History Characters / TheBible

* MeaningfulRename: God has him change his name from Abram (High father) to Abraham (Father of many).

* MeaningfulRename: Renamed from "Sarai" to "Sarah" (though both translate as "Princess")

** Downplayed in Catholicism. He demands to be the only one actually worshipped as God, but is fine with saints and angels being venerated and even demands it.

* GoodIsNotSoft: He is compassionate to those in need, especially to those who turn to Him for counsel, aid or solace. But He has no qualms whatsoever with punishing someone when they've done evil and are unrepentant of it.

* CainAndAbel: The TropeNamer. He's a villainous older sibling who murdered his younger brother out of jealousy and refused to repent after being confronted about it by God.

* MethuselahSyndrome: TropeNamer, living 969 years; more than any other man.

* JacobAndEsau: One of the [[TropeNamer Trope Namers]]; he was the favorite of his father, while Jacob was the favorite of his mother.

* JacobAndEsau: One of the [[TropeNamer Trope Namers]]; he was the favorite of his mother, while Esau was the favorite of his father.

* MosesArchetype: TropeMaker and TropeNamer.
* MosesInTheBulrushes: The TropeNamer. Ironically, he is not a perfect fit for this trope as in the actual text he knew he was an Israelite. The [[WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt movie]] changed it because of the RuleOfDrama.

* TheUriahGambit: Used it on David before David [[TropeNamer named it]].

%%* TropeNamer: With Goliath.
* TheUriahGambit: TropeNamer, though Saul tried to pull it on him first with the Philistine Foreskins bit.

* UriahGambit: The TropeNamer. Once it became impossible to pass off Bathsheba's unborn child as his, David sent him back to the front with SealedOrders to have him abandoned to die in battle.

%%* JudgmentOfSolomon: TropeNamer.

* TropeNamer: Her name is associated with the {{flanderization}}.

* TropeNamer: In the lions' den. Yes, this book has coined a lot of idioms.

* TurnTheOtherCheek: The TropeNamer.

* TropeNamer: To call someone a Judas is to say he is a traitor.

* RatedMForManly: Why Isaac favors him over Jacob; Isaac admires Esau's [[ARealManIsAKiller hunting skill]]

* RefusalOfTheCall: More like he didn't want to preach in the Assyrian capital which would have got him killed. [[CantRefuseTheCallAnymore He would face a trial that made him reconsider]].

->''He broke the first seal and there appeared a rider on a horse."

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Amnon ''did'' have it coming, gotta say. Poor Tamar.

* TheDarkChick: And she doesn't HeelFaceTurn later.

* FriendToAllLivingThings: He even cares about the sparrows.

%%* {{BFS}}: The 2nd horseman

* ColorCodedCharacters: White (plague), Red (war), Black (famine) and Pale (death).

%%* FourIsDeath: Literally.

%%* {{Hellish Horse}}s

** {{Lucifer}}

%%* FriendToAllChildren

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: He was crucified. ''Upside down''.

* DeityOfHumanOrigin: The Adam–God doctrine is an early Mormon belief that Adam was a mortal from another planet who had ascended to godhood, become mortal to join Eve in the garden where they later both ascended to become gods so Adam could sire Jesus.

* TheVamp: The classic case. She both pesters Samson and also uses her feminine charms and Samson's love for her to get him to reveal his secret to her and sleep on her lap. She then gets a servant to cut his hair while he sleeps. She hands him over to the Philistines in exchange for silver. Some niche modern interpetations add a bit of Dominatrix and TheBaronness, with her possibly being a Philistine herself and, through Samson's teasing, ties him up not once but twice. "So Delilah said to Samson, 'Please tell me where your great strength lies, and [a]how you can be bound to humble you.'"

* MatzoFever: He unwittingly infected Potiphar's wife with this.

* MatzoFever: Was chosen to be the Great King's HotConsort and was [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman the Persian Empire's most beautiful woman]]. At least the King thought so.

%%* ChristmasCake: Sarah was in danger of becoming one because...
%%* KissingCousins

* IdiotBall: Locked his wife Sarah [[GirlInABox in a box]] while passing through Egypt, for fear that she would be taken by the Egyptians on account of [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman her beauty]]. He didn't stop to think that ''maybe, just maybe'' the box would have to pass through Customs.

* GirlInABox: She is locked in a box when passing through Egypt so that Abraham won't be killed for her.

* PunkInTheTrunk: An OlderThanFeudalism subversion exists in a legend where Abraham has his wife Sarah [[GirlInABox locked in a box]] (a literal trunk) because he fears that she will be taken by the Egyptians on account of her [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman beauty]]. This ploy does not work, as he [[IdiotBall didn't stop to think]] that ''maybe'', just maybe, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the box would have to pass through Customs.]]

* UriahGambit: The TropeNamer. Once it became impossible to pass off Bathsheba's unborn child as his, David sent him back to the front with sealed orders to have him abandoned to die in battle.

* BrotherChuck: Despite causing the following: Mankind receiving knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden and being cursed, the existence of death, the existence of the entire human race, and the first evil act ever, the snake absolutely disappears off of the face of the earth after the whole "Eden" incident. It is possible that he is Satan, but Literature/TheBible is not explicit about this.

%%* ImprobableWeaponUser: Tent pegs!

%%* RedemptionEqualsDeath

%%* BeautyIsBad

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Israel's history with God is basically a sine wave of loyalty and disloyalty, usually depending on the men leading them at the moment.

* PalsWithJesus: Is literally called a "friend of God."

* ParentalFavoritism: Abraham preferred him over his older brother, Ishmael. Granted, that was because God basically told him to. He in turn preferred Esau to Jacob

* RequisiteRoyalRegalia: A small-scale version: the fancy robe Jacob gave him is believed to traditionally signify a father's choice of successor as head of the family. And of course, he got the real deal when Pharaoh made him second-in-command of all Egypt.

* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Poor Reuben, through and through. A prime example of this trope is when Reuben tries to persuade Jacob to let Benjamin travel with him to Egypt. As an indication of his sincerity, he tells Jacob he will kill both his own sons if he can't bring Benjamin back. Needless to say, Jacob isn't persuaded.

* LaserGuidedKarma: When Moses irresponsibly smashed a rock in the desert with his staff to make water appear, God caused him to die in the desert (over 40 years late, mind you).

* WhatTheHellHero: Balaam got this from a ''donkey'' of all things. [[InvertedTrope Though Balaam was not really a]] '''[[InvertedTrope hero]]'''.

* BadassIsraeli: The original. Note: The "Star of David" is the frame of his shield.

* ThePurge: Killed all the men in Saul's family (except Jonathan's son) eligible for succession and even forced Saul's daughter Michal to marry him again to force an alliance with the former royal family. His last wishes (textually, if not chronologically) were for Solomon were to kill Joab and Shimei, steward of the house of Saul.

* WarriorPoet: Quite literally. Kicks ass, writes poems, dances with his people. He's even got a nickname, "The Sweet Psalmist of Israel"

%%* RapeAndRevenge: See above.

%%* RapeAndRevenge

%%* TokenEvilTeammate

%%* ReplacementGoldfish

%%* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen

%%* EverythingsWorseWithBears

%%* ChosenOne

%%* TheSmartGuy

->''"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”''
* FacingTheBulletsOneLiner: When they refuse to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's golden idol, their response is "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

%%* HotConsort

%%* EvilChancellor

%%* KneelBeforeZod

%%* {{Pride}}
%%* SmugSnake

->''"Oh God, Lord of Israel, You are righteous!. This day you have made us a remnant."''

%%* TheCorrupter

%%* TalkingAnimal

%%* CainAndAbel: Duh, they're the TropeNamer.
%%* TheExile:

%%* NameOfCain: TropeMaker

%%* CainAndAbel: See above.

%%* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Cursed be Canaan!"

%%* BargainWithHeaven:

%%* TheChosenOne

%%* ParentsAsPeople

%%* ParentalFavoritism

%%* PutOnABus:

%%* YoungestChildWins

%%* DreamingOfThingsToCome
%%* EarnYourHappyEnding: Joseph's life story.

%%* HeroOfAnotherStory

%%* GuileHero

%%* LadyOfWar: Again, how she got her job.

%%* HotBlooded: And HOW

%%* MacGuffin: His hair.

%%* FemmeFatale: see above

%%* PluckyGirl

%%* UndyingLoyalty: To her mom-in-law, Naomi.

%%* WaifProphet: started as one, when he was a child.

%%* HumbleHero:

%%* YoungestChildWins: Youngest of 8.

%%* GuileHeroine

->''"I am that I am."''

* SecretTestOfCharacter: He often tests his people's loyalty to Him. His commandment to Abraham to sacrifice Issac being one example.

* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: While its his and his alone to carry out his wrath, he himself ''[[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife gets no pleasure]]'' from the deaths of the wicked. Instead implores people to turn from their wicked ways and live.

* AintTooProudToBeg: Despite the fact that the Sodomites lived a hedonistic lifestyle at the expense of others that he could never condone, and the fact that he himself promoted a lifestyle that was the opposite of that of the Sodomites in terms of treating others with respect and hospitality, Abraham nonetheless begs for their lives when God intends to destroy them. Abraham justifies this by asking if Sodom would be spared in the merit of anywhere from fifty to ten upstanding people. Each time the number is lowered, God says he would spare the City if such were the case. However, the narrative eventually makes plain that not even one of the Sodomites is worthy of being spared, with Abraham's nephew Lot only spared in his uncle's merit.

%%* PunkInTheTrunk: Literally. See "Girl In A Box"

* GuileHero: And ''how''. He gets it from his mother's side of the family.

->''Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."''

%%* GuileHeroine: See below.

->''"You say that you have decided to use me to rescue Israel. Well, I am putting some wool on the ground where we thresh the wheat..."''

* TheBrute

* ButtMonkey: Loses everything and suffer nasty sores as part of a bet between God and Satan, and to add insult to injury, when God finally appears to Job, he goes on a [[BadassBoast really big tirade]] about how great he is. He does give Job back double everything he lost in the end, though.

%%* DeusAngstMachina: Taken to [[SerialEscalation an extreme]].

%%* ZenSurvivor: And how!

->''"Go and get married; your wife will be unfaithful, and your children will be just like her. In the same way my people have left me and became unfaithful"''.

%%* LoveMartyr

%%* GuileHero ''and'' ScienceHero

%%* MatzoFever

%%* RagsToRoyalty

* BreakoutCharacter: There's a non-canonical book about him. It influenced the Book of Revelation, ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', and a lot of Christian notions about [[FluffyCloudHeaven heaven]] and [[FireAndBrimstoneHell hell]].

* IncorruptiblePurePureness: The Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception states that she ''had'' to be perfect from the very beginning in order to be a suitable mother for Jesus, and so she was spared from [[SinsOfOurFathers Original Sin]].