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* CallForward: Happens as a result of the series being written out of order. For example, Patrick Harper appears in a single scene of ''Sharpe's Prey'' that seems to serve no other purpose than heralding his arrival in the narrative.
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** When Pohlmann reappears in ''Sharpe's Trafalgar'', he and Sharpe even strike up a brief friendship, though it ends when Pohlmann turns out to be part of Peculiar Cromwell's conspiracy to sell the ''Calliope'' to France. [[spoiler:When Sharpe discovers Pohlmann dead on the deck of the ''Revenant'', he remarks that Pohlmann was a good soldier, just with an unfortunate habit of choosing the wrong side.]]
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* {{Expy}}: Captain Joel Chase of ''Sharpe's Trafalgar'' is one for [[Literature/AubreyMaturin Lucky Jack Aubrey]], being a courageous naval captain well-loved by his men who comes across as far less capable when confined to land. He even gets to explain naval matters to the landlubber Sharpe, just like Aubrey does for Maturin. Notably, Aubrey himself missed the Battle of Trafalgar altogether in his own series.
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* FatalFamilyPhoto: Averted with [[spoiler:Captain Joel Chase]], who reflects on his family during the Battle of Trafalgar, then survives the day.
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* MercyKill: At the siege of Badajoz in ''Sharpe's Company'', after the first assault has been repelled, Sharpe sees some poor nameless redcoat staggering about with a bloody ruin where his arm used to be. He shoots him dead on the spot.
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* MercyKill: MercyKill:
** At the siege of Badajoz in ''Sharpe's Company'', after the first assault has been repelled, Sharpe sees some poor nameless redcoat staggering about with a bloody ruin where his arm used to be. He shoots him dead on thespot.spot.
** Horrifically averted in ''Sharpe's Waterloo.'' Blinded and maimed, [[spoiler: Lord John Rossendale]] begs for death on multiple occasions, but each of them want to rob him and tell him to shut up. He eventually succumbs to his injuries after hours of agony.
** At the siege of Badajoz in ''Sharpe's Company'', after the first assault has been repelled, Sharpe sees some poor nameless redcoat staggering about with a bloody ruin where his arm used to be. He shoots him dead on the
** Horrifically averted in ''Sharpe's Waterloo.'' Blinded and maimed, [[spoiler: Lord John Rossendale]] begs for death on multiple occasions, but each of them want to rob him and tell him to shut up. He eventually succumbs to his injuries after hours of agony.
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* PlotArmor: Due to the series being written out of order, some characters must inevitably survive stories taking place before but written after their other appearances. The most obvious is Obediah Hakeswill, who keeps escaping Sharpe's predations in India so he can be alive in Spain a decade later.
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* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: William Dodd starts out as a deserter from the East India Company army, massacring British troops and joining up with Scindia. [[spoiler: When it becomes clear that the Battle of Assaye cannot be won, he absconds with his boss' gold. He then joins up with the Rajah of Berar's army, only later to murder the Rajah's brother in hopes of taking sole command of the mighty fortress of Gawilghur, and from there carve out his own empire]].
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* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: ChronicBackstabbingDisorder:
** William Dodd starts out as a deserter from the East India Company army, massacring British troops and joining up with Scindia. [[spoiler: When it becomes clear that the Battle of Assaye cannot be won, he absconds with his boss' gold. He then joins up with the Rajah of Berar's army, only later to murder the Rajah's brother in hopes of taking sole command of the mighty fortress of Gawilghur, and from there carve out his ownempire]].empire]].
** Anthony Pohlman was a Sergeant with the British East India Company who deserted to the Marathas. After being defeated at Assaye, he deserts the Marathas. [[spoiler: He turns up again in ''Sharpe's Trafalgar'', this time posing as a German Baron. He takes Sharpe into his confidence to keep him from revealing Pohlman's true identity...then ultimately sides with Captain Cromwell and the French, turning the ''Calliope'' over to the French and absconding with her passengers' valuables.]]
** Obediah Hakeswill deserts the British army for a promise of promotion by William Dodd in ''Sharpe's Fortress''. When he sees Dodd's imminent defeat, he manages to escape from Gawilghur and reintegrate without anyone being the wiser. He defects again in ''Sharpe's Enemy,'' this time joining a band of deserters formed from both sides of the conflict in Spain.
** William Dodd starts out as a deserter from the East India Company army, massacring British troops and joining up with Scindia. [[spoiler: When it becomes clear that the Battle of Assaye cannot be won, he absconds with his boss' gold. He then joins up with the Rajah of Berar's army, only later to murder the Rajah's brother in hopes of taking sole command of the mighty fortress of Gawilghur, and from there carve out his own
** Anthony Pohlman was a Sergeant with the British East India Company who deserted to the Marathas. After being defeated at Assaye, he deserts the Marathas. [[spoiler: He turns up again in ''Sharpe's Trafalgar'', this time posing as a German Baron. He takes Sharpe into his confidence to keep him from revealing Pohlman's true identity...then ultimately sides with Captain Cromwell and the French, turning the ''Calliope'' over to the French and absconding with her passengers' valuables.]]
** Obediah Hakeswill deserts the British army for a promise of promotion by William Dodd in ''Sharpe's Fortress''. When he sees Dodd's imminent defeat, he manages to escape from Gawilghur and reintegrate without anyone being the wiser. He defects again in ''Sharpe's Enemy,'' this time joining a band of deserters formed from both sides of the conflict in Spain.
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* CulturedBadass:
** Arguably, Sharpe himself. He goes from lowly rifleman to a great war hero fluent in French and Spanish and ends up able to quote Voltaire to boot. Of course, it helps to have a Spanish wife, then later a girlfriend/life-partner who can speak French.
** There is also Rifleman Harris, the only one crazy enough to lug around a small library in addition to his already sizeable kit, and reads Voltaire, Creator/WilliamWordsworth and dirty books by the Marquis de Sade.
** Arguably, Sharpe himself. He goes from lowly rifleman to a great war hero fluent in French and Spanish and ends up able to quote Voltaire to boot. Of course, it helps to have a Spanish wife, then later a girlfriend/life-partner who can speak French.
** There is also Rifleman Harris, the only one crazy enough to lug around a small library in addition to his already sizeable kit, and reads Voltaire, Creator/WilliamWordsworth and dirty books by the Marquis de Sade.
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* CulturedBadass:
** Arguably,CreateYourOwnHero: General Sir Thomas Graham in ''Sharpe's Fury''. Graham was a civilian, and a sincere believer in the ideals of the French Revolution - liberty, equality, fraternity. But his wife died when they were traveling abroad and while he was escorting her body home through Bordeaux, some French soldiers ignored his pleas, broke open the coffin and [[DesecratingTheDead disrespected her corpse]], ostensibly searching for contraband. Graham returned home, raised a regiment of soldiers at his own expense and immediately joined the army. He confides to Sharpe himself. He goes from lowly rifleman to a great war hero fluent that he still believes in liberty, equality and fraternity, but he hates the French as sincerely and passionately as it is possible to do so. In the novel's climax, he commands the small, outnumbered British force that thrashes Marshall Victor at Barossa in 1811. The victory was not only a humiliating defeat for the French (historically the first time the British captured an eagle standard from the French), it instantly silenced the voices in the Spanish parliament that were advocating breaking the British alliance and ends up able to quote Voltaire to boot. Of course, it helps to have a Spanish wife, then later a girlfriend/life-partner who can speak French.
** There is also Rifleman Harris, the only one crazy enough to lug around a small library in addition to his already sizeable kit, and reads Voltaire, Creator/WilliamWordsworth and dirty books by the Marquis de Sade.making peace with Napoleon.
** Arguably,
** There is also Rifleman Harris, the only one crazy enough to lug around a small library in addition to his already sizeable kit, and reads Voltaire, Creator/WilliamWordsworth and dirty books by the Marquis de Sade.
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** Arguably, Sharpe himself. He goes from lowly rifleman to a great war hero fluent in French and Spanish and ends up able to quote Voltaire to boot. Of course, it helps to have a Spanish wife, then later a girlfriend/life-partner who can speak French.
** There is also Rifleman Harris, the only one crazy enough to lug around a small library in addition to his already sizeable kit, and reads Voltaire, Creator/WilliamWordsworth and dirty books by the Marquis de Sade.
** There is also Rifleman Harris, the only one crazy enough to lug around a small library in addition to his already sizeable kit, and reads Voltaire, Creator/WilliamWordsworth and dirty books by the Marquis de Sade.
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* KickTheDog: Colonel Girdwood has Sergeant Lynch do this quote literally as an EstablishingCharacterMoment in ''Sharpe's Regiment.'' One of the new recruits has brought his dog, Buttons, with him to training and Girdwood orders Lynch to kill it on sight. This is important in characterizing the two men--Girdwood as a DirtyCoward still afraid of dogs because of a childhood encounter, Lynch as a BoomerangBigot lickspittle--who serve as the novel's main villains.
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* KickTheDog: Colonel Girdwood has Sergeant Lynch do this quote quite literally as an EstablishingCharacterMoment in ''Sharpe's Regiment.'' Regiment''. One of the new recruits has brought his dog, Buttons, with him to training and Girdwood orders Lynch to kill it on sight. This is important in characterizing the two men--Girdwood men -- Girdwood as a DirtyCoward still afraid of dogs because of a childhood encounter, Lynch as a BoomerangBigot lickspittle--who lickspittle -- who serve as the novel's main villains.
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* KickTheDog: Colonel Girdwood has Sergeant Lynch do this quote literally as an EstablishingCharacterMoment in ''Sharpe's Regiment.'' One of the new recruits has brought his dog, Buttons, with him to training and Girdwood orders Lynch to kill it on sight. This is important in characterizing the two men--Girdwood as a DirtyCoward still afraid of dogs because of a childhood encounter, Lynch as a BoomerangBigot lickspittle--who serve as the novel's main villains.
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** Hakeswill, for about four and a half books of near-continuous evil.
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** Hakeswill, for about four and a half books of near-continuous evil.evil [[spoiler:until he's eventually executed in ''Sharpe's Enemy'']].
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* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Sir Augustus Farthingdale has written an instruction manual on how to be a good soldier. None of the soldiers with actual experience of war, whether on the English or French side, think it's worth the paper it's printed on, and Ducos accuses him of plagiarising most of it anyway.
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* TheCommandments: The British Army's regulations are as thick as the Bible and a division's general will often issue standing orders in an attempt to regulate every aspect of the soldiers' lives [[note]]Robert "Black Bob" Craufurd in particular was notorious for this[[/note]], but Sharpe has only three rules that his men must abide by: 1) Fight well, fight to win; 2) Don't get drunk without permission; and 3) Steal only from the enemy, or when starving.
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* ChristmasEpisode: Excluding the epilogue, ''Sharpe's Enemy'' takes place December 24th December 27th, 1812, with Christmas being a significant tactical point.
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* ChristmasEpisode: Excluding the epilogue, ''Sharpe's Enemy'' takes place from December 24th to December 27th, 1812, with Christmas being a significant tactical point.
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* ExtremelyShortTimeSpan: The time covered for each novel varies, but the shortest are only a few days. For example, the principle events of ''Sharpe's Enemy'' cover December 24th through 27th, 1812.
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* ChristmasEpisode: Excluding the epilogue, ''Sharpe's Enemy'' takes place December 24th December 27th, 1812, with Christmas being a significant tactical point.
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** [[OneSceneWonderAn alcoholic Irish sergeant]] appears in ''Sharpe's Sword'' as a death room attendant. He gives sincere comfort to the dying men in his care, assuring them they fought like heroes and died well. The afterword explains that this character's name, general history, demeanor, and alcoholism are historically accurate, though the real man was in charge of the entire hospital, not just the death room.
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** [[OneSceneWonderAn [[OneSceneWonder An alcoholic Irish sergeant]] appears in ''Sharpe's Sword'' as a death room attendant. He gives sincere comfort to the dying men in his care, assuring them they fought like heroes and died well. The afterword explains that this character's name, general history, demeanor, and alcoholism are historically accurate, though the real man was in charge of the entire hospital, not just the death room.
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** Sharpe himself carries a heavy cavalry straight sword and a Baker Rifle. The sword in particular gets a lot of comments, since it's considered a BFS in-universe. He also wears a green jacket that identifies him as a rifleman, rather than a standard red coat.
** Patrick Harper acquired the seven barrel gun during ''Sharpe's Escape'' and hung onto it after. It's a period-appropriate BFG designed to dislodge sails (and sailors) from enemy ships, but was discontinued because the recoil was so strong that it kept injuring sailors who use it. This isn't a problem for [[TheBigGuy Sergeant Harper]] who is six feet, four inches tall at a time when Sharpe--four inches shorter than Patrick--is already regarded as a large man.
** Patrick Harper acquired the seven barrel gun during ''Sharpe's Escape'' and hung onto it after. It's a period-appropriate BFG designed to dislodge sails (and sailors) from enemy ships, but was discontinued because the recoil was so strong that it kept injuring sailors who use it. This isn't a problem for [[TheBigGuy Sergeant Harper]] who is six feet, four inches tall at a time when Sharpe--four inches shorter than Patrick--is already regarded as a large man.
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** Sharpe himself carries a heavy cavalry straight sword and a Baker Rifle. The sword in particular gets a lot of comments, since it's considered a BFS {{BFS}} in-universe. He also wears a green jacket that identifies him as a rifleman, rather than a standard red coat.
** Patrick Harper acquired the seven barrel gun during ''Sharpe's Escape'' and hung onto it after. It's a period-appropriateBFG {{BFG}} designed to dislodge sails (and sailors) from enemy ships, but was discontinued because the recoil was so strong that it kept injuring sailors who use it. This isn't a problem for [[TheBigGuy Sergeant Harper]] who is six feet, four inches tall at a time when Sharpe--four inches shorter than Patrick--is already regarded as a large man.
** Patrick Harper acquired the seven barrel gun during ''Sharpe's Escape'' and hung onto it after. It's a period-appropriate
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* IronicEcho: In ''Sharpe's Triumph'', [=McCandless=] throws Hakeswill's "It says so in the scriptures" catchphrase[[note]]Which [=McCandless=], as an ''extremely'' religious man, hates, and he always snaps at Hakeswill when he hears it[[/note]] back at him, and unlike with Hakeswill, what he says is ''actually'' in the [[Literature/TheBible scriptures]][[note]]"I say to a man, go, and he goeth", from Matthew 8[=:=]9 KJV. Sort of. See GeniusBonus[[/note]].
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** [[OneSceneWonderAn alcoholic Irish sergeant]] appears in ''Sharpe's Sword'' as a death room attendant. He gives sincere comfort to the dying men in his care, assuring them they fought like heroes and died well. The afterword explains that this character's name, general history, demeanor, and alcoholism are historically accurate, though the real man was in charge of the entire hospital, not just the death room.
* IronicEcho: In ''Sharpe's Triumph'', [=McCandless=] throws Hakeswill's "It says so in the scriptures" catchphrase[[note]]Which [=McCandless=], as an ''extremely''religious religiously man, hates, and he always snaps at Hakeswill when he hears it[[/note]] back at him, and unlike with Hakeswill, what he says is ''actually'' in the [[Literature/TheBible scriptures]][[note]]"I say to a man, go, and he goeth", from Matthew 8[=:=]9 KJV. Sort of. See GeniusBonus[[/note]].
* IronicEcho: In ''Sharpe's Triumph'', [=McCandless=] throws Hakeswill's "It says so in the scriptures" catchphrase[[note]]Which [=McCandless=], as an ''extremely''
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* IconicItem: Regulation equipment is a pistol and light cavalry saber for officers and a sword bayonet paired with either a musket or rifle for enlisted men. Both wear red uniforms and a shako hat. Many characters deviate from this loadout.
** Sharpe himself carries a heavy cavalry straight sword and a Baker Rifle. The sword in particular gets a lot of comments, since it's considered a BFS in-universe. He also wears a green jacket that identifies him as a rifleman, rather than a standard red coat.
** Patrick Harper acquired the seven barrel gun during ''Sharpe's Escape'' and hung onto it after. It's a period-appropriate BFG designed to dislodge sails (and sailors) from enemy ships, but was discontinued because the recoil was so strong that it kept injuring sailors who use it. This isn't a problem for [[TheBigGuy Sergeant Harper]] who is six feet, four inches tall at a time when Sharpe--four inches shorter than Patrick--is already regarded as a large man.
** Most of the Scottish officers decline the light cavalry saber and opt for a traditional Scottish claymore instead. These make Sharpe's sword look like a knife in comparison; historically, a claymore is ''fifty-five inches'' long.
** The Scottish regiments are famous for replacing their shakos with caps made of black bearskin. They also add bagpipers to their army bands. In several battles, viewpoint characters can find the Scots by sound of their pipers.
** On the villainous side, Captain Loux dresses his men in gray uniforms instead of the usual French blue.
** Another villain, Colonel Laroux, has an exquisitely balanced, mastercrafted heavy straight sword. Sharpe declares his intention to kill Laroux and take his beautiful sword. [[spoiler: He ultimately dumps it in the river instead, seeing it as a reminder of too many bad times.]]
** Sharpe himself carries a heavy cavalry straight sword and a Baker Rifle. The sword in particular gets a lot of comments, since it's considered a BFS in-universe. He also wears a green jacket that identifies him as a rifleman, rather than a standard red coat.
** Patrick Harper acquired the seven barrel gun during ''Sharpe's Escape'' and hung onto it after. It's a period-appropriate BFG designed to dislodge sails (and sailors) from enemy ships, but was discontinued because the recoil was so strong that it kept injuring sailors who use it. This isn't a problem for [[TheBigGuy Sergeant Harper]] who is six feet, four inches tall at a time when Sharpe--four inches shorter than Patrick--is already regarded as a large man.
** Most of the Scottish officers decline the light cavalry saber and opt for a traditional Scottish claymore instead. These make Sharpe's sword look like a knife in comparison; historically, a claymore is ''fifty-five inches'' long.
** The Scottish regiments are famous for replacing their shakos with caps made of black bearskin. They also add bagpipers to their army bands. In several battles, viewpoint characters can find the Scots by sound of their pipers.
** On the villainous side, Captain Loux dresses his men in gray uniforms instead of the usual French blue.
** Another villain, Colonel Laroux, has an exquisitely balanced, mastercrafted heavy straight sword. Sharpe declares his intention to kill Laroux and take his beautiful sword. [[spoiler: He ultimately dumps it in the river instead, seeing it as a reminder of too many bad times.]]
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** PlayedStraight in ''Sharpe's Escape'', when Sharpe, Harper, and Jorge Vicente "borrow" French infantrymen's uniforms to pass through Coimbra while Massena's army is sacking it.
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* DressingAsTheEnemy: Subverted. Sharpe wears trousers and overalls taken from a French cavalry officer, not as a ruse or as a trophy, but because they fit him so well they could have been tailored and are much more comfortable than the British-issued equivalent. This doesn't cause any problems until Waterloo, when [[TheResenter General Dornberg]] listens to a KGL scout's description of the officer who gave him the message that the French are advancing through Charleroi, concludes he must have been French, and discards the message as a fake.
** Likewise, the veterans of Wellington's Peninsular Army carry looted French knapsacks, which are much better designed and more comfortable than the British version.
** Likewise, the veterans of Wellington's Peninsular Army carry looted French knapsacks, which are much better designed and more comfortable than the British version.
