Line #87 Anime/Mononoke


1	[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20864.jpg]]
2
3	-> ''"I'm just a simple medicine seller."''
4
5	[[SimilarlyNamedWorks No relations to]] ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', the Creator/HayaoMiyazaki film.
6
7	A spin-off of the third installment of ''Anime/AyakashiSamuraiHorrorTales'', made by Creator/ToeiAnimation. Unlike its predecessor, these ayakashi have merged with powerful human emotions to become mononoke, which are even more dangerous and hard to combat.
8
9	The story follows our [[InexplicablyAwesome mysterious]], [[NoNameGiven nameless]] medicine seller in his travels and the various people -- and monsters -- he encounters. To slay each mononoke he must first discover its Shape (form), Truth (origin), and Reason (motive), which often proves far more difficult than it sounds. The [[TwelveEpisodeAnime 12-episode]] series aired in Summer 2007 and is divided into five arcs.
10
11	A manga adaptation of the series started around the same time in 2008, covering the "Bakeneko" arc. A separate manga covered the rest of the anime's arcs, ending in 2019. The series received a movie project with a new story initially set to release in 2023, but was later postponed to Summer 2024.
12	----
13	!!''Mononoke'' contains examples of:
14	* AffablyEvil: The Mayor in ''Bakeneko''. True, he ''was'' [[spoiler:extremely shady in building the railway]], but other than that and his "patronage" of [[spoiler:the Café Worker]], he didn't seem particularly bad--and he had expected [[spoiler:Setsuko's boss to just ''tell her not to run the article'', not ''kill'' her.]]
15	* AgentPeacock: The eponymous Medicine Seller himself. He wears his obi in a traditional feminine way, paints his nails, seems to wear lipstick unrelated to his facial markings and is generally very soft spoken and polite. That doesn't stop him from absolutely [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu demolishing]] [[HorrifyingTheHorror mononoke]].
16	* AlienGeometries: In multiple arcs; in the Zashiki-Warashi arc, a single room extends to infinite copies of itself in both directions, and the Bakeneko arc features a train car that can be entered from the previous car, but exiting it from the same door just leads into open air.
17	* AmbiguouslyBrown:
18	** The Medicine Seller's alternate form, first seen in ''Anime/AyakashiSamuraiHorrorTales'', is white-haired and brown-skinned.
19	** The masked man from the Noppera-Bo arc. [[spoiler:It's implied that he and the Medicine Seller are one and the same, and that he was derived for the purpose of getting Cho to reveal herself as a mononoke]].
20	** Kayo (and later, Chiyo), too. She also dresses in a rather bright and lavish way for a servant, and her behaviour and overall style are quite modern and animesque compared to other characters. It's possible her look is a play on modern teenagers and fashion subcultures such as gyaru, which stereotypically features a tan, but there's no indication of where she's from or any comment on her looks.
21	** The innkeeper and her assistant from the Zashiki-Warashi arc are also dark-skinned; it can be assumed it's meant to be a sign of age in the innkeeper, but her assistant's appearance has no apparent explanation. It doesn't help that the assistant has bright red lips to go along with it.
22	* AmbiguouslyHuman: While the Medicine Man claims to be human, his FacialMarkings, PointyEars, fangs, demonic sword, supernatural powers, long lifespan and alter-ego suggest otherwise.
23	* AnachronismStew: The series freely mixes Art Nouveau-inspired decor with the Edo setting.
24	* AnimalisticAbomination:
25	** The Bakeneko resembles a vast, [[SlasherSmile grinning]] cat.
26	** The mysterious fish bard, voiced by Creator/NorioWakamoto, is a fish-human ayakashi that reveals people's fears.
27	* AnimalMotif:
28	** Thanks to his face paint, ears, and fangs, the Medicine Man is the spitting image of a traditional Japanese representation of a fox spirit. It fits, since he's CunningLikeAFox.
29	** The manga adaptation of the Bakeneko arc from ''Anime/AyakashiSamuraiHorrorTales'', also titled ''Mononoke'', is absolutely bursting with cats.
30	** In the Noppera-Bo arc, there's a pair of sparrows [[ArtInitiatesLife that come to life in a painting and spread their wings to fly away]], [[spoiler:representing Cho's deeply-suppressed desire to be free]].
31	* AntiHero: While he manages to take care of mononoke that threaten people's lives and generally attempts to protect civilian lives when he can, the Medicine Seller is rather cold and manipulative at times, with his worst actions coming in the Noppera-Bo arc where he [[spoiler: psychologically breaks a young woman in order to make her move on from her abusive family.]]
32	* ArtInitiatesLife: Several screen paintings come to life in the Nue arc. Also a pair of sparrows on the wall of Cho's home in Noppera-Bo spread their wings and fly away.
33	* AssholeVictim:
34	** Cho confesses to murdering her abusive husband and in-laws in the Noppera-Bo arc. [[spoiler:It's not true, as they're later revealed to be still alive; Cho secretly hates them so much that she wished they were dead. However, she eventually leaves them behind in the end, thanks to the Medicine Seller]].
35	** Two of the four suitors in the Nue arc [[spoiler:murdered another suitor and Princess Ruri, respectively]]. Even the one suitor [[spoiler:who got killed at the beginning]] was a deeply unpleasant {{Jerkass}} who looked down on everyone else.
36	** In the Bakeneko arc, [[spoiler:Setsuko's newspaper boss. He was in cahoots with the corrupt mayor and he killed Setsuko to silence her instead of merely burning her papers as the mayor ordered. Thus, he ends up murdered by Setsuko's vengeful spirit in the end]].
37	* BadassBoast: The Medicine Seller gives one in the Umi-Bozu arc.
38	--> "Ayakashi, Mononoke, Umi-Bozu. As long as darkness exists within the hearts of men, there will always be more. Let them come, for my invitation is what they fear most."
39	* BagOfHolding: Despite the small size of the Medicine Seller's backpack's compartments, he can fit ''hundreds'' of mononoke-detecting scales, and possibly more inside.
40	* BatmanGambit: Planned by the Medicine Seller in two arcs.
41	** The Noppera-Bo arc [[spoiler:has the Medicine Seller disguise himself as the Masked Man (or at least has his alter-ego acting on his behalf) to bring Cho out of her self-imposed cell, and exploit her long-suppressed desire to be free in order to reveal the mononoke]].
42	** The Nue arc [[spoiler:has the Medicine Seller reenact the incense ceremonies with long-dead spirits in order to determine what happened to the people who died in that place, and reveal the mononoke responsible]].
43	* BewareTheNiceOnes: If someone is initially presented as wise, patient, or kind, odds are, [[BitchInSheepsClothing they're actually behind the whole thing]].
44	* BittersweetEnding: To almost every arc.
45	** The Umi-Bozu arc [[spoiler:has Genkei accepting his darker side, such as his incestuous feelings towards his sister and the fact that he was happy she sacrificed herself in his place. Though his sister is long-dead, he has achieved inner peace as a reward for atoning]].
46	** The Nue arc [[spoiler:ends with the Medicine Seller destroying both the Nue and Todaiji, which is actually a rotting piece of wood. Although thousands of people have died, their spirits are able to pass on to the afterlife with the death of their killer, while preventing anyone from becoming future victims]].
47	* {{BFS}}: The Medicine Man's sword looks so... stunted in its little case, but once he gets his Shape, Truth and Reason, it can grow as long as a building.
48	* BlandNameProduct: Zeiko watches in the Bakeneko arc.
49	* BlackEyesOfEvil: Played with. The Medicine Man's other form has red irises and black sclera; while he isn't "evil" per se, if you're a mononoke you had better stay well clear.
50	* BlatantLies: Despite what the Medicine Seller calls himself in the page caption, he's ''far'' from a ''simple medicine seller''.
51	* BloodFromTheMouth: In the manga, the Medicine Seller coughs blood after the Bakeneko socks him in the chest.
52	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The mononoke, as explained in the manga.
53	* BodyHorror: So very much. One word - fishbaby.
54	* BrotherSisterIncest: A major motivation for [[spoiler:Genkei]], and was the reason for the creation of the mononoke in the Umi-Bozu arc. [[spoiler:Genkei was implied to have been chosen as a sacrifice for the ayakashi because of this, only for his sister to take his place because she too, couldn't bear to marry any man that wasn't her brother. Genkei's refusal to accept this trope was what caused him to become a mononoke]].
55	* CallBack: Kayo, the servant girl who worked for the family haunted by the Bakeneko in ''Ayakashi'', is a main character in the Umi-Bozu arc. What seem to be reincarnations of her and that entire family also show up in the last arc, [[GainaxEnding mainly for the purpose of planting]] EpilepticTrees.
56	* CatchPhrase: "Tada no kusuriuri desu yo," or in English, "I'm just a simple medicine seller."
57	* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In ''Ayakashi'''s Bakeneko arc, the Medicine Seller is less stoic and more overtly snarky than he is in this series, where he is eternally unruffled and limits his snark to the slightest of knowing smirks regarding events surrounding him. Possibly justified, as it has been some time since then, and the Medicine Seller has been largely desensitized to [[HumansAreBastards human cruelty]].
58	* ClosedCircle: Happens about once an episode, though it's justified due to the Medicine Man closing off all the exits to prevent the mononoke attacking and/or escaping. Additionally, the Umi-Bozu arc is set on a boat and the Bakeneko arc in a train carriage.
59	* {{Crossover}}: With ''VideoGame/{{Onmyoji\|2016}}'' for the anime's 10-year anniversary. The Medicine Man is released as a [[TemporaryOnlineContent limited-offer]] SSR ''shikigami''.
60	* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:Every human exclusive to the Nue arc. Their spirits were kept in an eternal GroundhogDayLoop by the Todaiji so they could continue looking for it, satisfying the Todaiji's ego. As a side-effect, they are unaware that they're dead, so they're reliving the day they died over and over again. The Medicine Seller eventually brought these spirits closure by destroying the Todaiji]].
61	* DeadpanSnarker: The Medicine Man is shown to possess a brutally dry wit, especially when it concerns people who annoy him or get in his way (like the idiotic samurai from the original Bakeneko arc).
62	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Much of the Nue arc; the backgrounds are all like this and only certain important aspects of characters are coloured. However the Medicine Man is in full colour, and after he takes down the mononoke the rest of the colour returns, though it's [[MindScrew a little hard to tell if that's real or not]]. It's implied towards the end that this trope was deliberately invoked to show [[spoiler:unlike the Medicine Seller, every person in the Nue arc is long dead, and he's just appeasing their spirits]].
63	** SplashOfColor: As mentioned above, every person has some more saturated color somewhere on them, like Oosawa's purple hat or Ruri-hime's blue hairtie and eyeshadow. This is important, as more observant viewers will notice that [[spoiler: both the old woman and little girl also have this blue color on them, marking them as the other two sides of the Nue]].
64	* DerangedAnimation: Oh ''yes''. Keeps things interesting whenever a Character Filibuster occurs. Notable examples being the reveal of the Umi-Bozu, and the Bakeneko's finale in Episode 12, among numerous others.
65	* DetectEvil: As in the first Bakeneko arc, the Medicine Seller's scales tip to point wherever the mononoke is.
66	* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The Medicine Seller does this in every arc. Despite being [[AmbiguouslyHuman human]], he's somehow able to kill mononoke. Hell, he not only kills them, but by his own [[BadassBoast admission]], he [[HorrifyingTheHorror absolutely terrifies them]]!
67	* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: The radio plays the instrumental mix of the opening theme in Setsuko's room while she's writing in the Bakeneko arc.
68	* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe: The fox-masked ayakashi smokes a ''kiseru'', which where considered very upscale during the Edo period. [[ImprobableWeaponUser He also uses it for meelee combat]], [[TruthInTelevision which some larger ones could]]. [[spoiler:It's actually the Medicine Seller's pipe, and the two are implied to be one and the same.]]
69	* DramaticPause: The... Medicine... Man... loves... this trope.
70	* DramaticWind: The Medicine Man seems to be affected by this even when he's ''indoors''. Plus, it's sparkly.
71	* TheDreaded: Apparently, the [[HorrifyingTheHorror Medicine Seller]] is this to mononoke and ayakashi. It's implied that one of the only reasons why mononoke attack him is because they can't resist their own compulsions. And Nue, one of the few mononoke who doesn't recognize him? As soon as it figures out who the Medicine Seller really is, it becomes [[OhCrap absolutely terrified.]]
72	* DrivenToSuicide: Cho's husband's first wife -- or so it is said.
73	* DroneOfDread: Whenever the Medicine Seller detects a mononoke and/or when something creepy is about to happen, an ominous violin melody starts playing.
74	* DueToTheDead: At the end of the ''Bakeneko'' arc, [[spoiler:the train's passengers are seen placing flowers and praying at the spot where Setsuko died]], echoing the first Bakeneko arc in ''Ayakashi'' [[spoiler:where Kayo and Odajima erect a small shrine at a well that Tamaki's body was dumped into by one of the culprits]].
75	* DullSurprise:
76	** The unflappable Medicine Man. If he's wearing this expression, expect all the other characters to be completely freaking out.
77	** Cho from the Noppera-Bo arc barely reacts to the bizarre occurrences around her, even the strangely-dressed Medicine Seller. [[spoiler:Justified, as she has erased or deeply suppressed a large part of her own personality. When her defenses are finally broken and her condition as a mononoke is revealed, she freaks out for real]].
78	* EditorialSynaesthesia: Artistically utilized in the Nue arc.
79	* EmotionlessGirl: Played realistically in the Noppera-Bo arc with Cho. [[spoiler:She suppressed almost everything about herself to appease her domineering mother and become the ideal wife for her obnoxious husband, even though it hurts her to do so. This erasure of personality caused her to turn into a mononoke. When the truth is revealed to her, she ''freaks out'']].
80	* EmpathicWeapon: The demon sword, which seems to have a mind of its own and even speaks or screams occasionally ('''''"TOKIHANAAATSU"''''').
81	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Well, [[NoNameGiven what else are you going to call the Medicine Man]]?
82	* FacelessMasses: Done very stylishly. The exact specifics depend on the arc, but they'll have clothes, weird skin tones, and usually something... abstract instead of a face.
83	** ''Zashiki-Warashi'': While the background characters have hair and clothing, their skin is blank white or black with spinning flower motifs. This is especially unsettling given the brothel setting--on a few occasions, these flower-faced creatures are shown mid-coitus with normal, fully-featured humans.
84	** ''Noppera-Bo'': The abusive in-laws' faces are never shown on camera; if one of their heads is shown, the face is covered with a demonic mask.
85	** ''Bakeneko'': Anyone who isn't connected with the Bakeneko's revenge is a half-dressed ''fashion mannequin'' [[spoiler:during any action that takes place in the Bakeneko's illusion or in a flashback. Again, it's very strange to see a normal, non-insane woman in bed with a blank-faced mannequin. And one person even turns from a mannequin into one of the main characters, perhaps to represent the audience suddenly realizing that character is important.]]
86	* FacialMarkings: And they [[MarkedChange change]] when he draws his sword.
87	* FateWorseThanDeath: In ''Bakeneko'' [[spoiler:the titular mononoke subjects anyone who steps outside the train car (or simply waiting until they give an important clue) to offing them with invisible cats and leaving them in a perpetual state of rot in its illusion. However, once her killer (her boss) - and therefore her Regret - is revealed, she lets everyone aside from him go unharmed]].
88	* FetusTerrible:
89	** A whole army of them in the Zashiki-Warashi arc. [[spoiler:They're the spirits of many aborted babies, who were killed against their mothers' will so they could continue working as prostitutes]].
90	** And an illusionary one in the Umi-Bozu arc. [[spoiler:It represents Kayo's fear of miscarriaging, or at least, giving birth to a deformed child]].
91	* FlyingDutchman: The Medicine Man's purpose is to [[WalkingTheEarth wander the earth eternally]], exorcising mononoke; but it's quite difficult to figure out whether he does this out of choice or whether he has been forced to do so and is taking it ''really'' well.
92	** In fact, the series ends with an arc set in the 1920s, whereas the other arcs take place during slightly different time periods from before the Meiji restoration.
93	* TheGadfly: The Medicine Seller seems to enjoy messing with people. Especially obvious in the manga adaptation. He doesn't even care about the moment he chooses, such as the time he messes with Kayo by letting her rattle off everyone's motives for entering the Sea of Ayakashi and just when she tries to say he is the only one who doesn't he interrupts her to act excited about fighting Ayakashi. Needless to say it racks up the tension and suspicion on Kayo's part while he goes straight back to chilling and poking fun at her.
94	* GhostlyGoals: Each mononoke has something it died wishing to accomplish.
95	** The Zashiki-Warashi [[spoiler:was the result of multiple abortions made against their mothers' will so they can continue working as prostitutes. As such, the spirits of the unborn babies haunted the place they died in until they found a woman who was completely willing to "give birth" to them - namely Shino, who happened to be pregnant]].
96	** The Umi-Bozu [[spoiler:was the darker half of Genkei who, unable to accept the fact that he harbored incestuous feelings towards his beloved sister and that he felt happy when she became the ayakashi's sacrifice in his place, had discarded those darker feelings which gave birth to a mononoke. Remember that fish person who was revealing everyone's worst fear? It was Genkei's mononoke, trying to make him acknowledge and accept his feelings regarding his deceased sister.]]
97	** The Noppera-Bo [[spoiler:was born from Cho's long-suppressed wish to be free and live her life as she wanted. For years she had to put up with her abusive mother, husband, and in-laws, and in order to please them she erased everything, including her own personality, to fit their high expectations, unwittingly turning herself into a mononoke in the process.]]
98	** The Nue [[spoiler:is actually a rotting piece of wood that is rumored to give the person who wields it great power, and as a result is heavily sought after. The reason why it keeps killing people is because it loves the feeling of being regarded so highly, and keeps the souls of those people it murdered from passing on so they'll keep looking for it.]]
99	** The Bakeneko (no, [[Anime/AyakashiSamuraiHorrorTales not that one]]) [[spoiler:was the vengeful spirit of a young journalist who had combined with a cat that was present at her murder. She had uncovered corruption involving the mayor and the new train station's construction. The mayor asked her chief to keep this quiet, and he ended up burning her notes, strangling her, and dropping her off a bridge to be killed by a train in a fake suicide. She has been looking for her killer ever since, venting her anger, grief and hatred on anyone who might be connected to him.]]
100	* GirlishPigtails: Despite being in her twenties, Chiyo wears her hair in braids.
101	* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Almost nothing is seen of the Bakeneko except its huge, round, burning yellow eyes.
102	* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: [[spoiler:The Zashiki-Warashi was the result of the spirits of multitudes of unborn children holding a grudge for being aborted. The two most responsible for the practice are killed, while the heroine Shino, who planned to carry her baby to term and was willing to birth the mononoke at the cost of her own baby, is the only leading player to survive the night. She ends up keeping her child in the end. Played with however in that the abortions were unwanted in the first place and extremely violent, all for the purpose of the women continuing to work as prostitutes.]]
103	* GoOutWithASmile: The Zashiki-Warashi, [[spoiler:as they have finally found the mother who was willing to give birth to them even at the cost of her own child]].
104	* GreyAndGreyMorality: The entire series has this as its basis. The mononoke are vicious eldritch beings, but most of them ultimately originated from human cruelty. The humans themselves are ultimately flawed beings, with good and bad people.
105	* GroundhogDayLoop: [[spoiler:The Nue arc. The titular Nue was created because the Todaiji is actually a rotting piece of wood that derived pleasure from being regarded highly by others, so it did everything in its power to make people look for it for eternity. It was eventually stopped thanks to the Medicine Seller's intervention]].
106	* HeelFaceTurn:[[spoiler:In the finale of ''Bakeneko'' on both sides with different levels (though [[GainaxEnding it's a little unclear in motivations and plot; and it can be interpreted in many ways]]) the Bakeneko might have realized that even if the people were not entirely good, they weren't ''entirely'' to blame and were really just bystanders who didn't really deserve a punishment (that honor goes to her boss, who directly caused her death; and the Mayor, who is put on trial for his dubious actions) and lets them all go back to reality. On the other side, almost everyone becomes a better person, either helping the testimony, or paying their respects. The mayor is let go because he simply thought the boss was going to convince her not to run the article that would ruin him.]]
107	** [[spoiler:The Detective, who dismissed her death as a suicide out of laziness, looks into her death way better than his initial investigation.]]
108	** [[spoiler:The Train Operator, who fell asleep at the wheel and didn't notice her until it was far too late, cooperates with the Detective on his investigation.]]
109	** [[spoiler:The Café Worker, who prostituted herself to the Mayor and lied about it being a suicide to become famous; the Delivery Boy, who was a witness to the killing; and the Widow, who wanted her dead for being more successful and pitying her, bring flowers to the site of her death and pay respect (and may have testified).]]
110	* {{Henohenomoheji}}: For the Medicine Man in the Noppera-Bo arc.
111	* HorrifyingTheHorror: The Medicine Seller outright states in the fourth episode that his invitation is what ayakashi and mononoke fear the most. Justified, since the Medicine Seller, in his human form, is strong enough to hold powerful mononoke at bay for a limited period of time, and his other form can outright kill them. It's quite possible that, while not shown in the series, most ayakashi would rather flee than confront a man who survived fighting mononoke for [[spoiler: centuries]], and that the mononoke only fight him because they cannot resist their compulsions.
112	* HumansAreBastards: One of the main themes of the series as many mononoke are created due human cruelty.
113	* IKnowYourTrueName: The mononoke's "katachi" (which can mean "name" or "form") is one of three factors that must be known to the Medicine Man before he can draw the Sword of Exorcism.
114	* ImplausibleHairColor: The Medicine Man, Genkei (even though his sister has black hair), Shino from the Zashiki-Warashi arc... not to mention some characters who look like they're of African descent, complete with afros to match.
115	* InconsistentSpelling: Officially, it's ''Mo No No Ke''.
116	* InexplicablyAwesome: Kusuriuri. We have no idea who he is, where he comes from or how he got his powers, only that he kicks mononoke butt for a living and looks fabulous while doing it.
117	* {{Irony}}: In Japanese folklore, Zashiki-Warashi are child-like spirits that bring good luck. Here, [[spoiler:they're the spirits of forcibly aborted babies that haunt the inn of two former brothel owners responsible for the abortions]].
118	* ItCantBeHelped: In the first episode, the elderly innkeeper gets tired of arguing with the pregnant foreigner over how there's no room in the inn. She just gives up, says it can't be helped, and lets her sleep in the abandoned room in the attic.
119	* IWasQuiteALooker: In the Zashiki-Warashi arc, the elderly innkeeper [[spoiler:was revealed to be a very attractive young woman during the time when the abortions took place]].
120	* JerkassRealization: Subtle, but the last arc's villain, [[spoiler:the Bakeneko, seems to realize how unfair it was to lump everyone into being her victims as she watches the whole story through their points of view. It pays off when she not only gives them all a second chance to make right by her, but is allowed to get her revenge on her old boss as she is purified.]]
121	* JidaiGeki: Though it frequently jumps throughout different eras.
122	* JumpCut: Used deliberately and frequently, the better to increase viewer confusion.
123	* KabukiSounds: Used to punctuate the eye catches and endings.
124	* KarmicDeath: It's either this or nothing! [[spoiler:Genkei from the Umi-Bozu arc manages to escape, though narrowly, by repenting for his sins. The least he got was being physically reverted to the age of a young man, around the time his sister died, so he could relive his life]].
125	* KindHeartedCatLover: While the Medicine Seller doesn't really reveal much of himself in terms of personality or even morality, the bake neko arcs have him show a much softer side of himself. In the original he gets choked up having to fight the mononoke and seems to be grieving it once it's defeated. In the anime he finishes the story by gently petting the cat with a deeply fond expression before sending it off.
126	* LargeHam: The minstrel and the minstrel-like-fish-demon-thing who appear in the Umi-Bozu arc. To be fair, the latter ''was'' voiced by Creator/NorioWakamoto.
127	* LettingHerHairDown: Played tragically in the Noppera-Bo arc. [[spoiler:Cho's hair coming loose completely represents her mental and emotional breakdown as the Medicine Seller slowly breaks through her defenses]].
128	* LetsGetDangerous: Though the Medicine Seller is far from incompetent, he keeps up the facade of a "simple medicine seller"... until he starts suspecting a mononoke is near, which is when he starts turning into a detective of sorts. By the time the mononoke has made its move, the Medicine Seller unleashes his true power in the form of his alter-ego, who obliterates the mononoke completely.
129	* LiteralSplitPersonality: Or something along those lines. It's implied that the Medicine Man's normal and demon-slaying personas are two separate entities who switch places as necessary, and at one point the normal persona passes the demon-slayer a mirror to shield himself with.
130	* LittleBitBeastly: The Medicine Man has abnormally long canine teeth.
131	* LivingMemory: The mononoke can manifest as this. Justified, as they are spawned from acts of human cruelty.
132	* LongHairedPrettyBoy: The Medicine Man's normal form is the 'shoulder-length hair' type, while his mononoke-slaying alter-ego has much longer hair.
133	* LoverAndBeloved: Implied between Genkei and Sogen in the Umi-bozu arc. Their room door is heart shaped, their shoes are placed quite suggestively (ItMakesSenseInContext) and Sogen acts very CampGay in general. Which makes the reveal of the whole [[spoiler: BrotherSisterIncest]] thing even more interesting.
134	* LuminescentBlush: Standard female reaction to the Medicine Man's appearance.
135	* {{Malaproper}}: The Medicine Man ends up mangling a Japanese idiom (or to be exact, mixing two idioms together) regarding fish, in the Noppera-Bo arc.
136	* MarkedChange: When the Medicine Man switches into mononoke-slayer mode, he starts getting elaborate facial markings that weren't there in his normal mode.
137	* MaskPower: Masks play an important symbolic role throughout the Noppera-Bo arc.
138	** The Fox Man in the Noppera-Bo arc, though his physical resemblance to the Medicine Man causes a MindScrew. [[spoiler:It's implied to be his alter-ego secretly acting on the Medicine's behalf in order to make Cho lower her guard]].
139	** The faces of Cho's abusive in-laws are covered with demonic masks, depicting them antagonistic forces [[spoiler:and Cho's true feelings regarding them; they're so abusive cruel to her that Cho secretly likens them to ''demons'']].
140	** Cho often has a serene face that's likened to a mask. [[spoiler:Because she suppressed everything about herself to appease her mother and in-laws, she essentially became something that no longer resembles Cho as a human, hence her transformation into a mononoke]].
141	* MindScrew: And how!
142	* MonsterOfTheWeek: The four arcs are named after, and focus on, the mononoke that the Medicine Seller hunts down.
143	* MuggingTheMonster: In the Nue arc, the mononoke attempted to torture the Medicine Seller via an [[spoiler:eternal GroundhogDayLoop]]. Needless to say, the mononoke very soon came to [[OhCrap regret]] it.
144	* {{Mukokuseki}}: Mostly averted, with the obvious exception of the Medicine Man. However, Shino and Genkei both have blond hair and blue eyes; Genkei's pass without comment, but the innkeeper's servant seems shocked to see Shino's hair color after she removes her head scarf, suggesting that she might really be a foreigner ([[AmbiguouslyBrown that said, the innkeeper and the aforementioned servant appear to be black to no in-universe reaction...]]).
145	* MusicalAssassin: The fish-headed ayakashi lfrom the Umi-Bozu arc, who carries a biwa. Though he doesn't harm his targets, his music makes people relive their worst fears.
146	* MyBelovedSmother: Cho's mother from the Noppera-Bo arc. [[spoiler:She groomed Cho to be the bride of a high-ranking family from a young age, while forbidding her daughter from doing things she liked such as playing with other children. It's all but confirmed later on that she only wanted Cho to marry whoever was rich enough so that she can feel like she appeased her ancestors. It's no wonder Cho became so messed up in adulthood]].
147	* MysteriousPast: No-one really knows anything about the Medicine Man; his past, origins, intentions, motivation for slaying mononoke, true personality and ''species'' all remain an enigma throughout.
148	* MysticalWhiteHair: The Medicine Seller's mononoke-slaying persona.
149	* NightmareFace: The Medicine Seller, of all people, makes one occasionally. It's an animal-like snarl that looks totally out of place on him.
150	* NoblewomansLaugh: Princess Ruri in the Nue arc.
151	* NoNameGiven: The Medicine Seller. To be fair, no one bothers to ask for it either...
152	* NonAnswer: The Medicine Seller is quite fond of giving these when he's not in the mood to give proper answers. Though when he is he becomes a regular MrExposition instead.
153	* NotSoStoic: Played for drama.
154	** Sasaki Hyoei in the Umi-Bozu arc normally speaks in a quiet CreepyMonotone, but completely loses his shit when trying to attack something [[spoiler:or being attacked by his greatest fear.]]
155	** Cho in the Noppera-Bo arc resembles the ideal wife of the period, being emotionally passive and serene. [[spoiler:The truth is that she does have feelings, but they're suppressed to appease her domineering mother and the abusive family she married into. Over time, she emotionally breaks down thanks to the Medicine Seller bypassing her defenses, and once she realizes she became a mononoke as a result, she screams in horror]].
156	* NothingIsScarier: One of the characters in the Umi-Bozu arc gets targeted by the demon's Fear Inducing biwa. He sees something, takes a bite out of it, and then sees something in it so horrible he immediately goes to vomit over a nearby railing. This is all shown from the other characters perspective, so the audience never sees whats really going on as he makes the motions. It could've been something as mundane as rotten food, or something far more grotesque...
157	* ObnoxiousInLaws: In the Noppera-Bo arc, [[AwfulWeddedLife her husband treats his wives almost like slaves]], and his family is just as abusive and cruel. You almost don't blame Cho for wanting them gone.
158	* OffscreenTeleportation: The Medicine Seller on occasion. In fact, the very first time he appears in the original bake neko arc - InMediasRes prologue before the chronological beginning - he immediately pulls this in front of half a dozen people. His sword also likes to appear in places it definitely wasn't in during the previous shot.
159	* OhCrap:
160	** Played dramatically in the Noppera-Bo arc. [[spoiler:As Cho gradually reveals her long-suppressed emotions, the kicker was [[TomatoInTheMirror learning that she became the mononoke the Medicine Seller was looking for]]. That was when she completely breaks down and screams]].
161	** In the Nue arc, the mononoke reacts with pants-crapping terror the very moment the [[HorrifyingTheHorror Medicine Seller transforms]].
162	* OmniscientMoralityLicense: The Medicine Man even says that his job is just to defeat the mononoke, and he has no obligation to save the people involved. Given the series' GreyAndGreyMorality this makes sense.
163	* OnlySaneMan: Out of the four suitors to Princess Ruri in the Nue arc, Oosawa Robou is the only person who is neither [[spoiler:murderer]] nor {{Jerkass}}. In fact, the Medicine Man simply tricks him into realizing [[spoiler:he is dead instead of revealing sins like other suitors]].
164	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: The Medicine Seller is unflappable to the extreme to the point he will still be smiling serenely while everyone around him is panicking...but get in the way of his work and he will turn colder than ice in a second.
165	* PaperTalisman: The Medicine Man uses these frequently and he has a TON of them hidden up his sleeves.
166	* PointyEars: The Medicine Man, which make him look vaguely elf-like.
167	* PowerLimiter: The Sword of Exorcism can't be drawn until the Medicine Man solves the mystery. (See Rule Of Three below.)
168	* PsychologicalHorror: Though some of the scare factor comes from the [[EldritchAbomination mononoke]] themselves, a lot of it comes from the process of learning about people, the cruelties they committed to create the mononoke in question, and why they did it.
169	* TheRashomon: Absolutely ''no one'' tells the truth the first time they're asked for their story. A lot of the time they pay for it, too.
170	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: It's implied the main character has been around a ''long'' time. Even in the Bakeneko arc, set about 200 years later than the others, he still retains his youthful looks.
171	* RedEyesTakeWarning:
172	** The Medicine Man's other form has red irises and black sclera, and he usually emerges when it's time to get rid of malevolent mononoke or slice something up.
173	** The Bakeneko in the last episode, made particularly scary by the fact that the eyes are also seemingly sketched-in and ''swirling around in her eye sockets''.
174	* RedStringOfFate: A variation involving a red cloth between and unborn child and their parents. A much more traditional example appears in the OP, with a red string tied to the pinky finger.
175	* {{Reincarnation}}: Implied. The mononoke in the final arc (Episodes 10-12) is a Bakeneko, and the characters seem to be reincarnations of the people from the original ''Ayakashi'' arc (where the enemy was also a Bakeneko). [[ContrivedCoincidence Funny the little coincidences, eh?]]
176	* RuleOfThree: The Medicine Man needs the mononoke's Shape (形 ''katachi''), Truth (誠 ''makoto''), and Reason (理 ''kotowari'') in order to purify it.
177	** Shape would be the appearance of the mononoke.
178	** Truth would be the circumstances of its appearance.
179	** Reason would be the motive of the mononoke.
180	* SadBattleMusic: "Kanashige", the BGM for mononoke-slaying in the Umi-Bozu arc.
181	* SceneryPorn: Oh hell, is there ever! The scenery is so rich, detailed and colourful it's like going on a (''very'' beautiful) acid trip.
182	* ShipTease: The Medicine Man and Kayo (and later her reincarnation, Chiyo).
183	* ShoutOut: The painting on the boat in the Umi-Bozu arc is reminiscent of the 1907 artwork ''Art/{{The Kiss\|Klimt}}'' by Creator/GustavKlimt. There is also a Matisse ''Blue Dancers'' reference in the Nue arc and a Creator/PabloPicasso in Bakeneko.
184	* ShownTheirWork: The Nue arc features a fairly accurate depiction of the antiquated and complex traditions surrounding Japanese incense. The incense parlor games portrayed by the episode, for instance, actually existed. The Rannatai and the Todai-ji also have basis in reality. Todai-ji is, in real life, the temple housing the Ranjatai (the basis of ''Mononoke''[='s=] Rannatai). The Ranjatai is a piece of agarwood that was a diplomatic gift from China to Emperor Shomu in the sixth century. Its aroma somehow lasted for centuries, and fragments would be given to high-profile generals and nobles. In ''Mononoke'', the Rannatai [[spoiler:is the reason those people ''became'' powerful in the first place.]]
185	* SillyMeGesture: The Medicine Man in the ninth episode with plenty of sarcasm, when he "realizes" that he's given poisonous oleander to one of the characters.
186	* SituationalSword: Why exactly it needs to empathise with the mononoke before slaying it is never explained.
187	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Very much on the cynical end.
188	* SmokingIsCool: The main character definitely gets points for smoking a pipe at the end of the Noppera-Bo arc.
189	* StarCrossedLovers: [[spoiler:The Noppera-Bo and Cho.]]
190	* StepfordSmiler: Deconstructed in the Noppera-Bo arc. Cho grew up with an emotionally abusive, domineering mother, and later married into a wealthy yet equally unpleasant family, but she refuses to escape her horrible situation and insists she loves them. [[spoiler:This eventually turns her into a mononoke]].
191	* TheStinger: Right when you think you've more or less got an arc figured out, its stinger will show up and confuses you to hell and back.
192	* TheStoic: The Medicine Man's emotional range is, at best, "somewhat bemused" and "fighting a mononoke". He showed much more emotion in the original ''Ayakashi'' arc.
193	* StoryArc: Zashiki-Warashi, Umi-Bozu, Noppera-Bo, Nue, and Bakeneko. However, aside from featuring the Medicine Man doing his job, they're unrelated.
194	* SurrealHorror: Due to the show's unorthodox yet colorful art designs, and the setting deriving itself from the more supernatural side of Japan, some of its more nightmarish sequences appear like very nasty drug trips.
195	* ThemeNaming: All the tracks on the OST are written in katakana and end in "怪" (''ke''/''ge''), just like "Mononoke".
196	* ThisIsUnforgivable: The Bakeneko's [[CatchPhrase only first-hand dialogue]].
197	* TimeSkip: The Bakeneko arc takes place in the 1920s while the rest appears to be set in the Edo Period, but the Medicine Man himself hasn't changed at all (besides having some new jewelry). There are arguably small hints in each arc that time skips forward about 50 years in between ''each'' of them.
198	* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:Genkei and Cho; they're actually the mononoke and don't realize it.]]
199	* TransformationSequence: The most ''awesome'' one ever animated. Unlike most anime transformations, the Medicine Seller's transitions into his alter-ego gets mixed up a ton, too, ensuring that it'll never get boring while remaining super pretty.
200	* TwelveEpisodeAnime: ''Mononoke'' is rather short for an anime, with only twelve episodes under its belt, but it's packed with action, mystery, and horror.
201	* UnmovingPlaid: Further emphasizes the generally odd art style.
202	* UnreliableNarrator: ''Everyone'' that the Medicine Seller encounters, due to either having faulty memory, or lying about their misdeeds. The Medicine Seller also counts, as he's repeatedly shown to be far more than the "simple medicine seller" he usually is.
203	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: The Medicine Man, who amongst other things is blond and blue-eyed. Particularly in the Bakeneko arc, when in addition to being a guy with pointy ears and red markings all over his face in the middle of a Japanese cast, he's also dressed a good 100 years out of date. Even in the other arcs, his manner of dress is pretty bizarre, mixing male/female styles and gaudy aristocratic fabrics despite his humble profession, as well as allusions to Ainu culture. It's possibly justified as he explains at one point that people who seek folk remedies expect their seller to look exotic.
204	* WellDoneSonGuy: Gender-inverted; Cho and her [[MyBelovedSmother domineering mother]] have this kind of relationship. [[spoiler:In an effort to please her mother, who only wanted her to marry so she could appease her ancestors, Cho almost completely suppressed a large part of her own personality to the point of becoming a mononoke]].
205	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: The "regret" of some of the mononoke could make them this, especially the [[spoiler:titular mononoke from the Noppera-Bo and Bakeneko arcs, respectively]].
206	* {{Workaholic}}: It's even implied in Episode 4 that should the Medicine Man be unable to exorcise mononoke (or conversely, should all mononoke cease to exist) he'd ''disappear'' from this world. So it's quite difficult to figure out whether he's truly devoted to his duty or whether he has no other choice -- though going by his frequent displays of enthusiasm and interest in the mononoke and their histories, he seems to be genuinely fond of "work".
207	* WorldOfSymbolism: Pretty much the only way to make sense of the series... especially the Noppera-Bo arc.
208	* {{Youkai}}: The mononoke are based on traditional Japanese monsters, with a modern twist added to play with the mystery/horror genre. Rather than being interchangeable, mononoke are defined as a specific kind of being.

Context Anime / Mononoke