Hayate the Combat Butler/Tropes P To Z

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Panty Shot - Mentioned more often than explicitly shown, but still there - One of Hayate's duties becomes to prevent this with Nagi (who wears short skirts quite often) and when he isn't there, it shows.
  • Paper Fan of Doom - Sakuya's signature weapon.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise - Hayate briefly dresses up like Solid Snake and sneaks around a school in a large cardboard box...
    • Plus, Himegami's idea of a weird eye mask that does nothing to hide his unique hair and his "pseudonym" of 'Princess God' isn't fooling anyone.
    • And Nagi showing up to rescue Hayate wearing a silly domino mask and calling herself "Mask the Money".
    • Also, Klaus makes a cameo in the Butler Battle Tournament with Tama, both wearing nothing different from their usual clothes, except they're both wearing a Power Rangers/Super Sentai mask. Also subverted in this one, because except for Maria, nobody knows it's him.
    • Maria and Saki show up as the 'Max Hearts'. All that the costume is is eyewear. They both realize (and comment) on how paper thin the disguise is. Nagi didn't see through it, and wanted to get their autographs.
    • Alternately, Chiharu's 'disguise' as Sakuya's maid 'Haru' seems solid enough that they don't recognize her in the least.
  • Parental Abandonment - Hayate Ayasaki, whose parents sold him to the yakuza very nice people to pay off their 156,804,000 yen debt and ran away
    • Nagi Sanzen'in, whose parents are dead
      • Her father is never seen and supposedly died before Nagi could remember him. She has a few memories of her mother though.
      • Her grandfather is said to have given her some raising, but she is estranged from him from the start and then she gets cut off from the inheritance. Mother figure is Maria.
    • Maria, who is a Door Step Baby
    • Hinagiku happily lives with her (and her sister's) adoptive parents, though only their foster mother has been seen.
    • Sakuya's family also appeared during her birthday party. Both her father and her little siblings are comedy-obsessed-crazies just like her. Hell, her father's even worse.
      • Presumably her mother was with the other two children during this event. She lives, and presumably was raised by her two butlers.
    • Wataru Tachibana has living parents, but runs the family business and lives alone with his maid.
      • His mother is shown to have been living in Las Vegas and his father in some other eastern country.
    • Athena, whose parents are dead, mentioning this is Athena's Berserk Button.
    • Isumi's female family (up to her great grandmother) has been shown, but no mention of her father, grandfather or great grandfather has been made.
      • Isumi only has one grandfather, one great grandfather, one grandmother and one great grandmother? Eww.
        • Isumi apparently has no paternal family tree period
    • Izumi lives with her father (and it is implied that her mother is simply not shown.)
    • Riza lives with her grandfather, though her father may have been seen, it isn't mentioned.
    • Miki is implied to live with her parents, but they have not been seen.
    • Both of Chiharu's parents are shown to be around, but are neglectful to the point of eventually burning down their own house in a money-making scheme.
    • Both of Ayumu Nishizawa's parents are shown, and are decent folk.
    • And now Luca. "I thought that you had no relatives left ... when both of your parents ran away after dropping the debt on you...." By this point, you could pretty much call this work "Parental Abandonment: The Manga".
  • Parental Substitute - Hinagiku to Loli!Athena. Holy. Shit. Basically there's a little girl who may or may not be an aged-down Athena who appeared on the campus out of nowhere and bumped into Hinagiku. When the others asked where her mother was she pointed to Hina and said "Mama". Cue absolutely everyone in the panel being completely stunned. Knowing Hata...and the advice Hayate got earlier in the chapter...there is a very good chance that Hayate will be playing fake!dad, which will result in mind-blowingly-large Ship Tease with him and Hinagiku.
    • Confirmed, Hayate is announced to be her father. Hinagiku was chosen as the 'mother' because of the sword she carries.
    • Although Nagi wishes he were more of a boyfriend, Hayate seems to be playing this role for her. Maria is her mother figure, though the role originally seemed to be that of big sister.
      • Hinagiku and Yukiji found the Katsura's to be both willing Parental Substitute and get to play the Happily Adopted card when their parents dropped a large debt on them and disappeared.
      • In the character profiles, Sakuya is said to have been raised by her two butlers and her nurse, instead of her parents, while also serving as the parents to her siblings.
  • Parody Sue - Hayate, Hinagiku, and Maria.
  • Perpetual Poverty – Hayate. 150,000,000+ yen debt aside, if he is ever given any money he will certainly lose it. Even people around him seem to spontaneously lose money just by being in his proximity. Later chapters of the manga even give him the title “God of Poverty”. He notices this trend, and is quite dismayed.
    • Hayate becomes explicitly flat broke at least five times in the manga.
      • The first is when he has to spend a few days out of the mansion and manages to lose 1,000,000 yen in a few hours mostly helping people in trouble; he ends up broke, without a coat, and depressed in the snow when Hinagiku finds him and invites him over.
      • The second is when he buys Hinagiku a birthday present, partially to repay all the help she has given him, and also buys Nagi a hair-clip in a rare bout of forethought knowing that she would be jealous as well as a stuffed animal for Maira as thanks for her help as well.
      • The third time is when he tries to get Ayumu a White Day gift and accidentally gives it to Maria when he tries to practice what he's going to say; Hinagiku and later Maria helped bail him out.
      • The fourth time is when he winds up taking Hinagiku out on what both would - eventually - find out is a date and when the movie tickets he was given fall through he steps up and gets tickets to what is very obviously Disney Land Tokyo.
      • The fifth time is in Greece when Hinagiku saves him by curb-stomping Gilbert in (what is more-or-less) beach volleyball and he takes her to a very fancy restaurant as a way to pay her back...thankfully Maria knew the place and made sure they would only charge him the money that he actually had.
  • Perverse Sexual Lust - Parodied. Hayate yells, "I only like 2-D girls!" to get Nishizawa to leave him alone.
  • Pervert Dad - Izumi's dad likes making his daughter do cosplay as a form of punishment and jumps at any other reason to see her in a costume. A flashback also revealed that he was just a little too pleased when his kindergarten-age daughter innocently stated that she wanted to marry him.
  • Please Don't Leave Me - Although the romanticism is questionable, Nagi uses this in typical Tsundere method by implying that Maria and Hayate will eventually leave her (presumably for romantic relationships), and after convincing attempts are made by Hayate, she 'allows' him to continue working as her butler.
  • Poor Communication Gets You A Job - Whenever Hayate says anything, at least one person is sure to misunderstand it.
  • The Power of Love - Church Militant Sonia requests a kiss from Wataru if she rescues Saki, who had just been kidnapped. Wataru pays in advance. Next page, Hayate (on bike) catches up to the flaming wreck of the kidnappers' car: a giant cross driven through the hood, the men tied up nearby, and Saki unhurt but confused.
  • Promise - Hayate has promised to always protect Nagi, and to always love Athena.
    • Hayate also made a promise to Hinagiku to give her a present on her birthday. It doesn't seem like much but it meant a lot to Hinagiku, enough so that her emotions began to build up and confuse her as she started dreaming about Hayate and not knowing why. When he forgets this promise and she winds up spending several hours waiting for him it triggers her deep-seated fears of abandonment (amplified by Wooden Masamune) and she mentions this promise and her confusing feelings as she chews him out before she can regain control of her emotions. Fortunately for them both, things turned out all right in the end.
  • Prince Charming Wannabe - Played for comedy, Kyonosuke Kaoru is this for Yukiji Katsura. She actually seems to have a fondness for him, but he seems to think he needs to sweep her off her feet, which causes her to reject his advances.
  • Puppy Dog Eyes - Nagi (or really, any girl) going all sniffly and teary-eyed will cause Hayate to not just steel his resolve and do whatever's necessary to make them happy, but will adamantium his resolve. We learn why during "The End of the World" - he took Athena's advice to heart.
  • Punch Clock Villain: The very nice people. The spend the first few chapters chasing after Hayate to settle his debt. However once Nagi pays it off, they later approach Hayate and chat amiably with him, apologize for the whole ordeal, and even offer to buy him lunch.
  • The Quiet One - The infinitely huggable Isumi.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning - Athena, oh so much.
    • Not really, since her eyes are always red.
  • Reference Overdosed
  • Refuge in Audacity - Hayate's parents, who have relied on his hard work for their booze and gambling money his entire life, and never displayed a single bit of love and affection for him, show up to ruin his latest job for him so they can steal his latest paycheck and go gambling with it, and run up such a horrible debt doing so that they cheerfully sell him and his organs to the Yakuza? Played for laughs? (And that's all just in the first chapter!)
  • Reptiles Are Abhorrent - We can't quite be sure how the series feels about this trope. Machina's alternate form (we think) is a giant snake, and his first acts include nearly killing the main character and acting like an all around bad guy. But as of ch 255-ish, he's being more than friendly with the heroes, even jokingly (we think) asking Maria to marry him for her (and Sakuya's) hamburger-making skills.
  • Rescue Romance - Hayate should be the God of this. He helps people out all the time, even when it's not his job, and Chapter 273 showed us that if Hayate helps a girl with a problem in some way (up to and including saving their life) there is an incredibly high chance of that girl developing feelings for him...one guy seems to have fallen for him this way even!
    • While Nagi and Hayate's relationship has shades of this, it might not exactly count since she fell in love before he rescued her when she thought he was asking her out (because Hayate is the worst criminal ever). This applies better to how Hayate met Hinagiku as he...at least tried to help her down from the tree, but was practically invoked afterward when he told Hinagiku that he would come save her if she ever called for him...and delivered on that when they were both in the haunted building at school.
    • Unbelievably, Yukiji of all people actually gets in on this too. Apparently she was totally wasted (as usual) one night and stumbled across Ashibashi-sensei who was getting harassed/mugged. After defeating the thugs with ease, it seems that Ashibashi might have fallen for her...especially after stopping by Hakuou the next day and successfully picking her up in his awesome sports car. Currently Yukiji is oblivious to this new possible romance (as is standard for this series) and Kaoru-sensei is left speechless that a love rival has shown up.
  • Retcon - The first episode of the second season establishes that only a month has passed since Hayate became a butler, placing the entire first season into a vague quantum state of semi-nonexistence. Or something.
    • The first season veered off the manga's path sometime after Hayate entered Hakuou. The second picks up the actual storyline from where it left off.
  • Rie Kugimiya - Nagi.
  • Rie Tanaka - Maria.
  • Right Behind Me - Hinagiku gets clobbered by this in the current arc (starting at chapter 300), it's not quite the same effect of having Hayate himself hear her confession, but it does give blackmail bait.
  • Romantic Two-Girl Friendship - This could possibly be an explination for Hinagiku's initial encounter with Athena, especially since she's pushed anything resembling romance aside because of her past.
    • Her relationship with Miki may have started as this, but when Miki started to push for it to go further, Hinagiku made it clear she wasn't interested. The two are still close though.
    • Less explainable, but not entirely out of the question for her reaction to seeing Luca's performance, since she now has clear affections for male Hayate, but he's completely oblivious to it.
  • RPG Episode - Filler episode where the Student Council trio gets sucked into an old RPG after the game gets fed up with all the insults being heaped upon it.
    • Just look at Hina's stats screen. Further proof that her Sue-ness is Over Nine Thousand.
    • RPG stats are referenced in a manga chapter too, as Hayate assembles a team for a dungeon crawl.
  • Rule of Cool
  • Rule of Funny
  • Running Gag - Whenever a character is near-broke, it has become a running gag to leave them with 12 yen. (One 10 Yen coin and Two 1 Yen coins)
    • There's also the matter of Hayate girlish face and being forced to crossdress; it's gotten to the point that it actually seems to be plot-relevant that if someone met him while he crossdressed there would be no way they woulds know he was a guy (as proven once by Kotetsu and again later with Luca.
    • On a more meta-note, it's been noted to much amusement that Hayate never gets to see Fan Service of Hinagiku despite seeing or being the cause of it for literally almost every other female in the cast. Hinagiku also never seems to be around when Hayate is providing the fanservice, with the only time she has ever seen him crossdressed was on the boat to Athens where we didn't see them together or her reaction to it.
      • Unfortunately, this one seems to be shot down, with Hinagiku undressing partially in front of Hayate to give him her clothes to keep Luca in the dark about Hayate's true gender.
      • An even more meta, fandom example would be jokes regarding the nigh-impossibility of the chances of Hinagiku ever confessing her feelings to Hayate properly.
    • Hayate's bad luck in general has got to be this, especially as everyone is aware of it.
    • This one is part Bowdlerization and part Ascended Meme, but in the anime, the phrase "Very Nice Men" or somesuch adaptation thereof invariably refers to the Yakuza that Hayate's parents sold him to. This extends to pretty much all fan discussion of both the manga and the anime.
  • It Runs in The Family - Though we've only seen the female half of the Saginomiya family, they're all pretty well Cloudcuckoolander. Isumi is the closest one to sane, and she barely qualifies as such.
    • Isumi's grandmother mistakes Isumi's mother—her own daughter! -- for Hayate when meeting him for the first time. And the mother thinks she actually is! Even wondering where she went when the grandmother changes paths.
    • Sakuya's family is just as comedy-obsessed as she is.
  • Sacred First Kiss
  • Samus Is a Girl - Hinagiku as Silver Red is just asking for this. All of the characters who don't know it's her think Red is a guy.
  • Say It with Hearts - Maria, Hayate, and Izumi all do this frequently . Nagi has done it a few times too . If Hinagiku does it, it probably means she's pissed ♡.
  • School Idol - Hinagiku Katsura, it's even called out on, particularly during the Valentines Day and White Day arcs, and a lampshade is hung during her birthday arc.
    • Maria and Athena Tennos used to hold this position before they graduated, Athena is even said to have shared the title with Hinagiku.
  • Scary Shiny Glasses - Klaus, Chiharu, and Sonia, combined with Audible Gleam. In Chiharu's case, the shininess once burned up a piece of paper she was mad at.
  • Schmuck Bait - Chapter 215. There's a button, and a sign above it saying "Don't press the button." Nagi and Ayumu agree that it'd be foolish to press the button. Then they press it in unison.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money - Nagi is not even remotely above solving her problems by throwing her ludicrously vast fortune around. Inverted with the Yakuza, who only start to obey the rules when they get their money. IE, they don't just kill people for fun; it's Nothing Personal.
    • During the school marathon, Klaus is set to fight Himuro, instead of pulling out a weapon, he pulls out a briefcase of money, and wins.
      • Himuro actually bleeds from the mouth as he concedes defeat.
  • Security Cling - Nagi does this several times, mostly to Hayate. Hinagiku is another favorite target for this, sometimes even when Hayate is also present. Most often it's someone hiding behind one of them for protection but the clingy-ness is definitely there.
    • Hinagiku even once did it to Hayate when they were in the haunted old building at school late at night but she was just kidding and was messing with him due to her intense dislike of losing (triggered by getting scared earlier and getting saved by Hayate). Hayate even makes a Call Back to this around 200 chapters later, though he claimed he was also kidding, it's a cover for it actually being a Security Cling but instead because he was scared and wanted to protect her from Tama. Her reaction was that of a typical Tsundere.
    • Hinagiku had a short one even earlier in chapter 45 where she clings to Hayate after he comes out of nowhere to save her from a monster in the haunted school building. Hayate's face completely lights up and he stutters trying to think of what to say. The next chapter has Hina making Hayate swear to never tell anyone (as an after-thought as she was more concerned about people knowing she was scared of the monster due to her pride as Hakuou's Student Council President).
    • Nagi also does one to Ayumu in Chapter 215 after they wind up alone in a dark cave in Greece. She was actually fine up until Ayumu turned the flashlight off...right after she recalled that Nagi mentioned not being good with dark places.
  • Serious Business - Butlers must be ready to defend their masters with their lives, and Hayate's superhuman feats are apparently the bare minimum for a butler—heck, he doesn't even have a master sword technique that sets stuff on fire!
  • Shallow Love Interest - Koutarou Azumamiya used to be this for Hinagiku originally, and the anime even added a few episodes of this to him, but since the second year started, he's actually gotten some character of his own.
    • Although he now seems more concerned with Hayate instead after that development. Nagi certainly took notice of the way he was holding Hayate's sleeve on the Mt. Takao trip and Nishizawa immediately edged closer to Hayate while giving him a look as soon as she met the guy and he said barely two words to Hayate. Perhaps they notice something Hayate doesn't...
  • Shaggy Dog Story - The show devotes an entire episode to these, where the cast takes turns telling various stories with no point.
    • And that episode is based on a manga chapter.
  • Shamu Fu - During an ocean cruise the boat they are on starts to sink (it was basically a clone of the Titanic so it was hardly unexpected) Hayate ends up in the lower levels, injured and in danger of being eaten by a giant shark with poor Isumi trying to save him by waving a pathetically small stick. As soon as Nagi jumps in to help him he recalls there were two sharks. When Nagi's attacked by the other one, she has about a couple seconds to be afraid before Hayate brains it with the first shark effortlessly taking them both out in out hit.
  • She's All Grown Up - Actually seems to have been inverted , Hayate doesn't seem to have noticed A-tan's growth when he meets her after ten years of separation, until he's directed to look via an extremely obviously loaded question...and even then it seems to take him a moment. This is particularly funny as they met when they were children and she's now one of the most developed girls in the cast. Interestingly, he actually seems to prefer the memory of the younger Athena too.
  • Shinigami - Several characters have stated that Hayate must be being followed by one on a regular basis, this is probably never actually going to come up again...maybe. It's been joked on forums for a while now that it's probably a girl and that he's taking 'flirting with death' rather more literally than most and that with all the comments about him dying young and being fated to a horrible death she may just be the "winner" of the Unwanted Harem in the end.
  • Shipper on Deck - Many on several different levels, particularly confusing as some of the supporters also have crushes on one (or both even) members of the couple their trying to pair up - this creates an extremely weird M.C. Escher-esque...thing...of interlocking love triangles, squares, and other shapes.
    • A more straightfoward case would be Mrs. Katsura. She very clearly supports Hayate/Hinagiku and even told Hina already that she would gladly accept him as a son-in-law, as well as leading to one of the major Hayate/Hinagiku moments by telling Hayate when Hina's birthday was and that he should get her a nice present. Sadly even this example becomes complicated by the fact that Mrs. Katsura is just a little too fond of Hayate.
  • Ship Sinking - Chapter 265 apparently sinks Athena X Hayate. But in the best way possible! [1]
    • And then comes chapter 266 with Athena deciding to go back to Japan after all. Teasing Creator indeed.
    • It also appears that the Wataru/Isumi ship has been sunk as well with him seeming to get over her in a similar manner to the above example.
  • Ship Tease - Ooooh yeah.
    • Oh yeah indeed. :)
    • Hayate with everyone. (Well, at least half the cast.)
  • Shorttank - Hinagiku Katsura could be considered for this, though she tries to impress the fact that she is feminine while her friends try to convince her she acts more like a guy. She seems to prefer the female school uniform in most cases, wearing a pair of sports shorts underneath (to keep guys from looking up her dress apparently). She's been shown continually to have feminine tastes for cute things and seems extremely embarrassed when the guy she likes notices that she is feminine.
  • Shotacon - The Chairman of Hakuo Academy is both a Shotacon AND a Lolicon, at least in the anime.
  • Shout-Out - Too many, at least one per episode. The series even got its own page.
  • Shy Blue-Haired Girl - Hayate fits this trope to a T, except that he's, ya know, not a girl (despite the way he looks).
    • Of course, there is the cross-dressing to take into consideration...
    • And now we have Luca (Luka?) who also seems to fit this trope in its more traditional sense, except for her job as an Idol Singer especially where her self-made manga is concerned.
  • Sick Episode - Chapter 352 has everyone in the Violet Mansion except Hayate getting colds. Hayate tends to them and decides to go out to get medicine for them, given his luck he is sent flying by Kayura and hit by a speeding truck. Despite this he seems okay and returns with the medicine.
    • Chapter 353 then has Hayate catching the cold as well, as Alice warned him about, and unfortunately for him it's also the day of the Hakuou final exams (that being the "punchline" to the previous chapter. He was just going to take soem medicine but couldn't as he didn't want Nagi to think that she gave him her cold and feel bad. Then he thought he could just focus on merely passing but couldn't as Hinagiku was expecting great scores from him due to all the studying they had done together. After that it was just a set of disasters that made Hayate's cold worse and killed any time he had to prepare. Fortunately Maria figured out he was sick and let him rest when he finally got back.
  • Skinship Grope - Hinagiku seems to be a common victim of this as Even the Girls Want Her, with Ayumu at the hot springs (played up more in the anime) and with Miki in Greece being the two biggest examples, though the Student Council Trio seem to like doing this to Hinagiku at other times as well. Hell, Miki even uses this by name when she surprises Hinagiku in the bath while claiming that their skinship is far too low. Hayate becomes a victim as well whenever Kotetsu appears unexpectedly, with the public bath trip in 304 being the best example yet.
  • The Slacker - Those Three Girls, Miki Hanabishi, Izumi Segawa, and Risa Asakaze, actually take this to the level of barely staying within the relevant plot of characters. Izumi is the only one who's actually shown interest in Hayate, Miki has actually disdained his interest (sometimes) and Risa hasn't seemed to decide whether she wants to be interested or not. All three love to hang out with Bottle Fairy Yukiji, actually attempt to keep their grades barely above failing and only seem to show up often enough to cause trouble for the chapter to revolve around.
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism - It’s all over the damn place, sliding from one end to the other at various parts of the story. Instead of a sliding scale, it's more of a stew.
  • Society Is to Blame - Hayate uses this trope when trying to explain his reasoning for attempting to kidnap Nagi. Only the fact that he fails, horribly, and then saves her from real kidnappers, getting her to take him on as her butler saves him, and starts the real story.
  • Social Services Does Not Exist - Worst. Parents. Ever.
  • Something About a Rose - Himuro Saeki
  • Stable Time Loop - In the final episode of the first season; in Athens, Greece. Adapted from a bonus chapter in the manga (volume 4).
  • Spider Sense - Hayate seems to have something like this that tells him to react even when he's distracted, however it also fails him frequently for the sake of comedy.
    • Hinagiku has one as well, specifically she has a super precise spiritual sense that allows her to feel the presence of spirits and such that she can't see. In Chapter 360 she uses it to track Father Lynn when she tries to hunt him down. Hayate is at first amazed by her sense when she can tell he's in the room with them (even nearly taking him out when he first appeared) and can immediate tell when he leaves, but finds her perception frightening when he can pinpoint where he went.
  • Stalker with a Crush - While Athena watching Hayate from afar is more like schoolgirl pining, Chapter 304 reveals that Kotetsu has become this when he follows Hayate into the public bath and directly states this as the reason why he is there. Surely one has to at least admire his tenacity if nothing else.
  • Storm of Blades - Athena can summon it.
    • or is it Midas?
  • Student Council President - Hinagiku.
    • And Maria was a former president.
    • And Luca was one when she was trying to go to High School.
  • Subordinate Excuse - Pretty much the real reason that Hayate is employed, at least as far as Nagi believes. In truth, she gushes over him in private while he remains cheerfully unaware of any perceived romance on Nagi's end.
  • Summon to Hand - Parodied with Hinagiku summoning the Wooden Masamune blade, which is Isumi's family sword. In an omake segment Isumi laments that the sword keeps disappearing, which we see is because Hinagiku spots trouble and calls for the Wooden Masamune to go save the day. It instantly answers her summon because it's fond of her apparently.
    • Sadly we aren't sure what's happened to Wooden Masamune now that Hinagiku has obtained the Shirosakura sword, marking her as an Ally of Justice to boot, and has been summoning it ever since instead. Last we saw, Hayate had used Wooden Masamune to beat King Midas so either he has it now (he is a highly skilled swordsman after all) or it's gone back to Isumi's place for now.
  • Supernatural Aid - The unlucky stones.
  • Supernaturally Delicious and Nutritious - Of course Hayate has delicious supernatural blood. It's part of the His Life Sucks package. In fact, his blood when he's half-dying is one of the most mystically infused substances in the world; and can completely power up Isumi or her grandmother. The latter has no problem with snacking on him, while the former tends to abstain, but once when Nagi was in danger, she tasted just a little and that gave her enough power to both break a Power Limiter curse that was on her and use her magic powers to teleport Hayate onto a spaceship in freaking Outer Space.
  • Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids - Up there on Hayate's nemesis list, what do you mean flight and missiles aren't required for a robot butler to clean the house?

Hayate: Is he really made for nursing?
Klaus: I'm sure it's necessary equipment for women living alone... Like a protection against stalkers!
Nagi: Sounds really fishy.

  • Super Window Jump - One of many feats Hayate can do that borders on the supernatural.
  • Surprise Santa Encounter - An imaginary Santa representing Hayate's morals and work ethic.
    • Not so imaginary. Mikado admits it was him.
    • To say nothing of Santa Conan.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: Happens several times, but the end of chapter 288 has Hayate make one for the mangaka by saying that the successful mangaka character is most definitely not an Author Avatar.
    • Nagi does this a lot

It's not that I'm jaundiced from staying up all night, even skipping school, to make chocolates and failed

  • Sweat Drop - Pretty much mandatory in the manga.
  • Sweet on Polly Oliver - Luca has started to act this way towards Hayate and doesn't know why!
  • Teen Genius - We're not talking Chiyo's level, but Nagi skipped three grades after all. Hayate actually did start to compare her to Chiyo in the manga, but Nagi told him not to go there.
    • Nagi and all of her friends, Isumi, Sakuya and Wataru are all at Hayate's grade, while being three years younger than he is. Although Wataru seems to be the most street-smart and least book-smart of all of them.
      • Isumi is literate in four languages. Nagi in eight. Maria in thirteen. They're surprised to discover neither Wataru nor Hayate can read German.
    • Maria graduated high school at 13. And was Student Council President two years running, and got the best grades in the school all three years ... what was that about Hinagiku being absurdly perfect?
      • Hinagiku is implied not to have had the personal tutoring that all of the gradeskippers probably had. And those are the least of her abilities.
    • Athena is in this group as well, being Hayate's age and having graduated last year, and is already head chairman.
  • Tempting Fate - Maria gives Hayate an expensive cashmere jacket and tells him not to damage it. Take a wild guess what happens.
    • It's Lampshaded mercilessly, for one. "We will slay you with these swords that cut cashmere really well!".
    • Utterly subverted when Hayate wraps it around a tree branch as a safety line to prevent Isumi and the coat from falling into a "Cashmere coat gets really dirty if dropped in" kind of pond. The coat tears apart and he falls in anyway. But at least Isumi and the coat didn't.
    • Also, when they're on a cruise, Sakuya assures Nagi that the ship won't sink unless they're raided by terrorists. Guess what happens.
      • It is worth noting that the cruise ship they were on, commissioned especially for that cruise, was named The Titanic, and looked just like its namesake. That ship wasn't just tempting fate, it was actively begging.
    • Thus far the only time that Hinagiku is able to express her feelings for Hayate was at the end of their first date as the train passing by (which she watched approach) was too loud for him to hear her. When he asked her what she said she tells him, "maybe if you cast a magic spell, you'll be able to hear what I said?". The setting has relatively prevalent magic and Hayate has canonically time traveled. It's possible that he may yet hear that confession himself before the series is through.
      • Considering Athena/"Alice" knows that Hinagiku loves Hayate, and already expressed a desire to just tell him as it would make things easier, she may be able to cast that spell after all at some point.
  • Tethercat Principle - Referenced when Hayate wonders if maybe Izumi is still on Mount Takao after having been forgotten there by Yukiji since she hasn't been seen since.
  • Theme Tune Cameo
  • Things That Go Bump in the Night - In Chapter 360, Hinagiku believes she hears one of these while up late in the Violet Mansion apartment and at first tries to wave it off as her being tired. After hearing it again she immediately goes to get Hayate. Luckily it's just Father Lynn messing around, and luckily for him he's able to convince Hayate not to let Hina try "exorcising" him via sword.
  • This Is Unforgivable! - Although the intentions aren't carried over between meetings, this is often Hayate's manner when Nagi is threatened. Gilbert is frequently the target, and clearly frightened of the consequences of his actions, though not repentant not to try again at a later date.
  • Those Two Bad Guys - The two thugs who actually pull off kidnapping Nagi, until Hayate's interference, in the beginning of the manga show up later and kidnap Saki from Wataru's video store, until Sonia's interference, have this kind of dynamic between them.
    • They're also hinted at being the culprits of stealing the money loaned to Wataru by Sakuya, but that was never confirmed.
  • Third Law of Gender Bending – While he has yet to be completely Gender Bent, when Hayate is cross-dressed this trope seems to be in effect, with him acting more feminine than usual. Then again, he has a propensity to act girly regardless of whether he is in a dress or not; wearing a dress just seems to emphasize it.
  • Title Drop - The Finishing Move that Hayate develops at the end of volume 6 is the "Hayate No Gotoku" (translated in this case as "Whimsical Hurricane").
  • Tournament Mini-Arc - In the anime, Nagi's Elaborate University High holds a tournament that takes "Battle Butler" quite literally. Defeat comes from losing your necktie.
  • Together Umbrella - When Hayate is kicked out of the Sanzenin mansion, and is left sitting in the falling snow, Hinagiku shields him with hers while they talk and invites him to warm up at her place.
  • Too Hot for TV: Season 1 due to it airing in an earlier time slot than most other animes of this type.
  • Train of Love - A variation because they are both clearly within reach of each other and believing I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me of each other, and Attractiveness Isolation on Hinagiku's side, Hinagiku manages to confess that she likes Hayate, only for him to be unable to hear because the train is rushing by.
  • Trauma Conga Line - For Hayate to not be broken by the hardships of his boyhood life makes him a saint amongst saints.
  • Trauma Swing - Young Hinagiku is shown to be alone on a swing in an image after her parents have abandoned her.
    • Although he's not on the swing in the scene, Wataru is shown to be standing in front of a swingset when recieving the papers that will allow him to skip grades with his friends from Sakuya.
  • Troublemaking New Pet - Shiranui causes plenty of problems when he(?) is first brought to the San'zenin mansion, mostly for Tama who was trying to get the new cat kicked out. Later on he also causes trouble by stealing Izumi's phone when he and Tama are lost in the city and even is seen aiding some ghost cats that were giving Hayate a hard time.
  • True Art Is Incomprehensible - Only Nagi's friend Isumi is able to understand what the hell's going on in one of her manga stories.
  • Tsundere - Nagi as a Type A (in keeping with her voice actress and twin pigtails - it's even lampshaded)
    • Hinagiku is also a Tsundere of the Type B variety, generally playing a kind and supportive role to the students and her friends but brings out the tsun side whenever the Baka Trio become troublesome or when Hayate gets involved in wacky shenanigans and/or sticks his foot in his mouth.
      • She actually shows a lot of self-restraint and instead of lashing out tends to favor a very intimidating calmness, leading to her being cheerful and kind most of the time, but snarky and annoyed when cleaning up her friends' messes. She often tries to be deliberately more dere only for things to go completely wrong and evoke her tsun side, which frustrates her quite a bit and is a focus in her Character Development.
      • She actually realizes this at one point and tries to show everyone (i.e. Hayate) her femininity by trying to suppress her tsun side, managing to terrify Yukiji and the Student Council girls enough that Miki set her up on a date with Hayate as "landmine removal". Didn't really help that her smile was more than a little unnerving.
    • One short story in the manga had Maria planning to give Hayate a gift, and worrying that she might give the wrong impression ... and then it struck her that she was behaving somewhat like a Tsundere [dead link] (although she couldn't remember the full term, thinking of it as "tsun-something"). While rehearsing what she'd say, she actually considered the "it's not like I made these for you" turn of phrase.
    • When Maria and Hayate end up going to the public baths because the boiler is broken, she again delves into Tsundere territory. Especially in the fourth panel [dead link]....
    • During a particularly vicious blizzard, Hayate wonders whether it's caused by the Earth being a tsundere.
    • Hayate himself actually shows Tsundere signs for two people, Hinagiku and Kotetsu. With Kotetsu it's mostly a massive dose of his darker, violent side but he actually has had a couple moments of dere when Kotetsu shows his decent attributes. Hina sees this side of him occasionally as well, usually when he is worried about her. A textbook example happens in chapter 45 in the haunted school building when Hina comments that it's hot and flaps the top of her shirt a couple times to cool off...causing Hayate's face to turn completely red which she then teases him over. Cue Hayate acting like an incredibly stereotypical Tsundere and trying to downplay his interest in her. Unfortunately Hina took his words at face value and didn't read the incredibly obvious subtext (or notice just how incredibly flustered he was apparently).
  • Twice Shy - Hayate and Hinagiku for the most part. Hinagiku gets easily flustered once love enters the picture and wants Hayate to be the one to take the initiative. Hayate also gets really shy around the topic and generally thinks that a girl like Hinagiku wouldn't be interested in a guy like him. There's also the matter that he doesn't feel he can have a girlfriend due to Athena teaching him (very strictly) that he needed to be able to financially support the girl for life...his friends call him the God of Poverty, and there's also some guilt over how things ended with Athena. There has been much suspicion and a few nudges since it's pretty obvious to most everyone, the responses tend to be hilarious.
    • Given the seeming epidemic of Cannot Spit It Out and Oblivious to Love in this universe, this seems to apply to almost every pairing and for the unrequited ones they merely believed this is the case...except for Kotetsu who just cannot take a hint.
  • Unflappable Guardian - Maria.
  • Unlucky Childhood Friend - Nishizawa
    • Ayumu seems to be taking this one to heart, she was the first one to confess to Hayate, and he's even stated that they could be dating. But she seems more interested in making sure that Hinagiku is the one who finally wins out, and only seems to be in the competition at all to make sure Hina doesn't give up.
    • Athena sort of counts as this due to meeting him many years earlier, but Nishizawa still takes the title as she's known Hayate longer and was in the classic position of trying to get closer to him at school and get him to notice her despite his obliviousness.
  • Unusual Ears - Hinagiku gains donkey ears for a filler chapter following the trip to Athens.
  • Unwanted Harem - It's not so much that Hayate doesn't want the girls as he is too naive to understand their gestures of affection for him... which can be dangerous considering the occasionally (literal) military grade resources most of them can access when they throw a tantrum. (Nervous Laugh)
    • More like he has low self-esteem. Not to mention he sees half of them as kids, and because he's quite explicitly not a Lolicon, can't even imagine them as love interests.
      • Anime Hayate shows an interest in those his age, Manga Hayate doesn't believe he can ever be anyone's boyfriend; and he has a lot of pent-up guilt over Athena.
      • Ironic since it seems like the older the character, the less mature they act. Most of the girls act thirteen-going-on-thirty, with cynicism on the red-line.
      • Hinagiku points this out to him.
    • Speaking of Hinagiku, she also seems to have one. They're mostly girls.
    • Wataru seems to have one of his own. He's just a lot more clued into it.
  • Uptown Girl - A little one-sided, at least at the start, as Nagi (the rich girl) has become infatuated with the extremely-poor Hayate after he saves her from kidnappers. She saves him from his (parents') debt, and he ends up serving her as a Battle Butler to pay her back. For her, it seems to be mostly just an excuse to keep him around.
  • Urban Legend Love Life - Hayate's got a Failure Knight complex preventing him from seeing it, and instead, all of the girls officially in his Unwanted Harem can see that he's got them all wrapped around his finger.
    • Hinagiku gets to point this out to him. Although technically only a few have gone that far.
  • Verbal Tic - Demon, the Great Stygian of Abe (Temp), says '~tima' a lot.
  • Wham! Episode - Chapter 300. Not only did it see the return of Athena, who either appeared in a dream or broke into Hayate's bedroom. It also had Aika returning from Greece at last to set up a few possible plot points. Then things get weird when Hayate and Hinagiku are talking and a little girl who looks like Athena from the End of the World Arc appears out of nowhere and bumps into Hina. Then just to really make us all wonder what the hell was going on, loli!Athena calls Hinagiku "mama".
  • What Could Have Been - Originally the author had written a one-shot manga about a high school student and her sister dealing with a debt. These characters became Yukiji and Hinagiku.
    • In Yukiji's profile, it's hinted that eventually those chapters will be released as part of the HnG storyline.
    • There's also been clues of Hayate's brother having been a main character in a manga somewhere.
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome? - Chapter 282, where Ayumu is trying to trick Hayate into asking her when her birthday is (it's that day), while Hayate is trying to avoid the subject like the plague (they have a surprise party planned for later), is played exactly like a fight scene, complete with side characters commenting on the tactical choices.
  • With This Ring - Takes a full swing at this trope in The End Of The World flashback arc. While he was a kid, Hayate worked hard and finally was able to buy a ring for Athena. Unfortunately, it's a ring for an adult, so their six-year-old forms can't wear them yet. Athena responds by offering Hayate a similar ring, and the vows and rings are exchanged and they promise to marry when they get older. Hayate then goes and gives the ring he got to his parents, who take and sell it to a pawn shop. Athena gets angry at Hayate when he returns later, presumably having seen what happened.
    • The ring is later seen by Yukiji, given how it's priced, it seems possible that the ring is a fake.
    • The ring that Athena kept a hold of returns to the story when the group makes a trip out to Athens during their Golden Week vacation. First it's admired, and then left out in the open, by her when she's seen Hayate again, not having known where he was for the intervening years. Then Hayate notices it and picks it up. She also gave the ring-box (empty) to Nagi, his current master before she dissapears at the end of the arc.
    • It's not seen when he gives it back, but Athena later shows it as proof that it is her when he's questioning his sight.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser - Hayate, albeit against his own will. Nagi and Maria's motives for forcing him to crossdress are most likely considerably less wholesome.
  • World of Snark - Due to knowing that they are characters in a manga/anime and the hilarious attempts to actually apply this knowledge, just about everyone makes sarcastic or witty remarks. Nagi and Hinagiku snark at the villains and weirdos quite often, the SC Rangers, Wataru, Sakuya, Ayumu, and even Isumi and Maria all make disparaging comments about the craziness around them. Hayate himself probably takes the cake, especially in the manga where he is a lot more cynical than he usually appears and has had exasperated reactions to damn near everything.
  • Wonder Child - Although altogether average kids, the Katsura sisters fall into this category. There's nothing inherently special about them, but their adopted parents were unable to have children of their own, so when Yukiji was looking for foster parents and chose her former teacher and his wife, they were probably thought of as this.
  • Wooden Katanas Are Even Better
  • The Worf Effect - Hayate suffers from this quite a bit at a few points in the manga. It's actually rather unavoidable though as the cast is almost entirely made up of non-combatants. Some enemies are a total joke, some need to punt Hayate across the room to be taken a bit more seriously. Hell, Machina nearly killed him to set up the drama of the Greece Arc going into full swing, which would later be repeated by the arc Big Bad King Midas. To his credit, Hayate scared the former badly enough to make him want to use "That Technique" just by threatening to get back up and lookingdeadly serious and was able to defeat the latter even with his injuries.
    • Really, the only other characters that even could get this treatment are Hinagiku, Yukiji, named butlers (as most are just Red Shirts), and Isumi. Hinagiku gets her moment in the Butler Quest arc getting zapped by a demon-possessed Yukiji. Yukiji and Kotetsu share a moment with Hayate during the Mount Takao trip against an insanely huge and powerful grizzly bear. Isumi even gets one in the Greece Arc when her ultimate attack is defeated by Machina/Athena/Midas...whatever the heck the snake thing was. Hayate simply takes the brunt of it since he's established as the Iron Butt Monkey of the series.
  • Worf Had the Flu - There actually is usually a reason for Hayate losing fights or having a much harder time than he should. The primary reason is that he's actually a trained swordsman, though he lied about early on and is limited to fighting unarmed which could put him at a disadvantage. Also he apparently has access to an HK-MG3 and plenty of skill with it even before the start of the series - if he brought that thing to every fight he could win just by waving it around (one-handed no less). Aside from that the biggest contributing factor is probably that he doesn't want to fight in the first place leading to him putting up with way more than he'd have to simply because he doesn't fight back.
  • Workplace-Acquired Abilities - This is the explination given for many of Hayate's non-butler skills. Between the jobs he did for his father and the jobs he did to support himself since he was 8. His skills as a butler have a completely different origin.
  • Worthless Yellow Rocks - While it's not gold, when Hayate is told to spend three days away from the mansion because Nagi's embarrassed, he's given one million yen. Which he promply loses. It gets returned to the mansion and Maria counts it, stating that it's almost exactly what he was given for living expenses. Nagi passes by the table and asks what all the chump change is.
    • The characters, especially Maria and Nagi, have continually shown distain for the value of money. Such that it's a huge leap in Nagi's showing maturity when she's willing to give it up.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy - The usual cause of a Genre Savvy guess being wrong. While the characters often seem to know they're in an anime/manga, they just as often think they're in an actual fighting series, not a parody.
    • Sakuya is aware she's in a comedy series, she just has the comedy style wrong.
  • Why Did You Make Me Hit You? - Played with in the 'End of the World Arc'. Hayate wants Athena to join his family outside the RG and she can't bring herself to ask him to risk himself to allow her to, they fight (lethally), and then Hayate unknowingly triggers her Berserk Button of her not having parents, to which she then 'slaps' him by ordering him to leave (so she doesn't kill him?), before she's able to break down, he does so, thinking he's failed her. Afterward she breaks down crying for having to resort to ordering him away to protect him. He does try to return to apologize, but finds he's unable to.
  • Xanatos Gambit - Parodied with a Shout-Out to Death Note... by a kitten.
  • Yakuza - The cheerful Lampshade Hanging the show offers of this, as well as the over-the-top sugar-coating they give the activities of said very nice people to make it viewable to its younger audience, arguably makes it funnier to anyone old enough to know what they're really referring to.
    • Do note, however, that calling them "very nice people" was a form of censor on the anime due to its time slot. The manga outright calls them Yakuza and makes all of their actions perfectly clear.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko - Isumi-chan, oh so very cute. Every home should have one. And probably will when she wanders in.
  • Yandere - Quite possibly Saki in the anime.
  • Yaoi Fangirl - Izumi Segawa. "Sorry to bother you. Please don't mind me and continue."
    • Also, Nagi, apparently. Although Nagi's fondness for yaoi does not extend to guys hitting on Hayate.
    • Nishizawa as well.
  • Yaoi Guys - Parodied with Hayate and Kotetsu. Kotetsu tries to be the Seme to Hayate, who under other circumstances would fit the Uke stereotype. However, Hayate has made it very clear that he does not swing that way and, thus, does not want any of that. Kotetsu cannot take a hint.
  • Year Inside, Hour Outside - The Royal Garden, apparently.
  • You Didn't Ask - After 88 chapters, Hayate reveals to the other girls that he's had a girlfriend in the past, and she's the reason that he's completely clueless about all the other girls all but throwing themselves at him, even the one who's actually confessed to him. Even later he reveals who this girl is, and everyone realizes that they know of her and one of them was actually seen as her best friend. The phrase is never actually spoken, but there are reaction shots with this being their expression.
    • Given the amount of mistaken dialogue present, this could clear up most of the confusion of the story. One of the characters seems to have gotten Genre Savvy about this.
    • Granted, sometimes it's refused, even when one of the girls is asked directly, she can't answer.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair
  • You Must Be Cold - In the first episode/chapter Hayate gives his jacket to Nagi when she's freezing.
    • Subverted in chapter 262: Athena tells Hayate she's cold, and he offers her his jacket, completely oblivious to her subtext - she wants him to give her a cuddle. He catches on eventually.
    • Although not quite implied that it's because she's cold, Hinagiku is seen wearing a male's (possibly Hayate's) jacket as she runs from the beach where she's just played beach volleyball, so she's in a bikini.
  • You Must Be This Tall to Ride - Hayate's absurdly rich mistress has an entire amusement park that was given to her as an elaborate Kick the Dog—all the rides require a height she is as yet unable to reach...and may never grow into.
  • Younger Than They Look - Believe it or not, the butlers Nonohara, Himuro & Kotetsu are all under 19 years old! This is pretty shocking since Kotetsu looks like he's in his 30s yet is actally a teenager and is also Izumi's older twin brother!
    • Maria is 17 years old, but many are often mistaken that she looks older due to her maturity. By the way, DO NOT IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES SAY SHE DOESN'T LOOK SEVENTEEN!. Just Don't! Say it again or you will suffer the consequences! You have been warned!
  • You Wanna Get Sued? - Virtually every episode contains lines with bleep-censorship to avoid trademark infringement.

Nagi: Hayate still has three transformations left!
Hayate: No, I'm not Fr** za.

    • In more extreme cases, characters will be actively shushed by other characters to achieve this. See the example on the trope page.
    • The official English manga translation 'whites-out' letters in words for the same reason - a visual bleep.
    • Also in the anime, some cases have the scene replaced by the large version of the usual visual censorship gag with writing "Showing this will be a copyright infringement" or something like that.
    • Although the manga, at least, is very inconsistent about whether or not a trademark reference gets censored: for example, Klaus' first response when Maria told him how Hayate rescued Nagi was, "What kind of Gundam is that?" and he then insisted it would somehow shame the Sanzenin to have a Gundam as a butler. But then there are several occasions of the term "Gun[blank]m."
  • Zettai Ryouiki - Nagi's qualifies as grade S. Try to find an episode or chapter where she DOESN'T wear it.
    • Sakuya's is pretty good too.
      • Well, her voice actor did voice Rin Tohsaka, THE epitome of Grade S Zettai Ryouiki, in Fate/stay night. As some people have said, the fact that Sakuya is voiced by Kana Ueda in the anime makes her ten times as hot as the manga version.
      • Do you mean this sexy little number?
    • Isumi's maid outfit.
    • Maria, too, on the rare occasions that she's not in her Meido uniform.
    • Chiharu's maid uniform. Inevitable when she was initially hired to work in a maid café.
    • No, not even Hayate is invulnerable when he crossdresses (as seen in an anime OP).
  1. ↑ Of course, given the fact that the mangaka is a Teasing Creator and certain spoiler material, who knows where this might go.
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