History Manga / Parasyte

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: The manga is filled with these, the moral and ethical standards we human built for ourselves is put to question when a 3rd party enters our paradigm as a mirror to our [[NotSoDifferent inhumanity and savagery.]]

'''Migi''': "''Shinichi! [[TheStoic I don't have human feelings]]. I don't feel anything when I kill my own species. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion But what about you? Will you be able to kill them?''"]]

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: The manga is filled with these, the moral and ethical standards we human built for ourselves is put to question when a foreign body enters our agenda.

* VictimizedBystander: One of the parasites turned a boy's right arm into a giant penis after he offered to show her an animal.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Shinichi becomes one when Migi uses some of his body mass to repair the stab wound caused by [[spoiler:the Parasite that took over Shinichi's mother]]. This results in advanced strength and reflexes, and also in Shinichi [[HeroicSociopath seemingly becoming more emotionless for a time]].

''Parasyte'' was first published in North America by Mixx (now better known as TokyoPop) where every character was [[CulturalTranslation Americanized]] by changing their names (for example: Reiko Tamura was renamed Tamara Rockford, while Migi was "Lefty" because the pages were reversed); mild censorship of sexual elements (though the gratuitous violence was left untouched); and many cultural differences being waved away. Later, Del Rey got publishing rights to the series and re-released it, reverting the changes Mixx made and using a more accurate translation. There's also a LiveActionAdaptation supposedly in the works.

-> ''"Parasyte: Because InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers was for pussies."''\\

* GagPenis: Migi turns himself into one at one point.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: How did Shinichi prevent Migi from reaching his brain? By tying his earphones' wires into a tourniquet around his own arm, until it goes purple. For extra points, he's alone in his room and never tells his parents. Granted it was a lifesaving maneuver, but the implications were obvious...

* {{Badass}}: Shinichi.

* BettyAndVeronica: Shinichi gets into something of a LoveTriangle with his current girlfriend, Satomi Murano (Betty), and the rebellious girl Kana (Veronica). [[spoiler: Kana unfortunately dies and because of the missed schooling his future with Satomi is uncertain at best.]]

* CoolOldLady: Mitsuyo.

* HeroicHost: When the parasites don't kill you by absorbing your head.

** Averted when he's beaten [[spoiler: Gotoh, and the pieces are trying desperately to reunite, probably in vain.]] He's about to leave him like that, but instead makes it clear that it's NothingPersonal before dispatching him, thereby also nicely averting OnceIsNotEnough, because he makes ''sure'' that he's dead.

* NighInvulnerable: Gotoh.

* ScarsAreForever: Shinichi picks up large scars on his chest and back as a result of Migi saving his life, and a scar through his right eyebrow thanks to Goutou.

* TheWormThatWalks: [[spoiler: Gotoh]] is made of several parasites, with each controlling a limb.

One night, strange spores fall from the sky onto the earth. They spawn out weird little worms that quickly infiltrate human infrastructure, looking for host bodies. The worms (their titular parasites) crawl or burrow their way into the head of a human host, transforming it and the brain inside. This effectively kills the victim, replacing the host's personality and intellect with that of the Parasite. The Parasites have a ravenous appetite for the flesh of the species they take over - in this case, human flesh.

* BettyAndVeronica: Shinichi gets into something of a LoveTriangle with his current girlfriend, Satomi Murano (Betty), and the rebellious girl Kana (Veronica). [[spoiler: Kana dies unfortunately and because of the missed schooling his future with Satomi is uncertain at best.]]

* BettyAndVeronica: Shinichi gets into something of a LoveTriangle with his current girlfriend, Satomi Murano (Betty), and the rebellious girl Kana (Veronica).

* BadPowersGoodPeople: Shinichi is one of the kindest people in the entire series, but has a LovecraftianSuperpower.

* CombatTentacles / BladeOnAStick: Parasites fight by twisting into long whiplike stalks with razor-sharp blades on the end.

** [[spoiler: Kabuto]]'s knife is able to slash a guy's throat open and decapitates a girl with ease ([[ArtMajorBiology though the girl appeared to have no backbone...]]).

* AsteroidsMonster - The Shapeshifting {{Blob Monster}}esque parasites can separate into fairly small fragments.
* AxCrazy - [[spoiler:Kabuto]]. Crosses into MoralEventHorizon and NauseaFuel territory when [[spoiler:he is shown remembering how he got captured, which includes visuals of some of his victims, one of whom he had sex with after he decapitated her.]]
* {{Badass}} - Shinichi.
** HandicappedBadass - While [[spoiler:separated from Migi and thus having a stump for his right arm]], Shinichi manages to catch six mosquitoes in less than a second.
* BadassBookworm - Migi spends a ''lot'' of time reading and studying when Shinichi is relaxing in his bedroom. Shinichi averts this due to having to spend so much time fighting or fleeing from the Parasites [[spoiler:and it comes back to bite him big time; see BittersweetEnding.]]
* BadPowersGoodPeople - Shinichi is one of the kindest people in the entire series, but has a LovecraftianSuperpower.
* BettyAndVeronica - Shinichi gets into something of a LoveTriangle with his current girlfriend, Satomi Murano (Betty), and the rebellious girl Kana (Veronica).
* BigNo - Shinichi has one when [[spoiler:Kabuto is about to cut Satomi's throat]], and again when [[spoiler:she's falling from a building]].
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[spoiler: [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kiseijuu/c042/11.html Migi has no qualms about pickpocketing in order to remain undetected]]]]
* BodyHorror - To put it mildly, it's the page image on the trope page for a reason.

* CarFu - Migi tries it on Gotoh.
* CatchAndReturn - [[spoiler:Gotoh to the militaries]].
* ChekhovsGunman - So, you remember [[spoiler:Kabuto, the SerialKiller]] the police brought in to help identify parasites? The one who disappeared during the big police raid? He comes back [[spoiler:in the last chapter]].
* CombatTentacles / BladeOnAStick - Parasites fight by twisting into long whiplike stalks with razor-sharp blades on the end.
* CoolOldLady - Mitsuyo.
* DeliverUsFromEvil - Reiko is revealed to be pregnant after sleeping with Mr. A, another Parasite-infested human. She originally plans to bear the completely normal human child out of dispassionate scientific curiosity, but soon enough, devotes herself to protect her baby once it's born.
* DiagonalCut - The Parasites' preferred killing method.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything - How did Shinichi prevent Migi from reaching his brain? By tying his earphones' wires into a tourniquet around his own arm, until it goes purple. For extra points, he's alone in his room and never tells his parents. Granted it was a lifesaving maneuver, but the implications were obvious...
* TheDragon - Gotoh to Takeshi Hirokawa. [[spoiler:Played straight, as Gotoh is]] ''[[spoiler:a lot]]'' [[spoiler:more dangerous than Hirokawa, and eventually, DragonTheirFeet]].

* EnemyCivilWar - How [[spoiler: Gotoh]] is defeated.
* EvilLaugh / LaughingMad: Tamura, [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kiseijuu/c035/13.html upon discovering she's starting to take on human traits]].
* EvilHand - Subverted; Migi can do a lot of nasty things, but isn't really evil.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange - Shinichi has one after [[spoiler:he kills the Parasite responsible for his mother's death. He goes back to his first in the end]].
* FanDisservice: PantyShot on a woman chopped in half. Later there's a [[ILoveTheDead necrophiliac]] and a [[ImAHumanitarian humanitarian]] moment. [[{{Squick}} At the same time]].
* FiveRoundsRapid - Played straight, as most Parasites can ignore bullets. Subverted when [[spoiler:it actually works on Reiko, and after the humans start using high-powered shotgun ammunition]]. DoubleSubverted when [[spoiler:THIS doesn't work on Gotoh]].
* GagPenis: Migi turns himself into one at one point.
* GaiasVengeance - Reiko Tamura [[spoiler:and the totally human Takeshi Hirokawa]] believes the Parasites were created to cull the human population to preserve the earth.
* GoodEyesEvilEyes - A good way to tell who's a Parasite (see UncannyValley below).
* {{Gorn}} - Dear GOD the Gorn.
* GoryDiscretionShot - Used exactly once: [[spoiler:Shinichi's mother's death.]]
* GreenAesop - Actually kinda averted towards the end. Shinichi comes to the realization that no matter how much humans want to empathize with other creatures & understand nature, at the end of the day they're just humans & can only live as humans, for better or worse.
* HalfHumanHybrid - Shinichi becomes one when Migi uses some of his body mass to repair the stab wound caused by [[spoiler:the Parasite that took over Shinichi's mother]]. This results in advanced strength and reflexes, and also in Shinichi [[HeroicSociopath seemingly becoming more emotionless for a time]].
* HeroicHost - When the parasites don't kill you by absorbing your head.
* HeroicSacrifice - [[spoiler:Migi,in a very touching scene]]
* HorsebackHeroism - Shinichi, in Kana's dream.
* HumansAreBastards - Sort of touched on. The Parasites believe this is the case.
* ImpostorExposingTest - The military figures out a way to use an x-ray machine to separate a group of mixed humans and Parasites.
* ItsPersonal - After [[spoiler:a Parasite took over Shinichi's mother and came very close to killing him,]] Shinichi becomes a bit more ruthless in his pursuit.

* KillItWithFire - Strangely averted here, as practically everything else gets used - dismemberment, impaling, gunfire from [[FiveRoundsRapid bullets]] to shotguns, and on one occasion, ''[[ImprovisedWeapon a rock]]''. Flamethrowers are briefly considered, but rejected. The one time it's used [[spoiler:(Shinichi's plan to hit Gotoh with a flaming spear while Migi takes off his head)]] fails.
* KillTheCutie - [[spoiler:Poor Kana.]]
* LifeOrLimbDecision - Invoked. Shinichi is just GenreSavvy enough to tourniquet his own arm and prevent Migi from reaching his brain - and it's just the first chapter.
* LosingYourHead - Shinichi to [[spoiler:Gotoh's head in their first fight.]] [[NighInvulnerable Of course]], he doesn't really care.
* LovecraftianSuperpower - Guess who?
* MamaBear - Tamura of all people managed to pull this one on the detective when he threatened her child.
* MoreDakka - About ten men shooting [[spoiler:Gotoh]] with assault rifles, shotguns and a grenade launcher at the same time. Even more after, up to 53 people. [[spoiler:[[NighInvulnerable He doesn't care]]. See also CatchAndReturn]].
* MuggingTheMonster - A bully and rival for Murano's affections tries to beat up Shinichi. Shinichi tries to avoid the fight at first, but the bully is having none of that. It doesn't end well.
* MundaneUtility - Shinichi using Migi to deliver the ultimate FastballSpecial in chapter 24 counts as this.
* MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat - Migi. He even shapeshifts into a [[GagPenis gargantuan penis]], in public, because of this.
* OffWithHisHead: Parasites tend to go for the head, whether they're infecting (X-rays of the host bodies reveal they have no skulls) or just feeding.
* NighInvulnerable - Gotoh.
* PaperThinDisguise - Normally averted by the Parasites, but Mori's Parasite attempts this by giving him a ridiculous jawline when he and Shinichi have to kidnap somebody.
* ParanoiaFuel - [[invoked]] The police's efforts to keep a full-scale public panic from happening should the Parasites' existence become known are a minor but recurring plot point.
* PlayedForLaughs - Shinichi and Migi's interactions.
** CrossesTheLineTwice - Shinichi and Migi meet Mori Uda, part of a second human-Parasite pair much like themselves, only this one inhabits the lower half of Mori's face. Mori is depicted as going from TheWoobie to the Parasite's personal ButtMonkey from the get-go.
* PowerPerversionPotential: Averted, Migi's ability to turn Shinichi's hand into a giant penis or mass of writhing tentacles never comes up (as by the time our hero's in a relationship, [[spoiler: Migi's asleep for good]].
* PrimalFear - Shinichi can unconsciously cause people to experience this, especially when he's being threatened.
* ProductPlacement - unintentional, but the appearance of an undisguised [=McDonald's=] in chapter 2 is a fairly rare sighting in manga.
* TheQuisling - [[spoiler: The mayor was a human all along.]]
* RuleOfCool - The Parasites' ability to distort bodies is pretty damn awesome.
* RuleOfSymbolism - Reiko holding her baby [[spoiler:and shielding it from bullets while the cops are shooting her to death]] starts to [[PietaPlagiarism resemble a certain Virgin...]].
* ScarsAreForever - Shinichi picks up large scars on his chest and back as a result of Migi saving his life, and a scar through his right eyebrow thanks to Goutou.
* ShapeshifterWeapon - Parasites can transform the parts of their hosts' bodies that they've taken over (usually just the head) into...''things'' that can shred human flesh '''faster than the eye can see'''.
* ShoutOut - The Parasites' body distortion mentioned above seems to be inspired by [[http://www.doc.gold.ac.uk/~mas02fl/MSC101/Vision/Pics/EscherBondUnion2.jpg [=MC=] Escher's 'Bond Of Union']], by way of JohnCarpenter's ''Film/TheThing''. The idea of the Parasites taking over the government to some degree is most definitely inspired by ''TheyLive''.
* ShutUpHannibal - [[spoiler:The militaries don't wait to the end of Takeshi Hirokawa's speech to shoot.]]
* SurpriseJump: A nervous Shinichi is tugged at from behind by a young girl. [[spoiler:Because of his newfound powers, he jumps a good 20 feet or so.]]
* ThemeNaming - Migi. Shaba. (Right hand and chin.)
* TinMan - The Parasites all claim to have no emotions, despite them clearly possessing several, just not '''all''' of them (chiefly they're missing disgust and romantic love, but seem to be capable of everything else).
* TookALevelInBadass - After recovering from the stab wound that pierced his heart, Shinichi can run at what looks like more than thirty miles per hour, jump more than twelve feet high without a running start, and has reflexes that allow him to actually dodge and turn aside Parasite attacks, which are ''faster than the human eye can see''. He definitely leveled up.
* VomitingCop: "Don't puke in the crime scene."
* VictimizedBystander - one of the parasites turned a boy's right arm into a giant penis after he offered to show her an animal.
* [[WhamEpisode Wham Chapter]] - Chapter 11 contains horrifying amounts of wham.
* WillTheyOrWontThey - Shinichi and Murano. [[spoiler:They will.]]
* TheWormThatWalks - [[spoiler: Gotoh]] is made of several parasites, with each controlling a limb.
* XtremeKoolLetterz - Paras'''y'''te, [[TokyoPop Mixx]]'s MarketBasedTitle for ''Kiseiju''; Mixx used it to refer to the Parasites; Del Rey used the normal spelling to refer to the creatures, but kept Mixx's title.

''Parasyte'' is a {{seinen}} {{manga}} written by Hitoshi Iwaaki, and is particularly famous for its usage of BodyHorror. It was first published in North America by Mixx (now better known as {{TokyoPop}}) where every character was [[CulturalTranslation Americanized]] by changing their names (for example: Reiko Tamura was renamed Tamara Rockford, while Migi was "Lefty" because the pages were reversed), mild censorship of sexual elements (though the gratuitous violence was left untouched) and many cultural differences being waved away. Later, Del Rey got publishing rights to the series and re-released it, reverting the changes Mixx made and using a more accurate translation. There's also a LiveActionAdaptation supposedly in the works.

** HandicappedBadass - While [[spoiler: separated from Migi and thus having a stump for his right arm]], Shinichi manages to catch six mosquitoes in less than a second.

* BadPowersGoodPeople - Shinichi is considered NeutralGood and one of the kindest people in the entire series, he gains a LovecraftianSuperpower though.

* BadPowersGoodPeople - Shinichi is considered NeutralGood and his right hand [[spoiler:and his blood later on]] is a LovecraftianSuperpower.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[spoiler: [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kiseijuu/c042/11.html Migi pickpockets]]]]

''Parasyte'' is a {{seinen}} {{manga}} written by Hitoshi Iwaaki, and is particularly famous for its usage of BodyHorror. It was first published in North America by Mixx (now better known as {{TokyoPop}}) where every character was [[{{Americanitis}} Americanized]] by changing their names (for example: Reiko Tamura was renamed Tamara Rockford, while Migi was "Lefty" because the pages were reversed), mild censorship of sexual elements (though the gratuitous violence was left untouched) and many cultural differences being waved away. Later, Del Rey got publishing rights to the series and re-released it, reverting the changes Mixx made and using a more accurate translation. There's also a LiveActionAdaptation supposedly in the works.