Goblins in the Castle is a 1992 children's novel written by Bruce Coville. It tells the story of William, a young boy who has lived in Toad-in-a-Cage Castle his entire life. But one night, he meets the mysterious Igor, who lives in the castle dungeons, and soon afterward discovers the strange secret behind the castle's North Tower, which has always been kept locked. When he unlocks it one night, his actions lead him into a dangerous quest to rescue his new friend from the land of the goblins.
Goblins on the Prowl (2015) continues the story a year later from the point of view of William's friend Fauna, and reveals both their origins, as well as that of the enormous stone toad that gave the castle its name.
Coville's short story "The Stinky Princess", originally published in 1999 in his anthology Odder than Ever and introducing the goblin seer Flegmire (later featured in Goblins on the Prowl) has also been identified as a prequel to the series via the guestbook on his website
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The series is part of the same universe as Coville's The Foolish Giant, The Dragonslayers, The Unicorn Chronicles series, the Magic Shop series, and the short story Wizard's Boy (1996)note .
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General
The series in general provides examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: The Baron can never remember William's name. William finds it very annoying that he can't be bothered to do so, but keeps quiet whenever it happens. He seems to have gotten better by the time of Goblins on the Prowl though.
- All Witches Have Cats: The sorceress Granny Pinchbottom has a black cat, seen briefly in the first book and revealed in Goblins on the Prowl to be named Midnight, in her cottage.
- Ambiguously Human: Igor. He looks human, but claims to have just "happened" rather than being born, has lived over six hundred years, and says he's died before (but evidently got better). It's lampshaded in Goblins on the Prowl, where Fauna notes at one point that "I'm counting Igor as human, though no one is entirely sure about that."
- Amphibian at Large:
- The goblin Prince Bindlepod, from "The Stinky Princess", has a frog companion who's big enough for he and Princess Violet to ride on comfortably.
- Toad-in-a-Cage Castle is named for a giant stone toad in a cage in the Grand Hall. In Goblins on the Prowl, it gets brought to life, abducts William and takes off across the countryside with him, with its origin being revealed over the course of their adventure.
- Back from the Dead:
- While not shown on-screen, Igor says of dying that "Igor done that before" and that the experience was "not fun".
- Discussed briefly in Goblins on the Prowl when Fauna is visiting Granny Pinchbottom, with the latter voicing the opinion that reviving the dead is generally a bad idea.
- Beneath the Earth: Goblin Land, or Nilbog as it's properly known, is hidden deep beneath the surface in a cavernous area.
- Big Fancy Castle:
- Toad-in-a-Cage Castle, which is big enough to have four towers and several floors, and is full of winding and hidden passageways. There's also a large stone toad in a cage in the Grand Hall, which gives it its name.
- Goblin Castle (also known as Castle Nilbog) is big as well, with seven towers emerging at various odd angles.
- Big Good: Granny Pinchbottom. She's aware of the more mystical ways of the world, and serves as a guide for William and Fauna in their respective quests in the series.
- Bizarrchitecture: Nilbog's buildings. The place has no straight lines or corners, the buildings are all helter-skelter with one side taller than the other, and they're all rounded at the edges.
- Calling Your Attacks: Igor tends to yell "Bop!" whenever he bops someone on the head with his bear.
- Canon Welding: While the original story was a standalone, follow-up material connected it to some of Coville's other works.
- The 2008 short story The Boy With Silver Eyes features both the goblins' home of Nilbog and a Guardian of Memory from The Unicorn Chronicles, revealing those settings are connected, and by extension the Magic Shop series (both The Unicorn Chronicles and the Magic Shop series have mentioned the wizard Bellenmore, who helped the dragons leave Earth when it was too dangerous for them to remain).
- Goblins on the Prowl elaborates on this, explicitly mentioning Bellenmore and the departure of the dragons, along with mentioning the events of The Dragonslayers (that book's Princess Wilhelmina is noted as now being Queen of the Forest of Wonder) and The Foolish Giant as having happened in the past, with Harry (the titular giant) being a cousin of the father of Bonecracker John, who's a friend of Igor's and tells the story to he and his traveling companions. The story's villain, an evil wizard who ends up being hit with his own Spell of Stonely Toadification, is actually the giant stone toad of Toad-in-a-Cage Castle. And he's also not actually evil — it was an act to acquire the Artifact of Doom he was trying to get away from the villagers.
- Collector of the Strange: Goblins On the Prowl reveals that the Baron keeps a collection of cannonballs from famous battles. They're seen on the fireplace in the Great Hall in the first book, but aren't specifically identified as a collection until the second.
- Companion Cube: Igor's ever-present bear. William takes care of it for him after the goblins carry him off, but returns it to him when he comes to William's rescue during the final battle of the book.
- Creepy Housekeeper: Downplayed with Hulda. She always yells (because of her bad hearing), and uses her mutilated finger (which is missing its last joint) to scare William into behaving, claiming that Granny Pinchbottom will bite off the end of his finger too if he doesn't keep out of the sweet jar. She's also not the best at keeping the castle clean, as evidenced by her letting the laundry sit for months and not bothering to dust the castle for even longer (William notes that he likes to write his name in the dust, and the only signatures that are gone are those that have been covered with new dust). But she's really harmless, and a good cook. She's also genuinely worried about the Baron when he falls into an enchanted sleep in Goblins on the Prowl.
- Direct Line to the Author: In the author's note at the end of the first book, Coville claims Igor to be real (and that he's Coville's "half-mad twin brother" who was born in October to Coville's May), and that one night, he brought the story to Coville after several years of friendship, though it took several more years to get it published. The author's note at the end of Goblins on the Prowl states that Igor later brought him that story as well.
- Doorstop Baby: William, who was brought to Toad-in-a-Cage Castle in a basket as an infant. Goblins on the Prowl explains how he came to be brought there — as he'd recently been orphaned, the sorceress Sophronia took him there so he'd grow up safely until the time was right for him to break the spell keeping her husband trapped, which only he could do.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: Karl, who tends to be very skeptical where the existence of magical beings is concerned, though he comes around eventually — he originally claims in Goblins in the Castle that Granny Pinchbottom is just a fictional character (which turns out to not be true, as William meets her after leaving the castle). He does it again in Goblins on the Prowl, when Igor proposes going to visit his giant friend Bonecracker John, and Karl responds by sighing and saying that giants only exist in stories. While Bwoonhiwda is offended by this, Igor just shrugs it off as Karl being "smart, just not as smart as he thinks he is".
- Glowing Flora: Nilbog and its buildings are lit by a glowing fungus. Somehow, it remains glowing even after it's been picked for eating.
- Great Big Library of Everything: While its contents aren't really discussed, the library in Toad-in-a-Cage Castle has so many books, the Baron had to renovate a section of the building (via knocking out the walls between seven rooms) to make a single room big enough to hold them all.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Not exactly gold, but William is easily one of the nicest people in the series, and is known for his butter-colored hair.
- Hive Mind: Emotional hive mind, at least. The goblins have individual minds, but are all connected to their king in such a way that his madness becomes theirs, and when he's restored to sanity, their madness is also cured.
- The Igor: Igor, of course. He's a slow-witted man with a hunchback who served the first Baron of the Toad-in-a-Cage Castle. And while his master may have died centuries ago, he still serves him loyally.
- Improbable Weapon User: Igor's weapon of choice is his teddy bear, which he uses to bop people on the head.
- It's What I Do: A species-wide version — Borg, the goblin king's counselor, explains to William at one point that they both help people out and play little jokes because "That's how we were made."
- Keet: The goblins, generally. Especially the younger ones. They're full of wild energy, love playing games and bouncing around, and are all around excitable. The only exception seen is Borg, an advisor to the king and one of the Ten Oldest Goblins, who is calm and composed the entire time he's onscreen (except briefly, when he's furious at what he perceives as William's "betrayal" over calling Igor his friend).
- Kindhearted Simpleton: Igor's not the brightest candle and possesses both a childlike mind and a stuffed bear that he takes with him everywhere he goes. But he's also a Gentle Giant who befriends William very quickly.
- No Name Given:
- In the original book only, the goblin king is this trope; he's only ever referred to by his title. The sequel later averts it on the very first page, identifying him as "King Nidrash".
- The Baron and his great-grandfather go unnamed in the first book, and his parents are unnamed in the second. Finally subverted in the last chapter of Goblins on the Prowl, which reveals he was called Bertie as a child.
- Our Goblins Are Different: The goblins, while definitely weird (no two look exactly alike — some are big, some are small, some have varying-size limbs, some don't have limbs at all, and some have or don't have tails), are mostly snarky and pragmatic, and tend to be a lot more decent than many human characters. They also have a sort of emotional hive-mind; their King's emotions affect all the others. Meaning that when he's happy, they're happy, and when he's in an angry and deranged mood, so are the rest of them.
- The Prankster: The goblins have a tendency to pull off harmless pranks, such as switching salt for sugar, tying laundry in knots, and leading children to play in the mud. But they can also do some more dangerous ones, such as putting soap on the stairs, which could cause someone to slip and break their neck (which nearly happens to Karl when he slips on a soap-coated step and falls on his rear, sliding the rest of the way down them). Rather fittingly, Goblins on the Prowl reveals that a group of goblins is properly called a "mischief".
- Really 700 Years Old: Igor's lived in the castle for six hundred years.
- Scare 'Em Straight: Both humans and goblins have stories of creepy elderly women that are used for this purpose.
- According to Karl, Granny Pinchbottom is just a fictional character whom the old ladies in the area use to scare children into behaving, with threats that she'll "come tweak your cheeks while you sleep" or bite off part of a finger that they stuck where it didn't belong too many times. William later learns that she's Real After All.
- In Goblins on the Prowl, according to Herky, the gobliness Flegmire has a reputation for eating bad little goblins, and he was always warned about her by his mother. Wongo the troll, however, reassures the group that Flegmire is harmless, and the goblin mothers just use her to scare their children into behaving.
- Sdrawkcab Name: The goblins come from the land of Nilbog — "Goblin" spelled backwards.
- Solitary Sorceress: The witch Granny Pinchbottom is a sort of boogeyman figure the main character William was taught to fear, but when he encounters her, she turns out to be well-intentioned, though somewhat duplicitous and scary, and gives him a few items he needs. She helps Fauna out too in the sequel.
- That Makes Me Feel Angry: Herky has a tendency to announce how he's feeling most of the time, such as "Herky sad", "Herky mad" and "Herky hurtie!"
- Third-Person Person: Both Igor and Herky do this; neither ever refers to themself as "I", just using their own names.
- Underground City: The land of Nilbog is mainly one big city, in a deep, dark cavern.
- You No Take Candle: Igor's grammar is not the best, and Herky's isn't much better.
Goblins in the Castle
Goblins in the Castle provides examples of:
- An Aesop: In the author's note at the end, Coville offers one — "If you try to lock away life's wild energy, sooner or later there will be a price to pay."
- Alien Blood: Implied — when Herky gets his tail caught in a rock and has to have it pried loose, it's oozing something green where the skin is torn. On seeing it, William wonders if it's goblin blood.
- Berserk Button:
- Never touch Igor's hump. Even a friendly pat on it from someone he likes is enough to make him furious. William remembers the lesson well enough from the one time he does it, not knowing better, that he later warns Fauna against doing so (as she recalls at one point in Goblins on the Prowl).
- Don't ask the Baron what's in the North Tower — Karl, the castle librarian, says he asked once and nearly got fired for it. Once the Tower is actually opened and the contents are unleashed though, he doesn't seem to mind anymore.
- Bewitched Amphibians: Discussed briefly — Ishmaelnote reveals his presence to William for the first time when he threatens to turn William into a toad if he doesn't set down the strange carving he's looking at.
- Big Bad Ensemble: The Goblin King and Ishmaelnote . The former is in a vengeful mood for the imprisonment he and his people suffered, and is preparing to wage war on the human race for it. The latter is the one responsible for imprisoning the Goblins in the first place, and wants to ensure they either stay that way, or that no peace is restored between them and the humans.
- Boring Return Journey: After the goblin king is restored, William and co. stay in Nilbog a few days longer, then return home with no trouble whatsoever.
- Bucket Booby-Trap: The morning after the goblins are freed, William and Karl make their way down to the laundry room to find Hulda, and also the Baron. When the Baron announces it's time to take a break and have breakfast, he opens a door... and a bucket of water promptly falls on his head.
- Cabin Fever: Essentially what happened to the goblins during their long imprisonment, driven mad (both psychologically and emotionally, as they became very angry over being left alone in the dark for a hundred and twenty-one years) due to having no outlet for their wild energy.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Subverted; Herky would like people to believe he's one, since he keeps insisting that "Herky bad!", but his actions prove that he's really a nice guy at heart.
- Celestial Deadline: Once every eleven years, the spell holding the goblins prisoner weakens, and they can be freed on that night. They spend the time calling out for someone to release them, but it takes until the eleventh weakening (121 years exactly after it was first cast) before William frees them.
- Character Catchphrase: Ishmael always says "Don't call me that!" whenever someone says his name. Even Igor says "Don't call him that!" when William name-drops him.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Granny Pinchbottom is mentioned early on as a frightening figure meant to scare young William into behaving himself. He later encounters her for real and learns that while she's not the malevolent figure he thought she was, she is still a very powerful and frightening figure.
- Clock Tampering: The morning after the goblins are released, it's discovered that they changed the time on one of the clocks as one of their pranks — it's early morning, but the clock is striking two.
- Cloudcuckoolander: The evil sorcerer Ishmaelnote is clearly not all there. He manages to forget what he's talking about after a few sentences until he's reminded, and William thinks to himself that "Clearly a few of the buttons in Ishmael's brain had come undone."
- Disney Death: Herky, who falls out the window with the evil sorcerer Ishmaelnote while clinging to his shoulder. When he turns up alive (to William and Fauna's great relief), he explains that he jumped free, clung to the wall and climbed back up to the window.
- Disney Villain Death: In the climax, the evil sorcerer Ishmaelnote falls out a window to his death.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": The evil sorcerer is a strange version — he always says "My name is Ishmael. But don't call me that!" Igor, who was friends with said sorcerer in the past, is apparently familiar enough with his opinion of it to say "Don't call him that!" when William uses the name while trying to pass on the other man's warning.
- Dynamic Entry: During the final battle, Igor arrives just in time (courtesy of Herky going and freeing him) and comes flying through the door, whereupon he gets his bear back and starts fending off the goblins trying to attack William.
- Easily Forgiven: Once the goblins find out Igor (whom they'd called their "greatest enemy" for his betrayal of them) was just an Unwitting Pawn for the real villain and was tricked into leading them into a trap rather than betraying them of his own free will, they forgive him without any issue. It takes Igor a while to finally realize this though.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Well, not exactly "evil", but according to Granny Pinchbottom, the old Baron "didn't understand play, didn't believe in mischief, didn't know how to laugh." This is why he locked the goblins away — because he couldn't understand their wild energy and thought they were evil, not realizing that they just liked to play and had been protecting the local children from danger and keeping the land productive, whereas the village now limps along every year without their help. Played straight with the evil sorcerer Ishmaelnote , who claims the goblins only caused "chaos", and that "Nothing could be settled, nothing could be quiet, nothing could be calm while they were around. It was like having too many children." He then calmly reveals the trickery he used to lure the goblins into a trap, to William's horror.
- Fantastic Light Source: After William meets Granny Pinchbottom and tells her how he freed the goblins, she gives him an amulet containing a "knot of light" as thanks for freeing them. It only works in total darkness though.
- Foreign Queasine: Goblins subsist on food like lizards and fungi, and are disgusted by normal bread (though Herky reluctantly eats some anyway when there's no way for him to get his usual fare). William has a hard time stomaching it when he's in Nilbog — at one point in his narration, he thinks that "I don't think dinner should glow in the dark." In a later scene, he's only able to bring himself to eat the local food because he can't see what it is.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: When Granny Pinchbottom first approaches William, she has the appearance of a young, beautiful woman. When the boy expresses disbelief because she's supposed to old and ugly, she immediately shifts to a more hideous, witch-like form.
- Furniture Blockade: After the goblins are released, William and Karl decide — for their own safety — to barricade themselves in a room (settling on William's, since it's closest), so they won't get harmed by whatever's roaming the halls. They bar the door and brace it with a chair for good measure.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The first baron of Toad-In-A-Cage Castle is responsible for the mess in the book, having been the one to devise the plan to imprison the Goblins centuries ago, and in turn sparking their rage against humanity.
- Heel–Race Turn: The goblins, in both directions. Before, they were friends to humanity, but after being locked away, they grew angrier and angrier, until they were determined to destroy the people who left them in the dark. They return to their friendlier selves when their King is healed and restored to sanity.
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment: The goblins all have a moment of joy and delight when they realize the human they've brought to their king is not an invader but William of Toad-in-a-Cage Castle, their liberator and the hero of the goblins.
- Hypocritical Humor: When William asks Hulda what's in the North Tower, she doesn't know, and guesses it was closed off because the housekeeper back then left it a disaster area and the Baron decided to lock it rather than deal with the mess — "After all, the last housekeeper didn't take care of this place the way I do." William has to resist the urge to snort because Hulda is nowhere near as good as she claims, noting that he's written his signature in the dust all over the castle many, many times, and the only ones that aren't there anymore are because they got covered in new dust.
- I Know Your True Name: Discussed briefly — William, having snapped at Herky that his name was William (after getting tired of Herky just calling him "butterhead boy") recalls at one point how Hulda "had told me names were magical, and much could be done by someone who knew your true name."
- Ill-Timed Sneeze: William has the misfortune to sneeze while carrying the goblin king's head, causing him to wake up and realize he's been stolen.
- Inept Mage: The evil sorcerer Ishmaelnote is this by the time the story takes place. At the end of his first appearance, he disappears in a puff of smoke, but wherever he's gone to, apparently it wasn't easy — William hears his voice "as if from a great distance, exclaim "Wow, that hurt!"". Later, when he tries to stall or silence several people at once, he can't hold it for too long.
- Invisibility Cloak: Granny Pinchbottom gives one to William, which only works when the hood is raised.
- Kill It with Fire: Discussed — according to Igor, after the goblins' spirits were sucked out and imprisoned, he suggested burning their bodies. The old Baron, however, rejected the idea because the bodies had to stay intact in order to maintain the spell keeping their spirits trapped.
- Knockout Ambush: Played with — while William and Igor are on their way to see Granny Pinchbottom, they get ambushed twice by goblins. The second time, William is briefly knocked out, awakens in time to see Igor get carried away, then gets hit from behind and is knocked out again. The goblins, not realizing who William is at the time, are only interested in carrying Igor away though.
- Life-or-Limb Decision: At one point, Herky's tail gets caught between a couple of rocks, and Fauna initially wants to cut it off to get him free, to Herky's great distress, as he begs her not to do so. In the end, she just settles for using the flat of her knife to pry the tail loose.
- Locked in the Dungeon: The goblins' alive but spiritless bodies are all locked in the dungeons of Toad-in-a-Cage Castle for years. William, Fauna and Igor later spend some time locked in the dungeons of the Goblin King's castle.
- Losing Your Head: Cutting off the head of the goblin king put the final seal on the spell that put all the goblins into dormancy, but the head itself is still alive, and it's reanimated when his spirit returns to it. Reversing this and reattaching his head to his body, by means of a magic collar, restores his sanity and that of the other goblins by extension.
- Man Bites Man: While William and Fauna are trying to get the maddened goblin king's head onto the bed so they can reconnect him to his body, he bites onto Fauna's hand. It backfires, as she ends up shaking him loose and causing him to hit the wall, knocking him senseless long enough for them to get him in place.
- Monster in the Moat: Early on, William's narration reveals that his nurse fell in the moat of Toad-in-a-Cage Castle and got eaten by "something-or-other" when he was five. Exactly what the something-or-other is has never been specified. It gets brought up again in Goblins on the Prowl when Fauna recalls William telling her about the incident, and looks down to see large, dark shapes with enormous eyes swimming in the moat.
- Mysterious Mist: The North Tower of Toad-in-a-Cage Castle is enveloped in mist, signifying the spell that keeps the spirits of the goblins trapped there. The first time William sees the outside of the Tower after the goblins are freed, the mist is gone.
- Neat Freak: When the goblins leave a house, they have a tendency to leave it cleaner than it was before they entered it. This is first seen when they thoroughly clean Toad-in-a-Cage Castle on their way out (though not without causing some mischief in the process).
- Never Found the Body: The evil sorcerer Ishmaelnote disappears into thin air after falling to his death; William suspects he's dead for good though because the last of the magic around the North Tower (which said sorcerer had placed there) disappeared at the same time.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Zigzagged. William frees the goblins from their imprisonment, which is revealed to have been completely unjust. Unfortunately, doing so also unleashed a vengeful people that are now preparing to wage war on the human race, which he needs to prevent ASAP.
- No Indoor Voice: Hulda, the castle maid, always shouts. Justified because she's mostly deaf and shouting is the only way for her to hear herself talk. William's narration reveals he was relieved when he figured this out, because until then he'd thought it meant she was permanently mad at him.
- No Ontological Inertia: When the sorcerer who cast the spell on the North Tower dies, the last of the magic in it wears off.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: The light-providing amulet that Granny Pinchbottom gave William. It only works in his hands, as evidenced when it doesn't glow for Herky and even stops when William hands it to Fauna. Once it's back in his hands, it comes back on with no problem.
- Real After All: When William was younger, the castle housekeeper terrified him with stories of "Granny Pinchbottom", who punishes naughty children and whom she claims bit off part of one of her fingers. William was terrified of the same thing happening to him, until the castle librarian Karl saw his nervous behavior and told William that his father had long ago told him that Granny Pinchbottom was just a story the old ladies in the area used to terrify kids into behaving. After he lets the goblins out though, William learns from Igor that Granny Pinchbottom is very much real, and soon meets her himself.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Once freed, the goblins plan to do this in retaliation for being sealed away for a hundred and twenty-one years. When William restores their king and he regains his sanity, he calls it off.
- Screaming Woman: Subverted with Hulda — the morning after the goblins are freed, William and Karl have come out of William's room when they hear her scream and hurry to her aid. The next time she screams though, they realize it isn't in fright, but anger, which turns out to be because all the laundry — newly cleaned by the goblins — has also been completely tied into knots.
- Sealed Good in a Can: The goblins had their spirits sucked out and imprisoned in the North Tower of Toad-in-a-Cage Castle, and their bodies locked in the dungeons, all because the old Baron and his sorcerer ally thought they were evil rather than just mischievous.
- Secret Path: Toad-in-a-Cage Castle is littered with them, including one that leads to every room on its floor, and the one that leads from a clock to a staircase that goes down to the dungeons. William's been exploring the castle for years and found many, but knows there's more that he hasn't found yet.
- Secret Room: Discussed early on, as William notes via narration that he's found a number of them in the castle.
- Similar Item Confusion: Done deliberately by the goblins, who filled the sugar bowl with salt during their mischievous rampage. William only discovers this after he's spooned some into his coffee, resulting in a Spit Take.
- Spit Take: During breakfast, the morning after the goblins are freed, William finds they've filled the sugar bowl with salt, but doesn't realize it until after he's spooned some into his coffee, which he ends up spitting across the table.
- Staircase Tumble: The morning after the goblins were freed, as Karl and William are heading down the stairs, Karl slips on one, his feet flying out from under him and causing him to slide the rest of the way down. Thankfully, he's unharmed. William quickly discovers the stair was coated in soap, courtesy of the goblins.
- Supernatural Aid: When William goes off on his quest, Granny Pinchbottom provides him with some magical items to help, including an amulet that provides light, a hooded invisibility cloak, and the collar that, when used to attach the Goblin King's head to his body, will heal him.
- Supernatural Sensitivity: The goblins are said to have a form of this, as Granny Pinchbottom admits that she's too powerful — they'd sense her coming long before she got anywhere near their king.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: One of the goblins' pranks, the night they're freed, involves this — they filled the sugar bowl on the dining room table with salt. William doesn't discover it until he's spooned some into his coffee and taken a sip.
- Toilet Humour: Goblins think farts are hilarious, as evidenced when one pulls his nose and lets out a massive fart, then he and the other two goblins with him proceed to laugh hysterically.
- Unwitting Pawn: Ishmaelnote is eventually revealed to have tricked Igor into betraying the goblins, whom he thought of as friends, by having him be the one to invite them into a trap. This nearly gets Igor killed by the goblins after they're freed, but it's called off after the truth comes out.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?:
- Goblins, who prefer the cool underground, fear fire and its heat. Ishmaelnote and the old Baron used this to their advantage, lighting a ring of fire to trap the goblins so they couldn't get away while the sorcerer worked the spell that drew their spirits out of their bodies and imprisoned them.
- Herky at least isn't fond of water, as he scrambles up William's leg to avoid getting wet in a river, panics when it starts raining, and really freaks out when they have to cross under a waterfall. However, Nilbog is full of rivers and waterfalls, so it's not a species-wide trait.
- A Year and a Day: During the final battle, Ishmaelnote explains that it took he and the old Baron a year and a day of researching to find the spell they'd use, and another year and a day to actually prepare the spell.
Goblins on the Prowl
Goblins on the Prowl provides examples of:
- The Ageless:
- Fauna. While she looks about eleven or twelve, she finally admits that she's looked the same way for at least seventy years now, she doesn't know why, and she hates it. As a result of the events of the book though, she's freed of the spell keeping her from aging. Edrick guesses that since she was in the same area as he was when he used the Black Stone of Borea to perform the Spell of Stonely Toadliness that was reflected back on him, she got caught up in the backlash and became stuck at her current age, but also lost her memories and ran off into the woods. When he was turned back to flesh and spat out the Stone, she began aging again as normal.
- The sorceress Sophronia has been visiting the Baron for years, but never looks any older. She later explains that she's put herself in an enchanted sleep for about a year at a time, during which she does not age.
- All Trolls Are Different: Trolls in this setting bear a striking resemblance to goblins, but are twice the height of a normal human. Some of them, such as Wongo, also work with goblins by protecting the entrances to Nilbog.
- Artifact of Doom: The Black Stone of Borea, an item that can absorb magic from other sources (including living creatures, which gives the holder command over them), and which the evil wizard Helagon is searching for in order to use it for his own evil purposes. Per the short story "Wizard's Boy", it's actually the heart of a wizard that was turned to stone.
- Astral Projection: While visiting Granny Pinchbottom, Fauna receives a potion called Sleep Walk, with enough for four or five uses. It grants the user the ability to project out of their body, and is mostly safe, but has a time limit of two hours before the drinker is shut out of their body. Also, they aren't completely invisible — some people can see them out of the corner of their eye, and others will think they've seen a ghost. Fauna gifts it to William (since she's wearing the gift that was meant for him and can't get it off), who ends up using it to keep in contact with Fauna and the others who are following after him to rescue him when he's abducted by the giant toad.
- Bewitched Amphibians: While examining the giant stone toad, Fauna finds a hidden spot on its base with a mirror. The mirror then shows her a video replay of a man getting hit by a spell and turning into a giant stone toad (the very toad in the Great Hall, as it turns out later).
- Bigger on the Inside: Bwoonhiwda's wagon, much to Fauna's surprise (and everyone's convenience). It turns out to be enchanted, and has as many rooms inside as they need. When asked how she got an enchanted wagon, all she'll say is "The queen knows a wot of wizahds."
- But Now I Must Go: In the final chapter, once they have the Black Stone of Borea, Edrick and Sophronia announce that they're planning to go to another world and take the Stone with them, to keep it away from evil wizards who would seek to use it.
- Clingy MacGuffin: Once it's put on, Solomon's Collar (which lets the user understand and be understood by animals, among other things) won't come off... until Fauna confesses the truth to William that it was meant for him, but she put it on herself. When she admits this, the collar comes off, and she's able to put it on his neck, breaking the spell keeping his spirit out of his body.
- Curse Escape Clause: Not exactly a curse, but it's revealed that the Spell of Stonely Toadification has a counter-spell. That spell was placed inside Will Smith, a friend of Edrick (the wizard who cast the original Spell of Stonely Toadification), who can only cast it himself if he's willing to do so (he cannot be forced to perform it). It was also designed to pass on to Will's son, and his son in turn, as each of them died, so Will Smith's only living descendent is the only one who can make Edrick human again. He finally succeeds at the end.
- Deal with the Devil: During the final battle with Helagon, the evil wizard tries to tempt Fauna, offering her whatever she wants — her past, her friend's safety, anything — if she'll just give him the Black Stone of Borea. In the end, she refuses and manages to use its power to send him back where he came from.
- Death Glare: When Bwoonhiwda says that Queen Wilhelmina's court wizard had predicted a problem with the giant stone toad, the Queen sent her to investigate. When Karl in turn asks why the Queen would send a woman to do so, Bwoonhiwda gives him such a nasty look that Fauna's surprised his hair doesn't burst into flames. Bwoonhiwda later gives Igor a similar look when he makes a joke that sounds like he's making fun of her speech impediment, to his distress.
- Devil in Disguise: Helagon, the evil wizard and villain of the story, turns out to be one of the demons from the Pit of Thogmoth who's been trying to get back into it this whole time, but disguised himself as a human. He only reveals his true form at the last minute, which is part of what inspires Fauna to banish him back there.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": After learning her real name, Fauna still prefers to go by "Fauna" rather than Gertrude.
- Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Bwoonhiwda speaks in this manner, always replacing her "R"s and "L"s with "W" when she speaks. She's very frustrated when people have a hard time understanding her as a result, and takes considerable offense when people make jokes that rely on her speech impediment (as Igor learns the hard way when she says that "We must sweep!" and he responds with "Can't sweep! Got no bwoom!"). She later explains to Fauna that her parents had the same problem, which is why her name really is Bwoonhiwda and not Brunhilda, as Karl initially assumed when she first introduced herself.
- Embarrassing Nickname: John the giant doesn't like being called "Bonecracker", due to it having been earned in an incident he doesn't like to remember where he accidentally, and badly, injured a knight in an effort to save that knight's life from John himself.
- Fainting Seer: In the prologue, a goblin seer named Flegmire comes to the court of the goblin king to enter a trance and give a prophetic warning. Unfortunately, she fails to complete it before screaming and fainting.
- Forced Sleep:
- Shortly after the stone toad comes to life and the group finds the warning "Beware of Helagon" on its pedestal, the Baron recognizes the name and is about to tell them what he knows about the man (or wizard, rather), only to be suddenly forced into an enchanted sleep. Bwoonhiwda later tells the cast that they need to break the spell soon or he'll die of starvation.
- When Fauna and her group meet the sorceress Sophronia, she reveals she's put herself in an enchanted sleep that lasts about a year, and after a few days awake (to check on the stone toad of Toad-in-a-Cage Castle), returns to it. She's been doing this for seventy-five years.
- Forced Transformation:
- When John the giant reads the story of "The Foolish Giant", he tells how Harry the giant was the only thing keeping an evil wizard away from the village where he lived. When Harry was forced to leave, the wizard decided he no longer had to worry, and demonstrated his power by casting the "Spell of Total Cowliness" on the mayor's wife, turning her into a cow for three hours. Igor happily notes that this is his favorite part of the story.
- The same story reveals that an evil wizard accidentally turned himself into a giant stone toad, which was placed in what became known as Toad-in-a-Cage Castle for safekeeping. It's later revealed that he was actually a good wizard in disguise, and purposely arranged his transformation. By the end of the book, he's been turned back to normal.
- Gale-Force Sound: Played for laughs — when Fauna enters the room where Bwoonhiwda is sleeping, the latter's snoring is loud enough to almost knock Fauna back out the door.
- Gentle Giant: Literally with "Bonecracker" John, a giant who is actually quite nice, but has an undeserved reputation as a result of his having badly injured a knight once.
- Given Name Reveal: Late in the book, Fauna's real name is revealed, along with her true identity — Gertrude, the long-lost older sister of the Baron of Toad-in-a-Cage Castle.
- Glass-Shattering Sound: Bwoonhiwda is introduced this way, as Herky suddenly brings her into the castle and she proceeds, upon seeing the missing toad statue, to let out a shriek that shatters the glass pitcher Igor had brought a little earlier. It's also loud enough to wake Hulda out of a sound sleep, which is quite the achievement considering the latter is mostly deaf.
- Haunted Fetter: The ghost Werdolphus can only manifest in one of two places — Toad-in-a-Cage Castle, where he died, or near the cannonball which killed him. He has Fauna and her group take the latter with them on their journey to rescue William so he can travel between it and the castle, bringing messages back and forth.
- Helicopter Parents: The Baron turns out to have had these, as he mentions during the "Goblin Freedom Day" celebration. Apparently, his parents went overprotective out of fear of losing him like they did his big sister, who just vanished one day.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: As explained in the in-universe historical tale of "The Foolish Giant", an evil wizard threatened to turn the titular giant into a giant stone toad. When he did cast the spell, it bounced off Harry's shaving mirror and turned the wizard into a giant stone toad instead. Later subverted when it turns out the mirror was designed to reflect magic, and the wizard had purposely worn an amulet designed to draw that magic to him so he would get turned into a stone toad.
- Honorary Uncle: In the final chapter, when Fauna regains her memories of her original identity, she also remembers that she used to refer to the sorcerer Edrick, a family friend, as "Uncle Edrick".
- Horny Vikings: Subverted by Bwoonhiwda — she matches the appearance, up to and including a horned helmet, and can be violent and short-tempered, but she's really a nice person and a loyal servant of Queen Wilhelmina.
- In Vino Veritas: During the "Goblin Freedom Day" celebration, the Baron has had a bit much to drink and starts opening up more as a result, getting to talking about the old days and admitting that he had an older sister who went missing, along with how his parents treated him as a result. After a while, he catches himself:"Listen to me going on! Must be the brandy."
- Innocently Insensitive: Igor, not being the best with people, accidentally offends Bwoonhiwda terribly when he makes an attempt at a joke that she takes as a shot at her speech impediment. He hurriedly explains that he's not making fun of her, just making a joke and that he wants to be her friend, and Fauna has to step in and assure Bwoonhiwda that Igor wasn't trying to offend her, he's just not good with people sometimes. Bwoonhiwda, after giving it some thought, accepts his apology but warns him not to do that again, or she'll hurt him. Severely.
- Jumping Out of a Cake: During the castle's celebration of "Goblin Freedom Day", Hulda goes to cut the cake, only for it to shriek... and then Herky leaps out of it. It turns out he'd made a hiding space inside it after it was thoroughly baked and cooled, so he could leap out to surprise everyone. Hulda is not amused.
- Laughing at Your Own Jokes: When Fauna tries on Solomon's Collar (which lets her understand and be understood by animals), she has a brief talk with a squirrel, who makes a pun on the word "nut" and then cracks up at his own joke.
- Lie Detector: Magical variant — Solomon's Collar, on top of letting the wearer understand and be understood by animals, tightens and starts to choke them whenever they lie.
- Long-Lost Relative: The book has this as its big reveal — Fauna turns out to be Gertrude, the Baron's older sister, who went missing when he was a baby, and rightful Lady of the Castle. It's as much a surprise to her as it is to the others, as she'd lost her memories when she was trapped in an unaging state. The Baron, for his part, is very happy to have her back.
- Loud Sleeper Gag: Bwoonhiwda snores. Very loudly. While Fauna is able to fall asleep before Bwoonhiwda did and started snoring, she figures she can't get back to sleep once she awakens and hears it, so she ends up taking her blankets and making a bed in the main room of the wagon.
- Love at First Sight: Igor is smitten with Bwoonhiwda from the moment he lays eyes on her, though his social awkwardness means his attempts at courting her don't go so well for a while.
- The Magnificent: When Fauna meets and befriends a female lindling (essentially a miniature dragon), she learns her new friend is know as "Sterngrim the Awesome", which she thinks is "kind of a big name for someone your size".
- Narrative Profanity Filter: When William and Fauna head into the library to find the book that was supposed to be for him, this happens a couple of times when he can't find it:The surface of Karl's desk was empty, the book nowhere in sight.William said a bad word, then tried to open the drawers.They were locked.He said an even worse word.
- Never Learned to Read: Igor, as he notes at one point. He's distressed by this, because it means he can't read stories to his giant friend John, who has to transcribe them into a larger volume so he can re-read them himself.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: Solomon's Collar keeps revealing new powers — it's initially said to let the user understand and be understood by animals, but it turns out it also chokes the user if they lie, lets them see and hear ghosts, and protects Fauna from Helagon's magic... and helps William's spirit get back into his body when Fauna is finally able to remove it and then put it on William himself. Justified in that Granny Pinchbottom only told Fauna about the first ability, letting her discover the rest as time went on.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When the group is setting off from the castle, Werdolphus the ghost tells them to bring the cannonball that killed him along, so he can travel between it and the castle. Bwoonhiwda brings another cannonball (or what she thinks is another cannonball, which she picked up off the floor) along to balance the load... but the second one turns out to be the Black Stone of Borea, the very thing that the evil wizard Helagon is looking for, to his delight when he realizes they have it. Subverted when the Stone lets Fauna banish him back to the Pit of Thogmoth, ending the threat he poses.
- Not What It Looks Like: When Fauna and her traveling companions first meet the goblin sorceress Flegmire, they find her with a group of small goblins, each held within a cage-like box (four rows of three), pulling on their tails to make them squeal or shriek or scream. It looks like she's torturing them — in actuality, the frame is a musical instrument, the goblin harmonium, and they're practicing for a concert.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Very early on, Fauna knows something's up when she sees a group of goblins sneaking through the forest, ducking behind trees and looking behind them suspiciously, as if they don't want to be seen, rather than bounding along like usual.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: "Bonecracker" John the giant has a reputation for viciousness as a result of an incident long ago — when a person is afraid in his presence, it makes him hungry. If he's hungry, he's likely to eat that person. When the knight Sir Mortimer falsely accused him of devouring cattle and stealing young maidens, John picked him up to discuss things, but Sir Mortimer was overcome with fright, triggering John's hunger reflex... so to save Sir Mortimer's life, he threw him far, far away. The landing broke just about every bone in Sir Mortimer's body (which is not what John intended to do), and ever since then, he's been known as Bonecracker John, which does not please him (Igor, on the other hand, thinks he should be proud of it).
- One-Steve Limit: Subverted — when she and the others are read the story of "The Foolish Giant", Fauna thinks it's nice that the giant's only friend, a boy named Will Smith, has the same first name as her friend William. The subversion is later justified with the reveal that Will Smith is William's ancestor, and the name was passed along to each son in turn.
- Only Mostly Dead: While Fauna's visiting her, Granny Pinchbottom reveals she's working on a combination spell/recipe which is supposed to be given to someone who's on the brink of death and hold them in that state for a while, though since she was interrupted while working on it, she doesn't know if it'll actually work. She still gives Fauna a piece, just in case, which comes in handy when the Baron suddenly collapses and seems to be dying — the specipe saves his life, but won't wake him up. When Helagon is banished back into the Pit of Thogmoth, all his spells are broken and the Baron safely reawakens.
- Our Dragons Are Different: While on their way to Nilbog, Fauna and her group meet the winged lindlings, one of whom explains they are all that is left of the dragons — most of the great dragons have left for another world, but the lindlings were left behind because they were too small to be noticed. When Fauna finally gets a look at her, she finds that lindlings look pretty much like regular dragons (snaky body, four short legs and two bat-like wings), just much smaller.
- Pardon My Klingon: Early on, Fauna watches a group of goblins searching her cottage for something. When a goblin who's otherwise been speaking English suddenly yells "Urxnagle!" in frustration after they fail to find what they're looking for, she guesses that it's a goblin cuss word.
- Portmanteau: Granny Pinchbottom has come up with one for some of her creations — "specipe", a combination of "spell" and "recipe", which is used when she's creating a new goo-like substance with a specific magical purpose. The word's use initially confuses Fauna the first time Granny uses it in her presence; thankfully, Granny explains when Fauna expresses this confusion.
- Prison Dimension: The Pit of Thogmoth, "a terrifying place of fire and demons" beneath Nilbog, which was sealed shut by a collaboration of humans and goblins in order to keep the demons prisoner inside. The villain of Goblins on the Prowl is seeking to reopen it, which is explained during the final battle as his wanting to reunite with his demon kin inside.
- Race Against the Clock: Once the giant stone toad of Toad-in-a-Cage Castle is turned back to flesh, the spell that'll turn it back into a human must be cast before the next full moon.
- Recognizable by Sound: Early on, Fauna hears a second visitor coming toward her cottage, and is annoyed at first (she doesn't like having company, particularly uninvited company)... until she recognizes the distinctive clump of a heavy boot, followed by the slow drag of another foot, which tells her it's very likely to be her and William's friend Igor. She's quickly proven right.
- Sole Survivor: Of a sorts — the gobliness seer Flegmire is the only goblin who avoided being caught by the spell that trapped the other goblins in the North Tower of Toad-in-a-Cage Castle, for the simple reason that she didn't go there that night, and had to spend a hundred and twenty-one years all alone. It's left her more than a little crazy.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: When Fauna visits Granny Pinchbottom's cottage early on, the sorceress gives Fauna an item known as "Solomon's Collar", which grants the wearer the ability to understand animal talk and be understood by them in turn, though with limitations (it doesn't work with bugs, but it's sometimes good for a spider). It's ostensibly meant for William, but Fauna decides to try it on first, whereupon she finds she can't get it back off.
- Spin-Offspring: Downplayed — a minor character who shows up to help the main group briefly at one point is an unnamed bear. Before departing, he reveals that he's the nephew of the similarly unnamed bear that accompanied Princess (now Queen) Wilhelmina in The Dragonslayers.
- Taken for Granite: It turns out the stone toad was actually a wizard turned into a giant toad and simultaneously petrified, via being hit with his own Spell of Stonely Toadification. William accidentally reverses the stone transformation, which prompts the toad to grab him and run off across the country.
- Talking Animal: When the giant toad of Toad-in-a-Cage Castle is captured by the evil wizard Helagon, he uses a spell to grant it the power of speech and demand to know where his true quarry is. He later takes it off again, but after Helagon is banished away, the second spell wears off and the toad regains its speech, which proves helpful in letting the group break the spell that turned it into a toad.
- Translator Collar: Solomon's Collar, which grants the wearer the ability to understand animal talk and be understood by them in turn, among other abilities.
- Undignified Death: Werdolphus the ghost. He used to work at Toad-in-a-Cage Castle as part of the cleaning staff, but he also wanted to impress Hulda, another of the castle staff, by making her laugh. One day, he was dusting the Baron's cannonball collection when he turned to try and make Hulda laugh... but lost his balance, accidentally pulled one of the cannonballs down, and died when it landed on his head, which is why it's his Haunted Fetter. He's too embarrassed by this to admit the truth until he has no other choice, as payment for Flegmire's help.
- You Owe Me: Granny Pinchbottom has a habit of doing this, requiring people to do something for her if she's helped them (it's usually nothing hard, as seen when she asks Fauna to chop some wood for her in return for the advice she's just given). Inverted in the first book, where she gives William a light-making amulet in return for his having recently freed the goblins.
"The Stinky Princess"
"The Stinky Princess" contains examples of:
- Honorary Uncle: The end of the story reveals that Princess Violet and Prince Bindlepod ended up marrying and having children. Their kids all treat Bindlepod's frog companion, who taught them how to swim, as an honorary uncle.
- Interspecies Romance: Violet, princess of a human kingdom, ends up falling in love with Bindlepod, the prince of Nilbog, who soon returns her feelings. They end up marrying, living in a home halfway between Violet's kingdom and the gates of Nilbog, and having seven children.
- Little Stowaway: Violet, the title character of the story, chooses to stow away in the goblin Bindlepod's saddlebag and run away to Nilbog with him. He is not amused when he finds her and insists on returning her to her parents, but the stench of goblin from said saddlebag has become entrenched in her body, and proves too horrible for the king to accept having her around their kingdom anymore.
