Manga / The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer

"One morning when I woke up, there was a lizard in my room. We stared at each other, and the first to break the silence... was him."

Yuuhi Amamiya, a college student, wakes up one morning to find a talking lizard informing him that the world is in grave danger; a powerful mage is plotting to destroy it with the "Biscuit Hammer", a gigantic mallet floating in space. To stop this, he must join forces with a ragtag group of Beast Knights and protect their princess, who stands in the way of the mage's plot.

Unfortunately for the lizard, Yuuhi is a misanthrope and wants no part in saving the world. But he is interested in serving the princess, especially when she announces that she only wants to save the world so she can destroy it herself!

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, known as Hoshi no Samidare in Japan, ^note It's written as "Wakusei no Samidare" ("The May Rain of the Planet(s)") is a manga series by Satoshi Mizukami that was serialized in the seinen magazine Young King OURS from April 2005 to August 2010.

An anime adaptation by NAZ and Jumondo aired from July to December 2022. A spinoff manga with Mikazuki Shinonome in the lead role, Sono Ato no Hero, was serialized in Young King OURs in September 2022. Mizukami supervised the spinoff, while the story was written by Ichiri Seto.

Not be to confused with Lucifer's Hammer, though they do both concern potential Earth-Shattering Kaboom scenarios.

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Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer provides examples of:

• 11th-Hour Superpower:
  • As Anima puts it, psychic powers do not have to obey logic but can bend to need, will, and desire... when Yuuhi somehow steals the power of Invisible from Yayoi and Shea during his fight with Samidare, because he desperately needs the power to be able to stop her.
  • Mikazuki and Muu receive the power of Hresvelgr so they could have a fair final match with Yuuhi and Noi.
• Accidental Pervert:
  • Averted but discussed: When Samidare falls onto Yuuhi at the start of one of their shared dreams, Yuuhi reflexively grabs her face. An annoyed Samidare tells him that if this had been a romantic comedy, he would have grabbed her breasts instead.
  • Subverted as girls tend to walk in on Yuuhi. Not that he minds. In fact, he seems to like it.
  • Sometimes Yuuhi even provokes it. Very early on when visiting the Asahina house, he knowingly chooses the wrong door when going to the bathroom in hopes of "causing an event" - "accidentally" walking in on Hisame changing.
• Action Girl: Samidare and Hakudou.
• Akashic Records: The Master had access to them. Shimaki wished for them but it wouldn't pass.
• Aloof Older Brother: Hangetsu is a downplayed example towards Mikazuki, though there is respect and affection between them despite their age gap and rivalry.
• Always Someone Better: Hangetsu considers himself to be that someone. Yuuhi proves him wrong.
• And This Is for...: Implied during the final confrontation with Boedromion. Hanako's ultimate attack is named after Tarou (the "Kusakabe" meaning "Hero's Sword"), and she uses it to finish the golem off.
• Arm Cannon: Shimaki's eighth golem has one.
• Ascended Fanboy: Hangetsu, who spent most of his life idolizing "Allies of Justice" before becoming the Dog Knight.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Part of Yuuhi's repertoire, especially early on when he doesn't have much fighting power and needs to think hard to stay alive. He never really stops. His ultimate technique, Babylon, is based on speeding himself up and slowing down others, allowing him more time to think around his opponents in a fight.
• Ax-Crazy: Mikazuki, Hangetsu's younger brother, due to his obsession with fighting.
• Back from the Dead: Subverted with Hangetsu and the Master. They're not actually back, just passing by.
• Badass Boast:
  • Samidare, on her first meeting with the mage:
    Samidare: Who doesn't sound like who, exactly? I've been wondering who was it that you were talking to since just now.
    Mage: ...Anima...?
    Samidare: I am the Lucifer, Samidare. Whether it's the Hammer or this planet, I am the one who will smash them all. I do have to thank you though, for bringing in this conflict under my watch. You gave me the chance to gain power. And therefore it's a pity that you dragged me into it!!
  • Yuuhi, when fighting Maimakterion:
    Yuuhi: This is my garden. Nobody else but my Demon Lord is allowed to fly higher than me.
• Battle Cry:
  • Yuuhi and Mikazuki, simultaneously, during the Hekatombaion arc.
  • Hanako gives one that turns into a Cathartic Scream during the Boedromion arc, just as she's done with her Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
• Beach Episode: Chapter 30 sees to a team building retreat to the beach for the Knight... or at least that's what it started as, before the mage showed himself and let Hekatombaion loose.
• Becoming the Mask: Yuuhi. At first, he wanted to destroy the world, and only faked being heroic, but by the series end he's pretty much entirely genuine.
• Berserk Button: Several, especially Nagumo's Papa Wolf syndrome around kids and probably women.
• Bequeathed Power:
  • Hangetsu uses his wish to bequeath his phenomenal martial arts skills to Yuuhi when he receives a mortal blow in battle. This is deconstructed in that, while Yuuhi has the skills that Hangetsu possessed, he lacks the Required Secondary Powers of actual physical fitness to make them worthwhile. He spends a lot of time training his body.
  • The Master unintentionally passes on some of his powers to Yukimachi and Subaru, which is what makes their combined domains so powerful. It's also why he was so greatly weakened by the time of his death, and the golem was able to kill him.
• Big Eater:
  • Anima, once she manifests. She has to eat a lot because she's symbiotically living off of Samidare, and she needs to eat a lot to make up for the massive blow Samidare's energy reserves took when Anima manifested.
  • Shimaki wished for a boost to his powers as his wish. While he is out of shape on his own, he never showed up as a champion eater until he started supporting himself, his cat partner Coo Ritter, and a golem through his own nutrition. However, he's still a big eater in the distant finale ten years on.
• Body Horror: Maimakterion whilst questioning the concept of self.
• Bodyguard Crush:
  Samidare: Next time, you're not allowed to stare at me like that with your back to the sunset.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Noi does this a few times, as do other characters (one complains about being left out of the colored pages at the beginning of the volume, for example).
• Brick Joke:
  • Early on, Samidare observes that Yuuhi is bad with feints after they have a sparring match. In the second-last chapter, when Mikazuki calls a punch in his big rematch with Yuuhi, he promptly lays the latter out with a kick.
  • Regarding the source of Nagumo's money. Both Shea and Noi had their theories about where he got the money for their trip to the beach, but it isn't until the very last chapter, during another trip to the beach, that it is offhandedly revealed he had used his wish to win the lottery.
  • In Chapter 10, Yuuhi asks Hangetsu why Mikazuki hasn't been to college lately, and gets a joking reply that maybe he's backpacking around Asia. In Chapter 42, Mikazuki offhandedly mentions he made his wish while backpacking in India.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: Narrowly averted with Yuuhi, as nobody close to him actually dies but his grandfather's illness causes him to make the wish and seal the pact, swearing him into service.
• Calling Your Attacks:
  • All of the Beast Knights name their domain control abilities. In Chapter 13, Yuuhi even lampshades the habit of doing this.
  • Exploited in the final arc during Yuuhi and Mikazuki's final fight: as they charge at each other calling out for a punch, Mikazuki feints and kicks him instead.
• Central Theme: Throughout the story, the major adults all want to see their next generation off stronger and more prepared. We see it for its positives (Shininome's desire to stay strong to give kids hope, Ikitani's final philosophy) and for its negatives as well (Yuuhi's grandfather abusing him to keep him out of reach of danger).
• Character Development: As spotlight characters, the Beast Knights and Samidare get the most of it. Animus, Anima, and the animal companions don't, mostly to reinforce their strange and artificial natures — they're stuck who they are, whether because they've run themselves into a rut over centuries or because they were created that way.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: The knights attain some level of this, as demonstrated by what they can do even without using domain control.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • Before Hangetsu dies, he tells Yuuhi that he had a dream where he had to fight Yuuhi on a large stairway and that Yuuhi was much stronger than him in the dream. Much later on, the exact same scene he described plays out as a test by Anima when Yuuhi is prior to seeing Biscuit Hammer for himself.
  • The knights' contractual wishes. Most are made quickly and for other people, often spent in ways that wouldn't have any benefit to the battle against the mage and then are quickly forgotten in the narrative. Taiyou fires his off in the final battle when he makes a Heel–Face Turn and wishes to keep the extra power Animus had granted him, allowing Taiyou to continue to be the healer and make the knights' success at all possible.
• Chick Magnet: Yuuhi ends up drawing the attention of Samidare, his classmate Hiwatari, Hakudou, and Anima. Mikazuki even complains about near the end.
• Clingy MacGuffin:
  • The Mentor Mascots will magically reappear by their knight's side if they move too far away from them, as Yuuhi finds out the hard way after repeated attempts to chuck Noi out the window.
  • After being used as a gag for half the series, the animals' clingy nature is suddenly used for a very dark moment when Hanako flushes Kil, the mantis, down the toilet after Tarou dies. Kil reappears by her side, soaking wet and chiding her, but that had to have been a horrific experience and has the same tone as if Hanako had started self-harming.
• Closet Geek:
  • Hangetsu semi-secretly loves Tokusatsu, anime, and manga, and ends up pushing Little Witch Magical Mary on Yuuhi. He's not really ashamed of it, he's just not particularly open about it.
  • Hakudou loves anime, manga, and cosplay but is ashamed of it, because she thinks it's childish or unattractive of her.
• Combat Pragmatist: Yuuhi becomes this when digs trap holes and they actually working on several occasions.
• Combined Energy Attack:
  • The knights' basic domain controls can only really hurt the golems when they all focus it on the same spot, combining their strength to blast apart the golems with raw power. It's powerful but requires a chance for everyone to focus and push at the same time, which means it falls by the wayside quickly as the golems get faster, the knights develop their own special domain attacks, and the Mythical Beast Knights come into play.
  • Yukimachi and Subaru's "Strongest Spear" and "Invincible Shield" moves combine their domain controls for incredible power because they inherited some of the Master's own personal strength, augmenting their domains.
  • This is taken to its logical conclusion in the final battle with the combined power of all the knights: "Shooting Star Arrow/Wish Fulfilling Light."
• Coming of Age Story: For Yuuhi, mainly, but many other characters get their moments. A major theme of the story is the meaning of being an adult, and serving as a good example to the next generation.
• Crazy-Prepared:
  • Yuuhi and his trap holes. He loves digging them and has a ton of them ready to go by the time the next golem attack rolls around.
  • After developing Bablylon, Yuuhi purposely uses it in a low level so as to prevent his teammates from realizing his full capabilities.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The battle against the mage's final golem goes very poorly for said golem.
• Cute Bruiser: Samidare. Yuuhi rightly questions who is supposed to protect whom after she saves his life.
• Dare to Be Badass: Yuuhi, several times, which becomes a lot more profound when you realize that it's a trait he inherited from Shinonome who did it to Yuuhi. He even combines it with a Badass Boast during his final battle against Yuuhi, where he challenges him, not just to reach his level of "genius", but also to actively surpass him:
  Genius! It's a limitless number of approvals! It's instinct telling you "It's been decided! I will throw 100 lucky punches! I am awesome"!! "That's just plain unbelievable" or "that can't happen", for to be someone who gets approved 1000 times! For someone through instinct to pull off 1000 miracles, 1000 lucky punches, that makes me awesome! That's what a genius is! Techniques are nothing more than extras! Those moments where I'm awesome! It's so awesome this existence of mine! Approval upon approval upon approval covered in approvals! Don't think! Let instinct guide you! Let the approvals rolls in. Let the decisions come to you!
• Devil in Plain Sight:
  • Samidare and Yuuhi are his secretly plotting against the world while coming off as friendly.
  • Mikazuki is a subversion. He turns out to be just as heroic as anyone else, Ax-Crazy tendencies, evil aura, and mouth full of canines aside. His wish? Bread for a child.
  • Taiyou the Owl Knight also wants to destroy the world and his mentor animal Loki got so tired of the cycle of battles that he apparently betrayed the knights the last time. Later on, Taiyou has a change of heart. Meanwhile, Loki's previous partner killed the others so he could gain the mage's trust and kill him, but it didn't work. Now Loki is loyal to his knight, not Anima or Animus.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?:
  • Yuuhi tries this on Animus the first chance he gets.
  • Nagumo succeeds.
• Disappeared Dad: Samidare's father is a writer who doesn't come home very often, but apparently more often then her mom.
• Distant Finale: A genuinely satisfying example occurs at the very end revealing what happened to the knights following the conclusion of the final battle.
• Diving Save: An important factor in Hangetsu's heroic motivations. It's ultimately a diving save that kills him.
• Domestic Abuse:
  • Yuuhi suffered this at the hands of his grandfather.
  • Taiyou is neglected by his father and has a bad relationship with his stepmother, but the latter is more of a connection problem, which is solved with time.
• Dramatic Thunder: A thunderous underline, complete with a lightning flash casting stark shadows across the scene, when Nagumo reveals he's unemployed.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: Shinonome, just before the fight with the third golem, has a dream about fighting a stupidly strong Yuuhi near a staircase. From Yuuhi's perspective, this comes at least half a year after Shinonome dies, and is a test intended to help him in the final battle. Yuuhi ends up winning.
• Earth-Shattering Kaboom: The goal of the mage and the princess. Both have some of the most unique methods ever — by giant pastry hammer and by fist.
• Elemental Powers:
  • An Ice Person: Hanako
  • Playing with Fire: Tarou and later Hanako
• Evil Orphan: Played straight with Animus and subverted with Anima.
• Everyone Can See It: Tarou and Hanako are close childhood friends who share bike rides and both became knights.
• Eyes Always Shut: Yukimachi and Shimaki rarely open their eyes.
• Fake Defector: The previous Owl Knight. It didn't work out like he planned.
• The Family for the Whole Family: The Yakuza who hire Hangetsu and later Mikazuki as "fight prevention". Their boss (or at least the guy in charge of that area) even rescues Mikazuki after he gets captured by unfriendly rival gangsters.
• Famous Ancestor: Anima and Animus and descended from a long line of exceptional people, from medical legends to athletes. They are direct descendants of Hisame and Hangestu.
• Fanservice:
  • Anima in a Playboy Bunny suit. She even calls it as much.
  • Hakudou gets in on the act with her periodic appearances in skimpy cosplay. More often than not, she's pulled out of cosplaying in private by Anima, much to her chagrin.
  • Samidare gets a lot of panty shots as she jumps around and fights. They're so blatant, sufficient lampshades are hung on their prevalence.
• The Fettered: Anima, who identify as a human.
• Fluffy the Terrible: A doomsday device known only as the Biscuit Hammer.
• Foreshadowing:
  • When all of the remaining Beast Knights had assembled, Samidare declares her love for Yuuhi, and says she will love him even if he was to turn on her plans in the last second. Of course, at the moment, Yuuhi wouldn't even dream of betrayal. But the final battle comes around, and indeed he decides to stop her from destroying the world.
  • Many of the Beasts' mentions of loops and references to "this time" in reference to the battle of the Biscuit Hammer, due to the fact that the situation has happened before, multiple times, thanks to Animus and Anima's game taking them back in time when the world gets destroyed.
• For the Evulz: Animus destroyed the spaceship he's on, then a hospital satellite, then the entire Earth many times over because he can, and also because killing so many people at once is so thrilling. Admittedly, he implied that while on the shuttle, he used his psychic powers without understanding them, pushing on the hull without knowing how little damage it took to pierce a space shuttle and kill the passengers.
• A God Am I: The mage, a human from the future with absurdly powerful psychic abilities. Chapter 54 reveals his Start of Darkness. He refers to himself as the God of Destruction, in direct opposition to the God of Creation.
• Good Counterpart: The Blues Drive Monster is this to the Biscuit Hammer. Both are weapons that originated from children's toys, and are only visible to people crossing a certain emotional threshold—despair for the Biscuit Hammer, and hope for Blues Drive Monster. Both weapons are also in the hands of the opposite sibling.
• Good Eyes, Evil Eyes:
  • Subverted with Mikazuki, who has slit cat's pupils but is a decent guy besides a few negative traits.
  • Played straight with Animus, who had flatter, small eyes than most other characters with an extra circle in the cornea, which makes his stare awfully penetrating. The extra circle is apparently commonly used by the mangaka, as one of the other works also features this, and it is indeed used to indicate evil eyes, usually.
• Government Conspiracy: Hinted at obliquely in Chapter 38 during a conversation between Nagumo and his former partner in the police, but never explored further: some part of the Japanese government seems to be aware of the fight between Anima and Animus, and is willing to take steps to make sure the fight can go on without too much notice from the Muggles. That, or Animus is able to manipulate the police enough to make sure the fighting remains a secret even when someone dies.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: Shimaki's fifth golem and Mikazuki during the same battle. They're having a lot of fun doing it too.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: Averted. Even after getting a skill upgrade from Hangetsu's dying wish, Yuuhi has to practice hard to make more than basic use of it. By the end Yuuhi proves he can face three Beast Knights at the same time, including the two of the Mythical Beast Knights, even though he'd lost the fight to become one himself. Yuuhi works hard over the series to become as good as he does. This is a theme threaded throughout the creator's works, as well. Power may be nice but technical proficiency wins out, as the one with power uses it as a crutch until they're forced to learn to use it better.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • A slow-burning one from Taiyou.
  • The final chapters reveal Yuuhi had quietly gone through one at some point, and he manages to convince Samidare to go through one as well.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Tarou jumps in front of the ninth golem's lance to save Hanako, but it spears both of them anyway. He uses his wish to save her; Hanako's own mentor animal declares it a Stupid Sacrifice. It's made even worse when it's later revealed that Taiyou could have saved him had he known he could, though thankfully Hanako doesn't hold it against him.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: The mage. Well, the whole point of the series (backed up by his own admission) is the mage supposedly trying to destroy the world, but he takes such a laidback approach to this that there must be something else to it—he sends golems one by one (in order of difficulty, of course), occasionally appears for a friendly chat, and so clearly outclasses the knights that he doesn't need golems. No one ever says why he has to defeat the knights before he can use the hammer, either.
• Homage: The relationship between Taiyou and the eleventh golem is one to Shinji and Kaworu, minus the sexual tension and plus a bit more Nietzsche Wannabe.
• Hopeless Suitor: Inevitable when our two lead characters have multiple admirers each:
  • Hakudou and Hiwatari for Yuuhi. They both do make efforts to try to get Yuuhi to date them, but his Single-Target Sexuality for Samidare means that they have no hope of being more than friends with him. Hakudou eventually moves on before the Distant Finale and ends up Happily Married to Shimaki, but we never do find out what became of Hiwatari.
  • Mikazuki for Samidare. He becomes enamored with her at first sight (similar to how his older brother Hangetsu did for her older sister Hisame), but Samidare doesn't pay it much mind as her heart belongs to Yuuhi. Similar to Hakudou, Mikazuki finds love elsewhere, as the ending heavily implies that he's begun dating Subaru, who had a crush on him for the duration of the story.
• Hot-Blooded:
  • Yuuhi and Mikazuki, though Yuuhi had to endure a lot of Character Development to become that way.
  • Yukimachi in spite of her normally laidback demeanor:
  Taiyou: If we stay here quietly... then we're probably going to meet a painful end.
  Yukimachi: [punches Akane and grabs him by his shirt] Don't give up like that! You're a man! Say that you want to live!
  Taiyou: I have no reason to live!
  Yukimachi: There has to be! If not, go make one! [suddenly deadly serious] We're going back alive. And we're going to eat ramen. Let's go with everyone.
• How Do I Shot Web?: Yuuhi's telekinetic power is weak; he has to train to effect marginal increases in its strength and is hard pressed to find defensive uses for it, let alone offensive.
• I Can Still Fight!: Yuuhi vs. the third golem.
• Imagine Spot: Yuuhi has more than a few, all of them centered around Samidare in some way. They range from dating, to married life, and even envisioning her as a (very cute) tengu-themed idol singer.
• In Love with Your Carnage: Samidare devastates the tenth golem singlehandedly in one fight, leaving Mikazuki staring on in awe and muttering how he "wouldn't mind getting killed by her"... and all Yuuhi can do is agree, musing about how beautiful she is.
• Internal Reveal: Yuuhi and the audience knows of Samidare's plan to destroy the earth all along, but it comes as a shock to the rest of the knights. Cue an entire page of people standing around saying, "Seriously?"
• Invisible to Normals:
  • The mentor animals, the Biscuit Hammer (which can only be seen if someone points it out to you), and the golems, which don't seem to attack when there are innocent bystanders around and, amusingly enough, even follow traffic laws.
  • Taken up another notch with the Blues Drive Monster, Anima's own superweapon. It's invisible to people who have not passed through utter despair and still found hope on the other side, including the Beast Knights. It takes Yuuhi, of all people, to point it out to the rest.
• Invulnerable Knuckles: Averted with Mikazuki at one point. Played utterly straight with Samidare.
• It Has Been an Honor: The animals give their final words of encouragement just before the final battle, and then again once the conflict is truly resolved. This is especially notable after Muu finally speaks to Mikazuki before they part ways.
• Jumped at the Call: A few of the other knights, particularly Hangetsu.
• Kaiju: The golems usually get bigger as the numbers get higher. Guess how big the final golem is.
• Kids Are Cruel: Animus and Maimakterion.
• Killed Off for Real: Hangetsu, Tarou and Akitani among the Knights. In the end, Animus, Anima and the animal mentors also pass, though Anima is certain they will all be reincarnated.
• Large Ham:
  • Hangetsu likes to dramatically call out his attacks during golem fights.
  • Animus, sometimes. "BISCUIT HAMMER!! COME ON DOWN!!"
• Light-Hearted Rematch: Yuuhi and Mikazuki have two, following their first fight which Mikazuki all but forced Yuuhi into. Yuuhi manages to handily win their first rematch, and Mikazuki wins the second one with a purposefully miscalled attack.
• Limited Wardrobe: Animus. He's been wearing the same pajamas since he blew up his hospital-satellite many centuries ago/ahead. He admits he could change things up but he finds his current wardrobe extremely comfortable.
• Love Confession:
  • Done twistedly between Samidare and Yuuhi:
  Samidare: I love you, Demon Knight.
  Yuuhi: And I love you, my Demon Lord.
  • Hakudou to Yuuhi after giving him a beatdown for the power of the Invisible.
  • Tarou to Hanako, right as he dies.
  • The bonus chapter shows Taiyou giving one to Yukimachi, which the latter all but forced out of him after overhearing him telling Mikazuki that he likes her.
• Meaningful Funeral: The knights face off against the ninth golem in funeral attire.
• Medium Awareness
  • In one chapter, the Beast Knights decide to spend some quality time at a beach for some fun and team building exercises:
    Noi: Holding a beach event ignoring the season of the magazine article and season of the volume sale huh...
    Yuuhi: What are you talking about Noi...?
  • Anima comments on how she didn't get a color page for volume 6 in Chapter 37.
• Mentor Mascot: Each knight gets an animal Invisible to Normals, Yuuhi's stuck with the lizard. They really aren't of much help. At least, not until a small set of them start getting upgraded into the Mythical Beast Knights, gaining a secondary form and lending immense power to their human partners. Their main purpose, according to Loki, is to keep the human Knights constantly aware of the supernatural so they're always ready.
• Mind over Matter: All the kights began with limited telekinesis, in the form of a small mobile bubble containing the field of influence. Yuuhi could barely slow down a golem's attack with it. Hangetsu, on the other hand, was able to use his to rip golems into bite-sized pieces. Tarou and Hanako are able to heat and freeze alcohol and water, respectively, by manipulating the molecular vibrations.
• Missing Mom: Samidare's mom, Haruko Asahina, a famous doctor learning all she could to cure Samidare, and busy with other patients as well. Yuuhi's just wandered off after her husband was killed.
• Mood Whiplash: From the final battle against Samidare until the very end, the mood is predominantly sad, bittersweet at best - but then something ridiculous and hilarious happens to break up the flow before going right back to the melancholy. A reader could choke laughing while still crying.
• My Card: Hangetsu has one that declares his occupation to be "ALLY OF JUSTICE". And confuses it with his regular business cards when passing them out.
• Nietzsche Wannabe: Yuuhi and Taiyou, but they get better.
• Not a Game: For the series in general once it reaches Hangetsu's death, as it had been very light-hearted and comedic despite its premise. And Nagumo, as a former police detective, is far more serious than the entire rest of the cast, treating the fight as the deadly secret war it is. Compare him to Animus, one of the instigators of the war, who treats it entirely as a game for his own amusement.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Animus tries to tempt Shimaki over to his side, because he knew Shimaki's first idea for a wish had been access to the Akashic Records, and considered Shimaki almost kin because of that desire for knowledge. However, Shimaki considers knowledge a means to an end, while Animus considers it an end to itself.
• Not So Stoic: Yuuhi, Nagumo, Taiyou, and especially Hanako are the most serious, often outright repressed characters in the series. Yuuhi can even talk about ten long years of child abuse as if it was a bad joke. But a few bad shocks like Yuuhi witnessing Hangetsu's violent death cause the rare spontaneous outburst, while the camaraderie of the other knights draw them out of their stoicism gradually over time. Hanako is still very low-key through the end, though.
• Oblivious to Love: Mikazuki doesn't seem to realize how much Subaru blushes around him until possibly the last chapter.
• Official Couple: Several by the Distant Finale in the last chapter:
  • Taiyou and Yukimachi are dating.
  • Mikazuki and Subaru are heavily implied to be dating as well.
  • Shimaki and Hakudou are married.
  • Yuuhi and Samidare are very clearly together and more in love than ever at the end.
  • Interestingly played with in regards to Hangetsu and Hisame; they're Star-Crossed Lovers who can't be together in the story timeline that we follow due to Hangetsu's death, but Anima reveals that they did get together in the timeline that she comes from, as she and Animus were their descendants.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Animus and possibly Samidare.
• One Degree of Separation: Two of the knights are brothers (Hangetsu and Mikazuki). Two of them are childhood friends (Tarou and Hanako), while another three are a pair of childhood friends and their mentor (Yukimachi, Subaru, and the Master). Hakudou's swordfighting teacher knows Nagumo from his (Nagumo's) detective days, and Nagumo's former partner Hiwatari is the older sister of one of Yuuhi's classmates. Nagumo also knows the Shinonome brothers at least by reputation through their work for the local Yakuza, and it's clear Mikazuki knows of Nagumo as well. Hisame is one of Yuuhi and Mikazuki's professors (and is Mikazuki's academic advisor) and Samidare's older sister, and Shimaki is a fellow professor at the university. Samidare and Hisame are also Yuuhi's neighbors, and their father is also Yuuhi's favorite author. And to cap it all off, Samidare's wish from Anima was to meet Yuuhi again, after they met when both were young children; Anima and Animus are descended from Hisame and Hangetsu; and it's heavily implied that Animus reincarnated as the Master to serve karma and help stop his own horrible actions. The only one completely unconnected from another main cast member at start is Taiyou, as alienation is his biggest personal conflict, though Tarou and Hanako come close as they're only connected to each other.
• One-Hit Polykill: Tarou's attempt to shield Hanako from Boedromion's humongous spear ends in both of them getting stabbed, since it's large enough to run clean through Tarou and have room left over for the person behind him. Hanako only survives because of Tarou's wish.
• One-Winged Angel:
  • Animus assumes a nightmarish shadow form while wielding a hideously spiked giant hammer during the final battle, once he realizes the knights are too dangerous to merely toy with.
  • At the very end, Yuuhi steals the power of Invisible for Noi, and then Anima lets Mikazuki and Muu take the power of Hresvelgr for a final match against Yuuhi.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You:
  • Samidare is the only one allowed to destroy Earth.
  • Yuuhi is the only one to stop the girl he loves from doing so.
• Out of Focus: Both of the Asahina sisters drift out of focus to varying degrees in the latter half of the series, as it focuses on the Beast Knights as a group. Samidare is still present, but until very late it's not as much about her as it was in the early series. This is entirely intentional and meant to highlight Samidare's feelings of alienation from the group, just as her sickness alienated her from everyone else. Meanwhile, Hisame fades out almost entirely once Anima enters the picture.
• Pair the Spares: Shimaki and Hakudou, who are married by the Distant Finale, are a definite example. There was no in-story ship tease between them at all, as Shimaki wasn't particularly interested in anyone during the main story, while Hakudou was in love with Yuuhi. This is justified, however, since, as Yuuhi himself points out to Anima when she expresses disbelief, ten years is plenty of time for Hakudou to move on from a guy she was never going to have, and for Shimaki and Hakudou to get to know each other better and fall in love.
• Police Are Useless: Nagumo left the police after deciding (not without reason) that nepotism and politics in the force were keeping him from actually serving justice. There are hints that the cops' hands are tied from higher up when it comes to the secret battle, as well. In the Distant Finale, Yuuhi is a police detective and is determined not to be useless.
• Posthumous Character: The Swordfish Knight "Master", who foresaw his death and left behind a diary that he knew Yuuhi would eventually accidentally dig up.
• Power Makeover: With Anima's influence, three of the Beast Knights can transform into the Mythical Beast Knights— Shea Moon into Invisible, Dance Dark into Unicorn and Loki Helios into Hresvelgr. Not that it really does much for the animals themselves.
• The Power of Friendship: Yuuhi and Taiyou both eventually stop hating the world thanks to their association and friendships with the other knights, and decide there are things worth saving after all. And a little more literally when it comes to the knights' combined ultimate attack, Wish Fulfilling Light.
• The Power of Love: Yuuhi's love for Samidare is the only thing that can stop her at the end, saving the world from Samidare and Samidare from herself. It's heavily implied in Samidare and Anima's explanation for why Yuuhi has to be the one to activate the Blues Drive Monster is because they love him, trust him, and believe in him enough that his power will release theirs into the Blues - Anima's power is too bound up in the Blues to activate it herself, but he can give the starting push like the first turnover of a combustion engine... or the ignition explosive in a nuclear weapon.
• The Power of Trust: Samidare may recruit Yuuhi with the promise of destroying the world, but she keeps his loyalty by trusting him absolutely, right from the start - demonstrating her trust by throwing herself off the top of a four or five floor building when they first meet as Princess and Knight, trusting that he'll intervene to save her even though he's said he doesn't want to get involved at all. He jumps after her without even thinking.
• Power Perversion Potential: The first thing Yuuhi does with his telekinesis is lift up Hisame's skirt. It comes full circle when Yuuhi uses Babylon to tie up Hakudou's skirt over her head, revealing her pantyhose beneath it. Given that he uses Babylon to take out the remaining Beast Knights, he's basically using the most powerful form of their ability to do this.
• Precision F-Strike: Mikazuki does this after he beats Yuuhi at the end.
• Production Throwback: Maimakterion and Taiyou are seen leaving a cinema with Sengoku Youko, the author's other monthly serial, as one of the movies.
• Psycho Supporter:
  • Yuuhi is a literal Psycho Supporter, instantly pledging complete loyalty to Samidare after she vows to stop the mages from destroying Earth so that she can do so herself.
  • Samidare is this way for Yuuhi. When he's afraid to face his ill grandfather because of the abuse he suffered, she tells him that it's okay: if his grandfather were to ever hurt him again, she would annihilate the household.
• Really Dead Montage: Tarou receives one after his Senseless Sacrifice.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Noi gives one to Yuuhi at one point, who responds by agreeing with the lizard but ignoring what that actually means for him. Noi's speech is revisited when Yuuhi nearly breaks down in a full-fledged panic attack at the prospect of facing Hekatombaion after Hangetsu's death, and Yuuhi admits that he can't just brush off what Noi had said anymore. It takes Noi's belief that Yuuhi could grant Noi's wish in turn and be a hero for Yuuhi to overcome his fear.
  • Nagumo gives one to Animus in the final battle, which really plays quite well with the motifs of the story.
• Redemption Equals Death: Yuuhi's grandfather abused Yuuhi when he was young by keeping him in chains in the basement. Years later, he realizes the error of his ways, begs his grandson for forgiveness, which he eventually receives, and seems to have changed his relationship with Yuuhi for the better. He then gets hit by a car while crossing the street a few months later.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni:
  • Mikazuki (Red) and Yuuhi (Blue). Several people over the course of the series, including Hangetsu, comment on how alike yet different they are. They both end up practicing the same martial arts style and their personal domain controls are based heavily on mobility - but Mikazuki fights with passion and intensity while Yuuhi plans and anticipates. And at the very end Yuuhi ends up working as a police detective while Mikazuki is his rough parallel in the Yakuza, and both have a prominent, near-identical scar over one eye: Mikazuki over his right eye, and Yuuhi over his left.
  • Yukimachi and Subaru are a far milder case. Subaru has reddish hair while Yukimachi's is white, but in temperament Yuki is much more the Red Oni. As one fan translator put it, "The most GAR character in this series is officially a twin-tailed middle school girl."
• Refusal of the Call:
  • When Noi appears before Yuuhi and requests that he aid him in saving the world, Yuuhi decides he would much rather just hedge his bets and not risk his life before throwing Noi out the window.
  • Samidare needed a lot of convincing to work with Anima since the latter had difficulty talking to a child who didn't wish for anything at the moment.
• Right Under Their Noses: Puanepsion will always come back for a fight provided one of its clones is still standing. Animus and Maimakterion use that knowledge and Taiyou's naivete/neglected home life to place a golem somewhere none of the other knights would think to look: in Taiyou's house.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge:
  • Yuuhi against part of Hekatombaion, in revenge for the previous golem's killing of Hangetsu. He fights on pure adrenaline, rage, and the rudiments of the skills Hangetsu imparted to Yuuhi as his dying wish, though he's not able to finish the fight.
  • Hanako against the golem that killed Tarou.
• Sadistic Choice: Near the endgame, Animus pulls one last trick up his sleeve—He makes it so that Yuuhi is the trigger for the Biscuit Hammer's descent, and challenges everyone to either kill Yuuhi before the last golem is defeated, or suffer an inevitable demise. Every single one of the knights tells Animus to screw off, since that decision would have had more impact if it wasn't changed last minute.
• Samus Is a Girl: This one really takes you by surprise and right near the end too. Muu is female.
• Self-Made Orphan: Animus destroyed the spaceship he and his family were on while testing his psychic powers. If he ever felt bad about that it paled in comparison to the thrill of having god-like powers.
• Shapeshifter: Maimakterion is capable of doing this.
• Shapeshifter Guilt Trip: Maimakterion invokes this against the Beast Knights using their family members as a defensive move. Nagumo subverts it by attacking him anyway, with a grudge fueled newly named technique no less.
• Shapeshifter Weapon: Maimakterion does this.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend:
  • Tarou to Mikazuki, Yuuhi and Samidare during a youthful hangout once. He added a "yet" to the end though. Yuuhi answers much the same about Samidare when questioned about their relationship by Samidare's father.
  • This happens during a brief scene between Samidare and two of her school friends, who mention seeing a "slim, bespectacled guy" accompanying her periodically. When asked what Yuuhi is to her, then, Samidare responds, "My minion!" One of her friends is shocked, the other approves.
• Ship Tease:
  • A whole lot between Yuuhi and Samidare, though them ending up together is pretty obvious throughout the entire series.
  • Hangetsu and Hisame. While this ship appears to be sunk once Hangetsu dies, Anima reveals at the end of the series that in another version of the timeline, the two of them actually did end up together.
  • Plenty between Tarou and Hanako, who are canonically in love with each other. Sadly, Tarou dying sinks this ship as well.
  • Between Subaru and Mikazuki, as the former has a crush on the latter that he's unaware of. The ending heavily implies that they have become a couple.
  • More subtle than the other examples, but Yukimachi and Taiyou get some. They are also dating by series' end.
• Shout-Out:
  • The series is littered with small references to songs by The Pillows:
    • The title itself is a reference to "Biscuit Hammer" from the album Thank You, My Twilight.
    • The song "Poem of Babylon Angel" (バビロン・天使の詩) inspired the name of Yuuhi's perfected technique, Airspace Control Babylon, which is spelled with the kanji 天の庭; but read as "Babylon" (バビロン).
    • Anima's secret anti-hammer weapon is called the "Blues Drives Monster", which sames the same name as the song from the album Little Busters.
    • The combination attack used on the twelfth golem, the Shooting Star Arrow, is a reference to "Ride on Shooting Star".
  • Magical Mary's Ultimagical Drill Break against Magical Merry is a rather unsubtle one. Mary was wearing Kamina's Cool Shades as she does it too.
  • Animus reads a book about John Titor at one point.
  • Anima shows up in a bunny girl outfit in front of Taiyou to upgrade Loki after Taiyou defeated the "heart" of the little respawning golems.
  • Magical Mary owns a rifle that looks suspiciously like RX-78's.
  • A box of cakes from a cake shop glows golden when Hisame opens it.
  • Hangetsu claims to fight Mikazuki "at 30%" because 100% would reduce him to ash.
  • After Tarou and Hanako are impaled by Boedromion's spear, we get this exchange from The Empire Strikes Back:
  Tarou: "I love you."
  Hanako: "I know."
  • Anima and Animus' bright green hair is supposed to be a reference to Locke the Superman, according to Mizukami's comments in the extras of Psycho Staff.
• Show Within a Show:
  • Little Witch Magical Mary, a late night Magical Girl Warrior television anime that Hakudou, Hangetsu, and later Yuuhi watch. It's of the "parallels the plot" variety; he always seems to be watching an episode that mirrors what's happening in the manga at the moment (death of a characters, introduction of a new cast, etc).
  • Parrotman, an old (probably late 1960s or '70s) Toku hero show; several of the older characters were fans of it when children, including Hangetsu and Nagumo. Hangetsu heavily injured himself as a child trying to fly like the main character, which (at least how he tells it) severely disillusioned him about the reality of "allies of justice" and heroes.
• Sibling Rivalry: An unusually healthy version with Hangetsu (genius fighter) and Mikazuki (hard-working fight freak).
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Firmly on the idealistic side, despite prominent downer characters Yuuhi and Taiyou, and even multiple permanent character deaths.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: If you have glasses in this series, you're probably pretty brilliant. Hisame and Shimaki are college professors, Yuuhi's greatest strength is Awesomeness by Analysis, Hanako is very studious and always had to help Tarou in his studies, Samidare's mother is a genius doctor, and the mage is obsessed with knowledge. Taiyou has picked up a pair of glasses by the Distant Finale, but he's the only real aversion as a special bonus chapter showed him bombing his college exams pretty badly.
• Social Services Does Not Exist: Yuuhi had a pretty awful childhood, but unfortunately it's the kind of abuse that could very well have gone entirely undealt with due to Japan's real-life poor record in this area, especially due to his lack of obvious injuries from "merely" being restrained. The same with the overall neglect afforded Taiyou by his family. In the Distant Finale, Yuuhi researches how to deal with the fallout of such abuse in young people's lives, as a police detective.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Each golem is stronger than its predecessor, indicated by having one more eye.
• Spell My Name With An S:
  • Furesberg is more properly written as Hresvelgr, though both are apparently pronounced the same phonetically. However, most people still write it Furesberg because that name was in use first and longest by the fan translators. "Hresvelgr" is the official name in the Seven Seas translation.
  • "Golem" has been translated various ways. Mostly as, yes, "golem," but also by one fan translator as "mud doll." The official version calls them "golems" in the main text, but for some reason says "homunculus" on the back cover blurb.
• Stable Time Loop: During the final battle, Yuuhi comes across his future self who gives him the power he needs to continue on.
  • When Animus dies, it is implied that he will reincarnate as the Master.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: A couple of examples:
  • Hangetsu and Hisame, who married and had children in the timeline that Animus and Anima are from, as they are their direct descendents, but have their budding relationship cut short before it can really begin in the timeline that we follow due to Hangetsu's sudden death.
  • Tarou and Hanako are Childhood Friends who love each other, but Tarou tragically dies before they can ever attempt to have a romance with each other.
• Start of Darkness: Chapter 54 reveals Animus and Anima's backstory. Anima manages to convince Animus to seal his powers after they recover from the shuttle explosion... and then the nice doctor who was going to adopt them starts gushing about how Animus is a god. Animus snaps, happily agrees, then destroys Earth with a giant biscuit hammer For the Evulz.
• Suicide Pact: Yuuhi pledges to Samidare that he lives for her, strongly implying he would kill himself if she ever dies before him, no matter the circumstances. It helps draw her back from the brink of destroying everything. It's more one-sided than a normal suicide pact but it helps Samidare understand that her fears of being alone, even in death, are unfounded.
• Super-Strength: Samidare. The knights have it too, to a lesser extent.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Just because you can see into the future doesn't mean you'll be prepared for the actual event. Akitani knew for centuries when and where he'd meet Zan, but was still shocked over seeing a floating, talking swordfish. Likewise Hiwatari can see a few minutes into the future, but wasn't able to glean which parts of it were because of her own actions and which were because of something already in motion.
• Survivor Guilt: Yuuhi for a while. Hangetsu also had this after Noko died.
• Talking in Your Sleep: During a short bonus chapter in volume 7, Noi enthusiastically recaps the series so far while Yuuhi is asleep and muttering in the background. Everything Yuuhi mutters? Apparently about Sami's panties, as he keeps muttering about animals and "patterns." At least, until the dream takes a weird turn and the tiger design becomes a real tiger that attacks him.
• Tamer and Chaster: The manga has numerous shots of Samidare's underwear, but the anime removed all of them.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Near the endgame, Yuuhi finally gets a taste of the tail carrying bullying that he's put Noi through when Hakudou catches him upside down. Noi has a hearty laugh about it.
• Teach Me How To Fight: Yuuhi finally relents to having Hangetsu teach him his kung-fu. Unfortunately, his timing was bad.
• Theme Naming:
  • The Shinonome brothers, whose names relate to phases of the moon. Their mentioned-but-unseen younger brother probably fits the pattern, too.
  • The golems are named after the months in the Attic calendar. The first golem would thus be Gamelion (the first month of winter, covering part of January and February), though Hekatombaion (the seventh) is the first one whose name is actually mentioned for the readers to see. Similarly, Shimaki's golems follow a "days of the week" name scheme, going from Sunday to Saturday in Gratuitous German.
• They Would Cut You Up: The director who knew about Animus and Anima's powers invoked this on the siblings, saying that he'd adopt them so that the situation would never happen.
• There Are Two Kinds of People in the World: Yuuhi invokes this at the beach, type I being "Those who swim" and type II being "Those who don't". Then he immediately subverts it right after making that statement, running out to play in the water the instant Samidare calls for him.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: In the conclusion, following Animus' defeat, Yuuhi fights off the other Beast Knights before explaining that his feelings for her renders him the only one who can stop Samidare. This proves to be too much for him though, and he needs help from the other Knights to give him one final push in the end.
• Three-Point Landing: Successfully performed by Yuuhi just before killing his first golem.
• Time Travel: Animus, Anima and the Beast Knights go back in time whenever Animus wins a war. Hangetsu and the Master travel forwards in their dreams. Also, in the last chapter, Anima "borrows" Yuuhi from ten years after the last battle... on the day before the final battle.
• Timey-Wimey Ball: The reason Animus' destruction of each regressive past time doesn't erase him or Anima from existence in a paradox. Loki likens it to a kappa being born in a river, then going upstream to dam the flow and yet still living despite its birthplace being erased. "Time" is just another geographic dimension that those with enough power can move through.
• Title Drop: While Mikazuki and Yuuhi are having their last rematch, the giant Samidare in the sky begins to break up, and the pieces of it fall and create a meteor shower. Subaru calls it "A rain of stars... a May rain of stars... 'Hoshi no Samidare'..."
• Token Evil Teammate:
  • Everything about Mikazuki screams this when he joins up, as well as a Laughably Evil Villain with Good Publicity since everyone but Yuuhi and Nagumo is quickly charmed by him. Then his Hidden Depths come out and it turns out he really is that great a guy, he's just desperate for a Worthy Opponent and latched on to Yuuhi and Nagumo as candidates.
  • Taiyou and Loki are more seriously set up for this later on when it's revealed that they have allied with Animus because they want to destroy the world and want to be on the winning side of the conflict.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • Yuuhi is easily the most prominent example, going from relying on Samidare or Hangetsu to save him to being able to face three of the knights at the same time, followed by Samidare herself.
  • All of the knights over time, especially those that gain the power of the Mythical Beast Knights. The difference in combat power for both Nagumo and Hakudou from before their upgrades and after is staggering.
• Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object: Yukimachi and Subaru's "Strongest Spear" and "Invincible Shield" paired domain controls allude to this - they take the names from a story told by the Master about a spear that can penetrate any shield, and a shield that can block any spear. Instead of describing them as set against each other, however, he instead points out that if they are wielded together then the warrior that bears them would be unstoppable. He then has them clasp hands and declares that together they are "the warrior."
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: After shots of an explosion caused by Sami and her leaping over rooftops is seen on the news, Samidare is confident someone will spin it into something plausible (a nuclear test and a pop idol publicity stunt, respectively).
• Villain Protagonist: Samidare (the titular "Lucifer") and Yuuhi, with the goal of destroying Earth. The other knights mostly don't know about Samidare's intention; Samidare and Yuuhi plot to turn against them as soon as the world is saved.
• Villainous Breakdown: Animus starts really losing it when Samidare manages to smash the hammer. He was so used to winning his little game that he can't actually take it that he could be beaten and practically flips going to attack the knights. It's pretty much his version of flipping the table after losing a chess match.
• Visual Pun: In the penultimate chapter, the bits of the giant Samidare weapon intended to crush the earth break up into multiple pieces and burn going down the atmosphere. They are, quite literally, the "may rain"/"shooting stars" of Samidare, like in the original title.
• Suddenly Speaking: Muu never talks but logically she had to at some point to tell Mikazuki about his role as a knight. When asked, Mikazuki admits that Muu hasn't spoken ever since he made his wish and sealed their pact, back when Mikazuki was backpacking in India long before he showed up in the series. She finally talks during her farewell to Mikazuki.
• Weirdness Censor: The main reason the characters are chosen to be the Beast Knights is because they have a much weaker Weirdness Censor than most people:
  Loki: The Knights of the Rings' brains are truly exceptional. Those selected are a group of fools. Those people are able to accept unbelievable things and believe in them. Perceiving the extraordinary, to become able to perform the extraordinary.
• Whole Episode Flash Back:
  • Akitani's death takes place over the course of two chapters explaining the contents of the book he leaves behind.
  • Chapter 54 covers the origins of the "game" to stop the Biscuit Hammer and the beginning of Anima and Animus' twisted Sibling Rivalry. This is followed up with Chapter 55, used to show how Samidare and Anima first met and bonded with each other.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds:
  • Yuuhi. Yuuhi had a messed-up childhood thanks to his grandfather, who raised him after his dad was murdered by his colleague and his mom disappeared. Said grandfather became a misanthrope after his son's death, and forbid Yuuhi from forming any sort of relationships with people, going as far as to chain him up when he dared bring a friend home.
  • Samidare didn't actually start as this, but became one over time. As Anima puts it, at first her desire to destroy the world came from a childish desire to own it, which she felt she could only do by taking it down with her. However, after bonding with the knights and experiencing many happy moments alongside them, it became unbearable for her to think of them moving on to a future which she couldn't be a part of. She started to hate the passage of time, knowing their days together would come to an end, and deep in her heart started hoping Yuuhi would be able to stop her from destroying the world.
  • Taiyou might qualify. After losing his mother, his father became emotionally negligent, and he couldn't connect with his stepmother or his half-brother. He started to hate the world and wished for its destruction, since there wasn't any happiness for him in it.
• Word Salad Title: One of the alternative titles of the series is The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: A lot of the characters seem to enjoy acknowledging shōnen tropes, but miss how often the seinen series subverts them. Mikazuki, in particular, makes his introduction to Yuuhi in the pouring rain and casually asks for a fight. When Yuuhi flat-out refuses, Mikazuki flips out at him for not following the cliché, and then bursts into tears and runs off.
• You Can Barely Stand: This happens repeatedly to the Beast Knights when Animus joins in on the final battle. The only reason they keep coming back up is because of Taiyou's restoration power.
• You Can't Fight Fate:Samidare's wish, made when she was a little girl, was to meet with a certain nice older boy again. Guess who that older boy was. Yuuhi never had any hope of avoiding the conflict.
• You Fight Like a Cow:
  Mikazuki: What's the matter? Your mom has a protruding navel.

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