History Franchise / TalesOfArcadia

[[caption-width-right:327:Arcadia is a strange place.]]

* BookEnds:

* ConnectedAllAlong: The trolls and the Akaridion aliens are connected through a prophecy, as revealed in Part Two of ''3Below''.
* TheConspiracy: At first only Eli Pepperjack was aware that there were trolls, wizards, ''and'' aliens all living secretly in Arcadia.

** '''''3Below:''''' [[spoiler:General Morando is defeated for good and Akiridion-5 is freed from his and the corrupted Talon Phalanx's dictatorship. However, King Fialkov and Queen Coranda have sacrificed themselves to help their children win, leaving them the new reigns of their planet. Although Aja and Krel now have a way to return home, they decide to go their separate ways; Aja [[ButNowIMustGo returns to Akiridion-5 to take the throne]] while Krel [[IChooseToStay remains on Earth to be with his new Earthling friends]]. Also, the Creepslayerz decide to split up for the time being as well; Eli chooses to go to Akiridion-5 with Aja as the first Earth ambassador while Steve stays in Arcadia with Krel to be with his family.]]

Arcadia seems like your average small American city, but unbeknownst to many of even its own citizens the sleepy little Californian town holds some amazing secrets. Ferocious Trolls live beneath the city streets, Alien royalty from another world are hiding next door, and powerful wizards walk the streets. Magic is everywhere and it's attracting some very nasty customers who want nothing more than to claim it all and rule the world. It's up to our various young heroes and their loyal allies to stop them, all while balancing the normal life of your average American teenager.

** '''''Trollhunters:''''' [[spoiler:Gunmar and his Gumm-Gumm Army have been eradicated after centuries of causing conflict, Morgana has been banished to the Shadow Realm with the supposedly only means of entering and leaving it (the Skathe-Hrün) destroyed, and the Eternal Night has been subsided. While the existence of trolls has been revealed to the humans of Arcadia, Janeth’s reaction to the good trolls implies that the future regarding this will be bright, or at least not ending in disaster. With that said, Jim is still trapped in his half-troll form with no hope of turning back, [[YouCantGoHomeAgain forcing him to abandon his human life]] - including his mother and his best friend - to go with Merlin and the rest of the trolls across the country to set up a new Trollmarket in New Jersey, now that the old Heartstone in Arcadia has been destroyed. Strickler and Nomura now have no hope of regaining their human lives since their familiars are now out of the Darklands, many of said familiars left with no families to return to since many of them have been there for literal centuries. On a more positive note, Claire goes with Jim and the trolls on their journey to New Jersey in addition to [[WeWillMeetAgain both telling Toby that they'll see him again]], AAARRRGGHH!! stays in Arcadia to keep Toby company, and Strickler decides to help Barbara raise the babies and restart their relationship.]]

** '''''Wizards:''''' [[spoiler:Jim regains his humanity and human form, albeit without the amulet but [[SequelHook might be worthy of wielding Excalibur eventually]], and the evil Green Knight (aka King Arthur) is no more. Douxie finally becomes a full-fledged wizard but sadly, Arthur has murdered Merlin and Morgana, with the latter in a RedemptionEqualsDeath battle against her undead brother, leaving Douxie alone in the Age of Man to carry on their magical legacy. The Arcane Order are still at large with the Genesis Seals, once again searching for Nari to break them and unleash an apocalypse onto the universe. With Merlin gone and the Order at their tail, Douxie leaves Arcadia as Nari's new protector, but [[WeWillMeetAgain promises to the Guardians of Arcadia that he'll return soon]].]]
** '''''Rise of the Titans:''''' Played with. [[spoiler:While the heroes stop the titans and save the world, it came at a massive cost; many heroes (Nomura, Strickler, Nari, and Toby) lost their lives and large parts of the world destroyed, due to the titans' rampage. Jim ends up going back in time to the day he became a Trollhunter – [[RippleEffectProofMemory with only himself aware of it]] – to try and [[GoldenEnding create a better future for himself and his loved ones]].]]

* IronicName: The name of the city. {{Arcadia}} is a term used to refer to romanticized depictions of a peaceful, gentle and quiet countryside area. The city itself is not on the countryside, but rather urban-like and far from peaceful or quiet.
* ScienceFantasy: Trolls and ancient beasts, aliens and advanced technologies, wizards and magic artifacts. The franchise has it all.

** '''''Rise of the Titans:''''' Played with. [[spoiler:While the heroes stop the titans and save the world, it came at a massive cost; many heroes (Nomura, Strickler, Nari, and Toby) lost their lives and large parts of the world destroyed, due to the titans' rampage. Jim ends up going [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong back in time to the day he became a Trollhunter]] – with only himself aware of it – to try and [[GoldenEnding create a better future for everyone]].]]

** In a literal sense, the entire franchise starts and ends when one of two friends, Jim [[spoiler:and Toby]], is chosen by a magic amulet in the canals, thus marking the start [[spoiler:and restart]] of their grand adventures.

* SimultaneousArcs: Part 1 of ''WesternAnimation/ThreeBelow'' takes place at the same time as Part 3 of ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}''. The ninth episode of both those seasons are [[SynchronousEpisodes when the main characters of both shows meet and have a small adventure together.]]

* BittersweetEnding: Pretty much all the finales of the four instalments ends with these:

** '''''Rise of the Titans:''''' [[spoiler:While the heroes stop the titans and save the world, it came at a massive cost; many heroes (Nomura, Strickler, Nari, and Toby) lost their lives and large parts of the world destroyed, due to the titans' rampage. Jim ends up going [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong back in time to the day he became a Trollhunter]] – with only himself aware of it – to try and [[GoldenEnding create a better future for everyone]].]]

** In a literal sense, the franchise starts and ends with one of two human boys, Jim [[spoiler:and Toby]], being chosen by a magic amulet in the canals, thus marking the start [[spoiler:and restart]] of their grand adventures.

** However, the [[GenreShift genre shifts completely]] in ''Wizards'' and ''Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans''. All of the young heroes basically become more concerned with saving the world rather than their urban school lives.

** [[spoiler:In the very first episode of the franchise, Jim is seen pulling Daylight [[Foreshadowing out of stone]]. In the GrandFinale, Jim becomes the new wielder of Excalibur.]]

** [[spoiler:In the very first episode of the trilogy, implied as a moment of {{Forshadowing}}, Jim is seen pulling Daylight out of stone, just like the Excalibur myth. In the ''Wizards'' finale, he tries (and fails, at first) to pull the real Excalibur out of stone following Arthur's demise. But in the last scene, he's seen staring at the sword, presumably implying that he will become its next wielder one day...]]

* BookEnds: [[spoiler:In the very first episode of the trilogy, implied to probably be a moment of {{Forshadowing}}, Jim is seen pulling Daylight out of stone, just like the Excalibur myth. In the ''Wizards'' finale, he tries (and fails, at first) to pull the real Excalibur out of stone following Arthur's demise. But in the last scene, he's seen staring at the sword, presumably implying that he will become its next wielder one day...]]

** However, the [[GenreShift genre shifts completely]] in ''Wizards'' and ''Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans''; all of the young heroes basically become more concerned with saving the world rather than their urban school lives.

* WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld:
** The protagonists of each series are young teenagers all trying to balance school and social lives with their adventurous other lives.
** However, unlike ''Trollhunters'' and ''3Below'', the majority of the ''Wizards'' setting [[GenreShift focuses more in the magical world of Camelot and the entire plot of the series in general is being concerned with battling evil, more than trying to balance urban school lives]].

Arcadia seems like your average small American city, but unbeknownst to many of even its own citizens the sleepy little Californian town holds some amazing secrets. Ferocious Trolls live beneath the city streets, Alien royalty from another world are hiding next door, and powerful wizards walk the streets. Magic is everywhere and it's attracting some very nasty customers who want nothing more then to claim it all and rule the world. It's up to our various young heroes and their loyal allies to stop them, all while balancing the normal life of your average American teenager.

---> [[spoiler:'''Toby:''' [[LampshadeHanging Why do all of these end with tearful goodbyes]]?]]
** '''''Rise of the Titans:''''' [[spoiler:While the heroes stop the titans and save the world. It comes at a massive cost, with a large amount of the heroes already dead and large parts of the world destroyed due to the titans' rampage. Jim ends up going back in time to the day he became a Trollhunter, with only himself aware of it, to try and create a better future for everyone.]]

* BittersweetEnding: Pretty much all the series finales of the three installments ends with these:

* ''[[WesternAnimation/TrollhuntersRiseOfTheTitans Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans]]'' (2021): The Guardians of Arcadia come together for one last epic adventure to save their worlds from the awakened titans.

** '''''Wizards:''''' [[spoiler:Jim regains his humanity and human form, albeit without the amulet but [[SequelHook might be worthy of wielding Excalibur eventually]], and the evil Green Knight (aka King Arthur) is no more. Douxie finally becomes a full-fledged wizard but sadly, Arthur has murdered his master, Merlin, and Morgana, with the latter in a RedemptionEqualsDeath battle against her undead brother, leaving Douxie alone in the Age of Man to carry on their magical legacy. The Arcane Order are still at large with the Genesis Seals, once again searching for Nari to break them and unleash an apocalypse onto the universe. With Merlin gone and the Order at their tail, Douxie leaves Arcadia as Nari's new protector, but [[WeWillMeetAgain promises to the Guardians of Arcadia that he'll return soon]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ThreeBelow'' (2018-2019): The story of Aja and Krel Tarron, alien royalty who crash-land on Earth and seek refuge after barely escaping a coup staged by an evil dictator.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/TrollhuntersRiseOfTheTitans Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans]]'' (2021): The Guardians of Arcadia come together on an epic adventure to save the universe from the apocalyptic titans and a shadowy enemy.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/TrollhuntersRiseOfTheTitans Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans]]'' (2021): The Guardians of Arcadia come together on an epic adventure to save the universe from the mighty titans.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/TrollhuntersRiseOfTheTitans Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans]]'' (2021): Intended to be the GrandFinale of the saga.