History Literature / TheUnderlandChronicles

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:Solovet]] due to her WellIntentionedExtremist tendencies was this to [[spoiler: Hamnet]]. In fact, what she did to him made him leave Regalia for the more dangerous jungles, and he doesn't regret leaving for a minute.

** Averted with Vikus, though he usually plays more of a supporting role. [[spoiler: Played straight with his son Hamnet, whom Solovet through ColdBloodedTorture convinced him to fight]].

* AnyoneCanDie: Even characters that have been part of the story for multiple books, like [[spoiler: Solovet]].

** Nerissa has her moments, especially [[spoiler: as Queen of Regalia (temporarily)]].

* BittersweetEnding: Every single book except the first, verging on DownerEnding by the fifth one. In the latter, [[spoiler: half the cast has died]] Gregor's father plans to move the family to their farm in Virginia, away from the vent, which means Luxa and Gregor may never see each other again, but [[spoiler: Gregor manages to broker peace between the rats and humans, and he no longer has prophecies to fulfill]].

** Hamnet is a skilled warrior and tactician. He also takes after his father in wanting to be a pacifist and better resolutions to conflict. [[spoiler: Solovet doesn't take this well.]]

* ChildrenAreInnocent: The reason [[spoiler: Gregor doesn't kill the Bane]] in the second book. Also played straight with Hazard and Boots.
* ColdBloodedTorture: [[spoiler: Solovet locked Hamnet]] in a prison cell with no human contact and minimal food for months [[GoMadFromTheIsolation until he broke]] and carried out a battle plan [[spoiler: that wiped out countless rats, bats and humans]]. She ignores this when [[IDidWhatIHadToDo criticizing Hamnet]] [[NeverMyFault ten years later]] because he wants nothing to do with her, and everyone in Regalia thought he was dead.

* CreateYourOwnVillain: Averted; although Gregor [[spoiler: spared the Bane, who was a baby]] it was more a case of YouCantFightFate.
* CypherLanguage: A major plot point in ''Gregor and the Code of Claw''.

* EveryoneCanSeeIt: [[spoiler: By the final book, Ripred can tell that Gregor is in love with Luxa. It's also implied that Ripred figured it out with his sense of smell, as rats have the ability to smell fear already.]]

* JustFollowingOrders: In ''Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods'', [[spoiler:Doctor Neveeve]] says this line while being arrested. Somewhat justified, since Gregor ends up [[spoiler: locked up in a prison cell where no one knows where he is]] after [[spoiler: defying Solovet's orderes to save Luxa]].
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Solovet]], a WellIntentionedExtremist who resorts to violent means [[spoiler: and who will torture her son to get a result]], dies as a result of a SadisticChoice that invokes TheNeedsOfTheMany.
* KarmaHoudini: To an extent [[spoiler: Solovet for ordering the plague.]] As Gregor notes, [[spoiler: Doctor Naveeve was executed for her part although she was JustFollowingOrders, while Solovet would have wiped out the rats and let Regalia suffer for months, doing nothing]].

** In ''The Marks of Secret'' Luxa cements this, by [[spoiler: declaring the war at rats by herself, without the Council of Regalia approval. When called out on this, she points out that the rats are likely to exterminate all the mice while the Council is bickering about the topic, and they won't stop to listen to others' accusations anyway.]]

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Multiple times, perhaps most pointedly when [[spoiler: Gregor's refusal to kill a baby Bane ultimately results in the war between humans and rats]].

* ProphecyTwist: Happens all the time. Then it is subverted in ''Gregor and the Code of Claw'', when Ripred points out that the prophecies could be loosely interpreted to cover a variety of situations and that [[spoiler: people are often adapting what happens in reality to fit the prophecy so that it is fulfilled (their society is strongly based around the prophecies their founder wrote)]]. He then gets ''really'' GenreSavvy by [[spoiler:deliberately giving himself a wound that will fulfill yet another prophecy]].

* TakeCareOfTheKids: Hamnet's greatest fear is that his son will grow up to be a soldier and [[spoiler: an UnwittingPawn for Solovet]]. Before [[spoiler: he dies]] he makes Luxa promise to keep Hazard safe.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Solovet. Her actions in book three cross the line, however, for most of the characters, given [[spoiler: she bioengineered a plague to get rid of the rats and said nothing when the plague started affecting Regalians]].

** Hamnet delivers a tranquil DisappointedInYou to Luxa, when [[spoiler: she nearly lets Gregor, Ripred and Lapblood drown in quicksand]] all because she sees Gregor in company with rats and leaps to conclusions.

* YouCantFightFate: Brought home in ''Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods'' when [[spoiler:his mom contracts the plague]]; Gregor acknowledges mentally that there was no other way to ensure the prophecy would happen the way it needed to. Subverted in ''Gregor and the Code of Claw'' when Ripred argues that [[spoiler: all the prophecies in the series are *self-fulfilling*, with people interpreting them after the fact to make them fit. In other words, fate is what you make it]].

* ProphecyTwist: Happens all the time. Then it is subverted in ''Gregor and the Code of Claw'', when Ripred points out that the prophecies could be loosely interpreted to cover a variety of situations and that people are often adapting what happens in reality to fit the prophecy so that it is fulfilled (their society is strongly based around the prophecies their founder wrote). He then gets ''really'' GenreSavvy by [[spoiler:deliberately giving himself a wound that will fulfill yet another prophecy]].

* YouCantFightFate: Brought home in ''Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods'' when [[spoiler:his mom contracts the plague]]; Gregor acknowledges mentally that there was no other way to ensure the prophecy would happen the way it needed to.

When a kid named [[KidHero Gregor]] follows his little sister, Boots, through [[DownTheRabbitHole a grate in the laundry room]] of their New York apartment building, he hurtles into the dark [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer Underland beneath the city]]. There, humans live uneasily besides [[NightmareFuel gi]][[AnimalsNotToScale ant]] [[GiantSpider spiders]], [[GentleGiant bats]], [[DumbIsGood cockroaches]], and [[RodentsOfUnusualSize rats]]--but the fragile peace is about to fall apart. Of course, Gregor [[LittleHeroBigWar wants no part of a conflict]] between these creepy creatures. But when he discovers that a [[BecauseDestinySaysSo strange prophecy]] [[ChosenOne foretells a role for him]] in the Underland's uncertain future, he knows there's no other choice. Little does he know his [[TheQuest quest]] will change him forever.

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler: Solovet]] due to her WellIntentionedExtremist tendencies was this to [[spoiler: Hamnet]]. In fact, what she did to him made him leave Regalia for the more dangerous jungles, and he doesn't regret leaving for a minute.

-->'''Nerissa''': So says [[WouldNotHurtAChild your heart]]. So says your [[ArcWords most essential part.]]

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Luxa's mother Judith had died before the series starts. And her twin brother, presumed dead before the beginning of the series, turns up alive at the beginning of the 3rd book and dies at the end. Their parents are both alive until the 5th book.