History Literature / DeltoraQuest

** Despite the fact that he was both cold and cruel, the anime only character Sorcerer Oacus's death is surprisingly tearjerking, even if his last words where to curse the heroes. It seems he may have been as much a victim of the Shadow Lord's machinations (if not more so) as everybody else.

** Despite the fact that he was both cold and cruel, the anime ony character Sorcerer Oacus's death is surpriseingly tearjerking. Even if his last words where to curse the heroes. It seems he may have been as much a victim of the Shadow Lord's machinations as much (if not more so) as everybody else.

** Evil sorceror Oacus in the anime.

* CanonForeigner: The sorceror Oacus in the anime.

* EvilSorceror: [[spoiler: The Shadow Lord's origin]], also ''Sorceress'' Thaegan, and a few of the Shadow Lord's other servants also turn out to be this.

* SorcerousOverlord: The Shadow lord fits this better than EvilOverlord alone since he is also a powerful sorceror and infact derives much of his power from that fact.

* AChildShallLeadThem: Well, when the heir takes the throne he's about seventeen.

Currently has a [[AnimatedAdaptation anime adaptation,]] a manga adaptation and also a game on the DS. The anime has aired around the world, on TheHub, on {{ABC3}}, and in Italy.

''Deltora Quest'' is the collective title of three separate series of [[HighFantasy Fantasy]] novels written by [[LandDownunder Australian]] author Emily Rodda (real name: Jennifer Rowe), withtoo cover art and other illustrations by Marc [=McBride=]. A series written as a mix of [[GenreBusting fantasy, mystery, interactivity, horror, romance, action and adventure]], it definitely has a following. Also, quite {{Troperiffic}}.

''Deltora Quest 2'', alternatively called ''Deltora Quest Shadowlands'', chronicles the adventures of [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Lief]], [[TheBigGuy Barda]] and [[JunglePrincess Jasmine]] as they journey to [[GottaCatchEmAll find the three]] [[PlotCoupons pieces of the long-lost Pirran Pipe]] to rescue Deltorans held captive in the [[{{Mordor}} Shadowlands]]. Notable for making the third-person narration sympathetic to Jasmine's thoughts almost as frequently as Lief's.

In ''Deltora Quest 3'', also known as ''Dragons of Deltora'', [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Lief]], [[TheBigGuy Barda]] and [[JunglePrincess Jasmine]] must journey across Deltora to awaken the seven sleeping dragons of Deltora and destroy the Four Sisters, which are secretly poisoning the land. Notable for ramping the NightmareFuel UpToEleven in its last book, where seemingly everything that can go wrong at once ''does''. [[spoiler: ([[EarnYourHappyEnding But it all works out in the end, of course.]])]]

* ArcNumber: Seven. Seven gems, seven tribes, seven dragons, seven letters in 'Deltora', seven Ak-Baba, the Shadow Lord re-invades Deltora exactly seven years into Endon's reign, Jasmine was seven when her parents were take, etc.

** There was definitely some between [[IncestIsRelative Jasmine]] and Doom in the first series, even if it was unintended by the author.

* EncyclopediaExposita: Text from [[FictionalDocument The Belt of Deltora]] crops up regularly.
* EnemyWithin: In the AnimatedAdaptation, within the mirror of fear Lief fights a pair of Theagans Children impersonating his.

* EvilSorceror: [[spoiler: The Shadow Lord's origin]], also ''Sorceress'' Thaegan, a few of the Shadow Lord's other servants also turn out to be this.

** [[spoiler: Laughing Jack]] also gets one if you actually stop to think about, though he deserved it.

* GiantFlyer: The Ak-Baba, AKA the Shadow Lord's pet deathbirdies. Deathbirdies about a fourth the size of your average dragon... which is still something for any sane person to give consideration to. Also, dragons.

* SdrawkcabName: Nevets, Steven's 'brother'.

''Deltora Quest'' is the collective title of three separate series of [[HighFantasy Fantasy]] novels written by [[LandDownunder Australian]] author Emily Rodda (real name: Jennifer Rowe), with cover art and other illustrations by Marc [=McBride=]. A series written as a mix of [[GenreBusting fantasy, mystery, interactivity, horror, romance, action and adventure]], it definitely has a following. Also, quite {{Troperiffic}}.

** Marilen also qualifies when in the third series she defies her father's orders, takes supplies from Tora's tradeship to aid Del and uses Toran magic to transport herself to Del while it is scourged with disease. That's pretty damn BadAss.

* ActionGirl - Take a ''[[IncrediblyLamePun wild]]'' guess [[spoiler:([[DontExplainTheJoke It's Jasmine]].)]]
* AChildShallLeadThem - Well, when the heir takes the throne he's about seventeen.
* AdaptationDyeJob - Jasmine having green hair in the anime (she has black hair in the books), while Lief turned blond in ''all'' the adaptations.

* AllThereInTheManual - ''Tales of Deltora'', which depicted the legends that proves important for the series, such as showing how the Shadow Lord's dark greed began, the Masked Ones' beginnings, as well as telling how King Adin united the Seven Tribes against the Shadow Lord's army, complete with Deltora Quest's artist giving his depiction of the scenes.

* AerithAndBob - There are made up names. There are unusual, but used, English names. Then there are Anna, Tom, Ava, Jack and Steven.
* AndIMustScream - The fate of [[spoiler: Doran the Dragonlover]].
** Then there are [[ItMakesSenseInContext Laughing Jack's horses]]
* AnimatedAdaptation - Anime.
* AnimatedArmor - Gorl
* AnimeThemeSong
** Only in the original version. The dub (predictably) uses an original instrumental theme with scenes from the original opening. Furthermore, the ending has been replaced completely.
* AnyoneCanDie - Mostly averted. A few deaths hit us hard, but [[ContractualImmortality the core group is always the same]], and there are no [[SacrificialLion Sacrifical Lions]] or anything like that. Main characters can be tortured, poisoned, drugged, [[GoodScarsEvilScars permanently scarred]], or LeftForDead, but that's about it.
* ArcNumber - Seven. Seven gems, seven tribes, seven dragons, seven letters in 'Deltora', seven Ak-Baba, the Shadow Lord re-invades Deltora exactly seven years into Endon's reign, Jasmine was seven when her parents were take, etc.
* AscendedExtra - Neridah, Thaegan and the Enigmatic... Bird in the anime.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning - [[spoiler:Lief]] at the end of the first series, naturally. And it is awesome indeed.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther- Lief and Jasmine. Also, Barda and [[spoiler: Lindal]]. Jasmine and Doom have these moments, as well, but not in a romantic way.

* BadAss - Doom.

* BaitAndSwitch - Doom is fond of this trope, as is the author.
* BatmanGambit- The Shadow Lord's plan in the third series turns out to be one of these. [[SpannerInTheWorks He just didn't count on]] [[spoiler:the dragons being convinced to come together. Although he ''did'' try to kill them off anyway, fortunately [[CloudCuckooLander Doran the Dragonlover]] prevents this.]] Best summed up by the Shadow Lord's own words "I have plans within plans"

* BecauseDestinySaysSo - Jasmine only agreed to go on The Quest with Lief and Barda because her mother's ghost appeared to her and told her to.
* BerserkButton - Do ''not'' hurt people Lief of Del cares about, if you value your life.

* BelligerentSexualTension - Lief and Jasmine in all three series.

* TheBigGuy - Barda is the last of the palace guards, some of the greatest warriors in Deltora.
* {{Bishounen}} - Lief in the anime.

* BlackKnight - Gorl.
* BodyHorror - Claw and quite a few characters trapped in the Shadowlands.

**** Also, we can assume that the real Anna was [[spoiler:ripped apart by a Vraal]].
* BoisterousBruiser - Glock and just about every member of the Jalis tribe. Also, most if not all of the population of Broome.
* BrokenBird - Jasmine.
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive - Jasmine initially had absolutely no intention of joining Lief and Barda in the first series. Then, after they get the topaz, it draws her dead mother's spirit, who bids her to join them.
* CanonForeigner - The sorceror Oacus in the anime.
* CaptainObvious - Jasmine.

* CharacterDevelopment - Lief gets more mature and thinks before he acts (mostly). Barda learns to like Lief and Jasmine, and they form a little [[TrueCompanions makeshift family]]. Jasmine learns to be (a bit) more trusting and (a bit) less wild.
* ChekhovsGun - Tiny details in a previous book or even earlier in the same book can be crucial later on. Many are directly related to [[OnlySmartPeopleMayPass the puzzles]] e.g. the names of the Guardian's pets.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome - Three guesses...
* CircusOfFear - The Masked Ones.
* CloudCuckoolander - Josef is viewed as this in-universe in the third series, [[spoiler:much to everyone else's mistake]].

* ColdBloodedTorture - The Granous' idea of fun is gruesomely torturing their victims and dismembering their fingers and toes.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience - Anything directly belonging to the [[BigBad Shadow Lord]] is generally colored grey with scarlet markings.
* ContrivedCoincidence - As often noted by Lief or someone else.
* CrapsackWorld - Deltora, especially in the first series.
** See NightmareFuel, below... "it's like Deltora is [[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou the fictional equivalent of Australia or something]]".
* CrazyPrepared - Doom.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadAss - In ''The Cavern of the Fear'' Glock proves that he's much more than a gambler, gossiper and alcoholic.
* CurseIsFoiledAgain - Partial subversion in the third series. When each of the Four Sisters poisoning the land is destroyed, the region it affected heals up immediately (crops grow again, poisoned wells clear up, et cetera)... but once all four are destroyed, [[spoiler:disgusting grey gunk starts rising from the ground to flood the land. Fortunately, the main characters manage to destroy that too. [[KillItWithFire With dragons]].]]

* DangerousSixteenthBirthday - Lief's potentially lethal journey starts on his sixteenth birthday.
* DarkerAndEdgier - Each series is definitely darker than the one before it.
** Each book within the individual series gets progressively darker, as well.
* DarkAndTroubledPast - Jasmine, Doom, Ranesh, Manus, Fardeep, ''all'' of the Dread Gnomes, Tira and the rest of Noradz, and the Torans probably qualify now too... This is the sort of thing that happens when you live in a CrapsackWorld.
* DarkMagicalGirl - [[spoiler: Kirsten]] and [[spoiler: Paff]].
* DeadPersonImpersonation - [[spoiler: Doom/Jarred.]]
** Kind of. He took his name out of respect, he didn't pretend to be him.
* DeadlyGames - The ones in Rithmere, as well as the [[NightmareFuel Shadowland Arena]].
* DeadGuyJunior - Lief and Jasmine name their daughter after Jasmine's dead mother and name one of their twin sons after [[spoiler:Lief's father]] - in a subversion, the other is named after Jasmine's father, [[spoiler:who is very much alive at the end of the series - but no longer uses his birthname]]. (Those would be: [[spoiler:Lief's father Endon, former king and later blacksmith, and Jasmine's parents Jarred and Anna.]])

* DeadpanSnarker - ''Barda''. Jasmine, Doom and Ranesh sometimes qualify.
* DefrostingIceQueen - Although Jasmine never really defrosts, compare her in the first few books to the rest, and she's way different.
* {{Determinator}} - The Vraal. Once it decides that you're it's opponent, it will never rest.
* DoomedHometown - Subverted! Del may have taken a great deal of damage during the years when the monarchy stopped working, but it's definitely still standing when everything is said and done. (The anime tried its damnedest to play this straight, ''utterly demolishing'' the palace and much of the surrounding city in the climactic battle. It also gets rebuilt very quickly.)
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom - [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Doom]], the leader of LaResistance
* DrivenToSuicide - [[spoiler: Paff.]]
* DyingMomentOfAwesome - [[spoiler:Glock]]. It also was a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.
* DysfunctionalFamily - Jasmine and [[spoiler:Doom]] in the second and third series. It's not that they don't like each other, it's just that their family is unusual. It's often pointed out by other characters. In fact, even Jasmine and [[spoiler:Doom]] [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther point it out in ''The Sister of the South'']].
* EarlyBirdCameo - The scarred man they meet in Tom's shop reappears a book later and becomes one of the main characters - Doom.

* EarnYourHappyEnding - Or, in this case, earn it ''[[RuleOfThree three times]]''...
* EldritchAbomination - The Shadow Lord's appearance in the anime can best be described as "[[PokemonMysteryDungeon Darkrai]] seen through the eyes of GuillermoDelToro."
* EncyclopediaExposita text from [[FictionalDocument The Belt of Deltora]] crops up regularly.
* EnemyWithin - In the AnimatedAdaptation, within the mirror of fear Lief fights a pair of Theagans Children impersonating his.
* EvilChancellor - The Chief Advisors to the King of Deltora, most notably Prandine. [[spoiler: They turn out to all have been [[ShapeShifter Grade 3 Ols.]]]]
* EvilOverlord - The Shadow Lord, duh.
* EvilSorceror - [[spoiler: The Shadow Lord's origin]], also ''Sorceress'' Thaegan, a few of the Shadow Lord's other servants also turn out to be this.
* FateWorseThanDeath - [[spoiler: Dragonlover Doran becoming a Sister's Guardian many years ago.]]
** [[spoiler: Laughing Jack]] also gets one if you actually stop to think about, though he deserved.
* [[FillerArc Filler]] - The anime (which adapted the first series) ran for sixty-five episodes. The books' plot finally ran out at episode ''fifty''-two, and that included enough filler to make Thaegan into a recurring "boss"! Interestingly enough, Anime News Network reported that the Australian broadcast of the anime will consist of ''fifty-five'' episodes (52, plus the first three filler episodes). Meanwhile, only the first fifty-two have been seen in the U.S..
** One wonders why they didn't adapt the other two series.
* FireForgedFriends - Lief, Barda and Jasmine.
* GenkiGirl - Prin
* GiantFlyer - The Ak-Baba, AKA the Shadow Lord's pet deathbirdies. Deathbirdies ''as large as dragons''. Also, dragons.
** [[{{RetCon}} Retconned]]. Ak-Baba are about a fourth the size of your average dragon... which is still something for any sane person to give consideration to.
* TheGoodKing - [[spoiler:Lief goes on to rule Deltora 'long and wisely' after the events of the books. In the second and third series [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething he actively takes part in freeing his people from the Shadowlands and awakening the dragons]].]]
* GoodScarsEvilScars - Doom, grizzled face and complete with a scar over his eye. And good guy.

* GottaCatchEmAll - The main quest in the first series. And the second series, but to a much lesser extent.
* GottaKillThemAll - The main quest in the third series, killing all four Sisters.
* HeroicBSOD - Jasmine gets hit by this in the series 2 book ''The Shadowlands'' after finding out that [[spoiler: Faith isn't real]].

* HeroicLineage - King Adin's bloodline
* [[spoiler: HiveMind. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Hive,]]]] the boss of ''The Shifting Sands''.
* HoldingHands - Lief and Jasmine do this often in the third series.
* IAmWho - Lief is [[spoiler: the heir.]] Jasmine is [[spoiler: Doom's long-lost daughter]]. Doom is [[spoiler: the real Jarred]].
* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace - Almost every single location the gang went to, the majority of them being the plot-relevant location providing the title of the book. Lief was understandably worried upon hearing their names.
* IdentityAmnesia - [[spoiler: Doom's]] secret in the first series. [[spoiler: He gets it back at the end of series one]].

* InvisibilityCloak - The special traveling cloak Lief's mother, [[spoiler: Sharn]], gave to her son, which can render ''anyone'' hidden underneath it invisible, or near enough that it makes no difference. This cloak saves the gang on more than one occasion.
* ItsAllMyFault - [[spoiler:Lief's father]] King Endon invokes this trope when Deltora and the palace are attacked by the Shadow Lord, feeling that if he had been a "stronger" king, it never would have happened.
* JerkAss - Doom and Glock, but only in the first series.
** Glock remains a JerkAss in the second series as well, and so does Jinks, but Glock makes up for it with his [[spoiler: DyingMomentOfAwesome]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold - Doom in the second and third series. Although he's tough, he truly cares for his friends and his [[spoiler: daughter]].
** Glock also counts, until [[spoiler: he dies]].
* JunglePrincess - Jasmine
* KickTheDog - The ending to the Shadowlord's [[spoiler: Faith]] {{Gambit}} was just a big kick in the face to a certain [[UnwittingPawn wild girl]].
* KidHero - Lief. [[spoiler: Also sort of a WarriorPrince.]]
* KillMe - [[spoiler:Doran the Dragonlover to the Amethyst Dragon]] for a ''[[AndIMustScream very]]'' [[FateWorseThanDeath good reason]].
* KingIncognito - Let's just say it ties into the spoilered bit next to IAmWho above.
* LamarckWasRight - Jasmine is basically a female {{Expy}} of her father.
* LampshadeHanging - In the AnimatedAdaptation Jasmine asks how many times they'll have to fight her, lampshading her status as a RecurringBoss.
* LastOfHisKind - [[spoiler: In the first series, it ''appears'' that Glock is the last of the Jalis tribe. In the second series, Lief is the last heir of Adin, until TheReveal, in the last chapter, showed otherwise]].
* LateArrivalSpoiler - The back of each book spoils the previous book. The backs of the books in the second and third series spoil who the heir is.

* LongLostRelative - In the final book of series one, it is revealed that [[spoiler: Doom is Jasmine's father. Neither knew this, even though they had spent a lot of time together. This was because Jasmine was so young when her parents were taken that she couldn't recall their faces. Doom lost his memory in the Shadowlands, and didn't regain it until he smashed his head, thus realizing that Jasmine was his daughter.]]
* LogicBomb - The heroes come upon a monster guarding a bridge. Barda and Jasmine pass its tests, but the Lief fails the riddle, and the monster allows him to say one last thing to determine how he die. If the statement is true, he will be strangled. If it's false, his head will be cut off. He says "My head will be cut off." Fortunately, a paradox was exactly what was needed to defeat the monster in the first place, as the monster was condemned to guard the bridge "Until truth and lies are one." The monster is returned to its original form, a black bird, and freed.
* LostWoods - The Forests of Silence, of course.
* LoveMakesYouEvil - In Shadowgate we get [[spoiler: Kirsten]]
* LukeIAmYourFather - [[spoiler: Doom.]]
* MadeOfIndestructium - The gems cannot be destroyed, as long as an heir to the throne still lives.
** The gems can't be destroyed, ''period'', nor taken beyond Deltora's borders without giving their carrier [[KillItWithFire a very nasty death]]. The Belt itself supposedly cannot be (completely) destroyed as long as an heir lives, but that's yet to be proven.
* MeaningfulName[=/=]ThemeNaming - The seven dragons are all named after their respective gem's associated trait. This is also the foundations for their personality. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the final book:
-->[[spoiler:Honora]]: Now we know each other's true names ... for any fool could guess which dragon name is which.

* MineralMacguffin - The gems.
* TheMole - [[spoiler:Dain]] turns out to be [[spoiler:a [[ShapeShifter Grade 3 Ol]].]]

*** [[spoiler: Kree]] in the third series is an ''unwitting'' example.
* {{Mordor}} - The Shadowlands.
** Heck, you could even call the Shadow Lord an {{Expy}} of [[LordOfTheRings Sauron]].
* {{Nature Hero}}ine - Jasmine, WildHair and all.
* NarrativeProfanityFilter - Not used often, but when it is, it's usually referring to something Barda or Doom wouldn't be allowed to say in front of the target audience.

* NobodyThinksItWillWork - He's the handsome, brave, heroic and renowned king of a massive country. ''She was raised by trees''.
* NoHuggingNoKissing - Lief and Jasmine. Although by series 3 Rodda's normally spare narrative mentions a ''lot'' of little affectionate gestures between the two of them, and the epilogue proves that they soon end up doing much more than that...
* NonHumanSidekick - Filli and Kree.

* TheObiWan - Barda fits this a bit. Could also in part be applied to Josef, regarding how he raised Ranesh...
* OfficialCouple - Lief and Jasmine (to no one's surprise), [[spoiler: Barda and Lindal]], [[spoiler: Ranesh and Marilen]]...
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname - Doom. Even [[spoiler:his daughter]] calls him Doom, even to his face.
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass - Rodda seems to love this trope. Pick a book and you can be almost guaranteed to find puzzles, secret codes and other what-nots.
** WordOfGod is that she looked to video games to get an idea of what might get kids to read, hence the high degree of pseudo-interactivity.
* OnlyOneName - Everyone.
* TheOphelia - YMMV, but Jasmine [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation probably]] qualifies.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent - Deltoran dragons correspond to and are representative of the seven gems, breathe fire in corresponding colors, and have personalities determined by the properties ascribed to the gem they are associated with. There's a ''reason'' that the third series is called ''Dragons of Deltora''. [[CaptainObvious It has dragons]]. And it's [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons awesome]].
* OurMonstersAreWeird - Where do we begin to describe, let alone categorise, half the monsters in this series. The beautiful yet terrifying illustrations of Marc [=McBride=] don't help.
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Sharn, Zeean, Marilen and the rest of the Torans.
* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage - Queen Sharn and King Endon.

* PregnantBadAss - Sharn in the ''Forests of Silence'' prologue. Anna, at the same time, but to a lesser extent.

* ProlongedPrologue - Takes up half of the first book.
* ProperlyParanoid - Doom has learned to be this, and tries to enforce it onto everyone else.

*** As Sha-Ban said to Josef ''"I can trust you," "You eat, and you are warm."'' [[DeathByOriginStory Considering what happened after that]], she should have been more paranoid, and Josef learned that so should he.

* PuppeteerParasite - The Conversion Project slugs.
* RealSongThemeTune - The AnimatedAdaptation featured the song "In This Life", by Delta Goodrem, as its 3rd opening theme (at least in the original Japanese version).
* RedHerring - Used twice in the final book of the first series, when they are looking for the heir. At first it is believed to be [[spoiler: Dain]], then [[spoiler: Jasmine]], before it was revealed to be [[spoiler: Lief]]. It is used again in the final book of the third series, in regards to the Sister of the South's Guardian. It is heavily implied to be [[spoiler: Doom]], but it is actually [[spoiler: Paff]].
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent - Reeah, the vraal, and the snake pit at Shadowgate. [[spoiler: But the lattermost was actually responsible for killing the Guardian of the Sister of the North, Kirsten]].

* RomanticFalseLead - Marilen for Lief, Dain and Glock for Jasmine.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething - Once the competent royal takes the throne, he certainly qualifies. His father had tried to be this, but too late. Luckily, he'd married a very quick-witted woman...
* RunningGag - Jasmine searches bodies. It's an old habit. Barda doesn't approve.

* SadisticChoice - In the anime: [[spoiler: Thaegan has captured our heroes and transported them into her Mirror of Fear. Lief fights with his EvilTwin, Barda fights against what was thought as Brandine, and a caged Jasmine is forced to solve a difficult puzzle or she will be dipped into searing hot water for the monsters' stew. Luckily, the Belt's Ruby shows him the way out of the mirror.]]
* ScarilyCompetentTracker - ''Jasmine''. She can put her ear to the ground and tell you if anyone is approaching. And, if so, how many. And how big they are.
** She can also talk to trees.
* SdrawkcabName Nevets, Steven's 'brother'.
* [[ShapeShifter Shapershifters]] - Ols. They can all shape shift into just about anything. Grade 1s are obvious if you know what you're looking for. Grade 2s briefly show their true forms after a long amount of time. Grade 3s are pretty much [[ProperlyParanoid indistinguishable from whatever they are trying to mimic]].
* SheCleansUpNicely - At one point in the first series, Jasmine has gone incognito and traveled away from Lief and Barda because, as a wild girl accompanied by animal friends, she's the most recognizable member of their party. She washes, [[RealWomenNeverWearDresses puts on a dress]], covers her WildHair with a scarf, and puts on make up. When she later (accidentally) meets up with Lief and Barda, it takes them a ''long time to recognize her''.

* SignificantAnagram - [[spoiler:Deltora is spelled with the first letters of the gems on the Belt of Deltora, arranged in the order King Adin the blacksmith managed to convince the Tribes to give him their Gems.]]

* SingleLineOfDescent - By custom, every king or queen has only one child. This turns out to have been [[spoiler:a plot by the Shadow Lord to make it easier to kill off the royal line.]] Ultimately, subverted as Adin (the first king) himself had several children, which [[spoiler:allows a distant relative of the throne to show up]] as a plot point.
* SoProudOfYou - [[spoiler: Anna]] says this to Jasmine when her spirit is momentarily drawn back by the topaz.
* SorcerousOverlord The Shadow lord fits this better than EvilOverlord alone since he is also a powerful sorceror and infact derives much of his power from that fact.
* SparedByTheAdaptation - Neridah in the anime [[spoiler:at least until the filler episodes]].

* StrangeMindsThinkAlike - Jasmine and Doom. There's a reason for it...
* ThemeTable - Seven tribes, seven dragons, seven gems, etc.
* ThirdPersonPerson - Tom the Shop Keeper.
* TeamDad - Barda. He's like a brother to Lief and Jasmine, but is always there to stop the inevitable squabbling between the two of them.
* TeamMom - Sharn. Granted, she's the king's mother, but she pretty much adopts all his close friends after series one... including several former members of the Resistance who are her own age, if not older.

* ThereAreNoTherapists - But if there were, Jasmine and Doom would be a lot better off.
* ThemeTwinNaming - Lief and Jasmine name their twin sons after their fathers, [[spoiler: Endon]] and [[spoiler: Jarred]], who were also best friends.
* TragicMonster - ''Many.'' Notable example was [[spoiler:Doran the Dragonlover, who became the Guardian of a Sister]].
* TreacherousSpiritChase - There is one of these spread across the entire of Deltora Quest Two, and across a magic communication crystal.
* {{Tsundere}} - Jasmine fits this pretty well.
* UnresolvedSexualTension - Lief and Jasmine, but it's resolved by the end of the second series.
* UnwittingPawn - Everyone in the second and third series, especially. But Lief and Jasmine get hit by this pretty hard in the second series.
* WeakButSkilled - Jasmine's general fighting style, due to her small stature, especially in the fourth book of the first series, ''The Shifting Sands'', where she's classified as 'agility'.
** Lief falls under this, too. Despite being of average height and strength for his age, most of his opponents are generally bigger and stronger.

* WhereItAllBegan - In the first series, the gang began their journey in Del and concludes it there. In ''Dragons of Deltora'', it's the same, [[spoiler:or so it seems before everyone goes to Hira to stop the ancient beast]].
** Even that could count, if on a much larger scale. Opal the Dreamer first foresaw the Belt when she lived on the Hira plain, and said Belt was finally completed there for the first time as well, marking the end of the first Shadowlands invasion in Adin's time.

* XanatosSpeedChess - [[spoiler:Paff]] is actually surprisingly good at this.

* PuppetKing: [[spoiler: In the third series, Paff starts spreading rumours that Marilen is part of a Toran plot to seize the throne and rule over Deltora as the puppet queen.]]

** Oh so many plans indeed. Just looking at the first series: not only was there the main plot of scattering the gems of the belt, but also [[spoiler: the lie about the Guardian of the Diamond being king Endon to demoralize would be heroes]] and [[spoiler: the fake bodies of Endon and his wife and child, again to demoralize, and the gripper field itself]] and [[spoiler: sending Dain to fake being the heir, Ichabod and other Ols adding further tricks and threats]]. The second series shows even more of his plans, both those to bait the king, and the nasty new creatures he's cooking up. Then there's the third series... as mentioned above, it deals with the last of ThePlan. The epilogue deliberately restates that he will never, ever stop planning and plotting.

* [[spoiler: HiveMind. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Hive,]] the boss of ''The Shifting Sands''.

* BlackKnight - Gorril.

* BatmanGambit

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:While the Sisters' song was poisoning the land, killing everyone slowly through drought and famine, it's also acting as a seal on an ancient terrible monster that'll devour and turn everything it touches into hard grey crust.]] A fine example of the Shadow Lord's XanatosGambit if it weren't for [[spoiler:[[SpannerInTheWorks the dragons]]]].

* XanatosGambit - The Shadow Lord's plan in the third series turns out to be one of these. [[SpannerInTheWorks He just didn't count on]] [[spoiler:the dragons being convinced to come together. Although he ''did'' try to kill them off anyway, fortunately [[CloudCuckooLander Doran the Dragonlover]] prevents this.]] Best summed up by the Shadow Lord's own words "I have plans within plans"
** Oh so many plans indeed. Just looking at the first series: not only was there the main plot of scattering the gems of the belt, but also [[spoiler: the lie about the Guardian of the Diamond being king Endon to demoralize would be heroes]] and [[spoiler: the fake bodies of Endon and his wife and child, again to demoralize, and the gripper field itself]] and [[spoiler: sending Dain to fake being the heir, Ichabod and other Ols adding further tricks and threats]]. The second series shows even more of his plans, both those to bait the king, and the nasty new creatures he's cooking up. Then there's the third series... as mentioned above, it deals with the last of his XanatosGambit. The epilogue deliberately restates that he will never, ever stop planning and plotting.

** Also [[spoiler: Leif and Jasmine. When you consider that their two families were close, and would likely have married had not the Shadow Lord's takeover happened.]]
** That would be extremely unlikely, given that the royal family pre-Shadow Lord Rule was still into arranging marriages between Del rulers and Toran nobility. Regardless of Jared and Endon's friendship, Jared was still of lower status (the son of a higher ranking servant, but a servant nonetheless).