History Literature / TheGunslinger

* HumanShield: Sheb uses Allie as a human shield just before the battle of Tull. However, due to Roland's quick reflexes [[spoiler: and over Allie's terrified objections, it doesn't work and he shoots them both.]]

'''''The Gunslinger''''' is the first book in ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series. The story opens with TheGunslinger Roland Deschain trekking across a desert that appears to be in [[TheWestern the Old West]] but [[WriterInducedFanon may actually be]] our own world [[AfterTheEnd in the distant future]]. {{Flashback}}s tell a HighFantasy tale of Roland's childhood.

* {{Badass}}: Roland

* {{Jerkass}}: [[SadistTeacher Cort]]. Though Cort is eventually shown to be an effective teacher who is genuinely concerned with training his pupils and earns untold respect from Roland and his first Ka-Tet.

* TheDogShotFirst: Allie is held as a shield and hostage by Sheb as the residents of Tull attack Roland. Originally, Roland kills her out of pure instinct; his trained hands react quicker than his mind. She screams at him not to shoot, but it's too late, and the guilt of her death sits on Roland throughout the rest of the story. In the revised edition, there is a convoluted subplot in which after Walter resurrects Nort, he tells Allie that if she says "nineteen" to Nort, he will tell her what he saw on the other side. Knowing will drive her crazy, [[ShmuckBait but so will not knowing]]. Later, during the shootout, she begs Roland to kill her because she has spoken nineteen to Sheb and can't bear the horrors that he whispered back to her. As she dies King says that "the last expression on her face might have been gratitude."

->"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Averted. During the showdown in Tull, a small knife is thrown at Roland, which strikes him in the head. Though the aim is dead on, it hits him by the hilt, bloodying him but causing no serious damage.

* MoodDissonance: Walter o' Dim includes a little smiley face ☺ in his letter to Alice telling her the incomprehensible, indescribable PsychologicalHorror that would happen to her if she told Nort his TriggerPhrase.

* TriggerPhrase: Nineteen.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Not only is this book much shorter than the others in the series; it has a much more disjointed, poetic style. The narrative flow is much more linear in later books, which justify the different style by emphasizing that Roland went a ''little bit nuts'' during his long solo journey.

* {{Jerkass}}: [[SadistTeacher Cort]]Though Cort is eventually shown to be an effective teacher who is genuinely concerned with training his pupils and earns untold respect from Roland and his first Ka-Tet.

* {{Jerkass}}: [[SadistTeacher Cort]]

'''''The Gunslinger''''' is the first book in ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series. The story opens with TheGunslinger Roland Deschain wandering through a desert that appears to be in [[TheWestern the Old West]] but [[WriterInducedFanon may actually be]] our own world [[AfterTheEnd in the distant future]]. {{Flashback}}s tell a HighFantasy tale of Roland's childhood.

* DiedLaughing: [[spoiler:Walter]]'s skeleton appears this way.

* CombatPragmatist: Roland's weapon of choice in his gunslinger trial is [[spoiler:David, his trained hawk]]. He's also mastered the art of fighting dirty, which makes [[SadistTeacher Cort]] proud.

* CombatPragmatism: Roland's weapon of choice in his gunslinger trial is [[spoiler:David, his trained hawk]]. He's also mastered the art of fighting dirty, which makes [[SadistTeacher Cort]] proud.

* TheDogShotFirst: Allie is held as a shield and hostage by Sheb as the residents of Tull attack Roland. Originally, Roland kills her out of pure instinct; his trained hands react quicker than his mind. She screams at him not to shoot, but it's too late, and the guilt of her death sits on Roland throughout the rest of the story. In the revised edition, there is a convoluted subplot in which after Walter resurrects a dead man, he tells Allie that if she says "nineteen", he will tell her what he saw on the other side. Knowing will drive her crazy, [[ShmuckBait but so will not]]. Later, during the shootout, she begs Roland to kill her because she has spoken nineteen to Sheb and can't bear the horrors that he whispered back to her. As she dies King says that "the last expression on her face might have been gratitude."