History Literature / MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard

** [[spoiler:Frey]] assures Magnus that his mother would be proud of him towards the end of ''The Sword of Summer''.
** The "affirmations portion" of the slideshow is this for all of our heroes.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* SelfImposedChallenge: In the third book, Samirah, throughout the entire, dangerous monster-infested with 99.9% chance-of-being-killed, journey to Niflheim, fasts due to her Ramadan duties. She doesn't really have to do it (you can postpone it later if you can't manage, as Amir states), but she ''insists''. [[spoiler: Magnus talks about this crazy task during his flyting duel with Loki. [[HiddenDepths Some jotnar apparently understand and applaud it]].]]

** Alex, who is genderfluid, was disowned by her heteronormative father.

* JediTruth: Negotiations with Frost Giants are filled with this.

*** When Magnus is on the phone with Annabeth at the end, he notices that she sound's like she's been crying. When asked about it, she tells him that she just got some bad news, [[spoiler:which turns out to be Jason's death from fighting Caligula.]]

** TheChick: Blitz, who's more on the non-combatant side of things.

* TakeThat / [[SelfDeprecation Take That Me]]:
** The paradox ingredients in [[spoiler: Fenris's]] new rope are Wi-Fi with no lag, a politician's sincerity, a printer that prints, healthy deep-fried food, and an interesting grammar lecture.
** A slight one to previous works: A 'rare child of Odin' is shown entering Valhalla after performing a great deed: and is promptly never mentioned again, a take that directed at Percy Jackson and Jason Grace, as well as fan expectations that Magnus would have a similar origin.
** [[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians "A pen sword. That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard."]]
** Magnus thinks [[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians "The Mead Thief"]] is a really bad name for a novel.

** In ''Hammer of Thor,'' Blitzen chooses [[Machinima/RedVsBlue "Password"]] as the magical password to activate an enchantment that changes the size of a bowling bag.

* NamedWeapons: Aside from legendary weapons like Sumarbrandr and {{Mjolnir}}, [[UpToEleven the Dwarves have a field day with this one]]. Their craftsman culture is so strong that ''everything'' has to be uniquely made and introduced by its name and history, right down to bottles and furniture. Junior even has a named walker: Granny Shuffler.

* OurGiantsAreBigger: The giants from the ''Percy Jackson'' books are usually only about 12 feet tall. The tallest designed to fight gods max out around forty to fifty feet. Typhoon, the largest and most powerful giant in Greek mythology, is describe as around the size of a skyscraper. The average Giants in Jotunheim can easily get up to 2,000 feet or taller(and given a lot of giants have magic and shape-shifting probably ''much, much'' bigger) which is why a god with the universe's most powerful weapon is needed to keep them at bay. The largest, Ymir, [[UpToEleven was used to create the Earth.]]

** Not Loki, but Sigyn. She catches the venom from the serpent to stop it from dripping into Loki's face. Her own sons were slaughtered to make the bindings. The very person she tries not to hurt (but still gets hurt anyway when she has to throw the venom away) ''still'' treats her with disdain ''and'' regularly cheats with her (And can even project himself outside). She hasn't spoken in a thousand years. What's extra worse, she wasn't told to do this -- she ''chose'' to because she loves her husband. No wonder [[TheWoobie she tears blood]].

* {{Expy}}: Magnus appears to be this to Percy, being a snarky teenage demigod with an InnerMonologue who misses a deceased mother at the start of the story, but it becomes clear he's his own person as the story continues. His biggest difference is his lack of skill with/hatred for fighting.

* ''Hotel Valhalla Guide to the Norse Worlds'' - August 16th, 2016
* ''9 from the Nine Worlds'' - October 2nd, 2018

** Not Loki, but Sigyn. She catches the venom from the serpent to stop it from dripping into Loki's face. Her own sons were slaughtered to make the bindings. The very person she tries not to hurt (but still gets hurt anyway when she has to throw the venom away) ''still'' treats her with disdain ''and'' regularly cheats with her (And can even project himself outside). She hasn't spoken in a thousand years. What's extra worse, she wasn't told to do this - she ''chose'' to because she loves her husband. No wonder [[TheWoobie she tears blood]].
** [[spoiler: Loki finally gets his comeuppance with this fate at the end of the series. He's chained, check. Venom drips on his face, check. He's bound even more that he can't project himself, check. Sigyn is given a chance to leave him, check. All he's gotta do is to wait for Ragnarok, where he'll meet his end.]]

** Subverted - [[spoiler: Frey says that he'd understand it would look like this, but Magnus breaks the spell by hugging him, as he's not going to miss the chance.]]

* TheBabyOfTheBunch: In his travelling company, Magnus is the youngest by at least a year.

* BookEnds: The Ship of the Dead begins and ends with Magnus and Alex sitting on the roof of Randolph's mansion together. The only difference is that at the end [[spoiler: they're holding hands.]]

--> Magnus: By the way, I’ve been homeless for the past two years. Some of you may think, aw, how sad. Others may think, ha, ha, loser! But if you saw me on the street, ninety-nine percent of you would walk right past like I’m invisible. You’d pray, don’t let him ask me for money [...] then you’d keep walking. Whatever. I don’t need your sympathy. I’m used to being laughed at. I’m definitely used to being ignored. Let’s move on.

* EarlyBirdCameo: John Henry is mentioned here in passing before having a much larger role in the Rick Riordan Presents book 'Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky'.

** TheLeader: Magnus leads the party
** TheLancer: Samirah is there to provide both aid and critique
** TheBigGuy: Sumarbrandr does the most "heavy lifting"
** TheSmartGuy: Hearth and his spells
** TheChick: Blitz, who's more on the non-combatant side of things
** TheSixthRanger: Alex, who joins up in the second book

* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: The only ArrangedMarriage that is played for drama is when Loki tries to marry Samirah off. Samirah herself is already in one with a family friend, and they are in a relationship with one another - which is ''not'' played for drama. [[ShownTheirWork Many arranged marriages these days actually do include the children in the decision]].

*** On top of that, there's the fact that Samirah and her fiance were in fact included in the decision of their ArrangedMarriage - this is actually much more common in the twenty first century ''and'' in the west.

* StupidEvil: Ratatosk, Nidhogg, and the birds of Yggdrasill all play TheGadfly to each other despite ''knowing'' the anger it gives them can potentially cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and that it would kill them too.
* SqueamishAboutSlaughter: Downplayed in the first book, when Magnus, Sam, and Hearthstone have to help Thor slaughter his [[ResurrectiveImmortality two goats that resurrect every day as long as the bones aren’t broken and put back in their pelts]] in order for them to have a meal. Magnus finds the whole process pretty gross, but the great smell of the sizzling goat meat and his hunger quickly helps him get over it.
* TakeThat / [[SelfDeprecation Take That Me]]:

** Samirah al-Abbas is a very devout Muslim girl, up to an incluiding being engaged for a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage at 16, wearing a hijab all the time, enduring Ramadan fasts during a quest, and praying five times a day.

* YourDaysAreNumbered: Related to the above YouCantFightFate. All of the Einherjar will die horrible deaths in Ragnorak. Though they can do whatever they can to delay it, it's confirmed that it's set in stone and will happen eventually.

* IHaveYourWife: The epilogue reveals that [[spoiler: Loki is forcing Randolph to work for him because he's holding Randolph's wife and daughters hostage. Of course, this being [[ConsummateLiar Loki]], it's best to take his claims with a grain of salt.]]

* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Natalie, Magnus's mom, is only ever spoken of in a positive way. Likewise, Sam's mother, Ayesha, though she's not old enough to remember her.

** Magnus lost his mother in an unexplained wolf attack before the start of the series and has spent the last two years as a hobo.

** Alex, as a genderfluid, was disowned by their heteronormative father.

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: In Hotel Valhalla, everyone dies all the time and enjoys it, because ''einherjar'' can't die permanently as long as Odin doesn't want it.

** Though Magnus' situation definitely pales in comparison to his teammates. Blitz's father [[DeathByOriginStory died building the prison for Fenris Wolf]], Hearth's is [[AbusiveParents abusive]], Alex's [[HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster reject her]], while Sam has [[BigBad Loki]] as a father.

** Subverted with Halfborn, who is the first to refer to Alex as an "argr" but later it becomes clear that this is his way of being respectful of her gender.

* {{Expy}}: Magnus appears to be this to Percy, being a snarky teenage demigod with an InnerMonologue who misses a deceased mother at the start of the story,
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: The journey to stop Loki pretty much changes everyone in the Big Banana. Not only is Loki imprisoned and Ragnarok averted (for now), but the gods personally acknowledge the heroes for their bravery or claim them if they haven't already (like Frigg with Mallory and Tyr with T.J.). Halfborn regains his pride in his hometown and manages to mend his relationship with Mallory after fighting together for their lives, probably for good; Hearth, despite having to face what remains of his father, is now free from his past and ready to move on with Blitz; and Magnus and Alex realize that there may be more than just friendship between them. They decide to test it out by opening and running a homeless shelter together, a full circle adventure for Magnus. [[AndZoidberg Oh]], and it's the end of Ramadan and Sam can now drink, eat, and swear all she wants! Then again, she already has enough life-changing experiences in the previous books.]]

** TheSixthRanger: Alex, who joins up in the second book.

* FlatEarthAtheist: Samirah refuses to believe that the Norse gods are divine, as she's a devout Muslim for whom there is only one God. Magnus, on the other hand, is an atheist. Samirah says that it sounds like the beginning of a bad joke: "An atheist and a Muslim walk into a pagan afterlife..."

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Gunilla]], as a result of the final battle.

* MagicalGirlWarrior: Samirah's work as a Valkyrie has shades of deconstruction of this one. She leads a double life, is terrified of imagining what would happen had her grandparents found out and at one point is grounded "until the end of days" for what they think is spending an evening in friends (she almost died four times during this time).

* MissingMom: Magnus, Sam, and Hearth all have dead mothers.

** When Magnus asks his sword to use a glamour to be less noticeable he suggests a pen. He imagines the sword saying it's a stupid idea. This gets brought back in the third book, when Jack develops a crush on Riptide, and has a brief arguement with Magnus over who thought that was a bad idea.

* TheNotLoveInterest: Magnus and Sam. Since the first book, they're set up as the typical main cisgender pairing like in other Riordan novels, but problem is, Sam is happily engaged to someone else and Magnus doesn't feel the need to ruin it. [[spoiler: Enter Alex in the second book. She is developed into Magnus' actual love interest. Sam and Magnus instead become LikeBrotherAndSister. Problem solved.]]

* OurElvesAreDifferent: They are mortal, they haven't done magic in centuries, and they're explained to be every bit as prejudiced and intolerant as humans; in fact they may be more so since Blitzen states they want things absolutely perfect. [[spoiler: Hearthstone, being born deaf, did not qualify as "perfect" to his parents, and started to hate him even more when his brother, Andiron, died. They even were of the opinion that Hearth should have died instead of Andiron.]]

** The titular Sword of Summer, Sumarbrandr, also does this. It can fight on its own and accomplish incredible feats simply by its wielder telling it what he wants it to do and letting go. But the instant the sword is taken back up in the wielder's hand, the wielder suffers the fatigue and strain of the actions performed with consequences that can be potentially lethal, depending on what the sword was asked to do.

* SeaMonster: When trying to catch Ran's attention, Magnus and Samirah intentionally fish out ''Jormungandr itself''. Ran even suggest they free him and kickstart the Ragnarok.

** Hearthstone is a deaf elf.

* WeirdnessCensor: The Mist is an ever prevalent force that keeps normal people from perceiving the supernatural. The series finally explains where the Mist comes from as well. As it turns out, the Mist is the result of the heat of Muspelheim mixing with frost from Niflheim in the Ginnungagap creating a vapor that flows into Midgard.

* WorldTree: Naturally Yggdrasil plays a part in the series, as Magnuson and his friends have to traverse between worlds on it at one point. Its smallest branches are the size of redwoods and the largest of interstate highways. Its trunk is near incomprehensible in size to Magnus, and the crevices on the bark each show a different world as if someone wrapped bark around a column of glowing televisions.

** This time, actually averted. Loki is affable, Thor is misguided, but well-meaning, Odin is supportive, if trickstery and [[spoiler:Frey is genuinely warm and friendly]]. Sif apparently has HiddenDepths if Alex's change in attitude are any indication (though Magnus and the reader never find out what, since he spends little time with her). Even when Thor is being insensitive (see DoubleStandard above) he doesn't get angry at Alex for calling him out on it, he just meekly backs down.