History Literature / MasksOfAygrima

* PantyShot: When Mara is watching The Autarch going through the city, a child guard looks up at her, and the then realizes that she's wearing a short tunic.

* NotSoDifferent:
** The Autarch turn out to be similar to The Lady of Pain and fire, both being power hungry people that abuse their gifts, [[spoiler: and both turn out to be [[ImmortalitySeeker Immortality Seekers]].]]
** [[spoiler: The Child Guard turn out to be pretty similar to the unmasked slaves. Both are exploited to produce magic of the Autarch. and both are incredibly frail as a result.]]

* SanitySlippage: Mara slowly goes through this due to her constant exposure to [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath horrible deaths]] and the fact that [[ISeeDeadPeople she sees dead people]].

* SexyBacklessOutfit: Mara wears one to her Masking.

* InTheBlood:
** The Autarch's father was apparently just as cruel as his son.
** Not exactly evil but the infamous gift that is known to be present in Aygrima's most infamous monsters is said to run in Mara's family, though it hasn't been seen in generations.

* {{Adorkable}}: Chell when picking the lock to Mara's bedroom in the palace, due to him sticking his tongue between his teeth.

* AnyoneCanDie: Most of the tertiary characters end up dead and quite a few of the major characters end up kicking the bucket as well. By the end [[spoiler: The Autarch, The Lady of Pain and Fire, Ethelda, Charlton Holdfast, both of the Wardens, Guardian Stanik, Greff, Mayson, Katia, Grelda, Simona, Captain Gramm, Grute,
Illina, Tishka, and Mara's Mother]] are dead.

* TheBigGuy: Edrik the general of The Unmasked Army and the best BadassNormal fighter. To a lesser extent his son Hayram, and Prince Chell are this due to being the other best fighters. Kirika was this for the girls from the wagon due to being the strongest and most agressive.

* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: [[spoiler: Mara tries to leave on a fishing boat after The Secret City is destroyed.]]

* TheSociopath: Grute is an early example in the series. Everyone said that The Lady of Pain and Fire was this in the past. [[spoiler: This proves to be true when Mara meets her.]]

** Mara doesn't like people doubting her or the power of magic, and not trusting her.

** [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire hates people doubting the power of magic.]]

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler: The Autarch develops new masks to make citizens more submissive and to make it easier to take magic from them.]] [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire uses magic to control the villagers to fight for her against The Unmasked Army.]] Later [[spoiler: The Autarch does this to all of the normal citizens in Tamita in order for them to fight The Unmasked Army.]]

** Guardian Stanik is mentioned briefly in the first book and has a big role in ''Shadows''.
** Greff, the Child Guard that Mara talks with, later lets Mara impersonate him in order to infiltrate the Palace. [[spoiler: He does this ''again'' when he attacks The Autarch, giving Mara enough time to kill him.]]

* CrazyPrepared: The Autarch had magical defenses erected along the mountains in case The Lady of Pain and Fire survived.
* DeaderThanDead: [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire, who is [[BoomHeadshot shot in the head with a crossbow,]] falls dozens of feet into a mine, more than likely crushed by the large gear at the bottom, and has the mine collapsed on top of her corpse.]] [[spoiler: Later her consciousness is torn out of Mara and either crushed by The Autarch's consciousness, or is released and dissipated along with his magic when he dies.]]
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: Throughout the books it becomes increasingly clear that The Autarch doesn't care about Aygrima as long as he's in power. [[spoiler: The Lady is willing to reduce most of Aygrima to ash to gain power.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Each book has a different Deuteragonist and Tritagonist
** Masks: Deuteragonist: Keltan Tritagonist: Katia.
** Shadows: Deuteragonist: Chell Tritagonist: Guardian Stanik.
** Faces: Deuteragonist: [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire]] Tritagonist: Keltan.
* TheDreaded: The Autarch and the watchers are feared by everybody in Tamita. Guardian Stanik is also feared by everybody in Tamita as well as all of his subordinates.
* DirtyOldMan: The Autarch, when he sees Mara face to face is shown to be very attracted to her despite being about five times her age.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Mara ran around barefoot a lot before her masking.

* EvilCounterpart: The long dead Lady of Pain and Fire is seen as this to Mara, having the same gift but being insane, The Autarch is also seen as this for largely the same reasons except the insanity.
* EvilGloating: [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire tries to kill Keltan in front of Mara, giving her time to kill her.]]

** [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire is implied to lack humanity because of the horrors of war she saw as a child, and because of the Soulprints she absorbed from the people she killed at the same time.]]
* FullFrontalAssault: Two justified examples. Grute tries [[AttemptedRape raping]] Mara in the Magic Hut. In ''Shadows'' Mara absorbs magic from a watcher which burns her clothes off.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The prologue shows The Autarch destroying a village with the plan to blame The Lady for it.

* LightIsNotGood: The Autarch wears shiny gold clothes and has a gold mask and is the series BigBad.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Lady of Pain and Fire.

* NotSoDifferent: The Autarch turn out to be similar to The Lady of Pain and fire, both being power hungry people that abuse their gifts, [[spoiler: and both turn out to be [[ImmortalitySeeker Immortality Seekers]].]]

* OlderThanTheyLook:
** Chell looks eighteen but is twenty five.
** The Autarch is in his Eighties but looks much younger than that.
* OutOfFocus: Simona and Captain Gramm are rarely mentioned after their introduction, [[spoiler: they even get an off-screen death and aren't mourned much by Mara.]]

* PairTheSpares: Hayram and Alita pair up as well as Prella and Kirika. This leaves captain March and Lieutenant Antril as the only important characters that aren't confirmed to be in a relationship.

* PersonOfMassDestruction: Mara, The Autarch, and The Lady of Pain and Fire can become this if they absorb too much magic, [[spoiler: the lady tries to become this to kill The Autarch but is killed before she can pull it off.]]
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: While the Autarch never says anything in person to fit this trope, the masks he created are stated to not work on homosexuals.

* RagsToRoyalty: [[spoiler: Edrik goes from a criminal born in The Secret City to king of Aygrima thanks to Mara]]
* {{Room101}}: The watcher barracks in the Magic Mine, it's the ultimate punishment for female prisoners and, while never explicitly stated, it is very clear that the watchers rape and abuse the prisoners.

* ScreamingWoman: Mara at night due to her nightmares

* SuperSupremacist: [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire believes that her special gift gives her he right to rule Aygrima.]]

* TheTeam: While the Unmasked Army is one in the first two books, it really fills this role best in ''Faces''
** TheLeader: [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire]]
** NumberTwo: Catilla, Chell, and Hamil, who lead the Unmasked soldiers, Korellian sailors, and villagers respectively.
** Sub Commanders: Edrik for Catilla, and Captain March and [[TheStrategist Lieutenant Antril]] for Chell
** The Apprentice: Mara is this to [[spoiler: The Lady]]
* {{UnPerson}}: [[spoiler: Mara's involvement in the death of The Autarch is either removed completely or is reduced greatly in the history books.]]
* WeHaveReserves: See ZergRush below
* WordSaladOfTitles: His Royal Highness Chell cor Chell cor Arriken, Prince of the Golden Shore, Duke of the Southern Deep, and Protector of the Holy Fountain.
* WouldHitAGirl: Nobody seems to mind killing the female members of The Unmasked Army and Guardian Stank slaps Mara when interrogating her. [[spoiler: Later Hayram knocks out Mara after she kills The Autarch]]

* ZeroPercentApprovalRate: Everybody in The Unmasked Army except Keltan hates Mara after [[spoiler: she [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom accidentally]] gives Stank information that allows him to destroy The Secret City.]]

* ArchEnemy: The Lady of Pain and Fire despite being long dead is treated like this for The Autarch as she was the only person to ever pose a legitimate threat to his reign. [[spoiler: When they do meet you can tell that ItsPersonal between them.]]
* {{Ambadassador}}: Chell is a prince who was sent to Aygrima to get magical help, while he normally talks politely and stays calm he is still a WarriorPrince who can kick all kinds of ass.
* AssInAmbassador: Chell doesn't care about anybody he contacts for help, he outright says that he'll betray Mara if The Autarch helps him, and only helps Mara when The Autarch refuses.
* ACupAngst: Mara has a little bit of this early on in ''Masks'' especially compared to her friend Sala that she describes as "statuesque"
* {{Adorkable}}: Chell when picking the lock to Mara's bedroom in the palace, due to him sticking his tongue between his teeth.
* AGodAmI: The Autarch. Schools in Aygrima even describe him as practically a god. [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire has the same ideology.]]
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Keltan has one for Mara when she [[spoiler: tries to leave after Catilla berates Mara for getting the Secret City destroyed.]]
* {{Asexual}}: Subverted. The Autarch doesn't seem to be interested in having kids to succeed him but [[spoiler: he seems attracted to Mara, [[{{Squick}} and plans to extend his lifespan by stealing her body.]]]]

* BigBad: The Autarch of Aygrima. The tyrannical ruler of Aygrima who wishes to rule forever.
* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler: In ''Faces'', the Autarch and The Lady of Pain and Fire battle for control over Aygrima and try to [[GrandTheftMe take over Mara's body]] in order to extend their lifespan.]]
* BigGood: Catilla leads the Unmasked Army. Later [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire takes over leadership of the Unmasked Army.]] Even later [[spoiler: The Lady turns out to be a BigBad and Catilla takes over again, though Edrik is the one who becomes king.]]

* TheBrute: Grute, the only boy from the wagon who is incredibly strong and not very bright.

* ButtMonkey: Grute during the trip to The Secret City. He gets pushed around and beaten up by the members of The Unmasked Army due to his violent nature.

* CanineCompanion: [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire gives Mara a magically altered wolf named Whiteblaze that has UndyingLoyalty to her.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Mara becomes much more mature over the course of the books, but she also grows more aggressive and somewhat depressed.

* DaddysGirl: Mara is very close to her father working as his apprentice and wanting to follow in his footsteps as the Master Maskmaker.
* DarkLordOnLifeSupport: [[spoiler: The Autarch has to constantly sap magic from the Child Guard in order to stave off the problems caused by his age. Shortly before the first book he started creating new masks that make people more submissive and allows him to take magic from any Gifted person.]]

* TheDeterminator: Mara only once ever gives up on helping The Unmasked Army even as things go FromBadToWorse

* TheDragon:
** Guardian Stanik the most powerful member of the circle.
** [[spoiler: The Lady's NumberTwo is Hamil, the head of the village, albeit an unwilling one. Mara to an extent becomes this as her apprentice]]

* EstablishingCharacterMoment:
** Grute gets one when he verbally harasses Mara and threatens the girls in the wagon.
** The Prologue is one for The Autarch establishing his self centered, cruel personality and desire to live forever
** [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire has one when she destroys Chell's ship ''The Defender'' when he offers his assistance with her war. Showing her LackOfEmpathy and her brutality.]]

* FamousLastWords:
-> The Warden: "[[{{Foreshadowing}}We have to get the rockbreakers out of here or we'll all be blown to paste!]]"
-> [[spoiler: Guardian Stank]]: "[[PreMortemOneLiner He betrayed his duty, his oath, and his Autarch. And now he pays the price.]]"
-> [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire: " Watch Mara. Watch as I crush the life from your would be lover and take his magic for my own. See the fate of all who oppose me!"]]
-> [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire when possessing Mara: "You cannot force me out of this body. I am stronger than you could ever dream of being."]]
-> [[spoiler: The Autarch]]: "You're dead. It's about time you started acting like it."
-> The unnamed sailor: "Kill the [[PrecisionFStrike bitch]] for us!"

* FirstGirlWins: Keltan is the first member of The Unmasked Army Mara meets and is ultimately the guy she hooks up with at the end.

* GuileHero: Mara, despite having the ability to take magic from living things, tends to use the fact that she looks under fifteen (the age people get masked at) and her lack of scars from her failed masking to walk around in broad daylight and talk her way through problems. Keltan occasionally does this, but by ''Faces'' he looks to old and has to wear a mask.

* HateSink: While the Autarch's minions are all unlikable Grute takes the cake by being a power hungry, [[{{Jerkass}} aggressive, mean]], attempted rapist.

* TheHeavy:
** In ''Masks'' The Warden of the magic mine is the most prominent villain.
** Stanik The Guardian of Security takes over this role in ''Shadows'', though The Autarch is also present for part of the book.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Charlton Holdfast and Ethelda betray The Autarch to save Mara]], and later [[spoiler: Ethelda joins The Unmasked army, later dying in the battle on the beach]], and [[spoiler: Charlton his caught stealing books for Mara to use for mask making and is executed.]]
* HeroicBSOD: Mara shuts down and tries to leave Aygrima when [[spoiler: Catilla blames her for the destruction of The Secret City]]

* HoistByHisOwnPetard
** The Warden is stabbed by one of his prisoners and is then caught in an explosion of the Rockbreakers used in his mine.
** [[spoiler: Guardian Stanik is killed by magic torn from his watchers.]]
** [[spoiler: The Autarch is [[OffWithHisHead Decapitated]] by both his own mask but also Mara's fake Child Guard mask, which were both flung at him by Mara.]]
* HurtingHero: Mara due to her constant setbacks, losses, and SanitySlippage.
* IControlMyMinionsThrough:
** The Autarch uses his authority to control the kingdom.
** [[spoiler: The Lady uses mind control.]]

* ImmortalitySeeker: The Autarch makes a vow to "not die" at the beginning of ''Masks'', and [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire]] is later revealed to have the same goal.
* ImpromptuTracheotomy: Katia kills the Warden like this.
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: [[spoiler: Catilla gets this from throat cancer that almost certainly kills her after the end of the series]]

* ISeeDeadPeople: Mara can see visions of people who die close enough for her to absorb their magic, leaving a Soulprint on her mind. This normally manifests itself in [[NightmareSequence nightmares]] but at times appears when she's awake.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Hayram, Edrik, and Catilla despite their hatred of Mara, prove to be this. [[spoiler: After The Autarch dies Mara is knocked out and when she wakes up, Catilla reveals that Hayram knocked her out because she trusted him to not injure or kill her, and that Edrik is king, and proposes a very reasonable plan for Mara, Keltan, and Whiteblaze to move to Korellia.]]
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: The Autarch's mistreatment of the Child Guard makes Greff return to kill him.]]

* TheLancer: Keltan, Mara's closest friend and later boyfriend.

* MeaningfulName: Mara ''Holdfast'' is quite TheDeterminator.

* MookLieutenant: The Guardian of Security is in charge of all Watchers in Aygrima.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Chell is more concerned with finding magic users to help him defeat Stonefell, the sworn enemy of Korellia, than he is with overthrowing The Autarch. He initially goes with Mara to Tamita in order to ask The Autarch for help which doesn't work.

* NoNameGiven: The Autarch's name is never revealed, and neither of the Warden's names are revealed.
* NoKillLikeOverKill: The Warden gets stabbed in the throat, has the roof of the rockbreaker hut fall on him, then is reduced to ash when the hut explodes. Also see DeaderThanDead for another example.

* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Grute does this when he captures Mara and sneaks out of The Secret City.

* OffWithHisHead:
** [[spoiler: Mara blows Stanik's head off using magic.]]
** [[spoiler: Later she uses magic to decapitate The Autarch with a pair of masks.]]

* OrcusOnHisThrone: The Autarch never leaves his palace throughout the series.

* ShadowArchetype: Despite being long dead The Lady of Pain and Fire is one to Mara. She is essentially what Mara will become if she doesn't control her magic use. They even have similar backstories as both were dragged into the rebellion against their wills and both [[spoiler: lost their father because of it.]] The difference is that while the Lady had no desire to control herself Mara does and fears what will happen if she doesn't.
** Grute is one to Kirika, as he's basically her without any morals. They both had AbusiveParents and are definitely not fit for Masked society due to their aggressive nature. The difference is that while Kirika has some level of empathy and wants to get better, Grute relishes his role as TheSociopath.

* TheSmartGuy: Chell's best skills are his quick thinking and knowledge of many subjects.

* ThatManIsDead: in the first book Keltan reveals that his birth name is Birik, but that he will never use it again because his abusive father gave it to him. He chose the name Keltan because that is the name of The Autarch's horse and he really likes the horse.

* VillainousCheekbones: The brief description of Guardian Stanik's face we get is described as "angled."
* WalkingSpoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire, few tropes that mention her don't include the fact that [[spoiler: she's still alive.]]
* WardensAreEvil: The Warden of the Magic Mine is incredibly cruel to his inmates.
* WarriorPrince: Chell the youngest heir to the Korellian throne and a BadassNormal

* WhenYouComingHomeDad: Charlton spends a long time working on Mara's mask to the point that she barely gets to see him. [[spoiler: He was actually devising a plan to get her out of the city and is implied to have been distancing himself from her so losing her was easier.]]

* YourCheatingHeart: Subverted, Mara thinks her dad is cheating on her mom with Ethelda. He's not, [[spoiler: They were meeting to change their masks with ones that don't brainwash them, and are planning Mara's masking, and escape from Tamita.]]
* YourHeadAsplode:
** Grute, the first person Mara killed has his head exploded by magic.
** [[spoiler: Guardian Stanik has [[OffWithHisHead His head blown off]] which then shatters when it hits the wall.]]

* TheSmartGuy: Chell's best skills are his quick thinking and wide variety of skills.

* HealingHands: Anybody who can utilise blue magic.

* GoodScarsEvilScars: Averted with the four girls rescued from the wagon with Mara who all have disfigured scars from their failed masking. Played strait with Grute who was part of that group but was insane.

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Keltan does one toward Mara when she [[spoiler: tries to leave after Catilla berates Mara for getting the Secret City destroyed.]]

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Lady of Pain and Fire, and Guardian Stanik.

* BigGood: Catilla is an interesting example, she leads the Unmasked Army but is usually very cold and unfeeling, and usually is at least somewhat at odds with Mara. Later [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire takes over leadership of the Unmasked Army.]] Even later [[spoiler: The Lady turns out to be a BigBad and Catilla takes over again, though Edrik is the one who becomes king.]]

** Grute is one to Kirika, as he's basically her without any morals. They both had AbusiveParents and are defiantly not fit for Masked society due to their aggressive nature. The difference is that while Kirika has some level of empathy and wants to get better, Grute relishes his role as TheSociopath.

* BadassGrandma:
** Catilla, the commander of The Unmasked Army who is a great-grandmother and while not physically strong is brave enough to bad-mouth powerful gifted at multiple points in the story.
** Grelda: The Head Healer of The Secret City counts for being the only person in the city who is willing to talk back to Catilla.
** [[spoiler: The Lady of Pain and Fire is about the same age as Catilla and is the most powerful gifted in the series.]]
* BadassGrandpa: The Autarch is in his eighties and is one of the most powerful gifted in the series.