Inheritance Cycle

The Inheritance Cycle, formerly known as the Inheritance Trilogy is a series of High Fantasy novels written by Christopher Paolini. The first book was originally self-published by Paolini and his parents, but has since migrated to Alfred A Knopf on the recommendation of Carl Hiaasen. It so far features the following books:

• Eragon (2003)
• Eldest (2005)
• Brisingr (2008)
• Inheritance (November 8, 2011)
• Eragon's Guide to Alagaësia (2009) (canon, but not part of the Cycle)

An officially endorsed guidebook, The Inheritance Almanac, was released in October 2010. The novels tell the tale of Eragon, a farmboy who discovers a dragon egg in the mountains and is amazed when it hatches for him. He raises the dragon, Saphira, and becomes bonded with her as a Dragon Rider. Unfortunately, the evil Galbatorix, the ruler of The Empire who betrayed and destroyed the Dragon Riders long ago, finds out, and sends his impenetrably cowled Ra'zac servants to capture Eragon and Saphira. They escape, but the Ra'zac burn down Eragon's home and kill his uncle. Our heroes set out for revenge, joined by the village's old storyteller, Brom, who, as it turns out, is a former Dragon Rider himself. On their quest, Eragon and Saphira meet up with a Badass Anti-Hero with a Mysterious Past, rescue an elf princess, join the Varden (La Résistance), learn the truth about Eragon's past and his missing father, and face down foes far more powerful than themselves—eventually culminating in a final battle against Galbatorix himself.

The first book was adapted into a film in 2006, but there are currently no plans for any movie sequels.

Not to be confused with The Inheritance Trilogy, especially since that was the name of this series before book 4 came along.

---

Tropes used in Inheritance Cycle include:

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Tinkledeath.
• The Ace: Arya and Angela are both good at magic, physical combat, and related skills, but Angela is a Plucky Comic Relief character most of the time.
• Achey Scars: The gigantic scar that Eragon got during his battle with Durza causes him immense pain until it is healed in the second book.
• Action Duo: Angela and Eragon under Dras-Leona.
• Alien Blood: Bluish-green on the Lethrblaka, black on the Urgals.
• Aloof Ally: Elva refuses to help the Varden attack Dras-Leona. She does give in when Eragon asks her to storm Uru'Baen.
• Aloof Big Brother: Murtagh is the older, stronger, smarter, more popular (among fangirls), more realistic, more cynical, more experienced half-brother of Eragon.
• Altar the Speed: Roran and Katrina in Brisingr.
• Amplifier Artifact: By storing energy in gems, they can be turned into power-sources that will up the magical abilities of anyone using them.
• Anti-Hero: Murtagh all the way. Elva also seems to be leaning in this direction after her curse was broken and she was able to use her empathetic powers without direct cost to herself.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Battle strategy of the Urgals.
• Ambadassador: Arya
• And This Is For: Roran does this in Brisingr.
• Applied Phlebotinum, in the form of Functional Magic.
• Asskicking Equals Authority: The Urgals' entire society is based on this trope.
• Atop a Mountain of Corpses: A scene in the second book has Roran standing triumphantly atop a pile of 193 slaughtered mooks.
• Author Appeal: Arguably the elves, particularly Arya (whose beauty is oft-mentioned in the narration, and leaves Eragon in awe). However, Paolini says his favourite race is the dwarves (he often speaks a bit in Dwarvish when he goes to IRL events).
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Galbatorix, Murtagh.
• Automaton Horses: Lampshaded with the elves' horses. Both played straight and lampshaded elsewhere, such as in the first book where they ride through a desert for almost a week, although Eragon does use magic to raise water from the ground.
• Author Avatar: According to some, Eragon is Christopher Paolini and Angela is, well, his sister Angela. Paolini himself admits that Angela is based on his sister, and that Eragon "started out" as an autobiographical character but eventually developed into his own character.
• Badass: Murtagh.
• Badass Normal: Roran.
• Bald Black Leader Guy: Ajihad, who has a beard but no hair.
• Bald of Evil: The Twins.
• BFS: The teenaged protagonist hilariously wields a five-foot blade in earlier publications of the book. This was later retconned to three and a half feet.
• Beard of Evil: Galbatorix
• Beard of Sorrow: Roran grows one after Katrina is kidnapped by the Ra'zac.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Save for one (minor) character all of the "good guys" could easily nab a career as a model.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Courtesy of magical healing powers.
• The Berserker: In Brisingr, Imperial berserkers who have had their ability to feel pain magically removed are introduced.
• Big Bad: Galbatorix.
• The Big Guy: Nar Garzhvog.
• Bittersweet Ending: Yeah, Galby is dead, but half the surviving Eldunarya are insane, Arya and Eragon and Firnen and Saphira have to be separated, Nasuada has a whole lot on her plate, and Murtagh and Thorn are outcast. Eragon has to leave Alagaesia for ever too.
• Black Blood: Applied rather literally to the Urgals.
• Blessed with Suck: Elva. She is cursed to feel the pain and uncertainties of everyone around her, forcing her to endure constant torment. Later, the negative side effects are taken away by Eragon.
• Body Horror: The bewitched soldiers in the third book feel no pain, and thus fight through dismemberment that by all rights should have killed them. Most Varden lose their nerve while fighting these guys, because fighting someone with half his face hanging off his bare skull—who laughs at you, no less—is horrifying.
• Bond Creatures: Dragons.
• A Boy and His X: X being dragon. Eragon and Saphira, and also Murtagh and Thorn.
• Cain and Abel: Eragon and Murtagh. Who is who depends on your personal interpretation.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: Carvahall receives a lot of trouble from this trope even after Eragon leaves.
• Can't Argue with Elves: Since Paolini's Elves are pretty and magical, they know everything and are very happy to tell you that.
• Cast from Hit Points: Ordinarily, magic works like this. Except for dragon riders, who can borrow their dragon's hit points (and dragons have plenty to spare). Skilled magic users can borrow hit points from the local wildlife (killing it in the process if they aren't careful). Except for people who get hold of an Eldunari, who can borrow a dead dragon's hit points.
• The Chains of Commanding: Trianna says it's wise Eragon doesn't want to be king, because a king is simply a man imprisoned by his duties.
• Chekhov's Gun: When Glaedr tells Saphira to "keep her heart safe" before she and Eragon leave to go help the Varden fight the Empire's army in Eldest. Later revealed that he was referring to a special magic stone every dragon has called an Eldunari which is basically their source of magical power and where their souls go if the Eldunari is removed from their bodies, they're also the source of Galbatorix's power, so that's quite a big gun.
• The Chosen One: Eragon, naturally.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Angela, who comes out with random nonsequiturs frequently. In her spare time, she tries to prove that toads don't exist.
• Cool Boat: The Dragon Wing.
• Covered in Mud: In Eldest, Eragon has a seizure caused by a cursed injury to his back. He's feeling terrible already because of the seizure and because it was in front of his teacher, but then he becomes especially embarrassed when he realizes that rolling around on the ground caused him to get his clothes (which were new and a gift from the elves) covered in dirt/mud.
• Creation Myth: According to the dwarven calender in the deluxe edition of Eldest, the world was created 8000 years ago by several gods, after they vanquished the giants.
• Creepy Child: Elva.
• Cursed with Awesome: Elva, though in constant pain, figures out very quickly how to use her empathetic abilities to her advantage, eventually becoming a Manipulative Bastard antiheroine.
• Damsel in Distress: Arya, and later Katrina.
• Dark Magical Girl: Elva.
• The Determinator: Roran. He'll do absolutely anything to accomplish his goals, and woe onto anyone who gets in his way.
• Deus Ex Machina: Frequently, especially the Blood Oath Ceremony, which magically transforms Eragon in a super-attractive half-elf and heals his crippling back scar. Also Saphira who says she can change reality in some unspecified way, although not at will. Although this is not unique to her, all the dragons can.
• Doorstopper: Each successive book is about 150-200 pages longer than the previous instalment, with Brisingr topping out at 748 pages. This is the reason for Book Four; "Book Three" was pushing 900 pages and not even halfway finished. A reprinting of Eragon and Eldest in a single volume dubbed the "Inheritance Omnibus" is 1216 pages long and large enough to crush a small dog if dropped from sufficient height. The Japanese translation of Eldest is so large that it is split into two books.
• Downer Ending: Eragon leaves Alagaesia forever, Arya is stuck with a job she doesn't want, Orrin doesn't get the kingdom and his country becomes an appendage to the Empire, Nasuada has a whole lot on her plate, and Saphira has to leave Firnen.
• The Dragon: Murtagh and his literal dragon, who are the dragons for his evil King, and his dragon. Prior to him joining up with Galbatorix, the role of the Dragon was Durza the Shade, and in the backstory before Durza, Morzan the Dragon Rider.
• Dragon Rider: Eragon, naturally. Also, Oromis, Murtagh and Galbatorix count. Brom, Orik, and Arya have also ridden Saphira at various points, Brom was also a Rider before his dragon was killed.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Glaedr.
• Dude, She's Like, in a Coma: Done in the first first book as Eragon observes Arya's overall hotness...after she'd been tortured...and poisoned...and is still very much in danger. Overlaps nicely with Beauty Is Never Tarnished. A month in torture, poisoning and living in a dank cell in the basement, without a wash... still hot.
• Egg McGuffin: The one from which Saphira eventually hatches in the first book.
• Elaborate Underground Base: The dwarven capital, Tronjheim, is a city built like a small mountain inside the crater of a much larger extinct volcano so tall the top is inaccessible, even to dragons, making it only accessible by underground tunnels.
• Elves vs. Dwarves: Although they aren't exactly best friends, they do get on better than most Elves vs. Dwarves do, although arguably only due to a common enemy. Also, a huge desert in between them probably helps.
• The Empath: Elva.
• The Empire
• Enemy to All Living Things: Eragon learns how to draw power from all life around him to boost his own magic, draining nearby things of their Life Energy. The result is plants and small animals dying around him when he needs extra power, if he isn't careful.
• Expy: The series has gotten a lot of accusations for this, with critics claiming that the series is Star Wars in a fantasy setting and/or ripping off scenes or entire plots from other series.
• Evil Redhead: Shades. In fact, being transformed into a Shade gives the victim crimson hair.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: Helgrind. Also, from the little description given, Uru'baen sounds like one, or at least Galbatorix's stronghold there.
• Exclusively Evil: The Ra'zac.
• Face Heel Turn: Murtagh, the Twins, and Sloan.
• Farm Boy: Eragon.
• Fictionary: Three fictional languages.
• Foot Focus: About halfway through Eldest, Eragon notes that Arya's feet are bare. In the same book, he concentrates on an image of his big toe to deter psychics, and showed his feet to a dwarf who wondered how many toes humans had.
• Forgotten Phlebotinum: Eragon forgets about Brom's ring during the battle in Eldest.
• Functional Magic: Basically follows an Inherent Gift structure (though Dragon Riders get a Gift for free), and mages must memorize various magic words for things and then combine them to create spells.
• General Ripper: Nasuada. If you are on the side of the Empire, she'll do everything she can do kill you, and celebrate when you're dead. Disobey her orders, and the best you'll get is 50 lashes to the back, even if you saved the Varden a costly defeat by doing so. Eragon might also qualify. Averted by Jormundur and Murtagh.
• Generation Xerox: Murtagh is doomed to follow in the footsteps of Morzan, his father.
• Genericist Government
• Giant Flyer: Besides the dragons (obviously), there are the Fanghur from the Beor Mountains and the Ra'zac's adult form, the Lethrblaka.
• Good All Along: The Urgals. Or at least most of them.
• Grand Theft Me: Spirits like to do this to unsuspecting spellcasters. If they succeed, a Shade is created.
• Groin Attack: One of the things Galbatorix is actually definitely guilty of.
• Healing Hands
• Here There Were Dragons: 100 years ago, Evil Overlord Galbatorix threw down the Dragon Riders and forced every magic user to swear loyalty to himself and swear the Empire, resulting in magic becoming much rarer, dragons nearly going extinct, and the power of the elves to begin to fade away. However, Galbatorix regrets his past actions and is now actively working to resurrect the dragons under his command.
• Hero Insurance: Eragon, being the poster boy for the Varden, has a license to kill, maim, and destroy as much as he pleases. Possible Subversion in Brisingr when Eragon finds a man that he had previously stolen from and pays him far over the original price with gold, while he says he really didn't mind, considering how Eragon used them and that he destroyed the rest before leaving Carvahall anyway.
• Heroic Resolve: Roran uses a lot of this to survive being given 50 freaking lashes!
• Hidden Elf Village: Ellesméra
• Hollywood Tactics: Everyone sucks at battle-planning, doing things no sane person who has at least played a Total War game would do, like having archers and siege weapons shoot into a melee, abandoning a perfectly good defensive position to meet a smaller enemy force in the open field, and having heavy infantry charge a great distance.
• I Am Who?: Eragon's identity is a closely kept secret until Brisingr wherein it's revealed that he is the son of Brom.
• I Know Your True Name: Used in conjunction with Words Can Break My Bones.
• I'm Having Soul Pains: Eragon thoughout most of Eldest.
• Idiosyncratic Cover Art: Each novel in the series introduces a new, differently-colored dragon as a character. This dragon gets his/her picture on the cover of the book, and the book is the same color as his/her hide.
• Idiot Ball: Neither the heroes nor villains are safe from this.
• Idiot Hero: Eragon.
• Immortal Procreation Clause: Dwarves, who live much longer than humans, are repeatedly stated to reproduce at a slower rate. This is even more extreme with the immortal-unless-killed elves, who are even less prolific than the dwarves. At the beginning of the cycle, it's been over a decade since the last elf children(twins) were born.
• Immortality: Dragon Riders, elves, dragons, and possibly Shades are all immortal unless killed violently.
• In the End You Are on Your Own: In the first book, subverted by Arya and Saphira at the critical moment, in a Crowning Moment of Awesome. Eragon is told that this is likely to happen with Galbatorix, since he's the only member of the Varden powerful enough to stand a chance.
• Instant Expert: Eragon learns magic faster than any of the other characters, despite him being Just a Kid.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Murtagh does this to a slaver named Torkenbrand, killing him.
• Killed Off for Real: Brom, Ajihad, Hrothgar, and Oromis. Glaedr just happens to have survived by giving away his 'heart of hearts'.
• King Incognito: Murtagh appears to be just an ordinary rogue, albeit one with a lot of expensive stuff, until it is revealed that he is the son of Morzan, Galbatorix's most powerful general, and soon after takes his father's place as the Empire's champion.
• Knight Templar: Eragon, arguably, and the Varden in general. In fact, all the factions (both good and bad) have traits of this, except the dwarves.
• Knight Templar Parent: Sloan.
• Lady of War: Nasuada, Arya.
• The Lancer: Roran.
• Language of Magic: The Ancient Language
• Language of Truth: The same as the language of magic. Doesn't apply when written though, only spoken or when in someone's mind. Any oath sworn in the Ancient Language is also binding, making it impossible to break unless you are released from it.
• Left Field Description: All the time.
• Left-Justified Fantasy Map: The variant with sea to the south as well.
• Letting Her Hair Down: After she arrives in Ellesmera, Arya stops wearing a leather band in her hair to show how relaxed she is.
• Life Energy: Used to fuel magic.
• Lightning Bruiser: Elves, Dragon Riders, Ra'zac, and Shades. Kull might also count; they can run as fast as horses and are tough enough to fight five men at once.
• Limited Special Collectors' Ultimate Edition: Each book has received a "Deluxe Edition" reprinting which usually includes some goodies like drawings from cover artist John Jude Palancar and/or Christopher Paolini himself. Deluxe Editions are usually released a year after the original publication and can be distinguished by a ring of gold around the cover. Eragon and Eldest were reprinted together in an Omnibus edition which was so big it could be used as a bludgeon.
• Little Miss Snarker: Elva.
• The Load: Eragon himself in the first two books, as he always has to either become unconscious or be saved by someone in order to get anything done.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Used twice.
• Magi Babble: Oromis gets quite in depth about the rules of magic.
• Magic A Is Magic A: Actually quite consistent and elaborate rules of magic govern the use of the Ancient Language.
• Magic Knight: Shades, Elves, and Dragonriders tend to train in both combat and magic.
• Manipulative Bastard: Elva, being an empathic antiheroine, uses her power to discern a person's weaknesses and vulnerabilities, then say exactly the thing that she knows will give them the most comfort or the most pain. At one point, she does this to Eragon, and is able to bring him to his knees just with some well-chosen words.
• Mayfly-December Romance: Eragon and Arya. (Interestingly, Arya once indirectly described such a relationship to be viewed by the elves as similar to paedophilia on the elves' part. And it's implied that the perfect elves may not be right about everything after all.)
• Meaningful Name: "Eragon" is "dragon" with one letter changed, but then Paolini retconned this into "era gone by".
• Mighty Glacier: Dwarves. Dragons lean towards this as they get older, growing gradually bigger but losing mobility.
• Million Mook March: Galbatorix's army, fully marshalled at the end of Eldest numbers over 100,000. To put that into perspective, the Varden's forces number about 4,000 at the start of the books.
• Mind Probe: The main psychic power. Unfortunately, this particular ability can be used for Mind Rape.
• Mind Rape: Often used by the Big Bad. Also done by the Twins on Eragon—they just didn't care about the pain they caused as long as they got what they wanted to know.
• Mismatched Eyes: Morzan, described in Brisingr: one of his eyes is blue, the other is black.
• Monster Fun Facts: The Urgals.
• Mundane Utility: Frustrated with trying to use a razor, Eragon uses magic to give himself a shave.
• My Sensors Indicate You Want to Tap That: Saphira knows what Eragon is thinking when he looks at Arya . . .
• Names to Run Away From Really Fast: You only name your child Galbatorix if you want him to grow up to be evil.
• Nephewism: Eragon is raised by his aunt and uncle, without ever knowing his parents.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: This ties in with Instant Expert. It becomes way more obvious with the compressed movie adaptation ("OMG I GOTZ MAGICK?!").
• Nose Tapping: A traveling trapper does this when sharing rumors about there being a Rider in Alagaësia.
• Not Quite Dead: Murtagh and the Twins.
• Not So Different: The heroes have committed some distasteful actions of their own, such as poisoning Galbatorix's army before a battle. Lampshaded by Elva, who points out to Eragon, "Galbatorix would approve." when he tries to forcibly remove her powers after botching the job the first time.
• The Obi-Wan: Brom.
• Offstage Villainy: One of the most common complaints about the The Inheritance Cycle is that the reader is never actually shown Evil Overlord Galbatorix doing anything particularly evil to the people of Alagaësia other than raising taxes. Brisingr may count, though, given how its stated that he enslaved the souls of the dragons he killed. Just the fact that he successfully overthrew the Dragon Riders seems to be enough justification for the war waged by the Varden, the elves, and the dwarves in the series.
• Old Master: Oromis.
• Orcus on His Throne: Galbatorix, while strong enough to wipe out the Varden by himself, decides to spend his time in the capital city, Uru'baen. Lampshaded when Nasuada thinks about how Galbatorix's pride is the only thing keeping the Varden from being destroyed.
• Our Dragons Are Different
• Our Dwarves Are All the Same
• Our Elves Are Better
• Our Orcs Are Different: They're called Urgals.
• Patchwork Map: On the inside covers of the books.
• Pay Evil Unto Evil: Eragon's philosophy is this. Possibly Lampshaded when four different characters, Murtagh, Sloan, Elva, and a soldier in Feinster, call him out on this.
• Phlebotinum Overload: Dragon Riders got to be careful, because if they overuse their magic abilities with casting an insane yet powerful spell, the power and might will drain and kill them.
  • In the film, this danger was removed and Eragon was able to heal a badly injured Saphira.
• Plot Leveling: In Brisingr, Eragon suddenly starts encountering enemies immune to his new story-breaking powers. However, most of them have been encountered by Roran and the Varden.
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up:
  • Elva in Eldest (A Wizard Did It).
  • Also there's Thorn, born close to a year after Saphira yet is nearly as large as she is when he's first confronted at the end of Eldest, although this is only because Galbatorix did it, Thorn is still mentally only a few months old despite having the body of a grown dragon..
• Poke in the Third Eye: Powerful magicians are best not spied upon...
• Posthumous Character: Morzan, Eragon the first Rider, and Brom after the first book.
• A Protagonist Shall Lead Them: Eragon with La Résistance, Roran with his village.
• Proud Warrior Race: The Urgals qualify after Eldest. Elves and Dragons have traits of this, too.
• Psychic Powers: Anyone who can use magic also gains the ability to touch other minds via a Mind Probe. It is also mentioned that non magic users can have this ability too(then called "Mindbreakers"), although so far the only mentioned case of this is with dragons (who technically are magic users, but not at will).
• Psychic Static: This technique can be learned by just about anyone with the right willpower to block psychics. It seems to be widely used in governments, to prevent any rogue Mindbreakers from stealing important information.
• Punctuation Shaker: Ra'zac and Zar'roc, amongst others.
• Purple Prose:
  • Surroundings and settings tend to be somewhat excessively described. Noticeably less in Brisingr, and to a lesser degree, in Eldest.
  • Happens in-universe when Orik drinks faelnirv – he claims it gives you "the gift of loquacion", but rather than making him talk a lot, it makes him speak this way.
• Rage Against the Mentor: Eragon constantly complains about Brom keeping secrets from him.
• Rebellious Princess: Arya, to some extent.
• Relex: The elven language is a Relex of English with vocabulary borrowings from closely related languages.
• La Résistance: The Varden.
• Retcon: A couple of details (see BFS on this page for an example) were changed, generally for the better. Mostly averted with regard to the actual storyline.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: The Varden (rebellion) is good, while The Empire is evil.
• Rival Turned Evil: Murtagh, after his capture and Mind Rape.
• Royally Screwed-Up: The people of Palancar Valley descend from King Palancar, who was Royally Screwed-Up, including Eragon and Roran.
• Rule of Cool: Possible Lampshade Hanging when the elven blacksmith chastises Eragon for specifying a design for purely aesthetic reasons, as well as by Angela in the battle at Feinster.
• Sand in My Eyes: Every emotional scene is punctuated with "a single shining tear". This leads to the unfortunate implication that many of the characters never cared much for their loved ones, as more tears have been shed for other, lesser things.
• Screening the Call: Eragon's uncle Garrow tries to sell Saphira's egg before it can hatch and make Eragon a Rider.
• Screw You, Elves: Murtagh makes a speech about this at the end of Eldest, basically saying that they're a bunch of cowards who oppress humans.
• Shout-Out:
  • In Brisingr, Arya doodles something about a lonely god in the sand in reference to Doctor Who. Paolini mentions this in the afterword. He says he did it because he's a fan of The Doctor. "And to those who got the line about the lonely god, all I have to say is that The Doctor can be anywhere at any time, even alternate dimensions. Hey! I'm a fan too!"

Eragon: "What does it mean?"
Arya: "I don't know."

• • In Inheritance there's another Doctor Who reference. Angela, the herbalist, is knitting a blue hat with runes around the edge. When asked what the runes say, she responds: "Raxacori--Oh, never mind. It wouldn't mean anything to you anyway." There is a planet in Doctor Who called Raxacoricofallapatorius (it's where the Slitheen come from.)
  • Morn (who is himself a Shout-Out/parody).
  • Some people and places are named after people he knows, for example, Angela (his sister), and Palancar Valley (named after the artist who does the cover art).
  • "Barges? We don't want no stinking barges!"
• Single Tear: As many anti-fans have pointed out.
• Snake Talk: The Ra'zac have a hissing accent.
• Sorcerous Overlord: Galbatorix, naturally.
• Soul Jar: The Eldunari.
• Straw Character: An argument is presented between representatives of the religious Dwarves and atheist Elves. The Dwarf is as wasteful and ranting, the Elf is calm and wise.
• Super Soldier: the soldiers Galbatorix deleted the capacity to feel pain from.
• Super Speed: Possessed naturally by elves, Shades, Ra'zac, and Kull. Dragon Riders seem to gain this over time.
• Super Strength: As above.
• Tempting Fate: Eragon trying to summon the true form of his sword.
• Tetris Effect: Happens to Eragon when he's learning to read—he keeps seeing letters in his head even when he closes his eyes.
• Think Nothing of It: In Brisingr, Angela the herbalist tells Roran this after he thanks her for healing the injuries on his back from whipping. She then changes her mind and says "Or rather, thank something of it, but do not consider it overly important. Besides, it amuses me to have tended injuries on both your back and Eragon's."
• Title Drop: In each book. Eragon is obvious. The climax of Eldest drops both the book's title and the title of the series, when Murtagh takes Za'roc from Eragon as his inheritance from their father. After all, he is the eldest brother.
• Tonight Someone Dies: Prior to the release of Brisingr, Christopher Paolini announced that a major character would die at the end of the book. That character was Oromis, the Old Master. Glaedr survives in his Eldunari but is physically dead.
• To the Pain: Eragon's threat to a soldier early in the first book.
• Too Awesome to Use: Brom's ring.
• Took a Level in Badass: Eragon. Special mention during Eldest, in which he is trained to the level of a full Rider in a fraction of the time it should have taken.
• Trilogy Creep: What was once a "Trilogy" is now a "Cycle."
• Turned Against Their Masters: Spirits, which can be summoned by sorcerers to accomplish magical feats, will do this at the first opportunity if the sorcerer isn't capable, to create shades.
• Twist Ending: Eldest.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension:
  • Arya and Eragon at the end of Book IV.
  • Murtagh/Nasuada
• Unspoken Plan: As a general rule, none of the heroes' brilliant plans are explained onscreen beforehand.
• Unusual Euphemism: Sloan's tirade about Eragon features a veritable barrage.

Sloan: . “You’renothing but the yellow-bellied offspring of a canker-ridden bunter. You’re a bastard, you are, and an unlicked cub; a dung-splattered, tallowfaced rock-gnasher; a puking villain and a noxious toad, the runty, mewling spawn of a greasy sow. I wouldn’t give you my last crust if you were starving, or a drop of water if you were burning, or a beggar’s grave if you were dead. You have pus for marrow and fungus for brains, and you’re a scugbacked cheek-biter!”

• Vanity Publishing: Started as this, before a larger publisher got their hands on it.
• Veganopia: Elven society. Justified somewhat in that it's difficult to eat something when you can hear its thoughts and empathize with it.
• We Are as Mayflies: The Elves, in relation to humans. Also, the Riders, if they live long enough.
• We Have Reserves: Galbatorix uses the Urgals in the first book to weaken the Varden and the dwarves.
• Weirdness Magnet: Eragon. Lampshaded by Saphira:

Saphira: "Nothing out of the ordinary ever occurs to me when I'm by myself. But you attract duels, ambushes, immortal enemies, obscure creatures such as the Ra'zac, long-lost family members, and mysterious acts of magic as though they were starving weasels and you were a rabbit that wandered into their den."

• What the Hell, Hero?: Four examples: Firstly, Murtagh heavily criticizes Eragon's (and the Varden's) moral stance and allegiance at the end of Eldest, going so far as to say that Galbatorix isn't bad enough to earn what Eragon's doing to the Empire. Secondly, Sloan gives Eragon a massive tongue lashing in Brisingr when he encounters him, complete with lots of fantasy swear words. Thirdly, after Eragon attempts to heal Elva of her curse, he makes a mistake and only succeeds in making it painless, leaving Elva still empowered but no longer shackled down with a desire to help others, turning her into an Anti-Hero. Shortly after, he decides that she isn't mature enough to handle such power and tries to take it from her, whereupon she puts him down and tells him he's behaving as Galbatorix would. And fourthly, a soldier in Feinster complains about Eragon "taking glory for himself" by disrupting the peace and slaughtering even those who have been forced to serve the Empire. YMMV, but some people consider such moments a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: A source of Wangst for Eragon.
• A Wizard Did It: The ancient language.
• Words Can Break My Bones: The Ancient Language, being the language used for magic, is perfectly capable of killing you. If mishandled, it can also kill its unwary user.
• The Worf Effect: Islanzadi, an established badass, is killed without significant effort by Barst.
• Write Who You Know: Angela.
• Xanatos Gambit: Galbatorix's magnificent plan at the end of Eragon. He recruits his longtime enemies, the Urgals, and offers them free land if they attack the Beor Mountains and stamp out the dwarves and the Varden. This was a particularly ingenious move, because if the Urgals are victorious, that means that two of Galbatorix's principal enemies have been taken off the map, and the Urgals will be too weakened to challenge Galbatorix or fight back if he wants to get rid of them later, all without a single imperial warrior having to die. If the Urgals lose, then Galbatorix has effectively gotten rid of a race he hated anyway (they killed his original dragon in his backstory) before they have a chance to cause trouble for him. The Varden and dwarves manage to stave off the Urgals, leaving both sides significantly weakened but alive. Durza, who was controlling the Urgals, gets killed, causing the much smaller forces of Urgals still alive turn against Galbatorix shortly afterwards.
• Ye Goode Olde Days: Everybody is always rambling about how awesome the days before Galbatorix were.
• Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: The archaisms in the books are often used incorrectly. An example would be Orik saying "mine King, Hrothgar." "Mine" is only used before vowels. Characters also use "thou" and "you" within the same sentence. This may be a stylistic decision on Paolini's part, though some (especially those who know a bit about old English) feel that it breaks the Willing Suspension of Disbelief.
• You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry: Angela claims in the first book that Eragon doesn’t want to see her "irritated".
• Youngest Child Wins: Eragon has had a much nicer life than his analogue.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Elva, being the emotional manipulator that she is, purposefully uses this tactic against Eragon, telling him that Galbatorix would approve of his actions. This leaves him badly shaken and questioning his morals. Why he didn't come to this revelation right after what he did to Sloan is anyone's guess.