeficitOohShiny[[note]]If him day dreaming while people are talking to him is of any indication[[/note]]

A forest fairy, one of the Tuatha De Danann, who lives in the woods outside of Kells.

* TheFairFolk: Downplayed; she's nicer than most examples, but she's ''very'' protective of her forest and isn't above siccing her wolves on people she views as trespassers. She even threatens to set the wolves on Brendan if he doesn't leave. While Brendan refers to her as a "fairy" in the film, one of the tie-in comics confirms that she's actually one of the Tuatha De Danann, a race who were actually the pre-Christian deities of Ireland but were portrayed by Christian writers as fairies.

* LastOfTheirKind: She's the last of the Tuatha de Danaan. She reveals to Brendan that Crom Cruach was responsible for the destruction of her people, and the tie-in comic centered on her confirms outright that she's the last of them.

* TheFairFolk: Downplayed; she's nicer than most examples, but she's ''very'' protective of her forest and isn't above siccing her wolves on people she views as trespassers. She even threatens to set the wolves on Brendan if he doesn't leave.

* AnimalMotifs: Wolves. It's her alternate form and she's TheLeader of a wolf pack.

* TheFairFolk: She's nicer than most examples, but she still isn't above siccing her wolves on people who trespass in the forest, which she considers hers.

* InformedAbility: It's frequently hinted at that he may have been a monk Iona along with Brother Aidan considering that he mentioned, "You were always good at the old drawing, Cellach.". Which was said in Cellach's room and as Aidan was admiring his plans scribbled on his walls. But in the time since he took Brendan under his protection, he's obviously lost his talent as can be seen for how warped and colourless his dawings were in the present.