Umineko: When They Cry/Fridge

A reminder of the rules of Fridge Brilliance:

This is a personal moment for the viewer, so every example is signed by the contributor. If you start off with "This Troper", really, you have no excuse. We're going to hit you on the head.

This revelation can come from anywhere, even from this very page.

Also, this page is of a generally positive nature, and Fridge Brilliance does not have to be Word Of God. In fact, it usually isn't, and the viewer might be putting more thought into it than the creator ever did. This is not a place for personal commentary on another's remark or arguing without adding a Fridge Brilliance comment of your own.

Here Be Spoilers: This page is full of them. You have been warned.

Fridge Brilliance
Ms Devin 92: Clevomon:
 * At first, EP1 looks like a boring family drama with a very slow pacing. If you look at it again after reading some of Chiru, you'll notice that it is actually Similarly, EP2 looks like a magical trainwreck at first, but makes a lot of  sense later.
 * In EP4, Beatrice says that it takes at least two people to create a galaxy. During the duel to get love that will succeed miraculously in EP6, that line is repeated, only now with a much more metaphorical and introspective meaning.
 * The ages of the witches are said to be metaphorically representative of how long their suffering felt like. Bern's single repeated month of felt like a hundred years, Beatrice's  felt like a thousand, and so on. This turns into Harsher in Hindsight mixed with a little Fridge Horror in EP 6--first when, then with , where Kanon wonders how many years it felt like this had gone on.
 * Beatrice's archaic speech patterns involve use of the first-person pronoun "warawa", an obscure term whose kanji is derived from that of "mistress". It doesn't need to be said by this point what role Beatrice served to Kinzo.
 * So why does Rosa always get wiped out swiftly and horribly? Beyond her abuse of Maria, who Beatrice dotes on,.
 * Xelloss 08:
 * In EP 3, when Beatrice rages against the idea of love, Shannon asks her, "Are those regrets your true nature?" In EP 6, we find out that the answer is a resounding yes --
 * In the same scene, it seems to hit Beatrice's Berserk Button when Shannon implies that she's found love and lived a fulfilling life even though she's "furniture". In EP 6, we learn
 * In EP 3, Beatrice tells Ronove that even furniture can become a witch and treat demons as butlers. In EP 6,.
 * In EP 1, Kinzo says that he can't die until he sees Beatrice's smile one more time. In EP 7,
 * In EP 7, it is revealed that Beatrice's real name is
 * Well,
 * The part in EP 5 where Natsuhi recieves a Harassing Phone Call from the Man From 19 Years Ago can lead to some major fridge brilliance. At the end of the game, Battler makes the argument that he is the Man From 19 Years Ago, but Episode 7 reveals that the person is actually . However, in accordance with Knox 8, this is actually deductible from clues within EP 5. Specifically, when he proves his identity to Natsuhi by directing her to a card saying her favorite season is Fall. The obvious assumption is that he simply hid 4 cards in the room, one for each season, and directed Natsuhi to the appropriate one once she told him. However --
 * In EP 4, Maria talks about how Rosa's refusal to acknowledge her and Sakutaro means that neither of them will ever be able to be "fixed". In EP 6,.
 * Way back in EP 2, George and Shannon introduce the concept that a married couple's eternal happiness is completed the instant they marry, so it doesn't matter if they die right afterward.
 * All the chess analogies, metaphors and things of the like at first seem to be there purely for symbolism and help set the atmosphere. After you solve the 'Who-dunnit', it is clear that they were foreshadowing
 * If you believe a certain theory about Episode 6, it makes perfect sense that
 * Also if you think about this as a chess game it might be even clearer, because in episode 5 Beatrice was mentioned to be similar to the queen in chess. and such we can probably guess that when Battler.
 * Why did Battler not
 * For EP8: Remind us what  make again?
 * In general, the odd European sounding names the Ushiromiya siblings have. One you know about they make sense.
 * Not really. Krauss and Eva, and probably Rudolf, were born in the 30s.
 * Though that could stem from Kinzo's love of Western literature, which he had before he met.
 * Lion's gender, which was never stated and remains ambiguous 'till the end, actually . Since Lion's gender is a catbox, he/she/it can literally be any gender the reader wants it to be.
 * A catbox named Lion?
 * Eva's vehement refusal to accept George and Shannon's relationship makes a hell of a lot more sense when you consider the ie system: her main ambition is to become head of the Ushiromiya family household (aka the ie). The primary goal of people within the ie is to keep the ie in existence for as long as possible. Eva's spent the entirety of her life and her son's life trying to prove to Kinzo that the existence of the Ushiromiya ie will be far safer in her and her decedents' hands than in Krauss's, and thus that the best plan is take a slightly less ideal route of succession to ensure the ie's preservation. The only problem? George. By marrying Shannon out of love instead of a more "suitable" woman out of duty, he's demonstrating to the rest of the family that he doesn't have the ie's best interest in mind, probably won't be terribly concerned with keeping the ie in existence, and thus showing that succession through Eva is not the best option for ie's succession. Say bye-bye to any chance at headship, Eva. In short: Eva's pissed at the relationship because decades of planning just went down the drain.
 * And also, though neither Eva nor, presumably, George, know it,
 * At the beginning of Battler and Beatrice's fight in EP 4's Tea Party, the narration briefly mentions that they are in a rose garden, and wonders whether or not this is proof or protest of the red, but follows it up with stating that in the language of flowers roses mean passion (of which this Tea Party has a lot), and that the flower that means truth is the forget-me-not (which happens to be blue). This is a clear metaphor of how Beatrice utilizes Red truth and Battler utilizes Blue, but those knowledgeable enough (or with access to Wikipedia) will realize that, as would be expected, forget-me-nots' real meaning is 'True Love', and as as we learn by the time EP 7 rolls around,
 * Despite having a general hatred of, well, everyone,  regards Beatrice in particular with considerable contempt. It is later noted that.
 * Bernkastel's game piece in Alliance of the Golden Witch is Ange. In End of the Golden Witch we're introduced to her new game piece Erika, who's hair is done up the same as Ange's except that her hair is longer and blue: just like her master's.
 * Through out the series, Beatrice makes multiple claims that Battler Ushiromiya is incompetent at his many attempts to solve the the series.
 * When it comes to truth battles, Beatrice usually wields red, and Battler wields blue. However, Beatrice's servants (Ronove, the goatheads, and the Seven Sisters) use blue magic when fighting, while Shannon and Kanon (who are against Beatrice) use red.
 * Bernkastel's cat tail at first appears to be just a case of Cats Are Mean, but then you realize her plan is to open the Rokkenjima catbox.
 * In episode 8,
 * In EP 1, when Maria is interrogated by Battler in the kitchen, Maria claims of Beatrice, "She's here right now!" At the time, Battler thinks that she's looking at a spot behind him, but . Yes, Beatrice truly was in the room then.
 * Early in EP 1, there's a moment that doesn't fully pay off until EP 7. When Battler tries to grope Shannon's breasts upon seeing her for the first time in six years, she stands there silently and blushes furiously, but doesn't do anything to stop him. At first, it seems like she's only doing this because she is an Extreme Doormat and Shrinking Violet, though his being her boss's grandson probably doesn't hurt. Only in EP 7 do we learn explicitly that . Had it not been for Jessica's interference, she probably would've jumped his bones right there on the beach.
 * Pata Hikari:
 * While Beatrice's weakness to Spiderwebs is explained  Her weakness to mirrors is never explained directly. However,
 * Lambadelta's Gravity Master's powers make perfect sense for her. After all, there's nothing more certain then being drawn into a black hole.
 * Aelesis: Tsumihoroboshi-hen (Higurashi): "Demons in Hell, I bet you are just waiting for an amusing end to happen while eating some popcorn." And then I realised whose piece Umineko's popcorn-lover was in Higurashi.
 * Cainsonozaki: In EP 8 right before
 * Koori Renchuu: In EP 8 near the end, it is stated that  However, how would a One Winged Eagle fly? In circles! This is indicative of the   that was going on in the story.
 * Theshinysword: In EP 4 when Ange
 * This is probably unintentional but: It's widely accepted that the series becomes much better once EP 3 starts, once you've finished EP 8 it's apparent why

Fridge Horror

 * Xelloss 08:
 * The "Sweet World Of Witches" sequence of EP 4, when Maria kills Rosa over and over again, is horrifying in its own right. But buried under the obvious horror is a second, more subtle layer of horror. From an anti-fantasy standpoint, what Maria is doing is venting her feelings of hatred against her mother by repeatedly killing her in her imagination. This is driven home in another scene where Battler teases Maria. When he asks for her forgiveness, she gives her 'Kihihihi...' laugh, and seems to be counting the 'hi's, as though imaginining something brutal happening to Battler each time...
 * Dark Team Rush 1:
 * An odd one. In EP 3- the visual novel at least- Eva-Beatrice does seem a bit down after, but the next time we see her she's back to normal and Considering that she's basically an extra personality of
 * We're told that Dlanor killed her father (Ronald Knox) after he broke his own rules, and got her status as a Hanging Judge afterward. Now, the SSVD is a large group whose members (or at least the highest-ranked ones) appear to gain the last name Wright when they're appointed, as it's mentioned Will did, and the reason Will's quitting is because they seem to be completely made up of Hanging Judges. Then what happened to the original Van Dine...?
 * He...retired. The original Van Dine was probably Will's predecessor, and since the Wright name is passed as a tradition, it's presumed he just went on to live a regular life. But again, since Will is named after the original Van Dine, maybe the tradition started with Will, which would mean he made the SSVD.
 * Oecchi
 * In EP6, Battler seems to really hate how the resurrected Beatrice keeps calling him "father". While at first you can just assume that he doesn't like it because it reminds him of how different this Beatrice is from the old one,