History Main / Stardust

* ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'', the novel by NeilGaiman.

''Stardust'' is a modern FairyTale written by NeilGaiman. The main plot centers around Tristran Thorn, a young man with a mysterious ancestry who wants nothing more than to win the heart of his beloved Victoria. When he grandly declares that he'd even give her that star in the sky that just fell, she challenges him to do just that in return for anything he wants from her.

The fallen star turns out to be a girl named Yvaine who isn't too keen on becoming Tristran's prize possession. The star's dislike of him becomes the least of Tristran's problems as he learns that he isn't the only one who wants the star, and that some of them have far more malicious designs on her, all in the name of beauty, power, and/or fame. Needless to say, the road back home is quite a long and eventful one, and that's ''before'' the [[TheReveal Reveals]] begin coming to light...

In 2007, it [[Film/{{Stardust}} was adapted into a movie]].
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!!''Stardust'' contains examples of:

* AbductionIsLove: Tristran starts out trying to force Yvaine to come back to England with him to show her to Victoria, then the two subsequently fall in love.
* AbusiveParents: Quite a lot of favouritism with the Stormholds. The father actually orders his sons to ''kill their brother''.
* AnotherDimension: {{Faerie}}
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Tristran and Yvaine
* BeardlessProtectionProgram: Primus shaves his beard hoping that it'll make Septimus hesitate before killing him. We never get to learn whether or not it would have worked.
* BerserkButton: You really shouldn't kill Septimus's brother. That's his job.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Stormholds ''really'' need some therapy.
* BilingualBonus: "Septimus" is obviously from the Latin for "7", but happens to also be close to the Greek for "poisonous".
* BittersweetEnding: The book could have had a HappilyEverAfter ending, but decides to explore what happens AFTER HappilyEverAfter. To quote ''TheSandman'', "If you go on long enough, [[spoiler:all stories end in death]]."
* CameFromTheSky: Yvaine
* CainAndAbel: the customary method of royal succession involves a lot of fratricide.
* CoolSword: One that is made of glass.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Yvaine.
* DepartureMeansDeath: [[spoiler:If Tristran had taken Yvaine out of Faerie, she would have turned into a meteorite. Neither knew it, though, until the end.]]
* EngagementChallenge: Tristran's quest to find a star for Victoria. Its deconstruction is one of the plot points when Tristran realizes who he loves more.
* TheFairFolk: Stormhold is just a kingdom within the [[LandOfFaerie land of Faerie]].
* FalseSoulmate: Victoria to Tristran.
* FracturedFairyTale
* GenderBender: The goatherd chap gets this treatment.
* GirlNoticesFirst
* HalfHumanHybrid: Tristran
* TheHecateSisters: The Three Lilim.
* TheHedgeOfThorns: literally it's a wall, not a hedge, but displays many features of this trope.
* IGaveMyWord: One witch gives her word not to harm another, and keeps it -- but nevertheless manages to cause her considerable inconvenience.
* InadequateInheritor: All the sons of the late king... for not killing each other fast enough.
* InelegantBlubbering: When Tristran finds the star, her eyes are raw and red with weeping.
* InterspeciesRomance:
** Stars and humans. They can't have offspring.
** Faeries and humans. They ''can'' have offspring, Tristran himself being an example.
* IOweYouMyLife: Much to Yvaine's chagrin.
* KarmicDeath: One of the witches gets ripped to shreds by the animals she guts for fortune telling.
* KlingonPromotion: How the princes try to gain the throne...at their father's request.
* {{Knife Nut}}: The Witch Queen loves to stab people to death. [[spoiler: Even Unicorns.]]
* LandOfFaerie: The setting of most of the story.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Two witches competing for the star meet on the road and have a conversation, at the end of which one magically handicaps her competitor and wipes her memory of the encounter.
* LifeOrLimbDecision: Trapped with what is basically the most powerful witch ever and with no method of fighting back, Tristran uses the candle wax rapid traveling trick using ''his own hand'' as the candle's wick. [[spoiler:It never recovers enough to actually be useful again.]]
* LineageComesFromTheFather: Subverted.
* LongLostRelative: Tristran's mother to the princes of Stormhold.
* LoserGetsTheGirl: Tommy Forester.
* MacGuffinGirl: Yvaine.
* MayDecemberRomance: [[spoiler:Robert Monday and Victoria Forester]]. This is actually foreshadowed and played with early on, but quickly buried beneath the main plot.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: [[spoiler:Yvaine and Tristran.]]
* MotherGoose: Nursery rhymes contain great secrets. One character jeers at the way ordinary people recite them to babies.
* MundaneFantastic: Magic is treated very casually, even by Tristran. In fact, he inherited the family talent for locating things quite strongly himself and has no issue using candlewax and a nursery rhyme to psuedo teleport.
* NoManOfWomanBorn: [[spoiler:Tristran's mother]] is to be released when the moon loses her daughter, if it happens in a week where two Mondays come together. What fulfills the conditions is that [[spoiler:a star (a daughter of the moon) gave her heart entirely to Tristran the week Mr. Monday and Victoria Forester got married (Victoria becomes a Monday)]]. The chain breaks at the moment that this happens. It is hinted that Tristran's conception and birth was part of a XanatosRoulette to achieve this end.
* NoNameGiven: The witch-queens. Their names were lost when Carnadine sank beneath the sea, though the eldest uses the alias Morwanneg, which means "wave of the sea".
* NoOntologicalInertia: Billy turns back into a goat after being headbutted by the unicorn.
* NumericalThemeNaming: The children of the Lord of Stormhold, Primus, Secundus, ... [[NumericalThemeNaming and so on]].
* TheObstructiveLoveInterest: Victoria.
* PhosphorEssence: Yvaine glows more brightly the happier she is. Yvaine herself is not particularly powerful; however, her heart is, and the brighter she is, the more powerful her heart is.
* PrecisionFStrike: When Yvaine falls into Stormhold and is in pain from what caused her to fall from the sky.
* RagsToRoyalty
* {{Really Seven Hundred Years Old}}/{{Time Abyss}}: Lots of characters are much older than physically possible. The eighty-first Lord of Stormhold is supposed to be hundreds years old, Yvaine is a star, and the Lilim are [[TimeAbyss just as old as the WHOLE WORLD.]]
* RelationshipReboot: Tristran and Yvaine do this.
* RoadTripRomance
* RoyalBlood: [[spoiler: Tristran.]]
* SacredHospitality: When one witch pledges to treat another as if she were her guest, the other takes it as a perfect promise.
* ScienceDestroysMagic: The more civilized our world becomes, the fewer links it has to the other world.
* {{Self-Disposing Villain}}: [[spoiler:There are two major villains, who effectively and elegantly dispose of each other when the heroes aren't even around.]]
* ShockAndAwe: Although not a superpower, it is still a weapon.
* StayOnThePath: Anyone who strays from the path through the Serewood will fall victim to murderous plants.
* StealthPun: The name of the young dullard who owns the goat is Brevis. Think about what action goats are known for...
* StrangerInAFamiliarLand: Pretty Tristran realises [[spoiler:his love for the most beautiful girl that he left home was shallow and meaningless]] when he returns.
* StupidEvil: If the Lilim hadn't decided that she just ''had'' to [[spoiler:try poisoning Tristran and killing Primus]] for no apparent reason then she could have succeeded at her goal right then. She needed the star, Primus needed the topaz that she carried. The Lilim had no idea who they even were at that point.
* SuccessionCrisis: The whole reason for the shitty way the princes of Stormhold treat each other. Resolved when [[spoiler:all the princes kick the bucket and Tristran is revealed to be the son of their sister and therefore the last remaining male heir.]]
* TalkingInYourDreams: Tristran is asked, in his dream, to keep down the noisiness of his dream.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Septimus.
* TechnicolorFire: One witch recognizes the fire of another, because witches' fires burn strange colors.
* TooDumbToLive: Billy the goat, making it justified in this specific case. Enchanted into human form, it tries to headbutt a unicorn. Think about that one for a second.
** DyingAsYourself [=/=] NoOntologicalInertia
* {{Teleporters and Transporters}}: Babylon candles, the Castle society's hinted-at signature move.
* TheVerse: Shared with Literature/AmericanGods, though you'd only know it by reading ''Wall: A Prologue''.
* TheWallAroundTheWorld: The wall in the village of Wall.
* WhenTreesAttack: Tristran gets in trouble with a hostile part of the forest early in his trip beyond the Wall.
* WhiteHairedPrettyGirl: Yvaine is white-blonde.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The ending of the book: [[spoiler:After Tristran dies of old age, Yvaine is left to live in a place far from the home to which she can never return, without the man she loves, forever.]]

* NewWeird

* MeaningfulName: The children of the Lord of Stormhold, Primus, Secundus, ... [[NumericalThemeNaming and so on]].

* NoManOfWomanBorn: See ProphecyTwist below.

* ProphecyTwist: [[spoiler:Tristran's mother]] is to be released when the moon loses her daughter, if it happens in a week where two Mondays come together. What fulfills the conditions is that [[spoiler:a star (a daughter of the moon) gave her heart entirely to Tristran the week Mr. Monday and Victoria Forester got married (Victoria becomes a Monday)]]. The chain breaks at the moment that this happens. It is hinted in the book that Tristran's conception and birth was part of a XanatosRoulette to achieve this end.

* YouAreNumberSix: The Royal brothers, Primus, Secundus...[[NumericalThemeNaming and so on]].

* {{The Fair Folk}}: Stormhold is just a kingdom within the [[LandOfFaerie land of Faerie]].
* {{The Hecate Sisters}}: The Three Lilim.
* {{The Hedge of Thorns}}: literally it's a wall, not a hedge, but displays many features of this trope.

* IGaveMyWord

* InelegantBlubbering

* LaserGuidedAmnesia

* MotherGoose

* NumericalThemeNaming

* SacredHospitality

* StayOnThePath

* StrangerInAFamiliarLand Pretty common in a lot of Gaiman's books, Tristran realises [[spoiler:his love for the most beautiful girl that he left home was shallow and meaningless]] when he returns

* TalkingInYourDreams

* TechnicolorFire

''Stardust'' is a modern FairyTale written by NeilGaiman. The main plot centers around Tristran Thorn (Tristan in the movie), a young man with a mysterious ancestry who wants nothing more than to win the heart of his beloved Victoria. When he grandly declares that he'd even give her that star in the sky that just fell, she challenges him to do just that in return for anything he wants from her.

In 2007, it [[Film/{{Stardust}} was adapted]] into a [[TheFilmOfTheBook movie]].

* AbductionIsLove: Tristan starts out trying to force Yvaine to come back to England with him to show her to Victoria, then the two subsequently fall in love.

* ActionMom: Una knows how to drive a carriage.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Tristan and Yvaine
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Tristan gets the throne and his queen while his mother, father, and Capt. Shakespeare look on approvingly.
* BeardlessProtectionProgram: In the book, Primus shaves his beard hoping that it'll make Septimus hesitate before killing him. We never get to learn whether or not it would have worked.
* BerserkButton: You really shouldn't betray [[MarkStrong Septimus]], or mock him for that matter.
** (From the book) Don't kill his brother either. That's his job.
* BigBadEnsemble: Lamia and her sisters are a [[BigBadDuumvirate Big Bad Triumvirate]], plus the various competing princes. By the end, though, Lamia is the last villain standing, so she probably takes precedence as ''the'' BigBad.

* BittersweetEnding: In the original book; the movie instead has a HappilyEverAfter ending. [[spoiler: The deleted scene makes it bittersweet in a different way.]]
** Rather, the book could have had a HappilyEverAfter ending, but decides to explore what happens AFTER HappilyEverAfter.
*** To quote TheSandman, "If you go on long enough, [[spoiler: all stories end in death]]."
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Lamia and her sisters.

* CampGay: Captain Shakespeare of the Caspartine

* CastFromHitPoints: Lamia, of course. Well, more "Cast From Youth," as each spell she uses drains a little bit of the good looks she got from eating the last of the previous star.

* DecoyProtagonist: An inversion, a Decoy ''Villain''. Septimus seems like he should become a major problem for the heroes [[spoiler: Not only is he actually Tristan's uncle, but the only time he actually meets the two main characters is in the film's climax, just in time to help fight the [[BigBad Big Bads]] and get killed.]]
** Played straight with Tristan's father at the beginning - although he is important. To get the real protagonist, he and [[spoiler:Una]] go into the back room and have ''fun''...

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "You'll always be our Captain, Captain."

* EleventhHourSuperpower: Yvaine's [=CMoA=]. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]:
-->'''Tristan''': Couldn't you have done that earlier?
* EngagementChallenge: Tristan's quest to find a star for Victoria.
** Its deconstruction is one of the plot points when Tristan realizes who he loves more.
* FallingChandelierOfDoom: Subverted twice, then played straight.
* FalseSoulmate: Victoria to Tristan.

* GenderBender: The goatherd chap gets this treatment. At least Lamia was good enough to give him a decent rack.
** {{Animorphism}}: Gets this as well - although maybe both at the same time.

* GreekChorus: The dead princes.

* HotMom: Una, since she doesn't age as fast as a human.

* InterspeciesRomance: Stars and humans. [[spoiler:In the book, this means they can't have offspring. In the movie, they have no problem with this.]]
** Faeries and humans. It's clearer in the book that Una and her brothers are not human.
* IOweYouMyLife: In the book. Much to Yvaine's chagrin.
* LongLostRelative: Una to the princes of Stormhold. In the movie, [[spoiler: Septimus recognizes her before he gets killed off.]]

* LoserGetsTheGirl: Tommy Forester in the book.
* MagicalUnderpinningsOfReality

* MachoCamp: the pirate captain, played by [[spoiler: Robert De Niro]] of all people and [[CrowningMomentOfFunny completely hilarious for it]].
* MadeASlave: ''Twice'', to poor [[spoiler:Una.]]
* MayDecemberRomance: In the book, [[spoiler:Robert Monday and Victoria Forester]]. This is actually foreshadowed and played with early on, but quickly buried beneath the main plot.
** In the movie, he's referred to as Humphrey.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: In the book, [[spoiler: Yvaine and Tristan. Appears as a deleted scene in the movie.]]
* MeaningfulName: In the book and the film, the children of the Lord of Stormhold (see YouAreNumberSix below). In the film, the witches are named after demons from Greek mythology said in some myths to be daughters of Hecate, the goddess of witches.

* NoNameGiven: The witch-queens in the book. Their names were lost when Carnadine sank beneath the sea, though the eldest uses the alias Morwanneg, which means "wave of the sea". In the movie, the eldest is called Lamia, the middle sister Mormo, and the youngest Empusa.

* OneSceneWonder: Peter O'Toole as the King.
* PhosphorEssence: Yvaine glows more brightly the happier she is. Yvaine herself is not particularly powerful [[spoiler:except in the movie, and only at the very end]]; however, her heart is, and the brighter she is, the more powerful her heart is.

* PrisonerOfZendaExit: Septimus' escape from Captain Shakespeare's ship.
* ProphecyTwist: [[spoiler:Lady Una]] is to be released when the moon loses her daughter, if it happens in a week where two Mondays come together. What fulfills the conditions is that [[spoiler:a star (a daughter of the moon) gave her heart entirely to Tristran the week Mr. Monday and Victoria Forester got married (Victoria becomes a Monday)]]. The chain breaks at the moment that this happens. It is hinted in the book that Tristran's conception and birth was part of a XanatosRoulette to achieve this end.

* RoyalBlood: [[spoiler: Tristan.]]

* {{Self-Disposing Villain}}

* SkyPirate: Captain Shakespeare and his crew.
* SpoiledSweet: Victoria is a mild example since she's geniunely a stuck-up brat who is sweet to Tristan more out of pity than any strong feelings toward him. However, she does seem genuinely prepared to marry him towards the end, even though she's fallen for someone else.

* StealthPun: In the book, the name of the young dullard who owns the goat is Brevis. Think about what action goats are known for...
** In the movie, [[spoiler: when Primus is killed his blood is [[BlueBlood blue]]]]. Whether or not this is true for all natives of Faerie is never addressed, so it counts.

* SuccessionCrisis: The whole reason for the shitty way the princes of Stormhold treat each other. Resolved when [[spoiler: Septimus kicks the bucket and Tristran is revealed to be Princess Una's son and therefore the last remaining male heir.]]

* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks

* TypeCasting: Averted HARD. They got [[spoiler:Robert De Niro]] to play a ''CampGay''.
** PlayingAgainstType
** Debatable at best. [[spoiler:Robert De Niro]] has been playing pretty much nothing but parodies of himself for the last decade.
** On the other hand, the trope was played straight by Ricky Gervais' character. Irritating businessman who thinks he's hilarious and never realizes everyone else simply tolerates him. Sound familiar?
** Michelle Pfeiffer went from Al Pacino's girlfriend, to Catwoman, to a teacher, to Moses's wife, to Harrison Ford's horror target, to Alison Lohman's drug addicted mom, to a vain and beautiful witch queen.
* VainSorceress: Lamia wastes much of her power attending to her looks, which is kind of stupid, as she's [[CastFromHP casting from hit points]], which... makes her look older. Her sisters immediately point this out to her.

* {{The Fair Folk}}: The movie hides the fact a little, but Stormhold is just a kingdom within the [[LandOfFaerie land of Faerie]].
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Captain Shakespeare's Lightning Pirates don't actually ''pirate'' per se, but make a solid living poaching lightning from thunderstorms, so they may be merely The ''Pirates Who Do Something Else''. The career paths of Shakespeare and crew still offer plenty of opportunities to evade the law (Lightning-Marshalls at that), to mass fortunes on the black market and for combat badassery [[strike:on the high seas]] in the wild blue yonder, so their Pirate work resumes are still quite [[IncrediblyLamePun aglow]].

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: Who knew traveling scenes could be so dramatic?
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Did Bernard (the goat-boy) get a happy ending?
** Yes, you can see him among the pirates at the coronation. (He's at the front, to the left; the only one who doesn't go "arrgh!")
*** He's not so lucky in the book, as it is clearly stated that he was killed in the fight with the unicorn.
* {{When Trees Attack}}: Book only.

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The ending of the book. SAD. Touched on in the movie, though in Tristan's case it's that he doesn't want to live forever without someone with him.
* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: Parodied to a wacky extent with the crew. [[spoiler:Hilariously subverted with Shakespeare.]]
* YouAreNumberSix: The Royal brothers, Primus, Secundus...[[NumericalThemeNaming and so on]]. In a way, Una as well.
** Actually since Una is the only girl her name fits the trope quite well, Una meaning 'single' or 'one'.

* FridgeLogic: When Tertius and [[spoiler:supposedly]] Septimus die, Primus thinks he's king. But later, when Primus dies, Septimus still needs the stone to be king.
** Not really. He IS king, he just needs the stone to make it official. But there's no other contenders left, as far as he knows.

* NoOntologicalIntertia: Billy turns back into a goat after being headbutted by the unicorn.