History Literature / MortalInstruments

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Prior to ''City of Bones'', Jocelyn brought Clary to Magnus Bane every two years to have her memories of the Shadowhunter world wiped.

* HarmfulToMinors: Although Shadowhunters, like most of modern society, do not consider children to be adults until they are eighteen (which is the youngest age at which they can even attend Clave meetings), it is apparently acceptable for children much younger than that to participate in DemonSlaying without adult supervision. At the start of ''City of Bones'', Alec is the oldest of the protagonists being only one that is eighteen years old. The movie seems to try to avert this by making all the characters a few years older than they are in the books.

* TokenMinority: Simon is [[NiceJewishBoy Jewish]], Maia is biracial, and Magnus is part Asian.

* OfficialCouple: Jace and Clary

* OperationJealousy: Simon hangs around Isabelle to make Clary jealous when it seems like she's not interested in him.

* BreakTheHaughty: Gets a ''glorious'' example in ''City Of Ashes'', when the Inquisitor learns that her plan to trade Jace to Valentine for the Sword and Cup won't work. It causes her to freak out and have a short BSOD before Maryse snaps her out of it.

* BigDamnHeroes: In ''City of Glass'' Jace saves Clary from being killed by the big bad. [[spoiler: The big bad then proceeds to kill Jace seconds after he gives his WorldOfCardboardSpeech]].

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Raphael, being Mexican, tends to interject phrases in Spanish when he speaks. In ''City of Ashes'', he tells Clary that Simon "no es muerto," which is incorrect; it should be "no ''está'' muerto." It seems like a classic Website/{{Google}} Translate error rather than it being intentional.

* TooDumbToLive: Simon. Breaking into a hotel of murderous vampires that have expressed that they wouldn't mind having an excuse to turn you into hamburger meat isn't such a good idea. Especially if you go alone. And do it at night. Sure the [[spoiler: vampire blood was summoning him back to Raphael, and he would have given in and sought them out sooner or later,]] but if he had only asked Luke, he would have known to wait a few more days[[spoiler:, and the blood would have gone out of his system, as well as the compulsion it had on him to return to Raphael]].

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: Valentine. Unfortunately, his plan to reform the Clave to protect against demonic threats involves raising a massive demon army and slaughtering them all.]]

* YouKilledMyFather: Subverted. Jace [[spoiler:initially believes that Valentine killed his father, until a declaration of LukeIAmYourFather. Double subverted when it's revealed that Jace is not Valentine's son and that he really did kill Jace's father.]]

* CastingGag: In the film, all of the Shadow Hunters have British accents. Clary who is the daughter of one is also the daughter [[PhilCollins a Brit]].

* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: In the film adaptation of City of Bones, Simon confronts Clary about her decision to associate with Jace when Jace steps out of the room:

* OrangeBlueContrast: The 2013 [[http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1227610624/tt1538403 movie poster]].

* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: SCANDAL's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIPWF1ZVuDg "Rainy"]] is the theme song for the Japanese release of the ''City of Bones'' film.

* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: Simon is this for a time when it seems like Clary and Jace are a thing [[spoiler: until they find out they're siblings]] and then becomes a sort of example of a VictoriousChildhoodFriend for a while and then he trips over an IdiotBall... it doesn't work out and they go back to being JustFriends.
** Luke is an example as well, for Jocelyn [[spoiler: since, she was, you know, married to Valentine, but now they're set to be married.]]

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Idris.

* WingedHumanoid: Jace in Clary's dream and sketch

* WorldOfSnark: Granted, most of the protagonists are teenagers.
* WouldntHurtAChild: Subverted by Sebastian.

* ShapeShifter: Eidolon demons.

** Ironside references the Mortal Cup
* ShouldntWeBeInSchoolRightNow

* {{Official Couple}}: Jace and Clary
* OfficialCoupleOrdealSyndrome: To put it mildly. All the more notable considering that Jace and Clary have only known each other for ''months'' in-universe. [[spoiler: Alec and Magnus seem to have gotten ensnared in this as well, as have Isabelle and Simon. It all works out in the end, more or less]].

* OurAngelsAreDifferent: In many ways.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: They're able to pass for normal humans.

* {{Mind Rape}}: [[spoiler: Lilith to Jace in Book 4]]

* ItsAllAboutMe: So pervasive that listing all the characters this trope applies to would be natter.

* HiddenElfVillage: Idris and the Faerie Realm.
* HolyHandGrenade: The Heavenly Fire. Also the ''skeptron'' [[spoiler: developed by the Shadowhunters of the parallel Earth now known as Edom]].

* AGoodNameForARockBand: ORGY IN HOBOKEN!

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first three books [[InformedAttribute barely make note]] of the ''parabatai'' bond. Strange, considering how important it is in the [[Literature/TheInfernalDevices prequel series]]. The second half of the series compensates by emphasizing the bond several times.
** The Forsaken are only significant in the first book. After that, they are barely mentioned at all.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Valentine really does love Jace, even though [[spoiler: he's not his real son.]]

* EverybodyLives: For the most part. There's an occasional death, but it's almost always a villain, and if not, it's never a major character.
** By the end of the series the death toll includes [[spoiler:Max Lightwood, Jordan Kyle, Raphael Santiago, and Amatis.]]

* EvilPlan: Driving the plot in every book. In the first three it is Valentine's. In the fourth it is [[spoiler: Lilith's]] and the fifth and sixth center on [[spoiler: Sebastian's]].

** [[spoiler:A difficult feat for Jace, even after years of having been abandoned by Valentine.]]

* BattleCouple: [[spoiler: When Alec and Magnus go into the final battle as partners]]
** Also Luke and [[spoiler: Clary's Mother]].
** Also Maryse and Robert Lightwood, though not explicitly given screen time as such.

* {{Beta Couple}}: Alec and Magnus; Luke and [[spoiler: Jocelyn]]. [[spoiler: Simon and Isabelle]] at the end of the third book and during the fourth.

** In the first half, [[spoiler: Valentine is defeated, Jace and Clary can pursue a relationship, Alec came out without any immediate backlash, and the Downworlders have gained representatives on the Council. On the other hand, Max was murdered, Simon is bearing the Mark of Cain, Sebastian's body has vanished, and the Seelie Queen is holding a grudge against Clary.]]
** In the second half, [[spoiler: Sebastian and his Endarkened are defeated with minimal casualties to the main cast, and everyone's relationships are either going well or getting back on track. Unfortunately, the Clave has passed legislature against faeries that is sure to backfire, Mark is abandoned to the Wild Hunt, Helen is sent away, and Julian was forced to kill his father in front of his younger siblings.]]

* BrotherSisterIncest: In ''City of Bones'' [[spoiler: a fortune teller tells Jace that he will "Love the wrong person". He falls in love with Clary, who turns out to be his sister.]]
** [[spoiler: Subverted. They end up not related.]] Jace [[spoiler: is the son of his supposed Father's second second-in-command.]] And Clary [[spoiler: ends up with Jace, though only after meeting and kissing a boy she finds out is her REAL brother. Oops.]]
** In ''City Of Lost Souls'' [[spoiler:Sebastian/Jonathan is shown to actually want Clary, backing her up against a wall and forcefully kissing her, while going on about how they can be evil and rule the world together.]]

* AlternateUniverse: [[spoiler: Edom is actually a parallel Earth, that even had its own Alicante and Shadowhunters, but which was laid waste to by the demons and is now part of the territory held by Asmodeus and Lilith, and basically rented out to Sebastian]].

* AmbiguousDisorder: Subverted in Ty Blackthorn. [[WordOfGod]] is that he is on the autistic spectrum.

* AppliedPhlebotinum: The runes.
** Though there is some stuff that runes can't do.

[[A television series has [[http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/constantin-to-produce-tv-series-based-on-resident-evil-mortal-instrument-franchises-1201328293/ been announced for development]].

A [[FilmOfTheBook film version]] was released August 2013, with Creator/LilyCollins and JamieCampbellBower having been cast as Clary and Jace; the sequel is scheduled to start filming in 2014.