History Manga / ElfenLied

* [[CryForTheDevil Cry For The]] DevilInPlainSight: The story seems to go to great lengths to show how much of an [[TheWoobie unfortunate victim]] Lucy has been throughout her life. Whether you buy it [[BrokenAesop or]] [[{{Narm}} not]] largely depends on your [[YourMileageMayVary point of view]].

* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Nyu and at times Nana as well. This trope often veers from [[FanService appealing to the viewer]] to [[FanDisservice freaking out the viewer completely]]

* IncrediblyLamePun: [[http://www.mangareader.net/190-12632-4/elfen-lied/chapter-21.html This.]]

* PreciousPuppies: There are a few puppies in this series, and they're all quite precious. Except when [[spoiler: they're getting beaten to death with a vase/rock.]]

* EverythingsPreciousWithPuppies: There are a few puppies in this series, and they're all quite precious. Except when [[spoiler: they're getting beaten to death with a vase/rock.]]

* LyricalDissonance: First, the violent anime ends with a cheery upbeat song. Then, the lyrics turn out to be all about [[AllLoveIsUnrequited unrequited love]].

* MagicalGirlfriend: Dismembers the genre with a rusty chainsaw.

* NakedOnArrival

''[[YouHaveBeenWarned Cautious Editing/Viewer Warning]]'': There is consistent talk of rape, extreme gore, and violence not suitable for the underage. There was a [[RRatedOpening a very good reason]] why this has been unable to air, after all.

* CryForTheDevil: The story seems to go to great lengths to show how much of an [[TheWoobie unfortunate victim]] Lucy has been throughout her life. Whether you buy it [[BrokenAesop or]] [[{{Narm}} not]] largely depends on your [[YourMileageMayVary point of view]].

* CuteMute: Lucy, called Nyu after the only word she could speak at first. [[spoiler: Nozomi]] becomes one near the end of the manga in a more literal way, although [[spoiler: she seems to have gotten better by the last chapter]].

* DysfunctionJunction: Nearly as bad as ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''.

* {{Expy}} - Not the series itself, but it [[FollowTheLeader has one]]. WolfBreed. It's Elfen Lied . . . with werewolves.

* GeckoEnding: In the anime.

* HandCannon: Bando uses two Desert Eagles chambered in .50AE, and is actually [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in using it: Most handgun bullets bounce off the Diclonius vectors, the heavier and more powerful .50AE round will go right through at a close enough range.

* HumansAreBastards: A huge part of the show, but [[{{Jerkass}} Bandou]] ''really'' pushes the envelope, and the [[CompleteMonster Unknown Man]] pushes it off a cliff. Sometimes it seems that the Diclonii are more human than the actual humans, but usually not for long.

* KickTheDog: Taken to the logical extreme, but also subverted early on to show that Lucy's killing was ''more'' discriminate than we were previously led to believe.

* OhCrap [[spoiler:from the readers, when Kouta gets shot. Lucy has never made that face until then. Damned be the odds, so many people are about to die ''so horribly''.]]

* RRatedOpening

* ShooOutTheClowns: In the fastest Shoo-out ever, the general feel of ''Elfen Lied'' is realized when the cute {{Dojikko}} secretary gets her head cut off in the first five minutes of the first episode (and she had done ''nothing'' except walk in on Lucy's battle!). And it doesn't help that Lucy uses her beheaded body as a human shield next.

* TheBadGuyWins: In the anime only, but the way they resolved all plot lines by then, Kakuzawa is the only one who came out unambiguously ahead. And he's laughing like a maniac over his victory. However, the story ends on a CliffHanger of epic proportions.

* TooDumbToLive: Kisaragi in the anime [[spoiler:[[AnyoneCanDie as Lucy proves ten-minutes in]], in a very gory fashion]]. In the manga, [[spoiler:Kisaragi's death is less a sequence of unforgivable stupidity than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.]]

Lucy, a beautiful but extremely dangerous [[{{Mutants}} mutant]], escapes from a sinister research facility, brutally slaughtering anyone that gets in her way, whether they intended to or not. However, a glancing head shot from an anti-tank rifle leaves her injured, and she falls into the ocean, unconscious...

Later, university student Kouta and his female cousin Yuka are walking along the Yuigahama beach near Kamakura, when they find a naked young woman with horns on her head. They end up taking her home and calling her Nyu after the only sound she makes.

Between the sinister government agency running the facility, Yuka's jealousy, Nyu's dark and troubled alternate personality and a traumatic past he cannot remember, Kouta is in deep trouble. Caught between monsters, both human and not, where does his loyalty lie?

''Elfen Lied'' is a ''very, very'' bloody {{manga}}, which has been likened to a [[XMeetsY combination]] of ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'', ''{{Carrie}}'', ''[[TheStrangeCaseOfDoctorJekyllAndMrHyde Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]'', and ''LoveHina''. In other words, it's a twisted mixture of pseudo-harem antics, mutant battles, cute girls, split personalities, and of course, lots and lots of gore - and it's more than happy to [[MoodWhiplash swing between comedy and horror at the drop of a hat]]. It has also been compared to ''IDreamOfJeannie'' as done by David Lynch and Wes Craven. There is also a short {{anime}} series of the same name that follows the first couple of chapters but ends with [[GeckoEnding an alternative ending]] before the real plot kicks off.

The series has become something of a CultClassic: given the heavy amounts of bloody violence and nudity, not to mention the dark tone overall (which are even worse in the manga), ''even in Japan'' the series only aired on satellite TV, as a glorified commercial for the DVD release. In North America, ADV didn't seriously think the show would gain widespread popularity, if only for the pragmatic reason that it was limited to mature audiences (they could never market it to 14 years olds). There was actually supposed to be a second season, but the show had to end after only one season largely due to lack of exposure in Japan from its limited TV run. Then ''purely by word of mouth'' it spread from one anime club to the next, and reviewers started noticing it, to the point that it ultimately became one of ADV's top selling North American [=DVD=]s of 2005.

* OneGenderRace: Subverted as there are male diclonius but they so incredibly rare that we only see one in the manga, [[spoiler: Lucy's half brother.]] We are thrown a curve ball with two other cases which just turn out out to be nothing but false alarms as they are just humans with a birth defect that makes parts of their skulls stick out like horns.
** It's not clear whether they're descended from Diclonii whose ancestors bred with humans to the point that the only part of their Diclonius heritage that remains is the horns (there ''are'' two of them), or if they just have a birth defect.

* FridgeBrilliance: The Diclonii are [[FetishFuel chained up and naked]] in the facility making some really creepy {{fanservice}}. What else is naked and locked up by humans? Animals. The Diclonus are nothing but animals in their eyes.

* FridgeBrilliance: The Diclonus are [[FetishFuel chained up and naked]] in the facility making some really creepy fan service. But then again, what else is naked and locked up by humans? Animals. The Diclonus are nothing but animals in their eyes.

* FridgeBrilliance: The Diclonus are [[FetishFuel chained up and naked]] in the facility making some really creepy [[FanService]], but then again, what else is naked and locked up by humans? Animals. The Diclonus are nothing but animals in their eyes.

** It's not clear whether they're ''descended'' from Diclonii, but their ancestors bred with humans to the point that the only part of their Diclonius heritage that remains is the horns (there are two of them), or if they just have a birth defect.

** No, not quite - they're ''descended'' from Diclonii, but their ancestors bred with humans to the point that the only part of their Diclonius heritage that remains is the horns. So they do still have the blood, but it's spread thin enough that they get none of the so-called "perks" that come with it.

* {{Oubliette}}: The sinister Research Faciliy in which Diclonii are held and experimented on (more like ''[[ColdBloodedTorture tortured]]'').

* {{Death is Cheap}}: Manga only. [[spoiler: Kurama and Bando]] have excellent death scenes but disappointingly survive. [[spoiler: Nyu/Kaede]] has similar treatment. This is one point in which the anime may have been better - if they actually finished it properly.

* HumansAreBastards: A huge part of the show, but [[{{Jerkass}} Bandou]] ''really'' pushes the envelope, and the [[{{CompleteMonster}} Unknown Man]] pushes it off a cliff. Sometimes it seems that the Diclonii are more human than the actual humans, but usually not for long.

** As potentially {{Squick}}-y as one of these instances was, when [[http://www.onemanga.com/Elfen_Lied/47/10/ Kouta drags Nyu out of the room and scolds her,]] [[http://www.onemanga.com/Elfen_Lied/47/11/ Nyu's reaction]] is one of the story's few truly funny scenes.

* {{Oubliette}}: The sinister Research Faciliy in which Diclonii are held and experimented on (More like ''[[ColdBloodedTorture tortured]]'').

* SugarAndIcePersonality: What young Lucy's tsundere tendencies have matured into by the start of the series. Although not at the same time, Lucy's character seems therefore to be the very rare quartet of {{Tsundere}}, SugarAndIcePersonality, {{Yandere}} ''and'' CuteAndPsycho.

* CoversAlwaysLie: Awww, look at that manga cover, with the [[http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1030/882226864_d13ec4f4c4.jpg incredibly moe pink-haired girl on the front.]] This looks like a pretty innocent ser-''WHY IS THERE SO MUCH BLOOD!?''

* {{Death is Cheap}}: Manga only. [[spoiler: Kurama and Bando]] have excellent death scenes but pull a fast one and survive. [[spoiler: Nyu/Kaede]] has similar treatment. This is one point in which the anime may have been better - if they actually finished it properly.