Line #180 Literature/OlogySeries


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oceanology_nautilus.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: A typical book cover.]]
3	The ''Ology'' series is a set of picture/puzzle books that are written as an encyclopedic collection of research by fictional authors on various subjects, first begun in 2003. They’re published by Templar Publishing, with the ''actual'' authors (who are often cited as being the fictional author’s editors) being Dugald Steer, Emily Hawkins, Raleigh Rimes, and Nicky Raven.
4
5	[[folder: Books in the series and their spinoffs are:]]
6	* ''Dragonology: The Complete Book of Dragons'' (2003)
7	** ''The Dragonology Handbook''
8	** ''The Dragon's Eye''
9	** ''The Dragon Diary''
10	** ''The Dragon's Apprentice''
11	** ''Working With Dragons''
12	** ''Field Guide to Dragons''
13	** ''Tracking and Taming Wild Dragons''
14	** ''Bringing Up Baby Dragons''
15	** ''The Iceland Wyrm''
16	** ''The Dragon Star''
17	** ''The Dragon Dance''
18	** ''The Winged Serpent''
19	** ''Dragonology: The Coloring Book''
20	** ''Drake's Comprehensive Compendium of Dragonology''
21	* ''Egyptology: Search for the Tomb of Osiris'' (2004)
22	** ''Wonders of Egypt: A Course In Egyptology''
23	** ''Egyptology: The Coloring Book''
24	* ''Wizardology: The Book of the Secrets of Merlin'' (2005)
25	** ''The Wizardology Handbook''
26	** ''A Guide to Wizards of the World''
27	* ''Pirateology: A Pirate Hunter's Companion'' (2006)
28	** ''Pirateology Handbook''
29	** ''A Pirate’s Guide and Model Ship''
30	* ''Mythology: Greek Gods, Heroes, and Monsters'' (2007)
31	** ''The Mythology Handbook''
32	* ''Monsterology: The Complete Book of Fabulous Beasts'' (2008)
33	** ''The Monsterology Handbook''
34	** ''Working With Monsters''
35	* ''Spyology: The Complete Book of Spycraft'' (2008)
36	* ''Oceanology: The True Account of the Voyage of the Nautilus'' (2009)
37	** ''A Course In Oceanology''
38	* ''Vampireology: The True History of the Fallen Ones'' (2010)
39	* ''Alienology: The Complete Book of Extraterrestrials'' (2010)
40	* ''Illusionology: The Secret Science of Magic'' (2012)
41	* ''Dinosaurology: The Search for a Lost World'' (2013)
42	* ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Dungeonology]]'' (2016)
43	* ''Knightology: A True Account of the Most Valiant Knights'' (2017)
44	* ''Ghostology: A True Revelation of Spirits, Ghouls, and Hauntings'' (2020)
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	The series’ [[http://www.ologyworld.com/ website]] has a shop containing all of the books and its spinoff novels, activity books, and card/board games.
48
49	Creator/{{Universal}} and Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox have announced plans to release film adaptations of ''Dragonology'' and ''Alienology'', respectively.
50	----
51	!!Tropes in the series include:
52	* AlienAmongUs: ''Alienology'' describes how there are aliens living on Earth all around us, using shapeshifting, psychic powers, and advanced technology. The book's author, [[LineOfSightAlias Allen Gray]], is revealed to be an alien grey in disguise at the end.
53	* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Zigzagged with vampires. While the Moloch and Ba'al bloodlines are definitely this trope, the Belial are capable of at least ''trying'' to be peaceful. However, they are still vampires, which means they are just as capable of being dangerous as the rest of their kin. The only truly good and noble vampire is the Belial known as the Slayer, who discovered a way to repress her instincts and became a hunter of her own kind.
54	* AlwaysABiggerFish: ''Monsterology'''s chapter on aquatic creatures employs this in regard to sea monster food chains. Sea serpents prey on whales, krakens prey on both whales and sea serpents and leviathans happily eat whales, sea serpents and krakens alike.
55	* AnachronismStew: Played with in ''Dinosaurology''; the dinosaurs themselves should probably not be coexisting the way they do. However, the book makes sure to avoid having any of the explorers show knowledge of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals that were not recognized by science before the year the book takes place, although the explorers were able to identify ''Velociraptor'' and "''Anatotitan''" (now ''Edmontosaurus'') despite them not being recognized by science at that time. Strangely, ''Deinonychus'' was (properly) described as a creature the likes of which had never been seen before, despite being nearly identical to ''Velociraptor''.
56	* AndIMustScream: The witch Vivienne trapped Merlin’s spirit in an oak tree while he was asleep. He stayed like this for years until he managed the get the tree cut down and made into the ''Wizardology'' book. It’s implied he’s still in it as you’re reading it.
57	* AnthropomorphicPersonification: The four spirits in ''Wizardology'' are the personifications of both the seasons and the four elements. Gladde represents spring and water, Pranxtor represents summer and fire, Jaypes represents fall and air, and Larfor represents winter and earth.
58	* ApocalypticLog: Many of the books become one of these by the end of the fictional subplot—Captain Lubber of ''Pirateology'' has his ship sunken by pirates, in ''Egyptology'' Emily Sands’ notes trail off and are splattered with [[BloodStainedLetter what appears to be a coffee stain]], John Oro of ''Mythology'' is turned to gold, etc.
59	* ArbitrarySkepticism: In ''Monsterology'', Ernest Drake denies the existence of the minotaur and the Mongolian death worm despite accepting the existence of griffins, centaurs and gorgons. Throughout the books, he also expresses skepticism on the subject of dinosaurs, which he describes as "rather improbable creatures", although he accepts their former existence in ''Monsterology''.
60	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: ''Dragonology'' commits this quite a bit. For example. . .
61	** The book describes how a [[VertebrateWithExtraLimbs four-legged dragon with wings]] could evolve via Darwin's theory of genetic mutation. This is inaccurate on two levels. One, there is no known way for a tetrapod to evolve an extra pair of limbs, and two, Darwin never discovered genetic mutation.
62	** It's explained that dragons' fire breath is generated by a form of combustible venom. Except venom is a protein, which doesn't burn. It also doesn't explain how the Frost Dragon is able to breathe ice.
63	** All of the dragons are classified in the genus ''Draco''. This is a real genus, and it is occupied by several species of gliding lizard from southeast Asia. Because the dragons in the books are look nothing like that lizard, they cannot be members of that genus.
64	* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Justified InUniverse in ''Dinosaurology'', with the inaccuracies that may appear being HandWaved as either the results of editing or perhaps mistakes made by the fictional author. However, it doesn't excuse that amont other things, many of the sauropods have elephantine feet and the ''Deinonychus'' are sparsely-feathered.
65	* ATrueStoryInMyUniverse: Arthur Conan Doyle's ''[[Literature/TheLostWorld1912 The Lost World]]'' is implied to be loosely inspired by Percy Fawcett's expedition to Yannapalu and discovery of living dinosaurs. Played straight in ''Oceanology'', where the events of ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' are based on the actual voyage of the Nautilus, relayed to Jules Verne by the SoleSurvivor Zoticus de Lesseps.
66	* {{Baku}}: ''Monsterology'' includes the baku in the chapter dedicated to terrestrial beasts. It's depicted as tapir-like creature with short elephant tusks, a black coat with large yellow dots, and the paws of a tiger, and is native to Japan and coastal China. While it does not eat nightmares, it's noted to have a profoundly soothing effect on people, similar to that experienced when petting a cat.
67	* BasiliskAndCockatrice: Both exist as species of pseudodragons, a term used in the books for creatures related or similar to dragons but that aren't classified among them for whatever reason. Basilisks are notable for three things: being incredibly deadly, having some form of shapeshifting ability, and these being the only concrete things anybody known about them, since people tend not to survive encounters with them. Cockatrices are chicken-reptile hybrids with a deadly poisonous breath. ''Dragonology'' depicts them as essentially birdlike wyverns with high, spiked crests and tails that fork into three halfway down their lengths, while ''Monsterology'' shows them as more traditional chicken-like creatures with batlike wings and long, slender reptilian tails.
68	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Without knowing the full legend, John Oro of ''Mythology'' wished for the [[TooDumbToLive Midas touch.]] He naturally does not survive the effects of the curse.
69	* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: Yetis are mentioned in ''Dragonology'' as a type of mountain apes preyed upon by Tibetan dragons. Both yetis and sasquatches appear in ''Monsterology'', where it states it is unknown if they are bears or apes and are named ''Ursus saxum'' and ''Ursus sasquatchium'', more leaning towards bears. The yeti's illustration shows it as a bipedal hominid ape anyway. ''Monsterology'' also mentions some of their relatives which includes the Yowie of Australia, the Yeren of China and the Almas of Mongolia.
70	* BlackSpot: In ''Pirateology'' a marooned pirate that Captain Lubber rescues in his hunt for Drummond received one of these foretelling his punishment. [[spoiler: Subverted as it turns out he was a plant by Drummond to sabotage the ship, knowing Lubber would rescue the man.]]
71	* BlobMonster: S.L.I.M.E in ''Alienology'', which is also the most dangerous threat known to Space.
72	* BreathWeapon:
73	** European dragons have the classic fire breath, and marsupial dragons have a weaker flame of their own. Arctic dragons breathe frost instead, while Sargasso dragons spit ink.
74	** Among non-dragons, cockatrices can breathe out a fine mist of deadly poison, while a chimera's goat head breathes fire.
75	* ClassicalChimera: ''Monsterology'' depicts chimeras, named ''Chimera leocapriserpens'', as lions with additional goat and snake heads and dragons' tails; they breathe fire from their goat head and are relatives of the Japanese {{Nue}}, ''Chimera japonicus''. Their heads have distinct personalities and it takes some time for them to learn how to get along, and inter-head fighting is a major source of infant mortality for chimera chicks.
76	* ClassicalCyclops: ''Monsterology'' describes cyclopes as hulking one-eyed humanoids that, despite having had a hand in building the structures of the Minoan civilization of Crete, are only barely sapient brutes nowadays.
77	* ConvenientlyInterruptedDocument: One of the pages of ''Ghostology'' (two, actually, if you count both sides) is missing, with only a small fragment left.
78	* {{Curse}}: A priest of Isis warns Emily Sands and her team that the tomb of Osiris is cursed. [[ApocalypticLog They don't listen, and that's the last we hear of them.]]
79	* CyanidePill: The ''Spyology'' gadget section describes a variant where the cyanide is hidden in a hollow silver dollar.
80	* DarkActionGirl: Arabella Drummond, a female pirate captain who is the subject of Captain Lubber’s quest in ''Pirateology''.
81	* DaywalkingVampire: ''Vampireology'' credits the idea that vampires get destroyed by sunlight as a myth.
82	* DragonHoard: Explained in ''Dragonology'' as a dragon’s tendency to rest on hard gems in the hope that they’ll stick to their soft and vulnerable underbellies for protection. The males also use the gems to attract female dragons.
83	* DressedToPlunder: Many of the pirate outfits that ''Pirateology'' displays carry some variations on the classic pirate look. {{Deconstructed}} -- Lubber notes that the more extravagant pirate dress makes them easier to recognize as pirates.
84	* DoingInTheWizard: ''Dragonology'' and its spinoffs have a tendency to replace mythical creatures more supernatural or wondrous attributes with more down-to-earth explanations.
85	** Bakus, instead of devouring bad dreams and leaving the good ones, are described as simply having a catlike soothing effect on people when stroked.
86	** Gorgons don't petrify victims; instead, they use a hypnotic gaze to hold them in place while their snakelike head tendrils spray them with poison.
87	** Phoenixes don't actually die and come back to life as people think, but actually bathe in fire to scorch parasites off of their feathers. This is stated in both ''Dragonology'' and ''Monsterology''.
88	* DragonHoard: Dragons' hoarding instinct is driven in large part because lying on their hoards presses gems into their soft underbellies, creating a form of armor over these vulnerable areas.
89	* DragonRider: ''Dragonology'' dedicates a short chapter to techniques for riding dragons, something preferably done with the dragon's permission.
90	* DragonVarietyPack: Dragons are very diverse and come in a wide number of distinct species, but fall into a number of internally uniform groups:
91	** Western dragons are split between three subspecies -- the common European kind (which in artwork is shown as either the usual quadrupeds or as theropod-like bipeds), which live in mountain caves and hoard gold and gems; the smaller [[OurGargoylesRock gargouilles]], adapted for life as arboreal ambush predators but equally at home perching on high buildings; and the arctic dragons, always shown as quadrupeds, who migrate yearly between the North and South poles and [[AnIcePerson breathe ice]].
92	** Knuckers are serpentine dragons with vestigial wings who inhabit wells and deep pools, are highly poisonous, cannot speak, and resemble dragons from medieval European folklore more than any other variety in the books.
93	** Eastern dragons are split between the five-toed Chinese ''long'' and the four-toed Korean ''yong'', Japanese ''ryu'' and an Indonesian subspecies. Tibetan dragons are a separate, but physically similar, species adapted for mountain life.
94	** Amphiteres are serpentine dragons native to the Americas, with no limbs save their wings and divided into three breeds: North American amphitheres are bat-winged creatures that prey on buffalo and horses on the Great Plains, Mexican amphitheres are classical {{Feathered Serpent}}s that were once worshipped by the local civilizations, and the South American amphitheres are highly theoretical natives of the Amazon rainforest that may or may not actually exist.
95	** "Ungrouped" dragons include the colossal African wyverns; the two-limbed, steppe-dwelling linnorms of north-central Eurasia; and Australian dragons, marsupials strongly reminiscent of kangaroos. More unusual dragons include the three-headed hydras; the arboreal, koala-like Tasmanian dragons; the tiny and colonial dwarf dragons of Siberia; and the aquatic, finned and ink-spitting Sargasso dragons.
96	** Numerous extinct variants are also described, such as the human-headed nagas, a South American species of sparrow-sized dragons that were used by settlers as handheld lighters, the egg-throwing monkey dragons (whose strategy of pelting predators with their rock-hard eggs backfired when used against explorers who were likelier to keep the eggs as curios) and ''Megadracosaurus'', a prehistoric dragon of titanic size.
97	** There are also pseudo-dragons, creatures similar to but distinct from true dragons, such as [[BasiliskAndCockatrice basilisks and cockatrices]], [[ThePhoenix phoenixes]] and SeaSerpents.
98	* ElementalDragon: While the European dragon, ''Draco occidentalis magnus'', is a traditional firebreather, its northern relative the frost dragon, ''Draco occidentalis maritimus'', lives in the arctic circles and breathes ice.
99	* EminentlyEnigmaticRace: The "Incognito" dragon, ''Draco americanus incognita'', is almost completely unknown, with the only concrete fact about it being its habitat deep in the Amazon.
100	* EndangeredSpecies: Dragons, phoenixes especially (allegedly, the phoenix is so rare that only one is believed to still be alive and its location is a closely guarded secret).
101	* FakeDefector: In ''Pirateology'', the [[spoiler: marooned former member of Drummond's crew]].
102	* {{Familiar}}: A section of the ''Wizardology'' series is dedicated to detailing what familiars are and the various kinds you can get.
103	* FaunsAndSatyrs: Fauns are goat-legged/horned humanoids with pointed ears; they cannot speak, but communicate with a complex system of panpipe melodies.
104	* FeatheredDragons: While most of the dragons in ''Dragonology'' are either wingless or have traditional membranous wings, the Indonesian subspecies of the eastern dragon are distinguished from the rest by the birdlike wings sprouting from their backs.
105	* FeatheredSerpent: The Mexican Amphithere in ''Dragonology''. It's thought to be the basis for the deity Quetzalcoatl of Myth/AztecMythology.
106	* FierySalamander: Six-legged salamanders appear in both ''Dragonology'' and ''Monsterology''. They're immune to fire, and their tongues, or a piece of their skin or of the wool that grows between their toes, can be used in rituals to protect oneself from extreme heat.
107	* FlyingBroomstick: Mentioned as a method of flight in ''Wizardology'', though Merlin states they’re [[SubvertedTrope uncomfortable to sit on and not widely used]].
108	* FlyingDutchman: This interpretation of the Dutchman isn't cursed to sail the seas. The only reason it does so is because the sailors ''don't even know they're dead''.
109	* FurAgainstFang: Vampires have killed werewolves in the past, prompting the lycanthropes to become vampire-hunters in retaliation.
110	* GiantFlyer: ''Dragonology'' and ''Monsterology'', respectively, have wyverns and rocs as flying creatures of tremendous size, both quite capable of grabbing elephants in their talons and flying off with their catch.
111	* TheGreys: One of the most prominent races in ''Alienology.'' [[CityPlanet Their entire homeworld has been converted to city]], they are capable of speech but prefer telepathy, and they eat only nutritional powder mixed with water.
112	* HistoricalInJoke:
113	** ''Dragonology'' and ''Monsterology'' frequently reference the work of Charles Darwin when discussing the development of creatures such as dragons and griffons (Dr. Drake having been alive in the time period when his texts were being published). Drake also claims that ''Archaeopteryx'' is actually just an ancestor of phoenixes (something confirmed to be false in ''Dinosaurology'').
114	** ''Vampireology'' claims that certain people from history such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Jack the Ripper are in fact vampires.
115	** In ''Dinosaurology'', Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's ''Literature/{{The Lost World\|1912}}'' was actually based off of the expedition of Percy Fawcett, the explorer who discovered ''Yannapalu''.
116	* HoneyTrap: Referenced in ''Spyology'' as a tactic used for gaining information.
117	* HorseOfADifferentColor: A number of fantastic creatures are mentioned as possible steeds in the books, including {{dragon\|Rider}}s, {{pegas\|us}}i and kelpies.
118	* HumansAreSpecial: In ''Alienology'', the only living creatures in the galaxy that can nullify S.L.I.M.E. are intelligent humans.
119	* {{Irony}}: Several historical figures throughout history in the series are implied to have been vampires. Despite all his brutality and sheer depravity, Vlad the Impaler was not one of them.
120	* KrakenAndLeviathan: Both show up in ''Monsterology''; the former is a gigantic squid that preys on whales and sea serpents, while the latter is a vaguely crocodilian beast that lives only in the deepest parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and preys on whales, sea serpents [[AlwaysABiggerFish and krakens]].
121	* KnightOfCerebus: The insidious extraterrestrial parasite S.L.I.M.E. is by far the greatest threat to the universe in ''Alienology'', and the Ology Series in general. It [[PlanetLooters consumes entire worlds and wipes out all life]], and no weapon known to man or alien can stop it. Humans are the only species immune to its effects, and even then only the most intelligent humans are immune.
122	%%* LadyOfAdventure: Lady Hestia in ''Mythology''.
123	* LastOfHisKind: Several throughout the series.
124	** Merlin is the last of the truly great wizards, and he created ''Wizardology'' in order to seek out his successor.
125	** The phoenix is rare even in Merlin's time, but by the nineteenth century there is only one left. Ernest Drake knew of its location, but never told anybody in order to protect the creature.
126	** Sir Lancelot Marshall is the last descendant of William Marshall, and his squire is the last descendant of ''Sir Bedivere himself''.
127	* LeaveBehindAPistol: The castaway that Captain Lubber finds in the ''Pirateology'' subplot about pursuing Arabella Drummond was left a pistol with a single shot after he was marooned.
128	* LongLived: Dragons typically lead very long lives: the shortest-lived, the knuckers and marsupial dragons, still usually top a century of life; European dragons live to three centuries of age, and if Chinese dragons have a maximum lifespan no-one knows what it is.
129	* LooseLips: ''Spyology'' warns of this, their motto being "Telling a friend could mean telling the enemy."
130	* LostWorld: Yannapalu in ''Dinosaurology'' is an island near South America that is inhabited by LivingDinosaurs.
131	%%* MagicCarpet: The ''recommended'' method of flight for wizards in ''Wizardology''.%%Is?
132	* MagicStaff: Featured in ''Wizardology'' as a tool wizards use, although not much is said about them save for that they differ from wands in being more general as to their magical uses.
133	* MagicWand: There is a section of ''Wizardology'' that details these among other wizard tools, claiming that the type of magic a wand is good for depends on what sort of wood you use.
134	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: While Emily Sands and her team confirm that the tomb of Osiris exists, we never actually find out what happened to them afterwards. The original copy of ''Egyptology'' is the only thing that survived the expedition, as everyone involved disappeared without a trace. Of course, given that the last page of the journal is covered in [[BloodstainedLetter weird stains]], they probably didn't make it out of the tomb alive...
135	** In both ''Mythology'' and ''Oceanology'', one of the protagonists gets cursed by what is supposedly an Olympian deity, which John Oro receiving the golden touch from Zeus and Zoticus de Lesseps suffering from the Curse of Poseidon after stealing from Atlantis. However, it's ambiguous whether or not either of these gods actually exist or if the two unlucky mortals merely invoked some sort of ancient form of magic, as magic itself is confirmed to exist within the series.
136	** While we're on the subject of ''Oceanology'', Zoticus' sighting of the multi-headed monster could have been his mind playing tricks on him, and his subsequent near-death experience in a whirlpool may very well have been a coincidence. However, it's heavily implied that Zoticus encountered the Scylla and Charybdis of classical myth, having been unleashed on the Nautilus when Zoticus stole the piece of trident from Atlantis. For the record, ''The Monsterology Handbook'' does outright confirm the existence of Scylla as a species, so it's entirely possible that Zoticus encountered the real thing.
137	* MeaningfulName: John Oro's last name is the Spanish and Italian word for "gold" -- the same material he gets turned into at the end of ''Mythology''.
138	* {{Medusa}}: Gorgons, native to Europe, Africa and the Americas, resemble human women with huge, batlike wings and snakelike hair. Their gaze is hypnotic rather than petrifying, and they use it to keep prey still while they spray it with poison from their "hair".
139	* MerlinAndNimue: Merlin's spirit was trapped by his apprentice Vivienne/Nimue in an oak before a part of it was crafted into the ''Wizardology''. However, in this version, the apprentice's motive for betrayal wasn't any desire to use magic for evildoing; she simply got sick of Merlin's attempts to encourage her to use magic to help the humankind she had grown to despise when she just wanted to live in the seclusion of the nature she loved.
140	* MixAndMatchCritters: Plenty in ''Monsterology''. Chimeras are lions with additional goat and snake heads and dragons' tails; nues are a Japanese relative of chimeras with catlike bodies, monkey faces and snakes for tails; [[{{Youkai}} bakus]] are tapir/elephant crosses with tiger paws; manticores have lion bodies, human heads and scorpion tails; griffins and hippogriffs, as per usual, have eagle-like front halves and lion- or horse-like, respectively, hindquarters.
141	* {{Mockumentary}}: Each book is made as a collection of documents and research done by a fictional researcher, such as Dr. Ernest Drake for ''Dragonology''.
142	* MultipleHeadCase: Hydras typically have three heads, but can have more. ''Monsterology'' includes chimeras, with the usual snake, goat and lion heads, and a prehistoric phoenix parasite preserved in amber, which appears to be an insect with two heads.
143	* {{Nue}}: ''Monsterlogy'' describes the nue as an Asian relative of the European chimera, possessing the body of a raccoon dog, the head of a monkey, the paws of a tiger and a snake for a tail. They emit clouds of toxic black smoke when disturbed, which has led people to consider them harbingers of bad luck.
144	* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Classical centaurs are found in Greece and the lower Balkan Peninsula. They do not use tools as complex as those of even iron age humans, but sometimes craft rudimentary bows.
145	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Dragons are the main focus of ''Draconology'', and come in [[DragonVarietyPack a staggering number of diverse forms]]. In general, they all tend to be quite large and very long-lived. They also tend to hoard treasure, both because they like its look and because it sticks to their soft bellies to serve as armor. Certain species, such as European and Asian dragons, are very intelligent, although others are simply animals. They have experienced severe decline since the rise of human civilization, and most now live in isolated wildernesses.
146	* OurGiantsAreBigger: ''Monsterology'' describes both cyclopes and true giants.
147	** Cyclopes are colossal, hulking one-eyed humanoids that, despite having had a hand in building the structures of the Minoan civilization of Crete, are only barely sapient brutes nowadays. They can also get very sick from eating humans.
148	** Giants are only mentioned in passing, being sapient beings and thus not really a subject for a zoology work, but the one shown resembles a well-dressed British gentleman in every respect other than being over twice the height of a lamppost. Giants are also described as aggressive, but easily outwitted.
149	* OurGnomesAreWeirder: Gnomes are depicted in ''Monsterology'' as short, but only around as short as extremely short humans, and physically human-like in other respects. They're nocturnal by nature, and keep bats and moths as pets.
150	* OurGodsAreDifferent: The Egyptian deities are folk memories of ancient pharaohs, and the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl is presumably based on the Amphithere dragon. However, its heavily implied in ''Mythology'' that Zeus himself gave John Oro the golden touch, and the curse on the piece of trident in ''Oceanology'' implies the existence of Poseidon as well.
151	* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: ''Monsterology'' includes griffins and hippogriffs in its chapter about flying creatures. The former are carnivores with a taste for horses, and are especially fond of [[{{Pegasus}} the winged kind]]. The latter are grain-eaters instead.
152	* OurHydrasAreDifferent: ''Dragonology'' describes hydras as a species of dragon native to the shores of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, where they lair in the ruins of dead civilizations, and distinguished by their multiple heads (generally between three and seven, but sometimes more), atrophied wings and a bipedal, birdlike stance. In addition to being able to regrow lost heads, the actual severed heads can regrow new hydras of their own -- indeed, this is their main way of reproducing. [[MonstrousCannibalism They also feed primarily upon other dragons' young]], but are quite happy to eat humans when baby dragons aren't around.
153	* OurManticoresAreSpinier: Lions with human heads, three rows of teeth and scorpion tails that can shoot poisonous, invisible barbs, evolved ia convergnent evolution.
154	* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: ''Monsterology'' has a pretty traditional take on Merfolk, except that they mean no harm to the people they charm with their song. They simply don't realize that humans are unable to breathe underwater. Conversely, they can't breathe air for long and Ernest Drake muses that an "overwater suit" could be designed to allow them to travel on land.
155	* OurSphinxesAreDifferent: ''Monsterology'' describes sphinxes as lions with either human, hawk or ram heads; any of these three varieties may have wings or be flightless. They greatly enjoy riddles, a trait they share with dragons.
156	* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: ''Vampireology'' describes werewolves as being able to transform at will, having longer lifespans than normal humans, and preferring to prey on livestock and wild animals. Many of them are also vampire hunters, due to the vampires killing many lycanthropes in the past.
157	* OurWyvernsAreDifferent: Wyverns appear as a dragon species in Dragonology, where in something of a break from tradition they're the single largest species of dragon in the world and mainly live in Africa, where they hunt elephants and rhinoceri in much the same manner as eagles hunting marmots.
158	* {{Pegasus}}: Winged horses are native to the eastern Mediterranean, can be used as steeds and are a favorite food of griffins.
159	* ThePhoenix: An interesting portrayal of the famous firebird, ''Dragonology'' and its spinoffs state that phoenixes are actually ''dragons'', not birds (although they still look an awful lot like birds and are considered true birds in ''Monsterology''). In both cases, rather than being reborn in flames when they die, they simply bathe in fire to get rid of parasites.
160	* PirateParrot: In the finale of ''Pirateology'', the rescued castaway’s pet parrot flies over to Drummond’s pirate ship.
161	* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: John Oro, the one writing in the margins of ''Mythology'', was familiar enough with the legend of Midas to know what power he was gifted with, but [[TakenForGranite not the disastrous results that power gave him.]]
162	* PostModernMagik: In addition to regular ghost ships such as the ''Flying Dutchman'' and the ''Mary Celeste'', there's a World War II u-boat doomed to sail the seas for all eternity as well.
163	* PunnyName: Many of the chroniclers have them, such as Dr. ''Drake'' from ''Dragonology'', Emily ''Sands'' from Egyptology, and Lady ''Hestia'' in ''Mythology''.
164	* RaptorAttack: Done with mixed success in ''Dinosaurology''. ''Deinonychus'' does not have enough feathers, while ''Velociraptor'' is accurately-feathered, but able to be identified in 1907 when the genus won't be discovered until the 1920s.
165	%%* RaisedByGrandparents: Standard practice in the culture of the Proboscideans in ''Alienology.''
166	* RiddlingSphinx: Sphinxes greatly enjoy riddles, a trait they share with dragons.
167	* RightHandCat: The pirate captain Arabella Drummond owns a pet cat called Mr. Teach.
168	* RobeAndWizardHat: Some of the attire featured in ''Wizardology''.
169	* RocBirds: ''Monsterology'' includes the roc in the chapter dedicated to flying beasts. It's a raptorial bird large enough to carry off an elephant in one talon, is native to the Arabian peninsula, and is noted to have once been confused with the wyvern, the largest dragon in the books.
170	* SeaSerpents: The sea serpents in ''Monsterology'' combine reptilian and piscine characteristics, possessing mostly snakelike bodies in addition to fishlike fins and gills. They're large enough to prey on whales, but are themselves preyed upon by krakens and leviathans.
171	* ScienceIsWrong: Merlin claims so in ''Wizardology'', but it’s an interesting variant—the sciences he’s familiar with are ''[[ScienceMarchesOn alchemy and astrology.]]'' One of his criticisms of alchemy is even that lead and gold are base elements and cannot be broken down or transmuted in anything less than a molecular level, something any chemistry scientist would know.
172	* ShapeshifterShowdown: The ''Wizardology'' book describes one that occurred between Cerridwen, a powerful witch, and Gwion, a servant who gained magical powers by accident. Cerridwen technically won, but Gwion was reborn from the experience and became an incredibly powerful wizard.
173	* ShoePhone: The section in ''Spyology'' detailing the various gadgets a spy should carry list common household items as a cover for them. For example, knife shoes, cyanide coins, lipstick gun, etc.
174	* ShoutOut: The main plot of ''Illusionology'' (via booklets) is that of a teleporting device wan to be used by an illusionist. [[Film/ThePrestige Where have we heard that before?]]
175	* ShownTheirWork: ''Dinosaurology'' makes absolutely sure not to have any of the adventurers name dinosaurs that were not discovered or named before 1907 (the year in which the book takes place). They don't ''always'' succeed though.
176	* SpaceElves: The Tauricans in ''Alienology'' resemble graceful, white-haired humanoids with pale green skin.
177	* SpellBook: Not ''Wizardology'' itself, although it does contain and mention several.
178	* SpySpeak: ''Spyology'' carries a minibooklet that lists various phrases for this.
179	* StageMagician: ''Illusionology'' is naturally about these, specifically late 1800's and early 1900's.
180	* {{Steampunk}}: Some of the books go into it, but ''Illusionology'' (set in 1915) takes the cake, having lots of gear imagery and motifs on it, as well as discussing early electric technology and automatons.
181	* StarfishAliens: In addition to focusing on classic aliens like TheGreys and Martians, ''Alienology'' also mentions some weirder intelligent species like Marpeans which look like an orange lump with four hexagons sticking out of them, Gasbags which are giant jellyfish, and Hydeans which look like angels without any limbs.
182	* StockNessMonster: Lake serpents, immensely long-lived plesiosaur-like animals found all over the world. Since only one is known to live in any given lake, no one knows how they manage to reproduce.
183	* SweetPollyOliver: Arabella Drummond [[spoiler: dressed up as Captain Lubber’s cabin boy to spy on him]]. Her origin story also involves this as a means of escaping into piracy.
184	* TakenForGranite: The man borrowing Lady Hestia’s book in ''Mythology'' should have looked over the Midas myth a bit more carefully before making that wish...
185	* TalkingAnimal: Dragons are capable of human speech.
186	* TalkLikeAPirate: There's a little booklet in ''Pirateology'' that lists and defines common pirate lingo.
187	* TheMole: Cora appears to be this in ''Spyology''. [[spoiler: She’s actually just pretending to be one.]]
188	* ToothyBird: The phoenix. Justified because it's not a bird at all, but a dragon (although it's a toothless bird in ''Monsterology'').
189	* TreasureMap: Lubber finds one to Arabella Drummond's treasure in the beginning of ''Pirateology'', but with a vital piece missing, it's basically useless. [[spoiler:The piece Lubber recovers before his death from the marooned member of Drummond's crew is stored in the hidden cache of the journal's last envelope, and the coded message reveals the treasure to be hidden in the northwest corner of the Krakatoa Island which was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1883.]]
190	* {{Unicorn}}: White, one-horned equines that are docile around girls but nervous and agitated by boys. They are mortal enemies with lions, which when fighting unicorns try to do so close to a tree, at which point they dodge and feint until the unicorn gets its horn stuck in the tree and becomes a sitting duck.
191	** Four variants exist: Arabian and Indian unicorns are the traditional lithe, graceful type, being distinguished by the Arabian variant's longer mane and short beard; Sumatran and Serican unicorns are squat, bulky, piglike animals with small horns on their foreheads. Serican unicorns even have small tusks.
192	** A phylogenetic tree in the book's introduction shows both the Arabic-Indian species and the Sumatran-Serican species as having evolved from a short-horned, prehistoric unicorn named ''Plinoceros'', itself descended from the real-life prehistoric horse ''Miohippus'' and named after Pliny the Elder.
193	* WalkThePlank: Lubber mentions it in ''Pirateology'' as a rumored method of execution—but goes on to list several punishments that are more common and more horrifying, such as being dragged along the ship’s hull with ropes.
194	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Played with in ''Monsterology''. Sphinxes, cyclopes, fauns, centaurs and gorgons are listed as man-like beasts and mostly described as intelligent animals, despite sphinxes being noted as highly intelligent and capable of speech, cyclopes being credited with having built ancient Cretan ruins and fauns and centaurs both crafting and using complex tools. Giants and gnomes, by contrast, are noted to be as intelligent as humans and only given cursory descriptions, as the narrator says that a zoology book isn't the right place to talk about them.
195	%%* WingedHumanoid: The Hadeans in ''Alienology.''
196	* WizardClassic: Merlin himself in the ''Wizardology'' series. This is said to be the standard for a lot of Western wizards, although many variations exist in other cultures.
197	* {{Youkai}}: ''Monsterology'' includes bakus and nues in the chapter dedicated to terrestrial beasts.
198	** Bakus are tapir-like creatures with short elephant tusks, a black coat with large yellow dots, and the paws of a tiger, and native to Japan and coastal China. While they do not eat nightmares, they're noted to have a profoundly soothing effect on people, similar to that experienced when petting a cat.
199	** Nues are creatures found only in very remote areas of Japan, with the heads of monkeys, the bodies of a tanuki (raccoon dogs), the legs of tigers and a snake for a tail. They emit black venomous clouds from behind when disturbed, causing many to assume that they are omens of bad luck.
200	* YowiesAndBunyipsAndDropBearsOhMy:
201	** Bunyips are amphibious, mammalian ambush predators native to Australia.
202	** Yowies are mentioned in ''Monsterology'' but are not actually shown. They are marsupial relatives of yetis and bigfoots with red eyes and large canine teeth.

Context Literature / OlogySeries