History Literature / DarkHeavens

* MayflyDecemberRomance: Pretty much any human/Shen relationship. Notably Emma/John, Rhonda/Bai Hu, and Gold/Amy. However, [[SubvertedTrope subverting this trope]] is possible, as a powerful enough god can just Raise their spouse (as John has promised to do for Emma). DoubleSubverted with [[spoiler: Rhonda. Bai Hu tries to Raise her, but because she's half-demon and doesn't know it, she explodes when given the Elixir.]]
* MightyWhitey: A young, white Australian nanny with no previous training goes to Hong Kong, develops superhuman martial-arts skills and magic ''qi'' powers in just a couple of years (certainly by the end of the first book in the first trilogy), beats up demons and generally proves herself the equal of Chinese ''gods'', never mind mere mortals.

* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: ''Dark Serpent'' reveals that [[spoiler: the western gods did this repeatedly, until in the end they just gave up. Which was yet another example, because in the absence of its gods, Europe fell under the control of demonkind.]]
* NobleBigot: Subverted. The Jade Emperor has no problem with homosexuality; if your nature is to be attracted to your own sex, you can't follow the Tao without doing so. But he considers marriage to be strictly between men and women. [[spoiler: Actually, this was because [[GambitRoulette he wanted to forbid one specific marriage that had been set in motion by a demon plot]]. The moment that's foiled, he changes the rules to allow same-sex marriage, and tells Leo and Martin to get on with it.]]

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: When someone dies, Immortal or not, they have to go to Hell for a meeting with Judge Pao. Even the Jade Emperor can't force him to expedite the hearing, and he doesn't - the only time in which he does bend the rules is when Hell has been invaded by demons. [[spoiler: It's revealed that he's a CorruptBureaucrat as well, in that he has been censured for illegally finding every woman whose case crossed his desk Unworthy of Immortality, even if they've attained the position - as he tries to do to Emma, before the Dark Lord intervenes.]]

* AwesomeButImpractical: [[spoiler: Emma is able to generate an ultra-rare black chi, which can instantly annihilate demons, or turn them human... sometimes. Other times, it does nothing at all. Eventually, Emma decides it's too unreliable and stops using it... [[ChekhovsGun for now]].]]

* BreakTheCutie: Simone. Emma, for certain values of 'Cutie'.

* CantHaveSexEver: Certainly puts Literature/{{Twilight}} in perspective. Although [[spoiler: they get around it a few times.]]

* TurtlePower: John Chen, the Turtle half of Xuan Wu, is indeed a wise and powerful turtle. His son Martin...less wise, but still quite powerful.

* TheChessmaster: The Demon King is probably the most skilled player in the cosmos.[[note]]The Jade Emperor doesn't count, being essentially omniscient.[[/note]] [[spoiler: He builds up a reputation as a scrupulously honest and AffablyEvil NobleDemon for millenia, while using false identities and traitors against himself to set up a plan to entrap his greatest adversary, then discards it all in one masterstroke that damages the Celestial enough to ''win him the war''.]]

* GreatWhiteFeline: Big cats with white fur are depicted as powerful, majestic, heroic or rare.

* BadassGay: Leo. He's in love with John Chen and later Martin, and despite being terminally ill with AIDS, he's probably the strongest true mortal in the series. [[spoiler: At the end of the first trilogy, the latter stops being true.]]

* EnlightenmentSuperpowers: Through following the Tao, a human can gain the control of chi necessary to perform [[KiAttacks superhuman feats]], or even be raised to {{Immortality}} upon death.

* JerkassFacade: [[spoiler: Qing Long is actually a gentle and effeminate soul, but for thousands of years he's had to conform to the expectations of society and act like a proper alpha male dick, and now he's trapped in the facade.]]

* OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous: Shen don't have an inherent sex at all, and what sex they do assume is merely "an instrument." Most Shen have a less-flexible ''gender'' identity, but even that's not universal; Xuan Wu is ''both'' male and female in his True Form, Zhu Que is genderfluid (but currently female), and Bai Hu is entirely male but enjoys [[ShapeshiftersDoItForAChange assuming female form]] for [[GirlOnGirlIsHot lesbian sex]]. On the other side, the Demon King is male in his primary identity, but was born a human woman, and is whatever sex or gender they need to be in other identities.

* ParentalSexualitySquick: Poor Simone. In general, she doesn't like listening to her parental figures' frank talk about sex and tends to revert to a twelve-year-old when she hears it, even when she's well older than that. Given that one of her "uncles" is [[ReallyGetsAround the White Tiger]], she tends to have to cover her poor ears a lot.

** There are also frequent {{Shout Out}}s to geek favourites such as ''Literature/GoodOmens'', ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', ''Series/DoctorWho'' and others. Kylie Chan is obviously OneOfUs.

* PowerLevels: Demons are rated by levels. For comparison, a level fifty is pretty heavy.

* IGaveMyWord: Xuan Wu's oaths have enough power that reality bends itself around them. [[spoiler: His vow to Raise and marry Emma is a major plot point, and remains so even though Emma shouldn't have needed him to Raise her in the first place.]]