| 1 | !!!'''[[SimilarlyNamedWorks You may be looking for]] the ''Literature/InheritanceTrilogy'', by Creator/NKJemisin.''' |
| 2 | %% |
| 3 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1652520975044892900 |
| 4 | %% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 5 | %% |
| 6 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/inheritance_cycle_omnibus.png]] |
| 7 | %% |
| 8 | The ''Inheritance Cycle'', [[TrilogyCreep formerly known as]] the ''Inheritance Trilogy'', is a series of HighFantasy novels written by Creator/ChristopherPaolini. The first book was originally self-published by Paolini and his parents, but later migrated to Alfred A. Knopf on the recommendation of Creator/CarlHiaasen, where it found wider success, leading to the rest of the series being published there. It contains the following books: |
| 9 | |
| 10 | * ''Literature/{{Eragon}}'' (2003) |
| 11 | * ''Literature/{{Eldest}}'' (2005) |
| 12 | * ''Brisingr'' (2008) |
| 13 | * ''Inheritance'' (2011) |
| 14 | * ''Eragon's Guide to Alagaësia'' (2009) (canon, but not part of the Cycle) |
| 15 | * The ''Tales from Alagaësia'' short story collection. |
| 16 | ** ''Volume 1: Eragon - The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm'' (2018) |
| 17 | * ''Murtagh'' (2023) (direct sequel, inclusion in the Cycle unknown) |
| 18 | |
| 19 | The novels tell the tale of Eragon, a farmboy who discovers a [[EggMacGuffin dragon egg]] in the mountains and is amazed when it hatches for him. He raises the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]], Saphira, and becomes bonded with her as a DragonRider. Unfortunately, the [[BigBad evil Galbatorix]], the ruler of TheEmpire who betrayed and destroyed the Dragon Riders long ago, finds out, and sends his impenetrably cowled Ra'zac servants to capture Eragon and Saphira. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | They escape, but the Ra'zac [[DoomedHometown burn down Eragon's home]] and [[KickTheDog kill his uncle]]. Our heroes set out for {{revenge}}, joined by the village's old storyteller, [[CoolOldGuy Brom]], who, as it turns out, is a former Dragon Rider himself. On their quest, Eragon and Saphira meet up with a badass AntiHero with a MysteriousPast, rescue an elf princess, join [[LaResistance the Varden]], learn the truth about Eragon's past and his [[DisappearedDad missing father]], and face down foes far more powerful than themselves—eventually culminating in a final battle against Galbatorix himself. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | The first book was adapted into [[{{Film/Eragon}} a film]] in 2006, but after the film got extremely negative critical reception and relatively underperformed at the box office, [[StillbornFranchise there are currently no plans for any movie sequels]]. However, there have been petitions to reboot the film series that (however unsuccessful) did gain sizable support, and Paolini has also spoken about the movie after the fact, stating that it told its own version of the story compared to the books' story and leaving it to fans to determine which story they like better. In 2022, [[https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/eragon-tv-series-disney-plus-1235325019/ a television adaptation]] of the books was announced for Creator/DisneyPlus. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | The final title in the series, ''Inheritance'', answered a number of key mysteries regarding the series, such as what was contained in the Vault of Souls and the fates of major characters like Galbatorix and Eragon, but left open certain nagging mysteries such as the source of the witch Angela's powers. Following its publication, Christopher Paolini floated a number of possibilities regarding what he might work on in the future, including a hypothetical fifth title, spin-off titles focusing on characters other than Eragon, or separate works in other genres. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | However, there was an approximately seven-year gap in the series prior to the announcement of the publication of the short story collection ''The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm'', which was stated to feature three original stories set within Alagaësia, interspersed with an unfolding adventure featuring Eragon set a year following the ending of ''Inheritance''. The title includes a tale written by Christopher Paolini's sister Angela, featuring the character Angela whom she served as the namesake for. It was published in December 2018. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | Five years later, Paolini announced a new entry in the series, a full sequel rather than a collection of short stories. ''Murtagh'', set to release in 2023, looks set to explore the immediate aftermath of the original Cycle and Murtagh's coming to terms with his role in things. An illustrated edition of ''Eragon'' (with the illustrations done by Sidharth Chaturvedi) was also announced to accompany the title and [[MilestoneCelebration celebrate the franchise's 20th anniversary]]. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | All titles in the series have been published in multiple languages, including German, Spanish and Swedish. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | ---- |
| 34 | !!This series of books provides examples of: |
| 35 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | [[folder:Tropes A-C]] |
| 38 | * ThirteenIsUnlucky: Galbatorix had 13 Forsworn, Riders that turned traitor and joined his ranks. Their leader was Morzan, Murtagh's father. |
| 39 | * AbortedArc: Roran's job at Dempton's mill in Therinsford. He takes it in ''Eragon'' in hopes of having money to marry Katrina, and it's a big plot point for a few chapters. But Roran gets PutOnABus when he leaves for the mill, and is not seen for the rest of the book. And the job itself ends up being cut short by the death of his father, and Roran is back in Carvahall by the beginning of ''Eldest''. |
| 40 | * AbsurdlySharpBlade: |
| 41 | ** Angela's sword Tinkledeath. |
| 42 | ** All of the Riders' swords are this. All regular steel blades are no greater than cottage cheese in combat with a Riders' sword, and the elf who makes them uses a special kind of metal called [[ThunderboltIron Brightsteel]], which gives the swords increased sharpness and durability - said characteristics are either partly due to, or further enhanced by the fact that magic is heavily used in the forging process. |
| 43 | * TheAce: Arya and Angela are both good at magic, physical combat, and related skills, but Angela is a PluckyComicRelief character most of the time. |
| 44 | * AcheyScars: The gigantic scar that Eragon got [[spoiler:during his battle with Durza]] causes him immense pain until [[spoiler:it is healed in the second book.]] |
| 45 | * ActionDuo: Rarely does someone fight alone in this series. Starting off, it's Eragon and Brom, then Eragon and Murtagh as they make their way to the Varden, with Eragon being the ActionHero and Brom and Murtagh being the more experienced ActionSurvivor. In Brisingr, Eragon and Roran partner up to destroy the Ra'zac, Eragon and Arya take down the shade Varaug, Eragon and Angela infiltrate Dras'Leona in the hidden passages underneath it, and even in the confrontation with Galbatorix, Eragon and Arya go together to face him. |
| 46 | * AerithAndBob: |
| 47 | ** We have characters named Garrow, Eragon, Roran, Helen, Sloan, and Selena all from the same out-of-the-way village. Eragon's name is at least noted as odd (he's named after an elf). |
| 48 | ** This occurs with place names as well-as noted by a reviewer of ''Brisingr'' in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (an Australian newspaper), it was strange to see fantastical names such as Uru'Baen alongside more commonplace names such as Lithgow. WordOfGod states that this is because of many cultures having inhabited the land and left behind place names, which has a reasonable basis in the real world. |
| 49 | ** Yazuac, Carvahall, Du Weldenvarden and... ''[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Shark]][[NarmCharm tooth?!]]'' |
| 50 | ** [[http://eragon-sporkings.wikispaces.com The Eragon Sporkings]] point out in the dissection of ''Eragon'' that most, if not all, of the important people have exotic names. Thus, it would follow that the characters themselves are aware of this, which explains why two protagonists who need to sneak into a city choose ordinary names (by Earth standards) and that their obvious unimportance is why the guards wave them on through when they give their names. |
| 51 | ** Somewhat justified for the same reason as the place names, but to a larger degree: most humans have fairly human names, like Angela, Helen, Katrina, and Sloan. It's elves, dwarves, urgals, dragons, and other races who have "weird" names, and makes sense given that the cultures that inhabit the land are far from homogenous and usually stay strictly within their claimed territory on the continent. As for the "important" names, most important characters are magic users (which is rarer in humans than in other races) or nonhuman entities, so it makes sense that few of them have human names. |
| 52 | * TheAgeless: Dragon Riders, elves, dragons, and possibly Shades are all immortal unless killed violently. Notably, Dragon Riders are only immortal if their connection to their living dragons is intact; it's implied that the sheer grief kills many of them if that connection is severed. |
| 53 | * AggressiveCategorism: The Dwarven clan Az Sweldn rak Anhûin hold a hatred for all Dragon Riders, regardless of whether or not they support Galbatorix. This culminates in [[spoiler:an attempt to kill Eragon during ''Brisingr''.]] |
| 54 | * AlienBlood: Bluish-green on the Lethrblaka, black on the Urgals. |
| 55 | * AloofAlly: Elva refuses to help the Varden attack Dras-Leona. She does give in when Eragon asks her to storm Uru'Baen. |
| 56 | * AloofBigBrother: [[spoiler:Murtagh]] is the older, {{stronger|Sibling}}, [[GoodIsDumb smarter]], [[AntiHero more pragmatic]], [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism more cynical]], more experienced [[spoiler:half-]]brother of [[spoiler:Eragon.]] The only area in which his younger brother has him beat is mental health. |
| 57 | * AltarTheSpeed: [[spoiler:Roran and Katrina]] in Brisingr. Of the ShotgunWedding variety. |
| 58 | * AlwaysChaoticEvil: Discussed at length. The Ra'zac and Shades are alway evil, but the Raz'ac are eventually revealed to be victims of evolution; they evolved to be humanity's apex predator, so they aren't chaotic evil so much as they are a wolf to the human rabbit. Shades aren't really a species and are so vanishingly rare they don't get discussed as such. The Urgals seem like this in the first book, but from then on are revealed at length to have their own nuanced religion, culture, and art, and their own capacity for restraint and cooperation. They're not inherently evil, "merely overfond of war." |
| 59 | ** Many of the characters openly express skepticism that the Urgals will ever truly move beyond this perception, since their culture relies so much on martial achievements. But others point out that if they don't let them try while their leaders are willing to, they'll have no chance at all. |
| 60 | * {{Ambadassador}}: Arya, in no small part due to her inhuman abilities that make her far more competent than any normal human could ever be. |
| 61 | * AmplifierArtifact: By storing energy in gems, they can be turned into power-sources that will up the magical abilities of anyone using them. They're also commonly used as lights when more common methods are impractical or dangerous, but damaging one of them results in a big explosion. |
| 62 | * AndIMustScream: Carn kills an enemy mage with a spell that freezes him in place as all the moisture leaks out of his body while he decays until nothing is left but dust. |
| 63 | * AndThisIsFor: Roran, to one of the Ra'zac in ''Brisingr'', for his home, for Carvahall, and for his father. |
| 64 | * AntiHero: Murtagh all the way. Elva also seems to be leaning in this direction after [[spoiler:her curse was broken and she was able to use her empathetic powers without direct cost to herself.]] |
| 65 | * AntiMagicalFaction: Galbatorix has the ultimate goal of restricting all magic use, though he doesn't wish to wipe it out entirely. He claims that magic is the great unfairness in the world, as someone either can or cannot use it; there is no learning to use magic, and non-magic users have absolutely no defense against magic users, who can kill them or seriously maim them on a whim. Even Nasuada, who is incapable of magic herself, admits that that's an opinion they share. |
| 66 | * AppliedPhlebotinum: In the form of FunctionalMagic. |
| 67 | * ArrowCatch: Eragon in the second book when a volley of arrows is unleashed at him. He deflects most of them with magic, and catches one in his hand. |
| 68 | * ArtisticLicenseLinguistics: Oromis' explanation of the Ancient Language gets basic points about language wrong: "The suffix o forms the past tense of verbs ending with r and i. Sköliro means shielded, but skölir means shield. What you said was ‘May luck and happiness follow you and may you be a shield from misfortune.’" Unfortunately, Eragon wasn't using the active past tense, but the passive future imperative ("may you be shielded" is an imperative pertaining to something that is to happen, not something that has happened). |
| 69 | * AssassinOutclassin: During ''Brisingr'', Eragon is attacked by a group of Dwarven assassins. Most of them are killed by Eragon himself. |
| 70 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: The Urgals' entire society is based on this trope. |
| 71 | * AtopAMountainOfCorpses: A scene in the third book has Roran standing triumphantly atop a pile of 193 slaughtered {{mook}}s. |
| 72 | * AttackAttackAttack: Battle strategy of the Urgals. It usually works, given their physical advantage over the other races. |
| 73 | * AttackOnTheHeart: The only way to kill a Shade is to stab them through the heart, as any other method will just temporarily disembody them until they recover their physical form. |
| 74 | * AuthorAppeal: Arguably the elves, particularly Arya (whose beauty is oft-mentioned in the narration, and leaves Eragon in awe). However, [[WordOfGod Paolini says]] his favourite race is the dwarves (he often speaks a bit in Dwarvish when he goes to IRL events). |
| 75 | * AuthorAvatar: According to some, Eragon is Creator/{{Christopher Paolini}} and Angela is, well, his sister Angela. Paolini himself admits that Angela is based on his sister, and that Eragon "started out" as an autobiographical character before eventually developing into his own character. |
| 76 | * AutomatonHorses: Lampshaded with the elves' horses. Both played straight and lampshaded elsewhere, such as in the first book where they ride through a desert for almost a week, although Eragon does use magic to raise water from the ground. |
| 77 | * BadassNormal: Roran is one of the few normal humans among the main cast, but he still manages to achieve many impressive feats, including slaying 193 men in a single battle and even [[spoiler:defeating the tertiary antagonist by bear-hugging him to death, moments after that antagonist killed the immortal elf queen in single combat.]] |
| 78 | * BaldOfAuthority: Ajihad, who has a beard but no hair, is the leader of [[LaResistance the Vardan]]. |
| 79 | * BaldOfEvil: The Twins are a pair of bald identical twins who are revealed to be spying on the Varden as Galbatorix's agents. |
| 80 | * BarbarianHero: Roran ends up checking a lot of the boxes for this, though it may not be immediately obvious. While he's not an outright barbarian, he is from very humble and uneducated circumstances and frequently thrown into conflict with the strongest foes of his era. But while he doesn't have magic or training to rely on, he does have a signature weapon, his considerable strength, a keen and calculating mind, and an endless refusal to give up that ends up pitting him against some of the strongest warriors of the realm and coming out on top. He even gets numerous shirtless scenes and a beard. |
| 81 | * BastardAngst: Eragon is briefly distraught to learn that his mother and father weren't married. Orimis, whose culture doesn't really have marriage per se, tells him that he's sure they considered themselves the ''equivalent'' of married at least. Eragon is cheered up by this, and lets it go. |
| 82 | * BeardOfEvil: Galbatorix is shown in artwork to have a full, sinister-looking beard. |
| 83 | * BeardOfSorrow: Roran grows one after [[spoiler:Katrina is kidnapped by the Ra'zac]] to disguise himself from his enemies. |
| 84 | * BearsAreBadNews: Urzhad are cave bears native to the Beor mountains, which can grow to the size of a house and are stated to be dangerous foes even for dragons. |
| 85 | * BeautyEqualsGoodness: Eragon, Murtagh, Nasuada and the elves could easily nab careers as models. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in the fact that most elves are beautiful because they're fully capable of manipulating their own appearance to their liking with no consequence, and that later on we meet elves who aren't necessarily ugly, but definitely look odd when paired with even the other members of their race, including one who has given himself a full body of royal blue fur. |
| 86 | * BeautyIsNeverTarnished: |
| 87 | ** Grotesquely subverted in the first book. After rescuing the seemingly fine Arya, Eragon discovers that every inch of her body underneath her dress has been fiendishly tortured and scarred, while her beautiful face was left untouched. Since her torturer didn't seem to have any sex drive or attraction, this was seemingly done for the sheer joy of poking at this trope. |
| 88 | ** {{Subverted}} later when Nasuada wins the Trial of the Long Knives - a kind of ceremonial game of chicken with inflicting knife cuts - and ends up with seven fairly deep and hideous cuts on her forearms. Since she refuses to have them healed by magic, they end up scarring, and she eventually leans into the subversion by wearing clothing that will show them off, since they further establish her badass credentials. |
| 89 | * BecauseDestinySaysSo: Eragon decides at the end of the fourth book to leave Alagaësia forever only because a prophecy in the first book said he would. |
| 90 | * BigBad: Galbatorix, a former Dragon Rider who [[FaceHeelTurn turned evil]], destroyed the other Riders and took over/is trying to take over the world. |
| 91 | * TheBigGuy: Nar Garzhvog and (ironically) Orik, who are both BloodKnight fighters that use heavy weapons and rack up more than a few in a typical battle body count. |
| 92 | * BioArmor: In later books, Eragon can protect his hands when delivering powerful blows by using magic to grow calluses on them. During one fight in ''Brisingr'', he punches through a shield to strike the assassin holding it, causing the assassin to fly across a hallway and into the wall, breaking their neck. |
| 93 | * BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The BigBad is dead,]] half of the surviving [[spoiler:Eldunarya are insane, and there's no place to raise the dragons, forcing Eragon and Saphira to leave Alagaësia forever in order to raise them. This prevents their fledgling romances with Arya and Fírnen from ever being.]] Although that was [[spoiler:something of a ForegoneConclusion]]. Saphira and Fírnen, however, mate, and the vault of dragon eggs is opened, securing the revival of dragons as a race and the re-establishment of the Dragon Riders as a regulatory force of good. |
| 94 | * BlackAndWhiteMorality: [[LaResistance The Varden]] and Elves are good, TheEmpire is evil. Eragon tries to give this a significant amount of thought, as a number of characters point out that he's fighting because other people told him to, however right they may be. Finally, he reaches the conclusion that The Varden is still good, despite the suffering they cause and the lack of obvious evidence against the King, because Galbatorix is immortal and they're preventing the suffering that will come with another century of his reign. After a significant amount of angst, Eragon then comes to the bizarre and defeatist conclusion that [[spoiler:he has to cross the ocean to train the next generation of riders. He left behind civilization, everything he fought for, the chance to shape the creation of the next major golden age, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and the chance to get into Arya's (the only woman for whom he could hold genuine affection)]] [[AuthorTract tight leather]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking pants]].]] He's also very clear about the fact that he'll never come back, despite the fact that it's very clearly a journey that could be easily made once or twice every few years, even accounting for the strain on Saphira. |
| 95 | * BlessedWithSuck: Quite literally Elva, as her curse was intended to be a blessing, but was misspoken. She is cursed to feel the pain and uncertainties of everyone around her, forcing her to endure constant torment. Later, [[spoiler:[[CursedWithAwesome the negative side effects are taken away by Eragon.]] ]] |
| 96 | * TheBerserker: In ''Brisingr'', Imperial berserkers who have had their ability to feel pain magically removed are introduced. Additionally, despite developing into a strong military commander capable of devising plans nobody else could ever think of, Roran is capable of summoning a berserk-like rage that allows him to slay nearly 200 soldiers in one battle. |
| 97 | * BodyHorror: The bewitched soldiers in the third book feel no pain, and thus fight through dismemberment that by all rights should have totally incapacitated them one way or another. Most Varden lose their nerve while fighting these guys, because fighting someone with half his face hanging off his bare skull – who laughs at you, no less – is horrifying. |
| 98 | * BondCreatures: Dragons, who forged a contract with humans and elves hundreds of years ago that allowed them to forge unique mental bonds and prevent interspecies war. A dragon and their Rider have bonds that stretch very deeply, and the death of one often has [[SanitySlippage negative]] effects on the survivor. |
| 99 | * BoomHeadshot: Subverted with Durza when Murtagh shoots him in the head; he just reappears somewhere else (though it's clearly painful). |
| 100 | * BothSidesHaveAPoint: In ''Inheritance'', Orrin and Nasuada get into an argument over [[spoiler:the viability of the Varden continuing their alliance with the Urgals that has shades of this. Orrin argues that, given the age-old hatred and antipathy towards Urgals, the Empire is succeeding in [[HeroWithBadPublicity painting the Varden as villains]] for allying with the Urgals (since the Empire was [[VillainWithGoodPublicity effectively able to hush up their previous alliance with the creatures]]) and as a result, Imperial cities are choosing to resist to the bitter end rather than surrender to enemies allied with what they see as monsters, which is costing the Varden more lives to capture Imperial territory. Nasuada argues that since the Urgals have upheld their side of the alliance honourably, turning on them for no other reason than prejudice would just result in the Varden gaining another enemy, and that if they don't try to temper the Urgals' more [[BloodKnight warlike tendencies]], the cycle of violence between their races will resume the moment they no longer have [[EnemyMine a common enemy in Galbatorix]].]] |
| 101 | * ABoyAndHisX: A 15-year-old farm boy and his life-bonded dragon. |
| 102 | * CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:Eragon and Murtagh]]. Who is who depends on your [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation personal interpretation]]. |
| 103 | * TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: Carvahall receives a lot of trouble from this trope even after Eragon leaves. |
| 104 | * CantArgueWithElves: Paolini's Elves are pretty, magical, and incredibly long-lived, and subsequently under the impression that they know everything, and they're very happy to tell outsiders that. This arguably ends up working against them, as it's fuel that leads to other races resenting them and sowing the seeds that helped Galbatorix go undefeated for a hundred years. |
| 105 | * CastFromStamina: Ordinarily, magic works like this. Except for dragon riders, who can borrow their dragon's stamina (and dragons have plenty to spare). Skilled magic users can borrow stamina from the local wildlife (killing it in the process if they aren't careful). [[spoiler:Except for people who get hold of an Eldunari, who can borrow a ''dead'' dragon's stamina, which is substantial considering they have no body to be using up energy at any given time.]] To the extent that, since magic can't lie, if you cast something that requires too much energy, you can't stop it and can simply die from exhaustion. This also limits fighting ability, which is why many magicians have developed several low-energy killing spells ("pinch the Carotid artery," for example.) |
| 106 | * CessationOfExistence: The elves and the dragons believe this happens when living things die, presumably due to their natural telepathic abilities, as living minds always simply fade and disappear during death. In the end, Eragon himself admits that he would prefer this option to some form of eternal existence. |
| 107 | * TheChainsOfCommanding: Trianna says it's wise Eragon doesn't want to be king, because a king is simply a man imprisoned by his duties. |
| 108 | * ChangelingTale: These are apparently very common among human-folk. Thus, when Elain is having a child and Eragon asks Arya the elf to assist, she does so, but is very careful not to interfere too much because people fear her intentions. Then, when the child is born with a cleft lip, Eragon is called upon to heal the child. Before he takes the child away, he consents to allow the village healer Gertrude to accompany him into the tent where he goes to heal her, as he is mindful of Arya's warnings about fear of changelings. He knows that her presence will reassure the villagers. |
| 109 | * ChekhovsGun: To the series' credit, they establish many and pay virtually all of them off, and any that go unanswered are deliberately framed as being such for now. |
| 110 | ** Eragon has a vision early in the first book about people on a boat going down a river. It doesn't end up paying off 'til the last pages of the last book. |
| 111 | ** When he answers the call to adventure in the first book, he steals some leathers from the local tanner to make a saddle and inwardly promises he'll pay him back someday. He does so in the third book. |
| 112 | ** When he first arrives in Farthen-Dûr, he's told about the slide around Vol Turin (the Endless Staircase), and ends up using it in order to reach the ground floor in time during the battle. |
| 113 | ** Early in the second book, a neighbor of Roran sees her husband killed and even ''eaten'' by the Ra'zac and promises that she'll have her blood debt paid by Roran at some point. [[spoiler: She eventually does in the last pages of the last book.]] |
| 114 | ** Brom's ring Aren ends up paying off multiple times. Eragon is first given it, and it ends up helping prove his credibility to the Varden and being a meaningful gift. As time goes on he even notes it's a precious keepsake. Then in the third book he discovers there's a veritable ''mountain'' of energy inside it, which might be invaluable when it comes to fighting Galbatorix. But then in a subversion, in the fourth book [[spoiler: he ends up using it all miles before he ever meets Galbatorix.]] However, he notes that if he didn't use it then, he'd never get the chance to even do that, so it was well-spent. |
| 115 | ** [[spoiler:When Glaedr tells Saphira to "keep her heart safe" before she and Eragon leave to go help the Varden fight the Empire's army in Eldest. Later revealed that he was referring to a special magic stone every dragon has called an Eldunari which is basically their source of magical power and where their souls go if the Eldunari is removed from their bodies, they're also the source of Galbatorix's power, so that's quite a big gun.]] |
| 116 | * TheChosenOne: When Saphira hatches for him, Eragon becomes the first new Dragon Rider in a century, as well as a symbol for all those who oppose Galbatorix. |
| 117 | * CloudCuckooLander: Angela, who comes out with random nonsequiturs frequently. In her spare time, she tries to prove that toads don't exist. |
| 118 | * ComboPlatterPowers: Being a dragon rider gives you a lifelong psychic connection and bond with your dragon and makes you a magic user, regardless of previous heritage, while also making you stronger than most magicians ever by giving you your dragon's strength to draw upon. Your psychic link also lets you read people's minds and even invade them, to the point where you can probe dozens of minds at once with ease. You'll also become stronger over time, and magic will let you do virtually any cool thing you want to within reason. That's not even mentioning the cool-colored sword you're eligible for, the awesome training, or, oh yeah, that you get a ''dragon.'' |
| 119 | * ComeToGawk: In ''Inheritance'', Sloan believes that this is what Eragon wants when Eragon comes to visit around the end of the book, but he's off-the-mark. Eragon had forgotten Sloan was there until he spotted him, and feels so guilty about thoughtlessly bringing Sloan's daughter, Katrina, there when he knows that he can't see her that he restores Sloan's eyes, which had been pecked away by the Ra'zac. |
| 120 | * ConcentrationBoundMagic: Magic in the series is the application of the magician's will upon energy to do things they otherwise wouldn't be able to or accomplish them much faster than would normally be possible. Intent is very important and getting distracted can cause the magic to have an entirely unwanted effect. Originally, all magic was non-verbal, but the Ancient Language that [[MagicalIncantation magical incantations]] are said with was created to make things easier. Non-verbal magic is still possible, just considered very dangerous if one isn't well-practiced at magic. Even with the incantations, intention still matters a lot and the same word or words can have different effects based on this. For example, ''brisingr'', the word for fire, can be used to actually set something on fire, but can also be used just to create a light that follows the magician around. A duel between wizards is considered especially dangerous and generally a spellcaster won't even attempt to use magic against enemy magicians unless they've taken control of their minds first, which in turn involves guarding their own mind against magical intrusion. |
| 121 | * CoolBoat: The ''Dragon Wing'', which is described as being designed to be the spearhead of the Imperial Navy, only to be commandeered by Roran and the Carvahall villagers, who use it to make their escape south to the Varden and Surda. |
| 122 | * CoolSword: The swords forged by the Elven smith Rhunön, which are used almost exclusively by Dragon Riders. These swords, made from a type of ThunderboltIron known as brightsteel, are light in the user's hand, eternally sharp, never stain, and are typically colored the same as the dragons whose riders they are forged for. |
| 123 | * CoveredInMud: In ''Eldest'', Eragon has a seizure caused by a cursed injury to his back. He's feeling terrible already because of the seizure and because it was in front of his teacher, but he becomes especially embarrassed when he realizes that rolling around on the ground caused him to get his clothes (which were new and a gift from the elves) covered in dirt/mud. |
| 124 | * CreationMyth: According to the dwarven calendar in the deluxe edition of ''Eldest'', [[ConstructedWorld the world]] was created 8000 years ago by several [[PhysicalGod gods]], after they vanquished the [[OurGiantsAreBigger giants]]. |
| 125 | * CreepyChild: Elva. [[spoiler:She has the voice of an adult]]. |
| 126 | * CursedWithAwesome: Elva, though in constant pain, figures out very quickly how to use her empathetic abilities to her advantage, eventually becoming a ManipulativeBastard [[AntiHero antiheroine]]. |
| 127 | [[/folder]] |
| 128 | |
| 129 | [[folder:Tropes D-F]] |
| 130 | * DangerousForbiddenTechnique: * In ''Eldest,'' Eragon gains the ability to [[spoiler:draw energy from living beings that aren't Saphira, which can kill the other being. Brom teaches him how to perform it on some insects without telling him about the killing part because he wants to drive home how terrible the price of this magic is. Eragon feels as if he himself had died over and over, since you need to [[MindProbe psychically inhabit the mind of the target first]]. Traditionally, Dragon Riders only were told about it once their training was already complete, so their masters could avoid teaching it to Riders who would abuse it. Thanks to Galbatorix's ObviouslyEvil status, the Riders didn't tell him about it, making it one of the few abilities Eragon has and he doesn't. Later, at the Battle of the Burning Plains, Eragon uses it on an injured horse who was dying anyway.]] Later on, in ''Brisingr,'' [[spoiler: Eragon partially replenishes his own energy [[ItMakesSenseInContext and that of his belt]] by taking energy from some animals that are about to be killed and eaten by [[LaResistance the Varden]], and he has to stop since the experience is so horrifying.]] |
| 131 | * DarkMagicalGirl: Elva. |
| 132 | * DeadGuyJunior: Eragon names his first horse Cadoc, the name of his maternal grandfather. |
| 133 | * DeathOfAChild: |
| 134 | ** Of the pile of corpses in the town of Yazuac, the mound is peaked by an infant impaled by a spear. |
| 135 | ** Delwin's 10-year-old son Elmund is impaled by a stray spear thrown during a skirmish in ''Eldest''. |
| 136 | * DeliberateValuesDissonance: |
| 137 | ** The punishment of Sloan drew from this. When Eragon wonders whether he was justified in his [[MindRape punishment]] or if he should have just killed Sloan, Orrin and Nasuada – who have a concept of divine right to rule, and who Eragon reports to directly – tell Eragon that he was correct: he can punish people, but lacks the authority to sentence them to death, and he's so powerful that the moment he begins to play God he'll need to essentially be put down. The right to sentence death is reserved for Orrin and Nasuada themselves, in being the King of Surda and Leader of the Varden respectively. |
| 138 | ** Nasuada, being female, has to go to great lengths to prove herself capable of leading the Varden. |
| 139 | * DeliverUsFromEvil: [[spoiler:Eragon's]] mother. When the series starts, all we know is that his mom has been dead for a while, and that she ran away from his dad who was some kind of evil person. Then we find out his dad [[spoiler:was TheDragon]] and his mom [[spoiler:was a DarkActionGirl whose [[DevotedToYou incredible devotion to him]] was only overruled by her desire to see her second child live a better life, away from his ArchnemesisDad.]] It's played with in that [[spoiler:Eragon's father is actually Brom, and Selene's HeelFaceTurn was a result of her love for him, then their child (Morzan's rarely letting her see Murtagh helped as well).]] |
| 140 | * DeniedFoodAsPunishment: In ''Inheritance'', Nasuada suspects that Galbatorix might do this to her after she kills her jailer. Instead, he does something so much more horrifying that she likely can barely think of food when it's over, let alone eat any. |
| 141 | * DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: This crops up from time to time, such as ""Sorry," apologized Brom", "If you are watching me, Eragon, then my end has come and I am dead", and Arya being described as "raven-haired" and then a sentence later being described as having a face "framed by black locks", among others. |
| 142 | * TheDeterminator: Roran. He'll do absolutely anything to accomplish his goals, and woe onto anyone who gets in his way. |
| 143 | * DeusExMachina: Frequently, especially the Blood Oath Ceremony, which magically [[spoiler:transforms Eragon into a super-attractive half-elf and heals his crippling back scar]]. Also Saphira, who says she can change reality in some unspecified way, although not at will. This is an ability all dragons have, which is the technical excuse for Eragon's change above. |
| 144 | ** Dragons in general are described as this from early on, as they are inherently magical creatures and phenomena of that kind can sprout up around them all the time without them even trying. |
| 145 | * {{Deuteragonist}}: [[BadassNormal Roran]] [[{{Determinator}} Stronghammer]] in ''Literature/InheritanceCycle,'' with [[{{Farmboy}} Eragon]] as the protagonist and [[AntiVillain Murtagh]] as the tritagonist, according to WordOfGod. Other possible interpretations include Eragon > Saphira > Roran, Eragon/Saphira > Roran > Murtagh, and Eragon > Roran > Nasuada. |
| 146 | * DireBeast: The Beor Mountains are home to a number of giant versions of regular wild animals, including feldûnost (giant goats), shrrg (wolves the size of horses), nagra (boars who grow even larger than the shrrg), and urzhad (cave bears the size of houses). Feldûnost are raised as livestock by the dwarves, but the others are dangerous wild animals -- nagra are prized as challenging and dangerous prey by particularly brazen dwarf hunters, while urzhad are stated to be dangerous foes even for dragons. |
| 147 | * DiseaseByAnyOtherName: After a FantasticNuke, people are described losing their teeth and hair and getting very sick, matching radiation poisoning. Creatures and plants in the area have also mutated to the extreme, in a stereotypical, more urban legend type result of radiation exposure. |
| 148 | * DistractedByTheSexy: Blödhgarm gives off a magical-composed scent that [[SmellsSexy causes women to be attracted to him]]. When Nasuada meets him in ''Brisingr'', she finds herself distracted during their conversation until Elva advises her to [[ThinkUnsexyThoughts think about the taste of horehound]]. |
| 149 | -->A fresh cloud of his musk drifted over Nasuada, and even though she was hard with anger, her joints weakened and she was assailed by thoughts of bowers draped in silk, goblets of cherry wine, and the mournful dwarf songs she had often heard echoing through the empty halls of Tronjheim. Distracted, she said, "I would Eragon or Arya were here, for they could have looked at your minds without fear of losing their sanity."\ |
| 150 | Again she succumbed to the wanton attraction of Blödhgarm's odor, imagining what it would feel like to run her hands through his mane. |
| 151 | * DistressedDamsel: Arya, and later [[spoiler:Katrina]]. And later on, Nasuada. Arya makes very clear that once she's out of the physical woods, she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself. |
| 152 | * DoomyDoomsOfDoom: Angela the herbalist in ''Eldest'': |
| 153 | -->Mmm.... she's doomed! You're doomed! They're all doomed! Notice I didn't specify what kind of doom, so no matter what happens, I predicted it. How very ''wise'' of me. |
| 154 | * {{Doorstopper}}: Each successive book is about 150-200 pages longer than the previous instalment, with ''Brisingr'' topping out at 748 pages. This is the reason for [[TrilogyCreep Book Four]]; "Book Three" was pushing 900 pages and not even halfway finished. |
| 155 | ** A reprinting of ''Eragon'' and ''Eldest'' in a single volume dubbed the "Inheritance Omnibus" is 1216 pages long and large enough to crush a small dog if dropped from sufficient height. |
| 156 | ** The Japanese translation of ''Eldest'' is so large that it is split into two books. |
| 157 | ** Another way to consider it - the audiobook version of ''Brisingr'' runs 29 hours and 39 minutes, while the audiobook of ''Inheritance'' runs 31:22, though both of these do include an interview between Paolini and his editor that runs about a half hour. Either way, you're looking at well over a day of continuous listening if you wanted to listen to the entire thing all at once. |
| 158 | * DragonRider: Almost the whole premise of the series, to the point that Rider is a proper noun. Eragon is one, naturally. Also, [[spoiler:Oromis, Murtagh,]] and Galbatorix count. Brom, Orik, and Arya have also ridden Saphira at various points, and [[spoiler:Brom was also a Rider before his dragon was killed. Arya becomes one at the end.]] |
| 159 | * TheDragon: [[spoiler:Murtagh]] and his [[OurDragonsAreDifferent literal dragon]], who are the dragons for his evil ''King'', and ''his'' dragon. Prior to him joining up with Galbatorix, the role of the Dragon was Durza the Shade, and in the backstory before Durza, Morzan the DragonRider. |
| 160 | * DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Oromis and Glaedr's deaths aren't given much in the way of weight, though a large part of that is because both they and Eragon are in the middle of battle at the time.]] |
| 161 | * DyingCurse: The last Ra'zac's final request is for Eragon to pass on legends of how the Ra'zac were feared. Eragon declines, deciding that the information it gave isn't enough to be of value. It curses him, saying "May you leave Alagaësia and never return!" This chills him, since it had previously been foretold that he would leave Alagaësia forever, and indeed, at the end of the series it becomes true. |
| 162 | * EitherOrTitle: ''Brisingr'' and ''Inheritance'' have alternate titles on the cover pages: |
| 163 | ** ''Brisingr, or, The Seven Promises of Eragon Shadeslayer and Saphira Bjartskular'' |
| 164 | ** ''Inheritance, or, The Vault of Souls'' |
| 165 | * ElaborateUndergroundBase: The dwarven capital, Tronjheim, is a city built like a small mountain inside the crater of a much larger extinct volcano so tall the top is inaccessible, even to dragons, making it only accessible by underground tunnels. |
| 166 | * EldritchAbomination: Galbatorix' dragon is so insanely huge Eragon initially thinks it's part of the castle. He has a minor freakout when he figures it out, and it's revealed that Galbatorix is artificially forcing him to grow far beyond when he should have stopped. |
| 167 | * ElectiveMonarchy: The dwarf clan chiefs vote to appoint another king or queen upon the creation of a vacancy in the position. In ''Brisingr'', after the death of LaResistance-friendly King Hrothgar, a few isolationist clans [[spoiler:unsuccessfully]] oppose the royal candidacy of Orik, his nephew and heir. The elves do the same in ''Inheritance'' too, with a number of families, noble houses and elders required to consent on the choice. [[spoiler:Arya]] is the one they appoint in the end. |
| 168 | * ElvesVsDwarves: They aren't exactly best friends, but they do get on better than most ElvesVsDwarves do, although arguably only due to a common enemy. The huge desert between them probably helps matters as well. They also have a kind of kinship as the two 'ancient races' that inhabited the continent before humans arrived. |
| 169 | * TheEmpath: Elva gains the ability to sense others' pain as a consequence of Eragon's botched blessing. |
| 170 | * TheEmpire: About a century prior to the start of the series, Galbatorix usurped the throne of the Broddring Kingdom, then went on a spree of conquest. The result, referred to as "the Empire", is a large state ruled over with an iron fist by Galbatorix. |
| 171 | * EnemyToAllLivingThings: Eragon learns how to draw power from all life around him to boost his own magic, draining nearby things of their LifeEnergy. The result is plants and small animals dying around him when he needs extra power, if he isn't careful. To be fair, he's horrified when he realizes that he can kill so inadvertently, and tries to reserve that power for use on plants when he can. |
| 172 | * ExactWords: Early on in ''Eldest'', the Varden Elders want Eragon to swear fealty to the Varden as part of their plot to turn Nasuada into their [[PuppetKing Puppet Queen]]. However, as Eragon only promised them that he would "swear fealty", he is able to swear fealty to Nasuada specifically, leaving the Elders shaking with impotent rage. |
| 173 | * {{Expy}}: The series has gotten a lot of accusations for this, with critics claiming that the series is ''Franchise/StarWars'' in a fantasy setting and/or ripping off scenes or entire plots from [[Literature/TheWheelOfTime other series]]. |
| 174 | * EvilRedhead: Shades. In fact, being transformed into a Shade gives the victim crimson hair. |
| 175 | * EvilTowerOfOminousness: Helgrind. Also, from the little description given, Uru'baen sounds like one, or at least Galbatorix's stronghold there. |
| 176 | * FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Murtagh, the Twins, and Sloan. Although Murtagh didn't do it voluntarily]]. |
| 177 | * FailureToSaveMurder: [[spoiler:In their first clash in ''Brisingr'', Murtagh mentioned that he and Thorn were savagely tortured by Galbatorix when the latter found out Eragon had killed the Ra'zac, since had Murtagh taken Eragon and Saphire captive at the end of ''Eldest'', it wouldn't have happened]]. |
| 178 | * FaintInShock: Eragon faints when [[spoiler:his mentor, Brom, is fatally stabbed.]] But then, he faints at the end of almost every chapter. |
| 179 | * FallenHero: The Forsworn are a group of 13 Dragon Riders who turned traitor and joined Galbatorix; chief among them was Morzan, Brom's EvilFormerFriend and father of Murtagh. |
| 180 | * FantasticNuke: The elven Dragon Rider Thuriel cast a spell that acted as this, releasing the energy of his body to stop Galbatorix from getting the last dragon eggs on Vroengard. It was complete with deadly radiation that made the whole area uninhabitable for decades to come. |
| 181 | * FantasyCounterpartCulture: Though it may be unintentional, the dwarves have several similarities to ancient Israelites, such as migrating from what is now a desert in the distant past, being a nation composed of 13 clans (like the 12 tribes of Israel), and having one of those clans be a priestly caste (and named Quan, sounding similar to Kohen). |
| 182 | * {{Farmboy}}: Eragon, who starts out as his uncle's adopted son and farmhand. |
| 183 | * FedToTheBeast: [[spoiler:After being caught trying to scout a secret passage into Dras-Leona, the cultists of Helgrind try to inflict this on Eragon and Arya by feeding them to newborn Ra'zac hatchlings. Since the cultists considered the Ra'zac [[UltimateLifeForm living gods]], they felt it was the only fitting punishment for the [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable]] blasphemy of killing the previous creatures.]] |
| 184 | * FeelNoPain: Galbatorix has soldiers who have agreed to serve him (rather than be [[SlaveMooks compelled by magic]]) in return for generous rewards, and cannot feel pain as a result of his spells. They're extremely creepy, and very dangerous-even if suffering crippling injuries, they still strike at the enemy, as only death stops them, or losing so much blood that they pass out. |
| 185 | * FictionalAgeOfMajority: The age of majority in Alagaësia is 16. Eragon has his 16th birthday in the first book, but lets it pass without comment due to his grim circumstances at the time. |
| 186 | * {{Fictionary}}: Creator/ChristopherPaolini invented three languages for the series: the Ancient Language (spoken by elves and magic users, based on Old Norse), [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarvish]] (mostly made up by Paolini), and the Urgal language (as of ''Brisingr'', still limited to mainly a few words). There also exists another language spoken by the nomads, but it hasn't been given any detail yet, except for clarification that adding "-no" to the end of a person's name is an honorific. The Ancient Language is similar to English but not entirely the same, so partly crossing over into conlang (although full rules of grammar have yet to be provided), while the dwarven language is far less similar to any pre-existing ones. A common criticism is that the Ancient Language and the Dwarven Language are simply encoded English with a few archaic word orders thrown in to spice it up. This is improved upon slightly in later books. He also drops a huge clanger when Oromis talks about Eragon's screw-up with Elva, where he applies idiosyncratic rules of English, wrongly, to his fictional language. (Just for the record, "May you be shielded" is not in the past tense). |
| 187 | * {{Fingore}}: |
| 188 | ** Eragon examines a vial with some liquid inside and pours it onto his finger; the liquid turns out to be the acidic Seithr oil used by the Ra'zac, which burns a small patch of skin. Brom tells him that at least he had enough sense not to drink it. |
| 189 | ** When Eragon visits Kvîstor's mother after the latter dies saving Eragon from assassins, Kvîstor's mother cuts off one of her fingers in front of him while grieving. |
| 190 | * FlayingAlive: Eragon's first flight on Saphira resulted in most of the skin on his legs being rubbed off. By accident. |
| 191 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: In ''Eragon'', Brom mentions that with every Dragon Rider Galbatorix and the Foresworn killed, they grew stronger. This winds up setting up TheReveal in ''Brisingr'' about [[spoiler:the enslavement of the Eldunarí, one of the sources of Galbatorix's strength.]] |
| 192 | * {{Forgiveness}}: Something of a theme in the series. In ''Eldest'', after Saphira apologizes to Eragon for giving him the cold-shoulder throughout most of the book because she was infatuated with Glaedr, Eragon tells her that "Family members forgive one another, even if they don't always understand why someone acts in a certain way. You are as much my family as Roran." |
| 193 | * ForgottenPhlebotinum: Eragon forgets about [[spoiler:Brom's ring]] during the battle in Eldest, and almost immediately after berates himself for not realizing it was there. |
| 194 | * ForkFencing: Murtagh does this in the story "The Fork" in ''The Fork, The Witch, and the Worm'': he finds himself in a fight without a weapon, enchants a fork with a spell to prevent it from breaking and uses it to defeat sword-wielding mercenaries, and then presents it to a young girl so that she can keep it to defend herself when needed. (She names it "Mister Stabby.") |
| 195 | * FunctionalMagic: Basically follows an Inherent Gift structure (though Dragon Riders get a Gift for free), but combines it with Rule Magic in that mages must memorize various [[LanguageOfMagic magic words]] for things and then combine them to create spells. Magic in this world also only reduces the time something takes, not the energy – meaning that something like creating lace, which is low energy but time consuming, would be easy, while something like mining gold, which is both high energy and time consuming, would be incredibly difficult. You still have to have the Inherent Gift, but even that's limited by the fact that you'd need incredible stamina to even consider more high-level or high-utility spells. |
| 196 | [[/folder]] |
| 197 | |
| 198 | [[folder:Tropes G-I]] |
| 199 | * {{Geas}}: A character who swears an oath in the Ancient Language is incapable of breaking it (though they only have to obey [[ExactWords the letter]], [[LoopholeAbuse not the spirit]]). What is more, a person can be compelled to swear such an oath by someone who knows their true name. There is an out, however – if who they are changes so much that their True Name in the Ancient Language changes, all oaths they've sworn using it up to that point are null-and-void. |
| 200 | * GemTissue: A dragon's Eldunarí is stated to be a gem-like body organ. |
| 201 | * GenerationXerox: Murtagh is doomed to follow in the footsteps of Morzan, his father. Eragon likewise [[spoiler:follows in ''his'' father Brom's footsteps.]] Each has a dragon of the same colour as his father's, while [[spoiler:Eragon's Saphira even has the same name as Brom's Saphira]]. |
| 202 | * GenericistGovernment: For some reason, Galbatorix is 'King' of the Broddring Empire and nothing is really described about how the government works, save for the fact it's "evil". Slightly explained by the fact that Galbatorix has used his immortal status to be on the throne for hundreds of years, and it's likely that there's no one left who remembers how a line of succession or anything else works without Galbatorix at its head. |
| 203 | * GiantFlyer: Besides the dragons (obviously), there are the Fanghur from the Beor Mountains and the Ra'zac's adult form, the Lethrblaka. |
| 204 | * GiftOfSong: The elves celebrate the "Blood-Oath Celebration", a massive party dedicated to honor the bonding of elves and dragons together, every 100 years, and it is by far their most important celebration. Each attendant is highly encouraged to present some sort of offering (usually a craft of some kind) that is deeply personal. Eragon, Arya, and Islanzadi all present songs as their gifts to the celebration. |
| 205 | * GodOfFire: The dwarven god of fire is Morthothal. In dwarven mythology, he and his brother Urur (god of winds) were said to have worked together to create the dragons. |
| 206 | * TheGodsMustBeLazy: This is the base argument for the Elves' atheism. (Aside from the lack of evidence for "miracles.") |
| 207 | --> '''Oromis''': Ask yourself this Eragon: If gods exist, have they been good custodians of Alagaësia? Death, sickness, poverty, tyranny and countless other miseries stalk the land. If this is the handiwork of divine beings, then they are to be rebelled against and overthrown, not given obeisance, obedience, and reverence. |
| 208 | * GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler:The Urgals, or at least most of them. And Murtagh.]] |
| 209 | * GrandTheftMe: Spirits like to do this to unsuspecting spellcasters. If they succeed, a Shade is created. |
| 210 | * GroinAttack: One of the things [[OffstageVillainy Galbatorix]] is actually definitely guilty of. |
| 211 | * HandBlast: The first display of magic in the series is Durza shooting a bolt of red light from his hand to kill Arya's horse. |
| 212 | * HandicappedBadass: The [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep High Priest]] ([[AmbiguousGender or is it Priestess?]]) of Helgrind is missing both legs, both arms, the lower half of their torso, and part of their tongue. This in no way diminishes the fact that they are one of the most dangerous foes that Eragon faces. And not only because of the army of fanatics they command. The Priest turns out to be capable of [[spoiler:immobilizing him, Arya, and Solembum at the same time with their mind, something even Durza and Varaug weren't able to accomplish.]][[note]]Varaug was able to do something similar to Eragon, Saphira, and Arya, but they were able to fight back against him; against the High Priest, Eragon is barely even able to shield himself.[[/note]] [[spoiler:Even Murtagh and Galbatorix needed to use magic to accomplish the same task, whereas the High Priest was able to do it with pure willpower. If Angela hadn't managed to NoSell the Priest's mental attack, a good part of the main cast would have all been killed by someone with barely enough remaining appendages to talk.]] |
| 213 | * HealingHands: Healing magic is used often in the series, and most magic is channeled through the user's hands. |
| 214 | ** Since it's established early on that doing something by magic costs the same as doing it normally, healing can be particularly tiring because you're accelerating weeks of recovery into seconds. It's also shown that past a certain point you ''can't'' just apply this trope - once an injury gets complex enough - i.e. multiple ruptured organs - you need either more magical juice than any one person or a lot more specific magical vocabulary, and if you don't have that, they're hosed. |
| 215 | * HereThereWereDragons: 100 years ago, EvilOverlord Galbatorix threw down the Dragon Riders and forced every magic user to swear loyalty to himself and swear the Empire, resulting in magic becoming much rarer, dragons nearly going extinct, and the power of the elves to begin to fade away. However, [[spoiler:Galbatorix regrets his past actions and is now actively working to resurrect the dragons under his command.]] |
| 216 | * HeroicBastard: Eragon is one, the son of Selena and [[spoiler:Brom]]. One could argue that this applies to all Elves, as they don't marry, since while a commitment to another can last hundreds of years it rarely persists through all of their immortal life. However, as a result they don't even really have the concept of "legitimacy," and view it as a pretty silly human notion. Eragon angsts a bit over this after he first hears it, but he's told that his parents actually considered themselves married, assuaging this a bit. |
| 217 | * HeroicResolve: Roran uses a lot of this to survive [[spoiler:being given 50 freaking lashes!]] |
| 218 | * HeroicSuicide: Elven Dragon Rider Thuriel set off the [[FantasticNuke magical equivalent]] of a nuclear bomb by releasing the energy of his body, which required him to die in the process, saving dragon eggs from Galbatorix on Vroengard. |
| 219 | * HeroInsurance: Eragon, being the poster boy for the Varden, has a license to kill, maim, and destroy as much as he pleases. Possible {{subversion}} in ''Brisingr'' when Eragon finds a man that he had previously stolen from and pays him far over the original price with gold, while he says he really didn't mind, considering how Eragon used them and that [[spoiler:he destroyed the rest before leaving Carvahall anyway]]. Definite {{subversion}} when Eragon refuses to kill [[spoiler:Sloan]], citing that it isn't his right, and Orrin and Nasuada both agree that the power to kill isn't something they want him to have. He may have a license for it in the sense that he's the hero and can't be put to death or exiled, but his higher-ups will definitely have a punishment in mind if he goes too far, and there are enough people who are more skilled with magic than he is that they can check him fairly effectively once he's away from the public eye. |
| 220 | * HiddenElfVillage: Ellesméra. |
| 221 | * HighFantasy: Its scale and scope may certainly remind a reader of [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings a certain other series]]. |
| 222 | * HoistbyHisOwnPetard: One of the assassins attacking Eragon in ''Brisingr'' gets killed when he raises his arm to stab Eragon and his dagger catches a lamp, which explodes; the assassin winds up taking most of the force killing him. |
| 223 | * HollywoodAcid: Seithr oil, primarily used by the Ra'zac. Usually a harmless liquid used to preserve pearls, but with the application of BloodMagic it will eat through living or recently dead organic material. However, the most unique quality is leaving inorganic material (such as its own containers) unharmed, making it useful for assassinations. It's also highly explosive, as it was used to blow Garrow's farmhouse apart and kill several villagers when the Ra'zac attacked Carvahall in ''Eldest''. |
| 224 | * HollywoodAtheist: {{Zigzagged}}. Arya goes out of her way to pick a fight with the dwarven priest regarding religion. However, none of the other elves display this. Orimis simply explains that they disbelieve in any afterlife, gods or miracles as a result of lacking evidence, but would change their minds if presented with some that was convincing. |
| 225 | * HollywoodTactics: Everyone sucks at battle-planning, doing things no sane person who has at least played a ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' game would do, like having archers and siege weapons shoot into a melee, abandoning a perfectly good defensive position to meet a smaller enemy force in the open field, and having heavy infantry charge a great distance. Slightly justified in that many attackers are magicians, who don't need to be in the melee themselves to kill mass amounts of people, and who can only be killed if the Varden were to either send their own magicians or fight through the smaller enemy force until they reach them. |
| 226 | * HumblePie: Glaedr swears up and down to Eragon and Saphira that there is no way, not in a million years, that the Vault of Souls could possibly contain Eldunari. When it turns out to contain not only those, but dragon eggs as well, he is at once overjoyed, triumphant and shocked, but also has to eat a heavy amount of crow. It turns out that Oromis, Glaedr, and several other dragons and riders agreed to store the remaining free Eldunari and eggs deep underground and placed a memory enchantment over ''everyone in Alagaësia'' to the exception of the next free dragon and rider (Eragon and Saphira) to prevent Galbatorix from learning about it and taking them for himself. It's unclear exactly ''why'' the possibility of how they were hidden the way that they were (deep underground) never occurred to him, though it's implied to be part of the memory enchantment keeping his thoughts away from the Vault. |
| 227 | * IAmWho: Eragon's identity is a closely kept secret until ''Brisingr'' wherein it's revealed that he is [[spoiler:the son of Brom.]] |
| 228 | * IAmXSonOfY: Patronymics/matronymics seem to be the rule in Alagaesia, with Roran Garrowsson and Katrina Ismirasdaughter. Eragon, being an orphan with an unknown father, introduces himself as "Eragon, son of None" (at least until [[spoiler:he kills Durza, after which he mainly uses the epithet "[[TheMagnificent Shadeslayer]]"]]. And then he learns who his father is, after which he calls himself [[spoiler:Eragon Bromsson]].). |
| 229 | * IdiotBall: Neither the heroes nor villains are safe from this. |
| 230 | * IdiotHero: Eragon's youth and lack of education shows on occasion, such as when he makes a grammatical error in the Ancient Language that turns his blessing into a curse. |
| 231 | * IdiosyncraticCoverArt: Each novel in the series introduces a new, differently-colored dragon as a character. This dragon gets his/her picture on the cover of the book, and the book is the same color as his/her hide. [[spoiler: The only exception is the golden dragon, who debuts one book before he appears on the cover.]] |
| 232 | * IDontPayYouToThink: A DeconstructedTrope in ''Brisingr''. Roran has joined the Varden's army and been sent on a dangerous mission in one of the towns of Galbatorix. He's been given temporary command of a group of warriors, but is still under the command himself of a captain who has just ordered a rock-headed strategy to attack the town that is essentially suicide, a head-on assault pretty much guaranteed to result in failure. After the captain leaves, Roran implements his own strategy, but warns that everyone in his group may be made to take the punishment. All follow him and he ends up killing nearly 200 enemy forces through his own strength, secures the victory, and ends up rescuing the idiot captain and what few soldiers of his own he has remaining. Afterwards, Roran is stripped of his weapon and left for appropriate punishment. Upon return to the Varden, Roran is hailed by a hero, but still ordered that he must take a ''massive'' amount of lashes if he wishes to remain with the Varden. Nasuada explains that his punishment must be severe and must be public, or else others will believe they too can disobey orders and the chain of command will break down, and that his success and relationship to Eragon are the only reasons she isn't immediately putting him to death for insubordination. Afterwards, she promotes him to captain, as he is too valuable to lose, and this way she can be sure that the only orders he can disobey are ''hers'', which had better only happen if it's in the process of directly killing Galbatorix. |
| 233 | * IHaveManyNames: Dragon riders and Eragon in particular pick many nicknames up from their peers. Dwarves - and subsequently the Varden, who've spent a lot of time with them - call them "argetlam", or "silverhand," for the silver patch riders have on their hands. Elves call them "shur'tugal," which is their invented word that means "dragon rider." Eragon picks up the name "Shadeslayer" after killing Durza. And the Urgals dub him "Firesword" after seeing him in action with his and call him that in his presence and without. |
| 234 | * IKnowYourTrueName: Used in conjunction with WordsCanBreakMyBones. In ''Inheritance'', before Angela the herbalist kills the high priest of Helgrind, she tells it that it should know her name, and then whispers her name in its ear. We don't get to hear what it is, but whatever it is is enough for the priest to emit a sustained, horrified shriek before Angela says "Oh, enough already!" and stabs it to death. |
| 235 | * ImHavingSoulPains: Eragon's back, due to being slashed open by Durza in the previous book, causes him tremendous pain through the first two-thirds of ''Eldest''. |
| 236 | * ImMelting: According to Brom, this would be the result of someone drinking Seithr oil. |
| 237 | -->"Only a puddle would have been left of you." |
| 238 | * ImmortalProcreationClause: Dwarves, who live much longer than humans, are repeatedly stated to reproduce at a slower rate. This is even more extreme with the immortal-unless-killed [[OurElvesAreDifferent elves]], who are even less prolific than the dwarves. At the beginning of the cycle, it's been over a decade since the last elf children (twins) were born, which is partially due to the fact that with such a long lifespan, Elves view children – a lifetime commitment – as the ultimate act of love and bonding. They don't exactly find that bond with every mate. |
| 239 | * In the last book, Arya even implies that their low number of children is a sign of just how seriously they've suffered under Galbatorix's reign - they're at legit risk of unsustainable numbers if they don't turn things around. |
| 240 | * ImposedHandicapTraining: Towards the end of the series, Eragon and Arya are sparring to keep their edge in time to fight Galbatorix. Arya pulls out every distracting trick she can think of, including making Eragon DistractedByTheSexy, so as to toughen his mentality in case Galbatorix starts to use illusion magic, he will be able to remain focused on his goal. |
| 241 | * IndoEuropeanAlienLanguage: In the early books, the Ancient Language apparently follows exactly the same grammatical constructions and rules as English. In ''Eldest'', Oromis reveals that Eragon's application of English rules to the Ancient Language resulted in him cursing [[spoiler:Elva]] rather than blessing her (just for the record, "May you be shielded" is not in the past tense). |
| 242 | * InstantExpert: Eragon learns magic faster than any of the other characters, despite him being JustAKid. He also learns to read in a week, and never has literacy problems after that, in either his own or the Ancient Language. It probably helped that his own mind was supplemented by Saphira's, who as a very young dragon was still very receptive to new knowledge and information. |
| 243 | * InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn: In the first book, [[spoiler:subverted by Arya and Saphira at the critical moment]]. Eragon is told that this is likely to happen with Galbatorix, since he's the only member of the Varden powerful enough to stand a chance. |
| 244 | [[/folder]] |
| 245 | |
| 246 | [[folder:Tropes K-N]] |
| 247 | * KeepingTheHandicap: Eragon is left with a nasty and painful back scar from his fight with Durza. He decides against having it removed at first, feeling like it's become a part of him. [[spoiler:Ultimately, it's removed when Eragon [[NextTierPowerUp is enchanted by the Agaeti Blodhren]].]] After she [[spoiler:wins the Trial of the Long Knives]], Eragon offers to heal Nasuada's deeply scarred arms. She declines on the grounds that [[spoiler:she needs to keep the scars to prove that she won and is worthy of being ruler.]] |
| 248 | * KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Murtagh does this to a slaver named Torkenbrand, killing him. |
| 249 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Many, many characters. Glaedr just happens to have survived by giving away his 'heart of hearts']]. |
| 250 | * KingIncognito: [[spoiler:Murtagh]] appears to be just an ordinary rogue, albeit one with a lot of expensive stuff, until it is revealed that he is [[spoiler:the son of Morzan, Galbatorix's most powerful general, and soon after takes his father's place as the Empire's champion.]] |
| 251 | * KnightTemplar: Nasuada and Eragon, arguably, and the Varden in general. In fact, all the factions (both good and bad) have traits of this, except the dwarves. |
| 252 | * KnightTemplarParent: ''Sloan'', who outright says he'll kill anyone who tries to mess with Katrina. |
| 253 | * LadyOfWar: |
| 254 | ** Nasuada, who succeeds her father as leader of the Varden, is graceful and poised. When the Varden invades the Empire, she leads her army from the battlefield. |
| 255 | ** Arya possesses the same grace and beauty as the other elves. She's also a deadly warrior and formidable magic user. |
| 256 | * LanguageOfMagic: The magic in this world was bound to the Ancient Language by a mysterious race of {{Precursors}}. It's still possible to cast magic without the Ancient Language (in fact, dragons are ''only'' capable of casting magic this way [[spoiler:and it's the only way ''to'' use magic once Galbatorix learns the true name of the Ancient Language and shuts off the magic for almost everyone else]]), but it's very difficult to get right and can easily go wrong. Dragons themselves can only use magic spontaneously when they get a certain "trigger", which most often happens during times of emotional stress. |
| 257 | * LanguageOfTruth: |
| 258 | ** It's impossible to lie in the Ancient Language. Doesn't apply when written though, only spoken or when in someone's mind. Any oath sworn in the Ancient Language is also binding, making it impossible to break unless you are released from it. |
| 259 | *** However, the Ancient Language will not prevent someone from speaking a falsehood if they believe said falsehood to be true. |
| 260 | ** This lends an interesting element to magic. Spells must be carefully worded to avoid becoming a lie if the spell fails – for example, if someone is restricting you, and your spell is "release me," if they're stronger than you, you'll die, since turning the spell off without getting free would make it a lie and it therefore just eats energy until it kills you. A better spell would be "reduce the energy restraining me," since even if you don't get free, you will have succeeded in reducing the energy a bit. Elves, who speak the ancient language as a native tongue, are the best at working around these nuances. |
| 261 | * TheLancer: Roran increasingly adopts this role in the Varden and the narrative structure of the series itself. |
| 262 | * LeftFieldDescription: The narration is filled with this sort of thing. Examples include "Movement flickered through it, like the swish of a bird across a clouded moon" and "Slippers flashing beneath her dress, like mice darting from a hole." |
| 263 | * LeftJustifiedFantasyMap: The variant with sea to the south as well. |
| 264 | * LeonineContract: The nobles who swore fealty to Galbatorix simply did so because he would kill them otherwise. |
| 265 | * LettingHerHairDown: After she arrives in Ellesmera, Arya stops wearing a leather band in her hair to show how relaxed she is. |
| 266 | * LifeEnergy: Used to fuel magic. |
| 267 | * LightningBruiser: Some races have supernatural strength and speed compared to humans. [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elves]] were blessed by their magical compact with the dragons, and Ra'zac are humans' natural predator. Human Dragon Riders will experience strength and speed growth over time, but nowhere near Elf levels. Shades, however, being possessed by spirits, can be difficult even for elves to keep up with and stand against. |
| 268 | ** [[ProudWarriorRace Kull]] might also count; they can run as fast as horses and are tough enough to fight five men at once. |
| 269 | * LittleMissSnarker: Elva has a lot of colorful things to say to the people around her, helped by her ability to deduce a lot of information about them with her powers. Eragon, in particular, ends up deservedly on the receiving end of it. |
| 270 | * TheLoad: Eragon himself in the first two books, as he always has to either become unconscious or be saved by someone in order to get anything done. |
| 271 | * LodgedBladeRecycling: During the final battle at the end of ''Eragon'', one of Hrothgar's soldiers is impaled by a spear. Hrothgar pulls the spear out of his comrade and throws it into an Urgal 20 yards away. |
| 272 | * LogicalWeakness: Elva can deliver {{breaking speech}}es due to her knowledge of what pains everyone...so Galbatorix just stops her from speaking with a spell to begin with. |
| 273 | * LoopholeAbuse: If you know someone's true name, you can use the Ancient Language to compel them to do your bidding, but your orders have to be very specific. This was how Murtagh was able to allow Eragon to remain free at the end of ''Eldest'' -- "Galbatorix ordered me to try to capture you, and I did try." In latter installments, it becomes obvious that Galbatorix has modified his orders to prevent this sort of thing, but the fact that Murtagh is still able to flee at all indicates that the orders are now something along the lines of "Capture him if at all possible, but flee if you can if it becomes obvious you can't win at the moment." |
| 274 | * LoveIsInTheAir: Blödhgarm gives off a scent that [[SmellsSexy attracts women]], which [[DistractedByTheSexy distracts Nasuada]] when they meet. She gets over this through [[ThinkUnsexyThoughts thinking about an acrid-tasting candy]] she once ate. |
| 275 | * LuddWasRight: Nasuada is faced with trying to fund the Varden which she has no idea how to go about doing, until she realizes after damaging her dress that the creation of lace, while time consuming, is not actually hard to produce energy wise, and so has the magicians of the Varden set to work magically creating lace and selling it for less than anyone else, causing massive waves in the textile industries of both the Varden's host country of Surda and the Broddring Empire. |
| 276 | * LukeIAmYourFather: The ending of Eldest has Murtagh inform Eragon that they're brothers, the sons of Morzan. Near the ending of Brisingr, Oromis and Glaedr instead inform Eragon that they're only ''half''-brothers, and his real father is Brom, though they still share a mother. |
| 277 | * LyingByOmission: The Ancient Language can't be used to speak falsehood. Aware of partial truths, elves have a special gesture to [[DefiedTrope promise that they won't use omission to mislead each other]]. |
| 278 | * MadeOfExplodium: Dwarven lamps in Tronjheim are lit with pure heat and light. When the lamp is broken, all of it is released at once, sending anyone unlucky to be in the vicinity [[BlownAcrossTheRoom flying]]. |
| 279 | -->'''Eragon''': Why did the lantern explode? |
| 280 | -->'''Bodyguard''': They are filled with heat and light, Argetlam. If they are broken, all of it escapes at once and then it is better to be far away. |
| 281 | * {{Magibabble}}: Oromis gets quite in depth about the rules of magic. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that learning magic in the setting is basically learning an entirely new language while simultaneously learning about the properties and limitations of using that language to preform magic. Its misuse can easily result in the death of the magician, those around the magician, or other catastrophic consequences. Oromis is explicitly teaching Eragon about the language and its full powers and limitations, so going into depth is important (if potentially uninteresting to some readers). |
| 282 | * MagicAIsMagicA: The abilities and limitations of using the Ancient Language to preform magic is quite consistent throughout all 4 books. Directly stated rules are almost never broken, and if they are it's generally acknowledged as an extremely unusual occurance. The main complaint about the system is that the first book has glaring gaps in relatively obvious uses of magic, such as killing enemies with basically no effort or the existence of magical wards against such attacks. As a result the later books (the second in particular) have a lot of explaining to do both in developing various concepts that were entirely ignored and, more importantly, explaining why no one ever mentioned any of those things to Eragon in the first place. There is some justification in that Eragon's magical education in the first book comes from Brom, who had an incomplete education himself and was also teaching Eragon numerous other skills (like reading and swordfighting) while on the road the entire time. Still, this doesn't really explain why Brom would leave out something as incredibly critical like a magical ward (leaving Eragon vulnerable to being killed by any sort of magical attack), or why no one ever mentions something as apparantly important as Wards to him when preparing for battles. It's explained that [[spoiler:The Twins]] lied, saying that he already knew how to use wards, but from the second book on it's made clear that EVERYONE in battle is under some sort of magic protection and it's mentioned repeatedly, despite them never being mentioned in the first book. |
| 283 | * MagicallyBindingContract: Anything someone swears to do in the Ancient Language ''will'' be done – it compels them. The only out is if their personality gets changed so much that they really aren't the same person as who swore it. |
| 284 | * MagicKnight: Shades, Elves, and Dragonriders tend to train in both combat and magic. |
| 285 | * ManipulativeBastard: Elva, being an [[TheEmpath empathic]] [[AntiHero antiheroine]], uses her power to discern a person's weaknesses and vulnerabilities, then say exactly the thing that she knows will give them the most comfort or the most pain. At one point, she does this to Eragon, and is able to bring him to his knees just with some well-chosen words. |
| 286 | * MasterSwordsman: Eragon ends up becoming one fairly early on. His case is perhaps a little unrealistic, in that about a year of sparring with Brom every night suddenly turns him into an elite warrior. But Brom does turn out to have been one of the ultimate badasses of this setting, so perhaps it's a testament to his teaching skill. |
| 287 | ** Murtagh is extremely skilled, having been trained from a young age by a great master (and his surrogate father) Tornac. Eragon admits he's probably a bit better than him. |
| 288 | ** Arya is extremely skilled, even for elf standards, and never loses a fight on that front. |
| 289 | ** Brom, who trained Eragon, is also extremely good, and hasn't even lost his edge with age. |
| 290 | *** Eragon's mastery is also subverted in the last book. He ends up sparring with Arya and his elite elf bodyguards at length, and discovers he's still losing to them most of the time even after all his experience. No matter how good he is, technical skill loses out to people who've been seeing your moves for a hundred years, it just takes a little longer to knock you down. |
| 291 | * MauveShirt: Kvîstor in ''Brisingr'', a Dwarf who serves as Eragon's guide and one of his bodyguards while in Tronjheim. [[spoiler:He winds up getting killed while protecting Eragon from assassins.]] |
| 292 | * MayflyDecemberRomance: Eragon and Arya. (Interestingly, Arya once indirectly described such a relationship to be viewed by the elves as similar to paedophilia on the elves' part. And it's implied that the perfect elves may not be right about ''everything'' after all.) |
| 293 | * MegatonPunch: |
| 294 | ** This becomes a specialty of Eragon in the later books. Being in fights constantly and now super-strong from Rider training, he's even described punching through men's shields and still stoving in their chests with single, powerful hits. |
| 295 | ** It's subverted in ''Brisinger'', though. He pulls one, and ''mangles'' the bones in his punching hand and even is worried he won't be able to heal them for a moment. |
| 296 | * MenAreTheExpendableGender: In the entirety of the four books, only a single named female character dies. |
| 297 | * MeaningfulName: "Eragon" is "dragon" with one letter changed, but then Paolini retconned this into "era gone by". |
| 298 | * MedievalUniversalLiteracy: Zig-zagged. Eragon is initially illiterate because, although Uncle Garrow was literate, as a farmer in a small village in the middle of nowhere he never really had any use for the skill and so didn't bother to teach it to his son and nephew. Eragon spends part of one chapter about halfway through the first book learning to read. |
| 299 | * MentorOccupationalHazard: Multiple times. |
| 300 | ** [[spoiler:Brom]] is killed protecting Eragon from the Ra'zac. |
| 301 | ** Murtagh's swordmaster Tornac was killed helping him escape from Galbatorix sometime before Murtagh met Eragon. |
| 302 | ** It also happens doubly late in the third book when [[spoiler:Eragon's second mentor Oromis and Saphira's dragon mentor Glaedr]] are killed in battle by [[spoiler:Murtagh and Thorn.]] |
| 303 | ** Durza's StartOfDarkness was the death of his sorcerer mentor Haeg. The boy's attempt to avenge his master ended in disaster when the spirits he summons overwhelmed him, turning him into a [[HumanoidAbomination Shade]]. |
| 304 | ** Happened in Horst's backstory when his mentor Bartrum died when Horst was 15, forcing him to find a new master to complete his training. |
| 305 | * MetaPower: The "Name of Names" or the True Name of the LanguageOfMagic grants dominion over all spells cast in that language. Anyone who knows the Name of Names can erase or alter other spells pretty much at will. Galbatorix plans to use it for controlling who can use magic. |
| 306 | * MightyGlacier: Dwarves, being formed from stone, are heavier and slower than other races, even being slower on average than humans, but not so slow as to pose no threat in combat. Dragons lean towards this as they get older, growing gradually bigger but losing mobility. |
| 307 | * MillionMookMarch: Galbatorix's army, fully marshalled at the end of ''Eldest'' numbers [[spoiler:over 100,000.]] To put that into perspective, the Varden's forces number about 4,000 at the start of the books. |
| 308 | * MindProbe: The main psychic power. Unfortunately, this particular ability can be used for MindRape. |
| 309 | * MindRape: Often used by the BigBad. Also done by the Twins on Eragon – they just don't care about the pain they cause as long as they got what they wanted to know. In fact, the Twins do it to everyone who shows up amongst the Varden. |
| 310 | * MundaneUtility: |
| 311 | ** Magic can be used for any number of mundane purposes. One such example is that when Oromis gives Eragon a razor for shaving, it cuts Eragon so badly that he devises a spell for shaving and from then on shaves in that matter. This is something that is explored in some detail, and even commented upon by certain other characters who fear magic and are disturbed by Eragon's unnatural clean-shavedness even at hours of the day when it wouldn't be normal. Whether or not Oromis [[StealthMentor did this on purpose]] to get Eragon to discover the spell is left up to the reader to ponder, though it is indicated that magicians have used such methods with their apprentices in the past. If apprentices didn't tap into their magical power on their own, then the magician would set them some mundane task such as moving a large pile of rocks until they finally grew so frustrated that they unconsciously tapped into their magic for the first time. |
| 312 | ** Nasuada hits upon the idea of using magic to mass produce lace as a means of supplying the Varden with capital. |
| 313 | * MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat: Saphira knows what Eragon is thinking when he looks at Arya . . . |
| 314 | * NameAmnesia: When the dragons learned that the thirteen dragons of the Forsaken had turned against their own kind and were actively helping the Forsaken to kill and enslave their own kind, the free dragons grew angry. They gathered their power and performed one of their inexplicable works of magic. Somehow, they stripped the Thirteen of their names. From that moment on, no one could remember, read, write, or speak any name belonging to those dragons. Common names, true names, nicknames, everything. They could not even say "I like this" or "I dislike that", because to do so would be to name themselves. |
| 315 | * NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom: |
| 316 | ** A being's true name in the language of magic is a true and comprehensive description of themselves, although how long they do or don't get isn't clear since none are explicitly described in the text. |
| 317 | ** The ancient wild dragons didn't have formal names as such, as they were more animalistic in mentality that humans, elves or bonded dragons. Instead, the "name" of the dragon who negotiated the end of the elf-dragon war is given as a running description of his attributes, history and notable deeds. |
| 318 | --->''Queen Tarmunora of the elves and the dragon who had been selected to represent us, whose name--''he paused, and conveyed a series of sense impressions to Eragon: long tooth, white tooth, chipped tooth: fights won, fights lost; countless eaten Shrrg and Nagra; seven-and-twenty eggs sired and nineteen offspring grown to maturity--''cannot be expressed in any language, decided that a treaty would not suffice.'' |
| 319 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: You only name your child Galbatorix if you ''want'' him to grow up to be evil. |
| 320 | ** Morzan isn't nearly as obviously evil, but it still has a sinister edge to it. |
| 321 | * {{Nephewism}}: Eragon is raised by his aunt and uncle, without ever knowing his parents. |
| 322 | * NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: This ties in with InstantExpert. It becomes way more obvious with the [[CompressedAdaptation compressed movie adaptation]] ("[[http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Eragon.aspx?Page=8 OMG I GOTZ MAGICK?!]]"), but is well explained by Eragon training and gaining strength and education over the months to years in which the books take place. |
| 323 | * NormalFishInATinyPond: Discussed in the last book regarding swordplay. Eragon ends up sparring with and repeatedly losing to his elite elven bodyguards, and Arya points out that since he's been fighting human soldiers who don't have very much experience at all, let alone competence, he's gotten used to not having to really try. |
| 324 | * NoseTapping: A traveling trapper does this when sharing rumors about there being a Rider in Alagaësia. |
| 325 | * NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:Murtagh and the Twins]]. |
| 326 | * NotSoDifferentRemark: The heroes have committed some distasteful actions of their own, such as poisoning Galbatorix's army before a battle. Lampshaded by Elva, who points out to Eragon "[[spoiler:Galbatorix would approve.]]" when he tries to [[spoiler:forcibly remove her powers after botching the job the first time.]] |
| 327 | [[/folder]] |
| 328 | |
| 329 | [[folder:Tropes O-Z]] |
| 330 | * ObfuscatingPostMortemWounds: After Eragon and Arya kill a squad of Empire soldiers, Arya and Eragon stab the corpses with a spear and a sword in order to make it look like they were killed by ordinary warriors, knowing the Empire is still searching for them. They make an exception with the soldier Eragon punched hard in the chest because they can't disguise an injury like that, so Arya tells Eragon that they'll just have to hope that whoever finds the body will assume a horse stomped on him. |
| 331 | * OfferedTheCrown: [[spoiler:Eragon]] is given the chance to become king of Alagaësia, but quickly turns it down. [[spoiler:Nasuada]] takes over instead. |
| 332 | * OldMaster: Oromis fills the Yoda role in this story, being a reclusive elderly master and survivor of the destroyed order who mentors Eragon as much as he can in the scant few months they have to work with. |
| 333 | * OneHitPolykill: When Eragon is attacked by a team of Dwarf assassins in ''Brisingr'', he [[OffWithHisHead decapitates]] three of them with a single blow. |
| 334 | * OneManArmy: |
| 335 | ** Eragon ends up this by ''Eldest'', not even counting Saphira, trusted to turn the tide in massive battles all by himself. With his super-strength, super-speed, massive swordfighting skill, magic-casting, mind-reading, and more, it's a fair appellation. |
| 336 | ** Any elf is this in comparison to humans, so Arya and Blodgharm count. The Riders were this formerly. |
| 337 | * TheOnlyOne: By the last book, Eragon is the last sane, free Dragon Rider left after [[spoiler:Brom is killed by Durza and Murtagh is enslaved by [[BigBad Galbatorix]], who {{mind control}}s him into killing Oromis and Glaedr. Though at the end of it, Murtagh is freed and Arya becomes a rider as well, and there are more eggs to be hatched.]] |
| 338 | * OrcusOnHisThrone: Galbatorix, while strong enough to wipe out the Varden by himself, decides to spend his time in the capital city, Uru'baen. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Nasuada thinks about how Galbatorix's pride is the only thing keeping the Varden from being destroyed. |
| 339 | * OurDragonsAreDifferent: They appear to be fusions of both western and eastern depictions, being long and serpentine, but still four-legged and monstrously strong, and they are also creatures that bond themselves to the first individual who touches them. |
| 340 | * OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Mining experts, proudly industrious, great beard-havers, and rock-attached mountain folk with a strong attachment to beer, a small rivalry with elves (nowhere near as pronounced as somewhere like ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'')... Gimli would feel right at home. |
| 341 | * OurElvesAreDifferent: Elves are portrayed similarly to Tolkien's, being immortal, wiser, faster, stronger and more beautiful than the other races and highly skilled at magic. |
| 342 | * OurOrcsAreDifferent: They're called Urgals. They also turn out to have been under MindControl of the Shade Durza. Once released, they're so pissed off with Galbatorix that they swiftly move to join the Varden, a move that is reluctantly accepted. They prove powerful and erstwhile allies. In the end, Eragon is so impressed with them, and also concerned politically about their future (their battle-hungry but small population frequently ran raids on human cities and left a deep sense of FantasticRacism behind), that he grants them the power to become dragon riders. |
| 343 | * OurVampiresAreDifferent: Shades are thin, pale-skinned creatures with unnatural strength and strong magical powers, who are created when a person is possessed by a dangerous spirit not unlike a demon. And while they can briefly be disembodied by severe injuries, the only way to kill them for sure is with a stab through their heart. Luckily, they're very rare. |
| 344 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:Delwin's son Elmund is killed in ''Eldest'' by a stray thrown spear while Delwin himself is killed by a catapult during the FinalBattle to take Urû'baen in ''Inheritance''.]] |
| 345 | * PatchworkMap: On the inside covers of the books. |
| 346 | * PayEvilUntoEvil: Eragon's philosophy is this. Possibly {{Lampshaded}} when four different characters, [[spoiler:Murtagh, Sloan, Elva, and a soldier in Feinster]], [[WhatTheHellHero call him out on this.]] |
| 347 | * PlotLeveling: In Brisingr, Eragon suddenly starts encountering enemies immune to his new story-breaking powers. However, most of them have been encountered by Roran and the [[RedShirtArmy Varden]]. |
| 348 | * PlotRelevantAgeUp: |
| 349 | ** [[spoiler:Elva]] in ''Eldest'' (AWizardDidIt). |
| 350 | ** [[spoiler:Also there's Thorn, born close to a year after Saphira yet is nearly as large as she is when he's first confronted at the end of ''Eldest'', although this is only because Galbatorix did it, Thorn is still mentally only a few months old despite having the body of a grown dragon, which is mentioned to be very confusing and painful for him]]. |
| 351 | * PokeInTheThirdEye: Powerful magicians are best not spied upon... |
| 352 | * PosthumousCharacter: Morzan, Eragon the first Rider, and [[spoiler:Brom]] after the first book. Also, as it turns out [[spoiler:Selena, mother of Eragon and Murtagh]]. |
| 353 | * AProtagonistShallLeadThem: Eragon with LaResistance, [[spoiler:Roran with his village]]. |
| 354 | * ProtagonistTitle: ''Eragon'' and ''Murtagh''. |
| 355 | * ProtectiveCharm: Magical wards are a vital and ubiquitous part of warfare. Since magic can let a skilled practitioner kill someone from a mile away, people of importance are always given wards - specially cast spells done by a magician - to protect them from magical damage at any distance and physical damage within an inch of their bodies. This lets them operate without fear of magical slaying and often provides an important layer of protection in the heat of battle. However, since the damage of a blocked attack will deplete your magician's energy and a strong one risks killing them, warded people are still incentivized to protect themselves robustly. |
| 356 | ** Mundane groups of soldiers in a battle are also warded by assigned spellcasters to prevent a skilled practitioner from killing them ''en masse''. When one on the Varden's side is overcome during a battle, the men he's assigned to start dying in droves as enemy spellcasters get their hooks in them. |
| 357 | ** Eragon himself starts placing them around people he cares about, such as Saphira, Arya, Orik and Roran. He notes that it's a risk, but he'll be more upset if they get killed. |
| 358 | * ProudWarriorRace: The Urgals are Orc {{expy}}s, very much a MightMakesRight BloodKnight race where [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership the strongest among them fight to lead the group.]] |
| 359 | * PsychicAssistedSuicide: During one battle, Blödhgarm gets control of an enemy mage's mind, forcing him to kill himself with magic. |
| 360 | * PsychicBlockDefense: |
| 361 | ** The Ra'zac are naturally shielded against mind powers, which makes them horribly effective assassins because they can't be detected. |
| 362 | ** Murtagh is easily able to shield his mind against psychic attacks; the only person who has breached his mind is [[spoiler:Galbatorix, and the only way he did this was by threatening Murtagh's dragon Thorn.]] |
| 363 | * In ''Eldest,'' Eragon gains the ability to [[spoiler:draw energy from living beings that aren't Saphira, which can kill the other being. Brom teaches him how to perform it on some insects without telling him about the killing part because he wants to drive home how terrible the price of [[ForbiddenSecretTechnique this magic]] is. Eragon feels as if he himself had died over and over, since you need to [[MindProbe psychically inhabit the mind of the target first]]. Traditionally, Dragon Riders only were told about it once their training was already complete, so their masters could avoid teaching it to Riders who would abuse it. Thanks to Galbatorix's ObviouslyEvil status, the Riders didn't tell him about it, making it one of the few abilities Eragon has and he doesn't. Later, at the Battle of the Burning Plains, Eragon uses it on an injured horse who was dying anyway. Later on, in ''Brisingr,'' Eragon partially replenishes his own energy [[ItMakesSenseInContext and that of his belt]] by taking energy from some animals that are about to be killed and eaten by [[LaResistance the Varden]], and he has to stop since the experience is so horrifying.]] |
| 364 | * PsychicPowers: Anyone who can use magic also gains the ability to touch other minds via a MindProbe. It is also mentioned that non magic users can have this ability too (then called "Mindbreakers"), although so far the only mentioned case of this is with dragons (who technically are magic users, but not at will). |
| 365 | * PsychicStatic: This technique can be learned by just about anyone with the right willpower to block psychics. It seems to be widely used in governments, to prevent any rogue Mindbreakers from stealing important information. |
| 366 | * PunctuationShaker: Ra'zac and Zar'roc, amongst others. |
| 367 | * APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: This is [[DiscussedTrope discussed]]. Neither of Eragon's teachers, Brom or Oromis, taught the BigBad of the series, Galbatorix. Oromis says he's glad for it because Galbatorix made sure to personally kill anyone that was involved in his teaching. However, Oromis ''did'' teach Morzan, who became Galbatorix’s right hand man. |
| 368 | * PurpleProse: |
| 369 | ** Surroundings and settings tend to be somewhat excessively described. Noticeably less in Brisingr, and to a lesser degree, in Eldest. |
| 370 | ** Happens in-universe when Orik drinks faelnirv – he claims it gives you "the gift of [[MotorMouth loquacion]]", but rather than making him talk a lot, it makes him speak this way. |
| 371 | * RankScalesWithAsskicking: The more powerful someone in the Empire is politically, the more powerful they are physically or magically. Durza is implied to be second only to Galbatorix, later Murtagh fills the role as well, and they are the only characters to give Eragon a proper fight. General Barst takes command of the Imperial Forces in Urubaen and he [[FrontLineGeneral leads from the front]], kicking all kinds of ass and taking down Islanzadi in the process, having been given an Eldunari to augment his strength. |
| 372 | * RebelliousPrincess: [[spoiler:Arya,]] to some extent. |
| 373 | * RedShirtArmy: Inverted with Eragon's Dwarven bodyguards in ''Brisingr''. The MauveShirt Kvîstor is killed while the other three generic ones survive. |
| 374 | * ReducedToDust: In ''Inheritance'', this is the grim fate of the enemy magician who fights the magician Carn who accompanies Roran to capture the city of Aroughs. Both kill each other via magic at the same time, Carn's corpse left blackened and withered. Carn, however, kills the enemy magician with an especially grim spell that drains all of the water from his body, leaving nothing but a fine grey dust which settles over the water. |
| 375 | * RejectionRitual: Some crimes in [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarven]] society are punishable by a form of banishment known as ''vargrimstn'', where they treat the exile as though they had [[{{Unperson}} ceased to exist]]. Eragon notes how chilling it is when after one high-ranked dwarf is pronounced banished, the other dwarves act as though his continued ranting is just ambient noise, and when he grabs hold of one of the other council members, the guards that pull him away do so with an attitude suggesting that they're just helping the councilor straighten his clothes. |
| 376 | * ReligionOfEvil: The cultists of Helgrind are this. HumanSacrifice and [[MalevolentMutilation ritualised mutilation]] is common amongst their ranks, to the point their High Priest is little more than a head and limbless torso carried from place to place on a litter, so extensively mutilated Eragon can't tell if the priest is male or female. [[spoiler:They're proved to be even ''worse'' in ''Inheritance'', where it's revealed the cultists actually worship [[HumanoidAbomination the Ra'zac]] as [[UltimateLifeForm living gods]], and seek to ensure the extinction of dragons so there will no longer be checks on their deity's freedom to hunt]]. |
| 377 | * RentAZilla: [[GiantFlyer Shruikan]] is absolutely ENORMOUS. The narration shows that Eragon has a [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm bit of trouble understanding]] that the gigantic black thing behind Galbatorix's throne is one creature. |
| 378 | * LaResistance: The Varden, with support from both the dwarves and Surda, has been opposing Galbatorix's rule for the better part of a century. |
| 379 | * {{Retcon}}: A couple of details (see {{BFS}} on this page for an example) were changed, generally for the better. Mostly averted with regard to the actual storyline. |
| 380 | * TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified: The Varden (rebellion) is good, while TheEmpire is evil. The Varden does have its bad eggs, however, and ''Inheritance'' explores the fact that once Galbatorix is defeated, there's still a vast Empire to rule over, most of which just consists of ordinary citizens who were subjugated (or even thrived!) under Galbatorix's rule, given that since most of them can't use magic, they just lived their lives like ordinary people. |
| 381 | * RivalTurnedEvil: [[spoiler:Murtagh, after his capture and MindRape]]. |
| 382 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Discussed in ''Brisingr''. It's noted that if Eragon were killed by the dwarves as one clan attempted, his dragon Saphira would "fill Farthen Dûr with a sea of our own blood." |
| 383 | * RoyallyScrewedUp: The people of Palancar Valley descend from King Palancar, who was RoyallyScrewedUp, including Eragon and Roran. |
| 384 | * RuleOfCool: Possible LampshadeHanging when the elven blacksmith chastises Eragon for specifying a design for purely aesthetic reasons, as well as by Angela in the battle at Feinster. |
| 385 | * SadisticChoice: Roran is forced to make one when he is punished for insubordination. He can take a lighter punishment and be discharged from the Varden's army, or suffer a more severe one and be allowed to continue serving. He goes with the second. |
| 386 | * SandInMyEyes: Every emotional scene is punctuated with "a single shining tear". This leads to the unfortunate implication that many of the characters never cared much for their loved ones, as more tears have been shed for other, lesser things. |
| 387 | * SavageWolves: Shrrg are gigantic wolves that inhabit the wilderness of the Beor Mountains. They grow to the size of horses and have fangs like sabers, prey on ferocious giant boars that grow to be even larger than them, and pose a considerable danger for travelers crossing the mountains. |
| 388 | * ScarsAreForever: While magic healing is good enough that it generally leave scars, some injuries are so grievous they leave them. Eragon and Murtagh both end up with massive scars across their backs from swords that laid them open at the wrong time, and Eragon's is even cursed enough that he ends up having agonizing muscle seizures. |
| 389 | * ScientificallyUnderstandableSorcery: Magic works by the same laws and logic as physics. A general rule is that it takes as much work to do something by magic as it would by mundane effort. |
| 390 | * ScrewYouElves: Paolini's elves are essentially Tolkien's written in detail - they're incredible magicians, immortal unless killed, so enlightened towards animals that they're all vegetarians and use animal-cruelty-free products, and so in tune with nature that they spend their time singing flowers into being and turning trees into their homes. But this all ends up fueling animosity towards them, since no other species has the luxury of being as ethical as them, and their attitudes end up breeding resentment. The dwarves in particular, see themselves as the elves without the high-mindedness, since they're also long-lived and incredible artisans. |
| 391 | ** [[spoiler:Murtagh]] makes a speech about this at the end of ''Eldest'', basically saying that they're a bunch of cowards who oppress humans. |
| 392 | * ShoutOut: |
| 393 | ** In ''Brisingr'', Arya doodles something about a lonely god in the sand in reference to ''Series/DoctorWho''. Paolini mentions this in the afterword. He says he did it because he's a fan of the Doctor. "And to those who got the line about the lonely god, all I have to say is that the Doctor can be anywhere at any time, even alternate dimensions. Hey! [[JustForFun/OneOfUs I'm a fan too!]]" |
| 394 | --->'''Eragon:''' What does it mean? |
| 395 | --->'''Arya:''' I don't know. |
| 396 | ** In ''Inheritance'' there's another ''Doctor Who'' reference. Angela, the herbalist, is knitting a blue hat with runes around the edge. When asked what the runes say, she responds: "Raxacori-- oh, never mind. It wouldn't mean anything to you anyway." There is a planet in ''Doctor Who'' called Raxacoricofallapatorius (it's where the Slitheen come from.) |
| 397 | ** In ''Inheritance'' there are lots of ''Doctor Who'' and other references, such as Solembum mentioning a box that was bigger on the inside. |
| 398 | ** Morn is named after a regular patron of Quark's bar in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', himself a ShoutOut to Norm from ''Series/{{Cheers}}''. |
| 399 | ** Some people and places are named after people that Paolini knows, for example Angela (his sister) and Palancar Valley (named after the artist who does the cover art). |
| 400 | ** [[Film/TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre "Barges? We don't want no]] ''[[Film/TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre stinking]]'' [[Film/TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre barges!"]] |
| 401 | * ShownTheirWork: While working on the novels, Paolini sometimes spent hours at a time researching on the Internet something like different types of seaweed. He discusses this in an interview with his editor available as a bonus on the audio edition of ''Inheritance''. |
| 402 | * SignatureDevice: Each dragonrider is gifted a specialized sword colored to match their dragons, and a [[MarkOfTheSupernatural scar where they touched their dragon]]. |
| 403 | * SingleSpeciesNations: The elves have their kingdom in the great northern forest Du Weldenvarden, and the dwarves have theirs in the Beor Mountains of the south. The Urgals appear to also have their own nation, although it's never shown on a map. For some of the series, the largely-human Varden are based in the dwarven kingdom, but it's clear that they are not citizens and don't expect to be there forever. |
| 404 | * SingleTear: Paolini is fond of having characters shed a single tear, such as when Eragon dreams of Arya in her cell in Gilead, where she cries a single tear that is described as shining "like a liquid diamond." |
| 405 | * SituationalHandSwitch: Eragon is forced to switch from right hand to left halfway through the first book when he breaks his wrist. |
| 406 | * SlaveMooks: Most of Galbatorix's soldiers and vassals don't serve him willingly, Murtagh included. He'll either coerce them into swearing loyalty to him in the Ancient Language, or make them by learning their [[IKnowYourTrueName true name]]. We're also told villagers are regularly conscripted, with any who resist being killed. |
| 407 | * SnakeTalk: The Ra'zac have a hissing accent. |
| 408 | * SnowMeansDeath: In Galbatorix's backstory, his dragon and friends were slain on a sheet of ice unmelted in summer. |
| 409 | * SnowballingThreat: Brom's tale of Galbatorix's conquest describes Galbatorix and the Forsworn growing stronger with every kill, which leads into the reveal that [[spoiler:they were enslaving the Eldunarí from the dragons they were killing.]] |
| 410 | * SomeCallMeTim: The true names of werecats are strange spitting, hissing, growling noises, though humans know them by names such as Solembum and Shadowhunter. |
| 411 | * SorcerousOverlord: Galbatorix is a powerful magic user and also the ruler of the Broddring Empire. |
| 412 | * SoulJar: The Eldunari are ''biological'' to dragons, though they only really exhibit this trope when they are disgorged. If an Eldunari is disgorged, it essentially contains their consciousness in its entirety, and anyone touching it can see into their heads, regardless of what mental defenses they have. If a dragon dies with the Eldunari still within them, the Eldunari will decompose, but if disgorged, the dragon will remain alive and confined to it. |
| 413 | * SpiderSense: Eragon's gedwëy ignasia (Shining Palm, the mark he got from becoming a Dragon Rider) sometimes itches when he's just barely missing something significant nearby. For instance, when he's about to be attacked it quite often itches, and having a werecat sneak by at the edge of Eragon's sight seems to have triggered it another time. |
| 414 | * SplitHair: Noticeably averted where, while training a dragon rider to care for his weapons properly, an actual metalsmith points out that you don't want that sharp an edge on most blades. Being that fine of a point also weakens the metal by making it so thin it can cut hair, meaning the sword in question wouldn't last very long before being damaged beyond the point of usability as a sword rather then a mace. |
| 415 | * StandardFantasyRaces: Alagaësia is home to humans, who are the primary point-of-view race and divided among a number of nations and cultures; elves, ancient and immortal forest-dwellers who wield powerful magic, isolate themselves from the outside world and don't generally have a very high opinion of humanity; and dwarves, a proud and clannish people who live in richly decorated holds beneath the mountains. These three groups form a loose alliance united against an evil human empire and the urgals, a barbaric people who are essentially orcs with [[HornedHumanoid horns]] and live in isolated wildernesses (however, like a lot of more recent depictions they're not {{always chaotic evil}}, switching to the good guys' side after learning the BigBad manipulated them into fighting his battles for him). There are also the dragons, powerful but often animalistic beings who by the books' time are all but extinct. Like many dragons in modern fantasy, they're dangerous but also very intelligent, speaking with {{telepathy}} and sometimes [[BondCreature bonding]] to elves or humans who become their [[DragonRider riders]]. |
| 416 | * StrawCharacter: An argument is presented between representatives of the religious Dwarves and atheist Elves. The Dwarf is emotional ranting, while the Elf is calm and wise. Downplayed, however, in that the Elf deliberately picked the fight, knowing that she could stay calm since she had no stake in it. |
| 417 | * SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:In the first chapter of ''Eldest'', Ajihad succumbs to wounds from an Urgal ambush.]] |
| 418 | * SuperSoldier: The soldiers Galbatorix deleted the capacity to feel pain from are able to continue fighting long past the point at which normal humans would be incapacitated. |
| 419 | * SuperSpeed: Possessed naturally by elves, Shades, Ra'zac, and Kull. Dragon Riders seem to gain this over time. |
| 420 | * SuperStrength: Elves, Shades, the Ra'zac, and Kull naturally possess great strength. All Dragon Riders gain this gradually, regardless of race. |
| 421 | * SurpriseParty: In ''Brisingr'', after Eragon returns to the Varden's camp and gets settled in, he heads off with Nasuada to what he thinks is going to be a boring dinner of political conversation with nobles who want to fawn over him and his dragon Saphira. But when Nasuada opens the flap to the tent, it turns out to be a surprise party arranged by her and Eragon's adoptive brother Roran featuring most of the villagers of his hometown of Carvahall and many other people he knows and likes (but not Arya, for some reason). |
| 422 | * SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: In ''Brisngr'', Roran defies his orders and leads the Varden forces to a heroic victory over the empire. Despite this, he is still guilty of ignoring his superiors and Nasuada is forced to punish him in order to prevent others from following his example. |
| 423 | * TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Eragon's move that finally unhinges Galbatorix is to cast a spell, along with the power of the dragons, that causes him to feel every feeling that he's evoked in others throughout his life, both good and bad. The agony of it is so terrible that Galbatorix eventually decides he just can't take it anymore and declares "Be not!" in the Ancient Language, annihilating himself and producing a nuclear blast of energy that very nearly destroys Eragon and everyone else with him and would have likely destroyed a large portion of Uru'baen as well had they not been so far underground and had Eragon not cast the appropriate protective spell.]] |
| 424 | * TemptingFate: Eragon trying to summon the true form of his sword. |
| 425 | * TestOfPain: The Wandering Tribes of the Hadarac Desert, introduced in ''Brisingr'', has "the Trial of the Long Knives", a ritual/ceremony to resolve leadership disputes where the opposing parties must cut themselves with a dagger to see who can endure more injuries without giving up or passing out. The one who can sustain the most cuts wins. |
| 426 | * TheseHandsHaveKilled: After Eragon heals the baby Hope in ''Inheritance'', he says that his hands are too bloody for that type of work. |
| 427 | * ThinkNothingOfIt: In ''Brisingr'', Angela the herbalist tells Roran this after he thanks her for healing the injuries on his back from whipping. She then changes her mind and says "Or rather, think something of it, but do not consider it overly important. Besides, it amuses me to have tended injuries on both your back and Eragon's." |
| 428 | * ThinkUnsexyThoughts: In ''Brisingr'', when Nasuada meets Blödhgarm, she is {{distracted|ByTheSexy}} by his [[SmellsSexy appealing scent]]. Elva advises her to think about the bitter taste of horehound, which clears her head. |
| 429 | -->Again she succumbed to the wanton attraction of Blödhgarm's odor, imagining what it would feel like to run her hands through his mane. She only returned to herself when Elva pulled on her left arm, forcing her to bend over and place her ear close to the witch-child's mouth. In a low, harsh voice, Elva said, "Horehound. Concentrate upon the taste of horehound."\ |
| 430 | Following her advice, Nasuada summoned a memory from the previous year, when she had eaten horehound candy during one of King Hrothgar's feasts. Just thinking about the acrid flavor of the candy dried out her mouth and counteracted the seductive qualities of Blödhgarm's musk. |
| 431 | * ThunderboltIron: All Riders' swords are made from an extraterrestrial metal that Rhunön named "Brightsteel", and it has special properties that she would expand and enchant on top of to make the swords [[InfinityPlusOneSword unbreakable, sharper than normal, and far thinner than typical swords]], which allowed the Riders to perform legendary feats with them. |
| 432 | * TitleDrop: In each book. ''Eragon'' is obvious. The climax of ''Eldest'' drops both the book's title and the title of the series, when [[spoiler:Murtagh takes Za'roc from Eragon as his '''inheritance''' from their father. After all, he ''is'' the '''eldest''' brother]] ''Brisingr'', the third book, is both the true name of "fire" and the very first spell Eragon ever cast (way back in the first book). More significantly, it is also [[spoiler:the name he gives to his new sword after it is forged]]...with interesting results. It's not dropped much in the last book, but it's implied that Eragon's ''Inheritance'' is [[spoiler:the responsibility of leading and rebuilding the Dragon Riders]]. |
| 433 | * TonightSomeoneDies: [[spoiler:In addition to Ajihad dying in the book's first chapter, Hrothgar at the end of book two. In book three, Master Oromis, the OldMaster. Glaedr survives in his Eldunari but is physically dead, and exists merely as an Eldunari in the final book, when Islanzadi dies as well.]] |
| 434 | * TooAwesomeToUse: [[spoiler:Brom's ring contains so much energy that Eragon tries not to use it unless necessary, just in case. He is later forced to expend all of it to tear down the walls of Dras'Leona.]] |
| 435 | * TookALevelInBadass |
| 436 | ** Eragon. Special mention during ''Eldest'', in which he is trained to nearly the level of a full Rider in a fraction of the time it should have taken. |
| 437 | ** Roran. In the same title that Eragon is taking his level in badass, Roran is doing the same - going from simple farmer to fighter of Ra'zac and badass leader of the entire village of Carvahall. |
| 438 | * TrilogyCreep: What was once a "Trilogy" is now a "Cycle" with four books, considering ''Brisingr'' (the third, and what was meant to be the final, book) was around 900 pages and not even at the halfway point of completion. |
| 439 | * TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: Spirits, which can be summoned by sorcerers to accomplish magical feats, will do this at the first opportunity if the sorcerer isn't capable, to create shades. |
| 440 | * TwistEnding: ''Eldest'' reveals that Murtagh and Eragon are [[spoiler:brothers.]] ''Brisingr'' reveals that they [[spoiler:are actually half-brothers who share a mother.]] |
| 441 | * UnequalRites: Magicians have independent power, sorcerers enslave spirits for power, wizards and witches gain power from charms... |
| 442 | * UnmanlySecret: Referenced in the thoughts of the Varden leader Nasuada in ''Inheritance'' when she thinks about how certain men within her army have revealed things about themselves to her that would be surprising given that their outward loves seemed to be only "wine, women, and war," such as a tendency to memorize romantic poems. |
| 443 | * UnpleasantParentReveal: {{Subverted}} in the second book. [[TheChosenOne Eragon]] is told by [[AntiHero Murtagh]] that he is the son of Morzan, the last of the Forsworn and overall bad person. As it turns out, however, while his mother ''was'' Morzan's wife, his father is actually [[spoiler:[[MentorArchetype Brom]]]]. |
| 444 | * UnresolvedSexualTension: |
| 445 | ** Arya and Eragon at the end of Book IV. |
| 446 | ** Murtagh and Nasuada, to some extent. |
| 447 | * UnskilledButStrong: Dragons are capable of performing feats of magic of such scale they might as well be miracles. Unfortunately, dragons are incapable of using the Ancient Language to cast magic and can only use the wordless variation that is entirely dependent on their intentions and mindset at the time, the results are often unpredictable based on that, and they can't even access their innate magic save in specific circumstances often brought about by strong emotions. |
| 448 | * UnspokenPlanGuarantee: As a general rule, none of the heroes' brilliant plans are explained onscreen beforehand. |
| 449 | * UnusualEuphemism: Sloan's [[ShutUpKirk tirade]] about Eragon features a veritable barrage. |
| 450 | -->'''Sloan:''' . "You're nothing but the yellow-bellied offspring of a canker-ridden bunter. You're a bastard, you are, and an unlicked cub; a dung-splattered, tallowfaced rock-gnasher; a puking villain and a noxious toad, the runty, mewling spawn of a greasy sow. I wouldn't give you my last crust if you were starving, or a drop of water if you were burning, or a beggar's grave if you were dead. You have pus for marrow and fungus for brains, and you're a scugbacked cheek-biter!" |
| 451 | * VanityPublishing: The series started as this, before a larger publisher got their hands on it. |
| 452 | * {{Veganopia}}: Elven society, and more a Vegetanopia. Justified somewhat in that it's difficult to eat something when you can hear its thoughts and literally feel its fear as it dies. |
| 453 | * WarIsHell: Though the series has endured criticism for glorifying war, the characters regularly [[DiscussedTrope discuss]] how fighting and killing stains both their hands and their souls, how it gives them nightmares and troubles them during the day besides and try to find ways to resolve conflicts peacefully when they can. Multiple male characters struggle with the impact of (unnamed) PTSD on their presentation as men in a masculinity-means-strong society, and the torture most of the main women go through definitely leaves a mark. |
| 454 | * WeAreAsMayflies: The Elves, in relation to humans. Also, the Riders, if they live long enough. |
| 455 | * WeCanRuleTogether: In ''Brisingr'', Eragon receives this offer from his father [[spoiler:Morzan...but A.) It was only a nightmare (Morzan had long been dead.) and B.) Morzan wasn't really his father; he just thought that he was, until he later learned otherwise.]] Later, Galbatorix offers this for Nasuada when she's his prisoner. Unsurprisingly, she refuses. |
| 456 | * WeirdnessMagnet: Eragon. Lampshaded by Saphira: |
| 457 | --> '''Saphira:''' Nothing out of the ordinary ever occurs to me when I'm by myself. But you attract duels, ambushes, immortal enemies, obscure creatures such as the Ra'zac, long-lost family members, and mysterious acts of magic as though they were starving weasels and you were a rabbit that wandered into their den. |
| 458 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Twice, in Brisingr: |
| 459 | ** The two women Angela asks Eragon to bless. After receiving the blessing, the two go on their own journey without appearing again. [[spoiler:[[TheBusCameBack Eventually, one of them reappears in the next book when she saves Roran's life during the Battle of Uru'baen]], but there is still no mention of why she was there and if there was a specific reason]]. |
| 460 | ** The soldier wounded during the Battle of the Burning Plains who, after getting hit by a catapult shell, becomes able to see the energy that impregnates living beings and the one stored inside gems. |
| 461 | * WhatMeasureIsAMook: A major theme of the series. In the first book, Eragon only has to fight [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Urgals]] and a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Shade]], and doesn't struggle much with it morally, especially after coming across a village massacred by the former early on. But from the second book on, he ends up mostly fighting human soldiers, including what he knows are unwilling recruits or people just defending their homes. Over time he becomes increasingly frazzled by the action and finds it hard to cope, and the Urgals become sympathetic fairly quickly, calling even his past actions into doubt. |
| 462 | ** ''Brisingr'' probably stresses this the most, as during an undercover exfiltration from enemy territory, Eragon kills a young recruit who promises he won't tell anyone he saw them, but who has been forced to swear a magical oath that will compell him to tell when someone asks him. Eragon kills him but is haunted by his death for days. |
| 463 | * WhatTheHellHero: Four examples: Firstly, [[spoiler:Murtagh heavily criticizes Eragon's (and the Varden's) moral stance and allegiance at the end of ''Eldest'', going so far as to say that Galbatorix isn't bad enough to earn what Eragon's doing to the Empire]]. Secondly, Sloan gives Eragon a massive tongue lashing in ''Brisingr'' when he encounters him, complete with lots of [[UnusualEuphemism fantasy swear words]]. Thirdly, after Eragon [[spoiler:attempts to heal Elva of her [[BlessedWithSuck curse]], he makes a mistake and only succeeds in making it painless, leaving Elva still empowered but no longer shackled down with a desire to help others, turning her into an AntiHero. Shortly after, he decides that she isn't mature enough to handle such power and tries to take it from her, whereupon she puts him down and tells him he's behaving as Galbatorix would.]] And fourthly, a [[spoiler:soldier in Feinster]] complains about Eragon "taking glory for himself" by disrupting the peace and slaughtering even those who have been forced to serve the Empire. |
| 464 | * WhoWantsToLiveForever: A source of {{angst}} for Eragon. Somewhat alleviated by the fact that there's a whole race of immortals who will live through it with him. |
| 465 | * AWizardDidIt: The [[spoiler:Ancient Language]]. |
| 466 | * WizardsLiveLonger: Dragon Riders are said to be immortal unless killed in battle or poisoned. |
| 467 | * WordsCanBreakMyBones: The Ancient Language, being the language used for magic, is perfectly capable of killing you. If mishandled, it can also kill its unwary user. |
| 468 | * TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Islanzadi]], an established badass, is killed without significant effort by [[spoiler:Barst]]. |
| 469 | * WreckedWeapon: Despite the wards Eragon placed on it, the falchion he uses for part of ''Brisingr'' winds up shattering when a blow is deflected and the blade hits a wall. |
| 470 | * YeGoodeOldeDays: Everybody is always rambling about how awesome the days before Galbatorix were. |
| 471 | * YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: The archaisms in the books are often used incorrectly. An example would be Orik saying "mine King, Hrothgar." "Mine" is only used before vowels. Characters also use "thou" and "you" within the same sentence. This may be a stylistic decision on Paolini's part, though some (especially those who know a bit about early modern English) feel that it breaks the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. |
| 472 | * YouAreNotAlone: Both ''Brisingr'' and ''Inheritance'' end with Eragon and Saphira at first feeling a sense of loss and emptiness, but then realizing that they are not alone and they both have people to help and guide them, as well as people of their own to help and guide. |
| 473 | * YouCanTalk: |
| 474 | ** When Solembum the werecat speaks to Eragon telepathically the first time. Eragon utters: "You said that!" followed by the reply: "Who else?" |
| 475 | ** In ''Eldest'', Roran does this with Saphira as well. Even though she doesn't speak to him directly, Roran exclaims "she speaks!" when Eragon repeats her words to him for the first time. |
| 476 | * YoungestChildWins: Eragon has had a much nicer life than his analogue. |
| 477 | * YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Elva, being the emotional manipulator that she is, ''purposefully uses this tactic against Eragon'', telling him that Galbatorix would approve of his actions. This leaves him badly shaken and questioning his morals. Why he didn't come to this revelation right after what he did to Sloan is anyone's guess. |
| 478 | * YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry: Angela claims in the first book that Eragon doesn’t want to see her "''irritated''". |
| 479 | [[/folder]] |
| 480 |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Literature / InheritanceCycle
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
