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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AkatsukiNoYonaPage_6674.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[TookALevelInBadass Meet Princess Yona before. Now meet Princess Yona after]].]]
->Yona, The Girl Standing in The Blush of Dawn
King Il of Kouka, a country said in legends to have been founded by dragons, has no male heir, only a young daughter named Yona. As the sole princess she is living the luxurious and carefree life as a princess should. She has it all: the finest clothes and cosmetics, the most divine sweets, a loving emperor as a father, and the hottest cousin crush, Soo-Won, anyone could ever hope to have. Now, if only her bodyguard and childhood friend, Son Hak, wasn't so annoying, her hair wasn't so red and her father would allow her to marry Soo-Won, everything would be just perfect.
But on the day of her sixteenth birthday, her nearly perfect world shatters. The man she loves, Soo-Won, murders her father and the path to his ascension to the throne is assured. Hak escapes with Yona, and they retreat to his hometown Fuuga, the capital of the Wind Tribe. A man living near those lands, a priest called Ik-Soo, tells them of a prophecy related to her and the country's future. So Yona resolves to keep on living, to fight and reclaim her place as the true ruler by finding the "dragon warriors", those who have inherited the mythical powers from their ancestors, who helped the legendary dragon king Hiryuu establish the Kouka Kingdom.
The manga is written by Mizuho Kusanagi whose previous works include ''NGLife'' and ''Mugen Spiral''.
An anime adaptation was produced for the Fall2014Anime season by Creator/StudioPierrot. It was licensed by Creator/FUNimation, although Crunchyroll still possesses streaming rights.
----
!! ''Akatsuki no Yona'' contains examples of:
* ActualPacifist: [[WrongGenreSavvy Emperor Il]]
* {{Adorkable}}: Kija and Shin-Ah.
* AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength: Shin-Ah is terrified of using his eyes since he could (and has) paralyze someone to death with his power.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Yona was in love with Soo-Won but he didn't return her affections. Tae-Jun made it clear that he wanted to marry Yona but she turned him down. Then there is Kija, Jae-Ha and Hak who either have a crush on Yona or are starting to fall in love with her but how she feels about them are left ambiguous.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: The standard treatment of the Dragons, besides Hakuryuu.
* AlmightyJanitor: Yona used to be the princess of the kingdom and Hak a general, now they are just ruffians that travel the country incognito; however, they are helping more of their people than ever before, confronting issues that never even came to their attention when they were within Hiryuu Castle. They even manage to beat Soo-Won to the problem more than once.
* AnnoyingPatient: Everyone is this to Yoon.
* AntagonistInMourning: [[spoiler:He may have killed her father and attempted to kill her as well, but Soo-Won is visibly shocked when an equally distraught Tae-Jun informs him of Yona and Hak's [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat supposed deaths]].]]
* AnywhereButTheirLips: Hak presses a kiss on Yona's forehead a few times, even though there has been a few instances he [[AlmostKiss was close enough to kiss her]]. It's implied that he knows that Yona still harbors [[TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest unresolved feelings]] for Soo-Won and a kiss to the forehead is a safer route for him to coping with his feelings.
* AttractiveBentGender: Yoon is able to look [[http://www.mangaeden.com/en-manga/akatsuki-no-yona/34/22/ convincing]] as a girl. It helps that he gets [[DudeLooksLikeALady mistaken for a girl]] constantly. Kija ... not so much.
* {{Badass}}: Pretty much everyone, especially the dragons, Yona and Hak.
** BadassAdorable: [[BadassPrincess Yona]] grows to be as lethal as she is lovely.
** BadassCrew: The pirates of Awa.
** BadassGrandpa: Mundok.
** BadassNormal: Though traveling with a bunch of dragon-humans, Hak is one of, ''if not'', the strongest in the group.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Played with. While the main cast are either cute or Bishounen, the equally handsome Soo-Won was the one who murdered Yona's father. JerkAss Tae-Jun started out very self-centered but eventually TookALevelInKindness.
* BerserkButton: Seriously, don't hurt Yona if you know what's better for you. Hak and the rest of the Dragons are fiercely protective of her, but it was the sweet, shy Shin-Ah that viciously attacked the bandits who harmed her in chapter 50.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Jae-Ha takes the job of looking after the other Dragons. In one of the extra chapters, he went after Kija and Shin-Ah who blindly jumped into a river and protected Zeno when a bear was attacking him.
* BigBrotherMentor: Kija wants to be this to Shin Ah.
* BigDamnHeroes: Hak appears out of nowhere to save Yona in the second chapter/episode right before she was about to be killed by Soo-Won's soldiers.
* {{Bishounen}}: Most of the male cast.
* BlessedWithSuck:
** Shin-Ah's eyes, once activated, [[PowerIncontinence are hard to control]].
** [[spoiler: Zeno's immortality has him staying young while he watched the rest of his friends grow old and die.]]
*** [[spoiler: Also healing from any injury, no matter how severe, seems like a good power. Except it still hurts. The amount of pain he goes through to fully activate his power is terrifying.]]
* BlingOfWar: Justified and played with. When Soo-Won "plays" war with Geun-Tae, he makes sure that they are wearing custom made jewelry. [[spoiler: Turns out he was advertising gemstones from the local quarry to stimulate the economy]].
* BloodKnight: The Earth Tribe's General, Lee Geun-Tae, really likes fighting and is more than thrilled when Soo-Won seemingly plans to start a "war".
* BodyguardCrush: Oh ''Hak''... And later we also have Kija. Jae-ha is shaping to follow the trend too.
* BodyguardingABadass: Despite her growth, Yona still needs bodyguards. Hak? Not so much, but she insists they protect him too.
* BrokenBird: Yona but [[spoiler: not for long]]
* BullyingTheDragon: Quite literally.
* CainAndAbel: If Soo-won is to be believed, then Il killed his older brother Yu-Hon.
** And you could count Soo-won as the Cain to Yona's Abel... Though Yona had ''[[KissingCousins more]]'' than sisterly affection towards him, at first.
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: For all the Dragons but [[spoiler: Zeno, who knows where the Call lives and just shows up to join]].
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: Few men are ever drawn to be ugly. At best, they are non-descriptive.
* CatchPhrase: Yoon's is "I'm a [[{{Bishounen}} pretty boy]]".
* CelibateHero: Kija in particular doesn't have an interest in girls, mostly because the aggressive advances of the village girls frightened him off.
* CharacterDevelopment: The whole story is this. Especially [[TookALevelInBadass Yona]].
* CharacterMagneticTeam: Seriously. [[spoiler: It gets to the point where Zeno just shows up at the group's campfire and decides to stay.]]
* ChickMagnet: Hak and Jae-Ha often get girls swarming over them.
* ChildhoodFriends: Yona, Hak and Soo-Won.
** WeUsedToBeFriends: Obviously after Soo-Won's betrayal things went sour.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Just like Yona has been [[KissingCousins in love]] with Soo-Won since childhood, Hak has been [[AllLoveIsUnrequited in love]] with her since then too. Yet he always supported a [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy relationship between the two]] since they were both equally important to him.
* ChivalrousPervert: Jae-ha.
* TheChosenOne: Yona. Legends said that one day a red-haired royal would bring together the four dragons once more.
** [[spoiler: Confirmed by Zeno in chapter 102.]]
* CompleteImmortality: [[spoiler: Zeno, as a part of his powers as the Yellow Dragon.]]
* CoolOldGuy: Son Mundok, Hak's adoptive grandfather.
* CoolOldLady: Captain Gi-Gan, the leader of a RagtagBandOfMisfits of pirates. Also, Kija's grandmother.
* CostumePorn: The mangaka puts lavish amounts of detail into clothing.
* CoverInnocentEyesAndEars: Tae-Woo and Han-Dae cover Tae-Yeon's eyes when they witness Hak getting very close to Yona (to provide her with a cover story to hide her identity).
* CryCute: Mostly Yona, but the others have their moments.
* CuddleBug: Zeno has a habit of [[TheGlomp glomping]] or cuddling with the nearest person. Apparently, he likes to sleep close to Shin-Ah (because his fur piece is warm).
* CurbStompBattle: Anyone fighting against Hak and/or the Four Dragons will result in this.
* CuteClumsyGirl: Ik Soo is a male example.
* TheCutie: Tae-Yeon, Hak's little brother.
* CycleOfRevenge: King Il supposedly killed Soo-Won's father, so Soo-Won killed him... in front of his daughter. Whether Yona will actually continue the cycle has yet to be seen.
* DancePartyEnding: The end of the Awa arc has the entire village celebrating. Though the happy mood is soured (at least for Yona and Hak) when [[spoiler: Yona unexpectedly ran into Soo-Won]].
* DeathGlare:
** This is Shin-Ah's special ability where if activated, he is able to target and paralyze limbs and organs.
** Yona delivers an epic one to Kum-Ji after he kicked Yoon to the ground.
* DebutQueue
* {{Determinator}}: Crawl along an impossibly high cliff where one false move means certain death? Tremble and cry in fear while trying not to be flung to said certain death by high speed winds? Okay. But Yona ''will'' [[SecretTestOfCharacter get those herbs]], even if she has to [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome do it a second time.]]
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Jee-Ha wanted Hak to join his pirate gang but asked him [[NotWhatItLooksLike by holding Hak's hands and telling Hak that he wanted him]]. When Hak naturally declined, Jae-Ha started hugging Hak, saying Hak was a handsome man and that they should continue their conversation in private. HilarityEnsues.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: In extra chapter "Please excuse us for our carelessness", after Ao accidentally fell into a river, Shin-Ah jumps in with Kija following right behind, not realizing they didn't take off their clothes or how fast the water was going. Jae-Ha promptly rescued them with annoyance.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In an extra chapter "Sleep tight tonight" that took place before the events of the manga, Yona revealed to Hak that she had a dream of them leaving and running away from the castle. Now whether the second part of her dream where she cradles a badly injured/dying Hak will come true ...
* DudeLooksLikeALady: While there are plenty of [[{{Bishounen}} beautiful men]], it is only the self-proclaimed "genius pretty boy", Yoon, the one who is repeatedly mistaken for a girl.
* DyingToBeReplaced: Once a new "dragon warrior" is born, the previous one slowly loses his powers and subsequently his life.
* DysfunctionJunction: The Four Dragons all have varying degrees of this:
** Kija mostly had a happy childhood, practically being spoiled by his village due his status as the White Dragon. But an extra chapter revealed that [[spoiler: his father attacked and left a scar on his back when he was born. Consequently, Kija was kept away from his father for most of his life.]]
** Shin-Ah was isolated and hated in his village with only Ao as his friend. His own mother committed suicide once she found out she gave birth to the new Seiryuu.
** Jae-Ha spent most of his childhood [[spoiler: chained by the previous Green Dragon so he wouldn't run away.]]
** Zeno [[spoiler: due to his immortality, outlived all of his friends.]]
* EnemyCivilWar: The Fire Tribe rebels against Soo-Won, and Yona and co. must help prevent the coup from disturbing the country.
* EngagingConversation: Yoon gets marriage proposals by several people once they try his cooking. [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Including men.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Shin-Ah first appeared rescuing Yona, a stranger to him, from a kidnapper and helping her return to her friends.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Everybody at the palace, save King Il, could see that Yona was head over heels in love with Soo-Won, who was also oblivious.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Shin-Ah was only known as the ''"Seiryuu"'', his birth parents didn't bother to give him a name, not even the previous Seiryuu, Ao, who did care about him thought of giving him one.
* FallenPrincess: Yona all the way.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Kouka is almost a dead-ringer for imperial Korea -- an unusual location choice, considering the historic tension between Japan and Korea.
* FireForgedFriends: Hak and Kija.
* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: Yona's huge crush on Soo-Won and his subsequent betrayal has left her with serious emotional baggage.
* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: That naive princess that shows up on the second page? The first page has her future self acting {{badass}} as usual.
* FirstNameBasis: Shin-Ah was the first of the Dragons to start calling Yona by her name and not "Princess". Afterwards, the others asked her if they could do the same too. Subverted with Hak, as Yona specifically requested him to continue to refer to her as "Princess" so she wouldn't forget that she is the daughter of the king.
* FrameUp: Soo-Won deliberately placed suspicion of the murder of Yona's father on Hak after he and Yona "mysteriously" left the palace. Hak's grandfather didn't buy it for a second.
* FriendlessBackground: Shin-Ah had it the worst where his whole village shunned him and his own mother killed herself when she found out she gave birth to the next Seiryuu.
* GoodIsNotSoft: The kind and sweet Yona was the one who shot and killed Kum-Ji.
* HappilyAdopted: Several characters...
** Hak and his little foster brother Tae-Yeon were adopted by Mundok.
** Yoon was also sort of adopted by Ik-Soo.
** And Ao was the only parental figure Shin-Ah had.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Heang-Dea and Tae-Woo, the guards from the Wind Tribe, who are always [[ThoseTwoGuys together]].
* HeroicBSOD: Yona suffers through one when she saw her father being murdered by the man she was in love with. It takes some time and with help from Hak and the Wind tribe to break her out of it.
* TheHighQueen: What Yona is shaping up to be.
* HitchhikerHeroes: Yona and her friends must track down the Four Dragons and recruit them one by one.
* HopelessSuitor: Kang Tae-Jun, the second son of the General of the Fire Tribe, in regards of his crush on Yona.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Shin-Ah wished to have friends ever since he was a young child, but he was an outcast in his village, hated and feared by everyone.
* IgnorantOfTheCall: Shin-Ah didn't know about the Four Dragons, and was told all his life he was cursed instead. When he met Yona and Kija he had no idea about what's going on.
* ImportantHaircut: [[spoiler:When Yona and an injured Hak are surrounded, Yona is captured by the son of the Fire Tribe's general as he held her by the hair. After seeing Hak fall off the cliff into a raging river below. Realizing she was too weak to do anything, she cuts her hair, freeing herself from her enemy, the last link to her old life, and taking the first step to the Badass she will one day become by jumping off the cliff to save Hak.]]
* IllBoy: Tae-Yeon.
* InfantImmortality: Averted when a child is killed by bandits in chapter 49 and later, a funeral is held for him.
* InnocentCohabitation: Yona is the only girl in a group full of guys and on occasion, she shares a tent with one guy (mostly Yoon).
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: After [[spoiler: briefly reuniting with Soo-Won unexpectedly]], Yona was in such a daze that after she spilled some porridge on herself she started unbuttoning her outer shirt in front of everyone. Hak was quick enough to [[PleasePutSomeClothesOn cover her]] with his jacket.
* IntimateHealing: After Yona gets some thorns stuck in her hands, Hak pours honey over her wounds and licks the honey off her fingers.
* InSeriesNickname: Hak is known as the "[[{{Badass}} Raijuu]]" [[note]]"Thunder Beast"[[/note]] of the Kouka Kingdom.
* JumpedAtTheCall: Kija was ready to join Yona the moment he see her, [[spoiler: justified as he was raised to aid his master, and as a Dragon he has the physical urge to do so]].
* JustLikeRobinHood: "The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch" attack only the Fire Tribe soldiers and give food and medicine to the local villages.
* KissingCousins: Yona has been in love with Soo-won for a long time.
* [[LikeASonToMe Like A Grandchild To Me:]] Mundok has always cared for Soo-Won and Yona as if they were his own grandchildren.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Yona and Yoon. Their relationship is more like that of [[PlatonicLifePartners best friends]] than anything possibly romantic, they even sleep together side by side!
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Yona for Shin-Ah. She was the first person to reach out to him and harming her will unleash a feral, violent side of him that frightens him.
* LongingLook: During Yona's dance in chapter 65, Hak gives a sad one as he watches her. A woman who was earlier intending to jump Hak noted it was the first time she had seen such harrowed eyes and immediately gave up on Hak.
* The Magnificent Seven Samurai: In spirit "The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch" somehow became this.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: According to Soo-won his father, Yu-hon, was murdered by emperor Il like this.
* ManBitesMan: [[spoiler:Yona has taken a habit of doing this when things get rough and she is low on options.]]
* MarkOfTheSupernatural: Kija's right hand is a dragon claw and Shin-Ah's eyes have red markings underneath them.
* MayflyDecemberFriendship: It's revealed that [[spoiler: Zeno is the original Yellow Dragon and therefore much, much older than the rest of the gang.]]
* TheMedic: Yoon.
* MissingMom: Yona's mother was killed by a rebel when she was a child.
** An even darker example: Shin-Ah's mother couldn't accept the fact that she gave birth to the next Seiryuu, so she took her own life.
* [[AFatherToHisMen A Mother To Her Pirates]]: Pirate Captain Gi-Gan is just like a strict ''but'' caring mother to her men. This extents to Yona too.
* MayDecemberRomance: Geun-Tae and his wife Yun-ho are 13 years apart from each other, when they married she was 19 and he was 32.
* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: Kija's grandmother.
* MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes: When Kija nearly fell off a bridge, he remarked how he only saw older ladies flashing before his eyes.
* MysticalWhiteHair: Kija, justified since he is the ''white dragon''.
* TheNicknamer: Hak calls Kija "White Snake" and Jae-Ha "droopy eyes".
* NoKoreansInJapan: While it doesn't take place in Japan, this is averted like hell, as all the characters came from a fantasy version of Korea, not to mention the author of the manga is Japanese.
* NoNameGiven: Shin-Ah was only known as the ''"Seiryuu"'', he remains unnamed until Yona decides on one.
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: A seriously wounded and poisoned [[spoiler: Hak falls over the edge of a cliff with Yona]], which prompts the enemy to declare them dead since there's [[TemptingFate no way they could survive the fall]]. They're both up and about a few chapters later, only a little worse for wear.
* NobleFugitive: Yona, who is a princess, and Hak, who as the Wind Tribe General is considered part of the nobility. [[spoiler: Until he renounces his status as general anyways.]]
* ObliviousToLove: Yona, ''Yona'' and Yona. She is ''particularly'' oblivious to Hak's not-so-indirect hints... It's quite possible that she is under SelectiveObliviousness.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Soo-Won much to Lee Geun-Tae's chagrin.
** Also Zeno, who normally behaves like a CloudCuckooLander, appears to be more serious and he seems to ''know more'' than he lets on.
* OlderThanTheyLook:
** Kija doesn't look like he is 20 and Zeno looks like he is 14-15 rather than 17. [[spoiler: Of course it turns out that Zeno is much, ''much'', older as he has been alive since Hiryuu's time.]]
** Yunho, the wife of Earth Tribe's general, is 25 years old yet she looks like ''she is still 15''.
* OneManArmy: Hak, Kija, Shin-Ah, Jae-Ha.
** [[spoiler: Zeno too, when he's powers are active.]]
* OnlyAFleshWound: Played with in regards to Hak after he was badly injured after fighting Fire Tribe soldiers and falling off a cliff. It took him a few days to get back on his feet. And though he was still able to fight, he collapsed immediately after said fight and needed more time to recover.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Zeno drops his carefree and cheerful personality, it's a sign that something big or serious is happening. Especially in chapter 101 where he [[spoiler: casually annihilates a squad of soldiers and reveals he is the original Yellow Dragon]].
* ParentalFavoritism: The General of the Fire Tribe favours older son Kyo-Ga over Tae-Jun.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: King Il didn't approve and outright objected at the idea of Yona getting married to Soo-Won.
* ParentalSubstitute:
** Mundok took Hak and Tae-Yeon as his adoptive grandsons.
** Ik-Soo more or less adopted Yoon, who was an orphan living in poverty.
** Ao, the previous Seiryuu, was the one who raised Shin-Ah.
** Gi-Gan is like a surrogate mother to her pirate crew.
* ThePatientHasLeftTheBuilding: The Dragons pull this in a recent chapter, escaping their tent, under Yoon's nose, [[spoiler: to join Hak in battle against Kai's rogue soldiers despite being ill and feverish. It does not go well.]]
* PeekABangs: Kye-Sook, Soo-Won's advisor, and Jaeha.
* PreventTheWar: Often times the simplest solution to the most recent social unrest cannot be taken without risking war descending upon the kingdom. [[spoiler: Despite Yona's best efforts, war is declared anyway.]]
* TheQuietOne: Shin-Ah.
* RaisedByGrandparents: In Hak's case he was raised by an adoptive grandfather.
** Kija was also raised by his grandmother.
* RedHeadedHeroine: Yona. It's even a plot point because her hair color is so rare and matches the legendary dragon king Hiryuu [[note]](it literally means Red Dragon)[[/note]], who was the founder of the Kouka Kingdom.
* RefusalOfTheCall: [[spoiler: Jae-Ha tried to avoid Kija and Shin-Ah, knowing they probably were with their master and that he would have the urge to join them, despite his desire of freedom]].
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Both Soo-Won and Yona. As the next king Soo-Won plans to restore their country to its former glory, and as we can see with what he planned when he "plays" with Geun-Tae. On the other side Yona, who only recently started to become aware of the difficulties that the inhabitants of Kouka face day by day, helps the people in need that she encounters.
* SarcasticDevotee: Hak, who loves to tease Yona yet his loyalty towards her is absolute.
* ShoutOut: In Episode 12 of the anime you can see kids wearing [[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas Lock, Shock and Barrel]] masks in the Blue Dragon's village.
* SleepCute: [[http://www.mangaeden.com/en-manga/akatsuki-no-yona/52/11/ Chapter 52]] provides an adorable image of most of the gang sleeping in pairs, Yoon with Shin-Ah, Kija and Zeno and Yona with Hak.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Is it "Soo-Won" or "Su-Won", "Yoon" or "Yun", "Heang-Dea" or "Han-Dae", "Mundok" or "Mun-deok", "Yu-Hon" or "Yoo-Hong", "Min-Soo" or "Min-Su", "Joo-Doh" or "Ju-do"? A bit more understandable than most examples, however, given the various romanization systems of Korean.
* SpoiledSweet: Yona at the beginning of the story, when she was just a naive princess. Though YMMV as some fans considered her to be more of a SpoiledBrat.
* SpoilerOpening: The first opening already revealed who the Four Dragons were.
* StalkerWithoutACrush: [[spoiler: Zeno reveals that he's been watching Yona for a long time since he suspected her to be King Hiryuu's reincarnation and followed her since she left the castle.]]
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Tae Jun and his older brother. Seriously, the only difference is their bangs' length.
* SuperToughness:
** [[spoiler: The yellow dragon]] is [[spoiler: ''supposed'' to be]] this.
** [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower Hak]] to a lesser degree.
* SupremeChef: Yoon, he regularly gets marriage propositions from those who eat his food.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Hak, Jae-ha and Shin-Ah.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Hak again.
* TeamPet: Ao, Shin-Ah's pet squirrel. Borderline ActionPet since Ao was crucial in helping Yona and Yoon escape from their ropes and start their plan to attack the mercenary ships.
* TenderTears: Yoon is easily moved to tears.
* TragicKeepsake: An interesting case where Yona kept the hairpin that Soo-Won gave her during her birthday party ... the same night she saw Soo-Won murder her father. Most likely to remind herself what happened that night.
** Zeno keeps a dragon decoration on his headband that was given to him by [[spoiler: King Hiryuu.]]
* TookALevelInBadass:
** Yona went from meek sheltered princess to a woman who would practice her archery throughout the night, firing hundreds of arrows to become stronger.
** Yoon went from a self-described selfish boy to being a capable fighter and planner.
* TrueCompanions: "The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch".
* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: Yona is far lovelier and prettier than her plainer father King Il.
* UndyingLoyalty:
** Hak towards King Il and Yona.
** The original Blue, White, Green and Yellow dragons were so loyal to Hiryuu, that they each gave part of their powers to four human warriors so that they would protect him in their stead. Said warriors also grew to become greatly loyal to the King, and said fealty was passed on generation from generation.
*** [[spoiler: Literally in the case of the immortal Yellow dragon warrior. Zeno spent thousands of years waiting for his King to be reborn.]]
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Soo-Won.
* WeHelpTheHelpless: Instead of using the Four Dragon's power to reclaim the throne, Yona decides to travel the land helping her citizens in anyway she can.
* WeNamedTheMonkeyJack: Shin-Ah named his pet squirrel Ao, after his mentor and parental figure the previous Seiryuu.
* WhatBeautifulEyes: Seiryuu's eyes are very beautiful to behold but his village terrified of a curse that anyone who looked upon those eyes would become paralyze and die (which wasn't entirely far away from the truth) so Seiryuu always wore a mask to cover his eyes.
* WhatTheHellTownspeople
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Yoon pretended to be a girl to sneak into a human trafficking ring along with Yona.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Ki-ja is terrified of insects.
* WorfHadTheFlu: [[spoiler: Literally. The Dragons are all but defeated by Kai soldiers when they contract an illness due to leaving Kouka, which leaves them weak, feverish, and unsteady.]]
* WorldsStrongestMan: Hak is claimed to be the strongest soldier in the kingdom, having earned that title at a young age.
* WouldHitAGirl: Kum-Ji and his henchmen don't have a problem kicking or trying to kill Yona.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Justified. The four dragons (with the strangest hair colors like white, blue, green, and yellow) [[spoiler:and Yona]]all have hair the same color as the dragons they represent. [[ImplausibleHairColor People like Soo-Won and Yoon]] on the other hand...
* YouKilledMyFather: Soo-won kills Emperor Il as revenge for killing his father.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: When the new dragons are born the predecessors slowly lose their powers and die. [[spoiler: It happened to Ao and Kija's father, with Kija and Shin-Ah fully knowing what was going on]].
* YouthfulFreckles: Heang-Dea.
[[caption-width-right:350:[[TookALevelInBadass Meet Princess Yona before. Now meet Princess Yona after]].]]
->Yona, The Girl Standing in The Blush of Dawn
King Il of Kouka, a country said in legends to have been founded by dragons, has no male heir, only a young daughter named Yona. As the sole princess she is living the luxurious and carefree life as a princess should. She has it all: the finest clothes and cosmetics, the most divine sweets, a loving emperor as a father, and the hottest cousin crush, Soo-Won, anyone could ever hope to have. Now, if only her bodyguard and childhood friend, Son Hak, wasn't so annoying, her hair wasn't so red and her father would allow her to marry Soo-Won, everything would be just perfect.
But on the day of her sixteenth birthday, her nearly perfect world shatters. The man she loves, Soo-Won, murders her father and the path to his ascension to the throne is assured. Hak escapes with Yona, and they retreat to his hometown Fuuga, the capital of the Wind Tribe. A man living near those lands, a priest called Ik-Soo, tells them of a prophecy related to her and the country's future. So Yona resolves to keep on living, to fight and reclaim her place as the true ruler by finding the "dragon warriors", those who have inherited the mythical powers from their ancestors, who helped the legendary dragon king Hiryuu establish the Kouka Kingdom.
The manga is written by Mizuho Kusanagi whose previous works include ''NGLife'' and ''Mugen Spiral''.
An anime adaptation was produced for the Fall2014Anime season by Creator/StudioPierrot. It was licensed by Creator/FUNimation, although Crunchyroll still possesses streaming rights.
----
!! ''Akatsuki no Yona'' contains examples of:
* ActualPacifist: [[WrongGenreSavvy Emperor Il]]
* {{Adorkable}}: Kija and Shin-Ah.
* AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength: Shin-Ah is terrified of using his eyes since he could (and has) paralyze someone to death with his power.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Yona was in love with Soo-Won but he didn't return her affections. Tae-Jun made it clear that he wanted to marry Yona but she turned him down. Then there is Kija, Jae-Ha and Hak who either have a crush on Yona or are starting to fall in love with her but how she feels about them are left ambiguous.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: The standard treatment of the Dragons, besides Hakuryuu.
* AlmightyJanitor: Yona used to be the princess of the kingdom and Hak a general, now they are just ruffians that travel the country incognito; however, they are helping more of their people than ever before, confronting issues that never even came to their attention when they were within Hiryuu Castle. They even manage to beat Soo-Won to the problem more than once.
* AnnoyingPatient: Everyone is this to Yoon.
* AntagonistInMourning: [[spoiler:He may have killed her father and attempted to kill her as well, but Soo-Won is visibly shocked when an equally distraught Tae-Jun informs him of Yona and Hak's [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat supposed deaths]].]]
* AnywhereButTheirLips: Hak presses a kiss on Yona's forehead a few times, even though there has been a few instances he [[AlmostKiss was close enough to kiss her]]. It's implied that he knows that Yona still harbors [[TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest unresolved feelings]] for Soo-Won and a kiss to the forehead is a safer route for him to coping with his feelings.
* AttractiveBentGender: Yoon is able to look [[http://www.mangaeden.com/en-manga/akatsuki-no-yona/34/22/ convincing]] as a girl. It helps that he gets [[DudeLooksLikeALady mistaken for a girl]] constantly. Kija ... not so much.
* {{Badass}}: Pretty much everyone, especially the dragons, Yona and Hak.
** BadassAdorable: [[BadassPrincess Yona]] grows to be as lethal as she is lovely.
** BadassCrew: The pirates of Awa.
** BadassGrandpa: Mundok.
** BadassNormal: Though traveling with a bunch of dragon-humans, Hak is one of, ''if not'', the strongest in the group.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Played with. While the main cast are either cute or Bishounen, the equally handsome Soo-Won was the one who murdered Yona's father. JerkAss Tae-Jun started out very self-centered but eventually TookALevelInKindness.
* BerserkButton: Seriously, don't hurt Yona if you know what's better for you. Hak and the rest of the Dragons are fiercely protective of her, but it was the sweet, shy Shin-Ah that viciously attacked the bandits who harmed her in chapter 50.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Jae-Ha takes the job of looking after the other Dragons. In one of the extra chapters, he went after Kija and Shin-Ah who blindly jumped into a river and protected Zeno when a bear was attacking him.
* BigBrotherMentor: Kija wants to be this to Shin Ah.
* BigDamnHeroes: Hak appears out of nowhere to save Yona in the second chapter/episode right before she was about to be killed by Soo-Won's soldiers.
* {{Bishounen}}: Most of the male cast.
* BlessedWithSuck:
** Shin-Ah's eyes, once activated, [[PowerIncontinence are hard to control]].
** [[spoiler: Zeno's immortality has him staying young while he watched the rest of his friends grow old and die.]]
*** [[spoiler: Also healing from any injury, no matter how severe, seems like a good power. Except it still hurts. The amount of pain he goes through to fully activate his power is terrifying.]]
* BlingOfWar: Justified and played with. When Soo-Won "plays" war with Geun-Tae, he makes sure that they are wearing custom made jewelry. [[spoiler: Turns out he was advertising gemstones from the local quarry to stimulate the economy]].
* BloodKnight: The Earth Tribe's General, Lee Geun-Tae, really likes fighting and is more than thrilled when Soo-Won seemingly plans to start a "war".
* BodyguardCrush: Oh ''Hak''... And later we also have Kija. Jae-ha is shaping to follow the trend too.
* BodyguardingABadass: Despite her growth, Yona still needs bodyguards. Hak? Not so much, but she insists they protect him too.
* BrokenBird: Yona but [[spoiler: not for long]]
* BullyingTheDragon: Quite literally.
* CainAndAbel: If Soo-won is to be believed, then Il killed his older brother Yu-Hon.
** And you could count Soo-won as the Cain to Yona's Abel... Though Yona had ''[[KissingCousins more]]'' than sisterly affection towards him, at first.
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: For all the Dragons but [[spoiler: Zeno, who knows where the Call lives and just shows up to join]].
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: Few men are ever drawn to be ugly. At best, they are non-descriptive.
* CatchPhrase: Yoon's is "I'm a [[{{Bishounen}} pretty boy]]".
* CelibateHero: Kija in particular doesn't have an interest in girls, mostly because the aggressive advances of the village girls frightened him off.
* CharacterDevelopment: The whole story is this. Especially [[TookALevelInBadass Yona]].
* CharacterMagneticTeam: Seriously. [[spoiler: It gets to the point where Zeno just shows up at the group's campfire and decides to stay.]]
* ChickMagnet: Hak and Jae-Ha often get girls swarming over them.
* ChildhoodFriends: Yona, Hak and Soo-Won.
** WeUsedToBeFriends: Obviously after Soo-Won's betrayal things went sour.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Just like Yona has been [[KissingCousins in love]] with Soo-Won since childhood, Hak has been [[AllLoveIsUnrequited in love]] with her since then too. Yet he always supported a [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy relationship between the two]] since they were both equally important to him.
* ChivalrousPervert: Jae-ha.
* TheChosenOne: Yona. Legends said that one day a red-haired royal would bring together the four dragons once more.
** [[spoiler: Confirmed by Zeno in chapter 102.]]
* CompleteImmortality: [[spoiler: Zeno, as a part of his powers as the Yellow Dragon.]]
* CoolOldGuy: Son Mundok, Hak's adoptive grandfather.
* CoolOldLady: Captain Gi-Gan, the leader of a RagtagBandOfMisfits of pirates. Also, Kija's grandmother.
* CostumePorn: The mangaka puts lavish amounts of detail into clothing.
* CoverInnocentEyesAndEars: Tae-Woo and Han-Dae cover Tae-Yeon's eyes when they witness Hak getting very close to Yona (to provide her with a cover story to hide her identity).
* CryCute: Mostly Yona, but the others have their moments.
* CuddleBug: Zeno has a habit of [[TheGlomp glomping]] or cuddling with the nearest person. Apparently, he likes to sleep close to Shin-Ah (because his fur piece is warm).
* CurbStompBattle: Anyone fighting against Hak and/or the Four Dragons will result in this.
* CuteClumsyGirl: Ik Soo is a male example.
* TheCutie: Tae-Yeon, Hak's little brother.
* CycleOfRevenge: King Il supposedly killed Soo-Won's father, so Soo-Won killed him... in front of his daughter. Whether Yona will actually continue the cycle has yet to be seen.
* DancePartyEnding: The end of the Awa arc has the entire village celebrating. Though the happy mood is soured (at least for Yona and Hak) when [[spoiler: Yona unexpectedly ran into Soo-Won]].
* DeathGlare:
** This is Shin-Ah's special ability where if activated, he is able to target and paralyze limbs and organs.
** Yona delivers an epic one to Kum-Ji after he kicked Yoon to the ground.
* DebutQueue
* {{Determinator}}: Crawl along an impossibly high cliff where one false move means certain death? Tremble and cry in fear while trying not to be flung to said certain death by high speed winds? Okay. But Yona ''will'' [[SecretTestOfCharacter get those herbs]], even if she has to [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome do it a second time.]]
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Jee-Ha wanted Hak to join his pirate gang but asked him [[NotWhatItLooksLike by holding Hak's hands and telling Hak that he wanted him]]. When Hak naturally declined, Jae-Ha started hugging Hak, saying Hak was a handsome man and that they should continue their conversation in private. HilarityEnsues.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: In extra chapter "Please excuse us for our carelessness", after Ao accidentally fell into a river, Shin-Ah jumps in with Kija following right behind, not realizing they didn't take off their clothes or how fast the water was going. Jae-Ha promptly rescued them with annoyance.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In an extra chapter "Sleep tight tonight" that took place before the events of the manga, Yona revealed to Hak that she had a dream of them leaving and running away from the castle. Now whether the second part of her dream where she cradles a badly injured/dying Hak will come true ...
* DudeLooksLikeALady: While there are plenty of [[{{Bishounen}} beautiful men]], it is only the self-proclaimed "genius pretty boy", Yoon, the one who is repeatedly mistaken for a girl.
* DyingToBeReplaced: Once a new "dragon warrior" is born, the previous one slowly loses his powers and subsequently his life.
* DysfunctionJunction: The Four Dragons all have varying degrees of this:
** Kija mostly had a happy childhood, practically being spoiled by his village due his status as the White Dragon. But an extra chapter revealed that [[spoiler: his father attacked and left a scar on his back when he was born. Consequently, Kija was kept away from his father for most of his life.]]
** Shin-Ah was isolated and hated in his village with only Ao as his friend. His own mother committed suicide once she found out she gave birth to the new Seiryuu.
** Jae-Ha spent most of his childhood [[spoiler: chained by the previous Green Dragon so he wouldn't run away.]]
** Zeno [[spoiler: due to his immortality, outlived all of his friends.]]
* EnemyCivilWar: The Fire Tribe rebels against Soo-Won, and Yona and co. must help prevent the coup from disturbing the country.
* EngagingConversation: Yoon gets marriage proposals by several people once they try his cooking. [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Including men.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Shin-Ah first appeared rescuing Yona, a stranger to him, from a kidnapper and helping her return to her friends.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Everybody at the palace, save King Il, could see that Yona was head over heels in love with Soo-Won, who was also oblivious.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Shin-Ah was only known as the ''"Seiryuu"'', his birth parents didn't bother to give him a name, not even the previous Seiryuu, Ao, who did care about him thought of giving him one.
* FallenPrincess: Yona all the way.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Kouka is almost a dead-ringer for imperial Korea -- an unusual location choice, considering the historic tension between Japan and Korea.
* FireForgedFriends: Hak and Kija.
* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: Yona's huge crush on Soo-Won and his subsequent betrayal has left her with serious emotional baggage.
* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: That naive princess that shows up on the second page? The first page has her future self acting {{badass}} as usual.
* FirstNameBasis: Shin-Ah was the first of the Dragons to start calling Yona by her name and not "Princess". Afterwards, the others asked her if they could do the same too. Subverted with Hak, as Yona specifically requested him to continue to refer to her as "Princess" so she wouldn't forget that she is the daughter of the king.
* FrameUp: Soo-Won deliberately placed suspicion of the murder of Yona's father on Hak after he and Yona "mysteriously" left the palace. Hak's grandfather didn't buy it for a second.
* FriendlessBackground: Shin-Ah had it the worst where his whole village shunned him and his own mother killed herself when she found out she gave birth to the next Seiryuu.
* GoodIsNotSoft: The kind and sweet Yona was the one who shot and killed Kum-Ji.
* HappilyAdopted: Several characters...
** Hak and his little foster brother Tae-Yeon were adopted by Mundok.
** Yoon was also sort of adopted by Ik-Soo.
** And Ao was the only parental figure Shin-Ah had.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Heang-Dea and Tae-Woo, the guards from the Wind Tribe, who are always [[ThoseTwoGuys together]].
* HeroicBSOD: Yona suffers through one when she saw her father being murdered by the man she was in love with. It takes some time and with help from Hak and the Wind tribe to break her out of it.
* TheHighQueen: What Yona is shaping up to be.
* HitchhikerHeroes: Yona and her friends must track down the Four Dragons and recruit them one by one.
* HopelessSuitor: Kang Tae-Jun, the second son of the General of the Fire Tribe, in regards of his crush on Yona.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Shin-Ah wished to have friends ever since he was a young child, but he was an outcast in his village, hated and feared by everyone.
* IgnorantOfTheCall: Shin-Ah didn't know about the Four Dragons, and was told all his life he was cursed instead. When he met Yona and Kija he had no idea about what's going on.
* ImportantHaircut: [[spoiler:When Yona and an injured Hak are surrounded, Yona is captured by the son of the Fire Tribe's general as he held her by the hair. After seeing Hak fall off the cliff into a raging river below. Realizing she was too weak to do anything, she cuts her hair, freeing herself from her enemy, the last link to her old life, and taking the first step to the Badass she will one day become by jumping off the cliff to save Hak.]]
* IllBoy: Tae-Yeon.
* InfantImmortality: Averted when a child is killed by bandits in chapter 49 and later, a funeral is held for him.
* InnocentCohabitation: Yona is the only girl in a group full of guys and on occasion, she shares a tent with one guy (mostly Yoon).
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: After [[spoiler: briefly reuniting with Soo-Won unexpectedly]], Yona was in such a daze that after she spilled some porridge on herself she started unbuttoning her outer shirt in front of everyone. Hak was quick enough to [[PleasePutSomeClothesOn cover her]] with his jacket.
* IntimateHealing: After Yona gets some thorns stuck in her hands, Hak pours honey over her wounds and licks the honey off her fingers.
* InSeriesNickname: Hak is known as the "[[{{Badass}} Raijuu]]" [[note]]"Thunder Beast"[[/note]] of the Kouka Kingdom.
* JumpedAtTheCall: Kija was ready to join Yona the moment he see her, [[spoiler: justified as he was raised to aid his master, and as a Dragon he has the physical urge to do so]].
* JustLikeRobinHood: "The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch" attack only the Fire Tribe soldiers and give food and medicine to the local villages.
* KissingCousins: Yona has been in love with Soo-won for a long time.
* [[LikeASonToMe Like A Grandchild To Me:]] Mundok has always cared for Soo-Won and Yona as if they were his own grandchildren.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Yona and Yoon. Their relationship is more like that of [[PlatonicLifePartners best friends]] than anything possibly romantic, they even sleep together side by side!
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Yona for Shin-Ah. She was the first person to reach out to him and harming her will unleash a feral, violent side of him that frightens him.
* LongingLook: During Yona's dance in chapter 65, Hak gives a sad one as he watches her. A woman who was earlier intending to jump Hak noted it was the first time she had seen such harrowed eyes and immediately gave up on Hak.
* The Magnificent Seven Samurai: In spirit "The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch" somehow became this.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: According to Soo-won his father, Yu-hon, was murdered by emperor Il like this.
* ManBitesMan: [[spoiler:Yona has taken a habit of doing this when things get rough and she is low on options.]]
* MarkOfTheSupernatural: Kija's right hand is a dragon claw and Shin-Ah's eyes have red markings underneath them.
* MayflyDecemberFriendship: It's revealed that [[spoiler: Zeno is the original Yellow Dragon and therefore much, much older than the rest of the gang.]]
* TheMedic: Yoon.
* MissingMom: Yona's mother was killed by a rebel when she was a child.
** An even darker example: Shin-Ah's mother couldn't accept the fact that she gave birth to the next Seiryuu, so she took her own life.
* [[AFatherToHisMen A Mother To Her Pirates]]: Pirate Captain Gi-Gan is just like a strict ''but'' caring mother to her men. This extents to Yona too.
* MayDecemberRomance: Geun-Tae and his wife Yun-ho are 13 years apart from each other, when they married she was 19 and he was 32.
* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: Kija's grandmother.
* MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes: When Kija nearly fell off a bridge, he remarked how he only saw older ladies flashing before his eyes.
* MysticalWhiteHair: Kija, justified since he is the ''white dragon''.
* TheNicknamer: Hak calls Kija "White Snake" and Jae-Ha "droopy eyes".
* NoKoreansInJapan: While it doesn't take place in Japan, this is averted like hell, as all the characters came from a fantasy version of Korea, not to mention the author of the manga is Japanese.
* NoNameGiven: Shin-Ah was only known as the ''"Seiryuu"'', he remains unnamed until Yona decides on one.
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: A seriously wounded and poisoned [[spoiler: Hak falls over the edge of a cliff with Yona]], which prompts the enemy to declare them dead since there's [[TemptingFate no way they could survive the fall]]. They're both up and about a few chapters later, only a little worse for wear.
* NobleFugitive: Yona, who is a princess, and Hak, who as the Wind Tribe General is considered part of the nobility. [[spoiler: Until he renounces his status as general anyways.]]
* ObliviousToLove: Yona, ''Yona'' and Yona. She is ''particularly'' oblivious to Hak's not-so-indirect hints... It's quite possible that she is under SelectiveObliviousness.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Soo-Won much to Lee Geun-Tae's chagrin.
** Also Zeno, who normally behaves like a CloudCuckooLander, appears to be more serious and he seems to ''know more'' than he lets on.
* OlderThanTheyLook:
** Kija doesn't look like he is 20 and Zeno looks like he is 14-15 rather than 17. [[spoiler: Of course it turns out that Zeno is much, ''much'', older as he has been alive since Hiryuu's time.]]
** Yunho, the wife of Earth Tribe's general, is 25 years old yet she looks like ''she is still 15''.
* OneManArmy: Hak, Kija, Shin-Ah, Jae-Ha.
** [[spoiler: Zeno too, when he's powers are active.]]
* OnlyAFleshWound: Played with in regards to Hak after he was badly injured after fighting Fire Tribe soldiers and falling off a cliff. It took him a few days to get back on his feet. And though he was still able to fight, he collapsed immediately after said fight and needed more time to recover.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Zeno drops his carefree and cheerful personality, it's a sign that something big or serious is happening. Especially in chapter 101 where he [[spoiler: casually annihilates a squad of soldiers and reveals he is the original Yellow Dragon]].
* ParentalFavoritism: The General of the Fire Tribe favours older son Kyo-Ga over Tae-Jun.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: King Il didn't approve and outright objected at the idea of Yona getting married to Soo-Won.
* ParentalSubstitute:
** Mundok took Hak and Tae-Yeon as his adoptive grandsons.
** Ik-Soo more or less adopted Yoon, who was an orphan living in poverty.
** Ao, the previous Seiryuu, was the one who raised Shin-Ah.
** Gi-Gan is like a surrogate mother to her pirate crew.
* ThePatientHasLeftTheBuilding: The Dragons pull this in a recent chapter, escaping their tent, under Yoon's nose, [[spoiler: to join Hak in battle against Kai's rogue soldiers despite being ill and feverish. It does not go well.]]
* PeekABangs: Kye-Sook, Soo-Won's advisor, and Jaeha.
* PreventTheWar: Often times the simplest solution to the most recent social unrest cannot be taken without risking war descending upon the kingdom. [[spoiler: Despite Yona's best efforts, war is declared anyway.]]
* TheQuietOne: Shin-Ah.
* RaisedByGrandparents: In Hak's case he was raised by an adoptive grandfather.
** Kija was also raised by his grandmother.
* RedHeadedHeroine: Yona. It's even a plot point because her hair color is so rare and matches the legendary dragon king Hiryuu [[note]](it literally means Red Dragon)[[/note]], who was the founder of the Kouka Kingdom.
* RefusalOfTheCall: [[spoiler: Jae-Ha tried to avoid Kija and Shin-Ah, knowing they probably were with their master and that he would have the urge to join them, despite his desire of freedom]].
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Both Soo-Won and Yona. As the next king Soo-Won plans to restore their country to its former glory, and as we can see with what he planned when he "plays" with Geun-Tae. On the other side Yona, who only recently started to become aware of the difficulties that the inhabitants of Kouka face day by day, helps the people in need that she encounters.
* SarcasticDevotee: Hak, who loves to tease Yona yet his loyalty towards her is absolute.
* ShoutOut: In Episode 12 of the anime you can see kids wearing [[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas Lock, Shock and Barrel]] masks in the Blue Dragon's village.
* SleepCute: [[http://www.mangaeden.com/en-manga/akatsuki-no-yona/52/11/ Chapter 52]] provides an adorable image of most of the gang sleeping in pairs, Yoon with Shin-Ah, Kija and Zeno and Yona with Hak.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Is it "Soo-Won" or "Su-Won", "Yoon" or "Yun", "Heang-Dea" or "Han-Dae", "Mundok" or "Mun-deok", "Yu-Hon" or "Yoo-Hong", "Min-Soo" or "Min-Su", "Joo-Doh" or "Ju-do"? A bit more understandable than most examples, however, given the various romanization systems of Korean.
* SpoiledSweet: Yona at the beginning of the story, when she was just a naive princess. Though YMMV as some fans considered her to be more of a SpoiledBrat.
* SpoilerOpening: The first opening already revealed who the Four Dragons were.
* StalkerWithoutACrush: [[spoiler: Zeno reveals that he's been watching Yona for a long time since he suspected her to be King Hiryuu's reincarnation and followed her since she left the castle.]]
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Tae Jun and his older brother. Seriously, the only difference is their bangs' length.
* SuperToughness:
** [[spoiler: The yellow dragon]] is [[spoiler: ''supposed'' to be]] this.
** [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower Hak]] to a lesser degree.
* SupremeChef: Yoon, he regularly gets marriage propositions from those who eat his food.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Hak, Jae-ha and Shin-Ah.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Hak again.
* TeamPet: Ao, Shin-Ah's pet squirrel. Borderline ActionPet since Ao was crucial in helping Yona and Yoon escape from their ropes and start their plan to attack the mercenary ships.
* TenderTears: Yoon is easily moved to tears.
* TragicKeepsake: An interesting case where Yona kept the hairpin that Soo-Won gave her during her birthday party ... the same night she saw Soo-Won murder her father. Most likely to remind herself what happened that night.
** Zeno keeps a dragon decoration on his headband that was given to him by [[spoiler: King Hiryuu.]]
* TookALevelInBadass:
** Yona went from meek sheltered princess to a woman who would practice her archery throughout the night, firing hundreds of arrows to become stronger.
** Yoon went from a self-described selfish boy to being a capable fighter and planner.
* TrueCompanions: "The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch".
* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: Yona is far lovelier and prettier than her plainer father King Il.
* UndyingLoyalty:
** Hak towards King Il and Yona.
** The original Blue, White, Green and Yellow dragons were so loyal to Hiryuu, that they each gave part of their powers to four human warriors so that they would protect him in their stead. Said warriors also grew to become greatly loyal to the King, and said fealty was passed on generation from generation.
*** [[spoiler: Literally in the case of the immortal Yellow dragon warrior. Zeno spent thousands of years waiting for his King to be reborn.]]
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Soo-Won.
* WeHelpTheHelpless: Instead of using the Four Dragon's power to reclaim the throne, Yona decides to travel the land helping her citizens in anyway she can.
* WeNamedTheMonkeyJack: Shin-Ah named his pet squirrel Ao, after his mentor and parental figure the previous Seiryuu.
* WhatBeautifulEyes: Seiryuu's eyes are very beautiful to behold but his village terrified of a curse that anyone who looked upon those eyes would become paralyze and die (which wasn't entirely far away from the truth) so Seiryuu always wore a mask to cover his eyes.
* WhatTheHellTownspeople
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Yoon pretended to be a girl to sneak into a human trafficking ring along with Yona.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Ki-ja is terrified of insects.
* WorfHadTheFlu: [[spoiler: Literally. The Dragons are all but defeated by Kai soldiers when they contract an illness due to leaving Kouka, which leaves them weak, feverish, and unsteady.]]
* WorldsStrongestMan: Hak is claimed to be the strongest soldier in the kingdom, having earned that title at a young age.
* WouldHitAGirl: Kum-Ji and his henchmen don't have a problem kicking or trying to kill Yona.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Justified. The four dragons (with the strangest hair colors like white, blue, green, and yellow) [[spoiler:and Yona]]all have hair the same color as the dragons they represent. [[ImplausibleHairColor People like Soo-Won and Yoon]] on the other hand...
* YouKilledMyFather: Soo-won kills Emperor Il as revenge for killing his father.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: When the new dragons are born the predecessors slowly lose their powers and die. [[spoiler: It happened to Ao and Kija's father, with Kija and Shin-Ah fully knowing what was going on]].
* YouthfulFreckles: Heang-Dea.
to:
[[caption-width-right:350:[[TookALevelInBadass Meet Princess Yona before. Now meet Princess Yona after]].]]
->Yona, The Girl Standing in The Blush of Dawn
King Il of Kouka, a country said in legends to have been founded by dragons, has no male heir, only a young daughter named Yona. As the sole princess she is living the luxurious and carefree life as a princess should. She has it all: the finest clothes and cosmetics, the most divine sweets, a loving emperor as a father, and the hottest cousin crush, Soo-Won, anyone could ever hope to have. Now, if only her bodyguard and childhood friend, Son Hak, wasn't so annoying, her hair wasn't so red and her father would allow her to marry Soo-Won, everything would be just perfect.
But on the day of her sixteenth birthday, her nearly perfect world shatters. The man she loves, Soo-Won, murders her father and the path to his ascension to the throne is assured. Hak escapes with Yona, and they retreat to his hometown Fuuga, the capital of the Wind Tribe. A man living near those lands, a priest called Ik-Soo, tells them of a prophecy related to her and the country's future. So Yona resolves to keep on living, to fight and reclaim her place as the true ruler by finding the "dragon warriors", those who have inherited the mythical powers from their ancestors, who helped the legendary dragon king Hiryuu establish the Kouka Kingdom.
The manga is written by Mizuho Kusanagi whose previous works include ''NGLife'' and ''Mugen Spiral''.
An anime adaptation was produced for the Fall2014Anime season by Creator/StudioPierrot. It was licensed by Creator/FUNimation, although Crunchyroll still possesses streaming rights.
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!! ''Akatsuki no Yona'' contains examples of:
* ActualPacifist: [[WrongGenreSavvy Emperor Il]]
* {{Adorkable}}: Kija and Shin-Ah.
* AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength: Shin-Ah is terrified of using his eyes since he could (and has) paralyze someone to death with his power.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Yona was in love with Soo-Won but he didn't return her affections. Tae-Jun made it clear that he wanted to marry Yona but she turned him down. Then there is Kija, Jae-Ha and Hak who either have a crush on Yona or are starting to fall in love with her but how she feels about them are left ambiguous.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: The standard treatment of the Dragons, besides Hakuryuu.
* AlmightyJanitor: Yona used to be the princess of the kingdom and Hak a general, now they are just ruffians that travel the country incognito; however, they are helping more of their people than ever before, confronting issues that never even came to their attention when they were within Hiryuu Castle. They even manage to beat Soo-Won to the problem more than once.
* AnnoyingPatient: Everyone is this to Yoon.
* AntagonistInMourning: [[spoiler:He may have killed her father and attempted to kill her as well, but Soo-Won is visibly shocked when an equally distraught Tae-Jun informs him of Yona and Hak's [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat supposed deaths]].]]
* AnywhereButTheirLips: Hak presses a kiss on Yona's forehead a few times, even though there has been a few instances he [[AlmostKiss was close enough to kiss her]]. It's implied that he knows that Yona still harbors [[TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest unresolved feelings]] for Soo-Won and a kiss to the forehead is a safer route for him to coping with his feelings.
* AttractiveBentGender: Yoon is able to look [[http://www.mangaeden.com/en-manga/akatsuki-no-yona/34/22/ convincing]] as a girl. It helps that he gets [[DudeLooksLikeALady mistaken for a girl]] constantly. Kija ... not so much.
* {{Badass}}: Pretty much everyone, especially the dragons, Yona and Hak.
** BadassAdorable: [[BadassPrincess Yona]] grows to be as lethal as she is lovely.
** BadassCrew: The pirates of Awa.
** BadassGrandpa: Mundok.
** BadassNormal: Though traveling with a bunch of dragon-humans, Hak is one of, ''if not'', the strongest in the group.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Played with. While the main cast are either cute or Bishounen, the equally handsome Soo-Won was the one who murdered Yona's father. JerkAss Tae-Jun started out very self-centered but eventually TookALevelInKindness.
* BerserkButton: Seriously, don't hurt Yona if you know what's better for you. Hak and the rest of the Dragons are fiercely protective of her, but it was the sweet, shy Shin-Ah that viciously attacked the bandits who harmed her in chapter 50.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Jae-Ha takes the job of looking after the other Dragons. In one of the extra chapters, he went after Kija and Shin-Ah who blindly jumped into a river and protected Zeno when a bear was attacking him.
* BigBrotherMentor: Kija wants to be this to Shin Ah.
* BigDamnHeroes: Hak appears out of nowhere to save Yona in the second chapter/episode right before she was about to be killed by Soo-Won's soldiers.
* {{Bishounen}}: Most of the male cast.
* BlessedWithSuck:
** Shin-Ah's eyes, once activated, [[PowerIncontinence are hard to control]].
** [[spoiler: Zeno's immortality has him staying young while he watched the rest of his friends grow old and die.]]
*** [[spoiler: Also healing from any injury, no matter how severe, seems like a good power. Except it still hurts. The amount of pain he goes through to fully activate his power is terrifying.]]
* BlingOfWar: Justified and played with. When Soo-Won "plays" war with Geun-Tae, he makes sure that they are wearing custom made jewelry. [[spoiler: Turns out he was advertising gemstones from the local quarry to stimulate the economy]].
* BloodKnight: The Earth Tribe's General, Lee Geun-Tae, really likes fighting and is more than thrilled when Soo-Won seemingly plans to start a "war".
* BodyguardCrush: Oh ''Hak''... And later we also have Kija. Jae-ha is shaping to follow the trend too.
* BodyguardingABadass: Despite her growth, Yona still needs bodyguards. Hak? Not so much, but she insists they protect him too.
* BrokenBird: Yona but [[spoiler: not for long]]
* BullyingTheDragon: Quite literally.
* CainAndAbel: If Soo-won is to be believed, then Il killed his older brother Yu-Hon.
** And you could count Soo-won as the Cain to Yona's Abel... Though Yona had ''[[KissingCousins more]]'' than sisterly affection towards him, at first.
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: For all the Dragons but [[spoiler: Zeno, who knows where the Call lives and just shows up to join]].
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: Few men are ever drawn to be ugly. At best, they are non-descriptive.
* CatchPhrase: Yoon's is "I'm a [[{{Bishounen}} pretty boy]]".
* CelibateHero: Kija in particular doesn't have an interest in girls, mostly because the aggressive advances of the village girls frightened him off.
* CharacterDevelopment: The whole story is this. Especially [[TookALevelInBadass Yona]].
* CharacterMagneticTeam: Seriously. [[spoiler: It gets to the point where Zeno just shows up at the group's campfire and decides to stay.]]
* ChickMagnet: Hak and Jae-Ha often get girls swarming over them.
* ChildhoodFriends: Yona, Hak and Soo-Won.
** WeUsedToBeFriends: Obviously after Soo-Won's betrayal things went sour.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Just like Yona has been [[KissingCousins in love]] with Soo-Won since childhood, Hak has been [[AllLoveIsUnrequited in love]] with her since then too. Yet he always supported a [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy relationship between the two]] since they were both equally important to him.
* ChivalrousPervert: Jae-ha.
* TheChosenOne: Yona. Legends said that one day a red-haired royal would bring together the four dragons once more.
** [[spoiler: Confirmed by Zeno in chapter 102.]]
* CompleteImmortality: [[spoiler: Zeno, as a part of his powers as the Yellow Dragon.]]
* CoolOldGuy: Son Mundok, Hak's adoptive grandfather.
* CoolOldLady: Captain Gi-Gan, the leader of a RagtagBandOfMisfits of pirates. Also, Kija's grandmother.
* CostumePorn: The mangaka puts lavish amounts of detail into clothing.
* CoverInnocentEyesAndEars: Tae-Woo and Han-Dae cover Tae-Yeon's eyes when they witness Hak getting very close to Yona (to provide her with a cover story to hide her identity).
* CryCute: Mostly Yona, but the others have their moments.
* CuddleBug: Zeno has a habit of [[TheGlomp glomping]] or cuddling with the nearest person. Apparently, he likes to sleep close to Shin-Ah (because his fur piece is warm).
* CurbStompBattle: Anyone fighting against Hak and/or the Four Dragons will result in this.
* CuteClumsyGirl: Ik Soo is a male example.
* TheCutie: Tae-Yeon, Hak's little brother.
* CycleOfRevenge: King Il supposedly killed Soo-Won's father, so Soo-Won killed him... in front of his daughter. Whether Yona will actually continue the cycle has yet to be seen.
* DancePartyEnding: The end of the Awa arc has the entire village celebrating. Though the happy mood is soured (at least for Yona and Hak) when [[spoiler: Yona unexpectedly ran into Soo-Won]].
* DeathGlare:
** This is Shin-Ah's special ability where if activated, he is able to target and paralyze limbs and organs.
** Yona delivers an epic one to Kum-Ji after he kicked Yoon to the ground.
* DebutQueue
* {{Determinator}}: Crawl along an impossibly high cliff where one false move means certain death? Tremble and cry in fear while trying not to be flung to said certain death by high speed winds? Okay. But Yona ''will'' [[SecretTestOfCharacter get those herbs]], even if she has to [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome do it a second time.]]
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Jee-Ha wanted Hak to join his pirate gang but asked him [[NotWhatItLooksLike by holding Hak's hands and telling Hak that he wanted him]]. When Hak naturally declined, Jae-Ha started hugging Hak, saying Hak was a handsome man and that they should continue their conversation in private. HilarityEnsues.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: In extra chapter "Please excuse us for our carelessness", after Ao accidentally fell into a river, Shin-Ah jumps in with Kija following right behind, not realizing they didn't take off their clothes or how fast the water was going. Jae-Ha promptly rescued them with annoyance.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In an extra chapter "Sleep tight tonight" that took place before the events of the manga, Yona revealed to Hak that she had a dream of them leaving and running away from the castle. Now whether the second part of her dream where she cradles a badly injured/dying Hak will come true ...
* DudeLooksLikeALady: While there are plenty of [[{{Bishounen}} beautiful men]], it is only the self-proclaimed "genius pretty boy", Yoon, the one who is repeatedly mistaken for a girl.
* DyingToBeReplaced: Once a new "dragon warrior" is born, the previous one slowly loses his powers and subsequently his life.
* DysfunctionJunction: The Four Dragons all have varying degrees of this:
** Kija mostly had a happy childhood, practically being spoiled by his village due his status as the White Dragon. But an extra chapter revealed that [[spoiler: his father attacked and left a scar on his back when he was born. Consequently, Kija was kept away from his father for most of his life.]]
** Shin-Ah was isolated and hated in his village with only Ao as his friend. His own mother committed suicide once she found out she gave birth to the new Seiryuu.
** Jae-Ha spent most of his childhood [[spoiler: chained by the previous Green Dragon so he wouldn't run away.]]
** Zeno [[spoiler: due to his immortality, outlived all of his friends.]]
* EnemyCivilWar: The Fire Tribe rebels against Soo-Won, and Yona and co. must help prevent the coup from disturbing the country.
* EngagingConversation: Yoon gets marriage proposals by several people once they try his cooking. [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Including men.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Shin-Ah first appeared rescuing Yona, a stranger to him, from a kidnapper and helping her return to her friends.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Everybody at the palace, save King Il, could see that Yona was head over heels in love with Soo-Won, who was also oblivious.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Shin-Ah was only known as the ''"Seiryuu"'', his birth parents didn't bother to give him a name, not even the previous Seiryuu, Ao, who did care about him thought of giving him one.
* FallenPrincess: Yona all the way.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Kouka is almost a dead-ringer for imperial Korea -- an unusual location choice, considering the historic tension between Japan and Korea.
* FireForgedFriends: Hak and Kija.
* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: Yona's huge crush on Soo-Won and his subsequent betrayal has left her with serious emotional baggage.
* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: That naive princess that shows up on the second page? The first page has her future self acting {{badass}} as usual.
* FirstNameBasis: Shin-Ah was the first of the Dragons to start calling Yona by her name and not "Princess". Afterwards, the others asked her if they could do the same too. Subverted with Hak, as Yona specifically requested him to continue to refer to her as "Princess" so she wouldn't forget that she is the daughter of the king.
* FrameUp: Soo-Won deliberately placed suspicion of the murder of Yona's father on Hak after he and Yona "mysteriously" left the palace. Hak's grandfather didn't buy it for a second.
* FriendlessBackground: Shin-Ah had it the worst where his whole village shunned him and his own mother killed herself when she found out she gave birth to the next Seiryuu.
* GoodIsNotSoft: The kind and sweet Yona was the one who shot and killed Kum-Ji.
* HappilyAdopted: Several characters...
** Hak and his little foster brother Tae-Yeon were adopted by Mundok.
** Yoon was also sort of adopted by Ik-Soo.
** And Ao was the only parental figure Shin-Ah had.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Heang-Dea and Tae-Woo, the guards from the Wind Tribe, who are always [[ThoseTwoGuys together]].
* HeroicBSOD: Yona suffers through one when she saw her father being murdered by the man she was in love with. It takes some time and with help from Hak and the Wind tribe to break her out of it.
* TheHighQueen: What Yona is shaping up to be.
* HitchhikerHeroes: Yona and her friends must track down the Four Dragons and recruit them one by one.
* HopelessSuitor: Kang Tae-Jun, the second son of the General of the Fire Tribe, in regards of his crush on Yona.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Shin-Ah wished to have friends ever since he was a young child, but he was an outcast in his village, hated and feared by everyone.
* IgnorantOfTheCall: Shin-Ah didn't know about the Four Dragons, and was told all his life he was cursed instead. When he met Yona and Kija he had no idea about what's going on.
* ImportantHaircut: [[spoiler:When Yona and an injured Hak are surrounded, Yona is captured by the son of the Fire Tribe's general as he held her by the hair. After seeing Hak fall off the cliff into a raging river below. Realizing she was too weak to do anything, she cuts her hair, freeing herself from her enemy, the last link to her old life, and taking the first step to the Badass she will one day become by jumping off the cliff to save Hak.]]
* IllBoy: Tae-Yeon.
* InfantImmortality: Averted when a child is killed by bandits in chapter 49 and later, a funeral is held for him.
* InnocentCohabitation: Yona is the only girl in a group full of guys and on occasion, she shares a tent with one guy (mostly Yoon).
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: After [[spoiler: briefly reuniting with Soo-Won unexpectedly]], Yona was in such a daze that after she spilled some porridge on herself she started unbuttoning her outer shirt in front of everyone. Hak was quick enough to [[PleasePutSomeClothesOn cover her]] with his jacket.
* IntimateHealing: After Yona gets some thorns stuck in her hands, Hak pours honey over her wounds and licks the honey off her fingers.
* InSeriesNickname: Hak is known as the "[[{{Badass}} Raijuu]]" [[note]]"Thunder Beast"[[/note]] of the Kouka Kingdom.
* JumpedAtTheCall: Kija was ready to join Yona the moment he see her, [[spoiler: justified as he was raised to aid his master, and as a Dragon he has the physical urge to do so]].
* JustLikeRobinHood: "The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch" attack only the Fire Tribe soldiers and give food and medicine to the local villages.
* KissingCousins: Yona has been in love with Soo-won for a long time.
* [[LikeASonToMe Like A Grandchild To Me:]] Mundok has always cared for Soo-Won and Yona as if they were his own grandchildren.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Yona and Yoon. Their relationship is more like that of [[PlatonicLifePartners best friends]] than anything possibly romantic, they even sleep together side by side!
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Yona for Shin-Ah. She was the first person to reach out to him and harming her will unleash a feral, violent side of him that frightens him.
* LongingLook: During Yona's dance in chapter 65, Hak gives a sad one as he watches her. A woman who was earlier intending to jump Hak noted it was the first time she had seen such harrowed eyes and immediately gave up on Hak.
* The Magnificent Seven Samurai: In spirit "The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch" somehow became this.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: According to Soo-won his father, Yu-hon, was murdered by emperor Il like this.
* ManBitesMan: [[spoiler:Yona has taken a habit of doing this when things get rough and she is low on options.]]
* MarkOfTheSupernatural: Kija's right hand is a dragon claw and Shin-Ah's eyes have red markings underneath them.
* MayflyDecemberFriendship: It's revealed that [[spoiler: Zeno is the original Yellow Dragon and therefore much, much older than the rest of the gang.]]
* TheMedic: Yoon.
* MissingMom: Yona's mother was killed by a rebel when she was a child.
** An even darker example: Shin-Ah's mother couldn't accept the fact that she gave birth to the next Seiryuu, so she took her own life.
* [[AFatherToHisMen A Mother To Her Pirates]]: Pirate Captain Gi-Gan is just like a strict ''but'' caring mother to her men. This extents to Yona too.
* MayDecemberRomance: Geun-Tae and his wife Yun-ho are 13 years apart from each other, when they married she was 19 and he was 32.
* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: Kija's grandmother.
* MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes: When Kija nearly fell off a bridge, he remarked how he only saw older ladies flashing before his eyes.
* MysticalWhiteHair: Kija, justified since he is the ''white dragon''.
* TheNicknamer: Hak calls Kija "White Snake" and Jae-Ha "droopy eyes".
* NoKoreansInJapan: While it doesn't take place in Japan, this is averted like hell, as all the characters came from a fantasy version of Korea, not to mention the author of the manga is Japanese.
* NoNameGiven: Shin-Ah was only known as the ''"Seiryuu"'', he remains unnamed until Yona decides on one.
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: A seriously wounded and poisoned [[spoiler: Hak falls over the edge of a cliff with Yona]], which prompts the enemy to declare them dead since there's [[TemptingFate no way they could survive the fall]]. They're both up and about a few chapters later, only a little worse for wear.
* NobleFugitive: Yona, who is a princess, and Hak, who as the Wind Tribe General is considered part of the nobility. [[spoiler: Until he renounces his status as general anyways.]]
* ObliviousToLove: Yona, ''Yona'' and Yona. She is ''particularly'' oblivious to Hak's not-so-indirect hints... It's quite possible that she is under SelectiveObliviousness.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Soo-Won much to Lee Geun-Tae's chagrin.
** Also Zeno, who normally behaves like a CloudCuckooLander, appears to be more serious and he seems to ''know more'' than he lets on.
* OlderThanTheyLook:
** Kija doesn't look like he is 20 and Zeno looks like he is 14-15 rather than 17. [[spoiler: Of course it turns out that Zeno is much, ''much'', older as he has been alive since Hiryuu's time.]]
** Yunho, the wife of Earth Tribe's general, is 25 years old yet she looks like ''she is still 15''.
* OneManArmy: Hak, Kija, Shin-Ah, Jae-Ha.
** [[spoiler: Zeno too, when he's powers are active.]]
* OnlyAFleshWound: Played with in regards to Hak after he was badly injured after fighting Fire Tribe soldiers and falling off a cliff. It took him a few days to get back on his feet. And though he was still able to fight, he collapsed immediately after said fight and needed more time to recover.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Zeno drops his carefree and cheerful personality, it's a sign that something big or serious is happening. Especially in chapter 101 where he [[spoiler: casually annihilates a squad of soldiers and reveals he is the original Yellow Dragon]].
* ParentalFavoritism: The General of the Fire Tribe favours older son Kyo-Ga over Tae-Jun.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: King Il didn't approve and outright objected at the idea of Yona getting married to Soo-Won.
* ParentalSubstitute:
** Mundok took Hak and Tae-Yeon as his adoptive grandsons.
** Ik-Soo more or less adopted Yoon, who was an orphan living in poverty.
** Ao, the previous Seiryuu, was the one who raised Shin-Ah.
** Gi-Gan is like a surrogate mother to her pirate crew.
* ThePatientHasLeftTheBuilding: The Dragons pull this in a recent chapter, escaping their tent, under Yoon's nose, [[spoiler: to join Hak in battle against Kai's rogue soldiers despite being ill and feverish. It does not go well.]]
* PeekABangs: Kye-Sook, Soo-Won's advisor, and Jaeha.
* PreventTheWar: Often times the simplest solution to the most recent social unrest cannot be taken without risking war descending upon the kingdom. [[spoiler: Despite Yona's best efforts, war is declared anyway.]]
* TheQuietOne: Shin-Ah.
* RaisedByGrandparents: In Hak's case he was raised by an adoptive grandfather.
** Kija was also raised by his grandmother.
* RedHeadedHeroine: Yona. It's even a plot point because her hair color is so rare and matches the legendary dragon king Hiryuu [[note]](it literally means Red Dragon)[[/note]], who was the founder of the Kouka Kingdom.
* RefusalOfTheCall: [[spoiler: Jae-Ha tried to avoid Kija and Shin-Ah, knowing they probably were with their master and that he would have the urge to join them, despite his desire of freedom]].
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Both Soo-Won and Yona. As the next king Soo-Won plans to restore their country to its former glory, and as we can see with what he planned when he "plays" with Geun-Tae. On the other side Yona, who only recently started to become aware of the difficulties that the inhabitants of Kouka face day by day, helps the people in need that she encounters.
* SarcasticDevotee: Hak, who loves to tease Yona yet his loyalty towards her is absolute.
* ShoutOut: In Episode 12 of the anime you can see kids wearing [[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas Lock, Shock and Barrel]] masks in the Blue Dragon's village.
* SleepCute: [[http://www.mangaeden.com/en-manga/akatsuki-no-yona/52/11/ Chapter 52]] provides an adorable image of most of the gang sleeping in pairs, Yoon with Shin-Ah, Kija and Zeno and Yona with Hak.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Is it "Soo-Won" or "Su-Won", "Yoon" or "Yun", "Heang-Dea" or "Han-Dae", "Mundok" or "Mun-deok", "Yu-Hon" or "Yoo-Hong", "Min-Soo" or "Min-Su", "Joo-Doh" or "Ju-do"? A bit more understandable than most examples, however, given the various romanization systems of Korean.
* SpoiledSweet: Yona at the beginning of the story, when she was just a naive princess. Though YMMV as some fans considered her to be more of a SpoiledBrat.
* SpoilerOpening: The first opening already revealed who the Four Dragons were.
* StalkerWithoutACrush: [[spoiler: Zeno reveals that he's been watching Yona for a long time since he suspected her to be King Hiryuu's reincarnation and followed her since she left the castle.]]
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Tae Jun and his older brother. Seriously, the only difference is their bangs' length.
* SuperToughness:
** [[spoiler: The yellow dragon]] is [[spoiler: ''supposed'' to be]] this.
** [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower Hak]] to a lesser degree.
* SupremeChef: Yoon, he regularly gets marriage propositions from those who eat his food.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Hak, Jae-ha and Shin-Ah.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Hak again.
* TeamPet: Ao, Shin-Ah's pet squirrel. Borderline ActionPet since Ao was crucial in helping Yona and Yoon escape from their ropes and start their plan to attack the mercenary ships.
* TenderTears: Yoon is easily moved to tears.
* TragicKeepsake: An interesting case where Yona kept the hairpin that Soo-Won gave her during her birthday party ... the same night she saw Soo-Won murder her father. Most likely to remind herself what happened that night.
** Zeno keeps a dragon decoration on his headband that was given to him by [[spoiler: King Hiryuu.]]
* TookALevelInBadass:
** Yona went from meek sheltered princess to a woman who would practice her archery throughout the night, firing hundreds of arrows to become stronger.
** Yoon went from a self-described selfish boy to being a capable fighter and planner.
* TrueCompanions: "The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch".
* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: Yona is far lovelier and prettier than her plainer father King Il.
* UndyingLoyalty:
** Hak towards King Il and Yona.
** The original Blue, White, Green and Yellow dragons were so loyal to Hiryuu, that they each gave part of their powers to four human warriors so that they would protect him in their stead. Said warriors also grew to become greatly loyal to the King, and said fealty was passed on generation from generation.
*** [[spoiler: Literally in the case of the immortal Yellow dragon warrior. Zeno spent thousands of years waiting for his King to be reborn.]]
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Soo-Won.
* WeHelpTheHelpless: Instead of using the Four Dragon's power to reclaim the throne, Yona decides to travel the land helping her citizens in anyway she can.
* WeNamedTheMonkeyJack: Shin-Ah named his pet squirrel Ao, after his mentor and parental figure the previous Seiryuu.
* WhatBeautifulEyes: Seiryuu's eyes are very beautiful to behold but his village terrified of a curse that anyone who looked upon those eyes would become paralyze and die (which wasn't entirely far away from the truth) so Seiryuu always wore a mask to cover his eyes.
* WhatTheHellTownspeople
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Yoon pretended to be a girl to sneak into a human trafficking ring along with Yona.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Ki-ja is terrified of insects.
* WorfHadTheFlu: [[spoiler: Literally. The Dragons are all but defeated by Kai soldiers when they contract an illness due to leaving Kouka, which leaves them weak, feverish, and unsteady.]]
* WorldsStrongestMan: Hak is claimed to be the strongest soldier in the kingdom, having earned that title at a young age.
* WouldHitAGirl: Kum-Ji and his henchmen don't have a problem kicking or trying to kill Yona.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Justified. The four dragons (with the strangest hair colors like white, blue, green, and yellow) [[spoiler:and Yona]]all have hair the same color as the dragons they represent. [[ImplausibleHairColor People like Soo-Won and Yoon]] on the other hand...
* YouKilledMyFather: Soo-won kills Emperor Il as revenge for killing his father.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: When the new dragons are born the predecessors slowly lose their powers and die. [[spoiler: It happened to Ao and Kija's father, with Kija and Shin-Ah fully knowing what was going on]].
* YouthfulFreckles: Heang-Dea.
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*** [[spoiler: Also healing from any injury, no matter how severe, seems like a good power. Except it still hurts. The amount of pain he goes through to fully activate his power is terrifying.]]
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* WouldHitAGirl: Kum-Ji and his henchmen don't have a problem kicking or trying to kill Yona.
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** Zeno [[spoiler: due to his immortality, outlived all of his friends
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** Zeno [[spoiler: due to his immortality, outlived all of his friendsfriends.]]
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* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In an extra chapter "Sleep tight tonight" that took place before the events of the manga, Yona revealed to Hak that she had a dream of them leaving and running away from the castle.
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* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In an extra chapter "Sleep tight tonight" that took place before the events of the manga, Yona revealed to Hak that she had a dream of them leaving and running away from the castle. Now whether the second part of her dream where she cradles a badly injured/dying Hak will come true ...
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* DysfunctionJunction: The Four Dragons all have varying degrees of this:
** Kija mostly had a happy childhood, practically being spoiled by his village due his status as the White Dragon. But an extra chapter revealed that [[spoiler: his father attacked and left a scar on his back when he was born. Consequently, Kija was kept away from his father for most of his life.]]
** Shin-Ah was isolated and hated in his village with only Ao as his friend. His own mother committed suicide once she found out she gave birth to the new Seiryuu.
** Jae-Ha spent most of his childhood [[spoiler: chained by the previous Green Dragon so he wouldn't run away.]]
** Zeno [[spoiler: due to his immortality, outlived all of his friends
** Kija mostly had a happy childhood, practically being spoiled by his village due his status as the White Dragon. But an extra chapter revealed that [[spoiler: his father attacked and left a scar on his back when he was born. Consequently, Kija was kept away from his father for most of his life.]]
** Shin-Ah was isolated and hated in his village with only Ao as his friend. His own mother committed suicide once she found out she gave birth to the new Seiryuu.
** Jae-Ha spent most of his childhood [[spoiler: chained by the previous Green Dragon so he wouldn't run away.]]
** Zeno [[spoiler: due to his immortality, outlived all of his friends
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* TeamPet: Ao, Shin-Ah's pet squirrel. Borderline ActionPet since Ao was crucial in helping Yona and Yoon escape from their ropes and start their plan to attack the mercenary ships.
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* InfantImmortality: Averted when a child is killed by bandits in chapter 49 and later, a funeral is held for him.
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* JustLikeRobinHood: "The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch" attack only the Fire Tribe soldiers and give food and medicine to the local villages.
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* CuddleBug: Zeno has a habit of [[TheGlomp glomping]] or cuddling with the nearest person. Apparently, he likes to sleep close to Shin-Ah (because his fur piece is warm).
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* SleepCute: [[http://www.mangaeden.com/en-manga/akatsuki-no-yona/52/11/ Chapter 52]] provides an adorable image of most of the gang sleeping in pairs, Yoon with Shin-Ah, Kija and Zeno and Yona with Hak.
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* MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes: When Kija nearly fell off a bridge, he remarked how he only saw older ladies flashing before his eyes.
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* AccidentalInnuendo: In chapter 52, due to Shin-Ah's injuries, Yona doesn't sleep in the tent and that she will sleep "with Hak". When the others protest, Yona insists "Hak's good".
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* AccidentalInnuendo: In chapter 52, due to Shin-Ah's injuries, Yona doesn't sleep in the tent and that she will sleep "with Hak". When the others protest, Yona insists "Hak's good".
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* InnocentCohabitation: Yona is the only girl in a group full of guys and on occasion, she shares a tent with one guy (mostly Yoon).
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** Also Zeno, who normally behaves like a CloudCuckooLander, appears to be more serious and he seems to ''know more'' than he lets on.* * OlderThanTheyLook:
to:
** Also Zeno, who normally behaves like a CloudCuckooLander, appears to be more serious and he seems to ''know more'' than he lets on.*
* OlderThanTheyLook:
* OlderThanTheyLook:
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* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In an extra chapter "Sleep tight tonight" that took place before the events of the manga, Yona revealed to Hak that she had a dream of them leaving and running away from the castle.
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* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Shin-Ah first appeared rescuing Yona, a stranger to him, from a kidnapper and helping her return to her friends.
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* StalkerWithoutACrush: [[spoiler: Zeno reveals that he's been watching Yona for a long time and following her since she left the castle.
to:
* StalkerWithoutACrush: [[spoiler: Zeno reveals that he's been watching Yona for a long time since he suspected her to be King Hiryuu's reincarnation and following followed her since she left the castle. castle.]]
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Added DiffLines:
* StalkerWithoutACrush: [[spoiler: Zeno reveals that he's been watching Yona for a long time and following her since she left the castle.
