128 chapters later…
Yūki Tabata is particularly fond of foreshadowing in Black Clover, hinting at most major events and characters, sometimes even hundreds of chapters in advance.
WARNING: This page is meant to describe events as they related to much later, very significant ones. Thus this page will have no spoiler marks at all. You Have Been Warned.
- In Chapter 70, Vanessa, seeing Asta fighting Vetto, is glad to have left her home and become a Black Bull, noting that the thread of fate is something reeled in yourself. In Chapter 99, it's revealed that she was imprisoned by the Witch Queen for her potential to control destiny. Motivated to save her friends, she manifests the Red Thread of Fate, a spell that makes destiny favor the Black Bulls.
- In Chapter 110 Yami wonders how Mereoleona is able to maneuver mid-air to attack Asta. Chapter 138 reveals it to be Mana Zone, an ability to harness the floating mana in the surrounding area and control the territory at will.
- Chapter 2 shows the silhouettes of different Black Bulls. Mostly they're all revealed shortly after when Asta joins the squad, but there is a notably messy, long-haired member who is not introduced with them. Chapter 5 also has Asta notice that the hideout's interior changed. Come Chapter 140 and the reveal of Henry and his Recombination Magic.
- Yami mentions to Asta during his initial encounters with the Black Bulls that some of their members are off on missions. Zora happens to be one of them who comes into play later. When Asta questions Zora whether he had set traps all around the stage when seeing the latter being uneasy when the stage changes during the battle tournament, Zora concludes Asta can sense ki, a term that someone close to Yami would know. And during the introduction to the Black Bulls in Episode 4, his silhouette can be seen during their group shot.
- Gauche guesses that because Grey can transform other objects, her magic isn't actually the same as what is commonly known as Transformation Magic, and that if she experimented with it, she would figure out what the true purpose actually is. Many chapters later, Grey reveals that it actually lets her alter magic itself, transforming is only one aspect of it. In Chapter 261 Owen notes that Grey reassembling Gauche's very tissue by transforming the giant sword he was run through with may make the true nature of her magic not transformation. Chapter 312 has Owen give a proper name for Grey's magic that changes structure itself — Transmutation Magic.
- Chapter 2 has William Vangeance take note of Asta's five leaf grimoire. Human Fana says that she felt as if someone (elf Fana) had entered her body. Chapter 143 reveals that Vangeance is friends with Patry and the host of his soul. Asta's grimoire originally belonged to Licht, whom Patry was closely acquainted with before the elf genocide.
- The seventh opening has a sequence showing Mimosa cut apart from the rest of the Golden Dawn squad by a spotlight. She is later revealed to be the only member of the squad who wasn't subjected to the elves' Reincarnation Magic.
- In Chapter 51, after being defeated by Gauche's Mirror Magic, the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun says, "I couldn't bring myself to hurt you." It's not until almost a hundred chapters later, in Chapter 149, that we find out the significance of this line: Gauche is one of the Magic Knights hosting an elf soul.
- In Chapter 127, Finral notes that Langris' mana reminds him of Vetto and Fana's. Come Chapter 172, Langris is shown to be a reincarnated elf just like them.
- In Chapter 66, an Eye of the Midnight Sun member senses a beast in Charmy's magic. Previously, when she fought Catherine, Charmy's giant sheep inhaled her Ash Magic. She is also quite short even when not in chibi mode, and also physically grows taller whenever she gets serious, which is noted by other characters and not just a visual gag. On top of this, it's established early on that no commoner should have anything close to Charmy's magical power (which is consistent with the other commoner Black Bulls, despite how skilled they are). In Chapter 194, she's revealed to have Food Magic, with her giant sheep actually being a hungry wolf that eats magic, and her unnatural power is revealed to come from her dwarf heritage.
- Concerning the Word Devil:
- When Vetto opens his Evil Eye, he unleashes eerie magic that Yami describes as abominable. He also murmurs undecipherable runes. The reincarnated elves are afflicted with malice as a side effect of the Forbidden Magic, hinting at its sinister origins, and later on Ronne, when possessed by Zagred, murmurs similar runes as Vetto did.
- Chapter 148 shows that Lumiere has incredibly rare light magic and hoped that humans and elves could understand each other and live in harmony, with no proof or signs of any sort of looming treachery on his end. However, the elves were killed anyway by Light Magic believed to have been his. It's revealed in Chapter 196 that it wasn't Lumiere who was the mastermind of the massacre but Zagred, who lied to the royals and killed the elves using his Word Soul Magic to form light. Zagred also reincarnated the elves' souls with Forbidden Magic instead of Licht contrary to what Patry remembers.
- When Mimosa first runs into Baval, he's surprisingly non-confrontational. Before the Apostles of Sephira strike, he only uses dice magic once before flying into the Shadow Palace. In the Shadow Palace, when Mimosa finds the unconscious body of David, who was taken over by Baval, she notes that there are faint traces of magic floating around that belong to neither humans nor elves. An author's note reveals that Zagred was already possessing and impersonating Baval since Mimosa first meets him.
- In Chapter 159, it's stated that the soul of the elf in Digit Taliss's body is angrily rampaging, with blotches of his skin darkening. Chapter 163 has the elf in Luck's body described as having something ominous swelling up in his magic and about to change into something evil as he's consumed by anger. In Chapter 198, Zagred revealing the truth of the elf massacre causes Patry to fall into despair, transforming him into a rampaging dark elf.
- Since being introduced in Chapter 2, unlike other anti-birds, Nero has followed Asta since the Magic Knights Entrance Exam and shown a high amount of intelligence, drawing Asta's attention to anti-Magic swords and pointing out the magic stones to the Black Bulls, with the Witch Queen noting Nero to be more than it appears to be. Chapter 203 reveals that she was actually a human named Secre Swallowtail, a servant of the first Wizard King who had used the magic stones to seal Zagred, the real mastermind of the elf massacre, and Lumiere to keep him alive as a statue. She followed Asta to keep tabs on his grimoire, which had belonged to Licht and would have been possessed by Zagred but was later taken over by a different devil.
- As Julius dies, the magical tattoo on his forehead disappears. His surname "Novachrono" is Latin for "new time" and the last spell he casts before dying is Chrono Anastasis, meaning "time resurrection" in Latin. And when fighting Patry, he proclaims that he will not die before he sees his dream of ending discrimination within the Clover Kingdom come true. His magical tattoo was used to link himself to his Time Magic, which he had sealed into a magic tool with the same marking that was previously seen. He uses his stored Time Magic to resurrect himself as a thirteen-year old.
- In Chapter 111, Noelle's mother Acier is mentioned to have been a powerful warrior whom Mereoleona herself could never defeat, which makes it odd that she died in childbirth despite her strength. By the time of Chapter 222, it turns out that she didn't die from childbirth but a fatal curse by the devil Megicula.
- It's mentioned many times how unusual that Yuno, an orphaned peasant from the Forsaken Realm, has such strong magic. And Charmy calls Yuno her "meal-saving prince" after he saves her food from falling. Although she gives him the nickname because of his dignified good looks, he is revealed to be the crown prince of the Spade Kingdom, which explains why he's such an innately powerful mage.
- Chapter 222 shows three playing cards in Dorothy's Glamour World: an ace of spades, three of diamonds, and six of hearts. The Magic Knights fight the Spade Kingdom later in the arc: Asta and the Black Bulls against Dante (ace of spades), Yuno and the Golden Dawn against Zenon, who invaded the Diamond Kingdom, and his two Dark Disciples (three of diamonds), and Noelle and the Magic Knights in the Heart Kingdom against Vanica and her five Dark Disciples (six of hearts).
- In Chapter 2, the silhouettes of different Black Bulls is seen, with most of them revealed shortly after Asta joins the squad and Henry introduced later on, but there is a long-haired, slim member. Chapter 140 features the shoes of the Black Bulls when Henry recalls how he survived thanks to them living in the mansion. The yet unseen boots of one member is seen. In Chapter 246, the boots are seen again being worn by a Black Bull who's a spy in the Spade Kingdom. He finally shows himself to Asta in Chapter 261, introducing himself as Nacht, the squad's Vice Captain.
- Chapter 205 has Nero standing in front of a lifeless Tetia's body, wondering what she should do and if there is anything she can do. As the elves' souls are exorcised in Chapter 213, two children with pointed ears are seen watching. These children are seen again in Chapter 265, which reveals that they're descendants of Licht and Tetia, who was still alive and healed by Nero as well as pregnant with a surviving twin. Their descendants went on to establish the elf village Elysia in a Strong Magic Region in the Heart Kingdom.
- In Chapter 207, Licht is seen using the powerful spell Sword Ultimate Magic: Demon-Dweller Sword — Conquering Aeon. Chapter 265 has Patry reveal Ultimate Magic to be the elves' esoteric art, and he offers to teach it to Noelle and the others to help them defeat the Spade Kingdom.
- Seeing Gauche get stabbed by Dante in Chapter 242 has Asta seemingly remember a memory of his bleeding mother calling him "my dear son" going berserk. Chapter 246 has the Anti-Magic Devil angrily proclaim "I'll kill you!" Chapter 268 reveals the memory was actually from the Anti-Magic Devil Liebe, who was adopted by Asta's biological mother Licita. She was killed by Lucifero, Dante's devil who tried to take over Liebe's body, and said those last words to him before sealing him in the five-leaf clover grimoire.
- In the fourth popularity poll in Chapter 263, Charlotte (who ranked in 3rd place in case you're wondering) is seen wearing a dress that is half red and blue, with red on the left and blue on the right. In Chapter 277, it's revealed that Charlotte studied the Heart Kingdom's rune technique, learning a new spell that creates a dress out of roses, with blue on the right and red on the left.
- Nacht's silhouette in Chapter 2 is distinct from his current appearance, with his hair flowing and not in a ponytail. When Jack recalls that Nacht was a member of the Gray Deer, he states "that man is gone." The brief flashback of Nacht remembering his brother Morgen when seeing Asta and Liebe interact shows only the face of the black-haired brother. Jack was actually referring to Nacht's deceased twin brother Morgen, who was a member of the Gray Deer with Yami and not Nacht. In the past, Nacht was light-haired while Morgen was black-haired and his appearance was what Nacht's is in the present-day.
- After fighting with Vanica in Chapter 255, Noelle's grimoire glows. Chapter 295 reveals that Vanica cursing Undine sapped her strength and temporarily dissolved her contract with Lolopechka, causing her to move to Noelle's grimoire to regain her strength and store up mana, making Noelle the new host for the water spirit.
- In Chapter 231, Dante asks Zenon if he's become used to using his devil power yet. His backstory in Chapter 306 reveals that he had become a devil host much later than his older siblings. He turned down his oldest brother's offer to make him a devil host as a teen in favor of becoming a soldier in the Mage Defense Force to help the country's people. Having to sacrifice his best friend Allen to kill a powerful devil caused Zenon to value power and change his goals, returning to his oldest brother and asking him to make him a devil host.
- Yuno has been repeatedly described to be loved by mana, which is used by Patry to describe the elf tribe in Chapter 47. In Chapter 213, when the Reincarnation Magic is dispelled the markings disappear from Yuno's face, but the soul of Licht's son is not seen amongst the deceased elves. Chapter 279 has division commander Albert, a former liege of the House of Grinberryall, be surprised to learn that Yuno is a wind mage. Chapter 308 reveals that Yuno's wind magic and his four-leaf grimoire is actually Licht and Tetia's son's, whose soul sees himself as Yuno and has been within him all this time. Learning that he has his own strength, Yuno obtains his true spade grimoire.
- Yuno's magic stone necklace, an heirloom of the Spade royal family, features four star-like symbols. Opening 13 has a prominent shot of Yuno standing in front of the glass art insignia of the Golden Dawn, a sun. Chapter 309 reveals that Yuno's true magic attribute is star, derived from the special attribute of the House of Grinberryall, with his father having sun magic and his mother moon magic.
- There are many subtle hints leading up to Julius being revealed to be Lucius Zogratis, the devil host of the time devil Astaroth, who has been manipulating time throughout the raid from behind-the-scenes:
- Julius can transform into an old woman despite having time magic, with only devil hosts, hybrids, and experimented mages able to have two different magic attributes. Lucius Zogratis is the host of the time devil Astaroth, and transforms from the blond child form of Julius into an adult with black hair and a devil host marking.
- The Dark Triad each have an innate magical power that involves part of their body. Dante can regenerate from otherwise fatal wounds with his body magic, Vanica can manipulate blood through blood magic, and Zenon can transform his bones into massive spikes through bone magic. Julius can shapeshift, a power that alters his body by definition. If this is not enough, then his Lucius alter-ego also has soul magic, which can transform the components of someone's soul. Fitting with Lucius's plan to completely remake humanity, the Zogratis sibling's magic turns out to be based on the key components of a human; blood, body, bone and soul.
- Julius's mercilessness against the Eye of the Midnight Sun mages when he confronts them makes a lot more sense when he's revealed to be seeking Vangeance (who contains the soul of its leader, Patry) for the Qliphoth Tree Ritual. In the other hand, he's also willing to keep him alive and in charge even if he got killed and committed treason. It's not a mere act of kindness, it's part of a plan to make sure Megicula, Lucifero and Beelzebub gets drawn out through the Dark Triad.
- Chapter 36 features Julius in the color page and is titled "Light". "Lucius" is Latin for light.
- Opening 2 of the anime features a montage of him, Gueldre (who betrayed the kingdom for money), and Vangeance (who kept secret that he hosted Patry's soul) with black backgrounds, in contrast to the other captains who didn't betray the kingdom whose backgrounds are white.
- When Vangeance recounts how Julius recruited him into the magic knights, he states that "He didn't care about my appearance. All he saw was my power." Lucius sought out Yami and Vangeance, the only mages whose magics could create the Tree of Qliphoth for his plan, as Julius.
- In Chapter 128, Julius has a discussion with Marx about unconscious betrayal, using the Royal Knights Examination to find an unwitting traitor within the magic knights. Chapter 331 reveals that he was an unconscious traitor all along.
- While fighting Julius, Patry questions why he's so strong despite being only a human. Julius's, aka Lucius's, strength comes from being the devil host of Astaroth, the devil of time and one of the underworld's three rulers.
- Julius in Chapter 215 mentions that he has an instinct about unique magics "developed over long years from traveling in disguise" when excitedly asking Nero what her magic is, the double meaning being that Lucius spent many years in a different country as the persona Julius Novachrono.
- From Chapter 274 to Chapter 331, the Spade Kingdom clock tower is consistently present in the background of scenes, with following chapters showing clock times that'd be impossible with the plot progression. Chapter 331 is titled as "And Time Starts to Move" with the clock ticking to 7:29 and the reveal of Lucius and that his plan was successful, heavily implying that he has been manipulating time the entirety of the raid to obtain the outcome he wanted. Julius also supposedly doesn't have enough mana or time stored to affect the time flow of an entire continent, but he does because his power doesn't come from "stealing time", it comes from a devil bound to Lucius.
- In the fight between Vanica and Noelle, the latter's Saint Valkyrie Armor lasts long enough to defeat Vanica despite she supposedly had a minute to use it. The same thing happens to Rill's Twilight of Valhalla against Megicula (lasts for "a few minutes") and Asta's True Devil Union against Lucifero (that had 5 seconds left while Lucifero is still standing in one piece), despite they shouldn't be able to defeat the devils in time. It's another implication that he's been manipulating time to get his desired outcome. Lucius also wanted at least Lucifero dead, and Megicula replaced his host demon Astaroth as one of Qliphoth's supreme devils.
- When Julius tries to go back to his adult form temporarily to save the kingdom from the giant Spade demon in Chapter 281, he's out of time very quickly to his shock. In Chapter 311, Julius feels something isn't right, stating something enormous is about to emerge. He continues to feel this unease despite Lucifero's defeat, with it then revealed in Chapter 331 to be because of Lucius, who cut his time in his adult form short.
- In Zenon's first flashback, there's a mystery man in a wheelchair that isn't Dante who refers himself as the eldest Zogratis sibling to young Zenon. We do not see his face, but he does have a rather familiar square jawline and short, unkempt hair, just like Julius but with dark hair instead of gold. It's not a coincidence.
- If one were to search about the devils of the Qliphoth in mythology you would find that, with the exception of Megicula, all the names of the other devils coincide with those present through the story. This, coupled with Nacht's flashback mentioning the three rulers of the underworld, one of whom is the devil of time, and Julius using Time Magic it was clear that something was very wrong and didn't add up. Julius is the host of the time devil Astaroth, who left the underworld over 20 years ago, and Megicula is Astaroth's successor in the Qliphoth.
- There are a few subtle hints that Ichika was the one responsible for the massacre of her clan, not Yami:
- Take a close look at Ichika and Ryuya when they see Yami on the beach. Ichika is completely unharmed and looks less like she's in pain and more like she's waking up from a bad stupor. Meanwhile, Ryuya was already injured and bleeding by the time he and Ichika arrived at Yami's location. It's Ichika's memories of the event, but this means Ichika committed the slaughter when drugged.
- Ichika states that, after the age of wars ended, the Yami Clan became protectors of the island region known as Goshu. Then we see her father, who was shown to be a belligerent, peace-hating Blood Knight who despised the fact that their people were reduced to being the guardians of a remote chunk of land, and actively desired battle again. If anyone wanted war and bloodshed, it was him. It would make sense for him to have either one of his children drugged to induce mass bloodshed regardless of cost.
- Ichika has a moon motif, much like her brother does - the crescent moon, to be precise. Her Dark Cloaked Black Warrior gives off a black aura that takes the shape of a small crescent moon, and one of her sword attacks is even named "Black Crescent Moon". On the night the Yami Clan massacre took place, a crescent moon can be seen in the sky.
- Chapter 341, where Ichika begins to tell Asta her backstory, is titled "Hazy". "Hazy" refers to something that is vague, uncertain and unclear - just like Ichika's memories of what really happened that night.
- Every time an atrocity involving mass death and destruction has occurred, it's always shown to be the result of someone whose actions were unconsciously/unwillingly carried out on their end. For the elf village and Clover Kingdom, it was Zagred possessing a Clover Kingdom minister and corrupting the Elves into thinking the royals did it, and for the Spade Kingdom, it was a Batman Gambit Lucius conducted through possessing Julius. While there's no one being possessed this time around, Ichika's actions are still not her own and Yami is definitely not the one responsible for the massacre.
- Ryuya outright warns Asta that Lucius will have the ability to resurrect people on the level of Grand Magic Knights once he claims all of his sibling's magic for his own and Judgement Day begins. On the promised day, he resurrects and brings Morgen Faust and Acier Silva to obliterate Clover Kingdom.
