History Literature / DragonridersOfPern

* ApeShallNotKillApe: There are strong social taboos against dragons fighting each other, and riders are supposed to restrict themselves to non-fatal duels.

** Unusual mainly in that the ''hero'' (well, the heroine's LoveInterest) is pulling this maneuver - and has justification. If the dragonriders starve, the entire colonized continent of Pern is in for AndIMustScream.

** Robinton is also overly fond of drink, and has been ever since his bride Kasia drowned on their honeymoon.

* BringMyBrownPants: Discussed by riders in ''Dragonseye" who are about to face the first Threadfall in two hundred years.

* CantLiveWithoutYou: Once a rider dies, the dragon normally commits suicide post-haste. Moreta's queen is temporarily tethered by her mothering instinct for the eggs she just laid, but suicides as soon as they hatch. Riders whose dragons die also frequently suicide; those who don't, such as Lytol, remain somewhat shattered for the rest of their lives.

* ParentalIncest: Stev Kimmer, in ''Rescue Run'', has sex with his stepdaughters.
** ... not necessarily just his ''step''daughters, when it comes to the parentage of the very youngest.

* PunctuationShaker: Semi-justified; all male Weyr riders have their names ritually contracted after Impression, to make shouted communication easier during Threadfall. For example, F'lar was born Fallarnon. Losing your dragon (and surviving) sometimes revokes this, as Lytol was of course L'tol when he was a rider, but went back to a non-hyphenated name (though not the same as his original name) after his dragon died.

** Of course, when it comes to F'lessan, they don't bother making the name short.

* RetCon: More than once. A lot of plot elements got modified between ''Dragonflight'' and ''Dragonquest'', specifically, some of the character names, human psychic powers other than communicating with dragons, and several aspects of dragon biology. Further, in ''Dragonquest'', there's a specific reference to fire lizards "eating Thread" which is never mentioned before or after.
** As the "fire lizards eating thread" bit was said by [[SmallNameBigEgo Kylara]] after her thunder had just been stolen by F'lar, it was likely something that she [[BlatantLies pulled out of her ass]] to bring attention back to herself. It worked quite well.
** In Dragonsinger, which parallels Dragonquest in the Harper Hall trilogy, Menolly's fire lizards, while shut inside the Harperhall refectory during Threadfall, get very excited and are described as making the motions of "licking Thread from the air." This is the only other mention; in later books it's made quite clear that they destroy Thread by flaming it.
** In the first book, Lessa is capable of quite a lot of mental manipulation, and from F'lar's reaction about her "skillful blurring" this is clearly not unknown, and not nearly as impressive as speaking to all the dragons.

* TheSpymaster: [=MasterHarpers=] seem to be relatively benign examples. In addition to their teaching duties, almost all harpers sent abroad to teach also report on the general mood of the holds they're assigned to. In addition the Hall seems to produce one or two overly curious and quick-witted apprentices each generation. They eventually become one step below active spies, sent wherever their particular talents can be used and reporting directly to the [=MasterHarper=]. As of the 9th pass their chief agents seem to be Nip, Tuck[[spoiler:/Traller, and Piemur]].

* RetCon: More than once. A lot of plot elements got modified between ''Dragonflight'' and ''Dragonquest'', specifically, some of the character names and several aspects of dragon biology. Further, in ''Dragonquest'', there's a specific reference to fire lizards "eating Thread" which is never mentioned before or after.

* PunctuationShaker: Justified; all male Weyr riders have their names ritually contracted after Impression, to make shouted communication easier during Threadfall. For example, F'lar was born Fallarnon. Losing your dragon (and surviving) sometimes revokes this, as Lytol was of course L'tol when he was a rider, but went back to a non-hyphenated name (though not the same as his original name) after his dragon died.

* AbusiveParents: Pettiron was not a good father, to put it lightly. Not actively vicious, but cold and harshly critical of Robinton to the point where it's hard to tell the difference. Then there's Menolly's father beating her for composing music, and her mother deliberately attempting to cripple her hand so she can't play an instrument. She rises above every other hardship in her life, but she ''never'' forgives her parents.

* EstrogenBrigadeBait: Robinton, in-universe. In one scene Piemur is torn between amusement and frustration that his elderly mentor distracts all the ladies from him.

* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Averted, hard, as the Pernese settlers were armed with advance surveys and the science to clearly identify which local lifeforms were good to eat and which weren't, and they wouldn't have tried to settle Pern in the first place if the atmosphere wasn't breathable, etc. They also brought a lot of Earth lifeforms and conducted extensive experiments to determine compatibility, modifying genes where necessary -- incidentally, this is why there are no bees or turkeys on Pern.

* {{Patronymic}}: Somewhat turned on its head. Many (though not all) Pernese children, particularly those born in the Weyrs, are given names which are meshes of the names of their father and mother. For example, F'lar's birth name was Fallarnon, after his father Fallon and mother Larna; his half-brother F'nor was Famanoran, after father Fallon and mother Manora. Sometimes other people's names are used in the convention, such as Menolly and Sebell's youngest son Robse (the first part of his name being in honor of Robinton).

* DueToTheDead: Centuries after she sacrificed her life to save Pern, Salla Telgar's body is brought down from space and given a very elaborate ceremonial funeral, including the coffin being borne by queen dragons.

* FeministFantasy: Well, the installments written in the 1960s and 1970s were, [[FairForItsDay by the standards of the time]]. The goalposts have been moved considerably since then. (See LovingForce, for one thing.)

* LovingForce: Surprisingly common for what (at least at one time) was considered a work of FeministFantasy.
** F'lar and Lessa definitely count -- F'lar even admits it to himself in ''Dragonflight''.
** The first time F'nor and Brekke have sex comes across this way to most readers, although there's some debate.
** Arguably F'lessan and Tai as well, although in that case the only possible rape was triggered by a mating flight.

* FeministFantasy: Well, the installments written in the 1960s and 1970s were, [[FairForItsDay by the standards of the time]]. The goalposts have been moved considerably since then. (See VictimFallsForRapist, for one thing.)

* VictimFallsForRapist: Surprisingly common for what (at least at one time) was considered a work of FeministFantasy.

** At least one dragon roleplaying forum, completely unrelated to this series, cautioned members against giving their characters names ending in "-th" (unless they were common words and names, like "Seth") for fear that the author would catch wind of it and try to have the forum shut down.

* ParentalIncest: Averted, at least technically, with Stev Kimmer, in ''Rescue Run''. The protagonist initially suspects this; however, it turns out that the girl(s) in question are from his wife's previous marriage. It still comes off as creepy.

* CometOfDoom: The Red Star, although it's technically not a comet, serves the role plot-wise. [[spoiler: There's a more direct example in ''The Skies of Pern''.]]

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: People from Bitra Hold are invariably portrayed as greedy and unscrupulous, if not downright malevolent. Starting, of course, with [[CompleteMonster Avril Bitra]] herself.

** Jaxom grew up as the ward of Lord Warder Lytol, an ex-dragonrider. Suffice to say, growing up with an EmptyShell for a father substitute did not make life easy for Jaxom.

* AlienSky: The Red Star, of course, but Pern also has two moons. Plus, Pern is far enough away from Earth that the night sky would look very different, with none of the familiar constellations.

* CometOfDoom: The Red Star, although it's technically not a comet, serves the role plot-wise.

* ParentalIncest: Steve Kimmer, in ''Rescue Run''.

* BadassDamsel: Nerilka. She defies her father to aid plague victims and eventually saves her beloved's life through a combination of iron will and feminine wiles.