History Literature / TheChroniclesOfNarnia

** There is expansion in the second one as well. Susan's inability to let go of Narnia, Peter's problems with becoming a kid again, Edmund's quiet strength and heroism and Caspian's belief in his own inability to be a good king are shown. Also, they showed how the Pevenises were not normal children, but rather people with an adult's experience and wisdom. The character development from the first movie is especially shown with Susan and Edmund.

** It's not a stretch to say that every character who appears in more than one book develops, and not always positively [[spoiler: Susan]].

* TheOjou: Queen Susan

Lewis writes th novels with a [[LemonyNarrator rather casual, conversational tone]]. In a letter to a young reader, Lewis stated that a chronological reading seemed to make more logical sense but affirmed that he had no particular reading order in mind when he wrote. Furthermore, if he'd really intended for people to read the books in chronological order, he could have easily arranged for that in his lifetime.

Many recent printings number the books in chronological order. For many, however, reading in publication order is more satisfying, as ''TheMagiciansNephew'' has many references that make sense only if you've read the earlier published books, and reading in chronological order can spoil certain elements of ''TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe''. Besides, the author's writing style subtly changed as the books were written: ''TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' and ''PrinceCaspian'' have a [[LemonyNarrator rather casual, conversational tone]], while ''TheMagiciansNephew'' and ''TheLastBattle'' read more like histories. In a letter to a young reader, Lewis stated that a chronological reading seemed to make more logical sense but affirmed that he had no particular reading order in mind when he wrote. Furthermore, if he'd really intended for people to read the books in chronological order, he could have easily arranged for that in his lifetime.

** Don't forget Eustace himself, who started out as a spoiled, whiny child but steadily grew out of it due to his experiences in Narnia.

* ChasteHero: None of the Seven Friends of Narnia ever marry.

* DeadpanSnarker: Puddleglum, Reepicheep, Edmund and Eustace. Even ''Lucy'' gets to snark at one point.

* GoodIsNotNice: Rather, mean is not bad. "He is not a tame lion... but he's good."
** Aslan is sort of a fascinating example of this. He ranges from a warm, welcoming protector to an aloof, condescending JerkAss to a figure that is outright threatening to protagonist and antagonist alike -- sometimes all within the same book. As a Biblical allegory, he's spot on in this regard.

* HairOfGold: Lucy and Caspian, although you wouldn't know it from many of the ilustrations, and in the movies, they both have brown hair.

* ItOnlyWorksOnce: Professor Kirke explains to the Pevensie kids after they return from Narnia for the first time that the wardrobe passage will never work again. No route besides the wardrobe and the magic rings ''ever'' works more than once.

* KidsAreCruel: Edmund to Lucy in ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe''; Eustace to almost everyone, in ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', (although he is more of a JerkAss than a bully); in the BackStory, the bullies in ''The Silver Chair''.
* KingOfBeasts: Aslan

* NiceHat: Reepicheep's circlet counts.

* PintsizedPowerhouse: Reepicheep, and how. If a mountain got up and challenged him to a duel he'd run right for it without a second thought. No exaggeration.

* AdaptationExpansion: Many scenes that take only a paragraph or two in the books are greatly elaborated. Quite nicely, actually, especially for the first film. A good example is the final battle, which is barely covered in the book. There, the narration follows Susan, Lucy, and Aslan, who don't arrive until the very end of the battle. Also, the scenes of the Blitz, which were probably necessary because children today often don't learn about WorldWarII in school until they're too old (or think they're too old) for films like this.
** The expansion for the second film was very well-done as well. Susan's inability to let go of Narnia, Peter's problems with becoming a kid again, Edmund's quiet strength and heroism and Caspian's belief in his own inability to be a good king were all handled beautifully. Also, they showed how the Pevenises were not normal children, but rather people with an adult's experience and wisdom. The character development from the first movie was marvelously done, especially for Susan and Edmund.
*** Nonetheless a lot of fans were angry about this.

** Reepicheep. Only Lucy is actually allowed to hug him if she asks really nicely, but damn, don't you want to?
* BigDamnHeroes: Aslan and the Trees.

*** And:
-->'''Edmund:''' I know...you had it sorted.
*** After Susan and Caspian's kiss:
-->'''Lucy:''' I'm sure when I'm older, I will understand.
-->'''Edmund:''' I'm older and I don't think I want to understand.

* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Peter (and Miraz) during the last half of the duel.

* MeaningfulEcho: The new ''Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'' film gives us this line, from [[spoiler: Peter]] to [[spoiler: Edmund]]. Especially heart-warming, as this comes after [[spoiler: Edmund has been healed from near-death due to his breaking the witch's wand]].

* LoadsAndLoadsOfRaces: Besides talking animals, the world of Narnia is full of mythological creatures, monsters, and magical beasts. LWW Introduces fauns, dwarfs, dryads, naiads, centaurs, minotaurs, ghouls, werewolves, boggles, hags, ogres, spectres, wooses, cruels, sprites, people of the toadstools, orknies, ettins, efreets, jinn, giants, horrors, incubuses, unicorns, winged horses, and merpeople. PC introduces maenads, male tree and river spirits, half-dwarfs, and telmarines. VDT introduces people of the islands, star people, monopods/duffers/dufflepuds, sea people, dragons, sea serpents, and birds of the morning. SC introduces marshwiggles, gnomes/earthmen, and (sleeping) giant lizards.

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: In the books, after the kids became kings and queens of Narnia, the narration tells how they ruled successfully for years and years and were given nicknames: King Peter TheMagnificent, Queen Susan the Gentle, King Edmund the Just, Queen Lucy the Valiant. In TheFilmOfTheBook, they're crowned with these names while still kids just after winning their victory, which makes them seem slightly ridiculous and over-the-top -- especially in the case of Edmund, whose main contribution to the plot was betraying his siblings to the White Witch before he got better.

** Although it ''was'' [[CrystalDragonJesus Aslan]] who gave them the titles, so one could argue that he'd already know stuff like that.

* BadassSpaniard: The Telmarine culture in the second movie is [[FantasyCounterpartCulture very obviously based]] on Golden Age Spain, so it wouldn't be much of a stretch to qualify Caspian as an example (bonus points for Ben Barnes basing his characterization on [[Film/ThePrincessBride Inigo Montoya]]). Miraz, despite being a villain, also deserves a [[VillainousValor mention for his badassery]].

** To sum it up in TVTropes style: it's a LowFantasy.

* AdaptationDyeJob: In the book, Peter has dark hair, while Edmund and Caspian are blondish; however, in the movie, the roles are reversed, Peter being fair-haired, while Edmund and Caspian have dark, almost black hair. Lucy is also stated several times to have HairOfGold in the books; Georgie Henley is a brunette (her hair was actually lightened for the film but still looks definitely brown). The only one who kept her original hair color is Susan.

*** TheLancer / [[AntiHero The AntiHero]] - Edmund

*** TheLancer / TheAntiHero - Edmund

*** TheLancer - Edmund

*** The AntiHero - Edmund

*** TheLancer and the AntiHero - Edmund

*** TheLancer and the AntiHero - Edmund

** [[{{Willow}} Warwick Davis]] (who would go on to play Nikabrik in the Walden Media films, played Reepicheep in the [=BBC=] version, and Griphook the goblin in the Harry Potter films.

# ''TheHorseAndHisBoy'' (1954) (written 1953, before the previous book)
# ''TheMagiciansNephew'' (1955)

** In the film of ''Prince Caspian'', Edmund gets to throw an earlier line back at Peter (with a little Deadpan Snark thrown in):
---> "Don't worry. I had it sorted."

* JamesBondage: Rilian and Tirian.

''The Chronicles of Narnia'' are a series of seven books by [[Creator/CSLewis C.S. Lewis]], telling the history from its creation to its ending of a land where [[TalkingAnimal animals talk]], where a [[FantasyKitchenSink varied collection of creatures from European folklore]] lives, and where a number of children have heroic adventures under the guidance of [[MessianicArchetype the great Lion, Aslan]]. Though "Narnia" is sometimes used to describe the whole world, it is strictly speaking a northern [[TheMiddleAges mediaeval European-style]] kingdom of that world; it is bordered by Archenland on the south (beyond which lies the [[ArabianNightsDays quasi-Arabian]] empire of Calormen), by Ettinsmoor on the North, by Lantern Waste on the West, and by the Great Eastern Sea on the East, beyond which is Aslan's Country.

# ''[[TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe]]'' (1950)

# ''[[TheMagiciansNephew The Magician's Nephew]]'' (1955)

Many recent printings number the books in chronological order. For many, however, reading in publication order is more satisfying, as ''[[TheMagiciansNephew The Magician's Nephew]]'' has many references that make sense only if you've read the earlier published books, and reading in chronological order can spoil certain elements of ''[[TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe]]''. Besides, the author's writing style subtly changed as the books were written: ''[[TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe]]'' and ''PrinceCaspian'' have a [[LemonyNarrator rather casual, conversational tone]], while ''[[TheMagiciansNephew The Magician's Nephew]]'' and ''TheLastBattle'' read more like histories. In a letter to a young reader, Lewis stated that a chronological reading seemed to make more logical sense but affirmed that he had no particular reading order in mind when he wrote. Furthermore, if he'd really intended for people to read the books in chronological order, he could have easily arranged for that in his lifetime.

TelevisionSerial adaptations of the first four books have all been televised by the BBC and released on DVD (in some places as [[CompilationMovie Compilation Movies]]), and the first three (by publication order) have been filmed as the start of a series intended to adapt all seven books. ''Lion'' was also the subject of an earlier TV adaptation on ITV in 1967 (now largely lost) and an AnimatedAdaptation in 1979. Unfortunately, the BBC master of ''Lion'' was apparently lost to unknown causes several years ago, so the best quality copies of that series left are the [=DVDs=][[hottip:*:there were also VHS tapes]]. More recently adapted into movies by Disney (later 20th Century Fox) and Walden Media through the work of PerryMoore spending several years acquiring the rights for Walden. ''The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe'' came out in late 2005, ''Prince Caspian'' in 2008, and ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' in late 2010.

!!The series as a whole provides examples of: [[hottip:*: See individual books' pages for tropes that appear in specific books.]]

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: In the books, after the kids became kings and queens of Narnia, the narration tells how they ruled successfully for years and years and were given nicknames: King Peter {{the Magnificent}}, Queen Susan the Gentle, King Edmund the Just, Queen Lucy the Valiant. In TheFilmOfTheBook, they're crowned with these names while still kids just after winning their victory, which makes them seem slightly ridiculous and over-the-top -- especially in the case of Edmund, whose main contribution to the plot was betraying his siblings to the White Witch before he got better.

* MoodWhiplash: From ''[[TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe]]'':

** The Witch's army in the first film looks like it's composed of the Hordes of Chaos (and Orcs) of {{Warhammer}} fame. Right up to the icons on their banners.

* InformedAttractiveness: In at least two books, Susan is said to be beautiful, and her looks drive a couple of subplots. Nowhere is her appearance actually described, though.

*** Or, for that matter, Edmund, who begins the first book as a selfish, mean-spirited traitor and ends it as a [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Hero]] in the desperate battle against the White Witch and her forces.

* {{Filler}}: ''TheHorseAndHisBoy'' has no effect on the overall plot of the series.

* ValuesDissonance: In ''The Silver Chair'', Jill remarks that "where I come from [...] they don't think much of men who are bossed about by their wives." Lewis' attack on secular education in the form of Experiment House may also come across this way to some readers.

* FoeYay: Between Edmund and the White witch, ''especially'' in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader film. He's haunted by visions of her on and off throughout the journey, taunting him about how he's trying to prove his worth. It gets especially explicit when she repeatedly offers to make him "her king", and that she can make him a man. Some of the things she says are borderline MindRape, stating that she'll always be alive in his mind despite the fact she's died arguably twice now (the second time by Edmund's own hand). Considered {{Squick}} by some for obvious reasons.

# ''TheLastBattle'' (1956)

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