History Literature / TheMysteriousIsland

* WackyAmericansHaveWackyNames: Bonadventure, Gideon, Nabuchodonosor...

* Foreshadowing: Early on in the book, the narration establishes that such is Cyrus' ScienceHero ability that you could tell the heroes the island was an erupting volcano and they'd only point at Cyrus and say he could handle it. Guess what happens at the end.

* WackyAmericansHaveW: Bonadventure, Gideon, Nabuchodonosor

** [[spoiler: Lincoln Island is actually a subversion too, Captain Nemo lives underneath it]]

* DeusExMachina: The whole plot is basically a sequence of those. In a surprisingly TropesAreNotBad way, they almost always create ''more'' suspense than they resolve, until the very end.

* Foreshaodwing: Early on in the book, the narration establishes that such is Cyrus' ScienceHero ability that you could tell them the island was an erupting volcano and they'd only point at Cyrus and say he could handle it. Guess what happens at the end.

* LargeHam: Pencroff.

* ScienceHero: Cyrus Smith. He's stated to be an "engineer", but seems to be equally at home with physics, botany, chemistry and metallurgy. Between his knowledge and the whole group's determination, they build a plantation, an explosives plant, a smeltery, and a telegraph system out of little more than raw materials (plus a little help from a mysterious benefactor).

If this sounds familiar, it's because it's based on Alexander Selkirk, whose life-story had already served as the basis for ''Literature/RobinsonCrusoe'' and ''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.

* MisplacedVegetation / MisplacedWildlife : Lincoln Island has almost implausible levels of biodiversity and has species that couldn't realistically exist in the latitude it's supposed to lie in. This was something already noted by Verne's ''contemporaries''. His answer ? A wink, followed by a 19. century version of the MST3KMantra slash RuleOfCool argument.

''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, 5 Union Soldiers 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.

''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, 5 Union Soldiers and their dog companion escape a Confederate prison in a [[strike: hot air]] 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.

* FiveManBand
** TheHero: Cyrus Smith
** TheLancer: Pencroff
** TheMedic: Spilett
** TheSmartGuy: Smith, Harbert, and Spilett
** TheChick: Neb. Figuratively, not literally. Minus an offhand mention in the last chapter, there are no women in this story.
** TheSixthRanger: Ayrton
** TagalongKid: Harbert
** TeamPet: Top and Jup

* ScienceMarchesOn: Tabor island (AKA Maria-Theresa reef) where Ayrton was marooned, and which was long believed to sit at the stated location, was later proven to not exist at all. What's interesting is that the Ernest Legouve reef, a similar phantom island close to the purported Tabor's position, sits roughly in the same location as Verne's Lincoln island.

* LargeHam: Pencroff

* ExecutiveMeddling [[spoiler:Verne planned to reveal Nemo as Polish aristocrat exiled after uprising against Tsarist Russia, but certain authorities feared possible diplomatic consequences and forced him to change character's nationality ]]

* 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.]]

** TheMedic: Spillet
** TheSmartGuy: Smith, Herbert, and Spillet
** TheChick: Neb. Figuritively, not literally. Minus an offhand mention in the last chapter, there are no women in this story.

** TagalongKid: Herbert

* CanonWelding: Places Verne's earlier books [[spoiler: ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' and ''Literature/InSearchOfTheCastaways'']] in the same continuity, although that leads to a SeriesContinuityError in the case of the former. Together, the three books form the "[[FanNickname Sea Trilogy]]".

* GoMadFromTheIsolation : [[spoiler:Ayrton.]] He's in a pretty bad state when they find him, to say the least...

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

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Jup, the monkey butler