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* CycleOfRevenge: Her true motive behind giving power to bully victims. When Masaaki Yoshikawa, the one who ate her thistle, took his vengeance too far, the entire class instantly united against him and he became a victim of bullying once more.
* DealWithTheDevil
* DealWithTheDevil
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* TheCutie: [[AvertedTrope Averted.]] She plays the act of a small little girl with big teary eyes who has nothing but optimism in her words, but in reality she's a huge monster.
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* TheFakeCutie: She plays the act of a small little girl with big teary eyes who has nothing but optimism in her words, but in reality she's a huge monster.
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* AndIMustScream: One of the possible fates he can cause on his victims. Those who break his rules are forced into a painting on the art room's walls, of which he can choose to kill them there or make them suffer there eternally. This may not sound as bad depending on the painting, but considering how some of the ones presented are ''Art/SaturnDevouringHisSon'' by Creator/FranciscoDeGoya, ''Art/{{Guernica}}'' by Creator/PabloPicasso, and "Art/TheFourStagesOfCruelty" by William Hogarth, the fate of being eaten alive, burned in the flames of war, and being dissected eternally are horrid fates. Renoir even makes non-lethal paintings terrifying, as he traps Nafumi into Ascending and Descending by M.C. Escher, where she runs the stairs eternally without pause out of fear of being sent to the other ones.
to:
* AndIMustScream: One of the possible fates he can cause on his victims. Those who break his rules are forced into a painting on the art room's walls, of which he can choose to kill them there or make them suffer there eternally. This may not sound as bad depending on the painting, but considering how some of the ones presented are ''Art/SaturnDevouringHisSon'' by Creator/FranciscoDeGoya, ''Art/{{Guernica}}'' by Creator/PabloPicasso, and "Art/TheFourStagesOfCruelty" by [[Art/MarriageALaMode William Hogarth, Hogarth]], the fate of being eaten alive, burned in the flames of war, and being dissected eternally are horrid fates. Renoir even makes non-lethal paintings terrifying, as he traps Nafumi into Ascending and Descending by M.C. Escher, where she runs the stairs eternally without pause out of fear of being sent to the other ones.
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* AndIMustScream: One of the possible fates he can cause on his victims. Those who break his rules are forced into a painting on the art room's walls, of which he can choose to kill them there or make them suffer there eternally. This may not sound as bad depending on the painting, but considering how some of the ones presented are ''Art/SaturnDevouringHisSon'' by Creator/FranciscoDeGoya,''Art/{{Guernica}}'' by Creator/PabloPicasso, and "The Four Stages of Cruelty" by William Hogarth, the fate of being eaten alive, burned in the flames of war, and being dissected eternally are horrid fates. Renoir even makes non-lethal paintings terrifying, as he traps Nafumi into Ascending and Descending by M.C. Escher, where she runs the stairs eternally without pause out of fear of being sent to the other ones.
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* AndIMustScream: One of the possible fates he can cause on his victims. Those who break his rules are forced into a painting on the art room's walls, of which he can choose to kill them there or make them suffer there eternally. This may not sound as bad depending on the painting, but considering how some of the ones presented are ''Art/SaturnDevouringHisSon'' by Creator/FranciscoDeGoya,''Art/{{Guernica}}'' Creator/FranciscoDeGoya, ''Art/{{Guernica}}'' by Creator/PabloPicasso, and "The Four Stages of Cruelty" "Art/TheFourStagesOfCruelty" by William Hogarth, the fate of being eaten alive, burned in the flames of war, and being dissected eternally are horrid fates. Renoir even makes non-lethal paintings terrifying, as he traps Nafumi into Ascending and Descending by M.C. Escher, where she runs the stairs eternally without pause out of fear of being sent to the other ones.
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* AndIMustScream: One of the possible fates he can cause on his victims. Those who break his rules are forced into a painting on the art room's walls, of which he can choose to kill them there or make them suffer there eternally. This may not sound as bad depending on the painting, but considering how some of the ones presented are "Saturn Devouring His Son" by Francisco Goya, "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso, and "The Four Stages of Cruelty" by William Hogarth, the fate of being eaten alive, burned in the flames of war, and being dissected eternally are horrid fates. Renoir even makes non-lethal paintings terrifying, as he traps Nafumi into Ascending and Descending by M.C. Escher, where she runs the stairs eternally without pause out of fear of being sent to the other ones.
to:
* AndIMustScream: One of the possible fates he can cause on his victims. Those who break his rules are forced into a painting on the art room's walls, of which he can choose to kill them there or make them suffer there eternally. This may not sound as bad depending on the painting, but considering how some of the ones presented are "Saturn Devouring His Son" ''Art/SaturnDevouringHisSon'' by Francisco Goya, "Guernica" Creator/FranciscoDeGoya,''Art/{{Guernica}}'' by Pablo Picasso, Creator/PabloPicasso, and "The Four Stages of Cruelty" by William Hogarth, the fate of being eaten alive, burned in the flames of war, and being dissected eternally are horrid fates. Renoir even makes non-lethal paintings terrifying, as he traps Nafumi into Ascending and Descending by M.C. Escher, where she runs the stairs eternally without pause out of fear of being sent to the other ones.
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* TheRedBaron: Every youkai has at least some sort of title relating to the mystery they represent. [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Some of their names]] ''[[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep are]]'' [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep their titles]].
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* TheRedBaron: RedBaron: Every youkai has at least some sort of title relating to the mystery they represent. [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Some of their names]] ''[[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep are]]'' [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep their titles]].
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* TheRedBaron: Sumire of the Dusk, or Sumire of the Twilight.
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* TheRedBaron: RedBaron: Sumire of the Dusk, or Sumire of the Twilight.
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* TheRedBaron: "Hameln of the Music Room"... or at least, he'd ''like'' people to call him this, since he's not yet recognized as a mystery by the school.
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* TheRedBaron: RedBaron: "Hameln of the Music Room"... or at least, he'd ''like'' people to call him this, since he's not yet recognized as a mystery by the school.
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[[WMG: [[center:[-''[[Manga/TheUnforgivingFlowersBlossomInTheDeadOfNight Main page]]'' - ''[[Characters/TheUnforgivingFlowersBlossomInTheDeadOfNight Index]]''\\
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[[WMG: [[center:[-''[[Manga/TheUnforgivingFlowersBlossomInTheDeadOfNight Main page]]'' [[center:[-''Manga/TheUnforgivingFlowersBlossomInTheDeadOfNight'' - ''[[Characters/TheUnforgivingFlowersBlossomInTheDeadOfNight Index]]''\\
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[[WMG: [[center:[-''[[Manga/TheUnforgivingFlowersBlossomInTheDeadOfNight Main page]]'' - ''[[Characters/TheUnforgivingFlowersBlossomInTheDeadOfNight Index]]''\\
[[Characters/TheUnforgivingFlowersBlossomInTheDeadOfNightHumans Humans]] - '''Youkai''' -] ]] ]]
[[Characters/TheUnforgivingFlowersBlossomInTheDeadOfNightHumans Humans]] - '''Youkai''' -] ]] ]]
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----
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* EyesAlwaysShut: But when he does open them, you ''know'' something scary is going to happen.
** ProphetEyes: When his singular eye is open, he only has white scalera. No irises, no pupils, only white.
** ProphetEyes: When his singular eye is open, he only has white scalera. No irises, no pupils, only white.
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* EyesAlwaysShut: But when he does open them, you ''know'' something scary is going to happen.
** ProphetEyes: When his singular eye is open, hehappen. He also only has white scalera. [[ProphetEyes No irises, no pupils, only white.white]].
** ProphetEyes: When his singular eye is open, he
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* {{Moe}}: Pretty much her whole purpose within the story is to be the sympathetic moeblob at first.
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* {{Expy}}: He is basically [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Sakutaro]] in all but name.
** Also shares similar twists with [[spoiler: [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Oyashiro-Sama]], see TheScapeGoat below]].
** Also shares similar twists with [[spoiler: [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Oyashiro-Sama]], see TheScapeGoat below]].
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* {{Expy}}: He is basically [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Sakutaro]] in all but name.
**name. Also shares similar twists with [[spoiler: [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Oyashiro-Sama]], see TheScapeGoat below]].
**
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Baleful Polymorph was renamed per TRS. Also did some ZCE cleanup.
%%Commented-out examples are zero-context examples. Please do not re-add without adding context.
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* ArcVillain: In "Hameln’s Castanets."
* BalefulPolymorph: His power allows him to turn students who hear his music to turn into small animals.
* CoolMask
* BalefulPolymorph: His power allows him to turn students who hear his music to turn into small animals.
* CoolMask
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*
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* ForcedTransformation: His power allows him to turn students who hear his music to turn into small animals.
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Nice Hat has been disambiguated
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%%* NiceHat
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* NiceHat: Wears a lavender hat with a purple ribbon.
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Blinding Bangs is no longer a trope. Moving examples to other tropes when applicable.
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* BlindingBangs: You never see his eyes.
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* EyesOutOfSight: You never see his eyes.
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* InsistentTerminology: The way he's described makes him appear to be a {{Kitsune}} but, being the "king of animals", he insists that he is a lion.
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* InsistentTerminology: The way he's described makes him appear to be a {{Kitsune}} [[AsianFoxSpirit Kitsune]] but, being the "king of animals", he insists that he is a lion.
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* LittleBitBeastly: While the narrative implies that he may be a [[{{Kitsune}} fox]], he insists that he's really a lion.
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* LittleBitBeastly: While the narrative implies that he may be a [[{{Kitsune}} [[AsianFoxSpirit fox]], he insists that he's really a lion.
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It appears that the Japanese title for this page (Characters.Higanbanga No Saku Yoru Ni Youkai) was never deleted after the move, so I'm moving the subsequent content additions to this page before cutlisting that one
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* {{Youkai}}: Duh.
* YourSoulIsMine: Type 2B.
* YourSoulIsMine: Type 2B.
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* NiceHat
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* EvilRedhead: Somewhat.
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* GracefulLoser
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* GracefulLoser GracefulLoser:
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* TheUnfettered
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%%* TheUnfettered
*TheUnfetteredTrademarkFavoriteFood: Usually seen with a tea cup in hand, which is where his name comes from.
*
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* AffablyEvil
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* CheerfulChild
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* SpotOfTea: Usually seen with a tea cup in hand, which is where his name comes from.
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* SkunkStripe: One long strand of white hair
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* SkunkStripe: His hair has white streaks.
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* HandHidingSleeves: As with Sakutaro, it's to make him look cuter.
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Given the numerous Youkai that haunt the school, each of them with their own set of powers and mysteries to them, they're all detailed here. Read at your own risk, [[SignatureLaugh teehee~]]
[[foldercontrol]]
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[[folder:Youkai in General]]
{{Youkai}} are ghost-like creatures who are responsible for mysterious phenomena that occur within the school. Whenever someone gets mysteriously injured or suddenly suffers an unfortunate fate, a youkai is usually the one responsible. The youkai have their own hierarchy based around the school's [[TheSevenMysteries mysteries]], which are caused by the top seven youkai (well, eight counting Mesomeso). Besides these youkai, there are numerous other youkai who try to contend for spots in the hierarchy. All of them tend to share these characteristics.
* BadSamaritan: Most of them tend to make it look like they're doing their victims a favor when they're really thinking only about how they'll devour their next meal, which of course consists of human souls. To what degree of "bad" tends to differ with the Youkai in question.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: They certainly have no qualms in killing humans, but they don't see anything wrong with Marie refusing to do it or even trying to get in their way. Basically, hunting is part of their daily life, and even if Marie doesn't like it, she rapidly accepts it as something ordinary, remaining Higanbana's friend despite all that. Marie herself sometimes hunts on accident, like in "Utopia".
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: A variant. The school yōkai are born by the ghost stories of the school; which means that if these stories cease to be told, they disappear with them. It's mentioned in the Lunar Festival that the old school building used to have their own seven mysteries, but they disappeared when everything moved over to the new school.
* DrivenToSuicide: A common method of "hunting" apparently.
* KarmaHoudini: Since they’re so powerful, they never suffer for devouring people’s souls. Even [[spoiler:[[BigBad Sumire]]]] only received a slap on the wrist for her crimes.
* TheRedBaron: Every youkai has at least some sort of title relating to the mystery they represent. [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Some of their names]] ''[[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep are]]'' [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep their titles]].
* TheSevenMysteries: Each of the school's youkai is responsible for one. The start of the story, though, features the creation of an eighth, Mesomeso Marie.
* {{Telepathy}}: A common power they all share is the ability to listen to others thoughts, even that of other Youkai. They tend to respond to those thoughts as if their owner said them out loud.
* {{Youkai}}: Duh.
* YourSoulIsMine: Type 2B.
[[/folder]]
! The Eight Mysteries
The major {{Youkai}} who haunt the new school building, with the exception of Marie. Each of these youkai are divided up into their ranks based on how much power they have or how well known their legend is. And of course, a good portion of them have some of the stories revolving around their antics and hunts.
[[folder: The Headmaster]]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/principal_1572.jpg]]
The First Ranked Youkai, the Headmaster. His legend is that he is said to emerge from one of the pictures in the school principal's office, and eats anyone he happens across. Of course, he's supplemented by his powerful ability to erase memories, making it quite easy for him to hide the disappearance of any victims he devours or others make. This results in abit of a give and take relationship between himself and the other Youkai, ensuring that the other youkai don't have problems hiding their victims so long as the Headmaster is granted portions of the victim's souls.
----
* AffablyEvil: He's an otherwise polite and respectful gentleman who doesn't mind making conversation with normal humans, and is even somewhat fatherly towards even other youkai like Higanbana and Marie. Of course, this only lasts so long as you remain respectful to him.
* AlienGeometries: He has the power to enforce this on places, trapping people within twisted labyrinths where they can't escape lest they're shown the way out by a Youkai.
* BerserkButton: Being disrespectful to him. [[spoiler: Takeshi nearly dies for it.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's said to be a gentle guy most of the time, but he is absolutely terrifying the rest of the time.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: He's only ever known as "The Headmaster", and has no other titles than that.
* EyesAlwaysShut: But when he does open them, you ''know'' something scary is going to happen.
** ProphetEyes: When his singular eye is open, he only has white scalera. No irises, no pupils, only white.
* HighClassGlass: The VN adds a creepy [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eye]] insignia on his monocle. [[FridgeHorror If it even]] ''[[FridgeHorror is]]'' [[FridgeHorror an insignia]]...
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: His power is this in a nutshell, erasing whoever he devours from everyone's memories, including making people oblivious to any other personal belongings of theirs that may remain in the world. But as the trope below indicates, it's not absolute.
* LogicalWeakness: The Spirit Camera in Chapter 2 is apparently one to him. If people caught pictures of victims and made others remember them, it would effectively negate his power and in a sense, remove the victim from his stomach.
* MemoryWipingCrew: He's responsible for keeping people from searching out for the victims of Youkai via his powers. If people manage to remember them anyways, then he goes hunting for them himself and tries to make them forget or remove from them things that made them remember the people he devoured.
* NiceHat
* ThePatriarch: The head of the Seven Mysteries and possibly the strongest, most of the other Youkai defer to him or give him proper respect.
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:After Takeshi and Yoko's ghost break the CycleOfRevenge that caused them so much suffering, the Headmaster escorts Yoko's ghost back to Hell and ensures her that she will no longer suffer eternal torment there, allowing her to achieve peace.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: The Black Tea Gentleman]]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/homme_au_th_noir_5128.jpg]]
The Headmaster's right-hand man, also known as the Vice Principal, unofficially ranked second among the school youkai. He is never seen without a fully-prepared tea set. He makes contracts with humans by offering them his power to [[spoiler:[[YourMindMakesItReal escape reality and believe their own lies]]]] in exchange for a small portion of their souls. He is the main antagonist of "The Princess’s Lie."
----
* AboveGoodAndEvil: He reasons his contracts as a necessary anesthetic that allows people to go on in their lives despite the pain they face, placing himself above both of them.
* AffablyEvil: He's somewhere between this and FauxAffablyEvil. On one hand, he makes deals with tormented children, offering them a way to escape the pain [[spoiler: by escaping reality and believing their own lies]], and in exchange he eats only portions of their souls, not their whole lives. He does somewhat reason that his methods are akin to anesthetia or painkillers.
* ArcVillain: For "The Princess’s Lie."
* BrokenMasquerade: [[spoiler:His hold over Midori is broken once Marie beats him, [[MindRape though it turns out to be more harmful to Midori than beneficial]].]]
* DealWithTheDevil: Makes contracts with a sacrifice of a small sliver of one's soul.
* TheDragon: To the Headmaster. He is known as "The Second Rank In the Shadows" for a reason.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Midori calls him "Black Tea Gentleman" due to him arriving with a cup of tea in hand.
* EvilRedhead: Somewhat.
* EyesAlwaysShut: Not once are his eyes ever opened.
* GracefulLoser
** In The Princess's Lie, he's quite fine with being beaten by Marie to break his hold on Midori. [[spoiler: This is only because breaking his hold on Midori is actually more harmful to her and she'd come back to him. No matter what happened, he'd win.]]
** In Reaper of the 13th Step, he admits that he wanted to take Aya's soul for his own and in his own way praises how she has outwitted Izanami.
* HumanDisguise: In "Reaper of the Thirteenth Step", the Black Tea Gentleman also seems to serve as the genuine Vice Principal to the school when he's asked to award prizes to winners of the race, complete with a more mundane outfit.
* HypercompetentSidekick: He turns out to be this to the Principal. His bio notes that taking care of problems before they reach the Principal's ears is one of his virtues.
* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:He pretty much embodies this trope by allowing humans to escape reality and believe their dreams to be real in exchange for a bit of their soul.]]
* SkunkStripe: One long strand of white hair
* SpotOfTea: Usually seen with a tea cup in hand, which is where his name comes from.
* TheUnfettered
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:His contract with Midori is actually to protect her from Higanbana, who he knows would've done something [[CruelAndUnusualDeath much worse to her]].]]
* WickedCultured: Is almost never seen without a tea set lying around and he keeps a refined air about him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Izanami of the Thirteenth Step]]
The second ranked youkai, also known as the "Reaper of the 13th Step". His legend is that if a human steps on the 13th step on a staircase, he forces them into playing a game of tag each day, where if the human ever stops running, they are dumped straight into Hell. Granted, if the human can last 49 days of this, they will be free. He is the main antagonist of "Reaper of the Thirteenth Step".
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* AffablyEvil
** He devours souls like the others, but is kind enough to not go for immediately killing his victims, give them a head-start in his game and explains most of the rules he has, encourages them to succeed, and he also befriends Aya after she succeeds in avoiding him.
** The time limit for his game starts out at 5 minutes of avoiding him, of which he increases by five minutes per day. However, he willingly reduces it overall if the victim ran during the day. This includes between classes, for PE classes, or even running in their free time. He also allows his victims to choose a peaceful death if they've impressed him enough.
** If we also take the dream he shows Aya into account, he does seem to give a chance for even those who collapse to get back up and run again, only actually killing them if they refuse to. Then again, he does throw them into an AndIMustScream situation...
* AndIMustScream: Not to him, but his victims. Those who remain as "failures" in his eyes are killed by his scythe, then sent into a world where their soul is eternally tormented by hot and cold flames, piercing needle flesh and being essentially eternally digested in his stomach. It's shown that there's some souls who've been there long enough that they're essentially living lumps of meat that cannot scream anymore.
* ArcVillain: For "The Reaper of the Thirteenth Step".
* {{Foil}}: To the Black Tea Gentleman.
** Black Tea Gentleman is refined, wears a suit and is shown to be FauxAffablyEvil underneath his calm manner while Izanami is known to swear, wears a track suit and shows ToughLove on his victims.
** Their methods are also complete opposites: the Black Tea Gentleman is all about having children make contracts to go into their dream worlds to run away from reality, Izanami is about scaring the living daylights out of them and making them face reality.
** The Black Tea Gentleman practices ExactWords while Izanami WillNotTellALie.
** How they devour their prey differs. The Black Tea Gentleman seeks out his targets, isn't content with taking lives and takes portions of their souls like he would drink tea, letting his victims live in blissful ignorance of their situations. Izanami only chases prey that step on the thirteenth step, forces them to fear for their lives, killing them when they give up and eternally torments them in a realm that essentially serves as his stomach.
** Finally, they're both the second ranked Youkai in different ways. Izanami is the official second ranked Youkai of the Eight Mysteries, but the Black Tea Gentleman is the Principal's right hand man and equated as "the Second Rank in the Shadows".
* GracefulLoser: Congratulates Aya on successfully avoiding him for the 49 day limit and states that he'll be keeping an eye out on her from now on.
* HumanDisguise: At the end of "Reaper of the Thirteenth Step", he takes off his cloak to reveal a track suit and Aya refers to him as "Sensei". Given that the Black Tea Gentleman is seen serving as an actual Vice Principal, it's also likely that Izanami serves as a gym teacher.
* {{Shinigami}}: He mentions that he can ferry people to any afterlife he wants, when offering Aya the peaceful way out she originally wanted.
* SinisterScythe: One he only uses to kill those who give up in his game.
* SlasherSmile: Predominantly shown when chasing people. Becomes abit more of a genuine one as time goes on.
* SkunkStripe: His hair has white streaks.
* StealthMentor: Possibly this to Aya; he seems glad to be helping her find real meaning in life, even if it’s by endangering her.
* SureLetsGoWithThat: Played with. He originally didn't have a name, but someone started to add on "Izanami" as his name alongside the "Shinigami of the 13 Stairs". Despite the fact that it refers to the mythologically female Izanami, it does have the "Ruler of the Underworld" motif, so he goes with it. [[LampshadeHanging He refers to this when introducing himself to Aya.]]
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: He's the "Shinigami of the 13 Stairs" and his track suit at the end of his story has the number "13" on it. His 49 day limit also adds to the motif (4 + 9 = 13).
* ToughLove: He shows an odd form of this to his victims, trying to encourage them to live their lives and appreciate what they have. He accomplishes this by chasing them down in his exhausting game and threatening with the torment of Hell if he catches them.
* WillNotTellALie: He admits this when Aya accuses him of being dishonest with his bargain of offering to let Aya die peacefully like she originally wanted to. To his credit, he does seem to hold this up.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Azami the Vengeful]]
The fourth ranked youkai, also known as "Azami the Vengeful". Her legend deals with how when bullied children seem to make a complete 180% turnabout in personality, becoming violent bullies. Some may attribute it to long vacations, but others reason that they were approached by Azami and ate one of her magic thistles. Eating one of her thistles grants them the opportunity to become bullies themselves.
----
* BerserkButton: Being called an old lady. Or a {{Hypocrite}}.
* EvilDuo: With Sumire of the Dusk. This goes back to the days the school opened up in "When the Spider Lillies Bloomed", where she and Sumire were able to survive because they stuck together and took on other youkai together.
* FauxAffablyEvil: At first she seems to be AffablyEvil, offering power to bullied kids by turning them into bullies, and she even extends the offer to Yukari if the bullying becomes too much to handle for her. She even seems to wear a gentle appearance and smile, and justifies all of her actions as karma and divine intervention. But in reality, her real motive is to keep up a cycle of bullying and vengeance that feeds herself and Sumire, not to mention she uses honeyed words to dress up her actions as giving said kids a chance of exacting karma when in reality they're causing DisproportionateRetribution.
* FlowerMotifs: Fittingly enough, Azami has thistles. They represent devotion, strength, durability, determination, and punishment, all of which befit how she turns the bullied into bullies. They're also commonly thought of as weeds and bear thorns, which befits how Azami, for all her beauty, ultimately masks a thorned side that can bite if you don't expect it.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Her powers turn bullied children into bullies, but it's mentioned that the bullied who've had higher levels of pain and suffering before taking one of her thistles become even worse as a bully.
* GracefulLoser: She seems to take Yukari's breaking her and Sumire's cycle of bullying with grace. Although it's left somewhat ambiguous as to whether she's being FauxAffablyEvil about it or genuine, given her ManipulativeBastard nature.
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: When Sumire praises Azami for her cruelty being on par with Higanbana's, Azami takes offense to one particular note...
-->Sumire: "My sister's cruelty is on par with Higanbana's! She's a diabolical, heinous, malicious and hypocritical youka-! Fugey-!"
-->Azami: [[ScaryTeeth "Who are you calling a hypocrite~~~?!"]]
* KimonoIsTraditional: Her style of dress.
* ManipulativeBastard: Of a sort. She makes children into bullies by enticing and persuading them, compared to other Youkai who threaten or hurt their victims. Sumire denotes it as one of her strengths.
* OneeSama: To Sumire.
* TheCorrupter: As with most parts of her powers, she excels at turning bullied kids into bullies.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Kyou of the Mirror]]
The fifth ranked youkai, also known as "Kyou of the Mirror". He presides over numerous legends about the nature of mirrors, namely the ideas of there being a parallel universe known as the Mirror World behind the glass, finding ominous shapes in mirrors and even bumping into your doppelganger and meeting an early demise. He polishes all of the mirrors in the school, particularly one that is capable of becoming a doorway to the Mirror World.
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* AlmightyJanitor: Given he presides over an alarmingly high number of myths dealing with mirrors and is capable of summoning beings from other mirror worlds to his realm, even he doesn't know the full extent of his power. But then he's also only the fifth ranked Youkai, and spends most of his time polishing the 40 potential magical mirrors throughout the school.
* LittleBitBeastly: Has a pair of wolf ears and a wolf's tail, though that comes with being an inugami.
* MagicMirror: He's actually a collection of myths that deal with the magical power of mirrors, and his powers resolve around taking care of the mirrors around the school and guarding them. It also helps that he's an Inugami on top of that.
* NiceGuy: Compared to the other Youkai (particularly Higanbana), he's nice and courteous to Marie.
* NobleWolf: Has wolf ears and a tail and he's known to be one of the nicer Youkai of the bunch.
* RightUnderTheirNoses: As "Before the Spider Lillies Bloomed" says, he apparently hid himself away and stood at the sidelines while the other youkai slaughtered each other in order to survive.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Pretty much one of the nicer Youkai you'll meet.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Renoir of the Art Room]]
The sixth ranked youkai, also known as "Renoir of the Art Room". His legend is that you may be approached by someone who looks like the "Child With a Whip" portrait by Pierre Auguste Renoir in the Art Room. This being may offer you a brush, pencil or pen, may ask you who made a painting that's hanging in the art room. If you take up his offer, answer incorrectly or lie to him at all, he can trap you within a painting on the art room's walls to suffer the fate it shows. Granted, he spends most of his time sleeping within the portraits of the art room and only gets up occasionally to hunt. He's the Anti-Hero of "Renoir of the Art Room" story.
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* AndIMustScream: One of the possible fates he can cause on his victims. Those who break his rules are forced into a painting on the art room's walls, of which he can choose to kill them there or make them suffer there eternally. This may not sound as bad depending on the painting, but considering how some of the ones presented are "Saturn Devouring His Son" by Francisco Goya, "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso, and "The Four Stages of Cruelty" by William Hogarth, the fate of being eaten alive, burned in the flames of war, and being dissected eternally are horrid fates. Renoir even makes non-lethal paintings terrifying, as he traps Nafumi into Ascending and Descending by M.C. Escher, where she runs the stairs eternally without pause out of fear of being sent to the other ones.
* AnimateInanimateObject: As it turns out, Renoir was originally a tsukumogami who became one of the school's seven mysteries.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Is one of the nicer Youkai besides Kyou. However, he shows exactly how terrifying he can be when dealing with Nafumi, [[spoiler: Yuki's murderer. He traps Nafumi in an M.C. Escher painting, but declares the minute Nafumi stops running she will be transported to another painting where she'll be killed.]]
* BlindingBangs: You never see his eyes.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: Played with. He's really a boy, and only appears like a girl because the painting he's a tsukumogami of is that of a boy dressed like a girl, a common theme in Pierre Auguste Renoir's pieces. It goes as far as the chapter he appears in uses female pronouns to refer to him before TheReveal.
* TheGhost: He's never seen nor heard of in "Lunar Festival" which is most to keep his appearance a surprise in his focus story.
* HumansAreInteresting: What he believes in after learning about his friendship with Yuki. He then decides to show himself to the students in the Art Room from then on.
* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler: Renoir is legitimately saddened and guilty by Yuki's death because he wasn't strong enough to intervene. He feels, at least, that torturing Yuki's killer could help Yuki rest until he finds Yuki's soul.]]
* NiceHat: Wears a lavender hat with a purple ribbon.
* PhantomZonePicture: His preferred method of punishing rulebreakers is trapping them inside paintings.
* PowerPerversionPotential: In "[[{{Omake}} After School]]", the Nurse asks him to send her into her manga to flirt with the hot guys in them.
* RightUnderTheirNoses: While the school was still new and youkai were flooding in to find a place to stay and/or survive, Renoir hid within his paintings to avoid being found and eaten. This kept him alive and earned him the Sixth Rank.
* SamusIsAGirl: TheReveal in his chapter that he's actually a boy.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Sumire of the Twilight]]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sumire_2072.jpg]]
The Seventh Ranked Youkai, also known as "Sumire of the Twilight". She is the main antagonist of "Utopia", where she disguises herself as a transfer student named Reiko, and the antagonist of "A Thistle of Vengeance", and [[BigBad the true main antagonist of the overall story]]. Really looks up to Azami, who she refers to as an older sister.
-----
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: In her human guise, she makes herself out as this in order to make people into bullies.
* AlphaBitch: In an odd way. She turns everyone around her into bullies through her tears, and makes herself the most “popular” girl in school whenever she appears. Popular as in popular bullying target - everyone fixates on her. Then again, she fits in her normal Youkai personality: she's blonde, catty, superficial, and very cruel.
* AntiquatedLinguistics: When speaking as Sumire, she talks like this.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Never before will the player want to strangle a sobbing bullying victim.
* BigBad: She’s responsible for the plague of bullying that causes most of the conflicts in the story, and the reason Higanbana started to indulge in her PayEvilUntoEvil philosophy.
* BigSisterWorship: She looks up to her sister Azami.
* ButtMonkey: Her usual tactic of creating bullies is to turn herself into this, enduring whatever torment they throw at her. Her character file mentions [[TooKinkyToTorture she actually takes pleasure in being bullied.]]
* CardCarryingVillain: She loves bullying and everything about it.
* TheChessmaster: She stimulates the desires of Yukari's classmates to bully others so that when the time comes for them to change classes, they may spread bullying throughout the school and allow her to feast on the souls of bullied children. She even threatens Yukari that if she (as Reiko Osumi) leaves, all of the bullies she's made in that class will turn their attention towards her, and uses this fact to make Marie not take her down (despite how Marie would physically win against her) and MindRape her. [[UnwittingPawn Higanbana]] [[PayEvilUntoEvil thwarts her plan and pays her back in full]] by killing all the bullies in a BusCrash.
* TheCorrupter: Is responsible for the plague of bullies, and entices people to become bullies themselves to retaliate. She’s also the one responsible for Higanbana’s StartOfDarkness.
* TheCutie: [[AvertedTrope Averted.]] She plays the act of a small little girl with big teary eyes who has nothing but optimism in her words, but in reality she's a huge monster.
* CuteAndPsycho[=/=]CuteIsEvil: Her “optimism” is [[TooKinkyToTorture twisted]] at best and at worst a cover-up for her sadism.
* TheDogWasTheMastermind: A bullying victim is creating/intentionally provoking the bullying on a school-wide scale. And she’s only the ''second-lowest'' ranked Youkai, and was the lowest ranked before Marie showed up!
* EvilAllAlong: Who would have thought that Reiko, who's ProneToTears, was the BigBad creating the bullies?
* EvilDuo: With Azami the Vengeful. This goes back to the days the school opened up in "When the Spider Lillies Bloomed", where she and Azami were able to survive because they stuck together and took on other youkai together.
* EvilerThanThou: Higanbana, [[DiscOneFinalBoss who was built up as the main threat]], winds up looking like a saint compared to her.
* {{Expy}}: Reversed. While a good number of the characters in the series are based off of, if not counterparts to, characters from ''Higurashi'' and ''Umineko'', Sumire was actually used as the basis for a ''Higurashi'' character introduced later in the series' production, [[spoiler: Une]].
* ExtremeDoormat: Her fake schtick as a tormented human student revolves around a philosophy where someone has to suffer and be bullied [[ForHappiness so everyone can get along and be happy bullying her]].
* FantasticDrug: Her TenderTears act as this, getting people addicted to bullying.
* GreenEyedMonster: [[EvilIsPetty Apparently jealous of Higanbana having a TV in her room]]. Also a literal example.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: She corrupts Higanbana and Yukari ForTheEvulz and possibly to use them as pawns, but they turn around and ruin her plans.
* KarmaHoudini: Her commupance for causing the bullies in her class to get so bad that they nearly ''rape'' Yukari? Having all of said bullies and the teacher dying in a bus crash that Higanbana causes, after which Higanbana devours them all. Sumire is beyond pissed that her hunt was ruined, but otherwise suffers no damages to herself.
* KimonoIsTraditional: Goes nicely with her AntiquatedLinguistics.
* ManBehindTheMan: To Higanbana, being responsible for her turn to evil.
* MeaningfulName[=/=]SignificantAnagram: O'''sumi''' '''Re'''iko.
* MindRape: When beating down Marie, she drags her into what is presumably her AndIMustScream world, where her victims are bogged down and tossed around in a literal swamp where they relive their worst memories of being bullied.
* {{Moe}}: Pretty much her whole purpose within the story is to be the sympathetic moeblob at first.
* NewTransferStudent: How she’s introduced into the story. Rare villainous example; this is her disguise whenever she’s looking to corrupt a class.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: She turns herself into a ButtMonkey by acting like a [[StepfordSmiler Stepford Smiling]] little girl, which actually makes people want to bully her even more. Hell, even ''teachers'' want to bully her.
* OnlyOneName: At least, her real name is only one name.
* PetTheDog: For all her cruelty, she continually looks up to her sister, Azami.
* ThePollyanna[=/=]PerpetualSmiler: Subverted as it's all a part of her act as a transfer student, but when she’s being bullied and crying TenderTears, she never stops smiling. She rationalizes that this is because, in her eyes, [[TheNeedsOfTheMany she’s sacrificing her own happiness for those around her]]. As said, it's all an act and should be read as such.
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The entire class turns on her and becomes a [[CrapsaccharineWorld “Utopia”]] in the process. She invokes this upon ''herself'', [[TheCorrupter helping others unite to bully her.]]
* ProneToTears: She talks softly and spends half her time crying [[BitchInSheepsClothing in her first appearance]] due to the bullying she receives.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany[=/=]ForHappiness: As Reiko Osumi, her explanation to Yukari for letting herself be bullied is to sacrifice herself so everyone can be happy at her expense. In reality, [[TheSociopath she cares nothing]] [[ItsAllAboutMe for other people]].
* TheRedBaron: Sumire of the Dusk, or Sumire of the Twilight.
* SlasherSmile: After TheReveal she pulls these out frequently.
* SmugSnake: For all her manipulation, she is outdone by two of her own victims.
* SwissArmyTears: Her "Devil's Tears" are actually a highly corruptive FantasticDrug that inspires people to take their anger out on her and with enough time, become bullies themselves. The people drawn beneath the effect even suffer withdrawal symptoms if they don't have whoever they bully around, as seen when Yukari is stuck at home with a high fever.
* TenderTears: Quite often when she’s being bullied. Even then she still smiles...[[SwissArmyTears although given their power, it's best that she sheds as many as possible]].
* TooKinkyToTorture: She apparently ''likes'' being bullied.
* TrueBlueFemininity: Her school outfit.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A lot of the horrible things Higanbana does in the series can be traced back to her StartOfDarkness, which was a consequence of [[spoiler:one of Sumire's plans bringing a FateWorseThanDeath on Higanbana's MoralityPet. [[CardCarryingVillain Not that she regrets it or anything, mind you]]]].
* VerbalTic: "na no ja" in Japanese. Translated as "Teh heh heh".
* VillainousBreakdown: When Yukari manages to foil her plans [[HoistByHisOwnPetard with her sister’s own thistle]], she loses composure. In "[[{{Omake}} After School]]" she can be seen angrily ranting at Yukari and Azami.
* WalkingSpoiler: As one can see from all the spoilered tropes, the ''reason'' she is constantly bullied ([[spoiler:she is provoking it, as her initial personality turns out to be a facade to cover up her position as the true BigBad and a rather vile figure]]) is a major [[TheReveal reveal]].
* WickedCultured: She loves UsefulNotes/{{kimono}}s and tea ceremonies.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: One other tactic she uses to turn kids into bullies is to take a mortal form as a new classmate, and pretend that she's being bullied by someone else. She'll use this to get sympathy from other kids and have them attack the kid she's setting up in order to "defend" her. She's the reason Shuuichi was being bullied and subsequently lost his eyesight. She also [[EpilepticTrees may have pulled this on]] Hikaru.
[[/folder]]
! Other Youkai
[[folder: Sakunoshin]]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sakunoshin_186.jpg]]
The leader of the animal spirits who inhabit the school. He lives in a {{UsefulNotes/Shinto}} shrine on the school grounds.
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* CheerfulChild
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Judging from Michiru's description of him, Marie expected him to be a terrifying and vengeful spirit, and doubted she'd be able to speak on even terms with him, even as one of the eight highest ranking youkai in the school.
* {{Expy}}: He is basically [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Sakutaro]] in all but name.
** Also shares similar twists with [[spoiler: [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Oyashiro-Sama]], see TheScapeGoat below]].
* HandHidingSleeves: As with Sakutaro, it's to make him look cuter.
* InsistentTerminology: The way he's described makes him appear to be a {{Kitsune}} but, being the "king of animals", he insists that he is a lion.
* {{Leitmotif}}: A remix of "Sakutaro no ganbarimonogatari" plays during his appearance.
* LittleBitBeastly: While the narrative implies that he may be a [[{{Kitsune}} fox]], he insists that he's really a lion.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He might look like a kid, but he's by far the oldest of the known spirits inhabiting the school. This is because his shrine was built before there ''was'' a school. It's also the reason why he wasn't involved in establishing the youkai hierarchy.
* Really700YearsOld: Played with. Though he takes the form of a child, he's much older than any of the school youkai as his shrine was there before the school was.
* [[spoiler:TheScapegoat]]: [[spoiler:He's blamed for the "curse" that Michiru tries carrying out in "Shrine of the Guardian Spirit".]]
* VerbalTic: "Uryuu~!"[[note]]Shared with Sakutaro from ''Umineko''[[/note]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Hameln of the Music Room]]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hameln_9761.jpg]]
A youkai who haunts the school's music room, also known as "Hameln of the Music Room". According to his legend, anyone who enters the music room at night when no one else is around will hear the sound of his castanets playing, and then will turn into an animal to be lured away to their doom. He is not one of the eight ranked youkai of the school, but hopes to be. He is the main antagonist of "Hameln’s Castanets."
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* ArcVillain: In "Hameln’s Castanets."
* BalefulPolymorph: His power allows him to turn students who hear his music to turn into small animals.
* CoolMask
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Hameln, after cursing Higanbana into the form of a bunny, tries to eat her. Higanbana responds by biting onto his tongue and then eat it along with the rest of Hameln's insides.]]
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Hameln uses a pair of castanets for his magic spells.
* KillAndReplace: Subverted in that he's not taking Marie's exact form and powers, but his intentions to replace her as the eighth school mystery (and later Higanbana when she gets in the way) has him have this as his modus operandi.
* LazyBum: As Higanbana points out, he's using a human being to do his work for him instead of getting his victims by himself.
* TheRedBaron: "Hameln of the Music Room"... or at least, he'd ''like'' people to call him this, since he's not yet recognized as a mystery by the school.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: He's never seen without his mask, but when he leans close to Hikaru, he is described as having "stunningly red" eyes like a rabbit.
* SlasherSmile: Sports one of these at all times.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He aims to become one of the Eight School Mysteries, but also seeks to surpass the school and bathe the whole city in fear and terror thanks to his legend.
[[/folder]]
[[foldercontrol]]
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[[folder:Youkai in General]]
{{Youkai}} are ghost-like creatures who are responsible for mysterious phenomena that occur within the school. Whenever someone gets mysteriously injured or suddenly suffers an unfortunate fate, a youkai is usually the one responsible. The youkai have their own hierarchy based around the school's [[TheSevenMysteries mysteries]], which are caused by the top seven youkai (well, eight counting Mesomeso). Besides these youkai, there are numerous other youkai who try to contend for spots in the hierarchy. All of them tend to share these characteristics.
* BadSamaritan: Most of them tend to make it look like they're doing their victims a favor when they're really thinking only about how they'll devour their next meal, which of course consists of human souls. To what degree of "bad" tends to differ with the Youkai in question.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: They certainly have no qualms in killing humans, but they don't see anything wrong with Marie refusing to do it or even trying to get in their way. Basically, hunting is part of their daily life, and even if Marie doesn't like it, she rapidly accepts it as something ordinary, remaining Higanbana's friend despite all that. Marie herself sometimes hunts on accident, like in "Utopia".
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: A variant. The school yōkai are born by the ghost stories of the school; which means that if these stories cease to be told, they disappear with them. It's mentioned in the Lunar Festival that the old school building used to have their own seven mysteries, but they disappeared when everything moved over to the new school.
* DrivenToSuicide: A common method of "hunting" apparently.
* KarmaHoudini: Since they’re so powerful, they never suffer for devouring people’s souls. Even [[spoiler:[[BigBad Sumire]]]] only received a slap on the wrist for her crimes.
* TheRedBaron: Every youkai has at least some sort of title relating to the mystery they represent. [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Some of their names]] ''[[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep are]]'' [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep their titles]].
* TheSevenMysteries: Each of the school's youkai is responsible for one. The start of the story, though, features the creation of an eighth, Mesomeso Marie.
* {{Telepathy}}: A common power they all share is the ability to listen to others thoughts, even that of other Youkai. They tend to respond to those thoughts as if their owner said them out loud.
* {{Youkai}}: Duh.
* YourSoulIsMine: Type 2B.
[[/folder]]
! The Eight Mysteries
The major {{Youkai}} who haunt the new school building, with the exception of Marie. Each of these youkai are divided up into their ranks based on how much power they have or how well known their legend is. And of course, a good portion of them have some of the stories revolving around their antics and hunts.
[[folder: The Headmaster]]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/principal_1572.jpg]]
The First Ranked Youkai, the Headmaster. His legend is that he is said to emerge from one of the pictures in the school principal's office, and eats anyone he happens across. Of course, he's supplemented by his powerful ability to erase memories, making it quite easy for him to hide the disappearance of any victims he devours or others make. This results in abit of a give and take relationship between himself and the other Youkai, ensuring that the other youkai don't have problems hiding their victims so long as the Headmaster is granted portions of the victim's souls.
----
* AffablyEvil: He's an otherwise polite and respectful gentleman who doesn't mind making conversation with normal humans, and is even somewhat fatherly towards even other youkai like Higanbana and Marie. Of course, this only lasts so long as you remain respectful to him.
* AlienGeometries: He has the power to enforce this on places, trapping people within twisted labyrinths where they can't escape lest they're shown the way out by a Youkai.
* BerserkButton: Being disrespectful to him. [[spoiler: Takeshi nearly dies for it.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's said to be a gentle guy most of the time, but he is absolutely terrifying the rest of the time.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: He's only ever known as "The Headmaster", and has no other titles than that.
* EyesAlwaysShut: But when he does open them, you ''know'' something scary is going to happen.
** ProphetEyes: When his singular eye is open, he only has white scalera. No irises, no pupils, only white.
* HighClassGlass: The VN adds a creepy [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eye]] insignia on his monocle. [[FridgeHorror If it even]] ''[[FridgeHorror is]]'' [[FridgeHorror an insignia]]...
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: His power is this in a nutshell, erasing whoever he devours from everyone's memories, including making people oblivious to any other personal belongings of theirs that may remain in the world. But as the trope below indicates, it's not absolute.
* LogicalWeakness: The Spirit Camera in Chapter 2 is apparently one to him. If people caught pictures of victims and made others remember them, it would effectively negate his power and in a sense, remove the victim from his stomach.
* MemoryWipingCrew: He's responsible for keeping people from searching out for the victims of Youkai via his powers. If people manage to remember them anyways, then he goes hunting for them himself and tries to make them forget or remove from them things that made them remember the people he devoured.
* NiceHat
* ThePatriarch: The head of the Seven Mysteries and possibly the strongest, most of the other Youkai defer to him or give him proper respect.
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:After Takeshi and Yoko's ghost break the CycleOfRevenge that caused them so much suffering, the Headmaster escorts Yoko's ghost back to Hell and ensures her that she will no longer suffer eternal torment there, allowing her to achieve peace.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: The Black Tea Gentleman]]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/homme_au_th_noir_5128.jpg]]
The Headmaster's right-hand man, also known as the Vice Principal, unofficially ranked second among the school youkai. He is never seen without a fully-prepared tea set. He makes contracts with humans by offering them his power to [[spoiler:[[YourMindMakesItReal escape reality and believe their own lies]]]] in exchange for a small portion of their souls. He is the main antagonist of "The Princess’s Lie."
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* AboveGoodAndEvil: He reasons his contracts as a necessary anesthetic that allows people to go on in their lives despite the pain they face, placing himself above both of them.
* AffablyEvil: He's somewhere between this and FauxAffablyEvil. On one hand, he makes deals with tormented children, offering them a way to escape the pain [[spoiler: by escaping reality and believing their own lies]], and in exchange he eats only portions of their souls, not their whole lives. He does somewhat reason that his methods are akin to anesthetia or painkillers.
* ArcVillain: For "The Princess’s Lie."
* BrokenMasquerade: [[spoiler:His hold over Midori is broken once Marie beats him, [[MindRape though it turns out to be more harmful to Midori than beneficial]].]]
* DealWithTheDevil: Makes contracts with a sacrifice of a small sliver of one's soul.
* TheDragon: To the Headmaster. He is known as "The Second Rank In the Shadows" for a reason.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Midori calls him "Black Tea Gentleman" due to him arriving with a cup of tea in hand.
* EvilRedhead: Somewhat.
* EyesAlwaysShut: Not once are his eyes ever opened.
* GracefulLoser
** In The Princess's Lie, he's quite fine with being beaten by Marie to break his hold on Midori. [[spoiler: This is only because breaking his hold on Midori is actually more harmful to her and she'd come back to him. No matter what happened, he'd win.]]
** In Reaper of the 13th Step, he admits that he wanted to take Aya's soul for his own and in his own way praises how she has outwitted Izanami.
* HumanDisguise: In "Reaper of the Thirteenth Step", the Black Tea Gentleman also seems to serve as the genuine Vice Principal to the school when he's asked to award prizes to winners of the race, complete with a more mundane outfit.
* HypercompetentSidekick: He turns out to be this to the Principal. His bio notes that taking care of problems before they reach the Principal's ears is one of his virtues.
* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:He pretty much embodies this trope by allowing humans to escape reality and believe their dreams to be real in exchange for a bit of their soul.]]
* SkunkStripe: One long strand of white hair
* SpotOfTea: Usually seen with a tea cup in hand, which is where his name comes from.
* TheUnfettered
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:His contract with Midori is actually to protect her from Higanbana, who he knows would've done something [[CruelAndUnusualDeath much worse to her]].]]
* WickedCultured: Is almost never seen without a tea set lying around and he keeps a refined air about him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Izanami of the Thirteenth Step]]
The second ranked youkai, also known as the "Reaper of the 13th Step". His legend is that if a human steps on the 13th step on a staircase, he forces them into playing a game of tag each day, where if the human ever stops running, they are dumped straight into Hell. Granted, if the human can last 49 days of this, they will be free. He is the main antagonist of "Reaper of the Thirteenth Step".
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* AffablyEvil
** He devours souls like the others, but is kind enough to not go for immediately killing his victims, give them a head-start in his game and explains most of the rules he has, encourages them to succeed, and he also befriends Aya after she succeeds in avoiding him.
** The time limit for his game starts out at 5 minutes of avoiding him, of which he increases by five minutes per day. However, he willingly reduces it overall if the victim ran during the day. This includes between classes, for PE classes, or even running in their free time. He also allows his victims to choose a peaceful death if they've impressed him enough.
** If we also take the dream he shows Aya into account, he does seem to give a chance for even those who collapse to get back up and run again, only actually killing them if they refuse to. Then again, he does throw them into an AndIMustScream situation...
* AndIMustScream: Not to him, but his victims. Those who remain as "failures" in his eyes are killed by his scythe, then sent into a world where their soul is eternally tormented by hot and cold flames, piercing needle flesh and being essentially eternally digested in his stomach. It's shown that there's some souls who've been there long enough that they're essentially living lumps of meat that cannot scream anymore.
* ArcVillain: For "The Reaper of the Thirteenth Step".
* {{Foil}}: To the Black Tea Gentleman.
** Black Tea Gentleman is refined, wears a suit and is shown to be FauxAffablyEvil underneath his calm manner while Izanami is known to swear, wears a track suit and shows ToughLove on his victims.
** Their methods are also complete opposites: the Black Tea Gentleman is all about having children make contracts to go into their dream worlds to run away from reality, Izanami is about scaring the living daylights out of them and making them face reality.
** The Black Tea Gentleman practices ExactWords while Izanami WillNotTellALie.
** How they devour their prey differs. The Black Tea Gentleman seeks out his targets, isn't content with taking lives and takes portions of their souls like he would drink tea, letting his victims live in blissful ignorance of their situations. Izanami only chases prey that step on the thirteenth step, forces them to fear for their lives, killing them when they give up and eternally torments them in a realm that essentially serves as his stomach.
** Finally, they're both the second ranked Youkai in different ways. Izanami is the official second ranked Youkai of the Eight Mysteries, but the Black Tea Gentleman is the Principal's right hand man and equated as "the Second Rank in the Shadows".
* GracefulLoser: Congratulates Aya on successfully avoiding him for the 49 day limit and states that he'll be keeping an eye out on her from now on.
* HumanDisguise: At the end of "Reaper of the Thirteenth Step", he takes off his cloak to reveal a track suit and Aya refers to him as "Sensei". Given that the Black Tea Gentleman is seen serving as an actual Vice Principal, it's also likely that Izanami serves as a gym teacher.
* {{Shinigami}}: He mentions that he can ferry people to any afterlife he wants, when offering Aya the peaceful way out she originally wanted.
* SinisterScythe: One he only uses to kill those who give up in his game.
* SlasherSmile: Predominantly shown when chasing people. Becomes abit more of a genuine one as time goes on.
* SkunkStripe: His hair has white streaks.
* StealthMentor: Possibly this to Aya; he seems glad to be helping her find real meaning in life, even if it’s by endangering her.
* SureLetsGoWithThat: Played with. He originally didn't have a name, but someone started to add on "Izanami" as his name alongside the "Shinigami of the 13 Stairs". Despite the fact that it refers to the mythologically female Izanami, it does have the "Ruler of the Underworld" motif, so he goes with it. [[LampshadeHanging He refers to this when introducing himself to Aya.]]
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: He's the "Shinigami of the 13 Stairs" and his track suit at the end of his story has the number "13" on it. His 49 day limit also adds to the motif (4 + 9 = 13).
* ToughLove: He shows an odd form of this to his victims, trying to encourage them to live their lives and appreciate what they have. He accomplishes this by chasing them down in his exhausting game and threatening with the torment of Hell if he catches them.
* WillNotTellALie: He admits this when Aya accuses him of being dishonest with his bargain of offering to let Aya die peacefully like she originally wanted to. To his credit, he does seem to hold this up.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Azami the Vengeful]]
The fourth ranked youkai, also known as "Azami the Vengeful". Her legend deals with how when bullied children seem to make a complete 180% turnabout in personality, becoming violent bullies. Some may attribute it to long vacations, but others reason that they were approached by Azami and ate one of her magic thistles. Eating one of her thistles grants them the opportunity to become bullies themselves.
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* BerserkButton: Being called an old lady. Or a {{Hypocrite}}.
* EvilDuo: With Sumire of the Dusk. This goes back to the days the school opened up in "When the Spider Lillies Bloomed", where she and Sumire were able to survive because they stuck together and took on other youkai together.
* FauxAffablyEvil: At first she seems to be AffablyEvil, offering power to bullied kids by turning them into bullies, and she even extends the offer to Yukari if the bullying becomes too much to handle for her. She even seems to wear a gentle appearance and smile, and justifies all of her actions as karma and divine intervention. But in reality, her real motive is to keep up a cycle of bullying and vengeance that feeds herself and Sumire, not to mention she uses honeyed words to dress up her actions as giving said kids a chance of exacting karma when in reality they're causing DisproportionateRetribution.
* FlowerMotifs: Fittingly enough, Azami has thistles. They represent devotion, strength, durability, determination, and punishment, all of which befit how she turns the bullied into bullies. They're also commonly thought of as weeds and bear thorns, which befits how Azami, for all her beauty, ultimately masks a thorned side that can bite if you don't expect it.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Her powers turn bullied children into bullies, but it's mentioned that the bullied who've had higher levels of pain and suffering before taking one of her thistles become even worse as a bully.
* GracefulLoser: She seems to take Yukari's breaking her and Sumire's cycle of bullying with grace. Although it's left somewhat ambiguous as to whether she's being FauxAffablyEvil about it or genuine, given her ManipulativeBastard nature.
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: When Sumire praises Azami for her cruelty being on par with Higanbana's, Azami takes offense to one particular note...
-->Sumire: "My sister's cruelty is on par with Higanbana's! She's a diabolical, heinous, malicious and hypocritical youka-! Fugey-!"
-->Azami: [[ScaryTeeth "Who are you calling a hypocrite~~~?!"]]
* KimonoIsTraditional: Her style of dress.
* ManipulativeBastard: Of a sort. She makes children into bullies by enticing and persuading them, compared to other Youkai who threaten or hurt their victims. Sumire denotes it as one of her strengths.
* OneeSama: To Sumire.
* TheCorrupter: As with most parts of her powers, she excels at turning bullied kids into bullies.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Kyou of the Mirror]]
The fifth ranked youkai, also known as "Kyou of the Mirror". He presides over numerous legends about the nature of mirrors, namely the ideas of there being a parallel universe known as the Mirror World behind the glass, finding ominous shapes in mirrors and even bumping into your doppelganger and meeting an early demise. He polishes all of the mirrors in the school, particularly one that is capable of becoming a doorway to the Mirror World.
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* AlmightyJanitor: Given he presides over an alarmingly high number of myths dealing with mirrors and is capable of summoning beings from other mirror worlds to his realm, even he doesn't know the full extent of his power. But then he's also only the fifth ranked Youkai, and spends most of his time polishing the 40 potential magical mirrors throughout the school.
* LittleBitBeastly: Has a pair of wolf ears and a wolf's tail, though that comes with being an inugami.
* MagicMirror: He's actually a collection of myths that deal with the magical power of mirrors, and his powers resolve around taking care of the mirrors around the school and guarding them. It also helps that he's an Inugami on top of that.
* NiceGuy: Compared to the other Youkai (particularly Higanbana), he's nice and courteous to Marie.
* NobleWolf: Has wolf ears and a tail and he's known to be one of the nicer Youkai of the bunch.
* RightUnderTheirNoses: As "Before the Spider Lillies Bloomed" says, he apparently hid himself away and stood at the sidelines while the other youkai slaughtered each other in order to survive.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Pretty much one of the nicer Youkai you'll meet.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Renoir of the Art Room]]
The sixth ranked youkai, also known as "Renoir of the Art Room". His legend is that you may be approached by someone who looks like the "Child With a Whip" portrait by Pierre Auguste Renoir in the Art Room. This being may offer you a brush, pencil or pen, may ask you who made a painting that's hanging in the art room. If you take up his offer, answer incorrectly or lie to him at all, he can trap you within a painting on the art room's walls to suffer the fate it shows. Granted, he spends most of his time sleeping within the portraits of the art room and only gets up occasionally to hunt. He's the Anti-Hero of "Renoir of the Art Room" story.
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* AndIMustScream: One of the possible fates he can cause on his victims. Those who break his rules are forced into a painting on the art room's walls, of which he can choose to kill them there or make them suffer there eternally. This may not sound as bad depending on the painting, but considering how some of the ones presented are "Saturn Devouring His Son" by Francisco Goya, "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso, and "The Four Stages of Cruelty" by William Hogarth, the fate of being eaten alive, burned in the flames of war, and being dissected eternally are horrid fates. Renoir even makes non-lethal paintings terrifying, as he traps Nafumi into Ascending and Descending by M.C. Escher, where she runs the stairs eternally without pause out of fear of being sent to the other ones.
* AnimateInanimateObject: As it turns out, Renoir was originally a tsukumogami who became one of the school's seven mysteries.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Is one of the nicer Youkai besides Kyou. However, he shows exactly how terrifying he can be when dealing with Nafumi, [[spoiler: Yuki's murderer. He traps Nafumi in an M.C. Escher painting, but declares the minute Nafumi stops running she will be transported to another painting where she'll be killed.]]
* BlindingBangs: You never see his eyes.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: Played with. He's really a boy, and only appears like a girl because the painting he's a tsukumogami of is that of a boy dressed like a girl, a common theme in Pierre Auguste Renoir's pieces. It goes as far as the chapter he appears in uses female pronouns to refer to him before TheReveal.
* TheGhost: He's never seen nor heard of in "Lunar Festival" which is most to keep his appearance a surprise in his focus story.
* HumansAreInteresting: What he believes in after learning about his friendship with Yuki. He then decides to show himself to the students in the Art Room from then on.
* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler: Renoir is legitimately saddened and guilty by Yuki's death because he wasn't strong enough to intervene. He feels, at least, that torturing Yuki's killer could help Yuki rest until he finds Yuki's soul.]]
* NiceHat: Wears a lavender hat with a purple ribbon.
* PhantomZonePicture: His preferred method of punishing rulebreakers is trapping them inside paintings.
* PowerPerversionPotential: In "[[{{Omake}} After School]]", the Nurse asks him to send her into her manga to flirt with the hot guys in them.
* RightUnderTheirNoses: While the school was still new and youkai were flooding in to find a place to stay and/or survive, Renoir hid within his paintings to avoid being found and eaten. This kept him alive and earned him the Sixth Rank.
* SamusIsAGirl: TheReveal in his chapter that he's actually a boy.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Sumire of the Twilight]]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sumire_2072.jpg]]
The Seventh Ranked Youkai, also known as "Sumire of the Twilight". She is the main antagonist of "Utopia", where she disguises herself as a transfer student named Reiko, and the antagonist of "A Thistle of Vengeance", and [[BigBad the true main antagonist of the overall story]]. Really looks up to Azami, who she refers to as an older sister.
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* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: In her human guise, she makes herself out as this in order to make people into bullies.
* AlphaBitch: In an odd way. She turns everyone around her into bullies through her tears, and makes herself the most “popular” girl in school whenever she appears. Popular as in popular bullying target - everyone fixates on her. Then again, she fits in her normal Youkai personality: she's blonde, catty, superficial, and very cruel.
* AntiquatedLinguistics: When speaking as Sumire, she talks like this.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Never before will the player want to strangle a sobbing bullying victim.
* BigBad: She’s responsible for the plague of bullying that causes most of the conflicts in the story, and the reason Higanbana started to indulge in her PayEvilUntoEvil philosophy.
* BigSisterWorship: She looks up to her sister Azami.
* ButtMonkey: Her usual tactic of creating bullies is to turn herself into this, enduring whatever torment they throw at her. Her character file mentions [[TooKinkyToTorture she actually takes pleasure in being bullied.]]
* CardCarryingVillain: She loves bullying and everything about it.
* TheChessmaster: She stimulates the desires of Yukari's classmates to bully others so that when the time comes for them to change classes, they may spread bullying throughout the school and allow her to feast on the souls of bullied children. She even threatens Yukari that if she (as Reiko Osumi) leaves, all of the bullies she's made in that class will turn their attention towards her, and uses this fact to make Marie not take her down (despite how Marie would physically win against her) and MindRape her. [[UnwittingPawn Higanbana]] [[PayEvilUntoEvil thwarts her plan and pays her back in full]] by killing all the bullies in a BusCrash.
* TheCorrupter: Is responsible for the plague of bullies, and entices people to become bullies themselves to retaliate. She’s also the one responsible for Higanbana’s StartOfDarkness.
* TheCutie: [[AvertedTrope Averted.]] She plays the act of a small little girl with big teary eyes who has nothing but optimism in her words, but in reality she's a huge monster.
* CuteAndPsycho[=/=]CuteIsEvil: Her “optimism” is [[TooKinkyToTorture twisted]] at best and at worst a cover-up for her sadism.
* TheDogWasTheMastermind: A bullying victim is creating/intentionally provoking the bullying on a school-wide scale. And she’s only the ''second-lowest'' ranked Youkai, and was the lowest ranked before Marie showed up!
* EvilAllAlong: Who would have thought that Reiko, who's ProneToTears, was the BigBad creating the bullies?
* EvilDuo: With Azami the Vengeful. This goes back to the days the school opened up in "When the Spider Lillies Bloomed", where she and Azami were able to survive because they stuck together and took on other youkai together.
* EvilerThanThou: Higanbana, [[DiscOneFinalBoss who was built up as the main threat]], winds up looking like a saint compared to her.
* {{Expy}}: Reversed. While a good number of the characters in the series are based off of, if not counterparts to, characters from ''Higurashi'' and ''Umineko'', Sumire was actually used as the basis for a ''Higurashi'' character introduced later in the series' production, [[spoiler: Une]].
* ExtremeDoormat: Her fake schtick as a tormented human student revolves around a philosophy where someone has to suffer and be bullied [[ForHappiness so everyone can get along and be happy bullying her]].
* FantasticDrug: Her TenderTears act as this, getting people addicted to bullying.
* GreenEyedMonster: [[EvilIsPetty Apparently jealous of Higanbana having a TV in her room]]. Also a literal example.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: She corrupts Higanbana and Yukari ForTheEvulz and possibly to use them as pawns, but they turn around and ruin her plans.
* KarmaHoudini: Her commupance for causing the bullies in her class to get so bad that they nearly ''rape'' Yukari? Having all of said bullies and the teacher dying in a bus crash that Higanbana causes, after which Higanbana devours them all. Sumire is beyond pissed that her hunt was ruined, but otherwise suffers no damages to herself.
* KimonoIsTraditional: Goes nicely with her AntiquatedLinguistics.
* ManBehindTheMan: To Higanbana, being responsible for her turn to evil.
* MeaningfulName[=/=]SignificantAnagram: O'''sumi''' '''Re'''iko.
* MindRape: When beating down Marie, she drags her into what is presumably her AndIMustScream world, where her victims are bogged down and tossed around in a literal swamp where they relive their worst memories of being bullied.
* {{Moe}}: Pretty much her whole purpose within the story is to be the sympathetic moeblob at first.
* NewTransferStudent: How she’s introduced into the story. Rare villainous example; this is her disguise whenever she’s looking to corrupt a class.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: She turns herself into a ButtMonkey by acting like a [[StepfordSmiler Stepford Smiling]] little girl, which actually makes people want to bully her even more. Hell, even ''teachers'' want to bully her.
* OnlyOneName: At least, her real name is only one name.
* PetTheDog: For all her cruelty, she continually looks up to her sister, Azami.
* ThePollyanna[=/=]PerpetualSmiler: Subverted as it's all a part of her act as a transfer student, but when she’s being bullied and crying TenderTears, she never stops smiling. She rationalizes that this is because, in her eyes, [[TheNeedsOfTheMany she’s sacrificing her own happiness for those around her]]. As said, it's all an act and should be read as such.
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The entire class turns on her and becomes a [[CrapsaccharineWorld “Utopia”]] in the process. She invokes this upon ''herself'', [[TheCorrupter helping others unite to bully her.]]
* ProneToTears: She talks softly and spends half her time crying [[BitchInSheepsClothing in her first appearance]] due to the bullying she receives.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany[=/=]ForHappiness: As Reiko Osumi, her explanation to Yukari for letting herself be bullied is to sacrifice herself so everyone can be happy at her expense. In reality, [[TheSociopath she cares nothing]] [[ItsAllAboutMe for other people]].
* TheRedBaron: Sumire of the Dusk, or Sumire of the Twilight.
* SlasherSmile: After TheReveal she pulls these out frequently.
* SmugSnake: For all her manipulation, she is outdone by two of her own victims.
* SwissArmyTears: Her "Devil's Tears" are actually a highly corruptive FantasticDrug that inspires people to take their anger out on her and with enough time, become bullies themselves. The people drawn beneath the effect even suffer withdrawal symptoms if they don't have whoever they bully around, as seen when Yukari is stuck at home with a high fever.
* TenderTears: Quite often when she’s being bullied. Even then she still smiles...[[SwissArmyTears although given their power, it's best that she sheds as many as possible]].
* TooKinkyToTorture: She apparently ''likes'' being bullied.
* TrueBlueFemininity: Her school outfit.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A lot of the horrible things Higanbana does in the series can be traced back to her StartOfDarkness, which was a consequence of [[spoiler:one of Sumire's plans bringing a FateWorseThanDeath on Higanbana's MoralityPet. [[CardCarryingVillain Not that she regrets it or anything, mind you]]]].
* VerbalTic: "na no ja" in Japanese. Translated as "Teh heh heh".
* VillainousBreakdown: When Yukari manages to foil her plans [[HoistByHisOwnPetard with her sister’s own thistle]], she loses composure. In "[[{{Omake}} After School]]" she can be seen angrily ranting at Yukari and Azami.
* WalkingSpoiler: As one can see from all the spoilered tropes, the ''reason'' she is constantly bullied ([[spoiler:she is provoking it, as her initial personality turns out to be a facade to cover up her position as the true BigBad and a rather vile figure]]) is a major [[TheReveal reveal]].
* WickedCultured: She loves UsefulNotes/{{kimono}}s and tea ceremonies.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: One other tactic she uses to turn kids into bullies is to take a mortal form as a new classmate, and pretend that she's being bullied by someone else. She'll use this to get sympathy from other kids and have them attack the kid she's setting up in order to "defend" her. She's the reason Shuuichi was being bullied and subsequently lost his eyesight. She also [[EpilepticTrees may have pulled this on]] Hikaru.
[[/folder]]
! Other Youkai
[[folder: Sakunoshin]]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sakunoshin_186.jpg]]
The leader of the animal spirits who inhabit the school. He lives in a {{UsefulNotes/Shinto}} shrine on the school grounds.
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* CheerfulChild
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Judging from Michiru's description of him, Marie expected him to be a terrifying and vengeful spirit, and doubted she'd be able to speak on even terms with him, even as one of the eight highest ranking youkai in the school.
* {{Expy}}: He is basically [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Sakutaro]] in all but name.
** Also shares similar twists with [[spoiler: [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Oyashiro-Sama]], see TheScapeGoat below]].
* HandHidingSleeves: As with Sakutaro, it's to make him look cuter.
* InsistentTerminology: The way he's described makes him appear to be a {{Kitsune}} but, being the "king of animals", he insists that he is a lion.
* {{Leitmotif}}: A remix of "Sakutaro no ganbarimonogatari" plays during his appearance.
* LittleBitBeastly: While the narrative implies that he may be a [[{{Kitsune}} fox]], he insists that he's really a lion.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He might look like a kid, but he's by far the oldest of the known spirits inhabiting the school. This is because his shrine was built before there ''was'' a school. It's also the reason why he wasn't involved in establishing the youkai hierarchy.
* Really700YearsOld: Played with. Though he takes the form of a child, he's much older than any of the school youkai as his shrine was there before the school was.
* [[spoiler:TheScapegoat]]: [[spoiler:He's blamed for the "curse" that Michiru tries carrying out in "Shrine of the Guardian Spirit".]]
* VerbalTic: "Uryuu~!"[[note]]Shared with Sakutaro from ''Umineko''[[/note]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Hameln of the Music Room]]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hameln_9761.jpg]]
A youkai who haunts the school's music room, also known as "Hameln of the Music Room". According to his legend, anyone who enters the music room at night when no one else is around will hear the sound of his castanets playing, and then will turn into an animal to be lured away to their doom. He is not one of the eight ranked youkai of the school, but hopes to be. He is the main antagonist of "Hameln’s Castanets."
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* ArcVillain: In "Hameln’s Castanets."
* BalefulPolymorph: His power allows him to turn students who hear his music to turn into small animals.
* CoolMask
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Hameln, after cursing Higanbana into the form of a bunny, tries to eat her. Higanbana responds by biting onto his tongue and then eat it along with the rest of Hameln's insides.]]
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Hameln uses a pair of castanets for his magic spells.
* KillAndReplace: Subverted in that he's not taking Marie's exact form and powers, but his intentions to replace her as the eighth school mystery (and later Higanbana when she gets in the way) has him have this as his modus operandi.
* LazyBum: As Higanbana points out, he's using a human being to do his work for him instead of getting his victims by himself.
* TheRedBaron: "Hameln of the Music Room"... or at least, he'd ''like'' people to call him this, since he's not yet recognized as a mystery by the school.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: He's never seen without his mask, but when he leans close to Hikaru, he is described as having "stunningly red" eyes like a rabbit.
* SlasherSmile: Sports one of these at all times.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He aims to become one of the Eight School Mysteries, but also seeks to surpass the school and bathe the whole city in fear and terror thanks to his legend.
[[/folder]]
