History KnightOfCerebus / AnimeAndManga

** Second season manga started out mostly silly and comedic, even the first serious villain, the doppleganger, had his own share of silliness. Then, in volume 3, we meet Miyabi, whose first act is to sexually harass Mizore stealing her first kiss, which destroys her emotionally, making her [[spoiler:''commit suicide''. Fortunately, she was saved by Kurumu]]

** Second season manga started out mostly silly and comedic, even the first serious villain, the doppleganger, had his own share of silliness. Then, in volume 3, we meet Miyabi, whose first act is to sexually harass Mizore stealing her first kiss, which destroys her emotionally, making her [[spoiler:''commit suicide''.Fortunately, she was saved by Kurumu]]

** Second season manga started out mostly silly and comedic, even the first serious villain, the doppleganger, had his own share of silliness. Then, in volume 3, we meet Miyabi, whose first act is to sexually harass Mizore stealing her first kiss, which destroys her emotionally, making her[[spoiler:''commit suicide''.Fortunately, she was saved by Kurumu]]

** Second season manga started out mostly silly and comedic, even the first serious villain, the doppleganger, had his own share of silliness, then, in volume 3, we meet Miyabi, whose first act is to sexually harass Mizore and steals her first kiss, completely destroying her emotionally and making her [[spoiler:''commit suicide''.Fortunately, she was saved by Kurumu]]

** Fate Averruncus from the manga. His first appearance saw him [[spoiler: petrifying a bunch of people and essentially defeating the party (who had been putting up a good fight up to that point) all on his own]]. When he appeared a second time he averted BloodlessCarnage by [[spoiler: [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaling Negi with a hunk of stone]] and scattering everyone across the world]]. This was the trigger that eventually led Negi to begin using BlackMagic. Oh, and Fate's ultimate goal is [[spoiler: to erase the magic world from existence, [[OmnicidalManiac along with everyone in it]].]]
** [[spoiler:Evangeline]] serves as an earlier example. Once it's revealed that [[spoiler:not only is she a vampire with a PowerLimiter curse that also binds her to the school, but the one who cursed her was Negi's father, and she needs Negi's blood to break it]], the series started its GenreShift from harem comedy to shonen.

** The expensive-melon mission ''was'' where they met [[BloodKnight Kuroudo Akabane]] "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Dr. Jackal]]", who would show up in most later arcs and both act as this trope and subvert it�his being Ginji's StalkerWithACrush would serve as comic relief, even as the fact he's interested in the arc's conflict shows it's nothing to sneeze at (remember, his response to "[[NoOneCouldSurviveThat Even you can't survive a nuke]]" is "[[WorldOfCardboardSpeech We don't know that, I've never tried]]").

** Vector in ''Anime/YuGiOhZexal''. His first appearance marks the start of the Barians taking matter into their own hands. When he shows up again later, he reveals he's been pretending to be Yuma's friend for an entire arc, causing a HeroicBSOD and a brief rift between Yuma and Astral. After his defeat, his response is to wake up the evil god of the Barian World, solely so he can keep screwing with Yuma and Astral.

* The ''SailorMoon'' manga's first arc Queen Beryl as this role, when she started to actually act, it meant Usagi' love interest was [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] and [[EldritchAbomination Queen Metalia is revived]].
** The series biggest case was Sailor Galaxia. Both arcs, when she's starting acting mark an end to the series comedic moments, and lots of characters dying.

* ''PhiBrainKamiNoPuzzle'' played with this - new villain, Herbert Müller, didn't started the shift to more serious tone. In fact his appearance stopped one that was already taking place, by putting delay on plans of previously established villain [[spoiler: Rook]], who resumed them after Müller was out of picture and became Knight Of Cerebus himself.

* Sensui from YuYuHakusho who killed the main character of the damn series and succeeded in opening the tunnel to demon world, which potentially could have wiped out human life. He's also a manipulative corrupter, ruthlessly sacrificing children as pawns and introduced really dark nihilistic themes into the series.

* ''Manga/FairyTail'' has two. Jellal is the first villain who poses a serious threat to the cast's lives, and is trying to return [[UltimateEvil Zeref]] himself, as opposed to the various demon Zeref created that have been sought out in earlier arcs, or power skirmishes that have otherwise been the focus. In adition, while previous tragic backstories have been about losing or fighting with family members, his and Erza's past is full of all kinds of slavery, torture, and betrayal. After Jellal every arc is some serious threat that will either kill the cast or destroy the country. The second is Hades, who is also the second villain to seek Zeref. He turns the first lighthearted arc in over 100 chapters into a fight for survival that ends with the series no longer being a NobodyCanDie story, many characters' sufferings to turn out to have been for no reason, Zeref potentially unleashed on the world, and he [[spoiler:inadvertently summons an evil dragon that leaves the core cast LegallyDead for seven years]]. Zeref himself, oddly enough, has yet to invoke this trope.

** Starjun is a milder example, being no-nonscence and having a dark aura, and being the truly first time that [[spoiler: Toriko comes close to death]].

** Admiral Akainu finally averts the "Nobody dies in ''MangaOnePiece'' outside of flashbacks" rule [[spoiler: by killing Ace.]] Blackbeard follows it up soon after by [[spoiler: killing Whitebeard and bringing about a new age of pirates.]]

* While Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt never loses it's humor, the plot takes a turn for the darker once CoDragons [[EvilCounterpart Scanty and Kneesocks]] debut. Though they quickly fall into VillainDecay, some of their plans can be pretty damn [[FridgeHorror scary when you think about it]].

** Happens again with a heroic character in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion''. As soon as Homura [[spoiler: discovers that she and her friends are in a witch barrier]] and takes off her glasses and hair ribbons, the movie's tone shifts from a faux-TastesLikeDiabetes parody to a sinister mystery. And [[spoiler: she makes the movie even darker ''again'', near the end, when she performs a FaceHeelTurn, becomes a witch, and then takes over the universe after her friends rescue her, instead of just ascending to magical girl heaven]].

* ''Transformers: WesternAnimation/BeastWars II'' is an incredibly light-hearted show with hilarious characters, that hardly ever takes itself seriously. And its villains are no exceptions - Galvatron - the BigBad is a narcoleptic who spends most of the show asleep, leaving his inept kid brother Megastorm to run the show with an effeminate {{Dragon}} (Starscream), a thug who can only repeat his own name (BB), and Beavis and Butt-Head (Thrust and Dirge) under his command. Cue the last 10 episodes of the show, where Galvatron wakes up, takes command, and we learn that he has a gigantic DoomsdayDevice en route to Gaia, which he intends to use to destroy the whole planet and siphon the Anglomois energy. And then things go grimdark... Gigastorm (Megastorm after his makeover) is fatally wounded and dies in Galvatron's arms, and the whole series ends with [[spoiler: all the Maximals sacrificing themselves to destroy the Nemesis, in the end flying up to 'robot heaven'. Granted, Beast Wars Neo retcons this.]]

* It's interesting to watch the increase of the power of the villains in OnePiece. Alvida and Morgan possessed no real threat to Luffy, and Buggy wasn't really much of a challenge either. Afterwards, Captain Kuro and Don Krieg were much more menacing, but still relatively weak: They were just bad guys who happened to show up at the time. Everything changed when Arlong came along, and while the series retained its light-hearted tone for the most part, seeing what the stakes are when a real monster gets involved changed the world of the series forever. Follow this up with an enemy Luffy can't fight in the form of Smoker, and it's clear that the end of the East Blue saga was when the series hit its' stride.

** Admiral Akainu finally averts the "Nobody dies in OnePiece outside of flashbacks" rule [[spoiler: by killing Ace.]] Blackbeard follows it up soon after by [[spoiler: killing Whitebeard and bringing about a new age of pirates.]]
** OnePiece usually has a strange SortingAlgorithmOfEvil with its BigBad bosses, ranging from dangerously competent to incompetent with each antagonist, with the occasional appearance of a serious threat like a Warlord like Kuma or Mihawk and the Three Admirals show up in which the situation drastically becomes more threatening. Then Akainu, the last of those three Admirals makes his debut and completely breaks the StatusQuo by [[spoiler: killing Ace]], and the story's gotten significantly more DarkerAndEdgier in both in story and its enemies, while still retaining its positive elements.

** Yubel in ''Anime/YuGiOhGX''. After [[AmbiguousGender their]] appearance, IdiotHero Juudai starts his downward spiral, [[DeathIsCheap characters start dying]] and some of the standard humor in the series begins to disappear as the it takes its turn towards full DeconstructorFleet territory. Even in 4Kids GagDub which made the season '''VERY''' much LighterAndSofter compared the Japanese version, Yubel has no comedic quirks.

* ''Manga/SoulEater'' started off as a zany wacky serious with a very eccentric cast. Then [[MadScientist Medusa]] showed up with her abused and unstable child Chrona, and released [[EldritchAbomination Asura]] which caused a the series to take a darker shift where people started dying and going insane and the zany imagery became more nightmarish. Asura himself qualifies, any time he appears the series comic relief stops.

** Yubel in ''Anime/YuGiOhGX''. After [[AmbiguousGender their]] appearance, IdiotHero Juudai starts his downward spiral, [[DeathIsCheap characters start dying]] and some of the standard humor in the series begins to disappear as the it takes its turn towards full DeconstructorFleet territory.

** Within the manga itself, the Skull Knight, despite not being a villain, manages to be this since whenever he shows it, tends to mean crap will get real.

* In the ''Anime/MonsterRancher'' anime, General Durahan's arrival signaled the end of lighthearted episodes; he even appears right after a lighthearted one. He's also a literal knight.

* In ''Anime/KillLaKill'', things have started to get darker and darker from the moment [[CuteAndPsycho Nui Harime]] showed up in episode 12, especially since that she's the one [[spoiler: who killed the heroine's father]].

* In ''Anime/KillLaKill'', things have started to get darker and darker from the moment[[CuteAndPsycho Nui Harime]] showed up in episode 12, especially since that she's the one [[spoiler: who killed the heroine's father]].

* Vicious from ''Anime/CowboyBebop''. Not only is he the main antagonist in five of the 26 episodes he's in, he's also a major threat to Spike.

* ''Manga/Hellsing'' made it clear from the start that it was not going to be a lighthearted series with the number of people seen getting mutilated and its AntiHero protagonist, but the initial threats simply consisted of vampires who actions were limited to committing random murders. Then the series revealed the rise of vampires was the doing of group of AxCrazy Nazi vampires called Millennium, who from their leader's [[RousingSpeech RousingSpeechOfEvil]] make it clear they have much greater ambitions, which we see start with butchering the entirety of London.

** Ruby's master helped the transition along, in an arc that [[spoiler:focused heavily on FantasticRacism, which has since become one of the series' most prevalent themes. She was planning to wage war on humanity, and was willing to cut down her own adopted daughter to do so]]!

* [[spoiler: Kurata]] from ''Anime/DigimonSavers'' is the perfect example of this trope. Before he had appeared the only real "dark" parts of the anime resulted from Gotsumon's incredibly hostile attitude toward Ikuto/Keenan. When [[spoiler: Kurata]] arrived, he brought genocide (including the deaths of both of Ikuto/Keenan's "parents", resulting in genuine TearJerker scenes) and singlehandedly made the season the darkest one yet. For once we had a genuinely evil [[spoiler:''human'']], and also BY FAR the most evil character ever to grace the franchise.

* ''MazingerZ'' has a weird example in Count Brocken. To put it simply, he is the first villain to harm(and actually killed) innocent people. And from that, he proceed to do some horrible stuff. He is so notable amongst the villains that in fact, right in this wiki, he is the most notable person that is mentioned when the Dark part of Mazinger Z is talked about, complete with arguably creepier design than the already creepy Ashura and the show indeed goes into the darker parts after this. The weird part ? at the same chapter he appeared, he provided the single [[CrowningMomentOfFunny most hilarious moments]] in the entire series in a rather stupid way. Its kinda hard to think hes the same person who killed person on the screen for the first time.
* Fate Averruncus from the ''MahouSenseiNegima'' manga. His first appearance saw him [[spoiler: petrifying a bunch of people and essentially defeating the party (who had been putting up a good fight up to that point) all on his own]]. When he appeared a second time he averted BloodlessCarnage by [[spoiler: [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaling Negi with a hunk of stone]] and scattering everyone across the world]]. This was the trigger that eventually led Negi to begin using BlackMagic. Oh, and Fate's ultimate goal is [[spoiler: to erase the magic world from existence, [[OmnicidalManiac along with everyone in it]].]]
** Arguably, [[spoiler:Evangeline]] serves as an earlier example. Once it's revealed that [[spoiler:not only is she a vampire with a PowerLimiter curse that also binds her to the school, but the one who cursed her was Negi's father, and she needs Negi's blood to break it]], the series started its GenreShift from harem comedy to shonen.

** [[EvilMatriarch Precia Testarossa]]. ''Nanoha'' really went dark ([[TheVillainMakesThePlot but possibly substantially improved as well]]) when [[KickTheDog she was introduced]]. How exactly ''was'' she introduced? [[spoiler:Beating (the clone of) [[DarkMagicalGirl her daughter]], [[WhipItGood with a whip]]... for not gathering ''every'' MacGuffin.]] After she left, it became slightly lighter again for the later two seasons.
** At least until Jail, in the third season, mentioned that he had all of the Numbers (functionally, and sometimes biologically, ''[[ParentalIncest his daughters]]'') impregnated with clones of himself. Yeah...

* Makubex in ''GetBackers.'' Before the IL recovery mission, Ban and Ginji were retrieving things like expensive melons and a blind girl's violin. Makubex threatened them with an atomic bomb!

* [[EmbarrassingFirstName Pantyhose Tarou]] was only the first of a succession of very serious, very powerful foes in ''RanmaOneHalf'': while earlier opponents were always ineffectual antagonists versed in wacky, fun, harmless MartialArtsAndCrafts tournaments, Ryugenzawa's {{Orochi}}, [[KiAttacks Prince Herb of the Musk Dynasty]], [[TheDrifter Ryuu Kumon]], and ThePhoenix [[AGodAmI King]] [[PersonOfMassDestruction Saffron]] followed in Pantyhose Taro's footsteps by forcing Ranma & Co. into more serious, no-nonsense combat, where death was suddenly a very real possibility.
** It should be noted, however, that Ranma ½ doesn't have overarching plots and the "CerebusSyndrome" brought about by those characters only lasted for their specific story arcs, being more or less forgotten about once their arc is over (not to mention that their arcs aren't entirely joke free either).
*** In fact, Tarou is actually the least "GrimDark" of the series' Knights of Cerebus, as while a ruthless, formidable fighter, Tarou's stories also tend to be full of the usual goofiness and just plain ridiculous happenings. In his first story, the whole mess is over getting his name changed, while his last story has him battling a fellow [[CursedWithAwesome lucky Jusenkyo victim]] over back-pain relieving magnets, which he ends up believing will give him the power to TakeOverTheWorld.
*** Hello? Tarou fights [[BalefulPolymorph most of the other Jusenkyo-cursed characters]] at a [[WeaksauceWeakness water fortress.]] DangerouslyGenreSavvy? Yes. Cool FightScene? Yes. Funny? Somewhat. It's more serious than average, but not MoodWhiplash.
* ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Gundam ZZ]]'' started out almost ridiculously lighthearted but after a bunch of {{Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain}}s, Haman Karn gets into the plot and all of a sudden the heroes really need to worry.
** Another Gundam example would be ''GGundam'' though only the first few episodes are rather easy going until Devil Gundam and Kyouji are first mentioned.
*** It's still relatively easygoing even after the introduction of Kyouji and the Devil Gundam, but then [[OldMaster Master Asia]] (or, more specifically, his [[spoiler:FaceHeelTurn and the BrokenPedestal that comes with it]]) jumps into the story...

* Butch and Cassidy of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' be headed for this at their first appearance, being a TerribleTrio in their own right with a [[TheMole crooked Officer Jenny]]. It...[[VillainDecay didn't]] [[WeirdnessMagnet last]] long, but at least other members of Team Rocket manage to stay properly intimidating -- especially when they show up in force. Even Max admits that the cast is pretty lucky that they usually only have to deal with the TerribleTrio that stalks them around.
** Pokémon Hunter J easily surpasses them in malevolence, being the darkest villain to ever appear in the series and to never suffer from VillainDecay, not to mention being one of the few characters that was actually [[spoiler: killed off]]. While technically not a villain, Paul seems headed this way, being more abusive towards his Pokémon than anyone else.
** Another good example is Sabrina, who popped up MUCH earlier than Butch and Cassidy and WAY before J did. Sabrina only appeared for three episodes, and after her arc everything returned for normal, but for years later, no villain surpassed Sabrina in terms of scariness[[note]]Even though Sabrina was closer to a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, as it is implied that she was incapable of controlling her psychic powers before Haunter came along[[/note]]. Let's face it: she transformed trainers she defeated into dolls, and was just plain creepy. J may be more evil and has no qualms committing murder, but at least she doesn't [[AndIMustScream turn people into dolls!]]

* ''Manga/SoulEater'' started off as a zany wacky serious with a very eccentric cast. Then [[MadScientist Medusa]] showed up with her abused and unstable daughter Chrona, and released [[EldritchAbomination Asura]] which caused a the series to take a darker shift where people started dying and going insane and the zany imagery became more nightmarish. Asura himself qualifies, any time he appears the series comic relief stops.

* [[spoiler: Kurata]] from DigimonSavers is the perfect example of this trope. Before he had appeared the only real "dark" parts of the anime resulted from Gotsumon's incredibly hostile attitude toward Ikuto/Keenan. When [[spoiler: Kurata]] arrived, he brought genocide (including the deaths of both of Ikuto/Keenan's "parents", resulting in genuine TearJerker scenes) and singlehandedly made the season the darkest one yet. For once we had a genuinely evil [[spoiler:''human'']], and also BY FAR the most evil character ever to grace the franchise.
** Devimon in the original Anime/DigimonAdventure. While the first few episodes of the show were simple MonsterOfTheWeek, his appearance in Episode 8 introduced a proper, intertwined story arc and highlighted that the show wasn't kidding around anymore. It got somewhat lighter - though with even more MythArc - in the short 'Etemon arc' - only for Myotismon to firmly seal the series in CerebusSyndrome.
** While ''DigimonTamers'' was always more serious and thinky than the other series, Beelzemon's arrival causes a big shift. DarkerAndEdgier went from meaning "Digimon don't automatically [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist respawn at the Primary Village]] anymore so fights actually ''[[AllDeathsFinal count]]''" to [[spoiler: Impmon makes a DealWithTheDevil, kills Leomon, and Jeri gets VERY close to the DespairEventHorizon. From there we go straight to an arc that gets ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''-level freaky and TheHeartless uses Jeri's grief to power up its beasts by [[MindRape mind raping]] her for weeks on end]]. Things got bleak at that point. They ''still'' forgave Beelzemon. Eventually.
** Lucemon's reveal as the ManBehindTheMan of Cherubimon in ''DigimonFrontier'' leads to a dark turn where the plot becomes trying to prevent TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt before he's released, with [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption Failure As The Only Option]].

** Devimon in the original DigimonAdventure. While the first few episodes of the show were simple MonsterOfTheWeek, his appearance in Episode 8 introduced a proper, intertwined story arc and highlighted that the show wasn't kidding around anymore. It got somewhat lighter - though with even more MythArc - in the short 'Etemon arc' - only for Myotismon to firmly seal the series in CerebusSyndrome.