History Literature / GuildHunter

''Guild Hunter'' is a series of UrbanFantasy (with shades of ParanornalRomance) books by Nalini Singh.

''Guild Hunter'' is a series of UrbanFantasy books by Nalini Singh.

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Lijuan's "Reborn"...*brrr*

* VampireHunter: Organized by the Hunter's Guild, their main task is to [[BringItBackAlive bring them back alive]], dragging unruly vampires back to their Angelic masters for punishment. Lethal force is only used in extreme cases.

* OneWorldOrder: It's an Angels' world, we just live here--and we'd better not forget that.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: The world is divided up into territories, one for each Archangel, which they rule over as they see fit. In this universe, angels [[spoiler: produce a toxin that must be discharged regularly or they are driven insane]] so vampires are created from willing human populations. Guild Hunters exist to bring rogue vampires back to the angel that Made them, or destroy them if necessary.

* LightIsNotGood: Angels might look like incredibly beautiful humans...but [[StarfishAliens they're not human]].

* {{Badass}}: All the main and supporting cast, really. Comes from them being [[CouncilOfAngels Archangels]], [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angels]], [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampires]] and [[VampireHunter Guild Hunters]].

** BadassInCharge: Any Archangel is this.

* {{Badass}}: All the main and supporting cast, really. Comes from them being [[CouncilOfAngels Archangels]], [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angels]], [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampires]] and [[VampireHunters Guild Hunters]].

* {{Badass}}: All the main and supporting cast, really. Comes from them being Archangels, Angels, Vampires and Vampire Hunters.
** BadassBiker: Both Ransom and Janvier.

* NamesTheSame: With Elena from ''Literature/TheVampireDiaries'', with whom she also shares a striking physical resemblance.

* ActionGirl : Elena. Comes with being a [[VampireHunter Guild Hunter]].

* {{Irony}}: Elena's father threw her out on the street because she was "Hunter-Born", but it turns out that [[spoiler:he carried the "Hunter"-gene, and that his youngest daughter (with his second wife) is also Hunter-born]].

** Raphael vs. Uram in the first book tore up most of NewYorkCity. The entire Cadre vs. Zhou Lijuan in the second book made a crater where Beijing used to be.

* VampireHunter: Organized by the Hunter's Guild, their main task is to BringEmBackAlive, dragging unruly vampires back to their Angelic masters for punishment. Lethal force is only used in extreme cases.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: They generally stick to the "[[Literature/ThePrince be feared but not hated]]" truism, because it's better in the long run. But God (or another Angel or Archangel) help you if you piss them off- they will take you down without a second thought. Wars between Archangels are to be avoided at all costs- the fallout is not pretty.

In Nalini Singh's ''Literature/GuildHunter'' series, there's something for everyone- angels exist and they're impossible to get away from. The world is divided up into territories, one for each Archangel, which they rule over as they see fit. In this universe, angels [[spoiler: produce a toxin that must be discharged regularly or they are driven insane]] so vampires are created from willing human populations. Guild Hunters exist to bring rogue vampires back to the angel that Made them, or destroy them if necessary.
** BlueAndOrangeMorality: They generally stick to the "[[Literature/ThePrince be feared but not hated]]" truism, because it's better in the long run. But God (or another Angel or Archangel) help you if you piss them off- they will take you down without a second thought. Wars between Archangels are to be avoided at all costs- the fallout is not pretty.
*** Raphael vs. Uram in the first book tore up most of NewYorkCity. The entire Cadre vs. Zhou Lijuan in the second book made a crater where Beijing used to be.
** CouncilOfAngels: The Cadre of Ten, made up of the ten most powerful Archangels in the world. The number can dip as low as seven, but there's never meant to be more than ten; there's only so much of the planet, after all.
** DarkIsNotEvil: Raphael's special all-black room. Jason.
** HaveYouSeenMyGod: Archangels apparently answer to no one but themselves and their fellows in the [[CouncilOfAngels Cadre]].
** IWantThemAlive: The mission statement of the Hunter's Guild. Lethal force is used only as a last resort.
** {{Jerkass}}: Angels usually treat humans with contempt. Also, Elena's estranged father, Jeffery Devereaux, who seems to go out of his way to fit this trope.
*** {{Irony}}: Elena's father threw her out on the street because she was "Hunter-Born", but it turns out that [[spoiler:he carried the "Hunter"-gene, and that his youngest daughter (with his second wife) is also Hunter-born]].
** LightIsNotGood: Angels might look like incredibly beautiful humans...but [[StarfishAliens they're not human]].
** ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex: Elena, a human, falls in love with Raphael, an Archangel. This trope is heavily implied.
** NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Archangel Neha, a.k.a. "Queen of Snakes" and "Queen of Poisons".
** NotSoDifferent: They're immortal and super-powerful, but they bicker and fight among themselves like humans.
** OneWorldOrder: It's an Angels' world, we just live here--and we'd better not forget that.
** OurVampiresAreDifferent: Angels can turn humans into vampires, in exchange for a [[MagicallyBindingContract contract]] pledging 100 years of servitude. And if the vampires get any funny ideas about breaking the contract, they are reminded to ReadTheFinePrint, often forcefully. These vampires need blood, but they can stand direct sunlight and eat normal food in small amounts. They are not vulnerable to holy items (crosses, bibles, etc.). Younger vampires (under 200 years) can father mortal children with human women, but they cannot make more vampires; only angels can do that.
** OurZombiesAreDifferent: Lijuan's "Reborn"...*brrr*
** StrongerWithAge: Zig-zags on this. As a general rule, the older an immortal is, the stronger they are; Archangels, in general, are the oldest, strongest angels, but there are other factors as well- your lineage, natural events (like Cascades) and life experiences are all implied to have an effect on your power levels. As an example of this, Raphael is the youngest but one of the strongest of the Cadre and the de-facto leader, while Michaela, who is implied to be of a similar age, is much weaker. The same is true among lesser angels and vampires- Illium, considered young by angel standards, is on the verge of becoming an Archangel, whilst Anoushka, daughter of an archangel, stopped growing in power long before she was as old as he is.
** TookALevelInBadass: Elena, who is transformed [[spoiler:into an Angel]] at the end of the first book. This is [[HandWave Hand Waved]] as ThePowerOfLove, since even the angels don't know why it happens.
** TraumaCongaLine: When Elena was a child, [[spoiler:rogue vampire Slater Patalis tracked her to her house and broke in. He tortured her mother, and tortured and murdered two of her sisters. Elena and and her mother survived, but her mother committed suicide a few years later. Her father then blamed her, and disowned her when she became a Guild Hunter.]]
** VampireHunter: Organized by the Hunter's Guild, their main task is to BringEmBackAlive, dragging unruly vampires back to their Angelic masters for punishment. Lethal force is only used in extreme cases.
*** The best Hunters are the "Hunter-Born" like Elena, who are stronger and faster than normal humans, and can [[TheNoseKnows track vampires by their scent]] like two-legged bloodhounds.
** WhoWantsToLiveForever: Many humans are eager to become vampires, because they want eternal life and eternal youth. But for the angels and already-"Made" vampires, boredom starts to set in after a few centuries...or millenia. Angels have the option of hibernating for centuries (or millenia) in a near-comatose state, which they simply call "the Sleep". Vampires do not have this option.
** [[WingedHumanoid Winged Humanoids]]: Pretty much.