History VisualNovel / HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi

[[quoteright:288:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Higurashi_no_Naku_Koro_ni-05.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:288:Welcome to Hinamizawa.]]

->''"[[ApocalypticLog Whoever finds this note, please uncover the truth. That's all I ask.]]"''

The year is 1983. When Keiichi Maebara and his family move to the sleepy [[CampbellCountry little rural village]] of Hinamizawa, everything seems peaceful and rustic at first. But Keiichi quickly learns that there is more to the four girls of the school's game club than meets the eye... and more to the town as well. Revelation follows revelation, and brutal murder follows brutal murder in this enigmatic tale told from a variety of viewpoints and scenarios. Just what links the scenarios together?

The first four chapters focus on the [[DyingLikeAnimals cycles of paranoia and death]] that plague the main characters. The fifth to eighth chapters, ''Higurashi no [[color:red:Na]]ku Koro ni Kai'', delves deeper into the causes of the repeating scenarios and their inevitable conclusions and the struggle to [[ScrewDestiny defy fate]]. The fandisc, ''Higurashi no [[color:red:Na]]ku Koro ni Rei'', takes place as three sidestories after the main plot. A fourth, anime-only installment, ''Higurashi no [[color:red:Na]]ku Koro ni Kira'' is a series of light hearted {{fanservice}} laden [=OVAs=] that are outside of continuity.

''Higurashi'' consists of several different story arcs with most arcs beginning similarly but [[AnyoneCanDie ending differently]]. If watched or read out of order, it can raise many questions about what [[AllThereInTheManual is going on]]. See [[TheOtherWiki The Other Wiki's entry]] for ''Higurashi'' get the order the manga are supposed to be read in. The anime can be watched in order (episode one first), with ''Higurashi no [[color:red:Na]]ku Koro ni Kai'' being season two.

There are also several short, manga-only arcs, usually placed before or after the main story and introducing new characters, while retaining the typical atmosphere of the series. These arcs were adapted with some new ones for the NintendoDS under the title ''Higurashi no [[color:red:Na]]ku Koro ni Kizuna'' (2008). The sound novels also had an UpdatedRerelease for PS2 named ''Matsuri'' (2007), with the original final arc (''Matsuribayashi-hen'') left out and replaced by an alternate ending (''Miotsukushi-hen''), as well as two additional arcs.

Two {{Live Action Adaptation}}s were made, titled ''Higurashi no Naku Koro ni'' (2008) and ''Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Chikai'' (2009), which adapt the first and sixth novel, respectively.

A [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-12-15/higurashi-no-naku-koro-ni-anime-to-resume relaunch of the anime]] has recently been greenlit.

Part of the ''VisualNovel/WhenTheyCry'' series of visual novels by 07th Expansion, which also includes ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi''. The sound novels/games have been translated and are available for download in English.

Simplistic summaries of each arc are available on the ''WhenTheyCry'' article. Feel free to check out [[Characters/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi the character sheet]], the [[WMG/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi WMG page]], and the [[FanficRecs/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi Fanfic Recommendations page]]. And if you're feeling brave, feel free to take a look at the [[NightmareFuel/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi Nightmare Fuel page]].

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!!TropeNamer for:
* ImTakingHerHomeWithMe

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!!Provides examples of:

[[foldercontrol]]


[[folder: A-E]]
* TheAbridgedSeries: HigurashiParodyFandub, among others.
* AbsenceOfEvidence: Rena noticed that the bottle of shoyu in Rika and Satoko's house was missing, and deduced the possibility that they had visited the Sonozaki estate that night with an empty shoyu bottle and been kidnapped.
* AccidentalInnuendo [[invoked]]: In the Onikakushi VN, during the festival the club members try finding something cute to bring to Rena. Keiichi goes somewhere else to show her his, and she comes back all dizzy and blushing. She then comments on the cuteness of Keiichi's "little fur seal"; cue Mion and Satoko's violent retaliation on Keiichi. [[spoiler:He showed her a seal-shaped key holder he made himself when he was a child.]]
** Although, in Rei, it's not referring to the key holder.
* ActorAllusion: In the first episode of ''Rei'', this is combined with {{Expy}} and invoked in the form of Chie-sensei pulling out wooden T squares which look a lot like [[{{Tsukihime}} Black Keys]].
** And again in the final episode of ''Rei'', where one of Rena's cutaway fantasy scenes puts Miyo in the role of [[LightNovel/MariaSamaGaMiteru Sachiko Ogasawara.]]
** Maybe it's not a voluntary one, but in the last episode of ''Kira'', when Rena [[ImTakingHerHomeWithMe takes baby Rika home with her]] Mion screams her to put on some clothes. Pretty ironic when you know that SatsukiYukino also voiced [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl Yoruichi]], who was told that a couple of times by Ichigo in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''.
* AdaptationDistillation: The manga does a ''great'' job at capturing the mood.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Eye variation. Keiichi's eyes are blue in the manga, sound novels, and Daybreak but purple in the anime and Mah-Jong game.
** The live action adaptation movies change everyone's hair colors to a "natural" color.
* AdultsAreUseless: Subverted as an {{Aesop}}.
* AnAesop: A bunch, including: [[{{TrueCompanions}} Stick by your friends]] no matter what terrible things they do, and [[ScrewDestiny you can fight fate]] (but if you screw up [[ButterflyOfDoom even slightly]] everyone you care about will probably die a horrible death anyway).
* AgentMulder: Rena isn't the only one who believes in the the Hinamizawa god Oyashiro-sama, but she's definitely the most emphatic about it.
* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:The Dice-Killing Arc of ''Higurashi Rei'']]... OrWasItADream
** The events were as real as all the other chapters. The protagonist was told it was a dream, which she didn't believe, in an attempt to assuage her guilt over her actions in it.
*** Hanyuu thought to and told herself that the world was just a dream, nothing more. [[spoiler: however, Bernkastel still made a world like that, and possibly another with Akasaka bought off by Takano.]]
** Also the [[spoiler: Massacre Chapter of Higurashi Kira. Then they go beyond that making it a DreamWithinADream.]]
** [[spoiler:Mion's entire freaking life since the Disaster]] in ''Hinageshi-hen''. And she doesn't feel like waking up.
* AllMenArePerverts: Keichi's argument to convince a pro player into [[SeriousBusiness throwing a baseball game.]] This includes bribery.
** Heck, during the same speech in the Visual Novel, he uses these exact words.
** He later gets an entire cult following simply based around the fact that he got them to admit that they were perverts.
** Pretty much all of the male characters are perverts, Satoshi and Akasaka aside.
*** And the only reason for that is that they never get any screen time.
* AlphabeticalThemeNaming:
** The Houjou kids are called ''Sato''shi and ''Sato''ko'', although the kanjis are different (Sato-shi 悟史 and Sa-to-ko 沙都子)
** Miyo Takano and Professor Hifumi Takano. Hifumi can be written as 一二三 (123), while Miyo is written as 三四 (34), which continues the sequence. Would be a stretch, except that it's pointed out in the anime when the two characters first meet. In the VisualNovel, it practically [[{{Anvilicious}} beats you over the head with that]]. Numerous times it says that Hifumi (1-2-3) started counting, and Miyo (3-4) will keep counting afterwards.
* AlmostKiss: A ''very'' creepy example in Onikakushi, when Rena talks to Keiichi while holding her billhook. [[spoiler:It may be Keiichi's hallucination though.]]
* AlternateContinuity: Onisarashi-hen.
** As well as Yoigoshi-hen, based on a world where [[spoiler:Keiichi couldn't prevent the explosion of the school.]]
* AmbiguouslyGay: Arguably, [[FanPreferredCouple or not]], Rika and Satoko.
** Rika, specifically, if her AlmostKiss with [[spoiler: Hanyuu]] in the second season ending is any indication.
** It's almost funny how much Shmion [[ShipTease ship tease]] there is in Meakashi-hen. Also, in the Japanese DVD release, they included an OFFICIAL ARTWORK poster of [[IncestSubtext Mion and Shion fully naked and cuddling on the floor with lips almost touching.]]
*** The anime is almost infamous for the amount of {{Twincest}} artwork they use, but still the ShipTease is there in every version of the series, especially the manga.
* AncientConspiracy: Or maybe that's just what they ''want'' you to think.
* AnimatedActors / BreakingTheFourthWall: "Wrap parties". To elaborate, at the end of most arcs, the character's sprites get together and discuss the events of the story. After TheReveal they make one wonder if Ryuukushi 07 had the whole thing planned from the beginning, [[HilariousInHindsight considering some of the things they say.]]
* TheAnimeOfTheGame
* ArcWords: Arguably, "Uso da!" ("Liar!"), considering its relevance to the theme and the fact that, whenever someone says it, the world is pretty much doomed.
** Similarly, "I'm sorry." If a character hears someone else say it, especially if [[TheVoice they can't see the person who says it]], then someone is either about to snap or, more likely, already has. Indeed, the poem at the beginning of Onikakushi-hen underlines the secondary theme through the series of [[TheAtoner atonement]].
** Talk of or questions of belief also crop up a lot.
** "If you are reading this, please uncover the truth… that is my only wish" (written by Keiichi, Akasaka and Shion, successively)
* ArtEvolution: Between all three seasons of the anime. Also applies for the sound novels. It's justified in the remakes since it's a different art crew, but within the remakes the ''Playstation2'' games different from the ''NintendoDS'' ones. In the manga, each arc is drawn by a different author, so the styles will vary noticeably.
* AssholeVictim: Several victims in certain arcs, such as Rina, who is shamelessly planning to swindle Rena's father for everything he's got.
* TheAtoner: Keiichi in the appropriately-named Atonement chapter.
* AudioAdaptation: Before the anime and Matsuri we had a drama CD. Higurashi still few drama [=CDs=] coming out though.
* AxesAtSchool: The end of the first season.
* {{Backstory}}: Characters' backstories remain the same in all scenarios, with one exception: Saikoroshi-hen.
* BackupTwin: [[spoiler:The major cause of confusion about the ending of Watanagashi-hen.]] Although it's subverted in that [[spoiler:both twins end up dying.]]
* [[spoiler:TheBadGuyWins:]] In five of the eight arcs.
* [[BagOfHolding Locker Of Holding]]: PlayedForLaughs - Mion can apparently stuff way more boardgames and accessories than physically possible in her school locker.
* BeachEpisode: ''Shyness-Exposing Chapter'' in the recently animated adaptation of Higurashi Rei (To be fair, that was more like a Public Pool Episode).
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: The real life [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo_Bridge_Incident Marco Polo Bridge Incident]] is mentioned as a possible consequence of Hinamizawa Syndrome, and as a motivation for the government to cover the disease up.
* BecauseDestinySaysSo
* BerserkButton: If all the berserk buttons were on a berserk keyboard, then this series is the cat that falls asleep on that keyboard.[[hottip:*:Also, the keyboard is [[IncendiaryExponent on fire.]]]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Some of the perceived nice ones have faultier wiring than others. Though, granted, the less-nice ones go crazy at various points, too, so it's closer to Beware Everyone.
* BigDamnHeroes: Akasaka saving the day. Less seriously, Tomitake/Oishi/Irie (together with Keiichi, the "Heavenly Kings of Darkness") swooping in on ''surfboards'' in the middle of a pool scene to save Keiichi from having his swimsuit removed. Oishi ends up summoning a squad of [[SeriousBusiness fully-armed riot police]] to help, which storms in after their truck bursts through the pool fence.
** There's also one in ''Minagoroshi-hen'' with the club members, but it doesn't go as nicely.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Sonozaki family seems this way initially, but later arcs show that they're not quite as bad as they looked at first.
* {{Bishonen}}: Arguably Satoshi and Keiichi. They are both tall, slender, have delicate features, and ''big'' eyes; as well as being quite handsome.
** Keiichi has pulled off the "BishieSparkle" trick a few times. Notably in the first Picture Drama which came out before the anime.
** What about Irie? [[LoliCon So what if he has a little bit of an]] obsession with [[TokenMiniMoe Satoko?]] He's still pretty hot.
* BittersweetEnding: The PS2 version's ''Miotsukushi-hen''.
** The DS exclusive ''Kageboshi-hen''. [[spoiler:Unlike Someutsushi-hen, Natsumi manages to snap out of her Hinamizawa Syndrome thanks to her friend Chisato and marries Akira some time later, but Tomoe is dead, Natsumi`s family is still dead, and Natsumi is still recovering from the trauma.)]]
** How about the ending to ''Matsuribayashi-hen''? [[spoiler:The main characters survive, but Satoshi is still comatose and we don't know whether he'll ever recover, though Irie does believe there is some hope.]]
** The one-shot chapter ''Hinageshi-hen''. [[spoiler:After spending a few months in a prep school in Nagoya, Mion returns with Hinamizawa Syndrome symptoms and various misunderstandings make her think her friends have forsaken her, before she collapses with a fever. Then she wakes up surrounded by her friends, the misunderstandings are cleared and she sheds tears of relief while smiling happily.]] All is well that ends well. [[spoiler:Except she is actually [[ComatoseCanary comatose in a hospital room]] after the Hinamizawa disaster and is [[HappyPlace living happily in her dreams]].]]
* BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce: One can only guess what kind of food Rika and Satoko cook with a sauce marked "death penalty".
* BloodSplatteredInnocents
* BloodierAndGorier: The manga goes into much greater lengths to show the horror of the murders than the anime. That includes the datailed depiction of [[spoiler:Rika's evisceration by Takano]] in ''Minagoroshi'', as well as [[spoiler:her mother's vivisection and the punishments of the OrphanageOfFear]] (which were both only implied even in the sound novel) in ''Matsuribayashi''.
* BodyguardBetrayal: [[spoiler:The Yamainu were supposed to be protecting Rika, as far as she knew, not killing her]].
** And ironically, [[spoiler:Takano is betrayed by the very same Yamainu]] in the last arc.
* BodySushi: Shion in one of Keiichi's dream sequences from the first episode of Kira.
* BonusEpisode: Accompanying the first season [=DVDs=] was Nekogoroshi-hen (Cat Killing Chapter), a single episode scenario based on a light novel.
* BookEnds: Well, not exactly. The series is divided into chapters, with the first scene referencing back not to the final scene but the climactic scene of that chapter. (For instance, [[spoiler: Keiichi loses it, and starts swinging the baseball bat, killing Rena and her friend]].
* BorrowedCatchphrase: Keiichi says "I want to take it home!" in Watangashi-hen part one (episode 5) to [[spoiler: Shion (really Mion at the time) when he sees her working as a [[FanserviceWithASmile scantily clad waitress]] she responds by punching him]].
** Both Takano and [[spoiler: Hanyuu]] say Nipah at one point.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the PS2 remake, all instances of red blood were censored into being dark colored or blue, due to [[MediaClassifications CERO]] reclassifying its rating system, requiring the change to ensure the game got a D rating (17+ ) instead of a Z rating (18+ ).(In fact, the game was partially responsible for the creation of the Z rating.) The red blood was restored for the DS remakes.
** The scene that leads to the one where Satoko [[spoiler:pushes Keiichi over a bridge]] is different in the different adaptations. In the original sound novel, she's stark naked. In the remakes and manga, she has a towel on. In the anime, she has a towel on for most of the scene then goes and gets clothing, thus changing the way the scenes after it play out compared to the other adaptations. MangaGamer, the company that releases the games translated, was going to put a towel on her due to {{Lolicon}} related reasons but in the end decided not to.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: In ''Minagoroshi-hen,'' Mion and Keiichi break the fourth wall to explain some mahjongg stuff, and Rika says that Takano "lost them a lot of viewers" by not putting on a cat costume.
-->'''Mion''': Hmm... I would love to show people a movie of this technique... But unfortunately I can't do that in a sound novel!
-->'''Rika''': I have no idea who Mii is talking to...
-->'''Keiichi''': Why are you looking at the camera, Rika-chan?
* BreakTheCutie: They're really not picky about who they break, though
** Hell, they even break the BigBad by showing us a damned flashback. Poor [[spoiler:Takano.]]
* BrokenAesop: Sort of about the dam. If we unite and struggle, even a small village like ours can stop an unfair project from the state! [[spoiler:Except what stopped the dam project wasn't the villagers' struggle but the actions of Tōkyō, who didn't want their military project to be jeopardized, and the murder of the dam construction manager by his own workers.]]
* BugBuzz
* BulletCatch: Played for laughs in Hirukowashi. Mion decides to actually use her (BB) gun for once, on Rena too, but Rena catches the bullets.
** A much more serious case in [[spoiler:''Matsuribayashi'': even though Hanyu stopped time, Rika manages to move and catches Miyo's bullet, saving Hanyu's life.]]
* ButYouWereThereAndYouAndYou: Delivered by [[spoiler:Rika after returning to her "original" Fragment]] at the end of the Higurashi Rei scenario Saikoroshi-Hen.
* CallBack: Happens often, which is made easier by the structure of the story. Notably, in ''Minagoroshi'', Keiichi's mom says that she was affraid [[spoiler:Keiichi would come up with a plan to murder Satoko's uncle]] and would ask her advice [[spoiler:to commit a perfect crime.]] Of course, Keiichi thinks that's stupid and he would never do that.
* CampbellCountry: Hinamizawa is pretty much a Japanese version.
* CashCowFranchise: Higurashi, and the whole ''WhenTheyCry'' franchise, is slowly becoming on of these. With the ever increasing fanbase in both Japan and the States, the manga, the anime and its [=OVAs=], the drama [=CDs=], and the overdose of merchandise.
* CasualKink: The punishment game the kids play sometimes becomes kinky with the loser(s) having to submit to the winner(s) in a recognizable fetish way.
* CatFight: Rena vs. Rina isn't so much a CatFight than two enraged lionesses jumping at each other's throats. The end result is [[{{Gorn}} not pretty.]]
* CatchPhrase: "''Hau hauu, [[ImTakingHerHomeWithMe omochi kaeri]]!''", "''Nipah~~!''", "''Kana, kana?''"
** The last is lampshaded in the anime's ''Tsumihoroboshi-hen'' during the watergun fight, where her EvilLaugh is [[spoiler:''[=KAAAAAnakanakanakanakanakanakana!=]'']]
* TheCavalry: Akasaka in the final Arc, and later the Banken.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Shion when Tomitake blocks a stun grenade with his chest in the pool episode in Rei.
** Many characters under the influence of Hinamizawa Syndrome gain this as well, to go with their paranoia.
* ClawingAtOwnThroat: A symptom of the [[HatePlague Hinamizawa Syndrome]]
* ChekhovsGun: Protagonist Mion constantly carries around a gun in a very visible holster, and, [[spoiler:in a subversion, never, ever uses it. The manga reveals that it's an airsoft gun.]]
** [[spoiler:She did use it in the manga once, though as a joke, in Onikakushi-hen.]]
** The gun was edited out of Mion's character art in the PS2 ports of the game.
** More so noticeable in the sound novels, where quite a number of her poses show it, and manga.
** Three very important ones are in the Cotton Drifting chapter. The whole "demon inside me" dialogue at face value is just complete BS'ing (she says it with face value intentions as well). However, if the viewer interprets it as a metaphor (not her intention), it's actually one of the biggest clues as to [[{{HatePlague}} what's really going on]]. A borderline FridgeBrilliance grade example. The second important "gun"? Ooishi's findings about the body in the barrel. The third "gun" is what Rika says about those who enter the ritual shrine. Its a big hint about [[spoiler: the true nature of [[{{GodIsGood}} Oyashiro]]]].
** The syringe in the Eye Opening Chapter. Namely the contents as revealed in the Festival Music Chapter. Major hint to the HatePlague.
* ChekhovsGunman: Akasaka, and boy does he pull the trigger.
* ChivalrousPervert: Mion to Keiichi in an extremely rare female on male example. Much more prevelant in the manga. [[{{TheGadfly}} Being that this is Mion, she could also be screwing with Keiichi for amusement.]] Also threatens to ask what color [[spoiler: Hanyuu's]] underwear is.
* CliffHanger
* ClingyJealousGirl: Arguably Shion.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Applies somewhat to Rena, as her thought process is often adorable but weird.
** [[spoiler:Takano]] later falls into this.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Main reason why the Eye Opening chapter is so infamous. MO (mode of operation) for [[spoiler: Shion]] in said chapter and Cotton Drifting. Ironically, was also on the receiving end in one of the series' more infamous scenes (also shown in Eye Opening).
* ComatoseCanary: Satoko in Yakusamashi-hen, and [[spoiler:Mion]] in Taraimawashi-hen.
* CompressedAdaptation: The first season of the anime, which squeezes 6 sound novels in 26 episodes. It does cover all the important aspects of the plot, but many details, buildup elements and bits of CharacterDevelopment were left out, making the story look kind of rushed.
* ConspicuousCG: Don't tell me you ''didn't'' think that watermill stood out…
* ContrivedCoincidence: while some concidences have an actual reason to happen [[spoiler:like the murders always happening the day/night of the festival since it's basically a "safe day" to kill someone]], many situations primarily result from an incredibly bad luck. The most blatant being [[spoiler:Keiichi wishing Takano, Irie and Ooishi's death, and the Hinamizawa disaster, ''the exact day'' before they all happen]], making him think he was the cause of it.
* CooldownHug: Didn't work the first time [[spoiler:in Onikakushi-hen]].
** It kinda worked in Tsumihoroboshi-hen, where the positions of the two character in question are switched. It only kinda worked because she had already cooled down for the most part by that point, or at the very least, is no longer insane.
* [[spoiler: CorruptChurch]]: As a subversion of ReligionOfEvil, this is what was really going on, and [[spoiler: Hanyuu aka Oyashiro is not happy about it]].
* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Even if the characters don't figure out how, they still seem to realize that there was a way, since most of the arcs end with the main characters lamenting how pointless all the fighting feels like it was.
* CovertPervert: In ''Rei'' Rena seems to have a bit of an attachment towards Keiichi's "Furry Seal".
** When Keiichi unintentionally flashes the girls, Mion is flustered, however the other three girls blatantly stare at it for a minute. Satoko even has a little smile by the end of it.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: [[spoiler:''DoubleSubverted''.]]
* CreepyTwins: Mion and Shion, at least in ''Watangashi'' and ''Meakashi''.
** A better example would be the two twins we see briefly in the Reality Breaking arc. Sadly, since the arc was CutShort, we never learn anything about them.
* CrypticConversation: Happens a lot in the first season.
* CrucifiedHeroShot: Satoko in episode 21. Justified [[spoiler:since she was chained to a cross for easier torturing]]
* ColdBloodedTorture: See NightmareFuel.
* CuriosityKilledTheCast: Most strongly [[spoiler:subverted]] in Onikakushi-hen, but a few different arcs have aspects of this. Ironically, the Cat-Killing Chapter is a complete aversion.
* DarkestHour: Yakusamashi-hen, where [[spoiler:Rika pretty much gives up all hope of changing her fate. ItGetsBetter right after, because the next arc is basically one big HopeSpot.]]
* DeadlyDoctor: Despite usually being [[spoiler:the first to go along with Tomitake, Takano Miyo]] is ''not'' harmless. [[spoiler:Well, it's not quite "despite".]]
* DeadlyEuphemism: When referring to [[spoiler:Satoshi's being "transferred"]]
* DeadlyHug: Done in the ending of the Onisarashi-hen manga arc by [[spoiler: Natsumi to Akira. Akira doesn't die, though.]]
* DeadManWriting
* DeadPersonConversation
* DeathIsCheap: At first it seems it is played straight; however [[spoiler:since each iterration of the loop happens in a different world, that means that those dead in a previous world ''stay dead'' in that world. In other words, for one happy world at the end, [[FridgeHorror there are hundreds of worlds where everybody dies irreversibly; and those who don't end up alone and scarred for life.]]]]
* DecoyProtagonist: [[spoiler:Keiichi, Akasaka, Shion, Rena and Ooishi.]] In that order.
* DespairEventHorizon: Keiichi is a LaughingMad wreck in an insane asylum in the ending of [[spoiler:Tatarigoroshi-hen]], and all of the abuse he went through in [[spoiler:Watanagashi-hen takes a toll on him until he hallucinates himself into a heart attack]] in a horrifying scene. In addition, when [[spoiler:Mion]] is found at the end of Taraimawashi-hen, or Satoko in Yakusamashi-hen, she's practically in a vegetative state. [[spoiler:Akira]] is stated to have suffered a Taraimawashi-esque breakdown at the end of of Someutsushi-hen.
* DiabolusExMachina: The alternate ending of Meakashi-hen, found in the DS remake. ([[spoiler:In this version, Keiichi realizes Shion is disguising herself as Mion, which causes her to go L5 and claw out her throat, killing herself. Mion and Keiichi recover, and decide to move away to Tokyo together to escape the pain, and are at ease. Happy ending? ''Wrong''. As Keiichi sits at a park bench while waiting for Mion, someone comes up to him, and when Mion comes back, she finds Keiichi's dead body.]])
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: [[spoiler: Takano kills God.]] This is '''not a good thing.'''
* DeityofHumanOrigin: [[spoiler:Hanyuu Furude]].
* DisconnectedByDeath: Someone does die in a phone booth while trying to give the police information. Investigation showed it was suicide by clawing out one's own throat.
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: Shion]] in the Cotton Drifiting and Eye Opening chapters.
* DistantFinale: Both subverted twice ''and'' played straight. [[spoiler:The first episode in the second season is a "bad end" distant finale; the very end of the final episode has a 'distant finale' that takes place in the ''past''... [[MindScrew sort of]]. There is controversy over whether the woman who talks to little Miyo and thus [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong sets right what once went wrong]] is a time travelling adult Rika, or Bernkastel of Umineko, or both, as per the popular theory. ]]
** [[spoiler:It might even be neither. It could be Frederica Bernkastel, who might not be either Rika or Bernkastel.]]
* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: Shion]] to [[spoiler: Oryou]] in the Cotton Drifting and Eye Opening chapters.
* [[spoiler:TheDogWasTheMastermind: The BigBad was in every single arc, and as far as the viewer was concerned, seemed to have no chance of being the villain. After all, it is extremely difficult to suspect a victim.]]
* [[spoiler:DoingInTheWizard]]: Only partly. [[spoiler:There is no such thing as "Oyashiro-sama's curse" and the only thing linking the mysterious deaths is a disease that makes the infectees paranoid and violent.]] However [[spoiler:the footsteps and apologies that characters hear are real, and Oyashiro-sama does exist. So do TimeTravel and {{Alternate Universe}}s.]]
* DownerEnding: Half of the original arcs have one, but the PS2 only ''Tsukiotoshi-hen'' takes the cake and runs away with it.
* DrivenToSuicide: Happens a fews time in the series. Pre-series, [[spoiler:Rena]] tries to [[InterruptedSuicide commit suicide]] by ''slashing her throat open'' (she slit her wrists in the anime though). Outside of the anime, instead of simply falling off of a roof, [[spoiler:Shion]] in Meakashi-Watangashi fell onto a roof but decided to fall off after rethinking what she had done. In the same arc, [[spoiler:Rika]] decides to drive a knife into her neck. In [[AlternateUniverse Yoigoshi-hen]] [[spoiler:Akira]] was driven to suicide by his overwhelming debt, but couldn't go through with it. The group he was with did.
** [[spoiler: Shion also commits suicide in the hospital she was admitted to]] in the manga and VN versions of Tatarigoroshi-hen [[spoiler: after the gas outbreak.]]
* [[KickTheDog Drown The Dog]]: Just in case you had any doubts that Natsumi's grandmother had gone completely off the deep end when you see the paper charms in the front yard, once Natsumi goes into her house, she finds her grandmother ''drowning puppies'' in an effort to create a scapegoat onto which Oyashiro-sama's curse could be directed. Granted, this is right around the point where [[spoiler:Natsumi herself snaps]], so it may or may not be narrated accurately, but the omake at the end of the manga seems to suggest that it did indeed happen.
* DrowningMySorrows: [[spoiler:Rika]] drinks wine despite being underage, as seen in the second season. A TIPS in the game confirms that she drinks to get drunk.
** Drunk on ''Bernkastel'' wine, no less, which is conveniently a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernkastel-Kues real town known for its wines]]. (Unless, in a bizarre ShoutOut, the [[spoiler: [[VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi witch]]]] [[EpilepticTrees was named after the wine]]).
* DummiedOut: The English version of the sound novel has several songs, the Music Room, a mini-game, and the Staff Room cut out due to copyright issues.
* DubInducedPlotHole: The French dub has a pretty bad case in ''Onikakushi'' - in his dialogues with Mion in episode 4, he tells her that he [[spoiler:found a needle in the ohagi]] and near the end asks her [[spoiler:what is in the syringe.]] Originally though, he doesn't explicitly mentions the needle and only asks what they intend to do to him. In episode 25 we learn that [[spoiler:the needle was tabasco sauce and the syringe was a marker pen]]. Thus in the original version, [[spoiler:Mion's lack of reaction is due to the fact [[OneDialogueTwoConversations she doesn't get he is not seeing the same thing as her]]]]; in the French dub, it no longer makes sense. The guys who translated the anime obviously didn't watch it until the end first…
* DyingAsYourself: At the very end of Meakashi-hen, [[spoiler:Shion]] has a moment of genuine regret and apologizes to everyone as she falls to her death.
* DysfunctionJunction: Everyone has a tragic backstory and/or psychological issues, even [[FanNickname Detective Delicious]]. Satoko and Rika lost their parents (or more). Rena and especially Satoko have psychological issues related to their families; Shion's are related to losing someone she loved in a very torturous experience. There's a reason Keiichi's family had to move. Detective Ooishi lost a close partner and vows revenge. And so forth. Most of these characters reach BreakTheCutie proportions.
** And what about Irie? It goes into more detail in the manga, but in short [[spoiler:his father suffered a brain injury and started beating his wife, then got into a fight with a gang, which ultimately got him killed. This inspired Irie to become a brain surgeon, and started [[ItMakesSenseInContext dissecting people while they were still alive, to prove his father's innocence.]] Takano uses this to blackmail him into dissecting their first Hinamizawa Syndrome victim's brain, and later on Satoko, but this was averted with the help of Rika]]
* EarlyBirdCameo: [[spoiler:Hanyuu]] in the third episode of ''Kai'' (her actual appearance to the viewers is in ''Minagoroshi-hen'', and her first appearance to the cast, aside from Rika, is halfway through ''Matsuribayashi-hen'') is heard talking to Rika off-screen, and later appears in the same episode as a ''silhouette'' [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Hanyuu_outline.jpg behind Rena and Keiichi]].
** She appears earlier, during the Atonement Chapter, in a manga omake.
* [[spoiler:EarnYourHappyEnding]]: Almost every individual arc has a bad ending[[spoiler:, but the characters do, in the end, manage to stop the chain of deaths]].
* ElaborateUniversityHigh: Saint-Lucia academy, where Shion is sent after the dam war. The manga arc ''Utsutsukowashi-hen'' details her life there… [[CutShort or at least it was supposed to.]] It appears again in ''[[UminekoNoNakuKoroNi Umineko]]'' though.
* TheEndingChangesEverything: The final scene of the anime, which introduced a character who either had never been seen before in the show before or [[spoiler:was a grown-up, time-traveling Rika]] just to make sure your recently unscrewed mind gets [[MindScrew screwed all over again]]. It makes slightly more sense in the original sound novels.
** [[spoiler:She is actually [[VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi Bernkastel]], who is all of the past Rikas together. She's a witch.]]
*** Actually, not quite. [[spoiler: She is actually Frederica Bernkastel. Its unknown whether Frederica and the Bernkastel from Umineko are the same person, and its currently uncertain exactly what Frederica is, except that she is [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial "not Rika or Oyashiro-sama"]] and you should be ashamed for thinking so.]]
* EternalRecurrence
* EverybodyLives: Oddly enough, it's an example of AnyoneCanDie, KillEmAll and this one, the rare triple whammy! [[spoiler:But only with the Matsuribayashi ending]].
* EvilCostumeSwitch: [[spoiler:Miyo Tanako gets a fancy-looking black outfit once she's revealed as the one who's been targeting Rika. When she's not conducting the Yamainu behind the scenes, she wears her normal clothes.]]
* EvilLaugh: Over and over and over again, complete with creepy face contortions.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YlcpaAz5Ug There's]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiUshBy6D1Y multiple]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHMwxRnh7zs laugh]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1hiYPLYz9c videos]].
*** To the point that it is often referred to as the 'Higurashi Laugh'
* EvolvingCredits: At first it seems that Rika waves at the viewer in the opening of ''Kai'', but it turns out to be [[spoiler: Hanyuu]]. A somewhat nightmarish shot of Hanyuu is added as well.
** Also, after the revelation that [[spoiler:Takano was the one out to kill Rika, the low angle shot of a blonde woman wearing a dark cape is highlighted by the moon, making it clearer who it is]].
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The title roughly translates into ''When the evening-cicadas cry''. Guess what sound you hear throughout the series.
** Also several of the arc names- most notably [[spoiler: Tsumihoroboshi-hen (Atonement Chapter) and Minagoroshi-hen (Massacre Chapter).]]
** The series name also fits. "When They Cry". "When They Cry Higurashi" is more or less what "Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni" means.
** What's interesting is that it carries a double meaning in both languages Higurashi can be translated to "cicada" (蜩) or "day-to-day life" (日暮し), and Naku can mean to cry (as in call), cry (as in weep) or none/nothing. So the title from Japanese can be "When the Cicadias Cry" or "When the day-to-day life is no more". In English "cry" still carries two meanings, to weep or to call.
* {{Expy}}: Chie-sensei, of Ciel-senpai in ''{{Tsukihime}}'', with permission from [[{{Nasuverse}} Type-Moon]]. This is lampshaded in the [[BeachEpisode Pool Episode]] with Chie whipping out imitation Black Keys in the form of wooden T-squares. In fact, this is one of her weapons in the doujin game ''Higurashi Daybreak'', and she can be selected as wearing Ciel's outfit.
** Keichi in the animated version looks just like Kira of ''GundamSEED'', having a similar hairstyle, same purple eyes, and even the SAME voice actor!
** Satoko looks like Stella from ''GundamSEEDDestiny''.
** In one of the cast review sessions, Chei-sensei was acting like [[{{Tsukihime}} Ciel-senpai]] when the lights were off and no one could see the copyright infringement.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: F-K]]
* TheFaceless: The appearanced of Keiichi's parents aren't shown in the novels at all, and in the anime we just get their faces from the mouth down. The manga do show their entire faces, but they conflict with what little we see in the anime; for example, nothing is really notable about the bottom half of Mr. Maebara's face in the anime, but in the manga, he's got a beret and a Frenchy goatee. And is in much better shape.
** Plus their voices and personalities don't seem to match.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Rika, in a particularly disturbing scene, and later, Satoko]].
** Not to mention [[spoiler: Rena]] in the end of Minagoroshi, though slightly less "dignity" and more "laughing in your murderer's face about how her plan is stupid and she's stupid". [[spoiler: She even uses the same [[LaughingMad crazy laugh]] from season one, for the only time in season two. The fact that Takano put a bullet in Rena rather quickly gives the implication that Rena struck a nerve]].
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Takano every time, Shion in some arcs, and later, Rika]].
* FalseCrucible: Dr. Koizumi [[spoiler: pointing a gun at Miyo Takano]].
* {{Fangirl}}: Rena goes nuts over anything she thinks is cute, [[{{Squee}} squealing]] and announcing her intention to [[ImTakingHerHomeWithMe take said object of her affection home]]. In the second season, the perpetually-stoned Takano [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=JbgxnQ5O5CQ reveals her terrifying fangirl side]] over the dark legends of Oyashiro-sama).
** Takano's fangirl side also has a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttP4VMnY4tI less than dignified side]].
* FanNickname
** Kuraudo Ooishi to "Detective Delicious" for his name's similarity to ''oishii'' ("delicious").
** Mion and Shion Sonozaki to a collective "Shmion" for being CreepyTwins and pulling off {{Twin Switch}}es, [[spoiler:including a permanent one when they were little]].
** Shion's other nick name is ''That psycho {{Yandere}} chick who tortures everyone''.
** Miyo Takano to "Droopy-tan" for her perpetually stoned appearance.
** Keiichi Maebara to "K1" for the kanji of his name, which contains the number 1.
** Rena Ryuuguu to "Cleaver Girl" for her iconic WeaponOfChoice.
** There's a small group of fans who refer to Tomitake as ''Tommy Tucker'' as the pronunciation sounds similar to the Little Tommy Tucker nursery rhyme.
* FanserviceWithASmile: Shion's work uniform at the Angel Mort Cafe. There's official art with all the other girls wearing it, too.
* FantasticAesop: [[DefiedTrope Defied]] in the last chapter of the OVA-only Dice-killing chapter. When Rika is angsting because she [[spoiler:[[TheWrongRightThing chose what might be the worse world]], Rena tells her about how choosing the kind of world she lives on is something beyond her choice]] and then goes off to deliver a different, valid {{aesop}} about how the multiple tragedies they faced have [[CharacterDevelopment made]] them better people.
* FeminineWomenCanCook: Rena, Rika, but also Mion and to a lesser extent Satoko, are quite skilled in cooking. They all have their reasons though. The man of the group on the other hand, is closer to a LethalChef when he tries to cook something more elaborate than instant noodles; Rena's father is also a dreadful cook, but he still tries. Actually, no man can cook in this series.
* FestivalEpisode: In every arc, except ''Tatarigoroshi'' [[spoiler:since Keiichi is busy committing a murder that night]]; things usually start to go downhill after it.
* AFeteWorseThanDeath: You know that cheerful summertime festival these townspeople have? Well, it wasn't always cotton that they tore up…
** Doubles as Fridge Horror very much when you consider that [[spoiler: cute girl Hanyuu was the first sacrifice]]
* FingerLickinEvil
* FingerTwitchingRevival
* {{Fingore}}: This is common. And also, the ''opening song'' has a line that translates roughly as "I'll cut off your fingers and leave them in the forest."
* FiveManBand: This series is slightly unusual in that some characters tend to move around.
** TheHero: Keiichi
** TheLancer: Rena [[spoiler:Eventually, Rika]]
** TheBigGuy: Mion
** TheSmartGuy: Satoko, eventually Rena.
** TheChick: Rika [[spoiler:Eventually Satoko]]
** SixthRanger: Shion and eventually, [[spoiler:Hanyuu, who also counts as a TeamPet]]
** [[spoiler: EleventhHourRanger: Akasaka in the Festival Music Arc]]
* FlashbackTwist: In one of the latter arcs, the famous Tsumihoroboshi-hen or Atonement Chapter, it is revealed in Keiichi's flashbacks that [[spoiler:it was actually him who was the insane one in the first arc and that Mion and Rena were the sane ones. Poor Rena, offering her arms out to Keiichi even as he's about to bash her head in.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The TIPS in the sound novel very often serve as this. For example, [[spoiler:Satoko having pushed her parents off the cliff]] is hinted as early as ''Tatarigoroshi''. And in the early TIPS of ''Tsumihoroboshi'' [[spoiler:we have the first discussion between Rika and Hanyū; but without knowing who and what the latter is.]]
** In the sound novels during ''Onikakushi'', [[spoiler: Keiichi hears someone take a breath behind him, and identifies it as a woman's. When he turns around, no one is there, but he could feel a presence. We learn later on that people who are as high as Level 3 can hear footsteps, or even someone speak--this someone is Hanyuu.]]
* FoodPorn: An almost literal example. Keiichi once shamed the pitcher of a rival baseball team by saying he likes Angel Mort desserts because they are like cute girls and he eats them in a defiling manner.
* [[spoiler:ForScience]]: The catalyst for many unpleasant things.
* ForWantOfANail: Arguably, the doll in the Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen arcs. [[spoiler:It shows up again, but this time, the choice was the right one.]] In fact, this trope was the point of the parallel arc system used.
* FreakOut: Often. Shion goes through layers of them.
* AFriendInNeed: The origins of the game club were as [[spoiler: an attempt to help the Hojo siblings. Only partially successful, see MyGreatestFailure below.]]
* TheGadFly: Played for laughs with Mion who gets plenty of amusement from yanking Keiichi's chain. Posssibly motivated by how bad she is at expressing her true feeilings for him. Also her punishment games. Shion acts like a slightly darker incarnation (favorite target being Mion and Keiichi) as her normal personality.
* GagDub: The somewhat infamous [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5UfIRmkv28 Casey & Friends]].
* GaidenGame: ''Higurashi Day[[color:red:b]]reak'', a game done in the style of the GundamVsSeries, specifically Alliance vs. Z.A.F.T.
* {{Gainaxing}}: Shion, but for only one scene in the second season.
** Yeah, but there's a GIF of it.
** Also, Mion in the first season OVA (Nekogoroshi-hen).
** ''Kira'' seems to be fond of it.
** Shion's mini-game in the sound novel is also based on it. You get points based on the "magnitude" of the movement.
* GasChamber: [[spoiler:The Hinamizawa gas disaster is revealed to be a cover-up for the government implementing this on the village]].
* GasLeakCoverup: See above.
* GenerationXerox: In the manga Keiichi looks similar to his father and shares his HotBlooded tendencies. The twins mother and grandmother share similarly goofy personalities and [[spoiler:they all had [[FinGore finger nails torn off]].]] In looks only, Rena resembles her mother and apparently has some of her fathers personality. Satoko and Satoshi both resemble their mother in the manga. Rika both looks like her mother and [[spoiler:almost exactly looks like Hanyuu's daughter]].
* GenreShift: More like GenreRoulette! Between SliceOfLife Comedy, Drama, Horror, and Action-Adventure, to name a few. A good rule of thumb is to note what happen when a heavy object hits someone's head. If huge amounts of blood splash out of the head, it is horror. If the victim starts hilariously yelling, it is comedy. If it's bleeding a bit, and needs a bandage, it is drama, if he faints without bleeding, it is action-adventure.
** GenreBusting: No really, good luck explaining in a few words what this series is exactly.
* GhibliHills
* GlurgeAddict
* AGodAmI: [[spoiler: Takano, who wants to achieve a sort of godhood for herself (by reviving the legend of Oyashiro-sama) and for her grandfather (by proving his theories about Hinamizawa Syndrome)]]
** Especially dramatic when you contrast this with the character of the [[spoiler: actual deity in the series, Hanyuu, who is fearful and painfully shy.]]
* GoldDigger: Rina Mamiya. And ''how''.
* GoldenEnding: What ''Matsuribayashi'' is all about.
* GondorCallsForAid: Done ''spectacularly'' in the [[spoiler:Minagoroshi-hen]] arc.
* GoodEyesEvilEyes: Consider for a moment the difference between the main characters' eyes and [[spoiler:Droopy-tan's]]. Also, this one may be at work on [[spoiler:Shion]] at various points. When [[spoiler:Rena]], for instance, goes insane, [[DullEyesOfUnhappiness her eyes just go blank]], and when [[spoiler:Keiichi]] does, [[HellishPupils his pupils shrink]], whereas a lot of times when [[spoiler:Shion]] has an episode, her eyes narrow to an almost grotesque degree.
* {{Gorn}}: There are quite a few grewsome deaths in this series, but the description of [[spoiler:Rika's suicide]] in the sound novel makes it the most disturbing of all. [[spoiler:[[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness Shion]]]] doesn't only describe it with all the [[IncrediblyLamePun juicy]] details, she describes it as the most magnificent sight on earth and finds [[spoiler:Rika's]] blood "beautiful".
* GrotesqueCute
* [[spoiler: GroundhogDayLoop]]: One of the major components of the show's premise.
** Except it's not ''really'' a [[spoiler: GroundhogDayLoop]] it's [[spoiler:Alternate worlds.]]
* [[GuessWhoImMarrying Guess Who I'm Marrying]]: Almost happens to [[spoiler:Rena's father and his girlfriend, who turns out to be a yakuza moll trying to take him for everything he has]].
* GuideDangIt: Getting OneHundredPercentCompletion in Kizuna without a guide is virtually impossible, due to all the hidden choices, scenes, and CGs that the game only vaguely hints at.
* HappyPlace: The plot of the one-shot chapter ''Hinageshi-hen'', focusing on [[spoiler:Mion after the Hinamizawa disaster.]]
* [[spoiler: HatePlague]]: The other major component of the show's premise.
* HellishPupils: The "cat eyes" in Onikakushi, as well as about ten other different types of iris contortions.
** In the manga, and sound novels, their eyes are often (different artists draw it differently) a mix between [[DullEyesOfUnhappiness "depressed"]] eyes, and glowing eyes.
*** Amusingly, the girls also get the glowing eyes and ominous lighting when they're about to inflict some humiliating-but-funny "punishment game" on Keiichi.
** In Episode 15 of ''Kai'', [[spoiler: Hanyu gains these when confronting Takano, making them ''heavenly pupils''.]]
* HiddenEyes: Common among the main cast.
* HimeCut: Rika.
* HollywoodAtheist: [[spoiler:Miyo]].
** Which is ironic, since she is the only one of two characters to meet a god and actually recognize it.
* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: Happens in Tsumihoroboshi-hen, which seems like a happy ending at first, but gets worse right afterward, leading into the DarkestHour right after that. More notably is, Minagoroshi-hen, which is chock full of them, and though it ends on a [[DownerEnding depressing note]], it renews Rika's hope and shows her how she can change her fate.]]
** [[spoiler: Of course, with Minagoroshi-hen, it can be assumed that most fans weren't fooled. The title essentially MEANS "KillEmAll." In English, it's literally "Massacre chapter"]]
* TheHyena
* HotMom: Akane Sonozaki, Shion & Mion's mom. Her Daybreak Mega Edition ending is even fanservice with her in an Angel Mort uniform. To be honest actually… the manga's interpretation of Keiichi's mom, and Rena's mom in all medias, is this trope.
** The newest sound novel shows us [[spoiler:Hanyuu when she was an adult.]] Unsurprisingly she was this.
** Rika's mom too!
* HowDareYouDieOnMe: Played straight multiple times. {{Inverted}} with [[spoiler:Hanyuu to Rika]]. See ''PleaseDontLeaveMe'' below.
* HufflepuffHouse: The Kimiyoshi family is the only one of the three families that never plays any important part in the story. If you except [[spoiler:its leader's abduction and murder by Shion]] in two arcs. We never even see any of its members other than Kiichirō.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in the Kizuna arcs Someutsushi-hen and Kagebōshi-hen, where Natsumi Kimiyoshi is the main character.
* HyperAwareness: Rena. She figures out exactly how Satoko and Rika got kidnapped because there was an empty bottle of soy sauce on their table, for crying out loud.
** In the game, the empty bottle is stashed away. She still figures it out based on that and their dinner for the day being in the fridge.
*** It's implied and then eventually confirmed that she's [[spoiler:ObfuscatingStupidity.]]
* IdenticalPanelGag: [[http://mangafox.me/manga/higurashi_no_naku_koro_ni_watanagashihen/v01/c001/3.html This]] omake in the Watanagashi manga, where the girls think "Keiichi" with totally unrelated words, for some reason. Also happens during the Millionaire game in the first chapter.
* IdentificationByDentalRecords
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: The Japanese names of the arcs all end with the syllable "shi", no exception.
* IdiotBall: Often carried by Keiichi, as at the end of the second arc when he knows one of his friends is crazy and out to kill him, and the cops have warned him to look out if he ever sees her again... then he just walks outside and chats with her when she's standing creepily outside his house.
** In the anime at the end of second arc, he goes into a creepy dungeon filled with torture implements with a murderer AFTER she explains to him that she murdered a bunch of people, including two kids. Thats DarwinAwards material.
** Justified mostly: the characters are often aware of what they're doing, but choose to ignore the stupidity of it and proceed anyway, out of friendship, pride, revenge or so on.
* IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight: Between [[spoiler:Keiichi]] and [[spoiler:Rena]] in the end of the first season.
* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: The club games, and Satoko's traps.
* ImTakingHerHomeWithMe: TropeNamer, uttered by Rena whenever she sees something cute.
** She says this and then proceeds to [[spoiler: kidnap Hanyuu]] three times, and thats within a three minute span.
* ImpossiblyLowNeckline: Angel Mort's [[MemeticOutfit uniform]] is a miracle of physics, if anything.
* ImprovisedWeapon: Weapon options in ''Higurashi Day[[color:red:b]]reak''.
* InaneBlabbering
* InsaneEqualsViolent: Oh heck, let me list the ways...
* InfantImmortality: Averted multiple times.
* IntertwinedFingers: Hanyuu and Rika do this in the ending credits of ''Kai''.
** There's a lot of Shmion pictures that involve this.
* InTheBlood: Remember how [[spoiler: Shion had to peel her fingernails off for Satoshi, after which Mion did likewise?]] Well, the TIPS reveal that [[spoiler: a similar situation happened earlier, except with their mother and Oryou. Expect this one ended well.]]
** Also, the belief of some people (apparently including [[spoiler: the Sonozaki family]]) that the people of Hinamizawa are descended from man-eating demons.
*** A later tip shows near the end of Matsuribayashi [[spoiler: that this is 100% true, assuming Hanyuu's horns weren't proof enough.]]
* ItMakesSenseInContext: Episode 1 of Rei
-->'''Rika''': We have to hurry up and pull down Keiichi's swim trunks!
** The anime had a habit of opening each new Arc with a random scene from later in the arc (or from a different one entirely). Such as the Cotton Drifting Arc, which starts with [[spoiler: Rika stabbing herself in the neck while Shion watches]]. Then the theme song plays, then they cut to the [[MoodWhiplash funny few minutes before the murders start]].
* ItsForABook: Keichi while planning the perfect murder. Later Rika uses this to find out who's [[spoiler:behind her death]].
** Rika's a lot more subtle about it.
* IWishedYouWereDead: To a near-superpower extent in one arc.
** Though we find out later that [[spoiler:not only did all of those deaths have other explanations, but all but one of them were the deaths which occur in every single universe; he didn't even wish anyone unusual to death!]]
* TheJailBaitWait: Doctor Irie and Satoko.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Almost every arc starts with something minor or forgivable that gets worse and worse until...
* JustInTime: Happens twice, [[spoiler: The first time is in Minagoroshi-hen, where the rest of the group arrives in time to save Rika and Satoko. It doesn't end well... The second time ends better, with Akasaka arriving just in time to show how much he's been [[TookALevelInBadass level grinding]] in BadAss. And it was awesome.]]
* KaizoTrap: If you consider the sound novels as video games then the epilogue of ''Tsumihoroboshi'' is as close to this as can be. [[spoiler:Keiichi made Rena snap out of her madness, nobody dies except Tomitake and Takano, all is well that ends well! Then comes the final TIP, 20 years later, revealing that just after that Rika was killed and everybody died in the disaster.]]
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Nomura and the opposing faction from Tokyo]], who were behind supposed BigBad [[spoiler:Takano Miyo]] and were driving them on when they wavered, apparently get away without anything more than the failure of their power play, presumably by making [[spoiler:Takano]] their scapegoat for everything. This despite almost EVERYTHING being their fault and them having NO FreudianExcuse.
** The last episode of Kai hints that the scapegoat plan might fail [[spoiler:because Okonogi lets Takano live, and Tomitake intervenes by arranging her to receive treatment instead of being transported to Tokyo. It is still likely that the faction escapes, leaving Nomura as the new scapegoat. It is also likely that Takano was successfully made the scapegoat in other cycles where the sterilization operation failed.]]
* KarmicDeath
* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler: Shion]] killing [[spoiler: Oryou]] in the Cotton Drifting and Eye Opening chapter.
* KillEmAll: The Tatarigoroshi chapter truly does Kill 'Em All - [[spoiler:starting with the gory death of Rina, Satoko's uncle Teppei, Tomitake, Takano, Irie, Ooishi, and finally Rika are seemingly murdered one by one, until the chapter finally ends with an eruption of poisonous volcanic gasses that kills off [[SoleSurvivor the entire population of Hinamizawa except for Keiichi]]]].
** [[spoiler: Shion and Kasai also survive the volcanic gases in the manga adaption of Tatarigoroshi-hen, but all three of them died later in hospital; Kasai died 2 months later, shortly after he dies, Shion commits suicide and 3 months after that, Keiichi died from a high fever of an unknown cause, making it even more KillEmAll]]
** [[spoiler: ''Minagoroshi-hen'' (the ''Massacre Chapter'') is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.]]
* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler:Miyo does this to Keiichi while Kei is delivering a KirkSummation, and does it in a way that is simultaneously [[CrowningMomentOfFunny hilarious]] and hand-over-mouth horrifying.]]
* KillTheCutie: There's a reason it's part of the horror genre.
* KnightTemplarBigBrother: Keiichi, [[spoiler: Satoshi, and eventually Shion]] towards Satoko. The last one is quite possibly motivated by [[spoiler: atonement for certain infamously gruesome acts committed in the Eye Opening/Cotton Drifting arcs when she becomes aware of them]]. Deconstructed since everytime it occurs, tragedy strikes or nearly does so.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: L-P]]
* LargeHam: Dr. Irie gets some of this. Not to mention Keiichi when masquerading as Kei-kun.
* LaughingMad: Rena and Shion get to this point pretty quickly when it's their turns to snap. [[spoiler:Keiichi descends into this in the epilogue of Tatarigoroshi-hen.]]
* LaughWithMe: One of the rare moments when this trope is PlayedForDrama. See the above entry.
* LaxativePrank: In the Cotton Drifting arc, Satoko uses this as part of an elaborate prank against some punks who are trying to take advantage of Shmion during the Angel Mort dessert fest.
* LecherousLicking: Occurs in Kira when Shion is licking cream off of Mion who is doing a BodySushi as a punishment game.
* LetsGetDangerous: [[spoiler:When the [[TrueCompanions best friends]] finally gets it together, what was a squabbling squad of broken children who were easily preyed upon becomes a tightly-knit unit that resists the HatePlague and completely owns a crack unit of corrupt members of government (with adult help, but even they appeared [[AdultsAreUseless useless]] at first).]]
* LighterAndSofter: ''Dear Lord'', [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RaUPlVeD2E going by the trailer]], the only thing people will be dying from is [[TastesLikeDiabetes Diabetes]] from the show!
** Take into consideration that Kira can be translated as Sparkle and this becomes even more obvious.
*** Just compare [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRtsIJXrhqc the first opening]] with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLO4tnvNko Kira's]] (warning: extreme MoodWhiplash)
* LiveActionAdaptation: The films ''Shrill Cries of Summer'' (''Higurashi no Naku Koro ni'') and ''Shrill Cries: Reshuffle'' (''Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Chikai'').
* {{Lolicon}}: Dr. Irie, for Satoko. [[RuleOfFunny Not taken seriously.]]
* LoserSonOfLoserDad: [[spoiler: Satoshi and Satoko, because their parents supported the dam project]]
* LosingTheTeamSpirit: [[spoiler:Keiichi's demise]] during the penultimate arc of the second series.
* LostAesop: Killing is bad! Don't ever kill people, because it is a horrible thing that will scar your soul and make you go insane. But fighting a whole army using Kalashnikovs, huge falling lumbers, and the same baseball bat that used to smash people's head with a single blow? It's perfectly OK in case your story suddenly turned into an action-adventure where [[NonLethalWarfare mooks suddenly]] [[CouldHaveBeenMessy can't die]], [[TapOnTheHead just fall unconscious]].
* LoudOfWar: One of the many tactics used by the Onigafuchi Guardians during the Dam War. They would park a van in front of the dam construction site and blast buddhist prayers through megaphones at an insane volume to make the police and the workers go mad. [[LoopholeAbuse And they can't be arrested for that since religious freedom is protected.]]
* LoverTugOfWar: Shion and Mion to Keiichi. Takano and Tomitake to Rena.
* LoveHurts: In most arcs, yes it does. In ''Onikakushi'', [[spoiler:Keiichi mentally confesses his love to Rena… after bashing her and Mion to death while crying; Rena and Mion also had to witness the boy they loved suddenly turn paranoid and rejecting them.]] In ''Watanagashi'', [[spoiler:Keiichi not giving a doll to Mion and hurting her feelings leads her to confess to Shion and triggers the tragic events.]] In ''Meakashi'', [[spoiler:Shion's love for Satoshi and his disapearance lead her to go completely insane.]] In ''Tsumihoroboshi'', [[spoiler:Rena's father falls in love twice, and is betrayed twice, the first time by his wife, which nearly [[DrivenToSuicide drives Rena to suicide]], the second time by a ManipulativeBitch that Rena ends up killing to protect him.]] In ''Matsuribayashi'', [[spoiler:Takano's very real feelings for Tomitake are partly responsible for her VillainousBreakdown. Although in that case, that may be what saves her actually.]]
* LoveTriangle: Keiichi and the ''twins''. Oh yes. [[spoiler:Though it's revealed to be a subversion. Shion was never seriously interested[[hottip:*:If she does become interested, she goes crazy and her motivations are still about loving Satoshi, not Keiichi]], and she was either doing it to hurt Mion or encourage her to act on her feelings, depending on the timeline. In Meakashi-hen, it's implied that she's attracted to Keiichi due to his similarities to Satoshi, and that makes her hate him even more.]] In later arcs and ''Higurashi Day[[color:red:b]]reak'', Shion is replaced by Rena.
** The {{Love Triangle}} between Keiichi, Mion, and Rena is hinted as early as Watanagashi-hen in the "doll incident." Ironically, [[spoiler: it is Shion who goes crazy because of it even though it's Mion who is jealous.]]
** In the Meakashi-hen manga [[spoiler: it was revealed that Mion was also in love with Satoshi, just like Shion, though she certainly didn't make her feelings for him nearly as clear and didn't seem to feel as strongly in the first place. Of course, Mion's over him now, since she found Keiichi. Alternatively, she may have been lying in an attempt to save herself at that point.]]
** LoveDodecahedron: So if we sum it up - Mion and Rena both love Keiichi, which may or may not be requited depending on the arc; Shion strongly loved Satoshi [[spoiler:but also develops feelings for Keiichi in some arcs]], while Mion [[spoiler:also had feelings for Satoshi, though not as strong]]. There's also Satoko's implied crush on Keiichi in ''Tatarigoroshi''. Less seriously, Shion once says that if Mion had been a guy, she might have fallen for her. She says it jokingly… or not.
* {{Lyrical Dissonance}}: Shion and Mion's {{image song}}, Futari no Birthday, is an '''incredibly''' upbeat pop number with '''incredibly''' depressing lyrics. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0p4jTZKyI0 Get some of that action here.]]
** Similarly, Hanyuu's {{image song}}, Nanodesu. Fantastically upbeat, cheerful, and fun EarWorm song, with lyrics that boil down to "I'm powerless, I can't do anything".
** Higurashi character songs seem to be full of this. Rika has two {{image song}}s one for her childish, cheery voice and other for [[spoiler:her hundreds-year-old cynical voice]]. Ironically, the former's lyrics are depressing, while the latter's are more hopeful.
* MadDoctor: A TIPS in the games notes that [[spoiler:Dr. Irie]] performed psychosurgery on unwilling subjects in the past, and a flashback in the final season of the anime [[spoiler:has him dissecting the brain of a living patient (albeit with persuasion from the BigBad)]]. [[spoiler:Takano]] is a little bit more literally one.
** The manga adaptation of Matsuribayashi takes this further [[spoiler:and shows Takano tried to make him ''vivisect'' '''Satoko'''. Mercifully Irie and Rika were able to outsmart Takano on this one, as Rika volunteered herself.]]
*** [[spoiler: Takano]] ''eagerly'' planned and prepared the [[spoiler: vivisection]] days before it would happen in the VisualNovel.
* [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter]]: Inverted. [[spoiler:Dr. Takano was nice, but Miyo is insane]].
* MafiaPrincess: Mion, although technically she's a yakuza princess. Shion as well; despite being effectively disowned, she's closer to the family's actual yakuza elements than Mion is.
* [[spoiler: MagicalGirl]]: Rika and Satoko are this in Episode 2 of Kira.
* TheMenInBlack: Beware the Janitors, for they are Anonymous, and they are Legion!
* MeaningfulName: Probably accidental, but "Rena" could be short for the Spanish word "renacimiento", meaning "rebirth". [[spoiler: Rena's old name was actually "Reina", which is a Japanese name but is also Spanish for "queen"; she changed it to "Rena" to create a new identity for herself, effectively being "reborn". Ryukishi07 is also a major fan of FinalFantasyV, and both Rena's names are possible translations for the name of the game's female lead.]]
* MediaWatchdog: PEGI was obviously sleeping when it gave the French translation 7+ rating. [[spoiler: Explanation: They only rated the minigames. It even got an ISBN number, so apparently rest of it is treated as a book.]]
** ... my God, [[http://www.pegi.info/en/index/global_id/505/?searchString=le+sanglot+des+cigales&agecategories=&genre=&organisations=1855&platforms=&countries=&submit=Search it's true!]]
* MercyKill: [[spoiler:Takano shooting Satoko]] in ''Minagoroshi'' could be considered as that. [[spoiler:Even if she let her live, the only thing awaiting her was a FateWorseThanDeath: being experimented on as a L5 Hinamizawa Syndrome patient, with all her friends dead.]]
* MilkmanConspiracy: The mastermind behind everything is [[spoiler: some stoned-looking nurse]]?
* MindScrew: In general the whole air of mystery and paranoia (both of which are cleared up in the second season). A specific example - [[spoiler:in the second arc Keiichi finds out that Mion killed a bunch of people. In the fifth arc, we're shown that it was actually ''Shion'' pretending to be Mion.]]
** The whole idea behind the series is this, to the point where the '''last episode''' gives you a '''slight clue''' of what the hell is happening.
* MoodWhiplash: Not just the anime itself, but even some of the character image songs get in on this, particularly Rena's.
** One of the TIPS in the visual novel, Weekly featured article, goes from a gruesome murder article to an advertisement for a lucky charm (even the music goes from creepy to comical).
* MotherlySidePlait: Akasaka's wife Yukie sports a rather impressive one. In the manga-only ''Onisarashi'' arc, Natsumi's mother is a textbook example... until she looses her plait as she starts to go insane. [[spoiler:Or rather, [[UnreliableNarrator as we see her go insane through Natsumi's eyes.]]]] Miyoko's mom also has one, as well as Keiichi's mom in the live adaptation.
* MotorcycleDominoes: Happens a ''lot'' at Angel Mort. And it's the same three punks that get pissed off.
* {{Mukokuseki}}: God ''damn'' but nobody in Hinamizawa looks Japanese. Case in point, the Sonozaki twins' green hair? If mom is anything to go by that's ''genetic''. Ditto the Houjous, who seem to have naturally straw blond hair.
** And the Furude family. Father: black hair, Mother: dark bluish purple hair, Rika: same as Mother, and [[spoiler:Ancient Relative (aka Hanyuu): light purple hair]]. Not to mention Rena (light auburn) and Rina (bubblegum pink).
* MultipleReferencePun: The title. The "''naku''" means "to cry" as in both weeping ''and'' an animal making noises. ''Higurashi'' is a type of cicada, but can also mean "everyday life"; the entire title can be translated as "when there is no everyday life."
** It also applies to the English title with the multiple meanings of "cry".
** Miyo [[spoiler: correctly]] theorizes this applies to the name of Watanagashi festival; Wata means cotton and [[spoiler:guts.]]
* MundaneMadeAwesome:
** Episode 22 of the first season opens with an intense ''water pistol fight'', complete with sabotaged weapons, traps, dramatic camera angles/music, and GlowingEyesOfDoom. It ended with a victory to [[spoiler:Keiichi and Rena, who got each other at the same time]].
** The second episode of ''Kai'' does this with a game of tag, only even more awesome.
** More generally, the club activities in the sound novel are emphasised with various booms, flashes, camera shakings and other dramatic sound effects. Even for a simple card game. They are used even more liberally during Keiichi's bullshit speeches, with the text (which is complete nonsense anyway) [[UnreadablyFastText scrolling too fast to read!]]
* MustMakeAmends: Subverted when [[spoiler:Shion Sonozaki]] kills [[spoiler:Satoko Hojo]] in the underground torture chamber; she believes at first that she's helping her [[spoiler:essentially dead boyfriend Satoshi Hojo]]. Then she tries to talk to his shadow that has appeared on the wall (she's gone nuts at this point obviously), when she realizes the last words of him were: [[spoiler:Take care of my little sister [Satoko] for me.]] She literally pisses in her pants at the realization, but realizes she's already crossed the Moral Event Horizon and then goes off to brutally murder more people.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Numerous instances. Keiichi gets one after [[spoiler:beating Rena and Mion to death in Onikakushi-hen, and another one later on when he recalls this during Tsumihoroboshi-hen]], Rena at the end of Tsumihoroboshi-hen, and Shion gets one for all of ten seconds when [[spoiler:she remembers Satoshi asking her to look after Satoko after she murders her]], and then [[GoesMadFromTheRevelation goes on to merrily add two more bodies to her pile]].
** She gets another 5 seconds [[spoiler:after she's killed everyone and has slipped off the balcony. "I'm sorry, everyone. Next time, I'll do better." * splat* ]]
*** In the manga and sound novels it's played more straight. [[spoiler:Especially when she commits suicide.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: The manga adaptation of the Festival Music chapter reveals Mion's reason for not wanting to talk about Satoshi's disappearance. [[spoiler: It was her inability to save/help him before his disappearance.]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The names of the punishments in the OrphanageOfFear - namely, "the coffin", "the squashed catterpillar", "the duck that cannot drink" and "the dismembered pig". In the anime and sound novel, you can only guess vaguely what they are about. Then the manga decided to elaborate…
* {{Never Mess With Granny}}: Oryou Sonozaki, or Oni-baba (devil granny) to Shion.
* NewTransferStudent: Keiichi [[spoiler:and, later, Hanyuu]]. And also [[spoiler:Shion, when she becomes Satoko's CoolBigSis]] in ''Minagoroshi''.
* NightmareFetishist: Takano Miyo. Loves the horrifying legends about Hinamizawa and is fascinated by the actual ancient torture equipment.
* NintendoHard: The Rena Punch mini-game in the first sound novel, at least if you want to reach 100 in score; especially the "superhuman speed mode", which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* NoblewomansLaugh: Satoko does this a lot, and always does after pulling off a prank.
* NoEnding: The manga-only Utsutsukowashi-hen, which was cancelled after the first volume.
* NoExportForYou: The DS and PS2 games (and thus all the original arcs in them) never made it out of Japan.
* NoNameGiven: Rena and Mion's fathers, as well as Satoko and Rika's parents.
* NonStandardGameOver: In the "Shion's boobs" mini-game in the sound novel, she offers to let you have a taste of her breasts if you help her, and you have the choice of accepting or refusing. If you accept, the screen turns pink and you hear Rika's mewing, before going back to the title screen. [[YouDoNotWantToKnow Don't think too much about it.]]
* NoodleIncident: In the ''Tatarigoroshi'' sound novel, Mion tried ''something'' during the baseball match that is referred as a "suicide attack" and got her badly injured. We never know what she did exactly.
* {{Nosebleed}}: Rena gets this after imagining ripping off Keiichi's swimsuit in ''Higurashi Rei''. "Keiichi's [[UnusualEuphemism furry seal]]... [[CatchPhrase I want to take it home]]!"
** Keiichi also gets one in the last episode of Rei, [[spoiler: thinking of the possibilities the magatama could be used for since the one holding one half (Rena) will fall in love with the person holding the other half.]]
** Rena gets these often.
*** ESPECIALLY in the VisualNovel.
* TheNoseless: Rena, Rika and Satoko are drawn without a nose in the original sound novel.
* [[spoiler:NoRomanticResolution: The story ends without Keiichi's relationship with Rena or Mion having changed at all despite blatant hints for the former and outright confirmation for the latter.]]
* NotQuiteTheRightThing: If Akasaka finishes helping out in the kidnapping case in Hinamizawa, [[spoiler:his wife dies from falling down the stairs]], something he is able to prevent if he heeds Rika's warning. In addition, arguably Keiichi giving the doll he wins to Rena, as what seems like a kind act [[spoiler:makes Mion sad and leads to the murders in Watanagashi and Meakashi-hen]].
** Unless after watching the latter you come to the conclusion that that was a bold-faced lie and the doll had nothing to do with the murders, and the claim was just another way to [[spoiler:torture Keiichi]].
*** It's not so much a lie as it is a more… indirect influence. [[spoiler:If not for the doll, Mion wouldn't have poured her heart out to Shion, in turn restoking her repressed {{Yandere}} feelings for Satoshi, leading to the events of Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen.]] ForWantOfANail indeed.
** Actually, Akasaka going home mid-case isn't what saves her, mainly because he never did that. By calling home on the first night he forgot to do so and telling her to be very careful, he saves her life. In the Visual Novel for Matsuribayashi, Okonogi was the one who fought Akasaka back with the kidnapping of the minister's grandson. If Akasaka had to rush home to save his wife, the conversation between him and Okonogi in his BigDamnHeroes moment wouldn't make sense.
* {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s: The people in the Child Consultation Center are depicted like this in ''Minagoroshi-hen''; the author even apologises for it in the commentary, [[DidDoTheResearch knowing fully well they are not that bad in real life.]]
* OffModel: The first season is ''infamous'' for this. Doesn't help that this came to a head during what ''should've'' been a [[spoiler:badass fight scene]] in the ''finale'' (you know, the episode where most series are guaranteed an AnimationBump?).
** In episode 17 Rika spends an entire scene with Shmion's hair color.
** Season two and the [=OVAs=] fix all of the problems with gusto.
* OffToBoardingSchool: Shion, as seen in her flashback arc. Her first appearance has her return to Hinamizawa after breaking out.
* OfficialCouple: Takano and Tomitake. And ''maybe'' Shion and Satoshi; it's never really made clear if Satoshi considered her as a lover or as a friend, and the whole TwinSwitch thing doesn't help.
* OlderThanTheyLook: [[spoiler:Rika is revealed to have relived the events of June 1983 for hundreds of years - she even refers to it as the "one thousand year search for a miracle" in the anime's last episode.]]
* OnceIsNotEnough: In Onikakushi-hen, Keiichi shoves Rena to the ground and runs, only to be beaten down by the Almighty Janitors and be unpleasantly awakened by guess who.
* OminousLatinChanting: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=t_mi9I2IPes&feature=endscreen Chinureta Chinkonka]] in ''Matsuri''. Even the title is creepy.
* OneHundredPercentCompletion: In Kizuna, the DS adaptation, in each volume, after you finish the arcs, you can go back to complete the situation tree and get alternate endings, as well as unlocking CG pictures and music.
* TheOneGuy: Keiichi, a guy in the middle of four girls − later five, and eventually six.
* OnlySaneMan: [[spoiler: Mion]], despite her [[{{Yakuza}} violent heritage]], is the only club member to [[spoiler:not suffer the effects of the HatePlague]] during the course of the series. [[spoiler:Rika says it even happened to her, but she just got killed before being able to hurt anyone in those fragments.]]
* OrphanageOfFear: [[spoiler:Miyo Takano (or Miyoko Tanashi)]] is trapped in the orphanage from '''hell''' in [[spoiler:Matsuribayashi-hen's flashback]]. The manga cranks it up several thousand notches.
* OurHeroIsDead: Almost every arc, actually, but notably at the end of Onikakushi-hen.
** A better example would be more like, Our [[spoiler:lancer]] is dead, [[spoiler: Where Miyo effectively ends the HopeSpot during Minagoroshi-hen, by shooting Keiichi during his KirkSummation.]]
* PaintingTheMedium: Okonogi in Rei during the pool episode.
** A scarier example is [[spoiler:Rena]]'s narration in the VN of ''Tsumihoroboshi'' to illustrate [[spoiler:her SanitySlippage.]] At the beginning, [[color:pink: it's a cute pink]]. Then when [[spoiler:Ooishi interrogates her]] [[color:orange: it turns into a pale orange]]. By the time [[spoiler:she takes the school hostage]], [[color:red: her text has become bright red.]]
* PantyFighter: Higurashi Daybreak
* ParentalAbandonment: Satoko's parents are dead, and her sometimes-appearing uncle is an abusive alcoholic. Rika doesn't have ''any'' surviving family; the two live together by themselves. Rena's mother ran off with another guy. Shmion's mother is on bad terms with their {{yakuza}} family and seldom shows up, while their father makes one appearance in the second season.
* PlayingWithSyringes: [[spoiler:Hinamizawa Syndrome is being tested on the villagers to see if it can create a biological weapon.]] The major irony with this trope being that [[spoiler:just about all literal instances of syringes in the series are either illusory or actually meant to help the protagonists.]]
* PleaseDontLeaveMe: [[spoiler:Hanyuu says this to Rika once Rika tells her she doesn't want to repeat another world]] [[spoiler:Rika]] is [[spoiler:Hanyuu's]] only source of comfort and friendship. If she [[spoiler:died without repeating a world then...She's dead.]]
* PoorCommunicationKills: The events of [[spoiler:Onikakushi-hen]] as a whole and the last third of [[spoiler:Tatarigoroshi-hen]] are a result of this.
** Subverted in [[spoiler:Tsumihoroboshi-hen]]: A long series of misunderstandings ''almost'' kills, but is averted at the last minute. In the VisualNovel, there are even more misunderstandings before it is averted.
* PowerOfFriendship: If there was ever a show to which the saying "Friends help you move, best friends help you move bodies" applied, it's this one.
* PowerOfTrust: At least as important to the solution as the PowerOfFriendship, if not more.
* PresentDayPast: The series is set in the earlier 1980s yet there are a couple things that really shouldn't be back there. The Sound novel seems to like invoking this trope for the lulz. In the Watanagashi Arc, the gang is playing the game Sympathy. (In which someone says a word and each player must write down what first come to mind. A player receives points by having the same answer as another player.) When the word is sakura (cherry blossom) Keiichi tries thinking like a girl in order to gain the lead. His answer? Manga/CardcaptorSakura.
** Not to mention that by looking at the counter on the game shop in the Watanagashi Arc, ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' and ''Anime/DuelMasters'' packs can be clearly seen.
** The anime gets in on this action too. In the OVA, the Cat-Killing Arc, Satoko is seemingly dressed up as [[RanmaOneHalf Shampoo]].
** In Meakashi Arc, Keiichi talks about end of ColdWar- In a lecture about [[ItMakesSenseInContext porn.]]
** In Tsumihoroboshi Arc, someone offers a Higurashi beta for exchange of Angel Mort event ticket - 20 years early.
*** A Higurashi beta? In the world Higurashi takes place in? [[MindScrew Huh?]] I guess it's like [[spoiler:when Akasaka made a book similar to the series based off the events of an arc]]
** That doll Keiichi gives everybody in one or two arcs really does resemble a ''RozenMaiden''.
** In Minagoroshi, Keiichi mentions numerous videogames that have not existed yet when he tries to convince Komura (The baseball player) to help rescue Satoko. Some of the games he mentions are Resident Evil (1996), Metal Gear (1987), A new "Dead or Alive" coming out (The first one came out in 1996, the second one was 2000)
** The thin-rimmed glasses worn by Dr. Irie are of a design that didn't get common before the mid-nineties. Early-eighties glasses were quite much uglier by today's standards (The circular frames he wears in the manga are a little closer to accurate than what appears in the anime).
* ProlongedPrologue: Matsuribayashi, which is especially {{egregious}} because the previous chapter actually managed to end on a pretty epic cliffhanger.
* PressXToNotDie: The "Stolling Rika" mini-game.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Hanyuu. Also,[[spoiler:Takano, although, as she's seen as a child in the opening sequence and her face is obscured, you might mistake her for Satoko until it's revealed in the relevant arc]]. A variation occours with [[spoiler:Rika]] who is featured much more prominently in the credits of the second season, as they have run out of {{Decoy Protagonist}}s.
** Don't forget Keiichi, who, for some reason, didn't appear in the first season's opening despite being the protagonist for 4 of the 6 arcs in it.
* PromotionToParent: Satoko's brother Satoshi, until he 'transferred out'. Now, Rika and Satoko live alone without guardians.
* PunBasedTitle: ''Hirukowashi-hen'' is named after ''Higurashi Daybreak'', but "''hirukowashi''" means "day-breaking" (like breaking a day into a million pieces, not dawn).
** The French title of the sound novel − ''Le [[color:red:Sang]]lot des cigales'' − sort of counts. "Sanglot" means "weeping"; "sang" means "blood". [[LuckyTranslation So the red part of "naku" happens to be appropriate here.]]
* PuniPlush: The characters are drawn like this in the sound novel, full with hands that look more like mittens, when they are not FourFingeredHands.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Q-S]]
* QuiveringEyes
* RRatedOpening
* TheRashomon: Watanagashi-hen, as with most of the early arcs, is told from Keiichi's point of view. Meakashi-hen revisits this arc from the perspective of Shion (although ''technically'' it's a different arc, just with similar events).
** Sometimes overlaps with TheKillerInMe.
* RazorApples: Rena sticks a needle in the ohagi she gives to Keiichi.
** [[spoiler:Or so his Hinamizawa syndrome-fueled delusions told him. The Ohagi actually had Tobasco sauce in it, and Keiichi perceived it as a needle.]]
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Hanyuu [[spoiler:(she ''is'' some sort of god) and the physically preteen Rika]], thanks to the GroundhogDayLoop effect. Unlike Hanyuu and most other examples, the latter's maturity matches her actual age, though this is deliberately hidden so as to not freak people out.
* RealPlaceBackground: Hinamizawa is based off, as in an exact copy, of Shirakawa-go. Semi {{justified|Trope}} being that the original novels used photos for the backgrounds.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Shion did this to Satoko in a flashback in episode 16. After she began crying over her spilled lunch, Shion grabbed her by the head, threw her across the room, and began pelting her with books as she screamed that she was making things more difficult for Satoshi with her constant crying, and that it would be better for him and everyone else if she died.
* RecurringRiff: Dear You and all of the variations thereof in both {{Image Song}}s and background music.
** To a lesser extent, "Sora no mukō" (the ending song) in the last sound novel.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: The red eyes should be your first clue that [[spoiler:Rina, Rena's father's new girlfriend,]] is up to no good.
* RedHerring: Two of them actually, and very well done. Both of them however, are major contributing factors to the HatePlague when pursured
** 1. [[spoiler: The Sonozaki family's "connections". Pretty much innocent in regards to the chain of murders associated with Oyrashiro's Curse. The Yamainu were the ones who kidnapped the grandson.]]
** 2. [[spoiler: Oyashiro's curse itself. Only the 3rd and 5th deaths (both caused by Takano) have any actual relationship to what's behind the cycles of death. The only commonality between murders 1,2, and 4 is that the resident HatePlague is behind them all.]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Multiple instances, with color being mentioned as a comparison.
** Mion ([[spoiler: blue]]0 and Shion ([[spoiler: red]])
** Keiichi (red) and Rena (blue)
** Keiichi (red) and Mion (blue) to a lesser degree than with Rena.
* RedShirtArmy: [[spoiler:The Mountain Hounds]], sort of, although none of them are killed.
* RefusalOfTheCall: In the Playstation 2 game, if you don't have Keiichi enter any other arcs through their triggers, you end up in Taraimawashi-hen, which basically flogs you for doing this. [[spoiler:And yes, you still die]].
** Note that "taraimawashi" (literally "handing the basin around") is an expression that basically means "handing responsibility to someone else". Hence the subsequent flogging.
* ReligiousHorror: The origins of the Cotton-Drifting Festival.
* {{Retirony}}: [[spoiler:Subverted in the end, although Ooishi ''really'' pushes it with his big speech in the final arc.]]
** In point of fact, though, Ooishi probably dies fewer times than anyone else in the main cast--he's almost always there at the end to make futile attempts to put together what happened.
* RichBitch: Rina Mamiya
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Meakashi-hen is this combined with JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope. [[spoiler:Shion was mainly targeting those who took Satoshi from her... in her eyes, this included Rika (for conspiring with the village head) and Satoko (for receiving the brunt of his attention), along with those who actually were responsible (most of the other people in the village). Keiichi was just targeted to torture Mion.]]
* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Rika and Satoko. Later Rika and Hanyuu too.
* RooftopConfrontation: Keiichi and Rena's fight on the roof of the school. Probably ''the'' iconic scene of Tsumihoroboshi-hen.
* RopeBridge: The bridge that Keiichi chases Satoko over [[spoiler:and gets shoved off of]]. In Yakusamashi-hen, this trope is used slightly more traditionally. [[spoiler:Satoko uses the ropes as a place to hide from the Yamainu. They notice her and slice the ropes, sending her plummetting into the river]].
* RunningGag: Characters' feet have a curious tendency of [[MotorcycleDominoes hitting parked motorcycles]] in this series. Punks always show up screaming afterwards and are always interrupted by someone. And they are always the same punks.
* SanitySlippage: All over the damn place.
* SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud: Rika will sometimes say "''pachi pachi''" (the Japanese onomatopoeia for clapping) to emphasize her own clapping. Similarly, she says the UnsoundEffect "''[[CatchPhrase Nii-pah~!]]''" when she grins.
* ScrewDestiny: Theme of the second season. [[spoiler:Although Rika had long since given up escaping her death, Keiichi's]] incredible powers of persuasion and determination to destroy fate -- combined with a sequence of minor miracles -- revive her own will to fight against destiny and give both her and Hanyuu the courage to face their fears.
* SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler:Satoko]]
** In ''Rei'', it's mentioned in passing that [[spoiler:it was right in the "real" world, but it never happened in ''that'' universe]].
* SequelHook: The end of the second movie. Which doesn't mean there ''will'' be a third movie though.
* SeriesMascot: Rena. Quite [[WolverinePublicity easy to]] [[FirstInstallmentWins notice]].
* SerialEscalation: "Thank you very much for playing 'Higurashi When They Cry --Meakashi--'. Thanks to your support, I could bring the fifth episode to you. 'Higurashi' will increase its intensity toward the ending."
* SerialKiller: [[spoiler: Shion]] in the Cotton Drifting and Eye Opening chapters (the killings are over a period of days as opposed to a rapid burst of kills). The combination of various traumas and [[spoiler: how [[{{HatePlague}} Hinimizawa Syndrome]] works]] results in the Visionary type and Revenge sub type.
* SeriousBusiness: The club's assorted games usually end up involving {{Hot Blooded}}ness, blackmail, and/or shameless cheating.
** In the mahjong game for PSP and Arcade, winning or losing a game of mahjong is a matter of life and death in Oyashiro-mode.
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: [[spoiler:Every time Rika is killed, Hanyuu takes Rika to the past of an alternate universe to try to solve the mystery again]].
* ShooOutTheClowns: Any given arc generally gets serious (and scary) after the shrine festival. Until then it's usually a chance to show the characters at their cutest.
* ShoutOut: To Studio Deen's own ''LightNovel/MariaSamaGaMiteru'' franchise in ''Rei.''
** The sound novels have a few as well. During Onikakushi-hen, Keiichi gives a RousingSpeech with referances to both MobileSuitGundam and SpaceBattleshipYamato.
** Either a translation error or a ShoutOut to translation error by Mangagamer: [[spoiler: [[AceAttorney The miracle never happen.]]]]
** In the final episode of Rei, one of the mahjong books found in Rena's VW Van is about [[{{Akagi}} Washizu mahjong]]
** Ever wonder if Rika's VerbalTic, ''Nipah!'' has any meaning? Ever heard of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipah_virus#Nipah_virus Nipah Virus?]]
* ShownTheirWork[=/=] WriteWhatYouKnow: Whether the author is an experienced Mahjong player or just did research about it, all these details make the Mahjong scenes in the series all the more awesome ; most readers won't understand a thing about all this "pong" and "riichi" stuff though. There is even a Higurashi Mahjong game called "Higurashi Jan".
* ShrinesAndTemples
* ShutUpKirk: [[spoiler:Takano]] shoots [[spoiler:Keiichi]] point blank during his KirkSummation to shut him up.
* SiblingYinYang: Mion and Shion contrast each other, and Irie mentions that before Satoshi "transferred," he and Satoko also had those tendencies.
** Although during the more action-packed later arcs, their personalities don't contrast that much; they even have the exact same expression-set in the sound novel. Shion is just not as good at controlling her emotions.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: For a series with so many violent deaths and tragic backgrounds, it is surprisingly idealistic in the end.
* SlidingScaleOfTrollCruelty: Mion is type 1, Satako and Shion's normal personality are type 2. However, [[spoiler: her psycho personality is an exceptionally NASTY type 5.]]
* SmiteMeOhMightySmiter: In a flashback arc, the villain challenges God to kill them or save them. 'God' then misses with its subsequent lightning bolt, instead vaporizing the neighboring tree and apparently losing the bet.
** The same situation is inverted later in the same arc, when [[spoiler: Hanyuu asks Takano to shoot her and spare the others... and a few seconds later, Takano's last and only bullet goes whizzing past her ear to the tune of a delicious karmic echo.]] A shame so many people mistook it for a {{Deus Ex Machina}}.
*** [[spoiler:The Deus was standing right there--Hanyuu can ''stop time''.]]
*** Actually, in the game, [[spoiler:Hanyuu stops time when the bullet is about to hit her, believing her death inevitable. Then, Rika starts moving despite time being stopped and grabs the bullet. Everyone other than Hanyuu and Rika believe the bullet just missed, though.]]
* SolemnEndingTheme: "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPTGDWY5LrU Why Or Why not]]".
* SoWhatDoWeDoNow: Twisted in ''Saikoroshi-hen'', a bonus chapter for the game that takes place after the main storyline, where one character wakes up in a perfect world without any of the [[DysfunctionJunction tragic backstories]] or danger from the [[GroundhogDayLoop previous worlds]] [[spoiler:and finds that it's more painful this way]].
* SplitPersonality: Arguably [[spoiler:Rika]] and Frederica Bernkastel. One of the less-clear aspects of the story... and that's saying something.
** It gets really bad in the anime, where it's just ''lightly'' touched upon with absolutely no explanation.
* SpoilerOpening: The first anime intro. [[LateArrivalSpoiler Also]], in the case of Daybreak Portable's intro, you see Natsumi [[spoiler:sporting a bloody butcher knife and a SlasherSmile.]]
* SpoilerTitle: see HopeSpot above.
* [[spoiler: StableTimeLoop: The final episode of Kira reveals that the entire series is one.]]
* StabTheSalad
* StartOfDarkness: Two of them. The first part of the Festival Music chapter details this trope for [[spoiler: Takano]]. Subverted with the "distinguishment scene" serving as one for [[spoiler: Shion]] in arcs where she goes nuts, but not in arcs where she doesn't snap.
* StayingWithFriends
* TheStinger: Of the "TheEndOrIsIt" variety at the end of season one: [[spoiler:"All right. I'll play the game with this endless June. As much as you wish."]]
** Every episode of ''Kai'''s ''Matsuribayashi-hen''.
* SureLetsGoWithThat: Nastily deconstructed with Oryou's policy of making people believe the Sonozakis are responsible for bad stuff that they have no involvement with. Said policy causes lots of trouble for Hinimizawa and causes two people to become an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom.
* StuffedIntoTheFridge: In the second movie ''Chikai'', like in the series, [[spoiler:Rena stuffs Ritsuko's corpse into a fridge after killing her.]] Unlike the series, [[spoiler:she kills a scared-shitless Teppei after he sits on said fridge and finds her corpse.]]
* SuddenHumility: In ''Tatarigoroshi'', Keiichi starts to scream at Mion for not wanting to take Satoko in her huge house to protect her from her uncle. After he made Mion cry, Rena proceeds to scream at Keiichi, asking him why ''he'' doesn't take Satoko in his huge house. That makes him immediately realize how much he hurt Mion with his behaviour.
* SurpriseCreepy
* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: The ED "Why, or Why Not" features English lyrics that, while spoken with an accent, reproduce the structure of the language quite faithfully, save for a few spelling slip-ups.
** Still prone to a few amusing {{Mondegreen}}s, such as "I want to be a river in life" rather than "I want to believe in life." Damned accent.
*** Actually, it's "I was a believer in life", not "I want to believe in life."
* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: The ending of ''Matsuribayashi'' is considered by some fans as ''too'' happy for the series [[spoiler:with none of the main characters going insane, nobody dying and the BigBad getting away with essentially a slap on the wrist]]; which is also why these same fans prefer the more BittersweetEnding of ''Miotsukushi'' in the PS2 UpdatedRerelease [[spoiler:which takes the opposite route by making several characters go insane at once, and making Hanyū die at the end.]]
* SympatheticMurderer: Most of the main characters at one point or another. [[spoiler:Satoshi and Keiichi kill Satoko's abusive aunt and uncle to protect her, Rena kills [[RichBitch Rina]] and Satoko's uncle to protect her own life and her father, and Shion takes out several village elders who tormented Shion earlier and, according to the evidence available at the time, had been arranging murders to protect their power. Shion also [[AxCrazy slaughtered Keiichi, Mion, Rika, and Satoko]], so she's a little iffy on the "sympathetic" toward the end there.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: T-Z]]
* TagTeamTwins: Mion and Shion have a habit of pulling [[TwinSwitch Twin Switches]] during the club's games, confusing everyone.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Every action scene in the sound novel. Probably inevitable, given the format.
* TalkingToHimself: Yukino Satsuki (the seiyuu for both Mion and Shion) must have been nearly as insane as the characters by the time the series finished.
** Though, she actually manages to make Mion and Shion sound starkly different, while similar at the same time. And that is impressive.
* TallDarkAndBishoujo: Mion, Shion, Takano, and Rena, despite being rather short.
* {{Tareme Eyes}}: Takano.
* TattooedCrook: Mion has an [[{{Yakuza}} Irezumi]].
* TearsOfRemorse
* ThatLiarLies: "USO DA!" Played for [[CrowningMomentOfFunny comedy]] in Hirukowashi-hen.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Well, there is one, but if you don't believe you're paranoid... Averted with Rena, though.
* {{The Eighties}}
* TheyKilledKenny: Everyone. Especially Tomitake, Takano, and [[spoiler:Rika]].
** Subverted because [[spoiler:Takano is really faking her death. And is possibly the only one of these who doesn't die]].
* TheRedStapler: The town Hinamizawa is based off had to make a new wall in their shrine because fans put too many things on theirs.
* TheyreCalledPersonalIssuesForAReason: Just about all of [[spoiler:Onikakushi-hen]].
* TheThingThatGoesDoink: Mion's family home has one.
** So does the Sonozaki residence, apparently - it can be heard in the last episode of the anime's Watanagashi arc.
* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness
* ThoseTwoGuys: Tomita and Okamura, two of Keiichi's classmates. They are regularly bribed by Keiichi or by Rika and Satoko in club activities.
* TimeStandsStill: [[spoiler:Hanyu's power. In ''Higurashi Rei'', she uses it to reposition Keiichi so that he falls into the pool, [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim instead of just pulling his Speedo off, which was the goal]]]].
** She also used it to [[spoiler:stop a bullet from hitting]] in two arcs. In one of them it didn't work out though… [[spoiler:For ''her'' nevertheless.]]
* TitleDrop: Once done by Keiichi.
** Also by Akasaka at the end of the ''Himatsubushi-hen'' arc in the game.
*** It was the title of the book he and Ooishi compiled together (at least in the manga).
** And by Rika towards the end of her second ImageSong.
** And once by Rena in ''Tsumihoroboshi-hen''.
* TitleRequiem: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-kADZYnBp4 Requiem for the Disaster]] is exactly that, with the BigBad rejoicing during the whole song for a full dollop of MoodDissonance.
* TortureCellar: The Saiguden
** Also, the basement of the [[spoiler:Sonozaki estate]].
* TownWithADarkSecret: '''"A"''' dark secret? More like a few dozen.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: [[spoiler:Wine]] for Rika, (not his favorite but it's a trademark food) ohagi for Keiichi, [[{{Tsukihime}} curry]] for [[{{Expy}} Chie-sensei]], and cream puffs for Hanyuu.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: You see those spoiler tags by the mention of YouCantFightFate? That's in the first trailer for the second season.
* TraitorShot: In Watanagashi-hen, closeups are used in the first episode to make Mion and Shion ''both'' look suspicious to the audience, although one of them is completely innocent. Also applied to Mion and Rena in Onikakushi-hen, with HiddenEyes combined with dangerous smiles to tip off the audience before Keiichi has any reason to suspect them. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a subversion, as Mion and Rena really were harmless, and every TraitorShot they were given was a product of [[UnreliableNarrator Keiichi]]'s escalating paranoia.]]
* TraumaInducedAmnesia: Complete with FakeMemories in [[spoiler:Onisarashi-hen]].
* TrojanPrisoner: How Shion and the rest infiltrate [[spoiler: the underground clinic]] in ''Matsuribayashi''.
* {{Troll}}: [[spoiler: Shion]] becomes an exceptionally nasty one in arcs where she goes nuts, cruelly manipulating the village with phone calls. Especially towards Keiichi.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: The oldest of the [[TrueCompanions best friends]] are sixteen.
* TryingNotToCry: [[spoiler:Poor Satoko, while she's being tortured to death by Shion.]]
* TwinBanter
* TwinThreesomeFantasy: Oishi suggests something to this effect after he sees Keiichi with Shion (knowing that Keiichi also hung out with Mion often).
* TwinSwitch: The twins do that often, usually off screen. [[spoiler:In the past, they ''permanently'' changed places, being that they were accidentally switched as babies and kept on switching until one of them got the oni tattoo.]] In Minagoroshi, Shion revealed that she sometimes switches places with Mion for the role of representation of head, thus knows things about the village.
* UncannyVillage
* UnreliableNarrator: [[spoiler:Keiichi in Onikakushi-hen, thanks to the HatePlague]]
** [[spoiler:And Natsumi in ''Onisarashi-hen''.]]
** [[spoiler:To be honest all question arcs except Himatsubushi-hen have this.]]
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Two of them.
* TheEndingChangesEverything: The final scene of the anime, which introduced a character who either had never been seen before in the show before or [[spoiler:was a grown-up, time-traveling Rika]] just to make sure your recently unscrewed mind gets [[MindScrew screwed all over again]]. It makes slightly more sense in the original sound novels.
** [[spoiler:She is actually [[VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi Bernkastel]], who is all of the past Rikas together. She's a witch.]]
*** Actually, not quite. [[spoiler: She is actually Frederica Bernkastel. Its unknown whether Frederica and the Bernkastel from Umineko are the same person, and its currently uncertain exactly what Frederica is, except that she is [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial "not Rika or Oyashiro-sama"]] and you should be ashamed for thinking so.]]
* {{Utsuge}}: Replace "make players cry" with "scare the crap out of them".
** This is not to say that you won't cry at some point. Unless you left your soul somewhere, you will.
** In Tsumihoroboshi, You. Will. Cry.
* VagueAge: The gang's ages are not directly said. It is said that Satoko and Rika are the same ages [[spoiler:(most likely Hanyuu too)]], and that Satoko is between the ages of 9-13. Keiichi and Rena are the same age, but since Rena was born in July, and Keiichi in April, she's younger than him. Mion and Shion are in the grade ahead of Keiichi.
** [[AllThereInTheManual The TIPS]] note that April is the cut-off month for grade levels and that Mion (and by extension, Shion and Satoshi) is only a few months older than Keiichi.
*** In the visual novel, the ages of the characters are censored/blacked out/whatever. Rika and Satoko's ages are listed as "X", while, for example, Keiichi's age is listed as "1X". So 9 would be the logical assumption for Rika and Satoko.
*** Satoko has visible breasts, which would be uncanny for a 9 year-old; you can assume she's between 11 and 13. In the puzzle section of ''Matsuribayashi'', Rika's mother also mentions that her daughter's growth is abnormally slow, making her childish appearance plausible despite being Satoko's age.
*** According to at least the anime, Rena was fifteen in most of the arcs. Keiichi is sixteen and thus Mion, Shion, and Satoshi are.
* VerbalTic: Rika, if not for YukariTamura's voice, would sound just like a certain ''RozenMaiden''.
** Rena has a tic of repeating words twice, as well as the non-word "hau".
* VideoGameRemake: The original PC sound novels were remade as "Matsuri", which was in then made into an UpdatedRerelease. Matsuri has been ported onto the DS into multiple games but they're also [[UpdatedRerelease Updated Rereleases]] of Matsuri.
** Also Daybreak to the UpdatedRerelease "Daybreak Kai". Then remade onto the PSP which was in then made into an UpdatedRerelease.
* VigilanteExecution: The various deaths of Teppai (Curse Killing, Atonement, and Exorcism arcs) and Rina (Atonement) are motivated by vigilantee action (either against some VERY nasty child abuse or a badger game). Given this series and the resident [[spoiler: HatePlague]], this does NOT end well.
* VillainProtagonist: {{Subverted}}. Most of the time, neither the character nor the audience knows this until TheReveal.
* TheVoice: Hanyuu: first arc, second season. As a bonus, a faint outline can be seen behind Keiichi and Rena in the third episode.
* VocalEvolution: Compare the first episodes of the english dub to the latter.
* WackyMarriageProposal: Variation. There is a manga story called "Yamenaide Chie-sensei" which revolves around Chie getting a [[ArrangedMarriage marriage interview]] and part of it has to do with Keiichi and friends trying to stop it (it's their activity game). A duel follows soon after they are discovered.
* WagerSlave
* WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld: In Saikoroshi-hen, when the murders never happen and neither do the tragic backstories, [[spoiler:Rika realizes that it's more painful for her to lose her newly-formed [[TrueCompanions group of friends]] than to be locked in a battle for the townspeople's survival with them on her side.]]
* WeaponOfChoice: Keiichi always [[BatterUp uses Satoshi's bat]], [[spoiler:Shion]] is often seen with a [[PsychoElectro taser]], and everyone's favorite cleaver girl, Rena, uses a billhook.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The sound novels were originally supposed to be one long game, but they decided to break it up and go with an [[StoryArc arc system]].
* WhatTheHellHero: Most of the main cast for most of the series.
* WhamLine: Shortest wham level ever, probably, with Keichi's "Yeah, she's going to find the body she chopped up..." "That was a horrible incident, they still haven't found an arm..."
* WhenItAllBegan: The start of the curses, and Satoshi's story both serve as this.
* [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield Where The Hell Is Hinamizawa?]]: It's never said precisely where the village is located in Japan − the police reports just write "*** prefecture". The ''Watanagashi'' arc does give a few indications though: it is on the Japan Sea side and south from Tokyo; also, [[spoiler:Takano's burnt body]] is always found in Gifu prefecture, so the village must be somewhere in a nearby prefecture.
* WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises
* WillNotBeAVictim: Rika, although not right away.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Rika, later revealed to be because [[spoiler:she's ReallySevenHundredYearsOld due to constant resurrection]].
* WolverinePublicity: Rena is featured on the covers of most of the original CD chapters of the game. Specially in those where she isn't even a relevant character, let alone a villainess.
* WordOfDante: The events of the fanmade ''Higurashi Day[[color:red:b]]reak'' have ''literally'' [[SureWhyNot ascended to canon]].
* WorthyOpponent: Okonogi ends up seeing the kids as this. [[spoiler: After all, it's not often that you can see an entire intelligence unit getting their asses handed to them by a group of teenagers!]]
* {{Yakuza}}: The Sonozaki family; at least they are related to some Yakuza clans.
* {{Yandere}}: Shion in arcs where she snaps.
* YearsTooEarly: This line is mentioned during the credits of the last episode of Season 1 of the anime, and Satoko says something related to it in the sound novel's Tsumihoroboshi-hen when she pulls a trap on Rena.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Okonogi gives Takano this treatment at the end of Matsubayashi-hen when it is clear that all has been lost. One can assume that she does not fare any better in the Worlds where she "wins"]]
* ZettaiRyouiki:
** Evidently part of Miyo Takano's nurse outfit.
** Rena Ryuuguu when in her [[http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/DrummondType2/MinitokyoHigurashinoNakuKoroniScans.jpg casual wear]]
[[/folder]]
----

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Q-S]]

* SerialEscalation: "Thank you very much for playing 'Higurashi When They Cry --Meakashi--'. Thanks to your support, I could bring the fifth episode to you. 'Higurashi' [[ItGotWorse will increase its intensity]] toward the ending."

* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: Happens in Tsumihoroboshi-hen, which seems like a happy ending at first, but [[ItGotWorse gets worse]] right afterward, leading into the DarkestHour right after that. More notably is, Minagoroshi-hen, which is chock full of them, and though it ends on a [[DownerEnding depressing note]], it renews Rika's hope and shows her how she can change her fate.]]

* EyesOfGold: Takano, at the very least in the early episodes.
** They're more so brown in the sound novels, and later episodes.
** [[FanNickname Droopy-tan.]]

** Maybe it's not a voluntary one, but in the last episode of ''Kira'', when Rena [[ImTakingHerHomeWithMe takes baby Rika home with her]] Mion screams her to put on some clothes. Pretty ironic when you know that SatsukiYukino also voiced [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl Yoruichi]], who was told that a couple of times by Ichigo in ''{{Bleach}}''.