History Manga / ViolinistOfHameln

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%% Explaining a trope is more than just saying "In season two" or "Alison is this for Scott." It means actually going into detail about how the trope is used in the series. Make sure that the tropes actually fit the characters when you're fleshing them out.
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%%* {{Adorkable}}: Raiel is all about this.

** Guitar remains polite and cheery even when mass-murdering and torturing people. He also takes Drum treating him as a sidekick with good humour [[spoiler: before murdering Drum when the latter is heavily wounded]].

%%* AlmostKiss: [[spoiler: Hamel and Flute]]

%%* CrystalPrison

%%* DirtyOldMan: Olin,

%%* EvilCounterpart: Sizer to Hamel before her HeelFaceTurn. Vocal plays a much more evil version to him later on.

%%* FiveManBand: The main party, known as "The Five Great Hopes" form one.
%%** TheLeader: Hamel
%%** TheLancer: Raiel
%%** TheBigGuy: Tron Bon
%%** TheSmartGuy: Oboe
%%** TheChick: Flute
%%* FiveBadBand: The mazoku generals and their king.
%%** BigBad: Demon King Chestra
%%** TheDragon: Hell King Bass
%%** EvilGenius: Beast King Guitar
%%** TheBrute: Dragon King Drum
%%** DarkChick: Hawk King Sizer
%%** Drum is replaced by Vocal and Sizer is replaced by Orgel soon after they leave the group.

%%** Of the major characters, [[spoiler:Ocarina]].

%%* HeterosexualLifePartners: Hamel and Raiel.

%%* ICanStillFight: Raiel
%%* InfantImmortality: Averted.

%%* {{Magitek}}

* MusicalThemeNaming: Everyone but Hamel and his mom.
%%* MysteriousParent:

%%* OnlySaneMan: Flute and Oboe to the main party. Clari also plays this role, though he is more prone to moments of NotSoAboveItAll. Any character can play it when the situation calls for a straight man.

%%* TheRival: Raiel initially, then Sizer and finally Vocal all play this to Hamel at one point or another.

%%* SchizoTech:

%%**Raiel and Sizer, ''Hamel'' and Raiel, Clari and Horn, and Clari and Lute.

* HealingHands: The Sforzando royal family has this powers.
** [[spoiler: As princess, Flute has this power.. Using their powers drains a little of their life every time--

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Ocarina, Queen Horn, Lute, nearly all of the villains, not to mention about a third of the rest of mankind, too.]]

* MagicMusic: FLute, violins, etc. are as good as MagicWands in this setting.

* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: Local demon is terrorizing a town. The Marrionette Dance may have given Flute strength, but Tchaikovsky gave the BeatDown.

* AxCrazy: Vocal, [[EvenEvilHaseven by Mazoku standards]], is a violent terror.

* CallingYourAttacks: A couple of times, mostly played for comedy in the manga (see the first page quote). A rather [[{{Narm}} Narmful]] example comes from the anime: one of Trom Bone's sword attacks is called "Scissor Slash", but one one fansub translated it as... "Jesus Slash". Hmm...

* CerebusSyndrome: The manga goes from mostly comedic with sudden flashes of seriousness to mostly serious with sudden flashes of comedy. Surprisingly, the transition is so seemless that you barely notice the change.

* CrystalDragonJesus: The human nations, particularly Sforzando, exhibiting an at best loose understanding of Catholicism. The church is headed by non-celibate magical High Priest Clari and omnipresently symbolized by crosses (Clari and Cornet's weapons and Flute's necklace- which in the manga actually includes a tiny crucified Jesus on it). Later volumes show a questionable definition of angels and the summoning of a massive guardian goddess. Okay!
* CrystalPrison
* DarkerAndEdgier: The anime was probably trying to be this. [[SoBadItsGood It failed spectacularly.]]

* DirtyOldMan: Olin, to a truly ridiculous degree.

* TheDreaded: Great Demon King Chestra inspires fear (and, among the mazoku, awe) in everyone. Even [[TheDeterminator Determinator]] main characters at one point after his unsealing doubt, if there is any hope left for them. Never mind that his actual presence is so overwhelming, that most humans are paralyzed with terror. One of the most BadAss characters in the series [[ViolinistOfHamelnShchelkunchik still sees Chestra in his nightmares 20 years after the war against the mazoku]].
* DualWielding: Trom Bone's style. Warrior King Guitar also uses it from time to time.

* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Hamel and Flute during the first, oh, 16 volumes, seem ''utterly determined'' to not let the other know how they really feel, to the point where they come across as having BelligerentSexualTension cranked up to 11. Flute herself very much wants Hamel to respond to the feelings she doesn't really try to hide, but Hamel has a lot of [[PersonOfMassDestruction emotional]] [[BreakTheCutie baggage]] that makes him [[BreakTheCutie afraid of opening up to anyone]], while desperately craving human contact. Made all the more hilarious since they're constantly mistaken for a couple and their party call them out on their feelings constantly and loudly, in front of the other party, which prompts one of them (usually Hamel) to engage in frothing, stuttering spiels about how that's a stupid mistake and/or a filthy lie, usually crossing into SuspiciouslySpecificDenial.

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Bigtime. Of all the mazoku only [[spoiler: Oboe, Ocarina and Chestra]] have any idea what compassion for other people, friendship, love or hope are, although the latter obviously feels none of that. When heroes find strength to persevere in these feelings, their current opponent usually goes into a VillainousBreakdown.
* EvilCounterpart: Sizer to Hamel before her HeelFaceTurn. Vocal plays a much more evil version to him later on.

* FantasyWorldMap: Whenever Hamel makes MagicMusic, he uses a real-world classical composition and he or someone explains in detail it's origin such as Mozart composing it in France. However, ''none of these real world countries appear to exist on his version of earth.'' Instead there's a bunch of made-up countries named for musical terms.

* FiveManBand: The main party, known as "The Five Great Hopes" form a one.
** TheLeader: Hamel
** TheLancer: Raiel
** TheBigGuy: Tron Bon
** TheSmartGuy: Oboe
** TheChick: Flute
* FiveBadBand: The mazoku generals and their king.
** BigBad: Demon King Chestra
** TheDragon: Hell King Bass
** EvilGenius: Beast King Guitar
** TheBrute: Dragon King Drum
** DarkChick: Hawk King Sizer
** Drum is replaced by Vocal and Sizer is replaced by Orgel soon after they leave the group.

* GagSeries: About 70% of the manga is written to make you laugh, and 30% of the manga is everything else. Has even been referred in universe by one character as a 'stupid gag manga'.

* GondorCallsForAid: Now [[spoiler:[[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Violinist_Of_Hameln_Final_Battle.jpg this]]]] is how you start a final battle.

* HappilyMarried: [[spoiler: Raiel and Sizer (manga)]]. Almost [[SickeninglySweethearts sickeningly so]]. Also, [[spoiler: Hamel and Flute]] though they still have arguments for comedy's sake.
* HealingHands: The Sforzando royal family [[spoiler:and as a result, Flute. Using their powers drains a little of their life every time-- in the manga, Queen Horn is actually dying from having used hers too much.]] Lute can also be considered a healer. At the beginning of the manga it is said that only the women in the family have it-- but at the end, once [[spoiler:Clari returns his soul and he is free of his possession, he heals both Flute and Clari's wounds.]] Okay Watanabe, what the hell happened to that?
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Sizer and Ocarina.]] Also [[spoiler:Oboe, before the story begins.]]

** Of the major characters, [[spoiler:Ocarina]]. There are several side stories in which this happens, especially parents dying for their children. Lute also gives up his own life to protect Sforzando and save Flute, eventually leading to [[spoiler:his death and possession by Bass.]]
** Siding with humans and trying to prevent the resurrection of/defeat Chestra sort of qualifies for any mazoku, [[spoiler: like Oboe]], as the power that grants all mazoku unlimited lifespans flows from Chestra.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Hamel and Raiel.
* HookedUpAfterwards: Trom and... [[spoiler:''Cornet'']] if you can belive it.

* ICanStillFight: Raiel is THE Determinator.
* InfantImmortality: Averted.

* KnightOfCerebus: Vocal is the first major enemy with little to no humor to his character and is portrayed as a very real threat. The tone becomes noticeably more serious as soon as he enters the scene and sticks that way to the end. Chestra himself has no humor to him whatsoever.

** Cornet... hoo boy, Cornet. Granted, she had it coming almost as badly as Chestra himself, but she's almost TheWoobie by the end of the manga.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Gets lampshaded during the GondorCallsForAid scene when ''every single minor character from every chapter'' comes to the battle. Hamel and the gang can't remember who half these people greeting them are.
* LoveFreak: Raiel, the self-proclaimed Warrior of Love. Hamel mocks this ruthlessly, as seeing anything remotely sexy causes Raiel to collapse from massive nosebleed for most of the manga.

* MagicMusic: FLute, violins, etc

* {{Magitek}}
* MamaBear: [[spoiler:Pandora. Ask all the mazoku she slaughters to protect her children. Of course, this is also frequently played for laughs-- in trying to shelter Hamel from the world's various unpleasantries, Pandora nearly burns a village to the ground, works up contracts with the devil and assaults and poisons a five-year-old Raiel.]] Late in the series, PapaWolf appears [[spoiler:when Oboe reveals his true form to lay the royal smackdown on Chestra, saving Hamel's life.]]
* MeaningfulName: We've got Oboe, Flute, Trombone, Ocarina, Lute, Bass, Drum, and Guitar. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
* MediumAwareness: The populace seem to know they exist in a Shonen manga. The main cast also tried to change the whole title and theme of the manga when [[spoiler: Hamel had his HeroicBSOD when his violin was cut in two by Sizer]].
* MomentKiller: Several times. Especially Chestra. He gets his in Shchelkunchik. [[spoiler: While he's doing his classic villain ranting in Great's noggin, Biyorne (the elder of the two badass sisters) glares at him and mutters "Quit butting in already, Chestra."]] Reader, I lol'd.

* MysteriousParent:
* NiceHat: In Hamel's case, it's a plot point, since [[spoiler:it covers his demon horn]]; Flute has ''two'': a more childish pink one that went with her GirlishPigtails and a more mature one that Queen Horn gives her later on; Raiel's hat's purpose isn't really awesomeness, it just sort of highlights his dweebery; Trom Bone has a cool crown; and Sizer's helmet is made of awesome. There' probably about a dozen more I'm not remembering right now, too. This series ''knows'' [[NiceHat Nice Hats]].
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Daimou Sword, which is the requisite big scary weapon of the manga, [[spoiler: which is powered by a holy soul and therefore results in Flute getting abducted by Vocal and Sizer losing her soul into the thing and thus being resurrected by Vocal to run ripshit all over the damn place...this thing exists because ''Olin could not open a can of peaches and needed something that would cut through anything''.]]

* NotQuiteDead: Occurs mostly in the final chapters where [[spoiler: Hamel, Oboe, Raiel, Sizer and Pandora are]] labelled dead and then miraculously heal [[spoiler: thanks to Flute]].

** Strangely enough, [[spoiler: [[TheDragon Bass]] does not appear to have one.]]
* OnlyAFleshWound: As the manga goes on, the injuries suffered and survived by characters in battle grow increasingly more over-the-top, from the comparably tame[[spoiler:savage beatings and Raiel having his hands speared to his piano]] to [[spoiler:a demonic Hamel ripping off his own wing and putting his fist through Flute's chest]]. However, first prize has to go to [[spoiler:Clari, who has all four of his limbs obliterated in a single battle.]] They all survive and recover completely [[spoiler:though Clari did have his limbs replaced by ''robotic prosthetics''-- though for some reason, in the sequel, his limbs have miraculously regrown.]].
* OnlySaneMan: Flute and Oboe to the main party. Clari also plays this role, though he is more prone to moments of NotSoAboveItAll. Practically any character can play it when the situation calls for a straight man.

* ParentalSubstitute: [[spoiler: Oboe to Hamel. Hamel even throws this into Chestra's face, saying that Oboe is the only being he'll ever call "father". Not that Chestra really cares.]]

* PersonOfMassDestruction: Most of the main characters and major villains can be this if they want, by the end of the manga, but the first prize goes to [[spoiler: Chestra, who nuked huge swathes of the world for lulz and quick snack during the final battle.]]
* PetTheDog: Flute for Hamel. Though she's more of a [[MoralityPet Morality]] ButtMonkey.

* PowerDegeneration: Becomes a very major plot point later on. [[spoiler: All mazoku have a limited, non-replenishable amount of magic power throughout most of the story. Only Demon King Chestra presumably has infinite magic and can raise it even more [[HumanResources by sucking blood and souls out of humans]], so the existence of the whole mazoku race depends on the flow of magic from him - that's certainly the reason why selfish and power-hungry Mazoku Kings even bother with cracking open the Pandora Box. Without magic from Chestra, all mazoku are doomed to eventually run out of their remaining reserves and disintegrate horribly and painfully. There are a few really rare workarounds, but their main way of avoiding PowerDegeneration is assuming weaker and less powerful forms, to minimize magic use. That's why Drum and Guitar walk around in their rather goofy bodies, and that's why Oboe adamantly refused to assume his true form before the final battle, despite having enough power to blow away every or almost every individual enemy before that.]]

* TheRival: Raiel initially, then Sizer and finally Vocal all play this to Hamel at one point or another.

* SchizoTech: The technology level is always whatever is needed by the story at the moment.
* SealedEvilInACan: Pandora's Box. And Pandora's Microwave. And Pandora's ''Toilet''. ...Olin, would you stop already.
* ShipTease: Tons. Includes Hamel and Flute, Raiel and Sizer, ''Hamel'' and Raiel, Clari and Horn, and Clari and Lute. Strangely enough.

* TheSixthRanger: Sizer
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Because of ThemeNaming and [[WordOfGod the author providing some official Romanizations]], it shouldn't be a problem for anyone who does their homework (Sizer's scythe has her name carved on it in huge letters and Clari has his on his forehead, for crying out loud), but it does come up.
** Anime Hamel is probably the biggest offender: because the Northern Capital (Hameln) was never named in the anime, many people thought the Hameln in the title referred to Hamel, so some fansubs tacked an N on the end of his name. This is a bit odd, as since Hamel is the violinist, if Hameln meant Hamel the title would basically be saying that Hamel was the violinist of himself.

* StalkerWithACrush: Cornet (in the manga), who kind of CrossesTheLineTwice. [[spoiler:Under guise of "magical training" she makes multiple attempts to murder her "love rival" Flute- from pushing her into shark-infested waters and scattering buckets of bloody chum around her, to transforming her into a cow and persuading Hamel to make her into sukiyaki.]]

* ThisIsUnforgivable: Every major villain past Drum provokes this reaction at some point. Their actual defeats do not necessarily follow right after that, though.
* UnstoppableRage: Hamel.

* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: Sizer, to Raiel's dismay, though he cures her of it in a particularly awesome and heartwarming scene. Subverted with Chestra, who fully understands the concept and how to utilize it to cause pain: He ''will'' murder your spouse and children in front of you ForTheEvulz.
* WhatTheHellTownspeople: The villagers of Ansem. [[spoiler: After constantly abusing Pandora and her son, she risks her life to save them, yet they hand her over to the Mazoku]]. What. The. Fuck?!
* WholesomeCrossdresser: The party needed to get into Sforzando, which was heavily guarded. Hamel's plan is to disguise the group as a party of Portuguese ostrich sellers, with Hamel as the 'mysterious foreigner', Flute (and Oboe) as ostrich, Trom as...a piece of bamboo, and Raile as a young girl. He was cute enough for ''Hamel'' to start hitting on him. Subverted later on when Hamel made Raiel, Oboe, and Trom wear bunny suits in order to lure Flute out of her room (long story). They look absolutely ridiculous.

* YouHaveFailedMe: Amazingly averted with named villains, even though Hell King Bass has all the tolerance for failure of a proper EvilOverlord, and Chestra offed his own honor guard because he felt like drinking some blood right now. Well, Bass tries this, but other, more GenreSavvy mazoku leaders manage to talk him down every time.

* {{Adorkable}}: Raiel is all about this.
* AffablyEvil: Guitar remains polite and cheery even when mass-murdering and torturing people. He also takes Drum treating him as a sidekick with good humour [[spoiler: before murdering Drum when the latter is heavily wounded]]. Also, Vocal pretty much divides his on-panel time between goofing around, making a ButtMonkey out of [[MonsterClown Orgel]], who just managed to establish his reputation as the most vile and non-comedic villain up to that point, only to end up as Vocal's ChewToy, and indiscriminate, ruthless slaughter ForTheEvulz.
* AlmostKiss: [[spoiler: Hamel and Flute]]
* AnimeHair: Flute's impossibly voluminous pigtails (which transforms into waist-long hair when loose). But those are nothing compared to Clari's ''ankle-length'' blond hair.
* AntiAntiChrist: Hamel in the manga wants nothing to do with the demons, who for their part go out of their way to provoke him into embracing his demon blood. [[spoiler:When he does, it's not to help the demons at all.]] In the anime, though, [[spoiler:he temporarily sides with them for some stupid reason, even though it meant invading the castle where he knew his only friends and love interest were in.]]
* ArmorPiercingSlap: One of the most epic examples ever, [[spoiler: with Pandora delivering a well-deserved string of this to Chestra, after getting out of her crystal. Considering, that Pandora is not abnormally strong, and Chestra caused an earthquake just by standing up from his throne, this trope was, amazingly, played straight.]]

* AxCrazy: Vocal, [[EvilerThanThou even by Mazoku standards]].

* BadassNormal: Trom Bone tries to be this in a party full of people who have magic [[spoiler: and demonic powers]]. Even though swordsmanship in this manga is about as [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower "realistic" as you can expect from a shonen series]], this makes him nearly useless against major antagonists for most of the story.
* BeautifulAllAlong: Just let down Flute's hair, and 'kinda cute' transforms into 'BEAUTIFUL!!'. Of course, given that the style she normally wears it in could probably take 'supermodel' into 'kinda cute'...
* BerserkButton: If you harm any of Hamel's friends (especially Flute), may heaven have mercy on your poor, damned soul. And if anyone in your vicinity harms his mother then ''RUN'' AS FAR AWAY AS YOU CAN. Clari can also be described as the psycho big brother, willing to punch anyone through a steel wall that makes his little sister Cornet cry.
** At the beginning of the manga, trying to touch Hamel's hat is another BerserkButton for Hamel, [[spoiler: as he hides his horn, identifying him as half-human, under it]].
* BerserkerTears: Let's see who's guilty * checks list* Hamel, Flute, Sizer, Raiel...Trom, * twitches* ...Pandora...Clari * throws away the list* Argh! Too damn long.
* {{Bishonen}}: Includes Hamel, Raiel, Clari, Lute, Vocal, Orgel without his mask on and several others. Unbelievably, [[spoiler:old man Olin used to be one]].
** Chestra in his human form definitely qualifies as well. And in his true form he looks more or less the same, except for sharper teeth and gigantic demon horns.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Hamel and Trom do this in glorious style at one point. To wit - [[spoiler:"OHMYGOD OHMYGOD AT LONG LAST AFTER 120 CHAPTERS WE GET A HOT SPRING SPECIAL!" However, the manga being what it is, it quickly gets ridiculous. And then more ridiculous.]]
* ButtMonkey: Flute. Though she tries to stay upbeat even she complains about it from time to time, describing herself as a "pathetic heroine"...actually, everyone around Hamel gets buttmonkeyed by him sooner or later. Raiel has also been described by the characters as the perfect "comic relief"

* CrapsaccharineWorld: Let's face it, these people are [[DysfunctionJunction pretty badly broken inside]], even if most of it's PlayedForLaughs. Then the anime dropped the humor ([[ArtStyleDissonance but kept the art style]].)

* FiveManBand: The main party, known as "The Five Great Hopes" form an excellent one.
** TheHero: Hamel

** TheSixthRanger: Sizer

* InfantImmortality: Horrifically averted.
* IntimateHealing: Sizer does this to Raiel with a [[spoiler: kiss]] to 'clean his wound'. Pfft, as if we believe that!

* LoveMakesYouDumb: Raiel, at the start of his crush on Sizer (and pretty much after that too).
* MagicMusic: Pretty much the point.
* MagicPants: In the anime, every time Hamel [[spoiler:transforms into a demon]] his clothes explode off him dramatically, and they're almost always completely intact when he comes back.

* {{Megamanning}}: Guitar's power on top of being a powerful swordsman/dog is obtaining an opponent's power after licking their blood.
* MomentKiller: Several times. Especially Chestra. GODDAMN YOU CHESTRA!!! He gets his in Shchelkunchik. [[spoiler: While he's doing his classic villain ranting in Great's noggin, Biyorne (the elder of the two badass sisters) glares at him and mutters "Quit butting in already, Chestra."]] Reader, I lol'd.

* MysteriousParent: Where do I even start?

* OrcusOnHisThrone: Chestra, after being unsealed. [[spoiler: Then subverted - he stands up from his throne and starts kicking heroes' asses immediately after regenerating both legs, and uses magical projections to attack even before that.]]

* ProphecyTwist: [[spoiler: It is prophesized that Chestra is going to pretty much slaughter our heroes. He does... and then Flute brings them BackFromTheDead with PowerOfLove.]]

* StoryBreakerPower: Lute and [[spoiler: Oboe]] both are strong enough to wipe the floor with all but the absolute strongest of the Mazoku effortlessly and thus have to be written into situations that make them completely useless to the heroes. In Lute's case, he actually gets taken over by an already overpowered villain to make him absolutely broken.

* OfficialCouple: That'd be [[spoiler: Hamel and Flute, Raiel and Sizer, [[HookedUpAfterwards Trom and Cornet]] and... anyone ekse?]]

* SuperpoweredEvilSide

* {{Bishonen}}: Includes Clari by default, sometimes Raiel, and definitely Lute. And unbelievably, [[spoiler:what the old man Olin used to be]].

* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Hamel and Flute during the first, oh, 16 volumes, seem ''utterly determined'' to not let the other know how they really feel, to the point where they come across as having BelligerentSexualTension cranked up to 11. Flute herself very much wants Hamel to respond to the feelings she doesn't really try to hide, but Hamel has a lot of [[PersonOfMassDestruction emotional]] [[BreakTheCutie baggage]] that makes him [[BreakTheCutie afraid of opening up to anyone]], while desperately craving human contact. Made all the more hilarious since they're constantly mistaken for a couple and their nakama call them out on their feelings constantly and loudly, in front of the other party, which prompts one of them (usually Hamel) to engage in frothing, stuttering spiels about how that's a stupid mistake and/or a filthy lie, usually crossing into SuspiciouslySpecificDenial.

* FiveManBand: The early protagonists (Hamel, Flute, Raiel, Trom and Oboe) are known in prophecy as the "Five Great Hopes". Hamel is TheHero, Raiel TheLancer, Trom TheBigGuy (subverted in that he's the smallest), Oboe TheSmartGuy (a crow), and Flute TheChick (who is not so much a chick as she hovers between CoolBigSis and TeamMom.)

** BigBad: Demon King Chestra.
** TheDragon: Bass.
** EvilGenius: Guitar.
** TheBrute: Drum.
** DarkChick: Sizer.

* JerkAss: Hamel in the manga, who routinely humiliates and torments others for his own profit, charges exorbitant prices for hearing his music, and regularly tries to eat his crow companion and closest friend Oboe. Secretly he's really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

Over ten years later in 2008, much to the surprise of fans, Watanabe published a Gaiden chapter leading up to a sequel manga entitled [[ViolinistOfHamelnShchelkunchik Violinist of Hameln: Schelkunchik]].

'''Provides examples of:'''

* BeautifulAllAlong: Just let down Flute's hair, and 'kinda cute' transforms into 'BEAUTIFUL!!'.
** ...given that the style she normally wears it in could probably take 'supermodel' into 'kinda cute'...

--->Hell King Bass: ''"Kill all the women and children in case one of the women gives birth to a child and he grows up to be a hero or something."''
--->Dragon King Drum: ''"Ain't that always a bitch?"''

** Lute is awesome that way?
** ...actually, that [[FridgeBrilliance explains so much]] about [[spoiler: Lute]]...
** Actually if you look back to the situation with Ocarina and Sizer that explains how Lute was able to do that.

* HeroicSacrifice: Of the major characters, [[spoiler:Ocarina]]. There are several side stories in which this happens, especially parents dying for their children. Lute also gives up his own life to protect Sforzando and save Flute, eventually leading to [[spoiler:his death and possession by Bass.]]

* HoYay: Done very intentionally in the manga with Hamel and Raiel - the other characters flat out accuse them of being gay a few times. And let's not even get into [[{{Squick}} Olin harassing Hamel]]. And then there's that scene when Clarinet is introduced, and the heavily implied crush Clari may have had towards either Lute or Horn (or both? It's never truly clarified) for most of his life.
** Watanabe hangs so many damned lampshades in the manga that it's a wonder no one's mistaken it for some kind of deranged chandelier. He draws ''roses'' in the background during the yaoi parodies, for crying out loud.
** Examples of HoYay above at no point go beyond gags, though. In ''Schelkunchik'', on the other hand, you cannot help but suspect this, when Schel and Great fall into the same roles that Flute and Hamel played in the original series.
* ICanStillFight: Raiel.
** Raiel is THE Determinator.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cornet... hoo boy, Cornet. Granted, she had it coming almost as badly as Chestra himself, but she's almost TheWoobie by the end of the manga.

* LesYay: Flute and Sizer, though not as much as the HoYay.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
** Gets lampshaded during the GondorCallsForAid scene when ''every single minor character from every chapter'' comes to the battle. Hamel and the gang can't remember who half these people greeting them are.

* MomentKiller: Several times. Especially Chestra. GODDAMN YOU CHESTRA!!!
** He gets his in Shchelkunchik. [[spoiler: While he's doing his classic villain ranting in Great's noggin, Biyorne (the elder of the two badass sisters) glares at him and mutters "Quit butting in already, Chestra."]] Reader, I lol'd.
* MoodWhiplash: The manga switches tones from drama, tragedy and angst to heartwarming romance ''and'' insane, ludicrous humor, all in the span of a few pages. It's pulled off surprisingly well.
** Sometimes goes like this: Action secene -> despair -> DynamicEntry by Hamel's party or someone related to them -> [[CrowningMomentOfFunny CMOF]] -> Back to action.

* OfficialCouple: That'd be [[spoiler: Hamel and Flute, Raiel and Sizer, [[HookedUpAfterwards Trom and Cornet]] and...did I forget anyone?]]

* PetTheDog: Flute for Hamel.
** Really, she's more of a [[MoralityPet Morality]] ButtMonkey

* PunnyName: King Chestra's name and title (''Ou Chestra'' in Japanese) form an obvious pun on "Orchestra". Quite fitting, even though his Mazoku generals (if we only replace Sizer with Vocal) form a rock band instead.
** When you get down to it, virtually everyone in the cast is named after a musical instrument.

* SealedEvilInACan: Pandora's Box.
** And Pandora's Microwave. And Pandora's ''Toilet''. ...Olin, would you stop already.

** Uh, the first two are obvious [[OfficialCouple Official Couples]].

* ShoutOut: One of the coolest, nerdiest ones ever seen. [[spoiler:When Hamel demands to know how many people's blood Chestra's drank, Chestra replies with, "I'm not sure. But it's like this - can you remember how many times you've eaten bread?" a la [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure Dio Brando]].]]

** The word Hameln itself is another example: in Katakana, it's spelled ハメルン (hamerun), which is basically just Hamel's name with an N tacked on the end, so Hameln is one likely spelling. On the other hand, the name is believed to refer to the German fairy tale [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pied_Piper_Of_Hamelin The Pied Piper of Hamelin]], so Hamelin seems more likely if you go with ThemeNaming. Some people just transliterate it straight up and go with Hamelun.
*** Actually, the original German name of the town ''is'' "Hameln". The "i" spelling is just an anglicization, which happens often with German place names (c.f. Muenchen and Koeln). "Hameln" fits into the theme just fine.

** Twice? She raped it, aborted the baby and took it to court under false accusations of abuse.
** ...until one of her attempts fuses her with an EldritchAbomination, at which point she spends the next few volumes of the manga with her own brother, Hamel and everyone else (all apparently blind to the fact that her head is still on that... thing) constantly trying to kill "the ugly mazoku" in as painful a manner as possible. Then, after they figure out that this thing is Cornet, she is passed the duty of local ButtMonkey. By the end of the manga she'd suffered so much karma, some readers actually began feel a bit sorry for her.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Do not be fooled by cartoonish-looking characters and colorful covers. [[MoodWhiplash Between gags and parodies, this manga is chock-full with graphic violence, tragedy and horror.]]

* WhatTheHellTownspeople?: The villagers of Ansem. [[spoiler: After constantly abusing Pandora and her son, she risks her life to save them, yet they hand her over to the Mazoku]]. What. The. Fuck?!
** [[spoiler: Once you learn what Pandora was actually like, you start to wonder if maybe they just needed an excuse...]]
*** [[spoiler: For backstabbing her when she stood up to protect them from Bass and his flunkies? Of course, within the next two panels Bass [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] [[TooDumbToLive what idiots these townspeople are]], before roasting them alive.]]

* FightingFromTheInside: Too Bass's consternation, Lute's body occasionally shows small signs of this like shedding tears.

* RefugeInAudacity: Nearly everything Hamel and his party does. Turn into a demon once, scary. Turn into a demon and back 5 pages in a row, damn funny. Also, Horn collapsing from sickness, sad. Horn collapsing, getting back up with doctors all around her, exercising, and collapsing again, funny.

* BabiesEverAfter: Hamel and Flute in the epilogue. To produce that many kids in ten years, Flute would have to literally be pregnant non-stop or have born twins and triplets repeatedly. [[FridgeLogic How is she still alive?]] [[IWizardDidIt A wizard did her.]]

* BabiesEverAfter: Hamel and Flute in the epilogue. To produce that many kids in ten years, Flute would have to literally be pregnant non-stop or have born twins and triplets repeatedly. [[FridgeLogic How is she still alive?]]

* ParentalSubstitute: [[spoiler: Oboe to Hamel. Hamel even throws this into Chestra's face, saying that Oboe is the only being he'll ever call "father". Not that [[CompleteMonster Chestra]] really cares.]]

* YouHaveFailedMe: Amazingly averted with named villains, even though Hell King Bass has all the tolerance for failure of a proper EvilOverlord, and Chestra [[CompleteMonster offed his own honor guard because he felt like drinking some blood right now]]. Well, Bass tries this, but other, more GenreSavvy mazoku leaders manage to talk him down every time.

* HeroicSociopath: Hamel will not hesitate to sell Flute, eat Oboe, use anyone within reach as a [[GreviousHarmWithABody throwing weapon]], or generally just make life a living hell for everyone.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Because of ThemeNaming and [[WordOfGod the author providing some official Romanizations]], it shouldn't be a problem for anyone who [[DidNotDoTheResearch does their homework]] (Sizer's scythe has her name carved on it in huge letters and Clari has his on his forehead, for crying out loud), but it does come up.

* ArmorPiercingSlap: One of the most epic examples ever, [[spoiler: with Pandora delivering a well-deserved string of this to Chestra, after getting out of her crystal. Considering, that Pandora is not abnormally strong, and [[BeyondTheImpossible Chestra caused an earthquake just by standing up from his throne]], this trope was, amazingly, played straight.]]

* ShoutOut: One of the coolest, nerdiest ones ever seen. [[spoiler:When Hamel demands to know how many people's blood Chestra's drank, Chestra replies with, "I'm not sure. But it's like this - can you remember how many times you've eaten bread?" a la [[JojosBizarreAdventure Dio Brando]].]]

->''"This really is a stupid manga."''

* RoyalBrats: The eight-year-old orphaned prince of Dal Segno, Trom. He matures greatly as the series goes on.

* NotSoFastBucko: It is easy to see that [[spoiler: Sizer's]] attempt to reseal the mazoku in the Pandora's Box is doomed to fail. For starters, we're still in the first third of the manga... And indeed, it all was ExactlyAsPlanned by Bass and Guitar.

* ActionMom: Queen Horn. Her IncurableCoughofDeath does not keep her from being one of the most powerful mages in the world.