History Literature / Warbreaker

* AGodAmI: The Returned. Except Lightsong, who tends towards AGodIAmNot.

For more works in TheVerse in which this takes place, see Franchise/TheCosmere.

* LiteralGenie:
** The key limitation of the magic system is that ''everything'' you try to Awaken behaves like this, though not out of a sense of malice; becoming a better Awakener means learning how to phrase commands so that they actually work and don't backfire on you.
** [[spoiler:This is also part of the explanation for why Nightblood is the way it is, according to WordOfGod. It's made of Awakened steel, and driven by a somewhat vague command to "destroy evil." The indiscriminate nature of Nightblood's slaughter is a product of the blade not really having a firm concept of "evil."]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Much more serious example than usual. When Vasher and Glorysinger (his wife) were forging Nightblood, they knew that whatever Command they gave would define the sword's personality and purpose. Given the fact that Nightblood contains a ''thousand'' Breaths and is thus one of the most powerful objects in the world, choosing the right command was obviously very important. After much thought, they selected "Destroy evil." Only later would they realize the problem with this command: How is a piece of metal supposed to know what "evil" is?

The only way to avert it is for the king of Idris to honor an old treaty and send his daughter to the God-King's court [[ArrangedMarriage to be his bride]]. He has trained up his beloved daughter [[PrincessClassic Vivenna]] to do this, but when the time comes he pulls a switcheroo and sends his youngest daughter [[RebelliousPrincess Sisirina]] instead. When Siri arrives, she's immediately pulled into [[DeadlyDecadentCourt a tangled web of plots and betrayals within the court of the Gods]]. Meanwhile, Vivi, at loose ends now that the husband she went through a lifetime of WifeHusbandry for has married someone else, sneaks away to Hallandren to save her little sister from the ruthless God-King and take her place. It doesn't quite work out that way, especially when the mysterious Vasher, a fighter with a [[ArtifactOfDoom black sword that speaks to him and enjoys killing people]], takes notice of her...

* ArrangedMarriage: Siri and the God-King Susebron. [[spoiler:Becomes a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage once he is revealed to not be the evil dictator she thought.]]

* BeginnersLuck: maintained by Lightsong as his "strategy" for Terachin. See AchievementsInIgnorance above.

* CastFromHitPoints: How Returned magic works--it can accomplish things far beyond ordinary Awakening, but only at the cost of the Returned in question's life. [[spoiler:Nightblood works like this too, drawing on its wielder's Breath to fuel its powers when fully drawn. Running out of Breath while trying to wield Nightblood is fatal- even for a non-Returned, as explicitly confirmed by WordOfGod. ]]

* ChekhovsSkill: ''Subverted''. [[spoiler:While he's trying to work out who he was pre-Return, Lightsong figures he was probably some sort of detective or soldier and guesses he'd probably be a really good swordsman if he ever tried. So later, when he picks up a sword and tries to go all BigDamnHeroes to rescue Blushweaver... he promptly gets his ass handed to him, because he while he was indeed an investigator, he wasn't a city guard officer, he was an ''accountant''.]]

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Idris has tried to exclude color from their country as a defense mechanism against Awakeners. It doesn't actually work though- they use black and brown freely, and both of those will work for Awakening.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Much more serious example than usual. When Vasher and Glorysinger (his wife) were forging Nightblood, they knew that whatever Command they gave would define the sword's personality and purpose. Given the fact that Nightblood contains a ''thousand'' Breaths and is thus one of the most powerful objects in the world, choosing the right command was obviously very important. After much thought, they selected "Destroy Evil". Only later would they realize the problem with this command: How is a piece of metal supposed to know what "evil" is?

** [[spoiler:High Priest Treledees]] is a complete subversion--he's a bit of a [[{{Jerkass}} jerk]] and is quite hidebound, but he's doing no more than what he believes [[spoiler:is his duty to his nation and his God-King.]] Indeed, he's the RedHerring [[spoiler:Bluefingers]] uses to keep from being spotted.

* EvilOverlord: Subverted. [[spoiler:Susebron the God-King]] has a reputation as being this, especially in Idris, [[spoiler: but he's really a figurehead and a very nice (if naive) guy.]]

* ExoticDetective: Lightsong when he tries to solve the mystery of the murdered servant in Mercystar's palace--he uses his Fifth Heightening powers to see clues that no-one else could.

* ForgedByTheGods: Nightblood. While those who created him may or may not be gods ''per se'', at the least they were/would be worshiped as such.

* GodEmperor: Susebron, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the God-King]]. Although [[spoiler:he has little actual power until the end.]]

* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: Variation--the gods are Returned and in order to survive, need a Breath given to them once a week in order to continue existing.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Nightblood. Creating a sentient sword with the Command to destroy evil seems like a good idea. Trouble is, an Awakened sword doesn't even have a [[IncrediblyLamePun clear cut]] concept of life, let alone something as abstract as evil. So you end up with a weapon [[MurderIsTheBestSolution eager to kill]] anyone it considers [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity evil]]. Doesn't take all that much to make Nightblood think you're evil...

* GoodIsNotNice: [[spoiler:Vasher;]] [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] several times when he points out that he knows full well he's got a bad temper and terrible people skills.
* GoodIsNotSoft: Susebron is a genuinely good person who learned his morality from a book of children's fairy-tales. Now remember just how many of those fairy tales end with the evildoers getting eaten by monsters, or losing their heads, or turned into horrible things...

* HairColors: The hallmark of the Royal Family of Idris is the Royal Locks, hair that can change colors to reflect its owner's emotions: black for confidence, white for fear, red for passion, blond for happiness...

** The Gods are each able to perform a single miracle at the cost of their own lives. [[spoiler: The only one we actually witness is Lightsong's.]]

** [[spoiler: A newly empowered Susebron is willing to face an army of 40,000 lifeless soldiers head on to save Siri's homeland from destruction, even though that meant certain death. Fortunately they find another solution.]]

** [[spoiler:Denth ''constantly'' told Vivenna what he was capable of, and she didn't take it seriously because he said it with a grin and likeable banter]].
** [[spoiler:Kalad's Phantoms]].

** Idrians have some seemingly exaggerated conceptions about how bad sacrificing breath to the gods in Hallandra. [[spoiler: Though WordOfGod makes clear that the Idrians are correct that losing your breath has some negative physical and mental side effects]]
** [[spoiler: Pahn Kahl agents plan to enrage the Idrians into war against Hallandra by making it look like they murdered Siri in a TargetedHumanSacrifice]]

* IgnoredEpiphany: Played for laughs with Siri. Right before [[spoiler: having sex with Susebron for the first time]] she notes to herself that this is a really bad idea, and she's got an unfortunate habit of following her impulses without thinking things through, and she really needs to become more sensible and responsible - ''some other time.''

* ImplacableMan: The chief advantage of the Lifeless. Unlike zombies in other worlds they aren't any stronger or faster than living soldiers and can't spread their condition (other than killing people to provide raw material), but they make up for it by not needing food or rest and being able to shrug off any wound that doesn't directly impair functioning. [[spoiler: Kalad's Phantoms are Lifeless encased in stone, making them both implacable and NighInvulnerable.]]
** Note that the real advantage of the Lifeless is that it was discovered near the beginning of the nation's founding how to animate one from a single Breath rather than the fifty it took before. That means that they double the size of their army without any difficulty.

'''Blushweaver:''' Of course not. You are nothing if not exhaustive in your self- congratulatory made-up logic.
* JerkassGods: Pretty much the entire court [[spoiler:except for Lightsong, Susebron, and to an extent Blushweaver.]]
** We don't know for sure. It seem likely that [[spoiler:Blushweaver is average]] among the gods in jerkass-ness, although more competent at it, but whether that means they all aren't so bad or she is worse is hard to say.
** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] and explained during Lightsong's philosophizing: When each god can only perform one miracle to help their people, and that at the cost of their own life, the truly good and noble ones die off quickly and those who stick around are the less compassionate.

-->"When all else fails, use sexual innuendo," she said lightly...
* LargeAndInCharge: The gods who rule Hallandren are a foot taller than mortal men, though in many ways it is tenuous.

* LighterAndSofter: Though the central storyline is still serious, the setting and characters are notably not as dark as in [[Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy the Mistborn trilogy]] or even ''Literature/{{Elantris}}''.

* LockedIntoStrangeness: The Royal Locks turn white to show fear. After [[spoiler: Vivenna discover's Denth's true colors]], her hair stays white for two weeks straight.
* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler:Technically, they were never really ''lost'', but Lightsong's head priest, Llarimar, is actually his younger brother. Lightsong's (named Stenimar as a mortal) Return came to be when he saved Llarimar's daughter from a sinking ship.]]

* MayDecemberRomance: [[spoiler: Siri and Susebron]] are a... complicated example. Chronologically, he's in his fifties and she's in her late teens. ''Mentally'', she's an adult [[spoiler:while he starts out almost childlike.]] ''Physically'', they're about the same age because of how [[spoiler:a Returned's powers keeps them ageless as long as they have a steady supply of Breath.]]
** This veers into [[MayflyDecemberRomance Mayfly]] territory when the shippers pair Vivenna with [[spoiler:Vasher.]]
*** Although, in this setting anybody can become immortal (barring accidents) if they have enough Breath, so it's not that big of an issue.

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Lightsong.
* NamesTheSame: A RedHerring variant: [[spoiler: Denth's real name is revealed to be "[=VaraTreledees=]," which implies a connection to the suspicious high priest Treledees, but they're entirely unrelated.]]

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Sanderson [[Franchise/{{Mistborn}} really likes]] [[Literature/{{Elantris}} this one]]. Not used as heavily here as in his earlier books, but it shows up.
* OneHitKill: Nightblood, when fully drawn, will [[spoiler: completely obliterate its victims, [[SoulCuttingBlade soul and all,]] in a single strike, leaving nothing but a [[NotEnoughToBury brief cloud of black smoke]] where they were standing. Wielding Nightblood in this manner comes with [[ArtifactOfDeath severe drawbacks]].]]
* OverTheShoulderCarry: Vivenna finds herself subjected to this twice by [[spoiler: Vasher]]

* PhysicalGod: The Gods of Hallandren...for a loose definition of god.
** Anyone with enough Breath to reach one of the upper Heightenings would probably qualify as well under most definitions, even if they aren't actually Returned. The Tenth Heightening, so far seen only as a product of the tens of thousands of Breaths the God-King carries, gives one the ability to Awaken perfectly by pure instinct (bypassing the key limitation of this magic system, the need to know how to phrase something exactly to make the Awakened object do it properly). There is a ''reason'' the God-King is such a powerful figure.

* RageBreakingPoint: [[spoiler:After suffering Lightsong's antics for five years and seeing him try and fail at many things just in the attempt to see if his previous life had remembered them, Llarimar screams at Lightsong when he tries to pick a lock, even saying that he is a ''scribe'', not any other skills.]]
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: [[spoiler: Discovering how gentle Susebron is lead Siri to believe this was the reason he did not force her into sex on their wedding night. He actually had no idea what sex was, though almost certainly would have been too considerate to take Siri by force.]]

* RoaringRampageOfRescue: [[spoiler: Susebron's only has moments to reach the top floor of his palace from the dungeons, to prevent his beloved Siri from being murdered. Dozens, if not hundreds, of enemies stand in his way. [[CurbStompBattle They didn't stand a chance.]] ]]
* RousseauWasRight: Pretty much every character in the story has good (or at least sympathetic) motivations for their actions. In the end, the only truly evil person in the novel is [[spoiler:[[AxCrazy Tonk Fah]]]] who is ultimately just TheDragon's hired help.

* SequelHook: In the epilogue, Vasher tells Vivenna that [[spoiler:Yesteel, another of his and Denth's old colleagues, has resurfaced with improved Lifeless, which he's sold to an ambitious warlord. They then head off to investigate together.]] WordOfGod is that ''Warbreaker'' was always intended to be a two-book series, but the release of volume two, ''Nightblood'', was delayed by working on the final three volumes of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''. As ''Warbreaker'' stands on its own fine, however, this wasn't a serious issue. On his blog, Sanderson revealed that he felt it would be better to get his extremely ambitious ''Stormlight Archive'' series established before the release of what he admits will be a tonally different follow-up to the first book.

* SoulPower: The Idrians believe Breath is a person's soul, and thus hold Awakening to be the worst sort of heresy. The people of Hallandren are less convinced of this, and don't revile Awakeners or believe losing one's Breath is so terrible, as long as they're paid well for it (or do it for a good cause, like [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly sustaining the Returned]]). They are both somewhat right and wrong- according to WordOfGod giving away your soul is quite unpleasant, giving you worse health and depression, though it's not as bad as the Idrians say.

* SpareToTheThrone: The oldest princess was groomed from birth to become the God-Emperor's wife. The second oldest princess was the "spare," trained in case something happened to her sister. Their father sent the youngest princess instead, mostly because she was a wild card that no one had ever bothered to spy on. WordOfGod and a bit of his narration also indicate that despite being basically a decent man, the King really didn't love Siri as much as he loved the others, so found it less painful to sacrifice her.
* StandardFantasySetting: PlayedWith. As one of the annotations puts it:

* StealthSequel: [[spoiler: Actually a stealth prequel. To ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance''. Vasher and Nightblood both appear in Words of Radiance, the latter being set up for a major role in the coming sequels. This raises the question of how the pair got from Nalthis, the world that Warbreaker takes place on, to Roshar, the world of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''. To sum up, Sanderson wrote a prequel to the second book in a series, a year before the first book in said series had yet to be released.]]

* TitleDrop: [[spoiler:Vasher's]] real name (well, oldest known name, whether or not it's his ''real'' name is debatable) is Warbreaker the Peaceful.

* TheVamp: Blushweaver comes across like this at first--CharacterDevelopment gradually moves her more into FemmeFatale. Possibly more into MyGirlIsASlut. She's flirtatious, sure, but legitimately means well for both the country and the target of her affections.

* WrongContextMagic: Magic in Warbreaker involves commanding objects to come to life and perform a specific task. At one point [[spoiler:Vasher gets a girl to erase her own memory with a Command.]]

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Poor [[spoiler:Blushweaver.]]

* {{Expy}}: WordOfGod says that Siri and Vivenna were exported from a novel he never got around to completing. While he never was really satisfied with the book and shelved it half-finished, he and his alpha readers liked subplot with the two princesses, so he wrote a book about them instead. He also mentions that Denth is more or less the same concept as [[{{Mistborn}} Kelsier]], [[spoiler:except that he's on the villain's side.]]

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Sanderson [[{{Mistborn}} really likes]] [[Literature/{{Elantris}} this one]]. Not used as heavily here as in his earlier books, but it shows up.

In a world where magic is ruled by three aspects (color, voice, and Breath, [[SoulPower the essential power of one's soul]]), where those who die nobly can return to life and [[AGodAmI be worshiped as gods]], the minor kingdom of Idris wants to stay as far away from such things as possible. They wear muted colors, usually a simple gray or white, and look upon the use of Breath magic as an abomination. But in the neighboring kingdom of Hallandren, where the immortal [[GodEmperor God King]] rules over [[OurZombiesAreDifferent a court of deities returned from the dead]], sinister plots are stirring and many are calling for war against the "rebels" in Idris.

* IgnoredEpiphany: Played for laughs with Siri. Right before [[spoiler: having sex with Susebron for the first time]] she notes to herself that this is a really bad idea, and she's got an unfortunate habit of following her impulses without thinking things through, and she really needs to try to stop doing that - ''some other time.''

-->'''Lightsong:''' Well I can’t get subtext either. Far too subtle for me. It takes effort to understand, and effort is—unfortunately—against my religion.

* ArtifactOfDoom: Nightblood.
** ArtifactOfDeath: it has a distressing tendancy to try and kill whoever draws it, or make nearby people kill each other (but only if they're evil; good people get violently ill when they get too close), something Vasher was clever enough to weaponize- see ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks below for details.

* GenreSavvy: Denth, who uses it both for practical purposes and clever LampshadeHanging. See CrowningMomentOfFunny for a memorable example that is actually both.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Implied to be pretty much everybody. [[spoiler:Kalad and Peacegiver are the same person, Austre followers used to be Awakeners too, and so forth.]]

** Also, how he rediscovers the skills he had in life. Entirely by accident, he learns halfway through the book that he is good at interrogation and finding hidden details,[[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers and is pretty good at juggling fruit]]. He has no experience like that in his life as a god, so he reasons that they must be skills from his previous life and wonders if he was a police detective or something similar. [[spoiler: Later, he gets a sword, turns out to be dangerously incompetent with it, and is informed that in his previous life he was an ''accountant''[[note]]We never do find out why he can juggle fruit or, for that matter, if for some reason he was actually a master of a game specific to the gods when he was alive[[/note]].]]

* MistakenForGranite: The D'denir statues.

* [[ArentYouGoingToRavishMe Aren't You Going To Ravish Me?]]: Lampshaded when [[spoiler:Siri feels disappointed after nothing happens on her wedding night, then realizes how ridiculous it is to feel that way.]]

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:Vasher]] reveals in the prologue that he is able to [[spoiler:instantly achieve the Fifth Heightening, the same as all of the Returned.]] It turns out in the end that [[spoiler:he is indeed a Returned, and has been living in hiding for 300 years.]]

** [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Level-Up Perk]]: It's a good thing the [[spoiler:sixth]] heightening provides [[spoiler:instinctive awakening abilities]].

* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler:Bluefingers]] plotted out almost all the events of the novel like clockwork. Ultimately, it was only two factors he couldn't possibly have foreseen [[spoiler:(Lightsong's HeroicSacrifice and Vasher really being Kalad and Peacegiver)]] that stopped him.

* EvilChancellor: [[spoiler:Bluefingers.]]
** This appears to be a subversion at the start, however, so it's not played 100% straight.

* HeroicSacrifice: The Gods are each able to perform a single miracle at the cost of their own lives. [[spoiler: The only one we actually witness is Lightsong's.]]

* HumanSacrifice: Idrians have some seemingly exaggerated conceptions about how bad sacrificing breath to the gods in Hallandra. [[spoiler: Though WordOfGod makes clear that the Idrians are correct that losing your breath has some negative physical and mental side effects]]

* LetsYouAndHimFight: Triggering this between {{Mooks}} is the main way that Nightblood is used.

* LiteralGenie: The key limitation of the magic system is that ''everything'' you try to Awaken behaves like this, though not out of a sense of malice; becoming a better Awakener means learning how to phrase commands so that they actually work and don't backfire on you.

-->'''Sanderson:'''A lot of fantasy novels like to make their setting someplace akin to rural England, and they’ll talk of distant countries that have exotic spices, dyes, and trade goods. Well, in this world, Hallandren is that place. It’s at the other end of the silk road, so to speak.
* [[spoiler:StealthSequel]]: [[spoiler: Actually a stealth prequel. To ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance''. Vasher and Nightblood both appear in Words of Radiance, the latter being set up for a major role in the coming sequels. This raises the question of how the pair got from Nalthis, the world that Warbreaker takes place on, to Roshar, the world of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''. To sum up, Sanderson wrote a prequel to the second book in a series, a year before the first book in said series had yet to be released.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Susebron's priests truly do care about him. But their sacred vow to protect the God King's [=BioChroma=] gift from abuse means some terrible things are done to him. All in the name of keeping it safe.]]

* WordOfGod: Identifies [[spoiler:the Voice that speaks to the Returned and lets them come back]] as one of the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Shards]] from Sanderson's wider cosmology. It is named Endowment.
** Sanderson tends to expose a lot of otherwise-unshown background in this way. Another tidbit: Clod the Lifeless was made from Arsteel's corpse.

* [[spoiler:[[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My Sister]]]]: Denth hates Vasher because of it.

** Also [[spoiler:Bluefingers]] who is benevolent, fatherly, humble, [[spoiler: and busily plotting a world war]].

* AGodIAmNot: Lightsong, who constantly denies his godhood, though he does acknowledge the powers that come with it. [[spoiler: Until, right at the end, he regains his memory and decides he is a god after all. And that [[HeroicSacrifice with great power comes great responsibility]].

** In fairness to King Dedelin, that "easier time" involved lying to himself pretty heavily (and obviously) about the political benefits of sending the wrong princess. If he'd been more honest to himself, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone the guilt]] would have rendered him paralyzed.