History Literature / TheGodsAreBastards

* AuthorAppeal: The author has repeatedly expressed their dislike for totally evil characters (or, worse, [[UnfortunateImplications totally evil races]]) in fantasy fiction, which is why the Bastardverse doesn't have any.

The story begins focused on a group of eight freshmen (a dryad, two paladins, a half-demon, a possessed human, a drow, a pixie, and a pirate princess) attending a [[ExtranormalInstitute school for adventurers]]. The scope expands rapidly from there, quickly introducing a number of secondary plots involving demons, religion, politics and an [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters increasingly large cast]] of individuals and organizations vying over the fate of an empire.

** Book 15 offers a bigger one in Ninkabi, 10 chapters worth with most of [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters the "central" cast]] participating. [[spoiler:Effectively the Fourth Hellwar, albeit abbreviated.]]

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: At least twenty-five plot-relevant, distinctly motivated characters as of Book 7, and easily twice as many less relevant ones who still have names and personalities.

* HarsherInHindsight: Gabriel being a virgin is treated as a joke, and a reflection on his ButtMonkey status. Then we find out that [[spoiler:his first real girlfriend, whom he trusted without reserve, drugged him with an infernal poison and was intending to have sex with him while he was berserking]]. Suddenly that scene is a lot harder to laugh at...

* JustifiedTrope, of all things: [[spoiler: The Elder Gods were massive nerds drawing from a quite [[SmallReferencePools limited reference pools]]. [[TakeThatAudience This is not a good thing.]] As [[TheJester Vesk]] explains, they were very shallow and quite ignorant about the broader culture surrounding the works in question, and their tendency to reenact their most beloved works before [[KillEmAll brutally slaughtering everyone involved]] made them little more than all-powerful manchildren, ranging from [[MadGod "merely" insane]] to [[GodIsEvil straight up malevolent]]. Vesk, for whom little matters more than a good story, detests them for not bringing more stories with them -- he wanted to read them all, and mourns their loss.]]

* FiveRaces: {{Averted}}. While the story does include versions of all the standard EpicFantasy races (humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, lizardfolk, and so on), they've all been changed around enough that none of them really fit the standard categories.

* CrapsackWorld: It's heavily disguised, mostly by the main characters all being fairly privileged, but this is a setting in which the legions of Hell are waging war on heaven using the mortal plane as a battlefield, the primary mortal authority is a ruthlessly expansionist empire, and there exists a classification system for individuals capable of ending the world.
** Amply demonstrated by one quote
-->'''T’bouti Nijaund:''' Hellgates are something people understand. The more uncertain the world becomes, the more one wants to cling to the familiar.
** However the world is very normal in everyday life for the masses, so despite the above the trope is [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. The tone of the story is lighter than that, as seen when General Panissar refused to let three soldiers be silenced for national security. The empire is surprisingly benevolent and the rise of mass produced enchantments and factories is resulting in a sharp rise in living standards, with dragons and disasters no longer as threatening.
*** The author has said that the text is a rebellion against the grittier trend of fantasy nowadays.

* DungeonCrawling: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]], [[AffectionateParody sent-up]], [[DefiedTrope defied]] '''and''' [[JustifiedTrope justified]], in various ways.
** The most obvious example is actually called ''The Crawl'' (see Eldritch Location below), and part of it has been deliberately shaped into a completely troperific videogame-esque example, complete with (completely lampshaded) GoddamnBats and [[DireBeast Dire]] GoddamnBats.

* TheFairFolk: The fey, creations of Naiya the Elder Goddess. There are several varieties, but they're generally highly magical and [[BlueAndOrangeMorality entirely unfamiliar with ordinary morality and social norms]]. Two of the eight original protagonists, Fross the pixie and Juniper the dryad, are specimens. See also OurFairiesAreDifferent, below.

** [[spoiler: Gabe, after being made a paladin of the God of Death and Acting.]]

* GeniusLoci: At least three of them; see EldritchLocation, above.

* IncompatibleOrientation: Trissiny (straight) toward Toby (gay).
** She gets the other end a lot, too:
--->"Only women ever seem to approach me, and I have never been even slightly attracted to my own sex.”
--->Yasmeen stopped, her eyes widening in open surprise. “…really? But you’re the actual Hand of Avei! Didn’t you grow up in Viridill?”
--->“Ooh, darling, yes,” Trissiny said, utterly deadpan. “Stereotype me. Harder, please.”

* JerkassGods: Hinted at by the title, although so far the gods seem to be mostly doing their best.
** Some of them never wanted to be gods in the first place... and it shows.
* JustifiedTrope, of all things: [[spoiler: The Elder Gods were massive nerds drawing from a quite [[SmallReferencePools limited reference pools]]. [[TakeThatAudience This is not a good thing.]] As [[TheJester Vesk]] explains, they were very shallow and quite ignorant about the broader culture surrounding the works in question, and their tendency to reenact their most beloved works before [[KillEmAll brutally slaughtering everyone involved]] made them little more than all-powerful manchildren, ranging from [[MadGod ‘merely’ insane]] to [[GodIsEvil straight up malevolent]]. Vesk, for whom little matters more than a good story, detests them for not bringing more stories with them - he wanted to read them all, and mourns their loss.]]

* MamaBear:
** Tellwyrn to her students.
** Naiya, while generally neglectful towards her children, will still ''wreck'' every living thing for miles around if one is killed.

** Book 15 offers a bigger one in Ninkabi, 10 chapters worth with most of the central cast participating. [[spoiler:Effectively the Fourth Hellwar, albeit abbreviated.]]

* BigBadassBattleSequence: the affair with the hellgate opening over the school most certainly counts.

* AerithAndBob: {{Lampshaded}} at one point with a drow-human couple whose names actually ''are'' Avrith and Bob.

* DemonicPossession: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]. One of the main characters is possessed by a demon, but the demon is just as upset about it as she is and they're good friends by the beginning of the story. Similarly, some demons can interbreed with humans, and the resulting half-demons may look odd, but are no more malevolent than any other social pariah....

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They come in [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience four colors]], each one corresponding to a particular kind of magic and a particular philosophy. The colors are chosen by dragons at some point in their lives; newborns apparently start out white (that is, colorless). And new''born'' is correct - dragons are [[OneGenderRace always male]] and reproduce by mating with humanoid females (presumably using their humanoid alternate form).

* EverythingIsBetterWithPrincesses: Zaruda may technically qualify, but she's no PrincessClassic. As the daughter of a pirate king she is constantly drinking, brawling and has a crude sense of humor. She's also one of the most perceptive and sociable of the main cast.

* BodyHorror: Juniper's hallucination in the Appairitorium is of a monster she could become, and it's deeply disturbing.

* DeityOfHumanOrigin: The Pantheon were once mortals and got their current position by [[KlingonPromotion killing most of the previous generation of gods]]. It's later revealed that the Elder Gods were ''also'' once humanoids. Whether there ever existed any god ''not'' of human origin remains an open question.

* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Each type of magic is countered by another: Divine destroys Fae, which destroys Infernal, which destroys Arcane, which destroys Divine.

--->Only women ever seem to approach me, and I have never been even slightly attracted to my own sex.”

* Partially averted. Captain Rovaud and Commander Ravoud have very similar names, which is commented upon when several characters get them mixed up.
* Two taverns in distant cities are named The Fallen Arms (unintentional per the author, but kept as a plausible coincidence).

** One of the characters uses the phrase "[[Literature/TheHungerGames mockingjay]] hunt" in much the same way as we would use "snipe hunt".

* DeadpanSnarker Pretty much all of the main student cast. Even Trissiny eventually gets in on the act.

* DemonicPossession: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]. One of the main characters is possessed by a demon, but the demon is just as upset about it as she is and they're good friends by the beginning of the story.

* JustifiedTrope, of all things. [[spoiler: The Elder Gods were massive nerds drawing from a quite [[SmallReferencePools limited reference pools]]. [[TakeThatAudience This is not a good thing.]] As [[TheJester Vesk]] explains, they were very shallow and quite ignorant about the broader culture surrounding the works in question, and their tendency to reenact their most beloved works before [[KillEmAll brutally slaughtering everyone involved]] made them little more than all-powerful manchildren, ranging from [[MadGod ‘merely’ insane]] to [[GodIsEvil straight up malevolent]]. Vesk, for whom little matters more than a good story, detests them for not bringing more stories with them - he wanted to read them all, and mourns their loss.]]

* ManipulativeBastard: Bishop Darling, technically. But he's mostly a good guy.

* Two taverns in distant cities are named The Fallen Arms (unintentional per the author, but kept as plausible).

* ShoutOut:

* TimePolice The Scions of Vemnesthis, who deal with those who tamper with Time. Anyone who tries to directly view the future (or deep past), travel through time, or change the past will get a warning. Those who defy the warning get drafted into the Scions themselves. (Their dispatcher is [[spoiler:Arachne Tellwyrn]], but even she doesn't get to keep knowledge of other times when off-the-job.)

* VagueAge: Elves after achieving maturity can be anywhere eighteen and eight thousand. This is exploited by Tellwyrn to have alumni re-enroll to monitor the student body. The truly ancient ones tend to develop an air of absolute serenity, but this can be faked.

* OneSteveLimit: Partially averted. Captain Rovaud and Commander Ravoud have very similar names, which is commented upon when several characters get them mixed up.

** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], of all things. [[spoiler: The Elder Gods were massive nerds drawing from a quite [[SmallReferencePools limited reference pools]]. [[TakeThatAudience This is not a good thing.]] As [[TheJester Vesk]] explains, they were very shallow and quite ignorant about the broader culture surrounding the works in question, and their tendency to reenact their most beloved works before [[KillEmAll brutally slaughtering everyone involved]] made them little more than all-powerful manchildren, ranging from [[MadGod ‘merely’ insane]] to [[GodIsEvil straight up malevolent]]. Vesk, for whom little matters more than a good story, detests them for not bringing more stories with them - he wanted to read them all, and mourns their loss.]]

* Check out the opening to Book 5 and see if you can guess where the characters will be spending the rest of the book.

* Later in Book 13-33, the bards know the rules:

* TemptingFate: Check out the opening to Book 5 and see if you can guess where the characters will be spending the rest of the book.

* TitleDrop: The title of the book is also the very first line of the story.

* FantasyAmericana: Understated, but with the Western references, and the endless prairie of the Golden Sea that are actually called "amber waves" in a book title, the influences are strong.

* BornUnlucky: The author. The author's notes at least through book 10 tell an epic tale of vehicular, medical, technological, and other trials, all aggravated by poverty.

** The most obvious example is actually called ''The Crawl'', and part of it has been deliberately shaped into a completely troperific videogame-esque example, complete with (completely lampshaded) GoddamnBats and [[DireBeast Dire]] GoddamnBats.

*** Features a PsychologicalTormentZone: TheAppairitorium.

* MamaBear: Tellwyrn to her students. Naiya, while generally neglectful towards her children, will still ''wreck'' every living thing for miles around if one is killed.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They come in [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience four colors]], each one corresponding to a particular kind of magic and a particular philosophy. The colors are chosen by dragons at some point in their lives, so it's not clear what newborn dragons look like. And new''born'' is correct - dragons are [[OneGenderRace always male]] and reproduce by mating with humanoid females (for which they presumably use their humanoid alternate form).

** [[WhiteMagic Divine magic]] from the principle pantheon of gods
** [[BlackMagic Infernal Magic]] from the goddess of beauty, light and cruelty
** Faery magic being maintained by the [[NatureSpirit goddess of nature]]
** Arcane magic comes from an unknown source.

* UnfortunateName: Horsebutt, a long-dead barbarian king who might be an {{Expy}} of Genghis Khan. Unsurprisingly, it turns out the name is a bastardization. That said, the protagonist who shortly ends up fighting centaurs quickly learns which end is more dangerous in melee.

** Fortunately, she's been taught not to [[spoiler:[[ImAHumanitarian eat them afterwards]]]].

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Gravestone Weaver, Longshot McGraw, Billie the Tinker, etc.

** “This demon, she has a name?” "It’s hard to say,” Toby replied. “What, you didn’t ask?” The Colonel raised an eyebrow. “No, I mean it’s ''hard to say''...”
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: {{Subverted}} with [[spoiler:dryads]]. They have trouble understanding human morality and initially appear to be following their own ethical system based on "natural" principles, but the characters slowly grow to realize that they're basically just powerful humans who were never taught that other people had feelings too.

* BornUnlucky: The author. The author's notes at least through book 7 are an epic of vehicular, medical, technological, and other trials, all aggravated by poverty.

* DeityOfHumanOrigin: The Pantheon were once mortals and got their current position by [[KlingonPromotion killing the previous generation of gods]]. It's later revealed that the Elder Gods were ''also'' once humanoids. Whether there ever existed any god ''not'' of human origin remains an open question.

* NoodleIncident: Numerous characters comment on "that class with the vampire and the priest." We meet the vampire, and she provides one about "That time she got sent to hell, met a demon lord, and got sent home with a strongly-worded letter for Arachne Tellwyrn."

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: All of the elves, who tend to look like they're in their twenties. Some are thousands of years old. Explained in universe by way they're maintained by magic.

* PoorlyClosetedGay: Toby. She prefers male garb, which is not per local culture, and publicly dances with her (drow) girlfriend.

* BornUnlucky: The author. The author's notes at least through book 7 are an epic of vehicular, dental, technological, and other trials, aggravated by poverty.

* EmpireWithADarkSecret: The reason why Elilial left the Pantheon. Supposedly anyone who learns the secret will ''instantly be killed'' by the Pantheon gods... unless they have Elilial's technique for hiding their intentions from the gods.

* HeroWithBadPublicity: Arachne Tellwyrn. Adventurers in general are considered troublemakers with a naive longing for the past.

* ObfuscatingInsanity[=/=]ObfuscatingStupidity: {{Downplayed}}, but Zaruda still qualifies, especially in Volume 1. To specify, she goes out of her way to act as cliché as possible, diverting attention from the fact that she's actually the ''smartest'' of the group.
** Professor Rafe has possibly BecomeTheMask in this regard, but it's very heavily implied that he started acting like an absolute madman to deal with the prejudice he gets as a half-elf.

* RedMage: Elven headhunters can use any of the four kinds of magic at will, utterly wrecking the system of [[TacticalRockPaperScissors relative advantages and disadvantages]] and rendering them nigh-unstoppable.

* StraightGay: Toby. She does prefer male garb, which is not per local culture.

* WhamLine: When the Archpope Justinian's ultimate plan is revealed.

* DarkSecret: The reason why Elilial lest the Pantheon. Supposedly anyone who learns the secret will ''instantly be killed'' by the Pantheon gods... unless they have Elilial's technique for hiding their intentions from the gods.

* BornUnlucky: The author. The author's notes at least through book 7 are an epic of vehicular, dental, technological, and other trials, aggravated by poverty.