Animation / Scissor Seven

"Hitman is the second oldest profession in the world. People have always been hateful little wieners. And where's there's hate, there's killing opportunities!"

— Dai Bo

Scissor Seven or Cike Wu Liqui AKA Killer Seven is an action/comedy ONA produced by AHA Entertainment that originally aired in China on April 25, 2018, but was released internationally on Netflix on January 10, 2020. The story centers around Seven, an amnesiac barber who aspires to become the world's greatest assassin. However, Seven fails every assignment either due to his sheer incompetence or being held back by his own conscience, much to the consternation of Seven's agent Dai Bo, a blue, sunglasses-wearing chicken and inventor of the Gai-Ba eggs, which allow Seven to transform into any object he wishes.

Seven will need to bring all his strength and wits to bear, because he will have to contend with all sorts of problems, including, but not limited to: Magical martial artists, superpowered beings, super-scientist soldiers, submarine pirates, violent gangs of talking musician dogs, rival barbers, and most difficult of all, getting a date with a female assassin who has made multiple attempts on his life. Just another day on Chicken Island.

Yep, one of those series.

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This series provides examples of:

• Absurdly Long Stairway: Technology is forbidden in Xuanwu, so everything has to be done by foot. Seven tries to circumvent this by using Xiao Fei... Except he can't fly ever since he was hurt in the battle against Red Tooth. This forces him to take the ludicrous amount of stairs to get to his objctive.
• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Justified through the liberal application of super-science and chi, but still!
• Achilles' Heel: A chunk of the techniques and or technology usually have one of these.
  • At first, Seven couldn't control his scissors if his hands were full (as he moves his fingers to order it around). Thirteen exploits this during their first fight.
  • King Pheasant's new Stanian Gear completly shuts down once the power is cut. And all it needs to do so is to cut a cord on his arm, which Seven and Xiao Fei achieve.
  • He Dachun's Indestructible Virgin makes his body as hard as metal, but as long as the technique isn't at its highest level a simple poke in the belly button deflates his entire body like a balloon, leaving him defenseless. Eleven and Red Tooth uses it against Dachun, and Seven uses that weakness to defeat Coach Chen in a single strike.
  • Black Bird appears near invincible, as his power makes him unable to feel any pain. But it also makes him sensitive to sunlight in his eyes. Seven exploits this to let his guard down and get good hits in.
• Action Girl: Thirteen is a prime example, being a skilled assassin. There is also Meow Kitty, Chairman Jiang and many more.
• Adult Adoptee: De Facto what Seven (who is 21) is to Dai Bo, after the latter admits that the story of them knowing each other since childhood is a lie, and that he picked him up on the beach 2 years ago. Dai Bo grows to care for Seven like family and is scared of Seven recovering his memories and leaving for good.
• Animation Evolution: While the animation of the show is already phenomenal with how smooth and dynamic it is, season 2 and onward amps this up by making the animation more consistent (season 1 had them kind of move like scribbles when it wasn't in between fights) and having more choreography in fights. This is due to the bigger budget of the later seasons. The animation is now like if Kill la Kill met Mob Psycho 100 and did a Fusion Dance!
• Amnesiac Hero: Seven himself. In the rare moments he actually stops to think, it's a source of some comedic angst as he has no history of his own. He eventually decides to recover his memories at the end of season 4, believing he must confront his past.
• Art Shift: While preferring a fluid simple art style, the animators change style a lot, especially during more serious moments. The OP of the first season is literally just this trope.
  • Season 2 goes even further, having moments of simple animation that contrast heavily with the highly detailed action. During more comedic fights, there are moments where the animation switches to something resembling Street Fighter II
• Back from the Dead: Red Tooth was practically killed by Green Phoenix. However, Chairman Jiang begged the Miraculous Doctor to save him. He was only able to slow down his death, but it gave Jiang enough time to carry Red Tooth to the Blood Demon's bloodspring, letting Red Tooth regenerate.
• Badass Boast: A fair share of those, usually from Seven. Whether or not he actually follows up on it depends on the situation.
  • A stand-out one in Season 3, as Seven "battles" Coach Bobi Chen. After the coach insults He Dachun for being weak and never breaking through level 2 of Indestructibility, Seven pauses and seriously tells the coach he can take him out in one strike. Coach laughs it off, swearing to give up if Seven actually does it. In a jaw-dropping moment, Seven exploits the Achilles' Heel of Indestructibility, and does just that.
  Seven: Dachun and I fought for an entire day and night, without a winner. But trust me. I can beat you with one strike.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Many Xuanwu martial artists don't use weapons. Chairman Jiang is one of them, using techniques from the Heaven Lily clan that don't require any weaponry. It does give her Kamehame Hadoken attacks, though.
  • Introduced in Season 3 is Ouyang Zan, a more traditional version of this trope. His fighting style revolves around shoving his thumbs into his enemies' articulations, which is more effective than one might think.
• Beautiful Singing Voice: Mad Bark, which he shows off in the second episode and serves as that episode's ending song. However he turned out to be Seven in disguise. Makes this Hilarious in Hindsight when Meow Kai reluctantly compliments Mad Bark's amazing love song... when Seven was the one actually singing.
  • Seven shows off his vocal chords again in season 2. Whether or not you like his voice, he still manages to successfully serenade Thirteen.
  • Subverted with Meow Kai, whose Sorrowful Magic Melody revolves around his singing, but he's not good at it. This doesn't stop the Magic Music from working, and the show switches to an actual singer for the musical montage.
• Becoming the Mask: Green Phoenix originally became Thirteen's master only because teaching her a Dual Wielding style helped him conceal his true speciality as a swordsman, which was necessary for his revenge plan. However, at the end of season four he chooses to abandon his only chance at revenge in order to rescue Thirteen and tells her how she could learn his one-sword style, showing that he has grown to truly care about his apprentice.
• Berserk Button: He Dachun really doesn't like seeing the ones he was hired to protect hurt. When escorting Eleven to her family house, she is kidnapped by the Aviator Faction. Upon entering their headquarters and seeing Eleven covered in wounds and bruises, he unleashes his Indestructibility and tanks all the assaults sent his way, eventually beating the acting-leader of the sect by making him crash.
  • Seven similarly does not enjoy seeing his loved ones hurt, usually serving as a catalyst for him to get serious. Don't insult his friends either, as Coach Chen can attest.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Being a comedy series, nearly every character is sily in some way, but also have some kind of super power up their sleeve, with Seven as its shining example. He's Book Dumb, impulsive, has Skewed Priorities, and appearance wise is described as ugly. But he can also control a sharp pair of scissors with his mind, and can get very creative with both it and his transformation eggs. And that's before mentioning he used to be one of the best killers in the world, and when he gets serious or in mortal danger, he's not afraid to unleash his Thousand Demon Daggers and the techniques hard-wired into his muscle memory.
• Bifurcated Weapon: Seven can split his scissors in two for multi-pronged attacks. Taken up to 11 with the Thousand Demon Daggers, which is nothing but hundreds of blade fragments held in place by force of will. Without proper application however, it's just a broken blade.
• The Big Damn Kiss: Played for laughs. Seven thwarts an attempt by Thirteen to grapple and stab from the side during a fight by pulling her further inwards to him. This results in them kissing, complete with pink blossom background, sappy music and even Thirteen popping her leg. Thirteen pulls away with a Luminescent Blush, and then knees Seven in the crotch hard enough to lift him off the floor. Turns out she's not amused. Not one bit.
• Blind Seer: The appropriately named Blind Sorcerer. A killer in service of Xuanwu who has visions of disastrous events, and makes it his mission to stop them from happening, only killing to protect the country. Two years ago, he has foresaw Seven killing the Beast Of Xuanwu, but was unable to stop him. With Seven on his way back to Xuanwu, the Blind Sorcerer once again foresaw that Seven would be the source of the greatest disaster Xuanwu would ever endure. To avoid it, he attempts to murder Seven. But Seven protecting Thirteen even under the effect of the Dark Frost Dagger and running away was not in his vision, confusing him greatly and making him take a step back.
• Bloodier and Gorier: The show isn't afraid to draw blood, both for comedy and dramatic effect. It only gets bloodier as the fights get more brutal, or whenever Red Tooth shows up.
• Bloody Murder: Red Tooth's specialty. He can use his claws to throw blood projectiles, and bite into his opponents to suck out their blood for more power, and to regenerate. The more powerful the victim, the more power he gets.
• Bullet Catch: Thirteen's father is shown doing this in the first OVA.
  • Parodied. Seven makes it look like he caught a bullet between the blades of his scissors when an assassin attempts to shoot him with a hidden gun. In actually the bullet hit Seven's own hidden projectile weapon, having failed to fire first. He simply put it between his scissors before the guy realized what happened.
• Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: Seven has the pervy streak of what you'd expect of a twenty-one-year-old virgin, but he treats Thirteen with respect and politeness. He even gets morbidly embarrassed at the thought of her having seen him change clothes.
  Seven: I think you're really pretty and I respect you as a woman and as a fighter!
• Cat/Dog Dichotomy: Zig-zagged. At first the enmity between Meow and Mad Bark appears to be this, but their relationship is ultimately revealed to be more complicated than that.
• The Chessmaster: Green Phoenix has been pulling strings in the background to further his own agenda: killing the Leader of the Shadow Killers. This included killing Red Tooth, letting Seven Take The Heat and sending him to Xuanwu, ordering Thirteen to poison him with the Dark Frost Dagger, and letting him run wild. The chaos distracted the other Shadow Killers, allowing Green Phoenix to duel The Leader to the death without interference.
• Childhood Friends: What Dai Bo and Seven were before the latter lost his memories, or so Dai Bo says. It's a lie, to which Dai Bo admits to at the end of season 1. Nonetheless, Seven is grateful to Dai Bo for taking him in.
• Cerebus Syndrome: The series takes itself more and more seriously as time goes on... which is almost impressive with a series this wacky. In particular, the first two O.V.A. are among the darkest episodes of the show.
  • Notably, this also happens by the end of most episodes, as the emotional context behind most of Seven's "assassinations" become clear.
• Chatty Hairdresser: Seven often has small talk with his clients, some of which serve as gags or exposition. From teasing Spring Wind Ichiro, getting info from He Dachun, or receiving a magazine from Cheap Hua.
• Chasing a Butterfly: When Seven and Dai Bo attempt to sneak past two guards in Xuanwu, they transform into butterflies and fly pasts them... only for those same guards to start chasing them, nets in hands and stars in their eyes.
• Child Prodigy: Seven was one, joining the Shadow Killers at only 15 years old. He then acquired the Thousand Demon Dagger at 16, killed the King of Stan at 17, and slayed the Beast of Xuanwu at 18. He is understandably feared far and wide in Xuanwu for those reasons.
• Children Are Tender-Hearted: When Dai Bo and Xiao Fei arrive on Chicken Island for the first time, they spot a young man washed up on the beach, bleeding to death from an open wound. Dai Bo, hating humans, refuses to help and walks away. Xiao Fei stays behind and starts jumping on the boy's chest in a cardiac massage like maneuver. Dai Bo reluctantly agrees to help, and they bring the young man to a doctor. This was how the two of them met Seven.
• City of Adventure: Chicken Island. Full of many colorful individuals for many colorful days of trouble.
• Code of Honour: In the form of the Killer Rules. Seven rigorously adhered to them during his time as a Shadow Killer, refusing to kill or get involved in anything that wasn't a mission. It is implied by doing so, he ignored a woman who was eventually killed by a monster, which affected him deeply for reasons still unclear.
  • Shadow Killers are forbidden from killing each other. This however doesn't stop Red Tooth from bullying the newcomer. To avoid the repercussions of that rule, Green Phoenix finishes off Red Tooth and lets Seven take the kill, since Seven already betrayed the Shadow Killers, allowing Green Phoenix to retain his cover.
• Comically Missing the Point: Seven very frequently does this, from assuming the hair gel weapon from Dai Bo means they should focus more on the salon, to believing Captain Jack showed up at said salon for a haircut or just to see him.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Seven is a terrible hitman, but his memories of being an unstoppable assassin resurface whenever he's in mortal danger. It should be noted he's only bad at killing people but when it comes to protecting people, he becomes incredibly badass. He only gets stronger and funnier as the series goes on.
• Criminal Amnesiac: Zigg-zagged with Seven. While Dai Bo is using him as a cut-rate cutthroat, neither of them are villains or even particularly bad people most of the time. Furthermore, it's all but stated that Seven was an assassin even before losing his memories. This become a heavy source of angst as his past starts catching up to him, and threatening his new life.
• Cunning Like a Fox: The appropriately named White Fox of the Shadow Killers. To take Seven down and lure him out, he takes the long road by going to Chicken Island, finding Seven's friends, calling Seven to threaten him, laying low for a bit... Before causing chaos, and basically taking the entire island hostage.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Played for Laughs: Dai Bo himself mentioned he could have made millions off his invention instead of giving them to a klutz like Seven. Except it's implied he tinkered with scavenged S.T.A.N. tech. And possibly mixed it with Xuanwu's chi magic. Neither faction takes patent infringement well.
• Defusing the Tyke-Bomb: What eventually happened as the result of Seven's amnesia. Letting him restart a life away from killing and death, becoming a person of his own outside of his old work.
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: After Eleven is captured by the Flying Bird Sect, Dachun eventually catches up and shows up at their doorstep. The acting leader of the sect Bai Zhuoxia (who attempted to court Eleven in the past) mocks him as being her "stupid boyfriend"... Before getting mad that she didn't choose him. His underling lampshades this.
  Bai Zhuoxia: So this is your stupid boyfriend. Why didn't you just choose me!?
  Sir, you're saying that out loud...
  [Beat]
  Bai Zhuoxia: (Makes an Art Shift Determined Expression)
• Dual Wielding: Thirteen's technique of choice, using two blades, one for each hand, and even one at the tip of her braid. Seven is also capable of this, separating his scissors and wielding each blade in each hand. Green Phoenix uses this as well. However, this isn't his specialty.
• Enforced Technology Levels: The nation of Xuanwu is a self-inflicted example. They reject modern technology out of a belief that doing so will make them stronger martial artists. This naturally makes them mortal enemies of S.T.A.N.
• Family of Choice: Dai Bo and Xiao Fei are not related by blood, the latter being the son of the deceased best friend of the former, but care for each other like a father and son. Against his better judgement and revenge, Dai Bo sees Seven that way as well, which Seven reciprocates. Xiao Fei adores Seven, and Seven cares greatly for Xiao Fei and Dai Bo. All of them being willing to risk their life for one another... when they're not scolding each other.
• Flight: As expected of a series with many martial arts and tech, a lot of characters are able to do some form of this. A stand out among them being the Flying Bird Sect, which has a technique letting its user create magic wings, a technique Eleven uses. The Flying Bird Sect give her chase, believing that she stole the technique along with a sacred text. It was actually a gift from their acting chief.
• Flying Weapon: Seven can telekinetically control his scissors, as well as his katana when his memories return, or when he gets serious. Green Phoenix and Thirteen are also capable of this.
• Forbidden Love: Within the Heaven Lily clan, relationships and love is forbidden, which lead to the very messy situation between Chairman Jiang and Quan, now Red Tooth. Both of them were disciples of that clan that fell in love with each other, but Jiang turned down running away with him to become next head of the clan. Quan, sick and tired of the clan that mistreated him, freed the Blood Demon and caused chaos. Jiang saved his life, was punished for it with Rapid Aging, they both left, and went their separate ways. Reunited in season 2, Quan became Red Tooth, and sought out Jiang to undo a seal placed onto him. He almost dies by Seven and Green Phoenix hands, but Jiang once again saves his life. By season 4 they made a deal, in exchange for his seal being undone, Red Tooth had to protect Chicken Island in Jiang's stead. It's implied their feelings for each other are still very much alive, but the circumstances, Jiang's guilt and Red Tooth's Demonic Possession Sanity Slippage makes it very complicated.
• Funny Animal: Many characters, including Mad Dog, Meow Kitty, Xiao Fei and Dai Bo.
• Gag Haircut: Seven's victims, and we're not talking about his assassination targets!
  • SMT Hairtsyling Art and Design in season 2 specialise in a trendy version of this.
• Heel Realization: The Prince of Stan is hit with this during season 3. Upon seeing the life outside of STAN, the hatred the inhabitants of Superpower Country has towards him for his crimes in the name of science, and accidently hurting Cola, he starts to reconsider his moral standing.
  The Prince of STAN: Maybe... we were wrong.
• Heir Club for Men: Thirteen's father was a powerful swordsman that had thirteen daughters, and refused to pass down his swordsmanship to any of them, believing women could never reach the peak of martial arts. Growing bitter, he eventually had an affair that finally allowed him to conceive a boy.
• Hulking Out: Dai Bo's King of Chickens form. He eventually learns to transform at will.
• I Am Not a Gun: Once Seven discovers that he used to be a Shadow Killer, it becomes his motivation to free himself from the Killer League to live his new life in peace, by killing the Leader of the Shadow Killers. However, he betrayed the organization before losing his memories, so every single assassin wants his head, making the task difficult.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Turns out Green Phoenix's Dual Wielding isn't his specialty, or his most refined fighting style. He purposely hid that fact to stay undercover within the Shadow Killers, to then unleash his true strength onto the Leader.
• I Didn't Mean to Turn You On: During a relatively tense moment, to treat Seven's injuries, Thirteen bluntly requests him to take off his clothes. Cue Seven blushing ear to ear complete with little hearts.
  Seven: Huh? Am I getting lucky!?
• If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: Parodied - to prove his "merciless" mettle, Seven tries to kill a cat (which scratches him), a fish (which slaps him and flops away), and an earthworm (He misses and cuts his finger instead.) Dai Bo gives him the certification anyway.
• Improbable Weapon User: Seven and his scissors, and also Thirteen, who has a spearhead braided into her hair which she uses like a manriki-kusari.
• In Love with the Mark: Against her better judgement, what ends up happening to Thirteen towards Seven, even when she tried to kill him twice. Her master, Green Phoenix, acknowledges this and warns her via an ultimatum: Give up on Seven and leave him to his fate, or take his side but lose her status as an assassin. After attempting to go for the former, she finds herself unable to do so, and takes Seven's side, saving his life.
• Ignore The Fan Service: He Dachun brings it to an art form. Being completely blind to Eleven's attempts to butter him up. Doesn't stop the two from working together to get to the Plum Blossom family house, and surpisingly getting along rather well.
  Eleven: What kind of man doesn't want money or sex..?
• Interspecies Romance: Episode 2 has one between a Dog and a Cat, though this ends up being played for drama as Meow wants kids but a Dog and Cat cannot breed. Xiao Fei is a half chicken half pigeon bird, so his birth is the result of this as well.
• Iron Butt Monkey: Seven's main asset is not his telekinetic control of scissors, nor the transformation eggs, but his sheer ability to take absurd amounts of punishment.
• Just Friends: Somehow played for both laughs and drama for Meow Kai, as his crush, Meow Kitty, is in love with Mad Bark. It prompts him to attempt to prove himself stronger than Mad Bark, but it only ends with Meow Kitty turning him down for good. Lampshaded by Seven to add salt in the wound.
  Meow Kitty: You have nothing to prove... You're a nice guy.
  Seven: Oh damn, friendzone.
• Kill It Through Its Stomach: One of the most brutal and bloody attacks shown by the series thus far, done by Seven of all people. Black Bird has a hole on his belly letting him shoot projectiles, Seven uses his Thousand Demon Daggers and sends every shard of it inside the hole... before shredding Black Bird as the shards bursts through his skin from the inside out. This techique even has a name: the Thousand Blade Rend.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia Zig-Zagged: While Seven seems like the typical "no-memories-but-know-how-to-fight" amnesiac, the fact he becomes so much more competent whenever he briefly remembers his past implies his skills have either been severely retarded by his amnesia, or that he's had to redevelop them from scratch. He is still able to tap into his old memories when he is in mortal danger, letting him see flashes of his old self and guide him to the conclusion of what sort of person he used to be.
• Legendary Weapon: The Thousand Demon Dagger, made for offense rather than defense. It is made of a thousand pieces of metal that can all be individually controlled by chi. This can let it pass through obstacles, extend its length, or be used as a projectile. In incompetent hands however, it is but a cracked blade. It is the most treasured weapon of the Godly Smiths (Shenduen), and guarded by a demon. Seven, searching for the best weapon to use, was told of its existence and location by Green Phoenix. He got his hands on it and became its weilder at 16. So far, he is the only one who has been able to use it.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Anytime Seven gets serious, has his hair down, or his eyes glow red, it means he stops screwing around and someone should be prepared to recieve a beatdown. This usually erupts when he's in mortal danger, or when he's protecting someone.
  Seven: Let's dance, ding dong.
• Littlest Cancer Patient: Cola is one of those, but much more cheerful than a normal example of this trope. Since she knows she's going to die at some point, she prefers to enjoy every moment and have fun than to be miserable.
• Lohengrin and Mendelssohn: When Seven is trapped at Dali, he is forced to either kill the Ugly Master or get married and have kids. Right after he asks what would happen if he can't kill the Ugly Master... the Wedding March starts to build up to Seven's confusion and abruptly cuts to Seven in a suit about to be married to a random girl. The music stops as he quickly rips off the suit and asserts he'll kill the Ugly Master.
  Seven: Ok, fine. Give me a few days and I'll kill him.
• Love at First Punch: Seven develops an interest in Thirteen while she's in the middle of... attempting to kill him. His feelings only grow, and so does hers, the more they meet, sometimes battle, and protect each other from third parties.
• Love Makes You Stupid: Seven is already not that bright, but when it comes to Thirteen, his IQ somehow manages to get even lower, if the entry above didn't show this off already. Hilarity Ensues.
• Love Redeems: Another recurring element in the series, covering both romantic and platonic love.
  • Seven performed his pre-amnesia Heel–Face Turn to protect a still unamed girl. She repaid his kindness by stabbing him in the back.
  • Dai Bo originally wanted to make humans fear his very name, and make them kill each other just like they did to chickens. He gives up on the idea as he becomes attached to Seven and finds happiness with his new family.
  • Thirteen is eventually faced with an ultimatum by her master of either leave Seven to his fate and bury her feelings for him forever, or save him at the cost of becoming an enemy of the Killer League. She attempts to go through with the former, but finds herself unable to do so, saving Seven's life in the end.
  Thirteen: Master. I'm sorry... I can't do it.
• Low Culture, High Tech: S.T.A.N. is basically a feudal empire run by Mad Scientists. When they want something, one of their princes tries to claim it with robot armies and power armor, with little regard for collateral damage beyond a "run or die" warning.
• Magic Music: The Sorrowful Magic Melody makes all who hear it enter a trance like state where they start acting like the protagonist of a sad music video, making them vulnerable. However, its effect stops when it isn't played anymore. This crosses both into hilarity and tragedy. Its weilder, Meow Kai, was taught this technique by the Nine-Fingered Dreadful Melody specifically because it suited him.
• The Magic Versus Technology War: The two superpowers seeking to dominate the world are an entire country of Arrogant Kung Fu Guys with Ki Manipulation versus an entire country of Feudal Future Mad Scientists, with regular civilians caught in the crossfire.
• Mind over Matter: Seven can control his scissors with the power of his chi alone, as well as the Thousand Demon Daggers. Thirteen and her Master are capable of controlling their blades the same way as well.
• Mistaken for Gay: When Captain Jack shows up at Seven's hair salon, Seven assumes it's for a haircut, but Captain Jack then asserts his hairdo is already perfect. Seven then wonders if Captain Jack showed up just to see him. Jack promptly tells him to shut the hell up.
• Moral Guardians: The Island Decency Union, who are willing to kill for sake of propriety.
• Mundane Utility: Parodied. Yes, Seven can use his assassin skills to cut hair... to the point that they wish they were assassinated instead!
• Murder by Mistake: Downplayed. Seven's first mission is to cut the hair of a bride on her wedding day... but he gets distracted and ends up cutting the groom's hair first.
• Murder, Inc.: The Killers League, the largest assassin organization, complete with even a yearly ranking.
  • Even higher than the Killers League is The Shadow Killers, the cream of the crop of killing. Seven was once a member of their ranks. Thirteen's master, Green Phoenix, is one of them as well along with 5 other members and the Leader.
• My Greatest Failure: Many characters are plagued somehow or another by one of these.
  • Thirteen is haunted by the death of her mother, whom she had failed to protect against assassins. She then seeked strength under Green Phoenix's tutelage to Never Be Hurt Again.
  • Seven, or at least him before his memory loss, has, by adherring to the Killer Rules, let a woman die by the hands of a monster, which affected him deeply enough to fly into Theme Music Power-Up mode as soon as he lives a moment reminiscent of it.
  • Chairman Jiang still feels guilty about being responsible for Quan's, now Red Tooth's Start of Darkness, and the downfall of the Heaven Lily clan. The two of them having been disciple in that same clan, they developped feelings for each other, but Jiang turned down eloping with him to become next head of the clan. Heartbroken and mistreated by his fellow disciples, he releases the Blood Demon the clan has kept locked away and attacked the clan. Unable to let him die, Jiang saves his life, but is punished for it. She then left the clan with Quan, leaving the Heaven Lily without a next in line, which lead to its slow downfall and collapse.
  • The Blind Sorcerer had foresaw Seven killing the Beast Of Xuanwu, but was unable to stop him. When Seven steps foot in Xuanwu once again, the Blind Sorcerer is determined to kill him to prevent disaster from striking Xuanwu again.
• Never Mess with Granny: One of Seven's targets is a manipulative Grandmother who proceeds to put him through the ringer, followed by a disturbing dominatrix whipping. Gang members even light a cigarette for her!
  • The head of the Island Decency Union, Chairman Jiang, also counts, able to beat seven in a straight fight and deflect a tech-powers Kamehame Hadoken while being a prudish middle-aged lady... somewhat.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Dai Bo, being Seven's employer, trainer, and a chicken. Xiao Fei as well, being a chicken/pigeon hybrid capable of flight who assists Seven in escaping from hairy situations.
• No-Sell: Next to nothing can hurt someone using the Indestructible Virgin technique (aside from a poke in the belly button, but that weakness disapears at highest level). Taken to ridiculous and hilarious degrees in He Dachun's battle against the Flying Bird Sect, in which he No Sells their attacks for a day and a half until their weapons are in pieces and they are too exhuasted to continue.
• Old Master: Subverted, as Green Phoenix, Thirteen's master, is only 27 at the series' beginning, he also joined the Shadow Killers and took in Thirteen as his student at 21.
• Parental Neglect: If the fact that the head of the Plum Blossom house called his thirteenth daughter Thirteen and his eleventh daughter Eleven showed he didn't care much about them, then what will? Believing women could not reach the peak of martial arts, he refused to teach any of them or acknowledge their efforts. When Eleven asked her father to protect her from bullies, he told her to fight them herself and walked away. Upon finally having a son, Thirteen's mother left the house with her daughter. Whether she was kicked out or left by her own decision is unknown.
• The Paralyzer: Cola has the ability to freeze any member of the opposite sex as long as she's touching them. She usually uses this as Blackmail.
• Parental Substitute: Dai Bo serves this role to Xiao Fei and eventually Seven. The former being adopted after Da Fei, Xiao Fei's father and Dai Bo's best friend, perished. And the latter evetually becoming part of the Family of Choice as Dai Bo stopped seeing him as a tool for revenge.
  • In a tragic twist, Green Phoenix is one to Thirteen. Having taught her and taken care of her since the death of her mother. This is exploited by The Leader, who places Thirteen in danger purposely to stop Green Phoenix from attempting to kill him.
• Pass the Popcorn: A recurring gag when it comes to the dramatic love story between Mad Bark and Meow Kitty.
  • When Mad Bark starts talking about his past and his breakup with Meow Kitty, as they could not have children together, Seven is munching on popcorn, even tossing some at Mad Bark's dog comrades.
  • It makes a comeback as Meow Kai confesses his love to Meow Kitty and tells his story. Once again, Seven is munching on popcorn in the back, eventually joined by Dai Bo and Xiao Fei. He even makes comments!
    Seven (talking with his mouth full of popcorn): Oh yeah, this is my shit!
• Power Copying: Seven is rather fond of using techniques he saw others do, but they aren't nearly as strong as the originals. Nonetheless, it often comes in handy, especially the Solid As Gold Seven Day Lock taken from DaChun.
  Seven: (High Imitation) Solid As Gold Seven Day Lock!
• The Power of Rock: Mad Bark's fighting style.
• Pretty Boy: In a twist, the protagonist Seven is not one, or at least not seen as one in universe.
  • Dali is a country where every guy there is one. But when Seven sets foot there, they have all been uglified by the Ugly Master.
  • Ouyang Zan and Green Phoenix are the closest the series has gotten to one, not being as buff or cartoony as the other men of the series, and having very long hair.
  • Red Tooth of all people used to be one before his Demonic Possession.
• Psycho Serum: The Dark Frost Dagger. After being stabbed with it, it melted into Seven's body, and slowly turned him feral. He manages to resists it, but he urgently needed treatment in order for the poison to be purged.
• Red Baron: All the Shadow Killers are this. Known by their codename/moniker, and feared approprietely for their skill. Seven of all people, was one of them. In the past, he could terrify others so bad, they would be frozen in fear and Seven would just walk right past them without resistance. He still manages to give some serious scares to assassins he meets during season 3.
• Rapid Aging: The punishment inflicted on Chairman Jiang by the Heaven Lily leader for - 1. Having developed feelings for a man within the clan, which is forbidden - and 2. Saving that same man who released the Blood Demon the clan was keeping locked up. She accepted it with dignity, and her master was heartbroken to be forced by clan rules to do this to her. Chairman Jiang then left the clan with the man, who would become Red Tooth.
• Revenge: Being a show about assassins, this is a recurring character motive.
  • Dai Bo harbored a hatred for humans for a very long time, and wanted to see them kill each other just like they made chickens do. Finding Seven and taking him in was to use him as a tool for that revenge. He eventually gave up on achieving it, finding happiness in his new life alongside Xiao Fei and Seven, whom he considers family.
  • Captain Jack seeks to find the one who inflicted him the wound on his chest, and defeat him to overcome his trauma. Seven was the one, but he cannot remember. Jack still battles him, angered that Seven isn't even able to recall the ordeal. Seven appeases Captain Jack's fury by injuring himself the same way he did to him... and makes him leave by cutting his hair.
    Seven: It's an eye for an eye.
  • Ouyang Zan which Seven meets in Xuanwu is none other than the student of one of Seven's assassination victims. Zan realizes this upon seeing Seven's token, but helps him anyway. He then visits his master's grave, and starts tracking down Seven "for answers". Whether or not it goes farther than that is yet to be seen.
    Ouyang Zan: Master... I've found the man who killed you.
  • This turns out to be Green Phoenix's entire motivation. The Leader of the Shadow Killers has killed his entire family, and Green Phoenix joined the Shadow Killers to seek the opportunity to kill him. He pretended being a Dual Wielding specialist, and took in Thirteen to thicken his cover. Upon discovering Seven was alive, he believed he would be an obstacle to his revenge and tasked Thirteen to kill him. Finding out Seven was amnesiac, he saw an opportunity: He tricked Seven into going to Xuanwu, ordered Thirteen to poison him with the Dark Frost Dagger, and let him run wild, distracting the Shadow Killers, and letting Green Phoenix confront the Leader without interference. But Green Phoenix couldn't finish him off, as he escaped the battle to save Thirteen, letting his one opportunity for revenge pass by.
• Shout-Out:
  • In Episode 5, Phoenix Wright from the Ace Attorney games can be seen in a crowd of people.
  • In Episode 8, He Dachun's badge number 9527, in his introduction, is a reference to Stephen Chow's Flirting Scholar.
  • In Season 2 Episode 3, the first minute has multiple: the beggar character is an obvious reference to a similar charcter in Kung Fu Hustle down to the five secret martial arts books he tries to use to pay for the haircut; Seven briefly imitates Kenshiro, complete with catchphrase, one of the five secret martial arts books, the second from the right, is for the Kamehameha.
  • Season 3 Episode 7 has SpongeBob SquarePants-style time cards.
• Shear Menace: Downplayed Seven's choice of weapon is in fact a pair of scissors... a standard-size pair of scissors, even if they are absurdly sharp, and they bear his name! They shatter at the end of season 1, but Thirteen gives him a new, even sharper pair.
• Shirtless Scene: He Dachun has the habit of taking off his jacket to use his Indestructibility, letting the audiance take in his abs. Seven ends up shirtless a fair amount as well, but there's sadly not much to see aside from sometimes his pecs. Dachun's home country, Rock Hard, is just full of buff men being shirtless all the time.
• Simple Score of Sadness: Weaponized, as the Sorrowful Magic Melody. When one of Meow Kai's play, expect a musical section, usually with lyrics about being Just Friends.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: The reason Thirteen eventually reciprocates Seven's feelings. Having failed to protect her mother led her to seek strength to Never Be Hurt Again. Seeing his earnest desire to protect, both his loved ones and her, and how far he would go for it, touches her immensely, enough to let him off the hook multiple times and eventually returning the favor.
• Skewed Priorities: It appears Seven loves pulling this, especially when it comes to Thirteen.
  • While battling the Prince Of Stan, Seven is more concerned to know if Thirteen has his email.
  • After Thirteen reveals that there is a bounty on habitants of Chicken Island, and that her Master wants Seven dead, he thinks about what he should wear for his beach date.
  • During said beach date, while poisoned, and with Dachun and Eleven battling in the background, he starts reading a hairstylist magazine, which funnily enough, is actually a martial arts magazine, which teaches to refine his chi and purge the poison in his system.
  • While bleeding out from an open wound caused by Eleven, he still boots up a track to serenade Thirteen (and it's working!).
• Suicide by Assassin: Cola, one of Seven's clients, hired Seven to kill her because she has cancer and would rather die a flashy death people will talk about rather than in a hospital bed.
• Supernatural Martial Arts:To counter STAN, an empire of technology and science, Xuanwu is a land of martial arts and killers. Said martial arts includes all forms of magic from energy manipulation to telekinesis and so on and so forth.
• Totally Not a Criminal Front: Dai Bo and Seven run their assassination business out of a hair salon. Played for laughs in that Seven will reveal his "cover" to anyone who so much as asks, even when in character as an assassin.
• Trauma Button: Two of them for Seven.
  • Being close to death makes his old memories kick in as a defense mechanism, stemming from the fact he already almost died.
  • In season 2, upon seeing Thirteen about to be attacked by Captain Jack, he has a Flashback to a woman getting killed by a Xuanwu monster. This immediately wakes him up and makes him unleash hell onto Captain Jack.
• Trouser Space: Seven tends to keep most of his gear in his shorts... including his scissors. A bold move to be sure.
• Took A Level In Bad Ass: Seven obviously starts to gain more experience during season 2 and 3 to the point he's able to fight even while poisoned during Season 3's finale. He continues down this road, showing some serious badassery and skill during his battle with Black Bird at the start of season 4.
• Tyke Bomb: Is implied to be what Seven is. As he mentions in a Flashback that killing is all he's ever known.
• Victory Pose: Invoked and done by Da Chun, complete with a title card, to Eleven's confusion.
  Da Chun: But first, a finishing pose!
  Eleven: Huh?
  Cue Da Chun breaking the Flying Bird Sect sign with a kick with the title card "An Iron Man With A Gentle Mind"
• Virgin Power: He Dachun, whose technique is called the Indestructible Virgin, though whether or not it has actually anything to do with virginity is still unknown. Turns out this technique is popular in Dachun's home country: Rock Hard, and it has multiple levels. Dachun himself is at level 7.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Gai-Ba Eggs, which allow Seven to shape-shift into anything he can imagine.
  Dai Bao: But you won't gain their abilities or actually become these things so don't be gross ok?
• World of Badass: The notable characters who aren't major bad-asses can be counted on one hand.
• Would Hurt a Child: Dai Bo has no problem tackling a kid out of the soup stand with a headbutt.
  • Seven is hired to kill a young girl named Cola who is actually the one who hired him. Subverted when Seven spares her life, and gets her a doctor.
  • When Seven became a Shadow Killer at 15 years old, Red Tooth wasted no time provoking him into doing the assassin equivalent of bullying the newcomer at the workplace, which included biting his shoulder and sucking out his blood. Green Phoenix had to break up the fight before it went further.
  • Years ago, Eleven attempted to murder her seven-year-old brother out of hatred for her father and clan. Thirteen intervened, thwarting the attempt.
• Yandere: Manjusaka from the Shadow Killers. She "always liked" Seven, and feels jealous when he treats other women better. When he went missing after protecting a girl, and betraying the Killer League in the process, she murdered the girl. Crosses into Squick territory knowing that Seven was 15 years old when he first became a Shadow Killer. She apparently liked Green Phoenix at some point as well.
• Younger Than They Look: Chairman Jiang looks like a middle aged lady, but it is revealed that her aged appearance is a punishement inflicted upon her by the leader of the Heaven Lily clan, she's actually much younger.

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