Line #114 FanFic/TheStormDragons


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9	->''Even darkness has a heart... ''
10	-->--'''Opifex'''
11
12	->''Honestly, why? They had done nothing wrong. Any leader with half a brain knows that committing crimes like that against his followers would weaken his position''
13	-->--'''Galbatorix'''
14
15	''The Storm Dragons'' is a fanfiction series written by Opifex, based on the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'', but turned upside-down. The series can be found [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/908750/Opifex-the-Singer here]]. The series is several stories long, and ultimately exceeds the length of the actual canon work. Very much a DeconstructionFic, [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructing]] the source material to the hilt.
16
17	The series ultimately divides itself between two major plotlines: the story of Ravana, the Elder Black Dragon and his family, the titular Storm Dragons, and of Galbatorix. The series uses Galbatorix's constant OffstageVillainy to present his acts either in a positive light, or explains them as the work of his underlings who did not properly follow his orders. The series depicts Galbatorix with a number of character gimmicks, such as the fact he can only sleep comfortably on a hammock.
18
19	The other half of the series details the stories of the ancient Black Dragon Ravana and his offspring. Ravana was born alone and suffered a rather fall from naivety due a rather harsh AllOfTheOtherReindeer story. He and his offspring are called Storm Dragons because they can summon and control thunderstorms to protect themselves from other dragons. The two stories become intertwined when Ravana's daughter Skade meets Galbatorix, and the two fall in love.
20
21	Opifex is clearly one of those who [[RootingForTheEmpire Root for the Empire]], her fanfiction is nearly a polar opposite of the canon series, presenting the Empire as an effective ruling body and the Varden as a collection of terrorists. The series follows canon up to the end of ''Eldest'', at which point it diverges into its own canon, fleshing out events from long before the canon series begins.
22
23	The series is complete and comprises nine sub-stories in the full series:
24
25	* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2611378/1/The-Lost-Dragon The Lost Dragon]]
26	* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2810228/1/Skade Skade]]
27	* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2899334/1/Black-Dragon Black Dragon]]
28	* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2914834/1/From-White-to-Black From White to Black]]
29	* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2937196/1/Dragon-s-Blood Dragon's Blood]]
30	* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3335884/1/The-Shadowed-Throne The Shadowed Throne]]
31	* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3628157/1/Shade-Dreams Shade Dreams]]
32	* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3947971/1/Shadow-s-Heir Shadow's Heir]]
33	* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4156326/1/Star-Crossed Star Crossed]]
34
35	Another was in the works, called ''Dragon's Bones'', but it was scrapped.
36	----
37	!This series provides examples of:
38	* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Black-scaled dragons are treated poorly. And this only after a millenia of mellowing out, in Ravana's day, they killed you mercilessly for it.
39	* [[AntiVillain Anti-]]VillainProtagonist: It's a series in which the WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds is a major protagonist. ''Of course'' there's anti-villainous perspectives.
40	%%* AnyoneCanDie
41	* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: Galbatorix leads The Empire and keeps Alagaesia stable to make up for overthrowing the previous ruling party]]
42	* AuthorTract: By her [[WordOfGod own admission]], Opifex does not like Paolini's Elves, and it [[ScrewYouElves shows]]. Several characters also have a bad habit of waxing on the author's personal beliefs, usually boiling down to Discrimination Is Bad.
43	* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler: Galbatorix does this for a brief period of time at the end of ''Dragon's Blood'', but like all of his other apparent deaths, it doesn't last.]]
44	* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Aside from the obvious one, we've also got [[spoiler: Ravana]], who basically crowns himself King of Alagaesia at the end of ''Dragon's Blood''. Everyone else just goes along with it.
45	* BackFromTheDead Galbatorix does this so many times it's hard to keep track. Also, [[spoiler:Durza.]]
46	* BaldOfEvil: Galby's not evil in this story to begin with, but Opifex gave him hair that he's so very proud of almost certainly to make fun with this trope.
47	* BetaCouple: Durza and Rangda when they're first introduced; Orwynne and Roland.
48	* BlessedWithSuck: Galbatorix's ressurective ability becomes a problem, [[spoiler: when he catches a plague. Even though he continually dies from it and resurrects, the plague doesn't go away, so he keeps dying and resurrecting about every week. ]] For OVER TWENTY YEARS.
49	* BoisterousBruiser: Morzan. He's called the strong right arm of Galbatorix.
50	%%* BondCreatures
51	* BreakTheCutie: Ravana started off sweet and innocent, which ended when he first met his people and they immediately tried to kill him for (to him) no apparent reason. Galbatorix on the other hand, didn't start off quite as innocent as Ravana did, but there's still a significant difference between him at the beginning and end in ''From White To Black'' and ''especially'' when you decide to add ''The Shadowed Throne'' or ''Dragon's Blood'' into the mix. Strangely he seemed to be much happier during ''Black Dragon''.
52	%%** ''From White To Black'' is essentially one long example of Galbatorix being broken over and over again.
53	* BullyingADragon: Go on, pick on that black scaled dragon. See what happens. While you're at it, pick on the quiet brooding [[spoiler: half-elf boy,]] too.
54	* CharacterFilibuster: Galbatorix, several times.
55	* ChekhovsGun : An apparently off-hand line midway through ''From White to Black'' [[spoiler: Eventually results in the rebirth of Laela, at the end of ''Dragon's Blood''.]]
56	%%* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Subverted with Ravana and his black-scaled offspring.
57	%%* ContinuityNod: Pops up here and there.
58	%%* CombatPragmatist: Galbatorix.
59	%%* CurbStompBattle: Galbatorix's fight with [[spoiler:Eragon]] in Farthen Dur
60	%%* DarkIsNotEvil: And Galbatorix would like you to get it straight.
61	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Galbatorix has a talent for sarcasm.
62	%%* DeconstructionFic
63	* {{Deconstruction}}: Opifex is essentially the anti-Paolini.
64	* DespairEventHorizon: For Galbatorix after he lost Laela [[spoiler: and again after he lost Shruikan.]] He reacts [[spoiler: both times]] with a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
65	* {{Determinator}}: Galbatorix, big time. No matter how injured he gets, no matter how many emotional sucker punches he takes, no matter how many times he falls into despair, Galbatorix will always pull himself up and keep on going.
66	* TheDreaded: After his escape from the Riders halfway through From Black to White, Galbatorix becomes known as 'The Great Betrayer'. After his guerilla attacks against the Riders prove successful people begin to call him 'Rider's Bane'.
67	* DroppedABridgeOnHim: A few characters were killed off between ''Eldest'' and ''Black Dragon''. More still meet rather abrupt ends.
68	* DrivenToVillainy: Let's see, that about... all of them. If not this, then it was DrivenToMadness.
69	* EnemyToAllLivingThings: Ravana believes he's one, except to his own offspring, and a few worthy others.
70	* EnfantTerrible: The Elves and Dragons thought Ravana was one, even though he really wasn't at first. Their constant attempts to kill him changed all that.
71	%%** Played straight with the rather horrifying Vervada in Black Dragon.
72	* EverythingIsTryingToKillYou: It's [[StartOfDarkness what]] [[BreakTheCutie broke]] Ravana.
73	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Flell eventually betrays the fact that Galbatorix is a half-breed to the Riders, resulting in him becoming a fugitive.]]
74	* FaceOfAThug: A large part of the reason Ravana [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer was attacked the moment he met another dragon]]. Aside from being [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience solid black]], he has scary eyes and [[SpikesOfVillainy a lot of extra horns]] and his fangs stick up from his lower jaw when it's normally the other way around, so he scared the ''crap'' out of the other dragons.
75	* FateWorseThanDeath: Skade feels this is hitting her [[spoiler: when the Dragon Rider Elders turn her into an elf temporarily.]] She later [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy changes her mind]] about it.
76	* FemaleGaze: Doesn't happen often in-series, but according to WordOfGod, Galbatorix in the Storm Dragons series is: "''...sexy!antihero!Galbatorix Taranisaii with the long curly black hair and the pointed beard...''"
77	* ForegoneConclusion: Roughly half the story is in prequel mode, so we already know how some things will turn out.
78	* TheFool: Morzan's not the sharpest tool in the box, and something of a hillbilly too. However, he's good-natured and loyal to the last (to his friends, of course, not the Riders), and also painfully aware of how people see him.
79	%%* FromNobodyToNightmare: Galbatorix. Especially after his dragon died.
80	* GratuitousJapanese: One of Skade's offspring is inexplicably named [[KatanasAreJustBetter Katana.]]
81	* GroinAttack: Galbatorix pulls the move that won his revolution on [[spoiler: Eragon]]. Not like he probably [[CurbStompBattle needed]] to do it, but humiliating him had it's own benefits.
82	* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor : Murtagh switches sides quite often. The fact that he usually has some justification or excuse saves him from straight up ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, however.
83	* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The Forsworn eventually become almost as bad as the riders.
84	%%* HonorBeforeReason: Subverted with Galbatorix.
85	* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler: Galbatorix has a few moments with this throughout ''From White to Black'', including completely losing it for weeks after Laela dies, but his biggest one comes when he accidentally kills more than half of the Forsworn with a single spell. He gets this even worse in Dragon's Blood, really early on when Shruikan dies, and fluctuates between stages of LaserGuidedAmnesia. He eventually comes out of it in SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids mode.]]
86	* HoYay: Between Thrain and Laela, both female dragons. Two female members of the Forsworn also joined Galbatorix after receiving [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal harsh punishments]] from the riders for this. In a bit of realism, even Galbatorix himself was uncomfortable about it at first
87	* HumansAreSpecial: A combination of their reproductive rates, clever nature, willingness to change, and ability to function properly without magic all allowed them to become the most widely spread species in the country.
88	* {{Immortality}}: Several different flavors. Shown by elves, dragons, several near-extinct magical species, and [[spoiler: Galbatorix.]]
89	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Both Galbatorix and Skade were willing to switch forms to suit the other person's. [[spoiler: Ultimately it was Skade who became humanoid.]]
90	* IronicEcho: During Galbatorix's mock trial of [[spoiler: Vrael]], his parting insults mirror the same mockery the Elders gave him during his sentencing.
91	* KnightTemplar: [[spoiler: The original Dragon Riders, especially the elders.]]
92	* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: [[spoiler: Anytime after The Lost Dragon, Ravana is as big as Farthen Dur, and practically invincible to any form of assault. His first enemy is a tiny little dragon who can assault minds.]]
93	* LargeAndInCharge: Ravana, [[spoiler: Once he returns to Alagaesia after a millenia away.]]
94	* LaserGuidedKarma: Like the titular dragon's thunder storms, punishment tends to strike anyone who dares inconvenience the Storm Dragons or Galbatorix.
95	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Galbatorix swings back and forth between various versions of this in ''Dragon's Blood''.
96	* LastOfHisKind: Galbatorix meets two of them in ''From White to Black'', [[spoiler: And becomes one himself a couple chapters after.]]
97	* LightIsNotGood: Goes with the mood of the series.
98	* LukeIAmYourFather: Parodied when Galbatorix tells Eragon that he's his father just to mess with him.
99	* MindControl: [[spoiler:Eragon]] falls under this for most of ''Black Dragon'' and ''Dragon's Blood''. Most of his worst atrocities are a direct result of it.
100	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Morzan has this sort of reaction after he scars Murtagh.
101	* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: The Elven riders do this to all the Forsworn.
102	* NearVillainVictory: Happens at least once a story. ''Dragon's Blood'' sets the record by doing it in the ''second chapter''.
103	* NighInvulnerability: Galbatorix should have died several times during the course of ''The Shadowed Throne''. [[spoiler: This is actually explained by his first major moment of cheating death. He saved himself with a Dark Elf spell that made him essentially unkillable.]]
104	* NobleDemon: Galbatorix. However certain characters like Eragon or Nasuada only see the Demon aspect, Eragon since he's an [[IdiotHero Idiot]] [[strike:[[VillainWithGoodPublicity Hero]]]] and Nasuada since she's a GeneralRipper.
105	* NotBrainwashed: [[spoiler: Murtagh joined Galby willingly. His statement that he was enslaved was retconned into a lie because he didn't want to tell Eragon the truth.]]
106	* OrcusOnHisThrone: Opifex actually manages to explain Galbatorix's inaction in the canon works. He's [[spoiler:very slowly recovering from the effects of a highly contagious and debilitating plague he contracted during ''The Shadowed Throne''.]]
107	* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: For all the things Opifex reverses from canon work, the Dwarves remain the same as they always did. They just show up less. [[spoiler: And got their capital crushed by an ancient dragon.]]
108	* OutWithABang: [[spoiler: Selena dies after being raped by Galbatorix, who is infected with a highly contagious plague.]]
109	* ThePromise: Skade promises to return to Galbatorix someday.
110	* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: The Varden. Being civilized is a job for TheEmpire.
111	* TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified: Subverted with the Varden. [[spoiler: Played straight with Galby's revolution against the Dragon Riders, which is treated similarly to how the Varden are in the canon series.]]
112	%%* RoaringRampageOfRevenge
113	%%* ScrewDestiny: Attempted by Elves and Dragons alike, and failed ''spectacularly''.%%How?
114	* ScrewYouElves: Paolini's elves are always wrong in Opifex's version of his universe. Ravana, some of his offspring (especially Skade), and Galbatorix feel this way.
115	* SelfFulfillingProphecy: The Elves' and Dragons' constant attempts to kill Ravana turned him into the vengeful creature that would later father the dragons that contributed to the fall of the original Dragon Riders.
116	%%* SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler: Ravana thinks he's one.]] He may be right.%%How?
117	%%* ShockAndAwe: The special power of Ravana and his offspring.Is?
118	* ShoutOut:
119	** At one point, baby Kullervo does a little dance that involves walking backwards. He proudly names it [[Music/MichaelJackson "The Walk of the Moon."]]
120	** There is a herbalist in ''Dragon's Blood'' named [[Literature/OldKingdom Sabriel]].
121	* ShutUpKiss: [[spoiler: Galbatorix to Flell. He tries it again with Skade but it doesn't work as well, at first. When he tried to apologize for it, Skade does it back, much more forcefully.]]
122	* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: [[spoiler:By ''Dragon's Blood'', Galbatorix has faced so many traumas that he goes into a HeroicBSOD, and come out of only interested in getting revenge on Eragon, not caring about the Empire any longer.]]
123	* SlouchOfVillainy: Durza does this [[spoiler: on Galbatorix's throne after he takes over the Empire.]]
124	%%* SmugSnake: Taranis.
125	* SoWhatDoWeDoNow: The surviving Forsworn all feel generally bad about their past exploits during ''The Shadowed Throne''. One of them is DrivenToSuicide.
126	%%* SerialEscalation: How will Galbatorix cheat death next?
127	* StartOfDarkness: [[spoiler: For Ravana it was when he realized Elves and Dragons alike were trying to kill him, and Humans use him. Galbatorix got his when the Riders slaughtered the Dark Elves and killed Laela.]]
128	* StupidSacrifice: [[spoiler:Vander's death accomplished nothing and deprived Galbatorix of a politically savvy ally and friend.]]
129	%%* TakeThat
130	* ThatManIsDead: As you read ''From White to Black'', say goodbye to Arren, and hello to Galbatorix.
131	%%* ToThePain: The Traitor's death.
132	* TraumaCongaLine: Galbatorix at times makes ''[[Anime/CodeGeass Lelouch's]]'' TraumaCongaLine look like nothing but a minor inconvenience. He goes through all the different outcomes at least once as well, but usually he settles on B and D.
133	* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: Flell, but it's not [[ForegoneConclusion surprising]]. In a rare twist for this trope,[[spoiler: It's her own fault she's unlucky.]]
134	* WhatMeasureIsANonCute: Averted/deconstructed; Galbatorix rails against this standard for most of his life, giving rather vile-looking creatures like Urgals and Ra'zac a chance because he is determined not to go the genocidal way of the old Riders.
135	* WhatTheHellHero: ''Finally'' somebody calls Eragon on his shit!
136	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Despite being a [[AntiVillain subdued example]], Ravana is pretty much the embodiment of the trope, avoiding what should have been a MoralEventHorizon moment (killing and nearly ''eating'' another dragon) by just how ''horrible'' his existence was up to that point (you can't be evil if you were never given a chance to be good).
137	* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Parodied and lampshaded, by Galbatorix [[DeadpanSnarker again.]]
138	* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: A villainous-victory version. Oh no, [[spoiler: Eragon killed Galbatorix in the second chapter of ''Dragon's Blood''! This is a combination of it happening inconceivably early, Opifex using ''very'' spoileriffic descriptions for her individual stories (and all of them on the same page, no less) and the mind-boggling number of times that Galbatorix should have already died so far but hasn't.]]
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Context FanFic / TheStormDragons