Umineko: When They Cry/YMMV

"Virgilia: "...RudoBato, GohBato, AmaBato."
 * Alas Poor Scrappy - in EP 6.
 * Alternate Character Interpretation: Beatrice: a heartless and sadistic murderer, or the savior of the Ushiromiya family's dignity, allowing their memory to be unsullied by the crimes committed in their two days on Rokkenjima by taking them all upon herself?
 * Might be easier to figure out if she weren't voluntarily tripping through the Face Heel Revolving Door at every turn.
 * This is what happens when a Tsundere goes too far.
 * Bernkastel: a, or a who had to go through thousands of years of Break the Cutie horror and now can only ?
 * Toya Hachijo/Featherine: It's never explicitly said that Toya is Featherine. One non-magical explanation of how the two could be different entities is that
 * And the Fandom Rejoiced - A PS 3 port by Alchemist in full HD, with beautifully rendered graphics, vivid animations, all the original BGM from the sound novels, and voice acting by the anime and drama CD seiyuu? HELL YES. In addition, Yen Press licensing the Umineko manga for a North American released caused much rejoicing. Why? They are releasing the volumes in omnibuses!
 * Arc Fatigue - The pacing of the anime comes to a screeching halt at the start of the fourth arc, with three straight episodes of exposition on the characters of Maria and Ange.
 * Author's Saving Throw - For the fighting game spinoff; and it's a meta one. One of the preview videos shows Virgilia continuously using a hard-to-dodge projectile. Looks like a Game Breaker, right? Then this video came along, showing every character countering it.
 * Better On DVD - Bet you they'll remove the pixellating in the gorier parts on the DVD.
 * But they certainly didn't seem to do anything about the QUALITY. DEEEEEEEEEN!
 * Broken Base - "So, what did you think of the anime?" ...Yeah, just do everyone a favor and don't ask.
 * Thanks to the release of a PS 3 port, many fans are now divided whether the original novel's sprites or the PS 3's are better.
 * With the release of EP8, many people on 4chan are now divided on whether is a good thing or not.
 * Also
 * Canon Sue - is a Parody God Mode Sue with the personality of a Jerk Sue.
 * Cargo Ship: Fans have joked about this in regards to how often Battler uses a hat stand as an Improvised Weapon.
 * Cliche Storm - Episode 4's legendary has the antagonists invoke Nothing Can Stop Us Now, Retirony, and the typical Villain Ball move of 'promises are made to be broken' multiple times in quick succession, finishing it off with some Gretzky Has the Ball boxing gibberish. It's Lampshaded the whole way through.
 * That entire scene was basically a ruthless parody of Nasuverse-style numerical "power levels". Though it was likely a fun jab, because Ryukishi07 and Nasu have a good relationship (as per Ciel's Expy in Higurashi).
 * You think too hard. Dragonball. Scouters. Sudden Power-ups and downs depending on emotional state. Heck, they reference the Dragonball tournament. Nasu ranks are set in stone for everyone, rather than fluctuating.
 * Probably a reference to both, since the power levels don't change at all, but multiple things factor in as combat multipliers.
 * Complete Monster: is revealed to be one of these at the end of Arc 4.
 * . She's an Axe Crazy psychopath who enjoys killing people in gruesome ways, right before reviving them just so that she can do it again.
 * Erika is one as well. In Arc 5, she . In Arc 6,.
 * Episode 7 establishes as another one. As if
 * The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: In the fighting game. The AI gets to forgo the directional sequence before a special move, allowing scenarios like AI!Battler invoking the Metaworld and blowing you to hell with three Meta supers in a row, which would be impossible for a human to fit in if you factor in the movements.
 * Counterpart Comparison: Once you learn Beatrice's story, it's very difficult not to notice the similarities with from Ryukishi's previous work. Both would have.
 * Crack Pairing - The side story "The Stakes' Valentine's Day" is filled with these. Including
 * Not to mention the recent couples poll on the official site, which has absolutely everything.
 * There's Amakusa/Battler fanart around the Japanese fandom. Not only have they never met, it's a time paradox. On the other hand, Yaoi Fangirls in this fandom have to take what they can get. There aren't a lot of bishounen running around.
 * If Game Master Battler's TIP is to be believed, Virgilia is a crack shipper.
 * There's Amakusa/Battler fanart around the Japanese fandom. Not only have they never met, it's a time paradox. On the other hand, Yaoi Fangirls in this fandom have to take what they can get. There aren't a lot of bishounen running around.
 * If Game Master Battler's TIP is to be believed, Virgilia is a crack shipper.

Ronove: "Pukuku! You mustn't forget RonoBato.""


 * Crazy Awesome: Jumping from the third story of your mansion in order to go for a midnight stroll? "I wouldn't put it past grandfather."
 * Dlanor.
 * Crosses the Line Twice: Octopus Luka Maria. Ain't she just adorable?
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: Has a whole page, of course.
 * Draco in Leather Pants: Ironically, despite her definitive Scrappy status after EP5, Erika seems to becoming something of this after EP6, especially in Japanese fandom. Ryukishi certainly did intend for her to be a sympathetic character, but saying that she was the hero of the episode is a bit...
 * Ear Worm - Jessica's preposterously hyper, catchy Image Song, "Dokkyun Heart".
 * More like "pettan pettan tsurupettan"...
 * The anime's ending theme, "la divina tragedia" (AKA OOOOH DEEESIIIIIREEE!)
 * The ahaha.wav
 * Easily Forgiven - in the third arc.
 * Tellingly:
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Genji is slowly, slowly becoming one.
 * Hideyoshi is also sloooowly becoming one. In fact, the fandom's displeasure about him not having any Character Development is becoming a sort of meme.
 * Kinzo is popular in America, probably because of his association with la divina tragedia / OH DESIRE and, sometime in the fall of 2009, an explosion of pictures, HUNDREDS of them, with his "troll face" / "rape face" photoshopped onto them, with the claim that "Everything's Better With Kinzo. No Exceptions".
 * Gohda and his butterfly repelling jacket. Also partially because he's Magical Gohda Chef.
 * Dlanor and Gertrude.
 * Will. Just...Will.
 * Evil Is Sexy: . Well... Not her, completely, but in situations where she displays her cruel and playful antics coupled with her twisted personality, she certainly is!
 * Judging from the fandom's reactions to him, Black Battler.
 * Fanon - No one actually knows what that showed up in EP5 is or how, aside from a few vague statements issued by Dlanor. Despite this, it somehow became accepted that ... until a scene in EP6 pointedly contradicted this.
 * Maybe it didn't contradict it - Ryukishi stated in an interview that anyone can use the Gold Truth if they completely understand the rules of the game. He even says pieces can use it, as well.
 * Yeah, there was no contradiction. It's actually pretty clear what the gold truth is for.
 * Foe Yay: Most obviously, Beatrice x Battler and Bernkastel x Lambdadelta, both of which are . Erika/Battler. Complete with wedding dress. The side stories "The Stakes' Valentines Day" and "Beato's White Day" even play Beato x Battler for laughs.
 * Yeah, there was no contradiction. It's actually pretty clear what the gold truth is for.
 * Foe Yay: Most obviously, Beatrice x Battler and Bernkastel x Lambdadelta, both of which are . Erika/Battler. Complete with wedding dress. The side stories "The Stakes' Valentines Day" and "Beato's White Day" even play Beato x Battler for laughs.

"Battler (to Ange): It's not like you'll get struck by lightning if you tell me your name."
 * Fridge Brilliance - Enough to warrant its own page.
 * Funny Aneurysm Moment - Arc 4's Cliche Storm turns around to bite George and Jessica in the ass, due to a rather brutal Brick Joke involving the danger of a Hope Spot.
 * Genre Savvy -, to the point where they use the "fact" that they are in a mystery as the basis of most of their deductions.
 * Gorn - Read the description of the first murder of the first arc, and then try saying it's not.
 * The first arc? Try the second arc, what with the "Happy Halloween Maria" thing...
 * Harsher in Hindsight: An in-story version: In the second arc Beatrice tells Shannon that she won't feel that same way about George after he "looks at her with lust" and at the time it just sounds like taunting.
 * Not to mention that the truth behind it is a lot Squick-ier than it first appears.
 * Another in-story example also comes from the second arc, or rather, the ending to it. At Beatrice's banquet,  This ends up getting used against her in the fifth arc when
 * Second arc again. Beatrice tells Kanon that the three worst ways to hurt a girl are physically, emotionally, and by betraying their hopes. She calls the last the most difficult, the most effective, and the one most often committed by accident.
 * Again, in-story example:


 * Hell Is That Noise - The strange, hammering-on-metal the Stakes emit in their...er, stake form. It's constantly present whether it makes sense (ricocheting off walls in rapid succession) or not (flying through empty air).
 * There's also the Scare Chord in the first novel when Maria claims Beatrice gave her that umbrella.
 * Hey Its That Voice - A lot of Higurashi voice actors were used in Umineko as well.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight: One fan made comic (NSFW), located after EP 5 features battler creating the 6th game but instead of the typical visual novel he creates a fighting game. It even says Magic fighting game Battle of the Golden Witch coming soon...
 * Ho Yay - Between  If you believe   is a guy, that is. His/her gender hasn't been officially confirmed, although the fandom seems to be 99.99% sure he/she's a guy.
 * The English fandom, you mean. Most of the Japanese fandom seems to be 99% sure that  is a girl. Which is ironic because most of the yaoi fandom comes from Japan...
 * Iron Woobie: Battler.
 * moreso. It may have worked only once but.
 * It worked when it counted. And how...
 * It Gets Better - The first novel is almost painfully monotonous with glimmers of hope when small horror elements show up...then somebody finally dies!
 * Jerkass Woobie: Eva may be a dog kicking Rich Bitch, but when you get down to it, as this (spoilerrific) fancomic shows, her life kind of... sucked.
 * It's pretty hard to deny just how screwed up Rosa's life is, and, at least as far as we know at this point, how relatively little of it is her fault. Of course, it doesn't change the fact that she treats Maria miserably.
 * may qualify as one.
 * Erika is probably one straw short of being a mentally insane, jerkass murderer, but she earns a least a few woobie points on account of her bring Bern's piece.
 * Les Yay - Lambdadelta x Bernkastel, which is actually canon. Lambda acts like a supernatural Stalker With a Crush, they like to talk about giving each other candy bath massages, and they've even both said they love each other.
 * "Welcome home..." A scene earlier in that chapter, though possibly just imagery, has young Eva smiling, with tears running down her face, as EVA places a hand on her bare chest. Yeah, this troper can see why someone's supposedly writing a Fan Fiction shipping Eva/EVA. There's more here.
 * Like You Would Really Do It: In EP5
 * Magnificent Bitch: Beatrice as well as.
 * If one doesn't consider.
 * Mary Sue: Erika has elements of the Black Hole Sue, Jerk Sue, Fixer Sue and Parody Sue stirred up into one instantly hated package. And that's the point.
 * Memetic Badass: Rosa's actions in the end of EP2 got her many fans.
 * And even an own game!
 * Meanwhile, her treatment of Maria has given her the title of BEST MOM EVER. Helps that a good portion of the fanbase can't stand Maria and cheer for anything that involves hurting her... at least until they adapted EP4 in the anime.
 * Kinzo's managed to become the Umineko equivalent of Chuck Norris.
 * Will.
 * Memetic Mutation - Enough to warrant its own page.
 * Memetic Sex God:  Battler, to the point that people want to do.
 * Mind Game Ship - Beato x Battler
 * Moe: Beatrice shows flashes of cuteness when she isn't cheerfully orchestrating murders and walking all over Battler. This starts happening more and more frequently from Episode 3 onwards.
 * Also, White Day.
 * Mondegreen: Happy Maria! has quite a lot. And the official lyrics are all in horribly-rendered GratuitousEnglish
 * Moral Event Horizon: When did you realize that was a Complete Monster?.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Ronove actually notes in response to Beatrice trying to figure out why everyone is suddenly so repulsed by this display that "even he, a demon, can understand Battler's feelings somewhat." It is worth noting that whenever the murders were shown to be done by Beatrice,.
 * Kinzo was always close to this trope because of his treatment of his family and the Pater Familicide, but the revelations about Beatrice  and the fact that this was  seems have been the end of the road for some fans.
 * For those who don't know:
 * In EP6,
 * Narm - Surprisingly little, but the "Uuuuu WW Waaah" yell in the original V Ns might count. There is also that little scene with Maria
 * Player Punch - Prepare to shed many tears.
 * Game 5, end of the tea party, Promise. No one will blame you for demolishing a few tissue boxes over this one either.
 * Rescued From the Scrappy Heap: A lot of the fans really disliked Maria until the fourth arc, when she revealed one hell of a Freudian Excuse and got around to Calling The Old Woman Out in true When They Cry fashion.
 * So Bad Its Good - How a lot of people feel about the visual novel's art.
 * It certainly helps that it's generally agreed the faces are So Cool Its Awesome though.
 * Squick: Beatrice is.
 * So this qualifies as.
 * Stoic Woobie: Not only does Ange lose her parents and brother, but supplementary materials reveal that
 * I guess we can take out the "Stoic" after she learned
 * Theiss Titillation Theory - Gaap is the embodiment of this trope Gone Horribly Wrong.
 * They Just Didn't Care - Most of the new sprites for EP7, particularly . Hooray for copy and paste!
 * Justified Trope though
 * It's justified for
 * And it may be a Fridge Brilliance for the . One could assume Beatrice decided to base her minions on the that caused her so much annoyance.
 * It is, remember first time she go Rokkenjima?. Remember who was the   who was working at that time?. And remember   Fridge Brilliance everywhere in EP 7.
 * Toy Ship: Sakutaro's mutually-adoring relationship with Maria hints at this.
 * Viewer Gender Confusion: Kanon.
 * Lion, but this is intentional.
 * Wangst: Kanon.
 * What an Idiot: In EP6
 * After EP7, with a certain interpretation, one could argue that most of Battler's behavior in EP6 is
 * Krauss. Oh, Krauss. The true extent of his idiocy is revealed in EP5. He's quite possibly the stupidest character in Umineko. The poor idiot would have been penniless on the street some five or six years ago if Natsuhi weren't hypercompetent to the point of neurosis.
 * Who Would Be Stupid Enough: A too good to be true Space Resort deal from some guy claiming to be from NASA! What could go wrong? Granted, recent events may in fact be indicating that, as Rudolf mentioned, his timing was simply a bit off. As in, 30 years off.
 * The Woobie: Oh god, Natsuhi.
 * To verify,
 * It Got Worse.
 * EP7 reveals that
 * EP7 reveals that