History Literature / TheGunslinger

* EvilChancellor: Marten
* EvilLaugh: The man in black

* OedipusComplex: Lampshaded.

* ThereAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: Allie finds some of them out to her horror from her conversation with Nort.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Allie. While watching the Man in Black [[spoiler:revive Nort]], Allie, who is fascinated with the idea of what lies beyond death, apparently becomes aroused and takes care of things right there at the bar while Walter does his thing. This is communicated to us with a single line: "Under the bar, her hands worked faster."

* AdaptationalSelfDefense: Allie is held as a shield and hostage by Sheb as the residents of Tull attack Roland. Originally, Roland kills her out of pure instinct; his trained hands react quicker than his mind. She screams at him not to shoot, but it's too late, and the guilt of her death sits on Roland throughout the rest of the story. In the revised edition, there is instead a subplot in which after Walter resurrects Nort, he tells Allie that if she says "nineteen" to Nort, he will tell her what he saw on the other side. Knowing will drive her crazy, [[ShmuckBait but so will not knowing]]. Later, during the shootout, she begs Roland to kill her because she has spoken nineteen to Nort and can't bear the horrors that he whispered back to her. As she dies King says that "the last expression on her face might have been gratitude."

* GeorgeLucasRevisedVersion: King did this with the revised edition.

* HardHead: Like many other details in the books, instructive injuries meted out by Cort, the gunslinger's teacher, are poetically exagerrated. Cort casually and repeatedly strikes two of his pupils' heads so hard that blood comes out of their ears. Unlike a bloody nose, ears bleed only when a part of the hearing apparatus is obliterated, or if the entire base of the skull is turned to mush inside by trauma.

* WeirdWest

** In the un-revised version, Farson isn't a character at all but a ''town'' targeted for poisoning by the Good Man ... who is explicitly stated to be Marten. Confused yet?

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Not only is this book much shorter than the others in the series; it has a much more disjointed, poetic style. The narrative flow is much more linear in later books, which justify the different style by emphasizing that Roland went a ''little bit nuts'' during his long solo journey. We also have Marten Broadcloak, Walter O'Dim and John Farson the Good Man presented as three separate characters, when they're later presented as various guises of Flagg.

* SignatureScene: [[spoiler: Roland letting Jake fall to his death is considered by many to be the one for the entire Dark Tower series as it defines him as an {{Antihero}} better than anything previous, including destroying an entire town.]]

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1thegunslinger.jpg]]

* AdaptationalSelfDefense: Allie is held as a shield and hostage by Sheb as the residents of Tull attack Roland. Originally, Roland kills her out of pure instinct; his trained hands react quicker than his mind. She screams at him not to shoot, but it's too late, and the guilt of her death sits on Roland throughout the rest of the story. In the revised edition, there is a convoluted subplot in which after Walter resurrects Nort, he tells Allie that if she says "nineteen" to Nort, he will tell her what he saw on the other side. Knowing will drive her crazy, [[ShmuckBait but so will not knowing]]. Later, during the shootout, she begs Roland to kill her because she has spoken nineteen to Nort and can't bear the horrors that he whispered back to her. As she dies King says that "the last expression on her face might have been gratitude."

''The Gunslinger'' is the first book in ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series.

* TheDogShotFirst: Allie is held as a shield and hostage by Sheb as the residents of Tull attack Roland. Originally, Roland kills her out of pure instinct; his trained hands react quicker than his mind. She screams at him not to shoot, but it's too late, and the guilt of her death sits on Roland throughout the rest of the story. In the revised edition, there is a convoluted subplot in which after Walter resurrects Nort, he tells Allie that if she says "nineteen" to Nort, he will tell her what he saw on the other side. Knowing will drive her crazy, [[ShmuckBait but so will not knowing]]. Later, during the shootout, she begs Roland to kill her because she has spoken nineteen to Nort and can't bear the horrors that he whispered back to her. As she dies King says that "the last expression on her face might have been gratitude."

* ShootTheHostage: Sheb uses Roland's lover, Allie, as a HumanShield and hostage. Roland kills her out of pure instinct; his trained hands react quicker than his mind. [[TheDogShotFirst Changed]] in the revised edition.

* HardHead: like many other details in the books, instructive injuries meted out by Cort, the gunslinger's teacher, are poetically exagerrated. Cort casually and repeatedly strikes two of his pupils' heads so hard that blood comes out of their ears. Unlike a bloody nose, ears bleed only when a part of the hearing apparatus is obliterated, or if the entire base of the skull is turned to mush inside by trauma.

* CombatPragmatist: Roland's weapon of choice in his gunslinger trial is [[spoiler:David, his trained hawk]]. He's also mastered the art of [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty fighting dirty]], which makes [[SadistTeacher Cort]] proud.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gunslinger-grant-cover_2883.jpg]]

''The Gunslinger'' is the first book in ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series. The story opens with TheGunslinger Roland Deschain trekking across a desert that appears to be in [[TheWestern the Old West]] but [[WriterInducedFanon may actually be]] our own world [[AfterTheEnd in the distant future]]. {{Flashback}}s tell a HighFantasy tale of Roland's childhood.

* ShootTheHostage: Sheb uses Roland's lover, Allie as a HumanShield and hostage. Roland kills her out of pure instinct; his trained hands react quicker than his mind. [[TheDogShotFirst Changed]] in the revised edition.
* [[spoiler:TimeSkip]]: Happened ''during'' the story. At the very end, Roland wakes up after [[spoiler:ten years to find Walter o' Dim dead as a skeleton]].