History Literature / BeautifulCreatures

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beautiful-creatures-boxed-set_1309.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[TagLine Some loves]] [[RedStringOfFate are meant to be]]. [[SubvertedTrope Others are]] [[{{Curse}} cursed]].]]

''Beautiful Creatures'', by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, is a young adult fantasy series that began in 2009 and concluded in 2012, with four books and one short story.

The book introduces Ethan Wate, a teenage boy living in Gaitlin, a small town in the southern United States. Ethan cannot wait to graduate high school and get out of what he believes to be a boring small town where nothing ever happens. Then he meets Lena.

Lena Duchannes is a beautiful new girl with a dark secret. She is a member of a family of Casters, short for Spellcasters. Each child born into her family has special powers. Lena's family is unique among the Casters because they are cursed. Every girl in their family, on her sixteenth birthday, is Claimed by either Light or Dark. Lena's cousin and former best friend, Ridley, went Dark recently, and she is terrified that the same thing is going to happen to her.

She and Ethan also face the challenge of the impossibility of the relationship between a Mortal and a Caster. For the Mortal, every touch or kiss is an electric shock, and to "[[UnusualEuphemism be together physically]]" would result in [[OutWithABang his death]].

# ''Beautiful Creatures'' (2009)
# ''Beautiful Darkness'' (2010)
** ''Dream Dark'' (2011, short story)
# ''Beautiful Chaos'' (2011)
# ''Beautiful Redemption'' (2012)
** ''Dangerous Dreams'' (2013, short story)
# ''Dangerous Creatures'' (2014, Ridley-focused spinoff)

A [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] of the first book was released in February 2013 by WarnerBros. Trailers can be viewed [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYTptJesPuU here]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9rjhB7KWEc here]].
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!!This work contains examples of:
* AllGuysWantCheerleaders: Averted by Ethan, who couldn't want a cheerleader less.
* AlphaBitch: Savannah Snow, with Emily and Eden as her [[GirlPosse Girl Posse]].
* BigDamnHeroes: Macon, who [[spoiler:interrupts Lena's trial in the gymnasium and verbally destroys pretty much everyone who dares to try to defend their persecution of Lena]].
* BlankBook: [[spoiler: The book that Ethan's father was working on. It turned out to be a large pile of squiggles.]]
* BlatantLies: Sarafine's love for Lena. Though it did have shades of truth.
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: [[spoiler:Lena]] tries to do this for [[spoiler:Ethan]] in ''Beautiful Darkness''.
* BreakoutCharacter: Ridley, who was popular enough to get her own spinoff (''Dangerous Creatures'').
* CantHaveSexEver: Any Caster/Mortal or Incubus/Mortal pairing. Mortals are very fragile.
* CapitalLettersAreMagic: Caster, Mortal, Incubus, Dark, Light, Claimed...
* CaughtInTheRain: Happens to Lena and Ethan several times. Justified because Lena has power over the rain and fire.
* ComicBookAdaptation: Received a manga adaptation entitled ''[[TitleTheAdaptation Beautiful Creatures: The Manga]]'', in February 2013 shortly before TheFilmOfTheBook was released.
* {{Curse}}: In Lena's family, Caster girls are Claimed by Light or Dark on their sixteenth birthdays. They have no choice, unlike most other Casters. This is because Lena's ancestor tried to revive her dead lover.
* DangerousSixteenthBirthday: Casters (At least in Lena's family) get claimed Light or Dark on their sixteenth birthday.
* DarkIsEvil: The Dark Casters.
** DarkIsNotEvil: [[spoiler:Macon, being an Incubus, is of the Dark, but chose to side with the Light]].
*** Also, as John Breed stated, [[spoiler: there is Light in the Dark and Dark in the Light.]] So, it could be assumed that [[spoiler:Genevieve, Ridley and Macon]] could do good things and help other because they were not completely evil.
* DeadpanSnarker: Macon.
** GentlemanSnarker: He has shades of this, as well.
* DramaticEntrance: Macon, who [[spoiler:blasts open the doors to the gymnasium to interrupt Lena's trial]], striding in with [[spoiler:Marion on his arm and]] not a single drop of water on him despite the raging storm.
-->'''Macon:''' I'm so sorry we are late. The weather is just treacherous out there tonight.
* EvilMatriarch: Sarafine is Lena's mother.
** Also, the apparent matriarch of the family, Genevieve. Though becoming evil was a spell backfire.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Sarafine, despite her words to Lena, never actually meant half of what she was saying.
** AffablyEvil: Ridley.
* FilmOfTheBook
* FollowTheLeader: For ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' , being a [[GenderFlip gender-flip]] of its "angsty teenage girl falls in love with the hot new boy at her school who turns out to have a supernatural secret" plot.
** Likewise the [[FilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] was green-lit as an attempt to fill the void of "teen paranormal romance" films left behind once the last ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' film was released.
* GreenEyes: The Light Casters.
* HatePlague: The spell Ridley casts on everyone during [[AlphaBitch Savannah Snow's]] party in the first book amounts to basically this, and it causes everyone in the party to start screaming at each other.
* HighSchoolDance: The Winter Formal in ''Beautiful Creatures''. Ends up resembling a much tamer version of Stephen King's ''{{Carrie}}'', but the mayhem's not actually Lena's doing.
* HighHeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Ridley.]]
* HotWitch: The impression most Dark Casters give.
* HowDoIShotWeb: Lena seems to experience this for a while in the first book.
* LightIsGood: The Light Casters.
* LoveDodecahedron: In ''Beautiful Darkness''. Ethan is in love with Lena, who he believes [[spoiler: left him for John Breed]], and is begining to be attracted to [[spoiler: Olivia]]. Link is also attracted to [[spoiler: Olivia]], but at the same time he's still pining for Ridley. Ridley and [[spoiler: John]] are often seen together, so subtext could lead to interpretation of them as a couple. [[spoiler: Lila Jane Evers]]' first love was [[spoiler: Macon Ravenwood]], but he had to leave her because he was afraid of hurting her, so she met Ethan's father. She's still enough in love with [[spoiler: Macon]] to [[spoiler: save him from dying]]. He never stopped loving her.
* ManipulativeBastard: Macon.
* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: The Caster community keeps to itself. This makes dating nearly impossible for Lena, once she starts becoming interested in the mortal Ethan.
* MindManipulation: Ridley. She is an EnthrallingSiren after all.
** Macon [[spoiler: removing portions of Ethan's dreams.]]
* NoodleIncident: Since the first book, Link and Amma had been quarrelling over something Link did in Ethan's basement when he was a kid, and Ethan never knew what it was, because Link refuses to tell anyone what bad thing he had done. [[spoiler:In the end, you learn that he had put on a union soldier's uniform.]]
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Everyone in the film adaptation is doing a (bad) attempt at a Southern accent except for Creator/JeremyIrons, who simply does a light English accent. Guess he was saving himself the embarrassment.
* NotSoDifferent: Like Lena, Sarafine always wanted to be Light. Though in the end it did not turn out as Sarafine wanted.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: A Blood Incubus is basically the same thing as a vampire. A normal Incubus is similar, but it feeds off dreams and emotions instead of blood. The second book is very unclear about what a Succubus is, aside from being a female Incubus.
* OutWithABang: What happens to any Mortal who has -- or tries to have -- sex with a Caster or Incubus. It's doubtful how far anyone would actually get; just a heavy make-out session with Lena nearly kills Ethan in the first book. He ''would'' have died, had it not been for Ryan's intervention.
* SadisticChoice: One is offered to Lena near the climax of the first book. [[spoiler:Choose the Light, and every Dark Caster in the family dies, never to harm anyone ever again -- but Macon will die as well, and Lena will never be able to have a physical relationship with Ethan. Choose the Dark, and every Light Caster in the family dies -- but Macon will survive, and Lena will be given the means to be together with Ethan physically ''and'' emotionally]].
* SignatureItemClue: In ''Beautiful Darkness'', Ethan finds Lena's iconic and personalized charm necklace on a beach near the Great Barrier, and knows something must have happened to her and that she passed by that spot.
* StalkerWithoutACrush: [[spoiler:Macon]] to Ethan in the first book. He was sneaking into Ethan's room while Ethan slept to [[spoiler:[[OurVampiresAreDifferent eat Ethan's dreams]] in order to "replenish" himself]]. Ethan is understandably freaked out when he realizes.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: The Dark Casters.
* [[spoiler:TakeAThirdOption: Lena becoming both Light and Dark.]]
* TitleDrop: By Macon, for the first book.
-->'''Macon:''' [Mortals] are such beautiful creatures.
* TokenEvilTeamMate: [[spoiler: Ridley]] for a short time in ''Beautiful Darkness''.
* TownWithADarkSecret: Gatlin. Obviously.
* TragicMistake: Genevieve's attempt to resurrect her beloved cursed her and her family for generations to come.
* TrailersAlwaysLie: There was one shot of [[http://37.media.tumblr.com/1e92b91858c83c944fb79e35de2184ad/tumblr_mn2e8eJWeQ1qmw3xso2_r1_250.gif Ridley screaming]] in what looks like anger in the trailer (at [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HNfEe9PEDg 1:52]], after Lena snarls "I want you outta here!"). Thing is, what actually happens is that Lena tells her to get out, and then Ridley screams in anger that she's so sick of everyone treating Lena like she's special, to which Lena coldly replies "I said, get away from my boyfriend, you witch." Ridley's face changes to surprise and fear, and ''then'' she goes flying.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman / WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: The main character, Ethan Wate, is a Wayward - a mortal whose destiny is essentially intertwined with that of a specific Caster. Waywards are also essentially a guide or compass for their Caster, and instinctively know where they need to go and what they need to do, especially when Casters are about as lost as the next person in the room. Needless to say, this only ever comes in handy when all other options have been exhausted. Comes with plenty of LampshadeHanging that explicitly references Aquaman and his usually useless powers.
* WorldOfHam: Everybody in the film adaptation {{camp}}s it up with great enthusiasm, with the champion of ham being Creator/EmmaThompson as Sarafine.
** HamToHamCombat: The church scene with Thompson and Creator/JeremyIrons. Not to mention the dinner scene, where Emmy Rossum shows that she can hang with the kings of ham.
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* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman / WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: The main character, Ethan Wate, is a Wayward - a mortal whose destiny is essentially intertwined with that of a specific Caster. Waywards are also essentially a guide or compass for their Caster, and instinctively know where they need to go and what they need to do, especially when Casters are about as lost as the next person in the room. Needless to say, this only ever comes in handy when all other options have been exhausted. Comes with plenty of LampshadeHanging that explictly references Aquaman and his usually useless powers.