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  • Alternative Character Interpretation: Johan. Is he truly heartless? Or is he just broken? Or is he heartless because he was broken?
  • Complete Monster:
    • Johan Liebert, the eponymous character, passes himself off as the poster boy for this trope. A Card-Carrying Villain with Dissonant Serenity who corrupts people and forces both adults and children alike to commit murder and suicide, much as you may appreciate his abilities as a Manipulative Bastard and Chessmaster, the extremes that he goes to such as teaching kids to play chicken on ledges, or sending a boy looking for his mother in a red light district, or killing people who took him in and cared for him, constantly negate any sympathy. Johan's ultimate goal in the story is to corrupt both Tenma, the doctor who'd saved his life as a child, and his twin sister Anna, before committing "the perfect suicide" where both he and anyone who ever knew him would perish. Numerous Freudian Excuses are proposed for Johan's behaviour, yet each and every one is ultimately undermined, revealing that in the end, Johan simply is what he is: a force of pure, unadulterated evil.
      • However, as discussed in the analysis page, he is also a thorough Deconstruction of the trope, as one of the major goals of the series is to examine whether any human at all, regardless of anything horrifying they've done, is irredeemably and irrevocably evil beyond salvation. This is also illustrated with Franz Bonaparta, the man responsible, directly and indirectly, for what Johan has become. Johan, despite showing himself more than capable of displaying humanity and having Tenma and Anna caring for him in spite of all that he's done, rejects any offer of redemption given to him as he feels his own inherent monstrous nature would negate any effort to repent for his sins. The series' conclusion is that while anybody can be redeemed, it is Johan's refusal to seek redemption due to his own belief that he cannot be anything else but evil (and truthfully, he only desires to do evil) that truly makes him a monster.
    • Professor Günther Goedelitz is an admirer of Adolf Hitler and radical Nazi adherent. Goedelitz forms an alliance with 3 other men and orchestrates the scheme to burn the Turkish district out of cruel racism, murdering the terrified prostitute Ayse when she overhears the plan. Kidnapping Nina, Goedelitz reveals he plans to use her as a captive to forcibly transform Johan into a new dictator to restart the Nazi movement and finish the xenophobic war against all who aren't of the Reich.
  • Crowning Moment of Funny: There is an unintentionally hilarious moment when Gustav gets hit by the police cruiser.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome:
    • Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" being played in Episode 23 when Roberto and Eva are at the bar.
    • "Medium Shot" with its jittery violin and clattering percussion (including the triangle!) is the one of the most delightfully creepy songs in the OST.
  • Family-Unfriendly Aesop: Franz Bonaparta's books contain plenty of these like, "Sometimes you're simply screwed no matter which choice you take."
  • Ho Yay: Roberto describes Johan to Dr. Reichwein as if he were having an affair with the man. Also doubles as No Yay for a lot of people.
  • It Was His Sled: Johan's a cross-dresser.
  • Like You Would Really Do It: Will Tenma actually confront the problems of his Thou Shall Not Kill code? Of course not, don't be ridiculous. Possibly subverted by the finale, however. If Johan escaped to continue his rampage, it wouldn't do Tenma's idealism any good.
  • Magnificent Bastard: Johan Liebert, the monster himself.
  • Mind Game Ship: Johan and Tenma. To a lesser extent, Johan and Nina.
  • Misaimed Fandom: Most people appreciate Johan's Magnificent Bastardry. Others seem to ignore all that, and move on to a Roberto-like level of worship.
  • Moral Event Horizon:
    • Johan skips right past it in the first volume and keeps going from there.
    • One could even say that this series doesn't have one. People are redeemed (sometimes at a large cost) for crimes so heinous even death wouldn't be enough in most series. At the end, even Johan is forgiven by his sister, who says "Even if we were the only two people left in the whole world, I would forgive you."
  • Nightmare Fuel: The show, for the most part.
  • Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped: Tenma is this trope on legs. Without the Aesops he provides, this series would be far too grim to bear.
  • Tear Jerker: Many, but in particular Grimmer's death. Not to mention the poor guy with his baby in Ruhenheim whose wife was killed and he's crying begging for a gun and revenge.
  • Too Cool to Live: Martin.
  • The Woobie: Tenma, Grimmer, Nina, Dieter, and Wim are all excellent examples.