History Manga / PrincessKnight

* TropeCodifier: This series codified the "[[{{Bifauxnen}} princely]] crossdressing heroine" trope that was later featured in ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles'' and ''Manga/RevolutionaryGirlUtena''.

%%[[folder:TV Series]]

%%[[folder:Unknwon Source]]
%%* MurderInc: The Assassin's Club.
%%[[/folder]]

* The second version of the manga, which ran on ''Nakayoshi'' from 1963 to 1966.
* The third version of the manga, which ran on ''Shōjo Friend'' from April 1967 to April 1968.

* PeacefulInDeath: The copse of [[spoiler:the mother wolf]] is found with a peaceful smile on her face.

Meanwhile, in a vaguely medieval kingdom [[note]]the name varies depending on the versions: it is Sapphire in the 50's manga, while it is Silverland in the 60's manga[[/note]], the King learns to his dismay that the Queen has given birth to a girl and due to complications, cannot have another child. Women cannot inherit the throne and the King knows that his closest male relative, Duke Duralumin, is a wicked man who would make the dim-witted Plastic king to oppress the people. So the King pretends that Sapphire was born male, with only a handful of close advisors knowing the truth.

''Ribon no Kishi''[[note]]Literally, Ribbon Knight or Knight of the Ribbon[[/note]] was created by Creator/OsamuTezuka in 1953 and is one of the earliest {{shojo}} manga. The original manga series ran from 1953 to 1956 and proved popular enough to be granted a sequel, ''The Twin Knights'', starring [[SpinOffspring Sapphire's daughter]], Princess Violetta, on her search for her lost twin brother, [[GenderBlenderName Prince Daisy]]. During the '60s, Tezuka also made a TV anime adaption and an extended remake of the manga. Both versions followed roughly the original story up until close to its ending where they split off in their own directions. The new manga had Sapphire encountering the pirate Blood, the swordswoman Friebe, and [[Myth/ClassicalMythology the goddess Venus]], all while overcoming the permanent loss of her male heart. The anime also played around with some of these ideas, but quickly put them aside in favor of a longer StoryArc involving a new villain, Mr. X.

* ''Princess Knight: TheMusical'', which was produced in 2006 by Morning Musume with an all-female cast, aided by the Theatre/TakarazukaRevue.

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

%%* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Tiln the Dayfly]].

%%[[folder:Anime]]

* ''The Twin Knights'', a sequel which ran on ''Magazine/Nakayoshi'' from January 1958 to June 1958.

* A 52-episode anime series, which was produced by Creator/MushiProduction and aired on Creator/FujiTelevision from April 2, 1967, to April 7, 1968.

* TheMusical: In 2006, idol group MorningMusume made a musical adaptation with an all-female cast, aided by [[{{Takarazuka}} the Takarazuka Revue]].

** [[spoiler:In the 60's manga, someone must travel to the realm of Venus to get a magical flower to resurrect Sapphire. Sapphire's mother instantly volunteers, only for Franz to say, not unkindly, that she should stay in the castle and he ought to go because men are more suited for adventuring.]]

Meanwhile, in a vaguely medieval kingdom [[note]]the name varies depending on the versions: it is Sapphire in the 50's manga, while it is Silverland in the 60's manga[[/note]], the King learns to his dismay that the Queen has given birth to a girl and due to complications, cannot have another child. Women cannot inherit the throne and the King knows that his closest male relative, Duke Duralumin, is a wicked man who would use the dim-witted Plastic as a PuppetKing to oppress the people. So the King pretends that Sapphire was born male, with only a handful of close advisors knowing the truth.

Thanks to her dual nature, Sapphire is equally adept at male and female activities (even if the latter must be taught in secret). The story picks up in Sapphire's early adolescence, as Duke Duralumin steps up his attempts to prove the Prince to be a girl, and Tink finally finds Sapphire in the mortal world. And it's a good thing Sapphire has a new ally, as the Duke is not the only force that threatens the kingdom.

''Ribon no Kishi''[[note]]Literally, Ribbon Knight or Knight of the Ribbon[[/note]] was created by Creator/OsamuTezuka in 1953 and is one of the earliest {{shojo}} manga. The original manga series ran from 1953 to 1956 and proved popular enough to be granted a sequel, ''Twin Knights'', starring [[SpinOffspring Sapphire's daughter]] Princess Violetta on her search for her lost twin brother, [[GenderBlenderName Prince Daisy]]. During the '60s, Tezuka also made a TV anime adaption and an extended remake of the manga. Both versions followed roughly the original story up until close to its ending where they split off in their own directions. The new manga had Sapphire encountering the pirate Blood, fellow swordswoman, Friebe, and [[Myth/ClassicalMythology the goddess Venus]], all while overcoming the permanent loss of her male heart. The anime also played around with some of these ideas, but quickly put them aside in favor of a longer StoryArc involving a new villain, Mr. X.

The anime was broadcast in the United States as ''Princess Knight'' or ''Choppy and the Princess'', the latter being at first the title of a short movie made by mashing together three of the episodes. Distribution of the American version was spotty at best, and it wasn't until 2012 that the show got a proper DVD release. The 60's manga has received an English language two-volume collected release from Vertical inc in 2011 and a similar release of ''Twin Knights'' finally saw the light of day in 2013.

[[folder:Multiple Series]]
* ActionGirl: Sapphire and Friebe. Violetta and Emerald in ''Twin Knights''.
* {{Bifauxnen}}: Sapphire can pull off pretending to be a prince because she resembles one.
* TheChewToy: Sir Nylon. His constant misfortune gets more amusing.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Sapphire's crossdressing earns her a few crushes from oblivious girls, most notably Friebe, who even makes it to the altar with Sapphire before she learns the truth.
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Sapphire is one.

** In ''Twin Knights'', Silverland's society has progressed enough that half of the kingdom is certain that Princess Violetta would be a better heir than Prince Daisy. Also, unlike ''Princess Knight'', Violetta's aptitude for sword fighting and other traditionally unladylike behavior isn't attributed to her having a "boy's heart".
* FluffyCloudHeaven: Where Tink is from, as are the unborn souls of children.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Sapphire has many cute animal friends.
* GenderBender: Sapphire is female, but has both male and female "hearts". At one point she loses her female heart and turns into a man.
* GodIsGood: The Abrahamic God gives Tink a chance to redeem himself and helps the heroes with DivineIntervention every once in a while. The Greek gods though... [[JerkassGods Not so much]].
* HeirClubForMen: Deconstructed. Princess Sapphire is born into a kingdom [[note]]the name varies depending on the versions: it is Sapphire in the 50's manga, while it is Silverland in the 60's manga[[/note]] where women cannot inherit the throne by the law. Sapphire is RaisedAsTheOppositeGender to keep the kingdom out of Duke Duralmin's hand since he plans to turn Plastic, the only available male heir, into his PuppetKing. [[spoiler:Subverted when Plastic becomes TheGoodKing and gives women the right to inherit the throne, giving Sapphire the crown in the process.]]

** [[spoiler: Emerald intends to use a similar potion to save Violetta]] in Twin Knights, [[spoiler: but the mother wolf saves her in turn by taking her place.]]
* InadequateInheritor: Duke Duralumin promotes his mentally disabled son, Plastic, for the throne in Saphire's place, seeking to rule from behind the scenes.
%%* KilledOffForReal:
%%** A lot of characters including [[spoiler: the King (in the manga), Blood, Hecate, Eros, Madame Hell, and Duke Duralumin]].
%%** In Twin Knights: [[spoiler: Papi the Deer, Slobb, Tiln the Dayfly, Begonia the Witch, the mother wolf, Prince Black, Duchess Dahlia and probably the Duke.]]
%%* LargeHam: Duke Duralumin, [[LampshadeHanging he even has a portrait of himself]] on which he's MilkingTheGiantCow.
* LikesClarkKentHatesSuperman: Prince Franz loves Sapphire's female disguise but hates Prince Sapphire due to a misunderstanding.
* MaskPower: During a period when Sapphire was supposed to be imprisoned, she snuck out a secret passage and donned a mask to be the Phantom Knight, who fought crime and oppression.

* NiceHat: Sapphire often wears a magnificently large hat. She dons it again in ''Twin Knights'', when [[spoiler:she and Violetta are imprisoned and she takes the opportunity to give her daughter swordfighting lessons]]. Violetta also has a similar one.

* StayInTheKitchen:
** Throughout the series, all the heroes decry the law stating that women couldn't rule as being misogynistic and outdated. [[spoiler:Eventually, even the immature Plastic becomes TheGoodKing and gets the parliament to unanimously agree to abolish that law, before giving Sapphire the crown and telling her she deserves to rule no matter what her gender.]]
** Inverted. No one seems to mind that Fiebe is participating in tournaments and fighting the king's soldiers. Granted, her sole reason for doing this is to get a strong husband to settle down with.
* PinkGirlBlueBoy: The hearts in heaven are colored this way.

** Princess Sapphire is known as ''Prince'' Sapphire because it was the only way to keep the kingdom out of the evil duke's hands.
** A very interesting case happens in the sequel. To try to convince the kingdom that Prince Daisy had be safely found, Franz ordered Violetta to alternate between living as a girl and a boy. Unfortunately, the BigBad does catch on that the "prince" is never around when the princess is.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Tink looks like a little kid, but since he's [[OurAngelsAreDifferent an angel]] it's safe to assume he's much older.
* RecursiveCrossdressing: Sapphire sometimes wore a blonde wig and a gown to impersonate a girl with a nebulous relationship to the royalty of Silverland so that she could woo Prince Franz.

** [[spoiler: Oolong.]]
** [[spoiler: Plastic, immediately after he either gets shot with lightning in the 50's manga or swallows Sapphire's boy heart in the 60's manga. In fact, the first thing he does is start to undo his father's evil deeds, then changes Silverland's outdated laws for the better and finally, paves the way to reinstall Sapphire as the righteous king. All what he wants in exchange is mercy for his father.]]

** In ''Twin Knights'', Princess Violetta sets out to find her long-lost twin brother [[spoiler:to free her parents from prison and stop the usurpers taking over the kingdom]].
%%* SmugSnake: Sir Nylon. Mrs. Hell (who appears in the 60's manga and replaces Mephisto's role) also qualifies.
* SweetPollyOliver: Sapphire, interestingly with no name change necessary.
* TookALevelInBadass: Plastic begins the story as dimwitted brat who pees himself in his first appearance after laughing to hard, causing him to bawl his eyes out. Duralumin wanted to make him king so that he could exert control through him. After a couple of chapters, he begins acting his age, defies his father, and installs rules that grants more rights to women, because he believes it to be just.

** Her daughter is forced to do the same in the sequel, to convince the kingdom that her brother, Prince Daisy, is still around. Sapphire, who doesn't fondly remember her days of living as a boy, is immensely sorry to subject her daughter to the same fate, though Violetta holds up pretty well.

[[folder:50's Manga]]
* {{Satan}}: Mephisto desired, among other things, to steal Sapphire's unique twin-hearted soul. In his earthly form, he possessed powerful magic and NighInvulnerability, but was deathly afraid of angels, retreating whenever Tink blew his horn and occasionally turning him into a ButtMonkey.

[[folder:''Twin Knights'']]
* AdultFear: Sapphire and Franz are terrified when they learn that their infant son has disappeared. They have the castle searched from top to bottom for him, and even search the ''moat''.
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: Tiln the Dayfly]] in Twin Knights.
* PeacefulInDeath: The copse of [[spoiler: mother wolf]] is found with a peaceful smile on her face.
[[/folder]]

%%* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Sapphire's parents]], in the finale of the anime, and Sapphire herself thanks to Venus's help.
* ClingyJealousGirl: Venus.
* DeusExMachina: Played with, due to the nature of the plot.
** Played straight when [[spoiler:a bunch of angels come to help Tink to fight Madame Hell]] or when [[spoiler:God himself]] helped out briefly.
** ''Deconstructed'' when [[spoiler:the help of Venus makes everything worse, since her help isn't for free and [[DeconReconSwitch almost]] ruined the Happy Ending.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Duke Duralumin kills himself when he thinks his son is dying.]]
* DudeLooksLikeALady: When Sapphire temporarily loses her female heart and turns into a guy, she looks exactly the same as she did as a girl.
* EasyAmnesia: Sapphire temporarily loses all her memories after she's brought back from the dead.
* FantasyKitchenSink: A really weird example; apparently the Abrahamic {{God}} and the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek gods]] exist in the same universe.

* HeelFaceTurn: The warden of the prison tower Sapphire and her mother the queen are locked up in, Gammer, starts off as someone being more and more of a {{Jerkass}}, and eventually is pushed by Duralumin to eliminate both of them. During the struggle that follows however, he plummets down the stairs. When they tend to his wounds, essentially saving his life, he finally has a change of heart. Which he demonstrates by taking down an assassin, who was aiming for Gammer's former targets, with a knife throw, saving their lifes. When appearing later on, he is serving at the queens side.
* HotBloodedSideburns: Blood. Fitting for the pirate.
* JerkassGods: Venus, a goddess that becomes a villain out of jealousy.
* LaughingMad: [[spoiler: Friebe has a brief fit of hysterical laughter when she finds out that the boy she's about to marry is actually a girl.]]
* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler:Captain Blood is the older brother of Prince Franz! Who'd have guessed?]]
* MagicFeather: [[spoiler:The loss of Sapphire's boy heart initially cripples her with fear, but she eventually learns to be just as brave without it.]]
* NoOntologicalInertia: Madam Hell is reminded at one point her flesh-to-stone spell will be reversed if she dies. [[spoiler: Sadly, this also applies to Hecate, as her mother literally ''made'' her using magic.]]
* NoWomansLand: In Silverland, women aren't allowed to vote or own property and generally are considered inferior to the men. In fact, one of the driving conflicts in the series is that Princess Sapphire was born a girl and thus is ineligible for the throne. [[spoiler:Subverted at the end when Plastic becomes TheGoodKing, gets all women in the kingdom equal rights and gives Sapphire the crown]].
* ObfuscatingInsanity: [[spoiler: Marquis Oolong pretends to be a nutcase so that if any of his underlings plot to overthrow him, they'll be less covert about it and he'll be able to root them out.]]
* PeekABangs: Parpa and Friebe.
* PostClimaxConfrontation: [[spoiler:Once Madame Hell and Duke Duralumin [[CharacterDeath are out of the picture]], Venus serves as the final obstacle of Sapphire's and Franz's love.]]
* PunchClockVillain: Eros often disapproves of her mistress Venus's jealousy -- motivated plots, and alternates between following orders because it's her job and secretly sabotaging Venus's plans while hoping that Venus won't find out.

* RebelliousPrincess: Hecate is an odd case because she's technically the princess of Hell and she frequently rebels against her mother's plans and helps out the people that her mother is victimizing.
* TakenForGranite: [[spoiler:Sapphire's mom, and later on lots of people in the vicinity of the royal castle of Silverland.]]
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Hecate can change into a variety of animals and creatures.

[[folder:Anime]]
* BagOfKidnapping: Captain Blood does this to Princess Sapphire in episode 48 after knocking her out, to hand her over to the X-Union for reward money.
* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler:Sir Nylon, Duralumin's luckless henchman, finally snaps from the abuse and kills his boss, ruling Silverland for a very brief time as a drooling madman and puppet of Mr. X.]]
* ForgotICouldChangeTheRules: The king finally wants to change the law to allow Sapphire to succeed him, but is kidnapped to stop it. Had he thought of changing the law earlier in the course of the anime's events, his tomboyish daughter would've not been dragged through all of the political complications afflicting her life due to the original law of succession and it would have put a definite moratorium on Duke Duralumin's nefarious schemes to take over the kingdom.
* KnightOfCerebus: Mr. X makes things a lot more serious.
[[/folder]]

%%* LadyLand: Black Pearl Island.

''Ribon no Kishi''[[note]]Literally, Ribbon Knight or Knight of the Ribbon[[/note]] was created by Creator/OsamuTezuka in 1953, and is one of the earliest {{shojo}} manga. The original manga series ran from 1953 to 1956 and proved popular enough to be granted a sequel, ''Twin Knights'', starring [[SpinOffspring Sapphire's daughter]] Princess Violetta on her search for her lost twin brother, [[GenderBlenderName Prince Daisy]]. During the 60's Tezuka also made a TV anime adaption and an extended remake of the manga. Both versions followed roughly the original story up until close to its ending where they split off in their own directions. The new manga had Sapphire encountering the pirate Blood, fellow swordswoman, Friebe, and [[Myth/ClassicalMythology the goddess, Venus]], all while overcoming [[spoiler:the permanent loss of her male heart]]. The anime also played around with some of these ideas, but quickly put them aside in favor of a longer StoryArc involving a new villain, Mr. X.

[[folder:General]]
* ActionGirl: Sapphire and Friebe. Violetta and Emerald in Twin Knights.

* ForgotICouldChangeTheRules: The king finally wants to change the law to allow Sapphire to succeed him, but is kidnapped to stop it.

* RealWomenDontWearDresses: Played with. While Princess Sapphire and Friebe do their best ass-kicking while in masculine clothes, Sapphire feels far more comfortable in feminine attire and it's implied that this is the way that's best for her. Friebe, meanwhile, is heroic and is almost always seen in her armor, but wears a dress and brags about her ability to cook and sew as a selling point to convince [[SweetOnPollyOliver Sapphire]] to marry her.

* TropeCodifier: This series codified the "[[{{Bifauxnen}} princely]] crossdressing heroine" trope that was later featured in ''Manga/RoseOfVersailles'' and ''Manga/RevolutionaryGirlUtena''.

Meanwhile, in a vaguely medieval kingdom [[note]]the name varies depending on the versions: it is Sapphire in the 50's manga, while it is Silverland in the 60's manga[[/note]], the King learns to his dismay that the Queen has given birth to a girl, and due to complications cannot have another child. Women cannot inherit the throne, and the King knows that his closest male relative, Duke Duralumin, is a wicked man who would oppress the people. So the King pretends that Sapphire was born male, with only a handful of close advisors knowing the truth.

Thanks to her dual nature, Sapphire is equally adept at male and female activities (even if the latter must be taught in secret). The story picks up in Sapphire's early adolescence, as Duke Duralumin steps up his attempts to prove the Prince to be a girl, and Tink finally finds Sapphire in the mortal world. And it's a good thing Sapphire has a new ally, as the Duke is not the only force that threatens Silverland.

''Ribon no Kishi''[[note]]Literally, Ribbon Knight or Knight of the Ribbon[[/note]] was created by Creator/OsamuTezuka in 1953, and is one of the earliest {{shojo}} manga. The original manga series ran from 1953 to 1956 and proved popular enough to be granted a sequel, ''Twin Knights'', starring [[SpinOffspring Sapphire's daughter]] Princess Violetta on her search for her lost twin brother [[GenderBlenderName Prince Daisy]]. During the 60's Tezuka also made a TV anime adaption and an extended remake of the manga. Both versions followed roughly the original story up until close to its ending where they split off in their own directions. The new manga had Sapphire encountering the pirate Blood, fellow swords-woman Friebe and [[Myth/ClassicalMythology the goddess Venus]], all while overcoming [[spoiler:the permanent loss of her male heart]]. The anime also played around with some of these ideas, but quickly put them aside in favor of a longer StoryArc involving a new villain, Mr. X.

* LovesClarkKentHatesSuperman: Prince Franz loves Sapphire's female disguise but hates Prince Sapphire due to a misunderstanding.

Aka ''Ribon no Kishi''[[note]]Literally, Ribbon Knight or Knight of the Ribbon[[/note]] and ''Choppy and the Princess''.

The story of Sapphire, the princess of Silverland, who must pretend to be a prince.

Meanwhile, in Silverland, a vaguely medieval kingdom, the King learns to his dismay that the Queen has given birth to a girl, and due to complications cannot have another child. Women cannot inherit the throne, and the King knows that his closest male relative, Duke Duralumin, is a wicked man who would oppress the people. So the King pretends that Sapphire was born male, with only a handful of close advisors knowing the truth.

''Ribon no Kishi'' was created by Creator/OsamuTezuka in 1953, and is one of the earliest {{shojo}} manga. The original manga series ran from 1953 to 1956 and proved popular enough to be granted a sequel, ''Twin Knights'', starring [[SpinOffspring Sapphire's daughter]] Princess Violetta on her search for her lost twin brother [[GenderBlenderName Prince Daisy]]. During the 60's Tezuka also made a TV anime adaption and an extended remake of the manga. Both versions followed roughly the original story up until close to its ending where they split off in their own directions. The new manga had Sapphire encountering the pirate Blood, fellow swords-woman Friebe and [[Myth/ClassicalMythology the goddess Venus]], all while overcoming [[spoiler: the permanent loss of her boy-heart]]. The anime also played around with some of these ideas, but quickly put them aside in favor of a longer StoryArc involving a new villain, Mr. X.

* AdultFear: Sapphire and Franz are terrified when they learn that their infant son has disappeared. They have the castle searched from top to bottom for him, and even search the ''moat''.
* AntiAntiChrist: Hecate, Satan's daughter, who's secretly good, or at least no worse than mischievous.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Sapphire's parents]], in the finale of the anime, and Sapphire herself thanks to Venus's help.
* BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: Hecate, while not truly evil, was raised by Madame Hell (or Mephisto, depending on the version) and has some very disturbing ideas of what constitutes harmless fun.
* BagOfKidnapping: Captain Blood does this to Princess Sapphire in episode 48 after knocking her out, to hand her over to the X-Union for reward money.

* BigBad: Mr. X. [[EvilerThanThou Even Satan pales in comparison in terms of sheer evil]]. Though in the manga, Madame Hell is the Big Bad.
* {{Bishonen}}: See the entry for "DudeLooksLikeALady", below.

* ClingyJealousGirl: Venus.
* DamselInDistress: Although more often than not, it evolves into DamselOutOfDistress.
* DeusExMachina: Played with, due to the nature of the plot.
** Played straight when [[spoiler:a bunch of angels come to help Tink to fight Madame Hell]] or when [[spoiler:God himself]] helped out briefly.
** ''Deconstructed'' when [[spoiler:the help of Venus makes everything worse, since her help isn't for free and [[DeconReconSwitch almost]] ruined the Happy Ending.]]
* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler:In the anime Sir Nylon, Duralumin's luckless henchman, finally snaps from the abuse and kills his boss, ruling Silverland for a very brief time as a drooling madman and puppet of Mr. X.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Duke Duralumin kills himself when he thinks his son is dying.]]
* DudeLooksLikeALady: When Sapphire temporarily loses her female heart and turns into a guy, she looks exactly the same as she did as a girl.
* EasyAmnesia: Sapphire temporarily loses all her memories after she's brought back from the dead.

* FantasyKitchenSink: A really weird example; apparently the Abrahamic {{God}} and the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek gods]] exist in the same universe.

* ForgotICouldChangeTheRules: The king finally wants to change the law to allow Sapphire to succeed him, but is kidnapped to stop it.

* GodIsGood: The aforementioned Abrahamic God, He gives Tink a chance to redeem himself and helps the heroes with DivineIntervention every once in a while. The Greek gods though... [[JerkassGods Not so much]].
* GoodHurtsEvil: Crucifixes and other holy items cause great pain to demons.
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: Tiln the Dayfly]] in Twin Knights.
* HeelFaceTurn: The warden of the prison tower Sapphire and her mother the queen are locked up in, Gammer, starts off as someone being more and more of a {{Jerkass}}, and eventually is pushed by Duralumin to eliminate both of them. During the struggle that follows however, he plummets down the stairs. When they tend to his wounds, essentially saving his life, he finally has a change of heart. Which he demonstrates by taking down an assassin, who was aiming for Gammer's former targets, with a knife throw, saving their lifes. When appearing later on, he is serving at the queens side.
* HeirClubForMen: If this were not the case, then Sapphire's dual identity would not be necessary.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Blood retrieves a potion to save Sapphire's life at the cost of his own life. Although it turns out [[ShaggyDogStory he brought it back just a few moments too late]].]]

* HotBloodedSideburns: Blood. Fitting for the pirate.
* InadequateInheritor: Duke Duralumin promotes his mentally disabled son Plastic for the throne in Saphire's place, seeking to rule from behind the scenes.
* JerkassGods: Venus, a goddess that becomes a villain out of jealousy.
* KilledOffForReal: A lot of characters including [[spoiler: the King (in the manga), Blood, Hecate, Eros, Madame Hell, and Duke Duralumin]].
** In Twin Knights: [[spoiler: Papi the Deer, Slobb, Tiln the Dayfly, Begonia the Witch, the mother wolf, Prince Black, Duchess Dahlia and probably the Duke.]]
* KnightOfCerebus: Mr. X makes things a lot more serious.
* LadyLand: Black Pearl Island.
* LaughingMad: [[spoiler: Friebe has a brief fit of hysterical laughter when she finds out that the boy she's about to marry is actually a girl.]]
* LargeHam: Duke Duralumin, [[LampshadeHanging he even has a portrait of himself]] on which he's MilkingTheGiantCow.
* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler:Captain Blood is the older brother of Prince Franz! Who'd have guessed?]]
* LovesMyAlterEgo: Prince Franz loves Sapphire's female disguise but hates Prince Sapphire due to a misunderstanding.
* MagicFeather: [[spoiler: Sapphire's boy heart]] in the 60's manga. [[spoiler: The loss of it initially cripples her with fear, but she eventually learns to be just as brave without it.]]

* MurderInc: The Assassin's Club.

* NiceHat: Sapphire often wears a magnificently large hat.
** She dons it again in ''Twin Knights'', when [[spoiler:she and Violetta are imprisoned and she takes the opportunity to give her daughter swordfighting lessons]]. Violetta also has a similar one.
* NoOntologicalInertia: Madam Hell is reminded at one point her flesh-to-stone spell will be reversed if she dies. [[spoiler: Sadly, this also applies to Hecate, as her mother literally ''made'' her using magic.]]
* ObfuscatingInsanity: [[spoiler: Marquis Oolong pretends to be a nutcase so that if any of his underlings plot to overthrow him, they'll be less covert about it and he'll be able to root them out.]]
* PeacefulInDeath: The copse of [[spoiler: mother wolf]], in Twin Knights. is found with a peaceful smile on her face.
* PeekABangs: Parpa and Friebe.

* PostClimaxConfrontation: [[spoiler:In the manga remake, Venus takes over as BigBad once Madame Hell and Duke Duralumin [[CharacterDeath are out of the picture]], and serves as the final obstacle of Sapphire's and Franz's love.]]
* PunchClockVillain: Eros often disapproves of her mistress Venus's jealousy -- motivated plots, and alternates between following orders because it's her job and secretly sabotaging Venus's plans while hoping that Venus won't find out.
* RaisedAsTheOppositeGender: Princess Sapphire is known as ''Prince'' Sapphire because it was the only way to keep the kingdom out of the evil duke's hands.

* RebelliousPrincess: Hecate is an odd case because she's technically the princess of Hell and she frequently rebels against her mother's plans and helps out the people that her mother is victimizing.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: [[spoiler: Oolong.]]
** [[spoiler: Plastic too, immediately after he swallows Sapphire's boy heart. In fact, the first thing he does is start to undo his father's evil deeds, then changes Silverland's outdated laws for the better and finally, paves the way to reinstall Sapphire as the righteous king. All what he wants in exchange is mercy for his father.]]

** Hecate, as seen above.

* {{Satan}}: Also known as Mephisto. He desired, among other things, to steal Sapphire's unique twin-hearted soul. In his earthly form, he possessed powerful magic and NighInvulnerability, but was deathly afraid of angels, retreating whenever Tink blew his horn and occasionally turning him into a ButtMonkey.
* SmugSnake: Sir Nylon. Mrs. Hell (who appears in the third release published by Nakayoshi and replaces Satan's role) also qualifies.

* TakenForGranite: [[spoiler:Sapphire's mom, and later on lots of people in the vicinity of the royal castle of Silverland.]]
* {{Tomboy}}: Surprisingly, it is not Sapphire, whose princely finery still marks her out as a dandy, but Hecate who is dressed in stereotypical 1950s tomboy garb.
* TookALevelInBadass: Plastic, after [[spoiler:accidentally swallowing Sapphire's boy heart]].

* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Hecate can change into a variety of animals and creatures.
* WaifFu: With the HandWave of Sapphire's "male heart", because [[ValuesDissonance it's not like a girl could be competent at martial arts]].

* {{Wimpification}}: ''Inverted'' with Duralumins 18-year-old son Plastic, who starts of as dimwitted brat, who pees himself in his first appearance after laughing to hard, causing him to bawl his eyes out. Duralumin wanted to make him king so that he could exert control through him. Thing is, after a couple of chapters, Plastic begins acting his age, defies his father, and installs rules that grants more rights to women, because he believes it to be just.

* HotBloodedSideburns: Blood.