History DarkerThanBlack / SeasonOneTropesAToM

* BanteringBaddieBuddies: The third episode has [[SaltAndPepper a Caucasian assassin paired with a black Contractor]] and the two are a good fit for the trope and definitely call to mind ''Film/PulpFiction''. More sympathetically, Bertha and her partner have philosophical discussions establishing them as {{Punch Clock Villain}}s, in between trying to kill Hei.

* {{Bishonen}}: The manga's art style sometimes turns Hei into one. He's always [[MrFanservice really good-looking]], but generally in a more masculine way.

* GirlInABox: [[spoiler:Poor, poor Havoc.]] Also, the smuggled Doll in [[spoiler:ep. 17]] - being a Doll, she was [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman treated more like a packed thing]] than a concealed girl.

** Mao is no exception either. Spring-time means mating season for cats. Despite his best attempts to avoid getting pounced on by female cats, he ends up being a [[IncrediblyLamePun pussy magnet]] without wanting to be.

** But then, he was a BloodKnight ([[IncrediblyLamePun sorry]]) PsychoForHire who was absolutely convinced of his own invincibility and probably thought it wasn't any fun unless he could play with his opponent first. [[UnderestimatingBadassery Which turned out to be a bad idea]].

** [[PrivateDefective Kurosawa]] spends two whole episodes under the mistaken impression that dropping dreadful English into his conversations will make him easier for a Scandinavian to understand. Kiko can be seen scowling or wincing behind him for most of it. He probably lost his license to speak English ever again after the ''painful'' [[IncrediblyLamePun pun]] he made on the last name "Kostinen."

* IncrediblyLamePun: Committed by Kurosawa, in GratuitousEnglish, no less. Quoth Kiko, "That wasn't even funny."

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Memory erasing is rather widely used to maintain the {{Masquerade}}. Moreover, part of stolen memories can be "[[FakeMemories uploaded]]" (at least in a Doll's empty mind) to counterfeit an original person. Also, literally in that it seems to actually ''use'' lasers (or another sort of red light beam) for this.

* MeaningfulName: The writers really did a number on this one. Hei, of course, has [[ShockAndAwe electric-based abilities]], which he acquired as a result of whatever transpired in South America when he was with Amber. The word "electric" is derived from a Latin term which roughly translates to "produce from amber by friction," as it was believed then that lightning was a product of amber. In reality amber is a conductor of static electricity, so it's only fitting that Amber [[IncrediblyLamePun rubs Hei the wrong way]], inevitably resulting in [[HurricaneOfPuns sparks flying.]] ''In addition'' to that, amber is fossilized resin, something kept in its natural state by time, which fits perfectly with Amber's ability.

** Despite being a vicious murderer, Hei manages to fight many enemies who are even worse than him (such as Wei, who revels in his sociopathy), making them [[IncrediblyLamePun Darker than Black]]

* AluminumChristmasTrees: At one point, April tells someone to call the organization she works for the "Secret Intelligence Service," not "[=MI6=]." It sounds made-up, but ''that's the actual name of the organization''.
** Also, November 11's cigarettes. The brand he prefers comes in a black pack with a white skull and the word DEATH on the front. You might think the show's creators are trying to make an {{Anvilicious}} point about smoking[[note]]Which, admittedly, they probably are; see WriterOnBoard[[/note]], but that's an actual British brand of cigarettes.

* FatalAttraction: Kirihara to Hei. [[spoiler:Given that she first connected "Li" to BK-201 in episode 18 and had, in fact, been [[ShipTease hanging out with him]] not eight hours before she revealed that she'd figured it out, it's likely that she'd subconsciously known for a while and just didn't want to admit it.]]

* {{Meganekko}}: Mina and Kirihara in season 1, and season 2 gives us Youko.

* ItWasWithYouAllAlong: A SoulFragment, sort of.

* JanitorImpersonationInfiltration: The reason for some of Hei's jobs.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Huang

* KnifeNut: Hei
* KnockingOnHeathensDoor: The Friends of the Gate.
* LackOfEmpathy: Combined with TinMan, this pretty much sums up the contractor mindset.

* LeftHanging: How the Gates came into Earth, whether they are done due to aliens or due to man's work...

* LickingTheBlade: Wei
* LighterAndSofter: The first manga, up to and including its ''art style''.

** The interquel manga contains an omake chapter set during the events of the first season. A hot spring has a rock supposedly from the Gate, so most of the cast goes to investigate. Thus, you have male-geared fanservice from the female cast as well as female-geared fanservice as a naked November 11 [[FoeYay flirts with Hei]].

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: The defining characteristic of Hei's "Li" persona. Works pretty well, since nobody is likely to suspect that [[http://i49.tinypic.com/fp5lyw.png this guy]] (who has just tripped over his own feet), is able to kill you 27 different ways without really trying.

* {{Adorkable}}: The defining characteristic of Hei's "Li" persona. Works pretty well, since nobody is likely to suspect that [[http://i49.tinypic.com/fp5lyw.png this guy]] (who has just tripped over his own feet), is able to kill you 27 different ways without really trying.

* ClaspYourHandsIfYouDeceive: [[spoiler:Kirihara's boss and Nishijima both do this occasionally; they're both high-ranking Syndicate members.]]

* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: Actually, second. Li is a contractor assassin and the cat can talk. In a similar vein, exactly what Hei can do isn't really clear until November 11 figures it out, counteracts it, and explains it to us.

* MookHorrorShow: Considering the {{cat scare}}s and Hei's StealthHiBye abilities bordering on OffscreenTeleportation (Not to mention his [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique rather brutal information-gathering tactics]]), one could be forgiven for thinking he was the villain up until [[FirstEpisodeSpoiler the end of the second episode]].

* ManInWhite: November 11's snazzy white suit.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: At one point, April tells someone to call the organization she works for the "Secret Intelligence Service," not "MI6." It sounds made-up, but ''that's the actual name of the organization''.

* AutobotsRockOut: When you hear the palm-muted guitar riff start going, get ready to see Hei do something balls-out [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome AWESOME.]]

* CrackFic: A [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments glorious]] in-universe example - Mayu's [[InterspeciesRomance human-on-elephant]] SlashFic. Which she writes ''Hei'' into.

* FemmeFatale: Amber. [[spoiler:Subverted. While Hei clearly thinks of her this way, she actually still loves him and wants him to be happy. [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Awwww.]]]]

** Someone also tried it on Hei (as Li) when he was infiltrating a {{Yakuza}}-owned restaurant. It... [[CoverBlowingSuperpower didn't really work]]. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Like, at all]].

* LoonyFan: Also a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}. If you want to know [[BrainBleach how it feels when yer brain implodes]], imagine the "[[CrackPairing pairing]]" of the all-stealthy ''Black [[{{Shinigami}} Angel of Death]]'' and loudmouthed ''Kiko''. And she ''tried''. [[StalkerWithACrush Enthusiastically]].

* {{Kuudere}}: Hei may be a {{stoic}} BadassLongcoat who acts like a JerkAss sometimes, but he's actually [[NotSoStoic a lot more fragile]] than he lets on, and if you mess with his TrueCompanions, you're ''dead''. Misaki Kirihara generally prefers to act distant and professional, but she's cheerful and even makes jokes when she relaxes a bit. Yin might qualify as well, as the resident not-so-emotionless EmotionlessGirl.

* GilliganCut: Variation: when Saito is telling Kirihara that they're keeping watch on the [=MI6=] agents in a hotel, November 11 comes up and interrupts him. Then Kirihara gets a call from Kano informing her that they lost track of them. [[CaptainObvious No kidding?]]

* AutobotsRockOut: When you hear the palm-muted guitar riff start going, get ready to see Hei do something balls-out [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome AWESOME.]]

* CrackFic: A [[CrowningMomentOfFunny glorious]] in-universe example - Mayu's [[InterspeciesRomance human-on-elephant]] SlashFic. Which she writes ''Hei'' into.

* FemmeFatale: Amber. [[spoiler:Subverted. While Hei clearly thinks of her this way, she actually still loves him and wants him to be happy. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Awwww.]]]]

** Someone also tried it on Hei (as Li) when he was infiltrating a {{Yakuza}}-owned restaurant. It... [[CoverBlowingSuperpower didn't really work]]. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Like, at all]].

* LoonyFan: Also a CrowningMomentOfFunny. If you want to know [[BrainBleach how it feels when yer brain implodes]], imagine the "[[CrackPairing pairing]]" of the all-stealthy ''Black [[{{Shinigami}} Angel of Death]]'' and loudmouthed ''Kiko''. And she ''tried''. [[StalkerWithACrush Enthusiastically]].

** I believe that November 11 has his own signature music for when he's pulling something.

* BlindWithoutEm: Kirihara

* BodyguardBetrayal: Wei

* CatScare: Played around with in the first episode. Louis clearly hears someone talking to him, and looks toward where the sound came from- and all he sees is a cat. Then he turns back around and Hei is ''[[StealthHiBye right there]]''. But, as we shortly find out, the cat actually ''was'' the culprit behind the suspicious noise. And it was intentional. And in the second season, Mao tried this again on April. [[spoiler:He failed, got shot and hanged the rest of the season in the body of the squirrel.]] Or it could be an actual cat just passing by. It was never stated directly.

* TheChessmaster: Amber,

* ChildSoldiers: Kid gets Contractor powers? Well, will you look at that, [[TheCorpsIsMother we have a new operative]]. For instance, adolescent [[spoiler:Mai]] immediately gets snapped up [[spoiler:once her powers stabilize]], Maki is acting as Amber's bodyguard, and one of the flashbacks shows that Hei can't have been much more than 16 when he and Bai joined the fighting in South America, and he was the ''older'' sibling. And in Ryusei no Gemini, [[spoiler:two girls in middle school are picked up to be Contractor assassins after their powers manifest.]]
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: this series has quite a few rare ''sympathetic'' examples.

* EquivalentExchange: [[spoiler:A Syndicate mole in PANDORA explains this to Hei with regarads to Meena's fate since she gained something and lost something in Hell's Gate.]]

* [[EyesAlwaysShut Eye Always Shut]]: Amigiri is usually shown with his left eye closed. He is shown with both eyes open, but most of the time his left eye is closed.

* FanNickname: [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Caution.gif Chinese Electric Batman]] has become one for both Hei and the series itself, for [[ShockAndAwe obvious]] [[CounterpartComparison reasons]].
** Although given how how Hei is, through most of the series, a hired hitman with seemingly no qualms about killing, Chinese Electric Deathstroke seems a more apt nickname.
* FanService: see InnocentFanserviceGirl and GoGoEnslavement. And "[[http://www.motivatedphotos.com/?id=30420 ...girls need it too]]" (yeah, it's November 11).

* FantasticRacism: As mentioned above, humans do not consider Contractors to be human, with one noticeable discussion between a white man and a black Contractor that has certain... [[UnfortunateImplications implications]]. Which might count as [[{{LampshadeHanging}} lampshading]], given the strong anti-racism message (especially present in the last few episodes).

* GrandTheftMe: Mao is a possessor who eventually lost his own body and ended up in cat's. In [[spoiler:ep. 7]] they met another contractor with a similar power, and he had lost his original body too.

* GratuitousEnglish: "Hell's Gate" "BK-201" etc. And don't get us ''started'' on the written English. Regarding the BK-201 example, November 11 always speaks Japanese, both when it makes sense (talking to Japanese characters) and when it's just TranslationConvention. However, he always pronounces BK-201 in (Japanese accented) English.

* HeroicSacrifice: Chiaki Shinado, [[spoiler:a woman who is a Doll]] in the first tow episodes works with the Contractors,saves Hei from getting killed by Louis. Too bad they DroppedaBridgeOnHer.

** Averted with PANDORA's security forces, who know that when there's somebody hiding behind a barrier that appears to be unpenetrable, you do not continue hammering away at the barrier, you flank them and blow their brains out. [[spoiler: Unnamed force-field generator, I'm looking at you for not moving.]]

* InverseLawOfUtilityAndLethality: Averted. Almost ''all'' the contractors have purely offensive powers, and are employed accordingly as assassins or special operatives. They don't hold back on them, either. [[{{JustifiedTrope}} Justified]], as Contractors [[{{Masquerade}} don't flaunt their status]]. Those who got on screen participated in some action or other and there wasn't much place for anything less dangerous than teleportation or {{Doppelganger}} power.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Memory erasing is rather widely used to maintain the {{Masquerade}}. Moreover, part of stolen memories can be "[[FakeMemories uploaded]]" (at least in a Doll's empty mind) to counterfeit an original person.
** It seems the ME actually USES Lasers (or another sort of red light Beam) for this.

** One Contractor in the {{Interquel}} manga has the ability to interfere with people's perceptions and thoughts to a frightening degree, and can pretty much completely incapacitate anyone she's focussing on.

* MissionControl: Huang and Yin

** Also common with {{Bond One Liner}}s. For instance, November 11's "I knew we'd work well together" echoes what his victim said to him at the beginning of their meeting and was immediately followed by him freezing the guy to death. And when Hei fought Wei, Wei's response to the SingleStrokeBattle was, "Looks like I'm faster than you." Guess what Hei said after proving him wrong?[[note]]There is one important difference there; Wei used ''[[JapanesePronouns watashi]]'' while Hei used ''[[JapanesePronouns ore]]''.[[/note]]

** Also, kind of an odd one overlapping with ActorAllusion: April has a low level version of Storm's powers in ''ComicBook/XMen'' and even looks slightly similar to her. The actress who voices her has also voiced many dubs of Halle Berry's movies, including her role as Storm in the ''Film/XMen'' films.

* CaptainErsatz: Maki looks like a white haired version of Souseiseki from ''Manga/RozenMaiden'', Amber looks identical to C.C. of ''Anime/CodeGeass'', and the doll from episodes 17 and 18 strongly resembles fellow EmotionlessGirl Eureka from ''Anime/EurekaSeven''. November 11 is very Film/JamesBond-ish, although that might be simply NationalStereotypes of what a British spy is like.
** Also, kind of an odd one overlapping with ActorAllusion: April has a low level version of Storm's powers in ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}'' and even looks slightly similar to her. The actress who voices her has also voiced many dubs of Halle Berry's movies, including her role as Storm in the ''Film/{{X-Men}}'' films.