History YMMV / TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant

** Foul's CoDragons, [[TheDividual the three Ravers]], are just as bad. They were originally three human brothers whose evil was so great it survived past the destruction of their physical bodies as incorporeal demons with a thing for [[DemonicPossession possessing people]]. In addition to being willing accomplices in all of Foul's crimes [[note]]WordOfGod says they think that when he breaks free of the Land, they can ride his metaphysical coattails into godhood themselves.[[/note]], and sharing his gleeful, psychotic sadism, each Raver has racked up a number of atrocities of his own. ''Moksha'' Jehannum Fleshharrower and ''Samadhi'' Sheol Satansfist both did stints as Foul's head general, massacring countless innocents--and [[BadBoss their own troops]]. Individually, ''Samadhi'', as Gibbon na'Mhoram, was the head of a PathOfInspiration that sacrificed countless lives while lying to the people of the Land that it would help reverse the AfterTheEnd conditions of the Sunbane, when in fact it was just making it worse; ''Moksha'' stalked Covenant over much of the Second Chronicles infecting him with venom in order to force him to use his ring at full power whether he wanted to or not, which would have destroyed the world, which was the plan. ''Turiya'' Herem Kinslaughterer doesn't show up as often as his brothers, but commits one of the single most appalling atrocities in the Chronicles: single-handedly committing genocide of the Giants of Seareach while they refused to fight back.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: While Thomas rejects the reality of the Land, the story never really entertains that Thomas is correct with the idea {{Jossed}} by the second book introducing other visitors. Some readers have stated that it might have been interesting to explore the idea that nothing Thomas does to the Land matters any more than NPCs in a video game.

* AngstAversion: Some fantasy readers have mentioned giving up on the series at Book 1, or avoiding it altogether, because of the series' reputation for having a dark story and an extremely unlikable main protagonist is (which is by design). One of the biggest things that turns people away is that less than a third of the way through book one, the protagonist we're going to be following for the next six books ''rapes someone'' (which has long-lasting effects on the story). Although Thomas deeply regrets this for the rest of the series, it's understandably difficult to get readers to sympathize with or want to read about a rapist protagonist. It's an even harder sell for modern readers given that the series tends to focus more on Thomas' angst over committing rape than the suffering of the woman he assaulted, which can be seen as pretty problematic nowadays. Even fans of the series have been known to comment they understand why people would stop reading at that point.

* {{Tearjerker}}: The conclusion of ''White Gold Wielder" when Linden sobs about never had said goodbye to Tom or her father. [[spoiler:Tom returning and no longer a cynic just to say goodbye is touching, too.]]

* MagnificentBastard:
** Lord Foul in spades. He's always one step ahead of everyone else and his plots are always intricately designed.
** Covenant's son, Roger. Your mileage can ''really'' vary on this as he can also be construed as just a BigBadWannabe.

* {{Wangst}}: It's everywhere. Thomas Covenant is especially guilty of this, although Linden Avery gets to have her share as well, as do many of the Land's inhabitants.

%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * {{Wangst}}
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * TheWoobie: Everyone.

* FunnyMoments: The series is super-serious for the most parts, but one unexpected one does turn up in ''The Last Dark,'' all the funnier because it turns up just when things [[MoodWhiplash are at their dreariest.]]

-->(''[[{{Beat}} morose silence]]'')
-->'''Coldspray:''' You forget to whom you speak, Stonemage. All here know that in your care, [[ReallyGetsAround every sword grows too]] [[DoubleEntendre long for easy use.]]

* HeartwarmingMoment: When creating the new Staff of Law, Linden takes a moment to help her friends.

%% * {{Wangst}}
%% * TheWoobie: Everyone.

-->('''[[{{Beat}} morose silence]]''')

* FunnyMoments: The series is super-serious for the most parts, but one unexpected one does turn up in ''Against All Things Ending,'' all the funnier because it turns up just when things [[MoodWhiplash are at their dreariest.]]

** [[NamesToRunAwayFrom Lord Foul the Despiser]] is Thomas Covenant's [[BigBad ultimate enemy]]. An ancient being who [[CardCarryingVillain revels in being pure evil]], Foul aims to [[OmnicidalManiac completely annihilate the magical land]], sending out terrifying armies to crush and destroy all that live while recruiting the monstrous Ravers to his side, facilitating and ordering countless atrocities including the genocide of the Seareach giants and having Sheol Satansfist establish a dark cult that runs on blood sacrifices. After the death of Thomas's daughter, Foul [[TheCorrupter corrupts her soul to his side]], using her against Thomas as a twisted parody of herself, and later corrupts Thomas's son Roger into an agent to use against his father. Not satisfied with simply destroying life, Foul aims to [[HopeCrusher completely annihilate all hope from the universe]], learning from each of his defeats to return with new schemes that inevitably cost countless lives.

** [[BigBad Lord]] [[NamesToRunAwayFrom Foul]] is one of the most horrifically [[EvilOverlord evil Dark Lords]] in fantasy, and [[CardCarryingVillain proud of it]]. He's called "the Despiser" due to the fact that he holds every living thing that's not himself in purest contempt, and is [[OmnicidalManiac perfectly willing to annihilate physical reality]] purely so he can escape from it. While he's waiting to accomplish that, he causes smaller-scale apocalypses, driving people so far past the DespairEventHorizon that they become agents of their own destruction.

* MagnificentBastard: Covenant's son, Roger. Your mileage can ''really'' vary on this as he can also be construed as just a BigBadWannabe.

* DesignatedHero: Thomas Covenant. Deliberately. A rare In-world example.

** Foul's CoDragons, [[TheDividual the three Ravers]], are just as bad. They were originally three human brothers whose evil was so great it survived past the destruction of their physical bodies as incorporeal demons with a thing for [[DemonicPossession possessing people]]. In addition to being willing accomplices in all of Foul's crimes [[note]]WordOfGod says they think that when he breaks free of the Land, they can ride his metaphysical coattails into godhood themselves]][[/note]], and sharing his gleeful, psychotic sadism, each Raver has racked up a number of atrocities of his own. ''Moksha'' Jehannum Fleshharrower and ''Samadhi'' Sheol Satansfist both did stints as Foul's head general, massacring countless innocents--and [[BadBoss their own troops]]. Individually, ''Samadhi'', as Gibbon na'Mhoram, was the head of a PathOfInspiration that sacrificed countless lives while lying to the people of the Land that it would help reverse the AfterTheEnd conditions of the Sunbane, when in fact it was just making it worse; ''Moksha'' stalked Covenant over much of the Second Chronicles infecting him with venom in order to force him to use his ring at full power whether he wanted to or not, which would have destroyed the world, which was the plan. ''Turiya'' Herem Kinslaughterer doesn't show up as often as his brothers, but commits one of the single most appalling atrocities in the Chronicles: single-handedly committing genocide of the Giants of Seareach while they refused to fight back.

** [[NamesToRunAwayFrom Lord Foul]] is one of the most horrifically evil Dark Lords in fantasy, and proud of it. He's called "the Despiser" for a reason, namely that he holds every living thing that's not himself in purest contempt, and is perfectly willing to annihilate physical reality purely so he can escape from it. While he's waiting to accomplish that, he gets his jollies by causing smaller-scale apocalypses (the one in the Second Chronicles ''purely to screw with Covenant's head''), driving people so far past the DespairEventHorizon that they become agents of their own destruction, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking giving magnificent monologues about how much you suck compared to him]]. All of this without the slightest shred of remorse, by the way, and WordOfGod notes that while he's essentially the AnthropomorphicPersonification of evil, don't think it absolves him of moral responsibility for his crimes- at least theoretically, Foul always had the option to choose to stop being the Despiser, but doing so never entered his head. Rather, after every defeat, he just examines what he did wrong so he can be ''even more evil'' next time around.
** Foul's CoDragons, the three Ravers, are just as bad. They were originally three human brothers whose evil was so great it survived past the destruction of their physical bodies as incorporeal demons with a thing for [[DemonicPossession possessing people]]. In addition to being willing accomplices in all of Foul's crimes ([[WordOfGod because they think that when he breaks free of the Land, they can ride his metaphysical coattails into godhood themselves]]), and sharing his gleeful, psychotic sadism, each Raver has racked up a number of atrocities of his own. ''Moksha'' Jehannum Fleshharrower and ''Samadhi'' Sheol Satansfist both did stints as Foul's head general, massacring countless innocents (and [[BadBoss their own troops]]) and ''Samadhi'' (as Gibbon na'Mhoram) was the head of a PathOfInspiration that sacrificed countless lives while lying to the people of the Land that it would help reverse the AfterTheEnd conditions of the Sunbane (when in fact it was just making it ''worse''), while ''Moksha'' stalked Covenant over much of the Second Chronicles infecting him with venom in order to force him to use his ring at full power whether he wanted to or not (which could well have destroyed the world, which was the plan). ''Turiya'' Herem Kinslaughterer doesn't show up as often as his brothers, but commits probably the single most appalling atrocity in the entire Chronicles- committing the genocide of the Giants of Seareach. ''Singlehandedly''. While they ''refused to fight back''.

* CompleteMonster

* MoralEventHorizon

* {{Wangst}}
* TheWoobie: Everyone.

* SerialNumbersFiledOff: The first Trilogy is an obvious CaptainErsatz of everyone in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', with several of the races being types of human instead of elves, orcs, dwarves, and so on (and the other races are unique, rather than the standard ones, the only exception being the Giants).

* SerialNumbersFiledOff: The first Trilogy is an obvious CaptainErsatz of everyone in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', with several of the races being types of human instead of elves, orcs, dwarves, and so on (and the other races are unique, rather than the standard ones, the only exception being the Giants). Used as a {{Deconstruction}} of the high fantasy genre.

** Lord Foul is one of the most horrifically evil Dark Lords in fantasy, and proud of it. He's called "the Despiser" for a reason, namely that he holds every living thing that's not himself in purest contempt, and is perfectly willing to annihilate physical reality purely so he can escape from it. While he's waiting to accomplish that, he gets his jollies by causing smaller-scale apocalypses (the one in the Second Chronicles ''purely to screw with Covenant's head''), driving people so far past the DespairEventHorizon that they become agents of their own destruction, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking giving magnificent monologues about how much you suck compared to him]]. All of this without the slightest shred of remorse, by the way, and WordOfGod notes that while he's essentially the AnthropomorphicPersonification of evil, don't think it absolves him of moral responsibility for his crimes- at least theoretically, Foul always had the option to choose to stop being the Despiser, but doing so never entered his head. Rather, after every defeat, he just examines what he did wrong so he can be ''even more evil'' next time around. ''Sheesh''.