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The Still Waters Series is a group of stories set in an alternate version of the Negima! Magister Negi Magi universe written by Redpbass.

Still Waters Run Deep: In the city of Mahora in early June of 2003, a stranger appears, looking for a certain girl. The initially minor changes brought about by this new presence quickly create a ripple effect, and the story takes a path divergent from canon as things rapidly go out of control.

Still Waters 2: Another Turn: Now that the incidents from before have been dealt with, the school tries to fall back into its old rhythm. However, miles and miles away in a secret location, a team of scientists and engineers are poring over the remains of a certain robot with potential military applications...

Still Waters 3, Book 1: The year is 2009, and Negi's old class has graduated from high school. Still a teacher at Mahora, Negi has had many students over the years, and has achieved a reputation among the faculty for being the perfect teacher for all of Mahora's less ordinary students. After taking a year off to recover and help out at an archaeological site in Tibet, Negi returns to Mahora, ready to take the reins again as a new class waits in his old classroom. But, due to events at the end of Still Waters 2, Negi's old class is coming back to town, older, wiser...and more powerful. This story is different from the others in the series. Much longer, it has been split into individual books, with the second just having been started at the time of this writing.

Still Waters 3, Book 2: With the vampiric intruder to Mahora dealt with, life returns to normal as the city prepares for the upcoming Mahora Festival. But with summer, and the time for Negi to answer Fate's challenge from so long ago, rapidly approaches, hard decisions must be made, and those who wish to go must finish what they can on Mundus Vetus before the time comes.

In addition to these, there are a number of shorter stories and story collections (found along with the main stories of the series on the author's profile page at fanfiction.net) which take place during and between the three main entries in the series.


These stories contain examples of:

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    General 
  • Academy of Adventure: Mahora, without a doubt. From psycho fire mages to robot armies invading to vampires enslaving delinquents, it seems that the campus can hardly go for more than three months without some weirdo showing up.
  • Action Girl: Too many to count; virtually every girl in the series with any decent amount of screen time tends to fall into this.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Several examples in the main stories, especially the first, which is largely A Day In The Limelight for Akira.
  • All There in the Manual: Much of the information about character backgrounds, newly developed powers, certain events, and other things can be found in the various short stories and story collections. The writer encourages the readers to ask questions, and will confirm or deny anything asked short of major spoilers.
  • Alternate Timeline: Starting with the arrival of Max in Mahora to Akira's kidnapping prompting the delay of the magic world arc as everyone decides to rescue her to the events of Still Waters 2 pushing things further...yeah, it's a full blown alternate timeline by the time Still Waters 3 rolls around.
  • Always In Class 1
  • Amplifier Artifact: The pactio artifacts, as well as the occasional magic item such as the mask from the story The Ace of Spades.
  • Amusing Injuries: Happens from time to time, often to Konoemon by Shizuna via flying clipboard.
  • Apocalypse How: Class Z, type 2: the Utter Annihilation of Everything. This is what Chisame is fighting against, as revealed in Still Waters 3: Book 2, in the early chapter Intermission: Chisame's Story. Exact details are notably lacking, but it appears that some being called "The Adversary" is literally eating reality, and the job of Chisame, and the people in Hodge's Bar before her, is to fight it. Exactly why any of reality still exists is a good question at this point, one that the author swears will be properly revealed in due time.
  • Backstory: Most of the side stories serve as backstory for various characters.
  • Badass Crew: Everyone gathered around Negi, basically.
  • Bash Brothers: There are several examples through the stories.
    • Max and Jennifer are hinted to be like this in Still Waters 2.
    • Taro and Possum are like this in Still Waters 3, as shown in various instances, usually in the side stories.
  • Battle Aura: This is pretty common among the ki-users.
  • Battle Couple: There are several of these: Konoka and Setsuna, Max and Akira and Jennifer, Natsumi and Kotarou...
  • Battle Harem: Pretty much every girl Negi has ever taught has been part of his massive battle harem at one point or another, though few have grown as close as the first class he taught.
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. While most of the female characters stay out of physical fights, those who do get in them often end up with bruises, cuts, scrapes, and other injuries, though they are usually quickly tended to by healing magic.
  • BFS: Almost anyone who uses a sword that's not a katana uses one of these.
  • Black Magic: This is generally illegal among the mage community due to the danger it represents to both the user and those around him.
  • Breather Episode: When you see one of these, something seriously bad has just gone down, or will shortly.
  • By the Power of Grayskull!: The magic activation keys, as well as "Adeat", the word used to activate a pactio card.
  • Cards of Power: The pactio cards.
  • Character-Magnetic Team: Negi has over sixty pactios by Still Waters 3, and picks up new friends and allies with every class he teaches. It's gotten to the point where the group actively tries to get people to go to other places, creating connections to quite a large number of places and organizations.
  • Clothing Damage: This happens from time to time when a battle gets particularly rough.
  • Darker and Edgier: All three of the main stories have elements of this, with several people in each dying horribly or suffering terrible fates.
  • Deadly Training Area: Eva's resort certainly qualifies, especially with some of the updates she's made between stories.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Assuming the enemy survives or was a complete monster.
  • Delinquents: They show up all the time, and are treated like mooks.
  • Ecchi: Not as much as in the manga.
  • Elemental Powers: This is an important aspect of the series, especially in Still Waters 1.
  • Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: The interaction between elements shows up quite often among Elementals (people who have a special connection with an element) and the way they interact with each other.
  • Expy: Several characters are expies of characters from other shows.
  • Fantastic Fighting Style: The Shinmeiryu and Urashima-ryu fighting styles.
  • Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Naturally (considering the source material), but expanded even further.
  • Fictional Document: There are several; Dog Boy Koujirou and Magical Teacher Onion-sensei are both manga written by Haruna, and The End Time Prophecies, an enormous collection of prophecies with dozens upon dozens of volumes compiled by Merlin IV, hundreds of years ago.
  • Floating Continent: Ostia. It is rumored that the Oni have their own version, but nobody's ever seen it.
  • For Want Of A Nail: This is basically how the Still Waters series works; Max Linell's arrival in Still Waters 1 is enough to distort the timeline to the point where they never even go to the magic world.
  • Generic Cuteness: This is in effect throughout all the stories, and is even lampshaded in a way when, in the first chapter of Meet The New Class, Haruna makes a comment about how all of Negi's students are attractive.
  • Magical Incantation: More implied than shown; the author tends to only use the name of the spell when characters cast magic for the sake of ease of reading.
  • Muscles Are Meaningless: Very few characters actually look as strong as they are.
  • Mutually Exclusive Magic: Different magic styles are extremely difficult to learn due to the way magic works; using ki is a totally different thing as well.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Six years' worth between Still Waters 1 and 2, and Still Waters 3.
  • Our Demons Are Different: They mostly resemble those appearing in the manga, though youkai and oni are differentiated from actual demons, though they all have common roots. Demon society, based in Mundus Diabolicus, is ruled by a Demon King and features an extensive class system based on lineage, though anyone with the will and the power can try to depose the current Demon King and take his/her place. Youkai society is similar, but looser and based in Mundus Magicus. The oni are a dying race and have very little cohesion at this point in time. They are based in the region known as 'The Oni Lands' in the south of Mundus Magicus, though there is also a sizable population in Kyoto and several other areas on Earth.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: They are separated into two main types: Common Dragons and True Dragons. Common Dragons (further subdivided into Greater and Lesser Dragons) are the sort found everywhere in Mundus Magicus which are not sentient, while True Dragons are extremely rare, highly intelligent, and capable of great magic. The ancient dragon riders are thought to have ridden True Dragons, though the more modern version rides purpose-bred dragons that are a pale imitation of the real thing.
  • Our Elves Are Different: The elves of Mundus Magicus live for several centuries, have intelligence roughly on par with humans, and tend to have a good grasp of magic, warfare, or anything else they do, simply because they've been doing it for centuries. They can be incredibly stubborn or slow to adapt at times, but they aren't stupid; if presented with good evidence against an already decided course of action, they have no problem changing their minds.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: Each ghost really is different; they tend to appear as they did at the time of death, but some may not. Some have feet, while others don't. Basically, the way they look is the way the culture they're from expects them to look, colored by each ghost's own feelings on the matter. Only the most powerful ghosts can make themselves appear before a human, though sufficiently powerful Mediums can see ghosts and interact with them. Word of God says it's unknown why some people become ghosts when they die and some people don't, but it's probably got something to do with their own expectations and fears of what happens after death, or whether or not they had something to keep them from moving on. They can also be sealed inside objects, as mentioned in Still Waters 3, Book 1 by Reiko.
  • Our Ghouls Are Creepier: While magic-based zombies are often called ghouls, another notable ghoul appeared in Still Waters 3: Book 1. Carrick is highly intelligent, ancient, and the servant of an even more ancient vampire, who sent him out to recruit Eva. Naturally, he failed. Stated to be able to regenerate from wounds, he showed no signs of any flesh eating, but rather seemed to be going after his victim's "energy", by which was meant 'life force'. When he attacked, he also spread an infection to the victim through the wound, much like a Type P zombie, which caused tremendous pain and should have killed her within the hour, causing her to reanimate as a mindless ghoul/zombie, a fate only narrowly averted by Konoemon performing an emergency magic surgery.
  • Our Spirits Are Different: Spirits are differentiated from ghosts in that while ghosts are dead people, spirits are naturally occurring entities that lack intelligence or will. They exist, doing whatever they do, up until they are captured or killed, which can only be done by someone with enough power. Some are extremely strong, but most are weak, and can be handled easily. They are generally harmless, though there are parasitic varieties.
  • Our Vampires Are Different: In this case, they have many of the typical weaknesses, but only up until they become powerful enough to overcome them, such as Eva's near-immunity to sunlight. Where they are different from common depictions is through their social behavior: there is little sign of such things as nobility or heredity among the vampires shown thus far, just a simple hierarchy based on power levels and force of personality, especially among those known as 'The Great Vampire Lords', who appear mostly in Still Waters 3.
  • Our Zombies Are Different: Mostly type V, magically reanimated bodies, combined with Type F, flesh eating zombies. They have no real intelligence, and can be made in large amounts.
  • Parental Abandonment: It'd be easier to count the characters with normal families than to list those who fit this trope.
  • Rescue Arc: There are several of these.
    • Akira in Still Waters 1.
    • Several characters in Still Waters 2.
    • Aiko in Still Waters 3 Book 1 during the Kyoto trip.
    • Ako in Still Waters 3 Book 2 and 3.
  • Right Man in the Wrong Place: This happens very often.
  • Robot Maid: Chachamaru's sisters, as well as Chachamaru and Rally sometimes.
  • Slave Race: The Oni certainly have this going on, at least in Japan and especially in Kyoto.
  • Stronger with Age: Holds true for just about every non-human, non-robot shown, especially vampires.
  • Super Mode: Several characters have displayed something like this, and it is implied most Elementals are capable of it.
  • Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids: Chachamaru of course, though Rally also counts, what with being loaded with more artillery than some small countries.
  • Swivel-Chair Antics: Pretty much any time a character's sitting in a chair of this type throughout the series, they'll kick off the floor and spin around a few times.
  • This Is Reality: Used quite a few times throughout the series, with various characters telling each other "That only happens in manga, this is real life" or similar things.
  • Thou Shalt Not Kill: The vast majority of characters are definitely not comfortable with killing their enemies if at all possible.
  • Timeskip: There are several time skips throughout the series, but the two major ones occur between SW1 and SW2 which spans a couple months, and SW2 and SW3, which spans six years.
  • Training from Hell: Usually implied rather than shown, though short scenes are presented here and there such as Akira's training with Max in Still Waters 1.
  • True Companions: The entire first class is like this, as well as smaller groups within it; as the series goes on, other characters are added as well.
  • Yakuza: They show up from time to time.
  • Year Inside, Hour Outside: Eva's resort works this way.
  • Youkai: They appear throughout the series. All of them seen so far are based on animals (fox youkai, dog youkai, cat youkai, etc.), and are generally much stronger than humans. Socially, they are arranged in 'tribes', often based on colors. A good example would be the fox youkai, who have several divisions; Gold, Silver, Red, and Black have been seen so far, but there may be others.

    Still Waters 1 
  • Bag of Holding: Kaede uses one to carry the unresponsive Arvel after Madoka's attack on him.
  • Bloodless Carnage: Justified twice: first, they were all drowned, and second they weren't real people.
  • Blood-Splattered Innocents: Misa, in a certain scene in Chapter 18.
  • Cat Girl: One shows up briefly at the festival.
  • Cave Behind the Falls: In the secret valley near Kyoto; there's no hidden treasure, just a shrine to the spirit guarding the valley.
  • Crash-Into Hello: How Max meets Akira.
  • Cry into Chest: Akira does this with Max after a particularly intense spar session; it turns into a prolonged Security Cling, and finally into the two of them lying in the grass, and Akira's First Kiss. Max promptly shoves her off after realizing that it might be a bad idea.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: The qualifying round for the tournament at the festival, in chapter 8.
  • Deer in the Headlights: Max's reaction upon realizing he's just been forcibly turned into a P.E. teacher.
  • Dirty Business: What Max thinks of his mission.
  • Dirty Old Man: Played straight by Konoemon, averted by Max
  • Dueling Hackers: It looks like one of these is brewing between Nilren and Chachamaru, but the scene cuts away and the next time Nilren is shown, he's looking at the remains of his computer lying underneath an I-beam.
  • Dynamic Entry: Madoka pulls off a rage-filled one fist-first on Arvel in chapter 19.
  • Elemental Shapeshifter: Akira develops this at the end. Word of God says pretty much all of the more powerful elementals can do this.
  • Evil Former Friend: Okay, Max Linell was childhood friends with the other members of his section of the American Division. Of his childhood friends, two could be considered "evil": Arvel (who is more psychotic than evil), and Guy, Max's rival all the way from childhood on through adulthood. Guy's intense jealousy of Max's time with Rikki combined with his own constant failures at one-upping Max all through his life have pushed him over the edge, ultimately resulting in a duel to the death during the climax of Still Waters 1.
  • Fingore: Only a brief mention in Chapter 18 (happens via baseball bat), but considering the detached horror of the scene, it's still effective.
  • Flashback: How Max knows about the Shinmeiryu and their secret valley is shown via flashback in Chapter 13.
  • Fountain of Youth: Max takes an age changing pill, turning him 18 again and revealing him to have surprisingly looked like a bad boy at that age.
  • Friendship Moment: Between Madoka, Misa, and Sakurako. When they find the scene at the bridge to Library Island, Madoka snaps and heads off alone into the city. Rather than escape across the bridge to Library Island where there is confirmed safety, Sakurako and Misa both decide to follow Madoka back into the city, where they've seen terrible things and even been attacked rather than let her go alone.
  • Genre Shift: It starts out as a mostly lighthearted romantic comedy, then Max's old friends show up...cue switch to survival/thriller.
  • Ghost City: This is what Mahora has become by the time everyone returns in chapter 17. Everyone's hiding from the crazy guy.
  • Glomp: Akira receives a "flying tackle hug" almost into a lake by Yuuna when she finds out Akira's all right.
  • Goofy Suit: Max is forced to wear one during the festival as part of the security team. No one can seem to figure out what it is; it was described as a dog, a frog, a badger, a bear...
  • Harmful to Minors: Many of the girls come across scenes of horrific violence (bodies, scenes where people fought and died, blood splashes) starting in chapter 18; how they react depends on the individual character when pushed to their psychological limits by what they've just seen.
  • Hell Is That Noise: In-universe. Again, from the scene in Chapter 18; Misa will never forget the sound of a baseball bat hitting Marlin's head.
  • I Am Not Left-Handed: Pulled by Oscar Marshall, of all people, on Akira.
  • I Don't Think That's Such a Good Idea: This is Max's reaction to Negi inviting Max (a man in his 20s who Negi barely knows, fellow mage or not) to come into an all-girls middle school; Max's intention was to point out how bad it might look for anyone who didn't know what was going on (meaning pretty much everyone else) to see him hanging out there. He does it again moments later when he finds out the girls are making a Maid Cafe. Negi just thinks it's nice to see them so energetic.
  • I Have Your Wife: Guy kidnaps Yuuna for the purpose of using her to get Akira to do what his boss wants.
  • I'll Kill You!: Arvel uses this when he falls into Kaede's trap and ends up immobilized with a couple dozen kunai sticking in him. Cue Dynamic Entry.
  • Inevitable Tournament: It's the Mahora Festival, of course there's a tournament.
  • Instant Cosplay Surprise: Happens to Akira, resulting in a Megaton Punch for Max.
  • Love at First Sight: More like 'Elemental attraction at first sight' when Max and Akira meet up for the first time and, in Max's eyes, she changes instantly from "Mission Target Who Just So Happens To Be A Girl" to "Okochi Akira"; for Akira, he immediately becomes someone she just can't leave alone. It helps that they're actually very compatible with each other.
  • Not Quite Dead: Several characters, notably Max and Yuuna in chapter 20.
  • Oh, Crap!: Pretty much every remaining villain's reaction upon Eva's arrival.
  • Panty Shot: By an unsuspecting Akira in Chapter 5, standing in front of Max seated on the ground, because of a gust of wind. Naturally, Kazumi snaps a quick picture of the scene to use for blackmail.
  • Playboy Bunny: Akira finds herself dressed up as one; the fact that Max is there at the time earns him a Megaton Punch.
  • Rage Breaking Point: Several characters are pushed this far.
    • For Madoka, it was, after making their way through the ruins of Mahora, approaching what they thought would be safety on Library Island, but instead seeing the bodies of her friends and classmates floating in the lake in Chapter 19. For Misa and Sakurako, the incident was more of a Despair Event Horizon.
    • For Negi, it wasn't someone kidnapping a student, it wasn't even people running around trying to burn down Mahora. For Negi, it was when he finally realized that the enemy was going to use his students as bait and kill them in front of him to draw him out. What follows is a magically-enhanced punch, and a quick retreat by the enemy in question.
  • Regime Change: Occurs within the Max's section of American Division after Max is sent on his mission; the old leader, Wilder, is forcibly retired and the new leader, Oscar Marshall, takes over and immediately begins to change everything.
  • Save the Princess: Justified; Oscar Marshall has very good reasons for kidnapping her. They aren't quite sane, but she is necessary for his plans. He can't help but indulge in a little I Have You Now, My Pretty, however.
  • Shout-Out: There are several in this story.
    • Max's "Hero Unit" costume in the festival, first mentioned in Chapter 10, is based heavily on the character Balmung from the .hack series, complete with wings. Max's reaction? "I look ridiculous."
    • The character design of Marlin is based heavily on the character "Bear Walken" from the Gungrave anime.
    • Guy Sculler's character design is very similar to Dante from Devil May Cry.
  • Tap on the Head: Used by Akira on Marlin, via swimming trophy.
  • Things Get Real: Happens for Negi and some of the others in Chapter 17 when they realize the extent of what's going on in Mahora, happens for Misa in Chapter 18 when she freezes up and has to watch Madoka protecting her and Sakurako; for Konoka, she realizes the seriousness of the situation when she finds an abandoned teddy bear in the middle of the road.
  • Throwing Your Sword Always Works: From the infamous scene in Chapter 18; Sakurako pulls this off with a Tire Iron. The victim gets a bad case of Blood from the Mouth.
  • Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Yet again from the scene in Chapter 18. At the very end after the burst of extreme violence, Misa finally snaps out of it and vomits on her shoe.

    Still Waters 2 
  • Beam-O-War: Max briefly tries this against a dragon.
  • BFS: Briefly discussed in-story. Max Linell's pactio weapon vs. Asuna's; Max's is bigger, but neither one can be considered small.
  • Cranial Processing Unit: This is how the first prototypes of the Tanaka copies are built. This design decision is quickly changed when its disadvantages become apparent.
  • Not What It Looks Like: In chapter 6, caused by Ayaka forcing Asuna into a bathroom stall, going in after her, and locking the door behind her. Ako walks into the bathroom just in time to see them come out together, turns, and flees the scene. Ayaka just wanted to know what secret Asuna was keeping from her.
  • Replacement Goldfish: Rally Wheeler, to replace the real one who died.
  • Storming the Castle: This occurs several times, simultaneously, with different "castles".
  • Yakuza: Several Yakuza groups play a large role in the story.

    Still Waters 3 
  • Atop a Mountain of Corpses: This is the way Asuna makes her intro; local Vigilante Man Urashima Taro is told that a stranger is in town beating up all the delinquents, so she goes to put a stop to it, only to find Asuna seated comfortably on top of a pile of unconscious street kids and delinquents. Cue Hopeless Boss Fight.
    • Eva pulls the same thing during a training exercise in SW3 Book 2, Chapter 28.
  • Badass Bystander: Mahora seems to be full of these by the time Still Waters 3 starts.
  • Badass Family: There are several of them.
    • The Springfield Family: Prominent members are Negi and Nagi Springfield.
    • The Stride Family: They're all well trained in swordplay and have bloodline abilities that allow them to use Magic Music and Charm Person.
    • The Konoe Family: Eishun and now Konoka are both trained in Shinmeiryu swordsmanship, and Konoka is also a tremendously powerful mage.
    • The Aoyama Family: While it's a large family in a much larger organization, that doesn't stop anyone with the name 'Aoyama' from being considered an instant threat within the Shinmeiryu.
    • The Rosario Family: Liliana's been training in Eva's resort for at least three years, and her older brother was a local superhero based in Mahora.
    • The Cade Family: Lucy and Possum Cade have basically lived by themselves since early childhood, living off the land, both of them know hoodoo, and both of them are quite good in a fight.
    • The Yamamoto Family: Kimi Yamamoto, a middle school student, is already a good enough swordswoman to beat up a powerful youkai girl, and has since begun training in Eva's resort. Her mother was a secret member of the Shinmeiryu, who are badass by default.
    • The Miyoshi Family: Miyoshi Youko's mother held the title of Youkai King for a very long time, while Youko herself helped saved the Shinmeiryu from the brink of annihilation centuries ago, and her son from that era grew up to be a near-legendary warrior who died on the battle while over a century old.
    • The Yoshida Family: Yoshida Ume's mother is the former leader of an infamous all-female biker gang, while her father was a lieutenant in another gang. Ume herself, when angry enough, can face down just about anybody with a glare.
    • The Mochizuki Family: The Mochizukis are a yakuza family. Mochizuki Kagami is an extremely powerful mage, while her brother leads his own yakuza group, prefers a shotgun for inter-group diplomacy, and is only in his early twenties.
    • The Blight Family: The Blights of the Black Fox Tribe of youkai are known as highly skilled bounty hunters and mercenaries.
    • The Urashima Family: They are an ancient family considered the equal of the Aoyamas in some circles.
  • Bad Future: This is what the multitude of groups working desperately to fulfill various prophecies are trying to avert.
  • Bar Brawl: A rather spectacular example between the local mafia and the local bar toughs occurs during Misora's Arc in Book 1.
  • Battle of the Bands: Chapter 15 of Book 1. It features Ayumi's band (The No Name Band) and Misa's band (Dekopin Rocket).
  • Big Bad Ensemble: There are quite a few named characters mentioned who may count as a "Big Bad", and there may be more yet to be revealed.
    • Lucian Ramenthy: A powerful young demon from an old family looking to overthrow the current Demon King (Queen Kelory Omeris).
    • O Masashi: A gold fox youkai looking to become the new king of the youkai.
    • Ocali: Fate's mysterious boss, who is a hugely influential figure in the Megalomesembrian Senate and may or may not have his hand in all sorts of shady dealings.
    • Great Vampire Lord Zeph Castor: Leader of a group of massively powerful vampires in Mundus Magicus.
  • Big Brother Is Watching: Subverted; while security cameras are in place all over Mahora, the constant good-natured conflict that takes place there leaves few of them active for long.
  • Big Damn Heroes: This happens during the Kyoto arc with Sachiko, Gin, Kai, Mako, and Kimi to save their classmate Abe Aiko, and during the Intruder arc when Negi arrives to fight Jonus Hart along with the team Eva was training, Sachiko, Kagmi, and Taro.
  • Break the Haughty: Happens to both Ayumi and Masashi, the latter twice.
  • Bridal Carry: Eva forces Negi to do this with an unconscious Misa in the first chapter of Book 1 when she notices him checking Misa out.
  • Bucket Booby-Trap: It's done with an eraser rather than a bucket.
  • Can't Hold His Liquor: Akira, at the impromptu party celebrating Asuna's return to Mahora.
  • Cast Herd: Several groups are forming as the story goes on, though there are still many characters roaming around unattached or in twos and threes.
    • Dekopin Rocket/Dead Man's Hand: Kakizaki Misa, Kugimiya Madoka, Izumi Ako, and Shiina Sakurako
    • Cerulean Shields: Max Linell, Okochi Akira, Jennifer Minindry, Akashi Yuuna, and Sasaki Makie
    • White Wing Kyoto Branch: Kagurazaka Asuna, Konoe Konoka, and Sakurazaki Setsuna
    • Black Wing: Naba Chizuru, Yukihiro Ayaka, Murakami Natsumi, and Inugami Kotarou
    • No Name Band: Kobayashi Ayumi, Kara Stride, Kondo Kai, and Watanabe Miyako
    • Eva's Training Group: Urashima Taro, Possum Cade, Nakamura Sachiko, and Mochizuki Kagami
    • Max's Training Group: Abe Aiko, Yamamoto Kimi, Kondo Kai, Sato Gin, and Mako Sylvester
    • Ninja Group: Nagase Kaede, Narutaki Fuuka, Narutaki Fumika
    • Friend Group 1: Sasaki Rina, Mori Kumiko, and Inoue Ai (and sometimes Tanaka unit 1125)
    • Friend Group 2: Miyoshi Youko, Suzuki Keiko, and Endo Haru
  • Cat Girl: This is Chisame's disguise in the magic world during Misora's arc at the end of Book 1. There is also a cat girl featured in the class trip to Kyoto.
  • Cult: The Children of Gilgamesh come across as something like this, with their search for some mysterious figure called "The Daughter". Turns out The Daughter is Ako.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Happens pretty much any time the local street criminal types try to pick on the wrong person, which occurs pretty much any time they show up.
    • This happens to Taro at the hands of Asuna in the very first chapter of Book 1.
    • Kakizaki Hatsune pulls this off several times during the Festival tournament in Book 2.
  • Death of a Thousand Cuts: Used by the Great Vampire Lord Chaser Felix against Misora in Misora's arc in Book 1.
  • Deadly Training Area: Yuuna trains Possum in one in Eva's resort, chosen specifically by Yuuna for how dangerous it is.
  • Dramatic High Perching: Kagami stands on top of a street light during the defense of Mahora in the Intruder arc of Book 1 in order to get a good angle to Twilight Breaker the current bad guy through the ground.
  • Easing into the Adventure: Book 1 and most of Book 2 serve this purpose.
  • Easy Amnesia: Due to it's nature outside of reality, any normal person who enters Hodge's Bar instantly forgets that they ever entered it once they leave.
  • Everyone Can See It: Cyrr and Anya.
  • Fantastic Arousal: While this is the case with the Little Bit Beastly people (especially cat people's tails), it is also the same for oni people and their...horns, which are extremely sensitive to touch and are the source of their power.
  • Fantastic Racism: By the Youkai against the Humans, by the Demons against the Humans and Youkai, and by everyone against the Oni and the Demons.
  • Fights Like a Normal: The majority of those who have trained in Eva's resort tend to hold back on the heavy duty magic and ki, preferring instead to take care of problems with the least amount of force necessary.
  • Future Badass: Word of God says this will be happening in a very big way.
  • Gambit Pileup: A careful reading of the prologues, epilogues, and everything between will reveal a handful of large organizations, each with their own plans and featuring several powerful members with their own plans. Who comes out on top or becomes the biggest bad or even survives the next book is still up for grabs, though.
  • Graduation for Everyone: Everyone in Negi's old class graduated high school together. Justified, since the Mahora school system is an Elevator School.
  • The Grim Reaper: Sophie sees a vision of Death in the form of a giant vulture with a skeletal neck and head protecting Maple Birdsong.
  • Harmful to Minors: There are quite a few examples, especially among the new class.
  • Haunted House: Reiko lives in one, complete with a lack of electricity and a small demon running around loose.
  • He's Back!: Happens with Negi during the Intruder arc, after he has a minor breakdown after letting his student Possum get kidnapped.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Max with Akira, Max with Makie, Max with Jennifer...Max with just about anyone in the cast.
  • I Like Those Odds: hinted at during the second prologue of the first book (Chapter 0, Time) at the preview of the final battle, as well as several times during the series as a whole.
  • The Imperial Regalia: The three youkai treasures are the Imperial Regalia of Japan.
  • Improbable Age: Everyone Negi's involved with is extremely skilled for their age due to all the training and everything they're exposed to.
  • Knife Fight: Features quite a fight between Sociopathic Hero Gilles and Raddyn Sayard high up on a rooftop in Chapter 32a and 32b.
  • Let's Split Up, Gang!: Misora's group decides to do this in the oni capital of Vairocana during Misora's Arc in Book 1. It goes about as well as you'd expect.
  • Modesty Towel: Asuna is seen several times in one; in Chapter 3 of Book 2, it almost wasn't big enough and she nearly lost it.
  • Mundane Utility: Several characters have figured out ways to put magic to good use in everyday life.
    • Sakai Reiko uses magic circles to power her refrigerator and possibly other things as well.
    • The basement in Madoka's house was basically turned into a club for Dekopin Rocket's friends, complete with a bar, videogames, a band stage...and soundproofing provided by some elaborate magic circles put in place by Negi.
  • Naked Apron: Youko tries this once; it doesn't have the intended effect.
  • No "Arc" in "Archery": Chizuru has a shadow-based spell that creates a magic bow and arrow; being made of magical energy, gravity doesn't affect the arrow.
  • One Riot, One Ranger: This is pretty much how Negi's group deals with the various incidents that take place; it's pretty rare for them to send more than one person to any particular place, unless the extra is a supporter rather than a fighter.
  • Parental Favoritism: Makie and Rina's mom seems to favor Makie over Rina...no mention whatsoever is made of their brother.
  • Plot-Relevant Age-Up: All of the old class is older than they technically should be (twenty or twenty one) due to all the time they spent in Eva's resort. This goes especially for Negi, who looks as old as the students from his first class when he should be only sixteen. Kotarou seems to have undergone the same thing at some point after he ran away from Mahora; while he should be sixteen like Negi, he's obviously older.
  • Possession Burnout: Negi suffers from this after a ghost tries to channel shadow elemental magic through his body.
  • Power Levels: Kamo is mentioned as having prepared charts showing this in the past.
  • Psychic Link: This is a big part of how Negi's enormous group of followers (dozens upon dozens of girls by the time SW3 rolls around) coordinate their actions; it's all set by Nodoka and her pactio artifact.
  • Right Man in the Wrong Place: During the Kyoto trip in Book 1, Class Rep Nakamura Sachiko was just out taking a walk when classmate Kondo Kai showed up, looking for help to rescue some classmates from a group of youkai. Sachiko goes on to utterly destroy the centuries-old fox youkai leader of the group.
  • Shipper on Deck: There are several of these.
    • Reiko supports Negi/Ku Fei.
    • Kamo and Asuna both support Negi/Nodoka.
    • Chachazero supports Negi/Asuna.
    • Eva supports Negi/Misa.
    • Pretty much everybody supports Anya/Cyrr.
    • Misa, Madoka, and Sakurako support Ako/Rale. Or did, anyway.
  • Sibling Rivalry: Makie and Rina have this. Rina resents Makie and has trouble catching up to her, while Makie isn't above teasing her little sister and intentionally doing things to annoy her.
  • Skinship Grope: Several of the characters like to do this. Yuuna in particular can't seem to keep her hands to herself, and neither can Ayumi when it comes to her extremely attractive bandmate Kara.
  • Spell Book: Chizuru is seen flipping through one of these in the magic shop in Book 1 when Eva takes Kagami, Taro, and Sachiko to buy supplies for their vampire hunt.
  • Story-Breaker Power: It is implied that Sakurako and Ako, of all people, possess this.
  • Tastes Like Friendship: Caro and Zazie share a riceball during their first meeting, and become fast friends.
  • Teacher/Student Romance: Since Negi's been teaching for five out of the previous six years and matured fast due to time spent training in Eva's resort, he's had to deal with dozens upon dozens of former students trying to get in his pants.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Virtually the entire original class has done this by the beginning of Still Waters 3.
  • Tournament Arc: It takes place during the School Festival arc in Book 2.
  • Vulnerable Convoy: Misora's group ends up guarding one in the latter part of the "Misora In The Magic World" arc in Book 1.
  • Why Isn't It Attacking?: This happens during Book 1, when Akira, Taro, and Kagami meet Bud, a freakish vaguely humanoid creature, in Reiko's house.
  • Worf Effect: Fate suffers this at the hands of Chisame, of all people. When she first froze him in place with a bizarre form of magic and then dropped a mountain on him.
  • Worthy Opponent: Shows up several times, notably between Madoka and Lucy and later between Kagetaro and Sarah Mc Dougal.
  • Wrestler in All of Us: A variety of professional wrestling moves such as the Huricanrana, various submission holds, and even moves like the Frankensteiner and Power Bomb show up from time to time.
  • Year Outside, Hour Inside: A special variety of Atlantean magic circle provides this effect, used by both Jonus Hart and Hasegawa Chisame.
  • You Are Not Alone: Happens to several members of the new class. This being a Mahou Sensei Negima! fanfic, many of them have special powers, but few had found anyone else that did up until they met their classmates, and several of them had been on a downward spiral until it happened.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Masashi pulls this on the Blight Brothers when they tell him they can't keep chasing the Yagi siblings at the Youkai Festival in book 2.
  • You Shall Not Pass!: This happens from time to time, such as the time when Max Linell and Liliana Rosario defended the girls' dorm from mind controlled thugs in the Intruder arc in Book 1.

    Ace of Spades 
With Negi's class now in high school, the insanity has only begun. Sentient masks that can seize control of a person's body? Attempted blackmail? Fights? It's all here, and Madoka is the only one who can deal with it.
  • Abandoned Warehouse: Featured quite often in this story; the final showdown happens in one.
  • A Friend in Need: Nelle's situation puts her in this position, and her friends Liliana and Reiko must decide what to do.
  • Anti-Magic: Nelle sets up an anti magic field around her base. That mask isn't just old, it's also picked up a few things over the centuries. This one is so well made it even stops ghosts.
  • Big "NO!": By Madoka in chapter 4, when after viciously beating Misa and knocking out Reiko with ease, Nelle is about to kill Misa. Nelle gets her turn in chapter 4 when Madoka starts trying to forcibly remove the mask.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Madoka, well known now as a fighter, gets owned by Nelle, who is wearing the mask.
  • "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Chapter 4, Madoka does this while beating the tar out of Nelle.
  • It's Personal: After what Nelle does to her in Chapter 3, defeating her becomes personal for both Madoka and Misa. Madoka, because Nelle disrespected her in a very major way, and Misa because Nelle hurt Madoka. Misa is willing to let Madoka go first, however.
  • Kogal: What the villain uses as an insult in an attempt to goad Madoka into a fight. It almost works.
  • Squick: In Universe. This is Liliana's reaction when she learns that the easiest way to get the evil mask off of her friend Nelle is through continuous intercourse for seven days. Straight. Without any stops. Naturally, she is horrified.
  • This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: This is what it all boils down to in the end: Madoka versus Nelle, one on one.
  • Unwilling Suspension: This is what Nelle does with the people she's collecting while the mind control powers of the mask take effect on them.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Reiko and Liliana are a Type 2 example, to the point where they're almost always fighting.

    For Absent Friends 
Set some time between Still Waters 2 and 3, this tells the story of the original character Max Linell's journey to America, with Negi, Takahata, and Shizuna, to say goodbye to the past.
  • A Magic Contract Comes with a Kiss: Between Rikki and Max. Also happens to be a "Shut Up" Kiss and a First Kiss for the both of them.
  • The City Narrows: Where Max, Rikki, and the others lived before they became involved with the American Division. Max and Negi go there in the present day.
  • Flashback: Each chapter contains several flashbacks, helping to flesh out several of the original characters.
  • Libation for the Dead: Max does this at the gravesite of an old friend, the first of the group he used to run with as a child to die.
  • Personal Effects Reveal: Many years delayed from the owner's death. The character wasn't even out of the teens at the time of death, and the items in her "treasure box" reflect this.
  • Stranger in a Familiar Land: Max went home...and found it to feel strange.
  • To Absent Friends: The title of the story is a direct reference to this.
  • True Companions: This story is all about this.
    • Max considers the group built around himself, Akira, Jennifer, Yuuna, and Makie to be this.
    • Max used to belong to another group of these as a child that included such people as Guy and Rikki, among others. Now only he and Byron are left on Earth (Nil and Marlin are in the ermine camp in the magic world), and they've been out of touch for years.

    The Queen of Light 
Negi's class has graduated high school, and Ayaka, Chizuru, and Natsumi are as close as ever. So close, in fact, that when Chizuru receives a letter calling her home, Ayaka insists on coming with her, and dragging Natsumi along for the ride. But when they arrive, they find a big creepy castle, disturbingly efficient servants, and a sharp tongued acerbic woman who seems to have raised Chizuru after her parents died.
  • Not the Fall That Kills You…: Narrowly averted by the desperate use of magic and body strengthening via ki, and even then the hundred foot drop to the ground does a lot of damage.
  • Shower Scene: The story goes straight into one with Chizuru right after it starts. Of course, since it's not a visual medium...

    How to Fight Zombies 
Negi's class has finally graduated high school, and everyone is moving on to bigger and better things. In the midst of all this, Misora is left hanging around the church in Mahora, until she receives a message calling her back to Rome...
  • The Order: Several of them are mentioned by name, though they are called "agencies" rather than "orders".
    • The Burial Agency: The same group from Tsukihime, modified slightly. This is the agency Misora is being volunteered for.
    • The Guardian Agency: A group whose purpose is to guard specific items, people, or places from any number of things.
    • The Special Exorcism Agency: A group whose purpose is to remove dangerous unnatural beings.
  • Things Get Real: Misora's "Ghoul Test" goes far beyond what she was expected to face, and being forced to face the horror of the situation nearly gives her a breakdown.
  • What Were You Thinking?: It's fairly obvious that Isabella and Nina are wondering this every time Misora comes up with another insane idea.

    A Robot's life 
Set during Still Waters 3, A Robot's Life follows the story of Tanaka unit 1125, Hakase's personal hand-built prototype, long thought lost and destroyed during the battle at the festival back in 2003, when it reactivates and is found by a member of Negi's new class, Inoue Ai.
  • Barbie Doll Anatomy: Referred to as "Anime Anatomy" when Inoue Ai is inspecting the deactivated F9A with Gotokuji.
  • Break Out the Museum Piece: Chachamaru is forced to do this after a precision hit by F7D does severe damage to her current body.
  • Creating Life: This was the Professor's aim in creating the robots; he succeeded with FX8-a but realized he had created a monster and refused to activate her. The other robots only work because they have souls attached, and thus don't count.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Chapter 4, "You hurt my onee-san...!" followed immediately by a robot-on-robot No-Holds-Barred Beatdown and capped off with More Dakka to a ridiculous extent. There Is No Kill Like Overkill and Beware the Nice Ones indeed.
  • Flawed Prototype: Most of the Professor's robots are this; each one is built by hand, and each generation improves on the problems and fixes the mistakes of the previous.
  • Personality Chip: All of the Professor's robots are built with an "emotion center", which is what makes them different from normal robots. Turns out they're souls.
  • Ridiculously Human Robots: Accomplished on the newer models with the help of a certain type of synthetic skin, as shown by units F7D, F9A, M9H, and finally the FX8-a prototype, "Sarah", as well as a large amount of unactivated prototype units. Tanaka unit 1125 fits in here as well.
  • Tin-Can Robot: The older models are big, bulky, and in no way can be mistaken for a human, as shown by units M2A, N2B, and the vast majority of their shut down former companions.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Why FX8-a killed N2B and M2A. M9H just got in the way.

    Short Story Collections 
  • Abandoned Warehouse District: It's actually called by the characters "the Warehouse District", and seems to be used strictly for gang fights or for the various ridiculously powerful kids to settle their complaints via combat.
  • Barbie Doll Anatomy: Chachamaru stubbornly clings to this in her character story, much to Hakase's chagrin.
  • Bucket Booby-Trap: Rosemary muses about the pitfalls of this sort of thing in her character story.
  • Love Chart: Kamo prepares one of these in Meet The New Class.
  • Old School Building: Taro and Sachiko find one of these out in the woods; they proceed to have a spar session in front of it.
  • Sentai: The Baka Rangers make a return, with Sasaki Makie as the wise mentor bringing the legend back to life with a new generation of idiots, as shown briefly in Sasaki Rina's character story.

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