History Series / Carnivale

* TheDragon:
** Iris is Justin's at the beginning, then Varlyn Stroud becomes one.
** Lila is Lodz's.
** Samson is an unwilling one to Management.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Oh, so very much. No matter where the carnies go, it looks suspiciously like [[Series/{{Mash}} South Korea]] or some planet visited by [[Series/{{Firefly}} Serenity]].

* EvilIsBigger: Justin, as the Avatar of Dark, can influence minds, create illusions, gains superhuman strength when enraged, displays acts of telekinesis, in addition to his main ability of showing people their greatest sins. He had most of these abilities even before gaining his boon. On the other, you've got Ben, who as the Avatar of Light, is to heal, but has the limitation of taking it from somewhere else. Even after gaining his boon from the previous avatar, this limitation is still in effect and Ben doesn't appear to gain any new or further abilities.

* {{Badass}}: Ben and Justin by the end of Season 1 [[spoiler: and particularly acute once they become the Prophets of their respective Houses.]] The show also has examples of:

%%* BrokenBird: Sofie.

%%* CircusOfFear

%%* CurtainCamouflage

%%* MindScrew
%%* MonochromaticEyes
%%* MysteriousPast: ''Everyone''.

%%* PsychicDreamsForEveryone: No, really. ''Everyone''.

%%* RageAgainstTheMentor: Ben vs. Management.

%%* SinsOfOurFathers: Ben, Sofie, Iris, and Justin.

* TheKnightsTemplar: The Knights Templar play a role in the first season, and it's implied [[spoiler:Scudder]] was one.

%%** [[spoiler: Dora Mae]]'s fate in Babylon also counts as an example.

%%* AntiVillain: Brother Justin, at least earlier in the series.

%%* AutoErotica: Ben and Sofie.
%%* AxeCrazy: Ben's grandma is this.

%%* BadassPreacher: Brother Justin.
%%* BadassFamily: The families Crowe and Hawkins, as well as the Houses of Light and Dark.

%%* BecauseDestinySaysSo

%%* BetaCouple: Jonesy and Libby.

%%* BlindSeer: Professor Ernst Lodz.

%%* BrotherSisterIncest

* CaliforniaDoubling: Oh, so very much. No matter where the carnies go, it looks suspiciously like [[Series/{{Mash}} South Korea]] or some planet visited by [[Series/{{Firefly}} Serentiy]].

%%* ChristmasCake: Ruthie and Iris.
%%* CircusBrat

%%** Young Iris and Justin.

%%* DarkMessiah:
%%** Brother Justin defines this trope from start to finish.
%%** And [[spoiler: Sofie as of the series finale]].

** The Road of Trials: Ben must traverse the long road from Oklahoma to California to confront Justin, and he crosses paths with multiple dangerous and/or unsavory characters along the way.
** The Meeting with the Goddess: Ben learns about his father's past from the alluring snake charmer Ruthie, and cultivates a love affair with the enigmatic Sofie.
** Atonement with the Father: Ben uncovers the full truth about his absent father Henry Scudder, ultimately [[spoiler: finding him, healing his facial scars, and forgiving him for leaving]].

** Apotheosis: In the series finale, [[spoiler: Ben faces Justin in personal combat and wins, being carried away by the Carnival to recover from his injuries]].

%%** Apollonia and, later, Sofie.

%%** Ben in "The Day That Was the Day".

%%* HourglassPlot: Ben and Justin.

%%* InTheBlood: The Avatara.

%%* TheManBehindTheCurtain: Management, a.k.a [[spoiler: Lucius Belyakov.]]

%%* MissConception: Sofie.

* ThePigPen : The Depression isn't far enough in the past to qualify as an example of TheDungAges , but many of the working class (particularly the carnies and the attendees at various functions) are covered in dirt and grime, due to living in the "dust bowl," in extreme poverty, without indoor plumbing. At least two minor characters also die of "dust pneumonia."

%%* PsychicNosebleed: Ben.
%%* PreApprovedSermon

%%* RacistGrandpa: Played for laughs with Stumpy.

%%* RapeAsDrama
%%* RunningGag: "Shut up, Osgood!"

%%* SexyPriest: Oh, just ''guess''.

%%* SinisterScythe: Justin's sickle.

%%* ThoseTwoGuys:
%%** A few of the rousties, especially Osgood.
%%** In early season one, Jonesy and Samson come off as this.

%%* ViciousCycle

%%* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Justin, of course.

* AllInTheManual: Knauf has revealed much about the characters' histories and the series' mythology outside of the show. Much of it is explained in the [[http://m.friendfeed-media.com/adb56d1cd12611e3f795a47bb01947a1ad3b8a70 Gospel of Knaufias]].

** Crossing the Threshold: Ben leaves his sleepy hometown in Oklahoma, while Justin ultimately leaves his hometown in to start a new ministry in the flatlands.

** The Road of Trials: Ben crosses paths with multiple dangerous and/or unsavory characters in the backroads of the American Midwest.

* TheHerosJourney: A textbook example--though, in a subversion, both the Hero and the Villain go through many of the steps of the journey, cluing the audience into the fact that they're NotSoDifferent. Even one of Campbell's original terms ("The Boon") is name-dropped in the official guide to the series' mythology.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter:
** Just about everyone has this for Justin, but in particular, [[spoiler:Sofie]], has a bad case. Although the real wolf in sheep's clothing hanging around New Canaan is [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitch]] Iris.
** Ben gets duped, kidnapped, tortured far too often for someone in his line of work. He tends to believe what people tell him even if these people are obviously creepy and manipulative.

* ICannotSelfTerminate: [[spoiler: Ben attempts suicide in "The Day That Was The Day", but Scudder heals him because Ben is "too important"]].

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: John Hannah as Dora Mae's murderer in ''Pick A Number'' is from a tiny town in the middle of the dust bowl but inexplicably speaks with Hannah's natural Scottish accent.

* IncestIsRelative: The Crowe family likes this one. Not only do we have [[BrotherSisterIncest Justin and Iris]], but Justin also has an eye for his daughter (although he [[SurpriseIncest doesn't know about their relation)]].

* AndIMustScream: Apollonia is stuck in a catatonic state, only able to psychically communicate with her daughter.
** [[spoiler: Dora Mae's fate in Babylon]] also counts as an example.
** [[spoiler: Norman, following his stroke, at first cannot move then is later forced to pretend to be unable all while Justin does and says horrendous things in front of him.]]

* TheAntichrist: What Brother Justin becomes after JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope.

* AntiVillain: Brother Justin, at least earlier in the series.

* AttemptedRape: In the pilot, Ben saves Sofie from this. Jonesy [[ValuesDissonance implies she'd asked for it]].

* AutoErotica: Ben and Sofie.
* AxeCrazy: Ben's grandma is this.

** BadassNormal: Jonesy and Samson. The latter qualifies as a BadAssOldGuy.
** BadassPreacher: Brother Justin.
** BadassFamily: The families Crowe and Hawkins, as well as the Houses of Light and Dark.

* BecauseDestinySaysSo

* BetaCouple: Jonesy and Libby.

* BlindSeer: Professor Ernst Lodz.

* BrokenBird: Sofie.
* BrotherSisterIncest

* ChristmasCake: Ruthie and Iris.
* CircusBrat
* CircusOfFear

* CreepyChild: Young Iris and Justin.

* CurtainCamouflage

* DarkMessiah:
** Brother Justin defines this trope from start to finish.
** And [[spoiler: Sofie as of the series finale]].

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Just about everyone has this for Justin, but in particular, [[spoiler:Sofie]], has a bad case. Although the real wolf in sheep's clothing hanging around New Canaan is [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitch]] Iris.

** Apollonia and, later, Sofie.

** Ben in "The Day That Was the Day".

* HourglassPlot: Ben and Justin.
* HypocriticalHumour: There's a lot of snarky in-jokes in the dialogue referring to the characters' darker sides; see DealWithTheDevil above.

* InTheBlood: The Avatara.

* LipstickLesbian / BaitAndSwitchLesbians: [[spoiler: Libby and Sofie]], which doesn't go much of anywhere.

* TheManBehindTheCurtain: Management, a.k.a [[spoiler: Lucius Belyakov.]]

* MindScrew
* MissConception: Sofie.
* MonochromaticEyes
* MysteriousPast: ''Everyone''.

* PsychicDreamsForEveryone: No, really. ''Everyone''.
* PsychicNosebleed: Ben.
* PreApprovedSermon

* RacistGrandpa: Played for laughs with Stumpy.
* RageAgainstTheMentor: Ben vs. Management.

* RapeAsDrama
* RunningGag: "Shut up, Osgood!"

* SexyPriest: Oh, just ''guess''.

* SinsOfOurFathers: Ben, Sofie, Iris, and Justin.

* SinisterScythe: Justin's sickle.
* SupernaturalSoapOpera

* TarotMotifs: Right from the opening credits.

* ThoseTwoGuys: A few of the rousties, especially Osgood.
** In early season one, Jonesy and Samson come off as this.

* TricksterMentor: Management and Lodz.
* ViciousCycle

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Justin, of course.

* WorkingOnTheChainGang: Ben escaped from a chain gang before the beginning of the series and, in the first episode, is still wearing a broken iron manacle around his ankle. What he did to get there is [[NoodleIncident never revealed to the audience]], other than that he's wanted for murder.
** WordOfGod is that [[spoiler: he assaulted a bank teller after his farm was foreclosed, and later killed one of the guards when he made his escape from the chain gang]].

* MayDecemberRomance: Ruthie was about thirty years older than Ben. Likewise, Jonesy is nearly twice Libby's age.

* MayDecemberRomance: Ruthie was about thirty years older than Ben.