History YMMV / HouseOfTheScorpion

* CompleteMonster: El Patrón, the original Matteo Alacrán, is the most powerful and evil drug lord of them all. El Patrón rules over the country of Opium and punishes anyone who tries to illegally cross his borders by capturing them and implanting computer chips in their brains, turning them into eejits. These eejits are essentially human robots, programmed to do certain tasks all while their thoughts and emotions are repressed by the computer chip. Even El Patrón's security team and certain staff members have been implanted with chips, turning them into high-functioning eejits bound to El Patrón's will. The most common usage of "dumb" eejits is for manual labor in the fields used to create his drugs. Due to the harsh conditions and poor care, they tend to have a low life expectancy, leading to hundreds of thousands of bodies being buried beneath the poppies. El Patrón, like many drug lords, [[ImmortalityImmorality keeps himself alive]] to nearly one hundred and fifty-years old ]] by [[HumanResources harvesting organs from clones]]. Unlike most drug lords, however, El Patrón doesn't destroy his clones brains, instead he raises them like they were his own children, [[ParentalBetrayal only to harvest and kill them without hesitation when the time comes]]. [[ItsAllAboutMe El Patrón cares for no one but himself]] and sees everyone around him as his possessions, such as the dead siblings he only valued because they were his. In the end, after his death, he still manages to murder everyone close to him by poisoning the wine they drank at his funeral. He also put his country into lockdown with deadly force fields only to be dismissed by his DNA, leaving them to starve as a "fitting tribute" to take with him into the afterlife, just like the kings of old.

* CompleteMonster: El Patrón (the original Matteo Alacrán) is the most powerful and evil drug lord of them all. El Patrón rules over the country of Opium and punishes anyone who tries to illegally cross his borders by capturing them and implanting computer chips in their brains, turning them into eejits. These eejits are essentially human robots, programmed to do certain tasks all while their thoughts and emotions are repressed by the computer chip. Even El Patrón's security team and certain staff members have been implanted with chips, turning them into high-functioning eejits bound to El Patrón's will. The most common usage of "dumb" eejits is for manual labor in the fields used to create his drugs. Due to the harsh conditions and poor care, they tend to have a low life expectancy, leading to hundreds of thousands of bodies being buried beneath the poppies. El Patrón, like many drug lords, [[EvilOldFolks keeps himself alive to nearly one hundred and fifty-years old ]] [[ImmortalityImmorality by harvesting organs from clones]]. Unlike most drug lords, however, El Patrón doesn't destroy his clones brains, instead he raises them like they were his own children, [[ParentalBetrayal only to harvest and kill them without hesitation when the time comes]]. [[ItsAllAboutMe El Patrón cares for no one but himself]] and [[TheSociopath sees everyone around him as his possessions]], such as the dead siblings he only valued because they were his. In the end, after his death, he still manages to murder everyone close to him by poisoning the wine they drank at his funeral. He also put his country into lockdown with deadly force fields only to be dismissed by his DNA, leaving them to starve as a "fitting tribute" to take with him into the afterlife, just like the kings of old.

* CompleteMonster: El Patrón (the original Matteo Alacrán) is the most powerful and evil drug lord of them all. El Patrón rules over the country of Opium and punishes anyone who tries to illegally cross his borders by capturing them and implanting computer chips in their brains, turning them into eejits. These eejits are essentially human robots, programmed to do certain tasks all while their thoughts and emotions are repressed by the computer chip. Even El Patrón's security team and certain staff members have been implanted with chips, turning them into high-functioning eejits bound to El Patrón's will. The most common usage of "dumb" eejits is for manual labor in the fields used to create his drugs. Due to the harsh conditions and poor care, they tend to have a low life expectancy, leading to hundreds of thousands of bodies being buried beneath the poppies. El Patrón, like many drug lords, [[EvilOldFolks keeps himself alive to nearly one hundred and fifty-years old ]] [[ImmortalityImmorality by harvesting organs from clones]]. Unlike most drug lords, however, El Patrón doesn't destroy his clones brains, instead he raises them like they were his own children, [[ParentalBetrayal only to harvests and kill them without hesitation when the time comes]]. [[ItsAllAboutMe El Patrón cares for no one but himself]] and [[TheSociopath sees everyone around him as his possessions]], such as the dead siblings he only valued because they were his. In the end, after his death, he still manages to murder everyone close to him by poisoning the wine they drank at his funeral. He also put his country into lockdown with deadly force fields only to be dismissed by his DNA, leaving them to starve as a "fitting tribute" to take with him into the afterlife, just like the kings of old.

* CompleteMonster: El Patrón (the original Matteo Alacrán) is the most powerful and evil drug lord of them all. El Patrón rules over the country of Opium and punishes anyone who tries to illegally cross his borders by capturing them and implanting computer chips in their brains, turning them into eejits. These eejits are essentially human robots, programmed to do certain tasks all while their thoughts and emotions are repressed by the computer chip. Even El Patrón's security team and certain staff members have been implanted with chips, turning them into high-functioning eejits bound to El Patrón's will. The most common usage of "dumb" eejits is for manual labor in the fields used to create his drugs. Due to the harsh conditions and poor care, they tend to have a low life expectancy, leading to hundreds of thousands of bodies being buried beneath the poppies. El Patrón, like many drug lords, [[ImmortalityImmorality keeps himself alive by harvesting organs from clones]]. Unlike most drug lords, however, El Patrón doesn't destroy his clones brains, instead he raises them like they were his own children. He pretends to care about them and their future, lavishing them with gifts, all because he sees them as extensions of himself and views their happy childhoods as stand-ins for the one he never got. [[ParentalBetrayal When the time comes, he harvests and kills them without hesitation]], all to extend his [[EvilOldFolks nearly one hundred and fifty-year-old life]]. [[ItsAllAboutMe El Patrón cares for no one but himself]] and [[TheSociopath sees everyone around him as his possessions]]. The dead siblings he pretends to mourn he only valued, not for who they were, but because they were his. In the end, after his death, he still manages to murder everyone close to him, his entire family, his friends, and most of his staff, by poisoning the wine they drank at his funeral. He also coded the deadly force fields surrounding his country to only be dismissed by his DNA. Meaning that when he died and the country went into lockdown, nobody could leave and no supplies could get in. His ultimate reason for this was to murder his entire country just to have a "fitting tribute" to take with him into the afterlife, just like the kings of old.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Cloning oneself to prolong their existence is immoral. Child labor is immoral. [[SpaceWhaleAesop Turning people into computerized zombies is immoral.]]

* CompleteMonster: Much of the family Matt lives with in the first half of the book and the Keepers at the second half fall under this trope. El Patron is described as "evil" several times, and his ruthlessness shows at times, but manages to avoid this trope since at first, he is the only person besides Celia, Tam Lin, and Maria who is nice to Matt when he came to the big house, and treats like a son, until the point where he needs his organs. El Patron is said to had to live by his wits when he was little, which is likely a contributing factor towards his nature.

* StrangledByTheRedString: Matt and Maria: Maria is basically the only girl around Matt's age in the entire book.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Cloning oneself to prolong their existence is immoral. Child labor is immoral. Turning people into computerized zombies is immoral.

* FauxSymbolism: Why is Tam Lin named "Literature/TamLin"? Probably no reason, actually.

* AndIMustScream: The fate that is planned for Matt. [[spoiler: Having all his organs taken out one by one to keep El Patron alive]].

* Woobie: Matt, very much so. May also overlap into Iron Woobie territory.

* NightmareFuel: There's actually a surprising quantity of this for a pre-teen novel
** Matt being captured and trapped in a room full of sawdust for six months at the tender age of six.
** The entire concept of eejits: the individual's brain and free will is destroyed, meaning that if they are ordered to do something, they will continue to do so until ordered to stop, making it possible to be worked to death. One of the more graphic occurrences involve a dead man that Matt and Tam Lin come across in the opium fields, and Tam Lin states that he must have been too far to hear the call to come in. Matt then has a very graphic ImagineSpot of the man working and working until he passed out and died of dehydration.
** [[{{StepfordSmiler}} The eejit teacher]]
** [=MacGregor=]'s clone; this is what all clones resemble, with the exception of Matt, on the grounds of [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney El Patron's wealth]], given that their higher brain functions are chemically destroyed at birth. [=MacGregor=]'s clone is just the only one we see.
** The bone pit.

* UnfortunateImplications: Not one that would really offend anybody, but there are some pretty dark overtones to the whole concept of laudanum, the special alcohol that Felicia drinks. It essentially knocks someone out cold for several hours, and too much can kill you. Since this drink seems to be distributed rather openly, it isn't hard to imagine that some people have been using it as a date-rape drug.
** Leads to FridgeHorror when you realize that Justin Alacran can't stand his wife Felicia. So if they aren't in love, why would they want to have children? How were Steven and Benito conceived?! The answer is simple. Mr. Alacran had Felicia out cold with the drink, and then he ravished her while she was unconscious! ''How many times has he been doing this over the years?!''

*** Probably whenever he ''damn well felt like it!'' Hard day at work? The filthy clone's presence bothering you? Lost some of your money? Just wait till your wife is in a drugged sleep and then have sex with her! She won't even know when she wakes up!

** Probably whenever he ''damn well felt like it!'' Hard day at work? The filthy clone's presence bothering you? Lost some of your money? Just wait till your wife is in a drugged sleep and then have sex with her! She won't even know when she wakes up!

** Probably whenever he ''damn well felt like it!''

** Leads to FridgeHorror when you realize that Justin Alacran can't stand his wife Felicia. So if they aren't in love, why would they want to have children? How were Steven and Benito born?! The answer is simple. Mr. Alacran had Felicia out cold with the drink, and then he ravished her while she was unconscious! ''How many times has he been doing this over the years?!'' Probably whenever he ''damn well feels like it!''

** Leads to FridgeHorror when you realize that Justin Alacran can't stand his wife Felicia. So if they aren't in love, why would they want to have children? How were Steven and Benito born?! The answer is simple. Mr. Alacran had Felicia conked out with the drink, and then he ravished her while she was out cold! ''How many times has he been doing this?!''

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Cloning oneself to prolong their existence is immoral

** [=MacGregor=]'s clone; this is what all clones resemble, with the exception of Matton the grounds of [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney El Patron's wealth]], given that their higher brain functions are chemically destroyed at birth. [=MacGregor=]'s clone is just the only one we see.

** [=MacGregor=]'s clone; this is what all clones resemble, with the exception of Matton the grounds of [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney El Patron's wealth, given that their higher brain functions are chemically destroyed at birth. [=MacGregor=]'s clone is just the only one we see.

** Poor Matt being captured and trapped in a room full of sawdust for six months at the tender age of six.
** The entire concept of eejits. [[{{AndIMustScream}} Your brain and free will is destroyed. And if you're ordered to do something, you will continue to do so until ordered to stop.]] So it is entirely possible to work yourself to death.
*** Early on in the story Matt and Tam Lin come across a dead man in the opium fields, and Tam Lin states that he must have been too far to hear the call to come in. Matt then has a ''very'' graphic ImagineSpot of the man working and working until he passed out and died of dehydration.
** [[{{StepfordSmiler}} That teacher...]]
** [=MacGregor=]'s clone.
*** And that's what all clones are like in this universe, excepting Matt (and that's only because of ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney). Their higher brain functions are chemically destroyed at birth. [=MacGregor=]'s clone is just the only one we see.

* StrangledByTheRedString: Matt and Maria, though [[YourMileageMayVary opinions may differ]]: Maria is basically the only girl around Matt's age in the entire book.
* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Cloning yourself purely so you can steal their organs and live longer is bad, mmkay?

* SomeAnvilsAreMeantToBeDropped: Cloning yourself purely so you can steal their organs and live longer is bad, mmkay?

* StrangledByTheRedString: Matt and Maria, though [[YourMileageMayVary opinions may differ]]: Maria is basically the only girl around Matt's age in the entire book.