History Literature / Neverwhere

* AboveGoodAndEvil: [[spoiler: Islington]] likes to think of themself as this.

** A second by [[spoiler: Islington. He was the one who hired Croup and Vandemar to kill Door's family, sending her on the run and thus keeping pressure on her so she'll be desperate, along with planting evidence showing him as trustworthy]].

* DraggedOffToHell: The final fate of [[spoiler: Islington, Croup and Vandemar -- sucked into a vortex that could be anything from the Sun to a black hole.]]

* EvilRedeemedInACan: After the destruction of Atlantis, this was Heaven's plan with the Angel Islington, to lock him up in London Below to reflect and repent, and when he had learned his lesson, he would be released. Unfortunately, Islington decided he didn't deserve his punishment, and tried to arrange for an early release. It did not go as planned, though.

* FallenAngel: A reference is made to Lucifer being a fallen angel. Islington doesn't think highly of him. [[spoiler: Specifically, it thinks he's a thug, and it's unfair that Islington is treated similarly]].

** Also [[spoiler: Islington after the reveal before its VillainousBreakdown. "I didn't kill your family, Door. I ''had'' them killed...]]"

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: [[spoiler: Islington is pissed at Heaven for expelling him]].

* WhamLine: The Abbot saying "We have lost the key. God help us all." is the first indication that [[spoiler: Islington isn't as great as he seems. In fact, the next chapter shows that he's the one who hired Croup and Vandemar]].

** Door sees the deaths of all of her family [[spoiler:except for her sister Ingress; she's seen in a memory with Lady Portia, but the memory ends just as Portia is murdered. Islington, Croup and Vandermar have a discussion about an alternative plan if the one with Door doesn't work out. Come the climax and as Door banishes Islington, it desperately tells her that Ingress is still alive in an effort to be spared.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Door and the Marquis search Lord Portico's study and unearth his journal from the secret hiding place. Portico's last entry shows him being killed in the middle of recording. [[spoiler: As Door figures out, although tragically not fast enough to do anything, these two things don't add up. Croup and Vandemar doctored the last journal entry to trick her into trusting Islington.]]

* SequelHook: [[spoiler: Door's sister, who Islington left alive.]] Though [[WordOfGod Gaiman says]] he "doesn't do sequels", another book in the same universe is entirely possible -- see ''Literature/AmericanGods'' and ''Literature/AnansiBoys''.

** --->'''Croup''': What do you want?!
'''The Marquis''': What does ''anyone'' want?\\
'''Vandemar''': [[TheBrute Dead things. Extra teeth]].\\
** --->'''Croup''': Oh, Mr. Vandemar, if you cut us do we not bleed?\\
'''Vandemar''': ... No.

** '''Croup''': What do you want?!
--->'''The Marquis''': What does ''anyone'' want?\\
'''Vandemar''': [[TheBrute Dead things. Extra teeth]].
** '''Croup''': Oh, Mr. Vandemar, if you cut us do we not bleed?
--->'''Vandemar''': ... No.

* WhackAMole: "You have a cuckoo in your nest!"
** And what a LovableTraitor.

* ChoosyBeggar: After being forgotten by the surface world, Richard is failing to use an ATM when he's approached by a vagrant named Iliaster, begging for change. A frustrated Richard hands him his debit card and says there's several hundred pounds on it if he can get to it. Iliaster snorts, "That and sixty pence would get me a nice cup of tea," and tosses the card back to him.

** In the comic, the Marquis gets Croup and Vandemar to give him half an hour's MercyLead -- except they only promise not to ''touch'' him for half an hour. This doesn't mean they can't follow him, or tear a ladder off a wall while he's climbing it.

** What will happen if you violate the truce of the floating market.

* ImAHumanitarian: The exact fate of the hired thug Varney is probably best not examined too closely. Then again, Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar both seem to have some ExtremeOmnivore tendencies.

* ResurrectionSickness: Literally. [[spoiler: The first thing the Marquis does after being resurrected is vomit profusely.]] Justifed, as he has a lot of sewer water in his lungs.

* TruceZone: The Floating Market functions as one of these. While sparring is apparently permitted if you're auditioning bodyguards, no-one -- not even ''Croup and Vandemar'' -- dares any real violence.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler: Assuming Richard didn't just go nuts at the end. The Marquis answers Richard's call, they step together through a door in the wall that wasn't there seconds ago into London Below, and the story ends.]]

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: There are a few hints that all of Richard's experiences in London Below might really be a huge psychotic delusion, most especially [[spoiler: the Ordeal]], but this is not given special credence. The ending implies that [[spoiler: it's real after all.]]

The story began life in 1996 as a television series for the Creator/{{BBC}}, co-developed with Creator/LennyHenry. While the end result was reasonably well received, Gaiman felt that it was not entirely true to his vision due to ExecutiveMeddling and budget constraints, and wrote a novelization to reflect the story as it was in his imagination, indirectly launching his career as a novelist.[[note]]Literature/GoodOmens came first, but it was a collaborative effort.[[/note]]