History Literature / TheEminenceInShadow

** In Volume 6, [[spoiler:the [[AristocratsAreEvil Thirteen Night Swords]] are Midgar nobility that bully commoners and lesser nobles and assassinating anyone that threatens their rule, along with them being willing accomplices to the Cult of Diabolos.]] [[spoiler:Many people, especially Christina Hope, whose family suffered under the Night Swords' malicious smear campaign, can't help but cheer at their deaths at the hands of [[SerialKiller Jack the Ripper.]]]]

* AssholeVictim: Cid spent much of his childhood killing bandits in secret. Since these criminals have done nothing but pillage homes and murder innocents, no one will miss them.

* QualityOverQuantity: Cid's stance is that one should nurture his/her abilities and skills rather than using huge amounts of magic and flailing it around unnecessarily.

* QualityOverQuantity: The series makes it clear that it's important to know how magic is used rather than how much magic is used. It's because of this idea that Cid and Shadow Garden are always clearly superior over the Cult of Diablos.

* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler:Cid and Aurora discovers a dimension where there are hundreds of pods containing lifeforms looking exactly like Olivie, Freya and even Aurora herself. This further confirms that the Cult of Diablos has a hand in the demon's creation.]]

* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: After Miss Natsume joins the group, it's currently her, Alexia and Rose

* {{Chuunibyou}}: Ironically this is what Cid ''thinks'' he is. He came up with the Cult Diablos and the Shadow Garden as an excuse to act cool and dark, and realize his childhood dream of being an eponymous "eminence in the shadows"... except the years of in-depth research he put into his "cover story" turned out to have uncovered evidence of an actual cult that needed to be stopped. Still to this day, Cid believes that his friends are playing a game and the people they go after are ordinary bandits, unaware that he is leading one side in a SecretWar, created a NGOSuperpower, with an AmazonBrigade that has pledged their UndyingLoyalty towards him. Along with said women believing he is TheChessmaster.

** [[spoiler:After the king was killed by Rose, the Oriana kingdom is divided into factions. The Royalists who stand by the Oriana Royal Family and the Doem faction who pushes for Doem to take the throne.]]
** [[spoiler:A civil war broke out in the Elf Country and is set up to become a ProxyWar between the cult and Shadow Garden due to many high-ranked Round members being there with Alpha immediately calling the Seven Shadows and other Numbers to help along with fighting together with Shadow in a long time.]]

* IMeantToDoThat: Just as an assassin is about to strike, Gamma trips and her sword flies out of her hands and heads towards the assassin, killing him instantly. Once she realizes this, she tells her subordinates that it was part of her strategy.

*** An appendix of four pages telling the information and characteristics of certain characters, which usually are the ones that are the main focus of the volume.
* OneDialogueTwoConversations: Anytime Cid talks with the members of the Shadow Garden. He fully believes that they are playing a game and due to him saving their lives they are playing into it to make him happy. The girls on the other hand know full well that the Cult of Diablos is real and they are taking the Shadow Garden extremely seriously, believing everything he says is to further their goals of destroying the Cult.
* OnlySixFaces: The manga suffers from this problem since almost all the characters have little to no variation in face in contrast to the Light Novel's illustrations.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Vampires can grow more powerful if under a Red Moon and can actually revert back into human if they stave off blood for a long period of time. Vampire Lords aren't able to do that and if they swore not to drink blood, the Red Moon intensifies their pain and hunger.

** [[spoiler:Zeta's father did everything in he could to save her from possession, a sharp contrast to what most people do when their daughter starts showing signs. Unfortunately he didn't live to see her cured, as his attempts brought his downfall.]]
* PerspectiveReversal: The anime previews come in pairs for each episode, the normal version from one of the Seven Shades which portrays the show as serious and the special version told by Cid, making it way more humourous due to how deluded and insane he is.

* PowerLimiter: The Cult of Diablos uses several artifacts and devices to deprive their opponents of their power. However, one can bypass this and retain almost all of their magic if he or she can turn it so dense that it's impossible for it to be taken.

* ProxyWar: {{Foreshadowed}} in Volume 5. Due to the events in volume 4,[[spoiler: the Cult loses their foothold in the Oriana Kingdom towards Rose Oriana and the Shadow Garden. Because of this and their hold on the religion, the Oriana Kingdom has been declared as a heretic state by the church. Various nations have been mobilized and preparing for war against them at the instigation of the Cult. The Shadow Garden has also been preparing and assisting the Oriana Kingdom on the upcoming conflict.]]

* CivilWar: [[spoiler:After the king was killed by Rose, the Oriana kingdom is divided into factions. The Royalists who stand by the Oriana Royal Family and the Doem faction who pushes for Doem to take the throne.]]

** Several characters mistake Cid's incredible power to be due to an artifact since they couldn't fathom the idea of someone being that strong naturally until they face him personally and it is clear that it is just his power.
* AndShowItToYou: In volume 4, [[spoiler: after Cid is away from Marie, a then prostitute turned tavern lady whom he saved in the Lawless Town as Shadow, follows the two muggers and murders them like this. He then returned Marie's money to her, earning more affection from her.]]

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: [[spoiler: How [[SpottingTheThread Rose knew that the Shadow Garden were framed for the crime]] was because of three things. The swordsmanship, the prowess and the real Shadow Garden members aside from Shadow were composed of women. She went on to warn and prevent the Midgar Kingdom from making an enemy out of such a powerful group [[CassandraTruth but was promptly ignored]].]]

* BadassInDistress: Most of the major arcs involved Claire, Alexia and Rose being in danger from the Cult of Diablos. [[spoiler:It's revealed the cult wants their blood to create a new hero]].
* BattleHarem: An entire following of beautiful girls swear loyalty to Cid after he saves them from near death and offering them the chance to avenge their suffering.
* BeautifulAllAlong: All of the girls of Shadow Garden are knockouts but the "Curse" turned them into these rotten lumps of flesh until Cid found a way to restore them to their true selves.

** Alexia (Beauty) - She is the cool-headed and proactive girl and the princess of the Midgar Kingdom.
** Miss Natsume (Brains) - She is the insightful and smart girl and is a famous author and [[spoiler:is secretly the spy from Shadow Garden, Beta]].

** Alexia may seem like your traditional Princess archetypes but Cid and possibly Iris, know it's all an act and that the real Alexia is rude, bad-tempered and generally, a jerk. But when the situation calls for it, Alexia truly shows she's a good person deep down, willing to put her life on the line to protect those she loves.

* CantCatchUp: A recurring element in the series is that Shadow Garden feels they are severely lacking in not just in strength but also skill compared to their master. [[spoiler:This reaches a breaking point when Shadow seemingly abandons them and Alpha believes that it's due to them not meeting his expectations.]]

* CounterfeitCash: [[spoiler:Cid and Yukime]]'s plan to undermine both Mitsugoshi Co and the Great Commerce Alliance.

** Quinton and Goldoh, revealing what had happened to them after being bought at the Lawless City.
* DarkerAndEdgier: [[spoiler:Light novel volume 6 has a much darker tone than the previous volumes due to Cid's alter ego, Jack the Ripper, being a SerialKiller with a PayEvilOntoEvil mindset. Especially since all of Jack's scenes are told from the perspective from other characters without any thoughts of Cid being shown. On top of that, this alter ego's obtains a LegacyCharacter in the end.]]

* DemonicPossession: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Demonic Possession]]...[[spoiler: Or so the world has been led to believe, in truth it's due to the sufferers being a descendant of the Three Heroes, who were each implanted with cells taken from Diablos by the Cult. At a certain stage depending upon the species' lifespan, the cells will begin to take over a female descendant's body and eventually transform them into a monster. Before Cid came along this was incurable.]]

* DisqualificationInducedVictory: Since Mundane Mann reveals himself to the world that he is Shadow after he defeated Iris, he is promptly disqualified, making Claire the winner of the Bushin Festival. She is not happy about this.

** Rose's cries in despair that joining Shadow Garden has cost her the chance to be in a relationship with Cid, not knowing that she's far closer to him since Shadow Garden is founded by him.
* DramaticUnmask: In the Holy Ground arc, Alpha unveils her true identity to Alexia, Rose and Nelson, showing them that she is the hero, Olivier's, descendant.

* FakeRelationship: Alexia blackmails Cid into it so that Zenon would stop making advances towards her.
* FantasyGunControl: The anime occasionally depict guns, but only used by criminals. Justified as the guns are still relatively primitive and dark knights, the primary military force, can shrug off non-magical attacks if they have their guard up. If someone attempted to infuse magic into a bullet it would dissipate by the time it reached it's target. The only time when firearms were shown to be effect was against targets who were [[BroughtDownToNormal unable to use their magic]]. Swords are preferred as they can simply keep channeling their magic into it and are out right necessary for deal with certain monsters.

** In volume 5, [[spoiler: the Head Librarian faced [[TheDreaded Fenrir]] during one of his investigations as a knight years ago. He was [[LiteralDisarming disarmed by him]] and held his wife hostage in order for him to comply to the Cult's demands.]]

** In volume 4, Cid boasts about being able to take down a god with just a single finger. This later comes into play when he promptly defeated and kills Ragnarok, the god and ruler of the Forth Realm, using RazorWire which only requires the use of his fingers.
* ForWantOfANail: Alexia is partially responsible on the Shadow Garden debuting themselves worldwide. Had she rejected Cid like the latter hoped so, the guy wouldn't have been made TheScapegoat by her fiancé Zenon Griffey, making him and the Fenrir faction facing the might of the Shadow Garden.
* FreezeFrameBonus:

* FugitiveArc: While Cid was having the time of his life going through the TournamentArc as Mundane Mann, Rose Oriana was on the run after stabbing her fiance Perv Asshat for drugging her father the king and had to hide in secluded areas such as the burned-down school under renovations and Midgar's underground sewer system. This is further cemented when she snuck into the arena where the Bushin Festival was taking place and mercy-killed her father.

* GivingRadioToTheRomans: ZigZagged. Due to Cid's [[spoiler:[[PastLifeMemories previous memories from his prior life in modern day japan]], he "grants" his knowledgeable staff quite a few tips in improving Shadow Garden's tech in what he describes as knowledge from the "shadows" when it's merely his previous life's memories. They've already have an established network of goods that incorporate designs and flair from the modern day and even has a [[https://i.imgur.com/If2zA3w.png working Morse Code machine station]] to boot.]]

** Both Goldoh and Quinton lost against Jimina/Shadow. Later, they foolishly challenged the denizens of the Crimson Tower which results in their defeats and enslavement. The next day after that, they got sold.

* LastStand: During the [[spoiler: Red Moon Arc, Claudia, the leader of the Anti Blood Queen task force, orders a full retreat when they got overwhelmed by the Blood Queen's ghouls and holds the line for the retreat of her fellow Dark Knights. She almost succumbs to death until she was saved by Shadow.]]

* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Many volumes have a first plot that would lead into a different plot once the first one is resolved:

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Invoked, he specifically targets criminals to test his skills on. He even calls himself a bandit slayer.

* TheNoseKnows: Beastkin mark their desired mates so other Beastkin are aware the individual already belongs to them. For this reason Delta, Zeta, and Yukime constantly rub their bodies or tail on Cid. Often commenting he smells like a dog, cat, or fox depending on the last Beastkin he encountered.

*** A summary of the events told from the perspective of one of the Seven Shades along with a hint for the plot of the next volume. Volumes 1 to 4 are summarized through Beta's personal novel called the "Chronicles of Master Shadow", Volume 5 is told through Eta's Research Journal, and Volume 6 is told through Alpha's Organization Management Diary.

** Volume 2 onwards has Cid disguising himself as another person or new character he thought for himself.
* OffingTheOffspring:
** Delta was the offspring in that situation. After being ousted for having the possession, she was hunted by her own father, but she was able to hide from him and escape.
** [[spoiler:Christina's father gave the assassins of the Thirteen Night Swords permission to assassinate his daughter due to not wanting his household to fall due to Christina's actions, which angered the Night Swords.]]
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: In Volume 3, Delta takes on the task, given to her by Cid, of assassinating Juggernaut the Tyrant. The battle was never shown but it's perfectly clear that she won considering the fact she's still alive, the web novel in particular has Alpha later confirming that Yukime is the last remaining pillar of the Lawless City.
* OnceASeason: Each volume focuses on Cid disguising as a secondary persona other than Shadow[[note]]Mob Cid (Volume 1), Mundane Mann (Volume 2), John Smith (Volume 3), Minoru (Volume 4) and Suzuki Hope (Volume 5)[[/note]] as well as casually dropping at least one "I Am Atomic" or its variations on the VillainOfTheWeek.

** In the anime, Zenon's BreakTheHaughty phase was completed when his sword(the source of his ego) was completely obliterated by Shadow. All Zenon could do was to drop to his knees and faced Shadow's "I Am Atomic" attack.
** Also in the anime, Iris wields an artifact sword belonging to the Three Heroes who were {{Unwitting Pawn}}s to the Cult of Diabolos. [[spoiler:Not only it foretells Iris's future manipulations by the Cult but also shows that like the latter, Iris is rejecting the reality that Shadow is stronger than her and is living in a bubble. Interesting enough, Shadow shows the full range of his "I Am Atomic" attack by encasing the entire kingdom in a literal bubble]].

* SkillGateCharacters: Non-Video Game Example. The memories summoned at the Goddess Trials are based on the challenger's skill level. Cid, knowing this from Alexia, had to resort into transforming as Shadow to avoid blowing his cover when he was unknowingly nominated as a challenger by Rose Oriana. Due to his prowess, he manages to summon the most powerful warrior in the trial, [[TheDreaded Aurora The Calamity Witch]]

** Shadow frequently smiles likes this when he gets to kill someone. He has done so ever since he was a kid.

* TheSocialDarwinist: The therianthrope species holds this mentality. They value strength and power, with hunting prowess being the most sought out. Any member of the tribe that shows signs of weakness will be executed immediately. Certain tribes like Yukime's are the exception to the rule.

* SpoilerOpening: During the anime intro, Cid switches through tv channels showcasing his multiple identities in which the second-to-last one is Jimina Seinen who wouldn't debut until the "God of War Tournament" arc in episode 15.
* SpringtimeForHitler: When Cid, with two of his low-ranking classmates watching in the background, attempted to ask Princess Alexia to be his girlfriend, even after she turned down an earlier confessioner flatly. He even improperly spells her name and status, along with loser-like stuttering just to ensure that she'd be even more inclined to turn him down. [[spoiler:To his sheer surprise, she accepts his confession, despite expecting her complete refusal, which surprises him a great deal.]]

*** And that one is surprisingly realistic too. Generally speaking, paranoia (including but not limited by persecution mania) is a pounding a square peg of idée fixe into a around hole of reality. But! Since being plot-wise at least for a some degree, positive reality check on regular basis and (last, but not least) the ignorance of Cid himself that "square" is constantly filed down to match a hole. That's how we can see a rare borderline between {{Insane Troll Logic}} and being {{Properly Paranoid}}.

** In Volume 5, [[spoiler: The Cult of Diablos has to resort into putting [[ExplosiveLeash mana collar bombs]] on the students of Midgar Academy to activate the Diabolos Arm due to their desperation to produce more [[ImmortalitySeeker Tears of Diabolos]] and the [[OneWingedAngel various lozenges]]. The actions of Cid[[note]]by meeting Aurora, the latter finally resists the Cult's demands and, as John Smith, crippled their economy so bad they can only afford to send 2nd to 3rd children to guard against the Shadow Garden threat[[/note]] and his Shadow Garden[[note]]The Cult has been incurring massive attrition of personnel once the Shadow Garden debuted into the scene, forcing the various factions to unite[[/note]] have definitely taken their toll against the Cult.]]

* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: Between everyone, the Shadow Garden and the Cult of Diablos. [[spoiler:In volume 5, the head librarian himself warns Alexia that the Shadow Garden '''may''' become a bigger threat than them(Cult of Diablos) and to not fully trust & rely on them on his dying breath after being severely wounded against Shadow. In volume 6, the various entities including the King of Midgar even worries about this as he can clearly see that the Cult itself is in its last legs though they also held hope that Shadow Garden will finally wipe out the Cult's influence in the world.]]

** In volume 2 and in game, The Mist Dragon [[StrengthEqualsWorthiness acknowledges Cid]] [[HonorableWarriorsDeath and wishes death by his own hands]] that he protects Alexandria, the former capital and Shadow Garden's main base of operations, with his mist breath that can poison even the most powerful beings.
** From volume 3 onwards, [[spoiler: Aurora protects Cid's sister Claire from harm as thanks for him. She even admits to Claire about being a little envious on her for being always protected by a very powerful warrior like Cid.]]

** Iris gets a taste of what a real defeat is like. After confronting Jimina, she gets defeated in one stroke. She later tries again but this time, allying with Beatrix but once again, Jimina/Shadow came out on top. After that incident, her reputation was soured, she lost the respect of the citizens of Midgar and the Royal Bushin Style lost a considerable amount of their credibility.

* LookBothWays: Cid has spent the night in a forest banging his head against a great tree while stripped of all clothing. By the time he saw the lights of a nearby truck, Cid is suffering from a massive head concussion and a possible case of hypothermia; making him hallucinate that the lights are the magic he long sought. He runs towards the source before being run over seconds later.

* MassOhCrap: Everyone realize that Shadow can kill them all at any time if he wants to. He unleashes his BattleAura which is so strong that it causes weather manipulation.

* OncePerSeason: Every light novel volume includes this in the end:
** A summary of the events told from the perspective of one of the Seven Shades along with a hint for the plot of the next volume. Volumes 1 to 4 is summarized through Beta's personal novel called the "Chronicles of Master Shadow", volume 5 is told through Eta's Research Journal, and volume 6 is told through Alpha's Organization Management Diary.
** An appendix of four pages, which talks about the information and characteristics of certain characters, which usually are the ones that gained focus throughout the volume.

** Delta was the offspring in that situation. After being ousted for having the possession, she was hunted by her own father, but she was able to hide from him and escaped.
** [[spoiler:Christina's father gave the assassins of the Thirteen Night Swords permission to assassinate his daughter due to not wanting his household to fall due to Christina's actions.]]
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: In Volume 3, Delta takes on the task, given to her by Cid, of assassinating Juggernaut the Tyrant. The battle was never shown but it's perfectly clear that she won, as a later chapter reveals Alpha confirming that Yukime is the last remaining pillar of the Lawless City.

* OffingTheOffspring: Delta was the offspring in that situation. After being ousted for having the possession, she was hunted by her own father, but she was able to hide from him and escaped.

* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: Between everyone, the Shadow Garden and the Cult of Diablos. [[spoiler:In volume 5, the head librarian himself warns Alexia that the Shadow Garden '''may''' become a bigger threat than them(Cult of Diablos) and to not fully trust & rely on them on his dying breath after being severely wounded against Shadow.]]

* SecretKeeper: Aside from the Shadow Garden, there are only a handful few people who know that [[spoiler: Cid is Shadow, with them being [[BitchInSheepsClothing Lutheran Barnett]], [[TheDreaded Aurora, and Elisabeth]]. Though others like Rose Oriana, Claire Kagenou and Akane Nishino has been putting two & two together and is already suspecting it.]]

** Combined with FiveSecondForeshadowing. In episode 6, a keen-eyed viewer can spot a [[spoiler: [[https://i.imgur.com/0YN4Kkr.png statue of Shadow]] and the [[AmazonBrigade Seven Shadows]] when Cid enters the Mitsugoshi store, hinting the fact that Mitsugoshi is [[CovertGroupWithAMundaneFront Shadow Garden's front]].]]

Fortunately for the young man, his life began anew when he reincarnated into a new, fantasy world and being given the ability to use magic. Now, as Cid Kagenou, he was finally able to achieve his dream.

[Description was copied in violation of our [[Administrivia/AboutImagesAndCopyright Plagiarism]] policy. Please replace it with original writing.]

Just like how everyone adored heroes in their childhood, a certain young man adored those powers hidden in shadows. After hiding his strength and living the mediocre life of a mob character by day while undergoing frenzied training by night, he finally reincarnates into a different world and gains ultimate power. The young man who is only playing at being a power in the shadows, his misunderstanding subordinates, and a giant organization in the shadows that gets trampled… This is the story of a young boy who had adored powers in shadows possibly eventually reigning over the world of shadows in another world.

* SoreLoser: This is practically what all the elite Cult's elite members are like, always resorting to [[PsychoSerum Diablos Tears formula]] whenever Shadow Garden defeats their normal power, which never really helps much anyway except to even further demonstrate their incompetence after being defeating in their altered forms.

''The Eminence in Shadow'' (''Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!'', literally "I Wanna be the Power in the Shadows!") is a 2018 Japanese WebSerialNovel by Aizawa Daisuke.

* HalfwayPlotSwitcheroo: Many volumes have a first plot that would lead into a different plot once the first one is resolved:

* HeroicBSOD: After Alpha believes Shadow has betrayed her and Shadow Garden, she loses the will to continue on with the cause. She regains her senses after learning that her master is actually a [[TheMole mole]].

* MistakenForRomance:
** Rose and Sherry go through this, both believing that Cid has feelings for them.
** Yukime thinks John Smith has fallen for her when he saves her from Gettan.

* TalentVsTraining: A major theme that's prevalent throughout the series is that ultimately, talent can never surpasses training.
** The reason why Cid became a MasterSwordsman is not due to him having natural talent with the sword but him working on and perfecting the fundamentals. Consequently, he is easily able to adapt and counter any form of combat style that is used against him.
** At first, Alexia loses her passion in swordplay after the constant ridicule she receives for not being talented like her sister, Iris. Only when she sees Shadow taking on and defeating those that are considered prodigies that her passion returns.
** A critical flaw for many swordsmen, mostly from Midgar, is their hubris. Their battles against Shadow shows that they lack emotional control when they are overwhelmed leading them to panic and act ragefully, diminishing their value as true warriors.

** A critical flaw for many swordsmen, mostly from Midgar, is their hubris. Their battles against Shadow shows that they lack mental fortitude when they are overwhelmed leading them to panic and act rageful,