History Literature / CastlePerilous

* AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Incarnadine, and Trent. Both are RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething, since they are accomplished swordmen and incredible battle-mages who also aren't afraid to get involved in hand-to-hand combat if the need arises.

* CastHerd: As might be expected in a setting where there are 144,000 possible worlds. We never even meet all the Guests (the non-human ones other than Snowclaw, and the humans who aren't from Earth, even have their own separate dining halls and never mingle with the main cast), and among the ones specifically introduced to the reader, there are a number who act only as window dressing and get little CharacterDevelopment. For the characters the reader ''does'' meet, while there is a core group that usually receives the focus (Gene, Linda, and Snowclaw), various other groups and pairings tend to form, although these often shift depending on the needs of the plot (or who happens to get [[TrappedInAnotherWorld stuck in an Aspect together]])--Barnaby, Deena, and Kwip often end up together, though just as often [[BetaCouple the first two are together]] while Kwip is alone; sometimes Sheila is with the main trio, sometimes she's with someone else (and eventually, after she hooks up with Trent, they're always off together on the water world and [[OutOfFocus rarely interact with the main cast]]); Dalton and Thaxton are together (usually playing golf) nine times out of ten. Incarnadine is usually doing his own thing completely extraenous from the rest of the plot (unless what he's investigating has something to do with the VillainOfTheWeek or [[OnceAnEpisode the latest magical danger]]), but sometimes he's paired up with Osmirik, his brother Trent, or Jeremy (who also often has his own solo adventures).

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: As might be expected in a setting where there are 144,000 possible worlds. We never even meet all the Guests (the non-human ones other than Snowclaw, and the humans who aren't from Earth, even have their own separate dining halls and never mingle with the main cast), and among the ones specifically introduced to the reader, there are a number who act only as window dressing and get little CharacterDevelopment.

Join Gene, Linda, Snowclaw, Sheila, Thaxton and Dalton, Kwip, Jeremy, and [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters many, many more]] as they search for a way home, learn to adapt, and have incredible adventures both ridiculous and frightening, all while Lord Incarnadine ("Inky" to his friends) and his family work to keep the castle and its 144,000 worlds stable and safe ([[RealityIsOutToLunch though not always sane]]). It's thought-provoking, it's crazy, it's weird, and it's unexpected, but it's almost always hilarious. Sadly, the author seems to have abandoned the series, leaving it on quite the CliffHanger, but it is still worth a read for its entertainment value alone.

* FilmNoir: The [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent side story]] in ''Castle Murders'' has Lord Incarnadine visiting an Aspect based on the tropes of this genre, complete with demon gangsters and transparent {{Captain Ersatz}}es of 1920s and '30s celebrities.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: ''Castle Murders'' manages to have two examples at once, the Mystery Arc and Incarnadine's NoirEpisode which has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot and only exists [[DeusExitMachina to keep him from being there to solve the crime]]. Other examples include Incarnadine's eschatological experiences in ''Castle Dreams''; the entirety of ''Castle Spellbound'', but also the subplot regarding the ''[[Literature/TheIliad Iliad]]'' {{Expy}}; and almost all of the [[RandomEventsPlot disconnected plot]] of ''Bride of the Castle'', with Rance's adventures being completely extraneous until he finally makes his way to the castle, Thaxton and Dalton having an insane LowerDeckEpisode, and what happens to poor Max being entirely self-contained to yet another AlternateUniverse.

* MacGuffin: The shard of the Brain of Ramthonodox, stolen by Kwip and then appropriated by Jacoby before finally making its way to Incarnadine's hands.

* FaceHeelTurn: Deems, when after first appearing to be a reasonable and trustworthy member of the family, it turns out he had secretly joined with Ferne in her plot to take over the castle. Played with, however, in that he did this both for fairly noble reasons (because he agreed she had been unfairly passed over for the throne) and [[ForcedIntoEvil under duress]] (he was suffering from major debts and she was the only one who promised him a way out), and that he also did so [[RightHandVersusLeftHand without knowing the full truth]] of her intended methods (i.e. that she was working with the Hosts of Hell). As soon as he finds out, [[HeelFaceTurn he changes sides]]...which [[RedemptionEqualsDeath gets him killed for his troubles]].

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Gene

* DemonLordsAndArchDevils: The Hosts of Hell

* FaceHeelTurn: Deems.

* HeKnowsTooMuch: ''Castle Murders'': Seems to be the motive for killing [[spoiler:Count Damik]] since he had previously been going around telling everyone in Peele Castle that he had seen one of the suspects buying the murder weapon, and trying to decide if he should tell the authorities what he knew. (This would seem to be a TooDumbToLive moment, except that he was counting on noblesse oblige to protect him and was in fact using his obvious attention-grabbing move to try and warn the killer he was on to him, thus giving him time to either hide the evidence or come clean.) However this is all a RedHerring: not only was the person he saw not the killer, but [[MurderByMistake he wasn't even the target]] and was in fact a friend of the real murderer. (The actual target was, in fact, slated for killing due to this trope.)

** Castle Perilous, which is a very dangerous castle indeed thanks to its wild magic, roving (or closing) portals, and the many invading armies, creatures, and mages it has to deal with. (Also, it's a ShoutOut to [[ArthurianLegend Arthurian Canon]].)

** And for that matter, Jamin, Tragg, and Ruthven. Both of the first two attempt some form of treason in order to take over the castle and rule in Incarnadine (or Trent)'s stead. Jamin is then in turn betrayed by Vasagaroth [[TakingYouWithMe killing him as he himself is being slain]], with both Tragg and Ruthven are killed when the being they summoned is turned back on them after the spell they cast on Incarnadine is broken.

** Jacoby's fate--after going most of the first book nastily and smugly manipulating and controlling others with his mental powers but suffering no comeuppance for it, he finally gets tricked by Incarnadine's [[GodGuise Devil Guise]] into giving up the shard of the Brain of Ramthonodox, then going to his "reward"...[[spoiler:led out onto the Plains of Baranthe so that Ramthondox himself can consume him]].

* AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Incarnadine, and Trent.

* TheAssimilator: Melydia's fate.

** Thorsby and Fetchen learn this the hard way.

* ButtMonkey: Kwip, Barnaby, Jeremy.

* ChekhovsGunman: Jamin; Tragg.

* TheHero: Gene

* KavorkaMan: Gene

* LaserGuidedKarma: Jacoby's fate. And for that matter, Jamin's, Tragg's, and Ruthven's.

** Castle Perilous. Incarnadine. Kwip.

* HowWeGotHere: The first book begins with the main FiveManBand meeting up and becoming acquainted, telling their backstories and how they arrived at the castle in retrospect. At the end of the book, when time is reversed and the castle is restored, the reader finally gets to see those moments before the Aspect opened, revealing some meaningful and thought-provoking details which prior to then had been conspicuously left out.

* LoveTriangle: Between Gene, Linda, and [[spoiler:Inky]]. From the very beginning of the series it is clear that Gene and Linda, as the two main protagonists, are developing feelings for one another, even if for various reasons (usually their crazy, dangerous adventures, but also Gene's CommitmentIssues and worries of SexChangesEverything) they never act on it. What is less clear at first due to how subtly it's handled is that Linda is also drawn to [[spoiler:Inky]], making this a BettyAndVeronica situation, with Gene as the Betty and [[spoiler:Inky]] as the Veronica. Things start developing more on this front in ''Castle Dreams'' when Linda dreams that [[spoiler:Inky]] is her Earth boyfriend, probably jumpstarted by [[spoiler:Incarnadine's apparent death]]. In rapid succession, however, Gene and Linda finally consummate their relationship in ''Castle Spellbound'' and agree to get married, but complications ensue in ''Bride of the Castle'' when Gene gets cold feet and runs off to become lost in an Aspect again. Meanwhile, the jilted Linda ends up commiserating (and eventually going to bed) with [[spoiler:Inky's clone]], who offers to maker her his mistress. Eventually Gene returns, and he and Linda break off their engagement...but the real [[spoiler:Inky]] also returns, only to find out [[YouJustToldMe from Linda]] what happened while he was away. So the triangle ends up broken but also unresolved, with where things go from there left uncertain.

Join Gene, Linda, Snowclaw, Sheila, Thaxton and Dalton, Kwip, Jeremy, and [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters many, many more]] as they search for a way home, learn to adapt, and have incredible adventures both ridiculous and frightening, all while Lord Incarnadine and his family work to keep the castle and its 144,000 worlds stable and safe ([[RealityIsOutToLunch though not always sane]]). It's thought-provoking, it's crazy, it's weird, and it's unexpected, but it's almost always hilarious. Sadly, the author seems to have abandoned the series, leaving it on quite the CliffHanger, but it is still worth a read for its entertainment value alone.

* AllNaturalFireExtinguisher: The series has a scene in which a Devil to whom Lord Incarnadine's brother has sold his soul opens a pit to Hell to collect on the contract, but Lord Incarnadine - who has drunk an excessive amount of voodoo liquor - pees down the pit and extinguishes the fires of Hell.

* ButtMonkey: Kwip, Barnaby, Jeremy

** Castle Perilous, aside from being a very apt name for such a dangerous, unstable place, is a reference to [[Myth/ArhturianLegend Arthurian Canon]] and the Siege Perilous, as well as a castle in the tale of Gareth and Linette. It is implied that it [[AllMythsAreTrue actually is the castle of legend]], or of various legends throughout the Aspects.
** In a great StealthPun, the supposed "castle editions" of the series found in the library by Osmirik are published under the overarching title ''[[Literature/IdyllsOfTheKing Eidolons of the King]]''. Not only is this entirely appropriate for a work whose central location comes from [[Myth/ArhturianLegend Arthurian Canon]], but an eidolon, being a ghost or phantasm, could aptly describe what the events of the books, being fictional, would be to [=DeChancie=] and the readers here in the real world.

%%* LoveAtFirstSight: Sheila for Trent.
%%* LoveTriangle: Between Gene, Linda, and [[spoiler:Incarnadine]].

* RefugeInAudacity: This, and VulgarHumor, comes into play in how Incarnadine defeats the dengs of Necropolis: he [[UrineTrouble puts out the fires of Hell by emptying his bladder on them]].

* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: [=DeChancie=] isn't afraid to show off his vocabulary, [[ViewersAreGeniuses nor does he underestimate the intelligence of his readers]]. At the same time, there is a deliberate dissonance between this and modern colloquial speech, thanks to Incarnadine and Trent having lived on Earth for so long. The switch between the two is also deliberately invoked by Incarnadine (and Trent) to annoy or confuse his enemies (''Castle Dreams''), and vice versa (the Hosts of Hells' "used car salesman" shtick).

* TeleportersAndTransporters: Snowclaw's power (at least [[ForgottenPhlebotinum originally]]). Interestingly, while it can be done [[FlashStep mid-run]], it generally seems to work as a reverse CallOnMe, where he is able to teleport to a person he cares for whom he knows is in danger, simply by homing in on their feelings or thoughts of him.

* ScienceFictionVersusFantasy: The series unabashedly and gleefully picks no sides or favorites, throwing in whatever [[RefugeInAudacity audacity]], [[RuleOfCool coolness]], and [[RuleOfFun fun]] will allow, so that very little makes sense and the books defy classification. There are [[{{Pun}} Aspects]] of {{High|Fantasy}} and LowFantasy, as well as [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness Hard and Soft Sci Fi]]. Dragons, mages, mythical creatures, deity-class beings, ruined cities and medieval citizenry appear alongside time machines, computers, fighter planes, spaceships, laser weapons, lost colonies, and robotics. And then there's Earth.

* TwoFistedTales / {{Pastiche}}: Gene's solo adventures seem to be made of these, to the point of seeming like AuthorAppeal. The very first, the world of the Umoi, their ruined AI cities, and their {{Servant Race}}s which have degenerated into barbarian tribes seems like a cross between Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard--Gene even compares his first sight of Zond to the "cover of ''Astounding Stories''" and refers to Edmund Hamilton, and the world's name is later revealed to be [[ShoutOut New Barsoom]]. The episode plays out as a MightyWhitey PlanetaryRomance. Meanwhile, Alice's world could be ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' or ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'' while Sativa's could be any [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness Physics Plus]] SpaceOpera out there.

* BadassBeard: Incarnadine, Kwip.

* AllNatualFireExtinguisher: The series has a scene in which a Devil to whom Lord Incarnadine's brother has sold his soul opens a pit to Hell to collect on the contract, but Lord Incarnadine - who has drunk an excessive amount of voodoo liquor - pees down the pit and extinguishes the fires of Hell.

* ImportantCharacterImportantEvidence: Thaxton and Dalton are not only the ones to find the body in ''Castle Murders'', but Thaxton finds the murder weapon and later the book of magic that helps him figure out the solution. Particularly noteworthy since before this they were usually only the ButtMonkey or TheLoad, but once they got ADayInTheLimelight...

!!!The castle’s 144,000 Aspects include the following tropes [[TropeOverdosed (and many more!)]]:

* TechnoBabble: Naturally, much of Jeremy's descriptions of the castle computers and how they work is this, much to the bafflement of Osmirik--which is PlayedForLaughs since the way the scribe spoke of [[MagiBabble spells]] and historical texts was really NotSoDifferent. Which, aside from their both being at the tops of their fields, is why they were [[{{Foil}} paired up together]].

* AllMythsAreTrue: The Hosts of Hell possibly inspired Earth's concept of DemonLordsAndArchdevils. Castle Perilous itself is reminiscent of or even a TropeNamer for a place/tale in [[KingArthur Arthurian Canon]]. Incarnadine theorizes to Trent that their father, who had a strong interest in Earth and Western European culture especially and gave them all British names, was Merlin. (And his name, as revealed in ''Castle Dreams'', was [[Theatre/{{Macbeth}} Cawdor]].) Thanks to stories of Castle Perilous told in Kwip's world, and legends of a "Castle of the Gods" in Vaya's, this may be true for the myths of ''[[UpToEleven all]]'' Aspects.

** Castle Perilous, aside from being a very apt name for such a dangerous, unstable place, is a reference to [[KingArthur Arthurian Canon]] and the Siege Perilous, as well as a castle in the tale of Gareth and Linette. It is implied that it [[AllMythsAreTrue actually is the castle of legend]], or of various legends throughout the Aspects.
** In a great StealthPun, the supposed "castle editions" of the series found in the library by Osmirik are published under the overarching title ''[[Literature/IdyllsOfTheKing Eidolons of the King]]''. Not only is this entirely appropriate for a work whose central location comes from [[KingArthur Arthurian Canon]], but an eidolon, being a ghost or phantasm, could aptly describe what the events of the books, being fictional, would be to [=DeChancie=] and the readers here in the real world.

* LoveAtFirstSight: Sheila for Trent.
* LoveTriangle: Between Gene, Linda, and [[spoiler:Incarnadine]].

* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness / BuffySpeak: [=DeChancie=] isn't afraid to show off his vocabulary, [[ViewersAreGeniuses nor does he underestimate the intelligence of his readers]]. At the same time, there is a deliberate dissonance between this and modern colloquial speech, thanks to Incarnadine and Trent having lived on Earth for so long. The switch between the two is also deliberately invoked by Incarnadine (and Trent) to annoy or confuse his enemies (''Castle Dreams''), and vice versa (the Hosts of Hells' "used car salesman" shtick).

* GirlOfTheWeek / TemporaryLoveInterest: For Gene: first Vaya, then Alice, then Sativa. [[spoiler:[[CharacterDeath The latter suffers the usual fate]]]] while Vaya gets PutOnABus.

* FiveManBand: Most of the time the Guests of Castle Perilous are either [[InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn on their own]] or divide up into pairs for their adventures, save for the [[PowerTrio trio]] of Gene, Linda, and Snowclaw. But when they ''do'' team up...
** TheHero: Gene
** TheLancer: Kwip
** TheSmartGuy: Jacoby
** TheBigGuy: Snowclaw
** TheChick: Linda
** TheLoad: Thaxton and Dalton
** TagalongKid: Deena
** Later, this switches around and breaks down...Linda and Sheila trade off being TheLancer and TheChick (and TheHeart), Thaxton and Dalton become TheSmartGuy, and Kwip is the SixthRanger. Then Jeremy appears as TheSmartGuy, when Trent travels with them he becomes TheLancer, and they even gain a TeamPet in ''Castle Murders''.

* DirectLineToTheAuthor: The books are purported to be true adventures (except ''Castle Dreams'') discovered in the castle library by Osmirik, Court Scribe and Royal Librarian to Lord Incarnadine, i.e., InUniverse {{Fictional Document}}s, and are so 'introduced' by him at the beginning of both ''Castle Murders'' and ''Castle Dreams'', although he claims no trace of John [=DeChancie=] exists on Earth and so he and the novels must be from a variant Earth where the castle is only fiction. Later it is revealed that Lord Incarnadine himself takes on the identity of a writer here on Earth, though he claims that [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial he did not pass these off as his own fantasy works]], something contradicted by [[IShouldWriteABookAboutThis the ending of]] ''[[IShouldWriteABookAboutThis Castle for Rent]]''... (Presumably "John Carney" is a pseudonym for [=DeChancie=] himself!) This self-mockery also appears in ''Castle Murders'' when 'Osmirik' claims [[{{Metafiction}} never to have seen the earlier novels until now, let alone written them or the prefaces]], and engages in a long and lively debate about alternate realities, how the magic of the castle could have spontaneously produced such works, and the literary merit (or lack thereof) of such [[SelfDeprecation "cheap trash" with "terrible cover art", "written in an uneven, 'quasi-grammatical style' by turns breezy, serviceable, and sesquipedalian" with "all the conventions of the popular romance"]] (as well as debating the cultural origin of the "immodest" author’s name, and claiming that [[TakeThat none of the critics and colleagues quoted on the covers are real either]]). It even enters MindScrew territory when he not only denounces the {{footnote|Fever}}s which appear throughout ''Castle Dreams'', but claims in the second preface of ''Castle Murders'' that it appeared in the book [[Film/{{Spaceballs}} before he had even written it]], complete with relevant footnote and his expression of astonishment at finding it.

* YouCantThwartStageOne:
** While this is generally true for all the villainous schemes in the series, it is especially notable in ''Castle Perilous'' and ''Castle for Rent''.

* SuspectExistenceFailure: In ''Castle Murders''. Knowing that Dorcas had discerned his guilt, [[spoiler:Lord Arl]] tries to kill her as well. In the process, however, he [[MurderByMistake accidentally kills]] [[spoiler:Count Damik]] instead--which ''also'' happens to exonerate him, since prior to this he'd been a strong suspect due to his fascination and skill with knives.