History Literature / Everworld

%%* KickTheSonOfABitch: Jalil to Senna on a number of occasions.

* BadBoss: All the gods and Senna.
* BarrierMaiden: The "gateway" [[spoiler:Senna]], though she has her own agenda.
* BastardBastard: Senna.
* BerserkButton: For April, anything involving [[SiblingYinYang her half-sister]].

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Holy manslaughter [[spoiler:and sororicide]], April.
* BigBadEnsemble: Loki, Ka Anor and [[spoiler:Senna]].
* BigCreepyCrawlies: The Hetwan.

* BlackAndNerdy: Jalil

* DontYouDarePityMe: Several characters express this.

* FieryRedhead: April. She's green-eyed to boot, and, of course, has an Irish ancestry.

* GangstaStyle: Keith. To quote Jalil, "He'd learned his moves from TV."

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Christopher and Jalil unwillingly drift in this direction.
* HonorBeforeReason[=/=]HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: David in his protection of Senna. Senna herself inverts both tropes.

* [[HumanPopsicle Immortal Popsicle]]: [[spoiler:Thor and Balder are frozen in Hel]].

* [[ImAHumanitarian I'm A Humanitarian]]: Ka Anor eats other gods. They aren't happy about this.
* ImmortalImmaturity: Pretty much ALL of the immortals, save the Celtic ones.
** Athena tries to avert this, with varying degrees of success.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Jalil to Senna on a number of occasions.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Ganymede, Senna, Galahad, Finn [=MacCool=], Fenrir.]]
* KnightInShiningArmour: Galahad. Finn [=McCool=] thinks he's one, but comes off as more of a JerkAss ArrogantKungFuGuy.

* LargeHam: Pretty much every single one of the gods, who's personalities range from PsychopathicManchild to BoisterousBruiser. Even [[TheSmartGuy Athena]] has shades of this. Thorolf, one of the Vikings, is also a decent example, as are many of his crewmates, and Senna does it as an act for [[spoiler:Keith and his psychos]].

* MasterOfIllusion: Senna and Merlin.

* TheAlcoholic: Christopher

* WhereTheMagicWent: Everworld, naturally - created whole cloth by the gods to be a new home for them and all other magical beings.

* YourWorstMemory: David finds himself tormented by the memory of [[spoiler:watching a child being raped at summer camp.]] It's not until he relives the incident in greater detail -- thanks to Senna -- that he realizes the truth: [[spoiler:''he'' was the one being molested.]]

* NayTheist: Senna's official view towards the various gods of Everworld. She openly acknowledges their existence and often even scolds the others for not treating them as such, but also quite clearly states that they are not omnipotent, are too weak to use power correctly, and she even [[spoiler:plans to kill or reduce every god to a slave when she rules Everworld]]. It is unknown what her attitude towards the idea of a monotheistic {{God}} is, as the only things she's said about that sort of religion is that she enjoyed going to church and that she can't stand [[SoapboxSadie April's self-righteous religiosity]].

* OutOfGenreExperience: This was the only fantasy work that Applegate ever did; everything else she's written has been either sci-fi or realistic fiction, with the later exceptions of ''The One and Only Ivan'' and ''Endling''. It does, however, have some sci-fi elements with the presence of alien beings like the Hetwan and Coo-Hatch in Everworld, who were brought there when their gods found a way into the dimension the gods of Earth created, though technically they're said to have come from other universes rather than other planets.
* OutsideContextProblem: Ka-Anor is this to the rest of Everworld's divine inhabitants. Oh, sure, they could cope with another god in their midst, but a god who ''eats gods''? That's a curveball none of them saw coming and none of them have any idea what to do about. Uniting to kill the threat is the obvious play, but the curious nature of Everworld's MedievalStasis prevents most gods from even ''considering'' this plan, let alone going along with it.

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed initially,]] as Senna personally chose each of them for their respective dysfunctions and intended the group to throw a monkey wrench into the workings of Everworld. However, they eventually do come together as TrueCompanions do exactly the opposite of what she intended - unite Everworld against her, the Sennites, and Ka Anor.

* SadlyMythtaken: The books treat [[TheUnderworld Nifhel]] and [[{{Hell}} Nastrond]] as this same place, as Hel and Niddhoggr both live there, and it's portrayed as a hellish realm of torment. In the original myths, Nifhel was the default afterlife where most people went, whereas Nastrond was a place of punishment for really bad people.

* TroubledTeen: There's David (molested by a male camp counselor as a child and dealing with his feelings of masculine inadequacy), Chris (a racist {{jerkass}} dealing with alcoholism), Jalil (suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder and trying to hide it from everyone else), and then there's Senna who takes the cake as she was abandoned by her mother as a child, but is also a raging narcissist. April is least troubled; she's just mainly judgemental and self-righteous.

* PatchworkWorld: The various mythological gods keep their domains in a seemingly random pattern, so that it's about a two-day sail from Viking country to an Aztec city, from which it's a short hike to Arthurian Britain. At one point the characters actually notice the environment transition between the Greek gods' Mediterranean climate and that of sub-Saharan Africa within a few feet. (While traveling to the Egyptian area, which should logically be between them.) This annoys [[TheSmartGuy Jalil]].

* OutOfGenreExperience: This was the only fantasy work that Applegate ever did; everything else she's written has been either sci-fi or realistic fiction, with the later exceptions of ''The One and Only Ivan'' and ''Endling''.

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: Also ties in with GodsNeedPrayerBadly, as there is a terrible implication about the nature of Ka Anor... [[spoiler:it's theorized by Jalil that he may not actually ''exist'', not in the way the other Gods in Everworld do. The idea that the God-Eater may actually be a manifestation of the religious fervor of The Hetwan disturbs the group more than any other God they encounter does, though the series ends before it can be fully explored.]]

* CombatPragmatist: The group (particularly Jalil) become adept at this simply to ''survive'', as each culture seems to be mode-locked into whatever tactics were the norm when they were brought over into Everworld. Under Athena's patronage they are tasked with instructing the Greek Army in guerrilla warfare in order to combat The Hetwan horde. [[spoiler:When the Sennites invade Everworld with modern weaponry capable of killing immortals, the group brings multiple cultures together to school them in modern tactics.]]

* ZergRush: How The Hetwan make war -- they are not terribly effective fighters, but there are so goddamned many of them (''and'' they are capable of spawning half a dozen at a time) that traditional tactics just don't work.

* CreepyChild: Senna, especially when she was younger, but still creepy as a teenager/young adult. When the author was describing the series online, the only character she mentioned by name was, "Senna Wales, a strange, disturbing girl."

* LoveMakesYouDumb: David loving Senna.

* ManipulativeBastard: Anica, and her daughter even more so. Merlin, and even Jalil can also do this on occasion.

* {{Unobtainium}}: Coo-Hatch steel.

* VerbalTic: Senna has a tendency to say the name of the person she's talking to ''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment several times]]'' in a single conversation, usually at the end of her sentences. In one occasion in ''Inside the Illusion'', she says Jalil's name seven times in one page.
** Interestingly, David ([[SixthRangerTraitor the one from]] ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'') exhibits a similar tic.

* VillainousRescue: [[spoiler:Loki, saving April from Hel]], among other instances.
* VisionaryVillain: [[spoiler:Senna, very much so.]]

* WeakButSkilled: Though not nearly as powerful as the gods, human magic-users (Merlin, Senna and Anica) can be quite influential if they use their powers wisely. The latter two, of course, also have the power of moving between worlds, which is difficult even for gods.

* YearInsideHourOutside: The time difference between Everworld and "The Old World" is incredibly wonky. Even if all four of them are asleep in Everworld, that's not a guarantee that they'll be back in the Old World at the same time.
* YourWorstMemory: David finds himself tormented by the memory of [[spoiler:watching a child being raped at summer camp.]] It's not until he relives the incident in greater detail - thanks to Senna - that he realizes the truth: [[spoiler:''he'' was the one being molested.]]
* ZergRush: How The Hetwan make war - they are not terribly effective fighters, but there are so goddamned many of them (''and'' they are capable of spawning half a dozen at a time) that traditional tactics just don't work.

* PowerTrio[=/=]TokenTrio[=/=]ThreeAmigos: Superego [[TheHeart April]], Id [[TheLancer Christopher]], and Ego [[TheHero Jalil]], during the time that David was bewitched away from the group.

* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: April is easily the nicest of the main four characters, and the only girl in the group.

* CharacterDevelopment: April develops from TheChick to an ActionGirl, Jalil experiences serious MessiahCreep, and Christopher drops [[PretendPrejudice his racist act]] and starts to contribute. Even David learns the value of teamwork, and slowly starts to recover from his BadassDecay. At the start they're four normal kids who can't stand each other. By the end, they're a band of TrueCompanions, ready to do war with [[EldritchAbomination Ka Anor]] himself.

* TheChick: April's role on TheTeam, according to Senna, is to be the emotional center.

* TheHeart: Senna states that she brought April along to play this role, and [[JerkAss Christopher]] to be the anti-Heart.

* PhysicalGod: All of them.

* PowerTrio[=/=]TokenTrio[=/=]ThreeAmigos: Superego [[TheChick April]], Id [[TheLancer Christopher]], and Ego [[TheHero Jalil]], during the time that David was bewitched away from the group.
* PretendPrejudice: Christopher.

* PsychoForHire: Keith, [[spoiler:and the rest of the Sennites.]]
* PsychopathicManchild: Many of the gods, and especially Neptune.
* PsychoticSmirk: Senna.

* SiblingYinYang: Senna and April.
* SingleIssuePsychology: See its entry at the trope page.
* TheSlacker: Christopher.

* SoapboxSadie: April.
* TheSociopath: Keith, Hel, and debateably Senna.

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Greedy miners with beards, [[AnAxeToGrind axes]], and a limited ability at taking crap? Check please.

* CrossoverCosmology: Anything from human religion or myth lives in the corresponding part of Everworld, i.e. Egyptian gods love in the Everworld's version of Egypt and so on.

* CharacterDevelopment: April develops from TheChick to an ActionGirl, Jalil experiences serious MessiahCreep, and Christopher drops [[PretendPrejudice his racist act]] and starts to contribute. Even David learns the value of teamwork, and slowly starts to recover from his BadassDecay. At the start they're four normal kids who can't stand eachother. By the end, they're a band of TrueCompanions, ready to do war with [[EldritchAbomination Ka Anor]] himself.

* OfficialCouple: April and Jalil.

''Everworld'' had many of the themes of ''Animorphs'', but aimed at an older audience, so it got to include "fun" subjects such as alcoholism, homophobia, religious intolerance, prejudice, obsessive-compulsive disorder and child molestation. Like ''Animorphs'', each book was told in first-person narrative from one of the main characters' viewpoints.

''Everworld'' had many of the themes of ''Animorphs'', but aimed at an older audience, so it got to include "fun" subjects such as alcoholism, homophobia, religious intolerance, prejudice, obsessive-compulsive disorder and, the best of all(?), pedophilic rape. Like ''Animorphs'', each book was told in first-person narrative from one of the main characters' viewpoints.

* TheSpock: Jalil

* NightmareFetishist: Senna takes a liking to some . . . rather odd things. The two best examples are in ''Brave the Betrayal'' and ''Inside the Illusion''. In the former, the characters are sent into a mirror world where [[AlienGeometries the sky is down and the ground is up]]. The core four find this extremely disturbing and disorienting, while Senna is cheerfully intrigued, compliments the African deities on creating such an awesome place, and compares the whole thing to fine art. A more disturbing example comes in the next book when Senna states that she likes watching crazy people, and it is implied that she has [[FoeYay a thing for Jalil]] because she enjoys watching him struggle with his obsessive compulsive disorder.

* BiggerBad: [[EldritchAbomination Ka Anor]]. The entire plot of the story is kicked off by Loki's desire to escape him. Every major scheme or plot in the story is generally caused in some way by him; either by his direct influence or, more commonly, [[OutsideContextProblem as a reaction of his mere existence]].

* [[spoiler:CainAndAbel]]: Senna and April. But in this case, [[spoiler:April, the good sister, kills Senna, the evil one]].