History Literature / The39Clues

* PrivilegedRival: The Kabras, full stop.

* ParentalIssues: Most of the characters have them.
* PhotographicMemory: Dan has one.
* PlotDrivingSecret: The purpose of the 39 Clues, who the Madrigals are, etc.

* OppositesAttract: [[ShrinkingViolet Amy]] [[BrainyBrunette Cahill]] and [[EvilBrit Ian Kabra]]; see UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo below.

* NarrativeProfanityFilter

* MeleeATrois: Between all 7 teams.
* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: [[spoiler:Irina betrayed Isabel because of the latter's cruel treatment of her (although her "reward" for this was death), and later, Ian and Natalie left their mother after learning that she drank the Lucian serum and did numerous evil things detailed in her secret files. Then, when Isabel tried to kill them, that only sealed the deal.]]

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Almost every historical figure for 500 years is a part of the Cahill family. That's a lot of people.
** Also applicable on a smaller scale - there are seven "teams" in the Clue hunt. In these teams, there are, in total, seventeen people. Nearly every one of these seventeen people gets point-of-view chapters in multiple books, as well as a great deal of CharacterDevelopment. Then there are the minor characters, some recurring and some not, and the villains who are not officially part of any team.

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Irina]] in ''In Too Deep''.
* KissingCousins: Almost any pairing in the book can be considered this seeing as almost every character is a Cahill. This is usually dismissed though, seeing as apparently half of Earth's population is one.
* LeParkour: Created by the Tomas.

* HufflepuffHouse: Arguably, every single branch. Although [[spoiler:the Lucians managed to get their hands on a vial of something-or-other in Book 1 from Ben Franklin, which then turned out to be the Lucian serum, part of the master serum.]]

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Isabel's plan on Easter Island - she's even willing to kill her own children.]]

* GreyAndGrayMorality: Even Amy and Dan, who are by far the nicest and most principled clue hunters, will do morally questionable things from time to time.

* TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether: All four branches, due to FeudingFamilies, though the Kabras are the best example.

* EvilMatriarch: Isabel

* DeathByOriginStory: Hope and Arthur.

* DisabilitySuperpower: Hinted with [[spoiler:the Starling brothers.]]

** Everywhere in Book 10.

* TheClan: Of the Cahills.

* BrotherSisterTeam: Amy and Dan; Natalie and Ian.

* BadassFamily: The Cahills. Who are also a BigScrewedUpFamily, naturally.
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Beethoven certainly was, as well as Mozart, Neil Armstrong, Einstein, Churchill, Benjamin Franklin, Houdini, Bill Gates, and George Washington, among others.
* BigBad: [[spoiler:Isabel Kabra]].

* BadassDriver: While fleeing the Janus hideout, Dan becomes one of these.
** Nellie is one, too, on a regular basis.

* AncientConspiracy: The Cahill clan.

* AmbitionIsEvil: Everyone except Amy and Dan, the Lucians in particular.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: The Kabras.
** London does have a large population of Indian-Brits. Isabel is described as lighter-skinned than her children, so it's probably Vikram who has some Indian ancestry.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Amy towards Ian.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the39clues_3972.jpg]]

A. Childrens' book series

B. Web site

C. Collectible card game

D. Sweepstakes

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: [[Radar/The39Clues It's got its own page]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: [[Radar/The39Clues It's got it's own page]]

* {{Adorkable}}: Amy's secret nickname for her boyfriend, Evan.
** Also, the scene where Amy and Atticus are fangirling over old books in ''Trust No One''.

* OnlyAFleshWound: [[spoiler:Nellie]] is shot in the shoulder and lives, although she needed to have the bullet removed to do so. Her survival might not be as implausible had the removal been done properly by trained professionals. Instead, the incisions are made by a twelve-year-old and the removal is done by [[SpoiledBrat a thirteen-year-old]], both of whom are inexperienced, and the latter of whom is so [[AfraidofBlood squeamish about blood]] that she has [[FridgeHorror her eyes closed while she removes the bullet]]. In an unsterilized environment, natch.

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Cora's skills are listed as "painting, sculpture, manipulation, drawing, spying, blackmail."

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: According to [[http://the39clues.scholastic.com/cahillweb/article/cliqueme-alana-flores her offical social networking profile]], Alana Flores has quite a variety of interests, including "chess, International finance... medieval torture devices, Scottish terriers."

* RevengeOfTheSequel: [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] in an online message from the branch heads. Dan apparantly decided to use his new credit card to order ''The Ninja’s Revenge Part VII: The Last Revenge'' and ''The Ninja’s Revenge Part VIII: The Final Last Revenge'' on Pay-per-view.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: Where do we begin?
** Basically, the majority of the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters are related and have tried to kill each other at some point.

* BluffTheEavesdropper

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** [[Radar/The39Clues It's got its own page]]

* HeelFaceTurn: Oh so many. It might even be a HeelFaceRevolvingDoor for ''every'' Cahill. They all seem to have ulterior motives.
** By ''In Too Deep'' [[spoiler:Irina has basically switched sides and wants to help Amy and Dan -- but of course they don't believe her until the very end...]]

* IslandBase: The Ekaterina have one inside TheBermudaTriangle. Also,[[spoiler:Madrigals]] have one on Easter Island.

* TeamPet: Saladin, Grace's cat, who accompanies Amy and Dan on their adventures.

* AbusiveParents: This is most certainly the case with [[spoiler:Ian and Natalie]] since, [[spoiler:Isabel Kabra verbally degrades them on a regular basis. They both ''love'' her, and ''fear'' her simultaneously -- while also thinking that they lead the perfect lives because of all the wealth their family has]] They'd be [[TheWoobie Woobies]] if they weren't so nasty themselves!

The book series by various authors,[[labelnote:click for list]]Creator/RickRiordan, Creator/GordonKorman, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, Patrick Carman, Linda Sue Park, Creator/MargaretPetersonHaddix, Creator/RolandSmith, Creator/DavidBaldacci, Jeff Hirsch, Natalie Standiford, C. Alexander London, Sarwat Chadda, Jenny Goebel, Clifford Riley, Mallory Kass[[/labelnote]] as well as the website, cards, and sweepstakes, deal with the [[BigScrewedUpFamily Cahill family]], one of the most powerful families the world has ever known, as almost every historical figure from the last five hundred years is related to them. The family is divided into one of four branches - the [[TheSmartGuy Ekaterina]], who are the geniuses and inventors of the world, the [[TheBigGuy Tomas]], who are explorers and athletes, the [[BadassBureaucrat Luci]][[AmbitionIsEvil ans]], who are the spies, generals, and leaders, and the Janus, the artists, musicians, and authors.

The book series by various authors,[[labelnote:click for list]]Creator/RickRiordan, Creator/GordonKorman, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, Patrick Carman, Linda Sue Park, Creator/MargaretPetersonHaddix, Creator/RolandSmith, Creator/DavidBaldacci, Jeff Hirsch, Natalie Standiford, C. Alexander London, Sarwat Chadda, and Jenny Goebel[[/labelnote]] as well as the website, cards, and sweepstakes, deal with the [[BigScrewedUpFamily Cahill family]], one of the most powerful families the world has ever known, as almost every historical figure from the last five hundred years is related to them. The family is divided into one of four branches - the [[TheSmartGuy Ekaterina]], who are the geniuses and inventors of the world, the [[TheBigGuy Tomas]], who are explorers and athletes, the [[BadassBureaucrat Luci]][[AmbitionIsEvil ans]], who are the spies, generals, and leaders, and the Janus, the artists, musicians, and authors.

The book series by Creator/RickRiordan and various other authors, as well as the website, cards, and sweepstakes, deal with the [[BigScrewedUpFamily Cahill family]], one of the most powerful families the world has ever known, as almost every historical figure from the last five hundred years is related to them. The family is divided into one of four branches - the [[TheSmartGuy Ekaterina]], who are the geniuses and inventors of the world, the [[TheBigGuy Tomas]], who are explorers and athletes, the [[BadassBureaucrat Luci]][[AmbitionIsEvil ans]], who are the spies, generals, and leaders, and the Janus, the artists, musicians, and authors.