History Literature / Mahabharata

** Brihadatta, who is so old that he had to tie a headband to keep his skin folds from obscuring his vision, yet while riding his elephant (itself basically a fierce {{Kaiju}} of a [[WarElephants elephant]] that [[HorrifyingTheHorror makes Bhima, who kills elephants for sport and his giant son Ghatotkacha running for their lives]] and nearly killed Arjuna if not for [[NighInvulnerable Krishna]] [[TakingTheBullet taking the arrow aimed at Arjuna for him]]).

TheLancer[=/=]ArcherArchetype — Arjuna. Filled with doubts regarding the justness of war, he seeks guidance from Krishna in the most famous section of the ''Mahabharata'', the ''Literature/BhagavadGita''.\\

* DemotedToExtra: Nakula and Sahadeva can come across like this. Arjuna has many, many side-stories, while Bhima and Yudhisthira get leading roles and feature rather prominently in the story. Nakula and Sahadeva, said to be [[TakeOurWordForIt the best swordsmen]] and [[{{Bishounen}} the best-looking]] amongst the Pandava brothers, hardly get any screen time. Of course, it can also be attributed to the multiple characters the prose must cover.

* CassandraTruth: Sanjaya/Vidura tries to get Dhritarashtra to reign in Duryodhana, foreshadowing that he would end the dynasty.

* AnythingThatMoves: Almost all the Kurus have this as a flaw. Pandu died because he could not help keep his hands to himself. Satyavati's youngest son died because of this. Satyavati's husband had a particular weakness for women near rivers.
** AuthorAvatar Vyasa himself is the result of the above. Never trust wandering ascetics.
*** Almost all Royal Princes in this epic tend to do this.

* CantHaveSexEver: After accidentally killing a holy man and his wife, Pandu is cursed to die if he ever approaches his wives with sexual intent. The temptation eventually becomes too much and he perishes from the enchantment.

* EverybodysDeadDave: After the 18 day long battle of Kurukshetra, involving just shy of ''four million!'' warriors, [[spoiler: only eight of the Pandavas and three of the Kauravas remain alive.]]

** Brihadatta, who is so old that he had to tie a headband to keep his skin folds from obscuring his vision, yet while riding his elephant (itself basically a fierce {{Kaiju}} of a [[WarElephants elephant]] that [[HorrifyingTheHorror makes Bhima, who kills elephants for sport and his giant son Ghatotkacha running for their lives]] and nearly killed Arjuna if not for [[NighInvulnerable Krishna]] [[TakingTheBullet taking the arrow aimed at Arjuna for him]].

** AchillesHeel - could have been called Duryodhan’s Thighs, as both served as a [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak point to be attacked]] ForMassiveDamage.

** Played straight with Bhishma.

TheHeart- Draupadi. Instead of a peacemaker however, she brings them closer to war. Closer in personality to TheDarkChick.\\
TheDarkChick — Shikhandi, formerly Amba, the eldest princess of Kasi, in his previous life. Once Bhishma rejected her, Amba became reborn as Shikhandi to exact revenge for her humiliation.\\

** Brihadatta, who is so old that he had to tie a headband to keep his skin folds from obscuring his vision, yet while riding his elephant (itself basically a fierce {{Kaiju}} of a [[WarElephants elephant]] that [[HorrifyingTheHorror makes Bhima, who kills elephants for sport and his giant son Ghatotkacha running for their lives]] and nearly killed Arjuna if not for [[Krishna]] [[TakingTheBullet taking the arrow aimed at Arjuna for him]].

** Brihadatta, who is so old that he had to tie a headband to keep his skin folds from obscuring his vision, yet while riding his elephant (itself basically a fierce {{Kaiju}} of a [[WarElephants elephant]] that [[HorrifyingTheHorror makes Bhima, who kills elephants for sport, run for his life), sent Ghatotkacha running for his life and nearly killed Arjuna if not for [[Krishna]] [[TakingTheBullet taking the arrow aimed at Arjuna for him]].

** Brihadatta, who is so old that he had to tie a headband to keep his skin folds from obscuring his vision, yet while riding his elephant (itself basically a fierce {{Kaiju}} of a WarElephant|s that [[HorrifyingTheHorror makes Bhima, who kills elephants for sport, run for his life), sent Ghatotkacha running for his life and nearly killed Arjuna if not for [[Krishna]] [[TakingTheBullet taking the arrow aimed at Arjuna for him]].

* StrongerWithAge: Bhishma is one of the best examples in Hindu mythology. He was absolutely invincible on the battlefield and the Pandavas had to ask ''him'' for advice on how to defeat him. (He promised them that they could always meet him for advice after sunset, and he kept his promises.) Even after being impaled on a bed of arrows, he had the grace to choose the time of his death, and he lay there for days to wait for a time which was considered holy (the start of the period when the length of nights start reducing and the length of days start increasing i.e around middle of January) before he finally decided to leave the world.

** Brihadatta, who is so old that he had to tie a headband to keep his skin folds from obscuring his vision, yet while riding his elephant (itself a basically a fierce creature that can make Bheema, who kills elephants for sport, run for his life), sent Ghatotkacha running for his life and nearly killed Arjuna if not for Krishna taking the arrow aimed at Arjuna.

* DyingCurse: Hunting in a forest, Pandu shoots his arrows at a mating couple of deer. However the deer are actually the sage Kindama and his wife who have assumed deer shape for a change. Dying, Kindama curses Pandu to die if he ever has sexual intercourse again. Even though Pandu evades the curse for many years by leading a life of asceticism, the curse comes true at long last.

* ChosenConceptionPartner: Pandu is cursed with OutWithABang. So he cannot have children with his two wives. So Pandu had to pray to the gods to beget five sons on his wives.

* ChosenConceptionPartner: Pandu is cursed with DeathBySex. So he cannot have children with his two wives. So Pandu had to pray to the gods to beget five sons on his wives.

* DeathBySex: Pandu is cursed to die by this. And he does.

TheChick - Draupadi. Instead of a peacemaker however, she brings them closer to war. Closer in personality to TheDarkChick.\\

** Karna fires off an arrow into the wild, due to a noise he imagines to be a wild animal, without checking if it is indeed what he thinks.

* TheWisePrince: Bhishma but he could not be the heir because of ThePromise. Yuddhishthira of the Pandavas also qualify.

** HeirVersusSpare - may well have been called the Dhritharashtra versus Pandu angst.