History Literature / ArtemisFowl

%%** The ending of ''Eternity Code'':
%%--> Together we will be unstoppable.

* ArmourPiercingQuestion
-->'''Spiro:''' Artemis . . . Isn't that a girl's name?[[labelnote:Answer]]while the Greek goddess Artemis was indeed female, Mr. Fowl is quick to point out that the name itself is genderless in Greek.[[/labelnote]]

* BavarianFireDrill: Juliet pulls one by joining a SWAT team in book three. Artemis also pulls them frequently.

* BriarPatching: When Spiro orders Pex and Chips to kill Mulch, Mulch goads them into burying him alive . . . which doesn't bother him in the slightest, since he's a naturally subterranean fairy.
* CameraSpoofing: One of Foaly's favourite tricks. He sends Artemis a loop in the first book -- he's only fooled for a few minutes, but quite a lot happens during those minutes. In ''Eternity Code'', he gives Artemis a device that will wipe their team from Spiro's monitors, as long as they keep moving, and hacks Phonetix's cameras as part of the plot to trap Spiro into trying to rob them.

* CastFromLifespan: An odd {{inver|tedTrope}}sion in ''Eternity Code''; when Butler is healed from a fatal gunshot wound, the healing consumes about fifteen years of his life force, visibly aging him -- but Foaly opines that (somehow) this is likely to result in him living ''longer''.

* DumbassHasAPoint: After Spiro finally convinces Artemis to unlock the C-Cube, his two DumbMuscle bodyguards suggest using it to [[spoiler:break into Phonetix and steal their secret plans]]. As he points out, an idea that good is unusual for them. [[spoiler:And indeed it was never their idea at all, but Artemis's, planted via Holly's ''mesmer'']].
* EveryoneIsArmed: At the restaurant in the beginning, it turns out every single patron except Artemis, Butler, and Spiro hismelf is a mook hired by Spiro.
* EyesAlwaysAverted: In the second book, a scientist working for Spiro does his best not to look when a MafiaPrincess is talking to prepare for if he gets called as a witness.
* FakeMemories: Foaly explains that the mind will naturally create false memories to fill the gaps left by a mind-wipe.

* GladYouThoughtOfIt: Indirectly in ''Eternity Code'' -- Artemis's [[ThePlan Plan]] requires Spiro to try [[spoiler:using the C-Cube to break into Phonetix]], but of course Spiro will never do that if Artemis suggests it, so he has Holly ''mesmerize'' the minions into suggesting it at the critical moment.

* HarmlessFreezing: Averted. Dr. Constance Lane explains the complex process for preserving frozen bodies when Artemis turns to cryonics to [[spoiler:preserve Butler's body]] in ''The Eternity Code''. The healing Holly subsequently performs is made more difficult by [[spoiler:Butler's body having been frozen]].
* HeelFaceBrainwashing: the protagonists mind-wipe [[PsychoForHire Loafers McGuire]] after [[HeKnowsTooMuch he finds out about the fairy world]]. They completely erase his personality, making him think he's named "Nuru", and drop him off in a village in Kenya. Later in the book, [[spoiler:Artemis, Butler, and Juliet undergo LaserGuidedAmnesia as well, though the LEP are more careful this time and only erase the parts having to do with fairies. Ironically, this wipes out all the CharacterDevelopment Artemis had over the past three books, turning him back into a VillainProtagonist]].
* IllKillYou: Loafers in ''Eternity Code'', after he finally has enough of Mulch's taunting:

* IWasNeverHere: Artemis and Foaly with his marvel-tech convince Spiro of this, having wiped Arty's presence from all security tapes.
* KarmicThief: At one point, Artemis Fowl resolves to focus his efforts solely on stealing from the wealthy and corrupt. But he explicitly says he is not aiming to be JustLikeRobinHood.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: The fairy technology called a "mind-wipe" can accomplish this, but it's costly and labor-intensive. Used on a random Mafia goon and Artemis after ''The Eternity Code''.

* MagicalComputer: The Cube. Will do anything for you, starting with hacking military satellites (human or fairy), and moving on to diagnosing any medical conditions you have.
* MemoryGambit: the set-up.

* SwissBankAccount: Artemis Fowl has several, though probably not as many as when he was still (moderately) evil. A couple of villains (most notably in ''The Eternity Code'') also have Swiss Bank Accounts, ripe for Artemis to dig his fingers into.
* TattooAsCharacterType: In ''Eternity Code'' Arno Blunt's neck tattoos clearly mark him as a thug--and make him easy to identify. {{Lampshade}}d in a different plotline when Loafers's tattoo artist talks him out of neck tattoos for the same reason.

* AmnesiacDissonance: An odd case. After recovering from his mind-wipe, Artemis sees that he was regressing to his old criminal ways, as he had predicted he would. After all, his character growth had been the result of his experiences with the People . . . so removing all memory of those experiences negates all the good they had done him. Holly is visibly nervous when he brings this up because she knows how terrifyingly amoral he used to be.

* BuryingASubstitute: [[spoiler:Julius Root's]] funeral in ''The Opal Deception'' is carried out with an empty casket because he was killed in a bomb blast, and there weren't any remains to be buried.
* ButHeSoundsHandsome: ''The Opal Deception'' is presented in the prologue as documents found on a fairy blog believed but not proven to be run by Foaly. The opening commentary in those documents claims that Foaly is the real hero of the story.

* DefeatMeansMenialLabor: After Opal's scheme is foiled, her escape pod crashes into a farm. She has just enough magic to mesmer the farmer into believing she's her daughter, but not enough to get out of doing chores, and ends up spending several weeks digging potatoes and feeding pigs.
* DumbassTeenageSon: Artemis plays this to a tee as part of a plot to steal a valuable painting. He poses as the dim-witted, smart-mouthed, video-game obsessed son of his bodyguard, Butler, as a successful distraction to the fact that's really a TeenGenius who's about to pull off the theft of the most sought-after piece of art in the criminal world.

-->'''Root''': Okay, we can shoot. But what if we get shot?\\

* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: After escaping the LEP at the end of ''The Opal Deception'', Opal encounters a woman running a vineyard and uses up the last of her magic to mesmer her into thinking that Opal is her daughter. To Opal's horror, the woman concludes that having a child means having an unpaid farmhand to help with the work. So rather than being treated as the pampered, precious treasure that Opal sees herself as, she finds herself forced to do ''manual labor''. She's almost relieved when the LEP finally comes to take her away.

* HuntingTheRogue: After having been [[FrameUp framed]] for [[spoiler:the murder of Commander Root]], Holly Short had to hide from the LEP.

* IDontPayYouToThink: Opal Koboi's treatment of the Brill brothers in ''The Opal Deception'' basically amounts to this. At one point, she even tells them not to so much as think in her direction and almost manages to convince them that she can tell when they're doing so.

* ILied: Opal Koboi, regarding [[spoiler:the explosive strapped to Julius Root supposedly having had a "sweet spot," which, if Holly had hit accurately, would have saved Root's life]].

* INeedYouStronger: In ''The Opal Deception'', Opal waits a year before having herself revived from her self-induced coma. This is partly because she wanted to throw off suspicion. It's also, though, because she wanted to wait until Artemis, Butler, Holly, Commander Root, and Foaly were all back at the top of their game before unleashing her new plan, so that victory would be that much sweeter.

* MacGyvering: Artemis steals a painting from a heavily guarded bank vault using part of a scooter, his braces, and a portable videogame player. Subverted in that the braces were only to hide the stolen vault keys, the game player was actually an X-ray scanner, and the scooter was a highly specialised custom-built key turning device.
* MemoryGambit: the payoff.

* OutGambitted: In the ''Opal Deception'', Artemis [[spoiler: does this to Opal in spectacular fashion]].
* RecordedSplicedConversation: In ''The Opal Deception'', Artemis needs an excuse to get out of school for a few days. He uses an audio editor to turn a relatively light-hearted conversation he'd just had with his mother into an angry voice mail for the principal of his school, accusing him of lax standards that have resulted in Artemis getting a nasty case of food poisoning that will require him to come home for a few days to recuperate.
* SadisticChoice: At the beginning of ''The Opal Deception'', Opal forces Holly to choose between [[spoiler:saving Commander Root and Artemis]], then [[HopeSpot compounds the sadism]] by offering her a false [[TakeAThirdOption third option]]. [[spoiler:To add even more insult to injury, Opal didn't give Holly enough time to save Artemis even if Holly ''had'' left immediately, and it's only thanks to Butler that Artemis survives]]. When Artemis is given all the facts of the confrontation, he (in his own way) assures Holly that she did everything possible and even ''he'' can't think of a way she could have escaped that trap without prior knowledge of the situation she was about to find.
* ShinyNewAustralia: Opal promises her henchmen Barbados in ''The Opal Deception''.

* StepServant: PlayedWith. A rare LaserGuidedKarma example mixed with BlackComedy. ''The Opal Deception'', the villainess Opal is flying from the LEP when she crashes into the plantation of an old Italian woman. Having a pineal gland implanted on herself to become human (though still small as a pixie), she uses her last magic to hypnotize the woman into thinking that Opal is her daughter Belinda. Since Opal once used that trick with a rich man who spoiled her rotten, she thinks that history will repeat. Instead, the old woman immediately treats Opal as her slave, forcing to do all the choirs (with tools too big for her)under the threat of locking her up without food. And telling her to not make faces because MiseryBuildsCharacter. This is just for the first day. When the LEP found Opal, her hands were completely ruined by working on the woman's vinedo, doing all the laundry, cleaning the pig pan and peeling uncountable piles of potatoes.

* TreatedWorseThanThePet: Opal's airplane crashes in the vinedo of an old Italian woman. To avoid being found by LEP agents, the villainous pixie uses her last bit of power to mesmerize the woman into thinking that she is her daughter, Belinda. A big mistake, for Opal's "mother" forces her into slaving on the vinedo with a spade too big for a pixie, doing the laundry, and cooking dinner, under threat of locking her away [[DeniedFoodAsPunishment "with a pile of potatoes to peel and none to eat"]]. Among her endless tasks, Opal has to clean the pigs' place. She is almost happy when the fairy police finally find her.
* ATrueStoryInMyUniverse: The fairies are working on a movie based on the events of ''The Arctic Incident'' with computer generated versions of Artemis and Butler.

* AccidentalHug: Butler does this to Artemis in the fifth book and then pulls away, embarrassed. (Artemis doesn't mind.)

* TheBigBadShuffle: In ''The Lost Colony'', [[ChildProdigy Minerva Paradizo]]'s plot to [[ForScience capture and study]] a demon is subsumed by [[DragonWithAnAgenda Billy Kong]]'s desire to avenge his older brother (who claimed to be fighting demons to cover up his gang activities), which is in turn overshadowed by Leon Abbot's destructive reign on Hybras.
* CallBack: While talking Holly through a new advanced security system, Commander Vinyaya mentions that the fingerprint scanner cannot be fooled by a severed finger due to the lack of pulse. This is a direct callback to Artemis' morally dubious method of bypassing Spiro's security system in the third book -- clearly Foaly was paying attention.

* EmbarrassingFirstName: In ''The Lost Colony,'' [[spoiler: Abbot, the BigBad of the demons, was named after a character from a trashy romance novel taken from the human world, as are all demons when they come of age. His true demon name is N'zall, which means "little horn" in the demon language.]]

* MagicKnight: Demons in ''The Lost Colony'' are divided into two castes: ordinary demons develop no magical power but metamorphose into monstrous forms when they come of age, while warlocks develop magical talent instead of muscle. [[spoiler:Demon warlord Leon Abbott managed to steal some magical power from a warlock when he interrupted a spellcasting ritual and caused a freak accident, and uses the stolen magic to secretly bewitch the rest of demonkind into serving him.]]

* UnconventionalVehicleChase: former criminal and master driver Doodah Day is recruited specifically to drive a child's electric car as a diversion. It involves fleeing from gunfire.

* WithDueRespect: Holly tells Foaly that the guidelines which suggest that in her situation she should retreat to a safe distance and construct a bivouac are "with respect ... a pile of troll weevils." Foaly, who helped to write those guidelines, asks if she actually knows what respect means.
* WeWantOurJerkBack: The predominant sentiment of anyone dealing with [[spoiler: Orion]]. Played for every ounce of humour and pain it's worth.

** During ''The Atlantis Complex'', Foaly suspects Opal is behind the latest plot to destroy Haven. As it's an odd-numbered book, [[spoiler: it's [[TheBusCameBack Turnball Root]].]]

* LuxuryPrisonSuite: Turnball Root manages to get one of these, receiving each item as a reward for selling out his former comrades.
** The luxuries in question include: His old LEP Dress Uniform, (which is described to lookas though it came from the 1700s) A computer limited to the prison network, complete with a wooden desk, and a comfy quilt for his bed; After getting Vishby on his side, he gets some other harmless luxuries, including an extra blanket for his bed and some reading material not in the prison system, and a web camera for his computer.

* OurFairiesAreDifferent: They cal themselves "the People": They're technologically advanced, isolationist, and disainful of the "Mud People". Interestingly, all of the fairies share a common ancestor: pterosaurs. Species we've seen:

** Trolls: Hulking, shaggy, apelike predators, nonsapient, with retractable claws and venomuous bites.
* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: They are LizardFolk, can conjure fireballs, and are the stupidest sentient race on the planet.

* NeverASelfMadeWoman

* TheFairFolk: "The People": Arrogant and annoyed with the Mud People, yes. The first fairy we meet in the series comes close to being genuinely scary (though later ones are much less so; despite their contempt for humans they don't act terribly different from us, give or take a few cultural mores). Interestingly, all of the fairies share a common ancestor: pterosaurs. Species we've seen:
** Elves: About three feet tall on average, with the proportions and appearance of an adult human. Have pointy ears and exceptionally strong healing powers.
*** Atlantian elves: Some elves living in {{Atlantis}} have evolved fish-like attributes such as scales and gills.
** Dwarfs: Perhaps slightly taller than elves, seeing as Mulch frequently passes as a ''very'' short human. Generally resemble squat, hairy elves. Have little magic but a myriad of evolved [[BizarreAlienBiology gifts]] from their eons of tunnelling.
** Goblins: Look almost nothing like elves, apart from size. They're [[LizardFolk humanoid lizards]] with forked tongues and the ability to conjure fireballs. Magic-less and ''incredibly'' stupid.
** Gnomes: Perpetual {{red shirt}}s of the fairy world, gnomes are basically fatter, uglier elves. All seem to be {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s.
** Pixies: Smaller and slighter than elves. Delicate but fierce.
** Sprites: Like elves, but green-skinned and possessed of functional wings.
** Demons: Taller than other species, at around four to five feet. Scaly, horned, extremely strong, with stubby tails. Magic-less except for the warlocks, who never "warp"--the painful process of accelerated puberty demon imps undergo.
** Centaurs: Pretty much what it says on the tin, but much, much smaller. Magic-less; rely on intellect, which they have in spades.
** Trolls: See AllTrollsAreDifferent. They certainly are.

* OurFairiesAreDifferent: and they have [[AC:GUNS!]]

** It's implied that he intends this for Holly as well after Leonore regains her youth and they are able to escape in one piece.

* AirVentPassageway: in ''The Arctic Incident''. Artemis has to crawl through a duct filled with fuel for the building's plasma weapons. Before his helmet runs out of air. Without being able to see where he's going. Knowing full well that if anyone turns on the plasma cannons, he's toast. Not to mention that once he gets out, he has to be sprayed with anti-radiation foam or he'll likely develop cancer.

* ClipItsWings: Chix Verbil is hit in the wing with a soft nose laser during the events of the ''Arctic Incident''. Holly manages to save his life with some quick thinking and [[HealingHands faerie magic]], but since the blow ruptured several major arteries, she reckons that he'll never fly again.

* ArtisticLicenseChess: One of Artemis Fowl's disguises is as a teen chess prodigy, bolstered by the fact that when [[IAmOneOfThoseToo a checkpoint official who happened to be a chess grandmaster]] doubted him, Artemis trounced him easily. All well and good, but the text claims Artemis won in only six moves -- highly improbable against even a vaguely-competent player, much less a grandmaster.

* JustOneSecondOutOfSync: How Time Stops work. [[spoiler:Also how Artemis manages to escape the time-stop: he works out that a person cannot fall asleep or remain awake in the time-stop, so taking a sedative will remove them from it. [[CrazyPrepared Being Artemis]], he tested this using Angeline's sleeping pills first: if it hadn't worked, he would have surrendered to the [=LEP=]]].

* JustOneSecondOutOfSync: How Time Stops work.

* {{Fanservice}}: Both graphic novels released so far have found an excuse to showcase Holly in a somewhat . . . [[ShowerOfAngst revealing]] [[VictoriasSecretCompartment light]]. The scenes in question ''were'' both in the original books, though.

* TheDitz: Lilli Frond, the token blonde airhead in the LEP.

* NeverASelfMadeWoman
** Juliet grew up wanting nothing more than to duplicate her brother's accomplishments as a bodyguard and live up to the family name. Book 3 has her coming to terms with this attitude. Unfortunately for Juliet fans, her refusal of the bodyguard profession and conscious attempt to [[TookALevelInBadass level in badass]] mean [[LeavingYouToFindMyself joining a lucha libre troupe in Mexico and disappearing for the next three books]].
** Subverted with Opal Koboi. Even though her father was already successful in her chosen field, he never encouraged or helped her in any way and basically wanted her to stay in the kitchen. Her company quickly put his company out of business.
** Averted with Holly. She's actually the first female LEP Recon officer, a major plot point of Book 1.

* HuntingTheRogue: After having been [[FrameUp framed]] for [[spoiler:the murder of Commander Root]], Holly Short had to hide from the LEP.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: [[spoiler:There's ''no way'' Amnesty International would have been able to keep Spiro's fortune, which Artemis donated to them. Even though Spiro will be a convicted criminal, he'd still be able to claim that the money transfer wasn't his -- and while Artemis' SwissBankAccount is likely well hidden enough that the "finder's fee" could never be recovered, this won't be the case for Amnesty]].