* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Zagor, Evil Warlock seeking to rule all of Allansia and plunder its treasures to add to his collection on Firetop Mountain? Or a DesignatedVillain that only wants to be left alone? Were the heroes that killed him each time he was revived doing so for the greater good of the world, or solely seeking treasure for themselves? The tie-in series of Novels depicts Zagor as a reasonable if reclusive character, and certainly not a villain. However, by the time ''Return to Firetop Mountain'' was published, he was rewritten as a pretty standard EvilSorcerer.
* AnticlimaxBoss:
** In ''Literature/DaggersOfDarkness'', the main character is slowly dying from a scratch by a Death Spell Dagger. To break the curse, he must put the dagger in the hands of the man who ordered the hit, the evil vizier [[EvilChancellor Chingiz]]. You eventually do so and Chingiz then keels over, having been stabbed in the back by his own villainous daughter. You don't fight her either, as the magical throne she's on disintegrates her and her pet ogres for attempting to spill blood in its presence. [[spoiler: And you too, if you're stupid enough to draw a weapon in its presence.]]
** Sharcle from ''Literature/EyeOfTheDragon'' is the BigBad responsible for your predicament. By the time you face him outside the Dungeon, his laughably low SKILL score and the fact that you have to hit him only twice to defeat him will look like an utter joke after all the other dangerous enemies you've seen before, especially the mandatory battles against the Gigantus and the Doppelganger.
** The final boss of ''Literature/HouseOfHell'' [[spoiler: the true demon form of the butler]], has a shocking 14 Skill. But to even fight him in the first place requires you to have found the Kris Knife, which gives a PLUS SIX SKILL against him, rendering him almost the easiest fight in the entire book, and the easiest actual final boss fight in the entire series, with the only easier final bosses being ones that you can avoid fighting entirely with correct items.
* BrokenBase:
** Any gamebook made by the author Jonathan Green falls under this trope. This is due to his books containing a forced linear path, multiple instant death scenarios and unforgiving NintendoHard battle encounters.
** Despite being one of the "big two" of ''Fighting Fantasy'' (with Steve Jackson (UK)), Ian Livingstone also has a big broken base. Many fans also accuse his books of having a cheap forced linear path, shallow gameplay that centers on gathering as many items as possible and random deaths.
* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/{{Gamebooks}} here]].
* EndingFatigue: ''Caverns of the Snow Witch'' has you fight the Snow Witch ''halfway through''. Then you spend the rest of the book gallivanting around the world to cure yourself of her curse. This is because ''Caverns of the Snow Witch'' was originally a half-size adventure written for a magazine. When it was released in book form, the "Part Two" portion of the book was added in order to bring it up to full size. Interestingly, this has the odd effect of giving you both styles of ''Fighting Fantasy'': Dungeon Crawler, as seen in ''Warlock of Firetop Mountain'', ''Temple of Death'', and ''Deathtrap Dungeon''; and Open World, as enjoyed in ''Star Strider'', ''Creature of Havoc'', and ''Sword of the Samurai'' -- the first half of ''Caverns'' is the lead up to, and traversing of, a dungeon, while the second half is the slightly more linear/roleplay-focused open-world segment.
* EnsembleDarkHorse: A surprising amount of fans seem to be obsessed with Mungo from the first few paragraphs of 'Island of the Lizard King.'
* FanNickname: Steve Jackson UK and Steve Jackson US to tell the two authors apart.
* GenreTurningPoint: In the 1980s and 1990s, Fighting Fantasy gamebooks refined and polished the format of how gamebooks were even designed. Maybe a bit too much, as from modern perspective [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks they easily blend together]]. But it is impossible to deny both their influence and the status of GenrePopularizer.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: ''Fighting Fantasy'' was out of print in the UK between 1995 and 2002 after the original British publishers cancelled the series. The books were so popular in France that they still remained in print for all of that hiatus. It still maintains an active online community of French fans to this day, along with many other gamebook series.
** The books were, according to [[WordOfGod Ian Livingstone]], [[https://twitter.com/ian_livingstone/status/1271397232105926662 very popular in Japan]], and a direct influence on the [[VideoGame/DarkSouls Dark Souls game series]].
* MagnificentBastard: While it is quite hard to make good, fleshed-out villains in one introduction and 400 entries, especially with the {{Card Carrying Villain}}s format, some of them pass the test with flying colours, displaying enough charisma, presence and smarts to leave their mark on the players.
** Karam Gruul from ''Literature/{{Moonrunner}}'' is with little doubt the best EvilGenius of the series, and earns his credentials despite being one of its most evil villains. An {{Expy}} of Literature/FuManchu in person, he can see eye-to-eye with his inspiration. [[AffablyEvil Perfectly cordial]], WickedCultured, and charismatic, he is running circles around the authorities of the Four Kingdom as a whole, and has you dancing to his tune to the bitter end. He created his own brand of TheDarkArts which made him one heck of an EvilSorcerer, all sorts of creatures [[spoiler: including what he made of you]], and a WeaponOfMassDestruction. You must catch him as in a FilmNoir, unravelling '''many''' covers and false tracks shielding [[DiabolicalMastermind the huge conspiracy he built from scratch.]] He is HiddenInPlainSight [[spoiler: behind a smokescreen, covered by another smokescreen, and he has a body double impersonating him to top it off, while keeping his lieutenants as seemingly unrelated.]] He has his countless spies and mind-contolled {{Manchurian Agent}}s killing your allies and framing you for it. He approaches you under decoys, sends you poisoned gifts or false messages, and devises lots of {{Death Trap}}s that could impress [[WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective Professor Ratigan]] himself.
** The [[NoNameGiven Dark Elf Sorcerer]] of ''Literature/SiegeOfSardath'': [[TheStoic Poised, imperturbable]] and one of the most genuinely AffablyEvil villains of the series, he regards you as an enjoyable WorthyOpponent and chats with you as if you were his guest. He is a world-class example of TheChessmaster and TheStrategist, who wrecks Sardath's defences and escape routes with ShockAndAwe powers syphoned from the BigGood he holds captive, and attacks it with airborne squadrons harder to repel. Worse, he sends shape-shifted agents KillAndReplace council-members of the local cities to lead them into traps and sabotage opposition in the bud. Being GenreSavvy like nobody's business, he sends agents take the MacGuffin that can defeat him, never underestimates foes and refrains from EvilGloating. He uses AwesomenessByAnalysis to correctly deduce your assets and intentions from few details, only being defeated in one heck of a BattleOfWits.
** The [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Demon Prince Myurr]] from ''Literature/DeadOfNight'' is notable for his intense, frightening presence and his fleshed out feud with TheHero. Feared for his diabolical intelligence, he spends the entire story playing everyone like a fiddle while slouching on his throne and sipping blood from a chalice, as if the entire country was his game board. He loves taking an innocuous human aspect to spread chaos and corruption undetected, using it to cause [[ApocalypseHow the sinking of Atlantis]] in the backstory. He abducts your parents to lure you out, and covers it by sending shape-shifted demons fake their death and curse your hometown, leaving you MisBlamed instead of pitied. His LegionsOfHell are two steps ahead wherever you go, putting you through ordeals, false clues and {{Batman Gambit}}s, and he even [[ManipulativeBastard tricked the Guardians of Neutrality themselves to side with him]]. [[spoiler: Much worse, all this was but incentives to lure you where he could use your life-force to unleash HellOnEarth.]]
** [[ClassicalMovieVampire Count Reiner Heydrich]] from ''Literature/VaultOfTheVampire'' and ''Literature/RevengeOfTheVampire'' manages to be this while being one of the most evil villains in the franchise. As an {{Expy}} of {{Dracula}} himself, Heydrich exudes style, finery, charisma and menace. He is WickedCultured and a SilentSnarker extraordinaire, who can {{Troll}} you even slumbering in his coffin, and exerts a strong magnetism on allies and enemies alike. He is CrazyPrepared enough to hide the VillainBeatingArtifact away from both heroes and [[spoiler: scheming sisters]] and to prepare [[spoiler: secret hiding places]]. The second book shows him as a crafty EvilGenius and the best aversion to OrcusOnHisThrone of the franchise, always taking matters in hand. He devises a complex plot, buying a HauntedCastle whose awful reputation provides a cover and eliminating everyone knowing about him, always one step ahead of you. [[spoiler: Finally, he hides his secret goal from servants and foes alike to induce the latter in mistake should they get close to the truth.]]
** Heydrich's little sister [[HotWitch Katarina]] proves that the trope runs in the family. A WickedCultured LadyOfBlackMagic and TheBaroness, she might be content playing OrcusOnHisThrone, but she does it with [[SlouchOfVillainy style, poise]], confidence, [[FauxAffablyEvil perfect yet threatening manners]], and [[FemmeFatale dangerous seduction]]. Living in the lap of luxury she hardly needs complicated schemes, but she is a ConsummateLiar expert in {{Batman Gambit}}s, skillfully using XanatosSpeedChess and {{Unwitting Pawn}}s even of foes to get what she wants, without needing to move from her chair. The sequel reveals that she is also very good at fabricating a story on the spot, [[spoiler: pretending to be a captive to take you by surprise when you meet her.]]
** Finally, Jaxartes from ''Literature/FangsOfFury'' might look at first glance as just generic EvilSorcerer number 578432, but he proves that a book should not be judged by its cover, with nigh unshakable (and justified) confidence and [[AffablyEvil a threatening but courteous smile]]. The entire game is a RaceAgainstTheClock whose pace he sets at his leisure, and he equips his [[EliteMooks students]] with {{Laser Blade}}s worthy of ''Franchise/StarWars''. Contrary to most {{Evil Overlord}}s he knows that overwhelming military forces can still be defeated and does not rests on his laurels. He breaks the magic that can save the land and sends his {{Mooks}} in pre-emptive strikes, when you're tasked to restore it. He has all your allies slaughtered before they can help you, sets many ambushes, and puts a bounty on your head while he is at it. Even worse, he has planted TheMole in the very city he targets, sowing suspicion, undermining its defences, [[spoiler: and leading you to a trap]].
* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: The series was subjected to a moral panic due to the books' covers and illustrations. The Evangelical Alliance accused the series of devil-worshiping. Steve Jackson's response was that he's grateful for the free publicity.
* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: There were a few text adventures based on books from the series, and a [=PS1=] version of ''Deathtrap Dungeon'', all of which were pretty execrable.
* ThatOneBoss: [[OurLichesAreDifferent Razaak]], the BigBad and [[FinalBoss final enemy]] of ''Crypt of the Sorcerer'', if he hits you twice in a row, he wins as you are enslaved by his power. And given his skill score (12) and stamina score (20) it's nigh-impossible to win normally. Someone actually did the maths and concluded that, provided you have Skill 12 and Stamina 20+, your chances of winning are exactly 5.5%. A good number of readers either ignored the "lose if hit twice in a row" rule, or added that you could still negate the instant loss with a Luck check, either of which rendered him a still VERY tough, but beatable boss.
* ThatOneSidequest: [[spoiler:Collecting all of the silver daggers]] in ''Howl of the Werewolf'' is tough, but also skippable. However, having them all does make the endgame significantly easier.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: This was many fans' reaction to the new artwork in the Scholastic reprints.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: ''Night of the Necromancer'', where [[spoiler:the main plot is that the player has been suddenly murdered, then returns as a ghost and has until dawn to find out why they were attacked and take revenge. At several points, particularly the parts of the book set at the gateway to the afterlife, it is strongly implied that once the character has reached this objective, they will pass on. Two paragraphs before the end, the character is HandWaved back to life, and the typical "good" ending ensues, as opposed to the more interesting idea of the "good" ending being the character passing on.]]
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