* AluminumChristmasTrees: Johrlac are stated to be descended from some kind of ''wasp'', but not only do the females have breasts, they can lactate. There is actually [[https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/08/06/488861223/cockroach-milk-yes-you-read-that-right a species of cockroach that produces "milk"]].
* CanonFodder:
** Thomas's time in Australia is mostly left to the audience's imagination.
** Kevin, Jane, Evelyn, and Ted's stories, and how they met, are still largely a mystery, though the author has mentioned she might one day explore it.
** We know virtually nothing about Charles and Ada Healy, the children Enid and Alexander left behind with the Covenant.
* CompleteMonster: The Price-Healy family and their allies have faced several evil villains in their quest to protect cryptids and humanity alike. Though the worst often prove that HumansAreTheRealMonsters:
** ''Literature/GhostRoads'': [[ImmortalityImmorality Bobby Cross]] was a movie star known as "Diamond Bobby" who wished to be young and beautiful forever. Through his [[DealWithTheDevil deal]] with the [[AtTheCrossroads crossroads]], Bobby drives eternally to outrun mortality, but takes advantage of the deal to empower himself by arranging crashes and accidents, or simply murdering people himself to create ghosts, including heroine [[{{Psychopomp}} Rose Marshall]]. Bobby then [[YourSoulIsMine takes their souls]] to use as fuel for his car, using them up into nothing. Seducing Rose's great grand-niece Bethany, Bobby murders her when she fails against Rose and even convinces a follower to kill herself for him, solely for amusement and spite. A sadistic sociopath, Bobby uses and abuses all around him, dispatching them when they stop being of use, all so he will never have to face his own mortality.
** ''Discount Armageddon'': "[[PsychoSupporter Evil Santa]]" is an unnamed {{cult}} leader who worships the last male dragon, which lives under UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity. Believing that he will be rewarded with riches and power in return for his worship, "Evil Santa" kidnaps dozens of single Cryptid women and has them ritualistically murdered through VirginSacrifice. To create his minions to help with this, "Evil Santa" uses the mutative qualities of dragon blood to [[TransformationHorror transform]] several hapless tourists into the mindless lizard-like "Servitors", a process which thoroughly breaks their minds. Kidnapping heroine Verity Price and her friends, "Evil Santa" intends to sacrifice them as well to gain the glory and riches he desires.
** ''Chaos Choreography'': [[spoiler:[[PsychopathicManchild Anders Clarke]] and [[EvilSorcerer Clint Goldfein]]]] are a contestant and judge respectively in the reality dancing show ''Dance or Die'' who, secretly, are the [[BigBadDuumvirate masterminds]] of a [[ReligionOfEvil murderous snake cult]]. The two act as {{serial killer}}s, butchering every pair of contestants who lose on the show until eight people have been killed. In the climax, the duo reveal their master plan to use the sacrifice to unleash a monstrous snake demon to kill ''Dance or Die'''s massive audience and all the other contestants and judges as they watch gleefully, [[spoiler:Anders in particularly sneering that his father will die in petty retribution for being ignored by him and Clint gloating he simply wants to become a king among men through the power of the serpent he's summoned.]]
** ''That Ain't Witchcraft'': [[EldritchAbomination The Crossroads]] are an [[GeniusLoci Anima Mundi]], the spirit of a place. An eldritch parasite, the Crossroads offer people their heart's desire for the roads, [[JackassGenie but always with a catch]], perverting the wishes and destroying the casters or using them as weapons to strike fear and evil into the world. The one responsible for Bobby Cross's murders, the Crossroads also trap [[YourSoulIsMine the souls of its victims]], constantly twisting the gains of others for its own end. Finally, the Crossroads even attempt to [[LifeDrinker drain the life and magic from Earth]], heedless of the death toll this will bring through the world.
** ''Imaginary Numbers'': [[AbusiveParents Ingrid]] is Sarah Zellaby's [[EvilMatriarch biological mother]]. Seeking a new world for the cuckoos, an invasive predator species, to infest, Ingrid orchestrates the entire plot to turn Sarah into an ApocalypseMaiden and tear a hole between dimensions. Uncaring that this would destroy Earth and [[MySkullRunnethOver fry Sarah's mind]], Ingrid plans to use her as a [[BreedingSlave sex doll to breed new super-powerful Johrlac queens]]. Ingrid also reveals that she had Sarah for the sole purpose of creating a Johrlac queen, and was behind the murder of her foster parents that led to Angela adopting her. She also ordered the murders of the family who lived in the house that the hive randomly chose as a base of operations.
* ContinuityLockout: Creator/SeananMcGuire has stated that she tries as much as she can to make each book able to tell a self-contained story, but several of the books will make no sense if you haven't read the previous ones. Antimony's books form a PlotArc, and the Sarah books (which are essentially a MultiPartEpisode) rely on you knowing the events of ''Midnight Blue-Light Special'', though they do have a few ThisIsMyStory moments. ''[[Literature/GhostRoads Angel of the Overpass]]'', which is [[CanonWelding set in the same universe]], is entirely driven by the aftermath of ''That Ain't Witchcraft''. You ''could'' read it without having read ''That Ain't Witchcraft'', but it would basically amount to saying [[spoiler:the [[GreaterScopeVillain Crossroads]]]] was KilledOffscreen. And the plot of ''Angel of the Overpass'' is relevant to Rose's new status when she appears in ''Backpacking Through Bedlam''. Regarding the short stories, whether free on her website, published in anthologies, or Patreon-exclusive, it's not necessary to read them to understand the plot of the novels, but it definitely enhances the experience.
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Mark is very popular with the fans, despite only appearing in two books so far.
** Greg the GiantSpider only appears in one book, but he's adored by nearly everyone in the fandom as a "very good boy".
* EvilIsCool: A decent number of villains are able to achieve this by virtue of being badass but special mention goes to:
** [[spoiler:Cooper]], from ''Pocket Apocalypse'', due to being AffablyEvil, TheChessmaster as well as being an AwesomeAussie [[spoiler:werewolf]] and putting up a pretty good fight against Alex.
** Leo Cunningham, from ''Magic for Nothing'' of the Covenant of St. George because of his intelligence and bravery as well as being one of the more [[NobleDemon nobler antagonists]].
** The Lowry Cabal, from ''Tricks for Free'', for being a gang of [[EvilSorcerer evil sorcerers]] with a cool range of abilities and powers that prove them formidable opponents.
* GeniusBonus: Antimony is a pretty weird name, and most people think of the element (if they know of it at all). It makes sense once you realize the primary application of antimony in real life is ''fireproofing''. [[PlayingWithFire What can Antimony Price do, again?]]
* HarsherInHindsight:
** From ''Pocket Apocalypse'', Alex's concerns about lycanthropy becoming a pandemic if left to spread uncontrollably in Australia are much darker after the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, since the description of what would happen is pretty similar (aside from the COVID pandemic not starting in Australia and not turning people into rampaging werewolves).
** In "The Lay of the Land", Mary jokes that Thomas is "doomed" and should "just accept [his] fate now". We later find out that [[spoiler:Mary brokered the deal between Thomas and the Crossroads]].
* JerkassWoobie: Jonathan Healy, while he could be rude sometimes, was overall a friendly person who loved the cryptid world and would do anything to protect it. That changed with Fran's murder by unknown enemies. He blamed the cryptid world for her death, and the only reason he didn't take Alice to live somewhere far away was the risk of [[KnightTemplar the Covenant]] finding them. When Thomas moves to town, Jonathan is immediately hostile, both because he's Covenant (though all but defected like Jonathan's parents did) and because he's an overprotective dad to Alice. In one of their many arguments, Thomas points out that he's only referred to Alice by name once in the conversation, the rest of the time defining her by her relationship to him ("my daughter"). He's retreated into himself in the decade since Fran's death, and built up a version of Alice in his mind that's nothing like she really is. Ironically, just as he seems to have finally accepted Alice's ActionGirl tendencies and decided if he can't stop her, he can at least make sure she's not facing monsters alone, he dies.
* MoralEventHorizon: [[DarkActionGirl Gwendolyn Brandt]] was introduced as a FantasticRacist KnightTemplar, but this was no different from most other [[VanHelsingHateCrimes Covenant]] members. Thomas and the Healys even [[SaveTheVillain save her life]] from Alkabyiftiris slime, and hope she's gone for good when she leaves soon after. Her return has her unambiguously cross the MEH, by [[spoiler:releasing a dangerous monster whose venom [[CruelAndUnusualDeath liquefies the victim's flesh]]]], which kills six people (including [[spoiler:Enid Healy, who helped save her life before]]) before it can be destroyed (two of them children, and one of those children ''used as bait'' to ensure the Healys would investigate). When [[spoiler:Mary Dunlavy]] confronts her about it she [[BlamingTheVictim blames the victims]] for [[InsaneTrollLogic living too close to the woods]] She gets a KarmicDeath when [[spoiler:Mary unleashes the monster's ghost on her]].
* NightmareFuel: Apraxis wasps are WickedWasps [[BigCreepyCrawlies the size of birds]] that can give an extremely painful CruelAndUnusualDeath with their stings, but that's not the worst thing about them. [[ParasiticHorror They lay eggs in their victims]], living or dead, which emerge in a matter of days as adult wasps. These parasitoids absorb the memories and mind of their victims, meaning you could be facing a swarm of deadly insects ''that are talking to you in the voice of a loved one''.
* ParanoiaFuel:
** Cuckoos, aka Johrlac, are paranoia fuel incarnate. Physically attractive, totally sociopathic mind controllers whose powers allow them to seamlessly, within seconds, [[BackstoryInvader write themselves into your life as though they'd always been there]], and use that instant trust to destroy you completely. Bogeymen and Madhura have known about Cuckoos for a ''lot'' longer than humanity, and developed defenses against them. A mere eight cuckoos were enough to wipe out a whole generation of members of the Thirty-Six Society in Australia and took five years to eliminate. Dangerous enough that Alexander Healy broke his radio silence with the Covenant to warn them of the cuckoos' existence. In ''Imaginary Numbers'' we see what happens when ''hundreds'' of them gather in one place. It's not good.
** To a lesser extent, a number of the more physically powerful Cryptids. Sure, Istas is kind and sociable, but she can also turn into a giant bear-wolf monster capable of casually ripping a human's arm off.
** Humans are this for Cryptids. A Waheela might be a danger, but a relatively straightforward one. Humans are devious and sturdy, with a worldwide range and a lot of cunning. Cryptids' best defense against humanity is to pretend not to exist.
* RainbowLens: Being a sorcerer can be read as a queer allegory. Creator/SeananMcGuire definitely doesn't ''need'' a queer allegory when she has actual queer characters, but with Antimony and James it seems like she might have written it that way subconsciously, especially since James is gay and Annie is AmbiguouslyBi. (And with James, his father's hatred of magic is mixed in with the actual homophobia). At the beginning of her story, Annie is hiding her magic from her family, worried of how they'll react. When she goes undercover, she has to hide it for her very survival. She finally reveals her secret to Sam, once she decides she can trust him. As she continues her [[ComingOfAgeStory coming-of-age journey]], she reveals it to other close friends (Fern and Cylia) but has to [[{{Depower}} give up her magic]] to [[DealWithTheDevil save her and Sam's lives]]. Then with James, she's finally met another person like her, and they help each other figure out how to fully actualize themselves (break James's curse/get Annie's powers back from the Crossroads). Annie returns home fully "out" now that she realizes that her family will accept her no matter what.
** In the case of Thomas, who as far as we know is straight, he describes the onset of his magical powers as linked to puberty, which is also around the time many people discover their sexuality.
* TheScrappy: A large percentage of the fandom vehemently hates Shelby's family (especially her father) for their FantasticRacism and unwarranted, overly intense hostility towards Alex.
* UglyCute: Wilbur, the baby [[FearsomeCritters hodag]] Alice keeps in her dorm room, is described as a squat, scaly creature with a froglike face, an alligator tail, and spikes along his back. He's also adorable, and she treats him like a pet, even though [[PetBabyWildAnimal she knows he needs to return to the wild]].
* TheWoobie: Sarah and Artie, who not coincidentally have romantic feelings for each other.
** Sarah is one of only two [[TokenHeroicOrc non-sociopathic members of her species]], who strives to use her telepathy for good, but is forced to [[spoiler:[[LaserGuidedAmnesia modify the memories]] of a Covenant strike team]] to save her cousin, which turns her into a BrokenBird who takes five years to recover, during which time she saw barely anyone other than her family (and said cousin that she saved didn't even call or write). In ''Imaginary Numbers'', her first book as the main POV character, she's finally heading home when she's abducted by other Johrlac (her species), who induce [[spoiler:an EvolutionPowerUp that turns her into an UnstablePoweredWoman, with the end goal of using her as an ApocalypseMaiden to tear a hole in reality so their species can leave Earth, destroying it in the process. This would also have the side effect of frying her brain, though apparently her body would still be alive enough that Ingrid, the leader of this conspiracy (who happens to be Sarah's biological mother), planned to use her as a sex doll for breeding new, super-powerful Johrlac queens]]. Yeah. And after she manages to [[spoiler:thwart the Johrlac plot, she and her cousins (including Artie, the one she loves (and finally had a BigDamnKiss with before she was abducted)) are TrappedInAnotherWorld, ''[[OhCrap and she accidentally deleted their memories of her]]'']].
** Artie is an incubus, which actually sucks, since his [[LivingAphrodisiac pheromones]] mean that anyone not related to him that's at all attracted to men will immediately want to have sex with him. He just wants to be left alone, but has to be a {{Hikikomori}} because he's SoBeautifulItsACurse. Sarah, not being related to him but also not a mammal, so immune to his pheromones, is probably the only person he ''could'' have a relationship with, and both of them CannotSpitItOut ([[spoiler:until ''Imaginary Numbers'']], but then at the end of that book [[spoiler:Sarah deletes his memories of her]]).
** At the end of ''Calculated Risks'', [[spoiler:Artie's mind is accidentally wiped when Sarah is trying to bring everyone back to Earth, making him an EmptyShell. She reconstructs his personality from the memories of everyone who knew him, but subsequent books imply that he CameBackWrong]], and Sarah seems to be staying away from him and most of the rest of the family.