* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Though criticized at the time for lacking polygonal models in reviews, the extremely detailed sprites and character animations have barely aged the game.
* BestLevelEver: Episode 6: Laharl's Challenge is often seen as the most fun episode of the game thanks to its varied and creative stages, all of which are introduced with funny and memorable cut scenes. Most notable stages include Calamity Forest, a stage so jam-packed with enemies that the game gives the player only a single space to move, and Witches' Den, a baseball-themed stage with the Prinnies, all of which can be detonated by throwing them.
* BrokenBase: Creator/AmandaWinnLee vs. Creator/MichelleRuff as Etna. Those who prefer Amanada Winn-Lee feel she better portrayed Etna's bored yet sly personality from the first game and feel that Michelle Ruff doesn't capture that personality as well. Michelle coming in when {{Flanderization}} started hitting Etna is also a factor (even though that's not really her fault). Those who prefer Michelle Ruff feel that Amanda Winn-Lee's voice was too deep for what is ([[Really700YearsOld visually]]) a young teenager and feel that she does a good job of capturing Etna's personality without sounding too bored.
* DemonicSpiders: In the main story, EDF soldiers because of their high levels, but they're put to shame by the Celestial Hosts that comprise all the enemies in the final episode. Outside of Majins, mentioned below, they are easily the best class in the game, excelling at physical combat and magic.
* DifficultySpike: The game gets considerably harder after you meet the Earth Defense Force army.
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Aramis, the owner of the GagPenis Zombie, became rather popular despite appearing in only ''one'' episode. This may have led to his later appearances in ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice'' and ''VideoGame/PrinnyCanIReallyBeTheHero''.
** Mid-Boss gained popularity due to his sheer hilarity, even though he has roles beyond that.
* GameBreaker: [[GameBreaker/{{Disgaea}} Has its own page]].
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: '''Captain Gordon, Defender of Earth!''' has a much larger fanbase in America than in Japan.
* GoodBadBugs: There is a GameBreaker glitch in the PSP release of the game concerning the items Foresight and Tainted Staff. Their Item Worlds are ridiculously glitched, full of Laharl clones starting at levels in the several hundreds and climbing even higher. However, the items also come with support specialists, including Brokers, Armsmasters, Statisticians, and Managers, with levels in the five-digit range ''and'' they're already tamed, so you can buy one of these items and swap the specialist to another item instantly. The normal stat-increasing specialists also have levels in the hundreds, which double when tamed as usual. While even a party capable of defeating Baal will be promptly crushed by the armies of Laharl clones, if you can get in, manage to subdue one of these specialists, and get out safely, you can get stat boosting specialists with levels in the thousands and make your party very overpowered. Additionally, the Laharl clones equip end-game items with Ranks in the high 30s. Sure, your Thief might only have a 1% chance to steal them, but when that one in a hundred chance pays off, it's gonna be worth it to nab that Legendary Accelerator, Cosmic Blade, etc.
** In the HD remake, healing and Buffing eventually gave exp for healers...well, doing their jobs. The Experience gained depends on the target, which makes sense. The problem is it doesn't care if the target is actually yours or not. This is most noticeable on 6-4, where you might buff [[spoiler: the help that arrived to stomp the overlord]]. Harmless on its own, but it's not hard to get a dream hand, the highest level stealing item, early on and just buff enemies there with a Gency Exit on hand.
* GrowingTheBeard: Creator wise, this is where Creator/NipponIchi started using the sort of parody style humor and pop-culture references their later games would be known for and saying their games were set in a shared universe.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** If you want to get a chuckle out of Laharl's fear of well-endowed women at all, don't ever, ''ever'' read about the novels. [[spoiler:100 years of physical and emotional abuse is not exactly laughing material.]]
** ''VideoGame/DisgaeaD2ABrighterDarkness'' would reveal that [[spoiler: when Laharl's mother made that sacrifice to save him, she was pregnant with Sicily. Meaning that she has to make a sadistic choice between her son or her daughter.]]
* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: Fans are upset that ''Disgaea 1 Complete'' is mostly an HD {{Remaster}} that doesn't include many of the welcomed changes of later games, especially the revamped Weapon Mastery system, evilities, and monster class balance. Another problem, which straddles the line between this trope and TheyChangedItNowItSucks, is that outside of a few classes and characters, many sprites are recycled from the HD era Disgaea games. This means that a lot of the original designs and classes have been replaced, like the original Imp designs (replaced by their ''[[VideoGame/Disgaea5AllianceOfVengeance Disgaea 5]]'' counterparts) and the Galactic Demons (replaced by the Rifle Demons).
* LowTierLetdown:
** Thieves, on account of sucking hard in pretty much every way. Even the highest rank of Thief, the Space Pirate, has only a C-rank with Guns, 60% and 70% aptitude with all stats except Speed and Hit, and has lower base stats than even first-tier jobs in other classes. However, Thieves are the only class that can throw with a range of 6, they're the only ones that can steal reliably, and are needed to unlock the Majin, so you pretty much ''have'' to use them if you want to get the most out of post-main quest gameplay.
** Despite being a beloved class due to its cute design, it's hard to justify using the Archer class. They have rather pathetic stats and their highest ranked weapon is the bow, which is unfortunately the game's ScrappyWeapon, with no other weapon reaching beyond rank D. The only reason to have an Archer is to unlock the much better Celestial Host class.
** Hoggmeiser and Maderas, two monster characters that join during the story, are actually weaker than their generic monster counterparts (Nether Noble and Vampire respectively). They're decently strong when they're acquired, but are quickly outclassed by custom characters.
** Monster classes, in general. The inability to lift and throw, lack of a Weapon Mastery to increase their damage potential, and general lack of versatility make them a hard choice when compared to the humanoid classes. Luckily, later Disgaea games introduce various mechanics that allow the monster classes to be just as useful as the humanoids. [[EquippableAlly Magi-change]] being the most notable example.
* MagnificentBastard:
** [[spoiler:Seraph Lamington, the leader of [[FluffyCloudHeaven Celestia]], initially seems to be [[ObfuscatingStupidity a spacey airhead with little understanding of his surroundings]], but in truth, he is the mastermind behind the events of the game. A wise, friendly angel seeking to improve relations between angels and demons, Lamington aims to test Prince Laharl's heart and make him prove himself as Overlord of the Netherworld. To this end, Lamington sends Flonne to assassinate the long-dead King Krichevskoy, knowing that she would fail and become friends with Laharl instead, teaching him love and compassion in the process. Keeping a steady hand over events through his partner Vyers, Lamington knowingly enables his treacherous right-hand Vulcanus, flawlessly working his scheming into his own plans and turning the tables once his treason stops being useful. Lamington's final gambit involves gambling Flonne's life and provoking Laharl's wrath to test his willingness to show mercy, fully willing to accept his own demise as a potential penance for his manipulations. [[CuttingOffTheBranches Lamington ultimately ends the game fully victorious]], coming to an arrangement with the now-mature Overlord and opening the way for peace between both worlds]].
** [[spoiler:Vyers/[[EmbarrassingNickname "Mid-Boss"]], the "Dark Adonis", is seemingly nothing more than the recurring wannabe rival to Laharl and company, but in truth he is the reincarnation of King Krichevskoy, the deceased ruler of the Netherworld and Laharl's loving father. Working in cahoots with Lamington, Vyers happily [[ObfuscatingStupidity plays the part of a pathetic nuisance]], frequently provoking encounters with Laharl to [[StealthMentor test his strength and mold him into a more benevolent Overlord]]. On the [[MultipleEndings off-chance]] he actually wins one of these encounters, Vyers rolls with it and takes back the throne, waiting for Laharl to rise to the challenge once again]].
* MemeticMolester: Mid-Boss has had this status for quite a while, due to his rather stalkerish behavior, especially prominent in the manga, in which the other characters flat-out accuse him of being a pedophile.
* MemeticMutation: '''Captain Gordon, Defender of Earth!''' Gordon's bombastic personality has endeared him to many a fan.
* {{Moe}}: Flonne is just precious.
* MoralEventHorizon: Laharl crosses this in Flonne's mind if he opts to kill Hoggmeiser in Chapter 3 (which opens up if you've got at least 50 ally kills up to that point). She decides at that point that demons are evil after all.
* NarmCharm: Exclusive to Etna Mode in the remake, Justice Flonne's SoBadItsGood Sentai cosplay is just a helmet, but she's so enthusiastic in her persona that you can't help but find it adorable and more than a little awesome. It helps that she's your rival in that mode, and eventually gets a bit challenging near the end.
* NightmareFuel: The angel enemies' emotionless attitude makes them surprisingly creepy despite their appearance.
* OneSceneWonder: Antoire in the re-releases. She's only there for her appearance, shows up after her defeat, then [[LetUsNeverSpeakofThisAgain joins the party silently and is never talked about again.]]
* OneTrueThreesome: Laharl/Etna/Flonne, one of the most iconic instances in an RPG. They play off of each other so well that fans find it an obvious solution.
* PlayerPunch: [[spoiler:Flonne sacrificing herself to protect Laharl and her friends for her sins as a fallen angel. She's not even regretful about it. Regardless if you've gotten any of the good endings after, the scene itself is still powerful.]]
* PolishedPort: The PC release has been stated to be "not just a port", with updated interface and map textures that look good at 1080p.
** The Disgaea 1 Complete version released on Android adds the Cheat Shop, removing the need to pass the Enemy Strength bills, while also adding the ability to auto-grind.
* ScrappyWeapon: Bow weapons. Their damage being based on ATK and HIT meant most players found getting a good bow user was too much of a pain. Not helped that guns had much greater range than them and more powerful special attacks. The only real reason you'll ever use a Bow is to unlock the Archer class (in turn to unlock the Celestial Host) and so your Clerics have an offensive weapon (assuming you use unmixed Clerics at all), otherwise they're useless.
* TearJerker: Thursday's apparent "death".
** Whenever [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFKmtgGjM8A "Sorrowful Angel"]] plays.
** Chapter 8 has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jran9nT3690 "Red Moon"]], (English version is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qzsNZn5_1A here]]).
* UnpopularPopularCharacter: Laharl won Creator/NipponIchi's character poll of 2009 and 2010, but he is not well liked among other Creator/NipponIchi characters (just ask the cast of ''VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories'' and ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave''). Even his friends will criticize him whenever they get the chance.
* {{Woolseyism}}:
** In the Japanese text, King Krichevskoy apparently died from choking on a Dark Manju [[note]]Dumpling of the Damned in the anime[[/note]]. In the US version, the food was changed to Black Pretzels, causing a HilariousInHindsight from when George W. Bush briefly lost consciousness after choking on a pretzel.
** In the original Japanese text, after a bit of discussion, Laharl agrees with the rest of the cast and changes Gordon's title to "Defender of the Netherworld"[[labelnote:Japanese title]]"Makai Yuusha" or "Netherworld Hero"[[/labelnote]], upsetting Gordon for not being consulted on the change. In English, Laharl takes the name change a step further and gives Gordon the title "Slayer of the Netherworld", which upsets Gordon because of how unfitting it sounds.
** In Japanese, Mid Boss' self-proclaimed titled is "Beauty Danshaku", which can be translated as "Baron of Beauty". In English, he instead calls himself the "Dark Adonis". Considering that he's essentially comparing himself to Adonis, the Greek ''God'' of Beauty, it makes him sound even more full of himself and thus a very fitting change.