History Podcast / TheHiddenPeople

* TabletopRPG: The inside of Alfie's mind is portrayed this way, with various nods to high fantasy games like DungeonsAndDragons.

[[/folder]]

* AdultFear: Every facet of The Hidden People's society is this. The Unseelie Court at its core is a giant human trafficking operation, kidnapping dozens of babies a year, using them as slaves, emotionally abusing them, and finally gaslighting some into hating and killing their birth family and the changeling that replaced them for the Hidden's ''amusement''.

''While spoiler tags have been used to hide any of the details pertaining to any major or recent twists in the series, [[Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers trope names have been left unmarked as well as early spoilers.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.''

The first season premiered in February 2019, running for 22 episodes and concluding in December of that year. The second season premiered in May 2020.

* BigEater: Cygnus, being an ExtremeOmnivore from a DeathWorld. Made especially noticeable after [[spoiler: taking over Sam's body]].

* DeathWorld:[[spoiler: The In-Between, with a SuperPersistentPredator and EverythingTryingToKillYou in full effect.]]
* DoorDumb: Thomas has a hilarious moment of this [[spoiler:during his... ''infiltration'' of the Museum]] in Downward Spiral.
* EarpieceConversation: Alfie needs to have dinner with his mother to discuss his inheritance. Unfortunately, thanks to [[spoiler: the FreakyFridayFlip (see below), ''Nissa'' is in Alfie's body.]]
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: [[spoiler: Mackenna and Shaylee,]] to the point where the others coordinate some time alone for them to finally [[{{UnresolvedSexualTension}} talk about it]]. Too bad [[spoiler:Cygnus]] chose that moment to show up.
* {{Fingore}}: Cygnus does this to Sam, eating one of her fingers to manipulate Thomas into [[spoiler:opening the cage]].
* FreakyFridayFlip: As a result of using The Arm Ring of Frigg to bring Mack and Nissa back from [[spoiler:The In-Between]].
** Specifically, [[spoiler: Alfie winds up in Mack's body, Thomas in Nissa's, Mack in Shaylee's, Shaylee in Thomas's, and (much to her horror) Nissa in Alfie's body.]]

* GrandTheftMe: As part of the FreakyFridayFlip mentioned above, [[spoiler: Sam, Cygnus, and Murphy]] get shuffled around.

* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: All Cygnus desired after [[spoiler:possessing Sam's body]] was to make a new body in the form of its invincible old one. Mackenna gives it exactly what it wants, then [[spoiler:Sam takes advantage of Cygnus's newfound weakness to iron to kill it with one shot]].

* MyBelovedSmother: Mrs. O'Toole, especially when [[spoiler: Alfie is in a coma, and doting on him while he recovers at home.]]
* PortalCut: What eventually happens to [[spoiler:Cygnus]] on the way out of the in-between.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Running into [[spoiler:[[{{OldFlame}} Emma]] ]]would be awkward for Shaylee at the best of times, but ''especially'' for it to happen while she's [[spoiler:robbing a museum?]]
* TabletopRPG: The inside of [[spoiler:Alfie's mind]] is portrayed this way, with various nods to high fantasy games like DungeonsAndDragons.
* TraumaButton: Stepping sideways becomes this for Nissa after her time [[spoiler: in the In-Between]].

* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Averted by Alfie in "Downward Spiral", who outlines the plan to [[spoiler: rob the National Museum of Ireland]] via montage, complete with [[SugarWiki/{{AwesomeMusic}} a montage of 70's style heist music]]!

* MacGuffin: "The Sunstone", a stone said to contain the entire power of the sun where all magic comes from. [[spoiler:[[UnreliableNarrator ...which is what The Storyteller wants you to believe, anyways. It's actually The Eye of Wodan, ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin and the one thing needed to bring Wodan back as the leader of the Hidden People.]]

* BewareTheSillyOnes: Robin Goodfellow is a goofy, playful, banter-loving fairy and willing to make deals with humans in exchange for magical potions. He's also an Old One, which puts him in the same category of power as 'Black Annis', and he's so psychotic that all it takes is something small to set him off.

* BewareTheSillyOnes: Robin Goodfellow is a goofy, playful, banter-loving fairy and willing to make deals with humans in exchange for magical potions. He's also an Old One, which puts him in the same category of power as **Black Annis**, and he's so psychotic that all it takes is something small to set him off.

* HijackedByGanon: A **spoiler-heavy**, in-universe example. [[spoiler:Wodan had been the God of the Hidden People and its absolute ruler since time immemorial before The Magister took command for a few thousand years. By season two's finale, the Storyteller is revealed to be Wodan himself, now fully awakened and ready to enact his evil plans.]]

* BewareTheSillyOnes: Robin Goodfellow is a goofy, playful, banter-loving fairy and willing to make deals with humans in exchange for magical potions. He's also an Old One, which puts him in the same category of power as *Black Annis*, and he's so psychotic that all it takes is something small to set him off.

* BigBad: Cygnus for the first half of the season, and [[spoiler:Alder Niamh]] is shaping up to be this for the second half.

* TheTrickster: Who to turn to when you need a supernatural drug dealer? Why, [[spoiler: Robin Goodfellow]], of course!

* BigBad: [[spoiler:Cygnus]] for the first half of the season, and [[spoiler:Alder Niamh]] is shaping up to be this for the second half.

* BigBad: Cygnus for the first half of the season, and Alder Niamh is shaping up to be this for the second half.

* BirthdayEpisode: Episode 13 takes place on Thomas' birthday, with Mackenna baking a (supernaturally tasty) cake and everything.
* BrokenAce: Shaylee.

** BrokenAce: Shaylee.

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: The Unseelie Court

--> ''Shaylee:'' Who truly owns that name? The one born with it, or the one who answers to it?

''While spoiler tags have been used to hide any of the details pertaining to major twists in the series, [[Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers trope names have been left unmarked as well as some spoilers.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.''

* BerserkButton: Halflings are this for the Magister, leading to Dane being KilledOffForReal , as well as the NoHoldsBarredBeatdown mentioned below.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Alfie is the ineffectual, goofy ComicRelief guy of the main cast. This makes him the last person you'd expect to tell Liliana "fuck you" and threaten to beat her and her husband to death with a fireplace poker in the season finale.

* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Every last one of Alfie's claims, including that Mackenna would be on the run from the law, that the villain was a horrific stalker with a personal link to the Thornes, and that Mack herself was the killer all turn out to be true. His first guess that Mack and Shaylee teleported away also turned out to be true, and he was the quickest out of all the supporting cast to unflinchingly believe in the magical world.

* DefectorFromDecadence: Lady Liliana turns out to be this, having turned on The Magister and the Unseelie Court and having Mack, a halfling daughter.

* EleventhHourSuperpower: Mackenna gets this in her final battle with the Magister as a final gift from her mother Liliana.

* LoopholeAbuse: Standard for the Hidden People and anyone who associates with them.

* AccentRelapse: Once it becomes clear that Mackenna is in immediate danger, [[spoiler:Shaylee drops back into her natural Irish brogue while trying to help her escape the barghests at the water tower.]]
* TheAce: Thomas when it comes to conversation, home economics, and people skills, and Shaylee is this when it comes to [[spoiler:technical fighting and lore on the Hidden People]].

* AdultFear: Every facet of [[spoiler:The Hidden People's society]] is this. [[spoiler:The Unseelie Court]] at its core is a giant human trafficking operation, kidnapping dozens of babies a year, using them as slaves, emotionally abusing them, and finally [[spoiler:gaslighting some into hating and killing their birth family and the changeling that replaced them for the Hidden's ''amusement'']].
* TheAgeless: [[spoiler:The Hidden's standard. A few, notably Black Annis, appear elderly, but this was mentioned to be because of a curse laid on her by the younger Hidden following the civil war.]]
* AGodAmI: [[spoiler:The Magister, a claim he's backed up by killing The Hidden People's previous god and making himself unassailable]].
* AncientEvil: [[spoiler:More than a few characters in this show fall into this category. The Magister and Liliana are the most prominent, feared, and immediately dangerous of them in the first season, but Black Annis is even older, and the Highland Vough's age is unknown but it predates The Magister's rule over The Hidden People.]]

* AssholeVictim: The "dude-bro" that the Thorne killer stabs to death in the second episode. Lampshaded and invoked by [[spoiler:Alfie to try to justify why Mackenna would kill anyone.]]
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Anyone who's near the top of the [[spoiler:Hidden]] food chain is this by default. This is enforced by power being descended by lineage, with children attempting to murder their parents to inherit their position and influence. Special cases at the top of the food chain include:
** [[spoiler:Wodan, a long-dead literal GodOfEvil who led the Hidden People to slaughter entire civilizations]];
** [[spoiler:The Magister, the PhysicalGod king of the Hidden People whose word is divine law and who personally killed Wodan to be the uncontested ruler]];
** and [[spoiler:Lady Liliana, whose powers include complete invisibility and even interfering with the powers of other Hidden, and who said she was capable of bending nature to her will]].
* BerserkButton: [[spoiler: Halflings are this for the Magister, leading to Dane being KilledOffForReal , as well as the NoHoldsBarredBeatdown mentioned below]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Alfie is the ineffectual, goofy ComicRelief guy of the main cast. This makes him the last person you'd expect to [[spoiler:tell Liliana "fuck you" and threaten to beat her and her husband to death with a fireplace poker in the season finale]].
* BigBad
** Season One: [[spoiler:The Magister]].

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: As Shaylee puts it in season one, [[spoiler:The Hidden People can't be described as evil as they are an older and unfathomably more alien culture with different values]], but that doesn't mean they aren't incredibly ruthless and willing to take advantage of people who think of them as misunderstood.

* ChangelingTale: [[spoiler:Turns out to be the plot of the whole first season.]]

* ClearMyName: What a lot of the plot in season one is about for [[spoiler:Mackenna Thorne]], following the midseason reveal.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: [[spoiler:Black Annis]].
* ColdIron: [[spoiler:The main weakness of the Hidden People and their constructs. Constructs can get poked by a piece of iron and explode into leaves; in order to glass a full Hidden, you have to strike them in a spot that would kill a normal person.]]

* CompellingVoice: Something [[spoiler:The Magister]] can use to a terrifying degree [[spoiler:on any other Hidden Person]]. Any [[spoiler:other Hidden]] can use this in the limited context of a bargain or contract.

* CreepyDoll: The eyeless dolls [[spoiler:Black Annis has as security constructs in her bower.]]
* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Every last one of [[spoiler:Alfie's]] claims, including [[spoiler:that Mackenna would be on the run from the law, that the villain was a horrific stalker with a personal link to the Thornes, and that Mack herself was the killer]] all turn out to be true. His first guess that [[spoiler:Mack and Shaylee teleported away also turned out to be true, and he was the quickest out of all the supporting cast to unflinchingly believe in the magical world]].

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: [[spoiler:The Unseelie Court]]

* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler:Lady Liliana]] turns out to be this, having turned on [[spoiler:The Magister and the Unseelie Court and having Mack, a halfling daughter]].
* DontThinkFeel: How Mackenna learns [[spoiler:most of the forms of magic she uses]]. [[spoiler:Invisibility, slowfalling, unmaking constructs, stepping sideways]], all of them are consequences of instinct. [[spoiler:Her luck being brought on by the "power of positive thought" might also qualify.]]
* DonutMessWithACop: Lampshaded when the evening news flounces the Conly police for being apparently inept. Then played straight by Sam and Ron after [[spoiler:failing to get past Arcadia's mental wards.]]
* {{Doppelganger}}: [[spoiler:Played straight, but the expected roles are switched. The original is the attacker, and the copy is the protagonist.]]
* EleventhHourSuperpower: [[spoiler:Mackenna gets this in her final battle with the Magister as a final gift from her mother Liliana.]]
* EvilSoundsDeep: [[spoiler:The Magister.]]
* EyelessFace: None of [[spoiler:Black Annis's]] dolls have eyes, [[spoiler:but they can still sense intruders]].
* FairFolk: [[spoiler:The Hidden People, the true masterminds of the plot and the villains of the series.]]
* [[VampiresOwnNightClubs Fairies Own Night Clubs]]: [[spoiler:This is how the entrances to Arcadia are made to look, even though mundanes can't find the place with all the mental warding.]]
* FlatWhat: Sam does this to Thomas after he tells her that [[spoiler:Mackenna is innocent, when he was the one who identified Mackenna as his attacker.]]

* FriendOnTheForce: Sam is this to Mackenna and friends [[spoiler:until getting fired for it. Then she just joins the friend circle.]]
* FriendToBugs: One of Mackenna's few regular interests in life is maintaining her ant farm.
* GenreSavvy: Nobody is more savvy to both the series's genres than Alfred O'Toole.
* GenreShift: After some character development and subtle foreshadowing, the series [[spoiler:goes from a murder mystery thriller to an action urban fantasy in the course of a couple episodes.]]

* HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler:Not tolerated by the Unseelie Court under any circumstances. The last time the Hidden were allowed to have children with humans, the halflings with human morals banded into the Seelie Court out of shame and outrage at what the pure-blooded Hidden were doing. The only known halfling is Dane, who's one-sixteenth Hidden and has absolutely no magical ability.]]

* {{Hammerspace}}: One of the primary [[spoiler:Hidden tricks is to trick containers into holding more than they normally would.]]
* TheHeavy: The Thorne Killer, a.k.a. [[spoiler:Fetch-Mackenna]] is this for all of season one to [[spoiler:The Magister.]]
* {{Hellhound}}: The best description for the black dogs the killer used in the Thorne murders. [[spoiler:Actually fey constructs known as Barghests.]]
* JediMindTrick: [[spoiler:A lot of Hidden Magic takes this effect. Its effects include everything from making mundanes unable to find entrances to Arcadia, to making people ''completely unable'' to do or say things. The most common practitioner of this ability is The Magister, being the grand lawmaker of the Hidden People and all.]]
* LandOfFaerie: [[spoiler:Arcadia]].

* LiterallyShatteredLives: When you [[spoiler:kill a full Hidden Person, their body begins cracking like glass until the magic explodes out of their body, turning them into crystal chunks]].

* MacGuffinGuardian: [[spoiler:The Highland Vough, an ancient and immortal water spirit guarding the well of Mimsbrunnr.]]
* MacGuffinLocation: [[spoiler:The Vault, a MacGuffinLocation full of dangerous [[MacGuffin MacGuffins]]. Also [[spoiler:The Well of Wisdom]].
* {{Masquerade}}: [[spoiler:One specifically enforced by The Hidden People.]]
* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: Shaylee having to [[spoiler:go spend a year in Arcadia to become a trainer]] completely killed her on-and-off relationship with Emma.

** [[spoiler:Thanks to a high-risk bargain on Mackenna's part, Shaylee got better by the next episode.]]
* TheNamesake: The title ''The Hidden People'' refers to [[spoiler:the eldritch FairFolk who act as the main threats once the series shifts into urban fantasy.]]

* {{Narrator}}: The entire series is [[{{FramingDevice}} framed]] as a story being told by a mysterious figure called The Storyteller during a trial [[spoiler:overseen by The Unseelie Court]], who interjects in the audio on occasion or when actions need to be described in detail.

* PowerEchoes / VoiceOfTheLegion: How [[spoiler:Hidden People or anyone who lived for a significant period of time in Arcadia]] speak, justified as the realm's accent.
* PowerFist: [[spoiler:The Magister]] slips on a pair of iron knuckles for the sole purpose of [[spoiler:beating the crap out of Mackenna. [[ColdIron Does it hurt him too? Yes.]] He just hates her too much to not make a point.]]
* RetiredBadass: [[spoiler:Black Annis of the past was the matriarch of a great fey witch's coven, who rained destruction and slew powerful beings in the time of the oldest known human civilizations. Black Annis of the present has been reduced to a forgetful and decrepit hag hiding out in an English bower.]]
* RulesLawyer: Bending rules and forging social contracts are [[spoiler:the Hidden People's most valuable magical skills.]]
* SelfMadeOrphan: What Sam and Ron starts to think is happening once they start considering Mackenna Thorne a suspect. [[spoiler:Turns out they're ''half-right''. The killer is the ''real'' Mackenna Thorne, who never knew her parents thanks to the aforementioned ChangelingTale]].
* SinisterScythe: [[spoiler:Fetch-Mackenna]]'s weapon of choice is an iron scythe as tall as [[spoiler:she]] is.

* StaringDownCthulhu: In all of Mackenna's confrontations with [[spoiler:The Magister, a PhysicalGod and the undisputed king of the Hidden People,]] she makes fun of him, bruises his ego, and talks back to him out of a disdain for his supposed authority. However, this confrontation ends up having severe consequences for [[spoiler:Dane and Shaylee]].
* TheStarscream: [[spoiler:The Magister was this, successfully, to Wodan in the series's backstory]].

* TheStoic: Mackenna Thorne, full stop. She's not a full-on EmotionlessGirl, she feels shock and anger even if the emotions are muted, and while she does love her family, especially Thomas, her way of showing it is walled off at best. Following learning that [[spoiler:she's a changeling]], her personality starts getting more vibrant and she acts on her emotions more often.

* SupernaturalElite: [[spoiler:The Hidden People are this to humanity.]]

* SwitchedAtBirth: [[spoiler:See ChangelingTale up above.]]
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Detective Mulligan is this very briefly between [[spoiler:pinpointing Mackenna Thorne as the killer and realizing she's hunting the ''wrong'' Mackenna Thorne]]. Her partner Ron remains this for the rest of the season.

* ToBeLawfulOrGood: The dilemma that both Sam and Ron face after the midseason that lead them to conflict with each other. Sam realizes that [[spoiler:the Mackenna that she's hunting and the Mackenna who killed the Thornes are two separate people]], and continuing with by-the-book procedure will lead to a false arrest. Ron, who knows nothing about it, sees it as [[spoiler:Sam falling for Thomas, and willing to sabotage the investigation and let a violent murderer escape]] which goes against his nature. Sam is the more correct one, as she has more vital information to make her decision, but neither are seen as in the wrong.
* TookALevelInBadass: Like the DeadpanSnarker trope above, it's harder to name a member of the main characters' inner circle that ''didn't'' take a level in badass. [[spoiler:Shaylee's was in the past after a year of training in Arcadia, Mackenna had a few but most notably when she inherited the powers of Liliana, and all the human allies are more than eager to risk their lives to help Mackenna and help her prevent an unnecessary death.]]

* TrainingFromHell: [[spoiler:Changelings who become trainers undergo a year of this in Arcadia; fetches who are chosen to reclaim undergo this almost their entire lives.]]

* UndeathlyPallor: It's how [[spoiler:Black Annis gets her name.]]

* WakeUpCall: Mackenna thought the murder of her parents was going to be this for her, but it ended up not being the case. Eventually played straight, however, after [[spoiler:finding she's a changeling in a world of magic]], and taking to it very well.

** The final two episodes of the season also count. [[spoiler:Shaylee and Dane are killed by Fack and The Magister, Mack makes a deal with The Magister for Shaylee's resurrection by pretending to take Liliana hostage, the Hidden People's Revel is sabotaged for the first time in history, Mackenna learns she's actually a halfling and Liliana's daughter, Liliana kills herself to bestow power to Mackenna and Mackenna kills The Magister. Lastly, Mackenna, Nissa and Alfie were all in the collapsing building after The Magister's corpse explodes, and all of their fates are left completely unknown.]]
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: [[spoiler:A variation on this is always somewhere in the forefront of the series, and it's split on who suffers more. On the one hand changelings are definitely not human, and usually get little or no affection from their parents before losing them in a reclamation but otherwise can live out pretty normal lives, while human fetches are 100% human but have been raised in bondage in Arcadia for so long they have no concept of human society and would have an incredibly hard time adjusting to a normal life. In this regard neither are truly human and neither are really in the wrong.]]

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--> Who truly owns that name? The one born with it, or the one who answers to it?

* GrandTheftMe: As part of the FreakyFridayFlip mentioned above, [[Spoiler:Sam, Cygnus, and Murphy]] get shuffled