History Manga / BlackButler

Not related in any way to ''Manga/BlackClover'' or ''Manga/BlackLagoon''.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Black_Butler_9880.jpg]]

A third season, covering the Noah's Circus arc and ignoring everything after a certain point from the animes side, aired July 2014 as part of the Summer 2014 anime season, followed later in the year by a two episode OVA (at 50 minutes per episode) covering the Phantomhive Manor Mystery arc. An anime movie, an adaptation of the Ship Voyage Arc, was released in 2017.

[[folder: Manga/Series General]]

* AbsurdlySharpBlade: The ''table knives'' Sebastian uses as ''weapons''.
** Claude's knives in the second season apply as well.
** The Death Scythes wielded by the reapers are repeatedly said to be able to cut anything. Well, [[LikeCannotCutLike aside from each other]], of course.
* ActionGirl: [[spoiler:Elizabeth Middleford]], surprisingly.
** [[spoiler: Mey-rin]], who turns out to be an effective sniper.
** Also, [[MsFanservice Ranmao, in the anime]].
* ADeathInTheLimelight: Subverted with [[spoiler: Agni's death. Chapter 126 gives us a lot of information about ''Soma's'' character and ends with an assassination attempt, [[BaitAndSwitch making it look like this trope will apply to Soma]]. Then Agni dies while saving Soma's life.]]
* AdorablyPrecociousChild: Ciel. A very bitter, very driven one. But before his bitterness, he was just so damn ''cute!'' Differs slightly from the norm in that the only people who treat him as adorable [[BewareTheCuteOnes are the ones who don't know him very well]].
* {{Adorkable}}: Arthur from the murder mystery arc.
** Grell in butler form counts as well.
** Finnian.
** And, for a rare female example, Maylene.
** As of Chapter 91, [[CuteWitch Sieglinde]] may also qualify.
* AerithAndBob: People with names like " Sutcliff", "Aleister Chamber", and "Ciel Phantomhive" are sharing screentime with names like "Jim Macken", "Charles Grey", and "William T. Spears".
* AffablyEvil: It's easy to forget that Sebastian is, in fact, a soul-devouring demon.
* AgentPeacock: Sebastian wears CombatStilettos [[spoiler:in his demon form]], and Ciel is quite the dandy; both are badasses of the first order.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Most of the villains are worse than Ciel.
* AlphaBitch: Despite being male, this is the only way to describe Maurice Cole.
** BitchInSheepsClothing
* AllMenArePerverts: Hilariously played for Sieglinde Sullivan in the [[LostWoods Werewolf's Forest]] arc. Because her village is inhabited by women (and the only man is more of a guard dog), when Ciel and Sebastian spend the night in her castle, in order to be friendly with them, she was willing to ''[[http://www.mangareader.net/kuroshitsuji/89/16 give herself to them]]'' because of all the books she read about men being lustful creatures. Made even more awkward because Ciel can barely understand German, creating a ArentYouGoingToRavishMe scene.
* AluminumChristmasTrees: See ShownTheirWork below. The AnachronismStew gets limited to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness and the anime.
* AmazonChaser: The [[IronLady Marchioness of Midford]] (Elizabeth's mother) met her husband after beating him in a fencing duel.
* AnachronismStew: Quite a few examples, however whether intentional or not is unclear. In general, examples from the anime and [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the early chapters of the manga]] are mistakes, but most of the examples from later chapters of the manga are deliberate. In the latter case, there's usually a mystery to be solved about how and why these advancements came to be in the 1880's. In the manga, it's been confirmed that demons and "other beings" can and do provide their contractors with advanced technology, justifying several examples.
** What are TheMafia, dressed in modern clothing, doing in Victorian England? Not to mention cell phones. (The anime, at least, attempted to retrograde their tech somewhat.)
*** TheMafia uses a model that of car that only appeared few decades later (for comparison 1886, Benz built first modern car and car is still for rich folks until T-Model in 1908) and "Wireless Car Telephone" in 1889.
** There's also the television and video games. ''In Victorian England''.
** Sebastian appears to wear latex gloves when he works in the kitchen.
** Let's not forget about a certain shinigami using a chainsaw, the cook using flame throwers, or the modern washing machine in the Phantomhive Manor. In the manga, only shinigami have out-of-place artifacts (for instance, the "strange watch" and odd glasses of one guy from chapter 52).
** Ciel's pierced ears were extremely uncommon for the nobility back then. His father had them as well.
** In the anime, the clothing isn't modest enough. Both Victorian and Edwardian fashions were very modest; exposed legs and cleavage would have been obscene. Mey-Rin's bathing suit would have been scandalous and the animators gave up even trying with the ladies' costume party and Ciel in Wonderland costumes. Also, Elizabeth's fashion sense sometimes sinks into 18th-century territory.
*** Although the outfits in the Ciel in Wonderland OVA might be explained by the fact that the entire thing [[spoiler:is a thirteen-year-old boy's dream...]]
** Servant-Master relationships were ''plenty'' different. RuleOfFunny [[RuleOfCool and Cool]] aside, a mansion the size of Phantomhive Manor would have needed at ''least'' ten more servants just to keep it clean; keeping ''one'' maid and ''one'' gardener would be [[BrokenMasquerade a dead giveaway]]. Hell, having the servants ''interact'' with Ciel and his guests regularly would be unheard of. In contrast, Alois' treatment of Hannah, while ''far'' crueler than most employees, is still more believable in contrast.
** The German women living in the forest's village wear clothes from [[http://www.mangareader.net/kuroshitsuji/87/15 centuries ago]].
*** {{Lampshaded}} by Ciel and {{justified}}, as it serves to highlight just how ''secluded'' the village is.
*** [[spoiler: Justified by the village is one big masquerade for [[ItMakesSenseInContext biologic weapon/virus.]]]]
*** [[spoiler: Female officers and soldiers in Bundesheer in 1889? Tank (first used by British in 1918)? Super Soldier, anyone?]]
*** Justified with the [[spoiler: tanks]], as they are important specifically because the technology is 30-60 years ahead of its time, and get treated as a top-secret military weapon of unparalleled power. The same goes for [[spoiler: the gas Sullivan creates]].
** The Phantom Five wear clothes that fuse UsefulNotes/LolitaFashion and PunkRock together, with a touch of Victorian England. Partially justified, as Ciel's tailor has shown interest in adapting these styles for men before and they're ''trying'' to create something new and exciting.
** The medical knowledge and technology Bravat uses is (probably) a justified example, as it's been all but confirmed he's made a deal with a supernatural force to gain these things.
*** Furthermore, his understanding of blood types matches up with how much [[https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1930/landsteiner-bio.html Karl Landsteiner]] figured out when blood types were just discovered; the ABO blood samples are kept entirely separate as they haven't figured out [[ABNegative cross-type donations]], and no mention of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rh_blood_group_system positive or negative blood types]] is made.
* AnimatedActors: In the third OVA, "The Making of ''Black Butler'' II", we're given a special behind-the-scenes look with bloopers and interviews provided by Ciel, Sebastian, and the rest of the "cast and crew".
* ArbitrarySkepticism: By far more prevalent in the anime than in the manga, though both have their moments.
** In the anime, Ciel is unwilling to believe in the myth of the white stag, despite having a demon butler, met grim reapers, and plenty of other magic by this point.
** In the anime Bard is skeptical of a camera that can show a person's hearts desire, despite knowing full well that he's living with a hell hound.
** Ciel in the manga mostly averts this by asking Sebastian directly what is and isn't a myth, though at one point he says he believes that the witch-hunts of old times were just tragedies when innocent women were persecuted under false circumstances. He does then admit that this is just his personal belief, and listens carefully to Sebastian's opinion on the subject.
** Likewise, Sebastian of the manga says that "he's never met or heard of a real werewolf" [[note]](as he cannot lie he can't state an absolute about something not existing, just incase he turns out to be wrong despite all odds, so this is his way saying "I don't believe in werewolves")[[/note]] and doesn't believe that the ones encountered in the forest are real werewolves
** Humorously Averted with Sullivan. When Sebastian explains that Ciel was set up to be a HumanSacrifice in a Demonic SummoningRitual, Sullivan shouts how ridiculous that is. Sebastian tries to tell her that demonic summoning is possible, but she interrupts him by saying that [[EvilIsNotAToy a failed summoning would cause the casters to be cursed by the demon.]]
* AristocratsAreEvil: Zigzagged. A lot of the opponents that Ciel and Sebastian face are aristocratic, but there are many others who are decent souls.
** Ciel himself arguably counts, as a CreepyChild noble who has made a DealWithTheDevil.
** Agni's backstory is that he used to be a Brahmin (see UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}--basically, they're the most important members of the caste system in traditional Indian culture) but became a notorious bandit and "monster" in disgust at his father's corruption, though he was reformed after being claimed by Prince Soma as his butler.
* ArrangedMarriage: Ciel is only 12 years old, yet he is already engaged to [[KissingCousins his cousin Elizabeth]].
* ArtEvolution
* ArtisticLicenseGeography: A rare instance, given the tendency to ShownTheirWork. In both the [[http://www.mangareader.net/102-36168-16/kuroshitsuji/chapter-38.html "manga"]] and [[http://s859.photobucket.com/user/ihitokage/media/Czech%20Republic%20in%20Anime/kuroshitsujibookofmurder.png.html?sort=3&o=0 "anime"]] versions, there are maps that are somewhat... unconventional in their depiction of late-Victorian era Europe. Doubles as AnachronismStew. More specifically:
** A cursory look at the manga version would give off the feeling that the map is post-1990, as Germany is in in its significantly reduced, current territory [[note]] If you ignore the sudden [[GratuitousGerman Anschluß]] of Jutland. This is somehow more forgivable, since it could be an instance of forgetting to draw the German-Danish border, rather than a complete failure of contemporaneous geography. [[/note]] [[note]] You could argue post-1945, as both East and West Germanies claimed exclusive mandate over all Germany, but this is a stretch. [[/note]], far from the late 1800s that the story is set in. A more careful look reveals the Irish Free State, driving this into even more CriticalResearchFailure as the Irish Free State existed 1922-1937, before Ireland left the Commonwealth.
** The anime version is somehow worse in this regard. The [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia Russian Federation]] is shown, as is the Czech Republic [[note]]Admittedly, there seems to be no delineation between the Czech lands and Austria, which is accurate; but this was under Imperial-and-Royal Austria-Hungary, before the concept of a Czech Republic was around. Because it was imperial, not republican. [[/note]], a (!) united Ireland, not to mention Estonia and Latvia collectively being placed more southward than they ought to be. It's a hot mess that defies time-placement.
* AudienceParticipation: The Phantomhive 5 do this in-universe, as part of their charm.
* AuthorAppeal: Understandable, considering the author was once a {{Yaoi}} {{Hentai}} mangaka, but:
** Nearly every single male character being an outright {{Bishounen}}.
** Yana Toboso also has a thing for suave, gentlemanly characters, as seen by Sebastian, Claude (sort of), Aleister Chamber, and various other characters in this and Toboso's other works.
** We can assume she likes 'em young too, considering all the fanservice. (That last one isn't even the first time he's been threatened with sexual assault, it's just the most ''graphic''.)
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Besides the, ahem, ''assistance'' from Sebastian and Lau, the Blue House manages [[spoiler:to win]] the cricket match with hard work and a strategy that plays to their unique strengths.
* BackFromTheDead: The goal of the Phoenix Society, a group of medical professionals. Their debut attempt... [[CameBackWrong isn't]] [[EmptyShell going]] [[HorrorHunger very]] [[OurZombiesAreDifferent well]].
* BadassAdorable[=/=]CuteBruiser: [[spoiler:Elizabeth Midford. This sweet DamselInDistress reveals herself as such in Chapter 57 and confesses that she desperately wanted for her [[ChildhoodMarriagePromise fiancé]] Ciel to not see her "uncute" side and thus [[DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel deliberately hid]] her [[LittleMissBadass badass]] side up until then. Even nearly at the cost of her own life. Only shortly after Ciel berates her for such behavior (Prioritizing lady-manners over survival) when she is about to die while Ciel who, despite his best efforts, ends up injured and unable to save her and is [[DistressedDude in danger]], Elizabeth spontaneously leaps into action and [[WaifFu stabs down the zombies]] using [[DualWielding swords in both hands]], while tearfully declaring that she'll protect him.]]
* BadassFamily: The entire [[KnightInShiningArmor Middleford]] family. [[spoiler:Including [[CuteBruiser Elizabeth]]]].
* BadassNormal: Agni, Prince Soma's BattleButler. He managed to fight ''Sebastian'', a demon who had been ordered to win (and a direct order basically turns his PowerLimiter off), to a mutual ''draw''. Despite being human. Even Sebastian notes he's an incredible specimen for a human.
* BandagedFace: Baron Kelvin. Also Hannah in the second season of the anime, to cover [[EyeScream the eye that Alois gouged out]].
* BarehandedBladeBlock: Sebastian does this against a chainsaw. He's [[CatchPhrase one hell of a butler]], all right.
** Hannah pulls it off as well.
** Ciel also performs one against Alois.
* BattleButler: Sebastian, of course. Also [[spoiler: the {{Shinigami}}]]. And [[{{FunnyForeigner}} Agni]]. Also:
** [[spoiler:Mey-Rin the ColdSniper NinjaMaid who is able to use ''pistols'' as sniper rifles while leaping from rooftop to rooftop.]]
** [[spoiler:Finnian, who is strong enough to throw ''statues'' across the room.]]
** [[spoiler:Tanaka, who is an excellent practitioner of the martial art baritsu.]]
** [[spoiler:Bard, who, in addition to having a ''Gatling gun'' in his kitchen, effectively blew up a building by igniting a large, highly concentrated cloud of very fine ''flour,'']] which, amusingly enough, is actually TruthInTelevision. [[spoiler:Flour explosions]] completely destroyed one of the largest mills in the USA at one point.
** And in the anime's second season, Claude Faustus of the Trancy Manor. And the Triplets. [[spoiler:And even Hannah]].
** There's also the Queen's butler, Charles Grey, who [[spoiler:was the true murderer in the murder mystery arc of the manga]]. The rest of her butlers probably also apply, though they haven't actually been seen in action yet.
* BeaconOfHope:
** Elizabeth Midford, Ciel Phantomhive's fiancée, is a chipper and bright ray of sunshine among all of the dark, brooding anti-heroes and bloodthirsty villains. She wants everything to be bright and cute, much to her dark fiancée's displeasure. However, she is also a skilled swordswoman and will fight to defend those she loves, though she'd rather not do this.
** Prince Soma Asman Kadar helps out the others whenever he can, and holds a respect and care for Ciel and Sebastian that surpasses his royal heritage. Though usually used as a PluckyComicRelief, he does aid Ciel in investigations and competitions.
* BeautifulDreamer: Ciel, though subverted in that ''everyone'' [[{{Squick}} seems to like watching him sleep]], so this trope can be taken in a non-romantic way.
* TheBeautifulElite: {{Lampshade}}d with the Phantomhive family. To quote Ciel's StalkerWithACrush, [[spoiler:Baron Kelvin]]:
-->"White porcelain skin like a bisque doll, beautiful hair, big eyes like diamonds, a youthful body. I will become something else. It doesn't matter if my ugly wife leaves me. I will be beautiful with a beautiful life. I will be suitable for him."
* BecauseDestinySaysSo: In the manga, Ciel's goal is to torture and kill the people who killed his parents, though, once this goal is complete, it is an almost certain and inescapable fate that Sebastian will eat his soul. In the anime, this is [[spoiler:averted, as Ciel becomes a demon and Sebastian is unable to take his soul]].
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Ciel, depending on how much you consider him "evil".
* BewareTheNiceOnes: From the gentle and kindhearted gardener with superhuman strength to Queen Victorian, the prim and proper grandmother who casually orders assassinations and [[spoiler: frames Ciel for murder as a test]], the reader should assume that everyone has hidden superpowers or is a MagnificentBastard.
* BigDamnHeroes: If this doesn't describe Greenhill and Edward in chapter 71, nothing does. The two of them kick down the door, Greenhill single-handedly beats the shit out of all the goons holding Ciel in one blow, while Edward does what any sane person would do when rescuing someone and checks to make sure Ciel is alright.
* BigFancyHouse: The Phantomhive manor definitely qualifies, as well as Alois's mansion in the second season.
* BishieSparkle: Sebastian has this as a possible superpower.
** As does Finny.
* {{Bishonen}}: Ciel and Sebastian are the most obvious. There's also... pretty much a good majority of the male cast, save for Baron Kelvin, Georg von Siemens, Jumbo, Lord Arthur Randall, Azzurro Vanel, Fred Abberline, Tanaka, Damian, and Doctor. So basically, any male character under the age of forty-five.
** The random guy who tortures Sebastian in Episode 20 is also an (extremely) notable exception.
* BlackAndGrayMorality: The protagonist is a 12/13 year-old boy who, at the age of 10, saw both parents murdered; he was subsequently abducted, tortured, and then almost used as a sacrifice in a Satanic ritual. The next most sympathetic group of characters are four seventeen-year-old school boys who [[spoiler:accidentally murdered six people for bullying--because one of the boys lost his temper--then turned the corpses into zombies to hide their crime]], all the while fully convinced they had done it in the name of justice. While there are a number of "white" characters in the series, they are largely unaware of the kind of work that Phantomhive is involved with.
** Actually, Ciel was ''successfully'' sacrificed, not ''almost'' - that's how he and Sebastian were even able to make a contract with each other in the first place.
** This moral ambiguity is somewhat subverted in the anime, wherein Ciel is much more cynical and less sympathetic as a character than his manga counterpart.
** Even the staff, who are best recognized as the cheerful PluckyComicRelief characters, are all [[spoiler:willing to murder in cold blood and clearly desensitized to it]].
* BlackComedy
* BlindWithoutEm:
** Mey-Rin has a particularly bad case of farsightedness. While this makes her [[spoiler:an excellent sniper, to the point where a previous employer said her "amazing eyes" made it the only thing she was good for]], she is clumsy and generally incompetent as a maid.
** All of the Shinigami are stated to be BlindWithoutEm.
* BoardingSchool: Weston College. Complete with pranks, hazing, school houses, [[SeriousBusiness school sports]], a spoiled student [[spoiler:who went too far]], Ciel posing as a perfect and kind student, "fagging", and one minor antagonist abusing the SituationalSexuality.
** Also a OneGenderSchool.
* BodyHorror: "The werewolf's curse" [[spoiler:or, rather, chemical weapon invented by the villagers and (unwittingly) Siegliende]] has this effect. The victim's face swells to multiple times its size and the skin looks like if it's melted.
* {{Boyband}}: The villain of the Blue Cult arc uses one to draw people into his cult, using the P4 from the Public School arc as members. Ciel then funds a {{Boyband}} of his own composed of Soma and the P4's former fags to draw people away (with at least two members aware of the true reasons for this band).
** Ciel's group takes it a step farther by including a form of the FiveManBand by assigning each member a "character" (or in Cheslocks case, having him be his unique self). We have:
** Edward as The Heartthrob
** Joanne as The Cute One
** [[TypeCasting Cheslock]] as [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys The Rebel]]
** Clayton as TheSmartOne
** Soma is sort of The Older Brother, but Ciel and Sebastian haven't yet figured out all the tropes and instead cast him as [[IceQueen The Ice Prince]].
* BrainsAndBrawn: Subverted with Sebastian and Ciel. Although Sebastian is [[GeniusBruiser smart]] like Ciel, he is the one who fights against their enemies while Ciel is usually played as TheChessmaster.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: In ''Kuroshitsuji II'', Grell addresses the audience directly, looking forward to letters of encouragement.
** The 3rd OVA from ''Kuroshitsuji II'' breaks it down completely. It's a documentary style episode where the characters are treated as actors in 2010 and talk about everything from their roles and behind the scenes to the filming process (complete with a green screen when they were practicing the Sebastian/Claude fight). There's even a scene that takes place at A-1 Pictures' own CG department.
** Yet another is the end of the 4th chapter in the manga. As Sebastian goes to answer Ciel's call, he opens the door, then looks back at the reader, puts a finger to his lips, and goes "Shh--".
* BreakTheCutie: Ciel, and in the anime's second season, Alois.
** There's a few other characters too, such as Freckles[[spoiler:/Doll]] from the circus arc. And, most recently, Siegliende.
* BreatherEpisode: The short Easter arc of the manga. It comes immediately after the conclusion of the Campania arc, which was incredibly tense, drawn-out and drama-filled, and almost seems designed to be exactly this after the ordeal of [[spoiler:''zombies'', Elizabeth revealing herself to be LittleMissBadass, and Sebastian being mortally wounded to the point where he can ''barely stand up'' and still managing to beat up on a rookie shinigami and a horde of "[[OurZombiesAreDifferent bizarre dolls]]"]]. Let's face it, we all needed a fluff chapter by this point.
* BridalCarry: Sebastian's preferred method of toting Ciel around.
* BrokenAce: Ciel.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Bard, Mey-Rin, and Finny, because of their ''other'' jobs. as well, in the case of the shinigami.
* TheBusCameBack: The P4 return in the Blue Cult arc as the {{Boyband}} "Shinista" being exploited to lure people into the titular cult. Not long after their fags return as the "Phantom Five" {{Boyband}} Ciel forms to combat Shinista.
* ButterflyOfDoom: Chaos Theory is mentioned when Ciel and Sebastian [[spoiler:explain to Wordsmith why Siemens was killed and another guy was framed (basically they would've helped their respective countries become so powerful they'd overwhelm England)]].
* CallBack: In Chapter 10, Grell says that Madame Red is "a boring woman" [[spoiler:right before killing her]], and in chapter 94 Sebastian says that [[spoiler:Ciel's death was utterly boring]]. Hm...
* CameBackWrong[=/=]OurZombiesAreDifferent: Maggy, courtesy of Dr. [[{{Dracula}} Stoker]].
* CannotTellAJoke: Madame Red. We never get to hear the joke but the cast's reactions range from blank stares to confusion. Lau as well in the same scene.
* CastOfSnowflakes: Characters are easily distinguishable because no one looks exactly alike and ages can become extremely varied (especially in the circus and murder mystery arcs). And, what's more is that most of the characters have very detailed clothes (save the queen's three right-hand servants who all wear the same uniform); most notably Ciel who changes clothing every chapter.
* {{Catchphrase}}: Sebastian's favorite phrase, "I am a butler through and through" is a play on words in Japanese and can also mean "I am a butler and a demon". This is rendered as "I am one ''hell'' of a butler" in the [[FanSub subtitles]] and the dub. Also "Yes, my lord."
** The Yen Press manga translation turns Sebastian's twin phrases into "I am merely a butler" and "I am a ''devil'' of a butler'' respectively.
** Also "It is only natural that a servant of Phantomhive would be able to (do whatever impossible thing he just did)." Frequently overlooked because the subtitles translate it differently ''every damn time'', but repeated often enough that Ciel eventually cuts him off when tries to say it.
*** Changed even further in the Creator/FUNimation subs for the second season. It's now "A Phantomhive butler who can't (do whatever impossible thing he just did) isn't worth his salt."
*** "It is only natural that a servant of Phantomhive would be able to (do X)", appears to be a catchphrase for Ciel's servants as a whole.
*** "I am the butler of the Phantomhive family. It goes without saying that such minor feats are within my repetoire/that I can handle something like this/etc."
*** "If I couldn't do this much at LEAST, well then what kind of butler would I be?"
** Ciel seems to yell "Listen when others are talking/to what others are saying!!" Quite often. Usually to Lizzy or Lau.
* ChainsawGood: Wielded by [[spoiler:Grelle]]. Yes, in Victorian England.
* CharacterDevelopment: Mostly in the manga, not so much in the anime.
** All of the servants slowly become more competent; although Sebastian still doesn't let them handle anything important, he spends far less time cleaning up after their messes and all of them are shown competently helping out at the Green Witch Manor.
** Ciel gets walked through some development by Sebastian, who teases him for not doing enough for himself repeatedly until Ciel begins thinking up solutions to his own problems that don't involve demons being invincible and putting more personal effort into his work. He's still relying on Sebastian heavily, but you get the feeling that if he was left on his own he'd be able to get by at least.
*** Ciel also begins appreciating Sebastian and the servants a little bit, thanking them and caring about their opinions of him.
** Once Lizzy knows that Ciel doesn't think her "unfeminine" for being strong, she begins thinking on her own a little more, realizing that something is wrong with Ciel and [[spoiler: defecting to the Blue Cult for unknown reasons, but of her own free will.]]
** In both the anime and the manga, Soma is well-meaning but pretty self-centered when he comes to England, showing concern for others and for justice but rarely thinking about how others feel. After Sebastian and Ciel point this out to him he starts working on this and becomes easier to get along with as he gets more considerate. In the manga he later gets more character depth by revealing that he's known all along what kind of person Ciel is, and has good reasons to keep being his "friend."
* ChefOfIron: Baldroy.
* ChekhovsArmoury: Apart from the various examples listed below, two arcs have [[ChekhovsArmoury Chekhovs Armouries]] limited to their plots.
** Fitting for the category, the Manor Murder Case arc has one that's specifically limited to the mystery of the arc. Full list:
*** Sebastian’s [[spoiler: corpse]] being wet.
*** Sebastian not defending Ciel [[spoiler: when the latter is accused of murder.]]
*** The last thing Ciel says to Sebastian before going to bed.
*** Ciel suddenly having a favorite pillow that was never mentioned before.
*** The fact that the audience doesn’t get to see or hear what was written on the piece of paper Jeremy handed to Ciel.
*** The audience seeing every corpse while Jeremy inspects them except for [[spoiler: Sebastian’s.]]
*** Even Jeremy taking his time going up the stairs.
*** From a visual standpoint, there are lots of shots of [[spoiler: Earl Grey]]’s eyes.
*** A lot of [[spoiler: Earl Grey]]'s facial expressions, especially when something shocking or dramatic happens, don't quite match up with what one would expect in the current situation.
*** [[ChekhovsNews The newspaper Ciel is reading at the very beginning of the arc,]] [[BilingualBonus if you're reading in English.]] [[note]]As a manga, it's originally published in Japanese, and not all readers might be able to read the headline of the English newspaper.[[/note]]
*** Earl Grey asking to play a part in Ciel’s upcoming mission.
*** The red elixir Irene Diaz has [[spoiler: is actually a RedHerring.]]
** A different set of examples would be in the Blue Cult arc. Almost every single element Ciel uses to make his "Phantomhive Five" band a huge success is something that was mentioned in prior arcs.
*** Tin-can telephones from Chapter 71 are turned into loudspeaker systems.
*** Each and every element of the S4's performance that was particularly impressive is adopted and improved upon.
*** Sebastian's established knowledge of human psychology is used to create an ideal "personality" for each performer. Likewise this is similar to Ciel's method of acting where he adopts a specific role and plays it out.
*** ChekhovsSkill: Sebastian's skills as a teacher come back when he trains the P5 to be expert singers, actors and dancers in record time. His ability to rebuild a house in seconds (last seen in the WholeEpisodeFlashback chapters) is also used to get their music hall ready quickly enough that Bravat can't see it coming.
*** Ciel's economic savvy from Chapter 91 about celebrity merchandising is used to create a souvenir system that both makes money ''and'' attracts audience involvement.
*** The performers Ciel chose count as [[ChekhovsGunman Chekhovs Gunmen]], since all of them (except Soma) were the P4's Fags in the school arc.
*** Even the glowsticks came from the benign, luminescent chemicals Sullivan used to draw glowing "runes" in the Green witch arc (Chapter 93 shows them well). It's a harder example to note than most, because the black-and-white drawing style make it hard to tell that her writing is supposed to be glowing and [[GeniusBonus most readers probably don't know that calcite (the material Sebastian identifies in the wand) can glow under the right conditions.]]
* ChekhovsBoomerang: Three examples:
** First, there’s an early mention that Aleister Chamber is involved with black magic groups, which overlaps with ChekhovsHobby. Later on, he turns out to be part of the Phoenix Society [[spoiler:and tries to use the Bizarre Dolls for his own purposes]]. In the next arc, his connections to the Phoenix Society [[spoiler:allow his nephew, Edgar Redmond, to contact the Undertaker]].
** During the School Arc, the elephant that Soma rides into school on also becomes important twice--yet it still manages to be hilarious [[ChekhovsGag every time it shows up]]. First, it gets spooked and destroys Maurice Cole’s room, forcing him to share with Soma and giving Soma the chance to catch him sending notes to his underlings and [[spoiler:get photos of his real face]]. Then, Sebastian uses it to transport water during the fire.
** The paintings in Chapter 71 are plot-relevant to the scene they're introduced in, then the same technique is used again in Chapter 122 [[spoiler: on a much larger scale to create primitive microphones]].
* ChekhovsGag: We never see [[spoiler:Undertaker’s eyes]]. It looks like a character quirk, but in both the anime and the manga this is to hide something.
** In the second episode/third chapter, Finny picks up a large stone statue and easily tosses it around in an attempt to crush a mouse. It’s played for comedy, as part of the servants goofy antics. Later on in both the anime and the manga, we learn that Finny has super-strength, and [[spoiler: is a formidable opponent in battle.]]
** Whenever Bard blows up the kitchen, it’s played for comedic value. Except when there are [[spoiler: two intruders are trapped inside, and we learn that [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Bard's combat specialty is explosives.]]]]
** Meirin's clumsy-ness is said to come from [[BlindWithoutEm her poor eyesight]], because she's so ungodly farsighted she has trouble seeing anything close enough to touch. [[spoiler: Her unique vision makes her a great sniper.]]
** Vice-Principal Agares being clumsy.
* ChekhovsGun: A very specific tactic is used in the Murder Mystery arc, of having two people wear another person's clothes in order to mislead animals who track by scent, thus leading the tracker exactly where you want it to go and hiding the actual target. This gets used again, only when running from dogs instead of snakes. [[spoiler: Which explains that fancy and large cloak Ciel wears when going to see Sullivan in Chapter 97.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: Although he serves a purpose before the reveal, you wouldn’t have guessed [[spoiler: Undertaker]] to be so plot-central. The same applies to Grell before her reveal.
** [[spoiler: Snake]] wanders off at the end of the circus arc. He is responsible for [[spoiler: one of the deaths in the Murder Mystery arc]], and eventually becomes a secondary character.
** See ChekhovsBoomerang for Aleister Chamber.
* ChekhovsHobby: We’re informed that Ciel keeps a hidden gun on him at all times early on in the manga, but since Sebastian does all of the fighting it’s easy for readers to forget this. Eventually, he gets to shoot someone.
** It gets mentioned in Madame Red’s memories that her sister has asthma. Turns out, Ciel has the same condition.
** Again, see ChekhovsBoomerang for Aleister Chamber's referenced connection to black magic societies.
* CheshireCatGrin: Ciel, and in some cases, Sebastian. Also, most noticeably, Undertaker.
* TheChessmaster: Ciel is definitely the main chess-master, but there are so many others in the series, especially Sebastian, [[spoiler:Madame Red, and Angela/Ash]].
* ChessMotifs: Chess imagery is used frequently, especially in the last few episodes.
* ChildProdigy: [[spoiler: Elizabeth has TheGift for swordplay, being regarded as a fencing genius by her peers in a flashback. She's kept this from Ciel due to a fear when they were much younger that Ciel wouldn't like her anymore if he knew about her talent.]]
** Siegliende could easily read at the age of three. She could also [[spoiler: fully understand complicated chemical formulas for a production of a deadly gas. And somehow unwillingly, make it even more deadly.]]
* ChildrenAreAWaste: A prostitute goes to a doctor to get an abortion with this as her reason. [[spoiler:That doctor had lost her ability to have children thanks to an accident that killed her husband and nearly her as well. This was the last straw before she snapped and became UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper.]]
* ChinesePeople: Lau, who as of manga chapter 16, doubles as a {{pretty freeloader}}.
* CircusOfFear: An entire arc.
* CoDragons: The queen's butlers seem to apply at certain times.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The Weston prefects: Redmond of Scarlet Fox House, Greenhill of Green Lion House, Bluer of Sapphire Owl House, and Violet of Violet Wolf House.
** Grell possesses red attire, red hair, red bloodlust, and a passionate red attitude.
* CombatStilettos: Manlied up by [[spoiler:Sebastian]]. It's not often you see a grown man murdering people in [[http://i.imgur.com/bAGnV.png these]].
* ConspicuouslyLightPatch: If you pay careful attention, you notice Yana Toboso [[InvertedTrope Inverts]] this trope this all the time by shading characters and object at important moments. The only time this gets pointed out in-story is when it’s used to show that Sebastian’s demon-senses are picking up something strange from [[spoiler: Johann Agares.]][[note]]Other examples are more subtle, such as shading the servants when they interact with Sebastian and soon after revealing that they’re all mad at him and trying to hide their emotions, the shading being used to indicate suppressed anger.[[/note]]
* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: Ciel, of the VillainProtagonist variety. From the anime, Alois may also apply.
* CookingDuel: The curry contest in the Indian Butler arc. Queen Victoria has the final word on it.
* CrazyPrepared: Charles Phipps.
* CreepyChild: Ciel seems to fit this trope. He's a cynical, jaded, and very driven 12-year-old (or 13, depending on how far you are in the series) who is a Chess Master and [[WiseBeyondTheirYears wise beyond his years]]. He has no qualms about getting involved in dangerous missions and will command his badass butler Sebastian to kill someone without a second thought. Then again, there's a reason why he is the way he is now.
** Alois as well. And Luca.
* CreepyCrows: Sebastian is shown as either a raven or a crow in the anime's prelude, and is often shown with the black Corvid feathers around him, even in the manga.
* CreepyMortician: The Undertaker. Need we say more?
* CrimefightingWithCash: As Ciel starts relying on Sebastian less and his own intelligence more, he begins doing this.
* {{Crossdresser}}: Ciel wasn't pleased with this plan.
** In the OVA the Undertaker is very enthusiastic about wearing dresses for the Phantomhive production of Hamlet.
** Alois also crossdresses in episode 5 of season 2.
** Alan and Abberline also wear dresses for a scene in the second musical. Of course, Abberline didn't shave first, so it ends up looking especially creepy.
** Joanne and Cheslock both wear skirts in their "Phantom Five" costumes.
* CrossdressingVoices: You may know Ciel's seiyuu to be that of [[Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub Haruhi Fujioka]]. He is also voiced by Creator/BrinaPalencia in the English dub.
** Alois may sound a little like [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha Fate]] [[Creator/NanaMizuki Testarossa]] when he's putting on his "sweet, innocent child" act.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: [[spoiler:The Undertaker, an eccentric gray-haired man who trades murder details for jokes and has some...odd turn-ons, is really the most legendary of the Shinigami in the anime.]]
** [[spoiler:In the manga, Undertaker is also a badass shinigami, but of a crueler variety.]]
** It's easy to forget that Grell started off as a highly incompetent butler to Madam Red who could not do anything right...[[spoiler: before revealing the shinigami and AxCrazy[=/=]ChainsawGood sides hidden beneath the butler act.]]
** [[spoiler:Also, the clumsy maid is actually quite the sharpshooter.]]
** [[spoiler:All the incompetent household staff, really.]] No ''wonder'' he keeps them around.
* CurbStompBattle: In Chapter 61, [[spoiler: Undertaker manages to easily do this to Grell, Ronald, and Sebastian without breaking a sweat.]] Wow.
* DancesAndBalls: Ciel, being an aristocrat, attends a handful of these. One of the more memorable ones was when he had to [[{{Crossdresser}} crossdress]] while doing it.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: A good portion of the entire cast; most notably Ciel, Alois, and the circus crew.
** Hinted at with Green Lion House prefect Greenhill, who needed ''two other prefects'' to be with him because there was a chance he'd have to use violence. [[spoiler: It turns out to be second-degree murder, which he regrets, but believes [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption that he had no choice.]]]]
** [[spoiler: As of Chapter 105, all the reapers have a DarkAndTroubledPast as they were all humans who were DrivenToSuicide.]]
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: Happened to Ciel. Subverted in the manga, as he hasn't slipped any farther than he was willing to go when he made the contract- his standards are just that low. [[spoiler: He remembers every innocent person who died because of him and feels guilt, but refuses to let that deter him.]]
* DarkSkinnedBlond: Agni.
* DeadpanSnarker: Ciel.
* DealWithTheDevil: While Sebastian has a morbid sense of humor that he only shows to his enemies and Ciel, he has been rather honorable and faithful to even the spirit of his side of the bargain.
** Sieglinde's ancestor trade her legs to the werewolf in exchange of protection to her and her fellow witches, causing to her descendants to be unable to walk. With time, the Green witch's blood has thinned and the village is in fear that it may start attacking them if they go into the woods. [[spoiler: However, it was all a lie told to Siegliende to pressure her into finishing the formula for a stable chemical weapon. And the one who orchestrated everything was Siegliende's ''own mother''.]]
* DeathAndTheMaiden: In the [[OriginalVideoAnimation OVA]] "The Tales of Will the Grim Reaper", aspiring writer Thomas Wallis is inspired by William T. Spears to write a novel with this very premise.
* DeathByOriginStory: Ciel's parents.
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Ciel's parents, of course.
* DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel: [[spoiler:Elizabeth Midford. She wanted to remain cute in front of Ciel even at the risk of her own life. Only shortly after their conversation about her prioritizing of ladyship before survival does Elizabeth reveal this, as she [[DistressedDude defends Ciel]] no less]].
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Some things may appear rather [[{{Squick}} squicky]] to the reader, but less so when they consider the time period. Back then, it was quite understandable to see even young teens drinking wine or similar. First Cousin Marriages were also quite common back then, especially when it comes to the line of nobles.
* {{Determinator}}: Edward Midford. He's an average guy with [[spoiler:less fencing skill than his sister]], and he's studying in a BoardingSchool full of intelligent rich kids. Despite not being especially talented among the rest of the cast, he works hard, and eventually he reaches a level where he is able to [[MegaManning mimic]] another guy's ball throwing technique after seeing it a couple of times.
* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: The dinner scene with [[spoiler:Baron Kelvin]]. At first it looks like NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine, but as it goes on, we find out that [[spoiler:Baron Kelvin is pretty much treating it as a date and is being genuinely nice in his own, sick way]].
* DisguisedInDrag: They've managed to get Ciel into a dress in the manga, the anime, ''and'' the musical.
** In the second musical, this gets taken {{up to eleven}} with at least half the male characters running around an opera "disguised" in dresses. Including Abberline, mustache and all.
** Played with in the live-action film. For unwitting viewers, Shiori/Kiyoharu starts the film in a white dress and looking like all the other girls...then rips the wig off and appears to be a boy. Subverted in that Shiori/Kiyoharu is actually a girl. Not as spoileriffic for anyone who did know in advance that Shiori disguised herself as a boy to begin with.
* DishDash: Sebastian frequently ends up catching falling dishware, food, and other items due to the clumsiness of Mey-Rin and the other household staff. He never drops anything--by accident, anyway--because he's just that good of a BattleButler.
* DissonantSerenity: Sebastian on occasion.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Ciel's plan B in the cricket game against the Green House, suggested by Sebastian: bringing Lau to the game alongside [[MsFanservice Ran Mao]] and [[FanserviceExtra a bunch of other girls in short Qipaos]] [[http://www.mangahere.com/manga/kuroshitsuji/v13/c078/15.html distracted the Green House's boys]] (the Blue House boys didn't notice because of their bad eyesight). It works out for a while until they (Lau and the girls) are expelled from the field.
* DistressedDamsel: Elizabeth. [[spoiler:Subverted in Chapter 57]].
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The infamous corset scene. Which has popped up in pretty much every version! The manga, the anime, and the (second) ''musical'', of all places.
** Chapter 9 has [[http://www.mangareader.net/102-2018-7/kuroshitsuji/chapter-9.html this gem]] of a page to flip to. Without context, it looks quite like any given porn page, although it's nothing more than [[spoiler:Ciel vomiting after seeing Jack The Ripper's latest victim]].
** Chapter 34 pulled a bit of this too. Instead of being sexy, the scene is outright disturbing, because the fanservice occurs while one of the characters involved is having a complete mental breakdown and ends with [[spoiler:the massacre of god knows how many innocent children]].
** In Chapter 71, when Maurice Cole was finally caught by Ciel for telling him the wrong time to meet with the prefects, he had a group of male students hold down Ciel and take off his shoe, unbutton his clothes, and cover his mouth to prevent him from screaming with the line, "Let's take some pictures, the kind that will make you die in shame!" One wonders what exactly they were planning on doing...
** Chapter 72: The brother-bonding ceremony looks a hell of a lot like a wedding at first glance, plus all the innuendoes about fag-brother bonds and Maurice's apparent attraction to Redmond. The entire system seems more like a case of LoverAndBeloved than brotherly.
** In Chapter 73, Sebastian [[NotWhatItLooksLike pushes Ciel up against a bookcase, when they're alone, in the school library, in the middle of the night]].
--->'''Sebastian:''' I'm sorry for being rough.
** Chapter 76: All of the Scarlet Fox's cricket players suffer [[spoiler: from diarrhea caused by a meat pie filled with laxatives,]] courtesy of Ciel and Sebastian. Everyone else retires, but Harcourt is left behind,[[http://www.mangareader.net/kuroshitsuji/76/34 and his expressions of pain are... well... reminiscent of something else involving that orifice.]]
** Anime example: '''All''' of the dialogue in season 2 about Ciel's soul comes across as sexual. There's one scene where Aloise threatens to tear Ciel's soul apart and feed pieces of it to his entire staff, and it comes across like he's threatening to let the servants gang-rape him. It doesn't help that Aloise is sitting on Ciel's chest while making the threat.
** Chapter 97: The villagers, ecstatic that Sieglinde has finally completed [[spoiler:the formula for a new chemical weapon]], decide to name it [[spoiler:"Sullin"]].
** Chapter 125: Much of what [[spoiler: Violet says about his involvement in the cult]] is reminiscent of something a survivor of ParentalAbuse or DomesticAbuse would say. After reading this chapter, re-reading the entire arc shows that many of his scenes also have this trend.
* {{Doppelganger}}: Sebastian bears a striking resemblance to [[spoiler:Ciel's father]]. Coincidence?
** In the anime's second season, Claude looks a lot like Sebastian, too.
* DoubleEntendre: So many. Especially in the second season. ''Especially'' when Claude is having a conversation or talking to himself about Ciel.
* TheDreaded: Marchioness Frances Phantomhive-Middleford (played semi-seriously, semi-comically). The woman even the resident demon would prefer ''not'' to spend time with, let alone her darling nephew. Both live in a fair degree of fear of her dropping 'round. On the face of it, it is easy to dismiss her as an over-the-top portrayal as one half of a (potential) ObnoxiousInLaws couple for humor. However...we ''are'' talking about the woman who can successfully sneak up on ''Sebastian'' without him realizing it until it's too late and who manages to loom over him to the point of making him break out in sweat drops. That's quite a feat for a mere human. There's also the suggestion that she might well be intelligent enough to work out who he is, given enough proof. And she's unlikely to be pleased.
* DudeLooksLikeALady:
** Ciel, apparently, as Joker had to ask if Ciel was a boy. He also managed to pull off a fairly convincing lady when crossdressing.
** Grell, in either form. Justified in that Grell does this on purpose because of her {{Transgender}} status.
** Maurice Cole from Scarlet Fox dormitory of Weston College is so pretty it's very easy to assume he's actually a cross-dressing girl in a suit.
** Same with Joanne Harcourt.
** Due to the sheer number of {{bishonen}} students, almost half of the boys in the school arc look extremely feminine. This is made worse because they call each other by surname, and many effeminate last names. Most notably, it's easy to forget that long haired George Violet isn't female.
* DynamicEntry: ''Ronald'' pulls this off in Chapter 53. BoomHeadshot.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the beginning of the manga, there are televisions, cell phones, and video games.
* ElegantGothicLolita: The show has renewed an interest in this style in Japan and there's a line of clothing directly based on what the characters wear.
* EngineeredPublicConfession: [[spoiler:Cole's]] to the entire academy--and, most importantly, his prefect--thanks to a very elaborate version of the TinCanTelephone.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Ciel yes, Sebastian no. Besides which, Ciel's reaction to evil he can't stomach is usually to kill more people to get rid of the problem.
* EvilVersusEvil
* EvilWearsBlack: Sebastian wears all black leather while in his true form and a black tailcoat suit in his human form. He is rarely seen in any other color.
* ExoticWeaponSupremacy: Inverted. [[spoiler:Undertaker]], who wields a SinisterScythe managed to effortlessly defeat three {{Improbable Weapon User}}s. Admittedly, a scythe is a pretty unique weapon on its own, but it's relatively common compared to his opponents' choices of [[spoiler: a chainsaw, a lawnmower and a set of silverwares]].
* EyepatchOfPower: Ciel's eyepatch hides the pentagram that represents his contract with Sebastian.
* EyesAlwaysShut: Lau sports a variation of this. His closed eyes are not upturned in a foxlike manner; rather, they're more U-shaped, giving him an air of calm.
* EyeScream: In the second season of the anime, [[spoiler:Alois stabs one of his maidservants in the eye. ''With his finger''. Why? "A maid should never look directly at her master!" The other servants understandably have an OhCrap moment, but are then commanded to clean up the bloody mess]]. It's revealed later that [[spoiler:Hannah the maid is ''a demon''. We see in a later flashback of somewhere around that time Alois saying how he's sick of demons and of people looking at him like that]].
** Ciel getting the seal in his eye seemed to have been very painful. Blood is seen dripping from it afterwards.
* FallenHero: Subverted. Ciel was never really a hero ''per se'', but he used to be just a normal little kid; then his parents were killed, [[spoiler:his house was burnt down, he was kidnapped and tortured by a cult]], and he became a [[VillainProtagonist villain]].
* {{Fanservice}}: So, so much.
* FateWorseThanDeath: At the end of season 2 of the anime, [[spoiler:Ciel becomes a demon. The problem with this is that Sebastian is bound to Ciel until he devours his soul, but demons cannot consume each others' souls. Sebastian, for the first time, does not seem enthused with the prospect of serving Ciel "until the very end"]].
** Shinigami are former humans who have committed suicide, and as a consequence, are now stuck in the afterlife working non-stop to collect souls for as long as it takes.
* FlowerMotifs: The four dormitories of Weston College are each associated with a specific color, animal, and flower (or plant). Scarlet Fox's flower is a rose, Sapphire Owl's is a gentian, Green Lion's is holly, and Violet Wolf's is a dahlia.
* FoodPorn: Oh yes. Sebastian regularly whips up some delicious confection for [[SweetTooth Ciel]], along with a little banner describing it, although they're becoming more and more scarce in the latest arcs of the manga. [[http://www.mangareader.net/kuroshitsuji/62/28 This]] pretty much sums up how good Sebastian's cooking is, though.
* ForeignLookingFont: Just look at the title in the page image.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In Chapter 5 of the manga, Finny is throwing statues at mice that have attacked the mansion. Then cut to chapter 32 [[spoiler:and we see him throwing statues at Beast and Joker exclaiming "Found the Mice!"]]
** In Chapter 54, we're given cover art of the Undertaker dancing with a skeleton. Cue Chapter 60: [[spoiler:Undertaker dancing with one of the zombies in the exact same pose, making a speech about the beauty of his creations]].
** One of the omake chapters has Sebastian drastically increase sales of a new Phantomhive product by getting an actress to advertise it in the middle of her play, tossing out sampler cards to the audience so that the audience is directly involved in even a small portion of the show. Almost immediately Ciel gets the actress to pose for ads that name drop the character she plays, aware that people like to buy things associated with celebrities. About 30-40 chapters later these business tactics get used again and ramped UpToEleven by Ciel making sure [[ItMakesSenseInContext the Boyband he's backing]] does a ''lot'' of AudienceParticipation and sells merchandise at the show, some of which can be used during the AudienceParticipation. He even gives the singers "characters" and "roles" similar to how he had the actress do the ads in costume.
** TheReveal of Chapters 129-130 had ''insane'' amounts of foreshadowing.
** Chapter 73 had the future members of the P5 all standing together in one panel and giggling at Cheslock.
* ForkFencing: Sebastian carries around a few forks and knives wherever he goes. He's pretty damn effective with them too. Killed an entire room of men with a handful of thrown dinner knives.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The four houses at the private school:
** Sanguine: Scarlet Fox, the high-born house.
** Choleric: Green Lion, the "sporty" house. "Green Lion" is also an alchemical symbol for chloride and chlorophyll.
** Melancholic: Purple Wolf, the creepy artistic house.
** Phlegmatic: Sapphire Owl, the brainy house.
* FrameUp: In the "Wordsmith" whodunnit arc, Ciel and Sebastian frame a [[spoiler:blood diamond/arms smuggler]] for the death of [[spoiler:a German ship builder who would've made his country's navy more powerful than it should've been at the time. Sebastian's death was just a "joke" by Victoria, who didn't like Ciel's "prank" of [[KillItWithFire completely burning]] the last BigBad and his unsuspecting henchmen and victims]].
* FromBadToWorse: And the ending theme illustrates it, from SuperDeformed Sebastian performing chores, to normal Sebastian rowing a prone Ciel in a bed of white roses on a boat on the river Styx.
** There's also when Ciel's [[spoiler:parents had been killed. Afterward, his house was burnt down, and he was sold to a religious cult who tried to use him as a sacrifice until Ciel accidentally summoned Sebastian, and then chose to give up his soul in return for Sebastian's help at getting revenge]].
*** Worse in the manga: his parents were killed, [[spoiler: he found the bloody corpses of the entire house staff minus Tanaka, his house burned down, he and his brother were sold to a cult, the two of them were tortured and raped repeatedly over the course of a month, his brother was murdered in front of him, and then Sebastian convinced him to sell his soul.]]
* FunnyForeigner: Indian prince Soma, and his [[{{BattleButler}} ass-whooping manservant]] Agni. Soma later turns out to be a reconstruction/Aversion, since his behavior has more to do with his individual personality than his nationality.
* {{Gaslighting}}: Baron Kelvin to the circus crew, if his interactions with Joker are any indication.
** In the backstory, [[spoiler: Sebastian did this to our!Ciel by convincing him he sacrificed his brother.]]
* GenderBender: [[spoiler: Very deliberately and very frequently with Angela]].
* GeniusBruiser: Sebastian.
* GentlemanSnarker: Sebastian.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The series' penchant for double entendres, especially in the second series.
** A particularly standout example is the joke Madame Red tells the Undertaker in Episode 4 of Season 1: "So Alice's beau gave her the most extraordinary (gunshot) for her birthday. It was white and so (double gunshot) with thick veins running down the sh(gunshot)..."
** There's also a ''very'' suggestive scene in the anime where we see Ciel bent over while apparently naked, sweaty, and shouting Sebastian's name. Then the camera zooms out...and we see that Sebastian is actually tightening a corset on Ciel.
* GirlishPigtails: Elizabeth.
* GivingRadioToTheRomans: The Green Witch Arc takes place around 1888 & features technology that shouldn't exist for another 30-78 years, such as computers & WWI tanks, showing just how dangerously technologically advanced [[spoiler: the German military]] has become, and how difficult it would be to defeat them shook war break out.
* TheGlomp: Four person flying-tackle variety at the end of the Murder Arc, when Sebastian reveals to the rest of mansion [[spoiler: that he is [[UnexplainedRecovery not dead]]]].
** Elizabeth, during her first appearance in the anime, pulls this completely straight.
* GradeSchoolCEO: Ciel, 12-year-old head of a massive toy and candy company.
* GratuitousEnglish: Sebastian's "Yes, my lord," and Claude's "Yes, your highness".
** Also present in some of the background music. The phrase "excuse me for interrupting" is heard in the first episode when Sebastian [[spoiler: opens the viewer to the oven]].
* GrayEyes: Charles Grey.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: [[spoiler:In the manga, Queen Victoria starts to consider how nice it would be to have zombies at her service after hearing the truth about the events in Weston High.]]
* HappinessInSlavery: Agni towards Soma.
** Ciel's household staff seem to be pretty happy living with him, even though they aren't good at their designated job.
* HellishPupils: Sebastian, occasionally.
* HeroicBSOD: While Ciel's intentions for the circus children back at the workhouse might not be described as "heroic" so much as "self-serving with a side of philanthropy", Ciel's reaction in chapter 36 upon realizing that [[spoiler: the entire workhouse was empty and abandoned, and had been for what looked like years, meaning the circus children had fought--and died--in vain]] can be aptly described as a BSOD. A very, ''very'' frightening one.
** Ciel has one in [[spoiler:Chapter 41, after finding Sebastian's body. It was an act, but he did seem genuinely pleased about being able to smack Sebastian around a little]].
** Ciel has another one earlier in Chapter 34, [[spoiler:when Baron Kelvin made an exact replica of where he was held when imprisoned, complete with an altar for sacrificing and even two cages full of children. This leads him to burn down the entire building... including the children (who were well past BSOD themselves, showing ''no reaction'' to the fire)]].
** Ciel gets another in Chapter 54, complete with flashbacks like the ones he had in Chapter 34.
** And another one in the Werewolf Arc. [[spoiler: It wasn't due to a "curse" as it was previously assumed, but the inhalation of a toxic gas. And Sebastian accidentally made it even worse...]]
* HiddenDepths: Every recurring character, especially if they initially appear shallow and annoyingly cheerful.
* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria. Here, she is [[BadassBiker Badass Horse Rider]] who somehow inspire [[AnachronismStew a TV serial]] about a certain badass noble. In RealLife, she is griefly stricken with Prince Albert's death (in 1861) and become hard to work with for the rest of her reign.
* HistoricalInJoke: In the manga, Queen Victoria has the occasional fit of tears that can be only alleviated by a servant (John Brown) with a Prince Albert puppet.
* HollywoodAtheist: Ciel, surprisingly, given his experiences with demons and other supernatural forces.
* HorrorHunger: Maggy in Chapter 52.
* HowDareYouDieOnMe: Ciel causes quite the scene when Sebastian is [[spoiler: found dead in Chapter 41. Ciel manhandles Sebastian's body while commanding him to get up and cursing him for leaving him behind.]] It's all subverted later on when [[spoiler: we find out Sebastian was just [[DeathIsCheap playing dead]] again and Ciel knew all along.]]
* HumanSacrifice: Ciel was used for this, but ended up making a deal with Sebastian instead.
* HypocriticalHumor: ''[[ManipulativeBastard Ciel]]'' chastises [[spoiler: Cole]] for keeping secrets, lying, cheating, and manipulating others to do his work while flashbacks show Sebastian doing all the work of [[spoiler: picking through the school's trash for Cole's notes to his underlings and taping the fragments together, not to mention setting up an elaborate tin-can-telephone and scattering hundreds of photos of Cole's makeup routine all over school]]. Lampshaded by Sebastian, and Ciel also seems fully aware of it.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: "The/That Butler, ______."
** Changed in the second season to just "_______ Butler".
* IgnoranceIsBliss: Ciel tells Snake that his missing friends' whereabouts were unknown, that he is looking for them and that staying with Ciel will be the fastest way to see them again. [[spoiler:The reader knows that they were all killed by Ciel's staff when they tried to ambush Ciel's mansion]].
** Poor, poor Siegliende. [[spoiler:If only she didn't learn her whole life was basically an enormous lie--her secluded village is actually a military area, the villages are all soldiers in really convincing werewolf costumes, and she isn't the descendant of the powerful "Green Witch", she's an ordinary girl with enormous talent for chemistry which was used to finish the previously-failed military project of making a stable mustard gas]].
* ImmuneToBullets: Sebastian can just spit them out.
* ImportantHaircut: Soma gives one of these to Agni in the flashback in Chapter 17.
** Madam Red had one, too.
* ImprobableAge: Ciel, considering his ownership of the Phantomhive company and service to the Queen.
* InNameOnly: The anime diverged from the manga at Episode 7 (until the Indian Butler arc at Episode 13, before diverging when that finished again), making it essentially a completely different series. Besides just the setting and characters, there are many major plot points, such as the terms of the contract between Ciel and Sebastian, that are also changed. The anime returns to following the manga at the 3rd season.
** The characters are markedly different in personality between the two mediums. In the manga, Sebastian has a much wider range of emotions while he's always "cool" and rarely stressed in the anime. Anime Ciel is crueler, Soma is more childish. Grell is more competent, violent, serious, and less romantic in the manga. In the anime, Elizabeth has no dark side. Finally, the anime has far more ecchi humor and significantly larger bustlines than in the manga.
* InnocentInnuendo: The corset scene.
* IOweYouMyLife: Ciel towards Sebastian in a ''very'' literal sense.
** Subverted in the anime, when [[spoiler:Ciel becomes a demon and makes Sebastian serve him for eternity]].
** The servant trio towards Ciel and Sebastian.
** Agni towards Soma.
* UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper: The villain of one of the early arcs.
* JadeColoredGlasses: Ciel.
* TheJeeves: Just as supernaturally competent, but whereas he was "heaven sent", Sebastian is "one hell of a butler".
** There's an interesting parallel in the respite chapter 37, when Sebastian has [[Literature/JeevesAndWooster particularly strong views on a red tie]].
* JigsawPuzzlePlot: Pieces of backstory are only revealed much later.
* KidWithTheLeash: Ciel's relationship towards Sebastian. While largely true to the trope, it lacks the usual element of contrast in that, with a few exceptions, Ciel is just as amoral and ruthless as his servant.
* KillTheCutie: All of the [[spoiler:main circus crew (except for Snake) and the kidnapped children from the Circus arc]], and [[spoiler:Phelps]] from the murder mystery arc.
* KissingCousins: Ciel is [[ArrangedMarriage engaged]] to Elizabeth, who is his cousin. This was rather common in the Victorian Era.
* TheKlutz: The vice-principal of the boarding school Ciel goes to is [[RunningGag very prone of falling down the stairs]].
** [[spoiler:This becomes a bit of a FunnyAneurysmMoment when it is revealed that the vice-principal was one of the Undertaker's [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Bizarre Dolls]], and his poor coordination as well as his [[MajorInjuryUnderreaction mild reactions to injuries]] are because he was DeadAllAlong]].
** And Mey-Rin. ESPECIALLY when Sebastian is around.
* KnifeNut (and Fork Nut): Sebastian throws the Phantomhive household's silver cutlery around with abnormal speed and precision.
** Claude uses the Trancy's gold silverware as weapons as well.
* KudzuPlot: The pieces have slowly been coming together, but every answer brings more questions.
* LadyAndKnight: Ciel and Sebastian's relationship can be read as as a same-sex platonic variation of a Dark Lord and Black Knight. If nothing else, Sebastian sometimes bows to Ciel the same way a knight would bow to his lady (in the anime, he once does it while singing the words "My Fair Lady").
** Wolfram and Sieglinde also appear to have a platonic/parental version of this trope, overlapping with BattleButler. [[spoiler: But if Siegliende will ever learn she was manipulated all this time and try to escape the forest, Wolfram must immediately kill her.]]
* LadyOfWar:
** [[spoiler: Elizabeth Midford. ''"Wife of the Queen's watchdog"'' indeed]].
** Frances Midford as well.
* LargeHam: The Viscount, good god.
* LittleMissBadass: [[spoiler:Elizabeth]].
* LittleMissSnarker: Ciel is a RareMaleExample.
* LittleProfessorDialog: Ciel.
* LockedRoomMystery: The Murder Mystery arc. It's even referenced by name, [[LampshadedTrope as part of a conversation that discusses how the circumstances are similar to plots commonly found in murder mystery novels.]]
* TheLostWoods: The "Werewolf's forest" in Germany. [[spoiler: Actually a military area]].
* LotusEaterMachine: Averted in the Blue Cult arc- it's just interesting and cheap entertainment, and the moment Ciel funds a better, bigger attraction next door the cult loses customers.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Ciel throws himself in front of a bear without a second thought to protect Elizabeth. This act also shows Elizabeth's mother, Frances Midford, that Ciel is more worthy of being her daughter's future husband than she had originally given him credit for. Still, that could be considered more heroic than crazy, since Ciel knows that if he is in danger of getting hurt, Sebastian can easily save him.
* LuckyTranslation: See above under {{Catchphrase}}.
* MadnessMantra: [[spoiler:"Snuff out the unclean, snuff out the useless, snuff out the barren."]]
* TheMasquerade: Subverted in that [[spoiler:Ciel and Sebastian reveal ''everything''- including the fact that both they and Earl Grey work for the Queen, that they framed another man for Siemen's murder, and that Sebastian is a demon - to Wordsmith but still let him live, memory intact, since the mere thought of their power was enough to stop him from revealing the truth even after he became a [[Creator/ArthurConanDoyle famous writer]] of [[Literature/SherlockHolmes mysteries]], just because Ciel liked his writing style]].
** Played straight with the [[spoiler:"werewolf village". There have been no werewolves at all, just soldiers in werewolf costumes, working on a military project concerning the new formula for a chemical weapon]].
* MeaningfulName: "Phantomhive". Explicitly pointed out by the plot.
** Dr. Stoker and the Karnstein Hospital.
** Possibly on a [[ViewersAreGeniuses Readers are Geniuses]] level--yes, Sebastian, it is mentioned in the manga, was named after Ciel's pet dog, but here's the ''other'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastien_Michaelis Sebastian Michaelis]], except his name is spelled "Sébastien Michaëlis". He was a French inquisitor who created a [[GeniusBonus classification of demons]]. Considering that he lived during the early 17th century, this may even be a {{Canon}} StealthPun.
* MegaTwintails: Elizabeth.
* MexicanStandoff: Between [[spoiler:[[http://www.manga2u.com/Kuroshitsuji/31/20-21/ Ciel, Joker, Sebastian and Baron Kelvin]]]].
* MoralityPet: Sebastian has his cat friends (and, possibly, Ciel himself, depending on character interpretation--whether he genuinely cares about Ciel or if he wants nothing more than to eat his soul), Ciel has his household staff and Elizabeth.
* MsFanservice:
** Hannah, in the second season, appears half-naked in several occasions, with ClothingDamage to the point of improbability. Due the female fanbase, and possibly her role as a servile abuse victim, considered to be by many people FanDisservice.
** Ran Mao from both the manga and anime is also an example, bearing cat ear-like {{Odango}}, showing off a lot of leg, being extremely flexible, and generally being very touchy-feely.
** Beast from the Circus Arc is another good example.
** Mey-Rin has her moments too. When not being really silly, that is.
* MultipleDemographicAppeal: Boy howdy. It has a number of {{Seinen}} themes (villain protagonists, child abuse, violence and gore, etc.), an art style not unlike that of a {{Shoujo|Demographic}} series and a ''lot'' of subtext, but it's published in a {{Shonen|Demographic}} magazine--though the themes of a DealWithTheDevil, as well as the style of action, are not foreign to the {{Shonen|Demographic}} genre.
* MundaneMadeAwesome: Curry, candy, getting fitted for outfits, Easter, egg hunts, [[ItMakesSenseInContext battle of the]] [[{{Boyband}} Boybands]]...
* MySisterIsOffLimits: Edward seems to feel this way about Ciel and Lizzie's relationship.
** Dagger towards Beast.
* MysteryArc: Specifically, the Mansion Murder Mystery arc, although the entire series could be considered one of these.
* MythologyGag: Chapter 39 is pretty much a running one, mix and stir ShoutOut:
** [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Arthur]] does not think that ''Literature/AStudyInScarlet'' will be very popular, and doubts he'll write the character again.
** Sebastian is so full of grace that [[Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray he could appear in an Oscar Wilde novel]].
** RealLife people such as Patrick Phelps and IdolSinger Irene Diaz are among the guests, counting as a GeniusBonus, but the Myth Gag happens to be Irene and her producer dancing together.
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Snake's snakes are named after an author or poet who was popular during the Victorian Era. Wordsworth may be from William Wordsworth, Goethe from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Emily and Bronte from Emily Brontë, Oscar and Wilde from Oscar Wilde, Keats from John Keats. Donne is derived from another English poet, John Donne.
* NiceGuy: Arthur Conan Doyle. Finny, too.
* NiceToTheWaiter: While Ciel's house staff are usually more trouble than they're worth, he always treats them kindly (or as kind as Ciel can be). Lampshaded several times by the staff themselves. Alois Trancy, on the other hand...not so much.
* NoBadassToHisValet: Sebastian towards Ciel and vice-versa.
** In the anime's second season, Claude towards Alois.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: At least two historical variants, with both [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Arthur Conan Doyle]] and the ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' being featured without being fully named. The latter even has a shout-out to the film ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}''.
* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: [[spoiler:What Elizabeth believes of Ciel and the reason she hid her [[LittleMissBadass badass]] side all along.]]
** [[spoiler:She's also very self-conscious about the fact that she's taller than Ciel, having noticed Ciel's efforts to be seen as grown-up despite his young age. This has resulted in Lizzy behaving more childishly than she actually feels, much for the same reason she didn't let Ciel know she's a brilliant swordswoman.]]
* NoHeroToHisValet: Sebastian towards Ciel, as he actually knows the full details in that Ciel will do anything for the queen, as well as Ciel's goal of revenge, along with his [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior willingness to kill innocent people if he deems it necessary]]. Most people who don't know him personally treat Ciel as either a "hero" or someone to look up to because of how successful he is as a 13-year-old who runs a well-known company. There are some others besides Sebastian that know he is "the queen's dog", though they do not seem to know all of the details.
* NonchalantDodge: Sebastian makes plenty of these, as well as some of the other supernatural characters.
* NonHumanSidekick: Sebastian and Claude.
* NowYouTellMe: Just after Ciel monologues to himself how vital first impressions are at Weston College, he steps on the grass. Instant silence occurs and everyone around him whispers how he just made a huge faux-pas as nobody but [[TheElite the prefects]] are given permission to step on the grass.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: In the anime, [[spoiler: Lau. No really, he'll stop faking it in episode 20]]. Strongly hinted in the manga as well, though Ciel and Sebastian seem to be slightly more aware of it.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: In the manga, Lizzie's brother Edward ''really'' doesn't like Ciel taking his sister's attention away from him.
* ObviouslyEvil: Episode 2 is a great example. Who could be the bad guy? Ciel? Madame Red? The two dignified looking British guys? Or the Italian with the facial scars, who dresses like [[Film/{{Scarface 1983}} Tony Montana?]]
* OfCorsetsSexy: The corset scene, combined with InnocentInnuendo. Later on, Beast wears some sexy outfits for the circus performances.
* OffHandBackhand: Sebastian gives an awesome one to [[spoiler: one of the Zombies]] in [[http://www.mangahere.com/manga/kuroshitsuji/v09/c056/24.html chapter 56]].
* OffModel: For some strange reason, the normally {{Chibi}} Tanaka seemed to go through a temporary growth spurt (as in, stomach-length of Sebastian) near the end of Season 1, episode 15.
** Elizabeth gets some of this, too, in Chapter 58.
* OneWingedAngel: Sebastian so far has shown this thrice, and every time it's obscured.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Werewolf arc. [[spoiler: They protect and imprison a witch village in the middle of the woods. Instead of turning people into werewolves, their curse causes victims to [[BodyHorror swell up and die]] even if they aren't actually bitten.]] [[spoiler: Cruelly subverted in Chapter 97 : the werewolves are just villagers in really good costumes and using a bio-weapon which gives the effect of the "curse"]].
* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler: The whole first tier circus crew had been abandoned by their parents due to their various disabilities]].
** [[spoiler: Siegliende's mother made her believe that she is a descendant of a powerful witch and left her to live with servants only, just so the girl would focus on the project of making the stable chemical weapon, the project which earlier took the life of her father.]]
* ParentsForADay: In the Witch Forest Arc, Finny suddenly has to take care of [[spoiler: a traumatized and severely poisoned Ciel.]] Even Sebastian can't help. Surprisingly enough, he does quite well.
* PerkyGoth: Is there nothing in the series that DOESN'T fit this aesthetic style?
** [[DeadpanSnarker Ciel]] [[TroubledButCute Phantomhive]] [[HollywoodAtheist himself]].
* PetTheDog: Sebastian will kill without mercy and betrays very little emotion, but he adores and has a huge soft spot for cats. [[spoiler:In fact, he keeps a closet full of kitties hidden from Ciel (who is allergic), but they (the cats) seem pretty happy]]. Also it's not a case of CatsAreMean, but a case of cats-are-too-nice-not-to-love-even-for-a-demon.
** [[spoiler:Ciel lets Snake become one of his staff as a way of making up for killing his ''nakama'', not that Snake knows this--he thinks he's only staying until they locate the rest of the circus troupe]].
* PillowPistol: Ciel almost shoots Sebastian with one of these in Chapter 14.
* PimpedOutDress: Lots.
* PlaygroundSong: During an arc in the anime, Drocell, the puppet-working-for-a-serial-killer, keeps playing and singing "London Bridge is Falling Down". His prey is young, beautiful girls that he turns into living dolls; the song is used to control said dolls and determine what materials to construct them from. Despite being male, he's kind enough to make an exception for Ciel.
** The anime seems to love the song "London Bridge is Falling Down". The tune shows up all over the place.
*** This may have something to do with the fact that in Victorian England, "London Bridge Is Falling Down" was one of the most popular playground songs.
** Also, the Noah's Ark Circus arc of the manga has Joker singing "Tom, the Piper's Son" as he makes his way to his "father"'s office. In fact, most of that family references the song.
* PleaseWakeUp: Ciel when [[spoiler:Sebastian died and he kept repeating things like "sleeping on the floor doesn't look that comfortable to me" and "get up". Subverted]] because it ended up being [[spoiler:a fake death, which Ciel was aware of the entire time]].
** Alois to [[spoiler:Luca]] in season 2.
* PottyEmergency: Joanne, Redmond's fag had...ahem...quite the troubles to leave the cricket field after [[spoiler:eating meat pie filled with super-strong laxatives]].
** Later on, he wet his pants [[spoiler:while escaping the zombies at the midnight tea party]].
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: Those wonderful prosthetic limbs that the Noah's Ark Circus kids have? Made from [[spoiler:the bones of children murdered by Baron Kelvin and the doctor]].
* PrecociousCrush: When Madame Red was around Ciel's age, she fell in love with a slightly older man. [[spoiler:That man was Lord Phantomhive...who would marry Madame's older sister and become Ciel's father]].
* {{Protectorate}}: Ciel's bumbling normal servants. A chef, apparently imported from America, who likes using heavy artillery on food, a CuteClumsyGirl maid, a napping steward, and a gardener who mixes up "weed killer" and "fertilizer". It takes all of the powers of Hell for Sebastian to prevent them from blowing the mansion up on a daily basis. Also, Elizabeth.
** [[spoiler:Only bumbling when it comes to the servant part. As one of the manga chapters demonstrated, they weren't hired for their ability to take care of the house under normal circumstances. But during an attack...]]
** [[spoiler:Elizabeth is actually quite capable of taking care of herself. She just [[NoGuyWantsAnAmazon didn't want Ciel to see that side of her]]]].
** ...And, ironically, if [[spoiler:Finny's]] speech in Chapter 91 is any indication, [[spoiler:Ciel]] is this to [[spoiler:his servants]].
* PsychoticSmirk: Not a BigBad (though quite the VillainProtagonist), but Sebastian does this a ''lot''. And [[spoiler:Lau]] nearly every time he [[spoiler:opens his eyes]], though Arthur seems to be the only one to notice this.
** In season 2 episode 10, [[spoiler:[[FanNickname Cielois]]]] gives off a rather disturbing smirk when climbing up the giant thorny clock tower thing.
** Ciel gives off a slight psychotic smirk in Chapter 49, after he [[spoiler:slaps Sebastian as part of the act used to trick everyone into thinking Sebastian was dead]].
* PunnyName: [[spoiler: Sullin, the new chemical weapon developed (somehow unwittingly) by Siegliende.]]
* PurelyAestheticEra: Despite all the painstaking historical research, the creators sometimes just throw accuracy to the wind. Mobile phone? Check. Modern motorized chainsaw? Check. To be fair, the modern motorized chainsaw ''is'' a supernatural weapon wielded by a death god who may or may not be constrained to series-current technology.
* RapeDiscretionShot: Used in the anime whenever it comes up in relation to Alois' past.
** In Chapter 135, only enough is shown to make the event absolutely clear, along with heavy use of symbolism.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Manga-only, since the anime uses BlackComedyRape.
** The dubious consent between Beast and Sebastian is drawn and played up to make it more disturbing, with attention drawn to how William hates demons specifically because they do things like this.
** Then there's the rape of [[spoiler: the Phantomhive twins]]. Played for pure horror and sparked unambiguous fan disgust and hatred towards the perpetrators.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: Sebastian features this stunning contrast, and that's part of the reason why he has so many admirers.
* RealityEnsues: Since the Phantomhive Five are mostly still students, they can't keep performing for long before some of them have to return to their studies.
** During the Green Witch arc, [[spoiler: an early type of Tank]] is introduced as a top-secret military weapon of high value because it's (literally) 30-80 years ahead of it's time. In fact, it's so incredibly advanced it's never been deployed in real combat. As a result,[[spoiler: the German military]] has no clue how to effectively use the weapon in combat, and the operators use terrible tactics that are rarely if ever used in real life.
* ReasonYouSuckSpeech: Sebastian gives one to Soma, telling him how none of his servants were ever "his" to begin with and were given to him by his social status and how none of them were with him because they wanted to. [[spoiler: Agni being the exception, since he really does care for Soma, but was forced to "betray" him during the curry arc.]]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Sebastian, with added HellishPupils when required.
* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: How the [[ArtificialZombie "Bizarre Dolls"]] are dealt with during the Campania arc.
* RoyalBrat: Ciel and Alois apply, though they are both partially subverted as they actually do know what life is like for those less fortunate than them, due to their [[DarkAndTroubledPast Dark And Troubled Pasts]].
* RunningGag: Sebastian and his obsession with cats. And then, Ciel's (both hateful and allergic) reactions to said cats.
** Every volume of the manga has a different "alternate take" on the series on the inside front cover (''Black Racer'', ''Black Chef'', ''Black Ninja''...), with a brief synopsis of what that might be like on the inside back cover. Said synopsis always contains the words "(or not)" somewhere, ends with "...or something", and there's a sketch of Sebastian having trouble with the premise in the corner (except for Volume 10's "Black Esper", where he actually ''likes'' it).
* SarcasticDevotee: Sebastian.
* SanitySlippage: Hinted to be the case with Ciel in the manga. His RoaringRampageOfRevenge [[TraumaCongaLine hasn't been kind]]--losing his aunt, witnessing countless gruesome sights and, of course, [[TearJerker that whole business with]] the [[MoralEventHorizon Noah's Ark Circus]].
** [[spoiler:This process is also "spicing" Ciel's soul for Sebastian in anticipation of their contract's completion...]]
* ScaryShinyGlasses: , of all people, pulls this one off in the newest OVA.
** Bluer gets these a couple of times in the manga, most notably when [[spoiler:he makes an astounding bowl against Greenhill in the cricket match]], and later when [[spoiler:he and the other prefects confess to murdering Derrick Arden to protect the integrity of their school when they discovered that he was bulling other students and using their talents to make himself appear perfect--and the vice principal was not only aware, but ''allowing'' it]].
* ScaryStitches: A crudely-made doll of Sebastian with obvious stitching appears in the series.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Ciel is the queen's watchdog, basically allowing him to kill almost anyone.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers: Sebastian is a demon, and will kill anyone Ciel tells him to, or anyone who tries to hurt either of them, in most cases. Justified, because he's a ''demon''.
* ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful: How [[spoiler: Cole]] justifies being a cheating manipulative jerk. [[spoiler: Turns out he's as good with makeup as he is at manipulating his classmates.]]
* ScoobyDooHoax: [[spoiler: Siegliende's whole life. There are no werewolves in the forest, no werewolf curse and no "ultimate magic formula". There are however soldiers in werewolf costumes, effects of the poisonous gas use and the formula for making a biological weapon. Every one of the village residents (even Wolfram) is a soldier, taking part in a top-secret military project which is led by Siegliende's mother. Basically everything Siegliende has been taught is a part of the project, named "Green witch project".]]
* SecurityBlanket: There is a specific pillow that Ciel cannot sleep without. [[spoiler: Subverted, as it is later revealed to just be for Sebastian to hide the blood on his chest]].
* SerialKiller: [[spoiler: Grell and Madame Red]].
* SeriousBusiness: Curry-cooking contests. School cricket tournaments.
* ServileSnarker: Sebastian.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Elizabeth. [[spoiler:Subverted]] in chapter 57, where it's shown that [[spoiler: it's ''because'' Ciel exists that Elizabeth suppressed her [[BadassAdorable personality]] into a cookie-cutter DamselInDistress]].
* ShesGotLegs: [[MsFanservice Ranmao]], highlighted by the fact the she dresses exclusively in VERY short Qipaos.
** Really, this applies to [[FanserviceExtra ANY of the girls seen with Lau]] Ranmao is just the only one who is ALWAYS with him.
* {{Shinigami}}: Interestingly, most are of the Psychopomp variety, but evil ones kill for pleasure. There's even a CelestialBureaucracy of them.
* ShoutOut: Episode 7 has a few nods to the Literature/SherlockHolmes novel ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles''.
** Book of the Atlantic has the Karnstein Hospital, named for the Lady Karnstien from "Dracula's Guest" by Bram Stoker.
** Father Jeremy Rathbone who shows up in Chapter 45. Shares the first name of Creator/JeremyBrett, who played the detective in the Granada TV series (as well being an almost dead--no pun intended--ringer for said actor), and the surname of Creator/BasilRathbone, another Holmes actor from the 1940s. And then he proceeds to pull the deduction technique on Arthur, who mentions the father resembling Professor Bell, whom the real Sir Arthur based Holmes off of.
** [[spoiler:Phelps]]'s killer in Chapter 47 is a reference to another Sherlock Holmes story, ''The Speckled Band''.
** In the manga, Sebastian sends a secret note via [[Literature/HarryPotter snowy owl]].
** According to one of the early manga chapters, apparently the pets in Hell are [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorphs]].
** [[spoiler:Grelle Sutcliffe]] seems to be named after another English serial killer, [[spoiler:[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sutcliffe the Yorkshire Ripper]]]].
** Sebastian's line to Claude [[spoiler:as he's hanging on to the trap door in Cielois's maze]] "We meet again, Claude" is the polite, as one would expect of a butler, form of "We meet again, Cloud" uttered by Sephiroth in ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren''. Even better as Claude and Cloud share a VA. Square-Enix self-shout.
** The dress that Ciel uses at the opening image of chapter 8 is exactly the same that Katrina uses in the last scenes of ''Film/SleepyHollow''.
** Chapter 52 has Dr. [[{{Dracula}} Stoker]], his subject [[Series/DarkShadows Maggy]] whose body was [[FrankensteinsMonster covered in stitches]], and after being knifed by Sebastian she bends into a [[Film/TheExorcist backwards crabwalk]]. The whole thing takes place on [[Film/{{Titanic 1997}} a big ship from the White Star Line]].
** The anime has the famous painting ''The Isle of the Dead'', by Arnold Böcklin.
** The story after the totally-not-''Titanic'' arc takes place [[Franchise/HarryPotter in an exclusive academy that has four houses with a color/animal/personality theme]]: Red Fox/highborn; Sapphire Owl/academic; Purple Wolf/artistic; Green Lion/athletic.
** The curry competition in episode 15 of the anime begins with the Emcee shouting "[[Series/IronChef Allez cuisine!]]"
* ShownTheirWork: There are a lot of accurate references to areas in London as well as references to things like Fortnum and Mason.
** To the point that some rather obscure things are brought up that seem, at a glance, to be examples of PurelyAestheticEra, but when you dig a little further, [[OlderThanTheyThink turn out to fit fairly well into that time period]].
*** Madame Red's profession? The London School of Medicine for Women was established in 1874. It's quite likely that Madame Red graduated from it.
*** Plastic surgery? [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_surgery It can be traced back to Ancient Egypt.]]
*** Ronald's lawn mower scythe? Besides the theory (now confirmed fact) that shinigami are otherworldly and thus a walking AnachronismStew, [[OlderThanYouThink the first lawnmower was invented in 1830,]] and [[http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bllawns.htm the design sounds similar to Ronald's.]]
** Not only London, [[http://www.mangatoshokan.com/read/Kuroshitsuji/STFU-Scans/33/37 the flour explosion that Bard references in Chapter 33]]? [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washburn_A_Mill Happened in Minneapolis in 1878]].
** And the idea of mobile phones? [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photophone The first wireless phone call was made in 1880]]. Obviously not with the compact technology shown, but it is slightly more probable than might think.
** The four houses at the private school Ciel's infiltrating battle for supremacy with an epic UsefulNotes/{{cricket}} match, which the author gives [[UsefulNotes/CricketRules very detailed instructions on]].
** The ''Ciel in Wonderland'' OVA features several obscure characters from ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'', such as the Mock Turtle (played by Viscount of Druitt), the Pigeon (played by Ash and Angela) and the giant puppy (played by Pluto), there are no {{Composite Character}}s (the Mouse and the Dormouse are played by two separate people and there is no mention of a Red Queen) and no references whatsoever are made to ''Through the Looking Glass''.
* ShowyInvincibleHero: For a certain definition of "hero" but Sebastien is totally this early on. Nothing and no one can really stand against him. [[spoiler:Even the series one BigBad is completely obliterated in seconds by him.]] Most of the fun is seeing him dispatch the villains in amazing fashion. This changes when Claude shows up and he has an equal opponent to deal with.
* SidekickExMachina: Both Sebastian and Grell. Also, [[spoiler:Ran Mao]], although in the manga we have yet to see Grell do anything plot-related apart from killing two minor characters.
* SissyVillain: Grell, Grell, Grell.
** Charles Grey and Alois may also qualify.
** Let's not forget the Viscount Druitt.
* SlasherSmile: Grell.
* SlouchOfVillainy: [[VillainProtagonist Ciel]]. He slouches when he's about to do something particularly nasty, and unless he is standing up, almost gives orders to Sebastian exclusively in this pose. Also, he does it in almost all the official art (note the image at the top of the page).
* SociopathicHero: Sebastian, being a demon, shows no mercy towards his master's enemies.
* SoulEating:
** The terms of Ciel's FaustianBargain with Sebastian is that once Ciel has achieved his life's goals Sebastian gets to eat his soul. In the meantime he acts as his utterly loyal butler.
** In season two of the anime Alois' brother Luca made a contract with a demon to kill all the villagers who mistreated them and his soul was eaten leaving an empty shell of a body. [[spoiler: Alois eventually learns that it was Hannah who ate him and makes a contract with her so they can be together again. After she collects the two of them are heard talking inside her.]]
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Grell(e) Sutcliff(e).
** Ran-Mao or Lan Mao.
** Maylene, May-Rin, Mey-Rin, Mei-Rin...
** Meena or Mina. The English manga release from Yen Press chose the latter while Creator/FUNimation's anime release chose the former spelling.
** Bardroy, Baldroy.
** Middleford vs Midford. The English release from Yen Press chose for latter, but the former was the first to be widely accepted, so there's been some confusion.
* SpotOfTea: ''Lots''. This is VictorianLondon, after all.
* StraightManAndWiseGuy: Ciel and Sebastian.
* SuperDeformed: The first ending has the characters portrayed in this style.
** Tanaka, to the point of it being a {{Lampshade}}d, RunningGag.
* SuperStrength: [[spoiler:Finnian has SuperStrength as a side-effect of going through human experiments]].
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: {{Averted|Trope}}[=/=][[ParodiedTrope somewhat parodied]] in Chapter 33 of the manga, although it's PlayedForDrama. When [[spoiler:Dagger and Beast run into the lobby of the Phantomhive Manor, Bardroy is blocking their way on the stairs, addressing them both casually...then, right in the middle of the intimidating speech, Dagger throws a few knives at his head, which Bard blocks with a pair of frying pans, quickly taking offense to Dagger interrupting him]].
-->'''Bard:''' H-hey! That's dangerous, I was in the middle of talking!
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Our favorite butler from Hell, Sebastian, fits the bill perfectly.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Sebastian again. While he is indeed very competent, he can't resist pointing this out to others or making smart remarks about their shortcomings.
* TeenGenius: Ciel. Though his character falls more under the ChildProdigy trope, he's 13 for most of the series, so he's technically a teen.
** The Blue Cult arc ''shows'' that he's very skilled in the field of business, as he battles an enemy whose scheme revolves around the success of a specific music hall by [[spoiler: opening a music hall of his own and using shrewd business tactics to steal a significant number of customers from the target. Bonus because Ciel hadn't actually had any experience in the entertainment industry before[[note]]Which ''is'' a legitimate concern, as a previous product line of his almost collapsed because he didn't know how the specific industry he was branching out into worked[[/note]], but he applies his prior knowledge of advertising and Sebastian's knowledge of manipulation to make it a success anyways.]]
* TenLittleMurderVictims: The premise of the Murder Mystery arc.
* ThereAreTwoKindsOfPeopleInTheWorld: Ciel emphasizes this to Joker in chapter 32.
* TheThingThatGoesDoink: This Japanese mainstay is an item in the Phantomhive garden, despite its being in Victorian England.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Soma and Agni.
* ThreeAmigos: Finnian, Baldroy, and Mey-Rin.
* TinCanTelephone: UpToEleven--replace the cans with [[spoiler:paintings]] at one end and [[spoiler:''dozens'' of gramophone horns]] on the other.
* TooDumbToLive: Elizabeth, you don't follow a stranger who doesn't even act as if he was human, you don't go on a boat in a middle of a ''storm'' just to find a deer, you don't follow your fiancé just to make him eat a cake when he's with a gun and tells you to go back because it's dangerous.
** This is subverted as of Chapter 57, though, where it's shown that [[spoiler:[[LittleMissBadass she's perfectly capable of handling herself]], more so than [[DistressedDude Ciel]], and may have been following to keep an eye on him]]. Plus, those first two examples were solely in the anime.
* TookALevelInBadass: In the anime's second season, thanks to [[spoiler:Alois's wish that neither Claude nor Sebastian would be able to eat Ciel's soul]], Ciel [[spoiler:is now a demon--red eyes, black fingernails, and all--with an even more powerful demon (Sebastian) as his servant]].
** [[spoiler:Elizabeth during the Campania arc.]]
* TooKinkyToTorture: Sebastian (in episode 20), Grell, and the Undertaker.
* TraumaCongaLine: Ciel may count as Type B, though we are first introduced to him as an already [[CreepyChild cynical]], [[JerkassWoobie messed up]] kid, rather than having him slowly developing into a villain.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Ciel.
** Alois as well. For the whole first episode, he goes from acting completely [[ChildrenAreInnocent innocent]] to downright [[AxCrazy crazy]] within a few seconds, and switches back and forth between the two personas. Not to mention, he acts as if he is trying to seduce any male character within five feet of him. Which is, sadly, TruthInTelevision. Many childhood sexual abuse victims end up acting like this because their trauma never allowed them to develop healthy ways of interacting with adults.
* TrueCompanions: Ciel's house staff trio.
** The Circus crew.
** The four prefects are revealed to be this, to the point of [[spoiler:covering up multiple murders]] for each other.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Ciel formerly provided the page image. He's shown to have been extremely shy, cute, and incredibly sweet before his parents' murders.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: A few examples:
** One of Snake's snakes, Webster, was born on "the Island of Queimada Grande". This island is famous for having only a single species of snake, the highly-venomous Golden Lancehead Viper.
** Sebastian mentions that the wand Sullivan uses to write her "runes" is made of Calcite. Certain types of Calcite glow when exposed to certain types of light, and controlling the light is easiest in dark, enclosed spaces- like the underground passage where the wand is used and the concert hall where the Phantomhive 5's show uses glowsticks.
** See AluminumChristmasTrees.
* VillainProtagonist: In most stories, the amoral demon and his bitter, driven master would be undeniable antagonists, especially given how little they hesitate about [[spoiler:killing people who get in their way, seducing people for information, etc]]. Given how sympathetically they're portrayed, [[spoiler:chapter 34]] comes as a bit of a shock.
** Alois and Claude are much worse than Ciel and Sebastian. At least Ciel's [[spoiler: murder rampage]] happened when he wasn't in his right mind...
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The titular cult of the Blue Cult arc, thanks to the power of England's first {{Boyband}}. Ciel combats them by funding a boyband of his own... who perform ''right across the street'' from the cults music hall.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Ciel and Sebastion are about as close as a boy who sold his soul to a soul-eating devil can be.
* WaifFu: Again, [[spoiler:Elizabeth]].
* WeakerTwinSavesTheDay: [[spoiler: In Ch. 130 it was confirmed that the Two Ciels Theory is true and Our Ciel has a twin brother who is the real Ciel Phantomhive (the true heir) whilst Our Ciel is the weaker "extra" sibling who has, thinking him to be dead, taken his brother's identity without consent. The trope is subverted quite a lot but the basic principle is the same.]]
* WeDoNotKnowEachOther: Typically happens when Ciel goes undercover, but wants Sebastian on hand.
* WhamEpisode: Chapter 94. [[spoiler:Ciel has unintentionally broken the contract, allowing Sebastian to devour his soul ''before'' he gains his revenge]].
** Chapter 60. Even if you already knew that [[spoiler:Undertaker is a Shinigami]], not a lot of people guessed [[spoiler:he was behind the zombies/Bizarre Dolls]].
** Chapters 97 and 98: [[spoiler:The whole "werewolf forest" is a part of a top-secret military project, made specifically so ChildProdigy Siegliende would spend her life developing a formula for a unbeatable chemical weapon. Her whole world was designed in such a way that there would be not a single thing that would distract Siegliende or make her suspect anything. And who was behind the "Green Witch" project? Her own mother]]!
** Chapter 126: [[spoiler: Someone who Soma is familiar with tries to assassinate him.]]
** Chapter 129: [[spoiler: Soma's attacker looks exactly like Ciel, and what's more, says that he's the ''real'' Ciel Phantomhive.]]
*** Your mileage may vary on how much the next chapter counts, since it confirms what most of the fandom guessed long ago and considered confirmed in Chapter 129. Nonetheless, for everyone else it's still a WhamEpisode: [[spoiler: "Ciel Phantomhive" as we knew him has spent the past three years pulling off a one-way TwinSwitch with his older brother, the real Ciel Phantomhive.]] And Tanaka seems to support Ciel more than he does [[spoiler: our demon-contracting protagonist]]...
* WhamShot:
** For most fans, the surprise was already ruined by the anime, and, without color, it's hard to tell, but [[spoiler:the first shot of the Undertaker's eyes]] in Chapter 59 counts as one for at least some of the fans, and is one in-universe for the other characters.
** Chapter 129, near the end, which shows that [[spoiler: the person who attacked Soma is identical to Ciel]].
* WhatBeautifulEyes: Ciel, [[http://www.mangareader.net/102-2017-4/kuroshitsuji/chapter-8.html described quite vividly by Viscount von Druitt during the underground auction in both the manga and anime]].
-->'''Von Druitt:''' [His] eyes are bright and beautiful, the color of the ocean, with a deep contrasting color of the forest. They are mismatched, but to the discerning buyer, that will only increase [his] value.
* WhenHeSmiles: Ciel.
** He's learning to put it to good use.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Charles Grey, one of the queen's butlers seem to be this.
** Ash as well, despite being an angel.
** As of the Campania arc, [[spoiler:UNDERTAKER]].
* WholeCostumeReference: The dress Ciel wears to the party is the famous dress from ''Theatre/MyFairLady''.
* WickedCultured: Ciel and Sebastian.
* WitchSpecies: The village in the "Werewolf's Forest" is filled with women which ancestors were witches who ran away to avoid being executed. [[CuteWitch Sieglinde]] is the current "Green Witch" and lord of the village. [[spoiler:Subverted, as Siegliende holds no real power--she isn't even a witch, she was manipulated all along into believing she was one]].
* {{Yandere}}: In the anime, [[spoiler: the ''Queen,'' surprisingly.]] Of the worst sort.
** Also: Grell. The anime seems to play it as (attempted) BlackComedyRape, but in the manga, Grell comes off as just plain demented for Madame Red and then Sebastian.
** Baron Kelvin [[PaedoHunt for Ciel]].
** Undertaker (possibly) for Ciel. He already had considerable subtext towards Ciel and in Chapter 64 [[spoiler:he tries to kill Sebastian because he thinks he is making Ciel miserable]].
** Sebastian displays extreme possessiveness over Ciel's soul to Claude, so he may fit the bill as well.
* YaoiFangirl: Mey-Rin.
* YouDidntAsk: Ciel's reply to Sebastian in volume 8 of the {{manga}}, when Sebastian asked Ciel why he never brought up that [[spoiler:he had asthma]].
* YoungFutureFamousPeople: Arthur the Wordsmith, a supporting character in the murder arc, is really Creator/ArthurConanDoyle at the very beginning of his writing career.
* YourSoulIsMine: Sebastian to Ciel, in a variant where both parties consent to this, and the soul won't be devoured just yet. [[spoiler:Until Chapter 94]].
* ZettaiRyouiki: The new Earl in ''Kuroshitsuji II'' of the anime, Alois Trancy, has some Grade A ZettaiRyouiki in the first episode. Mind you, he's wearing knickerbockers, not a skirt.
** Mey-Rin in [[spoiler:[[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090803013421/kuroshitsuji/images/0/03/Maylene_sniper.png sniper mode]]]] comes to mind as well.
[[/folder]]

!!A Phantomhive butler whose series can't demonstrate examples of the following tropes isn't worth his salt:

[[foldercontrol]]

* AlternateContinuity: The anime diverges from the manga in episode 7, before moving back to it in episodes 13-15. After this, the anime goes on its own path for the rest of season 1 and season 2.

* KnightTemplar: [[spoiler:Angela]].

* LecherousLicking: In episode 5 of season 2, a disguised Alois licks Ciel's ear.

* AlternateContinuity: Starting at episode 7, the anime no longer follows the manga.

* BurningRubber: In the ''Making Of'' OVA episode ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' style during Grell's introduction at one point.

* BlandNameProduct: Averted with Angelina's [[CoolCar Lamborghini Countach]] (albeit in a FreezeFrameBonus moment) in the ''Making of Kuroshitsuji II'' OVA episode.

** The 3rd OVA from ''Kuroshitsuji II'' breaks it down completely. It's a documentary style episode where the characters are treated as actors in 2010 and talk about everything from their roles and behind the scenes to the filming process (complete with a green screen when they were practicing the Sebastian/Claude fight).

** Grell, in either form. Justified in that Grell does this on purpose because of her {{Transsexual}} status.

** Humorously Averted with Sullivan. When Sebastian explains that Ciel was set up to be a HumanSacrifice in a Demonic SummoningRitual, Sullivan shouts how ridiculous that is. Sebastian tries to tell her to be open-minded, but she interrupts him by saying that [[EvilIsNotAToy a failed summoning would cause the casters to be cursed by the demon.]]

* CheshireCatGrin: Ciel, and in some cases, Sebastian.

* ImAHumanitarian: Subverted. [[spoiler:In the first episode, Sebastian borrows a page from SweeneyTodd in dealing with a CorruptCorporateExecutive. However, he is later seen alive, though injured]].

** The Phantom Five wear clothes that fuse LolitaFashion and PunkRock together, with a touch of Victorian England. Partially justified, as Ciel's tailor has shown interest in adapting these styles for men before and they're ''trying'' to create something new and exciting.

** in butler form counts as well.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Ciel yes, Sebastian no, and only in the manga. Besides which, Ciel's reaction to evil he can't stomach is usually to kill more people to get rid of the problem.

* DeadpanSnarker: Ciel in the anime.

* GeniusBonus: Aleister Chamber, the Viscount of Druitt, is one of the suspects of who is Jack the Ripper. He is also named after Montague Druitt, one of the real-world Jack the Ripper suspects.
** Certain types of calcite glow when exposed to specific light frequencies, which is probably how the glowsticks work without advanced chemistry.

*** Even the glowsticks came from the benign, luminescent chemicals Sullivan used to draw glowing "runes" in the Green witch arc (Chapter 93 shows them well). It's a harder example to note than most, because the black-and-white drawing style make it hard to tell that her writing is supposed to be glowing and most readers probably don't know that calcite (the material Sebastian identifies in the wand) can glow under the right conditions.

* CallBack: In chapter 10, Grell says that Madame Red is "a boring woman" [[spoiler:right before killing her]], and in chapter 94 Sebastian says that [[spoiler:Ciel's death was utterly boring]]. Hm...

* ChefOfIron

*** Tin-can telephones from chapter 71 are turned into loudspeaker systems.

*** Ciel's economic savvy from chapter 91 about celebrity merchandising is used to create a souvenir system that both makes money ''and'' attracts audience involvement.

*** Even the glowsticks came from the benign, luminescent chemicals Sullivan used to draw glowing "runes" in the Green witch arc (chapter 93 shows them well). It's a harder example to note than most, because the black-and-white drawing style make it hard to tell that her writing is supposed to be glowing and most readers probably don't know that calcite (the material Sebastian identifies in the wand) can glow under the right conditions.

** The paintings in chapter 71 are plot-relevant to the scene they're introduced in, then the same technique is used again in chapter 122 [[spoiler: on a much larger scale to create primitive microphones]].

* ChekhovsGun: A very specific tactic is used in the Murder Mystery arc, of having two people wear another person's clothes in order to mislead animals who track by scent, thus leading the tracker exactly where you want it to go and hiding the actual target. This gets used again, only when running from dogs instead of snakes. [[spoiler: Which explains that fancy and large cloak Ciel wears when going to see Sullivan in chapter 97.]]

* CurbStompBattle: In chapter 61 [[spoiler: Undertaker manages to easily do this to Grell, Ronald, and Sebastian without breaking a sweat.]] Wow.

** [[spoiler: As of chapter 105, all the reapers have a DarkAndTroubledPast as they were all humans who were DrivenToSuicide.]]

* DistressedDamsel: Elizabeth. [[spoiler:Subverted in chapter 57]].

** In chapter 73, Sebastian [[NotWhatItLooksLike pushes Ciel up against a bookcase, when they're alone, in the school library, in the middle of the night]].

** Chapter 76: [[spoiler:All of the Scarlet Fox's cricket players suffer diarrhea caused by a meat pie filled with laxatives, courtesy of Ciel and Sebastian]]. Everyone retires, but Harcourt is left behind and his expressions of pain are...well...reminiscent of something else involving that orifice.

** Chapter 97: The villagers, ecstatic that Siegliende has finally completed [[spoiler:the formula for a new chemical weapon]], decide to name it [[spoiler:"Sullin"]].

*** Same with Joanne Harcourt.
*** Due to the sheer number of bishonen students, almost half of the boys in the school arc look extremely feminine. This is made worse because they call each other by surname, and many effeminate last names. Most notably, it's easy to forget that long haired George Violet isn't female.
* DynamicEntry: ''Ronald'' pulls this off in 53. BoomHeadshot.
* DysfunctionJunction

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In chapter 5 of the manga, Finny is throwing statues at mice that have attacked the mansion. Then cut to chapter 32 [[spoiler:and we see him throwing statues at Beast and Joker exclaiming "Found the Mice!"]]
** In Chapter 54, we're given cover art of the Undertaker dancing with a skeleton. Cue chapter 60: [[spoiler:Undertaker dancing with one of the zombies in the exact same pose, making a speech about the beauty of his creations]].

** TheReveal of chapters 129-130 had ''insane'' amounts of foreshadowing.

** Ciel has one in [[spoiler:chapter 41, after finding Sebastian's body. It was an act, but he did seem genuinely pleased about being able to smack Sebastian around a little]].
** Ciel has another one earlier in chapter 34, [[spoiler:when Baron Kelvin made an exact replica of where he was held when imprisoned, complete with an altar for sacrificing and even two cages full of children. This leads him to burn down the entire building... including the children (who were well past BSOD themselves, showing ''no reaction'' to the fire)]].
** Ciel gets another in chapter 54, complete with flashbacks like the ones he had in chapter 34.

* HorrorHunger: Maggy in chapter 52.
* HowDareYouDieOnMe: Ciel causes quite the scene when Sebastian is [[spoiler: found dead in chapter 41. Ciel manhandles Sebastian's body while commanding him to get up and cursing him for leaving him behind.]] It's all subverted later on when [[spoiler: we find out Sebastian was just [[DeathIsCheap playing dead]] again and Ciel knew all along.]]

* ImportantHaircut: Soma gives one of these to Agni in the flashback in chapter 17.

* InNameOnly: The anime diverged from the manga at episode 7 (until the Indian Butler arc at episode 13, before diverging when that finished again), making it essentially a completely different series. Besides just the setting and characters, there are many major plot points, such as the terms of the contract between Ciel and Sebastian, that are also changed. The anime returns to following the manga at the 3rd season.

* KillTheCutie: All of the [[spoiler:main circus crew (except for Snake) and the kidnapped children from the circus arc]], and [[spoiler:Phelps]] from the murder mystery arc. Also [[spoiler:Alois]].

** And Meyline. ESPECIALLY when Sebastian is around.

* TheMasquerade: Subverted in that [[spoiler:Ciel and Sebastian reveal ''everything''--including the fact that both they and Earl Grey work for the Queen, they framed another man for Siemen's murder, and that Sebastian is a demon--to Wordsmith and let him live, memory intact, since the mere thought of their power was enough to stop him from revealing the truth even after he became a [[Creator/ArthurConanDoyle famous writer]] of [[Literature/SherlockHolmes mysteries]], just because Ciel liked his writing style]].

** Mey Rin has her moments too. When not being really silly, that is.

** Elizabeth gets some of this, too, in chapter 58.

* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The werewolf arc. [[spoiler: They protect and imprison a witch village in the middle of the woods. Instead of turning people into werewolves, their curse causes victims to [[BodyHorror swell up and die]] even if they aren't actually bitten.]] [[spoiler: Cruelly subverted in chapter 97 : the werewolves are just villagers in really good costumes and using a bio-weapon which gives the effect of the "curse"]].

* PillowPistol: Ciel almost shoots Sebastian with one of these in chapter 14.

** ...And, ironically, if [[spoiler:Finny's]] speech in chapter 91 is any indication, [[spoiler:Ciel]] is this to [[spoiler:his servants]].

** Ciel gives off a slight psychotic smirk in chapter 49 the manga after he [[spoiler:slaps Sebastian as part of the act used to trick everyone into thinking Sebastian was dead]].

** In chapter 135 only enough is shown to make the event absolutely clear, along with heavy use of symbolism.

** During the witch arc, [[spoiler: an early type of Tank]] is introduced as a top-secret military weapon of high value because it's (literally) 30-80 years ahead of it's time. In fact, it's so incredibly advanced it's never been deployed in real combat. As a result,[[spoiler: the German military]] has no clue how to effectively use the weapon in combat, and the operators use terrible tactics that are rarely if ever used in real life.

* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: Campania arc

** Father Jeremy Rathbone who shows up in chapter 45. Shares the first name of Creator/JeremyBrett, who played the detective in the Granada TV series (as well being an almost dead--no pun intended--ringer for said actor), and the surname of Creator/BasilRathbone, another Holmes actor from the 1940s. And then he proceeds to pull the deduction technique on Arthur, who mentions the father resembling Professor Bell, whom the real Sir Arthur based Holmes off of.

* ThreeAmigos: Finnian, Bardroy, and Mey-Rin.

** This is subverted as of chapter 57, though, where it's shown that [[spoiler:[[LittleMissBadass she's perfectly capable of handling herself]], more so than [[DistressedDude Ciel]], and may have been following to keep an eye on him]]. Plus, those first two examples were solely in the anime.

* TraumaCongaLine: Ciel may count as type B, though we are first introduced to him as an already [[CreepyChild cynical]], [[JerkassWoobie messed up]] kid, rather than having him slowly developing into a villain.

** The circus crew.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: A few examples.

** Chapter 97 and 98: [[spoiler:The whole "werewolf forest" is a part of a top-secret military project, made specifically so ChildProdigy Siegliende would spend her life developing a formula for a unbeatable chemical weapon. Her whole world was designed in such a way that there would be not a single thing that would distract Siegliende or make her suspect anything. And who was behind the "Green Witch" project? Her own mother]]!

*** Your mileage may vary on how much the next chapter counts, since it confirms what most of the fandom guessed long ago and considered confirmed in chapter 129. Nonetheless, for everyone else it's still a WhamEpisode: [[spoiler: "Ciel Phantomhive" as we knew him has spent the past three years pulling off a one-way TwinSwitch with his older brother, the real Ciel Phantomhive.]] And Tanaka seems to support Ciel more than he does [[spoiler: our demon-contracting protagonist]]...

** For most fans, the surprise was already ruined by the anime, and, without color, it's hard to tell, but [[spoiler:the first shot of the Undertaker's eyes]] in chapter 59 counts as one for at least some of the fans, and is one in-universe for the other characters.

* WitchSpecies: The village in the "werewolf's forest" is filled with women which ancestors were witches who ran away to avoid being executed. [[CuteWitch Sieglinde]] is the current "Green Witch" and lord of the village. [[spoiler:Subverted, as Siegliende holds no real power--she isn't even a witch, she was manipulated all along into believing she was one]].

** Undertaker (possibly) for Ciel. He already had considerable subtext towards Ciel and in chapter 64 [[spoiler:he tries to kill Sebastian because he thinks he is making Ciel miserable]].

* YourSoulIsMine: Sebastian to Ciel, in a variant where both parties consent to this, and the soul won't be devoured just yet. [[spoiler:Until chapter 94]].

%%** Only enough is shown to make the event absolutely clear [[spoiler: in chapter 135.]]

** Only enough is shown to make the event absolutely clear [[spoiler: in chapter 135.]]

%%** Only enough is shown to make the event absolutely clear [[spoiler: in chapter 135.]]