Webcomic / Kagerou

Kagerou is an ongoing Webcomic about an androgynous young man who is transported to a fantastical Alternate Universe, where he, as the Chosen One, teams up with the rest of the Five-Man Band to save the princess and vanquish the Big Bad in the process. What? You've heard this one before? Oh, we forgot: the hero is a mentally unsound hippie-nerd with several alternate personalities, one of which is his neurotic 8-year-old self (maybe), another of which is actually a psychopathic, serial murder-rapist's vengeful ghost. And it's entirely plausible that the entire thing might just be a head-trauma induced hallucination...

Not to be confused with Kagerou Project.

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This comic provides examples of:

• Abusive Parents: Kano's father, if this is any indication. And apparently his mother, too, given that Kid says that she went crazy and killed his and Dark's sister Nadia in a murder-suicide. Word of God is that both of his parents were Scientologists (freezoners, to be exact), which probably affected Kano's mental state, but it's also said specifically that Nadia's death was not because of their religion.
• Action Girl: Cho is a far more competent fighter than Kano. And now that she's got the magic weapon of one of the gods too...
• After the End: The world already ended once, thanks to Wilsh Tree, to cure the plague.
• Ambiguously Brown: Heyoka can come off as this, but Word of God is that he/she is mixed African American and Native America, Lakota to be exact. His/Her name is also a clue about the latter, since it's a Lakota word for a trickster figure who embodies opposites, in this case gender, and it's implied this isn't in fact Heyoka's legal name and that he/she may have changed it.

• Art Shift: In the flashback sections in chapters 45 and 49.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: The way all the Gods came to be, but the major one in the backstory was Tcaolin's, which forced the above After the End. Big Bad Kuroyama is attempting the same thing.
• Attempted Rape: Red usually gets away with it, but Kano distracted him just once... long enough for his victim to steal his gun.
  • He attempts it again on Fuuka. He's foiled again by Kano. Violently.
• Author Appeal: Heyoka is genderqueer. The author is genderqueer as well. In Heyoka's case, she got put in a mental hospital by her parents for it. Fortunately, the staff at the hospital seem very friendly and are fine with letting her right back out. (Though she does dress considerably more masculine for her release hearing...)
• Back from the Dead: Part of Mindi's magic is that she can do this to others.
• Badass Long Coat: Red is quite pleased when he finds one stashed in Cho's closet. Despite expressing disdain for said coat, Kano has yet to get rid of it.
• Badass Normal: Originally Cho, whose Imma punch you to death methods made her an equal fighter with all her comrades with God-given weapons. Now she can punch even harder and just fits the Super Trope.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Kano, if you're unlucky enough to get him angry.

• Big Damn Heroes: Cho had one of these recently when saving the team from the zombies.
• Black Bug Room: Kano's mind seems to be composed primarily of them. The only section we've seen that isn't completely horrible (so far) is the warehouse room where Kid resides. And even that place has its problems.
• Blessed with Suck: Kano has awesome psychic powers! Only he can't use them (voluntarily) and they drove him batshit crazy. He could probably rule the world if he got around to it, but he's too busy ignoring the voices in his head (some of which are really there) and blacking out so his alternate personalities (all of whom, even the eight-year-old, can use his tele-whatever better than he can), can save his life(/sanity)...and ruin it(/them) a little bit. Or a lot.
• Blind Seer: Dee, spidery goddess of dreams and recurring character. She seems to have...misplaced her eyes. She's sure she'll find them eventually!
• Body Horror: Karen's bizarre tentacle monster form.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Courtesy of Kano's Deadpan Snarker tendencies.

  Kano: Oh man. That really happened. I feel like I'm losing my mind.
  [Beat]
  Kano: Must be Saturday.

• Calling Your Attacks: Dee. Perhaps it adds whimsy to her life.
• The Captain: Moko holds the rank and commands the role.
• Cheerful Child: Kid.
• The Chosen One: The Champion is an integral part of the Triad Bond. Unfortunately, Tcaolin and Tonbo each choose a separate Champion, resulting in... some confusion. Neither of them seems terribly intent on being a very useful Champion, besides.
  • The Chosen Zero: A common reaction towards Kano.
• Cloudcuckoo Lander: Dee, who in the author's own words is "a little bit crazy" but in a nice way.
• Cool Sword: The Blade of Sigmr Ch'k, no question. It's a floating magic katana, the handle of which is covered in teeth. When Kano uses it, it hovers six inches away from his hand, connected to his arm by the quetzalcoatlic personification of the dragon-god of war. If that's not a Cool Sword, I don't know what is.
• Couldn't Find a Pen: Dark scribbles the names of Red's victims on glass using blood leaking from his empty eye sockets, which he had scratched out on the journey there.
• Covered with Scars: Dark. Kano has quite a few as well, mostly on his hands.
• Creepy Doll: Kuroyama's demons.
• Creepy Monotone: According to Word of God, Kano's regular voice is an example of this.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: When Kano gets angry, shit gets real. Of course, this happens VERY rarely, and Kano tends to get interrupted (read: stabbed) before he can do any real damage.
• Crowbar Combatant: Kano, when he's beating Red.
• Cute Bruiser: Cho may barely hit 5 feet, but she will happily kick your ass from here to Sunday.
• Deadpan Snarker: Kano.

  Starless: Is everyone ready?

  Cho: Just about.

  Kano: Speak for yourself. I need at least another month.

  Cho: Oh, hush. You'll do fine.

  Kano: Sure, so long as Big Bad agrees not to use any advanced fighting techniques. I hope I don't cry. I look all blotchy when I cry.

• Death Is Cheap: Several characters, including Kano himself, have technically "died" at least once, but thanks to walk-ins and Mindi's powers, which can bring someone Back from the Dead, it doesn't mean much.
• Deity of Human Origin: Tcaolin.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Gray World is, um, gray. Utilizes Splash of Color, see below.
  • Separately, when visiting a god on a spiritual plane everything is vibrantly colored but for our black-and-white protagonist, in a sort of reverse of Splash of Color.
• Depopulation Bomb: Wilsh Tree resorted to this to stop the plague caused by Tcaolin's rise to godhood, but she spared one place, Ir City.
• Discussed Trope: Kano is a big offender, constantly calling the Big Bad "Big Bad" (with caps) and lampshading hallmarks of the adventure-fantasy genre he runs into, often with references.
• The Dragon: Tcaolin to Kuroyama, Red to Tcaolin. Each is a...
• Dragon with an Agenda.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Kano.
• Embarrassing Middle Name: Red's whole name, in fact: James Valentine Beethoven. Yes, you may laugh at him.
• Empathy Doll Shot: A noteworthy feature of a house Cho and Kano visit in Grey World, a place that was ravaged by the devastating cure for a plague before the illness itself could hit, is a mangled red wagon caught up in a tree. We even get a glimpse of its owner!
• Enemy Within: Red fits this trope pretty much to a T.
• Enemy Without: Red/James also manifests this trope elegantly when he is able to manifest a more or less physical form after Tcaolin "fed him some souls".
• Everything's Better with Rainbows: Wow.
• The Exile: Formerly Cho, who caused too much trouble among the Old Ones and was kicked out, residing in the slums of Ir. Currently the nick, more or less self-inflicted, and also resulting in a new residence in the gutter.
• Eyeless Face: Dee. She used to have eyes, but apparently misplaced them somewhere.
• Eye Scream: Oh dear God. (Spoilers, NSFW.)
• Faceless Goons: Used to somewhat disturbing effect, close to that of Gas Mask Mooks, with the guards, formerly real people, corrupted by the Mask King.
• The Fair Folk: Fae in Gray World are severely persecuted by humans, and treated as third-class citizens. Everyone thinks of them as thieves and tricksters, a stereotype the nick... plays into perfectly happily. Whoops.
• Fantastic Romance: We seem to be heading towards Kano and Cho having one.
• Femme Fatalons: Dee's fingernails, which she also paints with poisoned polish. Unfortunately for Kano she forgot the second part and wound up poisoning him by accident (she meant to hit him, but not kill him) but luckily she keeps an antidote on her.
• Fingore: When Kano isn't busy hallucinating that there are maggots in his veins or the like, he often feels his fingers burning, sometimes indicating unrest in the Zones. May or may not be related to why he tried to chop his left hand off, but hey, at least he missed and only got two fingers! His ring and pinkie finger don't work too well, incidentally.
• Floating Continent: The fae's continent.
• Foreshadowing: Quite frequently.
• The Fool: Kano fits a few aspects of this trope, especially in his initial bumble through Gray World. Averts others painfully.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Kano's father by a long shot. For the zero soul part, just watch.
• Freudian Excuse: Discussed by Red when Dark writes the names of all his victims on his prison walls.

  Red:You want a movie of the week sob story about why I turned out the way I did, or should I just say I was born like this and can't help it?

• Freudian Trio: All accounted for in the personalities of our hero, simultaneously adhering to and deviating from the original model more than ever.
  • Kano is the ego and also The Face personality, the closest thing to a balance between the extremes of the others.
  • The superego is Kid, The Empath who insists on kindness and moderation in a way which would be so very annoying if it weren't adorable.
  • Dark begins as the id, before being usurped by Red. Dark was formed as a personality to defend the system from the outside world, but by the time we see him he functions with a deceiving pragmatism and capricious brutality, eventually becoming The Atoner. Now Red, role-accroaching ghost of a Serial Killer, is left to represent all the worst of a humanity's basic instincts plus a cunning, malicious deviousness, and without him actions such as violence cannot be expressed.
    Notable interactions here are Red's attempts to provoke Kano, Kid's dynamic with Dark (which was originally one of symbiosis and is now...not), and Kid's utter inability or unwillingness to stand up to Red, while he still reasons with his big brother (to decreasing effect).
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Red/James was unremarkable when younger but grew up into a serial killer and rapist. Likewise Big Bad Kuroyama was originally a humble doll maker.
  • Tcaolin. She went from a normal human to a nightmare goddess.
• Genre Blindness: You've just fallen Down the Rabbit Hole, Kano! Now that you're in a mysterious magical universe, why don't you tell your real name to the first creepy nonhuman you meet, who seems strangely interested in it? It certainty couldn't cause any problems.
• Genre Savvy: Red has made several jabs at the plot, mentioning once that it sounds like a "really bad anime."
• Ghost in the Machine: Kano's personalities all exist with semblances of physical forms in his Mental World, disappearing from it and taking over in the real world when they're "driving".
• Gone Horribly Wrong: According to Word of God, the gods helped Tcaolin become a goddess because they all (except Fox) loved her and didn't want her to die. Thing is, in the process, they were infusing her with a power that humans were incapable of and never meant to contain, and so everything went horrifically wrong, culminating in Tcaolin rising as a very pissed off goddess who'd been through the worst kind of agony imaginable.
• Good Bad Girl: Cho is "kind of a player" when not on the job.
• Good Wings, Evil Wings: Dark was meant to be a sort of guardian angel/older brother to Kid, and had fluffy red wings. When the functioning disorder of Kano's Mental World was disrupted, they rotted off and were replaced by wings basically made of darkness, or as the author says "pure oh shit run away." When they show up, you're in trouble.
• Gorn: The author actually apologizes when things get especially bloody, claiming to dislike all the blood. Given how often and how copious the bleeding is, however, this is most likely bullshit.
• Green Around the Gills: Kano turns a pretty sickly shade after being stabbed in the stomach by Dee's poisoned Femme Fatalons.
• Hair Color Dissonance: Word of God is that Tonbo's hair is actually black, but it's portrayed as purple for Tonbo and green for Fuuka for the comic, and it has to do with how Tonbo sees herself.
• Hammerspace: Justified in-world by the presence of Grims, a floating talking cloud, who seems to serve no purpose in the story other than to carry around the characters' changes of clothes and Kano's sword.
• Happily Married: Moko and Kail.
• Hates Being Touched: Kano, oh so very much.
• Head Pet: Djinko and Djanko tend to ride in Kano's hair.
• Hearing Voices: Kano does regularly, though we're not shown this until quite a few chapters in.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Fuuka's reason for stopping Kano's No-Holds-Barred Beatdown of Red.
• I Know Your True Name: Nearly gets Kano killed at the beginning of the story when he gives it away. Does get him killed at one point, but he comes back.
• Immortality: All over the place. The Old Ones can heal their wounds by briefly becoming trees, and it is the norm for them to eventually forsake their bipedal bodies to live forever as trees, their consciousness part of a greater root system. It is pretty much unheard of for Old Ones to die, and they are descended from a god. There are plague victims running around who can only be neutralized by growing sacred trees through them with god-related magic. Ghosts of the dead rattle around Kano's mind like candy in a gumball machine. Red/James is still wreaking havoc there long after his brain was blown out by one of his would-be victims.
• Immortality Seeker: Kuroyama is clawing his way there.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Kid is the poster child for this trope.
• Jerkass Gods: Tcaolin.
• Journey to the Center of the Mind: Fuuka's entire story arc to date has been one long journey through Kano's mind, meeting and dealing with the various denizens therein, while looking for a way out.
• Keet: Kid.
• Kick the Dog: Red does this frequently.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Dee resides in a self-described but otherwise unelaborated "safe home with cats"^note which likely doesn't make her a Crazy Cat Lady.
• Kiss of Death: Tcaolin attempts this on Kano. Doesn't work out so well for her.
• Kiss of Life: Subverted. Poor Cho...
• The Lancer: The nick fits this rather well.
• Lady of War: Starless. Graceful, poised, dignified, scholarly, crushed a guy's head into gooey bone chips with her staff in one blow. Didn't ruffle her clothes doing so. On Gray World, the clergy doesn't fuck around.
• Living Memory: Karen, like many of Red's victims, exists as a ghost within Kano's mind. Unlike the others, she made it away alive. Real life Karen is doing normal people things.^note Luka's exact quote Her ghost is in Kano's mind with the very deceased victims. She turns into a very nasty monstrosity and attacks Kano('s mind self) because he won't let her out. Not that he can.
  • Fuuka exists similarly, being part of a soul which fled from her body and somehow ended up in the Zones.
• Living Toys: If title villain Kagerou hadn't been an evil aspiring god, he would have been a toymaker. Most of his henchmen are creepy, deformed living dolls.
• Locked Out of the Loop: For most of the comic, Kano is unaware of his other personalities, though he's slowly figuring it out. Dark's entire purpose is to keep Kano from remembering a bunch of things about his past.
• The Loins Sleep Tonight: Red in life had this problem.
• Magical Land: Grey World.
• Mad Eye: Kano's pupils are often drastically different sizes. Kid has it too, inside Kano's head.
• The Maze: The slums of the city of Ir are the outskirts of a labyrinth imposing enough that not even the children of the slums go in too deep, at the center of which lie some ruins which the purpose of the labyrinth is to protect people from.
  Starless: No one can withstand the Labyrinth.
  • All to keep people safe from a monument called The Eye...which Kano has a somewhat unpleasant encounter with.
• Meaningful Name: The villain, Kuroyama (which means "mirage"), as well as Heyoka, which is the name of a trickster in Lakota mythology who was known for being contrary in nature, fitting in with the fact that Heyoka identifies as genderqueer (and according to Word of God had a Native American grandfather who taught him/her all about the myths and let him/her experiment with his/her gender representation) and is apparently an invoked thing since Heyoka is not his/her birth name.
  • "Kagerou" means 'dragonfly', but another word that means the same thing is 'tonbo'.
• Meaningful Rename: He goes by Red.
  • Also probably the titular villain Kuroyama. It roughly means "mirage," and at the very least references the story's nature.
  • Kid named his older brother/guardian angel Dark because he wasn't afraid of the dark, and Kid himself is known by this nickname because he doesn't seem to have a real one and will introduce himself by a new ridiculous title every time you ask him.
    Kid: I am J. R. "Bob" Dobbs.
    Cho: No, he's not.
    Mindi: ...
    Kid: Then can I be Harry Potter?
• Mental World: A good chunk of the story is Fuuka's journey through Kano's chaotic, nightmarish mind, and the horrible things that happen while she is there.
• Mercy Kill: Moko does this to an injured woman during the attack on Nishi Village. Mindi also does it to a woman who was crushed (see Contest Winner Cameo) though due to the nature of her powers Mindi can always bring her back later.
• Meta Guy: Kano, combining Discussed Trope, Deadpan Snarker and Ascended Fanboy.
• Mind Hive: Kano, in addition to having a Split Personality.
• The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Inverted. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Not only do Kano's perceptions of his alters affect the way they appear in his mind-Zones-things^note Word of God states that Red, for example, has been getting taller and less spindly than Kano despite sharing an appearance, altogether more imposing., Kano will gain or lose scars as different personalities take charge, depending on who they "belong" to. It's all ruled by his perceptions. And he can't control it at all.
• Mind over Matter: How Kano wields his sword.
• Mind Rape: Poor, poor Kano...
• Monochromatic Eyes: Utilized for artistic effect, amping up the creepy of Dark's appearance. An example of Prophet Eyes, below.
• Mood Dissonance: Look at all the pretty colors! Even the blood... and gore... is... nice and vivid... dear god.
• Mood Whiplash: During the middle of an intense fight between Monster and Kano... we cut to a chibi Monty Python reference and an apologetic note from the author. At the time it was a semi-joke page to cover for an extended hiatus, but in an archive read it... feels very out of place.
• Mysterious Employer: At first Tcaolin, still Kuroyama.
• Mysterious Parent: It's been implied that Kano's father (known so far only as The Doctor) is very important somehow.
  • Cho's mother is said to have died "of the age," when it is unheard of for an Old One to die.
• Mysterious Pursuer: Upon his introduction the nick was a shadowy, darting silhouette pursuing the heroes' pursuit, taking mysterious orders.
• Neural Implanting: Kano. Once, accidentally, to Heyoka. Later Dark, the alter who can actually control Kano's powers, grants Cho a lovely image from Kano's childhood. This is apparently how he says hi.
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Dark appears to be fond of introducing himself by implanting traumatic memories in people's minds. When they come to screaming, he will smile blankly.^note When asked to describe Dark's idea of a romantic date, the author said, "He takes you to see his morgue, then you go away. May involve exchange of traumatic flashbacks via psychic interface and/or flowers."
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Kano's Unstoppable Rage moment, which manages to instill a strange mixture of triumph and pure horror in readers.
• No Name Given: The nick, Red (at first), and a few others.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Dee's childish quirks mask the true expanse of her insight and power, which are vast.

  Tcaolin: Little Dee, playing the madwoman and laughing at everyone from behind her veil.

• Oh, Crap!: Yeah. Kano does this supremely well.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Red, Kid, and a few others.
• Only the Chosen May Wield: Kano has to go to Ir to retrieve the Blade from a statue. There is some conflict over who should've drawn it, though, as the nick shows up claiming to the title of Champion.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Quetzalcoatl-type.
• Our Gods Are Different: In Grey World, gods are are normal beings who Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence (a tree, a spider, a dragon, a fox). Others can ascend similarly through a corrupt version of this process, through collecting souls: Two have tried this so far. Every person is born affiliated with one of the gods in a life-steering capacity, and gods' existences are reflected in the stars, which mold fate a bit. Each god represents certain aspects (such as wisdom, dreams, or the destiny to change the world) which they seem to have some functional influence over and are probably tied into on a worldwide scale to some extent.
• Our Souls Are Different: Tcaolin gets power by absorbing the souls of humans; their abandoned bodies then become zombies. Kano's mind is sort of like a vacuum for any soul that isn't tied down. In Gray World, people's souls can leave their bodies at will, but if they stay away too long they become demons. Part of Tonbo's soul is currently existing independently of her otherwise functional self, and they're evolving into separate characters. Souls function in other mysterious ways as well in the Kagerou universe.
• Ow, My Body Part!: Invoked by Kid. "My spleen!"
• Pals with Jesus: Dee is positively tickled by the occasional chat and it's not unusual for the gods to stop by and chat.
• Perpetual Molt: Originally seems to be the case with Dark's wings in a flashback, but it turns out they were rotting off entirely at the time.
• Physical God: Very much so. Tcaolin loves showing up to taunt people in person, and Firefox and Dreamwalker seem to have joined the party.
• Poisoned Weapons: The enemy's weapons, sometimes. Notable is a later incident with poison darts. Oh, and Dee's nails.
• Power at a Price: Kano's Psychic Powers seem to have damaged his mind to the point of being completely unable to use them, plus other drawbacks.
  • The gods gained their status by evolving in an experience too horrible for a sentient being to handle, as observed in Tcaolin.
• Prophet Eyes: Dark's Monochromatic Eyes (above) can be considered an example, since he may be more or less omniscient.
• Punny Name: Dali-Dalai. He is most commonly referred to simply as "Dali." Don't get it? Try saying it out loud. Still don't get it? It's a homophone of "dolly."
• Rebellious Princess: As Tonbo's soul, Fuuka is very much this.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Red's eyes are, well, red. Did we mention he's a sadistic serial killer?
• Sanity Slippage
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Oh God what is happening.
• Schedule Slip: Unfortunately, our beloved author isn't very consistent with updates. This is somewhat forgivable, due to the author not exactly having the most comfortable lifestyle.
• Screw Destiny: The nick quite openly turns his back on his role as Tcaolin's Champion to save Tonbo. Red seems to have taken his place in that role, somehow.
• Serial Killer: Guess who.
• Series Hiatus: Kagerou has gone on a few of these over the years, often over the summer (aka Con Season).
• Sexy Discretion Shot: The nick and Tonbo are not always appropriate for the common viewer, but we hope you enjoy their partial silhouettes while you wait.
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Kano, normally. Whether or not that's his natural eye color is sort of muddled, but the fire imagery of the hair is definitely intentional, though Kano cannot usually be described as passionate.
• Slasher Smile: Red sports one every once in a while, but then who else were you expecting to? Dark's vacant close-lipped grin is too creepy to be this. Yeah.
• Speech Bubbles: While everyone sticks to the same font in bubbles, their font color changes. Quite a few characters who communicate without speech bubbles (Dark comes to mind) have rather creepier fonts. This is often one of the only ways you can tell who's talking, and who's in control of Kano's body.
• Spell My Name With An S: Not even the author is sure if it's spelled Gray World or Grey World.
• Spirit Advisor: In a thoroughly disturbing example, Red. Inverted in that while only Kano can perceive him, Kano can't actually perceive him.
• Splash of Color: Gray World is monochromatic save a few noteworthy features. In the first chapters, Kano takes on its palette as he walks through it, but his text is green and there are vibrant colors in other objects not from the World such as Tonbo and her spirit animal, and there are sometimes hints of green in Kano's eyes. In his second visit, people not from Gray World have color, and the landscape is largely gray with muted color throughout, especially on points of interest.
• Split Personality: The premise of the series centers around this. The main character has quite a few folk living in his head at this point. It's taken quite seriously, as the author is rather a crazy person himself, and VERY knowledgeable about DID.
• Split-Personality Takeover: Red seems quite intent on doing this to Kano.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Tonbo and the nick.
  • They don't look that star-crossed as of chapter 38.
  • And by that we mean they mate like rabbits.
• The Stoic: Starless. Cool and calm, we have yet to see her fazed. By anything.
• Stripperiffic: Cho, who usually claims skimpy clothes are better for fighting in... but does eventually admit she wears it just because she can. Her half-sister Moko also mocks her for it.
• Summon Everyman Hero: The premise is a deconstruction of this trope. Not only is Kano a breathtakingly screwed-up hero, the summoning process itself has been used for a long time to enable a deeply unpleasant sacrifice.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Red, who has an excellent grasp on the magic Kano possesses but doesn't seem to know how to use; the most Kano seems capable of is making lights flicker out. Kid seems to control a different part of Kano's powers than Red and Dark appears capable of controlling them completely but has a shaky grasp on them due to his current state - though Dark's not evil so much as...confused.
• Surreal Horror: Expect to say "What the hell is happening and why is it so creepy?" a lot. The swarms of shadowy dragonflies are particularly memorable in this regard.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Cho isn't super cagey about expressing her exasperation with the team she's been saddled with.
• Talking in Your Sleep:

  "There's monsters under my bed again. Muh. Republicans. Nooo, be careful with that. It's on fire."

• Talking to Themself: Kano's introduction to Red is when Red hangs him from the ceiling for a little chit-chat, inside the skull they both live in.
• Teach Him Anger: What Red seems to be attempting to do to Kano.
• Teasing Creator: Luka tells us lots of things, but he can't tell us everything! Also seems pretty happy to play along with fan silliness.
• Token Evil Teammate: Before becoming the Enemy Without, Red fits this trope very well, ducking in to make a snide comment (or press Kano on a harsh decision) or to get Cho and Kano out of trouble (note: snark and saving intermingle) before flitting away.
• Took a Level in Badass: ... in theory. We have yet to see Kano's sword practice be very useful. On the other hand, Cho has wasted no time putting her new god-backed fisticuffs to use.
• Trapped in Another World: Kano in the Gray World.
• Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Kano has it, though it's unclear how extensive it is. It's confirmed that he doesn't know who Nadia is, despite her being his sister.
• The Unchosen One: Tonbo, instead of sacrificing herself as the vessel for Tcaolin's immortal soul, chooses to defy her and start working against her with the rebel army.
• The Undead: Zombies attack the heroes when the Gods start to lose their grip on things. Kano is surprised that they are really there, as he frequently hallucinates that corpses are attacking him (he tries to discreetly shoo the visions away). Ghosts are some of the many residents of Kano's head, though whether they are real souls or just impressions is unclear. Either way, they're equally creepy.
• Unexplained Recovery: This trope is not a true definition of Kano's death-and-revival, but he invokes it later to explain.

  Kano: I think I died over there one time.

  Starless: Indeed.

  Kano: ...I got better.

• The Unreveal: Word of God is that we'll never clearly see what Red looked like in life because it's scarier for the audience to fill in what he looked like for themselves, and he was a relatively normal looking guy.
• Unstoppable Rage: Kano, when Red attempts to rape Fuuka.
• Verbal Tic: Kano has used "we" interchangeably with "I" most of his life, as well as other plural conventions when referring to himself. (He doesn't notice, because he's crazy.) Cho, who reacts to this with some condescension, has speech including hints of Middle English — Ye, aye, and the like.
• The Voiceless: Dark. Included in his repertoire of scars are those from when he once sewed his mouth shut. May communicate with mostly nonsensical, tortured psychic vibes.
• Waking Non Sequitur:

  ...You're not a Republican!

• Weapon-Based Characterization:
  • Kano, surprisingly, is big on blades (if you trust Red, anyway). He is very enthusiastic about his magic sword.
  • Cho is all fists, all the time. When granted a god-weapon, she insists it be related to punching things.
  • Starless trained in ancient languages and entered a priesthood to gain the know-how necessary to use her Wilsh Tree Staff, tied to the goddess herself.
  • The nick uses knives, preferably throwing knives, which he has arranged with Firefox to be able to pull pretty much inexhaustibly out of Hammerspace.
• Webcomic Time: Kagerou started in 2001. Kano has been in Gray World... a few months?
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Heyoka.
• Winged Humanoid: Cho. She can grow wings, and even change their color to match her outfit. Certain other Old Ones fit this as well, as do other residents of Gray World. The nick is a Fey, an entire species with gossamer wings (supposedly—they are very withdrawn and we have only seen the nick as he has been cast out. Of another sort is Dark, whose wings are a psychic construction and probably don't actually function for flight.
• Word of Gay: Starless is a lesbian. When she gave the name of her previous lover as "Rose" many fans (and Moko) assumed this was a man's name, but it seems it was in fact a woman.
• Word of God: The author enjoys throwing readers a bone by revealing trivial (yet entertaining) information about various characters, including their favorite foods, what their voices sound like, and what kind of underwear they prefer.

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