I was going to have “in Fantasy” in the title, except one of the most famous fictional catchcries is the legendary “All for one and one for all!” from Alexander Dumas’ The Three Musketeers – which however fabulous, is not fantasy.

“The” 1973 film version

Nonetheless, the genre has its share of slogans and catchcries. The one that sparked this post was “In the bright”, from Mary Victoria’s Tymon’s Flight trilogy. In the bright is a greeting, one that makes a lot of sense given her world is a giant tree, with brightness being something those living within its canopy appreciate.

I also love “Watch for me!”, which is both a blessing and a curse in the Los Nefilim series by Teresa Frohock. To give you context, the nefilim are constantly reborn to serve in the way between angels and demons, so “Watch for me” may be something a nefilim says to friends – but also enemies.

A similarly doubled-edged watchword is “A Lannister always pays his debts” from George RR Martin’s famous A Game of Thrones* series. For the Starks and their northern allies, of course, it’s “The North remembers”…

It’s not precisely a slogan, but I’ve always loved the way Anna Smaill uses musical terms in the language of her The Chimes’ world. Presto, meaning to act quickly (think pronto), is one of the most common, which I always associate with the book.

And while it may be less well-known (but undoubtedly deserves to be better known, imho), I have always enjoyed the “Awesome: High five!” uttered at strategic moments by Tenzin, the Tibetan monk-mentor in The Prince of Soul and the Lighthouse, by Fredrik Brounéous.

I believe the closest to a catchphrase I can muster in The Wall of Night series is the Derai greeting and farewell, “Honor on you and on your House, Light and safety on your road.”

I’m sure I’ve missed innumerable others, though, so if you have a favourite to share – well, that’s what the Comments are for, dear readers. 😀

~*~

* The book series is titled A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) and it’s only the first book that’s titled, A Game of Thrones – but given the TV series, I think we all think of the whole shebang as Game of Thrones now. 🙂

Game Of Thrones – the TV version