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''The Conqueror's Saga'' is a trilogy of young adult novels by Kiersten White set in the Ottoman Empire during the 1400's. The series follows Lada, a female version of Vlad the Impaler, and her brother Radu through their childhood in Romania and their teenage years as hostages in the [[DecadentCourt Ottoman royal court.]]
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''The Conqueror's Saga'' is a trilogy of young adult novels by Kiersten White set in the Ottoman Empire during the 1400's.1400s. The series follows Lada, a female version of Vlad the Impaler, and her brother Radu through their childhood in Romania and their teenage years as hostages in the [[DecadentCourt Ottoman royal court.]]
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Has Two Mommies is now a disambig. Dewicking
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* HasTwoMommies: [[spoiler:Theodora has two moms ''and'' two dads.]]
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The Conqueror's Saga is a trilogy of young adult novels by Kiersten White set in the Ottoman Empire during the 1400's. The series follows Lada, a female version of Vlad the Impaler, and her brother Radu through their childhood in Romania and their teenage years as hostages in the [[DecadentCourt Ottoman royal court.]]
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope
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* TheBeard: Radu, who is gay, marries Nazira, a lesbian. [[spoiler:Taken UpToEleven when their love interests marry each other.]]
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* TheBeard: Radu, who is gay, marries Nazira, a lesbian. [[spoiler:Taken UpToEleven [[spoiler:Exaggerated when their love interests marry each other.]]
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Dewicked trope
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* KnifeNut: Lada is wielding knives [[LittleMissBadass by the age of five]].
** [[spoiler:Theodora seems to have inherited this.]]
** [[spoiler:Theodora seems to have inherited this.]]
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* AllForNothing: All of Lada's actions are in the name of [[PatrioticFervor Wallachia]], who she considers her mother. By the end of the trilogy, however, she's come to realize that Wallachia does not care about her or anything she's sacrificed for it.
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* EvilChancellor: Halil Pasha. [[RealityEnsues It eventually gets him executed.]]
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* EvilChancellor: Halil Pasha. [[RealityEnsues It eventually gets him executed.]]
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The Conqueror's Saga is a trilogy of young adult novels by Kiersten White set in the Ottoman Empire during the 1400's. The series follows Lada, a female version of Vlad the Impaler, and her brother Radu through their childhood in Romania and their teenage years as hostages in the [[DeadlyDecadentCourt Ottoman royal court.]]
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The Conqueror's Saga is a trilogy of young adult novels by Kiersten White set in the Ottoman Empire during the 1400's. The series follows Lada, a female version of Vlad the Impaler, and her brother Radu through their childhood in Romania and their teenage years as hostages in the [[DeadlyDecadentCourt [[DecadentCourt Ottoman royal court.]]
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Badass Gay isn't a trope anymore.
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* BadassGay: Radu may not be as badass as Lada, but he grows into TheSocialExpert and a skilled archer.
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* DomesticAbuse: Vlad beat his wife so badly she has broken teeth and a permanent limp, brutalized her for giving birth to a daughter and a "weak" son, and is implied to have raped her. Even [[FemaleMisogynist Lada]], who spent most of her life resenting her mother for not being strong enough, feels sympathy for her.
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* DragonsAreDemonic: A running theme is how dragons in Slavic culture might as well be analogues for demons, giving more weight to Lada being identified as one. [[spoiler:To the point where Radu even carves "dragon" on her tombstone.]]
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* DragonsAreDemonic: A running theme is how dragons in Slavic culture might as well be analogues for demons, giving more weight to Lada being identified (and identifying) as one. [[spoiler:To the point where Radu even carves "dragon" on her tombstone.]]
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* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:Lada, in the later part of ''Bright We Burn''. She's positively ''gleeful'' at the thought of Mehmed seeing her stakes, destroys her own land to win their "game", and starts murdering people for the slightest offense. Thankfully, she eventually bounces back.]]
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* MoralEventHorizon: InUniverse, Mehmed and Radu consider [[spoiler:Lada]] to have crossed it [[spoiler:when they come to Tirgoviste to see no less than 20,000 corpses on stakes. Mehmed, up to this point, treated the whole exercise as a game between him and Lada and was assured he could convince her to come home, but seeing the stakes makes him realize she's become truly unhinged.]]
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* WarIsHell: The principal theme of ''Now I Rise'', focusing on the horrific, prolonged siege of Constantinople. Poor Radu is nearly broken by the end of it. Also applies to [[spoiler:the Wallachian invasion]] in the third book: Mehmed treats it like an amusing game right up until he [[spoiler:sees the stakes at Tirgoviste.]]
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* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler:After Bogdan, her last friend, dies by Radu's arrow, Lada finally realizes that Wallachia is not her mother and her fanatical, brutal ways have destroyed everything she tried to build. She surrenders for the first time in her life, and works with Radu to reform her reign.]]
* {{Cincinnatus}}: After his experiences at Constantinople, Radu finds that he doesn't want anything to do with politics and empires, but keeps getting thrown into it anyway due to his bloodline, relationship to Mehmed, and because he's good at it. [[spoiler:At the end of ''Bright We Burn'', he finally manages to escape politics completely, living a quiet life with his family.]]
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* DumbMuscle: Downplayed. Lada is a brilliant strategist, but she struggles with court intrigue and prefers brute force to anything else. [[spoiler:This gets a lot worse when she becomes prince and kills the disloyal boyars, at which point she abandons any pretense of alliances and treaties and just tries to kill and torture her way through every problem.]]
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* DragonsAreDemonic: A running theme is how dragons in Slavic culture might as well be analogues for demons, giving more weight to Lada being identified as one. [[spoiler:To the point where Radu even carves "dragon" on her tombstone.]]
* DumbMuscle: Downplayed. Lada is a brilliant strategist, but she struggles with court intrigue and prefers brute force to anything else. [[spoiler:This gets a lot worse when she becomes prince and kills the disloyal boyars, at which point she abandons any pretense ofalliances and treaties intelligent ruling and just tries to kill and torture her way through every problem.]]
* DumbMuscle: Downplayed. Lada is a brilliant strategist, but she struggles with court intrigue and prefers brute force to anything else. [[spoiler:This gets a lot worse when she becomes prince and kills the disloyal boyars, at which point she abandons any pretense of
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* {{Irony}}: Quite a lot of characters comment on how Lada's gender is to blame for her unpopularity, her brutality, her [[spoiler:capture by Matthias]], etc., when something bad happens to her. Many of these incidents come straight from historical accounts of Vlad.
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* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: Lada eventually realizes that the women of Wallachia are more inclined to brutality than the men, due to having [[RapePillageAndBurn suffered more]] under the reign of the boyars and Turks. Notably, while pretty much every male advisor speaks against [[spoiler:her mass staking at Tirgoviste]], the women fully support it.
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* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:It takes her last friend dying for Lada to ''finally'' realize what a giant mess she's made of her life and her country. Once she sees that Radu is healing the land she carelessly destroyed in her war against Mehmed, she realizes that she was too brutal and decides to rule the fair way.]]
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* Royal Harem: As the heir to the throne, Mehmed has a lot of concubines. Neither Lada or Radu are wild about this. Lada is technically part of the harem, as any woman who enters the harem building becomes the sultan's, but neither she nor Mehmed see her as this.
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* Royal Harem: RoyalHarem: As the heir to the throne, Mehmed has a lot of concubines. Neither Lada or Radu are wild about this. Lada is technically part of the harem, as any woman who enters the harem building becomes the sultan's, but neither she nor Mehmed see her as this.this.
* SanitySlippage: Lada in the third book. [[spoiler:Becoming prince and losing all the people that [[MoralityChain tempered her worst tendencies]] turns her more and more brutal and fanatical, destroying her own country for the sake of getting back at Mehmed and starting to refer to herself as [[IAmTheNoun Wallachia]].]]
* SanitySlippage: Lada in the third book. [[spoiler:Becoming prince and losing all the people that [[MoralityChain tempered her worst tendencies]] turns her more and more brutal and fanatical, destroying her own country for the sake of getting back at Mehmed and starting to refer to herself as [[IAmTheNoun Wallachia]].]]
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* BewareTheNiceOnes: Nazira is one of the kindest characters in the series. She also wants to burn Constantinople to the ground for what its crusaders did to her wife, something that shocks Radu when he realizes it.
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* HappilyAdopted: [[spoiler:Theodora.]]
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* HappilyAdopted: [[spoiler:Theodora.[[spoiler:Theodora has no idea of her true parentage, and is far happier with her adopted parents than she would ever be with them.]]
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* TheQuietOne: Fatima.
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* TheQuietOne: Fatima. As we later learn in ''Now I Rise'', it's partially due to [=PTSD=] from her family's fate at the hands of Crusaders, and partially the fact that as a maid, Fatima's not expected to talk anyway.
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* EvilChancellor: Halil Pasha.
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* DumbMuscle: Downplayed. Lada is a brilliant strategist, but she struggles with court intrigue and prefers brute force to anything else. [[spoiler:This gets a lot worse when she becomes prince and kills the disloyal boyars, at which point she abandons any pretense of alliances and treaties and just tries to kill and torture her way through every problem.]]
* EvilChancellor: Halil Pasha. [[RealityEnsues It eventually gets him executed.]]
* EvilChancellor: Halil Pasha. [[RealityEnsues It eventually gets him executed.]]
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* AmbitionIsEvil: Both Lada and Mehmed, who will commit any atrocity to get at what they want: Wallachia and Constantinople.
* ForYourOwnGood: All three of the main characters repeatedly betray and attack each other, and the ones they love, for this reason.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: A common execution in the Ottoman Empire, used to terrify and demoralize enemies. When they go to the empire as hostages, the first thing Murad shows them is people being impaled. [[CreepyChild Lada]] simply offers suggestions, and once she grows up, [[ForegoneConclusion earns the nickname "Impaler"]] for how eager she is to use it.
* ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou: Deconstructed. Mehmed loves Lada primarily because he thinks he can conquer her, and every time she pushes him away makes him even more eager. It takes him a long time to realize that Lada cannot be controlled by anyone.
* ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou: Deconstructed. Mehmed loves Lada primarily because he thinks he can conquer her, and every time she pushes him away makes him even more eager. It takes him a long time to realize that Lada cannot be controlled by anyone.
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* MadScientist: Urbana.
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* MadScientist: Urbana. Her only goal is to create the greatest cannon the world has ever seen.
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* ManipulativeBastard: Radu and Nazira excel at this.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Lada and Radu.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Lada and Radu.
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* ManipulativeBastard: Radu and Nazira excel at this.
this, being less combat-oriented than other characters.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Lada and Radu. The time they're in makes it hell for them both.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Lada and Radu. The time they're in makes it hell for them both.
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* SheIsTheKing: Lada is ''prince'' of Wallachia.
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* SheIsTheKing: Lada is ''prince'' of Wallachia. Justified, in that prince is the title for a ruler.
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No spoiler tags on trope names; Gray Eyes is being dewicked.
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* GrayEyes: Cyprian is a Type 4. Radu's narration spends a LOT of time on his eye color.
* [[spoiler:HappilyAdopted]]: [[spoiler:Theodora.]]
* [[spoiler:HasTwoDaddies/HasTwoMommies]]: [[spoiler:Theodora has two moms ''and'' two dads.]]
* [[spoiler:HappilyAdopted]]: [[spoiler:Theodora.]]
* [[spoiler:HasTwoDaddies/HasTwoMommies]]: [[spoiler:Theodora has two moms ''and'' two dads.]]
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* GrayEyes: Cyprian is a Type 4. Radu's narration spends a LOT of time on his eye color.
* [[spoiler:HappilyAdopted]]:HappilyAdopted: [[spoiler:Theodora.]]
*[[spoiler:HasTwoDaddies/HasTwoMommies]]: HasTwoMommies: [[spoiler:Theodora has two moms ''and'' two dads.]]
* [[spoiler:HappilyAdopted]]:
*
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* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies]]: The epilogue has [[spoiler:Radu and Mehmed]] visiting [[spoiler:Lada]]'s grave.
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* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies]]: TheHeroDies: The epilogue has [[spoiler:Radu and Mehmed]] visiting [[spoiler:Lada]]'s grave.
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* [[spoiler:MorningSickness]]: [[spoiler:Lada mistakes this for poisoning.]]
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* [[spoiler:MorningSickness]]: MorningSickness: [[spoiler:Lada mistakes this for poisoning.]]
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* [[spoiler:PregnantBadass]]: [[spoiler:Being pregnant doesn't stop Lada from killing her guards and breaking out of prison.]]
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* [[spoiler:PregnantBadass]]: PregnantBadass: [[spoiler:Being pregnant doesn't stop Lada from killing her guards and breaking out of prison.]]
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* WouldHurtAChild: Huma arranges for Mehmed's infant brother to be murdered to prevent him from someday making a claim to the throne.
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* WouldHurtAChild: WouldHurtAChild:
** Huma arranges for Mehmed's infant brother to be murdered to prevent him from someday making a claim to the throne.
** Huma arranges for Mehmed's infant brother to be murdered to prevent him from someday making a claim to the throne.
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---
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----
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* YoungConqueror: Mehmed, Lada.
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* YoungConqueror: Mehmed, Lada.Lada.
----
----
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* ScaryTeeth: Lada has small, pointy teeth and has killed at least one person with them.
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* BigOlUnibrow: Nicolae's defining feature.
* TheEvilPrince: Matthias. Lada is a genderbent version.
* TheLancer: Nicolae is Lada's.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Lada and Radu.
* TheNondescript: Stefan, Lada's spy.
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* [[spoiler:PregnantBadass]]: [[spoiler:Being pregnant in no way prevents Lada from killing her guards and breaking out of prison.]]
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* [[spoiler:PregnantBadass]]: [[spoiler:Being pregnant in no way prevents doesn't stop Lada from killing her guards and breaking out of prison.]]
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** Matthias kills his rival to Hungary's throne. Said rival is less than ten.
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* WouldHurtAChild: Huma arranges for Mehmed's infant brother to be murdered to prevent him from someday making a claim to the throne.
**[[spoiler: Lada orders the boyars' children killed at the end of ''Now I Rise''.]]
**[[spoiler: Lada orders the boyars' children killed at the end of ''Now I Rise''.]]
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* MoralEventHorizon: Nicolae considers Lada's [[spoiler:murder of the boyars' families]] to be this.
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The Conqueror's Saga is a trilogy of young adult novels by Kiersten White set in the Ottoman Empire during the 1400's. The series follows Lada, a female version of Vlad the Impaler, and her brother Radu through their childhood in Romania and their teenage years as hostages in the [[DeadlyDecadentCourt Ottoman royal court.]]
!!The Conqueror's Saga series:
[[index]]
* ''And I Darken''
* ''Now I Rise''
* ''Bright We Burn''
---
!!This series contains examples of:
* ActionGirl: Lada. In the third book, she recruits women to fight in her army.
* AlternateHistory: A version of history where Vlad the Impaler is a woman.
* ApologeticAttacker: Radu when [[spoiler:stabbing Lazar.]]
* ArrangedMarriage: Mehmed's father has him married to Sitti Hatun. He finds out when he receives an invitation to his own wedding.
** Lada avoids this fate by scaring the daylights out of her would-be husband.
--->'''Lada''': On our wedding night, [[BadassBoast I will]] [[TongueTrauma cut out your tongue]] [[ImAHumanitarian and swallow it.]] Then both tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife and therefore not a widow to be pitied.
* AttemptedRape: Lada smothers a would-be rapist in ''And I Darken''.
** In ''Now I Rise'', Radu kills an Ottoman soldier who was trying to rape a child.
* BadassBoast: Lada delivers most of them, but Radu gets a few in as well:
-->'''Radu''': You may have been the one who stopped the dagger last time, but ''I'' am the one who will know before the dagger ever comes close to Mehmed.
* BadassGay: Radu may not be as badass as Lada, but he grows into TheSocialExpert and a skilled archer.
* TheBeard: Radu, who is gay, marries Nazira, a lesbian. [[spoiler:Taken UpToEleven when their love interests marry each other.]]
-->'''Nazira''': As your wife, I would expect only your friendship. Nothing more. And I would request that my maid, Fatima, be allowed to accompany me. [[OneTrueLove Always]].
* BigLittleBrother: Radu is taller than Lada, much to her annoyance.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: Lada wears knives strapped to her forearms.
* BrokenPedestal: Lada loses all respect for her father when he lets her childhood friend Bogdan be taken by the Ottoman army. His indifference makes her realize how spineless he is and how little he truly cares for her.
* BrotherSisterTeam: Lada and Radu ''can'' work well together under pressure, but their goals and loyalties are so different that they rarely manage to stay a team for long.
* ChildByRape: Daciana's first child. Almost certainly Lada and Radu as well, considering how their father [[DomesticAbuse treated their mother.]]
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Lada with both Mehmed and Bogdan.
* ClothingReflectsPersonality: Nazira dresses in bright colors that match her cheerful personality.
* DeclarationOfProtection: Lada to Radu after pulling him out of a frozen lake. [[AxCrazy Being Lada]], she makes it sound more like a threat, but it's heartwarming by her standards.
* DeadpanSnarker: Loads of them, but especially Radu, Nazira, and Lada.
* DemolitionsExpert: Tohan, Urbana.
* TheDitz: Halima.
* EvilChancellor: Halil Pasha.
* FamilyOfChoice: [[spoiler: [[IJustWantToBeLoved Radu]], [[DefectingForLove Cyprian]], [[HopeBringer Nazira]], [[TheQuietOne Fatima]], [[CoolOldLady Oana]], and [[CheerfulChild Theodora]]]] have become one by the end of the series.
* FemaleMisogynist: Lada is contemptuous towards other women, especially [[RealWomenDontWearDresses feminine ones]], underestimating them and blaming them for anything bad that happens to them. She gets somewhat better after spending time with [[SilkHidingSteel Huma]], [[DemolitionsExpert Tohan]], and Daciana.
* GrayEyes: Cyprian is a Type 4. Radu's narration spends a LOT of time on his eye color.
* [[spoiler:HappilyAdopted]]: [[spoiler:Theodora.]]
* [[spoiler:HasTwoDaddies/HasTwoMommies]]: [[spoiler:Theodora has two moms ''and'' two dads.]]
* HatedHometown: Radu ''dreads'' the thought of ever returning to Wallachia.
* HeadbuttOfLove: Radu to Cyprian at the end of ''Now I Rise''.
* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies]]: The epilogue has [[spoiler:Radu and Mehmed]] visiting [[spoiler:Lada]]'s grave.
* HeroicBastard: Cyprian.
* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler:Nazira breaks down ''screaming'' after her brother's death.]]
* KickTheDog: Lada's murder of [[spoiler:Kumal.]]
* KnifeNut: Lada is wielding knives [[LittleMissBadass by the age of five]].
**[[spoiler:Theodora seems to have inherited this.]]
* LastGuyWins: [[spoiler:Radu ends up with Cyprian.]]
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Radu and Nazira, despite [[ItMakesSenseInContext being married.]]
** Lada and Nicolae as well. He says as much in the first book.
--->'''Nicolae''': I think of you like a sister. Like a brilliant, violent, occasionally terrifying sister that I would follow to the ends of the earth, in part because I respected her so much and in part because I feared what she would do to me if I refused.
* LipstickLesbian: Nazira is gay and very feminine.
* LonelyAtTheTop: Both Lada and Mehmed grow more isolated as they gain power.
* MadScientist: Urbana.
* ManBitesMan: Lada excels at this. In ''Bright We Burn'', she kills a man by tearing his throat out with her teeth.
* ManipulativeBastard: Radu and Nazira excel at this.
* MenAreStrongWomenArePretty: Inverted. Lada is both stronger and uglier than Radu.
* MissingMom: Lada and Radu's mother leaves when Lada is five after begging to return to her family. They never hear from her again [[spoiler:until Lada tracks her down in ''Now I Rise''.]]
* MoralEventHorizon: Nicolae considers Lada's [[spoiler:murder of the boyars' families]] to be this.
* [[spoiler:MorningSickness]]: [[spoiler:Lada mistakes this for poisoning.]]
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: After saving Radu from drowning in a frozen lake, Lada promises him that nobody will kill him until she does.
* [[spoiler:PregnantBadass]]: [[spoiler:Being pregnant in no way prevents Lada from killing her guards and breaking out of prison.]]
* PintsizedPowerhouse: Lada is the shortest and most brutal fighter in the series.
* PromotedToParent: Kumal raised Nazira after their parents died.
* TheQuietOne: Fatima.
* ReluctantRuler: [[spoiler:Radu]] during his brief reign in Wallachia.
* Royal Harem: As the heir to the throne, Mehmed has a lot of concubines. Neither Lada or Radu are wild about this. Lada is technically part of the harem, as any woman who enters the harem building becomes the sultan's, but neither she nor Mehmed see her as this.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Fatima to Nazira.
* SheIsTheKing: Lada is ''prince'' of Wallachia.
* SiblingTriangle: Both Lada and Radu are in love with Mehmed. He chooses Lada.
* SilkHidingSteel: Huma, Mara Brankovic.
-->'''Huma''': Ladislav Dragwlya, daughter of Vlad, who sent forces, including his own son, to fight at Varna, thus invalidating his treaty with the Ottomans and [[ImpliedDeathThreat leaving his children's lives utterly forfeit.]] Ladislav, whom no one in the world other than her beautiful brother and a powerless sultan care about. Little Lada, who is in my house under my protection, ''sit down''.
* SpareToTheThrone: Mehmed is a third son who becomes heir to the Ottoman Empire after [[spoiler:Huma orchestrates the deaths of his older brothers.]]
* StringingTheHopelessSuitorAlong: Mehmed is aware of Radu's feelings for him and uses them to keep Radu in line. Luckily, Radu wises up to this.
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Both Lada and Radu fall in love with Mehmed as they grow older.
* TheUnfettered: Lada will stop at nothing to make her vision of Wallachia come true.
**Urbana. In Nazira's words, her only loyalty is to creating the most stunningly large and effective means of killing people the world has ever seen.
* WantedAGenderConformingChild: More like 'wanted a masculine child'. Vlad is proud of his tough, violent daughter but ashamed of his gentle, emotional son.
* WantedASonInstead: Lada's father. He comes to conditionally accept her as she grows into a tomboy and fighter.
* YoungConqueror: Mehmed, Lada.
!!The Conqueror's Saga series:
[[index]]
* ''And I Darken''
* ''Now I Rise''
* ''Bright We Burn''
---
!!This series contains examples of:
* ActionGirl: Lada. In the third book, she recruits women to fight in her army.
* AlternateHistory: A version of history where Vlad the Impaler is a woman.
* ApologeticAttacker: Radu when [[spoiler:stabbing Lazar.]]
* ArrangedMarriage: Mehmed's father has him married to Sitti Hatun. He finds out when he receives an invitation to his own wedding.
** Lada avoids this fate by scaring the daylights out of her would-be husband.
--->'''Lada''': On our wedding night, [[BadassBoast I will]] [[TongueTrauma cut out your tongue]] [[ImAHumanitarian and swallow it.]] Then both tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife and therefore not a widow to be pitied.
* AttemptedRape: Lada smothers a would-be rapist in ''And I Darken''.
** In ''Now I Rise'', Radu kills an Ottoman soldier who was trying to rape a child.
* BadassBoast: Lada delivers most of them, but Radu gets a few in as well:
-->'''Radu''': You may have been the one who stopped the dagger last time, but ''I'' am the one who will know before the dagger ever comes close to Mehmed.
* BadassGay: Radu may not be as badass as Lada, but he grows into TheSocialExpert and a skilled archer.
* TheBeard: Radu, who is gay, marries Nazira, a lesbian. [[spoiler:Taken UpToEleven when their love interests marry each other.]]
-->'''Nazira''': As your wife, I would expect only your friendship. Nothing more. And I would request that my maid, Fatima, be allowed to accompany me. [[OneTrueLove Always]].
* BigLittleBrother: Radu is taller than Lada, much to her annoyance.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: Lada wears knives strapped to her forearms.
* BrokenPedestal: Lada loses all respect for her father when he lets her childhood friend Bogdan be taken by the Ottoman army. His indifference makes her realize how spineless he is and how little he truly cares for her.
* BrotherSisterTeam: Lada and Radu ''can'' work well together under pressure, but their goals and loyalties are so different that they rarely manage to stay a team for long.
* ChildByRape: Daciana's first child. Almost certainly Lada and Radu as well, considering how their father [[DomesticAbuse treated their mother.]]
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Lada with both Mehmed and Bogdan.
* ClothingReflectsPersonality: Nazira dresses in bright colors that match her cheerful personality.
* DeclarationOfProtection: Lada to Radu after pulling him out of a frozen lake. [[AxCrazy Being Lada]], she makes it sound more like a threat, but it's heartwarming by her standards.
* DeadpanSnarker: Loads of them, but especially Radu, Nazira, and Lada.
* DemolitionsExpert: Tohan, Urbana.
* TheDitz: Halima.
* EvilChancellor: Halil Pasha.
* FamilyOfChoice: [[spoiler: [[IJustWantToBeLoved Radu]], [[DefectingForLove Cyprian]], [[HopeBringer Nazira]], [[TheQuietOne Fatima]], [[CoolOldLady Oana]], and [[CheerfulChild Theodora]]]] have become one by the end of the series.
* FemaleMisogynist: Lada is contemptuous towards other women, especially [[RealWomenDontWearDresses feminine ones]], underestimating them and blaming them for anything bad that happens to them. She gets somewhat better after spending time with [[SilkHidingSteel Huma]], [[DemolitionsExpert Tohan]], and Daciana.
* GrayEyes: Cyprian is a Type 4. Radu's narration spends a LOT of time on his eye color.
* [[spoiler:HappilyAdopted]]: [[spoiler:Theodora.]]
* [[spoiler:HasTwoDaddies/HasTwoMommies]]: [[spoiler:Theodora has two moms ''and'' two dads.]]
* HatedHometown: Radu ''dreads'' the thought of ever returning to Wallachia.
* HeadbuttOfLove: Radu to Cyprian at the end of ''Now I Rise''.
* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies]]: The epilogue has [[spoiler:Radu and Mehmed]] visiting [[spoiler:Lada]]'s grave.
* HeroicBastard: Cyprian.
* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler:Nazira breaks down ''screaming'' after her brother's death.]]
* KickTheDog: Lada's murder of [[spoiler:Kumal.]]
* KnifeNut: Lada is wielding knives [[LittleMissBadass by the age of five]].
**[[spoiler:Theodora seems to have inherited this.]]
* LastGuyWins: [[spoiler:Radu ends up with Cyprian.]]
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Radu and Nazira, despite [[ItMakesSenseInContext being married.]]
** Lada and Nicolae as well. He says as much in the first book.
--->'''Nicolae''': I think of you like a sister. Like a brilliant, violent, occasionally terrifying sister that I would follow to the ends of the earth, in part because I respected her so much and in part because I feared what she would do to me if I refused.
* LipstickLesbian: Nazira is gay and very feminine.
* LonelyAtTheTop: Both Lada and Mehmed grow more isolated as they gain power.
* MadScientist: Urbana.
* ManBitesMan: Lada excels at this. In ''Bright We Burn'', she kills a man by tearing his throat out with her teeth.
* ManipulativeBastard: Radu and Nazira excel at this.
* MenAreStrongWomenArePretty: Inverted. Lada is both stronger and uglier than Radu.
* MissingMom: Lada and Radu's mother leaves when Lada is five after begging to return to her family. They never hear from her again [[spoiler:until Lada tracks her down in ''Now I Rise''.]]
* MoralEventHorizon: Nicolae considers Lada's [[spoiler:murder of the boyars' families]] to be this.
* [[spoiler:MorningSickness]]: [[spoiler:Lada mistakes this for poisoning.]]
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: After saving Radu from drowning in a frozen lake, Lada promises him that nobody will kill him until she does.
* [[spoiler:PregnantBadass]]: [[spoiler:Being pregnant in no way prevents Lada from killing her guards and breaking out of prison.]]
* PintsizedPowerhouse: Lada is the shortest and most brutal fighter in the series.
* PromotedToParent: Kumal raised Nazira after their parents died.
* TheQuietOne: Fatima.
* ReluctantRuler: [[spoiler:Radu]] during his brief reign in Wallachia.
* Royal Harem: As the heir to the throne, Mehmed has a lot of concubines. Neither Lada or Radu are wild about this. Lada is technically part of the harem, as any woman who enters the harem building becomes the sultan's, but neither she nor Mehmed see her as this.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Fatima to Nazira.
* SheIsTheKing: Lada is ''prince'' of Wallachia.
* SiblingTriangle: Both Lada and Radu are in love with Mehmed. He chooses Lada.
* SilkHidingSteel: Huma, Mara Brankovic.
-->'''Huma''': Ladislav Dragwlya, daughter of Vlad, who sent forces, including his own son, to fight at Varna, thus invalidating his treaty with the Ottomans and [[ImpliedDeathThreat leaving his children's lives utterly forfeit.]] Ladislav, whom no one in the world other than her beautiful brother and a powerless sultan care about. Little Lada, who is in my house under my protection, ''sit down''.
* SpareToTheThrone: Mehmed is a third son who becomes heir to the Ottoman Empire after [[spoiler:Huma orchestrates the deaths of his older brothers.]]
* StringingTheHopelessSuitorAlong: Mehmed is aware of Radu's feelings for him and uses them to keep Radu in line. Luckily, Radu wises up to this.
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Both Lada and Radu fall in love with Mehmed as they grow older.
* TheUnfettered: Lada will stop at nothing to make her vision of Wallachia come true.
**Urbana. In Nazira's words, her only loyalty is to creating the most stunningly large and effective means of killing people the world has ever seen.
* WantedAGenderConformingChild: More like 'wanted a masculine child'. Vlad is proud of his tough, violent daughter but ashamed of his gentle, emotional son.
* WantedASonInstead: Lada's father. He comes to conditionally accept her as she grows into a tomboy and fighter.
* YoungConqueror: Mehmed, Lada.
