History Literature / JirelOfJoiry

* ChainmailBikini: Averted, no matter what [[ContemptibleCover the cover art]] of the ''Planet Stories'' edition would have you believe. Jirel is said to wear heavy armor into battle, to the point that the villain of her first story doesn't even realise that she's a woman until her helmet is removed. Her adventuring outfit plays this trope a bit more straight, as it includes a chainmail vest and metal greaves, but still leave parts of her thighs exposed. Some artists, however, have put her in literal metal bikinis which have no precedence in the actual writings of Creator/CLMoore.

** Jirel is stablished as a dreadful militar leader of acknowledged fighting skills, but that kind of action keeps happening right before the stories start. Jirel barely fights and when she does, she usually loses as her enemies use to be much more powerful supernatural beings. You could make the case that she borders FauxActionGirl.

* EveryoneHasStandards: When you get down to it, Jirel is a [[NotSoDifferent pretty cruel and brutal]] LadyOfWar in her own right, but there are some behavior even she considers morally repugnant. Namely cowardice, treachery and a willingness to hurt the innocent.

--> Jirel of Joiry is riding down with a score of men at her back,
For none is safe in the outer lands from Jirel's outlaw pack;
The vaults of the wizard are over-full, and locked with golden key,
And Jirel says, "If he hath so much, then he shall share with me!"
And fires flame high on the altar fare in the lair of the wizard folk,
And magic crackles and Jirel's name goes whispering through the smoke.
But magic fails in the stronger spell that the Joiry outlaws own:
The splintering crash of a broadsword blade that shivers against the bone,
And blood that bursts through a warlock's teeth can strangle a half-voiced spell.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_god_s_kiss_by_arnistotle_dx2xei.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Cover art of an omnibus edition, by Arnold Tsang]]

* "Black God's Kiss"
* "Black God's Shadow"
* "Jirel Meets Magic"
* "The Dark Land"
* "Hellsgarde"
* "Quest of the Starstone" - A {{Crossover}} story with her other famous character Literature/NorthwestSmith, co-written with her husband Creator/HenryKuttner.

* InMediasRes: Most stories open up in the middle or even after sn otherwise unseen comflict. ''Black God's Shadow'' is an exception, as it's a direct sequel to ''Black God's Kiss.''

* SamusIsAGirl: Jirel's introduction in ''Black God's Kiss,'' which keeps her gender and her identity secret from noth Guillaume and the reader until she's unmasked.

* ChainmailBikini:
** Averted, no matter what [[UnreliableIllustrator the cover art]] of the ''Planet Stories'' edition would have you believe.
** To clarify, Jirel is said to wear heavy armor into battle, to the point that the villain of her first story doesn't even realise that she's a woman until her helmet is removed. Her adventuring outfit plays this trope a bit more straight, as it includes a chainmail vest and metal greaves, but still leave parts of her thighs exposed. Some artists, however, have put her in literal metal bikinis which have no precedence in the actual writings of Creator/CLMoore.

* DarkFantasy: You can say that again. As with the the Northwest Smith stories, a [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]] influence is obvious with the evocative PurpleProse, AlienGeometries, and strange and otherworldly forces man cannot comprehend.
* DarkIsEvil: PlayedStraight. Generally speaking, if something or someone has "dark" or "black" in their name, they're not to be trusted.

** To clarify, Jirel is said to wear heavy armor into battle, to the point that the villain of her first story doesn't even realise that she's a woman until her helmet is removed. Her adventuring outfit plays this trope a bit more strait, as it includes a chainmail vest and metal greaves, but still leave parts of her thighs exposed. Some artists, however, have put her in literal metal bikinis which have no precedence in the actual writings of Creator/CLMoore.

[[caption-width-right:350:Cover art of the most recent omnibus edition, by Arnold Tsang]]

* EveryoneHaveStandards: When you get down to it, Jirel is a [[NotSoDifferent pretty cruel and brutal]] LadyOfWar in her own right, but there are some behavior even she considers morally repugnant. Namely cowardice, treachery and a willingness to hurt the innocent.

* TheGuardMustBeCrazy: The guards of Joiry are repeatedly shown to be either unable to score important victories, or too cowardly to provide ''any'' assistance to their commander during her journeys. Though one ''could'' argue that Jirel is the one who has SuicidalOverconfidence, but is just enough of a badass to pull it off consistently.

* FeministFantasy: one of the earliest on record

** EnpoweredBadassNormal: She also becomes this on occasion -- generally towards the climax of the story -- by being possessed by some entity (''Black God's Kiss'') or by being in another world where the laws of physics are different (''TheDarkLand'').

* ChainmailBikini: Averted, no matter what the cover art of the ''Planet Stories'' edition would have you believe.
* {{Crossover}}: With Moore's SF character Literature/NorthwestSmith. This is not as mad as it sounds - both characters often end up in strange realms facing powerful, mysterious creatures and the word "magic" even pops up a few times in the Northwest Smith stories. Not to mention that ''Jirel Meets Magic'' established that both TimeTravel and other planets exists in Jirel's world, as much as the characters may think that they inhabit a FlatWorld.

* FieryRedhead: Jirel.

* SamusIsAGirl: Jirel's introduction.

* {{Crossover}}: With Moore's SF character Literature/NorthwestSmith. This is not as mad as it sounds - both characters often end up in strange realms facing powerful, mysterious creatures and the word "magic" even pops up a few times in the Northwest Smith stories.

* NarrativeProfanityFilter

[[caption-width-right:350:Cover art of a recent omnibus edition, by Arnold Tsang]]

[[quoteright:183:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Jirel_8440.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:183:Cover art of a recent omnibus edition, by Arnold Tsang]]

* ReligionIsMagic: Wearing a crucifix will protect one against the Black God's realm.

* ActionGirl: Jirel. Badass enough to give [[Series/XenaWarriorPrincess Xena]] a run for her money.

* DatingCatwoman: Jirel hates Guillaume the Conqueror who conquered her castle and humiliated her, and is determined to kill him - which she succeeds to do after undergoing many dangers and perils. Only when seeing him dead does she realize she had been passionately in love with him.

* FeministFantasy

* SamusIsAGirl: Jirel's introduction.

* SamusIsAGirl: Jirel's introduction.
* DatingCatWoman: Jirel hates Guillaume the Conqueror who conquered her castle and humiliated her, and is determined to kill him - which she succeeds to do after undergoing many dangers and perils. Only when seeing him dead does she realize she had been passionately in love with him.

[[caption-width-right:183:Cover art of a recent omnibus edition, by Arnold Tsang]] Literature/JirelOfJoiry is the heroine of a series of SwordAndSorcery short stories by CLMoore, running from 1934 to 1939 in ''WeirdTales''. Notable for being the first female {{Fantasy}} hero. The stories are:

* "Quest of the Starstone" - A {{Crossover}} story with her other famous character Literature/NorthwestSmith, co-written with her husband HenryKuttner.

* ActionGirl: Jirel. Badass enough to give Xena a run for her money.

* DarkFantasy: You can say that again. As with the the Northwest Smith stories, a Lovecraft influence is obvious with the evocative PurpleProse, AlienGeometries, and strange and otherworldly forces man cannot comprehend.

* PurpleProse: Like the better authors at the time writing for Weird Tales, Moore could actually pull off lush and haunting description especially pertaining to emotions and fantastic landscapes surprisingly well.
ReligionIsMagic: Wearing a crucifix will protect one against the Black God's realm.
*

* ActionGirl: Jirel.

* ReligionIsMagic: Wearing a crucifix will protect one against the Black God's realm.

[[caption-width-right:183:Cover art of a recent omnibus edition, by Arnold Tsang]] JirelOfJoiry is the heroine of a series of SwordAndSorcery short stories by CLMoore, running from 1934 to 1939 in ''WeirdTales''. Notable for being the first female {{Fantasy}} hero. The stories are:

* "Quest of the Starstone" - A {{Crossover}} story with her other famous character NorthwestSmith, co-written with her husband HenryKuttner.

* {{Crossover}}: With Moore's SF character NorthwestSmith. This is not as mad as it sounds - both characters often end up in strange realms facing powerful, mysterious creatures and the word "magic" even pops up a few times in the Northwest Smith stories.

* SamusIsAGirl: Jirel's introduction.