History Literature / TheBelgariad

** Also, Aldur's decision not to choose a race of people for his own, leaving them to wander godless forevermore, except for those very few who found UL. No one even remotely calls him on this.

* TheseusShipParadox: Alluded to in the ''Malloreon'' series. Poledra tells Beldin that she's surprised he hasn't changed his tunic during the thousands of years since she last saw him. Beldin says that he patches it, and replaces the patches as they wear out, to the point that the original tunic "is only a memory".

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* SpyCouple: Silk and Velvet.

* PlotTailoredToTheParty: Each of the many companions has a specific skill (some more broadly applicable than others) which is necessary at some point.

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** Just about every member of Garion's TrueCompanions except Ce'Nedra could be tagged as this, plus quite a few other characters. Mandorallen is the standout, though, a man who's got himself firmly convinced that he's invincible; who once ''crushed a lion unarmed'' (not unarmored, but still). Mandorallen's character can be summed up in one line. And note, ''he's not joking''.

That's the plot of Creator/DavidEddings's '''''The Belgariad'''''... [[TheHerosJourney and a whole lot of]] other stories as well. David Eddings wrote the series after taking a course on literary criticism, [[{{Troperrific}} digging out all the tropes he could find]], and decided to build a world that was simultaneously StrictlyFormula and ''really, really good'' because TropesAreNotBad. He also deliberately focuses on the characters rather than the tropes, injecting liveliness and sardonic humor into stock situations. The end result is a series that's incredibly popular and well-loved by fantasy fans the world over.

* ThrowingDownTheGauntlet: Mandorallen, except he "missed" the floor, much to his opponent's detriment.

* ArchEnemy: [[BigGood The Prophecy of Light]] and the [[BiggerBad Dark Prophecy]], [[TheMessiah The Child of Light]] and [[TheAntiChrist The Child of Dark]] (on a personal level, [[TheChosenOne Garion]] and [[PhysicalGod Torak]]), [[CoolOldGuy Belgarath]] and [[TheDragon Ctuchik]], [[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.

Before we get into this entry, [[InteractiveNarrator I'd like to tell a story]]. A story of HeroicFantasy.

** Ce'Nedra's ''is'' apparently innately vulnerable to this stuff. Ctuchik was explicitly banking on it in book three, and Belgarath had already figured this out and didn't bring her along for that one. Seeing as all "Monsters" went mad when Torak broke the world - except (mysteriously) the dryads, it might well be that dryads indeed have a bit less sanity to go around, making her more susceptible to mind-affecting meddling.

** Ariana, Adara, and Ce'Nedra respectively. They fit the stereotypical personality traits as well; [[DumbBlonde Ariana]] is a typically romantic, ditzy Mimbrate maiden (though one that is also ''[[very]]'' good at [[TheMedic healing]]), [[BrainyBrunette Adara]] is a calm and poised Algar lady, while Tolnedran Princess [[FieryRedhead Ce'Nedra]] is the bossy and impulsive leader of the trio during their misadventures together.

** Ariana, Adara, and Ce'Nedra respectively. They fit the stereotypical personality traits as well; [[DumbBlonde Ariana]] is a typically romantic, ditzy Mimbrate maiden, [[BrainyBrunette Adara]] is a calm and poised Algar lady, while Tolnedran Princess [[FieryRedhead Ce'Nedra]] is the bossy and impulsive leader of the trio during their misadventures together.

* AnimalMotifs: Each of the gods has a totemic signature, and they and their chosen race mimic these animals in a characteristic, if not always physical, way. More directly, each of the sorcerers trained by Aldur has a preferred alternate form: the women like [[TheOwlKnowingOne the owl]] (Aldur's own totem, although it could be argued that Poledra's favourite alternate form is actually that of a human since she was born a wolf), while Belgarath takes the form of a [[BigBadassWolf wolf]] so often that he's introduced as 'Old Wolf'. He's the only one of Aldur's disciples who favours a land animal as his alternate form -- Beldin is addicted to flying (as a blue-banded hawk) and the twins prefer doves. Belgarath points out several times in his prequel book that he never really learned to fly very well, although he can cover vast distances in the air when he has to -- he just doesn't enjoy it like Beldin and Polgara do.

* UnrequitedLoveLastsForever: This is what makes Mandorallan's CourtlyLove with Nerina so tragic. Belgarath says himself that if they had followed their urges, they could have got it out of their systems and moved on with their lives. Instead, the two spend years mooning after each other hopelessly. Ultimately, this is subverted when Nerina's husband dies in the war, and the two, thanks to Garion's timely intervention against their instinct of noble suffering, are married.