History Literature / TheHistoryOfTheRunestaff

* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: taken to ridiculous levels. Hawkmoon spends the greater part of three books doing his goddamn best to get away from fulfilling his destiny, to the point that the Runestaff has to literally send his people after him (several times) to get him back on track.

* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: taken to ridiculous levels. Hakmoon spends the greater part of three books doing his goddamn best to get away from fulfilling his destiny, to the point that the Runestaff has to literally send his people after him (several times) to get him back on track.

* ActionHero: Hawkmoon is this, along with shades of GuileHero.

* CoolOldGuy: Count Brass, Von Villach, Bowgentle.
* CoolHelmet: The silvered helmets given to the six heroes of The Kamarg by Orland Fank.

* TheEmpire: Granbretan.
* EnergyWeapon: The flamelance.
* {{Evil Brit}}s: Gee, ya ''think?''

* FeudalFuture

* HeelFaceTurn: Huillam D'Averc.

* HeroicSacrifice: In ''The Runestaff'', [[spoiler: all the heroes except Dorian and Yisselda.]]

* [[IntangibleMan Intangible People]]: The Wraith-folk of Soryandum.
* MacGuffinTurnedHuman: [[spoiler: The Runestaff,]] initially.
* MadScientist: Baron Kalan. Taragorm.

* OurElvesAreDifferent. Vadhagh, Eldren and Melniboneans all turn up in ''Champion of Garathorm''. Not to mention Elric and Corum in ''Quest for Tanelorn''.
* RapePillageAndBurn: The favoured conquest method of Granbretan. Also the chaos army in ''Champion of Garathorm''.

* TheStrategist: Hawkmoon distinctly shows himself to be this during The Battle of the Kamarg.

* ThoseMagnificentFlyingMachines: Granbretan's ornithopters.

* YellowPeril / RedChina / RedScare: Invoked in-universe, with rumors of "Empire of Asiacommunista". [[spoiler:It never appears in the books and its existence is never confirmed or disproved.]]

* BadassDecay: in ''Count Brass'', all of the newly brought back warlords have decayed from vigorously insane warriors to being single phrase automatons.
** Hawkmoon himself between ''Count Brass'' and ''Champion of Garathorm'' degenerated from the hero of the resistance to a basement-dwelling wargame obsessive.

* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: taken to ridiculous levels. Hakmoon spends the greater part of three books doing his goddamn best to get away from fulfilling his destiny, to the point that the Runestaff has to literally send his people after him (several times) to get him back on track.

* ArmourIsUseless: Thoroughly averted in ''The Mad God's Amulet''. First of all Oladhan jumps on a RedShirt Granbretanian and attempts to jam a dagger in between the joints of his armour. Then later on D'Averc's life is saved by his heavy armour after being hit by FrickinLaserBeams.

* FrickinLaserBeams: The flamelance.

* BadassGrandpa: Count Brass. According to the RPG he was 59 years old when he wrestled a bull to the ground and at 63 killed three vicious Granbretanian warlords at the Battle of Londra. All whilst leading a hugely outnumbered force of former mercenaries. Literally is one in the second trilogy. Old Von Villach, Brass' lieutenant, is no slouch either, killing another warlord at the battle of The Kamarg.

* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: taken to ridiculous levels. Hakmoon spends the greater part of three books doing his goddamn best to get away from fulfilling his destiny, to the point that the Runestaff has to literally send his agents after him to get him back on track.

* TheEmpire: [[CaptainObvious Granbretan.]]

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Count Brass' earlier exploits are only hinted at. Also literally in ''The Quest For Tanelorn'' with the introduction of three of Moorcock's main Eternal Champion avatars (Erekose, Literature/{{Corum}} and [[Literature/TheElricSaga Elric]]). Double points for Elric as the part of the story portrayed here also turns up in Sailors on the Seas of Fate, but told from Elric's viewpoint.

* ArmourIsUseless: Thoroughly averted in ''The Mad God's Amulet''. First of all Oladhan jumps on a RedShirt granbretanian and attempts to jam a dagger in between the joints of his armour. Then later on D'Averc's life is saved by his heavy armour after being hit by FrickinLaserBeams.

* FailureHero: Due to losing his family in the various time travel shenanigans, Hawkmoon becomes this, particularly in Champion of Garathorm.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: In the first series, all of the main characters except Hawkmoon and Yisselda are dead, Europe has been ravaged by a vicious war and even their home province has been utterly destroyed. In the second trilogy, due to time meddling, Hawkmoon loses his wife for seven years, goes mad, has to travel to another dimension to fight AnArmyOfThievesAndWhores, swap bodies and defeat the Big Bad before he is reunited with his wife. THEN he has to travel on a ship with three of his other incarnations, combine with them in a monstrous way, destroy two sorcerers who intend to suck the universe dry and finally see the two most powerful forces in the universe face off against each other before he gets to be reunited with his children.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: In the first series, all of the main characters except Hawkmoon and Yisselda are dead, Europe has been ravaged by a vicious war and even their home province has been utterly destroyed. In the second trilogy, due to time meddling, Hawkmoon loses his wife for seven years, goes mad, has to travel to another dimension to fight An Army of Thieves and Whores, swap bodies and defeat the Big Bad before he is reunited with his wife. THEN he has to travel on a ship with three of his other incarnations, combine with them in a monstrous way, destroy two sorcerers who intend to suck the universe dry and finally see the two most powerful forces in the universe face off against each other before he gets to be reunited with his children.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: in the first series, all of the main characters except Hawkmoon and Yisselda are dead, Europe has been ravaged by a vicious war and even their home province has been utterly destroyed. In the second trilogy, due to time meddling, Hawkmoon loses his wife for seven years, goes mad, has to travel to another dimension to fight An Army of Thieves and Whores, swap bodies and defeat the Big Bad before he is reunited with his wife. THEN he has to travel on a ship with three of his other incarnations, combine with them in a monstrous way, destroy two sorcerers who intend to suck the universe dry and finally see the two most powerful forces in the universe face off against each other before he gets to be reunited with his children.

* TakeThat: the Dark Empire is arguably Moorcock's take that against the mainstream British culture of the 60s, with its smugly self-satisfied attitude and its nostalgia for the faded glories of the empire.

* SummoningArtifact: The Sword of the Dawn, which can call forth the nigh-infinite [[ArmyOfTheDead Legion of the Dawn.]]

* ArmourIsUseless: Thoroughly averted in The Mad God's Amulet. First of all Oladhan jumps on a RedShirt granbretanian and attempts to jam a dagger in between the joints of his armour. Then later on D'Averc's life is saved by his heavy armour after being hit by FrickinLaserBeams.
* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: The army that attacks Garathorn is made up of renegade Eldren, Vadhagh, Melniboneans, Tragic Millenium survivors and chaos beasts from across the multiverse, led by a raping, pillaging ex bandit and rustler.

* BadassDecay: in Count Brass, all of the newly brought back warlords have decayed from vigorously insane warriors to being single phrase automatons.
** Hawkmoon himself between Count Brass and Champion of Garathorm degenerated from the hero of the resistance to a basement dwelling wargame obsessive.

* CanonWelding: Thoroughly averted in the first tetralogy, although the events themselves are referenced in Corum. Champion of Garathorm introduces the Corum's companion Jhary-a-Conel, which is further expanded in The Quest for Tanelorn with introducing Erekose, Corum himself and Elric, as well as Erekose's love Ermizhad. Thoroughly justified as the Eternal Champion, his Companions and lover are all aspects of the same being.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Count Brass' earlier exploits are only hinted at. Also literally in The Quest For Tanelorn with the introduction of three of Moorcock's main Eternal Champion avatars (Erekose, Corum and Elric). Double points for Elric as the part of the story portrayed here also turns up in Sailors on the Seas of Fate, but told from Elric's viewpoint.

* OurElvesAreDifferent. Vadhagh, Eldren and Melniboneans all turn up in Champion of Garathorm. Not to mention Elric and Corum in Quest for Tanelorn.
* RapePillageAndBurn: The favoured conquest method of Granbretan. Also the chaos army in Champion of Garathorm.

* LivingMacGuffin: [[spoiler: The Runestaff,]] initially-- and one of the few male examples.

* FiveManBand:
** TheHero - Dorian Hawkmoon
** TheLancer - Oladahn of the Bulgar Mountains
** TheBigGuy - Count Brass
** TheSmartGuy - Bowgentle
** TheChick - Yiselda of Brass
** TheSixthRanger - Huillam D'Averc
** TheObiWan - The Warrior in Jet and Gold; Orland Fank.