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The protagonist, Battler, then gets challenged by the Golden Witch, who claims that she killed everyone on the island. Were the murders committed by magic, or were they done by a human?
 
Similar to [[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|its predecessor]], ''Umineko no {{color|red|Na}}ku Koro Ni'' consists of several arcs with the same scenario repeating for mysterious reasons. This time, the plot focuses on the murders that occur on the island and trying to figure out [[Fair Play Who DunnitWhodunnit|who kills everyone, how they all died, and why they were all killed.]] The first four arcs are the Question Arcs, where the puzzles are presented to the reader. Instead of outright Answer Arcs, the last four arcs are the [[Fan Nickname|Core Arcs]], which provide the reader several hints on how to solve the murders, but without outright giving away the answer.
 
Part of the ''[[When They Cry (Visual Novel)|When They Cry]]'' series, which also includes ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni]]''.
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* [[Adaptation Dye Job]] - Beatrice's dress (in the anime) and of course the eye colors of just about every character (Battler, Jessica, George, Shannon, Lambdadelta, Virgilia, etc...)
* [[Aerith and Bob]] - Most notably the witches: We've got Lady Bernkastel, Lady Lambdadelta and, of course, Lady Beatrice.
* [[An Aesop]] - An original story by Aesop is discussed a lot in EP 1 and EP 3, [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Wind_and_the_Sun:North Wind and the Sun|The North Wind and the Sun]].
* [[All Just a Dream]] - {{spoiler|Maria murdering Rosa}}, [[Mind Screw|apparently.]]
* [[All HallowsHallow's Eve]] - Actually, it takes place on October 4 & 5, but Maria is obsessed with Halloween for the first part of the second arc, a fact that is played with very nastily during the [[Cruel and Unusual Death|first twilight]].
* [[All There in the Manual]] - A number of TIPS were not shown in the game itself but released as side materials; these were generally short stories. Often they were humorous and not meant to be taken seriously, but some were plot relevant. ''Tsubasa'' collects most these short stories and presents them in a Visual Novel format.
* [[Altar the Speed]] - Part of Eva's plan to have George jump ahead in the succession was to rush a marriage to Hideyoshi. In spite of that, they're quite [[Happily Married]].
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{{quote| '''Bernkastel''' - That Hebrew sure is crappy.}}
** The blood pentacles (runes have nothing to do with this) actually are [[Shown Their Work|scanned straight from a copy of the ''Key of Solomon'']], and using the correct meanings to boot, so the inaccurate Hebrew is accurate occultism.
* [[As the Good Book Says...]] - Each of the blood runes has scrawled on it a Bible quote in Hebrew.
* [[Ascended Meme]] - One of the anime's [["On the Next..."|episode preview]] gags uses Eva-Beatrice's [[Fan Nickname]], "Evatrice".
* [[Audience Monologue]] - Kumasawa does a few of these in the first arc to explain various issues among the residents of the Ushiromiya mansion.
* [[Awesome Moment of Crowning]] - {{spoiler|Hugely subverted}} in the third arc. The epitaph is solved, the title of Golden Witch is passed on in a grandiose ceremony, and the murders can stop now, right? Like the letter said, right? {{spoiler|Wait, why's Eva-Beatrice pointing her staff at Rosa like that...?}} [[Portal (Video Game)|And then there was cake.]]
* [[The Baby Trap]] - {{spoiler|Kyrie claims Asumu pulled one to steal Rudolf out from under her}}.
* [[Back for The Finale]] - {{spoiler|Nearly every character}} comes back in the 8th arc.
* [[Backwards -Firing Gun]] - Battler suggests this to explain one crime.
* [[Badass Adorable]] - Groups of cute young girls ''will'' mess you up: the Stakes, the Chiester Sisters, etc.
* [[Badass Family]] - The Ushiromiyas, hands down.
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* [[Closed Circle]]
* [[Clothing Damage]] - Lucifer in the anime. Nice big ole straight line, right across the chest. [[Gainaxing|Said chest jiggles heavily.]]
* [[The Commandments]] - A variation of [[Fair Play Who DunnitWhodunnit|Knox's Decalogue]] -- see the trope page for the complete list.
* [[Compressed Adaptation]] - The anime is a victim of this, but special mention goes to the fourth arc, which cuts out the entire fourth game after {{spoiler|Jessica and George accidentally kill each other}}. This was the trade-off for what many saw as too much time given to the 1998 and metaworld sequences.
* [[Conspicuous CG]] - The butterflies in the anime.
* [[Contrived Coincidence]] - As stated on the character sheet, Erika is a detective prodigy who just ''happens'' to shipwreck on an island with a soon-to-be murder mystery.
* [[Cooldown Hug]] - Ange toward Battler in the fourth arc. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, its double purpose is to [[Go Out Withwith a Smile|keep him from seeing her as she's ripped apart]] for having said her name as Bernkastel's piece}}.
* [[Cosmic Chess Game]]
* [[Creator Breakdown]] - After Ryukishi's dear friend BT died, Umineko took on a very different tone from [[EP 6]] onwards.
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* [[Cuteness Proximity]] - The Stakes. {{spoiler|Sakutaro}}. Result: [[The Glomp|glompage]] and a lot of [[Squee]].
* [[Cycle of Hatred]] - Too many to mention, to the point where there's even a character who exists as an incarnation of it.
* [[Darkness -Induced Audience Apathy]] - {{spoiler|Both [[In Universe]] and invoked. In fact, it's largely the point of the final episode, which points out that the Ushiromiya family could not have been nasty to each other all the time and that the previous episodes more or less both showed the family at their worst and that said worst is more or less only the theories of a bunch of gossipers.}}
* [[Dark Reprise]] - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAupQUUglkU goldenslaughterer] is already a pretty dark BGM to begin with, since it plays during the more cruel deaths, but it gets a darker and more intense remix as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euezX9D3aDE the_executioner] in EP7, which plays during the fight between Will and {{spoiler|Bernkastel}}.
* [[Dark World]] - This is what the Meta-World mechanic of ''Ougon Musoukyoku'' does, turning the localitations into a [[Magic Versus Science|more fantastic and macabre]] version of itself, [[The Night That Never Ends|enveloped in night]].
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* [[Department of Redundancy Department]] - Rather common in the sound novels.
* [[Deus Ex Machina]] - {{spoiler|The gold truth. It appears rather conveniently.}}
* [[Did You Actually Believe?]] - End of the 3rd arc {{spoiler|when Battler is about to lose, again. Beato pulls this off and brags about how her "tsundere" technique worked, and that Battler's a sucker for it. Later subverted when it's found out she wasn't acting at all, and really is that nice.}}
** {{spoiler|Well, Beatrice was acting when she trolled Battler to keep him on the path towards the truth, which meant when she was being nice she was acting like a troll who was acting like Beatrice.}} [[Xanatos Roulette|She's that]] [[Magnificent Bastard|kind of]] [[The Chessmaster|girl]].
* [[Distant Finale]]: Episode 8's Hidden Tea Party. Decades later, {{spoiler|Ange becomes a famous author under the alias "Yukari Kotobuki". Having become famous, she attracts the attention of Tohya Hachijo, who turns out to be two people, one of which was Battler, who lost his memories and regained them. Ange and Tohya meet, but Tohya couldn't associate himself with his identity as "Battler". In the end, Ange invites Ikuko and Tohya to the reopening of the Fukuin House to let Tohya come to terms with his past.}}
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* [[Failed a Spot Check]] - One or two of the riddles, most notably the Kanon-in-the-closet one from [[EP 6]] seriously relies on this ({{spoiler|It's not that there's ''no body'' in the closet - it's that the body is now inhabited by Shannon or Beatrice rather than Kanon}}).
* [[The Fair Folk]] - While they're called "witches" and have all the traditional trappings, their existence, playing with reality and fiction and following seemingly nonsensical rules, has many similarities.
* [[Fair Play Who DunnitWhodunnit]] - This work is somewhat [[Tsundere|bipolar]] towards this trope. The very first trailer started with the words "No [http://www.diogenes-club.com/knoxrules.htm Knox]. No [http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/vandine.htm Dine]. No [[Clueless Mystery|Fair]]". Then it begins with a fairly normal mystery plot which flies out of the window as witches and other magical beings keep appearing. But upon rereading earlier episodes it becomes obvious that all revelations were hinted at.
** In Episode 5 a new character is introduced {{spoiler|whose name is Ronald A. Knox backwards, who gives the possibility that the Knox rules are true in the game, scolds the reader for getting distracted from the mystery by the fantasy elements and outright states that the author wants the reader to solve it on their own}}. Beatrice herself actually states that {{spoiler|the novels follow the Knox decalogue}} as early as EP2 when she and Battler are arguing over hidden doors; most people don't notice this the first time around.
** Episode 7 {{spoiler|follows Episode 5's trend and introduces an [[Anthropomorphic Personification|incarnation]] of Willard H. Wright (the real name of S.S. Van Dine), who shows up to 'bury' Beatrice and reveal her heart. In layman's terms, he solves most mysteries and undeniably proves that the story is indeed a [[Fair Play Who DunnitWhodunnit]].}}
** The anime drops this entirely, in favor of best visual presentation probably. The first arc doesn't even provide enough evidence to solve it as a mystery, and later arcs are reboots in which circumstances change, previous pasts are revealed in ways that couldn't be known to most the characters, and even characters differ without demonstrating development. Also, the on-screen deaths become more and more ostentatious in the use of magic.
* [[Fan Nickname]]:
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** Trolls Trolling Trolls Trolling Trolls. Nickname for the series due to the huge amount of [[Troll|Trolls]] in the cast
* [[Fan Service]] - The game has the Stakes, the anime has...pretty much every other female.
* [[Fan Translation]] - [http://witch-hunt.com/ Witch Hunt], which actually got an [http://witch-hunt.com/letter.html acknowledgment from the author] and a [[Shout -Out]] in EP4. And it is most certainly well-deserved.
* [[Fashionable Asymmetry]] - The Ushiromiya crest is a one-winged eagle, so it's only to be expected.
* [[A Fate Worse Than Death]] - Thanks to Endless magic, people can be killed over and over again in new and interesting ways. This pales in comparison to {{spoiler|the closed room Battler gets trapped in}} in EP6.
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* [[For Want of a Nail]] - EP7 presents an alternate 1986: {{spoiler|Natsuhi accepts the baby that Kinzo asked her to adopt. Because of this, the epitaph does not exist, and there are no mentions of Beatrice as a witch or a ghost in the mansion.}}
* [[Four-Temperament Ensemble]] - At the very least, the aunts.
** As well as [[Four -Girl Ensemble]].
* [[Freudian Excuse]] - Rosa often uses this to rationalize her <s>[[Memetic Mutation|Mother of the Year]]</s> harsh treatment towards Maria. Her's own parents and siblings showed little mercy towards her when she was growing up, so she believes holding back on Maria would be "spoiling" her.
* [[From a Certain Point of View]] - Anything said in {{color|red| Red}} needs ''careful'' attention paid to its [[Exact Words]].
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* [[Glove Slap]] - In EP6, {{spoiler|Beatrice throws a white glove at Erika}}, challenging her to a duel. Refusing would forever mark her a coward in the eyes of the entire magical community.
* [[Go Mad From the Isolation]] - What happens to people who get trapped in a logic error. Specifically, {{spoiler|Lambdadelta and especially Bernkastel.}} Doesn't make up for the horrible things she's done, but you still sympathize with her, considering {{spoiler|Bernkastel's logic error wasn't even her own fault - she was only a piece in that game. Her master, the player, created the logic error, then abandoned the game, leaving a piece that knows nothing with the task of solving the error to escape. The fact that, after hundreds of years, she was able to do so is why she became the Witch of Miracles.}}
* [[Go -Karting With Bowser]] - Battler and Beatrice have a dialogue (and applause contest) at {{spoiler|Eva's succession ceremony}}.
* [[Gold Fever]] - All four siblings to some extent, but particularly strongly with Eva. EP7 shows how {{spoiler|the Japanese and Italian forces on the island wiped each other out over the massive load of gold; the siblings then repeat this in the tea party}}.
* [[Good Witch Versus Bad Witch]]
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* [[Homage]] - To ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni]]''. Many occurrences. For instance, Maria is shown watching clips from the show, and Kanon uses Rena's cleaver.
* [[Hope Spot]] - Pretty much everyone who faces off with the killer gets one.
** {{spoiler|1=EP7's main story ending}} is a big one for {{spoiler|Clair and Lion}}. [[Did You Actually Believe?|Did you really think]] {{spoiler|Bernkastel}} will give everyone a happy ending?
* [[Hostile Show Takeover]] - Played for '''[[Deconstruction|drama]]''' in EP 5.
** And for laughs in the preview for episode 17 of the anime where {{spoiler|Eva-Beatrice tries to rename the show to ''[[Magical Girl]] Pretty [[Fan Nickname|Evatrice]]''}}.
* [[Hot -Blooded]] - Kinzo's legacy.
* [[Hot Shounen Mom]] - Although all the aunts are noticeably attractive, Rosa probably fits the description best. But it's subverted pretty early on, when it's revealed [[Abusive Parents|what a facade it is.]]
** As standard Ryu07. All young moms have to be hot.
* [[A House Divided]] - Particularly strong in the first arc.
* [[How Dare You Die On Me!]] - {{spoiler|Battler to Beatrice during the fifth tea party}}.
* [[How We Got Here]] - The very first scene in EP5 is the last scene on that world's gameboard. {{spoiler|This was the first scene for meta-Battler, as well, before the Bern and Lambda rewound the story for him.}} EP6 does this as well, starting with {{spoiler|Battler's [[A Fate Worse Than Death|horrific defeat]] and a closed room prison}} that is revisited multiple times before it finally makes sense.
* [[Human Chess]] - Deliberately invoked by pretty much the whole plot.
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* [[Noblewoman's Laugh]] - Beatrice is prone to these, and Maria's giggling sometimes morphs into it as well. Lambda has her "O-ho-ho-ho-ho!" in the [[Visual Novel]] as well.
* [[No Body Left Behind]] - The Stakes are some of the few characters NOT to leave gruesome corpses. Unless they're the ones doing the killing, but that's another matter...
* [[Not With the Safety On, You Won't]]: Amakusa tries to pull this on {{spoiler|Ange in the Trick ending, upon which she calmly replies that her revolver does not have a safety and shoots him to death}}.
* [[Occult Detective]] - The Witch Hunters in Episode 4.
* [[Of Corpse He's Alive]] - {{spoiler|Kinzo. for a YEAR; you've gotta give Natsuhi credit}}.
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* [[Recursive Canon]] - {{spoiler|1=Revealed to be the case in EP8.}}
** Also parodied, in episodes 2 and 3 Maria watches an episode of [[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni]].
* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]] - Both the Stakes and Chiesters, as well as Lambdadelta (but only in the anime and [[PS 3]] remake).
* [[Redheaded Hero]] - Battler and Ange later on.
* [[Relationship Upgrade]] - {{spoiler|Jessica and Kanon}} in EP6.
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* [[Sadistic Choice]] - Episode 4. {{spoiler|In order to gain two, sacrifice one: Your life. Your loved one's life. Everyone else's lives.}} Amusingly, everyone shown indicates one of the choices, then goes on to [[Take a Third Option|Take a Fourth Option]] anyways.
** The entire plot is a sort of variation. Battler must accept magic's existence or blame one of his close relatives. As Beatrice gleefully points out ''several'' times. He has big qualms with both.
* [[Sawed -Off Shotgun|Sawed Off Rifle]] - The [[Weapon of Choice]] for most of the adults.
* [[Say My Name]] - All the time. (Beeeeeeeeeeaaatriiiiiiiiiiice!)
* [[Scare Chord]] - A [[Hell Is That Noise|rather terrifying]] one.
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* {{spoiler|[[Shaggy Dog Story]] - Though the phrase is never used, some characters discuss whether the story itself should be this in Ep8. Whether the story itself '''was''' this is a frequent bone of contention for the fandom.}}
* [[Shameful Strip]] - After {{spoiler|Battler surrenders to Beatrice}} in the second arc, he is stripped completely except for a chain around his neck that Beatrice uses as a leash.
* [[Shout -Out]] - Once again, too many to list, so please don't try here.
* [[Simple Score of Sadness]] - "Moon" and "Fortitude".
* [[Slasher Smile]] - Everyone who is involved with the murders of family ({{spoiler|Eva, Eva-Beatrice, Kinzo/"Goldsmith"}} come to mind) has one.
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* [[Weirdness Censor]] - In the anime, almost no attention is drawn to Maria's [[Creepy Child|cackling, odd foreknowledge, and general sociopathy]] by other characters (the biggest example is probably the [[Mood Whiplash]] above). In the manga, Battler reacts with proper dread at her mysterious statements most of the time, and while he tries to laugh it off in the visual novels, he ''does'' find it troubling.
* [[Well Done Daughter Girl]] - Natsuhi has this to Kinzo, her father-in-law, as she loves him very much and desperately wants his approval. {{spoiler|And she wants it so bad that she is driven to psychosis after he dies, imagining his ghost is praising and reassuring her. Bernkastel later makes a point of [[For the Evulz|telling her in the red that he never thought she was good enough.]]}}
* [[Wham! Episode]] - The anime's episode 18. This is partly due to [[Compressed Adaptation]].
* [[Wham! Line]]:
** Episode 6:
{{quote| '''Dlanor''': {{color|red|Kyrie Ushiromiya cannot save you.}}}}
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{{quote| '''Bernkastel''': {{color|red|This game}} {{spoiler|[[Language of Truth|will not have a happy ending]]}}.}}
* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]] - Rosa's daughter, Maria. One of the kanji in her name is essentially a cross, {{spoiler|she's known as the Witch of Origins (who, according to the visual novel, "[[Does This Remind You of Anything?|holds the motherly magical power to give birth to 1 from the sea of zero]]"),}} and is usually the first one to know exactly what's going to happen before everybody else.
* [[Which Me?]] - There are about ''twelve'' different versions and variations of the Beatrices. Eleven if {{spoiler|Shannon and Kanon are separate people}}, but that's still one hell of a lot. Some of them have their own names ({{spoiler|Ange}}-Beatrice is usually known simply as {{spoiler|"Ange"}}, unless some distinction between 1998 and meta-1986 needs to be made), some have last names that are applicable (Beatrice Castiglioni), and some of them simply have fan-created names, because otherwise, you wouldn't be able to figure out who someone was referring to (Moetrice, suit![or sometimes, piece!]Beatrice, Beatroll, etc.).
* [[White Magic]] - According to Virgilia, this was initially the purpose of Endless Magic. However, the magic itself can be used for either this or [[Black Magic]] depending upon the intentions of the user.
* [[Who Dunnit to Me?]] - {{color|red|"Battler Ushiromiya, at this time, I will kill you. And right now, there is no one on the island other than you. The only one alive on this island is you. Nothing outside the island can interfere in any way. And of course, I am not you. However, I am here now and will kill you."}}
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