History Literature / TheDarkElfTrilogy

%% * TheAce: Drizzt at swordfighting. Oh, so much. Double that with Guenhwyvar.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: Just about ''every'' family in Menzoberranzan. Drow society is based on the Klingon Promotion theory, and lorded over by a deity that demands '''regular''' sacrifices of blood. Drizz't is almost [[spoiler: killed at birth because he is a third son, which has no value in society.]] Wars between Houses are commonplace, as only the top eight Noble Houses have a place on the Council. Children of the Houses that are not killed are made into cousins/slaves of the conquering House, in effect you know get to be a "part" of the family that killed yours. Oh, and the only way to become Matron Mother of your House? Kill the current one.

%% * HeWhoFightsMonsters: Drizzt is afraid he is starting to succumb to this trope during ''Exile''.

** Drizzt's older sister Vierna feels an uncommon closeness to and affection for her brother. The presentation is ambiguous, and it may be intended simply as a sign that like him, she is not as AlwaysChaoticEvil as the rest of their family, and thus able to feel a trace of normal (by human standards) familial attachment. However, it is at the least repeatedly ''understood'' (and misunderstood?) as an example of this trope by everyone ''else'' in the story.

** Later in the story, at a debauched graduation party at the AcademyOfEvil, she and Drizzt end up alone and close together after a disturbed Drizzt rejects the advances of a priestess of Lolth, with the scantily clad Vierna gently reassuring him that she understands his desire for privacy. While still ambiguous, it's very easy to read her lines as a come-on--and that seems to be what Drizzt does, offering an [[YoureInsane angry rebuff]]. The way Vierna then proceeds to [[FedToTheBeast react]] may suggest anger either at the presumption, ''or'' the rejection.

%% * MentorOccupationalHazard: Zaknafein and [[spoiler: Mooshie]] both end up dying.

%% * ARealManIsAKiller: Drizzt's family enforces this trope in an effort to break Drizzt's morality.

%% * ReligiousHorror: Along with ReligionOfEvil.

%% * SinisterScimitar: Our hero Drizzt is perhaps the greatest aversion around. Played straight by some of the other drow.

%% * TechnicalPacifist: Drizzt and Zak.

%% * UndergroundCity: Menzoberranzan, along with every other settlement in the Underdark (we also see cities belonging to deep gnomes and mind flayers).

* PurpleEyes: Drizzt has Lavender Eyes, an unusual color for drow to the extent that his family initially wonders if he's blind. Has some InnocentBlueEyes thrown in, since they come from combining a blue tint with the regular red glow from infravision. Much later, he hears about a black dragon who also has purple eyes and ends up turning it to his advantage when dealing with another dragon.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The canonical racial alignment of the Drow in the game the books were based on was literally this, and Salvatore plays it almost entirely straight, with Zaknafein and Drizzt the only [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch non-evil Drow]] in the series. Even Drizzt's own family are evil.

%% * ISurrenderSuckers: The gnomes in the novel ''Exile'' thought that Drizzt was trying to pull one of these when he was truly surrendering.

** The third born male child is always sacrificed to Lloth on the day of his birth. Zaknafein also witnesses the children of House [=DeVir=] being slaughtered without mercy.

* DarkActionGirl: All of Drizzt's sisters are trained to fight in close combat if need be, and spend many hours practicing with their weapons, though in an actual battle they tend to prefer using magic from a distance when they can.

* DarkActionGirl: All of Drizzt's sisters are trained to fight in close combat if need be, and spend many hours practicing with their weapons, though they tend to prefer using magic from a distance when they can.

* KlingonPromotion: The backstabbing society of the Drow accepts this to a large extent, though usually they hide it behind some (often very superficial) window dressing. Subverted with Alton De Vir, however: when his master is killed, he [[spoiler:takes over his job by [[KillAndReplace also taking over his identity]]]].

%% * KlingonPromotion: How advancement usually occurs in drow society.

%% * AlwaysChaoticEvil: The drow, of course, with rare exceptions.

* TheDogShotFirst: In the brief backstory given in the Icewind Dale trilogy, Drizzt backstabbed Masoj to get Guenhwyvar's figurine after the svirfneblin massacre. Here, Masoj tries to kill him first.

* TheAce: Drizzt at swordfighting. Oh, so much. Double that with Guenhwyvar.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The drow, of course, with rare exceptions.

* [[ARealManIsAKiller A Real Drow Is A Killer]]: Drizzt's family enforces this trope in an effort to break Drizzt's morality.

* CainAndAbel: Quite common among the drow; the opening alone has Dinin and Nalfein Do'Urden and [[spoiler:Masoj and Gelroos Hun'ett]].

* ChaoticEvil: In universe, being a D&D property, the entire dark elf race--excluding Drizzt and Zaknafein.

* GroinAttack: Zaknafein uses this against Drizzt in one of their sparring matches.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Drizzt is afraid he is starting to succumb to this trope during ''Exile''.

* InTheBlood: Though in this case Drizzt is acutely aware of his origins. Sub-trope might feasibly be named 'Putting on the Drizzt'.

* ISurrenderSuckers: The gnomes in the novel ''Exile'' thought that Drizzt was trying to pull one of these when he was truly surrendering.

* KlingonPromotion: How advancement usually occurs in drow society.

* MentorOccupationalHazard: Zaknafein and [[spoiler: Mooshie]] both end up dying.

* NonHumanSidekick: Guenhwyvar.

* OddFriendship: [[ActionDuo Belwar and Drizzt]] in ''Exile'' and [[ActionDuo Mooshie and Drizzt]] in ''Sojourn''.

* [[RebelliousPrincess Rebellious Prince]]: Drizzt. Since the drow are matriarchal, Drizzt even shares the "no say in his own life" role that many princesses run from.
* ReligiousHorror: Along with ReligionOfEvil.

* SinisterScimitar: Our hero Drizzt is perhaps the greatest aversion around. Played straight by some of the other drow.

* SnicketWarningLabel

* TechnicalPacifist: Drizzt and Zak.
* TheOlderImmortal: Matron Baenre.
* UndergroundCity: Menzoberranzan, along with every other settlement in the Underdark (we also see cities belonging to deep gnomes and mind flayers).

* UnstoppableRage: Don't get Drizzt mad. '''''EVER'''''.

* HornyDevils: Part of the drow graduation rite in ''Homeland'' involves the priestess with the highest grades ritually mating with a glabrezu during an orgy.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: Just about ''every'' family in Menzoberranzan.
** This barely scratches the surface of what should be the Trope Namer. Drow society is based on the Klingon Promotion theory, and lorded over by a deity that demands '''regular''' sacrifices of blood. Drizz't is almost [[spoiler: killed at birth because he is a third son, which has no value in society.]] Wars between Houses are commonplace, as only the top eight Noble Houses have a place on the Council. Children of the Houses that are not killed are made into cousins/slaves of the conquering House, in effect you know get to be a "part" of the family that killed yours. Oh, and the only way to become Matron Mother of your House? Kill the current one.

* CantCatchUp: Drizzt's instructors eventually realize that, because of the training he had already received from Zaknafein, his classmates would never even approach his ability and start having him compete against more senior students.
** They [[CantCatchUp can't catch up]] either.

* FantasticRacism: The drow look down on and hate pretty much every other race, especially elves.

* IncestSubtext: Drizzt's older sister Vierna feels an uncommon closeness to and affection for her brother. The presentation is ambiguous, and it may be intended simply as a sign that like him, she is not as AlwaysChaoticEvil as the rest of their family, and thus able to feel a trace of normal (by human standards) familial attachment. However, it is at the least repeatedly ''understood'' (and misunderstood?) as an example of this trope by everyone ''else'' in the story.

''The Dark Elf Trilogy'' is a prequel series of books by R.A. Salvatore that describes [[Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt the life of Drizzt Do'Urden]], a young dark elf who starts his life in the drow city of Menzoberranzan. He being the third born male child (and thus due for ritual sacrifice immediately after birth), his mother, Matron [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Malice]] Do'Urden, spares him after his eldest brother is killed by second brother Dinin to gain in rank.

* InfantImmortality:
** Averted. The third born male child is always sacrificed to Lloth on the day of his birth. Zaknafein also witnesses the children of House [=DeVir=] being slaughtered without mercy.
** A male child of a lesser house is killed by a hook horror during a training session, which serves as something of a BerserkButton for Drizzt.

* DeusSexMachina: In the first book, there is an orgy at the academy, seemingly something they do traditionally every year. The priestess with the best grades has intercourse with a summoned demon, while around her all the other female students pick a male student and get it on. Drizzt is put off by this, and even more put off when he's picked [[BrotherSisterIncest by his own older sister Vierna]].

* VillainCorner: Vierna is supposedly the nicest of Drizzt's sisters, and it is implied that absent the corrupting influences of Drow she might have turned good. However, a few KickTheDog moments and the fact that her occasional kindness towards Drizzt [[BrotherSisterIncest does not come from pure intentions]] make it clear that she is, at best, only slightly less ChaoticEvil then the rest of her family.

* BrotherSisterIncest: Drizzt's sister has a (one-sided) thing for him; [[EvenEvilHasStandards not even Matron Malice approves]].

* HeroicSacrifice: Pulled off by [[spoiler:Zaknafein in order to spare Drizzt's life in ''Homeland'', and again in ''Exile'' when Matron Malice tries to possess him by [[MoreThanMindControl removing his soul from his dead body.]]]]

* {{Badass}}: Just about every dark elf in all of Toril is badass, and (thanks to Jarlaxle in Gauntlgrym) they all either openly hate, and/or secretly admire Drizzt, who is a {{Badass}} among them.

* PurpleEyes: Drizzt has Lavender Eyes, an unusual color for drow to the extent that his family initially wonders if he's blind.

* SiblingRivalry: Dinin has this one-sidedly with Drizzt, whom he believes is a legitimate threat to his position as elderboy.

* MookHorrorShow: Zombie!Zaknafein, being Undead, is [[NoSell immune to]] psionic attacks. He comes looking for Drizzt in the middle of a Mindflayer city. Your garden-variety Mindflayers are dependent on their psi abilities for combat.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: If Dinin hadn't killed his brother, Drizzt would have been sacrificed the day he was born, and never lived to perform any of his heroic deeds. And House Do'Urden would still stand. In an attempt to get to a slightly higher rank, Dinin started a chain reaction that lead to his complete downfall.