Line #29 Literature/TheGuardiansOfChildhood


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TheGuardiansLarge_8216.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''Of course you know the Guardians. You've known them since before you could remember...'']]
3
4	->''"We will watch over the children of Earth,\
5	Guide them safely from the ways of harm,\
6	Keep happy their hearts, brave their souls, and rosy their cheeks.\
7	We will guard with our lives their hopes and dreams,\
8	For they are all that we have, all that we are, and all that we will ever be."''
9	-->-- '''Oath of the Guardians'''
10
11	A series of books by Creator/WilliamJoyce (writer and production designer behind ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/RoliePolieOlie''), ''The Guardians of Childhood'' tells a sweeping tale of the ongoing battle between Pitch, lord of nightmares, and the eponymous guardians, consisting of figures such as the Man in the Moon, [[SantaClaus Nicolas St. North]], the Tooth Fairy, Bunnymund the EasterBunny, the Sandman, Mother Goose, and Jack Frost.
12
13	A film by Creator/DreamWorksAnimation, ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'', was released in November 2012. Taking place many years after the team's formation in the books, it tells the story of Jack's recruitment to the team.
14
15	Books so far (out of a planned 12) include:
16	* Picture Books
17	** ''The Man in the Moon''
18	** ''The Sandman: The Story of Sanderson [=ManSnoozy=]''
19	** ''Jack Frost''
20	* Novels
21	** ''Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King''
22	** ''E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!''
23	** ''Toothiana: Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies''
24	** ''The Sandman and the War of Dreams''
25	** ''Jack Frost: The End Becomes The Beginning''
26	----
27	!!Tropes featured in these works include:
28
29	* AncientArtifact: The Golden Age relics.
30	* AnxietyDreams: Katherine suffers from these in book 3. Pitch tells her that they are premonitions, [[spoiler:which is a lie]].
31	* ArgumentOfContradictions: In Book 2, North and E. Aster Bunnymund get into one when North complains that Bunnymund talks too much about eggs. The book describes the child Katherine's opinion that they're both behaving like a pair of brats despite being respectively the oldest and wisest creature on Earth and the greatest warrior-wizard of the age. As the argument continues into the next page, she decides to tune them out.
32	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: "[Ombric had] helped invent time, gravity, and bouncing balls!"
33	* BadassFamily: Pitch is the Boogeyman. [[spoiler:His daughter grew up to be ''Mother Nature''.]]
34	* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: Abominable Snowmen are among the allies of the Guardians.
35	* BreakThemByTalking: Pitch attempts this against [[spoiler: Katherine]] in book 3.
36	* CanonWelding: The last book features the Leaf Men amongst the armies assembled by the Guardians and establishes Santa's headquarters at the North Pole as being a grand city as seen in ''Santa Calls''.
37	* CoolShip: The Moon Clipper.
38	* ChristmasElves: Though they only test the toys. The Yetis do most of the toy construction and heavy lifting.
39	* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: The source of some of the Guardians magic and power.
40	* DirectLineToTheAuthor: Joyce uses the story of having found old records of the Man in the Moon hidden away on the land that became his family ranch providing material for him and his staff at Moonbot Studios to work with.
41	* DistantFinale: ''Jack Frost: The End Becomes the Beginning'' is primarily set in 1933, when the Guardians have generally settled into their modern roles.
42	* DoAnythingRobot: North's Djinni Robot, created to accomplish any possible task in the real world.
43	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Katherine and North share a dream that shows North's future as Santa Claus. [[spoiler: In Book 3, Pitch tries to falsely convince Katherine that a nightmare she had was a case of this]].
44	* GottaCatchEmAll: The Golden Age relics scattered on Earth.
45	* HiddenElfVillage: The village of Santoff Clausen, hidden away from the world to keep out thieves desiring riches.
46	** Punjam Hy Loo in the backstory of Toothiana, which becomes her Tooth Palace when she becomes the last of her kind.
47	* ISurrenderSuckers: [[spoiler: The Guardians pull this in book 3.]]
48	* ItsQuietTooQuiet: In the second book when Nightlight is performing guard duties, he's put on edge because everything is "too still."
49	* TheManInTheMoon: The Moon is a broken down space sailing ship. Owned by the noble family of Lunanoff, it was attacked by the Nightmare King Pitch and damaged beyond function in the battle, leaving it in its disguised state as an ordinary moon. The only remaining member of the Lunanoffs, the Man in the Moon is raised to adulthood by the ship's crew of robots and large insects and keeps a watchful eye on the Earth to keep the children safe from Pitch's lingering influence beyond the can he was sealed in as result of the same battle.
50	* ThePowerOfFriendship: It is said in the ending of Book 2 that the power of friendship is magical indeed and that they had done what good friends should do: save one another.
51	* RacialRemnant: The Lunar Lamasare the last survivors of one of the Golden Age worlds that Pitch destroyed.
52	* TheSandman: Having the full name of Sanderson [=ManSnoozy=], he appears in the books as the Guardian of Dreams.
53	* SceneryPorn: As expected from Joyce's designs.
54	* SealedEvilInADuel: How Nightlight defeated Pitch the first time.
55	* SpaceIsAnOcean
56	* SpacePirates: Several references are made to "Dream Pirates" having caused trouble during the Golden Age and later aligned themselves with Pitch, but no further details on what they are have emerged.
57	* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Animal languages are among the lessons Ombric teaches to the people of Santoff Clausen.
58	* SpellBook: Ombric owns a collection of spell books which plays a significant role in the plots of the first two books.
59	* StarKilling: Engaged in by Pitch during his war against the Golden Age.
60	* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker: The moonbeam in book 2.
61	* TakenForGranite: The magical defenses of Santoff Clausen do this to people who try to enter the village with ill intent.
62	* ThunderboltIron: "Starsteel" and "star sand" have the power to confine or dispel Fearlings.
63	* TrueCompanions: The Guardians are developing this dynamic as the series goes on.
64	* YoureNotMyFather: Emily Jane shouts this to Typhan in Book 4 when he tells her "Daughter! Stop!" after she starts using her powers for harm. Pitch is actually her father, but he's become like a surrogate father to her, so it stings badly.

Context Literature / TheGuardiansOfChildhood