Beelzebub

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Beelzebub is the story of up-and-coming young delinquent Tatsumi Oga, a first year at the infamous Ishiyama High, who one day suddenly finds himself the unintentional adoptive parent to the Demon King's son, Kaiser de Emperana Beelzebub IV (Baby Beel for short), an adorable baby boy who is destined to destroy the world. Initially reluctant to carry out his fatherly duties, Oga changes his mind when the demon nanny and "mother" Hildegarde shows up, with the news that due to their contract Oga will die if he and Baby Beel are separated and that he must face his responsibilities. Unless he can find someone even stronger to take over from him that is...

A delightfully absurd gag manga with liberal doses of action by Ryuhei Tamura, Beelzebub started out as a one-shot, and serialized in Shonen Jump from February 2009 to February 2014, and then transferred to Jump Next!! as Beelzebub Another, where it ran from May 2014 to March 2015. The plot consists mainly of Oga dealing with the problems of raising Baby Beel, while fighting his way through the ranks of troublemakers he comes across, often to hilarious results.

An OVA was shown at the 2010 Jump Super Anime Tour. The anime adaptation began airing January 2011, ending in March 2012.

Tropes used in Beelzebub include:

A-C

  • Abnormal Ammo: Chiaki's guns are loaded with paintballs in the manga, and high pressure water jets in the anime.
  • Absolute Cleavage: Yolda and Hilda when she disguised herself as the former.
  • Absurdly Powerful Student Council
  • Above the Ruins: Himekawa gets one [dead link] when he is standing in the wreckage of his destroyed apartment complex.
  • Accidental Truth: The Akumano Academy story that Furuichi told the rest of the delinquents, now that an actual Akumano Academy has been introduced.
  • Action Girl: Hilda, Kunieda and the entire Red Tails gang.
  • Actually, That's My Assistant: Oga thinks Lamia is the imperial doctor, and she plays along with it, until the real doctor comes and smacks her for trying to hog the spotlight.
    • A more minor variant is when Izo mistakes Tojo for the leader of the delinquents due to the fact that he's the strongest of the Tōhōshinki.
  • A-Cup Angst: Aoi, her chest bothers her slightly, particularly when she's compared to Hilda. The other Red Tail girls seem to feel the same way during their communal bath.

Koma: "Calm down. Whether they're massive or itty bitty, I love all tits."
Aoi: "ITTY BITTY!?"

  • Adults Are Useless: When hearing about Oga's involvement in a gang war, his mother says "You got in another fight? Seriously? Well, I guess you'll take care of it".
  • Affectionate Parody
  • All Part of the Show: When the magical girl group, along with Oga and Furuichi, crash a theme park show and start fighting a bunch of hideous cross dressing delinquents, all the audience does is comment on how intense the show is getting.
    • At the end of the St Ishiyama arc, Izuma convinces the student population that Teimou storming the school was a battle demonstration and Oga's demon powers were special effects.
  • Amazon Brigade: The Red Tails. Their pledge is that if you get a boyfriend, you have to leave the group.
    • And now comes the Red Tails' demon world counterpart made up of Pillars Agiel, Tiriel, Pamiel, Fabas, and Elim.
  • Ambiguously Brown: Pillar Lunana, who's somewhat of a ganguro as well.
  • Ambiguously Gay: Arandron. He can teleport people by splitting in two, then closing up around them. Cue the "you were inside me" innuendos.
    • The implications that he has a crush on Furuichi have been dropping like anvils lately. The anime takes it to a whole new level.
      • Aaand... he has a daughter. But that doesn't prove anything.
    • Is it even an implication when he uses the phrase, "when you have me?"
  • Amusing Injuries: Any time Oga beats up some random mooks, or gets beaten up by Hilda. Or he gets electrocuted.
    • Furuichi. Every. Single. Time.
    • The perverted Tengu that Aoi partners up with.
  • Amulet of Concentrated Awesome / Power-Up Food: The milk formula in Super Milk Time. It's even got power-up levels measured in cc's!
    • From a filler episode with a rare form of said milk: "Not only does it change all the Demon Milk Proteins into safe to ingest Demon Peptides, it's gone through Demon Enzyme Digestion and Demon Membrane Filtering Treatment, and with its Demon Lipid Components, chiefly Demon Middle Chain Triglycerides, its Demon Essential Fatty Acids have been Demon Strengthened, Demon Combining the Demon Fructooligosaccarides and Demon Nucleosides, and more and more and more... into Demon Golden Yellow Broth!"
  • And You Thought It Was a Game: The Ishiyama gang and the online video game chapters. It escalates into a full on war.
  • Animation Bump: Probably not so significant, but the scenes containing Oga's fight with Tojo were quite well-done, and somewhat more fluid than most of the other fights before it.
  • Anime Chinese Girl: Pillar Head Ananta, Odango and all.
  • Anti-Anti-Christ: The story actually seems to be telling the beginnings of such a trope.
  • Anticlimax Boss: The anime does this to Jabberwok because it was supposed to be the last episode.
  • Anti-Hero: Oga, when he can be considered a hero at all.
  • Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Alex, Sakaki and Miki of St Ishiyama. They get their just desserts.
  • Art Evolution: Oga seems to have been getting a lot more good-looking lately....
    • Also, since when did Furuichi look like this [dead link]?!
    • Being his first manga, you can really see the artist developing and becoming more comfortable with his style over time. Though it hasn't changed much, it's improved greatly, becoming smoother and cleaner with a great deal more detail (particularly in backgrounds) and effects.
  • Artificial Riverbank: A popular hang-out spot for Oga and Beel, and often where confrontations take place.
  • Art Shift: Happens when Beel tries to imitate Oga's facial expressions. [dead link] (Apparently Oga is under the impression that he is some kind of Bishounen...)

Oga: "That is the perfect impression of me."

    • This is hilariously lampshaded by some of his classmates.

"He looks as weak as hell..."

  • Authority Equals Asskicking: The Tohoshinki are the de facto leaders of Ishiyama High by virtue of being the strongest delinquents out there. Later on, they recognize Oga as their new "Chief" after the latter united Ishiyama by kicking all of their asses (except Kunieda, who fell in love with him).
    • The same applies for Behemoth's 34 Pillar Division. The Generals are all strong demons while their lackeys are pushover mooks.
  • Ass Shove: A warning for all Pillar Squad Mooks: Don't try to mess with a pissed off Oga on a mission unless you want a spear up your ass.
  • Astronomic Zoom: When Oga realises the after effects of Super Milk Time [dead link].
  • Attack Of The 50 Foot Baby: Oh boy, Godzilla's got nothing on this [dead link]...
    • Happens again in episode 54. Especially now that there are two of them...
  • Author Appeal: Considering the amount of detail he puts in when drawing them, it seems Ryuhei Tamura is a fan of motorcycles.
  • Axes At School: Pretty standard behavior for Ishiyama High, and considering its reputation no one really complains about the kids having stun batons, flick knives or even guns on them.
  • Back-to-Back Badasses: Oga and Miki against Teimou.
  • Badass: Oga, Hilda, Aoi, Tojo, Natsume, Athrun, Miki, Izuma. Heck even Baby Beel.
  • Badass and Baby: That is all.
    • As of Ch. 132, the kid deserves a Badass Baby trope of his own. Beel stops a giant BATTLE AXE with his tiny bare hands.
  • Badass Bookworm: You know Izuma? That guy with the glasses? He's part demon.
  • Badass Cape: Athrun.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Oga and Hilda have developed this. It took them long enough though.
  • Badass Damsel: Hilda. Not that it's much of a surprise...
  • Badass Grandpa / Old Master: Grandpa Kunieda, Principal Isurugi, and Behemoth.
  • Badass Longcoat: The standard Red Tails uniform.
    • Behemoth's Pillar Squad wear a black leather version.
  • Badass Long Hair: Natsume, Athrun, Sakaki, all of whom are good-looking.
  • Badass Teacher: Zenjuro Saotome.
    • Sadohara Takumi attempts to be this, but it fails miserably.
  • Badly-Battered Babysitter
  • Balance of Power: Tōhōshinki, who are the four upperclassmen gang leaders that control Ishiyama High.
    • At least until Oga started unintentionally throwing everything out of whack by hospitalizing 2 of the 4, unintentionally gets the 3rd to give up her title of leader and creates an Evil Power Vacuum that the 4th unintentionally fills until he is defeated and Oga distorts up the school.
    • The very first teacher the kids get when they transfer to St Ishiyama tries to use this to keep the kids in line by beating the strongest in the class in an arm wrestling match. Too bad the in guy in question is Tojo. [dead link]
  • Bald of Evil: The students from Teimou, most of whom apparently are bald, rather than just skinheads.
  • Bandaged Face: Pillar Odonel, made even more poignant by the fact that the bandages are tattooed, cover his entire head and his arms are chained to his sides.
  • Bare Your Midriff: Aoi at first, and demons Satura, Agiel, Pamiel, Ananta and Lunana.
  • Battle Couple: That's what the whole school assumes Oga and Hilda are.
  • Beach Episode / Pool Scene: Started out the first, until Arandron came to forcibly shift the scene to the latter.
  • Beauty Mark: Hisaya Miki has two, one under the outer corner of each eye. Considering his rather traumatic middle school experiences, it's apt.
  • Betty and Veronica: Although Oga doesn't really care that much about either of them, Aoi (who is dark-haired) would fit as Betty while the blonde Hilda would be the Veronica. Likewise, the Betty for Beel would be Chiyo, with Futaba as the Veronica.
  • Berserk Button:
    • Oga's appears to be either getting in the way of his fights or, surprisingly, hurting his True Companions.
    • Don't try and out-cheat Himekawa, especially not in online gaming. Just don't.
    • If you value your life, never touch Kanzaki's facial piercings.
    • For Hilda, it's insulting her cooking. She will make you eat it until you die.
  • Berserker Tears: When Baby Beel or En cry bad things happen.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Natsume, oh dear God Natsume!
    • Oh, hey, look at the leader of the Six Knights! He seems like a nice guy. Oh, shit, he's probably more ruthless than them all.
  • Bifauxnen: Kaoru from the Red Tails.
  • Big Bad: The Tohoshinki for the first few arcs, then Izuma for the St Ishiyama arc, and now Behemoth.
  • Big Brother Mentor: Tojo had one, though we don't know what happened to him or if he's still around. It's actually Mr. Saotome.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Natsume seems to have turned this into a habit, though his intentions still aren't entirely clear.
    • In chapter 135, practically THE ENITRE DAMN SCHOOL. And then some.
    • That whole school one might be a bit of a subversion. Sure they certainly have a big damn entrance, but the games they were supposed to complete get overridden by Jabberwock and his personal pillars hold them up so they don't manage to interfere with his and Oga's showdown. Overall, they do zilch. Lampshaded repeatedly afterwards.

Kaoru: "We didn't get to do much in the last fight."
Izuma: "You burnt down the school pretty quickly after we arrived."
Shizuka: "Us arriving was supposed to be the big climax!"

  • Big Fancy Castle: Ishiyama (now called Akumano Academy) becomes this after Behemoth takes over and rebuilds it.
  • Non Sequitur Scene: Early on, one or two unusual terms were explained by an anthropomorphic gay teddy bear (sitting at a bar, or in the bathtub) accompanied by a caption saying that "this picture has nothing to do with the situation at all".
    • Baby Beel vs Delinquent Cats ('Note: From here on out, everything is going to be in cat language.')
    • Furuichi's weird Imagine Spot of Oga and an adult Beel as businessmen drinking sake when they activate Super Milk Time.
    • A random panel in chapter 110 that was presumably blank except for speech bubbles is filled in with a burger saleswoman (whose head is a burger) calling for 'Mr. Rice' (whose head is a rice bowl) to rescue her from something.
    • Episode 54 has Furuichi believe he stole Black Baby Beel after some girls tell them that a handsome guy took him. Side note: Been a while since we drew "Nice Looking" Furuichi.
    • Lamia gives a recap for chapter 145. Her diagram on the other hand tackles... something else.
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: En has particularly bushy ones. They don't even match his hair.
  • Big "What?": When Lamia and Furuichi find out that Hilda and Yolda are siblings.
  • Bishounen: Athrun, Alex, and Natsume to some extent.
    • Plenty of demons. Pillar Heads Naga, Salamander and Vritra, Pillar Hecadoth on a good day, and now Pillar Schethalim has joined them as well. He even gets a nude scene that turns into Fan Disservice after losing to Oga at Sudoku!.
    • Baby Beel seems to think Oga looks and acts like this. So does Oga himself.
  • Bishounen All Along: After getting his hairstyle changed and shades removed forcefully, Himekawa. None of the other characters even recognised him!
  • Bishie Sparkle/Love Bubbles: Beel gets both while he is acting like Oga.
    • Mr Saotome becomes very bubbly when encouraging the delinquents to speak with the principal.

Furuichi: "What the hell is this?!"

  • Blatant Lies: While on the plane to Okinawa, Shinjo asks why the Ishiyama group look so serious and angry, to which Oga replies that they're excited. Tojo tells him to shut up in case they're looked down upon. He seems raring to go.
    • Oga introducing himself and Beel to Izo as Madason and Nimzo. It takes Izo a while to realize he's been duped.
  • Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: Apparently, every Demon World recipe prepared by Hilda has to have a squirt or two of this.
  • Blind Without'Em: The MK5 become the MK4 when one of their members steps on his glasses and therefore cannot see a thing. The ridiculousness of this is pointed out by the other characters.
  • Blood From the Mouth: Apparently a result of extreme emotional trauma more than anything.
    • Happens to Furuichi, Hilda, and Oga in Beel's body when Baby Beel in Oga's body chooses Aoi over Hilda.
  • Blood Knight: Oga, Tojo, Agiel, and possibly Baby Beel himself.
    • Izo seems to avert this, as he tends to beat up his own gang members for starting fights rather than retaliating against the opposing side and is the only character in the series so far turn down a fight against Tojo. The only reason he's even at Oga's throat is because he sees him as a rival for Aoi's affections.
  • Blood Oath: It is revealed that to make a full contract with a demon, the demon must consume some of the potential contractor's blood.
  • Blood Upgrade: Baby Beel, who will electrocute everyone in the vicinity at the mere sight of blood, whether it's his or not.
  • Blue with Shock/Sweat Drop/Cross-Popping Veins/Alertness Blink: Used with great frequency by most characters, but particularly Oga, Furuichi and Kunieda. The anime takes it to new levels.
  • Body Horror: Don't let Baby Beel get too excited... your arm might explode.
  • Bodyguard Crush: From the way she blushes around him, it can be assumed Pillar Lunana feels this way about Jabberwock.
  • Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Oga's boke to Furuichi's tsukkomi. The series even plays on this from the very start of the first chapter/first episode.
  • Boobs of Steel: Hilda is the currently strongest woman introduced, and by far the bustiest. Isabella and Yolda may rival her though (in bustiness, not strength).
  • Book Dumb: Apparently all of Ishiyama High. They "hate studying 180 percent!" and Furuichi got the highest on the standardized test (a 59). And as Furuichi mentioned earlier, the test was on elementary school subjects.
    • Moves into Informed Flaw territory for some of the delinquents. In particular Natsume and Himekawa are shown to be very intelligent in other episodes (though Natsume didn't seem to study and Himekawa still cheated on the test like everyone else). It was probably just Rule of Funny at work, though.
  • Book Ends: The Okinawa trip both starts and ends with Alex being roped in to deal with the delinquents' holiday shenanigans.
  • Bottle Fairy: Suiten is revealed to be one when she gets depressed, even replacing Aoi's water with vodka. Shame she Can't Hold Her Liquor (and neither can Aoi).
  • Bowdlerise: In the original manga, one of MK5 pulled a gun on Nene and seemed about to shoot her. The anime changes it to having him prepare to punch her, which made her reaction of despair pretty uncalled for. Also, the way Natsume takes out the whole gang in the manga is far more violent and involves a lot of blood, whereas the anime version just cuts to them lying unconscious at his feet.
    • Animax-South East Asia actually had ALL anime episodes edited for re-broadcast in the region with Baby Beel wearing a diaper.
  • Brainwashed: Pillar Head Salamander tries to do this to Oga and Tojo. It fails.
  • Bratty Half-Pint: Lamia. Though Furuichi just thinks she's Tsundere.
    • En and Futaba too, as the former is a prince who's used to being spoiled while the latter is simply a Spoiled Brat.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Though several characters endanger it, Kanzaki outright smashes the fourth wall when he complains about being given a small panel while trying to make a dramatic speech.
    • Tojo turns up during a dream sequence in chapter 124 and mentions his lack of air time. The others reply that he's out-of-character and it's been so long no one even remembers him any more.
    • Also, Furuichi does this after the ending animation in episode 33.
    • In the beginning of episode 43, after waking up from his first Kangaroo Court dream, an annoyed Oga asks to get to the opening already.
    • Happens quite a bit in the End of War 4 episodes, particularly Nene who wonders why her avatar is still alive when she died oh-so dramatically in the previous episode. Also, Natsume takes a peek at the chainsaw carnage done on Shiroyama and cheerfully announces that they can't show it on-air.
    • In episode 54, Giant Baby Beel starts to tear off Giant Black Baby Beel's wings and Furuichi declares that they can't show that on TV, with the animation replaced by a scene with Arandron.
    • When Oga ruins Furuichi's fantasy in chapter 146.

Furuichi: "DIE! Apologise to all the readers and DIE! Why the hell would we go all the way out to Okinawa to see monsters?!"

Oga: "I'd rather die than have a woman carry me."

    • In more straight-up examples, Oga's also done this with Aoi and Hilda.
  • Brilliant but Lazy: Natsume, who hardly ever goes all out but has never lost a fight, yet is still only The Dragon of the weakest Warmup Boss.
  • Bromantic Foil: Furuichi to Oga, though it's more a sort of love-hate relationship.
  • Bullying a Dragon: The punks that try and mess with Aoi's grandpa. Works about as well as one would expect.
  • The Bus Came Back: Chapter 111 features the return of several minor characters, such as MK5, whose sole purpose seems to be to prevent the main characters from meeting Mr Saotome.
  • But Thou Must!: When Oga's about to fight Tojo, Kanzaki and Himekawa offer to help gang up on Tojo. When he refuses, they respond by making the exact same offer, causing Oga to make the comparison to Dragon Quest.
  • Butt Monkey: Furuichi, oh so much. He's always either getting beaten up by Oga, beaten up by someone else, electrocuted by Baby Beel, roped into Oga's crazy schemes against his will and paying far more than anyone else, caught in compromising situations, rejected by the ladies, and generally seems to have the worst luck in the world.
    • In chapter 143, Oga reveals that part of the reason he drags Furuichi everywhere because he thought it would be funny. Poor guy.
    • MK5 is definitely one. Despite the group's status as a gang of dangerous delinquents, the only purpose they serve is to be pounded down by both protagonists and antagonists.
      • As specified, it's their talent to "be beaten in the space of one page".
  • By the Power of Grayskull: The anime's Magical Girl episode gives us "Piple Yople Pampoppin". Becomes a Crowning Moment of Funny when Hilda is forced to say it.
  • Calling Your Attacks: Oga starts doing this during his fight with Miki. They are just his ordinary attacks.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Aoi and her feelings for Oga.
  • Casanova Wannabe: Nobody can deny Furuichi has lots of enthusiasm. His success rate on the other hand...
    • He finally gets some in episode 53 of the anime. Too bad she's a ghost who only has eyes for the ghost that's possessing him...
    • The latest arc has introduced us to Mikagami of Teimou's Shadow Force.
  • Cast of Snowflakes: The massive cast of Mooks are all drawn uniquely, even those who are simply characters in the background waiting to get trounced by Oga. Quite a pleasant surprise granted they are all supposed to look like generic thugs, but each one manages to have several distinctive features in the drawing of their facial structures, scars, tattoos and piercings, hairstyles, musculature, clothing, and accessories.
  • Casual Danger Dialog: Sometimes. It helps that Oga is a Cloudcuckoolander.
  • Catapult Nightmare: Oga does this in episode 3 of the anime after dreaming about what a grown-up Beel might turn out like.
    • Here [dead link] in chapter 124. To be frank, it was a really messed up dream.
    • Arandron after the trippy "Robot Oga" omake. Though he seems more confused than afraid. As are the readers.
  • Catch Phrase: "Goodnight!" Shimokawa. "DABUU!" may also count.
  • Cat Fight: Hilda and Aoi duke it out over who Beel likes more, in the chapter aptly titled 'Cat Fight'. He chooses Aoi.

Hilda: "Let's do this...like women."

Oga: "Hey you two. I think you're forgetting the original problem here. We're trying to get me back to normal right? Then why are you two fighting it out?"

    • Furuichi doesn't seem to mind though...

Furuichi: *Nosebleed* "What a nice scene that was..."

    • In chapter 140, a Genre Savvy Nene worries that this will happen if Aoi and Hilda who, due to amnesia, wholeheartedly believes she's Oga's wife meet.

Nene: (Regarding Aoi) "This is bad! If she sees this, it'll be Dangerous Beauties Coliseum!"

  • Cat Smile: Oga has one during his, er... training of Beel.
    • Again when Beel exchanges bodies with him.
    • Himekawa also has one really briefly after he blackmails Sadohara into letting him keep his shirt.
  • Character Title
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: Oga, who considering he gets electrocuted on a daily basis, would be dead without it.
    • Tojo and Kunieda are just as bad, being able to easily destroy concrete and throw people across rooms.
  • Chaste Hero: Good grief, Oga.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Tojo was briefly shown doing part-time work at a construction site. Turns out they were building Akumano Academy, and Tojo's still in there.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Most of the apparently minor antagonists that Oga defeats early on later return to take active roles. Examples include Shimokawa, Kanzaki's Gang, Himekawa, the Red Tails and Teimou. The anime also brings back several other denizens of Ishikawa.
  • Chick Magnet: Oga, for some reason, seems to be attracting a lot of girls, at least one of whom is definitely in love with him.
    • Himekawa with his hair down attracts a huge gang of St Ishiyama girls to their classroom to swoon over him.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Furuichi. It just keeps getting worse.
  • Class Is in Room X-01: All the characters that come from Ishiyama are in the same class (3F) when they transfer to St Ishiyama, freshman, junior, or senior status be damned. Lampshaded by several people.

Hilda: "Isn't it weird that they're in the same class as Oga?"
Kanzaki: "What I want to know is...why the hell are you guys in that same class as me?"

Hilda: "Try it again and I'll give you a crew cut."

Yuka: "She's so bratty! It's so cute!"


D-L

  • Dancing Theme: The fourth ED.
  • Date Peepers: Nene, Chiaki and Yuka become this during Aoi's aquarium date.
  • Deadly Game: En is very fond of these. Aside from online shooters, others used include sudoku, darts, bowling and pool (though don't ask how any of those are supposed to work).
  • Deal with the Devil: An unintentional one mind you.
  • Death Glare: Jinno, one of Tojo's followers, can give one strong enough to physically harm a person, as Himekawa and Kanzaki found out.
  • Deep-Immersion Gaming: Ever since the gang started playing End of War 4, all the action has been seen as if they were really within the game.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: After Oga individually defeated each member of the Tohoshinki, whether they admit it or not, They can be considered as Oga's True Companions.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Aoi, at least when it comes to Oga, and to some extent Hilda.
  • Defusing the Tykebomb: Oga's just-realized goal as Baby Beel's foster father.
  • Delayed Causality: Pillar Head Yata pulls one on Tojo thanks to his super-sonic sword.
  • Delinquent Hair: And how. Oga and Furuichi invert this with the first having brown hair and being one of the most feared in the series, while the latter has silver hair but had potential to go to the non-delinquent Saint Ishiyama.
  • Designated Girl Fight: During the Akumano Academy Raid, when Oga encounters a Pillar Squad made up of female demons, Aoi enters with Big Damn Heroes aplomb, takes over the fight, and saves him from attacking them any further.
  • Destructive Saviour: Luckily, Oga and Baby Beel aren't asked to foot any of the bills for the damage caused.
  • Determinator: Oga, Tojo, Kunieda, Izuma and Miki. All of them had got beaten to bloody pulps and yet still forced themselves to get up and fight.
  • Deus Ex Machina: Subverted. Oga gets a last minute power up from Beel in his fight with Tojo, but gets annoyed and tells him to turn it off, wanting to fight on his own terms. Beel complies, and Oga wins without any extra influence.
    • Played straight later. When confronted by a giant demon monster and surrounded by hell's resident Evil Poacher bandits, Baby Beel develops a previously unheard of power.
      • The concept is openly mocked during Oga's fight against Jabberwock.

Oga: "Like there's such a convenient power-up, dumbass!!"

Aoi: "What kind of God are you if you get satisfaction from asking a middle schooler about her growth!?"

  • Disco Dan: Lord En is a big gamer but his knowledge (and presumably his skill) are stuck effectively in just the 16 bit generation before meeting the cast.
  • Dismotivation: Seriously what is Oga's motivation? He isn't interested in girls, money, power and never even seems to actively seek out battles just for the hell of it. Even his desire to get rid of Baby Beel seems to only show up when it's convenient for the plot. Its seems that if left alone he would just slack off all the time.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: En thinks that Furuichi is trying to take Lamia from him, so he declares war and swear to bring a whole army next time.
  • Dissonant Serenity: Natsume. Just... Natsume.
    • When Oga's not grinning during his fights, he wears a completely blank and detached expression, as if he doesn't even realise he's beating the shit out of people.
  • Dissimile: According to Mr Saotome, going through high school without a field trip is like having a burger without a shake.
  • Damsel in Distress: Angelica, with Furuichi as the resident Knight in Shining Armour.
    • Aoi briefly becomes one when she is captured by a member of the Behemoth Pillar Squad who wants to form a contract with her.
    • Hilda becomes one for most of the Behemoth arc.
  • The Ditz: Azusa, who is always cheerfully oblivious and so dumb it makes her border on Cloudcuckoolander at times.
    • Yuka hasn't once made a serious/normal remark since her introduction. Even Kanzaki thinks she's weird.
  • Do Wrong Right: During the volleyball match, Himekawa gets angry at Tojo and Oga for breaking the rules... and being stupid enough to get caught doing it.
  • Does Not Like Men: The Red Tails, especially Nene.
  • Doppelganger: Baby Beel gets a frighteningly powerful one during his training by Saotome.
  • Doting Grandparent: Kanzaki's dad towards his granddaughter Futaba. Made even funnier due to the fact he's a Yakuza head and she treats him like filth.
    • Oga's parents seem very doting towards Beelzebub, more-so than they are to their own children.
  • The Dragon: Aizawa to Tojo, Natsume to Kanzaki, Nene to Aoi, arguably Miki to Izuma.
  • Dropping the Bombshell: Happens when Hilda introduces herself to Aoi as Oga's wife.

Hilda: "It's nice to meet you. I'm Tatsumi's wife, Hilda."

    • A more minor example happens to Furuichi and Lamia when Isabella let's it slip that Hilda and Yolda are sisters.

Isabella: "Those two would be a nice example of sweet sisters, if it weren't for the fetters binding them down."
Furuichi and Lamia: "WHAAAAAAAAAAT!?"

  • Dual-Wielding: Surprisingly averted until the entrance of Tiriel and her twin swords.
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: Natsume at first. He looks slightly less feminine later on, but still abnormally pretty.
    • Athrun too. He and Kunieda could be twins.
    • Don't forget Pillar Head Salamander.
  • Dumb Muscle: There are a lot of these. Generally the bigger and more muscular the delinquent, the less you have to worry about them.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: In the anime, En and his maids get several during the St Ishiyama arc festival.
  • Elegant Gothic Lolita: Hilda's default outfit. Apparently it's a requirement for demon maids.
  • Enemy Mine/Rivals Team Up: Almost the entire point of the St Ishiyama arc.
    • And again against Behemoth's men, who everyone thinks are from a rival school called Akumano Academy that must be crushed for having such a stupid name.
    • Now the Six Knights themselves joined Oga's group to help fight En.
  • Emotion Suppression: Seems to be what helped Hilda to climb the wet nurse ranks: she ignores her own emotions and lives solely for her master. No wonder she's such an Ice Queen...
  • Enfant Terrible: Kanzaki's adorable little niece Futaba is one of these, manipulating everyone into doing her bidding for her and beating them up when they refuse.

Futaba: "Hajime, open this!"
Shinjo: "Are you on a leash?"

Furuichi: "I'm so very sorryyyyy!"

  • Femme Fatale: Hilda. Yolda even more so.
  • Filler: The anime is very fond of using these and various Day in The Limelight episodes to stretch out the manga arcs. However this means that the canon manga filler arcs (such as the Pool Episode) are often mistaken and treated the same as pointless filler eps, which usually is with much rage and annoyance.
  • Final Speech: Arandron, after teleporting to the wrong part of the Demon World and being impaled on a tree, starts giving some corny speech about promising to give his daughter a dress for her birthday, until Oga and Furuichi tell him to stop with the cliché death lines already.
  • Finger-Poke of Doom: Izo's is strong enough to fling a hapless mook several meters out to sea! Though that may be because he's got some demonic power handy...

Izo: "He sure flew far..."

  • First-Name Basis: Miki insists that Oga should call him "Hisaya", but Oga refuses because he thinks guys being that personal is creepy.
    • Arandron also calls Furuichi by his first name by mistake, causing Hilda to question their relationship. Arandron blushes and says that it "just came out".
    • When Hilda loses her memories she begins calling Oga by his first name (the chapter is even called "Tatsumi"). Oga's reaction is hilarious.
      • And then she keeps doing it after getting her memories back. Oga is bit confused the first time.
  • Five-Man Band: Oga, Beel, Furuichi, and the TKKH have been slowly becoming one. It's explicitly hinted in the 5th intro.
  • Foe-Tossing Charge
  • Forgotten Childhood Friend: Miki is this to Oga, complete with his own vague turning point. Subverted
  • Freak-Out: En has one after Oga beats Jabberwock meaning that he has lost the game.
  • Freaky Friday Flip: Between Oga and Beel as an after-effect of using Super Milk Time for too long.
  • Fusion Dance: Super Milk Time does this, to varying degrees with Oga and Beel.
  • Fun with Acronyms: Chapter 146 gives us the Principal Isurugi Enticement Strategy, or P.I.E.S for short.
  • Furo Scene: Oga, Furuichi, and Natsume all get one in the anime.
  • Gainaxing: Shizuka of the Six Knights. Happens in footage of her practicing volleyball, and for the purpose of Arandron's bad dub-over, the clip is actually put into a loop for the Ishiyama boys. Lampshaded by Furuichi and Himekawa.
  • Gamer Chick: Chiaki, who normally keeps quiet about it.
  • Gecko Ending: The anime suffered from this.
  • Generation Xerox: Oga and Aoi seem mirror the highschool days of Mr Saotome and Suiten: one being a delinquent demon contractor and the other being the leader of an all girl gang. Of course, this is lampshaded to high heaven. As an added bonus, it is implied that Suiten had a crush on Saotome that's similar to Aoi's feelings for Oga.

Oga (On hearing a description of the young Saotome): "And WHO are you talking about exactly?"
Aoi: "It's like she's talking about the two of us!"

Furuichi: "Will you please get your minds out of the gutter?"
Yuka: "My mind is going further into the gutter because both of your are trying so hard to cover it up..."

Oga: "Who the hell said that trying harder makes you weaker than being awakened!!!?"

  • Harmless Electrocution: What, do you expect the adorable Baby Beel to actually kill someone in this series?
    • Demons like Hilda and people with super strength like Oga only end up charred, but notably weaker characters are more severely injured or knocked out, as shown with the Rice Boy actors in chapter 157. It kills bugs though.
  • Head Pet: Lamia carries a cute little ghost around on her head.
  • Hello, Nurse!: The outfits that come with Baby Beel's doctor kit invoke this. However considering it's Oga and Furuichi wearing them...
    • Abe's reaction to Furuichi may play it straight.
  • Heroic BSOD: Oga has had two, both of which are played for comedy. The first time was when he found out that Furuichi had been on a holiday abroad with his family and after kidnapping him realized he could have just gone with them, causing him to spend the next couple of hours spaced out and talking with an Okinawan accent. The second time was after he failed to protect Hilda and got beaten by a demon, he got extremely depressed and started apologizing to people for being weak after beating the shit out of them.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Nene performs one, Taking the Bullet to save Chiaki in the online war game. She makes it very dramatic, giving a little speech and everything, only to wake up again seconds after dying due to Chiaki being a Medic.
    • Hilda pushes Oga and Beel out of the way of an oncoming dragon.
  • Heroic Comedic Sociopath: OGA
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: A whole LOT of them. For example, Oga would not mind to don Kamina glasses.
  • Hidden Depths: Chiaki takes video gaming very seriously. Even Nene notes that she's like a different person when there are games involved.
    • Natsume certainly has them, but we don't know exactly what they are yet.
    • Neither Furuichi nor Himekawa seem like genius strategists at first glance. Himekawa's wealth and pretty boy looks could also count.
  • Hidden Eyes: Characters are often drawn with this when enraged or badly injured.
    • Pillar Kirin wears a blindfold at all times.
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: After three days of non-stop online video games searching for En, the gang eventually find out that he and the maids were living right next door.
  • Hidden Purpose Test: When the resident shrine Tengu starts asking Aoi questions, she expects something like a test of character. Instead she gets asked about her measurements.
  • High School Hustler: Himekawa. His brazenness seals the deal on both the volleyball gambit and "End of War 4". It helps he's got the cash to back it up, though.
  • Horned Humanoid: The Demon Lord has a rather cartoonish looking pair.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: Kazuya thinks Oga is the most awesome guy in the world. He also described Furuichi as Oga's super cool, good looking Number Two.
  • Hostage Situation: While the Chinpa mooks play it straight in chapter 153, Himekawa spoofs it by taking a mook hostage, delivering a standard hostage taker spiel...and dropping the mook off the roof mid-speech

Himekawa: "Don't move or else I'll drop this-
Drops mook
Himekawa: "-guy. Ah, he fell."

  • Hot Chick with a Sword: Aoi and Hilda.
  • Hot Shonen Mom: Pillar Head Laymia, who is Lamia's mother, is quite the looker.
  • Hot Springs Episode: Following their training, the Teimou gang, Aoi and Oga go to a shrine with hot springs. Mikagami considers peeping into the girls' half, only for Aoi to reveal that she and Isafuyu can hear them and close the partition.
    • Yuka, Ryoko and Kaoru of the Red Tails get Hilda to go have a bath with them at the hotel in Okinawa.

Yuka: "We're gonna talk amongst ourselves naked, as women."

    • Also in episode 57, Hilda wins a trip to one taking the Oga family with her.
  • Hour of Power: Oga's Super Milk Time. It gives him Game Breaker power levels, but can only be used once for five minutes.
  • How Dare You Die on Me!: In the Demon World, Oga yells that if Arandron dies, then he'll kill him. Yeeeaaah.
  • Humongous Mecha: If this isn't enough, Himekawa gives us this.
  • Hypercompetent Sidekick: Natsume to Kanzaki, and to a lesser extent Aizawa to Tojo.
  • Identity Amnesia: Salamander's flames completely erase your personality, leaving you with no memories or idea who you are. This is how Hilda ends up. Oga is so unnerved he eventually can't take it any more and runs for his life.

Oga: "This isn't the Hilda I know!!!"

  • Idiots Cannot Catch Colds: Furuichi brings this up when Oga sneezes due to being gossiped about.
  • Idiot Hair: Pillar Head Salamander, although he's definitely not an idiot. Mischievous, hell yes. His personality certainly fits the Hair Antennae trope, though.
  • Idiot Hero: Oga. Frequently pointed out by other members of the cast.
  • I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Vlad's Haunt.
  • I Have the High Ground: Hilda stands atop a lamppost in the first chapter, prompting Furuichi to tell her they can see up her dress.
    • Apparently Mr. Saotome eats his ramen on top of cranes in the anime.
    • Episode 55 has Kanzaki begin his Big Damn Heroes moment by announcing himself from the school roof.
  • I Have Your Wife: Himekawa kidnapping Hilda and Furuichi to lure Oga out.
    • The Chinpa group kidnap Yuka and Futaba in order to lure Kanzaki and Tojo into an ambush.
  • Imagine Spot: Furuichi and Aoi are both very prone to having these, especially in the anime.
    • Seems Furuichi's Butt Monkey status has bled into these as well. His recent one has him chasing after swimsuit clad Red Tails, who are throwing abuse at him at every step.

Nene: "Creepy bastard."
Ryoko: "Touch me and I'll slit your throat."

  • Improbable Weapon User: Both Hilda and Aoi have used umbrellas to devastating effect.
    • Aoi also cut Sakaki's bamboo sword in half with a ruler.
    • Yolda wields a mop.
    • Behemoth has managed to take down two of the Six Knights with a pair of shoes.
  • Inner-City School: Ishiyama High. Filled to overflowing with Delinquents, who are constantly getting into bloody gang wars and never go to class. And not a teacher in sight!
    • Would you be seen in that situation?
  • Informed Attractiveness: Oga, sort of. He gets Beel to act like a total pretty boy, complete with Bishie Sparkles and Love Bubbles, as that is how he believes he acts. However in reality he acts anything but. Although, many people do think that he possesses a more rugged type of charm...
  • Innocent Aliens: The Yoppolu Aliens, which are the nicest demons in the area. If you harm one, though...
  • Innocent Cohabitation: Oga and Hilda, who everyone (including his parents) think are practically married, but in reality hate each other and only live together for the sake of Baby Beel.
  • Insane Troll Logic: It's everywhere, but primarily Oga, Tojo and Kanzaki. Basically anyone who isn't a Straight Man or holding the Sanity Ball can be affected.
  • Instant Fanclub: The Chinpa mooks form one for the Tōhōshinki after Oga curbstomps Izo.
  • Interplay of Sex and Violence: Yolda seems like she's trying to kill Oga one minute, then kisses him the next. She also renders Aoi and Furuichi unconscious by caressing their cheeks.
  • Invisible to Normals: Koma, the Youkai Aoi made a pact with, though Furuichi is at least able to tell that there's some sort of presence near her when she summons him.
  • Invulnerable Knuckles: Oga and Tojo are the leading offenders. Miki averts this, seriously damaging his hands after training too vigorously.
  • Is That Cute Kid Yours?: Aoi's younger brother Kota is often mistaken as being her own child by the other mothers. There's also Oga and Beelzebub.
    • Presumably Aiba gets the same treatment with his baby sister.
  • It's All My Fault: Surprisingly enough, Oga experiences a moment of this, blaming himself for Hilda's amnesia and complaining that if he can't put things right he'll regret it forever.
  • Japanese Delinquents: Practically everyone.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Oga and Furuichi, and it is looking like Tojo qualifies as well.
    • Also Himekawa and Kanzaki.
  • Jobber: It appears MK-5 and "Goodnight" Shimokawa are this.
  • Joke Character: Baby Beel, when not in contact with Oga or crying.
  • Kangaroo Court: Oga's nightmare of 'People vs Oga' in "Isn't it about time we stopped calling him the best? Because he got beaten ragged."
    • It picks up nearly forty chapters later, with the second proceedings getting under way. Oga has to wear a sash marked 'Loser', and Judge Furuichi is crazier than ever, talking about Buddha's face and insisting that that it's not what Oga said, but his feelings that are important. It just gets even more trippy from there.

Oga: "This again? You guys are making no progress at all."

  • Kansai Regional Accent: Quite subtle, but you can tell when they start calling each other "aho" instead of "Baka". It is set around Kanto after all, and adds to the delinquent stereotype.
  • Kick the Son of a Bitch
  • Knight of Cerebus: While En is not dark in and of himself, his arrival (and the near immediate secondary arrival of the Pillar Squad) takes the story into a lightly less comedic place. Sort of a shift from Action-Comedy to Dramatic-Action-Comedy.
    • Several members of the Pillar Squad itself, however are very dark, as is their purpose: To get En to end the world.
    • The Akumano Academy arc seems to have Cerebus Syndrome setting in. Thankfully there's still a ton of gags even if the story is getting darker.
  • Large Ham: The leader of Vlad's Gang. When he's trying to taunt Angelica into working for them, he indulges in a moment of evil laughter, then orders his men to laugh along with him. After a couple panels of the laughter SFX almost completely obscuring the background, he has to yell at them to stop again.
  • Last-Name Basis: Furuichi and Oga are nearly always referred to by their last names, even when with each other.
    • Lampshaded as Hilda apparently didn't know Furuichi's first name until Arandron mentioned it about one hundred chapters in.
    • Also extends to the four TKKH heads (except for when the Red Tails address Kunieda), Natsume, and Miki.
  • Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: Happens in chapter 155, when Nene (forcibly) drags Yuka away from Izo and Aoi's heart to heart.

Nene: "We're leaving."
Yuka: "Nyaah, why?"

  • Lethal Chef: Hilda, whose cooking is apparently perfectly deadly (particularly the croquettes).Not even Baby Beel can stomach them...
  • Let's Get Dangerous
  • Like Father, Like Son: Oga and Baby Beel often mirror each other's actions and expressions. Their similar looks are also why Oga's family so easily believed Baby Beel is his biological child.
    • During their field trip in Okinawa, Beel mistakenly gets into a sticky Love Triangle between Futaba (Kanzaki's niece) and Chiyo (Izo's sister), the two wanting to get a straight answer out of Beel (who, by the way, can't talk) as of who he prefers more. Cue comparisons with Oga's situation between Hilda and Aoi. Nene even lampshades it.

Nene: "Like father, like son."

  • Loads and Loads of Characters: Each new arc brings with it 3+ characters.
  • Locked in a Room: Hilda and Oga, it was their own fault, they learned nothing except that Baby Beel is dumber than a chimpanzee, and that the directions are evil.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Kunieda until she discovers that Baby Beel and Hilda are demons. Lately, Furuichi is becoming more and more estranged from main events (and he realises it too).
  • Lolicon: Furuichi is mistaken for one after getting into certain.... positions and situations with Lamia.
  • Lonely Rich Kid: Himekawa. Overlaps with I Just Want to Have Friends Type B. Despite being the son of the head of a very large financial group, Himekawa chooses to enroll in the worst high school in Japan and practically buys himself into the whole delinquent scene so that he can have tough kids on the opposite side of the social spectrum to mingle with and boss over. May be due to Parental Abandonment as Himekawa reveals he lives alone in a high-rise apartment complex owned by his family.
    • During the online gaming chapters, he invites the Ishiyama gang over to his pad for three straight days to play against Lord En, accommodating all their needs down to providing them with individual gaming terminals and a multi-panel viewing base! On the surface it seems Himekawa is merely boasting about the depth of his pockets, but it turns out he really does enjoy the gang's company and will do everything money can buy to show them appreciation and keep them around (such as giving the gang a big bag of very expensive cookies after winning the volleyball game against St. Ishiyama).
    • This is even lampshaded by Yuka after Himekawa's building is destroyed and he's shown Above the Ruins.

Yuka: "I think he may be lonely now that everyone has gone home."
Chiaki: "That's a good one."

    • Hell, even En is one of these. The whole reason the Akuma Academy arc happened is because he wanted to play a video game.
  • Loony Fan: Kazuya, who follows Oga around insisting they are "bros" and trying to be his groupie. Oga and Furuichi eventually give in to flattery and let him tag along.
  • Love At First Sight: Izo Aiba towards Aoi. Seems to run in the family as well, seeing as his sister has fallen for Beel.
  • Luminescent Blush: Aoi after one too many glomps from Beel.
    • Hilda makes up for never having blushed before by doing it about once a page in chapter 139 after reuniting with Baby Beel and getting embarrassed about her relationship with Oga.


M-R

  • Made of Iron: Oga and Tojo in particular, but the amount of damage some characters can take is ridiculous.
  • Magical Girl: The main point of episode 27. With the Demon Sparkling Transformation Wand anyone (that's 18 or under) can become one!
  • Magic Skirt: Hilda, Aoi and Lamia are all affected by this, even when performing mid-air acrobatics or in extremely windy conditions.
  • Make a Wish: Koma offers to grant Izo any one wish...along the lines of 'capturing the heart of a girl you like and making her yours'.
  • Male Frontal Nudity: Put a diaper on Baby Beel for crying out loud.
    • Hilda, of all people, lampshades this when she see's him for the first time after losing her memories.

Hilda: "Now then... why isn't this child wearing any clothes?"

  • Mama Bear: Hilda. God help you if you threaten her little master.
  • Mandatory Unretirement: Despite Aoi giving up her title as leader of the Red Tails, everyone still sees her as such and even the new assigned leader, her former Number Two, wants her to take it back.
  • Mark of the Beast / Power Tattoo: The Zebub Spell on Oga's arm is a symbol of the contract between Baby Beel and his parent. Appears subject to Marked Change in major battles when it spreads over his whole body. Saotome also has one, which Tojo copied later on.
  • Measuring Day: Episode 28. Complete with a whole lot of shirtless scenes from the guys as well Oga and Furuichi being the (unintentional) peeping toms.
  • Meganekko: Kunieda/Kunie Aoi when in "disguise". Also Isabella, though she's of the stoic kind rather than the Moe kind.
    • Agiel is probably meant to look cute as well... it just doesn't help that she's a sadistic, scantily-clad psychopath.
  • Megaton Punch: Oga has a habit of launching delinquents through the local masonry. Tojo can pull this off to an absurd degree, made more impressive by the fact that he's a "normal" human being.
  • Meido/Ninja Maid: Hilda
    • Now there are four of them!
  • Mental World: Oga goes to his to re-establish the connection between him and Beel. Turns out he has no idea what goes on in his mind at all.

Oga: "Dammit... even though this is my dream, I have no idea what's going on!"

  • Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: The Great Demon King. Tries to fit destroying the human world into his calendar, between games of mahjong and poker and attending demon golf tournaments. We know what happens next.
  • Miko: Aoi, whose family own the local shrine, dresses like one for training.
    • Isafuyu from the shrine in the mountains is a more traditional version.
    • Suiten appears to be a Delinquent version.
  • Mind Control Device: Salamander's flames.
  • Mission Control: Furuichi, Lamia and Himekawa are this for Oga when he storms Akumano Academy to rescue Hilda.
  • Mistaken for Badass: A lot of characters seem to be under the impression that Furuichi is some strong, gritty, hardcore delinquent type due to him always hanging around with Oga. How wrong they are...
    • And this reputation of his backfires on him when he is expelled along with fighters.

Furuichi: "I haven't done anything, so I don't understand why I was called..."
Teacher: "Don't play dumb! You've been going around gathering information, you're basically the ring-leader here!"

  • Mistaken for Cheating: Aoi gets pissed off when she thinks that Oga has been cheating on Hilda with her, though he wasn't interested in either of them to begin with.
  • Mistaken for Gay: Happens to Furuichi, mostly thanks to Arandron's actions. The anime takes it Up to Eleven, with nearly everyone new they meet thinking that they are an item.
  • Modesty Towel: Natsume in the Volleyball Arc, when he gets kidnapped by Arandron in the middle of his bath.
  • Mooks: Loads and loads of them.
  • More Dakka: Chiaki using four pistols at once.
  • Moses in the Bulrushes: Subverted heavily by Baby Beel and the fact that he was drawn to Oga because he was ideal demon parent material: strong, arrogant, and downright bloodthirsty.
  • Mr. Exposition: Furuichi, constantly, since Oga doesn't know anything. Even his buff counterpart in Oga's mind acts as this.
    • Himekawa does some of this later on.
    • Natsume as well. He's the one who tells Oga all about the Tōhōshinki after the defeat of Kanzaki. Also does some exposition about online gaming in the video game chapters.
    • Odonel takes it upon himself to tell us all about the working of Behemoth's Pillar Squad. Unfortunately Takahashi-sensei just doesn't get it.
    • Parodied in the anime when Kanzaki and Himekawa give En a crash course in online gaming. Cue Imagine Spot with them explaining various terms, which quickly degenerates into gibberish, that leaves them breathless afterwards.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Not much cast out there since the series is Rated "M" for Manly, but Oga, Natsume, and Himekawa (with hair down) are the designated eye candy.
  • Mugging the Monster: People tend to mistake Hilda as "Oga's Bride" and try to get to him by attacking her. This is a mistake.
    • Though this can also be considered Too Dumb to Live as you would think that being part of the requirement of being the "bride" of the most violent high schooler would be just as capable as he is.
  • My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours: Awesomely subverted in Ch. 138 in a wonderfully non-typical shounen trope fashion against Jabberwock when Oga reveals he will defeat Jabberwock not from an "awakening" of his powers but by simply "trying harder".

Oga: "Awaken? Like there's such a convenient power-up, dumbass!"
Jabberwock: "Here I was thinking you were going to pull out some amazing move, but you're only trying harder?"
Oga: "Who the hell said that trying harder makes you weaker than being awakened?"

"Even if I do try to fight, all I could do is kill roaches!!"

  • Not a Date: Chapter 157 may as well be called 'Not a Date: The Chapter'. Everyone that Oga and Aoi meet at Ishiyama Land assumes they're on a date, to the point of it being a Running Gag.
  • Not What It Looks Like: Oga upon Hilda introducing herself to his family. This may be a partial subversion, because while it wasn't what it seemed, Hilda appears to be fully aware of the implications of what she is saying and milks it for all it's worth.
    • Also, Oga asking Kunieda to be Baby B's new "mother".
    • This is basically the definition of the trope.
    • And here Furuichi basically one-ups himself.
    • Oga temporarily having the mind of a toddler shows that he and Hilda aren't immune to this. As his dad and sister can attest. Furuichi even lampshades it:

Furuichi: "If I didn't know any better, this scene would resemble..."

Aoi: "Dammit, this stupid guy...time after time. Does he enjoy watching me mistake his obliviousness as affection?"

  • Oh Crap: Jabberwock. Big time.
  • One-Gender School: Subverted. As no girls were ever shown attending, readers were originally led to believe that Ishiyama was an all-boys school, however they were eventually proved wrong when the Red Tails arrived.
    • Specifically, the Red Tails are an all-girls gang that contains all the girls in the school. So, naturally, when the gang goes somewhere else, it's functionally an all-boys school.
  • One-Man Army: Oga is the best example, though most characters are inhumanly strong anyway.
    • Played oh-so straight by Oga in Ch. 130-132 where it becomes a Mook Horror Show.
  • One Steve Limit: There are two characters with the first name 'Kaoru' - one is Kaoru Jinno, Tojo's underling; and the other Kaoru Umemiya, a Red Tails member. The fact that they are of opposing genders makes it even weirder.
  • Only a Flesh Wound: Himekawa misses the point after Pillar Agiel blasts several Ishiyama students into an Akumano Academy wall.

Yuka: "Shouldn't we help the people who were drilled into the wall?"
Himekawa: "Leave 'em be. It's not like they'll die from being drilled like that."

  • Only Known by Their Nickname:
    • Beelzebub, is only called by his nickname Baby Beel or "Master" by Hilda.
    • Hildegarde, otherwise known as Hilda, or "Oga's Bride" by the populace of Oga's school.
  • Only Sane Man: Furuichi, the only non-delinquent main character introduced so far, and the only one who seems to acknowledge just how weird the situation is.

Takayuki Furuichi, struggling along the rugged road of a true general...

    • Somewhat subverted as he has his share of insanity too. Case and point? The pool incident.
    • In the courtroom dream sequences, the roles are reversed, and it's Oga who becomes the Only Sane Man.
    • Recently Natsume seems to have taken over as the serious one of the Ishiyama group. Furuichi is not happy about it.
  • Ordinary High School Student: Sort of. Oga may be a delinquent, but then everyone is a delinquent, so he's nothing out of the ordinary. Furuichi may actually play it straight though.
  • Overly Long Name: Kaiser de Emperana Beelzebub IV. Furuichi and Oga find it impossible to remember, and it's a good bet the audience do as well.
  • Our Demons Are Different: The Demons simply look more "Human-Like" than anything else.
  • Paid Harem: Himekawa has two gun molls fawning over him during his introduction.
  • Panty Fighter: Pillar Agiel. FULL STOP. [dead link]
  • Panty Shot: An Ishiyama student pretends to fall over so he can get a look up Chiaki's skirt... only to find out she's got a pistol strapped to her thigh.
    • Hilda inadvertantly gives one of these to Saotome during their encounter on the roof of the St. Ishiyama gym.

Saotome: "Hmm... white, huh? I expected black."

  • Papa Wolf: Oga is getting there.
    • In chapter 138, Oga even has a power-up from his desire to get Beel what he wants, apparently something all proud parents can do no matter how tough the situation. Known as the "Father Switch" or sometimes the "Miracle Switch".
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Aoi whilst babysitting. Though the only person she manages to fool is Oga.
  • Parasol of Pain: Hilda keeps a sword in hers.
  • Parental Abandonment: Aoi, sort of. Her parents are both away at the moment: her dad vanished after going out training and her mom went to search for him.
  • Parental Obliviousness: Oga's parents seem unconcerned by their son getting frequently beaten to a bloody pulp or going off to train in the mountains, and accept Hilda and Baby Beel into their house without question.
    • Also when Arandron kidnaps Furuichi from a holiday abroad, his family just assumes he went home by himself.
  • Peek-a-Bangs: Hilda, of the sultry type. Also Athrun to some extent.
  • The Peeping Tom: Aoi's Tengu.

"I swear I won't peep on you while you're in the bath!"

    • Also, Teimou's Mikagami.
  • Perpetual Smiler: Natsume. Does this even when announcing the gang's impending war with the demons.
    • Also, Natsume's Demon World doppelganger, Pillar Head Salamander. And Pillar Head Quetzalcoatl.
  • Pet the Dog: Tojo is apparently very fond of small cute things, like babies and kittens, and will attempt to take them home with him.
  • Petting Zoo People: So far all the demons introduced look near indistinguishable from humans. Then along came Pillar Vabam, who is essentially a dog on two legs wearing a suit with sunglasses, guns and smoking a cigar.

Vabam: "You'll die a dog's death..."
Oga: "Dog's death? But aren't you the dog here?"

  • Psychic Link: Played for laughs when Oga and Furuichi have unexplained telepathic conversations. About a hundred chapters later it crops up again, and Kanzaki, Hilda and Baby Beel join them.
  • Punch a Wall: Oga punches the ground after the Zebub Spell overloads and threatens to destroy his arm. The force of it demolishes the entire school.
    • He punches the ground hard enough to make his hand bleed in chapter 135 when running out of time to rescue Hilda.
  • Punch-Punch-Punch Uh-Oh: Happens in Oga's first fight against Tojo, and later his first fight with Jabberwock.
  • Punny Name: Tatsumi Oga, commonly known as the "Violent Ogre".
    • Kanzaki's first name means "first son", but he actually turns out to be the second son.
  • Puppy Love: Beel and Chiyo are toddlers. Also Beel and Futaba (who's a little older) if that's what you like.
  • Put on a Bus: Athrun hasn't been mentioned since his first appearance, despite being made out as plot-important. Kazuya and Azusa, now friends of Oga, haven't been seen since the end of their arc either.
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad: MK5 and Teimou's Shadow Force.
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: The punches fly faster than they would in real life, but recent chapters have seen it reach almost Kenshiro level demonstrations.
  • Rated "M" for Manly
  • Reality Ensues: After getting Tojo to throw him into the air so he can perform an epic kick in a volleyball match Oga gets a foul called.

Referee: "Foul. Of course it's a foul. Idiots."

  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: It's implied that the demon maids are all at least a few hundred years old, and have retained their youth for a long time.
  • Refuge in Audacity: And how.
    • Oga's practically the definition of this trope when it comes to his fighting skills.
    • Furuichi has his moments. The pool incident, for one.
  • The Rest Shall Pass: Tojo has an epic one when he decides to stay behind and keep the Pillar Squad busy so that Oga can focus on rescuing Hilda. Becomes a Crowning Moment of Funny when Oga calls him out on invoking the Rule of Cool.
  • Retired Badass: Oga's Cool Big Sis Misaki is a former leader of the Red Tails. And she sometimes uses that badassery to beat on her brother.
  • The Reveal: Chapter 129: Yolda is Hilda's sister. Suddenly the rivalry makes more sense...
  • The Rival: Tojo is this to Oga in a way, though Miki took his place for the Ishiyama arc. Hilda and Aoi also have something of a rivalry. Kota is Beel's sworn rival (played for laughs).
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Kanzaki goes on a short-lived one when Shiroyama is beaten into unconciousness with dumbells. Unfortunately Miki takes him out.
  • Rooftop Confrontation: Quite common, probably because Oga tends to frequent the school roof.
  • Rule of Funny: Explicitly invoked by Oga as a justification for dragging Furuichi along to Kanzaki's place.
  • Rule of Three: Kanzaki gets three times as powerful when his Berserk Button is pushed.
  • Running Gag: Beel becoming upset and electrifying everyone at the slightest thing.
    • Furuichi being dragged into Oga's plans against his will.
    • No one recognizing Himekawa when he has his hair down.
    • MK5. SPECIALTY: TO LOSE IN ONE PAGE!!
    • Furuichi getting caught in compromising positions with Lamia.
    • Kanzaki's obsession with yogurt drinks. Taken up to 11 in the anime.
    • Tojo's revolving door of part-time jobs.
    • Aoi misinterpreting every innocent quip Oga has for her as romantic innuendo.
    • Baby Beel and Kota's ongoing rivalry, with the latter always winning despite being human.
    • Looks like the repeated destruction of Ishiyama High, formerly known as Akumano Academy might turn into one.
    • Furuichi (and more characters later on) running like a bitch.
    • Tojo turns up twice, virtually on cue, in chapter 149 to make the same penis joke.

Tojo: "I got the feeling someone called for me."


S-Z

"I had to blow some pocket money."

    • Chapter 151 has Beel fleeing from Chiyo and Futaba's little spat to go cry into Oga's chest.

Oga: "What the hell are you doing? You're pathetic."

  • Selective Obliviousness: When Tojo is told that he's been fighting against demons, he just agrees that "those guys were strong as demons". He also doesn't question Baby Beel's origins on account of him being cute, nor Akuma Academy's construction since he got paid well for the job.
  • Serious Business: Volleyball.
    • And park debuts.
    • And online FPS games.
    • And skipping stones. Like a work of art!
    • And field trips. According to Mr Saotome anyway.
    • And buying souvenirs. For Tojo at least.
    • And UNO. It decides everything.
      • So does Sudoku!
  • Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Used in an omake where Hilda's voiceover talks about "extenuating circumstances", causing Idiot #1 (Oga) and Idiot #2 (Furuichi) to ask what that is.
  • She's Not My Wife: Oga and Hilda. To the point where when Kazuya called her that neither of them even bothered to correct him.
  • Shipper on Deck: Chiaki seems to ship Oga and Aoi. However the other Red Tails are very keen to know about Oga's relationship with Hilda.
  • Shock and Awe: Baby Beel's power to electrocute people when he's angry or upset, which is by extension Oga's as well.
  • Shouldn't We Be in School Right Now?: Pretty much the entire Ishiyama group skip school, either because they're training in the mountains or playing video games against a Demon Lord. Their excuse is that they all had relatives who died.

Aoi: "What the hell is that?"

Oga: "A man I respected said these great words - 'Everyone, give me some of your cash in aura form!'"
Furuichi: "NO HE DID NOT!"

    • Episode 49 too.

Furuichi: "Wait, isn't this what Goku has on his head? Wait...don't tell me, I'm Son Goku?!"

    • The entire Hilda rescue arc seems to be a homage to the Ruika rescue from Bleach. To future drive the point home, they both have an extremely similar inverted Shut Up and Save Me moment.
    • Episode 47 of the anime.

Kanzaki (pretending to be Lamia writing a message to En): "Let's To Love-Ru Darkness!"

Oga: "... and while they're in the air, finish them off with Wolverine's Weapon X Combo Special. That's the type of woman you are."

    • Episode 51 has Aoi attacking Koma with "Scattering Sakura Blossoms" when this line was dropped:

Oga: "I'm here to rescue you dumbass! Now shut up and let me save you!"

  • Sick Episode: Sick arc. Although the aim is to discover why he's sick.
  • The Silent Bob: Several characters, particularly Oga, have shown the ability to interpret Baby Beel's wordless gurgling. Or maybe he has very expressive eyebrows. Or they're just making it up.
  • "Silly Me" Gesture: Yuka does this after finding and subsequently losing the group's gamebreaking "Crazy Frog" mecha while playing End Of War 4.
  • Similar Squad: We now have one introduced for the St. Ishiyama field trip for the Ishiyama High School students, South Chinpira High created their own Tohoshinki modeled after Ishiyama and an Oga clone, Izo Aiba, who's just a bit less of a Cloudcuckoolander and just as much of a Badass. The main difference so far? Well, he's blond and falls in Love At First Sight with Kunieda... and his baby sister fell for Beel... at first sight..
  • Slasher Smile: Oga, oh God, Oga. The faces he makes can be seen as the definition of a slasher smile.
  • Sleep Cute: Hilda snuggled up to Beel in chapter 139 after getting into bed with Oga.
    • Chapter 141 gives us one with Hilda and Yolda.
  • Sleep Mode Size: Koma's goofy little monkey form. His true form is a hulking lion-dog twice the height of a grown man.
  • Smoking Is Cool: Saotome-sensei smokes almost constantly, and is undeniably the most Badass character introduced so far.
    • Arguably Basilisk, with his ever-present cigar and ten foot battleaxe.
  • The Smurfette Principle: Both Aoi and Shizuka are the only female members of the Tohoshinki and Six Knights respectively.
  • Sneeze Cut: Oga is cut to several times when other characters are talking about him, complete with the "I must be getting a cold" line.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Many of the demons, thanks to bad romanisations.
    • Alaindelon/Arandron. However, since the character is named after actual French actor, Alain Delon, Alaindelon is likely the correct romanized spelling of the name. Doesn't help that the official website spells it Arandron though.
    • Dr. Forkas/Furcas/Folcas Rachmaninoff/Rachmaninorr
    • Hecados/Hecatos/Hecadoth, Graffel/Graphel/Graphiel, Odonel/O'Donnell, Xoblah/Kusobra, Yshiel/Yuchelle, Labed/Rabid
  • Spoiled Brat: Kanzaki's niece Futaba. En as well, combined with a generous helping of Royal Brat.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Good Night Shimokawa, on Aoi.
    • Arandron seems to be developing into one for Furuichi, even following him as far as Okinawa and acting like a housewife. The below trope certainly doesn't help.
  • Stealth Hi Bye: Arandron has this in spades, being a dimensional transfer demon. No one ever seems happy when he turns up either.
  • The Stoic: Jinno acts extremely mellow about everything, and Chiaki only had one or two facial expressions at first. She's been succeeded by Laymia.
  • Strange Minds Think Alike: In chapter 140 both Furuichi and later Aoi ask if a 'wife' is "that red liquid the French are well known for". Furuichi lampshades this by telling Aoi to calm down, since he already asked the same thing.
  • Stripperiffic: Aoi's "school uniform" that bares almost her entire torso. And now we have Satura, who wears a bikini and an apron.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Laymia and Lamia, as well Furuichi and his mom. Hilda and Yolda, of the sisterly variety.
  • Super Mode: Just when you thought Oga couldn't get any more powerful, he goes and breaks the contract bounds he has with Beel and activates Super Milk Time. Too bad it has a time limit...
  • Super Window Jump: Tojo and Natsume get into the principal's office this way during Operation P.I.E.S. Not like they had any reason to smash it though.
  • Surreal Theme Tune: The opening song "Dadada!". It would be impossible to know what was going on at all if the animation wasn't vaguely related to the lyrics.
    • And now End Theme 4 "Papepipu♪ Papipepu♪ Papepipupo♪". "Grugrugrugrugrugrugrugrugru... DON'T TOUCH ME!" Indeed.
  • The Symbiote: Baby Beel actually is like this. He needs a human parent in order to channel and develop his powers, while at the same time giving super human powers to his host/parent.
  • Synchronization: This happens to Oga and Beel when Super Milk Time is activated, turning Oga into a literal Adult Child.
  • Talk to the Fist: Pretty much the only way Oga knows how to communicate. Tojo is almost as bad.
    • Forget almost, Tojo is JUST as bad, especially if you're a Pillar.
  • Tan Lines: A running gag in the anime is that Oga always gets incredibly awkward Beel-shaped ones.
  • Teenage Wasteland: Gangs of teenage thugs roam the streets day and night and the underground network is made up mainly of young people. Ishiyama High takes this to the extreme.
  • Teleporter Accident: While Doctor Awesome is successfully dropped off at the Demon King's palace, Arandron makes a mistake and Lamia, Oga and Furuichi are instead taken to the wildest, most dangerous area of the Demon World where they are stranded until help comes. And there are monsters everywhere. Huh.
  • Tempting Fate: All over the place, but the Chinpa Mooks in chapter 152 really take the cake.

Chinpa Mook: (To a captured Yuka) "No one's gonna come save you this time!"

    • There's no way that a toy from the demon world would just conveniently arrive. Right?
  • Tender Tears: Oga's family are moved to tears several times in the space of one chapter when Hilda loses her memories and begins acting very polite and endearing.
  • That Came Out Wrong: Thanks to Oga, his training match with Aoi is packed full of this.

Oga: (At the start of the fight) "I've always wanted to do it with you..."
Oga: (After trapping Aoi's hand) "But now I'll never let you go..."

Aoi: "I know what he means. But couldn't he have said it differently?"

Futaba: "You rotten bitch, don't go seducing my Beel!"
Chiyo: "My, what dirty language! You too, calling him your 'lackey'. Is something wrong with your head?"
Furuichi: "This doesn't seem like a conversation between four year olds..."

  • True Love's Kiss: The only thing that can reverse Salamander's memory erasing flames is a kiss from Prince Charming. Salamander lampshades that this is the way problems are solved no matter the era. Hilda's prince is Beelzebub, apparently.

"The market value will never drop!"

    • You know, it makes sense when you think about it. I mean, Beel is a prince, and he's quite charming. Thus, he's Prince Charming!
  • Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty: Furuichi readily admits that the other characters are combat monsters well beyond anything he could compete with. Thus if forced into a conflict, he'd rather run, and barring that will resort to any low-blow or sneak attack necessary for victory. It works pretty ok for him.
    • The entire Ishiyama High delinquent team using Baby Beel in volley ball. Just barely within the rules thanks to what the Six Knights said before the match.
    • The female Pillars use underhanded tactics to try and get at Oga, such as flirting with him or pretending to be afraid/innocent. Aoi calls them out for it.
  • Tsundere: Aoi Kunieda sways between Type A and Type B.
    • Recently Furuichi seems to think Lamia's one.
    • Natsume called Kanzaki this in one of the earlier episodes.
    • Hilda doesn't show her warm side very often, but When She Smiles...
  • True Companions: The delinquents are very, very, very slowly becoming this.

Aoi: "Don't they..."
Oga: "...seem kinda close?"

  • Twin Switch: Although they aren't exactly twins sisters Hilda and Yolda look similar enough to successfully switch places in the Akumano Academy dungeons, which gives Yolda a chance to escape.
  • Two-Teacher School: Ishiyama High before Oga destroys it is actually a no-teacher school (except for the lunch lady and the principal/janitor). With a delinquency rate of 120%, what do you expect?
    • Lampshaded by Furuichi in the anime.

Furuichi: "You know I've been wondering this for a while, but what do the teachers in the school actually do?"

Furuichi: "Why would there only be sadness in your album?"
Himekawa: "That's because in that album...there won't be any pictures of us going on the field trip!"
Oga: "Oh God..."

  • World of Badass
  • Would Hit a Girl: So far none of the delinquents have shown any problem with beating up women.
    • Oga doesn't mind fighting girls, but he does hold back from harming the female Pillars directly, causing them to invoke Wouldn't Hit a Girl.
  • Wrestler in All of Us: Oga finishes Tojo off with a frickin' suplex!
    • Which Baby Beel later reenacts with a stuffed lion while Oga cheers him on.
    • Also, CHANGED MAN KICK!, CHANGED MAN CLOTHESLINE!, CHANGED MAN ELBOW DROP!, and finally, CHANGED MAN BOSTON CRAB!.
    • Tojo gets in on the suplex action while taking on Jabberwock.
  • Yakuza: Kanzaki is related to some. We get to meet them in chapter 143, and being a son of the boss Kanzaki demands their respect.
  • You Are Not Alone: Seems averted at first when Oga storms Akumano Academy on his own to try and rescue Hilda. However then it's revealed that he has radio contact with Furuichi and Lamia (and later Himekawa). It's finally played straight after the rest of the school have their Big Damn Heroes moment and chew him out on leaving them behind.
  • You Have Failed Me...: Kanzaki beating up Shiroyama after he lost a fight, before ordering him to jump out a window. Hecadoth and Graphel are imprisoned after they lose in a fight against humans.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Hilda attempts to kill Oga when he first neglects his duties as parent.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Most of the demons have brightly coloured hair, like pink, blue or green. Although it's justified because they're, well, demons, no one in the human world comments on it.
  • Youkai: Aoi makes a pact with a Tengu in order to get the power to fight against demons. He's described as a type of demon that came to the human world hundreds of years ago.
  • You Must Be Cold: Tojo gives Shizuka his jacket while waiting for Izuma to show up.
  • You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Himekawa does this to the Chinpa mook threatening to throw Futaba off the roof.

Himekawa: "I don't really give a damn. Just stop stalling and do it."

  1. She was of course present from the beginning but only started to get personally involved during St Ishiyama arc.