History YMMV / SwordOfTruth

* CrazyAwesome: Nathan Rahl. Because he is a thousand-year-old wizard who had been imprisoned for most of his life in the Palace of the Prophets, he comes across as a wise and knowledgeable BadassBookworm crossed with a reckless hormone-crazed teenager, colored with just the tiniest hint of insanity for flavor. Whenever he is on scene, something incredibly awesome and/or entertaining is about to happen.

* CompleteMonster: Darken Rahl is an EvilOverlord and EvilSorcerer who has made a [[DealWithTheDevil bargain for power with the demonic being The Keeper of the Underworld]]. Darken [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil keeps the people enslaved]], [[DystopianEdict banning fire]] and launching brutal extermination campaigns on those who have resisted him. Rahl also continues the order of Mord-Sith: girls raised to be vicious torturers who have their mothers murdered in front of them and are forced to torture their fathers to death. He also sexually abuses the Mord-Sith and especially enjoys tormenting a lesbian couple among them. A SerialRapist as well, Rahl forces himself upon many women, and if ones with him consensually are repulsed at the scars under his clothing, he tortures them to death. Viewing children without the gift of magic as worthless, he has any of his ungifted offspring disposed of, while also sacrificing other children to the Keeper for power. Rahl's ultimate goal is to plunge the world into the Keeper's domain, where all that lives will suffer eternally.

** Similarly, the villain in "The Law of Nines" is said to have garnered support by offering what was essentially medieval welfare to the "lazy." (as did a minor villain in "Stone of Tears").

* CompleteMonster: Darken Rahl is an EvilOverlord and EvilSorcerer who has made a [[DealWithTheDevil bargain for power with the demonic being The Keeper of the Underworld]]. Darken [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil keeps the people enslaved]], banning fire and launching brutal extermination campaigns on those who have resisted him. Rahl also continues the order of Mord-Sith: girls raised to be vicious torturers who have their mothers murdered in front of them and are forced to torture their fathers to death. He also sexually abuses the Mord-Sith and especially enjoys tormenting a lesbian couple among them. A SerialRapist as well, Rahl forces himself upon many women, and if ones with him consensually are repulsed at the scars under his clothing, he tortures them to death. Viewing children without the gift of magic as worthless, he has any of his ungifted offspring disposed of, while also sacrificing other children to the Keeper for power. Rahl's ultimate goal is to plunge the world into the Keeper's domain, where all that lives will suffer eternally.

* {{Squick}}: The Sisters of the Dark get their [[DealWithTheDevil powers of Subtractive magic]] by having sex with "nambles"- monsters with barbed penises.

* TheWoobie: Rachel, Jennsen.

* SciFiGhetto: Mr. Goodkind would very much like you to know that he does not write fantasy novels, he writes ''[[InsistentTerminology stories that have important human themes]]'', thank you very much.

** The most obvious is probably Shota, the witch woman. Towards the end of the series, Richard comes to her demanding her help. She explains to him that, by his own principles, she has no obligation to help him and really just wants to be left alone. How does Richard react to [[WhatTheHellHero being called out]] on [[MoralDissonance his hypocrisy?]] He ends up [[IResembleThatRemark steamrolling her and accusing her of "posturing".]] Eventually,[[LaserGuidedKarma he has to trade his sword for the information he wants.]]

* DesignatedHero: Richard can certainly come across this way, given his eagerness to slaughter all those who "choose death" rather than "life" in the later books. The only thing keeping him from being an UnscrupulousHero or even an outright SociopathicHero is the narrative and the other characters referring to him as an [[IncorruptiblePurePureness incorruptibly pure]] [[TheHero hero]]. Kahlan is, if anything, even ''more'' bloodthirsty and willing to ShootTheDog, and that's saying something. Zedd also drifts in this direction in the [[SeasonalRot later books]] by a mixture of [[AuthorFilibuster lectures]] and [[AMillionIsAStatistic an extremely high kill count]]. That said, Zedd's backstory involves being personally responsible for a genocide (when creating the barriers prior to the first book), so he's never had clean hands. His shift is more one of attitude, and how it's approached. In early books he's... not precisely TheAtoner, but it's heavily implied that his relatively minor role in things is a conscious choice, because he doesn't like what he becomes when in power. In the later books... well, he is in power, and becomes that person again, but it's treated as [[ForgottenAesop morally justified]], and even laudable.

** The most obvious is probably Shota, the witch woman. Towards the end of the series, Richard comes to her demanding her help. She explains to him that, by his own principles, she has no obligation to help him and really just wants to be left alone. How does Richard react to [[WhatTheHellHero being called out]] [[MoralDissonance on his hypocrisy?]] [[IResembleThatRemark He ends up steamrolling her and accusing her of "posturing".]] [[LaserGuidedKarma Eventually, he has to trade his sword for the information he wants.]]

** [[ColdBloodedTorture Creation]] [[DrivenToMadness of]] [[BreakTheCutie Mord-Sith]] and Richard's ordeal at the hands of [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Denna]].

** And this exchange in Stone of Tears:
-->'''Verna:''' What about my wrinkles?
-->'''Warren:''' Someday, when you get wrinkles, I'll love them, too.

** For the last time, it's [[PowerRangers not that Zedd]].

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop:
** In the later novels, the aesops start to draw strongly on Objectivist themes. The anti-communist themes are pulled straight from Ayn Rand. People who try to give charity to others and "spread the wealth" ultimately turn poor people into lazy, greedy assholes and destroy the economy.
** Similarly, the villain in "The Law of Nines" is said to have garnered support by offering what was essentially medieval welfare to the "lazy." (as did a minor villain in "Stone of Tears").
** "Soul of the Fire" describes a minority group that keeps itself in power by controlling the schools and teaching everyone in their society that they were the victim of a horrible injustice in the past and are therefore owed a great debt by the "evil" majority (and the horrible injustice may not have actually happened in the first place). They used this (along with being moneylenders who control the economy) to take control of the entire country during a crisis. Parallels to real-world groups are [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment left as an exercise to the reader.]]

** Richard's realization near the end of ''The Stone of Tears'' that Kahlan still loves him and only sent him away with Sister Verna to protect him comes across to the reader as a colossal "duh!" moment. While we knew Kahlan's actual thoughts in this regard, we didn't need to, as Richard was essentially given the choice to go with Verna or let his powers kill him.

* SnarkBait: This series is a particularly big magnet. There are many websites and forums that mock passages from the books.

* DontShootTheMessage: Fans, and often Goodkind himself, have suggested that people who don't like these books are only hating on it because they "take a clear moral stance." Goodkind has said a few times that the main reason he is attacked is for "my beliefs" as opposed to what many feel is bad writing and a tendency to say insulting things about other authors in his genre.

* DontShootTheMessage: Fans, and often Goodkind himself, have suggested that people who don't like these books are all just leftists or people who despise Objectivism. Goodkind has said a few times that the main reason he is attacked is for "my beliefs" as opposed to what many feel is bad writing and a tendency to say insulting things about other authors in his genre. Even if one holds his views (or at least some) it's easy to become tired of the series' flaws however.

* DesignatedHero: Richard can certainly come across this way, given his eagerness to slaughter all those who "choose death" rather than "life" in the later books. The only thing keeping him from being an UnscrupulousHero or even an outright SociopathicHero is the narrative and the other characters referring to him as an [[IncorruptiblePurePureness incorruptibly pure]] [[TheHero hero]]. Kahlan is, if anything, even ''more'' bloodthirsty and willing to ShootTheDog, and that's saying something. Zedd also drifts in this direction in the [[SeasonalRot later books]] by a mixture of [[AuthorFilibuster lectures]] and [[AMillionIsAStatistic an extremely high kill count]].
** Zedd's backstory involves being personally responsible for a genocide (when creating the barriers prior to the first book), so he's never had clean hands. His shift is more one of attitude, and how it's approached. In early books he's... not precisely TheAtoner, but it's heavily implied that his relatively minor role in things is a conscious choice, because he doesn't like what he becomes when in power. In the later books... well, he is in power, and becomes that person again, but it's treated as [[ForgottenAesop morally justified]], and even laudable.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Gratch is awesome, which is sad because he's absent from the later books. Or maybe fortunate that he doesn't get caught up in the AuthorTract.

* EvilWillFail: One of the main complaints with the series is that the later books turn this into an [[{{Anvilicious}} anvil to be dropped repeatedly on the reader's head in exposition and monologue form.]]
* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: In the later novels, the aesops start to draw strongly on Objectivist themes. The anti-communist themes are pulled straight from Ayn Rand. People who try to give charity to others and "spread the wealth" ultimately turn poor people into lazy, greedy assholes and destroy the economy.
** Similarly, the villain in The Law of Nines is said to have garnered support by offering what was essentially medieval welfare to the "lazy." (as did a minor villain in "Stone of Tears").

* FandomRivalry: With Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire. The ASOIAF fandom has made it an almost-game to take the piss out of Goodkind and his works.

* MoralEventHorizon: At least three or four acts in Demmin's resume, any one of which could be taken as the final crossing for any other character.

* NamesTheSame: For the last time, it's [[PowerRangers not that Zedd]].

* {{Narm}}: Richard comparing a Mord-Sith's lesbianism to steamed peas: "I might not like what you like, but that doesn't mean I don't like you anymore for liking it."

** Richard taking a full novel to realize [[spoiler:Kahlan is still in love with him and was just trying to protect him]] despite it being plainly obvious, even if readers weren't privy to her thoughts.
* NeverLiveItDown: The chicken thing is pretty much all people remember about the Chimes of Death. A lot of people overlook them killing women and children via drowning, burning, and falling off cliffs.

* RootingForTheEmpire: Terry Goodkind tries to avert this by making villains as repulsively evil as possible so that the {{Designated Hero}}es' tendency to PayEvilUntoEvil doesn't make the audience turn on him. On the one hand, it means that the villains have all the odious habits that the heroes do, including the [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans self-righteousness,]] and with [[GratuitousRape extra rape]] (the only crime the heroes are ''not'' at some point guilty of) piled on top, but on the other hand, the heroes are the ones whose KickTheDog moments we always get to see up close, while the villains' are usually just reported from afar.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Several. The most obvious is probably Shota, the witch woman. Towards the end of the series, Richard comes to her demanding her help. She explains to him that, by his own principles, she has no obligation to help him and really just wants to be left alone. How does Richard react to [[WhatTheHellHero being called out]] [[MoralDissonance on his hypocrisy?]] [[IResembleThatRemark He ends up steamrolling her and accusing her of "posturing".]] [[LaserGuidedKarma Eventually, he has to trade his sword for the information he wants.]]

-->'''V:''' What about my wrinkles?
-->'''W:''' Someday, when you get wrinkles, I'll love them, too.

* DontShootTheMessage: Fans, and often Goodkind himself, have suggested that people who don't like these books are all just leftists or people who despise Objectivism. Goodkind has said a few times that the main reason he is attacked is for "my beliefs" as opposed to what many feel is bad writing and a tendency to say insulting things about other authors in his genre.

* MarySuetopia: {{Inverted}} when Richard is basically kidnapped by the dark sister Nicci, who delivers [[CharacterFilibuster speech after speech]] about the "enlightened" administration of the Imperial Order, all of which are caricatures of Communist and/or Socialist practices. When we see it, it's of course a crumbling basket case, with everyone having to gain approval by various committees before doing the smallest thing in the economy. In no way does the book explain how such a system can work for even one city, let alone an entire massive empire. The economy is not even centrally run-that would at least make it ''slightly'' better. Rather, this is borrowed wholesale from ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'', but there it falling apart is the ''point''. In the books though, the Imperial Order was supposed to be waging wars at the same time. How they manage this is a mystery.

** Samuel, full stop. Goodkind literally took [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Gollum]], changed his name, changed the object of his desire from the One Ring to the Sword of Truth, and dropped him into his own story otherwise unchanged.

** Chandalen thinks Richard is dangerous because ever since he came along his people's village has been attacked repeatedly. Which it has. And yes, it's due to Richard's presence. When dragged along on a quest to save the world from the Keeper of the Underworld, Chandalen is frustrated by Kahlan's insistence on helping out a group of young soldiers against an invading army, reminding her constantly that their main quest is to ''save the freaking world''. However, Chandalen is always presented as being wrong, despite the number of times he's proven right.
*** However, after Kahlen's retrieval from [[spoiler: [[EvilAllAlong Prindin]]]], she acknowledges that she really got immersed in the war and forgot about her mission to find Zedd.

* TheUntwist: Zedd, the strange old man Richard is friends with, is indeed the great wizard Kahlan was sent looking for at the beginning of the first book.

** "Soul of the Fire" describes a minority group that keeps itself in power by controlling the schools and teaching everyone in their society that they were the victim of a horrible injustice in the past and are therefore owed a great debt by the "evil" majority (and the horrible injustice may not have actually happened in the first place). They used this (along with being moneylenders who control the economy) to take control of the entire country during a crisis. Parallels to real-world groups are [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment left as an exercise to the reader.]]

* DontShootTheMessage: Fans, and often Goodkind himself, have suggested that people who don't like these books are [[OxymoronicBeing far-left liberals]] or people who despise Objectivism. Goodkind has said a few times that the main reason he is attacked are for "my beliefs" as opposed to what many feel is bad writing and a tendency to say insulting things about other authors in his genre.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: In the later novels, the aesops start to draw strongly on Objectivist themes. The anti-Communist themes are pulled straight from Ayn Rand. People who try to give charity to others and "spread the wealth" ultimately turn poor people into lazy, greedy assholes and destroy the economy.
** Similarly, the villain in The Law of Nines is said to have garnered support by offering what was essentially medieval welfare to the "lazy." (As did a minor villain in "Stone of Tears".)

** Creation of Mord-Sith. It involves choosing the nicest girls, and breaking them. How? It's done THREE times. First, she [[ColdBloodedTorture has to get used to pain]]. Second, you must watch them do the same to your mother until she dies. Third, YOU have to make your father your slave and torture him to death.

** Also [[spoiler: Cara's Wedding.]] The juxtaposition of what they used to be, to what they have now is incredibly moving.

** [[ItMakesSenseInContext The sentence]] from ''Faith of the Fallen'': "[[ARareSentence He raised his anus, commanding silence.]]"

** In a case where Goodkind ''really'' should have done the research first, anyone who's at all familiar with anime or manga will not be able to stop laughing at every mention of an evil, sinister villain (a ''female'' villain no less) called "[[LoliconAndShotacon Shota]]".

** In a case where Goodkind ''really'' should have done the research first, anyone who's at all familiar with anime or manga will not be able to stop laughing at every mention of an evil, sinister villain (a ''female'' villain no less) called "[[ShotaconAndLolicon Shota]]".