History Literature / JoesWorld

* CombatPragmatist: Benvenuti's weapons-training under his various uncles is firmly centered around this trope. If you can, stab 'em in the back at night while they are asleep. If you can't, go straight to the GroinAttack.

* OverlyLongGag: This is Les Six's whole schtick. They repeat and/or expound on everything six times.

* TagalongChronicler: Lampshaded and PlayedForLaughs. ''Forward the Mage'' is ostensibly put together by the Alfredae, chronicling lice who live in the voluminous body-hair of the protagonist Shelyid. They are frequently disdainful of everyone else and extremely snobbish, die quite frequently causing shifts in how they narrate, and complement their own narrative with other sources (which they often think are untrustworthy and biased). They are very much an UnreliableNarrator, but so is everyone else.

* AssholeVictim: A (fallen) angel comments in passing that pretty all the people that Grayboar has strangled have gone to hell.

* CoversAlwaysLie: Neither book's cover does a very good job depicting the scene which they are attempting to show, compared to the text.

* TheScrooge: Ignace's main motivation apart from drinking ale in The Trough is collecting as much money as possible and storing it under Greyboar's bed (''much'' safer than any bank!), though somewhat to his own bafflement, he develops other interests as the story progresses.

* TagalongChronicler: Lampshaded and PlayedForLaughs. 'Forward the Mage' is ostensibly put together by the Alfredae, chronicling lice who live in the body-hair of the protagonist Shelyid. They are frequently disdainful of everyone else and extremely snobbish, die quite frequently causing shifts in how they narrate, and complement their own narrative with other sources (which they often think are untrustworthy and biased). They are very much an UnreliableNarrator, but so is everyone else.

* WouldntHitAGirl: Gwendolyn grudgingly lets her brother Grayboar become a Professional Strangler on the condition that he never accepts a contract with a woman as his target. He rigorously abides by this, except for one instance where Gwendolyn gives him explicit written permission.

* CombatPragmatist: Benvenuti's weapons-training under his various uncles is firmly centered around this trope. If you can, stab 'em at night while they are asleep. If you can't, go straight to the GroinAttack.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: At no point in the narrative does ''anyone'' have anything good to say about Queen Belladonna.

* LeftHanging: Neither book ends on an overt cliffhanger, but all sorts of plotlines are left dangling: [[spoiler:Newly anointed Heroes Grayboar and Ignace are going off to fight a dragon, Ozarine armies are overrunning the continent, the Dwarves are all being herded into some sort of death-camp "experiment", and most momentous of all, Joe is reportedly coming back in some form]]. Sadly, it's been twenty years now, and co-author Flint is deceased, so any further installments are very unlikely.

* NoodleIncident: Along with the big one mentioned above, events and people are often alluded to by Ignace and not discussed, a typical example being how a section of the bar in The Trough came to be cursed and thus is never ''ever'' used.

* RiddleForTheAges: Pretty much everything to do with The Cat. Who Schrodinger is/was, why she's always looking for him, how she got herself out of a sealed stone chamber at the very bottom of a dungeon...

* TagalongChronicler: Lampshaded and PlayedForLaughs. 'Forward the Mage' is ostensibly put together by the Alfredae, chronicling lice who live in the hair of the protagonist Shelyid. They are frequently disdainful of everyone else and extremely snobbish, die quite frequently causing shifts in how they narrate, and complement their own narrative with other sources (which they often think are untrustworthy and biased). They are very much an UnreliableNarrator, but so is everyone else.

* WouldntHitAGirl: Gwendolyn grudgingly lets her brother Grayboar become a Professional Strangler on the condition that he never accepts a contract with a woman as his target. He rigorously abides by this.

Since then, the bosses, police, priests and God himself have fallen short of Joe's expectations. Even mentioning Joe is considered heresy (even though just about every feature of geography is named after him) and the common man is downtrodden. Luckily, there is [[LaResistance a resistance movement]] going on, led from the libertarian/anarchist nation of Mutt. And now, Joe's about to come back.

The second book, ''Forward the Mage'', written by Flint and Roach, has two separate storylines. One focuses on the artist/mercenary Benvenuti Sfondrati-Piccolomini and Greyboar's sister Gwendolyn, and the other on the wizard Zulkeh and his [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarven]] apprentice/slave Shelyid. The book is set mostly during the TimeSkip of the first book, providing some background on the first one and shedding light on the Noodle Incident.

* RunningGag: Again, mentions of the countless members of the Laebmauntsforscynneweëld clan and their various claims to fame.

* StarCrossedLovers: Benvenuti and Gwendolyn insist they are doomed to be this as long as they have their self-assigned duties to complete; narrator Ignace thinks they are both being idiots about the whole thing.

----

Since then, the bosses, police, priests and God himself have fallen short of Joe's expectations. Even mentioning Joe is considered heresy and the common man is downtrodden. Luckily, there is [[LaResistance a resistance movement]] going on, led from the [[strike:communist]] libertarian/anarchist nation of Mutt. And now, Joe's about to come back.

The second book, ''Forward the Mage'', written by Flint and Roach, has two separate storylines. One focuses on the artist/mercenary Benvenuti Sfondrati-Piccolomini and Greyboar's sister Gwendolyn, and the other on the wizard Zulkeh and his [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarven]] apprentice Shelyid. The book is set mostly during the TimeSkip of the first book, providing some background on the first one and shedding light on the Noodle Incident.

* MurderInc: Professional Stranglers' Guild
* NoodleIncident: Along with the big one mentioned above, events and people are often alluded to and not discussed, a typical example being how a section of the bar in The Trough came to be cursed and thus is never ''ever'' used.

* SolidGoldPoop: Dwarves' lives get significantly less pleasant when it is discovered that it is trivially easy to transform dwarf excrement into pure gold. (This is another NoodleIncident in the first novel, Ignace mentions that things really suck for the dwarves without ever going into detail.)

* BloodBrother: This is essentially Ignace's relationship with Grayboar and Gwendoline, though they never swore a formal oath or anything.

The first book, ''The Philosophical Strangler'' written by Flint alone, tells the tale of Greyboar, the greatest [[ProfessionalKiller professional strangler]] around, and his agent Ignace. The book opens with an account of what was supposed to be a routine royal strangulation; the crown prince of Sundjhab wants his uncle, the king, dead. The job goes smoothly until Greyboar declares the king his guru, and strangles him as a matter of [[EvenEvilHasStandards professional ethics]]. [[InsaneTrollLogic Naturally]], Greyboar then has to strangle the prince for hiring him to strangle his own guru.

After a TimeSkip, the story picks up with Ignace and Greyboar back in [[HurricaneOfPuns New Sphinctr, the capital of Sphinctria, a kingdom on the continent of Grotum]], after a NoodleIncident in Prygg, among other things. What follows is a number of separate stories relating to the general story.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: It's very easy to forget that Greyboar is a mass-murderer and Ignace his willing accomplice.

* HangingJudge: The resident magistrate actually thinks that hanging is ''too good'' for criminal scum.

* RiddleForTheAges: Pretty much everything to do with Schrodinger's Cat. Who Schrodinger is/was, why she's always looking for him, how she got herself out of a sealed stone chamber at the very bottom of a dungeon...

* UndergroundRailroad: One exists for the dwarves as they attempt to escape their ongoing persecution.

* FiveManBand: there is a group called Les Cinq, as well as Les Six and Les Sept, going around.

''Joe's World'' is a series created by Creator/EricFlint and Richard Roach, consisting of two books so far with several more in the pipeline.

The first book, ''The Philosophical Strangler'' by Eric Flint, tells the tale of Greyboar, the greatest [[ProfessionalKiller professional strangler]] around, and his agent Ignace. The book opens with an account of what was supposed to be a routine royal strangulation; the crown prince of Sundjhab wants his uncle, the king, dead. The job goes smoothly until Greyboar declares the king his guru, and strangles him as a matter of [[EvenEvilHasStandards professional ethics]]. [[InsaneTrollLogic Naturally]], Greyboar then has to strangle the prince for hiring him to strangle his own guru.

The second book, ''Forward the Mage'', written with Richard Roach, has two separate storylines. One focuses on the artist/mercenary Benvenuti Sfondrati-Piccolomini and Greyboar's sister Gwendolyn, and the other on the wizard Zulkeh and his [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarven]] apprentice Shelyid. The book is set mostly during the TimeSkip of the first book, providing some background on the first one and shedding light on the Noodle Incident.

* NoodleIncident: Along with the big one mentioned above, events are often alluded to and not discussed, a typical example being how a section of the bar in The Trough came to be cursed and thus is never ''ever'' used.

* SolidGoldPoop: Dwarves' lives get significantly less pleasant when it is discovered that it is trivially easy to transform dwarf excrement into pure gold. (This is another NoodleIncident in the first novel, Ignace mentions that things really suck for the dwarves without ever going into detail.)

* TakeThat: When the protagonists visit the underworld, one chapter is a vicious parody of ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Dante' Inferno''.

* EasyComeEasyGo: The Queen of Sphinctr's favor and disfavor

* SolidGoldPoop: Dwarves' lives get significantly less pleasant when it is discovered that it is trivially easy to transform dwarf excrement into pure gold.

* HumanKnot: Greyboar the strangler is renowned for tying enemies into knots, especially their necks, and takes a professional pride in making each knot a different one. He also sometimes ties his foster brother and agent, Ignace.

* InWhichATropeIsDescribed: the chapter titles of ''Forward the Mage'' take this UpToEleven.

* BadassGrandpa: The elders in Sign of the Through are generally considered heroes since they've survived to a ripe old age in Flankn, the rougher neighborhood of New Sphinctr
* BadGuyBar: The Sign Of The Trough

* YouFailLogicForever: Zulkeh, whose theories include that practice follows from theory. Do note that the other characters [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] this frequently.

''Joe's World'' is a series created by EricFlint and Richard Roach, consisting of two books so far with several more in the pipeline.

* {{Badass}}: Greyboar, Benvenuti and [[spoiler:Shelyid]]

* LikeABadassOutOfHell

* CloudCuckooLander: Schrodinger's Cat

* MurderInc

** When [[spoiler: Shelyid]] finally loses his temper, it is described, before HilarityEnsues with an OverlyLongGag that ends with [[spoiler: Shelyid]] lost his temper like Dispater, the archduke of hell, lost the keys to paradise and the hope of eternal salvation.

The first book, ''The Philosophical Strangler'' by Eric Flint, tells the tale of Greyboar, the greatest [[CareerKillers professional strangler]] around, and his agent Ignace. The book opens with an account of what was supposed to be a routine royal strangulation; the crown prince of Sundjhab wants his uncle, the king, dead. The job goes smoothly until Greyboar declares the king his guru, and strangles him as a matter of [[EvenEvilHasStandards professional ethics]]. [[InsaneTrollLogic Naturally]], Greyboar then has to strangle the prince for hiring him to strangle his own guru.