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1[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/OwlGuardiansBookNumberOne_3449.JPG]]
2%%
3''Guardians of Ga'Hoole'' is a children's fictional book series written by Kathryn Lasky and illustrated by Richard Cowdrey. Most of the main characters are owls, and the series is a cross between animal fiction such as ''Literature/WatershipDown'' and epic fantasy. It was followed by multiple spinoffs and tie-in books.
4
5The protagonist for the majority of the books is Soren, a young barn owl. He is pushed out of his nest by his malicious older brother Kludd and then kidnapped by owl scouts from a mysterious institution called St. Aggie's Academy. He soon makes friends with an elf owl named Gylfie and together they resist brainwashing by the St. Aggie's owls. Soren and Gylfie draw on the legends of an order of noble owls called the Guardians of Ga'Hoole for inspiration. They eventually escape, but upon discovering that their families have disappeared while they were imprisoned in St. Aggie's, they decide to search for the legendary Guardians. Soren and Gylfie are joined by Twilight, a great grey owl, and Digger, a burrowing owl. All four of them, each of their lives impacted by St. Aggie's, form "[[TrueCompanions The Band]]" and join the Ga'Hoolian owls.
6
7Subsequent books deal with The Band's education and training in Ga'Hoole and also the rise of a group even more dangerous than St. Aggie's called the Pure Ones. The Pure Ones [[ANaziByAnyOtherName believe in the superiority of Barn Owls above all other owl species.]]
8
9TheFilmOfTheBook, ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheGuardiansTheOwlsOfGaHoole'', was released in September 24, 2010, by Creator/ZackSnyder and the guys who did ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeet''.
10
11!!This continuity consists of:
12
13* ''Guardians of Ga'Hoole'' (2003-2013)
14** Main series: #1: ''The Capture'' (2003); 2: ''The Journey'' (2003); 3: ''The Rescue'' (2004); 4: ''The Siege'' (2004); 5: ''The Shattering'' (2004); 6: ''The Burning'' (2005); 7: ''The Hatchling'' (2005); 8: ''The Outcast'' (2005); 9: ''The First Collier'' (2006); 10: ''The Coming of Hoole'' (2006); 11: ''To Be a King'' (2006); 12: ''The Golden Tree'' (2007); 13: ''The River of Wind'' (2007); 14: ''Exile'' (2007); 15: ''The War of the Ember'' (2008).
15** Side-books: ''A Guide Book to the Great Tree'' (2007)[[note]]In-universe document written during events between ''The River of Wind'' and ''Exile''.[[/note]]; ''Lost Tales of Ga'Hoole'' (2010)[[note]]In-universe document written after the events of ''The War of the Ember''.[[/note]]; ''The Rise of a Legend'' (2013)[[note]]In-universe document written after the Band arrives at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree during the events of ''The Journey'', and covering from Ezylryb's hatching to his own arrival at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree.[[/note]]
16* ''Literature/WolvesOfTheBeyond'' (2011-2014; first sequel series)[[note]]Follows the Wolves of the Watch after the events of Guardians #15 and focuses on Faolan, a young dire wolf who grows up to become a gnaw wolf, a sort of story recorder, and eventually leader of the pack, guiding them to a new land after a devastating earthquake destroys the Ember of Hoole and frees them from their duties as its guardians.[[/note]]
17** #1: ''Lone Wolf'' (2011); 2: ''Shadow Wolf'' (2011); 3: ''Watch Wolf'' (2012); 4: ''Frost Wolf'' (2012); 5: ''Spirit Wolf'' (2013); 6: ''Star Wolf'' (2014).
18* ''Horses of the Dawn'' (2014-2016; distant prequel series)[[note]]Tells of the arrival of Spanish conquistadores in America through the point of view of the horses they brought with them, who manage to escape and become wild; their descendants are the ones who greet Faolan and his pack at the end of the previous series.[[/note]]
19** #1: ''The Escape'' (2014), 2: ''Star Rise'' (2015); 3: ''Wild Blood'' (2016).
20* ''Bears of the Ice'' (2017-on; second sequel series)[[note]]Focuses on the polar bears of the farthest northern kingdoms and their quest for freedom from the Great Patek, a tyrant who has taken control of the land.[[/note]]
21** #1: ''The Quest of the Cubs'' (2017); 2: ''The Den of Forever Frost'' (2018); 3: ''The Keepers of the Keys'' (2019).
22
23----
24!!''Guardians of Ga'Hoole'' provides examples of:
25
26* AbortedArc: Whole characters and plot elements disappear from the series as soon as they lose relevance. For example, St. Aggie's essentially ceases to exist after ''The Siege'' with no word to the fates of the hundreds of {{Brainwashed}} ''children'' it enslaved, and the Flecks are never mentioned again after ''The Burning'' despite their significance in the earlier books. Ifghar and Gragg's goal of revenging themselves on Ezylryb by allying with the Pure Ones against the Guardians winds up as this. It's set up in the sixth book but they don't appear again until five books later ''after'' Ezylryb has died, leaving them nothing to do. As a result they only make minor appearances in books twelve and thirteen before vanishing entirely.
27* ActualPacifist: Theo, the gizzard resister, and Cleve, who doesn't believe in war.
28* AerithAndBob: The names are all over the place in this series. There are some perfectly normal human names (Ruby and Martin), some esoteric but still recognizable names (Soren and Eglantine), some names that are simply human words (Twilight, Digger, Dewlap), and some names that aren't anything at all (Spoorn or Otulissa.)
29* AnAesop: "AntiIntellectualism is a tool used by oppressors to keep people uninformed and dependent on them."
30* AfterTheEnd: It's heavily implied that the Others (i.e. humans) are long gone/extinct. All that remains of The Others' civilization are ruins and artifacts.
31* AntiAntiChrist: Nyroc/Coryn, the son of Nyra and the High Tyto, who defects from the Pure Ones and [[spoiler: becomes the King of Ga'Hoole.]]
32* ApocalypseHow: Class 3b appears to have happened at some point in the past, leaving the owls with ruins belonging to the "Others".
33* AnArmAndALeg: Chopping off an owl's wing is ''always'' fatal, no exceptions. If they get their wings chopped while they're in mid-flight, they more often than not fall to their untimely doom since an owl (or any bird, for that matter) cannot fly with only one wing, and if that doesn't kill them, blood loss will [[spoiler:as was the case for Coryn]].
34* ArduousDescentToTerraFirma: There's mention of an owl with a disability that prevents him from flying. His wings are perfectly fine, as you might not expect, but the talons on his feet are unable to grip branches. When you can't land safely, flying becomes a much less enticing activity. Fortunately, the owl invents foot prosthetics that enable him to take his place in the skies.
35* ArtisticLicenseBiology: In ''The Outcast'', a big deal is made about a wolf with "foaming-mouth disease", presumably rabies. While other wolves certainly need to be concerned about this, there is no concern for owls - such as Coryn or Uglamore - getting it.
36* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: When [[spoiler:Coryn]] becomes king, although there was no actual crown. Made awesomer by the dire wolves' pledge:''"We have all chosen to remain as wolves, to serve you, King [[spoiler:Coryn]], but we have also chosen to regain what we had lost in order to serve the Sacred Ring. Our twisted limbs have been straightened. Our eyes restored, our tails made whole once more. But we shall always be prepared to serve you, good King [[spoiler:Coryn]], always. That is our pledge."''
37* AxeCrazy: Nyra definitely qualifies.
38* BadassBoast: Twilight is always boasting about his own prowess and taunting his enemies with battle rhymes.
39-->'''Twilight''': They call you Jatt? They call you Jutt? I'm gonna toss you in a rut! Then I'm gonna punch you in the gut! Then you're gonna wind up on your butt! Think you're all gizzard! I've seen better lizards. One, two, three, four, you're goin' down won't ask for more! Five, six, seven, eight, you ain't no better than fish bait! Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, I'm gonna send you straight to hell!
40* BattleAmongstTheFlames: At the end of ''The Shattering'' and ''The Burning''.
41* BattleCouple:
42** Boron and Barran, the king and queen of the Guardians.
43** Later [[spoiler: Soren and Pelli.]]
44** Lyze and Lil
45** Nyra and Metal Beak/[[spoiler: Kludd]]
46* BadassCreed: The oath of the Guardians.
47--> ''I am a Guardian of Ga'Hoole. From this night on I dedicate my life to the protection of owlkind. I shall not swerve in my duty. I shall support my brother and sister Guardians in times of battle and in times of peace. I am the eyes of the night, the silence within the wind, I am the talons through the fire, the shield that guards the innocent. I shall seek to wear no crown, nor to win any glory. And all these things I do swear upon my honor as a Guardian of Ga'Hoole. This be my vow. This be my life. By Glaux, I do swear.''
48* BearsAreBadNews: Inverted, since polar bears are good guys.
49* BigBad:
50** [[MalevolentMaskedMan Metal Beak]]/[[spoiler: Kludd]] serves as this in the first arc of the series. After [[spoiler: he dies]], his mate [[DragonAscendant Nyra]] takes over for the second arc, which lasts the remainder of the series.
51** [[spoiler:Nyra]] is the only recurring villain throughout all of the arcs (except for in the [[WholeEpisodeFlashback Whole Arc Flashback]], of course), but they team up with other villains in each arc, who have about the same status in the story.
52* BigBadEnsemble: The forces of St. Aegolius and the Pure Ones are not on good terms. In the end, [[spoiler:the Pure Ones win, force the surviving members of the academy out and St. Aggies is more or less forgotten]].
53* BigGood: The ruler of the Ga'hoole tree is usually this. Ezylryb also serves in the role, serving as a mentor to Soren until his death from old age.
54* BigDamnHeroes: Streak and Zan, [[spoiler: Hortense's eagles, come to rescue the Band from Jatt, Jutt, and 47-2]] at the end of ''The Capture.''
55* BoisterousBruiser: Twilight yells battle taunts at his opponents that stun them.
56* BookDumb: Ruby describes herself this way. She makes up for it by being an excellent flier.
57* {{Brainwashed}}:
58** Moon blinking is a process where an owl's free will is destroyed by sleeping under the full moon, and repeating information over and over during the process causes said information to be forgotten. St. Aggie's uses moon blinking to control most of the owls that work there. In the event an owl avoids moon blinking, they are subject to moon scalding in a stone chamber that reflects and intensifies the light of the moon; moon scalding is much harder to resist.
59** Stone stunning, a process similar to moon blinking, but taking place in a large canyon. Those who undergo this have a harder time navigating or even distinguishing between up and down.
60** Shattering is caused by overexposure to magnetic iron. Afflicted owls are unable to properly sort out their emotions, are easily deluded, and struggle to navigate.
61** Fire blinking, caused when an owl is transfixed by the light of a raging fire and goes yeep (losing their flight instincts).
62* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: Soren and Kludd ]]. However, contrary to expectations, [[spoiler: Twilight is the one who actually kills Kludd in ''The Burning'']].
63* CanisMajor: The Dire Wolves and the Vyrwolves who only get bigger.
64* CarnivoreConfusion: Generally averts the "Predators Are Mean" aspect (owls, wolves, and bears are protagonists). Lampshaded when Digger (burrowing owl) and Mrs. P (snake) first meet, as burrowing owls are a predator of snakes. This becomes most apparent when the band is genuinely horrified that Twilight would suggest drying out a sea-star to use as a decoration. Outside of needing to eat, the owls generally leave prey animals alone.
65* CleverCrows: Both ravens and crows are present in the books. Crows are usually antagonistic (except to Doc Finebeak[[spoiler:, who recruits them for the war in the last book]]), while ravens are more benevolent. TruthInTelevision, perhaps, if one believes ravens are more intelligent than crows.
66* ClusterFBomb: The Rogue Smith of Silverveil curses a lot. This being an alternate society, the curses are [[GoshDangItToHeck somewhat]] [[UnusualEuphemism exotic]].
67* CreepyCrows: Both ravens and crows are present in the books, crows usually being antagonistic (except to Doc Finebeak[[spoiler:, who recruits them for the war in the last book]]).
68* CrystalDragonJesus: The owls worship a god called Glaux.
69* {{Conlang}}: Krakish, the language of the Northern Kingdoms. Its vocabulary is mostly inspired by Norwegian, but its structure is similar to that of a romance language.
70* CoolOldGuy: Ezylryb, all the way. He may be old, but he can still put up a good fight.
71* CoolSword: Owls from the Northen Kingdom use swords made from ice as weapons.
72* CultDefector: Soren and Gylfie meet when they're both taken to an OrphanageOfFear known as "St. Aggies", where young owls spend their time being brainwashed and assimilated. Each night, they attempted to resist, but were caught and subjected to a stronger form of the regular brainwashing. However, through reciting legends about the mythical [=GaHoole=], they were able to resist that brainwashing, too. Though they were able to escape by learning to fly, they were chased down by a patrol and the two other owls who weren't being brainwashed, Hortense and Grimble, were both caught and killed for their troubles.
73* DefectorFromDecadence: Lots of characters, most importantly Nyroc.
74** [[spoiler: The Striga, who abandoned the Dragon Owls because he thought they were too hedonistic and vain. His obsession with ''vanities'' is what leads him to burn books and commit worse atrocities.]]
75%%* DirtyCommunists: St. Aggie's is essentially this.
76* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Hortense]] is thrown off a cliff and, being flightless, is presumed dead for a few books. [[spoiler:After turning up alive and well, she reveals that she was caught mid-fall by her eagle companions.]]
77* DisownedParent: ''The Outcast'' begins when the owl previously known as Nyroc rejects the evil family he's from, saying:
78-->The egg that held me came from the body of my mother, but I am not my mother's son, nor my father's. ... I have no parents.
79* DragonAscendant: After Metal Beak is defeated in ''The Burning,'' Nyra takes over as the BigBad.
80%%* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Soren has this ability, called Starsight.
81* DudeNotFunny: In-universe example; Primrose the Pygmy owl suffers from an allergic reaction from a slug and has to be taken away to be healed. Ginger, a Pure One spy, makes a joke about getting Primrose's dessert, only for Otulissa and Gylfie to tell her sharply that it wasn't a time to make a joke.
82* EggMcGuffin: [[spoiler:Nyra's egg, before Eglantine breaks it.]]
83* EnemyMine:
84** The Guardians briefly join with [[spoiler:the leaders of St. Aggies in the 6th book, who get killed trying to double cross them during a battle.]]
85** [[spoiler:Crows are recruited to help fight the Pure Ones in the last book, and in the end are acknowledged as being as noble as all the other species that fought in the war.]]
86* EnfantTerrible: Kludd. At first, he seems like a stereotypical annoying big brother, but Mrs. P. senses that there's something very off about him, "unowlish."[[spoiler: Kludd pushes Soren from the nest in an attempt at fratricide, threatens to eat Mrs. P., kills his parents, takes Eglantine to the Pure Ones, and by ''The Rescue'' has become Metal Beak, the BigBad.]]
87* EvilEggEater: The owls of St. Aegolius Academy kidnap and brainwash young owl hatchlings, and were already portrayed as villainous. The revelation that not only do they kidnap owlets, but that they eat the eggs of other owls is treated with complete horror and disgust by the main characters beyond their other crimes and spurs them to immediately plan an escape.
88* EvilVersusEvil: The conflict between St. Aggie's and the Pure Ones can be summed up as this. St. Aggie's is an organization that kidnaps owls, brainwashing them to remove their free will and indoctrinate them. The Pure Ones, meanwhile, are a [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Nazi-esque]] militant group that believes ''Tyto'' owls are inherently superior to all others.
89%%* EvilerThanThou: St. Aggie's vs. The Pure Ones.
90* EvilMatriarch: Nyra, especially [[spoiler: after Kludd dies]]
91* EvilUncle: Nyra raises Coryn (Nyroc) to believe this of Soren, telling him that his uncle was an evil owl who [[spoiler: mercilessly murdered Kludd]]. But Coryn later realizes out that Soren was actually a good owl, and he finds out that it was Twilight, not his uncle Soren, who [[spoiler:killed Kludd]].
92%%* EyepatchOfPower: [[spoiler:Otulissa, after losing an eye in ''Exile''.]]
93%%* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Otulissa. She lives, though.]]
94* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:The Striga Orlando.]]
95%%* TheFairFolk: Hagsfiend are both this and [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]].
96* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Deaths by dismemberment, decapitation, impalement, burnings...
97%%* FantasyWorldMap: Presented at the beginning of each book.
98* FantasticRacism:
99** The Pure Ones are a group of Barn Owls and related ''Tyto'' species who look down on other types of owls. And the Barn Owls even look down on other ''Tytos'' they consider inferior, like Grass Owls and ''especially'' Sooties.
100** Owls in general tend to be a bit speciest and look down on seagulls and other birds because they don't produce pellets. "Wet pooper" is an insult owls use sometimes.
101* FantasticUnderclass: The spin-off series ''The Wolves Of The Beyond'' has the lowest-ranking pack members as the "gnaw wolves". Not only are they discriminated against for their physical deformities, like missing tails or twisted paws, but they're also relegated to just gnawing on bones - both as an actual job (for the sake of recording information), and as their primary source of food. In the Guardians book ''The Outcast,'' Coryn making the order that they let Hamish the gnaw wolf eat before the rest of the pack - lest the pack be denied any of the food from his hunt - is treated as a big, status-quo-shaking deal.
102* TheFarmerAndTheViper: [[spoiler: Simon saves Kludd, who kills him for his efforts.]]
103%%* {{Fictionary}}: Krakish.
104* TheFilmOfTheBook: ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheGuardiansTheOwlsOfGaHoole'', directed by Zack Snyder.
105* FinalBoss: [[spoiler:Kludd]] for the part of the series following Soren. In the very last book, the final boss is [[spoiler:Nyra, aided by the Striga]].
106* {{Foreshadowing}}:
107** When the Band is fighting a bobcat outside the nameless Barred Owl's cave in ''The Journey,'' Soren picks up a hot coal in his beak and drops it on the bobcat's eye. He later becomes a collier at the Great Tree.
108** During the same scene, the Band encounter a dying Barred Owl, whose LastWords are the first indication that there is something worse than St. Aggies.
109** When Nyroc is recaptured by Nyra and he asks her if she loves him, Nyra mentions that Nyroc will be as great as King Hoole. [[spoiler: It turns out that he succeeds King Hoole, one book later.]]
110* FromHeroToMentor: Soren, one of the protagonists in the first six books, becomes mentor for his nephew Coryn, the main protagonist in the later books.
111* FromNobodyToNightmare:
112** Metal Beak, the infamous leader of the Pure Ones, was originally an ordinary barn owl [[spoiler:named Kludd]].
113** [[spoiler: The Striga burned important books, owl homes, and owls themselves for the sake of his extremist views on "vanities". With such a reputation, who could guess that he used to lounge around in a palace, so obsessed with beauty that he'd grow feathers so long that he would be unable to fly?]]
114* GeniusDitz: The puffins, who "admit they're dumb" but are actually quite knowledgable about the things they're familiar with.
115* GhostlyDeathReveal: In ''The Rescue'', Soren has a vision of the scrooms (owl ghosts) of his parents, his first meeting with them since he was stolen from their nest, and learns that they were killed by Kludd shortly after he was stolen.
116* GondorCallsForAid: [[spoiler:In the last book. They end up recruiting wolves, bears, eagles, [[EnemyMine crows]], seagulls, ''and'' puffins.]]
117* GoodScarsEvilScars:
118** Ezylryb has a missing claw, while [[spoiler: Kludd]] has ''half his face missing''.
119** [[spoiler: Nyra and Coryn both have on opposite sides of their faces. Nyra received it from Otulissa and Coryn from Nyra herself]]
120* GrannyClassic: Despite being a snake, Mrs. Plithiver is a grandmotherly archetype. She is a kind, gentle, wise figure who is still firm when she needs to be. Soren relies on her as a parental substitute.
121* GreenRocks: The flecks are [[spoiler: iron, which can disorient owls and destroy their senses with its magnetic field. Although fleck deposits are able to cause weird mutations like crippling Hortense and causing her father to see through rock.]]
122* GrimUpNorth: Inverted; while it is quite grim and desolate up north, the inhabitants become valuable allies for the Ga'Hoole owls. This is also where [[spoiler: Ezylryb]] hails from.
123* GuiltyUntilSomeoneElseIsGuilty: In the spin-off series Wolves Of The Beyond book "Shadow Wolf", Faolan gets accused of murdering a pup he cared for, which only gets accelerated when framed evidence is found. It gets to the point where his entire pack is about to brutally slaughter him as punishment... until they're told that the real murderer is Heep, the very same wolf that framed Faolan.
124* {{Heaven}}: Glaumora is this for good owls, where their souls go when they die.
125* HeelFaceTurn:
126** [[spoiler:Grimble, to St. Aggies.]]
127** Nyroc, to the Pure Ones.
128** [[spoiler:Uglamore, preforming a HeroicSacrifice in the process.]]
129* {{Hell}}: Hagsmire.
130* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Uglamore, after his HeelFaceTurn, by flying into a wolf with a foaming-mouth sickness that was about to bite Coryn.]]
131* IfICantHaveYou: Why Ifghar betrayed the Kielian League.
132* ImAHumanitarian:
133** Well, the owl version. [[spoiler: Some of St. Aggie's troops end up eating Digger's brother]].
134** [[spoiler: St. Aegolius, particularly Auntie, likes to eat eggs and deformed hatchlings.]]
135* ImprobableWeaponUser: Northern owls use weapons carved from ice. [[spoiler:In the last book, the puffins use frozen fish.]]
136* InsufferableGenius: Otulissa is [[Literature/HarryPotter Hermione Granger]] in owl form. She starts as an annoying know-it-all who attempts to suck up to the teachers and drives Soren insane, but after a few books she's become a badass and a true friend of the Band.
137* TheJoyOfFirstFlight: Despite the horrific ordeal of escaping from St. Aggie's, Soren and Gylfie can't help but enjoy their first flight.
138* KidHero: Soren (until he grows up), and Nyroc/Coryn.
139* KilledOffScreen: Soren's parents die sometime after he's pushed out of the nest in ''The Capture'', as he encounters their [[OurGhostsAreDifferent scrooms]] early in ''The Rescue''. The cause of their death is eventually revealed: [[spoiler:they were murdered by Kludd, their eldest son]].
140* KillItWithFire: The Band's [[spoiler:and the Guardians']] battle strategy. They like to use branches that are [[IncendiaryExponent ON FIRE]]. There's also a few instances of them tipping their battle claws with live coals, essentially giving them the setting's equivalent of a FlamingSword.
141* KinslayingIsASpecialKindOfEvil: One of the Pure Ones' [[RiteOfPassage Rites of Passage]] is to kill a family member. This is why [[spoiler:Kludd attempted to kill Soren in the first book]].
142%%* LadyOfWar:
143%%** Strix Struma.
144%%** Strix Emerilla, Otulissa, and Queen Siv also fit into this trope. Notice now they're all spotted owls...
145%%* LethalLavaLand: Beyond the Beyond.
146* LotusEaterMachine: The Mirror Lakes are an insidious one. They are a seemingly perfect paradise in the middle of the otherwise barren landscape of the Beaks, with tall trees that have perfect hollows, soft moss, plentiful game, and extremely reflective lakes. They are first encountered by the Band while flying to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree in ''The Journey'', and cause them to become "fat, lazy, and vain," completely forgetting about their mission. Only Mrs. P., who is blind, is not transfixed by the lakes. She forces the owls out of them with a PrecisionFStrike.
147** Later, in ''The Shattering,'' [[spoiler: Nyra uses the Mirror Lakes' strange powers to her advantage in order to tempt Eglantine.]]
148* MalevolentMaskedMen: Metal Beak, leader of the Pure Ones. [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that he's actually Soren's evil brother Kludd, who had the mask made of mu metal in order to hide his maimed face, and to protect him from the effects of the magnetic flecks that the Pure Ones used as weapons.]]
149* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Metal Beak, Nyra, and the rest of the Pure Ones]] behind [[spoiler:St. Aggie's]] in the first six books.
150* ManipulativeBastard: Female version in Nyra, who uses trickery to manipulate others, including Soren's sister Eglantine and her own son Nyroc.
151* MentorOccupationalHazard: [[spoiler: Grimble]] dies after teaching Soren and Gylfie how to fly, in the first book. In later books, [[spoiler: Otulissa's mentor Strix Struma]] is killed in battle. [[spoiler: Ezlyryb]] also dies, albeit from old age.
152* TheMole:
153** [[spoiler: Ginger, a spy for the Pure Ones.]]
154** [[spoiler: Hortense. She is a mature owl who is disabled, and so she impersonates an owlet, is deliberately captured by St. Aggies, fakes being moon blinked, and saves over twenty eggs from their tyranny with the help of Streak and Zan.]]
155* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The Pure Ones are owls who believe that ''Tyto Alba'' -- barn owls -- are superior to any other species of owl.
156* NobleBirdOfPrey: A relatively rare instance of owls being given this treatment. The two bald eagles who help Hortense in her rescues are a more conventional example.
157* NoNameGiven: The rogue smith of Silverveil. [[spoiler: Her name has been revealed as Thora Plonk in "Lost Tales"]].
158* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Averted. Soren eventually finds a mate and has three daughters. Ezylryb dies before the Hoole trilogy, and the rulers of the tree die just as Coryn arrives.
159* OminousOwl:
160** The villains (especially Nyra) play the creepy owl factor for all it's worth.
161** Hagsfiends. They're first mentioned as evil owl ghosts, and then, in books nine through eleven, it turns out that they're an actual species, but have since died out [[spoiler: aside from the Dragon Owls]]. It's even implied that an owl can turn into a hagsfiend if they are extremely evil, [[spoiler: which is implied to be the fate of Nyra.]]
162* TheOneThingIDontHateAboutYou: In book one, Mrs. Plithiver thinks to herself that there is something very wrong with Kludd. He then coughs up a pellet and she reconsiders that no bird with such a noble digestive system could be completely bad. If only...
163* OrphanageOfFear: St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls isn't an orphanage so much as a cult in which children are {{Brainwashed}} into slavery.
164* OrphansOrdeal: Soren, Gylfie, and Digger all deeply suffer as a result of having lost their parents, among others.
165* OurDemonsAreDifferent: The hagsfiends are an unholy mix of owls and crows, with dark powers.
166* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Owl ghosts are called "scrooms," and they are imprints of owls who still have some unfinished business on earth. They appear as swirling mists, and living owls can talk to them through an [[AstralProjection out-of-body experience]].
167* PardonMyKlingon: A lot. Notably, "sprink", which is considered the most vile word in the owl vocabulary, frink, an equivalent to piss (the verb, not the bodily fluid), and racdrops, an equivalent to... well, you should be able to tell.
168%%* ParentalAbandonment: Quite a lot.
169* ParentalFavoritism:
170** The rogue smith's stepmother doted upon her sister due to her lovely singing voice, leaving her out in the cold.
171** Kludd seems to believe this was the case with his father and Soren.
172* PersecutedIntellectuals: A running theme throughout the series is the importance and preservation of knowledge against those who might want to remove or restrict it.
173** In ''The Capture,'' leaders of St. Aggie's try to prevent anyone from becoming more knowledgable than they are, by forbidding the asking of questions and restricting all access to books.
174** In ''The Siege,'' Dewlap forbids a book and punishes Otulissa for reading it, which goes against the Guardians of Ga'Hoole's values, and is [[spoiler: [[{{Foreshadowing}} the first indication that Dewlap might not be on the Guardians' side]].]]
175** In ''Exile,'' The Striga and his Blue Brigade begin raiding homes to [[BookBurning burn books]].
176** At the end of the series, The Striga begins steeling and burning books to keep their knowledge away from those who would use it against him.
177* PlotDevice: For all that the Ember of Hoole is fretted over, it does remarkably little over the course of the series.
178* [[PrecisionFStrike Precision S Strike]]: [[spoiler: Otulissa, ''twice.'']]
179** Related -- Mrs. P, who is much too proper to swear, gives Twilight an epic cussing out when the owls are trapped at [[LotusEaterMachine the Mirror Lakes]].
180-->'''Mrs. Plithiver''': [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Racdrops on your curled wingie!]]
181* {{Prequel}}: Ezylryb's story called ''The Rise Of A Legend''.
182* PureIsNotGood: The main antagonists call themselves the Pure Ones. They're [[ANaziByAnyOtherName owl Nazis]] who are ''obsessed'' with the idea of "purity."
183* TheQuisling: [[spoiler:Dewlap]] panics and sells out the Great Tree to the Pure Ones in ''The Siege''. To say she ends up [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regretting]] this decision after [[spoiler:Strix Struma's death]] would be an understatement.
184* RecycledInSpace: St. Aggie's is quite similar to the residential school system used to oppress indigenous people in Canada, America, and Australia, but with owls. They take chicks from their families, and assimilate them by giving them new names, banning their original culture (Ga'hoolian legends), and preventing them from escaping and returning home. Abuses committed include not giving them proper food (they eat ''crickets'', for Glaux's sake) and physical abuse (the vampire bats sucking out their blood) There's even a connection to the Catholic Church (''St.'' Aggie's), which ran the residential schools, at least in Canada.
185* RescueArc: ''The Rescue,'' as you might have guessed. It centers on the rescue of Ezylryb by the protagonists.
186* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Boron and Barran actually run the Great Tree and attempt to do good in the Owl Kingdoms. Barran even runs the Search-and-Rescue chaw.
187* RuinsOfTheModernAge: According to Word of God, the story's setting is an AfterTheEnd where humans are extinct, and St. Aggie's and other works of architecture left behind by the extinct Others are indeed this trope.
188* SatisfiedStreetrat: Twilight, who has graduated from the orphan school of tough learning.
189* SdrawkcabAlias:
190** [[spoiler: '''Ezyl'''ryb is '''Lyze''' of Kiel.]].
191** Nyroc later becomes Coryn.
192* {{Seers}}:
193** Owls with Starsight like Soren and Hortense will often have [[DreamingOfThingsToCome precognitive dreams of an upcoming event]]. Gylfie describes that it is like peeking through the holes in dreams.
194** Firesight users like Grank, Hoole and Coryn can see visions of events that happened in the past, present and future by looking at fire.
195** A rabbit that Coryn spared and had a conversation, can read fragments of the past, present and future events from spider webs. Unlike firesight, if he shares his name with anyone, he will lose it.
196%% * SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler: Kludd]].
197* ServantRace: Blind snakes are kept as nest maids by owls to keep their nest clean by clearing out maggots and other creepy crawlies.
198* ShoutOut:
199** [[Literature/MobyDick "Call me Grank"]], the first line from ''The First Collier''.
200** At one point, a group of owls try to save books from the Pure Ones by memorizing them, saying they got the idea from a book written by one of the Others, named "[[Literature/Fahrenheit451 Ray Brad]]" (although they think the name may have been cut off).
201** Everything about the Legends of Ga'Hoole is based after Myth/ArthurianLegend. Eventually, towards the end, the ''actual'' Arthurian Legends are referenced.
202** There are tons of ''300'' references in the last book. "We will fight in the shade" and "[you want our weapons?] Come and get them!" to name a few.
203* SickeningSweethearts: [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickName Sweetums and Swatums]], a pair of sooty owls who the Band encounter near the beginning of ''The Journey.'' [[AudienceSurrogate Soren]] finds them especially nauseating.
204* TheSiege: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin ''The Siege'']], on the Great Ga'hoole Tree [[spoiler: carried out by the Pure Ones]].
205%%* SirSwearsALot: [[UnusualEuphemism Numerous characters]], but the Rogue Smith of Silverveil takes the cake.
206* SkewedPriorities: In ''The Capture'', Soren is being carried off by a St. Aggie's patrol owl. Rather than worry about how to escape, all Soren is worried about is that said patrol owl called him stupid.
207* SlashedThroat: Lots of characters die by getting slashed in the throat or neck, such as [[spoiler: Aunt Finny]].
208* SnakeTalk: The flying snakes do this, though it's averted with the nest-maid and Kielian snakes.
209* SomewhereAnEntomologistIsCrying: Spiders and centipedes are referred to as "insects".
210* SomewhereAHerpetologistIsCrying: The flying snakes can inject venom with their tongues.
211* SomewhereAMammalogistIsCrying: It's implied at certain points that bats are birds, and are blind. (Although in fairness, this could be because the owls don't know what bats actually are.)
212* SparingThemTheDirtyWork: In ''The Burning'', Soren fights against [[spoiler: his brother Kludd, who has become the leader of the evil group the Pure Ones]], but cannot bring himself to kill [[spoiler: his brother]]. Soren's friend Twilight ends up doing it for him.
213* StepfordSmiler: [[spoiler: Under all of the sweet talking, Aunt Finny is quite sadistic.]]
214* TermsOfEndangerment: [[spoiler: Nyra calls Eglantine "darling" while impersonating her mother, which is what makes her realize Nyra is lying.]]
215-->'''Eglantine:''' It's ''Eggie!'' Mum called me ''Eggie.'' NOT DARLING!
216* ThatsAnOrder: When Eglantine is in danger of being burned alive in Book 5, with [[spoiler:Nyra's egg in tow]], Boron orders her to leave the egg and save herself.
217-->"Drop the egg! It is a command!"
218%%* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Rogue Smith of Silverveil and Madame Plonk fit this to a T.
219* TookALevelInBadass:
220** Otulissa gets special mention. She is introduced as a prissy know-it-all bookworm, now she has an EyepatchOfPower.
221%%** [[spoiler:The puffins in the last book. And how!]]
222* TeamTitle: The series is named after the heroic Guardians of Ga'Hoole.
223* TotalEclipseOfThePlot: Nyra, Nyroc, and Hoole were born during lunar eclipses, which enchants them to be either extremely good (in Nyroc/Coryn and Hoole's case) or extremely evil (in Nyra's case).
224* TreacherousAdvisor: [[spoiler: Striga/Orlando]] to Coryn in the last two books.
225* TrueCompanions: The Band in the first couple books, later the Chaw of Chaws. Some consider Coryn a member of the Band.
226* {{Tsundere}}: Otulissa. She reveals the "deredere" when she talks about her idols or is with Cleve.
227* UnexpectedlyHumanPerception: The series is from the point of view of owls, animals that typically see in limited or monochrome vision, but everything is described in full color. The most notable example is Nyroc first discovering the color of green, which he has a strong reaction to, despite not being able to see it in real life.
228* UnfortunateNames: Nyroc is named after Nyra, the most feared/hated owl in the entire Owl Kingdom. Even though Nyroc has never really done anything bad, his name still gives him a bad reputation, until he [[spoiler: gets the Ember of Hoole.]]
229* UnholyMatrimony: Kludd and Nyra. They actually love each other, which makes it, if possible, even creepier.
230%%* WaifProphet: [[spoiler: Hortense.]]
231* WarriorPoet: Twilight and Ezylryb. Twilight uses his poetry skills to compose taunting battle cries, and Ezylryb chronicles the wars he's fought in over the course of his life.
232* WhamLine: When [[BigBad Metalbeak]] is finally unmasked, both Soren and the audience get a shocking revelation...
233-->'''Soren:''' [[spoiler:[[OhCrap Kludd!]]]]
234* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
235** Ifghar and Gragg join the Pure Ones, but they vanish after ''The River Of Wind'' with no mention of where they went.
236** While his army is defeated, Lord Arrin's fate is never given any resolution despite being one of the {{Big Bad}}s of Hoole's era.
237* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: It's never established ''where'', in real-life terms, the series takes place. No single location could account for the variety of owl (and other bird) species seen in the series, most of which don't coexist in real life. TheFilmOfTheBook implies it's in Australia by showing a Tasmanian devil and an Echidna and giving the characters Aussie accents, but even that doesn't really fit.
238* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Books 9-11 are a Whole ''Arc'' Flashback!
239* WolverineClaws: Most owls' weapon of choice appear to be battle claws, essentially metal gauntlets with razor-sharp tips that fit over the wielder's talons.
240* WouldHurtAChild: Owlets suffer a lot of abuse during the series as a whole. A lot of owlets try to fly before they're ready, which cause them to tumble out of nests, leaving them vulnerable to St. Aggie's patrols or other more mundane predators. St. Aggie's [[{{Brainwashed}} brainwashes]] owl children and turns them into mindless slaves. The Pure Ones indoctrinate ''Tyto'' owlets into their cult. Worst of all [[spoiler: Digger's baby brother was ''eaten'' by Jatt and Jutt. It's a miracle that Eglantine survived.]]
241* WorkingOutTheirEmotions: In the guidebook, Ezylryb starts dating the very same girl that his younger brother, Ifghar, is secretly nursing a crush on. Ifghar is distraught but wants them to be happy, so he throws himself into missions and combat training, becoming faster and stronger than he's ever been before. And then, one day, he sees the couple out together...and realizes he isn't hurting anymore. [[note]]In that version of the story, anyway. Future installments in the series depict Ifghar as a CardCarryingVillain.[[/note]]
242* YouAreNumberSix: The owls in St. Aggie's are all given number designations instead of their names. In the first book, Soren becomes 12-1, Gylfie is 25-2, and Hortense is 12-8.

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