[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: A - D]]
* AbandonShipping: The Ange × Amakusa ship was initially fairly popular... until it was revealed [[spoiler:that Amakusa was the one who mercilessly killed Ange in Episode 4.]] Due to ambiguity of the ending, there are still debates on that point. [[spoiler: The relationship is even ambiguously canonized by the characters' final profiles released in 2013.]]
* AdaptationDisplacement: When the visual novels were still considered a niche market, the anime was widely watched. Eventually, the anime became known as a bad adaptation and the original visual novels have since gained more prominence, and the manga adaptation has attracted more fans since it offers a completed story.
* {{Adorkable}}: Jessica goes from tomboyish to a sheepish, stuttering mess when her feelings for Kanon surface.
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
** Battler: Is his eventual [[spoiler:LaserGuidedAmnesia a result of brain damage, survivor's guilt, the unwillingness to admit his own (albeit limited) responsibility in the Rokkenjima incident]], or a combination of all the above?
** Beatrice: a heartless and sadistic murderer, or [[spoiler:the TricksterMentor savior of the Ushiromiya family's dignity, allowing their memory to be unsullied by the crimes committed in their two days on Rokkenjima by taking them all upon herself]]? Her going through a FaceHeelRevolvingDoor splits fans wondering what her ultimate motive was.
** Bernkastel: a [[spoiler: vile, disgusting, monstrous witch who toys with humans for her own amusement]], or a [[spoiler:tragic WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds]] who had to go through thousands of years of BreakTheCutie horror and now can only [[spoiler:torment others in order to dull the pain]]? Episode 8's tea party segment seems to suggest [[spoiler:that while Bern is indeed a sociopath with natural inclinations towards sadistic cruelty, she can also dial that cruelty back in her off time and only goes fully completely monstrous when it's her turn to be the PunchClockVillain in any of her and Lambda's little games. This is depiction is further demonstrated in ''VideoGame/UminekoGoldenFantasia.'']]
** Ikuko Hachijo/Featherine: It's never explicitly said that Ikuko is Featherine. One non-magical explanation of how the two could be different entities is that [[spoiler:Ikuko's story that Ange reads is a description of a fictional Ange reading the story of Battler's sixth game to a fictional Featherine, so that Featherine is Ikuko's AuthorAvatar.]] The magical explanation would be that [[spoiler:Featherine existed first and is on such a trascendent, god-like level compared to other Witches that she personalized Ikuko in her image (like how Bern had done with Erika) and placed her into the non-magical world in the late 80's and the 90's, making Ikuko the AuthorAvatar of ''Featherine'' rather than the other way around.]]
** George: DoggedNiceGuy who has an enlightened view of the world through his years of experience, and who respects Shannon as a person, or a borderline sexist who takes everything far more seriously than he should? He may or may not have {{Yandere}} tendencies (possessive subtype) to boot.
** At the end of [=EP7=], is Kyrie really [[spoiler:so ruthless and cold that she would cast off any family for 1 billion, or is she simply keeping a cool facade to the threat from an emotionally distraught Eva]]? Some fans from Eastern countries theorized that in [=EP7=], Kyrie's claim that [[spoiler:she never loved Ange was actually a lie to trick Eva into killing her during their battle, so Eva would be more protective of Ange, or Kyrie was lying to herself so that she may embrace death without any emotional attachments left]]. And in [=EP8=], there are moments where Kyrie shows [[spoiler:she does cares for Ange, with the manga version even showing us when Ange was born and that both her parents did indeed love her very much]].
** The manga takes a harsher interpretation of Kinzo's past, claiming that unlike the story he told, Kinzo ''himself'' was responsible for [[spoiler:the military base massacre that killed everyone except for him and Beatrice. But even so, did he instigate it because of his obsessive desire to keep Beatrice and the gold for himself, or did he predict how the gold would corrupt the other people on the base regardless?]]
** [=EP8=] paints the entire family in a far more flattering light than any of the other games, leading to further speculation when contrasted with [=EP7=]. The manga adaptation clears it up more, with Ange coming to acknowledge that no one in her family was ever truly "a total villain or a total saint."
* ArcFatigue:
** The pacing of the anime comes to a screeching halt at the start of the fourth arc, with three straight episodes of exposition on the characters of Maria and Ange.
** In both the VN and manga versions, [=EP7=] feels like the longest to get through, with Willard having to get stories from Rosa, Kinzo, Maria, ''and'' Jessica before starting to piece things together, before leading to an extended (and largely embellished) backstory for [[spoiler: Sayo Yasuda]], and then when it looks like the illusion of the witch has been killed and the story has reached its end, the longest and most detailed Tea Party ever follows and keeps things going ''even longer'', creating EndingFatigue as well.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/WhenTheyCry Has a whole page, of course.]]
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Almost everyone in the family splits the fanbase in who finds them sympathetic and who does not.
** Krauss was absolutely awful to his siblings and even his wife and child to some extent, but he's the only member of the family who never seriously harmed anyone.
** Natsuhi has serious TheWoobie traits, but she also [[spoiler:threw an innocent baby and the servant carrying the baby off a cliff during a nervous breakdown]].
** Was Eva-Beatrice a {{Tulpa}} based around other people's theories about Eva, or is she the representation of Eva actual inner-most thoughts and feelings? Was Eva a WellIntentionedExtremist who sacrificed herself to protect Ange, or was she merely taking her rage out on her?
** Rosa is considered a MemeticBadass MamaBear based on her actions in [=EP2=], and on many occasions [[spoiler:demonstrates that she sincerely loves Maria and is legitimately sorry for her abusive behavior]], but is also considered an irredeemable AbusiveParent for the way she treats Maria and gets what she deserves any time she's killed. Then there are debates how much of her AbusiveParent are even factual, considering accounts of her come from unreliable sources.
** Kinzo is considered a crazy old man capable of amazing feats both in and out of universe, and his backstory until meeting [[spoiler:Beatrice Castiglioni]] paints him as a tragic figure who has grown jaded of the world, but many fans think him [[spoiler:raising Beatrice II in secret and raping her]] is not just a spiral into madness, but is an unforivable delusions that has indirectly results in the rest of Rokkenjima's tragedies.
** [[spoiler:Sayo Yasuda]] and everything related to [[spoiler:[[AmbiguousGender them]]]] has been subject to much debate by the fandom. Not to mention [[spoiler:their]] main motivations, which on the one hand can seem emotionally deep, understandable and even almost justifiable for most fans (especially by the supporters of the [[spoiler:Shkannontrice]] theory and the couple of Battler and Beatrice), while on the other they are seen as extremely childish, fully condemnable, and the narrative is a very manipulatively aimed at forcing the reader to try at all costs to empathize with and pity the character.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
** The "fight" between Krauss and [[FanNickname Goat-kun]] in Episode 4 breaks the fourth wall a lot of times and is generally comedic, which let many fans wondering what in the hell they just read.
** The "magic or trick" battle between Erika and MARIA in Episode 6, where even Dlanor and her subordinates openly state that this is pointless, and only ever bring it up again later just to drive in how petty, childish, and ultimately meaningless it had been.
* BrokenBase:
** Thanks to the release of a [=PS3=] port, many fans are now divided whether the original novel's sprites or the [=PS3=]'s are better. The Steam release includes a yet different set of sprites (originally made for the 2014 [[https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/Pachi-Slot_Umineko_no_Naku_Koro_ni pachinko game]]), and opinion on their quality is divided as well.
** With the release of [=EP8=], many people on Platform/FourChan are now divided on whether [[spoiler:the MultipleEndings with one of them [[CuttingOffTheBranches being more canon than the other]]]] is a good thing or not.
** The series ending [[spoiler:without giving an answer to some mysteries and generally leaving them up to interpretation]] caused heated arguments regarding if [[spoiler:an appropriate conclusion, or the series doesn't fully commit to being a mystery]]. There is some debate over whether giving explicit answers in the "Confession of the Golden Witch" manga was a salutary move to lift many ambiguities or an unnecessary one, that more or less defeats the point of the series to let the readers search for the answers themselves.
** Gaap's VaporWear dress with {{Sideboob}}. Some say it's so bizarre it makes it [[WTHCostumingDepartment hard to take any scene she appears in seriously]], while others think it [[NarmCharm works]] for a demon with a "gap" theme and gives the fashion brand it's based on some publicity.
** Most fans treat the anime adaptation so poorly [[FanonDiscontinuity it may have never happened]], but some think the animated versions of key scenes are worth giving it a try.
** Lion[[spoiler:/Yasu]]'s gender and pronouns can create heated arguments due to the complicated nature of their backstories.
** The announcement in 2017 of ''Chiru'' adding "Episode 9: Last Note of the Golden Witch" hasn't been taken well by everyone, as Episode 8 being the GrandFinale shouldn't have left room for new mysteries.
* CargoShip: Battler using a hat stand as an ImprovisedWeapon a few times has led to fansjoking he has grown attached to it.
* CatharsisFactor:
** The death of [[spoiler:[[ArcVillain EVA-Beatrice]] in the third game at the hands of the denial with Beatrice's Red Truth about her existence by blaming Eva]] is extremely satisfying considering how much of a psychopath she has been the entire time.
** Many fans who hate Rosa immensely enjoy her ButtMonkey status, which leads to [[TheManyDeathsOfYou her being horribly and tortured]] in all games. Especially in the fourth game at the hands of Beatrice and [[spoiler: [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds MARIA]] after her AbusiveParent and ParentalNeglect tendencies apparently take a new level]].
** [[EvilAunt Kasumi Sumadera]]'s death in Episode 4, after she tortured, mocked and tried to kill her niece Ange, feed very deserved, especially after destroying and insulting Maria's diary and magic.
** Beatrice and Battler defeating [[spoiler:[[TheDragon Erika]]]] at the climax of the sixth game is as grandiose as it was hoped to be.
** While still not morally good, [[spoiler:Rosa blackmailing Eva in Episode 7 was welcome, especially since Rosa is being the rational one regarding the self-destruct system, and [[GrewASpine finally standing up]] to her sister's abuse.]]
** The final defeat [[spoiler:of [[BigBad Bernkastel]] at the hands of Ange, Battler, and by extension, the entire Ushiromiya family and their allies, feels grand and appropriate considering how many hells she ahs put them through.]]
* CrackPairing:
** The [[AllThereInTheManual side story]] "The Stakes' Valentine's Day" is ''filled'' with these. Including [[spoiler:Asmodeus/Juuza, Beelzebub/Gohda, Leviathan/Kyrie, Belphegor/Rudolf... and even [[ShipTease teasing]] Beatrice/Battler and Battler/Lucifer!]]
** The couples poll on the official site had ''absolutely every possible pairing''.
** There's Amakusa/Battler fanart around the Japanese fandom. Not only have they never met, it's a time paradox. On the other hand, [[YaoiFangirl Yaoi Fangirls]] in this fandom have to take what they can get. There aren't a lot of [[{{Bishounen}} bishounen]] running around.
** If [[http://umineko.wikia.com/wiki/TIPS/Game_master_Battler%27s_tip Game Master Battler's TIP]] is to be believed, Virgilia is a crack ''shipper'' who ships Battler with [[YaoiFangirl several other male characters]], including ''[[IncestYayShipping his own dad]]''.
** There's also the [=TIP=] [[http://umineko.wikia.com/wiki/Angel_of_17_years "Angel of 17 Years"]], which is dedicated entirely to crack HoYay pairings (with Ange and Virgilia being the [[YaoiFangirl Yaoi Fangirls]] gushing over them, though it's all obviously PlayedForLaughs).
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuo7VumEIuM One of Golden Fantasia's endings]] teases an uncanny [=WillBern=], though a bit fitting when it's [[KindHeartedCatLover Will]] and [[CatGirl Bern]].
** In the TIP "Jessica's Good Luck Charms", Jessica wants to make Kanon dream of her, but she messes up the ritual and makes ''Gōda'' dream of her instead.
** The manga has some downright disturbing cover pages, including putting Maria and Battler together rather sensually.
** There are even a few fanworks shipping Eva and Natsuhi, sisters-in-law who love their husbands and hate each other.
* CrazyIsCool: Jumping from the third story of your mansion in order to go for a midnight stroll? "I wouldn't put it past grandfather."
* CrossesTheLineTwice: Episode 2's Tea Party in the anime. It starts moving towards the line when Rosa is forced to eat dishes made from the body parts of her abusive siblings. Then it crosses the line the first time when the dessert is Maria's decapitated head with baked apples. It crosses the line a second time when Maria's decapitated head starts talking about how she was a burden to Rosa and deserves her fate. Then it crosses the line a third time when the head jumps into Rosa's mouth while laughing.
* CryForTheDevil: [[spoiler:Bernkastel. BadSamaritan though she is, she was still born (in a sense) from [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry a little girl's death and trauma-filled 100 year]] GroundhogDayLoop, and the only way she knows to dull the pain of it all is to make everyone else more miserable than she is.]]
* DiagnosedByTheAudience:
** Maria's behavior makes many fans interpret her as autistic: she acts [[KiddieKid much younger than her nine years of age]], she never seems to realize when the constant use of her VerbalTic is irritating other people, and she obsessively studies the occult but has little to no interest in anything else. In [=EP7=], Willard also points out that Maria tends to recognize people by their actions, not their appearances [[spoiler:(which is a big hint towards how "Beatrice" can suddenly appear in front of her)]]; this implies that she has some degree of prosopegnosia/face blindness, which is often comorbid with autism.
** To say that Kinzo has more than a few problems in his brain is like saying that there is no sun on a rainy day. His obsession with Beatrice borders on madness when he cries out her name in tears at the window and, according to descriptions given to us by his children, he is well known for doing things like jumping out of the window. The fact that he willingly became a soldier during World War II [[DeathSeeker just so he could die]] also implies that he may have suffered from depression when he was younger.
** Eva is sometimes theorized to be suffering from a mild form of borderline personality disorder, given her impulsiveness and her HairTriggerTemper. There's also her habit of idealizing herself, her father, her husband and her son and, at the same time, devaluing [[BigSisterBully her siblings]] and their families (especially [[StrugglingSingleMother Rosa]] and Natsuhi), with whom [[CainAndAbel she has a highly dysfunctional and unstable relationship]].
** Rosa does not seem to be mentally stable, given how she constantly switches from being abusive to apologetic in regards to Maria. The multitude of {{Berserk Button}}s she has that quickly make her lose her temper whenever Maria or somebody else makes the mistake of teasing them make her look like she's suffering from bipolar or/and borderline personality disorder. Not to mention the subtle implication that she has suicidal thoughts and desires like Kinzo, given some of her dialogue when she's under particularly harsh stress. [[spoiler:There's also the PTSD that she suffered from having seen Beatrice Ushiromiya die as a little girl.]]
** [[spoiler:Sayo Yasuda, and by extension Shannon, Kanon, and Beatrice]], whose issues seem to include pretending to be multiple people [[LostInCharacter to the point of almost becoming them]] and probable gender dysphoria, in addition to body dysmorphia caused by a horrific injury to their sexual organs that causes them to refer to themselves as [[spoiler:"furniture"]] after finding out the truth about their origins.
* DracoInLeatherPants:
** Erika's described CynicismCatalyst backstory in [=EP6=] and expanded motivations have gained her a few sympathizers, especially in Japanese fandom. Ryukishi certainly did intend for her to be a JerkassWoobie, but she is far away from being anywhere heroic during the Episode.
** [[spoiler: Sayo "Yasu" Yasuda. While they have '''massive''' reasons to be the person (persons) they are, and had a terrible life, a lot of fans believe her being a tragic heroine, who is not just blameless, but is perfectly justified in killing everyone on the island]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: E - H]]
* EndingFatigue: Episode 7's Tea Party instead of being a thematic wrap-up with a final plot twist like the rest of them, is instead an avalanche of reveals that is as long as a couple of the Episode's chapters.
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Gohda is the character who gets involved in each of the stories the least, due to being LockedOutOfTheLoop most of the time, and is the only one with no connections to the family's history. However, fans praise him as a [[MemeticMutation Magical Gohda Chef]] who is more important than he actually is.
** [[spoiler: [[EvilCounterpart Black Battler]]]]; despite being [[spoiler:an illusion created by Bernkastel]], he's gotten popular enough to join the roster of the fighting games.
* EsotericHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Though a happy ending was denied for Rokkenjima, whether it's a BittersweetEnding or DownerEnding for Ange is subjective, as she still lost her entire family and has to live with the ugly truth about what befell them on Rokkenjima, and then when she finds that her beloved big brother had actually survived and was still alive (but amnesiac) that whole time, he's implied to die shortly after their reunion. The manga makes it lean more to BittersweetEnding.]]
* EvilIsCool:
** In the early Episodes, Beatrice appears to be an unrepentant cackling sadist. Even before [[spoiler:the full extent of the [[AlasPoorVillain tragedy]] is revealed]], she remains beloved for how [[EvilIsHammy charismatic]] and [[MemeticTroll entertaining]] she can be, stealing every scene she's in. [[spoiler:Even in [[HeelFaceTurn Episode 6]], Beatrice returning in full force, sporting a [[ShesBack characteristic]] maniacal grin and (seemingly) casting away her demure and friendly persona is one of the coolest and most memorable moment in the entire story.]]
** Fans of Erika who do not [[DracoInLeatherPants excuse her actions]], love her for how much of an unapologetic bastard she is, as well as her undeniable [[EvilGenius competence]].
* FanficFuel:
** Erika's backstory leaves much to interpretation, from her upbringing to her original personality, to how she met with Bern, or the reason she fell from the boat, or why the boat was out in the first place despite a typhoon forecast.
** The scrapped "[[WhatCouldHaveBeen Land of the Golden Witch]]" Episode, as well as the "rival detective" character Virgilius, are popular subjects of fan guessing.
* FanNickname: Can be found [[FanNickname/UminekoWhenTheyCry here]].
* {{Fanon}}:
** Yasu's full name is generally assumed to be [[spoiler:Sayo Yasuda]] (since Yasu says their last name is Yasuda and [[spoiler:Shannon claims that her real name is Sayo]]), but it's never told explicitly in the story. [[spoiler:Confirmed as of the [=EP8=] manga bonus chapters, labeling Yasu explicitly as "Sayo Yasuda".]]
** Some believe that [[spoiler:Battler ''did'' write a letter to Shannon (despite his admission that he'd completely forgotten about her until returning to Rokkenjima), but [[CrazyJealousGuy George]] withheld it to sabotage their relationship and make his move.]]
* FauxSymbolism: Maria's name is written as "真里亞" -- notice how the last character looks like a cross? Battler [[LampshadeHanging points it out]] and seems to consider it stylish. Despite Maria using a lot of Biblical motifs, the Japanese spelling of her name isn't shown to be one of them.
* FranchiseOriginalSin: Creator/StudioDeen's anime adaptation of the series gets a lot of flack, mainly for cutting out crucial scenes and having numerous [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole plot holes]]. These problems were also present in ''[[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Higurashi's]]'' anime adaptation as the first season alone went through 6 out of the 8 core arcs. What made DEEN's Higurashi adaptation still work was that most of the scenes that were cut or changed weren't as important to the plot, so they could be left out without any issue and didn't affect the suspenseful scenes or have major plot holes. It helps that [=Ryukishi07=] himself advised DEEN for ''Higurashi Kai'', notable with the anime-only arc adding in information from the VN that wasn't in the first season. However, ''Umineko'''s structure is different from ''Higurashi'' since many scenes are crucially important to solving the mystery. DEEN changing certain scenes from the visual novel ended up causing the mystery to be [[CluelessMystery unsolvable]] in the anime. This affected DEEN greatly as poor DVD sales has prevented them from making a ''Chiru'' adaptation.
* FridgeBrilliance: [[Fridge/UminekoWhenTheyCry Enough to warrant its own page]].
* GrowingTheBeard: Most people agree that ''Banquet of the Golden Witch'' is where the series really takes off, as most of the cast and the rules have already been established, the Episode has the time to focus on the family's history and mystery-solving.
* HardToAdaptWork: The story is massive, features dozens of characters and heavy post-modernism elements. The anime suffered from being a CompressedAdaptation, with key scenes either being heavily abridged or omitted entirely. This led to the mystery [[CluelessMystery being unsolvable]] due to important clues not appearing. For comparison, the manga had over 40 volumes while the stage-play has stuck to adapting one episode per 3-hour show.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** Episode 4's ClicheStorm turns around to bite George and Jessica in the ass, due to a rather brutal BrickJoke involving the danger of a HopeSpot.
** In Episode 2 Beatrice tells Shannon that she won't feel that same way about George after he "looks at her with lust" and at the time it just sounds like taunting. [[spoiler:If you take into account that Shannon and Beatrice are the same person, it's really a representation of the conflicts in Yasu's heart over whether or not George can truly love Shannon and stay with her after discovering Yasu's broken body.]] Hell, most scenes where [[spoiler:Shannon, Kanon, and Beatrice interact are this when you realize that they're all essentially her own struggles with herself!]]
** In the end of Episode 2, at Beatrice's banquet, [[spoiler:she has her goats eat Battler alive after he loses against her.]] This ends up getting used against her in the fifth Episode when [[spoiler:she loses in proving Natsuhi's innocence, and Lambadelta and Bernkastel sentence her to the same fate because it's how she "punishes the losers in the game".]]
** In Episode 2, Beatrice tells Kanon that the three worst ways to hurt a girl are physically, emotionally, and by betraying their hopes. She calls the last the most difficult, the most effective, and the one most often committed by accident. [[spoiler:Turns out Battler breaking his promise 6 years ago is the main factor Beatrice the way she is]].
** In Episode 3 Battler jests that it's not like Ange would get struck by lightning if she tells him her name. [[spoiler:In the next Episode 4 it turns out to be one of her conditions with Bernkastel, and Ange dies when she reveals to Battler she is her sister.]]
** The whole scene where Battler promises to win Beato's game and come back to Ange is really sad after you understand that [[spoiler:when Beato's game started, everyone except Eva and Battler was [[DeadAllAlong already dead]]. From the beginning, there was never any chance of the family coming back home alive; and indeed, Beato herself never promised that, it's just what Battler assumed.]]
** In the early days of the fandom, Kanon's insistence that he's furniture as the go-to reason for why he's so unhappy with his life was treated as {{Wangst}} and often the source of fandom jokes, especially since what exactly being "furniture" meant was very vague. [[spoiler:After various reveals in [=EP7=], and especially after "Confession of the Golden Witch", it's made very clear that being "furniture" is an indication of several emotional and physical traumas.]]
* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: The [[ActingForTwo double performance]] of Creator/MikiIto in the roles of [[RichBitch Eva Ushiromiya]] and her teenage version EVA-Beatrice is often highly praised by many fans. Especially because of the remarkable vocal versatility with which she manages to pass from the seductive voice of a mature woman to that of a capricious brat in a few moments.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** [[http://g.e-hentai.org/g/291164/b5048f9123/ One fan made comic]] ([=NSFW=]), located after [=EP5=] features Battler creating the 6th game, but instead of the typical visual novel he creates a FightingGame. It even says "Magic fighting game, Battle of the Golden Witch coming soon". Cue ''VideoGame/UminekoGoldenFantasia''.
** [[spoiler:In Episode 1, after Eva and Hideyoshi's murder, Battler yells and promises that he will grab the culprit by the collar before the end of the night. A few hours earlier he had done just that when he spoke to Kanon, who is also Beatrice.]]
** While it's not known if it's an intentional CastingGag, Creator/MarinaInoue and Creator/YuuKobayashi would play Master and Servant again in ''Manga/MariaHolic'', just with the roles reversed. Helped by the fact that the "mistress" is a blonde, the servant is stoic, and [[spoiler:Mariya is a CreepyCrossdresser and Kanon is a facet of the personality of someone biologically male raised female (both voiced by Kobayashi)]].
* HoYay:
** Lion's gender hasn't been officially confirmed, although the English fandom seems to be sure he/she's a guy. But to those who believe Lion is a guy, there appears to be some affection between Lion and Wright in [=EP7=]. Some fans even took to re-naming [=EP7=] "Homolust of the Golden Witch".
** Ronove seems to generate this with any other male character he interacts with due to NoSenseOfPersonalSpace; not only in the visual novel, but also in his [[http://images.wikia.com/umineko/images/5/50/BattlerRonoveEnding.JPG ending with Battler]] in ''VideoGame/UminekoGoldenFantasia'' as well as his ending with George. In Virgilia's endings, she and Ange even [[YaoiFangirl ship RonoBato]].
** PlayedForLaughs with many of the male characters ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and]] [[AmbiguousGender Lion]]) in "Angel of 17 Years".
[[/folder]]

[[folder: I - L]]
* IronWoobie:
** Eva. It may have worked only once but [[spoiler:she gives Kyrie a hell of a fight after she loses her family]].
** Battler as of Episode 6. Given what he had to go through in all the previous arcs ''and even in this one'', it's nothing sort of awe-inspiring that he makes it out largely mentally and emotionally unscathed.
* ItWasHisSled:
** The first novel keeps it a mystery [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane if there are supernatural elements]] ''at all''. [[spoiler:Battler playing mind chess against multiple time-traveling witches]] is the main part known about the novels, overshadowing the MysteryFiction plot due to their hammy personalities, even if [[spoiler:there's still ambiguity if that isn't a delusion]].
** [[spoiler:No, Bernkastel is [[BigBad not]] a [[TheWatcher stoic neutral]] who sympathizes with the heroes.]] Good luck ''not'' knowing this before you start the series.
** The existence of [[spoiler:"Sayo Yasuda" and the fact that Shannon, Kanon, and Beatrice are [[SplitPersonality alternate personas]] she created]] is also pretty known due to being the solution to the main mystery.
* JerkassWoobie:
** Eva may be a [[KickTheDog dog kicking]] BigSisterBully, FemaleMisogynist, EvilAunt, EducationMama and RichBitch [[PassiveAggressiveKombat who loves to annoy others constantly]] by [[StealthInsult insulting them for no reasons]], but when you get down to it, like the life she lives in the future as the only survivor of the tragedy, hated by her niece until her death and continually discredited and offended by the media and society and with the unbearable pain of having lost her family forever, it is difficult not to feel a little compassion for her when you discover that she truly did want to try and love Ange as her daughter and tried to protect her for the rest of her life.
** You can't help feeling sorry for [[TroubledAbuser Rosa]] after you come to learn of her sad childhood, the trauma she suffered as a young girl, of her LoveMartyr tendencies, and being StrugglingSingleMother. Her whole life was surrounded by [[AbusiveParent the total lack of healthy love by her entire family]], by [[BigBrotherBully the inexplicable hatred and negligence of her siblings towards her]], by the sense of guilt and abandonment of a man with whom she hoped to build a loving family whom that she never had as a child. You'll feel sorry for [[TheManyDeathsOfYou infinite tortures]] and particularly [[CruelAndUnusualDeath sadistic and brutal deaths]] for the pure fun of Beatrice and the other witches. Of course, it doesn't change the fact that she treats Maria really bad when she's angry, although it becomes more understandable.
** [[spoiler:Beatrice]] may qualify as one in a particularly strange way in that [[spoiler:the "Jerkass" part is deliberately ''invoked'' by her as she plays the part of the supposed BigBad. The "Woobie" part comes from her true self, Sayo Yasuda, and what they truly seek to accomplish as amends to their family.]]
** Erika is probably one straw short of being a mentally insane, {{Jerkass}} psychopath, but she earns a least a few Woobie points on account of her being Bern's abused piece and the few details of her backstory we're given that explain why she's the way she is. [[spoiler:Though she does come to proudly embrace her more villainous side in [=EP8=].]]
* LesYay:
** Lambdadelta x Bernkastel, which is actually canon. Lambda acts like a supernatural StalkerWithACrush, they like to talk about giving each other candy bath massages, and they've even both said they love each other.
** One scene, though possibly just imagery, has young Eva smiling, with tears running down her face, as EVA places a hand on her bare chest.
** Erika and Dlanor in Episode 6. Even if Erika is talking about her ex-boyfriend, the two nonetheless spend 5 minutes saying things like "I would give up my life for you" or "I present you 6 pieces of evidence that I still love you." [[spoiler: Taken further by the end of Episode 8 where after Erika crosses a line that a pissed off Dlanor makes clear [[ThisIsUnforgivable she will absolutely not forgive]], Dlanor...[[EasilyForgiven forgives her anyway]] and is last heard pleading for Erika to come visit her and stir up some trouble again via letter.]]
** There is also a bit of it between Ange and Mammon, due to them spending the majority of Episode 4 together taking about insecurities, especially in the manga.
* LGBTFanbase: Between the obviously gay Bernkastel and Lambdadelta, [[spoiler: the [[AmbiguousGenderIdentity implied to be nonbinary]] Lion, and the transgender Sayo]], to say that there's no small amount of LGBT fans in Umineko would be an understatement.
* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt:
** In [=EP5=] [[spoiler: Natsuhi is set up to be [[NeverTheObviousSuspect incredibly suspicious in every way]]. Of course, she can't be the culprit.]]
** After the series establishes that [[spoiler:in the Meta-World DeathIsCheap, any time someone is supposedly DeaderThanDead, fairly shortly they get fully revived when someone wills them back into existence.]].
* LoveToHate:
** Bernkastel and Lambdadelta have several fans who adore them for being the shameless, sadistic, yet [[LaughablyEvil strangely lovable and hilarious]] Jerkasses that they are.
** Eva-Beatrice. She does a wonderful job showing that things are going to get ugly when she is on-screen.
** Yes, Erika is an unrepentant, insufferable bitch, and that's why so many people love her.
** On one hand, many fans loathe Kinzo for how selfish, possessive, and abusive he is, and how he caused the ruin of his own family. On the other, [[CrazyIsCool his madness]] is widely considered to be [[ChewingTheScenery entertaining as hell]] and makes him [[MemeticBadass the source]] of much MemeticMutation.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: M - P]]
* MagnificentBastard:
** [[{{Deuteragonist}} Beatrice the Golden Witch]], is the magnificent witch weaving the tale through her magic. True name Sayo Yasuda, Yasu was a live-in maid and secret child of Kinzo and Beatrice II hidden away to protect her Kinzo. Discovering her heritage becoming Kinzo's successor, Yasu plotted a murder suicide plot for her family's sins, believing it'll take them to the Golden Land in death, secretly setting herself to be stopped by Battler. [[DealWithTheDevil Winning Lambda's favor through her endless mysteries]], they were sent to the Meta World upon death, using her domain to guide Battler to recall his sin and understand the truth, [[CardCarryingVillain playing the charmingly evil witch Beatrice]] in a game of wit against Battler. [[ManipulativeBastard Masterfully manipulating him and the Meta World residence]], Beatrice had him understand the truth, while keeping her domain, cunningly stopping usurpers like Erika and Bernkastel, valiantly defending the Golden Land till the end, before being resurrected by Ange as planned to defeat Bernkastel, winning Featherine's favor, keeping the Golden Land, reaching her eternal happiness with Battler.
** [[GreaterScopeVillain Featherine Augustus Aurora]] the [[VillainsLoveEntertainment Majestic Witch of Theatregoing, Drama and Spectating]] is [[EvilMentor Bernkastel's master]], who's had a deep interest in the Cat Box of Rokkenjima. Soughing tales to relieve her boredom, Featherine planned to decipher the tale of the Golden Witch, sending Bernkastel to investigate the many mysteries while in the shadows trying to solve it herself as Ikuku Hachijo by using Ange. Granting the Game Master role to Bernkastel and learning the truth, Featherine plans to share it to the world, steering Ange to unseal the Book of One Truth to reveal it to the world. Intrigue by Ange and Battler overcoming Bernkastel, Featherine decides to [[GracefulLoser concede after they won her respect]], restoring the Golden Land and their denizens [[IGaveMyWord as she promise]] before defending their honor them from their offenders in the real world and using her power to protect the Golden Land by making sure no one can interfere their tale again.
** [[NobleDemon Lambdadelta, the Witch of Certainty]] is [[TheWomanBehindTheMan the sponsor of Beatrice]], responsible for her Game Board. [[ItAmusedMe Intrigue by Beatrice's magic system for her massacre]], Lambda turned her into a Witch, giving her domain over her Game Board. Secretly using it to lure Bernkastel, Lambda manipulated Battler and Ange to force an eternal draw to trap Bernkastel, only failing due to Beatrice giving up, forcing Lambda and Bernkastel to usurp her, stealing the Game Master role. In charge, Lambda challenge Bernkastel and Battler to solve her game, giving the victory to Battler for his center will and Golden Truth, , leading to Bernkastel's humiliating loss to her delight. [[HeelFaceTurn Joining Battler and Ange against Bern]], Lambda used her powers to save Will and Lion and taking her allies to Featherine's realm, knowing it might cause her life. Even in defeat, Lambda's certain will was the catalyst for Ange and Battler to beat Bernkastel, and save the Golden Land.
** [[HangingJudge "Death Sentence"]] Dlanor A. Knox, [[LittleMissBadass head inquisitor of the Eiserne Jungfrau]] is a feared executioner as the wielder of the "Knox's Ten Commandments". Dispatch to cases she's expected to execute, Dlanor was hired to be Erika's furniture. dilligenty and ruthlessly assisting in Erika's frame up of Natsuhi with the Knox's Commandments. Secretly hating her masters abusing the facts to their whim, she sets Battler to find the Golden Truth, forcing him against Erika. When he finds the Golden Truth as she planned, Dlanor has him to prove use it, ending in her defeat satisfied before returning to Erika's side to protect her as part of her duty. While a merciless inquisitor, Dlanor also shows [[WorthyOpponent she's a cunning and just warrior who upholds the honor of the truth no matter what]].
** "Last Note of the Golden Witch" [[KillAndReplace Piece]], the Witch of Pieces, is a witch bestowed by Featherine to battle Battler, Beatrice, and Ange in a game of wits to figure out her true identity. Actually Battler's [[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest deceased mother Asumu Ushiromiya]], Asumu became embitter when she saw Rudolf marrying her rival Kyrie, casting blame upon Ange. Wanting revenge, Piece cruely set a game where the trio would witness Piece [[RetGone removing the existence of certain people]] and create a world where they all were happy, thanks to Asumu surviving and solving The Witch's Epitaph to bring peace to the family at the cost of Ange and Kyrie's place in it, [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose aware Ange can't solve the mystery without admitting it]]. Outsmarting them, it's only after Piece emphasize with Ange that she decides to guide them to her true identity, realizing she misplaced her hatred. Her identity solved, Piece used her power to remove any traces of what happened to prevent the burden of knowing a bright future without Ange, [[SoProudOfYou giving a tearful goodbye to her son before departing in peace]].
** [[AmbitionIsEvil Tetsurō Okonogi]] is the guardian of Ange and right-hand of Eva planning to take control of the Ushiromoya Group no matter what. Taking over after Eva's death, Okonogi was to guide her heir, but Ange's unwillingness led discord. Seeing her an obstacles with Kasumi, he plans to have them killed, [[BodyguardBetrayal having Amakusa bodyguard Ange's secretly ordered to kill when the time came]]. Controlling the group [[BatmanGambit he tricked Ange to Rokkenjima using her obsession of the massacre to bring his targets in isolation]] killing them in secret. When Ange travels back in time before the events, she either gives her position to him willing or kills Amakusa escaping him, [[TheBadGuyWins leaving Okonogi in power regardless]].
* MemeticBadass:
** Rosa's moment of LastStand at the end of [=EP2=] got her many fans. And even [[http://ww3.tiki.ne.jp/~ri-msx/zero/rosa.htm an own game!]]
** Kinzo, both in-universe and with the fandom, seems to be capable of just anything because he's just that crazy and awesome.
* MemeticLoser: If you looked at only Battler's memes, you'd swear he does nothing but constantly get trolled by Witches every single day of the week and mentioning small bombs on the other days.
* MemeticMutation: Enough to warrant [[Memes/UminekoWhenTheyCry its own page.]]
* MemeticTroll:
** Beatrice is pretty infamous for her trolling, more so than any of the other characters, [[spoiler:even though her trolling nature is largely an act and Bernkastel is a far more cruel and merciless troll than she is]].
** Bernkastel and Lambdadelta are believed to be running a mind chess on top of a mind chess with their motives being some facade, as does Eriko Furuudo by extension.
* MindGameShip: Beato x Battler due to them playing actual mind games, but the story portrays it increasingly more romantic. Also Battler x Erika in a much darker sense of her trying to making him his as a prize.
* {{Moe}}:
** Beatrice shows flashes of cuteness when she isn't cheerfully orchestrating murders and walking all over Battler. This starts happening more and more frequently from Episode 3 onwards. Also, [[http://darenome.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/umineko-extra-tips-valentine-and-white-day/#more-1750 White Day]].
** Sakutaro is just an adorable stuffed lion toy brought to life. To the point that the 7 Stakes go completely crazy whenever he shows up, wanting to cuddle him.
* MoralEventHorizon:
** When did you realize that [[spoiler:Eva-Beatrice]] was a ugly, horrible and psychotic little monster? [[spoiler:The repeated sadistic deaths of Maria and Rosa did it for a lot of people, especially when ''Beatrice'' of all people steps in to give them a MercyKill]].
** Rosa crossed the line in [=EP4=] when [[spoiler: she not only broke one of the ceramic rabbits she gave to Maria as a way to punish her disobedience and threatened to do the same to the other rabbits any time Maria didn't do as she was told, but brutally eviscerated and decapitated Sakutaro, who she'd also given to Maria to begin with, in an unreasonable rage at her daughter, cruelly declaring "Sakutaro is dead!". Keep in mind that she ''knew full well'' that Maria thought of these toys as her special friends and would in her mind take this like friends of hers being murdered right in front of her, and she did it anyway as a truly hideous act of child abuse.]]
** [[spoiler: Maria in turn (or rather MARIA, her witch incarnation), after taking a gruesome revenge on her mother with Beatrice's help, gets [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide drunk on her newfound power]] and starts to even write down curses meant for harming others such as magic to injure a classmate so severely that they die or magic that would cause a bus full of her school bullies to fall over a cliff. After this point, in all games she has no moral qualms about basking openly in the suffering of her surviving relatives for the simple fact that they do not believe in magic and in Beatrice, so she thinks it justified that Beatrice exact bloody vengeance upon the family for their disbelief.]]
** Kasumi Sumedera becomes a [[KickTheDog dog-kicking machine]] when [[spoiler: she confronts Ange on Rokkenjima in [=EP4=] with the intent of killing her, having her men beat her up and gleefully mocking everything written down in Maria's diary (that she mistakes for Ange's own) as she tears out page after page. But it's when she reaches the page with the Happiness Spell on it and, against tearful pleading from Ange to not defile it, rips the page out and completely destroys the diary that her cruelty becomes [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable.]]]]
** Kinzo was always close to this trope because of his treatment of his family and the [[spoiler:subverted PaterFamilicide]], but he still remained something of an EnsembleDarkhorse with some people thanks to his reputation. However, the revelations about Beatrice [[spoiler:Ushiromiya, his daughter]] and the fact that [[spoiler:he [[ParentalIncest raped her and got her pregnant]]]] was the end of the road for many fans, and his EnsembleDarkhorse status plummeted as a result.
** In [=EP6=], [[spoiler:Erika beheads five people to make sure that they're actually dead (which, it turns out, they ''weren't''). And all in order to get revenge on Battler by trapping him in a Logic Error, and when offered by Bernkastel to marry the mentally imprisoned Battler as a trophy husband, fully intends to make the transition from "intellectual rapist" to ''actual rapist'', proclaiming she'll regularly defile Battler's body and sexually humiliate him for her own pleasure, all while Beatrice will be caged up and unable to stop it. Even in-universe, Erika [[CardCarryingVillain begins to embrace the label of villain]] following this.]]
** [=EP7=]’s Tea Party has [[spoiler:Rudolf and Kyrie cross it by revealing that they were the true culprits of the Rokkenjima massacre, callously killing off nearly everyone on the island just to hog the gold. Kyrie in particular brushes off Rudolf’s death and admits to never actually caring about Ange.]]
** [[spoiler: Bernkastel crossed it in the side story "The Witches' Tanabata", where she deliberately sabotages the steadily improving relationship between little Ange and her aunt Eva so that Ange clings to her resentment and belief that Eva murdered her family, and Eva's frustration would in turn make her more abusive towards Ange, all so that Ange could become a reliable pawn later on in her life.]]
* {{Narm}}: Enough to have its own page [[Narm/UminekoWhenTheyCry here]].
* NeverLiveItDown:
** Battler's theory about "small bombs" became a MemeticMutation in the fandom due to how ridiculous it was. What most fans didn't realize is that Battler didn't actually ''believe'' this theory; he was just desperately fishing for ways to counter Beatrice's claims that the murders were done by magic so that he could defeat her, end their game and go back home to where he thinks his sister will be waiting for him. That still doesn't stop some fans from bringing up "SMALL BOMBS" as a way to make fun of Battler's reasoning skills.
** Krauss can be at times sympathetic, genuine and sharp, but fans will never let him forget the moon tourism venture.
** In-universe, Ange [[spoiler: getting literally carved into mincemeat, ''twice'', just keeps getting brought up. It's to the point where even Ange herself starts making snarky quips about it.]]
* PlayerPunch:
** [[spoiler:Ange is built up into an incredibly sympathetic character in [=EP4=], due to her life being portrayed as hell, with her considering suicide on several occasions.]] Prepare to shed many tears.
** [[spoiler:Beatrice waking up from AngstComa at the end of [=EP5=], only to sacrifice herself ressurecting Battler.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: R - U]]
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
** Some fans really disliked [[SpoiledBrat Maria]] until the fourth Episode, when she revealed one hell of a FreudianExcuse and got around to [[CallingTheOldWomanOut Calling Rosa out]] for her abuse, [[spoiler:though most of it was most likely all in her head]].
** It's also quite common and easy for many fans to despise Rosa in the first four Episodes for her AbusiveParents tendencies towards Maria and her [[spoiler:clearly being the killer's accomplice in [=EP2=]]]. The latter four Episodes in ''Chiru'', however, shows her as a more sympathetic and regretful character burdened with [[spoiler:ill-fated romance with Maria's father, Beatrice Ushiromiya's death, and how level-headed she tried to be on the night of the Rokkenjima Massacre prior to being shot dead by Kyrie]], and how much she loves her daughter and wants to make up for her failures as a mother is made clear in [=EP8=] (in a way that calls back to her [[MemeticBadass famed]] MamaBear LastStand with Maria in [=EP2=]). The manga adaptation of said Episode goes a step further by showing a brief background of a child Rosa who, [[MirrorCharacter just like Maria]], has seen all her toys and dolls being cruelly destroyed and/or throw away by her siblings and remembering this gives Rosa the opportunity to atone for what she did to Sakutaro by using said toys and dolls to finally mend the bond with her daughter.
** For the fans who weren't RootingForTheEmpire, Erika becoming a more developed and pitiable character in [=EP6=] and [=EP8=] won over more than a handful of those who had despised her for her earlier KickTheDog actions in [=EP5=]. Being [[ThenLetMeBeEvil more of an honest villain]] than the ParodySue she started out as also helps, as her LoveToHate status has ironically made her [[https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/07th_Expansion_Character_Popularity_Poll#Umineko_no_Naku_Koro_ni one of the most popular characters in the series.]]
* RonTheDeathEater: A lot of readers remember Rosa only for her AbusiveMom relationship with Maria, and [[CatharsisFactor cheer]] during the TheManyDeathsOfYou scenes with her. This often disregards that Rosa has been [[TheChainOfHarm treated similarly]] in the family when she was young, holds regret for [[spoiler:accidental death of Beatrice II]], and admits herself being a failing StrugglingSingleMother [[DeliberateValuesDissonance in a time period]] where neither Rosa nor Maria would get much support. By the end of the story, she's also [[spoiler:one of the nicest of adults by comparison]], an in Episodes other than 4 Maria herself shows awareness that Rosa is mentally unstable yet treated her well most of the time.
* RootingForTheEmpire: Erika may be a {{Jerkass}} and a ParodySue, but it wasn't entirely lost on some people that she spends most of ''End of the Golden Witch'' delivering logical [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomps]] to Beatrice, who, until that point, had been a practically [[KarmaHoudini invincible]] torturer for the series.
* SalvagedStory: The manga adaptation of Episode 8 has some noteworthy ones:
** [[spoiler:Eva acknowledging the damage done to her relationship with Ange was her fault, not Ange's. Even if Ange tried to reject Eva as a parental figure and unknowingly denied Eva of any source of comfort from the accusations she was already getting, it was Eva's responsibility as an adult and Ange's new legal guardian to love and care for Ange instead of giving Ange a scapegoat to blame for the murders by acting horribly abusive to reinforce Ange's warped perception. To put it shortly, even if Eva had her own trauma to deal with, she should've tried harder with Ange.]]
** [[spoiler:By that same token, the rest of the Ushiromiya family coming to terms with their own sins. The quiz game at the Halloween party is replaced by hide and seek and in that time we see, aside from the above thoughts from Eva, Natsuhi and Beato/Yasu getting closure with each other over what Natsuhi did to baby Yasu in the past, Rosa realizing how she'd perpetuated the cycle of her own abuse onto Maria and starting to forge a stronger mother-daughter relationship with Maria to make amends, and a clearly shown fallout of Rudolf confessing his sin and the truth about Battler's parentage to Kyrie. To take it further, when Ange is reunited with the family in the Golden Land later on, while the visual novel glosses over the truth of the massacre and labels it unimportant, a point is made of how the Ushiromiya Family ultimately tore itself apart due to its members' own vices and sinful acts accumulated over the years finally giving way, and Kinzo openly holds himself accountable for sourcing everything that had gone wrong since the time he lost his mistress.]]
** [[spoiler:Realizing the implications of what Tohya Hachijo's (potentially accidentally) implied death at the end of [=EP8=] would do to poor Ange, Ryukishi clarified in the final character profiles released in 2013 that he actually survived, which was made explicit by the manga adaptation two years later.]]
* SignatureSeriesArc: "Alliance of the Golden Witch" is well remembered, as it'd packed with emotional scenes like [[spoiler: Ange's heartbreaking past and journey with the Seven Sisters of Purgatory, the additional backstory for Maria and introduction of Sakutaro, the all-out Red Truth VS Blue Truth battle between Beatrice and Battler at the end, and TheReveal that Bernkastel and Lambdadelta have been in cahoots as the true villains of the story]]
* SlowPacedBeginning: The first novel takes quite a while to establish everyone's characterization and relations. For a murder mystery, the first murder doesn't happen until way after the half-way point. The Episode itself also acts as a prologue and the very premise of the series is only made clear in the very last scenes.
* SoBadItsGood: How a lot of people feel about the visual novel's original art due to Ryukishi's had-drawn character sprites, though the expressions are generally agreed to be awesome.
* {{Squick}}: Beatrice [[spoiler:Ushiromiya, daughter of Beatrice Castiglione]] is [[spoiler: also Kinzo's daughter. And he had a child with her]]. So this qualifies as [[spoiler:ParentalIncest]].
* StoicWoobie: Not only does Ange lose her parents and brother, but [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary materials]] reveal that [[spoiler:a certain witch manipulated her into not only hating the only relative she had left that doesn't want to kill her, but also locking away any form of happiness.]] She later veers into NotSoStoic after she learns [[spoiler: from Bernkastel how her mother (who she loved more than anyone) never truly loved her and how Eva (who she hated more than anyone) wanted to protect her from the truth.]]
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Even disregarding the whole CompressedAdaptation issue, there are many changes in the anime that fans can hardly forgive. In the last 2 minutes alone, [[spoiler:Battler hugging Beatrice tenderly is left out, and Bern and Lambda's epic EvilLaugh is turned into a mischievous giggling]]. That hurts the emotional factor quite a lot.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** [[spoiler:Beatrice II has a very well written backstory and could easily take Sayo's place in timeline with her equally (if not more) strong motivations, yet she's a PosthumousCharacter and appears only in Rosa and Kinzo's flashbacks and the rest she is just mentioned a few times. Together with her mother, she does not appear in the finale in the Golden Land even once, despite being one of the 4 deceased characters connected to the past of Ushiromiyas.]]
** Kinzo's wife is brought up a few times by most of the cast and could create some interesting family dynamics, yet she does not appear even once and is mentioned even less than [[spoiler:Beatrice II]], and is the only family member where pretty much nothign is known about her.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Maria justifies Rosa's violent reactions to her as the actions of a Great Black Witch who possesses her in her moments of UnstoppableRage, which is even addressed by fantasy characters, certain TIPS, and ''VideoGame/UminekoGoldenFantasia'' as TheDreaded. Despite similarities with Eva and [[spoiler:Yasuda]] in her personality and childhood, Rosa's EnemyWithout witch persona like EVA-Beatrice never actually manifests.
* ToyShip: Sakutaro's mutually-adoring relationship with Maria makes them a target of pairings.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Given how [[BigScrewedUpFamily dysfunctional the family is]], several members have their moments when given spotlight on their shadier actions.
** [=EP3=] as Eva's [[ADayInTheLimelight focus episode]] portrays her as a SelfMadeWoman who tried to grow out of sexism in the family. The same Episode shows Eva being a BigSisterBully to Rosa for petty reasons, and insulting Natushi and Shannon with [[FemaleMisogynist even worse misogyny]] than she has been through. This is also the Episode where [[spoiler:EVA-Beatrice is the ArcVillain, who Battler argues doesn't exist and is still Eva]]. Adding to the explanation in [=EP7=] and [=EP8=] that [[spoiler:she is partially responsible for the tragedy, but chose to be a SilentScapegoat]], many found it's not a justification for making Ange's life in [=EP4=] a living hell, yet the narrative expects Ange to be more understanding. The manga version of [=EP8=] tries to fix this by [[spoiler:making her remorseful for the abuse]].
** Natushi is positioned as the protagonist of the game in [=EP5=], constantly proclaiming her goal to "uphold the Ushiromiya honor", and has to deal with several deaths (including her daughter and husband) that the newcomer Erika [[spoiler:proceeds to falsely pin on her]]. However, the crux of the game is her [[spoiler:hiding Kinzo's death to help Krauss' embezzlement, all the while hypocritically chastising Krauss' siblings as greedy for wanting Kinzo's inheritance to fix their own financial issues, and flying into a self-victimizing outrage whenever they start accurately guessing what she’s hiding. She also later admits to killing a servant and (seemingly) a baby out of frustration that she was tasked with raising the latter after Kinzo shamed her for failing to conceive her own child for years. It can be a bit hard to feel all that sorry for her even when Erika turns almost the entire family against her with false accusations, especially when her own stubborn refusal to admit Kinzo's death helps push her into into a corner.]]
** We are asked to feel some level of pity and compassion for Kinzo in [=EP7=] due to his DarkAndTroubledPast prior to becoming the Ushiromiya family head, how deeply he loved [[spoiler:his late mistress, Beatrice Castigloni]] and how much he wanted [[TheAtoner to atone]] for how he'd treated his deceased daughter. But for many, this is practically impossible not only for how horribly we'd seen Kinzo treat his still living family before now, but because this exact same arc reveals [[spoiler:that he'd become so infatuated with the resemblance that his secret teenage daughter had with her dead mother and so overcome with the delusion of her being her reincarnation that he [[ParentalIncest raped her and got her pregnant with a child]], [[{{Squick}} which would mean she gave birth to her own sibling since they'd share the same father.]] This revelation also makes Kinzo's EntitledToHaveYou attitude about Beatrice all the more disgusting and makes us very hard to feel any form of empathy for him. This is somewhat alleviated in the manga where in the final arc, Kinzo acknowledges that he still had no good excuse for how he'd acted following his gravest sin, combined with all the women (especially Rosa, Eva and Natsuhi) around him that he had neglected and mistreated very badly, ruining his still living relations and allowed his own family to rot from the inside, [[KarmaHoudini he'd gone to his grave having not truly atoned for anything after all]], for which he is now truly, genuinely remorseful.]]
** Many fans may find it hard to be as forgiving of [[spoiler: Rudolf]] as the story seems to be not just for [[spoiler: his part in the family massacre along with Kyrie]], but how he'd [[spoiler: swapped his then-wife Asumu's stillborn baby out for Kyrie's healthy baby boy, Battler, cheating Kyrie out of raising her own biological son and then never confessing this dark secret for years, allowing the family dynamic to be strained.]] The display of him as Rosa's BigBrotherBully in the manga [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking doesn't win him any points either.]]
** [[spoiler:The culprit, Sayo Yasuda, and by extensions their characters Beatrice, Shannon and Kanon. Although undeniably not without legitimate problems and reasons to hate Kinzo and his children, they have been planning a family mass murder-suicide, also killing those who are unrelated to their issues or even sympathize with them. Primarily because Battler, back then a teenager with hormones, has made a romantic promise to them and forgot about it. Yasuda is even explicitly told it's not uncommon with boys, and they are aware Battler has been preoccupied by the drama with his dad. Yet, they romance both George and Jessica using different personas, while still waiting for Battler, and have been using Maria's problems with [[AbusiveMom Rosa]] and her love for magic to slowly shape her into an accomplice for murders under false promises. As Beatrice, she grinds Battler through hell, metaphorically and literally several times, while mocking any regards for human life or decency, yet feels offended when he still doesn't understand what she wants because she wouldn't tell. Yet, the narrative insists that Battler was actually the one torturing her, and he himself believes so and even marries her in the Meta-World. After Bernkastel takes over, her portrayal becomes nothing but heroic and tragic. Many readers have accused Creator/Ryukishi07 of emotional manipulation to sympathize, pity and love a serial killer, whose stated problem comes more from their own misunderstanding.]]
** Genji's UndyingLoyalty towards Kinzo and later [[spoiler:Sayo]] may seem at times very noble were it not that [[spoiler:this leads him to assisting Sayo in keeping their fictions afloat through blackmail and threats throughout the various games, even personally committing some of the murders. Not to mention the fact that years ago, after Natsuhi accidentally pushes Lion/Sayo off the cliff, he rescues the baby with Nanjo's help and decides to hide his survival, only raise him as a girl in an orphanage that basically existed as a factory aimed at providing with constant servants for Ushiromiya family, granting her considerable, and undeserved privileges despite her clumsiness and ignorance, over the other maids there, which had the obvious consequence of leading the young Sayo to be bullied for much of her early childhood and adolescence, planning to later to reintroduce her as the true family heir, to the same people who have caused her mother's death and almost her own.]]
* TheUnTwist: In [=EP6=] Battler right from the start says that [[spoiler:1. It's explicitly unknown if victims were dead by the time of discovery. 2. Erika has checked all corpses in person off-screen. 3. Erika doesn't have the Detective's Authority and joins the suspect list.]] A lot of players were waiting for his master plan, until it turns out that [[spoiler:he had a more innocent twist in mind and he gets OutGambitted by the reveal everyone have already predicted]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: V - Z]]
* ValuesDissonance:
** In [=EP1=], during the first instance of Rosa's [[AbusiveParents abusive behaviour]] towards Maria where she slaps Maria for saying her VerbalTic over and over again, Battler tries to interfere on Maria's behalf, but George stops him, saying that this is a "family problem" and Battler should stay out of it. This reflects the Japanese attitude that child abuse is something that only the family members who are involved should deal with, and it isn't anyone else's business. However, the narrative itself doesn't necessarily condone this view (as evidenced in [=EP4=], when social services tries to get involved but Rosa angrily turns them away).
** In [=EP4=], it's shown that Rosa often [[ParentalNeglect leaves Maria at home by herself]], making many western fans wonder why she can't at least hire a babysitter. In Japan it's actually extremely rare for anyone aside from a grandparent to supervise one's children if the parents are unable to watch them (and considering [[AbusiveParents what Kinzo is like]] and how far away he lives, it's unlikely that Rosa would consider him as an option), and a demand for babysitters has grown since then, especially since the time of Maria's flashback.
* ViewerGenderConfusion: For a male servant, Kanon's appearance can be seen as slightly feminine and not too different from his twin sister Shannon. [[spoiler:This is one of the early hints they are not just twins but are the same person.]]
* TheWoobie:
** In [=EP5=], Natsuhi [[spoiler: starts to lose her sanity after Kinzo dies, is forced to confront a less than pleasant aspect of her past (one that she's already repented for), her only daughter (and the only result of numerous failed attempts at conception) Jessica is murdered, her husband Krauss is kidnapped, forcing her to obey the mysterious man claiming to be her missing son. Not only does Krauss die anyway, but she is framed for all the murders, and [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge gets beaten up by a very pissed off Eva]] and Battler is the only one who even ''tries'' to intervene. She gets accused of ''cheating on her husband and having a sexual relationship with Kinzo''. Then Bernkastel brutally tells her in her that everything she knows about Kinzo was all a delusion on her part and he never supported her.]] They basically make her life hell in that Episode.
** Sakutarou is one of the few characters who doesn't have any malicious tendencies or a fragile psyche, he was basically Maria's OnlyFriend and was constantly trying to cheer her up by telling her that her mother loved her very much and was busy working for her. [[spoiler:And then Rosa, their mother, goes and rips him apart right in front of Maria, then makes it worse by declaring to Maria "Sakutarou is dead", which made it impossible for Beatrice to revive him. At least until Ange managed to do so in 1998.]]
** Clair exists solely as yet another of Bernkastel's pieces, meant solely to shoulder the responsibilities and sins of Beatrice as her stand-in. Despite supposedly lacking a personality, she wishes for her counterpart [[spoiler: Lion Ushiromiya, the person that Yasu may have become if Natsuhi accepted the child instead of becoming Beatrice]] to be happy and live a happy life for her sake and all the Beatrices of every world. [[spoiler: She then asks for Will to kill her, now that her task is complete, only for Bernkastel to bring her back solely to gloat that Lion will die anyway, before having her guts torn out of her stomach.]]
** Beatrice [[spoiler:II's mother died giving birth to her. At a very young age she was shut in Kuwadorian and forbidden to leave. She grows up living a comfortable, but boring and empty life, knowing very little about the outside world and having only Kinzō and a few servants to talk to. While she is still a teenager, she is raped and impregnated by her maddened father, becoming a mother without understanding what's happening to her. And when her pre-teen half-sister finally comes to get her out of her prison, she doesn't get to spend 2 hours in the outside world before slipping off the cliff and dying anonymously, as though she had never existed. Even Rosa represses her memories of their meeting.]] In other words, she is pitiful from her birth to even after her death.
* {{Woolseyism}}: There are several moments that involve Japanese wordplay (like [[spoiler:the Epitath]] and a few riddles in Episode 8). The translation alters them slightly to make sense in English, while keeping the theme of the questions and the solutions the same.
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