History Literature / YeGods

* BalefulPolymorph: Apollo, interviewed on live TV (by [[AgentMulder Danny Bennett]], natch), doesn't like the direction the questions are going. So he turns the reporter into a frog and addresses the human race directly. When he notices the cameraman has turned the camera off, he turns ''him'' into a toad ([[RuleOfFunny although still with a leather jacket and blue jeans]]).
** Jupiter also regularly turns or threatens to turn people into other forms; [[spoiler:Prometheus' Eagle was once a nymph, before refusing Jove's attentions.]]

* [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels All Centaurs Are Hell's Angels]]: The Larissan Chapter of the Original Thessalian Centaurs wear motorcycle helmets and leather jackets. They argue that they're not really hideous monsters, insisting that they were victims of a pharmaceutical accident that caused them to mutate into centaurs; but Jason insists on fighting them anyway.

* AxCrazy: Jupiter, by the end of the story.

* LargeHam: Subverted by Jason at the Witch's Hut. [[GenreSavvy He wants to skip to the bit where she gives him the information he needs]], but she insists on going through the whole scene (she'd been waiting there for ''ages'').

--->'''Danny:''' [[GenreSavvy If you ignore them, they just go away.]] Anyone got a pen?

* FoodPorn: Food is described in loving detail at several points, when Jason is being tempted with it.

* AgentMulder / WeirdnessMagnet: Reporter Danny Bennett appears again, as in Holt's previous books.

* CrapsackWorld: The world as the Gods think it should be, before Prometheus stole fire [[spoiler: and laughter]] from them. When mortals "lived in caves, dressed in skins and ate raw meat, couldn't read or write, died young of horrible diseases, got eaten by wild animals, were thoroughly scared of the dark,[[spoiler: and couldn't even take our minds off it all by having a good laugh about something." Jupiter's scheme involves eliminating the Earth we know and replacing it with one where humans never learned to laugh at the Gods, and hence the Gods never lost their power.]] Jason is given a vision of this world, courtesy of Prometheus.

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->"''Why do the little tropers always have to be Heroes?''"

--->'''Mars:'''The Sri Lankans beating up on the Tamils. The Ethiopians stomping on the Eritreans. The Chinese swapping missiles with the Vietnamese. The Irish shooting up the British. The British shooting up the Argentines. The Americans dropping bombs on the Libyans. The Libyans setting off bombs under everybody else....

--->'''Juno:'''But Jo, why do the little bastards always have to be Heroes?

-->"''In the beginning was the Word. Nobody knows what it actually was, although it would be nice to think it was 'Sorry'.''"


'''Ye Gods!''' is a comic fantasy novel by Creator/TomHolt. Set on the Earth of NextSundayAD, where the ancient Greek gods still exist but no longer have real power, the story is presented by an omniscient and rather LemonyNarrator.

Jason Derry is a classic Hero- by which we mean he is a son of the god Jupiter. This causes him no end of trouble, despite the fact that he is able to dispatch hordes of centaurs and huge monsters with ease. The problems come in when he becomes entangled in a plot by Jupiter to regain dominance over the human race. There is also the fact that Jason's mother keeps trying to set him up with the girl next door...

Most of the tropes listed below are either subverted, parodied, or PlayedForLaughs.

* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler:Jason finally gets fed up with being a pawn in divine schemes and kicks Jupiter's butt.]]

* PaintingTheMedium: For example: "'GET IT SORTED OUT,' said Jupiter- when you're the Great Sky God it's no problem at all to shout in capital letters."

* [[TalkToTheFist Talk To The Sword]]: The Erymanthian Hydra, among many others.

** Not to mention Danny Bennett, who finds himself interviewing Apollo in this novel. In previous Holt books, he adventured with Vikings and sailed with the Flying Dutchman. He is showing signs of getting tired of this sort of thing.

* CrapsackWorld: The world as the Gods think it should be, before Prometheus stole fire [[spoiler: and laughter]] from them. When mortals "lived in caves, dressed in skins and ate raw meat, couldn't read or write, dies young of horrible diseases, got eaten by wild animals, were thoroughly scared of the dark,[[spoiler: and couldn't even take our minds off it all by having a good laugh about something." Jupiter's scheme involves eliminating the Earth we know and replacing it with one where humans never learned to laugh at the Gods, and hence the Gods never lost their power.]] Jason is given a vision of this world, courtesy of Prometheus.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Reporter Danny Bennett's reaction when his camera crew spots Mars' chariot flying away from the battlefield.

** Then there's poor Police Sergeant Smith, who encountered Jason fighting a huge lizard one night five years ago in a parking lot, reported it, and lost his reputation in the force. He now has repeated run-ins with the characters, including Jason's mum, Jason, and Jason's father (Jupiter). Each encounter is weirder than the last, even though Jupiter is the only one to intentionally mess with the Sergeant's head.

Many of the tropes listed below are either subverted, parodied, or PlayedForLaughs.

--> The Centaur swore miserably, drew its sword, and charged. The real trouble with Heroes was that they always had to know best.

* CrapsackWorld: The world as the Gods think it should be. [[spoiler:Jupiter's scheme involves eliminating the Earth we know and replacing it with one where humans never learned to laugh at the Gods, and hence the Gods never lost their power.]] Jason is given a vision of this world, courtesy of Prometheus.

--> "I go to seek my Destiny," said Jason woodenly. He'd say it, but he was damned if he was going to ham it up.

* MsFanservice: Mythological characters Virtue and Luxury, "a pair of absolute honeys." Virtue is a tall, noble, blue-eyed blonde wearing a simple robe, while Luxury is "dark, smouldering and has more curves than Le Mans and Indianapolis put together... and what she's wearing is largely academic." Subverted; when Jason arrives at their temple, Luxury is busy cooking a lemon souffle and both are in a rather testy mood.

* ShipperOnDeck: Jason's mum keeps pushing him towards Sharon, the neighbor. Unfortunately, he actively loathes her.
-->'''Mrs. Derry:''' Sharon called. Twice.
-->'''Jason:''' Wouldn't want her phone bill, then.

--> "Hi there, I'm the Erymanthian ''ouch''!"

-->'''Megathoon:''' And what sort of time do you call ouch?

** Then there's poor Police Sergeant Smith, who encountered Jason fighting a huge lizard one night five years ago in a parking lot, reported it, and lost his reputation in the force. He now has repeated run-ins with the characters, including Jason's mum, Jason, and Jason's father (Jupiter). Each encounter is weirder than the last, even though Jupiter is the only one to intentionally mess with the Sergeant's head.

* LargeHam: Subverted by Jason at the Witch's Hut. [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy He wants to skip to the bit where she gives him the information he needs]], but she insists on going through the whole scene (she'd been waiting there for ''ages'').

-->'''Megathoon:''' "And what sort of time do you call ouch?"

* CrapsackWorld: The world as the Gods think it should be. [[spoiler:Jupiter's scheme involves eliminating the Earth we know and replacing it with one where humans never learned to laugh at the Gods, and hence the Gods never lost their power.]]

* LargeHam: Subverted when Jason meets the old seeress. He wanted to skip to the bit where she gave him the information he needed, but she insists on going through the whole scene (she'd been waiting there for ''ages'').

* WeirdnessMagnet: Jason's childhood is spent slaying the huge animals and mythical monsters that somehow find their way to his neighborhood, starting with the snakes that slither up the drainpipe when he is 6 months old. His father's time is spent finding somewhere in the yard to bury the corpses.

* WeirdnessMagnet: Jason's childhood is spent slaying the huge animals and mythical monsters that somehow find their way to his neighborhood, starting with the snakes that slither up the drainpipe when he is 6 months old. His father's time is spent finding somewhere in the yard to bury them.

* NotDistractedByTheSexy: Jason's meeting with Virtue and Luxury is strictly a professional occasion. They're symbolical, after all.

* GentleGiant: Jason really rather likes the world, when monsters aren't trying to kill him.

* LemonyNarrator:

* BattleButler: George, who drives Jason from one adventure to another with a sort of magical golf cart.

* NamedWeapons: Parodied. Jason is presented with one, but immediately forgets the name, so he thinks of it as "The Sword of What A Silly Name" and so on. Eventually he decides to name it Freckles. [[spoiler:For the record, it's the Sword of Glycerion.]]

* WierdnessMagnet: Jason's childhood is spent slaying the huge animals and mythical monsters that somehow find their way to his neighborhood, starting with the snakes that slither up the drainpipe when he is 6 months old. His father's time is spent finding somewhere in the yard to bury them.

'''Ye Gods!''' is a comic fantasy novel by Creator/TomHolt.

Set on the Earth of NextSundayAD, where the ancient Greek gods still exist but no longer have real power, the story is presented by an omniscient and rather LemonyNarrator.

Protagonist Jason Derry is a classic Hero- by which we mean he is a son of the god Jupiter. This causes him no end of trouble, despite the fact that he is able to dispatch hordes of centaurs and huge monsters with ease. The problems come in when he becomes entangled in a plot by Jupiter to regain dominance over the human race. There is also the fact that Jason's mother keeps trying to set him up with the girl next door...

-->'''Megathoon:''' "And what sort of time do you call ouch?"

* LargeHam: Subverted when Jason meets the old crone. He wanted to skip to the bit where she gave him the information he needed, but she insists on going through the whole scene (she'd been waiting there for ''ages'').

--> "Hi there, I'm the Erymanthian ''ouch''!"