Twenty-five years ago, the world suddenly changed when monsters called “Dragons” appeared; seeking to ravage the earth and find mates. Over time, superhuman girls possessing the powers of the dragons, called “D girls” were born. Yuu Mononobe is the only male “D” in existence and is forced to enroll at Midgar - an academy for D girls. At the academy, he accidentally runs into Iris, a delinquent D girl, and even reunites with this long lost sister, Mitsuki. Will Iris and Yuu be able to challenge the seven dragons that threaten to destroy the world?
Unlimited Fafnir (銃皇無尽のファフニール, Jūō Mujin no Fafunīru) is a light novel series written by Tsukasa with illustrations by Riko Korie, and is published under the Kodansha Ranobe Bunko imprint. It spawned a total of 15 volumes, and ran from July 2013 to November 2017. It received an anime adaptation in January 2015. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime, which can be viewed here
for people in the following areas: note
Crunchyroll has also licensed the manga, which can be read here in the following locations:note
It should be noted however that events in the anime differ from the novel as Honoka is outed as Kili much earlier in the novels than in the anime.
Unlimited Fafnir provides examples of:
- And Then John Was a Zombie:
- Girls whose dragon mark glows when a dragon targets them as potential mates, thus putting them in danger of becoming a dragon themselves should the beasts get close enough to make contact with them. Yuu finds out that Mitsuki was forced to kill her classmate, Miyako, when she had turned into one two years earlier.
- Later on, second generation dragons have the ability to mark multiple Ds, and Vritra predicts that the third generation can breed with all of humanity.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The dragons that attacked humanity are huge, standing several hundred feet/meters tall.
- Beach Episode: Episode 9.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. Mitsuki and the other girls who took part in defending against the White Leviathan get hurt, and it shows on their faces and limbs. Lisa also suffers injuries while fighting Kili, and is still recovering in an arm cast for a couple of episodes/a few days.
- Breather Episode:
- Episode 2 is mostly a Character Development episode for Iris and Yuu, while the girls prepare for an attack by a dragon approaching the school.
- Episode 4 has a lot of hijinks with Tear, Yuu, Mitsuki, and Iris as they try to get Tear used to the school and the other students.
- Most of episode 9 has the characters relaxing after arriving at a remote island in preparation for the latest attack against the Basilisk.
- Blow You Away: The Hecatoncheir is defeated this way, when Yuu and the others use their attacks to blow it off the island.
- Butt-Monkey:
- In episode 4, Iris tries to greet Tear in the classroom. However, she is ignored, and Tear later treats her more like a nuisance for much of the rest of the day when she constantly hovers nearby.
- Yuu pretty much gets the same treatment as many other light novel protagonists, in that everyone including Vritra suspects him of being a pervert/playboy.
- Vritra, who was earlier a powerful antagonist, loses a lot of her presence and dignity once Tear captures her, to the point where even her own daughter is making fun of her.
- Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: Yuu was far more fascinated with Iris's body when he first saw her than after he got to know her, and she became comfortable enough with him that she can be under-clothed in his presence.
- The Captain: Mitsuki is the one in charge of the operations while Yuu was in charge of his unit in NIFL back in the day.
- Child Soldiers:
- Yuu and the girls at Midgar are still teenagers, and are forced to take down the dragons due to having much more power than even the military. Downplayed in that the less combat ready Ds usually leave the fighting to the more experienced ones and instead focus on their education.
- Major Loki is fond of "recruiting" children to serve his agenda as assassins, including the protagonist. He sees nothing wrong with this, since he was raised from birth to be an assassin as well.
- Cliffhanger:
- At the end of episode 5, the blue Hekatonkheir suddenly shows up right in the middle of the school.
- Episode 10 ends on one, with the Red Basilisk intercepting the student's attack with its own devastating counter tearing into the volcano they were hiding behind. Tear also suffers from some shock as this plays out.
- Clingy Jealous Girl:
- Both Iris and Mitsuki seem a little angry at Yuu when they see Tear clinging onto him constantly in episode 4.
- Kili revives Major Loki because she fears that if Yuu has to live with the guilt of killing him, he'll think about his former CO more than her.
- Combo Platter Powers: People can use multiple authorities.
- Crippling Over Specialization: Code Lost would be a Story-Breaker Power if it weren't for the fact that it only works on opponents that are considered human or humanoid.
- Cursed with Awesome:
- The girls with a D marking, and Yuu, can transmute substances or phenomena from dark matter, much like the black dragon that first displayed this power. Unfortunately they're also viewed with some skepticism and kept isolated from normal humans while learning to use their power for the good of humanity in stopping dragon attacks.
- Code Lost and Code Acht allow the users to kill humans with a thought or control them through vampirism, respectively. Unfortunately, it's difficult to control the full powers of both authorities, resulting in the extinction or assimilation of humanity.
- Inheriting an authority can cause some wielders to transform in order to accommodate all that power, as shown with Iris who is slowly transforming into Basilisk and the Hreidmar units who transformed into smoke.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Most of the Ds are law-abiding citizens with the ability to use Dark Matter to create objects out of thin air. Vritra, the Counter-Dragon who gave them this power, turns out to be more benevolent than she first appears.
- Defeat Means Friendship:
- Kili becomes a lot friendlier after Yuu nearly manages to kill her, though she doesn't officially join Class Brynhildr for several volumes.
- The 2nd Kraken gets "mated" by Yuu, causing her to transform into the same kind of Counterdragon as him. Since he's mentally human and physically human, this carries over to her as well, allowing the protagonists to reason with her.
- Dying as Yourself: Mitsuki is very reluctant to kill her friend Miyako shortly after she turned into a dragon. Both Miyako and her sister Haruka Shinomiya beg her to shoot before she lost control and started attacking mindlessly.
- Enemy Mine:
- In order to prevent collateral damage to Erlia, the Brynhildr class has to protect Kili from NIFL. Later on, she helps them hijack Yggdrasil, who is an enemy to her mother.
- Midgard and NIFL only work together to stop rampaging Dragons and the like. Once all other threats have been neutralized, NIFL tries to destroy Midgard to take out Charlotte and her Code Acht. Two volumes after that, they have to team up again due to the 9th Calamity.
- Expy: Many of the Counter-Dragons are huge manifestations of Gaia's Vengeance, much like the WEAPONS from Final Fantasy VII.
- The dragons that are threatening the world en masse, while much bigger and varied in shape and powers, are basically the same as the world-ending dragons in Skyrim.
- NIFL are much like The Blades, being Well-Intentioned Extremist Badass Normal group of dragon-fighting agents that also specialize in espionage. Conversely, the Midgard consists of people with innate dragon powers much like the Dragonborn although composed of young women, are so many, and can be turned into rampaging dragons (losing its humanity) in specific cases, and Kili Surtr Muspelheim is a member of a villainous Dragon Cult much like the Dragon Cult in Skyrim's history.
- Extra-ore-dinary:
- Most Ds can create Mythril with Dark Matter.
- The 6th True Dragon is a massive metal discus with tentacles and is so durable that only antimatter can destroy it.
- Fantastic Racism: Atla despises anyone who has Code Zwo, since that authority was used to destroy her civilization of Atlantis.
- First Kiss:
- Mitsuki does this to Yuu when they were younger. Unfortunately by episode 7 he can no longer remember it.
- Iris kisses Yuu shortly after he saves her from the dragon coming for her in episode 3.
- Tear kisses Yuu on the cheek in episode 7, prompting Iris to bring up her kiss with him.
- Flash Back: Used regularly throughout the show to reveal important events, such as Yuu first making a contract with Yggdrasil for Power at a Price to defeat a dragon attacking his hometown.
- Freudian Excuse:
- Tear is extremely clingy to Yuu when she sees him at the school in episode 4. She later mentions not wanting to be separated from him because he might disappear again.
- Loki is hellbent on killing Charlotte, due to a combination of being raised by NIFL and because he wants to surpass his father, who killed the last user of Code Acht. He also prefers backstage manipulation to being a powerful super-soldier because he believes his father's power put him in a position to become a disposable pawn.
- From Bad to Worse: The 9th True Dragon starts out by using End Matter like the 7th. Then it's revealed that it brought back at least four other True Dragons, including Bahamut and Nyarlathotep.
- The Gadfly: Firill gives Yuu a coupon to use the hot springs in episode 9. Unfortunately she doesn't specify the time on it, so the girls show up shortly after he dips in. Firill then teases him a little, and nearly gives his hiding spot away until an urgent call forces the girls to get out.
- Gaia's Vengeance: The Counterdragons are created by the world to combat "True Dragons", or global disasters in general.
- Gilligan Cut: In episode 4, Iris angrily says she'll go back to the dorms to put on some underwear after Yuu sees her. However, the bell rings, and she has a shocked look on her face. The scene then transitions to the classroom with her having the same exact look still.
- Godzilla Threshold: While the Counterdragons are very powerful, they're also incredibly destructive and only appear when the disaster they're fighting is even worse for the planet.
- Good All Along: Though they're also an example of Good Is Not Nice. Vritra and the other "dragons" are actually Counterdragons that are meant to protect the planet, even if they have to antagonize humanity to do so.
- Harem Seeker
- Oddly enough, Charlotte, the school principal. She claims the girls in the school are part of her harem, and later suggests going to peek on the girls during a physical.
- Firill Crest. Since same-sex marriage is legal in her country, while polygamy is allowed for royalty, Firill suggests for the entire Brynhildr Class to get married to her.
- Once Yuu is revealed to be a Counter-dragon with the ability to mate Ds, his classmates "mate" with him in order to become the same type of dragon and preserve their human form.
- Improbably Female Cast: Yuu is the only known male with a D marking. As a result, he is transferred to Midgard, an all-girls school where they are all D as well.
- Innocent Fanservice Girl:
- Zigzagged with Iris. She is initially embarrassed when Yuu sees her naked. But after she learns to trust him, she doesn't seem to mind trying to get more intimate with him, such as trying to wash his back while he's taking a bath.
- Played straight with Tear, who seems quite comfortable being Yuu's "wife" in episode 4. In one instance, she declares his seat to be hers as well, and is seen sitting on his lap in class.
- Lovecraft Lite: This series has really dark aspects, such as how dragons can transform Ds into a identical dragon and impregnate them. As the series goes on, it's revealed that the planet itself is creating these Counter-Dragons to fight even worse True Dragons in order to protect Earth, which doesn't always mean protecting humanity. Worse yet, the seventh True Dragon actually did succeed in destroying the world despite the efforts of two Counterdragons. Additionally, the planet considers humans to collectively be a True Dragon and created two authorities to neutralize them. And yet, it's still a Harem series with comedic moments.
- Magical Girl Warrior: Subverted for the Ds because their powers were given to them by Vritra for the sake of turning them and the rest of humanity into giant monsters. She never really intended for Dark Matter to be used against the Counter-Dragons. This is double subverted in a twisted way when it turns out Vritra wants them to use their powers to protect the world from the next True Dragons.
- Mystery Cult: A dragon cult exists, which has been brainwashing Tear and causing her to believe she's really a dragon, not a human. Having horns on her head only further validates it as far as she knows.
- Naked First Impression: Yuu first meets Iris this way in episode 1. She later tells him her swimsuit fell off while she was swimming in the ocean, hence why she was naked at the time.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: The reason why each dragon is a Puzzle Boss with bizarre abilities? They're all tailored by the planet to deal with specific global threats.
- New Transfer Student:
- Yuu in the first episode. Although in his case, it's less of transferring and more of Mitsuki using her authority to take him away from NIFL to Midgard.
- Tear and Honoka transfer to the school in episode 4.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero
- Tear getting a little angry in the auditorium and nearly destroying it causes the other students to be quite fearful of her as a result. Fortunately, Yuu, Mitsuki, and Iris help her to open up more to her classmates.
- Yuu decided to keep Tear's status as a D a secret and allow her to live with her family again. Not only does this allow Tear to fall into Kili's hands , but later Kili reveals that Tear's parents were still exploiting her powers for money, which is why she killed them instead of saving them from their wounds.
- Now that Yuu has marked and mated the last remaining dragon who could do the same to others, the entire world is pretty much free from all these Kaiju running around, right? Turns out this ruined Vritra's plan to strengthen humanity into Nigh-Invulnerable lifeforms that could survive the next world destroying calamity.
- Vritra unwittingly causes Mitsuki to become insecure in her relationship with Yuu, which causes the seal on the 9th calamity to weaken.
- No-Sell: None of the attacks against the White Leviathan have any effect against it due to its Deflector Shields. This gets worse when fighting Yellow Hraesvelgr, since it uses "ether wind" to ignore material damage.
- Not Me This Time: While Kili has a high kill count, it was an anti-dragon organization that mortally wounded Tear's parents. Though she cremated them because she knows they'll just exploit Tear again if she heals them.
- Nothing Is Scarier: In-universe. During the 7th True Dragon's attack on Earth, Kiskanu slowly lost the ability to process information due to all the plants dying, to the point where it could no longer perceive anything or think. It's implied that Yggdrasil became obsessed with self-preservation after digging through memories of its predecessor's last moments.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Pretty much anything with supernatural powers (minus the Ds who only have temporary power) is thrown under the blanket term of "Dragon". And then it turns out all the foes fought thus far were Counterdragons and that True Dragons are basically anything that can wreck the planet, from abusive human technology to nebulous threats so strong that even the Counterdragons can't win.
- Past Experience Nightmare: Mitsuki has a brief one in episode 8, recalling when she was forced to kill Miyako.
- Posthumous Character:
- Miyako is already dead by the time the show starts, but is referenced to and seen in Flash Back scenes often due to her importance to Mitsuki and Lisa.
- Several of the past counterdragons, such as Colorless Fafnir, are mentioned in later volumes to explain where the current counterdragons inherited their power from.
- Puzzle Boss: Pretty much every dragon has abilities that No-Sell blind spamming of powerful Dark Matter attacks. Defeating them usually requires unconventional strategies or extremely specialized weapons from Yggdrasil.
- Secret-Keeper: The ones who know that Yuu's been losing his memories are Iris, Lisa, and Ren; by Volume 7, all the girls in the class know.
- Serious Business: In episode 7, Tear kisses Yuu on the cheek as a sign of their "engagement". Iris then says she kissed him before Tear did. Later Mitsuki wants to ask him a serious question, which turns out to be confirming if he did in fact kiss Iris.
- Shipper on Deck: Firill for Yuu and Lisa. At least, until she falls seriously for him.
- Shoot the Dog: Vritra suggests that the best way to beat the 9th True Dragon is to have Mitsuki reabsorb all of it, and then use Code Lost to kill her along with the calamity. Yuu will have none of it, but unfortunately, Mitsuki was within earshot.
- Show, Don't Tell: The abilities each character has is shown early on during a demonstration in episode 1.
- Student Council President: Mitsuki is one for Midgard.
- They Died Because of You: Miyako's death at the hands of Mitsuki becomes a source of conflict between the latter and Lisa, who often brings it up when they get into an argument.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Yuu adopts this creed, despite being explicitly raised as an assassin by Major Loki. The D students also try to avoid killing as much as possible despite the dangers. However, this goes out the window for Yuu once it's revealed the Hreidmar units that supposedly escaped their armor with smoke didn't actually escape. They were the smoke and by breaking their armor, Yuu unknowingly killed them. Later, he very knowingly kills Major Loki in order to protect Midgard from him, though Kili revives him so Yuu doesn't have Loki on his mind.
- Transformation Sequence: Subverted. The girls seem to go through one, but their clothing remains the same, while said sequence summons a magical weapon for them to use.
- Traumatic Superpower Awakening:
- Happens to Yuu in a Flash Back, allowing him to defeat a dragon that was attacking their hometown years earlier.
- Iris manages to summon some dark matter bombs around a soldier attempting to shoot Yuu in episode 3. He uses this to help get around the White Leviathan's shields.
- Yuu manages to fully activate Ether Wind when Loki deals him a near-fatal blow and threatens to finish off his comrades.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Kili Surtr Muspellzheimr, the leader of the dragon cult attempting to brainwash Tear into becoming a dragon. She is able to infiltrate the school without setting off any of its defense alarms, severely injures Lisa, and nearly manages to stop Yuu as well. She only backs off when the dragon that showed up starts its attack, and she is knocked back by a new attack from Yuu.
- Wave-Motion Gun: Yuu summons one in episode 3 to defeat the White Leviathan.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist:
- Vritra wants to turn humans into Counterdragons in order for the world to survive the Ninth Dragon.
- Loki wants to get rid of both Charlotte's authority and his authority through any means possible so that humanity will be spared from the dangers of both.
- Kili seems to genuinely believe that Tear will be happier mating with Basilisk than being used or hated by human society. Luckily, she accepts letting Tear stay in Midgard after Basilisk is defeated.
- Wham Line: What the principal delivers to Yuu at the end of the fifth volume:Iris might turn into a dragon.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Yuu is able to manifest various firearms from dark matter. But according to several of the girls, they wonder how useful that is against a dragon. He later sees what kind of powers the girls have compared to what he summoned such as his sister with an Energy Bow.
- What the Hell, Hero?
- Lisa is very angry with Mitsuki for killing Miyako two years prior to Yuu transferring to the school.
- Yuu also gets this when his secret contract with Yggdrasil bites him and the entire school in the ass.
- When Trees Attack: Yggdrasil turns this up to eleven because it can transfer its consciousness to any plant life on the planet. The only way to take it out for good is to wipe out all plants or somehow steal its authority.
- White-and-Grey Morality: For the white side, the heroes tend to set high moral standards for themselves, sometimes to the point of Honor Before Reason. For the gray side, this series tends to feature Well-Intentioned Extremist villains who just want to end various disasters, but choose questionable means to do so. Even Yggdrasil, who is the least well-intentioned, is motivated more by desperation and fear for its own life rather than malice.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Yuu was forced to dress as a maid for the school festival. Looks damn attractive too.◊
- Winds of Destiny, Change!: This is the true nature of Yuu's Fafnir mode, which is a weakened version of Code Lost. It gives him a high chance of winning against a human opponent by letting him know the optimal actions to achieve victory. When Loki gets most of the authority, he goes beyond optimal actions by having impossibly lucky coincidences work in his favor.
- The Worf Effect:
- Lisa is subjected to this when fighting Kili in episode 6. Though she does put up quite a bit of a fight, Kili is able to overpower her and nearly succeeds in kidnapping Tear.
- And that's nothing compared to the Counterdragons, who Class Brynhildr could barely defeat. Turns out Vritra and Kiskanu failed to prevent the world's destruction at the hands of End Matter. Keep in mind that in her prime, Vritra had enough Dark Matter to restore life to the planet. Though whether or not their enemy was a sentient being is unknown.
- World of Action Girls: Every single one of the female students is capable of devastating attacks due to having similar abilities to the dragons that showed up. The only males shown using supernatural powers are Yuu and other users of Code Lost. Interestingly, Vritra wanted to subvert this by eventually turning all of humanity into Counterdragons, and not just young females, though Yuu ensures that her plan for next generation Ds never comes to fruition.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Her?: Really, considering Yuu has orders to kill Kili on sight, and Kili's done a lot of damage to him and his classmates, his explanation of why he didn't kill her when he had the chance falls rather flat.
- But those orders are from NIFL and Yuu is no longer under their command.
