History Literature / IAmLegend

* [[spoiler:HumansAreCthulhu]]: [[spoiler: How the partial vampires view Neville. In their eyes, he's an unstoppable monster from the old world slaughtering dozens of innocents during the days for seemingly no reason at all, and through his deeds, he becomes a monster of legends the same way vampires were for the humans, hence the title.]]

* VampireHunter: Guess who.

* [[spoiler:HumansAreCthulhu]]: [[spoiler: How the partial vampires views Neville. In their eyes, he's an unstoppable monster from the old world slaughtering dozens of innocents during the days for seemingly no reason at all, and through his deeds, he becomes a monster of legends the same way vampires were for the humans, hence the title.]]

* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler:Ruth]].

* [[spoiler:DarkIsNotEvil]]
* {{Deconstruction}}: Not only is it the UrExample of the zombie apocalypse, but it also deconstructs the notion of the last human survivors. In this world, the monsters have become the norm, and the last human is simply a relic of the past.

** Dead vampires crumble into dust when staked or otherwise killed. Neville remembers talking to a black gravekeeper who talked about vacuum-preserved corpses - any introduction of air would cause the corpses to [[ScienceMarchesOn crumble into dust.]]

Essentially the UrExample of the ZombieApocalypse genre, though it predates that particular usage of the word "zombie" by 28 years or so, which was first used in ''Film/DawnOfTheDead''. It was adapted to film four different times:

* ZombieApocalypse: Pretty much the UrExample, despite being written fourteen years before [[NightOfTheLivingDead the modern pop culture zombie]] was introduced.
** It's been said that George Romero got his idea for ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead'' after reading the book.

->''On those cloudy days, Robert Neville was never sure when sunset came, and sometimes they were in the streets before he could get back.''

* GoodAllAlong

** There are two distinct variations: those who were infected while still alive, and infected who have reanimated from the bacteria.

** Vampirism is caused by bacteria, and infects the living and dead. Living vampires are vulnerable to everything a human is vulnerable to, but dead vampires' lack of a heartbeat causes a vacuum that seals off any wound that isn't large (such as small arms fire). Hence why stakes are so effective: they force the wound open and bypasses the vampire's regeneration.
** Dead vampires crumble into dust when staked. Neville remembers talking to a black gravekeeper who talked about vacuum-preserved corpses - any introduction of air would cause the corpses to [[ScienceMarchesOn crumble into dust.]]

** There are two distinct variations: infected who are still alive, and infected who have reanimated from the bacteria.

** There are two distinct variations: those infected when alive, and those infected post-mortem.

* ''Film/TheOmegaMan'' (1971) -- starring Charlton Heston.

Essentially the UrExample of the ZombieApocalypse genre, though it predates that particular usage of the word "zombie" by 28 years or so, which was first used in ''Film/DawnOfTheDead''. It was adapted to film three different times:

* ThereIsAnother: [[spoiler:Subverted. When Ruth comes along, it appears that Neville might not be the only unaffected person still alive...And then it turns out that Ruth is TheMole for the partial vampires sent to spy on his defenses.]]

A 1954 novel by Creator/RichardMatheson about Robert Neville, the [[AfterTheEnd sole survivor of]] [[TheVirus a plague]] who by day hunts down the infected, now [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampire]] [[ZombieApocalypse Zombies]] and by night is hunted by them. Essentially the UrExample of the ZombieApocalypse genre, though it predates that particular usage of the word "zombie" by 28 years or so. (It was first used in ''Film/DawnOfTheDead''.)

It was adapted to film three different times:
* ''Film/TheLastManOnEarth'' (1964) -- starring Creator/VincentPrice.
* ''Film/TheOmegaMan'' (1971) -- starring Charlton Heston.
* ''Film/IAmLegend'' (2007) -- starring Creator/WillSmith.

''None'' of these movies used the ending of the original novel - and only the first one is even close to rest of the story.
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!!This novel provides examples of:

%% Moving YMMV entries back from the YMMV tab isn't OK. See WhatGoesWhereOnTheWiki.

* HeelRealisation: A rather poignant one.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: It's stated the vampires are dumb. Not zombie-dumb, but still idiots. Ben Cortman is an exception to this, and Neville latches on to finding out why to keep him sane. He finds:
** Almost all of the traditional wards against vampires are apparently psychological. Garlic may or may not be a sort of anti-placebo effect, and Neville further hypothesizes things like the cross and mirror to be a result of extreme self-loathing. The cross has no effect on his Jewish neighbor, but as soon as he gets out the Star of David and a Torah, Ben begins panicking and doing everything he can to get away from the symbols.

* TitleDrop: At the very end, no less.

* SurvivorGuilt: He has it ''worse'' than Will Smith, to the point of suffering several [[HeroicBSOD breakdowns.]]

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: It's stated the vampires are dumb. Not zombie-dumb, but still idiots. Ben Goldman is an exception to this, and Neville latches on to finding out why to keep him sane. He finds:

* DoingInTheWizard: The mythological traits of vampirism are all defined as either caused by the ''vampirus'' bacillum, or as a psychological reaction to the infected's [[GenreSavvy ealizing they've become a creature out of a pulp novel]]. On one occasion, Neville observes a vampire climbing a lamppost and jumping off, and presumes that the individual believed itself to be able to turn into a bat.

* DoingInTheWizard: The mythological traits of vampirism are all defined as either caused by the ''vampirus'' bacillum, or as a psychological reaction to the infected's realizing they've become a creature out of a pulp novel. On one occasion, Neville observes a vampire climbing a lamppost and jumping off, and presumes that the individual believed itself to be able to turn into a bat.

* ''The Last Man On Earth'' (1964) -- starring Creator/VincentPrice.