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* LastDayOfNormalcy: it begins with Quentin Coldwater making his way to a college interview for Princeton, the next logical step in his life as a TeenGenius. Along the way, he's established as a slightly depressed guy who is AimlesslySeekingHappiness and compulsively performs coin tricks to bring the illusion of magic to his life. However, the predictable routine of the day goes awry when the interviewer unexpectedly turns up dead; soon after, Quentin finds himself stumbling off the street and into the entrance exam for a WizardingSchool.
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** The Free Trader Beowulf group are trying something similar [[spoiler: by summoning up a god in order to discover ultimate truth, power, and open a doorway into a Heavenly realm without suffering]]. It doesn't [[EldritchAbomination quite]] [[AdultFear work out]].
to:
** The Free Trader Beowulf group are trying something similar [[spoiler: by summoning up a god in order to discover ultimate truth, power, and open a doorway into a Heavenly realm without suffering]]. It doesn't [[EldritchAbomination quite]] [[AdultFear quite work out]].
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* EliteSchoolMeansEliteBrain: Brakebills is considered the best WizardingSchool in North America--and also the most exclusive. Because working magic requires incredible intelligence and a level of focus bordering on insanity, you need to be an intellectual prodigy just to be considered for enrollment, and out of an entire class of potential students, only a handful ever pass the [[IncomprehensibleEntranceExam notoriously-difficult entrance exam]]--the rest having their memories of magic erased, no excuses, no second chances. For this reason, Brakebills students are considered the best and brightest of all magicians in the settings. By contrast, [[BlueCollarWarlock hedge magicians]] who learned their skills from non-official sources are treated as dunces who earned their skills at a 7-11.
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* BullyingADragon: Early in the novel, the Lorians decide to invade Fillory; as Eliot makes this abundantly clear, this was a profoundly bad idea, because the Lorains are just a human ProudWarriorRace up against an entire nation of magical beasts and beings led by a small clique of magical monarchs.
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* CurbStompBattle: Eliot's first battle against the Lorian army results in an easy win for Fillory; among other things, Eliot takes the invaders by surprise with a mixture of his own magical prowess and spells set up the night before, then reveals his own army - including six giants. Then, he has ''an entire river'' attack the Lorians.
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* MagicalLand: Quentin spends a lot of the book trying to make his own world similar to Fillory.
to:
* MagicalLand: Quentin spends a lot of the book trying to make a world of his own world similar to Fillory.
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* PortalBook: How the Chatwins get into Fillory at one point.
to:
* OnlyTheWorthyMayPass: It's revealed in this book that Brakebills has magical admissions protocols designed to automatically prevent sociopaths from becoming students, hence why there aren't many EvilSorcerer types in the real world. Unfortunately, it's not 100% effective, and at least one sociopath slipped the net - resulting in a very messy NoodleIncident that occasionally causes one of the walls to sweat acid on humid days.
* PortalBook:How the Chatwins get into Martin and Rupert Chatwin are revealed to have visited Fillory at one point.via a book in the family library - though in Martin's case, he had to use magic to ''force'' it to let him in, given that he was too old to visit. [[spoiler: This was Martin's final visit to Fillory before he sold his humanity and became the Beast.]]
* PortalBook:
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Not So Different has been renamed, and it needs to be dewicked/moved
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* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Janet and Eliot. She's the [[BrutalHonesty blunt]], [[DeadpanSnarker caustic]], [[GoGetterGirl ambitious]], and [[ReallyGetsAround promiscuous]] girl to his [[TheDandy vain]], [[BrilliantButLazy lazy]], emotionally reserved, and... equally promiscuous boy. For all their differences, they're as [[NotSoDifferent similar as they are unalike]] and pretty much best friends.
to:
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Janet and Eliot. She's the [[BrutalHonesty blunt]], [[DeadpanSnarker caustic]], [[GoGetterGirl ambitious]], and [[ReallyGetsAround promiscuous]] girl to his [[TheDandy vain]], [[BrilliantButLazy lazy]], emotionally reserved, and... equally promiscuous boy. For all their differences, they're as [[NotSoDifferent similar as they are unalike]] unalike and pretty much best friends.
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* WellTrainedButInexperienced: By the midway point, the Physical Kids have completed the mind-pummeling coursework at Brakebills, polished off a year of TrainingFromHell in Antarctica, have graduated, and are fully trained magicians - for all intents and purposes, minor {{reality warper}}s. And in their first battle in Fillory, they're quickly reduced to a terrified, confused, shambolic mess because none of them have any combat experience. It takes several battles before any of them can effectively apply their skills to combat, and Quentin doesn't become remotely useful until the second book in the series. Worse still, they're also pretty easy to outsmart, given that they haven't had to apply their intellectual gifts to anything serious in months: [[spoiler: the Beast is able to fool them into serving as his MacGuffinDeliveryService, and would have ended up dooming Fillory if Alice hadn't took the fight to him.]]
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* ApopheniaPlot: Early in the novel, Quentin is called home from his work at [[WizardingSchool Brakebills]] by the news that his father has died. While there, Quentin grows fixated on the idea that his unassuming dad must have been a magician like him, reasoning that nobody could possibly be ''that'' boring. The theorizing incorporates everything from [[HandsOffParenting his father's lack of involvement in Quentin's life]] to his refusal to let him attend a chess tournament when he was a kid, from his habit of keeping an unstrung banjo in his room to his obsession with Jeff Goldblum movies, and eventually forces Quentin to search his father's study from top to bottom for further evidence. He thinks he's hit paydirt when he stumbles upon a box of old index cards drawn with strange tables of indecipherable data, believing it to be some kind of magical cipher. [[spoiler: He quickly realizes that the data tables are just stats from his dad's old fantasy golf league; turns out that Quentin's father was just an IndubitablyUninterestingIndividual who didn't feel any real attachment to his son, and Quentin was just grasping at straws for something - ''anything'' - they might have in common.]]
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* MovingBeyondBereavement: Quentin spends the last few chapters of the story grieving for [[spoiler: Alice, who was forced to transform herself into a Niffin and is now effectively dead]]; and after two failed attempts to undo the death, he begins avoiding reality in order to cope. Giving up magic in favour of SelfImposedExile in New York, he uses the Brakebills old boys' network in order to get a job with no actual work attached, and spends his days wasting time; his denial is so extreme that he actually believes himself more mature for taking this step... until he meets Emily Greenstreet, who is even more locked in denial then he is. Realizing that he's just wallowing in self-indulgence and self-pity instead of actually making any effort to move on, Quentin eventually resolves to take responsibility for the mistakes he's made - namely by taking up magic again and helping his friends put Fillory back on an even keel. By the second book, [[spoiler: he still misses Alice, but he's moved on enough to pursue another adventure and even get another girlfriend.]]
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Moving certain tropes to character pages
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** During their time at Brakebills South, Quentin and the other fourth-years learn how to transform into polar bears and arctic foxes. Unfortunately, TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody, resulting in much awkwardness when they return to human form.
to:
** During their time at Brakebills South, Quentin and the other fourth-years learn how to transform into polar bears and arctic foxes.foxes; apparently, some shapes can be assumed spontaneously, but other forms require specific ingredients for the transition to work - like goose fat or whalebone. Unfortunately, TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody, resulting in much awkwardness when they return to human form.
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** After a long and sorrowful journey uphill, the book ends with [[spoiler: Julia finally overcoming her trauma and undergoing her final transformation into a dryad, freeing herself from her depression at long last and beginning a new, happier chapter in her life.
to:
** After a long and sorrowful journey uphill, the book ends with [[spoiler: Julia finally overcoming her trauma and undergoing her final transformation into a dryad, freeing herself from her depression at long last and beginning a new, happier chapter in her life.]]
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* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Julia notes that [[TheTrickster trickster gods]] tend not to be very fucking funny. [[spoiler: Reynard's]] joke appears to have been something like "You thought you were summoning a benevolent deity, but instead you got me! And the punchline is I'm going to kill you all!"
to:
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Julia notes that [[TheTrickster trickster gods]] tend not to be very fucking funny. [[spoiler: Reynard's]] joke appears to have been something like "You thought you were summoning a benevolent deity, but instead you got me! And the punchline is I'm going to kill you all!"
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* FoxFolk: [[spoiler: Reynard the Fox]], a giant hairy fox-human hybrid. The effect in an otherwise non-furry real world is [[EldritchAbomination horrifying...]]
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* MundaneAfterlife: Fillory's afterlife is a giant school gym hall where the dead play sports and board games for all eternity.
to:
* MundaneAfterlife: Fillory's afterlife is a giant school gym hall where the dead play sports and board games for all eternity.eternity; needless to say, the dead are ''not'' happy with this arrangement.
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Removing inapplicable tropes and moving others to relevant sections. Also, some spoilers make no sense.
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A third novel, ''The Magician's Land'', was published in summer 2014.
to:
A third novel, ''The Magician's Land'', was published in summer 2014.
2014. Here, fresh from returning home and getting into hot water with the Brakebills faculty, Quentin finds himself recruited for a magical heist mission... and stumbling one of Fillory's deepest, darkest secrets in the process - all while his fellow magicians try to stop a cataclysm that threatens all of Fillory.
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!!Provides Examples Of:
%%* AdventureFriendlyWorld: Fillory was always expected to be this but it was much more dangerous than they bargained for.
%%* AdventureFriendlyWorld: Fillory was always expected to be this but it was much more dangerous than they bargained for.
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%%* AdventureFriendlyWorld: Fillory was always expected to be this but it was much more dangerous than they bargained for.
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%%* AntiHero: Quentin. Many of his fellow students as well.
* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: It's stated that one of the students was the son of [[UsefulNotes/CommonRanks a five-star general]]. The United States Army hasn't promoted anybody to that rank since 1950, and the last one (Omar Bradley) died in 1981.
* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: It's stated that one of the students was the son of [[UsefulNotes/CommonRanks a five-star general]]. The United States Army hasn't promoted anybody to that rank since 1950, and the last one (Omar Bradley) died in 1981.
to:
* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: It's stated that one of the students was the son of [[UsefulNotes/CommonRanks a five-star general]]. The United States Army hasn't promoted anybody to that rank since 1950, and the last one (Omar Bradley) died in
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** Ditto for the second book: [[spoiler: Quentin is left behind as dryad Julia, Bingle, and Abigail the sloth descend into the Far Side, a new version of Fillory in the process of being created. Quentin was eager to go but was not allowed because he had already used his passport to travel to the Underworld. Then, he gets kicked out of Fillory by Ember, the god of Fillory, because he took the blame for Julia, who contributed to the events that almost caused the Fillory to be destroyed. On top of all that, Josh and Poppy, the girl Quentin has been sleeping with and who had previously refused to stay in Fillory with Quentin, decide to stay in Fillory as king and queen, now that Quentin and Julia are leaving. The only upside is that Quentin is given a magic button that will take him to any world except Fillory, supposedly.]]
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* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler: Happens to Alice when Quentin brings her back from being a niffin in The Magician's Land.]]
* CanadaEh: Near the beginning of the first book, two people taking the test are said to have come from 'the same Inuit reservation in Saskatchewan'. There are no Inuit reservations. And if there were, they wouldn't be in Saskatchewan.
** [[AWizardDidIt Maybe it's an all-magician Inuit reservation that's hidden from muggles by the masquerade.]]
** Then again, the narration ''is'' Quentin's perspective, and he's already established to be prone to social ineptness and misunderstandings.
* CanadaEh: Near the beginning of the first book, two people taking the test are said to have come from 'the same Inuit reservation in Saskatchewan'. There are no Inuit reservations. And if there were, they wouldn't be in Saskatchewan.
** [[AWizardDidIt Maybe it's an all-magician Inuit reservation that's hidden from muggles by the masquerade.]]
** Then again, the narration ''is'' Quentin's perspective, and he's already established to be prone to social ineptness and misunderstandings.
to:
** Then again, the narration ''is'' Quentin's perspective, and
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* ChekhovsGift: Subverted. A river nymph gives Quentin a silver horn, apparently for use in "break-glass-in-case-of-emergency" situations. Actually, [[spoiler: it summons the BigBad]].
* ChekhovsGun: The cacodemons.
* ChekhovsSkill: Subverted. [[spoiler: The disciplines seem to be this, but they never really amount to much in the first book. We're only ever told what Penny's and Alice's are, and only Penny's seems to come in useful. This is somewhat justified in story, as it's basically said that the theory behind dividing students into disciplines is weak, and it often means very little beyond a student being slightly better than another student at some particular spells.]]
** In the third book, we finally find out Quentin's discipline is: [[spoiler:fixing things]].
* ChekhovsGun: The cacodemons.
* ChekhovsSkill: Subverted. [[spoiler: The disciplines seem to be this, but they never really amount to much in the first book. We're only ever told what Penny's and Alice's are, and only Penny's seems to come in useful. This is somewhat justified in story, as it's basically said that the theory behind dividing students into disciplines is weak, and it often means very little beyond a student being slightly better than another student at some particular spells.]]
** In the third book, we finally find out Quentin's discipline is: [[spoiler:fixing things]].
to:
* ChekhovsGift: Subverted. A river nymph gives Quentin a silver horn, apparently for use in "break-glass-in-case-of-emergency" situations. Actually, [[spoiler: it summons the BigBad]].
BigBad into territory he couldn't previously reach]].
* ChekhovsGun: Thecacodemons.
cacodemons given to the students upon graduating, which come in very handy when pitted against dangers in Fillory. [[spoiler: Quentin uses his to buy Alice enough time to transform into Niffin and kill the Beast.]]
* ChekhovsSkill: Subverted. [[spoiler: The disciplines seem to be this, but they never really amount to much in the first book. We're only ever told what Penny's and Alice's are, and only Penny's seems to come in useful. This is somewhat justified in story, as it's basically said that the theory behind dividing students into disciplines is weak, and it often means very little beyond a student being slightly better than another student at some particular spells.]]
** In]] Played straight in the third book, final books when we finally find out Quentin's discipline is: [[spoiler:fixing things]].things - and it's the one thing that ends up saving the day]].
* ChekhovsGun: The
* ChekhovsSkill: Subverted. [[spoiler: The disciplines seem to be this, but they never really amount to much in the first book. We're only ever told what Penny's and Alice's are, and only Penny's seems to come in useful. This is somewhat justified in story, as it's basically said that the theory behind dividing students into disciplines is weak, and it often means very little beyond a student being slightly better than another student at some particular spells.
** In
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** Alice calls Janet a cunt after Janet gives the story of how [[spoiler:Charlie, Alice's brother, turned into a Niffin]]:
to:
** An aggrieved Alice calls Janet a cunt after Janet gives away the story of how [[spoiler:Charlie, Alice's brother, turned into a Niffin]]:
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* {{Deconstruction}}: Can be seen as a deconstruction of the Harry Potter series, in that it explores the realities of what an elitist magical academy might be like, as well as the effects on our protagonist, Quentin. At some points it also manages to make magic seem well, magical again, for example when [[spoiler: Professor Myakovsky reverses entropy as a class demonstration, or Quentin's first piece of magic]]. Quentin can also be seen as a deconstruction of the sort of person who wishes he could enter a fantasy world, given that he ends up dissatisfied with just about everywhere he goes—to the point that Alice eventually calls him on it.
to:
* {{Deconstruction}}: Can be seen as a deconstruction of the Harry Potter series, in that it explores the realities of what an elitist magical academy might be like, as well as the effects on our protagonist, Quentin. At some points it also manages to make magic seem well, magical again, for example when [[spoiler: Professor Myakovsky reverses entropy as a class demonstration, or Quentin's first piece of magic]]. Quentin can also be seen as a deconstruction of the sort of person who wishes he could enter a fantasy world, given that he ends up dissatisfied with just about everywhere he goes—to goes — to the point that Alice eventually calls him on it.
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* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Quentin. And How!
** Julia also fits this in the second book, though her route is outside of the magical mainstream.
** Julia also fits this in the second book, though her route is outside of the magical mainstream.
to:
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Quentin. And How!
DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife:
** Quentin, who ends up dissatisfied with every single purpose he applies himself to and ultimately finds himself hunting for the next big thing he can set his mind do.
** Julia also fits this in the second book, though her route is outside of the magicalmainstream.mainstream: she desperately wants to learn magic at first and won't be satisfied with knowing that she's smart enough to do it. [[spoiler: Finally subverted in her final days with the FTB, when she realizes she has everything she wants and doesn't need to join her friends in hunting for bigger stakes. Tragically, it's too late to stop by then.]]
** Quentin, who ends up dissatisfied with every single purpose he applies himself to and ultimately finds himself hunting for the next big thing he can set his mind do.
** Julia also fits this in the second book, though her route is outside of the magical
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* {{Expy}}: The rams, Ember and Umber, stand in for [[CrystalDragonJesus Aslan]].
to:
* {{Expy}}: As the ''Fillory and Further'' books are an in-universe stand-in for the Chronicles of Narnia, many of the characters in them are parodies of Narnia's most famous characters.
** The rams, Ember and Umber, stand in for [[CrystalDragonJesusAslan]].Aslan]].
** The Chatwin children are expies for the Pevensies; in particular, Martin becomes the recognized stand-in for Peter as both are the eldest siblings and both become the High Kings of their respective fantasy realms. Meanwhile, Fiona Chatwin remains the only member of the family to forget about Fillory and move on with her life, making her a stand-in for Susan.
** The rams, Ember and Umber, stand in for [[CrystalDragonJesus
** The Chatwin children are expies for the Pevensies; in particular, Martin becomes the recognized stand-in for Peter as both are the eldest siblings and both become the High Kings of their respective fantasy realms. Meanwhile, Fiona Chatwin remains the only member of the family to forget about Fillory and move on with her life, making her a stand-in for Susan.
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* ExpyCoexistence. The series is a satire on both Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia. The Potter books are occasionally mentioned by the characters, though the Narnia books apparently don't exist in this universe, probably because the similarities to Fillory are just too close.
* ExtradimensionalEmergencyExit: Being a parody of The Chronicles Of Narnia, the Fillory and Further series features a moment where Martin Chatwin first ventures into the Magical Land of Fillory by stepping through the door of a grandfather clock. Later, Quentin discovers that the adventures of the Chatwin children were actually real - and that Martin didn't enter the clock out of curiosity: [[spoiler: he was being molested by Christopher Plover at the time, and Jane Chatwin speculates that he only entered the clock in a desperate attempt to escape Plover's advances.]]
* {{Flight}}: One of the powers that Quentin and the other Physical Kids have mastered by the end of the book.
* {{Fireballs}}: One of the first battle spells our heroes learn is fireball.
* ExtradimensionalEmergencyExit: Being a parody of The Chronicles Of Narnia, the Fillory and Further series features a moment where Martin Chatwin first ventures into the Magical Land of Fillory by stepping through the door of a grandfather clock. Later, Quentin discovers that the adventures of the Chatwin children were actually real - and that Martin didn't enter the clock out of curiosity: [[spoiler: he was being molested by Christopher Plover at the time, and Jane Chatwin speculates that he only entered the clock in a desperate attempt to escape Plover's advances.]]
* {{Flight}}: One of the powers that Quentin and the other Physical Kids have mastered by the end of the book.
* {{Fireballs}}: One of the first battle spells our heroes learn is fireball.
to:
* ExpyCoexistence. The series is a satire on both Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia. The Narnia, and the Potter books are occasionally mentioned by the characters, though the Narnia books apparently don't exist in this universe, probably because the similarities to Fillory are just too close.
* ExtradimensionalEmergencyExit: Being a parody of The Chronicles Of Narnia, the Fillory and Further series features a moment where Martin Chatwin first ventures into the Magical Land of Fillory by stepping through the door of a grandfather clock. Later, Quentin discovers that the adventures of the Chatwin children were actually real - and that Martindidn't enter might not have entered the clock out of pure curiosity: [[spoiler: he was being molested by Christopher Plover at the time, and Jane Chatwin speculates that he only entered the clock in a desperate attempt to escape Plover's advances.]]
* {{Flight}}: One of the powers that Quentin and the other Physical Kids have mastered by the end of thebook.
book, though it's difficult to maintain and takes a lot of energy.
* {{Fireballs}}: One of the first battle spells our heroes learn isfireball.fireball, directly based off a ''Dungeons and Dragons'' spell.
* ExtradimensionalEmergencyExit: Being a parody of The Chronicles Of Narnia, the Fillory and Further series features a moment where Martin Chatwin first ventures into the Magical Land of Fillory by stepping through the door of a grandfather clock. Later, Quentin discovers that the adventures of the Chatwin children were actually real - and that Martin
* {{Flight}}: One of the powers that Quentin and the other Physical Kids have mastered by the end of the
* {{Fireballs}}: One of the first battle spells our heroes learn is
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* FoxFolk: [[spoiler: Reynard the Fox]]. The effect in an otherwise non-furry real world is [[EldritchAbomination horrifying...]]
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* FunnyBruceLeeNoises: Invoked by Quentin to knock open a door.
* {{Golem}}: In her fight with [[spoiler: The Beast/Martin Chatwin]], Alice turns the sand in the room into a glass golem.
* GivingRadioToTheRomans: Discussed. They all agree it would be a bad idea to introduce guns to Fillory [[spoiler:Janet brings one anyway.]]
%%Character trope HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Alice becomes a niffin to destroy Martin.]]
* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Not Hitler himself, but [[spoiler:Martin Chatwin. There's apparently no time line where he does not go to Fillory]].
** Possibly justified, on the grounds that [[spoiler: Jane Chatwin was only given the time-travel watch because of Martin's rise to power in Fillory. Therefore, the range of universes she could create would be limited to ones in which Martin went to Fillory and made it possible for her to time travel in the first place. If this analysis is correct, it would effectively be a case of Stephen Hawking's "cosmic censor" stepping in to prevent a GrandfatherParadox from arising.]]
* HotWitch: Alice and Anaïs. Also "the paramedic," AKA [[spoiler: Jane Chatwin.]]
* HufflepuffHouse: There are many other schools of magic. Only one student from one of them appears more than once.
** Similarly, the other Disciplines of magic: the only one formally introduced is Physical Magic. The others—Nature, Illusion, Healing, Psychic, Knowledge, etc.—are only given a few fleeting but tantalizing references.
* {{Golem}}: In her fight with [[spoiler: The Beast/Martin Chatwin]], Alice turns the sand in the room into a glass golem.
* GivingRadioToTheRomans: Discussed. They all agree it would be a bad idea to introduce guns to Fillory [[spoiler:Janet brings one anyway.]]
%%Character trope HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Alice becomes a niffin to destroy Martin.]]
* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Not Hitler himself, but [[spoiler:Martin Chatwin. There's apparently no time line where he does not go to Fillory]].
** Possibly justified, on the grounds that [[spoiler: Jane Chatwin was only given the time-travel watch because of Martin's rise to power in Fillory. Therefore, the range of universes she could create would be limited to ones in which Martin went to Fillory and made it possible for her to time travel in the first place. If this analysis is correct, it would effectively be a case of Stephen Hawking's "cosmic censor" stepping in to prevent a GrandfatherParadox from arising.]]
* HotWitch: Alice and Anaïs. Also "the paramedic," AKA [[spoiler: Jane Chatwin.]]
* HufflepuffHouse: There are many other schools of magic. Only one student from one of them appears more than once.
** Similarly, the other Disciplines of magic: the only one formally introduced is Physical Magic. The others—Nature, Illusion, Healing, Psychic, Knowledge, etc.—are only given a few fleeting but tantalizing references.
to:
* FunnyBruceLeeNoises: Invoked by Quentin to knock open a door.
the door to the Physical Kids' cottage.
* {{Golem}}: In her final fight with [[spoiler: The Beast/Martin Chatwin]], Alice turns the sand in the room into a glass golem.
* GivingRadioToTheRomans: Discussed.They the Physical Kids all agree it would be a bad idea to introduce guns to Fillory [[spoiler:Janet brings one anyway.]]
%%Character trope HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Alice becomes a niffin to destroy Martin.anyway, and ends up shooting her way out of danger.]]
* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Not Hitler himself, but [[spoiler:Martin Chatwin. There's apparently no time line where he does not go toFillory]].
**Fillory]]. Possibly justified, on the grounds that [[spoiler: Jane Chatwin was only given the time-travel watch because of Martin's rise to power in Fillory. Therefore, the range of universes she could create would be limited to ones in which Martin went to Fillory and made it possible for her to time travel in the first place. If this analysis is correct, it would effectively be a case of Stephen Hawking's "cosmic censor" stepping in to prevent a GrandfatherParadox from arising.]]
* HotWitch: Alice andAnaïs.Anaïs are both known for their good looks and mastery of magic. Also "the paramedic," AKA [[spoiler: Jane Chatwin.]]
*HufflepuffHouse: HufflepuffHouse:
** There are many other schools ofmagic. Only magic throughout the world, but only one student from one of them appears more than once.
** Similarly, the other Disciplines of magic: the only one formally introduced is Physical Magic. Theothers—Nature, others — Nature, Illusion, Healing, Psychic, Knowledge, etc.—are etc. — are only given a few fleeting but tantalizing references.references, though Illusion is given more focus in in ''The Magician's Land.''
* {{Golem}}: In her final fight with [[spoiler: The Beast/Martin Chatwin]], Alice turns the sand in the room into a glass golem.
* GivingRadioToTheRomans: Discussed.
%%Character trope HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Alice becomes a niffin to destroy Martin.
* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Not Hitler himself, but [[spoiler:Martin Chatwin. There's apparently no time line where he does not go to
**
* HotWitch: Alice and
*
** There are many other schools of
** Similarly, the other Disciplines of magic: the only one formally introduced is Physical Magic. The
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* InterdimensionalTravelDevice: The Button(s) act as this—if things start going really wrong they figure they can just use it to telaport back to the [[PortalNetwork City]]
* ItOnlyWorksOnce: The Cacodemon tattoo.
** [[spoiler: However, after the Cacodemon is released, nothing says you can't put another demon in it's place...]]
* ItOnlyWorksOnce: The Cacodemon tattoo.
** [[spoiler: However, after the Cacodemon is released, nothing says you can't put another demon in it's place...]]
to:
* InterdimensionalTravelDevice: The Button(s) act as this—if things start going really wrong they figure they can just use it to telaport back to this, allowing the [[PortalNetwork City]]
user to transport themselves into the [[PortalCrossroadWorld Neitherlands]], allowing them access to an interdimensional PortalNetwork.
* ItOnlyWorksOnce: The Cacodemontattoo.
**tattoo, which contains exactly one demon of the same name; once you release it, it will tackle whatever's threatening you, but it can't be sealed back into place. [[spoiler: However, after the Cacodemon is released, nothing says you can't put another demon in it's place...]]
* ItOnlyWorksOnce: The Cacodemon
**
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* MadeOfIron: According to Dean Fogg, cacodemons have skin like iron and may actually be made from iron.
to:
* MadeOfIron: MadeOfIron:
** According to Dean Fogg, cacodemons have skin like iron and may actually be made fromiron.iron, hence why they're tough enough to be used as emergency weapons.
** According to Dean Fogg, cacodemons have skin like iron and may actually be made from
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* MagicalLand: Fillory. Unsurprisingly, it operates on NarniaTime.
* MagicalNativeAmerican: Professor Foxtree.
* MagicVersusScience: Quentin and his friends are urged at the beginning to think of their studies as a purely practical course with a minimum of theory. Apparently many magicians have tried and failed to unearth the roots of magic. But they do have an understanding of the Circumstances,[[spoiler: Alice and Penny manage to cobble together offensive spells from books]], and in a conversation Alice says that spells demonstrably pull energy from the environment to work, though how or at what distance isn't specified. [[spoiler: The Physical discipline of magic, which Quentin and his friends are in, specializes in messy practical magic that is based off of Physics.]] So it's unclear how much understanding they have,but it seems like a lot of work was done to get that understanding and work is still being done to expand it, and it's mentioned that some of the new magical research being done involves using recent scientific discoveries. ScienceIsWrong is averted, it's more that figuring out magic seems to be a lot harder than gravity. It also has the EMP effect, Brakebills has only one games console that's hidden in a closet and it switches off if anyone casts a spell near by.
* MagicalNativeAmerican: Professor Foxtree.
* MagicVersusScience: Quentin and his friends are urged at the beginning to think of their studies as a purely practical course with a minimum of theory. Apparently many magicians have tried and failed to unearth the roots of magic. But they do have an understanding of the Circumstances,[[spoiler: Alice and Penny manage to cobble together offensive spells from books]], and in a conversation Alice says that spells demonstrably pull energy from the environment to work, though how or at what distance isn't specified. [[spoiler: The Physical discipline of magic, which Quentin and his friends are in, specializes in messy practical magic that is based off of Physics.]] So it's unclear how much understanding they have,but it seems like a lot of work was done to get that understanding and work is still being done to expand it, and it's mentioned that some of the new magical research being done involves using recent scientific discoveries. ScienceIsWrong is averted, it's more that figuring out magic seems to be a lot harder than gravity. It also has the EMP effect, Brakebills has only one games console that's hidden in a closet and it switches off if anyone casts a spell near by.
to:
* MagicalLand: Fillory.Fillory, an unearthly realm of fantasy creatures and adventure modelled off Narnia. Unsurprisingly, it operates on NarniaTime.
* MagicalNativeAmerican: ProfessorFoxtree.
Foxtree, who is specifically noted to be of Native American descent.
* MagicVersusScience: Quentin and his friends are urged at the beginning to think of their studies as a purely practical course with a minimum of theory. Apparently many magicians have tried and failed to unearth the roots of magic. But they do have an understanding of theCircumstances,[[spoiler: Circumstances, Alice and Penny manage to cobble together offensive spells from books]], books, and in a conversation Alice says that spells demonstrably pull energy from the environment to work, though how or at what distance isn't specified. [[spoiler: The Physical discipline of magic, which Quentin and his friends are in, specializes in messy practical magic that is based off of Physics.]] Physics. So it's unclear how much understanding they have,but have, but it seems like a lot of work was done to get that understanding and work is still being done to expand it, and it's mentioned that some of the new magical research being done involves using recent scientific discoveries. ScienceIsWrong is averted, it's more that figuring out magic seems to be a lot harder than gravity. It also has the EMP effect, effect, given that Brakebills has only one games console that's hidden in a closet and it switches off if anyone casts a spell near by.nearby.
* MagicalNativeAmerican: Professor
* MagicVersusScience: Quentin and his friends are urged at the beginning to think of their studies as a purely practical course with a minimum of theory. Apparently many magicians have tried and failed to unearth the roots of magic. But they do have an understanding of the
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%% * MalignantPlotTumor
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* {{Masquerade}}: The school's mysterious nature is hidden by magic, as are many other magical locations.
** The sequel adds a second masquerade of hedge witches and various fair folk that the Brakebills magicians don't know about.
** The sequel adds a second masquerade of hedge witches and various fair folk that the Brakebills magicians don't know about.
to:
* {{Masquerade}}: The school's mysterious nature is hidden by magic, as are many other magical locations.
** The sequel adds a second masquerade of hedge witcheslocations, and various fair folk that though allowing close relatives and spouses into the Brakebills magicians don't know about.Masquerade is ultimately revealed to be permissible, actually breaking the Masquerade on any grand scale is obviously considered a big no-no.
** The sequel adds a second masquerade of hedge witches
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* MedievalStasis: Fillory.
to:
* MedievalStasis: Fillory.Fillory, which remains socially and technologically trapped in the Middle Ages despite all the time that passes over the course of the ''Fillory and Further'' books and the main narrative.
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* {{Muggles}}: Most people simply don't have the particular aptitude for magic: either they're not intelligent enough, they don't have the capacity for spellcasting, or they simply weren't able to pass the entrance exam. [[spoiler: Although a childhood crush of Quentin's fails the exam for Brakebills, she becomes a hedge witch.]]
to:
* {{Muggles}}: Most people simply don't have the particular aptitude for magic: either they're not intelligent enough, they don't have the capacity for spellcasting, they don't have the sheer obsessive desire to pursue their goals, or they simply weren't able to pass the entrance exam. [[spoiler: Although a childhood crush of Quentin's fails the exam for Brakebills, she becomes a hedge witch.]]
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* NarniaTime: The Neitherlands and Fillory.
to:
* NarniaTime: The Neitherlands and Fillory.Fillory, both of which are desynchronized with Earth's timeline.
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* NoodleIncident: Quentin notices that all fourth-year students vanish from campus once a year, coming back months later refusing to talk about what happened. [[spoiler:He finds out in his own fourth year, and has a similar reaction when he comes back to campus.]]
to:
* NoodleIncident: Quentin notices that all fourth-year students vanish from campus once a year, coming back months later refusing to talk about what happened. [[spoiler:He finds out in his own fourth year, and has a similar reaction when he comes back to campus. As it turns out, the fourth year is spent at Brakebills' southern campus, giving a TrainingFromHell in the depths of Antarctica.]]
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* PortalNetwork: The City the [[InterdimensionalTravelDevice button]] teleports to, which contains an infinite number of {{PortalPool}}s, in the form of fountains.
** The second book has a network of magic mirrors throughout Earth, used by hedge witches.
** The second book has a network of magic mirrors throughout Earth, used by hedge witches.
to:
* PortalNetwork: PortalCrossroadWorld: The City the [[InterdimensionalTravelDevice button]] teleports to, which contains an infinite number of {{PortalPool}}s, in the form of fountains.
** The second book has a network of magic mirrors throughout Earth, used by hedge witches.fountains.
** The second book has a network of magic mirrors throughout Earth, used by hedge witches.
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* SanitySlippage: Students attending Brakebills' Antarctic campus tend to go a little bit crazy due to the magical restrictions on speech.
to:
* SanitySlippage: Students attending Brakebills' Antarctic campus tend to go a little bit crazy due to the magical restrictions on speech.speech, to the point that Quentin actually begins to hallucinate.
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* StrawCharacter: Richard and [[spoiler:Ember]], though not entirely antagonistic or useless characters, both take this role semi-frequently in order to allow Quentin to shoot down ideas about religion and philosophy that the author does not espouse.
to:
* StrawCharacter: Richard and [[spoiler:Ember]], though not entirely antagonistic or useless characters, both take this role semi-frequently in order to allow Quentin to shoot down ideas about religion and philosophy that the author does not espouse. [[spoiler: Amusingly enough, Richard is ultimately revealed to be exactly right in his argument - he was just aiming too low.]]
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* SupernaturalMartialArts: Fen's martial art "inc aga" was a hybrid technique of martial arts and highly specialised spellcasting style.
to:
* SupernaturalMartialArts: SupernaturalMartialArts:
** Fen's martial art "inc aga" was a hybrid technique of martial arts and highly specialised spellcasting style.
** Fen's martial art "inc aga" was a hybrid technique of martial arts and highly specialised spellcasting style.
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* TookALevelInBadass: Quentin, when we he walks naked to the South Pole. He levels up again after he [[spoiler: studies magic by himself in the Centaur monastery]]. Also Alice, when [[spoiler: she fights Martin Chatwin]]. At the end of the book, [[spoiler: Eliot, Janet and Julia]] appear to have leveled up dramatically too.
** Done literally in book two—the hedge witch network use actual levels—tattooed on their bodies in little stars—as they learn more magic. [[spoiler:Julia finds the Level {{Cap}} of this—250—and a group of brilliant magicians who are all far beyond it.]]
** Done literally in book two—the hedge witch network use actual levels—tattooed on their bodies in little stars—as they learn more magic. [[spoiler:Julia finds the Level {{Cap}} of this—250—and a group of brilliant magicians who are all far beyond it.]]
to:
* TookALevelInBadass: Quentin, when we TookALevelInBadass:
** Quentin initially appears to be a wishy-washy fantasist with no real stomach for danger... right up until he walks naked to the South Pole.He levels up again after Turns out he was one of the few students who were willing to do this, and therefore one of the few to earn Mayakovsky's hard-won respect.
** Alice gradually becomes more confident and outgoing, becoming more open to speaking out against her friends when they do wrong. She even joins Quentin in her own naked Antarctic walk. Her upward progression reaches its peak when she finally [[spoiler:studies magic by himself in the Centaur monastery]]. Also Alice, when [[spoiler: she fights Martin Chatwin]]. At the end of the book, [[spoiler: Eliot, Janet and Julia]] appear to have leveled up dramatically too.
** Done literally in book two—the hedge witch network use actual levels—tattooed on their bodies in little stars—as they learn more magic. [[spoiler:Julia finds the Level {{Cap}} of this—250—and a group of brilliant magicians who are all far beyond it.]]
** Quentin initially appears to be a wishy-washy fantasist with no real stomach for danger... right up until he walks naked to the South Pole.
** Alice gradually becomes more confident and outgoing, becoming more open to speaking out against her friends when they do wrong. She even joins Quentin in her own naked Antarctic walk. Her upward progression reaches its peak when she finally [[spoiler:
** Done literally in book two—the hedge witch network use actual levels—tattooed on their bodies in little stars—as they learn more magic. [[spoiler:Julia finds the Level {{Cap}} of this—250—and a group of brilliant magicians who are all far beyond it.]]
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* VoluntaryShapeshifting: During their time at Brakebills South, Quentin and the other fourth-years learn how to transform into polar bears and arctic foxes. Unfortunately, TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody, resulting in much awkwardness when they return to human form.
to:
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: VoluntaryShapeshifting:
** During their time at Brakebills South, Quentin and the other fourth-years learn how to transform into polar bears and arctic foxes. Unfortunately, TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody, resulting in much awkwardness when they return to human form.
** During their time at Brakebills South, Quentin and the other fourth-years learn how to transform into polar bears and arctic foxes. Unfortunately, TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody, resulting in much awkwardness when they return to human form.
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* WainscotSociety: played with, these petitions wizard switches warlocks psychics, but for the most part seems try and keep themselves hidden from the world of normal people, but they don't seem to be completely successful.
to:
* WainscotSociety: played with, these petitions wizard switches warlocks psychics, but for For the most part seems try and part, magical society tries to keep themselves itself hidden from the world of normal people, but they don't seem to be completely successful.people... with varying levels of success.
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%% On the character page. BrokenBird: Julia is seriously messed up. When we find out why, it's understandable.
to:
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* [[spoiler: DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal]]: Subverted [[spoiler: when Julia offers herself to Reynard the Fox to save her friends. She meant she offered to die in their place... he interpreted it in a different way.]]
* [[spoiler: DroppedABridgeOnHim: The sullen Benedict appears to be gearing up to become a hero after a year of questing and training with a master swordsman. However, just when it looks like he's going to fight his first proper battle and prove his worth, he dies—shot through the throat before he can even reach the enemy. Even Benedict's ghost thinks this was an undignified way to go.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: For several of the main characters [[spoiler: Julia especially, but Quentin in a deeper, more profound way]].
** The Free Trader Beowulf group are trying something similar [[spoiler: by summoning up a god in order to become one]]. It doesn't [[EldritchAbomination quite]] [[AdultFear work out]].
* [[spoiler: DroppedABridgeOnHim: The sullen Benedict appears to be gearing up to become a hero after a year of questing and training with a master swordsman. However, just when it looks like he's going to fight his first proper battle and prove his worth, he dies—shot through the throat before he can even reach the enemy. Even Benedict's ghost thinks this was an undignified way to go.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: For several of the main characters [[spoiler: Julia especially, but Quentin in a deeper, more profound way]].
** The Free Trader Beowulf group are trying something similar [[spoiler: by summoning up a god in order to become one]]. It doesn't [[EldritchAbomination quite]] [[AdultFear work out]].
to:
* [[spoiler: DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal]]: DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal: Subverted [[spoiler: when Julia offers herself to Reynard the Fox to save her friends. She meant she offered to die in their place... he interpreted it in a different way.]]
* [DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:DroppedABridgeOnHim: The sullen Benedict appears to be gearing up to become a hero after a year of questing and training with a master swordsman. However, just when it looks like he's going to fight his first proper battle and prove his worth, he dies—shot through the throat before he can even reach the enemy. Even Benedict's ghost thinks this was an undignified way to go.]]
*EarnYourHappyEnding: For several of EarnYourHappyEnding:
** After a long and sorrowful journey uphill, themain characters book ends with [[spoiler: Julia especially, but Quentin finally overcoming her trauma and undergoing her final transformation into a dryad, freeing herself from her depression at long last and beginning a new, happier chapter in a deeper, more profound way]].
her life.
** The Free Trader Beowulf group are trying something similar [[spoiler: by summoning up a god in order tobecome one]]. discover ultimate truth, power, and open a doorway into a Heavenly realm without suffering]]. It doesn't [[EldritchAbomination quite]] [[AdultFear work out]].out]].
** By the end of the book, Quentin has endured numerous humiliations, personal trials, confronted the source of his own discontentment, and even [[spoiler: gone to the afterlife.]] Ultimately, [[spoiler: he ends up successfully preventing the Gods from destroying magic, and though he's been kicked out of Fillory, he's ''finally'' learned how to attain realistic contentment.]]
* [DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:
*
** After a long and sorrowful journey uphill, the
** The Free Trader Beowulf group are trying something similar [[spoiler: by summoning up a god in order to
** By the end of the book, Quentin has endured numerous humiliations, personal trials, confronted the source of his own discontentment, and even [[spoiler: gone to the afterlife.]] Ultimately, [[spoiler: he ends up successfully preventing the Gods from destroying magic, and though he's been kicked out of Fillory, he's ''finally'' learned how to attain realistic contentment.]]
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* TheFogOfAges: When Quentin [[spoiler:discovers the sixth key,]] the man guarding it launches a fireball at him (which misses) and then throws a knife at him (which is even further off target) before remarking that he doesn't even know why he is fighting.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Julia is depressed over not making it into WizardingSchool, her mother asks her if [[spoiler:she's been raped. Guess what sends her into an extended HeroicBSOD later in the book?]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Julia is depressed over not making it into WizardingSchool, her mother asks her if [[spoiler:she's been raped. Guess what sends her into an extended HeroicBSOD later in the book?]]
to:
* TheFogOfAges: When Quentin [[spoiler:discovers the sixth key,]] the man undead creatures guarding it launches a fireball at him (which misses) and then throws a knife at him (which is even further off target) before remarking that he doesn't even know why he is fighting.
fighting after all this time guarding [[spoiler: the key.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Juliais depressed suffers serious depression over not making it into WizardingSchool, her mother asks her if [[spoiler:she's been raped. Guess what sends her into an extended HeroicBSOD later in the book?]]book?]]
* FoxFolk: [[spoiler: Reynard the Fox]], a giant hairy fox-human hybrid. The effect in an otherwise non-furry real world is [[EldritchAbomination horrifying...]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Julia
* FoxFolk: [[spoiler: Reynard the Fox]], a giant hairy fox-human hybrid. The effect in an otherwise non-furry real world is [[EldritchAbomination horrifying...]]
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* GodsHandsAreTied: Ember spouts an excuse along these lines when Quentin asks him why he can't find the magic keys himself.
to:
* GodsHandsAreTied: GodsHandsAreTied:
** Ember spouts an excuse along these lines when Quentin asks him why he can't find the magic keyshimself.himself, claiming that Quentin must follow his own path to heroism. Quentin, who has encountered a lot of this in the ''Fillory and Further'' series, suspects that Ember's just talking bullshit to hide the fact that there are things he can't actually do.
** Ember spouts an excuse along these lines when Quentin asks him why he can't find the magic keys
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* HairRaisingHare: The Seeing Hare.
to:
* HairRaisingHare: The Seeing Hare.Hare, which can apparently see the future; it forecasts the end of the world and ends up killing a royal courtier in the process.
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* TheMagicGoesAway: [[spoiler: The gods want this to happen and the heroes have to find the seven keys to stop them.]]
to:
* TheMagicGoesAway: [[spoiler: The gods want Gods don't like the fact that mortals have access to the same tricks as them, and are trying to correct the universe in order to close the magical loophole. Given that this to happen would mean the destruction of numerous magical worlds and the extinction of countless species created through magic, the heroes have to find the seven keys to stop them.]]the Gods before it's too late.]]
* {{Masquerade}}: Turns out there's a ''second'' masquerade of hedge witches and various fair folk that the Brakebills magicians don't know about.
* {{Masquerade}}: Turns out there's a ''second'' masquerade of hedge witches and various fair folk that the Brakebills magicians don't know about.
* PortalNetwork: The hedge magicians in the safehouses use a network of magic mirrors to covertly transport themselves throughout Earth.
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%% On character page RapeLeadsToInsanity: Justified. [[spoiler: Julia goes completely bonkers after Reynard the Fox rapes her, but that has as much to do with him stealing her soul in the process as the rape itself.]]
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%% On the character page RefusedByTheCall: Julia.
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* TookALevelInBadass: Despite being more or less ineffective in the fight scenes of the previous book, Quentin absolutely demolishes any opposition put in front of him.
to:
* TookALevelInBadass: TookALevelInBadass:
** Despite being more or less ineffective in the fight scenes of the previous book, Quentin absolutely demolishes any opposition put in front of him.
** Despite being more or less ineffective in the fight scenes of the previous book, Quentin absolutely demolishes any opposition put in front of him.
** Literally; the hedge witch network use actual levels — tattooed on their bodies in little stars — as they learn more magic. Julia finds the Level {{Cap}} of this — 250 — and a group of brilliant magicians who are all far beyond it.
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* CessationOfExistence: [[spoiler:Quentin]] destroys Fillory's MundaneAfterlife so the dead can rest.
to:
* CessationOfExistence: [[spoiler:Quentin]] destroys In the finale [[spoiler:Quentin uses the power he inherited from Ember to destroy Fillory's MundaneAfterlife so the dead can rest.]]
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* MaybeEverAfter: At the end Alice hasn't decided if she wants to be with Quentin or not.
to:
* MaybeEverAfter: At the end Alice [[spoiler: Alice]] hasn't decided if she wants to be with Quentin or not.
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Removed trope better placed in character sheet
* ExtradimensionalEmergencyExit: Being a parody of The Chronicles Of Narnia, the Fillory and Further series features a moment where Martin Chatwin first ventures into the Magical Land of Fillory by stepping through the door of a grandfather clock. Later, Quentin discovers that the adventures of the Chatwin children were actually real - and that Martin didn't enter the clock out of curiosity: [[spoiler: he was being molested by Christopher Plover at the time, and Jane Chatwin speculates that he only entered the clock in a desperate attempt to escape Plover's advances.]]
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* FreudianExcuse: We learn that [[spoiler: Martin Chatwin]] was molested as a child—by the future author of the Fillory series—and only entered Fillory in an attempt to escape.
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* ExclusiveCliqueClubhouse: Students at Brakebills are divided into magical specialties (AKA Disciplines) and each group has their own exclusive clubhouse, most of them unseen over the course of the series. The Healers reside in the infirmary, the Knowledge students are situated in the attic of the school library, the Naturals live in a tree house somewhere in the surrounding forest, the Illusionists have a floating castle that can only be found by members of the clique, and so on. After his discipline is found to be impossible to determine, Quentin ends up getting sorted alongside Alice into the Physical Kids - practitioners of messy, physics-based magic - and find themselves billeted in a handsome cottage with wine, gourmet cooking and an awful lot of hijinks.
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** Penny says the creators of the multiverse are that powerful and perfect that they can only really do what is right and have no capability of making decisions.
to:
** Penny says the creators of the multiverse are that powerful and perfect that they can only really do what is right and have no capability ability to make decisions of making decisions.their own accord.
Added DiffLines:
* PostModernMagik: It's remarked that Josh's level of accuracy in portal magic would have been impossible without the use of Google Street View.
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* SignatureScent: During Julia's segments of the book, she can recognize magicians by the smell of ozone: when Quentin returns to New York while on vacation, she knows that he's secretly been studying at Brakebills because his hands smell of lightning, and later, when Julia finally begins to work her own magic, she clearly recognizes the electric smell around her first spell - "Quentin's smell," as she calls it.
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* SpottingTheThread: The clue that ultimately allows Julia to overwhelm her LaserGuidedAmnesia lies in the alibi the Brakebills faculty gave for her absence that day; in this case, she was supposedly working on a paper, and the finish essay exists complete with the teacher's marks attached. However, it's only received an A- for the use of Wikipedia, as revealed by a dating error shared by the subject's Wikipedia article. Julia, who is too much of a perfectionist to bother taking such an amateur shortcut, is immediately suspicious; she digs a little deeper, and finds that no earlier versions of this supposedly important paper exist, only a final draft. It's through these tiny details that she gradually uncovers a second set of memories of the day and discover her failed entrance exam for Brakebills.
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Wrong book.
* SelfImposedExile: Towards the end, Quentin Coldwater exiles himself to the {{Muggle}} world in the aftermath of his foolhardy journey to Fillory [[spoiler: which resulted in the death of his lover, Alice]]. It's not much of a penance considering that he quickly descends into yet another life of [[ExecutiveExcess sloth and]] [[TheHedonist self-indulgence]] in order to escape from his guilt, and his arrogance returns once he starts thinking himself more mature for abandoning magic, so it's really just an extension of his earlier [[{{Wangst}} self-pity]]. After meeting fellow exile Emily Greenstreet and witnessing the depths of denial the two of them are descending to, he gradually realizes that he isn't becoming a better person at all, and abandons exile in favor of returning to the magical lifestyle with his friends.
Deleted line(s) 202 (click to see context) :
* SelfImposedExile: Towards the end, Quentin Coldwater exiles himself to the {{Muggle}} world in the aftermath of his foolhardy journey to Fillory [[spoiler: which resulted in the death of his lover, Alice]]. It's not much of a penance considering that he quickly descends into yet another life of [[ExecutiveExcess sloth and]] [[TheHedonist self-indulgence]] in order to escape from his guilt, and his arrogance returns once he starts thinking himself more mature for abandoning magic, so it's really just an extension of his earlier [[{{Wangst}} self-pity]]. After meeting fellow exile Emily Greenstreet and witnessing the depths of denial the two of them are descending to, he gradually realizes that he isn't becoming a better person at all, and abandons exile in favor of returning to the magical lifestyle with his friends.
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None
* CripplingTheCompetition: Just prior to the final battle, [[HumanoidAbomination the Beast]] tips the odds a little ''further'' in his favour by biting off [[spoiler: Penny]]'s hands before the fighting starts. As spells are dependent on complex gestures, this leaves the Physical Kids' most experienced battle-magician out of the fight - a fact that the Beast openly gloats about.
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* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: The first half of the first book is about the titular Magicians' time in magic school. While interesting in its own right, and important in that it sets up the characters, who are very well developed and realistically drawn, the plot doesn't really pick up motion until Penny shows up with the [[InterdimensionalTravelDevice Button]]. Also, as a whole the group isn't exactly overflowing with the most admirable or heroic qualities.
to:
* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: The first half of the first book is about the titular eponymous Magicians' time in magic school. While interesting in its own right, and important in that it sets up the characters, who are very well developed and realistically drawn, the plot doesn't really pick up motion until Penny shows up with the [[InterdimensionalTravelDevice Button]]. Also, as a whole the group isn't exactly overflowing with the most admirable or heroic qualities.
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* SelfImposedExile: Towards the end, Quentin Coldwater exiles himself to the {{Muggle}} world in the aftermath of his foolhardy journey to Fillory [[spoiler: which resulted in the death of his lover, Alice]]. It's not much of a penance considering that he quickly descends into yet another life of [[ExecutiveExcess sloth and]] [[TheHedonist self-indulgence]] in order to escape from his guilt, and his arrogance returns once he starts thinking himself more mature for abandoning magic, so it's really just an extension of his earlier [[{{Wangst}} self-pity]]. After meeting fellow exile Emily Greenstreet and witnessing the depths of denial the two of them are descending to, he gradually realizes that he isn't becoming a better person at all, and abandons exile in favor of returning to the magical lifestyle with his friends.
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* PosthumanNudism: Magicians who blunder powerful spells run the risk of suffering a spectacular SuperpowerMeltdown that transforms them into a monstrous, all-powerful being of pure magic known as a Niffin. Beyond sanity and all comprehension of human nature, Niffins wear nothing whatsoever, the better to emphasize their bodies of glowing blue energy - aptly demonstrated in the finale of the first book, when [[spoiler: Alice willingly transforms herself into a Niffin in order to defeat the Beast.]]
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* OneHourWorkWeek: Magicians that leave the magical world tend to find employment in businesses that are enchanted to diguise the fact that none of them actually do anything. [[{{Hypocrite}} Emily Greenstreet]] is one of these types, as is Quentin at the end of the novel — before [[spoiler: his friends invite him back to Fillory.]]
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* NoodleIncident: Quentin notices that all fourth-year students vanish from campus once a year, coming back months later refusing to talk about what happened. [[spoiler:He finds out in his own fourth year, and has a similar reaction when he comes back to campus.]]
* OneHourWorkWeek: Magicians that leave the magical world tend to find employment in businesses that are enchanted todiguise disguise the fact that none of them actually do anything. [[{{Hypocrite}} Emily Greenstreet]] is one of these types, as is Quentin at the end of the novel — before [[spoiler: his friends invite him back to Fillory.]]
* OneHourWorkWeek: Magicians that leave the magical world tend to find employment in businesses that are enchanted to
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* SceneryBasedSocietalBarometer: The Neitherlands are normally a gloomy but largely sedate PortalCrossroadWorld that manifests as a ruined city decorated with fountains - and given that the protagonists are incurably driven to travel, it's returned at least once or twice per book. However, in ''The Magician King,'' it's soon discovered that weather has inexplicably arrived in the Neitherlands, freezing the fountains and consuming the place in a potentially lethal blizzard - a sure sign to magicians in the know that something very bad is on the horizon. [[spoiler: It turns out that the gods have become aware that mortals have learned how to manipulate reality through magic as they have, and are now out to [[TheMagicGoesAway destroy magic]] - hence the erratic weather in the Neitherlands.]] When Quentin returns to the Neitherlands at the end of the story, he finds that the frost is beginning to melt and [[HopeSpringsEternal plantlife is beginning to grow throughout the ruined city]], [[spoiler: signifying that the heroes' efforts have paid off and magic has been preserved.]]
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* SafelySecludedScienceCenter: Julia's travels in the backstory eventually lead her to Murs, an isolated commune in the south of France: here, the hedge-witches of the Free Trader Beowulf Group conduct top-secret research into the deepest mysteries of the world. Quite apart from being a beautiful place to live, its relative isolation keeps their work from being investigated by "legitimate" magicians. Even so, it takes a lot of tests before Julia is allowed to join their experiments and finally learns of their true goal: [[spoiler: they're trying to make contact with the oldest and most benevolent form of divinity by summoning a goddess.]]
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* NakedNutter:
** Inverted during the Fourth Year, in which getting naked seems to induce insanity: at the end of the Training from Hell in Antarctica, the UltimateFinalExam features the student magicians being charged with walking to the South Pole - naked, with only their magic to protect them. By now, everyone's been hit with Polar Madness to at least some degree, and the process of wandering naked through the ice with no company nearly reduces Quentin to a barely-sane automaton - to the point that he ends up falling into a crevasse at one stage and barely even notices.
** Niffins are driven insane by their transformation from human to magical energy, and in both the books and the comics, are commonly depicted as being composed of blue flame and stark naked.
** Inverted during the Fourth Year, in which getting naked seems to induce insanity: at the end of the Training from Hell in Antarctica, the UltimateFinalExam features the student magicians being charged with walking to the South Pole - naked, with only their magic to protect them. By now, everyone's been hit with Polar Madness to at least some degree, and the process of wandering naked through the ice with no company nearly reduces Quentin to a barely-sane automaton - to the point that he ends up falling into a crevasse at one stage and barely even notices.
** Niffins are driven insane by their transformation from human to magical energy, and in both the books and the comics, are commonly depicted as being composed of blue flame and stark naked.
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* YourCheatingHeart: Quentin cheats on Alice with [[spoiler:Janet]] after having a long period in which he's clearly attracted to her. Alice finds out, having sex with [[spoiler:Penny]] in retaliation. Their relationship quickly disintegrates over this.
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* CareerRevealingTrait: Magic is performed through extremely complex gestures. Consequently, during his period of self-imposed exile in the real world, Quentin instantly recognizes a fellow Brakebills alumnus by the overdeveloped musculature of her hands and fingers.
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* PolarMadness: Crops up during the Fourth Year at Brakebills: as this is the semester when student magicians are required to truly internalize what they've learned so far, they're sent to the secondary campus in Antarctica for a TrainingFromHell at the hands of Professor Mayakovsky. Worse still, students are immediately rendered mute so they won't be distracted. Over the next few months, the ceaseless workload, humiliating tricks, lack of interaction, and the overwhelming monotony of the landscape gradually wear on the sanity of the young magicians: Quentin finds himself hallucinating at several points, and witnesses other students who've gotten so desperate for human contact that they've started fucking each other in public.
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A graphic novel, ''The Magicians: Alice's Story,'' was published in 2019, and charts the course of Quentin's friend and lover, Alice, before, during and after her time at Brakebills.
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A graphic novel, ''The Magicians: Alice's Story,'' was published in 2019, and charts the course of Quentin's friend and lover, Alice, before, during and after her time at Brakebills.
Brakebills. The same year, a series of comic books titled ''The Magicians: New Class'' was released, featuring a class of hedge magicians being accepted into Brakebills in order to build bridges between "legitimate" magicians and the underground community of hedge magicians - and the chaos that ensues as a result.
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* ExpyCoexistence. The series is a satire on both Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia. The Potter books are occasionally mentioned by the characters, though the Narnia books apparently don't exist in this universe, probably because the similarities to Fillory are just too close.
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* LiteralTransformativeExperience: During the visit to Brakebills' southern campus, fourth-year students are taught how to transform into arctic foxes; as it turns out, this is another part of the TrainingFromHell, this one ensuring that the students are humiliated by the end result of combining animal instincts with several months without sex. However, the experience encourages Quentin and Alice to take their relationship to the next level and become lovers. For good measure, Alice also experiences another spike in confidence, driving her to refuse the offered magical ingredients from Mayakovsky and tackle the UltimateFinalExam - walking naked to the South Pole with only her magic to defend her - entirely on her own; in the comic, she jokingly attributes it to having a few fox traits left over from the transformation.
