History Literature / ChooseYourOwnAdventure

* KidHero: The majority of the books in the series. One notable aversion is ''Your Code Name is Jonah'' (reissued as ''Spy Trap'') in which the protagonist is clearly an adult.

* AmbiguousGender: Except for a few books that need for you to be a certain gender to work (such as one where you are part of a Women's Olympic swim team) [[note]] ''The Gold Medal Secret'' [[/note]], your gender is presumably your own gender, even if the pictures show you as one or the other

* BalefulPolymorph: This trope is the whole point of ''You Are a Shark''. As punishment for dishonoring a Buddhist temple, the monk curses you to live the lives of many animals until you learn from your mistakes.

** In ''The Magic of the Unicorn'' you're a peasant girl.

** This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in that particular ending ("No one can choose to visit Ultima... nor can you get here by following directions") and other parts of the book, where some people speak of a world called Ultima that is impossible to get to by conventional means.
** In fact the book says of Ultima that "no one can get there by making choices or following instructions"--which of course is the whole idea behind Choose Your Own Adventure books. Kids who read ''Inside UFO 54-40'' were helped to find Ultima by a two-page illustration that starts the ending (said illustration being much bigger than any other ending in a CYOA book).

* LighterAndSofter: A couple of CYOA series were made for younger readers; in comparison to the original series, the stories were shorter and simpler, the [[DownerEnding Downer Endings]] were generally less severe, and the odds of reaching a [[Happy Ending]] were better.

* LighterAndSofter: A couple of CYOA series were made for younger readers that had fewer [[DownerEnding Downer Endings]] than the original series.

* TheAlibi: Everyone seemingly has one for the time of the titular character's murder in ''Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?'': his nephew Chartwell and prospective nephew-in-law Robert were both playing pool, while his wife Jane and niece Angela were both in the music room where the piano was heard to be played the whole time. In addition, the maid Helga had departed to visit her brother in hospital, and Angela was at a dentist's appointment an hour's drive away at the time when the arsenic used to poison Harlowe was stolen from the greenhouse via a break-in. [[spoiler:The true culprits, Robert and Angela, managed a two-handed alibi: she had an unshakable one for the time he broke into the greenhouse and stole the arsenic, and he for the time she poisoned Harlowe's brandy. The piano music being played at the time of the murder could only have been played by Jane, an accomplished pianist, and not Angela, a beginner.]]

* TillMurderDoUsPart: The title character of ''Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?'' asks you for help because he suspects that his wife Jane wants him dead. Later that evening, he is murdered... [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope but not by Jane.]]]]

Note: This is the entry for the actual ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' series. For the entire genre, see "{{Gamebooks}}".

* InfantImmortality: Averted. The main character is a teenager in most of the books. They can die. Many different ways. Crushed, eaten, drowning, fading into nonexistence, and many many more.

* TheManyDeathsOfYou: So many that there are [[http://loseyourownadventure.tumblr.com/ entire]] [[http://youchosewrong.tumblr.com/ blogs]] devoted to showcasing the worst ones.

* SpeculativeFiction: Some stories, such as ''Forecast From Stonehenge'' or ''Mystery Of The Maya'', get real imaginative about real-life ancient artifacts.

* {{Constellations}}: In one ending of ''The First Olympics'' you may be transformed into one, the "Guardian of the Bull [[note]]The constellation of Taurus[[/note]]".

''Note: This is the entry for the actual ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' series. For the entire genre, see "{{Gamebooks}}".''

** One can't be blamed if they see Kay Mallett in ''Statue of Liberty Adventure'' as an Expy for Margaret of ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenace'' fame.

* FairPlayWhodunnit: ''Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?''

[[caption-width-right:218:[-To confront the viking ghost, go to page 87. To flee the viking ghost, [[RailRoading go to page 87]]. To find out [[CoversAlwaysLie if the viking ghost is even in the book]], turn to the next page.-] ]]

** There are numerous examples in the artwork to the first page of ''Daredevil Park'': the character has a poster of [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpons Bart Simpson]], a model of [[Franchise/StarTrek the starship Enterprise]], and an issue of Magazine/{{MAD}} magazine on their bed.