History Manga / Eyeshield21

* BoringButPractical: Contrary to what his opponent's tend to believe, Hiruma is capable of operating on this principle whenever he deems it the best option to win. For instance, in [[the Christmas bowl]] the Devil Bats resort to just running the ball behind Kurita as he smashes up everything in front of him, allowing them to catch up by succeeding in every 2-point try.

* PhenotypeStereotype: Just see the Youth World Cup. [[spoiler:Finland: Best dental care in the world, USA: Of the players in the Pentagram, two are blond, one is black, and one is Native American. India: turbans, Russia: has the strongest guy, who loves material wealth, Germany: sharp features, analytical and good memories, France: led by a {{Bishounen}} prettyboy]]

*** It is later explained by Yamato that the reason he considers Sena to be a better Runningback is his cuts are insane effectively meaning Sena can suddenly move in any direction at any point of his run combined with his speed, making him impossible to catch and improbable to stop.

** Not the typical shounen manga example, but Yukimitsu has the highest determination stat out of anyone in the team. Through a sheer refusal to give up, he [[spoiler: bests Agon and Ikkyu ''at the same time,'' sees through the Oujou White Knights' final play and thwarts it to allow the Devilbats the chance they need to win, ''and'' is ready and waiting to receive a pass from Hiruma '''after Hiruma's been tackled.''']] This guy is one spider bite away from being [[Franchise/SpiderMan the poster boy of this trope.]] One of the manga chapters focusing on Yukimitsu is titled "First in Tenacity."

** Akaba and Kotaro of the Bando Spiders, who also have a ThreeAmigos thing going on with team manager Juri. They're very similar, liking many of the same things for tellingly different reasons. The blue oni, Akaba, feels that technical ability is the most important thing in football, while the red oni likes things that are "smart", and likes passion.

* ThreeAmigos: Sena, Monta, and Suzuna. Kotaro, Akaba, and Julie as well.

* {{Bishonen}}:
** Kiminari Harao, quarterback of the Taiyo Sphinx, is androgynous-looking and wears an Egyptian-style skirt ''on the field'', and his entire team wears eye makeup. He also gets more chocolate from girls on Valentine's Day than anyone else in the tournament. He also has the 2nd most friends out of anybody in the tournament, after [[TheHeart Suzuna]].
** Kisaragi from the Hakushuu Dinosaurs, who is downright beautiful in the most feminine way possible. When the team manager, Maria, steps into the showers to talk to Marco, while the other guys hide their genitals, Kisargi hides ''his chest.''
** Haruto Sakuraba definitely counts.
** Hayato Akaba might count, too.
** Kakei and Yamato might count too, even if their builds are very masculine.
** Clifford D. Lewis [[spoiler: of Team USA]] certainly counts. He has a pretty face with delicate features, his build is relatively slender, and he's pretty much drowning in a ''country's worth'' of fangirls. This is especially true when you compare him to the rest of his team, who range from plain to hunky to downright beastly.

** Even though it's a shonen series and thus we can expect liberties with everything, but the portrayal of American Football is at times just plain wrong. Even with the HandWave of "American football is a violent sport", the referees should be showing up more than twice in the entire series, particular when Gaou starts ''maiming'' people with no apparent issue. Still, it gets the basic rules right, especially under Japanese rules.

* FiveManBand: There's a couple of them.
** Hakushuu Dinosaurs:
*** TheBigBad & TheEvilGenius: Reiji "Marco" Maruko, ManipulativeBastard, Team Captain, quarterback and safety. He's also the one you can blame for the team's deliberately brutal style of play.
*** CoDragons: [[TheJuggernaut Rikiya Gaou]] and [[PsychoSupporter Hiromi Kisiragi]], described as Hakushuu's Right Hand and Left Hand by Marco, Hiruma, and most commentators. Gaou breaks quarterbacks, runningbacks and linemen, while Kisiragi cripples recievers.
*** TheBrute: Subverted. Marco clearly has former team ace [[DirtyCoward Tengu]] slotted for this role, due to his status as their best linebacker, but Tengu pissed off Gaou (which never ends well) and Marco was forced to use himself and Gaou to fill the gap in the defence (Maria even says they are stronger that way. Played straight with Mitsui Saburou, the third best kicker in Kantou, who also doubles as linebacker. He was just kept hidden by Marco who doesn't want to show his strengths until necessary.
*** TheDarkChick: Team Manager Himuro "Maria" Maruko, a SugarAndIcePersonality turned EmotionlessGirl, courtesy of Marco's [[LoveMakesYouEvil interest]] in her. She's also the TokenGoodTeammate.
** The Pentagram:
*** The BigBadDuumvirate: Donald "Mr. Don" Oberman, both TheJuggernaut and a GeniusBruiser, who leads the team on skill and sheer force of personality & Clifford D. Louis, Hiruma's EvilCounterpart, and ManipulativeBastard and {{Chessmaster}} extraordinaire, who serves as the field leader, is the one member of the team to not be afraid of Mr. Don, and does extra duty as TheEvilGenius
*** TheDragon: Patrick "Panther" Spencer, who doubles as the TokenGoodTeammate and serves as their main offensive power.
*** TheBrute: Tatanka, perhaps the series crowning example of DumbMuscle.
*** TheDarkChick: Bud Walker, action movie star and wannabe cornerback. What exactly is he doing here?

* DreamTeam:
** [[spoiler:In the epilogue, Hiruma is the captain of the Saikyodai Wizards university team, playing among star players like, Agon, Yamato, Akaba, Ikkyu and Taka]].
** [[spoiler:In the epilogue, Kurita is the center for a university team involving Unsui, Kotaro, Monta, Riku, and ''Sena.'' While it might not seem like a dream team of the same level as Hiruma's lineup of geniuses, Hiruma himself was the one to point out that Kurita and Sena's team play requires even a collection of geniuses to give their all to stop.]]

** Let's not talk about Suzuna's [[ACupAngst bust]], or [[TheNapoleon height]]. In general, [[OlderThanTheyLook don't talk about her child-like features.]] [[UnstoppableRage It's safer]] [[HilarityEnsues that way]]. [[WhatAnIdiot Then again, her brother often forgets about this.]]

* OffModel: The anime is riddled with this. [[{{Squick}} Suddenly Hiruma is creepy for a whole new reason.]]

** Karin Koizumi's talent was discovered when she tossed a stray ball back to the practicing team. She was then practically forced to join the team, [[spoiler: while all she ''wants'' to do is [[TheChick to draw shoujo manga and play the piano]]....]]

** Karin's throwing ability came for years of drawing shoujo manga and playing piano. [[TheChick Which was her actual hobby from beginning.]]

* TheChick: .
** Usually subverted or even averted, since most of the girls on a team are either a [[TeamMom good, caring manager]], a [[PluckyGirl determined cheerleader who takes training that would make most actual players cry]], or even a [[DrillSergeantNasty scary delinquent queen who makes everyone practice through force and intimidation.]] There are several who played this trope straight, like the White Knights manager.
** Koizumi Karin, quarterback of Teikoku Alexanders. Subverted since she's good at her job, but actually never wanted to get involved in football in the first place...
* TheChikan: Hiruma and Agon save a girl from one. Not for her sake, but their own.

* ArtEvolution: The shift from Murata's earlier, rougher style of anatomy and linework to the smoother, well-toned style he'd utilize in ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' is in full display throughout. Most any characters who weren't intentionally designed to be straight-up cartoony like Kurita and Komusubi got more conventionally attractive without losing what made them distinctive.

* BrotherChuck: Actually justified in this case; Daigo Ikari hasn't been around lately because he's too ''old'' to be in the youth cup, having spent a few years in juvenile hall after one of his messier outbursts.

* MeaningfulName: Nearly everyone.

* ShesGotLegs: Actually applies more to the male cast than female, given the high focus on kicking and running in each match. Taki's default pose is basically a standing split.

** Mostly verbal. Takami did the straight ArmorPiercingSlap, though, as well as the Ha Ha Bros literally kicking some sense into Komusubi.

** Sena being a successful player in general is an unlikely heaping of artistic license. Running speed is really not ''that'' valuable in American Football. Many NFL hopefuls that put up 4.2 second 40-yard dashes or other impressive stats in pre-draft workouts (The NFL Combine) but lack any real fundamentals are known as 'Workout Warriors' or 'Combine Warriors' and have become a well-known cautionary tale for NFL team managers and coaches. Sena's story works for a shonen manga and at high school level play, but realistically, a player with Sena's speed but utter lack of game knowledge or other noteworthy traits would surely doom him to be perennially unsigned or, at best, a short-lived draft bust in the NFL.

** NoodleIncident: Hiruma one bought an island. What for, and how much did it cost? We have no idea.

* Book Dumb: About 90% of the entire cast, who are mostly dumb jock types, but all have superhuman athletic abilities. In particular the Deimon High players (it's revealed that the school broke their quota and everybody who applied got in regardless of test scores). And in ''particular'' particular, Taki, who can't even do simple arithmetic unless it's about sports.

** Parodied by Sasuke Kanagushi of the Dokubari Scorpions; his team lacks any real skill but by paying attention to tiny details in their positions, he can accurately predict the movements of the opposing team. However, against Hiruma, as Takami says: "[[OutGambitted His enemy's just plain too evil,]]" because Kanagushi's analyses is superficial and only works on poor teams with bad habits. Hiruma manages to stay one step ahead of Kanagushi using, among other things, ''[[ItMakesSenseInContext blush and lipstick]]''.

** Parodied by Sasuke Kanagushi of the Dokubari Scorpions; by paying attention to tiny details in their positions, he can accurately predict the movements of the opposing team. However, against Hiruma, as Takami says: "[[OutGambitted His enemy's just plain too evil.]]" because Kanagushi's analyses is superficial and only works on poor teams with bad habits. Hiruma manages to stay one step ahead of Kanagushi using, among other things, ''[[ItMakesSenseInContext blush and lipstick]]''.

** Parodied by Sasuke Kanagushi of the Dokubari Scorpions; by paying attention to tiny details in their positions, he can accurately predict the movements of the opposing team. However, against Hiruma, as Takami says: "[[OutGambitted His enemy's just plain too evil.]]" Hiruma manages to stay one step ahead of Kanagushi using, among other things, ''[[ItMakesSenseInContext blush and lipstick]]''.