History Fanfic / QueenOfShadows

* SealedEvilInACan: [[spoiler: The Battle of Awaji ends with Yasashi sealing Tsume and the entire Gani tribe in a mask.]]

* BadassPacifist: Nonki is called "The Peaceful Musician", but in his first scene, he uses his music to hypnotize a {{Jerkass}} noble and his entourage and then rob them blind.

* ImHavingSoulPains: [[spoiler: When Tsume and the Gani are sealed, Jade senses them being torn away and is left in agonizing pain.]]

* MaskOfPower: [[spoiler:The heroes under Rokutaro's command are working on making the Shadowkhan masks.]]

* LaResistance: The Shogunate in the Shadows, the elite group put together by Lord Rokutaro to combat the Shadowkhan.

* LesCollaborateurs:
** The Shadowkhan apparently have quite a few of these among the human population of their empire, helping them to keep things running.
** Shendu has a whole court of obedient human servants.

** In chapter 13 Koeri makes a comment about how the Queen hasn't seem any combat, with Jade noting that she's ''so'' much combat at her age that a shrink would either be ecstatic or horrified at the thought of analyzing her.

** Yasashi says that part of what makes Tsume so disturbing is the fact that his body looks so relatively human compared to his face.

* UncannyValley: InUniverse, Jade considers the Grand Eunuch this, given his bright clothes, even more brightly-dyed mane of hair, painted face, claw-like fingernails, and high-pitched voice.

* AdaptationExpansion: Like a number of Dark Jade fics, the story fleshes out the personality of the Oni Generals more.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Jade is bothered by having to send a Shadowkhan to its doom on purpose, but this only fuel her resolve. It helps that she sends Tsume, who, as mentioned above, disgusts even the other Oni.

* LesserOfTwoEvils: Jade knows she is expected to start the war with the humans back up again, and can't avoid it without raising suspicion. So, she devises a war plan that should minimize human civilian casualties while giving the heroes she believes are based in Tobe a chance to defeat the Shadowkhan. She also has Shendu to worry about, as he's got Asia under his belt and is a decent concern, even if he does not remember Jade at all.

* TheMagnificent: All the past Yojimbos listed in the Histories of Eternal Shadow are given titles of some kind after their deaths.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Jade’s battle with Shendu ended up damaging the Book and creating the new reality.

* UndyingLoyalty: The Generals have this towards the Queen, but Jade worries what they might do if they find out that she ''isn't'' the Queen.

* WeAreStrugglingTogether: There are some not-so-subtle hints that while the tribes and their generals are [[UndyingLoyalty loyal to the Queen]], there are old feuds and rivalries between the tribes. In fact, it seems that the ''only'' tribes that even ''like'' each other are the Sumo and the Reza, whose members are seen interacting peaceably with each other while the other tribes tend to stick to themselves.

* ActionGirl: Yasashi.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Shendu wanted to reshape reality, but didn’t end up with control over the outcome. It still apparently helped him, though, but Jade's rise to power might still bite him in the ass eventually.

* BerserkButton: Insulting or threatening the Queen is a universal one for the Shadowkhan.

* TheEmpire: The Shadowkhan, who have already conquered Shikoku and a large portion of Kyushu, with plans to conquer all of Japan.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Each member of Rokutaro's Inner Circle got a scene of them making their way to Tobe, introducing them and giving us a good idea what they're each about.
** Each of the Generals get to showcase their personalities in their first appearances.

* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Shadowkhan fortress has at least one, which contains the Queen's living quarters.

* FrontlineGeneral: Jade appoints Ikazuki as the Warlord of the resumed Kyushu campaign, in the hopes that such a (in her view) CardCarryingVillain will naturally be defeated by a champion of good, thus undermining the Shadowkhan's efforts.

* [[GodEmperor Goddess Empress]]: How the Queens are viewed by the Shadowkhan (''[[UpToEleven especially]]'' the Kamikiri tribe).

* GreatBigBookOfEverything: The Histories of Eternal Shadow, a massive tome containing the sum knowledge of everything that's ever happened to the Shadowkhan, including biographies on all their Queens and Yojimbos.

* HeroicBSOD: Jade sinks into one when Hiruzen forbids her from studying the martial arts, but snaps herself out of it, reminding herself that she still has her considerable wits.

* ImAHumanitarian: Tsume and his tribe seem to enjoy eating human slaves (a bit ''[[EvenEvilHasStandards too]]'' much, in the eyes of the other Shadowkhan). And he's not above eating other Shadowkhan either (but only with the Queen's permission).

* LegacyCharacter: Hiruzen, the current Yojimbo, is the second one to bear the name.

* MissingMom: It is mentioned that the 98th Queen (the one who’s life Jade is trapped in) lost her mother at a young age. And it should be noted that she died ''well'' before what is implied to be normal for a Queen, possibly implying foul play (for his part, Hiruzen suspects Shendu's involvement, but can't prove it, though fans of the show should note that ''Tarakudo'' was part of her guard on the trip, which implies he ''may'' have [[BodyguardBetrayal had a hand in it]]).

* NoodleIncident: There are several references to ''something'' having happened in the Shadowkhan's past involving a previous Yojimbo, Daigoro the Bold being betrayed, ending his short reign. The exact circumstances, however, are unknown.

* NoSell: The fact that Yasashi's armor is made from Shadowkhan bones makes it capable of deflecting Samurai Khan shadow blades.

* ZergRush: As Jade notes, the Shadowkhan don't have any swarm tribes, at least, they don't until she accidentally creates one.

* DramaticIrony: In Chapter 11, Jirobo is angrily musing over how "the Queen" is slipping out of his influence, and comments that it's like she's been replaced with someone else... and quickly rights that off as paranoid madness.

* HiddenDepths: Nonki has an airy, almost hippie-like personality... which hides the fact that he's come to believe that permanent peace is impossible to achieve in life, and can only be found in death.

* PetTheDog: Tsumi, off all Oni, reassures Hishu for his shame in chapter 12.

** [[spoiler: Not "wish", exactly, but in Chapter 8, after observing that there were no Shadowkhan based on anything as terrifying as a swarm, Jade's/the Queen's body almost immediately begins to ''create'' such a Tribe.]]

* EveryoneHasStandards: Jade is bothered by having to send a Shadowkhan to its doom on purpose, but this only fuel her resolve.

* BadBoss: Shendu, to absolutely no one's surprise, incinerating a slave after she performed for him, with the implication that he does it regularly.

* MaskOfPower: [[spoiler:The heroes are working on making the Shadowkhan masks]].

* WhoWouldWatchUs: Jade, while planning a banquet for the Generals to give the heroes a reprieve, sarcastically considers writing a book that would get adapted into a sell out movie series with poorly cast actors.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Shendu wanted to reshape reality, but didn’t end up with control over the outcome. It still apparently helped him, though.

* YouShallNotPass: Toguro pulls this on Ikazuki during the Shadowkhan assault on the last human refuge in Kyushu, in order to buy time for the populace to evacuate by fleet. {{Deconstructed|Trope}}, however, as Ikazuki points out that this only keeps ''him'' occupied, not his forces.

* GreatOffscreenWar: The Shadowkhan's previous conquests of Shikoku and half of Kyushu. And now Ikazuki's current campaign to conquer the rest of Kyushu. Jade actually comments at one point how it feels less to have started a war when she only hears about it, but never sees it.

* KickTheDog: Shendu forces a slave girl to dance for him until she's almost dropping from exhaustion. And then incinerates her, on the logic that since she's clearly given the best performance she could, she'll never do better, so there's no point in keeping her around.

* OutOfCharacterAlert: Jade is trying to avoid what she feels qualify as these, in order to keep the Oni from realizing that she's not the real Queen. That said, the Generals ''do'' note that "the Queen" is acting unusual, but for the most part write it off as her being anxious over the upcoming ritual, or undergoing CharacterDevelopment as a natural result of fully taking up the reins of power.

* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: Shendu of course is still one, but his fight with Jade over the Book of Ages has turned HER into one as well, and one who may be more powerful than him.