Darkbolt

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

An online manga-styled comic created by Sean Boyle who both wrote and drew the comic stories. It deals with the story of an average set of high school Japanese students who get bonded to demonic beings who are being sought out by an alien race.

It's basically about demons, angels, aliens, and more. Think Sailor Moon with more emphasis on the action, no filler or stock footage, and a gender-balanced team.

It can be read here.


Tropes used in Darkbolt include:

Ikkou: "I destroyed the entire Earth once. No power can stand in my way."

  • Barbie Doll Anatomy
  • Battle Couple: Yun and Mariko. Naoko and Fushi.
  • Beam-O-War: With the final guardian in Story 3, "Spirit Sanctuary."
  • Big No: Johji after Shiori's death.
  • Blood From the Mouth: Happens when Shiori pushes herself too far and realizes that she can't contribute to the fight past that point.
  • Book Ends: "Spirit Sanctuary" opens with a letter from Yun to his Grandfather. The next story opens with Yun writing another letter.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: The Tenma, though many took the mark willingly.
    • General Dolands is perhaps the most tragic example of this amongst the Tenma.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Johji keeps pushing Ikkou's buttons. He has a reason. He needs to show Ikkou how poor of a leash he has on his powers to convince him to give them up.
  • Call to Adventure
    • Resigned to the Call: When Naoko is chosen to host Darkbolt, she's pretty much stuck with being a hero even though she doesn't really want it and steps up to the task.
    • Got Volunteered: Mariko and Yun. Both accept their role easier than Naoko does, though.
    • Jumped At the Call: Ikkou accidentally bonds to Destruction while trying to defend Naoko but later loves having powers and the chance to fight. Later zigged when he gives up his powers after realizing how out of control he is, and then zagged when becomes the host of Chaos.
  • Calling Your Attacks: DARK BEAM to WAR BLADE to the all infamous Demon Seal ...yes, everyone does it... except humans, who don't need to...
  • Crystal Dragon Jesus: The Holy Sanctuary, and generally any other faith aware of the Angels and Demons. Yun is a believer in its faith, and Mariko is sufficiently familiar with it to recognize a carving of the Angel of Order.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Well sort of subverted when Naoko takes control of Darkbolt but normally...yes Dark Is Evil when he is control.
  • Distant Reaction Shot: Happens often when Destruction's Earth Shattering Kabooms are unleashed.
  • Dying as Yourself: Yun fears the corruption of his soul by Death in "Spirit Sanctuary" and refuses to use his powers for a while, invoking this trope.
    • The antagonist of this arc wishes to kill Yun so that he may do this.
  • First Kiss: Naoko gets angry and depressed when her first kiss is taken by someone other than the one she loves.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble
    • Melancholic: Naoko, introverted and task-oriented. Courageous, serious, and brooding.
    • Sanguine: Mariko, extroverted and people-oriented. Fun-loving, impulsive, and loves a fight
    • Phlegmatic: Yun, introverted and people-oriented. Calm, stoic, and observant.
    • Choleric: Ikkou, extroverted and task-oriented. Passionate, obsessive, and hot-tempered.
  • Gaiden Game: "Darkbolt: Summons," which never was completed, would have been A Day in the Limelight for Mariko.
  • Gas Leak Coverup: One of Naoko's earliest fights is quickly claimed as a production stunt by several opportunistic film studios. However, the crown for this trope goes to the Genji Corporation's cover-up when a forty-foot tall image of the Angel of Order is seen over Tokyo:

"Credit for the 'hologram' has been claimed by the Angelic Imaging Division of the Genji Corporation."

  • God of Evil: Evil. The rest of the Demons also count albeit less literally.
  • Good Versus Good: Fushi v. Ikkou.
    • Evil's Violet Web attack.
    • The Mind Screw in "Elysium" between Lie, Ikkou, and Naoko and between Yun & Mariko.
  • Humans Are Special: The series opens with Yasha's plans to conquer the Earth, the only planet she hasn't conquered, now that the Angels no longer are around to protect the amazing power it contains. Despite prophecies which warn of doom for tampering with Earth, she moves ahead with her plans because of how powerless and disorganized humanity is. Turns out that humans are that power, and tampering with the Earth leads directly to the end of her reign. The true extent of humanity's latent power isn't revealed for nearly a decade, though.
  • Intentional Engrish for Funny: A throwaway gag while the characters are studying for an English test.

Hana: Exercise Six... "Re-word the following English sentences so that they make sense."
Hana: "All your base are belong to us." Hm... I dunno, it looks ok to me.

Mari: I can't believe it! He destroyed Tokyo Tower! Didn't I see this once in an anime?
Yun: "Once"?

"Is this gonna hurt?"
"A lot."