History Manga / Dokuhime

* ChristmasCake: The Evil Queen used to be very beautiful but recently has become aware that she is getting older and may soon lose her looks.

* BareYourMidriff: Mao's outfit is fashionably ragged.

* BadBoss: The Queen of Mitragnya.

* CrapsackWorld: This is NOT a happy place.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Every single one of the main characters suffers from this.

* TheEvilPrince: It has been prophesied... Maybe.

* [[spoiler: FakeKing: Hal masquerades as his father, the previous king.]]

* FetishizedAbuser: The princes make for terrible boyfriends but that's ok, they are sexy, so they must be portrayed in a positive light.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: The Queen isn't a very nice person.

* [[spoiler: HalfIdenticalTwins: The triplets started out identical, but after the king's death they started changing (or not, in the youngest-looking one's case). The twins who hunt Lycoris are mirror-images due to one blinding herself to be her punished sister's other eye.]]

* [[spoiler: MilitaryCoup: How the princes' father became King of Gandol.]]

* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler: [[CuteAndPsycho Kait]].]]

** YoungerThanTheyLook: [[spoiler: Hal looks considerably older than his brothers since he secretly replaced his dad, despite the fact that he usually wears a mask when he's in public as the king.]]

* RoyallyScrewedUp

* SadisticChoice: Most of the missions end up like this.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: [[spoiler: When the Queen of Mitragnya first met the princes' father, she set up a prank that involved poisoning people disguised as royals. He saw through it immediately and she's hated him ever since.]]

* {{Twincest}}: Zakuro; if nothing else, it is really heavily implied.

* YouCantFightFate

* BastardBoyfriend: [[spoiler: Both Hal and Mao qualify, though technically Lycoris is Hal's mistress (though Mao is more of a bastard).]]

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadAss: [[spoiler: Kait, who's stuck in the body and mind of a 13-year old as a result of guilt and trauma, is actually a genius engineer who finds the kingdom's secret water supply out of sheer curiosity and has the whole underground system memorized - something fake king Hal can't do without a map.]]

* NotWhatItLooksLike: With Hal summoning Lycoris to his room every night, most people assume they're lovers. In fact Hal is just a sadist who likes to humiliate her regularly.

* AdultFear: Being targeted for assassination almost constantly.

A manga by Mitsukazu Mihara, who also wrote ''Beautiful People'' and ''Doll'', this is about a group of women raised from birth to be assassins, and have had all their [[Film/DrStrangelove bodily fluids]] converted into lethal poisons.

''Dokuhime'' starts with poisonous herbs under the cradle. Then under the sheets. And inside the clothes. Even mixed in the milk that they feed the newborn. This way the child gradually gets used to poisons and becomes the perfect assassination tool -- the "Poison Princess", whose every kiss, tear and even touch bring death. Her only chance of survival is to fulfill her duty as an assassin and find a way to live on in the enemy land to which she is sent... If her heart is strong enough.

* NotSoDifferent: Lycoris and Hal [[spoiler: plus the two other brothers -- one's a poison tester and the other keeps accidentally killing things.]]

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: All of the kingdoms aside from Ischia.

* MeaningfulName / ThemeNaming: Most, if not all, of the princesses are named after flowers or plants, and usually toxic ones at that.

* WomanInWhite: Lycoris wears white. It emphasizes her kind nature in a CrapsackWorld [[spoiler: and becomes the key to freeing her in the climax.]]

* BigBadWannabe: The Queen comes close to being the BigBad of the work and indeed is the closest thing the manga has to a BigBad but [[spoiler:by the end, the scope of events travel far beyond anyone's control and her plans come crashing down with her powerless to do anything]].

A manga by Mitsukazu Mihara, who also wrote ''Beautiful People'' and ''Doll'', this is about a group of women raised from birth to be assassins, and have had all their [[DrStrangelove bodily fluids]] converted into lethal poisons.

* CulturalBlending: ArabianNightsDays / TipisAndTotemPoles: [[http://www.mangainn.com/manga/chapter/95244_/page_3 The desert kingdom of Ischia]] is mostly American Indian-influenced with touches of Arabia and Mongolia.

''Dokuhime'' starts with poisonous herbs under the cradle. Then under the sheets. And inside the clothes. Even mixed in the milk that they feed the newborn. This way the child gradually gets used to poisons and becomes the perfect assassination tool -- the “Poison Princess”, whose every kiss, tear and even touch bring death. Her only chance of survival is to fulfil her duty as an assassin and find a way to live on in the enemy land to which she is sent… if her heart is strong enough.

!!Tropes featured include:
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: All of the Poison Princesses. [[spoiler:It's only a problem for them if they ''can't'' have poison.]]
* AdultFear: Being targeted for assassination almost constantly.
* AndCallHimGeorge: [[spoiler:Kait has a habit of accidentally killing things like pets, random animals, and his dad.]]
* BadassCape: The King of Gandol wears a pretty cool dark red one.

* BastardBoyfriend: [[spoiler:Both Hal and Mao qualify, though technically Lycoris is Hal's mistress (though Mao is more of a bastard).]]
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:TheHeroine dies, and the kingdom is ransacked. Fortunately, one of the princes hid most of the kingdom's wealth for rebuilding, and Lycoris' efforts helped save her remaining siblings.]] Two out of four ain't bad.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadAss: [[spoiler:Kait, who's stuck in the body and mind of a 13-year old as a result of guilt and trauma, is actually a genius engineer who finds the kingdom's secret water supply out of sheer curiosity and has the whole underground system memorized - something fake king Hal can't do without a map.]]

* TheEvilPrince: It has been prophesied... maybe.

* [[spoiler:FakeKing: Hal masquerades as his father, the previous king.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In chapter 24 Lycoris dreams her hands are filled by red flames; by the end of the chapter [[spoiler: her red hair is falling out because she hasn't gotten her regular diet of poison]].

* [[spoiler:HalfIdenticalTwins: The triplets started out identical, but after the king's death they started changing (or not, in the youngest-looking one's case). The twins who hunt Lycoris are mirror-images due to one blinding herself to be her punished sister's other eye.]]

* [[spoiler:MilitaryCoup: How the princes' father became King of Gandol.]]
* NotSoDifferent: Lycoris and Hal [[spoiler:plus the two other brothers -- one's a poison tester and the other keeps accidentally killing things.]]
* NotWhatItLooksLike: With Hal summoning Lycoris to his room every night, most people assume they're lovers. In fact Hal is just a sadist who likes to humiliate her regularly.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler:[[CuteAndPsycho Kait]].]]

* ScrewDestiny: Lycoris is going for this. [[spoiler:So was the king, when he gave his two other sons the cursed mark and dressed, raised, and treated them alike; it didn't work out too well for him, though.]]
* SingleMindedTwins: The Zakuro, who became assassins for this exact reason.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Lycoris has feelings for [[spoiler:Kait]], the kindest of the three brothers and the only one who cares for her.
* StarCrossedLovers: [[spoiler:Princess Belladonna and food-taster slave Asebi never had a chance together.]]

* [[spoiler: TogetherInDeath: Lycoris and Kait die together. They are also implied to be reborn as a new species of Lycoris flowers]]

* WomanInWhite: Lycoris wears white. It emphasizes her kind nature in a CrapsackWorld [[spoiler: and becomes the key to freeing her in the climax]].

** TomboyishSidetails: Averted. Lycoris is left with this type of look, but she still continues to wear her hair in very feminine styles.