History YMMV / CastlePerilous

* EvilIsSexy: For a [[WellIntentionedExtremist certain brand]] [[DesignatedVillain of evil]], but Ferne is certainly quite gorgeous.

* {{Sequelitis}}: Consensus says that after ''Castle Dreams'' which, while isn't for everyone, but is still quite good, things go downhill a bit...

* PostScriptSeason: ''Bride of the Castle'' very much feels like this. Aside from the [[ScheduleSlip somewhat lengthy publishing gap]], ''Castle Spellbound'' had ended with Gene and Linda declaring their love (and consummating it), then putting plans in order for their wedding; all the characters showed up together in good condition after the latest disaster; and the final paragraph of the book actually played HappilyEverAfter straight. Flash-forward to the next book where the [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming Idiosyncratic Chapter Naming]] has been dispensed with, new characters are introduced whose stories have nothing to do with the rest of the book or characters (and one, due to being from an AlternateUniverse, never will), the seeming happiness of ''Castle Spellbound'' devolves into the same old TheCasanova behavior from Gene to make sure StatusQuoIsGod, and everything (but particularly the newest wrinkle in the LoveTriangle) is left up in the air. With all these changes and unsatisfying elements, the fact [=DeChancie=] seemed to have stopped caring, and the fact that eighteen years later there has still been no resolution to the CliffHanger[=/=]NoEnding, fans could be forgiven for wishing the series had ended with ''Castle Spellbound''.

* {{Sequelitis}}: Averted at first, for even with the [[RecycledPremise Recycled Premises]] all the books up through ''Castle Murders'' are just as good as the first. ''Castle Dreams'', being so surreal, isn't for everyone, but is still quite good. After that things go downhill a bit...
* TechnologyMarchesOn: The scene with Linda and Melanie on the Internet (or Cybernet) at the start of ''Castle Murders'' is quite clearly dated; not only does Melanie express shock at the idea that a reply to her on a bulletin board could appear instantly instead of taking days or weeks (even suggesting the only way Linda could have replied instantly was if she was on another computer on campus), and specifically notes it is not a direct-communication system, but the ability to send messages directly to Melanie's computer for a real-time chat is portrayed as something only Jeremy's magical hacking can accomplish. In [=DeChancie=]'s defense, the book was written in the 90s when the Internet (or at least, its modern, public version) was first in its infancy, but it still reads as amusingly quaint.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: This could be considered to apply to the series as a whole, since despite the countless worlds, characters, and plots available, [=DeChancie=] only focuses on a small ([[MostWritersAreHuman almost completely human]]) group and [[RecycledPremise similar plots]]; even taking into account he couldn't possibly cover an infinite variety of worlds, characters, and plots, a lot more could have been done with the [[HighConcept concept]]. A specific example, however, would be the plot of ''Castle War!''--after raising the possibility of invasion by a MirrorUniverse, and in fact having both Evil!Incarnadine and his guardsmen and Evil!Linda raise hell in the castle, the plot gets abandoned: the multiple Incarnadines end up being PlayedForLaughs instead, and after Linda's [[FakingTheDead apparent death]] and Evil!Gene going off with Evil!Linda, the story focuses exclusively on the real Gene's adventures, Incarnadine's attempts to get home and fix TheMultiverse, Jeremy and Isis's subplot, and Thaxton and Dalton's travails. When it finally returns to the matter of the [[EvilTwin Evil Twins]], the solution is to HandWave it by having Linda and Sheila create [[ChainsawGood an animated flying chainsaw]] to chase everyone back into their own Aspects, and that's that. The problem ''is'' dealt with by the spell Jeremy and Incarnadine cast, but it still seems a bit anticlimactic.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The whole series is known for these, since it's predicated on the idea that you could find anything, absolutely anything, through the next door or around the corner, which has nothing to do with the rest of the castle (or story), such as Melanie's adventures with the Robin Hood {{Expy}}. But [[BizarroEpisode the entirety of]] ''[[BizarroEpisode Castle Spellbound]]'' [[BizarroEpisode is this]], since the wish spell which takes over the castle comes out of nowhere, has nothing to do with the rest of the series, serves no purpose except for [[HilarityEnsues wacky hijinks]], and once banished is never mentioned again. And since the cross between AllJustADream and LiteraryAgentHypothesis means none of the events of ''Castle Dreams'' actually happened, it never gets mentioned again either.

* PostScriptSeason: ''Bride of the Castle'' very much feels like this. Aside from the [[ScheduleSlip somewhat lengthy publishing gap]], ''Castle Spellbound'' had ended with Gene and Linda declaring their love (and consummating it), then putting plans in order for their wedding; all the characters showed up together in good condition after the latest disaster; and the final paragraph of the book actually played HappilyEverAfter straight. Flash-forward to the next book where the [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming Idiosyncratic Chapter Naming]] has been dispensed with, new characters are introduced whose stories have nothing to do with the rest of the book or characters (and one, due to being from an AlternateUniverse, never will), the seeming happiness of ''Castle Spellbound'' devolves into the same old TheCasanova behavior from Gene to make sure StatusQuoIsGod, and everything (but particularly the newest wrinkle in the LoveTriangle) is left up in the air. With all these changes and unsatisfying elements, the fact [=DeChancie=] [[TheyJustDidntCare seemed to have stopped caring]], and the fact that eighteen years later there has still been no resolution to the CliffHanger[=/=]NoEnding, fans could be forgiven for wishing the series had ended with ''Castle Spellbound''.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: This could be considered to apply to the series as a whole, since despite the countless worlds, characters, and plots available, [=DeChancie=] only focuses on a small ([[MostWritersAreHuman almost completely human]]) group and [[RecycledPremise similar plots]]; even taking into account he couldn't possibly cover an infinite variety of worlds, characters, and plots, a lot more could have been done with the [[HighConcept concept]]. A specific example, however, would be the plot of ''Castle War!''--after raising the possibility of invasion by a MirrorUniverse, and in fact having both Evil!Incarnadine and his guardsmen and Evil!Linda raise hell in the castle, the plot gets abandoned: the multiple Incarnadines end up being PlayedForLaughs instead, and after Linda's [[FakingTheDead apparent death]] and Evil!Gene going off with Evil!Linda, the story focuses exclusively on the real Gene's adventures, Incarnadine's attempts to get home and fix TheMultiverse, Jeremy and Isis's subplot, and Thaxton and Dalton's travails. When it finally returns to the matter of the [[EvilTwin Evil Twins]], the solution is to HandWave it by having Linda and Sheila create [[ChainsawGood an animated flying chainsaw]] to chase everyone back into their own Aspects, and that's that. The problem ''is'' dealt with by the spell Jeremy and Incarnadine cast, but it still seems a bit anticlimactic.

* GodModeSue: Linda. The only thing that keeps her powers from taking over the story is that sometimes they do fail, or bring the wrong thing, and that quite often the solution to the current issue facing the castle is something she can't conjure. But she usually is a very big part of saving the day nevertheless. Unless it's the other resident sorceress, who has a StoryBreakerPower.
** This claim could also be made of Incarnadine--at various times he is actually accused of godhood, or responds to the question by tongue-in-cheekly claiming to be a demiurge, and he certainly is, to use Osmirik's in-story {{Understatement}}, "something of a magician". In fact not only is he capable of things no one else is (creating and building [[{{Magitek}} computers by magic]], creating technology with magic that lasts longer than anyone else's, understanding and applying numerous arcane systems, making three-dimensional spell components (and drawing complex two-dimensional ones by hand with perfectly accurate lines and angles without aid of draftsman's tools), memorizing complex spells after only reading them once, and so on), but he is usually the only one who fully understands what is going on and can save TheMultiverse. The end result is that whenever a crisis ensues, he must inevitably be [[DeusExitMachina absent]], [[DramaPreservingHandicap trapped]], or [[PlotInducedStupidity deliberately removed from the castle]] so that there can be any kind of narrative tension. Sometimes there is more than one issue at stake, so that he can handle the one on TheMultiverse level while the other characters deal with the more "mundane" problems.

* UnfortunateImplications: Melydia, [[WomanScorned scorned by Incarnadine]] and wanting {{Revenge}}, wishes to prove she is worthy of the power she'd been denied ([[LineageComesFromTheFather for being a woman]]). She does this by...manipulating an empress, [[TheVamp seducing]] and enchanting her warlord son into besieging Perilous...so that she can undo the spell on it and release a demon that will bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Because she's crazy, and apparently always has been.

* CompleteMonster: Jacoby. The Hosts of Hell.

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: Every Guest who ever comes to the castle does so when they are at RockBottom, no choices left to them, utterly depressed, DrivenToSuicide, or even in a life-or-death situation. A case could be made for an alternate interpretation where they really have all killed themselves or died, and the entirety of Castle Perilous and their adventures there is AllJustADream, or a fantastical version of the Afterlife. Melanie actually raises this possibility not long after she comes to the castle.

* UnfortunateImplications: Melydia, scorned by Incarnadine and wanting {{Revenge}}, wishes to prove she is worthy of the power she'd been denied (for being a woman). She does this by...manipulating an empress, [[TheVamp seducing]] and enchanting her warlord son into besieging Perilous...so that she can undo the spell on it and release a demon that will bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Because she's crazy, and apparently always has been.

* AlasPoorVillain: Ferne, Melydia to some degree.

* PostScriptSeason: ''Bride of the Castle'' very much feels like this. Aside from the [[ScheduleSlip somewhat lengthy publishing gap]], ''Castle Spellbound'' had ended with Gene and Linda declaring their love (and consummating it), then putting plans in order for their wedding; all the characters showed up together in good condition after the latest disaster; and the final paragraph of the book actually played HappilyEverAfter straight. Flash-forward to the next book where the [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming Idiosyncratic Chapter Naming]] has been dispensed with, new characters are introduced whose stories have nothing to do with the rest of the book or characters (and one, due to being from an AlternateUniverse, never will), the seeming happiness of ''Castle Spellbound'' devolves into the same old {{Casanova}} behavior from Gene to make sure StatusQuoIsGod, and everything (but particularly the newest wrinkle in the LoveTriangle) is left up in the air. With all these changes and unsatisfying elements, the fact [=DeChancie=] [[TheyJustDidntCare seemed to have stopped caring]], and the fact that eighteen years later there has still been no resolution to the CliffHanger[=/=]NoEnding, fans could be forgiven for wishing the series had ended with ''Castle Spellbound''.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The whole series is known for these, since it's predicated on the idea that you could find anything, absolutely anything, through the next door or around the corner, which has nothing to do with the rest of the castle (or story), such as Melanie's adventures with the Robin Hood {{Expy}}. But [[BizarroEpisode the entirety of]] ''[[BizarroEpisode Castle Spellbound]]'' [[BizarroEpisode is this]], since the wish spell which takes over the castle comes out of nowhere, has nothing to do with the rest of the series, serves no purpose except for [[HilarityEnsues wacky hijinks]], and once banished is never mentioned again. And since the cross between AllJustADream and DirectLineToTheAuthor means none of the events of ''Castle Dreams'' actually happened, it never gets mentioned again either.

* UnfortunateImplications: Melydia, scorned by Incarnadine and wanting {{Revenge}}, wishes to prove she is worthy of the power she'd been denied ([[AcceptableFeminineGoals for being a woman]]). She does this by...manipulating an empress, [[TheVamp seducing]] and enchanting her warlord son into besieging Perilous...so that she can undo the spell on it and release a demon that will bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Because she's crazy, and apparently always has been.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The whole series is known for these, since it's predicated on the idea that you could find anything, absolutely anything, through the next door or around the corner, which has nothing to do with the rest of the castle (or story), such as Melanie's adventures with the Robin Hood {{Expy}}. But [[BLAMEpisode the entirety of]] ''[[BLAMEpisode Castle Spellbound]]'' [[BLAMEpisode is this]], since the wish spell which takes over the castle comes out of nowhere, has nothing to do with the rest of the series, serves no purpose except for [[HilarityEnsues wacky hijinks]], and once banished is never mentioned again. And since the cross between AllJustADream and DirectLineToTheAuthor means none of the events of ''Castle Dreams'' actually happened, it never gets mentioned again either.

** This claim could also be made of Incarnadine--at various times he is actually accused of godhood, or responds to the question by tongue-in-cheekly claiming to be a demiurge, and he certainly is, to use Osmirik's in-story {{Understatement}}, "something of a magician". In fact not only is he capable of things no one else is (creating and building [[{{Magitek}} computers by magic]], creating technology with magic that lasts longer than anyone else's, understanding and applying numerous arcane systems, making three-dimensional spell components (and drawing complex two-dimensional ones by hand with perfectly accurate lines and angles without aid of draftsman's tools), memorizing complex spells after only reading them once, and so on), but he is usually the only one who fully understands what is going on and can save TheMultiverse. The end result is that whenever a crisis ensues, he must inevitably be absent, trapped, or deliberately removed from the castle so that there can be any kind of narrative tension. Sometimes there is more than one issue at stake, so that he can handle the one on TheMultiverse level while the other characters deal with the more "mundane" problems.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: This could be considered to apply to the series as a whole, since despite the countless worlds, characters, and plots available, [=DeChancie=] only focuses on a small ([[MostWritersAreHuman almost completely human]]) group and [[RecycledPremise similar plots]]; even taking into account he couldn't possibly cover an infinite variety of worlds, characters, and plots, a lot more could have been done with the [[HighConcept concept]]. A specific example, however, would be the plot of ''Castle War!''--after raising the possibility of invasion by a MirrorUniverse, and in fact having both Evil!Incarnadine and his guardsmen and Evil!Linda raise hell in the castle, the plot gets abandoned: the multiple Incarnadines end up being PlayedForLaughs instead, and after Linda's [[FakingTheDead apparent death]] and Evil!Gene going off with Evil!Linda, the story focuses exclusively on the real Gene's adventures, Incarnadine's attempts to get home and fix TheMultiverse, and Thaxton and Dalton's travails. When it finally returns to the matter of the [[EvilTwin Evil Twins]], the solution is to HandWave it by having Linda and Sheila create [[ChainsawGood an animated flying chainsaw]] to chase everyone back into their own Aspects, and that's that. The problem ''is'' dealt with by the spell Jeremy and Incarnadine cast, but it still seems a bit anticlimactic.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: This could be considered to apply to the series as a whole, since despite the countless worlds, characters, and plots available, [=DeChancie=] only focuses on a small ([[MostWritersAreHuman almost completely human]]) group and [[RecycledPremise similar plots]]; even taking into account he couldn't possibly cover an infinite variety of worlds, characters, and plots, a lot more could have been done with the [[HighConcept concept]]. A specific example, however, would be the plot of ''Castle War!''--after raising the possibility of invasion by a MirrorUniverse, and in fact having both Evil!Incarnadine and his guardsmen and Evil!Linda raise hell in the castle, the plot gets abandoned: the multiple Incarnadines end up being PlayedForLaughs instead, and after Linda's [[FakingTheDead apparent death]] and Evil!Gene going off with Evil!Linda, the story focuses exclusively on the real Gene's adventures, Incarnadine's attempts to get home and fix TheMultiverse, and Thaxton and Dalton's travails. When it finally returns to the matter of the [[EvilTwin Evil Twins]], the solution is to HandWave it by having Linda and Sheila create [{ChainsawGood an animated flying chainsaw]] to chase everyone back into their own Aspects, and that's that. The problem ''is'' dealt with by the spell Jeremy and Incarnadine cast, but it still seems a bit anticlimactic.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The whole series is known for these, since it's predicated on the idea that you could find anything, absolutely anything, through the next door or around the corner, which has nothing to do with the rest of the castle (or story), such as Melanie's adventures with the Robin Hood {{Expy}}. But [[BLAMEpisode the entirety of]] ''[[BLAMEpisode Castle Spellbound]]'' [[BLAMEpisode is this]], since the wish spell which takes over the castle comes out of nowhere, has nothing to do with the rest of the series, serves no purpose except for [[HilarityEnsues Wacky Hijinks]], and once banished is never mentioned again. And since the cross between AllJustADream and DirectLineToTheAuthor means none of the events of ''Castle Dreams'' actually happened, it never gets mentioned again either.

* PostScriptSeason: ''Bride of the Castle'' very much feels like this. Aside from the [[ScheduleSlip somewhat lengthy publishing gap]], ''Castle Spellbound'' had ended with Gene and Linda declaring their love (and consummating it), then putting plans in order for their wedding; all the characters showed up together in good condition after the latest disaster; and the final paragraph of the book actually played HappilyEverAfter straight. Flash-forward to the next book where the [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming Idiosyncratic Chapter Naming]] has been dispensed with, new characters are introduced whose stories have nothing to do with the rest of the book or characters (and one, due to being from an AlternateUniverse, never will), the seeming happiness of ''Castle Spellbound'' devolves into the same old CommitmentAnxiety from Gene to make sure StatusQuoIsGod, and everything (but particularly the newest wrinkle in the LoveTriangle) is left up in the air. With all these changes and unsatisfying elements, the fact [=DeChancie=] [[TheyJustDidntCare seemed to have stopped caring]], and the fact that eighteen years later there has still been no resolution to the CliffHanger[=/=]NoEnding, fans could be forgiven for wishing the series had ended with ''Castle Spellbound''.

* LawfulEvil: The Hosts of Hell, which are greatly disturbed by chaos and wish to "establish a semblance of rationality" through "[[BlatantLies a benevolent order]]".

* YourMileageMayVary: Not just the series itself (it has been accused of having rather flat characters and predictable plots, and it is certainly TropeOverdosed), but particular entries within it--fans of the earlier installments may find the later ones a bit too ridiculous, or worse that they are suffering from CharacterDerailment, {{Chickification}}, [[DarthWiki/WallBanger Wall Bangers]], [[IdiotBall Idiot Balls]], or just plain hints that the author [[TheyJustDidntCare just didn't care anymore]]. Considering [[ScheduleSlip the long passage of time between later books]], and the way ''Bride of the Castle'' ended, a case could be made [=DeChancie=] lost interest in the series, hence the weaker quality of writing.

* CharacterDerailment: Linda loses much of her ActionGirl cred later on; Thaxton and Dalton, while always PlayedForLaughs thanks to their ButtMonkey status, become increasingly useless, as even when they act and speak intelligently their contribution to the plot never amounts to anything outside ''Castle Murders''; and while HiddenDepths are hinted at for Snowclaw (he has perfect pitch, for starters, and can tell bad singing when he hears it), he overall becomes the dumb muscle. Sheila actually does develop from TheDitz into a smart, competent sorceress...but her HappilyMarried bliss with Trent coupled with her insistence on staying in the ocean Aspect to run her resort causes her to become OutOfFocus and rarely appear in the books--so she is ''literally'' derailed. About the only Guest who doesn't change is Gene, and that may not necessarily be a good thing. (See CommitmentAnxiety.) However, since the complaint of being a FlatCharacter has been leveled against just about every character in the series, it could be said the characters were never derailed--because to be derailed there had to ''be'' character to begin with.

* YMMV: Not just the series itself (it has been accused of having rather flat characters and predictable plots, and it is certainly TropeOverdosed), but particular entries within it--fans of the earlier installments may find the later ones a bit too ridiculous, or worse that they are suffering from CharacterDerailment, {{Chickification}}, {{WallBanger}}s, {{IdiotBall}}s, or just plain hints that the author [[TheyJustDidntCare just didn't care anymore]]. Considering [[ScheduleSlip the long passage of time between later books]], and the way ''Bride of the Castle'' ended, a case could be made [=DeChancie=] lost interest in the series, hence the weaker quality of writing.