History LIterature / HisDarkMaterials

* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Lyra is able to read her alethiometer [[ATasteOfPower right after picking it up]]; other characters note that alethiometer-reading is ''supposed'' to be extremely difficult and suited to Scholars. [[spoiler:Later subverted; once the adventure is over, Lyra suddenly loses her talent because . . . well . . . just because[[note]]Probably because she reaches puberty[[/note]]. However, she is told that if she wants to, she can take the route of hard work to learn the skill back, and will have a better understanding of the alethiometer's answers for it.]]

* ImmortalBreaker: The Subtle Knife is prized for its rumoured nature as the God-Killer. (In fact, the name Æsahættr translates roughly from Norse ''as'' "Godslayer".) It was designed as 'just' an AbsurdlySharpBlade and DimensionalCutter, but since it can cut (and kill) [[angels OurAngelsAreDifferent]] and souls, it probably deserves the title. [[spoiler:We'll never know, since the Authority essentially died of old age.]]

* ImmortalBreaker: The Subtle Knife is prized for its rumoured nature as the God-Killer. [[SubvertedTrope Actually]], it's 'just' an AbsurdlySharpBlade and DimensionalCutter.

** Mrs Coulter loves watching children become separated from their souls (most died quickly), but leave her own daughter [[spoiler:Lyra]] alone! Upon hearing what the Church wants to do to children in their efforts to rid the world of Dust, Mrs Coulter finds her own child and brings her back home with her to keep her safe. In the end, Mrs Colouter ultimately [[spoiler:sacrifices herself and her afterlife to take down the ultimate angel who wanted her daughter's death]].

* TheNothingAfterDeath}: The land of the dead isn't exactly nothing, but it is insanely close: just a bleak wasteland with almost no light in which nothing happens. And then there's the Abyss, which really ''is'' nothingness. And of course now people just dissolve after dying and are returned to the universe so that they can be a part of everything again (Nature's spirit recycling service).

* MortalityGreyArea: The Breathless Ones were half-killed warriors who were unable to die doe to their lungs having been harmed by their captors to the point their daemons have to pump them.

** Also, Lyra ''[[AwesomeMcCoolname Listenreich]]'' in German. "-reich" in this context means "to be rich of" or simply "-full" so it translates into "full of cunning".

Pullman has also written several spin-off works: sequel novella ''Lyra's Oxford'' (published as a separate book), prequel novella ''Once Upon a Time in the North'' (published, again as a separate book) and a prequel short story "The Collector" (released on Audible.com). The publication of a follow-up trilogy, ''Literature/TheBookOfDust'', commenced in 2017 with ''La Belle Sauvage''; the second volume, ''The Secret Commonwealth'', was released in 2019, with the conclusion as yet unscheduled. It serves as both {{prequel}} and {{sequel}} (described by Pullman as an "equel").

The first volume had a 2007 film adaptation, entitled ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'', which was not successful enough to warrant any sequels. [[StillbornFranchise The latter two books were not adapted]] as a result. Apart from this, there have been a two-part stage adaptation of the trilogy, a radio adaptation from [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Radio 4]] presented in three two-and-a-half-hour episodes, and unabridged audiobooks of the books (with Pullman himself narrating and a full cast playing the various characters).

The first volume had a 2007 film adaptation, entitled ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'', which was not successful enough to warrant any sequels. [[StillbornFranchise The latter two books were not adapted]] as a result. Apart from this, there have been a two-part stage adaptation of the trilogy and two radio adaptations, one an unabridged recording of the books (with Pullman himself narrating and a full cast playing the various characters) and one a more traditional radio drama presented in three two-and-a-half-hour episodes.

* TheNothingAfterDeath}: The land of the dead isn't exactly nothing, but it is insanely close: just a bleak wasteland with almost no light in which nothing happena. And then there's the Abyss, which really ''is'' nothingness. And of course now people just dissolve after dying and are returned to the universe so that they can be a part of everything again (Nature's spirit recycling service).

* FemmeFatale: Mrs. Coulter. [[UpToEleven She even seduces God!]] Well, okay, he wasn't quite God, but he was the acting equivalent.

* SupernaturalAngst: It is mentioned early in the first book that one human ''never'' touches another's dæmon, ever. Later on, Lyra's dæmon is seized by another human, and the incident is described in terms very similar to sexual assault. It renders Lyra, the indomitable, high-spirited Lyra, practically catatonic for a decent chunk of time.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The series has a spectacular habit of writing in epic battles involving legions of bad ass combatants like talking polar bears with rocket launchers. And then forgetting about these battles completely. The battle between the [[spoiler:bears/Gyptians]] and the [[spoiler:Church]] is quietly forgotten after the first book. But the absolute worst offender is the third book: the war against [[spoiler:the ''army of God himself'']] is quietly swept under the rug after the author decides that [[spoiler:Will & Lyra's romance]] deserves the spotlight. Sure, [[spoiler:the BigBad dies]], but ''what about the legions of soldiers from an infinite amount of worlds?''

%%* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

* ScryVsScry: all the factions have people who can read alethiometers, though Lyra has the ability to read it with greater speed and accuracy than the others, and [[{{Wildcard}} she's working on neither side]].

* AdultFear: People's kids are being kidnapped, no one knows where they're being taken or what happens to them, and the government is doing little or nothing to stop it. Think about it. Worse still, the first book actually shows us an abduction as it happens -- in which Mrs. Coulter reels in Tony Makarios -- letting us see just how easy it is for someone to steal a child without trace.

* DemiurgeArchetype: The Authority is only one of the first angels created from the matter, who managed to convince other angels he was the creator. Near the end, the angel Metatron got more and more power and planned to enslave all sentient creatures from the entire {{Multiverse}}.

* YaoiGuys: Balthamos and Baruch; one an angel, who is constantly referred to as male, the other a former mortal man, uplifted to angelic status.

* IThoughtItWasForbidden: Touching someone else's dæmon. Then again, it could be argued that Lyra's innocent view of the world saw the act of touching someone's dæmon as much, ''much'' rarer than it is in practice.

* GodOfTheDead: The {{Witch|Species}}es believe in the death goddess Yambe-Akka, who comes to the dying to [[DontFearTheReaper welcome them with good cheer and open arms]]. She isn't among the supernatural entities who make an appearance, but Serafina steps into the role of Yambe-Akka to grant a witch's wish for a MercyKill.

* MagicIsFeminine: In Lyra's world, witches are the only magic-using humanoids. They are an [[OneGenderRace exclusively female]] WitchSpecies who bear children from human men; said children are also [[EitherOrOffspring witches if female or regular humans if male]]. Male witches are mentioned to exist elsewhere in the multiverse, but only female ones are seen in the story.

* WitchSpecies: Subverted. Witches can breed with human men, and have witch daughters and human sons. They don't feel the cold (and mostly live in the Arctic), they can use magic, and they [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld live to hundreds of years]].
** [[spoiler:In the last book, Will's finds out why his father has a dæmon. It turns out he entered Lyra's world near a spot that somehow repels dæmons, which is hinted to be used as a rite of passage by witches. It ripped his soul out of his body and gave his dæmon most of the same properties as a witch's, most notably the ability to be far away from him.]]