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Shiki Tohno was involved in a major accident in his childhood. Miraculously, he survived, albeit with a weakened body and no memory of the incident or much of the rest of his past. However, when he awoke in the hospital, crooked lines covered everything, from his own body to his bed to the other doctors. He quickly discovered that anything could be destroyed with ease, simply by cutting along those lines. It seemed like the world was in danger of crumbling around him... He would have gone insane had he not come across a mysterious self-styled sorceress, who gave him glasses that hid the "lines of death" and allowed him to live a normal life. Following the incident, Shiki was sent away from the main household to live with a branch family, while his sister was raised as the new heir.
Now a high school student, Shiki suddenly receives word from the Tohno estate. The family head, his father, has died, and he is to return at once to the main household. Meanwhile, strange murders have begun to occur in the city, the victims drained of their blood...
Originally a [[Visual Novel]], with [http://mirrormoon.org/projects/tsukihime a fan-translation patch available from Mirror Moon.] There is also a manga adaptation (released in English as "Lunar Legend Tsukihime"), an anime adaptation (''Shingetsutan Tsukihime''), a pseudo-sequel game of short stories (''Kagetsu Tohya''), and a series of fighting games (''[[Melty Blood]]'') that takes some liberties with the paths from the original game.
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* [[Actually Not a Vampire]]: After encountering a bunch of actual, honest-to-gods vampires, Shiki begins suspecting that his own little sister Akiha is one, too, especially after witnessing her feeding on Kohaku's blood. It turns out that Akiha is not a vampire but {{spoiler|a half-demon who must consume "bodily fluids" (including blood) of a very specific person (Kohaku or her twin Hisui) in order maintain her sanity}}.
* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: The manga eats Arc's route and shits out awesome. It also incorporates elements from other routes and increases the threat level of the [[Big Bad]], which is a very welcome change. There are also differences in the resolution to make it fit into canon more effectively.
* [[A Day in the Limelight]]: Many of the Ten Nights of Dream side stories in ''Kagetsu Tohya'' are from the perspective of somebody else besides Shiki.
* [[All There in the Manual]]: A great deal of information from the game is left out in the anime, such as backstories, motivations, how various powers work, and so on (see [[Adaptation Decay]]). Specific examples include Shiki's past, his link with Akiha, the nature of Roa's resurrections, and the other Dead Apostles. But then, the game leaves out a lot of information, too--this ''is'' the [[Nasuverse]], after all, which is filled with a confusing jumble of extensive explanations of magic, vampires, history, and much much more! Then there's the manga adaptations, [[Fanon]], and follow up games (fighting ''and'' visual novel) all with some degree of [[Alternate Continuity]] and uncertain qualifications as [[Canon]].
** Should be mentioned that one of the reasons is that in the visual novel people routinely stop the "action" (as it were) to give pages-long speeches on the nature of magic, vampirism and similar stuff. It's not as much "[[All There in the Manual]]" as every single character being a [[Mr. Exposition]].
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* [[Alternate Continuity]]: The original game has five character routes that cannot all be possible in the same universe (see [[Cutting Off the Branches]]). The anime makes some deviations of its own. The ''[[Melty Blood]]'' series is apparently based on a [[Demoted to Extra|planned-but-never-released route]] (with Satsuki as the heroine). Stories in Kagetsu Tohya also follow different continuities from each other, following up game routes or making up bizarro scenarios.
** Lampshaded in Kagetsu Tohya, when Shiki tries to remember which year it is in relation to the original story and notices his memories don't make any sense.
* [[Animal Motifs]]: Tsukihime overflows with cat motifs.
* [[Ancestral Weapon]]: Shiki's knife (the Nanatsu-Yoru)
* [[Art Evolution]]: Event CGs in Kagetsu Tohya are noticeably better than those in the original game.
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** In Arcuied's good end {{spoiler|Arcuied is sitting and waiting Shiki at the intersection at the exact same place she was sitting and waiting for him the first time they actually met, after Shiki had killed her.}}
* [[Bonus Material]]: Once you've cleared all the routes (and "Eclipse") in the game, it seems like there's nothing more to do... {{spoiler|but click the topmost Kanji for the [[Developer Room|Mirror Moon Staff Room]], the thin bar for a series of gags, and the words "TYPE-MOON" along the bottom for more gags.}}
** Kagetsu Tohya also has 10 short stories, which are unlockable through doing certain actions during the game.
* [[Bottle Fairy]]: Akiha shows many of the characteristics under certain circumstances (i.e. when there's alcohol available), shows a marked fondness for whiskey, and, to top it all off, holds her liquor surprisingly well.
* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: Kagetsu Tohya does a lot of this.
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* [[Close-Call Haircut]]: (Manga) Ciel gives one to Akiha when they fight.
* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Arcueid's thought process is... odd.
* [[Contract on the Hitman]]: After Kiri Nanaya, the head of the Nanaya clan of demon/demon-hybrid assassins, retires and leaves the protection of the organization he belonged to, Makihisa Tohno and Kouma Kishima lead an attack on them. After a prolonged battle, Kiri is killed by Kouma, who goes on to slaughter everyone else {{spoiler|except Shiki}}. Both were motivated by personal vendetta: Kouma was attacked and had one of his eyes blinded by Kiri when he was younger during one of his missions, and Makihisa is implied to have been the client for that hit, who Kiri tried and failed to kill out of impulse.
* [[Cringe Comedy]]: Almost every optional funny scene. In some cases you get the opportunity to play Shiki like a complete dumbass; telling the truth about your outing with Arcueid is pretty much pure [[Refuge in Audacity]], as Akiha thinks Shiki is joking. The aftermath of Arcueid's erotic dream, when you meet her in the park, is also hilarious and painful.
* [[Cue the Sun]]: The very final shot of the manga is of Shiki and Arcueid standing on top of the a castle tower, [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|holding on to each other and watching the sunrise]].
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* [[Establishing Character Moment]]: Our first real hint of [[Cloudcuckoolander|the kind of person Arcueid is]] comes after she's managed to recover from being killed by Shiki. She waits at the intersection until she spots him again, chases him, corners him... and then demands to know if he's sorry for what he did, and that she can only forgive him if he is.
* [[Evil Eye]]: Shiki's "Mystic Eyes of Death Perception". Several other characters, like Arcueid, possess mystic eyes, as well, though nothing like his.
** [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]! Red is Demonic, Blue is Anti-Demonic (do not confuse these with Good or Evil); Gold is Just Boned.
* [[Eye Scream]]: Ciel, in the manga {{spoiler|puts one of her swords in Akiha's hand and stabs herself in the eye. Akiha's horrified reaction proves to Ciel that Akiha isn't a killer.}}
* [[Evil Plan]]: You learn in the Far Side route that {{spoiler|Kohaku}} manipulated everyone in the Tohno mansion towards their deaths for eight years, ever since Shiki took a knife to the chest for Akiha. And the most horrible part is that {{spoiler|she did it to give her life a purpose.}}
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** It comes with [[Nasuverse|the territory]].
** [[Unusual Euphemism|...And now I can never look at food the same way.]]
* [[Flanderization]]: Anything outside of the original game is notorious for doing this, though most of them are only in joke scenarios. Arc's airheadedness and general silliness. Ciel obsession with curry. Akiha's temperment, scariness, jealousy and self-consciousness over her small bust size (her actions during Kohaku's route are not really her fault and certainly are not part of her normal personality). Kohaku's mischievousness, connivingness, and extremely elaborate plans to take over the Tohno househould easily takes the cake. Since Hisui is the quiet type, there's not much to exaggerate. The solution? Just add a bunch of ridiculous things relating to her character: Mech-Hisui, Dark Hisui Fist, Brainwashing, and that chair.
* [[Fingerless Gloves]]: Kishima Kouma, as revealed in Kagetsu Tohya.
* [[Foreshadowing]]: Shiki's inner monologue on his date with Arcueid might as well be about the upcoming [[Bittersweet Ending]].
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** The low point of this would be her {{spoiler|[[Near-Rape Experience]] where Shiki easily overpowers her and pins her down}}.
** She gets one mostly-offscreen moment to show just how powerful she can be in the Ciel route, [[Unstoppable Rage|freed from the self-imposed restraints]], {{spoiler|when she fights, defeats, and "[[Nigh Invulnerability|kills]]" Ciel in the span of maybe twenty seconds}}.
* [[In
** ...though her background and history are greatly expanded in one of the "Ten Nights of Dream" sidestories.
* [[Interplay of Sex and Violence]]: The scene where Shiki sees Arcueid for the first time and is seized with an incredible urge to **** her (as the game puts it) which takes the ambiguity over what four letter word Shiki wants to do to her to the further possible extreme before he finally {{spoiler|kills}} her.<br /><br />Aside from that rather well-known scene, first-person descriptions of characters committing murder tend to include mention of getting sexually excited and even ''ejaculating'' upon doing the deed. On the other side of the coin, Shiki is rather notorious among the fandom for not being the most gentle lover.
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* [[It's a Wonderful Failure]]: This being an [[Eroge]], there are many Bad Ends, and some of them can become very elaborate and memorable. Two in particular are worth seeing intentionally because they are [[Tear Jerker|Tear Jerkers]]: {{spoiler|1. The one where Ciel and Shiki kill each other in Ciel's route. 2. The one where Shiki kills Akiha in Kohaku's route.}} Although the one everyone remembers is [[Everything's Even Worse with Sharks|being eaten in the hotel by the shark]].
** Though mercifully, even related to that last one, there's a twist that's never directly mentioned.
* [[Ironic Echo]]: Arcueid likes to talk about what-ifs, Shiki doesn't. They reverse that little exchange when Shiki tries to give a {{spoiler|dying Arcueid}} hope near the end of her route.
* [[Japanese Sibling Terminology]]: Akiha always refers to Shiki as "Nii-san" to refer to Shiki and Hisui always refers to Kohaku as "Nee-san." When either of them use another term, it means {{spoiler|Akiha's talking about her real older brother}} and {{spoiler|It's actually Kohaku impersonating Hisui}}.
* [[Just Think of the Potential]]: Shiki's [[Evil Eye|Mystic Eyes of Death Perception]] can perceive the nature of death itself. He can kill anything once he understands the concept of its existence; he will most likely drop dead from the strain of it before that happens, though.
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** {{spoiler|A [[Psychic Link]] with the [[Big Bad]], which, depending on whether he's Roa or SHIKI in that route, gives Shiki some [[A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read|unwanted insight]] into the mind of an 800 year old vampire with a few screws loose, or shows him the thoughts and handiwork of an utterly [[Ax Crazy]] serial killer through his eyes.}}
** And an IV full of [[Psycho Serum]] from {{spoiler|the Tonho mansion's resident [[Stepford Smiler]].}}
* [[Mind Screw]]: Oh god. Arcueid's route, at the very least, is pure concentrated what-the-fuck from the moment you meet {{spoiler|SHIKI}} to the final fight against the villain.
** Ciel's route (Especially her "True Ending") is twice the mind screw of Arcueid's route.
** Hisui's route alone, which about half of it is {{spoiler|Shiki sick in bed, generally going ''completely insane''}} tops Arc's in that level.
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* [[Oblivious Guilt Slinging]]: If Shiki chooses to run away from Arcueid while she's sleeping in the hotel room, and then later returns, she unknowingly heaps further guilt on him by her dialogue revealing she'd never for a moment thought he'd abandoned her - she was just angry that he would do something so reckless as to move around town by himself.
** Kohaku gets big one in her route, when she gives Shiki hallucinogenic drugs claiming its just something to help him sleep/relax, he takes them without second thought while saying things like how trustworthy she is or how he will now be able to sleep better - and she loses her perpetual smile for a moment, and appears to feel really remorseful {{spoiler|- note that she is still the supposedly emotionless doll-like Kohaku.}}
* [[Oh Crap]]: "{{spoiler|[[Badass Boast|My name is Nrvnqsr. I am Chaos]]}}, almighty even among the strongest vampires! I overcame death long ago! But what are you? ''[[Badass|WHAT]] [[Determinator|THE]] [[Knife Nut|HELL]] [[Perfect Play AI|ARE]] [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|YOU?!]]'' * [[One-Hit Kill|stab]]*
* [[Ojou]]: Akiha Tohno.
* [[One-Hit Kill]]: This ability is the only thing that Shiki has going for him against the ridiculously overpowered enemies he fights.
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* [[Posthumous Character]]: Shiki's father Makihisa Tohno.
* [[Power Born of Madness]]: Most of Arcueid's considerable power goes towards suppressing her inherent bloodlust. When she snaps and doesn't bother restraining herself, all that power comes to the forefront...
* [[Power Dyes Your Hair]]: In the game, {{spoiler|Tohno Akiha's hair changes to a bright red when her [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] comes out.}}
* [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]]: The final line of {{spoiler|Shiki's [[World of Cardboard Speech]]}}. "I'll show you. This is what it means to kill something."
* [[Prisoner of Zenda Exit]]: (anime) See [[Bond Villain Stupidity]] example above.
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* [[Revised Ending]]: {{spoiler|The manga follows the True End to Arcueid's route, but adds in a bonus scene where with the help of Ciel Shiki tracks down the Castle Brunestud where Arcueid is intending to lock herself up and reunites with her. This is probably a combination of the fact that the True End is kind of depressing and also does not fit into established canon where Arcueid is still around and seemingly Shiki's canon love interest.}}
* [[Right Behind Me]]: Shiki has shown active curiosity about girls' rooms on three separate occasions. Akiha catches him off-guard in her room and glares him away. In ''Kagetsu Tohya'', Shiki ''invokes'' the trope while going through Ciel's clothes (yes), and [[Look Behind You!|barely escapes]]. In a subversion, however, trying this with Arcueid gets Shiki killed by a talking jaguar (seriously).
** Also in ''Kagetsu Tohya'', Akira definitely wants to keep her friendship with Shiki secret from his jealous sister, her upperclassman. After he suggests they meet up with Akiha at the school festival, she confesses this desire to him in stark terror. [[Irony]], as it turns out, is a bitch.
*** Akiha too, by her own admission:
{{quote|(Akiha starts dragging Akira away for (implied) torture)
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'''Akiha:''' "Oh? That's unexpected. You only just now notice it after having been at my side for two years?" }}
**** This might qualify as a [[Sarcastic Confession]] as well.
* [[Right Through His Pants]]: With the exception of one H-scene (Akiha's), Shiki has an odd aversion to taking off his pants. Also, a rare gender inversion: Kohaku proves that it ''is'' possible to have sex while wearing a kimono.
* [[Running Gag]]: A rather minor one in Arcueid's route - Shiki will say (or want to say) something, Arcueid will complain that she can't hear him and so lean in closer, only for him to yell what he wants to say into her ears as loud as possible.
* [[Schrodinger's Gun]]: The appearance, motivation, and personality of the [[Big Bad]] changes completely depending on whether you're on a Near Side or Far Side route...even though they're the same person. [[Grand Theft Me|Sort of.]]
* [[Science Destroys Magic]]: While Tsukihime doesn't focus on magic very much, it establishes the idea that where magic and fantasy was once powerful, it now has to hide from society at large or risk destruction.
* [[Second Year Protagonist]]
* [[Secret Test of Character]]: In the manga, [[The Hunter|Ciel]] tests whether Akiha has it in her to be a murderer by... threatening her [[Berserk Button|and her brother]] and then fighting her to the death. What Akiha doesn't know is that Ciel {{spoiler|[[Nigh Invulnerable|cannot be (permanently) killed/injured]]}}, so Ciel is free to test Akiha's power with impunity and make Akiha ''stab her in the face.'' Akiha's horror showed that she wasn't a killer. She also tries this in the original [[Visual Novel]] with Shiki, who is afraid that [[Enemy Within|he is the murderer who has been stalking the streets in his dreams]]. Ciel fails to take into account Shiki's [[Evil Eye|Mystic Eyes of Death Perception]]. Depending on your decision, [[Deader Than Dead|things don't go quite as planned]].
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* [[Tranquil Fury]]: Shiki ''radiates'' this during his confrontation with {{spoiler|Roa after Arcueid's death}}. Or rather, his eyes do, which Roa finds off-putting.
* [[Traumatic Haircut]]: Altrouge did this to Arcrueid a long time ago, as shown in one of the stories on Tsukihime Plus Disk. Merem Solomon and Gransurg Blackmore intend to get her back for this during the ritual in [[Vaporware|the Dark Six.]] Ironically, Arc herself doesn't seem to care.
* [[Traumatic Superpower Awakening]]: Shiki gains his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception as a result of his near death experience as a child.
* [[Truer to the Text]]: The anime version left many fans quite bitter over how much it deviated from the source material. There was, however, a manga that retold the original story quite faithfully.
* [[Tsundere]]: Akiha. Being a strict [[Ojou]], she's much more 'tsun' in the game. And far more 'dere' too.
** She's less "tsun" and more "constantly worried". There's also shades of [[Defrosting Ice Queen]] since she spends the early game getting used to Shiki's less proper behavior.
** Also Shiki as a male Tsundere in reference to Arcueid. Only with her, though, presumably due to being the canon couple.
* [[Twelve-Episode Anime]]
* [[Twin Switch]]: A couple variations:
** {{spoiler|Kohaku disguises herself as Hisui at least once, depending on the route.}}
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* [[World of Cardboard Speech]]: Shiki in Arcueid's Route during the [[Final Battle]]. Also one of his (many) [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Crowning Moments of Awesome]].
* [[Worth Living For]]: For instance Shiki when dealing with vampire Yumizuka; only his love for Akiha causes him to save himself.
* [[Worthy Opponent]]: In his last moments, Nrvnqsr seems to recognize Shiki as this in the manga.
** Also, in the game, Arceuid ''thinks'' Shiki is this after he chops her into 17 pieces ([[Unexplained Recovery|she gets better]]), which is why she makes him [[An Offer You Can't Refuse]] to help her eliminate Nrvnsqr. Shiki spends most of his time complaining that he's just an ordinary high-schooler right until the point where he goes [[Tranquil Fury]] and kills 560 of Nrvnsqr's lives all at once.
* [[Yandere]]: The [[Blood-Splattered Innocents|Blood Splattered (not-so-)Innocent]], {{spoiler|Satsuki Yumizuka}}. Shiki's [[But Thou Must!|rejection/acceptance/noncommittal answer]] doesn't cause her craziness, but really help to cement it (given her situation). And if that wasn't sad enough, later you discover {{spoiler|the [[Stepford Smiler]], Kohaku, is one as well}}.
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