History Creator / NeilGaiman

* BumblingHenchmenDuo: Many of his works have a pair of bad guys with little characterization outside of being an inseparable antagonistic pair. Examples include Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar; Hastur and Ligur; and Mr. Wood and Mr. Stone.

Some of Gaiman's most famous works include the renowned ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' comic series for Creator/DCComics under their [[Creator/VertigoComics Vertigo]] imprint, which was the only work in its medium to win a UsefulNotes/WorldFantasyAward for Best Short Story.[[note]]To prevent it happening again, [[ObviousRulePatch they changed the rules]] so that comic books had to be relegated to their own special category, and couldn't be judged alongside prose works.[[/note]] His novels ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'' and ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'' have been made into movies, and ''Literature/{{American Gods}}'' and ''Literature/{{Good Omens}}'' have been made into streaming miniseries. He's also written scripts for other projects, such as ''Film/MirrorMask'' by Creator/DaveMcKean and the ''Series/{{Neverwhere}}'' TV series. In addition, he worked on the translated script of ''Anime/PrincessMononoke''. His young adult work ''Literature/TheGraveyardBook'' became the first book to win both the UsefulNotes/NewberyMedal and the UsefulNotes/CarnegieMedal. He also wrote two episodes for ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife The Doctor's Wife]]" in Series 6 and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E12NightmareInSilver Nightmare in Silver]]" in Series 7.

!!Tropes of which Neil Gaiman is an example:

* DigitalPiracyIsOkay: Originally he viewed piracy in a fairly negative light, but his views evolved as time went on to be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qkyt1wXNlI more accepting of it as he noticed as the sales of his works started increasing thanks to it]].
* InsultBackfire: On being called a pencil-necked weasel, over a library visit, he said that he was proud to be among the company of weasels.
* LimitedWardrobe: He dresses all in black in all public appearances. Until a few years ago he wore a black leather jacket in public appearances too. He used to claim to own the world's largest collection of black t-shirts, too.
* MessyHair: In all his author photos, he sports an untidy dark mop. This is probably the inspiration for the looks of several characters he's written, including The Sandman, Richard Mayhew, and Tristran Thorn, not to mention the picture book ''Crazy Hair''. One of his "about the author" notes includes the sentence, "He thanks you for the offer of a comb, but doubts that it would do any good."
* MoneyDearBoy: He has stated just about every time he did work solely for money no money has come from it.
** He's quite happy to admit this as the only reason he wrote a biography for Music/DuranDuran early in his career. However, because of complications with the publisher, he never saw a dime save for his advance fee, which was only a few hundred £. The book actually did make it to print before the publisher went belly-up and, ironically, copies of it can now fetch a good bit of money. It's also just about the only book about them that the members of Duran Duran actually liked.
** His other early non-fiction book, ''Don't Panic'', a book about Creator/DouglasAdams and ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', was a mixture of MoneyDearBoy and JustForFun/OneOfUs.
** He only did his issue of ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' for money as he thought it was beneath him, would damage his reputation and had no interest in violent superheroes. Ironically the issue ended up being one of the most significant for the character and led to an unimaginably long and expensive courtroom battle between Neil Gaiman and Creator/ToddMcFarlane.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He's pretty youthful for a guy born in 1960.
* OldShame: Several, all from the very beginning of his career. His first published work - a biography of Music/DuranDuran - was so awful that when it came up during an auction at a ''[[Comicbook/TheSandman1989 Sandman]]'' convention, he tried to fork off auctioneer duties on Charles Vess (needless to say [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity Ensued]]). Then there's his [[https://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/145177055336/what-was-your-first-published-story first]] published bit of ''fiction''... Eventually, he gathered all these into [[http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2016/12/do-you-want-to-save-thousands-of.html a Humble Bundle]] for fans to enjoy and/or laugh at, with proceeds going to charity.
* SelfDeprecation: Appears in the comic adaptation of his book on Myth/NorseMythology on the mead of poets as an example of a dreadful poet.
* SesameStreetCred: He guest starred as himself in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}''.
* SharedFateUltimatum: the short story "The Monarch of the Glen". After Shadow helps save her son, Grendel's mother tells Smith and Mr. Alice that if anything happens to Shadow and she suspects their hand in it, they will meet with quick deaths themselves.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He really likes sushi, as shown by "About the Author" blurbs. It also shows up in the short story "The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch", where (in-story) Jonathan Ross persuades Neil to help with entertaining an unwelcome associate in return for excellent sushi.

!!Tropes common in his work:

* AllMythsAreTrue: This is the basic premise of ''American Gods'', but it's common in other works.
* AnimalMotifs: Used most prominently in ''Anansi Boys'', but ubiquitous throughout his work.
* ApocalypseCult: ''Shoggoths Old Peculiar'' has an (initially) UnfazedEveryman American tourist who visits the picturesque English town of Innsmouth and converses in a pub with the friendly Cthulhu-worshippers who live there. He ends up with a bad hangover and a "feeling of nameless dread" (TM).

* HighClassCannibal: In his short story "Sunbird", when Crusty reveals that a past incarnation of the Epicurean Club had tried human flesh, which was apparently legal at the time it had happened, provided it came from someone sentenced to death in the electric chair, and that it was nothing special and prompted no one to pursue cannibalism regularly, save for one member who was already prone that way

* ''Trigger Warning'' (2015): First collection for TheNewTens, featuring - among others:[[index]]

** ''Literature/{{Chivalry}}''
** ''Literature/TheGoldfishPoolAndOtherStories''
** ''Literature/TheWeddingPresent''
** ''Literature/MurderMysteries''
** ''Literature/WeCanGetThemForYouWholesale''[[/index]]

** ''Literature/AStudyInEmerald''
** ''Literature/BitterGrounds''
** ''Literature/OctoberInTheChair''
** ''Literature/TheProblemOfSusan''
** ''Literature/HowToTalkToGirlsAtParties''[[/index]]

** ''Literature/{{Down to a Sunless Sea|2013}}''
** ''Literature/TheTruthIsACaveInTheBlackMountains''
** ''Literature/TheCaseOfDeathAndHoney''
** ''Literature/TheThingAboutCassandra''
** ''Literature/NothingOClock''
** ''Literature/TheManWhoForgotRayBradbury''
** ''Literature/FeminineEndings''
** ''Literature/TheSleeperAndTheSpindle''[[/index]]

* ''Stories'' (2010): Co-edited with Al Sarrantonio.[[index]]

* ''ComicBook/Marvel1602'': For all intents and purposes, his Creator/MarvelComics premiere -- a MarvelUniverse {{Elseworld}}, transposing many familiar characters to the year 1602.

* AuthorAppeal: AllMythsAreTrue, but the one Gaiman finds the most interesting is Myth/NorseMythology. Loki and Odin are major characters in both ''American Gods'' and ''The Sandman''. ''Odd and the Frost Giants'' is based on Norse myths and he even wrote an entire novel acting as a retelling, aptly named ''Norse Mythology''.

* The ''Literature/{{Interworld}}'' series, in collaboration with Michael Reaves.

** ''The Silver Dream'' (2013)
** ''Eternity's Wheel'' (2015)

* ''Series/GoodOmens'': Full-on showrunner and appointed guardian of Creator/TerryPratchett's legacy, a role which swallowed up most of his time (and stamina) from 2017 to early 2019.[[/index]]

** Gaiman appears as himself in one episode of the comedy series ''Series/{{Staged}}'', which stars his ''Series/GoodOmens'' leads Creator/DavidTennant and Creator/MichaelSheen as fictionalised versions of themselves.

* OldShame: Several, all from the very beginning of his career. His first published work - a biography of Music/DuranDuran - was so awful that when it came up during an auction at a ''[[Comicbook/TheSandman Sandman]]'' convention, he tried to fork off auctioneer duties on Charles Vess (needless to say [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity Ensued]]). Then there's his [[https://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/145177055336/what-was-your-first-published-story first]] published bit of ''fiction''... Eventually, he gathered all these into [[http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2016/12/do-you-want-to-save-thousands-of.html a Humble Bundle]] for fans to enjoy and/or laugh at, with proceeds going to charity.

** ''Death: The High Cost of Living''
** ''Death: The Time of Your Life''

** ''The Sandman: Endless Nights''

[[folder: Picture books]]

Gaiman married Music/AmandaPalmer of The Dresden Dolls in 2011; they have one son together. The couple [[https://journal.neilgaiman.com/2022/11/a-joint-statement-from-amanda-and-me.html announced their divorce]] in November 2022.

* "Literature/ForbiddenBridesOfTheFacelessSlaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire", printed in ''Gothic!'' from 2004,
* ''Fragile Things'' (2006): First collection for the new millennium, with such luminaries as:

* ''Literature/ICthulhu'' (1987): A humorous memoir of the life of [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Cthulhu]]. One of his earliest stories, and [[https://www.neilgaiman.com/Cool_Stuff/Short_Stories/I_Cthulhu available for free on his website]].[[/index]]

* DeadpanSnarker: Reading his blog will give you a bit of a view into his mind. When he rescued Cabal, he said the Nazis tried to wipe out White German Shepherds. Much like how they tried to wipe out his family.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Creator/TerryPratchett. Gaiman is visibly upset and fighting back tears in the documentary ''Back in Black'' made after Terry's death, saying "I miss him so much".

* ''Violent Cases''

* ''Signal to Noise''