History Series / TheFades

-> "The Fades are coming... It's inevitable."

* AnyoneCanDie: Established with the deaths of [[spoiler:Sarah and Helen]] in the very first episode. Though seeing as this is a show about ghosts, death doesn't necessarily mean a character's departure from the show.
** [[spoiler: Kay's murder at the hande of Neal, in episode 6, is shocking and brutal, as she's made it unharmed to the finale and appears to be the unkillable heroine.]]
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Anna screams "[to Paul] You're mad,[to Mac] you're mad and Jay's a library monitor!"
* AssholeVictim: Sam Griegson and Greg Taylor. [[spoiler: But even for 12-year old vandals like themselves, [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath getting ripped to shreads by hungry undead]] might be a bit overkill...]]
** When Paul gets angry with Anna taunting his relationship with Jay, accidentally using his powers to temporarily [[BodyHorror sew her mouth shut]].
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: After spending episode 4 as a fade while his brain-dead body lies in the hospital as a result of his [[UnusualEuphemism encounter]] with a truck, Paul resurrects in a rather spectacular fashion.]]
* BadassPreacher: Helen (her first act is to appear in Sarah's room stealing her gun)
* BlackAndGreyMorality: While cannibalistic, vengeful undead are hardly sympathetic characters, the Angelics don't exactly live up to their names... [[spoiler: [[ColdBloodedTorture Especially]] [[KnightTemplar Neil.]] ]]
%% * BlackAndNerdy: Mac

* BreakTheCutie: An ongoing one for Sarah, [[spoiler: starting with her death and going down from there.]]
* BrokenMasquerade: [[spoiler: by the end of Episode 5, people are fleeing town after all the disappearings, the killings and the ever-increasing tremors, aware that something very unusual and very bad is happening. Plus, Paul now has displayed his abilities in a rather public fashion.]]

* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: Butterfly motifs are quite frequent in the show, from the [[MacabreMothMotif moth]] puked out after a healing to [[spoiler: the cocoons of a materialising Fade, and of course Paul's resurrection.]]

--> '''Anna''': Paul is having sex with my best friend and when I found them and shouted at him he did a magic spell on me.
--> '''Mum''': You're having sex with Tracy?
--> '''Anna''': The other one.
--> '''Mum''': Jay? Oh... [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments I'm quite impressed with Jay.]]
* CreepyCrows: Dead ones.
** When the dead ascend they explode into flocks of bright birds [[spoiler: including most the Reborns in Episode 6 once Paul reopens an ascension point - except John, who turns into fiery red-golden ones]].

--> '''Mac:''' I'm not ready to die, I haven't decided what my last words will be yet.

--> '''Paul:''' This is a bad idea.
--> '''Mac:''' Correction. This is a good idea with bad possibilities.
* DownerEnding: Episode 6: [[spoiler: Paul manages to re-open Ascension and thus release the stuck fades and the reborns, only to see the sky turn an [[RedSkyTakeWarning ominous shade of red]] in response... (while elsewhere, the wounded and probably dying Neil mutters "I told him...I told him, you don't fuck with Ascension.")]]
** [[spoiler: Plus the girl he loves got shot in the head by his former mentor. Her death only just hits him once Ascension has been re-opened and Mac and Anna ask where Jay is, and he bursts into tears.]]
* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler: [[DarkMessiah John, the Angelic Killer and leader of the Reborns]] ]] to Paul.
* EyeScream: Neil. Twice, on the same one - though the second one was to ''[[NauseaFuel try and scrape the poison out.]]''
* FauxAffablyEvil: John [[spoiler: aka Polus the Angelic-killing Fade, now with a body]]. Ever so pleasant and polite, when not [[spoiler: munching on a carotide or butchering Angelics.]]
* FromBadToWorse: [[spoiler: The Angelic-killing Fade has regained full physical form. And now so has Natalie, and at least half a dozen others are in the process. '''And''' this form is apparently immortal. ThisIsGonnaSuck...]]
** [[spoiler: The finale has Paul re-open all of the Ascension points, banishing all of the Fades simultaneously. [[TemptingFate Surely the day has to be saved, right?]]. Only, we then see the sky suddenly begins to turn a sickly orange, ominous thunder begins to rumble in the distance and a solar eclipse occurs...]]
--> '''Neil''': [[spoiler: I told him. I told him! Don't fuck with Ascension!]]

* HannibalLecture: [[spoiler: John]] delivers one to Paul, highlighting their similarities as [[NotSoDifferentRemark the chosen ones of their respective people]] and claiming that while his killings bring life through the resurrection of the dead, [[spoiler: those Paul destroys are dead for good, making him a bigger killer.]]

* HeroicBSOD: Neil, already under a lot of stress, loses it after [[spoiler: two more of his partners are offed by the Angelic killer - by Paul's fault, no less.]]
** Paul may have slowly become more heroic, but with an ever-increasing toll on his life,[[spoiler: and at the end of the first series, he is left in pieces after having lost his girlfriend.]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The Angelics - at least some of them - are shown to go quite far in their war against the fades, from Neil [[spoiler: pulling a [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique Jack Bauer]] on Natalie]] to Sarah [[spoiler: deciding to consume her fallen comrades' blood in order to materialise as well and fight on equal ground.]]
* HorrorHunger: [[spoiler: John, the Angelic killer, and more generally every Reborn.]]
* IAmAHumanitarian: [[spoiler: The ghoulish fades manage to become tangible again by devouring humans alive.]]
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Neil's justification for [[spoiler: torturing Natalie]] and [[spoiler: killing Jay.]]
* IdiotBall: [[spoiler: Neil following Natalie]] in the second episode. Only topped by Paul [[spoiler: leading the Angelic killer to their current hideout, ''fully aware of who he was, simply because he promised not to harm anyone and only release Natalie''.]] It did not end well.
** Despite Paul being [[MessianicArchetype their messiah]], none of the Angelics seem interested in giving him crucial information or teaching him how to hone his powers. Granted, they don't know all the information themselves and some of his powers they have never seen before, but you'd think they'd at least ''try'' instead of leaving him to [[FigureItOutYourself figure it out by himself?!]]

* ItsPersonal: While [[spoiler: John]] always intended to kill all Angelics and especially TheChosenOne, he takes it to a new level with Paul after he [[spoiler: destroys Natalie, the only person he still geuninely loved]], and vows to make him feel the same pain before killing him.
* LightEmUp: [[spoiler: Paul has the ability to shoot lightbolts out of his hands that are the only known working weapon to defeat Reborns...and that can also forcibly reopen Ascension points.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Paul understandably reacts this way after [[spoiler: causing the death of two Angelics.]]
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Paul, lampshaded as this is unusual even for an Angelic.
--> '''Paul:''' I'm an Angelic Swiss Army Knife!...
* OhCrap: Neil's reaction when he realises [[spoiler: fully materialised Fades are immortal.]]

* PreviouslyOn: Hilarious ones by Mac, [[BreakingTheFourthWall in character.]] [[spoiler: Including, in episode six, from the boot of the car where he was imprisoned at the end of episode five!]]

* ScrewDestiny: Well, let's just get that in order for this show to have a happy ending, the whole "it's inevitable" better not be. However, at the end of series 1 we see that [[spoiler: screwing destiny may have unintended hazards of its own.]]

* SelfDefeatingProphecy: [[spoiler: When Paul realises his vision of his loved ones dead is about to happen, he immediately checks on their safety before confronting John, preventing him from harming them.]]

** ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''

* SupernaturalGoldEyes: "Polus" the ghoulish fade [[spoiler: and all the fades that consume human flesh.]]
* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler: Presented with setting out to destroy all reborns or standing back and doing nothing as the only alternatives, Paul ignores both and decides to try and find a way to reopen Ascenscion.]]
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler: Natalie jumps in front of John to block Paul's energy blast and is destroyed.]]
** [[spoiler: In the final episode, Sarah steps in front of Paul and takes the stabbing John meant to inflict on him, to buy Paul time to reopen Ascension.]]
* VillainsNeverLie: [[spoiler: John]] has some interesting revelations to make to Paul about how the Angelics decided to tackle the problem of ascension being "broken" and their subsequent treatment of the fades. [[IdiotBall Paul decides to temporarily trust him.]]
* WhamEpisode: Episode 3. [[spoiler: Paul is run over by a truck and is without heartbeat at the end of the episode. Also, a Fade has now regained full physical form - the very Fade Paul saw in his visions.]]