History YMMV / TheDarkElfTrilogy

--->"Who are you? You are not my father!" \\

** And from Sojourn. It is ''really'' freaking hard to take the villain seriously when his name is ''Roddy [=McGristle=]''.
*** I don't know, that's a good "mountain man" name, which is exactly what he is and where his evilness comes from.

** Possibly justified by Drizzt's inexperience on the surface, plus he gets better thanks to Mooshie.

* CharacterAlignment: Much weight has been given to the AlwaysChaoticEvil status of the drow. Realistically, they are much more ''Lawful'' Evil, in that their society has been stratified and stable for millennia. Yes, they worship a Goddess of Chaos, and try their best to create chaos in their own city (an example being that the merchants in the mercantile district must move their shop every 66 days), but still, it is hard to see the '''always''' part of this trope.

* Alignment: Much weight has been given to the AlwaysChaoticEvil status of the drow. Realistically, they are much more ''Lawful'' Evil, in that their society has been stratified and stable for millennia. Yes, they worship a Goddess of Chaos, and try their best to create chaos in their own city (an example being that the merchants in the mercantile district must move their shop every 66 days), but still, it is hard to see the '''always''' part of this trope.

* {{Alignment}}: Much weight has been given to the AlwaysChaoticEvil status of the drow. Realistically, they are much more ''Lawful'' Evil, in that their society has been stratified and stable for millennia. Yes, they worship a Goddess of Chaos, and try their best to create chaos in their own city (an example being that the merchants in the mercantile district must move their shop every 66 days), but still, it is hard to see the '''always''' part of this trope.

* Alignment: Much weight has been given to the AlwaysChaoticEvil status of the drow. Realistically, they are much more ''Lawful'' Evil, in that their society has been stratified and stable for millennia. Yes, they worship a Goddess of Chaos, and try their best to create chaos in their own city (an example being that the merchants in the mercantile district must move their shop every 66 days), but still, it is hard to see the '''always''' part of this trope.

** Possibly justified by Drizzt's inexperience on the surface, plus he gets better thanks to Mooshie.

* FridgeLogic: Alright, this troper can accept that people born in a society of sociopaths can randomly be good people with aversions to senseless violence. But when Drizzt turns down sex with the priestess, he tells his sister that he "cares nothing for her". How does he even have the concept that sex and love go together?
** It was more of a way of knocking her down a peg. The scene where it's said is during an orgy, where everyone was taking on people to show their status. The fact that Drizzt left his sister alone with no one to sex showed that she had no power as a priestess.
** At the rate they kill each other, the Drow would need to reproduce like bunnies (or at least something close to a normal rate) to maintain a stable population. However, one Matron seems to, on average, produce about the same amount of children as a human mother—except spread out over a few hundred years. They could not maintain their population as long as they have, let alone grown strong.
*** Well, the killing rate is actually not that high. Among the over sixty houses, there is one ascension attempt every decade. And some sources imply the struggle among commoners is not as wasteful - at least the families are stated to be larger.
** This troper 100% agrees with the fridge logic and thinks it should go on the main page. If the book had been written 50 years ago, Drizzt would probably be saying "No! It's immoral to have sex before marriage!" Add to that that there is apparently no word for "love" in the drow language, the closest one being something that means "selfish lust". So how Drizzt was even able to express his feelings is a mystery too. [[FridgeLogic Unless what he actually meant was "I'm not attracted to her"??]]
*** To make things worse the sex=love concept isn't even true among Good elves sop even if you remove the power play elements he still shouldn't have any problems having sex with random people.
** While he may not have the "sex = love" idea in his mind, being less sociopathic than the others COULD lead him to the "I just don't want to sleep with my sister" conclusion.
*** Are there multiple versions of the book? Because I never saw an indication that it was his sister that was propositioning him.
*** Vierna is just harranguing Drizzt about not submitting to the advances of a random unnamed priestess during the religious orgy thing (and leaving the room, that was probably not OK either). That she even has (occasion) to do it is only because the unnamed priestess is already in a trance (i.e. drugged off her arse) and doesn't even seem to notice.
*** When Vierna tracks Drizzt down after he's left the orgy, her robe is casually opened in the front. She assumes (wrongly) that all he wanted was a bit of privacy and begins to come on to him, which provokes his reaction of disgust. An earlier passage where Vierna can't stop staring at her newborn(!) brother's beautiful purple eyes, and is scolded for her incestuous thoughts by Matron Malice, implies that Vierna may have been secretly lusting after Drizzt for years.
**** It may have been some time since I read the book, but while it's true she was fascinated by his eyes, that certainly doesn't imply incestuous thoughts. The closest thing I can remember to an admonishment was "He's only a boy, Vierna, nothing special (i.e. stop loving him like a sibling, he's a vermin)." The only person who was admonished for incestuous thoughts was Briza at the end of the book, who mentioned to Malice that she would have liked to "use" Drizzt like Malice used Zaknafein.
***** Malice's words as best I can remember were "when he's older and those purple eyes fascinate you so, remember on your life that he is your brother." Possibly not incestuous, but immediately following this is Vierna's thought process on the hypocrisy of Matron Malice presuming to lecture her on proper behavior, as Malice herself had a reputation of being something of a sexual deviant by drow standards (although it's implied that promiscuity, not incest, was Malice's MO). Vierna then silently expresses a hope that Malice wasn't reading her thoughts at that exact moment, because thinking such gossip about a high priestess (true or false) was a good way to get yourself killed.

* Alignment: Much weight has been given to the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil:]] status of the drow. Realistically, they are much more ''Lawful'' Evil, in that their society has been stratified and stable for millennia. Yes, they worship a Goddess of Chaos, and try their best to create chaos in their own city (an example being that the merchants in the mercantile district must move their shop every 66 days), but still, it is hard to see the '''always''' part of this trope.

* Alignment: Much weight has been given to the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil: Always Chaotic Evil]] status of the drow. Realistically, they are much more ''Lawful'' Evil, in that their society has been stratified and stable for millennia. Yes, they worship a Goddess of Chaos, and try their best to create chaos in their own city (an example being that the merchants in the mercantile district must move their shop every 66 days), but still, it is hard to see the '''always''' part of this trope.

* Alignment: Much weight has been given to the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil]] status of the drow. Realistically, they are much more ''Lawful'' Evil, in that their society has been stratified and stable for millennia. Yes, they worship a Goddess of Chaos, and try their best to create chaos in their own city (an example being that the merchants in the mercantile district must move their shop every 66 days), but still, it is hard to see the '''always''' part of this trope.

* CompleteMonster:
** Matron Yvonnel Baenre, the de facto ruler of the Drow nation Menzoberranzan, is also the most evil Drow yet seen. Yvonnel Baenre keeps the city in its dark, chaotic state while destroying Drow houses she judges have [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived their usefulness]]. Her own children live in fear of her, and when dealing with her most hatred rivals, the Oblodras, Baenre annihilates their House, sending every inhabitant, even the slaves, to the Abyss to be tortured eternally. Baenre's ultimate goal is to conquer the dwarven kingdom Mithrill Hall, and for this end, she has enslaved the soul of its first king for two thousand years. She also utilizes her Illithid ally to forcibly and painfully [[MindRape mentally torture and devour the minds]] of those she wishes to interrogate while allowing her children and house to torture those who catch their eye. when she assaults Mithril Hall, her goal is nothing less than the deaths or enslavement of all in her path.
** Vendes Baenre, one of Yvonnel's daughters, is just as fiendish as her mother and more monstrous than almost any other Drow. Known and feared for her sadism and penchant for ColdBloodedTorture, Vendes delights in getting her hands on any possible victim without regards for their crimes. Vendes ruthlessly tortures Drizzt Do'Urden and reveals her reputation in Menzoberranzan is well deserved. Vendes is also known for torturing luckless male drow and turning them into [[AndIMustScream agonized statues]] to adorn the paths of the drow academies as a reminder to what happens to those who forget their place.

***** Malice's words as best I can remember were "when he's older and those purple eyes fascinate you so, remember on your life that he is your brother." Possibly not incestuous, but immediately following this is Vierna's thought process on the hypocrisy of Matron Malice presuming to lecture her on proper behavior, as Malice herself had a reputation of being something of a sexual deviant by drow standards (although it's implied that promiscuity, not incest, was Malice's MO). Vierna then silently expresses a hope that Malice wasn't reading her thoughts at that exact moment, because thinking such gossip about a high priestess (true or false) was a good way to get yourself killed.* {{Narm}}: Unfortunately, from Exile, towards the end:

* {{Narm}} - Unfortunately, from Exile, towards the end:
--->"Who are you? You are not my father!" \\
"No. I am your... Mother!"
** And from Sojourn. It is ''really'' freaking hard to take the villain seriously when his name is ''Roddy [=McGristle=]''.
*** I don't know, that's a good "mountain man" name, which is exactly what he is and where his evilness comes from.
* {{Wangst}}: Some think that Drizzt's guilt/self-pity in Sojourn was pretty whiney. He looks practically cheery compared to subsequent novels, though.
** Possibly justified by Drizzt's inexperience on the surface, plus he gets better thanks to Mooshie.
* FridgeLogic - Alright, this troper can accept that people born in a society of sociopaths can randomly be good people with aversions to senseless violence. But when Drizzt turns down sex with the priestess, he tells his sister that he "cares nothing for her". How does he even have the concept that sex and love go together?

***** Malice's words as best I can remember were "when he's older and those purple eyes fascinate you so, remember on your life that he is your brother." Possibly not incestuous, but immediately following this is Vierna's thought process on the hypocrisy of Matron Malice presuming to lecture her on proper behavior, as Malice herself had a reputation of being something of a sexual deviant by drow standards (although it's implied that promiscuity, not incest, was Malice's MO). Vierna then silently expresses a hope that Malice wasn't reading her thoughts at that exact moment, because thinking such gossip about a high priestess (true or false) was a good way to get yourself killed.

**** It may have been some time since I read the book, but while it's true she was fascinated by his eyes, that certainly doesn't imply incestuous thoughts. The closest thing I can remember to an admonishment was "He's only a boy, Vierna, nothing special (i.e. stop loving him like a sibling, he's a vermin)." The only person who was admonished for incestuous thoughts was Briza at the end of the book, who mentioned to Malice that she would have liked to "use" Drizzt like Malice used Zaknafein.

*** When Vierna tracks Drizzt down after he's left the orgy, her robe is casually opened in the front. She assumes (wrongly) that all he wanted was a bit of privacy and begins to come on to him, which provokes his reaction of disgust. An earlier passage where Vierna can't stop staring at her newborn(!) brother's beautiful purple eyes, and is scolded for her incestuous thoughts by Matron Malice, implies that Vierna may have been secretly lusting after Drizzt for years.

* ChaoticEvil - The entire dark elf race, excluding Drizzt and Zaknafein.
** The Drow have laws and at least show a semblance of respect for them, generally engaging in outright evil behavior only if they can ''get away with it'' and condemning those who are caught breaking the law--this makes them closer to NeutralEvil than ChaoticEvil (and indeed NE is the canonical alignment for Drow society).
*** Curiously enough, at the time the series was written all Dark Elves were canonical ChaoticEvil. Their behavior didn't change between editions; just their stated alignment, with the writers apparently realizing the highly organized society didn't fit the Chaotic mold very cleanly.
*** ChaoticEvil doesn't mean no laws and everyone's butchering everyone. That's ChaoticStupid with a healthy dash of StupidEvil. Drow society is meant to be a game played by the matron mothers, with the laws being how the game is played - the first rule being you can get away with ''anything'' as long as nobody catches you.
*** Yeah, after all, surface elves are chaotic good. And they have rules too.

*** When Vierna tracks Drizzt down after he's left the orgy, her robe is casually opened in the front. She assumes (wrongly) that all he wanted was a bit of privacy and begins to come on to him, which provokes his reaction of disgust. An earlier passage where Vierna can't stop staring at her newborn(!) brother's beautiful purple eyes, and is scolded for her incestuous thoughts by Matron Malice, implies that Vierna may have been secretly lusting after her brother for years.

*** Vierna is just harranguing Drizzt about not submitting to the advances of a random unnamed priestess during the religious orgy thing (and leaving the room, that was probably not OK either). That she even has (occasion) to do it is only because the unnamed priestess is already in a trance (i.e. drugged off her arse) and doesn't even seem to notice.

*** Are there multiple versions of the book? Because I never saw an indication that it was his sister that was propositioning him.

* {{Wangst}}: Some think his guilt/self-pity in Sojourn was pretty whiney. He looks practically cheery compared to subsequent novels, though.

** This troper 100% agrees with the fridge logic and thinks it should go on the main page. If the book had been written 50 years ago, Drizzt would probably be saying "No! It's immoral to have sex before marriage!"

* {{Wangst}}: Some think his guilt/self-pity in Sojourn was pretty whiney. He looks practically cheery compared to subsequent novels, though.