History Literature / MenAtArms

* AluminiumChristmasTrees:
** The highly flammable nitrocellulose billiard balls? ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrocellulose#Uses Those actually existed.]]''
** A possible variation on the concept is the Clown Museum, with hundreds of clown faces (each a registered creation of a specific clown) painted on eggs - what an odd, creepy thing, [[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2046/are-clown-faces-registered-by-painting-them-on-eggs which just happens to exist in the real world]].
** The author of ''How To Kille Insects'' is said to be "Humptulips," which is an actual real-life name, albeit of a river and a town in the American state of [[UsefulNotes/TheOtherRainforest Washington]] rather than a person.

* SubParSupremacist: The main subplot involves a flatulence-prone dog named Big Fido advocating that dogs should rise up against their human masters, and makes long speeches about the nobility and savagery of wolves despite never having met one and being a tiny poodle himself. [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler No prizes for guessing which short, grandiloquent politician Big Fido was based on.]]
* TakenOffTheCase: Vetinari once took Vimes off a case because it was upsetting the rich and powerful. Of course, this was only done to further motivate him.

* FromTheLatinIntroDucere: Carrot points out that, as a policeman -- from ''polis'', city -- he is a man of the city. Later, [[NotSoDifferentRemark Vetinari points out "politician" comes from the same root]].

** The nobility of Ank Morporkh consider that the man who can put a sword ''into'' a stone is much more worthy of being a king than the man who can pull one out. [[spoiler:Carrot does both at the end of the book - he pins Cruces to a stone pillar with his sword, burying the blade up to the hilt, and then pulls it back out]].

** Early in the book, Carrot talks down about the undead--saying they're just not "our type of people," and they should go back to where they came from. This is a marked contrast with how open, tolerant, and understanding Carrot is of just about everyone in later books.

* YourHeadAsplode: The fate of Lettuce, the Beggar girl who [[spoiler:Dr. Cruces]] kills with the Gonne, when aiming for Queen Molly.

** When Detritus recovers from his HeroicBSOD, he gets up and proceeds to the Assassin's Guild with bloody murder in mind. It is then we learn that some of the best trained killers in Anhk-Morpork have absolutely no way of dealing with a Troll... and ''they'' learn it too. Specifically, they have no way to fight a troll head-on. An assassin in ''Literature/SoulMusic'' was confident he could kill a troll by surprise if he hit the right spot in the back of its neck. (In a display of possible continuity, ''Soul Music'' happens after the events of ''Literature/MenAtArms'', when the assassins probably figured out the back-of-the-neck thing because the Detritus made them realise how helpless they were against Trolls.)

* NoBadgeNoProblem: In the absence of Captain Vimes, Corporal Carrot Ironfoundersson assumes command not only of the night watch, but also the whole City Watch and an increasingly large and well-armed Citizens' Militia. He does this by force of personality and the (unspoken) fact that he is the heir to the throne of Ankh-Morpork. Effectively he is assuming a police rank he has no official title to, but he is only called out twice: once when Sergeant Fred Colon attempts to re-assert ''his'' superior rank (but Fred bows to the inevitable and ends up calling Carrot "sir" and taking his orders). A second attempt is made by the soon-to-be-disgraced Captain Quirke, but Carrot deals directly with this. The next morning, even Lord Vetinari is certain Carrot is out to usurp ''his'' rank too...

* DontTouchItYouIdiot: The gonne. Vimes warns Carrot not to touch it, but Carrot picks it up anyway. Fortunately, he is [[IncorruptiblePurePureness immune to its seductive voice]].

** Vimes is very outspoken in his disdain for kings and seems to be well versed in how Ankh-Morpork got rid of them. In ''Literature/GuardsGuards'' he was surprised to hear that Ankh-Morpork ever was a kingdom. Possibly justified in that it is possible that the events in that book (and the encouragement of his soon-to-be-wife) lead to him developing those traits.

** Vimes is very outspoken in his disdain for kings and seems to be well versed in how Ankh-Morpork got rid of them. In ''Literature/GuardsGuards'' is he was surprised to hear that Ankh-Morpork ever was a kingdom. Possibly justified in that it is possible that the events in that book (and the encouragement of his soon-to-be-wife) lead to him developing those traits.

* AutomaticCrossbows: Frequently averted. On several occasions, the plot revolves around the fact that the crossbow has either just been shot or will leave the wielder unarmed for a time if it is shot. What makes the Gonne dangerous is that it lacks that disadvantage on top of being longer range and almost always lethal.

Within the week, Sam Vimes will marry Lady Sybil and retire from the Watch. At the same time, the Watch has been forced to take on three new constables from ethnic minorities - Cuddy the dwarf, Detritus the troll, and Angua the w- (oman)? Meanwhile, a penniless noble and retired assassin, Edward [[MeaningfulName d'Eath]], spots Corporal Carrot around the city and deduces that he is the true heir to Ankh-Morpork's vacant throne. After failing to convince other nobles that they should work to restore the kingdom, d'Eath achieves full marks at the postgraduate course at the Assassins' Guild and finds a reference to a certain banned weapon...

* BeneathNotice: It's established early on in the book that Carrot knows just about ''everyone'' in Ankh-Morpork. Then, later on, it's shown how low down the totem pole Lettuce is that Carrot ''doesn't'' know who she is.

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: "Prickle, prickle, prickle." Also, it's mentioned that during the troll and dwarf riots, someone tipped over [[HonestJohnsDealership CMOT Dibbler]]'s cart and forced him to eat some of his own sausages. ''Without mustard.''

* RoomFullOfCrazy: When Detritus is locked in the freezer, he starts working out maths problems. He gets all the way through calculus and out the other side, and was probably up to a Unified Theory of Everything when they got him out and the warmth erased all his work, which he promptly forgot.

* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Dr. Cruces head of the Assassin's Guild [[spoiler:and user of the gonne]] and the terrifying head of the Fools' Guild, Dr. Whiteface.

** Vimes is a self-described speciesist, but with the caveat that he isn't too crazy about humans, either. But when he hears an UpperClassTwit go on about how terrible trolls and dwarfs are (despite never meeting one of either in his life), Vimes makes a series of outrageously prejudiced and contradictory comments to make the nodding nobles look like idiots.

** Someone declaring that the Watch is dealing with a criminal mind, and ''not'' Nobby's.

* AnthropicPrinciple: The prologue explicitly {{invoke|d Trope}}s this trope. After Edward d'Eath spectacularly fails to rally the other nobles to overthrow Vetinari in favor of Corporal Carrot, the LemonyNarrator waxes philosophical for a paragraph about how the story ended in "millions of universes" with d'Eath becoming a harmless shut-in and Carrot having a career of no particular note, ending with him dying in an incident [[NoodleImplements involving an anteater]]. The next paragraph mentions the millions of universes where {{Contrived Coincidence}}s from later in the book didn't happen, or where the City Watch simply failed. The paragraph after that sums up the main issue at hand:

** Vimes (despite hating Assassins) admits that [[spoiler:Dr. Cruces]] was probably a decent man before the Gonne took hold of his mind.

* ArtifactOfDoom: The Gonne is not as powerful as magic, but it can be used by anyone without any effort. This ''really'' gets to the head of anyone holding it.

** Cuddy is asked if he's a dwarf. He answers: "It's the nose, isn't it? It always gives me away."
** Another time he responds "Are you a giant? No? Ah, so I must be a dwarf then." You get the impression that [[NeverHeardThatOneBefore he gets asked that a lot]].

* AutomaticCrossbows: Frequently averted. On several occasions, the plot revolves around the fact that the crossbow has either just been shot or will leave the wielder unarmed for a time if it is shot. What makes the gonne dangerous is that it lacks that disadvantage on top of being longer range and almost always lethal.

* BlatantLies: Carrot is established to be bad at lying, metaphor and general dishonest thinking. During the final showdown, [[spoiler:Dr. Cruces]] very distinctinly and clearly calls him "sire" in Vimes's presence, when Vimes is in full possession of all his faculties. Afterward, Carrot says he ''must'' have misheard him in the excitement.
* BoldInflation: Edward D'Eath.

* BoomerangBigot: Played as a gag by Detritus:

* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** A minor example from early in the book. Angua is incredulous at Carrot's claim to likes long walks. Later on we find that it probably wasn't because she's a w[[spoiler: -oman]] but a w[[spoiler: -erewolf]].
** Vimes sees a clockwork toy soldier early in the book and decides to disobey Vetinari's instruction to ignore the theft at the Assassins Guild: "What did Vetinari think he was? Some kind of clockwork soldier?". Later in the book, Vetinari tells Leonard that some people must be wound one way to make them go the other way, like winding up clockwork. This also comes up later, when [[spoiler: Cuddy makes Detritus a special helmet to cool his brain, so he becomes more intelligent. The helmet is powered by clockwork, so Colon remarks;]] "So we've got a clockwork soldier, have we? We're a real model army."
** Gaspode tells Angua that other dogs don't bother him because "I got the Power". When he is eventually forced to use it against Big Fido's minions, this turns out to be [[spoiler:The Power of Speech]], something HiddenInPlainSight all along because we always knew [[spoiler:Gaspode can speak like a human]], but to dogs this is treated like a [[spoiler:CompellingVoice]].

** At the beginning of the book, some of the nobles discuss how merely being able to remove a sword from a stone isn't nearly as impressive as the sort of person who's able to put the sword there in the first place. After Colon and Nobby (while playing cards) have discussed the Arthurian pull-a-sword-from-a-stone legend and considered it insufficient to become king:
--->'''Colon''': A man who could shove a sword ''into'' a stone, though, ''he's'' a king.\\
'''Nobby''': A man like that'd be an [[TheAce ace]].
%%** A hint at what reward a certain KingIncognito will arrange for Vimes, through negotiations with Vetinari.%%Quotes are not context.
%%---> '''Nobby''': That's what a king does if you're useful. [[spoiler: He makes you a knight.]]

** Also weirdly inverted by Carrot. This book seems to suggest he may in fact be the Discworld's counterpart of Adolf Hitler, being extremely charismatic and able to command the loyalty of the common people, despite (at the time) only holding the rank of corporal. Thankfully, he's firmly a GoodCounterpart, being painfully aware of the damage his abilities could cause if he were to misuse them and fully internalizing Vimes' beliefs about the importance of free will.

%%** After Colon and Nobby (while playing cards) have discussed the Arthurian pull-a-sword-from-a-stone legend and considered it insufficient to become king:%%Quotes are not context.
%%--->'''Colon''': A man who could shove a sword ''into'' a stone, though, ''he's'' a king.\\

* KickTheDog: Literally, leading to the CoolAndUnusualPunishment above.