History Literature / GuardiansOfGahoole

* AbortedArc: Whole characters and plot elements disappear from the series as soon as they lose relevance. For example, St. Aggie's essentially ceases to exist after ''The Siege'' with no word to the fates of the hundreds of {{Brainwashed}} ''children'' it enslaved, and the Flecks are never mentioned again after ''The Burning'' despite their significance in the earlier books.

* NoPronunciationGuide: You can normally just pronounce St. Aegolius as St. Aggie's (and most of the characters do anyway). Let's face it, how many kids in the book's demographic are going to be able to pronounce it?

* DanBrowned: Quite a bit of it, mostly having to do with [[ArtisticLicenseBiology owls' biology]]. Could be excused as extreme ArtisticLicense, but the books' information says that the series was the alternative to a nonfiction book the author wanted to write about owls, and thus she attempted to include owls' natural history. By and large, it appears she was unsuccessful... For more detail, see the [[Headscratchers/GuardiansOfGaHoole Headscratchers]] tab.

* SeldomSeenSpecies: Many of the owl species, as well as blind snakes, flying snakes, puffins, and dire wolves.
* SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler: Kludd]].

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'': [[spoiler:It's revealed that Snape's killing of Dumbledore [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince the previous year]] was carried out at Dumbledore's own request, partially because he was already dying, and partially because he knew that Draco Malfoy had been ordered to kill him, and wanted to spare the boy the burden. Snape, though a little miffed at the implication that he was already beyond saving, dutifully carried out his headmaster's instructions.]]

* StepfordSmiler: [[spoiler: Under all of the [[TastesLikeDiabetes sweet talking]], Aunt Finny is quite sadistic.]]

* AnArmAndALeg: Chopping off an owl's wing is ''always'' fatal, no exceptions.
** Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]], because they cannot fly with only one wing. If they get their wings chopped while they're in mid-flight, they more often than not fall to their untimely doom.

%%* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Hortense.]]

* KillItWithFire: The Band's [[spoiler:and the Guardians']] battle strategy. They like to use branches that are [[IncendiaryExponent ON FIRE]].

* RecycledInSpace: St. Aggie's is quite similar to the residential school system used to oppress indigenous people in Canada, America, and Australia, but with owls. They take chicks from their families, and assimilate them by giving them new names, banning their original culture (Ga'hoolian legends), and preventing them from escaping and returning home. Abuses committed include not giving them proper food(they eat ''crickets'', for Glaux's sake) and physical abuse(the vampire bats sucking out their blood) There's even a connection to the Catholic Church (''St.''Aggie's), which ran the residential schools, at least in Canada.

* AbortedArc: Unfortunately, there are a number of major plot elements that disappear entirely as soon as they lose relevance. St. Aggie's basically vanishes after ''The Siege,'' with no word to the fates of the hundreds of {{Brainwashed}} ''children'' it enslaved. Flecks also are almost never mentioned again after ''The Burning,'' despite their enormous significance in the early books.

* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Metal Beak, Nyra, and the rest of the Pure Ones]] behind [[spoiler:St. Aggie's]] in the first six books.

* AnimatedAdaptation
* AntiAntiChrist: Nyroc/Coryn, the son of Nyra and the High Tyto, who defects from the Pure Ones and [[spoiler: becomes the King of Ga'Hoole.]]
* ApocalypseHow: Class 3b appears to have happened at some point in the past, leaving the owls with ruins belonging to the "Others".

* GhostlyDeathRveal: In ''The Rescue'', Soren has a vision of the scrooms (owl ghosts) of his parents, his first meeting with them since he was stolen from their nest, and learns that they were killed by Kludd shortly after he was stolen.

* RecycledInSpace: Essentially UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo [-WITH OWLS-]!

!!''Guardians of Ga'Hoole'' provides examples of the following tropes:

* DanBrowned: Quite a bit of it, unfortunately, mostly having to do with [[ArtisticLicenseBiology owls' biology]]. Could be excused as extreme ArtisticLicense, but the books' information says that the series was the alternative to a nonfiction book the author wanted to write about owls, and thus she attempted to include owls' natural history. By and large, it appears she was unsuccessful... For more detail, see the [[Headscratchers/GuardiansOfGaHoole Headscratchers]] tab.

* DirtyCommunists: St. Aggie's is essentially this.
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Hortense.]]

* EyepatchOfPower: [[spoiler:Otulissa, after losing an eye in ''Exile''.]]
* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Otulissa. She lives, though.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: Quite a lot.

** Everything about the Legends of Ga'Hoole is obviously based after Myth/ArthurianLegend. Eventually, towards the end, the ''actual'' Arthurian Legends are referenced.

* WaifProphet: [[spoiler: Hortense.]]

* BigGood: The ruler of the Ga'hoole tree is usually this. Also Ezylryb counts
%%* TheBigGuy: Twilight.

%%** Stone stunning

%%** Fire blinking.

%%* CoolOldGuy: Ezylryb, all the way.

* GuiltyUntilSomeoneElseIsGuilty: In the spin-off series Wolves Of The Beyond book "Shadow Wolf", Faolan gets accused of murdering a pup he cared for, which only gets accelerated when framed evidence is found. It gets to the point where his entire pack is about to brutally slaughter him as punishment...until they're told that the real murderer is Heep, the very same wolf that framed Faolan.
%%* {{Heaven}}: Glaumora.
* HeelFaceTurn:

** [[spoiler: St. Aegolius, paticularly Auntie, likes to eat eggs and deformed hatchlings.]]

%%* MalevolentMaskedMen: Metal Beak, leader of the Pure Ones.
%%* ManipulativeBitch: Nyra

** At the end of the series, The Striga begins

** Related-- Mrs. P, who is much too proper to swear, gives Twilight an epic cussing out when the owls are trapped at [[LotusEaterMachine The Mirror Lakes]].

* SickeningSweethearts: [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickName Sweetums and Swatums]], a pair of sooty owl who the Band encounter near the begining of ''The Journey.'' [[AudienceSurrogate Soren]] finds them especially nauseating.

* SkewedPriorities: In ''The Capture'', Soren is being carried off by a St. Aggie's patrol owl. Rather then worry about how to escape, all Soren is worried about is that said patrol owl called him stupid.

* WorkingOutTheirEmotions: In the guidebook, Ezylryb starts dating the very same girl that his younger brother, Ifghar, is secretly nursing a crush on. Ifghar is distraught but wants them to be happy, so he throws himself into missions and combat training, becoming faster and stronger than he's ever been before. And then, one day, he sees the couple out together...and realizes he isn't hurting anymore. [[note]]In that version of the story, anyway. Future instalments in the series depict Ifghar as a CardCarryingVillain.[[/note]]

* TheMovie: ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheGuardiansTheOwlsOfGaHoole'', directed by Zack Snyder.

* {{Kill It With Fire}}: The Band's [[spoiler:and the Guardians']] battle strategy. They like to use branches that are [[IncendiaryExponent ON FIRE]].

* BoisterousBruiser: Twilight again. He yells battle taunts at his opponents that stun them.

** Moon blinking, and moon scalding (which is basically moon blinking taken UpToEleven.)
** Not to mention stone stunning and shattering.
** And fire blinking.

* TheBigGuy: Twilight.

* CoolOldGuy: Ezylryb, all the way.

* MalevolentMaskedMen: Metal Beak.
* ManipulativeBitch: Nyra

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The Pure Ones are owls who believe that ''Tyto Alba'' -- barn owls -- are superior to any other species of owl.