History Literature / LastLegionary

* FasterThanLightTravel: Overlight — a hyperdrive that allows a ship to travel the vast distances of space at [[LudicrousSpeed huge speeds]]; cutting cross-galactic travel to a matter of days and weeks and interstellar to hours and days. Intergalactic travel still takes a long time though.

* DistressCall: When Moros is attacked, all of the Legionaries who're away on missions or whatever are summoned back by Central Command. Once Command realised what was happening, they set up a warning beacon to try and keep those who were arrived later from trying to land.

* GenocideBackfire: The BigBad deciding the Legions of Moros were the major obstacle to him conquering the galaxy and that eliminating was the best course of action? Doesn't work out so well. The Legions weren't even aware of the Warlord's existence prior to the attack that left Keill the only survivor of his race.

* AbsentAliens: Although there are a wide variety of humanoid forms; they're all genetically human, just mutated by the effects of their respective environments; high-gravity worlds get shorter, heavier humans and so on. The only genuine alien is Glr, and her species isn't from the same galaxy.

* InstantSedation: Specialised dart-guns that carry a powerful soporific chemical. Also a gas bomb sneaked onto Keill's ship in one book knocks him out in a few seconds.

* {{Mutant}}: The people from the altered worlds, who have mutated to survive conditions that bear little resemblance to those of Earth. Most, if not all, of the Deathwing operatives are drawn from these worlds, due to their natural talents.

* StarterVillain: Lord Thr’un of Irruq-hoa, who leads the Warlord's advance fleet and massacred Keill's homeworld.

* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: Oni Wolda [[spoiler: who dies of radiation poisoning but manages to warn Keill in time for him to escape alive]]
* UnskilledButStrong: The One has no real combat training, but is strong enough to tear a man apart with his bare hands. Downplayed in the case of Lord Thr'un who while an orthodox and unimaginative fighter, is still well-trained in addition to being enormously muscular.

* WalkingShirtlessScene: Lord Thr'un always goes stripped to the waist. Justified--clothes would only get in the way of his organic armour's deployment.

* {{Foil}}: Keill and Altern are physical foils to one another. Where Keill is an incredibly fit men with unbreakable metal bones, The One is an EvilCripple who keeps his fragile body inside a gigantic metal exoskeleton.

* AxCrazy - Several of the bad guys are in it because they love to kill.
* BadassArmy - The Legions of Moros. Nuked by the BigBad ''because'' they are so scary.

* CombatTentacles - [[spoiler: Arachnis uses these both to restrain its victims and to mind-control them]]

* DeathWorld - Moros. It's how the Legionaries got so good at fighting, everything on their planet was out to kill them.

* DoomedHometown - The BigBad turns the Legionaries' home planet into a radioactive wasteland in order to stop them from deducing his existance and coming after him. [[LastOfHisKind One got away...]]

* FasterThanLightTravel: Overlight - a hyperdrive that allows a ship to travel the vast distances of space at [[LudicrousSpeed huge speeds]]; cutting cross-galactic travel to a matter of days and weeks and interstellar to hours and days. Intergalactic travel still takes a long time though.

* GladiatorGames - Keill participates in one [[spoiler: to draw out the enemies by attracting their attention]].

* HiveMind - [[spoiler: the [[BigBad Warlord]] is comprised of twenty four mindlinked humans connected to a biotech supercomputer]]

* ImplacableMan - Keill Randor. Vengeance does this to a man.

* InstantSedation - Specialised dart-guns that carry a powerful soporific chemical. Also a gas bomb sneaked onto Keill's ship in one book knocks him out in a few seconds.

* KungShui: "Demolition!" - In ''Young Legionary'' this is both a means of practicing hand-to-hand combat techniques and [[PercussiveTherapy letting off steam]] for the Morosians; rooms set up with various hard objects to smash. It's often used as a means of racing between two legionaries.
* LastOfHisKind - Keill Randor. [[spoiler: His strike group happened to be the furthest away when the recall order was given]]

* LittleGreenManInACan - Altern [[spoiler: is a mutated human with a small body and limbs which are tiny and almost non-functional. He relies on his golden exosuit for mobility.]]

* {{Prequel}} - ''Young Legionary''. Describes how Keill, and every other Legion member, became such a badass.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy - Keill Randor. What did you expect?
* PsychicBlockDefense - Glr uses telepathic mental shields [[spoiler:so alien that human telepaths cannot detect them, or the minds behind the shields.]]

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge - Keill smashes multiple enemy groups in his quest, but he most invokes the Roaring part during the final battle in ''Planet Of The Warlord.''
* StarfishAliens - Glr, who's essentially a telepathic space bat. And a child by the standards of her people at only 400 years old.
* StarterVillain - Lord Th'run of Irruq-hoa, who leads the Warlord's advance fleet and massacred Keill's homeworld.
* SuperStrength - The One [[spoiler: when he is wearing his golden armour as above]]
* TranquilFury - Part of why the Legions were so badass.

* UnluckyChildhoodFriend - Oni Wolda [[spoiler: who dies of radiation poisoning but manages to warn Keill in time for him to escape alive]]

* CreepyTwins: Two of the Deathwing operatives a brainwashed Keill has to train are reptilian twins from the Warlord's homeworld of Golvic.

* EvilAlbino: Quern, psychic Deathwing agent and MadScientist.

''Young Legionary'' was a prequel to the other Legionary books, though written later. It looks at Keill's training on his homeworld of Moros, and expands on the relationship with Oni Wonda that's hinted at in ''Galactic Warlord''.

->''This is a recording Keill. I am dying too. Will be dead when you hear this. Go Overlight and get away. Do not approach planet. Nothing to be seen or done. Save yourself if you still can. Warn other legionaries if there are any alive. And if you live try to find who did this evil. Avenge us Keill. Avenge the murder of Moros.''

* InstantArmour: Lord Thr'un can cover his torso with organic growths that resemble muddy colours slabs of leather.

A series of Young Adult books by the author Douglas Hill, the '''''Last Legionary''''' consisted of four main books as well as a prequel novel called, appropriately enough, ''Young Legionary''.

'''''Galactic Warlord''''' covers Keill returning to Moros and narrowly avoiding being killed along with everyone else, due to damage sustained in a brief spacefight. He vows to avenge his people and sets out to find out who committed the atrocity and whether there are any other survivors, which brings him into contact with the Overseers and Glr and also, a group of thugs masquerading as Legion survivors.

'''''Deathwing Over Veynaa''''' sees him set out on his first mission on behalf of Talis and the Overseers; to a civil war between asteroid miners and the Veynaan government. Agents of the Warlord, the Deathwing, are seeking to escalate the conflict and gain control over the valuable substance mined in the Veynaan asteroid belt.

'''''Day of the Starwind''''' has Randor investigate reports of mercenaries whose skills seem equal to the Legion's, taking him to the desolate world of Rilyn; where a rogue planetoid regularly brings massive storms known as the Starwind to its surface. There he finds the Deathwing at work once again; working to try and produce their own Legion; with clones of some of Moros' greatest warriors.

'''''Planet of the Warlord''''' was the final book in the quartet, and finally revealed the nature and homeworld of the sinister Warlord. Keill competes in the Battle Rites of Banthei in order to draw attention to himself and his enemies out of the shadows. It works all too well and Keill is captured. Can Glr rescue him from the clutches of the Deathwing before he reveals the location of the hidden Overseer base?

'''''Young Legionary''''' was a prequel to the other Legionary books, though written later. It looks at Keill's training on his homeworld of Moros, and expands on the relationship with Oni Wonda that's hinted at in ''Galactic Warlord''.

* {{Prequel}} - ''Young Legionary''. Describes how Keill, and every other Legion member, became such a {{Badass}}.

* {{Badass}} - The main character: last of a famously tough group of mercenaries, known throughout the galaxy as highly-skilled, thoroughly-trained badasses. Trained practically from birth to survive on a {{Deathworld}} and kill or incapacitate other people with his bare hands or [[ImprovisedWeapon whatever comes to them.]]
** BadassArmy - The Legions of Moros. Nuked by the BigBad ''because'' they are so scary.
** EmpoweredBadassNormal: Keill was already a {{Badass}} before he got his original bones replaced with almost unbreakable organic alloy replacements.

* ArmourIsUseless: Averted. Both Lord Th'run's natural armour, and The One's exoskeleton prove to be incredibly difficult for Keill to get through.

* BigBad: The Warlord, alias the Twenty-Four, alias Arachnis. Its schemes are responsible for every death we see in the series.

* DepravedDwarf: The One is not only crippled but dwarfed as well.

* DoomedHometown - The BigBad turns the Legionaries home planet into a radioactive wasteland in order to stop them from deducing his existance and coming after him. [[LastOfHisKind One got away...]]

* EvilGenius: The Warlord seems to have a few working for them. [[spoiler: Quern]] is the one responsible for developing the bizarre new radiation weapon that was used to kill off the population of Moros and the whole industry of [[spoiler: Golvic]] appears to be devoted to engineering ingenious armour for Altern. [[spoiler: Golvician scientists also created Arachnis]].

* StarterVillain - Lord Th'run of Irruq-hoa, who leads the Warlord's advance fleet.

* TheOnlyOne: The last survivor of a planet of [[BadassArmy highly-skilled and galaxy-reknowned mercenaries]] versus a shadowy Warlord and his powerful organisation. Fortunately, Keill Randor is a OneManArmy with [[MadeOfIron unbreakable bones]].

* {{Foil}}: Keill is an incredibly fit men with unbreakable metal bones. The One is an EvilCripple who keeps his fragile body inside a gigantic metal exoskeleton.

* MadeOfIndestructium: Keill's skeleton, after the Overseers have replaced his irradiated bones.

A series of Young Adult books by the author Douglas Hill, the Last Legionary consisted of four main books as well as a prequel novel called, appropriately enough, ''Young Legionary''.

** EmpoweredBadassNormal: Keill was already a {{Badass}} before he got his metal bones implanted.

* GoldColoredSuperiority: Altern, aka The One, is TheDragon to [[TheBigBad The Warlord]]. He comes decked out in a massive golden exoskeleton, which allows the otherwise crippled Altern to not only walk, but defeat nearly any adversary in combat.

* GladiatorGames - Keill participates in one [[spoiler: to draw out the enemies by attracting their attention]]