History Manga / Claymore

''Claymore'' (クレイモア ''Kureimoa'') is a DarkFantasy [[ShonenDemographic shonen]] manga by Norihiro Yagi, who wanted to try drawing a more serious story after finishing his debut manga, the high school delinquent parody ''Manga/AngelDensetsu''. Stylistically it takes inspiration from the generation of action manga that Yagi read as a youth including ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' and ''Manga/SpaceAdventureCobra''. He planned the plot loosely so that he could let it develop naturally and the tale grew with the telling, beginning publication in May 2001 and finishing in October 2014 at 155 chapters. Notable draws for the series include its WorldOfActionGirls, drawn-out and gory fight sequences featuring some [[OneWingedAngel really hideous demons]], and its exploration of what makes someone a human or a monster. Creator/{{Madhouse}} adapted the manga into a 26-episodes anime directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka and written by Yasuko Kobayashi, which aired in Japan from 3 April 2007 to 25 September 2007. It covered the story from volume 1 to the first half of volume 11 (up to chapter 59), staying relatively faithful to the source material until its [[GeckoEnding departure from the manga in its last episodes]], which it took in order to give the series a conclusion the manga didn't have at the time.

* CorruptChurch: Averted or even inverted, in spite of the Dark Fantasy love for corrupt and evil religious organizations. The Holy City of Rabona is initially depicted as denying access to the Claymores for being impure half-monsters, and when Clare is ordered to hunt a Yoma within the city she has to take pills that hide her identity from the local soldiers. However, Rabona's prejudice against Claymores greatly softens once Clare shows her willingness to risk her own life to save the humans of the Holy City. Later on in the series Rabona becomes a safe haven for Miria's group and other warriors, and Rabona's soldiers will even try to help the Claymores during the final battle.

* BigDamnKiss: The kiss between [[spoiler:[[BodyguardCrush Clare]] [[MentorShip and]] [[PrecociousCrush Raki]]]] is an emotional and dramatic moment which covers almost two whole pages of the manga.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Not above and beyond weird, but ''Claymore'' did seem to take on a [[MonsterOfTheWeek mission of the week]] approach early on in the story.

* GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler: Clare did that to Raciella, when she was being devoured by her. And yes, you read that right, [[{{Determinator}} Clare]] [[{{HSQ}} managed to take over]] an EldritchAbomination to seal up Priscilla.]]

-->'''Hysteria:''' What an awful fighting style. It's so disgusting I might throw up.
-->'''Miria:''' To hear that from you, the warrior with the most elegant technique, is the greatest honor.

* HeroicAlbino: Claymores are all essentially albino, since the transformation from a human to a half-yoma mutes their eye, hair, and presumably skin tones. Their primary objective is to protect humans from yoma, so they fight the good fight in the long run. [[spoiler: Or so they think.]]

* DiabolusExNihilo: [[spoiler: After being torn in half, Riful's legs stumble into the middle of the final battle and suddenly births a absurdly powerful being that transcends the abyssal ones from its massive gaping wound, and then fight Priscilla on more or less even ground. This is NEVER EXPLAINED.]]

* DiabolusExNihilo: [[spoiler: After being torn in half, Riful's legs stumble into the middle of the final battle and suddenly sprout an absurdly powerful upper half that fights the Awakened Priscilla on more or less even ground. This is NEVER EXPLAINED.]]

* DiabolousExNihilo: [[spoiler: After being torn in half, Riful's legs stumble into the middle of the final battle and suddenly sprout an absurdly powerful upper half that fights the Awakened Priscilla on more or less even ground. This is NEVER EXPLAINED.]]

* DiabolousExNihilo: [[spoiler: After being torn in half, Riful's legs stumble into the middle of the final battle and suddenly sprout an absurdly powerful upper half that fights the Awakened Priscilla on more or less even ground. This is NEVER EXPLAINED.]]

''Claymore'' (クレイモア ''Kureimoa'') is a DarkFantasy [[ShonenDemographic shonen]] manga by Norihiro Yagi, who wanted to try drawing a more serious story after finishing his debut manga, the high school delinquent parody ''Manga/AngelDensetsu''. He planned the plot loosely so that he could let it develop naturally and the tale grew with the telling, beginning publication in May 2001 and finishing in October 2014 at 155 chapters. Creator/{{Madhouse}} adapted the manga into a 26-episodes anime directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka and written by Yasuko Kobayashi, which aired in Japan from 3 April 2007 to 25 September 2007. It covered the story from volume 1 to the first half of volume 11 (up to chapter 59), staying relatively faithful to the source material until its [[GeckoEnding departure from the manga in its last episodes]], which it took in order to give the series a conclusion the manga didn't have at the time.

Notable draws for the series include its WorldOfActionGirls, drawn-out and gory fight sequences featuring some [[OneWingedAngel really hideous demons]], and its exploration of what makes someone a human or a monster. Stylistically it takes inspiration from the generation of action manga that Yagi read as a youth including ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' and ''Manga/SpaceAdventureCobra''. Readers who enjoy ''Claymore'' and don't mind dipping into {{seinen}} might like ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', a DarkFantasy with gory medieval combat that also focuses on loss, corruption, and revenge, or ''Manga/{{Zetman}}'', a [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical]] take on the {{superhero}} genre about an orphan with mutant powers.

* AlasPoorVillain: Pour some wine out for [[spoiler: Isley, Riful and Dauf]]. Pour it ''twice'' for [[spoiler:Dauf. Anyone who can lose whatever vestige of humanity he had left and ''still'' have a sense of purpose deserves that much.]]

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Mainly Riful, who seemed to discard all footwear since he became an Abyssal, but all Claymores count a bit, as they take off her shoes when resting regardless of where they are.

* TheDreaded: Each Abyssal One, and Priscilla. Bonus point for Priscilla for being able to scare the other dreaded.
** If you are a Number One, you are automatically a Dreaded.

* MasterSwordsMan: Every Warrior in the Organization is this, to the point that many of them are CombatAesthicist who disrespect fellow Warriors who have ugly fighting techniques. Raki himself is a master swordsman but he got caught in a MexicanStandOff against a pair of trainees who were holding back, showing that even the trainees are experts.

* OneHandedZweihander: Every Claymore does this. Granted, their swords are only moderately large by anime standards, but no normal person could use them like they do. Lampshaded by Clare in the first chapter.

* MasterSwordsMan: Every Warrior in the Organization is this, Raki himself is a master swordsman but he got caught in a MexicanStandOff against a pair of trainees who were holding back.

''Claymore'' (クレイモア ''Kureimoa'') is a DarkFantasy [[ShonenDemographic shonen]] manga by Norihiro Yagi, who wanted to try drawing a more serious story after finishing his debut manga, the high school delinquent parody ''Manga/AngelDensetsu''. He planned the plot loosely so that he could let it develop naturally and the tale grew with the telling, beginning publication in May 2001 and finishing in October 2014 at 155 chapters. Creator/{{Madhouse}} adapted the manga into a 26-episodes anime directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka and written by Yasuko Kobayashi, which aired in Japan from 3 April 2007 to 25 September 2007. It covered the story from volume 1 to the first half of volume 11 (up to chapter 59), staying relatively faithful to the source material until its [[GeckoEnding departure from the manga in its last episodes]], done in order to give the series a conclusion the manga didn't have at the time.

''Claymore'' (クレイモア ''Kureimoa'') is a DarkFantasy [[ShonenDemographic shonen]] manga by Norihiro Yagi, who wanted to try drawing a more serious story after finishing his debut manga, the high school delinquent parody ''Manga/AngelDensetsu''. He planned the plot loosely so that he could let it develop naturally and the tale grew with the telling, beginning publication in May 2001 and finishing in October 2014 at 155 chapters. Creator/{{Madhouse}} adapted the manga into a 26-episodes anime directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka and written by Yasuko Kobayashithat, which aired in Japan from 3 April 2007 to 25 September 2007. It covered the story from volume 1 to the first half of volume 11 (up to chapter 59), staying relatively faithful to the source material until its [[GeckoEnding departure from the manga in its last episodes]], done in order to give the series a conclusion the manga didn't have at the time.

''Claymore'' (クレイモア ''Kureimoa'') is a DarkFantasy [[ShonenDemographic shonen]] manga by Norihiro Yagi, who wanted to try drawing a more serious story after finishing his debut manga, the high school delinquent parody ''Manga/AngelDensetsu''. He planned the plot loosely so that he could let it develop naturally and the tale grew with the telling, beginning publication in May 2001 and finishing in October 2014 at 155 chapters. The manga has been adapted into a 26-episodes anime that was aired in Japan from 3 April 2007 to 25 September 2007, covering volumes 1 to half of 11 (up to chapter 59) and staying relatively faithful to the source material except for its [[GeckoEnding departure from the manga in its last episodes]], done in order to give the series a conclusion the manga didn't have at the time.

Nicknamed "Claymores" by the common people after the great swords they wield, these warriors are half-human, half-demon hybrids possessing superhuman strength, speed, and regeneration, as well as senses that can detect demons and demonic energy. They are all adopted as orphans by the Organization and trained after undergoing the painful surgery to implant demon flesh in their bodies, learning to use their demon halves to bring out their most impressive abilities while fighting ''Yoma''. However, a Claymore who releases too much of her demon power at once runs the risk of losing control and turning into something truly monstrous. Human society [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer rejects them]], and their own Organization treats them as [[WeHaveReserves expendable pawns]] by sending them on one dangerous assignment after another until their luck runs out. Desertion from the Organization is punished by death, as is breaking the iron-clad rule not to kill a human under any circumstances.

[[InAWorld On a continent cut off from the outside world]], where people live in scattered cities and villages at a vaguely MedievalEuropeanFantasy level of development, demons called ''Yoma'' hide among the humans and prey on them for food. These demons are capable of tearing through armored soldiers, have an insatiable appetite for human entrails, and can disguise themselves perfectly as humans. For these terrorized communities, there is only one source of salvation: pay an exorbitant sum of money to a mysterious group called [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness The Organization]], which will send one of its feared silver-eyed female warriors to root out the threat.

** One could take [[spoiler:Clare's kissing Raki right before they separated]] to be indicative of her sexuality, and growing humanity. Of course, it isn't hard to imagine she just did that to get herself alone with Ophelia. Helen once also accused Raki of being Clare's 'plaything'.
** Given that the [[spoiler: surgical scars from their transformation extend all the way to their genitals]], it's quite possible that Claymores simply ''can't'' have sex for fear of their guts spilling out.
** Anyway, the possibility of Raki taking Clare's chastity pisses [[spoiler: reborn Teresa]] off. So it's not completely ruled out.

* FantasyGunControl: The continent is advanced enough to have developed plate armour and have turned monster making into a science. But forget having a gun, the people on the continent don't even have crossbows. The knights fighting Bloody Agatha had to lob spears at her as their sole ranged attack.

* FingerLickinEvil