History Literature / CastleInTheAir

* AchillesInHisTent: Prince Justin is apparently in the habit of doing this.
* ActuallyIAmHim: The soldier says this almost word-for-word to Princess Beatrice at the end of the novel, when he reveals his true identity.

* ArabianNightsDays: Abdullah's homeland is this.

* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler:Sophie]] explains that out of the blue, [[spoiler:she was turned into a cat while pregnant]].

* BelligerentSexualTension: Between Flower and Abdullah in the castle in the air.

* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler:A number of the main characters from ''Howl's Moving Castle'']] turn out to have been trapped in the form of various creatures.

* BigBrotherInstinct: [[spoiler: Hasruel to Dalzel.]]

* ChekhovsGun: Just about everything, really.

* ChekhovsSkill: Princess Valeria's [[HellIsThatNoise screeching]].
* CoolCat: Midnight.

* CuteKitten: Whippersnapper.

* DisproportionateRetribution: A lot of the genie's spells are this.
* EvilFeelsGood: Hasruel admits to it.
* FireForgedFriends: Abdullah and the Soldier.

* ForcedIntoEvil: Hasruel...but he's thoroughly enjoying it.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Dalzel.

* KidWithTheLeash: [[spoiler: Dalzel to Hasruel.]]

* MagicCarpet: Turns out to be [[spoiler:Calcifer, changed into a carpet by the djinn]].

* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: [[spoiler:Prince Justin of Ingary and Princess Beatrice of Strangia.]]
* PetTheDog: All of Abdullah's actions toward Jamal.
* PregnantBadass: Lettie Suliman.

* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: The final plan to defeat the djinns.

* AdultFear: On par for a DWJ novel.

* NoSympathy: The genie shows no sympathy towards Abdullah's plight, and is always very difficult when being asked for a wish. He doesn't show any sympathy at all either when the soldier wishes for salmon and milk for Midnight and Whippersnapper who he claims are starving.

* BadassPrincess: ''All'' of the princesses. No exceptions.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: As Midnight, Sophie seemed relatively sweet to the soldier. However, as a human mother who thinks that said soldier has purposefully abducted her child, she is not so nice.
* BalefulPolymorph: A number of the main characters from ''Howl's Moving Castle'' turn out to have been trapped in the form of various creatures.

%%* VillainHasAPoint

%%* AccidentalKidnapping

%%* AdultFear

%%* BelligerentSexualTension
%%* BewareTheNiceOnes

%%* CatsAreMagic

%%* DisproportionateRetribution

%%* GuileHero

%%* NoSympathy

%%* YouCantFightFate

* GenieInABottle

* CoolOldLady: the Princess of Tsapfan, a magic-user and mother to fourteen boys.
* CutenessProximity: the Strangian soldier goes completely gooey over the cats. Abdullah, on the other hand, is firmly convinced that CatsAreMean.

* [[spoiler: HaremSeeker]]: [[spoiler:Dalzel. He settles for ''all'' of the highborn ladies in the world because no female djinn will have him.]]

* MuggingTheMonster: the Strangian soldier finances his tour of Ingary by flashing a few gold coins in a village and waiting until the local toughs attack him.

* DistressedDamsel: Subverted. While the kidnapped princesses are being held captive, they do make several escape plans.

* ForcedIntoEvil: Hasruel.. but he's thoroughly enjoying it.

* TextileWorkIsFeminine: Among her other virtues, Beatrice can darn socks.

* ArtisticLicense: Zanzib, being based on Arabia, has bit of this, from angels serving jinn to Zanzib people hating cats.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: A large number of Abdullah's daydreams come true - including his most horrible ones that include merciless villains and the like. [[spoiler:Turns out [[{{Troll}} Hazruel]] did this on purpose.]]

* ChekhovsGunman: Pick a character, any character. Most importantly, [[spoiler:Hazruel]] admits to having a hand in everything the main characters go through. [[spoiler:Naturally, he's in disguise for most of the important events.]]

* EvilFeelsGood: Hazruel admits to it.
* ForcedIntoEvil: Hazruel.. but he's thoroughly enjoying it.

* ChekhovsGunman: Pick a character, any character. Most importantly, [[spoiler:the djinn]] admits to having a hand in everything the main characters go through. [[spoiler:Naturally, he's in disguise for most of the important events.]]

* [[spoiler: HaremSeeker]]: [[spoiler:One of the djinn.]]

* ProphecyTwist: Flower-in-the-Night is prophesied to marry the first man besides her father she sees. Abdullah is prophesied to be raised above all others in the land. The first prophecy [[spoiler:comes true]], and the second [[spoiler: at first seems to mean that the sultan wants Abdullah to marry to fulfill Flower-in-the-Night's prophecy, and then put Abdullah's head on a very high stake. However, in a second twist, the prophecy is instead implied to have been fulfilled by Abdullah reaching the floating castle, which is a lot higher up than your average stake]].

* ProphecyTwist: Flower-in-the-Night is prophesied to marry the first man besides her father she sees. Abdullah is prophesied that the sultan will raise him above all others. The first prophecy [[spoiler:comes true]], and the second [[spoiler:turns out to be that the sultan wants Abdullah to marry to fulfill Flower-in-the-Night's prophecy, and then put Abdullah's head on a very high stake]].

A companion piece to ''Literature/HowlsMovingCastle'', written by DianaWynneJones. The story centers on Abdullah, a moderately successful carpet merchant who daydreams of adventures and beautiful princesses. That is, until a stranger sells him a magic flying carpet and all his dreams begin coming true.

Like ''Howl's Moving Castle'', the story lampshades, subverts and plays with various tropes related to the ArabianNights.

* GenieInABottle
* [[spoiler: HaremSeeker]]: [[spoiler:One of the djinn.]]