Generations of youngsters have struggled in vain to pronounce the names in '''The Chronicles of Prydain''', a five-book series of fantasy novels by the late American author LloydAlexander. Based (very) loosely on the {{Mabinogion}} and taking place in the fantasy world of Prydain, which bears no small resemblance to [[LandOfMyFathersAndTheirSheep Wales]], the novels feature a series of epic adventures in a land of HighFantasy, but place more emphasis on [[ComingOfAgeStory the protagonist's growing maturity and his journeys into manhood.]]

Long ago the land of Prydain [[AndManGrewProud was a rich, and prosperous land, renowned for its craftsmen who knew many great secrets about shaping metal and firing clay.]] Arawn, the local EvilOverlord, would have none of that, and using his cunning and trickery he stole away those wonderous treasures and secrets and locked them away in his fortress, Annuvin, [[JerkAss where they would serve no one]]. The once fair land fell into decay and surely would have fallen under Arawn's power had not the mighty and heroic Sons of Don arrived in Prydain and united its people in an alliance against Arawn's dark power. Years have passed and the Sons of Don have maintained peace, but there are those who fear that the people have grown too reliant on their new rulers, the lesser lords constantly feud with each other for foolish and petty reasons, and Arawn is still lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Enter the protagonist, Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper to the oracular pig Hen Wen. A [[KidHero boy seemingly in his early teens]] who was [[ParentalAbandonment orphaned at as an infant,]] Taran is thrust into the conflicts between the Sons of Don and Arawn as they struggle for the rulership of Prydain. Taran is an ambitious, headstrong youth who initially [[JumpedAtTheCall leaps at any call to adventure]] and believes himself [[HeroicWannabe capable of great things,]] but in truth he often finds that leading a heroic life of adventure is not all as romantic and exciting as he would have thought. Over the course of the novels, however, Taran grows from a callow, stubborn youth into a genuinely wise and noble young man, and in the end, learns the hard way what it truly means to be a hero.

Joining Taran on his adventures are his loyal group of lovable companions, whose interactions are one of the most enjoyable parts of the series:

'''Eilonwy''': An enchantress and [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses princess]] who talks constantly in similies and serves as a romantic interest for Taran. She's also a {{Tsundere}} and a bit of an ActionGirl. One of the earliest modern examples of a RebelliousPrincess.

'''Fflewddur Fflam''': A [[BoisterousBruiser loud-mouthed]] bard and King who has a tendency to theatrically exaggerate accounts of his own adventures. He carries a magical harp whose strings break whenever he "colors the facts." (They break often.) His catchphrases are "A Fflam is (insert appropriate adjective here)!," and "Great Belin!"

'''Gurgi''': [[NonHumanSidekick A shaggy creature]] who speaks in rhyme. At first he has a tendency to be a DirtyCoward but he grows to become brave and loyal, and comes to admire Taran for his wisdom and call him "Master."

'''Doli''': A member of TheFairFolk, a grumpy dwarf and JerkWithAHeartOfGold. [[{{Understatement}} Complains a lot.]] He has the ability to turn invisible (by holding his breath), but [[BlessedWithSuck hates to do so as it causes a horrible ringing in his ears.]]

'''Gwydion''': TheWisePrince and [[TheObiWan mentor]] to Taran, a great warrior and war leader whom Taran looks up to and idolizes immensely. [[TheAragorn He leads the Sons of Don in their battles against the forces of evil.]]

And normally a book-specific GuestStarPartyMember or two, such as '''Adaon''' and '''Ellidyr''' in ''The Black Cauldron'', '''Prince Rhun''' in ''The Castle of Llyr'' and '''Glew''' in ''The High King''.

The series contains five books as well as one anthology which also serves as a prequel:
#''The Book of Three (1964)''
#''The Black Cauldron (1965)''
#''The Castle of Llyr (1966)''
#''Taran Wanderer (1967)''
#''The High King (1968)''
#''The Foundling and Other Tales From Prydain (1973)''

Disney produced a movie version of ''TheBlackCauldron'' in 1985, which notably blended elements from the first two books. It is perhaps [[DisContinuity best forgotten]] by fans of the novels. (However this hasn't stopped it from becoming [[CultClassic extremely popular among a certain fandom]] who love the fact that it's the single darkest [[DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney]] movie ever made.)
----
This series includes examples of, or the sources for:
* AbandonedByTheCavalry
*ActionGirl: Eilonwy frequently proves more capable than Taran, especially in the early books.
*AdaptationDecay: The 1985 animated film.
*AFatherToHisMen: King Smoit. He even offers to adopt Taran when he hears he's looking for birth parents.
*AlasPoorVillain: Achren post-book three.
*AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Huntsmen of Annuvin, Arawn's EliteMooks, who have sworn a blood oath of bondage to his will.
**Averted with the Gwythaints, Arawn's spies, who serve Arawn out of fear.
*AnAesop: Taran frequently learns important life lessons, although this is done more subtly and gracefully than many instances of this trope.
*AndroclesLion: Taran nurses a fledgling Gwythaint back to health in the first book. In the finale of the final book, it finally returns the favor.
*AnticlimaxBoss:[[spoiler: Arawn]]
*TheAragorn: Gwydion
*ArtifactOfDoom: The titular Black Cauldron of the second book.
*AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Played straight, especially with Prince Gwydion and King Smoit. In a land like Prydain, you ''only'' become royalty by being able to kick everyone else's ass.
*AscendedFanboy: Taran
*AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: [[spoiler: Taran at the end of the series.]]
*AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Taran and Eilonwy, ''constantly.'' (Also Fflewddur and his harp.)
*BadassBeard: King Smoit is known for his long fiery red beard.
*BadassTeacher: Do '''not''' screw with Dallben.
*BaldOfAwesome: Coll. Much to Taran's shock, who apparently thought being a hero required fine hair. During ''The High King'', Coll even goes without a helmet.
*BattleCouple: Taran and Eilonwy again.
*BeautyEqualsGoodness: Inverted with Achren, who is as wicked as she is beautiful. [[spoiler:And for further inversion, her beauty fades after her sort-of [[HeelFaceTurn face turn]] in books four and five.]]
** In fact, Lloyd Alexander uses this trope against us: both [[spoiler:Morgant and Pryderi]] are presented as attractive, when in fact they both turn out to be bad guys.
*BigBadassWolf: Brynach and Briavel
*BigDamnHeroes: Gwydion is in love with this trope.
*BigEater: King Smoit, who doesn't seem to eat multiple meals so much as eat a single meal all day long.
*BigFun: King Smoit again
*BerserkButton: Do ''not'' judge Eilonwy based on her gender. Don't call her a "little girl" or suggest she stick to "women's work."
** And do not insult her in front of Taran.
*{{Bishounen}}: Adaon
*BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Arawn is defeated, but Prydain has been ravaged by war, many heroes have fallen, and Taran and Eilonwy give up eternal life to stay in Prydain to help rebuild. It is implied, at least, that they went on to lead happy and fulfilling lives.]]
**You forgot to note that [[spoiler: because Taran chose to stay, he was made High King. And that Eilonwy married him and became Queen. And they did a good enough job about it that bards wrote songs about them.]]
*TheBlacksmith: Hevydd
*BlessedWithSuck: Doli and his invisibility powers, which make his ears ring and hurt.
*BoisterousBruiser: Fflewddur. King Smoit even more so.
*BookOfShadows: The titular Book of Three.
*{{Brainwashed}}: [[spoiler: Eilonwy in the third book.]]
*CatchPhrase: Almost every important character besides Taran has at least one.
**"Taran of Caer Dallben, I'm not speaking to you!"
**"Great Belin!"
**"A Fflam is always..."
**"Munchings and crunchings."
**"Deliver us from fools and assistant pig-keepers."
**"When I was a giant..."
**"My beard and bones!"
*CharacterDevelopment: '''THE''' reason these books are so good.
**Taran, who grows from a stubborn, witless child to a wise and noble leader.
**Also Eilonwy, who starts out rather bratty and temperamental, growing into a mature and compassionate person by the end of the series. Some of her development is off-page, however, since she does not appear in the fourth book.
***In fact, almost every major character gets some important development, but Taran and Eilonwy are the most noticeable since the books span their adolescence.
* ChangelingFantasy: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zigzagged]]. Taran knows he's adopted from the start, and hopes he'll turn out to be a prince ... but when he sets off to find out who he his (by learning who his parents were), he gets more than one answer. In fact, though at least two men (a poor shepherd and a king) both try to claim him as a son, his real parents are [[spoiler:unknown, even to Dallben]].
*ChekhovsGun: The ring Eilonwy receives at the end of the first book ends up coming [[DeusExMachina quite in handy]] in the finale.
*TheChessmaster: Arawn. (Also Morgant and Pryderi).
*{{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Eilonwy, while still managing to be the only person in the group with any common sense.
*TheChosenOne: Completely averted. Prophecies in Prydain are not preordination, merely possibility.
*ClippedWingAngel: Arawn [[spoiler: turns into a snake and is beheaded in one blow by Taran]].
--> [[spoiler:[[EvilOverlordList 34. I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.]]]]
*ComingOfAgeStory: Well, the whole series, but especially the fourth book, which is pretty obviously the turning point where Taran [[TookALevelInBadass finally takes his long-overdue levels in badass.]]
*CompleteMonster: Dorath
*ConservationOfNinjutsu: The Huntsmen of Annuvin literally become stronger when one of their number is killed.
*ConsummateLiar: Fflewddur. Ironically, his most outrageous claim (that he's actually a king) is the only one that proves true.
*CoolHorse: Gwydion's horse, Melyngar, in the first book, Melynlas for the rest of the series.
*CoolOldGuy: Coll
*CoolOldLady: Dwyvach, the weaver woman.
*CowardlyLion: Gurgi means well, but whines and cowers when he feels threatened and runs at the first sign of danger with no regard for his companions. Fortunately, he [[CharacterDevelopment grows much more brave and loyal as the series goes on.]]
*CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Gwystyl deliberately hides his competence and badassery so well that he can come across like a weiner while helping Taran and his crew ''break into a castle''.
*CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Taran [[spoiler:drawing Drynwyn]] in the final book, and [[spoiler:slaying the NighInvulnerable Cauldron-Born in a single blow.]]
** Also, [[spoiler: when Taran fights Dorath, he uses a sword he forged himself, while Dorath fights with the sword he stole from Taran (which was given to Taran at the beginning of ''The Black Cauldron''. Taran's new blade proves so much better that it actually shatters the old one.]]
** Dallben gets one when [[spoiler: Pryderi comes with a group of soldiers to kill him]].
*CurbStompBattle: The Battle of Caer Dathyl.
*CursedWithAwesome: Glew turns himself into a giant and gets trapped in a cave he's too big to manoeuvrer through.
*DeadpanSnarker: Dallben, usually when Taran is acting childish.
*DeathByNewberyMedal: ''The High King.'' [[spoiler: Even if none of the characters on the cover die. No, not even the ReallyBigCat]]
*DesignatedHero: Taran's foolhardiness and [[GloryHound obsession with his own glory]] in the early books lead many readers to wonder why we are to cheer him on. He gets better.
*DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: ''Taran Wanderer''
*DistressedDamsel: Eilonwy occasionally, especially in ''The Castle of Llyr''. Half the time she ends up either saving ''herself'' or saving her intended rescuers.
*DisproportionateRetribution: King Smoit is like to cave a few skulls in over petty arguments.
*DoesNotLikeShoes: Eilonwy, who is either barefoot (The Castle of Llyr) or wearing sandals (The Book of Three).
*DoomedHometown: Averted: Caer Dallben goes untouched by evil for all five books. Not only that, when a villain finally does show up to torch the place, ''he'' gets his ass kicked.
*TheDragon: The Horned King
*DreamingOfThingsToCome: in ''The Black Cauldron''
*EarnYourHappyEnding: In the land of Prydain, everything comes at a high price.
*EliteMooks: The Huntsmen and the Cauldron-Born.
*EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Eilonwy
*EveryoneCanSeeIt: The entire group seems to be aware of Taran's feelings for Eilonwy except Taran himself.
*EvilIsSexy: Achren. Yes, in a kids' series, the most gorgeous woman around (and the first one to seem to show Taran [[IntimateHealing any kind of sexual consideration]])) is the wicked witch.
*EvilOverlord: Arawn is a classic example.
*EvilSorcerer: Arawn Deathlord and Queen Achren
*FaceHeelTurn:[[spoiler: King Morgant]]
*TheFaceless: Arawn Death-Lord, partially because of his ShapeShifting talents. Menwy the Bard is the only mortal on record to have seen Arawn's true face.
*TheFairFolk: A bit of a subversion, they had no particular liking for men but were willing to work with them against Arawn.
*FantasyCounterpartCulture: Lloyd Alexander loves to take readers on cultural visits. Prydain is heavily based on Welsh mythology, especially evident in the character names.
*FearlessFool: Taran, at first. He learns a more suitable reaction to danger as time goes by.
*FieryRedhead: Eilonwy
*FiveManBand: The role each character plays in the band varies from book to book but over-all they are:
** TheHero: Taran
** TheLancer: Gurgi
** TheBigGuy: Fflewddur
** TheSmartGuy: Gwydion
** TheChick: Eilonwy
*FlamingSword: Dyrnwyn
*FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome: Adaon's broach has this effect on people, particularly Taran. [[spoiler:He [[BroughtDownToNormal gives it up]] in order to get the Black Cauldron]].
*FriendToAllLivingThings: Medwyn
*GeneHunting: ''Taran Wanderer'' is a mix of this and WalkingTheEarth
*GenreSavvy: Fflewddur, occasionally. He's WrongGenreSavvy almost as often.
*GiantFlyer: The gwythaints. It turns out that they aren't AlwaysChaoticEvil, though.
*GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Achren
*GondorCallsForAid: The premise of much of the final book.
*GuestStarPartyMember: Adaon, Ellidyr, Glew, Coll, and Llassar.
*TheHecateSisters: Orddu, Orwen, and Orgoch are a textbook case.
*HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Achren]] (Or possibly BoxedCrook.)
*HeroesWantRedheads: Eilonwy has red-gold hair. Most artwork depicts her as blonde, however.
*HeroicBSOD: Taran, following [[spoiler: the death of Craddoc the shepherd.]]
*HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Ellidyr in ''The Black Cauldron,'' Rhun and Coll in ''The High King.'' Maybe Achren, depending on your point of view.]]
*HeroicWannabe: Taran, in the first two books.
*HonorBeforeReason: A recuring theme. A major part of Taran's growth is learning when to put aside his honor.
*HorseOfADifferentColor: Llyan, a small wildcat who grew to the size of a horse through the use of potions. She eventually adopts [[spoiler:Fflewddur]] and allows him to ride on her back.
*HypnotizeThePrincess: Heavily influences the plot of ''The Castle of Llyr''.
*IHaveYouNowMyPretty: The outlaw Dorath threatens to rape Princess Eilonwy and have her raped by his fellows "until she is a match for a swineherd."
** Subverted slightly, however, in that Dorath never states precisely what it is he intends to do to her; he says he intends to "remove her charms." The dialogue is written just vaguely enough that the book's younger readers only know that Eilonwy is in danger, without knowing the specifics that might traumatize them. [[SwissMoment Older readers can ferret out Dorath's meaning for themselves, as Eilonwy did. ]]
*IJustWantToBeNormal: Eilonwy in ''The Castle of Llyr''.
*ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The relatively inexperienced heroes are more than a match for hardened enemy soldiers.
** Debatable. Taran is, while not really incompetent, hardly too successful in his early fights. He gets [[spoiler: captured by the Cauldron Born in ''The Book of Three,'' gets saved by and then ass-kicked by Ellidyr in ''The Black Cauldron,'' and gets beaten one on one by Dorath in Taran Wanderer (to be fair, Dorath cheated).]] Meanwhile, while the ordinary mooks aren't too impressive, the Cauldron Born and the Huntsmen are quite effective enemies.
*ImplacableMan: Arawn employs entire implacable ''armies.'' The Cauldron-Born cannot be slain by any mortal craft and carry out their tasks without tiring and without question or remorse. The Huntsmen of Annuvin are feared and renowned for pursuing their prey relentlessly, and fatigue means little to them. They can be killed, but that just makes them mad.
*InformedAbility: Many characters are said to be enchanters, but they rarely if ever use these abilities. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] with Eilonwy as she claims she never finished her training.
**And she [[spoiler: destroys any hope of mastering her magic in the third book.]]
** [[spoiler: Reading the final book, it seems that at least part of why actual displays of full-force magic are so rare in the series is that Prydain-style spell-casting has NightmareFuel results when fully unleashed.]]
*IntimateHealing: Not quite, but for a kids' story, the way Achren touches Taran's wound in the first book is rather...at least, suggestive.
*ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: Not actually an example of this, but if you're not familiar with Welsh and its charmingly quirky spelling, you'd be fooled.
*JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Good old Doli
*JourneyToFindOneself: The whole point of ''Taran Wanderer.''
*KeystoneArmy: The Cauldron-Born
*KidHero: Taran
*KillEmAll: Many, many characters died in the last book, ''The High King''. Perhaps for this reason it's left off many a school reading list that contains the other four books in the series. This is despite the fact that it won a [[DeathByNewberyMedal Newbery Medal]]...
*JumpedAtTheCall: Taran in the first two books.
*JustEatGilligan: Suggested numerous times by Fflewddur of [[TheMillstone Glew.]]
*LieDetector: Fflewddur's harp, though it only detects Fflewddur's lies.
*TheLoad: Taran himself in book one. Rhun in book three. Glew in book five.
*LoadBearingBoss: Half the architecture in Prydain appears to be held up by villains. [[spoiler:Both Spiral Castle and Llyr collapse after Achren is defeated, and Annuvin is destroyed when Arawn is slain. Also, Dyrnwyn is a load-bearing ''sword.'']]
*LukeIAmYourFather: Craddoc to Taran, [[spoiler:turns out not to be true]].
*TooDumbToLive: Glew
*LeftForDead: Happens to Gwydion with surprising regularity, usually allowing him to go off and do something just as or even more badass than Taran's group elsewhere.
*LordErrorProne: Prince Rhun in ''The Castle of Llyr.'' [[TookALevelInBadass He shapes up considerably]] in ''The High King.''
*TheMessiah: Taran slowly evolves into this.
*MegaNeko: Llyan
*{{Metaphorgotten}}: Eilonwy's similes fall somewhere between this and {{Malaproper}}.
* MirrorOfLlunet: The Trope Namer!
*{{Mordor}}: Annuvin
*MotorMouth: In the first three books, Eilonwy talks so much that it annoys the villains to the extent that, on an occasion when everyone else is merely tied up, Eilonwy is BoundAndGagged; in the fifth book she's a bit more subdued.
*{{Nakama}}: Taran, Eilonwy, Gurgi, Fflewddur, and Doli are the central members.
*NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Arawn Death-Lord, The Horned King
*NighInvulnerable: The Cauldron-Born, and [[spoiler: Morda.]] At least until their respective weaknesses are discovered....
*NoManOfWomanBorn: A prophecy states that the BigBad will be vanquished only when such things as "rivers burn with frozen fire" and "night turn to noon" occur. [[spoiler: Some characters set a fire to melt a frozen waterfall and the burning logs are carried on top of the ensuing deluge, while another uses magic to light up an entire valley in the middle of the night.]]
*NonHumanSidekick: Gurgi
**And Hen Wen, upon occasion.
**Kaw as well
*NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: Gwydion]]
*NotSoDifferent: Taran and Ellidyr. They both learn better.
*TheObiWan: Taran is lucky enough to have ''three;'' Gwydion, Dallben and Coll. [[spoiler: And only one of them dies.]]
*ObfuscatingStupidity: Gwystyl
*OffstageVillainy: Sure, his subordinates and armies are out in full force, but Arawn himself just can't be assed to actually do anything until the final pages of ''The High King''.
*OlderSidekick: Fflewddur to Taran & Eilonwy.
*OracularUrchin: Hen Wen is a non-human variant.
*OrcusOnHisThrone: Arawn, despite being the nigh-omnipotent "Death Lord", works primarily through proxies like The Horned King, Morgant, Mag, Achren and Pryderi and only leaves Annuvin once just to screw with Gwydion's head.
**[[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Arawn can be killed when he leaves Annuvin and takes a mortal shape, and would rather not risk his own life when he has a horde of deathless Cauldron Born.
*OutGambitted: Pryderi thinks he is tricking Arawn into serving him. He isn't.
*PapaWolf: Gwydion can get this way when his companions are threatened.
*{{Patronymic}}: In Prydain, men use patronymic naming, and women use matronymic naming. Taran's lack of such a name troubles him greatly and is a driving force for much of his story.
*RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Taran and his friends.
*RagsToRoyalty: [[spoiler:High King]] Taran
*[[PlayerPunch Reader Punch]]: [[spoiler:Coll]]'s death.
*RebelliousPrincess: Eilonwy, who started this trend nearly thirty years before Disney, making this OlderThanTheyThink.
**Not only that, she was also ''Disney's'' first rebellious princess!
*RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Ellidyr, Achren]]
*RetiredBadass: Coll, who once single-handedly fought his way into Annuvin to save Hen Wen.
*RhymesOnADime: Gurgi likes to speak with rhyming pairs of words ("smashings and gnashings", "crunchings and munchings", etc.)
*TheRival: Ellidyr
*RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Almost every important character is royalty. They also tend to be [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking totally badass.]]
*ScaledUp: Arawn is a particularly bad case of this.
*[[{{Ptitleyqvqooj6}} Self-Disposing Villain]]: King Pryderi
*ShapeShifter: Arawn
*SoulJar: [[spoiler: Morda]] has one of these.
*StayInTheKitchen: Taran harbors some unfortunate ideas about women in his youth. Some time spent as the apprentice of the spry Dwyvach Weaver-Woman helps him learn better.
**Many characters wish Eilonwy would stick to womens' tasks, out of concern for her safety. Naturally, [[ActionGirl she will not hear of it.]]
*StoutStrength: King Smoit
*SweetPollyOliver: Eilonwy dresses as a boy in order to fight alongside the men in the final battles.
*TalkingAnimal: Kaw
*TalksLikeASimile: Eilonwy
*TearJerker: A half dozen in the last book, easily.
*TedBaxter: Ellidyr treats the main characters with much contempt and responds violently if anyone so much as thinks about impugning his honor. However, it's explained that he is like this because he is from an old yet impoverished noble family, and his father and elder brothers squandered their house's money and good name.
*TheStarscream: A bit of a twist, current BigBad Arawn was in fact TheStarscream to former BigBad, Achren. [[spoiler: [[DoubleSubversion Twisted back]] in that Achren [[KarmicDeath turned right around and Starscreamed back at him.]]]]
*TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Gwydion to the Horned King, although he accepts that he himself might die in the attempt.
*TreacherousAdvisor: Magg. Fflewddur, being GenreSavvy, is suspicious of him immediately.
*TricksterMentor: Dallben
*{{Tsundere}}: Eilonwy
*TheUnchosenOne: Taran literally stumbles into the middle of the war.
*TheUnreveal: [[spoiler: We never learn who Taran's biological parents are. They're probably nobody we know, though.]]
** Also, [[spoiler:We never really learn who/what Arawn really is. After he's killed, he reverts to his true form which ends up lying face down on the floor, but before anyone can go near him, [[LoadBearingBoss his fortress starts to crumble]] and everyone has to split]].
*UnusualEuphemism: Dorath threatens Eilonwy by claiming he will [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean "remove her charms"]]. Hey, it's a kid's book after all.
*VainSorceress: Achren
*WalkingTheEarth: Taran in ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Taran Wanderer]]''.
*WarIsGlorious: Adaon will tell you this is not the case. "There is more honor in a field well plowed than in a field steeped in blood."
*WarriorPoet: Adaon and Taliesin
*WeCanRuleTogether: Achren makes no secret of the fact that she wishes to make Gwydion her consort, and offers him several chances to join her. Unfortunately for her, Gwydion is a CelibateHero.
** Much to Taran's shock and disbelief, [[spoiler: Gwydion]] makes this offer to him near the end of the series. [[spoiler: It's Arawn in disguise.]]
*WellExcuseMePrincess: Eilonwy rarely stops criticizing Taran, but it doesn't disguise her obvious affection for him.
*WellIntentionedExtremist: Pryderi
*WildHair: Fflewddur and Gwydion.
*WildMassGuessing: The evil king who's soul is sealed in the Black Cauldron in the Disney movie of the same name is believed to be Arawn... [[{{Discontinuity}} But this doesn't really count]].
*WillTheyOrWontThey: Dragged out until the ''very last page'' of the final book with Taran and Eilonwy. [[spoiler: TheyDo, of course.]]
** Eilonwy [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the whole situation with her response to Taran's [[spoiler:marriage proposal: "Well, indeed. I wondered if you'd ever get round to asking. Of course I will, and if you'd given half a thought to the question you'd have already known my answer."]]
*WiseBeyondTheirYears: Taran, starting in book four, but by this point he's pretty well earned it with by making numerous painful sacrifices.
*WarriorPrince: Gwydion is the most obvious example.
*TheWhitePrince: Prince Rhun. Taran himself also has shades of this.
*TheWisePrince: Gwydion
**Also Adaon in book two - not exactly a prince, but the son of the Chief Bard, and otherwise fulfills the archetype perfectly.
*XanatosSucker: [[spoiler: Pryderi]]
*YouSuck: Taran is clearly meant to invoke this, but he also teaches us what we can achieve if we are willing to learn from our mistakes.

----
<<|{{Literature}}|>>