Line #22 Manga/DOGSBulletsAndCarnage


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_41.jpg]]
2
3	->''"The dog inside me will not die..."''
4
5	''Dogs'' is a manga written and illustrated by Shirow Miwa, set in a {{dystopia}}n, [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] setting where it is always winter. Genetic manipulation exists in various forms, from creating attractive child prostitutes to making bizarre weapons. The organisation running the underground world seems to be the cause of a lot of violence and corruption... Including certain events in the main characters' pasts. The trouble is, those characters don't have the whole story. Either they're trying to find who exactly is behind something, or who killed X person, or just what got Y involved in it all. Familial angst is prevalent, as are people who are a lot more involved than they first seem. But whatever their reasons or pasts, they're in it together.
6
7	The series started as a one-shot titled ''Dogs: Stray Dogs Howling in the Dark'', which introduced the four main characters and gave a little backstory for some of them; this was serialized in ''Ultra Jump'' from 2000 to 2001 and compiled into a single volume. ''Dogs: Hardcore Twins'' introduced Luki and Noki, two young girls who treat killing as a game. Later on, ''Dogs: Bullets & Carnage'' began serialization in ''Ultra Jump'' in 2005 and started the main plot aspect, revealing more about the characters, introducing new ones, and dishing it all out with heaps of action.
8
9	There's also an {{OVA}}, also titled ''Dogs: Stray Dogs Howling in the Dark'', which is based on the original manga.
10
11	----
12	!!''Dogs: Bullets & Carnage'' provides examples of:
13
14	* AbsurdlySharpBlade: The black blade that Naoto wields can slice cleanly through guns.
15	* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:Angelika Einstürzen to the kids with Kerberos spines. She tells them to kill in order to gain her love.]]
16	* AchillesHeel: Those with Kerberos spines can regenerate even amputated limbs, but causing damage to the brain or their collars causes permanent damage.
17	* ActionGirl: Naoto and the Twins.
18	* AnimalMotifs: Constant references to being 'stray dogs' on the edges of society.
19	* ArtEvolution: Given the several-year gap between the original ''Dogs'' and ''Dogs: Bullets & Carnage'', it's not much of a surprise.
20	* AxCrazy: All of the villains, some of the heroes too.
21	* BadassBoast: Frühling boasts that no one who's ever seen her has lived to tell the tale, which is pretty much true. [[spoiler: But it's only on a technicality. Ernst Rammsteiner - that is, [[BadassPreacher Bishop, the]] ''{{b\|adassPreacher}}lind'' [[BadassPreacher priest]] - fights her and lives.]]
22	%%* BadassNormal: Badou, Naoto, and Mihai in particular. Also, Magato.
23	* BarbieDollAnatomy: Averted with the women. N/A for the men.
24	* BerserkButton: Depriving Badou of cigarettes. Or for Heine, being touched by females. And if for some reason you find yourself holding Heine's gun, ''don't fire it.''
25	* TheBerserker: Heine & Badou in combat.
26	* BigBad: Part of the plot is trying to figure out just who this is. [[MadScientist Einstürzen]] seems to be a good candidate
27	* BigBrotherInstinct: Heine towards Nill.
28	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment[[invoked]]: In Chapter 44, a serious conversation between Heine and Giovanni is interrupted by Marcel Calcerino and his gang speeding by in a van being attacked by Einstürzen's men. Heine and Giovanni both stop for a moment to marvel at how ''bad'' [[ButtMonkey Calcerino]]'s luck is before getting back to the shooting.
29	%%* BlindSeer: [[spoiler:Bishop.]]
30	%%* BlondBrunetteRedhead: Heine, Mihai, Naoto and Badou.
31	%%* BrokenBird: Naoto.
32	%%* ButtMonkey: Badou.
33	%%* CainAndAbel: Heine and Giovanni.
34	* CheerfulChild: Luki and Noki, subverted in that they go about ''hunting people down, fighting, and killing'' while treating it all like a fun game.
35	* ChekhovsGunman: Badou shows up very briefly (and gets a line) in Mihai's intro chapter. Luki and Noki show up a few pages later. Heine is first mentioned briefly in Badou's intro chapter.
36	* ChildrenAreInnocent: Despite the fact that they enjoy fighting and killing, Luki and Noki have always been portrayed as oddly innocent, and they don't even seem to know that killing is wrong. At heart, they're just children who would be completely normal if not for the weapons and the brainwashing that makes them think nothing of killing. [[spoiler:When the twins are BrainwashedAndCrazy, both Naoto and Badou feel horrible for having to hurt them, and]] Badou is even enraged that somebody could do that to a child.
37	* CooldownHug: No so much a "hug" but Heine seems to have had this effect on a few characters, [[spoiler:particularly Lily when she went berserk]].
38	%%* CoolOldGuy: Mihai.
39	%%* CoolOldLady: Liza.
40	%%* CoolShades: Giovanni
41	* CrapsackWorld: Definitely...
42	%%* CreepyTwins: Luki and Noki.
43	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Badou.
44	%%* CuteMute: Nill.
45	%%* DarkActionGirl: Frühling.
46	* [[spoiler:DesignerBabies: Heine, Lily, Giovanni and most others with a Kerberos spine.]]
47	* DeathIsCheap: Somewhat. [[spoiler: At least applies if said dead person was important to one of the main characters. Lily, Heine's "younger sister," is dead, but Angelika Einstürzen later shows up in chapter 69 and confronts Heine while using a body that is a Lily-look alike. Then as of chapter 75, Fuyumine, the man that saved Naoto, has been revealed to be alive and the man that Magato killed wasn't really him. And, of course, there's Badou and implications that his brother may not actually be dead at all.]]
48	* DemotedToExtra: Despite Heine's spine being a very important plot point, [[spoiler: the manifestation of the spine, "the Dog", doesn't seem to be very important at all. He's only appeared in illustration a handful of times during the comic's 7+ years ongoing run, and it's usually just to mock Heine or provoke him into letting him (Spine) take control.]]
49	* DissonantSerenity: Unless there's a [[HeManWomanHater woman around]] or [[BerserkButton someone's holding his gun,]] Heine is disturbingly calm while mowing down mooks.
50	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: At one point, [[spoiler: Heine ends up straddling Naoto while her sword is impaling him through the stomach]]. [[ShipTease He even holds her face in his hands while it's happening.]]
51	* DynamicEntry: Mihai does this once.
52	* EarlyBirdCameo: In the equivalent {{OVA}} episode of Badou's intro chapter, you get an actual visual shot of a {{shirtless\|Scene}} Heine, whereas the manga doesn't give him an appearance until his own chapter.
53	* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Naoto, Frühling, and Magato.
54	* EnemyWithin: [[spoiler: Heine. In his mind, he and the "thing" [[NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine sit down and have a nice chat over lunch]] in chapter 55.]]
55	%%* EnfanteTerrible: Luki and Noki.
56	* [[spoiler:EverybodysDeadDave: Poor Heine and Giovanni.]]
57	%%* EyepatchOfPower: Badou.
58	* FanDisservice: Pretty girl straddling handsome boy, for whatever reason? [[RuleOfSexy Hot.]] Pretty girl straddling handsome boy, possibly about to kill him? [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence Hot, depending on boy's reaction.]] [[spoiler:Pretty girl straddling handsome boy while stabbing him at his MOTHER's command who is a) forcing her to do so through possession and b) currently inhabiting multiple bodies, including one that looks like Heine's dead little sister? [[{{Squick}} Nasty]], verging on SurrealHorror.]]
59	* FauxlosophicNarration: Badou does this at the beginning of his intro chapter, then {{lampshade\|Hanging}}s it.
60	* [[spoiler:FightingYourFriend: "Friend" is a strong word but Einstürzen possesses Naoto in 71-72 and sends her after Heine, who's surprisingly reluctant to hurt her.]]
61	** [[spoiler: Turns out the entire Underground invasion is this to Liza's gang. [[BerserkButton They aren't pleased.]]]]
62	* {{Fingore}}: Naoto slices the fingers of an information broker off and steps on their hands to extract information.
63	* {{Flashback}}
64	** FlashbackNightmare: Heine gets something like this when females touch him.
65	* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Badou is sanguine, Heine is choleric, Naoto is melancholic and Mihai is phlegmatic.
66	* GetAholdOfYourselfMan: Heine and Naoto have a moment of this.
67	%%* GigglingVillain: Luki and Noki.
68	%%* GirlWithPsychoWeapon: Luki and Noki.
69	* GratuitousEnglish: "Fuck up, gentlemen!" stands out, though there are other examples.
70	* GrotesqueCute: You guessed it, Luki and Noki.
71	%%* GunsAkimbo: Badou and Heine.
72	* [[TheGunslinger Gunslinger]]: Badou guns down tons of people and never seems to get hit. On one occasion, he does this with his arms literally [[WithMyHandsTied tied behind his back]].
73	* GunsVsSwords: Heine versus [[spoiler:Magato]]. And later [[spoiler:[[DemonicPossession Naoto]]]].
74	* HalfHumanHybrid
75	* HealingFactor: Bearers of Kerberos spines have this to the degree they can regenerate lost limbs. It's still painful, though.
76	* HeartwarmingOrphan: Nill, namely towards Heine.
77	* HeManWomanHater: Heine has [[FlashbackNightmare some]] issues [[AbusiveParents regarding]] [[OrphanageOfFear women]].
78	** [[spoiler:The last woman [[MadScientist (Einstürzen)]] Heine really trusted [[GoneHorriblyRight turned him into a monster]], the last woman (Lily) he held close he ended up [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe ripping to pieces]].]] Despite knowing logically that [[NighInvulnerability he has a lot less to fear]] from women than most men and other women do, Heine has every right to be afraid.
79	* HeroicNeutral: Most of the protagonists, when they're not being bodyguards or info brokers and the like.
80	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Badou and Heine.
81	** "I'm only going to say this once: our relationship isn't like that."
82	* [[spoiler:HiveMind: Angelika Einstürzen has cloned herself many times and used each of her consciousnesses to speed up her research. They may not be exactly a hivemind, but they definitely work together and are the same person.]]
83	* ImprobableWeaponUser: Heine's guns aren't improbable on their own, but they're connected with a chain, which he uses to strangle someone at one point. Luki's giant claw may also count.
84	* InstantDeathBullet: Mooks tend to die this way, but recurring characters... not so much.
85	* KatanasAreJustBetter: Naoto and Frühling use them.
86	* KickTheDog: When Angelika Einstürzen comes to the surface and starts [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech verbally sniping at]] Miss Liza and her gang by referring to them as cattle [[WhereDoYouThinkYouAre in their own establishment.]]
87	%%* LimitedWardrobe: Only for some characters.
88	%%* LittleMissBadass: Luki and Noki.
89	* LukeIAmYourFather: Sibling, in this case. [[spoiler:Pretty much anyone who reveals to Heine that they have a Kerberos spine.]]
90	* MarkOfTheBeast: Not really a marking, ''per se'', but everyone with a Kerberos spine has a metal collar attached to their neck.
91	* MarkOfTheSupernatural[=/=]TechnicolorEyes: Kerberos subjects seem to have abnormal eyes: Heine's are red, and the hardcore Twins have matching gold and black eyes.
92	%%* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: Granny Liza.
93	* NighInvulnerability: Anyone with a Kerberos spine has a HealingFactor powerful enough to make them practically ImmuneToBullets.
94	* NoLovesIntersect: The ShipTease in this manga seems to follow this: Heine gets teased with Naoto, Badou gets teased with his [[ChildhoodFriends friend]] Mimi, Mihai is already PlatonicLifePartners or an OfficialCouple with Kiri, and [[PuppyLove even Nill]] has her own {{Love Interest\|s}}. The only possible exception to this is Magato's obsession with naoto, but we have no idea what the hell that's all about anyway.
95	* OnlyAFleshWound: BadassNormal Mihai not only keeps walking, but also ''fighting'' with a few swords stuck through his arms.
96	* OnlyMostlyDead: Heine gets shotgunned out of a window at one point, seems dead, then jerks back upright a moment later.
97	* OrphanageOfFear: [[spoiler:The kindergarten where all the people with Kerberos spines start out.]]
98	* {{OVA}}: ''Dogs: Stray dogs howling in the dark'' animates the four short stories from the prequel manga. See the description above.
99	* ParentalAbandonment: Naoto's parents were murdered, Badou's parents are never mentioned, and if Heine (or anyone else with a Kerberos spine) has real parents, they're never brought up.
100	** [[spoiler:Heine and the other experiments DON'T have parents.]]
101	** [[spoiler:In chapter 69, Angelika Einstürzen makes a comment to Heine that he, Lily, Giovanni, and all the other kids in the Kerberos experiment were grown from her genes. This would make her their biological parent.]]
102	* PapaWolf: Badou, surprisingly. [[spoiler:He goes way out of his way to defend and take care of Noki while underground with Heine and Giovanni, he has no reason to be protecting her, but because she is a child he is not willing to let any harm come to her.]]
103	%%* PerkyFemaleMinion: Luki and Noki
104	%%* Power Trio: Badou, Heine, and Naoto.
105	%%* RecurringExtra: Zack and Baran.
106	* RedEyesTakeWarning: Heine may be a protagonist, but anyone he goes against really should pay attention to this.
107	* RedOniBlueOni: Heine is the red, Badou is the blue, somewhat emphasized by their clothes. Naoto, by the way, wears purple.
108	* RunningGag: After Carsellino [[spoiler: had half his face bitten off by Heine]] within the first few chapters of the story, it's been a bit of a running gag that his luck is just the worst, as he's continually caught up in the main characters' antics, and he [[spoiler: frequently plots and attempts (and fails) to get revenge on Heine]].
109	* ScarsAreForever: Badou has scars on both his right hand and right eye (underneath the eyepatch). [[spoiler: These are implied to have something to do with his older brother, but little more than a very brief, bloody flashback has been shown so far to explain the wounds.]]
110	* SheCleansUpNicely: Naoto's always been pretty but the clothes that [[TheFashionista Miss Liza]] picked out for her look outstanding on her. It annoys Heine.
111	* ShipTease: Quite a bit between Heine and Naoto as the series progresses. These [[http://i.imgur.com/A99FlaV.jpg two]] [[http://i.imgur.com/EDJ9Ad7.jpg links]] are some of the high points (spoiler warning).
112	** And then there's ''[[http://i.imgur.com/Dj9QjSQ.jpg THIS,]]'' though the context of the story casts it in more of a BlackWidow light. [[spoiler: Then there's the fact that the woman in the picture is possessed by his ''[[ParentalIncest mother]]'' who currently inhabiting the remains of his ''SISTER.'' ]]
113	* [[spoiler:ShootTheShaggyDog: Heine volunteers to become the "Master" of his group in the Organization to save his friends. Unfortunately, by succeeding at it, he renders his group moot and [[MoralEventHorizon Einstürzen makes them kill each other]].]]
114	* SmokingIsCool: Badou smokes like a chimney or three - whenever his bad luck doesn't keep him from doing it.
115	* SociopathicHero: Heine. Badou has his moments, too.
116	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Haine or Heine? Mihai or Michai?
117	** Einstellsehn or Einstürzen? Official translations go with the latter, rightly so because it's meant as a ShoutOut to Music/EinsturzendeNeubauten.
118	** According to ''[[http://twitpic.com/clff2x this post]]'' on ''Miwa Shirow'''s twitpic account, "Heine" is the correct spelling. (ハイネ = "Heine") "Haine" is just how it's transcribed in Japanese.
119	** Though the spines are often called Cerberus, the official translations go with Kerberos.
120	* SupernaturalGoldEyes: Luki and Noki [[spoiler:turn out to have Kerberos Spines, though other characters with them have other eye colors.]]
121	* SwordLines: Expect these whenever someone with a bladed weapon fights.
122	%%* TechnicolorEyes: Luki and Noki
123	* ThemeNaming: Heine Rammsteiner and Professor Einstürzen are named after German bands (Music/{{Rammstein}} and Music/EinsturzendeNeubauten, respectively).
124	** And then there's Badou Nails, named for Nine Inch Nails.
125	** "Frühling" is German for "spring". Meanwhile, "Herbst" is German for "autumn" and "Fuyumine" is Japanese for "winter peak". There's no "summer" yet, though.
126	%%* ThemeTwinNaming: Luki and Noki
127	%%* TokenMiniMoe: Nill, Luki, and Noki.
128	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Luki and Noki with spaghetti from Buon Viaggio.
129	* TwinBanter: Luki and Noki, especially when they are about to get into a fight with someone else.
130	* {{Tykebomb}}: Luki and Noki again [[spoiler:and really anyone with a Kerberos spine implanted in them, at least while they're young.]]
131	* TheUnfavourite: Giovanni seems to be this to his handlers, as they seem to prefer [[spoiler:Heine]], who ran away.
132	* UnskilledButStrong: Magato comments that those with Kerberos spines are like this because those with spines don't need to dodge attacks and so never learn.
133	* VillainEpisode: ''Dogs: Hardcore Twins'' follows the titular Hardcore Twins.
134	* WeirdnessMagnet: Badou is something like this.
135	* WhamEpisode: Chapter 57, 61 and 73.
136	* WhyWontYouDie: Usually asked of Heine by Dominico and Marcel.
137	* WoundThatWillNotHeal: Turns out [[spoiler:Naoto's sword]] is good for dealing these to those with Kerberos spines.
138	* WorldOfBadass: Everyone in the underground manages to acquit themselves well in the Underground invasion against Einsturzen's forces.
139	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Surprisingly, Naoto says this to Heine after the Underground Massacre. [[TearJerker He doesn't believe her.]] Later on, he says much the same to her when [[HeroicBSOD she's going through a rough patch.]] Unlike him, she does (tentatively) believe him.
140	* YouKilledMyFather: Naoto, but with both her parents. [[spoiler: [[DoubleSubversion Doubly subverted]], as the man she originally believed to be her parents' killer got killed by Magato before she could do it, and then it turned out that man wasn't the one who did it after all. She's now looking for their true killer.]]
141	** Subverted again when [[spoiler: we learn they were not her parents]].
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Context Manga / DOGSBulletsAndCarnage