History Literature / ReZero

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The Witches are nowadays regarded with both dread and loathing, so much so that merely saying their name is taboo. However, as Subaru and the audience came to find out, none of the Witches are truly evil with most of them [[BlueAndOrangeMorality having different concepts of morality]] and some of them had good intentions when they were alive. Even [[TheDreaded Satella]] is a far more sympathetic character than history tells her to be.

* {{Manchild}}: Emilia. She is older than Subaru chronologically and physically, but she is much younger emotionally. She is so inexperienced and innocent that she even believes that kissing can make you pregnant.

* SlidingScale/MohsScaleOfViolenceHardness: A 9. The truly gruesome is obscured by {{Gory Discretion Shot}}s, but there are more than enough messy, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath agonizing deaths]] to qualify for this level.

* ''VideoGame/ReZeroStartingLifeInAnotherWorldTheProphecyOfTheThrone''/''Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World- The False Royal Election Candidate'' (Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 偽りの王選候補, ''Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Tsuwarino-ō-Sen kōho'') (2021): A Tactical Adventure game developed by Chime and published by Creator/SpikeChunsoft for UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, PC, and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch.

''Re:Zero'', full title ''Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu'' ("Re: Starting Life in Another World from Zero") is a {{light novel|s}} series written by Tappei Nagatsuki and illustrated by Shin'ichirō Ōtsuka. Originally a web novel that was first self-published on the site Shōsetsuka ni Narō in 2012, it was picked up for print publication by Media Factory in 2014.

** In the anime, the ringtone used to Signal the appearance of the white whale from Subaru's cellphone is the op theme from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPBQiNmhxbI the 1970's anime]] of ''Literature/ADogOfFlanders''. Fittingly, The name of Subaru's ground dragon from the same episode is the same as the dog's name from the book, Patrasche.

* EpicFail: Subaru's third "life". He starts by passing out, then after waking up inadvertently insults Emilia by loudly calling her Satella in the middle of a crowded street (something which also makes him seem to be an accomplice of the insignia's theft that happens shortly thereafter) and finally gets fatally stabbed by the alley thugs ''who didn't even want to kill him''.

* EpicFail: Subaru's third "life". He starts by passing out, then after waking up inadvertently insults Emilia by loudly calling her Satella in the middle of a crowded street (something which also makes him look as an accomplice of the insignia's theft that happens shortly thereafter) and finally gets fatally stabbed by the alley thugs ''who didn't even want to kill him''.

* EpicFail: Subaru's third "life". He starts by passing out, then after waking up inadvertently insults Emilia by loudly calling her Satella in the middle of a crowded street (something which also seems to paint him as an accomplice of the insignia's theft that happens shortly thereafter) and finally gets fatally stabbed by the alley thugs ''who didn't even want to kill him''.

* EpicFail: Subaru's third "life". He starts by passing out, then after waking up inadvertently insults Emilia by loudly calling her Satella in the middle of a crowded street (something which also paints him as a seeming accomplice of the insignia's theft that happens shortly thereafter) and finally gets fatally stabbed by the alley thugs ''who didn't even want to kill him''.

* EpicFail: Subaru's third "life". He starts by passing out, then after waking up inadvertently insults Emilia by loudly calling her Satella in the middle of a crowded street and finally gets fatally stabbed by the alley thugs ''who didn't even want to kill him''.

* EpicFail: Subaru's third "life". He passes out, then after waking up inadvertently insults Emilia by loudly calling her Satella in the middle of a crowded street and finally gets fatally stabbed by the alley thugs ''who didn't even want to kill him''.

* EpicFail: Subaru's third "life". He passes out, then after waking up inadvertently insults Emilia by calling her Satella and finally gets fatally stabbed by the alley thugs ''who didn't even want to kill him''.

* {{NEET}}: Subaru Natsuki is shown to be one, as he's introduced as unemployed and frequently references all of the light novels he read and the games he played before being transported to another world. He eventually, however, becomes what is considered to be the ultimate [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype deconstruction]] of how such a person would actually work in real life, culminating into one hell of a [[TearJerker tearjerking]] Self-inflicted TheReasonYouSuckSpeech in Episode 18. All the suffering he goes through up till then has been, to his self-loathing and realization, to be the result of his rotten character, a person who has done absolutely nothing productive his whole life, in spite of having all the time in the world, foolishly thinking that all the knowledge he gained from doing nothing but gaming and bingeing on anime, manga and light novels, that it could get him a better life in another world simply by being teleported there, only to find this to be not at all what happens. He states multiple times at that point that he hates himself for it. Case in point:

* {{Bokukko}}: The Witch of Greed Echidna who uses ''boku'' to refer to herself despite not being tomboyish at all.

** This isn't the first time that Creator/YuiHorie and Creator/SarahWilliams has voiced a [[Literature/{{Bakemonogatari}} cat person]]. But in the latter's case, [[Manga/HunterXHunter it's pretty much different]].

** Overall, this tends to happen to characters in situations or timelines where Subaru isn't able to interfere in their fate thanks to Return By Death, regardless of their origins, powers or individual strengths. [[EverybodysDeadDave They Die]]. Often suddenly, violently and messily depending on the threat facing them. No matter how powerful someone is, it means nothing if they're taken off-guard or faced with an insurmountable threat out of nowhere that they can't possibly overcome. Emilia has enough Mana and innate talent with ice magic to [[spoiler:freeze the entire Elior forest in a permanent glacial frost whilst in the midst of an emotional breakdown]], but without Subaru around to warn her of danger, she's gutted and killed by Elsa without being able to defend herself in any way as early as Arc 1. Likewise, Garfiel is a powerful lightningBruiser with a HealingFactor and combat talents good enough to [[spoiler:take on and eventually kill Elsa in a pitched fight]], but when he's faced up against an incomprehensible threat like [[spoiler:the shadowy form of Satella, the Witch of Envy herself]], he's blown to pieces without being able to resist, the sheer power gap meaning nothing he did would make a difference. PlotArmour does not exist in this world regardless of one's importance or relevance to the plot -- in fact, it could be said that Subaru's ability allows him to ''[[EnforcedTrope enforce]]'' plot armour onto his allies whilst steadily figuring out a way to strip said armour off their believed-unbeatable enemies.

** "Crimson Shadow" - This would show Priscilla's past as [[spoiler:Prisha Volachia, explaining how she was ousted from the Royal Selection without dying, alongside how she parted way with her loyal servant Arakiya in the event that cost the latter her left eye. Furthermore, the novel also features Prisha triumphing over her elder sister Lamia in the Royal Selection, and [[spoiler:Lamia would be resurrected as a sentient Corpse Solider at the climax of Arc 7]].

** The events of Arc 4 eventually have Emilia forced to confront her DarkAndTroubledPast, revealing that [[spoiler:the freezing of Elior Forest was due to an attack instigated by the Witch Pandora directing the Archbishop of Greed Regulus Corneas to aid her in achieving some unknown objective involving Emilia. Regulus' actions forced the then-sane Petelgeuse to absorb the Witch Factor of Sloth despite his incompatibility with it, [[PowerBornOfMadness steadily driving him crazier the more he used the power]] to hold them off. Pandora using illusions to trick Petelgeuse into fatally injuring his love interest Fortuna, Emilia's ParentalSubstitute, completing his descent into the gibbering loon he is by the present and pushed Emilia past her RageBreakingPoint, overclocking her ice abilities in a futile attempt to kill Pandora until the whole forest was frozen. It's furthermore revealed that Pandora was the actual killer of Theresa van Astra during the White Whale's failed subjugation, and is hinted to have been the one that resurrected her as a corpse soldier in Arc 5]].

* OneDegreeOfSeperation: Crossed over frequently with EarlyBirdCameo, ChekhovsGunman and {{Foreshadowing}}. As shown in the world map, the continent Subaru found himself in is a landmass apparently floating in a massive void, wide enough for only 4 countries to form upon it. Accordingly, given that the main characters of the story are people of importance or renown the land over, there has been several past meetings between then prior to Subaru showing up that continue to have a bearing on Subaru's own journey. These are shown in side-stories or the EX novels.
** "The Love Song of the Sword Devil" - The Younger Wilhelm Van Astra crossed swords with the Demi-Human Strategist Valga Cromwell in a secret passageway underneath the Royal Palace, [[spoiler:Which is how Valga, now known as "Old Man Rom" was able to sneak into the palace in an attempt toe rescue Felt in Arc 3]]. He also opposed the magical stratagems of the ArtificalHuman "Sphinx", [[spoiler:a failed creation of the Witch of Greed Echidna, her appearance identical to the 26 clones of Ryuzu Meyer that Subaru would later encounter inside the Sanctuary]].

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In one of their encounters, Subaru stops Emilia in the streets. Unfortunately she has yet to run into him in this timeline, and gets rather angry at him. This then provides enough of a distraction that Felt is then able to steal Emilia's insignia.

* ProlongedPrologue: The first 2 arcs as well as parts of the 3rd are the prologue of Subaru's life in Lugunica and his quest to make Emilia the King.

* LongTitle: ''Re:Zero'' is pretty short, but its full name is a bit wordy, being ''Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu'' (''Re: Starting Life in Another World from Zero'')

* DoesNotLikeShoes:
** [[spoiler:The Sin Archbishops of Gluttony]] all forego shoes. They're also filthy.
** The clones of Ryuzu Meyer, aside from the four leaders, wear cloaks with nothing underneath, including shoes.
** Pandora is a MagicalBarefooter and one of the most dangerous witches in Lugunica.
** One of the village kids Subaru befriends has no shoes nor a shirt.
** Typhon, the Witch of Pride, wears flower anklets and no footwear.
** Garfiel Tinsel wears coverings on his feet that leave his toes uncovered, because as long as his body is directly touching the ground in some way, [[EarthyBarefootCharacter he can use his Divine Protection of Earth Spirits.]] He also can turn into a giant beast, and gains digitrade feet, which adds to the reason he has no shoes. On top of all that, [[WalkingShirtlessScene he wears no shirt.]]

* KansaiRegionalAccent: Anastasia Hoshin speaks in Kansai-ben dialogue, or whatever the fantasy counterpart is.

* TheAce: Reinhard is sngularly the strongest shown character in the series. As a testament to his strength, Reinhard was able to defeat Elsa with a sword that he randomly picked up off the floor. [[spoiler:Later on, he's able to easily take on the nigh-invincible Regulus and is shown to be able to defeat Puck in his beast of the end form in a failed loop.]]

* ApocalypseHow: Invoked by [[spoiler:Subaru, ''twice'', in the third arc. In one loop, the audience is only given a sense of foreboding towards it when a massive creature erupts from Roswaal's mansion and beheads Subaru with a glance. In a later loop, it is revealed that by getting Emilia killed, Subaru inadvertently breaks Puck's contract with her. This causes Puck to go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and freeze the world over, destroying it. That's right, getting Emilia killed is TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Or at least until Reinhard gets off his ass and does something.]]

* AristocratsAreEvil: [[spoiler:Roswaal is the Margrave of Lugunica as well as the strongest [[CourtMage court magician]]. He is also the one who sends Elsa to steal the insignia, thus setting off the plot.]]

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Averted. While in other shows someone would stab a [[BladeBrake sword into the cliff to stop from falling,]] the sword in question would not break. In Re:Zero, the sword breaks immediately, but not before slowing down the momentum to survivable levels.

** [[spoiler:After breaking into the Pleiades Watchtower, Roy tries to devour the soul of Reid Astrea, the legendary original Sword Saint. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Roy literally bit off more than he could chew, as Reid's soul overpowers Roy's, effectively ressurecting the legendary swordsman.]]

* ChekhovsSkill: In episode 12 it is stated that ground dragons have a blessing which allows them to remove air resistance for them and their riders. Subaru accidentally discovers that this blessing doesn't work if he were to move too far away from the ground dragon. This effect comes back when [[spoiler:Betelgeuse tries to catch the gospel that Subaru threw, making him drift far enough that the blessing no longer works. It leads to his death as it opens him up to multiple attacks from Subaru.]]

* CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds: After becoming an OfficialCouple with Emilia, Subaru's UnresolvedSexualTension with Rem is put on standby after [[spoiler:the latter is promptly put into an indefinite coma and erased from everyone's memories by the Archbishop of Gluttony. It promply restarts once Arc 6 emphasizes how much she means to him, and once she's finally awoken for Arc 7, how her amnesiac self still experiences lingering feelings for Subaru]].

* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: The Witch of Envy gives Subaru his Return by Death, the single most enigmatic ability in the series as well as the most powerful, as it allows the Subaru to keep trying after his deaths in a world of demigods.

** Subaru's death in [[spoiler: episode 18]] also subtly foreshadows [[spoiler: Betelgeuse' ability to possess people upon death]], something that directly leads to Subaru's later death in [[spoiler: episode 23]].
* FormulaWithATwist: Re:Zero asks the question, what if the GenreSavvy Hikikomori was given a power that's [[BlessedWithSuck closer to a curse than a blessing]]? From there, a full on DeconstructorFleet occurs where the protagonist's [[OvershadowedByAwesome lack of power]] and [[ThisLoserIsYou unsavory personality traits]] are closely examined, even as he is forced to go through significant CharacterDevelopment on his personal quest to be a hero.

** Just before she is defeated by the Arcbishop of Gluttony at the start of season 2 the audience is show 2 frames of Rem [[spoiler:from her ''If'' chapter; one with her children with Subaru, Rigel and Spica, and one with her smiling in Subaru's arms.]] Giving those who have read or are just familiar with [[spoiler: ''Rem Natsuki If'']] one Hell gut punch right out the gate.

** Divine Protections are an Inherent Talent distributed to all beings at birth by the Od Laguna, a mysterious thing which is variously speculated to be God, Soul of the World, or the Creation Box. Allegedly, Divine Protections are received by the people "loved by the world", and cannot be tampered with, copied, or removed. They are simpler to use than proper magic and can take pretty much any form, however, most of them are barely perceptible to their holders. The ratio of Divine Protection holders is 1:100 for useless ones, 1:1,000 for useful ones, 1:10,000 for somewhat rare ones, 1:100,000 for really useful ones, 1:1,000,000 for unique ones, 1:10,000,000 for more than one, and the existence of those with more than one Divine Protection is considered strange. Anyone with a Divine Protection can also learn magic.
** Authorities are the dark inverse of Divine Protections - themed after the Seven Deadly sins, only nine Authorities are known to exist, yet all nine can become exceptionally powerful if wielded by the correct user. Upon the user's demise, the Witch Factor carrying the Authority will try to find its way into the nearest compatible host, unless preemptively sealed. Authorities cannot be inherited by people with Divine Protections, and should the user be incompatible with the Authority, usage of it will likely result in physical and mental deterioration. Historically, the Authorities were inherited by the Witches of Sin, a collection of highly compatible individuals, until Satella, the Witch of Envy, went insane after taking in an incompatible Witch Factor and swallowed up her fellow Witches along with half of the world, before being sealed away. However, versions of all the authorities found their way back into the world and are now held by the Sin Archibishops, chosen commanders of the Witch's Cult dedicated to Satella's worship.

* TheHorde: The Great Rabbit, which consists of a horde of normal looking rabbits that eat anything that moves in their vicinity, including themselves.
* HumiliationConga: Episode 13 is basically an twenty minute length one for Subaru, good god. First he speaks out of turn at a royal meeting and proclaims himself to be Emilia's knight in front of ''actual'' knights and feel that he has insulted their chivalry code. Julius then questions Subaru's credentials to be a knight despite his lack of noble status. Subaru then tries to save face by insinuating that knighthood is nothing special. He's then kicked out of the palace hall in front of an obviously disappointed Emilia. You'd think that'd be enough, but nope; Julius challenges Subaru to a duel to defend his knight's honor and beats the shit out of him in front of everyone while he futilely tries to fight back. Even his ace in the hole has no effect as he's too much of a novice for it to be effective against an experienced fighter like Julius. The last scene is Emilia giving him a WhatTheHellHero for disobeying her requests while still trying to proclaim it was "for her sake" and calls him out on his selfishness and tells him in no uncertain terms that she wants nothing more to do with him, and Subaru ends the episode alone and despondent.

** Episode 32 starts with [[spoiler:Subaru angry at Beatrice for saving and prevent him from commiting suicide as he desesperatly tries to avoid a checkpoint in a failed timeline. However he is killed by Elsa shortly after.]] The same episode presents a much more agonizing version when [[spoiler:Garfiel imprisons Subaru for three days. Subaru spends this time resminicing on all of his failures, wondering if everyone in the mansion has already been killed and most of all, wishing for death.]]

* KillOnSight: Most of the population of the world loathes and hates the Witch Cult and would not hesitate to kill any of their members preemptively. Ironically, this has largely aided the Cult in maintaining a degree of secrecy and ambiguity around itself, as very few members could be succesfully captured. Even then, most members would rather commit to a SuicideAttack than risk being captured, so it might not make much of a difference. This mentality towards them is bad news for Subaru, as his Return by Death ability gives him the witch's scent that a select few characters can catch, which makes them suspect that he's a member of the cult. And they usually respond to the slightest suspicious behavior as adequate grounds to murder him.

* OneTwinMustDie: The story of the birth of Ram and Rem refers to the belief from Japanese folklore, as their oni's people must symbolize medieval Japan and Japanese demons in particular. And so, in the people of these girls it was customary to kill the born twins, as it was considered a bad omen, and because very often the twins shared horns for two, because of what they had more weaker abilities than their other tribesmen. However, [[TeenGenius Ram is a very powerful mage]], so powerful that she is considered incredibly talented, so the girls manage to survive. And ironically, all their people are killed after 10 years.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: The White Whale's yellow eyes TurnsRed when it gets mad. Then bad things happen.

* TomesOfProphecyAndFate: [[spoiler:Both Roswaal and Beatrice have one created by Echidna. Roswaal's describe how he can achieve the revival of his master. Also the reason how he knew Subaru's looping abilities. However it is destroyed by Subaru, forcing Roswaal to think for himself for the first time in centuries. Beatrice's on the other hand, explains when she can leave the library and take another task. Unfortunately for her, the book will never change, and she would have stayed in the library for all eternity, until Subaru convinces her to leave.]]