Literature / Campione!

A Campione – a Godslayer – is a supreme ruler.

Since he can kill a celestial being, he can therefore call on the sacrosanct, divine powers wielded by the gods.

A Campione – a Godslayer – is a lord.

Since the power to kill a deity is in his hands, he therefore looms over all mortals on Earth.

A Campione – a Godslayer – is a devil.

Since of all mortals who live in the world, none can assume a power to match his!

The gods and goddesses appearing in the legends of mankind since the beginning of time rarely descend to earth. Having lost the restraint of their legends, those gods willfully wander the earth and bring disaster wherever they go. We magicians call those gods "Heretic Gods". Man cannot go against god. Even if you gathered all of mankind's power and wisdom, it would still be far from matching a heretic god. But there are also those comparable to the gods on this earth. They are godslayers. While being human, they murdered a god and stole a part of their sacred authorities. We call those seven people campione.

Godou Kusanagi, a 16-year-old boy who played in the senior league as catcher and fourth hitter - that is, the cleanup - when he was in Junior High. However, an injury put an end to his baseball career. Though that was not the end for him. During the spring break of his third and last year in Junior High, he got involved in an adventure and ended up slaying one of the Heretic Gods, Verethragna. Thus, he became the youngest - and seventh - Campione.

Now that he is a Campione, a godslayer, the young Godou must defeat the troublemaking gods, with the help of his followers!

Because of this, Godou now has the powers of the god he killed. Godou, of course, wants nothing to do with the world in question, but he also has a rather strong sense of justice. Unable to simply turn a blind eye to those in need, he uses his new found powers to fight Heretic Gods, other Campione, and random bad guys.

And along the way, he gets surrounded by several girls. All of whom try and pull him deeper into the world of Magic.

Campione! is a series of Light Novels written by Jō Taketsuki and illustrated by Sikorski, which was published from May 2008 to November 2017 for 21 volumes. From December 2017 to July 2019, a spinoff light novel series called Shiniki no Campioness was released and has 5 volumes. This series details the adventures of Rokuhara Ren, the eighth Campione, though it has a slightly different continuity and rules from the original series. Godou, who is now in his thirties, sometimes makes guest appearances. Starting in June 2020, a sequel called Campione: Lord of Realms was released and has 3 volumes so far. This has the further adventures of Godou and Ren.

The novels have an anime adaptation which aired for one 13-episode season from July to September 2012. It was licensed by Sentai Filmworks for an English-language release. The anime streamed on Crunchyroll and Hulu. There is also a manga adaptation which ran in Super Dash & Go! from October 2011 to April 2013, but was cancelled after 3 volumes.

Please do not confuse this with the British series Campion.

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Campione! provides examples of:

• Absurdly Sharp Blade:
  • Perseus casually slices through rather large stone pillars and blocks that Godou hurls at him in episode 10.
  • Salvatore's [Ripping Arm of Silver] can turn any object into a sword capable of cutting through solid stone.
• Animation Bump: The first half of episode 1 is where the series looks its best compared to the rest of the show, which is about on par with most Diomedea efforts. Made even more noticeable in episode 6, where a couple close-up shots of Arianna driving are reused and immediately stand out for being more detailed-looking than the rest of the episode surrounding it.
• Anti-Magic:
  • Gods and Campioni are highly resistant to magic. It only works due to close contact (i.e. kissing) or ingesting. Godly magic can still affect them, but it's still weakened.
  • The sword of the Warrior can work like this because it seals and destroys a god's power.
  • Hikari, Yuri's sister, has this ability without being a campione.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Erica tells Godou in episode 2 that he can only use his powers once a day, so he'll have to be selective on when to use it.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Godou's most powerful ability, The Golden Sword of Verethraghna, can strip his opponent of their power and kill them without having to touch them if he is knowledgeable on the god in question (usually this knowledge is gifted to him by a member of his harem through a kiss, since he is immune to magic and learning all the stuff verbally/reading would take weeks.)
• Badass Normal: All the Campiones were normal humans when they killed a god.
• Bait-and-Switch Credits: The opening and ending of the anime suggests that Athena is the main antagonist. She's defeated in episode 4. Episode 13 reveals that it was Metis, Athena's mother who looks exactly like her, except she's wearing red instead of Athena's blue.
• Battle Harem: Every major female character can hold their own in combat with Godou, with the exception of Yuri, who has a support role.
• Beach Episode: The first part of episode 8 due to Erica's manipulation. She wants to spend time with her true love, you know?
• Bedmate Reveal: When Godou wakes up in bed in episode 2, he finds a naked Erica sleeping in it as well. Instead of being embarrassed, he's annoyed.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Many people deliberately piss off Godou, only to discover to their chagrin that he's just as deadly as any other Campione, if not more.
• Beyond the Impossible: One of the main constants throughout the series is that normal humans cannot stand up to gods. Youth Form smashes this apart, as those given Protection have the same overwhelming life force and magical capacity as a Campione. Erica was able to defeat the possessed Ena using it.
• BFS:
  • Several, though somewhat of an Averted Trope with Salvatore. His blade is normal-sized but he can make it big.
  • Godou expands the Golden Sword's size in battle against Perseus in episode 10.
• Blood Knight: All the campiones are this trope to a certain extent (yes even Godou) because of the psychology required to defeat a god requires extreme competitiveness.
• Boring, but Practical: One of the things a Campione gets when one becomes a Campione is the ability to speak any language. Nothing flashy compared to everything that's happened in this series, but very useful and especially for Godou.
• Born Lucky: Discussed in one of the short stories where Campione's were known to be lucky enough to win in gambling.
• Cell Phones Are Useless: Salvatore has the authority to shut down communications over a wide area.
• Cannot Spit It Out: In the anime, Yuri tries, but Lili stops her from doing it, then Erica also shows up. In the original novel, she uses that scene to admit she and Godou are not just friends.
• Can't Catch Up: A justified example. Despite greater experience and training, there isn't a way for a normal magician to compete with a god or a Campione.
• The Casanova: Godou's grandpa was one (still is), and he has been molding Godou in his image from a young age. Though he says he toned it down after he got married.
• Casting Gag: As with her previous role in High School Dx D, Yōko Hikasa voices a character who frequently Sleeps in the Nude.
• Character Focus: Each of the main girls gets an arc where their particular knowledge or special ability is used to help Godou defeat the Villain of the Week.
• Chick Magnet: Despite insisting that's he's otherwise, Godou attracts almost every girl that has appeared thus far and Salvatore.
• Clap Your Hands If You Believe: The forms and powers of a god are defined by their myths. One of the reasons that gods have for going Heretical and incarnating on Earth is to escape the limits imposed on them by human belief.
• Clingy Jealous Girl:
  • Godou's sister Shizuka has this reaction towards Erica in volume 1. Not surprising considering how lovey-dovey Erica is towards him, and even mentions them having a kiss, which Shizuka doesn't take too well.
  • Yuri doesn't like seeing Erica sitting on Godou's lap in episode 5 at school. In episode 8, she accompanies him on his trip with Erica to make sure he's not doing naughty things, or more likely, that Erica's not doing it to him.
  • In Volume 14, Erica and Ena break down from uneasiness.
  • Both Yuri and Erica "punish" Godou after Liliana "teaches" him how to defeat Perseus in episode 10.
• Color Failure: Happens to Godou after he gets hit by Erica's baseball in a Groin Attack.
• Cool Versus Awesome : Gods from every mythology, versus godkillers, versus magicians, versus divine beasts, versus ... you get the idea.
• Combo Platter Powers: Campione powers tend to be random since the different Authorities taken don't normally have much relation to one another. Also, Godou in particular has one Authority, with ten separate and seemingly random powers.
• Composite Character: In-Universe, some gods are multiple figures through different aspects, like Athena and Medusa.
• Compressed Adaptation: In order to rearrange things in chronological order, the Anime ended up concentrating all the events in volume 3 into the first episode. Several scenes were lost or modified in the process.
• Covert Pervert: Liliana, such as in episode 9 where she has fantasies of Godou while attempting to research.
• Crossover Cosmology: Gods from many different mythologies show up to fight Godou; Greek, Roman, Persian, Egyptian. However, many gods could be one and the same entity. Athena, for instance, is also Medusa and Perseus is also Mithra.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • In episode 8, Perseus handily stops or nullifies everything Godou throws at him.
  • Erica is stuck in one during episode 12, and is hopelessly outclassed by Ena, whose sword is able to absorb her mana.
• Cursed with Awesome: The premise of the series stems from Pandora granting a god's power through a curse to those who kill said god. What a curse, aye?
• A Day in the Limelight: Each of the main girls gets at a least one arc that's largely devoted to them helping Godou defeat the Villain of the Week.
• Deal with the Devil: In episode 9, Godou asks Athena for advice on how to defeat Perseus. She says she could tell him something, but would need something in return. Liliana, who was with him, immediately rejects the offer and tells him that a deal with her is bad, even if he is a campione.
• Death by Irony: Perseus the Serpent Slaying Hero is killed by Athena's snake form (in the anime) or Salvatore (in the manga and light novels).
• Death Is Cheap: One of Godou's authorities (specifically, the Ram) allows him to revive once a day. His record is 2.5 hours.
• Deconstructed Trope: This show demonstrates that being Oblivious to Love isn't nearly as much fun-and-games as anime makes it seem. When you have (at least) three girls trying their hardest to win your love, referring to them all as Just Friends leads to intense heartache and depression.
• Declaration of Protection: Godou often invokes this trope regarding the main heroines who put their own lives at risk to help him out. He also does this to the powerless Athena in episode 13, protecting her from Metis. In the novels, Godou does not promise they'll live or be happy or normal but he will promise them victory, or revenge.
• Deity Identity Confusion:
  • Gods in this series often change names and aspects as cultures shift or they are integrated into a new religion. Breaking down the source of the myth is key to Godou successfully using his Golden Blade authority to bind the related abilities of his opponent.
  • Guinevere, in an attempt to resurrect Rama, rekindled the dormant legends of his reign under the name of King Arthur. Due to Guinevere being killed before the resurrection was complete, Rama was not revived and the legends instead created the separate Heretic God Arthur Pendragon.
• Delayed Reaction: When one of Godou's male classmates mentions a new female transfer student coming to their class from Italy, Godou's mind wanders off for a bit. After a while, he finally realizes what his buddy said, to which his friend mentions this trope to him.
• Determinator: Godou. In episode 9, Liliana drugs a drink with some paralysis magic, with the intention of making the Deal with the Devil with Athena herself, rather than him doing it. Athena tells her something, then starts to rip her clothing. Godou shows up and she stops but he but passes out shortly afterward. Liliana mentions the magic she put in the drink should've drugged a cow for half a day.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Campione become campione by doing this, much to Godou's shock when he finds out in the first episode.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: The scene where Godou "injects" his divine protection into Erica makes it seem as if he's trying to impregnate her. It helps that afterwards, Erica feels like a part of Godou is inside her.
• Drives Like Crazy: Erica's maid, Arianna, typically drives at speeds over one hundred kilometers per hour on any road and seems unaware of how close she comes to killing herself and everyone else in the car. Despite this, she has never had an accident.
• Dynamic Entry: Although she doesn't hit anyone (Shizuka dodges it at the last moment), Athena crashes into Godou's apartment from the ceiling at the end of episode 11. Then nonchalantly asks if he's home.
• Enemy Without: At the end of episode 12, two Athenas are seen. It turns out that the second one was Metis, her mother.
• Energy Bow: Both Perseus and Liliana use one; it generates arrows from energy with an incantation.
• Field of Blades: Godou's Golden Blade of the Warrior creates its own dimension of swords are everywhere. From here he can launch a Storm of Blades.
• Forgotten Phlebotinum: Any of the ladies, when in danger, can speak Godou's name and allow him to appear via the Tempest authority. It rarely happens because Godou doesn't know enough about the conditions for its use. In the 4th anime episode, he admits as much, and Yuri has to say his name half a dozen times before it works.
• Full-Name Basis: Liliana with Godou and the rest of the harem, though intermittently, because she tries to be more formal than Erica.
• Generation Xerox: Athena is identical to her mother Metis, as seen at the end of episode 12 and in 13.
• Got Volunteered: Happens to Godou in episode 8, when Erica says she's taking a little trip, and Godou is going whether he likes it or not. Later, she takes him on a boat, and he's in handcuffs. She says that it's his fault for never letting them be alone together, and as soon as she un-cuffs him, he makes his escape in the water.
• G-Rated Sex: Episode 12, when Godou shares the Adolescent with Erica. Although it's more of PG-13 than G because the make-out is very passionate. For whatever reason, he lifts up her leg and starts to make thrusting movements, only for the camera to show that they are still wearing pants.
• Gratuitous Italian: Here and there. Examples include Erica and Liliana's swords, Cuore di Leone (Lion Heart) and Il Maestro (The Master). In episode 1, Erica demands that Godo hand over the grimoire in Italian, at first.
• Green-Eyed Monster: After Erica announces herself as Godou's fiancée to his class, some of the male students get jealous and start beating him up. She adds fuel to the fire by saying they've already spent a night together. Which is technically true, but he didn't do anything to her and in fact was locked in the room with her against his will by Lucretia.
• Groin Attack: Erica is playing a baseball match against Yuri in episode 5. Yuri isn't very athletic and swings her bat very slowly. So, Godou tells her when to hit the third pitch. Unfortunately, her aim is off and she foul tips it into Godou's groin.
• Happiness in Slavery: Youth Form can only be used after the recipient has sworn an oath to live and fight for the user. The girls are perfectly happy with this.
• Harem Series: Godou has four "main" girls gunning for him: Erica, Yuri, Ena, and Liliana.
• Heel–Face Turn: Duke Voban's ghost minions, as well as Lili, turn against him and help Godou defeat him.
• Helping Would Be Kill Stealing: Salvatore essentially says this when he prevents everyone but Liliana from helping Godou out in the fight against Perseus in episode 9. He claims Godou won't get any stronger if he's always relying on the girls and he makes sure they don't help by tying them up. Then he goes and kills Perseus after he's been softened up by Godou.
• He-Man Woman Hater: Luo Yinghua has a strong misogynistic streak, though this may because his main female role model is Luo Hao.
• Honey Trap: Yuri, Lili, and Ena are encouraged to seduce Godou for political purposes. Godou accuses Erica of this, but she denies it, pointing out that she's far too proud to take such an order.
• Honor Before Reason: Lili refuses to abandon Duke Voban despite the fact that he largely uses her for evil purposes. Then Yuri tries talking to her, and Erica threatens to release a really embarrassing novel Lili wrote publicly.
• How We Got Here: Volume 3 explains how Godo met Erica during his trip to Sardinia and how he got his powers from Verethragna. However, it's averted in the anime since it rearranges the story in chronological order.
• If It's You, It's Okay: The general reaction that Kaoru gets when she reveals her real gender to the girls she dates.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: Duke Voban says this to Yuri at the end of episode 5 when he captures her.
  Voban: You're mine now.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight:
  • Godou does this towards Liliana in episode 10 after Perseus takes control over her. It works thanks to The Power of Love, which Perseus then mentions is the strongest force out there.
  • Sort of happens in volume five, after Ena is possessed by the Ama no Murakamo. Though Godou has had enough at this point and forcibly takes Ena away from the sword, then crushes it with the Boar.
• Imagine Spot: Liliana has a couple of these in episode 9, although they seem unintentional. She was trying to do research on how to defeat Perseus, but ends up thinking dirty thoughts about Godou.
• Immortality: All over the place.
  • Campione do not die of old age, though they can be killed.
  • Both Godou and Voban have an Authority that allows for resurrection, and gods can eventually revive if enough people know their story.
• In Love with Your Carnage: Erica and Ena admit the sight of Godou fighting gets them all hot and bothered.
• In Medias Res: The Novels start with Kusanagi Godou already a Campione. We don't learn all the details of how he ended up killing Verethragna and usurping his powers until volume 3. This is averted by the Anime which starts with the fight against Verethragna.
• Instant Expert: While researching information on Perseus in episode 9, he nonchalantly mentions that ever since becoming a Campione, he can instantly read and understand any language and text that he comes across. This is justified because all campione are omniglots.
• Instant Runes: A prominent part of magic in the series. For example, they appear when Erica is transforming her sword into its mecha lion mode.
• Instant-Win Condition: Duke Voban tells Godou if he can last till daybreak, he'll give him the victory. Despite Godou throwing everything he has at Voban, the latter still refuses to be defeated, until the sun starts rising. Voban keeps his word and retreats.
• Intimate Healing:
  • The very high magic resistance of a campione will block spells unless they are directly applied to their bodies, so this is the only kind of healing that will work on them. Godou often finds himself on the receiving end of this. Liliana cries when Athena beats her to the punch and kisses Godou as a reward for beating Perseus.
  • The power granted by the Youth incarnation also works this way; a passionate kiss.
• Jerkass Gods: Many of the gods are arrogant, cruel, and practice Disproportionate Retribution as a matter of course. Justified, because all the gods who appear directly have intentionally distorted themselves by leaving their home plane, an act that requires extreme amounts of pride, willpower, and outrage, and are consistently and specifically referred to as being “heretical” or otherwise “rogue.” Normal gods appear much more benevolent.
• Just Friends: Godou does this... to a huge list of girls that Liliana asks him about. It doesn't discourage them from chasing him.
• Kill the God: Happens often, given the nature of the series.
• Lap Pillow: Erica does this for Godou in episode 3 because it's what lovers do.
• Leonine Contract: Averted Trope. Youth Form can save someone's life by granting them the same power as a divine beast but the condition for its use is that the bestowee must swear absolute loyalty to the bestower. However, the oath is a mere formality when Godou gives the power to Erica. Being the Nice Guy he is, he doesn't care about the oath and she already has Undying Loyalty for him.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: As much as Godou doesn't want to fight, when he does he can dish out the pain. It's been noted by several characters that once Godou starts fighting, he is as much of Blood Knight as the other Campione. Everyone but Godou approves of this.
• Let's You and Him Fight: In episode 8, Athena at first was going to attack Perseus, but then Godou steps in and tries to stop them from fighting so close to a heavily populated city. So she decides to step out and have Godou fight him instead.
• Loophole Abuse: Erica punishes Godou for taking on more than one mistress, which she specifically prohibited him from doing so. He immediately tries to invoke this trope by claiming Liliana is serving him as a knight, but Erica asks if a knight should have that look on their face, to which Liliana's face goes even redder.
• Magic A Is Magic A: Godou's Authorities have very specific effects with very specific conditions.
• Magic Kiss: Erica, Yuri and Lillian can all transfer information via this trope.
  • In episode 8 Yuri to transfer information to Godou regarding Osiris. Later in the episode Erica fakes being hurt, then when Godou comes towards her, she kisses him, and tells Yuri that she didn't have to kiss him to do that, which shocks Yuri a little bit, as well as Lili.
  • Taken up to eleven in Volume 7. Godou uses Youth form on all of the girls in order to save them. What ensues has been dubbed by fans as the Lip Orgy.
  • Liliana has Godou kiss her several times to transfer her knowledge on how to defeat Perseus. She claims she wasn't ready the first few times.
• Martial Pacifist: Godou tries to avoid fighting as much as possible, until he has no other choice.
• Mind-Control Eyes: Happens to Liliana in episode 10 when Perseus uses an old technique on her that targets those with magic lineage.
• Monumental Damage: Godou accidentally wrecks the Colosseum in volume one. It wasn't the first world heritage site he destroyed, nor would it be the last.
• Ms. Fanservice: Erica likes spending time in bed naked, much to Godou's chagrin.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: All three of the combatants in Godou's harem since they're all among the strongest combatants in the world who aren't gods or Campione, even though they're all sixteen-year-old girls. For instance, unless Godou is using the Bull, Erica can out-power him despite his larger size due to routinely reinforcing her strength via magic.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: A campione has the ability to sense the presence of any nearby divine entity.
• New Transfer Student: Both Erica and Lili do this at Godou's school to be closer to him. Yuri was already there.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: Salvatore, due to one of his Authorities, is very difficult to harm.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Voban implies he was similar to Godou in his youth; a magicless boy who defeated a god through will power. Godou isn't hearing any of it.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Godou displays one of these every time he thinks he's defeated Duke Voban, only to have the latter come out seemingly unscathed.
  • Perseus when Godou pins him to a pillar and throws the boar at him.
• Omniglot: One of the many perks of being a Campione is that they can pick of languages extremely quickly. Voban is the current record holder; able to learn a new language perfectly in less than an hour. Mages can also do this, albeit much more slowly, while gods are able to speak all languages by default.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: In episode 12, when Shizuka questions Athena as to what her relationship is regarding her brother, Athena answers in a way that wasn't a lie from her point of view, but to Godou's sister, sounds a lot like he's a paedophile; "pierced me with his strength" (i.e. impaled her with a spear).
• Ordinary High-School Student: Godou insists that he is, but nobody is buying it. While not apparent immediately, we eventually learn that he was never ordinary. He was a star baseball catcher before injuring his shoulder, learned to hold his drink at an absurdly young age; regularly traveled all over the world with his grandfather or by himself for years before the story started; has a huge financial reserve because of the annual family gambling fest that he always wins; and made about thirty different girls fall for him in middle school.
• Overdramatic Dating Commotion: After Erika is transferred to Godou's class, she proclaims him as her lover, which pisses off his envious male classmates to no end and they get him in a Big Ball of Violence and ignore his attempts at explaining the situation.
• Person of Mass Destruction: While all the campiones are one Godou takes the cake. His destruction of historical sites have already became world famous despite only being a campione for a few months, mostly due to the fact that his Boar ability must have a large target and he tends to pick a nearby historic site as the target.
• Physical Gods: Gods and campiones both have strong abilities far above that of most ordinary magicians.
• Playful Cat Smile: Karen seems to have one as a default feature on her face because of her regular deviousness.
• Power at a Price:
  • Godou's Authorities all require rather specific conditions to activate and some are more restrictive than others.
    • The Camel requires him to be injured.
    • The Bird of Prey causes heart pain afterwards. Godou learns to get off with less pain and if he stops it early enough.
  • John Pluto Smith's transformations require varying sacrifices, depending on what form is being assumed. The jaguar form is specifically stated to require the sacrifice of artificially generated light.
• Really Gets Around: Godou's grandfather has his grandson's magnetism but unlike him he uses it a lot more. He claims that once he got married, he never once cheated however it is mentioned in the narrative that that didn't stop women from trying, and it caused his wife a great deal of exasperation when he took advantage of it to get stuff.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Erica and Liliana; they are color coded and Erica is more passionate while Liliana (tries) to be more stoic.
• Right Man in the Wrong Place: Godou was just running an errand for his grandfather when he ran into Verethragna and proved to have the type of personality needed for one to become a Campione: Stubborn, reckless, and uncaring of the fact that by all logic mortals can't kill Gods.
• Samus Is a Girl:
  • John Pluto Smith. No one saw that coming.
  • Lancelot believe it or not. Yes, that one.
• Savage Wolves: Voban can summon hundreds of them, each the size of a small pony or he can become one himself that's the size of a BUILDING.
• Serious Business: When Yuri gets her first cellphone and especially when Godou is her first contact on it. She calls it a "first time".
• Secret-Keeper: Erica knows about Liliana's little secret about writing cheesy romance novels, and threatens to reveal it in episode 7. Then Godou unintentionally finds out about it in episode 9, which horrifies and embarrasses Liliana to the point where she has her sword to his throat, threatening to kill him, then herself. To her shock, he doesn't care that she does that, and thinks it's a good thing to do to help unwind from the stress of her job.
• Self-Plagiarism: The ending theme "Raise" is recycled from another song by the same composer — "The Sound Called 'Me' Will Play Until It Burns Out" from Symphogear, which aired earlier in 2012.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend:
  • Erica claims to be Godou's fiancée, but Godou vehemently denies having any feelings towards her. Not that his sister nor his male classmates care. He also says this later in episode 11 to Ena when she asks about him having 3 mistresses. Both Lili and Yuri present are not happy to have been "friend zoned" by his statement.
  • In the novels. Yuri claims that she isn't like that with Godou, but pulls a Luminescent Blush and says that it will happen someday. Godou and Lilianna are shocked. Ena is pleased.
• Shipper on Deck: In episode 9, Karen actively tries to get Liliana with Godou, although the latter is very hestitant to act on it.
• Ship Tease: Godou with every girl and even some of the guys.
• Shout-Out:
  • Godou's special ability resembles a golden Unlimited Blade Works.
  • One of Liliana's fantasies in episode 9 is her and Godou being the main characters of Roman Holiday.
• Slasher Smile:
  • Ena has one right before she lets herself get possessed by her sword in episode 12.
  • Metis has one as well in episodes 12 and 13 because she's more nutso than her daughter.
• Spell My Name With An S - Averted Trope for the most part. Many, many characters are named after soccer players. Voban plays it straight.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil:
  • In the anime, the opponents Godou faces grow increasingly stronger from the previous one, and he has to learn new abilities or tricks in order to defeat them.
  • Averted in the original novel, where his enemies power levels go all over the place.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Erica shows up in Godou's bed in episode 2. She claims his sister let him in, but on the pretext that she was simply returning his notebook, which only angers him some more.
• Super Cell Reception: Yuri getting a cell phone is a plot point.
• Taken for Granite: Athena has this ability thanks to her dual nature as Medusa. At full power it not only petrifies any living things nearby, it converts every substance to stone, including asphalt and water.
• Theme Naming: A lot of characters have inherited their family names from football players. Here are a few examples:
  • Erica Blandelli —> Cesare Prandelli
  • Liliana Kranjčar —> Niko Kranjcar
  • Gennaro Gantz —> Gennaro Gattuso
  • Alec Gascoigne —> Paul Gascoigne
  • Lucretia Zola —> Gianfranco Zola
  • Karen Jankulovski —> Marek Jankulovski
  • Diana Milito —> Diego Milito
  • Salvatore Doni —> Cristiano Doni
  • Andrea Rivera —> Gianni Rivera
  • Walter Zamparini —> Maurizio Zamparini
  • Another Shout-Out related to football is the rivalry between the Copper Black Cross (where Erica is a member) and the Bronze Black Cross (where Liliana is a member), two Mage associations based in Milan, Italy. The colors of the former are red and black or rossoneri, while the latter's colors are black and blue, or nerazurri. Take a good guess where this rivalry between two Milanese associations is inspired.
  • Hell, even the title of the series is one to the Italian Serie A football league tradition as a whole. "Campione!" is "Champion" in Italian, and often shouted by the supporters of the Serie A team winner (or any team winning a tournament, really).
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Athena says this to keep Perseus from attacking Godou while the latter is unconscious in episode 9. "Godou is my prey."
• This Is Reality: When Godou's male classmates hear he hooked up with a hot Italian noble they exclaim, "That couldn't even happen in an anime!"
• Through His Stomach: Erica believes Yuri is attempting this to Godou in episode 5 when she brings him a boxed lunch.
• True Companions: Godou's harem becomes tight-knit over the course of the series.
• Tsundere:
  • Erica acts this way towards Godou in episode 5, when she allows him to add Yuri, but only her, as a contact, and only because of her sixth sense abilities.
  • Liliana does this as well, but she's more of a Type B because she's normally more polite and considerate than Erica.
• Two-Timer Date: It's observed that its something of a minor miracle that Kaoru manages to avoid running into the trope.
• Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny: As of volume 19, all of the Campiones want a piece of King Rama. Problem is, only one of them is allowed to fight him. Thus, they all have to fight it out.
• Umbrella of Togetherness: Blatantly invoked by Erica during Volume 2, by means of snapping her own umbrella when it was raining. Godou, who was right next to her when she did it, attempts to defy it, to no avail.
  Erica: "Oh no, the umbrella is broken, what shall I do?"
• Undressing the Unconscious: In the anime, after Yuri is recaptured by Duke Voban, she awakens to find herself dressed in the same Stripperific outfit he forced on his other enslaved Mikos.
• Unwanted Harem: Godou doesn't want to deal with the trouble his harem brings. Too bad for him.
• Victor Gains Loser's Powers: The whole premise of the show; killing a god transfers that god's authorities to its killer.
• Walking Techbane:
  • Doni's [Return to Medieval Times] Authority shuts down all advanced technology in the area.
  • Athena has a somewhat limited variation of this. When she extends her presence across Tokyo it shuts down all light-emitting technologies and prevents the creation of fire. This effectively stops all internal combustion engines and electric lights but allows the use of phones.
• Walking Wasteland:
  • Heretic Gods cause chaos and destruction simply by existing in the mortal world and very few care about the impact their presence has. The severity of the disaster caused varies based on their nature; a war god triggers wars, a sun god brings drought and wildfire, a death god spreads pestilence, etc.
  • In-story examples include Athena, who converted large parts of a city and the nearby ocean into stone, water and all; and Sun Wukong, who causes all non-magical humans in the surrounding city to transform into monkeys.
• Wham Episode: Episode 12 ends with an evil looking Athena floating above the temple where Yuri and Liliana are at. Then a second Athena is seen below the first one.
• Worf Barrage: If Godou throws the Boar at an opponent, expect them to live through it, if not outright stop it. Unless their name is Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi. The reason for this is that the Boar is not meant to be used against a single human sized target. It's best at taking on buildings or armies. Whenever Godou uses it, buildings are destroyed.
• World of Badass: Even the Salary Man for the Compliation of the True History is badass.