Books of Samuel/Characters

Eli

 * Curse: Through the wickedness of his sons, Eli lost favor with God and it was prophesied that all men in his family will be ruined. The priests of Nob, most were his relatives, were killed by Saul and his youngest son Abiathar, David's high priest, was exiled by Solomon for supporting a rival to the throne.
 * Death by Falling Over: After hearing of his sons' death, he fell from his chair and broke his neck. To be fair, he was already very old.

Samuel
"The Lord called Samuel: and he answered, "Here am I"."


 * Last of His Kind: The last of The Judges.
 * The Obi-Wan: to Saul and David.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives one to Saul after the latter only partially obeys the divine command to utterly wipe out the Amalekites (which included their finest animals, which Saul spared).
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Waif Prophet: started as one, when he was a child.

Saul
""For rejecting The Lord's command, He has rejected you as king!""


 * Better to Die Than Be Killed: He fell on his own sword, because he did not want his enemies to abuse and mock him.
 * Beauty Is Bad: He is described as being a beautiful king.
 * Fallen Hero: He was good at first.
 * Ignored Epiphany: Admitted that he had treated David evilly and that David had been good to him, but he went right back to trying to kill him.
 * Go Mad From the Revelation: He didn't take kindly to the fact that God was going to replace him.
 * Green-Eyed Monster: Was mortally jealous of David.
 * Hypocrite: Had all magic users purged but went to a witch to summon the spirit of Samuel for advice on his what would turn out to be his final battle.
 * Large and In Charge: He was noticeably taller than all the other people around.
 * Offered the Crown: They don't call him King Saul for nothing.
 * Refusal of the Call: Was actually scared to be king. He hid when Samuel tried to present him to the people.
 * Screw Destiny
 * The Uriah Gambit: Used it on David before David named it.

Jonathan
""Your love was greater than that of a woman's!""


 * Conflicting Loyalty: Was caught between his insane father's paranoia of his best friend David.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners - Ho Yay: With David. See above quote from 2 Samuel. More likely the text was referring to the close bond of friendship between the two, but still...
 * This essay clarifies the subject.
 * Nice Guy

David
"And David danced before the Lord with all his might."


 * Antagonist in Mourning:
 * David's the protagonist, but when his opponent Saul dies he still goes further than most in mourning a man bent on killing him.
 * He wept hard for Absalom too. It's understandable though, as he was his son.
 * The Atoner:
 * Fasts and prays following God's judgment on him for his adultery and subsequent Uriah Gambit to cover it up; as a result, his life and kingdom are spared but he and Bathsheba lose their first, newborn child and the rest of David's family life is extremely troubled.
 * Also many passages within the Psalms attributed to him are quite repentant.
 * Badass Israeli: The original. Note: The "Star of David" is the frame of his shield.
 * Balanced Harem: Had one of these. (It's good the be the king!) It's still not enough to stop his cheating heart, though.
 * Big Screwed-Up Family
 * Break the Cutie: In his last days, he is described as "no longer feeling warmth". A stark contrast to the happy well-adjusted shepherd boy he once was.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Brought a gun to a swordfight (metaphorically), then cut Goliath's head off with Goliath's own sword.
 * David Versus Goliath: The Trope Maker.
 * Even the Guys Want Him: He had several wives (Michal and Bathsheba being just two of them) as well as Ho Yay with Jonathan.
 * Heroic BSOD:
 * What he suffers when told that Jonathan and Saul kicked it. Self-inflicted Clothing Damage included.
 * He gets another one after the death of Abasalom followed by a What the Hell Hero Speech from one of his generals for mourning his enemy and hating the men who fought for him.
 * Humble Hero
 * Intimate Healing: When David was old, he could not get warm, so they got a young girl to care for him, which included snuggling up besides him. Oddly, their relationship was not sexual.
 * Kick the Dog:
 * See The Uriah Gambit.
 * Not punishing Amnon for raping his half-sister Tamar. Some texts say he didn't because he was the firstborn.
 * Manly Tears: He was a formidable warrior who cried quite a lot.
 * Murder the Hypotenuse: The hypotenuse being poor Uriah.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Very narrowly averted; The only thing that stopped David from wiping out Nabal's entire house when he insulted him was quick thinking on Abigail's part. David snaps out of it and thanks God that he was prevented from having such blood guilt on his hands.
 * My Greatest Failure: The whole Bathsheba incident.
 * Obfuscating Insanity: Did this while in exile before he was crowned king, when the King of Gath (Goliath's hometown) recognized him as an anti-Philistine guerrilla warrior.
 * Offered the Crown: Again, he's King David
 * Polyamory: Michal and Bathsheba were just the start; he had eight total plus concubines.
 * The Purge: Killed all the men in Saul's family (except Jonathan's son) eligible for succession and even forced Saul's daughter Michal to marry him again to force an alliance with the former royal family. His last wishes (textually, if not chronologically) were for Solomon were to kill Joab and Shimei, steward of the house of Saul.
 * Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: 1 Samuel, 17:46. "This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you...!".
 * Pretty Boy: "And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a fair countenance."
 * Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: His "Mighty Men" who were mercenaries and outlaws who joined him during his years as a fugitive.
 * Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: David had the men who killed Ishbal (Saul's heir apparent) executed.
 * Rightful King Returns: Part of the conditions for the Jewish Messiah is being of his bloodline. Given David is estimated to have lived 3000 years ago, had something like 18 wives and concubines, and one of his sons had somewhere around 1000, that's a good chunk of the population, or no-one at all.
 * She Is Not My Girlfriend: David had a young girl as a ward in his old age who everyone thought was a concubine. One of his sons even asked to marry her, perhaps to subtly lay a claim to the throne. David always denied any claims of her being more than his nurse of sorts.
 * Suffer the Slings: Goliath found out the hard way just how deadly they can be.
 * Trope Namer: With Goliath.
 * Two-Hundred Philistine Foreskins: Although he only needed to bring back 100.
 * The Uriah Gambit: Trope Namer, though Saul tried to pull it on him first with the Philistine Foreskins bit.
 * Warrior Poet: Quite literally. Kicks ass, writes poems, dances with his people. He's even got a nickname, "The Sweet Psalmist of Israel"
 * What the Hell, Hero?: After the above incident with Uriah, Nathan explicitly call him on this. He repents, but it's too late, at least for his first child with Bathsheba.
 * Youngest Child Wins: Youngest of 8.

Abigail, Wife of David
"When Abigail caught sight of David, she at once hastened and got down off the ass and fell upon her face before David and bowed to the earth. She then fell at his feet and said: “Upon me myself, O my lord, be the error; and, please, let your slave girl speak in your ears""


 * Beauty Equals Goodness
 * Guile Heroine
 * Humble Hero
 * Shaming the Mob: After her husband Nabal insulted David, David led a couple hundred men back to him, intending to wipe out his entire household. Abigail placates him with gifts of food and a heartfelt speech.
 * Ugly Guy, Hot Wife:
 * Nabal, Abigail's first husband, is certainly ugly... at least in personality, though Abigail's beauty is specifically stated.
 * Averted with her second husband David. He was quite handsome.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko

Nabal
""Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Servants have been leaving their masters more and more these days.""


 * The Alcoholic
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Death of the Hypotenuse
 * Jerkass
 * Meaningful Name/Unfortunate Names: "The Fool". According to Abigail, it fit him.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Yes, Nabal, insult the man who went out of his way to protect your flocks and shepherds and only wants a bite of food in return, and who's got armed men accompanying him. That'll win you his respect.
 * Villainous BSOD

Goliath
""Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?""


 * BFS: David beheaded him with his own sword.
 * The Brute
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Delivered by the much smaller David.
 * David Versus Goliath: The Trope Maker.
 * Giant Mook: was stated to be around 10 feet -- tall even by modern standards.
 * Glass Cannon: It only took one shot from a sling to kill him.
 * Half-Human Hybrid: Depending on how you interpret a passage in Genesis, he may or may not be half angel/demon.

Absalom
""If I had only been a judge, then this land would have justice"."


 * Asshole Victim: Both perpetrator and victim in this trope.
 * Evil Prince: Was one of David's sons.
 * Kick the Son of a Bitch: Amnon did have it coming, gotta say. Poor Tamar.
 * Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Avenged his sister's rape by killing his half-brother then goes off to plot against David's rule.
 * Rape and Revenge: See above.
 * Long-Haired Pretty Boy: This led to his death.
 * Sixth Ranger Traitor: Not him, but one of David's advisers who said he would "serve you as I served your father".
 * Villain with Good Publicity: He got quite a following in trying to usurp his father's role.

Tamar, princess of Israel
"And she lived in her brother Absalom's house, a desolate woman."


 * Brother-Sister Incest
 * Rape and Revenge
 * Requisite Royal Regalia: Wore one as a mark of her chastity. She tore it apart after the rape.

Joab

 * Badass
 * Kill'Em All: His solution to everything.
 * Poisonous Friend
 * Token Evil Teammate
 * You Killed My Brother: His reason for killing Abner.

Uriah

 * Celibate Hero: He refused to have sex with his wife while a war was going on, despite royal orders.
 * Uriah Gambit

Bathseba

 * Naked First Impression: David first saw her when she was taking her clothes off to take a bath.
 * World's Most Beautiful Woman: David believes this of her.

Abner

 * The Man Behind the Man: Implied he becomes this, counseling Saul's son Ishbal.
 * The Starscream: Sleeps with one of Saul's concubines, showing he had ambitions for the crown.
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: When Ishbal dies and his power ends, Abner offers his services to David.
 * Heel Face Door Slam