History Literature / KeysToTheKingdom

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:This happens to everything in every universe. However, the people in the Secondary Realms come back to life. Most of the Denizens and Newniths in the House do not, and neither does Emily.]]

** Arthur himself. By the third book, Japheth has been assigned to writing fictionalized versions of his already fairly impressive accomplishments that portray him as seven-foot tall, and looking something akin to a Greek God. Needless to say, people often tend to be [[ExpectingSomeoneTaller somewhat disappointed on meeting him in person]].

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The ''Compleat Atlas of the House and its Immediate Environs'' is a pretty literal name from the start, but [[spoiler:by the end of the series, the extent to which it is literally "Compleat" is turned UpToEleven.]]

* ChekhovsGun

** And the [[spoiler:ambulatory seed pod]], since Daisy is one.
** Arthur finds his lost toy elephant from early childhood [[spoiler:and accidentally brings it to life several books later at a vital moment]].

* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler:The Architect and Dame Primus.]]

** Actually implied to be reconstructed, since [[spoiler:The Will was influencing Monday to choose him, and probably knew that the Key would heal him enough that he could fulfill his role]].

** In the seventh book, [[spoiler:after the Piper tries to manipulate Arthur into giving up the Keys one last time, Lord Sunday tells him, in short, to shut up and deal with it.]]
** Also in the seventh book, Lord Sunday tells Arthur that he won't stoop to hurting random mortals in order to force Arthur to give him the keys. Although he seems to consider Arthur's mother to be fair game.
* EvilOverlord: All the trustees except [[spoiler:Wednesday]].

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: [[spoiler:The ''Compleat Atlas of the House and its Immediate Environs'' is a pretty literal name from the start, but by the end of the series, the extent to which it is literally "Compleat" is turned UpToEleven.]]

* TheMultiverse: One interpretation of the Secondary Realms and the way the Improbable Stair works; instead of going backwards or forwards in time, the various Landings lead to different versions of history or different worlds entirely.

** Also, [[KingArthur Arthur Penhaligon.]]

*** The reference to a "British accent" ought to rule out the UK - no UK native would ever use the term since there are so many different British accents.

* OmnicidalManiac: [[spoiler:Dame Primus]].

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Lady Friday can be interpreted in this vein.

* OutsourcingFate: [[spoiler:It turns out that the purpose of Arthur's quest was to become the new Architect. See the EndOfTheWorldSpecial entry above.]]

* PrimordialChaos: The substance called "Nothing".

* ApocalypseHow: Class Z. If the House is consumed by Nothing, Earth and the rest of the Secondary Realms will be gone as well.
** [[spoiler:Specifically, if the Incomparable Gardens are destroyed. First thing in, last thing out.]]
* AppliedPhlebotinum: Nothing, the stuff from which everything is made and everything will eventually return. It can do a small variety of things, mostly destroy anything if given enough time and form strange "[[TheHeartless Nithlings]]" if combined with normal matter.

** The way the House's hierarchy works. Each Denizen has a number representing how close they are to being full authority. Superior Saturday is number one - more powerful entities exist, but they're not Denizens.

** [[spoiler:Despite the fact that it looked like Lord Sunday had plenty of time to tell Arthur when he was trying to convince Arthur to give him the Keys. In fact, telling him the truth could possibly have convinced him. Yet he didn't do it. After all, Sunday's sin is ''pride''....]]

* TheBeautifulElite: The higher-ranking Denizens. The more power or authority a Denizen has in the house, the taller and more attractive they are; this becomes a painful complication for Arthur later on as the magical contamination in his body accumulates[[spoiler: and begins to transform him into something like a Denizen]]: he occasionally grows several inches, or has his teeth and jaw move around abruptly to a more perfect position which ''human bodies are not supposed to do''.

** [[spoiler: Dame Primus, aka the Will of the Architect, aka The Architect is ultimately responsible for the destruction of almost the entire universe, the House and the deaths of all but a handful of characters in a WhoWantsToLiveForever gambit.]]

** Dame Primus. [[spoiler: However, as Arthur suspects, she's actually not acting in his best interests at all. He's right, in a roundabout sort of way.]]
** The Mariner is one of the most powerful beings ever, being son of the Architect, and helps out Arthur. However, he keeps reiterating he's trying to be neutral.

* BloodMagic

** Mister Monday.

** [[spoiler:The Compleat Atlas of the House]] is a pretty major one; in ''Lord Sunday'' [[spoiler: Arthur uses it to, ahem, remake the Universe.]]

** [[spoiler:Arthur finds his lost toy elephant from early childhood, and accidentally brings it to life several books later at a vital moment.]]

** Actually implied to be reconstructed, since [[spoiler: The Will was influencing Monday to choose him, and probably knew that the Key would heal him enough that he could fulfill his role]].

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: each of the Morrow Days has three powerful servants, a Dawn, a Noon and a Dusk. Dawns all have golden tongues, Noons all have silver tongues and Dusks all have black tongues.

** On a side note, [[spoiler:the Will is revealed to have done this to the Trustees, and it's implied they weren't half as bad as they were during the series. Monday's Dusk is the only one who truly seems to be aware of this, though. There's a fairly blatant hint in ''Sir Thursday'', where the titular Trustee's eyes are shown to be ''yellow''. Then the Fourth Part of the Will turns out to be a snake.]]

** In ''Lord Sunday'', [[spoiler:the Architect]] states that Denizens in general are incapable of creativity. In fact, this is the whole reason why [[spoiler:the Rightful Heir has to be mortal.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Experiencing calls to mind drug-taking very quickly, especially when you read Lady Friday's reaction to it.

*** The Second Part of the Will, which holds a contest to decide who will use the Key to stop Nothing from consuming the universe (Charity, opposing greed, but without temperance/prudence, wants everyone to have a fair shot).

*** The Fourth Part of the Will, which spits acid into the face of the general of a much larger army during a ceasefire (Judgement, opposed to unthinking wrath, but lacking patience) [[spoiler: the fact that Judgement is used rather than the more traditional counter-virtue of Patience is plot-significant.]]

* AliensLoveHumanFood: Despite the House being the epicenter of the universe, the Denizens are infatuated with simple Earth food such as tea. This is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that people do not actually need to eat in the House and only do so for entertainment, making the consumption of food all the more rarer

[[TheWikiRule It has a]] [[http://keystothekingdom.wikia.com/wiki/The_Keys_to_the_Kingdom_Wiki wiki]].

!This series provides examples of:

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NixMonday_4461.jpg]]

* TheMultiverse: One interpretation of the Secondary Realms and the way the Improbable Stair works; instead of going back or forward in time, the various Landings lead to different versions of history or different worlds entirely.

** There's not really any reason to say Saturday is the highest because those higher than her aren't Denizens; Arthur isn't a Denizen, but still has a position in precedence. Indeed, near the start of ''Sir Thursday'', Arthur's precedence within the House is explicitly given as six. One can speculate as to who the five above him are; Sir Thursday, Lady Friday, Superior Saturday and Lord Sunday are the obvious candidates for four of them. Who the other one is remains a mystery, though it could perhaps be the Architect.

[[quoteright:328:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NixMonday_4461.jpg]]

->''"On the first day, there was a mystery.
->On the second day, there was darkness.
->On the third day, there were pirates.
->On the fourth day, there was war.
->On the fifth day, there was fear.
->On the sixth day, there was sorcery.
->On the seventh day, there was a choice."''

->"On the first day, there was a mystery.

->On the seventh day, there was a choice."

* CelestialBureaucracy: The House is one, dedicated to observing, recording and properly archiving all of existence. It doesn't function very well, mainly because of corruption and incompetence:

* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Happens to Arthur a lot.

* LargeAndInCharge: Almost a physical law in the House. The more power or authority you have, the taller you are (it's suggested they do this to intimidate the lower peons); the holders of the Keys are seven to nine feet high. Being demoted shrinks you. Denizens like heights apparently:
** Lord Sunday, last of the Trustees and the most powerful, is ''ten feet tall''.
** [[spoiler: Arthur becomes twelve feet when he becomes the New Architect.]]

** Dame Primus. [[spoiler: However, as Arthur suspects, she's actually not acting in his best interests at all.]]

A fantasy series of seven books by Creator/GarthNix, consisting of [[LazyBum Mister Monday]], [[{{Greed}} Grim Tuesday]], [[VillainousGlutton Drowned Wednesday]], [[UnstoppableRage Sir Thursday]], [[{{Lust}} Lady Friday]], [[GreenEyedMonster Superior Saturday]], and [[{{Pride}} Lord Sunday]].