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[[File:TheSlayersCast_8747.jpg|frame]]
{{quote|''"Where monsters rampage, I'm there to take them down! Where treasure glitters, I'm there to claim it! Where an enemy rises to face me, victory will be mine!"''|Lina's opening-credits [[Badass Boast]] from the first anime season}}
A series of sword-and-sorcery light novels with equal parts comedy and drama that was adapted into an anime series. Has five TV seasons, six [[OVA|OVAs]], five movies, six video games and a whole lot of manga made. Became extremely popular in the West, in part because of its quirk of having a female as the lead in a [[Shounen]] series.
'''''Slayers''''' ([[Market-Based Title|marketed as]] ''The Slayers'' in the U.S.) started as a serialized novel in the Japanese "Dragon" Magazine (no relation to the American one of the same name). Originally it was supposed to follow the adventures of the Cephied Knight, a champion for good named Luna Inverse. However, when filling out her background the writer found her little sister Lina far more interesting.
Lina is a young and very powerful sorceress. She wanders the world looking for treasure to steal and magic to learn. Unfortunately (from her point of view), she tends to end up in situations where she's got to save the world instead of just make a fast buck. She will attempt to wring money out of most situations, such as once extorting gold from a town that was actively being ravaged by a dragon. She's also got an amazing temper, having destroyed both the dragon and the town she was protecting with one spell because the dragon embarrassed her by ''not'' stepping on her. She still expected to get paid, too. She has earned the titles "Bandit Slayer" (it's not stealing if they've already stolen it!), "[[Cultural Translation|Dragon Spooker]]", and "Enemy Of All That Live" in a few short years.
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The series alternates between serious fights and quests to save the world and silly slapstick humor. There is one [[Crossdresser|Cross Dressing]] episode per season, and they will sometimes take breaks in the middle of serious story arcs or fights for [[Breather Episode|semi-plot-related silliness]]. It manages to find a nice balance, and is one of the must-see series for [[Medieval European Fantasy]].
This show has the first two seasons up legally on [
Not to be confused with the band [[Slayer]] or [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]].
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* [[The Abridged Series]]: projectshadow99's [[The Slayers Abridged]].
* [[Absolute Cleavage]]: Naga, Martina, Eris, Mazenda - in each case leading to [[A-Cup Angst]] for Lina.
* [[Abuse Is Okay When Its Female On Male]]: This is exactly how Lina and Gourry's relationship works a lot of the time.▼
* [[Achievements in Ignorance]]: In the finale of Next, {{spoiler|when The Lord of Nightmares is floating away in Lina's body, Gourry goes after her in an attempt to get Lina back. Exactly what Gourry intended to do when he caught up with her is a mystery, as he can't exactly stab the creator of all things out of Lina. Fortunately, the Lord of Nightmares decides to give Lina back after witnessing this.}}
* [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]]: The Blast Sword, from the second arc of the novels, is so sharp that it can actually cut through astral beings like Mazoku, who can't ordinarily be harmed by physical attacks.
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* [[Avenging the Villain]]: Eris, Valgaav, {{spoiler|Jillas}}.
* [[Ax Crazy]]: Many characters have occasions of this, but Lina tops them all by a long shot.
== B ==
* [[Badass Adorable]]: Amelia and Pokota.
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* [[Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu]]: Literally, with {{spoiler|Amelia}} in ''Evolution-R'' breaking her arm trying to ''hold back one of the [[Big Bad]]'s attacks [[Badass|with her bare fists.]]''
* [[But Your Wings Are Beautiful]]: Not even stone-studded green-blue skin can deter Amelia's (nor the fangirls') interest in Zelgadis.
== C ==
* [[Calling Your Attacks]]: Every magic spell. Justified in [[All There in the Manual|non-anime material]] -- mastery of magic in the ''Slayers'' setting is accomplished by skill with "Chaos Words", the incantations. The more powerful a sorcerer is, the less words they need; simply invoking the name is all the good wizards actually need to cast a spell. And if they use more Chaos Words than they actually need, the power of the spell is amplified further. This also means that only the very best wizards in the world can actually cast a spell without even speaking its name.
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* [[Catch Phrase]]: Xellos's "Sore wa himitsu desu" or "That... is a secret".
* [[Cerebus Syndrome]]: By roughly the eighteenth episode of ''all'' of the anime seasons, the battles suddenly get more violent, with the plot reaching its height and bloodier battles creating a rather scary twist. The most jarring example may be by the 20th episode and beyond of ''NEXT,'' when, after nearly three episodes of hilarious slapstick, {{spoiler|a mazoku nearly kills Amelia, Zelgadis is severely wounded (for the first time) protecting Amelia from the Mazoku Lord Gaav, and Gourry is kidnapped and [[Brainwashed and Crazy|brainwashed]] to kill Lina and the others}}.
* [[Chaos Entity]]: The Lord of Nightmares, creator of the four worlds. She is also the Sea of Chaos that makes up the universe, meaning she's omnipotent. There are even spells that use her power but are so powerful that a misfire can destroy the world.
* [[Chef of Iron]]: There's such thing as ''Dragon Cuisine''.
* [[The Chessmaster]]: {{spoiler|Hureika}} from ''Knight of the Aqua Lord'' fancies herself one of these, even treating the entire thing as her "game."
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** Lina has red eyes and red hair.
* [[Cute Little Fang]]: Lina sometimes has one. It was pretty much permanent by ''Revolution''.
== D ==
* [[Daddy's Girl]]: Amelia practically defines this trope.
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* [[Disc One Final Boss]]: Rezo and Shabranigdo, Gaav.
** {{spoiler|Also, if you count ''Revolution'' and ''Evolution-R'' as the same season due to each only having 13 episodes, Zanaffar.}}
* [[Disposable Bandits]]: A running gag in ''Slayers'' is Lina easily disposing of such, but being a [[Destructive Savior]] to the point many actually fear her ''more'' than the bandits.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: Lina is a ''queen'' of this trope. Her most famous example may be in the first episode, where she blows up a town she was trying to save while attempting to kill a dragon... because it had deliberately stepped over her rather then crushing her.
** Over sausages, of all things.
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** Amelia in earlier seasons of the anime.
* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: Rather obscure, but in episode 4 of the first season, Zelgadis attacks and knocks out Lina with a Mono Bolt spell by forcefully grabbing her shoulder and shocking her while she's on the ground. If you have a perverse mind and observe the frames during the sequence, note that Zel is smiling rather sinisterly as Lina is shouting in pain...[[Rape as Drama|hmmm...]]
▲* [[
* [[Dope Slap]]: It's pretty common in this series.
** Lina gives Gourry these on a normal basis.
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** Only NEXT shows Zelgadis and Xellos doing it, but poor Gourry is always involved when it happens. Xelloss has the time of his life.
* [[Dumbass No More]]: In ''Evolution-R'', Gourry is still an idiot, but he's much more alert, intuitive, and all around competent than he is in previous seasons when it comes to non-combat situations. He even manages to correctly assert most situations, much to Lina's surprise and praise.
== E ==
* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: Darkstar has the look and feel of one, as does Shabranigdo in the flashback story in the first season where Lina explains his origins, but the best example is the Lord of Nightmares, who is extremely alien, even by mazoku standards.
* [[Emotion Eater]]: All Mazoku are said to be this, feeding off the negative emotions of other beings.
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** Rezo, the blind priest, who ''can't'' open his eyes {{spoiler|due to the shard of the greatest evil in the world sealed in them}}.
* [[Eyecatch]]: The second and third seasons feature these with the characters in pairs, and there are also a few special ones for the final episodes. The fourth and fifth seasons had a different eye catch for each episode, and it often correlated with whatever was happening in the episode. Strangely, the first season had no eyecatches at all.
== F ==
* [[Face Fault]]
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** Although he was a bad guy in the first season, Zangulus would technically count in NEXT.
* [[The Gunslinger]]: Parodied with Jillas.
== H
* [[Hair-Trigger Temper]]: As stated above, Lina has so many [[Berserk Button|Berserk Buttons]], it's hard to keep track of them all. Pokota practically presses all of them by the time EVOLUTION-R is over with.
* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]: Various humanoid animals, officially lumped together under the name "Beastmen" (or "Manbeasts", if one wants to insult them), are common enemies. The main villain of TRY is a hybrid of Ancient Dragon and Mazoku. Zelgadis is a human being who has been mystically merged with a brow demon and a rock golem.
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* [[Human Doorstop]]: Zelgadis and Gourry get used as an anchor and dragon-bait at the end of a giant fishhook respectively in the course of the same ''Next'' episode.
* [[Humanity Is Infectious]]: Though not too much, being "tainted" with humanity can cause distinctly unnatural behavior in Mazoku. The most famous example of this, in-series, is Chaos Dragon Gaav.
== I ==
* [[I Call It Vera]]: Filia's mace is named "Mace-sama".
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* [[Not So Harmless]]: Jillas from above. Despite being comic relief for the first quarter of Try, he manages to separated the gang from Filia and Xellos, get the others into a situation where they could't use magic, all through tactical and psychological manipulation. And he later outdoes himself by creating an explosive rocket, that is as powerful as a dragon slave.
== O
* [[OAV]]: Six of these were produced, each of them set before the events of the TV series and covering the adventures of Lina Inverse and a solitary companion, a [[Gag Boobs|ridiculously buxom]] and extremely flaky sorceress called "Naga the Serpent", who served more or less as a one-woman [[Goldfish Poop Gang]] and [[Unknown Rival]] to Lina.
* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Inspector Wizer Freyon. He shows up and immediately tries to arrest Lina for the hideous crime of ''being herself''. Also has a bad habit of interpreting/ignoring everything to suit his theories and conveniently passing out just as a critical piece of evidence presents itself. {{spoiler|It's all just an act so he can conduct a real investigation under the guise of trying to bring in Lina, have her storm the bad guy's fortress and take him out by herself. Since the villain was being backed up by royalty, not to mention having hordes of monsters at his command, he couldn't act openly.}}
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** {{spoiler|Christopher}} to {{spoiler|Alfred}} in the original novels; {{spoiler|Christopher}} is forced to stab him for treason, whereas in the anime, {{spoiler|Alfred}} is killed off by {{spoiler|Mazenda}}.
** On a technical level (and accidentally), Amelia to her uncle Randionel in the anime. This is averted in the novels, since Randy appears [[Death by Adaptation|(and dies)]] in the first ''Slayers Special'' novel (i.e the prequel series).
** Averted in the original light novel version of this storyline, where {{spoiler|Abel actually ''succeeds'' in [[Dying as Yourself|reaching his father's humanity long enough for Lina to finish him off]], and [[
* [[Off
* [[Older Is Better]]: Played with, when an ancient golem activates, takes a few steps forward, fires a superweapon into the distance that seems to dwarf the Dragon Slave, aims said weapon at Lina ... and falls apart.
* [[Once Killed a Man with A Noodle Implement]]: Lina's sister Luna Inverse is often said to have slain a dragon with a butter knife.
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* [[Our Werewolves Are Different]]: In the OAV "Explosion Array", werewolves can take on the forms of either humans or humanoid wolves, whenever they want. In the first season, Dilgear is a werewolf/troll hybrid; he never changes out of his (green furred) wolfman form and he can regenerate his wounds to a certain degree. In fact, canonically, his last words aren't an idle boast; he really does come back to life in the non-anime continuities and becomes "Spot", Luna Inverse's pet -- the only hint of this in the anime is an eyecatch showing her walking him in ''Try''.
* [[Overshadowed by Awesome]]: Gourry, between {{spoiler|giving up the Sword of Light}} and {{spoiler|getting the Blast Sword}}.
== P ==
* [[Papa Wolf]]: Prince Phil would do anything to protect his daughter Amelia, even if it means charging headfirst into obvious danger.
* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: Kanzel and Mazenda in NEXT. Literally the first time they appear, they don't even try to hide the fact that they're evil.
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** Sylphiel is put on a bus after ''Slayers NEXT'' and is only mentioned once in ''Slayers TRY''; Filia replaces her for that season. Sylphiel does return at the end of ''Revolution,'' though. Zangulus and Martina are also sent off when ''NEXT'' ends.
** Finally, Filia herself is bussed once ''TRY'' is over, and any other characters exclusive to that season (Jillas, Valgaav, the "Overworld" inhabitants) go with her. None of them are ''ever'' mentioned again -- unless one counts the reference to "Jillas cannons" in ''Revolution''.
== R ==
* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]: "Ruby Eye" Shabranigdu.
** Lina herself, what with being Enemy Of All That Live, and all.
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* [[Robot Maid]]: {{spoiler|Ozzel}} counts for this, although she is actually a doll.
* [[Roof Hopping]]
== S ==
* [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here]]: In ''Slayers Gorgeous'' the dragon army flees from Lina after being ordered to attack.
** Zelgadis also tries to do this a couple of times, but never succeeds.
** Zangulus feigns one of these at the end of NEXT to try and land a hit on Hellmaster. {{spoiler|It doesn't work.}}
* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: Prince Phil, Amelia, Pokota, and {{spoiler|Naga}}.
* [[
* [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]: Shabranigdu, who is defeated by a power his sealer didn't have access to, and Zanaffar, who was just resealed.
** To be fair, Lina and company never actually fight Shabranigdu at his full strength, just the fragments sealed in humans.
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* [[Sword and Sorcerer]]
* [[Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist]]: Wizer Freyon pursues Lina throughout the better part of Revolution for all of the destructive acts she's committed in the past. At some point in the series, he obviously realizes she's innocent and just keeps playing up the chase as [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] to use Lina to catch the real criminals, but it's not clear exactly when that point is.
== T ==
* [[Take Our Word for It]]: Considering all the things Lina has faced, her sister Luna would have to be pretty tough to intimidate her. It helps that Luna is [[The Chosen One]].
* [[Talking Animal]]: There's a ton of these throughout the show, although most are just one-liners.
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* [[Theme Naming]]/[[Punny Name]]: Rowdy Gabriev, Gourry Gabriev.
* [[They Fight Crime]]: Parodied. If you have a bandit problem, [[It Got Worse|Lina will solve it]]. Eventually bandits become endangered, so Lina switches to pirates.
* [[Twelve-Episode Anime|Thirteen Episode Anime]]: ''Slayers'''s fourth season ended up getting split into two seasons with thirteen episode, instead of one whole 26-episode season. Well, Revolution has a tendancy to leaving a ton of plot threads just for Evolution-R. But Season Five got a new OP and ED.
* [[Those Two Bad Guys]]: Gravos and Jillas.
* [[Through His Stomach]]: Sylphiel is quite happy to hear "Gourry dear" really likes her cooking. Though, being [[Idiot Hero|Gourry]], he fails to notice her demure but [[Everyone Can See It|obvious]] advances.
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* [[Trickster]]: Who else but Xellos?
* [[Tsundere]]: Lina is a tsun-tsun subtype, but she definitely has a few dere-dere moments. The reverse is Filia, ignorance-based holier-than-thou attitude aside, with her [[Berserk Button]] (which Xellos has a talent for finding and pushing).
== U ==
* [[Unbuilt Trope]]: Both older and current critics of the show argue that Amelia is a [[Trope Codifier]] of the [[Moe]] character archaetype, alongside Rei Ayanami of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''; Amelia has the [[Genki Girl|energetic]] and innocent aspects of the character, complete with a short yet bodacious body, whereas Rei has the [[Extreme Doormat|more demure and shy]] aspects (ironically, Rei was meant to be a [[Creepy Child]]). Now, though, with the craze in full swing, Amelia is arguably a subversion; she's no powerhouse, but she's far from useless (a trait that built overtime), has a go-getter attitude (most moe characters are unable to speak out for themselves), and has [[Stepford Smiler|deep and harrowing issues]] that arguably created her energetic and positive ideals in the first place.
* [[Uncancelled]]: The third season of the TV series (''Try'') aired in 1997, the fourth (''Revolution'') in 2008. A fourth season ''was'' originally going to air right after ''TRY'' (''AGAIN'') in 1998, but production issues and various commitments the cast had made it dissipate.
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* [[Unholy Nuke]]: Lina's Dragon Slave spell (when it is not [[Played for Laughs]]). Just listen to the incantation.
* [[Unknown Rival]]: Naga thinks Lina is her rival. Lina tries her best to forget Naga exists.
== V ==
* [[Vanilla Edition]]: [[FUNimation]]'s digitially-remastered re-release of the series lacks all of the outtakes, commentary, and other extras that [[Central Park Media]]'s DVDs had. Stranger still, when the first three seasons were released in one box set, the washed-out video quality from CPM's release was used instead of the restored version.
* [[Villain Teleportation]]
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* [[Vocal Evolution]]: Lina's voice is noticeably deeper now than it was when the anime began.
** Zelgadis also has gone quite a bit lower, while Gourry and Amelia's voices may have actually become a bit higher.
== W ==
* [[The Wall Around the World]]: The magical barrier in seasons one and two.
* [[Walking the Earth]]
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* [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]: Amelia, the self-proclaimed hero of justice in a show full of otherwise morally ambiguous characters. She's usually convinced her group are the good guys, even when they're clearly only in it to turn a profit, and often marks others as villains simply because they oppose her.
** In one episode, she can't decide which side are the heroes: either Lina, or a pair of bounty hunters out to arrest her. Confused about who to help, she sits on the sidelines of the battle agonizing over it until she has an epiphany: "Of course! Justice always triumphs! ''So whoever loses will be the bad guy!''" She then attacks BOTH groups at once, figuring whoever crawls out of the rubble was the hero.
== X ==
* [[Xanatos Gambit]]: Hellmaster traps Lina with one during ''NEXT''. He wants to force her to use Giga Slave because it can destroy the world, which he thinks is the purpose of the Mazoku race. To do this he sets her against Chaos Dragon Gaav, who has rebelled against the Mazoku race. If Lina uses the Giga Slave, he wins. If she uses some other spell, such as the Ragna Blade, he can goad her himself. If Gaav survives the attack, then he finishes off Gaav. Since he's the Hellmaster, he can control her death to prevent her from dying until then. All outcomes work for him. {{spoiler|Lina does eventually cast the Giga Slave and summons [[Eldritch Abomination|Lord of Nightmares]], but the latter "politely refuses" to cooperate with Hellmaster's plan.}}
== Y ==
* [[You and What Army?]]: In the first episode of ''Revolution'', Wizer brings a small army along to help him arrest Lina. {{spoiler|It's not enough.}}
* [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|You Gotta Have Purple Hair]]: Xellos, Phibrizo, Amelia, Naga, Rezo, and Sylphiel all have dark purple hair, and Zelgadis' hair is a light lavender color. Pokota has pinkish-purple hair. Many minor characters also have purple hair.
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