History Fanfic / QueenOfAllOni

** The Shadow Man, the JCA analogue to [[Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Dr. Facillier]], was reduced to a LivingShadow and locked inside a container. [[spoiler: Verde unlocks him to absorb his power, but he gets resealed by the J-Team.]]

* WhipItGood: Karasu's WeaponOfChoice.

** "A Wide World" pretty much takes this UpToEleven, especially with [[spoiler:Jade's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Anton Mortimer]].

** Though in fairness, this was part of her [[RantInducingSlight slight-induced rant]], so she may not have actually believed any of it.

* RantInducingSlight: After getting tossed out of the sages' shrine at least a dozen times, Jade outright demands Brother Light give her the first tablet of the Teachings... which he does, saying she could have simply asked. This causes Jade to snap a bit, and she goes on a rant where she accuses the Light of messing with her and the tablet being booby trapped, before saying "screw it" (literally), grabbing the tablet, and running off with it.

''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5899910/1/Queen_of_All_Oni Queen of All Oni]]'' is a ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' fanfiction by [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1645311/Eduard_Kassel Eduard Kassel]], a part of FanFic/ProjectDarkJade, and is probably ''the'' most popular JCA fanfic ever written, being the top fic in follows and favorites.

* AdultFear: Jade turning back to evil, and later being tortured by Lung.

* BaldOfAwesome[=/=]BaldOfEvil:
** Blankman. Well, he's bald''ing'', at least.
** Hebi as well.

** [[BaldWoman Hebi]] as well.

* FamousLastWords:
** "It won't work! This is foolishness, my power will destroy you! YAAAGGGGH!" [[spoiler: Kaito]]
*** "I... I only seek to serve you. Forgive me, my King?" [[spoiler: Kaito's spirit, being killed by Tarakudo for driving Jade insane.]]
** "Parley! I have much I can offer… Wait! MERCY!" [[spoiler: Lung]]
** "Le roi est mort, Viva le roi!" [[note]]translation: The king is dead, long live the king![[/note]] [[spoiler: Blankman's father]]
** "A hundred years of torture! Then to be torn apart by a starved dragon hatchling! No, even more [[KilledMidSentence is – ACK!]]" [[spoiler: One of the Oni Elders]]
*** "There is no escape, mongrel. Subvert and preserve whatever remains of your dignity." [[spoiler: One of the NotQuiteDead Elders, before Jade stabs her in the head.]]
*** "What have you done, wretched filth?!" [[spoiler: One of the other Elders, before Jade cuts half her head off.]]
*** "Save me! I can't die!" [[spoiler: The last Elder, after Jade decapitates her, and she withers away.]]
** "An answer cannot be given, only found." [[spoiler: Hiruzen]]
** "...I couldn't convince, couldn't trust the secret. [[TheMagicGoesAway No one believes anymore.]]" [[spoiler: The guardian of the third Teachings tablet]]
** "It's just a certain man said I could only look cool when smoking. So remember this sight just now, eh? How cool I was for the last stand?" [[spoiler: Brother Grey]]
** "One must die, one must live. They will have questions, do your best for them." [[spoiler: Brother White, making a solo LastStand after sending Brother Dark away.]]
** "My tribe's dedication [[KilledMidSentence is-]]" [[spoiler: Ozeki, executed by Tarakudo for siding with Jade.]]

* LoadBearingBoss: [[spoiler: When Jade gives the Elders their FinalDeath, the abandoned Shadowkhan city, which had been supported by their essence, collapses under its own weight.]]

** [[spoiler: The Elders are killed by Tarakudo, but due to binding themselves to their city, their spirits cling to a semblance of life. Then they try to drain Jade's chi to restore themselves, and she [[FinalDeath finishes them off]].]]

* AffablyEvil: Tarakudo, as well as Jade, whose personality is more or less unchanged following her FaceHeelTurn (other than wanting to kill/humiliate Tohru and having fewer morals).
** Monsieur Verde is also pretty affable. Though considering he's loosely based on [[Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Dr. Facilier]], that's to be expected.

* AllohistoricalAllusion: The haunted mansion Jade takes as the Shadow Hand's headquarters is the same one that appeared in a Season 5 episode of the show.

* AmbitionIsEvil: Jade aspires to prove herself, even as a villain. And according to Hero, Ambition is one of the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification personality traits]] that's sided with [[SuperpoweredEvilSide The Queen]].

* AnimalMotifs: Jade definitely has a snake theme going on by this point.
** It might be inherent -- when the Oni Elders tried to kill Tarakudo, it was by using a conjured monster in the form of a snake, and he comments on their "snake obsession".

* AnthropomorphicPersonification: When Tohru [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind enters Jade's mind]], he meets Hero (a flamboyant adventurer representing Jade's brash, heroic nature), and Mother (a faceless woman representing Jade's resentment towards her parents). Hero also mentions several other personifications, the most prominent being The Queen (the representation of Jade's dark side).

* ArchEnemy: Jade views Tohru as hers.

* AWizardDidIt: Shendu raised his palace from nothing, and upon his defeat it collapsed into dust, yet when it is revisited (both here and in canon) in search for the first mask, there are some quite recognizable ruins that apparently no one's noticed. Jade ponders this for a bit, but then [[HandWave decides]] that it's magic and leaves it at that. [[WordOfGod This is the author trying to draw attention to what he views as a large plot hole.]]

* BadassInDistress: Viper gets kidnapped by the Shadow Hand in chapter 12 [[spoiler: and gets taken hostage again after being beaten by Right in the later fight.]]

* BadassNormal: Not only do we have the canon ones, we also have Blankman, Jade's foreman. He apparently knocks out all the other applicants for the position in under two minutes without breaking a sweat (sadly, [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome we don't get to see it]]). We later find out that he's a master of savate de rue, a French martial art built around boxing and kickboxing (though he does enhance it with magic, so he's kind of cheating).

* BaldOfAwesome[=/=]BaldOfEvil: Blankman. Well, he's bald''ing'', at least.

* BastardUnderstudy: This is played with in an interesting way when Jade recruits the Bat General; she tells him that if he sides with her against Tarakudo, then he's free to try and take the throne from her if she doesn't work out as ruler, terms the General agrees to. In other words, ''they're agreeing that he'll be her Bastard Understudy.''

* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: Uncle knows that Wong knows how to summon Tarakudo (who the heroes need to interrogate), but that he won't unless there's something in it for him, and also that he'll just double cross him the first chance he gets. So, Uncle and Captain Black stage a jailbreak in order to get Wong out and lure him into a false sense of security, then set an ambush for him for when he inevitably betrays Uncle during the summoning.]]

* BattleButler: Jade's two bodyguard Shadowkhan, Left and Right.

* BeamOWar: The entirety of Jade and Uncle's WizardDuel.

* BeingEvilSucks: Initially, the story seems to be running on EvilFeelsGood, as Jade really lives it up as an EvilOverlord in training. But post-VillainousBreakdown, it's {{deconstructed|Trope}} down into this, as her quest for more power only consumes more and more, until she's little more than a bitter wreck of a person.
* BenevolentBoss: Jade, surprisingly, treats the Enforcers very well. To the point that they help take down Ikazuki when he usurps her, because he treats them like slaves.

* BerserkButton: Threatening and/or insulting Jade is one for Left, Right, and Ozeki.

* BigBadWannabe: Lung tries, but he's not really even on Jade's level, let alone Wong's or Tarakudo's.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Uncle uses this train of thought, which is why he is initially reluctant to let [[ClassyCatBurglar Viper]] aid them in fighting Jade. However, he eventually realizes that his narrow-mindedness is only hurting their efforts, so he agrees to let her help them.

* BrickJoke: When trying to shatter the Dog Talisman, Left resorts to using dynamite, but is stopped before he blows up the whole room. In a later chapter, when trying to free Jade from an enchanted dog carrier (see HoistByHisOwnPetard below), he whips out a stick of dynamite; Right snatches it from him before he can use it.

* TheBrute: Hak Foo, of course.

* CallBack / ContinuityNod: The theatre Jade uses to audition for a foreman is the same one Finn used to try and form a new gang when he quit the Dark Hand in Season 2's "Tough Luck".

* CastingAShadow: Naturally, Jade gets this after her transformation; she gains the ability to teleport through shadows, and shadow energy forms the basis of her magic.

* ChainsawGood: According to Finn, this is one of the things Left tried using to break the Dog Talisman. Sadly, we don't get to see it.

* ChekhovsGun: Jade buys a magic dog carrier from Verde, with no explanation as to what she plans to do with it. It's a couple of chapters before we find out what she plans on doing with it (see HoistByHisOwnPetard below).

* ChekhovsGunman: The unnamed Section 13 agent who appears in a couple of early scenes is eventually given the name Wisker, and is revealed to be Black's NumberTwo in the organization.

* TheChosenOne: Kuro suggests that Jade is something like this for the Oni, the result of Hiruzen's last contingency plan before Tarakudo killed him.

* CombatPragmatist: Jackie and Tohru have a tendency to fight with [[ImprovisedWeapon whatever they can find]], while Viper tends to either toss onions at Jade whenever she's distracted, or sneak up on her to blindside her.

* CurbStompBattle: The fight against the sages in their shrine is entirely in their favor; Dark and Gray hold the advantage against the Shadow Hand and the heroes the whole time, and White doesn't even seem to exert himself when continually throwing Jade, Viper, and Hak Foo out of the inner shrine.

* DarkActionGirl: Jade wants to be one, but even with her new SuperStrength, her age and size are a hinderance.
** She becomes even less of one after her encounter with Lung leaves her extremely physically weakened, though she is trying to rectify that.

* DarkFic: Not so much in the first half, but from Lung's appearance onwards it's been getting darker.

* DarkIsNotEvil: A bit literally, as Brother Dark (of the three sages), despite being a JerkAss, isn't so bad. He's apparently just there to balance things out.
** It's also implied that the Shadowkhan were at least a neutral, and possibly a positive force prior to the corruption of the Elders that led to Tarakudo's rebellion. [[spoiler:As we see that Queen Jade(the loving mother who ordered her most skilled fighter to act as her daughter's protector) still exists in the future that Karasu sends Drago back to, this could give Jade a happy-ish ending despite never being freed from the Shadowkhan curse.]]

* DeadpanSnarker: Tarakudo, of course.

** Right is shaping into one as well.

* DemonicPossession: As to be expected from the Oni masks; Ratso is briefly possessed a couple of times by the Razor-tribe mask so the General can pass messages from Tarakudo, Ikazuki assumes complete control of Chow, and the Bat-tribe General is able to do likewise with Scruffy (though only with assistance from a spell Jade performed).

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Jade killing Kaito [[spoiler: and Ikazuki]] probably qualifies for this. Her and Blankman managing to temporarily harm Nameless, meanwhile, definitely does.

* TheDragon: Ikazuki to Tarakudo, as per canon. And when he temporarily takes control of the Shadow Hand, he forcibly [[DemotedToDragon demotes]] Jade to being ''his'' dragon -- and the only reason she has a relatively high position is because he looks down on the human members even worse than he does on her.

* DynamicEntry: We get two ''accidental'' examples of this back-to-back in the chapter involving the first mask -- Jackie falls through the weakened roof of the basement chamber of Shendu's palace, landing on a loose chest lid and nailing Jade in the jaw. When Hak Foo attacks him, Tohru also falls through the hole in the roof, landing right on top of Hak and knocking him out.

* EitherOrTitle: Every chapter has a (usually) serious and/or meaningful title, with a comedic subtitle.
** Chapter 19 lampshades this, as its subtitle is "[[ShooOutTheClowns No More Whimsy Subtitles]]".
* EldritchLocation: The city of the Shadowkhan, judging by what Jade sees of it in a vision. For bonus points, the prose in that scene has a very Lovecraftian feel to it.

* EndOfAnAge[=/=]DawnOfAnEra: How Tarakudo described his defeat of the Oni Elders.

* EnemyMine: Jackie and Jade briefly (and reluctantly, in Jade's case) team up when Valmont uses the first mask to steal the Ninja tribe away from Jade.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: When Tarakudo is conjured by Uncle and Tohru for interrogation, he compliments Jade's progress, and then offhandedly comments that she'd make a good consort when she's older. When Uncle and Tohru show their disgust over this, he responds that he ''did'' say when she was older, saying that he does have standards.

* EverythingsBetterWithSamurai: Or worse, considering we're talking about Ikazuki and his tribe. Incidentally, he considers his tribe superior to all others... and considering how they wipe the floor with Jade's ninja, he may be right.

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Uncle calls Wong out on this at one point, saying that trust and teamwork are things that he knows exist, but can't understand.

* EvilCostumeSwitch: Naturally, first chance she gets, Jade trades in her normal outfit for something more evil. Specifically, she starts wearing a smaller sized version of one of her Shadowkhan's ninja clothes, along with a BlackCloak and a circlet crown (though she ditches the latter after Ikazuki's coup, until she can prove to herself she deserves to wear it).

* EvilMakesYouMonstrous: Jade's transformation into a Shadowkhan, obviously. Even more so after her encounter with Lung, as her nails grow into claws and her eyelids turn transparent.

* EvilIsPetty: Jade's entire motivation, other than amassing enough wealth to live a life of comfort, is to prove that she's "better" than her family. On top of that, she's also apparently spending her free time tormenting her JerkAss classmate Drew.

* EvilSorcerer: In addition to the canonical Daolon Wong, there's Monsieur Verde and Blankman.

* EvilerThanThou: Ikazuki easily usurps control of the Shadow Hand from Jade, due to being a much more powerful and experienced General.

* EvilVsEvil: Valmont vs Jade, briefly, once he gets the first mask.

* FaceHeelTurn: Jade's is the whole point of the story.

* {{Familiar}}: The whole point of Lung capturing and torturing Jade was to force her to agree to serve him in this matter, giving him control of her tribe.

* ForWantOfANail / InSpiteOfANail: There are some distinct differences from the canon, but for the most part the plot is still following the same route.

* GameChanger: [[spoiler: After the events of Chapter 14, Jade decides its time for this. So she kidnaps Viper and forces her to become her General, [[ShooOutTheClowns fires The Enforcers]] ([[BenevolentBoss with their belongings and full pay]]), regains control of her summoning Shadowkhan power along with Viper being about to summon the Samurai Khan who are now loyal to Jade, and seems entirely focused on defeating the J-Team who she assumes are out to kill or seal her.]]

* {{Gendercide}}: Apparently, Tarakudo wiped out all the female Oni/Shadowkhan centuries ago -- according to him, it was for being a bunch of old hags who "thought they could tell [him] what to do." He's pleased to note that Jade is a change of pace from them.
** Specifically, it seems the Oni used to be ruled by a Matriarchy until Tarakudo overthrew them.

* GodzillaThreshold: Whatever Captain Black's Plan B is, he definitely views it as a last resort with a lot of collateral damage, and hopes he never has to use it. When he does have to trigger it during the Endgame, it's revealed to be [[spoiler: reanimating Lo Pei with the Rat]]; "Godzilla", incidentally, is used as a password for activating it.

* GoodScarsEvilScars: Ikazuki slashes Jade across the forehead, leaving a large scar. Hebi later removes it.

* GroinAttack: Viper does this to Ozeki for ripping out some of her hair.

* GuestStarPartyMember: Detective Ramirez only aids the J-Team when they're in Mexico City. After that, he disappears from the story.

* HeroicBSOD: Jackie and Tohru, following Jade's transformation. Uncle, not so much, though he does go BSOD when he thinks that he's holding the team back, and when Tohru is captured by Ikazuki.

* HeroicSacrifice: Flashbacks show that the Shadowbinder Sage created the Oni masks by sacrificing his own life force to empower them, entrusting them to his students to use.

* HumiliationConga: After Valmont's attempted coup, he gets beat up by Tohru, before Jade has her Shadowkhan [[ShamefulStrip strip him]] and dump him in public, where he ends up getting arrested. And this is ''after'' the months of living like a common thief before Jade recruited him.

* JawDrop: The Enforcers' collective reaction when Jade orders Left to break the Dog talisman.

* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: Tohru astral projects into Jade's mind in an attempt to gather information, and meets Hero, the representation of Jade's heroic nature.

* KatanasAreJustBetter: Played straight and subverted. Right fights with one, but Left fights with a pair of broad swords.

* KickTheDog: Or, as the case may be, "[[spoiler: Force the dog to wear an Oni mask so that you can make a deal with the demon, then blast the dog when it turns on you]]".

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Jade killing Kaito (the Ninja General) and absorbing his essence. Considering this is an ''[[AlwaysChaoticEvil Oni]]'' we're talking about, and that his last acts were to lie to Jade, help Valmont betray her, and then mock her when it looks like the heroes are going to capture her, no one was complaining.

* KilledOffForReal: While he isn't killed per say, [[spoiler: Daolon Wong dies of old age in prison, and his apprentice Lung plays it straight when he is killed by Jade's bodyguards for what he did to her]].

* LaserGuidedKarma: When Jade complains about getting more beat up during fights than she did when she was one of the good guys, Uncle blames it on her karma.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Jade does this a few times.

* MacGuffinDeliveryService: Since the only method Jade has of finding the masks is astral projection, which she can't really control and doesn't really trust, she's using the SinisterSurveillance listed below to track Jackie and the others, allowing them to lead her to the masks.

* MacGuffinGuardian: The Sages guard the first tablet of the Teachings of Eternal Shadow, Nameless protects the second (on top of his duties as warden of the Vault of Endless Night), and the third is now only guarded by a single OldMaster (the giant wolf that also protected it having suffered a MutualKill long ago).

* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: Jade's first action as the Queen is to assert her dominance over Daolon Wong and set herself up as the new BigBad.

* MeleeATrois: The fight in the sages' shrine -- it's Shadow Hand vs the Three Shades vs the heroes[[note]]who are only fighting because the sages are {{True Neutral}}s who fight everyone and don't give them a choice in the matter[[/note]].

* MentalWorld: Jade's mind is represented as a sea of clouds (literally; the clouds act like water) filled with islands of bizarre landscapes that represent her memories and views of the world, and is inhabited by beings who represent different aspects of Jade's personality (see AnthropomorphicPersonification). There's also a pirate ship (known as the ''Jade'') that sails it, which seems to represent her consciousness, as whatever aspect controls it appears to be dominant; when Jade was good, Hero (her inherent goodness) was captain, whereas following her FaceHeelTurn, the Queen (her SuperpoweredEvilSide) seized control.

* MiddleManagementMook: Jade's foreman is described as her NumberTwo (using those words), which would imply TheDragon, but is much closer to this trope. Blankman in particular is never shown in the field, leaving all the grunt work to the Enforcers. Valmont, at least, tried to act like TheDragon (particularly DragonInChief), but it was clear Jade held Left and Right in higher regard than him.

* MoodWhiplash: Chapter 10 switches back and forth between Jade being tortured by Lung, and Hero's comedic-dramatic attempts to retake control of Jade's mind.

* {{Mooks}}: The Ninja tribe Shadowkhan serve as Jade's standard troops [[spoiler: until Ikazuki hexes her, stopping her from summoning them; Hebi eventually lifts this]].

* MookPromotion: The two Shadowkhan that Jade uses as bodyguards (Left and Right) start out as ordinary {{Mooks}}, but eventually gain sentience and the ability to speak. They later are even allowed to take off their masks and show their faces.

* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling: Uncle and Tohru's "willies", naturally.

* NearVillainVictory: Operation Steel Lightning comes within a hairsbreadth of succeeding, with only Agent Wisker's unexpected interference stopping Jade from pulling it off.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Hak Foo gets this ''twice'' in the same chapter. First, his ranting over his disappointment with the Mini Khan mask [[spoiler: reveals that Viper was brainwashed into Hebi]], ruining Jade's plan to [[spoiler: lie to the heroes about her having a FaceHeelTurn [[KickTheDog for kicks]]]]. Then, his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech during the chapter's climatic fight [[EpiphanyComeback snaps Jackie]] [[HesBack out of his]] HeroicBSOD, resulting in his own defeat.

* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: As the latest peek into Jade's mind reveals, Kaito (the Oni General whose essence Jade consumed early on in the story) seems to have survived to some extent by attaching to one of the Aspects of her mind]].

* NumberTwo: Agent Wisker seems to be this to Captain Black. While he's not actually Section 13's second-in-command, he seems to be Black's top field agent and go-to guy for emergencies.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: When all the people competing for the position of Jade's foreman are ordered to fight for the spot, Blankman knocks out all the others in under two minutes. ''Without breaking a sweat''. Unfortunately, we don't get to see it -- we see Jade telling them to fight, and then the narrative cuts ahead to afterwards.

* OffscreenVillainDarkmatter: Lung apparently has, in addition to his main fortress, a series of well-supplied safehouses he can flee to in case of emergency, including at least one island. This is a result of what happened when he failed to kill Wong -- he was forced to flee, and lost all of his resources in the process, forcing him into hiding. [[spoiler: It ends up being for nothing, though, since Right kills him before he can escape to use them.]]

* OperationBlank: "Operation: Steel Lightning", mentioned above. The Enforcers are quick to point out that the name makes no sense whatsoever, and they (along with Hak Foo and Blankman) start suggesting names that actually have to do with what the Operation entails, but Jade shoots them all down -- she chose the name because it [[RuleOfCool sounds cool]], so she keeps it.

* ParentalNeglect: Jade's parents were apparently always too busy with work to pay her any attention, and sent her to live with Jackie to get her off their hands.
** She once said she thinks they had her by accident, [[spoiler: and she was right, since Shen revealed that they planned to abort her]], and sent her to America to get her out of the way, which puts her initial Episode 1 behavior in [[CerebusRetcon a new light]].
* ParentalSubstitute: Played with, in that it's Uncle who points out that Jackie is "Jade's father in all but blood and title", and that he's aware of it even if they aren't.

* PerceptionFilter: The Lost Cathedral of Cortez, built to seal off the entrance to the Vault of Endless Night, can't be seen unless you're standing on the property.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Ikazuki looks down on Jade because of her age and inexperience, which is probably understandable, but he also lists her being female as one of the reasons why she's unfit to be a General. Possibly justified by the fact that he originated in a feudal period, where there wouldn't have been much respect for women.
** Actually, going by developments later in the story, it's safe to say that his dislike of women is a result of participating in Tarakudo's rebellion against the Elders.

* PrecisionFStrike: Tarakudo slips out a "shit" when he sees Jade being tortured by Lung.

* PredecessorVillain: What Tarakudo's been reduced to in regards to Jade, what with her being BigBad in his place (though he's plotting on retaking the position).

* PunnyName: Well, not really, but everyone thinks that Agent Wisker's (who has large sideburns) name is "Whisker".

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Hero is attempting to form LaResistance against the Queen's control of Jade's mind, but the only Aspects he's managed to gather so far are Prissiness, Frugality, and Punk. As you can imagine, they're far from the ideal crew, and Hero can't stand any of them.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: When Hero attempts to recruit Father for his fight against the Queen, Father refuses, stating that Hero is reckless and impulsive, and just as dangerous to Jade's well being as the Queen.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: Obviously, part of Jade's transformation.

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Jade's astral form is a snake (specifically, a naga -- a snake with a human head). She takes on a similar appearance when she contorts her body as way of escaping capture when she's bound.

* RunningGag: Jade's string of bad luck with wands, and Left's apparent obsession with blowing stuff up.

* ScrewDestiny: Jackie eventually decides this in regards to Karasu's OminousMessageFromTheFuture, stating that even if he believes it, he knows that history can be changed.

* SealedEvilInACan: Tarakudo is still sealed away in the Shadow Realm, but seems convinced he'll be out soon. Meanwhile, Jade is taking great pains to ensure that this doesn't happen to her.

* ShownTheirWork: The author seems to be quite the expert on Japanese culture, history, and mythology.

* ShutUpHannibal: When Ikazuki rants to Tohru about the weakness of humans, Tohru replies that it was humans who defeated the Oni originally, and that even now they need human bodies to possess in order to do anything.

* SinisterSurveillance: Jade manages to install bugs in Uncle's shop to keep tabs on the heroes.

* SixthRanger: Viper joins the team to replace Jade as member who doesn't obey the rules and can think outside the box.

* SmugSnake: Lung, who views himself as the next Daolon Wong, and tries to force Jade to serve him. He is so certain about his abilities that when his plan backfires and nearly kills Jade, he actually ''blames'' her for it. And when her minions show up to save her, he completely [[VillainousBreakdown breaks down]], showing just how pathetic he really was.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Wisker manages to keep Jade from successfully completing Operation Steel Lightning by fighting her, keeping her busy long enough for Uncle to show up and beat her with magic.

* SquishyWizard: Lung may be a powerful wizard (though not as powerful as he [[SmugSnake thinks he is]]), but he has absolutely no combat skills.

* TheStarscream: Valmont is recruited by Jade to head up her criminal activities, and he plans on betraying her as soon as he's secretly stolen enough of her money to set up shop elsewhere. Then he gets his hands on the first Oni mask and control of the Ninja Shadowkhan, and tries to kill her. Needless to say, once the mask is removed he ends up in a world of hurt.

* StartOfDarkness: The story is one for Jade.

* TheStoic: Blankman rarely shows any emotion.

* StraightMan: It's been pointed out by the reviewers that Wisker is pretty much this to the protagonists.

* TailorMadePrison: When Lung captures Jade's astral form, he seals her inside a glass sphere that can't be broken from the inside, and rings it with industrial-strength lights, denying her any shadows to [[CastingAShadow work with]]. (They also make handy [[ColdBloodedTorture torture devices]].)

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Jade apparently feels this way towards Tohru; when Ikazuki attempts to take over Tohru's body, Jade snarls that Tohru is hers, before Ikazuki glares her down.

* ThereWasADoor: After being tossed through the shrine walls by Brother Light a few times, Jade gives up coming back in through the door and smashes through a wall.

* TranshumanTreachery: As should be obvious, Jade's transformation into a Shadowkhan makes her evil, due to the inherent darkness of the species' chi.

* TraumaticHaircut: When Ikazuki gives Jade her above-mentioned scar, he slices through her trademark bangs.

* TwitchyEye: Happens to Jade ''twice'' during the fight against Brother Light.

* UngratefulBastard: Valmont betrays Jade, even though he was a [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen gutter bound common thief]] when she found him, and he gets a dose of LaserGuidedKarma, stripped naked and dumped in a crowded plaza, where he gets arrested.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Jade figures Blankman is a pretty good fighter but can't match Jackie. He ends up fighting him to a standstill.

* UndyingLoyalty: Left and Right to Jade, Ikazuki to Tarakudo.

* UnPerson: [[spoiler: [[Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Dr. Facilier]], or his JCA-verse analogue, at least, had his name erased from history after his defeat, becoming known solely as "The Shadow Man", as what was left of him became one with with his LivingShadow]].

* VillainousBreakdown: When his plan to break Jade to his will backfires and starts killing her instead, Lung starts cracking, and then breaks completely when her minions show up and start mowing down his defenses.

* VillainEpisode: True, Jade is the main character, but Chapter 10 focuses almost entirely on her dealing with Lung, with the heroes only showing up in two very brief scenes.

* WeWillMeetAgain: Both Hak Foo and Jade threaten to return to the Three Shades shrine in order to defeat the sages (though the latter's threat is cut off by falling down a hill).

* WhatTheHellHero: After a brief fight, Brother Light lets Jade take the first tablet of the Teachings; when Uncle demands to know why he did so, he simply gives them scrolls that (upon decoding) will lead the way to the other tablets, then the Sages throw them out of their shrine.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: It's implied Jade has developed a fear of bright lights as a result of Lung's torture.

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Wisker ''tries'' with both Jade and Hak Foo. It doesn't work.

* WizardDuel: Uncle and Jade have one in chapter 9. [[CurbStompBattle He kicks her ass]].

* WorthyOpponent: How Tarakudo felt about Hiruzen, to the point that he saw to it that his body was treated honorably after his death.

* WrongGenreSavvy: When she finally gets the first tablet of the Teachings from the sages, Jade assumes it's booby trapped and will cause the whole mountain to turn into a volcano and in the resulting fight she'll drop the tablet in the lava just when she assumes she's won. None of this happens.

* XanatosSpeedChess: Wong's first lesson to Lung apparently was that "it's not how good a planner you are, but how good you are when the plan fails." Lung doesn't seem to have learned anything from this -- when his plan for Jade starts failing, he simply blunders ahead with it, and then panics and flees when her minions show up for her.

* YouExclamation: Drago's reaction to running into Blankman in the past. Of course, Blankman has no idea who he is yet, so he's just mildly confused.

* ManInWhite: The Mexican crime boss known as the Cuban dresses entirely in white.

* BadassBookworm: Blankman. See below.
** BadassBureaucrat: He's primarily Jade's accountant. And still one of the most badass people in the story.
* BadassGrandpa: In addition to Uncle, there's the Brothers of the Three Shades, at least two of whom are at least middle-aged, with the third definitely being an old man.
** Viper actually refers to Brother Light/the White Sage as this at one point.
** A flashback to Blankman's childhood is set in ''1929'', which means that he is, at minimum, in his ''late eighties''.

* TheScrappy: Invoked by Mortimer by claiming that Jade was one of the team (Reflecting her BaseBreakingCharacter status in real life) but believes she was RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap when she turned evil.

* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: [[spoiler: The main theme of the epilogue. Jade and Viper are still Shadowkhan, Father is now in control of Jade's mind, with Desire specifically telling Hero that things can't just go back to the way things were, and sealed evils are starting to escape]].

** [[spoiler: Blankman successfully steals ten of the talismans during the chaos of the FinalBattle and escapes with them, using them in the epilogue to take over the Magisters.]]

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Lung]] is the first human character to be killed in the story. He's also a SmugSnake, so no one complained when [[spoiler: Right cut him down]].

* TheBadGuyWins: In regards to the sub-quest for the Teachings of Eternal Shadow tablets, Jade wins flawlessly.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Karasu and Drago both mention Tohru having scars in the future. During her FreakOut in the Vault of Endless Night, Jade slashes him in the face -- presumably, this is what gives Tohru those scars.

The story is highly praised by its reviewers, who enjoy the [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] tone and the compelling plot, both of which are rare among JCA fics.

* TheAtoner: Tohru views saving Jade from the darkness as part of his continuing redemption for his own sins.

* BigBad: Queen Jade
** GreaterScopeVillain: Tarakudo, while sealed away, is still active, and is waiting in the wings for his chance to take center stage.

* EnigmaticMinion: Blankman has shades of this. And whenever he does get some focus, it just makes him even more mysterious. Hak Foo, and even Jade herself, are starting to realize in later chapters that he's somewhat too much of an unknown in the overall scheme of things.

* FantasticRacism: Judging by his conversation with Drago, Blankman really hates demons, viewing them as inferior races who can't accept that they lost the world to humanity. Which begs the question of why he's working for Jade...

* FiveBadBand: The Shadow Hand:
** First version:
*** BigBad: Queen Jade
*** CoDragons: Left and Right
*** EvilGenius: Valmont, later replaced by Blankman
*** TheBrute: Hak Foo and Ratso
*** DarkChick: Finn and Chow
** Second version:
*** BigBad: Queen Jade
*** TheDragon: Hebi
*** EvilGenius: Blankman
*** TheBrute: Hak Foo
*** {{Mook Lieutenant}}s: Left and Right

* MeaningfulRename: Tarakudo was born Minimoto Tametomo, but changed his name after becoming an Oni.

* TheSlowPath: [[spoiler: How Karasu seems destined to return to the future, given that he used all of his return potion on Drago.]]

** [[spoiler: The finale does reveal that the corruption Jade