History Literature / ThatHideousStrength

* TakeThat: Horace Jules, the deluded and easily manipulated Director of N.I.C.E serves as one to H. G. Wells. While C. S. Lewis was a fan of Wells' science fiction, he felt Wells "hocked his talent for a pot of message" and disliked his later books which were basically one AuthorTract after another. Given that literally half of Lewis’ own fiction, including this book, was papers of Christian apologetics shoehorned into basic Science Fiction and Fantasy plots, it can be comfortably stated that [[{{Hypocrite}} Lewis’ audacity and blindness to the concept of pot calling kettle black are supernatural to scale that utterly dwarfs the power of Lurga.]]

* TranshumanAliens: We learn that the Moon became as desolate as it is because the {{Lunarians}} tried to destroy their bodies and become pure minds. There never was a greater disaster.

* ListingTheFormsOfDegenerates: Done in-universe in a pro-NICE editorial in order to [[PoisoningTheWell Poison the Well]] against anyone who tries to warn about the organization's tyrannical tendencies:

* CloudCuckooLander: The tramp Belbury mistakes for Merlin.
* ColdSleepColdFuture: Merlin's experience of the modern world.

* ForScience: Filostrato, one of the N.I.C.E.'s more (relatively) idealistic members.

* TheInsomniac: Wither has lost the ability to sleep.

* PeaceAndLoveIncorporated: The N.I.C.E.
* PoliceState: The college town, as ruled over by The N.I.C.E.

* TakeThat: Horace Jules, the deluded and easily manipulated Director of N.I.C.E serves as one to H. G. Wells. While C. S. Lewis was a fan of Wells' science fiction, he felt Wells "hocked his talent for a pot of message" and disliked his later books which were basically AuthorTracts.

** Inverted with Merlin, who becomes the vessel for five ''oyeresu'' -- angelic possession. Even though he knows [[PossessionBurnout channelling that their power will destroy him]].

* DemonicPossession: The Head of the Institute is a literal severed head, animated by a dark eldil rather than its original occupant. There are also signs that it affects Frost, who experiences it as periods of doing things without knowing why; and there's one scene where Mark comes into Wither's office and finds that Wither's body is occupied by something quite unlike his normal personality.

* VillainousBreakdown: Inverted - Frost and Wither have lost so much of their humanity that they don't have emotions left to react to the total collapse of their plans, and instead lapse into something close to a fugue state.

* HystericalWoman: A woman begins to laugh uncontrollably in fear and nervousness in response to Horace Jewels' speech while he's under the influence of the CurseOfBabel. She stops when Wither forces him to sit and clears his throat...only to begin again when Wither is under the same CurseOfBabel, at which point she's joined by ''another'' woman!

* TakeThat: Horace Jules, the deluded and easily manipulated Director of N.I.C.E serves as one to H. G. Wells. While C. S. Lewis was a fan of Well's science fiction, he felt Wells "hocked his talent for a pot of message" and disliked his later books which were basically AuthorTracts.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Subverted. Feverstone folds 'em half a dozen steps too late.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: "Venus at St. Annes'", the last chapter of ''That Hideous Strength.''

* MacGuffinSuperPerson: The entire reason N.I.C.E. wants Bragdon Wood is [[spoiler: to find Merlin, who they know is entombed there. They want him for his magical knowledge, but this particular Mac Guffin Person turns out to have will of his own and, upon waking, goes to join the heroes.]]

* TheAllegedBoss: Jules is nominally the director of N.I.C.E., but he's only a pompous windbag who's clueless about what really goes on there. Wither and Frost are actually in charge.

* BearsAreBadNews: A bear named Mr Bultitude kills the BigBad, who had kidnapped him from the zoo and used him for vivisection experiments. Hence also:

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Merlin, although ultimately on the side of good, doesn't really fit within the modern framework of good and evil. One of the better examples of DeliberateValuesDissonance.
** This is actually a plot point in the story; one of the reasons that the protagonists wish to locate Merlin is because he lived in a time when practicing magic was acceptable. This allows them the luxury of having magic abilities on their side despite the such things normally being forbidden in the modern era as witchcraft. Merlin is basically an ethical loophole.

* CloudCuckooLander: Again, the tramp.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Merlin is appalled by his wakers' hospitality even though he acknowledges that their technological advancements are very comfortable, because they replace servants who would honor him with devices that just sit there. In this and several other ways, he comes off as barbaric, both to the reader and to other characters. In this and countless other ways, his mindset is very different from that of the 20th century characters. Justified, of course, in that Merlin is a superficially-Romanized Celt from hundreds of years prior.
** Also {{Justified}} in that that's the entire reason Merlin is there in the first place. The holy angels needed a magician to act through in order to deal with Belbury, but magic has been strictly forbidden for centuries. So God set aside Merlin, who had practiced magic back when it was still permissible, to be a vessel for his servants.
* DistractedByMyOwnSexy: The trope is also flirted with in ''That Hideous Strength'', particularly when the ladies of Logres are dressing up. Also {{Averted}} in an interesting way in the dress-up scene. The dressing room contains no mirrors, and none of the women can see why the dress ''they're'' wearing is so incredibly beautiful on them, though they can all see it on each other - which illustrates the point (on humility - think of others, not of yourself). Jane Studdock for example thinks her dress is too fussy, though blue ''is'' her color. But the others like it on her so she wears it - and promptly forgets all about it in the interest of choosing dresses for the others.

* ExitPursuedByABear: [[spoiler:The one chapter from the perspective of the villainous Withers ends with him facing Mr. Bultitude, an actual bear, as he stands on his hindlegs and growls. Withers isn't seen again.]]

* InWithTheInCrowd: Mark Studdock's motive for joining the NICE in ''That Hideous Strength''.

* LossOfIdentity: The human leaders of N.I.C.E. have all experienced tremendous trauma to their personalities and, in the worst cases, their basic free will, as a direct result of their long-term voluntary exposure to the powers of the dark eldila.

* OpposedMentors: An evil example where the two chief villains disagree on the best way to dehumanize their initiate/captive.

* PollyWantsAMicrophone: {{Discussed}} by Merlin when trying to prove Ransom's credentials.

* ScaleOfScientificSins: The N.I.C.E. follows just about the whole thing, almost to the letter.

* SecretPolice: The N.I.C.E. have their own police forces. They managed to seize control of a college town with only a handful of people realizing it.

* ValuesDissonance: An in-universe example with Merlin, in that he has fifth-century morals and expectations, exasperating the modern-day protagonists. For instance, upon hearing that one of the protagonist's husbands is in prison for a theft (one he'd actually committed), Merlin seemed to have ideas about riding off to attack the county jail to free him. Merlin even suggests overthrowing the king of the [=U.K.=], at one point!

* TortureForFunAndInformation: "Fairy" Hardcastle openly admits she gets off on torturing people.

* GoodIsOldFashioned: Definitely.
%%* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: "Venus at St. Annes'", the last chapter of ''That Hideous Strength.''

%%* SciFiLGBT: 'Fairy'.

* AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:Ransom]] at the end of ''That Hideous Strength,'' at least thematically. He will never die, but will instead be transported bodily to Perelandra, where he will live in paradise until the time comes for him to return. It's also implied that this happened to Enoch, Moses and Elijah... and King Arthur.

* BoomerangBigot: In ''That Hideous Strength'', [[ButchLesbian Miss Hardcastle]] is said to have once been a fascist. The fascists were virulently homophobic even for their time, and were ''very'' gung-ho about traditional gender roles. It's possible that Miss Hardcastle [[YouAreWhatYouHate simply didn't realize she was a lesbian then]], but Lewis never addresses the point either way. Also possible she doesn't really believe in any ideology and joins any group she thinks likely to gain power.
* BuffySpeak: In ''That Hideous Strength'', [=MacPhee=] accuses women in general of talking this way and somehow still understanding each other.

* DeathWorld: In Professor Frost's telling, the Moon mountains so sharp that you could impale a man on them and undiluted heat so intense a human body would instantly disintegrate into moondust. It was not always so; there was a race that cleansed itself and lives beneath its surface, and Frost hopes to follow their example.

%%* FunWithAcronyms: The N.I.C.E. (National Institute of Coordinated Experiments).
%%* GoodIsOldFashioned: The view of Weston and the [=NICE=].

* HystericalWoman: In ''That Hideous Strength'', a woman begins to laugh uncontrollably in fear and nervousness in response to Horace Jewels' speech while he was under the influence of the CurseOfBabel. She stops when Wither forces him to sit and clears his throat...only to begin again when Wither is under the same CurseOfBabel, at which point she's joined by ''another'' woman!

* MarsAndVenusGenderContrast: ''That Hideous Strength'' is largely about the unhappy couple of the Studdocks and how they come to accept the roles of their sexes despite modern hang-ups about their being roles at all.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Horace Jules, the nominal director of NICE in ''That Hideous Strength'', is a venomous caricature of H.G. Wells.
* NotWhatISignedOnFor: In ''That Hideous Strength'' Bill "The Blizzard" Hingest joined the N.I.C.E. because he believed it was actually about science, and resigned as soon as he found out it was really about social engineering and transhumanism.
* OlderThanTheyLook: By the third book, Ransom is extremely youthful in appearance despite pushing 50 and sporting a long, luxurious beard. Yet he also gives off an aura of wisdom befitting one much older. The former is from visiting Perelandra, the last truly paradisal world, and the latter is from his experiences making him ''truly'' humble -- that is, having no illusions about his true nature as a creature of [[{{God}} Maleldil]].
* OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous: The final book, ''That Hideous Strength'', has spirits in it that have genders, but do not have sexes in the biological sense. A quote about the Oyarsa of Jupiter and the Oyarsa of Saturn:

* OutOfFocus: Ransom in the third installment. After his adventures in the first two books, he graduates from TheHero to the BigGood, and the story focuses on two new characters, Jane and Mark Studdock, and their conflicts with the N.I.C.E.

* PossessingADeadBody: In ''That Hideous Strength'', the amoral scientists of the N.I.C.E. communicate with higher-dimensional lifeforms by specially preparing severed human heads for the "macrobes" (as the scientists call them) to possess and speak with. What the N.I.C.E. is too blind to realize is that these macrobes are literally demons from Hell.

* SciFiLGBT: 'Fairy'.

* SelfDisposingVillain: N.I.C.E.'s secret masters hold them in just as much contempt as they do all other human beings. [[spoiler: Once Merlin has unleashed the might of the ''oyarsa'' upon their based and ruined their plans for good, they, as Ransom aptly puts it, "break their tools," driving the humans under their close control to destroy one another, and then themselves for their own twisted amusement.]]
* SelfDuplication: Wither always seems to be wandering around just the right places on campus to make everyone nervous. [[spoiler: It's apparently a dark power he gained from his secret masters. Mark eventually punches one to find it's an insubstantial phantom that disappears when he touches it.]]* ShoutOut: [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Númenor]] gets mentioned several times in ''That Hideous Strength'', based apparently on some discussions that Lewis had with Tolkien (Lewis apparently never saw a manuscript, since he invariably spells it "Numinor").

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: ''That Hideous Strength''.
* SquishyWizard: Merlin considers himself to be this in the third book; when told that he wasn't to use magic the same way that he did a millennium and a half ago, his assumption was that there would be a fight using spears and swords, and admitted that he wouldn't be good at that kind of fighting.

* TouchedByVorlons: The Director of Logres appears to be divinely young as a result of his journey to the eternal paradise of Venus.
* TranshumanAliens: In ''That Hideous Strength'', it becomes apparent that the Moon became as desolate as it is because the {{Lunarians}} tried to destroy their bodies and become pure minds. There never was a greater disaster.
* TranshumansInSpace: In ''That Hideous Strength'', N.I.C.E. hopes to bring the vision of the first book's villain to life by creating an interplanetary empire. Unlike him, they have also set their sight on eliminating the flaws of organic matter and hope to replace humanity with a select few minds that have been stripped of their flesh, allowing them to eventually create a totally hygienic and controlled universe.
* UnusualEuphemism: In ''Literature/ThatHideousStrength'', "bucking" is used as a [[RhymesOnADime stand-in for]]...

* WoundThatWillNotHeal: Ransom gets one on his heel on Perelandra [[spoiler:during his fight with the Un-Man]]. It stays with him throughout ''That Hideous Strength'' and gives him constant pain, since it can only be healed on the world where it was inflicted and he cannot return there until his task is done.

[[redirect:Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy]]