History Anime / Kinnikuman

-->''I won't even need the push from my farts!''
--> --'''Kinnikuman'''.

-->''I have no idea what he just said, but what confidence!''
--> -- The usual response from anyone to the quote above.
[[quoteright:230:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Kinnikuman_Jump_Comics_4862.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:230:Our [[IdiotHero hero]], with his [[HypercompetentSidekick sidekick.]]]]

A classic Shonen Jump manga, ''Kinnikuman'' began as a spoof of [[SuperHero Super Heroes]] in the vein of {{Ultraman}}, but changed gears after its initial story arc to become a semi-serious story where ProfessionalWrestling is SeriousBusiness and used to determine the fate of the world.

It begins with the title character, Kinnikuman, attempting to make a name for himself as a superhero by fighting giant monsters. Kin has the unexplained ability to grow to a giant size by eating garlic and give the monsters someone their own size to pick on... However, Kinnikuman is an idiot, a klutz, a pervert, and a total coward, causing him to do more harm than good. However, the one thing Kin has on his side is that he's a {{Determinator}} in spite of his cowardice, and he eventually comes through in order to save the day.

One day, Kin meets Alexandria Meat, TheShortGuyWithGlasses, who reveals to him that he is actually Suguru Kinniku, an alien from a PlanetOfHats where the "hat" just happens to be ProfessionalWrestling. It turns out that Kinnikuman is actually the planet's crown prince, who as a baby, was mixed up with a pig during a family vacation to Earth and left there. After reclaiming his birthright by sheer luck (Kin challenged the pig to a series of challenges and lost every single one, but the butcher who owned the pig came to claim him), Kin is sent back to Earth to become a true hero and prove himself worthy of the throne. Meat goes along with him acting as his trainer and sidekick.

Back on Earth, Kin makes friends with [[{{Eagleland}} American]] superhero Terryman, and together they enter the Choujin Olympics, a Pro-Wrestling tournament that gives the winner the title of the world's strongest hero. With this, the GenreShift is complete, and the rest of the series focuses on Kin's wrestling career, where he [[DefeatMeansFriendship befriends]] other heroes (and villains), takes down multiple [[BigBad Big Bads]], and saves the world multiple times before going on to finally ascend his planet's throne after having achieved galactic-level peace...

...Well, until ''KinnikumanNisei'' that is.
----
!!This series won't even need the push from its farts to list examples of:
* AbusiveParents - Played for laughs with Kinnikuman's dad, Mayumi. Wanting to strangle Kin's neck as a child because of his stupid mask and mistaking him for a pig and subsequently abandoning him on Earth are just a few of the examples of just how hard Mayumi fails at being a father.
** Ashuraman's parents aren't going to win any "Parent Of The Year" awards either, considering that they taught their son that things such as mercy and friendship were ''a heinous crime''.
* ActorExistenceFailure - Eiji Kanie, the voice of Ramenman, died before the series' run had completed.
* AdaptationDecay[=/=]PragmaticAdaptation - The anime somewhat cut down on CharacterDevelopment, several plots from the Monster Extermination Chapters were either dropped, or were put in a later part of the series timeline, the American Tag Team arc was dropped altogether save for Kin's match against Jesse Mavia and the episodes revolving around it and overall, some side characters' appearances in the story were either lengthened or shortened. However, the anime is still enjoyable in its own right.
* AdultChild - Kinnikuman. Poor Meat seems to be more of a babysitter rather than a sidekick to him.
** It runs in the family. His father, Mayumi is just as childish as Suguru is, much to the chagrin of his mother, Sayuri.
* AesopAmnesia - Several times, Kinnikuman would learn how to not be such a coward...only to revert back to his cowardly self whenever a new villain appeared.
* AllAmericanFace - Terryman
* AllYourPowersCombined - [[spoiler:Kinnikuman Super Phoenix uses this at the end of the series, absorbing the powers of all five Evil Choujin Gods while fighting Kinnikuman. It doesn't save him from being Muscle Sparked after Kinnikuman regains his Burning Inner Strength, though.]]
** This was the basis of Akuma Shogun's body--the power of Sunshine, the technique of The Ninja, the speed of Planetman, the cruelty of Junkman, and the unique body of Sneagator (possibly the shapeshifting properties).
** And before either of those guys, during the American Tour Arc, Kinkotsuman created the Black Shadow, an artificial Choujin with the technique of Robin Mask, the strength of Beauty Rhodes, the brutality of Ramenman- and his own brains.
--->'''Iwao''': ''(Thinking)'' ''That last part kind of worries me...''
* AmericansAreCowboys: Terryman. He even specializes in Texas-flavored moves, like the Calf Branding. Subverted with Specialman (a football player), Pentagon (an almost luchador), and Geronimo (though he ''is'' a Native American). In fact, most American characters in the series do not fit the trope--it's just that the most popular one (Terryman) ''does''.
* AnimeThemeSong - [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYpfr62ZJcg Kinnikuman Go Fight]], which was redone in 2005. It was also covered by both Masaaki Endoh and Animetal.
* AscendedExtra - Several characters in the anime, the biggest examples being the ring commentators, Kinkotsuman and Iwao.
* AscendedFanboy - Geronimo was just a regular human who badly wanted to be a Choujin(due to the fact that one saved his life) until he actually got turned into one.
* AuthorAppeal - Back in the superhero days, it was quite common to see baseball players in the manga.
* AuthorAvatar[=/=]CreatorCameo - A square headed man wearing a baseball cap, who often appeared back when the manga was strictly gags. But...
** [[AsHimself As Themselves]]- Both of them have appeared in the movies as spectators, naturally voiced by themselves.
* AvengingTheVillain - Brocken Jr's main reason for revenge against Ramenman, who killed his father Brockenman in his days as a heel. On one hand it's justified by the fact that Ramenman ''turned Brockenman in noodles and ate him'' [[hottip:*:In the manga, he tore the man ''clean in half'' with the [[FinishingMove Camel Clutch]] instead.]] after killing him for no apparent reason other than [[ForTheEvulz For The Evulz]]. On the other hand, Brockenman fought dirty and pretty much got what was coming to him (a fact which even Jr. admits).
* AwesomenessByAnalysis - Meat, using high level Chojin techniques against Mixer Tatei.
* BabyGotBack - Mari, If [[http://www.mangareader.net/361-25024-7/kinnikuman/chapter-29.html this]] is any indication.
* BackFromTheDead
* {{Badass}}- So many tropes of it:
** BackToBackBadasses - ''Every single tag team'' in the Dream Choujin Tag Arc.
** BadassAbnormal - From his introduction, Geronimo was shown to be pretty badass by saving the Seigi Choujin from having their life force drained by [[spoiler: Akuma Shogun]], going toe-to-toe with [[MightyGlacier Sunshine]] [[spoiler: and ''winning'']] and saving the Seigi Choujin ''again'' from being trapped inside of Warsman's body. And that's all ''before'' he got his superpowers.
** BadassBeard - Many characters.
** BadassBoast - Kinnikuman's catchphrase is a comedic version of this.
** BadassCrew[=/=]BadassArmy - The Seigi Choujin.
** [[DeadlyDoctor Badass Doctor]] - Doctor Bombei, Prince Kamehame's best friend.
** BadassFamily - The Kinniku Clan.
** BadassGrandpa - Prince Kamehame, kicking ass well into old age.
*** Mayumi and Harabote are no pushovers either, though they only fight each other.
** BadassLongHair - Many characters.
** BadassMustache - Also many characters.
** BadassNative - Geronimo.
** BadassNormal - Bibinba. After coming to Earth with Kinnikuman, she becomes TheAce of the Earth Defense Force, killing so many kaiju that the ''actual superheroes'' couldn't keep up with her.
** BadassSpaniard - Buffaloman.
** CulturedBadass - Robin Mask.
** HandicappedBadass: Terryman. Following the 20th Choujin Olympics, he had his leg replaced with a prosthetic after it was shot by Kinkotsuman. This would become a plot point during the American Tag Tournament, when the bad guys decide to weaken Terry by stealing it. [[IGotBetter He got better]]. Unexplained, but he does get better.
*** Despite being said to never be able to fight again, Robin Mask is still badass enough to [[spoiler: scare the crap out of ''Warsman'']]. He too, gets inexplicably better.
* BabiesEverAfter - Basically the entire premise of KinnikumanNisei.
* [[BannedInChina Banned In France]]- Not so much because the character Brocken Jr. [[PuttingOnTheReich dressed like a Nazi]], but because he was also a hero; a paradox too great to swallow.
* BecomingTheMask - Robin Mask's gentleman personality was originally all a [[IncrediblyLamePun mask]] to hide the fact that he was quite the violent person, but over time he genuinely became one.
* BerserkButton - If it's one thing that Kinnikuman will not stand for, it's harming or endangering children, even if they do make fun of him.
** Warsman was a ruthless competitor in the Choujin Olympics but he did '''NOT''' take it well whenever somebody hit Bibinba[[hottip:*: This was changed to Natsuko in the anime.]] [[spoiler: Too bad Robin Mask didn't realize that.]]
* BigBad - Robin Mask in the 20th Choujin Olympics arc, Skull Bozu and Devil Magician in the American Tour arc, Warsman and Mr Barracuda[[hottip:*: who was revealed to be Robin Mask]] in the 21st Choujin Olympics, Buffaloman in the Seven Devil Choujin Arc, Akuma Shogun in the Golden Mask Arc, Neptuneman and Big the Budo[[hottip:*: revealed to be the Neptune King]] in the Dream Choujin Tag arc and Kinnikuman Super Phoenix in the Throne arc.
* BigBadWannabe - Kinkotsuman tried very hard to be the BigBad in the Monster Extermination Chapters. Unfortunately, he was about as good at being a supervillain as Kinnikuman was at being a superhero.
** Mixer Taitei manages to be one of the only villains to ever [[spoiler: straight up defeat Kinnikuman himself]], but immediately afterward suffers the ignominy of being basically killed by Kinnikuman's milquetoast kid sidekick, Meat. To be fair, Mixer Taitei is a giant blender Choujin and his fight before literally knocked a few of his screws loose without him realizing it, making him extremely vulnerable to drops and suplexes... but the fact of the latter battle still remains. The only reason he won the battle before was because the 5 Evil Gods gave him a temporary power-up, meaning the match was 1 against 6. And ''even then'' Mr. VTR has to alter reality enough to help him win.
* BigBrotherMentor - [[spoiler:Ataru Kinniku/Kinnikuman Soldier is this, especially at the last minute before his death when he taught Suguru more about the Muscle Spark, one of the Three Sacred Moves, when he used the second half against Super Phoenix in comparison to the first half used by Suguru that defeated Zebra just so his little brother can complete the sacred move in getting the throne.]]
** After many shades of CharacterDevelopment, Robin Mask becomes this.
* BigDamnHeroes - No classic shonen manga would be complete without them, the most notable moment being when [[spoiler: Prince Kamehame posesses the Omegaman when he transforms into the Prince and then proceeds to teach Kinnikuman ''all'' of the 100 sacred techniques]].
* BigNo - Super Phoenix tended to do it a ''lot'' whenever he was hit by an attack far stronger than he thought it would be.
* BirthmarkOfDestiny: Kinnikuman has the Kinniku family birthmark on his buttock. He presents it in the Scramble For The Throne arc to prove that he's the rightful heir, only for the impostor princes to reveal their own birthmarks on their backs.
* BloodFromTheMouth - Once again, this is a classic shonen manga. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for Super Phoenix, it has a much deeper meaning.]]
* BodyHorror - Warsman reveals that being half-robot comes with many problems...
* BoisterousBruiser - Arguably, Kinnikuman himself.
* BoringInvincibleHero - Brutally subverted. While Kinnikuman only loses a few times in the entire series, being a {{Determinator}}, he didn't exactly cruise to victory.
* BringMyBrownPants - Every so often, most notable being the time soiling himself in fright saved Kinnikuman's life against Ramenman's Camel Clutch.
* BumblingDad - Mayumi Kinniku, Kinnikuman's dad. Justified, as[[spoiler:he was extremely strict with his eldest son Ataru, which caused him to rebel and run away. He becomes this to prevent the same thing from happening to Suguru. YourMileageMayVary if he was successful at being a good parent the second time around, considering [[ParentalAbandonment what happened to Suguru.]]]]
* ButtMonkey - Kinnikuman. Before the end of the 21st Choujin Olympics, nobody gave him any respect, including his friends and even ''his own parents''.
** Specialman and Canadianman step into this role after Kinnikuman gains some respect, and they become far worse butt monkeys than Kinnikuman ever was.
* CallingYourAttacks - ''Every'' attack is called, without question.
* CaptainEthnic: Hoo boy. Okay, the most visible Americans are Terryman (a Texan cowboy whose moves include Cattle Branding and the Texas Toe Hold), Geronimo (a full blooded Apache who loves his tomahawk), and Specialman (who is a football player). China is represented by the noodle-loving martial artist Ramenman, [[CanadaEh Canada by the flag-wearing Canadianman]], Germany by Brockenman ([[ThoseWackyNazis a Nazi who breathes poison gas]]) and Brocken, Jr. (who does not seem to adhere to the whole "master race" thing but still seems fascinated by Nazi imagery), you get the idea. The more minor choujin are even more prone to this; see New Zealand's Woolman, for instance.
* CasanovaWannabe - Kinnikuman. He's even a disco champ and he has the sleazy suit to match.
** Defied with Bibinba. Kinnikuman displays all of his worst traits in front of her, but she loves him all the same.
* CatchPhrase - Kinnikuman's catchphrase is quoted at the top of the page. Nobody understands what he means when he says it, but they do comment on how confident he sounds when he says it.
** Terryman's catchphrase was "Come to think of it, I've heard of this..."
* {{Cerebus Syndrome}} - The series started as a parody of Ultraman that revolved around Kinnikuman trying to gain respect from the populace and fighting various monsters of the week. Later, the series became a full fledged wrestling series and while humor remained, the general plot line became more serious.
** Just compare the first opening to the fourth. The first shows a bumbling IdiotHero, while the fourth shows a certified BadAss.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: When he was first introduced in the superhero arc, Terryman (yes, ''that'' [[AllAmericanFace Terryman]]) was a Type 2 example of Eagleland, only fighting monsters for pay and representing the big business side of America that other countries sees as evil. This becomes rather hard to shake from a reader's mind once he becomes the renowned NiceGuy of the series.
** Kinkotsuman used to provide genuine conflict in the earlier parts of the manga, but became more and more prone to VillainDecay as the manga went on, culminating to the point where he was comedic relief.
** Ramenman had a ''LOT'' more homicidal tendencies in the earlier part of the series. For one, he used to describe blood as ''tasty''.
* CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown - Kinnikuman Great, who appears twice as a disguise for characters who then team up with Kinnikuman in situations where he could not find a tag partner, or where the characters themselves wouldn't normally be allowed to compete. The first time it's Prince Kamehame, the second time it's Terryman.
** During the America arc, Kinnikuman masquerades as African-American southerner Channelman as he pummels his way across the lower 48
** During the Devil Chojin and Dream Tag arcs, [[spoiler: Ramenman was disguised as Mongolman]].
** During the Scramble for the Throne arc, The Samurai is [[spoiler: Neptuneman]].
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower - Geronimo gained chojin abilities apparently just by training.
* {{Chickification}} - Parodied with Bibinba in one chapter.
* ChinesePeople - Ramenman
* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes - Doctor Bombei's death came about by ignoring his own health in favor of his patients'.
* CombatCommentator - A pair of ringside announcers fufill this role early in the manga but were eventually phased out, leaving Terryman largely with it. The announcers stuck around to the very end in the anime.
* ContinuitySnarl[=/=]EpicFail - For the writers, artists, and editors. When Akuma Shogun first appears Geronimo immediately attacks him. During the fight, we see [[http://www.mangareader.net/361-25183-6/kinnikuman/chapter-188.html a panel]] showing the other Idol Choujin reacting to the fight, ''with Geronimo in the group!'' In other words, they drew Geronimo in a group watching his own fight.
* CosmicHorror - Black Hole.
* CrazyPrepared - Surprisingly enough, Kinnikuman fits this one; in the Throne arc, he anticipates that Robin and Terryman will put their friendship with him above their duty due to [[ThePowerOfFriendship the unbreakable bond between Seigi Choujin]] and thus writes their names on his submission form in invisible ink; when King the 100 Ton is reading the form under the hot lights of the arena, the names show up.
* CripplingOverspecialization - Jessie Mavia, master of counters and reversals and little else.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass - Kinnikuman
* CurbStompBattle - Ramenman VS. Motorman. Also played both ways in Ramenman VS. Brocken, Jr. ''and'' done in a concrete ring meaning there was literal curb.
** On TheOtherWiki, the Mammothman vs. Leopardon match is described thus: "The instant he enters the ring he is killed by Mammothman's [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome '''Nose Fencing'''.]]"
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy - During the seven devils arc, Black Hole postulates that he knows better than to take it easy while fighting Kinnikuman, because of his tendency to achieve come from behind victories. The other devils point out this is because Black Hole is an avid collector of the Kinnikuman manga.
** HarmlessVillain or not, Kinkotsuman had his moments in his early appearances.
* DarkIsNotEvil - Kind of an extreme Example: Brocken Jr., Despite dressing like a Nazi (complete with Swaztikas), never exhibits any Nazi like Behavior and is actually a pretty nice guy. This also applies to the Soviet Warsman after his HeelFaceTurn.
** Even the Swastikas end up phased out by the Throne arc, and his history as a Nazi is all but unspoken of by KinnikumanNisei
** Somewhat less extreme is Ashuraman, perhaps a literal "Devil Choujin" (he is the prince of the Demon World, and was raised to be devoid of compassion; thanks to his trainer saving him from drowning, it didn't quite take)
* DealWithTheDevil - How Buffaloman got his [[PowerLevels 10 million Choujin Power]].
** Also the origin of Akuma Shogun.
* DeathIsCheap - And ''HOW''. The only main character who died and was never resurrected was [[spoiler:Prince Kamehame/Kinnikuman Great I.]] There are multiple ways to escape the afterlife, including literally.
* DefeatMeansFriendship - The only ones who don't get "befriended" in this series are either one-shot villains or incarnations of TheDevil himself.
** Probably the biggest example of how much this is used is the fact that at one point ''[[LoveInterest Bibinba]]'' was an enemy of Kinnikuman.
** Oddly enough, some of the villains switch to being good for no explained reason; The Ninja didn't even fight Kinnikuman in the series, yet after being PutOnABus in the Dream Choujin Tag Team Arc, he suddenly returns as a Justice Choujin. And there's Black Hole, whose alignment is anybody's guess; he was killed by Kinnikuman in his introductory arc without any indication that he had reformed, yet in the Dream Choujin Tag Team Arc, he's teamed up with Pentagon, who was a rather prominent Justice Choujin before he gets pummeled by Warsman.
** The only Idol Choujin who was ''never'' adversarial towards Kinnikuman or any of the ''other'' Idol Choujin is Geronimo. That's literally it.
* DefeatingTheUndefeatable - Prince Kamehame is the one of the few persons to defeat Kinnikuman in the series and what's particularly memorable is the speed in which he did it: 7 ''seconds''.
* {{Defictionalization}} - The Kinniku Buster is used as a finishing move by SamoaJoe, although he falls back to make it more like a suplex rather than dropping straight down to avoid breaking his opponent's neck in real life.
** There ARE ones who use the original sit-down version, but they're exceedingly rare due to the stress on both the victim's neck and the attacker's tailbone. Kinnikuman doesn't have this problem because, you know, he's superhuman and he's really trying to beat the other guy up.
** The Robin Special has also been used in real life, but it's not done in the same way as Robin Mask does it and not done often, for obvious reasons.
* DemotedToExtra - Within a series of LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, this was unavoidable, but probably the worst to suffer from this were the 4D Killer Combo of Pentagon and Black Hole, one being built up as a major power of the Justice Choujin before losing to Warsman and the other being built up as a ''BigBad'' of an arc before being reduced to a lackey due to Buffaloman being more popular.
* {{Determinator}} - Kinnikuman. This is largely what gets him through every single fight he's involved in, and a big part of the reason that [[DefeatMeansFriendship even supervillains come to respect him]].
** Honorable mention goes to Harabote Muscle and ThoseTwoGuys Canadianman and Specialman at the end of the Golden Mask arc. The BigBad's arranged the match so all the minor wrestlers were forced to hold up the ring. In the anime, after nearly being crushed several times they manage to keep it up with the help from Geronimo's spirit. In the ''manga'' however, they were the only ones that never gave up and were the ones that kept the arena from killing anyone else. An utter CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
** Well, one of Suguru's character themes have "NEVER GIVE UP" as the first sung lyrics.
* DistaffCounterpart - The spinoff manga Kinnikuman Lady.
** This may be somewhat of a subversion however, since Kin's female counterpart is just kinda spacey and not really a complete idiot like he is.
* DomesticAbuse - PlayedForLaughs. CombatCommentator Nakano would often sell his wife to get a ticket to the Choujin Olympics.
* DrivenByEnvy - Kinnkuman Super Phoenix, ''and how''.
* DumbIsGood - Kinnikuman is pretty dumb... whereas many of his opponents are much much smarter, at least in terms of book smarts. His final opponent, incidentally, was the avatar of the God of Intelligence.
* {{Eagleland}} - Terryman, Geronimo, Specialman, and Pentagon, among others. Highlighted with a story arc where Kinnikuman tours America.
* EarlyBirdCameo - an odd, real life version for the world of manga: At the beginning of a volume, Yudetamago would show all the fan-made choujin they received from readers. One of them was called Pandaman and was actually used in a chapter. The creator of that fan art? [[OnePiece Eiichiro Oda]]. Whoa.
* EasilyForgiven - Robin Mask. It's amazing how easy everyone forgave him despite the fact he tried to kill Kinnikuman '''three''' times. One of his attempts was ''training a choujin just to kill Kinnikuman'', for crying out loud!
* EleventhHourSuperpower - The Burning Inner Strength used by Kinnikuman is pretty much this in every single arc.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Well, this is a series known for [[HeelFaceTurn Heel Face Turns]] happening often, after all.
** Warsman was ruthless, but even he thought that Mr. Barracuda was a monster. He [[spoiler: And his real identity]] is the one person who scares the crap out of Warsman.
** Happens again when Neptuneman announced his plans to remove all of the masks of any defeated masked Choujin. Not even the ''Devil Choujin'' are happy with this.
-->'''Ashuraman''': ''"Even if we Devil Choujin hate our opponent, we'd still never touch their mask!"''
*** Keep in mind that as evil as the Perfect Choujin were, they still had a rule: to never use a weapon that wasn't part of their body. [[spoiler: Particularly important because it leads to Neptuneman making a HeelFaceTurn when the Neptune King, alias Big the Budo, breaks that rule in their fight against Kinnikuman and Terryman.]]
** During the American Tag Tournament, Ramenman strips Devil Magician of his weapons, and it's stated that while Ramenman was a brutal choujin at the time, he never used sharp objects.
** Ashuraman embodied this trope before his eventual HeelFaceTurn: he was pretty damn evil, but he had strong morals for a prince of the underworld.
* {{Evil Counterpart}} - Kinkotsuman to Kinnikuman. In name, Kinkotsuman means Tendonman, and Kinnikuman means Muscleman. In appearance, Kinnikuman is a muscular man, and Kinkotsuman is some sort of thin skeleton guy. As far as incompetence goes he matches Kinnikuman fairly well. Unlike his enemy Kinkotsuman couldn't find a more fitting profession and therefore became less prominent when {{Cerebus Syndrome}} kicked in.
** The other contenders for the throne in the final arc are these for Kinnikuman.[[spoiler: except for Kinnikuman Soldier.]]
* EvilForeigner - Subverted. While the series does have many antagonists from numerous different nations, their gimmicks have little if anything to do with their background.
* EvilLaugh - [[strike:Some]] Most of the enemies have this.
** And each enemy's laugh is different.
* ExpressiveMask - Just about everybody from planet Kinniku wears one that is essentially a replacement for their faces. Other characters' masks (Most notably those of Robin Mask and Warsman), are also expressive, but to a far lesser degree.
** TheFaceless: Consequently considering the above, their actual faces are never seen in full, excluding [[spoiler: Robin Mask (anime only)]] and Warsman (who has [[BodyHorror a very good reason]] for wearing that mask).
*** Taken to the extreme with "heel" wrestler Black Hole and his "face" cousin, Pentagon, who ''literally do not have faces''; Black Hole has a giant hole where his face should be and Pentagon just has a star on his face. And yes, Kinnikuman lampshades it when the both of them insult him in the Dream Choujin Tag Team Arc.
--->'''Kinnikuman:''' It's just too bad that neither of you have a face to cry with!
* {{Expy}} - Terryman is an obvious one of Terry Funk [[hottip:*:Keep in mind that Terryman actually resembled ShawnMichaels when he first appeared in the wrestling, though]], Robin Mask is one of Billy Robinson, Buffaloman is one of Bruiser Brody, and Neptuneman is an evil version of HulkHogan.
** Neptuneman even uses the Quarrel Bomber, which is his own personal version of {{Hulk Hogan}}'s Axe Bomber, his finisher when he wrestled in Japan.
* FacialMarkings - Many characters had a kanji character on their forehead.
* {{Fartillery}} - Among other things, this is how Kinnikuman defeats Black Hole.
* AFatherToHisMen - Kinnikuman Soldier[[spoiler:/Ataru Muscle]]
* FinishingMove - What with being pro-wrestling and all, everybody has at ''least'' two. The most iconic of which is Kinnikuman's Kinniku Buster.
* FiveMovesOfDoom - Among others, Kinnikuman's four-part Fuurinkazan... Which is part of a set of ''One Hundred'' Moves Of Doom taught to him by Prince Kamehame.
** [[{{Satan}} Akuma Shogun]] ups the ante with a ''nine''-part finisher designed to sequentially seal every point of Choujin power--the next to last part rendering the victim unable to move and the final part killing him.
* FlexibleTourneyRules - in general, rules against foreign objects tend to be ignored if said object is a part of a fighter's body or costume (Neptuneman's spikes, Buffaloman's horns); also, the Scramble for the Throne tournament sees not only the rules, but the teams as well, change.
** In the 21st Choujin Olympics this trope is turned UpToEleven in the final. The match rules stated that whoever's mask was removed and his real face was revealed would be the loser. [[spoiler: However, the rules didn't say that you weren't allowed to wear multiple masks.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Done by a person in a vegetative state, of all people, after Kinnikuman beats Warsman in the final of 21st Choujin Olympics.
---> [[spoiler: '''Ramenman''']]: ''Congratulations, Kinnikuman. But remember one thing... A champion seldom has much time to enjoy his victory...''
* ForgottenPhlebotinum - The fact that Kinnikuman and the other Justice Chojin can grow into giants is forgotten after the shift to wrestling storylines. Also, their ability to fly is gradually forgotten.
* FridgeBrilliance - Used in the Prisman/Brocken Jr. match of the Throne Arc. Prisman said that his rays would kill any ''Choujin'' that comes in contact with it, but it never said that the same would happen to ''humans''. [[spoiler: Good thing that the Brocken family can turn themselves into humans at will.]]
** After the second Choujin Olympics, the storyline shifted from normal superhero stuff, like fighting giant monsters, to wrestling. This is because Bibinba had ''already'' exterminated almost all of the kaijuu before the Choujin Olympics, meaning that the Chojin had no one to fight but themselves!
* FunetikAksent - In early chapters of the manga, Kinnikuman's speech was mostly written in katakana to represent his lack of sophistication and intelligence.
* GarbageWrestler - Quite a few Choujin, including many heroic ones, will use weapons in the ring. The rules HandWave it by saying it's allowed as long as the weapon is part of a Choujin's body.
** Junkman would be the most literal example.
* GenderBlenderName - Suguru's father is named Mayumi, which is usually a name for girls. Harabote isn't all above hanging lampshades on that fact, calling him ''Mayumi-chan'' whenever he's mocking him.
* GeniusBruiser - Robin Mask, who's nicknamed "The Choujin Professor" because of this.
** Team Super Phoenix has this as their motif in the Throne Arc, including Mammothman - don't let the guy's tendency to [[LeeroyJenkins charge recklessly at his opponent]] fool you, he's been pretty clever in the Throne Arc, such as in the match against Team Soldier, [[spoiler: he found a way to counter the Napalm Stretch]]
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: During his match against Robin Mask, Kinnikuman becomes too disenheartened to continue to fight. He gets one of these from ''Kinkotsuman'' of all people, and Ramenman tells him to man up and fight.
* GlassCannon - Prisman is a literal example. His only attack was an attack that could kill ''all'' Choujin (Even Super Phoenix admits that Prisman could kill him with it). However, being a literal example of this trope, you can probably see his weakness.
* GoodScarsEvilScars - In the Seven Devils arc, Buffaloman's scars are one the weirdest plays of this trope, if not the weirdest. Thanks to his DealWithTheDevil, every time he's defeated an enemy he gains a scar, which is weird enough, but the weirdest part is that they are ''living'' scars, which he can place on his enemies, which usually result in [[HighPressureBlood one thing]] happening to the victim.
* GreenLanternRing - Kinnikuman's Face Flash technique, which does everything from cleansing a river (unintentionally), bend metal, shield himself and Robin Mask, attack Super Phoenix, and [[spoiler:revive his fallen comrades]].
* HarmlessVillain - Kin's rival from his superhero days is Kinkotsuman, who generally fails to be much of a threat at all.
* HeelFaceTurn - A ''lot''. Courtesy of DefeatMeansFriendship.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor - Up until the end of the 21st Choujin Olympics, Robin swings back and forth between respecting Kinnikuman and wanting him dead.
* HeroicSacrifice - Happens at least once per arc.
* HeroesRUs - The Idol Choujin, especially in the anime.
* HeroWithBadPublicity - Kinnikuman in the early manga. The first chapter had attacking aliens ''cancel'' rather than fight Kinnikuman, the only superhero available at the time.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard - Jessie Mavia, after Kinnikuman gets him to go on the offensive.
** StecCase King, when he uses an outdated copy of a tape of Kinnikuman's moves in order to copy the moves of the cowardly yet heroic Kinnikuman and only copies the "cowardly" part of him.
** When Planetman bursts through the bottom of the ring against his match against Kinnikuman, this ultimately ends up being used to defeat him.
* HollywoodCyborg - Warsman.
* HotAmazon - Bibinba, who becomes Kin's LoveInterest in the manga.
* HotBlooded - Just about every member of the Idol Choujin.
* HotScoop - Natsuko Shouno, Terryman's redheaded and tomboyish love interest.
* TheHyena - Kinkotsuman, especially in the anime.
--> ''Mu-hyo-hyo-hyo-hyo!~''
* HypercompetentSidekick: Meat, who in the beginning was even ''better'' at being a superhero than Kinnikuman ever was!
* {{Hypocrite}} - The Perfect Choujin state that to be one, you're supposed to be neither good or evil and lack any sort of emotion. Kendaman was a snickering, arrogant bastard, Neptuneman was a [[LargeHam hammy]], dog-kicking BloodKnight and Big The Budo[=/=][[spoiler:Neptune King]] was just like Neptuneman. The only Perfect Choujin that exemplifies what a Perfect Choujin is was Screw Kid, and he too [[VillainousBreakdown shows]] [[NotSoStoic some emotion]] when he loses, since "losing a match" is synonymous with "death penalty" to the Perfect Choujin.
* IdiotHero
* IGotBetter - Innumerable instances. Robin Mask in particular, who claimed to be never able to fight again after his rematch with Kinnikuman, is suddenly one of the leading fighters of all the story arcs following this claim.
* IKnowMaddenKombat - Mostly comes with the wrestlers who are just giant mundane objects with arms and legs. The anthropomorphic urinal will flush you, the giant traffic light will make you stop, the anthropomorphic 100-story tall hotel can...grow 100 stories tall, and so forth. Even extends to weaknesses, which is usually how the really powerful ones are defeated. For example, the evil blender had a brittle, easily shattered jar, which led directly to Meat's CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
* ImageSong - Notable both for not being performed by the characters' seiyuu, and for having them even for one shot villains. It's basically pro-wrestling, so it'd actually be more unusual for anyone to not have a song, really.
** To the point where every character's theme song seems to be done in a style appropriate for that character--Robin Mask's theme actually sounds like a Japanese Beatles cover band, and Pentagon's theme sounds like a disco song.
* IncrediblyLamePun - Kinnikuman did it often, even ''after'' the series underwent CerebusSyndrome.
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain - Kinkotsuman and Iwao are complete losers, plain and simple. Before the CerebusSyndrome however, they somewhat subverted the trope because Kinnikuman was just as big a loser.
** Heck, the first time they actually did something harmful to the heroes (Kinkotsuman shot Terryman in the leg) was completely by accident, because he was aiming for Kinnikuman.
*** The fact that Kinkotsuman was shooting to ''kill'' doesn't really make it any better.
* InSovietRussiaTropeMocksYou - Warsman, the Soviet Cyborg.
* IShallTauntYou - How Kinnikuman gets Jessie Mavia to open himself up to defeat.
* JapanesePronouns - Pretty much every Choujin uses ''ore'', the only exceptions being Geronimo (''ora''), Kinnikuman Great I/Prince Kamehame, Robin Mask and Neptuneman (''watashi''), Meat (''boku'') and Terryman (''mii'')
* JerkassGods - The Five Evil Choujin Gods of Intelligence, Strength, Brutality, Flight, and Technique who tried to prevent Suguru from getting the throne due to his growing Burning Inner Strength.
* KickTheDog - Mixer Taitei actually puts a puppy into his blender, ''separating the skeleton from the rest of the body'', before fighting Kinnikuman. It's so pointlessly heinous[[hottip:*: At first; Mixer Taitei just used it as an example of how his separating blender works with the puppy serving as Kinnikuman and the bones serving as his burning inner strength]] that even his captain, Kinnikuman Mariposa is confused by it.
--->'''Mariposa:''' ''What are you doing...?''
** Mr Barracuda does a two-for-one in the 21st Choujin Olympics. He promises 100 criminals on death row that if they could run past a blindfolded Warsman and live, their sentence would be lifted. When the [[KillEmAll obvious result]] happens, Mr Barracuda punishes Warsman because as it turns out, one of them was still alive.
** After Screw Kid and Kendaman fail to beat Mongolman and Buffaloman, Neptuneman and Big the Budo reward their effort...by destroying them.
** [[spoiler: When Ataru Kinniku[=/=]Fake Kinnikuman Soldier finally fades away from existence after a heartwarming reunion with his brother, Super Phoenix says it was probably better for all of them to get rid of an imposter that was so disrespectful and unruly to his parents.]] It's completely insulting, but [[FridgeBrilliance it makes sense]] why someone like him would say that; growing up completely alone would probably make you less inclined to think highly of running away from family.
* LargeHam - Quite a few characters in the series, including Kinnikuman himself. DaisukeGouri probably had way too much fun voicing Ashuraman. The same goes for Masaharu Satou with Sunshine.
** IncomingHam - "I'm Detective Gobugari of the West Sumida River Station."
* LetsGetDangerous - Everyone.
* LightIsNotGood - Sunshine. He's a Devil Choujin.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* LongLostSibling - [[spoiler:Ataru/Kinnikuman Soldier is this to the point where Kinnikuman didn't even know he ''existed''. However, he ran away before Suguru was even born, so it's justified.]]
* LoudOfWar - Steccase King's "''Akuma no Symphony''" (Symphony of the Devil), which is loud enough to damage eardrums of the victim ''and'' the audience near the ring.
* TheMagnificentSevenSamurai - The Planet Rakka mini-arc. The child-like Choujin Beansman comes to Earth to recruit Choujin to help save his people from the Space Samurai, and teams up with Terryman, Ramenman, Brocken Jr., Puyo Puyo, and Crystalman, with Kin forcing himself into the group. Together, they are the Magnificent Choujin 6!
-->'''Kinnikuman:''' Hey, there are seven of us!
* ManipulativeBastard - Kinnikuman Super Phoenix who is also the avatar of God of Intelligence.
* ManlyTears - used constantly.
* MaskPower - What with being Pro-Wrestling and all. The biggest examples are the Kinniku Clan, who must commit suicide if their masks are removed, Mongolman, whose mask [[spoiler:prevents him from succumbing to a debilitating injury]], and Kinnikuman Great, whose mask functions as a CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown for two characters.
** And in the final arc, Kinnikuman unveiling (briefly) his mask becomes a power of its own. See the GreenLanternRing entry above.
* MegaManning - Warsman's fight against Buffaloman has a great one. First, you hardly ever see a secondary protagonist do it. It's either the goodest good guy or the most diabolical villain pulling this stunt. Furthermore, it's quite rare when the main character gets a power [[MegaManning MegaManned]] by a fellow good guy. Even weirder, MegaManning hardly EVER fails. However, Warsman heroically comes to an understanding of Kinnikuman's Burning Inner Strength and refines his techniques to temporarily increase his PowerLevel by severalfold. He is ultimately not victorious. This situation is more MegaManning than AwesomeByAnalysis because Warsman has previously fought Kinnikuman.
** Given that the 12,000,000 power Double Screw Driver actually managed to slice through solid bone, it would have likely won the match if it had been a direct hit.
** Also, Stecase King and his Choujin Encyclopedia tapes allow him to copy the moves and style of any wrestler he chooses. This proves to be his downfall when he uses an outdated Kinnikuman tape and is left a simpering, unskilled coward.
** Kinnikuman Soldier also made a point of using his teammates' signature techniques in his fight with Kinnikuman Super Phoenix.
* MerchandiseDriven - those fondly-remembered little pink figurines, known in the US as M.U.S.C.L.E.
* MoralGuardians - Considering how strict the American MediaWatchdogs of the 80's were, with heroes having to be good role models and cartoon having to be squeaky clean, they would never have allowed a hero like Suguru (despite the fact that Kinnikuman ''did'' have a strong sense of justice, most of the time he acted like a shameless coward, slacker and lech) on our airwaves, let alone a show with all the ToiletHumor and startling amount of violence, gore and people dying so much that it makes [[DragonBallZ DBZ]] deaths look tame. They probably took one look at the show and said there was no way they could import it without censoring it out of existence. And then there's [[ThoseWackyNazis Brocken and Brocken Jr.]]...
** An in-universe example happens when Kin's match with Curry Cook, along with Ramenman's match with Brockenman are only available on radio broadcast instead of television. Kinnikuman immediately believes that this happens because Harabote doesn't think that he's good enough to fight on TV, ([[JerkAss which he agrees]]) but the real reason why is because the other Choujin often ''killed'' their opponents.
* MoonRabbit - The final prelim of the 20th Choujin Olympics involves a race to the moon; Choujin must bring back a stuffed rabbit as proof that they made it.
* MultinationalTeam - Pretty much every group of heroes/villains is this, but the Idol Choujin are the most notable with Kinnikuman (Alien, raised in Japan), Terryman, Geronimo (both American), Robin Mask (British), Buffaloman (Spanish), Ramenman[[spoiler:/Mongolman]] (Chinese), Wolfman/Rikishiman (Japanese), Brocken Jr. (German) and Warsman (Russian).
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone - Robin Mask invokes this trope during a fight in which he thinks he's accidentally killed Kinnikuman, who in actuality [[NotQuiteDead wasn't quite dead]].
* NamesToKnowInAnime - Interesting in the fact that the anime was released at the time when most, if not all of the seiyuu listed were not exactly stars at this point of their career.
** AkiraKamiya, voice of Kinnikuman.
** DaisukeGouri, voice of Robin Mask, Ashuraman, Black Hole and Dirty Baron.
** KanetoShiozawa, voice of Geronimo and Screw Kid.
** MasashiHirose, voice of Rikishiman/Wolfman and The Ninja.
** HideyukiTanaka, voice of Terryman, Springman, Planetman and Satan Cross.
** Masaharu Sato, voice of Buffaloman, Sunshine, Mammothman and Ramenman([[TheOtherDarrin after Eiji Kanie's untimely death]]).
** HideyukiHori, voice of Warsman.
** Ryoichi Tanaka, voice of Jessie Mavia, Prisman and Mr. Khamen.
** Tetsuo Mizutori, voice of Yosaku, Golemman, Iwao, Leopardon, Mixer Taitei, Motorman and Brocken Jr.
** Issei Futamata, voice of King Ton, Kinkotsuman, Stecase King and Sneagator.
** Kazuhiko Kishino, voice of Mayumi Kinniku, Neptuneman, Atlantis and Junkman.
* NiceGuy - Played straight with Terryman, but then it's deconstructed in the Dream Tag Choujin arc when he believes that this aspect of his character is actually a weakness and tries to get rid of this aspect.
* NighInvulnerability - Akuma Shogun, who uses at least seven out of the nine forms of the trope in the fight with Kinnikuman.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot - Everything from a man with a cup of tea for a head (with the teabag's string sticking out) to an ancient Incan anthropomorphic urinal shows up as a combatant here. Warsman is a robot who is a scary Russian AND has tons of angst from being made fun of for his half-robot heritage in school.
* NobleDemon - Samson Teacher, Ashuraman's trainer and later Satan Cross, saves Meat from drowning in his own "Makai no Numa" (Hell Swamp).
** In a more literal example, Ashuraman himself--both in the sense that he is a demon prince (he calls himself the Prince of the Akuma Choujin, comparing himself to Suguru, the Prince of the Seigi Choujin)
** Surprisingly Kinnikuman Super Phoenix who actually made a truce with Suguru to save Bibinba by stalling the 20 out-of-ring count.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed - Terryman and Terry Funk, Neptuneman and Hulk Hogan. And that's just for ''starters''. Lookalikes of Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Big Van Vader, Stan Hansen, and Harley Race all appear, either as minor characters or as cameos.
* NoFourthWall - All over the place in both the manga and anime, but the anime is pretty egregious with it (along with ProductPlacement).
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished - Terryman's act of puppy-saving heroism in the 21st Choujin Olympics disqualified him from the competition. This is also the essential reason behind [[spoiler:Samson Teacher's]] StartOfDarkness.
* NonSerialMovie - Six of them.
* NoSwastikas - Notably Averted. Nazi wrestler Brockenman, who was a straight up heel; as well as his ''face'' son, Brocken Jr. both have swastikas prominently displayed on their attire.
** ''Ultimate Muscle'' replaced Brocken's swastikas with skulls and crossbones. Although I'm not sure if this was the dub only or both both dub and sub.
** They had started editing out the swastikas as early as the Throne arc anime, where it was replaced with a bird crest.
* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler: In the Golden Mask arc, Buffaloman and the six Devil Chojin are decapitated by the higher ranked Devil Knights (the new villians) for failing to kill Kinnikuman.]]
** Mammothman's Ghost Canvas technique.
* OneToMillionToOne: When Kinnikuman uses his Megaton Punch to shatter Akuma Shogun's body, it breaks into hundreds of razor-sharp pieces that fly though Kinnikuman's body before reforming.
* OvertookTheManga: Two {{Filler}} arcs were added after the ''Dream Chojin Tag'' arc, which ended up getting the show canceled. The final ''Survivor Match for the Kinniku Throne'' arc was finally animated five years later.
* PetTheDog: Warsman gets a ''lot'' of moments like this in the 21st Chojin Olympics, mainly due to Bibinba's support. However, he can't escape his reputation as a monstrous heel easily; He actually went a little nuts after a child he had tried to help up violently rejected him.
** Another example of this is Ramenman in the 20th Chojin Olympics. A young boy walks up to him asking him for his autograph. Ramenman seemingly responds by angrily snatching the book away... and calmly giving him the autograph.
* PhenotypeStereotype - Terryman, several one-shot wrestlers from the {{Eagleland}} arc, Neptuneman, and Alyssa Macintosh, Robin Mask's wife.
* PhysicalGod - Akuma Shogun is Goldman, the Choujin god of war who made a DealWithTheDevil for which he received the Devil Knights as his literal and figurative body.
* PlanetOfHats - Planet Kinniku, home to the universe's greatest wrestlers.
* PlayingAgainstType - KanetoShiozawa, known for voicing HotBlooded {{Bishonen}} voicing the rather stoic Screw Kid.
* PowerLevels - Introduced simply to illustrate how much of a challenge Buffaloman presented when he was first introduced and stuck around after that. Largely subverted as the levels rarely seem to have any effect on the outcome of a match.
* ProWrestlingIsReal
* RefugeInAudacity - Let's see, to start it off, we got wrestling superheroes, then we have a Nazi that breathes poison gas, a Chinese superhuman that kills his opponents and ''turns him into noodles'', then in the next arc we have a Soviet cyborg and in the next arc we have superhumans that sold their soul to the devil and an instance in which our hero ''farting'' to eliminate a ''black hole''. And that's not even ''half'' of the series described.
* RefugeInCool - Several plot twists feel like Yudetamago was playing a game of "Hey, Wouldn't It Be Cool If..."
* TheResenter - In the Scramble For The Throne arc, Super Phoenix is this, bitter that a buffoon like Suguru has so much wealth and fame, while he grew up in poverty and obscurity.
* RetGone - In the Throne Arc, Team Super Phoenix decide to burn pages of the Muscle Prophecy. Turns out if a page that is burned happened to be about you, you would disappear along with it, [[FateWorseThanDeath acting as if you've never existed]].
* {{Retool}} - Started off as a parody of {{Ultraman}}, but then grew into a series about wrestling.
* RuleOfFunny - the series requires this a few times, such as... forget it. There's an Ancient Incan Japanese Toilet Chojin that defeats it's enemies by flushing other Chojins. That's not even the weirdest bit. This practically IS the series.
* ScareEmStraight - Seeing Bibinba as redundant (As Meat pretty much does everything Bibinba wants to do for Suguru), Kinnikuman pays a monster to kidnap her in order to make her go back home. Bibinba however interprets this as a SecretTestOfCharacter by Kinnikuman in order to determine if she was worthy and responds to it...by ''beating the crap'' out of the poor monster.
* SchrodingersCat - Robin Mask's wife Alisa was killed off at one point in the anime, instead of having her leave him like in the manga. Then she came back to him. The anime had to introduce her sister to fill this role. Now Alisa has become a key plot point in Kinnikuman Nisei (being the mother of Kevin Mask).
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere - Done ''many'' times by Kinnikuman, but the worst one was in the Golden Mask arc. After the Devil Knights tell him that he must defeat them to get back the Gold Mask (which was draining all of the energy of the Seigi Choujin), Kinnikuman ''throws away'' the Silver Mask, which must be reunited with the Gold Mask.
--> '''Brocken Jr.:''' ''What are you doing?!''
--> '''Kinnikuman:''' Sorry there's no way I'm fighting those guys.
* SelectiveMagnetism
* ShallowLoveInterest - Mari Nikaido, in the anime. In KinnikumanNisei, however, she reappears as [[spoiler: the adoptive mother of Mantarou's love interest, Rinko]]
* ShoutOut - Kinnikuman's given name, Suguru, is a reference to baseball player Suguru Egawa.
** Chapter 24 of the manga is one giant shout-out to {{Rocky}}, complete with an {{Expy}} of Apollo Creed.
** Bikeman's moves and even his nationality (Australian) are a reference to the movie [[MadMax The Road Warrior]].
** The DistaffCounterpart manga Kinnikuman Lady seems to be a shoutout to DevilmanLady, at least in name.
* SignatureLaugh - Ashuraman's "Ka ka ka ka ka" laugh is so deeply associated with him that it's featured in his VillainSong.
* SlasherSmile - Warsman. Oh dear Lord, ''Warsman''. The other characters in the series even call it the "Warsman Smile" and talk about how it's creepy as hell. Thankfully, he stops doing it when he has his HeelFaceTurn.
* SmugSuper - Perfect Choujin fit this trope, often looking down on the Justice Choujin and Devil Choujin for being weak-minded enough to be caught up in trivial things such as good and evil.
* SomethingPerson / OnlyOneName - If you're a Choujin, you almost automatically fall into these tropes.
* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil - first you have the Zangyaku Choujin, who are more brutal, then you have the Akuma Choujin, who worship Satan and are punished with [[YouHaveFailedMe death]] when they lost, then you have the Perfect Choujin, who are planning to invade the Earth after stealing the masks of Earth's mightiest heroes, and finally you have the Evil Gods of Choujin.
* SympathyForTheDevil - Costs Robin Mask dearly when he faces Kinnikuman Mariposa.
** It's hard not to feel sympathy for the other contenders in the Throne arc when you learn that they weren't exactly living the high-life before they were given power by the Evil Choujin Gods.
* TakingYouWithMe - The Mountain tries this to Terryman but the latter survived, Snegator does this to Suguru and succeeded but the latter got better thanks to Wolfman's HeroicSacrifice.
-->''Devil Choujin don't die alone.''
* TheObiWan - Prince Kamehame to Kinnikuman, Ramenman to Brocken Jr., Terryman to Geronimo.
* TheOtherDarrin - Ramenman has had seven different voice actors, the most of anyone in the series.
** For the Throne Arc, everyone had their seiyuus replaced, save for Kinnikuman himself.
* TheManBehindTheMan - [[spoiler: Big the Budo, who for the past two rounds had been working as Neptuneman's lackey, is revealed not only to be Neptune King, the one in charge, but the one who turned Kenkaman INTO Neptuneman, making him the true BigBad of the Choujin Tag Arc]]
** Similarly, [[spoiler: Mr Barracuda, Warsman's trainer unmasks himself as Robin Mask, who says that he trained Warsman specifically to kill Kinnikuman, making him the true BigBad or possibly even a BiggerBad of the 21st Choujin Olympics.]]
* ThePowerOfFriendship - One of the central themes. Even the ''bad guys'' rely on friendship in this series, such as Fan favorite villain Sunshine and fellow heel Ashuraman, stating "Even demons possess friendship!" and then it's taken UpToEleven in the Throne Arc with Mixer Taitei's FinishingMove, "Evil Choujin Friendship Power".
** Played with in the match between Team Super Phoenix and Team Soldier. Kinnikuman Soldier says that the Justice Choujin's friendship isn't a very good one: sure, they're all pals, but they're very dependent on one another, proven true when Buffaloman wants to tag in Soldier when he sees the terrifying power of Mammothman's tusks because he's injured. Soldier states that this kind of friendship will never make them any stronger-in fact, it will probably make them ''weaker''. Soldier then says he plans to teach them True Friendship Power.
* ThisIsADrill: For Screw Kid, drilling into his enemy is his entire "thing" - his Hell Driver maneuver with Kendaman is insanely deadly. Motorman has a drill for a ''head'' but specializes in ShockAndAwe primarily.
* TheWorfBarrage - This is Wolfman/Rikishiman's entire shtick, and it's particularly egregious in the anime.
* TheWorfEffect - often a powerful Chojin will be brutally beaten by the designated BigBad of the arc. Ramenman gets pummeled by Warsman, Warsman gets a beatdown [[spoiler: resulting in his death]] from Buffaloman, Buffaloman and the other Devil Choujin get punished [[hottip:*: and decapitated]] by Ashuraman and the Devil Knights, and Buffaloman, Warsman, Ashuraman, Sunshine and even Robin Mask get this trope at the hands (or forearms) of the Hell's Missionaries.
** Then Kinnikuman Big Body, the physically strongest of the Five Fated Princes, being defeated by Kinnikuman Super Phoenix in showing the real Muscle Revenger and establishing Suguru's final opponent in the Throne Arc. Not to mention that Mammothman defeated all but one of Big Body's teammates and faked a tie with the other.
** Canadianman and Specialman. Canadianman was beaten by Robin Mask in the 20th Choujin Olympics to establish how powerful Robin was while Specialman was eliminated thanks to Kinkotsuman's cheating. Then, they decide to enter the Dream Tag Team Tournament. Do they win? Nope. They didn't even get to ''enter''; Ashuraman and Sunshine beat the crap out of them and ''take away their entry spot''. It's no wonder why they become less active as fighters.
** Wolfman/Rikishiman. He often ends up facing rather plain opponents in one-sided fights and often loses. As TheOtherWiki puts it, "He becomes the cannon fodder Seigi Choujin (quickly and easily defeated in order to show off how powerful the bad guys are)".
* ThemeMusicPowerUp - If you hear the instrumental version of any Idol Choujin's ImageSong, or the current opening theme, it's time for a trademark miracle comeback.
* ThemeNaming - Generally, a given choujin's moves are going to follow a distinct motif when it comes to naming. With Kinnikuman himself, it's "muscle/kinniku", for instance.
* ThinkOfTheChildren: When Kinnikuman is too scared to fight Akuma Shogun and starts considering ''[[WhatTheHellHero complying with Akuma Shogun's demands]]'' , he only takes it back when he is told that young choujin are also in danger. There also instances when a child in danger will make Kinnikuman man up against the latest threat.
* ThisLoserIsYou - Kinnikuman was an extreme example of this at the beginning of the manga; a hopeless coward, slacker and pervert. As CerebusSyndrome kicked in, this aspect faded away and Kinnikuman transformed into the bumbling yet heroic character that everyone (well, except for [[MoralGuardians America]] and [[BannedInChina France]]) came to know and love in the 80s.
* ThoseTwoGuys - Specialman and Canadianman were introduced as one-shot characters, but eventually became this.
* {{Those Wacky Nazis}} - Brockenman and his son Brocken Jr.
* TohokuRegionalAccent - Geronimo
* ToiletHumour: To the point where one character is ''literally a toilet''.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl - Mari and Natsuko
* TournamentArc - Two following the GenreShift to pro-wrestling. Two ''more'' at the end of the series.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood - Kinnikuman ''loves'' gyudon (beef-rice bowl). In the anime, he even has a song about it.
* TrainingFromHell - Happens every arc. What's interesting is the fact that unlike most anime, they didn't really go in detail of what the training consists of until the finals of the Throne Arc.
* {{Trainstopping}} - Terryman does this to save a puppy from a bullet train that he pushed as part of an event at the 21th Chojin Olympics; unfortunately [[spoiler: this got him disqualified from the competition.]]
* TurnsRed - Heinous Buffaloman. Also, [[spoiler: after Kinnikuman Super Phoenix absorbs the powers of all five Evil Choujin Gods, he turns ''purple''.]]
* UglyGuyHotWife: Kin and his love interest, regardless of version. True that's a mask, but if anyone sees him without it he'll have to kill himself so it still kinda counts.
* UnknownRival - The Hormon Clan (Bibinba's Clan) in the past were bitter rivals to the Kinniku Clan. However, the only member of the Kinniku Clan who's aware of this is Mayumi.
* UnskilledButStrong - Being only the first half of this trope was the reason Buffaloman made his DealWithTheDevil to get the second half.
** Canadianman counts, seeing as he was able to lift the ''stadium'' he and Robin Mask were fighting in.
* UnwittingPawn - Super Phoenix to the Evil Choujin Gods.
* UrExample - displays many tropes prevelant in modern fighting shonens that were later refined by the TropeCodifier DragonBall
* VillainSong - Many of the Image Songs qualify as these.
* WeakButSkilled - Terryman.
** Brocken Jr. isn't exactly strong either. In a WhatCouldHaveBeen match between him and Warsman, they said Brocken could only hope for a ''draw''.
* WeaksauceWeakness - In the superhero portion of the series, Kinnikuman's weakness was ''milk''.
* WhatTheHellHero - Kinnikuman gets called out on his cowardly behavior often throughout the manga (even moreso in his superhero days), but most notable is in the Golden Mask arc, where Kinnikuman's cowardice causes him to do some rather questionable things, the worst one being when he actually considered ''handing over the Silver Mask to Akuma Shogun''. It doesn't really help that Wolfman/Rikishiman and Geronimo ''[[HeroicSacrifice gave up their lives]]'' to prevent such a thing from happening. This display of cowardice manages to cause everyone to leave him behind on their way to Akuma Shogun's lair, and anger ''Robin Mask'', of all people, to the point where he '''punches out''' Kinnikuman. Fortunately, Kinnikuman has a change of heart.
** Kinnikuman himself calls out the audience at the Choujin Olympics ''twice'': In the 20th Choujin Olympics, it was for insulting Robin Mask for losing to Kinnikuman, [[DoubleStandard despite the fact that there was one point where it looked like Robin Mask won the match by killing Kinnikuman and they were absolutely horrified]] and in the 21st Choujin Olympics it was for when they urge him to drop Warsman head-first on his own bear claw (which would pierce his ''brain''), justifying it with the fact that Warsman was, at that point, nothing more than a killer and that [[spoiler: Warsman had critically injured Ramenman using those claws]], which in response, Kinnikuman states that doing such a thing wouldn't make him any better.
* WidgetSeries - Started out like this. Became less so as it advanced, but it still has many dashes of it (the first Choujin Olympics arc is as widgety as it comes, trust us).
* WorthyOpponent - Terryman and Robin Mask both see Kinnikuman as this. Neptuneman's search for this causes his StartOfDarkness.
* WoundedGazelleGambit - The Manriki pretended to be dazed and prone after Warsman tore off his Scramble Vise, only to grab Kinnikuman at the first opportunity when his vise simply grew back.
** In the Seven Devils arc, Springman pretends that all of Rikishiman's body slams are hurting him, when in reality all they're doing is [[spoiler: flattening out the sand dunes so Springman can jump around freely.]]
* YamatoNadeshiko - Mari Nikaido, to a degree. She can also be argued to be a Type B {{Tsundere}}.
* YankTheDogsChain - Happened a lot to Suguru back in his Monster fighting days. One time he gets hospitalized while saving Mari, Meat and a couple of schoolkids from a monster. While he ''does'' get some recognition in the newspaper, the kids visit the hospital to ''beat him up'' because he destroyed their schoolbus by accident while saving them, meaning that they now have to walk to school.
* YouFailPhysicsForever - [[strike:Possibly]]More than likely, TheyJustDidntCare, but the explanation for the Napalm Stretch makes absolutely ''no'' sense whatsoever. Ironic in the fact that the one time they try to explain physics in this series, it completely fails.
* YouHaveFailedMe - Devil Choujin seem to have this policy. It's also used when [[spoiler: the five evil Choujin gods wish to kill Super Phoenix for losing to Kinnikuman.]]
* YouKilledMyFather - Brocken Jr. initially had it in for Ramenman, who killed his father Brockenman during his heel days. They later [[DefeatMeansFriendship made nice]].
----