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On June 3 2015 [=McNeill=] [[http://graham-mcneill.com/#!/la-times/ announced]] he has been employed by Riot Games, makers of massively popular [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', as a senior narrative writer. His Riot handle is Dinopawz.

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On From June 3 2015 [=McNeill=] [[http://graham-mcneill.com/#!/la-times/ announced]] to January 2024, he has been was employed by Riot Games, makers of massively popular [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', as a senior narrative writer. His Riot handle is Dinopawz.
Dinopawz. He was unfortunately laid off from his position in January of 2024, part of massive layoffs to the lore team at Riot.

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Added some tropes from his Lo L work. Lots left to cover.


On June 3 2015 [=McNeill=] [[http://graham-mcneill.com/#!/la-times/ announced]] he has been employed by Riot Games, makers of massively popular [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', as a senior narrative writer.

to:

On June 3 2015 [=McNeill=] [[http://graham-mcneill.com/#!/la-times/ announced]] he has been employed by Riot Games, makers of massively popular [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', as a senior narrative writer.
writer. His Riot handle is Dinopawz.

His narrative contributions to League can be read at the [[https://leagueoflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Graham_%27Dinopawz%27_McNeill League of Legends wiki.]]



* ApocalypticLog: ''Where Icathia Once Stood'' takes the form of an oral one, as the protagonist [[spoiler: repeats the tale of the last days of Icathia, desperately trying to hold onto his identity while wandering the ruins of his home—before finally succumbing to erasure by the Void.]]



** Has a habit of using "tattoo" to mean "pattern", and a character becoming angry is often described as "his choler rose".

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** Has a habit of using "tattoo" to mean "pattern", and a character becoming angry is often described as "his choler rose".rose.” These examples are averted by his League of Legends writing.



* AlienSky: Featured in ''Dead Sky, Black Sun.''

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* AlienSky: Featured in ''Dead Sky, Black Sun.'''' In ''Where Icathia Once Stood'', the Void is described as leaving a color in the sky like a week-old bruise.



* AntiHero: Many of the criminals in ''Warriors of Ultramar'' are this, keeping civilians alive for profit against the alien hordes.

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* AntiHero: Many of the criminals in ''Warriors of Ultramar'' are this, keeping civilians alive for profit against the alien hordes. Many of his League of Legends stories follow the more antiheroic members of the champion cast.



* DoomedByCanon: Effectively whenever he is writing Literature/HorusHeresy novels.
* DownerEnding: Frequently when he is writing [[CrapsackWorld anything to do with Warhammer]].

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* BlackComedy: ''A Feast Fit for a King'' sees the troll Trundle trick a bigger, but [[TooDumbToLive even dumber]] troll into slashing his own belly to win an eating contest.
* DeathSeeker: Olaf, who is doomed by prophecy to die an un-glorious death of old age. In ''Shadow and Fortune'', this is played for laughs, as he throws himself at bigger and bigger dangers in hopes of dying gloriously. He even throws himself at a sea monster…only to survive at the end of TheStinger.
* DoomedByCanon: Effectively whenever he is writing Literature/HorusHeresy novels.
novels. In his League of Legends work, ''Where Icathia Once Stood'' tells the last days of the nation of Icathia, a Void-infested wasteland in the present day, while ''Twilight of the Gods'' tells the last days of a number of presently dead Darkin.
* DownerEnding: Frequently when he is writing [[CrapsackWorld anything to do with Warhammer]]. Also ''Where Icathia Once Stood''. Averted by his Realms Of Runeterra short story ''Water and Shade to You'', whose plot parallels ''The Last Church'' but ultimately sees Shurima’s emperor choose the higher road.



** The Void in League of Legends. Think Lovecraft plus Giger with a lot more purple.



* VillainProtagonist: the Iron Warriors in ''Storm of Iron''.

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* TheFogOfAges: ''Art is Life'', a [=LoL=] short story involving the immortal [[BloodMagic hemomancer]] Vladimir, sees him imply that he suffers from this.
* LighterAndSofter: While some of his League of Legends work is still dark, Runeterra is significantly less grimdark than Warhammer and Warhammer 40K. As such, the tone of those stories tends to be more PG-13 than R, with some stories coming off as even whimsical.
* VillainProtagonist: the Iron Warriors in ''Storm of Iron''. Elise in ''The Shuttered Manse'' also acts as one. The Winter’s Claw raiding party in ''Dead of Winter'' is either this or antiheroic protagonists, depending on your perspective.
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Badass Mustache and Badass Beard are being merged into Manly Facial Hair. Examples that don't fit or are zero-context are removed. To qualify for Manly Facial Hair, the facial hair must be associated with masculinity in some way. Please read the trope description before readding to make sure the example qualifies.


* BadassBeard: EVERYONE IN THE LEGEND OF SIGMAR. EVERYONE!!! Except Sigmar himself.
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* TheBadGuyWins: ''Storm of Iron''. Even the other writers in the Black Library were shocked by his decision to do this.
Willbyr MOD

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* EldritchLocation: The Eye of Terror. Think {{Mordor}} with demonic SpaceMarines.

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* EldritchLocation: EldritchLocation:
**
The Eye of Terror. Think {{Mordor}} with demonic SpaceMarines.
Willbyr MOD

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Graham [=McNeill=] is a Scottish writer. His ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novels include ''[[Literature/IronWarriors Storm of Iron]]'' (featuring the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Fists facing off against the Iron Warriors); the Literature/{{Ultramarines}} ''Warriors of Ultramar'', ''Nightbringer'', ''Dead Sky, Black Sun'', ''The Killing Ground'' and ''Courage and Honour''; and the Literature/HorusHeresy ''False Gods'', ''Fulgrim'', ''A Thousand Sons'', and ''Mechanicum'', and his TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} novels, ''Heldenhammer'', ''The Ambassador'', ''The Ambassador Chronicles'', and ''Guardians of the Forest''. He also wrote the 4th Edition Codex (still in use during the 6th edition rulebook as of this writing) of the Black Templar space marines for the actual tabletop game.

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[[quoteright:309:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/graham_mcneill.jpeg]]

Graham [=McNeill=] is a Scottish writer. His ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' novels include ''[[Literature/IronWarriors Storm of Iron]]'' (featuring the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Fists facing off against the Iron Warriors); the Literature/{{Ultramarines}} ''Warriors of Ultramar'', ''Nightbringer'', ''Dead Sky, Black Sun'', ''The Killing Ground'' and ''Courage and Honour''; and the Literature/HorusHeresy ''False Gods'', ''Fulgrim'', ''A Thousand Sons'', and ''Mechanicum'', and his TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' novels, ''Heldenhammer'', ''The Ambassador'', ''The Ambassador Chronicles'', and ''Guardians of the Forest''. He also wrote the 4th Edition Codex (still in use during the 6th edition rulebook as of this writing) of the Black Templar space marines for the actual tabletop game.






* AuthorVocabularyCalendar: Has a habit of using "tattoo" to mean "pattern", and a character becoming angry is often described as "his choler rose".

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* AuthorVocabularyCalendar: AuthorVocabularyCalendar:
**
Has a habit of using "tattoo" to mean "pattern", and a character becoming angry is often described as "his choler rose".
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None

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** Has something large exploded? Expect "tank-sized chunks of rubble" to fly through the air.
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None


* EvenEvilHasStandards: Often subverted with the likes of the IronWarriors. Played straight with the leader of the criminal gang in ''Warriors of Ultramar'' upon encountering an AttemptedRape.

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* EvenEvilHasStandards: Often subverted with the likes of the IronWarriors.Literature/IronWarriors. Played straight with the leader of the criminal gang in ''Warriors of Ultramar'' upon encountering an AttemptedRape.



* VillainProtagonist: the IronWarriors in ''Storm of Iron''.

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* VillainProtagonist: the IronWarriors Iron Warriors in ''Storm of Iron''.

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Removed per TRS.


* {{Badass}}: He writes for Warhammer, after all.
** BadassBeard: EVERYONE IN THE LEGEND OF SIGMAR. EVERYONE!!! Except Sigmar himself.
** BadassNormal: If there's a character in his book which isn't a SpaceMarine, they're usually this.

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* {{Badass}}: He writes for Warhammer, after all.
**
BadassBeard: EVERYONE IN THE LEGEND OF SIGMAR. EVERYONE!!! Except Sigmar himself.
** * BadassNormal: If there's a character in his book which isn't a SpaceMarine, they're usually this.
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* AlienSky: Featured in Dead Sky, Black Sun.

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* AlienSky: Featured in Dead ''Dead Sky, Black Sun.''



* ArmedWithCanon: Currently in a {{Retcon}} war with Matt Ward over whether the Ultramarines are intended to be the [[PuritySue absolute]] [[CreatorsPet ideal]] [[SpotlightStealingSquad of all]] [[{{Flanderization}} Space Marines everywhere]], or just heroic but ultimately normal Space Marines. [=McNeill=] favors the latter interpretation, Ward the former. And if you ask around you'll find that not only are most die-hard 40k fans firmly on [=McNeill=]'s side but they also absolutely ''despise'' Ward. McNeill is now the winner of said canon war now that Ward is no longer employed at GW.

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* ArmedWithCanon: Currently in a {{Retcon}} war with Matt Ward over whether the Ultramarines are intended to be the [[PuritySue absolute]] [[CreatorsPet ideal]] [[SpotlightStealingSquad of all]] [[{{Flanderization}} Space Marines everywhere]], or just heroic but ultimately normal Space Marines. [=McNeill=] favors the latter interpretation, Ward the former. And if you ask around you'll find that not only are most die-hard 40k fans firmly on [=McNeill=]'s side but they also absolutely ''despise'' Ward. McNeill [=McNeill=] is now the winner of said canon war now that Ward is no longer employed at GW.
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None

Added DiffLines:


On June 3 2015 [=McNeill=] [[http://graham-mcneill.com/#!/la-times/ announced]] he has been employed by Riot Games, makers of massively popular [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', as a senior narrative writer.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


Graham [=McNeill=] is a Scottish writer. His ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novels include ''[[Literature/IronWarriors Storm of Iron]]'' (featuring the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Fists facing off against the Iron Warriors); the Literature/{{Ultramarines}} ''Warriors of Ultramar'', ''Nightbringer'', ''Dead Sky, Black Sun'', ''The Killing Ground'' and ''Courage and Honour''; and the HorusHeresy ''False Gods'', ''Fulgrim'', ''A Thousand Sons'', and ''Mechanicum'', and his TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} novels, ''Heldenhammer'', ''The Ambassador'', ''The Ambassador Chronicles'', and ''Guardians of the Forest''. He also wrote the 4th Edition Codex (still in use during the 6th edition rulebook as of this writing) of the Black Templar space marines for the actual tabletop game.

to:

Graham [=McNeill=] is a Scottish writer. His ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novels include ''[[Literature/IronWarriors Storm of Iron]]'' (featuring the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Fists facing off against the Iron Warriors); the Literature/{{Ultramarines}} ''Warriors of Ultramar'', ''Nightbringer'', ''Dead Sky, Black Sun'', ''The Killing Ground'' and ''Courage and Honour''; and the HorusHeresy Literature/HorusHeresy ''False Gods'', ''Fulgrim'', ''A Thousand Sons'', and ''Mechanicum'', and his TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} novels, ''Heldenhammer'', ''The Ambassador'', ''The Ambassador Chronicles'', and ''Guardians of the Forest''. He also wrote the 4th Edition Codex (still in use during the 6th edition rulebook as of this writing) of the Black Templar space marines for the actual tabletop game.



* DoomedByCanon: Effectively whenever he is writing HorusHeresy novels.

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* DoomedByCanon: Effectively whenever he is writing HorusHeresy Literature/HorusHeresy novels.
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* ArmedWithCanon: Currently in a {{Retcon}} war with Matt Ward over whether the Ultramarines are intended to be the [[PuritySue absolute]] [[CreatorsPet ideal]] [[SpotlightStealingSquad of all]] [[{{Flanderization}} Space Marines everywhere]], or just heroic but ultimately normal Space Marines. [=McNeill=] favors the latter interpretation, Ward the former. And if you ask around you'll find that not only are most die-hard 40k fans firmly on [=McNeill=]'s side but they also absolutely ''despise'' Ward. Is now the winner of said cannot war now that Ward is no longer employed at GW.

to:

* ArmedWithCanon: Currently in a {{Retcon}} war with Matt Ward over whether the Ultramarines are intended to be the [[PuritySue absolute]] [[CreatorsPet ideal]] [[SpotlightStealingSquad of all]] [[{{Flanderization}} Space Marines everywhere]], or just heroic but ultimately normal Space Marines. [=McNeill=] favors the latter interpretation, Ward the former. And if you ask around you'll find that not only are most die-hard 40k fans firmly on [=McNeill=]'s side but they also absolutely ''despise'' Ward. Is McNeill is now the winner of said cannot canon war now that Ward is no longer employed at GW.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* ArmedWithCanon: Currently in a {{Retcon}} war with Matt Ward over whether the Ultramarines are intended to be the [[PuritySue absolute]] [[CreatorsPet ideal]] [[SpotlightStealingSquad of all]] [[{{Flanderization}} Space Marines everywhere]], or just heroic but ultimately normal Space Marines. [=McNeill=] favors the latter interpretation, Ward the former. And if you ask around you'll find that not only are most die-hard 40k fans firmly on [=McNeill=]'s side but they also absolutely ''despise'' Ward.

to:

* ArmedWithCanon: Currently in a {{Retcon}} war with Matt Ward over whether the Ultramarines are intended to be the [[PuritySue absolute]] [[CreatorsPet ideal]] [[SpotlightStealingSquad of all]] [[{{Flanderization}} Space Marines everywhere]], or just heroic but ultimately normal Space Marines. [=McNeill=] favors the latter interpretation, Ward the former. And if you ask around you'll find that not only are most die-hard 40k fans firmly on [=McNeill=]'s side but they also absolutely ''despise'' Ward. Is now the winner of said cannot war now that Ward is no longer employed at GW.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
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Graham McNeill is a Scottish writer. His ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novels include ''[[Literature/IronWarriors Storm of Iron]]'' (featuring the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Fists facing off against the Iron Warriors); the Literature/{{Ultramarines}} ''Warriors of Ultramar'', ''Nightbringer'', ''Dead Sky, Black Sun'', ''The Killing Ground'' and ''Courage and Honour''; and the HorusHeresy ''False Gods'', ''Fulgrim'', ''A Thousand Sons'', and ''Mechanicum'', and his TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} novels, ''Heldenhammer'', ''The Ambassador'', ''The Ambassador Chronicles'', and ''Guardians of the Forest''. He also wrote the 4th Edition Codex (still in use during the 6th edition rulebook as of this writing) of the Black Templar space marines for the actual tabletop game.

to:

Graham McNeill [=McNeill=] is a Scottish writer. His ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novels include ''[[Literature/IronWarriors Storm of Iron]]'' (featuring the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Fists facing off against the Iron Warriors); the Literature/{{Ultramarines}} ''Warriors of Ultramar'', ''Nightbringer'', ''Dead Sky, Black Sun'', ''The Killing Ground'' and ''Courage and Honour''; and the HorusHeresy ''False Gods'', ''Fulgrim'', ''A Thousand Sons'', and ''Mechanicum'', and his TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} novels, ''Heldenhammer'', ''The Ambassador'', ''The Ambassador Chronicles'', and ''Guardians of the Forest''. He also wrote the 4th Edition Codex (still in use during the 6th edition rulebook as of this writing) of the Black Templar space marines for the actual tabletop game.
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None

Added DiffLines:

Graham McNeill is a Scottish writer. His ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novels include ''[[Literature/IronWarriors Storm of Iron]]'' (featuring the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Fists facing off against the Iron Warriors); the Literature/{{Ultramarines}} ''Warriors of Ultramar'', ''Nightbringer'', ''Dead Sky, Black Sun'', ''The Killing Ground'' and ''Courage and Honour''; and the HorusHeresy ''False Gods'', ''Fulgrim'', ''A Thousand Sons'', and ''Mechanicum'', and his TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} novels, ''Heldenhammer'', ''The Ambassador'', ''The Ambassador Chronicles'', and ''Guardians of the Forest''. He also wrote the 4th Edition Codex (still in use during the 6th edition rulebook as of this writing) of the Black Templar space marines for the actual tabletop game.
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!!His works contain instances of these tropes:
* AuthorVocabularyCalendar: Has a habit of using "tattoo" to mean "pattern", and a character becoming angry is often described as "his choler rose".
* AlienSky: Featured in Dead Sky, Black Sun.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Uriel Ventris amongst others.
* AMillionIsAStatistic: He writes Warhammer, this is par for the course.
* AntiHero: Many of the criminals in ''Warriors of Ultramar'' are this, keeping civilians alive for profit against the alien hordes.
* ArmedWithCanon: Currently in a {{Retcon}} war with Matt Ward over whether the Ultramarines are intended to be the [[PuritySue absolute]] [[CreatorsPet ideal]] [[SpotlightStealingSquad of all]] [[{{Flanderization}} Space Marines everywhere]], or just heroic but ultimately normal Space Marines. [=McNeill=] favors the latter interpretation, Ward the former. And if you ask around you'll find that not only are most die-hard 40k fans firmly on [=McNeill=]'s side but they also absolutely ''despise'' Ward.
* {{Badass}}: He writes for Warhammer, after all.
** BadassBeard: EVERYONE IN THE LEGEND OF SIGMAR. EVERYONE!!! Except Sigmar himself.
** BadassNormal: If there's a character in his book which isn't a SpaceMarine, they're usually this.
* TheBadGuyWins: ''Storm of Iron''. Even the other writers in the Black Library were shocked by his decision to do this.
* DoomedByCanon: Effectively whenever he is writing HorusHeresy novels.
* DownerEnding: Frequently when he is writing [[CrapsackWorld anything to do with Warhammer]].
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: combines with DreamingTheTruth in ''Dead Sky, Black Sun''.
* EldritchLocation: The Eye of Terror. Think {{Mordor}} with demonic SpaceMarines.
** Norsca in Warhammer Fantasy. Think {{Mordor}} in Scandinavia with demonic Vikings in baroque plate armour.
* EnemyCivilWar: Pick a book with Chaos in it. You'll probably find one in there.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Often subverted with the likes of the IronWarriors. Played straight with the leader of the criminal gang in ''Warriors of Ultramar'' upon encountering an AttemptedRape.
** Present in ''Empire'', where the main antagonist, the Chaos Lord Cormac Bloodaxe, expressing disgust over the way prisoners of war are violated and tortured by the Slaaneshi. It mostly stems from his religious beliefs, torturing a warrior to death and denying him an honourable death in battle runs contrary everything Khorne stands for.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: In the ''Sigmar'' novels, it seems as if he basically taken every Northern European barbarian culture and cobbled them all together to create the culture of the Imperial tribes. He takes a lot of inspiration from Roman-era Germanics, as the people of Sigmar's time are the ancestors of the modern Empire; which itself is a counterpart culture to the Renaissance Germany. Of course, the Chaos-worshiping Norsii tribes (ancestors of the modern Norse tribes) are presented as straight-up Satanist Vikings. Which is completely consistent with their presentation in other Warhammer fiction.
** The Udoses, who are an Imperial tribe present in said novels, however, are Scotsmen.
* VillainProtagonist: the IronWarriors in ''Storm of Iron''.
* WouldNotShootACivilian: What really separates the Ultramarines, or at least Ventris and his company, [[CrapsackWorld from almost everyone else in their universe]].
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