...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Despoilers of the Golden Empire
- 133 statements
- 25 feature instances
- 10 referencing feature instances
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | type |
TVTItem | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | label |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | page |
DespoilersOfTheGoldenEmpire | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | comment |
"Despoilers of the Golden Empire" is a novella written by Randall Garrett in 1959; it was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction under the pen name of David Gordon. It tells the story of the expedition of Commander Frank into an alien world, far away from his home, in search of the gold his civilization needs in order to keep operating, and the victory of his army over the alien natives.The story can be found here.Due to the nature of this story, note that many of the trope names below constitute spoilers. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | fetched |
2023-05-11T09:28:41Z | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | parsed |
2023-05-11T09:28:41Z | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_382a6399 | type |
The Hero Dies | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_382a6399 | comment |
The Hero Dies: Commander Frank is assassinated at the end of the story, just as he was in real life. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_382a6399 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_382a6399 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_382a6399 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_5ac34441 | type |
Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp" | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_5ac34441 | comment |
Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Invoked heavily throughout the story. Horses are called carriers, guns are referred to as a "power weapons", and various people and institutions are given names which the reader is unlikely to recognize. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_5ac34441 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_5ac34441 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_5ac34441 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6977c45e | type |
Purple Prose | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6977c45e | comment |
Purple Prose: Used to trick the reader into thinking they're reading a science fiction story. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6977c45e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6977c45e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6977c45e | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6b2b3b59 | type |
The Reveal | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6b2b3b59 | comment |
The Reveal: The end of the story, giving us Commander Frank's full name. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6b2b3b59 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6b2b3b59 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6b2b3b59 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6b723294 | type |
Techno Babble | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6b723294 | comment |
Techno Babble: Played with and deconstructed. Very fancy, scientifically advanced language is used throughout the story, and the characters' ignorance of many scientific facts are noted throughout. This is because the story was set in the 1500s, and no one possessed said knowledge at the time. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6b723294 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6b723294 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_6b723294 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_76f0d7a5 | type |
Historical Fiction | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_76f0d7a5 | comment |
Historical Fiction: The story of Francisco Pizarro's conquest of Peru, presented as if it were a science fiction counterpart thereof. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_76f0d7a5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_76f0d7a5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_76f0d7a5 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_7d3f1d63 | type |
The Ending Changes Everything | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_7d3f1d63 | comment |
The Ending Changes Everything: The final sentence of the story significantly changes its scope, turning it from a sci-fi exploration story to a historical colonization exploration story. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_7d3f1d63 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_7d3f1d63 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_7d3f1d63 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_83adb272 | type |
Crystal Dragon Jesus | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_83adb272 | comment |
Crystal Dragon Jesus: Subverted; the religion in question is Christianity, and Jesus is invoked by name at the end. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_83adb272 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_83adb272 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_83adb272 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_84194ebf | type |
24-Hour Armor | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_84194ebf | comment |
24-Hour Armor: The Commander orders that armor be worn around the clock (and for good reason). The reader is meant to think that it's some kind of Power Armor when it's just 16th century breastplates (explaining why the men find it hard to keep on all the time). | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_84194ebf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_84194ebf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_84194ebf | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_86d4f985 | type |
Doing In the Wizard | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_86d4f985 | comment |
Doing In the Wizard: The entire point of the story, but especially the ending, revealing that all the poetic language was used to mislead the reader into thinking they're reading a work of science fiction. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_86d4f985 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_86d4f985 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_86d4f985 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_874176be | type |
Psychic Powers | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_874176be | comment |
Psychic Powers: All powers attributed to various Catholic saints. Commander Frank himself was a low-level initiate, just enough to occasionally use the Power to strengthen his resolve and help himself carry on. It was not altogether unexpected for a Spaniard living in the 1500s to exhibit religious zeal. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_874176be | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_874176be | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_874176be | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_8a1cd5de | type |
Historical Person Punchline | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_8a1cd5de | comment |
Historical Person Punchline: Pretty much the entire point of the story. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_8a1cd5de | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_8a1cd5de | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_8a1cd5de | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_8ae880f7 | type |
Deconstruction | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_8ae880f7 | comment |
Deconstruction: Of science fiction's use of unusual terminology to invoke a sense of wonder. Here, such terminology is used towards entirely mundane things of the 1400-1500s. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_8ae880f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_8ae880f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_8ae880f7 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_9d12bbc1 | type |
Foreshadowing | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_9d12bbc1 | comment |
Foreshadowing: The entire story foreshadows the ending, but gets increasingly more obvious as the story progresses towards its conclusion. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_9d12bbc1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_9d12bbc1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_9d12bbc1 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_b1e5dde1 | type |
Earth All Along | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_b1e5dde1 | comment |
Earth All Along: The entire story is set on Earth. The character knows this, but the reader doesn't. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_b1e5dde1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_b1e5dde1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_b1e5dde1 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_c0974135 | type |
Science Fiction | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_c0974135 | comment |
Science Fiction: Subverted. The story is written in the style of your typical science fiction novella, but is actually a work of historical fiction. The one actual lie (as in, not subject to exact words or the unusual translation convention) admitted to in the apologia is a meta one about this — of course a reader would have every right to expect a science fiction story, since it is in a magazine of science fiction... but that's not an untruth in the story itself or by the author. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_c0974135 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_c0974135 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_c0974135 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_c145f69b | type |
Subverted Trope | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_c145f69b | comment |
Subverted Trope: The entire story uses subverted tropes in order to mislead the reader as to what sort of story they're reading. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_c145f69b | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_c145f69b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_c145f69b | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_cccb4fd1 | type |
Death by Pragmatism | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_cccb4fd1 | comment |
Death by Pragmatism: Inverted: One man disobeys the Commander's order that armor be worn at all times and is promptly killed by a snake-like creature. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_cccb4fd1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_cccb4fd1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_cccb4fd1 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_d0309fad | type |
Religion is Magic | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_d0309fad | comment |
Religion is Magic: First-class adepts of the teachings of the Universal Assembly (referred to as the Truth in the story) are noted as having various magical or psionic powers. Naming aside, the results are exactly the kind of miracles attributed to Christian saints — "first-class adepts" of the teachings of the Bible. Levitation to begin with... | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_d0309fad | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_d0309fad | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_d0309fad | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_dbca2c99 | type |
Red Herring | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_dbca2c99 | comment |
Red Herring: The wording of the prose of the entire story and the references to scientific knowledge which didn't exist in the 1500s are specifically meant to trick the reader. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_dbca2c99 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_dbca2c99 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_dbca2c99 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_dfe57573 | type |
Historical In-Joke | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_dfe57573 | comment |
Historical In-Joke: All the references to science that they didn't have in the 1500s are examples of this. More subtly, the story only references civilizations which existed prior to the 1500s when it invokes ancient civilizations for the purposes of comparisons. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_dfe57573 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_dfe57573 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_dfe57573 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_e11b003d | type |
Translation Convention | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_e11b003d | comment |
Translation Convention: All of the characters' names, and the names of various institutions and organizations in the story, are translated into their English equivalents to deceive the reader. Referring to the priesthood, politicians, and their religion in various translated terms helps hide who and what is being referred to throughout the story. For instance, the Universal Assembly: the word "catholic" means "all-embracing, universal" and "church" is used as a translation for the Greek ekklesia which means assembly or congregation. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_e11b003d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_e11b003d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_e11b003d | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_e9e35e8f | type |
Exact Words | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_e9e35e8f | comment |
Exact Words: The entire story, but especially the introduction. The epilogue is essentially the author explaining what the sci-fi language really means. Impractical and worse than useless because it was the 1500s. A reference to alchemy. These sciences barely even existed in the 1500s. They had no geneticists or indeed knowledge of genetics, because it was several centuries before genetics was even discovered. All absolutely true, because they are still on Earth. Why would a spaceship end up landing on the coast? The answer is, of course, that it isn't a spaceship. And no, it certainly isn't built for "atmospheric navigation". "Atmospheric disturbances", on the other hand, are naturally going to affect a ship that relies on sails. The commander's first shot is also his only shot, his weapon being a single-shot weapon from the 1500s. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_e9e35e8f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_e9e35e8f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_e9e35e8f | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_f1d3f0c9 | type |
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_f1d3f0c9 | comment |
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: The entire story is full of very scientific prose. | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_f1d3f0c9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_f1d3f0c9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_f1d3f0c9 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_name | comment |
||
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire | hasFeature |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_name | |
| Despoilers of the Golden Empire / int_name | itemName |
Despoilers of the Golden Empire |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.