* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Most of the bad guys have gotten this at some point.
** Nakago can be your average revenge-driven BigBad, or he can be mentally unhinged. The second is highly plausible, considering what he had gone through.
* AngstWhatAngst: Miaka shows remarkably few psychological aftereffects from the [[RapeAsDrama multiple sexual assaults]] she endures over the course of the series, although one could argue she expends enough angst over Tamahome that she doesn't have any left to spare.
* AntiSue: Mayo from the ''Eikoden'' OAV.
* BaseBreaker: Nakago has proved to be an extremely controversial character on this very wiki. He's a MagnificentBastard and sympathetic WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds for some, a VillainSue for others. There's ''very'' little in-between.
** Also, the fact that he is the ([[WordOfGod confessed!]]) series CreatorsPet doesn't help.
* BestKnownForTheFanservice: There are still a lot of people who remember the series only for the innocuous amounts of FanService and [[PerverseSexualLust gratuitous nudity.]]
* CompleteMonster: Miboshi and Tenkou, but especially the former.
* DamselScrappy: Miaka.
* {{Designated Hero}}ine: We're meant to sympathize with Mayo? [[FlatWhat Really?]]
* DracoInLeatherPants: Nakago has done atrocious deeds, but lots of fangirls love him and handwave his evil actions just because he's [[{{Bishonen}} OMG SO PRETTY]]. The fact that he's Watase's personal favourite character doesn't exactly help.
** Suboshi also gets this treatment due to several [[TheWoobie woobifying]] events in his background. His more rabid fans seem to think that the fact [[spoiler:Nakago manipulated him]] means that he can be absolved of any real fault for [[spoiler:his murder of Tamahome's family]]...
* EarWorm: Go ahead. Just ''try'' to get that [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2kljwrh_GQ ending cliffhanger music]], and the song it led into, out of your head.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7zMLHhGDHU "Maiagare! Suzaku... miracle la!"]] (Which brings us to...)
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajBa60RmWHk "Itooshi Hito no Tame ni!"]]
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Chichiri, who's easily one of the most popular characters in the story by a long shot. Nuriko and Tatsuki also gained a considerable amount of popularity from fans.
* EvilIsSexy: Nakago and Soi.
* FanonDiscontinuity: ''Eikoden'' and the first OAV series are basically regarded as non-canon by fans. The [[LightNovel character novels]] are also highly unpopular with fans, largely due to accusations of [[RetCon retconning]].
* FanPreferredCouple: Suboshi is ''far'' more popular a love interest for Yui than Yui's canon boyfriend, Tetsuya.
* FoeYay: Nakago/Tamahome. Even creator Yuu Watase is [[WordOfGay all over that!]]
* HoYay: Nuriko's feelings for Hotohori and Tomo's for Nakago, both canon. Plus, the aforementioned Tamahome/Nakago FoeYay.
** And there was apparently enough Tasuki/Nuriko going on that they became the basis for one of the earliest yaoi doujinshi out of the gate. It doesn't really help either that their [[MaryElizabethMcGlynn English]] [[DaranNorris seiyuu]] got married.
** Suboshi/Amiboshi, even lampshaded when Miaka sees them together and compares it to a romantic movie with the same person playing both parts.
** There's also that scene where Taka and Tasuki inexplicably go take a nap together.
** How about Miaka's brother Keisuke with Tamahome? Just look at how the former ''gushed'' at the latter once he woke up.
* MemeticMutation: [[SayMyName "TAMAHOME!" "MIAKA!"]]
* {{Moe}}: Nyan-Nyan, Boushin, Chou Kourin and Yuiren.
* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Suboshi violently killing Tamahome's father and little siblings.]]
** Nakago [[spoiler: encouraging Suboshi to kill Tamahome's family]] ([[DracoInLeatherPants which keeps being forgotten/handwaves by his fans]]) and, at different times, [[spoiler: making Yui and Miaka believe they had been raped.]]
** In ''Eikou Den'', [[spoiler:Mayo stealing Miaka's unborn baby and trying to erase her from existence.]])
* NarmCharm: A lot of moments in the English dub of the anime come across as either of these two. The main two that come to mind are Episodes 4 and 5 of the second OVA: Tasuki's [[spoiler:NearRapeExperience with Miaka]] is dramatic until you remember what other roles DaranNorris has had, and [[spoiler:Hikou's death]] is an absolute TearJerker... right until you hear the sound effect they use. In fact, the whole scene can be seen as {{Narm}} because of the music they're using.
* RonTheDeathEater: Oooooh boy... Miaka's {{hatedom}} just ''loves'' to do this to her so they can pair themselves/their Mary Sue with Tamahome instead.
* TheScrappy: The anime's portrayal of Miaka tends to get her slammed as a PuritySue. The manga portrays her in a more realistic way. Ironically, [[ReplacementScrappy Mayo]] [[AntiSue Sakaki]] from ''Eikoden'' fits the MarySue bill ''more'', technically speaking, and actually [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap replaced Miaka as the Scrappy in the eyes of some fans]] with the release of ''Eikoden''. Ashitare, Yui and Tomo have also gained a degree of Scrappydom.
** In fact, Miaka is one of the most ''hated'' female characters in anime/manga -- to the degree when fans used a "Level of Suck" meter to measure other shoujo heroines. "At least she's not a Miaka".
* TastesLikeDiabetes
* VillainSue: Nakago, if you ask a good chunk of fandom.