...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
The Death Gate Cycle
- 711 statements
- 140 feature instances
- 148 referencing feature instances
The Death Gate Cycle | type |
TVTItem | |
The Death Gate Cycle | label |
The Death Gate Cycle | |
The Death Gate Cycle | page |
thedeathgatecycle | |
The Death Gate Cycle | comment |
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_3'); })Series of seven High Fantasy novels by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, generally considered one of their best works.In the backstory, nuclear war devastated Planet Earth, and several new races mutated out of humanity. The two most powerful were humans with demigod-like powers: the Sartan and the Patryn. These two races began to war over who would rule; eventually, the Sartan secured victory by remaking the Earth into four separate worlds, one for each element, which would then work together in harmony. (That's their children's catechism quoted above.) They imprisoned the Patryn within a "correctional facility," the Labyrinth, and built Death's Gate itself as the central nexus which made the whole Portal Network function. It was A Simple Plan. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_2'); })Well. The Labyrinth went Off the Rails in a big way, turning from a giant maze into a Death World that took the Patryn untold generations to escape. Meanwhile, the four worlds descended into factionalism and chaos as humans, dwarves and elves began to fight amongst themselves. The sole exception was Abbarach, the World of Stone, where the mensch simply died out due to the world's volcanic atmosphere and the Sartan went their own way. None of this was according to plan, and the Sartan called to each other for help that never came. In the end, they declared it someone else's problem and put themselves into Human Popsicle beds to let things sort themselves out on their own.And then the Patryn finally got loose.The main character of the series is Haplo, a Patryn Villain Protagonist who, as of the first book, is sent out through Death's Gate to investigate the other worlds on behalf of his master, Lord Xar. His orders are a classic bait-and-switch: if Haplo causes as much chaos and death as possible, Xar can come in as the Big Damn Heroes later. The Sartan are also returning to finish their plan for utopia... at least, in the worlds where they aren't dead. Alfred, the other main character, is the Last of His Kind from Arianus, a Sartan whose power is equalled only by his clumsiness. Both races discover, however, that there are far more dangerous things in the universe than each other...Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_1'); })The books are divided into two broad arcs; books 1-4 deal with Haplo's explorations of each of the elemental worlds in turn and the search for answers over the disappearance of the Sartan, while books 5-7 deal with the broader conflict that engulfs all the worlds. They are, in order:Dragon WingElven StarFire SeaSerpent MageThe Hand of ChaosInto the LabyrinthThe Seventh GateThe series was adapted into a graphical Adventure Game called Death Gate. | |
The Death Gate Cycle | fetched |
2018-10-15T01:19:56Z | |
The Death Gate Cycle | parsed |
2020-06-25T17:23:05Z | |
The Death Gate Cycle | processingComment |
Dropped link to God: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Death Gate Cycle | processingComment |
Dropped link to GrayAndGrayMorality: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN | |
The Death Gate Cycle | processingUnknown |
GrayAndGrayMorality | |
The Death Gate Cycle | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_109b036e | type |
Abusive Precursors | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_109b036e | comment |
Abusive Precursors: The Sartan had definite shades of this — at the very least, their opinion of the mensch races was low enough that they had no real issues with killing untold millions of them when they sundered the Earth. Not that the Patryn would have been any better, mind. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_109b036e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_109b036e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_109b036e | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_12b045 | type |
Winds of Destiny, Change! | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_12b045 | comment |
Winds of Destiny, Change: The universe is encompassed by "the Omniwave", which is the set of all possibilities in existence and is constantly working to keep itself in balance. Rune-magic works by allowing the user to select a new possibility and weave it into the extant fabric of the universe. In other words, the Patryn and Sartan literally alter probability until what they want comes into being. (It also leads to less extravagant spellcasting than usual; while summoning a fireball might work, opening a hole in the floor to escape through is closer to the current reality and thus easier to invoke.) | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_12b045 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_12b045 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_12b045 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_137f2d7 | type |
Card-Carrying Villain | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_137f2d7 | comment |
Card-Carrying Villain: Sinistrad. It's all in the name. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_137f2d7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_137f2d7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_137f2d7 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1520ad7e | type |
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1520ad7e | comment |
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Lord Xar does this in the last three books though it might be more fair to say that Sang-drax pushed him off. Haplo manages to stop him before he hits bottom. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1520ad7e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1520ad7e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1520ad7e | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_16fbce44 | type |
Liquid Assets | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_16fbce44 | comment |
Liquid Assets: however, when two Patryns "join the circle", the uninjured one literally shares his/her strength with the other, leaving both of them half-hurt. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_16fbce44 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_16fbce44 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_16fbce44 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1a237409 | type |
Order Versus Chaos | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1a237409 | comment |
Order Versus Chaos: The Sartan, an entire culture of The Fettered, versus the Patryn, Ineffectual Loners whose highest loyalty is to the family. Ironically, their magic systems reverse this trend — Sartan magic is much more spiritual and mystical and is treated as an art, while Patryn magic is incredibly structured and treated like a science. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1a237409 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1a237409 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1a237409 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1b06aa41 | type |
Villains Never Lie | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1b06aa41 | comment |
Villains Never Lie: Sinistrad outright told his wife to be that he is evil, and that she would regret her decision to be with him. "If you marry me, you marry darkness." She thought he was being romantic and mysterious. Possibly a Take That! at the more rabid Raistlin-fangirls. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1b06aa41 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1b06aa41 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1b06aa41 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1fb440a6 | type |
Voluntary Shapeshifting | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1fb440a6 | comment |
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Serpents and dragons can change their form into whatever they want (Sang-drax, for example, is fond of appearing as an elven aristocrat). Alfred can also change his form to that of a green-and-golden dragon. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1fb440a6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1fb440a6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_1fb440a6 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_24321e44 | type |
Only Sane Man | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_24321e44 | comment |
Only Sane Man: Zifnab's dragon often has this sort of attitude. Seeing as it's coming from a several-ton green reptile who half the time acts like a butler and might well be considered a minor deity, this is distinctly humorous in and of itself. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_24321e44 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_24321e44 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_24321e44 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_24da7ff8 | type |
Literary Agent Hypothesis | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_24da7ff8 | comment |
Literary Agent Hypothesis: The seven books of the Death Gate Cycle were written by Alfred and Haplo themselves, and occasionally contain footnotes from the two to clarify various in-world concepts or provide elaborative details. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_24da7ff8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_24da7ff8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_24da7ff8 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_28114487 | type |
Bald of Evil | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_28114487 | comment |
Bald of Evil: Sinistrad, to the point of being completely hairless. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_28114487 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_28114487 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_28114487 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_2bf993ad | type |
Secret Relationship | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_2bf993ad | comment |
Secret Relationship: King Stephen and Queen Anne, who entered an Arranged Marriage to end a feud between the Kingdom of Uylandia (his) and the Volkaran Isles (hers). Zigzagged Trope: they are married to each other. They have bitter shouting matches in court... which keeps the Evil Chancellors off-balance. Behind closed doors, they are very Happily Married. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_2bf993ad | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_2bf993ad | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_2bf993ad | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_321a4d9c | type |
CrowningMomentOfAwesome | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_321a4d9c | comment |
The one aversion is the world of Chelestra, where interspecies rivalry amongst the mensch is strong... but their commitment towards alliance and peaceful coexistence is stronger. This leads to both a Crowning Moment of Awesome and a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming when mensch leaders are present at the first contact between Patryn and Sartan in thousands of years... and, seeing their hostility, offer to mediate. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_321a4d9c | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_321a4d9c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_321a4d9c | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_334e48a1 | type |
After the End | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_334e48a1 | comment |
After the End: After two ends, actually — an implied nuclear Armageddon, and a definite magical one. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_334e48a1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_334e48a1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_334e48a1 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_38047858 | type |
Squishy Wizard | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_38047858 | comment |
Squishy Wizard: Many Sartan, especially Alfred | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_38047858 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_38047858 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_38047858 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_3c3f28a5 | type |
Blessed with Suck | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_3c3f28a5 | comment |
Blessed with Suck: Hugh the Hand gets resurrected by Alfred and made immortal to boot, for the price of no longer being able to kill anything. Since he's an assassin, it's easy to see why he's not happy with this situation. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_3c3f28a5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_3c3f28a5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_3c3f28a5 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_3fe695da | type |
Witch Species | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_3fe695da | comment |
Witch Species: Sartan and Patryns. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_3fe695da | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_3fe695da | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_3fe695da | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_40c57041 | type |
Manipulative Bastard | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_40c57041 | comment |
Manipulative Bastard: Sang-drax, Sinistrad, Bane. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_40c57041 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_40c57041 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_40c57041 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_42846e90 | type |
Elemental Powers | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_42846e90 | comment |
Some mensch also have magical powers; human wizards have Elemental Powers and mental magic, while elven wizards make enchanted objects and Magitek. Even the most powerful of these, though, are said to be less than the lowest levels of Sartan/Patryn power. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_42846e90 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_42846e90 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_42846e90 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_434a6d40 | type |
Evil Sorcerer | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_434a6d40 | comment |
Evil Sorcerer: Sinistrad and Kleitus | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_434a6d40 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_434a6d40 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_434a6d40 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_45fe3a2e | type |
Utopia Justifies the Means | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_45fe3a2e | comment |
Utopia Justifies the Means: Samah's motivation in a nutshell | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_45fe3a2e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_45fe3a2e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_45fe3a2e | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_4832a3bb | type |
Always Chaotic Evil | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_4832a3bb | comment |
Always Chaotic Evil: The serpents, justified because they pretty much are Chaotic Evil in person, and the monsters in the Labyrinth, which were created by magic gone haywire. Subverted with the Sartan and the Patryns: each of those races sees the other this way, but both are shown to be just as capable of good and evil as any other race. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_4832a3bb | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_4832a3bb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_4832a3bb | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_485eb589 | type |
Sealed Evil in a Can | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_485eb589 | comment |
Sealed Evil in a Can: How the Sartan see the Patryns. The Patryns in turn see themselves as a Sealed Good in a Can. They are unquestionably Sealed Badasses In A Can The Serpents too, though their can was a block of ice that formed around them naturally rather than a deliberate act of imprisonment. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_485eb589 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_485eb589 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_485eb589 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_4baebbc8 | type |
Soul Fragment | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_4baebbc8 | comment |
Soul Fragment / Soul Jar: Haplo's dog | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_4baebbc8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_4baebbc8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_4baebbc8 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5281d5b1 | type |
Our Dwarves Are All the Same | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5281d5b1 | comment |
Our Dwarves Are All the Same: While they vary from world to world like the other mensch races, all dwarves share a couple of characteristics, including a natural propensity to be Proud Warrior Race Guys (although they never war against each other if they can help it), a deep love of music and song and a preference for living underground (which manifests in Arianus’s World in the Sky by them living inside their floating island and never going outside if they can help it, and in Pryan’s towering jungles by living in cities burrowed into the lower trunks of the trees, with miles of canopy and moss plains between themselves and the suns). Averted with the "Gegs" of Arianus, a race of peaceful and unimaginative factory workers oppressed by the Tribus elves. Their ancestors played it straight, and it’s stated in the first book that they are oppressed by the elves because the elves are afraid of what would happen if they realized they're actually a Proud Warrior Race. They later realize it. The elves don't like it a one bit. Played straight with the dwarves on the other two mensch worlds, which are much more in line with traditional stereotypes. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5281d5b1 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5281d5b1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5281d5b1 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_52c0c7cf | type |
Motive Decay | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_52c0c7cf | comment |
Motive Decay: Xar goes from wanting to build a better future for the Patryns to wanting to lead the Patryns to conquer the universe because it's their birthright to wanting to conquer the universe for his own benefit. This is spelled out in tear-jerking fashion in The Seventh Gate when he wonders exactly how he got from "save my people" to "Evil Overlord" —and then hears the sound of Sang-drax's laughter in his mind... | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_52c0c7cf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_52c0c7cf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_52c0c7cf | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_537dd8fe | type |
Affably Evil | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_537dd8fe | comment |
Affably Evil: Kleitus, while alive. This largely disappears after he becomes a Lazar (he's certainly still the most affable of the Lazar, but that's not saying a whole lot...) | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_537dd8fe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_537dd8fe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_537dd8fe | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_53f5119f | type |
The Dragon | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_53f5119f | comment |
The Dragon: Haplo starts out as this to Lord Xar, ironic because he's still the main character. Sang-drax can be said to take this role; in a way he is the Big Bad, but he's more the avatar it takes to communicate with mortals than the core of its consciousness. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_53f5119f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_53f5119f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_53f5119f | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_54956f54 | type |
Flat World | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_54956f54 | comment |
Flat World: While Pryan is technically a Dyson Sphere with miles-high jungles covering its inner surface, it gives this impression “on the ground”. Most of its inhabitants live on the moss plains, vast expanses of moss stretching between the limbs of the world’s titanic trees that are big and strong enough to bear the weight cities and even small seas. These plains tend to terminate rather suddenly, ending in enormous drops and chasms where the land suddenly stops and the waters of the moss seas thunder down into the seemingly endless darkness. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_54956f54 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_54956f54 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_54956f54 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5541da8c | type |
Lotus-Eater Machine | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5541da8c | comment |
Lotus-Eater Machine: Alfred defeats a serpent by trapping it in its own mind. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5541da8c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5541da8c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5541da8c | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_556a4e20 | type |
The Empire | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_556a4e20 | comment |
Subverted. The Elves certainly think they're the superior race, but the other races have no problem with strongly disagreeing. Of course, it's not that hard when the elves of Arianus are The Empire, the elves of Pryan are elitist snobs, and the elves of Chelestra wear the hat of being a bunch of genius ditzes (Their magic is awesome, their diplomatic skills unrivaled. Their culture is... eccentric). | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_556a4e20 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_556a4e20 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_556a4e20 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_57b80b45 | type |
Fantastic Racism | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_57b80b45 | comment |
Fantastic Racism: Hoo boy. Sartan and Patryns hate each other, the mensch races hate each other, the Sartan and Patryns look down on the mensch, and the mensch resent the "demigods". The serpents, of course, love all this. This becomes a plot point in Elven Star, where the racial hatred and prejudice between the elves, humans and dwarves is very strong and open. One particularly glaring example would be the elf Calandra, who considers all humans to be, so to speak, subhuman, and with the bad logic typical of racism she holds them to be barely more than animals but also highly devious, cunning and untrustworthy (which her own brother says to her makes no logical sense). This kind of virulent racism and accompanying violence was one of the reasons the original paradise the Sartan built for the mensch fell apart, and it's implied one of the reasons the Tytans were able to slaughter them so easily: if the mensch has stood together instead of abandoning and turning on each other, they may even have had a chance to survive — but they didn't, and they died. The one aversion is the world of Chelestra, where interspecies rivalry amongst the mensch is strong... but their commitment towards alliance and peaceful coexistence is stronger. This leads to both a Crowning Moment of Awesome and a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming when mensch leaders are present at the first contact between Patryn and Sartan in thousands of years... and, seeing their hostility, offer to mediate. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_57b80b45 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_57b80b45 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_57b80b45 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_58204b95 | type |
Magic Knight | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_58204b95 | comment |
Magic Knight: The Patryns are experts at combining their magic with physical combat skills. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_58204b95 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_58204b95 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_58204b95 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5dfa0fde | type |
Omniscient Morality License | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5dfa0fde | comment |
Omniscient Morality License: Many of the Sartan believe they operate under one of these. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5dfa0fde | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5dfa0fde | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5dfa0fde | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5dff009d | type |
As Long as There Is Evil | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5dff009d | comment |
As Long as There is Evil: The serpents will exist for as long as there is darkness in the mortal soul. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5dff009d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5dff009d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5dff009d | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5fb6411f | type |
We Are as Mayflies | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5fb6411f | comment |
We Are as Mayflies: Humans are easily the shortest-lived of the major races. Elves and dwarves both have a couple of centuries in them, it's never explicitly spelled out how long Sartan and Patryns live beyond that it's a really long time, and dragons and serpents are functionally immortal. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5fb6411f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5fb6411f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_5fb6411f | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_603b77ec | type |
Savage Wolves | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_603b77ec | comment |
Savage Wolves: Wolfen, wolflike monsters the size of a man that hunt in packs thirty to forty strong, are one of the many kinds of monsters that the Labyrinth uses to torment its Patryn prisoners. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_603b77ec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_603b77ec | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_603b77ec | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_60414102 | type |
Zombie Apocalypse | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_60414102 | comment |
Zombie Apocalypse: The Lazar cause one of these on Abarrach. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_60414102 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_60414102 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_60414102 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_63557923 | type |
Death World | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_63557923 | comment |
Death World: In the Labyrinth, everything will try and kill you (though the magic compels it to give you a fighting chance). Further, unlike other Death Worlds, the Labyrinth itself is literally, actively out to kill you. Imagine yourself walking down a beach when you suddenly trip on a rock. The Labyrinth put it there when you weren't looking. Imagine yourself climbing up a hill when your handhold gives way, sending you rolling to the bottom. The Labyrinth did it. And imagine yourself camping out in a forest that's been cleared already when you hear the howls of a pack of wolfen closing in. Guess who called them in? Abarrach is nearly as bad, although it's not actively malicious — it's just extremely alien and inhospitable. There is no natural light besides its seas and rivers of lava, the air is thick with toxic fumes and the slow cooling of its core is slowly but surely freezing the entire world. Between one thing and another, the mensch all died out and so did most of the wildlife. Only the Sartan survived, and even then only two city states still exist at the time of the books, and their inhabitants have to spend so much of their magic on just surviving that they might as well be mensch in all other aspects. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_63557923 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_63557923 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_63557923 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_63d8e17d | type |
Instant Runes | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_63d8e17d | comment |
Instant Runes: Both Sartan and Patryns use runes to create their spells. Sartan summon their runes out of midair as part of their elaborate spellcasting rituals; Patryns avert this trope by simply tattooing the runes directly on their bodies for maximum ease of use. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_63d8e17d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_63d8e17d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_63d8e17d | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6411dac8 | type |
BadassNormal | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6411dac8 | comment |
Badass Normal: Hugh the Hand — even cursed, he's the one mensch Badass enough to survive the Labyrinth His curse renders him incapable of dying, so that isn't a good example. A better one would be his killing the single most powerful human mage on his world in single combat, even though he temporarily died doing it. The entire dwarven race of Abarrach. The elves and humans died so long ago they are considered myths, while the dwarves lasted almost as long as the Sartans-without magic to boot. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6411dac8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6411dac8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6411dac8 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_659ef759 | type |
Implacable Man | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_659ef759 | comment |
Implacable Man: The Lazar, which will keep coming even after they've been dismembered. The tytans, who slaughter their way across an empire, go around an ocean to the next part of civilization, then begin to kill everything there as well. The only things that have an effect on them are arrows in the shape of dragons, and even that only makes them scared. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_659ef759 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_659ef759 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_659ef759 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_66181568 | type |
Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_66181568 | comment |
Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions: The Sartan and Patryns have outgrown the "silly superstition" of gods, and the Sartan at least discourage any mensch under their influence from believing in such beings either. Of course, the series proves them very wrong when actual divine beings show up, and unfortunately the most proactive of them are the vile serpents... | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_66181568 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_66181568 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_66181568 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_67f26dcc | type |
Planet of Hats | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_67f26dcc | comment |
Planet of Hats: Played straight with the mensch races, all of whom are rather hatty (though which race his which hat varies from world to world). Deconstructed with the "demigods" | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_67f26dcc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_67f26dcc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_67f26dcc | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_68cac7e0 | type |
Animate Dead | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_68cac7e0 | comment |
Animate Dead: The basic spell used by the Sartan necromancers of Abarrach. The problem is, this is a universe based on Equivalent Exchange — for every corpse raised, someone of the same race dies untimely. This is theorized to be the cause of the decline of the Sartan. There's also the slight drawback to bringing someone back from the death too early. Instead of just a zombie, they come back as a lazar, which is far more intelligent and far more dangerous. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_68cac7e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_68cac7e0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_68cac7e0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6bda9a30 | type |
Meaningful Name | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6bda9a30 | comment |
Meaningful Name: Bane, Xar (Czar), Sinistrad. To be fair, the last two were names that were deliberately taken and the first was deliberately given. Also Haplo, which means "alone" or "lonely" in the Patryn tongue; its roots are in Greek where it means "single" or "simple". | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6bda9a30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6bda9a30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6bda9a30 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6c3d1777 | type |
Magic A Is Magic A | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6c3d1777 | comment |
Magic A Is Magic A: To the point where the authors actually wrote appendices to some of the books explaining in great detail how the magic system of the series works. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6c3d1777 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6c3d1777 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6c3d1777 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6de71c57 | type |
Disc-One Final Boss | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6de71c57 | comment |
Disc-One Final Boss: Sinistrad is built up as Big Bad in the first book, but cosmically he's a little fish, especially when compared to the real bad guys | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6de71c57 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6de71c57 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6de71c57 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6e429667 | type |
Fantastic Slurs | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6e429667 | comment |
Fantastic Slurs: The elves often refer to the humans as "beasts". | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6e429667 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6e429667 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_6e429667 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_70c06a09 | type |
The Undead | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_70c06a09 | comment |
The Undead: Two basic kinds exist: The first, just called "cadavers", are semi-sentient and can be trained to do simple tasks (and complex ones if they have an overseer). They resemble basic shambling corpses, with their indistinct, mist-like soul hovering behind them. A corpse raied too quickly, however, becomes a Lazar — its soul hasn't had time to fully depart and the process of raising it fuses the soul and body in a single tortured whole. The resulting creature is completely sapient and quite insane. There's also Hugh the Hand, who was turned into an undead by Alfred's improvising and is apparently unique. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_70c06a09 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_70c06a09 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_70c06a09 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7179a462 | type |
World in the Sky | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7179a462 | comment |
World in the Sky: Arianus, the world of air, is a series of islands and small continents floating at different heights in a world-sized volume of air. Some thought was put into how this kind of world would work — the islands are made of “coralite”, a substance excreted by worm-like animals that contains many small bubbles of lighter-than-air gas (actual stone is noted to be very rare and precious). Drought is also an issue, as rain soaks straight into the porous coralite and out of reach, and as such water is a very valuable resource, while most native plants have specialized adaptations for storing or producing water. Transportation is mainly by flying ship or dragonback. Unusually for this trope, it’s an explicitly vertically oriented World in the Sky, and changes in air pressure are noted to be an issue as one moves between its Low, Mid and High Realms. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7179a462 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7179a462 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7179a462 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_72217e12 | type |
Murder, Inc. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_72217e12 | comment |
Murder, Inc.: The Brotherhood of the Hand, the guild of assassins of Arianus. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_72217e12 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_72217e12 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_72217e12 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7321a845 | type |
Warm Bloodbags Are Everywhere | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7321a845 | comment |
Warm Bloodbags Are Everywhere: The Lazar have this problem, though it's not so much that they need to feed on the living as the presence of living beings simply sends them into Axe-Crazy fits. Jonathon can resist this; Kleitus can too, but only when it suits his purposes. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7321a845 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7321a845 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7321a845 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7568eb84 | type |
Human Subspecies | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7568eb84 | comment |
Human Subspecies: Sartan and Patryn all evolved out of basic human stock. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7568eb84 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7568eb84 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7568eb84 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_77aedc5c | type |
Horse of a Different Color | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_77aedc5c | comment |
Horse of a Different Color: The natives of Pryan ride giant flying squirrels called cargans to navigate the treetops of their world’s colossal jungles. The Sartan of Abarrach use mud dragons, large chameleon-like lizards, as mounts for their undead armies. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_77aedc5c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_77aedc5c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_77aedc5c | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_77c9a628 | type |
Your Soul Is Mine! | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_77c9a628 | comment |
Your Soul Is Mine: Among the elves of Arianus, it’s traditional for the members of the royal family to have their souls captured and bound after death, continuing to serve their realm by helping to power their wizards’ magic. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_77c9a628 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_77c9a628 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_77c9a628 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7abd339f | type |
Black-and-White Morality | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7abd339f | comment |
Black and White Morality: The serpents versus the dragons, who are the literal embodiements of the good and evil within the mortal character | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7abd339f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7abd339f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7abd339f | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7b7f1657 | type |
Canine Companion | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7b7f1657 | comment |
Canine Companion: Dog, who is always with Haplo even when it should be physically impossible. Justified because Dog is the literal manifestation of Haplo's soul. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7b7f1657 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7b7f1657 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7b7f1657 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7b8f5f07 | type |
Charm Person | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7b8f5f07 | comment |
Charm Person: Bane was given an enchantment by Sinistrad that makes everyone dote on him. Not love him — there's a significant difference between the two that becomes a minor plot point. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7b8f5f07 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7b8f5f07 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7b8f5f07 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7fbb2a3 | type |
NiceJobBreakingItHero | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7fbb2a3 | comment |
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Jonathon. His planet was already on the way down but his accidental creation of the Lazar nearly finished off every living thing on it. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7fbb2a3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7fbb2a3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_7fbb2a3 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_82d2715f | type |
Magitek | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_82d2715f | comment |
Magitek: Both the Sartan and the elves use this a lot; Patryns often use runes to enhance their tools and weapons, which might be considered a primitive form of Magitek. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_82d2715f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_82d2715f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_82d2715f | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8437cb10 | type |
Made a Slave | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8437cb10 | comment |
Made a Slave: Slavery exists in several places in the mensch worlds, and numerous examples show up in the books. Most commonly, the slaves seen tend to be humans enslaved by elves in Arianus and Pryan. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8437cb10 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8437cb10 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8437cb10 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_857d1626 | type |
Power Glows | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_857d1626 | comment |
Power Glows: Patryn and Sartan runes both glow when magic is being used, as do Patryn tattoos when their wearer is in danger. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_857d1626 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_857d1626 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_857d1626 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_863fa679 | type |
What Happened to the Mouse? | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_863fa679 | comment |
What Happened to the Mouse?: Jera; she was specifically mentioned to have remained a lazar and left with Kleitus at the end of Book 3 but is never mentioned again. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_863fa679 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_863fa679 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_863fa679 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_86968c96 | type |
Above Good and Evil | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_86968c96 | comment |
Above Good and Evil: How the Patryns see themselves. Closer inspection, however, proves that they do have a (rather strict) moral code, no matter how cynically they try to justify it. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_86968c96 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_86968c96 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_86968c96 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_898ff050 | type |
Villain Protagonist | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_898ff050 | comment |
Villain Protagonist: Arguably Haplo in the first two books; starting in book three he becomes a more solid Anti-Hero as he starts to question his Lord and be pitted against people far worse than he is. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_898ff050 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_898ff050 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_898ff050 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8ba9512b | type |
Our Zombies Are Different | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8ba9512b | comment |
Our Zombies Are Different: The cadavers of Abarrach represent the "mindless servant" type (mostly). The lazar, on the other hand, are basically what you get by combining Our Zombies Are Different with Our Liches Are Different and a little bit of Our Vampires Are Different on the side. They're extremely intelligent, retain the magical powers they had in life (and are capable of learning new ones) and are completely Ax-Crazy, driven by a need to kill the living and create more of their kind. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8ba9512b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8ba9512b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8ba9512b | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8c1ad82f | type |
Proud Warrior Race Guy | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8c1ad82f | comment |
Proud Warrior Race Guy: The Patryns can be quite brutal and ruthless enemies, but they take great pride in their cultural identitity and combat skills, and follow an uncompromising code of honor — at least among each other. Several of the mensch cultures also qualify. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8c1ad82f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8c1ad82f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8c1ad82f | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8e9cf84e | type |
||
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8e9cf84e | comment |
"Blind Idiot" Translation: The Dutch version. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8e9cf84e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8e9cf84e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8e9cf84e | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8f746311 | type |
Cargo Cult | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8f746311 | comment |
Cargo Cult: This is what the religion of the dwarves/Gegs of Arianus boils down to. They were originally brought by the Sartans to serve the Kicksey-winsey, a continent-sized machine meant to supply Arianus with water and the other worlds with various goods, but since the Sartans vanished they have taken to literally worshipping the machine itself and the Sartans, whom they remember as the “Mangers”, complete with priests known as “clarks”. This is something the elves exploited by pretending to be gods, getting the Gegs to give them the precious water in exchange for shipfuls of garbage and refuse that the Gegs think is treasure. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8f746311 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8f746311 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_8f746311 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_90965cc7 | type |
Hive Mind | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_90965cc7 | comment |
Hive Mind: The gushni, jellyfish-like creatures the dragon-snakes use as spies, have a species-wide shared consciousness. This is what makes them useful as spies: once a gushni learns something, all other gushni everywhere also know it and can report it. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_90965cc7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_90965cc7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_90965cc7 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_916c72b3 | type |
Rule of Symbolism | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_916c72b3 | comment |
Rule of Symbolism: A part of the uniform of the Geg High Froman is a cape made of tier feathers, a gift from the elves representing the Gegs’ desire to symbolically fly up to heaven and literally ascend to a paradise island higher in Arianus once they become worthy of living alongside the elves. The tier, as noted earlier in Dragon Wing, is a flightless bird that the elves consider repulsive and unclean. If the cape represents anything, it is the contempt the elves hold the effectively enslaved Gegs in and the lies they tell them. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_916c72b3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_916c72b3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_916c72b3 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_91e894b4 | type |
Apocalypse How | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_91e894b4 | comment |
Apocalypse How: In the backstory, a likely Class 2 (Planetary, Social Collapse) came about as a result of a nuclear war that devastated human civilization and destroyed the refuges where elves and dwarves had been hiding since the Middle Ages, leaving the Earth in anarchy until the rise of the Sartan and Patryn. The Sartan-Patryn war ended up causing a Class X (Planetary, Physical Annihilation) as the Sartan destroyed the Earth and remade it into five new worlds in a gambit to defeat the Patryn, killing millions of mensch in the process. A Class 2 bordering on 3a (Planetary Scale, Species Extinction via engineered causes) struck the Sartan after the Sundering, as the use of necromancy in Abarrach caused Sartan everywhere to spontaneously die to balance the resurrected dead, while a host of unforeseen issues made their civilization to crumble into nothingness. Another Class 2 bordering on 3 occurs in Pryan over the events of Elven Star, as the Tytans move through its inhabited lands, systematically killing and destroying anything they find. By the end of the book, they have annihilated every nation in the setting and slaughtered the majority of their inhabitants, scouring that part of Pryan clean of civilization. It’s stated that this has been going on since the Sartan civilization fell, with the Tytans migrating over Pryan’s surface and wiping out all civilization they find. A Class 3b (Planetary Scale, Species Extinction via natural causes) occurred in the backstory of Abarrach, due to the world's highly hostile environment killing off all the mensch populations that the Sartan had brought with them, and eventually began to kill off the Sartan as well. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_91e894b4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_91e894b4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_91e894b4 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_93168fb1 | type |
It's Quiet… Too Quiet | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_93168fb1 | comment |
It's Quiet... Too Quiet: When crossing the deep jungle of Pryan, Roland, Rega and Paithan realize that something is very wrong when they realize that the jungle has gone completely, utterly quiet due to the Tytans approaching, a phenomenon that repeats itself whenever the Tytans show up. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_93168fb1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_93168fb1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_93168fb1 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_95afab6 | type |
Black Cloak | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_95afab6 | comment |
Black Cloak: The Kir monks, Sinistrad, the necromancers of Abarrach, and sometimes Xar wear these. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_95afab6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_95afab6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_95afab6 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_970c790a | type |
Big Bad | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_970c790a | comment |
Big Bad: Lord Xar initially appears to be this; the situation later develops into more of a Big Bad Ensemble with the addition of Kleitus, Samah later replaced by Ramu and the serpents who prove to be the greatest threat and the incarnation of evil and chaos. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_970c790a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_970c790a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_970c790a | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9843be73 | type |
As You Know | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9843be73 | comment |
As You Know: Said almost word-for-word to Haplo by his benefactor at the start of the first book; in this context, because Xar is speechifying a bit to remind Haplo of the importance of their cause. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9843be73 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9843be73 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9843be73 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9be7c205 | type |
Giant Spider | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9be7c205 | comment |
Giant Spider: Tyros are colossal spiders native to Pryan whose front pair of legs has become adapted for manipulating objects. They are commonly used as beasts of burden by the local civilizations, due to their ability to navigate the treetops of the miles-high jungles that cover Pryan. Their webs are also used to make bridges across gaps in the treetops. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9be7c205 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9be7c205 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9be7c205 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9d29321a | type |
Can't Argue with Elves | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9d29321a | comment |
Can't Argue with Elves: Subverted. The Elves certainly think they're the superior race, but the other races have no problem with strongly disagreeing. Of course, it's not that hard when the elves of Arianus are The Empire, the elves of Pryan are elitist snobs, and the elves of Chelestra wear the hat of being a bunch of genius ditzes (Their magic is awesome, their diplomatic skills unrivaled. Their culture is... eccentric). In any case, the true elves of this setting are the Sartans and the Patryns, who really don't like mere mortals arguing with them, but it's made pretty clear that they should — both have major faults they refuse to acknowledge. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9d29321a | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9d29321a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_9d29321a | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a246aed6 | type |
Sapient Cetaceans | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a246aed6 | comment |
Sapient Cetaceans: The dolphins and whales of Chelestra are sapient, capable of speech and allied with the mensch who live there. The whales don't show up much, while the dolphins are enthusiastic gossips. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a246aed6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a246aed6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a246aed6 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a284511d | type |
Balance Between Good and Evil | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a284511d | comment |
Balance Between Good and Evil: one of the main themes of the series, literally hard-wired into the metaphysics of its world; see Functional Magic below for more elaboration | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a284511d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a284511d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a284511d | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a2cbad1 | type |
Half-Human Hybrid | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a2cbad1 | comment |
Half-Human Hybrid: A notable aversion; the different races explicitly can't have children together, the only exception being Sartan and Patryns. This is strong proof that they are actually two factions of the same race with very different philosophies on magic... just don't tell them that. It's stated that both Sartan and Patryn are evolved humans, so technically the same race. To be fair to the prejudice, the only explicit hybrid mentioned that his Sartan magic wasn't at the level of a pure Sartan, though whether this is due to his Patryn blood, Patryn tattoos, or Patryn upbringing is unclear. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a2cbad1 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a2cbad1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a2cbad1 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a4f2570d | type |
Muggles | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a4f2570d | comment |
Muggles: The mensch races. It's explicitly stated that the most powerful mysteriarchs — human wizards from Arianus who are stated to be the most powerful mensch spell-casters around — begin to approach the level of magic of a particularly unskilled Patryn or Sartan. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a4f2570d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a4f2570d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a4f2570d | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a5fb0d24 | type |
Healing Factor | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a5fb0d24 | comment |
Healing Factor: Patryns can trance to heal most injuries. Having another Patryn on hand to lend their magic speeds the process up exponentially, although it requires the other Patron to literally give over some of their health. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a5fb0d24 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a5fb0d24 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a5fb0d24 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a60f7120 | type |
Physical God | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a60f7120 | comment |
Physical God: Sartan and Patryns are this compared to the mensch, and are generally referred to as "demigods" throughout the books | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a60f7120 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a60f7120 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a60f7120 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a7aef9ff | type |
Obfuscating Stupidity | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a7aef9ff | comment |
Obfuscating Stupidity: Several times. Alfred's done it so much that even he no longer believes he's competent, Zifnab's dragon pretends to be a ravening beast when he's one of the wisest characters in the series, and even Zifnab's weirdness isn't all genuine (just most of it). Sinistrad is an odd variation: Rather than pretending to be stupid, he casts himself as a deliberately over-the-top Card-Carrying Villain, causing the other mysteriarchs to dismiss him as a harmless eccentric. They are very wrong. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a7aef9ff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a7aef9ff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_a7aef9ff | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_aa2bd65c | type |
Mordor | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_aa2bd65c | comment |
Mordor: Abarrach is basically a Single-Biome Planet of subterranean Mordor. Parts of the Labyrinth are Mordor-like as well. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_aa2bd65c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_aa2bd65c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_aa2bd65c | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_abb16044 | type |
AsskickingEqualsAuthority | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_abb16044 | comment |
Asskicking Equals Authority: The Patryns pretty much work this way; Lord Xar is the most powerful living Patryn, and all of his immediate subordinates are also highly Badass. On the Sartan side of things, Samah is both the head of the Sartan Council and the most powerful Sartan in history or so he thinks, but it's unclear if the head of the Council is always the most powerful. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_abb16044 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_abb16044 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_abb16044 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ad641426 | type |
Trademark Favorite Food | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ad641426 | comment |
Trademark Favorite Food: Dog loves sausages. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ad641426 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ad641426 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ad641426 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ad9559e6 | type |
Arc Villain | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ad9559e6 | comment |
Arc Villain: Each of the first four books has a largely self-contained story with its own antagonist: Dragon Wing: Sinistrad. Elven Star: The tytans. Fire Sea: Kleitus, who remains a supporting antagonist in the last three books. Serpent Mage: The dragon-snakes who become the primary Big Bad of the remainder of the series. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ad9559e6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ad9559e6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ad9559e6 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ae3d6438 | type |
Deadpan Snarker | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ae3d6438 | comment |
Deadpan Snarker: Zifnab's nameless dragon. Haplo also does this at times. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ae3d6438 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ae3d6438 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ae3d6438 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ae8dfd64 | type |
Galley Slave | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ae8dfd64 | comment |
Galley Slave: A common fate for humans made prisoners by the Tribus elves of Arianus, who force them into flight harnesses to move the wings of their flying ships. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ae8dfd64 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ae8dfd64 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ae8dfd64 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_af739531 | type |
Inept Mage | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_af739531 | comment |
Inept Mage: Alfred has the distinction of being an inept mage with a tremendous amount of raw talent — he's inadvertatnly raised the dead and turned himself into a dragon. Haplo at one point remarks that Alfred's only talents are raising the dead and tailoring. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_af739531 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_af739531 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_af739531 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b0caaaf1 | type |
Awesomeness-Induced Amnesia | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b0caaaf1 | comment |
Awesomeness-Induced Amnesia: Alfred manages to pull off incredible feats of magic as he used to be a master wizard but adopted a bumbling, useless personality which took over to the point that he only shows his skills a few times and reverts to his bumbling personality with no memory of what he did. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b0caaaf1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b0caaaf1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b0caaaf1 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b1619b3c | type |
Omnicidal Maniac | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b1619b3c | comment |
Omnicidal Maniac: Subverted twice. The tytans look like this but all they want is to go home; Haplo mistakes the serpents for this, but as Sang-drax points out, they need mortal suffering in order to survive, so destroying the world is just about the one thing that would kill them too. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b1619b3c | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b1619b3c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b1619b3c | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b41acf08 | type |
AxeCrazy | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b41acf08 | comment |
Axe-Crazy: The Lazar | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b41acf08 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b41acf08 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b41acf08 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b58b4e3c | type |
Too Dumb to Live | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b58b4e3c | comment |
Too Dumb to Live: One family member of the elven main character of Elven Star is this, as she's so fixated on running the family business that she repeatedly dismisses alarm horns as drills and even with omnicidal, giant magical creatures practically at the house's doorstep just thinks everyone else is being crazy. Unsurprisingly, she dies. Then comes a subversion when she has a final conversation with her brother from behind a closed door as the Tytans approach and he comes to the realization that deep down she does realize the truth, but can't find the strength to cope with it. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b58b4e3c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b58b4e3c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b58b4e3c | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b82c2930 | type |
World Sundering | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b82c2930 | comment |
World Sundering: A major part of the backstory. In a successful attempt at winning the magical war between themselves and the Patryn, the Sartan sundered the Earth and remade it into the four elemental worlds and the Labyrinth. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b82c2930 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b82c2930 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b82c2930 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b8dde2 | type |
Evil Overlord | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b8dde2 | comment |
Evil Overlord: Subverted with Lord Xar, who fully intends to take over the universe and rule it with an iron fist, but is beloved by his Patryn followers and genuinely cares about them. Played straight with Kleitus. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b8dde2 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b8dde2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b8dde2 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b8fdf22a | type |
Fighting a Shadow | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b8fdf22a | comment |
Fighting a Shadow: You can't kill the serpents permanently: if you try, they'll just re-form in a few days, twice as powerful as before — although it's implied that Sang-drax's death somehow stuck. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b8fdf22a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b8fdf22a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b8fdf22a | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b91be405 | type |
Dyson Sphere | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b91be405 | comment |
Dyson Sphere: Pryan is a hollow sphere with an internal surface covered by miles-high jungles and with four small suns at its center. As the suns never set or move, it has no true night, with the closest being storms that move over its surface at regular intervals and provide some measure of darkness. It is the biggest world by far, having far more surface area than even the pre-sundering Earth, and as there has simply not been enough time in the setting’s relatively brief history for the mensch population to grow enough to inhabit more than a tiny part of its surface it is very sparsely populated. This is also why Zifnab gets an elf inventor to start shooting rockets day and night to attract Haplo’s attention when he enters the world — it’s all but stated that without some visual cue to head for, Haplo could have spent a lifetime flying over Pryan without ever coming across civilization. Originally, it was designed by the Sartan to be essentially an enormous power plant for the same reasons that it’s theorized high-tech civilizations would be driven to build such spheres — its shape meant that all the suns’ energy would be captured without any being lost, which the Sartan could then transmit to the other worlds. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b91be405 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b91be405 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b91be405 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b983a56b | type |
Came Back Wrong | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b983a56b | comment |
Came Back Wrong: The Sartan necromancer Jonathon tries to raise his recently killed wife Jera from the dead, but is too impatient to wait the requisite three days to allow her soul to safely depart. The result is a creature with echoes of Jera's personality, but is also completely insane, super-Sartanly powerful, and hellbent on revenge and making more of its kind. This is the origin of the lazar. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b983a56b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b983a56b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_b983a56b | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ba0e3912 | type |
Power Nullifier | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ba0e3912 | comment |
Power Nullifier: The seawater of Chelestra, created by the rules of the universe to counter the imbalance caused by Sartan and Patryn magic. Any "demigod" who gets dunked in it will find him or herself all too mortal until they dry out. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ba0e3912 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ba0e3912 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ba0e3912 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_bd29e069 | type |
PreciousPuppies | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_bd29e069 | comment |
Precious Puppies: Why Dog is, well, a dog, given that he's actually a familiar of Haplo's. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_bd29e069 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_bd29e069 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_bd29e069 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_bd445b6e | type |
Our Elves Are Better | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_bd445b6e | comment |
Our Elves Are Better: No, they're not. Depending on the world you go to, they're either The Empire, incredibly stuck-up, or well-meaning but rather silly. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_bd445b6e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_bd445b6e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_bd445b6e | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_beb9a361 | type |
Anti-Hero | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_beb9a361 | comment |
Anti-Hero: Haplo, Hugh the Hand. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_beb9a361 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_beb9a361 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_beb9a361 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c0935922 | type |
Dragon Rider | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c0935922 | comment |
Dragon Rider: The humans of Arianus commonly use dragons as flying mounts in order to move between their world’s floating islands. However, these dragons are not fully tamed, and as such have to be bound with magic. If the spells fail, the dragon is very likely to turn on its rider. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c0935922 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c0935922 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c0935922 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c313d43a | type |
True Companions | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c313d43a | comment |
True Companions: Patryn culture is pretty much made of this. They're not a friendly or openly affectionate people by any stretch, but if they accept you as part of their family, they will remain loyal practically to their dying breath (and expect the same in return). | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c313d43a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c313d43a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c313d43a | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c601fc37 | type |
Professional Killer | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c601fc37 | comment |
Professional Killer: Hugh is an assassin, and is later revealed to be part of an assassin's guild (well, they mostly do assassinations, but have a hand in a lot of other crime on Arianus as well). | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c601fc37 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c601fc37 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c601fc37 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c78c0896 | type |
Big Friendly Dog | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c78c0896 | comment |
Big, Friendly Dog: Haplo's dog, who, contrary to one of the trope's requirements, is quite smart. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c78c0896 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c78c0896 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c78c0896 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c81e2bba | type |
Necromancer | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c81e2bba | comment |
Necromancer: What the Sartan of Abarrach have degenerated into. Xar learns the spells too later on, but isn't very good at them (much to his frustration). | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c81e2bba | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c81e2bba | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c81e2bba | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c8552b9a | type |
Elemental Plane | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c8552b9a | comment |
Elemental Plane: The Sartan themed each of the main four worlds around a classical element: Arianus, a World in the Sky where people live on floating islands, is the world of air; Pryan, a Hollow World of sweltering temperatures and towering jungles, is the world of fire; Chelestra, another hollow world but full of water, where people live in hollow spaces within artificial floating structures, is the world of water; and Abarrach, a massive volume of rock honeycombed with caverns and tunnels and highly volcanic, is the world of stone. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c8552b9a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c8552b9a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c8552b9a | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c928d01d | type |
Magic Music | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c928d01d | comment |
Magic Music: Elven magic is mostly channeled vocally, and as such music can play a big part in it, usually by affecting their emotions or calling up ancestral memories. Due to the way it taps into the Elven psyche, it can be used this way by anyone, which is how the humans were able to defeat an elven army by singing an extremely nostalgic elven song. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c928d01d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c928d01d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_c928d01d | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_caa28b82 | type |
Cloudcuckoolander | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_caa28b82 | comment |
Cloudcuckoolander: Zifnab full stop. The Elves of Chelestra also have a reputation of being a more mild version of this, while the "ordinary" dead of Abarrach (who possess all their memories but not the consciousness to make sense of them) come off a a more deeply creepy version. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_caa28b82 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_caa28b82 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_caa28b82 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_cb71c461 | type |
Deus Exit Machina | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_cb71c461 | comment |
Deus Exit Machina: In Dragon Wing, either Haplo or Alfred could solve all the problems of the book in about two minutes. Unfortunately, Haplo dares not use his Patryn powers for fear of alerting the Sartan, and Alfred passes out every time something important happens. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_cb71c461 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_cb71c461 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_cb71c461 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_cec7dac0 | type |
The Magocracy | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_cec7dac0 | comment |
The Magocracy: While the Tribus Empire of the elves of Arianus is officially ruled by the imperial family, it’s made clear that the wizards who keep the empire’s magitek running — and more specifically the Council of the Arcane who oversees the elven wizards — are the true rulers of the elven empire. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_cec7dac0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_cec7dac0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_cec7dac0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d001c42c | type |
Anti-Villain | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d001c42c | comment |
Anti-Villain: Lord Xar, Samah. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d001c42c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d001c42c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d001c42c | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d05cf3f | type |
Footnote Fever | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d05cf3f | comment |
Footnote Fever: The books have a fair amount of footnotes dotting their text, most commonly providing clarification and exposition on various bits of lore and worldbuilding that would not otherwise fit in the text itself without bogging down the narrative flow. As part of the Literary Agent Hypothesis, they are presented as authorial asides and clarifications inserted by Alfred and Haplo for the benefit of in-universe readers. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d05cf3f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d05cf3f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d05cf3f | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d3b02ffb | type |
I Know Your True Name | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d3b02ffb | comment |
I Know Your True Name: The true name of a Sartan holds power over them, which is why most Sartan never reveal their true names to anyone but family or closest friends, using mundane names in public. The only exceptions are Samah and his council, who are so powerful that they have no need to fear their names being used against them. Patryns' true names have power too, but they generally don't have to worry about this form of attack, as their spoken names are just approximations of their real names — the runes tattooed over their hearts, which they only let those who are close to them read. This does lead to another form of Achilles' Heel, though, because if the "heart-rune" is attacked or damage, a Patryn's whole magical essence will begin to unravel. Patryn magic is actually based on this concept. A Patryn enchantment works by identifying the Name of the object that the caster wishes to cast a spell on and altering it so that it becomes the Name of what the caster wishes to have. Said object then changes to match the Name. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d3b02ffb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d3b02ffb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d3b02ffb | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d7639dba | type |
Achilles' Heel | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d7639dba | comment |
Patryns' true names have power too, but they generally don't have to worry about this form of attack, as their spoken names are just approximations of their real names — the runes tattooed over their hearts, which they only let those who are close to them read. This does lead to another form of Achilles' Heel, though, because if the "heart-rune" is attacked or damage, a Patryn's whole magical essence will begin to unravel. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d7639dba | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d7639dba | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d7639dba | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d88e125e | type |
Our Dragons Are Different | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d88e125e | comment |
Our Dragons Are Different: The dragon-snakes and the dragons of Pryan aren't actually dragons, just immensely powerful shapechangers who often appear in that form. Besides them, there are a number of flesh-and-blood dragon species inhabiting the various worlds: There are a couple of different dragon species on Arianus, which are intelligent but not sapient and often enspelled and trained by humans as flying mounts between the floating islands (they’re not domesticated, though, and the spells have to be periodically renewed to make sure they stay tame). Elves, whose magic cannot replicate the necessary spells, instead hunt and kill them, and use their remains to make their flying ships. The quicksilver dragons of the High Realm are wingless but can still fly (for that matter, they are faster fliers than any winged dragon) and are the most intelligent of the Arianus dragons. Quicksilver dragons can only be controlled by the most powerful of wizards, and even then the mage is in constant mental struggle with the dragon. The fire dragons of Abarrach are basically giant, sapient black serpents that live in lava. Finally, the blood dragons of the Labyrinth are some of the most powerful creatures in the series and basically have Torture Technician as their Hat. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d88e125e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d88e125e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_d88e125e | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dae5c997 | type |
Action Girl | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dae5c997 | comment |
Action Girl: Grundle, Marit, all female Patryns | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dae5c997 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dae5c997 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dae5c997 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_db38d6ca | type |
Torture Technician | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_db38d6ca | comment |
Finally, the blood dragons of the Labyrinth are some of the most powerful creatures in the series and basically have Torture Technician as their Hat. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_db38d6ca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_db38d6ca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_db38d6ca | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dd963bd3 | type |
Our Giants Are Bigger | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dd963bd3 | comment |
Our Giants Are Bigger: The Tytans, giant humanoids with a gaping hole where their eyes should be who were artifically created by the Sartan to operate their Magitek and police the mensch. With their creators gone, the Tytans now rampage across Pryan, annihilating everything in their path. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dd963bd3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dd963bd3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dd963bd3 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_df410b77 | type |
Decoy Protagonist | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_df410b77 | comment |
Decoy Protagonist: In Dragon Wing, Hugh the Hand seems like the main character right up until he dies. Elven Star has an entire cast of these, although this time you'd already be aware that the most important character in the book is actually Haplo. From Fire Sea onwards Haplo and Alfred are the obvious primary protagnists. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_df410b77 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_df410b77 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_df410b77 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dfe120e5 | type |
Functional Magic | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dfe120e5 | comment |
Functional Magic: Patryn and Sartan runic magic works by essentially “choosing” any of a number of possibilities and making that possibility reality, bound and directed using a complex system of interacting runes (which the Sartan draw in midair as needed and the Patryn tattoo on their bodies). For example, a Sartan or Patryn who wanted to move a heavy load to a given place would select a reality where the load happens to be where they want it to be. They could also theoretically choose one where it floats up and levitates to where they want it to go, but as this would require working against several laws of physics, this possibility would be more “distant” and more difficult to achieve. Some mensch also have magical powers; human wizards have Elemental Powers and mental magic, while elven wizards make enchanted objects and Magitek. Even the most powerful of these, though, are said to be less than the lowest levels of Sartan/Patryn power. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dfe120e5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dfe120e5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_dfe120e5 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e0e3579a | type |
Fungus Humongous | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e0e3579a | comment |
Fungus Humongous: At one point, while very deep down in the jungles of Pryan, Roland, Rega and Paithan come across a massive fungus jutting out of one the trees, large enough to serve as a temporary support for their caravan. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e0e3579a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e0e3579a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e0e3579a | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e192c0a7 | type |
Standard Female Grab Area | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e192c0a7 | comment |
Standard Female Grab Area: Only it's a dwarf doing the grabbing, so it's lower than usual. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e192c0a7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e192c0a7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e192c0a7 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e24d2d5c | type |
Reptiles Are Abhorrent | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e24d2d5c | comment |
Reptiles Are Abhorrent: And the Serpents are Genre Savvy about it. This trope is the reason their default form is giant snakes. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e24d2d5c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e24d2d5c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e24d2d5c | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e5421161 | type |
Expy | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e5421161 | comment |
Expy: Zifnab bears a distinct resemblance (down to the letters of his name) to Fizban from Dragonlance, though the two have very different backstories and motivations. According to Alfred, Zifnab spends his time after the series is done walking around and claiming he's God. Probably a nod towards Fizban being Paladine. However, Weiss and Hickman have Jossed the theory that he's a deity, although he does demonstrate abilities beyond what anyone would expect from even an old and powerful Sartan, like living for thousands of years. There is an in-universe justification for his knowledge — it's heavily implied that Zifnab read a great deal of fiction, including the Dragonlance novels, in his youth. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e5421161 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e5421161 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_e5421161 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_eb27c1f2 | type |
Sealed Good in a Can | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_eb27c1f2 | comment |
How the Sartan see the Patryns. The Patryns in turn see themselves as a Sealed Good in a Can. They are unquestionably Sealed Badasses In A Can | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_eb27c1f2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_eb27c1f2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_eb27c1f2 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_edada905 | type |
Garden of Evil | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_edada905 | comment |
Garden of Evil: Parts of the Labyrinth are like this; the rest is more like Mordor. Different flavors of lethal environment for everyone! | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_edada905 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_edada905 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_edada905 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f32dadad | type |
Instant Messenger Pigeon | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f32dadad | comment |
Instant Messenger Pigeon: A version of this is used for long-distance messaging in Pryan using a species of fictional birds know as the faultless, which are intelligent enough for it to be possible to train them to fly back and forth between two specific locations. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f32dadad | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f32dadad | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f32dadad | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f3dc80cc | type |
BiggerBad | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f3dc80cc | comment |
Bigger Bad: The Royal One is the ultimate ruler of the serpents, but he only plays a major role in Serpent Mage. He gets killed off by Alfred at the end of the book, returns to life in Hand of Chaos, and afterwards plays no meaningful role in the story, with Sang-drax taking over as The Heavy and The Face of the serpents as a faction. Haplo also speculates that the serpents are merely the minions of some even greater evil power, but if so, such a being's existence is never confirmed. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f3dc80cc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f3dc80cc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f3dc80cc | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f74f567f | type |
Bastard Understudy | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f74f567f | comment |
Bastard Understudy: Bane is only ten years old, and already coming up with plans to rule Arianus and off his father as soon as he no longer needs him | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f74f567f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f74f567f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_f74f567f | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_fd4f8299 | type |
WellIntentionedExtremist | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_fd4f8299 | comment |
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Samah; Balthazar in Fire Sea, though he grows into a more purely heroic character by Seventh Gate, Xar until his murder for refusing to disastrously reunite the worlds. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_fd4f8299 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_fd4f8299 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_fd4f8299 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_fe6c146e | type |
The Corrupter | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_fe6c146e | comment |
The Corrupter: Basically the serpents' hat, though Sang-drax does it the most on-page | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_fe6c146e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_fe6c146e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_fe6c146e | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ff37e104 | type |
Treetop Town | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ff37e104 | comment |
Tree Top Town: In Pryan, the elves prefer to build their cities among the very tops of the world-jungle’s canopy, with homes and shops built on the larger branches and connected by mazes of rope bridges, in contrast to the humans (who mostly settle the moss plain stretched between the giant tree limbs) and the dwarves (who inhabit cities carved into the trunks of the trees deeper down). | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ff37e104 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ff37e104 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ff37e104 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ff7f34c5 | type |
Pet the Dog | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ff7f34c5 | comment |
Pet the Dog: Literal, with Haplo. | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ff7f34c5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ff7f34c5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_ff7f34c5 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_name | comment |
||
The Death Gate Cycle / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death Gate Cycle | hasFeature |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_name | |
The Death Gate Cycle / int_name | itemName |
The Death Gate Cycle |
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.