History Literature / TheLastHero

* TerminallyDependentSociety: This is the book that makes it clear that a place like the Disc '''needs''' magic simply to function, without it the sun would fall on it and the ocean would fall ''off'' of it... and that's just the first few minutes..

* ChainedToARock: This is the fate of Fingers-Mazda, the first hero, for giving fire to humans (yes he's a Prometheus ""Expy}}). The titular "Last Hero(es)" track him down, breaks his chains, give him a sword, and leave him to seek revenge on the eagle that has spent centuries eating his regenerating liver.

* ColdEquation: The Librarian accidentally stows away aboard the Kite, which is consequently short on air and dragon power. Vetinari immediately advocates a pragmatic approach:

* ConservationOfNinjutsu: The Silver Horde are a bunch of old seasoned warriors that are willing and able to blow up Dunmanifestin, and they could easily kill anyone who stands in their way -- unless [[spoiler:they're facing a single truly brave hero like Carrot Ironfoundersson. Which makes ''them'' the villains. They realise this when it happens, and it gives them serious pause.]]

* CoolStarship: ''The Kite''. Untested and still under construction when they left Ankh-Morpork, Leonard still built in many advanced features, including Prince Haram's Tiller (an autopilot). Note that Vetinari, being the product of an arts-based education, understands the reference to the Klatchian folk tale but Stibbons -- a scientist -- doesn't.

* DidNotThinkThisThrough: While going over their plans to launch ''The Kite'' off of the Disc, Rincewind learns (And points out) that the take-off site is near the island of Krull, which means running into the Circumfence, a giant net designed to keep things from falling off of the Disc. The narration notes that at that point, everyone else began thinking of excuses of why they couldn't have remembered that tidbit, and why everyone else should have.

* EveryManHasHisPrice: The bard is offered a substantial bag of ''rubies'' for joining the Horde and writing a song about their final adventure. He's well aware that ''rubies'' it's madness to join these ''rubies'' lunatics as they try to ''rubies'' get themselves killed, but harder to ignore the ''rubies'' rubies ''rubies''.

* GodTest: Done literally when the Silver Horde try to sneak into Dunmanifestin by claiming to be "new gods". The [[JerkassGods existing gods]] decide to have some fun by demanding Cohen prove his bonafides by rolling a seven on a six-sided die. [[CuttingTheKnot He does]].

* ImpossibleTaskInstantlyAccomplished: Leonard da Quirm is ordered by the gods to paint the ceiling of a massive chapel in Ankh-Morpork with suitably epic art, and is given 10 years to do so. Everyone present reacts as though this is too short a time. A week later, he has finished painting the chapel with [[spoiler: a view of the Discworld, as seen from directly above.]]

** And Offler, one of the oldest gods there is, notes that he only got that way by recognizing that a god [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure needs to offer his people something more than a lack of thunderbolts]].

* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: At the end the horde hunts down [[spoiler:Mazda, the Discworld Prometheus, just so they can shake him by the hand. Then they break his chains and leave him a sword to deal with that damn bird...]]
** Afterwards, [[spoiler:Mazda isn't sure what happened, who they were, why there were congratulating him, or even if it was quite real. What he ''is'' sure of is that he has a sword, he's not wearing chains, the bird is coming and he's going to enjoy the ''hell'' out of this]].

** The need to avert his is why the Bard is certain he'll return from Dunmanifestin. He knows that once the gods realize that they're under attack by a man claiming to be the Muse of Swearing and a guy wearing a hat made from a decapitated giant fish, they're going to want someone to survive to tell the story of what happened next.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: On an intellectual level. [[spoiler:The gods know Leonardo de Quirm just built a device that could go to the moon and around the turtle. They think their challenge to paint the ceiling of a great temple in Ankh-Morpork will be a strenuous affair that will keep him occupied for decades. He has it done in less than a month]].

* TrainingFromHell: Ridcully decides that the crew of Leonard's space craft need to be trained for the mission. Ponder Stibbons points out that they're going into the unexpected, but Ridcully insists they be given some unexpected training. Rincewind states that they're going into certain death, which needs no training for whatsoever. He later decides that Leonard's device (Designed to test if a human body can handle the stress of leaving the Disc) would do. After five minutes on it, death would seem like a release.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Evil Harry's henchmen, with the possible exception of the troll, are not merely stupid but appear to be suffering from genuine intellectual disabilities.

* BarbarianLonghair: Cohen the Barbarian is bald, but Truckle the Uncivil, part of his "Silver Horde" is shown with scraggly hair growing past his shoulders.

* CallBack

* ChainedToARock: This is the fate of Fingers-Mazda, the first hero, for giving fire to humans yes he's a Prometheus Expy. The titular "Last Hero"s track him down, breaks his chains, give him a sword, and leave him to seek revenge on the eagle that has spent centuries eating his regenerating liver.
* ChainmailBikini: PlayedForLaughs with Vena the Raven Haired, a ''Series/{{Xena|WarriorPrincess}}'' pastiche who, like Cohen is a legend in her own lifetime, is pushing retirement age… and still wears her old form-fitting adventuring outfit.

* ContinuityNod: Rincewind mentions falling off the Disc before, a reference to the end of ''Literature/TheColourOfMagic'', and then mentions that he couldn't see anything as his life was flashing before his eyes, a nod to the beginning of ''Literature/TheLightFantastic''. Carrot also remarks that the moon's native dragons resemble Errol, the [[strike: total whittle]] ''throwback'' swamp dragon from ''Literature/GuardsGuards''.
* ContractualGenreBlindness: Lord Harry Dread always hires stupid (and [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy inattentive]]) minions, builds escapable dungeons and leaves caches of food, medicine and weapons for heroes to find, because that's how things are done, and in return he profits from his ventures ([[EvilAlwaysTriumphsInTheMiddle until the third act]]), [[VillainExitStageLeft always escapes to try again]], and both their reputations are enhanced. This is also the stated reason he is the ''last'' EvilOverlord; other than the Silver Horde no-one plays by the Code any more, so they don't escape. He's also a ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' joke of sorts, or possibly a ''CMOT Dibbler'' one, with various references to the "Shed of Doom" and so on.

* CrisisCrossover: the story sees the Wizards, City Watch and many other characters teaming up to stop the Horde destroying the disc.

** Leonardo is tasked with [[spoiler:painting a vast ceiling in several years by the gods. He does it in mere weeks by using a hovercraft and a device to spray the paint evenly and nicely]].

* ICanSeeMyHouseFromHere: Cohen: I can see ''everyone's'' house from here!
* ImpossibleTaskInstantlyAccomplished: Leonard da Quirm is ordered by the gods to paint the ceiling of a massive chapel in Ankh-Morpork with suitably epic art, and is given 10 years to do so. Everyone present reacts as though this is too short a time. A week later, he has finished painting the chapel with [[spoiler: a view of the Discworld, as seen from directly above]]

* OldSoldier: Every single member of the Silver Horde counts as one of these because every single one of them is at least eighty. You don't live to be that old in barbarian adventuring unless you're very, very, good at it.

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: What motivates Cohen and his Horde, for making them so good at what they do that they could live to grow old, weak and see a world that doesn't need them anymore. Averted by Carrot, who's obviously appalled by the deities' attitudes but restricts himself to a StealthInsult.

* ResignedToTheCall: Rincewind.

** Another ship took a trip over the edge of the Disc. There was one survivor. His last words: "[[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey My God, it's full of elephants!]]".

** A marginal note in Leonard's drawings mentions "Bird's Eye Maple, 1 1/2d per foot", referencing an old Stanley Holloway monologue "Three Ha'pence A Foot". http://monologues.co.uk/3Hapence.shtml .

* SimpleSolutionWontWork: When told that Cohen the Barbarian plans to detonate a FantasticNuke on top of Cor Celesti, which will result in the death of the gods and the end of magic for two years, several people think it's a small price to pay. Ponder Stibbons has to explain that it means the end of the world.

* ExactWords: When Blind Io asks Captain Carrot if he is a gods-fearing man, Carrot replies that what he's seen of the gods certainly frightens the life out of him, and adds that [[NayTheist his commander]] always says that when you look at the state of mankind you are forced to accept the reality of the gods. Naturally, the gods completely miss the irony.

** One illustration of Rincewind screaming in abject terror with his hands on his face invokes Edvard Munch's "TheScream".

* ChainmailBikini: PlayedForLaughs with Vena the Raven Haired, a ''Series/{{Xena|WarriorPrincess}}'' pastiche who, like Cohen is a legned in her own lifetime, is pushing retirement age… and still wears her old form-fitting adventuring outfit.

* EveryoneHasStandards: The Silver Horde cares nothing for the laws of gods or men, but they do have a Code they follow scrupulously. Having a Code, they believe, is the difference between being a BarbarianHero and being just some thug in a loincloth.

* NeverMessWithGranny: Vena the Raven-Haired, a barbarian heroine (now a great-grandmother) who joins the Silver Horde. Much like them, she's quite an elderly heroine, and if anyone gets that old as a barbarian hero(ine), it means they're really, ''really'' good at it.

** A sketch of Rincewind, stripped down to a loincloth, strapped spread-eagle into a three-axis rotation device, and clearly about to hurl, mirrors Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man'' (except for the hurling part).

* Plot Armor: During the cutscene in which the Silver Horde and Evil Harry Dread and his minions fight their way through the Dungeon located with the mountain, every single one of Harry's six minions manages to die, while Harry and the silver horde emerge relatively unscathed.

* Plot armor: During the cutscene in which the Silver Horde and Evil Harry Dread and his minions fight their way through the Dungeon located with the mountain, every single one of Harry's six minions manages to die, while Harry and the silver horde emerge relatively unscathed.

* Plotarmor: During the cutscene in which the Silver Horde and Evil Harry Dread and his minions fight their way through the Dungeon located with the mountain, every single one of Harry's six minions manages to die, while Harry and the silver horde emerge relatively unscathed.

* StealthPun: Read the description of the Nothingfjord Blue. Also, Prince Haram. In Arabic the word means against religious rules, sin, bad for you. On Discworld, Prince Haram is Klatchian folk hero who sailed all over the world. Over here, he is Literature/SinbadTheSailor of the seven seas.

** How Cohen beats Fate at dice. The original story is also mentioned, and was how Cohen got his inspiration. Cohen himself even {{lampshade}}s this, calling it a "''knotty'' problem" and reminding the Bard (who had told Cohen the tale of the Tsortean Knot earlier) to remember that he said that.

** While the gods are mostly [[JerkassGods callous jerks]], even they consider Nuggan to be a particularly obnoxious little prig, and several are disturbed to learn he forbade his followers from eating ginger, mushrooms, garlic and chocolate.

* ApocalypseHow: Type X-2/Stellar Destruction, although the loss of Great A'Tuin and the elephants would've vastly outmassed the loss of Discworld's tiny sun.