History YMMV / Witchblade

* CompleteMonster: Madeline Desormeaux, despite only appearing in 2 issues, is as bad as the comic gets. She was once an appalling sadist with a sick fascination for [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing and dismembering]] her slaves, then putting them back together in grotesque ways where they suffered until death. After the escape of a [[WouldHurtAChild little boy]] whose [[EyeScream eyes]] and [[MouthStitchedShut mouth]] she had stitched shut escaped, Madeline ultimately died. However, even this would not keep her evil from infecting the land, cursing all of her former victims to wander in agony until the day her wicked soul is destroyed for good. When Dani shows up to put the slaves' souls to rest, Madeline gleefully attempts to [[TongueTrauma tear her tongue out]], proclaiming her plans to torture her due to her fraternization with the "filth" of her former slaves.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: The standards are set pretty high, considering the nature of the series, but the scene where Takayama outdrinks Wadou in episode 10 most certainly qualifies.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny:
** "Nah, my mom's are way bigger."
** As mentioned above, Masane gets invited to a fancy party for Wadou. Thanks to her, it takes less than half an episode for the party to turn into Reiji and Wadou trying to drink each other under the table.
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: "You're not afraid of me?" "'Course not. You're still my ''mom''."

* LesYay: Shiori for Reina. She actually [[IndirectKiss kisses the lip print]] left on a teacup at one point.

* LesYay:

* GrowingTheBeard: Ron Marz took over with issue #80 and immediately reinvented the wheel. Sara learned how to stop shredding her clothes, the Witchblade began to manifest more often as suits of armor rather than a steel bikini, Sara picked up a regular love interest, and her relationship with the Witchblade and its previous bearers was reexamined. It really is a different book after that point.

* OlderThanTheyThink: It's always believed that The Witchblade stopped shredding Sara's clothes once Ron Marz. The real truth is that even in the early issues by Michael Turner and Marc Silvestri, the Witchblade rarely tore Sara's clothes to shreds. As a matter of fact, it simply would just grow over whatever clothes Sara was wearing. Sara's clothes were usually already torn from the fights. The only real times the Witchblade actually tore Sara's clothes under Turner and Silvestri was if she was wearing clothes unfit for battle such as dresses. This was also a case of DependingOnTheWriter and DependingOnTheArtist which just ran with the idea of the Witchblade tearing Sara's clothes.

* MyRealDaddy: To a large extent, the current book can be said to have started around the time Ron Marz took over as writer. He jettisoned many of the book's '90s "bad girl" trappings and turned it into a much more satisfying urban fantasy/conspiracy comic.

* TearJerker: So, so many.[[/folder]]

* CompleteMonster: Madeline Desormeaux, despite only appearing in 2 issues, is as bad as the comic gets. She was once an appalling {{sadist}} with a sick fascination for [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing and dismembering]] her slaves, then putting them back together in grotesque ways where they suffered until death. After the escape of a [[WouldHurtAChild little boy]] whose [[EyeScream eyes]] and [[MouthStitchedShut mouth]] she had stitched shut escaped, Madeline ultimately died. However, even this would not keep her evil from infecting the land, cursing all of her former victims to wander in agony until the day her wicked soul is destroyed for good. When Dani shows up to put the slaves' souls to rest, Madeline gleefully attempts to [[TongueTrauma tear her tongue out]], proclaiming her plans to torture her due to her fraternization with the "filth" of her former slaves.

** In a series filled with magical foes, demonic entities, and insane immortals, [[MonsterOfTheWeek Carl Dalack]], from "Nailed", stands out as the sole ordinary foe Sara faces, yet nevertheless [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters one of the most wicked]]. Dalack is a despicable SerialKiller and [[SerialRapist rapist]] of young teenage girls, who he tortures by [[{{Fingore}} ripping out their fingernails]] to satisfy his fetish for hands. Having claimed eight victims by the time he is released from police custody on a technicality, Dalack immediately begins stalking and terrorizing several young girls, mocking an entire class of them by reminiscing about some of his victims' screams, later killing one of these schoolgirls as the restart of his spree. To get revenge on Detective Danby Woo, the one who originally busted him for his crimes, Dalack kidnaps the man's young niece, molesting then preparing to torture and kill her just to hurt Danby, and, when Danny captures him once again, Dalack attempts to goad Danby into killing him to ruin both his conscience and his life.

** [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Vorschlag Industries CEO Kenneth Irons]] is the cold-blooded BigBad of the entire series, tormenting [[TheProtagonist Sara Pezzini]] at every turn in his quest for the Witchblade. Throughout the first season, Irons is revealed time and again to [[TheChessmaster be behind many of the show's villains]], be it a government group that drugged and experimented on people to turn them into super-soldiers or a MadDoctor who artificially inseminated several women to clone himself, until finally, Irons takes center stage, murdering all of Sara's friends and loved ones in a mad gambit to manipulate her into his servitude. When this fails, Irons acquires the Longinus Lance, using it to slaughter two of his own men who leaked his secrets after giddily displaying that he murdered their families for their "betrayal", and later attempts to cut Sara down then use the Lance to wipe out all who would stand against him. [[BackFromTheDead Returning from the grave]] as a spectral entity following his death at Sara's hands, Irons continues his machinations, influencing his son Ian Nottingham, who he has abused since childhood, into continuing his crusade against Sara, killing several bystanders in the process. In the finale, Irons's evil reaches its peak as he uses the website Cyberfaust to "download" himself into hundreds of people across America, then control them into committing vicious murders of all those nearby, claiming countless victims, adult and child alike. Kenneth Irons was the pinnacle of villainy in Sara's conflicts, with the only thing matching his eternal life being his depths of depravity.

** In a series filled with magical foes, demonic entities, and insane immortals, [[MonsterOfTheWeek Carl Dalack]], from "Nailed", stands out as the sole ordinary foe Sara faces, yet nevertheless [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters one of the most wicked]]. Dalack is a despicable SerialKiller and [[SerialRapist rapist]] of young teenage girls, who he tortures by [[{Fingore}} ripping out their fingernails]] to satisfy his fetish for hands. Having claimed eight victims by the time he is released from police custody on a technicality, Dalack immediately begins stalking and terrorizing several young girls, mocking an entire class of them by reminiscing about some of his victims' screams, later killing one of these schoolgirls as the restart of his spree. To get revenge on Detective Danby Woo, the one who originally busted him for his crimes, Dalack kidnaps the man's young niece, molesting then preparing to torture and kill her just to hurt Danby, and, when Danny captures him once again, Dalack attempts to goad Danby into killing him to ruin both his conscience and his life.

* ComeForTheXStayForTheY: The series is clearly marketed as nothing but a fanservice-and-action sandwich (''"Death By Hotness"''©), but stick with it and it turns out to be far more emotionally charged and character-driven than the average "serious" anime.

** Back in the day, Top Cow published an ongoing ''Tomb Raider'' comic that was actually in continuity with ''Witchblade'', and Lara would occasionally show up to hang out with Sara. During those appearances, they did everything short of make out with one another. When subtext is being screamed into your face at point-blank range, is it still subtext?

** It has bonded with men in the past before. So maybe the Witchblade is bi?

* LesYay: Back in the day, Top Cow published an ongoing ''Tomb Raider'' comic that was actually in continuity with ''Witchblade'', and Lara would occasionally show up to hang out with Sara. During those appearances, they did everything short of make out with one another. When subtext is being screamed into your face at point-blank range, is it still subtext?
** Not to mention her relationship with Danielle.
*** Danielle is also a confirmed bisexual.

* [[EstrogenBrigade Testosterone Brigade]]: A good chunk of the fandom.
** It's doubtful the series was ''ever'' marketed at girls.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: "Nah, my mom's are way bigger."
** As mentioned about, Masane gets invited to a fancy party for Wadou. Thanks to her, it takes less than half an episode for the party to turn into Reiji and Wadou trying to drink each other under the table.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Shiori has a lot of fan content for a character that only appears for less than a third of the series. Most likely do the fact that she has the same (though slightly larger) buxom bodytype as Masane and a lot of viewers finding her witchblade form appealing.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: "Nah, my mom's are bigger."

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Tell anyone that the series is crammed with CharacterDevelopment and [[TearJerker Tear Jerkers]]; they'll take one look at the box and dismiss it as soft-core porn.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Rihoko. A viewer [[ComeForTheXStayForTheY could justify watching the series just for her]] and her [[CrowningMomentOfFunny sparkling]] [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming interactions]] with virtually anyone else.
--> ''[[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/witchblade/dvd-5 Review]]:'' Her screen presence is all the more remarkable because the series ''does not go out of its way to aggrandize her''.

* CompleteMonster: The {{narcissist}}ic [[ItsAllAboutMe Tatsuoki Furumizu]], AKA "Father," is the creator of the Cloneblade using Neogeness: women able to bear imitations of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Witchblade]]. Despite being raised by a loving mother, Furumizu [[MommyIssues loathed her]], seeing his father as "perfection" he wished to achieve. Angered by his own sterility, Furumizu has young women indoctrinated where he implants them with his genetics and the Cloneblades, all the while making them believes he cares for them. Furumizu is well aware the process leads to mental instability and inevitable death but simply doesn't care. His manipulations lead many of the Neogenes to lose their minds and do great harm before succumbing, but Furumizu simply has a second generation created, not caring when the strongest Maria kills his previous "favorite" Reina. Furumizu is solely obsessed with his own perfection and creating the perfect "mother" to give birth to his legacy.

* CompleteMonster: The {{narcissist}}ic [[ItsAllAboutMe Tatsuoki Furumizu]], AKA " Father," is the creator of the Cloneblade using Neogeness: women able to bear imitations of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Witchblade]]. Despite being raised by a loving mother, Furumizu [[MommyIssues loathed her]], seeing his father as "perfection" he wished to achieve. Angered by his own sterility, Furumizu has young women indoctrinated where he implants them with his genetics and the Cloneblades, all the while making them believes he cares for them. Furumizu is well aware the process leads to mental instability and inevitable death but simply doesn't care. His manipulations lead many of the Neogenes to lose their minds and do great harm before succumbing, but Furumizu simply has a second generation created, not caring when the strongest Maria kills his previous "favorite" Reina. Furumizu is solely obsessed with his own perfection and creating the perfect "mother" to give birth to his legacy.

* UnfortunateImplications: The Witchblade is said to have bonded to others before, such as Cleopatra and Joan de Arc, famous women. However, this implies that the only reason they were able to become famous was because the Witchblade was helping them, instead of saying that they did everything without help.
** Joan of Arc is especially tricky. Put the most beloved figure in the history of France, a saint and TechnicalPacifist who swore that she had never killed anybody, together with a weapon of mass destruction that often kills people without its wielder even intending to, and say that the voice of God the girl claimed to hear was actually just this weapon? ''That'' is playing with fire.
*** To be fair, the series has mentioned that the Witchblade's abilities differ widely from person to person, and that several of the bearers have not been any sort of warrior at all, let alone capable of using it as a weapon. For example, a woman in 1920s Paris who bore the Witchblade was a fairly blatant {{Expy}} of Josephine Baker.

* JumpingTheShark: [[spoiler: After the ResetButtonEnding of Season One, Season Two just covers the same ground with less suspense. All the character development and discovery went out the window, and Sara laboriously relearned stuff that the audience had found out a year before.]]

* TearJerker: In the first season, AnyoneCanDie. Many of the deaths qualify. Special mentions go to the deaths of [[spoiler: Conchobar]] and [[spoiler: Joe Cirus]].[[/folder]]