The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe »

Literature

Some forty years after the events of the prequel The Magician's Nephew, four siblings (Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie) pass through a magical wardrobe owned by Professor Kirke into the land of Narnia, which has been cursed with eternal winter by Jadis, the White Witch, who calls herself the "queen" of Narnia. In accordance with the prophecy, the children, helped by Aslan (Turkish for "Lion"), defeat her, and are jointly crowned as the four Kings and Queens of Narnia. After fourteen years, the children accidentally return through the wardrobe, reverting to childhood.

The action of The Horse and His Boy takes place during their reign. The Pevensies' journey is continued in Prince Caspian.

The book was adapted to a mostly lost TV adaptation on ITV in 1967, an animated two-part special in 1979, a six-part television series by the BBC in 1988 and most famously a film in 2005.

This book provides examples of:

• Adaptational Badass: The stage musical gives Mrs. Beaver her husband's role and making her leader of a La Résistance while demoting him to a bumbling idiot.
• Always Chaotic Evil: Dwarfs, Wolves, Minotaurs, Hags, Harpies, Giants, and all the other races that are loyal to the Witch initially appear this way, but it's later shown a good portion of them do have Good members, as seen by dwarfs, a giant, and even wolves rescued from the Witch's castle, who later fight for Aslan. Later books and films show many good Narnian dwarfs, giants, and minotaurs. Indeed, if you only read those books you'd think the dwarfs are just another of the many Always Lawful Good races in Narnia, with only a few bad apples. Until the revolt of a large number of them in The Last Battle. However, in the only other appearance of a Hag and a Werewolf, in Prince Caspian, it's implied that they really are Always Chaotic Evil.
• Always Save the Girl: Subverted. Despite realizing that Edmund betrayed all of them, Peter says they need to go find him now and rescue him from the Witch because he's their little brother. The Beavers then go And Then What? because if the children go to the Witch's castle, she'll turn them to stone and win. This convinces the Pevensies to reluctantly go with the Beavers' plan: to make it to the Stone Table and petition Aslan's army to rescue Edmund. Sure enough, Aslan rescues him in time.
• Ambiguous Syntax: The Witch's threat that if anyone (the dwarf or Edmund) mentions Aslan's name again, he shall instantly be killed. Did she mean Aslan shall be killed, or he who speaks his name? A later scene implies the latter, and the wording of the threat was changed slightly ^note "The first one to mention his name again shall be killed" in the BBC adaptation.
• And Then What?: Mentioned by the Beavers when Peter asks first if they can rescue Tumnus for saving Lucy and Edmund when the latter goes to betray them to the Witch. The White Witch's modus operandi is turning her enemies into stone, and she wants the kids dead. If they show up to the castle to mount any rescue, she'll have four new statues to adorn her garden. Edmund is more valuable alive as a hostage and as live bait to the Witch right now, and she's too arrogant to consider that killing him would secure her victory. The kids are heartbroken to realize that to save their brother, they have to trust Aslan.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Lucy, when she first comes to Narnia, wonders why there's a street light in the middle of the forest… a forest she discovered inside of a wardrobe.
• As You Know:
  • Done in an aside from the narrative, as Lewis notes several times that his readers all know better than to shut themselves into a wardrobe. This was probably done to avoid inspiring kids to lock themselves in by mistake. See also Don't Try This at Home. Ironically, one of the outtakes from the 2005 film shows the actor of Edmund shutting the door behind him as he climbs into the wardrobe...and demonstrating why Lewis was careful to emphasize the warning against doing that.
  • In The Gadfly mode, Aslan invites the White Witch to tell him and everyone the Great Magic in the Stone Table because let's pretend he has forgotten it. Enraged at his insolence, she reveals that under the Emperor's law, all traitors fall into her custody for execution.
• Author Avatar: People who know about Lewis's life story will recognise definite parallels between him and the grumpy professor the children go to stay with.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: For all four Pevensies at the end. Aslan himself is there.
• Batman Gambit: If the Witch had stuck with her original plan, she could have killed Edmund as a traitor and even Aslan would have had to abide by this justice. Then, the prophecy would have been delayed. Instead, she kills Aslan in Edmund's stead, accepting his offer to take Edmund's place. Yet Aslan Read the Fine Print stating that the Deep Magic would correct an innocent being killed in a traitor's stead, undoing the action. He knew the White Witch would be unable to resist killing her greatest adversary, saving them both.
• Being Evil Sucks: This realization spurs Edmund to make his Heel–Face Turn.
• Big Bad: Jadis is the evil queen causing all the problems here from the winter to the oppression.
• Big Brother Bully: Edmund is this to Lucy and sees Peter as this to him, especially in the film.
• Big Brother Instinct: Peter acts as a the Team Dad amongst his siblings. He is quick to defend Lucy when Edmund lets her down after the second visit to Narnia, rushes to Susan's defence when Maugrim attacks her, and is enraged when the White Witch mortally wounds Edmund.
• Big Damn Heroes: Peter saving Susan from Maugrim.
  • A horde of animals sent by Aslan after the above event arrives just in time to save Edmund from being killed by the Witch.
  • The Chekhov's Army of statues brought back to life by Aslan join the battle when all hope seems lost, and because of the new reinforcements, the battle is over in a matter of minutes.
• Big Fancy House: Professor Kirke's house. A Narnian example would be Cair Paravel (the Narnian rulers' historic palace by the sea) or the Witch's castle between the two hills.
• Big Good: Aslan is The Paragon of goodness in this world. The kids are the main characters, but he is the one who saves the day. This is lampshaded by the Beavers.
• Big "WHAT?!": The White Witch, when Edmund tells her that Aslan is in Narnia and due to be at the Stone Table. Also when the animals they meet having a Christmas party tell her that Father Christmas gave them the food.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The White Witch finds a shivering child in the snow, is about to turn him into stone, and then has a better use for him. She decides to wrap him in her fur coat to protect him from the cold and offer a hot drink and magically addictive Turkish Delight. Edmund naturally gets taken in by her kindly appearances and her promises to make him her heir. Then when he goes to betray his family to her, the mask falls off as she screams at him for not bringing everyone else.
• Bittersweet Ending: The enemy is defeated, the Pevensies are crowned kings and queens, and they reign happily over Narnia for many years. But eventually they have to go back to their own world, though, in the end, it's implied that someday they'll go back to Narnia.
• Blitz Evacuees: The Pevensie children were evacuated to Professor Digory's manse because of the Blitz.
• Boarding School of Horrors: Mentioned after Lucy heals Edmund with her cordial that it doesn't just heal his body but fixes some nasty personality traits he'd picked up while in boarding school.
• Braving the Blizzard: When Edmund sneaks out of the Beavers' house to find the Witch's House, he has to do so in the snow, with no coat, as he has left it behind. (He also vows that when he becomes king, the first thing he'll do is make some decent roads.) Soon after this, the other children and the Beavers brace themselves for an extremely long walk through the snow, to the Stone Table, while Edmund has to make a terrible overnight journey with the Witch on her sledge. The Beavers and the other children are pleasantly surprised by the winter suddenly disappearing, as Aslan breaks the enchantment, but this is bad news for Edmund, as the sledge then becomes useless, so they have to walk.
• Break the Haughty: Edmund starts off arrogant and becomes more so under the Witch's influence. Then she decides he's more useful as a prisoner.
• Bullying a Dragon: Mr. Beaver shows no fear of the White Witch when she comes to claim Edmund as a traitor. He comments on how her entitlement comes from being the Emperor's hangman. Aslan growls at him that now is not the time to be snarky when Edmund's life is at stake.
• Cannot Cross Running Water: A downplayed and ironically non-magical example. Because the White Witch is on a sledge, she has to take a much longer route to the Stone Table than everybody else, to find a place where she can drive across the river.
• Cannot Tell a Lie: When the Witch meets animals having a Christmas party, she demands to know who gave them all the food. In their terror, they immediately confess that it was Father Christmas. The Witch is so outraged, that she offers to forgive them, if they admit they were lying. One of the young squirrels then shrieks "he has, he has, he has," while beating the table with a spoon. The Witch then turns them and their food to stone.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The Beavers tell the children that they can't go to the Witch to rescue Tumnus or Edmund because if they do, she'll just turn them to stone then and there. If she only has Edmund, however, in her arrogance, she would keep him alive as a hostage and as live bait for his siblings to show up. No one is happy about this, but they agree to try and make it to the Stone Table and Aslan. Later on, Jadis realizes that the Pevensies and Beavers have made it to the Stone Table with the thaw and spring, and thus, there's no point to keeping Edmund alive. Fortunately, Aslan's allies stage a rescue before she can stab Edmund as a traitor.
• Captive Push: After the warming weather makes it impossible to pursue the Pevensies by sleigh, Jadis has Edmund tied up, then they continue on foot. Eventually, she decides it's too much effort to drag him along and decides to have him killed, which would also prevent the prophecy of her defeat from coming to pass, but he's rescued before that happens.
• Cassandra Truth: Naturally, Peter, Susan and Edmund don't believe Lucy when she tells them she found a country in the wardrobe, especially when the Portal Slam leaves Lucy with no evidence. None of them believe her despite her truthful nature until they discover Narnia's existence themselves. Admittedly, it's a bit much to accept without proof. Even so, Peter ferociously defends Lucy against Edmund when he cruelly contradicts her story even after having discovered Narnia for himself. Even though Peter thinks it's all make-believe, he can still see when Edmund is being a spiteful Jerkass towards his sister.
• Chekhov's Army: The statues in the Witch's castle courtyard. Edmund first comes across them when he arrives at the castle, and is scared by what he thinks at first is a lion about to pounce before realizing it's a statue. At the end, Aslan brings the statues back to life, and they join in the final battle with the other creatures on Aslan's side, including Peter, Edmund, and the Beavers.
• Chekhov's Gift: Quite a few things given to Peter, Susan, and Lucy by Father Christmas:
  • Peter's sword, which he uses to kill Maugrim and to fight in the battle at the end.
  • Susan's horn, which she uses to alert Peter when Maugrim attacks shortly after they meet Aslan at the Stone Table.
  • Lucy's healing cordial, which is used at the end after the battle to heal the wounded. She starts with Edmund.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • Lucy's handkerchief. She gives it to Tumnus as a parting gift after her first wardrobe trip. Later on, he passes it on to the Beavers on "getting wind of his arrest". They then show it to the Pevensies. This convinces Lucy that the Beavers will help her and her siblings.
  • The fur coats inside the wardrobe. Lucy finds them inside the wardrobe when she first climbs into it and thinks the snow on the ground is mothballs. When all four siblings find themselves in Narnia, they put the coats on to keep warm, and, at the end of the book, they find themselves back in the real world when they start walking through the coats inside of tree branches.
  • The hill where the Stone Table is. It's where the characters have to go in order to meet up with Aslan. It's also where Aslan is killed in Edmund's place by the Witch and restored to life because of the "deeper magic from before the dawn of time" that the Witch did not know about.
• Chekhov's Lecture: Tumnus says that the White Witch Jadis makes it always winter and "Never Christmas". This revelation horrifies Lucy, and she emphasizes this when telling the other siblings who the White Witch is. Just a case of Evil Is Petty? Nope. Father Christmas finally breaks through, feeding residents of Narnia and delivering gifts. It breaks the Witch's power because what comes after Christmas? The New Year, and the spring.
• Closet Shuffle: The children hide in the titular wardrobe, as a desperate measure when they are chased by the irascible housekeeper Mrs MacReady and her guests. This is how they all end up in Narnia together, and it is even lampshaded in the text that some magic may have come alive, to chase them into Narnia.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • Mrs Beaver worrying about the Witch interfering with her sewing machine, or breaking it, or stealing it, when they are in imminent danger of being killed by the Witch.
  • Susan sees Aslan about to bring a stone giant back to life.
    Susan: Is it safe?
    Aslan: Oh, yes. Once the feet are put right, the rest of him will follow.
    Susan: [to Lucy] ...That wasn't exactly what I meant.
• Crazy-Prepared: Mr. Beaver apparently had several contingency plans in case Edmund would betray them. It turns out he studied Edmund's eyes, and had realized that he likely had the White Witch's food. Still, there was no proof, and he didn't want to accuse the kid outright. When Edmund vanishes, Mr. Beaver says time to pack up and leave the lodge; the wolves will move fast the minute Edmund makes it to her castle and reveals his siblings are with the Beavers. He takes them to a hiding hole for Beavers and knows the routes to the Stone Table.
• Creepy Souvenir: The whole garden of people/animals the White Witch has turned into stone. In the Walden Media film version, she also wears Aslan's shaved-off mane into battle.
• Crossover Cosmology: Christianity is true in the series with Aslan being a new incarnation of Jesus but there's a mention of the Roman god Bacchus and Silenus (a companion of his Greek counterpart) coming to dance with nymphs and fauns.
• Crystal Dragon Jesus: Aslan, AKA "Lion Jesus". He's the son of "The Emperor Across the Sea" and enacts Christ's Passion to save a sinner.
• Dark Action Girl: The White Witch is usually an Evil Sorcerer, but she can join close combat too. She certainly participates in the battle at Beruna. The animated film and TV series have her as a Lady of Black Magic while the live-action film shows her actively fighting.
• Defeated and Trophified: The White Witch has a palace full of statues that are actually people/creatures she's turned to stone.
• Disney Death: Edmund is gravely wounded while destroying the Witch's wand—the book doesn't specify if it was Jadis herself or her soldiers who did it, but in all the screen adaptations, Jadis stabs him with her wand's broken shard. He's definitely near death until Lucy's healing cordial revives him.
• Disney Villain Death: Averted in the book and most adaptations—Aslan crushes Jadis by jumping on her (in the film, it's implied he eats her, as we see his jaws descend onto her neck). But in the BBC TV series, Aslan roars and causes her to fall off a wall.
• Disproportionate Retribution: After spring arrives and ends the Endless Winter, the dwarf says it's Aslan's doing. The Witch furiously warns that if either the dwarf or Edmund say the name again, she will instantly kill them.
• Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Professor Kirke.
• Distress Ball: Susan nearly escapes from Maugrim by climbing a tree but then starts to faint from panic before she gets out of his reach.
• Ditching the Dub Names: Lewis originally changed the name of Maugrim to Fenris Ulf for early American editions, but the publisher reverted the changes and all editions from 1994 on use Maugrim.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: The Queen's reign is enforced by a "secret police" and her people are encouraged to spy on and betray each other.
• Don't Try This at Home: Every instance of someone climbing into the wardrobe is accompanied by the narrator's remarks on how dangerous it is to close oneself into a wardrobe, how smart Lucy and Peter are to leave the door ajar, and how foolish Edmund is to close it on himself — no doubt to prevent children from getting themselves trapped in wardrobes while trying to emulate the Pevensies. This becomes Hilarious in Hindsight as of the Walden Media movie adaptation: one of the outtakes has Skandar Keynes (Edmund) climbing into the wardrobe and closing the door behind him... and getting locked in.
• Dreaming of a White Christmas: Inverted. Narnia is always winter and never has had a Christmas; when Christmas finally does come, it heralds a thaw.
• Dub Name Change: Maugrim, the wolf servant of the White Witch, had his name changed to Fenris Ulf in earlier American editions (which also changed Peter's first title from "Wolfsbane" to "Fenrisbane"). The publisher went back to using Maugrim for all editions printed after 1994.
• During the War: The kids are staying at Professor Digory's manse due to being evacuated from London courtesy of the Blitz.
• Eerily Out-of-Place Object: The lamp post in the wood, near the spot where one enters Narnia through the wardrobe.
• Endless Winter: The White Witch casts a spell on Narnia so that it is always winter but never Christmas.
• Evil Is Deathly Cold: The White Witch and her effects on the Narnian environment are all cold and evil.
• Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: This trope is heavily implied by a discussion Lucy had with Tumnus: she was intimidated by a giant named Rumblebuffin who'd been Taken for Granite and who Aslan had de-petrified. Lucy quickly found out Rumblebuffin was a Nice Guy, and Tumnus mentioned that if Rumblebuffin hadn't been a nice giant, the White Witch wouldn't have turned him to stone with her magic, implying that Evil Versus Evil conflicts simply didn't happen in Narnia.
• Extradimensional Emergency Exit: Following two visits to Narnia by Lucy and Edmund, the Pevensie children end up getting in trouble with Professor Kirke's housekeeper and have to make themselves scarce in a hurry. Lucy leads them into the wardrobe to hide, resulting in the four of them finding themselves in Narnia together for the first time.
• Face Death with Dignity: Aslan did it knowing exactly what would happen if he were to die. In more than one way.
• Face Doodling: Edmund, during his nasty period, rather tackily scribbles a mustache and glasses on a lion that's been turned to stone, telling himself it must be Aslan himself Taken for Granite.
• Faeries Don't Believe in Humans, Either: Tumnus the faun reacts this way to Lucy the first time he meets her and owns a book called Is Man a Myth?
• Faux Action Girl:
  • Susan. She's an archer and a good one (both in the films, which added extra action scenes, and the books themselves); yet in this story, she's never part of any of the major battle scenes, being limited to calling for Peter's help and (in the film) shooting one stray dwarf in the ending.
  • The White Witch becomes one in the BBC adaptations. She never does any fighting herself, save for using her wand to turn a few people to stone. And she runs away when Aslan returns. At least part of this was due to SFX limitations; it was very difficult to make a convincing fight between her and the crew's not very mobile animatronic lion.
• Fearsome Foot: Being a giant, Giant Rumblebuffin in the final battle uses not only his club to help defeat the White Witch's army, but his feet also crush dozens of them.
• Follow the White Rabbit:
  • A robin leads the children to Mr. Beaver.
  • Inverted later when they are hunting for a stag, and it leads them back to the gate to the normal world.
• Food Chains: See G-Rated Drug below.
• Forbidden Holiday: While the world of Narnia was in a century-lasting Endless Winter and under the rule of the White Witch, Father Christmas was banished from the land, thereby forbidding Christmas from ever happening. Father Christmas appearing was one of the signs the White Witch's power over Narnia was growing weaker.
• Forced Transformation: Discussed: Tumnus fears a variation of this that would've affected only one part of his body (he is a faun): one of the punishments he thinks the White Witch might try on him if she finds out he betrayed her was turning his cloven hooves into horse-like hooves. This isn't how the witch ends up punishing him; she instead goes for a different transformation trope altogether.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Tumnus tells Lucy he fears that the Witch would turn him into stone if she finds out he disobeyed her order to bring any children to her. We later find out this did indeed happen when Aslan restores the statues to life, including Tumnus.
  • Tumnus mentions the four thrones of Cair Paravel being filled when talking to Lucy, and when the White Witch meets Edmund, she is very interested in the fact that he has a brother and two sisters. These two points are related, as Mr Beaver says that if/when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve sit in the four thrones at Cair Paravel, it will end the White Witch's reign and her life. Those same thrones are filled by Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy when they are made Kings and Queens by Aslan.
  • Before all four siblings head to Narnia, Peter and Edmund are looking at a suit of armor. Both Peter and Edmund end up being knighted by Aslan later in the story: Peter is knighted after saving Susan from Maugrim, and Edmund is knighted on the battlefield at the end.
  • Edmund is falsely promised to be made King of Narnia by the White Witch. After he breaks her wand in the final battle and the Witch is killed by Aslan, Edmund is indeed made a king, but by Aslan, when he, Peter, Susan, and Lucy are crowned Kings and Queens of Narnia.
  • The Witch decides to kill Edmund as a traitor when she realises she can't get to the Stone Table before the others can, but Edmund is rescued thanks to a Big Damn Heroes moment caused by animals sent by Aslan. Edmund is later almost killed by the Witch in the climax.
• Forced Addiction: The White Witch gets Edmund under her thumb through false promises, supposed comforting gestures, and by giving him Turkish Delight which has been magically enchanted to be addictive. Using his desire for more of the dessert, she manipulates him into betraying Peter, Lucy, and Susan, which ultimately leads to Aslan's execution.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: A variation. Susan and Edmund barely interact in the stories. They're the only two Pevensies not to get any scenes alone together.
• Furry Confusion: The BBC Series has people in animal costumes, actual animals and animated creatures all on the screen at once. At one point, Maugrim even appears to shapeshift into a regular wolf, though he's supposed to be a regular wolf anyways.
• G-Rated Drug: The White Witch's Turkish Delight, which is magically enchanted to be addictive. Word of God states it's an analogue for sin.
• Gender-Equal Ensemble: Two boys (Peter and Edmund) and two girls (Susan and Lucy).
• Genre Savvy: All the Pevensies, seeing as they're children who are pretty familiar with fairytales and (rightly) assume a fairytale world will work according to fairytale rules. For example, their decision to follow the robin is based on Peter's observation that robins are always good birds in books.
• Gentle Giant: The narration points out that seeing a giant beaming is a very rare thing, so Giant Rumblebuffin, being a good giant, is one of these.
• Going Native: After being crowned kings and queens of Narnia, the four children eventually grow up into their roles as benevolent rulers of Narnia, earning their titles of Peter the Magnificent, Susan the Gentle, Edmund the Just, and Lucy the Valiant.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: Jadis, who keeps Narnia in eternal winter and turns anyone who opposes her to stone.
• Good Animals, Evil Animals: The book splits talking beasts more or less along the standard lines between those on the side of the Witch and those on the side of Aslan. This doesn't show up so much in the rest of the series when Narnia was united, but "evil" animals don't show up much at all then.
• Grim Up North: It's grim everywhere in Narnia due to the Hundred Year Winter, but particularly near the Witch's Castle in the north.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • Edmund, in the second half, when he realizes that Being Evil Sucks and Aslan saves him.
  • Tumnus, after his Heel Realization while in the company of Lucy.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Aslan pulls one of these to save Edmund. The Witch says Edmund is a traitor and his blood is her property, so Aslan offers himself in Edmund's place. He knew, however, that due to deeper magic from before the dawn of time that the Witch is unaware of, he would be restored to life afterwards.
• Holiday Motif: With Christmas, as a Christian-themed fantasy work set in a snowy wonderland where the heroes are aided by Father Christmas.
• Honor Before Reason: It's said that Lucy was tempted to say she made up the story of the wardrobe just so she could happily play with her siblings again. But as a very truthful girl, she's unable to bring herself to lie.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Edmund is very easy on siding with the White Witch against his own siblings, thinking she'll make him king of Narnia rather than kill him and his siblings. The justification is that she did poison him with enchanted candy, which somewhat weakens his defenses. It's very obvious from the start that the White Witch is evil from everything the Pevensies hear about her from the Beavers and how she imprisoned Tumnus just because he saved Lucy. But while Edmund knows in his heart that she's evil, he keeps lying to himself that she isn't, just because he's tantalized by her promises, angry at Peter, and craving more Turkish Delight. He plays the Idiot Ball even further by foolishly sneaking out to her castle and getting himself kidnapped and nearly killed. It isn't until she berates him for coming alone, and he's forced to witness her cruelty both to himself and to others, that he finally snaps out of this trope.
• Humans by Any Other Name: Humans are known as "sons of Adam" and "daughters of Eve".
• Humans Are Special: Only four true humans can undo Jadis's curse, to the point that she considers them dangerous. The Beavers state that the White Witch wants to appear human, but she's descended from Lilith of the Jinn and the giantesses.
• Ice Palace: The Witch's Castle was created by her own power.
• An Ice Person: The White Witch has ice powers. She froze all of Narnia, you know.
• Interdimensional Travel Device: The wardrobe allows travel between Earth and Narnia—sometimes.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: The White Witch refers to Edmund like this a few times.
• It Only Works Once: The White Witch's justification to Edmund for why she cannot give him more Turkish Delight in the sleigh. The wardrobe is a straighter example. Although it transports the children to Narnia three times in the story, Professor Kirke says it won't work again afterwards.
• I Owe You My Life: A variant; when the children find out Tumnus was arrested, Peter asks Mr. Beaver if there's a way to help him since Tumnus saved Lucy from the White Witch. Mr. Beaver bluntly tells him no, that only Aslan can help. Aslan restores Tumnus and the other statues to life.
• It Was a Gift: Father Christmas's gifts to the Pevensies.
• It Was Here, I Swear!: Combined with Portal Slam. After Lucy returns from Narnia the first time, she tries to show the others the wardrobe leading into Narnia, but she is shocked to see only the back of the wardrobe. Knowing she is right but left with no proof to show it, she ends up in tears.
• Jerkass: Edmund is rude, arrogant, and sells out for candy.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Edmund points out to Peter as they follow the robin that they have no idea whether the robin is good or not and that it could lead them into a trap. He also points out they (bar Lucy) have no way of knowing whether Tumnus really did save Lucy or not and that they have no idea of the way home from where they are.
• Karmic Jackpot: The Beavers get this. They take in the siblings from the cold after finding them wandering around, feed them, and educate them about Narnia. They also remain a Reasonable Authority Figure pair about the kids understandably wanting to save Tumnus from the witch and learning more about Aslan. Father Christmas, when he comes, mends the lodge, and offers a new sewing machine for Mrs. Beaver for when they're gone, meaning they won't return to find their home ransacked by the wolves. Also, Aslan honors them as heroes for bringing the Pevensies to them.
• Kick the Dog: Between Lucy first discovering Narnia and Edmund discovering it himself, he mockingly asks her if she's found any other countries in other wardrobes in the house.
  • After Edmund and Lucy return from Narnia, Lucy tells him to tell Peter and Susan about it, hoping he will back up her story. Instead, he decides to let her down and she runs off in tears. After she rushes out, Edmund goes on to insult her behind her back, saying, "There she goes again. What's the matter with her? That's the worst of young kids, they always—" before Peter tells him to shut up. The narration even says Edmund chose to do it because it was the meanest and most spiteful thing he could think of to do.
  • The Witch turning the merry party to stone, when she learns that Father Christmas gave them their banquet. This moment is significant, because Edmund sees the evil he has sided with, and for the first time in the story, feels sorry for someone besides himself.
  • The Witch and her minions do this to Aslan before the Witch kills him by tying him up, shaving his mane off, and muzzling him.
  • The BBC version has a metaphorical version. Edmund throws some nasty taunts at a dog that had been turned to stone by the White Witch, but he immediately regrets it when his conscience reprimands him for it.
  "What a stupid thing to do. It would serve you right if it came to life and bit your head off."
• Kid Hero All Grown Up: Two examples. The children grow up to be royalty in Narnia but return to our world and get de-aged. Later in the series, we also find out that Professor Kirke was the Kid Hero Digory in The Magician's Nephew.
• The Legions of Hell: Jadis's army, which contains explicit demons and evil spirits:
  "Ogres with monstrous teeth, and wolves, and bull-headed men; spirits of evil trees and poisonous plants; and other creatures whom I won't describe because if I did the grownups would probably not let you read this book—Cruels and Hags and Incubuses, Wraiths, Horrors, Efreets, Sprites, Orknies, Wooses, and Ettins."
• Lemony Narrator: The narration frequently addresses the reader, making comments including:
  • It is very foolish to shut yourself inside a wardrobe.
  • And of course, you want to know what had happened to Edmund.
  • This lasted longer than I could describe, even if I wrote pages and pages about it.
  • You would have cried until there were no more tears left in you.
• Light Is Not Good: Jadis, the White Witch is evil. Played straighter in the film, where she is a normal human-looking blonde; in the book, her description is more reminiscent of a vampire, with raven hair, blood-red lips, and unnatural pallor. Notable in that Tilda Swinton was going to portray her as a brunette but producers thought she looked "too gothic".
• Limited Wardrobe, ironically: Examining the pictures closely reveals that the children are always wearing the same clothes (bar the addition of fur coats for the third entry to Narnia) despite the early chapters of the book taking place over several days. Perhaps justified, given the time period the book is set in.
• Loophole Abuse: How the Pevensies justify taking fur coats that don't belong to them into Narnia on the grounds that they're not actually removing them from the wardrobe. To their chagrin, however, they return having no idea where the coats are, as they've been busy ruling Narnia for a couple decades and misplaced them long ago, so the loophole didn't hold up.
• Magic Pants: At the end, the now adult Pevensies in their royal garb reenter the wardrobe from Narnia and return as children (or teens) back in their English clothing.
• The Marvelous Deer: The wish-granting stag—that is not caught. Instead, the hunt sends them back home.
• Men Are the Expendable Gender: Father Christmas tells Susan and Lucy, "Battles are ugly when women fight." This is why Peter gets a sword, Susan gets a bow, and Lucy a dagger (self-defense only).
• Mighty Whitey: Despite all the natives of Narnia being talking animals and mythological creatures, prophecy declares that the rightful kings and queens are four British humans, who aren't even from the same world. Though this is less to do with race and more to do with Humans Are Special.
• Minion with an F in Evil: Tumnus is under orders to turn in humans he finds to the Witch on the threat of being tortured and then turned into stone. When he finds Lucy, lures her to his cave, and plays his flute to her so that she'll fall asleep, Tumnus finds that he can't do it. He sobs and confesses to her before escorting her back to the wardrobe. He had never met a human and hadn't known what humans were like until meeting Lucy.
• The Mole:
  • Edmund, for the first half, although it is revealed to the reader at the start of the plot thread.
  • Jadis also fooled Edmund into thinking she was on his side long enough for him to lure his siblings to Narnia.
  • Tumnus was this to Lucy, then became a mole against the Witch after his Heel Realization
• Mr. Exposition: The beavers fulfill this role, and it avoids As You Know territory since the kids are new to that universe and really don't know any of the expository material.
• Mundane Solution: During the final battle, Edmund disables the Witch by smashing her wand with his sword, so she cannot turn any more people to stone.
• Mustache Vandalism: Edmund does this to the stone lion in the witch's courtyard, which he believes to be Aslan.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • Edmund's reaction when the White Witch turns a dinner party to stone for refusing to deny it was provided by Father Christmas, over his protests. At that point, Edmund realizes the evil he has sided with and wishes with all his heart that he could undo what he has done. Fortunately, Aslan later helps him do just that.
  • Tumnus reaches it immediately when he tries to kidnap Lucy for the Witch. Since he's a nice guy who was only doing it on pain of being turned to stone, she's able to talk him out of it.
• My New Gift Is Lame: In the musical, Mr. Beaver complains about Father Christmas giving him socks and underwear after he gave magic weapons to the kids.
• My Rule Fu Is Stronger than Yours: Aslan and Jadis argue about the Deep Magic and she seems to win. In the end, it turns out there are things he knows about it that she doesn't.
• Narrative Filigree: Lampshaded twice:
  • On the first page: "The servants' names were Ivy, Margaret and Betty, but they do not come into this story much."
  • Later, this is averted when describing Edmund's journey on the sledge with the White Witch: "this lasted longer than I could describe, even if I wrote pages and pages about it."
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Edmund absentmindedly tells the White Witch that Lucy met a faun the last time she was in Narnia, not realizing he's just blown Tumnus's cover. The faun might have gotten away with it had it not been for that (though he does say some of the trees are on Jadis's side too).
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The Witch's preference for turning people to stone and keeping them as trophies in her castle, as opposed to just killing them, means that Aslan can resurrect them all and lead them as reinforcements in the battle.
• Nice Mice: Who untie Aslan by biting through the ropes, not realizing he's already dead. The species becomes talking mice as a reward.
• Nightmare Fuel: Invoked by the Lemony Narrator, who explains that if he were to describe some of the more hideous creatures, your parents probably wouldn't let you read this book.
• No Full Name Given: We only find out the children's last name in later books (it's "Pevensie").
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Tumnus realizes he can't give up Lucy to the Witch and allows her to return home. When he stumbles into Narnia, Edmund unknowingly betrays him to the Witch so that when all four of them make it to Narnia, they find he has been captured. It's later revealed he was turned into a statue before being restored to life by Aslan before the final battle.
• Noodle Incident: The talk Aslan gives to Edmund after his Heel–Face Turn. The narrator tells us it's a moment that belongs to only the two of them, and he won't intrude.
• Non Sequitur Environment: One of the most famous examples of this trope, occurring when it's discovered that the eponymous wardrobe is actually a Portal Door: as she climbs through it, Lucy slowly notices that the fur coats are starting to feel more like tree branches and the mothballs crunching underfoot seem more like snow... until at last, she finds herself in the land of Narnia.
• The Noun and the Noun ...And the noun.
• Now You Tell Me: Subverted. Edmund has a brief Oh, Crap! reaction when Lucy tells him that the White Witch is the ruler of the land who makes it winter and never Christmas and that the Witch is seeking humans to murder. Unfortunately, said woman just passed by him in the snow, fed him Turkish Delight and hot chocolate, and promised to make him king if he returns with his siblings. Despite the warning and feeling ill from what he's learned, Edmund believes that Tumnus and Lucy are mistaken; the Turkish Delight still has a hold on his mind.
• Objectshifting: The Witch disguises herself and her dwarf as a rock and tree stump, when Aslan's rescue party turns up to save Edmund.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Edmund in the final battle, as Peter tells Aslan after the battle is won. He singlehandedly kept the battle going by fighting his way towards the White Witch and instead of directly attacking her, he smashed her wand with his sword, destroying it and taking away her ability to turn people into stone, and giving Peter's side a fighting chance.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Lucy has one when she realizes she is the child that Tumnus intends to hand over to the White Witch. Fortunately, he decides he can't do it and escorts her back to the wardrobe entrance.
  • Peter when Edmund tells him as they follow the robin that they don't have any idea of the way home from where they are.
  • Peter, Susan, Lucy, and the Beavers first when Lucy reveals Edmund has been in Narnia alone and didn't tell her what he'd done and who he'd met, meaning he had met the White Witch and effectively joined her side. Then they get another one when Mrs Beaver reveals the Witch will set out to catch them when Edmund reveals to her where they are.
  • The White Witch at the end when Aslan appears and launches himself at her. Doubly so because she had killed him and didn't know he had been restored to life.
• Old Magic: Aslan is resurrected by the "old magic" on the Stone Table where he is sacrificed, because he was innocent, a rule the White Witch seems to have forgotten. Who placed this magic and why are never explained, though in The Magician's Nephew we see that Aslan personally created Narnia, so he would naturally know about such magic and may have put it there himself specifically for this occasion.
• Ominous Mundanity: The castle of the White Witch is referred to as her "house", by the Witch herself, and her enemies, when it is fact a small castle, filled with statues of her enemies which she has turned to stone. Calling it a "house" is especially notable when she meets Edmund, having introduced herself as the Queen of Narnia, and told him to find her house between two hills, and has even suggested he tells his siblings casually "let's see who lives here". When Edmund sees the house later, he notes that it is more of a small castle than a house, with towers that look like dunce's caps, perhaps reflecting his own foolishness in joining the witch.
• Otherworldly Visits Youngest First: Lucy Pevensie, the youngest of the group, discovers the path to Narnia first. Edmund, the next youngest, also learns of Narnia's existence, but having fallen under the influence of the White Witch, lies and tells Susan and Peter that it was merely a game the two played. The Professor who has taken them in (and whom we later learn has good reason to believe Lucy) points out to Peter and Susan that if Lucy is the one who has a history of honesty, and Edmund is noted for being the more mischievous of the pair, then why are they doubting Lucy? This prompts them to enter the wardrobe with Lucy and Edmund, and learn the truth
• Pinned to the Wall: The White Witch sticks a sword through Peter's chain mail sleeve, pinning him to the ground so she can kill him.
• Plot-Sensitive Latch: Lampshaded, when Father Christmas tells Mrs Beaver that he will drop a new sewing machine at her house for her. When Mrs Beaver tells him that it's all locked up, Father Christmas says that locks and bolts make no difference to him.
• Portal Slam: The wardrobe's door.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: One junior stage adaptation cuts out the prose that reveals the White Witch is evil and Tumnus is good, while having the trips to Narnia happen within minutes rather than with long months in between. This makes it more mysterious to the audience unfamiliar with the book, about if Tumnus or the White Witch is telling the truth, up to Edmund betraying his family.
• Pretty in Mink: Fur coats are necessary in the deep and eternal cold.
  • Fur and Loathing: Jadis is described as having a magnificent ermine coat.
• Prophecies Rhyme All the Time: Almost.
  • There's the half-rhyme "When [Aslan] bares his teeth, winter meets its death".
  • When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone
    Sits at Cair Paravel in throne,
    The evil time will be over and done.

This is another half-rhyme (and also an eye rhyme), but here, the fact that the first two lines do rhyme perfectly just makes the half-rhyme with the last one more conspicuous and awkward.

• Race Against the Clock: After Edmund has sneaked out of the Beavers' house to betray them to the White Witch, everybody else realises that they must hurry to get away before the Witch comes to find them. Mrs Beaver seems in no particular hurry, and packs slowly and methodically, to the frustration of everybody else. She even lightly berates them for it later when they are camping in an uncomfortable place, telling them that if they hadn't fussed so much, she would have brought some pillows. Later, it is a race between the Beavers' party and the White Witch to reach the Stone Table first. As the snow melts, the Beavers have an advantage, as they are walking, and the Witch is on a sledge.
• Rain, Rain, Go Away: The children are prompted to explore the house (and thus kick off the plot) because it's too rainy to do anything outside.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: The White Witch in the book, with some elaboration in the prequel The Magician's Nephew. As of this story, her pallor has become almost inhuman, though she still remains beautiful. Handled differently in the various adaptations: the BBC version made her up in white face paint, while the American film ignored this aspect of her and made her blonde instead (admittedly, she's still fairly pale, just nothing you wouldn't expect from someone who isn't outside much, though the children, who have been outside as much as she has, have more color).
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • Peter and Susan go to the Professor because they are concerned that Lucy is making up stories about finding a magical country inside of a wardrobe. To their surprise, the Professor takes Lucy's side, logically deducing that since Lucy is neither a compulsive liar nor insane, she must be telling the truth. Of course, we find out in a later book that the Professor has actually been there himself.
  • The Beavers prove to be this as well. Tumnus tells them to find the kids when he realizes he's in trouble, giving them Lucy's handkerchief to reassure them the Beavers are on their side. They hush the children where the trees may overhear them, take them to the lodge to feed them, and explain everything. Mr. Beaver isn't angry that Edmund betrayed them, just disappointed and suspicious. He tells the kids calmly that they can't rescue their little brother or Tumnus unless they get to Aslan first.
• Redemption Equals Death: Subverted. It looks as if Edmund will suffer this after redeeming himself by destroying the Witch's wand, but he is saved by Lucy's cordial.
• Resurrection Gambit: Aslan employs this. Jadis, having tricked Edmund into betraying his family, has the right to execute him, which would screw up the prophecy that requires four humans to sit at Cair Paravel and become kings and queens in order to break her power forever. Aslan offers himself instead, and she happily accepts what seems like a bigger prize, not realizing that the ancient magic laid on the sacrificial Stone Table will resurrect him because he was innocent and accepted the punishment freely. As a result, Edmund is absolved and able to help complete the prophecy while Aslan is ultimately no weaker for having been briefly dead and rallies the Witch's enemies to defeat her in battle.
• Rule of Symbolism: As a Christian allegory, nearly every one of the book's major plot points ties back into a corresponding plot point in the Gospels in some way or another.
  • The Pevensie siblings come to see themselves as Aslan's disciples, and vow to carry out his will in Narnia by fighting the White Witch. The leader of the group is named "Peter".
  • Edmund's betrayal of the group (for Turkish Delight) is based on Judas Iscariot's betrayal of Jesus (for 30 pieces of silver). Aslan chooses to peacefully give himself up to the White Witch after his betrayal, just as Jesus chooses to peacefully give himself up to the Romans.
  • Aslan's death and resurrection at the Stone Table is based on Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection. The innocent Aslan chooses to die in place of the traitor Edmund, just as the sinless Jesus chooses to die to atone for the sins of humanity. Before killing him, the White Witch's minions humiliate Aslan by binding him and forcibly shaving his mane, just as the Roman soldiers humiliate Jesus by stripping him naked, gambling for his clothes, forcing him to drink sour wine, and crowning him with thorns.
  • The two girls in the quartet, Susan and Lucy, stay with Aslan to comfort him before his death, and are the first to find him alive after his miraculous resurrection, just as a group of women close to Jesus (including Mary Magdalene and at least one other woman) witness his crucifixion and first realize that he's alive after finding his tomb empty.
  • The Stone Table, which represents the most ancient laws of Narnia, symbolically stands in for the divine law of the Old Testament (which was engraved on stone tablets given to Moses). Aslan's death and resurrection causes the table to crack, signifying the beginning of a new age built on Aslan's law. In the Christian Bible, Jesus's death and resurrection signifies the beginning of the New Covenant (or New Testament), and the beginning of a new age based on the Law of Jesus Christ.
• Running Gag: The first few chapters are insistent on reminding you what a very foolish thing it is to lock oneself into a wardrobe. It's said that Lewis wrote this in so that young readers playing pretend would not lock themselves in real-life wardrobes. In one of the movie's Hilarious Outtakes, Skandar Keynes (Edmund) does get himself locked in the wardrobe.
• Santa Claus: Father Christmas himself makes an appearance late in the book to provide the children with important tools. Because the White Witch's enchantments kept Christmas from happening, he notes that he hasn't been to Narnia for quite some time.
• Savage Wolves: Maugrim and his pack work for the witch as a secret police and enforcers.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here!:
  • Peter, Susan, Lucy, and the Beavers do this after Edmund slips away, as the Beavers realize they will be captured and likely killed if they stay at the dam. Sure enough, when the wolves sent by the Witch arrive there, they find the dam empty.
  • After the White Witch is killed in the final battle, her remaining forces either surrender or do this.
• Sequel Hook: Courtesy of the Professor in the end, who assures the children that someday they'll go back to Narnia.
• Sibling Rivalry: Edmund and Lucy, with more on Edmund's part, due to the fact that he enjoys tormenting her. Fortunately, they got better.
• Siblings Share the Throne: All four Pevensie siblings get crowned Kings and Queens of Narnia.
• Siding with the Suffering: When the White Witch turns the merry party of animals into stone, Edmund feels sorry for someone else, for the first time in the story.
• Silence, You Fool!: The White Witch says "Silence, fool!" on several occasions; on one of them to Edmund, when he dares to ask for Turkish Delight.
• Sinister Scraping Sound: When Edmund has been tied to a tree by the White Witch, he can hear the sound of a knife being sharpened. Fortunately, Aslan's party rescues him before anything happens.
• Skewed Priorities: Father Christmas says to Lucy that "battles are ugly when women fight". That is, she shouldn't fight because she's a girl, not simply because she's just a child. (It's explicitly fine for Peter to fight in battle when he is only perhaps thirteen.) So Lucy gets a dagger, strictly for self-defense, and a healing potion. However, Susan gets a bow and arrows, though she too is told to use her weapon "only in great need." Edmund isn't present to be compared with.
• Smart Ball: In the final battle and combined with Offscreen Moment of Awesome. Everyone who tries to directly attack the Witch is turned into a statue for their trouble. Edmund, meanwhile, takes a firm grip of this trope by using his sword to break the Witch's wand instead, as he knew he would be turned into a statue himself otherwise. This turned the tide of the battle until Aslan's reinforcements arrived.
• Spring Is Late: By about a hundred years.
• Stopped Dead in Their Tracks: After Lucy and Edmund first see Narnia, Edmund denies any of it was real to spite her. When all four children visit, Edmund accidentally reveals he'd been lying about it being his first time there, causing the other three children to stop and call him out.
• Succubi and Incubi: Easy to miss, but the narrator does say that there were incubi in the Witch's creatures.
• Supernatural Aid: Father Christmas's gifts to the Pevensies such as a Healing Potion.
• Sweets of Temptation: The White Witch converts Edmund to her cause with addictive Turkish Delight.
• Taken for Granite: How the White Witch deals with people she doesn't like.
• Take Me Instead: Aslan offers to die in Edmund's place, and Jadis accepts.
• Tears of Remorse: Tumnus, when he confesses to Lucy that he planned to hand her over to the Witch.
• Tender Tears: Susan and Lucy shed these during Aslan's Passion.
• The Scottish Trope: The White Witch forbids her dwarf and Edmund from saying Aslan's name under threat of instant death.
• "They Still Belong to Us" Lecture: The Witch tries to reclaim Edmund after his Heel–Face Turn by telling the other heroes that he is a traitor and his blood is her property. The problem is, according to the laws of magic in Narnia, she's right. This is why Aslan has to sacrifice himself in Edmund's place.
• Thicker Than Water: Peter says that even if Edmund did mean to betray them to the White Witch, he's still their brother and they have to save him.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Aslan tells the others to stay back and let Peter fight Maugrim alone. It directly echoes the story of Edward III saying of his son, the Black Prince, at the Battle of Crécy, "Let the boy win his spurs." (The spurs were a symbol of knighthood.)
• This Is Your Brain on Evil: One of the consequences of Edmund's G-Rated Drug usage is a lowering of his IQ.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Edmund likes Turkish Delight, and he mentions it to the Witch. She uses it against him.
• Transhuman Treachery: Mr. Beaver invokes this trope as he advises the Pevensie children that if something claims to be, used to be, or may become human, "keep an eye on it and feel for your hatchet."
• Too Dumb to Live: Lucy to a minor extent. Tumnus tells her that if the White Witch finds her, then she will be killed or turned to stone. Thus he escorts her back to the wardrobe entrance at the lamp post so she can escape. But she tries to prove to her siblings that the adventure happened, except she can't because the wardrobe is back to normal. A few days later, she tries again just to make sure that it really happened. This leads to Edmund following her and meeting the White Witch, but Lucy could have easily met her as well. Then when her siblings finally find the place, she only tells them much later about the White Witch when they find Tumnus's place ransacked.
• The Vamp: The White Witch for Edmund but with candy instead of sex. The movie sure kicks up that subtext, however.
• Umbrella of Togetherness: Lampshaded. When Tumnus suggests that Lucy takes his arm so he can hold the umbrella over both of them, the text states that Lucy finds herself walking arm-in-arm with the strange creature, as if they had known each other all their lives.
• Uncanny Valley: invoked Discussed—not as a vague feeling of uneasiness, but as a general moral rule in-universe:
  Mr. Beaver: There may be two views about Humans (meaning no offence to the present company). But there's no two views about things that look like Humans and aren't.
  Mrs. Beaver: I've known good dwarfs.
  Mr. Beaver: So've I, now you come to speak of it, but precious few, and they were the ones least like men. But in general, take my advice, when you meet anything that's going to be Human and isn't yet, or used to be Human once and isn't now, or ought to be Human and isn't, you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet.
• Victory-Guided Amnesia: After being crowned Kings and Queens of Narnia, the children slowly forget their old life on Earth—until one day, while out riding...
• Werewolf Theme Naming: In some American editions, the wolf Maugrim is known as Fenris Ulf.
• Wham Line: In-universe. "I say, where's Edmund?" from Lucy during the dinner scene with the Beavers. It alerts everyone to the fact that Edmund is missing, and they soon realize Edmund is on his way to betray them to the White Witch.
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • The animals having a dinner party before being turned to stone by the Witch (leading to Edmund's Heel–Face Turn) are never mentioned again^note some editions even include a couple graphic descriptions of how they're slowly eroded away by the weather over the centuries. Lewis was even asked about this by one of his readers (or the reader's mom) and hastily wrote back a Word of God that of course the animals at the dinner party got turned back, just not on stage, and he was very sorry the child was distressed about the issue.
  • Also, the Dwarf that drives the Witch's sleigh is a fairly prominent aspect of the story, yet his fate goes unaccounted for in the book. In the film, he gets shot by Susan in his attempt to finish off an injured Edmund.
• Will Not Tell a Lie: Lucy is a very truthful girl, and sticks to her story about finding Narnia and a faun in the wardrobe. She is very miserable when the others do not believe her.
• Winter Royal Lady: Although not fitting the title part of the trope, Jadis fits the other parts; calls herself queen, dresses in winter colors and styles etc.
• Would Hurt a Child: The Witch has absolutely no problem with murdering children, and neither do her followers, with the exception of Tumnus, who couldn't go through with it after meeting Lucy.
• Wrecked Weapon: Edmund smashes the White Witch's wand, preventing her from turning any more of Aslan's troops to stone.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: The book's use of Narnia Time. Becomes plot-significant twice — once early, when Lucy can't convince anyone she's spent hours in a magical land because she was only gone a few seconds, and at the end, when the now-adult Pevensies return to childhood.
• You Can't Fight Fate: The Golden Age Prophecy states that four noble humans will one day discover Narnia and put an end to the White Witch's tyranny. Although the White Witch tried to kill the Pevensies to prevent the prophecy from coming true, they eventually succeed in defeating her and are crowned as kings/queens of Narnia exactly as the prophecy had told.
• You Fool!: The White Witch's insult of choice, regularly screamed at her enemies, and her minions.
• You Have to Believe Me!: Lucy utterly fails to persuade anyone that she's visited Narnia. Professor Kirke, on the other hand, knows the truth and quietly helps make her case to the older children, pointing out that she's not a known liar and seems to be in her right mind... and further, if she were making it up, she would have hidden in the wardrobe a while instead of immediately rushing out with her story.