History Literature / MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNimh

* NoControlGroup: Averted.

* InterspeciesRomance: Mrs. Frisby is a field mouse (which aren't proper mice at all, they're voles), but laboratory mice such as her husband are house mice. Although they have children, [[ArtisticLicenseBiology the two species aren't closely related enough to breed]].

* AnimalTalk: The animals can understand humans and each other, but can't or don't talk to humans. This leads to a bit of FridgeLogic as to where exactly all these animals picked up English, and whether they can understand other human languages automatically as well.

The first and last third of the book are told from the (third person limited) perspective of Mrs. Frisby while the second third is a long flashback narrated by Nicodemus. The sections of the book focusing on Mrs. Frisby are mostly about trying to stay HomeSweetHome. The animals in that section are [[AnthropomorphicShift anthropomorphized]] quite a bit and all of them are rather [[IntellectualAnimal intelligent]], even without being uplifted. Nicodemus' chapters are quite different in tone, almost to the point of MoodWhiplash. His chapters deal with the escape of NIMH, and the animals in this chapter [[SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism are less human]] than those of Mrs. Frisby's. If read separately you would be forgiven for thinking it was from a different story. The NIMH chapters examine animal intelligence, the psychological [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman differences and similarities between humans and rats]], TheScientificMethod, and the philosophical ramifications of [[ShouldntYouStopStealing stealing]].

It was written in [[TheSeventies 1971]] and made into a very loosely adapted [[AnimatedAdaptation animated feature-length film]] called ''TheSecretOfNIMH'' by celebrated director Creator/DonBluth. The film has mostly [[AdaptationDisplacement eclipsed]] the novel in terms of popularity and recognition, but the book itself remains a great piece of literature if the NewberyMedal is any indication. After O'Brien's death, there were a couple of semi-official [[{{sequel}} sequels]] written by his daughter, but the general consensus on their quality and where they fall in the [[FanonDiscontinuity continuity spectrum]] is variable. [[note]]Though, it should be noted that there seems to be a lot of misconceptions on the net about the actual content of her sequels[[/note]]

* TheScientificMethod: Shown accurately in the first book. They even use a [[NoControlGroup control group]]!

* ShownTheirWork: The section narrated by Nicodemus at least. It's very detailed and accurate about TheScientificMethod, [[LamarckWasRight the inherited effects of the experiments]] and the psychology of rats.

* InterspeciesRomance: Mrs. Frisby is a field mouse (which are proper mice at all, they're voles), but laboratory mice such as her husband are house mice. Although they have children, [[ArtisticLicenseBiology the two species aren't closely related enough to breed]].

* InterspeciesRomance: Mrs. Frisby is a field mouse, but laboratory mice such as her husband are house mice. Although they have children, [[ArtisticLicenseBiology the two species aren't closely related enough to breed]].

** Jenner, who is only the leader of a dissenting faction of rats, is only described in flashbacks and not even very well at that. He's killed offscreen and given a passing mention. In [[TheSecretOfNIMH the movie]], he's given the role of [[BigBad major antagonist and full-on villain]], despite him only being [[GrumpyBear pessimistic and argumentative]] in the novel. Robert C. O'Brien's daughter, and the author of the sequel novels, was highly influenced by TheSecretOfNIMH, which lead her to {{Retcon}} Jenner's death and promote him to a major part of a new character's backstory in the first sequel. He's even shown to be the father of a major character in one novel, which the character tries to hide due to worries over Jenner's controversial opinions. However, he still turns up very rarely, mostly in flashbacks, and is killed off-page during the climax of ''Racso''.

* CanonImmigrant: The book's sequel, ''Racso and the Rats of NIMH'', makes several references to elements exclusive to the movie adaption, such as Mrs. Brisby's red cape and the characterization of Jeremy. Ironically (aside from Timmy venturing to Thorn Valley) very little of the book was put into mind for the film's sequel. The sequel takes some ''very'' minor elements from the original book, such as referring to [[JerkassFacade Brutus' gentler real persona]] and the number of mice that survived the escape from NIMH (though this also causes a contradiction with the first film).
* CarnivoreConfusion: The owl declines to eat Mrs. Frisby, and even gives her advice on how to save her son.
** Moreover, Mrs. Frisby's neighbor and apparent friend is a shrew, and shrews also eat mice.

* InferredHolocaust: The rats of NIMH increased from a group of 20 rats to 115 rats in only five years. Thorn valley can sustain an estimated capacity of 2000 rats. If the rat population continues to grow at the same rate (about 142% a year), they will hit their maximum sustainable population density in only 8 years. Normally the fact that rats breed like... well rats, is remedied by predation and their own short lifespans, but the rats of NIMH are too smart to prey on and since they've been [[UpliftedAnimal uplifted]], their lifespans are many, many times that of an ordinary rat. These rats are either going to have to invent the world's tiniest condoms or the earth will be entirely overrun by hyper-intelligent rats in less than fifty years. (The sequels indicate that many of the mated Thorn Valley couples have limited offspring, and that many rats choose to focus on scientific pursuits for some years before even considering a family. Timothy and Racso's best friend Christopher often bemoans his only-child status.)

* TheOwlKnowingOne

It was written in [[TheSeventies 1971]] and made into a very loosely adapted [[AnimatedAdaptation animated feature-length film]] called ''TheSecretOfNIMH'' by celebrated director Creator/DonBluth. The film has mostly [[AdaptationDisplacement eclipsed]] the novel in terms of popularity and recognition, but the book itself remains a great piece of literature if the NewberyMedal is any indication. After O'Brien's death, there were a couple of semi-official [[{{sequel}} sequels]] written by his daughter, but the general consensus on their quality and where they fall in the [[FanonDiscontinuity continuity spectrum]] is variable. [[hottip:*:Though, it should be noted that there seems to be a lot of misconceptions on the net about the actual content of her sequels]]

* HumansAreBastards: Rats see humans like this in a way, because of their vehement and [[FantasticRacism perhaps irrational hatred towards rats]].

* AscendedExtra: Jenner, who is only the leader of a dissenting faction of rats, is only described in flashbacks and not even very well at that. He's killed offscreen and given a passing mention. In [[TheSecretOfNIMH the movie]], he's given the role of [[BigBad major antagonist and full-on villain]], despite him only being [[GrumpyBear pessimistic and argumentative]] in the novel. Robert C. O'Brien's daughter, and the author of the sequel novels, was highly influenced by TheSecretOfNIMH, which lead her to {{Retcon}} Jenner's death and promote him to a major part of a new character's backstory in the first sequel. He's even shown to be the father of a major character in one novel, which the character tries to hide due to worries over Jenner's controversial opinions. However, he still turns up very rarely, mostly in flashbacks, and is killed off-page during the climax of ''Racso''. A more accurate example of this trope would be Isabella, a very minor character from the first novel who is a major supporting character in ''Racso'' and ''R-T''.

* CanonDiscontinuity: Despite the novel canon borrowing a couple of minor elements established by [[TheSecretOfNIMH the first movie]], the movie's sequel ''The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue'' completely ignores [[ContestedSequel Jane Leslie Conly's written sequels]].

* SdrawkcabName: Racso.

It was written in [[TheSeventies 1971]] and made into a very loosely adapted [[AnimatedAdaptation animated feature-length film]] called ''TheSecretOfNIMH'' by celebrated director DonBluth. The film has mostly [[AdaptationDisplacement eclipsed]] the novel in terms of popularity and recognition, but the book itself remains a great piece of literature if the NewberyMedal is any indication. After O'Brien's death, there were a couple of semi-official [[{{sequel}} sequels]] written by his daughter, but the general consensus on their quality and where they fall in the [[FanonDiscontinuity continuity spectrum]] is variable. [[hottip:*:Though, it should be noted that there seems to be a lot of misconceptions on the net about the actual content of her sequels]]

It was written in [[TheSeventies 1971]] and made into a very loosely adapted [[AnimatedAdaptation animated feature-length film]] called ''TheSecretOfNIMH'' by celebrated director DonBluth. The film has mostly [[AdaptationDisplacement eclipsed]] the novel in terms of popularity and recognition, but the book itself remains a great piece of literature if the NewberyMedal is any indication. After O'Brien's death, there were a couple of semi-official [[{{sequel}} sequels]] written by his daughter, but the general consensus on their quality and where they fall in the [[FanonDiscontinuity continuity spectrum]] is [[YourMileageMayVary variable]]. [[hottip:*:Though, it should be noted that there seems to be a lot of misconceptions on the net about the actual content of her sequels]]

* ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty: The offspring of the laboratory-altered rats of NIMH all age at a normal rate for a rat. If they do exhibit the longevity of their parents, it will be the kind that begins at sexual maturity. On the other hand and [[YourMileageMayVary depending on how you interpret the text]], mice exhibit the extended lifespan (perhaps to a lesser extent) from day one. Mrs. Frisby's children are still children at over a year old, a fact that goes [[ElephantInTheLivingRoom unremarked by their mother]].

-->--'''The [[TheOwlKnowingOne owl]]'''

'''This page is about the book ''Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH'' and its literary sequels. If you are looking for the article about the animated film, see: ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH''.'''

This page is about the book ''Literature/MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNIMH'' and its literary sequels.

If you are looking for the article about the animated film, see: ''TheSecretOfNIMH''.

!!''Literature/MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNIMH'' provides examples of:

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frisby_001_9850.jpg

* XanatosGambit: When the NIMH agents come to bulldoze the rosebush on the Fitzgibbon farm, the rats don't defend, fortify or fight for their nest. The rats allow NIMH to destroy their base, but they dig an extra tunnel leading into the forest and use it to evacuate all the rats before NIMH arrives. They then tasked a handful of rats to run ''back'' into the nest through the tunnel and then escape through the main entrance, and then back into the tunnel and out again. This lead the exterminators to believe that they had killed or at least scattered a large amount of rats, even though they only saw the same six or seven over and over again. On top of this, the rats destroyed their ElaborateUndergroundBase before they evacuated, so that it resembled an ordinary rat's nest. The net outcome was that even though the rats had lost their former home, it caused NIMH to mistakenly believe they had taken care of the rat problem and that the rat escapees weren't even very intelligent to begin with.

** The first book implied that [[spoiler: Justin]] died during the destruction of the rosebush. The sequels retconned this death to being that of a previously unmentioned character.

* AirVentEscape: Subverted. It's portrayed realistically with the rats spending over a week exploring the vents with a spool of thread before they know the way out well enough to escape. Rats of course, are [[CaptainObvious also much smaller]], lighter and make less noise than humans, which makes the trope more plausible in that respect as well. Even things like the fans used to provide air movement are taken into account. They're not giant and looming, but the strong wind they provide actually blows away lighter animals into other passages and ducts where they can't be reached or even found. The mesh on outside of the vent to prevent debris from entering the ducts provides a significant obstacle, as well, as the rats have much trouble removing it from the inside and are only able to pry open a small enough hole for mice to fit through.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: The rats of NIMH must exhibit this and pretend to be [[TheMasquerade ordinary rats]] at all times, lest their intelligence leads discovery and recapture. When moving out of their ElaborateUndergroundBase, they go through great pains to disguise it as an ordinary rat's nest. They move out all the machinery, destroy all the fancy architecture and fill the whole base with garbage. This was a rush job, and given enough time they would have even destroyed the machinery. In another instance Jeremy declines to release Mrs. Frisby from a birdcage the conventional way. Instead he opts to disguise her escape as a flaw of the cage rather than opening it deliberately.

* [[{{ptitlep38h4grx}} Shouldn't You Stop Stealing?]]: Nicodemus and the vast majority of rats recognize that stealing electricity and such is highly conspicuous and will only get more conspicuous as their population increases. They've even discovered a way to live [[TakeAThirdOption without having to hijack resources from humans]], but at the same time there is a small minority that doesn't fear the repercussions and would rather continue stealing.

A novel by Robert C. O'Brien about [[UpliftedAnimal lab rats]] that gained human intelligence through a series of top secret government experiments.