Lords of the Underworld is a Paranormal Romance series written by Gena Showalter. Its protagonists are the titular Lords- a band of immortal warriors who stole Pandora's Box. As punishment, they each had one of the box's evils sealed within their souls.
Thousands of years later, the Lords have mostly regained their humanity and begun searching for the box.
The series provides examples of:
- All Myths Are True: Greek deities share the world with and Abrahamic angels, and neither are surprised by the other's existence.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: All of the Lords. note Because of that, the Hunters try to kill them, (incorrectly) believing that it will rid the world of evil. On the rare occasion they succeed, the demon finds another human to inhabit.A friend just died of cancer? Of course the Lords were responsible. A teenage girl just discovered she was pregnant? The Lords had clearly struck again.
- Appeal to Inherent Nature: A common argument gods use to justify their criminal acts. Depending on the god and acts in question, this may or may not be justified.
- Anya (goddess of Anarchy) has to cause disorder, though she limits herself to doing so on a minor scale. For example, she commits petty theft and sparks bar brawls to avert arson and rioting.
- Dysnomia (goddess of Lawlessness) claims that it's in her nature to seduce married men, and that she shouldn't feel guilty for it. Themis, another goddess, disagrees.
- Been There, Shaped History: In this universe, the Black Plague started when Torin touched someone.
- Big Fancy House: The Lords are headquartered in a Budapest fortress, which includes such amenities as dungeons, stained glass windows, and a surveillance station.
- Deal with the Devil: In Passion, Legion makes a deal with Lucifer to gain a human body. She does everything she can to keep him from cheating her, and still gets screwed over.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The demon of Doubt goes silent when around Gwen's Harpy. Sabin eventually realizes that this is because Doubt fears her.
- Entertainingly Wrong: The mortals of Budapest- having witnessed the Lords' supernatural powers- consider them angels.
- Exact Words: In Kiss, Anya promises to return William's book if he guides her through the Arctic. And she does. It has a few pages ripped out, though.
- Fantastic Racism: Mostly directed against mortals. Even the protagonists think little of stealing from them or magically influencing their minds.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Galen was jealous of Lucien's position as leader, so he tried to bait the gods into killing him.
- The Masquerade: The Lords try to preserve it, but most immortals and gods don't care that much.
- Praetorian Guard: Before stealing the box, the Lords were Zeus' personal guards.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Galen (keeper of Hope) who uses his demonic abilities to inspire trust and affection in those who follow him. He considers these followers mere tools in his war against the Lords, and thinks nothing of asking them to kill or torture innocents.
- Wham Line: In Lie, Scarlet is told that some of her most important memories are false.Cronus: You never gave birth. You were never pregnant.
