History Literature / Sandokan

* CoolGuns: In the final novel Sandokan shows up with twelve Maxim [[MoreDakka machine guns]].

* DimeNovel: The series was one of their Italian equivalents. Differently from your typical Dime Novel, the characterization is rather good, female characters aren't always TheChick (and in fact Marianna, the single most important female character in the series, is a crack shot), and the characters tended to win more thanks to brains and firepower than through sheer courage.

* TheRedBaron: Sandokan, Suyodhana, Tremal Naik and James Brooke are known as the Tiger of Malaysia, the Tiger of India, the Hunter of Tigers and Snakes of the Black Jungle and the White Rajah of Sarawak.

* Butt-Monkey: The British frequently come across as this during the novels, failing repeatedly to capture Sandokan and having their plans disrupted in the most unexpected of ways by Sandokan. The Dutch appear like this as well to the protagonists, although they aren't as vigorous in pursuing Sandokan compared to the British.

* CoolGuns: In the final novel Sandokan shows up with twelve CoolGuns/{{Ma|chineGuns}}xim [[MoreDakka machine guns]].

** Sandokan too is a fan, and whenever he can he'll field [[CoolGuns/MachineGuns Maxim machine guns]].

* {{Retcon}}: A few. It's mainly with the dates, that in the first novels are changed to fit the historical events Salgari is mentioning (novels following ''The Two Tigers'', whose finale is set in late september-early october 1857, respect real world history), but Sambigliong was switched from Dayak (''The Pirates of Malaysia'' and ''The Two Tigers'') to Malayan (from ''The King of the Sea'' onward), and in ''The Tigers of Mompracem'' Sandokan was not the dispossessed son of the murdered rajah Kaidagan (first mentioned in ''Sandokan Fights Back'', when Sandokan finally kills his murderer) but the dispossessed rajah of Lake Kini Balù.
* TheRival: Baronet William Rosenthal is this for Sandokan in ''The Pirates of Mompracem'', kicking his ass in battle even before being introduced (it helped that his cruiser outgunned Sandokan's two prahos by a fair margin, but he had to fight it smart to avoid a boarding until it would be useless) and trying to woe Marianna.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Sandokan's reason for being a pirate is to take revenge on those who financed the murderer of his father. The second part of ''The King of the Sea'' is one such rampage against British trade in revenge for the unprovoked British attack and conquest of Mompracem, and ''Sandokan Fights Back'' actually has Sandokan returning to his ancestral home to kill his father's murderer and take back his throne.

* CruelElephant: Referenced and downplayed: there are two cautionary tales warning to not provoke elephants, for they are intelligent and calm but also capable of cruel retaliations if provoked long enough:
** One elephant had the habit of reaching with its trunk into the windows of various houses, knowing the locals would give him gifts... all except for a seamstress, who'd instead sting him repeatedly as a game until the day the elephant showed up with a trunk full of water and sprayed her at full power.

* Lawful Neutral: The novels ''The Mystery of the Black Jungle'' and ''The Two Tigers'' are set in India during the period of East India Company rule, the first in Bengal under the rule of the East India Company and the latter around India as the Rebellion of 1857 raged. In these novels Salgari takes an ambivalent stance towards Company rule: on one hand the Company is shown opening the country to trade and industrialization, hunting down dangerous animals to improve the living conditions of the populace, and campaign against barbaric customs as ''Sati'' (widow burning) and the Thuggee cult (we are even shown East India Company troops affiliated with the Thuggee Department storming the Thuggee headquarters); on the other hand the flaws of the Company, such as it's corruption, arrogance and heavy handed response to political complaints are shown, culminating in the bloody suppression of the 1857 rebellion.

* AnimatedAdaptation: Two in The90s, the one with its own entry and an AnthropomorphicAnimalAdaptation which takes place in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals - Sandokan and his men are [[PantheraAwesome anthropomorphized tigers]], while BigBad The Rajah of Sarawak is [[CatsAreMean a cat]].