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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crepuscule_header.png]]
2->''"Can you be satisfied by this?"''
3
4''Crepuscule''[[note]]an archaic word meaning "twilight"[[/note]] is a Korean webtoon by Mirchi and Yamchi, and follows the story of Lark Alfen living in an alternate world where monsters live and lead fairly normal lives.
5
6The story begins with 5-year old Lark being bullied for his red eyes, which are said to be those of a monster's. Then, one day he meets Setz, a pureblood vampire who shares the same eye color and becomes his friend. When Lark finds out that he is to be sent away, Setz decides to bring Lark back home with him. Of course, the said home is in Crepuscule, where vampires, succubi, ghosts, zombies, and werewolves live, which makes Lark's identity as a human a bit of a problem.
7
8Note that there are two versions of the story, with the older, canceled edition being penned by [=TieRo=] and muchi.
9
10!!''Crepuscule'' provides examples of:
11* AbortedArc: The end of Season 2 implies that Gilles de Rais is up to something and will return in Season 3. He does... but [[spoiler:has already given up and gives Nergal what he wants without a fight. Granted, there are hints that Gilles's time off-screen wasn't exactly uneventful, but it almost feels as though the author had bigger things in store before dropping them.]]
12* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: The student council(s) of Arzew Academy is set to be part of the government after they graduate. The one in this generation consists of Setz, Carne, Neal, Bathory, and Sai. As of Season 3, Lark, Sia, Seere, Seeren, and Ersha have joined.
13* AbusiveParents:
14** Navarus, of the emotionally abusive variety. In the older version, he was physically abusive as well.
15** Carne's mother was also less than kind to her while alive.
16** Neal's father treated him like dirt, forming the basis of his {{Jerkass}} personality today.
17* AllLoveIsUnrequited: So far, the list goes:
18** Carne -> Setz. He does care for her deeply though and they are engaged, so it's possible that it may end up being subverted. [[spoiler: It ends tragically, as Carne ends up dying.]]
19** Sai -> Bathory, Sai joined the student council for Bathory. She treats him as an annoyance at best...
20** Sia -> Seere. Sia is a bit jealous because it seems that she and Lark have a closer relationship. [[spoiler: Sia ends up realizing that Seere is indeed more focused on Lark than him.]]
21** [[spoiler:Sylvia -> Navarus, Sylvia dedicates her life for him, but realizes he'll never return her feelings because of his wife... Navarus was furious at Sylvia for killing Angela and seems to view her as worthless.]]
22** [[spoiler:Tepes -> Nergal, who was already in a relationship with Carmilla.]]
23* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Lark, who was bullied for having red eyes. [[spoiler:Nergal]] was also bullied heavily for being a werewolf with no physical strength.
24* AntiVillain: As noted in GreyAndGrayMorality, no one's ever really ''evil''. Every antagonist--no matter how AxCrazy or how much of a {{Jerkass}} they may be--in the story has sympathetic motivations, is a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, or both.
25* AnyoneCanDie: Downplayed, as most of the main characters do survive, but the series does rack up a fairly hefty body count by the end: [[spoiler:Carne, Angela, Sylvia, Lizzy, Gilles, Nergal, Tepes, Theresia, Navarus.]]
26* ArcWords: Said by Carmilla, in the prologue and then again in Season 3's prologue.
27-->''"Can you be satisfied by this?"''
28* ArrangedMarriage: Setz and Carne are in one. Has some shades of PerfectlyArrangedMarriage, as Carne does fall in love with Setz, and while Setz's feelings might be more platonic than romantic, he genuinely cares for Carne as well. [[spoiler:Shame about her powers going berserk...]]
29* ArtEvolution: Between the two versions of the series, and within the main version as well. Compare [[http://read.egscans.com/mangas/Crepuscule/Chapter%20000/Crepuscule_ch00_p02.jpg Lark in the prologue]] to [[http://read.egscans.com/mangas/Crepuscule/Chapter%20126/Crepuscule_s2_044_p011.jpg Lark in Season 2]].
30* BattleButler: Riu for Nergal and Sylvia for Navarus.
31* BeachEpisode: Season 3 has one consisting of two chapters when the characters visit the Reberca region, though it's not quite a BreatherEpisode as the second chapter does involve heavy plot-related talk.
32* TheBerserker: Those that fall into a rampage are this. With the added bonus of getting a huge boost in power and blood lust. They died at the end of their rampage though.
33* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The vampires are free and living peacefully in their original world, and against all odds, Lark, Bathory and Setz are still alive (as are their friends). On the other hand, most of the First Generation is dead, and Lark and Bathory have chosen to separate themselves from the vampires, with it ambiguous as to whether they'll ever reunite again or not.]]
34* BookDumb:
35** Lark, who ends up failing all his exams... In part because he came from a rural area where the education wasn't on the same standard as in the capital and as a ''human'' he can't understand the magic used by the vampires.
36** One can assume Sai is this as well, as he's failed for three years and is thus still in school.
37* BreakTheCutie: Setz, thanks to [[AbusiveParents Navarus]], which Angela predicted would happen. Carne as well, thanks to [[ManipulativeBastard Neal, emphasis on the bastard]].
38* CharactersDroppingLikeFlies: The finale is responsible for half of the deaths in the series.
39* ChekhovsGun: Quite a few at the start.
40** When Lark fell off the cliff, the process Angela used to heal him was what [[spoiler:Carmilla used to enter his body, and the pendant that Arche gives him serves as a ChekhovsGift, as it's actually Carmilla's pendant.]]
41** Early on, Angela mentions that she's using Yamurnia to cultivate legendary herbs. [[spoiler:After her death, the flower that sprouts from Yamurnia becomes a necessary ingredient for the sunlight medicine.]]
42* ChekhovsGunman:
43** That white fox Lark was caring for in the beginning? [[spoiler:It's Nergal, the first generation pureblood werewolf who governs the land of the same name.]]
44** Tepes--a key player in later seasons--is mentioned as early as the prologue and implicitly whenever the creation of Crepuscule is discussed.
45** In Season 2, Sai mentions [[spoiler:his and Sia's apparently deceased father who died under mysterious circumstances. Season 3 reveals that he wasn't so dead after all.]]
46* Theresia first appears a few times in Tepes's flashbacks as a side character and is ultimately [[spoiler:revealed to be a BigBad]].
47* CreepyChild: Those two jerkass Elders.
48* CuteLittleFangs: Setz and Bathory, notably.
49* DarkAndTroubledPast: Just about everyone has one to various extents.
50* DarkerAndEdgier: Part 2 as a whole. [[spoiler:Part One was mostly Lark's entering the school. It had its dark moments, but they were usually countered with comedy the next chapter. At the start of Part 2, Angela is killed and it just gets darker from there.]]
51* DawnOfAnEra: [[spoiler:The end, which has the vampires return to their original world.]]
52* DeadPersonConversation: There's a ''lot'' of them in the finale.
53* DeathIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:The red-eyed human (i.e. Lark) must die to revive Carmilla--[[SubvertedTrope though Bathory manages to work around that]].]]
54* DysfunctionJunction: It was probably inevitable in a series that revolves around how imperfect the world is, but more than a few members of the cast could use a therapist.
55* ExoticEyeDesigns: Everyone (aside from Lark) has them, as part of being a vampire.
56* EyeScream: To Neal (Nirvana). Twice.
57* {{Fanservice}}: The BeachEpisode, as is likely obvious, has this in the form of Seere and Bathory in bikinis.
58* FantasticRacism:
59** To begin with, [[spoiler:humans were the ones to wage war against the vampires.]]
60** Season 3 reveals a subcategory of vampires who are anthropomorphic beings, who apparently aren't treated too well.
61* FirstNameBasis:
62** Setz's [[DefrostingIceKing defrosting]] can be seen in the way he refers to Angela: he goes from using respectful honorifics to the more affectionate [[UsefulNotes/KoreanHonorifics nuna]].
63** Bathory has Lark be on this with her as her condition for not calling him "kid" anymore.
64* FirstEpisodeTwist: Setz and Lark are separated soon after Lark's arrival into Crepuscule, and Setz grows up to be an IceKing.
65* ForegoneConclusion: The beginning establishes that by the end of the story, Crepuscule is destroyed.
66* {{Foreshadowing}}: The artist notes that in the prologue, they purposely [[spoiler:greyed Carne's image out slightly to indicate that she dies later on]].
67* FriendlessBackground: Lark, before meeting Setz. Sia, likewise, had no friends before Seere and Lark, due to his personality. For that matter, Setz too, depending on whether or not you count Carne as a 'friend'.
68* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: Setz, Angela, and some others.
69* FullNameUltimatum: Crossing over with CallingParentsByTheirName, but when CallingTheOldManOut, Setz uses Navarus's full name.
70* GreyAndGrayMorality: Despite the large number of [[{{Jerkass}} Jerkasses]] around, each side has their own, understandable reasons for doing what they do. Specific conflicts include:
71** Navarus vs. Nergal when the latter trespasses into Arzew Academy. On one hand, Navarus has primarily been an AbusiveParent so far with questionable motives; on the other hand, Nergal is revealed to have [[spoiler:tortured Bathory in the past]] and, for all intents and purposes, is attacking innocent students.
72** In Season 2, despite the Council being set up as antagonist [[KnightTemplar Knight Templars]], it's hard to say that [[spoiler:Lark, with Tepes's influence (and note that Tepes intends to destroy Crepuscule even if it means wiping out every vampire living in it),]] is really much more heroic.
73* HairstyleInertia: Aside from Navarus and Neal, it seems as though no one in Crepuscule is big on hairstyle changes.
74* HalfHumanHybrid: It's explicitly noted that this is impossible: vampires and humans can't interbreed.
75* HopeSpot: [[spoiler:Navarus notes that Carne has a chance to be saved if Setz can get to her in time. Though Carne ''does'' calm down thanks to him... [[DiedInYourArmsTonight Nope]], [[DisappearsIntoLight it's too late]].]]
76* HumansAdvanceSwiftly: Nergal notes that humans have a tendency to achieve the impossible (versus vampires, who tend to remain static).
77* HumansAreBastards: Bathory remarks that humans are inclined to be selfish. That said, the view of them isn't purely negative, as...
78* HumansAreSpecial: Bathory also believes this, as did Carmilla, hence why she wanted to leave them in peace in the first place. [[spoiler:Considering that Bathory is Carmilla's LiteralSplitPersonality...]]
79* ImmortalImmaturity: The most extreme form is the two council members who look like children and are [[KidsAreCruel just as vicious]].
80* InterspeciesRomance: Really nearly everyone in the series is a mix.
81* InternalReveal: The reader knows from the start why Setz abandoned Lark and that his reasons for doing so are entirely understandable and sympathetic. Lark, not knowing for a large portion of the story, resents Setz for it.
82* IronicEcho:
83** In Season 1, Setz barrages Angela with questions about what she's up to with his father, at which point Lark chides him, asking if he's interrogating her. Come Season 2, [[spoiler:Setz barrages Lark, who TookALevelInJerkass, with questions, and Lark asks the same thing]]. Setz notes that this time, the words sound far colder.
84** When Setz brought Lark through the passageway into Crepuscule and Lark asked what would happen if they fall from the staircases, Setz answered that they'd die. [[spoiler:Ten years later, when Sia asks the same question, Lark gives the same answer. Setz can be seen with a sweatdrop in the background.]]
85* {{Irony}}: Setz hates his dad for being cold and absent without knowing he's taking on tremendous burdens to protect his loved ones; a few years later Setz is doing the exact same thing ''and he still doesn't understand his father''. [[spoiler:Granted, considering eventual reveals, Setz wasn't so far off the mark.]]
86* JigsawPuzzlePlot: Why does Lark have red eyes? Why are mutants being born? Where is Carmilla? ''What are half the characters in the series plotting?'' Over 200 chapters in, and everyone's still trying to figure things out. Most of these don't get answered until the final season.
87* KidsAreCruel: Lark was frequently bullied by other kids for having red eyes.
88* KickTheDog: Neal does this repeatedly. [[spoiler:Lark]] begins to indulge it after [[spoiler:Angela's death]] as well, and for that matter, [[spoiler:Tepes]] when she brutally beats up [[spoiler:Sia]].
89* KnightTemplar: The council.
90* LikeFatherLikeSon: Setz hates that his father is distant, but it's due to him shouldering responsibilities (including people's lives) so great he doesn't care if he's hated. Of course Setz is already doing the same thing. Ultimately, though, when [[spoiler:Navarus is confirmed to be an antagonist]] it turns out that they're NotSoSimilar.
91* LimitedWardrobe: Everyone pretty much has just one outfit and they stick with it. Somewhat justified with the students, who wear the uniform (but even then, they don't change even when on non-school-related business), but the adults really have no excuse. [[SameClothesDifferentYear Some the First Generation haven't changed their wardrobe in hundreds of years, apparently]]!
92* MeaningfulEcho: Angela's justification for doing what she's doing is that it's her right as someone living in this world. Apparently, it's something she said often, as [[spoiler:Lark uses the same justification to Navarus, who asks if he said that on purpose to reiterate that he's Angela's son]].
93* MementoMacguffin: The ribbon Carne wears was a gift from Setz, as well as belonging to his late mother. [[spoiler:It's also all that remains after she disappears]].
94* MoodWhiplash: The series is occasionally prone to this, such as during [[spoiler:Tepes and Gilles's dramatic fight]]... which then immediately cuts to Lark's drooling face, on account of how bored he is [[spoiler:inside his subconscious]].
95* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: The authors don't do this often, but when they do, they usually pick the names of people who have contributed to vampire lore in some way.
96** Vlad Tepes: Named after Vlad III, "Tepes" being Romanian for his nickname, "The Impaler." His reputation as a torturer and his patronymic name of Dracula serve as the inspiration and namesake of the eponymous vampire of [[Literature/{{Dracula}} Bram Stoker's novel]].
97** Gilles de Rais: His namesake is the Breton lord of the same name whose crimes of kidnapping and cannibalizing young children lead to some considering him as France's first "real vampire." He ''is'' also the namesake of another fictional vampire that was conceptualized before Crepuscule's -- Gilles de Rais from the Platform/Nintendo64 ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games.
98** Bathory Erzsebet: From the Hungarian countess, Elizabeth (Erzsebet in her native tongue) of the Bathory noble family, with the switched name order coming from a common misconception regarding the ordering of names in Hungarian. Known for being one of the most prolific female serial killers, whose murders of young, adolescent females sprouted stories of her vampire-like tendencies after her death, such as bathing in virgins' blood to uphold her youth.
99* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler:Angela's, but it's been made clear she's DeadForReal. Probably.]]
100* NoodleIncident: Vague references are made to incidents related to why Angela and Nergal hate Navarus's guts, but are never elaborated on.
101* OurMonstersAreDifferent:
102** OurGhostsAreDifferent: They aren't actually dead, for one. Furthermore, after the creation of Crepuscule, they lost their ability to become incorporeal.
103** OurVampiresAreDifferent: Vampires were once closer to the typical image of a vampire, but when the race started dying out they began breeding with other demons. The vampiric blood was strong enough to blot out characteristics of the other demons, until they were all considered vampires instead.
104** OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: They look like CatGirl[=s=] and they can be foxes too.
105** OurZombiesAreDifferent: They're not undead, just oddly colored, exceptionally tough, and resistant to magic.
106* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler:Carne attempts to prove to herself that he'll care for her despite knowing that she killed his mother--except because she worded it vaguely, Setz thought she was talking about ''his'' secret and reacted poorly. He then apologized, leading her to think that he was rejecting her, [[UnstoppableRage and then]], [[DiedInYourArmsTonight well]]...]]
107* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: In Season 2, this comes up towards the end, where Nergal leaves Gilles's fate in Lark's hands... before Setz, who's been fed up with [[spoiler:Lark's revenge quest]] and all the self-centeredness from the beginning, speaks up and points out that ''Lark is not the only person'' who was [[spoiler:affected by Angela's death]].
108* Really700YearsOld: [[spoiler:Bathory is far too old to be a student]]. Similarly, all first generation characters are this. [[spoiler: Neal/Nilvana is apparently much older than he appears too. Arguably Setz, technically he is only 16 but he was in his mother womb for 500 years.]]
109* RedEyesTakeWarning: Red eyes are the sure sign of a vampire in both worlds, and Lark's constant bullying is due to him having red eyes.
110** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because a pact made between humans and vampires made it impossible for humans to have red eyes, and impossible for vampires to breed with humans. Which in turn raises a question about Lark's ancestry, because he can't have red eyes as a human (which he does have) since only vampires can have red eyes, and he is definitely a human (and can't be half-human, half-vampire).
111** The author had a handy chart of which types of eyes meant what (IE zombies have solid red eyes, werewolves have slitted pupils, ghosts have pinkish eyes) but there's been so much interbreeding it doesn't really matter.
112* RoyalInbreeding: The Sermenys family secretly does this so as to maintain their bloodline purity.
113* SaveTheWorldClimax: This is not, in fact, a slice-of-life story about a human attending vampire school (mostly). [[spoiler:Or rather, in this case, it seems to be more like Destroy the World Climax.]]
114* SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack: Granted, the setting typically takes place in Arzew or on school-related business, but really, you could count on one or two hands the number of times a teenage character wears anything besides their uniform.
115* ShoutOut: To ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' in the original version.
116* SlouchOfVillainy: Nevarus, regardless of what you think his role in the story will ultimately end up being, does a rather blatant, textbook villainous slouch (on what appears to be a throne, no less) in Chapter 174.
117* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
118** Carne/Carne? Nirvana/Nilvana? Riu/Liu? And so on and so forth.
119** Early translations referred to Gilles de Rais and co. as the Elder Council, while the group beneath them was the Assembly. Later translations instead refer to the former as the Council, while the latter is the Senate.
120* StoryArc: The series is split into different seasons, and within each season are arcs of their own.
121* StrangerInAStrangeSchool: Lark is a human attending a school for vampires.
122* SugarAndIcePersonality:
123** Setz who, while much colder than he was as a child, still remains a decent person at heart.
124** Sia's also not the friendliest of people at first, but if you actually bother to get to know him ([[FriendlessBackground which most don't]]), he's a good guy.
125* ThemeTwinNaming: Millefeuille and Chocolat, the Miel Twins who are part of the Council, are named after sweets.
126* TimeSkip: The first few chapters show Setz and Lark's childhood and meeting, basically acting as a prologue to the main story thereafter.
127* TranquilFury: [[spoiler: After Lark learns from Tepes who killed Angela and unlocks his light powers, he calmly blows up a building as a demonstration.]]
128* TraumaInducedAmnesia:
129** Carne, who initially doesn't remember much about the incident that killed her parents. [[spoiler:Namely, the fact that ''she'' caused it]].
130** Given everything he's been through at [[spoiler: Navarus]]'s hands, it wouldn't be surprising if this is what happened to [[spoiler: Neal/Nilvana, who doesn't remember his sister]].
131* WasItReallyWorthIt: A recurring theme throughout the story: if Crepuscule, the vampires' "paradise", is truly worth the sacrifices it needs to be sustained.
132* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Gilles and Nergal, both of whom can be vicious in obtaining their goals. Averted with Sia, however.

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