History YMMV / TheShadowOfTheWind

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: When everyone claims Antoni Fortuny, Julián's [[spoiler: step]]father to be pure evil, several characters [[LampshadeHanging point out]] how strange this is. [[spoiler: We later discover that Antoni Fortuny was really just a messed-up guy who realized too late how much he loved and depended on his wife and son. When Julián comes back, he [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments takes him back in]] without asking any questions. He also dies [[TearJerker holding a photo of Julián and Sophie.]]]]

* CompleteMonster: Francisco Javier Fumero, the [[DirtyCop corrupt chief of police]] in Barcelona, relishes the power his position brings him. [[EnfantTerrible As a boy]], Fumero tortured small animals as an outlet for his sadism, and when he discovered Julian Carax, the one boy to treat him kindly, and Penelope, who Fumero lusted after, were together, he attempted to murder Julian and devoted his life to destroying him and Penelope alike. Fumero sent his men to kill Julian and personally murdered a woman who loved Julian for helping him. In the years that passed, Fumero terrorized the populace of Barcelona as an uniformed thug, [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing]] those who caught his ire. One luckless man named Fermin was held and beaten before Fumero tortured him with a blowtorch. When the young hero of the novel, Daniel Sempere, closes in on the buried story of Julian Carax, Fumero wastes no time in attempting to kill him and all who know the truth as well. Cruel, {{sadist}}ic, violent and insatiably power-hungry, Fumero represents how far a once almost pitiable boy can fall.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Fermín is the most memorable character in the novel, and he eventually got his own featured installment (or at least a novel 70% focused on him) on ''The Prisoner of Heaven''.

* TheScrappy: Daniel is probably the least favorite of all protagonists written by Zafón, due to how passive, socially awkward and just plain jerkass he is (and the next books sometimes make it worse), especially given that he lacks the wit or guts of protagonists like Martín (''Literature/TheAngelsGame'') or Óscar (''Literature/{{Marina}}'').

* AcceptableEthnicTargets: Debatable in Fermín's case. People from the Spanish region of Extremadura have the national stereotype of being Spain's answer to the HillbillyHorrors trope, and Zafón (who is from Catalonia, a region that is popularly portrayed as having a certain antagonism towards regions like Extremadura and Andalusia) plays it with Fermín's origins, describing his family in Extremadura as such and mentioning his possible native town as Villainmunda, a name that means something like "Dungville". On the other hand, Fermín himself is described as eccentric but ''very'' skilled in all sorts of fields, sometimes almost to MagnificentBastard levels, so it's hard to see him as a negative stereotype of Extremadura or a stereotype at all.

* TheScrappy: Daniel is probably the least favorite of all protagonists written by Zafón, due to how passive, socially awkward and just plain jerkass he is (and the next books sometimes make it worse), especially given that he lacks the wit or guts of protagonists like Martín (''The Angel's Game'') or Óscar (''Marina'').

* AcceptableTargets: Debatable in Fermín's case. People from the Spanish region of Extremadura have the national stereotype of being Spain's answer to the HillbillyHorrors trope, and Zafón (who is from Catalonia, a region that is popularly portrayed as having a certain antagonism towards Extremadura) plays it with Fermín's origins, describing his family in Extremadura as such and mentioning his possible native town as Villainmunda, a name that means something like "Dungville". On the other hand, Fermín himself is described as eccentric but ''very'' skilled in all sorts of fields, sometimes almost to MagnificentBastard levels, so it's hard to see him as a negative stereotype of Extremadura or a stereotype at all.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Fermín, who eventually got his own featured novel (or at least a novel 70% focused on him) on ''The Prisoner of Heaven''.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: When everyone claims Antoni Fortuny, Julián's [[spoiler: step]]father to be pure evil, several characters [[{{LampshadeHanging}} point out]] how strange this is. [[spoiler: We later discover that Antoni Fortuny was really just a messed-up guy who realized too late how much he loved and depended on his wife and son. When Julián comes back, he [[{{CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming}} takes him back in]] without asking any questions. He also dies [[{{TearJerker}} holding a photo of Julián and Sophie.]]]]

* VanillaProtagonist: The novel's weakest point, according to most opinions, is how passive and socially awkward happens to be the narrator. Daniel fits on the classic Zafón protagonist of a semantically fluid yet rather dull FirstPersonSmartass, but he notably lacks the wit or guts of characters like Martín (''The Angel's Game'') or Óscar (''Marina''), which only worsens next to the wildly popular Fermín.

* AcceptableTargets: Debatable in Fermín's case. People from the Spanish region of Extremadura have the national stereotype of being weird hillbillies, and Zafón (who is from Catalonia, a region that is popularly portrayed as having a certain antagonism towards Extremadura) plays it with Fermín's origins, describing his family as such and mentioning his possible native town as Villainmunda, a name which means something like "Dungville". On the other hand, Fermín himself is described as eccentric but very skilled in all sorts of fields, sometimes almost to MagnificentBastard levels, so it's hard to see him as a negative stereotype or a stereotype at all.
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: When everyone claims Antoni Fortuny, Julián's [[spoiler: step]]father to be pure evil, several characters [[{{LampshadeHanging}} point out]] how strange this is. [[spoiler: We later discover that Antoni Fortuny was really just a messed-up guy who realized too late how much he loved and depended on his wife and son. When Julián comes back, he [[{{CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming}}takes him back in]] without asking any questions. He also dies [[{{TearJerker}} holding a photo of Julián and Sophie.]]]]

* VanillaProtagonist: The novel's weakest point, according to most opinions, is how passive and socially awkward happens to be the narrator. Daniel fits on the classic Zafón protagonist of a rather flat, semantically fluid FirstPersonSmartass, but he notably lacks the wit or guts of characters like Martín (''The Angel's Game'') or Óscar (''Marina''), which only increases next to the wildly popular Fermín.

* VanillaProtagonist: The novel's weakest point, according to most opinions, is how passive and socially awkward happens to be the narrator. Daniel fits on the classic Zafón protagonist of a rather flat, semantically fluid FirstPersonSmartass, but he notably lacks the wit or guts of characters like Martín (''The Angel's Game'') or Óscar (''Marina''), which only increases next to the wildly popular Fermín.

* DeaderThanDisco: At the time of its release, 2001, ''The Shadow of the Wind'' was Zafón's first huge success and his best reviewed work up to the moment. It kept the place for seven years, after which the book switched status from "Zafón's best adult novel" to "Zafón's best adult novel until ''The Angel's Game''". Even the latter's first official review actually described it as much better than the former, which only foresaw how the reviews lowered their scores over the years while more novels came out.
** And that goes without mentioning ''Literature/{{Marina}}'', which was published two years before ''The Shadow of the Wind'' but didn't become famous until its reedition in 2007. Even thought ''Marina'' is technically a young adult novel while ''The Shadow'' is an adult novel, many people believe it is actually a better novel in some or all its aspects. Zafón himself seems to share this opinion, as he stated that while ''Marina'' might not be his best book, it has a special place on his heart that no other book of his has.

* AcceptableTargets: Debatable. People from the Spanish region of Extremadura have the national stereotype of being mostly weird hillbillies, and Zafón (who is from Cataluña, a region whose people is stereotyped to have a certain antagonism towards Extremadura) plays it with Fermín's origins, describing his family as such, as well as mentioning his possible native town as Villainmunda, a name which means something like "Dungville". On the other hand, Fermín himself is described as eccentric but very skilled, almost to MagnificentBastard levels, so it's not easy to see what the author intended to do with him about the matter.

-->'''Barcelo:''' If everyone insists on a man being a monster either he was a saint or we don't know the whole story.

* DeaderThanDisco: At the time of its release, 2001, ''The Shadow of the Wind'' was Zafón's first huge success and his best reviewed work until the moment. It kept the place for seven years, after which the book switched status from "Zafón's best adult novel" to "Zafón's best adult novel until ''The Angel's Game''". Even the latter's first official review actually described it as much better than the former, which only foresaw how the reviews lowered their scores over the years while more novels came out.
** And that goes without mentioning ''Literature/{{Marina}}'', which was published two years before ''The Shadow of the Wind'' but didn't become fully over until its reedition in 2007. Even thought ''Marina'' is technically a young adult novel and ''The Shadow'' an adult novel, many people believe it is actually a better novel in some or all its aspects. Zafón himself seems to share this opinion, as he stated that while ''Marina'' might not be his best book, it had a special place on his heart that no other book of his had.

* VanillaProtagonist: The novel's weakest point, according to most opinions, is how passive and socially awkward happens to be the very narrator. Daniel fits on the classic Zafón protagonist of a rather flat, semantically fluid FirstPersonSmartass, but he notably lacks the wit or guts of characters like Martín (''The Angel's Game'') or Óscar (''Marina''), especially next to the wildly popular Fermín.

* CompleteMonster: Francisco Javier Fumero, the [[DirtyCop corrupt chief of police]] in Barcelona, relishes the power his position brings him. [[EnfantTerrible As a boy]], Fumero tortured small animals as an outlet for his sadism, and when he discovered Julian Carax, the one boy to treat him kindly, and Penelope, who Fumero lusted after, were together, he attempted to murder Julian and devoted his life to destroying him and Penelope alike. Fumero sent his men to kill Julian and personally murdered a woman who loved Julian for helping him. In the years that passed, Fumero terrorized the populace of Barcelona as a uniformed thug, [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing]] those who caught his ire. One luckless man named Fermin was held and beaten before Fumero tortured him with a blowtorch. When the young hero of the novel, Daniel Sempere, closes in on the buried story of Julian Carax, Fumero wastes no time in attempting to kill him and all who know the truth as well. Cruel, {{sadist}}ic, violent and insatiably power-hungry, Fumero represents how far a once almost pitiable boy can fall.

** Or [[spoiler: Jacinta Coronado's fate]]?

* CompleteMonster: Francisco Javier Fumero, the [[DirtyCop corrupt chief of police]] in Barcelona, relishes the power his position brings him. [[EnfantTerrible As a boy]], Fumero tortured small animals as an outlet for his sadism, and when he discovered Julian Carax, the one boy to treat him kindly, and Penelope, who Fumero lusted after, were together, he attempted to murder Julian and devoted his life to destroying him and Penelope alike. Fumero sent his men to kill Julian and personally murdered a woman who loved Julian for helping him. In the years that passed, Fumero terrorized the populace of Barcelona as a uniformed thug, [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing]] those who caught his ire. One luckless man named Fermin was held and beaten before Fumero tortured him with a blowtorch. When the young hero of the novel, Daniel Siempre, closes in on the buried story of Julian Carax, Fumero wastes no time in attempting to kill him and all who know the truth as well. Cruel, {{sadist}}ic, violent and insatiably power-hungry, Fumero represents how far a once almost pitiable boy can fall.

** Or [[spoiler: Jocinta Coronado's fate]]?

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: When everyone claims Antoni Fortuny, Julián's [[spoiler: step]]father to be a CompleteMonster, several characters [[{{LampshadeHanging}} point out]] how strange this is. [[spoiler: We later discover that Antoni Fortuny was really just a messed-up guy who realized too late how much he loved and depended on his wife and son. When Julián comes back, he [[{{CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming}}takes him back in]] without asking any questions. He also dies [[{{TearJerker}} holding a photo of Julián and Sophie.]]]]
* CompleteMonster: "Years later, every time he stuck his revolver into the mouth of a prisoner and pulled the trigger, Chief Inspector Francisco Javier Fumero would remember the day he saw his mother's head burst open like a ripe watermelon near an outdoor bar in Las Planas and didn't feel anything, just the tedium of dead things."

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: When everyone claims Antoni Fortuny, Julián's [[spoiler: step]]father to be a CompleteMonster, several characters [[{{LampshadeHanging}} point out]] how strange this is. [[spoiler: Of course, we later discover that Antoni Fortuny was really just a messed-up guy who realized too late how much he loved and depended on his wife and son. When Julián comes back, he [[{{CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming}}takes him back in]] without asking any questions. He also dies [[{{TearJerker}} holding a photo of Julián and Sophie.]]]]

** Or [[spoiler: Miquel Moliner's entire ''life'']]?

** Or [[Miquel Moliner's entire ''life'']]?

** How about when Daniel talks to [[spoiler: Isaac, just after his daughter, Nuria, has been murdered]]?

* TearJerker: Gosh, where to start?

* BetterThanItSounds: Like you wouldn't believe. A teenage boy and a former homeless man rove around Barcelona interrogating people as to the life of an unknown author.