History Literature / DeathMasks

* CreepyChild: The Archive, or "Ivy" as Harry names her. The latest of a hereditary line of women whose daughters inherit perfect knowledge of everything that has been written down, in any form, anywhere...as well as all the accumulated memories of every other previous Archive. What makes her creepy is that all this was forced upon her prematurely; a new Archive usually takes on the position ''after'' puberty, but her mother was rendered incapable of being the Archive when Ivy was very young. Harry makes an effort to treat her like the little girl she is, and as a result she flip-flops between being the Archive, which is creepy, and a normal child, which is ''even creepier''.
* CurbStompBattle: Shiro believes that [[spoiler:the Red Court wanted to use the war to break the White Council in a matter of months. They'd been planning it for years, but Harry kicked it off way too soon. The purpose of the duel is to sue for peace, and then in another twenty years launch another surprise attack.]]

* DemonicPossession: The Knights of the Blackened Denarius act as hosts for the Fallen. How much control the Fallen has depends on the particular relationship the mortal has with the Fallen. Nicodemus is on equal standing with his Fallen, but Ursiel's host was broken of any will long ago.
* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: Ortega was winning the duel when he decided to taunt Harry (thus pissing him off and strengthening his will), and then [[spoiler: tries to shoot Harry with a gun hidden under his flesh mask]].

* AntiHero: Harry fully accepts this title, compared to the {{Ideal Hero}}es the Knights of the Cross represent. This is what allows him to smash both knees and ankles and come inches from killing [[spoiler:Cassius, a Denarian,]] who has only "surrendered" to prevent Michael or Sanya from touching a single hair on his head. [[spoiler:Even just to get information on Nicodemus' final plan. Harry doesn't kill him in the end, and despite the injuries he gave him, Harry gives him a quarter for a phone booth to call for medical aid or possibly Nicodemus. Of course, the phone just happened to be on the other side of broken glass and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking pay phones need more than a quarter.]]]]
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Harry, in narration, mentions basket next to his door he keeps full of anti-vampire and anti-fae items, ready for use against anyone who comes knocking in an attempt to suck his blood, carry him off to fairyland, or sell him stale cookies.

** Shiro is a kind, loving man. He would be the perfect babysitter and had no qualms helping Charity do the shopping. But when the Denarians are in town and he needs to draw his blade, the man becomes like his blade: sharp, cold, impassioned, dangerous, and not to be taken lightly. [[spoiler:There is a very good reason why Nicodemus would give up Harry to chance having both and saving his daughter isn't that reason]].

** Ortega offers to turn Dresden into a vampire rather than kill him in a duel, claiming they are not so different. Dresden fishes until he establishes that Ortega preys on children as proof that they aren't.

* QuestionableConsent: Zigzagged. Harry [[spoiler:has sex with a bound Susan while she is mad with vampiric hunger and desire and beyond any possible threshold for being able to give informed consent]]. At the same time, [[spoiler:Susan is extremely hungry for blood and Harry is trapped in the same room with her behind magical wards. She's extremely close to just outright killing him and drinking his blood, which will turn her into a full Red Court vampire, which she considers AFateWorseThanDeath. Harry resorts to using sex to wear out and calm Susan so she can regain control of herself. This part is a little iffy, but Susan and Harry are in love with each other, and both want to be together, which might imply consent on Susan's part. Also, the scene is written as Harry himself losing control a little bit at the chance to be with her, rather than a calculating "this will calm her down" idea. And in the morning, Susan, fully in control again, seems to have no issues with what happened - their conversation is highly reminiscent of exes discussing their "Once more for old time's sake" hookup.

* QuestionableConsent: Zigzagged. Harry [[spoiler:has sex with a bound Susan while she is mad with vampiric hunger and desire and beyond any possible threshold for being able to give informed consent]]. At the same time, [[spoiler: Susan is extremely hungry for blood and Harry is trapped in the same room with her behind magical wards. She's extremely close to just outright killing him and drinking his blood, which will turn her into a full Red Court vampire, which she considers AFateWorseThanDeath. Harry resorts to using sex to wear out and calm Susan so she can regain control of herself. This part is a little iffy, but Susan and Harry are in love with each other, and both want to be together, which might imply consent on Susan's part]].

* * EmissaryFromTheDivine: The Knights of the Cross, Michael Carpenter, Shiro, and Sanya, can be considered emissaries acting on behalf of God.

** When discussing just how bad things are going to get, Harry tells Murphy things will be worse than the loup-garou from ''Fool Moon''.

* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:Harry considers calling on Chauncey the demon from ''Fool Moon'' to locate the Denarians. He stops when he has his EurekaMoment]].

* BerserkButton: Threatening Harry's friends and loved ones is a great way to piss him off. [[spoiler:During the duel and Ortega's AndYourLittleDogToo moment, Harry's fury is enough to turn the tide of the duel.]]

''Death Masks'' is book #5 of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Now has its own [[ShoutOut/DeathMasks Shout Out]] page.

* FunnyAneurysm: Harry at one point, remarking on Thomas's strained relations with his father Lord Raith, sarcastically compares Raith to Bill Cosby for his fathering skills (in this book published in 2003). Over a decade later, it seems Lord Raith (a wealthy, successful, long-lived serial rapist) has much more in common with Bill Cosby than we knew back then...

* LogicalWeakness: [[spoiler: The Noose protects Nicodemus from any outside injury, instantly healing him. He is ''not,'' however, protected from any injury inflicted ''by the Noose itself.'' As soon as Harry figures this out, he promptly uses the Noose to try and throttle Nicodemus.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Harry does this to [[spoiler:Cassius by beating him (breaking most of his limbs in the process) with a baseball bat.]] He then gives him a quarter and tells him he can call for an ambulance from the payphone at the other end of a wide parking lot. [[spoiler:The path to the phone involves him crossing broken glass]].

* WhenEldersAttack: Excluding the fact several of the Denarians are centuries old at a minimum, Shiro easily represents this idea. When [[spoiler:Harry is about to be killed, the man bursts into where he is, killing two guards in a fraction of a second and then takes Nicodemus' daughter hostage]].

* QuestionableConsent: Zigzagged. Harry [[spoiler:has sex with a bound Susan while she is mad with vampiric hunger and desire and beyond any possible threshold for being able to give informed consent]]. At the same time, [[spoiler: Susan is extremely hungry for blood and Harry is trapped in the same room with her behind magical wards. She's extremely close to just outright killing him and drinking his blood, which will turn her into a full Red Court vampire, which she considers AFateWorseThanDeath. Harry resorts to using sex to wear out and calm Susan so she can regain control of herself]].

** Ortega acts stupid about all things supernatural on the Larry Fowler show, claiming it is all fake and those who profess it to be real are charlatans.

** Ortega does a very good job of pretending to be one, and even makes Harry think that he's responding to the crisis [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure far more reasonably]] than the [[ObstructiveBureaucrat White Council]] has, but it's all a front.

* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: Part of Nicodemus' attempt to woo Harry to the dark side is to offer him breakfast. Harry was already hungry before he got captured, so it's not a small temptation.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Bob is ''terrified'' when he sees a sigil of a Fallen and warns Harry to burn the piece of paper Harry drew it on.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Harry does this to [[spoiler:Cassius by beating him (breaking all of his limbs in the process) with a baseball bat.]] He then gives him a quarter and tells him he can call for an ambulance from the payphone at the other end of a wide parking lot. [[spoiler:The path to the phone involves him crossing broken glass]].

** After [[spoiler:the duel was interrupted with Ortega being sniped by Martin]], Kincaid shows this trope [[spoiler:by gunning down Ortega's minions rushing the field and never missing a single shot.]]

* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: Ortega was winning the duel when he decided to taunt Harry (thus pissing him off and strengthening his will), and then [[tries to shoot Harry with a gun hidden under his flesh mask]].

** Though it actually happens in this book, it's not until ''{{Literature/Changes}}'' that we find out [[spoiler: Harry impregnated Susan during the sex scene]].