History Literature / Airman

* TheAlcatraz: Little Saltee.

* BlindMusician: Linus Wynter.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Conor starts off like this, being a straight-up hero who grew up with a loving family. Eventually his moral compass becomes clouded, and he swings into AntiHero for a time before being some combination of the two upon conclusion.

* MeaningfulName: Everyone in the Broekhart family has their heart broken. Also, [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Bonvilain]]'s name means "good villain".
-->'''[[https://www.newsweek.com/talking-eoin-colfer-86975 Colfer]]:''' I looked through Web sites of old names from the Flemish Dutch. […] I found the name Broekhart, and I thought oh, my God. It's a hero, but also it hints at broken heart.

* SelfPoisoningGambit: At the climax [[spoiler: Bonvilain]] attempts this, trying to poison Queen Isabella and Conor's parents during a shared toast. They suspect he's up to something, however, and refuse to drink even though he does. Later, he is weakened enough by the poison that Conor is able to kill him.

** Sultan Arif, Bonvilan's ally, is quite unnerved at having to shove an old blind man to the ground, much less kill him.
** He [[spoiler:abandons Bonvilain after realizing just how insane he is]].

Not to be confused with the ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' boss.

* BadassBookworm: Conor. Aeronautics are his real passion, but his mentor, Victor Vigny, trained him well in a variety of subjects, including fencing and escape artistry.
** Vigny himself also qualifies, as does Nicholas, a veteran soldier with a love of physics.

* BadassBookworm: Bonvilain is both WickedCultured and very badass.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: King Nicholas of the Saltee Islands. He was a skirmisher and balloonist during the American Civil War, and he's said to sleep on the window seat in his chambers because the bed is too soft.

** Vigny himself also qualifies.

* FirstKiss: [[spoiler: Conor and Isabella share one the day before he leaves for Scotland.]]
* GeniusBruiser: King Nicholas and Bonvilain, both roughhousers who are frighteningly sharp.

** [[spoiler: Isabella fills this role by the end; she's taken her role as queen and is planning major overhauls to the running of the place, including shutting down the Little Saltee prison and contracting the mining to a professional firm.]]

* SelfPoisoningGambit: [[spoiler:At the climax Bonvilain attempts this, trying to poison Queen Isabella and Conor's parents during a shared toast. They suspect he's up to something, however, and refuse to drink even though he does. Later, Bonvilain is weakened enough by the poison that Conor is able to kill him.]]

* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: [[spoiler:Bonvilain has his [[TheDragon Dragon]] mix a poison, Wolvesbane, which he will put in his wine and serve to his guests (Isabella and Conor's family). The poison is fatal if an entire glass is drunk, so Bonvilain would only drink half his glass while everyone else would empty theirs. He also tests it on his Dragon to see if he was telling the truth (he was chafing at this point), he was, but it still reduced him to a puking pained fit (symptoms which he warned Bonvilain about). This comes back to bite him in the climax.]]

* WhatTheHellHero: Linus gives this talk to Conor multiple times to encourage him to go back home and reunite with his family after [[AntiHero becoming jaded]], but it doesn't sink in until [[spoiler:Bonvilain attacks Linus and Conor realizes that if he leaves his family will be killed.]]