Shouldn't the diary of Henry Jones in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" be listed as an example? It matches the trope well (although not knowing EVERYTHING from the beginning of the movie) and it appears in a more realistic context than most of the other examples do.
Edited by coenig
"The book defends itself against anyone who isn't of the right alignment (good if the sisters are good). In the episodes where evil manages to steal the book, the sisters no longer have access to the book."
- Captain Obvious, anyone? What was the entry REALLY supposed to say?
Discussion prior rename
((Christian)) Should the videogame version of this trope - where monsters are catalogued after you encounter them - be a separate trope? Seth "The Book Of Shadows". A tome that the cast go to for all their monster/magic/social needs. I have a name and a basic description (Its a Magical Computer, just an analogue version) but I need more examples. We have the actual book of shadows from Charmed, John's journal from Supernatural (read the recaps of the second series and you will see what i mean) and the Sex Bible from American pie might qualify as a film example. Oh tropers lend me your fancruft.
Harpie Siren: Would the library in BTVS count?
Seth: The trope leans towards a single source that holds all information. To the extend you think that whoever wrote it must have been omnipotent or the information actually changes as needed. The library doesn't really fit... maybe Giles does though. Just spit balling.
YYZ: The infamous Hitch Hikers Guide seems like a good candidate. It's aimed at being useful rather than comprehensive, and it's actually revealed at one point that the Guide is automatically updated with new information every so often.
Harpie Siren: I second the Hitcherhikers Guide, how could I forget about it. Why dont you go ahead and make the entry, Seth I think you have plenty examples for now.
Tzintzuntzan: Is this covered already by The Magic Hat?
Seth: I forgot about that entry, there is overlap defiantly, but i think this can make an entry of its own. Janitor: the addition of " complete with Namedar" didn't really help the sentence, or seem to have anything to do with anything.
Runa27: This article amused me the first time I read it. The first thing that popped into my mind (after Charmed of course) was Diane Duane's Young Wizards series (So You Want to Be A Wizard, Deep Wizardry, High Wizardry, etc.), where the universe itself (or rather, the literal Powers That Be) give wizards "Manuals" that indeed change based on their needs (in fact, in the most recent novel for the series, the younger wizard main characters suddenly find themselves assigned as "Seniors", and find that their Manuals - which look like small library books - are suddenly huge tomes practically bulging with information on every wizardry going on under their purview, which would be all the wizardries in North America and/or major ones on Earth), and can even provide them with a means of communication... not to mention the ntoe about Magical Computers made me laugh even harder, because at least two wizards in the series have computers for Manuals instead of books. I'm not sure this qualifies for the page though, unfortunately, as it has nothing to do with TV or film to the best of my knowledge. Just found it amusing that while everyone else was thinking HHG, I was thinking something completely different (even though I've read HHG). Try reading the Canterbury Tales sometime - six hundred years old, and almost incomprehensible. Besides which, English wasn't used in books until around Shakespeare's time - it'd be Latin or French.
- Mike Rosoft: I fail to see how this entry is even relevant. Perhaps it was meant to be added elsewhere?
Ophicius: Removed Natter:
- Try reading the Canterbury Tales sometime - six hundred years old, and almost incomprehensible. Besides which, English wasn't used in books until around Shakespeare's time - it'd be Latin or French.
It's irrelevent anyway, as the Book of Shadows dates from the late 1600s, which was after Shakespeare.
Lots42: Maybe I am missing something but isn't the Trope Namer's Book of Shadows (Charmed) bigger on the inside then on the outside?
I was under the impression that Charmed's Book of Shadows came to the sisters blank and filled in over the years as they needed it.
Barratsoss: Yes, and the entries even sometimes changed during episodes themselves, implying an ancestor edited the book.
Also, I removed the comment that parts of the book would be unreadable to todays people. It was started around the time Shakespeare wrote his plays. Does anyone here have trouble reading Shakespeares originals ? Also, I would guess, seeing the highly dynamic nature of the book, the entries would probably autocorrect themselves when time passes.
I'm wondering if the Tome of Eternal Darkness, from Eternal Darkness (natch), counts. Aside from its Tome of Eldritch Lore properties, if we count the menus as the book itself, then it contains "normal" knowledge about practically everything in the game, from items to events to enemies.