History Manga / ShamanKing

* BlatantLies: Whoever told Yoh that only good people can see spirits. The [b]heroes'[/b] include (in order of appearance) a man who beats up kids for fun, a murderer who (previous to that act) [i]hates[/i] his father, a sociopath who kills anyone in his way painfully and tried to vivisect another protagonist, and a gang leader who is also a murderer. The BBEG is a genocidal sociopath. It's not clear exactly what Hiroyuki Takei's definition of evil is.

* Blatant Lies: Whoever told Yoh that only good people can see spirits. The [b]heroes'[/b] include (in order of appearance) a man who beats up kids for fun, a murderer who (previous to that act) [i]hates[/i] his father, a sociopath who kills anyone in his way painfully and tried to vivisect another protagonist, and a gang leader who is also a murderer. The BBEG is a genocidal sociopath. It's not clear exactly what Hiroyuki Takei's definition of evil is.

** "Close to none"? Yoh apparently [spoiler: fell in love with Anna at first sight, despite the fact that she told him to die for blocking her path when they met.]]

* NightmareFuel: Faust torturing Manta in front of Yoh. [[spoiler: Made all the worse in the manga because Faust ''eviscerates'' Manta and leaves him pinned to the ground with his organs sticking out while he fights Yoh.]]

* DroppedABridgetOnHim: Lyserg drops one on Ryu.

The team is participating in the Shaman Fight, in which shamans from around the world fight for the right to merge with, well, {{God}}.

** The key word here is [[EvillyAffable 'acting']]. But it's arguable that he has his moments of being Affably Evil as well.

* StoryBreakerPower: Aside from Hao in general, its implied that Yoh's Mu-Mu-Myou-Yaku-Mu is this. Being a purification technique, it is essentialy a OneHitKill against any kind of Oversoul, all while carrying the efficiency of Armor Oversouls. Aside from being unique, according to the cast, this technique is proven to be so powerful that Yoh manage to defeat [[spoiler:the power that has defeated Hao in the past, and win]], and stand against Ren's whole team, all of them with their own Armor Oversoul.

One of the many animes dubbed by [[FourKidsEntertainment 4Kids]]. The Spanish and Latin Americans also got a translation, and had the Japanese original dubbed in Spanish with only a bit of CulturalTranslation and pretty decent casts.

** Isn't Ren's hair just black? Of course, it is unrealistically pointy...
*** In some arts (trading cards) and the anime, it's a really dark shade of purple.
*** The ''special'' offical art shown in the new volumes show his hair to be a very dark purple.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Horohoro/Trey (''duh''), Lenny, Lyserg, Jun, Tamara and many others.

This series shows a tremendous amount of research on the part of the author (Hiroyuki Takei, also author of ''ButsuZone''), but sadly, the manga was CutShort when its popularity faded. It's now gotten a completely redrawn re-release in Japan under the title of Shaman King Kang Zeng Bang[[note]]a pun on ''kanzenban'', "complete edition"[[/note]] in which the actual ending was released over two more volumes. A Western release of this edition has yet to be announced.

The story focuses on Yoh Asakura, a [[BrilliantButLazy seemingly extremely lazy]] shaman who's partnered with the [[OlderSidekick samurai Amidamaru]]. Along the way, he meets up with Manta Oyamada (Morty in the dub), a studious and otherwise {{ordinary high school student}} who can see ghosts, and who soon becomes Yoh's best friend; Tao Ren (Lenny), a Chinese PerpetualFrowner who was TheLancer in every way; Horohoro (Trey Racer), a snowboarder and ''the'' token Ainu; Ryu/Ryo, a delinquent turned Master of the Wooden Sword; Lyserg Diethel, who's looking for his family's killer; and Chocolove (Joco) [=McDonnell=], a reformed gangster who wants to save the world with stand-up comedy. And then there's Anna Kyouyama: Yoh's fiancee, a bit of an EducationMama, who [[{{Tsundere}} actually cares much more than she lets on]].

This series shows a tremendous amount of research on the part of the author (Hiroyuki Takei, also author of ''ButsuZone''), but sadly, the manga was CutShort when its popularity faded. It's now gotten a completely redrawn re-release in Japan under the title of Shaman King Kang Zeng Bang[[hottip:*:a pun on ''kanzenban'', "complete edition"]] in which the actual ending was released over two more volumes. A Western release of this edition has yet to be announced.

* AdultsAreUseless: Semi-inverted. An interesting case where the parents know ''exactly'' what's going on with their kids. They have decided to leave the fate of the world to their children, seeing how they have their limits and their children can still grow. Subverted with Faust, an adult who is a valuable asset to the team.

** Also, at the very end of the manga, [[spoiler: Ren also has a son. He refuses to tell who the mother is, but the fact that the boy has silver hair and red eyes implies that it's probably Iron Maiden Jeanne.]] Plus, there's [[http://www.mangareader.net/819-35935-27/shaman-king-flowers/chapter-1.html this]]. It's not as much implied as it is outright stated.

* BerserkButton: The cruel and calm Faust goes berserk on Yoh when he calls Eliza, both his wife and spirit, a puppet.

* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: The X-Laws are all this. Especially in the anime.

** Played straight when large segments of the latter portions of the series are all about people trying and failing to catch up to Hao.

* CulturalCrossReference: Yes, Virginia, those two spirits ''are'' supposed to look like [[TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren and Stimpy]].

* CycleOfRevenge: Yoh mentioned this to Redseb when [[spoiler: he killed Chocolove for murdering their father.]]

* {{Dismotivation}}: Yoh wants wants to win the shaman fight and [[AGodAmI become God]] so that he can have an easy life.

* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: Within five chapters from the very end. Hao wakes up as Shaman King. Everyone dies. THEN the final battle starts, but is cut short by the power of love with a dash of OedipusRex. Then everyone gets better and has kids. You walk away feeling it is Evangelion with a happy ending.]]

* HeroLookingForGroup: Somewhat played with. Since the beginning, Ryu has been in desperate search to find his "Best Place", somewhere where he belongs, though his idea of the best place has been more physical, such as a building or a home. But he finds his "Best Place" where [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming the rest of his friends are]].
** Also Lyserg at first, he claimed to be "searching for allies".

** And Kid!Gohan. And Kid!Goten. And [[{{Inuyasha}} Shippo]], and [[ShinChan Shin-chan]], and [[{{Rugrats}} Tommy Pickles]]... And basically every animated child in the last two decades. Laura Torres could be the poster child for [[ManOfAThousandVoices Woman Of A Thousand Voices]], if only they didn't all sound exactly the same. Needless to say, Manta's voice brings back memories for almost everybody.
** Also, in the Japanese version, [[{{DigimonAdventure02}} Ken Ichijouji]] is a {{Badass}} [[TheAtoner Atoner]] Chinese warrior, [[{{X 1999}} Karen Kasumi]] is a slightly sociopathic British kid looking for revenge and [[CowboyBebop Faye Valentine]] is a {{Badass}} medium who wants to be Shaman Queen.

** Then there's Hao himself. [[spoiler: He wins the tournament without even trying, despite the heroes' best efforts. He then becomes Shaman King and is even allowed to keep the title despite all the evil deeds he's done, which includes killing likely thousands of people. He only gets off with a slap from his mother and a bit of embarrassment due to this.]] Though he seems to get his 'just desserts' in the anime.

* KidHero: Most of the main cast are this. Yoh. Ren. Horohoro. Chocolove. Lyserg...

** Chocolove's past from the manga is both incredibly offensive, and utterly tragic. [[spoiler: His parents were killed on Christmas Day, turning him into a vicious killer, and leader of the gang, Shaft. He murders people in cold blood, but has his life turned around by a man named Orona.]] Those who watched the anime know [[spoiler: Orona died]], but in the manga [[spoiler: he didn't die of old age -- he was murdered by Chocolove's gang.]]

* LoveAtFirstPunch: The first thing Anna said to Yoh when they first met, was that he was blocking her way and should go die.

* OffModel: Happened occasionally in the very early chapters. Yoh had huge feet and hands, (and a long bang of hair that disappeared after like 3 volumes), Ren's hair was very jagged then he goes away for awhile and when he comes back into the series his hair is much more rounded and smooth. Manta had tiny feet, Anna had a big forehead, etc. Also, compare the diagram of Shaman Fight contestants in Chapter 78 with the updated version of the same people in Chapter 208 and see the incredible difference.

* OppositesAttract: Just look at the calm, easy-going Yoh and the short-tempered, intimidating Anna.

* SpaceAlien: The last Plant guardian looks like this, [[AvertedTrope but not]]. [[spoiler:And like Ryu said, [[SamusIsAGirl she's]] a [[MoeMoe cutie]].]]

* VillainousBreakdown: Though she isn't a villain, [[spoiler: Goldva started laughing insanely and raving about the new Shaman King Hao]].

* VillainousCrossdresser: "Princess Hao", anyone?

* HandicappedBadass: Technically, Chocolove is blind, yet he has the highest furyoku out of the five warriors.
** [[spoiler:Faust VIII is crippled after his fight with Yoh due to giving his legs to his dead wife's skeleton. When he needs to get out of his wheelchair, he uses his dog's skeleton to make oversoul legs.]]

* HeroWorshipper: Manta
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: All the X-Laws but Jeanne, Marco, and Lyserg, in the anime.]]

** Also, in the Japanese version, [[{{DigimonAdventure02}} Ken Ichijouji]] is a {{Badass}} [[TheAtoner Atoner]] Chinese warrior, [[{{X 1999}} Karen Kasumi]] is a slightly sociopathic British kid looking for revenge and [[CowboyBebop Faye Valentine]] is a badass medium who wants to be Shaman Queen.

* LicensedGame: There are two for GameBoyAdvance, called ''ShamanKingMasterOfSpirits'' and ''ShamanKingMasterOfSpirits2''.

** The X-Laws are vicious bastards in the manga, they don't even flinch when [[spoiler: their leader, Iron Maiden Jeanne, tortuously kills people: or when Hao kills one of their own in even more gruesome detail.]]
** Ren actually ''killed'' the Patch official who oversaw his match, this becomes important later on.
** Chocolove's past from the manga is both incredibly offensive, and utterly tragic. [[spoiler: His parents were killed on Christmas day, turning him into a vicious killer, and leader of the gang, Shaft. He murders people in cold blood, but has his life turned around by a man named Orona.]] Those who watched the anime know [[spoiler: Orona died]], but in the manga [[spoiler: he didn't die of old age -- he was murdered by Chocolove's gang.]]
* LikeCanNotCutLike: Oversoul enfused weapons, [[AvertedTrope unless]] broken quickly.

** [[spoiler: Hao. In a side story it is revealed his mother was a shaman, and was killed by a fake medium in order to cover up his scams after framing her as a demon. Once Hao finds out he isn't a half-demon, but a normal human with a gift for shamanism he decides it is time for vengeance.]]

* MeteorMove : The first time we see Li Bailong fight, we get a very nicely executed Type A.
* TheMessiah: Yoh. Subverted with Iron Maiden Jeanne: she's supposed to be one and honestly believes she is, but her black-and-white view of the world works against her.

* NietzscheWannabe: Hao

* NoSuchThingAsWizardJesus: Averted. The manga lists Jesus, Muhammad and Gautama Buddha as previous holders of the title "Shaman King". However, given that the Shaman King is actually a spirit-medium who communes directly with God, he's far from being "just" a wizard.

* OvertookTheManga, although the GeckoEnding was probably slightly more satisfying than the NoEnding - see above.

* SceneryCensor: Takei chooses a weird way to evoke this- he uses a ''star'' to cover Hao's private parts when he's in a hot spring.

* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: In the anime, especially, to the point of frustration. (How did THAT many Shamans end up with Giant Oversoul? It was supposed to be rare!)

* ThemeMusicPowerUp: Any time Brave Heart plays, you will receive plot exposition/explanation of sudden understanding, and complete and utter defeat of all opponents. It's subverted a few times, but generally played straight.

* TheyreCalledPersonalIssuesForAReason: Nearly the entire cast have some form of horrendous past, and most will extrapolate on theirs at some point. Notable exceptions, however, would be Hao, Anna, and Yoh himself. Their backstories only come to light in personal flashbacks and explanations by other characters.
* ThoseTwoGuys: More like [=ThoseNineGuys=], or rather, the guys that make up Ryu's gang. Though one of them, Muscle Punch, does get a few lines.

* TrainingFromHell, usually provided by Anna.

** Let us not forget that classic "Mikihisa in a ''really'' small towel" scene. Not to mention Ren in the brief period after he [[spoiler:gets killed by Peyote's oversoul, Grande Fantasma]]. Damn, all the main male characters take a freaking ''bath'' together! And the main male cast usually take a ''lot'' of baths, with different sets of main characters, depending on how far along the story you are.

* AerithAndBob: While there is a decent amount of this throughout the series, the X-Laws provide a great example. They consist of: Marco, Dingbat, Minnie, Lucky, Bunstar, Porf and finally...Kevin.

* BabiesEverAfter: Hana, the son of Yoh and Anna, is an example of this, as the author wrote ''Funbari No Uta'' after the NoEnding of ''Shaman King''.

* BadassAdorable could apply to Matamune. Cat with a pipe [[http://images.wikia.com/shamanking/en/images/1/14/Matamune_2.jpg here]] and changes into a katana [[http://images.wikia.com/shamanking/en/images/7/7b/Ss.jpg here]]. You decide.

** Played straight when large segments of the latter portions of the series are all about people trying... and failing... to catch up to Hao.

* CashCowFranchise: After the orignal manga line-up cancellation, the series suddenly had a rise in popularity, {{Spin Off}}s, {{Prequel}}s and {{Sequel}}s have been spawning left and right, which served to make the [=KanZenBan=] (Ultimate Edition) print line possible and give a proper ending to manga, and yet more works have been born lately. The recent ''Shaman King Zero'' says it best:

** Also Ren mentioned it to [[spoiler: Nichrom during their fight in the 7th plant.]].

* DesignatedGirlFight: Hana-gumi (Team Flowers) is pretty guilty of this, as they fight Anna, Tamao, and Tao Jun at the same time (though, all spirits involved are male), and later on they fight Magical Princess, though in a bit of a subversion the other team consists of ''much'' older witches.
* {{Dismotivation}}: Yoh wants wants to win the shaman fight and [[AGodAmI become God ]]so that he can have an easy life.

** [[spoiler: "Elisa, my love ... I can be with you."]]

* GeckoEnding: A tad more action-oriented than the manga, basically boiling down to [[spoiler:Yoh and Hao clashing. Hao nearly overpowers Yoh until the other Shamans pull a GondorCallsForAid and donate their powers to Yoh, effectively putting him on par with Hao until he eventually cuts him down (leading into a bit of FridgeLogic as it's been shown killing him hardly solves anything). The tourney is put on hiatus for a few months as the characters go about their lives...and then it promptly starts again]].

** In the English dub, Horohoro says to Yoh "After you bite the dust, buddy, naybe you could become the tournament mascot. Maybe a kangaroo or ''a jackass''." To which Yoh responds with "It's a good thing you and I are friends or I would've take offense to that last comment." Cosidering it's a 4Kids dub, it's surprising they were able to get away with that.

* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan. At one point, Mikihisa Asakura slaps the three witches of team Hana-Gumi in the process of trying to get them to calm down. Matilda, of course, cries out "Even my own parents never hit me!"

* {{Golem}}: emeth. Originally a traditional golem built out of clay, he was modified and given many mechanical components and the ability to transform into various shapes.

** And lest we forget that Ponchi, as a tanuki, has another literal groin attack, which is basically him using his gigantic weaponized testicles (in line with classic tanuki lore). [[spoiler:When he reveals this move and tries it against Hana-Gumi, the three witches GroinAttack him right back. One gets ''blown to pieces with a revolver'', and the other is ''severed'']]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: All the X-Laws but Jeanne, Marco and Lyserg, in the anime.]]

** Also, in the Japanese version, [[{{DigimonAdventure02}} Ken Ichijouji]] is a badass Atoner Chinese warrior, [[{{X 1999}} Karen Kasumi]] is a slightly sociopathic British kid looking for revenge and [[CowboyBebop Faye Valentine]] is a badass medium who wants to be Shaman Queen.

* IllGirl: Eliza

* KarmaHoudini: Faust VIII never really gets so much as yelled at for 1) slaughtering his first opponent and 2) doing... what he did to poor Manta. On the other hand, in the anime he *does* show genuine care for human life during the Shaman Tournament, [[spoiler: and [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome practically brings Len back from the dead]] during the final fight]], which means he'd redeemed himself. In the manga, he ends up [[spoiler:sacrificing himself so that the Five Warriors can continue trying to catch up to Hao, his death doesn't mean that much though as he just hangs around as a ghost.]]

This series shows a tremendous amount of research on the part of the author (Hiroyuki Takei, also authorof ''ButsuZone''), but sadly, the manga was CutShort when its popularity faded. It's now gotten a completely redrawn re-release in Japan under the title of Shaman King Kang Zeng Bang[[hottip:*:a pun on ''kanzenban'', "complete edition"]] in which the actual ending was released over two more volumes. A Western release of this edition has yet to be announced.