History Literature / TheMysteriousIsland

* SolarPoweredMagnifyingGlass: Cyrus Smith [=MacGyvered=] a water-filled lens from two watch glasses as the castaways initially had no other means of starting the fire.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: [[spoiler:The animal characters are all quickly killed off in the finale, except for Top, the only one colonists brought with themselves.]]

* TheDeterminator: Everyone, although Pencroff is probably the most extreme case. If you were ever trapped on a deserted island in real life with these guys, not only would you be fine, but your morale would be at an all-time high. %%huh? some examples maybe, instead of character shilling?

* SolarPoweredMagnifyingGlass: Cyrus Smith [=McGyvered=] a water-filled lens from two watch glasses as the castaways initially had no other means of starting the fire.

* ALightInTheDistance: When the castaways are on their way back to Lincoln Island from Tabor Island; a squall blows them off course, but then they see a powerful light (visible at twenty miles) on the shore of their island that guides them home. They're rather disconcerted to learn, later, that their friends on the island '''didn't''' make that light. [[spoiler: Captain Nemo did it[]].

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: Ayrton. Big time.]] %%need to elaborate on this

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Nemo, near the end.]] %%needs elaboration

* DarkestHour: [[spoiler:The pirates are on the island, Ayrton is missing, and most of the castaways are isolated in the main farm after Herbert was shot.]] %%elaborate?

* TheReveal %%needs explanation
* {{Robinsonade}}: This is played straight with the colonists, but deconstructed with [[spoiler:Ayrton]]. Apparently, having beed stranded alone is to blame for the state in which they find him.

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: Ayrton. Big time.]]

* BadassBookworm: Cyrus spends most of the novel using his brains to solve problems, but even he's a good shot and even shanks a pirate.
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Nemo, near the end.]]
* BigGood: [[spoiler:Captain Nemo.]]

* DarkestHour: [[spoiler:the pirates are on the island, Ayrton is missing, and most of the castaways are isolated in the main farm after Herbert was shot.]]
* DesertedIsland: Played straight with Lincoln Island and subverted by the isle of Tabor.
** [[spoiler: Lincoln Island is actually a subversion too, Captain Nemo lives underneath it.]]
* TheDeterminator: Everyone, although Pencroff is probably the most extreme case. If you were ever trapped on a deserted island in real life with these guys, not only would you be fine, but your morale would be at an all-time high.
* DeusExMachina: The whole plot is basically a sequence of those [[spoiler:Cyrus and Top being rescued, finding a crate of tools and useful items, tossing down a ladder, lighting a beacon during a storm, blowing up the pirates...]]. In a surprisingly Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad way, they almost always create ''more'' suspense than they resolve, until the very end.

* EagleLand: Definitely a Flavor 1 example, although Verne's not nearly as overt here as he was with ''From the Earth To The Moon''.

* EvilCounterpart: The six pirates that survive the sinking of ''Speedy'' to the castaways.
* FlippingHelpless: It was done by the protagonists to a giant sea turtle, who then left to get a cart. While they were away, the turtle was carried away by a high tide [[spoiler:or Captain Nemo helped it get back to its normal position]].

* MacGyvering: From a couple of watches and a dog's collar to a civilization.

* TheReveal
* {{Robinsonade}}: This is played straight with the colonists, but deconstructed with [[spoiler:Ayrton]]. Apparently his loneliness is to blame for the state in which they find him.

* StuffBlowingUp: Realistically portrayed when Cyrus Smith manufactures nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose. Verne was correct with the chronology here; since the castaways' balloon flight removed them from contact with the world in early 1865, when dynamite had not yet been invented and nitrocellulose / guncotton was available but very dangerous to make.

* WithThisHerring: The characters start out with not much more than the wreckage of a balloon and whatever little is in their pockets, and end up with a working telegraph line, railway, and iron mine. It's basically the 19th century equivalent of ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' without the creepers.

''The Mysterious Island'' (or ''L'Île Mystérieuse'', if you want to use the original French title) is a novel by Creator/JulesVerne. Originally published in 1874, the book is essentially a castaway story. During the American Civil War, five Unionists, and their dog companion escape a Confederate prison in a stolen reconnaissance balloon. Unfortunately, a storm blows them off course and they end up on a deserted island in the Pacific, which they are forced to make their new home. This being a Verne story, our heroes are far too industrious to merely ''survive''. Over the course of the book, they tame the island and reconstruct the civilization they left behind. They become quite content in their new home, but never enough to abandon their ultimate quest to re-establish contact with the rest of the world.

If this sounds familiar, that's because it's based on Alexander Selkirk, whose life-story had already served as the basis for ''Literature/RobinsonCrusoe'' and ''Literature/TheSwissFamilyRobinson''. Possibly as a way to distinguish itself from the other two books and Verne's own numerous other {{Robinsonade}} stories; ''The Mysterious Island'' adds a mystery sub-plot. Someone or something is watching over the castaways; apparently aiding them at times, but whether their ultimate objective in doing so is for good or ill remains unclear for much of the book.

* SeriesContinuityError: The book's chronology is flat out incompatible with [[spoiler: ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' which takes place in 1866.]] This book starts during Civil War Seige of Richmond, which ended in March 1865; but is supposed to be set well after the events in that book.

* ArtisticLicenseGeology: Two islands appear in the book. Tabor Island seems to be a typical Pacific coral island or cay, without much local metal or mineral resources. Lincoln Island, the mysterious island of the title, is a volcanic island that eventually [[spoiler:is almost entirely submerged after a cataclysmic eruption]]. Such islands usually occur in arcs, with several relatively near to one another forming an island chain. Perhaps Lincoln Island could be the only one above water. But Verne ''also'' had large parts of Lincoln Island be made of granitic and sedimentary rocks with concentrated veins of iron and copper; implausible even according to late-19th century knowledge of geology.

The novel was adapted twice for French TV 10 years apart: a two-part TV movie in 1963 and 6-episode miniseries in 1973, featuring Creator/OmarSharif and Creator/JessHahn as Pencroff. The 1973 series was quite faithful to the original novel. Footage from the series was edited into a feature film that was released in French theatres later in 1973.

The novel was adapted twice for French TV 10 years apart: a two-part TV movie in 1963 and 6-episode miniseries in 1973, featuring Creator/OmarSharif as Captain Nemo, and Creator/JessHahn as Pencroff. The 1973 series was quite faithful to the original novel, after Verne had changed Nemo from a Pole to an Indian exile. Footage from the series was edited into a feature film that was released in French theatres later in 1973.

* StuffBlowingUp: Realistically portrayed when Cyrus Smith manufactures nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose. Verne was correct with the chronology here; since the castaways' balloon flight removed them from contact with the world in early 1865, when dynamite had not yet been invented and nitrocellulose / guncotton was available but still very dangerous to make.
* UndyingLoyalty: Neb is a former slave (the other main characters are Union POWs escaping from a Confederate prison during the American civil war), yet he continues to call his former master 'Master' and is overall submissive and service-minded.

''The Mysterious Island'' (or ''L'Île Mystérieuse'', if you want to use the original French title) is a novel by Creator/JulesVerne. Originally published in 1874, the book is essentially a castaway story. During the American Civil War, five prisoners, and their dog companion escape a Confederate prison in a balloon. Unfortunately, a storm blows them off course and they end up on a deserted island, which they are forced to make their new home. This being a Verne story, our heroes are far too industrious to merely ''survive''. Over the course of the book, they tame the island and reconstruct the civilization they left behind. They become quite content in their new home, but never enough to abandon their ultimate quest to re-establish contact with the rest of the world.

If this sounds familiar, that's because it's based on Alexander Selkirk, whose life-story had already served as the basis for ''Literature/RobinsonCrusoe'' and ''Literature/TheSwissFamilyRobinson''. Possibly as a way to distinguish itself from the other two books, Verne's yarn adds a mystery sub-plot. Someone or something is watching over the castaways; apparently aiding them at times, but whether their ultimate objective in doing so is for good or ill remains unclear for much of the book.

It was adapted into film as ''Film/MysteriousIsland'' in 1961, and featured Creator/HerbertLom (Chief Inspector Dreyfus from ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' films) as Captain Nemo. While (mostly) faithful, there was a lot of AdaptationExpansion with the addition of numerous gigantic creatures on the island, brought to life courtesy of special effects maestro Creator/RayHarryhausen. It was adapted into television by the CBC in 1995. It was adapted again in 2005 by the Creator/HallmarkChannel, directed by Creator/RussellMulcahy and starring Creator/KyleMaclachlan, Creator/GabrielleAnwar and Creator/PatrickStewart as Captain Nemo. Yet another adaptation was made by the Scy Fy channel, and featured Creator/LochlynMunro as Cyrus Harding, Creator/GinaHolden as CanonForeigner Julia Fogg, Creator/PruittTaylorVince as Gideon Spilett, and father/son duo Creator/MarkSheppard (who also directed) and William Morgan Sheppard as younger and older versions of Captain Nemo. The telefilm was unique in the fact that [[spoiler: the novel and most of the other films' leading character of Gideon Spilett is shot in the balloon and killed off in the first act, before they reach the island.]]

In 2004, Kheops Studio produced ''VideoGame/ReturnToMysteriousIsland'', a distant sequel about an original character discovering the ruins of the Nautilus.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Five ordinary men dogpile and hogtie a six-foot adult male orangutan without suffering so much as a scratch. Orangutans are about seven times as strong as humans, and Jup is ''huge'' for his species, so the cornered, frightened ape should realistically have maimed or killed enough of its attackers to spur them to shoot him. He likewise could have ripped his way loose easily from any cordage the castaways (who hadn't yet manufactured chains or cable) had at their disposal, if they ''had'' overwhelmed him.

* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler: According to a brief line at the end, the surviving characters of ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' and ''Literature/InSearchOfTheCastaways'' all become regular guests at the castaway's colony.]]

* DarkestHour: [[spoiler:the pirates are in the island, Ayrton is missing, and most of the castaways are isolated in the main farm after Herbert was shot.]]

* GuiltFreeExterminationWar: Most of the colonists (save Pencroff) believe the stranded pirates should be shown mercy and allowed to live, after seeing how repentant Ayrton became. Then they shot Herbert.

* NamedInTheSequel: The novel delves into [[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea Captain Nemo's]] bacstory and reveals his given name, [[spoiler:Dakkar]].

* SeriesContinuityError: The book's chronology is flat out incompatible with [[spoiler: ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' which takes place in 1866.]] This book takes place at least a year earlier during the Civil War which ended in 1865, but is supposed to be set well after the events in that book.

* UndyingLoyalty: Neb is a former slave (the other main characters are Union POW escaping from a Confederate prison during the American civil war), yet he continues to call his former master 'Master' and is overall submissive and service-minded.

Fun fact: While this isn't the most famous of Verne's works, it has the distinction of having inspired two major franchises: ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'' and ''Series/{{Lost}}''. It was also loosely adapted into the sequel to the 2008 film version of ''Film/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth'', as ''Journey 2 The Mysterious Island''.

It was adapted into film as ''Film/MysteriousIsland'' in 1961, and featured Creator/HerbertLom (Chief Inspector Dreyfus from ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' films) as Captain Nemo. While (mostly) faithful, there was a lot of AdaptationExpansion with the addition of numerous gigantic creatures on the island, brought to life courtesy of special effects maestro Creator/RayHarryhausen. It was adapted into television by the CBC in 1995. It was adapted again in 2005 by the Creator/HallmarkChannel, directed by Creator/RussellMulcahy and starring Creator/KyleMaclachlan, Creator/GabrielleAnwar and Creator/PatrickStewart as Captain Nemo. Yet another adaptation was made by the ScyFy channel, and featured Creator/LochlynMunro as Cyrus Harding, Creator/GinaHolden as CanonForeigner Julia Fogg, Creator/PruittTaylorVince as Gideon Spilett, and Creator/MarkSheppard and William Morgan Sheppard as younger and older versions of Captain Nemo. The telefilm was unique in the fact that [[spoiler: the leading character of Gideon Spilett is shot in the balloon and killed off before they reach the island.]]

It was adapted into film as ''Film/MysteriousIsland'' in 1961, and featured Creator/HerbertLom (Chief Inspector Dreyfus from ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' films) as Captain Nemo. While (mostly) faithful, there was a lot of AdaptationExpansion with the addition of numerous gigantic creatures on the island, brought to life courtesy of special effects maestro Creator/RayHarryhausen. It was adapted into television by the CBC in 1995. It was adapted again in 2005 by the Creator/HallmarkChannel, directed by Creator/RussellMulcahy and starring Creator/KyleMaclachlan, Creator/GabrielleAnwar and Creator/PatrickStewart as Captain Nemo.

* LiberatedButLoyal: Neb is a former slave (the other main characters are Union POW escaping from a Confederate prison during the American civil war), yet he continues to call his former master 'Master' and is overall submissive and service-minded.

* SeriesConinuityError: The book's chronology is flat out incompatible with [[spoiler: ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' which takes place in 1866.]] This book takes place at least a year earlier during the Civil War which ended in 1865, but is supposed to be set well after the events in that book.