History Literature / SprawlTrilogy

* JapanTakesOverTheWorld: Or, more accurately, its culture. It's implied that Japan emerged as one of the world's premier economic superpowers while the United States and the Soviet Union were busy trying to outspend each other on defense. (Gibson accurately predicted that, but apparently didn't anticipate America winning the Cold War)

%%* ActionGirlfriend: Molly Millions

%%* ExplosiveLeash

* FriendInTheBlackMarket: Perhaps a bit redundant to even bring this trope up, given the nature of Gibson's world. But the Finn, a significant character in the series, is the embodiment of this trope.

%%* PlayfulHacker

* TheScrounger: The Finn is a rare example of a smart, GenreSavvy one, who practices smart discretion and proves more than capable of defending himself when attacked. The Finn long surpasses the general life expectancy of this character type in most stories.

%%* TheVerse: The Sprawl.

%%* {{Yakuza}}

* GenreSavvy: Gibson's characters basically have to be this, in order to survive in his world. Two notable examples are Mona, a prostitute who's aware of [[DisposableSexWorker how disposable the other characters consider her]], and the Finn, a [[TheScrounger "fence" dealing in stolen goods]], who practices extreme discretion, and knows how to defend himself.

Set in the same world are the short stories "Burning Chrome", which introduced the recurring character "the Finn"; "Johnny Mnemonic", the inspiration for the [[JohnnyMnemonic movie of the same name]]; and "New Rose Hotel", which was also adapted into a film by Abel Ferrara starring Creator/ChristopherWalken, Creator/WillemDafoe and Creator/AsiaArgento.

Set in the same world are the short stories "Burning Chrome", which introduced the recurring character "the Finn"; "Johnny Mnemonic", the inspiration for the [[JohnnyMnemonic movie of the same name]]; and "New Rose Hotel", which was also adapted into a film.

The Sprawl Trilogy by WilliamGibson is considered to be one of the earliest examples of {{cyberpunk}}, and as such is a major TropeMaker for the genre. The first book, ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', was published in 1984 and widely acclaimed, winning the Nebula, Hugo, and Philip K. Dick awards. It was followed in 1986 by ''Literature/CountZero'', and the final book in the trilogy, ''Literature/MonaLisaOverdrive'' was published in 1988. All three have fallen victim to {{Zeerust}} and TechnologyMarchesOn to some degree, but remain quite readable thanks to more than a few of Gibson's ideas becoming reality, or at least a styled version of it.

* BadAss: Gibson's world is full of these. Molly Millions/Sally Shears, the most famous example, is just the tip of the iceberg.

* ActionGirlfriend: Molly Millions
* AIIsACrapshoot: Wintermute. Then also, Neuromancer.

* ExplosiveLeash

* IndustrialGhetto

* MindRape
* MasterOfIllusion: Riviera
* NeuralImplanting: TropeMaker
* PlayfulHacker

* PrivateMilitaryContractor: Turner

* StreetSamurai: Molly Millions
* TheVerse: the Sprawl

* WeWillUseWikiWordsInTheFuture
* {{Whatevermancy}}: The title of the first book. Notable for technically being a proper usage of -mancy, in that they are using a neural connection to communicate with, obtain information from, and interact with, another plane of existence.

* {{Yakuza}}
* ZenSurvivor

* TheDividedStatesOfAmerica: Implied. In the chaos following WorldWarThree, the United States don't seem to have a single cohesive government, and the country seems to exist as a loose conglomeration of urban city-states. At the very least, corporations have long since eclipsed the world's governments in power, to the point that many people don't take the concept of a "nation" seriously anymore.

* AIIsACrapshoot - Wintermute. Then also, Neuromancer.

* BadAss - Gibson's world is full of these. Molly Millions/Sally Shears, the most famous example, is just the tip of the iceberg.

* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain - The infamous opening line to ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}''.

* DepravedBisexual - Lady 3Jane

* {{Expy}} - Bobby Newmark, in ''Literature/CountZero'', is the new snarky-underacomplished-hacker to replace Case; Tick is the new eccentric hustler to replace the Finn, in Literature/MonaLisaOverdrive.

* FutureSlang - Gibson coined a lot of terms that would later be used by other cyberpunk works.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp - By means of economic collapse. Centered around Operation Screaming Fist, where a group of U.S. spec-ops squads tried to hack a key Soviet system with experimental software. They failed, and started a war that lasted all of nine days. The Soviet Union is still up and running while America exists in name only, and mostly as a collection of city-states (for example, the Sprawl itself is an amalgamation of all the cities from Boston to Atlanta).

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold - Mona, one of the protagonists of the third book.
* ImmuneToDrugs - Case, after receiving his new pancreas and liver with several filters built in to prevent him from being affected by cocaine or amphetamines. Subverted when he finds a new designer drug that can bypass the filters, and again when he gets another new pancreas and liver so he can resume his old drug habit.

* InsideAComputerSystem - Again, cyberspace in general, though Case manages to do this with a few particular systems.
* JapanTakesOverTheWorld - Or, more accurately, its culture.
* LeftFieldDescription - Gibson is a master of this.
* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter - Lady 3Jane, and arguably Angie Mitchell.

* MasterOfIllusion - Riviera
* NeuralImplanting - TropeMaker

* PrettyInMink - Averted FurAndLoathing by noting all furs were from cloning.
* PrivateMilitaryContractor - Turner
* TheScrounger - The Finn is a rare example of a smart, GenreSavvy one, who practices smart discretion and proves more than capable of defending himself when attacked. The Finn long surpasses the general life expectancy of this character type in most stories.

* StreetSamurai - Molly Millions
* TheVerse - the Sprawl
* UnReveal - Gibson often leaves many things ambiguous, the most talked about example probably being Molly's eye color.
* VirtualGhost - the Dixie Flatline

* {{Whatevermancy}} - The title of the first book. Notable for technically being a proper usage of -mancy, in that they are using a neural connection to communicate with, obtain information from, and interact with, another plane of existance.

* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain - The infamous opening line to ''{{Neuromancer}}''.

* {{Expy}} - Bobby Newmark, in ''Literature/CountZero'', is the new snarky-underacomplished-hacker to replace Case; Tick is the new eccentric hustler to replace the Finn, in MonaLisaOverdrive.

The trilogy provides examples of the following tropes:

* TheScrounger - The Finn is a rare example of a smart, GenreSavvy one, who practices smart discretion and proves more than capable of defending himself when attacked. The Finn long surpasses the general life expectancy of this character type in most stories.

The Sprawl Trilogy by WilliamGibson is considered to be one of the earliest examples of {{cyberpunk}}, and as such is a major TropeMaker for the genre. The first book, ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', was published in 1984 and widely acclaimed, winning the Nebula, Hugo, and Philip K. Dick awards. It was followed in 1986 by ''Literature/CountZero'', and the final book in the trilogy, ''Literature/MonaLisaOverdrive'' was published in 1988. All three have fallen victim to {{Zeerust}} and TechnologyMarchesOn to some degree, but remain quite readable thanks to more than a few of Gibson's ideas becoming reality.

The Sprawl Trilogy by WilliamGibson is considered to be one of the earliest examples of {{cyberpunk}}, and as such is a major TropeMaker for the genre. The first book, ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', was published in 1984 and widely acclaimed, winning the Nebula, Hugo, and Philip K. Dick awards. It was followed in 1986 by ''Literature/CountZero'', and the final book in the trilogy, ''Literature/MonaLisaOverdrive'' was published in 1988. All three have fallen victim to TechnologyMarchesOn on some level, but remain quite readable.

* HollywoodHacking: Hacking, and more specifically cyberspace, is like a virtual reality video game. Appropriately enough, that was what the technology was first tested for with military applications in mind.

* {{Whatevermancy}} - The title of the first book.

* TheScrounger - The Finn is a rare example of a smart, GenreSavy one, who practices smart discretion and proves more than capable of defending himself when attacked. The Finn long surpasses the general life expectancy of this character type in most stories.

* BadAss - Molly Millions, and Sally Shears.

* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter

* UnReveal

* TechnologyMarchesOn - Many modern readers have poked fun at the presence of public payphones in "Neuromancer."

---

Set in the same world are the short stories ''Burning Chrome'', which introduced the recurring character "the Finn"; ''Johnny Mnemonic'', the inspiration for the [[JohnnyMnemonic movie of the same name]]; and ''New Rose Hotel'', which was also adapted into a film.

* ImmuneToDrugs - Case, after receiving his new pancreas that had several filters built in to make sure he stayed clean.

The Sprawl Trilogy, by WilliamGibson, is considered to be one of the earliest examples of {{cyberpunk}}, and as such is a major TropeMaker for the genre. The first book, ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', was published in 1984 and widely acclaimed, winning the Nebula, Hugo, and Philip K. Dick awards. It was followed in 1986 by ''Literature/CountZero'', and the final book in the trilogy, ''Literature/MonaLisaOverdrive'' was published in 1988. All three have fallen victim to TechnologyMarchesOn on some level, but remain quite readable.

* ActionGirlfriend
* AIIsACrapshoot - Wintermute/Neuromancer
* BadAss - Molly Millions/Sally Shears

* {{Expy}}: Bobby Newmark, in ''Literature/CountZero'', is the new snarky-underacomplished-hacker to replace Case; Tick is the new eccentric hustler to replace the Finn, in MonaLisaOverdrive.
* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp - By means of economic collapse. The Soviet Union is still up and running while America exists in name only as mostly a collection of city-states (for example, the Sprawl itself is an amalgamation of all the cities from Boston to Atlanta).
* HollywoodHacking

* ImmuneToDrugs - Case, after receiving his new pancreas.

* InsideAComputerSystem

* [[Expy]]: Bobby Newmark, in CountZero, is the new snarky-underacomplished-hacker to replace Case; Tick is the new eccentric hustler to replace the Finn, in MonaLisaOverdrive.