Line #96 Literature/TheElricSaga


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/whitewolf.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''Arioch! Arioch! Blood and souls for my lord Arioch!'']]
3
4	->''"I have this feeling that my luck is none too good.''\
5	''This sword here at my side don't act the way it should.''\
6	''Keeps calling me its master, but I feel like its slave;''\
7	''Hauling me faster and faster to an early, early grave;''\
8	''And it howls! It howls like hell!''\
9	''I'm told it's my duty to fight against the Law;''\
10	''That wizardry's my trade, and I am born to wade through gore.''\
11	''I just wanna be a lover, not a red-eyed, screaming ghoul.''\
12	''I wish it picked another to be its killing tool."''
13	-->-- "Black Blade", '''Music/BlueOysterCult'''
14
15	Originally a six book series by the influential fantasy author Creator/MichaelMoorcock, the story follows its title character, Elric of Melniboné, in his journey from a sickly sorcerer-king of a decadent and corrupt empire to a top class warrior involved with the affairs of the gods of [[LawVersusChaos Law and Chaos]]. His iconic weapon is Stormbringer, one of two evil demonic runeblades that feast upon the souls of those their wielders slay with them, have wills of their own, and tend to take over their wielders on occasion, which leads to the tragic deaths of pretty much everyone Elric holds dear.
16
17	----
18	!!Installments:
19	The series contains numerous novels and short fiction, not written in the same order as the internal chronology. Several of the Elric novels are fix-ups of short stories published years or decades earlier.
20
21	[[AC:Original series]]
22	* ''Elric of Melniboné'' (novel, 1972)
23	* ''The Sailor on the Seas of Fate'' (collection, 1976)
24	** "Sailing to the Future"
25	** "Sailing to the Present"
26	** "Sailing to the Past"
27	* ''The Weird of the White Wolf'' (collection, 1977)
28	** "The Dream of Earl Aubec" (a.k.a. ''Master of Chaos'')
29	** "The Dreaming City"
30	** "While the Gods Laugh"
31	** "The Singing Citadel"
32	* ''The Sleeping Sorceress'' (novel, 1971, a.k.a. ''The Vanishing Tower'')
33	** "The Torment of the Last Lord"
34	** "To Snare the Pale Prince"
35	** "Three Heroes With a Single Aim"
36	* ''The Bane of the Black Sword'' (collection, 1977)
37	** "The Stealer of Souls"
38	** "Kings in Darkness"
39	** "The Flamebringers" (a.k.a. ''The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams'')
40	** "To Rescue Tanelorn"
41	* ''Stormbringer'' (novel, 1965)
42	** "Dead God's Homecoming"
43	** "Black Sword's Brothers"
44	** "Sad Giant's Shield"
45	** "Doomed Lord's Passing"
46
47	[[AC:Later novels]]
48	* ''Fortress of the Pearl'' (novel, 1989)
49	* ''The Revenge of the Rose'' (novel, 1991)
50	* ''The Citadel Of Forgotten Myths'' (novel, 2022)
51
52	[[AC:Moonbeam Roads trilogy]]
53	* ''Daughter of Dreams'' (formerly ''The Dreamthief's Daughter'') (2001)
54	* ''Destiny's Brother'' (formerly ''The Skrayling Tree'') (2003)
55	* ''Son of the Wolf'' (formerly ''The White Wolf's Son'') (2005)
56
57	[[AC:Collections]]
58	* ''Elric at the End of Time'' (1984)
59
60	[[AC:Anthologies Including Work by Other Authors]]
61	* ''Michael Moorcock's Elric: Tales of the White Wolf'' (1994)
62	* ''Pawns of Chaos: Tales of the Eternal Champion'' (1996)
63
64	[[AC:Graphic Novels]]
65	* By P. Craig Russell
66	** ''Elric of Melniboné'' (with Roy Thomas and Michael T. Gilbert; Pacific Comics) (1983-1984)
67	** ''Elric: The Dreaming City'' (Creator/{{Marvel}}/Epic Comics) (1982)
68	** ''Elric: One Life'' (Topps Comics) (1996)
69	** ''Elric: Stormbringer'' (Creator/DarkHorse) (1997)
70	* First Comics
71	** ''Elric: Sailor on the Seas of Fate'' (1985-1986)
72	** ''Elric: The Weird of the White Wolf'' (1986-1987)
73	** ''Elric: The Vanishing Tower'' (1987-1988)
74	** ''Elric: The Bane of the Black Sword'' (1988-1989)
75	* ''Michael Moorcock's Multiverse'' (artwork by Walt Simonson and John Ridgway [respectively]) (1999)
76	* ''Elric: Making of a Sorcerer'' (artwork by Walt Simonson) (2007)
77	* ''Elric: The Balance Lost'' (Creator/BoomStudios) (2011)
78	* Creator/TitanComics
79	** ''Elric: The Ruby Throne'' (2014) (adaptation of ''Elric of Melniboné'' by Julian Blondel, illustrated by Didier Poli, Jean Bastide and Robin Recht with an introdution by Moorcock; originally published in French)
80	** ''Elric: Stormbringer'' (2015) (adaptation of the novel of the name name by Jean-Luc Cano and Julien Blondel, illustrated by Didier Poli, Jean Bastide, Julien Telo, Robin Recht and Scarlett Smulkowski; originally published in French)
81	** ''Elric: The White Wolf'' (2018) (written by by Jean-Luc Cano and Julien Blondel with art by Julien Telo and Robin Recht)
82	** ''Elric: The Dreaming City'' (2021)
83
84	[[AC:Tabletop Games]]
85	* ''Elric: Battle at the End of Time'' (1977) - Board {{Wargame}} published by Creator/{{Chaosium}} and later Creator/AvalonHill under the name of ''Elric: Young Kingdoms Adventure Game''
86	* Creator/{{TSR}}'s ''Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes'' (1976) and the first edition of ''Deities & Demigods'' (1980) for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' had a chapter for Melnibonéan world. After some confusion with Creator/{{Chaosium}} over the copyright licence[[note]]Long story short, Chaosium contacted Moorcock personally and were granted the rights by him, but TSR simultaneously contacted Moorcock's agent and were given the rights by them. Since the only way to legally resolve that dispute would be to sue Michael Moorcock (since he, technically, would be the one in the wrong for selling the same thing to two different parties), they resolved it amicably between themselves and not, as is often thought, through legal action. [[/note]], the second edition of ''Deities & Demigods'' had a credit to Chaosium before Melnibonéan material was removed in the third edition.
87	* ''TabletopGame/{{Stormbringer}}'' (fourth edition was called ''Elric'') (1981) - TabletopRoleplayingGame published by Creator/{{Chaosium}} based on using their ''Basic Role-Playing'' system. Chaosium also published a version of the RPG using the MediaNotes/D20System called ''Dragon Lords of Melniboné''.
88	* ''Elric of Melniboné'' (2007) -- TabletopRoleplayingGame published by Mongoose Publishing using rules based on ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest''.
89	* ''Elric: Rise of the Young Kingdoms'' (2023) - A board game which players control the leaders of nations within the Young Kingdoms that are supporting Elric in his wars.
90
91	And yes, ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' fans, the Elric brothers from that series are indeed named after Elric of Melniboné.
92	----
93	!!These books provide examples of:
94
95	* AdaptationalVillainy:
96	** The Titan Comics graphic novels have made Elric a VillainProtagonist who kills hapless slaves, innocent civilians and his own, loyal followers on a whim, making his canonical moments of mercy and insight come off as whimsical, rather than moral, as well.
97	** In the same comic, [[spoiler:Cymoril engages in killing naked slaves and eventually she usurps the throne of Melniboné]].
98	* AlienSea: The Heavy Sea that allows travel between worlds is thick like mercury. It's just barely drinkable but has to be chewed.
99	* AliensOfLondon: In the "Elric at the End of Time" crossover, Una Persson notes that Elric has a vaguely Scottish accent.
100	%%Put it in FusionDance* AllYourPowersCombined: In ''The Sailor on the Seas of Fate'', Elric fuses with the other eternal Champions and they turn into a giant warrior in order to fight two eldritch abominations.
101	* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Melnibonéans, who are almost all decadent sadists. Elric is largely an exception, and to a lesser degree, so are his lover Cymoril and his close friend Dyvim Tvar.
102	* AmbiguouslyHuman: "Elric at the End of Time" implies that Arioch and Lord Jagged from ''The Dancers at the End of Time'' are the same person, meaning that he's likely either a future human using advanced technology to pose as a god or a god posing as a human.
103	* AnachronicOrder: The conclusion of the saga was the ''first'' part to be published in novel form.
104	* AncestralWeapon: Stormbringer and Mournblade were made by the gods of Chaos more than ten thousand years ago and left forgotten in a cave made of organic matter where they are eventually found by Elric and Yyrkoon.
105	* AndIMustScream: The city of Hwamgaarl is called the City of Screaming Statues because its walls are lined with unfortunates who have been turned into living rock. As the city's nickname suggests, the petrified people can't do anything ''but'' scream, and never stop.
106	* AntiHero: Elric jumps between PragmaticHero, UnscrupulousHero and VillainProtagonist throughout the series.
107	* TheArchMage: Elric is considered to be the world's most powerful magic user.
108	* ArtifactOfDoom, {{BFS}}, CoolSword ''and'' EvilWeapon: Stormbringer and its twin sword Mournblade.
109	* AwakeningTheSleepingGiant: Elric and the Rose summon the Tangled Woman from her millennia long sleep to beat Gaynor's army pretty quickly.
110	* BabiesEverAfter: ''The Fortress Of The Pearl'' ends with Oone admitting [[spoiler:she's pregnant with Elric's twins.]]
111	* BadassBookworm: Elric has read every book in his library, which in turn taught him the ways of the sorcerer.
112	* BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil: Elric's eventual destiny, as the last king of a chaotic race, is to use the weapons of Chaos in order to fight the forces of Chaos, to restore Balance to the Earth and allow the powers of Law a chance to create something safer for the younger races.
113	* BaseOnWheels: The Gypsy Nation in ''The Revenge of the Rose'' live on thousands of wheeled cities that travel along a road that circles their world.
114	* BathtubMermaid: In the prequel comic ''Elric: Making of a Sorcerer'', Chaos Lord Artigkern has captured the sister of King Straasha. Both Straasha and his sister being [[ElementalEmbodiment water elementals]], Artigkern holds her in a container that's described in the original script as "a gigantic semi-transparent clam shell". Also, when Elric and his companions, Dyvim Mar and Queen Shyrix'x, attempt to release Straasha's sister, they break the clam shell container and haul the water elemental in another spherical one.
115	* BazaarOfTheBizarre: Oone and the dreamthieves sell the dreams they steal at the extra-dimensional Dream Market.
116	* TheBerserker: When Elric gets under Stormbringer's influence in the heat of a battle no one is safe.
117	* BigBad: For the ''Moonbeam Roads'' trilogy [[EvilCounterpart Gaynor the Damned]], recurring archvillain of Moorcock's multiverse, steps into the role (he'd previously crossed swords with Elric in ''The Revenge of the Rose'').
118	* BigBadEnsemble: For the original saga, between Arioch, Jagreen Lern and Stormbringer itself, depending how you view its relationship with Elric.
119	* BigBadWannabe: Theleb K'aarna functions as Elric's ArchEnemy in the middle of the series, after [[StarterVillain Yyrkoon]] has been dealt with but before [[BigBad Jagreen Lern]] enters the scene. However, unlike those two, who both are serious threats with immense resources who do great harm to Elric, Theleb K'aarna is just a regular sorcerer who's [[VillainousUnderdog completely out of his league against him]] but refuses to admit it. Elric, for his part, seems to regard chasing after Theleb K'aarna and foiling his latest overblown as just something to occupy himself with for lack of a real purpose in life.
120	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Elric fulfills his destiny at the end of ''Stormbringer'' but is killed by Stormbringer, and the sword assumes its true form as the force of chaos in the new world order. In Michael Moorcock's Multiverse, Elric and Moonglum are suddenly resurrected along with most of the other incarnations of the Eternal Champion, and after fulfilling a quest Elric is finally given the opportunity to take control of his own destiny.]]
121	* BodyguardCrush: When the Melnibonéan fleet returns without Elric and Cymoril knows that Yyrkoon killed him, one of her guards says that he will kill Yyrkoon for her. He either doesn't know or doesn't care that this will almost certainly result in his death, because he loves Cymoril.
122	* BodyHorror: Jagreen Lern and the forces of Chaos do this to most of their victims, converting them into abominations covered in reptilian and insectoid scales. [[spoiler: Zarozinia, Elric's wife, becomes a worm-like being with only her human head when Elric reunites with her. She uses her remaining will to impale herself on Stormbringer, so that her soul can give strength to her husband]].
123	* BotanicalAbomination: The Tangled Woman is an extra-dimensional Eldritch abomination. She has arms made from millions of knotted brambles and multiple heads made from knotted rosewood.
124	* BothOrderAndChaosAreDangerous: This trope is integral to the entire multiverse. Should Order win total dominion over a universe, it will completely erase it, reducing it to a single static and unchanging vacuum. For this reason, the LawfulEvil "caste" of the Lords of Order are referred to as "The Original Insect" or "The Singularity"; in the comics, one such Lord of Order is portrayed as [[AnimalisticAbomination a monstrous insect-thing that is devouring whole worlds through its ever-hungry maw]]. In comparison, the dominion of Chaos will reduce its conquests to a swirling, seething soup of ever-shifting color and proto-matter. This is why the Cosmic Balance exists to keep either force from attaining dominion, and why the Eternal Champion is created to enact its will.
125	* BrotherSisterIncest: Cymoril is so good-looking that her brother Yrkoon wants to take her as his bride when he usurps Elric.
126	* ByronicHero: Elric. He is not devoid of love, and does heroic deeds, but he is also a ''deeply'' flawed character who also suffers through much tragedy in his life.
127	* TheCaligula: Jagreen Lern, like Yyrkoon, has a pretty flamboyant attitude and he has no issues with killing a good chunk of his subjects in order to summon the Chaos gods for help.
128	* CanonWelding: The novel ''The Sailor on the Seas of Fate'' is the first Moorcock novel in publication order to feature characters from different subcontinuities interacting together.
129	* CargoShip: Elric and Stormbringer. Lampshaded rather bitterly by Zarozinia: [[invoked]]
130	-->''I see your other mistress still shares your bed... And now you need never try to dismiss her again, for that black Lord of Nihrain has given you an excuse to keep her forever by your side.''
131	** Made even more explicit in the Titan comic adaptations, where Stormbringer talks to Elric and essentially keeps trying to seduce him.
132	* CartwrightCurse: Both of Elric's major love interests died tragically. Lampshaded when he wonders at one point if every woman he loves is doomed to die.
133	* CharacterAlignment: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]]; the original alignment system of the very first edition of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' was based on the Elric saga's concepts of [[OrderVersusChaos Law vs. Chaos]] and [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil Good Vs. Evil]], with the original D&D alignments being Lawful, Neutral, and Chaotic, with Lawful being roughly equated with Good, and Chaotic with Evil. The addition of the second Alignment Axis of Good/Neutral/Evil, which allowed for such concepts as characters being both Chaotic AND Good (such as rebel freedom fighters) or Lawful AND Evil (such as Nazis) wasn't added until later, with the release of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (First Edition.)
134	** The original alignment system for the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' Fantasy Role-Playing Game, like other elements, were also cribbed from the Elric Saga.
135	** This also qualifies as an UnbuiltTrope. Elric's Chaos and Order operate on BlueAndOrangeMorality, [[BothOrderAndChaosAreDangerous and neither is "good" or especially friendly toward humanity]]. Later uses of Law and Chaos identified the two concepts in relation to human morality as much as cosmic principles, and furthermore, non-AD&D-based applications generally run with the implicit assumption that Law is Good and Chaos is Evil.
136	* CharactersDroppingLikeFlies: This saga can be considered a SpiritualPredecessor to the works of Creator/YoshiyukiTomino and Creator/GeorgeRRMartin regarding this trope. Throughout the series, pretty much every named character dies in one tragic way or another, culminating in the final battle between the armies of Law and Chaos where [[spoiler: the titular Elric and his evil sword Stormbringer are the only survivors. And then Stormbringer murders Elric so it can become the new embodiment of Chaos.]]
137	* ChickMagnet: Elric has had quite a few women after him, and is canonically ''very'' good in bed. Though once he meets Zarozinia, he becomes surprisingly serious and faithful to her, and tries to be a good husband.
138	* ClingyMacGuffin: Throwing away Stormbringer isn't an option for Elric, even when he can bring himself to do it. Throwing it into the ocean just causes it to get lodged in the surface as if it was solid ground, and throwing it off a dragon's back causes it to fly all the way back to Elric's armoury back home. In both cases, it doesn't take him long to fall to the temptation to pick it up again.
139	* ClockPunk: In ''The Vanishing Tower'', Lady Myscella gives Elric a giant mechanical bird to use as a flying mount.
140	* TheConstant: Elric, or at least the Eternal Champion, is the contant feature throughout the {{Multiverse}}.
141	* TheCorruption: The physical degeneration that happens to humans who serve Chaos.
142	* CosmicPlaything: Anyone who deals with the Gods ends up as one. Elric is beloved by Chaos not for traditionally embodying or supporting its values, but for how much fun his struggles and sorrows are in its eyes.
143	* CrapsackWorld: Melnibone aside, most of the Young Kingdoms aren't a very safe place to live and don't get us started on Pan Tang.
144	* {{Crossover}}: With ''ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian'' in Creator/MarvelComics.
145	** And with all the other Eternal Champion characters.
146	* CrystalWeapon: In the story "To Rescue Tanelorn", the Olab are reptilian creatures that wield large clubs. The clubs have discs a foot in diameter made of crystalline rock embedded in them. The Olab swing their clubs to fling the crystal discs at opponents.
147	* CursedItem: Creator/MichaelMoorcock has his doomed hero Elric dependent on hard-to-obtain alchemical preparations to maintain his strength and vitality against his debilitating sickness. Then Elric discovers Stormbringer - The Black Sword which does away with the need for drugs. But this comes at an awful price; every time, Stormbringer kills and sucks the soul-energy from the victim to obliterate them and sustain Elric. And the sword isn't fussy about ''who'' it kills: one by one Elric's closest friends and lovers die to keep him alive. The sword is also a corrupting influence on Elric's soul.
148	* DarkFantasy: A major TropeCodifier of the genre. Rather than a fight between Good and Evil, it's a fight between Law and Chaos, both entities having ideas closer to BlueAndOrangeMorality. The fantasy setting suffused with magic, rather than an area of wonder and mystery is an unstable and horrific world filled with monsters, sorcerers, demons and corrupt kingdoms which makes the entire landscape feel inherently dangerous and wild.
149	* ADayInTheLimeLight: the archer Rackir is the main character of his own short story featured in ''Bane of the Black Sword''.
150	* DeathByChildbirth: Elric's mother died giving birth to him, which his father always resented him for.
151	* DeathOfAThousandCuts: [[spoiler:Jagreen Lern is killed by Elric in this fashion, with Elric cutting him with Moonglum's sword, because he doesn't want to use Stormbringer and give Jagreen a quick death and have his soul part of him. The text states that he kept him alive for nearly a hour by cutting him piece by piece until Moonglum asked Elric to kill him. The P. Craig Russell version of Stormbringer shows a panel where Elric ''cuts the lower lid of his eye'']].
152	* DecadentCourt: A fundamental trait of both Melnibone's and Pan Tang's aristocrats.
153	* {{Deconstruction}}: Of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'', and HeroicFantasy in general.
154	** Stormbringer, the titular CoolSword is a parody of the very trope, its power derives from its victims rather than its shininess, its hilt and scabbard or the metal, unlike other tropes in fantasy fiction. It reminds readers that the first purpose of any sword is to kill people.
155	** Elric himself is an attack on TheHero and other associated tropes of mythological and fantasy stories, which featured such figures as prophetically pre-destined to save the world. Here Elric is a barely stable sorceror who [[spoiler:is little more than a puppet for fate, and whose death has none of the grandeur and majesty of fantasy fiction]].
156	* DefeatEqualsFriendship: Elric all but cites this trope as his reason for sparing Yyrkoon after his first attempted coup. [[spoiler: It was a bad idea.]]
157	* DefectorFromDecadence: Elric, who has to fight his cousin for his throne, as he was seen as being weak and unworthy of his title since he was less willing than his countrymen to indulge in pointless cruelty.
158	** The key word here being ''pointless''. Elric could be a total bastard given proper motivation.
159	* DefectorFromParadise: The troubled hero finds and experiences the secret city of Tanelorn which stands outside Chaos and Law, a place of peace and tranquility where heroes may find rest and the Eternal Champion may lay down his burden. He later decided that he could not settle down there and became the only person to renounce Tanelorn and return to the world outside.
160	* {{Determinator}}: No matter how much Stormbringer and the universe craps on Elric, he never gives up in his quests.
161	* DeusExMachina: Elric almost literally does this by summoning Arioch or elemental and beast lords to help him when faced with tough enemy monsters.
162	* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Stormbringer can even kill gods.
163	* DimensionalCutter: One of the legends about Stormbringer Elric mentions in ''The Fortress Of The Pearl'' is that Arioch used to use it to cut between realms.
164	* DimensionalTraveller: Elric often goes to other dimensions to set right what's gone wrong.
165	* DisproportionateRetribution: Elric also uses this from time to time. Evil cousin take your throne, and, more importantly, your girl? ''Burn the entire nation to the ground, abandoning your race and countrymen to the men of the Young Kingdoms''.
166	* DistantFinale: In the Eternal Champion canon, Elric's future incarnations will have much more laudable, if still fraught, lives. With even his most villainous one, Monsieur Zenith, as a largely relaxed figure who enjoys an entertaining rivalry with heroic detective Sexton Blake at his leisure.
167	* DoomMagnet: Woe to anyone who becomes Elric's companion and/or love interest.
168	* DragonAncestry: The ''Heart Of The Dragon'' spinoff by Creator/NancyACollins says Melniboéans are descended from dragons.
169	* DreamLand: ''The Fortress of the Pearl'' has Elric and Oone have to journey through seven dream-lands: Sadanor, the Land of Dreams-in-Common; Marador, the Land of Old Desires; Paranor, the Land of Lost Beliefs; Celador, the Land of Forgotten Love; Imador, the Land of New Ambition; Falador, the Land of Madness—and the seventh, which has no name “save any name the inhabitants shall give it".
170	* DroitDuSeigneur: Melniboné has a variant; when an emperor dies, noblemen prowl the streets raping any woman they want in order to produce as many children of aristocratic blood as possible.
171	* DualWielding: Moonglum, Elric's {{Sidekick}}, fights with a longsword and a scimitar.
172	* DyingRace: Elric's.
173	* EarthAllAlong: The Chaos gods say that if they're defeated, the world will end and be ruled by beasts for millions of years before humans rise again. Implied to be our society.
174	* EldritchAbomination:
175	** One of the ''Sailor On The Seas Of Fate'' stories also includes two creatures even more alien, from outside of the multiverse entirely. [[spoiler:The heroes mistake them for buildings and wander through a WombLevel before they figure it out]].
176	** In one short story, ''one of the Gods of Law'' is this. However, it's also mentioned that that particular Law God had [[HeWhoFightsMonsters been fighting Chaos for far]] [[KnightTemplar too long]].
177	* EmpathicWeapon: Elric's sword Stormbringer is sentient and capable of compelling Elric to certain actions.
178	* TheEmperor: Elric is the 428th-and last-Emperor of Melniboné.
179	* EmpoweredBadassNormal: Without Stormbringer, Elric is still a very capable warrior, at least as long as he gets his medicines. ''With'' Stormbringer he's an unstoppable OneManArmy who can butcher entire cities.
180	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Initiating this is Elric's final act, destroying the current world in order to create a new one -- ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou ours]]''.
181	* EverybodysDeadDave: Elric at the end of the Last Battle [[spoiler: just before Stormbringer kills him]].
182	* EverythingIsAnInstrument: At the beginning, Elric is entertained by his court musician torturing a tuned array of human slaves, each of which has been [[BodyHorror surgically altered to scream one perfect note]].
183	* EvilBrit: As explicated in the foreword for the first Titan Comics graphic novel, Moorcock took great inspiration from post-World War II Britain's repressive turmoil as it transitioned away from centuries of being a globe-spanning empire for Melniboné.
184	* EvilCounterpart: Yyrkoon to Elric. Elric is a DefectorFromDecadence while Yyrkoon relishes the perversions of Melnibonéan society; and they both have the opportunity to win a magic souldestroying sword.[[note]]Only one such sword can exist in the world at the same time. Yyrkoon's sword loses the fight for supremacy [[FreudianSlipperySlope and transmutes into the sheath for Stormbringer]]. [[/note]]
185	* EvilerThanThou: Stormbringer says this almost word-for-word when it [[spoiler:betrays Elric at the very last moment, killing him and devouring his soul. Played with in that Elric was a tragic anti-hero full of regrets, so Stormbringer was mocking him ''twice'', both by making it clear that he was ultimately a villain and with the fact that he couldn't compare to Stormbringer itself.]]
186	* EvilOverlord: Jagreen Lern, the ruler of Pan Tang and high priest of the Chaos gods. Yyrkoon tries to be one but Elric gets in the way.
187	* EvilPrince: Elric's cousin, Yyrkoon who usurps Elric's throne and keeps his own sister hostage..
188	* EvilSorcerer: Theleb K'aarna, Yyrkoon and Jagreen Lern, all powerful sorcerers. Elric tries (not always successfully) to not be this.
189	* EvilWeapon: Stormbringer even admits such [[spoiler: as it turns on Elric and kills him]]. See EvilerThanThou.
190	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The Ship Which Sails Over Land and Sea, a magical vessel Elric uses to pursue Yyrkoon.
191	* FantasticDietRequirement: Elric requires a special diet of rare herbs and other things just to stay alive and envigoured. All this ends when he wins the hell-sword Stormbringer, which provides his energy from then on.
192	* FateWorseThanDeath: This is why Prince Gaynor is commonly known as "the Damned". His life is filled with such suffering that he serves the Gods of Chaos in hopes of finally achieving death. His ultimate goal becomes to seek the Holy Grail -- an artifact that will allow him to directly manipulate the Cosmic Balance -- in hopes that this will either cure him of his punishment for betraying his status as an Eternal Champion or allow him to die... even if this means destroying the entire multiverse in the process.
193	* TheFairFolk: Melnibonéans are beautiful, elf-like amoral hedonists that traffic with the Lords of Chaos and are universally feared by ordinary humans. AlwaysChaoticEvil is almost putting it mildly. Sadism is in their blood to the point that they make music in which each note is a scream from a tortured (human) slave, whose vocal cords have been mutilated such that they can produce only that particular note.
194	* FogOfDoom: Yyrkoon invokes it to escape Melniboné after his first defeat.
195	* FormerlySapientSpecies: Humans who join the Chaos Legions devolve into bestial half-man, half-animal things, becoming whichever animal was nearest to their human nature.
196	* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Arioch usually appears to Elric as a handsome giant man with golden skin.
197	* FourthDateMarriage: [[spoiler:Elric and Zarozinia decide to get married after knowing each other for about a day.]]
198	* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The End of Elric's World]] triggers the birth of ''ours''. [[OhCrap And Stormbringer's still alive in it]].
199	* FullFrontalAssault: The Elenoin, a race of extradimensional women warriors, fight naked. This appears to be an AlwaysFemale trope in Elric stories, for some reason.
200	* FusionDance: ''The Quest for Tanelorn'' has Elric fuse with ''Literature/{{Corum}}'', [[Literature/TheHistoryOfTheRunestaff Hawkmoon]] and Erekosë into a giant eight-armed eight-legged monstrosity to beat Agak and Gagak. In "Go Ask Elric" by Tad Williams, in "Tales of the White Wolf", Elric and Uendrijj fuse into Harmony (who also does a FullFrontalAssault) to fight the Chronophage.
201	* GemTissue: The Chaos Lord Pyaray is a giant red octopus who stores his soul in a blue crystal embedded in his forehead.
202	* GenocideFromTheInside: In the short story ''The Dreaming City'' [[spoiler:Elric leads an attack on the capital of Melniboné that winds up almost completely destroying the people, the city, and his own betrothed]].
203	* GodIsEvil: The Gods of Chaos are pretty much AlwaysChaoticEvil, though one may come up now and then that's ChaoticNeutral. Other stories set in the Multiverse, but on characters other than Elric, focus more on the Singularity (the [[OrderIsNotGood evil faction of the Lords of Order]]) and the Chaos Engineers (the ChaoticGood Gods of Chaos).
204	* TheGodsMustBeLazy: The Lords of Order are too weak to intervene in the collapse of the universe itself until the very end of the saga.
205	* {{Golem}}: A ferocious golem is the antagonist of ''The Dream of Earl Aubec.'' [[spoiler:Aubec scares it away by showing it its own reflection.]]
206	* AGoodNameForARockBand: The French DeathMetal band ''Yyrkoon'' were named after Elric's cousin.
207	* {{Gotterdammerung}}: Elric's ultimate destiny is to create a world free of the influence of gods or cosmic powers, resulting in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.
208	* GreenEyedMonster: The reason Theleb K'aarna became an antagonist is because he's jealous of Elric getting the affections of Queen Yishana.
209	* HappilyMarried: Elric and Zarozinia, they enjoy it while it lasts.
210	* HeavyMithril: Elric has inspired several rock songs and albums;
211	** ''Music/BlueOysterCult'' got Creator/MichaelMoorcock to write a number of songs for them, including ''[[Music/CultosaurusErectus Black Blade]]'' based on Elric.
212	** Moorcock also co-wrote ''Veteran of the Psychic Wars'' with ''[=BOC=]'', inspired by the Elric stories.
213	** British space rock band ''Music/{{Hawkwind}}'' released ''The Chronicle of the Black Sword'' in 1985. The album is based upon the adventures of Elric. Moorcock himself wrote the lyrics for the song "Sleep of a Thousand Tears."
214	** ''Hawkwind'' again worked with Moorcock on no less than three poems based on The Eternal Champion in the "The Warrior on the Edge of Time" album, and ultimately releasing The Chronicle of the Black Sword as a Rock Opera summary of the Elric saga.
215	** The California-based DoomMetal band ''Cirith Ungol'' included several Elric-based songs on their albums over the years; moreover, their album covers were often book-cover depictions of Elric by artist Michael Whelan.
216	** Elric, his homeland of Melniboné, and his sword Stormbringer are featured in German heavy metal band ''Music/BlindGuardian'''s song ''Fast to Madness'' from their ''Follow the Blind'' album (1989). ''Damned for All Time'', from the same album, also concerns Elric, as do the songs ''The Quest for Tanelorn'' from ''Somewhere Far Beyond'' (1992) and ''Tanelorn (Into the Void)'' from ''At the Edge of Time'' (2010).
217	** Elric is featured in the Spanish Power metal band ''Dark Moor'''s song "Fall of Melnibone".
218	** The [[NewWaveOfBritishHeavyMetal new wave of British heavy metal]] band ''Tygers of Pan Tang'' are named after a warrior society in the Elric stories.
219	** The metal band ''Grand Magus'' feature part of the Elric saga in the song "Steel vs. Steel" from the ''Triumph and Power'' album.
220	** The Heavy Metal band ''Atlantis'' released a song, on their second EP, called "Stormbringer & Mournblade".
221	** The albums of the Italian PowerMetal band ''Domine'' are all about Elric's saga.
222	* HeelRealization: Elric starts off the series as a passable, bordering on worryingly benign, pillar of [[BlueAndOrangeMorality Melnibonén]] authority and character. The kidnapping of Cymoril causes him to grapple with selfish impulses for the first time in his life, and venturing outside of Imrryr exposes him to alternative, and often kinder, codes of ethics. This causes him to be more considerate of other viewpoints, but also allows him to recognize that some wickedness is objectively unacceptable and that due to his own actions, desires, and attitudes, he can never consider himself a truly good person.
223	-->''"I have brought evil to many places, but usually there has already been evil to match mine. I seek no excuses, for I know what I am and I know what I have done. I have slain malignant sorcerers and destroyed oppressors, but I have also been responsible for slaying fine men, and a woman, my cousin, whom I loved, I killed — or my sword did."''
224	* HereThereWereDragons: Most of Melniboné's dragons have died off, and the few remaining are weak to the point that they must sleep for ''centuries'' between flights.
225	* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler: Elric dies at the end of ''Stormbringer'']].
226	%%* HeroKiller: [[spoiler: Stormbringer at the very last page of the sixth book]].
227	* HistoricalInJoke: [[Literature/TheSongOfRoland Roland]], the semi-mythical French paladin who served under Charlemagne, is implied to be a future incarnation of Elric.
228	** Tie-ins from other Moorcock stories indicate that so is Myth/KingArthur.
229	* HumanoidAbomination: The Chaos Gods and Lords of Order, of course. Both are meta-cosmic embodiments of forces integral to the very foundation of the universe, and whilst they may assume human-like forms, they are actual entities beyond the definition of humanity. They wield apocalyptic powers and are able to operate on multiple levels of the multiverse simultaneously.
230	* HungryWeapon: The sword Stormbringer is hungry for souls, often moaning when it wishes to feed. When it hits an opponent, it drains their soul and LifeEnergy, killing them. It can force Elric to strike at other people by controlling his mind.
231	* ImAHumanitarian: Being forced to eat a meal made out of your loved ones is just one of the inventive cruelties prisoners of the Melnibonean court may have to endure.
232	* [[ImmuneToBullets Immune to Stormbringer]]: Stormbringer and its other incarnations are the greatest weapon in the cosmos, however there are enemies that shown themselves to be immune to Stormbringer's soul-devouring effects or even completely immune to any attack from Stormbringer. In those instances, Elric has to resort to spells or using a different weapon. Interestingly, all the enemies that are immune to it are minor creatures, while gods are vulnerable to Stormbringer.
233	* {{Jerkass}}:
234	** Elric often acts like one. That's not saying much, of course, but his cousins hated him and plotted against him for being too philosophical and soft-hearted and insufficiently sadistic and maniacal to be worthy of the throne.
235	** Stormbringer wants to steal souls. It doesn't need to. It barely needs Elric save for how his adventures enable it more exotic opportunities to slaughter and triumph. At the end of the series, it's not even all that bothered that the cosmic scales have tipped in favor of Law, that just makes it a more unique being on the earthly plane as the sole major representative of Chaos [[spoiler:after it kills Elric]].
236	* JerkassGods: Elric's patron god, Arioch, is also a major Jerkass. In fact, all the Gods pretty much are Jerkasses. For a Melnibonéan he's positively humanitarian.
237	* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Stormbringer gets away scott free at the end of the saga despite all the Death and suffering it caused at the expense of poor Elric.]]
238	* KillTheOnesYouLove: Elric [[spoiler:accidentally murders Cymoril with Stormbringer, and her soul enters the blade and gives Elric strength. Later Zarozinia and Moonglum impale themselves on Stormbringer so as to help Elric fulfill his destiny]].
239	* KingOfTheHomeless: There's the Beggar King of Nadsokor. A whole city where everyone has the kind of defects that characterize the worst of the lumpenproletariat beggars, and the story is about their king stealing Elric's imperial jewels.
240	* KissingCousins: Elric's betrothed, Cymoril, is actually his cousin. Apparently this isn't unusual for Melnibonéan royalty -- Yyrkoon, Elric's rival and Cymoril's ''brother'', also lusts after her (to spite Elric more than anything else). It's not been all that uncommon for real-world royalty, either.
241	* KingBobTheNth: Elric VIII, 428th emperor of Melniboné, son of Sadric LXXXVI.
242	* LastOfHisKind: Elric, eventually; [[spoiler: [[GenocideFromTheInside mostly self-inflicted]]]]. Some few other Melnibonéans survive their nation's destruction, but in the end Elric is the only one left alive of his people [[spoiler: and soon after of his entire world]].
243	* LazyDragon: Dragons need a ''lot'' of sleep, slumbering for months or years after a few weeks of activity.
244	* LifeDrinker: Elric, via Stormbringer, has the power to consume the souls of those he slays; doing this fills him with supernatural strength and vigor, allowing him to forgo his traditional need of magical tonics in order to have the strength to get out of bed.
245	* LizardFolk: The Olab from ''Sailors of the Seas of Fate'', a tribe of man-eating reptilian humanoids who are [[ImmuneToBullets immune to Stormbringer.]]
246	* LostTechnology: The Melnibonéans have long since forgotten how to build their [[CoolBoat golden battle-barges]], among other things.
247	* LoyalToThePosition: Valharik, the captain of the guard in Melniboné in the first novel, claims this as his reason for betraying his mistress Cymoril and following Yyrkoon's evil orders when he takes power in Melniboné, including cutting down one of his own men who tried to defend her against Yyrkoon and feeding the poor guy to Cymoril's slaves. Needless to say, Elric doesn't buy it.
248	* TheMagicGoesAway: If the Chaos gods are defeated, the world will eventually become more like ours with significantly less magic.
249	* MagicKnight: Elric and Jagreen Lern are skilled in both spell casting and sword fighting.
250	* MagiTek: In ''The Sleeping Sorceress'' Elric rides a sentient, talking mechanical bird.
251	* MindRape: When the Mirror of Memory is destroyed in ''Elric of Melniboné'', all the memories it had stolen over thousands of years spill out into the minds of those nearby. This kills many and leaves many more insane.
252	* MixAndMatchCritter: The Dharzi hunting dogs, large hounds with the head of a bird of prey.
253	* MonsterIsAMommy: In Esbern Snare's backstory, he chased a wolf back to her lair and found she was a werewolf hunting to feed two human children.
254	* MoralityPet: Moonglum tries to be this to Elric, not always successfully. Doesn't help that his friend Elric is often influenced by Stormbringer.
255	* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Elric wants to reform Melnibonéan society, which goes against their tradition (which just happens to be the closest thing Melnibonéans have to a conscience). That said, Elric is still the [[TheFairFolk Melnibonéan]] [[TheEmperor Emperor]], with [[BlueAndOrangeMorality all]] [[EvilSorcerer that]] entails.
256	* NemesisWeapon: Elric's signature weapon is the magical sword Stormbringer. One of his opponents is his EvilCounterpart cousin Yyrkoon, who wields Stormbringer's "brother" sword Mournblade. Later, in ''The Revenge of the Rose'', Gaynor the Damned (a Chaotic EvilCounterpart not just to Elric, but to all versions of the Eternal Champion) wields a "leach blade" which drains the power from magical weapons, including Stormbringer.
257	* NewWaveScienceFiction: Elric was born out of this movement (which also covered fantasy); in fact, Moorcock was one of the leaders of the movement.
258	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Despite ominous warnings from Arioch, Elric summoned him to R'lin K'ren A'a anyway, thus setting in motion the events that led to the final struggle between Law and Chaos in that plane, resulting in [[spoiler: its destruction and recreation]]. In other words, Elric broke ''an entire plane of existence''.
259	* NobleTongue: It is frequently specified when someone is speaking The Common Tongue, or The High Speech of Melnibone.
260	* NotHisSled: In the Titan Comics adaptation, [[spoiler:Cymoril usurps control of Melniboné away from her brother, then takes off at the head of their fleet to hunt down her treacherous lover, Elric. Elric does not know of this yet, but it is sure to turn the central conflict of the stories over its head.]]
261	* NotUsingTheZWord: Being magic users with PointyEars, Melnibonéans are basically elves. Their sadism would put them as the Dark Elf/Drow type. The third ''Literature/{{Corum}}'' book specifies that Melnibonéans and elf mean the same thing, and that the Melniboneans, the Vadhagh (Corum's people), the Eldren from the Erekose novels, and the elves and fairies of real-world legend are all different branches of the same species.
262	* OneManArmy: Pretty much anyone who wields [[ArtifactOfDoom The Black Sword]], be it Mournblade, Stormbringer, or one of their equivalents in other stories of the Champion Eternal. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], since the Black Sword is a LifeDrinker and can pass on the stolen vitality of its victims onto the wielder, providing them with supernatural strength and endurance for [[EvilWeapon as long as they keep killing]]. Elric, however, takes it up to eleven, since not only does he have SummonMagic, he's also known as one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world, effectively making him a PersonOfMassDestruction.
263	* OrderVersusChaos: The Melnibonéans follow the Lords of Chaos; Elric does, too, until he realizes he's upset the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil and begins to serve the Lords of Order, or maybe fated to restore the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil, or both.
264	* OurElvesAreDifferent: The Melniboneans are a decadent and self destructive society of sadistic [[TheFairFolk fey humanoids]] that worships demonic entities of Chaos and are a major inspiration for the modern versions of dark elves found in tabletop gaming.
265	* OverlyLongName: When Gaynor started to appear in non-heroic fantasy novels, he often used the name Paul von Minct or van Minct. ''The Dreamthief's Daughter'' reveals that his original version, a NaziNobleman, was named Gaynor Paul St Odhran Badehoff-Krasny von Minct.
266	* ParentalIncest: Elric reincarnates into Ulric and marries Elric's daughter, Oona.
267	* PerpetualStorm: In the Young Kingdoms, the area called the Weeping Waste is so named because it has constant rain.
268	* PerspectiveFlip: Elric is essentially the kind of character who would be killed by [[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Conan]]: a physically weak, evil, sorcery-wielding ruler of a decaying empire.
269	* PestController: In ''The Sailor on the Seas of Fate'', Elric petitions the insect god Nnuuurrr'c'c for aid against a tribe of hostile LizardFolk. In response, Nnuuurrr'c'c sends a swarm of oversized dragonflies to kill the lizards.
270	* PhlebotinumBattery: Stormbringer's benefit to Elric, sustaining his vitality with a share of soul-energy.
271	* PhysicalGod: The Lords of Chaos and Order both qualify; it's only because of ancient treaties that they don't meddle more directly in the affairs of mortals. Once or twice, it's explicitly stated that the Young Kingdoms are a kind of SpaceColdWar territory in the cosmic struggle between the two powers... until Elric's actions change things [[spoiler: for the worse.]]
272	* PirateParrot: When trying to give Elric something to do when he visits the end of time, Werther de Goethe confuses the two words and gives him a ship full of parrots to fight. He later mixes them up with the word "[[CommediaDellArte Pierrot]]" and turns them into clowns.
273	* PleaOfPersonalNecessity: Darnizhaan tells Elric and Dyvim Slorm that killing him will begin the death of the world they know. When they decide to do so anyway, he says, "Fools! In destroying me, you destroy yourselves!"
274	* PointyEars: Elric and all other Melnibonéans have pointy ears but no lobes.
275	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: Pan Tang's war machine is fueled by conscripting the adult men of their tribute states, then ''sacrificing their wives and children'', on arcane altars which are in operation 24 hours a day, ''depopulating an entire continent in the process'', to summon the Lords of Chaos.
276	* {{Precursors}}: All the civilizations of the "Young Kingdoms" were built on the ruins of the old Melnibonéan empire.
277	* PrehensileHair: The Elenoin, extradimensional female demons, have this.
278	* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Not to the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Melniboneans]]. One of their customs is that, after the death of the emperor, [[DroitDuSeigneur nobles are required to go out into the streets and rape as many women as they can to try and produce more nobles]].
279	* RedBaron: Elric's friend Rackhir the Red Archer.
280	* RedEyesTakeWarning: Elric's crimson eyes are a visual warning cue that he can be just as deadly and cruel as any other Melnibonéan.
281	* RememberTheNewGuy: The prequels are infamous for this. Mainly for introducing [[spoiler:Elric's two children]] that were never mentioned in the original series.
282	* RisingEmpire: Unlike in the books, where Melniboné is portrayed as a VestigialEmpire, the {{prequel}} comic, ''Elric: Making of a Sorcerer'', tells the story behind the rise and descent of the empire. The four issues mostly concentrate on Elric gathering new allies among the [[ElementalEmbodiment elementals]] and the peoples of the Old Kingdoms. At the same time Elric (or rather his ancestors whose role he gets to play on the dream quests) gets to meet Arioch as well as wield [[EvilWeapon Stormbringer]] for the first time.
283	* SettingUpdate: A crossover comic with ''ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian'' has Elric as an inhabitant of the Hyborean Age like Conan which is thousands of years in the past as opposed to millions like in the Elric books.
284	* SheIsAllGrownUp: Due to several years passing from her perspective, Elric and Wheldrake find that Charion Phatt has become a teenager in their absence and Wheldrake falls in love at first sight in ''The Revenge Of The Rose''.
285	* {{Sidekick}}: Moonglum the thief from the east and Rackir the Red Archer are Elric's loyal adventuring buddies. [[spoiler:Don't get too attached to them though.]]
286	* SissyVillain: Yyrkoon is described at being quite foppish in both clothing and behaviour. At the beginning of the saga he presents himself to Elric by doing some flamboyant dance moves.
287	%%* SoulCuttingBlade: Stormbringer.
288	* SoulJar: Eastern sorcerers like Drinij Bara hide their souls inside cats for protection and will be sent to Hell if someone kills it.
289	* SpiritualAntithesis: Elric is on to ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian''. Conan is a mighty barbaric warrior, shunning magic and hating sorcerers, growing from humble origins and rising into the king of the greatest empire of his time; Elric by contrast is a sick and frail sorcerer-king, ruler of the most corrupt and decadent civilization of his own world, then proceeds to lose everything and dies alone and unmourned.
290	* SquishyWizard: Elric starts out as one, but gets better once he gets Stormbringer [[spoiler:and ultimately gives it up]].
291	* StartOfDarkness: ''The Dreamthief's Daughter'' finally provides an origin for Moorcock's recurring villain Gaynor the Damned.
292	* StormOfBlades: At one point, Elric and his comrades are set upon by three Chaos Gods -- ''including Arioch'' -- and in order to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu kill them]], Elric uses [[EvilWeapon Stormbringer and Mournblade]] to summon ''over one hundred of their brother and sister swords from alternate realities''.
293	* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:Smiorgan]] in ''Weird of the White Wolf'' is a weird inversion, since the story that [[spoiler:Smiorgan]] died in was written before the one in which he was introduced. You could call this "Sudden Prequel Life Syndrome" instead.
294	* SummonMagic: All magic in Elric's world is based upon summoning various demons and elemental spirits, and asking them for a favor. Elric is lucky that the Melnibonéans have made ancient pacts with practically every single spirit and demon. It's also noted that nature spirits have ''much'' lower "costs" than Gods of Law or Chaos, and indeed Elric calls for help from the former more often than he does the latter.
295	* SummonToHand; Stormbringer can also float to his wielder's hand when called.
296	* TheTimeOfMyths: It's implied to be Earth millions of years in the past. It's said that after the world ending war of gods, giant lizards would eventually develop then eventually a new society of humans with less magic.
297	* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:A transformed Zarozinia commits suicide by falling on Stormbringer, so that her soul can join Elric's]].
298	* TokenEvilTeammate: Whenever the Eternal Champions convene, Elric is invariably the least pleasant and heroic of the bunch, if still noble.
299	* TooDumbToLive: Elric gives the throne to the guy who earlier usurped him. Even the guy's sister (who's Elric's fiancee) says that Elric's actions are criminal in their foolishness.
300	* TortureTechnician: Doctor Jest is the chief torturer of the Melnibonéan empire, in charge of making spies spill their secrets for the Emperor in nightmarish fashion. He also serves as chief carver for the Emperor's table, using those same spies before they die. They must be able to see the parts he removes being cooked and devoured.
301	* TransferableMemory: The Mirror of Memory in ''Elric of Melniboné'', which is able to forcibly steal the memories of others.
302	* TranslatorMicrobes:
303	** The inhabitants of the end of time in "Elric at the End of Time" try to make Elric eat a translation pill so he'll speak their language, they give up and take the pills themselves so they speak his instead.
304	** In ''The Revenge of the Rose'' Wheldrake says that some kind of telepathy let's them understand eachother but not read the local languages.
305	* UnstoppableRage: Elric often flies into one of these when pushed beyond his limits, since he both wields highly destructive BlackMagic (and can also use SummonMagic to call monsters and daemons to his aid) and is also the bearer of the soul-drinking blade Stormbringer, which grants him greater strength, speed and ferocity as it kills more victims and which can kill most things with a single strike.
306	* UntoUsASonAndDaughterAreBorn: Oone gives birth to Elric's son and daughter at the end of ''The Fortress of the Pearl".
307	* VestigialEmpire: Melniboné is one; in fact, one of the reasons why the Young Kingdoms are called such is because they liberated themselves from Melnibonéan tyranny only relatively recently (a few centuries back, versus the Melnibonéan Empire's ten ''millenia'' of history at the saga's start). Unsurprisingly, their fall from grace was due as much from the Melnibonéans' growing decadence turning inwards -- they are a DyingRace due to internal attrition and hedonistic ennui by Elric's time -- as from uprisings from their vassals.
308	* VillainOfAnotherStory: Mabelode the Faceless appears briefly as one of the three eldest and most powerful Chaos Lords summoned to the battlefield at the climax of ''Stormbringer'' (the other two being Chardros the Reaper and Slortar the Old). Though his role in the Elric books is brief, he appears much more prominently in the ''Literature/{{Corum}}'' series, where he's the BigBad of the first trilogy.
309	%%* VillainProtagonist: Elric actually starts out this way; before "upgrading" to an AntiHero.
310	%%* WalkingTheEarth: Elric
311	* WhereIWasBornAndRazed: It takes three books, but Elric's eventually the one who destroys Melniboné.
312	* WombLevel: Elric's quest into the Pulsating Cavern results in him exploring an eerie, fleshy-textured cave, which turns out to be the womb-space of an (unspecified) enormous creature. The description of the Pulsating Cavern piles on so many thinly-concealed sexual metaphors that it becomes a FreudianSlipperySlope.
313	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Elric of Melniboné just can't get a break. Every time he kills it makes him stronger and it also makes him hate himself more. On top of that every girl he loves (each of whom wants to wrap him in the proverbial blanket and feed him the proverbial soup) dies, which usually leads to him needing to wreak revenge on someone. And kill them with his sword and take their soul, and then hate himself. It's a vicious cycle.
314	* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: Cymoril is the most beautiful woman of an elf-like inhuman race known for their beauty - this just serves to make her an object of lust for her brother, the other most beautiful woman is the Law sorceress Myshella who looks exactly like Cymoril.
315	* WretchedHive: Oin and Yu, the two "mean nations" that Yyrkoon holes up in in the first Elric adventure. Dhoz-Kam, the shared capital, is populated by shiftless, dirty, disease-ridden scum. Later Elric has to go to Nadsokor, a city made up of thieves, murderers, and beggars.
316	%%* YouJustToldMe: How Elric discovers [[spoiler:Yyrkoon's plans about the two Black Swords]].
317	%%* YourSoulIsMine: What Stormbringer and Mournblade do to anyone killed with them.
318	----
319	-->''"Farewell, friend. I was a thousand times more evil than thou!"''

Context Literature / TheElricSaga