History Literature / Trainspotting

* KarmaHoudini: By the end of the story Renton in particular escaped any particular punishment, besides his life threatening withdrawal and his guilt. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] or averted in other cases:
** Spud did time near the middle of the movie.
** Sick Boy and Allison lost their child.
** Begbie [[spoiler:lost his money and presumably had to deal with the cops in the end.]]
*** [[spoiler:The sequel establishes that he does end up going to prison for manslaughter.]]
** Mother Superior got his just desserts only in the deleted scenes. [[spoiler:He lost one of his legs due to injecting too much heroin into it, and became a homeless beggar.]]
** Alan Venters, a rapist who knowingly gave AIDS to his victim, gets one of the most horrifically justified comeuppances of any character in fiction.

** Renton's rant about social media in the second movie.

** In ''T2'' it appears as though Veronica will [[ConflictingLoyalty have to choose]] between siding with Sick Boy or siding with Renton. Her final decision? [[spoiler:[[TakeAThirdOption Steal money from them both and run away back to Bulgaria]]]].

* CatholicSchoolGirlsRule: Diane. Subverted in the fact that Renton has no idea she's underage when she picks him up (out of uniform, natch) at a club.

* BookEnds: Renton's "choosing life" speeches at the beginning and end.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: Everyone is terrified of Begbie, and they all understand that he could turn on them at the drop of a hat. In the book, Renton elaborates that Begbie's friends have to pretend to believe several myths about him to keep in his good graces.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Mark Renton meets Diane in a club, then goes to her house where they have sex. Immediately after the act she kicks him out of her room and he sleeps on a sofa. In the morning it's revealed that she's underage. She even threatens to report him for sex with a minor if he doesn't see her again[[note]]Renton is either unaware of, or too drugged-up to realize, the fact that meeting her in a club pretty clearly indicates that she ''should'' be of age, or else not have been allowed in. A public defender (or whatever the Scottish equivalent is) 10 minutes out of law school would get him out of any trouble she tried to get him in. Sleeping with her again ''after'' he knows her true age, on the other hand . . .[[/note]].

-->-- '''Renton''' ''(the film)''

-->-- '''Renton''' ''(the book)''

''Trainspotting'' is a dark and bizarrely written novel by Creator/IrvineWelsh, published in 1993, and as many a RailEnthusiast has probably found out the hard way, has absolutely zip to do with actually looking for trains. [[BreakthroughHit Wildly popular]], the novel kicked off a three decade long successful writing career.

The story follows a group of young Scottish men who are close friends, and their lives of drinking, sex, family problems, HIV, death, and most of all, heroin addiction. The protagonists are Mark Renton, an on-and-off heroin junkie, and his friends Danny "Spud" Murphy, Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson, Francis "Franco" Begbie (these four are known as the Big Four characters of the franchise), and Thomas "Tommy" Laurence; childhood pals, they are beginning to drift apart. It's all very darkly humorous ''[[MoodWhiplash and then a baby dies]]''. Noted for its cynical and occasionally shocking tone, the novel has been called "the voice of punk, grown up, grown wise and grown eloquent".

It was adapted into a film in 1996 by Creator/DannyBoyle, and was the second of three films from the mid-[[The90s nineties]] directed by Boyle and starring Creator/EwanMcGregor, along with ''Film/ShallowGrave'' and ''Film/ALifeLessOrdinary''. It also features Creator/JonnyLeeMiller as Sick Boy, Ewen Bremner as Spud, a scarily emaciated Creator/KevinMcKidd as Tommy, Creator/RobertCarlyle as Francis Begbie and a youthful Creator/KellyMacdonald as Diane. Allegedly due to a head cold, Kevin [=McKidd=] missed out on being on the iconic poster.

A sequel to the film [[note]]loosely based on ''Porno''[[/note]] languished in DevelopmentHell for quite some time, but [[SavedFromDevelopmentHell was finally released]] in January 2017 as ''[[Film/{{T2Trainspotting}} T2 Trainspotting]]'', with the director and main cast returning. The teaser trailer for ''T2'' can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlOuPHeBjgw here]] and the offcial trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsozpEE543w here]].

The book has a 2012 prequel, ''Literature/{{Skagboys}}'', which chart the descent of the main characters into drug addiction, violence, crime and defeatism. The 2002 sequel, ''Literature/{{Porno}}'', catches up with them ten years later and follows mainly Sick Boy and Renton as they work through their issues with each other while producing a pornographic movie. And in 2016, Welsh wrote ''Literature/TheBladeArtist'' which focuses on an apparently reformed Begbie in the present day. ''[[Literature/DeadMensTrousers Dead Men's Trousers]]'' is the sequel to Porno (following the cliffhanger set up by ''Artist''), due March, 2018. Welsh has teased that [[CharacterDeath one of the Big Four will die in this novel]], and that the new depravity for them to profit by will be the illegal organ trade. Together, the quintet of novels form the Leith trilogy of addiction, brutality and soul which has come to define Welsh's output.

It was adapted into a film in 1996 by Creator/DannyBoyle, and was the second of three films from the mid-[[TheNineties nineties]] directed by Boyle and starring Creator/EwanMcGregor, along with ''Film/ShallowGrave'' and ''Film/ALifeLessOrdinary''. It also features Creator/JonnyLeeMiller as Sick Boy, Ewen Bremner as Spud, a scarily emaciated Creator/KevinMcKidd as Tommy, Creator/RobertCarlyle as Francis Begbie and a youthful Creator/KellyMacdonald as Diane. Allegedly due to a head cold, Kevin [=McKidd=] missed out on being on the iconic poster.

** Renton spots Diane to Sleeper's cover of Music/{{Blondie}}'s "Atomic".

* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Begbie in the sequel. He's spent most of TheNineties in prison and everyone has mobile phones when he gets out, much to his chagrin.

** In ''T2'' it appears as though Veronica will [[ConflictingLoyalty have to choose]] between siding with Sick Boy or siding with Renton. Her final decision? [[spoiler: [[TakeAThirdOption Steal money from them both and run away back to Bulgaria]]]].

--> '''Allison:''' It beats any meat injection. That beats any fucking cock in the world!

--> '''Gavin''': [[MoodWhiplash The kitten was fine.]]

* DoubleSubversion: When Renton overdoses, Mother Superior asks him “perhaps sir would like me to call for a taxi?” This is followed by a shot of a speeding ambulance, giving the impression that “taxi” was a dark euphemism. Mother Superior drags an immobile Renton out onto the street, whereupon we see the ambulance sail past on an adjoining road. It turns out Mother Superior really did call for a (legally less risky) taxi to take Renton to hospital.

--> For a vegetarian, Mark, you're a fucking EVIL shot.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Tommy and Second Prize. Renton and Sick Boy prior to ''Porno''. [[spoiler: They reaffirm their friendship by the end of ''T2: Trainspotting'', in contrast to the ending of ''Porno'', where Renton burns his bridges with Sick Boy for good after finding out he intended to sic Begbie on him all along]].

*** [[spoiler: The sequel establishes that he does end up going to prison for manslaughter.]]

-->'''Mikey''': Aye, you feel better the now right? \\
'''Renton''': Oh, yeah, for all the good they've done me [[LiteralMetaphor I might as well have stuck them up my arse]]!

--> "What are you two talking about?" \\

-->-- '''Begbie''' Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck... [[ClusterFBomb FUCK!]]

--> '''Renton''': (narrating) Heroin makes you constipated. The heroin from my last hit was fading, and the suppositories had yet to melt.
--> [moans loudly, doubles over]
--> '''Renton''': I'm no longer constipated.

* SexEqualsLove: Averted with Mark and Dianne in both the novel and film adaption. [[spoiler: That said, they end up together at the end of ''Porno,'' making this trope applicable even though it takes them ten years to get there.]]

* SmugStraightEdge: Second Prize, Begbie and Tommy initially take this attitude, pouring scorn on their junkie mates. As it turns out though, they're not much better. Second Prize drinks like a fish, above and beyond any other character. Begbie is a heavy drinker, coke and speed user, and of course has his violence addiction. And Tommy has done every recreational drug available... [[spoiler: up to and including the skag, to his great cost.]]

It was adapted into a film in 1996 by Creator/DannyBoyle, and was the second of three films from the mid [[TheNineties nineties]] directed by Boyle and starring Creator/EwanMcGregor, along with ''Film/ShallowGrave'' and ''Film/ALifeLessOrdinary''. It also features Creator/JonnyLeeMiller as Sick Boy, Ewen Bremner as Spud, a scarily emaciated Creator/KevinMcKidd as Tommy, Creator/RobertCarlyle as Francis Begbie and a youthful Creator/KellyMacdonald as Diane. Allegedly due to a head cold, Kevin [=McKidd=] missed being on the iconic poster.

* ComfortingTheWidow: Spud's mother receives this from Renton and his parents, but Begbie twists it into a rant that blames her for her son's imprisonment. In the book, Renton says: "There were no sacred cows for Begbie. Not even old ones from Leith whose laddie had just gone to prison." Additionally, Mark puts in a great deal of effort comforting his brother Billy's widow immediately after his funeral.

** It's implied that, for all his faults, Sick Boy is still a pretty decent guy. Until his daughter dies of starvation. What Renton says about this afterwards provides the page quote for this trope: "It wasn't just the baby that died that day; something inside Sick Boy was lost and never returned."

* DramaticEllipsis: In the movie Renton, while narrating his own inner thoughts in the third person, says them out loud. "Dot, Dot, DOT."

* IndirectKiss: Near the end of the film, Begbie orders Renton to give him a cigarette, and just stands there waiting with his mouth open until Renton puts it in his own mouth to light it, and then puts it in Begbie's. While this could just be a display of dominance and control (which is well within Begbie's character,) Word of God is that they imagined Begbie as an ArmoredClosetGay, so this trope was certainly intended.

** An in-universe example: Begbie fondly says of Mark: "This is a useless bastard; but he's goat style. A man ay wit. A man ay class. A man not unlike my good self." Immediately following this, Mark snarkily narrates: "Begbie always constructed imaginary qualities in his friends, then shamelessly claimed them for himself." He also notes that in spite of Begbie's fearsome reputation, he's not that good at fighting without using a weapon.

* MathematiciansAnswer: "And where're you going Diane?" "Home." "Where's that then?" "It's where I live."

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Even more thoroughly and explicitly averted than NobodyPoops, and even more {{Squick}}tastic. In fact, almost every chapter narrated by a female character features an aversion of this. (Welsh possibly has some difficulty writing female characters.)

* TheUnfettered: Sick Boy. Chapters narrated from his perspective showcase his disdain for society and his friends, and he has no qualms or regrets about using other people. Renton later says of Sick Boy: "He doesnae care. Because he doesnae care, he cannae be hurt. Never."

--> '''Renton''' He's always been lacking in moral fibre.
--> '''Swanny''' He knows a lot about Creator/SeanConnery.
--> '''Renton''' That's hardly a substitute.

* MatzoFever: Spud's plans for his cut of the money involve settling down with a beautiful, rich Jewish princess.

''Trainspotting'' is a dark and bizarrely written novel by Creator/IrvineWelsh, published in 1993, and as many a RailEnthusiast has probably found out the hard way, has absolutely zip to do with actually looking for trains. [[BreakthroughHit Wildly popular]], the novel kicked off a two decade long successful writing career.

* AccidentalAimingSkills: In the film, Begbie and Tommy are playing pool one day. Since Tommy doesn’t want to be killed by Begbie (irritable enough at the best of times, but ''right now he's hungover!'') for beating him at pool, Tommy intentionally screws up shots, only for the ball to land in the right pocket.

* AccidentalAimingSkills: In the film, Begbie and Tommy are playing pool one day. Since Tommy doesn’t want to be killed by Begbie for beating him at pool, Tommy intentionally screws up shots, only for the ball to land in the right pocket.

* FiveManBand: The group form a loose, somewhat-villainous version of this.
** TheHero: Renton.
** TheLancer: Tommy.
** TheSmartGuy: Sick Boy, though he also doubles as TheLancer.
** TheBigGuy: Begbie.
** TheChick: Spud.
** TheSixthRanger: Second Prize, who joins the main four on the trip to London in the novel.

* NewMediaAreEvil: In ''T2'' during his "choose life" rant he expresses his strong disdain for social media.

** In ''T2'' it appears as though Veronica will [[ConflictingLoyalty have to choose]] between siding with Sick Boy or siding with Renton. Her final decision? [[spoiler: {{TakeAThirdOption Steal money from them both and run away back to Bulgaria}}]].

** In ''T2'' it appears as though Veronica will [[ConflictingLoyalty have to choose]] between siding with Sick Boy or siding with Renton. Her final decision? [[spoiler: TakeAThirdOption Steal money from them both and run away back to Bulgaria]].