Line #23 YMMV/TheCountOfMonteCristo


1	!!The original book offers the following tropes:
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3	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
4	** Although he's presented as/intended as an {{Antihero}}, for a large part of the book, the Count is, arguably, a VillainProtagonist. [[spoiler:He does manipulate a greedy wife into poisoning almost every single member of her family, including one KickTheDog moment outside the count's immediate control where she poisons her nine-year-old son.]] His revenge scheme even includes killing his former lover's son and he made a point that his revenge aimed at every child of mature age.
5	** Villefort can actually come across as less evil/jerky than the other three despite his rather worse crimes ([[spoiler:such as knowingly locking away a (actually innocent) man in the off-chance his talking might damage his career, covering up a crime committed by a relative, having an affair that results in an illegitimate child, burying said child alive]]) due to the fact that he does seem to be a loving-if-stern father to Valentine and Edouard, and his increasing breakdown as his household is the target of several murders ([[TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes for a crown attorney, this is even worse than usual]]). Even the [[spoiler:attempted infanticide]] is lessened when we see what kind of person [[spoiler:Benedetto]] grew up to be.
6	** Are the similarities between the half brothers [[spoiler:Edouard and Benedetto]] the result of [[NatureVersusNurture nature or nurture]]?
7	*** As evidence of the former are all the crimes committed by their father and the fact that both displayed the exact same SpoiledBrat tendencies as children despite being brought up in distinctly dissimilar circumstances.
8	*** As evidence of the latter is the fact that neither their grandfather nor their shared half-sister ever displayed any {{jerkass}} tendencies, and that both boys were spoiled rotten by their respective mother figures.
9	* AluminumChristmasTrees: While it's not totally clear to what extent Dumas knew it was real, Noirtier's condition is a real one, called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome Locked-in Syndrome]].
10	%%Do NOT add Complete Monster entries without going to the cleanup thread first.
11	* MagnificentBastard: Once a naive boy, [[ByronicHero Edmond Dantes]], the titular Count, is a [[{{Antihero}} ruthless schemer]] who will stop at nothing to take {{revenge}}. Taking his time to study his betrayers under his new identity, Dantes convinces his enemies to invest with him, knowing he will ruin them. Winning the loyalty of Albert Morcerf by saving him from a kidnapping he himself arranged, Dantes proceeds to reveal the existence of the surviving daughter of the ruler Albert's father betrayed to ruin him, as well as the bastard son of one of his other enemies after having introduced his wife to poison to destroy his household.
12	* MisaimedFandom: Readers are often left fascinated with the Count's overly-elaborate revenge plots, to the point that modern adaptations often just focus on the revenge and none of the moral nuances of the original novel. In fact, the author himself portrays the Count as morally questionable, and the final part of the book is spent on Dantes [[MustMakeAmends realizing he went too far and trying to make amends for it.]] ''Anime/{{Gankutsuou}}'', a PerspectiveFlip adaptation of the original novel, chose to make Albert the viewpoint character instead of the Count in order to put the focus on the consequences of revenge rather than the satisfaction of it, as the creators worried about glorifying revenge.
13	* MoralEventHorizon: Caderousse's is murdering and robbing a wealthy stranger staying the night (at Caderousse's own insistence) in his house. Compounding the crime's seriousness is the fact that said stranger had actually travelled there to trade with him -- Caderousse is simply driven by Greed.
14	* OlderThanTheyThink: Among other things, the book is one of the first to introduce things like the treasure map as concepts, and the scheme employed to bankrupt Danglars is not only a version of the con known as "the wire", but is essentially the same trick done in the Eddie Murphy movie, ''Film/TradingPlaces''. Although invisible ink was used earlier by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe in his story "The Gold Bug", this novel is one of the earlier uses of the idea before it became a cliché.
15	* OnceOriginalNowOverdone: With the large number of revenge stories that have cropped up to ape this one since its publication (including many a RevengeFic), it can be hard to see why this particular story is seen as a classic.
16	* RomanticPlotTumor: Some believe the romance between Maximillien Morrel and Valentine de Villefort is the less interesting part of the book, which is why their plotline gets either completely AdaptedOut or significantly abridged in many adaptations.
17	* ValuesDissonance:
18	** The fact that the Count ends up in love with his adopted daughter/slave is just plain wrong to modern audiences.
19	** An in-universe one: several characters note that Albert ''apologizing'' for insulting the count, having learned of his father's behavior, comes off as dishonourable; apologizing to someone you'd challenged to a duel and backing down was seen as deep cowardice. One claims that "had my father committed ten Janinas, I would only have seen fit to fight ten times".
20	** The Count owning slaves is an InUniverse one, as several characters note, but since he claims to be of any nationality but French he gets a pass. The fact that his slaves are InNameOnly (especially Haydee) also helps for modern audiences.
21	* ValuesResonance:
22	** The book is quite shockingly ahead of its time in presenting a sympathetic homosexual couple (even if Dumas couldn't ever actually come out and say it at the time) who get a happy ending. In a time when a lot more attention has been called to the problematic use of BuryYourGays, it's quite nice that it didn't happen to one of the very first such couples in popular entertainment.
23	** Noirtier is paralysed from the eyes down, but his granddaughter Valentine and servant Barrois are devoted to helping him live as normal and dignified a life as possible; they've developed a language that allows him to communicate both with themselves and with other people, and this helps him to aid Valentine several times.
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25	!!The various adaptations (radio, films, TV series, etc.) offer the following tropes:
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27	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The 1973 English/Italian animated series [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTpHTpSKFfs had a pretty sweet opening theme.]]
28	** The musical adaptation gives us the superb VillainSong, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv2GPAbah90&ab_channel=BroadcastZero "A Story Told"]].
29	** The romantic duet [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQUK19zJqyc "I Will Be There"]] is perfectly capable of giving you chills.
30	** The epic vow of vengeance that is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVV7tgF8EiY "Hell to Your Doorstep"]] is three minutes of pure badass.
31	** [[https://youtu.be/YskYXoXifE0 "I Know Those Eyes/This Man Is Dead"]] is gorgeous, haunting, ''and'' heartbreaking at the same time.
32	** [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=wkDzwJk8WuQ The Man That I Used To Be]] is wonderfully multilayered. It starts with a subtle, dark tune as the Count retrospects on his revenge, then into a lighter, kinder tune as he remembers who he was before revenge consumed him, before ending in a triumphant climax as he reconciles the two and resolves to move forward without losing sight of either part of his past. It's a beautiful, hopeful theme that fits with the musical's [[AdaptationalAlternateEnding more upbeat ending]].
33	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: As seen in the comments to the above video, people from several countries all over the world watched the 1973 series as kids and remember it fondly.
34	* FanPreferredCouple: Edmond/Mercedes, which is incorporated into most adaptations of the novel. This is most likely partly due to Edmond/Haydee being a case of WifeHusbandry (done by the wife, but still). One series even pairs Haydée off with Franz d'Epinay.
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Context YMMV / TheCountOfMonteCristo