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2%% Zero-context examples are not allowed on wiki pages; all such examples have been commented out.
3%% Please add proper context before uncommenting them -- a good example should explain *how* it's an example.
4%%
5[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Inkheart_802.jpg]]
6
7''The Inkworld Tetralogy'' is a German YA novel series by Creator/CorneliaFunke.
8
9# ''Tintenherz'' (''Inkheart'', 2003)
10# ''Tintenblut'' (literally "Inkblood", but translated as ''Inkspell'' for the English version, 2005)
11# ''Tintentod'' (''Inkdeath'', 2007)
12# ''Die Farbe der Rache'' (''The Color of Revenge'', 2023)
13
14Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father Mo, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and Meggie's bibliophile great aunt Elinor and tries to force him into service. Meggie has had her father to herself since her mother Resa went away when she was young. Mo taught her to read when she was five, and the two share a mutual love of books. When she was three, he read aloud from [[TitleDrop a book called ''Inkheart'']] and released characters into the real world.
15
16TheFilmOfTheBook came out in late 2008, starring Creator/ElizaBennett as Meggie, Creator/AndySerkis as Capricorn, Creator/PaulBettany as Dustfinger, Creator/HelenMirren as Elinor and Creator/BrendanFraser as Mo.
17----
18!! Tropes found in the ''Inkworld'' series include:
19
20* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: Roxane. By the time Dustfinger finally returns home, he's been gone a decade, and Roxane has a son (by another man) who is nearly that old, so she can't have waited for him very long.
21* AdaptationSpeciesChange: In TheFilmOfTheBook, Dustfinger's horned marten was changed to a ferret. Because, well, horned martens don't exist.
22* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Firefox. He is used to test the capabilities of the immortality book by his boss, made immortal and then killed callously by his master; to add insult to injury, his body is then discarded like trash.]] While hardly a sympathetic character, the scene is worded in such a way as to to express absolute horror at the nature of his pitiful end.
23* AllJustADream: Discussed. Several characters hope in vain for this at different points in the series.
24* AllStoriesAreRealSomewhere: All books are apparently their own worlds, and characters can read themselves between them.
25%%* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Death's "deal" with Mo.
26* AntiHero: Dustfinger. At one point, he veers into LovableTraitor territory, but events teach him quickly and painfully that he's made a terrible mistake by trusting Capricorn to [[ILied keep his word]].
27* ArchnemesisDad: The Adderhead is something of this to his daughter, Violante.
28* AristocratsAreEvil: The only halfway-sympathetic aristocratic character is Violante, who looks positively sweet next to her father, but even she is hard and demanding and can be cruel.
29* ArrangedMarriage: Violante and Cosimo. Violante's mother claimed this was the case for herself and the Adderhead, [[spoiler: but really they fell in love and ran away together]].
30* AuthorsSavingThrow: Invoked several times in-universe with Fenoglio having to write out what will happen in order to save everyone's skins.
31%%* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: Resa]] in ''Inkdeath''.
32* BackForTheDead: This shows up with a strange twist in ''Inkdeath''. [[spoiler: Basta]] was already dead and removed from the story, but when he [[CameBackWrong was brought back as a monster]], we aren't even told that it's him until Dustfinger recognizes him seconds before killing the creature.
33* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Dustfinger]] exchanged his life for [[spoiler: Farid's]] to bring him back from the dead. Later Mo got [[spoiler: Dustfinger]] back from the dead. Cosimo as well, although it's a copy of him. Unfortunately averted with Capricorn.
34%%* BadassBookworm: Mo.
35%%* BadassUnintentional: Nearly all the protagonists.
36%%* BalancingDeathsBooks: At the end of ''Inkspell''.
37%%* BearsAreBadNews: Averted with the Black Prince's bear. True, he may be used mostly for intimidation, but he ''is'' a bear.%%Unclear/confusing wording.
38* BecomingTheMask: Mo becomes the Bluejay, much to the distress of his wife and daughter.%%Expand.
39* BettyAndVeronica: There are shades of this in book 3 with Doria and Farid, Doria being the nice, reliable one and Farid the fun and exotic but often faithless one.
40* BigBad: Capricorn is this in the first book, while the Adderhead fills the role in the second and third books and could be considered the big bad of the entire series since he's the [[ManBehindTheMan man behind]] Capricorn.
41* BlackKnight: While not a knight, the Black Prince is characterized something like this in the robber stories.
42* {{Bookburning}}: This happens to every existing copy of ''Inkheart'' [[spoiler: save one]] in the first book. Capricorn's fireraisers also burn all the books in Elinor's library.
43%%* {{Bookworm}}: Elinor, Mo, Meggie, Resa, Darius, and Violante.
44* BrokenPedestal: Violante is shattered when it turns out [[spoiler:her mother wasn't really a trapped victim of her father, [[BigBad The Adderhead]], but actually fell in love with him and ran away with him. Sucks when your childhood hero and the person you are indirectly trying to avenge was lying to you all along.]]
45* CameBackStrong: [[spoiler: Dustfinger and Mo]] come back to life with powers and insight they had not possessed before meeting Death.
46%%* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler: Cosimo and Basta.]]
47* CharacterDevelopment:
48** Mo gets a whopping dose, especially in the last book. In the first book, he's a goofy and loving dad, if [[HiddenDepths sad underneath]], and while he may be [[TallDarkAndHandsome physically imposing]], he's a thoroughly [[BookWorm nerdy]] NonActionGuy. He starts to undergo some alarming changes in book 2, and by book 3 he is a complete badass, and sometimes just an [[JerkAss ass]]. He finally does find a happy medium, though, going back to his old life [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore as much as he can]].
49** Dustfinger gets some -- in a way -- in ''Inkheart''. While the character himself really doesn't change, the way Meggie (and the audience) perceives him develops over the course of the story. He goes from mysterious and creepy in the beginning, to mysterious and treacherous, to mysterious and sad at the end.
50** Elinor slowly but surely grows from a [[BookWorm book]]-obsessed [[TheHermit loner]] who dislikes people in general, to valuing people over her precious books, to being unable to live without what she never knew she was missing, relatives who love her.
51** Fenoglio gets the biggest chunk of his development in book 2, where he is humbled and ultimately devastated by the realization that, just because he wrote the book, doesn't mean he has [[AGodAmI ultimate power]] over it. He loses a lot of his arrogance, but he pretty much bounces back by the end of book 3.
52* ChildSoldiers: Not one of Violante's devoted "army" is over fifteen.
53* ColdBloodedTorture: Mostly discussed rather than actually used in the story, but some pretty gruesome stuff is described, and the worst part is that most mentioned are taken from actual history.
54%%* CrapsackWorld: The Inkworld as it has evolved from Fenoglio's original book definitely counts.%%How?
55* CreatorBreakdown:
56** In-universe, some catastrophic attempts to right wrongs in his story ends with Fenoglio losing all confidence and vowing never to write again. [[spoiler: That doesn't last too long]].
57** And in real life. Cornelia Funke's husband died of cancer in 2006, which almost certainly accounts for the ''much'' darker tone of ''Inkdeath'' and its themes of death, loss, and grief.
58* CreatorCareerSelfDeprecation: It probably wasn't an accident that the author made both of her writer characters (Fenoglio and Orpheus) arrogant jerks who put too much stock in their own importance and ability to [[RealityWarper change the fictional world]] around them to suit themselves. Though Fenoglio, at least, was a decent guy with good intentions.
59%%* CynicalMentor: Dustfinger to Farid.
60%%* DaddysLittleVillain: Even with no affection between father and daughter, this applies to the Adderhead and Violante.
61%%* DarkerAndEdgier: Both sequels, the latter being a result of a case of Cornelia Funke's CreatorBreakdown.
62%%* DarkIsEvil
63%%* DealWithTheDevil: Inverted. Death makes a deal with Mo.
64* DeathOfAChild:
65** Notably Dustfinger's youngest daughter, who never appears in the story because she died of fever while he was stranded in our world, and the kids who were killed in a riot in ''Inkdeath''.
66** Also, [[spoiler: Farid]] is brutally killed during a battle. He may be more of a subversion, though, because in that setting a boy of his age is thought of as a man anyway, and he doesn't actually ''stay'' dead very long.
67** Invoked and lampshaded in the film.
68--->'''Mo:''' Meggie, just pretend you're in a book. [[ImprobableInfantSurvival Children always survive in books]].\
69'''Meggie:''' [[AvertedTrope No they don't]]. Remember ''Literature/TheLittleMatchGirl''? They found her in that alley frozen to death.
70* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Between modern-day Earth and the medieval-inspired Inkworld. In spades.
71* DisappearedDad: Dustfinger, through no fault of his own, though. He was accidentally magically summoned to our world and stuck there for ten years.
72* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Mortola a.k.a. [[CharacterNameAlias The Magpie]]]] falls to her death in ''Inkdeath'' after she is struck by an arrow thrown by Orpheus while trying to fly away in her magpie form.
73* DistantFinale: The last scene is quite a few years after the previous events.
74* DontFearTheReaper: [[spoiler:When the Inkworld's incarnation of Death shows up in the final books, she shows no anger at Mo despite that he's trying to defy the natural order by bringing Dustfinger back without making another sacrifice -- mostly noting that her daughters will miss him. She is actually willing to make a (hefty) bargain -- if she revives Dustfinger, Mo has to ensure the Silver Prince's death by the end of the coming winter; if he fails, Dustfinger will die again ''and'' she will take Mo as well. While risky, she is upfront and honest about the deal, never reneges on it, and is perfectly personable throughout the conversation with him.]]
75* {{Doorstopper}}: ''Inkheart'' is just over 500 pages long and ''Inkspell'' and ''Inkdeath'' are almost 700 pages long. The trilogy as a whole is 217 chapters long, so if you read the entire trilogy reading one chapter a day, it would take you ''more than seven months'' to finish it.
76* TheDragon: Basta is Capricorn's dragon in the first book and the Piper is the Adderhead's dragon in the last two books
77* DreamsOfFlying: Because his mother took the form of a swift while she was pregnant with him, [[spoiler:Resa's son]] dreams of flying like a bird with his mother. The dreams are so realistic he sometimes can't tell them from reality.
78* DrivenToSuicide: Discussed in ''Inkdeath''. Elinor is so desperate not to be left alone that she threatens to drown herself in the lake to convince Darius to stay with her.
79%%** Nearly happens to [[spoiler: Mo in the dungeons of the Castle in the Lake]]
80* DroppedABridgeOnHim: In ''Inkdeath'', [[spoiler: Mortola]] has been set up as a major villain, having tried to kill Meggie and [[TheLancer the Black Prince]] -- and nearly succeeding with the Prince -- only to be struck by an arrow from Orpheus almost at random. She then [[DisneyVillainDeath falls to her death]].
81* DrowningPit: The dungeon of the castle in the lake in ''Inkdeath''.
82* EldritchAbomination: The Shadow. It's immortal, invulnerable, created out of the ashes of countless sacrificed sentient beings, and it can kill with a mere touch.
83* EmpathyPet: Gwin, Dustfinger's "tame" marten. Has two tiny horns on its head, but is otherwise a normal animal.
84* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Played straight with Jacopo -- he is a rotten SpoiledBrat with a foul temperament and he looks up to his grandfather, wanting to rule... but he truly, utterly loves his (considerably kinder) mother Violante, and when ConflictingLoyalties start to (somewhat) come into play, he chooses his mother in the end. It's also hinted in the epilogue that LoveRedeems and he might grow into a better person thanks to her tempering influence over him.
85* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: Capricorn doesn't love anyone but himself, least of all his mother, and even tries to hide the fact that his "maid" is even related to him. However, she loves him with an almost obsessive devotion that sends her over the edge when he is killed.
86* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Played with. Mortola's love for her son sends her on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, but all the other villains love no one but themselves.
87%%* EvilCounterpart: The Adderhead is this to the Laughing Prince.
88%%* EvilGloating
89%%* EvilMatriarch: Capricorn's mother Mortola.
90%%* EvilOverlord: Capricorn fits this (almost) to a "T" in ''Inkheart''. The Adderhead in the last two books.
91%%* TheFaceless: The Shadow.
92* FamedInStory: The Bluejay (Mortimer), Firedancer (Dustfinger), The Black Prince, Cosimo the Fair, etc. are all real people ShroudedInMyth thanks largely in part to Fenoglio's writing of heroic ballads after he was sent into his own story.
93* FateWorseThanDeath: As several characters know, being dead is not unpleasant, so by the time of ''Inkdeath'', the definition of "a fate worse than death" is much broader than you might think. Especially the Adderhead's declining health, and [[BodyHorror literal decomposition]] while still alive.
94* {{Foreshadowing}}: There is an unintentional (as Funke wasn't planning on writing any sequels at that point) bit of foreshadowing near the beginning of ''Inkheart'' where Mo playfully threatens to cut Dustfinger into "very thin slices" if he continues to tell Meggie scary stories. This becomes something of a CerebusRetcon later on when Mo becomes [[spoiler: JustLikeRobinHood]] and starts regularly [[spoiler: cutting people to bits for real]].
95%%* FourEyesZeroSoul: Invoked by Orpheus in order to intimidate people.
96* FourthWallShutInStory: The main characters are simply fans of the story, but the author himself got trapped in his own writing, too. He wasn't doing too badly there... for a time.
97* FromNobodyToNightmare: Orpheus goes from an annoying, self-absorbed minor character to a very powerful, very evil [[NotSoHarmlessVillain villain]] who is arguably just as scary and hateful as the story's official BigBad.
98%%* GentleGiant: The Strong Man in the third book.
99* GiantRobotHandsSaveLives: Fenoglio falls out of a tree and is caught by a giant.
100%%* AGodAmI: Fenoglio and Orpheus both have attacks of this, and it's hard to tell which man is worse.
101* GoodScarsEvilScars: Dustfinger has three pale scars running across his face, courtesy of Basta.
102%%* HappilyMarried: Mortimer and Teresa.
103* HarmlessLadyDisguise: The robbers dress up as women to take captive children to safety.
104* HellYesMoment: When Mo [[spoiler:kills the Piper]] and when [[spoiler: Dustfinger]] banishes the Night Mare.
105* HumanNotepad: In the film, creatures conjured by the ''BigBad'' have random lines of text covering portions of their body, and Meggie writes the words that [[spoiler: kill Capricorn]] all over her arm.
106* IconOfRebellion: The face of the commoners' uprising was the [[spoiler: fabricated]] folk-hero, the Bluejay. He was known by his fairness, thieving, and mask rather than his face, but the songs of the Bluejay stirred public favor for the uprising without a face.
107* IHaveYourWife: Done several times to Mo over the course of the books.
108* ImmortalityHurts: The Adderhead cannot die, but as the [[SoulJar magical book]] that keeps him alive starts to decay, [[BodyHorror so does his body]], keeping him in constant pain and discomfort.
109* IntrepidFictioneer: Meggie, Orpheus, Dustfinger, Farid, Mo and Resa, Darius and Elinor all purposely send themselves into ''Inkheart'' at various points and for various reasons in the latter two books.
110* IWillWaitForYou: Mo and Resa wait for each other in separate universes, though Meggie does recall Mo's halfhearted dating attempts. Dustfinger has no interest in anything about the real world, apparently including its women (save Resa, though nothing ever came of [[JustFriends their relationship]]), and he wants nothing more than to get back to his home and family. Roxane, on the other hand, may have ''wanted'' to wait for Dustfinger, but the survival of her family depended on having a male protector/provider.
111%%* JustBetweenYouAndMe: Orpheus when Mortimer is in the pit.
112%%* JustLikeRobinHood: The Bluejay.
113* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Orpheus, at the end of the series, escapes into the northern regions of the Inkworld and presumably escapes any retribution for his actions, although "it's hoped he froze to death". Unless Funke decides to write another book in the series, it's likely that he never receives any punishment...]] This trope was lampshaded by Fenoglio himself in the first book.
114* LargeHam: Orpheus, and Fenoglio at times. In TheFilmOfTheBook, Andy Serkis is clearly enjoying himself as Capricorn.
115%%* LeParkour: Farid's specialty.
116%%* LightIsGood
117* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Elinor and Fenoglio in the later half of ''Inkdeath''.
118* LineageComesFromTheFather: Violante is more like her father than she would ever admit, and her son Jacopo seems to be an even mix of his father and grandfather.
119* LivingShadow: Orpheus' Night-Mare ([[spoiler:[[{{Reincarnation}} who is actually Basta's corrupt spirit]]]]) in the third book.
120* TheLoad: Elinor tags along and adds [[DeadpanSnarker some color]] to the story, but she rarely does anything useful and often gets in the way, slows things down, or outright screws things up. The most useful she is in the story is in ''Inkdeath'' when she helps out as a nurse/babysitter and gets Fenoglio out of his slump by irritating and arguing with him and giving him the occasional good idea or kick up the back side he needs to get over himself for a few minutes.
121* LoveHurts: Elinor, Violante, Resa, Mo, Roxane, Dustfinger, and Meggie (and even Orpheus in his own twisted way) know how much love hurts whether because of loss or betrayal.
122%%* LoveMakesYouDumb: Orpheus thinks so, and [[FlawExploitation uses it]] against his enemies.
123%%* LoveTriangle: Poor Meggie is such a teenage girl. "How can you love two boys with just one heart?"
124* MacabreMothMotif: ''Indeath''[='=]s cover art depicts a pair of death's head hawk-moths as part of its prominent skull motif.
125%%* MamaBear: Resa and Roxane both have their moments.
126%%* ManipulativeBastard: Orpheus.
127%%* MayDecemberRomance: Brianna not-so-subtly sleeping with Cosimo.
128* MeaningfulEcho: In ''Inkheart'': "I don't know much about killing, and I'm not about to learn for you." In ''Inkdeath'': "I don't know much about killing, but for you I'd learn." Said by Dustfinger. These lines also mirror the [[DarkerAndEdgier change in tone]] between the first and third books.
129* MeaningfulName...or at least an [[InformedAbility Informed Meaningful Name]], since if ''I'' were an aspiring EvilOverlord who wanted to choose an [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast intimidating astrology-themed name]] for myself, it sure as hell wouldn't be ''Capricorn''. Also goes for certain nicknames, like "Silvertongue" for Mo.
130* MeaningfulRename: Doesn't happen very much in-story, but paying attention to what each character is called in narration can tell the reader a ''lot'' about that character. This, of course, applies only to characters with multiple names, and especially to Mortimer, who is the most prone to taking on personas [[CosmicPlaything as the Story demands it]]. He's called Mo through most of the the first book, which is mainly from Meggie's point of view, where his main role is that of a father and protector. Different characters have different names for him, but [[RuleOfSymbolism watch out]] when even ''the narrator'' starts calling him Silvertongue or [[spoiler:the Bluejay]]. ''Especially'' in ''Inkdeath'', where what he is called by the narrator mirrors [[ItMakesSenseInContext his struggle between being himself and playing a character in the story]].
131%%* MindRape: Orpheus does this to [[spoiler:Mortimer]].
132* MissingMom: Resa in ''Inkheart'' because she was TrappedInAnotherWorld. We also don't know what happened to Elinor's mother, only that she and her sisters were [[ParentalNeglect "raised"]] by her father.
133%%* MorningSickness: [[spoiler: Resa]] in book 3.
134* MrExposition: Dustfinger in book 1, when he tells Meggie just how incredibly ''evil'' Capricorn is supposed to be.
135* MusicSoothesTheSavageBeast: Singing calms an attacking giant in book 3.
136* NerdGlasses: While the actual shape/condition of Darius's glasses isn't described, they are meant to add to his nerdiness.
137* NonActionGuy: Mo is this at the very beginning, but Darius and Fenoglio remain non-action guys throughout the books.
138* NotAfraidToDie: Played with. Mortimer is not afraid of Death, but ''dying'' on the other hand... Especially because of the various [[ColdBloodedTorture creative]] methods that he's threatened with.
139* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: Each successive book makes huge, irrevocable changes in the characters' lives that they have to adapt to.
140* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname:
141** There are several cases of this in the books: We are told that "Capricorn" is a name [[MeaningfulRename he gave himself]], but we never know what his real name is. The same with Orpheus (who gets it double since Farid only calls him "Cheeseface"). The Magpie's real name is Mortola, but she is very rarely referred to that way in the first book. "The Adderhead" and "the Laughing Prince/Prince of Sighs" are names given to them by their subjects. Also the Barn Owl, Nettle, Firefox, Sootbird, the Piper, Flatnose, Cockerell, Cloud-Dancer, and the Black Prince, as well as all the robbers in Book 3. Finally, even though it's never mentioned that he has another name, Dustfinger could easily be an example of this as well. Since his world is full of regular names like Roxane, Basta, and Minerva, it's probably safe to assume that this is a nickname rather than what his parents named him.
142** Mortimer is an interesting variation of this. While most people call him by his proper name, Dustfinger, Capricorn, and the other characters from ''Inkheart'' refuse to call him anything but "Silvertongue", which he doesn't like. He is also known only by a nickname to his daughter, Meggie, who "had never called her father anything but 'Mo'", and his wife.
143* OnlyOneName: Many characters in the Inkworld, justified by it being modeled after medieval Europe where most people had only one name anyway, but there are also characters from our world that only have one name, such as Fenoglio and Darius.
144* OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow: Invoked in-universe.
145* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Death's daughters, the White Women who appear to people before they die in the Inkworld, whispering their name and taking them to the land of death.
146* OurGiantsAreBigger: Actually not; they're smaller than some of the trees. They're definitely different from most fantasy giants, however.%%"Different" how?
147%%* PalsWithJesus: Dustinger and Mo are pals with the White Women.%%Who are?
148%%* PapaWolf: Mo and Dustfinger both have their moments.
149* ParentalNeglect: Elinor's father thinks books need more attention than children. He's absent so much that, after he dies, his daughter barely registers any difference; it's just as if he's locked himself in the library as usual.
150* ParentsInDistress
151* PityTheKidnapper: Discussed. Fenoglio says that one solution to their problems is to give Elinor to the Adderhead and let her "talk him to distraction" until he [[RuleOfFunny just gives up]].
152* PlainName: In the Inkworld most women and children have regular names, but there are few men who don’t go exclusively by a nickname or title. Possibly justified, though, since they probably have regular names even if they go by something else.
153%%* PlayingPossum: How Fenoglio escapes from the giant in book 3.
154%%* PlayingWithFire: Dustfinger, Farid, and Sootbird.
155* PlotArmor: In-story. Fenoglio tries to reassure Meggie that Doria can’t die because Fenoglio has already written stories about the boy grown up.
156* PlotTriggeringBook: In ''Inkheart'', Mo reads a book [[TitleDrop called Inkheart]] as a bedtime story for his daughter, which ends up resonating with his power to turn stories real when read aloud. Various characters from the book, including the BigBad, end up appearing in the real world, along with Mo's wife getting dragged into the world of the book.
157* PortalBook: Technically, ''every single written work in existence'', given someone with the right voice.
158* PowerPerversionPotential: Shown in-universe with Orpheus [[spoiler: making changes to the Inkworld as he sees fit]].
159%%* PrideBeforeAFall: This pretty much sums up Fenoglio's character development in ''Inkspell''.
160%%* {{Psychopomp}}: The White Women.
161* PublicExecution: One of the Adderhead's favorite forms of entertainment. As the Inkworld is a FantasyCounterpartCulture to medieval Italy, these are a common occurrence.
162* PurpleProse: Funke spends paragraphs on end describing the scenery and minute details of the world.
163%%* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The robbers in book 3.
164* RealityWritingBook: In a variation, Meggie and Mo can read things (and people) in and out of books.
165%%* ARealManIsAKiller: Played with.
166* {{Refugee from TV Land}}: Dustfinger constantly complains about all of the bad aspects of the Real World and wishes for Mo to read him back into ''Inkheart'' all through the first book. In the film, he doesn't seem to have much of a personality outside wanting to go home.
167* RomanticRunnerUp: [[spoiler:Doria becomes Meggie's boyfriend]] in ''Inkdeath'' after the harsh ShipSinking that [[spoiler:Meggie/Farid]] went through.
168%%* RoyalBrat: Jacopo, Violante's son.
169* RuleOfSymbolism: After the climax of ''Inkdeath'', it starts snowing. The whiteness is explicitly compared to an unwritten page.
170* ScaryShinyGlasses: The first time the Adderhead ever feels "fear of another man" is when the fire reflecting off Orpheus's glasses obscures his eyes for a moment.
171%%* ScrewDestiny: "It's not a pleasant feeling to read the words that guide your actions -- no one knows that better than I do -- but they didn't come true for me either. They have only as much power as you give them."%%Quotes are not context on their own.
172* SeeThruSpecs: Orpheus claims this about his own glasses to intimidate the people of the Inkworld, who have never seen spectacles before.
173%%* SelfMadeOrphan: Violante plans to become one.
174* ShapeShifter: Death, [[spoiler:Mortola]], [[spoiler:Resa]], and her [[spoiler:unnamed son]] at the very end.
175* ShipSinking: [[spoiler:After two novels of setup, the back-and-forth Meggie/Farid Ship hit a reef. In the beginning of ''Inkdeath'': Meggie and Farid seem to be together, until a few chapters before the end... However, Farid and Meggie's relationship was gradually going downhill, with Farid constantly ignoring Meggie for Dustfinger's company, making out with countless other girls, and then expecting her to take him back the minute he happened to want her. Throughout the entire book, Doria was there for her when she needed someone most, so observant readers saw the shipwreck coming from the very beginning.]]
176* ShipTease: [[JustFriends Dustfinger and Resa]], which is painfully teased throughout the trilogy. Not that anything could come of it since they're both happily married to ''other people'', but their relationship is [[BirdsOfAFeather so extremely close]] that even Mo, Meggie, Farid, ''and'' Roxane at different points of the trilogy have their [[EveryoneCanSeeIt suspicions]] about it. It's in fact implied that there was something between Resa and Dustfinger while she was working as Capricorn's maid. However, she still loved her husband.
177* ShrinkingViolet: Darius, though an atypical example as a grown man, is painfully shy and self-conscious, mainly because of his pronounced stutter. He is, of course, a nice and helpful guy, but doesn't ever really [[NonActionGuy do much]].
178* SlidingScaleOfFateVsFreeWill: Type 2, where "fate" is the story written. The story maps out what each character will do, but the characters can defy it (''Inkdeath'') if they try or if outside events prevent the story’s regular course from continuing (''Inkheart'').
179%%* SoulJar: The White Book.
180* SpeechImpediment: Darius has a stutter that worsens as he gets nervous or scared, which is nearly all the time when he's a prisoner of Capricorn. This severely affects his reading aloud for Capricorn, resulting in his being punished each time he reads something or someone out of a book. His stuttering while reading is the reason for Cockerel's limp, Resa's muteness, and (supposedly) Flatnose's ugly squashed face (though it's implied that, for once, Darius read Flatnose out perfectly, and his face just always looked like that).
181* TheStarscream: The Adderhead is so hated, and apparently attracts ambitious and ruthless people, that many of the people closest to him are this, most notably Orpheus, as well as his own daughter, Violante, and even 7-year-old Jacopo!
182%%* StoicSpectacles: Violante.
183* SweetPollyOliver: Resa dresses as a man during her time alone in the Inkworld and (being one of few people who can read and write) works as a market scribe.
184%%* TheresNoPlaceLikeHome: Dustfinger in ''Inkheart'', very much so.
185%%* ThoseTwoGuys: Flatnose and Cockerel from Book 1.
186* TokenBlackFriend: Subverted. The Black Prince is Dustfinger's best friend, and he is black, but he doesn't fit the description of the role of "Token Black Friend" very well. He's ''much'' more of an independent character.
187%%* TomatoSurprise: In ''Inkheart'': Meggie's mother's name.
188* TookALevelInBadass:
189** Mo starts to show signs of badassery in ''Inkspell'', but there has been an obvious changed in the few months between the end of book 2 and the start of book 3.
190** The same goes for Orpheus, even though "badass" might not be the most appropriate word for him. His level of [[NotSoHarmlessVillain power]], influence, and [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity evilness]], however, do take a huge spike in between books 2 and 3.
191* TrappedInTVLand: Resa and then Fenoglio are unwillingly and unintentionally sent into ''Inkheart'', but they both find ways to cope in the Inkworld, though not how to get home by themselves.
192%%* TreeTopTown: The fugitives escape to one near the end of ''Inkdeath''.
193* TrilogyCreep: Inkdeath was intended to be the final installment of the "Inkheart Trilogy". However, the book did not received positive reception, with Funke's writing likely affected by her husband's recent passing. In 2020, 13 years after ''Inkdeath'' was published, Funke announced a new sequel (''The Color of Revenge'') that would serve as a continuation and a new finale for the series.
194%%* VillainessesWantHeroes: Violante's crush on the Bluejay.
195* VoluntaryShapeshifting becomes InvoluntaryShapeshifting the longer you do it. This happens to Mortola and [[spoiler: Resa]]. The power carries over to her unborn child, who continues to change years later.
196%%* IChooseToStay
197%%* WelcomeToTheRealWorld
198%%* WhamEpisode: The finale of book 2.
199* WhatIfTheBabyIsLikeMe: [[spoiler: Resa]] fears that her unborn baby will be affected by her shapeshifting while pregnant. Turns out she was [[spoiler: right]].
200* WildCard: Dustfinger in the first book and Violante in the third
201* WordPower: The whole point of the second and third book, even more than in the first. Meggie reads herself and Farid into the Inkworld with words written by herself. Later she saves Mo's life by reading and rereading a passage written by Fengolio how a father survives an almost fatal wound and always hears his daughter's voice. Later she sings and recites all the ballads about the Bluejay to protect Mo from being caught or hurt. And Orpheus--having no confidence in his own words--more or less steals Fengolio's words to put them together anew to manipulate the Inkworld as he wishes. And Fengolio writing [[spoiler: Cosimo]] BackFromTheDead ... let's say, in a world created by an author, words are more dangerous weapons than swords.
202* WouldHurtAChild: Pick any villain.
203
204!!! Tropes found in the movie:
205* AdaptationPersonalityChange: While Dustfinger was somewhat likable and had an understandable motive for what he did, he acts more selfish and isn't concerned about other people. He does go through some development and starts caring about Meggie and Farid.
206* AdaptationSpeciesChange: Dustfinger's pet Gwin was changed from a horned marten in the books to a horned ferret in the film, likely for practical reasons since ferrets are easier to acquire and train.
207* BigDamnHeroes: Creator/HelenMirren is riding a unicorn. Your argument is invalid.
208* BookBurning: After capturing Mo, Meggie and Elinor, Capricorn's men start a bonfire with Elinor's books, much to her horror.
209* CastingGag: Paul Bettany's real-life wife, Creator/JenniferConnelly, plays Dustfinger's wife, Roxane, in a cameo at the end of the movie.
210* ChekhovsGun: Farid keeps asking Dustfinger to teach him "Dragon's Breath". In the finale, he masters it just in time to help Dustfinger burn down the castle. Meggie's wish to become a writer (and her practise writing [[spoiler: stories about her missing mother]]) stands her in good stead to [[spoiler: write The Shadow out of existence]].
211* ConscienceMakesYouGoBack: It’s implied that after Dustfinger escapes from Capricorn’s village alone, he turns around to go save Meggie and Fenoglio.
212* ConsummateLiar: In TheFilmOfTheBook, nearly everything that comes out of Capricorn's mouth is a lie. Even when he admits he was lying. It gets to the point where he mocks the heroes for being fooled... again.
213* EvenEvilHasStandards: Flatnose is surprised that Capricorn wants to execute Toto just for barking at him.
214* {{Flanderization}}: A few characters undergo this treatment.
215** Dustfinger's desire to go home pushes him to do things like lie about Resa's whereabouts in order to get another copy ''Inkheart'' and be read back into it. The bond he forged with Meggie in the book is completely ignored.
216** Elinor's bibliophilia is taken to an extreme degree when she and her family are captured by Capricorn's men. While she was upset over the destruction of her books in the novel, she showed earlier signs that she cared about what happened to Mo and Meggie.
217* LargeHam: Capricorn is deliciously hammy in the film adaptation.
218* MinionWithAnFInEvil: Flatnose is a lot sillier in the movie than his book counterpart.
219%%* MundaneObjectAmazement: Duct tape!
220* ParentService: In TheFilmOfTheBook, [[MrFanservice Dustfinger]]'s [[PlayingWithFire fire-breathing]] ShirtlessScene is absolutely this.
221* PetTheDog: In a futile attempt to show his softer side to Meggie, Dustfinger pulls out her mother's copy of ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'' from the book burning pile and tries to give it to her. Meggie just glares at him.
222* TheQueensLatin: In TheFilmOfTheBook and the English audiobooks, all the characters are given various British accents despite all being explicitly Italian, implicitly German, or from an Italian FantasyCounterpartCulture. Or the Literature/ArabianNights.
223* SequelHook: Blink and you might miss it but, although the film mostly tied up loose ends (unlike the novel) with [[spoiler:Dustfinger returning home, and Farid staying with Meggie]], it did leave one aspect intact - [[spoiler:Basta and Mortola are not shown dying ''onscreen'' unlike the other major villains]], suggesting that if the film had produced any sequels they might have followed on with their stories as they were written. Of course, the film bombing made this a moot point.
224* ShipTease: When they're on screen together, Meggie and Farid have some of this. [[spoiler:Given what happens in ''Inkdeath'', Farid/Meggie shippers may enjoy these moments.]]
225%%* TraumaticHaircut: Implied with Resa after she tried to escape.
226* VictoriasSecretCompartment: Mortola keeps the key to Resa's chains in her cleavage.

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