Durarara!!



Ikebukuro, a district of Tokyo. A young man named Mikado Ryugamine has moved there from "the sticks", clueless as to how things work in the big city. Reunited with his childhood friend Masaomi Kida for the first time in years, Mikado is shown the way around town as he tries to adapt to the hectic ways of the busy metropolis and discovers its many dark secrets.

Word on the street is that a mysterious motorcyclist with no head called "The Black Rider" (a modernized Dullahan from Celtic Mythology) has been riding about committing acts of vigilante justice in a spectacularly violent fashion.

There's a guy who dresses like a bartender with inhuman strength, a shady Knowledge Broker, a genius Back-Alley Doctor, and a conspiracy about a pharmaceutical company involved in human trafficking. Then there's the "Dollars," a mysterious "colorless" gang whose members and activities are shrouded in secrecy.

Based on a series of light novels written by Ryohgo Narita, the mastermind behind Baccano; with art and designs by Suzuhito Yasuda, of Yozakura Quartet fame. It can be read [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Durarara!! here].

An anime adaptation aired in Japan from in January through June 2010, running for 24 episodes, with two additional episodes on the DVD release. The anime adaptation was directed by Takahiro Omori and and animated by Brain's Base, the same studio/director combo that adapted Baccano. Aniplex picked up the series for North American distribution, and the DVD releases were done in three groups in January, March, and May 2011. The show aired on Adult Swim starting June 2011.

Check out the character page if you have time as well.

Warning!! The examples below may include spoilers for the light novels, as well as the anime. '''If you're only following the latter, proceed at your own risk! '''

"Chikage: Not that I don't enjoy a good Cat Fight between girls every now and then... but wouldn't it totally defeat the purpose if you hurt each other's beautiful faces and bodies with knives like this? I'd suggest you go with mud wrestling."
 * Abusive Parents:
 * Academy of Adventure: Raira Academy, especially during Shizuo and Izaya's attendance.
 * Adaptation Expansion: To make this easy let's just say that episode 2, and
 * Adjusting Your Glasses: Anri and Shizuo do this on occasion.
 * Aerosol Flamethrower: Walker makes use of one at the climax of volume 6. The narrative helpfully points out that this is stupidly dangerous and as likely to set Walker on fire as anyone else, but that Walker's doing it anyway on account of being Walker.
 * Alien Autopsy: In one episode, we see Celty watching a documentary on one of these in the background while Shinra speaks on the phone. Celty, as it turns out, is terrified of aliens (and given her experience with Dr. Kishitani probably autopsies too).
 * All There in the Manual: Ignoring the Light Novels, the Japanese DVDs come with written short stories.
 * Alternate Character Reading: A few of the episode titles.
 * Anachronism Stew: Due to time discrepancies between light novels and anime releases, the series is peppered with small and amusing inconsistencies, mostly about the release dates of some gadgets and stuff. For note, IIRC, the official date of the events in light novels is 2002, which leads to:
 * Izaya having an iPhone three years before its official release even in the US (2005).
 * Mikado's PC having an AGP port (normal for 2002), but sporting a Windows 7 sticker (released in 2009), and so on.
 * The dates on computer screens and cellphones make it clear that the anime is supposed to be set in 2010. His PC is obviously a brand name bought pre-assembled (and that sticker was on the box), but then, there are indications that this was while he still was in junior high. Looks like someone was having fun with the details.
 * Anime Accent Absence: Averted. Even if the accent is wrong, you can't say they didn't give all the foreigners an accent. They even went all the way and made a couple of tourist girls in episode 3, an entirely one-shot pair of characters, speak heavily accented, but otherwise perfect, Russian, complete with subtitles.
 * Animeland
 * Armor-Piercing Slap: delivers one to a rather paranoid  after he interrogates her
 * Art Evolution: Hell yes. Suzuhito's earlier artwork for DRRR!!, while decent, was kind of awkward and a little stodgy. It has since developed and become much more fluid, with better colors and characterization in general. Compare the volume one cover to the cover of the most recent volume ten.
 * Asshole Victim:
 * The three ganguros who bully Anri end up getting attacked in Episode 13.
 * Horada is such an arrogant Jerkass that no one ever sympathizes with him.
 * Professor Nasujima gets clocked by Shizuo after coming at him with a knife and asking for his money. Nobody cares.
 * Astroturfing: In-universe example: During the formative days of the Dollars, pose as different people to spread the word about the group.  even mentions posting as multiple people on the Dollars's own website to pad the member count. Things ultimately take on a life of their own once, however.
 * Awakening the Sleeping Giant: When the  get utterly dominated by , they wonder if Izaya has any idea the asskicking he's unleashed.
 * Badass: Almost every main character in the series, in some way or another.
 * Badass Army: The Yellow Scarves when competently led. The Dollars are mostly composed of Guile Heroes, but they have enough muscle and acheive enough awesome to qualify.
 * Badass Crew: Kadota's sub division of the Dollars, composed of himself, Togusa, and Walker and Erika.
 * Badass Pacifist: Simon. Also, many members of the Dollars prefer Guile Hero tactics (i.e. nonviolent methods), as best displayed in Episode 22 of the anime.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Many characters have this as a running theme.
 * Four-Star Badass: They aren't military officers, but  is the metaphorical equivalent of this for the Yellow Scarves and   is this for the Dollars, though only a few know about the latter.
 * One-Man Army: Celty and  are good contenders for this, but Shizuo is the most badass one of them all, lampshaded by Celty herself.
 * World of Badass
 * Bait and Switch Credits: The anime's second opening implies that Kasuka and Kinnosuke get a lot more screentime than the ever do. They do end up getting due focus in later novels, but those aren't the anime...
 * Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Invoked by Chikage in the sixth volume when he intervenes on a fight between Vorona and.
 * Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Invoked by Chikage in the sixth volume when he intervenes on a fight between Vorona and.

""No way! I'm not that bad a guy!""
 * Because You Were Nice to Me: How did Tom get on Shizuo's good side? By showing him some basic human decency.
 * This is also part of the reason that
 * Beneath the Mask: An on-going theme, applied to almost all of the main characters as well as Ikebukero itself.
 * Berserk Button:
 * Shizuo has about a million of them, but Izaya's continued existence rises above them all.
 * Do not scratch Togusa's van.
 * Do not hurt women in close proximity to Chikage.
 * As of late, threatening the lives of his best friends causes  to get pretty damn upset.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: The more friendly someone is in this series, the more likely it is that they're a complete and utter freak.
 * Big Brother Bully: Ran Izumi and . Said bullying seems to have had some serious effects on the targets -- especially for Ran's little brother,.
 * Biker Babe: Celty and Vorona.
 * Bilingual Bonus: At the end of Episode 8, Celty speaks Irish (with a Japanese accent) She says: Tá me anseo, anseo (I am here, here).
 * Also, Simon delivers a whole "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Izaya in Russian in episode 24
 * Bilingual Backfire: In one episode, Simon breaks from cheerfully advertising sushi to warn/threaten Izaya with a Russian proverb. Izaya immediately replies in Russian with another proverb.
 * Bishonen : Kasuka, Shizuo, Izaya, Shinra, Mikado, Kida, Aoba, Seiji, Tom, Walker, Chikage, Ryo Takiguchi and Nasujima-sensei.
 * Bland-Name Product:
 * Tons in episode 11. Mikado owns a Mindows 7 desktop computer that runs wbunte and uses it to visit the websites Yohoo! Japan.came, Amezon.shop, Niru Channel, Yo!Tube, Nixi, and NSM, among others.
 * That computer is a stew of Bland Name Products, let's see... It's supposed to be an NEC computer (possibly a Shout-Out to the PC-98), using a Phoenix Award BIOS and the motherboard itself is Energy Star compliant. The hard drives are a Seagate and a Maxtor (to the extent that they never bothered to change how their model numbers work), and to top it off, it has a Sony DVD drive.
 * In a flashback in episode 18, it's shown that Masaomi first met Saki and Izaya in an "HWV" store.
 * In episode 21, Kadota buys Mikado an energy drink called Red Snake.
 * Blatant Lies: Izaya.

"Shinra: I have seen the face of hell."
 * Blood Is the New Black: Shizuo manages this with a good portion of his fights, though
 * Book Ends: The anime begins and ends with the same narrator.
 * The second special ends with
 * Boy Meets Dullahan
 * And another boy meets that Dullahan's head.
 * Brain Bleach: What Shinra reaches for when he tries to walk in on Celty in the shower and instead gets a good look at his gas mask-wearing father's naked ass.

"Akabayashi: ..."That computer thingy"...? Aozaki-san, what kind of era do you think you're living in?"
 * Celty says that just thinking about the Izaya/Shizuo pairing makes her want to vomit . . . which is probably physically impossible for her.
 * At one point in the novels, she runs to Shinra and he realizes that she's actually crying.
 * Breather Episode: Or rather Breather Novels. Volume 4 takes a break from Izaya's machinations for a Hyperlink Story involving motorcycle chases, a supernatural serial killer, a pair of Creepy Twins, and a missing envelope with 1,000,000 yen inside. Volume 7 is more or less a series of vignettes that take place.
 * Brick Joke: You know that old dog that Togusa sent out to find Kaztano in the early part of episode 6? He did manage to track them down, albeit a little too late.
 * Brother-Sister Incest: Namie likes Seiji a bit too much.
 * Buffy-Speak: Aozaki of Awakusu-kai occasionally slips into this.

"Masaomi: Who knows? Anything and everything can happen in this town."
 * Butt Monkey: Nasujima-sensei seems to fall into one unfortunate mishap after another, and they only seem to get worse. He kind of had it coming though.
 * Calvin Ball: Izaya apparently plays some bizarre, single-player hybrid of chess, Shogi and Reversi on a Go board in his spare time, possibly symbolizing that he's not playing by anybody's rules.
 * Shogi = Yellow Scarves; Chess = Dollars; Reversi = Saika...
 * And then  
 * Cards= Those he calls 'main players.' King= Shizuo, Queen= Celty, and by the time he gets to thinking about who the Joker is,
 * This instance of Calvinball is apparently especially random, since Izaya contradicts all of the above in episode 21 by having Anri be the black queen and Yellow Scarves be black Reversi pieces.
 * Cast Full of Pretty Boys : Almost every male character in Durarara is a Bishonen. Yes, there are exceptions, but most of the males are exceptionally pretty.
 * Cast of Snowflakes: Especially important to keep the many characters as visually distinct as possible. Extras are grayed out with vaguer outlines to prevent distracting focus from the significant characters, and prevent exhausting the distinct features possible.
 * Celtic Mythology or, if Izaya is right,.
 * Chekhov's Gun: A literal one. Early on in the third arc, Izaya makes a passing reference to some guns that were smuggled into Tokyo and then subsequently stolen. Four were retrieved, but one's still missing. That gun becomes important later when
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Kinnosuke Kuzuhara the traffic cop who, despite being in the second opening, is only a major character for one episode and makes a minor cameo later on.
 * The Chessmaster: well, more like Chess/Shoji/Reversi/Playing Card Master, but the trope still holds
 * City of Adventure: Ikebukuro is just brimming with possibilities.

""Let me see - after an awesome fight, they realized The Power of Friendship...""
 * Clothing Damage: Shizuo can inflict the whole-body version with one punch.
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: Mikado  = blue, Masaomi  = yellow, Anri  = red. Also the idea behind the color gangs, gangs that identify themselves by wearing certain colors. The Dollars are an interesting take on this, as their color is colorless or "transparent".
 * Comedic Sociopathy:
 * Both Shizuo's rampages and Walker/Erika's, ahem, less savory pastimes are mostly played for laughs.
 * Izaya's machinations as well, at least until about episode 18.
 * Completely Missing the Point: Walker, upon discovering that Kazutawno did not, in fact, break a plate: "That email wasn't about breaking a plate... It was about breaking a bowl!" This is based around some Japanese wordplay: the character in question, a foreigner whose Japanese is relatively terrible, was abducted, and sent an e-mail off to a friend in desperation: however, he said "sara wareta" ("I broke a plate") instead of "sarawareta" ("I was kidnapped"). Upon discovering his trashed and empty room, everyone realizes the mixup… except Walker, who dramatically holds up a chipped bowl.
 * Conveniently Seated: Mikado gets the standard "second seat from the back along the windows", which allows him to stare outside (also at Anri) when necessary. He is also seated in front of Mika's empty desk, which allows Anri to stare past him whenever it's convenient. Once  sits in the front row to be next to  ; this puts her in the same row as Anri, allowing them to exchange meaningful looks on occasion. Incidentally, Kamichika Rio is also seated alongside the windows, allowing her to give listless gazes outside during her focus episode.
 * Cordon Bleugh Chef: In one episode, Celty worries that the meal she cooked was bad, so she throws it out and later goes with Shinra to the Russian sushi place. They are served various dishes (like hamburgers) "sushi style", which considerably bothers Shinra. The restaurant itself still seems to be rather popular (and opulent), so Simons' Running Gag of a failure as a hawker apparently doesn't bother them much.
 * Corner of Woe: Celty goes into one at the beginning of volume 4 after a particularly bad run-in with Kuzuhara. Because of her powers, she literally dims the room.
 * Covers Always Lie: the second op hinted with the inclusion of Tom, Kasuka, Kinnosuke, Mika (her name at least) and Shingen that they would play a rather large role in the second arc of the anime, it was not to be.
 * The Cuckoolander Was Right: So far, at least one of Erika and Yumasaki's elaborate wild-guessing theories has been right. (see WMG page for more details) (Word of God says that doesn't apply to Erika's BL fantasies, though. Sorry, Shizaya fangirls.)
 * Word of God says they both have to think it for it to be true. Walker... isn't really fond of Shizaya.
 * Darker and Edgier: As the novel goes on, the plot gets darker and more serious. The injuries some characters sustain is just jarring in comparison to the anime.
 * Day in The Limelight: Episode 6 for Kadota and his gang.
 * Deadly Closing Credits: Volume six ends with being stabbed by a rival and passing out before he can contact anyone for help. He lives, thanks to someone noticing the bleeding man on the street and calling the paramedics, but relying on formal medical care comes at a cost - is stabbing was reported on the news, which gave out both his name and the hospital he was recuperating at. Now any of his many, many enemies could watch that broadcast and head over to finish him off. He starts going a little stir crazy when this realization dawns on him. It happens to him again in volume ten. At this point, we have no idea if he is dead, alive, or possessed by Saika. Also, Kadota was rendered unconscious, and the other members are noticeably (and perhaps murderously) upset...
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Kadota and Chikage; though they were already sort of friendly before and while beating each other up, everyone mentions this trope when talking about their face-off. Here is how random Blue Squares member Gin summarizes it:

"Gin: Give me more time, I'll pay it back!... Say, you're pretty handsome. You look just like that actor...Um, Yuuhei Hanejima! That's it! Shizuo: ...[Growls]
 * Defictionalization: You know the password.
 * Dhampyr: has recently been confirmed as one as of the fifth volume of Vamp!.
 * Diagonal Cut: Performed by on a pair of gigantic warehouse doors.
 * Did Not Do the Research: In the anime Simon, who is Russian, speaks (broken) Japanese with an English accent. Russian Japanese sounds completely different. On the other hand, the anime also says that Simon is an American ex-pat who moved to Russia before then moving to Japan. Depending on how old he was before leaving the United States, perhaps he speaks everything with an English accent.
 * Subverted in the dub; he speaks with a believable Russian accent.
 * Different As Night and Day: Mairu and Kururi,
 * Actually an Invoked Trope - in middle school they
 * Digging Yourself Deeper: As one poor bastard learned, flattery will only get you thrown across the skyline if used on Shizuo

Gin: Er, my mistake. You don't look like that asshole at all.

Shizuo: [Uproots and throws tree]"

"Kida: Get it? CLImatic and CLIche? Mikado: The fact that you had to explain the joke just shows how lame it was."
 * Distracted by the Sexy: Anri is STACKED UP. It becomes something of a plot point as when several people are looking for her, they're only able to identify that she's a student wearing glasses that has big breasts.
 * Don't Explain the Joke

"Celty: Even those two, who looks like people you'd see anywhere on an ordinary day, have secrets."
 * Whenever Walker and Erika are making references to other anime and manga, the other will shout out loud what the reference is even if it is dead obvious. Justified since DRRR!! has popularity with the non-otaku crowd as well.
 * Dramatic Chase Opening: The anime episode "Anarchy" starts with Anri desperately running away from members of the Yellow Scarves gang and trying to hide in an alley.
 * Dynamic Entry: Flying vending machines are Shizuo's special way of saying hello.
 * Dysfunction Junction: Hoo boy. Namie, Seiji, Mika, Celty's friggin' head, and the weird-ass Yandere love square they've got going on, just for starters.
 * It's telling that the only characters with anything resembling a healthy relationship are the mad scientist and the decapitated fairy.
 * And the two Ax Crazy otakus, can't forget that.
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Many of the characters from later arcs of the novels (such as Kasuka or Saika) are introduced in the first arc of the anime
 * Easy Amnesia: Celty, due to losing her head.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Izaya maybe a Jerkass and the King of Trolls, but he Wouldn't Hit a Girl nor kill anyone. Although it maybe a case of Pragmatic Villainy on you can't troll someone who's dead.
 * Everyone Went to School Together: Shizuo and Shinra went to elementary and high school together, and Izaya was in the same class as Shinra in junior high. All three of them went to high school together, along with Kadota.
 * Evil Weapon/Empathic Weapon: Saika
 * With regards to, it's an odd case; most Evil Empathic Weapons feed off of their host's emotions, but this particular host claims that she feeds off of the emotions of the blade, unable to experience love otherwise. They have a weird kind of codependent relationship.
 * Excited Show Title
 * Eyes Always Shut: Walker, and you can only hope that he'll never open them because of you.
 * Eye Scream: This almost happens to a thug
 * Ayakabashi's backstory involves this:
 * Faceless Masses: Grey and unmoving. Their gang colors might show up but that's it.  ...which gives new meaning to the
 * The Fair Folk: Well, we've got a Dullahan, but she's much nicer than the Fae are supposed to be. Some characters speculate that this is due to her missing head. Shinra expresses fear that if Celty ever found it, she could become an entirely different person, and leave him.
 * Fakeout Escape: Shingen fakes Celty out by sending the elevator to the bottom floor while he hides. He then tries to make a dramatic exit using the same elevator, and the scene cuts while he's still waiting for it to come back up.
 * Fake Real Turn:.
 * False Camera Effects: Shinra's video footage in episode 4.
 * Fan Disservice:
 * Naked woman? Okay. Headless naked woman? Er... Yeah, I can deal with that (and more). Headless naked woman being vivisected by a four year old when the anesthesia doesn't work? Do not want!!!
 * Naked Shingen might also count. Shinra certainly thinks so, at least. He really hoped to peep on Celty then. His father's ass at such time is indeed a major disappointment.
 * The disservice is taken Up to Eleven when you consider the fact that he's still wearing that freaking gas mask!
 * Fan Nickname:
 * Shizuo -- Shizzy, The Gartender
 * Mikado -- kado, Moekado, kado and Mikadork.
 * Masaomi -- Brosaomi, Moesaomi
 * Celty -- Tsundullahan
 * Izaya -- Trollzaya. In Japan he is known as Uzaya from "uzai" which means annoying.
 * Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Things confirmed to exist in the Naritaverse include The Fair Folk, the Grand Panacea, homunculi, Eldritch Abominations, succubi, Empathic Weapons, vampires, and werewolves
 * Faux Affably Evil: Izaya is a fairly friendly-seeming guy, but one of the first things we see him do in the anime is construct an elaborate kidnapping and rescue scenario to mess with a suicidal teenage girl, apparently just for the lulz. He's kind of a massive douchebag
 * Faux Fluency: If the English accent instead of the Russian one didn't tip you off, when you hear Simon trying to talk to some Russian tourists in Russian it becomes very clear that his voice actor has no experience with Russian at all. Neither do those of the tourists in question,.
 * First Name Ultimatum: "IIIIIIZAAAAAAYAAAAAA!"
 * Flanderization: the anime plays up Mikado being a nice normal kid, much more than the original novel, where Mikado is perceptive, has a sharp tongue, and is prone to . It also plays up  . And to a lesser extent, Izaya's asshattery was toned down and his trolling was amped up. He was also a little more feminine.
 * Flat What: Vorona, when she realizes that Shizuo just kicked a car at her (she's new -- she's allowed to be surprised). For bonus points, she lapses into Russian.
 * Fluffy the Terrible: The headless, undead horse/motorcycle that Celty has? His name is Shooter.
 * Foreshadowing: Celty's narration in Episode 2 on Mikado and Masaomi.

"Kadota: I can't believe they're still filming this."
 * Freaky Is Cool: Shinra and Mikado
 * And Seiji for his true love
 * Freeze-Frame Bonus: In episode 6, in the beginning when the Otaku gang are chasing after the kidnappers,
 * Friendship Moment: Turns out that  of all people really cares for   especially during flashbacks of what happened in middle school.
 * Funny Background Event: Simon's increasingly ridiculous attempts to advertise Russian Sushi during a news broadcast in the second OVA. Culminating in him kidnapping the film crew, since they were trying to film Celty. Kasuka being Kasuka, he just went with it.

"Namie: Geez, he really goes on..."
 * Funny Foreigner:
 * Simon, through no fault of his own, as well as most of the other immigrants who appear in the series
 * The Russian tourists were fine, even spoke heavily accented though otherwise almost-perfect Russian.
 * Fur and Loathing: Izaya
 * Gambit Pileup: By volume 6, Izaya's Mob War has managed to drag in, at some point or another, the Dollars, Blue Square, the Yellow Turbans, Saika's knife-zombie army, a biker gang by the name of Toramaru, two separate Yakuza groups, and at least four former members of The Mafiya.
 * Gang-Bangers: Parodied in episode 3, with a gangster who hams up all of the popular gang banger stereotypes and cliches. "Yo! Yo! [crotch grab Yooooooooo! Hey man!!"] Mikado and Kida comment on how strangely refreshing it is to see someone act in such a cliche stereotyped fashion.
 * Gang of Hats: We've got the Yellow Scarves and the Blue Squares, who are traditional gang members who simply (wait for it) identify by what they're wearing. Then we've got Dollars, the newest and biggest kids on the block--a gang formed over the Internet. Some members know each other in real life, but mostly only know each other by their online selves, and are summoned by PDA; many are extremely hardcore Otaku (but not all). To everyone else; they're an Anonymous group that uses no visible colors to identify themselves, congregate out of nowhere, and scatter into nowhere. Their "Hat" is that they have no Hat. Yes, they're a Weaponized 4chan. Be very afraid.
 * Genre Busting
 * Giggling Villain: Izaya
 * GIRL: Further muddling the issue is the fact that the anime randomly shuffles voice actors for the chatroom segments until who is who is revealed in the plot. To make matters simpler, here's everyone's screen names:.
 * Discussed in volume 9 of the novels: Bacula and a new member of the chat-room theorize that some of their companions might be this. And that new member.
 * Glamour/CharmPerson: Not much attention is called to it, but Celty's head seems to have some kind of similar power; note that three of the known people who've seen the head (the unnamed portrait painter of episode 4, Namie and Seiji's uncle, and Seiji himself) became obsessed with the head the moment they first saw it. The portrait painter even saw Celty's whole body and her head, but still became obsessed with just the head; so much so that he says seeing it was the most important event of his life. He is also incapable of drawing the head or even describing its most basic details, feeling that each time he tries he fails to capture it properly. …He has spent years trying to successfully draw the head, and never once has.
 * A Glass in the Hand: In vol. 5, Shinra serves Shizuo his tea in a steel cup in hopes to make this not happen. One bad joke later, and said steel cup instantly becomes a tiny, crumpled ball of foil.
 * The Glomp: Kida sure likes getting physical with Mikado
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom/Red Eyes, Take Warning:
 * The Slashers/. And it's not just some thing for the viewer's convenience; Kadota actually points out the red eyes.
 * Good Cop, Bad Cop: When interrogating thugs, Kadota is the good cop and Walker and Erika are the bad cops (although given methods, it's more like Bad Cop, Worse Cops).
 * Gratuitous English: ROAR OUT LOUDER!/BLOW UP LOUDER! depending on which you prefer (the latter is correct, but most fans use the former due to misheard lyrics. It's also hilarious). Also see Ear Worm.
 * Kida's dialogue is full of Gratuitous English, to the point that Mikado mutters, "I wish you'd just speak Japanese..."
 * Episode 12.5 of the anime is chock full of these.
 * Gratuitous Russian: Courtesy of Izaya, Simon, and the tourists in ep. 3.
 * The Greys: Don't actually exist in the Naritaverse (...probably), but that doesn't stop Celty from being terrified of them
 * Guile Hero: The members of the Dollars who aren't fighters fall into this category, though even some of them fall into this.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: Pretty much anything can set Shizuo off.
 * Hannibal Lecture:
 * Namie delivers one to Mikado. 'Course,
 * Izaya later gives one to, at which point Namie lampshades it:
 * Izaya later gives one to, at which point Namie lampshades it:

"Izaya: How was it? Gave you quite the adrenaline shot, didn't it? Did you and Celty just grow to love each other even more due to the misattribution of arousal?
 * Izaya also delivers one to  in the novels, though that can also be seen as a Shut UP, Hannibal.
 * Izaya is the freaking god of this trope, to the point that it might as well be changed to "Izaya Lecture." He also delivers one to the two suicidal girls upon his introduction in the novels and manga, and to Rio as well in the anime. His smaller lectures tend to be given to Mikado, and apparently.
 * Ha Ha Ha No: Shinra, after Izaya trolls him by handing his cellphone number to the police

Shinra: Ah hah hah. Go dive chest-first in a clay ice shaver, Izaya."

"Erika: See? I told you she's a tsundere!"
 * Hammerspace: Apparently one of Celty's abilities with the black matter that forms her suit and the smoke from her neck, and scythe.
 * Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: It doesn't matter if you praise or insult Kasuka, Shizuo will beat you up either way.
 * He Is All Grown Up: "Lately, I've been looking at Shinra as a man. At first I didn't know what that meant, but I'm beginning to understand the feeling."
 * He's Got Legs: The Linda Linda pictures show off Masaomi's very nice legs.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: Mikado and Kida
 * "Hey You!" Haymaker: Mairu does this to a thug after he knocks her sister down in the second OVA. Only instead of punching him, she flip-kicks him in the face.
 * Hit Me, Dammit!: Shinra and Celty finish their argument in the twelfth episode with a mutual example. Shinra's punch is just hard enough to knock off Celty's helmet. Celty's sends Shinra into the wall.
 * Hive Queen:  Crossed with The Man Behind the Man.
 * Hot Springs Episode: Lampshaded along with the Beach Party Episode, then handily averted by Celty
 * Homoerotic Subtext: Pointed out by Walker and Erica.
 * This is mainly between Mikado and Masaomi. There's some between Mikado and Aoba as well.
 * In the anime only, Izaya has a Shizuo-complex, according to Simon.
 * Erika sees some between Chikage and Kadota, and Shizuo and Izaya.
 * Izaya is shown to actually care for none other than.
 * Hot for Student: One of the teachers at Mikado's school clearly has a thing for Anri, which naturally Squicks the hell out of her. The same guy is also dating one of his former students...
 * Hot Teacher : Takashi Nasujima. Despite the fact that he is lust driven to schoolgirls.
 * Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Shizuo eventually develops an Intergenerational Friendship with a young Yakuza Princess named Akane. The girl just barely reaches to his waist
 * Humanity Is Infectious: Celty wonders if living among humans might have caused her to adopt some of their values, but it doesn't bother her.
 * Humiliation Conga:
 * I Always Wanted to Say That: "Leave this to me! You go on ahead!"
 * I Am a Monster: Shizuo, Celty, and
 * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: In the anime, they're four kanji long Chinese proverbs that have been adapted into Japanese. The second novel uses this as well; the third novel uses quotes from the dialogue.
 * Idol Singer: Ruri Hijiribe, who Togusa is obsessed with, and it's because of this that he is so upset when Kaztano is kidnapped; Kaztano regularly supplied him with front-row tickets to her concerts.
 * Ruri is also none other than.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Shizuo and . Celty's had her moments, too. As well as, who wanted to live a "normal life" without gangs, like his bro.
 * I'm a Humanitarian: Simon Brezhnev wants to assure you that his sushi has absolutely no human meat in it, only 100% fish non-human ingredients. This is probably true, as Simon is a really nice guy, but that doesn't stop people from speculating, the fact that he has on two occasions threatened several yellow scarves who were mugging people that he'd turn them into sushi does not help. People behave when he's around, though, so that's something.
 * Improvised Weapon: Street signs, chairs, guardrails, mailboxes, trash cans, vending machines, playground slides...
 * Seiji's weapon of choice appears to be pens. Would've been absolutely awesome except he was up against Shizuo.
 * makes better use of said pen trick when he forces Aoba into signing a contract in blood -- quite literally. (It's not really improvised though - he clearly had brought it there for this very purpose.)
 * The ballpoint pens in the series are made by Nebula. It's advertised as follows: "Doesn't break even when run over by a tank! The most durable ballpoint pen in world!"
 * I'm Standing Right Here: Walker and Erika have their "Is Celty a Tsundere?" argument in her own apartment. When Celty learns Shinra gave them the idea (and...embellished certain aspects of their relationship), she decides she might as well live up the the archetype -- with extra tsuntsun. Strangling is involved.

"Erika: Before their eyes stood, in her black dress and surrounded by black roses, the Queen - Erika Beatrice Karisawa, heiress of the Karisawa Corporation! Kadota fell in love with her at first sight... that's right, he had became the butler of love who was dying to be a slave of love even before he even earned the right to serve her... Kadota: Hang on... Erika: But one day, Kadota realized that he was not his real self, and his feelings for the heiress was unadulterated respect rather than love! And then Dotachin came to his senses. He realized that the only source of comfort for him was his one and true rival, Walker! Kadota: Hang on... Walker: Wait, Karisawa-san, please stop! Why are you fantasizing about Kadota-san and me in a Boys Love relationship!?...I say Kadota-san and I should become heroes in Galgames who win over the hearts of loads and loads of heroines! Actually, we can even do without Kadota-san! I'll be happy as long as I have this bondaged right hand blessed with the power of ancient moe-moe peoples so that every girl who sees my right hand would go "Woo ~"... Kadota: Guys, hang on... Erika: Ehhh? But wasn't Yumacchi talking about writing me and Dotachin in a master-slave relationship? How about this - Dotachin somehow becomes a girl when he gets up one morning, and finds himself in a boarding school for females... Kadota: SHUT. UP. YOU. TWO. AHHHHHHH!"
 * Erika once goes on about an elaborate Kadota and Walker butler fantasy in front of the two guys in question. The result is special

"Erika: Ya think maybe that he mistyped "kidnapped"? Saburo: Nah!"
 * Incoming Ham: IIIIIII-ZAAAAAA-YAAAAA-KUUUUUUUN
 * Inconsistent Dub: With Baccano, strangely enough, as they take place in the same universe. The mega-corporation that appears in both series is called "Nebula" in the Baccano! dub, but Izaya calls it "Nebra" in the Durarara!! dub.
 * Fridge Brilliance calls for that since Nebula has been around since the thirties, and considering it has ties with people such as Huey Laforet, they may have changed their name.
 * "Nebra" could also be a Japanese mispronunciation of the English "Nebula"
 * Indirect Kiss:
 * Namie will take her indirect kisses with Seiji wherever she can get them,.
 * After hearing say she's cuter than the bullies,  and immediately after,
 * In Love with Your Carnage:.
 * Vorona has a similar reaction when she first encounters Shizuo.
 * Inner Monologue: See Narrator, below.
 * Innocent Cohabitation: Celty and Shinra, although Shinra doesn't want it to be so "innocent"
 * Instant Convertible: Shizuo does this to a car in the finale with a HIGHWAY SIGN, then when the car keeps driving, throws it like a javelin.
 * Intergenerational Friendship: Shizuo and Akane, as well as Shizuo and
 * Interrupted Suicide
 * In-Universe Camera: The fourth episode is partly "shot" through Shinra's video camera.
 * Invisible Parents: For the vast majority of the characters, except Shinra, Haruna, and Anri.
 * Though partially justified in Masaomi's case, as
 * Ironic Echo Cut: Kaztano's kidnapping.

"Shinra: Ah, that's because Celty always wears her black rider suit. If I'm dressed in the contrasting color, we'll be like light and shadow, won't we? On the surface, light and shadow are polar opposites, yet, like a pair of love birds they never appear without each other! In manga and movies, they always go the Dark Side this and the Dark Side that, but that's just the Dark Side being royally tsundere. You can say that being tsundere is another form of being possessive but I won't mind at all if Celty wants to possess me, haha!"
 * Irony: Izaya is on the cover of the "Trust Me" single.
 * It's Raining Men: Simon leaps down from the seventh floor of an apartment building and, of course, lands safely.
 * I Was Just Passing Through: played with in episode 22 when all the dollars are doing this help Anri escape from the yellow squares, then subverted when
 * Jerkass: Izaya, and Horada.
 * To a lesser extent, Namie is a female version.
 * Jerkass Dissonance: Izaya's the most popular character of the series despite pretty much being /b/ in human form.
 * Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: Naturally, considering it's by the same author behind Baccano.
 * Karma Houdini:
 * However, if you read the novels, you'll see that
 * Haruna and Izumi also qualify.
 * Knife Nut: Izaya and the Slashers.
 * Even Heroes Have Heroes: When Shinra is brought in to treat Ruri, he spends as much time begging for an autograph as he does actually treating her wounds.
 * Leitmotif: Celty's got a subtle one in the anime, which seems to be built around the tune of "Danny Boy".
 * Limited Wardrobe:
 * Justified in Shizuo's case -- he literally does have a closet full of bartender suits. They were a gift from his brother.
 * Celty too, to a degree – her bodysuit is really just shadow formed in a certain way, so never really needs to change clothes; in flashbacks, she's also made it into armor and a lovely black dress.
 * Shinra might be a walking Lampshade for this, as his white labcoat sticks out a lot and is occasionally mocked accordingly.
 * But that is justified in Shinra's mind. Shinra wears his lab coat, even while not working and has multiple white lab including a spare in a corner for after he rolls around on the floor . When Shizuo asked him about this, Shinra explained he dresses this way by choice because he likes the color contrast between him and Celty as it is very lovey-dovey in his mind.

"Kadota: Hit him."
 * Laughing Mad:
 * The other users in the chatroom take user "Saika" to be this when he/she posts "mothermothermothermother" over and over again (i.e. "hahahahahahahaha" converted to kanji).
 * Izaya has a few of these.
 * Let's You and Him Fight: frames the Dollars for attacks against the Toramaru biker gang, thus provoking their leader Chikage into hunting down some of the more prominent Dollars members and having it out with Kadota.
 * Literary Agent Hypothesis: This seems to be the case with Baccano!, considering clips from the anime show up on in-universe televisions, and so do themselves...
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: From the 1st opening sequence alone, there are at least fourteen named characters to keep track of. the second opening sequence adds another 5.
 * Love Makes You Crazy: Pretty much every character and the reason most of the things happen. This is like "Love Makes You Crazy - The Animation".
 * A Love to Dismember:
 * Love Triangle: Masaomi claims that there is a "love triangle" between Mikado, Anri, and himself.  would like him to know that if he
 * The most obvious one is between Namie, Seiji, and Mika. Oh, and a head, to..
 * Loving a Shadow:
 * Made of Iron: Izaya gets hit with a fricking trash can and stands up moments later no worse for wear.
 * How about the Quirky Miniboss Squad that Celty apparently kills in the first episode? I mean, one dude had his head smashed against the wall with a fricking motorcycle.
 * Shizuo, eventually, after lots of painful injuries and healing. Takes getting hit by a speeding truck better than you'd normally expect, and doesn't even feel anything from being stabbed in the legs with pens.
 * Madness Mantra: Might also be seen as somewhat of a Survival Mantra.
 * Saika has one of "Mother mother mother mother mother mother mother..." that it spams message boards with during Slasher attacks.
 * Magic Plastic Surgery: The only scarring or sign that surgery even took place was.
 * Major Injury Underreaction: Then again, he is Made of Iron...
 * Manipulative Bastard: One thing has managed to unite the various personalities and forces in Ikebukuro, and that is the desire to throw Izaya in front of a bus. Even Anri, the person most averse to conflict in the entire series, is tempted to  so he'll stop being such a Jerkass. And even   is disgusted by him.
 * Match Cut: The opening; see also Signature Style.
 * Meaningful Name:
 * Mikado Ryugamine roughly means "Emperor of the Dragon's Peak."
 * Izaya means "one who looks out over a crowd". It's also a reference to the biblical Isaiah.
 * Parodied by Shizuo Heiwajima, meaning "Serene Man, Peaceful Island"... Which then goes back to being meaningful once you realize he isn't named for what he is so much as for what he aspires to be be.
 * Izaya claims that the name "Dollars" (Daraazu) comes from the fact that nobody expected them to actually pull anything off at first; daradara means "sluggish".
 * Also "Celty." Think about that one for a while.
 * Mean Character, Nice Actor: Shizuo Heiwajima, Daisuke Ono and Crispin Freeman.
 * Johnny Yong Bosch who (who plays Izaya in the dub) is a sweetheart.
 * Megaton Punch: Played straight and subverted at the same time. Shizuo punches some street-punk right out of his clothes, except the punk actually gets destroyed and it's not just for laughs.
 * Memento MacGuffin: Shizuo's bartender suits were a present from his brother, which is why he continues to wear them despite being fired from the aforementioned job quite awhile ago. Damaging them, just like everything else, is one of his Berserk Buttons
 * Memetic Mutation: In-universe example: The Dollars.
 * Memetic Outfit:
 * Besides Shizuo's endless supply of bartender suits, a number of the characters' alternate outfits worn on the CD covers (particularly Kida's, Izaya's and both of Shizuo's) gained quite a bit of popularity from fans -- they even get their own tags for fanart and fanfic.
 * Izaya's coat has more or less reached this status now as well.
 * Minivan Fu: Togusa.

"Celty: They called me a monster. Shinra: How rude! I would have used the term "Naughty Lady" myself..."
 * Also applies during a Shizuo-centric flashback in Episode 7.
 * Misplaced Sorrow: Kadota's gang are devastated when they find out that Kaztano has been kidnapped, but none so much as Togusa, who even claims he can't go on without the man. Why? Because Kaztano was his source for sold-out, front row tickets to see Idol Singer Ruri Hijiribe.
 * Mob War
 * Mook Chivalry: the Yellow Scarves  show this to an odd degree  . Justified in the next episode though by the reveal
 * Molotov Cocktail: uses one on a van-full of Blue Square members.
 * Mood Whiplash: Starts out kinda goofy. Two minutes later, you realized you've stopped taking deep breaths because your brain's trying process what just ALMOST happened. Yeah, Those Two Guys. Thankfully cut a bit in the anime ...but cranked Up to Eleven in the manga.
 * Motorcycle Fu: Celty.
 * Also see: Shizuo when he  and.
 * Mugging the Monster: A panicked Nasujima runs from  and tries to rob the first person he sees. The first person he sees happens to be Shizuo. It doesn't go well.
 * My Name Is Not Shizu-chan. Nor is it Dotachin.
 * Name's the Same: Kida.
 * Narm: Invoked in episode 21, everyone reacts very dramatically to the realization that Anri has large breasts.
 * Narrator: The character narrating changes from one episode to another.
 * No Fourth Wall: Walker and Erika ask Dotachin Kadota who the heck he's talking to in episode 6.
 * Nightmare Fetishist: Mikado and Shinra. Shinra is one a bit more literally than others.

"Shinra: Other things happened too when I was in school. There was this "The Pool of Hell Opens - Chlorine Gas Everywhere!" incident, "Real Flesh Art in the Art Room" incident, "Cultural Festival Campfire Explosion" incident and of course "Field Trip to the Shambles - the Okinawa Arc"...during the three years when we were in Raijin, gasoline drums were rolled down from school buildings as part of the routine. Really, it's hard to believe how nice and orderly this school has become these days..."
 * The Nicknamer: Kaztano, Izaya and Erika
 * Nipple-and-Dimed: Averted in the scene of Celty's autopsy since she does have visible nipples, but the context makes it Fan Disservice.
 * You can see the rise of her nipple if you look closely, there's just no colored areola...
 * No Name Given:
 * One girl in the opening is conspicuously unnamed. Also, there's a scar all around her neck and her skintones above and below it are different...
 * The Second Intro also has an unnamed character, if you consider : that one in shadow...with the katana and the glowing red eyes...
 * Non-Indicative Name: Shizuo Heiwajima roughly translates into "Quiet Man-Peaceful Island". Yep, that Shizuo.
 * Noodle Implements: "I don't care what you do to him. Just don't use gasoline like you did that last time."
 * Noodle Incident:
 * There's occasionally reference to an incident where Izaya framed Shizuo for a crime. What crime that might be has never been elaborated upon.
 * To say nothing about their high school days. Shinra was apparently doing a lot of damage control:

"Shinra: Oy Izaya! If you don't cut the heck out, I'll start telling people about that thing back in middle school!"
 * Also, during Shinra's -first official?- date with Celty he threathened Izaya,  if he kept interrupting his date.

"Slon: Am I...being ignored?"
 * There are a number of times in the chatroom where Mairu (Mai) is about to say something before Kururi (Kyo) interrupts with the statement that whatever Mairu was typing was incredibly filthy and Not Safe for Work and assures everyone that she's already smacked her and forced her to delete it before anything was posted. Sometimes, Mai's posts are also automatically censored for containing words flagged as inappropriate - thus we of course never find out what the words in question were.
 * Not Listening to Me, Are You?:
 * Simon was too busy to listen to Shizuo's story, so Shizuo threw a motorcycle at his face.
 * In Vol.5 Vorona starts reading a book while Slon is

"Kuzuhara: I often think about how people like us tend to be weak foils in fiction that stars people like you. Whenever the psychic protagonist appeared, we'd always be lying in a pool of blood, just to emphasize the strength of the opponent. That's fine. That just goes to show how powerful people think we are. But I've always wanted to say one thing. If a monster or an evil psychic or an android or an evil Ninja really appears... There is just one thing that I'd like to say: Don't underestimate the Traffic Police Force, monster!"
 * Noodle People: Pretty much the entire cast is drawn this way.
 * Now That's Using Your Teeth: Shizuo does this twice while fighting Izaya in the second OVA -- and bites the throwing knife in half afterwards.
 * Obfuscating Stupidity:
 * And
 * And
 * Odd Couple: Vorona and Slon, oh so much.
 * Odd Friendship: Shizuo and Tom. In contrast to Shizuo's violent tendencies, self-esteem issues, and general dysfunction, Tom is effectively the most well-adjusted and normal character in the entire series.
 * Oh Wait, This Is My Grocery List: Shinra accidentally gives Celty the shopping list instead of the license plate number he was supposed to in episode six.
 * One Head Taller: Shinra and Celty, a bit more literally than other examples.
 * One Steve Limit: Averted with Tom Tanaka and Taro Tanaka, though the latter is just a chatroom handle. Justified in that "Taro Tanaka" is pretty much the Japanese "John Smith".
 * Ordinary High School Student: Mikado, Kida, and Anri.
 * OT 3: Erika has one in the form of Shizuo/Kadota/Izaya. She even calls it an OT 3.
 * Otaku: Togusa, Walker and Erika
 * The Other Darrin:
 * Le Parkour: Izaya teaches it to himself to outrun Shizuo. Naturally, Shizuo teaches it to himself to chase Izaya.
 * Large Ham: Shizuo, he's either shouting or breaking something. Kida, to a lesser extent, is also this.
 * Pac-Man Fever: In episode 22 Celty appears to be playing Super Mario Bros on a SNES. Though given the attention to detail, this is probably deliberate. Inexplicably, she and Shinra use Dual Shock controllers instead of SNES characteristic "dogbones".
 * Parental Neglect: According to this, Masaomi's parents don't seem to care that he
 * Platonic Life Partners: Shizuo and Celty
 * Poisonous Friend:  to   This is very evident
 * Poor Communication Kills: Well, since everyone is keeping secrets... Which counts as both a Crowning Moment of Awesome and Crowning Moment of Funny.
 * The Power of Love: Inverted. When Yandere-power spreads, all that can stop it are the power of rage and the power of indifference.
 * Precocious Crush: Shinra says that he's been attracted to Celty since the day that he met her. That would be when he was four. Additionally, Shizuo had his own Precocious Crush on a Yamato Nadeshiko-ish shopkeeper when he was around ten or so.
 * Properly Paranoid: Shizuo maintains that 99% of all the weird crap that goes down in Ikebukuro is completely and utterly Izaya's fault, whether it be a gang wars or hordes of knife-wielding zombies. Made-up-on-the-spot statistics aside, he's more or less right.
 * Present Day Past: Pictures in Vol. 5 and 6 books show Izaya using what's pretty clearly an iPhone. In 2003 -- Six years before the device was available in Japan, and four years before its production was even announced.
 * Psychotic Love Triangle: The first three Yanderes mentioned above are in one.
 * Punched Across the Room: Shizuo punches a thug so hard the thug's clothes fly off.
 * Punch-Punch-Punch Uh-Oh: Chikage attempts to start a fight with Shizuo by jump-kicking him in the face mid-sentence. This works about as well as one would expect.
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad: The trio of thugs that keep doing amoral things.
 * In the light novels,  Blue Squares minions. Some of them have names and a little background, all of them are violent, nonsensical and hilarious.
 * Rapid-Fire Typing: A curious case of where we see the keyboard as it's being done. Apparently, Celty uses her powers to type faster
 * Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Dollars gang
 * Readings Are Off the Scale: The official character book, Durarara No Subete, ranks character attributes on a five-point scale (and with varying amounts of seriousness. "Single-Minded Devotion To Celty" or "Ability To Get The Point" is just as likely to appear on the stat list as "Combat Ability"). Naturally, both Shizuo's strength and capacity for destruction are listed as immeasurably high.
 * A Real Man Is a Killer:
 * Redemption Failure: Throughout the first half, we see reference to the original leader of the Yellow Scarves abandoning the gang after a turf war went bad. Then, in part 2,  is revealed as that same original leader when he retakes control of the group to defend themselves from The Dollars and The Slasher. While he was never evil, per se, he treats it like an example of this.
 * Red Shirt / The Worf Effect: Conversed by the traffic cop, Kuzuhara.
 * Redemption Failure: Throughout the first half, we see reference to the original leader of the Yellow Scarves abandoning the gang after a turf war went bad. Then, in part 2,  is revealed as that same original leader when he retakes control of the group to defend themselves from The Dollars and The Slasher. While he was never evil, per se, he treats it like an example of this.
 * Red Shirt / The Worf Effect: Conversed by the traffic cop, Kuzuhara.

"Shizuo: Well um...I switched too many jobs these couple of years...so it's really the first time I've ever had a kouhai."
 * Red String of Fate: Alluded in the ending theme, "Trust Me" ("We're connected by an invisible thread, so feel my warmth by your side").
 * Relationship Upgrade:
 * Rescue Romance: Subverted when Mika Harima interprets Seiji's rescue of her from bullies as a sign of love, and refuses to take no for an answer. Ever
 * Rhetorical Request Blunder: Shizuo half-jokingly tells Mairu and Kururi that he'll introduce them to his brother if they can get Izaya to throw himself in front of a dump truck. He's a bit unnerved at how quickly and cheerfully they agree to it (and probably doesn't realize they've been trying to do exactly that from that point onwards).
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter/Everything's Cuter With Kittens: Kasuka has a tiny Scottish Fold kitten he's named Yuigadokusonmaru. Even serial killers like can't resist the cuteness.
 * Running Gag: IIIIIII-ZAAAAAA-YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
 * Also, Simon's apparent inability to bring any customers to his shop.
 * Rule 34 Creator Reactions: After getting bombarded by calls from his friends over his thoughts on yaoi (thanks to the infamous Shizaya pairing showing up in Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei), Narita finally made his stance known in a tweet: if he can femslash Harumi/Chiri, then the Durarara fans can ship whoever the hell they want to too.
 * He then decided to screw with the fans by writing a Shizaya story as an April Fools joke. Found Here.
 * Say My Name: See above.
 * Satchel Switcheroo: The whole plot of episode 12.5.
 * Scary Shiny Glasses: Shinra in the second OP
 * Scenery Porn / Real Place Background: These pictures show just how accurate the anime's portrayal of Ikebukuro really is. The vending machines Shizuo throws around actually exist.
 * Sempai-Kohai: This happens when Vorona starts hanging around with Shizuo and Tom, though a bit one-sided. Shizuo(who doesn't recognize her as the person who stabbed him earlier because she was wearing a helmet) decides, quite happily, that she gets to be his Kouhai. Vorona agrees, while plotting to destroy him.

"Shizuo: You're still after Kasuka, aren't you? Mairu: Yeah, but I like Shizuo-san too!"
 * Settle for Sibling: After a quick BSOD when Mairu discovers that her fangirl target (Kasuka) might be dating someone, she decides to go fangirl his older brother instead. Immediately. Cue the surprise Glomp.

"Shinra: That punch was a substitute for our marriage kiss, okay?"
 * Shaggy Dog Story: Volume 4 ends with . They both chalk it up to coincidence.
 * She Is Not My Girlfriend: Mikado in regards to Anri, the typical response to which is, "You mean she's free? Sweet!"
 * Shipper on Deck: Walker is such a Shinra/Celty fan that he writes fics about it. Erika goes for the Ho Yay instead, and ships Shizuo/Izaya.
 * Izaya himself seems to be a Shinra/Celty shipper judging from his conversation with Shinra in this extra valentine chapter.
 * Ship Tease: Dengeki April Fools, wherein Narita writes Shizuo/Izaya slash.
 * Shoot the Medic First:
 * Shower Scene: Celty has one in Episode 4. Shinra enjoys the view.
 * Shingen has one in Episode 14. Shinra needs Brain Bleach.
 * Shown Their Work: The aforementioned Scenery Porn videos.
 * Shut UP, Hannibal:
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Shizuo and Kasuka. Mairu and Kururi
 * Signature Style: The opening makes it very, very obvious that the people behind Baccano! made this too.
 * Slap Slap Kiss: Shinra and Celty...Well, more Slap Slap Hug given Celty's headlessness, but Shinra still counts it

"Mikado: Oh, crap! Is she a stalker? Wait. If she's cute it's okay, rig--No, this is bad. It might go like... She might stab me! Or set my house on fire! And what if she takes my parents hostage?... But, maybe she has a nice personality. Then it would be okay, right?... Wait. If she did, she wouldn't be stalking me!"
 * Slasher Smile: Shizuo is fond of sporting one of these right before he's about to hurt someone. Also, when they're, uh, working.
 * Sleep Cute: Walker and Erika in Episode 24.
 * Soul Cutting Blade: The saika, which possesses the wielder and can cut souls.
 * Sound Effect Bleep: "Shit" is censored often in the Adult Swim runs. It's quite hilarious during moments like "Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Oh shit!" which are made into a long bleep.
 * Captions listed that as "Crap! Crap! Crap!".
 * Spiritual Successor: The anime is pretty obviously meant to succeed Baccano. Along with the obvious similarities in writing and tone, it's got a similar musical style and opening sequence, not to mention several references to it sprinkled throughout. The novels series isn't so much a "successor" since both series are still running.
 * Something Only They Would Say:
 * Although as an alternative interpretation,
 * Spoiler Opening: Of sorts, since it's really fleeting, and you won't realize the significance of it until you've watched the whole thing.
 * Stalker with a Crush: "Funny" example early on turns out to be really unfunny when it turns there are monsters out there. (No, not Celty.)
 * To specify: goes just a smidgen too far when she breaks into his house and sees something that she definitely wasn't supposed to. Now she's considered dead.
 * Shizuo has his own Stalker with a Crush in the form of, who can be seen shadowing him in episodes 7 and 13
 * Stalking Is Love: Spoofed. When Anri hints that she's stalking him, Mikado's mind zig-zags the everliving hell out of this trope - complete with scenarios from Mikado's Inner Puppet Theater - before Anri lets him know she's joking

"Setton: No, I'm not saying aliens are scary, or anything like that. Setton has left the room."
 * Strapped to An Operating Table: Celty agrees to be vivisected in return for a place to stay. Turns out human anaesthetics don't work on fae.
 * Subcultures in Japan: Ganguro appear and bosozoku are mentioned many times.
 * Such a Lovely Noun: ""
 * Suicide Pact
 * Super Strength: Shizuo, Simon and Celty, with Shizuo officially being according to Izaya's data. also has superhuman strength.  inherited it from one of  grandparents, who is theorized by Nebula to have been a Dullahan.
 * Supporting Leader:
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial

"Simon: It's okay. Our sushi is made out of fish. No human, not even on half-price days!"
 * Also:


 * It doesn't help that he keeps threatening to make sushi out of troublemakers.

"Kida: The things happening in this city may look like their unrelated, but they're probably connected somewhere. They probably carry a distorted truth unfathomable in our minds. But... I only realized this just now, but I seem to like our current relationship. Even if the points begin to connect someday, and that reveals something we can't see right now, I firmly believe our relationship won't change."
 * Swivel Chair Antics: Izaya, of course.
 * Taking the Bullet: In vol. 9,.
 * Tantrum Throwing: Shizuo often throws impossibly heavy things when somebody makes him mad. Vending machines are pretty popular with him. He first discovered his super strength while attempting to throw a refrigerator at his brother.
 * Tap on the Head: Averted when a goon beans Shizuo in the head. It completely fails to knock him out, instead leaving him bleeding. Shizuo then verbally deconstructs it by pointing out how you only go for the head when you want to kill someone. Then he punches the goon out of his clothes.
 * Teens Are Short: Teenaged characters are almost universally shorter than adult characters, usually by at least 5 cm.
 * Telephone Polearm: One of Shizuo's favorite weapons, right along with vending machines. Sometimes it's telephone poles, sometimes it's roadsigns or guardrails. Once he uprooted an entire tree, roots and all, with a person in the tree.
 * Tempting Fate:
 * When Kida first shows Mikado around Ikebukuro, he warns him about three people (Shizuo, Simon and Izaya) that he should stay away from before assuring him that he'll probably never meet any of them anyways. Naturally, they both end up running into all three. At once.
 * Also, Kida's inner monologue in Episode 5 sure seems to hit home in recent episodes:

"Masaomi: This could only make more sense if you were also Late for School...Oh! And if she was also a New Transfer Student. Also if she turned out to be a queen and your childhood friend! That would be awesome. Are you getting how I'm being sarcastic here?"
 * Theme Naming: All of Kadota's gang are named after light novelists.
 * There Are No Therapists: There's no indication that Shizuo's ever even been offered medication to control his fits of rage.
 * And while we're on that subject, about 90 percent of the cast is off their rocker, with accompanying situations that are as hilarious as they are frightening.
 * There Was a Door: Anri  in episode 24 when she and Mikado
 * They Would Cut You Up: There's an organization doing this to kidnappees. Celty doesn't like them.
 * This Is the Part Where: Kida doesn't even have time to finish before Mikado grabs the girl and runs for it.
 * This Is Reality: Kida, when Mikado tells him about the supposedly amnesiac girl he "rescued" from Celty earlier that day
 * This Is Reality: Kida, when Mikado tells him about the supposedly amnesiac girl he "rescued" from Celty earlier that day

"Shizuo: Thank you, Tom. If it's okay, I have a favor to ask: If I get arrested for murder today, tell Mr. Manager to just go about things as if I were fired yesterday."
 * Three Amigos: Mikado, Kida, and Anri quickly establish this dynamic.
 * Threesome Subtext: Aoba/Mairu/Kururi. Also a little Mikado/Kida/Anri, but not much.
 * Title Drop: The episode title is dropped in episode 19. This is obscured due to the fact that Crunchyroll translated the phrase differently on the title card ("Anarchy") and during the episode ("The sky has fallen").
 * Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: Though, to be fair, New York was already taken up by immortal gangsters and homunculi.
 * Tomato Surprise: It turns out that the leader of the Dollars.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Every gang in Ikebukuro has the same Rule #1: Don't screw with Izaya Orihara. However, the entire city also has Rule #0: DON'T SCREW WITH SHIZUO HEIWAJIMA. The gangs don't bother to tell their members the latter rule, since if you refuse to follow it, you're doing the gang a favor by getting yourself killed. More specific examples are below.
 * The three guys kidnapping people  are not very bright.
 * As were a no name trio who insult Shizuo for his choice of warbrobe and spill soda all over his outfit, and not knowing who he is, Tom surmises that their excuse of being public school dropouts is correct before looking the other way.
 * Horada of the Yellow Scarves.
 * Torture Technicians:
 * Tranquil Fury:
 * Shizuo of all people manages this in Vol. 5 when a ten-year-old runaway confesses to him and Shinra that . Shizuo, against all expectations, simply smiles at her and assures her that it was all a misunderstanding which he will go about correcting immediately before leaving the room. When Tom meets him at the door and congratulates him for his uncharacteristic maturity in the situation, Shizuo simply says this and heads off to Izaya's place:

"Slon: I'm not moving an inch until I've solved the mystery of the male nipples! This is my war!"
 * Also, has his own moments too in the light novels.
 * Walker's face is always that Slasher Smile. If he's angry, he'll probably snap his chopsticks in two, slam them right in front of your face, or set a car on fire with gasoline and a match. All that, he still smiles all the way.
 * Transplant: Episode 11 would like to inform you that Isaac and Miria are now in Japan and
 * Tsundere: Invoked by Walker and Erika in both Kadota and Celty's case. Walker then gets into a big argument with Erika over whether Celty is a "true" Tsundere. Celty is not amused. Walker feels that Celty is too even-tempered, and that Shinra mostly deserves the ass-kickings he gets. He concludes that they're both in a mild "Type M" relationship; though it's not abusive. Both of them enjoy messing with each other.
 * Tuck and Cover: Shizuo to Akane (shielding her from a rain of knives). Shinra also instinctively does this to Celty when he hears a flashbang go off. The fact that Celty is a nigh-unkillable faerie only dawns on him after the fact, and he refuses to talk about it out of embarrassment when Celty later brings it up.
 * Twincest: Mairu and Kururi,, who are both searching for Hanejima Yuuhei in the second OVA. They get along together really well, are very protective of each other, (and they even share a kiss at least twice (though the second time was  ).
 * Two Guys and a Girl: Mikado, Kida, and Anri.
 * Uh-Oh Eyes: Izaya and Shizuo have Brown Eyes in the anime, but are often given red and gold eyes respectively in the official art drawn by Suzuhito Yasuda, as well as in fanart.
 * Wimpification: Nearly every male character in the series gets subjected to this, but none more so than Izaya Orihara himself, who, in fanwork, transforms from an egotistical, manipulative Jerkass, borderline sociopath to a slobbering wanton mess whose vocabulary consists mainly of ahs, nns and Sh-Shi...Shizu-chan... with a tilde at the end of every sentence.
 * Done in-universe, to - a gaiden written by Ryohga has Kadota's gang watching Izaya and Shizuo fight, while Erika talks over the brawl and transforms it into a yaoi in which Izaya bottoms, successfully squicking out the whole group as well as Celty. Hilarity Ensues.
 * Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny:
 * Erika and Walker, being the two resident otaku, do this on occasion. However, the better in-universe example is the theme of episode 16: "Who is the strongest person in Ikebukuro?" Most people answer "The Headless Rider/ Celty", Simon, Izaya or Shizuo.
 * Izaya has a few others on his list:
 * Shuji directly asks Celty the "who would win in a fight?" question, which causes her to burst out laughing. It's Shizuo against an unkillable fae with the ability to give darkness physical form -- Of course Shizuo would win.
 * Urban Fantasy
 * The Verse: Baccano!, Vamp!, and Durarara!! are all set in the same universe, although due to being set in very different locations and concerning very different supernatural entities, there isn't too much overlap. Not that there isn't overlap:
 * Isaac and Miria?
 * And the company that bought
 * Victoria's Secret Compartment: Celty uses it to store a wad of money from Izaya in episode 4.
 * Villains Out Shopping:
 * The Virus:
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Shinra and Shizuo.
 * Voice of the Legion: Saika, when it finally gets voiced during the chatroom sequences.
 * Voices Are Mental: Celty and are played by different people at any rate. ]
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome??:
 * Slon

"Mikado:"
 * Mikado at the end of episode 10 and as part of the lead up to The Reveal - he turns on his computer and sparks fly when he starts zooming the mouse around.
 * Orihara Izaya enjoys stomping on girls' cellphones way more than anyone should.
 * What Does She See in Him?: Several couples but most notably the Psychotic Love Triangle.
 * Wham! Episode: Hooh, boy.
 * Episode eleven. You know Mikado, right? The sweet, Naive Newcomer, curious about the world of gangs - the mysterious "Dollars" in particular?  Or, alternatively, episode ten, where his Wham! Line would lead many a fan suspicious:

"Shinra: Shizuo, Celty here is my roomate. Or should I say future wi-AAIIGH!"
 * Episode sixteen. Goodness, all that news about Saika sure sounds scary, right? I sure hope that...wait...wait, what!? The "real" Saika is actually the slightly dull
 * To a lesser extent, the aptly titled episode seventeen; "Everything Changes." So, what about those other gangs? Have we forgotten about them? Is the show ever going to bring them up again? Don't worry! It turns out that the yellow scarves are lead by none other than . Of course, it's 'to a lesser extent' because we got some foreshadowing on that part.
 * Volume six has a few instances of this. So by this point, we learn Mikado's not all he appears, right? But he's still a lovable and nice guy. You know,
 * Volume seven would like to inform you that Stalker with a Crush Mika Harima possibly
 * Who Would Be Stupid Enough...?: Is the question Namie asks when Izaya puts up a fake "We've moved!" notice on his apartment door . The answer is, of course, Shizuo.
 * Wife Husbandry: Shinra's really hoping for a gender-reversed example with Celty.

"Vorona: Siberia. The correct pronunciation of which is Сибирь ([sʲıˈbirʲ]), may denote a Federal District of Russia or a wider area. The meanings are many-layered. And in Japan they also call a certain kind of dessert Siberia. Explanations vary as to how the name originated, among which a theory exists that it comes from the delicious fillings inside the Castella resembling the tundra and railways in Siberia. The Castella is said to be the first cake variety to be introduced to Japan. After that the Japanese developed their unique cake culture under various influences from different countries. The variety called the shortcake is also uniquely Japanese. At Christmas the Japanese are especially big on cakes, and on the streets all kinds of cakes send tantalizing smells to my nasal cavity. Shizuo: ... Are you craving some? Cake, I mean."
 * Wiki Walk: Vorona, in volume 8. For bonus points, her speaking style even makes it sound like a derailed wiki article.


 * Worf Effect: Kinnosuke Kuzuhara admits most fiction's portrayal of cops as Worf compared to rebellious protagonists, but takes it as a compliment as it means that they are considered strong enough to be considered obstacles.
 * World of Cardboard Speech: Shizuo in Ep. 17, as he.
 * Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Subverted by Izaya ("I don't like hitting girls...Which is why I instead make it a hobby to stomp on their cellphones!")
 * Played straight by Shizuo
 * Yaoi Fangirl: Erika. Ships include Shizuo/Izaya, Kadota/Chikage, Fans/Trolls, CDs/DVDs...
 * Yaoi Fangirl: Erika. Ships include Shizuo/Izaya, Kadota/Chikage, Fans/Trolls, CDs/DVDs...