History Manga / UruseiYatsura

* AnimeAnatomy: Averted. If nowhere else, then during Lum's initial DefeatByModesty.

* DysfunctionJunction: Where to even ''start''?

** Although the "penguin" was actually a swallow that had [[IncrediblyLamePun swallowed]] some of Ten's candy.

* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Ryuunosuke is frequently victim of this trope.

* HotBlooded: Tobimaro, complete with HotbloodedSideburns even.

* InterspeciesRomance: Kitsune develops a very innocent crush on Shinobu after she saves him from a pack of dogs.

* JourneyToTheWest: Reenacted by the whole cast as a play.

* LackOfEmpathy: Mr Fujinami, Oyuki, and Ryoko.

* MorphicResonance: Kitsune transforms into the other characters by essentially becoming slightly more human-like, losing the tail and putting on the same outfit and hairstyle as the person he wants to turn into. It never fools anyone.

** Well most of the alien girls like outfits that are very swimsuit like: Ran occasionally dons a pink bikini outfit, Oyuki has a crystal surfaced one with AbsoluteCleavage, and Kurama a black one piece front laced corset type outfit.

* NoAccountingForTaste: Ataru's parents and both of his girlfriends.
* NoblewomansLaugh: Ryoko does a more subdued and ladylike version of this at times.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent

** For Tobimaro, playing baseball is serious business, seeing as he lives in the mountains and practices... to no avail.

** In the anime, well really Movie 4, Ataru really doesn't want to hit anybody.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: And if it isn't (the rare examples being Tsubame and Sakura and, eventually, [[spoiler:Inaba]] and Shinobu), the rest of the craziness conspires to keep them apart. Arguably, Ataru and Lum also love each other, but analyzing ''that'' would require a separate page altogether.
** Many, many stories involve a love square with Lum, Ataru, and two other characters. The two other characters are often Shinobu and Mendou or Ran and Rei.

** More accurately Sakura doesn't gain an Inch. In the manga, after completing the "Full Course From Hell" (which near the end featured the cooks offering her whole roasted duck, pig, and cow, which Sakura ate without difficulty), Sakura was shown in the pool wearing a bikini and clearly with the exact same figure as before the gigantic meal. Then she decided to have a nap on the same inflated mattress she had been laying on in the opening splash page, and sank.
* BarehandedBladeBlock: Ataru is a master of this.

** In the story where Inaba let Ataru Lum and Shinobu make their own futures, Ataru of course tried creating a future where he had a Harem. Not long afterward he hid in that future, and after discovering that not only was Lum not there, but his future self had drive her off by being a supreme jerkass. He responded going Hammertime on his future self then throwing that future away.

* {{Bishonen}}: Rei, Lum's former fiance, draws squees from every female who sees him. Mendou also qualifies, which is basically his most obvious difference from Ataru.

* BigEater: Sakura... the pretty one.

* CallingTheOldManOut: Ryuunosuke, several times a day.

--> '''Rei''': "Lum!" ''(which is pretty much the only non-food-related thing he says)''

--> '''Ryuunosuke''': "I'm a chick, dammit!!!" ''(in a very mannish way of speaking)''

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: [[{{Retcon}} Shinobu, after Lum arrives]] (in one movie, when Lum left the Earth, she lost her power). Also Asuka, though she inherited this from her mother and is able to run 100 meters in a few seconds while wearing 200 kg worth of medieval armor.

* ChickMagnet: Rei breaks up loving couples just by walking past them, causes {{squee}}s whenever anything of the female gender sees him. His being dumb as a plank and loving only food does nothing to dissuade the girls. His [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting transforming into a giant goofy tiger-bull whenever excited]] might. Sometimes.

* ClingyJealousGirl: Both Lum and Shinobu, to Ataru and Mendou, respectively.

** BlessedWithSuck: ...Who can fly, is a ClingyJealousGirl, and has a built in taser that she uses repeatedly on him if he so much as looks at another girl.

* DirtyOldMan: When he's not pining for his lost wife, Mr. Fujinami really creeps the girls out. Then again he tends to creep them out anyway, mainly because the guy is also ''batshit insane''!

YouDidntAsk: In one manga chapter, Ataru, Lum and several of their friends went camping. Lum was making lunch and everyone were happy... but Ataru. He adamantly -[[BigEater who usually eats ANYTHING and EVERYTHING he can have his hands on]]- refused eating. His friends nagged him about rudely rejecting Lum food... and then they tried it. Right away they dragged it away and asked him why he had not warned them Lum's food is ''very'' spicy. His answer? They did not ask (And he did not want to warn them).

* AdaptationDyeJob: A very triumphant example:- Lum originally had iridescent (constantly shifting, rainbow colored) hair. It was changed to the iconic green (which was originally just Ten's) in the anime, which was so popular that it was retconned back into the later manga pages. You can see this in the color manga covers [[http://stars.ign.com/dor/objects/924135/lum/images/lum-20050619113636361.html like]] [[http://pic.mangapark.com/manga/1062/thm.jpg these]] [[http://media.photobucket.com/image/Lum%20Hair%20Urusei%20Yatsura/MooseChangerPat/Urusei%20Yatsura/UruseiYatsura25.jpg for]] [[http://stars.ign.com/dor/objects/924135/lum/images/lum-20050619113639127.html example]]. It's also the source of the very odd highlighting in the monochrome versions.
* AkiraKamiya: As Shuutaro Mendou

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: And if it isn't (the rare examples being Tsubame and Sakura and, eventually, [[spoiler: Inaba]] and Shinobu), the rest of the craziness conspires to keep them apart. Arguably, Ataru and Lum also love each other, but analyzing that would require a separate page altogether.

* CasanovaWannabe- Ataru.

--> '''Rei''': "Lum!" ''(which is pretty much the only thing he says)''

* TheEighties

* FranchiseZombie

* FryingPanOfDoom: Ataru's weapon of choice.
* FumiHirano

* GagDub: TheBBC made one called ''Lum the Invader Girl''. Only two episodes are known to exist.
* GenericCuteness

* HelloNurse: Sakura, even though she doesn't have the personality of one. Lum also qualifies, though with her being underage, older men aren't shown lusting after her... most of the time anyway.

* HumanOutsideAlienInside: One episode features Lum and Ten eating pickles and realizing too late that the brine has an effect on them that alcohol does not. (Arguably a NotHimself episode, as we never see them completely drunk at any other time in the series.)

* ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin: [[BizarreAlienBiology Oni get drunk on ume (English translation = "pickled plums")]]

* [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes Keep Circulating the Scanlations]]: VIZ translated the manga for a while but then dropped it. One could say the series isn't as culturally accessible outside Japan as Takahashi's other series (especially with its many, ''many'' puns), but the anime has been entirely translated.
** And now the anime is falling into this category. AnimEigo, which has held the license to the show, OVA's, and all but one of the movies for over twenty years, announced their rights to distribute the title expired as of 9/30/2011. That one movie they didn't have, ''Beautiful Dreamer'', belonged to [[CentralParkMedia a company that went bankrupt in 2009]], and copies of it are increasingly hard to find.

* LackOfEmpathy: Mr Fujinami, Oyuki and Ryoko.

* LateToThePunchline: So many Anime pros grew up with the show that comic Shoutouts can be found in hundreds of shows. You may not recognize some of them until you see the episode they took it from. (e.g. The lipstick commercial, Ryoko's "operation".)

* LiteralSplitPersonality: The lecherous aspect of Ataru's personality gets split off in one chapter... but the remaining non-lecherous portion of his personality is so weak that it can't even wake up.

* MamiKoyama

* MayumiTanaka: As Ryuunosuke Fujinami

* TheMovie: Six of them.

* OffModel: Too many instances to name. Not surprising considering it was a traditionally-animated TV series from the 80's (i.e. no time & no budget). Especially came up during production of the movies (which have no excuse).

* SaekoShimazu

* SnapBack

* ToshioFurukawa: Ataru.

* TheDitz: Tsubame.

* HoYay: Thanks to a lipstick that draws the lips of the people using it together, Ataru and Mendou end up in a full-frontal smooch by mistake. Both are promptly disgusted: a dappya fish monster even offers the readers three panels to recover from this shock. The participants of the kiss think they require more.

* IAmNotShazam

* LesYay: Ryunosuke goes out with Ran...so she can learn about femininity from a [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Girly Girl]]. Ataru actually tries to interfere to [[UnfortunateImplications try and stop Ran from turning lesbian]].

* TheDitz: Rei.

* RalphWiggum: Rei.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: [[YourMileageMayVary Or simply]] [[PetTheDog justification for the continuation of their relationship]]; whenever it seems that Ataru is going to lose Lum permanently, he abandons everything till he gets her back. Once he does, [[ResetButton the balance of the universe is restored.]]
-->'''Ataru''': "I hate being bound to Lum... but I hate people trying to take Lum away from me ''more''!"
** Most would argue that Ataru really does love Lum by the end: see CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.
** [[spoiler: The ending of the series:- wherein Ataru's MadnessMantra is "I won't forget you, Lum":- codifies this without any doubt. He's not ready to admit it and settle down, but he's mad about her.]]

** And then it inspired its own Shout Outs in other series.

* GratuitousEnglish: "Darling!"

* AnIcePerson: [[MeaningfulName Oyuki]], the Queen of Neptune.

* DepravedDentist

* {{Bokukko}}: Ryuunosuke. Hard stop.

* DrunkOnMalts: Lum and Ten wreak havoc when they get extremely drunk on umeboshi (pickled plums, usually regarded as a hangover cure). It turns out that alcohol actually cures them of being drunk, though all this is somewhat justified by Bizarre Alien Biology.

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: The chapter where Lum gets hit in the head and loses her memory of Japanese and can only speak the oni language is a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming when Ataru: allowing the WaterWorks to flow freely for the first time: embraces her and begs her to remember it.

The show centers around Ataru Moroboshi, an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent who happens to be both the unluckiest and most perverted man in the world, possibly the entire universe. He is chosen by lot to challenge a band of alien invaders in a game of tag to decide the fate of the Earth. His opponent: the lovely [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses Princess Lum]], daughter of the invaders' leader. After several false starts, it takes a promise of marriage by his long-suffering girlfriend and [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend childhood companion]] Shinobu to bolster him to victory. Unfortunately, after his triumphant declaration of "Now I can get married!", Lum thinks Ataru wants to marry ''her'', falls ''instantly'' in love with him -- and the rest is history. Lum moves in with her "darling" Ataru, and before long, the district of Tomobiki has become a hotbed for intergalactic weirdness involving Lum's friends and relatives, with Ataru stuck in the middle.

* AbsoluteCleavage - A lot of Sakura's off duty outfits, also a feature of the outfit Oyuki wears under her winter Kimono.
* AbusiveParents - Mr Fujinami and Ran's mother.

* AdaptationDyeJob - A very triumphant example -- Lum originally had iridescent (constantly shifting, rainbow colored) hair. It was changed to the iconic green (which was originally just Ten's) in the anime, which was so popular that it was retconned back into the later manga pages. You can see this in the color manga covers [[http://stars.ign.com/dor/objects/924135/lum/images/lum-20050619113636361.html like]] [[http://pic.mangapark.com/manga/1062/thm.jpg these]] [[http://media.photobucket.com/image/Lum%20Hair%20Urusei%20Yatsura/MooseChangerPat/Urusei%20Yatsura/UruseiYatsura25.jpg for]] [[http://stars.ign.com/dor/objects/924135/lum/images/lum-20050619113639127.html example]]. It's also the source of the very odd highlighting in the monochrome versions.
* AkiraKamiya - As Shuutaro Mendou
* AlienInvasion - The main premise of the series. At first.
* AliensSpeakingEnglish - The chapter where Lum gets hit in the head and loses her memory of Japanese and can only speak the oni language is a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming when Ataru - allowing the WaterWorks to flow freely for the first time - embraces her and begs her to remember it.
* AllJustADream - In one episode, Kitsune [[spoiler: watches a movie about a fox who uses magical nuts to turn the human woman he loves into a fox. Kitsune does the same to Shinobu (as well as Lum, Ataru, Cherry, and Kotatsu-Neko, by accident). In the end, however, he wakes up to finds himself in the open field where he saw the movie, revealing that the night he turned Shinobu into a fox was just a dream.]]

* AllLoveIsUnrequited - And if it isn't (the rare examples being Tsubame and Sakura and, eventually, [[spoiler: Inaba]] and Shinobu), the rest of the craziness conspires to keep them apart. Arguably, Ataru and Lum also love each other, but analyzing that would require a separate page altogether.
* AllMenArePerverts - Ataru, in spades. In the 10th anniversary movie ''Always My Darling'', Princess Lupika's computer pinpoints him as the most lecherous man in the universe.

* AnIcePerson - [[MeaningfulName Oyuki]], the Queen of Neptune.
* AnimeAnatomy - Averted. If nowhere else, then during Lum's initial DefeatByModesty.
* AnimeInLaws - Ten, of course.

* [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign As Long As It Sounds Chinese]] - The oni language, which Lum's mom speaks, is portrayed in the manga as [[{{Wingdinglish}} mah-jong tiles and as gibberish in the anime]], complete with weird subtitles that make no sense. The first chapter also features a French announcer saying stock phrases like, "Where is the pencil?" "It is on the table." The Chinese announcer, meanwhile, is listing items from a Chinese take-out menu.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther - [[YourMileageMayVary Or simply]] [[PetTheDog justification for the continuation of their relationship]]; whenever it seems that Ataru is going to lose Lum permanently, he abandons everything till he gets her back. Once he does, [[ResetButton the balance of the universe is restored.]]

** Most would argue that Ataru really does love Lum by the end - see CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.
** [[spoiler: The ending of the series -- wherein Ataru's MadnessMantra is "I won't forget you, Lum" -- codifies this without any doubt. He's not ready to admit it and settle down, but he's mad about her.]]

* BalloonBelly - Happens to multiple characters, but Ataru and Cherry are the most prone to it. Inverted by Sakura, who literally eats a restaurant out of business and doesn't gain an ounce.

* BarehandedBladeBlock - Ataru is a master of this.
* BareYourMidriff - Are there any {{Fanservice}} tropes ''not'' related to Lum?
* BaseballEpisode - You can bet there will be one whenever Tobimaro shows up.

* BattleCry - Shinobu always evokes her super strength by getting worked up about boys. "MEN BE DAMNED!"
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor - Ataru is constantly chasing every girl around... only to have the one that can keep up with him and zap the living crap out of him if he gets out of line decide to keep him. Whoops.
* BecomingTheMask - Ran seems to like it on Earth when being a kawaiiko student, seeing as she still attends Tomobiki High even after she mostly gives up on her revenge against Lum. Mostly being the keyword. In a subversion, she's still bitter, shrewish and violent on the inside.
* BelligerentSexualTension - A strange case in that the show itself is not an example, but rather the reason ''for the trope coming into existence'' (for anime, anyway)! RumikoTakahashi intended for the OfficialCouple to be Ataru and Shinobu... until the [[ExecutiveMeddling editor]] and [[EnsembleDarkhorse the general public]] made it known to her that they preferred Lum to Shinobu. While Takahashi herself has stated her great liking for Lum since, and has no ill-feelings towards the Lum & Ataru pairing, she created the BelligerentSexualTension in every manga since to prevent any fan/editor hijacking of her romantic interests (ironically, though, [[MaisonIkkoku every]] [[OnePoundGospel intended]] [[RanmaOneHalf couple]] [[InuYasha since]] has been the favorite of fans and editors anyway, so one has to wonder if there's really a need at all for her to do this - and if she just didn't realize the storytelling gold she had with Ataru and Lum at the beginning).

* BerserkButton - In the "Kotaru the haunted kotatsu" storyline, information from Mendou is required. He arrives, in full samurai garb, katana at the ready, 0.1 second after Ataru yells out: [[NobodyCallsMeChicken "MENDOU YOU SISSY!!!"]]

* BettyAndVeronica - Shinobu and Lum.
* BewareTheNiceOnes - The only person the bitter and vindictive [[{{Yandere}} Ran]] fears is the [[YamatoNadeshiko calm, feminine and graceful]] Oyuki. With very, ''very'' good reason.

* {{Bishonen}} - Rei, Lum's former fiance, draws squees from every female who sees him. Mendou also qualifies, which is basically his most obvious difference from Ataru.
* {{Bifauxnen}} - Ryuunosuke, who's studly enough that [[StupidSexyFlanders even girls who are aware of her gender swoon]].

* BigEater - Sakura... the pretty one.

* BigFancyHouse - Complete with ''multiple'' [[TheThingThatGoesDoink things that go doink]]
* BikerBabe - Benten
* BiologicalMashUp - Ataru and a notebook. Seriously.

* BitchInSheepsClothing - "Tee-hee! Ran-chan is sooo happy!"
* {{Bokukko}} - Ryuunosuke. Hard stop.
* BookAndSwitch - Ataru
* BornUnlucky - Ataru; his birthday is even [[FourIsDeath April]] [[ThirteenIsUnlucky 13th]], and the litany of bad luck omens associated with him appeared before he was even born. Not to mention his MeaningfulName (roughly translated, "hit on the head with a falling star").
* BrattyHalfPint - [[MeaningfulName Jariten]]: he loves to act high and mighty, and puts on a façade of innocence ("I'm a good boy" is pretty much his CatchPhrase), but in reality he mixes a considerable amount of mischievousness with the same lecherous attitudes as Ataru and Mendo. He loves to stir up trouble to keep himself amused, playfully flirts with every girl he sees, and because he's considered an adorable infant, he can usually rely on women to protect him when he gets into more trouble than his ability to fly and breathe fire can handle. And even when they turn against him, Lum always supports him, to the extent she pays it no mind at all when, say, Ten shows up at Ataru's school and starts randomly biting people to soothe his toothache.
* BreakTheCutie - Parodied with Asuka, who would likely be the one to break anyone in half. Now, if only her nemesis wasn't Ataru...
* BrotherSisterIncest - Subversion: the extremely sheltered Asuka fears all men except her "big brother" ("a special kind of man who is just like you!"). She considers Mendou (her fiance due to a family agreement) her brother because she heard Ryoko refer to him as such once and Ryuunosuke, since she was wearing her sarashi that matched her actual brother Tobimaro's. Guess which "brother" has to endure rib-crushing hugs in his bed or bath? Hint: he's rather terrified of this and their mother blames it on ''him''.

* CallingTheOldManOut - Ryuunosuke, several times a day.

* CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest - Ataru, partly because Lum would likely consider as his submission to their "marriage".

* {{Catchphrase}} - Several, most often a variation of the following:

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower - [[{{Retcon}} Shinobu, after Lum arrives]] (in one movie, when Lum left the Earth, she lost her power). Also Asuka, though she inherited this from her mother and is able to run 100 meters in a few seconds while wearing 200 kg worth of medieval armor.

* ChickMagnet - Rei breaks up loving couples just by walking past them, causes {{squee}}s whenever anything of the female gender sees him. His being dumb as a plank and loving only food does nothing to dissuade the girls. His [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting transforming into a giant goofy tiger-bull whenever excited]] might. Sometimes.

* ChildhoodMarriagePromise - Lum's great-grandfather promised his daughter to Rupa's great-grandfather in exchange for an antidote. Once the latter found out that there is no daughter, he vowed to wait until a girl was born in the oni royal family. As it turns out, his great-grandson is apparently the correct age to marry Lum, and had been brought up with the idea that he would marry her.

* ClingyJealousGirl - Both Lum and Shinobu, to Ataru and Mendou, respectively.
* ClosetSublet - Lum, at first.

* ComedicSociopathy - Everybody that shows up on screen. ''Everybody''.

* CoolBigSis - Sakura, when she feels like it. Ten seems to consider Lum his Cool Big Cousin.
* CoolBike - Benten's rocket cycle.

* CursedWithAwesome - Yes, Ataru, I'm sure it ''totally sucks'' to have a [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Green Haired Space Babe]] girlfriend.
** BlessedWithSuck - ...Who can fly, is a ClingyJealousGirl, and has a built in taser that she uses repeatedly on him if he so much as looks at another girl.
* CustomUniform - Mendou and Ryuunosuke.
* CuteAndPsycho - Ran and Ryoko are definitely this.
* CuteBruiser - Subverted with Shinobu, who can juggle desks easily, but believes herself a [[YamatoNadeshiko fragile sweet little schoolgirl]].
* CuteLittleFangs - Lum, although when she's upset she shows a mouth full of big pointy teeth (likewise for the other Oni, natch).
* CuteMonsterGirl - Lum again. Not to mention her friends Oyuki (Yuki-no-Onna), Ran (Gaki) and arguably Benten (Fukujin), as well as the minor character Kurama (Karasutengu- or "Crow Tengu").
* DamselInDistress - Subverted and possibly inverted by Shinobu. She might believe herself to be one, but her super strength gets her out of most scraps. Subverted by Lum in the Final Chapter - she [[BroughtDownToNormal loses her powers because her horns fall out]], but she still bites and uses Ten effectively, almost escaping.

* DartboardOfHate - Parodied, Kurama has one of Ataru. She throws a dart at it, however the image catches the dart in its teeth and eats it.
* DealWithTheDevil - Ataru forms one entirely by ''accident'' with a repeated running pattern matching a demon's personal crest for 13 days and a VSign, if you'll believe that.
* DefeatByModesty - Lum, in the first storyline

* {{Determinator}} - Parodied and played straight with Ataru.
* DirtyOldMan - When he's not pining for his lost wife, Mr. Fujinami really creeps the girls out. Then again he tends to creep them out anyway, mainly because the guy is also ''batshit insane''!
* DisproportionateRetribution - while Lum did get Ran into trouble as a child (sometimes on purpose, most of the time accidentally, but never with the intent to harm her), Ran swore a vendetta against her childhood friend after she hooked up with the guy Ran liked... and [[ItsPersonal then dumped him.]]

* DoggedNiceGuy - Inaba starts out as a decidedly non-threatening version of this towards [[spoiler: Shinobu]]. She eventually reciprocates. Rupa in the 5th movie is a much more aggressive version towards Lum.

* DorkHorseCandidate - Ataru
* DoubleStandard - Really messed with in some of the Ryuunosuke/Nagisa bits - Culminating in the fight between Ryu (Girl raised as a boy, and looking really masculine) and Nagisa (Boy raised as a girl wearing a dress and looking feminine in it).
* DrunkOnMalts - Lum and Ten wreak havoc when they get extremely drunk on umeboshi (pickled plums, usually regarded as a hangover cure). It turns out that alcohol actually cures them of being drunk, though all this is somewhat justified by Bizarre Alien Biology.
* DudeMagnet - The male population of Tomobiki High School would all give an arm and a leg to have a chance with Lum, not counting her various alien suitors.
* DudeShesLikeInAComa - Kurama

* DumbMuscle - Rei
* DysfunctionJunction - Where to even ''start''?
* EarCleaning - Lum can occasionally be seen cleaning Ataru's ears, at home or even at school (episode 17, for example). This is intended to be one of the signs that Ataru does care for her, but is unwilling to commit to her.
* EarlyBirdCameo - "[[BreakingTheFourthWall My name is Shutaro Mendou and I will soon become a regular character on this show.]]"

* EdibleThemeNaming - The Spice Girls, Sugar, Pepper and Ginger.

* EpunymousTitle - Takahashi replaced "urusai", which means annoying or loud, with "urusei", writing it with the kanji for "star". That makes the title mean something like "Those Obnoxious Aliens" or "The Annoying Space Guys".
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer - Ryunnosuke
* EveryGirlIsCuterWithHairDecs - Early on, Ataru forces Cherry to give him a set of yellow ribbons that, if tied around Lum's horns, make her lose her powers.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs - One episode transports Lum, Ataru and Ten into the past, where a dinosaur mistakes Ten for its hatched egg and the egg believes Lum to be its mom.
* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins - The second episode involves the neighborhood being overrun with them.

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses - Aside from Lum, Oyuki and Benten qualify as queen and goddess.

* {{Fangirl}} - Mendou has a formal organization of fangirls following his every move, ready to punish Ataru for any perceived infraction against him.
** FanBoy - Lum has much the same. The fandom has [[FanNickname come to calling them Lum's Stormtroopers]].

* FourGirlEnsemble - Starring Lum, Oyuki, Benten and Ran.

* FryingPanOfDoom - Ataru's weapon of choice.

* FurBikini - Lum's outfit, based on the legends of oni wearing tiger skins.
* GagDub - TheBBC made one called ''Lum the Invader Girl''. Only two episodes are known to exist.

* {{Gonk}} - Cherry, especially emphasized by his sudden entrances and close-ups. Sakura's mom, who looks like Cherry with hair. And, of course, Shinobu's highly persistent suitor, Soban from Busumetsu High, who raises this trope UpToEleven.

* GreenEyedMonster - Ran, Ran and have I mentioned Ran?

* HandsomeLech - Though rich, popular and good looking, Mendou is just as big a pervert as Ataru.
* HaremAnime - Well, sort of. Ataru wants one, but none of the girls want to be in one. Could be considered the UnbuiltTrope version where ''TenchiMuyo!'' was the [[TropeCodifier Codifier]].
* HaremSeeker - Ataru, to the horror of all women.
* HelloNurse - Sakura, even though she doesn't have the personality of one. Lum also qualifies, though with her being underage, older men aren't shown lusting after her... most of the time anyway.
* HeManWomanHater - Tobimaro firmly believes that baseball is no place for women... though most of his issues with the gentler sex can be directly attributed to a childhood spent running from Ryoko Mendou.
* HotAmazon - Shinobu, and Lum. ''And Benten'', don't forget Benten.

* HornedHumanoid - The Oni
* HotBlooded - Tobimaro, complete with HotbloodedSideburns even.
* HoYay - Thanks to a lipstick that draws the lips of the people using it together, Ataru and Mendou end up in a full-frontal smooch by mistake. Both are promptly disgusted - a dappya fish monster even offers the readers three panels to recover from this shock. The participants of the kiss think they require more.
* HumanAliens - Averted with every alien aside from the important characters. Most aliens look nothing humanoid - see the omiai chapter/episode and take a good look at Lum's would-be suitors aside from Uni and the Prince of the Underground.

* ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin - [[BizarreAlienBiology Oni get drunk on ume (English translation = "pickled plums")]]

* InnocentBystander - Subverted, Ryoko often poses as one.

* InterspeciesRomance - Kitsune develops a very innocent crush on Shinobu after she saves him from a pack of dogs.
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting - Uber-bishonen [[ChickMagnet Rei]] turns into an ''ushitora'' (a very large, goofy and stupid-looking cross between a tiger and a bull) whenever excited. And that means whenever lots of food is in front of him. Or, early on, whenever his ex-fiancee, Lum, spurns him. The only girl it doesn't bother at all is Ran... and even the girls who see both of his forms still aren't entirely against the prospect of romancing him.

* JourneyToTheWest - Reenacted by the whole cast as a play.
* {{Kawaiiko}} - Ran, whenever her psycho-bitch state isn't taking over. When Lum mentions that she should just be herself, Ran explains that getting back to her Kawaiiko mode is difficult.

* KavorkaMan - Mr. Fujinami apparently. He has photos of dozens of women with baby Ryuunosuke and doesn't even remember which one of them is his real wife, Masako. It then turns out that he never actually seduced them; he hired them to pose for the pictures because he wanted to "help" Ryuunosuke somehow.
* [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes Keep Circulating the Scanlations]] - VIZ translated the manga for a while but then dropped it. One could say the series isn't as culturally accessible outside Japan as Takahashi's other series (especially with its many, ''many'' puns), but the anime has been entirely translated.

* KidAnova - Ten charms lots of girls with his cuteness. Also, one of his dreams is marrying Sakura.
* KidSamurai - Mendou, who keeps a katana in his locker and Tobimaro, who leads a hermit lifestyle in the mountains and always wears a ragged samurai robe.

* KissOfDeath - Ran

* LadykillerInLove - Possibly subverted, since Mendou might want to marry Lum due to the prestige of having an alien princess as a wife - however, he does seem to have at least some genuine feelings for her. Subverted again in the fact that his relationships with both Lum and Asuka can be interpreted this way. The straight example is Rei; Lum is the only girl in the series who ''doesn't'' require food to get him chasing after her. If you don't see the magnitude of that achievement, you seriously need to rewatch the stories featuring him.
* LateToThePunchline - So many Anime pros grew up with the show that comic Shoutouts can be found in hundreds of shows. You may not recognize some of them until you see the episode they took it from. (e.g. The lipstick commercial, Ryoko's "operation".)
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall - In one episode, Ataru is seen reading an animanga version of ''Beautiful Dreamer''. In another, they pass by a movie theater with a poster for ''Remember My Love''. Lum even glances at it briefly.
* LesYay - Ryunosuke goes out with Ran...so she can learn about femininity from a [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Girly Girl]]. Ataru actually tries to interfere to [[UnfortunateImplications try and stop Ran from turning lesbian]].
* LethalChef - Lum cooks reasonably well... [[AlienLunch but only by Oni standards]]
* LettingHerHairDown - Benten subverts this effectively.

* LingerieScene - Parodied
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters - And they will constantly remind you of it.
* LoveableSexManiac - Take a wild guess...
* LoveYouAndEverybody - Of course Ataru loves Lum...And Shinobu, and Sakura, and Ran, and Ryunnosuke, and Benten...
* LoveMartyr - Everyone considers Lum this.
* LovePotion - Several in the TV series. The plot of the 6th movie revolves around one.
* MagicPants - Pepper

* MasqueradeBall - Parodied, as the Japanese words can be read in different ways.
* MayumiTanaka - As Ryuunosuke Fujinami
* MegaNeko - Kotatsu-neko
* {{MIB}} - The men in black glasses and the kuroko.

* {{Miko}} - Sakura

* MindScrew - Miserable! A Loving and Roving Mother! Also, the second and fourth movies, which go off the wall and pull off "What is going on?"-style plot twists to an extreme degree.
* MiniatureSeniorCitizens - Cherry and Sakura's mom. Also [[HumanoidAbomination Mujaki,]] the BigBad of the second film - though he isn't nearly [[NotSoHarmless as harmless as he looks...]]
* MissingMom - No one can actually figure out if Masako is alive or had just left Mr. Fujinami.

* MiyamotoMusashi - The Heian Era segments reenact this, with Onsen-Mark as Musashi, Ataru as a BigEater and petty criminal posing as Musashi and Mendou as Kojiro.

* MorphicResonance - Kitsune transforms into the other characters by essentially becoming slightly more human-like, losing the tail and putting on the same outfit and hairstyle as the person he wants to turn into. It never fools anyone.
* TheMovie - Six of them.
* MsFanservice - Lum. Oh, how we love the tiger-striped bikini.

** Well most of the alien girls like outfits that are very swimsuit like - Ran occasionally dons a pink bikini outfit, Oyuki has a crystal surfaced one with AbsoluteCleavage, and Kurama a black one piece front laced corset type outfit.
* MurderTheHypotenuse - Ran's default reaction to anyone who gets within ten feet of Rei.
* MusicalPastiche - Apparently UY reused a BGM track from {{Kinnikuman}} (which was made a year before UY), although considering Shinsuke Kazato was the composer for both series, it really isn't of a surprise, don't believe me, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRtZK_nbUgI&feature=related click here for the Kinnikuman version]], and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOX5N3E88VY go to 0:27 for the UY remix of this track]], take a listen and tell me those two BGM's don't sound almost exactly the same.

* {{Ninja}} - In addition to the Kyoto story arc featuring a run in with an actual Ninja clan, during Mendo's introduction, Ataru not only used a Ninja style bare handed sword catch, but he also pulled the NinjaLog trick.

* NoAccountingForTaste - Ataru's parents and both of his girlfriends.
* NoblewomansLaugh - Ryoko does a more subdued and ladylike version of this at times.
* NoFourthWall - When a classmate asks Ataru if he knows Sakura, he replies, "Go read the first volume!" And when Ataru turns green, Lum comments that at least they aren't published in color.
* NoGuyWantsToBeChased - Of course, Lum considers them married, so...
* NonIdenticalTwins - The one time everyone believes the kitsune shapeshifting.
* NotSoDifferent - Part of the humor is that, no matter how frequently [[BrattyHalfPint Ten]] and [[HandsomeLech Shutaro]] call out Ataru on his lechery, they're invariably shown to be just as bad, if not worse, then him. Lum, meanwhile, is similar to both Shinobu and Ataru.

* OhCrap - Several. One of the most memorable being Megane when he sees Oyuki's yeti friend in episode 8.
* OffModel - Too many instances to name. Not surprising considering it was a traditionally-animated TV series from the 80's (i.e. no time & no budget). Especially came up during production of the movies (which have no excuse).

* PlayboyBunny - The standard uniform for female employees of the Destiny Production Bureau. Males get slightly frumpy rabbit suits.
* PlayingWithFire - Ten

* PropheticNames - Metaphorical; Ataru's full name translates to "struck by a falling star." And one of the readings for Mendou is "trouble". Shinobu means "to endure". And Lum, well... Agnes Lum, after whom she is named, was a bikini model...
* [[DoesNotLikeMen Pulverizes Men Out of Fear]] - Asuka Mizunokoji. [[ShrinkingViolet Kept isolated from men according to family tradition]], [[ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl she inherited her mother's super-strength]], which is her way of getting rid of all those scary men (the first one she ever met was Ataru Moroboshi). Of course, that's the lesser evil, as her brother Tobimaro can testify, as being classified as a "big brother" ("a special kind of man who's just like you") combined with the fact that Asuka developed a crush on him means rib-crushing hugs.
* RaisedAsTheOppositeGender - There's both a girl raised as a boy (Ryuunosuke) and a boy raised as a girl (Nagisa).

* RealMenWearPink - The resident uber-studly man-amongst-men is not only female, but dreams of the day when she can wear a frilly dress and high heels. Ryuunosuke certainly doesn't think that RealWomenNeverWearDresses.
* RedOniBlueOni - Ataru and Mendou; Benten and Oyuki.
* RedStringOfFate - Ataru has one on each of his fingers.
* ReunionRevenge - Lum and Ran are reunited after a long time at Tomobiki High. This trope starts when Ran finally remembers that she didn't come for a friendly chitchat.
* RobeAndWizardHat - Though he has no hat, Tsubame always wears his wizard cape.
* RomanticFalseLead - Rupa in the 5th movie, once Lum finally gives Ataru the ultimatum to say he loves her or she's staying on the World of Darkness. In a subversion, she obviously doesn't like him as anything more than a casual friend, and that's after he stops trying to force her into marriage. In a twist, Lum is actually his Romantic False Lead as well.
* RoyalBrat - Oh Ryoko, how we love you and your kabuki stagehands.

* {{Salaryman}} - Mr. Moroboshi
* {{Sarashi}} - Ryuunosuke
* SayMyName - All together now! "DAAAAAAAAARLIIIIING!!!" "AAAAAAATARUUUUUU!!!" "MOROBOSHIIIIIIIIII!!!" "LUM-SAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!" "MASAKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" [[strike:"I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE YELLING ABOUT! LOUD NOISES!!!"]]

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney - Mendou, plus his sister Ryoko on occasion.

* SeriousBusiness - Playing tag (literally, "the game of the oni")

* ShockAndAwe - Lum
* ShoutOut - To ''[[TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey 2001: A Space Oddessy]]'' at least once, ''BladeRunner'' on another occasion, and to ''StarWars'' several times (often in a BigLippedAlligatorMoment).

* SmallGirlBigGun - Benten

* SnowMeansCold - Oyuki's mere presence will always cool a room down.

* SpoiledBrat - Mendou, '''TEN''', and most of all, Ryoko
* SqueakyEyes - Lum and Ataru do this at least once.
* StableTimeLoop - When the gang tries to go back in time to cure Mendou's claustrophobia and nyctophobia, the bratty younger Mendou enrages his future self so much that he chases him into a dark room filled with large vases with a katana in hand and a rather maniacal expression in his eyes. Present-time Mendou begins smashing the vases while snarling out various threats at his child self. By the time the others get him out of there and the MIB find the child, little Mendou is practically hysterical in his vase.
* StalkerWithACrush - Played for laughs with Rei, who, despite apparently loving only food (and whatever else can be considered food) still has feelings for Lum, much to Ran's chagrin and rage. How Lum managed to get him to fall in love with her remains a mystery. With a few exceptions, the girls Ataru pursues consider him this.

* StarCrossedLovers - Parodied with Tsubame and Sakura, who never get the chance to kiss because of the constant presence of DatePeepers from Tomobiki High.
* StatuesqueStunner - Sakura.
* StatusQuoIsGod - Many stories end with the town in total chaos, or with Ataru having caused some sort of seemingly irrevocible disaster. But things are always back to normal in the next story, usually without explanation.

* SweetOnPollyOliver - Subversion, the resident Casanovas Ataru and Mendou suspect Nagisa might not be a girl since they feel nothing towards "her".
** The straight example is Ryunnosuke -- Crossdresser or no, Ataru's happy to grope her as much as he is with any other girl.
* TalkingAnimal - Kitsune

* ThroughHisStomach - Ran is extremely happy when Rei snarfs down her lunch with a little more dignity than those of the other girls, even saying her name reverently and responding with an enthusiastic yes when she asks if the food is good. Then Cherry shows up with a bigger bento... and Rei's reaction is exactly the same.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl - Benten and Oyuki.
* TooLongDidntDub - The series is packed to the gills with wordplay and cultural references that are dealt with differently by the various translations from different companies. Most either ignore them or resort to {{Woolseyism}}s, but AnimEigo's releases of the TV series supplement their translations with comprehensive note sheets inside the video/DVD case, explaining in detail the gags and references for the viewer to read at their leisure.

* {{Tsundere}} - Shinobu "MEN BE DAMNED!!!" Miyake ''and'' Lum.
* TunnelKing - The Prince of the Underworld.

* UglyGuyHotWife - Lum's parents. Ataru's mom seems to think this about her marriage, with her melodramatic soliloquy about her wasting her life on "an idiot son and a good-for-nothing husband" when Rei came along...
* UglyGuysHotDaughter - Lum, very much so.
* UnbuiltTrope - particularly for MagicalGirlfriend (and maybe for HaremAnime if you think the show counts as one)
* UnfazedEveryman - Ataru, though this might be a bit of a subversion, considering his superior running-away skills and indestructibility.
* UnluckyChildhoodFriend - Shinobu, though she ceases to care roughly around the time Mendou shows up.
* UnluckyEverydude - Ataru, taking it to epic proportions; he was actually born in the middle of an earthquake on a date that was considered extremely unlucky in both Western (Friday the 13th) and Japanese (Butsumetsu) calendars.

* UnwantedHarem - Inverted, Ataru wants a harem to the horror of all the rest of the females
** Played straight with Lum's other suitors, but subverted with her reaction to them - she treats most of them (particularly those from Tomobiki) as her friends. A good example of that is how she calls Mendou by his first name without any honorific, which is pretty intimate for Japan. Then again, she's not Japanese.
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist - Ataru, most of the time.
* VerbalTic - Lum ends most of her sentences with "dat'cha!". Cherry ends most of his with "-ja", which is pretty typical of old men.

* VitriolicBestBuds - Brought UpToEleven by Ataru and Mendou, who gave a very destructive relationship despite being the closest thing to best guy friends the other has.
* WaifFu - Shinobu, of course. Especially when Soban is concerned.

* WeirdnessMagnet - Ataru, supposedly due to the circumstances of his birth.
* WellExcuseMePrincess - Lum
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim - No one seems to understand why Lum is in love with Ataru, particularly her many admirers.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway - Lame indeed...
* TheWhitePrince - Mendou
* WholesomeCrossdresser - [[spoiler: Nagisa]]
* [[WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent Why Couldn't You Be Different?]] - Ataru and Ryuunosuke, though in the latter case her father chooses to completely ignore the fact she's a girl instead of openly evoking this trope.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes - [[{{Claustrophobia}} "Waaaah! It's dark! It's cramped! I'm scared!!!"]]
* WiseBeyondTheirYears - Ten
* WinterRoyalLady - Oyuki

* AWorldwidePunomenon - Ataru's name, the series name (which is a multi-layered pun), etc. The series, as a whole, is full of them. Most characters have a MeaningfulName, too.
* YamatoNadeshiko - Oyuki is a highly cunning and calculative variant.
* YaoiFangirl - Mendou's fangirls were cheering a bit too much at the HoYay entry situation.
* YouAllLookFamiliar - The series as a whole loves to introduce several characters that are only the focus of one episode, but those characters often make token cameos in large crowd scenes in later episodes. This even includes characters from the first three movies appearing in TV episodes.

* [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair You Gotta Have Green Hair]] - Lum had an AdaptationDyeJob in the anime, since iridescent hair would have been difficult to color in 1981.
* YouKnowWhatYouDid - Subversion: since Rei talks very little aside from exclaiming "Lum!" whenever he sees her, Ran is very quick to assume that whatever situation involves the two is an attempt by Lum to get back together with Rei, much to Lum's horror.
* YuppieCouple - Miss Soup and Mr. Noodle
* ZigzagPaperTassel -- Sakura sometimes uses an ''ōnusa'' to perform exorcisms.

* ZombieApocalypse - Alien tooth aches can be eased by biting others.

<<|NoteworthyAnime|>>

* ArthurDent - Ataru, though this might be a bit of a subversion, considering his superior running-away skills and indestructibility.