Line #41 Literature/TalesOfTheFrogPrincess


1	%%
2	%%
3	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
4	%%
5	%%
6	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_frog_princess.jpg]]
7
8	A book series by Creator/EDBaker that was the very, very loose inspiration for ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog''. The books are, in order:
9
10	* ''The Frog Princess'' (2002)
11	* ''Dragon's Breath'' (2003)
12	* ''Once Upon a Curse'' (2004)
13	* ''No Place For Magic'' (2006)
14	* ''[[{{Prequel}} The Salamander Spell]]'' (2007)
15	* ''The Dragon Princess'' (2008)
16	* ''Dragon Kiss'' (2009)
17	* ''A Prince Among Frogs'' (2010)
18	* ''The Frog Princess Returns'' (2017)
19
20	The first four books in the series follow Princess Emeralda (AKA Emma), a tall, awkward, clumsy princess who constantly hides in the swamp to avoid her mother. There, she meets prince-turned-frog Eadric. During the first four books, Emma and Eadric fall in love, Emma comes into her abilities as a witch, and they end the curse that has been plaguing Emma's family. The fifth book is a prequel about Emma's aunt Grassina. The last three books are about Emma and Eadric's daughter Millie.
21
22	The series was dormant for over six years before E.D. Baker announced on her facebook page that a new novel, "The Frog Princess Returns," set in between the third and fourth books, would be released in the summer of 2017.
23
24	----
25	!!Tropes
26
27	* AbusiveParents:
28	** Haywood's father was emotionally abusive, before letting all his brothers gang up on him at once and attack him.
29	** Chartreuse is borderline emotionally abusive to Emma, constantly criticizing her and making it very clear she'd prefer if Emma were different.
30	* AnimalTalk: All animals can talk to each other, and humans who have been transformed into animals retain the ability after they turn back. Witches and wizards get it for life automatically, but non-magical people have to practice often or they'll forget how. Eadric, being friends with a bat and having a beloved horse, has no problem practicing.
31	* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Bradston is this to Eadric, who's nicknamed him Brad the Brat. Hell, it was a rather mean-spirited joke on Bradston's part that led to Eadric getting turned into a frog in the first place! That said, he does love him, and doubts Bradston would've played that joke on him if he'd had any way of knowing how it would turn out. (Emma herself doubts this after ''meeting'' him.)
32	* ArrangedMarriage: The first book gets kicked off when Emma is engaged (completely against her will) to Prince Jorge. She gets out of it.
33	* BettyAndVeronica: Sweet, naive, bubbly Li'l vs. spoiled, arrogant Hazel, for Garrid. Subverted in that Garrid was never ''really'' interested in Hazel -- he was courting her for political reasons.
34	* [[BigLittleBrother Big Little Sister]]: Grassina to Chartreuse, as Grassina is far more more powerful and respected, despite Chartreuse being queen.
35	* CoolOldLady: Olivene, even while she was under the family curse. ''Especially'' while she was under the family curse. It helps that she's an insanely powerful witch who always makes her opinion known.
36	* CurseEscapeClause: It's actually a ''law of magic'' that curses have to have a way to break them--and they ''can't'' be impossible. Difficult, yes. Impossible, no. Grassina comments that there seems to be a certain level of fairness required. Olivine also notes this when she reveals what it would take to break her curse on Haywood, which everyone immediately dismisses as "impossible."
37	-->'''Olivine:''' It's not impossible, or it wouldn't have worked.
38	* DarkIsNotEvil: Garrid is a vampire who competes in a jousting tournament under the name "The Black Knight," but is a good guy.
39	* DeadpanSnarker:
40	** Emma at times. Being sarcastic is how she copes with things, especially in earlier books.
41	** Zoe also has her moments, presumably for the same reason.
42	** Grassina and Olivene were like this while under the influence of the curse.
43	--->'''Emma:''' If you don't have time to talk to me, I can come back later.\
44	'''Curse!Grassina:''' Don't be silly. Of course I don't have the time.
45	* DeathByChildbirth: Haywood's mother died giving birth to his youngest sister.
46	* DisproportionateRetribution: Fairies are known for cursing people for offending them, and it is ''easy'' to offend them. The Swamp Fairy didn't just curse Hazel for being rude; she cursed all her female relatives, including the ones who weren't even ''born'' yet. And refuses to lift the curse after literal ''centuries''.
47	* ExactWords: Olivine's curse on Haywood relies on this. None of the four objects required to break the curse exist... if you interpret them ''literally''. For example, one item is "a gossamer hair of mother of pearl." Mother of pearl, of course, has no hair... but Olivine knows a mermaid named Pearl, whose mother has translucent blonde hair.
48	* TheFairFolk: A mixed bag. Fairies aren't ''evil'', and have a noted [[WouldntHurtAChild soft spot for kids]], but they're extremely vain, easy to offend, and impossible to reason with.
49	* FieryRedhead: Grassina in her youth, with auburn hair and an explosive temper.
50	* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: Garrid, who's a very helpful and usually cheerful ally towards our heroes.
51	* TheGift: Magic. You either have it or you don't. Non-magical people can sometimes make ''some'' magic work, but in very small amounts, and it rarely goes right, no matter what they do. It appears to run in families, but can also show up randomly. Chartreuse doesn't have it, and never quite got over it--not helped by the fact that her daughter ''does'' have it.
52	* HappilyMarried: All of the married couples in the series are incredibly happy together. Even Limelyn and Chartreuse, though they don't talk much by the time of the main series, do genuinely love each other.
53	* InterspeciesRomance:
54	** Li'l and Garrid; a real bat with a vampire who can turn into a bat.
55	** Millie and Audun; a human who turns into a dragon and a real dragon (who later learns how to turn into a human).
56	%%* {{Jerkass}}: Chartreuse, Frazella, Jorge, Bradston, Maybelle, Eduardo, Hazel...
57	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
58	** Francis, who is sarcastic and has no qualms about picking on his cousin, but is a loyal, chivalrious and brave young man.
59	** Eadric is stubborn, sarcastic and hotheaded, but a good man who's always loyal to Emma.
60	* KaizoTrap: Non-video game example. The spell that turned Haywood into an otter has an escape clause, but completing it [[spoiler:makes a shower of flowers fall from the sky. Emma's family is cursed so that any woman over the age of 16 who touches a flower will become an ugly {{Jerkass}}. Grassina undoes the spell, but is cursed in return.]]
61	* KickTheDog: The Swamp Fairy cursing Hazel? A bit over-the-top, but Hazel ''was'' a horrible SpoiledBrat even before she snapped at her, so [[AssholeVictim fine]]. Cursing all her female relatives and descendants on top of that? Plain cruel.
62	* MeaningfulName:
63	** ''Vannabe'' is a wannabe witch.
64	** Li'l, well... [[ShapedLikeItself is.]]
65	** The royal family of Greater Greensward (all of whom are descended from the first Green Witch) have green-themed names.
66	%%* NiceGuy: Haywood
67	%%** Jasper
68	* PainfulTransformation: Turning into a dragon isn't very pleasant.
69	* PrimalPolymorphs:
70	** Downplayed by Haywood. He's human but spent thirty years under a curse that turned him into an otter. He says he got used to life as an animal relatively quickly, and by the time he's turned back, he's spent ''much'' more of his life as an otter than a man. While he's able to return to human society thanks to his friends, he doesn't do well in crowds, and prefers a very simple life away from most people.
71	** Similarly downplayed by Emma and Eadric. Emma was always a RebelliousPrincess who preferred spending time in the swamp to the castle, though this was largely due to wanting to get away from her controlling mother and her attempts to marry her off. After being turned into a frog, she grows even more comfortable in the swamp and forest, but she's able to reintegrate into human society with no trouble, due to only having been a frog for a couple weeks. Eadric also has no trouble, despite having been transformed for about a year. However, both feel completely at ease in the wilderness and [[AnimalTalk talking to animals]], and [[OutdoorsyGal Emma]] in particular seems to like being in nature better than at court. Once she learns to transform herself into a dragon voluntarily, she splits her time about 50/50 between being a human and being a dragon, seeing it as an escape from her human life. At one point, she internally admits that, if not for her beloved Eadric, she might consider just living the rest of her life as a dragon, free in the wild.
72	* SickeninglySweethearts: Haywood and Grassina. Even ''they'' realize how stupid they sound in ''Salamander Spell''.
73	* SingleTargetSexuality: Emma only has eyes for Eadric (though Eadric has loved a girl before Emma), Li'l and Garrid only have eyes for one another, and Grassina and Haywood... well, they were apart for over two decades and neither of them ever got together with someone else.
74	* SkewedPriorities: Chartreuse is utterly horrified that Emma was alone with an unrelated young man (i.e., Eadric) with no chaperone for several days, to which Emma exasperatedly has to remind her that they were ''frogs'' at the time.
75	%%* SpoiledBrat: Hazel, Chartreuse (to some extent), Millie II, and Bradston.
76	* StrawVegetarian: Averted. Emma becomes a vegetarian after having been turned into a frog, especially since she now calls so many animals her friends, but she doesn't care if other people continue to eat meat (including Eadric, who was also turned into a frog and has no such compunctions).
77	* SureLetsGoWithThat: In ''Once Upon a Curse'', once arriving in the Dark Ages, Emma is initially mistaken for one of the many daughters of Uncle Markus and Aunt Frederika, which she goes with in order to have an excuse to hang around the castle. However, said daughters and aunt are clearly confused when Emma waves to them, and Emma makes every effort to avoid them. Millie then tells Emma that she's figured it out -- Aunt Frederika isn't really Emma's mother, but Uncle Markus ''is'' her father, and Frederika was forced to raise her as her own despite resenting Emma for it. Emma's relieved that Millie's found her own explanation, and plays along.
78	* TimeTravel: In ''Once Upon a Curse'', Emma, Eadric and Li'l travel back to the Dark Ages.
79	* TheUnfavorite: Haywood was by far the least favorite child of his father, for being a nerdy weakling.
80	%%** Chartreuse
81	* VagueAge: Garrid. He looks like he's a young man, but isn't. We know he's old, but we don't know ''how'' old.
82	* VampiresAreSexGods: Garrid is described as being very, very handsome.
83	* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Emma mentions that Garrid's relatives in ''No Place For Magic'' have an odd accent. Judging by the audiobooks, the trope applies to Garrid himself.
84	* WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent:
85	** Francis's parents, Haywood and Grassina, wish he would practice magic more often, but Francis just isn't interested.
86	** Hinted at with Garrid and Zoe, due to Zoe not being on board with the whole "drinking blood" thing.

Context Literature / TalesOfTheFrogPrincess