History Literature / TheDragonKnight

* VoluntaryShapeshifting: There's a reason James is called the DragonKnight -- he can turn into a dragon.

** Geronde, after her father gets rescued, in preparation for her wedding, makes Brian [[IGaveMyWord swear]] to add water to any wine he drinks, much to Brian's annoyance. In his own words, he'd rather drink 19 glasses of water to have a glass of good wine, instead of ten glasses of watered wine. James, on one occasion [[LoopholeAbuse gets around this]] by personally pouring Brian *a* glass of straight wine and giving it to him and, since it would be [[SacredHospitality rude and unguestly]] behavior to refuse a host's own service, Brian is obligated (and relieved) to accept the wine.

** Geronde, after her father gets rescued, in preparation for her wedding, makes Brian [[IGaveMyWord swear]] to add water to any wine he drinks, much to Brian's annoyance. In his own words, he'd rather drink 19 glasses of water to have a glass of good wine, instead of ten glasses of watered wine. James, on one occasion [[LoopholeAbuse gets around this]] by personally pouring Brian a glass of wine, and giving it to him, as it would be rude for Brian to refuse said gift, much to Brian's pleasure.

** Brian seems to see Sir Harimore as this, as they are both equally skilled with their weapons, and have had more than one encounter, wherein they've bested each other, something few others have been able to do.

* SureLetsGoWithThat: In ''The Dragon and the Djinn'', Brian is gambling with Sir Mortimor, who is using crooked dice. James, having figured out the cheater's game, uses his magic to control things a bit more fairly. Mortimor figures out that something is up, calls the game to a halt, and he and Brian look like they are about to come to blows, as halting the game was rather rude, until James called out that he could smell smoke. Mortimor uses this as an excuse as to why he halted the game, claiming that he too had just smelled smoke himself.

In the first book ('''The Dragon and the George''') Jim Eckert is trapped in the body of the dragon Gorbash, and must rescue his wife from [[EldritchAbomination the Dark Powers]], who are attempting to wrack the fabric of the world's space and time. Along the way, Jim meets [[KnightInShiningArmor Sir Brian]], a valiant knight; [[GrumpyOldMan Silvanus Carolinus]], the world's most powerful and crotchety wizard; Daffyd Ap Hywel, the world's greatest archer and a proud Welshman; Smrgol, Gorbash's great-uncle; Aragh the fearsome yet practical talking English wolf; and [[CuteBruiser Secoh]], a cowardly miniature dragon. Jim poses as a Baron from America to gain the trust of the local Englishmen.

** Geronde, after her father gets rescued, in preparation for her wedding, makes Brian [[IGaveMyWord swear]] to add water to any wine he drinks, much to Brian's annoyance. In is own words, he'd rather drink 19 glasses of water to have a glass of good wine, instead of ten glasses of watered wine. James, on one occasion [[LoopholeAbuse gets around this]] by personally pouring Brian a glass of wine, and giving it to him, as it would be rude for Brian to refuse said gift, much to Brian's pleasure.

* DoingInTheWizard: The laws of reality follow this. Magic that becomes too common stops being magic and starts being science. Consequently the Collegiate prizes the ability to create new magic above all others.

* EternalEnglish: Discussed in the first book by Angie and Jim, the former of whom notices that their speech patterns are different than they're used to in the present day.

* ShownTheirWork: Not for the first book, but from book two on Dickson did extensive amounts of research on the middle ages, usually pointing out how terrible the YeGoodeOldeDays trope is. Jim has to constantly use magic just to keep insects off of his bedding and clothes.

*** Fortunately for their relationship, this does not forbid Jim from using magic to transform Angie when she wishes -- except this only happens [[OneSceneWonder once in the series]].

** In ''The Dragon and the Gnarly King'', a priest, under the orders of the Earl of Cumberland, blesses James, preventing him from using magic -- although he was out of magic anyways, and attempted to do the same to a weakened Carolinus, only to be stopped by the Bishop of Bath and Wells (Richard de Bisby). Said Bishop forced the priest to go back to their own region, begging the whole way.

* TheUsualAdversaries: Dark Powers. They seem to oppose James at every turn, and either aid or lead his foes.

** [[spoiler: Sir Geoffrey, Geronde's [[DisappearedDad father, who was out in the Holy Lands]] preforms a non-fatal variant upon accepting a curse. The condition of the curse was such that, if he disobeyed his master, the curse would extend on down to the[[SinsOfOurFathers seventh generation]]. Thus, in order to protect his daughter, and possible future descendants, he never left, until he was rescued, and the curse was lifted. As it was, the nature of the curse was [[TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed something he wished not to talk about, until James forced him to say what it was - leprosy]].]]

* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Originally, in order to turn into a dragon, James had to use magic. However, as of ''The Dragon and the Djinn'', this ability is on par with a Natural ability, and not bound to the rules of magic.

* CulturedWarrior: Due to the fact that he's from another land and that he's a magician, James will occasionally act as if he is one, defusing potential conflicts by speaking in mystical-sounding words and phrases that leave come people puzzled.

** In ''The Dragon on The Border'', the Scottsman, Lachlan, fights naked when James' group attacks the party lead by the Frenchified-Scottsman, MacDougall.
** Downplayed a bit, but early on, James would have to take his clothes off in order to turn into a dragon, or else he'd ruin them. It came in handy when he used this to convince MacDougall to not attack the de Mer family after his release at the end of ''The Dragon on The Border''.

* CrossoverEpisode: In ''The Dragon, The Earl, and the Troll'', Jim visits both [[Literature/PeterPan the Neverlands]] and [[Literature/SherlockHolmes 221B Baker Street]] with Carolinus, meeting with Tinkerbell and Sherlock Holmes.

** James himself is occasionally this to Brian, especially when Brian is gambling, or it looks like someone is trying to goad the knight into a fight that might cause trouble to James' plans.

** Danielle is not seen much after the second book, merely mentioned in passing, although she does reappear in person in the final book.

* FakeUltimateHero: After Jim regains his own body, Gorbash, the dragon whose body he inhabited, frequently takes the credit for Jim's first adventure.

** Giles, and his family, are silkie, who can turn into seals when in the sea. Understanably, while useful in the sea, the ability is useless on land. As a result, he and his family fight like any other human.

* SuddenNameChange: In the first book, one of Jim's companions is the wolf Aragh. In all subsequent books, his name is Aargh.

* FromACertainPointOfView: When Jim arrives in England, he tells Carolinus he's a "Master of the Arts" and Carolinus construes it as meaning he's a master of the magical arts. He also tells Brian he's a baron from America. Later, Carolinus tells Jim there's no such thing as an evil Magician, but he later admits that he only said that because evil Magicians are technically called "Sorcerers". However, in ''The Dragon At War'', Carolinus explains that sorcerers work alone, and have sold themselves to [[EldritchAbomination The Dark Powers]] in return for learning [[BadPowersBadPeople more offensive and evil "counter-magic"]] (as opposed to normal magic, which cannot be used for personal gain or any sort of evil).

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Hobgoblins are cowardly and kindly goblins who have power over smoke and hide in chimneys. In one of the latter books, Jim's hob raises an army of hobgoblins who summarily wipe the floor with a much larger and more well-trained army of goblins. James himself also qualifies; he's a peacable, good-natured person who always prefers to solves disputes by diplomacy, and is very good at talking his way out of jams - but he's also a tall (a giant by the standards of the medieval era), powerfully-muscled, skilled athlete who's highly agile and is especially good at high jumps. He's a pretty rudimentary man of arms compared to Brian, but then, as noted above, Brian is probably the best swordfighter in England - and as the series progresses, James becomes a good enough fighter to defeat a belted knight in single combat (in his human form) and a sea serpent (in his dragon form), a creature bigger and more powerful than a dragon.