| 1 | [[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_famous_five.jpg]] |
| 2 | |
| 3 | ''The Famous Five'' is the name of a series of children's novels written by British author Creator/EnidBlyton. The first book, ''Five on a Treasure Island'', was published in 1942. |
| 4 | |
| 5 | The novels feature the adventures of a group of five children (well, four children and a TeamPet) — siblings Julian, Dick and Anne, their cousin Georgina (who prefers to be called George) and her dog Timmy. Blyton created several similar groups for some of her other novels, including the Secret Seven, the Adventurous Four (not to be confused with the Adventure Series, although there were also four kids in that group) and the Literature/FiveFindOuters, but the Famous Five is the best-known and most popular of these. |
| 6 | |
| 7 | Blyton only intended to write about 6 to 8 books in the series but, owing to their high sales and immense commercial success, she went on to write 21 full-length Famous Five novels. By the end of 1953, more than 6 million copies of these books had been printed and sold. Today, more than two million copies of the books are sold each year, making them one of the biggest-selling series for children ever written. Over a hundred million books have been sold, and nearly all of the original novels have subsequently been adapted for television (the first TV series in the late 1970s adapted all but three of them, missing out two due to rights issues and another because it was impractical to film on the available schedule, and a later mid-90s series managed a full house). A stage musical combining the first two books toured in the UK in 1997, known as ''Famous Five Smuggler's Gold'', starring Alison Hughes and Jon Lee. More recently, an animated version of them has been used in a series of adverts for the Great Western Railway, with titles like ''Five Go on a Great Western Aventure'' and ''Five Get to Bristol Faster''. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | The books were very loosely adapted into the animated series ''WesternAnimation/FamousFiveOnTheCase''. In 2023, Creator/TheBBC released a [[Series/TheFamousFive2023 new television adaption]]. |
| 10 | ---- |
| 11 | [[folder:Novels in this series]] |
| 12 | * ''Five on a Treasure Island'' (1942). Takes place during the Summer holidays. |
| 13 | * ''Five Go Adventuring Again'' (1943). Takes place during the Christmas holidays. |
| 14 | * ''Five Run Away Together'' (1944). Takes place during the Summer holidays. |
| 15 | * ''Five Go to Smuggler's Top'' (1945). Takes place during the Easter holidays. |
| 16 | * ''Five Go Off in a Caravan'' (1946). Takes place during the Summer holidays. |
| 17 | * ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'' (1947). Takes place during the Easter holidays, initially written to be the conclusion to the series. |
| 18 | * ''Five Go Off to Camp'' (1948). Camping vacation. The time of the year is left vague. |
| 19 | * ''Five Get Into Trouble'' (1949). Takes place during the Easter holidays. |
| 20 | * ''Five Fall Into Adventure'' (1950). Takes place in September. |
| 21 | * ''Five On a Hike Together'' (1951). Takes place during the October mid-term break. |
| 22 | * ''Five Have a Wonderful Time'' (1952). Takes place during the Easter holidays. |
| 23 | * ''Five Go Down to the Sea'' (1953). Takes place during the Summer holidays. |
| 24 | * ''Five Go to Mystery Moor'' (1954). Takes place during the Easter holidays. |
| 25 | * ''Five Have Plenty of Fun'' (1955). Takes place during the Summer holidays. |
| 26 | * ''Five on a Secret Trail'' (1956). Camping vacation. The time of the year is left vague. |
| 27 | * ''Five Go to Billycock Hill'' (1957). Takes place late in May. |
| 28 | * ''Five Get Into a Fix'' (1958). Takes place during the Christmas holidays. |
| 29 | * ''Five on Finniston Farm'' (1960). Takes place during the Summer holidays. |
| 30 | * ''Five Go to Demon's Rocks'' (1961). Takes place during the Easter holidays. |
| 31 | * ''Five Have a Mystery to Solve'' (1962). Takes place during the Easter holidays. |
| 32 | * ''Five Are Together Again'' (1963). Takes place during the Easter holidays. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | Such was the series' popularity in France that after Blyton's death Claude Voilier, who had translated the original books into French, wrote a series of 24 more officially-licensed ''Five'' books, which were published between 1971 and 1985, and all but six of which were also translated into English. Two original books apparently written by the series' German translator in the late seventies also exist, but they were recalled almost immediately due to not being properly licensed. |
| 35 | [[/folder]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | !!This series includes examples of |
| 38 | * AbusiveParents: Some of the children which the Five meet are in abusive parent situations, usually where the parents or guardians are the villains of the story. Examples are Nobby in ''Five go off in a Caravan'', Martin in ''Five On Kirrin Island Again'', and Jo in ''Five Fall into Adventure''. |
| 39 | * AbsentMindedProfessor: Uncle Quentin, though more bad-tempered than most examples. In ''Five On Kirrin Island Again'' this manifests itself as [[ForgetsToEat Forgetting To Eat]]--''until'' his wife tells him to throw away some cans of soup which have spoiled, at which point, of course, he promptly eats it. |
| 40 | * AccidentalKidnapping: |
| 41 | ** In ''Five Run Away Together'': when the Sticks have invaded Kirrin Island, Edgar falls through the hole in the roof of the cave where the Five are hiding. The Five immediately make a prisoner of him; first with HandGagging by Julian, then threatening him with being bitten by Timmy if he yells for his parents. |
| 42 | ** In ''Five go to Smuggler's Top'': Mr Barling intentionally kidnaps Uncle Quentin, but Sooty ends up kidnapped as well, because he happens to see what Mr Barling is doing. |
| 43 | ** In ''Five have Plenty of Fun'' the thugs mistake George for their intended target because they see her carrying the other girl's dog. Granted it happened at night but it still says a thing or two about their intelligence. Of course George, being George, won't let them know they messed up. |
| 44 | ---> '''Dick:''' The police don't seem to realise how ''complicated'' this is: the wrong girl kidnapped, the wrong father informed, the right one not at all inclined to give up powerful secrets - and poor old George not knowing what is happening! |
| 45 | * AddedAlliterativeAppeal: In ''Five Get Into Trouble'', George asks the names of Richard's dogs: he tells her they are Bunter, Biscuit, Brownie, Bones, Bonzo. George is unimpressed by these names, especially Biscuit. |
| 46 | * AdorablyPrecociousChild: Julian. He's only 11-13 (yes, really), but has all the aplomb of an eighteen year-old, using his wit to impress the police and run circles around criminals. |
| 47 | * AdventureTowns: The children seemingly cannot go anywhere without having a new adventure, even if they try to avoid it. |
| 48 | --> "Adventures are definitely off this time. If anything comes up, we'll pooh-pooh it and walk off." |
| 49 | * AlarmSOS: In ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks'', the Five's enemy locks them in a disused lighthouse. With no other way to communicate, they light the lighthouse lamp, and sound the bell, which is heard by the nearby village. |
| 50 | * AlliterativeTitle: The title of the overall series. |
| 51 | ** Book 18 is called ''Five on Finniston Farm''. |
| 52 | * AmateurSleuth: Times five. Well, four. |
| 53 | * AntagonisticOffspring: Two of the books have elderly ladies who are terrified of their grown-up sons: ''Five on a Hike Together'', and ''Five go to Billycock Hill''. |
| 54 | * AntiInterferenceLockUp: This happens to somebody in almost every book: the Five are locked up by the villains, or the villains are locked up by the Five; either in their bedrooms, or a dungeon. |
| 55 | * AntiquatedLinguistics: One older reference not changed in modern reprints is "field glasses" to mean binoculars. |
| 56 | * ArchEnemy: In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', the extremely headstrong George has an utter loathing for their tutor Mr Roland, mostly because the tutor does not like dogs. She comes very close to alienating herself from the rest of the family as well, even threatening (and meaning it) to run away. However, in a gesture of EveryoneHasStandards, when Mr Roland gives her a Christmas present of a book about dogs, she thanks him stiffly, having "made up her mind not to spoil Christmas Day by being difficult". |
| 57 | --> '''George''': I've seen Mr Roland's lips, they are thin and cruel. I don't like thin-lipped people. They are always spiteful and hard. And I don't like his cold eyes either. You can suck up to him all you like. ''I'' shan't. |
| 58 | * TheArtfulDodger: Thieves and other rogues appear in all of the books; in ''Five go to Demon's Rocks'', a policeman refers to the thief Jacob as an artful dodger. |
| 59 | * ArtisticLicensePhysics: In ''Five on a Hike Together'', the queer lake Gloomy Water remains as still as glass, even in the wind. However, George suspects that it might obey the laws of physics in that sound travels easily over water, warning Tim not to bark. |
| 60 | * AstonishinglyAppropriateInterruption: In the early books, Anne has a habit of giving away secrets to the grown-ups, and the others then interrupt her. When she says "It's a...", somebody else chips in with "It's a wonderful afternoon for a walk". This is played with in ''Five on a Treasure Island'', just after a storm has thrown up a shipwreck from the bottom of the sea, and the children do not want the adults to know about this yet: |
| 61 | --> '''Anne:''' The storm was grand. It threw up... (is kicked by Julian and Dick) |
| 62 | --> '''Aunt Fanny:''' What did the storm throw up, dear? |
| 63 | --> '''Anne:''' It threw up the most enormous waves. (Looks defiantly at the others) |
| 64 | * AsYouKnow: Some tricky words are explained in-universe, often for Anne's benefit. |
| 65 | ** In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', Anne is baffled by "catacombs", with a picture of cats and combs in her head. Sooty explains that they are winding, secret tunnels. |
| 66 | ** In ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'', Dick finds out that Mr Curton is a journalist, and tells Anne that it means somebody who writes for newspapers. |
| 67 | * AxeBeforeEntering: Many locked doors are smashed down. |
| 68 | ** In ''Five on a Treasure Island'', the Five use an axe to open a locked wooden door protecting the treasure. As they valiantly attack the door, Dick is injured by a flying splinter of wood. |
| 69 | ** In ''Five go Adventuring Again'', the villains break into their bedroom with brute force, when the Five have entered the bedroom through a secret passage, and locked the door from inside. |
| 70 | ** In ''Five get into Trouble'', Julian takes refuge from the mad villain Rooky by locking himself in the study. Enraged, Rooky tries to smash the door down with a chair. |
| 71 | ** In ''Five go to Demon's Rocks'', Jeremiah Boogle and Constable Sharp rescue the Five from the locked lighthouse by smashing the door in with brute force. |
| 72 | * BabyTalk: In ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks'', the elderly Jeremiah talks about one of the villains being caught by the tide, and "drownded". The villain retorts with an insult ending in "get drownded too". |
| 73 | * BagOfKidnapping: In ''Five run away Together'', the little girl Jennifer Mary Armstrong is kidnapped in this way, by a man throwing a shawl over her head. |
| 74 | * BaitAndSwitchGunshot: In ''Five Go Off In A Caravan'', Julian manages to kick Lou's torch out of his hand, plunging everybody into darkness underground. George wails that she does not want Timmy to be shot, and even as she speaks, a shot rings out. After a chapter break, it is revealed that Timmy was not hit. |
| 75 | * BarefootCaptives: In ''Five go to Smuggler's Top'', Uncle Quentin is barefoot because he is kidnapped while in bed. After he escapes, he has to walk through the town barefoot and in pyjamas. He is later given a FootBathTreatment. |
| 76 | * BeingWatched: In ''Five Have Plenty of Fun'', Julian and Dick are going around a stately home, trying to find a way in, and they keep experiencing "the jitters", feeling they are being watched. [[spoiler: They are indeed being watched by Jo, who follows them after they forbade her to go with them.]] |
| 77 | * BerserkButton: Most evident in George's hair trigger in the ''Famous Five'' books whenever someone is mean to her pet dog Timmy, or worse dares to call her a girl. |
| 78 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: Anne is a ProperLady but every once in a while, well you know how the {{Trope}} goes. In one book, she purposely tries to be a "tiger". Also Dick at times. |
| 79 | * [[BigEater Big Eaters]]: The Famous Five never fail to finish off their tea sandwiches for lunch. |
| 80 | * BigFancyHouse: These feature in ''Five get into Trouble'', ''Five fall into Adventure'', and ''Five have plenty of Fun'', inhabited by wealthy villains. In ''Five go to Smuggler's Top'', the Five stay in a big fancy house, which is full of secret passages. |
| 81 | * BlatantLies: Although the Five generally consider themselves to be truthful, especially George, In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', Julian tells a couple of whoppers just after Sooty and Uncle Quentin have disappeared in the night. When the maid Sarah brings Uncle Quentin his morning tea in bed, she is amazed to find Julian and Dick there instead; to get rid of Sarah, Julian says that he might be in his and Dick's bedroom. Later, Mr Lenoir tries to ask them what happened; Julian says they know nothing, but it is obvious he is lying by omission. |
| 82 | --> '''Julian:''' Marybelle, I think ''I'' had better take charge of the telling. (To Mr Lenoir) Uncle Quentin vanished from his bed last night, and so did Sooty. They may turn up, of course. |
| 83 | --> '''Mr Lenoir:''' Julian! You are keeping back something. |
| 84 | --> '''Marybelle:''' (wailing) Tell him, Julian, tell him! |
| 85 | * BlindfoldedTrip: In ''Five Have a Wonderful Time'', Terry-Kane mentions being blindfolded when he is kidnapped, so he does not know the way to the room where he was held captive. |
| 86 | * BlindMistake: In ''Five Run Away Together'', Julian raids the larder stealthily at night, and does not switch on the light, because Mr Stick is sleeping on the kitchen sofa. When he goes to leave, he then walks straight into the sofa, and wakes Mr Stick. |
| 87 | * BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Subverted in ''Five have a Wonderful Time'': a gun is whipped out of an enemy's hand, by fair-folk member Bufflo, who is particularly skilled with a whip. The narrative lampshades how dangerous this trick is, in that the gun might have gone off. |
| 88 | * BoardingSchool: The characters all attend one, and George is improbably allowed to keep Timmy at hers. |
| 89 | * BookSnap: In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', Mr Roland the tutor does this after their lessons have been interrupted by the revelation of Uncle Quentin's stolen papers. |
| 90 | --> Mr Roland shut the books on the table with a snap. "We can't do any more lessons this morning," he said. |
| 91 | * BorrowedWithoutPermission: In ''Five Have Plenty of Fun'', Jo asks to borrow Julian's bike. When he refuses, she takes Dick's bike instead, triumphantly ringing the bell as she rides away. Dick is angry at first, but mildly amused when she returns, especially as she [[StolenGoodReturnedBetter cleans it]]. |
| 92 | --> '''Jo:''' I'm sorry I took it, Dick. |
| 93 | --> '''Dick:''' You're not a bit sorry, but I'll forgive you. |
| 94 | * BoundAndGagged: Happens many times to the [[KidDetective Kid Detectives]], especially George and Dick. |
| 95 | * {{Bowdlerise}}: "Modernized" by Hodder in 2010 to changed the slang (e.g. swotter to bookworm) and bring in more gender equality. Other changes (in the 1980s) were: |
| 96 | ** "Kit bag" to "rucksack". |
| 97 | ** "Shilling" to "five pence". |
| 98 | ** "Shorts" to "jeans". |
| 99 | ** "Spanking" to "telling off". |
| 100 | ** "Scholarship exams" to "important exams". |
| 101 | ** "Golliwogs" are removed from the list of Dick's toys in the first book. |
| 102 | ** "Golly!" to "Whew!" |
| 103 | * BoyishShortHair: George. |
| 104 | * BravingTheBlizzard: Downplayed in ''Five Go Adventuring Again''. During a heavy snowfall just after Christmas, the Five's tutor Mr Roland suddenly heads out of the house on foot. George suspects that he is up to something, and sends Julian to follow him, telling him to wear a white mackintosh cloak as camouflage against the snow. The snow begins to fall again, making it a somewhat treacherous journey for them both. Later, the house is completely snowed in; and to their surprise, the police arrive on skis. |
| 105 | * BreakThemByTalking: Julian does this a lot; as he has such a "ready tongue". |
| 106 | ** In ''Five run away Together'', he has words with Edgar who is singing songs about George for being upset about her mother being in hospital. |
| 107 | ---> '''Julian:''' (To Edgar, through the kitchen window) Come out here. I'll teach you to sing another song. |
| 108 | ---> '''Edgar:''' No fear! You want to fight me. |
| 109 | ---> '''Julian:''' Yes, I think a bit of good, honest fighting would be better for you than singing songs about a girl who is miserable. Are you coming out? Or shall I come in and fetch you? |
| 110 | ---> '''Edgar:''' Maaaaa!!! |
| 111 | ** In ''Five get into Trouble'', Julian ruthlessly tries to scare the villains' downtrodden housekeeper Aggie into making admissions. |
| 112 | ---> '''Aggie:''' It's funny that you should come just after... (suddenly stops herself) |
| 113 | ---> '''Julian:''' Just after that other boy came, you mean? |
| 114 | ** In ''Five fall into Adventure'', he and Dick and Jo set out to rescue George from the LargeHam villain "Red Tower". They invade Red's home, and Julian practically interrogates Red ''before he has even seen him''. |
| 115 | ---> '''Red:''' (Unseen) SO! YOU DARE TO COME HERE! Who are you? |
| 116 | ---> '''Julian:''' Who are you? Come out and show yourself. We've come to see a man called Red. Take us to him. |
| 117 | ---> '''Red:''' (After a stunned pause) Who sent you? |
| 118 | ---> '''Julian:''' Nobody. We came because we want our cousin back, and her dog too. |
| 119 | ---> (Red appears. Julian takes one look into his eyes, sees that he is mad) |
| 120 | ---> '''Red:''' So you think I have your cousin? Who told you such a stupid tale? |
| 121 | ---> '''Julian:''' I'll tell you that when the police come. (The police have not been called) |
| 122 | ---> '''Red:''' The police! What do they know? Why should they come here? Answer me, boy! |
| 123 | ---> '''Julian:''' There's a lot to know about you, Mr Red Tower. Who sent men to steal my uncle's papers? Who sent a note to ask for another lot? Who kidnapped our cousin? Who brought her here? Who... |
| 124 | ---> '''Red:''' (with panic in his voice) Aaaaaaah! How do you know all this? It isn't true! But the police - have they heard this fantastic tale, too? |
| 125 | ---> '''Julian:''' What do you suppose? (Wishing the police do know, and he is not merely bluffing) |
| 126 | * BrickJoke: ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'' has one involving acronyms. |
| 127 | --> '''Julian:''' Scientists are VIP: Very Important People. What did you think it meant? Violet, Indigo, Purple? I expect those are the colours Uncle Quentin would go if he knew somebody was after his secrets. |
| 128 | --> ''(Later)'' |
| 129 | --> '''Dick:''' I would give Joanna the OBCBE: Order of the Best Cooks of the British Empire. What did you think it meant? "Oh, Be Careful Before Eating"? |
| 130 | * BrokenHeel: In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'': As the children flee from the villains down the Secret Way, Anne trips on a stone, twists her ankle, and can only hobble along. George then uses Timmy to frighten the villains away, so that the others can get Anne to safety. |
| 131 | * BrokenLeverOfDoom: In ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'', the villains set up Uncle Quentin's equipment to cause a massive explosion, and have altered the mechanism to the dungeon entrance so that it cannot be opened from the inside, preventing Uncle Quentin and the others from escaping. |
| 132 | --> In vain, Uncle Quentin swung the lever to and fro. Nothing happened. The stone did not move. |
| 133 | * BrushOffWalkOff: In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', George and Timmy each do this to show their contempt for the tutor Mr Roland. |
| 134 | ** When Timmy first meets Mr Roland, and is told to "shake hands" with him, Timmy instead turns his back on Mr Roland, and walks away, as if he senses that Mr Roland does not like dogs. |
| 135 | ** Later, George is at first excited to go on an outing with the others to search for the Secret Way. However, when she learns that Mr Roland is going with them, she immediately changes her mind, and walks off to go for a walk with Timmy, as "a lonely little figure going down the garden path". |
| 136 | * BuildingOfAdventure: Adventure appears in all of the books, but one of the ''buildings'' which feels most inherently full of adventure from the beginning is Smuggler's Top, with its many secret passages and tunnels. |
| 137 | * BullyingTheDisabled: Averted in ''Five go to Smuggler's Top''. On meeting Block, learning that he is deaf but can lip-read, George declares that it would be beastly to say things in front of him that one would not say if he was not deaf. |
| 138 | * BusmansHoliday: The children have a tutor in ''Five Go Adventuring Again'' during Christmas break. Justified because Julian and Dick were sick with the flu twice during the term and missed lots of schoolwork. |
| 139 | * CacophonyCoverUp: In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', Timmy is under the table, unknown to Mr Roland; and when the class is at its very quietest, Timmy makes noises. To hide this, George clatters her feet on the floor, Julian coughs and knocks over a book, and Dick speaks to Mr Roland. |
| 140 | --> '''Mr Roland''': Why all this sudden noise? Stop tapping the floor with your feet, Georgina. |
| 141 | * CannotKeepASecret: Anne. Julian tells her "Anne, the only way to stop you giving away secrets is to sew up your mouth, like Brer Rabbit wanted to do to Mister Dog." Even when she isn't about to tell a secret, her brothers suspect her of meaning to. |
| 142 | * CannotTellALie: George never tells a lie, because she believes it is cowardly not to tell the truth. |
| 143 | ** This is emphasised in ''Five on a Treasure Island'', when the others hardly believe her claim that Kirrin Island is her very own; she says that if they do not believe her, she will not say another word more. |
| 144 | ** In ''Five Go Adventuring Again,'' she readily confesses to taking Timmy into her father's study and night, and swears on her honour that she knows nothing of her father's lost papers. Her father believes her, in spite of his anger. |
| 145 | ** In ''Five Run Away Together'', Julian suggests that George is pretending that she has a plan. George angrily retorts "Do I ever pretend?". |
| 146 | * CantSeeADamnThing: |
| 147 | ** In ''Five go off in a Caravan'', Julian's torch runs out of battery power as he and Nobby are exploring an underground cave, and they have to find their way back in darkness. |
| 148 | ** In ''Five go down to the Sea'', Julian and Dick try on a stage horse costume, which has eye-holes in the neck. But when this goes very wrong, Julian cannot get the eye-holes in the right place, leaving him "absolutely blind". |
| 149 | * CassandraTruth: In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', George simply hates their tutor Mr Roland. Not only that, but she has a Feeling about him, and suspects that he is up to something, when she sees him poking around in her father's study, and meeting two artists whom he pretended not to know. Because she hates Mr Roland so much, nobody will believe her suspicions about him, [[spoiler: which are correct, when he steals her father's papers]]. |
| 150 | * {{Catchphrase}}: Lots of them, said by the Five, or in the narrative. |
| 151 | ** "Golly!" (Replaced with "Whew!" in some reprints.) |
| 152 | ** "How sickening!" |
| 153 | ** It was most ''disappointing''. It was bitterly ''disappointing''. They felt ''disappointed'' in him. |
| 154 | ** "Woof," said Timmy, and thumped his tail on the floor. |
| 155 | ** The characters do many things ''vigorously''. Julian cleans his teeth ''vigorously''. Joan rolls out pastry ''vigorously'' (at least twice). George causes the others to have fits of choking because she is so ''vigorous'' in her dusting. Uncle Quentin stirs his cup of cocoa ''vigorously''. |
| 156 | * CatchYourDeathOfCold: At the beginning of ''Five have a Wonderful Time'', George has been in bed with a cold, having bathed in April. Many of the other books warn of the children being in bed with bronchitis or pneumonia if they swim in cold water. |
| 157 | * CatScare: Played straight in ''Five Have Plenty of Fun''. When Julian and Dick are sneaking into Gringo's big house to rescue George, Dick is startled by the kitchen cat, and clutches at Julian, making him jump. |
| 158 | * CatUpATree: Inverted in a non-comic way in ''Five get into Trouble''. Anne climbs a tree, and while she is up there, Dick is captured by two villains. Anne is too horrified to climb down, and has to be rescued by Julian. |
| 159 | * CharacterTics: In ''Five go to Smuggler's Top'', the hot-tempered Mr Lenoir has a unique angry tic: the tip of his nose turns white, which happens many times in the story. |
| 160 | * ChristmasEpisode: ''Five Go Adventuring Again'' and ''Five Get Into a Fix'' are the only two books that take place during Christmas holidays. In the former, the Five are spending Christmas at Kirrin Cottage. George spends most of the book sulking because nobody will share her intense dislike for their tutor Mr Roland. She has never had a Christmas tree before, and looks forward to it, but it is spoilt for her because Mr Roland buys all the things that make it look beautiful. The others plead with her not to spoil Christmas; she compromises by being civil on the day itself, and stiffly thanks Mr Roland for his present to her, before reverting to her stubborn self the following day. |
| 161 | * CigaretteOfAnxiety: In ''Five go off in a Caravan'', one of the villains Lou has a cigarette just before the difficult task of moving a caravan by hand, and again just after moving it back. |
| 162 | * CircusEpisode: Several books feature a circus, especially ''Five go off in a Caravan'' and ''Five are together again''. ''Five have a Wonderful Time'' features the "Fair-folk", a lower-key circus. |
| 163 | * ClaimingViaFlag: In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', Julian and Dick tell of Sooty's daredevil climbing on the school roof, and how he tied the union jack flag to one of the chimney pots, presumably to "claim" it. |
| 164 | * ClosetShuffle: Hiding in wardrobes or cupboards happens many times, and sometimes cupboards are combined with secret passages. |
| 165 | ** In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'': Lampshaded when the artists have broken in the door to their bedroom, which was mysteriously locked from inside. When they get in and see nobody, the first place they look is in the cupboard. [[spoiler: The cupboard actually contains the entrance to a secret passage, but they do not discover this just then.]] |
| 166 | ** In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'': The Five quickly bundle Timmy into a cupboard, to hide him when Block approaches the room. In the same book, George also hides inside a chest, and behind a sofa in Mr Lenoir's study, while Mr Lenoir is there. She also hides under a bed, when Block sneaks into the room to fiddle about on a window seat. |
| 167 | ** In ''Five Get Into Trouble'', Julian hides in a cupboard in the corridor so that he can sneak around the house at night, as he suspects that their host will lock them in the bedroom for the night, which indeed he does. |
| 168 | * ClueOfFewWords: This happens twice. When George is kidnapped, she manages to write a very short message. In both cases, the others recognise George's handwriting, and the message only makes sense to the gypsy girl Jo. |
| 169 | ** In ''Five Fall Into Adventure'', George writes "Red Tower" many times on the inside wall of a caravan. When the others find it, they assume it is a place, but Jo points out that it is the name of a villain. |
| 170 | ** In ''Five Have Plenty of Fun'', George writes a note saying "Gringo". Jo recognises the name, which they use to find George. |
| 171 | * CobwebOfDisuse: In ''Five on a Hike Together'', the Five sleep in the cellar of a burned-out house. George slashes fiercely at cobwebs which startle her by touching her face. |
| 172 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: When the Five stay in caravans, their colours are often mentioned. |
| 173 | ** ''Five go off in a Caravan'': The boys have the green caravan (with red curtains), and the girls have the red caravan (with green curtains), because Anne loves red. One of the caravans becomes very important in the second half of the book, although interestingly, it is not stated until very late on ''which'' colour caravan it is. |
| 174 | ---> '''Anne:''' I do like the red one, bags I the red one! |
| 175 | ** ''Five have a Wonderful Time'': The Five stay in old-fashioned caravans. The red one, picked out in black and yellow, is Julian and Dick's. The blue one, picked out in black and yellow, is George's and Anne's. Oh sorry, Timmy's too. |
| 176 | * ComicBookTime: 21 adventures all occurring during the holidays of boarding school. |
| 177 | * CompactInfiltrator: In ''Five Fall into Adventure'', a tiny window in Kirrin Cottage is impossible to close properly; and they decide that nobody could possibly squeeze through. However, the gipsy child Jo manages it and lets robbers into the house. |
| 178 | * ConfiscatedPhone: In ''Five Run Away Together'', the children do not want the cook Mrs Stick to answer the phone when Uncle Quentin calls. Unfortunately, he calls earlier than he said he would, and Mrs Stick does get in first. George flies into the room like a wild thing, and snatches the receiver out of Mrs Stick's hand. |
| 179 | * ConstantlyCurious: George and Dick, to a lesser degree Julian. Not Anne, as she would much rather 'stay out of adventures'. |
| 180 | * ContrivedCoincidence: The Five ''frequently'' wander into nests of thieves and rogues, and ''just happen'' to be there when the criminals are doing their dirty work. However, one of the biggest coincidences (lampshaded by the Five, see below) is in ''Five Have a Wonderful Time'': when they are looking through field-glasses ("binoculars" to us), they look at a castle window, and they ''just happen'' to see the face of somebody held prisoner inside. |
| 181 | --> '''Julian''': It was a chance of one in a thousand that we saw his face there. |
| 182 | --> '''Dick''': In a ''million''. |
| 183 | * CoolOldGuy: Jeremiah Boogle in ''Five go to Demon's Rocks''; his age is emphasised by being the ''great''-grandfather of the village mechanic. He might be old but he is still hefty: he and Constable Sharp break through a locked door by shoving it. |
| 184 | * CoolGate: The iconic mechanical gates in ''Five Get Into Trouble'', leading into the high-walled estate of Owl's Dene, a mysterious villain hideout, in a lonely spot in a wood, almost completely isolated from the outside world. |
| 185 | --> The gates had been shut and locked by some kind of special machinery, and nobody and nothing could open them apart from that special machinery. |
| 186 | --> "There's no telephone here, no gas, no water laid on, nothing. Only secrets and signs and comings and goings and threats of..." |
| 187 | * CoolKey: Downplayed in ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks''. Nine-year-old Tinker always carries the large key to his very own lighthouse with him, as a symbol of his pride in owning a lighthouse. Soon after he has said "I am looking forward to unlocking ''my'' lighthouse with ''my'' key", he finds it has become stiff, and needs Julian to help him unlock it. [[spoiler: Later, the key is stolen, used against the Five, and is never recovered.]] |
| 188 | * CovertDistressCode: |
| 189 | ** A standard covert distress call is for George to sign her name 'Georgina' (something that she hates doing) whenever the bad guys inexplicably ask the captured children to send a note to the non-captured ones, to alert them that something is wrong. This is not agreed in advance, but George does it anyway, and it works. |
| 190 | ** In ''Five On Kirrin Island Again'', Uncle Quentin signals from Kirrin Island to Kirrin Cottage (under threat of being visited every day by his wife) that he is all right, by flashing with a mirror six times in the daytime, and shining a lantern at night. When he needs help, he flashes eighteen times instead of six. |
| 191 | ** Twice, when George is kidnapped, she manages to write a one or two-word message for the others to find (against very high odds), in both cases of something she overheard. |
| 192 | ---> "She's written 'Red Tower' ever so many times, and the R's and the T's are just like hers." (See "Meaningful Name" below.) |
| 193 | * CowardiceCallout: Bravery is very highly valued by the Five. In ''Five get into Trouble'', the Five meet Richard Kent, a privileged boy who is very cowardly. Julian berates him very sternly indeed, telling him that anybody can help being a coward and that cowardice is thinking of your own miserable skin instead of somebody else's. |
| 194 | * CrappyHolidays: Subverted in ''Five Go Adventuring Again''. The children think that they will have horrible holidays because they have a tutor. They have another adventure instead. |
| 195 | * CreepyCave: Lots of them throughout the series, often with the echoes being described as making them creepy. The dungeons on Kirrin Island appear in ''Five on a Treasure Island'' and ''Five Run Away Together''. In the latter, the enemy Stick family is camping in the caves, and the Five frighten them by making animal noises. In ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks'', there is the added danger of the caves being flooded at high tide. |
| 196 | * CreepyMonotone: Block in ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', who speaks in a monotone. He is allegedly deaf, and has an expressionless face, which as Anne says, might have been a wax mask. |
| 197 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: In the penultimate book, ''Five Have A Mystery To Solve'', the otherwise timid and helpless Anne gets a much-needed injection of spirit and assertiveness -- much of it thanks to her finally meeting someone who annoys her so much she just snaps. She loses her temper several times during the book and with the aid of Timmy actually ends up chasing away the bad guys with her spectacular display of anger. Her brothers joke that she's "turning into a tiger," something that she discovers she actually kind of likes being told. |
| 198 | * CruelToBeKind: In ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'', in which Dick has several moments of OOCIsSeriousBusiness, he treads jolly hard on Timmy's tail to make him yelp, so that George will stop "blabbing like a girl" to somebody Dick believes is an enemy. Needless to say, George is then absolutely livid. |
| 199 | --> "Oh you ''beast'', Dick! How could you hurt Timmy?" |
| 200 | * CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon: |
| 201 | ** In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', Julian tells Anne that there is only one way to stop her giving away secrets: to sew up her mouth, like Brer Rabbit wanted to do to Mister Dog. |
| 202 | ** George has a moment of this in ''Five have a Wonderful Time''. Dick sees a peculiar sight through George's field glasses, and keeps the others in suspense about what it is for a long time, even having a second look, and saying it's gone. George then threatens to roll Dick down the hill if he does not say what he saw. [[spoiler: Dick sees a desperate face looking out of the window of a castle tower.]] |
| 203 | * CurtainCamouflage: This happens twice in ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'': |
| 204 | ** Dick and Julian hide behind curtains when they are trying to find out who is signalling from a tower. |
| 205 | ** Block hides behind a curtain when he is trying to catch Timmy in the house. However, his shoes give him away, and the children ambush him. |
| 206 | * CutPhoneLines: This happens in ''Five Fall into Adventure'', when George is kidnapped. The telephone lines have been cut, and the kidnappers are watching Kirrin Cottage to make sure nobody leaves the house to tell the police. |
| 207 | * CuttingTheElectronicLeash: The 1950s equivalent. ''Five fall into Adventure'' begins with Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin taking a proper holiday in Spain, refusing to tell anybody the address for a few days. This comes at a time when there is a lot of interest from the press in Uncle Quentin's work, and while they are away, some of his papers are stolen, and nobody can contact them. A policeman mutters that it's a pity when people leave things in an ordinary safe, and then go off without leaving an address. A similar situation happens in ''Five have Plenty of Fun'', when Fanny and Quentin go away for two days, then send a telegram (with no address) to say that they will not return for a week. |
| 208 | * DeadpanSnarker: Dick occasionally. |
| 209 | ** Aunt Fanny has some moments of this with Uncle Quentin, such as this in ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks'', where there is an unexpected shortage of beds at Kirrin Cottage: |
| 210 | ---> '''Aunt Fanny:''' (to Uncle Quentin) It looks as if somebody will have to sleep in Timmy's kennel, and I've a good mind to make up a bed for ''you'' in the coal-house! |
| 211 | * DebtDetester: |
| 212 | ** In the very first book, George refuses to accept an ice cream from Julian, because she has no pocket money with which she can return the favour. He has to work very hard to persuade her to take it, which she does eventually. |
| 213 | ** In ''Five go off in a Caravan'', the Five buy some powerful torches before their Really Good Exploration of the underground caves. They give one to the circus boy Nobby, who mumbles that he hasn't enough money to pay them for such a grand torch. |
| 214 | * DeniedFoodAsPunishment: |
| 215 | ** Downplayed in ''Five on a Treasure Island''. When the children come in for breakfast very late from having made a secret journey to explore the wreck, Uncle Quentin says that they do no deserve hot bacon and eggs; only toast and marmalade. |
| 216 | ** In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', Mr Lenoir mutters about doling this out when one of the children [[DingDongDitchDistraction knocks on his study door and runs away]]. He follows through when he discovers George hiding in his study. |
| 217 | ---> "Bed and bread and water for them!" |
| 218 | * DesertedIsland: George's island. There are only rabbits there. |
| 219 | * TheDeterminator: George. If there's something she wants - don't get in the way. Just don't. |
| 220 | * DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: |
| 221 | ** In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', Uncle Quentin has a particularly tactless outburst when his papers are stolen; and being only the second book, he does not appreciate having the children around. |
| 222 | ---> '''Uncle Quentin:''' How can a man work when these upsets go on? I was always against having children in the house. |
| 223 | ** In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'': just after Sooty and Uncle Quentin are kidnapped, the children suspect Mr Lenoir of being behind it, so they refuse to tell him anything. Mr Lenoir threatens to call the police, and Julian blurts out "I didn't think ''you'd'' go to the police: you have too many secrets to hide!". He could then have kicked himself for saying this, but he couldn't unsay it now. |
| 224 | * DistressCall: In ''Five go to Demon's Rocks'', the Five stay in a disused lighthouse, and the villain locks them in to stop them finding hidden treasure. To alert the village that they need help, they manage to light the lighthouse itself, and they sound the lighthouse bell; they are rescued soon after this. |
| 225 | * DoNotCallMePaul: George hates being a girl so much, that she will not answer to her real name, Georgina. In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', their tutor Mr Roland refuses to respect this, [[spoiler: which is as much an indicator of his villainy as his dislike of Timmy]]. |
| 226 | --> Mr Roland looked under the table. "The brute snapped at my ankles. He has made a hole in my trousers. Take him out, Georgina." |
| 227 | --> Georgina said nothing. She sat as though she had not heard. |
| 228 | --> "She won't answer if you call her Georgina," Julian reminded him. |
| 229 | --> "She'll answer me whatever I call her," said Mr Roland, in a low and angry voice. |
| 230 | * DontWakeTheSleeper: The Five regularly sneak past sleeping scientists and villains, who are often (but not always) napping in the daytime. |
| 231 | ** In ''Five on a Treasure Island'', Julian sneaks into Uncle Quentin's study to retrieve their confiscated box from the wreck, risking an awful spanking. A bit of the box drops to the floor, waking Uncle Quentin; and Julian hides behind his chair until he falls asleep again. |
| 232 | ** In ''Five run away Together'', Julian raids the larder in the company of a sleeping Mr Stick. He keeps the light turned off to reduce the risk of waking him, but he goes the wrong way in the dark, and walks straight into him. |
| 233 | ** In ''Five go to Smuggler's Top'', George hides in Mr Lenoir's study, and tries to find the entrance to a secret passage when he has a nap. Unfortunately, he wakes. In the same book, Sooty creeps into Uncle Quentin's bedroom, to find the other end of the secret passage. |
| 234 | ** In ''Five go off in a Caravan'', Lou and Tiger Dan sleep by the caravans after they have brought some goods from underground. Nobby climbs the cliff, not realising that they are there, and hauls himself right on top of them. |
| 235 | ** In ''Five get into Trouble'', Julian explores the villains' house at night, when everyone is asleep. He tries to open the mechanical gates, but discovers that they make far too much noise. |
| 236 | ** In ''Five on a Hike Together'', the Five retrieve the loot from the lake at the only time the villains Maggie and Dirty Dick will not be watching them: at night. They have to be very quiet, as the couple are sleeping in tents beside the lake. |
| 237 | * TheDoorSlamsYou: In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', the Five's friend Sooty tries to peep through a keyhole to find out who is in a tower room. As he does so, the person suddenly comes out, and Sooty has to hide behind the door in a niche. |
| 238 | * DrippingDisturbance: In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', Sooty is kidnapped, and left in a dark underground cave, which is very frightening. One thing making it eerie is water dripping somewhere. |
| 239 | * DyeOrDie: Downplayed in ''Five Get Into Trouble''. When Richard is in danger of being seen by his arch-enemy Rooky, Julian tells him to rub soot over his yellow hair, to blacken it. At first, Rooky does not recognise him; but a bit later, Rooky demands to have another look, and recognises him after all. |
| 240 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the first novel, ''Five on a Treasure Island'', Timmy is referred to as "Tim" or "Timothy" throughout — and he doesn't live with George and her parents, as they don't approve of her having a dog (they come round to the idea by the end). Also, the three siblings, who are meeting their cousin for the first time, initially address her as Georgina, although once they find out that she prefers George, they just call her that. |
| 241 | * EekAMouse: Julian talks about the incident in ''Five Go Adventuring Again'' when a fellow student's mouse escaped and scared a matron at the school. |
| 242 | * EerilyOutOfPlaceObject: |
| 243 | ** In ''Five Run Away Together'', the little black trunk hidden in the ship wrecked off Kirrin Island; and even more so the contents. Inside, the Five were expecting to find smuggled goods, but instead they find a child's clothes and dolls. |
| 244 | ** In ''Five Have a Wonderful Time'', the Five look through binoculars, and happen to spot a face in the window of a distant castle. When they visit the castle, the tower where they saw the face appears to be completely inaccessible. |
| 245 | ** In ''Five Fall into Adventure'', a helicopter looks very out of place in the courtyard of the villains' hideout. |
| 246 | * ElaborateUndergroundBase: When Uncle Quentin is working on Kirrin Island in ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'', the children arrive to find no sign of Uncle Quentin at all. When he does suddenly appear, and vaguely says "oh, I was in my workroom", they cannot imagine where it might be. Later, they work out that it is underground, and that being surrounded on all sides by water (including above and below) is necessary to his experiment. George discovers the base when she goes there in the middle of the night. |
| 247 | * EnterStageWindow: Two occasions when this happens. |
| 248 | ** In ''Five fall into Adventure'', the gipsy child Jo can squeeze through little windows to break in, as well as climbing ivy to get up to a window. |
| 249 | ** In ''Five get into Trouble'', the children try to rescue Dick from the large house Owl's Dene. They believe his is behind a lighted attic window, and throw up a stone. Somebody comes to the window, but it is not Dick. Then they discover an open window on the ground floor, and they are caught when they sneak in that way. Julian later believes that the villain opened the window so that they might climb in, and they fell neatly into the trap. |
| 250 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: George meets her cousins Julian, Dick and Anne for the first time at the start of the first novel. She shows her arrogance and independence firstly by refusing to be there when they arrive. When she does see them the following morning, she makes her disdain of all girlish things very clear indeed (which also serves to emphasise Anne's girlishness) and states that she is to be called George, and not Georgina. She also makes it very clear that she will not be coerced into making friends with her cousins against her will. Julian is quick to counter that as far as that last point is concerned, the siblings feel the same way. |
| 251 | --> '''George:''' I don't make friends with people just because they're my cousins, or silly things like that. |
| 252 | --> '''Julian:''' Neither do we. We may not like ''you'', of course. |
| 253 | --> (George pauses as if this has not occurred to her) |
| 254 | * EveryoneHasStandards: George is normally extremely fierce, stubborn and rebellious, letting nobody stand in her way. However, at the beginning of ''Five Run Away Together'', her mother is ill, and she quietly puts up with the sour cook Mrs Stick and her vile son Edgar, so that her mother will not be left without help. |
| 255 | --> '''Julian''': I shan't stand much of him! I'm surprised you haven't stamped on his face, bitten his ears off, and done a few other things. You used to be so fierce! |
| 256 | --> '''George''': Well, I still am really. But I know that if I complain, Mrs Stick will leave, and then mother will be left alone. So I hold myself in, and hope that Timmy does so too. |
| 257 | * EveryoneKnowsMorse: Briefly discussed and averted in ''Five On Kirrin Island Again''. When Uncle Quentin is working on Kirrin Island, his wife is worried for his safety, and they agree that he gives a signal of six flashes twice a day, to confirm he is all right. One day, he flashes eighteen times instead of six, causing everyone to wonder why. Julian says that if he was in trouble, he would flash the SOS signal, but George says he does not know Morse code. |
| 258 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: When the Five are held captive for a long time, the villains often make a point of leaving them food, especially in ''Five go off in a Caravan'', if only to avoid being accused of starving them to death. |
| 259 | --> '''Lou''': Let them starve underground, the interfering little beasts. |
| 260 | --> '''Tiger Dan:''' Can't do that, we'll have the police after us worse than ever. |
| 261 | --> (Later, to the Five:) |
| 262 | --> '''Lou''': We wouldn't starve you, we're too fond of you. |
| 263 | * EvilCripple: Subverted in ''Five Go to Smuggler's Top'', [[spoiler:the villain's henchman Block feigns deafness to avoid suspicion and eavesdrop on the secrets of the Lenoir family.]] |
| 264 | * TheEveryMan: Dick. By far the most normal of the group. |
| 265 | * FakedGiftAcceptance: In ''Five Get Into Trouble'', the villains give the Five money, to compensate them for the "inconvenience" of kidnapping them. Julian accepts it without a word of thanks, but later gives it to Aggie, the downtrodden housekeeper. The Five also give away money given as a gift in ''Five Go To Billycock Hill''. |
| 266 | * FantasyHelmetEnforcement: Zigzagged. The Five are frequent cyclists, in an era when there was less traffic on the roads. No helmets are mentioned at all, but Julian is strict about their brakes being in good working order, especially in ''Five Get Into Trouble'' when he berates Richard for bad cycling practice. However, some of their habits are of questionable safety, such as having Timmy running alongside them, and carrying a passenger on one of their bikes. |
| 267 | * FeminineWomenCanCook: Anne. The Five would have starved to death long ago, if not for her. |
| 268 | * FooledByTheSound: |
| 269 | ** In ''Five go Adventuring Again'', Timmy the dog sighs from under the table during the children's lessons with Mr. Roland. As Timmy is not supposed to be there, George imitates the sigh, hoping Mr. Roland will think it was she who sighed the first time. |
| 270 | ** In ''Five Run Away Together'', Dick, Julian and George make convincing imitations of the sounds of cows, sheep and horses, to frighten the not-very-bright Sticks who are camping in the dungeons, who are well and truly taken in. |
| 271 | ** In ''Five go to Demon's Rocks'', nine-year-old Tinker pretends to be a bicycle, and imitates the sound of a bicycle bell so convincingly that Aunt Fanny believes somebody is ringing the doorbell. |
| 272 | * ForDoomTheBellTolls: |
| 273 | ** In ''Five On A Hike Together'', very loud bells are suddenly heard on a dark wet night, on a moor. Only the day after do they find out the reason for this: a convict had escaped from the local prison. |
| 274 | --> So that was why the bells had made such a [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal clamour and a clangour]]. Anne shivered. |
| 275 | ** In ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks'', the lighthouse bell is used [[spoiler: by the Five, as a distress signal that they are locked in the lighthouse]]. |
| 276 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: In some of the books, an important point is hinted at early on, often by the Five wondering about something that might happen. |
| 277 | ** In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', the Five are to have a tutor. When they are wondering what he will be like, George's main concern is whether he will like Timmy. Needless to say, the tutor does not like dogs; and even though he tries to make friends with Timmy, Timmy will have none of it. |
| 278 | ** In ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks'', the Five are staying in a disused lighthouse, and they wonder if the lamp can still be lighted. [[spoiler: Later, they light the lamp as a distress signal.]] |
| 279 | * FourTemperamentEnsemble: |
| 280 | ** Choleric: George |
| 281 | ** Sanguine: Julian |
| 282 | ** Phlegmatic: Dick |
| 283 | ** Melancholic: Anne |
| 284 | * FoodPorn: Famous for the lavish descriptions of the gang's (many) meals. |
| 285 | * FreeRangeChildren: A staple of Blyton's world. |
| 286 | * FrequentlyFullMoon: Enid Blyton is fond of the trope of the moon being full enough to see by, especially when the Five have adventures at night; and of the moon going behind a cloud at just the right moment. |
| 287 | ** In ''Five go to Smuggler's Top'', Julian, Dick and Sooty are watching the marshes one moonlit night. When the moon goes behind a cloud, they can see tiny pricking lights in the distance, of smugglers taking a secret path across the marsh. |
| 288 | ** In ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'', George rows to Kirrin Island by the light of the moon, which has an annoying habit of going behind a cloud when she badly needs every scrap of light she can get. |
| 289 | ** In ''Five get into Trouble'', the Five cycle through moonlight, which is so bright that they switch off their bike lamps. Anne observes that there is not much colour to be seen in moonlight, and jokingly says "Switch off your headlamps" to Timmy the dog, whose eyes are illuminated by the moonlight. |
| 290 | ** In ''Five on a Hike Together'', the Five collect the loot from the lake at night (when they will not be watched), and plan their trip for a time they know that the moon will be well up. Julian says he is sure the villain hid the goods in the lake on a moonlit night, as everything can be seen so clearly. |
| 291 | ** In ''Five have a Wonderful Time'', the Five are in a castle tower room, illuminated only by moonlight. During a scuffle in which one man has a gun, the moon suddenly goes behind a cloud, plunging the room into darkness. The man with the gun does not dare to fire, in case he hits the wrong person. |
| 292 | * FreshClue: |
| 293 | ** In ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'', Uncle Quentin finds a fresh cigarette end, leading him to suspect that somebody else is on the island. In the same book, the trope is inverted when the Five conclude that nobody has been down in the dungeons for a long time, because there are weeds deeply embedded around the stone closing the entrance. |
| 294 | ** In ''Five go Adventuring Again'', a bottle of camphorated oil is found in Uncle Quentin's study, which George left behind when she sneaked Timmy in at night to rub his chest. |
| 295 | ** In ''Five have a Wonderful Time'', the Five find branded chocolate wrapping when exploring the ancient secret passages of a castle, showing that somebody has been there relatively recently. |
| 296 | * FromStrayToPet: In the first book ''Five on a Treasure Island'', George reveals that she found Timmy on the moors when he was a puppy, and she made a pet of him. |
| 297 | * FunnyForeigner: The American girl Berta in ''Five Have Plenty Of Fun'', and the others often correct her when she says "wunnerful" and "plenny". |
| 298 | * {{Gamebook}}: |
| 299 | ** Some of the Famous Five books were made into adventure games with numbered paragraphs, with a "rucksack" containing items such as a torch, binoculars, compass, codebook, map. They also had a lunchbox containing provisions such as ginger beer, cherry cake, sandwiches; and if they ran out of these, the adventure was over. These would often be lost through carelessness, such as tripping and breaking their bottles of ginger beer. |
| 300 | ** The first six books were made into ''The Famous Five and You'', with numbered paragraphs where you had to make decisions for the Five, and avoid collecting "red herrings". Some of these books had interesting characters added, and contained modern items such as the Five wearing trainers. |
| 301 | * {{Gaslighting}}: In ''Five Run Away Together'', the Five sneak into the dungeons, and make noises of cows, sheep and horses to frighten the Stick family who are camping out there. Their son Edgar is well and truly taken in. |
| 302 | * GenderEqualEnsemble: The human members of the Five make up this. Timmy tips it in favour of males. |
| 303 | * GhostTrain: Played with in ''Five Go Off to Camp''. When the Five are camping on a moor, there are railway tunnels running underneath; and according to local legend, there are "spook-trains" which use these, running in and out of a disused rail yard at night. |
| 304 | * GivingThemTheStrip: In ''Five Get into Trouble'', Richard wriggles out of his coat to escape from the villain Mr Perton. |
| 305 | * GoingInCircles: The Five get lost in many places, but notably in a wood in ''Five Fall Into Adventure''. |
| 306 | --> '''Julian''': We seemed to walk for miles through this horrible wood. |
| 307 | --> '''Jo''': You did. You went round in an enormous circle, and were almost back where you started. |
| 308 | * GoToYourRoom: Various characters are sent to their rooms as punishment, most often George. |
| 309 | * GymClassRopeClimb: The Five regularly climb ropes on their adventures. In the first book, Dick is glad he is so good at gym at school when he slides down a rope. |
| 310 | * HairTriggerTemper: George, she gets better but still, you do ''not'' want to piss her off. She inherits it from her father, Quentin. |
| 311 | --> It was always best to leave George severely alone when she was in one of her tempers. |
| 312 | * HalfIdenticalTwins: In ''Five on Finniston Farm'', there are the "two Harries" twins, who look alike and often speak in unison, but one is a boy, and one is a girl. The boy was originally called Henry, and the girl Harriet, and they became known as the "two Harries". |
| 313 | * HandSignals: In ''Five go off in a Caravan'', Nobby is surprised to see Julian on the roof of one of the caravans. Julian frantically gestures to him to stay away, but Nobby does not understand, and climbs a hill to meet him, stepping right on top the sleeping villains Lou and Dan (on whom Julian had been spying). |
| 314 | * HateAtFirstSight: In ''Five have a Wonderful Time'', the Five are caravanning alongside the "fair-folk" (a small travelling circus), who dislike the Five on sight, and are openly hostile to them. This escalates until Jo turns up, who happens to be the niece of one of the fair-folk, and vouches for the Five. The fair-folk [[MoodWhiplash change their tune]] and become friendly, but Julian has had enough, and swears that they will leave tomorrow "unless something unexpected happens to ''make'' us stay. And it won't.'' And, of course, it does. |
| 315 | --> "I suppose it's a case of us-folk and you-folk. There's too much of that sort of thing nowadays." |
| 316 | * HatesBaths: The gypsy child Jo in ''Five Fall into Adventure'', until Joan runs after her with a carpet beater, threatening to beat the dust and dirt out of her if she does not bath; in the end, she enjoys it. |
| 317 | * HaveAGayOldTime: George's mother is called Fanny. More recent adaptations change her to Frances. |
| 318 | ** The boarding school that the girls go to is called "Gaylands School". Back then of course, "gay" meant happy. |
| 319 | ** "Five Go Off To Camp" has a character called "Cecil Dearlove" who is portrayed as a long haired sissy. |
| 320 | ** Let's not mention how many places, things and people --even poor George the first time her cousins met her-- just look "''queer''" in every adventure. George is a ''queer'' girl, for not wanting her mother to go with her. Tim is behaving ''queerly'', so it's a good thing Mr Roland hasn't come to teach him. That's the ''queerest'' thing Dick ever saw. |
| 321 | * HellIsThatNoise: The Five (especially Anne) are often scared by mysterious noises. Notable examples are: |
| 322 | ** In ''Five get into Trouble'', they are startled by screech owls, on Owl's Hill. Even brave George thinks this noise is frightful. |
| 323 | ** In ''Five on a Hike Together'', Dick and Anne are on a deserted moor on a rainy night, and they hear a fierce clanging of bells, which are certainly not church bells. [[spoiler: They are a warning of an escaped prisoner.]] This is almost a TraumaButton, as they are startled when later, they do hear church bells. |
| 324 | ** Also in ''Five on a Hike Together'', Dick is sleeping in a barn, and suddenly wakes to hear a scratching sound on the walls of the barn, followed by tapping on the window. |
| 325 | ---> '''Anne:''' How horrid. I shouldn't have liked that at all. |
| 326 | ---> '''Dick:''' I didn't. |
| 327 | * TheHelpHelpingThemselves: In ''Five Run Away Together'', the irritable Mrs. Stick is the cook at Kirrin Cottage, accompanied by her vile son and husband, while George's parents are in hospital. When the Five get sick of putting up with her and run away to Kirrin Island, Mrs. Stick and her family rob the house of anything they can lay their hands on. |
| 328 | * HeroesLoveDogs: Sort of - one of the heroes is a dog, and the other four love him. Adults who do not like dogs in general (or Timmy in particular) are usually (but not always) villainous. [[spoiler: In ''Five Go to Smuggler's Top'', Mr Lenoir's dislike of dogs leads the Five to assume that he's a villain, although it is eventually revealed that he actually doesn't like them because he is allergic to them.]] |
| 329 | * HeroicDog: Timmy, who often plays a key role in their successes, by warding off their enemies, or making an important discovery. |
| 330 | * HiveMind: In ''Five Go to Smuggler's Top'', Timmy somehow senses from afar that George is in danger, and rushes to her rescue. |
| 331 | --> His ears did not tell him, nor did his nose. But his heart told him. George was in danger! |
| 332 | * HomeschooledKids: George in the first book. Later she goes to boarding school with Anne (after she finds out that it's a boarding school that allows pets, of course). |
| 333 | * HonkingArrivingCar: In ''Five Fall into Adventure'', the taxi driver toots when arriving to take Uncle Quentin to the airport, starting a chaotic scene at Kirrin Cottage. Uncle Quentin is shut up in his study, sorting out his precious notebooks; his wife tells him they will miss the plane, and the driver keeps on hooting, causing Timmy to bark, and Uncle Quentin to tell the driver what he thinks of people who keep hooting their horns. |
| 334 | * HonoraryUncle: |
| 335 | ** In ''Five go to Smuggler's Top'', the Famous Five's friend Sooty is kidnapped with George's father. In his desperation to talk to somebody, Sooty wonders what to call him, not knowing his surname; then he remembers that George's cousins call him Uncle Quentin, so Sooty does too. |
| 336 | ---> '''Sooty''': I hope you don't mind me calling you that, I don't know your surname. |
| 337 | ** In ''Five go off in a Caravan'', Nobby refers to Tiger Dan as his uncle Dan, but reveals later that he is not actually his uncle. |
| 338 | ** In ''Five have plenty of Fun'', George's mother tells the visiting girl Berta to call her Aunt Fanny. |
| 339 | * HotBlooded: George. |
| 340 | ** In the first book, she uses an axe to smash up the villains' motor boat, to prevent them from escaping from Kirrin Island. Even the policeman comments "Fierce lady isn't she, that Miss Georgina? Done the job pretty well". Nowadays the police would probably nick her for vandalism - much easier than going after the bad guys. |
| 341 | ** In the final book, she single-handedly (well, Timmy helped) pushes two hardened criminals off a cliff....''for trespassing on her island''. |
| 342 | * IdenticalStranger: Jo the [[UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} Gypsy]] girl is a dead ringer for George. |
| 343 | * IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: ''Five Go To Somewhere Or Do Something'' (parodied with the Comic Strip's ''Five Go Mad In Dorset''). |
| 344 | * IdyllicEnglishVillage: |
| 345 | ** The setting of many of the books is the seaside Kirrin village, in which a sense of community is portrayed, and all the locals, fishermen and traders know each other. |
| 346 | ** This also applies to some of the villages that the Five visit, such as Demon's Rocks village in ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks''. Near the end of the story, the village pulls together when the disused lighthouse lamp mysteriously shines out, and the villains quietly disappear that night, because they fear the people of the village. |
| 347 | * IJustLikeSayingTheWord: In ''Five on a Treasure Island'', the Five discover a map, with the word "ingots" printed on it, and realise that this means bars of gold. They then decide that the word "ingots" sounds more exciting than "gold", and they keep saying it. |
| 348 | --> What a lovely word! Ingots! Ingots! Ingots! |
| 349 | * ImmaturityInsult: |
| 350 | ** In ''Five Run Away Together'', Julian tells Anne that she is a good little girl for keeping their cave so tidy. Anne enjoys the praise, but does not like being called a little girl. |
| 351 | ** In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', their host Mr Lenoir tends to speak to the children as if they are very small. |
| 352 | ---> '''Mr Lenoir:''' Ah, you are enjoying your dinner, and eating it all up, like good children. |
| 353 | ** In ''Five On Kirrin Island Again'', pompous Julian talks down to Dick and George when they are brawling about George wanting to be a boy. |
| 354 | ---> '''Julian:''' Let me tell you, you're both behaving like babies, not like boys ''or'' girls! |
| 355 | ** Also in ''Five On Kirrin Island Again'', Uncle Quentin accuses his wife of treating him like this, although he probably deserves it. |
| 356 | ---> '''Aunt Fanny''': It would be just like you to forget about that nice soup when it was fresh and good - and only remember it when it was bad. |
| 357 | ---> '''Uncle Quentin''': What a thing to say! Anyone would think I was five years old, from the way you talk to me. |
| 358 | * ImmuneToJumpscares: Subverted in ''Five go to Smuggler's Top''. Dick drops a plate behind the supposedly deaf manservant Block, making a big noise, but Block does not flinch at all; Dick takes this as confirmation that Block is indeed completely deaf. [[spoiler:However, later it is revealed that Block is not deaf at all, and must be very skilled at not reacting to sudden noises around him.]] |
| 359 | * ImprovisedWeapon: In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', George and Timmy apprehend Mr Roland creeping about in the study at night. The noise rouses Uncle Quentin, who rushes in, carrying a large poker. |
| 360 | * IndignantSlap: In ''Five Run Away Together'', George slaps Edgar's face, when he refuses to tell her why her mother has suddenly disappeared. |
| 361 | * InfiniteFlashlight: Averted in that batteries sometimes do run out in the Five's torches. In ''Five go off in a Caravan'', Julian and Nobby briefly get lost underground when the battery in their only torch runs out. In many of the other books, the Five decide that they had better only use one torch to save the batteries, or use candlelight or moonlight instead. |
| 362 | * InstitutionalApparel: In ''Five Get into Trouble'', an escaped prisoner is seen disposing of his prison outfit down a well. |
| 363 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Uncle Quentin's hot temper makes him something of a jerk at times, but it couldn't be plainer that he loves his family, and he will always own up to his mistakes. |
| 364 | ** George also fits this trope for pretty much the same reasons on both sides. She rather takes after her father as far as her quick temper is concerned. |
| 365 | ** Also the gipsy girl Jo in ''Five fall into Adventure'': described by the police as a bad little girl with a very good heart. |
| 366 | * JingleTheCoins: In ''Five on a Treasure Island'', Julian jingles his money as he runs to catch the ice-cream man. |
| 367 | * KickTheDog: Edgar shows himself to be a nasty piece of work in ''Five Run Away Together'', when he sings nasty things about George, who is very upset about her mother suddenly going into hospital. Even the pompous Julian is then determined to teach him a lesson. |
| 368 | --> '''Edgar:''' Georgie-Porgie, pudding and pie; sat herself down and had a good cry; Georgie-Porgie... |
| 369 | * KidAppealCharacter: All of them. |
| 370 | * KidDetective: Yep. |
| 371 | * KidHero: Obviously. |
| 372 | * KidnappedWhileSleeping: In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', Uncle Quentin is kidnapped in his sleep, having been drugged and gagged. The Famous Five's friend Sooty happens to be in the room when this happens, and is kidnapped himself. |
| 373 | * KillTheLights: As the Five regularly explore dark underground places, there are many occasions when the villain suddenly extinguishes their torch or lantern, plunging everything into darkness. The Five also regularly "snap off their torches" to hide in the dark. |
| 374 | * LackOfImagination: The Five think that this applies to many grown-ups. In ''Five on a Hike Together'', Anne briefly teases practical-minded George about her lack of imagination, and hence lack of imaginary fears. |
| 375 | --> '''Anne:''' I keep thinking that Maggie and her friends might be waiting in those cellars to pounce on us. |
| 376 | --> '''George:''' You're silly. ''Really'' silly! Do you suppose Timmy would lie quietly if there was anyone in those cellars? You know jolly well he would be barking his head off! |
| 377 | --> '''Anne:''' I know, it's just my imagination. You haven't got one, George, so you don't need to worry about imaginary fears. |
| 378 | * LighthousePoint: In ''Five Go to Demon's Rocks'', the Five stay in a disused lighthouse. |
| 379 | * LightswitchSurprise: |
| 380 | ** In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', George switches on the study light to reveal her tutor Mr. Roland on the floor with Timmy standing over him. When she asks him why he was using a torch instead of putting on the light, he says he couldn't find the switch, which is on the wrong side of the door. |
| 381 | ** In ''Five Run Away Together'', Julian sneaks into the kitchen at night, and switches on the light to reveal Mr. Stick, the cook's husband, sleeping on the sofa. To avoid waking him, Julian switches off the light, and tries to find what he wants in the dark. The trope is then repeated when Julian accidentally wakes Mr. Stick, who switches the light on to reveal Julian. |
| 382 | ** In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', Sooty is creeping about in Uncle Quentin's bedroom trying to avoid waking him, when suddenly he realises somebody else is in the bedroom as well, kidnapping Uncle Quentin. He switches on his torch to reveal Mr. Barling, and yells out the name in surprise. He is then kidnapped himself. |
| 383 | * LinkedListClueMethodology: In ''Five On a Hike Together'', the Five receive a message: "Two-Trees, Gloomy Water, Saucy Jane, and Maggie knows", along with a hand-drawn map. At first, none of these make any sense, but when they realise that Two-Trees is a place, the rest becomes clearer when they arrive there, and the clues lead them to hidden loot. |
| 384 | * LitteringIsNoBigDeal: In ''Five on a Hike Together'', a policeman who disbelieves the Five's story tears up an important piece of paper, before throwing the pieces into the road. Dick then says severely "Don't you have laws against scattering litter in your village?". |
| 385 | * LittleMissBadass: George: Of the five, she swims the best, climbs the best, fights the best...and [[RunningGag she's a]] ''[[RunningGag girl]]''. |
| 386 | * LuminescentBlush: |
| 387 | ** In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', Anne goes very red as she remembers a secret George had told her, when Uncle Quentin is interrogating the children about missing papers. Her redness is noticed by their tutor, Mr Roland. |
| 388 | ** In ''Five On A Hike Together'': |
| 389 | ---> "You're not afraid of anyone," said Dick, "you're the bravest girl I ever knew. Aha! That's made old George blush like a girl! Let me warm my hands, George!" |
| 390 | ---> And Dick held his hands up in front of George's scarlet face, pretending to warm them at her fiery blush. |
| 391 | * MaliciousMisnaming: In ''Five Run Away Together'', Julian delights in calling the Sticks' son Edgar "Spotty-Face" at every opportunity. The children also call the Sticks' dog Stinker, instead of Tinker. |
| 392 | * MadeOfIndestructium: In the first book ''Five On a Treasure Island'', the Five find a locked wooden box in a wrecked ship (which was on the bottom of the sea for many years, and thrown up to the surface in a storm). When they manage to open it, they find the box is tin-lined, and the vital map inside is quite dry. But how do they open the box? After trying many tools, they hurl it out of the attic window to the ground. |
| 393 | --> At once the french window opened, and their Uncle Quentin burst out like a bullet from a gun. |
| 394 | * TheMaze: Many of the books contain elaborate underground mazes, often accompanied with the quote "we should never find our way out if we got lost". Notable examples are: |
| 395 | ** ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'' features the catacombs, which are repeatedly stated to be very dangerous as some of them run for miles, and go up and down, and cross one another. |
| 396 | ** In ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'', there is a maze of passages under the sea linking the island to the mainland quarry. Timmy manages to lead Julian and Dick through it with no difficulty at all. |
| 397 | ** ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks'' has the Wreckers' Caves, which are a proper laby... laby... labyrinth, with the added danger of being flooded at high tide. |
| 398 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 399 | ** In ''Five Fall into Adventure'', the name of the BigBad is Red Tower, known mostly as Red. |
| 400 | --> "Red Tower is not a place! Red Tower is a man. His name's Tower, and he's got red hair, flaming red - so he's called Red Tower. |
| 401 | ** In ''Five Go to Demon's Rocks'', the local policeman is called Sharp; Dick comments that it's a good name for a policeman. Also the titular Demon's Rocks, which wrecked many ships. Also Mischief the monkey. Professor Hayling calls his son Tinker because he's always tinkering with cars. |
| 402 | ---> '''Dick:''' I have to say that Mischief is always up to mischief. |
| 403 | * MenacingMask: Discussed in ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'': the creepy servant Block has a face that never shows any expression at all, and, as Anne says, it might even be a wax mask. |
| 404 | * MenDontCry: And neither do boys, according to George, who desperately wants to be a boy. Julian and Dick are never seen crying. Anne cries frequently; George occasionally succumbs, but mostly resists fiercely. |
| 405 | --> "Boys do cry sometimes," said Anne, looking at Dick, who had been a bit of a cry-baby three or four years back. Dick nudged her, and she said no more. |
| 406 | --> "Well, I've never seen one cry," said George. "It's so babyish." |
| 407 | * MischiefMakingMonkey: ''Five go to Demon's Rocks'' begins with chaos in an overcrowded Kirrin Cottage, with a boy Tinker, and his pet monkey Mischief, who is adorable yet gets up to all sorts of antics, including pelting the cook Joan and Aunt Fanny with raisins. |
| 408 | * MissingTheGoodStuff: Members of the Five occasionally get angry when they miss out on some adventure. |
| 409 | ** In ''Five on a Treasure Island'', Dick gets injured by a flying piece of wood when they smash in a dungeon door with an axe. He and Anne go into the fresh air, and Dick feels sad to miss out on the possible discovery of the treasure. However, this turns out to be very fortunate, as Julian and George are then taken prisoner, while Dick and Anne are free outside. |
| 410 | ** In ''Five Run Away Together'', Julian and George witness night visitors on Kirrin Island. Anne and Dick are indignant when they hear about it in the morning, because Julian and George did not wake them. |
| 411 | ** In ''Five fall into Adventure'', Anne says that she does not like adventures, when they are lost in a wood overnight. She stays at home during the main adventure at Red's hideout, but regrets this afterwards, saying it's much worse being left out. |
| 412 | ** In ''Five have a Wonderful Time'', Julian and Dick see a mysterious face in a castle window through binoculars, but it disappears before the others get to see it. George is especially annoyed at not having seen it, especially as they are ''her'' binoculars. When they look again the following day, she insists on looking herself first, and does see the face. |
| 413 | ** Timmy is very upset if he has to stay on guard, while the Five have fun. This happens in ''Five go off in a Caravan'', and ''Five go to Demon's Rocks''. |
| 414 | * MouthyKid: George again. Julian counters this, by being unbelievably polite and pompous. |
| 415 | * MovingTheGoalposts: |
| 416 | ** In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', Timmy is made to live outside in the winter because of George's bad behaviour towards their tutor, Mr Roland. When George puts on an act of behaving especially well for a day, Mr Roland still insists that Timmy stays outside, until George behaves for a week. George is furious, and lampshades that Mr Roland will move the goalposts again. |
| 417 | ---> '''Dick''': They said a week. Can't you try for a week? |
| 418 | ---> '''George''': No. At the end of the week, Mr Roland will say I must try for another week. He's got a real dislike for poor Tim. And for me, too. I'm not surprised at that, because I know that when I try to be horrid, I really ''am'' horrid. But he shouldn't hate poor Timmy. |
| 419 | ** In the same book, Julian does this when he first tells George that it is a terrible thing to search somebody's bedroom, as she wants to do when she suspects Mr Roland of stealing her father's papers. But later, he proposes searching the artists' bedrooms, when they have a sudden opportunity to get right into the rooms through a secret passage. |
| 420 | ---> '''George:''' You said searching somebody's room was a shocking thing to do. |
| 421 | ---> '''Julian:''' Well, we didn't know then all we know now. |
| 422 | * MyDadCanBeatUpYourDad: Played with in ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks'', when Tinker and George briefly brag about their respective fathers' vagueness. |
| 423 | --> '''Tinker:''' I've got plenty of money. |
| 424 | --> '''George:''' You would have! I suppose your father just hands out money whenever you ask him. He's so vague he wouldn't know if he paid you three times a day! |
| 425 | --> '''Tinker:''' Well, ''yours'' seems pretty vague too. He poured coffee over his porridge instead of the milk. And what's more, he ate it without even ''noticing'' it was coffee! |
| 426 | --> '''Julian:''' That's enough. We don't tell tales about our parents in public. |
| 427 | * MysteriousNote: In ''Five Fall into Adventure'': after George is kidnapped, the Five receive a threatening typewritten note, demanding a specific notebook belonging to Uncle Quentin, and warning them not to leave the house to warn the police. |
| 428 | * NasalTrauma: In ''Five Run Away Together'', Julian is determined to teach Edgar a lesson after he has been nasty to George, so he seizes Edgar's nose. |
| 429 | --> '''Edgar:''' Led go! Led go! You're hurding me! Let go by dose! |
| 430 | * NeverLearnedToRead: The gipsy child Jo in ''Five Fall into Adventure''. |
| 431 | --> "Mum tried to learn me to read, but she wasn't very good herself." |
| 432 | * NiceGuy: Dick, he cracks the jokes and looks after his little sister. Julian is intended to be one, but comes off more bossy and arrogant. |
| 433 | * NoAnimalsAllowed: George cannot bear to be separated from Timmy, so she rarely visits places where pets are not allowed, providing some examples where this trope is inverted and played straight: |
| 434 | ** George is allowed to take Timmy to her boarding school, which is her main reason for agreeing to go. The boys mention that no pets are allowed at their school. |
| 435 | ** In ''Five Have a Wonderful Time'', George is not allowed to take Timmy into Faynights Castle. As the others disappear inside, he imagines the castle is an enormous church, as George sometimes disappears to on Sundays. He finds his way into the castle anyway, which later leads them to a secret passage. |
| 436 | * NobodyHereButUsBirds: Used in ''Five Fall into Adventure'', when the villains make a hoot like an owl to signal that they have collected a parcel. |
| 437 | * NobodyPoops: Even though the characters are often in the wild for a long time, or in captive situations for hours or even days, often underground, nothing is said about their bodily waste. ''Five Fall into Adventure'' mentions "Timmy going for his last walk" of the day, but this appears to be only for exercise; not the reason anybody would take their dog for a "last walk" each day. In ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks'', the lighthouse in which they stay is described in detail, room by room, but no toilet is mentioned, or even a bathroom. |
| 438 | * NoNameGiven [=/=] OnlyOneName: Averted with Toddy Woodgate, Timmy's actor (not voice actor, ''actor'') in the series. Like most dogs with surnames, he takes his handler's. |
| 439 | * NonindicativeName: The titles often have nothing to do with the plot, or are generic enough to fit any of the books. For example, the plot of ''Five Have a Wonderful Time'' involves the recent disappearance of prominent scientists and ''Five Have Plenty of Fun'' involves protecting a girl from a gang of kidnappers. |
| 440 | * NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: Averted in ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'' by Uncle Quentin, who has made all the notes of his great experiment in a small book. He does not want the book to be found by his enemies, but he also dares not destroy the book, in case anything should happen to him, meaning that his ideas would be completely lost. |
| 441 | * TheNotableNumeral: ''The Famous Five''. |
| 442 | * NotAllowedToGrowUp: Averted in the first few books, as they start the series at around 9-11, and end up 12-14. Played straight for the rest of the series, as they apparently stop ageing. This is an artefact of Blyton's original plan to only write six to eight books in the series which could have plausibly taken place in that period of time, whereas the eventual twenty one books could not conceivably do so, leading to ComicBookTime being instigated for the rest of the series. |
| 443 | * NotInFrontOfTheKid: There are times when the boys decide not to tell Anne something. In ''Five Fall Into Adventure'', when they are lost in a wood: |
| 444 | --> "We might go deeper and deeper and deeper," said Anne, with a sudden gulp of fear. |
| 445 | --> "If we do, we shall come out on the other side," said Dick. "It's not an endless wood." |
| 446 | --> "Let's go straight through, then," said Anne. |
| 447 | --> The boys didn't tell her that you couldn't really go ''straight'' through a wood. |
| 448 | * AnOddPlaceToSleep: The Five regularly sleep in odd places, sometimes accidentally, sometimes through choice, and sometimes when they are stranded overnight on their adventures. |
| 449 | ** In ''Five Run Away Together'', the Five sleep in a cave on Kirrin Island, when the little stone room in the castle has suddenly become unsafe. For their first night, they sleep on soft sand, but later Anne makes beds of heather. When the Sticks arrive, they sleep in the dungeons, which the Five consider an odd place. Dick also sleeps on rugs beside their boat, to guard the contents. |
| 450 | ** In ''Five go off in a Caravan'', Julian falls asleep when he is on the roof of a caravan to spy on Lou and Dan; who then fall asleep beside the caravans, having retrieved their loot. |
| 451 | ** In ''Five get into Trouble'', the April weather is so fine, that the Five do not bother to get their tents out, and they have the sky for a roof. At Owl's Dene, Julian discovers a hidden criminal sleeping on a mattress in a tiny secret room. |
| 452 | ** In ''Five on a Hike Together'', the Five discuss sleeping in a barn, rather than in a bedroom. George has an argument with pompous Julian when he forbids her from doing this, because she's a girl. Dick does sleep in a barn, which turns out to be greatly significant; and later, the Five sleep in a cellar: the only undamaged part of a very isolated burnt-out house. |
| 453 | ** In ''Five go to Mystery Moor'', the Five are staying at a riding school, and enjoy sleeping in stables. |
| 454 | ** In ''Five go to Demon's Rocks'', there is an unexpected shortage of beds at Kirrin Cottage. Aunt Fanny thinks somebody will have to sleep in Timmy's kennel, and has a good mind to make up a bed for Uncle Quentin in the coal-house. Julian and Dick end up sleeping in the draughty loft; and later, the Five end up sleeping in a disused lighthouse. |
| 455 | * OhCrap: There are many such moments, usually when the Five are cornered by the villains. One of the most long-drawn out moments is in ''Five go to Demon's Rocks'', when the Five are locked in a lighthouse, realising that they will run out of food, there is no telephone, shouting would never be heard; and that even though the villagers have seen them coming and going, if they suddenly stop appearing, the villagers would assume they had gone home because of the bad weather. Their only small comfort is that they had promised to send a postcard to Aunt Fanny every day, who would worry if she did not hear from them. |
| 456 | * OldDarkHouse: This could apply to several houses in the series, including Smuggler's Top, but most of all the villains' hideout Owl's Dene in ''Five Get into Trouble'' from ''Literature/TheFamousFive'': a lonely old house on a hill, with no telephone, gas, running water or electricity, surrounded by a prison-like high wall with mechanical gates, and contains a secret room for hiding wanted criminals. |
| 457 | * OldTimeyBathingSuit: Earlier editions describe them wearing "bathing suits", and the original illustrations show them wearing full-body bathing suits. Modern reprints have changed this to "bathing trunks". |
| 458 | * OmniDisciplinaryScientist: Uncle Quentin, although it's more an InformedAttribute. He's also something of a BunnyEarsLawyer as well. |
| 459 | * OneOfTheBoys: George. She'll be insulted if she's anything else. |
| 460 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', Julian and Dick's friend Pierre Lenoir is known to everyone as Sooty, because of his dark hair. |
| 461 | * OnlySaneMan: Dick. Although Julian seems to think its him. (See TheQuietOne below). |
| 462 | * OneSteveLimit: |
| 463 | ** An aversion triggers the plot in one book where the adventure starts after a guy with a message for villain Dirty Dick finds Dick from the Five instead, and Dick, unaware of the former's existence, accepts the message. |
| 464 | ** Dick is also the victim of this in ''Five get into Trouble'': when the bad guys seeking to kidnap Richard encounter Dick, he says his name and they presume it's the kid they're looking for (Dick being the diminutive of Richard). Then again, it was dark, and Dick and Richard do resemble each other just enough. |
| 465 | * OrWasItADream: Dick certainly wonders this in ''Five on a Hike Together'', when he is sleeping in a barn, and a mysterious person outside calls him by his name, and gives him a message that he does not understand. When telling the others about it, they are convinced that it was a dream, until Dick remembers that he was given a piece of paper as well, which he then finds. |
| 466 | * PacingATrench: In ''Five Fall into Adventure'', the villain Red is locked in a tower room with his two minions, Simmy and Jake, who watch Red as he paces up and down the room like a caged lion. |
| 467 | * PeopleFallOffChairs: Downplayed in ''Five on a Hike Together''. Dick and Anne walk in on an old woman sitting in her home, who is completely deaf. She does not see them until Dick has walked right up to her; and then she leaps up in such a fright, that her chair falls over with a bang. |
| 468 | * PercussiveTherapy: Two of the baddies take out their frustrations on an inanimate object, when Julian outwits them: |
| 469 | ** In ''Five Run Away Together'', Mrs Stick bangs a saucepan viciously on the sink, wishing that it was Julian's head under the saucepan instead of the sink. |
| 470 | ** In ''Five Get Into Trouble'', Mr Perton spits out his cigarette and stamps on it viciously, as if he wishes he was stamping on Julian. |
| 471 | * PlotDrivenBreakdown: |
| 472 | ** In ''Five on a Treasure Island'', Dick gets hit by a splinter of wood when the Five try to smash in an underground door with an axe. Because of this nasty and bloody injury, he and Anne go above ground, which is fortunate, because they are then safe when the villains turn up, and trap George and Julian underground. |
| 473 | ** In ''Five go off in a Caravan'', the Five do not explore the underground cave as soon as they discover it, because George dropped and broke her torch the day before, and Julian's hardly has any battery power left. |
| 474 | ** In ''Five Get into Trouble'', Dick gets a puncture on his bicycle; while he is alone in the wood to sort it out, he is kidnapped by the villains who mistake him for Richard Kent. |
| 475 | ** The opening line of ''Five Go Down to the Sea'' is "Blow! I've got a puncture!" from Dick, serving no purpose but to add to the drama of the Five hurrying to the station on a hot day. |
| 476 | * PluckyComicRelief: Dick can fall into this. One example is in ''Five Have a Wonderful Time'', when a villain grabs him intending to kidnap him, and Dick immediately punches him on the jaw, thanking his stars that he has learned boxing at school. |
| 477 | * PluckyGirl: George. Anne to a lesser degree, as she's too busy being a wimp most of the time. |
| 478 | * PoliceAreUseless: Because when it's a group of five teenagers and a dog that are finding all the clues and solving all the crimes, you ''know'' the police in the world of [[Creator/EnidBlyton Blyton]] can't handle even the simplest of problems. Usually the police they meet are polite and helpful, except in ''Five On a Hike Together'', where they meet one who is very rude and disbelieving. |
| 479 | --> "Oh, you've seen the escaped prisoner too? You wouldn't believe how many people have seen him. 'Cording to them he's been in every part of the moor at the same time. Clever fellow he must be to split himself up like that." |
| 480 | * PowerSource: The experiments Uncle Quentin is doing in ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'' turn out to be developing a new clean power source to replace fossil fuels. [[UnbuiltTrope In 1947]]. We don't get to hear details, except that it requires the apparatus to be surrounded by water, hence why he's testing it on an island. |
| 481 | * PrivateTutor: Mr. Roland in the book ''Five Go Adventuring Again''. |
| 482 | * ProverbialWisdom: Pompous Julian occasionally quotes proverbs. |
| 483 | ** In ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'', when Uncle Quentin does not respond to the children's calls, so they decide to look for him: |
| 484 | ---> '''Julian:''' If Mohammed won't come to the mountain, the mountain must go to Mohammed. |
| 485 | ** In ''Five Get Into Trouble'': Hunchy puts down poisoned meat for Timmy to eat, on the orders of Rooky. The children pretend to feed it to the hens, causing Hunchy to panic, and to sweep the hen run very thoroughly indeed. |
| 486 | ---> '''Julian:''' How true the old proverb is - he that digs a pit shall fall into it himself. |
| 487 | * PsychopathicManchild: Applies to several of the villains, especially when they have been outwitted by the children: |
| 488 | ** Mr Barling the smuggler in ''Five go to Smuggler's Top''. |
| 489 | ---> '''Mr Barling:''' If the marshes go, my business will go too! My ships will no longer be able to creep in, bringing valuable cargoes! Not only will all my money go, but also the excitement, which is worth more to me than life itself! |
| 490 | ** Tiger Dan in ''Five go off in a Caravan'', who is known as "Tiger" Dan because of his mad rages. |
| 491 | ** Rooky in ''Five get into Trouble'', who was bodyguard to the father of Richard Kent, and swears revenge on Richard for telling tales about him. |
| 492 | ** Red in ''Five Fall into Adventure'', who will go to any lengths to get his way. |
| 493 | ---> '''Jo:''' He's rich, he talks queer, and I think he's mad. He gets fellows like Dad and Jake to do his dirty work for him. |
| 494 | ** Maggie and Dirty Dick in ''Five on a Hike Together''. When the children have found the loot before they do, they pursue the children furiously. |
| 495 | ---> '''Julian:''' Are they sorry we've gone, and want us back again? |
| 496 | * PunkInTheTrunk: In ''Five Get into Trouble'', Richard hides in the boot of the villains' black Bentley, to escape from Owl's Dene. |
| 497 | * QuicksandSucks: |
| 498 | ** In ''Five Go to Smuggler's Top'', mist-covered marshes feature prominently; and Timmy accidentally falls into the marsh, and has to be rescued. |
| 499 | ** In ''Five on a Hike Together'', the villains Maggie and Dirty Dick end up thigh-deep in marshes while trying to pursue the Five. |
| 500 | * TheQuietOne: Dick. In any situation, you can bet George is yelling, Julian is lecturing, Anne is crying and Dick is stuck in the middle. |
| 501 | * ReadingLips: In ''Five go to Smuggler's Top'', the children suspect that the deaf servant Block can read their lips. [[spoiler: Actually, he is not deaf at all.]] |
| 502 | * RebelliousSpirit: George. |
| 503 | * RedAlert: A non-tech version appears in ''Five go off in a Caravan''. Having previously waved a white shirt to signal to the Five that it is safe to visit the camp, both Nobby and Pongo the chimpanzee wave red cloths to tell the Five to stay away. |
| 504 | --> '''Julian''': Both Nobby and Pongo are waving red cloths - doubly dangerous! |
| 505 | * RedGreenContrast: In ''Five Go Off in a Caravan'', the boys have a green caravan with red curtains, and the girls have a red caravan with green curtains. To begin with, the colours are mentioned frequently; but later, when one of the caravans becomes much more significant than the other, it is not stated for a long time which colour it is. |
| 506 | * {{Retcon}}: There were some small inconsistencies across the books: |
| 507 | ** In ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'', the Five retrieve the map of Kirrin Island from a tin-lined box; which previously in ''Five on a Treasure Island'' had been sold as an antique to the villain. |
| 508 | ** In ''Five on a Treasure Island'', Uncle Quentin is referred to as the brother of Julian, Dick and Anne. In ''Five Get into Trouble'', Uncle Quentin refers to the mother of Julian, Dick and Anne as "his wife's sister". Of course, this might be down to his vagueness. |
| 509 | ** In ''Five Run Away Together'', the Five do not sleep in the only whole room in Kirrin Castle, because the roof has fallen in. However, they plan to do so in the later book ''Five On Kirrin Island Again''. |
| 510 | * RudelyHangingUp: Uncle Quentin does this to Julian in ''Five Run Away Together'', when Julian is desperately trying to persuade Uncle Quentin to get rid of the unpleasant housekeeper, Mrs Stick. |
| 511 | --> "But sir," said Julian, wondering how in the world to deal with his hot-tempered uncle, "I must tell you that..." |
| 512 | --> There was a click at the other end of the phone. Uncle Quentin had put down his receiver and gone. There was no more to be said. |
| 513 | --> "He's gone!" said Julian. "Cut me off just when I was trying to reason with him." |
| 514 | --> "Serves you right!" came Mrs Stick's harsh voice. |
| 515 | * RunningGag: |
| 516 | ** George being called Georgina and/or a girl; also her never wanting to be parted from Timmy. |
| 517 | ** The five of them deciding not to have an adventure this holidays. |
| 518 | * SadClown: In ''Five Go Off In A Caravan'', one of the scariest villains in the series is Tiger Dan (known as such because of his rages), whose day job is chief clown in a circus. Cue this dialogue between Anne and Julian: |
| 519 | --> '''Anne''': I simply can't imagine Tiger Dan as a clown. Clowns are always so merry and [[HaveAGayOldTime gay]] and jolly. |
| 520 | --> '''Julian''': That's just acting. If you look at photographs of clowns when they're being ordinary men, they've got quite sad faces. |
| 521 | --> '''Anne''': Well, Tiger Dan hasn't got a sad face. He's got an ugly, cruel, savage, fierce one (looking fierce herself). |
| 522 | * SafeBehindTheCorner: It is often described how somebody hides around a corner, while their pursuer moves very close to them. In ''Five Run Away Together'', the Five have to decide how to hide their boat on Kirrin Island. They haul it around a big rock, while lampshading that if somebody ''actually walked around the rock'', they would see it at once. Later, Edgar walks very near this spot, but does not notice any traces of the boat. |
| 523 | * SandBridgeAtLowTide: |
| 524 | ** In ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks'', the lighthouse is built out to sea, and can be reached on foot at low tide; otherwise, a boat is necessary. Some nearby underground caves are also flooded at high tide. When the Five are locked in the lighthouse, Julian and Dick try to escape through the foundation shaft of the lighthouse, but are thwarted by their enemies; and as they try to escape, the tide starts rising, threatening to drown them. |
| 525 | ** In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', tides are not mentioned, but the island of Castaway (very similar to the Mont St Michel in France) was once an island until sea levels dropped. The island can only be reached by one road, with dangerous misty marshes on both sides. |
| 526 | * SayMyName: Played for laughs in several books. |
| 527 | ** ''Five Go Off In A Caravan'': When Julian wants his enemy Tiger Dan to overhear him telling Nobby his plans, he yells Nobby's name at the top of his voice. |
| 528 | ** ''Five On Kirrin Island Again'': When the Five arrive on the island and find no sign of Uncle Quentin, they yell his name repeatedly. Aunt Fanny covers her ears, and remarks that Joanna the cook must have heard it at Kirrin Cottage. |
| 529 | ** ''Five Get Into Trouble'': After Richard has made a stealthy escape from Owl's Dene in the boot of the car, his enemy Rooky demands to have Richard, to "learn him a few lessons". As Richard is missing, the others repeatedly yell his name through the open window, knowing full well that he is not there to hear it. |
| 530 | * ScaryFlashlightFace: There are many moments when characters are described as looking frightening or peculiar when lit by a torch, or moonlight or twilight. A notable example is in ''Five Fall into Adventure'', when Anne happens to shine her torch on the bedroom window, and sees a face looking in. In the same book, Julian flashes his torch on the villain Red Tower, seeing his wild red hair and beard, takes one look into the man's eyes, and then no more. |
| 531 | * ScreamingWoman: A little girl example. In ''Five Run Away Together'', the Five are on Kirrin Island at night. Julian and George suddenly hear a high-pitched scream, and believe it to be Anne; but then discover that Anne is sleeping peacefully, and would have woken Dick if she had screamed. When they discuss it, they emphasise that it was a "proper little girl's scream - not a yell, like a boy gives". [[spoiler: They then work out that the screamer is a little girl who has been kidnapped.]] |
| 532 | * SecretMessageWink: This often happens when the children covertly communicate in front of the adults. In one such moment, Julian says he's tired, so they should go to bed. He then winks at the others, who yawn exaggeratedly, so Aunt Fanny sends them off to bed. |
| 533 | * SecretUndergroundPassage: Stock trope, bordering on ArtisticLicenseGeology on occasion. The tunnels in ''Five Go To Smugglers' Top'' are sufficiently extensive to be a full-fledged TunnelNetwork. |
| 534 | * SharedFamilyQuirks: George has a frown and a hot temper exactly like her father's. |
| 535 | * ShoutOut: In ''Five Go Off to Camp'', the brick walls which open to reveal secret tunnels make George think of ''Literature/AliBabaAndTheFortyThieves''. Dick even says "Open Sesame!" when one of them opens. |
| 536 | * SignatureItemClue: In ''Five have plenty of Fun'', George throws the contents of her dressing-gown pocket out of the car window when she is kidnapped. Later, the others find her little green comb, and a handkerchief with the initial G on it in blue. |
| 537 | * SignsOfDisrepair: In ''Five Go To Demon's Rocks'', the Five are staying in a lighthouse. When they find a sign stating that the lighthouse is no longer in use, Tinker objects to this, and tries to alter the sign, until Julian confiscates his pencil. |
| 538 | * SilenceOfSadness: In ''Five Have a Wonderful Time'', the Five have a very subdued supper after the unfriendly Fair-Folk have moved the Five's caravans into another field; this is repeated at breakfast the following morning, after an angry farmer has shouted at them for being in his field. |
| 539 | * SinisterScrapingSound: In ''Five on a Hike Together'', Dick sleeps in a barn, and is disturbed by a scratching sound, before somebody gives him a mysterious message. |
| 540 | * SixthRanger: While the series is called "Famous Five", the books often feature new kids joining them for an adventure or two. The first and better remembered is Jo the "ragamuffin" girl. |
| 541 | * SleepingDummy: This happens twice. |
| 542 | ** In ''Five Go to Smuggler's Top'', Block hides a dummy in his bed when he wants to sneak out. Several times one of the children peeps into his room, and there he is, apparently. |
| 543 | ---> "He's in bed! I could see the shape of his body, and the dark patch of his head. Are there ''two'' Blocks then?" |
| 544 | ** In ''Five Get into Trouble'', Julian hides a rolled-up blanket in his bed, so that he can sneak around the house when the villains are asleep. |
| 545 | * SneakingOutAtNight: The Five often sneak out at night on secret adventures, often with the moonlight being mentioned. One of the most notable times is in ''Five on a Hike Together'', when they decide that night time is the only time they will have a chance they will have of collecting loot from the bottom of a lake without the villains Maggie and Dirty Dick watching them. |
| 546 | --> '''Julian:''' There's only one time they won't be watching us, and that's tonight. We'll go ''tonight''! My, what an adventure. |
| 547 | * SneakyDeparture: This happens in many of the books, most often by George. |
| 548 | ** ''Five on a Treasure Island'': At the very beginning, George has sneaked away when her cousins are due to arrive, so they do not see her until the following morning. |
| 549 | ** ''Five Go Adventuring Again'': When the Five plan to explore the Secret Way, they tell the adults that they plan to do lessons by themselves (as their tutor is ill in bed), and wait until Uncle Quentin is busy digging away snow, and Aunt Fanny is talking to Joanna in the kitchen, before they make their escape. |
| 550 | ** ''Five Run Away Together'': George plans to sneak away to Kirrin Island, in case the Sticks poison Timmy. She refuses to tell the others about her "secret, private plan" in case they try to stop her (she even says so). When she does sneak out, Julian intercepts her, and persuades her that it would be best if they all went. |
| 551 | ** ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'': George sneaks away from the other children to embark on a reckless plan of invading Mr Lenoir's study to try to rescue Timmy. The others realise she is missing after a few minutes. [[spoiler: Also, Block regularly sneaks away from the house by pretending to be ill, and leaving a SleepingDummy in his bed.]] |
| 552 | ** ''Five Go Off In A Caravan'': When the Five are being kept prisoner by Lou and Dan in their underground hideout, Pongo the chimpanzee turns up and attacks Lou and Dan. Dick seizes the opportunity to sneak past them, and escape to fetch help. |
| 553 | ** ''Five On Kirrin Island Again'': George rows to Kirrin Island in the middle of the night, to try to rescue Timmy, when he does not appear in her father's tower, after he had agreed to take Timmy there. |
| 554 | ** ''Five Go Off to Camp'': Julian and Dick sneak out of their tent at night. George suspects they might do this, and sets a trap for them of string across the entrance to their tent, tied to her big toe; but they sneak out of the sides of the tent. |
| 555 | ** ''Five Get Into Trouble'': With the help of the other children, Richard escapes from Owl's Dene by hiding in the boot of the villains' car. The adults only notice that he is missing when Rooky suddenly demands Richard, so that he can "learn him a few lessons". |
| 556 | ** ''Five Fall Into Adventure'': Played with, in that when George is abducted at night, Jo sets things up to make the others believe George sneaked out early in the morning, so they would not miss her for a while. The Five and Joan often suspect that Jo might sneak away at any moment, with her habit of suddenly appearing and disappearing. |
| 557 | ** ''Five go to Demon's Rocks'': [[spoiler: After the villains Ebby and Jacob have locked the Five in the lighthouse, the Five alert the village to their plight by sounding the lighthouse bell, and lighting the lamp. Ebby and Jacob sneak away in the night, because they are afraid of the people of the village.]] |
| 558 | * SnoopingLittleKid: Uh, well, yeah, all the Five do it at various points. In ''Five go down to the Sea'', they accuse the child Yan of being a snooping little kid, who is always spying on them, and peeping at them. |
| 559 | * SnowedIn: George lampshades it by saying that it happens often at Kirrin in the winter, and it does happen in ''Five go Adventuring Again''. |
| 560 | * SneakersOfSneaking: In ''Five Fall into Adventure'', Dick wears rubber shoes which make no noise, when stalking an enemy. Jo is also noted for stealth by being barefoot. |
| 561 | * SomethingThatBeginsWithBoring: In ''Five Go Down to the Sea'', the Five are locked in a cave, and their enemy tells them they will stay there until tomorrow. They play noughts and crosses [[note]]Tic-Tac-Toe[[/note]], and guessing games to pass the time. |
| 562 | * SoMuchForStealth: |
| 563 | ** In ''Five On A Treasure Island'', the Five plot to trap the villainous men in a cave with a big wooden door, by bolting them in. Dick creeps up behind them, waiting for them to go in; and when they do, he slams the door, making a crash which echoes round the dungeon; and the men burst the door open. |
| 564 | ** In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', the Five are hunting for Uncle Quentin's stolen papers in the thieves' bedrooms, having locked the doors from inside. When the thieves suddenly arrive outside the bedrooms, they try to continue hunting stealthily; until Anne accidentally drops the wash stand jug, causing the men to bang at the door, and eventually break it down. |
| 565 | * SoNearYetSoFar: There is a moment of this in ''Five Go Off in a Caravan''. When the Five are trapped inside the hill, they discover that an underground stream flows out of the side of the hill, so they wade along it to escape. Unfortunately, just when the end is in sight, the stream is flowing too fast and too dangerously to proceed any further, and they fear being thrown against the side of cave and Timmy being drowned, so they have to wade back again, having got wet for nothing. Too sickening for words. |
| 566 | * SpikyHair: ''Five have Plenty of Fun'' has a spiky-haired fairground boy, called Spiky. |
| 567 | * SpinOffspring: The 2008 cartoon ''WesternAnimation/FamousFiveOnTheCase'' centers around the children of the Kirrin cousins and [[GenerationXerox their own adventures in mystery solving]]: Jo is George's daughter, Max is Julian's son, Allie is Anne's daughter, and Dylan is Dick's son. |
| 568 | * SpitefulSpit: Played with in ''Five Fall into Adventure''. While the Five are relaxing on the beach, the ragamuffin girl Jo spits damson stones at them, for her own amusement. To persuade Jo to go away, Dick challenges her to spit stones out further than him, saying that if he wins, Jo must go away; but Jo wins handsomely. Later, Dick says solemnly to Jo "otherwise, we shall treat you as one of the sour damson stones - only fit to be spat out as far away as possible". |
| 569 | * SquirtingFlowerGag: In ''Five go to Billycock Hill'', Julian and Dick's friend Toby is a prankster, and Julian refers to this particular trick when telling the others about him. |
| 570 | * AStormIsComing: In ''Five on a Treasure Island'', George predicts a storm on the day they plan to visit Kirrin Island; he local fisherman predict it as well. In the face of Anne's disappointment, they do go, and a very bad storm does come. |
| 571 | --> '''George''': The wind is wrong. And do you see the white tops to the waves out there by my island? That's always a bad sign. |
| 572 | * StayOnThePath: |
| 573 | ** In ''Five Fall into Adventure'', the Five leave a wheel-rut path in a very dense wood to shelter from a storm, and end up hopelessly lost, walking miles through the wood, without even the sun to guide them. |
| 574 | ** In ''Five on a Hike Together'', the Five have to take a treacherous route through marshes, with strict instructions to stick to the path. Later, their enemies pursue them, and end up stuck in the marshes when they leave the path. |
| 575 | * SuddenDownerEnding: A minor example: in [[spoiler: ''Five Go Off in a Caravan'', the Five cut their holiday short because they receive a telegram from home telling them to "come home at once" because the exciting happenings they wrote to tell their parents about "seem dangerous". This meant that they had had little time to actually enjoy their holiday, after the adventure! They do not question this at all, and simply head home. Unquestioningly obeying their parents' orders like this seems rather out of character, although this was one of the earlier books in the series. It would also discourage them from contacting their family while on holiday at all.]] |
| 576 | * SurveillanceStationSlacker: A couple of non-tech moments, when one of the Five sleeps on the job of being an amateur sleuth. |
| 577 | ** In ''Five Run Away Together'', the Five suspect that smuggling is taking place on the island, and they take turns to keep watch. Anne is severely scolded by Julian when she falls asleep on her watch. |
| 578 | ** In ''Five Go Off in a Caravan'', Julian climbs on the caravan roof to spy on the villains Lou and Tiger Dan. When they disappear for a long time, he falls asleep. |
| 579 | * SurvivalistStash: Two downplayed examples. In ''Five Run Away Together'', George reveals that her mother has a cupboard full of tinned food in her bedroom at Kirrin Cottage, in case they get snowed in. In ''Five Get Into Trouble'', the villains' very isolated hideout Owl's Dene is extremely self-contained, including cows and hens, and Julian suspects that they have stacks and stacks of tinned food. |
| 580 | * SuspiciousMissedMessages: In ''Five go to Demon's Rocks'', the Five stay in a lighthouse, under strict instructions to write to Aunt Fanny every day. When the Five are locked in the lighthouse by their enemy, they ponder how long they might be stuck there, unable to contact the outside world, their only hope being that eventually Aunt Fanny would worry if she did not hear from them after a few days. |
| 581 | * SweepingTheTable: A couple of downplayed examples. |
| 582 | ** At the very beginning of ''Five go to Billycock Hill'', a table is not big enough for their huge map, so the Five push one out of the way, remembering a previous time when in their haste, they pushed the table right over. |
| 583 | ** In ''Five go to Demon's Rocks'', Uncle Quentin immediately spreads a great sheaf of papers over the living room table, as soon as Professor Hayling arrives. Aunt Fanny shoos them to the study. |
| 584 | * TeamDad: Julian. And proud of it. |
| 585 | * TeamPet: Timmy the Dog (who is the fifth member). |
| 586 | * ThievingPet: In ''Five on a Hike Together'', the villains Maggie and Dirty Dick try to chase the Five away by stealing their food. Timmy goes into the villains' tents, and brings the Five some of Maggie and Dirty Dick's much nicer food. Julian quips that it's tit for tat, and fair exchange is no robbery. |
| 587 | * TimmyInAWell: In the first book this happens very literally when Timmy the dog chases a rabbit and falls down an old well. In this case, though, it's the children who rescue the dog, rather than vice-versa! Timmy also gets deep down a rabbit hole in ''Five on a Hike Together''. |
| 588 | --> Poor Anne was pulled out by her legs, and poor Timmy came too, pulled by his. |
| 589 | * TomboyishBaseballCap: In ''Five Have Plenty of Fun'', the Five have to disguise the very girly girl Berta as a boy, who has her hair cut short, and they buy her a cap, which suits her boyish look perfectly. Alas for George, the ultimate girl who wants to be a boy; when she tries it on, it does not sit well on her curly hair, and makes her look ridiculous. |
| 590 | * TomboyishName: Georgina always calls herself George. This is used as an OutOfCharacterAlert in one book. |
| 591 | * TomboyAndGirlyGirl: George and Anne respectively. |
| 592 | ** George is a tomboy. She has short curly hair styled in a typical haircut for boys. She dresses like a boy, typically in "jeans and jersey". She insists on everyone calling her by the masculine form of her name, a decision respected by her parents and teachers. She is athletic, the best of the group at swimming, handling boats and driving caravans. She is often mistaken for a boy and takes great pleasure in it. She rarely cries, going by the mantra "boys don't cry". She is "brave" and "fierce". Her mother insists on her performing domestic chores but George has no taste for it. |
| 593 | ** Anne is not given an actual description but is often described as traditionally feminine in both looks and behavior. She scares easily and at times seeks protection next to her older brothers (Julian, Dick) and cousin (George). She cries often and feels no evident shame about it. She enjoys domestic chores and activities, "playing house" as George observes. She likes to keep "everything very clean" and actually volunteers to clean up. Her brother Julian even describes her as "a good little house-wife". In her first appearance she proclaims "I like pretty frocks - and I love my dolls", activities scorned by George. She is the one picking flowers while the others are searching for arrow-heads. She is not athletic and is noted as the worst swimmer among them. |
| 594 | * TrailOfBreadCrumbs: |
| 595 | ** In ''Five on a Treasure Island'', Julian makes chalk marks on the walls of the dungeons, so they do not get lost. These marks are referred to again in ''Five Run Away Together''. |
| 596 | ** In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', Mr Barling uses string to show the way through the secret tunnels. He does this for the benefit of Block, but the children find it. |
| 597 | ** In ''Five Fall Into Adventure'', the Five get lost in a wood. Jo tells them they are daft for not marking the trees to show their way back. |
| 598 | ** In ''Five Go To Billycock Hill'', the Five visit caves which contain roped tunnels, with a sign warning them to beware of losing their way in the unroped tunnels. |
| 599 | * TraumaticHaircut: In ''Five Have Plenty Of Fun'', an American scientist sends his GirlyGirl daughter Berta to stay with the Five, because he fears she might be kidnapped. Not content with this safety measure, he orders her to be dressed as a boy, and to have her long wavy hair cut very short. Aunt Fanny does this, causing Berta to weep in earnest. |
| 600 | --> "How could Pops say I'm to have my hair cut off?" wept Berta. "He always said it was wunnerful!" |
| 601 | --> Nobody liked to point out there was a D in "wonderful" just then. Berta was really upset about her hair. |
| 602 | * TreasureMap: |
| 603 | ** In the first book, ''Five on a Treasure Island'', telling them that the gold ingots are hidden in the dungeons. |
| 604 | ** In ''Five on a Hike Together'', there is a much more cryptic treasure map, consisting of four lines drawn, meeting in the centre, with a landmark written at the end of each line. To find the treasure, they have to find the one spot on a lake where they can see all these things. |
| 605 | * TreeCover: When spying on and stalking villains, the Five often hide behind trees, ''up'' trees, and in the middle of prickly gorse bushes. In ''Five get into Trouble'', Anne happens to be in a tree overhead when Dick is captured. |
| 606 | * TwistedAnkle: In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', Anne twists her ankle while running along the Secret Way to escape the villains. Julian firmly hustles her along, and when they see that the villains are going to catch up with them, George uses Timmy to hold them off. |
| 607 | * UglyAmericanStereotype: The Hennings from ''Five on Finniston Farm'' are an exceptionally obnoxious variety. |
| 608 | * UnspokenPlanGuarantee: George often plans things without telling anybody else, usually when she fears for Timmy. |
| 609 | ** In ''Five Run Away Together'', she tells her cousins that she has a plan, but flatly refuses to tell them what it is. |
| 610 | ---> '''George:''' I've got a plan of my own, and you don't come into it. It's my secret, private plan. |
| 611 | ---> '''Julian:''' I really think you might tell us your plan, we are your best friends. |
| 612 | ---> '''George:''' You might try to stop me. |
| 613 | ---> '''Julian:''' Then you'd certainly better tell us. |
| 614 | ** In ''Five go to Smuggler's Top'', George is told that she is not allowed to take Timmy the dog to Smuggler's Top. She sulkily agrees to go, having asked which road they will take. On the way there, she asks the driver to stop, and she opens the car door and whistles: Timmy then bounds into the car. In the same book, she does not tell the others about her intention to raid Mr Lenoir's study. |
| 615 | ** In ''Five on Kirrin Island Again'', she sneaks to the island in the dead of night to rescue Timmy, without telling anybody. |
| 616 | * WallCrawl: In ''Five Fall into Adventure'', the gipsy child Jo scales a high ivy-covered wall to rescue George, and boasts that she has climbed walls without any ivy at all, saying that there are always cracks and holes to hold on to. Later, she descends a steep cliff very rapidly, seeming to find handholds and footholds by magic. In ''Five Have a Wonderful Time'', she offers to scale a much higher castle wall, but the Five will not allow her to. |
| 617 | * WeatherReportOpening: ''Five on Finniston Farm'' begins with Julian saying how hot the weather is, and that living at the Equator would be cool in comparison. |
| 618 | * WhenItRainsItPours: There are many heavy rainstorms, and when they happen, usually the Five are well wrapped-up in macintoshes and sou'westers. Sometimes the Five get lost when the rain is very heavy, notably in ''Five fall into Adventure'' and ''Five on a Hike Together''. |
| 619 | * WhyDidntIThinkOfThat: When George meets Julian, Dick and Anne at the very beginning of the series, she emphasises that she will not make friends with anybody just because they are her cousins, or silly reasons like that. Julian replies that they don't either, and they might not like her, of course. George looks surprised, as if she hadn't thought of that; but this probably makes her like her cousins all the more. |
| 620 | * WillNotTellALie: George, especially meeting her cousins at the beginning of the series, who find it hard to believe that she owns Kirrin Island. |
| 621 | --> '''George:''' If you are not going to believe me, I won't say another word more. But I don't tell untruths. I think it's being a coward if you don't tell the truth - and I'm not a coward. |
| 622 | * WindowWatcher: It happens a lot, by the Five, and their enemies. |
| 623 | ** In ''Five Go To Smuggler's Top'', George happens to see Mr Barling through a window. She thinks he is talking to Block, who is allegedly completely deaf, but she sees him listening to Mr Barling, and answering him. |
| 624 | ** In ''Five Get into Trouble'', the Five peer in through the windows of Owl's Dene, when they are casing the joint to sneak in. |
| 625 | ** In ''Five Fall Into Adventure'', Anne is terrified by a "Face at the Window" in her bedroom, belonging to somebody who climbs up to spy on them. |
| 626 | ---> Julian didn't tell Anne that he had examined the ivy outside, and found clear traces of the night-climber. |
| 627 | ** In ''Five Have a Wonderful Time'', George plays a trick on Anne, telling her there is a face looking in at their caravan window. There is indeed a face there: |
| 628 | ---> A big, long, dark brown face looked in, and Anne shrieked. Then she laughed. |
| 629 | ---> "You beast, George, it's only Alfredo's horse! Oh, you did give me a fright. I've a good mind to pull you out of your bunk on to the floor." |
| 630 | * YouCantGoHomeAgain: In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'' the children can't go home for Christmas because their mother is sick and there's quarantine. |
| 631 | * YouMeddlingKids: Many of the villains have this rant, especially in ''Five Get Into Trouble'', when Mr Perton lists all the fortunes he would made, until a pack of children spoilt everything. |
| 632 | * YoureNotMyFather: In ''Five Go Adventuring Again'', George is in trouble for going into her father's study, and takes a certain pleasure in refusing to answer Mr Roland's questions about it, as he is not her father. |
| 633 | --> '''Mr Roland:''' Georgina, did you go into the study last night? |
| 634 | --> '''George:''' I'll answer my father's questions, not yours. |
| 635 | --> '''Mr Roland:''' What you want is a good spanking. And if I were your father, I'd give it to you! |
| 636 | --> '''George:''' You're not my father. |
| 637 | * YouthfulFreckles: George is proud of her freckles and thinks they are boyish, especially in ''Five on Kirrin Island Again''. |
| 638 | --> '''George:''' I've far more freckles than you have, for one thing, and better eyebrows. ''And'' I can make my voice go deep. |
| 639 | --> '''Dick:''' You're just silly. As if freckles are boyish! Girls have them just as much as boys. |
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