History Main / Trilogy

In some cases, a work is a "trilogy" only in the sense that it was printed in three books, either because the story was too long to print in one volume, or because [[ExecutiveMeddling the publisher thought a book that large wouldn't sell]]. Tolkien regarded ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' as a single novel, divided into ''six'' (non-standalone) books; publishing requirements forced him to print it as three volumes, and to come up with names for them. (The second volume, ''Literature/TheTwoTowers'', suffers the most; it contains two entirely independent, overlapping stories, both of which start and end in the middle of things.) Releasing a novel in three parts became popular during the early days of printed novels, where the high cost of manual typesetting and printing meant that releasing a novel piecemeal allows the printer to judge the popularity of a story and whether it would be profitable to continue to print the second and third part. Jane Austen's ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' being a famous example of such a "triple-decker novel".

There are some examples of a "double trilogy" or a "triple trilogy",[[note]]or "trilogy of trilogies"[[/note]] or, indeed, a "quadruple trilogy", where a story is split up into relatively separate trilogies. ''Franchise/StarWars'' is the most famous example of the second; ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'' is a rare example of the last.

There are some examples of a "double trilogy" or a "triple trilogy", or, indeed, a "quadruple trilogy", where a story is split up into relatively separate trilogies. ''StarWars'' is the most famous example of the second; ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'' is a rare example of the last.

In some cases, a work is a "trilogy" only in the sense that it was printed in three books, either because the story was too long to print in one volume, or because [[ExecutiveMeddling the publisher thought a book that large wouldn't sell]]. Tolkien regarded ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' as a single novel, divided into ''six'' (non-standalone) books; publishing requirements forced him to print it as three volumes, and to come up with names for them. (The second volume, ''Literature/TheTwoTowers'', suffers the most; it contains two entirely independent, overlapping stories, both of which start and end in the middle of things.) Releasing a novel in three parts became popular during the early days of printed novels, where the high cost of manual typesetting and printing meant that releasing a novel piecemeal allows the printer to judge the popularity of a story and whether it would be profitable to continue to print the second and third part. ''The Lord of the Rings'' and Jane Austen's ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' being famous examples of such "triple-decker novels".

In some cases, a work is a "trilogy" only in the sense that it was printed in three books, either because the story was too long to print in one volume, or because [[ExecutiveMeddling the publisher thought a book that large wouldn't sell]]. Tolkien regarded ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' as a single novel, divided into ''six'' (non-standalone) books; publishing requirements forced him to print it as three volumes, and to come up with names for them. (The second volume, ''Literature/TheTwoTowers'', suffers the most; it contains two entirely independent, overlapping stories, both of which start and end in the middle of things.) Releasing a novel in three parts became popular during the early days of printed novels, where the high cost of manual typesetting and printing meant that releasing a novel piecemeal allows the printer to judge the popularity of a story and whether it would be profitable to continue to print the second and third part. Jane Austen's ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' being a famous example of such a "triple-decker novel".

In some cases, a work is a "trilogy" only in the sense that it was printed in three books, either because the story was too long to print in one volume, or because [[ExecutiveMeddling the publisher thought a book that large wouldn't sell]]. Tolkien regarded ''TheLordOfTheRings'' as a single novel, divided into ''six'' (non-standalone) books; publishing requirements forced him to print it as three volumes, and to come up with names for them. (The second volume, ''Literature/TheTwoTowers'', suffers the most; it contains two entirely independent, overlapping stories, both of which start and end in the middle of things.) Releasing a novel in three parts became popular during the early days of printed novels, where the high cost of manual typesetting and printing meant that releasing a novel piecemeal allows the printer to judge the popularity of a story and whether it would be profitable to continue to print the second and third part. Jane Austen's ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' being a famous example of such a "triple-decker novel".

In some cases, a work is a "trilogy" only in the sense that it was printed in three books, either because the story was too long to print in one volume, or because [[ExecutiveMeddling the publisher thought a book that large wouldn't sell]]. Tolkien regarded ''TheLordOfTheRings'' as a single novel, divided into ''six'' (non-standalone) books; publishing requirements forced him to print it as three volumes, and to come up with names for them. (The second volume, ''TheTwoTowers'', suffers the most; it contains two entirely independent, overlapping stories, both of which start and end in the middle of things.) Releasing a novel in three parts became popular during the early days of printed novels, where the high cost of manual typesetting and printing meant that releasing a novel piecemeal allows the printer to judge the popularity of a story and whether it would be profitable to continue to print the second and third part. Jane Austen's ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' being a famous example of such a "triple-decker novel".

In some cases, a work is a "trilogy" only in the sense that it was printed in three books, either because the story was too long to print in one volume, or because [[ExecutiveMeddling the publisher thought a book that large wouldn't sell]]. Tolkien regarded ''TheLordOfTheRings'' as a single novel, divided into ''six'' (non-standalone) books; publishing requirements forced him to print it as three volumes, and to come up with names for them. (The second volume, ''TheTwoTowers'', suffers the most; it contains two entirely independent, overlapping stories, both of which start and end in the middle of things.) Releasing a novel in thee parts became popular during the early days of printed novels, where the high cost of manual typesetting and printing meant that releasing a novel piecemeal allows the printer to judge the popularity of a story and whether it would be profitable to continue to print the second and third part. Jane Austen's ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' being a famous example of such a "triple-decker novel".

There are some examples of a "double trilogy" or a "triple trilogy", or, indeed, a "quadruple trilogy", where a story is split up into relatively separate trilogies. ''StarWars'' is the most famous example of the second; ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'' is a rare example of the last.

There are some examples of a "double trilogy" or a "triple trilogy", or, indeed, a "quadruple trilogy", where a story is split up into relatively separate trilogies. ''StarWars'' is the most famous example of the second; ''TheSagaOfDarrenShan'' is a rare example of the last.

In some cases, a work is a "trilogy" only in the sense that it was printed in three books, either because the story was too long to print in one volume, or because [[ExecutiveMeddling the publisher thought a book that large wouldn't sell]]. Tolkien regarded ''TheLordOfTheRings'' as a single novel, divided into ''six'' (non-standalone) books; publishing requirements forced him to print it as three volumes, and to come up with names for them. (The second volume, ''TheTwoTowers'', suffers the most; it contains two entirely independent, overlapping stories, both of which start and end in the middle of things.)

A trilogy is, in its most basic form, a story of three parts.

It's one of the most common methods of telling a story (other than the simple standalone story), and as such it's one of the most obvious and effective examples of the RuleOfThree. These stories tend to follow the ThreeActStructure: the first part will set the story up, the second part will feature a "rising action", where the story becomes much more apparent, and the third act resolves those points in the first act. Because trilogies often (but not always) comprise of stories that are released apart from each other, they can also contain the three act structure in themselves.

The middle stories of a trilogy can often suffer from Middle Book Syndrome, where there is no start or end to the plot; for an example of this in a septology (story of seven), ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', apart from the subplot about the titular "prince", either takes plot threads from ''Order of the Phoenix'' or carries them to ''Deathly Hallows''.

The middle stories of a trilogy can often suffer from Middle Book Syndrome, where there is no start or end to the plot; for an example of this in a septology (story of seven), ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', apart from the subplot about the titular character, either takes plot threads from ''Order of the Phoenix'' or carries them to ''Deathly Hallows''.

A trilogy is, in its most basic form, a story of three parts (or in special cases, [[TrilogyCreep four, five]], or [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy six]]).

The middle stories of a trilogy can often suffer from Middle Book Syndrome, where there is no start or end to the plot; for an example of this in a septology (story of seven), ''HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', apart from the subplot about the titular character, either takes plot threads from ''Order of the Phoenix'' or carries them to ''Deathly Hallows''.

There are some examples of a "double trilogy" or a "triple trilogy", or, indeed, a "quadruple trilogy", where a story is split up into relatively separate trilogies. ''StarWars'' is the most famous example of the first; ''TheSagaOfDarrenShan'' is a rare example of the last.

A trilogy is, in its most basic form, a story of three parts (or in special cases, [[TrilogyCreep four, five]], or [[TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy six]]).

There are some examples of a "double trilogy" or a "triple trilogy", or, indeed, a "quadruple trilogy", where a story is split up into relatively seperate trilogies. ''StarWars'' is the most famous example of the first; ''TheSagaOfDarrenShan'' is a rare example of the last.

''Return of the Jedi'' forms the climax to the trilogy. A year has passed since ''Empire'', and Luke continues to train as a Jedi to confront his father. The last half of the film gives way to the climatic battle above the forest moon of Endor, which results in the destruction of the second Death Star, the fragmentation of the Empire, and Vader's spirit returned to the Light Side of the Force.
As mentioned above, these films also have the three-act structure in themselves; ''A New Hope'' more so, as it was written under the assumption there wouldn't be an ''Empire''.