History Literature / Nightside

* AirHugging: Suzie and John are forced to do this for most of the series... [[spoiler: until the end of book 9.]]

** Blind Pew suspected Taylor himself could be one of these. [[spoiler: And John pretty much ''was'', albeit by way of Lilith rather than Satan.]]

** [[spoiler: Gaea, a.k.a. Gayle, a.k.a. the Lady of the Lake]]

* ArcWelding: The first myth arc is about avoiding the apocalypse. After that there doesn't seem to be a myth arc until in the last two books Walker reveals that [[spoiler: he's been grooming John to take his place, and the latter half of the series was about establishing the newly independent Nightside, with John as it's guardian under the New Authorities.]] Also a form of RetCon.

* ArtifactOfDoom: The Speaking Gun, an unholy weapon made from [[spoiler: one of Lilith's ribs]] that can unmake ''anything'' in an instant. It does this by knowing the Word any given person or thing was created with (as in, in the Beginning there was the Word) and speaking it backwards. Described by all who touch it, or even look at it, as utterly reprehensible.
** The second book had the Unholy Grail, the cup that Judas drank from. Everyone who's anyone is after this thing. [[spoiler: Judas himself, the Wandering Jew who has been forgiven by Christ but can't forgive himself, breaks its curse by using it for Communion, turning it into an ugly bowl with no power.]]
** Hinted at with [[spoiler: Excalibur,]] but ultimately subverted. [[spoiler: The weapon, though it has some power in the wrong person's hands, is ultimately a force for good and can only be wielded by those who are chosen by a world's Gaia, from who it derives. It's still a lot more than ''just'' a sword though.]] Specifically, it's a remnant of the Light, as in [[Literature/TheBible "Let there be Light"]].

*** Also subverted in that [[spoiler: he didn't really make such a deal at all; that's just what the person who reanimated him and meddled with his memories wanted him to think.]]

* [[spoiler: BabiesEverAfter: May soon apply to John and Suzie, after events of ''A Hard Day's Knight''.]]

** And by "one of the worst", we mean "one so nasty that seeing it scares [[spoiler: armies of sociopathic, genocidal elves out of a civil war]], for fear they'll bring it about".

* BreakThemByTalking: Pretty Poison, of all people, negates the temptress-assassin Bad Penny's hyper-seductive influence over John and his companions with a ''one word'' insult. [[spoiler: Pretty Poison is a millennia-old succubus. The one word? "Amateur."]]
* BrickJoke: When Dead Boy is introduced in ''Nightingale's Lament'', John snarkily muses about DB's futuristic car [[spoiler: turning into a giant robot]]. Years later, when Dead Boy features in his own short story, it's revealed that [[spoiler: the car ''does'' turn into a robot ... not a giant one, but a sex droid that's in love with Dead Boy.]]
** Practically every other book, John expresses a wish that someone would hire him to find out why the Moon appears so much larger from the Nightside. In ''Bride'', he finally receives a letter asking him to investigate just that ... but he can't take the case, because [[spoiler: he's retiring from being a P.I. to be the new Walker]].

* CelibateHero: For most of the series, both John and Suzy are this, enforced by Suzie's trauma. Somewhere between books 9 and 11, however, [[spoiler: they get it on enough that Suzie has shown John some combat holds ''as foreplay,'' and she's now pregnant.]]
* ChekhovsGun: In ''Unnatural Inquirer,'' and specifically that book's BatmanColdOpen, Taylor sets out on a mission from Walker to hunt down a man using an artifact to mess with the Loa. Normally in situations where Walker gets involved, he takes whatever he's after... [[spoiler: which is why no one remembers the Aquarius Key until John uses it against the BigBad of the book.]]
** The teddy bear that Taylor found for Jessica Sorrow in ''Agents'' is [[spoiler: also the link that she and his other Enemies use to send attackers against him from the BadFuture.]]
* ChekhovMIA: In ''Uncanny,'' at least two references to Excalibur are made by two different people. Taylor notes that no one has seen the sword since Arthurian times, and that even the Collector doesn't have it since he'd have gloated over it. [[spoiler: Guess what shows up in the mail by the end?]]

** John mentions the possibility of finding Merlin's missing heart the first time Merlin appears in the series. Sure enough, he finds [[spoiler: and later destroys]] the heart a few books later.
** Part of why Larry Oblivion is angry at John, post-Lilith War, is because nobody ever found [[spoiler: his brother Tommy's body]]. Guess who gets retrieved eventually...

* ChurchMilitant: The Salvation Army Sisterhood. [[spoiler: At least, that's how they appear to outsiders.]]

* CodeName: [[spoiler: Walker isn't his real name... which means John is the new Walker.]]
** [[spoiler: Probably only in theory, not practice, as John is already so infamous under his own name that calling him "Walker" would only ''diminish'' his intimidation-factor. Hadleigh Oblivion, Walker's predecessor, also used his own name and was famous in the Nightside before he took up the job. It's likely that this trope only applies if the Authorities' mouthpiece rises from obscurity to assume the role.]]

** The revelation that the Sun King from ''Bride'' is likely to [[spoiler: destroy the world]] if he makes the Sun rise there isn't as big of a surprise to anyone who's read ''Drinking Midnight Wine'': a standalone novel of the Greenverse which reveals that [[spoiler: the Sun ''itself'' is a villain in this Verse]], although the latter isn't actually connected to the former.

* CradlingYourKill: [[spoiler: Walker]] does this when he murders [[spoiler: his oldest friend, the Collector.]]
* CrapsackWorld: The Nightside is a bad place. Until you [[spoiler: visit Sinister Albion, where Merlin became the Antichrist.]] Then the Nightside really seems like a walk in the park.
** The BadFuture that John spends the first half of the series trying to avert gives even [[spoiler: Sinister Albion]] a run for its money in the Crapsack department.

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Pen Donavon]] from ''The Unnatural Inquirer'', who had no idea because all memory of dying had been suppressed.
* DeadlyGaze: [[spoiler:Lilith]] can destroy people utterly with just a glare, turning them into "agonized shadows" on the wall behind them. [[spoiler: Her son is good at it too. minus the whole blasting part]]

* DeadpanSnarker / WorldOfSnark: Just about everyone gets in on the act at some point. LampshadeHanging is a big hobby in the Nightside.

*** [[spoiler: The Removal Man ''thought'' he'd done the same thing, but he'd actually been suckered by someone who definitely wasn't God.]]

** The Griffin [[spoiler: plays this trope straight. Though the contract can be partly revised, if someone has enough connection to one side or the other...]]

* DeusExMachina: In ''Judgment Day,'' after making a bit of a mess on the Street of the Gods, the Walking Man comes into conflict with one [[spoiler: Razor Eddie.]] Subverted in that, despite coming from nowhere, our hygenically-challenged friend only comes to a stand-still with the Wrath of God in question, and is ultimately beaten.
** The return of [[spoiler: King Arthur]] seems to be this at first, but once more is subverted - even he becomes more of a tool in John's hands.

* DidYouJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: [[spoiler: Despite being the incarnation of Earth, Gayle is pretty downright affable for an EldritchAbomination.]]
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: John's Gift has helped him find the AchillesHeel of a significant number of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s over the years. He gives a few of them indigestion, as well. ([[spoiler: Given who his mother is eventually revealed to be he's related to most of them, as he said in ''Judgment Day.]])
** Done with the [[spoiler: Speaking Gun]]. Twice, as of ''Judgment Day'' [[spoiler: though the second time it was done by God's Wrath Incarnate.]]
** In the BatmanColdOpen to ''A Hard Day's Knight,'' [[spoiler: John realizes a bunch of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s are trying to get into this universe using a human soul as a bomb. John weaponizes him, the pocket watch he took from Walker, and the Gateway they opened to send him a message and knocks their socks off.]]

** ''Bride'' brings in a few more - the inhabitants of Ward 12A are there due to interference by such beings, including potential gateways outside. [[spoiler: Also, the force behind the Sun King, the Aquarians, are similar beings]].
* EndOfTheWorldSpecial: Subverted in [[spoiler: ''Sharper.'' Lilith attempts to pull this off, but is stopped by her son and the men who brought her into the world.]]

* EvilWeapon: The Speaking Gun whispers in the hands of anyone who holds it, wanting them to use it. Only a few have the power not to: Father Time, [[spoiler: Suzy, and John. And both of the last two have tried to. Even Razor Eddie gave in, though he eventually overcame the compulsion. And TookALevelInBadass as a result.]]

* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: [[spoiler: Razor Eddie's]] awful fate in the BadFuture, made still more horrible because [[spoiler: he's a god, so it can't actually kill him to have untold generations of insect larvae eat their way out of him.]]

* FantasticGhetto: Many of the down-and-out former Powers live in Rat's Alley. John himself lived their for the time as a "guest" of perennial resident Razor Eddie. The Street of Gods can also count depending on which bit you're in.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In ''Nightingale's Lament'', John mentions that the Authorities will be arriving soon, just seconds before [[spoiler: Julien Advent]] bursts into the room. Guess who becomes [[spoiler: spokesman for the New Authorities]] several books later?
** In ''Hell To Pay'', [[spoiler: the Lord of Thorns mentions how John's companions are nearly unique in that it's been given to them to choose their own destinies]]. FridgeLogic suggests that this hints at how [[spoiler: ''Pretty Poison'', no less than her mortal companions, has hope of redemption. Sure enough, her choosing to die for Sinner's sake transforms her from demon to holy angel.]]

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: The whole ''myth'' of [[spoiler: Lilith]], not to mention her, is believed to take this trope.

* FusionDance: [[spoiler: The Lamentation]] is strongly implied to be the product of this trope, which afflicts a pair of minor villains from ''Paths Not Taken'' in karmic payback for their misdeeds.

* GlowingEyesOfDoom / GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath: Merlin Satanspawn has empty eye sockets filled with flames. He's the Devil's son, and every time these eyes are mentioned it's commented that "he has his father's eyes". He's first met after his death, possessing his descendant, but when his live version is encountered (while time traveling to the era of Myth/ArthurianLegend in ''Paths Not Taken'') he already has the freaky flaming eye-sockets.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin appropriately-named]] Madman is a scientist who went bonkers after catching a glimpse of the true nature of the universe. [[spoiler: He ultimately cures it by forcing the world to be what he wants it to be for a moment.]]

* HalfHumanHybrid: John, in a manner of speaking. He looks perfectly human, but his mother is... not. Of course, his appearance [[spoiler: (and relative lack of power, compared to some of his siblings)]] is part of her plan.
** Ironically, if [[spoiler: his mother had stuck around with Adam]], ALL humans might well be as powerful as him.

** Werewolf blood can endow an otherwise-normal human with this quality also, even third-hand [[spoiler: as when Belle obtained it from a werewolf she skinned, Suzie was saved by the same skin, and Suzie's blood saved John in turn.]] The short story "The Big Game" reveals that such borrowed regenerative capabilities ''do'' wear off eventually.

* HumanoidAbomination: [[spoiler: Lilith]] takes a mortal form, though it's quite clearly stated that this is more a [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith concession to reality]] and necessary to her plans than the actual truth. John Taylor also appears to be one, as he can quite easily scare people with the barest sliver of his power. When he turns it up to eleven, you realize that he could quite possibly destroy the whole world if he set his mind to finding the way to do it.

* ImAHumanitarian: Some passing references to "long pig" franchises suggest this is yet another of the Nightside's sick forms of self-indulgence. A few of the nastier Players are rumored to have eaten their enemies, and Taylor claims the denizens of Rat's Alley did the same to some thugs who tried to kidnap Sister Morphine. [[spoiler: Averted by John's Enemies in the BadFuture, but only because there are so many dead ''monsters'' lying around to butcher and they have a different use (creating more Harrowing) for human corpses.]]
* ImmortalityImmorality: When Walker [[spoiler: is dying, John asks if no one can do anything.]] Walker says there probably IS someone who can help, but he doesn't want to pay the price. Because in the Nightside, everything has one. And it's often your soul (or someone else's).

** Sinner, from book 4. [[spoiler: It takes the crossfire from a dozen or so combat wizards to finally bring him down.]]
** Razor Eddie. Who stood up to [[spoiler: the Walking Man, and only was defeated when the latter took his razor from his hand, psychically shocking Eddie.]] Other than that, the best you can hope to do if he's after you is delay Eddie while you pray for a less horrifying end than at his hands.
* ImpliedDeathThreat: John's favorite is to threaten to "find" an enemy's internal organs. [[spoiler: He never actually ''does'' so in the series, but he isn't above non-fatally taking the air out of somebody's lungs or putting water into them.]]

* KarmaHoudini: At the end of ''Bride'', [[spoiler: the Sun King reverts to a normal man and is apparently forgiven by John, Julien, his former lover, and even ''God'' for his crimes. His claim to have killed innocent people in the hospital, merely because they were ''too ugly'' for the remade world he'd intended to build, is conveniently unmentioned, even to wave it off as a ruse or the Entities' doing.]]
* KidFromTheFuture: At the beginning of ''Night Fall'', a young man who calls himself Henry and addresses John as Father time-travels into Strangefellows [[spoiler: to kill him, as the BadFuture has ''not'' been averted, and he holds John responsible.]] However [[spoiler: at the end of the book, "Henry" turns out to have been Puck under a glamour, ''and'' the baby is a girl, so if John ever has a son he's unlikely to turn out like that.]]
* LastOfHisKind: Alex Morrisey is the last member of his genetic line, which forces him to remain at Strangefellows because his family is pact-bound to the bar. [[spoiler: Until Merlin dies, that is. Then he can finally venture out]].
** [[spoiler: ''Bride'' reveals that King of Skin was one of the family of Immortals, which suggests the version of him John encounters in the DarkFuture was ''probably'' the last surviving member of that family.]]

** When the living Merlin shows up from [[spoiler: Sinister Albion,]] Alex freaks out, thinking no one and nothing can take him on. ''Off the top of his head,'' John spouts off three names that he's dealt with in the past. Subverted, of course, since John proves he's as big a badass as any of them.
** In ''Bride'', [[spoiler: the Sun King pulls this trope on Taylor himself, convincing nearly everyone he knows that he murdered Julien Advent and setting the likes of Razor Eddie, Dead Boy, and the Oblivion brothers on his throat.]]

* LotusEaterMachine: The Dragon's Mouth is a drug den that pretty much never lets go of anyone it brings in. [[spoiler: Except John Taylor, and he was pulled out by the Punk God of the Straight Razor.]]
* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover / CanonWelding: The Nightside is explicitly in the same universe as ''Shadows Fall'' and ''Drinking Midnight Wine'', and there have been cameos from those books. In ''[[Literature/SecretHistories From Hell With Love]]'' Methuselah was in the Nightside during the events of ''Agents of Light and Darkness'' and steals an angel's hand, then makes it into a HandOfGlory. The Street of Gods first appeared in the quasi-medieval ''Literature/HawkAndFisher'' series, which is in continuity with ''Literature/BlueMoonRising'', and its first sequel gave us the Walking Man. Haceldama from the ''Literature/{{Deathstalker}}'' space opera crops up as a possible subway destination, as does Shadows Fall. As of ''Daemons are Forever'', his Literature/SecretHistories series also, officially, crosses over with his ''Literature/{{Deathstalker}}'' series,[[spoiler: when Edwin enlists Giles Deathstalker for help.]] A certain down-on-his-luck detective, whom Edwin won his houseboat from in a poker game, is also mentioned in "The Man with the Golden Torc" and Walker is a major character in "The Spy Who Haunted Me".

** In a "blink and you'll miss it" moment, in ''Agents,'' Taylor mentions some of the texts in the Vatican library, including the ''Testament of Grendel Rex.'' Grendel Rex is actually [[spoiler: a Drood turned into a [[AGodAmI self-proclaimed god]] now buried in Siberia.]]
** In Literature/SecretHistories, we find out that Mab [[spoiler: has returned from Hell to reclaim her throne.]] How'd she get there? [[spoiler: Larry Oblivion released her unintentionally, during the same adventure in which he got his wand.]]

** ''Knight'' reminds us how connected everything is... Every. Other. Page. The Droods get at least a half dozen references, the state of the Elves seen in that series is [[spoiler: shown and resolved,]] and Hawk and Fisher themselves make a cameo appearance at Strangefellows.
** ''Bride'' doesn't let the trend die, especially in the BatmanColdOpen, wherein we meet the Bride and Springheel Jack from ''From Hell With Love,'' as well as one of the last Immortals. [[spoiler: Turns out that he was there to kill his distant, half-immortal relative, the King of Skin. He also drops the bomb that the Droods are dead, except for Eddie]]. Also, the Carnacki Institute gets a couple mentions, with one of their ex- (and possibly excommunicated) employees, and John mentioning that he picked up a few tricks from [[Literature/CarnackiTheGhostFinder Carnacki]] himself.

* MeaningfulName: Prometheus Power Plant - [[spoiler: it's run off of a scion of a major figure of light, murdered on his wedding day.]]
* MirrorMoralityMachine: Not a machine, but a blast of change energy from Count Video caused [[spoiler: Mr. Alexander's HeelFaceTurn]] in the BatmanColdOpen of ''Paths Not Taken''.
* MotherOfAThousandYoung: [[spoiler: Lilith commands a '''huge''' brood of her own half-demon descendants, which Suzie and John do battle with in ''Paths''. By John's day, all but four of her offspring are long dead, although Lilith still has thousands of monstrous ''grandkids'' to do her bidding in ''Sharper''.]]

** In-universe Example - John Taylor. Seems innocuous enough, right? Yeah, right up until he removes the bullets from your gun with no visible effort and states that he can do the same to your organs. [[spoiler: Considering he can take the air out of your lungs AND focus on dental work, it isn't a stretch to say he's right on that.]]

* NoMacguffinNoWinner: How the conflict over [[spoiler: the Unholy Grail]] is resolved. Also, how John gets the psychonauts to quit manifesting in the BatmanColdOpen of ''Hex and the City''.
* NoSell: Almost every BigBad and EldritchAbomination that threatens the Nightside is shown to be resisted whole or in part by something they hadn't really considered as powerful enough to stop them. Even [[spoiler: Lillith herself]] in all her terrible glory can't grasp what [[AnthropomorphicPersonification The Engineer]] is, because she never considered technology to be a power and doesn't have anyway to make people stop believing in Scientific Progress.

** Between ''Nightingale'' and ''Sharper,'' Razor Eddie is MIA on the Street of the Gods. We never quite find out what he was doing there, but he made a lot of gods run out weeping, which is saying something. Also, besides redemption for using the Speaking Gun, he manages to [[spoiler: [[TookALevelInBadass "get an upgrade."]]]]

* [[spoiler: OneLastJob]]: As John won't have enough time to be both [[spoiler: Walker and a PI]], he asks his teen secretary to [[spoiler: find him one last case to go out on.]] As it turns out, [[spoiler: it's Walker's wedding present, allowing him to go out of the PI business with a bang]].

** Merlin Satanspawn's heart is said to have been stolen by Nimue, and he manifests with a gaping hole in his chest. [[spoiler: It was actually John and Tommy Oblivion who stole it, time-traveling with Shotgun Suzie in ''Paths Not Taken''.]]

* OurGodsAreDifferent: The Street of the Gods is full of self-proclaimed deities and religious groups. [[spoiler: Most aren't really gods. A few could lay claim to the title, though - especially Razor Eddie.]]

* OurWormholesAreDifferent: Timeslips, which just happen. [[spoiler: Until we find out that they don't just happen. Suddenly and messily.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: John's father drank himself to death when he learned that his wife wasn't human and she vanished. The return of John's mother is heavily implied to be likely to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. [[spoiler: It very nearly did.]]

* ThePlan: Merlin pretty much pulls this off in ''Knight'' [[spoiler: ''despite being killed. Twice.'']]

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler: In the ColdOpen for ''Nightingale's Lament'', John discovers that over 12% of the power in the Nightside comes from a man called the Sunslinger, who had a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque marriage with a scion of his family's mortal foe, the Hangman. The couple were murdered at the wedding party by their best man, who owned the power plant in question and wanted to harness the Sunslinger's light-based gift at an energy source. Even if he had to get it from his friend's spirit-bottled corpse.]]
** [[spoiler: [=PreciousMemories=]. There's a reason the Walking Man starts there.]]
** Each ''piece'' of a Sinister Albion knights armor is [[spoiler: infused with the soul of an innocent killed by that knight.]] When John points out the similarity to the Droods' armor, the reply he gets is "Amateurs."
* ThePowerOfBlood: The oracle-well John consults at the Mammon Emporium is paid in drops of blood, and he likewise uses a few drops to activate a scrying basin in ''Sharper''. Annie Abattoir [[spoiler: from the DarkFuture]] uses her own blood to open passages into [[spoiler: the past, through which John's Enemies send the Harrowing and others.]]

* RapeAsBackstory: [[spoiler: Suzie]].

* RealityWarper: Jessica Sorrow, Madman, and [[spoiler: the Speaking Gun.]] Tommy Oblivion is a weak example, while his brother Hadleigh is ''much'' stronger.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Sinner in "Hex and the City."]]
* ReluctantWarrior: John, in regards to [[spoiler: Excalibur]], and power in general. Also touches on BeAllMySinsRemembered. But this is why he so often gets it - he knows he's not worthy of it and doesn't want it, so the universe and its agents tend to saddle him with the power in question.
* RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun: Done with Walker's aforementioned Voice. He's getting sick of it.[[spoiler: He only brought the dead back once. Considering how many ''other'' examples of people communicating with and/or summoning the dead have shown up in Green's Verse, Walker's frustration is justified. It's ''not that special'', people, honestly!]]

** Nowadays the [[spoiler: Lilith War]] is also laid at his feet.

* RevengeBeforeReason: Kae wants to take out Merlin for not being at Arthur's final battle in ''Paths.'' [[spoiler: Due to his interference, when John finds out that Kae is running the Knights of London, he worries that Kae may want this towards him. But Kae subverts this; 1500 years undoubtedly helped.]]

* {{Rule34}}: In the Nightside: ''More furtive faces disappeared into weapons shops, or brothels, where for the right price you could sleep with famous women from fiction.''

* SadisticChoice: Subverted in the first novel, when the Collector warns John that giving [[spoiler: Razor Eddie]] a MercyKill will mean dooming the insects which are the BadFuture's only surviving life to extinction. As John ''despises'' creepy-crawlies, the choice is actually so easy that he shocks the Collector.
* ScrewDestiny: [[spoiler: With the demise of King of Skin in ''Bride'', the post-apocalyptic future John has repeatedly foreseen now appears to be impossible, or so he hopes.]]
* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler: Nimue]] gives up her own life force to try to prevent [[spoiler: Merlin]] from dying, but even forfeiting all of it isn't enough. Made all the more pathetic in that [[spoiler: nobody except John and Suzie even ''know'' she'd died for Merlin, as legend portrays her only as his willful betrayer.]]

** The Fractured Protagonist also makes a prominent appearance and from the description it's a good guess he's the [[Creator/MichaelMoorcock Eternal Champion.]]

* {{Socialite}}: Mariah Griffin ''owns'' this trope. Being a class example of this is what Annie Abattoir brings to [[spoiler: the new Authorities]]... well, that and being an expert spy/assassin.
* SpoilerTitle: [[spoiler: If you are familiar with [[ShoutOutToShakespeare the full line]] that the phrase "sharper than a serpent's tooth" [[Theatre/KingLear originates from]] and the meaning behind it, then you should be able to figure out just how that particular book ends.]]
** [[spoiler: Not really a surprise, as it's established within the first page or two that John is fighting to stop his mother.]]

** [[spoiler: Pen Donovan's dog Prince can speak English when he comes back from Heaven to fetch his master.]]

* TomatoSurprise: In the first novel, [[spoiler: Joanna is a construct sent by the man-eating house to lure John to it.]]
** [[spoiler: In the short story "Razor Eddie's Big Night Out", it's not revealed until the end that the narrator, the modest [[LastOfHisKind last follower]] of the original (non-Lovecraftian) god Dagon, is Dagon himself.]]

* UnholyMatrimony: The Cavendishes, [[spoiler: aka]] the Murder Masques. The slave couple who operate the Londinium-era precursor of Strangefellows also.

* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: [[spoiler: Pretty Poison.]] Harm Sinner, threaten Sinner, look cross-eyed at Sinner, and you are '''dead.''' [[spoiler: As a succubus demon from Hell, she can do a ''lot'' of damage.]]

* TheWorfEffect: First Razor Eddie, then Sinner, Pretty Poison and Madman, prove they're ''seriously'' deadly by [[spoiler: ripping the Harrowing to bits]]. Off-page, the Lamentation massacres the Brittle Sisters of the Hive.

** The Walking Man's unstoppability is decisively proven when he [[spoiler: fights ''Razor Eddie'' to a standstill]].

** This turns out to be the reason that [[spoiler: the Lord of Thorns, who wields the power of Yahweh, cannot stand up to Lilith, who is explicitly not as strong as Yahweh is.]] Turns out a bunch of the powers-at-be were secretly weakening him so that [[LetsYouAndHimFight the two would take each other out]].

** [[spoiler: The Authorities]] presume that Taylor's mother [[spoiler: Lilith]] is merely a rival out to make a profit. [[spoiler: They're eaten alive when Lilith finds them.]]

* YouCantFightFate: Implied in ''Just Another Judgment Day.'' Despite [[spoiler: defeating his mother and destroying the Speaking Gun, the future he saw in the Timeslip may be coming still. The "Enemies" are the new Authorities, and the Speaking Gun can't really be destroyed due to its nature and that of the Nightside.]]

** John is often referred to as a Prince, a title which he roundly rejects. He then [[spoiler: wears a crown of amazing technology forced on his head by Walker, ponders about being the King of the Nightside, and comes home to a gigantic kingmaking sword in the post.]] He may not have much of a choice about this one.
** John spent most of ''Uncanny'' fighting Walker's offer to be, well, Walker. [[spoiler: By the end of ''Bride,'' he hangs up his coat and takes a walk around the Nightside in a suit.]]

** Hinted at with [[spoiler: Excalibur,]] but ultimately subverted. [[spoiler: The weapon, though it has some power in the wrong person's hands, is ultimately a force for good and can only be wielded by those who are chosen by a world's Gaia, from who it derives. It's still a lot more than ''just'' a sword though.]] Specifically, it's a remnant of the Light, as in [[Literature/TheBible "Let there be Light]].

** In ''Unnatural Inquirer'', someone has graffitied "[[Series/WalkerTexasRanger The Eyes of Walker Are Upon You]]."

** Shotgun Suzie ''was'' this for years, before an emergency infusion of werewolf blood gave her an edge.

* BarredFromTheAfterlife: In one of the novels, Sinner is an otherwise-good man who'd sold his soul to the Devil for true love. When he died and went to Hell, it was revealed to him that his "true love" was a succubus who'd only been pretending to care about him ... but he still loved ''her'' and was content with his end of the bargain, so much so that having him around subverted the basic premise of Hell. Rather than let a happy soul spoil the atmosphere of the place, the Devil kicked him out again, and Sinner wound up in the Nightside, back on Earth.

* DifferentWorldDifferentMovies: Regularly played with; many stores offer items from alternate histories. This includes alt-history media works, such as Beatles rap albums, pornographic versions of Creator/AgathaChristie mysteries, and Creator/OrsonWelles' ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' epic ''[[Film/CitizenKane Citizen Wayne]]''.

* FantasticDrug: All over the place. Revert send you back up the [[DevolutionDevice evolutionary ladder]], [[Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds Martian red weed]] is available for smoking, and Dr. Jekyll's formula is on the market for recreational use.

** In ''Literature/HexAndTheCity'', Herne the Hunter vaguely mentions that the "[[Franchise/TheDarkTower World has moved on.]]"
** In ''Literature/HexAndTheCity'', John mentions robots with positronic brains, a reference to the''Literature/RobotSeries'' by Creator/IsaacAsimov.

** The end of "Hungry Heart" has John paraphrasing [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon The Maltese Falcon]] when describing the entity inside the Hungry Heart box, claiming it's "the stuff screams are made of".

* AllMythsAreTrue: And they frequently stop in for a pint at the local watering hole.
* AngelsDevilsAndSquid. And Bugs. And Loa. And Fae. And Everything Else.
* AntiAntiChrist: Merlin Satanspawn was born of the devil to be the Antichrist, but he "refused the honor." However his counterpart from Sinister Albion is a more conventional AntiChrist.
** Blind Pew suspected Taylor himself could be one of these. [[spoiler: And John pretty much ''was'', albeit by way of Lilith rather than Satan.]]
* AristocratsAreEvil: The Exiles are a group of nobles who wound up in the Nightside via Timeslips and now keep their own exclusive club, as they're the only ones who respect each others' titles. Not a one of them is portrayed as a nice person.

* KidFromTheFuture: At the beginning of ''Night Fall'', a young man who calls himself Henry and addresses John as Father time-travels into Strangefellows [[spoiler: to kill him, as the BadFuture has ''not'' been averted, and he holds John responsible.]] However [[spoiler: at the end of the book the baby turns out to be a girl, suggesting there will never be a Henry, or at least a Henry like that.]]

* KidFromTheFuture: At the beginning of ''Night Fall'', a grown-up version of John's son Henry time-travels into Strangefellows [[spoiler: to kill him, as the BadFuture has ''not'' been averted, and he holds John responsible.]]

** In ''Hex'', Herne the Hunter vaguely mentions that the "[[Franchise/TheDarkTower World has moved on.]]"
** In ''Hex'', John mentions robots with positronic brains, a reference to the''Literature/RobotSeries'' by Creator/IsaacAsimov.

** Also in ''Hex'', John mentions [[Creator/IsaacAsimov robots with positronic brains]].

An UrbanFantasy series by Creator/SimonRGreen, the ''Nightside'' series chronicles the adventures of the mysterious John Taylor in the titular Nightside, a hidden world in the middle of London wherein all manner of nasties lurk. Fallen gods and {{Eldritch Abomination}}s lurk down every dark alley in a place seemingly made entirely out of dark alleys. (And gaudy neon.)

* LetsYouAndHimFight: The Walking Man [[spoiler:vs the Punk God of the Straight Razor]]. It was [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome epic]].

** Played straight when John, Tommy Oblivion, and Suzie see AlternateReality versions of themselves in Old Father Time's mirrors, including themselves as a trio of supers. Suzie can't ''believe'' how gigantic her alternate self's boobs are.

** Between ''Nightingale'' and ''Sharper,'' Razor Eddie is MIA on the Street of the Gods. We never quite find out what he was doing there, but he made a lot of gods run out weeping, which is saying something. Also, besides redemption for using the Speaking Gun, he manages to [[spoiler: [[TookALevelInBadass "get an upgrade."]]]] Which is REALLY saying something, when you consider he was already a walking CrowningMomentOfAwesome to begin with.

** Hinted at with [[spoiler: Excalibur,]] but ultimately subverted. [[spoiler: The weapon, though it has some power in the wrong person's hands, is ultimately a force for good and can only be wielded by those who are chosen by a world's Gaia, from who it derives. It's still a lot more than ''just'' a sword though.]] Specifically, it's a remnant of the Light, as in [[TheBible "Let there be Light]].

** In "Razor Eddie's Big Night Out", the Egyptian cat-goddess Bast has come so far down in the world that she resorts to singing [[Theater/{{Cats}} "Memory"]] for spare change on the Street of the Gods.

* RedLightDistrict: The Nightside has several of these, which cater to every conceivable taste.

* {{{Papparazzi}}: The ''Unnatural Inquirer'', from the book of the same name, is known for catering to people's desire for trashy celebrity gossip. Its reporters are so hated that their delivery trucks get firebombed and their receptionist works behind bulletproof glass.

* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover / CanonWelding: The Nightside is explicitly in the same universe as ''Shadows Fall'' and ''Drinking Midnight Wine'', and there have been cameos from those books. In ''[[Literature/SecretHistories From Hell With Love]]'' Methuselah was in the Nightside during the events of ''Agents of Light and Darkness'' and steals an angel's hand, then makes it into a HandOfGlory. The Street of Gods first appeared in the quasi-medieval ''Literature/HawkAndFisher'' series, which is in continuity with ''Literature/BlueMoonRising'' and its sequels; there are references to Haceldama from the ''Literature/{{Deathstalker}}'' space opera as well. As of ''Daemons are Forever'', his Literature/SecretHistories series also, officially, crosses over with his ''Literature/{{Deathstalker}}'' series,[[spoiler: when Edwin enlists Giles Deathstalker for help.]] A certain down-on-his-luck detective, whom Edwin won his houseboat from in a poker game, is also mentioned in "The Man with the Golden Torc" and Walker is a major character in "The Spy Who Haunted Me".

** In Literature/SecretHistories, we find out that Mab [[spoiler: has returned from Hell to reclaim her throne.]] How'd she get there? [[spoiler: Larry Oblivion released her on accident, hence how he also got his wand.]]
** In ''Just Another Judgment Day'', there are two small ones. The walking man references the Droods when grimacing that he thought the speaking gun had already been destroyed, and it is explicitly stated that Owen Deathstalker is a member of the adventurers club.
** ''Knight'' reminds us how connected everything is... Every. Other. Page. The Droods get at least a half dozen references, the state of the Elves seen in that series is [[spoiler: shown and resolved,]] and Hawk and Fisher themselves make an appearance at Strangefellows.

*** To be fair, Taylor'd mentioned how he'd been Carnacki's apprentice long before Green's ''Ghost of'' novels got started.