History YMMV / QueensBlade

* ContinuitySnarl: Due to the franchise's ExcusePlot nature, every incarnation has their respective elements mixed between each other, regardless of which entries share continuity.

* VillainDecay: When Airi gets a MoralityPet. [[spoiler: It turns lethal for her when she's unable to feed before facing Aldra because of Rana.]]

* SeasonalRot: It's generally agreed upon by the fandom that the ''Beautiful Warriors'' OVAs and ''Rebellion'' are when the anime series devolved into another generic fanservice show. The [[BittersweetEnding Bittersweet]] [[HappyEndingOverride Ending Override]] of the former, the increasingly dark tone of later anime, and the [[RapeAsDrama very nature]] of the ''Vanquished Warriors'' OVAs are in heavy contrast to the first two anime seasons' tone and their approach to fanservice. The main canon would be abandoned for a short-lived OVA series based on the {{ElseWorld}} ''Grimoire'' game books, while the ContinuityReboot ''Unlimited'' OVA series has suffered from ScheduleSlip.

* HarsherInHindsight: Nanael's [[HaremSeeker Harem-seeking]] tendencies can be really heart-wrenching if you know what happened to [[Creator/AyaHirano her voice actress]] for doing precisely that, to the degree that she was black-listed from her former agency and possibly from the franchise as default, hence why she doesn't appear in ''Rebellion'' and Laila replaces her.

* FetishRepellent: Since 2022, the ads for its [[GachaGames gacha game]] spinoff, ''Limit Break'', has been widely mocked online not just for their oversaturation across the internet, but also for the fact that these ads are trying way to hard to be suggestive. Most of these ads also have the characters featured do rather suggestive poses, which simply border onto {{Squick}} instead.

* FetishRepellent: Since at least late 2022, the ads for its [[GachaGames gacha game]] spinoff, ''Limit Break'', has been widely mocked online not just for their oversaturation across the internet, but also for the fact that these ads are trying way to hard to be suggestive. Most of these ads also have the characters featured do rather suggestive poses, which simply border onto {{Squick}} instead.

* FetishRepellent: Since at least late 2022, the ads for its [[GachaGame gacha game]] spinoff, ''Limit Break'', has been widely mocked online not just for their oversaturation across the internet, but also for the fact that these ads are trying way to hard to be suggestive. Most of these ads also have the characters featured do rather suggestive poses, which simply border onto {{Squick}} instead.

* FetishRepellent: Since at least late 2022, the ads for its GachaGame spinoff, ''Limit Break'', has been widely mocked online not just for their oversaturation across the internet, but also for the fact that these ads are trying way to hard to be suggestive. Most of these ads also have the characters featured do rather suggestive poses, which simply border onto {{Squick}} instead.

* {{Sequelitis}}: ''Rebellion'' has noticeably lower production values than the first two seasons, as well as significantly less development put in the characterization. This could possibly be due to them planning on saving the best material for the fourth season which never materialized due to ''Rebellion'''s middling reception.

** While this is almost exclusive to fanart or fan-made gamebooks, [[LightNovel/{{Slayers}} Lina Inverse]] participating is a popular choice. Due to the fact in the ''Anime/QueensBlade'' universe [[MagicIsEvil magic is seen as a taboo subject for everyone who is not an angel or a demon]] and the fact many of Lina's magic spells are [[StoryBreakerPower too powerful]], she's normally depowered or refuse to use her powers for the sake of balance.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Played with: As is already explained, the franchise is based in the American ''Lost Worlds'' gamebooks, who previously were barely known even in their native U.S., much less outside of it. And while QB is still more known than LW, on the other hand, the unusual success of Queen's Blade in both Japan and the U.S. helped to revive the interest on the older ''Lost Worlds'' books whose the characters are based of. It does help Firelight Company (the actual owners of the ''Lost Worlds'' franchise) and also Flying Buffalo (the former publishers of the franchise) know that Hobby Japan is a more bigger and powerful company in Japan and HJ also acknowledge the fact their own franchise is based in a foreign one.[[note]]Possibly because they are legally forced to do so.[[/note]] Jill Leonardi, the daughter of Alfred Leonardi (the original designer of the ''Lost Worlds'' books) is actually working closely with Hobby Japan designing new matrices for the QB gamebooks, and her name appears in the copyright disclaimer of the Hobby Japan's homepage about QB.
* AntiClimaxBoss: [[spoiler:Claudette in the Illustrated Stories. Mirim defeats her very easily with the help of her Ultra-Vibrating Armor, since it deflects her lighting attacks. Averted in the animated adaptation, where she curb-stomps Mirim and the rest of the Rebellion Army by herself.]]

* BrokenBase: As expected, the redesigns of the ''Unlimited'' reboot left the fandom fractured. Some think the new designs are okay while others have hit the TheyChangedItNowItSucks trope full force.
* CanonFodder: Hobby Japan is ''infamous'' for not giving straight answers to anything not related to the characters [[note]]Like the Continent, the war that happened 100 years previously between the Vances versus everyone in the Continent, Melona and Airi's origins, Nowa's biological family, Claudette's biological mother, etc.[[/note]] They did answered some questions in an FAQ on their homepage in 2007, as an interview from the fans with the characters and also with Hans (Hobby Japan's collective WordOfGod). Although while some questions were answered, at the same time, [[WordOfGod Hans]] berated, [[ValuesDissonance in a very Japanese way]], those who asked personal questions, like the characters' ages.

* CompleteMonster: [[WickedWitch Werbellia the Swamp Witch]] is a mysterious entity who developed a resentment towards other living things. To display her full power, the Swamp Witch [[GrandTheftMe bodyjacks]] several innocent people until she sights her eye towards a beautiful high-ranking demon named Werbellia. Unable to control Werbellia due to the latter's strong love for her husband, Pope Stephan, the Swamp Witch banished Stephan into the netherworld forever. Managing to overtake Werbellia, the Swamp Witch then orders her minions to sabotage the Queen's Blade tournament, which would result in the continent and heaven becoming nothing but a barren wasteland. Failed to stop the tournament, when one of her minions, Menace, refused to come back to her, the Swamp Witch then [[BadBoss tortures her other two minions]] for [[YouHaveFailedMe their own failures]]. Seemingly defeated after the archangel Nanael destroyed the swamp, the Swamp Witch still continues her reign of terror as she inflicts several horrific curses towards several previous Queen's Blade contestants. At one point, she made the protagonist, Leina, her slave, with a parasite that could increase her pleasure serving her, and when Leina attempts to escape her clutches, she then revives the undead army of one of her minions and has said army face off against Leina. Possessing the current Queen's Blade champion, Claudette, she turns her into a warmongering tyrant. She was also responsible of the genocide of the Elves and [[InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath forced slaves to fight against each other]]. Seemingly defeated in the final battle, she attempts to bodyjack Werbellia's two daughters as a last resort.
* ContestedSequel: The animated adaptation of ''Rebellion'' is this: While the TV series improved on some aspects of the first two anime series, many aspects of the plot from the Illustrated Stories were either changed or removed, and the epic battles from the novels were replaced by only Annelotte and every named heroic character against the Queen's Army. The plot was all but concluded in the last three episodes, as the series ends on unsolved CliffHanger.
* ContinuitySnarl: Due of the franchise's ExcusePlot nature, every incarnation has their respective elements mixed between each other, regardless of which entries share continuity.

** Kaguya for Griminore as her Combat Book sold out within a couple of hours (and this is after the constant delay of her character).

** Cattleya, for a character that a has a relatively small role in the franchise in general, gets a surprising amount of fanart. Possibly due to her character design and story beats covering a large amount of fetishes.

** Many fanfics includes male characters participating in the titular tournament, despise the rules forbid men on participating, albeit it's heavily implied that rule is ''not'' set in stone, as the ruling queen (or the gods) can change the rules depending of their taste. This is more evident in the animated adaptation, as Aldra, the ruling queen, alter the rules of the tournament just to allow team-battles in the tournament, more specifically between Echidna and Irma vs Alleyne and Nowa.
** Including a male crossover character (Manga/{{Naruto}} or [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist the Elric brothers]] are the usual main targets) to participate on the Queen's Blade tournament or just to pick a fight against a named character. In the case of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', it's normally [[BlobMonster Melona]] making fun of [[TheNapoleon Ed]] about [[BerserkButton his height]].
** While this is almost exclusive in fanart or fan-made gamebooks, [[LightNovel/{{Slayers}} Lina Inverse]] participating is a popular choice. Due to the fact in the ''Anime/QueensBlade'' universe [[MagicIsEvil magic is seem as a taboo subject for everyone who is not an angel or a demon]] and the fact many of Lina's magic spells are [[StoryBreakerPower too powerful]], she's normally depowered or refuse to use her powers for the sake of balance.
* FanficFuel: Due of the many gaps in the characters' characterization and plot, especially anything related about the past of the Vances and how the tournament came to be, not to mention about the rest of the named cast, etc.

* FriendlyFandoms: With ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', of all things thanks to its character designs. [[FanservicePack Ino Yamanaka]], [[MsFanservice Tsunade]], [[HiddenBuxom Hinata Hyuga]] wouldn't be too out of place in the ''Queen's Blade'' universe by any stretch.

** Creator/AkiraIshida's role as Delmore (at least in the anime series) is even more funnier if you know he voiced [[spoiler:[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Kaworu Nagisa, an angel]], and Delmore is an ''[[EldritchAbomination Evangelion-style Angel.]]'']]

** Delmore became female in the English version, years later Delmore is a female demon in Unlimited .

* InferredHolocaust: At the end of ''Rebellion'', (at least in the ''Illustrated Stories'' novelization, since the anime adaptation ends in a CliffHanger), [[spoiler: The Swamp Witch (or the evil spirit who manipulated Werbellia) is defeated and Claudette returns to her older self after being defeated by Mirim, but is never explained what happened with all the returning characters (excluding Alleyne, whose fate is already implied in the novelization, but make it explicit in the [=OVAs=]) who where cursed by her, since she wasn't killed at the end and she's still on large thanks to Airi, meaning that everyone who was cursed, minus Claudette, are still cursed. And even Claudette herself is not safe of this, since thanks of her conquering antics and the Rebellion War because of her while being under the Witch's control means that she needs to defend her title as the queen in the next 4 years]].
** Leina got a even ''worse'' one, at least in the ''Vanquished Queens'' [=OVAs=]: According with [[spoiler:The Swamp Witch herself, her vital energy is being drained out from Leina's body and her remaining days she have to sleep at random times. Since the real Swamp Witch (not Werbellia) is still alive and well at the end of ''Rebellion'', that means, unless Leina asks Werbellia to remove the curse or kills the real Swamp Witch, that means the curse on her will possibly end her kill her sooner or later]]. Assuming the events of the animated adaptation doesn't RetCon the ones from the gamebooks, this is a stark contrast from what happens to her as [[spoiler:the curse the Witch puts on Leina only make her sleep, but it did not drain her life]].
* JerkassWoobie: Nanael. She can come off as racist toward the human race, has a really bad ego and won't hesitate to leave people in need behind. You can't help but feel something for her, especially when you find out in episode 7 that she's ostracized by the other angels for not being able to fit in with them because of her wings (her attitude was probably developed from being isolated and only having one friend). Besides, her personality is justified given that the majority of angels have the same view as her and come off as hypocritical in comparison.

** Illustrated Stories only: [[spoiler:The novel implies Ymir (or Melona impersonating her) basically ''raped'' Mirim when she tries to improve her Ultra-Vibrating Armor putting a dildo-like device in her nether parts. For obvious reasons, the anime adaptation avoids this and she use the Magical stones in Mirim's armor breastplate and crotch zones instead.]]

* NeverLiveItDown: Leina is left with lingering feelings of shame and humiliation by the end of the third ''"Vanquished Queens"'' OVA. Where, after being captured by [[spoiler: [[BigBad Werebella]]]], she was subjected to [[spoiler: RapeAsDrama]]. See the related entry in her character section.
* ReplacementScrappy: Played a bit with Laila from ''Rebellion'': While she's not exactly unpopular, the fact she was originally planned as Nanael's partner and later ascended as a titular character, while Nanael was DemotedToExtra possibly due to Creator/AyaHirano's sex scandal caused her to become an almost flat character with very few motivations, other than following someone else's orders and having an almost-inexistent backstory (other than being half-angel half-human, and that fact is never exploted anywhere). Hobby Japan seems to be aware to this fact, and that's the reason why [[spoiler:Nanael returns]] in the ''Vanquished Queens'' [=OVAs=].
* SeasonalRot: It's generally agreed upon by the fandom that the ''Beautiful Warriors'' OVA and ''Rebellion'' is when the anime series devolved into another generic fanservice show. The [[BittersweetEnding Bittersweet]] [[HappyEndingOverride Ending Override]] of the former, the increasingly dark tone of later anime, and the [[RapeAsDrama very nature]] of the ''Vanquished Warriors'' OVAs are in heavy contrast to the first two anime seasons' tone and their approach to fanservice. The main canon would be abandoned for a short-lived OVA series based on the {{ElseWorld}} ''Grimoire'' game books, while the ContinuityReboot ''Unlimited'' OVA series has suffered from ScheduleSlip.

* StoicWoobie: Claudette. Her plebeian mother died young and instead of raising her like a daughter, her father raised her like a servant. And her two younger sister who do care about her? One ran away from home, the other goes searching for the former, leaving Claudette behind with their neglectful father. And despite all that she is still one of the most stoic characters in the series.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Basically, [[spoiler:we never find out what happened with the rest of the cursed returning characters after The Swamp Witch is defeated, and it's very possible, even with Werbellia being defeated, the '''real''' Swamp Witch and her goons are still at large and the cursed heroines will probably remain cursed for the rest of their lives. The only character who managed to break her curse was, ironically, Claudette and she remains the queen, albeit with her previous personality she had before being one]].

** After all the crap Creator/AyaHirano endured due of her sex scandal, nobody expected to see Nanael in an anime or a drama CD ever again. However, Aya eventually returned to voice acting and so Nanael also returned in the Vanquished Queens [=OVAs=].

** [[spoiler:''The Swamp Witch being Aldra and Annelotte's real mother'': After reading Aldra's backstory, we know her mother was a demon and her father was an human, and Werbellia fits the description given by Aldra]].
** [[spoiler: ''The Rebellion's version of Ymir is NOT the real one'': Even if she was a greedy jerk in the prequel, she still has morals and she never fall too low, like raping Mirim in the Illustrated Stories, not to mention her personality doesn't match with her previous self. The twist is ''Melona'' was the one impersonating her and imprisoning the real one]].
* ValuesDissonance: While not as notable as other series, there's a notable point of contention about some plot points in both the gamebooks and also the TV series regarding the Vances, especially Leina, at least for some Western viewers: Most of the drama and tragedy from ''Rebellion'' could be avoided if Leina had a bit of common sense regarding her own family, since it's very clear she already knows [[spoiler:her sisters aren't exactly the nicest or the most stable people around. Especially Claudette, as she already knows all the crap her sister has to endure due to the fact she's an illegitimate daughter. Her reasoning for trusting the entire Continent to her anyway is similar to the motivation of [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Sasuke Uchiha]], albeit not as harsh: It's due to her filial piety towards her own family, even if it is NOT perfect in any way, something even her own mother acknowledges in a flashback scene in the second season. In Japan the concept of filial piety is given much more importance than in the West.]]

* AdaptationDisplacement: Played with it: As is already explained, the franchise is based in the American ''Lost Worlds'' gamebooks, who previously were barely known even in their native U.S., much less outside of it. And while QB is still more known than LW, on the other hand, the unusual success of Queen's Blade in both Japan and the U.S. helped to revive the interest on the older ''Lost Worlds'' books whose the characters are based of. It does help Firelight Company (the actual owners of the ''Lost Worlds'' franchise) and also Flying Buffalo (the former publishers of the franchise) know that Hobby Japan is a more bigger and powerful company in Japan and HJ also acknowledge the fact their own franchise is based in a foreign one.[[note]]Possibly because they are legally forced to do so.[[/note]] Jill Leonardi, the daughter of Alfred Leonardi (the original designer of the ''Lost Worlds'' books) is actually working closely with Hobby Japan designing new matrices for the QB gamebooks, and her name appears in the copyright disclaimer of the Hobby Japan's homepage about QB.

* BadassDecay: Aldra, in her ''Vanquished Queens'' incarnation. The change since [[spoiler: being freed of Delmore]] is so drastic, that she's almost unrecognizable. The once stoic, [[LadyOfWar iron-willed, queen]] having been replaced by a cutesy, [[ApologizesALot overly apologetic]], girl who can barely defend herself.

* CanonFodder: Hobby Japan is ''infamous'' for not giving straight answers about everything not related about the characters [[note]]Like the Continent, the war that happened 100 years previously between the Vances versus everyone in the Continent, Melona and Airi's origins, Nowa's biological family, Claudette's biological mother, etc.[[/note]] They did answered some questions in an FAQ on their homepage in 2007, as an interview from the fans with the characters and also with Hans (Hobby Japan's collective WordOfGod). While some of the answers solves some questions, at the same time [[WordOfGod Hans]] berated, [[ValuesDissonance in a very Japanese way]], about people who asked personal questions, like the characters' ages.
* ClicheStorm: Played with it: While the whole series uses many clichés from the HeroicFantasy genre, it also '''avoids''' others like ElvesVersusDwarves and the ''Dark Elves are evil'' cliché (Echidna for example can be a big jerk, at worst, but isn't really evil).

* SeasonalRot: Its generally agreed upon by the fandom that the ''Beautiful Warriors'' OVA and ''Rebellion'' is when the anime series devolved into another generic fanservice show. The [[BittersweetEnding Bittersweet]] [[HappyEndingOverride Ending Override]] of the former, the increasingly dark tone of later anime, and the very nature of the ''Vanquished Warriors'' OVA are in heavy contrast to the first two anime seasons tone and their approach to fanservice. The main canon would be abandoned for a short-lived OVA series based on the {{ElseWorld}}''Grimoire'' game books, while the ContinuityReboot ''Unlimited'' OVA series have suffered from ScheduleSlip.

* StoicWoobie: Claudette. Her plebeian mother died young and instead of raising her like a daughter, her father raised her like a servant. And her two younger sister who do care about her? One ran away from home, the other goes search for her, leaving Claudette behind with their neglectful father. And despite all that she is still one of the most stoic characters in the series.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: And for being one of the few shows of its genre to show restraint in-spite of said fanservice.

* FoeYay: Melona seems to have an obsession with Leina, due to how she constantly gets defeated by her and wants to face her personally herself.

* {{Tearjerker}}:

* HarsherInHindsight: Nanael's [[HaremSeeker Harem-seeking]] tendences can be really heart-wrenching if you know what happened to [[Creator/AyaHirano her voice actress]] for doing precisely that, to the degree that she was black-listed from her former agency and possibly from the franchise as default, hence why she doesn't appear in ''Rebellion'' and Laila replaces her.

* ClicheStorm: Played with it: While the whole series uses many cliches from the HeroicFantasy genre, it also '''avoids''' others like ElvesVersusDwarves and the ''Dark Elves are evil'' cliche (Echidna for example can be a big jerk, at worst, but isn't really evil).

* FanficFuel: Due of the many gaps in the characters' characterization and plot, especially anything related about the past of the Vances and how the tournament came to be, not to mention about the rest of the named cast, etc.
* FriendlyFandoms: With ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', of all things thanks to its character designs. [[FanservicePack Ino Yamanaka]], [[MsFanservice Tsunade]], [[HiddenBuxom Hinata Hyuga]] wouldn't be too out of place in the ''Queen's Blade'' universe by any stretch.