History Literature / WhomGodsWouldDestroy

* AmbiguouslyJewish: Despite being from Siberia and resembling a Tuvan, Anna Sokoll has a plausibly Ashkenazi Jewish name and is able to speak Yiddish.

* MustHaveCaffeine: Siegfried, the FriendlySniper, is a caffeine addict, to the point that he eats powdered ersatz coffee cut with sawdust to stay awake.

* BornLucky/WindsOfDestinyChange: Hannibal Barker, though with the downside that he seems to "bank" his luck, with improbable good fortune balanced out, in the end, by bad luck.

* CastingAShadow/PowerOfTheVoid: Susan, Tom Noun's mother, has a variation, where she can manipulate and teleport anything completely obscured by darkness.

* [[Spoiler: Part II confirms that they are nephilim, or rather, the 99th and 100th generation descendants of such, dumbed the Elioud]].

* {{Transmuation}}: rooted in the concepts of alchemy and chemistry, Rowan Winepress is capable of transmutating elements at a touch.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: apparently, several historical figures have been some kind of supernatural being, [[spoiler: including Tarrare]].

* PlagueDoctor: A seemingly demonic entity - the Goetic "Amy" - associated with the H1N1 or "Spanish" Flu travels from Kansas to Europe, shifting from a classical horned and hairy devil to a hypnotist (associated with Edgar Cayce) to a classic European plague doctor along the way.

* RealityWarper: Certain entities (possibly PhysicalGods) and places seem to actively warp what's possible, and [[{{Muggles}} mundane people]] [[BrownNote who witness it seem to have to roll a Sanity Save.]] Though it may all be simple PsychicPowers. Part II confirms that [[spoiler: the nephilim are surrounded by a gap in a reality called "aretztikapha, a 'world of distortion,' a term apparently taken from an angelic title in the Book of Enoch. Within this 'sinus,' they warp reality to their whims]].

* RealityWarper: Certain entities (possibly PhysicalGods) and places seem to actively warp what's possible, and [[{{Muggles}} mundane people]] [[BrownNote who witness it seem to have to roll a Sanity Save.]] Though it may all be simple PsychicPowers.

* TitleDrop: Delivered early, in its Latin form, by Thomas Noun.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Many historical figures get name-checked, but Kaiser Wilhelm II, Carl Jung, Morgan Robertson, and paranormal investigator Elliott O'Donnell get the most attention in the first book. Along with a certain [[UnexpectedCharacter 18th century figure]]. ''Archangel'', similarly, opens with a chance meeting of Creator/HenryDarger, Charles Dellschau, and Vida Henry. Oddly enough, there is a striking [[AvertedTrope lack]]

''Whom Gods Would Destroy: An Occult History of the First World War'' is a 2023 novel trilogy by Tyler Kimball told in the form of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a paranormal survey of ]][[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the First World War]]. It begins as a relatively straight-forward historical investigation based in [[ParanoiaFuel “real life” events]] [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory blended with fantastical elements]], but various characters and plotlines began to interweave, resulting in [[GenreBuster an apocalyptic dark fantasy]] [[GenreRoulette superhero religious horror war story.]]..[[MindScrew thing]].

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Many historical figures get name-checked, but Kaiser Wilhelm II, Carl Jung, Morgan Robertson, and paranormal investigator Elliott O'Donnell get the most attention. Along with a certain [[UnexpectedCharacter 18th century figure]].

* TexbookHumor: during a description of the battle of Tanga, which involved a destructive attack by a massive bee swarm, the academic, historical style suddenly starts treating the queen bee as if it were a legitimate head of state of a belligerent nation, and lauded as the most successful monarch of the Great War.

* ApocalypseCult: mutliple crop up before and during the war, and the Nine may be one.

* InfoDump: much of the first half of the book.

* GovernmentConspiracy: multiple occult organizations with the governments of Europe and America are mentioned, most prominently a British MI18.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero/PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: few of the characters are above the casual bigotry and extreme nationalism of the era.

* AncientConspiracy: [[ConspiracyKitchenSink multiple overlapping ones are mentioned]][[GambitPileup a chunk of their story involves their struggles for supremacy in Edwardian occultism]]. Though the conspiracies are often not-so-ancient, such as the Ordo Templi Orientis and the Oddfellows.

* ArtifactOfAttraction: the Cambridge Cabal's ring, which may be [[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor something of a monkey's paw.]]

* ConspiracyTheorist: many, though Willis George Emerson and Elliott O'Donnell take the cake.

* AncientConspiracy: [[ConspiracyKitchenSink multiple overlapping ones are mentioned]][[GambitPileup and their struggles for supremacy in Edwardian occultism]], and some not-so-ancient, such as the Ordo Templi Orientis and the Oddfellows.

* EasterEgg: besides the openly explained elements, there are sideways references to multiple paranormal events, such as Mothman (Dr. Laurent notes that witnessing certain supernatural powers caused [[EyeScream Actinic conjunctivitis]] among his staff, something connected to Mothman sightings by John Keel in ''TheMothmanProphecies'').

* EasterEgg: besides the openly explained elements, there are sideways references to multiple paranormal events, such as Mothman.

* BodyHorror: Warping flesh, rats eating people alive, locusts swarming people,

* MagicRealism: elements of it, such as in the tale of the Orkney Isle “mermaids” and the Rat-king.

* TheEmperor: An essay explains the lingering culture power of the Kaiser as a meme, and the actual personality of Wilhelm II.

* PsychicDreamsForEveryone: Carl Jung, multiple minor characters, and Siegfried Gottlieb [[DreamingOfThingsToCome all have prophetic dreams.]] Gottlieb's dream has him blend consciousness with writer Morgan Robertson, known for the ''Wreck of the Titan,'' and connects [[UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic ''The Titanic'']] with the Biblical Leviathan.

* RoomFullOfCrazy: Tom Noun's bed in the Somme hospital is covered in anti-fairy wards.

* OverlyLongName: Hermann [[[GenderBlenderName Maria]] Ernst Freiherr Przibislaus z Lipé von Böhm, though not unrealistic for Austrian aristocrats of the time.

* TheSwarm: Jerusalem experiences a major locusts during the War, with all the creepy-crawly horror that entails.

* ResurrectiveImmortality: While the limits of his "death" are never tested, "Adolphe Bouchard" appears to be able to resurrect himself with a new body after severe physical decline by bursting out of his own rotting body like a cocoon, with all the puss and decay involved described in detail. [[Spoiler: he has been doing this since at least the late 18th century, and he hints at being far, far older]].

''Whom Gods Would Destroy: An Occult History of the First World War'' is a 2023 novel trilogy by Tyler Kimball told in the form of a paranormal survey of [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the First World War]]. It begins as a relatively straight-forward historical investigation based in [[ParanoiaFuel “real life” events]] [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory blended with fantastical elements]], but various characters and plotlines began to interweave, resulting in [[GenreBuster an apocalyptic dark fantasy]] [[GenreRoulette superhero religious horror war story.]]..[[MindScrew thing]].

* Anachronistic Order: A brief slip from the general chronological order: The “Finwife” story takes place in 1919.

* AuthorAppeal: It's pretty clear that the Author is interested in niche paranormal topics, since most of the many, many characters are as well, to an obsessive degree. Then again, characters surrounded by occult weirdness would probably want to know more about it.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Many historical figures get name-checked, but Kaiser Wilhelm II and paranormal investigator Elliott O'Donnell get the most attention. Along with a certain [[UnexpectedCharacter 18th century figure]].

* JigsawPuzzlePlot

* MythicalMotifs: Along with common angelic and demonic imagery, [Myth/ClassicalMythology Medea]] and Moloch are recurring symbols of a culture sacrificing its own children.

* RedEyesTakeWarning

* SpyFiction: Many elements of WWI-era spy fiction, along with actual historical esponiage, crop up in the book, particularly the actions carried out by Alister Crowley.

* WeirdHistoricalWar, including elements that feel like predacessors to SovietSuperscience and {{Ghostapo}}

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: perhaps the creepiest moments occur when you look up some of the events noted in the book and find out that they actually happened.
* AmbiguousDisorder: many characters seem to be either mentally ill, neurotypical, or physically odd, though the psychiatric and medical science of the 1910s leaves it vague.

* BeigeProse: Occasionally, particularly when quoting from jouranlistic sources. Tom Noun writes in a notably Modernist, PurpleProse.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: the “Brief Incident in Cuba,” recounting the tale of some sort of growing white blob thing.

* CreepyAwesome: Celeste and Tom Noun are rather creepy, but among the most fascinating characters in the tale. [[spoiler: also Tarrare, for a given value of awesome]].

* GeniusBonus: WGWD rewards a knowledge of both the First World War and the occult.

* JerkassWoobie: many of the characters portray hints of cruelty, casual bigotry, and murderous intent, but it's pretty clear that they're breaking down from the horrors of war.

* RealismInducedHorror: The most unsettling events of the story arise from AluminiumChristmasTrees and the very real horrors of war.