Line #146 Literature/GuildHunter


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4	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_guild_hunters.png]]
5
6	''Guild Hunter'' is a series of UrbanFantasy (with shades of ParanormalRomance) books by Nalini Singh, who also writes ''Literature/PsyChangeling''.
7
8	[[AlternateHistory This is not the world you know]]. It is a world that has been ruled by the Angels since the dawn of humanity.[[note]]Or perhaps even earlier, [[UnreliableNarrator depending on who you talk to.]][[/note]] In the equivalent to our early 21st century, the Archangel Raphael (Archangel of New York and ''de facto'' ruler of North America) hires top VampireHunter Elena Devereaux for a very special--and secret--assignment; he wants her to hunt down a FallenAngel. It's gonna be one ''hell'' of a day at the office...
9
10	The series consists of:
11
12	* ''Angels' Dance'' (novella)
13	* ''Angels' Judgment'' (novella)
14	* ''Angels' Pawn'' (novella)
15	* ''Angels' Blood''
16	* ''Archangel's Kiss''
17	* ''Archangel's Consort''
18	* ''Angel's Wolf'' (novella)
19	* ''Archangel's Blade''
20	* ''Archangel's Storm''
21	* ''Archangel's Legion''
22	* ''Archangel's Shadows''
23	* ''Archangel's Enigma''
24	* ''Archangel's Heart''
25	* ''Archangel's Viper''
26	* ''Archangel’s Prophecy''
27	* ''Archangel's War''
28	* ''Archangel's Sun''
29	* ''Archangel's Light''
30	* ''Archangel's Resurrection''
31	* ''Archangel's Lineage''
32
33	As this is a [[LongRunner long-running series]], some spoilers from earlier books may be unmarked.
34	----
35	!! The ''Guild Hunter'' series provides examples of:
36
37	* ActionGirl: Elena. Comes with being a [[VampireHunter Guild Hunter]].
38	** Ashwini and Honor, as fellow Hunters, also fit this.
39	* AffectionateNickname: Illium is "Bluebell" (because of his bright blue wings) and Aodhan is "Sparkle" (because [[EverythingsBetterWithSparkles he's very sparkly]]). Illium likes his nickname but Aodhan can't stand his.
40	* AlphaBitch: Michaela, aka "Bitch Queen"
41	* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler: Lijuan]], by the end of the second book. No one has the slightest idea of what [[spoiler: she]] has become.
42	* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: The way Angels' society works.
43	* BadassBiker: Both [[VampireHunter Ransom]] and [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Janvier]].
44	** [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Naasir]] sometimes rides a motorcycle as well.
45	* BadassFamily: While its members are not technically related, the [[VampireHunter Guild]] certainly fits this trope.
46	* BandOfBrothers: The Hunters' Guild is very much this.
47	* BigApplesauce: Raphael's chosen hometown.
48	* BigBad: Zhou Lijuan, in many of the books starring Elena and Raphael.
49	* BigFancyHouse: Jeffrey Devereaux bought one ''after'' the event that shattered his family. Elena even nicknamed it the "Big House".
50	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The angels generally stick to the "[[Literature/ThePrince be feared but not hated]]" truism, because it's better in the long run. But God (or another Angel or Archangel) help you if you piss them off- they will take you down without a second thought. Wars between Archangels are to be avoided at all costs- the fallout is not pretty.
51	** Raphael vs. Uram in the first book tore up most of UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity. The entire Cadre vs. Zhou Lijuan in the second book made a crater where Beijing used to be.
52	* BlueBlood: Elena's father personifies this trope, at least as far as a human can in this setting.
53	* CastingAShadow: Although he cannot project shadows, Jason can manipulate shadows to conceal himself. He displays and explains this power in ''Archangel's Storm''.
54	* [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Tattoo]]: During ''Archangel's Legion'', a strange tattoo starts to appear on Raphael's face, for no apparent reason. It turns out that this marks him as the commander of the Legion; a legendary force of 777 warrior-angels. They show up [[TheCavalry just in the nick of time]].
55	* ChildhoodFriends: Illium and Aodhan
56	* ChildrenAreInnocent: To harm a child may well be the ''only'' true taboo [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angelkind]] has left.
57	* CombatPragmatist: Hunters in general, with Elena showing the most of this.
58	* CouncilOfAngels: The Cadre of Ten, made up of the ten most powerful Archangels in the world. The number can dip as low as seven, but there's never meant to be more than ten; there's only so much of the planet, after all.
59	%% * CulturedBadass: [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Dmitri]] comes to mind.
60	* CurbStompBattle: What happens to anyone foolish enough to challenge an Archangel without being one themselves.
61	%% * DarkAndTroubledPast: Elena, Raphael, Dmitri, Jason and Ashwini particularly come to mind.
62	%% * DarkIsNotEvil: Raphael's special all-black room. Jason.
63	* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Both played straight and [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] with Elena's mother. While Marguerite ''was'' a wonderful mother up to the event that shattered her family, after that she became nothing more than a shadow of herself, not standing up for her surviving daughters when they needed her and ultimately [[DrivenToSuicide driving herself to suicide]].
64	* DiedInYourArmsTonight: What ''[[SubvertedTrope almost]]'' happens to [[spoiler: Elena]] at the end of the first book. Of course, it was in [[spoiler: Raphael]]'s arms.
65	* DoNotCallMePaul: Elena's first name is "Elianora"; she prefers the shorter version, even if her father insists on using the longer one.
66	* DrillSergeantNasty: Galen. He's really a nice guy, unless he's training you. Then you could only ''wish'' for [[Film/FullMetalJacket Gunnery Sergeant Hartman]].
67	%% * EternalLove: Raphael and Elena
68	%% ** Dmitri and Honor, completed with [[ReincarnationRomance reincarnation]]
69	%% ** Jason and Mahiya
70	%% ** Janvier and Ashwini
71	%% ** Naasir and Andromeda
72	%% ** Venom and Holly
73	%% ** Galen and Jessamy, together for over four hundred years
74	%% ** Elijah and Hannah, together for over nine hundred years
75	%% ** Nadiel and Caliane, until the former's death
76	%% ** [[spoiler:Titus and Sharine]]
77	%%* EtiquetteNazi: Lijuan
78	* EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry: In-universe, your relationship status can be (and commonly is) displayed for the world, via your choice of jewelry. Silver for "single", gold for "married", and amber for "entangled". [[spoiler: Elena and Raphael choose amber.]] Of the [[OfficialCouple official couples]], only [[spoiler:Dmitri and Honor]] get legally married and wear gold. [[spoiler:Janvier and Ashwini]] also get married although it's never outright stated if they wear gold as well.
79	** Naasir and Andromeda, Galen and Jessamy, and [[spoiler: Titus and Sharine]] also wear amber.
80	* FamilyOfChoice: The Guild is this to its Hunter, even the ones who already have perfectly functional families.
81	** Raphael and the members of his Seven also have a close, familial-type relationship.
82	* GivenNameReveal: Just after they acknowledge their feelings for each other, Venom tells Holly the name he was born with...while they're having sex for the first time. It's [[spoiler:Tushar]].
83	* HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler: Naasir, who is the result of merging a human boy and a white tiger cub. Unusually for this trope, he was Made, not born.]]
84	* HaveYouSeenMyGod: Archangels apparently answer to no one but themselves and their fellows in the [[CouncilOfAngels Cadre]].
85	* HealItWithBlood: Blood, especially from an angel, has the ability to revive injured or emaciated vampires.
86	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Illium and Aodhan [[spoiler: although that may change as of ''Archangel's Light'']].
87	* HiddenHeartOfGold: Dmitri. It's ''very'' well hidden, but it exists!
88	* HybridPower: Holly is a unique supernatural being, not quite a vampire but needing to drink some blood to survive. She has vampiric traits as well as limited angelic traits. She is also venomous, able to mesmerize people with her gaze and can move incredibly quickly, like a snake. A less-common variant of this trope, as she was a mundane human who was transformed, rather than born from the union of two supernatural creatures or one human and one supernatural parent.
89	** She is considered a very young immortal, and is growing into her powers.
90	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: All the books in the series, with the exception of ''Angels' Blood'', the very first novel, are titled "Archangel's [Noun]," referring to the relationship of one of the main characters with the archangel who features most prominently in the book.
91	** For example, ''Archangel's Viper'', featuring Venom and Holly, is so named because Venom is [[PoisonousPerson poisonous]] and is described as having the [[AnimalEyes bright green eyes]] of a viper complete with [[HellishPupils vertical pupils]].
92	** ''Archangel's Sun'': The sun in question is [[spoiler:Sharine]], around whom Titus revolves.
93	%% * ImmortalitySeeker: The vast majority of vampires were this.
94	* ImmortalProcreationClause: Vampires who are over 200 years old cannot have children.
95	** Angels have such an incredibly low birthrate that nearly all of them don't bother with any form of birth control, with the exception of [[spoiler:Elena, as she is only decades old and doesn't feel at all ready for children]].
96	* InhumanlyBeautifulRace: Angels vastly conformed to this trope.
97	** Aodhan is an extreme example of this, lampshaded in ''Archangel's Consort''.
98	-->''He was cut in sparkling ice, his wings so bright as to almost hurt human eyes, his face and his skin seeming to be created from marble overlaid with white-gold.''
99	** As for vampires, the older they got, the more beautiful they become.
100	* InterspeciesFriendship: [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Raphael]] and [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Dmitri]].
101	** Also, starting with book two, [[spoiler: Elena]] and all her human friends.
102	** As of their respective Makings, [[spoiler: Vivek, Honor, and Ashwini]] with all their human friends.
103	** Any angel-vampire friendship is this.
104	* InterspeciesRomance: [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Raphael]] and [[VampireHunter Elena]]'s starts as this.
105	** Also, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Dmitri]] and [[VampireHunter Honor]]'s.
106	** As well as [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Janvier]] and [[VampireHunter Ashwini]]'s. [[spoiler: At least until Ashwini's Making.]]
107	** And then there is [[HalfHumanHybrid Naasir]] and [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Andromeda]].
108	** Any angel-vampire romance is this.
109	* IWantThemAlive: The mission statement of the Hunter's Guild. Lethal force is used only as a last resort.
110	* TheJeeves: Montgomery
111	* {{Jerkass}}: Angels usually treat humans with contempt. Also, Elena's estranged father, Jeffrey Devereaux, who seems to go out of his way to fit this trope.
112	** {{Irony}}: Elena's father threw her out on the street because she was "Hunter-Born", but it turns out that [[spoiler:he carried the "Hunter"-gene, and that his youngest daughter (with his second wife) is also Hunter-born]].
113	*** TheReveal: [[spoiler:Jeffrey was adopted by the Devereaux family. His real mother was a Hunter who was killed in front of him by a trio of rogue vampires. This trauma caused him to be prejudiced against Hunters, because he was afraid that his daughter would suffer the same fate.]]
114	* JudgeJuryAndExecutioner: [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angels]] are this to any [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] who signed a Contract with them.
115	* LadyInWaiting: The Archangel Neha has several of those.
116	* LadyOfWar: Any female [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership Archangel]] is this.
117	* LawOfInverseFertility Played straight with the Angels; for some reason, all female Angels have trouble getting pregnant. One child in a century is the average...for ''all'' of Angelkind. Also, because of their immortality, it takes new Angels about 100 years to fully mature, both physically and emotionally.
118	* LightIsNotGood: Angels might look like incredibly beautiful humans...but they're ''not''.
119	* LongLived: Angels don't have a definite lifespan as they can't die naturally, and therefore tend to live a ''very'' long time.
120	** Also vampires, for similar reasons.
121	* ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex: Elena, a human, falls in love with Raphael, an Archangel. This trope is heavily implied.
122	* MayflyDecemberFriendship: Any immortal-human friendship is this.
123	* MissingMom: Elena's mother died by suicide when she was young; Raphael's had been Sleeping for centuries, [[spoiler: at least until the third book]].
124	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Archangel Neha, a.k.a. "Queen of Snakes" and "Queen of Poisons".
125	* OfficialCouple: For the series as a whole, [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Raphael]] and [[VampireHunter Elena]].
126	** For the fourth book, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Dmitri]] and [[VampireHunter Honor]].
127	** For the fifth book, [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Jason]] and [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Mahiya]].
128	** For the seventh book, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Janvier]] and [[VampireHunter Ashwini]].
129	** For the eighth book, [[HalfHumanHybrid Naasir]] and [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Andromeda]].
130	** For the tenth book, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Venom]] and [[HybridPower Holly]].
131	* TheOlderImmortal: Caliane, an Ancient, is ''tens of thousands of years'' older than everyone else.
132	* OneTrueLove: Raphael and Elena
133	** Dmitri and Honor
134	** Jason and Mahiya
135	** Janvier and Ashwini
136	** Naasir and Andromeda
137	** Venom and Holly
138	** Galen and Jessamy
139	** Elijah and Hannah
140	* OneWorldOrder: It's an angels' world, we just live here -- and we'd better not forget that.
141	* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Let's be clear: they are called "angels" only because they are winged beings. They have ''nothing'' to do with God or any kind of belief system whatsoever, even if some Archangels (such as Lijuan) would like you to believe otherwise. That being said, they ''are'' a very powerful and nigh-immortal species implied to have existed even before the dawn of humankind. They also [[spoiler: produce a toxin that must be regularly discharged ''into'' somebody else or it drives them insane,]] thus they create vampires -- from willing human populations.
142	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Angels can turn humans into vampires, in exchange for a [[IndenturedServitude contract]] pledging 100 years of servitude. And if the vampires get any funny ideas about breaking the contract, they are reminded to ReadTheFinePrint, often forcefully. These vampires need blood, but they can stand direct sunlight and eat normal food in small amounts. They are not vulnerable to holy items (crosses, bibles, etc.). Younger vampires (under 200 years) can father mortal children with human women, but they cannot make more vampires; only angels can do that.
143	** Venom. His eyes have vertical pupils and nictitating membranes, like a snake, and his fangs can inject poison into a victim. He can even spit poison, like a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitting_cobra spitting cobra]]. He was Made by Neha, who was trying to incorporate snake-like abilities into her vampires. Venom was her most successful experiment.
144	** Naasir; part vampire, part...tiger? Nobody's really sure, but he's strong enough--and loyal enough--that most people don't ask too many questions.
145	** Holly Chang, aka "Sorrow". She was Made (against her will) by Uram at the height of his Bloodborne insanity. She's more human than vampire, since she needs human food as much as blood to survive. Her fangs are slightly undersized, but secrete poison like Venom's do.
146	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Lijuan's "Reborn"... brrr. They were originally raised by some form of necromancy, but can make more by biting and infecting their victims.
147	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Jeffrey Deveraux, Elena's father, whose two eldest daughters, Mirabelle and Arielle, died at the hand of a psychopathic vampire.
148	** Also Dmitri, whose children were killed by a psychopathic angel.
149	** And more generally, what ''will'' happen to any vampire whose children will not be Made.
150	* PersonalityPowers: The gifts Archangels received during the Cascade tend to reflect their nature. What this says about Lijuan is... terrifying.
151	* PersonOfMassDestruction: Archangels are this.
152	* ThePowerOfLove: Supposed in-universe (since no one really knows) to be the reason behind [[spoiler: Elena]]'s very ''unique'' Making.
153	* PraetorianGuard: The Seven. Each Archangel has their own, comprised of their most powerful / loyal / talented subordinates. The Seven does double duty as bodyguards and field agents. Raphael's Seven includes Dmitri (his [[NumberTwo second-in-command]]), Jason (his [[TheSpymaster spymaster]]), Galen (his general/master-at-arms), Ilium, Aodhan, Naasir, and Venom.
154	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: In the most extreme cases (the Ancients), angels can live ''several hundred thousand years'', their lifespan having no natural limit. It also takes them a century to reach adulthood, so an angel will ''always'' looks considerably younger than his age.
155	** As for vampires, their Making slows down the ageing process to the point where it becomes insignificant, so they never seems any older than the age at which they were Made.
156	* ReincarnationRomance: Dmitri and Honor, the latter being the reincarnation of the former's first wife and OneTrueLove.
157	* SilkHidingSteel: To the word, the way Favashi is described.
158	* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Dmitri tends to play with other members of the Seven. None of them would be in Raphael's closest circle if they weren't smart.
159	* TheSpymaster: Jason is Raphael's. He is recognized as the finest spy among all of Angelkind, and many other Archangels have tried to hire him away from Raphael. None have succeeded.
160	* StarterVillainStays: Uram is a psychotic archangel and the EvilFormerFriend of ArchangelRaphael. Uram as a savage SerialKiller serves as the first foe of the series and the fight with him leads to Raphael uniting with his mate Elena. Despite his death at the end of the first book, Uram is able to return several books later in ''Archangel's Viper'' where he inserts a piece of himself in one of his victims to torment her and others.
161	* StrongerWithAge: Zig-zags on this. As a general rule, the older an immortal is, the stronger they are; Archangels, in general, are the oldest, strongest angels, but there are other factors as well- your lineage, natural events (like Cascades) and life experiences are all implied to have an effect on your power levels. As an example of this, Raphael is the youngest but one of the strongest of the Cadre and the de-facto leader, while Michaela, who is implied to be of a similar age, is much weaker. The same is true among lesser angels and vampires- Illium, considered young by angel standards, is on the verge of becoming an Archangel, whilst Anoushka, daughter of an archangel, stopped growing in power long before she was as old as he is.
162	* TallDarkAndHandsome: Raphael
163	* {{Telepathy}}: One of Raphael's powers.
164	* TookALevelInBadass: Elena, who is transformed [[spoiler:into an angel]] at the end of the first book. This is [[HandWave Hand Waved]] as ThePowerOfLove, since even the angels don't know why it happens.
165	* TranquilFury: Raphael. ''Running is useless.''
166	* TraumaCongaLine: When Elena was a child, [[spoiler:rogue vampire Slater Patalis tracked her to her house and broke in. He tortured her mother, and tortured and murdered two of her sisters. Elena and and her mother survived, but her mother committed suicide a few years later. Her father then blamed her, and disowned her when she became a Guild Hunter.]]
167	* VampireHunter: Organized by the Hunter's Guild, their main task is to [[BringItBackAlive bring back alive]] those vampires foolish enough to think they can escape their contract to their Angelic masters for punishment. Lethal force is only used in extreme cases, or to hunt down the few who have given in to their bloodlust.
168	** The best Hunters are the "Hunter-Born" like Elena, who are stronger and faster than normal humans, and can [[TheNoseKnows track vampires by their scent]] like two-legged bloodhounds.
169	* [[WellDoneSonGuy Well Done Daughter Gal]]: Elena to her father, Jeffrey.
170	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Many humans are eager to become vampires, because they want eternal life and eternal youth. But for the angels and already-"Made" vampires, boredom starts to set in after a few centuries...or millennia. Angels have the option of hibernating for centuries (or millennia) in a near-comatose state, which they simply call "the Sleep". Vampires do not have this option.
171	* WildChild: Naasir was this, and he's only gotten wilder with age. {{Justified}}, [[spoiler: since he was Made by merging a young human boy and a white tiger cub]].
172	* WingedHumanoid: Angels are described as looking essentially human, except for the part where they have wings.

Context Literature / GuildHunter