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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/HoushinEngi.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Taikoubou]]
Taikoubou is a young Sennin (a class of supernatural beings) charged by his mentor to seal up all of the rogue Sennin causing trouble in the human world, the chief of whom is Dakki, who has brainwashed the current emperor and causing all sorts of grief for the citizens of the Yin Dynasty...
The plot thickens when Taikoubou discovers that his mentor has ulterior motives, and the conspiracy encompasses all of the Senin world.
''Houshin Engi'', the [[InspiredBy Japanese rendering]] of ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'' (which means ''The Treatise of The Gods'', itself already VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory) took the same direction as ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}''. Whereas ''Saiyuki'' revolves around [[{{Bishonen}} four guys riding a dragon jeep]] to the west, ''Houshin Engi'' revolves around the gods (who are also mostly {{Bishonen}}) [[ScrewDestiny altering the course of history]] and helping the Chinese Dynasty transfer from Yin to Zhou in the 11th Century BC.
----
!!This series shows examples of:
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating - Dakki keeps upping the ante with worse and worse atrocities, [[spoiler: while getting a KarmaHoudini in the manga]].
** Her actions are taken UpToEleven in the anime, thus earning her a KarmicDeath.
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Venus is definitely a {{Gonk}}, but has a good heart, but Taiboku does not want anything to do with her.
** Played very straight with Dakki, despite being gorgeous.
* AbusiveParents: Nataku's father hates him and feels no guilt for desecrating his son's grave, earning him Nataku's hatred.
* AffectionateNickname - Fugen to Taikoubou: "Bou-chan"
* AGlassOfChianti: Chou Komei is rarely seen without a glass of wine.
* AnachronismStew - Includes lightsabers, rocket punch, and PrecisionGuidedBoomerang, '''ON FIRE'''!
* AnimateInanimateObject - Some of the sennin's original forms.
* AnyoneCanDie: Especially in the manga.
* ArcWords - [[spoiler: "The Signpost of History"]].
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence - [[spoiler: Dakki.]]
* {{Asexuality}} - Taikoubou and, later, [[spoiler: Fukki]].
* AssholeVictim: Suukouko, the king of the northern region. While the other three kings deplore the state of the citizens from the capital, he shows no sympathy and finds no problem with their state as long as they are still alive. Although he too is shocked by Dakki's "party", he quickly grovels before her and begins to flatter her in order to save his own skin. In the end, Dakki has him locked up and he starves to death.
** Nobody felt sorry to see [[spoiler: Ryogaku]] squashed by [[spoiler: his own son]].
* AxCrazy: Ryogaku, Ryuukan.
* BadassFamily: The Kou clan.
* BadassPacifist: Fugen Shinjin hates conflicts and will always attempt to reason with his enemies before attacking. When he does attack, however, his enemies will instantly regret they didn't choose the peaceful way of resolving things.
* BareYourMidriff: Dakki, Oukijin, Suukokuko, Ma Reikou, Nataku.
* BerserkButton: Never insult Shinkouhyou's fashion sense. Or harm Taikobou in Bukichi's presence. Or, if you're the Emperor of Yin, never do anything to really upset Bunchuu.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled - [[spoiler: Bunchuu]]. Although by that point, it's hard to imagine anything could kill him except himself.
* BettyAndVeronica: Dakki (Veronica) and Empress Kyouhi (Betty) for Emperor Chuuou.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: In the manga, Suupuushan gets frustrated with Taikobou's reluctance to take advantage of Dakki's seemingly vulnerable state (she was taking a bath and did not have her paopei with her) so he picks up a large rock and attempts to sneak up behind her so he can kill her with it. It fails, and the scene is treated as being funny, but that doesn't change the fact that nice, reasonable Suupuushan was ready to bash Dakki's head in.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Dakki acts like an innocent and fun-loving young woman in front of the Emperor and her minions.
* BittersweetEnding - At least, for Bukichi and Suupuushan.
* BloodKnight: Chokomei who's a SpiritedCompetitor as well, planted the seeds of conflict of the opposing Sennin forces just so he could fight the enemy
* BloodyMurder - Outenkun. Just Outenkun.
* BoisterousBruiser - Ki Hatsu.
** Kou Hiko.
* BreakTheCutie - Tenshou. I mean, [[spoiler: his mom and aunt both kill themselves, he watches his dad die by acid rain right in front of him, and his older brother kicks it soon after.]] It is seriously no wonder the kid developed an abandonment complex.
** Possibly [[spoiler: Ou Eki]] too, although we never see what specifically broke him.
* BreakingTheFourthWall - Taiitsu is so camera-savvy he always poses facing the panel. Other characters lampshade this endlessly.
** And there are dozens of references to the readers and the publisher made by the characters.
** During his duel with Taikoubou, Raishinshi is aghast to discover the format of the page has changed into a four panel gag manga.
* CanonForeigner: The girl at the inn does not appear in the manga.
* CaptainErsatz - Look no further than Fugen Shinjin: doesn't he look like [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Kaworu to you]]? Well, maybe with the sweetness and TechnicalPacifist tendency cranked up to eleven.
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys - All the main characters are dashing young-looking males. Explains all the yaoi doujinshis out there. It doesn't help that the only females are either evil, ClingyJealousGirl (see below), or otherwise make no impact on the story.
* CastHerd - The sennin at Konron, Taikoubou's team, [[LaResistance Shuu]] (which Taikoubou joins), and [[TheEvilEmpire Yin]], just to name a few.
* CelibateHero - Taikoubou and, later, [[spoiler: Fukki]].
* TheChessmaster - Taikoubou, much to the surprise of those around him, who usually see him in his default "lazy" mode, Dakki, Bunchu [[spoiler: and Fuuki]]
* ChivalrousPervert - Chuu Ou, until Dakki got to him to make him a [[AbhorrentAdmirer lust crazed]] tyrant. Somewhat arguable though, because he had shades of IHaveYouNowMyPretty even before Dakki got her hands on him. So Go, Dakki's father, laments his ruthlessness when it comes to acquiring new women for his harem. After hearing that So Go has a very beautiful daughter, Chuuou threatened to make his country suffer unless he brought her to become his concubine.
** Ki Hatsu. He reforms fast enough to lead his armies, however.
* ClingyJealousGirl - Sengyoku, thanks to some LoveAtFirstPunch to [[NoAccountingForTaste the mole man Dokouson]].
* CombatPragmatist - Even his friends have said they're embarrassed to be on his side.
* CombinedEnergyAttack - The true purpose of the Houshin project was [[spoiler: to collect enough souls to fight the BigBad]].
* CookingDuel - Taikoubou arranges one in an attempt to get [[spoiler: Ki Shou]] eating again, but it backfires in his face when the combatants turn it into an all-out brawl.
* CoolHorse - Variation, Taikoubou rides Suupuushan, which looks more like a flying hippo. Later, [[spoiler: after Suupuu's HeroicSacrifice]], he gets temporarily upgraded ''to a dragon''. Even later, Suupuu [[spoiler: gets a permanent upgrade that allows him to transform indefinitely]].
* CrapsackWorld - At least inside the Imperial Capital, where lavish parties are held at the expense of the poor people.
** Not to mention all of the worlds before the current one [[spoiler: are completely destroyed just because they didn't match up to Jyoka's standards.]]
* CrazyJealousGuy: [[StalkerWithACrush Ryuukan]] is this for Sengyoku.
* CrossDresser - At some point, genius Sennin Youzen copies Dakki, which Taikoubou can spot. For the next chapters, he somehow gets obsessed in "perfecting" his techniques.
* DarkerAndEdgier: While the manga did have some dark points, the anime is noticeably darker and dramatic than the original source, especially with the last episoes
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: The arrival of Dakki and her minions has turned Chuuou's court into one of these.
* DefeatMeansFriendship - Taikoubou attempts this on various people with inconsistent results.
* DemotedToExtra - Raishinshi. Lampshaded when he shows up at the end of the war demanding to know why no one waited for him to get there; his mentor blankly asks, "Who are you?" (The anime never caught on to this.)
* DisproportionateRetribution: Dakki has the imperial painter's eyes gouged out because he drew an abstract portrait of her instead of a traditional one.
* DistantFinale - The final epilogue chapter.
* DeadpanSnarker - Unfortunately, Suupuushan cannot do the FacePalm.
* DoomedHometown - Taikoubou became a sennin because members of his clan had been press-ganged into being buried with an emperor; later, almost all of anyone who's even remotely related to him perish to a pit of poisonous snakes under Dakki's orders.
** [[spoiler: Turns out he's actually one half of an alien, so his original hometown is a planet far away, and that one's been ruined, too.]]
* DrivenToSuicide:[[spoiler: Kashi, Koushi, Kyouhi and Bunchuu.]]
* DubNameChange - A slightful inversion in the Mexican Spanish dub of the series: Instead of using the "original Japanese" names, the Spanish dub uses the ''original Chinese names'' from the original novel the manga and the anime is based from (or translations to English and minstranslations of some ones) of many of the characters. Per example, the main hero Taikobou becomes "Tai Kung" in Spanish (a minstranslation of Jiang Taigong from the original Chinese classic), Nataku becomes "Nazha" (his original name in the classsic) and the villainess Dakki uses her original Chinese name "Daji", plus many others.
* DumbBlonde: Despite being more than a thousand years old and ridiculously powerful, Kibi's intellect is equal to a nine year old's. Even her older sister Dakki jokingly remarks that she is stupid.
* EccentricMentor - Genshitenson.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas - Nataku, while he isn't bad per se, is [[BloodKnight ruthlessly violent]], and the only person he cares about is his mother. This gets positively [[FreudWasRight Freudian]] when it's revealed that he has especially murderous intentions towards his father.
** [[spoiler: Outenkun ]]: counts right?
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Dakki may be horrible beyond imagining, but she truly cares about her two sworn sisters Kibi and Kijin, and her feelings are shared by them.
* EvilEmpire: Yin, though most of the evil is concentrated near the top (specifically, Dakki and her sisters); everyone else is pretty much either brainwashed or JustFollowingOrders.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Dakki, especially in the anime
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Emperor Chuuou does this no less than three times after he becomes free of Daki's influence. When a desperate woman wants to exact revenge upon him for the pain his disastrous rule has caused her and her family by killing him, he calmly accepts this. However, when the knife wound does not kill him, he realizes that he cannot die easily, so he returns to his palace where he duels Kou Tenka. Chuuou is severely wounded in the battle and accepts his defeat with dignity, instructing Tenka to cut off his head and end the Yin dynasty. Tenka changes his mind and refuses to deal the final blow, leaving everything to Taikobou. Finally, Ki Hatsu arrives to execute Chuuou and the Emperor acts no different than the last two times he thought he will die.]]
* FingerlessGloves: In the anime, Dakki wears a purple pair.
* FoeYay - InUniverse, Dakki attempts to use her body, her charm, and her paopei magic to seduce Taikoubou (in order to brainwash him). It doesn't work.
** She also [[spoiler: keeps him from dying in his final HeroicSacrifice]].
* ForTheEvulz - Dakki looks like this on the outside, but it turns out she's running her own EvilPlan.
* ForScience - Unchuushi.
* FunnyAfro - The result of Taikoubou getting hit with Raishinshi's thunder attack. Supushan, more ridiculously, had Funny OjouRinglets instead. It was ridiculous enough that Raishinshi stopped the battle so that the two could fix their hair.
* GambitPileup - [[spoiler: First, the Yin dynasty must be overthrown by the Zhou dynasty. Before that, the sennins must engage on a slugfest to severely reduce their number, and hence do not alert Jyoka. Then, the remaining Sennin goes on a hunt for Jyoka.]] What for? [[spoiler: Jyoka, with the help of Dakki herself, is reshaping the world over and over again for her own convenience]] while [[spoiler: Dakki herself, after learning from Jyoka's former crewmates that fused themselves with Earth, wanted Jyoka's powers so that she can become Mother Earth herself]].
* GambitRoulette - The entire Project Houshin which [[spoiler: involves subtly altering history so that the BigBad Jyoka, who had been ''shaping and reshaping the earth every time history does not suit her liking'', does not notice, while at the same time collecting enough souls to aid the main protagonist into battle.]] To this end, Taikoubou must ensure that [[spoiler: The Zhou dynasty must rise to challenge Yin, and that capturing Dakki is never to be attempted, and the move must be regarded as human progress as opposed to sennin interference]]. Incidentally, [[spoiler: ThePlan itself starts with Genshitenson manipulating Taikoubou into executing a soul hunt, which later turns out to be a more complex, secret plan to create a separate world to store the rebel souls to be hunted, which later turns out to be a large scale prediction of causalities in the upcoming war which is to an extent triggered by Taikoubou's actions, a prediction which is secretly meant to be the gathering of souls to execute a CombinedEnergyAttack. Taikoubou's nemesis, Outenkun, is revealed to seem to be cooperating in a roundabout manner suggesting they may be being manipulated by Genshitenson all along, only to find out he was just following instructions from the real mastermind, who ends up being? Taikoubou and Outenkun's merged self.]]
* GiantWaistRibbon: Kashi, especially in the anime.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Dakki's supernatural influence over the Emperor has allowed her to drive millions of people to starvation and subject others to gruesome deaths and tortures. She also enjoys driving people to commit suicide, tearing apart families and spitting on everything good and holy.
* {{Gonk}} - The Unshou Three Sisters.
* GrandTheftMe - [[spoiler: Dakki pulls one on one of Jyoka's spare bodies.]]
** The fox sennyo steals the real So Dakki's body and uses her identity.
* TheGrays - [[spoiler: Fukki and Jyoka.]]
* GoldDigger - Dakki seduced and became the concubine of various Chinese emperors because she loved living in luxury.
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: Crown Prince Inchao, Bagen.]]
* GottaCatchThemAll - The Houshin Project.
* GracefulLadiesLikePurple: Kashi wears violet and purple clothing in both the anime and the manga incarnations. In the anime flashbacks, Empress Kyouhi wears a violet dress.
* HalfIdenticalTwins: Shintenkun has the appearance of a set of twins, male and female, joined together by their limbs.
* HappilyAdopted: Raishinshi.
* HappyFlashback: Toward the end of the anime, we are treated to flashbacks of the Emperor and his family during much happier times: the Emperor's ascension to the throne, the birth of his first son and various family scenes.
* HeavySleeper - Taijyouroukun (Roushi), who is so lazy he gets his paopei to breathe for him. He basically sleeps for years at a time.
* HeroicBSOD - Taikoubou gets one early in the series when Dakki destroys his clan in retribution for hurting her sister. [[AngstWhatAngst He gets over it]].
** He gets this again when [[spoiler: Chou Koumei kills Suupuushan,]] and in fact, blue screens so hard [[spoiler: the rest of the cast thinks he's dead as well]] and [[spoiler: Chou Koumei declares victory and runs the end credits.]]
** Koushi experiences one as a result of Kashi's death, and it is [[DespairEventHorizon heartbreaking.]]
* HeroicSacrifice - [[spoiler: Taikoubou was falling apart (literally) from the effort to fight the last BigBad and would have died if not for some [[DeusExMachina timely intervention]].]]
** Kanei dies protecting Crown Prince Inchao from enemy soldiers.
** [[spoiler: Crown Prince Inhon]] dies protecting [[spoiler: Taikobou]] from his brother's paopei.
** [[spoiler: Younin, one of Chou Komei's minions, sacrifices himself to save Taikobou.]]
* HesJustHiding - InUniverse, [[spoiler: Taikoubou]] in the epilogue chapter. In fact, most of it consists of showing him playing hide-and-seek with everyone else who's looking for him. He's such a tease.
** He did this before, when his entire army and most of his friends were buried alive by Chou Kei, but he only intervenes after getting called out on it.
* TheHighQueen: Empress Kyouhi.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Unchuushi realized a little too late that giving the power of flight and to summon lightning from the skies to a kid who hated him was not a bright idea.
* HopeSpot: Every time Dakki's evil influence over Chuuou is reduced or eliminated and he goes back to the diligent and wise monarch he was before, Bunchuu either goes away or Dakki returns and things get worse...
* HostageSituation: Several take place during the manga. Taikobou holds Dakki's sister Oukijin hostage in order to gain access to the imperial palace, Dakki takes advantage of Hikou's sister Koushi being married to the emperor and uses her as a hostage to ensure Hikou's loyalty, Hikou's father is held hostage by Dakki's underlings and Crown Prince Inchao holds some Zhou soldiers hostage in his battle with Taikobou.
** The entire arc taking place in Chou Komei's ship is this.
* HotConsort: Chuuou has ''two'': Kyouhi initially, then Dakki.
* HowDareYouDieOnMe - Tenshou to Nataku.
* HumanAlien - [[spoiler: Taikoubou]] who is later known as [[spoiler: Fukki]].
* IfICantHaveYou: Ryuukan wants to pull this on Tou Sengyoku, the woman he has been stalking, after realizing that she is in love with someone else.
* ImAHumanitarian: In one scene, Dakki is shown gorging herself on human remains from the snake pit.
** Ki Shou was also [[spoiler: forced to eat hamburger made out of his own son]].
* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: Most of the sennin wear them. Dakki's clothes take the cake, though - several of them are actually paopei.
* ImprobableWeaponUser - Given that the paopei are magical items, you end up with people fighting with shoulder throws and genie-style lamps, among other things.
** This is true in the original ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'' as well. One of the most improbable attacks makes a flaming pagoda appear and drop on an opponent's head, but there are so many other examples that it almost seems like it's normal weapons that should be considered unusual.
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain - For being a sister of Dakki, Ou Kijin has the unflattering distinction of being defeated by Taikoubou first, and after resurrected, she gets blown apart ''again'', this time by Nataku. She recovers in the end, though somewhat pissed off.
* ISurrenderSuckers: A tragic example happens with Kashi and Chuuou in the manga. When Chuuou is blackmailing Kashi, threatening to punish her husband if she refuses to join his harem, Kashi formally agrees to become his concubine... and promptly flings herself out the window.
* IWasQuiteALooker: [[http://mangafox.me/manga/houshin_engi/v06/c007/10.html Kishou.]]
* KarmaHoudini - [[spoiler: Great Mother Dakki, enough said.]]
** [[spoiler: Kibi also counts. She's happy to watch people being burned to death and she's the one who helped Dakki make hamburgers out of Kishou's son.]]
** Also Nataku's father, who receives no punishment for destroying his grave, throwing his core away and and insulting him any chance he gets.
* KingOfAllCosmos - Just about all of the sennin are {{Bunny Ears Lawyer}}s
* KonamiCode - Called out as instructions to perform a complex aerial maneuver (at which point Suupuushan simply throws his head in despair). Later, after Suupuushan gets an upgrade, he is able to perform the maneuver flawlessly.
* LackOfEmpathy: Unchuushi put Raishinshi through some very harsh training when he was a young child and fed him a fruit that made him grow fangs and wings when the boy was merely eight years old. Raishinshi was understandably very angry and ashamed by his new, monstrous body, but Unchuushi did not seem to care at all.
* LaResistance - The Duke of the West plus his sons (i.e. the Duchy of Shuu) and an ever increasing roster of Sennin and disgruntled former Yin citizens.
* LaserBlade
* LastOfHisKind - [[spoiler: Fukki and Jyoka]].
* LecherousLicking: [[http://mangafox.me/manga/houshin_engi/v21/c008/9.html Taikobou]] out of all people does this when he takes Suupuu hostage during his battle with Kibi.
* LickingTheBlade: A manga example: during the first confrontation between Taikobou and Oukijin, the latter licks the blade of her dagger.
* LimitedWardrobe: Used straight with some characters such as Youzen and Bunchuu, averted with others such as Nataku or Dakki's sisters Kibi and Kijin. Worth noting is that Taikobou receives new clothes on several occasions, some of which are identical to what he was previously wearing.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters - The Houshin list alone is 160 names long.
* TheLostLenore: Shushi is this for Bunchuu. It is strongly implied that he was in love with her and her death [[HeartBrokenBadass affected him deeply]] and led to him becoming the Yin's strongest and most loyal protector.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Sengyoku for Dokouson.
* MadScientist - Lots, including Taiitsu "please call me 'Science Otaku' instead" Shinjin, to Raishinshi's "father" Unchuushi, and that Sennin that develops ''biological weapon'', in middle-ages China!
* MassiveNumberedSiblings: The sons of Kishou (Hakuyuukou, Kihatsu, Shuukoudan and Raishinshi) have ''ninety-six'' siblings.
* ManBehindTheMan - Dakki, the woman behind Chuu Ou. [[spoiler: Jyoka is later revealed to be the alien behind Dakki.]]
** Much more noticeable in the case of the Houshin Project, whose executors and masterminds seem to change with every revelation. Played for all it's worth in the end when it's revealed that the man at the top of the long chain of command manipulating Taikoubou is... [[spoiler:Taikoubou, or rather Fukki, Taikoubou's true self]].
* ManipulativeBitch: Dakki, obviously.
* MarketBasedTitle: The anime was renamed ''Soul Hunter'' when localized into English. The manga stayed ''Hoshin Engi''.
** InconsistentDub: Early episodes also translate the names of the Paopei and a few other terms concerning the Seinnen. Later episodes use the ''Chinese'' names instead, though a few original Japanese names make it though. Also, one spirit beast, despite not changing voice actors, suddenly gets a Southern accent.
* MemoryGambit - [[spoiler:Fukki plans the whole Houshin project, hands it over to Genshitenson, splits himself into Taikoubou and Outenkun, while simultaneously sealing his memories. Genshitenson then commands Taikoubou to begin the Houshin Project.]]. Which kicks off the manga.
* MentorOccupationalHazard - Don't tell me you didn't tear up a little when [[spoiler: Gyokutei Shinjin dies]].
* MoralMyopia: When the two princes of Yin escape the capital and meet up with Taikobou, Shinkouhyou shows up and goes on a rant over how the princes should have fulfilled their duty as royals and remained in the capital to support their father and their people, and how the people will pay for their actions. He goes as far as to forbid Taikobou from taking them and is perfectly willing to use force. Leaving aside the fact that the two princes are defenselesss in Dakki's DeadlyDecadentCourt and will most certainly die if they return to Chouka, Shinkouhyou seemingly forgets that he himself lives in the palace as Dakki's guest, enjoying a luxurious lifestyle provided at the expense of the very people whom he rants about. So the princes aren't allowed to leave the people and must remain and face certain death for the sake of their title and the people's morale, but Shinkouhyou can go around enjoying luxury and aiding Dakki while she torments and starves the people at her whim.
** Ko Kibi giving up her hagoromo in exchange for Suupuu's safety and saying "Life cannot be restored." This is the gal who watched with a smile on her face as men burned alive, celebrated the thought of going to war and [[spoiler: gleefully helped Dakki make hamburgers out of Kishou's son.]]
* MoreThanMindControl: Dakki has a paopei that gives off pheromones which cause anyone to breathe it to fall madly in love with her and bend to her every whim.
* MuggleFosterParents - [[spoiler: Youzen's a youkai]].
* MusicalAssassin: Ma Reikai, one of the four Maka Yonshou, uses a guitar-shaped paopei called Kurobiwa.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The emperor finally realizes just how badly things are going in the capital city [[spoiler: too late to make much of a difference, but at least he shows remorse for what happens]].
* NiceShoes: Seriously, nearly everyone in this manga has oversized, clown shoes, which makes you think that they secretly have big feet.
* NobleFugitive: The two crown princes of the Yin escape from the capital and eventually take refuge into the sennin world.
* NonActionGuy - Taikoubou is borderline useless at direct combat, until he gets his upgrade.
* NoNameGiven: In the anime, we never find out the name of the girl Tenka meets at the inn.
* NotSoHarmless: Shinkouhyou looks like a clown, but is one of the most powerful of the Doshi, as Taikoubou finds out.
** [[spoiler: Also Taikobou is actually one half of an ancient alien called Fuuki]].
** [[TheDitz Ko]] [[VillainousCrush Kibi.]]
* NoSenseOfHumor: In the manga, Jyoka has absolutely ''no'' sense of humor.
* ObfuscatingStupidity - Taikoubou.
* OedipusComplex - Nataku, ''definitely''. His main soft spot is his mommy, and he hates his father to the point where he makes it his life's mission to kill him.
* PapaWolf: Bunchuu regards the Yin dynasty as his child and will do anything to protect it.
* ParentalAbandonment: Raishinshi was abandoned by his real parents.
* ParentsInDistress: Nataku's parents are captured by Chou Komei. Kou Hikou's father is held hostage by Dakki's underlings. In the end, [[spoiler: they are all saved.]]
* PoisonedWeapons - Kijin uses mostly this as her primary weapon.
* [[PuppetKing Puppet Emperor]]: Chuuou.
* QuirkyButCompetent - Most obviously Taikoubou, but everybody else is this to some degree.
* RapunzelHair - Plenty of characters, especially the males.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld - Most of the sennin in general; specifically, Taikoubou, and even moreso, [[spoiler: Fukki]].
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: A rather dark take on this trope. Being the empress of the Yin, Dakki is technically royalty, but instead of working for the people and the country, she focuses all her energy in coming up with more creative torture devices (to the point where she is shown racking her brains) and on two occasions she is shown aiding in their construction by doing hard manual labor.
* RoyalHarem: Chuuou has a harem consisting of two hundred concubines.
* SayItWithHearts - Dakki. Her sister says it with stars.
* SealedEvilInACan - [[spoiler: Jyoka.]]
* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler: TakeOverTheWorld. The end.]]
* ShockAndAwe - Taikoubou's first on the list is TheTrickster Shinkouhyou. Fitting his trickster type, Shinkouhyou's Raikouben is styled as an ice cream with long ribbons. Taikoubou learned the hard way not to challenge someone that can wield a super paopei.
* ShoutOut - One of the sennins training in Konron Island is shown using an [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion A.T. Field]]. Fujisaki Ryu has said himself to be a fan of Evangelion.
** See KonamiCode above.
* ShutUpHannibal - Taikoubou, [[spoiler: as Fukki]], replies to [[spoiler: Jyoka]]'s MotiveRant with a flat: "No, you're wrong idiot, die."
* SiblingTeam - The three sisters.
* SiblingYinYang: Fire sennin Nentou Doujin and water sennyo Ryuukitsu Koushu, the sennin half-siblings. Nentou has a fiery fighting spirit and a rather rude attitude while Koushu is calm and polite.
* SidekickExMachina - Youzen. [[LampshadeHanging He's not shy about it]].
* ShoutOut: When Taikobou and Raishinshi are ready to begin their bare fists battle, the scene is very similar to fighting games, complete with timer and health bars.
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Buseiou's wife Kashi is a renowed beauty. Unfortunately, her stunning good looks are used by Dakki to tempt the Emperor into breaking an old custom and looking at her face. After gazing upon her beauty, the Emperor decides to keep Kashi for himself, which leads to her jumping to her death.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: Many important characters who die in the manga are left alive and well in the anime: [[spoiler: Kou Hikou, Kou Tenka, Bunchu.]]
* SpellMyNameWithAnS - In general, the official translation transliterates names as shortly as possible. For example, Taikobo instead of Taikoubou, or paope instead of paopei. For that matter, ''Hoshin Engi'' instead of ''Houshin Engi''. Doubled consonants are the only exception; Dakki is the same in all regions.
** The anime uses transliterations from Chinese instead of Japanese, since it is about the real life Chinese Yin Dynasty. Suupuushan is Sibuxiang, Konron is Kun Lun, etc.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Bukichi can talk to birds because he used to have a part-time job in a zoo.
* SplitPersonalityMerge: This happens with [[spoiler: Taikoubou and Ou Eki]]. They later [[spoiler: merge together to become Fukki]]. Although [[spoiler: Taikoubou is the main, dominating personality]].
* StalkerWithACrush: Ryuukan is a very creepy example of this. He is an obsessive and deluded individual who has been stalking Tou Sengyoku for a long time and seems to be convinced that she is in love with him, despite having no evidence to support his belief. He is the reason why Sengyoku is terrified of birds, as he uses a fire bird paopei.
* StayInTheKitchen: Tenka has a brief moment of this with Sengyoku while on Chou Komei's ship. Sengyoku is understandably outraged. Worth noting, however, is that Tenka had a point: Sengyoku had not proven herself to be a strong fighter and her paopei is very weak, so Tenka's concerns were legitimate.
* StockholmSyndrome: Arguably, Chuuou. After Dakki's temptation spell wears off, he claims that although nobody would believe him, he still loves her, and she is the last thing he thinks of before [[spoiler: being executed by Ki Hatsu.]]
* TheStoic - Shuukoutan, so stoic he barely expresses anything except mild annoyance/amusement at Taikoubou's and his brother's hijinks.
* StrongerThanTheyLook: Shinkouhyou. As a panicked Taikobou put it, "If you are strong, then look strong!!"
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Crown prince Inchao looks very much like his father, Chuuou.
* SuddenNameChange: Halfway through the manga, the name of Chuuou's first wife Kyouhi changes to Kyoushi.
* SymbolMotifClothing: Fugen's clothes make him look somewhat similar to an angel, reflecting his gentle and peaceful personality.
* TalkingWeapon - Hitou.
* TellMeAboutMyFather - [[spoiler: Youzen]]'s real father is actually [[spoiler: Tsuutenkyoushu]].
* TheThreeTrials: Youzen will only lend his help to Taikobou if he passes three trials.
* TomatoInTheMirror - [[spoiler: Taikoubou and {{Rival}} Ou Eki are revealed to be two halves of Fukki.]]
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Kashi (extremely feminine) and Koushi (tomboy).
* TookALevelInBadass - Chou Kei, the generally competent paperwork-wise right hand man to Bunchuu, in the later stages of the manga, saw fit to [[spoiler: wield Bunchuu's Kinben, after he died]]. Of course, he needs a lot of finesse wielding it, but he still comes as really helpful.
* TournamentArc - The party faces off Dakki's selected fighter in [[spoiler: Jyoka's artificial planet]].
* {{Tykebomb}} - Nataku, [[PersonOfMassDestruction the living Paopei]].
* UndyingLoyalty: The Shisei have this for Bunchuu.
* UnlimitedWardrobe: Dakki in the manga. She wears something different almost every time we see her.
* UnwantedRevival - [[spoiler: Taikoubou (now known as Fukki) at the end]], who is an example of "not wanting to be found by the people looking for him." The reason? He just likes to mess with them.
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: Dakki in the anime goes from a FauxAffablyEvil manipulator to a shrieking monstrosity once Shinhoukyou decides to detain her after her resurrection]]
* WasOnceAMan - Bagen.
* WeaponsKitchenSink - The Paopei.
* WickedStepmother: Dakki is this for the Emperor's sons, as she is trying to bring down the Yin dynasty.
* WhipItGood - Bunchuu, which has the Paopei Kinben, [[InfinityPlusOneSword an Infinity Plus One Whip]], which is one of the strongest paopeis in the entire earth.
* [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Why Did It Have To Be Heights?]]: Taiitsu Shinjin is afraid of heights. If living on a ''floating'' rock is not enough, he often finds himself in situations where he must confront his fear.
* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Bukichi's main occupation is that of a woodcutter, but it is revealed over the course of the story that he has had many part time jobs: zoo employee, lifeguard, elephant rider etc.
* WrongGenreSavvy - Taikoubou flits between this and DangerouslyGenreSavvy: he finds out, painfully, why it's not a good idea to challenge the BigBad head-on without some serious LevelGrinding, and he keeps trying to invoke DefeatMeansFriendship on opponents that would otherwise happily slaughter him, but he plays XanatosSpeedChess with the best of them, and some of his plots lean very, very heavily on the fact that he's in a {{Shonen}} series.
* YamatoNadeshiko: Kashi, wife of Buseiou Kou Hikou. She has long, dark hair with full bangs, is of medium height and wears something similar to a kimono. Lady-like and feminine, Kashi is very loyal to her husband and would rather die than be taken away from him by the Emperor. In the anime, she is shown to be very protective of the two Yin princes and willing to stand up to Dakki.
* {{Yandere}}: Ryuukan. He will viciously attack anyone who intrudes on his "personal time with Sengyoku."
----
[[caption-width-right:350:Taikoubou]]
Taikoubou is a young Sennin (a class of supernatural beings) charged by his mentor to seal up all of the rogue Sennin causing trouble in the human world, the chief of whom is Dakki, who has brainwashed the current emperor and causing all sorts of grief for the citizens of the Yin Dynasty...
The plot thickens when Taikoubou discovers that his mentor has ulterior motives, and the conspiracy encompasses all of the Senin world.
''Houshin Engi'', the [[InspiredBy Japanese rendering]] of ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'' (which means ''The Treatise of The Gods'', itself already VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory) took the same direction as ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}''. Whereas ''Saiyuki'' revolves around [[{{Bishonen}} four guys riding a dragon jeep]] to the west, ''Houshin Engi'' revolves around the gods (who are also mostly {{Bishonen}}) [[ScrewDestiny altering the course of history]] and helping the Chinese Dynasty transfer from Yin to Zhou in the 11th Century BC.
----
!!This series shows examples of:
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating - Dakki keeps upping the ante with worse and worse atrocities, [[spoiler: while getting a KarmaHoudini in the manga]].
** Her actions are taken UpToEleven in the anime, thus earning her a KarmicDeath.
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Venus is definitely a {{Gonk}}, but has a good heart, but Taiboku does not want anything to do with her.
** Played very straight with Dakki, despite being gorgeous.
* AbusiveParents: Nataku's father hates him and feels no guilt for desecrating his son's grave, earning him Nataku's hatred.
* AffectionateNickname - Fugen to Taikoubou: "Bou-chan"
* AGlassOfChianti: Chou Komei is rarely seen without a glass of wine.
* AnachronismStew - Includes lightsabers, rocket punch, and PrecisionGuidedBoomerang, '''ON FIRE'''!
* AnimateInanimateObject - Some of the sennin's original forms.
* AnyoneCanDie: Especially in the manga.
* ArcWords - [[spoiler: "The Signpost of History"]].
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence - [[spoiler: Dakki.]]
* {{Asexuality}} - Taikoubou and, later, [[spoiler: Fukki]].
* AssholeVictim: Suukouko, the king of the northern region. While the other three kings deplore the state of the citizens from the capital, he shows no sympathy and finds no problem with their state as long as they are still alive. Although he too is shocked by Dakki's "party", he quickly grovels before her and begins to flatter her in order to save his own skin. In the end, Dakki has him locked up and he starves to death.
** Nobody felt sorry to see [[spoiler: Ryogaku]] squashed by [[spoiler: his own son]].
* AxCrazy: Ryogaku, Ryuukan.
* BadassFamily: The Kou clan.
* BadassPacifist: Fugen Shinjin hates conflicts and will always attempt to reason with his enemies before attacking. When he does attack, however, his enemies will instantly regret they didn't choose the peaceful way of resolving things.
* BareYourMidriff: Dakki, Oukijin, Suukokuko, Ma Reikou, Nataku.
* BerserkButton: Never insult Shinkouhyou's fashion sense. Or harm Taikobou in Bukichi's presence. Or, if you're the Emperor of Yin, never do anything to really upset Bunchuu.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled - [[spoiler: Bunchuu]]. Although by that point, it's hard to imagine anything could kill him except himself.
* BettyAndVeronica: Dakki (Veronica) and Empress Kyouhi (Betty) for Emperor Chuuou.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: In the manga, Suupuushan gets frustrated with Taikobou's reluctance to take advantage of Dakki's seemingly vulnerable state (she was taking a bath and did not have her paopei with her) so he picks up a large rock and attempts to sneak up behind her so he can kill her with it. It fails, and the scene is treated as being funny, but that doesn't change the fact that nice, reasonable Suupuushan was ready to bash Dakki's head in.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Dakki acts like an innocent and fun-loving young woman in front of the Emperor and her minions.
* BittersweetEnding - At least, for Bukichi and Suupuushan.
* BloodKnight: Chokomei who's a SpiritedCompetitor as well, planted the seeds of conflict of the opposing Sennin forces just so he could fight the enemy
* BloodyMurder - Outenkun. Just Outenkun.
* BoisterousBruiser - Ki Hatsu.
** Kou Hiko.
* BreakTheCutie - Tenshou. I mean, [[spoiler: his mom and aunt both kill themselves, he watches his dad die by acid rain right in front of him, and his older brother kicks it soon after.]] It is seriously no wonder the kid developed an abandonment complex.
** Possibly [[spoiler: Ou Eki]] too, although we never see what specifically broke him.
* BreakingTheFourthWall - Taiitsu is so camera-savvy he always poses facing the panel. Other characters lampshade this endlessly.
** And there are dozens of references to the readers and the publisher made by the characters.
** During his duel with Taikoubou, Raishinshi is aghast to discover the format of the page has changed into a four panel gag manga.
* CanonForeigner: The girl at the inn does not appear in the manga.
* CaptainErsatz - Look no further than Fugen Shinjin: doesn't he look like [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Kaworu to you]]? Well, maybe with the sweetness and TechnicalPacifist tendency cranked up to eleven.
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys - All the main characters are dashing young-looking males. Explains all the yaoi doujinshis out there. It doesn't help that the only females are either evil, ClingyJealousGirl (see below), or otherwise make no impact on the story.
* CastHerd - The sennin at Konron, Taikoubou's team, [[LaResistance Shuu]] (which Taikoubou joins), and [[TheEvilEmpire Yin]], just to name a few.
* CelibateHero - Taikoubou and, later, [[spoiler: Fukki]].
* TheChessmaster - Taikoubou, much to the surprise of those around him, who usually see him in his default "lazy" mode, Dakki, Bunchu [[spoiler: and Fuuki]]
* ChivalrousPervert - Chuu Ou, until Dakki got to him to make him a [[AbhorrentAdmirer lust crazed]] tyrant. Somewhat arguable though, because he had shades of IHaveYouNowMyPretty even before Dakki got her hands on him. So Go, Dakki's father, laments his ruthlessness when it comes to acquiring new women for his harem. After hearing that So Go has a very beautiful daughter, Chuuou threatened to make his country suffer unless he brought her to become his concubine.
** Ki Hatsu. He reforms fast enough to lead his armies, however.
* ClingyJealousGirl - Sengyoku, thanks to some LoveAtFirstPunch to [[NoAccountingForTaste the mole man Dokouson]].
* CombatPragmatist - Even his friends have said they're embarrassed to be on his side.
* CombinedEnergyAttack - The true purpose of the Houshin project was [[spoiler: to collect enough souls to fight the BigBad]].
* CookingDuel - Taikoubou arranges one in an attempt to get [[spoiler: Ki Shou]] eating again, but it backfires in his face when the combatants turn it into an all-out brawl.
* CoolHorse - Variation, Taikoubou rides Suupuushan, which looks more like a flying hippo. Later, [[spoiler: after Suupuu's HeroicSacrifice]], he gets temporarily upgraded ''to a dragon''. Even later, Suupuu [[spoiler: gets a permanent upgrade that allows him to transform indefinitely]].
* CrapsackWorld - At least inside the Imperial Capital, where lavish parties are held at the expense of the poor people.
** Not to mention all of the worlds before the current one [[spoiler: are completely destroyed just because they didn't match up to Jyoka's standards.]]
* CrazyJealousGuy: [[StalkerWithACrush Ryuukan]] is this for Sengyoku.
* CrossDresser - At some point, genius Sennin Youzen copies Dakki, which Taikoubou can spot. For the next chapters, he somehow gets obsessed in "perfecting" his techniques.
* DarkerAndEdgier: While the manga did have some dark points, the anime is noticeably darker and dramatic than the original source, especially with the last episoes
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: The arrival of Dakki and her minions has turned Chuuou's court into one of these.
* DefeatMeansFriendship - Taikoubou attempts this on various people with inconsistent results.
* DemotedToExtra - Raishinshi. Lampshaded when he shows up at the end of the war demanding to know why no one waited for him to get there; his mentor blankly asks, "Who are you?" (The anime never caught on to this.)
* DisproportionateRetribution: Dakki has the imperial painter's eyes gouged out because he drew an abstract portrait of her instead of a traditional one.
* DistantFinale - The final epilogue chapter.
* DeadpanSnarker - Unfortunately, Suupuushan cannot do the FacePalm.
* DoomedHometown - Taikoubou became a sennin because members of his clan had been press-ganged into being buried with an emperor; later, almost all of anyone who's even remotely related to him perish to a pit of poisonous snakes under Dakki's orders.
** [[spoiler: Turns out he's actually one half of an alien, so his original hometown is a planet far away, and that one's been ruined, too.]]
* DrivenToSuicide:[[spoiler: Kashi, Koushi, Kyouhi and Bunchuu.]]
* DubNameChange - A slightful inversion in the Mexican Spanish dub of the series: Instead of using the "original Japanese" names, the Spanish dub uses the ''original Chinese names'' from the original novel the manga and the anime is based from (or translations to English and minstranslations of some ones) of many of the characters. Per example, the main hero Taikobou becomes "Tai Kung" in Spanish (a minstranslation of Jiang Taigong from the original Chinese classic), Nataku becomes "Nazha" (his original name in the classsic) and the villainess Dakki uses her original Chinese name "Daji", plus many others.
* DumbBlonde: Despite being more than a thousand years old and ridiculously powerful, Kibi's intellect is equal to a nine year old's. Even her older sister Dakki jokingly remarks that she is stupid.
* EccentricMentor - Genshitenson.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas - Nataku, while he isn't bad per se, is [[BloodKnight ruthlessly violent]], and the only person he cares about is his mother. This gets positively [[FreudWasRight Freudian]] when it's revealed that he has especially murderous intentions towards his father.
** [[spoiler: Outenkun ]]: counts right?
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Dakki may be horrible beyond imagining, but she truly cares about her two sworn sisters Kibi and Kijin, and her feelings are shared by them.
* EvilEmpire: Yin, though most of the evil is concentrated near the top (specifically, Dakki and her sisters); everyone else is pretty much either brainwashed or JustFollowingOrders.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Dakki, especially in the anime
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Emperor Chuuou does this no less than three times after he becomes free of Daki's influence. When a desperate woman wants to exact revenge upon him for the pain his disastrous rule has caused her and her family by killing him, he calmly accepts this. However, when the knife wound does not kill him, he realizes that he cannot die easily, so he returns to his palace where he duels Kou Tenka. Chuuou is severely wounded in the battle and accepts his defeat with dignity, instructing Tenka to cut off his head and end the Yin dynasty. Tenka changes his mind and refuses to deal the final blow, leaving everything to Taikobou. Finally, Ki Hatsu arrives to execute Chuuou and the Emperor acts no different than the last two times he thought he will die.]]
* FingerlessGloves: In the anime, Dakki wears a purple pair.
* FoeYay - InUniverse, Dakki attempts to use her body, her charm, and her paopei magic to seduce Taikoubou (in order to brainwash him). It doesn't work.
** She also [[spoiler: keeps him from dying in his final HeroicSacrifice]].
* ForTheEvulz - Dakki looks like this on the outside, but it turns out she's running her own EvilPlan.
* ForScience - Unchuushi.
* FunnyAfro - The result of Taikoubou getting hit with Raishinshi's thunder attack. Supushan, more ridiculously, had Funny OjouRinglets instead. It was ridiculous enough that Raishinshi stopped the battle so that the two could fix their hair.
* GambitPileup - [[spoiler: First, the Yin dynasty must be overthrown by the Zhou dynasty. Before that, the sennins must engage on a slugfest to severely reduce their number, and hence do not alert Jyoka. Then, the remaining Sennin goes on a hunt for Jyoka.]] What for? [[spoiler: Jyoka, with the help of Dakki herself, is reshaping the world over and over again for her own convenience]] while [[spoiler: Dakki herself, after learning from Jyoka's former crewmates that fused themselves with Earth, wanted Jyoka's powers so that she can become Mother Earth herself]].
* GambitRoulette - The entire Project Houshin which [[spoiler: involves subtly altering history so that the BigBad Jyoka, who had been ''shaping and reshaping the earth every time history does not suit her liking'', does not notice, while at the same time collecting enough souls to aid the main protagonist into battle.]] To this end, Taikoubou must ensure that [[spoiler: The Zhou dynasty must rise to challenge Yin, and that capturing Dakki is never to be attempted, and the move must be regarded as human progress as opposed to sennin interference]]. Incidentally, [[spoiler: ThePlan itself starts with Genshitenson manipulating Taikoubou into executing a soul hunt, which later turns out to be a more complex, secret plan to create a separate world to store the rebel souls to be hunted, which later turns out to be a large scale prediction of causalities in the upcoming war which is to an extent triggered by Taikoubou's actions, a prediction which is secretly meant to be the gathering of souls to execute a CombinedEnergyAttack. Taikoubou's nemesis, Outenkun, is revealed to seem to be cooperating in a roundabout manner suggesting they may be being manipulated by Genshitenson all along, only to find out he was just following instructions from the real mastermind, who ends up being? Taikoubou and Outenkun's merged self.]]
* GiantWaistRibbon: Kashi, especially in the anime.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Dakki's supernatural influence over the Emperor has allowed her to drive millions of people to starvation and subject others to gruesome deaths and tortures. She also enjoys driving people to commit suicide, tearing apart families and spitting on everything good and holy.
* {{Gonk}} - The Unshou Three Sisters.
* GrandTheftMe - [[spoiler: Dakki pulls one on one of Jyoka's spare bodies.]]
** The fox sennyo steals the real So Dakki's body and uses her identity.
* TheGrays - [[spoiler: Fukki and Jyoka.]]
* GoldDigger - Dakki seduced and became the concubine of various Chinese emperors because she loved living in luxury.
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: Crown Prince Inchao, Bagen.]]
* GottaCatchThemAll - The Houshin Project.
* GracefulLadiesLikePurple: Kashi wears violet and purple clothing in both the anime and the manga incarnations. In the anime flashbacks, Empress Kyouhi wears a violet dress.
* HalfIdenticalTwins: Shintenkun has the appearance of a set of twins, male and female, joined together by their limbs.
* HappilyAdopted: Raishinshi.
* HappyFlashback: Toward the end of the anime, we are treated to flashbacks of the Emperor and his family during much happier times: the Emperor's ascension to the throne, the birth of his first son and various family scenes.
* HeavySleeper - Taijyouroukun (Roushi), who is so lazy he gets his paopei to breathe for him. He basically sleeps for years at a time.
* HeroicBSOD - Taikoubou gets one early in the series when Dakki destroys his clan in retribution for hurting her sister. [[AngstWhatAngst He gets over it]].
** He gets this again when [[spoiler: Chou Koumei kills Suupuushan,]] and in fact, blue screens so hard [[spoiler: the rest of the cast thinks he's dead as well]] and [[spoiler: Chou Koumei declares victory and runs the end credits.]]
** Koushi experiences one as a result of Kashi's death, and it is [[DespairEventHorizon heartbreaking.]]
* HeroicSacrifice - [[spoiler: Taikoubou was falling apart (literally) from the effort to fight the last BigBad and would have died if not for some [[DeusExMachina timely intervention]].]]
** Kanei dies protecting Crown Prince Inchao from enemy soldiers.
** [[spoiler: Crown Prince Inhon]] dies protecting [[spoiler: Taikobou]] from his brother's paopei.
** [[spoiler: Younin, one of Chou Komei's minions, sacrifices himself to save Taikobou.]]
* HesJustHiding - InUniverse, [[spoiler: Taikoubou]] in the epilogue chapter. In fact, most of it consists of showing him playing hide-and-seek with everyone else who's looking for him. He's such a tease.
** He did this before, when his entire army and most of his friends were buried alive by Chou Kei, but he only intervenes after getting called out on it.
* TheHighQueen: Empress Kyouhi.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Unchuushi realized a little too late that giving the power of flight and to summon lightning from the skies to a kid who hated him was not a bright idea.
* HopeSpot: Every time Dakki's evil influence over Chuuou is reduced or eliminated and he goes back to the diligent and wise monarch he was before, Bunchuu either goes away or Dakki returns and things get worse...
* HostageSituation: Several take place during the manga. Taikobou holds Dakki's sister Oukijin hostage in order to gain access to the imperial palace, Dakki takes advantage of Hikou's sister Koushi being married to the emperor and uses her as a hostage to ensure Hikou's loyalty, Hikou's father is held hostage by Dakki's underlings and Crown Prince Inchao holds some Zhou soldiers hostage in his battle with Taikobou.
** The entire arc taking place in Chou Komei's ship is this.
* HotConsort: Chuuou has ''two'': Kyouhi initially, then Dakki.
* HowDareYouDieOnMe - Tenshou to Nataku.
* HumanAlien - [[spoiler: Taikoubou]] who is later known as [[spoiler: Fukki]].
* IfICantHaveYou: Ryuukan wants to pull this on Tou Sengyoku, the woman he has been stalking, after realizing that she is in love with someone else.
* ImAHumanitarian: In one scene, Dakki is shown gorging herself on human remains from the snake pit.
** Ki Shou was also [[spoiler: forced to eat hamburger made out of his own son]].
* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: Most of the sennin wear them. Dakki's clothes take the cake, though - several of them are actually paopei.
* ImprobableWeaponUser - Given that the paopei are magical items, you end up with people fighting with shoulder throws and genie-style lamps, among other things.
** This is true in the original ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'' as well. One of the most improbable attacks makes a flaming pagoda appear and drop on an opponent's head, but there are so many other examples that it almost seems like it's normal weapons that should be considered unusual.
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain - For being a sister of Dakki, Ou Kijin has the unflattering distinction of being defeated by Taikoubou first, and after resurrected, she gets blown apart ''again'', this time by Nataku. She recovers in the end, though somewhat pissed off.
* ISurrenderSuckers: A tragic example happens with Kashi and Chuuou in the manga. When Chuuou is blackmailing Kashi, threatening to punish her husband if she refuses to join his harem, Kashi formally agrees to become his concubine... and promptly flings herself out the window.
* IWasQuiteALooker: [[http://mangafox.me/manga/houshin_engi/v06/c007/10.html Kishou.]]
* KarmaHoudini - [[spoiler: Great Mother Dakki, enough said.]]
** [[spoiler: Kibi also counts. She's happy to watch people being burned to death and she's the one who helped Dakki make hamburgers out of Kishou's son.]]
** Also Nataku's father, who receives no punishment for destroying his grave, throwing his core away and and insulting him any chance he gets.
* KingOfAllCosmos - Just about all of the sennin are {{Bunny Ears Lawyer}}s
* KonamiCode - Called out as instructions to perform a complex aerial maneuver (at which point Suupuushan simply throws his head in despair). Later, after Suupuushan gets an upgrade, he is able to perform the maneuver flawlessly.
* LackOfEmpathy: Unchuushi put Raishinshi through some very harsh training when he was a young child and fed him a fruit that made him grow fangs and wings when the boy was merely eight years old. Raishinshi was understandably very angry and ashamed by his new, monstrous body, but Unchuushi did not seem to care at all.
* LaResistance - The Duke of the West plus his sons (i.e. the Duchy of Shuu) and an ever increasing roster of Sennin and disgruntled former Yin citizens.
* LaserBlade
* LastOfHisKind - [[spoiler: Fukki and Jyoka]].
* LecherousLicking: [[http://mangafox.me/manga/houshin_engi/v21/c008/9.html Taikobou]] out of all people does this when he takes Suupuu hostage during his battle with Kibi.
* LickingTheBlade: A manga example: during the first confrontation between Taikobou and Oukijin, the latter licks the blade of her dagger.
* LimitedWardrobe: Used straight with some characters such as Youzen and Bunchuu, averted with others such as Nataku or Dakki's sisters Kibi and Kijin. Worth noting is that Taikobou receives new clothes on several occasions, some of which are identical to what he was previously wearing.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters - The Houshin list alone is 160 names long.
* TheLostLenore: Shushi is this for Bunchuu. It is strongly implied that he was in love with her and her death [[HeartBrokenBadass affected him deeply]] and led to him becoming the Yin's strongest and most loyal protector.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Sengyoku for Dokouson.
* MadScientist - Lots, including Taiitsu "please call me 'Science Otaku' instead" Shinjin, to Raishinshi's "father" Unchuushi, and that Sennin that develops ''biological weapon'', in middle-ages China!
* MassiveNumberedSiblings: The sons of Kishou (Hakuyuukou, Kihatsu, Shuukoudan and Raishinshi) have ''ninety-six'' siblings.
* ManBehindTheMan - Dakki, the woman behind Chuu Ou. [[spoiler: Jyoka is later revealed to be the alien behind Dakki.]]
** Much more noticeable in the case of the Houshin Project, whose executors and masterminds seem to change with every revelation. Played for all it's worth in the end when it's revealed that the man at the top of the long chain of command manipulating Taikoubou is... [[spoiler:Taikoubou, or rather Fukki, Taikoubou's true self]].
* ManipulativeBitch: Dakki, obviously.
* MarketBasedTitle: The anime was renamed ''Soul Hunter'' when localized into English. The manga stayed ''Hoshin Engi''.
** InconsistentDub: Early episodes also translate the names of the Paopei and a few other terms concerning the Seinnen. Later episodes use the ''Chinese'' names instead, though a few original Japanese names make it though. Also, one spirit beast, despite not changing voice actors, suddenly gets a Southern accent.
* MemoryGambit - [[spoiler:Fukki plans the whole Houshin project, hands it over to Genshitenson, splits himself into Taikoubou and Outenkun, while simultaneously sealing his memories. Genshitenson then commands Taikoubou to begin the Houshin Project.]]. Which kicks off the manga.
* MentorOccupationalHazard - Don't tell me you didn't tear up a little when [[spoiler: Gyokutei Shinjin dies]].
* MoralMyopia: When the two princes of Yin escape the capital and meet up with Taikobou, Shinkouhyou shows up and goes on a rant over how the princes should have fulfilled their duty as royals and remained in the capital to support their father and their people, and how the people will pay for their actions. He goes as far as to forbid Taikobou from taking them and is perfectly willing to use force. Leaving aside the fact that the two princes are defenselesss in Dakki's DeadlyDecadentCourt and will most certainly die if they return to Chouka, Shinkouhyou seemingly forgets that he himself lives in the palace as Dakki's guest, enjoying a luxurious lifestyle provided at the expense of the very people whom he rants about. So the princes aren't allowed to leave the people and must remain and face certain death for the sake of their title and the people's morale, but Shinkouhyou can go around enjoying luxury and aiding Dakki while she torments and starves the people at her whim.
** Ko Kibi giving up her hagoromo in exchange for Suupuu's safety and saying "Life cannot be restored." This is the gal who watched with a smile on her face as men burned alive, celebrated the thought of going to war and [[spoiler: gleefully helped Dakki make hamburgers out of Kishou's son.]]
* MoreThanMindControl: Dakki has a paopei that gives off pheromones which cause anyone to breathe it to fall madly in love with her and bend to her every whim.
* MuggleFosterParents - [[spoiler: Youzen's a youkai]].
* MusicalAssassin: Ma Reikai, one of the four Maka Yonshou, uses a guitar-shaped paopei called Kurobiwa.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The emperor finally realizes just how badly things are going in the capital city [[spoiler: too late to make much of a difference, but at least he shows remorse for what happens]].
* NiceShoes: Seriously, nearly everyone in this manga has oversized, clown shoes, which makes you think that they secretly have big feet.
* NobleFugitive: The two crown princes of the Yin escape from the capital and eventually take refuge into the sennin world.
* NonActionGuy - Taikoubou is borderline useless at direct combat, until he gets his upgrade.
* NoNameGiven: In the anime, we never find out the name of the girl Tenka meets at the inn.
* NotSoHarmless: Shinkouhyou looks like a clown, but is one of the most powerful of the Doshi, as Taikoubou finds out.
** [[spoiler: Also Taikobou is actually one half of an ancient alien called Fuuki]].
** [[TheDitz Ko]] [[VillainousCrush Kibi.]]
* NoSenseOfHumor: In the manga, Jyoka has absolutely ''no'' sense of humor.
* ObfuscatingStupidity - Taikoubou.
* OedipusComplex - Nataku, ''definitely''. His main soft spot is his mommy, and he hates his father to the point where he makes it his life's mission to kill him.
* PapaWolf: Bunchuu regards the Yin dynasty as his child and will do anything to protect it.
* ParentalAbandonment: Raishinshi was abandoned by his real parents.
* ParentsInDistress: Nataku's parents are captured by Chou Komei. Kou Hikou's father is held hostage by Dakki's underlings. In the end, [[spoiler: they are all saved.]]
* PoisonedWeapons - Kijin uses mostly this as her primary weapon.
* [[PuppetKing Puppet Emperor]]: Chuuou.
* QuirkyButCompetent - Most obviously Taikoubou, but everybody else is this to some degree.
* RapunzelHair - Plenty of characters, especially the males.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld - Most of the sennin in general; specifically, Taikoubou, and even moreso, [[spoiler: Fukki]].
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: A rather dark take on this trope. Being the empress of the Yin, Dakki is technically royalty, but instead of working for the people and the country, she focuses all her energy in coming up with more creative torture devices (to the point where she is shown racking her brains) and on two occasions she is shown aiding in their construction by doing hard manual labor.
* RoyalHarem: Chuuou has a harem consisting of two hundred concubines.
* SayItWithHearts - Dakki. Her sister says it with stars.
* SealedEvilInACan - [[spoiler: Jyoka.]]
* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler: TakeOverTheWorld. The end.]]
* ShockAndAwe - Taikoubou's first on the list is TheTrickster Shinkouhyou. Fitting his trickster type, Shinkouhyou's Raikouben is styled as an ice cream with long ribbons. Taikoubou learned the hard way not to challenge someone that can wield a super paopei.
* ShoutOut - One of the sennins training in Konron Island is shown using an [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion A.T. Field]]. Fujisaki Ryu has said himself to be a fan of Evangelion.
** See KonamiCode above.
* ShutUpHannibal - Taikoubou, [[spoiler: as Fukki]], replies to [[spoiler: Jyoka]]'s MotiveRant with a flat: "No, you're wrong idiot, die."
* SiblingTeam - The three sisters.
* SiblingYinYang: Fire sennin Nentou Doujin and water sennyo Ryuukitsu Koushu, the sennin half-siblings. Nentou has a fiery fighting spirit and a rather rude attitude while Koushu is calm and polite.
* SidekickExMachina - Youzen. [[LampshadeHanging He's not shy about it]].
* ShoutOut: When Taikobou and Raishinshi are ready to begin their bare fists battle, the scene is very similar to fighting games, complete with timer and health bars.
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Buseiou's wife Kashi is a renowed beauty. Unfortunately, her stunning good looks are used by Dakki to tempt the Emperor into breaking an old custom and looking at her face. After gazing upon her beauty, the Emperor decides to keep Kashi for himself, which leads to her jumping to her death.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: Many important characters who die in the manga are left alive and well in the anime: [[spoiler: Kou Hikou, Kou Tenka, Bunchu.]]
* SpellMyNameWithAnS - In general, the official translation transliterates names as shortly as possible. For example, Taikobo instead of Taikoubou, or paope instead of paopei. For that matter, ''Hoshin Engi'' instead of ''Houshin Engi''. Doubled consonants are the only exception; Dakki is the same in all regions.
** The anime uses transliterations from Chinese instead of Japanese, since it is about the real life Chinese Yin Dynasty. Suupuushan is Sibuxiang, Konron is Kun Lun, etc.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Bukichi can talk to birds because he used to have a part-time job in a zoo.
* SplitPersonalityMerge: This happens with [[spoiler: Taikoubou and Ou Eki]]. They later [[spoiler: merge together to become Fukki]]. Although [[spoiler: Taikoubou is the main, dominating personality]].
* StalkerWithACrush: Ryuukan is a very creepy example of this. He is an obsessive and deluded individual who has been stalking Tou Sengyoku for a long time and seems to be convinced that she is in love with him, despite having no evidence to support his belief. He is the reason why Sengyoku is terrified of birds, as he uses a fire bird paopei.
* StayInTheKitchen: Tenka has a brief moment of this with Sengyoku while on Chou Komei's ship. Sengyoku is understandably outraged. Worth noting, however, is that Tenka had a point: Sengyoku had not proven herself to be a strong fighter and her paopei is very weak, so Tenka's concerns were legitimate.
* StockholmSyndrome: Arguably, Chuuou. After Dakki's temptation spell wears off, he claims that although nobody would believe him, he still loves her, and she is the last thing he thinks of before [[spoiler: being executed by Ki Hatsu.]]
* TheStoic - Shuukoutan, so stoic he barely expresses anything except mild annoyance/amusement at Taikoubou's and his brother's hijinks.
* StrongerThanTheyLook: Shinkouhyou. As a panicked Taikobou put it, "If you are strong, then look strong!!"
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Crown prince Inchao looks very much like his father, Chuuou.
* SuddenNameChange: Halfway through the manga, the name of Chuuou's first wife Kyouhi changes to Kyoushi.
* SymbolMotifClothing: Fugen's clothes make him look somewhat similar to an angel, reflecting his gentle and peaceful personality.
* TalkingWeapon - Hitou.
* TellMeAboutMyFather - [[spoiler: Youzen]]'s real father is actually [[spoiler: Tsuutenkyoushu]].
* TheThreeTrials: Youzen will only lend his help to Taikobou if he passes three trials.
* TomatoInTheMirror - [[spoiler: Taikoubou and {{Rival}} Ou Eki are revealed to be two halves of Fukki.]]
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Kashi (extremely feminine) and Koushi (tomboy).
* TookALevelInBadass - Chou Kei, the generally competent paperwork-wise right hand man to Bunchuu, in the later stages of the manga, saw fit to [[spoiler: wield Bunchuu's Kinben, after he died]]. Of course, he needs a lot of finesse wielding it, but he still comes as really helpful.
* TournamentArc - The party faces off Dakki's selected fighter in [[spoiler: Jyoka's artificial planet]].
* {{Tykebomb}} - Nataku, [[PersonOfMassDestruction the living Paopei]].
* UndyingLoyalty: The Shisei have this for Bunchuu.
* UnlimitedWardrobe: Dakki in the manga. She wears something different almost every time we see her.
* UnwantedRevival - [[spoiler: Taikoubou (now known as Fukki) at the end]], who is an example of "not wanting to be found by the people looking for him." The reason? He just likes to mess with them.
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: Dakki in the anime goes from a FauxAffablyEvil manipulator to a shrieking monstrosity once Shinhoukyou decides to detain her after her resurrection]]
* WasOnceAMan - Bagen.
* WeaponsKitchenSink - The Paopei.
* WickedStepmother: Dakki is this for the Emperor's sons, as she is trying to bring down the Yin dynasty.
* WhipItGood - Bunchuu, which has the Paopei Kinben, [[InfinityPlusOneSword an Infinity Plus One Whip]], which is one of the strongest paopeis in the entire earth.
* [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Why Did It Have To Be Heights?]]: Taiitsu Shinjin is afraid of heights. If living on a ''floating'' rock is not enough, he often finds himself in situations where he must confront his fear.
* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Bukichi's main occupation is that of a woodcutter, but it is revealed over the course of the story that he has had many part time jobs: zoo employee, lifeguard, elephant rider etc.
* WrongGenreSavvy - Taikoubou flits between this and DangerouslyGenreSavvy: he finds out, painfully, why it's not a good idea to challenge the BigBad head-on without some serious LevelGrinding, and he keeps trying to invoke DefeatMeansFriendship on opponents that would otherwise happily slaughter him, but he plays XanatosSpeedChess with the best of them, and some of his plots lean very, very heavily on the fact that he's in a {{Shonen}} series.
* YamatoNadeshiko: Kashi, wife of Buseiou Kou Hikou. She has long, dark hair with full bangs, is of medium height and wears something similar to a kimono. Lady-like and feminine, Kashi is very loyal to her husband and would rather die than be taken away from him by the Emperor. In the anime, she is shown to be very protective of the two Yin princes and willing to stand up to Dakki.
* {{Yandere}}: Ryuukan. He will viciously attack anyone who intrudes on his "personal time with Sengyoku."
----
to:
[[caption-width-right:350:Taikoubou]]
Taikoubou is a young Sennin (a class of supernatural beings) charged by his mentor to seal up all of the rogue Sennin causing trouble in the human world, the chief of whom is Dakki, who has brainwashed the current emperor and causing all sorts of grief for the citizens of the Yin Dynasty...
The plot thickens when Taikoubou discovers that his mentor has ulterior motives, and the conspiracy encompasses all of the Senin world.
''Houshin Engi'', the [[InspiredBy Japanese rendering]] of ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'' (which means ''The Treatise of The Gods'', itself already VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory) took the same direction as ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}''. Whereas ''Saiyuki'' revolves around [[{{Bishonen}} four guys riding a dragon jeep]] to the west, ''Houshin Engi'' revolves around the gods (who are also mostly {{Bishonen}}) [[ScrewDestiny altering the course of history]] and helping the Chinese Dynasty transfer from Yin to Zhou in the 11th Century BC.
----
!!This series shows examples of:
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating - Dakki keeps upping the ante with worse and worse atrocities, [[spoiler: while getting a KarmaHoudini in the manga]].
** Her actions are taken UpToEleven in the anime, thus earning her a KarmicDeath.
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Venus is definitely a {{Gonk}}, but has a good heart, but Taiboku does not want anything to do with her.
** Played very straight with Dakki, despite being gorgeous.
* AbusiveParents: Nataku's father hates him and feels no guilt for desecrating his son's grave, earning him Nataku's hatred.
* AffectionateNickname - Fugen to Taikoubou: "Bou-chan"
* AGlassOfChianti: Chou Komei is rarely seen without a glass of wine.
* AnachronismStew - Includes lightsabers, rocket punch, and PrecisionGuidedBoomerang, '''ON FIRE'''!
* AnimateInanimateObject - Some of the sennin's original forms.
* AnyoneCanDie: Especially in the manga.
* ArcWords - [[spoiler: "The Signpost of History"]].
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence - [[spoiler: Dakki.]]
* {{Asexuality}} - Taikoubou and, later, [[spoiler: Fukki]].
* AssholeVictim: Suukouko, the king of the northern region. While the other three kings deplore the state of the citizens from the capital, he shows no sympathy and finds no problem with their state as long as they are still alive. Although he too is shocked by Dakki's "party", he quickly grovels before her and begins to flatter her in order to save his own skin. In the end, Dakki has him locked up and he starves to death.
** Nobody felt sorry to see [[spoiler: Ryogaku]] squashed by [[spoiler: his own son]].
* AxCrazy: Ryogaku, Ryuukan.
* BadassFamily: The Kou clan.
* BadassPacifist: Fugen Shinjin hates conflicts and will always attempt to reason with his enemies before attacking. When he does attack, however, his enemies will instantly regret they didn't choose the peaceful way of resolving things.
* BareYourMidriff: Dakki, Oukijin, Suukokuko, Ma Reikou, Nataku.
* BerserkButton: Never insult Shinkouhyou's fashion sense. Or harm Taikobou in Bukichi's presence. Or, if you're the Emperor of Yin, never do anything to really upset Bunchuu.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled - [[spoiler: Bunchuu]]. Although by that point, it's hard to imagine anything could kill him except himself.
* BettyAndVeronica: Dakki (Veronica) and Empress Kyouhi (Betty) for Emperor Chuuou.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: In the manga, Suupuushan gets frustrated with Taikobou's reluctance to take advantage of Dakki's seemingly vulnerable state (she was taking a bath and did not have her paopei with her) so he picks up a large rock and attempts to sneak up behind her so he can kill her with it. It fails, and the scene is treated as being funny, but that doesn't change the fact that nice, reasonable Suupuushan was ready to bash Dakki's head in.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Dakki acts like an innocent and fun-loving young woman in front of the Emperor and her minions.
* BittersweetEnding - At least, for Bukichi and Suupuushan.
* BloodKnight: Chokomei who's a SpiritedCompetitor as well, planted the seeds of conflict of the opposing Sennin forces just so he could fight the enemy
* BloodyMurder - Outenkun. Just Outenkun.
* BoisterousBruiser - Ki Hatsu.
** Kou Hiko.
* BreakTheCutie - Tenshou. I mean, [[spoiler: his mom and aunt both kill themselves, he watches his dad die by acid rain right in front of him, and his older brother kicks it soon after.]] It is seriously no wonder the kid developed an abandonment complex.
** Possibly [[spoiler: Ou Eki]] too, although we never see what specifically broke him.
* BreakingTheFourthWall - Taiitsu is so camera-savvy he always poses facing the panel. Other characters lampshade this endlessly.
** And there are dozens of references to the readers and the publisher made by the characters.
** During his duel with Taikoubou, Raishinshi is aghast to discover the format of the page has changed into a four panel gag manga.
* CanonForeigner: The girl at the inn does not appear in the manga.
* CaptainErsatz - Look no further than Fugen Shinjin: doesn't he look like [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Kaworu to you]]? Well, maybe with the sweetness and TechnicalPacifist tendency cranked up to eleven.
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys - All the main characters are dashing young-looking males. Explains all the yaoi doujinshis out there. It doesn't help that the only females are either evil, ClingyJealousGirl (see below), or otherwise make no impact on the story.
* CastHerd - The sennin at Konron, Taikoubou's team, [[LaResistance Shuu]] (which Taikoubou joins), and [[TheEvilEmpire Yin]], just to name a few.
* CelibateHero - Taikoubou and, later, [[spoiler: Fukki]].
* TheChessmaster - Taikoubou, much to the surprise of those around him, who usually see him in his default "lazy" mode, Dakki, Bunchu [[spoiler: and Fuuki]]
* ChivalrousPervert - Chuu Ou, until Dakki got to him to make him a [[AbhorrentAdmirer lust crazed]] tyrant. Somewhat arguable though, because he had shades of IHaveYouNowMyPretty even before Dakki got her hands on him. So Go, Dakki's father, laments his ruthlessness when it comes to acquiring new women for his harem. After hearing that So Go has a very beautiful daughter, Chuuou threatened to make his country suffer unless he brought her to become his concubine.
** Ki Hatsu. He reforms fast enough to lead his armies, however.
* ClingyJealousGirl - Sengyoku, thanks to some LoveAtFirstPunch to [[NoAccountingForTaste the mole man Dokouson]].
* CombatPragmatist - Even his friends have said they're embarrassed to be on his side.
* CombinedEnergyAttack - The true purpose of the Houshin project was [[spoiler: to collect enough souls to fight the BigBad]].
* CookingDuel - Taikoubou arranges one in an attempt to get [[spoiler: Ki Shou]] eating again, but it backfires in his face when the combatants turn it into an all-out brawl.
* CoolHorse - Variation, Taikoubou rides Suupuushan, which looks more like a flying hippo. Later, [[spoiler: after Suupuu's HeroicSacrifice]], he gets temporarily upgraded ''to a dragon''. Even later, Suupuu [[spoiler: gets a permanent upgrade that allows him to transform indefinitely]].
* CrapsackWorld - At least inside the Imperial Capital, where lavish parties are held at the expense of the poor people.
** Not to mention all of the worlds before the current one [[spoiler: are completely destroyed just because they didn't match up to Jyoka's standards.]]
* CrazyJealousGuy: [[StalkerWithACrush Ryuukan]] is this for Sengyoku.
* CrossDresser - At some point, genius Sennin Youzen copies Dakki, which Taikoubou can spot. For the next chapters, he somehow gets obsessed in "perfecting" his techniques.
* DarkerAndEdgier: While the manga did have some dark points, the anime is noticeably darker and dramatic than the original source, especially with the last episoes
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: The arrival of Dakki and her minions has turned Chuuou's court into one of these.
* DefeatMeansFriendship - Taikoubou attempts this on various people with inconsistent results.
* DemotedToExtra - Raishinshi. Lampshaded when he shows up at the end of the war demanding to know why no one waited for him to get there; his mentor blankly asks, "Who are you?" (The anime never caught on to this.)
* DisproportionateRetribution: Dakki has the imperial painter's eyes gouged out because he drew an abstract portrait of her instead of a traditional one.
* DistantFinale - The final epilogue chapter.
* DeadpanSnarker - Unfortunately, Suupuushan cannot do the FacePalm.
* DoomedHometown - Taikoubou became a sennin because members of his clan had been press-ganged into being buried with an emperor; later, almost all of anyone who's even remotely related to him perish to a pit of poisonous snakes under Dakki's orders.
** [[spoiler: Turns out he's actually one half of an alien, so his original hometown is a planet far away, and that one's been ruined, too.]]
* DrivenToSuicide:[[spoiler: Kashi, Koushi, Kyouhi and Bunchuu.]]
* DubNameChange - A slightful inversion in the Mexican Spanish dub of the series: Instead of using the "original Japanese" names, the Spanish dub uses the ''original Chinese names'' from the original novel the manga and the anime is based from (or translations to English and minstranslations of some ones) of many of the characters. Per example, the main hero Taikobou becomes "Tai Kung" in Spanish (a minstranslation of Jiang Taigong from the original Chinese classic), Nataku becomes "Nazha" (his original name in the classsic) and the villainess Dakki uses her original Chinese name "Daji", plus many others.
* DumbBlonde: Despite being more than a thousand years old and ridiculously powerful, Kibi's intellect is equal to a nine year old's. Even her older sister Dakki jokingly remarks that she is stupid.
* EccentricMentor - Genshitenson.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas - Nataku, while he isn't bad per se, is [[BloodKnight ruthlessly violent]], and the only person he cares about is his mother. This gets positively [[FreudWasRight Freudian]] when it's revealed that he has especially murderous intentions towards his father.
** [[spoiler: Outenkun ]]: counts right?
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Dakki may be horrible beyond imagining, but she truly cares about her two sworn sisters Kibi and Kijin, and her feelings are shared by them.
* EvilEmpire: Yin, though most of the evil is concentrated near the top (specifically, Dakki and her sisters); everyone else is pretty much either brainwashed or JustFollowingOrders.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Dakki, especially in the anime
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Emperor Chuuou does this no less than three times after he becomes free of Daki's influence. When a desperate woman wants to exact revenge upon him for the pain his disastrous rule has caused her and her family by killing him, he calmly accepts this. However, when the knife wound does not kill him, he realizes that he cannot die easily, so he returns to his palace where he duels Kou Tenka. Chuuou is severely wounded in the battle and accepts his defeat with dignity, instructing Tenka to cut off his head and end the Yin dynasty. Tenka changes his mind and refuses to deal the final blow, leaving everything to Taikobou. Finally, Ki Hatsu arrives to execute Chuuou and the Emperor acts no different than the last two times he thought he will die.]]
* FingerlessGloves: In the anime, Dakki wears a purple pair.
* FoeYay - InUniverse, Dakki attempts to use her body, her charm, and her paopei magic to seduce Taikoubou (in order to brainwash him). It doesn't work.
** She also [[spoiler: keeps him from dying in his final HeroicSacrifice]].
* ForTheEvulz - Dakki looks like this on the outside, but it turns out she's running her own EvilPlan.
* ForScience - Unchuushi.
* FunnyAfro - The result of Taikoubou getting hit with Raishinshi's thunder attack. Supushan, more ridiculously, had Funny OjouRinglets instead. It was ridiculous enough that Raishinshi stopped the battle so that the two could fix their hair.
* GambitPileup - [[spoiler: First, the Yin dynasty must be overthrown by the Zhou dynasty. Before that, the sennins must engage on a slugfest to severely reduce their number, and hence do not alert Jyoka. Then, the remaining Sennin goes on a hunt for Jyoka.]] What for? [[spoiler: Jyoka, with the help of Dakki herself, is reshaping the world over and over again for her own convenience]] while [[spoiler: Dakki herself, after learning from Jyoka's former crewmates that fused themselves with Earth, wanted Jyoka's powers so that she can become Mother Earth herself]].
* GambitRoulette - The entire Project Houshin which [[spoiler: involves subtly altering history so that the BigBad Jyoka, who had been ''shaping and reshaping the earth every time history does not suit her liking'', does not notice, while at the same time collecting enough souls to aid the main protagonist into battle.]] To this end, Taikoubou must ensure that [[spoiler: The Zhou dynasty must rise to challenge Yin, and that capturing Dakki is never to be attempted, and the move must be regarded as human progress as opposed to sennin interference]]. Incidentally, [[spoiler: ThePlan itself starts with Genshitenson manipulating Taikoubou into executing a soul hunt, which later turns out to be a more complex, secret plan to create a separate world to store the rebel souls to be hunted, which later turns out to be a large scale prediction of causalities in the upcoming war which is to an extent triggered by Taikoubou's actions, a prediction which is secretly meant to be the gathering of souls to execute a CombinedEnergyAttack. Taikoubou's nemesis, Outenkun, is revealed to seem to be cooperating in a roundabout manner suggesting they may be being manipulated by Genshitenson all along, only to find out he was just following instructions from the real mastermind, who ends up being? Taikoubou and Outenkun's merged self.]]
* GiantWaistRibbon: Kashi, especially in the anime.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Dakki's supernatural influence over the Emperor has allowed her to drive millions of people to starvation and subject others to gruesome deaths and tortures. She also enjoys driving people to commit suicide, tearing apart families and spitting on everything good and holy.
* {{Gonk}} - The Unshou Three Sisters.
* GrandTheftMe - [[spoiler: Dakki pulls one on one of Jyoka's spare bodies.]]
** The fox sennyo steals the real So Dakki's body and uses her identity.
* TheGrays - [[spoiler: Fukki and Jyoka.]]
* GoldDigger - Dakki seduced and became the concubine of various Chinese emperors because she loved living in luxury.
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: Crown Prince Inchao, Bagen.]]
* GottaCatchThemAll - The Houshin Project.
* GracefulLadiesLikePurple: Kashi wears violet and purple clothing in both the anime and the manga incarnations. In the anime flashbacks, Empress Kyouhi wears a violet dress.
* HalfIdenticalTwins: Shintenkun has the appearance of a set of twins, male and female, joined together by their limbs.
* HappilyAdopted: Raishinshi.
* HappyFlashback: Toward the end of the anime, we are treated to flashbacks of the Emperor and his family during much happier times: the Emperor's ascension to the throne, the birth of his first son and various family scenes.
* HeavySleeper - Taijyouroukun (Roushi), who is so lazy he gets his paopei to breathe for him. He basically sleeps for years at a time.
* HeroicBSOD - Taikoubou gets one early in the series when Dakki destroys his clan in retribution for hurting her sister. [[AngstWhatAngst He gets over it]].
** He gets this again when [[spoiler: Chou Koumei kills Suupuushan,]] and in fact, blue screens so hard [[spoiler: the rest of the cast thinks he's dead as well]] and [[spoiler: Chou Koumei declares victory and runs the end credits.]]
** Koushi experiences one as a result of Kashi's death, and it is [[DespairEventHorizon heartbreaking.]]
* HeroicSacrifice - [[spoiler: Taikoubou was falling apart (literally) from the effort to fight the last BigBad and would have died if not for some [[DeusExMachina timely intervention]].]]
** Kanei dies protecting Crown Prince Inchao from enemy soldiers.
** [[spoiler: Crown Prince Inhon]] dies protecting [[spoiler: Taikobou]] from his brother's paopei.
** [[spoiler: Younin, one of Chou Komei's minions, sacrifices himself to save Taikobou.]]
* HesJustHiding - InUniverse, [[spoiler: Taikoubou]] in the epilogue chapter. In fact, most of it consists of showing him playing hide-and-seek with everyone else who's looking for him. He's such a tease.
** He did this before, when his entire army and most of his friends were buried alive by Chou Kei, but he only intervenes after getting called out on it.
* TheHighQueen: Empress Kyouhi.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Unchuushi realized a little too late that giving the power of flight and to summon lightning from the skies to a kid who hated him was not a bright idea.
* HopeSpot: Every time Dakki's evil influence over Chuuou is reduced or eliminated and he goes back to the diligent and wise monarch he was before, Bunchuu either goes away or Dakki returns and things get worse...
* HostageSituation: Several take place during the manga. Taikobou holds Dakki's sister Oukijin hostage in order to gain access to the imperial palace, Dakki takes advantage of Hikou's sister Koushi being married to the emperor and uses her as a hostage to ensure Hikou's loyalty, Hikou's father is held hostage by Dakki's underlings and Crown Prince Inchao holds some Zhou soldiers hostage in his battle with Taikobou.
** The entire arc taking place in Chou Komei's ship is this.
* HotConsort: Chuuou has ''two'': Kyouhi initially, then Dakki.
* HowDareYouDieOnMe - Tenshou to Nataku.
* HumanAlien - [[spoiler: Taikoubou]] who is later known as [[spoiler: Fukki]].
* IfICantHaveYou: Ryuukan wants to pull this on Tou Sengyoku, the woman he has been stalking, after realizing that she is in love with someone else.
* ImAHumanitarian: In one scene, Dakki is shown gorging herself on human remains from the snake pit.
** Ki Shou was also [[spoiler: forced to eat hamburger made out of his own son]].
* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: Most of the sennin wear them. Dakki's clothes take the cake, though - several of them are actually paopei.
* ImprobableWeaponUser - Given that the paopei are magical items, you end up with people fighting with shoulder throws and genie-style lamps, among other things.
** This is true in the original ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'' as well. One of the most improbable attacks makes a flaming pagoda appear and drop on an opponent's head, but there are so many other examples that it almost seems like it's normal weapons that should be considered unusual.
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain - For being a sister of Dakki, Ou Kijin has the unflattering distinction of being defeated by Taikoubou first, and after resurrected, she gets blown apart ''again'', this time by Nataku. She recovers in the end, though somewhat pissed off.
* ISurrenderSuckers: A tragic example happens with Kashi and Chuuou in the manga. When Chuuou is blackmailing Kashi, threatening to punish her husband if she refuses to join his harem, Kashi formally agrees to become his concubine... and promptly flings herself out the window.
* IWasQuiteALooker: [[http://mangafox.me/manga/houshin_engi/v06/c007/10.html Kishou.]]
* KarmaHoudini - [[spoiler: Great Mother Dakki, enough said.]]
** [[spoiler: Kibi also counts. She's happy to watch people being burned to death and she's the one who helped Dakki make hamburgers out of Kishou's son.]]
** Also Nataku's father, who receives no punishment for destroying his grave, throwing his core away and and insulting him any chance he gets.
* KingOfAllCosmos - Just about all of the sennin are {{Bunny Ears Lawyer}}s
* KonamiCode - Called out as instructions to perform a complex aerial maneuver (at which point Suupuushan simply throws his head in despair). Later, after Suupuushan gets an upgrade, he is able to perform the maneuver flawlessly.
* LackOfEmpathy: Unchuushi put Raishinshi through some very harsh training when he was a young child and fed him a fruit that made him grow fangs and wings when the boy was merely eight years old. Raishinshi was understandably very angry and ashamed by his new, monstrous body, but Unchuushi did not seem to care at all.
* LaResistance - The Duke of the West plus his sons (i.e. the Duchy of Shuu) and an ever increasing roster of Sennin and disgruntled former Yin citizens.
* LaserBlade
* LastOfHisKind - [[spoiler: Fukki and Jyoka]].
* LecherousLicking: [[http://mangafox.me/manga/houshin_engi/v21/c008/9.html Taikobou]] out of all people does this when he takes Suupuu hostage during his battle with Kibi.
* LickingTheBlade: A manga example: during the first confrontation between Taikobou and Oukijin, the latter licks the blade of her dagger.
* LimitedWardrobe: Used straight with some characters such as Youzen and Bunchuu, averted with others such as Nataku or Dakki's sisters Kibi and Kijin. Worth noting is that Taikobou receives new clothes on several occasions, some of which are identical to what he was previously wearing.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters - The Houshin list alone is 160 names long.
* TheLostLenore: Shushi is this for Bunchuu. It is strongly implied that he was in love with her and her death [[HeartBrokenBadass affected him deeply]] and led to him becoming the Yin's strongest and most loyal protector.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Sengyoku for Dokouson.
* MadScientist - Lots, including Taiitsu "please call me 'Science Otaku' instead" Shinjin, to Raishinshi's "father" Unchuushi, and that Sennin that develops ''biological weapon'', in middle-ages China!
* MassiveNumberedSiblings: The sons of Kishou (Hakuyuukou, Kihatsu, Shuukoudan and Raishinshi) have ''ninety-six'' siblings.
* ManBehindTheMan - Dakki, the woman behind Chuu Ou. [[spoiler: Jyoka is later revealed to be the alien behind Dakki.]]
** Much more noticeable in the case of the Houshin Project, whose executors and masterminds seem to change with every revelation. Played for all it's worth in the end when it's revealed that the man at the top of the long chain of command manipulating Taikoubou is... [[spoiler:Taikoubou, or rather Fukki, Taikoubou's true self]].
* ManipulativeBitch: Dakki, obviously.
* MarketBasedTitle: The anime was renamed ''Soul Hunter'' when localized into English. The manga stayed ''Hoshin Engi''.
** InconsistentDub: Early episodes also translate the names of the Paopei and a few other terms concerning the Seinnen. Later episodes use the ''Chinese'' names instead, though a few original Japanese names make it though. Also, one spirit beast, despite not changing voice actors, suddenly gets a Southern accent.
* MemoryGambit - [[spoiler:Fukki plans the whole Houshin project, hands it over to Genshitenson, splits himself into Taikoubou and Outenkun, while simultaneously sealing his memories. Genshitenson then commands Taikoubou to begin the Houshin Project.]]. Which kicks off the manga.
* MentorOccupationalHazard - Don't tell me you didn't tear up a little when [[spoiler: Gyokutei Shinjin dies]].
* MoralMyopia: When the two princes of Yin escape the capital and meet up with Taikobou, Shinkouhyou shows up and goes on a rant over how the princes should have fulfilled their duty as royals and remained in the capital to support their father and their people, and how the people will pay for their actions. He goes as far as to forbid Taikobou from taking them and is perfectly willing to use force. Leaving aside the fact that the two princes are defenselesss in Dakki's DeadlyDecadentCourt and will most certainly die if they return to Chouka, Shinkouhyou seemingly forgets that he himself lives in the palace as Dakki's guest, enjoying a luxurious lifestyle provided at the expense of the very people whom he rants about. So the princes aren't allowed to leave the people and must remain and face certain death for the sake of their title and the people's morale, but Shinkouhyou can go around enjoying luxury and aiding Dakki while she torments and starves the people at her whim.
** Ko Kibi giving up her hagoromo in exchange for Suupuu's safety and saying "Life cannot be restored." This is the gal who watched with a smile on her face as men burned alive, celebrated the thought of going to war and [[spoiler: gleefully helped Dakki make hamburgers out of Kishou's son.]]
* MoreThanMindControl: Dakki has a paopei that gives off pheromones which cause anyone to breathe it to fall madly in love with her and bend to her every whim.
* MuggleFosterParents - [[spoiler: Youzen's a youkai]].
* MusicalAssassin: Ma Reikai, one of the four Maka Yonshou, uses a guitar-shaped paopei called Kurobiwa.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The emperor finally realizes just how badly things are going in the capital city [[spoiler: too late to make much of a difference, but at least he shows remorse for what happens]].
* NiceShoes: Seriously, nearly everyone in this manga has oversized, clown shoes, which makes you think that they secretly have big feet.
* NobleFugitive: The two crown princes of the Yin escape from the capital and eventually take refuge into the sennin world.
* NonActionGuy - Taikoubou is borderline useless at direct combat, until he gets his upgrade.
* NoNameGiven: In the anime, we never find out the name of the girl Tenka meets at the inn.
* NotSoHarmless: Shinkouhyou looks like a clown, but is one of the most powerful of the Doshi, as Taikoubou finds out.
** [[spoiler: Also Taikobou is actually one half of an ancient alien called Fuuki]].
** [[TheDitz Ko]] [[VillainousCrush Kibi.]]
* NoSenseOfHumor: In the manga, Jyoka has absolutely ''no'' sense of humor.
* ObfuscatingStupidity - Taikoubou.
* OedipusComplex - Nataku, ''definitely''. His main soft spot is his mommy, and he hates his father to the point where he makes it his life's mission to kill him.
* PapaWolf: Bunchuu regards the Yin dynasty as his child and will do anything to protect it.
* ParentalAbandonment: Raishinshi was abandoned by his real parents.
* ParentsInDistress: Nataku's parents are captured by Chou Komei. Kou Hikou's father is held hostage by Dakki's underlings. In the end, [[spoiler: they are all saved.]]
* PoisonedWeapons - Kijin uses mostly this as her primary weapon.
* [[PuppetKing Puppet Emperor]]: Chuuou.
* QuirkyButCompetent - Most obviously Taikoubou, but everybody else is this to some degree.
* RapunzelHair - Plenty of characters, especially the males.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld - Most of the sennin in general; specifically, Taikoubou, and even moreso, [[spoiler: Fukki]].
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: A rather dark take on this trope. Being the empress of the Yin, Dakki is technically royalty, but instead of working for the people and the country, she focuses all her energy in coming up with more creative torture devices (to the point where she is shown racking her brains) and on two occasions she is shown aiding in their construction by doing hard manual labor.
* RoyalHarem: Chuuou has a harem consisting of two hundred concubines.
* SayItWithHearts - Dakki. Her sister says it with stars.
* SealedEvilInACan - [[spoiler: Jyoka.]]
* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler: TakeOverTheWorld. The end.]]
* ShockAndAwe - Taikoubou's first on the list is TheTrickster Shinkouhyou. Fitting his trickster type, Shinkouhyou's Raikouben is styled as an ice cream with long ribbons. Taikoubou learned the hard way not to challenge someone that can wield a super paopei.
* ShoutOut - One of the sennins training in Konron Island is shown using an [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion A.T. Field]]. Fujisaki Ryu has said himself to be a fan of Evangelion.
** See KonamiCode above.
* ShutUpHannibal - Taikoubou, [[spoiler: as Fukki]], replies to [[spoiler: Jyoka]]'s MotiveRant with a flat: "No, you're wrong idiot, die."
* SiblingTeam - The three sisters.
* SiblingYinYang: Fire sennin Nentou Doujin and water sennyo Ryuukitsu Koushu, the sennin half-siblings. Nentou has a fiery fighting spirit and a rather rude attitude while Koushu is calm and polite.
* SidekickExMachina - Youzen. [[LampshadeHanging He's not shy about it]].
* ShoutOut: When Taikobou and Raishinshi are ready to begin their bare fists battle, the scene is very similar to fighting games, complete with timer and health bars.
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Buseiou's wife Kashi is a renowed beauty. Unfortunately, her stunning good looks are used by Dakki to tempt the Emperor into breaking an old custom and looking at her face. After gazing upon her beauty, the Emperor decides to keep Kashi for himself, which leads to her jumping to her death.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: Many important characters who die in the manga are left alive and well in the anime: [[spoiler: Kou Hikou, Kou Tenka, Bunchu.]]
* SpellMyNameWithAnS - In general, the official translation transliterates names as shortly as possible. For example, Taikobo instead of Taikoubou, or paope instead of paopei. For that matter, ''Hoshin Engi'' instead of ''Houshin Engi''. Doubled consonants are the only exception; Dakki is the same in all regions.
** The anime uses transliterations from Chinese instead of Japanese, since it is about the real life Chinese Yin Dynasty. Suupuushan is Sibuxiang, Konron is Kun Lun, etc.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Bukichi can talk to birds because he used to have a part-time job in a zoo.
* SplitPersonalityMerge: This happens with [[spoiler: Taikoubou and Ou Eki]]. They later [[spoiler: merge together to become Fukki]]. Although [[spoiler: Taikoubou is the main, dominating personality]].
* StalkerWithACrush: Ryuukan is a very creepy example of this. He is an obsessive and deluded individual who has been stalking Tou Sengyoku for a long time and seems to be convinced that she is in love with him, despite having no evidence to support his belief. He is the reason why Sengyoku is terrified of birds, as he uses a fire bird paopei.
* StayInTheKitchen: Tenka has a brief moment of this with Sengyoku while on Chou Komei's ship. Sengyoku is understandably outraged. Worth noting, however, is that Tenka had a point: Sengyoku had not proven herself to be a strong fighter and her paopei is very weak, so Tenka's concerns were legitimate.
* StockholmSyndrome: Arguably, Chuuou. After Dakki's temptation spell wears off, he claims that although nobody would believe him, he still loves her, and she is the last thing he thinks of before [[spoiler: being executed by Ki Hatsu.]]
* TheStoic - Shuukoutan, so stoic he barely expresses anything except mild annoyance/amusement at Taikoubou's and his brother's hijinks.
* StrongerThanTheyLook: Shinkouhyou. As a panicked Taikobou put it, "If you are strong, then look strong!!"
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Crown prince Inchao looks very much like his father, Chuuou.
* SuddenNameChange: Halfway through the manga, the name of Chuuou's first wife Kyouhi changes to Kyoushi.
* SymbolMotifClothing: Fugen's clothes make him look somewhat similar to an angel, reflecting his gentle and peaceful personality.
* TalkingWeapon - Hitou.
* TellMeAboutMyFather - [[spoiler: Youzen]]'s real father is actually [[spoiler: Tsuutenkyoushu]].
* TheThreeTrials: Youzen will only lend his help to Taikobou if he passes three trials.
* TomatoInTheMirror - [[spoiler: Taikoubou and {{Rival}} Ou Eki are revealed to be two halves of Fukki.]]
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Kashi (extremely feminine) and Koushi (tomboy).
* TookALevelInBadass - Chou Kei, the generally competent paperwork-wise right hand man to Bunchuu, in the later stages of the manga, saw fit to [[spoiler: wield Bunchuu's Kinben, after he died]]. Of course, he needs a lot of finesse wielding it, but he still comes as really helpful.
* TournamentArc - The party faces off Dakki's selected fighter in [[spoiler: Jyoka's artificial planet]].
* {{Tykebomb}} - Nataku, [[PersonOfMassDestruction the living Paopei]].
* UndyingLoyalty: The Shisei have this for Bunchuu.
* UnlimitedWardrobe: Dakki in the manga. She wears something different almost every time we see her.
* UnwantedRevival - [[spoiler: Taikoubou (now known as Fukki) at the end]], who is an example of "not wanting to be found by the people looking for him." The reason? He just likes to mess with them.
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: Dakki in the anime goes from a FauxAffablyEvil manipulator to a shrieking monstrosity once Shinhoukyou decides to detain her after her resurrection]]
* WasOnceAMan - Bagen.
* WeaponsKitchenSink - The Paopei.
* WickedStepmother: Dakki is this for the Emperor's sons, as she is trying to bring down the Yin dynasty.
* WhipItGood - Bunchuu, which has the Paopei Kinben, [[InfinityPlusOneSword an Infinity Plus One Whip]], which is one of the strongest paopeis in the entire earth.
* [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Why Did It Have To Be Heights?]]: Taiitsu Shinjin is afraid of heights. If living on a ''floating'' rock is not enough, he often finds himself in situations where he must confront his fear.
* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Bukichi's main occupation is that of a woodcutter, but it is revealed over the course of the story that he has had many part time jobs: zoo employee, lifeguard, elephant rider etc.
* WrongGenreSavvy - Taikoubou flits between this and DangerouslyGenreSavvy: he finds out, painfully, why it's not a good idea to challenge the BigBad head-on without some serious LevelGrinding, and he keeps trying to invoke DefeatMeansFriendship on opponents that would otherwise happily slaughter him, but he plays XanatosSpeedChess with the best of them, and some of his plots lean very, very heavily on the fact that he's in a {{Shonen}} series.
* YamatoNadeshiko: Kashi, wife of Buseiou Kou Hikou. She has long, dark hair with full bangs, is of medium height and wears something similar to a kimono. Lady-like and feminine, Kashi is very loyal to her husband and would rather die than be taken away from him by the Emperor. In the anime, she is shown to be very protective of the two Yin princes and willing to stand up to Dakki.
* {{Yandere}}: Ryuukan. He will viciously attack anyone who intrudes on his "personal time with Sengyoku."
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* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Kashi (extremely feminine) and Koushi (tomboy).
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** Koushi experiences one as a result of Kashi's death, and it is [[DespairEventHorizon heartbreaking.]]
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''Houshin Engi'', the [[InspiredBy Japanese rendering]] of ''Fengshen Yanyi'' (which means ''The Treatise of The Gods'', itself already VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory) took the same direction as ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}''. Whereas ''Saiyuki'' revolves around [[{{Bishonen}} four guys riding a dragon jeep]] to the west, ''Houshin Engi'' revolves around the gods (who are also mostly {{Bishonen}}) [[ScrewDestiny altering the course of history]] and helping the Chinese Dynasty transfer from Yin to Zhou in the 11th Century BC.
to:
''Houshin Engi'', the [[InspiredBy Japanese rendering]] of ''Fengshen Yanyi'' ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'' (which means ''The Treatise of The Gods'', itself already VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory) took the same direction as ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}''. Whereas ''Saiyuki'' revolves around [[{{Bishonen}} four guys riding a dragon jeep]] to the west, ''Houshin Engi'' revolves around the gods (who are also mostly {{Bishonen}}) [[ScrewDestiny altering the course of history]] and helping the Chinese Dynasty transfer from Yin to Zhou in the 11th Century BC.
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** This is true in the original Fengshen Yanyi as well. One of the most improbable attacks makes a flaming pagoda appear and drop on an opponent's head, but there are so many other examples that it almost seems like it's normal weapons that should be considered unusual.
to:
** This is true in the original Fengshen Yanyi ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'' as well. One of the most improbable attacks makes a flaming pagoda appear and drop on an opponent's head, but there are so many other examples that it almost seems like it's normal weapons that should be considered unusual.
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** [[spoiler: Turns out he's actually one half of an alien, so his original hometown is a planet far away]]
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** [[spoiler: Turns out he's actually one half of an alien, so his original hometown is a planet far away]]away, and that one's been ruined, too.]]
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whoops, missed one
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* WhatCouldHaveBeen - An {{omake}} chapter showed a version of Houshin Engi with completely different designs and characterizations--Taikoubou as a ''female'' {{Cloudcuckoolander}} whose inept bumbling end up causing the atrocities attributed to Dakki, for example.
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moving trivia tropes
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* AbhorrentAdmirer: Venus is definitely a {{Gonk}}, but has a good heart, but Taiboku does not anything to do with her.
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* AbhorrentAdmirer: Venus is definitely a {{Gonk}}, but has a good heart, but Taiboku does not want anything to do with her.
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* HeyItsThatVoice - Akira Ishida as Shinkouhyou.
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* ThrowItIn - At least one character was "imported" from an unrelated video game that the mangaka was working on because he liked the design so much.
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''Houshin Engi'', the [[InspiredBy Japanese rendering]] of Fengshen Yanyi (which means The Treatise of The Gods, itself already VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory) took the same direction as ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}''. Whereas ''Saiyuki'' revolves around [[{{Bishonen}} four guys riding a dragon jeep]] to the west, ''Houshin Engi'' revolves around the gods (who are also mostly {{Bishonen}}) [[ScrewDestiny altering the course of history]] and helping the Chinese Dynasty transfer from Yin to Zhou in the 11th Century BC.
to:
''Houshin Engi'', the [[InspiredBy Japanese rendering]] of Fengshen Yanyi ''Fengshen Yanyi'' (which means The ''The Treatise of The Gods, Gods'', itself already VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory) took the same direction as ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}''. Whereas ''Saiyuki'' revolves around [[{{Bishonen}} four guys riding a dragon jeep]] to the west, ''Houshin Engi'' revolves around the gods (who are also mostly {{Bishonen}}) [[ScrewDestiny altering the course of history]] and helping the Chinese Dynasty transfer from Yin to Zhou in the 11th Century BC.
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Hot Mom has been disambiguated. Examples not clearly fitting into one of the tropes other than Fetish Fuel mentioned on Hot Mom are being removed. If you think it fits one of these tropes, feel free to readd with proper context. Same with Hot Dad.
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* HotMom: Kashi. Kyouhi is one in the manga.
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Xanatos Roulette is no longer a trope name.
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...or so he thinks. The plot thickens when Taikoubou discovers that his mentor has ulterior motives, and the conspiracy encompasses all of the Senin world.
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* ArcWords - [[spoiler: "The Signpost of History"]]. See Xanatos Roulette entry below.
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* ArcWords - [[spoiler: "The Signpost of History"]]. See Xanatos Roulette entry below.
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* ForTheEvulz - Dakki looks like this on the outside, but the it turns out she's running her own XanatosRoulette.
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* ForTheEvulz - Dakki looks like this on the outside, but the it turns out she's running her own XanatosRoulette.EvilPlan.
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* GambitPileup - [[spoiler: First, the Yin dynasty must be overthrown by Zhou dynasty. Before that, the sennins must engage on a slugfest to severely reduce their number, and hence do not alert Jyoka. Then, the remaining Sennin goes on a hunt for Jyoka.]] What for? [[spoiler: Jyoka, with the help of Dakki herself, is reshaping the world over and over again for her own convenience]] while [[spoiler: Dakki herself, after learning from Jyoka's former crewmates that fused themselves with Earth, wanted Jyoka's powers so that she can become Mother Earth herself]].
to:
* GambitPileup - [[spoiler: First, the Yin dynasty must be overthrown by the Zhou dynasty. Before that, the sennins must engage on a slugfest to severely reduce their number, and hence do not alert Jyoka. Then, the remaining Sennin goes on a hunt for Jyoka.]] What for? [[spoiler: Jyoka, with the help of Dakki herself, is reshaping the world over and over again for her own convenience]] while [[spoiler: Dakki herself, after learning from Jyoka's former crewmates that fused themselves with Earth, wanted Jyoka's powers so that she can become Mother Earth herself]].herself]].
* GambitRoulette - The entire Project Houshin which [[spoiler: involves subtly altering history so that the BigBad Jyoka, who had been ''shaping and reshaping the earth every time history does not suit her liking'', does not notice, while at the same time collecting enough souls to aid the main protagonist into battle.]] To this end, Taikoubou must ensure that [[spoiler: The Zhou dynasty must rise to challenge Yin, and that capturing Dakki is never to be attempted, and the move must be regarded as human progress as opposed to sennin interference]]. Incidentally, [[spoiler: ThePlan itself starts with Genshitenson manipulating Taikoubou into executing a soul hunt, which later turns out to be a more complex, secret plan to create a separate world to store the rebel souls to be hunted, which later turns out to be a large scale prediction of causalities in the upcoming war which is to an extent triggered by Taikoubou's actions, a prediction which is secretly meant to be the gathering of souls to execute a CombinedEnergyAttack. Taikoubou's nemesis, Outenkun, is revealed to seem to be cooperating in a roundabout manner suggesting they may be being manipulated by Genshitenson all along, only to find out he was just following instructions from the real mastermind, who ends up being? Taikoubou and Outenkun's merged self.]]
* GambitRoulette - The entire Project Houshin which [[spoiler: involves subtly altering history so that the BigBad Jyoka, who had been ''shaping and reshaping the earth every time history does not suit her liking'', does not notice, while at the same time collecting enough souls to aid the main protagonist into battle.]] To this end, Taikoubou must ensure that [[spoiler: The Zhou dynasty must rise to challenge Yin, and that capturing Dakki is never to be attempted, and the move must be regarded as human progress as opposed to sennin interference]]. Incidentally, [[spoiler: ThePlan itself starts with Genshitenson manipulating Taikoubou into executing a soul hunt, which later turns out to be a more complex, secret plan to create a separate world to store the rebel souls to be hunted, which later turns out to be a large scale prediction of causalities in the upcoming war which is to an extent triggered by Taikoubou's actions, a prediction which is secretly meant to be the gathering of souls to execute a CombinedEnergyAttack. Taikoubou's nemesis, Outenkun, is revealed to seem to be cooperating in a roundabout manner suggesting they may be being manipulated by Genshitenson all along, only to find out he was just following instructions from the real mastermind, who ends up being? Taikoubou and Outenkun's merged self.]]
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* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler: TakeOverTheWorld in a massive KarmaHoudini. The end.]]
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* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler: TakeOverTheWorld in a massive KarmaHoudini.TakeOverTheWorld. The end.]]
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* XanatosRoulette - The entire Project Houshin which [[spoiler: involves subtly altering the history so that the BigBad Jyoka, who had been ''shaping and reshaping the earth every time history does not suit her liking'', does not notice, while at the same time collecting enough souls to aid the main protagonist into battle.]] To this end, Taikoubou must ensure that [[spoiler: The Zhou dynasty must rise to challenge Yin, and that capturing Dakki is never to be attempted, and the move must be regarded as human progress as opposed to sennin interference]].
** Incidentally, [[spoiler: the plan itself starts with Genshitenson manipulating Taikoubou into executing a soul hunt, which later turns out to be a more complex, secret plan to create a separate world to store the rebel souls to be hunted, which later turns out to actually be a large scale prediction of causalities in the upcoming war which is to an extent triggered by Taikoubou's actions, a prediction which is secretly meant to be the gathering of souls to execute a CombinedEnergyAttack. Taikoubou's nemesis, Outenkun, is revealed to actually seem to be cooperating in a roundabout manner suggesting they may be being manipulated by Genshitenson all along, only to find out he was just following instructions from the real mastermind, who ends up being? Taikoubou and Outenkun's merged self.]] And this is just THEIR plan.
** Incidentally, [[spoiler: the plan itself starts with Genshitenson manipulating Taikoubou into executing a soul hunt, which later turns out to be a more complex, secret plan to create a separate world to store the rebel souls to be hunted, which later turns out to actually be a large scale prediction of causalities in the upcoming war which is to an extent triggered by Taikoubou's actions, a prediction which is secretly meant to be the gathering of souls to execute a CombinedEnergyAttack. Taikoubou's nemesis, Outenkun, is revealed to actually seem to be cooperating in a roundabout manner suggesting they may be being manipulated by Genshitenson all along, only to find out he was just following instructions from the real mastermind, who ends up being? Taikoubou and Outenkun's merged self.]] And this is just THEIR plan.
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* NoNameGiven: In the anime, we never find out the name of the girl Tenka meets at the inn.
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* CanonForeigner: The girl at the inn does not appear in the manga.
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* SparedByTheAdaptation: Many important characters who die in the manga are left alive and well in the anime: [[spoiler: Kou Hikou, Kou Tenka, Bunchu.]]
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* HappyFlashback: Toward the end of the anime, we are treated to flashbacks of the Emperor and his family during much happier times: the Emperor's ascension to the throne, the birth of his first son and various familoy scenes.
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* HappyFlashback: Toward the end of the anime, we are treated to flashbacks of the Emperor and his family during much happier times: the Emperor's ascension to the throne, the birth of his first son and various familoy family scenes.
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* HappyFlashback: Toward the end of the anime, we are treated to flashbacks of the Emperor and his family during much happier times: the Emperor's ascension to the throne, the birth of his first son and various familoy scenes.
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* WickedStepmother: Dakki is this for the Emperor's sons, as she is trying to bring down the Yin dynasty.
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* HeyItsThatVoice: AkiraIshida plays Shinkouhyou
** Grant James from {{Funimation}} plays the elder
** Grant James from {{Funimation}} plays the elder
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* ISurrenderSuckers: A tragic example happens with Kashi and Chuuou in the manga. When Chuuou is blackmailing Kashi, threatening to punish her husband if she refuses to join his harem, Kashi formally agrees to become his concubine... and promptly flings herself out the window.
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* GracefulLadiesLikePurple: Kashi wears purple clothing in both the anime and the manga incarnations.
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* GracefulLadiesLikePurple: Kashi wears violet and purple clothing in both the anime and the manga incarnations.incarnations. In the anime flashbacks, Empress Kyouhi wears a violet dress.
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* SuddenNameChange: Halfway through the manga, the name of Chuuou's first wife Kyouhi changes to Kyoushi.
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** Ki Shou was also [[spoiler: forced to eat hamburger made out of his own son]].
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Houshin Engi, the [[InspiredBy Japanese rendering]] of Fengshen Yanyi (which means The Treatise of The Gods, itself already VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory) took the same direction as {{Saiyuki}}. Whereas Saiyuki revolves around [[{{Bishonen}} four guys riding a dragon jeep]] to the west, Houshin Engi revolves around the gods (who are also mostly {{Bishonen}}) [[ScrewDestiny altering the course of history]] and helping the Chinese Dynasty transfer from Yin to Zhou in the 11th Century BC.
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* BerserkButton: Never insult Shinkouhyou's fashion sense. Or harm Taikobou in Bukichi's presence.
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* BerserkButton: Never insult Shinkouhyou's fashion sense. Or harm Taikobou in Bukichi's presence. Or, if you're the Emperor of Yin, never do anything to really upset Bunchuu.
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* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The emperor finally realizes just how badly things are going in the capital city [[spoiler: too late to make much of a difference, but at least he shows remorse for what happens]].
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* GracefulLadiesLikePurple: Kashi wears purple clothing in both the anime and the manga incarnations.
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* YamatoNadeshiko: Kashi, wife of Buseiou Kou Hikou. She has long, dark hair with full bangs, is of medium height and wears something similar to a kimono. Lady-like and feminine, Kashi is very loyal to her husband and would rather die than be taken away from him by the Emperor. In the anime, she is shown to be very protective of the two Yin princes and willing to stand up to Dakki.
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* StockholmSyndrome: Arguably, Chuuou. After Dakki's temptation spell wears off, he claims that although nobody would believe him, he still loves her, and she is the last thing he thinks of before [[spoiler: being executed by Ki Hatsu.]]
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* SiblingYinYang: Fire sennin Nentou Doujin and water sennyo Ryuukitsu Koushu, the sennin half-siblings. Nentou has a fiery fighting spirit and a rather rude attitude while Koushu is calm and polite.
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* Ko Kibi giving up her hagoromo in exchange for Suupuu's safety and saying "Life cannot be restored." This is the gal who watched with a smile on her face as men burned alive, celebrated the thought of going to war and [[spoiler: gleefully helped Dakki make hamburgers out of Kishou's son.]]
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* Ko Kibi giving up her hagoromo in exchange for Suupuu's safety and saying "Life cannot be restored." This is the gal who watched with a smile on her face as men burned alive, celebrated the thought of going to war and [[spoiler: gleefully helped Dakki make hamburgers out of Kishou's son.]]
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* LecherousLicking: [[http://mangafox.me/manga/houshin_engi/v21/c008/9.html Taikobou]] out of all people does this when he takes Suupuu hostage during his battle with Kibi.
