History YMMV / Kinnikuman

* HilariousInHindsight: In the Monster Extermination chapters, the chief of police would mistake the attacking monsters as ''wrestlers''. Little did he know...

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: All the jokes about the 1980 Moscow Olympics are somewhat less funny considering that Japan (along with a lot of other nations) decided to boycott the games.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The original run of Kinnikuman was very clearly being written on a chapter-to-chapter basis without too much thought put into it. The revival instead takes great lengths in connecting the numerous tangential story elements into a coherent, thought-out story... all while letting many characters infamous for constantly jobbing [[ThrowTheDogABone actually win]]. Additionally, a much greater focus is put on the assorted supporting character, in contrast to both the original series and Kinnikuman Nisei, rather than have all the fights revolve around Suguru.

* WhatAnIdiot: Mayumi is usually known for making situations worse whenever he tries to fix them, but there was one point in the Throne Arc where he [[IncrediblyLamePun royally]] fucked up - [[spoiler: when the revelation that one of the possible successors to the throne is actually your eldest son that was banished from the family could cause a total disaster in the world of Choujin, the last thing that you should do is hold the one book that could prove it true in a place where it could be stolen]].

** Terryman is this both in-universe and in real life. In the very first popularity contest the manga had, he actually came first.

** Robin Mask's strong leaderlike qualities as a Face, and his terrifying effectiveness as a Heel makes him quite popular among fans. That, and the fact that he's just plain cool.

** Sunshine and Ashuraman are quite popular among fans as well. The fact that they were AffablyEvil and then eventually make a HeelFaceTurn helps too.

** The Ninja, he not only does a HeelFaceTurn, but he also shows one of the best fights in ''Anime/UltimateMuscle''
** Akuma Shogun, the fact that he got his own movie says a lot.
** To a far lesser extent than any of these, Leopardon from Team Big Body, who is far more popular than the rest of the team including Big Body himself despite being one of the victims of TheWorfEffect when sent up against Mammothman, likely due to his design as well as dying in his match almost instantly. He's an AscendedExtra in the revival manga, where he puts up a good fight against Rampageman.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Overlapping with AmericansHateTingle. It's rather ironic that [[{{Eagleland}} Terryman]] is one of these to the Western fanbase. Most of the ire towards Terryman is that he's a wrestler that primarily uses submission moves, which isn't so much of a problem in itself as so much as that when juxtaposed with other wrestlers that pull off some insanely awesome wrestling moves, he looks rather lame in comparison.

* {{Narm}}: "This is divine punishment for wounding my breast." Not even context can make it better. Sure, it's only narmy due to ValuesDissonance, but...

* CrazyIsCool: Certain Choujin stand out as being this, due to the series heavily relying on RuleOfCool, such as Sneagator, an alligator-man wearing sneakers who can shapeshift into various reptiles, and transforms into a '''T-Rex claw''' for his strongest move.

* MemeticMutation: The signature moves of the Choujin themselves are this, given how it's common for other series to make a ShoutOut to Kinnikuman as a series through references to the moves.

* NeverLiveItDown: Kinnikuman Big Body. A common joke among the fans about the Throne Arc is that Kinnikuman Big Body's sacred throne move is stepping into the ring, [[EpicFail since that's all he did against Kinnikuman Super Phoenix before being hit at full force with the Muscle Revenger]]. [[spoiler:That's something even Gear Master called him out on.]]
** HeartwarmingInHindsight: In the 2012 manga, [[spoiler:he finally showed off what he can do with his Choujin god-given strength and actually won against a very powerful Choujin with his FinishingMove the Maple Leaf Clutch. Big Body lost because he was forced into evil, but he won because he fought on his own will.]]

* {{Adorkable}}: Kinnikuman himself, due to his dopey, silly, and kind-hearted nature, especially from the 20th Choujin Olympics arc onwards, were his positive traits tend to be emphasized more while he remains a ditzy LovableCoward.

* UglyCute: Kinnikuman with his mask on. Especially since he's very open and expressive.

* MagnificentBastard: Skull Bozu, Super Phoenix, [[spoiler: '''Suguru''' of all people during the Throne Arc]]

** The Omegaman from the Survivor Match For The Kinniku Throne Arc is also an example of this, due to him being a bounty hunter, a wrestler, and a shapeshifter all in one. His grim-reaper like appearance makes him border on CreepyAwesome due to it making him look both menacing and cool.

* {{Narm}}: [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kinnikuman/v30/c004/13.html "This is divine punishment for wounding my breast."]] Not even context can make it better. Sure, it's only narmy due to ValuesDissonance, but...

* CrazyAwesome: Certain Choujin stand out as being this, due to the series heavily relying on RuleOfCool, such as Sneagator, an alligator-man wearing sneakers who can shapeshift into various reptiles, and transforms into a '''T-Rex claw''' for his strongest move.