History Literature / RangersApprentice

* DarkerAndEdgier: Book 9, in which Halt is [[spoiler:mortally wounded by a poisoned arrow. He gets better, but his recovery is PlayedForDrama, and it looked as if the author would be invoking AnyoneCanDie.]]

%%* EvilOverlord: Morgarath.
* EvilTwin: One of these pops up for [[spoiler:Halt]] in Book Eight, although with a bit of a subversion.

* FakeKing: Inverted when [[spoiler:Halt]] dresses up as King Ferris of Clonmel. Ferris is the acting king, but the twin brother who's impersonating him was born first and never formally abdicated when he fled the kingdom to avoid Ferris's assasination attempts, making him the rightful king and Ferris a usurper. In short, the rightful king ends up impersonating the EvilTwin who stole his throne.[[labelnote:a more detailed explanation]] Halt and Ferris are twins, but Halt was born first, making him the Crown Prince. Ferris resented this and arrangd "accidents" for Halt several times in their youth so he could inherit the throne. Halt didn't care for the throne much to begin with, so when he realized Ferris would never stop, he told Ferris he could have it and left. Ferris told everyone Halt had died and took the throne while Halt eventually settled in Araluen.[[/labelnote]]
* FallenPrincess: Madelyn becomes this in ''The Royal Ranger'' when her parents, at their wit's end over how to deal with her headstrong, self-centered behavior, resort to disinheriting her. [[spoiler:This news finaly shakes Madelyn out of her haughty attitude, and she spends the rest of the book steadiy undergoing CharacterDevelopment. By the end, her parents decide she's earned the right to be reinstated.]]

* IHaveNoSon: Madelyn is disinherited in '' Royal Ranger''. Unusually for this trope, it's always intended to be temporary.

* PetTheDog: Literally--Will's acquaintance with Shadow begins when he heals her injuries.

--->'''Crowley''': What's wrong? Did I miss something? Oh, of course! You'll need your silver...g eegaws, won't you? Well, might as well hand 'em over.

%%* InvisibilityCloak: The cloaks of the Rangers.

!Books in the Series:

* DarkerAndEdgier: Book 9, in which Halt is [[spoiler: mortally wounded by a poisoned arrow. He gets better, but his recovery is PlayedForDrama, and it looked as if the author would be invoking AnyoneCanDie.]]

** Will and Cassandra's relationship undergoes quite a strain when they return to Araulen. It's one thing for a boy and a girl to bond under incredibly dangerous conditions with only each other to really trust and rely on. It's a whole other story when they come back home and the girl goes back to being a princess, far above the station of an orphaned commoner.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When she's first threatened, then outright attacked by a thug in Book 12, Madelyn falls back on her training and puts her throwing knife through the man's heart. Then she realizes that she's just killed someone and is overwhemed with guilt, eventually breaking down crying in Will's arms.

* OnlyAFleshWound: Horace receives minor injuries multiple times, and is mostly able to shrug them off and continue fighting. Examples are during the storm of Macindaw, the final fight in ''Erak's Ransom,'' and others.

* HypnotizeTheCaptive: Keren subjects Alyss to this in Book 6, using a combination of a drug (to make her more suceptible the first time he does it) and a jewel with mesmerizing properties to put her into a suggestible state while interrogating her. Finding a way to help her resist this before she's forced to give away all of the group's secrets is one of Will's major goals in the early part of the book. It's firmly played for drama, as Alyss is deeply humiliated by how easily she can be put into a trance just by looking at the stone and terrified that she might be forced to give up vital information that could get Will killed. Then, during the climax, her resistance fails, and Keren orders the hypnotized Alyss to kill Will, knowing he loves her too much to fight back and risk harming her. Luckily for both of them, ThePowerOfLove snaps her out of it.

* SeeTheInvisible: One Ranger can usually see through the other's camouflage.
** They make a game of it during their annual gathering, trying to catch each other sneaking up to the campgrounds.

* BigEater: Horace. It goes into a RunningGag.
* BigFancyCastle: A few of them, Castle Araluen particularly.

* BuildingOfAdventure: Castle Macindaw.

* CoolOldGuy: Malcolm and, in later volumes, Halt.

* CultColony: The camp of the Outcasts.

* EvilOverlord: Morgarath.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: All the Rangers, more or less, but especially Will.
** Possibly justified due to Ranger archery training, which could be considered a form of CharlesAtlasSuperpower. One of the many mantras of the Ranger Corps is "An archer practices until he gets it right. A Ranger practices until he never gets it wrong."

* InvisibilityCloak: The cloaks of the Rangers.

--->'''Crowley''': What's wrong? Did I miss something? Oh, of course! You'll need your silver...geegaws, won't you? Well, might as well hand 'em over.

* SapientSteed[=/=]BondCreatures: Ranger horses can't speak (because they're horses), but it has been shown several times that they all have human-level intelligence. Will's horse, Tug, in particular, has mastered the art of [[SilentSnarker "saying something with a look".]]

* TeamDad: Halt, to an incredible degree.
** Selethen is heavily implied to be this to his men.

* TheApprentice: Duh.

* TrialByCombat: Happens a few times over the course of the series, usually fought by [[KnightInShiningArmor Horace]].
* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Alyss, Cassandra, and Will.
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Will, Horace, and Evanlyn in part of book 2.
* TwoGirlsToATeam: Alyss and Cassandra in Book 10.
* TurnInYourBadge: Happens to Halt in book three after his refusal to fulfill his order. Thankfully, he gets it back.
* UnbrokenVigil: Will and Horace at Halt's side while Halt is [[TalkingInYourSleep talking in his sleep]].
* UndyingLoyalty: Will and Gilan both have this to Halt.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: Arguably between Will and Evanlyn in book 2.
* VictoriousChildhoodFriend: Alyss and Will.

In a medieval Europe much like ours but with [[FantasyCounterpartCulture all of the names changed]], the young orphan Will becomes apprenticed to the elite Ranger Corps of [[strike:England]] Araluen after being rejected by the knights' Battleschool due to his small stature. Rangers, their work shrouded in secrecy and camouflaging cloaks, resemble nothing so much as a cross between [[RobinHood Robin Hood]] and the CIA. Will discovers that being a Ranger is not only as exciting and heroic as being a knight, it is also something he excels at.

* MauveShirt: Shukin gets just enough time to be likable before his HeroicSacrifice.

** Madelyn is a King Thrushbeard version: her parents disinherit her in a last-ditch attempt to force her to grow out of being a RoyalBrat. Once she's gone through some CharacterDevelopment, she's reinstated as Crown Princess.

* RunningGag: A minor one where everyone (except Alyss) calls Will's mandola (a stringed instrument similar to a lute) a lute.

--> "What's wrong? Did I miss something? Oh, of course! You'll need your silver...geegaws, won't you? Well, might as well hand 'em over."

* ShownTheirWork: Most of the author's explanations on archery, culture and battle tactics is generally correct, if occasionally somewhat simplistic.
** It's [[NightmareFuel chillingly]] accurate portrayal of what it's like to virtually die of dehydration, and just how easily it can happen to anyone who doesn't know the desert.

* SupportingLeader: Halt. Suspiciously similar to Aragorn, including [[spoiler:being the rightful king of Clonmel]].
** Although, unlike Aragorn, he [[spoiler: doesn't take the throne, even when it seems logical to do so]].

* TeachMeHowToFight: Cassandra asks Will to teach her how to shoot. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome He tells her that he could-if they had several months.]]

In a medieval Europe much like ours but with [[IstanbulNotConstantinople all of the names changed]], the young orphan Will becomes apprenticed to the elite Ranger Corps of [[strike:England]] Araluen after being rejected by the knights' Battleschool due to his small stature. Rangers, their work shrouded in secrecy and camouflaging cloaks, resemble nothing so much as a cross between [[RobinHood Robin Hood]] and the CIA. Will discovers that being a Ranger is not only as exciting and heroic as being a knight, it is also something he excels at.

* IstanbulNotConstantinople: Araluen = England, Gallica = France, Celtica = Wales, Hibernia = Ireland, Picta = Scotland, Teutlandt = Germany, Arrida = North Africa (likely Tripoli), Skandia = Scandinavia, Nihon-Ja = Japan, Iberion = Spain, Toscana = Rome/Italy, the unnamed Temujai country, referred to as the Eastern Steppes = Mongolia (UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan's name was Temujin), Indus (briefly mentioned in Book Ten) probably = India, etc. A map appears in later books that is reminiscent of a early map of the Old World. These all really could really be seen just as {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s.
** The names are not complete fiction, however; e.g., [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic Gallica = Gallic = an old name for the rough area of France]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuscany "Toscana" is Italian for "Tuscany"]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_people Nihon-Ja = Nihon-Jan = Nihonjin = Japanese people]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Peninsula Iberion = Iberian = rough area of Spain]], etc.
** It may be safer to call Araluen a [[TheGoodKingdom standard medieval fantasy kingdom]].
** Celtica could also be Cornwall, since that is where it's located on the map, and Cornwall was inhabited by the Celts far longer than the rest of England because the Romans never conquered it.

%%zce* FirstGi rlWins: Alyss, for Will.

* FiveManBand:
** First book only (after that, George and Jenny disappear almost entirely and Alyss is eventually replaced by Evanlyn; they reappear in Books Five and Ten, but still, they're both incredibly minor characters):
*** Will: TheHero;
*** Horace: TheLancer;
*** Jenny: TheBigGuy;
*** George: TheSmartGuy;
*** Alyss: TheChick.
** Overall:
*** TheHero: Will.
*** TheLancer[=/=]TheBigGuy: Horace.
*** TheSmartGuy: Halt and Malcolm.
*** TheChick: Cassandra and Alyss.
*** TheSixthRanger: Gilan ([[{{Pun}} almost literally]]).
*** TeamPet: Tug, Abelard, Shadow, and Ebony. Blaze for Gilan.
* FirstGirlWins: Alyss, for Will.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Keren to Alyss.

* ActionGirl: Evanlyn/Princess Cassandra, particularly in Book Seven. Alyss also knows how to use a knife with ease. Diplomats have to fight sometimes too.
** Madelyn takes after her mother, becoming the first female apprentice in Corp. history.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Picta and the Temujai, among others.
** Although as of ''Halt's Peril'' it is implied that only the Picta ''warriors'' are really bad guys, and it is a major KickTheDog moment when an innocent couple of Picta farmers are mercilessly slaughtered by the current BigBad.

* BaitAndSwitch: The beginning of Book 12 has an older, bearded Ranger who pulls a StealthHiBye and grimly interrogates a prisoner before putting him down hard in a fight. Sounds like Halt? Sure, but it's actually [[spoiler: Will, who at this point is a BrokenAce]].

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: The Rangers (and Araluens) are good, while their enemies are unambiguously bad. However, this is more the case in earlier books--the [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness first couple]] were full-on black-and-white, mindless evil army led by the dark lord and all, while the later books have shades of grey. It gets a bit strange when Halt shamelessly forges legal documents or when Will sells a troublemaking villager into slavery but the reader is obviously supposed to be okay with their actions. It should be noted, however, that Duncan is explicitly stated to be OK with Halt forging documents, since he trusts him, and given that said villager used to literally KickTheDog and tries to kill Will, slavery is getting off lightly.

* BookDumb: Horace, at times.

* CallBack: In Book 11, Will remembers [[BrickJoke Gilan's advice about dealing with an angry axeman]].

* FakeKing: Interestingly inverted. When Halt dresses up as the king of Clonmel, he pretends to be Ferris, but [[spoiler:Ferris himself is pretending to be the rightful king--a title which belongs to Halt; which means that Halt pretends to be someone who pretends to be him]][[note]]An explanation, then. Halt and Ferris are twins, but Halt was born several minutes earlier, making him the firstborn. Ferris hated this about him and attempted to have him killed in a series of "accidents". Halt quickly caught on, and, sick of his brother's attempts on his life and never having really been all that interested in the throne in the first place, basically said, "You want the crown so bad? Here, take it!", and moved out of Hibernia. However, since there's no formal abdication process, Halt is still technically the rightful king[[/note]].
** Foreshadowed all the way back in book three when Halt issues a challenge to a knight, claiming to be Hibernian nobility. When questioned by Horace, Halt passes it off by saying that the knight couldn't prove he lied.
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: In Book Six, Sir Keren gets acid thrown in his face and then [[DisneyVillainDeath falls through a tower window to the flagstones below]].

* FinalSolution: The Temujai, who are {{Absolute Xenophobe}}s and murder everyone on captured territories or anyone taken prisoner.

* GRatedDrug: Warmweed. Seriously. It's very bad for you. Specifically, it is a marijuana-like substance that fills your body with the sensation of warmth. Since it's only known to grow in Skandia, where it's winter pretty much all year round and the slaves there tend not to have much in the way of keeping warm, it is ''very'' easy to get addicted to. Once it happens, you gradually lose your sense of who you were, forget those closest to you, focus only on the drug, etc., until you become an EmptyShell.
* GreyAndGrayMorality: Most of the Rangers, at least the ones mentioned in the books. Will begins to show a bit of this trope, considering he gives a man into slavery in Skandia. Granted, [[KickTheSonOfABitch the man nearly disemboweled one of his dogs and is suspected for a large string of murders]].
** More importantly, he knew a extremely dangerous secret and was threatening to sell it to the highest bidder. Alyss's first suggestion was to slit his throat to keep him from talking.

* TheExile: Happens to Halt. He invokes it on purpose so he can go and search for Will, who was captured by the Skandians. It's later revealed in Book 8 that [[spoiler: he exiled himself from home after his brother tried to kill him one too many times]].

* KarmicDeath: Ferris.
* KickTheDog: Literally. When John Buttle almost kills Shadow, we learn that he is an evil man.

* JerkJock: Horace, as Will thinks of him in the first book. He's really more of a LovableJock after his CharacterDevelopment arc in the same book.
* KnightErrant: Subverted by the adventures of Halt and Horace in Gallica.

* LowFantasy: With the exception of BlackAndWhiteMorality.
** There seems to be some magic, but ''very'' little of it is mentioned. Averted by [[BigBad Morgarath]] and his mind control over the Wargal hordes in the first book, though other characters view it as nothing more than large-scale mesmerism, while the barrow-wight Will met is dismissed as [[AllJustADream Just a Dream]].

* MagicRealism: The only supernatural elements in the series are Lord Morgarath's armies and the [[OurWightsAreDifferent barrow-wight]] that Will catches a glimpse of while waking up in ''Halt's Peril'' (and the latter he dismisses as his nightmares).

* ThePowerOfLove: Saved Alyss from being hypnotized by Keren and giving off all the group's secrets.

* PuppetKing: Tennyson puts Ferris and the other Hibernian kings under his thumb.

* RedOniBlueOni: Cassandra and Alyss.

* RescueRomance: Alyss and Will in Book 6, and gender-inverted by [[spoiler: Cassandra and Horace]] in Book 10.
* RightfulKingReturns: Subverted in Book Eight. See Fake King, above.

* StoryArc: The series' arcs usually last for about two books.

* TellMeAboutMyFather: The conversation between Will and Halt near the beginning of the first volume. Surprisingly, it does not develop into an important plot element.
** ''The Lost Stories'' has Halt reveal that [[ChildrenAreInnocent he held parts back in Book One]] and tells Will [[MissingMom the rest of the story]].

** And slavery wasn't totally abolished. Later on Will gives Buttle to the Skandians as slave.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Cassandra and Alyss.

* VillainDecay: The [[strike:Mongols]] Temujai go from "Holy Shit, an army of soldiers where Halt came from!" when hinted in the first book to mooks on horseback after they are shot down by the platoon by previously weed-addicted peasants with a few weeks of training. Every last one of their efforts in Book Four are neatly countered before they can be used to any advantage, thanks to the power of Rangers, Luck, and Rangers. It is mentioned that, had the Skandians fought the way they expected them to, the Temujai would have won handily. Unfortunately (for the Temujai), the Skandians had a man who knew how to counter the tactics used by the Temujai: Halt, which can justify this to some extent.

* CrusadingWidower: [[spoiler:Will]] becomes this in Book 12 after finding out his wife died in an inn fire trying to save a child trapped inside. He becomes absolutely obsessed with finding out who set the inn on fire so he can take his revenge.

* ArtisticLicenseMartialArts: In general, averted, as the author is pretty good about showing their work. However, played straight in Book 7 when it's mentioned that Halt "always watched an enemy's eyes." As any trained combatant will know, this tells you little to nothing in combat situations. People don't attack with their eyeballs (well, [[EyeBeams not in this universe, anyway]]), and a trained fighter can easily attack without glancing at their target.

** For Horace - Has surprisingly few, but don't disrespect his friends.
** For Halt - Old Joe Smoke. Don't play it. Also, don't hurt Will, or Horace, or Abelard. And don't be an idiot. And [[TooDumbToLive do NOT]] insult Lady Pauline. You will be thrown in the moat. Finally, (though this is mostly PlayedForLaughs) anyone mentioning his seasickness would do well to safeguard their helmet. Halt's vomit can really stain. In fact, just don't mention it at all. [[ParanoiaFuel Especially since you never know]] [[StealthHiBye if he might be right behind you...]]