Dragons in Our Midst

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Dragons in Our Midst is a series of four novels written by author Bryan Davis. The series follows the adventures of two teens, Billy Bannister and Bonnie Silver. Billy is devastated to find that his father is in fact a dragon disguised in human skin to hide from a centuries-old dragon slayer and his squire. Bonnie has known that her mother was a dragon for years. Both teens carry on traits from their dragon heritage. Bonnie has wings that she keeps hidden in a large hiking backpack, while Billy can breathe fire. When they are found and attacked by a slayer, they must fight for their lives.

Dragons in Our Midst was followed by another four-book series, titled Oracles of Fire. The first book, Eye of the Oracle, was a prequel to the DioM series, while the three others, Enoch's Ghost, Last of the Nephilim and The Bones of Makaidos, were all sequels to DioM. This series shifts its focus to other characters that were mostly in the background in the first series, such as Walter, Billy's best friend, and Ashley, an anthrozil (half-dragon, half-human) with a mind far more intelligent than a normal human. It also introduced several new characters, such as Sapphira Adi and Elam, the centuries-old teenagers. It also introduced several new villains, such as Goliath [a dragon, not the biblical giant], Mardon and Semiramis.

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Tropes used in Dragons in Our Midst include:

• Adam and Eve Plot - This happens to Makaidos and Thigocia, who are the only two dragons to escape The Great Flood by being on Noah's Ark
• Affably Evil - Devin
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot - Averted, Larry stays either True Neutral Lawful Good the entire series.
• Animal Nemesis
• Animal Stereotypes - Both played straight and subverted with the dragons.
• Anyone Can Die - Whether they stay dead is another matter...
• Arc Number - 3, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13... pretty much any number that is significant in The Bible.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence - Heaven.
  • While Sheol/the seven circles and Hell would probably a lower plane...
• The Atoner - Naamah
• Babies Ever After
• Back from the Dead - Many, some several times.
• Badass Normal - Walter Foley. He's the human sidekick who loves lame jokes, food and taunting fire-breathing dragons.
• Battle Couple - Billy and Bonnie
  • Also Elam and Sapphira, Ashley and Walter.
• Beware the Nice Ones
• Big Bad - Possessed Arramos.
• Big Bad Wannabe - Most villains who aren't the above mentioned Big Bad.
• Bittersweet Ending - Just about all of them, but especially Tears of a Dragon and The Bones of Makaidos.
• Blessed with Suck: Billy and Bonnie's powers don't necessarily endear them to people. Billy sets of the fire alarm once while trying to stop a prank due to his breath, and Bonnie is mistaken for a monster while escaping from the school (with Billy in tow.)
• Blunt Metaphors Trauma - Larry
• Body Surf - Morgan
• Break the Cutie - Walter was a fun loving boyscout in the first book. Just about everything goes downhill for him for a long, long time.
  • Karen and Paili also fit this trope rather well.
• But Your Wings Are Beautiful
• Can You Hear Me Now? - Justified: dimension hopping equals horrible reception.
• Cannot Spit It Out - Played with several of the couples, but never truly used.
• Cast Herd - The first series cast was somewhat large, but managable. The second series added entire hoards of new characters.
• Catch Phrase - Ashley's "Too much information can make your brain choke"
  • Also a Meaningful Echo of sorts for the audience when the prequel, Eye of the Oracle, reveals Ashley's mother Thigocia saying "Too much information can be taxing on our brains" several thousand years before Ashley was even born
  • Thigocia also repeats the Catch Phrase verbatim while cradling the newborn Ashley
• Chekhov's Gun - Several.
• Chekhov's Gunman - Sapphira, Acacia, Clefspeare, Arramos, and Elam all take turns. Though not in that order.
• Collapsing Lair - In The Candlestone.
• Combat Medic - Ashley in The Bones of Makaidos
• Cool Old Guy - Professor Hamilton, Merlin and, technically, Valcor and Clefspeare, as well as about half of everyone else that lived longer than the normal human life span should allow.
  • There's also Barlow and his group of knights.
  • Enoch, as well.
• Cool Old Lady - Hartanna and the rest of the female dragons.
• Cool Sword - Excalibur
• Cool Teacher - Professor Charles Hamilton. Why did I never learn about King Arthur in high school?
• Cursed with Awesome
• Cute Monster Girl - Sapphira, Acacia, and Paili. Bonnie as well, when she was younger.
• David Versus Goliath - Pretty much whenever any of the kids are fighting, but especially when the Watchers and Nephilim show up.
• Death by Origin Story - Ashley's parents.
  • Most of the dragon race.
• Death Is Cheap - Which made Karen's death even more of a punch to the gut.
• Deconstruction - Could be interpreted as one of who Merlin was and magic in general.
• Designated Victim - Bonnie, especially in the first few books. To be fair, this doesn't stop her from getting her moments.
• Destined Bystander - Walter
• Development Hell - The movie has been in pre-production for... a long time. A reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaalllllllly long time.
• Dogged Nice Guy - Walter, of the patient friend variety
• The Dragon - Puns aside, there are several, but Palin probably fits the description best. No, not Sarah. Or Michael.
• Driven to Suicide - Almost happens to Sapphira.
• Earn Your Happy Ending - Do they ever.
• Easy Evangelism - Subverted. If anyone converts to Christianty, there is going to be a LOT of work to get them to that point.
• Even Evil Has Standards - Both Palin and Naamah have their moments of this.
  • Doctor Connor, a Mad Scientist, did something, evidently either lethal or incapacitating, to the pedophile he caught assaulting Stacey.
• Evil Gloating - Devin loves doing this.
• Evil Minions - Most of Devin's present day lackeys
• Exact Eavesdropping - How Billy learns his true heritage.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin - The first series is about dragons and half-dragons trying to fit into the modern day world, while also trying desperately to stay hidden.
• Face Heel Turn
  • Heel Face Turn
  • Face Heel Revolving Door - Valcor. It took quite a while to finally figure out just which side he was on, and why.
• Fallen Angel - The Watchers.
• Fiery Redhead - Karen
• Foreshadowing
• Foster Kid - Bonnie. At first. Also Matt (Charlie) and Lauren (Karen)
• Freudian Trio - In the first few books, Billy is id, Bonnie superego, Walter ego
• Gadgeteer Genius - Ashley.
• Gambit Pileup - It can get pretty confusing, with Morgan, Devin, Mardon, Semiramis, possessed Arramos, Valcor, Merlin, the Professor, and a few others all contributing.
• Generation Xerox - The Prof looks a LOT like his distant ancestor, Merlin, to the point that several of the dragons (notably Clefspeare) think he is his ancestor when they first meet him.
• Gentle Giant - Yereq. The other Nephilim, not so much.
• God - The Big Good
• A God Am I - The eventual goal of most of the villians.
• Good Wings, Evil Wings - Subverted. Bonnie has draconic wings, while the Watchers have your more typical angelic wings.
• Happily Married - Marilyn and Jared Bannister, Carl and Catherine Foley, dragons Makaidos and Thigocia, presumably Ashley and Walter Foley, Billy and Bonnie Bannister, Elam and Sapphira, and Shiloh and Gabriel Drake
• He Who Fights Monsters - What Devin claims to be, and Palin thinks he is.
• Heaven
• Deadly Change-of-Heart - Palin
• Hell
• Hero with Bad Publicity - The dragons, especially around King Arthur's time.
• Heroes Prefer Swords - Billy Bannister. However, he does use a handgun when he loans his sword to Walter, and given that the sword is Excalibur...
• Heroic BSOD - Sapphira She almost commits suicide due to depression/loneliness.
• Heroic Sacrifice - Acacia. She jumps in front of Billy, taking the sword thrust meant for him
• Honor Before Reason - Several.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl - Of the non-romantic variety, Sapphira and Yereq.
• Humanity Ensues
• I Just Want to Be Normal
• I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure - In Tears of a Dragon, Morgan threatens to kill Walter if Ashley fails to release Devin from the candlestone.
• Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons - THE ENTIRE SERIES
• Insufferable Genius - Larry, as well as Ashley at times.
• Interspecies Romance - Any dragon/human relationship
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold - Clefspeare comes off as this at times, especially in the first book.
• Joan of Archetype - The Maid in "The Bones of Makaidos".
• Kill It with Fire
• Killed Off for Real - Palin, Karen, Professor Hamilton, Merlin
  • Even then, most of them get to make a final appearance for the wedding scene.
• Knight in Shining Armor - Several, Barlow and his knights being literal examples.
• Knight Templar - Devin, Palin
• Large Ham - Many of the characters from time to time, but especially Walter.
• Light Is Not Good - The Watchers
• Loads and Loads of Characters
• Luke, I Am Your Father - Grandfather, actually.
• Mad Love - Roxil. Poor girl.
• Mad Scientist - Mardon
• Magical Computer - Larry
• Mayfly-December Romance - Any dragon/human relationships.
  • Sapphira and Elam started out as this, but after he gained a few thousand years, it no longer really mattered.
• Misfit Mobilization Moment - Most battles in this series involve an assortment of dragons, humans, anthrozils, Oracles of Fire, and centuries-old teenagers, as well as a Biblical giant and a talking horse.
• Name's the Same - As mentioned above, this Palin has nothing to do with politics or comedy routines.
• No Loves Intersect - For the most part, Karen and Namaah are the exceptions for their respective possible love interests. Karen dies, then Naamah... re-dies...
• Noble Demon - Palin. Had the perfect opportunity to kill Bonnie, but did not take it. Later defied Devin in the slayer's attempt to kill several of the heroes. He was promptly Killed Off for Real for his actions.
  • Not to mention the reason he dies (the second time) is that he tries to convince Devin that what they've been doing is wrong.
• Nosy Neighbor - Walter starts out as this.
• Official Couple - A whole slew of them by the end of The Bones of Makaidos: Bonnie and Billy, Ashley and Walter, Sapphira and Elam, Gabriel and Shiloh, to name a few.
• One-Winged Angel - Devin
• Our Dragons Are Different
• Out of Focus - Billy and Bonnie are rarely mentioned in most of the Oracles of Fire
• Personal Gain Hurts
• Pet the Dog - Palin
  • A lot of Mardon's interactions with Sapphira
• Playing with Fire - Sapphira and Acacia can make it, Billy breathes it
• Plucky Comic Relief - Walter Foley, especially in the first four books. Not as much in Oracles of Fire, but he definitely has his moments.

Walter: So we have...Me, Elam, Billy, Bonnie, Valiant, Candle, Yereq, Sir Barlow, and Sapphira. That's nine of us and the dragons *whistles* I don't know about you, but if we're facing hundreds of crazed warriors trained to kill, I'd like at least ten.

• Public Domain Artifact - Excalibur
• Raised by Grandparents - Ashley, who was raised by her grandfather Isaac Stalworth after her parents' deaths. Subverted in that we learn Isaac Stalworth is not actually her grandfather, but just a family friend.
• Really Seven Hundred Years Old - More than half of the characters.
• Reasonable Authority Figure - Prof Hamilton
• Red Shirts - Most of Devin's underlings, no matter what century
• Redemption Equals Death - Bonnie's father.
• Sealed Evil in a Can - The Watchers, the Nephilim
• Second Coming: The main character, Billy Bannister, is the second coming of King Arthur.
• She's All Grown Up - Paili, who took on a human name, grew up in the real world, and got married and had a kid.
• Sibling Team - Acacia and Sapphira, whenever they're actually in the same place at the same time.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Twins Valcor and Hartanna definitely show shades of this.
• Strong Family Resemblance - Between Bonnie and Shiloh, who are cousins. Becomes VERY plot relevant.
• Take That - Against the entire human race, courtesy of the possessed Arramos.
• Team Handstack - Billy, Walter, Ashley, and Bonnie have one of these in The Bones of Makaidos before the final battle.
  • Walter, Billy, and Ashley also have one at the end of The Last of the Nephilim
• Thou Shalt Not Kill - Interestingly subverted: a lot of emphasis is put on killing honorably (through fair fights) instead of dishonorably (ambushes, back stabbing, etc.), but this doesn't stop several of the heroes from having a fairly high kill count, especially the dragons.
• Took a Level in Badass - Most notably Walter, Billy, and Bonnie.
• Unexplained Recovery - Several different people. Doctor Conner, Roxil, Goliath, any dragon who ended up in Dragons Rest, the original ten female dragons who became human, Arramos (sort of), Billy, Bonnie... the list goes on.)]] It would actually probably be easier to list the subversions.
• Unholy Matrimony - Roxil and Goliath
• The Vamp - Naamah before her Heel Face Turn
• Wacky Marriage Proposal - Walter proposes to Ashley by building a snowman kneeling on a roof in front of a snowwoman. He then goes on to make a speech in true Walter style.
• Weddings for Everyone - This occurs at the end of The Bones of Makaidos with the triple wedding ceremony of Walter and Ashley, Elam and Sapphira, and Billy and Bonnie
• Wild Mass Guessing - The forums would always be most active a few weeks before the book came out. One of the biggest topics was about Palin, specifically why he didn't kill Bonnie.
  • When a member guessed that Palin had a daughter at one point and couldn't bring himself to kill someone else's little girl, Davis's response was that the member was "sowing a fertile field."
• Winged Humanoid - Bonnie, the Watchers, Gabriel.
  • Also, it's implied in the epilogue for The Bones of Makaidos that one of Billy and Bonnie's twins will grow a pair when he or she gets older.
• Word of God - Averted. Even though the series is finished, Davis still refuses to tell fans wether Bonnie chose to stay an anthrozil or become a full blood human at the end of Tears of a Dragon.
  • She has wings by the end of The Bones of Makaidos, but it's still left open whether she had them or not before that whole thing with the tree.
• You Are Not Ready - The professor to Billy.
• You Have Failed Me... / You Have Outlived Your Usefulness - Palin. Though, technically, he was already dead.
• You Shall Not Pass - In Enoch's Ghost.

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