Kyo Kara Maoh!

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
(Redirected from Kyou Kara Maou)

Shibuya Yuuri was an Ordinary High School Student with no truly outstanding features aside from his love for baseball. At least, he was, until he tried to break up the bullying of another student and was dunked in a toilet, which sucked him into another reality -- one in which his black hair and eyes marked him as the successor to the title of Maoh, or Demon Lord. Unfortunately for Yuuri, he has no knowledge of this kingdom, its customs, or how to go about ruling it... should he even survive to his coronation. Fortunately, he promptly meets a large number of hot guys willing to help him out.

Despite its sometimes serious veneer, Kyo Kara Maoh is first and foremost a comedy, though it grows into an adventure as the story progresses. Even the Yaoi Guys scenario of Yuuri ending up engaged to Wolfram is played for laughs -- please don't slap someone unless you mean it. Along with Wolfram's brothers (Gwendal and Conrad), their mother Cheri, and a few other noteworthy mazoku (lit.: demon tribe), Yuuri might just live long enough to be acknowledged as Maoh and bring peace to the world which is currently split along human/mazoku lines... But is fomenting peace really what a Demon Lord should be doing?

Kyo Kara Maoh started off as a series of light novels (ongoing), and was made into a manga series (also ongoing), a TV anime series, an OVA and a PlayStation 2 game. The details in each version are slightly different.

Remember to put character tropes on the character page.

Tropes used in Kyo Kara Maoh! include:
  • Aesoptonium: The Miasma in season 2 that causes everyone who is affected to stop trusting each other.
  • Accidental Marriage
  • A Child Shall Lead Them: Yuuri is only 15 at the beginning of the series yet is crowned the Ruler of a country.
    • The third season reveals that King Saralegui was also crowned at age 15.
  • Action Mom: "I am Jennifer of Yokohama!"
  • Amplifier Artifact: Morgif. Also Murata at times, if you consider him an artifact (he's pretty damn old).
  • An Arm and a Leg
  • Arranged Marriage: Julia to Adelbert, although it's completely consensual and the two seem to genuinely love each other.
  • The Atoner: Geigan Huber wasn't necessarily a bad guy, but definitely has shades of this.
  • Badass Normal: Conrad who, due to his human heritage, has no magical ability to speak of is widely known to be the greatest swordsman in the kingdom.
    • And his best friend, Yozak. Half-human spy and master of disguise.
    • And Miko (Jennifer), when she gets riled.
  • Barrier Maiden: Ulrike and Ondine
  • Beauty Contest: To Cheri's delight!
  • Bedmate Reveal: Wolfram has a bad habit of sneaking into Yuuri's bed despite his protests.
  • Beginner's Luck: Yuuri manages to kick ass and defeat his opponents without even knowing how, despite them having years of experience and training.
  • Berserk Button: God forbid you hurt some innocent people, lest you be served a delicious plate of hot JUSTICE by the Maoh.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Yuuri's brother Shori is obsessively protective of his "Yuu-chan".
    • To a lesser extent, Gwendal and Conrad are always looking out for Wolfram.
  • Bishie Sparkle: Wolfram (in one memorable episode) and Gunter.
  • Bishonen: Saralegui. To the point where Yuuri seems to crush on him.
  • Black Knight: Gegenhuber von Briscella.
  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Yuuri, the brunette, and his "family" in the other world (Wolfram, the blonde, and Greta, the redhead).
    • Also, the three maids.
  • Blond Guys Are Evil: Saralegui. Wolfram is an aversion, but that doesn't mean he's nice.
  • Blood-Splattered Innocents: Yuuri when Saralegui gets shot with an arrow.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Wolfram seems to get possessed an awful lot later on.
  • Call Back: The anime frequently calls back to scenes in the past, usually times when Conrad saved Yuuri's life. This happens so often in the latter part of season 1 that the same scene is called back to at least once an episode. Season 2 and 3 are also peppered with call backs.
  • Cast Full of Pretty Boys
  • Catch Phrase: "Normally, it's not my nature to threaten or kill, but I won't have any pity this time. I'll send you down a path of evil to make your own hell. Justice be done!" - the Maoh
  • Censor Steam: In the OVA #1, Yosak, Yuuri, and Saralegui are enveloped in just enough steam to hide the naughty bits...
  • A Chat with Satan: Yuuri and Shinou.
    • Although technically that blends this trope with Pals with Jesus, especially once Season Three begins and keeps the pocket model.
  • A Handful for an Eye: Josak does this a lot.
  • Chained Heat: Yuuri and Gwendal are forced to spend an episode in the first season handcuffed together. They're mistaken for an eloping couple, and asked to say a few words of encouragement at a wedding. The garbled speech Yuuri makes has a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming comeback in the third season when he is performing a real marriage ceremony for the bride of the previous forced wedding and her real chosen groom.
  • Character Tics: Due to his years of knitting as a form of stress relief, Gwendel now makes knitting motions whenever he’s upset, even if there are no knitting needles in sight. They introduce this slightly before the actual knitting, so he does some really weird twitching there.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: In the first episode, a purple-haired girl gives Yuuri some water to drink. She also has a cameo in the opening credits. We find out much later that she's actually a priestess and the one responsible for activating Yuuri's powers.
  • Chekhov's Skill: Yuuri's ability to play baseball, along with Conrad's ability to throw.
  • The Chessmaster: Shinou's plan to destroy Soushu involved controlling every major action of the entire Mazoku race for four thousand years. Does this count as an Ancient Conspiracy?
  • Chilly Reception: Gwendal all but ignores Yuri upon his arrival at the castle and Wolfram is outright hostile. Despite the fact that everyone else seems pretty happy about Yuri's coronation, these are two of the people who will play a major role in his Demon Kingdom life, so he still has to win them over.
  • Color Coded for Your Convenience: This series is really fond of this trope. The most obvious example are the main characters' uniforms: Yuuri is black, Conrad is brown, Wolfram is blue, Gwendal is green and Gunter is purple.
  • Close-Call Haircut
  • Clothing Damage: Conrad and Wolfram humiliate a group of thieves by shredding their clothes.
  • Crossdresser: Yozak regularly. Wolfram at least twice (not counting his sleepwear), and Yuuri at least three times. There's a Ms. Shinmakoku crossdressing beauty pageant in the video game, in which every one of the main charaters is forced to participate.
    • The Crossdressing Pageant is crossed-over into the series via OVA. Wolfram's skirt is very short.
  • Cultural Cross-Reference
  • Cuteness Proximity: Shori towards El.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: It applies to most of the Demon Kingdom. There are good people and bad people, but most of the "dark" characters are good and want to do the right thing.
  • David Versus Goliath Yuuri vs Shinou/Soushu
  • Dem Bones: Basic Mazoku minion is a winged skeleton.
  • Diagonal Cut
  • Disappeared Dad: All three of Cheri's sons have different fathers, and none of them are in the picture. Conrad's father in particular is explicitly mentioned to be dead.
  • Disney Death: Wolfram, at the end of season 2. Faked by Josak in the beginning when Conrad stabs him and pushes him off a cliff..
  • Dramatic Wind
  • Drill Sergeant Nasty: While Gisela (whose nickname is "Sergeant") who is normally very nice, but can easily get angry.
  • Elemental Powers: Among the main cast: Yuuri is water, Wolfram is fire, Gwendal is earth and Gunter is air. Other characters are seen using the same powers.
  • Emotional Maturity Is Physical Maturity
  • Everybody Is Single: Except for the minor-character married couple with a kid. And technically Wolfram and Yuuri, but...
  • Every Car Is a Pinto: Conrad stabs the remote-control device that was driving a truck. Without any controls, it veered of the cliff and exploded.
  • Eyes of Gold: Saralegui.
  • Evil Laugh: Stuffel's is an evil laugh when he is forming his eeevil plots...
  • The Exile: Gegenhuber.
  • Eye Beams: Courtesy of King Bob.
  • Eyedscreen
  • Eyepatch of Power: Gegenhuber wears one of these.
  • Face Palm: When Yuuri's klutziness and social faux pas become too much even for Conrad...
  • Faceless Goons
  • Facial Markings: Genesus and Alazon.
  • Fan Service: Yuuri's special royal underwear. Plus much of the rest of the show.
  • Fantastic Racism: A core element of the story is the hatred between Mazoku and humans and Yuuri's attempts as Maoh to overcome it.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture
  • Fish Out of Water
  • Five-Man Band: Yuuri, Conrad, Wolfram, Gwendal and Gunter (although what roles the latter 3 fill is up for debate.)
    • Gunter makes a really ditzy Smart Guy, and Gwendal makes an uncommonly brilliant Big Guy. So Wolfram is apparently The Chick.
    • Can also be seen as Three Plus Two, with Yuri, Conrad and Wolfram sometimes breaking off (usually on the smaller adventures) and making a Power Trio while Gwendal and Gunter stay at the castle.
  • Floating Advice Reminder: Miko Shibuya often gives Yuuri silly advice using this trope.
  • Flower Motifs
  • Fluffy Tamer: Ryan
  • The Fool: Yuuri.
  • Foreshadowing: Jose and Conrart's scripture recitals about the sun and the moon while admiring Julia and Christine's souls.
    • Not to mention that they pretty much end up shoving it down your throat that Wolfram is a key, even though they tried to make it subtle.
  • Fourth Date Marriage: Subverted. Shouma proposed to Jennifer after five dates, but they only tied the knot half a year later, which means they had at least six months of experience under their belts already. Still on the shorter end of the courtship spectrum, but not nearly as unreasonable as this trope's usual fare. And they've been Happily Married ever since, with two sons to show for it.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: Annisina.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: Saralegui, when giving someone a 'hint'.
  • Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: "Evil" characters have tiny pupils. "Good" characters have large pupils.
  • Gotta Catch Them All: The Forbidden Boxes
  • Grand Theft Me Shinou attempting to hijack Yuri's body.
  • Groin Attack: Yuuri, by his mother.
  • Hair Colors
  • Half-Human Hybrid: Mazoku/human halfbreeds are hated by humans and looked down upon by Mazoku. Entire villages exist with the sole purpose of keeping the halfbreeds away from everyone else.
  • Handicapped Badass: Gegenhuber.
  • Hate Plague: One episode featured a cursed miasma that makes a person unable to trust anyone.
  • Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Yuuri would have you know he likes girls, thank you very much.
  • Heart Trauma: Wolfram, in a way. While it doesn't affect his personality, the fact that he is forced into a reversible death counts as a drastic change.
  • Heir Club for Men: Shimaron's law stats that women can't inherit property. This plays a big role in the plotline involving Caloria.
  • Heroic Sacrifice
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: Conrad and Josak, though the "heterosexual" part is open to interpretation.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: Why hello, Yuuri, aren't you also Cloud, Fakir, Suzaku, and Kanda? Hello, Conrad, aren't you Sephiroth, Griffith, Naraku, and Jounouchi? And is that Kakashi, Yuki, and Hatori I hear, Gunter? Hey, I hear Takahiro Sakurai, Toshiyuki Morikawa, and Kazuhiko Inoue. What the heck? Gwendal (Akio Ohtsuka) is SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!
  • Hidden Eyes: Yuuri does this when he's about to go into Maoh-mode.
  • Hot Shounen Mom: Cecilie (AKA Cheri) is a clear example of this trope. She is absurdly hot and dresses accordingly, plus she is quite flirty and often hits on Yuuri much to Wolfram's annoyance.
    • Also, Miko (AKA Jennifer), while nowhere near as obviously hot as Cheri, is still very pretty.
  • Hot Springs Episode: In the OVA.
  • A House Divided: Episode 65.
  • Hypnotic Eyes: Saralegui has these.
  • I Am Who?: You are the Maoh!
  • I Kiss Your Hand: Conrad employs this when he first meets Julia. Smooth!
  • Iconic Item: Julia's pendant.
  • If I Can't Have You: Wolfram, season one, episode fifty-two.

"Maybe I should just kill you now; then you'd be mine forever."

Cheri: "I came all the way here just to show him some leg."

  • Named After Somebody Famous: Gwendal and Anissina, named after figure skating pair Gwendal Peizerat and Marina Anissina. Also the ten nobles, whose family names were all taken from famous figures in literature/drama.
  • Nerd Glasses: Murata and Shouri.
  • Neuro Vault: Or rather, Body Vault.
  • Never Found the Body: All they found was the arm and then they kept it, for a disturbingly long time (it wasn't decaying).
  • Noblewoman's Laugh
  • No Romantic Resolution
  • Not What It Looks Like: Yuuri and Wolfram quite a bit in-story. Conrad and Yozak get a few accidently compromising panels, too.
  • Off-Model
  • Official Couple: The entire country believes Yuuri and Wolfram are dating, no matter how much Yuuri dislikes this.
  • The Ojou: Cheri, Annisina, possibly Gisela.
  • Older Than They Look: Just about the all Mazoku/Demon Tribe could actually fall under this as they are found to age differently than humans. Wolfram is found to be 82 years old even though he looks about Yuri's age.
    • Especially Cheri, who looks younger than her oldest son.
  • One True Sequence: Barely averted, as the box on Earth can't be found by Big Shimaron, and therefore results in one box not fought over.
  • Open-Minded Parent: Yuuri's parents already knew about his destiny as Maoh long before he was born, much to his surprise (and annoyance), and they happily embrace his accidental fiancé as part of the family, even though they're both male. His mom even plans to take Wolfram shopping for wedding dresses, to Yuuri's dismay.
  • Or Was It a Dream?
  • Oracular Urchin: Ulrike
  • Orgasmic Combat: Elizabeth makes quite a lot of noise while she fights Wolfram. Close your eyes and listen to the fight scene; it's very entertaining.
  • Our Demons Are Different: And how. The demons in the other world are quite possibly some of the least demonic looking ones ever made.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Apparently no one knows who Yuuri is if they can't see his black hair and black eyes, even though everything else looks the same. Justified in that anyone who knows him recognizes him, and all anyone who doesn't know him knows is that he has black hair and black eyes.
  • Parent Ex Machina: Played with pretty much literally in a later episode where Shori loses control of his new powers and gets into a magic fight with Yuuri. Ulrike calls the spirit of their mother from Earth to stop them.
  • Pet the Dog: Gwendal has a huge weakness for all things cute, and he spends his spare time knitting dolls.
    • Used in-series to make him less intimidating to Yuuri.

"If it's about Gwen, there's no way Gwen hates you, Yuuri. Because he loves small, cute things."