History Literature / TheCitadelOfChaos

* MirrorMatch: Balthus will summon a double of you to fight. However, if this happens, the game is {{Unwinnable}} as he insta-kills you after.

* MixAndMatchCritters: The first enemies you meet are a Dog-Ape and an Ape-Dog, who are a gorilla with a dog's head and a dog with a gorilla's head, respectively.

* ImAHumanitarian: The citadel's kitchen contains three hags roasting a dwarf, their next meal.

* BeastMan: Balthhus Dire has a number of beast-people in his army, including the rhino-man guard, the LizardFolk-esque Calacorm, and of course the Clawbeast.

Although this is the second adventure of the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series, it has the notable novelty of the playing protagonist being a wizard with a number of magical spells at his command, which do not impede his fighting prowess (unlike the later series by Steve Jackson, ''Literature/{{Sorcery}}'').

** The Calacorm jailer (which you can trick with an illusion spell) is named Snikrul. Also Balthus have a legion of Calacorm guards that doesn't appear in the book itself.

* BeastMan: Balthhus Dire have a number of beast-people in his army, including the rhino-man guard, the LizardFolk-esque Calacorm, and of course the Clawbeast.
* BigBad: Balthus Dire, the warlord threatening the entirety of the Vale of Willow, and you must prevent his invasion by assasinating him.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The original cover art is infamous in the gamebook community. Not only is it frequently derided as the worst/ugliest one in the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series (artist "Emmanuel" had a very short-lived career afterwards, and it was one of the very few covers to be completely redone in the series' original Puffin Books run), but most of the cover is taken by a weird black-haired monster that is not easily identifiable. Many readers assume he is the Clawbeast that is summoned by Balthus in the endgame; however, Clawbeasts have been depicted a couple of times in the franchise and hardly look like this (one German edition even depicts the Clawbeast on the cover as a ''giant housecat''!). In the newest editions, it shows the Hydra or the Ganjees.
* DeadlyGame: There's a games room which seems designed to either kill or horribly main it's participants, which you can try your luck in. One of the games is called "Knifey-Knifey", a RussianRoulette played using ''daggers'' where you and another contender takes turn stabbing yourselves with six knives on a wheel, five which are fake - whomever rolls a 6 dies (if it's you, your quest is over). Another game is a GrenadeHotPotato called "Ruddlestones" where you and a few contenders passed a stone among each other, one containing an explosion spell that deals severe SKILL and STAMINA damage if it happens to blow up in your hands.

* TheDreaded: The Ganjees. Their page in the library's bestiary was torn off and the Rhino-Man guard will freak out and assault you if you say that name in his presence. All of this for a good reason...

* {{Gonk}}: The butler is drawn by Russ Nicholson to look really freaky and ugly. Given the rest of Dire's staff it's entirely likely he's not supposed to be human at all.

* ImAHumanitarian: The citadel's kitchen have three hags roasting a dwarf, their next meal.
* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon: The Myriad. A small hand-held machine that can turn into anything. Like a grappling hook or a Sun Sword. And that's when it is ''broken''.
* InVinoVeritas: If you drink rosé wine offered by the Black Elf, it will be revealed to be a TruthSerum, and so he will question you, find out about your true intentions and attack you!

** This being only the second book, the idea of there being tradeoffs to a PC knowing magic hadn't entered the mechanics yet. As a result it's possible to have a character with a legendary Skill of 12 and impressive magical powers at the same time.

* MagicPotion: A literal one, you can obtain a Potion of Magik which boosts your spell count by two points.

* NonStandardGameOver: Most of the bad endings involve your hero dying but you can also end up as [[spoiler: TheDragon to Balthus Dire. During your combat with him at the climax of the book, Dire is impressed by your power and asks you [[FaceHeelTurn to join him]]. If you pretend to do so (intending to trick him into lowering his guard), he will use his magic to [[CharmPerson brainwash you]] into being ''genuinely'' loyal.]] If you get at this point, the game is {{Unwinnable}} anyway.

* ShoutOut: The Hydra and the Golden Fleece are both nods to the ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'' film, that Steve Jackson will also use as inspiration for ''{{Literature/Sorcery}}''.

* SpiritualPredecessor: You can consider this book one for ''{{Literature/Sorcery}}''.
* SquishyWizard: Very averted, with both the protagonist and Balthus. The hero can roll normal stats like any other warrior hero in the series, and Balthus looks more like a barbarian fighter than a sorcerer. You can skip the magic stuff and face him directly in a sword fight.

* VainSorceress: Balthus's wife. [[spoiler:If you offer her a comb she'll be distracted, allowing you to make off with the Golden Fleece.]]
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: There's a nursery-like room containing three creatures that may be Orc children. One of the options involve murdering them, despite them being harmless and defenceless. There's no direct penalty for doing so, other than the PC feeling "uncomfortable" about his actions.

* WeaksauceWeakness: You can defeat Balthus easily by [[spoiler:ripping out the curtains of his room and have him killed by sunlight.]]

* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The entirety of this adventure takes place in a single night, with yoir showdown against Balthus happening around dawn.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: In the citadel's underground caverns, you can come across the ghost of a washerwoman washing clothes in a stream. As it turns out, Balthus had her - and her children - put to death for [[DisproportionateRetribution being late with cleaning up his laundry]]. Offending the ghost and you found out her laundry holds the spirits of her children, who then comes to life LivingClothes-style and attacks you.

* ExtremelyShortTimeapan: The entirety of this adventure takes place in a single night, with yoir showdown against Balthus happening around dawn.

* BigBad: Balthus Dire.

* AllThereInTheManual: The three hags in the kitchen serving as Balthus Dire's cooks aren't named in the book, but supplementary materials from the ''Fighting Fantasy'' magazines reveals their names to be Zanbrok, Adreeveux and Nundyl. And they're a trio of sisters from Dree, featured in the later book ''Literature/CreatureOfHavoc'', forming some nice CanonWelding within the series.

* NonStandardGameOver: Most of the bad endings involve your hero dying but you can also end us as [[spoiler: TheDragon to Balthus Dire. During your combat with him at the climax of the book, Dire is impressed by your power and asks you [[FaceHeelTurn to join him]]. If you pretend to do so (intending to trick him into lowering his guard), he will use his magic to [[CharmPerson brainwash you]] into being ''genuinely'' loyal.]] If you get at this point, the game is {{Unwinnable}} anyway.

* ProngsOfPoseidon: When you enter Balthus's headquarters, you are immediately attacked by a trident that is thrown towards your throat.

* TrialAndErrorGameplay: Several encounters let you choose between multiple items or spells to use. Typically, most choices waste the item and/or hurt you, and there's usually no way to figure out in advance which one actually works.