History Literature / TheHeritageOfShannara

* [[spoiler:CloningBlues: The Elves on Morrowindl tried to clone an army via magic. The clones eventually degenerated into the "demons" that are the main threat in ''Elf Queen''.]]

* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Thanks to the Elves messing around with the magic of the earth to [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke create new creatures]] [[spoiler:and eventually [[CloningBlues copies of themselves]] [[CloneDegeneration that degenerated into demons]]]], and the demons drawing on its magic further to sustain themselves, the island of Morrowindl eventually becomes this crossed with HungryJungle.

* TheReveal: The Shadowen are [[spoiler: Elves who rediscovered the old magic and found a way to transform into wraiths]]. On a lesser note the "demons" on Morrowindl are [[spoiler:degenerated [[CloningBlues Elven clones]], created from the failure of the same magic]]. To say the Elves royally screwed up, would be an understatement.

'''This series provides examples of:'''

* TakeThat: Carisman, an expy of [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Tom Bombadil]]. A character who travels with our heroes for a while and often breaks into song. There are some small people who worship as a god, but he desires to be on his own. The small people get angry at being abandoned, they track him down, kill him, and take his head as a trophy.

* AlliterativeName: Tiger Ty. Doubles as an AwesomeMcCoolname.

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* NotSoDifferent: Rimmer Dall frequently uses this, on everyone from [[TheHero Par]] to [[PsychoForHire Pe Ell]].

* TomatoInTheMirror: Rimmer Dall goes beyond NotSoDifferent and tries (with near success) to get Par to believe this

* TwoHalvesMakeAPlot: Played with. Damson Rhee breaks [[MeaningfulName the Skree]][[notelabel:*]]"scry", the archaic divination term[[/labelnote]] in half and gives one part of it to Par to help them find each other again, since its magic makes it act as something of a homing beacon, each half glowing brighter as they get closer together. Normally this would not be a trope example due to the lack of surprise or unwillingness (i.e. it's more of a DismantledMacGuffin)...except for the fact Coll, under the spell of the Mirrorshroud, forcibly takes Par's half away with him. As a result, when Damson tries to use her half later, she and Matty end up being quite surprised when they're led to find Coll instead. Thanks to Par's magic imprinting on it, however, they're eventually able to come back and find him inside Southwatch, too.

* BadassGrandpa: Cogline

* OhCrap: The revelation that [[spoiler:Teal is a Shadowen. She was with the heroes practically from the beginning, and actually witnessed Allanon giving the scions their charges. Hence Rimmer Dall ends the first book with a significant advantage. ]]

* PowerTrio: [[TheSmartGuy Morgan]], [[TheHeart Damson]], and [[{{Kuudere}} Matty Roh]] form one in ''Talismans''. [[WarriorPrince Morgan]] is TheKirk, Damson TheMcCoy, and [[BrokenBird Matty]] is TheSpock.

* SpoonyBard: Carisman is a "[[CallARabbitASmeerp tunesmith]]", but while seeing various songs from him during ''Druid'', they tend to vary greatly in effectiveness--he doesn't succeed in charming the Urdas, and his song to conceal them from the Koden would have led to their deaths had not Walker communed with it in time. He acts throughout the quest as a cross between TheLoad and TheHeart, occasionally a GreekChorus, and on very rare occasions he has a clever insight or [[WeNeedADistraction aids as a distraction]]. But other than one moment when he succeeds in saving the party from a horde of rats with the [[ArchEnemy sounds of a horde of cats]], he's pretty much useless. [[spoiler:Which is underscored when he gets himself killed in a completely ignominious, pointless, but undeniably tragic and sad SacrificialLamb manner.]] He does at least elicit a fair amount of sympathy from the reader, especially as he becomes more aware of just what he's gotten himself into and begins to despair.

* MeaningfulName: Rumor, Walker Boh's moor cat, is descended from the one who belong to Cogline and Kimber in ''Wishsong''...and his name was Whisper. To add to this is the very amusing in-story joke that "wherever Walker goes, Rumor follows him."

** TheStarscream: The Maw Grint. Originally an elemental created to serve the Stone King's will, it's now a giant, maddened worm who openly seeks to usurp Uhl Belk's power and is kept in check only by the power of the Black Elfstone.

* GeniusLoci: [[spoiler: Southwatch]], a living organism designed to leech off the planet's magic for Shadowen use.

** PropheticFallacy: ...but always with a twist. If Walker hadn't figured this out before the end, and looked beyond the obvious interpretation, the third vision would have come true with his death, [[{{Revenge}} just as the Grimpond wanted]].

* EnergyAbsorption: [[spoiler: Southwatch]] feeds off of the magic in the Four Lands themselves, leaving them barren. The Shadowen have a more limited ability to drain lesser magics from from their victims.

* CatScare: Morgan's first appearance in the series is covering himself in mud and jumping out in front of Par and Coll as a prank, at a point where the reader is expecting the "mud creature" to be a Shadowen.