History Literature / TheLightbringerSeries

* SuperpowerLottery: Gavin [[spoiler:actually Dazen]]. A natural lightsplitter and [[spoiler:[[PowerParasite black luxin created]]]] full-spectrum polychrome who can also [[spoiler:draft white]]. The Color Prince lampshades that the man has too many gifts.

** Triply subverted since [[spoiler: FakeGavin is actually a black monochrome who stole his other colors from the White Oak brothers and maintained them through killing wights and Freeing drafters. RealGavin was no saint himself, with his own father admitting he had the potential to become a monster. Determining which one, if either, is evil is difficult to say the least.]]

* TheMole: [[spoiler: Commander Ironfist]] joined the Blackguard on the orders of his superiors in the Order of the Broken Eye.

* ReverseMole: Most of Teia's viewpoint chapters detail her infiltration of the Order of the Broken Eye on orders of the White.

* AGodAmI: The Prism has unlimited ability to draft luxin of any color and is revered as Orholam's chosen, as well as something close to a demigod themself.
** The Old Gods of the Seven Satrapies were [[DeityOfHumanOrigin powerful drafters who merged with their color's bane]] to essentially become its avatar. The Color Prince schemes to bring them back... under his control.[[spoiler: Eventually, it's clarified that the ''real'' gods were immortal spirits using these powerful drafters as proxies, and could easily switch from one to another if necessary]].
** Also, the Color Prince, Lord Omnichrome, whose ambition is to be [[UpToEleven a God of Gods]].
** The viewpoint character [[spoiler: Liv Danivus]] eventually becomes an incarnation of the Old God Ferrilux.

* FallenHero: [[spoiler: Liv Danavius]] betrays the Chromeria, abandons the Blood Robes, breaks the halo ''on purpose'' and seizes the [[spoiler: superviolet]] seed crystal for herself.

* HeroicSacrifice: Khan Arthur's brother wound up dead with part of his soul stuck in a giant grizzly courtesy of some BlackMagic gone wrong. He knows he has to kill the bear; the pieces of his brother make it confused and dangerous. But he also knows that doing so means his last living relative is well and truly dead. Kip [[TakeAThirdOption gives him a third option.]] Arthur convinces the bear to attack the Blood Robes' flank during a pivotal battle, turning the tide and giving him a hero's death.

** Likewise Ferrilux [[spoiler: a.k.a Liv Danivus]] and Mott both seemed ''changed'' by breaking their halos, but not insane.

* GoneHorriblyRight: ''The Burning White'' explains that the Chromeria's actions have damaged the Blinding Knife by rendering its [[spoiler: white]] luxin dormant; unbalanced as such, it is only capable of killing and destroying. There was a time when it was also able to grant boons to worthy drafters. Gavin restores its full functionality by [[spoiler: drafting white luxin at the battle of Roux,]] probably the first time anyone's done so in centuries. This means that, when [[spoiler: Andross]] is cut with it, it restores him and cures his status as a wight, rather than killing him or rendering him powerless.

* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: [[spoiler:Gavin is actually Dazen]]. This is revealed part-way through the first book, but it completely redefines everything we know about the character, their history, and their dynamic with the other characters.

* CrystalDragonJesus: Orholam. He is an omniscient God with a priesthood (called luxiats) and the Prism represents a Pope-like figure.

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Drafting in general is this, given that it is known to shorten the life of people who use it to the point that there are perhaps a dozen power players in the Seven Satrapies over the age of 40.
** Drafting luxin within one's body is seen as blasphemy and carries a death sentence because of its similarity to the "improvements" color wights make.
** Drafting [[spoiler: black]] luxin, in particular.
** Will-casting is a discipline of drafting that allows a drafter to control animals. It is practiced in the hinterlands of Blood Forest and forbidden by the Chromeria. This is explicitly stated to be because Chromerian doctrine is based on protecting people from the greatest danger. Complications during willcasting can result in the person or animal biologically dead and their soul shattered into pieces. This fades eventually, but leaves the animal with two souls for a time, making them confused and often violent.
** Soul-casting is a step beyond will-casting, where a drafter takes control of another human being. It is explicitly denounced as BlackMagic by the Chromeria and Blood Foresters alike.
** Drafting Chi will literally kill its drafter via radiation poisoning and cancerous tumors. The luxiats took this as self-evident BlackMagic and have long since banned it within the Seven Satrapies.

* {{God}}: The Chromeria venerates a monotheistic creator deity named Orholam. Whether he actually ''exists'' is an open question. Traditional interpretation is that he's a literal being. Andross is essentially a deist, believing that Orholam made the world but takes no part in running it. Gavin veers between that and outright atheism, depending on his mood (though being a religious as well as political leader, he keeps it to himself). [[spoiler: Grinwoody]] thinks Orholam is a non-sapient nexus of magical energies, not a person. [[spoiler: But he turns out to be very, very real]].
* AGodAmI: The Prism has unlimited ability to draft luxin of any color and is revered as something close to a demigod.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Andross teases telling Kip his mother's full story, but we never get to hear it.

* ShoutOut: The series is stuffed full of quotations and references from a huge swath of sources, ranging from TheBible to Lord Byron to ThePrincessBride.

* ShoutOut: The card game ''Nine Kings'' (and perhaps Corvan Danavis' name) is an awesome one to ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber''.

** The final book also features [[spoiler:Kip and Tiea]] fighting [[spoiler:Abbadon. They eventually kill him by shooting him with his own gun repeatedly. Being an immortal this doesn't actually kill him, but it does permanently banish him from their world.]]

* TheMultiverse: Explicitly mentioned as "The Thousand Worlds" that immortals battle over, but not shown on-screen. One of the few checks on the powers of the Djinn is that manifesting anywhere in the mortal world means that they cannot be anywhere else, including any others worlds, during that period of time. A few mentions are made of things happening on other worlds, and at the end of the last book when [[spoiler: Kip and Teia kill Abbadon, it is explicitly said that it permanently banishes him from their world]].

* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: There are two full spectrum polychromes in the series who are only properly revealed as such when it's suitably dramatic. That being said, there are a number of hints in both cases such that it could easily be guessed.

** [[spoiler: Andross]] let the world know he was a polychrome, but the fact that he was full spectrum isn't revealed for most of the series. In fact, it seems [[spoiler:he ''wasn't'' full spectrum for most of his life. The accident aboard the ship with the Blinder's Knife game him all of Gavin's drafting, as well as restoring him from his previous state as a Red Wight.]]

** [[spoiler: Andross Guile's]] natural discipline and willfulness hides the fact that he broke the halo early in the events of ''The Blinding Knife'' and has been a color wight for most of the book.

** The Old Man of the Desert assigning [[spoiler: Gavin]] to kill [[spoiler: Orholam]] constitutes the main plot of his viewpoint chapters in the final book.

* LargeAndInCharge: The Guiles have characteristic broad shoulders. This is part of what leads to Kip being accepted as a Guile. There's even a point where Andross is ruled out of a scheme because he's clearly too big to be the Old Man of the Desert.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Each color of luxin has several things it's good at. This trope is one of [[spoiler: black's]] abilities.

* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Gavin]] claims to be this to [[spoiler:Kip]]. He's actually [[spoiler: Kip's uncle, since Kip's father is the real Gavin and "Gavin" is Dazen]].
** Subverted because [[spoiler:Gavin isn't really Gavin. He's Dazen]].
** [[spoiler:And now it turns out ''Andross'' is Kip's father. Maybe]].
* MagicAIsMagicA: Luxin and drafting are given very specific and defined functions and rules, down to each color having its own properties, strengths, and limitations.

* TheMultiverse: Implied, but not shown on-screen. One of the few checks on the powers of the Djinn is that manifesting anywhere in the mortal world means that they cannot be anywhere else, including any others worlds, during that period of time. This implies a larger multiverse, akin to Literature/TheCosmere of Creator/BrandonSanderson.

* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: There are two full spectrum polychromes in the series, neither of whom are revealed as such until it's suitably dramatic.

** [[spoiler: Andross]] let the world know he was a polychrome, but held back the full breadth of his abilities in order to trick potential foes into underestimating him. Borders on AssPull territory, considering how he doesn't reveal it until the world is desperately in need of a full spectrum polychrome in just the place he happens to be.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: A recurring theme is that the Spectrum's wariness of Gavin is a major factor in the Color Prince's success. They've been so focused on stymying the dashing, cunning, and popular Prism from becoming too powerful that other aspects of Chromerian politics have suffered, leaving the Seven Satrapies ripe for Lord Omnichrome's rebellion.

** Much later, we learn that [[spoiler: each Dead Man is an imprisoned Djinn that Gavin caught on its way to ascending to godhood. The only reason he stopped at eight was that there were too few drafters of the remaining colors to make wights.]]

* OutOfFocus: We see very little of The Color Prince during ''The Broken Eye,'' though his ongoing conquest of Blood Forest is mentioned in passing from time to time.

* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: Averted. The question of who is the Lightbringer--if anyone currently living--is a major plot point, particularly in ''The Burning White,'' and some of the prophecies about the Lightbringer seem mutually exclusive. [[spoiler: Orholam]] eventually reveals that [[spoiler: there never was one predestined Lightbringer, but rather many people who could ''become'' the Lightbringer by their own actions]].

* ProphecyTwist: Defied by the Third Eye, who finds the whole "vague prophecy" shtick annoying and speaks as clearly and precisely as she can.

* RapeAsBackstory: [[spoiler: Kip's mother Lina was raped by Kip's father.]] Things get complicated from here: [[spoiler: Kip's uncle Dazen is impersonating Kip's presumed father Gavin. Kip's grandfather, Andross, claims that he is actually Kip's father. Andross has stated it wasn't a case of rape, but rather revenge.]]

** Drafters with darker skin have an advantage over lighter skinned ones--it's harder to see if and what color they are drafting while the luxin is under their skin--so there are a lot of dark Blackguards and potential Scary Black Men.

** ''The Blood Mirror starts off early with the revelation that [[spoiler: Marissia was the late White's granddaughter and was never actually a slave.]] But it's big payload was that [[spoiler: Dazen didn't spare his brother at the battle of Sundered Rock]], and any experience to the contrary is a false memory created by [[spoiler: black Luxin]].
* RevolversAreJustBetter: Abaddon designed his weapon to look like a revolver. He's clear that it doesn't actually ''work'' like one, he just appreciated the aesthetic.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: It's something of an open secret that the rules don't really apply to Andross Guile [[spoiler: anymore. He ''did'' abide by an obscure rule from a generation previous, at great personal cost]].

** [[spoiler: Ironfist]] interprets that ''all'' of the Dead Men are not will-castings, but imprisoned Djinn, of which the [[spoiler: black]] is by far the worst.

* SelflessWish: After going through absolute hell, Gavin is given a wish from [[spoiler:Orholam himself. Despite his desire to save Kip and Karris, he wishes for Orholam to offer mercy to the previous Prisms who became Sea Demons, the only creatures he knows nobody would wish for. Orholam rewards his selflessness by [[SweetAndSourGrapes healing Dazen in the epilogue anyway.]]]

* TheSociopath: Zymun is a textbook case -- outwardly charming, lacking in anything that might be called empathy or conscience, craving constant stimulation, inflated sense of self-worth, etc.

** Winson is a heroic version.

* SquishyWizard: Averted. Drafting is often physically demanding (best illustrated by all the pushing and rowing required by the Falcon in the first book). Beyond that, the story's focus on the Blackguard means that many on-screen drafters are are in peak physical condition.

* TakeAThirdOption: Gavin's specialty, and Kip gets pretty good at it, too.

* TeenageWasteland: Played with. Of the power players in the Seven Satrapies, all of them at the centralized government with its seat on the Jaspers are drafters. The exception is Carver Black, with the Black being a position traditionally held by a non-drafter...who also doesn't vote on policy. Most noble families also produce a lot of drafters, which makes sense as nobility are the warrior class. However, drafting makes most people [[CastFromLifespan break the halo around forty]], meaning that many of the most powerful people in the world are in their twenties, thirties, or even teens.
** As a straighter example, the False Prism's War was led by a teenager on both sides. Corvan Danavis was cited as a masterful general, but is only in his early forties at the start of ''The Black Prism'', sixteen years later.
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Orea Pullawr]] allows herself to be murdered by the Order, so that she might set up [[spoiler: Kerris]] as her successor, rather than one of Andross Guile's pawns.

* TwinSwitch: Variation; [[spoiler: Gavin and Dazen]] aren't actually ''twins'', just siblings who bear a striking resemblance to each other, but they look enough alike [[spoiler: for Dazen to have spent more than a decade pretending to be Gavin]].

* WeakButSkilled: Teia's whole hat. As a paryl monochrome, her abilities are unusual but powerful when used subtly. She's probably the worst choice for a fair fight, but makes her an unparalleled assassin [[spoiler: except compared to Murder Sharp, who taught her everything she knows]].

* WhamLine: [[spoiler: "I am Dazen Guile, and I stole your life."]]

* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Teia's story arc in ''The Blinding Knife'' mostly consists of her moping about being a monochrome in a color most people doesn't even know exists and that is poorly suited to a soldier's life. By the ''The Burning White,'' she's learned that HeartIsAnAwesomePower; paryl's abilities are narrow but synergize well, making her a terrifying assassin.

* WilliamTelling: Gunner decides to shoot an apple off of Gavin's head, from across the length of his boat on high seas. Gavin ups the ante and dares Gunner to shoot the apple ''out of his mouth'' instead. [[ImprobableAimingSkills Gunner nails the shot]].

* PosthumousCharacter: Gavin's mother Felia dies in the first book. One of the most important plot moments of the second book is delivered via a letter she wrote before her death and instructed a servant to bring to Karris after.

* EyeScream [[spoiler: Gavin, and HOW.]]

* NamesToRunAwayFrom:''Murder Sharp''. Also [[spoiler: Marrow Sucker]].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Andross teases telling Kip his mother's full story, but we never get to hear it.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: The bad guys are insane wights engaging a total war complete with massacres and slavery (despite their claims against it) headed by a genocidal megalomaniac. The Chromeria are the "good" guys who fully endorse slavery and constantly play politics as their people die.

* TheChosenOne: Played with. The series is named for a prophecied deliverer called the Lightbringer. The first four books build up the possibility that [[spoiler: Kip]] is the Lightbringer. ''The Burning White'' reveals that [[spoiler: Andross]] has assumed himself to be the Lightbringer for forty years. However, several prophecies related to the Lightbringer don't seem to reference either of them, so it's possible that ''neither'' is a Chosen One.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The fate of Tyrea in the wake of the False Prism's War--defeated, blame by the rest of the world, humiliation and refusal to be allowed to rejoin the worldwide community, leading to rebellion and ultimately igniting a far worse conflict--cleaves very close to what happened to Germany after WorldWarOne.