"I do not trust humans. They'll betray you without fail."
— Ein Sof Aur
At the end of his life, in his elder years, Ein Sof Aur completed his lifelong research: a flask of pure concentrated mana. With this Aur prepares to engage his nefarious plans against humanity— though a human himself, he has harbored extreme hatred towards humankind, thinking they are nothing but vile creatures who in the end will betray one another for their own gains.
Aur rejuvenates himself with his newfound power and summons a demon to start his initiative: Lilu the Succubus. He makes a contract with her to assist him in building a dungeon headquarters where he will bring many followers to his cause and serve as a target for adventurers and the like to try against him, their defeats used to add to his strength.
From there on the misanthropic Aur makes several advances towards human settlements and kingdoms, demanding they become his subjects while using underhanded and downright evil methods to overthrow them. On the side, he has his way with various women...
Maou no Hajimekata (lit. How to get started as the Demon King) began as a series of free Adult Web Novels written by Warau Yakan in 2011, In 2015 he decided to make the once free hobby into a professional work and so it became a Light Novel series published by Kill Time Communication; now paired with an artist, Shindou Arata, Yakan decided to expand his original concept and make a broader story.
Also in 2015 the series got a manga adaptation called Maou no Hajimekata – The Comic, drawn by Komiya Toshimasa and written by Warau Yakan himself, the adaptation maintains the adult content from the novels by running in Comic Valkyrie, a seinen magazine, published by Kill Time Communication as well. Seven Seas Entertainment has picked the series up for English localization as How to Build a Dungeon: Book of the Demon King; the first volume released in October 2016.
Tropes used in this series include:
- All Women Are Lustful: A good portion of Aur's plans wouldn't work half as well if this trope wasn't in effect: he relies on it heavily to bring powerful women to his side, and unashamedly takes advantage.
- Anti-Magic: Zietlied's "Curse of Lead" means he's unable to use magic – but is also unaffected by it in turn.
- Back from the Dead: Even Aur had to put some legwork into it, but Yunis is ultimately brought back to life some time after her brother decapitates her, fulfilling her father's last wish to Aur that he bring her from Heaven.
- Battle Harem: Aur prefers to recruit women who will serve him in his battle against humanity (as well as in bed): succubi, warrior elves, warriors, magicians, swordsmen, even his stablehand.
- Bed Trick: In the confrontation with Alan's Raiders, after defeating them Aur disguises himself as Alan and enters Naja's prison cell, suspecting the two had Unresolved Sexual Tension. He repeatedly rapes Naja in disguise in order to plant the magical suggestion that she was working for him the whole time.
- Brainwashing: Aur brainwashes several humanoid adventurers who come to the dungeon to kill him into joining his side. Yunis is eventually cured, but is still sympathetic to him, which ends in her being beheaded by her brother.
- Bread Milk Eggs Squick: When Aur brings his first sacrificial maidens, Marybell and Spina, to the dungeon, he has Lilu teach them the standard tasks: "patrolling, laundry, managing monsters and traps, disposing of corpses, preparing meals..."
- Clothing Damage: In the manga, Yunis loses part of her breastplate while fighting Zietlied, exposing her chest.
- Spina's trademark creation is a slime that not only serves as a potent aphrodisiac, but also eats through metal and clothes as well.
- Clueless Chick-Magnet: Alan seemingly doesn't get his female party members has feelings for him. It's ultimately what pushes Nadja and Sharl to fully complete their Face–Heel Turn. When Aur is raping Wikia, Alan cries for the latter while denouncing his former members as whores. To Nadja and Sharl, that declaration sounds like Alan only loves Wikia, causing Nadja to decapitate Alan in rage.
- The Corrupter: Aur, through what is effectively a Sex-Heel Turn; women who Aur wants to join him are either implanted with false memories of him always being their lover, or else Aur impersonates their actual lover if the woman in question is already engaged. In either case, it ends with the women falling to perverse lust and seeing Aur as the only man in their lives, completely agreeing and assisting him with his evil deeds.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Yunis is one of Aur's best fighters, but her brother Zietlied is immune to their magic and too much of a Mighty Glacier for her to wound. He easily beats her unconscious and takes her home with him.
- Despair Event Horizon: Yunis' death hits Spina very hard, as without any real combat capabilities of her own, Spina had greatly admired Yunis' strength and the trust she had for her was second only to her trust in Aur. The idea of Yunis dying was one of her greatest fears, and when it came to pass she concluded that if someone as strong as Yunis could die so easily then Aur was not invincible either. The fear and desperation that thought caused is what made her create her own dungeon as a trap for Aur.
- Disproportionate Retribution: It's implied Aur once suffered a great betrayal that left him completely disgusted with humanity; he then proceeds to become a Demon Lord with the goal of making all of mankind be miserable and serve him as their new overlord.
- Easily Forgiven: In contrast to how Aur has dealt with the subject of treachery in the past, Spina is allowed to not only live but also remain by Aur's side after Lilu frees a captive Aur from her.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Playing up the part of Demon Lord, Aur goes to a village and demands a virgin maiden as a tribute for him; the village chief offers him a little girl, Maria. Aur asks if they are trying to mess with him, and the chief responds that all of their maidens had already been taken by bandits, royalty, and the like, so Maria was the only virgin left. Aur decides to take Maria anyway, reasoning she could be of some use one day – the standards come in in that since she is underage, Aur keeps her around but does not have sex with her. Lilu, however, starts lecturing the innocent Maria on sex education so that when she matures, she can start servicing him.
- Forced to Watch: With Alan's Raiders. Aur had already fully corrupted two of Alan's female companions, but makes Alan watch as he seduces/rapes the last companion, Wikia.
- Goo It Up: Aur's apprentice Spina develops a talent for crafting new kinds of slimes that she uses as fighting familiars.
- Hero's Slave Harem: Deconstructed: Aur is the logical result of a Harem Seeker who lacks the scruples that Harem Genre protagonists typically have. About two-thirds of the girls he's with are with him consensually, but he still tends to put curses on them to make it impossible for them to betray him (or a demonic pact in Lilu's case). The other third are variously brainwashed, gaslit, or driven over the Despair Event Horizon. Overall he makes Keyaru from Redo of Healer look like an upstanding citizen, with the exception of not being a pedophile.
- Hope Spot: After seven days of sexual torture, Celes manages to retain her sanity out of love for her partner, Evan. However when she is lead to the room he is kept, she learns the harsh truth that Evan was already broken four days ago and has long since discarded her for a group of succubi.
- Humans Are Bastards: Aur believes humanity is a collective of selfish beings who will sell out and betray anyone, anytime and anywhere if it means saving their behinds. Of course, he's proving to be a fine example of such himself.
- I Know Your True Name: Knowing one's true name in a magical relationship grants a person considerable power over another. The reason Aur beheaded his master is because she used his true name to force him to do it.
- Invincible Villain: Despite his self-proclaimed limited combat prowess, it seems that Aur always manages to get around his weaknesses and drag his foes over his preferred playground. Epic Curbstomp happens after.
- Jackass Genie: Defied; Aur puts together a very thorough contract to keep Lilu in line after summoning her to prevent any Loophole Abuse in their agreement that could give her the upper hand.
- Karmic Rape: When Spina makes her own dungeon, and uses Hollywood Voodoo to make Aur her sex slave, inflicting onto him the same fate as his many victims.
- Killed Off for Real: The souls of heroes are taken by Heaven the moment they're killed. leaving no chance at resurrection, much in the same way that the magically inclined are taken by whichever demon they may sell their soul to. It's a fact that Yunis' father laments, likening heroes to mockeries of life that are little more than Heaven's slaves. Subverted: it turns out that the souls of dead heroes become angels, and Aur is able to recover Yunis that way and restore her to her body, which he had preserved.
- Misanthrope Supreme: The core of Aur's character: a human who grew to harbor immense hatred towards his own kind, justifying his hatred by some event that happened in his past implied to be a great betrayal that left him a broken mess (see Start of Darkness below); Aur goes on to become a sorcerer, taking up the title of Demon Lord and vowing to make humanity become his miserable pawns.
- Netorare: Invoked against Alan the Warrior. Aur seduced/corrupted Alan's three female companions and made it sure to show it to him, before having one of the girls behead Alan, using Alan's torrent of surging hatred from the betrayal to resurrect him as a powerful ally, a Dullahan. Only the first notable case of something that Aur will make use of many times later, including against Zietlied, whose wife Aur first seduces then tricks him into killing as part of the effort.
- Night of the Living Mooks: Aur incorporates a number of undead in his forces, including Alan, an adventurer he resurrects as a Dullahan and Yunis's brother Zietlied, whose soul automatically went to heaven due to Zietlied being a Hero, so he reanimated the corpse and puts the demon Logan in control of it).
- Non-Indicative Name: Aur's full name is Ain Soph Aur. It comes straight out of the Kabbalah, meaning "The Limitless Light", commonly referred to as being God Himself]]; extremely ironic, and maybe pretentious, considering the kind of person Aur is.
- "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: Aur is a considerate lover, but the fact that it's frequently still rape (by mind control if nothing else) is stated outright by his own allies.
- Off with His Head!:
- Aur has the brainwashed Naja behead her former companion Alan after he's secured the allegiance of his former adventuring party. He turns Alan into a zombie to guard the dungeon afterward.
- After conquering Figuria, Aur has his demon companion Logan behead the king. It's later explained that Figuria had previously conquered and ravaged Aur's homeland.
- Yunis is beheaded by her own brother after telling Aur she still loves him, even with the brainwashing removed.
- Older Than They Look: Aur was an old man at the end of his lifespan by the time he finished his mana potion; rejuvenating himself was the first thing he did with his new immense power. Also the many demons and other races seen in the series.
- Our Elves Are Different: Alfar are pretty much your basic fantasy elves. Aur initially is joined voluntarily by a group of dark alfar (i.e. drow) who serve in his army as archers, able to blow a man apart with an arrow from hundreds of meters off. Later he brainwashes Sher, a light alfar (high elf) priestess who attacks the dungeon with Alan's Raiders.
- Perpetual Frowner: Aur's default look, properly portraying the kind of man he is; sometimes he flat out manipulates his facial structure with magic to give those who meets him for the first time a false impression that he is a benevolent man.
- Porn with Plot: The sex scenes and dialogue in the manga are quite explicit (the genitals are not drawn or whited out, but nearly everything else is shown) but are far from being the primary focus of the series.
- The Power of Hate: Aur makes use of Alan's fury at his betrayal and murder by his own female associates to raise Alan as a Dullahan in Aur's service.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Aur treats those who have become his subjects with decency, even those who were tricked or otherwise forced, to ensure loyalty and remove suspicion and lingering hatred from those who have joined his ranks.
- Rage Against the Heavens: The dying request of Yunis' father is for Aur to rescue Yunis' soul from Heaven. Aur is content obliging such a request, but knows he'll need time to make sure he's ready.
- Really Gets Around: Aur has his way with many, many women over the course of the series; that's his usual method of recruiting them.
- Reincarnation: Lilu is the succubus reincarnation of Aur's teacher and lover Radix, though she makes clear that despite having many of her memories she's still not actually Radix anymore.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Aur is captured by Figurian strategist Cass, an advisor to the king, in chapter 13. He works out that she's going behind the king's back and hopes to use him to advance herself. After he's rescued by Yunis and the others in the next chapter, he rejects Cass's offer to ally with him to save herself and burns her alive.
- Role-Playing Game 'Verse: The series is heavily influenced by JRPGs. Out-of-universe end-of-chapter pages even list characters' classes and power levels.
- Something Only They Would Say: The fact that Lilu knows Aur's full name is what ultimately causes Aur to realize that she's a reincarnation of his teacher Radix, as there is no one besides her that could know such a thing.
- Start My Own: Spina leaves and creates her own competing dungeon as a trap for Aur.
- Start of Darkness: Aur's past is given a proper show in the manga. He was apparently forced (by mind control, magic, brainwashing, or threat of violence) to go after his mentor, a kind and very attractive female druid and herbalist, who raised him as her own son, and when he found her, kill her with his own hands, which he does. He swears to have his vengeance against the kingdom(s) that forced him to do it...
- Eventually, it's revealed that the one who forced Aur to kill his mentor was the mentor herself. She had been aiding her country in a war by creating powerful magical weapons, but felt bad about her role in the resulting devastation. She felt pity for Aur (who was orphaned by the war) and took him in to try to atone, but eventually that wasn't enough for her and she stopped creating those weapons altogether. The country she had been helping decided she was a traitor and surrounded her tower with an army intent on killing her. Before they could do that, she used Aur's true name to take control of him and force him to kill her, knowing that the army would spare him.
- Stockholm Syndrome: Aur's usual MOs in claiming his female victims. And even if they somehow managed to not mentally break from the continuous rapes, their bodies are still conditioned to be his personal playthings.
- Succubi and Incubi: Lilu. Played With in that being a succubus, she thought Aur summoned her solely for sexual pleasure, while in fact he wanted an adjutant for his plans. He does have sex with her, but it's low on the list of tasks he wants her for, which frankly annoys her.
- Summon Binding: In the first chapter, Aur summons Lilu as a familiar—primarily serving as a walking mana battery for his spells as well as the first girl in his Battle Harem. He binds her to his service with a written contract of length and detail that is absurd even by demon standards, such that Lilu isn't able to finish reading the whole thing before her eyes get tired; she goes ahead and signs it to get it over with.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Aur's apprentice Spina is one of the women who regularly have sex with him. Aur eventually ended up on the student side of this trope years prior when his master still lived.
- The Stoic: Due to his advanced (real) age and firm belief that he knows all humanity (i.e: they are all trash) Aur's isn't fazed by anything because he will always be a step ahead (or so he believes).
- Ungrateful Townsfolk: Invoked by Aur. When the heroine Yunis comes to kill him at a village's request, he takes his aid back from the village and has Lilu incite them to blame her. To corrupt Yunis and win her loyalty, he then takes her to said village where the villagers try to stone her in rage for doing what they asked. Once Yunis finally broke and tried to kill the villagers, Aur killed them for her, claiming it's a villain's job. The ploy works and Yunis swears both loyalty and love to him.
- Villain Protagonist: Aur is a cold and nefarious Misanthrope Supreme who will stop at nothing to take over the world.
- Virgin Power: Played With. Aur initially avoids seducing his female apprentice Spina, a Misanthrope Supreme like himself who had horribly burned herself with hot oil to make herself unattractive to bandits (Aur magically healed her when he took her on). He tells her that her virginity is a source of power, but she goes to such lengths to seduce him that he relents and has sex with her.
