Line #83 Series/Garo


1	[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GARO_DVD01_2757.jpg]]
2
3	-->''Where there is light, shadows lurk and fear reigns. Yet by the blade of Knights, mankind was given hope.''
4
5	Created by Keita Amemiya, known for his work as character/monster designer on the ''Franchise/KamenRider'' franchise, ''Garo'' (also known as ''Golden Knight Garo'' or ''GARO: Chapter of the Black Wolf'') is a Japanese {{tokusatsu}} TV series notable for being targeted at an adult audience, as opposed to being a MerchandiseDriven kids' show. It is also noteworthy for being more {{Horror}} oriented, it uses high-quality CGI on a weekly basis and it has several untransformed fights featuring the actual actors doing the fighting instead of stunt doubles.
6
7	In the ''[[TheVerse GAROverse]]'', the Makai Knights are a secret order of warriors who hunt down the Horrors: monsters born from the darkness of human souls. Kouga Saejima is a Makai Knight who has inherited the title of GARO from his father. By thrusting his sword upwards and drawing a halo, Kouga can summon an invincible suit of golden armour that he can wear for no more than 99.9 seconds. With the aid of his familiar Zaruba, [[TalkingWeapon a magical ring]], he spends his nights hunting down and slaying the Horrors that have possessed humans.
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9	One day he meets Kaoru Mitsuki, a struggling artist with a string of bad luck and an uncanny ability to cycle through different occupations incredibly quickly. When she is accidentally splashed with the blood of a Horror, it leaves her tainted and with one hundred days to live. The law of the Makai Knights dictate that she should be struck down, but Kouga decides to leave her alive as bait to draw out other Horrors. Thus, Kaoru is pulled deeper into the taboo underworld of Makai Knights and Horrors, and into the life of Kouga Saejima.
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11	Later, another Makai Knight by the name of Rei Suzumura arrives with a murderous vendetta against Kouga. With the self-awarded title "ZERO" and the ability to summon a suit of silver armour, Rei has discarded his responsibilities as a Makai Knight to seek revenge for the death of his lover.
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13	Has nothing to do with the enemy from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' that [[WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers Bob]] is a member of.
14
15	!!Tropes in the Series:
16	* AchievementsInIgnorance: [[spoiler:Gonza]] carries a Soul Metal sword with no trouble--that is until he's reminded that it's Soul Metal, at which point the weight overwhelms him.
17	* AllTherapistsAreMuggles: [[spoiler: Subverted. Kaoru's therapist is actually the BigBad in disguise, and he has been using this job in order to monitor her so that she can eventually be used as a sacrifice to summon Meshia.]]
18	* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: [[spoiler:Messiah]].
19	** A few Horrors and the [[spoiler:giant robot dragon]].
20	* BadassBiker: Rei, who is the first Knight ever shown to ride a bike.
21	* BadassBoast: Kouga, in Episode 25, during the fight with [[spoiler:Messiah]] uses a simple but effective one. "My name is Garo! The Golden Knight!"
22	* BadassFamily: The Saejimas. Dad was a knight who was very feared among the Horrors, Mom was a powerful priest who can match her husband in term of fighting skill. Son? A OneManArmy who has kick the ass of even the most powerful of Horrors and lived to tell the tale.
23	* BadassInANiceSuit: Kodama, who's always dressed in a butler suit.
24	* BadassLongcoat: Part of a Makai Knight's standard uniform.
25	* BadassLongrobe: Tsubasa wears this instead of a longcoat.
26	* BadassNormal: Even without their Makai Armour, the Makai Knights kick ''serious'' amounts of ass.
27	* BashBrothers: Kouga and Rei after solving their differences, before that it was pretty much RivalsTeamUp.
28	* BattleButler: Kodama. Gonza not so much.
29	* BerserkButton: For the love of GOD do not make Kaoru bleed.
30	** Neither try to fool her or do ''anything'' to her. Hell, only touching one of her paintings can make Kouga angry, as young Makai Priestess-in-training [[PluckyGirl Rin]] found out.
31	* BittersweetEnding: The ending to the first TV series. [[spoiler: Barago/Kiva has been defeated and Kaoru is cured. But the original Zaruba who has been with Kouga since he was a boy is destroyed. Kaoru also decides to go Italy to study art and Rei must go back to his original post as the Makai Knight of the West, leaving Kouga all alone with Gonza again.]]
32	** However, watching ''Beast of the White Night'' makes this less bitter: [[spoiler: Because Kaoru's come home and is waiting for Kouga.]]
33	%% BlackMagic
34	%% BladeBrake
35	%% BodyHorror
36	* BottleEpisode: "GARO Gaiden", which takes place entirely in an auditorium, lacks special effects of any kind, and appears to have been shot on VHS.
37	* BoyMeetsGirl: The underlying premise of the first series: Boy (Kouga) meets/rescues girl (Kaoru) from a man eating demon. Boy vows to protect girl from demonic beings while claiming to only use her as bait. Girl finds out and dumps boy, then proceeds to nearly die. Boy manages to save girl at the last minute, and they live happily ever after until boy loses girl again when girl ends up being [[spoiler: host of the villain]]. Boy goes through a veritable TraumaCongaLine to get girl back. Girl [[spoiler: goes to Italy to study art and then returns.]]
38	* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Under Kaoru's influence, Kouga gradually loses his {{Jerkass}} characteristics and becomes more of a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
39	* BroughtDownToBadass: [[spoiler:Happens to Kouga when Karma's mirror ''snatches the GARO Armor during mid-transformation'']] in ''Red Requiem''. Doesn't stop Kouga from kicking ass, anyway.
40	* TheBrute: [[spoiler:Kodama]]
41	* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Becoming a Makai Knight requires vast amounts of physical and spiritual training.
42	** ChekhovsArmoury: In ''Red Requiem''. It's stated early on that dozens of Makai warriors' souls have fallen in the mirror realm of the BigBad Karma, including Rekka's father, and he taught her to play a tune dedicated to fallen warriors on her flute. Guess what happens at the climax when Rekka is brought into Karma's mirror, and her flute is brought to her there...
43	* CreepyChild: The Eastern Watchdogs.
44	* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: A Makai Knight can devour Horrors to absorb their power, but it corrupts him and turns him evil.
45	* DarkActionGirl: Eery single female Horror, GULM, Erda from ''KIBA Gaiden'', and [[spoiler: Messiah!Kaoru from the first series and ''KIBA Gaiden''.]]
46	* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: In ''KIBA Gaiden'' this can be seen from this dialogue.
47	--> '''BADO:''' Remember Barago, the reason why you became a Makai Knight. Remember why!
48	--> '''Barago:''' I forgot.
49	* DarkerAndEdgier: Well, the show IS targeted for adults.
50	* DeathByOriginStory: Every main character's family and loved ones. Just to count off, Both of Kouga's Parents, both of Kaoru's parents, and Rei's adopted father and girlfriend.
51	** Even the BigBad [[spoiler: Barago/KIBA]] was not exempt: [[spoiler: he witnessed his mother possessed by a Horror, forcing his father to kill her]].
52	* DeclarationOfProtection: Kouga's vow to save Kaoru before a hundred days pass, and then afterward [[spoiler: when it turns out that she is a gate for the Horror Messiah.]] Really, just his attitude toward her in general.
53	* DefrostingTheIceQueen: Kouga would be a male example.
54	* DemotedToExtra: Kaoru in the ''Beast of the White Night'' special. [[spoiler: But played for a [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools wonderful]] reason]].
55	* DoItYourselfThemeTune: GARO Project, a band formed by Kouga, Rei, Taiga, Barago and Kaoru's actors do the first season [=EDs=].
56	* DoppelgangerSpin: From ''KIBA Gaiden'', Knight of Wind and Cloud BADO uses this during his first onscreen battle with KIBA. Probably linked to his FlashStep ability.
57	* TheDragon: [[spoiler:Garuma, the combined form of Keru, Beru, and Rosu: the 3 Eastern Watchdogs]].
58	* EnfantTerrible: ''Red Requiem'' kicks off with one.
59	* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Everyone can tell Kouga is falling for Kaoru from his butler, to his talking ring, the snarky rival that keeps trying to kill him, his three superiors who never hesitate to call him out on or mock his feelings, even his father's old friend who ''has never even met Kaoru'', let alone seen her and Kouga together can see it. Apparently the only person who doesn't seem to notice is [[ObliviousToLove Kaoru herself.]]
60	%%* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler:Barago]].
61	%%* EvilFeelsGood
62	* EvilIsBigger: Compared to all other Makai Knights in the series, KIBA is bulkier, more organic and far more menacing in design, [[spoiler: likely to reference the fact that he is pretty much a Horror in Makai Knight form]].
63	* EvilIsNotAToy: [[spoiler:Messiah]].
64	* ExpandedUniverse: There are two possibly canonical novels written by the main writer of season 1, Yuji Kobayashi, in collaboration with series creator Keita Amemiya. The first one ''Ankoku Makai Kishi Hen'', is an anthology on 10 stories which fleshed out the character and settings of the first series. The second one, ''Yoseki no Wana'', is a story set between ''Beast of the White Night'' and ''Red Requiem'' and features a new knight, Shakunetsu Kishi YAIBA (Scorch Knight YAIBA) whose real name is Godo Akira and is supposedly [[spoiler: Barago's student.]] There's also a short story set in the future, featuring Kouga and Kaoru's son, Raiga.
65	** There's also the Pachinko games which show new characters and background info. Such as BADO being the senior disciple of ZERO and the intrduction of a new knight, Jushin Kishi GIGA (Beast Knight GIGA) in the newest game.
66	* FallenHero: [[spoiler: Barago in the ''KIBA Gaiden''.]]
67	* FalseFriend: [[spoiler: Kaoru's therapist and mentor turns out to be Barago and that he had marked her as a child to be the gateway for the the ultimate Horror, Messiah.]]
68	* FireForgedFriends: Kouga, Kaoru and Rei didn't get off at the best start. It doesn't help that their enemies seems bent on making their life suffer and turning them against each other, but in the end, they became close friends and in the case of Kouga and Kaoru, a couple.
69	* FlashStep: KIBA uses this during his first fight against GARO and ZERO. In ''KIBA Gaiden'', BADO's main ability is this.
70	* FullFrontalAssault: A couple of the Horrors [[spoiler: and Messiah herself]] take the form of naked women at some point.
71	* GenderBender: [[spoiler: Akira Godo, who also has a female form called Misaki.]]
72	* GenerationXerox: Kouga's father once saved Kaoru's father from a Horror, inspiring the latter to draw a picture book about the Golden Knight. In the present day, Kouga saved Kaoru from a Horror which set off a whole new chain of events. And in the second season, Kaoru reveals that she is going to work on a picture book about GARO. Kouga is also fated to fight the same person who [[spoiler: his father died protecting him from.]]
73	* HoldingHands: Played with between Kouga and Kaoru. In the beginning of their relationship, whenever Kouga wanted Kaoru to go somewhere with him, he would just grab her hand and drag her along whether she wanted to go or not. He takes to holding her hand properly in ''Beast of the White Night'' and the second episode of ''Makai Senki.''
74	* ICannotSelfTerminate: Kaoru asks Kouga to [[spoiler: MercyKill kill her after they find out that she is the gate for the Horror Messiah.]] Kouga, in his typical stoic, JerkassWithAHeartOfGold fashion tells her to stop being an idiot and that he won't do it because he [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther needs her.]]
75	* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: A small example when Kouga is fighting [[spoiler: Kaoru after she has been possessed by Messiah and she has just slashed him with a sword.]] And it works.
76	-->'''Kouga:''' [[spoiler: Kaoru]]! Your hands... do not exist for gripping a sword!
77	** There's another one between Kouga and Rei after Kouga surpass the 99.9 time limit and invoke the [[SuperpoweredEvilSide LOST SOUL]] version of his armor so he can defeat KIBA. Rei manage to snap him out in time before Kouga's completely taken over.
78	* {{Jerkass}}: Rei Suzumura. So is Kouga Saejima. [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold They both get better though]], particularly by ''Makai Senki''.
79	** Tsubasa Yamagatana from the specials, but just like Rei and Kouga, he get better.
80	* LegFocus: Jabi, with an outfit designed to show them off. Rekka from the ''Red Requiem'' movie, as well. Her actress used to be a dancer after all.
81	* LethalChef: When Kaoru cooked for her roommate, she had to be HOSPITALIZED. A single spoonful was enough to make Gonza throw up.
82	* LightIsNotGood: [[spoiler: The Three Watchdogs may look cute & innocent in their normal forms, but they are TheDragon of the BigBad manipulating events behind the heroes backs, not to mention turning Rei against Kouga]].
83	* LoveMakesYouEvil: In one of the episodes of the first series, a grieving woman becomes serial killer who collects the fingers of her victims after witnessing her pianist boyfriend commit suicide before her eyes. And that was before she became a Horror.
84	** And then a few episodes later, her father falls victim to same trope which leads him to seek revenge against Kouga.
85	** Barago's StartOfDarkness began when [[spoiler: his mother died and became possessed by a Horror forcing his father to kill her which led to Barago's hatred of Horrors and Makai Knights.]]
86	** Magi in ''Tougen no Fue'' she [[spoiler: killed your friend Agi to get the Eternal Life from Higari]].
87	** Kouga narrowly avoids this after [[spoiler: Kaoru is captured by Barago and he ends up invoking LOST SOUL GARO to save her and defeat Barago. He manages to kill Kodama but Rei intervenes before he is completely turned.]]
88	* LuddWasRight: The gun-wielding villain in a late episode claims that the Horrors first appeared when humans began to use tools.
89	* MadeOfIron: Kouga's body can take crazy amounts of damage including: getting shot at point blank, falling off buildings, getting thrown through walls, ''getting slashed by a sword'', getting impaled through the shoulder ''twice in a row'' in Red Requiem, and landing on a steel beam in a way that would have broken a normal human being's spine. His default response to pain is shrug it off and get on with the ass kicking. Rei also count to a lesser extent, he can take on almost as much damage as Kouga.
90	* MakeMeWannaShout: Kodama. He forms his magical attacks by singing baritone notes.
91	* MalevolentArchitecture: Kouga battles the insides of a demon-possessed clock tower in one episode.
92	* ManlyTears[=/=]TenderTears: Kouga in the ending of the 1st season, after reading Kaoru's book.
93	* MediumAwareness: Pay attention to what Kodama's actually saying in GARO Gaiden.
94	* MeetCute: If by cute, you mean when the hero and heroine meet for the first time, he thinks she's a demon and grabs her in a chokehold, brandishing a magical lighter over her eyes, then proceeds to kill a demon right before her eyes and getting her cursed in the process. Which is probably as cute as MeetCute gets in the GARO universe. Over the course of the series, they end up falling in love with each other and by the next series, she's his girlfriend.
95	* MonsterClown: Episode 10.
96	* MonsterOfTheWeek: It's usually Kouga or Rei fighting the Horror of The Week, interspersed with StoryArc episodes, sort of like in other shows like ''Series/TheXFiles'' or ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', etc.
97	* {{Mooks}}: In the first season, a certain type of Horror with a skull-like face and long droopy horn-ears will sometimes appear in large numbers to fill this role. ''Red Requiem'' even starts off with one as a BaitAndSwitchBoss.
98	* {{Murder the Hypotenuse}}: Silva -- [[PlayedForLaughs hilariously]] -- attempts to off Kaoru in "GARO Gaiden".
99	* MyHeroZero: Rei, whose name means "zero" and who uses ZERO as his Knight title.
100	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Kouga and Rei vs Messiah [[spoiler: after she has taken control of Kaoru's body.]] She manages to kick the asses of two highly trained Makai Knights up and down the street and it only ends after Kouga pulls out the IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight card which [[spoiler: breaks her hold on Kaoru.]]
101	** Or their first fight against KIBA.
102	* NoodleIncident: Episode 13, the RecapEpisode, was apparently narrated by Zaruba [[spoiler: in the middle of Kouga fighting three Horrors in [[IncendiaryExponent a burning train car]] falling from the sky]]. We get no explanation how that started.
103	* OfficialCouple: Kouga and Kaoru.
104	* OneManArmy: Kouga, HOLY SHIT, Kouga. Tsubasa and Rei also qualified to a lesser extent.
105	* OppositesAttract: Kaoru is a warm, spirited artist from humble origins who looks upon life with wonder and optimism. Kouga was a LonelyRichKid who grew up to be a badass ActionHero with a DarkAndTroubledPast who is [[IceQueen cold]], [[SnarkKnight snarky]], [[KnightInSourArmor cynical]], and has nearly NoSocialSkills. Somehow the two of them managed to fall in love, get married and have a child.
106	* PartlyCloudyWithAChanceOfDeath: In the flashback where [[spoiler:Kouga's father dies saving him from a Horror]], rain pours as Kouga weeps.
107	* PlayingWithFire: The Madou Lighter.
108	* PunnyName: Rei Suzumura's name uses the kanji for "zero" and his name as a Makai Knight is ZERO (although the kanji mean something else). As an added bonus, his actor's name is Rei (although he [[SpellMyNameWithAnS spells it "Ray"]]).
109	** It literally means "CUTTING WOLF" in kanji/katakana. As for GARO, it means "FANGED WOLF".
110	* ReplacementGoldfish: [[spoiler: Literally happens with Zaruba in the series finale.]]
111	* RivalsTeamUp: Despite the fact that for much of the first series, Rei and Kouga were often violently trying to kill each other, they would usually be able to put it aside long enough in order to defeat the Horror of the Week. Just barely though.
112	* RRatedOpening: The first episode has a picture of a naked woman less than five minutes in.
113	* SheFu: [[spoiler:The combined form of the watchdogs]] fights with a ''hula hoop''.
114	* {{Shoot the Dog}}: There's no saving a human once they have been possessed by a Horror: once the Horror dies, they die along with it.
115	** In episode 21 it's revealed that the human possessed suffers an indescribable pain and killing them is, in fact, a MercyKill.
116	** ...Unless the Horror decides to leave the body, as shown in episode 3.
117	* ShoutOut: Kodama in "GARO Gaiden" [[spoiler:channels Creator/JimCarrey in his entire speech.]]
118	* StartOfDarkness: The ''KIBA Gaiden'' show us how Barago become what he is.
119	* SugarAndIcePersonality: Kouga. Stroppy, rude, aloof, and ruthlessly devoted to his duties as a Makai Knight to the exclusion of most social interaction- and yet, despite all that, he is mature, responsible, noble, far more emotionally stable and empathetic compared to Rei and Tsubasa during their first appearances, and is plainly affectionate towards Kaoru.
120	* SuperpoweredEvilSide: [[spoiler:LOST SOUL GARO, which happens when Kouga exceeds the 99.9 second time limit of his armour]].
121	** [[spoiler:Probably goes for any other Makai Knight as well, since we see a variation of this happen to Barago in his backstory.]]
122	* SweetTooth: Rei, who can put away a whole table full of cake and still come back for more.
123	* TallDarkAndSnarky: Both Kouga and Rei.
124	* ThemeMusicPowerUp: Almost every episode in the first series. Once Kouga summons his armor in the last part of the episode, the original opening theme starts to play, and it's pretty much guaranteed a major ass kicking is about to happen.
125	** Special mention goes to episode 9, which uses the second opening theme for this sequence, before it starts being used as an opening theme.
126	* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Justified: Soul Metal's movement can be controlled through willpower, as Taiga showed by levitating a chunk of it for Kouga.
127	* TrainingFromHell: Literally. Kouga battles whirling death blades regularly as part of this.
128	* TrainingMontage: Kouga training from a young boy to a young man so he can wield his father's Soul Metal sword.
129	* UnfazedEveryman: Kaoru
130	* VillainousCrush: [[spoiler: Barago's]] relationship with Kaoru appears to have undertones of this, especially in KIBA Gaiden. He has watched her since she was a child, he is by turns tender and possessive towards her, gets angry whenever she mentions her actual love interest's name, and even calls her "his bride" at one point. Even [[spoiler: Erda]] harbors a [[ClingyJealousGirl bitter dislike]] of Kaoru because [[spoiler: Barago]] chose her.
131	* TheVoiceless: Kodama, though he can summon energy bolts by singing baritone. [[spoiler: Though he does talk in GARO Gaiden, ''in English'', which Kaoru somehow misheard as [[TheIdiotFromOsaka Kansai dialect]]]].
132	* WeirdnessMagnet: Let's just say the Horror's blood wasn't the start of Kaoru's problems.
133	* WireFu: Boy howdy.
134	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Messiah pulls an epic double cross on Barago after he has sacrificed everything to bring her into the world.]]
135	* YouKilledMyFather: Kouga to [[spoiler:Barago]].
136	** [[spoiler: Garuma]] has a "You killed my son" when [[spoiler: Kouga kill Kodama]]

Context Series / Garo