History Literature / TheBelgariad

* AchievementsInIgnorance

-->Garion: "You married a ''wolf?''"
-->Belgarath: "No, I married a woman, the change of shape was absolute."

* NoSexAllowed: Relg had...[[SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny issues]] with sex in general, and stated that one of his goals was to build a society like this. The [[RealityEnsues fact that this would have them die out]] was pointed out to him in-universe, and he said he was looking for a workaround. Fortunately, he has enough CharacterDevelopment over the course of the novels to grow out of the desire to build this kind of society.

* TheDevilIsALoser: Torak. Sure, he's the resident evil god of the setting, but he spends all of the series and most of the backstory horribly maimed because of several monumentally stupid decisions; the main characters have absolutely no respect for him and regularly refer to him by such epithets as "Burnt-face" and "One-eye"; he has no ability to either anticipate or cope with change in the world; and he has absolutely no subtlety, sense of military tactics, or awareness of human nature whatsoever, relying entirely on brute force. One gets the impression that the only reason he was ever a credible threat was that, as a god, he has a ''lot'' of brute force to throw around, and Garion wins their final battle by [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech pointing out how very pathetic he is]] behind all the bluster.\\\
It's revealed in ''The Malloreon'' that [[spoiler:it isn't entirely his fault -- Much of Torak's mindset is influenced by the fact that he was, for a very long time, the host of the Spirit of Dark, which is flat-out described as being completely unable to change, thus the above inabilities to cope with change, as Darkness is constant, inflexible. Light is change in its nature.]] Also, it turns out that he was [[spoiler:never supposed to be a God at all. The same thing that split the two Purposes created him as the wrong god. ''Eriond'' is the God who was supposed to be.]]

** Played completely straight with nearly the entire group, not just Belgarath, and not just because of the Prophecy, either. Every single protagonist does things that would horrify most people in real life -- though most are mitigated or addressed in later instalments.
*** Barak is all but stated in the first book, ''Pawn of Prophecy'', to have raped his wife Merel while drunk, battering down her locked bedchamber door to get to her; their arranged marriage was against Merel's will (though that part he doesn't seem to have been aware of) -- Garion is present, but the implication goes over his head. Merel gets pregnant as a result of the rape; the incident is laughed off by Polgara [[AmbiguousSituation (who might or might not have known of the circumstances, having been busy keeping an eye on Garion).]] Leaving aside all else, it's presented in-universe as a "reward" for Barak, and the other characters had previously made Merel out to be the one in the wrong for ''treating Barak badly'' (except for Silk, who just thinks that their marriage is a case of BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor on Barak's part, and Garion and Durnik, who only get one side of the story).
*** However, the act itself is never presented as ''good'' thing, and even without the implicit {{retcon}}, the behaviour is perhaps unsurprising: Barak's from a Viking FantasyCounterpartCulture which is noted more than once in text to be rather behind the curve on gender relations even by the standards of a medieval HighFantasy world (and that in real-life, marital rape wasn't even considered a crime in many parts of the Western world until very recently), it's also unsurprising that the incident is never mentioned again, being quietly filed under EarlyInstallmentWeirdness.
*** Hettar is stated to have murdered many people who simply have the bad fortune of being Murgos, all because his parents were killed by Murgo bandits when he was a child. Granted, the vast majority would have been soldiers, and a significant number of the rest were most probably spies, but... probably not all. And yet, no one in-universe has an issue with the murder of unrelated, innocent people who are simply the wrong nationality. This is mitigated somewhat in the sequel series as the Murgos get more CharacterDevelopment and Hettar mellows, and in Belgarath's prequel, when Polgara bluntly states that a young Hettar is on the verge of turning into "a proper monster."
*** Ditto Lelldorin, the Asturian archer, who states openly that he and his friends have killed Mimbrate travellers who were simply riding through Asturian territory. None of the other protagonists -- save Garion, who he confesses this to, and who is more than a little horrified -- have any issue with this (though he only tells Garion, and while most of the others would probably know or suspect it, Durnik at least probably didn't).
*** Silk goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge to avenge the murder of a Drasnian agent in the second series (''The Malloreon''). He slaughters many members of a rival Tolnedran family, the Honeths, simply because they are part of the family, whether they had anything to do with the murder or not. Again, none of the protagonists have any issue with Silk killing many innocent people, other than Silk "wasting time".
** Taken up to eleven in his prequel ''Belgarath the Sorcerer''. A group of Nyissan assassins kill the Rivan king Gorek and his family at the behest of their queen Salmissra (and ultimately Zedar) in a botched attempt (one child survives) to make herself immortal by ending the line of the Godslayer who is fated to kill Torak -- her thought being Torak would be so grateful he would marry her and make her immortal. Understandably Belgarath and the Alorns are ''pissed'' -- however in addition to Belgarath confronting Salmissra directly (though he actually feels more sorry for her than anything else, considering how she was used, and tells her that one child survived to let her die happy that her manipulator's plan has failed), the Alorns invade Nyissa and basically slaughter 90% of the population (some 1.8 ''million'' people) and turn the country into a smoking wasteland as some kind of "object lesson" designed to terrify the Nyissans into not interfering in other countries ever again. Nearly 2 million mostly innocent (barring slave traders et al) people gruesomely slaughtered for something they knew nothing about and could not have prevented.\\\
This event can arguably be laid at Zedar's door, because being a former Disciple of Aldur he knew exactly how the Alorns would react. It can also be considered a parallel of the [[RealLife Real Life]] atrocity at Béziers -- both occur during a time period considered the "middle ages" in their respective worlds, both were considered acts of morality at the time and both are retrospectively considered a horrific aberration.

-->'''Zakath''': How do you bully a God?
-->'''Beldin''': Carefully. Very, very carefully.

* StarterVillain: Chamdar/Asharak

* TheStoic
** [[spoiler:Polgara's mother, Poledra, hasn't shown visibly strong emotions in seven thousand years.]] She's never ''needed'' to. The only exception is her general irritation at [[spoiler:all the wenching Belgarath did after her death.]] She also broke down at the death of her daughter, and when the Prophecy called on her to leave.
** Another notable Stoic is the Voice of the Prophecy, which usually speaks with a [[DeadpanSnarker certain dry amusement.]] Every now than then -- usually when the rules it and its opposite have laid down are being ignored or things are about to go completely out the window -- it can get very angry or very excited.

* TheJester: Beldin's role and one of his disguises.

* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: Averted. Dragons are quite pathetic creatures in the world of the Belgariad and in the original series they are only mentioned in one page in ''Magician's Gambit'' and even then not referred to as dragons or in fact any name at all. Their portrayal -- or lack thereof -- makes one wonder if Eddings' publisher demanded he add dragons just because he was writing a fantasy series and it was only done to fill an arbitrary quota.
** That said, Torak is referred to as the Dragon God of Angarak, and took the dragon as his totem.

* TheAgeless: The sorcerers.

* UnconventionalWeddingDress: In the first book of ''The Malloreon'', Garion quickly resolves the crisis in Arendia between Mandorallen, and a rival knight who is the heir to the land of Mandorallen's recently deceased noble mentor, and was about to offer the nobleman's widow to one of his friends (Noted as being technically legal, but ''very'' bad form, socially speaking), which [[{{Understatement}}} pissed Mandorallen off]]. Mandorallen had been pining for the said widow, Nerina, for roughly twenty years, but [[CourtlyLove they mutually kept their romance platonic]] even after her husband fell into a years-long decline from battlefield wounds, and died. Garion then orders his friend Mandorallen to quit pining and just marry Nerina already. And, because he was '''thoroughly''' annoyed with the sheer stupidity of it all, after a quick negotiation about the dowry and other wedding formalities, he ensured that Mandorallen married Nerina while he was still in his armor and she was wearing widow's black and a doily from the nearby table for a veil [[note]] He literally points his sword at them and orders, "Now march!" [[/note]]. With Garion standing over the two of them, sword in hand ([[FlamingSword the Orb coating it in blue arcane fire!]]), to prevent any last minute screw-ups.

* UnconventionalWeddingDress: In the first book of ''The Malloreon'', Garion quickly resolves the crisis in Arendia between Mandorallen and a rival knight who is the heir to the land of a recently deceased noble, and was about to offer the nobleman's widow to his friends, which pissed Mandorallen off. Mandorallen had been pining for the said widow, Nerina, for so long, but [[CourtlyLove they mutually kept their romance platonic]] even long after her husband died. Garion ordered his friend Mandorallen to quit pining and just marry Nerina anyway. And, because he was thoroughly annoyed with the sheer stupidity of it all, after a quick negotiation about the dowry and other wedding formalities, he ensured that Mandorallen married Nerina while he was still on his armor and she was wearing widow's black and a tablecloth for a veil. With Garion standing over the two of them, sword in hand, to prevent any last minute screw-ups.

* ExtendedDisarming: Silk, numerous times, pulls daggers out of every conceivable hiding place.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: Zakath is one of the rare ''pre-emptive'' examples of this trope, in that after finally dawning to just how thoroughly the odds are against him he decides to just skip the "defeat" and go straight to the "friendship".

** Nyissa was portrayed as a nation of {{Smug Snake}}s in ''The Belgariad'', the pragmatic assassin Issus excepted. In ''The Malloreon'', this, like the Angarak example, is made much less black and white as Sadi becomes a major character -- and the fact that previous scenes in Nyissa were mostly restricted to the DeadlyDecadentCourt didn't help.

** ''Pawn of Prophecy''
** ''Queen of Sorcery''
** ''Magician's Gambit''
** ''Castle of Wizardry''
** ''Enchanter's End Game''

** ''Guardians of the West''
** ''King of the Murgos''
** ''Demon Lord of Karanda''
** ''Sorceress of Darshiva''
** ''Seeress of Kell''

** ''Belgarath the Sorcerer'' (a prequel by Belgarath's perspective)
** ''Polgara the Sorceress'' (another prequel by Polgara's perspective)
** ''The Rivan Codex'' ([[AllThereInTheManual a commentary and analysis]])

* OnlyChildSyndrome: A hereditary trait of the Rivan line, largely due to the interference of the Prophecy. Retconned in ''Polgara the Sorceress''. Apparently at least a few of Garion's ancestors had multiple children, but only the direct line mattered, so none of Garion's various great-great-etc-aunts and uncles ultimately mattered, and the only cousin he ever knowingly meets is from his mother's side of the family. The founder of the hidden line is explicitly the king's youngest grandson; after that, the true heir is the eldest son born in each generation. [[spoiler:Poledra]] makes this ''very'' clear to Polgara at one point.

* ArchEnemy: [[BigGood The Prophecy of Light]] and the [[BiggerBad Dark Prophecy]], The Child of Light and [[TheAntiChrist The Child of Dark]] (on a personal level, [[TheChosenOne Garion]] and [[PhysicalGod Torak]]), [[CoolOldGuy Belgarath]] and [[CoDragons Ctuchik/Zedar]], [[TheGrotesque Beldin]] and [[RedRightHand Urvon]], [[EvilerThanThou Nahaz and Mordja]], and, in the backstory, [[{{God}} UL]] and [[{{Satan}} The King of Hell]]. Zandramas and [[spoiler: Poledra]] also have shades of this.

* BigBad: Torak in the first series and Zandramas in the second. Of course, the real villain is the [[BiggerBad Dark Prophecy]] itself.

* BiggerBad: The Dark Prophecy. In a way, both the series' {{Big Bad}}s were just its Dragons, as they only existed to be instruments of its will. Still counts as this though, since it's never physically confronted, and like the Prophecy of Light, has to work through earthly instruments, specifically Torak and Zandramas. This is primarily hammered home in the second series. In the first, Torak's backstory and characterisation can be read as a standard "Evil God" arc played straight. By the end of ''The Malloreon'', it becomes apparent that [[spoiler:not only were his actions from birth predestined by The Dark Prophecy and as such he had no free will -- not only was his very existence a mistake, but he was fully aware of this and fully aware that the end result of the Dark Prophecy would result in the return of Chaos. As such he knew he was doomed anyway -- and explicitly warns Garion posthumously that destroying the universe would be preferable to allowing the Dark Prophecy to triumph]]. Both Garion and probably most readers actually end up feeling pity for Torak as a result.
* BigGood: The Prophecy of Light. It can defeat Gods, and alter the fabric of reality, but is restrained by the rules that it and its [[EvilCounterpart counterpart]] the [[BiggerBad Dark Prophecy]] laid out. If they ever fought directly it would destroy the Universe (or at least pose a very large risk of causing a ''third'' Prophecy to arise just as the Accident caused the original Purpose of the Universe to split into the Light and Dark Prophecies).

* TheChessmaster: Both the [[BigGood Light]] and [[BiggerBad Dark]] Prophecies. Having eons to prepare helps. Zandramas is also a decent Chessmaster, although whether it's personal skill, or the result of having been infused with the Spirit of Dark is up for debate. She certainly manages to plan ahead, with each of her moves ready to fall into place the minute that a previous one fails.

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Mostly averted -- the [[MagicAIsMagicA local rules of magic]] mean that learning sorcery instantly conveys immortality. Sorcerers never bitch about it, and instead find ways to stay busy for all of those years. This is [[JustifiedTrope explored further]] in ''The Malloreon'' and the supplemental novels. Sorcerers do spontaneously pop up from time to time, but there's some attrition due to accidentally (or deliberately) unmaking themselves. The ones that survive this process are the ones who learn how to handle immortality. Belgarath even admits that part of the sorcerer aloofness and tendency to hole up in their towers in study and ignore the passing of a few centuries, every now and then, is a vital coping technique, lest grief drive them insane. It also makes Polgara that much more incredible, as she was forced to forgo this tactic for a thousand years... living with a family line whose every member (''every'' member, ''from birth to death'') she was intimately involved with. It would be interesting to see how Garion copes in ten to twenty years time when the TrueCompanions start dying off... [[note]]Silk, the oldest non-immortal member of the group, is pushing fifty by the end of ''The Malloreon''.[[/note]]
** Played very straight with Belgarath. Two of his sorcerer brothers -- who he has lived with in the Vale for hundreds of years -- take their own lives due to depression. After losing his wife of 500 years (who had been a companion for over a thousand before that), he goes insane and has to be chained to his bed and constantly supervised to make sure he doesn't take his own life. After a year he starts WalkingTheEarth and becomes [[DrowningMySorrows a drunken beggar]] for two years (Beldin explicitly states that he was "a legend" in [[WretchedHive Camaar]], because they've never seen ''anybody'' get ''that drunk'' before) and eventually ends up [[SexForSolace entertaining women in Maragor]] until Beldin finally intervenes.

** In ''The Malloreon'', the Big Guy Band from the first series spends some time trying to subvert the Prophecy's instructions that they stay out of things, only to have it gleefuly send them in circles until they "coincidentally" meet up with the heroes post-climax.

** Neat subversion with Queen Islena, when she makes her High Priest choose between joining the army or getting thrown into the dungeon. The king could never have made that threat to a priest because there's specific laws about evidence and proper treatment regard priests, which would be politically scandalous for the king to ignore. Islena got away with it because everyone thought her too stupid to know better. The subversion is that the whole thing was planned by her smarter advisors, taking advantage of both her ignorant reputation and her actual ignorance. Had anyone else tried that, it would have been only an ineffective bluff. But coming from Islena, the threat was believable, since she really ''was'' unaware that she couldn't do what she threatened when she made the threat.