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fixed a wick for a split trope
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* StopHelpingMe: Every single character, at least once in the series has a plan hindered by another hero, AND hinders another hero’s plan.
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* UnwantedAssistance: Every single character, at least once in the series has a plan hindered by another hero, AND hinders another hero’s plan.
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* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: While the League and their various allies often clash over just how to save the day, they always manage it.
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* BadassPrincess: Lila, and eventually Snow after some time as a freedom fighter.
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* AbusiveParents: In the case of Cinderella and Rapunzel, it's sort of a given (Rapunzel's birth father in this version is actually so horrible that he doesn't care about giving his infant daughter away to a witch). Frederic's father emotionally abused his son into being an obedient, over-coddled doormat, and Liam's parents only pay attention to their children when it's for their own selfish benefit.
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* SpoiledBrat: Due to a lifetime of servants tending to her every whim while in hiding from the evil fairy's curse, Briar Rose is ''not'' used to the word "no." Liam has shades of this too, just not to Briar's extremes.
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* SpoiledBrat: Due to a lifetime of servants tending to her every whim while in hiding from the evil fairy's curse, Briar Rose is ''not'' used to the word "no." Liam has shades of this too, just not to Briar's extremes.
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* PinkBoyBlueGirl: Foppish, easily scared Frederic and bold ActionGirl Ella.
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* [[CoolBigSis Cool Big Bro]]: Liam is the only one in Lila's family who empathizes with her, and negotiated with their parents to give her more free rein around the castle.
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* LoveAtFirstSight: This being a fairy tale comedy, this gets played with. For example, Liam falls for Ella because the fierce look in her eyes [[ItsAllAboutMe reminded him of himself]].
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* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Subverted in Gustav and Rapunzel's case. Though Rapunzel's kindness won over Gustav at first, his relentless sulking actually drives her away into a secluded life as a nurse. It's when Gustav eventually learns to be less selfish that they become closer as friends.
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* BirdsOfAFeather: [[spoiler:Most of the couples at the end of the series.]]
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: [[spoiler:Ruffian and Lila]], albeit in a very familial light.
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* SpoiledBrat: Due to a lifetime of servants tending to her every whim while in hiding from the evil fairy's curse, Briar Rose is 'not' used to the word "no." Liam has shades of this too, just not to Briar's extremes.
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* SpoiledBrat: Due to a lifetime of servants tending to her every whim while in hiding from the evil fairy's curse, Briar Rose is 'not' ''not'' used to the word "no." Liam has shades of this too, just not to Briar's extremes.
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* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Liam is the Sanguine, Gustav is the Choleric, Frederic is Melancholic and Duncan, Phlegmatic.
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* HappilyMarried: Unlike the three other fairy tale match-ups at the start of the story, Duncan and Snow White sincerely adore each other from the start, and remain the least dysfunctional couple throughout the trilogy.
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* HappilyMarried: Unlike the three other fairy tale match-ups at the start of the story, Duncan and Snow White sincerely adore each other from the start, other, and remain the least dysfunctional couple throughout the trilogy.
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* HappilyMarried: Unlike the three other fairy tale match-ups at the start of the story, Duncan and Snow White sincerely adore each other from the start, and remain the least dysfunctional couple throughout the trilogy.
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* PrinceCharming: Given the series premise, the trope is both mocked and subverted. None of the princes are a paragon of dashing heroism, but it's through their failures that they learn to work as a team.
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* GuileHero: Frederic's greatest weapons are his words, and grows into the League's best diplomat.
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* RousingSpeech: In one of the books' most triumphant moments, each of the four princes stands in front of their people to rouse them for the final battle.
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* AmbiguouslyBrown: Liam and Lila are both described as having a darker complexion than the rest of the cast, though it's not clear whether this is common for Erinthia as a whole.
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* CardCarryingVillain: Zaubera intentionally crafted herself to fit the archetype of a WickedWitch, complete with tattered robes, wild hair, a dragon, and dark fortress she designed to be as creepy as possible.
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* CinderellaCircumstances: Ella, obviously, but she found that life in the GildedCage that was the Harmonian palace just did not suit her at all, and eventually runs off to her own adventure.
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* HeroesPreferSwords: Liam and Ella often step into battle with swords. They try to train Frederic to wield one as well, to a very small degree of success.
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* IJustWantToBeBadass: Frederic and Gustav have big self-esteem issues concerning this.
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* InnocentlyInsensitive: While Duncan's probably the nicest guy in the League, his utter lack of social grace has led to moments of this.
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* ManChild: The princes are vaguely aged to be around their late teens to early twenties, but Duncan frequently acts more like an imaginative seven-year-old.
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* CloudCuckooLander: Duncan's been an oddball since he was little, but his parents and younger sisters are just as odd, 'if not more so.' It's why not even the people of Sylvaria respect their own royal family.
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* CloudCuckooLander: Duncan's been an oddball since he was little, but his parents and younger sisters are just as odd, 'if ''if not more so.' '' It's why not even the people of Sylvaria respect their own royal family.
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* BrainsAndBrawn: Frederic and Gustav.
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* SpoiledBrat: Due to a lifetime of servants tending to her every whim while in hiding from the evil fairy's curse, Briar Rose is 'not' used to the word "no."
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* SpoiledBrat: Due to a lifetime of servants tending to her every whim while in hiding from the evil fairy's curse, Briar Rose is 'not' used to the word "no."" Liam has shades of this too, just not to Briar's extremes.
* SpoiledSweet: By contrast, Frederic is a genuinely nice, docile guy, despite being pampered to the teeth.
* SpoiledSweet: By contrast, Frederic is a genuinely nice, docile guy, despite being pampered to the teeth.
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* {{Foil}}: Frederic and Liam, especially given their backstories. Their parents orchestrated events that defined who they were into early adulthood: Frederic's father effectively traumatized his son into giving up any idea of disobeying him, whereas Liam's parents staged an elaborate show that had everyone in Erinthia hailing Liam as their hero. This also applies to their roles in the "League of Princes" story as a whole: while Liam is the more conventional ActionHero of the two, Frederic is the true protagonist who initiates the story and ultimately ends the Zaubera arc [[spoiler: by urging her to use her powers for good.]]
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* ActionGirl: Most of the female characters, especially Ella and Lila.
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* BreakTheHaughty: Liam spends most of Book 2 second-guessing himself for the first time [[spoiler:when he learns that his first act of heroism was all a ruse to impress Briar's parents.]]
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* CloudCuckooLander: Duncan's been an oddball since he was little, but his parents and younger sisters are just as odd, 'if not more so.' It's why not even the people of Sylvaria respect their own royal family.
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* FireForgedFriends: It certainly takes a while for the League of Princes to gain any kind of footing, but they do form into a group of TrueCompanions by the end of the first book.
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* RedOniBlueOni: In the first book meek Frederic and boisterous Gustav are given development through this dynamic, and in later books this translates into Frederic's relationship with Liam.
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* SpoiledBrat: Due to a lifetime of servants tending to her every whim while in hiding from the evil fairy's curse, Briar Rose is 'not' used to the word "no."
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->“When faced with unbeatable odds, it’s best to be unbeatably odd.”
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->“When faced with facing unbeatable odds, it’s best to be just think of yourself as unbeatably odd.”
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* ProducePelting: Snow realizes she has a wicked talent for this in the second book. Midway through ''Guide to being an Outlaw'', she practically refines it into a genuine means of attack.
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* WickedWitch: Zaubera.
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* WickedWitch: Zaubera.Zaubera, Rapunzel's "[[WickedStepmother adoptive mother]]."
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* EnfantTerrible: Deeb Rauber aka The Bandit King. At twelve years old, he is an accomplished thief and leader of a cutthroat gang. His personality is still that of a bratty little snot though.
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*** TheLeader: Duncan, as the most naturally heroic of all of them.
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*** TheLeader: Duncan, Liam, as the most naturally heroic of all of them.
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*** TheLancer/TheSmartGuy: Lila
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*** TheLancer/TheSmartGuy: TheLancer and TheSmartGuy: Lila
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* ShipTease: With astonishing frequency, with enough romance to interest older readers, but skillfully and subtly done, so as not to bore younger readers. Among the possible ships teased are...
**Liam and Ella
**Frederic and Ella
**Frederic and Rapunzel
**Liam and Briar
**Gustav and Briar
**Gustav and Rapunzel
**Gustav and Jerica
**Lila and Deeb
**Lila and Smimf
**And possibly even more. The only OfficialCouple start to finish is Duncan and Snow.
**Liam and Ella
**Frederic and Ella
**Frederic and Rapunzel
**Liam and Briar
**Gustav and Briar
**Gustav and Rapunzel
**Gustav and Jerica
**Lila and Deeb
**Lila and Smimf
**And possibly even more. The only OfficialCouple start to finish is Duncan and Snow.
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*** TheLancer/TheSmartGuy: Frederic, the most studied and the only Prince Charming who can actually charm people.
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*** TheLancer/TheSmartGuy: TheLancer and TheSmartGuy: Frederic, the most studied and the only Prince Charming who can actually charm people.
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[[quoteright:204:http://gaithersburgbookfestival.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/HerosGuide2hcc.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:204: Left to Right, SnowWhite, [[Cinderella]], Prince Frederic, Prince Gustav, Prince Liam, Princess Lila, Prince Duncan.]]
[[caption-width-right:204: Left to Right, SnowWhite, [[Cinderella]], Prince Frederic, Prince Gustav, Prince Liam, Princess Lila, Prince Duncan.]]
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[[quoteright:204:http://gaithersburgbookfestival.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/HerosGuide2hcc.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:204: Left to Right, SnowWhite, [[Cinderella]], Prince Frederic, Prince Gustav, Prince Liam, Princess Lila, Prince Duncan.]]
->“When faced with unbeatable odds, it’s best to be unbeatably odd.”
-->-- From Prince Duncan's self-published ''A Hero's Guide to Being a Hero''.
The League of Princes (also called “The Hero’s Guide series”) is a series of Young Adult novels by Christopher Healy. Combining the tropes of FracturedFairyTale and DeconstructionCrossover, the three books tell the stories of some of the unsung heroes of fairy tales: The Princes Charming.
After all, what do we know of the fairy tale princes? The stories are always named for the princesses, our viewpoint characters. All we know of the princes are a few of their actions. In the novels, this is said to be the fault of the bards, the writers of the songs which served as the news reports of the day. And the bards, they do not have the strongest reputation for accuracy.
They tell us Cinderella’s prince is a good dancer who sent his servant out to find his love, that Rapunzel’s prince is a brave warrior who got beaten by an old lady and rescued by a girl, that Sleeping Beauty’s prince is a dashing hero who awoke the sleeper with True Love’s Kiss, and that Snow White’s prince... well, that he was wandering alone in the woods and kissed a sleeping girl because some dwarfs told him to.
What they don’t tell us is that Cinderella’s prince is Frederic of Harmonia, who was raised by an incredibly overprotective father who never let him engage in any activity more strenuous than dancing, leaving him an agoraphobe, a coward, and a completely unskilled fighter, whose idea of a daring adventure is eating breakfast foods for lunch. They don’t tell us that Rapunzel’s prince is Gustav of Sturmhagen, who has had an inferiority complex his whole life due to being the youngest of seventeen brothers. They don’t tell us that Sleeping Beauty’s prince is Liam of Erinthia, who has been hailed as a hero since the age of three and is quite smug about it, leading to a system shock when he breaks his engagement to the selfish and terrible Briar Rose and becomes the most hated man in his kingdom. And as for Snow White’s prince, Duncan of Sylvaria... well, they got him mostly right, but neglected to mention how WEIRD he is.
Four less likely partners you couldn’t meet, but when a conspiracy is uncovered and they are the only ones who can put it right, they form the League of Princes, and heroically save the... Well, they do their level best.
!!This series provides examples of:
*BarBrawl: While the Stumpy Boarhound is never shy of one anyway, Ella actually provokes one as a way to audition a fighter for a mission.
*BoisterousBruiser: Gustav, and the trolls as a race.
*BountyHunter: Several, most notably Ruffian the Blue.
*CatchPhrase: Several
** Gustav will frequently shout “Stuff it all!” in indignation, and launches into battle with a bellow of “STUUUUUURMHAAAGEEEN!”
** Frederic often wonders “What would Sir Bertram the Dainty do?” This has proven useful more often than one might think, but in one particularly tough spot, he was forced to conclude that what Sir Bertram would probably do is [[spoiler:die]].
** Smimf is so polite, sir your highness sir, that it approaches the level of vocal tic. And mind you, sir your highness sir, that he refers to everyone this way, regardless of gender or royal status.
** Vero has, as they say in his country, one of these.
*TheDragon: Lord Rundark to the Bandit King. He pads out the Bandit Army with Darian mercenaries, [[spoiler:which does not work out so well for the young king]].
*TheEeyore: Ruffian the Blue
*EvilOverlord: Lord Rundark
** Deeb fancies himself one of these, but he’s not that good at it.
*ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The bard song titles are usually pretty standard, “The Tale of the Sleeping Beauty”, “The Tale of Cinderella”, etc. The most on-the-nose one, though, is probably their song of Liam and Briar’s wedding, “The League of Princes Fails Again”.
** The forest of Yondale is dark and forboding, but it borders the much nicer forest of Sylvaria, which is named “The Much Nicer Forest of Sylvaria”.
*FiveManBand
**The League alone can qualify...
***TheLeader: Duncan, as the most naturally heroic of all of them.
***TheLancer/TheSmartGuy: Frederic, the most studied and the only Prince Charming who can actually charm people.
***TheBigGuy: Gustav, who prefers to punch his way out of trouble.
***TheChick: Duncan, who is friends with animals and always strives to keep peace in the group.
**When they are joined by Ella, she easily takes the more passive Frederic’s place as Lancer, making them a proper FiveManBand. They are also joined by Lila as a TagalongKid, Mr. Troll as an additional Big Guy, and Little Tailor (and later Briar Rose) as a SixthRanger.
**In the third book, the Princes and Briar are stranded on an island, and Ella forms the Ferocious Female Freedom Fighters, who also qualify.
***TheLeader: Ella
***TheLancer/TheSmartGuy: Lila
***TheBigGuy: Val
***TheChicks: Snow White and Rapunzel
*FracturedFairyTale
*GrumpyBear: Liam becomes one of these on occasion.
*HufflepuffHouse: The books will frequently reference “The Thirteen Kingdoms”, but unless a main character lives in one of them, don’t expect to hear much about it. [[spoiler:In the third book, Lord Rundark is said to have spies controlling the rulers of all thirteen kingdoms, but we only see the ones in the princes’ kingdoms, plus Avondell (Briar Rose’s hometown) and Yondale (Snow White’s), and we only see the revolution happening in those places, with the assurance that they are inspiring others to do the same.]]
** Eisborg doesn’t even warrant a mention until the end of the final book, lampshading its unimportance and noting that they forgot to put it on the map in the first book.
*** Though it’s possible that it didn’t even exist in the first book, as the development of Dar as a separate entity from the Thirteen Kingdoms in the second book left the map one kingdom short.
*ImprobableAimingSkills: Snow White turns out to be something of a savant at flinging projectiles.
*InsistentTerminology: A frequent source of humor.
**Duncan is the only one who says “Princes Charming” instead of “Prince Charmings”. He can’t get it to catch on, even among people who know he’s technically correct.
**Cap’n Gabberman will correct you if you call him Captain. Not only that, but if you ask his friends about Captain Gabberman, they won’t be certain who you’re talking about.
** Commander Euphustus Baileywimple will be referred to by his full name and title at all times.
** Frank and his friends are DWARVES, not DWARFS, thank you so much.
**Eric the Mauve is a trainer of giant mongeese, and will not stand for having his grammar corrected.
*TheNeedForMead: The Stumpy Boarhound, though the princes tend to order water. Well.. they’re told it’s water, which doesn’t account for the color...
*NeverLiveItDown: The princes all have this in regards to the songs about them, both their classic tales, and the new bard songs about their League’s many failures.
** This hits Gustav the hardest, who is mocked by all Sturmhageners for getting beaten up by an old lady and rescued by a girl.
*NonindicativeName: Ruffian the Blue wanted to be called “the Black” or “the Red”, and dresses accordingly. But he’s such a downer that the other nickname stuck.
*OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Played straight, but bent a bit. While the dwarves are blunt, cranky, and violent, they live in a forest, as befitting their Snow White-based origins, and are fairly shy and compliant in the face of Snow White herself.
*PoirotSpeak: Vero seems to think he does this, but he actually speaks the language - as they say in his country - “quite well”. Possibly a parody of the fact that all the kingdoms seem to speak the same language.
*RunningGag: Bounty hunters all have a color in their names. This is eventually made explicit and said to be a sort of unspoken rule.
*SixthRanger: Little Tailor.
**[[spoiler:SixthRangerTraitor: ...who is also the Gray Phantom.]]
*StopHelpingMe: Every single character, at least once in the series has a plan hindered by another hero, AND hinders another hero’s plan.
*TrueLovesKiss: VERY subverted. In this universe, a kiss can break a spell, but pretty much anyone can do it. The two most famous instances, after all, are included...
** Liam truly believes in True Love’s Kiss, and assumes that he and Briar are due to live HappilyEverAfter. Much to his surprise, she turns out to be horrible.
** Duncan, on the other hand, acknowledged as soon as the dwarves told him about Snow that he couldn’t be in love with her because he’d never met her. He was also very hesitant to kiss a sleeping woman without her consent, and only did so to break the curse. Turns out they’re perfect for each other, and the are one of the series’ only examples of TrueLove.
*WaifFu: Little Tailor isn’t only a surprisingly good fighter for his size, his only weapon is a needle and thread.
*WickedWitch: Zaubera.
*YouAllMeetInAnInn: While the princes had been accompanying and assisting each other, they formally became a team in the corner booth of the Stumpy Boarhound, much to the owner’s delight.
[[caption-width-right:204: Left to Right, SnowWhite, [[Cinderella]], Prince Frederic, Prince Gustav, Prince Liam, Princess Lila, Prince Duncan.]]
->“When faced with unbeatable odds, it’s best to be unbeatably odd.”
-->-- From Prince Duncan's self-published ''A Hero's Guide to Being a Hero''.
The League of Princes (also called “The Hero’s Guide series”) is a series of Young Adult novels by Christopher Healy. Combining the tropes of FracturedFairyTale and DeconstructionCrossover, the three books tell the stories of some of the unsung heroes of fairy tales: The Princes Charming.
After all, what do we know of the fairy tale princes? The stories are always named for the princesses, our viewpoint characters. All we know of the princes are a few of their actions. In the novels, this is said to be the fault of the bards, the writers of the songs which served as the news reports of the day. And the bards, they do not have the strongest reputation for accuracy.
They tell us Cinderella’s prince is a good dancer who sent his servant out to find his love, that Rapunzel’s prince is a brave warrior who got beaten by an old lady and rescued by a girl, that Sleeping Beauty’s prince is a dashing hero who awoke the sleeper with True Love’s Kiss, and that Snow White’s prince... well, that he was wandering alone in the woods and kissed a sleeping girl because some dwarfs told him to.
What they don’t tell us is that Cinderella’s prince is Frederic of Harmonia, who was raised by an incredibly overprotective father who never let him engage in any activity more strenuous than dancing, leaving him an agoraphobe, a coward, and a completely unskilled fighter, whose idea of a daring adventure is eating breakfast foods for lunch. They don’t tell us that Rapunzel’s prince is Gustav of Sturmhagen, who has had an inferiority complex his whole life due to being the youngest of seventeen brothers. They don’t tell us that Sleeping Beauty’s prince is Liam of Erinthia, who has been hailed as a hero since the age of three and is quite smug about it, leading to a system shock when he breaks his engagement to the selfish and terrible Briar Rose and becomes the most hated man in his kingdom. And as for Snow White’s prince, Duncan of Sylvaria... well, they got him mostly right, but neglected to mention how WEIRD he is.
Four less likely partners you couldn’t meet, but when a conspiracy is uncovered and they are the only ones who can put it right, they form the League of Princes, and heroically save the... Well, they do their level best.
!!This series provides examples of:
*BarBrawl: While the Stumpy Boarhound is never shy of one anyway, Ella actually provokes one as a way to audition a fighter for a mission.
*BoisterousBruiser: Gustav, and the trolls as a race.
*BountyHunter: Several, most notably Ruffian the Blue.
*CatchPhrase: Several
** Gustav will frequently shout “Stuff it all!” in indignation, and launches into battle with a bellow of “STUUUUUURMHAAAGEEEN!”
** Frederic often wonders “What would Sir Bertram the Dainty do?” This has proven useful more often than one might think, but in one particularly tough spot, he was forced to conclude that what Sir Bertram would probably do is [[spoiler:die]].
** Smimf is so polite, sir your highness sir, that it approaches the level of vocal tic. And mind you, sir your highness sir, that he refers to everyone this way, regardless of gender or royal status.
** Vero has, as they say in his country, one of these.
*TheDragon: Lord Rundark to the Bandit King. He pads out the Bandit Army with Darian mercenaries, [[spoiler:which does not work out so well for the young king]].
*TheEeyore: Ruffian the Blue
*EvilOverlord: Lord Rundark
** Deeb fancies himself one of these, but he’s not that good at it.
*ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The bard song titles are usually pretty standard, “The Tale of the Sleeping Beauty”, “The Tale of Cinderella”, etc. The most on-the-nose one, though, is probably their song of Liam and Briar’s wedding, “The League of Princes Fails Again”.
** The forest of Yondale is dark and forboding, but it borders the much nicer forest of Sylvaria, which is named “The Much Nicer Forest of Sylvaria”.
*FiveManBand
**The League alone can qualify...
***TheLeader: Duncan, as the most naturally heroic of all of them.
***TheLancer/TheSmartGuy: Frederic, the most studied and the only Prince Charming who can actually charm people.
***TheBigGuy: Gustav, who prefers to punch his way out of trouble.
***TheChick: Duncan, who is friends with animals and always strives to keep peace in the group.
**When they are joined by Ella, she easily takes the more passive Frederic’s place as Lancer, making them a proper FiveManBand. They are also joined by Lila as a TagalongKid, Mr. Troll as an additional Big Guy, and Little Tailor (and later Briar Rose) as a SixthRanger.
**In the third book, the Princes and Briar are stranded on an island, and Ella forms the Ferocious Female Freedom Fighters, who also qualify.
***TheLeader: Ella
***TheLancer/TheSmartGuy: Lila
***TheBigGuy: Val
***TheChicks: Snow White and Rapunzel
*FracturedFairyTale
*GrumpyBear: Liam becomes one of these on occasion.
*HufflepuffHouse: The books will frequently reference “The Thirteen Kingdoms”, but unless a main character lives in one of them, don’t expect to hear much about it. [[spoiler:In the third book, Lord Rundark is said to have spies controlling the rulers of all thirteen kingdoms, but we only see the ones in the princes’ kingdoms, plus Avondell (Briar Rose’s hometown) and Yondale (Snow White’s), and we only see the revolution happening in those places, with the assurance that they are inspiring others to do the same.]]
** Eisborg doesn’t even warrant a mention until the end of the final book, lampshading its unimportance and noting that they forgot to put it on the map in the first book.
*** Though it’s possible that it didn’t even exist in the first book, as the development of Dar as a separate entity from the Thirteen Kingdoms in the second book left the map one kingdom short.
*ImprobableAimingSkills: Snow White turns out to be something of a savant at flinging projectiles.
*InsistentTerminology: A frequent source of humor.
**Duncan is the only one who says “Princes Charming” instead of “Prince Charmings”. He can’t get it to catch on, even among people who know he’s technically correct.
**Cap’n Gabberman will correct you if you call him Captain. Not only that, but if you ask his friends about Captain Gabberman, they won’t be certain who you’re talking about.
** Commander Euphustus Baileywimple will be referred to by his full name and title at all times.
** Frank and his friends are DWARVES, not DWARFS, thank you so much.
**Eric the Mauve is a trainer of giant mongeese, and will not stand for having his grammar corrected.
*TheNeedForMead: The Stumpy Boarhound, though the princes tend to order water. Well.. they’re told it’s water, which doesn’t account for the color...
*NeverLiveItDown: The princes all have this in regards to the songs about them, both their classic tales, and the new bard songs about their League’s many failures.
** This hits Gustav the hardest, who is mocked by all Sturmhageners for getting beaten up by an old lady and rescued by a girl.
*NonindicativeName: Ruffian the Blue wanted to be called “the Black” or “the Red”, and dresses accordingly. But he’s such a downer that the other nickname stuck.
*OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Played straight, but bent a bit. While the dwarves are blunt, cranky, and violent, they live in a forest, as befitting their Snow White-based origins, and are fairly shy and compliant in the face of Snow White herself.
*PoirotSpeak: Vero seems to think he does this, but he actually speaks the language - as they say in his country - “quite well”. Possibly a parody of the fact that all the kingdoms seem to speak the same language.
*RunningGag: Bounty hunters all have a color in their names. This is eventually made explicit and said to be a sort of unspoken rule.
*SixthRanger: Little Tailor.
**[[spoiler:SixthRangerTraitor: ...who is also the Gray Phantom.]]
*StopHelpingMe: Every single character, at least once in the series has a plan hindered by another hero, AND hinders another hero’s plan.
*TrueLovesKiss: VERY subverted. In this universe, a kiss can break a spell, but pretty much anyone can do it. The two most famous instances, after all, are included...
** Liam truly believes in True Love’s Kiss, and assumes that he and Briar are due to live HappilyEverAfter. Much to his surprise, she turns out to be horrible.
** Duncan, on the other hand, acknowledged as soon as the dwarves told him about Snow that he couldn’t be in love with her because he’d never met her. He was also very hesitant to kiss a sleeping woman without her consent, and only did so to break the curse. Turns out they’re perfect for each other, and the are one of the series’ only examples of TrueLove.
*WaifFu: Little Tailor isn’t only a surprisingly good fighter for his size, his only weapon is a needle and thread.
*WickedWitch: Zaubera.
*YouAllMeetInAnInn: While the princes had been accompanying and assisting each other, they formally became a team in the corner booth of the Stumpy Boarhound, much to the owner’s delight.
