History Fridge / GoodOmens

* The earth is a Libra, because it's the focal point of ''balance.'' It houses the forces of Heaven/Hell as well as being the location of their final war, and a main message of the book is humanity's capabilities for both good & evil, and how to find balance between the two. Possibly unintentional, but still awesome.
** Given the fact that the text directly points out that the Earth is a Libra, I'd say this is almost certainly intended.

* Agnes Nutter's TakingYouWithMe stunt is more than just simple revenge. At some point in the novel it's mentioned that the wages of the Witchfinder Army are so low because the main 'payment' in being a witchfinder is [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt laying claim to the property of the witch]] after [[BurnTheWitch disposing of them]]. Meaning that killing Witchfinder Major Pulsifer and any other lower-ranking Witchfinders he might have had with him, was her way of making sure the only copy left of "The Nice and Accurate Prophecies" ended up with her decendands and not with the Witchfinder Army.

* We know Crowley is the serpent from the Garden of Eden – a demon who corrupts humankind by causing them to reject God's instructions and eat from the tree of Knowledge. But Aziraphale, the angel who gives them his flaming sword for warmth, is ''Prometheus'' - the Titan who gave the humans heavenly fire, against the orders of Zeus, and was punished for it. Both myths describe a supernatural being in favour of humans having independent intelligence, who were punished by a god jealously guarding it - but Satan is the [[DesignatedVillain bad guy]], whereas Prometheus is a hero. [[NotSoDifferent Two sides of the same coin]], as Crowley and Aziraphale are shown to be throughout the book - both rejected from their respective sides of the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil as they both consider that whether humans act for good or bad, they deserve to have the ''choice''.

* Shortly after Aziraphale turns all the Secret Service men's guns into harmless water pistols at Warlock's birthday party, Crowley does [[NotSoDifferent pretty much the same thing]] but in reverse at Tadfield Manor, which reinforces the mirror image vibe these two give us.

* Anathema's relief upon hearing Crowley address Aziraphale as "angel" was that she was wary of getting raped and assumed it was [[Main/MistakenForGay a term of endearment]] that led her to believe neither were interested in women. It's also driven home when she mentally refers to them as "the ''consenting'' bicycle repairmen".

* All that jogging Agnes Nutter did certainly helped how she could walk with eighty pounds of [[spoiler:gunpowder and roofing nails]].

* God is named in the dramatis personae without explicitly appearing in the story proper because He's omnipresent. We never hear from or see God directly in the book, but if you believe (as orthodox Christianity states) that God loves mankind, then an ending in which [[spoiler:humanity survives the predicted Apocalypse]] is still a ''victory for God'', despite the novel's messages of balance and neutrality. We don't see Him, but He's always there, and He knew that [[spoiler:it would all turn out for the best]] in the end. The whole book is an exercise in Christian humanism.

* In their final conversation by the duck pond Crowley speculates that the real Apocalypse may be Heaven and Hell against humanity, and he says so in this phrasing:
-->"Think about it. For my money, the next big one will be all of Us against all of '''Them'''."

** Why is War depicted as a beautiful, alluring, desirable woman who, once you get closer, starts to look off-putting and terrifying? Because that's how war has been for the majority of history--glorified, glamourised and romanticised outside of the battlefield, until you're in the thick of it, and then it's already too late.
** War uses the flaming sword that an angel gave Eve. This may seem arbitrary to you, but think about it. The sword war uses is the first weapon mankind ever handled since its creation.

* We know Crowley is the serpent from the Garden of Eden--a demon who corrupts humankind by causing them to reject God's instructions and eat from the tree of Knowledge. But Aziraphale, the angel who gives them his flaming sword for warmth, is ''Prometheus'' - the Titan who gave the humans heavenly fire, against the orders of Zeus, and was punished for it. Both myths describe a supernatural being in favour of humans having independent intelligence, who were punished by a god jealously guarding it - but Satan is the [[DesignatedVillain bad guy]], whereas Prometheus is a hero. [[NotSoDifferent Two sides of the same coin]], as Crowley and Aziraphale are shown to be throughout the book - both rejected from their respective sides of the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil as they both consider that whether humans act for good or bad, they deserve to have the ''choice''.

* Anathema's relief upon hearing Crowley address Aziraphale as "angel" was that she was wary of getting raped and assumed it was [[Main/MistakenForGay a term of endearment]]. It's also driven home when she mentally refers to them as "the ''consenting'' bicycle repairmen".

* Another example of Azirapale and Crowley being two sides of the same coin: their vague reference to having "resources" actually referred to the same one person.

* Despite ostensibly being the main characters, Crowley and Aziraphale actually have little to no impact on the story--the entire plot is carried forward by the human characters' actions, thereby reflecting the book's central idea that people have far more influence on our world and ourselves than any supernatural forces.

* The earth is a Libra, because it's the focal point of ''balance.'' It houses the forces of Heaven/Hell as well as being the location of their final war, and a main message of the book is humanities capabilities for both good & evil, and how to find balance between the two. Possibly unintentional, but still awesome.

*** WindowsToTheSoul: Adam is neither wholly good nor evil. Hence, black and white equals gray, reflecting his GreyAndGrayMorality.

*** Addtionally, it's a flaming sword. In the radio play especially, it is hinted that this is what gave man knowledge of fire. Now, fire protects us, but has a greater potential to consume and destroy. What else does that, I wonder?

** Blond hair - BlondesAreEvil and HairOfGoldHeartOfGold.

** Not to mention his name meaning "man".
*** Also, it's derived from the Hebrew for "earth", originally referring to how God shaped Adam from clay. In the battle between Heaven and Hell, this Adam opts to side with Earth.

*** Also, it's derived from the Hebrew for "earth/clay", originally referring to how God shaped Adam from clay. In the battle between Heaven and Hell, this Adam opts to side with Earth.

* God is named in the dramatis personae without explicitly appearing in the story proper because He's omnipresent. We never hear from or see God directly in the book, but if you believe (as orthodox Christianity states) that God loves mankind, then an ending in which [[spoiler:humanity survives the predicted Apocalypse]] is still a ''victory for God'', despite the novel's messages of balance and neutrality. We don't see Him, but He's always there, and He knew that [[spoiler:it would all turn out for the best]] in the end.

* The description of Master Scraggs in the ''Buggre Alle This''-Bible. "Southwarke knobbestick", doesn't seem like much of an insult, unless you know that Southwark, for a very long time, was London's RedLightDistrict. Suddenly, a seemingly innocuous phrase has all kinds of implications.