Kagerou - Television Tropes & Idioms

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 vengeful ghost. And it's entirely plausible that the entire thing might just be a head-trauma induced hallucination...

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 did wonders for 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.
Art Evolution: And how!
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.
Back from the Dead: Part of Mindi's magic is that she can do this to others.
Badass: Quite a few. Perhaps Starless has the attitude down best.
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.
Badass Princess: Fuuka's time in the Zones has resulted in her evolving into this, most notably through fighting off the Karen Tentacle Monster with the Champion's Sword.
Beware the Nice Ones: Kano, if you're unlucky enough to get him angry.
Big Bad: Kuroyama, Tcaolin, and Red are all vying for this position.
Big Beautiful Woman: Though not as extreme as some examples, Cho is intentionally drawn with a few extra pounds, and it doesn't diminish her hotness at all.
Big Damn Heroes: Cho had one of these recently when saving the team from the zombies.
Bi the Way: Word Of God is that sexuality is "no big deal" in Grey World, and Cho is confirmed to have had her first time with Mindi, and their relationship is "semi-ongoing." Dark is also confirmed to be bisexual, though it hasn't come up in story yet, and Heyoka is "mostly into guys" but evidently has some interest in girls. As for Kano himself, he's just "Completely Fucking Confused".
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.
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.
Common Eye Colors: Kano's eyes are green, Kid's are blue and Red's are.... red. Both Kano's and Kid's eyes eventually change to orange, though, after beating the tar out of Red and Word Of God is this is to signify that both Kano and Kid have "taken on a bit of Red".
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 quetzacoatlic 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 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.
Cute Shotaro Boy: Kid.
Dark-Skinned Blond: Cho, and Heyoka. Word Of God is that Heyoka bleaches or uses wigs.
Dead Little Sister: Nadia, who was actually about a year younger than Kano.
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 being 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.
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 Princesses: Princess Tonbo, who looks a lot like someone Kano used to know... from a mental hospital. The "everything's better" part is also subverted in that Tonbo was raised to be Tcaolin's Soul Jar and wasn't even allowed to use her hands, and if she does merge with Tcaolin she essentially dies. Word Of God is that Tonbo is, in part, based on Anthy from Revolutionary Girl Utena, which similarly deconstructs princess tropes.
Everything's Better with Rainbows: Wow.
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 [1], 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.
Five-Man Band: Could be configured various ways. Kano as the Hero, the nick as the Lancer, Cho as the Big Guy, Starless as the Smart One, and Tonbo as the Chick tends to work out pretty nicely, though Kano's not a very effective Hero.
Foreshadowing: Quite frequently.
The Fool: Kano fits a few aspects of this trope, especially in his initial bumble through Gray World. Averts others pain fully.
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?
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".
Good Bad Girl: Cho is "kind of a player" when not on the job.
Good People Have Good Sex: The nick and the Princess. Whenever they can.
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.
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.
Hair of Gold: Kid has the blondest hair out of all Kano's alternate personalities.
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.
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 Got Better: 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."
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 Got Better.
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.
Jerkass God: 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.
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.
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.*
^{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.
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, as well as Heyoka.
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 women 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.
Mind Hive: Kano, in addition to having a Split Personality.
The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Averted. 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*
^{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 Rape: Poor, poor Kano...
Mind Screw: And how.
- Also, True Art Is Incomprehensible. What the fuck is going on here?
Mismatched Eyes: Moko.
- Kano and Kid's unevenly-dilated-pupil-thing isn't a true example, but resembles it.
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 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.
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.*
^{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.
Oh Crap: Yeah. Kano does this supremely well.
One-Scene Wonder: Father Kwellar.
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 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!"
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.
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).
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.
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 any thing.
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.
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 have his own set of powers and Dark appears similar if far more violence-oriented as befits his role - though he'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.
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.
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.
Transsexual: Heyoka is genderqueer. Again, played very realistically, as 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...)
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 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 zombies 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.
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.
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.
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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