The Legend of the Legendary Heroes

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What would it be like, not being able to choose your own life? What if your family died? How about the person you love? No one ever wants that, and yet the world hands out that sorrow for no reason, laughing all the way.

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (The Legend of the Legendary Heroes) is a 2010 anime series based on a popular series of Light Novels (which also has a Manga adaptation). It tells the story of Ryner Lute, a young mage who bears an Alpha Stigma, which grants him incredible magic power at the cost of making him go a tiny bit insane sometimes. After surviving a brutal battle, he is tasked by his friend Sion Astal (who also happens to be the king of Roland, the country they live in) with obtaining relics of the so-called legendary heroes who saved the kingdom from monsters in the distant past.

Despite its relatively light-hearted premise, this show is extremely fond of Mood Whiplashes. Prepare yourself for Berserk undertones.

Has a (developing) character sheet.

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Tropes used in this series include:

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Ferris's sword.
• Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female On Male: Ferris to Ryner. Every single episode.
• Abusive Parents: Ferris was abused and almost raped by her parents.
• Action Girl: Ferris.
• A Fate Worse Than Death: The Solver of All Equations is doomed to suffer hellish pain for all eternity when he's devoured by the hero. This is why Sion tried to kill Ryner, even though he couldn't bring himself to do it.
• Aloof Big Brother: Lucille.
• After the End: Many, many times.
• All Myths Are True
• Anti-Magic: Elemio's Comb had one moment of glory before it disintegrated into dust.
• Asshole Victim: Lots of them, and you will cheer when they are killed.
• Attempted Rape: Practically the whole female cast have experienced this one time or another.
• Badass Family: The Erises and the Orla Siblings.
• Badass Normal: Ferris. In a world where people either spam Rule Fragment in sword fights or have hit the Superpower Lottery HARD, she can still hold her own pretty well with most of them.
• Bare Your Midriff: Ferris when she's not wearing armor.
• Bedmate Reveal: Ferris and Ryner in episode 22 and considering what she thinks of him it's even funnier.
• Berserk Button: The trigger for the intial Alpha Stigma activation.
• Big Brother Instinct: Lucille
• Bishounen: Sion fits this trope quite well. Has fangirls in and even outside his empire. Might become a White-Haired Pretty Boy in a way....
  • Miran Froaude.
  • Calne Kaiwal. He is voiced by a woman in the Japanese version and apparently is quite popular amongst girls.
  • Sui, the pink-haired young man, one of three siblings of the Gastark Empire.
• BFS: Ferris's sword and the Sacred Sword Glovil.
• Blackmail: Sion does this to force Ryner into joining his team in the academy. Also the method he makes Ryner and Ferris go in journey, though the actual threat is formulated by Ferris's big brother Lucille.
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Ryner is tsukkomi to almost everyone in the show, but Ferris is the boke most of the times -- a rather violent one who doesn't think she's the boke. This is especially obvious in a short story where Ferris writes a book and attempts to strangle Ryner whenever he points out how ridiculous her story is.
• Break the Cutie: Practically the entire main cast.
• Brilliant but Lazy: Ryner. So much that he created what could only be called a flawless, impregnable magic barrier to prevent sleep disturbance.
• Brother-Sister Incest: One-sided.
• Bullying a Dragon: Alpha Stigma bearers have special eyes that let them copy any magic they see, and have a tendency to loose control of their emotions and destroy entire towns. Yet rather than leaving them alone (or just killing them with weapons), tormenting and ostracizing them seems to be the preferred reaction.
• Butt Monkey: Ryner. Constantly prone to being abused by Ferris. Or Iris, who believes in Ferris's words that he is a wild beast. And Sion, who can be quite manipulative.
• Casanova/Memetic Molester: Ferris constantly accuses Ryner being one of these.
• Casting Gag: Ryner shares his seiyuu with a few characters with magic eyes.
  • The dub took a more specific direction -- given that the eyes are pentagrams, the director of Black Butler is an interesting choice.
  • Ferris having a love of (munching on) multicolored dango will possibly bring amusement to Clannad fans.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Ferris.
• Cheerful Child: Iris. Doesn't prevent her from being a Torture Technician, though.
• Childhood Marriage Promise: Milk claims Ryner promised to marry her when they were kids. He doesn't remember her.
• Chick Magnet: Ryner has Ferris, Kiefer, and Milk
• Cloudcuckoolander: Ferris has some really interesting stories about Ryner.
• Crap Saccharine World: Iris's drawings.
• Crapsack World: And it keeps getting worse.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Ryner.
• Cursed With Awesome: Anyone with a pair of magic eyes are gifted with abilities beyond normal humans, but they're also subject to heavy discrimination and persecution.
• Curtains Match the Window: Just about every single character, with some exceptions, namely Sion, the Eris family, the people from Gastark, and that one blond guy from the Taboo breaker squad.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Played straight by a huge portion of the cast. Ryner ranks pretty high amongst them.
• Deadpan Snarker: Ferris.
  • Ryner. Put him next to Zohra Rom and watch the fireworks go.
• Department of Redundancy Department: The title of the series.
• Designated Hero: Sion was hailed as Roland's hero for single-handedly decimating a troop of 50 Magic Knights, but the actual deed was done by Ryner, who ended up in prison.
• Despair Event Horizon: Ryner finds it interesting that he just can't seem to cross this, no matter how much crap happens.
• Doting Parent: Guard from episode 4.
• Eldritch Abomination: The Goddesses. Beings whose sole purpose is to consume the entire world. The Lonely Demon as well, perhaps even moreso, considering that the ones who created the world are baffled by and utterly terrified of him, even though he's mostly benign.
• Enfant Terrible: Miran Froaude.
• Energy Absorption: Tiir's eyes can absorb 'spirits'(the fundamental component of magic), and magic is all but useless on him. Consequently, he cannot use magic himself.
• Equivalent Exchange
• Everybody's Dead, Dave: All of the students except Ryner, Sion, and Kiefer are killed by the Magic Knights in episode 3.
• Evil Aristocracy: The series is full of them.
• Evil Eye: The Alpha Stigma.
• Expy: Miran looks like genderswapped version of Shizuku Sango
• Eyes Always Shut: Lucille. He opens them for a moment in episode 12 to show that he is seriously dangerous. Luke as well.
• Eyes of Gold: Sion, though he does not really show the characteristics.
  • Definitely Sion -- not only is he the current incarnation of the Mad Hero, but it's remarked in the novels that his gold eyes were inherited from his royal lineage. Which coincidentally is descended from the Mad Hero, and thus very decidedly not entirely normal humans.
• Eye Scream: Anyone with a pair of Magic Eyes will be threatened with this. Sometimes it goes through.
  • Riphal as well, when he sacrifices his eye in a Magic Contract.
• Eyes Are Unbreakable: On the other hand, this applies to Ryner's Alpha Stigma, as he found out the hard way when he tried to gouge out his own eyes with a knife.
• Fan Girl: Sion has a lot, ranging from young girls to older women. In his empire and outside. And in a way, Iris is one to her big sister Ferris. Milk might count as one to Ryner.
• Fan Service: The Estabul Magic Knights tear open Kiefer's shirt to provoke a reaction from Ryner. Also, Ferris when she is out of her armor.
• Fantastic Racism: The bearers of magic eyes are on the receiving end. This is justified in certain individual cases, but there are an overwhelming amount of sympathetic examples where people are just being assholes.
• Gender Blender Name: Lucille is a guy. Kiefer is a girl.
• Gory Discretion Shot<->Gorn
• Handicapped Badass: King Riphal Edea sacrificed his left eye, his sense of smell (and later his sense of touch) and his right leg in order to use the Sacred Sword Glovil.
• Heroic Fantasy: Starts out looking like this, but gradually reveals that it's actually High Fantasy.
• Hime Cut: Miran Froaude is a male variant.
• Humans Are Bastards: Mostly played straight. Even though they're essentially the same, humans and some possessors of magic eyes deem each other as different races, with the latter often suffering at the former's hands, ranging from being discriminated against(only rarely is this justified) to being slaughtered by people out to harvest their eyes.
• Hot Chick With a Sword: Ferris.
• Hot Dad: Ryner's dad, Lieral Lieutolu.
• Hot Mom: Who the Hot Dad got together with.
• Ho Yay: Ryner and Sion...Ryner and Tiir...and the producers are fully aware of this.
  • It starts way back in Episode 2... Okay, so It Makes Sense in Context, but "I like your eyes", indeed!
• Ice Queen: Ferris. She defrosts a bit later with Ryner, though.
• Incest Is Relative: To keep the Eris line pure, the family has the dark tradition to marry off brother and sister together. Ferris was supposed to marry her big brother Lucille, but then it was planned by her parents that she would be used by her parents for producing another, more suitable female heir when she turns fourteen. Big brother Lucille prevented it from happening.
• Infant Immortality: Averted ruthlessly. Yes, it is that kind of world.
• Instant Runes: Spells and Alpha Stigma.
• Instant Expert: Spells usually take anywhere from a few months to a few years to learn, depending on the proficiency of the magician. However, Ryner can learn any spell the moment he sees it.
• Implausible Fencing Powers: Ferris.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Tiir. Recently, the anime has gone from depicting him absorbing black and white confetti from humans to actually adding chewing sound effects.
• Kick the Dog: After his mother dies, Sion's half-brothers leave him a gift in the form of a dead puppy.
• King Incognito: Sion does this to visit Toale.
• Knight Templar: The Magic Knights.
• Knight Templar Big Brother: Lucille.
• Knight Templar Parent: Oh, he only, you know, screwed up the entire world for the sake of his son.
• Lazy Bum: Ryner.
• Life or Limb Decision: Sui was faced with this predicament when he activated Ryner's Alpha Stigma, which disintegrated his arm.
• Light Is Not Good: The guy who tried to kill Miran and Sion with lightning beasts.
• Little Miss Badass: Iris
• Love Makes You Crazy: THE defining trope of the show, according to Word of God.
• MacGuffin: The legendary artifacts the Ryner and Ferris are looking for.
• Made of Plasticine
• Married to The Job: Sion. Lampshaded by Ryner, who calls him a workaholic and the others by constantly having to force him to eat and rest.
• Mega Manning: Anyone with Alpha Stigma can copy most spells instantaneously.
• Mood Whiplash: The series is very fond of these, but episode 3 and 18 probably take the crown. This even happens in the short story collections: You've just finished reading about Ryner battling pirates and a seasick Ferris trying to down a ship. Wonder what kind of crack is coming up next....wait, we're reading about Ryner's past? Uh, okay....
  • Then there is episode 23, which starts with Ryner getting worked nearly to death by Sion, some more funny scenes about that, then funny birthday preparations for Sion behind his back which even involves Miran Froaude, a fleeing Sion a few days later (turns out he was fleeing from his birthday), a heartwarming birthday scene, and ends with a serious fight between Sion and his soldiers against Ryner. Wait, what?!
• Mistaken for Gay: Ryner and Sion in episode 15.
  • Ferris and Ryner in the short stories, because no woman ever wears armor, right?
• Non-Indicative First Episode: The first episode makes the series appear to be a relatively light-hearted fantasy adventure, then episode 2 flashes back to their pasts.
  • Though the violent and very bloody flashback to the era of heroes is a good warning.
• Non-Ironic Clown: The Solver of All Equations.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Ryner is clearly less of an idiot than he seems to be.
• Oddly Visible Eyebrows
• Odd Name Out: The three Eris siblings are named Iris, Ferris, and...Lucile.
• Off With His Head: This has happened a lot and it seems to be Lucille's preferred method of killing.
• Older Than They Look: Lieral Lieutolu, someone who should rightfully be in his 40s looks younger than his son. Granted, he could look whatever age he wanted to, and has indeed appeared as a man in his 40s.
• One-Man Army: Tiir, although he can still be overwhelmed if you have the right tactic. Ryner might qualify if he doesn't completely abhor killing. Lucile also claims to be this, and you better believe him.
• Only Sane Man: Ryner, though he has his own quirks.
• Orphanage of Fear: It's actually a hellish military training facility disguised as an orphanage. Those who cannot keep up are disposed of.
• Our Demons Are Different: In the short time we knew him, the Solver of All Equations is a gentle, kind being despite possessing the power to destroy the world. His other half, the Weaver of All Equations seemed like a mad demon that's responsible for how twisted the Eris family is, but in the end voluntarily let himself be devoured by Lucile and genuinely wishes happiness upon him.
• Parental Abandonment: Sion and Toale.
  • Ryner, possibly.
  • Ferris and Iris to an extent, but only because their big brother Lucille killed their parents to save Ferris from marrying him, because the entire Eris line thinks siblings shall marry to keep their bloodline pure. In the anime the parents attempted to rape her.
  • Milk, as she was in the same orphanage with Ryner, as it seems, and the siblings Fiole and Eslina.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Ryner can disintegrate an infinite amount of objects, living and inanimate alike, through will alone when his true power awakens. Body count? More than 1,000,000.
• Poisonous Friend: Miran Froaude, to Sion. On the other hand, Sion knows more about what Froaude is up to than he realizes.
• Portmanteau Series Nickname: Den Yuu Den.
• Power At a Price: Glovil requires you to sacrifice something in order to use it.
  • Ryner's true ability can only activate by sacrificing of the soul someone who loves him.
• Power Tattoo: Claugh's magic.
• Powers That Be: The priests who have been orchestrating almost all events in the series.
• Razor Floss: Luke's magic, which is actually a Rule Fragment.
• Reincarnation: Ryner is half of the reincarnation of a demon king... Lucille is the other half.
  • Their circumstances are a bit more complicated than good old reincarnation, but Milk plays this trope straight by being the reincarnation of the only Goddess that sided with the hero and the Lonely Demon.
• Reality Warper: Ryner Eris Reed, or the Lonesome Demon, who can easily manipulate the very fabric of reality by fiddling the 'equations' that make up this world.
• Red Baron: Ryner was once known as the Greatest Magician in Roland after wiping the floor with the previous holder at the age of 13. He still is, but it rarely gets brought up anymore.
• Relationship Voice Actor: Here we go again with Daisuke Ono and Tomokazu Sugita.
  • And now we have both Jun Fukuyama and Takahiro Sakurai of Code Geass fame. It's a pretty major role-reversal too.
• Rescue Romance: Noa and Claugh. The first time Claugh rescues Noa from Miran, but the situation becomes inverted when Noa decides to negotiate with Miran instead of getting Claugh hurt. The second time is played straighter, when Claugh saves Noa from would-be assassins/rapists.
• Right Hand of Doom: Claugh's magic and everytime he uses it his sleeve explodes.
• Self-Made Orphan: Lucile killed his parents, Miran killed his adoptive noble father.
• Shut UP, Hannibal: Ferris delivers an epic one to Ril in episode 20.
• Sociopathic Hero: Lucille and possibly Miran.
• Super-Powered Evil Side: Ryner's Alpha Stigma seems to give him a textbook example of this.
  • Most Alpha Stigma bearers.
• Super Weight
  • Shirt Weight: Children, Ene, Noa.
  • Muggle Weight: Average soldiers, Toale, Kiefer.
  • Iron Weight: Sion, Ferris, Iris, Luke, Calne.
  • Super Weight: Anyone with a Rhule Fragmei, Ryner Lute, Zohra Rom, Tiir, Claugh Klom, Milk.
  • Lottery Weight: Anyone with two or more Rhule Fragmei, Pia, Relx Eris, average Goddesses, Asruld Roland.
  • Deus Weight: Ryner Reed, Eris Reed, Lieral Lieutolu, higher-tiered Goddesses like Goddess of Reincarnation, Asruld Roland after he merged with Ryner Reed.
  • Author Weight: Ryner Eris Reed.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: What one of the Goddesses believed the Hero and the Lonely Demon to be.
• Squishy Wizard: Averted by Ryner. Seems like being the strongest magician in Roland does require some physical prowess.
  • Might be played straight with Sion, as he is more the tactican, is the king, is well-versed in magic and was saved by Ferris when he was back in the academy (he does fight and does attack offensively, but only after he knows he is superior to the situation by information). At least in the anime you don't see him fight too much, thus evoking this trope for now.
• Sword and Sorcerer: Ferris and Ryner.
• The End of the World As We Know It: Happens every 1000 years. Wonder if anyone out there is keeping count.
• The Mole: Kiefer is blackmailed by Roland's aristocrats to expose Sion's squad's location to the enemy with the purpose of getting rid of Sion. Her sister, the blackmail material, turns out to be Dead All Along, though.
• The Ophelia: Sion Note reveals that Ryner Eris Reed may be a male version of this. He's also a Stepford Smiler and gets strangely chippy at the thought of being killed.
• The Pollyanna: Milk.
• Trademark Favourite Food: Ferris really loves dango.
• Technical Pacifist: Ryner. Though he doesn't hesitate to beat up mooks if you get him riled up enough, he abhors killing and even once stopped Miran Froaude from killing an antagonist that was trying to take Ryner's life a few moments ago. Also, being the proficient magician he is, he has higher-level spells than the one he spams most often, but doesn't like to use them because they're too lethal.
• These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know: The very existence of several beings that hold the world in their palms. The Goddesses, the priests, the hero and the demon. Oh, and by the way, the world has been destroyed before. Many, many times. It got better. Then It Got Worse.
• Tsundere/Kuudere: Ferris in episode 1; doesn't seem to be the case in the flashbacks with Sion, though. Sion even points it out, saying she never opened up to him like that.
  • As of episode 21 she gains the Luminescent Blush.
• Unfortunate Names: Milk and the aforementioned Lucille.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Ferris and Ryner.
• Wave Motion Sword: Riphal's sword, Glovil.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Sion.
  • Sion's not quite there yet, but Riphal is way ahead of him in that department.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy: Sion, whether in future averted, subverted or played straight will be seen.
  • Luke subverted in personality.
• Whole-Episode Flashback: Episodes 2 and 3.
• Why Did Have To Be Ghosts: Ferris is deathly afraid of boat rides and ghosts.
• Willfully Weak: Ryner practically never fights at his full strength because he really, really hates killing.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Ryner. Alpha Stigma bearers in general may count when they lose control. And besides them, maybe Sion later on, too.