"Oz Vessalius! Your sin... is your very existence!"
Oz Vessalius is a young boy with fatherissues who is about to come of age and be recognized as the heir to his family.But during his coming of age ceremony, Oz is attacked by the mysterious Baskervilles and is sent to the Abyss for the crime of 'existing.' There he meets an amnesiac being named Alice/B-Rabbit - a monster called a 'chain' who cannot leave the Abyss without making a contract with a human. Together, Oz and Alice make it out of the Abyss only to be met in the real world by three agents of Pandora who inform Oz that he has been missing for ten years instead of just a single day.Now a part of Pandora, Oz works with them to find illegal contractors, recover Alice's lost memories, and to unravel the mystery of who the Baskervilles are and why they sent him to the Abyss.The answer... may be a mite more complicatedthan you might expect.Pandora Hearts is a manga by Mochizuki Jun, sponsored by Square Enix. It was made into an anime series airing in 2009. Yen Press is publishing the English language version of the manga for North America, and NIS America has announced their intent to localize the anime in a bid for new ground.WARNING: Major Alice in Wonderland allusions, ye with sanity be warned.
Gilbert and Vincent's parents can be considered this since they left the children on the streets where they were abused and mistreated until Jack found them.
Duke Nightray was like this as well, at least to the point of pretty much allowing his son to die, even though he easily could have stopped it.
Adorkable: Arthur Barma. He was quiet and awkward and hardly had any friends until he met Jack. Becomes The Woobie when it's revealed that he was being used by Jack the whole time. He's later forced to write an account of the events at Sablier that portrays Jack as the hero and Glen as the villain.
Leo is also an example, what with the cartoony flowers that appear when he's in a good mood and his reaction to Alice biting Oz's cheek. He even has the Opaque Nerd Glasses! Then he receives his Important Haircut, at which point he crosses over into Bishōnen territory.
Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Gilbert has once given Alice one. An omake shows that she liked it so much that she did things like stealing some candy from Break just so he'd give her more.
Two Siblings In One: In chapter 76, Alice is still alive although she does not have a physical form in any realm. Therefore, she resides in the crossroads of her soul and her sister's. In their pre-Tragedy of Sablier days it was averted, as the two could swap bodies but were not shown to share bodies until Alice was Driven to Suicide.
Early on in the anime, a chain lops off both Alice's arms after trapping her in web-like substance.
Jack had his body dismembered (arms, legs, and head) in order to create a seal that would restrain Glen Baskerville's soul. Retrace LXV reveals that it was Glen's body, not Jack's, that was split into five pieces, as it is his head that falls out of the broken sealing stone.
In Retrace LXXVIII, Gil severs his left arm in order to free himself from Glen's control and protect Oz, who is about to be executed.
Apocalypse Maiden: Superstition holds that the Children of Misfortune are this, due to a natural ability to influence the core of the Abyss. The Baskervilles considered it one of Glen's duties to make them Deaderthan Dead to protect the world. Lacie seems to exemplify this trope.
Arc Words: When you hear the phrase "A darkness that swallows up everything", you know something crucial to the plot is going on. It's been used to describe the Abyss, Leo's eyes, and Jack's view of the world.. There is also the use of the word "sin" when talking about Oz, which is first mentioned in the very first panel of the mangaand is finally explained in Retrace 70: Oz. Finally, whenever "one hundred years ago"/"the Tragedy of Sablier" is mentioned, expect things to get serious.
Artifact Title: The series is named after the pilot chapter, MochiJun's debut manga, in which contractors had boxes called "Pandoras" in their chests where their hearts should be. These boxes were, quite literally, "Pandora hearts."
The Atoner: Glen/Oswald tries to atone for killing his sister Lacie by taking care of her daughter, Alice.
Xerxes Break, as much as he claims otherwise. He even states that he considers going blind to be part of his atonement for his past crimes.
When Gilbert has to crossdress to help solve the mystery in one of the drama CD stories.
In Chapter 48, Oz turns up in a maid outfit. Despite the fact that its not nearly as revealing as Gil's was in the first anime omake, it's certainly nosebleed-inducing.
Break appears in a fine ladies' outfit for a promo card from Animate.
And then there's the whole "Maid-ora Hearts" omake thing, in which everyone wears a maid outfit. Young Gil also does in at least one anime omake.
Author Avatar: In the form of a black cat with a mustache in the Author's Notes for each volume.
Ax Crazy: Most chains that have not been legally contracted.
Badass Bookworm: Leo, especially after contracting Jabberwock.
Be Careful What You Wish For: One illegal contractor did manage to get Will of the Abyss to change the past. Break asked her to prevent the betrayal of the family he was serving, as all but one of whom were killed by a rival family. She did. Instead, they were betrayed again a few years later, and no one got out alive.
Leo actually has a terrible temper, it's just that Elliot usually loses his before him. He's also very close to turning Yandere on behalf of Elliot. It doesn't help that he's next in line to inherit the name of Glen Baskerville and has thus come to possess quite a bit of power.
Gil is a big wimp... until you hurt his master Oz in front of him.
Big Screwed-Up Family: Pretty much every family in Pandora Hearts has some element of apart from, perhaps, the Rainsworths.
Bilingual Bonus: Alice's battle theme, "Bloody Rabbit" is sung in Kajiura Yuki's own personal language, a mix of Spanish, Latin, Japanese, Italian, and whatnot. People refer to it as Kajiurian or Kajiurago.
Let's jump right in: Oz, Gil, Break, Vincent, Elliot, Jack, Glen (Levi, Oswald, and Leo, after his Important Haircut), Duke Barma, Reim, Cheshire... Did we missanyone?
Reim is a notable example; the fact that no male or female pronouns were used to refer to him for some time didn't help. They fixed this in the anime however, giving him less feminine features and a decidedly male voice.
Vincent. Subverted when it's revealed that he only wants to find the Will of the Abyss in order to get her to erase his existence and, by extension, all the crimes he's committed in trying to locate her in the first place.
Averted with Oz and Jack. Retrace LXV has the latter play this straight all along, though.
People who get lost in the illusions in that hole in Sablier for too long tend to have this happen to them because of the power of the Abyss.
The ultimate fate of those chosen to become the new Glen Baskerville entails this; when the soul of Glen Baskerville leaves, the body slowly begins rot away until it turns into a Chain (note that the individual is still alive throughout this). Levi, the Glen before Oswald, is shown covered in the bloody bandages◊ that are holding his body together just before his transformation into Humpty Dumpty.
At Lutwidge Academy, he has his hands tied behind his back when he's kidnapped by the Baskervilles.
When he's captured by Isla Yura at his second Coming-of-Age Ceremony, his hands are bound in front of him.
He's tied up and locked in a cell after he's taken prisoner by the Baskervilles in Retrace LXXV.
In the anime, when he returns from the Abyss, Break arrests him and ties him up in order to try and coax Alice out.
Alice is bound in chains in two similar situations: The first time is when she's being tormented by the Will of the Abyss, and the second time is when she has become trapped in Cheshire's dimension.
In Retrace LXXVIII, Break has been chained to a wall.
In the anime, Ada receives the same treatment as her brother at Lutwidge.
The cover pictures for the volumes depict each character surrounded - and commonly bound - by any number of chains. The most conspicuous in this regard are Echo's, Elliot's, and Lacie's covers. This site explores the chain symbolism.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Gilbert, with respect to the enemies of his master (both Oz and Jack). In Chapter 38, a flashback to 100 years ago when Jack rescued him and Vincent off the streets shows a mysterious old woman implanting various compulsions in Gilbert's mind, including an intense need to kill his master's enemies. In chapter 33, Vincent happily exploits the hell out of the brainwashing in order to manipulate his dear brother into trying to kill Alice. Gilbert is also driven to attack Oz's father, who was responsible for sending Oz into the Abyss in the first place, but Break manages to snap Gilbert out of it.
Break the Cutie: Happens (or has happened) to most of the cast. Much to the point that the housecat and his killer are not spared.
Break Them By Talking: By the end of Retrace LXXIV, Jack has succeeded in doing this to Oz.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: All the anime omake start off with the characters thanking the viewer for buying the DVD, usually with funny results, and eventually cut to where the film crew is standing nearby.
The chapters where Oz, Alice, Gil and Oscar sneak into Lutwidge to visit Ada, Oz's sister. Subverted, as Oscar states that it was exactly his intention to let the gang have some silly fun for once, and some of the Baskervilles show up to cause trouble halfway through.
Episode 20 (Retrace XXVIII in the manga), right after Lutwidge, plays this straight.
Also played straight in Retrace XLVII: Unbirthday.
Brutal Honesty: The manga towards the readers in Retrace 60. Instead of a recap page, there was a black page with one simple statement written in white: "Elliot... he died."
Butt Monkey: Gilbert. He is often the target of Oz's bullying, Alice's eccentricities, Break's... sadism, and even Sharon has had a few notable moments. And this is just from the core group. Even the mangaka has her own potshots at him, often describing him as "useless" or "seaweed head".
Gil tried to do this for Oz, but it doesn't work at all. At the end of the anime, Oz finally does it himself by giving Alice enough power to one-shot Gryphon.
Vincent did this to Duke Nightray after Elliot's death.
Can't Hold His Liquor: Almost everyone gets sloshed (apparently on one bottle of wine) in Episode 20, but Gilbert runs the gamut from misaimed belligerence to sloppy begging to a cute but slightly disturbing reversion to childhood. Then he passes out.
Category Traitor: As of Retrace LXXIX, Glen considers Gilbert to be this to the Baskervilles after the latter burns off his arm with the seal that controls him and declares his loyalty to Oz before escaping with him.
According to Word Of God in Levi's character profile for Volume 18.5, Levi was the one who was cross-legged and sitting behind Leo in Chapter 58.
In the manga, Rufus Barma in his true form can be seen pushing Duchess Rainsworth's wheelchair at Pandora's headquarters right after Oz and Alice are dropped there from Cheshire's dimension, even though his official debut isn't until some time later.
Gil in the anime, who was almost attacked by a hoard of frothing horny schoolgirls while in Lutwidge Academy.
To a lesser extent in the manga, too. Retrace 49 has a horde of noble females swarming around him and Vincent. We already knew Vincent was this as well, but this time we see them well-dressed at a noble party. All the girls are happy, inside and outside the universe.
The Chosen One: Oz is said to be the key to obtaining the Will of the Abyss, which explains why so many people are interested in him. He also has part of the soul of the country's "hero" inside of him.
The Chosen Many: Chapter LI reveals that the reason why the Baskervilles are Baskervilles in the first place is because they were chosen by the golden lights of the Abyss.
Alice in B-rabbit form. Or Oz when he's playing with that scythe.
Or Gil, if it has something to do with Oz, like when he tried to kill Alice in Retrace 35 since Alice was "snatching away his beloved master", or in Retrace XIX when he pointed his gun at Jack for sending Oz to look for Alice
Conditioned To Accept Horror: Oz becomes this after hearing his father basically refer to him as trash. He declares to Gil that this is his life philosophy. Alice is surprised by the cheerful attitude he has, even when flung into the dark and watery abyss. This is probably a contributing cause to his position as Martyr Without a Cause: which Elliot chews him out for.
Cooldown Hug: Alice does this to Oz in Retrace 44.
Cosmic Keystone: The literal, invisible chains that hold the world from falling into the Abyss. Remarkably solid for such, as only one Chain in existence possess the power to break them.
Creepy Child: Vincent in flashbacks. Oz when "gathering information." The children of the House of Fianna, who have been simultaneously brainwashed into forgetting their Dark and Troubled Pastand made into the contractors of Humpty Dumpty by having them drink his blood. Duke Nightray has a lot to answer for...
Cute and Psycho: Many characters, even without being Yandere, can still manage to be rather frightening. Notable examples are Lily and Lacie.
Dark Is Not EvilandLight Is Not Good: Alice, the black rabbit, is the heroine of the story, while the Will Of Abyss, the white rabbit, isn't someone you want to stumble upon... Seriously.
Deal with the Devil: Making an illegal contract with a Chain will end up with the contractor eventually being sucked into the Abyss.
Despair Event Horizon: Jack has crossed the line twice, with the first one being undone when he meets Lacie and the second one happening because of Lacie's death.
Leo crosses this after Elliot's death, causing him to perform a Face Heel Turn, and it gets worse to the point that he doesn't even have the strength to fight against Glen's take-over.
Driven to Suicide: Who killed poor Alice? Poor Alice killed herself. Also counts as a Dying Moment of Awesome and Heroic Sacrifice, considering she killed herself in defiance to Jack's wish to communicate with the Will of the Abyss.
Dysfunction Junction: Oz went for years at a time without seeing his father, was told he was disgusting by said father, and then got thrown into Abyss by him. Gil is a Failure Knight trying to make up for the fact that he was mind-controlled into attacking his best friend and who lived through the Tragedy of Sablier. Alice used to be human but was Driven to Suicide, is amnesiac, and she has a Literal Split Personality / Evil Twin... thing. Break signed an illegal contract to try to change the fact that the family he was bound to protect was betrayed and massacred, then was dragged into the Abyss and had his eye torn out, only to have the family die off anyway. This is only touching the main cast.
Ear Ache: In Retrace LXXXI, Oscar gets part of his ear shot off while redirecting the bullet that a Jack-controlled Oz aimed at him.
Early-Bird Cameo: Young Elliot and Leo appear in episode 11, where they both see Gilbert first entering the Nightray mansion. The latter also counts as an Adaptation Induced Plot Hole due to their meeting actually taking place far later than that.
Et Tu, Brute?: Glen's betrayal of Jack's friendship at the Tragedy of Sablier, which is actually revealed to be Jack's betrayal of Glen, as Jack deliberately opened the doors to the Abyss and tried to bring the entire world into it just so that he could meet Lacie again.
Anyone who was betrayed by Jack, after the revelation in Retrace LXV also applies, including Oz, who learned that he was just being used by Jack like he was one hundred years ago as the B-rabbit and Arthur Barma, who was befriended by Jack for the sole purpose of writing a false account of the events that played out at Sablier that made Jack look like the hero.
The Faceless: Jack (at first), the Headhunter, until Retrace 61, the Chain "Raven", of which we only get to see feathers until Retrace 55, and Lacie until Retrace 65.
Face Heel Turn: Leo pulls one after Elliot's death, once he becomes the new Glen Baskerville.
Food Slap: At their first meeting, Jack splashes a glass of water all over Oswald when the latter accuses the former of appearing deceptive and untrustworthy.
Foreshadowing: That official picture of Jack, dressed in black and kissing the hand of an unknown person, has gained LAYERS of meaning since the traumatic revelations of Retrace 65. The mangaka, when asked, stated that who the hand belongs to "is of no consequence". Also, the official art of Gilbert obsessively cradling a skull has become a lot more sinister in light of recent chapters.
There happens to be a website dedicated to the foreshadowing symbolism in the official pictures.
Friendship Moment: Gilbert, Oz and Break after visiting the Barma mansion.
Oz will probably look exactly like Jack in a few years. Justified in Oz's case in that his body is Jack's body. The existence known as "Oz" is actually the chain B-Rabbit.
Sharon looks like a shrunken version of her mother.
Alice resembles Lacie, who turns out to be her mother.
Those who receive the soul of Glen Baskerville also inherit the duties that come with being Glen, along with memories and such.
It is also worth noting that, while Levi and Oswald look nothing like each other, Oswald and Leo seem to resemble each other heavily.
Getting Crap Past the Radar: You're not allowed to show minors drinking alcohol on Japanese TV, so they got around this by cheekily pointing out that, due to messed up aging and so forth, all of the are old enough to drink even though they don't look it. Or not human in the case of Alice and the doll.
Girl in the Tower: Alice, 100 years ago. Before her was Lacie, though this Girl in the Tower was able to slip out from time to time on a whim.
Gothic Horror: The series has a good many tropes representative of the genre, including old castles and mansions, crazy ladies in towers (Lacie and later Alice/the Will of the Abyss initially appear to play this straight before subverting it, as none of them are actually crazy and are only locked up because of their connection with the Abyss), confinement and imprisonment, Evil Twins and doubles (Alice and the Will and Jack and Oz, respectively, play with these concepts), mutilation and torture of multiplevarieties, otherworldly places (the Abyss) and creatures (chains), and insanity, among others.
Grand Theft Me: Retrace XXXIX shows that Glen has no permanent body of his own and must possess others to continue ruling the Baskerville household. Gilbert was lucky enough to evade this fate 100 years ago.
Subverted in Retrace LXVIII. Turns out that "Glen" is merely a title given to the leader of the Baskerville family, contracted to all the necessary Chains, and thus has the authority and power to meet with the Will of the Abyss personally. Potential "Glens" are determined by an unknown set of criteria, but it appears that there's a direct correlation between being related to a potential "Glen" by blood and being a "Child of Misfortune".
As of chapter 65, Jack has taken complete control of Oz's body and used it to stab Leo with one of B-Rabbit's chains.
Also strangely inverted in chapter 70 and chapter 77 in that, apparently, it was Jack's body all along before Oz took over.
Grey and Gray Morality: One of the main themes of the series, especially with the well-meaning but insane Jack and the Well-Intentioned Extremist methods Pandora and the Baskervilles are willing to go through to learn about and protect the Abyss respectively.
And Gilbert after he cuts off his own left arm. Cue Big Damn Heroes moment.
Happiness in Slavery: Echo. Subverted once you get her talking about her "beloved master." Gil's devotion to his bullying master Oz approaches this as well.
Harmful Healing: Played with, in a way. The reason why Elliot is a Humpty Dumpty contractor is that Leo made him drink its blood to 'forget' (read: erase) the mortal wounds Elliot received while they were looking for the children in Sablier. When Elliot remembered those forgotten memories, the wounds came back.
Healing Potion: Vincent bribes Break with an antidote after he poisons both Sharon and Echo... and then, to prove the antidote works, Vincent gives Echo said potion by frenching her.
Jack went through a particularly horrifying sacrifice to seal away Glen in order to keep the peace, which involved Jack being physically separated into five pieces. At the end of Retrace XLII, one of Jack's dismembered arms is shown. Retrace LXV reveals that it's not Jack's, but Glen's body that got split (his head was in one of the Sealing Stones).
Elliot rejecting Humpty Dumpty despite his Incuse being one quarter from completion comes to mind, as well.
There's also Alice killing herself with a pair of shears to prevent Jack from using Oz and cutting off any further contact between him and her twin. After that, she also became a chain just so Alyss wouldn't have to go through the trouble of making an anguished B-Rabbit!Oz destroy her memories.
Another instance occurs heartbreakingly in Retrace LXXXII, where Uncle Oscar pushes Gil, Alice, and Oz through the gate so that they can escape their pursuers. He himself stays behind, and... well...
Heroic Safe Mode: In Retrace LXXV, Oz, having discovered that he is B-rabbit and that he's killed many innocent people, boots up in safe mode after being totally destroyed by Jack. He becomes indifferent to his fate, convinced that Glen executing him is for the best since he isn't "real," only a chain inhabiting Jack's cursed body.
Hidden Weapons: Break's cane is a concealed sword. Echo and Lottie both have hidden knives up their sleeves.
How We Got Here: Episode 12 explains to us how Oz, Gil and Alice ended up in line for a three-round arm-wrestling match for Gil's hat. Of course, since it's Oz talking, we learn that Gil is a useless moron and Oz is The Hero. It's true.
In Spite of a Nail: Break, when he was still Kevin Regnard, asked the Intention of the Abyss to prevent the massacre that killed the family. However, they still die later on due to his absence.
Instant Runes: Instant transport for every Illegal Contractor who needs to be offed to the Abyss.
Intimate Healing: In order to prove to Break that the antidote for Sharon really works, Vincent administers the antidote to a poisoned Echo by kissing her. Lottie pulls the same trick on Ada in the anime, except with poison instead of an antidote.
I Work Alone: Sharon calls Break "Mr. One-Man-Show" because of this.
J-L
Japanese Pronouns: When Gilbert was young, Break convinced him that he had to start using 'Ore' in order to be more like his idols, Oscar and Oz. When Gil is older, he gets drunk and forgets which form of "I" to use. While he's going "Ore? Boku?," Break starts making hilarious suggestions like "washi," "ora," and "gil-gil."
There's a list showing how characters address themselves and others in Japanese.
Jerkass: Zai Vessalius at his best. Bernard Nightray - totally. Also, Rufus Barma (though not as bad as the other two.)
Elliot. Some might say he's just a tsundere though. By Retrace XL or so it's fair to say that Elliot is a much nicer guy than he wants to show.
Break. It's not always obvious that he does have a heart, but he's got his moments.
Oz himself, particularly in that scene where he made Gil sign a contract making him officially his servant for life... the purpose of which was to cement the fact that Oz must always protect him, since a master's task is to take care of his servants. Oz was still a jerk about it.
Jack: You are a chain... B-rabbit, the destroyer... The people you love, and the people you wish to protect... All that you've achieved... They're fake. Don't forget that..."
Kid Detective / Amateur Sleuth: Oz, Alice, Elliot and Leo, all of whom are trying to decipher some mystery, usually having something to do with the Tragedy of Sablier.
Kid with the Leash: Several contractors, including Oz and the flower girl they meet early on.
Killed Off for Real: Lacie, Levi/Humpty Dumpty, the Sinclair Family, William West/Grim, Cheshire, Rytas, Marie, Isla Yura, Elliot, the entire Nightray clan aside from the adopted kids, Fang, Uncle Oscar. Watch this space. The list will probably grow.
Killer Rabbit: Most notably literal rabbits, and in black and white varieties. One is a main character. Though not the one you think...
Lecherous Licking: Several examples; see the trope page for details.
Let's Get Dangerous: Break. He even says "time to get serious" at one point in the anime, which Alice takes as her cue to GTFO without needing further instruction. Every time he puts on his game face (usually by whipping out the Mad Hatter, though revealing the concealed sword does the trick too), everyone craps their pants, but the sudden air of panic is no damper whatsoever to his flamboyant attitude. He still snarfs candy and talks with hearts in his speech bubbles as he watches his opponents slowly bleed to death.
Like Father, Like Son: Alice (physical appearance, being locked in a tower) and the Will of the Abyss (physical appearance, falling for a Vessalius, psychotic tendencies) to their mother Lacie.
Oz never misses a chance to flirt with younger girls. In appearance, he looks 15, but after escaping the abyss, he's technically 25. Then there's Jack and Alice. Although Alice's real age is not fully confirmed, she is hinted to have been 13 before her death and transformation into a chain (she appears to be 13 mentally and physically, but is technically 113), Jack refers to her as "a sweet, cute little girl" and "very precious person."
It's eventually revealed Oz is technically over a hundred years old, having originally been a sentient stuffed rabbit owned by Lacie and later Alice. On the other hand, he doesn't remember any of it.
Glen/Levi probably counts. Lacie was a young adult when he impregnated her, but in flashbacks, she still appeared to be a prepubescent when he asked for her participation in his "experiment."
Lonely Rich Kid: The whole story pretty much starts as Oz being this.
Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Quite a few, most noticeably Vincent and Jack, with his braid. Leo and Rufus Barma also count, along with Break, who had a ponytail right after being spit out of the Abyss, and Gilbert, whose hair is at least long enough to tie back.
Loss of Identity: By the end of Retrace LXXIV, Oz himself appears to have lost all sense of identity thanks to Jack's manipulation.
The intensity of Leo's love for and close friendship with Elliot seems to have driven him off the deep end after the latter's death, of which the former is partly to blame.
Magic Pants: When Alice turns into her rabbit form, not only do her clothes grow with her, but her miniskirt turns into a pair of pants! (Probably justified by magic.)
Meaningful Echo: From the beginning and end of Retrace LXXX:
Oscar: [thinking] "Oz, you have no idea what it meant to me to be held by that small hand of yours... What torture it was."
Meaningful Name: Oz was named after Oswald. 'Rufus' means 'red'. Lacie is an anagram of Alice, appropriate, as Lacie was Alice's mother. Break... is pretty much What It Says On The Tin.
Meido: The Maidora Hearts omake. Young Gilbert also wore a maid outfit in the first anime omake.
Merlin Sickness: Because his corrupted soul was rejected by the Abyss, Jack was excluded from the hundred-year cycle of rebirth. As a result, his body repeatedly matures to the age he was at during the Tragedy of Sablier (twenty-four) before reversing back to infancy. Each time he completes this cycle, another piece of his soul is destroyed.
The Messiah: Played with ruthlessly in the case of Oscar Vessalius. Because of the death of his wife and child, he always harbored a darkness in his heart towards Oz, who he saw almost as a replacement for his own dead son. This causes him to question his relationship with Oz and almost provokes him into killing him. However, by Retrace LXXXII, Oscar is finally able to come to terms with the death of his family as well as his love for Oz, and the chapter ends with him dying without regrets and the words, "To Oscar Vessalius, the man who loved and forgave everything, farewell." Oscar does end up becoming The Messiah but not without a bitter struggle to justify his doing so.
When Alice is in Cheshire's dimension, she confronts horrible, nightmarish visions of herself. A notable one is when a ghoulish version of herself is bleeding at the eyes.
Oz himself gets this treatment from Jack after it's revealed that the latter was Evil All Along. It ends with Oz suffering an identity crisis and having a Heroic BSOD.
Misery Builds Character: Every character integral to the plot has suffered through horrible, traumatic experiences and has come out Badass, twisted, sadistic, or a mix of them all. On the bright side, they're interesting people!
Misplaced Retribution: In Retrace LXXXI, Vincent beats up Break and blames him for Gil's betrayal of the Baskervilles, despite the fact that Break wasn't even directly responsible for Gil's decision.
There's also Break's chain, The Mad Hatter. However, although it is a nice looking hat, seeing it is not a good sign. Break himself sometimes sports one.
No Sense Of Humour: Reim, to contrast Break. Also, Rufus Barma. Also, Glen/Oswald, who keeps the record for longest held poker face. Not that we don't love them all anyway (see: The Comically Serious).
Subverted in Rufus' case. In a bizarre twist, 18.5 Evidence reveals that he actually enjoys teasing other characters.
Noble Fugitive: Both Oz and Gil have become these by Retrace LXXXIII, as the former was raised as the heir to one of the duke houses and the latter was adopted into one.
Nostalgic Music Box: "Lacie," the song played by the watch Oz finds at the beginning of the series.
Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: The point is made for every antagonistic character, but in no way does it attempt to justify their actions. Most will have tragic backstories (Jack, Vincent). Some, though, are just plain nuts (Isla Yura). However, the manga overall makes the point that people cannot be colored black and white. However, just because characters are misunderstood doesn't mean they're not messed up in the head and they'll probably kill many innocents before they're stopped.
Number One Dime: Gilbert treasures his hat. When it gets lost in an early chapter, Gilbert forces Oz and Alice to help him and is desperate to find it. In Retrace 24, it's revealed Ada gave it to him.
Break and Sharon don't age during the ten year timeskip.
Rufus Barma is a man in his seventies, but you wouldn't know by looking at him.
Lottie and the rest of the Baskervilles seemed to apply, but Chapter LXI clarified that the Baskervilles fell into the Abyss 100 years ago and popped out in the present time - making them a normal age after all... unless they have been affected by the age-stopping effect of their Contracts long enough.
Something like this also happened to Vincent and Gil, who were around eight and nine years old at the time of the Tragedy of Sablier.
This seems to apply to Zwei/Echo as well. She also didn't age at all in the ten year Time Skip before Oz escaped the Abyss.
Alice was alive and visually the same age a hundred years ago, too.
Oz can technically be considered twenty-five years old. Except that he was originally a pair of stuffed rabbits owned by Lacie. If you count his age from the time he was given sentience by the Abyss, he's over a hundred years old.
If you consider this by year of birth, the only major characters who aren't in some way Older Than They Look are Oscar, Zai, Ada, and Lady Rainsworth.
Given several decades, Lady Rainsworth could potentially also fall into this trope. Sharon revealed in a chapter that contractors stop aging. Thus, most of the main cast will eventually become this.
Rotting alive aside, Levi looked pretty much the same as he raised Lacie and Oswald grew to adulthood.
Once More With Clarity: Quite a lot, but most notorious is the end of Retrace LXV. See that person huddling in a blanket having a hand held out to him by a girl called Lacie? That's not Glen. It's Jack.
Overprotective Dad: Oscar, who may not be Ada's real father but treats Ada like his own daughter. In Retrace 24, he is outraged that Ada is "in love with someone," and drags Oz, Gilbert, and Alice to help look for Ada in her school in Lutwidge and find out just who she has a crush on. Though hints point to either Gil (treasuring the hat that Ada gave him) or Elliot (as she was disappointed that she couldn't return his school bag to him), it later turns out to be Vincent.
Overdrawn at the Blood Bank: The astounding amount of blood lost throughout the duration of the manga and anime.
Sharon, her mother and her grandmother. Don't even think about messing with the Rainsworth women. Hell, Sharon has dozens of them hidden in her dress all the time! In two colors, white and yellow!
Duke Barma as well. He can parry swords with it!
Parasol of Pain: The umbrella Oz uses in the anime to fend off the Creepy Doll that attacks him in the Abyss.
Sheryl is this to Break and Sharon, although biologically she's the latter's grandmother.
Peek-A-Bangs: Break's bangs cover the left side of his face because his left eye socket is empty. Cheshire's bangs cover the right side of his face. This is not a coincidence. He has Break's left eye.
People Puppets: It would seem that Glen is able to verbally control Gil's body - or at least his left hand.
Perpetual Molt: Glen's Five Black-Feathered Chains do this.
Poisonous Friend: Gil isn't a very efficient one (yet), but he's terrified that he seems about to become one for Oz. What with those overprotective murderous urges, attempt to kill Alice and all... Oz had a moment when he wanted to be this for Alice and stop her suffering by killing her. Vince, though, is a very effective one for Gilbert, very much against Gil's will. Vince caused the Tragedy of Sablier in order to protect his brother.
The Power of Friendship: Alice, Gilbert and Oz convince Break that they are his comrades. A heart-warming moment ensues.
Power Trio: Oz, Alice, and Gilbert. Jack, Alice (or Lacie), and Glen/Oswald. Glen/Levi, Lacie, and Oswald. Break, Sharon and Reim seem to be this in their off-screen escapades. Oz, Elliot and Leo also counts as one.
Jack/Oz gets this too, having been alive for a hundred years, if only because of de-aging until he's an infant, by which point he starts aging again until he reaches the time his soul was distorted, and the cycle went on and on for a hundred years.
Vincent, Break, and Cheshire all have... well, one red eye each. Vincent was discriminated one hundred years ago because of it. Break was known as "The Red-Eyed Ghost" during his time as an illegal contractor. Cheshire is a villain, and his eye was originally Break's.
Oz gets these in Retrace LVI when he used B-Rabbit's power.
Lacie, according to Retrace LXVI.
It turns out that being born with red eyes is an indication of being a Child of Ill-Omen.
Relax-o-Vision: In the sixth DVD special, the intro to the Omake does this.
Rip Van Winkle: The Abyss tends to do this to whoever is able to escape it.
Room Full of Crazy: Alice is in one when she first appears. The Will of the Abyss' room was also this when Kevin was dragged down.
Jack pretty much randomly decides to adopt Vincent and Gilbert, making them his "servants" and just being incredibly kind and awesome and takes care of them until something goes horribly, horribly wrong: The Tragedy of Sablier.
And then in Retrace LXV Gil is revealed to be Glen's servant.
Oz and his attraction to younger girls, Gil and his hat, Alice and her meat, Break and his cake/lollipop/Emily/entering the room through anything but a door, Sharon and her tea/harisen/shipping.
Leo is this in spades to Elliot, though his position as the latter's servant is mostly just a title, as the two are closer to Vitriolic Best Buds than master and servant.
Gil is this to Oz, occasionally.
Turns out that Echo has quite a lot to say about her master Vincent when given the occasion to vent.
The revelation that Lacie and Glen (the black-haired one we know whose name is Oswald, that is) are actually brother and sister has debunked quite a lot of fics that pair the two as lovers.
Ada/Gilbert was sunk when it was revealed that the person the former was dating was Vincent, of all people.
Jun Mochizuki desperately attempted to do this with the Break/Sharon pairing, having Sharon refer to him as her older brother several times. It got to the point where she had Break describe his relationship with Sharon to Sheryl.
Sheryl: (to Break) You treat her like a child, Xer-kun.
Break: Not true! I'd prefer to say that I take care of her as if she were my daughter.
Sheryl: Daughter? I think you look more like an older brother who can't bear to be separated from his little sister.
Oz/Alice are the prominent example. They are also the closest to an Official Couple. And there's Oz/Sharon which is more of a fleeting crush and Oz/Echo. Worth noting that most if not all Oz ships aside from Oz/Alice constitutes of Oz putting on his flirty disposition.
Also Elliot/Leo, Ada/Vincent although that treads into Official Couple, Gilbert/Oz, Jack/Alice, Break/Gilbert, Break/Alice, Gilbert/Alice, and Reim/Lily with a side of Squick.
Jack/Lacie has been teased since Retrace LXV. It is one-sided on the former's part and ambiguous on whether the latter reciprocates or not. Retrace LXXI implies and Retrace LXXII confirms that Lacie reciprocated Jack's feelings.
Even Gil/Sharon got some with their tea party.
Shotacon: Break constantly teases Sharon about how she likes "younger boys," much to her protest.
Shoot the Dog: In Retrace LXIX, it is revealed that Oswald, upon becoming the next Glen Baskerville, was forced to do this to his younger sister Lacie by tossing her into the abyss. It was mentioned that all the other Glens with Children of Misfortune as siblings were forced to do this as well.
This is taken even further in Retrace LXXVIII: Oswald intends to travel back in time in order to kill Lacie before she can give birth to the Alice twins and incite the creation of Oz the B-rabbit, all so that he can prevent the Tragedy of Sablier from coming to pass.
Show Within a Show: Well, Book Within A Book, but there are a few mentioned, most notably Holy Knight.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: In Retrace LXXXI, Jack, while controlling Oz's body, tries to turn Oscar against Oz by reminding him that he's the reason his wife and child are dead. Fortunately, Gil (who isn't aware of this) has had it up to here with Jack's Break Them By Talking tactics and interrupts him with one of these. This serves to solidify Oscar's resolve, which he thanks Gil for after.
Rearrange the name "Alice" and you'd get the name "Lacie", the one who drove Jack out of his Despair Event Horizon and the dead little sister of Glen/Oswald Baskerville. It's also worth noting that the name Lacie was used by Lewis Carrol to refer to the original Alice in his books, it can't be a coincidence. It turns out that Lacie is Alice's mother.
Single-Target Sexuality: Jack is Lacie-sexual, Gilbert is Oz-sexual, Alice is Oz-sexual as well. Vincent is Gilbert-sexual.
Mainly, a majority of the characters in Pandora Hearts is obsessively fixated with one or two characters.
Sinister Scythe: B-Rabbit uses a scythe. Later on, so does Oz himself, who offhandedly lampshades how, strangely, his body knows exactly how to use it.
Slasher Smile: Lotta people. Especially the Baskervilles and Will of the Abyss. Break sometimes pulls these, too.
And is it Reo or Leo? Sharon or Shalon? Elliot with one "l" or two?
Don't forget Sabrié, actually Sablier (meaning "hourglass" in French)
Or Liam vs Reim...
The official guidebook confirms each these as "Vessalius," "Leo," "Sharon," "Elliot," and "Reim," though subs and scanlations still do whatever suits the weather that day.
A humorous example of this trope appears in-universe, where Alice names her rabbit doll "Oz" after Oswald but spells it as "Os". Levi notices and corrects her spelling for her.
Spot of Tea: Break and Sharon are almost always drinking tea.
Supernatural Gold Eyes: Gilbert has these. He is also a Baskerville, and was also chosen to be Glen's vessel, though the ceremony that would ensure that was foiled.
Sweet Tooth: Break and Sharon, but especially Break.
Switched at Birth: Zai Vessalius's real son was stillborn (implied to have been poisoned by Jack) and switched with Oz, who was at that point inhabiting Jack's cursed body.
Take a Third Option: Chapter 82 has the main Power Trio of Oz, Alice, and Gil essentially represent the third option to Jack's insane desire to unite the real world and the abyss, and his horrible crimes to the Baskervilles and Pandora, who at this point are working together to stop Jack by going back in time and trying to Retcon away the Tragedy of Sablier, along with the events of the series.
The Glasses Come Off: Leo's. Probably for the rest of eternity, considering he never actually needed them.
Tears of Remorse: In Retrace LXXVIII, Jack, of all people, gets these when he finds Oswald's decapitated body and realizes that he did this to him.
Jack: "Glen... What happened to you? Did I... do this? That's right. It was me. Because you... You were trying to kill Alice! I used... Oz's power... and killed my own friend."
Thicker Than Water: The reason Gil never abandoned Vincent when they were children, even though he received a lot of abuse because of Vincent's red eye.
Those Two Guys: Elliot and Leo start out as this, with their usually being in the same place at the same time justified by Leo being Elliot's servant. In later chapters, they completely break out of it by 1) gaining large scenaristic importance, and 2) one of them getting Killed Off for Real and the other pulling a sort-ofFace Heel Turn as a result.
Thwarted Coup de Grâce: In Retrace LXXVIII, Oz's execution is thwarted by Gilbert shooting Glen!Leo in the hand.
Time Abyss: The Abyss (of course), which has been stated to be a god-like entity that is both the end and the beginning of the world. Glen Baskerville (his soul and legacy, at least) and Jury are also implied to be this as well.
Gilbert, it seems, after Oz has been gone for 10 years. But we quickly find out that he's not so much a badass as he is incredibly good at putting up a tough front. But still miles more badass than the timid little kid we start out with.
Oz as of Retrace XXXVII.
And Leo, now a Baskerville as of Retrace LXII.
Trauma Conga Line: Most of the characters in the series are well acquainted with trauma, but the most significant on-screen example we get is with Oz himself, who ends up being hated by nearly everybody around him for something that isn't even his fault and then having to pay the price for it.
The Abyss' power can turn even humans into chains. Results include the aforementioned example on Body Horror.
There's also Alice, who fused her soul with B-Rabbit!Oz's to take his powers and and use them to destroy the Will of the Abyss' memories in his place.
Humpty Dumpty, who used to be Levi until he fully transferred Glen's soul to Oswald's body and rotted away shortly after. It has been implied that this happens every time said soul transfer ceremony succeeds.
Oswald becomes this when he deliberately mass murders a city full of innocents in order to keep them from becoming chains, which would exclude them from the hundred-year cycle of rebirth. He becomes even more the extremist in Retrace LXXVIII when he attempts to execute Oz and then travel back in time in order to kill Lacie before she can give birth to the two Alices and before B-rabbit Oz can conceive a soul, all to the end of preventing the Tragedy of Sablier from ever happening.
Leo also seems willing to become this in order to fulfill his role as Glen Baskerville by destroying the Will of the Abyss, but when push comes to shove and Oswald reawakens within him and prepares to execute Oz, he appears to be too shell-shocked to actually go through with killing his former friend.
We Would Have Told You, But...: Retrace VI and Episode 8. Break and the rest of Pandora use Oz, Gil, and Alice as bait to see what the Baskervilles would/could/are capable of doing.
So much of these that it needs its own page to list all of them, but most notable is Retrace LXV: Collapse. Or, more appropriately, seventy pages of the status quo getting ground to itsy bitsy pieces. It's the sort of WHAM that literally invalidates everything we thought we knew.
Then we have Retrace LXX: Oz. Poor Oz faces the Tomato in the Mirror problem. Or, more specifically, the Rabbit In The Mirror...
Retrace LXXVI: Alice&Oz. The memories Alice has found throughout the series? They're actually the shattered memories of Alyss's.
Retrace LXXVIII: Decision. Explains why Oz was able to take over Jack's body, why pieces of Jack's soul are scattered among Alyss's memories and how Oz replaced Zai's child, who is stillborn. Also includes Glen fully taking over Leo, executing Oz to keep him and Jack out of the way of his plans, in which said plans involve going back in time to kill Lacie in order to prevent the whole tragedy from happening, before being stopped by Gilbert, who burnt his left arm off.
Despite the heavy Victorian Era themes and the fact that a Big Ben replica appeared in the manga and the fact that "Sablier" means "hourglass" and "Reveille" could mean "clock" or "to wake" (depending on the spelling/accent) in French, it is never explicitly stated where the hell all these characters are from.
It has been confirmed in some guidebooks that the manga takes place in a fantasy world separate from ours, though the architecture does draw some inspiration from the Victorian Era and German architecture. They even use a different calendar from the one we use.
Whole Episode Flashback: More like a Whole Arc Flashback, starting from Retrace 66 to Retrace 74, though Retraces 70 and 72 do take some time to look at the present for some moments.
With Friends Like These: Applies to a lot of cast in different ways, but the most for Reim, who is stuck with dubious pleasure of being Break's closest friend (or, at least, they seem to know the most about each other, what with Reim working out Break had gone blind pretty quickly.) Apparently that means he gets to do Break's paperwork, chase him around to attempt to make him DO said paperwork in the first place, be the butt of a number of Break's schemes and jokes, and, on a more sombre note, gets to watch him waste away and die.Lucky him.
And Leo looks pretty damn determined to follow in his footsteps.
All of "Glen's" actions, and his obsession with Lacie, turn out to be Jack's instead, as of Retrace LVXI.
Oz, especially back when he was B-Rabbit, being forced to kill and destroy when all he wanted to do was to protect Alice.
Some Illegal Contractors are this, as Chains are drawn to the most desperate of people willing to do anything to change the past. Oz invokes this trope after encountering the Flower Girl, wondering what could have made such a young girl so desperate. Likewise, Grimm, Break and Miss Sinclair were also this.
Lottie, Will of the Abyss definitely. Probably Oz as well. And Vincent.
Gil's devotion has a pretty dark edge. Hinted early in; outright shown in chapter 33, where Vincent goads him into saying/resolving to kill anyone who hurts or snatches his master away from him - no matter who it is.
As of Retrace L, Leo is also one. Stating that "If Elliot has an enemy, no matter who he may be, I'll kill him! Even, for example, if it is you [Oz] or even myself."
"Alice, don't cry. Whoever makes you sad, whoever hurts you, I will destroy them. All of them...With my own hands!" Said with an unsettling smile meant to reassure little Alice.
He was already Yandere for her from back when he almost tore apart the Abyss in order to get rid of everything that hurts Alice and causes fear within her, including Alice herself. He even calls Alice his sun. sort of justified as of Retrace LXVIII
Jack to Lacie: "Lacie, whoever you are, I don't care... Because your presence here right now... is the only thing that ties me, Jack Vessalius, to the world." As of Retrace LXXII, he plans to bring the world to Lacie because she loves the world so much.
You Have 48 Hours: After escaping from Pandora, Oz is given until the sunrise of the next morning to turn himself in or else Glen is going to start killing Break, Sharon, and Duchess Rainsworth one by one.
Your Days Are Numbered: Break. Although he still looks young, he's essentially rotting on the inside and his two chains put an extremely heavy strain on him.
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