History Literature / Arthas

* InfantImmortality: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Jaina who theorized [[TheVirus The Plague]] might [[OnlyFatalToAdults not affect children the same way]]. It was then defied by Arthas, who made it clear that he was going to kill every last person in Stratholme -- adults and children alike.

* ArrangedMarriage: Arthas' sister is almost married to Lord Prestor and is horrified for it. Arthas is horrified at the prospect for himself. Subverted in the fact that [[spoiler: his father was entirely happy with his courtship of Jaina Proudmoore because she was a perfect choice.]]

%%* BadassBaritone: Arthas.

* BerserkButton: Arthas and being betrayed.

* ChekhovsSkill: [[spoiler: Muradin Bronzebeard's favorite trick -- kicking his opponent's abdomen -- managed to save Arthas' life during his fight against Kael.]]

* CradlingYourKill: [[spoiler:Arthas to Ner'zhul in the standing-up position within the mind of the Lich King at the end of the book.]]

* DramaticIrony: Kael'thas believes that since the Orcs made deals with demons and became addicted to demonic blood that they deserve no sympathy because anyone stupid enough to do that is an idiot. [[spoiler: This is exactly what starts to happen to Kael'thas and his followers in the ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' expansion, and what ends up happening in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.]]

** [[spoiler: Also, Illidan becomes distinctively more bass as a half-demon.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler: "Now I wonder if there are such things as ghosts, too. If there are, our prince will be ten thick in them." The Lich King eventually meets his demise in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' when Frostmourne gets shattered, and he becomes overwhelmed with the ghosts of all those he had slain before.]]
** [[spoiler: Bonus: That quote is credited to Uther the Lightbringer, who just so happens to become one of those ghosts.]]

* InfantImmortality: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Jaina who theorized [[TheVirus The Plague]] might [[OnlyFatalToAdults not affect children the same way]]. [[spoiler: It was then defied by Arthas, who made it clear that he was going to kill every last person in Stratholme -- adults and children alike.]]

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Ner'zhul.]]

* MythologyGag: The book lingers for a while to tell the reader that [[spoiler: Thrall's]] escape from Durnholde Keep spawned quite a bit of WildMassGuessing over how he actually managed to accomplish this, with some rumors going as far as [[AWizardDidIt "A Dragon Did It"]]. Of course, people who've read Lord of the Clans would know that [[spoiler: Taretha, the local servant-girl mentioned earlier was the one who helped him escape.]]
** The "dragon did it" rumors add to the gag. [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft In-game,]] Thrall is indeed released by several heroes under the employ of a dragon.

* PrinceCharmless: Kael'thas held a torch out for Jaina, but she thought it was creepy rather than flattering due to their [[MayflyDecemberRomance titanic age difference]].
** [[spoiler:It certainly doesn't help that Kael throws a fit upon discovering her initial courtship with Arthas, nor that he later snarls at her for having ever loved Arthas after word reaches them of the destruction of Quel'Thalas.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Kael'thas:''' Arthas is a butcher! He has slaughtered thousands of innocent people! There is so much blood on his hands that a whole ocean could never wash them clean. And you ''loved'' him? Chose him over ''me?'']]

* StartOfDarkness: For Arthas and various other major Scourge personalities, and Kael'thas to to a lesser extent. It's something of an inversion for Ner'zhul; not only was he bad before, but [[spoiler:the book actually offers an explanation for why he ''isn't'' around afterwards]].

* WeCanRuleTogether: [[spoiler:Ner'zhul makes an offer of this to Arthas within the mind of the Lich King, arguing that they should merge and become one glorious being. Unfortunately for him...]]
** ICanRuleAlone: [[spoiler:Arthas sticks him in the gut, deciding he's better off without anyone else.]]
* WellDoneSonGuy: Again, subverted. Everyone assumes that Arthas is actually the loyal and doting son of his father. In fact, Arthas has greatly mixed feelings about his father, right up until [[spoiler:Arthas kills him]].

* AdaptationExpansion: In general terms, it does a magnificent job fleshing out many of the lore figures who take part in ''Wrath of the Lich King''.

* BetterAsFriends: Arthas gives this speech to Jaina, because he's worried that he's not ready for a long-term relationship, and fears that he'll mess it up.

* TheCorrupter: Mal'Ganis and Ner'zhul, who plot to bring Arthas over to the dark side.

* ItGetsEasier: Averted. Killing the infected citizens of Stratholme doesn't get easier for Arthas.

* KickTheDog: Arthas' first act of this was killing all the mercenaries who helped him sink his ships in Northrend. Then he left Muradin Bronzebeard to die. Finally, he killed his own father before unleashing a plague of undeath on the world.

* LightIsNotGood: Arthas is a paladin of light, despite being of fundamentally weak moral character.

* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: Deconstructed to hell and back. Arthas is ''offended'' his parents like Jaina and want to support his courtship of her.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Subverted. After Stratholme, it's clear that Arthas doesn't care anymore about protecting his people.

* TheCameo: There are too many minor characters to list, considering the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters nature of the storyline]]. However, not many expected [[OfBloodAndHonor Tiron Fordring]] to make an appearance. And surprisingly without a speaking role.

Correctly called ''Arthas: Rise of the Lich King'', this novel chronicles the events of Creator/BlizzardEntertainment's ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII: the Reign of Chaos'' and its expansion pack ''Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne''. It also includes the early childhood of Prince Arthas Menethil and events that tie it directly to ''World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King''. As such, it takes place in the Franchise/WarcraftExpandedUniverse. It is a novel by Christie Golden and resolves several plot issues nagging from the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' game.

* ChekhovsSkill: [[spoiler: Muradin Bronzebeard's favorite trick -- kicking his opponent's abdomen -- managed to save Arthas's life during his fight against Kael.]]
* TheChessmaster: Much like in the game, Ner'zhul (now the Lich King) masterfully manipulates Arthas into walking down the path of darkness and taking up Frostmourne, then turns him against Mal'Ganis, thus freeing himself from the Dreadlord's gaze and earning himself a powerful champion in the mix. After Arthas comes over to TheDarkSide, he resumes his role as Archimonde and Kil'jaeden's lackey, providing the undead muscle that facilitates the Legion's invasion of Azeroth, right down to Kel'Thuzad (as a lich) serving as Archimonde's summoner at Dalaran. From there, he sends Arthas to alert Illidan Stormrage to the existence of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Skull of Gul'dan]], knowing he would do exactly what he did (kill the Legion forces corrupting the forests of Felwood and Tichondrius, the dreadlord who led them) right under the noses of his supposed masters. Even when Illidan's forces march on Icecrown, Ner'zhul successfully calls his forces home for a timely counter-offensive.

* CompressedAdaptation: An unfortunate consequence of needing to fit in an original backstory and the storylines of two games into slightly less than 400 pages, many of the events of the games are covered quickly or skipped entirely. Arthas's encounters with the demon worshipping orcs are mentioned but not depicted, and his seizing of their portal happens offscreen. Arthas' invasion of Dalaran and his killing of Atonidas also occurs offscreen. The first undead mission in ''The Frozen Throne'' where he, Kel'Thuzad and Sylvanas purge the remaining defenders of Lordaeron doesn't happen, and the blue dragon Sapphiron doesn't appear. Perhaps the most regrettable omission is that Arthas' journey through Azjol-Nerub and his encounters with Baelgun, the Faceless Ones and the Forgotten One is skipped entirely.

* FallenHero: Lets see: Arthas goes from a contested example of TheWisePrince to TheEvilPrince hiked UpToEleven, Sylvanas Windrunner is killed and forcibly raised from the dead, turning her into a DarkActionGirl who struggles to have morality after being released from Arthas' grasp and Kael'thas goes from a prince with divided loyalties between his surrogate homecity of Dalaran and his actual homeland of Quel'Thalas to a revenge-and-blood magic-addled lunatic. Ner'zhul, who was once the orcish people's spiritual leader and an all-around nice guy and is now the [[EvilOverlord Lich King]], and Illidan -- [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor where to even start with Illidan?]] -- carry over their status as this from previous works.

* KickTheDog: [[spoiler: Arthas' first act of this was killing all the mercenaries who helped him sink his ships in Northrend. Then he left Muradin Bronzebeard to die. Finally, he killed his own father before unleashing a plague of undeath on the world.]]

* KnightTemplar: Arthas slowly develops an obsession against Mal'Gannis that justifies everything.

* MeaningfulName: Subverted. Uther Lightbringer remains a nice guy right up until his death. Arthas, named undoubtedly for Arthur [[spoiler: becomes a stain on every living things.]]

* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: Kel'thuzad. Practically word for word.

* OmnicidalManiac: It's clear that the Lich King intends to turn the entire world into ''truly loyal'' undead slaves.

* TheVirus: The cursed grain that Kel'thuzad made.

* {{Badass}}: Let's be fair, no one in ''Warcraft'' will ever match Arthas' badassery.
** BadassBaritone: Arthas.
** FourStarBadass: Arthas.
** BadassInCharge: Arthas - of Lordaeron's army and later the Scourge.

* TheObiWan: Uther Lightbringer and Muradin Bronzebeard, for Arthas.

----

Correctly called ''Arthas: Rise of the Lich King'', this novel chronicles the events of BlizzardEntertainment's ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII: the Reign of Chaos'' and its expansion pack ''Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne''. It also includes the early childhood of Prince Arthas Menethil and events that tie it directly to ''World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King''. As such, it takes place in the Franchise/WarcraftExpandedUniverse. It is a novel by Christie Golden and resolves several plot issues nagging from the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' game.

* TheChessmaster: Much like in the game, Ner'zhul (now the Lich King) masterfully manipulates Arthas into walking down the path of darkness and taking up Frostmourne, then turns him against Mal'Ganis, thus freeing himself from the Dreadlord's gaze and earning him a powerful champion in the mix. After Arthas comes over to TheDarkSide, he resumes his role as Archimonde and Kil'jaeden's lackey, providing the undead muscle that facilitates the Legion's invasion of Azeroth, right down to Kel'Thuzad (as a lich) serving as Archimonde's summoner at Dalaran. From there, he sends Arthas to alert Illidan Stormrage to the existence of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Skull of Gul'dan]], knowing he would do exactly what he did (kill the Legion forces corrupting the forests of Felwood and
Tichondrius, the dreadlord who led them) right under the noses of his supposed masters. Even when Illidan's forces march on Icecrown, Ner'zhul successfully calls his forces home for a timely counter-offensive.

* CradlingYourKill: [[spoiler:Arthas to Ner'zhul in the standing up position within the mind of the Lich King at the end of the book.]]

* ChekhovsSkill: [[spoiler: Muradin Bronzebeard's favorite trick - kicking your opponent's abdomen - managed to save Arthas's life during his fight against Kael.]]

* CradlingYourKill: [[spoiler:Arthas to Ner'zhul, within the mind of the Lich King, at the end of the book.]]

-->"''You look different, Illidan. I guess the Skull of Gul'Dan didn't agree with you.''"

* DramaticIrony: Kael'thas believes that since the Orcs made deals with demons and became addicted to demonic blood that they deserve no sympathy because anyone stupid enough to do that is an idiot. [[spoiler: This is exactly what starts to happen to Kael'thas and his followers in the ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' expansion, and what ends up happening in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'']].
* EvilMentor: The Lich King, aka Ner'zhul, for Arthas.

* FaceHeelTurn: And how!
* FallenHero: Lets see: Arthas goes from a contested example of TheWisePrince to TheEvilPrince hiked UpToEleven, Sylvanas Windrunner is killed and forcibly raised from the dead, turning her into a DarkActionGirl who struggles to have morality after being released from Arthas' grasp and Kael'thas goes from a prince with divided loyalties between his surrogate homecity (Dalaran) and his actual homeland (Quel'Thalas) to a revenge-and-blood magic-addled lunatic. Ner'zhul, who was once the orcish people's spiritual leader and an all-around nice guy and is now the Lich King, and Illidan -- [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor where to even start with Illidan]]? -- carry over their status as this from previous works.
** Anub'Arak is this in the eyes of the still-living Nerubians.

* InfantImmortality: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Jaina who theorized [[TheVirus The Plague]] might [[OnlyFatalToAdults not affect children the same way]]. [[spoiler: It was then defied by Arthas, who made it clear that he was going to kill every last person in Stratholme - adults and children alike.]]

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Ner'zhul]]

** Uther was the name of Arthur's father.

* TheObiWan: Uther Lightbringer and Muradin Bronzebeard.

* [[RealMenLoveJesus Real Men Love the Light]]: Uther and Arthas before he switches religions.

* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: Justified by the fact that Arthas is clearly traumatized and borderline insane even before he picks up Frostmourne, and it is all but stated that Mal'Ganis and the Lich King fully intended for him to go to the bad, and manipulated him in that direction with great care.
* StartOfDarkness: For Arthas and various other major Scourge personalities. It's something of an inversion for Ner'zhul; not only was he bad before, but [[spoiler:the book actually offers an explanation for why he ''isn't'' around afterwards.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: One of the more amusing parts of the book is that Arthas has everyone convinced he's not one. Including himself.

* PrinceCharmless: This is what Arthas actually turns out to be.
** Kael'thas held a torch out for Jaina, but she thought it was creepy rather than flattering due to their [[MayflyDecemberRomance titanic age difference]].

** [[spoiler: Arthas then dumps her the day after they have sex.]]
* BetterAsFriends: Arthas gives this speech to Jaina. She takes it with a lot more grace than Arthas deserves.

* PrinceCharmless: This is what Arthas actually turns out to be. After taking Jaina's virginity and more or less leading her to believe she's going to be his wife, he suddenly gives her the "let's be friends" speech.

* StartOfDarkness: For Arthas and various other major Scourge personalities. It's something of an inversion for Ner'zhul; not only was he bad before

* TheHeartless: Arthas after he takes up Frostmourne.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: ''Everyone'' but Kael'thas seems to think Arthas is a hero in the making.
* KickTheDog: [[spoiler: Arthas first act of this was the [[ShootTheDog arguably necessary culling of Stratholme.]] Then he killed all of his mercenaries. Then he left Muradin Bronzebeard to die. Finally, he killed his own father before unleashing a plague of undeath on the world.]]

* MoralityChain: Jaina is unwittingly Arthas' morality chain. When she turns against him, he jumps off the slippery slope.
* MotiveDecay: Arthas wanted revenge and to protect his people, right before turning them all into undead. Justified as, by the time he does, he's literally lost his soul.

-->''Sylvanas Windrunner:'' Give my regards to hell, you ''son of a bitch''.

* PrinceCharmless: This is what Arthas actually turns out to be. [[spoiler:After taking Jaina's virginity and more or less leading her to believe she's going to be his wife, he suddenly gives her the "let's be friends" speech.]]

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Arthas' reaction to the events of Stratoholme that drive him insane.

* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: Justified by the fact that Arthas is clearly traumatized and borderline insane even before he picks up Frostmourne.
* StartOfDarkness

* {{Ojou}}: Jaina Proudmoore herself in this.

Correctly called ''Arthas: Rise of the Lich King'', this novel chronicles the events of BlizzardEntertainment's ''{{Warcraft}} III: the Reign of Chaos'' and its expansion pack ''Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne''. It also includes the early childhood of Prince Arthas Menethil and events that tie it directly to ''World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King''. As such, it takes place in the WarcraftExpandedUniverse. It is a novel by Christie Golden and resolves several plot issues nagging from the ''WorldOfWarcraft'' game.

* {{Badass}}: Let's be fair, no one in Warcraft will ever match Arthas' badassery.

* DramaticIrony: Kael'thas believes that since the Orcs made deals with demons and became addicted to demonic blood that they deserve no sympathy because anyone stupid enough to do that is an idiot. [[spoiler: This is exactly what starts to happen to Kael'thas and his followers in the Warcraft 3 expansion, and what ends up happening in WorldOfWarcraft]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler: "Now I wonder if there are such things as ghosts, too. If there are, our prince will be ten thick in them." The Lich King eventually meets his demise in WorldOfWarcraft when Frostmourne gets shattered, and he becomes overwhelmed with the ghosts of all those he had slain before.]]

** The "dragon did it" rumors add to the gag. [[WorldOfWarcraft In-game,]] Thrall is indeed released by several heroes under the employ of a dragon.

* PrecisionFStrike: One particular case carries through from Warcraft 3.

* AntiHero: Type III-> Type V -> VillainProtagonist.

** BadassLonghair: Guess.
**** Illidan?

-->"''Ah, Kael, even your insults are unnecessarily complicated. Glad to see you haven't changed - as ineffectual as ever. Which raises a question, weren't you at Quel'Thalas anyway? Content to let others die for you while you sat snug and secure at your Violet Citadel? I don't think you'll be doing that anymore.''"

* WhiteHairedPrettyBoy: Arthas is the embodiment of a noble and beautiful blond haired hero, at the start. He then becomes a white haired Death Knight.