Board Thread:Roleplay Ideas/@comment-26065062-20160713125226/@comment-27097330-20160725030609

Patrick.vtap wrote: If you look at the book, Eragon has a very unhealthy stalkerlike behavior towards Arya (totaly ripped off ASOIAF with that name tbh). Constantly dreaming, obsessive behavior, kidnapping, touching her while she sleeps. Eragon is a really creepy kid.

Also, most of Eragon's place names rip off the LOTR. "Isenstar", "Hadrac Desert", "Beor Mountains", "Beirland", "Melian", "Farthen Dur", "Angrenost", "Ellesari", "Vanilor", "Eridor", "Imiladris", "Isidar". Please, Paolini, come up with something original!

Oh yeah, Eragon's plot is completely unoriginal. Let's examine it:

(Eragon/Luke) lives with his (Uncle and Cousin/Uncle and Aunt) in a remote (villiage/planet) until one day he stumbled upon (a dragon egg/droids) sent by the the captive (elven princess/princess) who knew that the (dragon egg/droid) was important in the downfall of the Empire (hah, he even took the same name) and the cruel Emperor (Galibatorix/Palpatine). (Eragon/Luke) meets (Brom/Obi Wan Kenobi), who becomes his mentor in the ways of the (Dragonrider/Jedi), a hunted and nearly eradicated group of warriors. (Eragon/Luke)'s family is killed by the Empire in an attempt to find the (Dragon Egg/Droids). (Eragon/Luke) leaves home in search of his destiny. Along the way, (Eragon/Luke) meets (Murtagh/Han Solo), a (mysterious young man/smuggler) who helps them to rescue the captive princess (Arya/Leia). (Brom/Obi Wan) sacrifices himself so that they can make their escape.

Eragon is a whiny, spoiled brat. I really hated him as a character. Constantly complaining, making idiotic remarks, the full list of them is in the link above.

There is too much meaningless description in the book. For example:

Three white horses with riders cantered toward the ambush, their heads held high and proud, their coats rippling in the moonlight like liquid silver.

On the first horse was an elf with pointed ears and elegantly slanted eyebrows. His build was slim but strong, like a rapier. A powerful bow was slung on his back. A sword pressed against his side opposite a quiver of arrows fletched with swan feathers.

The last rider had the same fair face and angled features as the other. He carried a long spear in his right hand and a white dagger at his belt. A helm of extraordinary craftsmanship, wrought with amber and gold, rested on his head.

Between these two rode a raven-haired elven lady, who surveyed her surroundings with poise. Framed by long black locks, her deep eyes shone with a driving force. Her clothes were unadorned, yet her beauty was undiminished. At her side was a sword, and on her back a long bow with a quiver. She carried in her lap a pouch that she frequently looked at, as if to reassure herself that it was still there.

So. Much. Meaningless. Detail. We don't need to know about their elegantly slanted eyebrows. Details that might have fit better - a timely look for pursuers, their hands twitching as they held the reins - are abandoned in the face of useless detail. Also, they would help set the mood. Slanted eyebrows are only a distaction from the important things.

Oh yeah, and all the races of Eragon. Hmm... Elves: elegtant forest living creatures with pointy ears and are formidable warriors. Dwarves:  Gruff mining race with beards. Urgals/Orcs: Ugly standard evil, horde warriors, incredibly violent, Kull/Uruk-Hai: Strong, better verions of Urgals/Orcs, can run without tiring, better in almost every respect, ect.

This is not original, this is transplanting Tolkien into a new universe!

So, in conclusion, Eragon is a Star Wars and LOTR ripoff with unoriginal characters, most of them idiotic, written by a stupid 15 year old (and it shows!) who attempted to make something good but utterly failed. This is nothing less then plagurism.

*Drops the Mike and walks off stage*

'''Beware! Spoilers Ahead!'''

1. Eragon's dreaming was Arya using her magic to reach out, not some kind of sexual fantasy.

2. He was trying to help her escape torture...

3. Haven't you ever been slightly obsessive about a crush?

4. It's not called kidnapping when it's with their consent, you're saving their life, and you rescued them from torture.

5. It's almost impossible to use unique names these days. Paolini's world speaks for itself.

6. I actually noted the Eragon/Star Wars parallel a while back, but thought of it more as an interesting connection rather than plagiarism. As someone has already said, all good stories follow the hero's journey, and Eragon is no exception.

7. You mean he has real personality? Just because he does or says stupid things doesn't mean he's an awful character. Harry says some downright idiotic things in the Harry Potter series, but his flaws make him a better character.

8. Umm... Which LOTR books did you read? Because the ones I read spent chapters describing family trees! Tolkien is the king of unneeded detail, and in the end Eragon has way less.

9. Although at first glance the races may seem similar, if you had actually read with an open mind, or read the later books, you would have realized they are actually quite different from Tolkien's races.

Elves: Tolkien's elves are closest to the Valar, and traveler to Valinor when they die. They are the most religious of the LOTR races, having an extreme connection oath Varda especially. They despise Orcs, (which you have compared to Urgals), and live in isolated communities all over middle earth. They are also very wise and tend to be cool-headed and generally kind in all their doings. Also, I should point out that Tolkien got the inspiration from his elves from Norse mythology, where they also an elegant and pointy-eared race that are decent combatants and life in a forest realm, won't a deep connection to the gods.

Paolini's elves are atheists, rejecting the ideas of gods in other cultures and starting a feud with the dwarves based almost solely on this belief. Elves are far more open minded to the Urgals, as opposed to the Dwarves and Humans, which mount their horns as trophies. This is shown when Eragon studies with Oromis, and he convinces him to open his mind when regarding them as a race. In another large difference elves are actually relatively populous, and all inhabit the forest of Du Weldenvarden. There they actually have a very unique culture that is far more connected to the trees and animals than the LOTR elves, as is seen, once again, when Eragon studies with Oromis. Finally Paolini's elves are a much more flawed and multi-faceted race, with many being arrogant, and some extremely brash. A lot of this information comes from Eragon's time with the elves in Eldest, specifically his training with Oromis.

Dwarves: Tolkien's dwarves are a largely declining culture, living in only a few isolated communities. They tend to be gruff and taciturn, and are prone to greed, standoffishness, and stubbornness to the extreme. They are an absolute monarchy based on a royal family, and seem to be loyal to this monarch forever. They seem to have very little in terms of religion, and I would appreciate any quote that shows them worshipping the Valar. Tolkien, once again got his dwarves from Norse mythology, where dwarves are short, stout, and gruff creatures with beards, who life in a rocky environment and make great stuff.

Paolini's dwarves are in fact still thriving impression is giving of a great of quietly thriving communities. Once again there is a difference in residence, as the dwarves have a larger and thriving kingdom in the Beor mountains. This underlines a crucial difference in the works of Paolini's and Tolkien, as while Tolkien's world gives the impression of a man-dominated world where elves and dwarves are barely holding on, Paolini's is a world where the three races are on pretty much equal ground. Also the attitude of the dwarves is rather different, as they don't give the impression of being xenophobic and greedy, rather it is Orik, the dwarf, who saves Eragon, when the humans would leave him to drown rather than let him in. In fact, the Dwarven culture as a whole gives an impression of brotherhood and familiarity, where as the elves are far more xenophobic. Moving on, another big difference comes in their form of government, in which Paolini's dwarf clan's elect a leader from among themselves, a thing unseen in Tolkien's dwarves. Paolini's dwarves also are the most religious race, which leads to one of the most unexplained and thought-provoking scenes in the books. Again, they are so zealous that their beliefs put them at constant odds with the atheist elves. Much of this comes from one of my favorite parts in the books, when Eragom visits the dwarves when they choose a king in Brisingr.

Orcs/Urgals: And here comes your greatest misstep as these are the most different of the similiarities you listed. In fact, if you read the later books, they shouldn't even be compared. But nevertheless I shall do so. I don't even have to go into individual differences with this.

Tolkien's orcs are mindless hordes. They are the spawn of evil. They're not a natural race, and they're basically annoying bugs. They're useless cannon fodder who argue and kill each other all the time and enjoy causing pain and suffering.

Paolini's Urgals could not be more different. They're a proud race, with an ancient tribal culture based on strength and ability. They have historically been hunted like animals and they take pride in their defeats of human armies. They actually have a better respect for nature than humans, who burn and poach and kill. Even their physical appearance is different. Orcs are often portrayed as hunched and small, while Urgals and Kull are tall and horned, making them excellent troops as opposed to cannon fodder. It only took a few great scenes in the later books to support this.

So there you have it, in my opinion, Paolini isn't a plagiarist, he's a literary genius.

Your honor, the defendant rests it's case.