History NarmCharm / Literature

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': This trope can definitely apply to the ending of the 7th book; after [[EarnYourHappyEnding all the crap]] that [[ThreeAmigos The Trio]] has been through, you can't help but feel happy that everything turned out okay (for the most part) in the end... unless you're a fanatic [[{{Shipping}} Shipper]] and the ending defied your {{OTP}}; in that case, the ending of the series was your worst nightmare come true.

* ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'' ends with a ''slapfight'' between ''grown men'', and then the OfficialCouple run happily through a rain of cherry blossoms. However, this came after 32 books of angst, politicking, and clone slavery, so it sort of felt earned. Some fans argue that it was intentionally cheesy, the point of Tatsuya's CharacterDevelopment being that he is NotSoAboveItAll and almost as prone to being silly as any human being.

* Creator/FrankPeretti, a Christian horror writer, is very adept at the use of Narm Charm. Apparently, he realizes that his plots are extremely outlandish, and in order to avoid Narm he cranks up the absurdity of his situations UpToEleven and lets you know it's okay to laugh through witty prose, thereby leading to situations -- such as a town erupting into terrifying/hilarious chaos around a false Messiah -- that are bizarre, hilarious, and somehow, really, really terrifying. [[AdaptationDecay Unfortunately, this does not translate well into]] [[Narm/{{Film}} the film versions of his work]].

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': This trope can definitely apply to the ending of the 7th book; after [[EarnYourHappyEnding all the crap]] that [[PowerTrio The Trio]] has been through, you can't help but feel happy that everything turned out okay (for the most part) in the end... unless you're a fanatic [[{{Shipping}} Shipper]] and the ending defied your {{OTP}}; in that case, the ending of the series was your worst nightmare come true.

* ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'' ends with a ''slapfight'' between ''grown men'', and then the OfficialCouple run happily through a rain of cherry blossoms. However, this came after 32 books of angst, politicking, and clone slavery, so it sort of felt earned. Some fans argue that it was intentionally cheesy, the point of Tatsuya's CharacterDevelopment being that he is NotSoAboveAtAll and almost as prone to being silly as any human being.

* To many, it's what makes the charm of ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo''.

--> '''O'Brien:''' "How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?'"
--> '''Winston:''' "Four! Five! Four! Anything you like."

* ''Literature/ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark'': When on paper, "The Dead Man's Brain" is a list of instructions for a simple game. But in the audiobook version, George S. Irving really hams it up by chuckling while listing what's needed for the game. Special mention goes to him flat-out giggling when listing spaghetti noodles for the worms in the game.

* ''Literature/LittleWomen'' plots a course through saccharine characters, [[PurpleProse wildly extravagant and sentimental prose]], [[AnAesop Aesops]] (some of them [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop rather questionable]]) in [[OnceAnEpisode nearly every chapter]]... and comes out as a gripping romantic drama with a deserved place in the highest pantheon of American literature.

* ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'' [[ItMakesSenseInContext somehow]] manages to make the line [[PunctuatedForEmphasis "THAT! IS! NOT! MY! COW!"]] bad-ass.

* ''Literature/LittleWomen'' plots a course through {{Mary Sue}}s, [[PurpleProse wildly extravagant and sentimental prose]], [[AnAesop Aesops]] (some of them [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop rather questionable]]) in [[OnceAnEpisode nearly every chapter]]... and comes out as a gripping romantic drama with a deserved place in the highest pantheon of American literature.

** [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows "I'll join you when hell freezes over!"]] is one of the cheesiest cliches out there. But considering that this is [[spoiler: [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Neville Longbottom]]]] saying it to [[spoiler: [[BigBad Voldemort]]'s]] face, and suddenly [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome you don't feel like laughing anymore.]]

* ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'' - Aldous Huxley's writing style can come across as pretty hackey and/or lazy, but it's kind of endearing. It works well to bring the reader into a world that is (especially for the time of writing) quite difficult to buy into.

* ''LittleWomen'' plots a course through {{Mary Sue}}s, [[PurpleProse wildly extravagant and sentimental prose]], [[AnAesop Aesops]] (some of them [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop rather questionable]]) in [[OnceAnEpisode nearly every chapter]]... and comes out as a gripping romantic drama with a deserved place in the highest pantheon of American literature.

* In the Czech movie, Koyla, part of the plot involves Koyla's grandmother dying, Louka tells him that she [[NeverSayDie is only sleeping]] as the boy is only five years old at the time. Later in the movie, there is the scene where Kolya is in the bath, uses the shower head like a telephone and [[ChildrenAreInnocent tries to speak with his grandmother.]] It seems a bit ridiculous, but is genuinely sad because of how very upset he.

* Frank Peretti, a Christian horror writer, is very adept at the use of Narm Charm. Apparently, he realizes that his plots are extremely outlandish, and in order to avoid Narm he cranks up the absurdity of his situations UpToEleven and lets you know it's okay to laugh through witty prose, thereby leading to situations -- such as a town erupting into terrifying/hilarious chaos around a false Messiah -- that are bizarre, hilarious, and somehow, really, really terrifying. [[AdaptationDecay Unfortunately, this does not translate well into]] [[Narm/{{Film}} the film versions of his work]].

* In ''Literature/{{Phenomena}}''; Ilke's adoration of mothers fall into this by being a huge LesYay and implying that she LikesOlderWomen. It is understandable that she's desperate for a mother, growing up without any females to look up to for 10 years, but her lines of 'Do all mothers smell this good?' is still pretty narmy, yet strangely adorable.

* [[spoiler:Bluestar]]'s encroaching mental illness in ''Literature/WarriorCats''. On the one hand, she's a fictional feral cat, so it's hard to cry for her. But on the other, she's an incredible leader and beloved friend ''who didn't deserve to live like that, dammit!''

* ''XWingSeries'': Certainly the newbie Tatooine pilot Gavin Darklighter's response to seeing Coruscant for the first time was [[Narm/StarWars narmy]], but it helps illustrate just how young the kid is.

* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' practically ran on this. It's a modern reimagination of GreekMythology where scenarios like Zeus wearring suit, Poseidon prefering khaki short or Apollo driving a sun bus while making haiku are all real. And fans love it.

* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' practically ran on this. It's a modern reimagination of GreekMythologies where scenarios like Zeus wearring suit, Poseidon prefering khaki short or Apollo driving a sun bus while making haiku are all real. And fans love it.

* Discussed with an internal example in ''Literature/StarTrekKlingonEmpire''. The old animated show "[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic Battlecruiser Vengeance]]" is this for many Klingons (and it's a nice wink to actual fans of [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Original Series]] ''Franchise/StarTrek'' too). One particular episode presents the Klingon hero repelling a Federation boarding party. The episode was produced during the height of tensions between the empire and the Federation, and the party consists of ridiculous, inaccurate computer-generated images of Federation member races. Specifically, the Andorian is more green than blue and has overlong antennae, the Vulcan's ears are too pointed, the Tellarite looks more like an actual boar, the Betazoid has fully blacked-out eyes instead of simple dark irises, the Human has eyes too large and a mouth too small, the Trill has spots covering her entire body, and the Denobulan has misplaced ridges. In the minds of many "modern" fans, the inaccuracy just adds to the joy of it.

* [[Narm/StarWars Pellaeon]], in the NewJediOrder, delivering a ShutUpHannibal that ends "You may win the occasional battle against us, Vorrik, but the Empire will ''always'' strike back."

* From ''LordOfTheFlies'', the line [[spoiler:"Roger sharpened a stick at both ends"]] should, by all rights, be laughable (what, is he going to [[spoiler:trip and fall on it]] or something?) In context, however, it's the sign of the boys' complete degeneration into unbridled savagery.

** {{Room 101}} itself works as an example. We've seen how lesser works have made the "your worst nightmare come to life" less scary than it should. Indeed, at first glance, the idea that, after months of the most devious psychological and physical torture known to man, the thing that breaks Winston is "give up your love, or get your face eaten by rats", still kinda sounds like something out of a ''{{Saw}}'' movie. But when you read it... it works, dammit.

* Discussed with an internal example in ''StarTrekKlingonEmpire''. The old animated show "[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic Battlecruiser Vengeance]]" is this for many Klingons (and it's a nice wink to actual fans of [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Original Series]] ''Franchise/StarTrek'' too). One particular episode presents the Klingon hero repelling a Federation boarding party. The episode was produced during the height of tensions between the empire and the Federation, and the party consists of ridiculous, inaccurate computer-generated images of Federation member races. Specifically, the Andorian is more green than blue and has overlong antennae, the Vulcan's ears are too pointed, the Tellarite looks more like an actual boar, the Betazoid has fully blacked-out eyes instead of simple dark irises, the Human has eyes too large and a mouth too small, the Trill has spots covering her entire body, and the Denobulan has misplaced ridges. In the minds of many "modern" fans, the inaccuracy just adds to the joy of it.

** Harry has a speech in the first book where he asks Ron and Hermione if Voldemort will leave their families alone if Gryffindor wins the House Cup, which is mostly irrelevant to the rest of what he was saying and somewhat sticks out from the rest of the serious speech.
*** This could be more interpreted as "do you honestly think this petty school competiton will matter when the world's most evil wizard takes over," not "maybe if we win this competition everything will be okay."

* From ''LordOfTheFlies'', the line [[spoiler:"Roger sharpened a stick at both ends"]] should, by all rights, be laughable (what, is he going to [[spoiler:trip and fall on it]] or something?) In context, however, it's the sign of the boys' complete degeneration into unbridled savagery.