Ah! My Goddess

Promotional art from the first OAV series

A long-running manga (November 1988 to April 2014) that tells the romantic (and comedic) story of Keiichi Morisato, a short fellow with low self-esteem studying engineering in college, and the three Norse goddesses who move in with him. Because he is a genuinely good person, the sweet and beautiful Belldandy, Norn of the Present, is sent by "The Goddess Relief Agency" in Heaven to grant him a wish. Keiichi, currently faring poorly at dating and convinced he's being set up for a practical joke by the upperclassmen in his dorm, wishes that a girl just like her would stay with him forever.

So she does.

Keiichi and Belldandy enter into a very sweet, very low-key romance but then Belldandy's sultry elder sister Urd (the Norn of the Past) shows up, irritated because they haven't moved faster and into more advanced levels of intimacy. Then their kid sister Skuld (the Norn of the Future) appears, convinced that Keiichi is no good for her big sister and seeking to sabotage the relationship. Matters are further complicated by Keiichi's sister Megumi (who in the grand tradition of Bewitched knows nothing about the supernatural nature of the sisters), the demoness Mara, who has a grudge against the goddesses, and a large cast of additional supporting characters from Heaven, Hell, and the student body of the Nekomi Institute of Technology, where Keiichi attends classes.

Ah! My Goddess combines the finest elements of America's 1960's "supernatural sitcoms" with a tender and sweet love story and no small amount of both lighthearted slapstick comedy and intense drama. True to its roots, the series has a noticeably subdued use of Fan Service compared with more recent Bishoujo Series. The innocent nature of the series made it receivable to a much wider audience (particularly younger readers) than regular Seinen. It was also the first exposure many anime fans in the West had to the Yamato Nadeshiko archetype.

It has spawned numerous adaptations, including a five-episode OVA series in the early 1990s (which this entry was originally written for), a motion picture, and a sequel series called The Adventures of the Mini-Goddesses. This was followed much later by two season-long TV series; one in 2005, the second in 2006 (subtitled Flights of Fancy outside Japan) which continued the story that began in the first series. Those were followed by a 2-episode TV special to celebrate the franchise's 20th anniversary, called Fighting Wings. A new "OAD" (Original Animation DVD) called Itsumo Futari de was released in 2009 and bundled with manga volume 42.

Not to be confused with Ah! My Buddha.

Tropes used in Ah! My Goddess include:
  • A Form You Are Comfortable With: It's been stated by a demon that, even though she looked human, it wasn't her true form. She then proceeded to show Keiichi what she really looked like, effectively scaring him witless. She then points out that the Goddesses aren't showing him their true forms either, and the fact they look human is just so that people don't feel alienated from them. This causes Keiichi a moment of fright when Belldandy calms him down, but she acknowledges the issue and says that she does not mind. Keiichi then gets over the fear and decides he doesn't really care what Belldandy may really be, because he loved her for who she was, not how she looked.
    • There are also points that show that goddesses and demons seem to have an actual preference for human forms (i.e. vanity), in addition to not wanting to terrify every human that they meet.
  • Above the Influence: In chapter 43 (episode 19 in the anime), thanks to a Magic Misfire, Belldandy spends a day throwing herself at Keiichi (including, at least in the manga, taking him to watch a porn movie). He realizes that something's up and refrains.
    • Sayoko shows up drunk at his temple house in episode 2 of Season 2, throwing herself, and throwing up on him. She later wakes up and finds herself sleeping in one of their futons.
  • Absolute Cleavage: It's not surprising from Urd, or from Hild. But when Belldandy displays it, the mind goes "Tilt."
  • Accidental Marriage: On the second-to-last page of the manga, Belldandy revealed to Keiichi that the wording of his wish happened to be the form for proposing marriage to a goddess. Then she asked him to say those words again.
  • Adaptation Distillation: The first TV series focused on Keiichi and Belldandy's romance; everything that didn't support or relate to that plotline was cut out, and as a result, they could take the romance far further and deeper than the manga. Furthermore, as it was intended to be a self-contained series from the beginning, the romance arc reached its resolution: They Do, as of Episode 24.
  • Adaptation Expansion: Episode One of the TV series sets up Keiichi's situation as the Nice Guy who is always taken advantage of but always does the right thing. The episode ends with the first scene of the manga.
  • Adaptation-Induced Plothole: Flights of Fancy has more than a few of these (See "Pragmatic Adaptation" below).
  • A Day in the Limelight: Episode 25 of Season 1 focuses on Urd, while episode 26 focuses on Skuld.
  • Affably Evil: Urd's mother Hild is queen of demons, a caring parent, and a big flirt. She can still be evil, once stealing Keiichi from Belldandy just to get a reaction (in Flights of Fancy).
  • The Alcoholic: Urd, partially because drinking booze restores expended energy for her.
  • Alternate Continuity: The entirety of the manga seems to be set around the time it first debuted (late 1980s/early 1990s, despite being well into 2010, as of this typing). The OVA and The Movie follow this, but seem to follow a slightly different storyline.
    • Both TV series, and the TV special ("Tatakau Tsubasa", the Lind Arc) also fit into one continuity, albeit a different one-- they're more or less the original manga, except set in the mid-to-late 2000s (around the time they debuted).
    • Itsumo Futari de has gone all out on this trope. Both stories as of Sept 2011 are original to the anime, and have no basis at all in the manga. The second episode introduces both a school for young Goddesses (Seizu Girls' Academy), and two new characters: Eri and Saga, two teenage goddesses obsessed with being the best.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Averted. Women (and girls temporarily turned into women) tend to respond better to Nice Guy Keiichi, compared to Rich Bastard borderline rapist Aoshima.
    • In fact, Aoshima set up an Attempted Rape of Belldandy at one point in the manga, and even though it fails miserably (she threw him out the window with a tornado), the bastard was considered by most readers to be an irredeemable asshole. The later chapters and the anime don't do much to dispel this notion.
    • Even the bad girls, by which I mean Hild, also seem to want Keiichi, though her attraction to him mostly seems to be because she wants to seduce him for fun.
      • And now even Hagal seems to have a thing for him.
      • A notable exception is Mara, who seems to regard Keiichi as either an annoyance or as pathetic, depending on whether he has the upper hand at that moment or not.
    • The trope is played straight with Sora though, who has a big crush on Aoshima.
  • An Axe to Grind: Lind's preferred weapon.
  • The Archer: Holy Bell, Belldandy's angel, can summon a bow and arrows formed of wind-elemental energy.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When Marller causes Belldandy to become a demon, she tells the former goddess to commit crimes in order to avoid more troubles for Keiichi. One of the "evil" deeds she commits is jaywalking.
  • Art Evolution: Expected, seeing as the series has been running for over 20 years. The whole franchise is practically a record of how Fujishima's art style has changed over the decades.
    • A specific case: there's been an evolution in the general look of characters overall. Belldandy, believe it or not, started out as a bit of a Gonk; supernaturally-gorgeous Belldandy is a later development which was Retconned back into the various versions in other media.
  • Asshole Victim: Senbei's powers seem to use this as a premise.
    • Aoshima pretty much brings misfortune on himself. Because he's an asshole.
  • Author Appeal: Kosuke Fujishima, the mangaka, is quite the motorhead, so expect to see quite a few rare, highly-detailed motorcycles, cars, and the like in the series.
  • Awful Truth: In chapter 285 Hild drops a bombshell on Keiichi. When he first made the contract with Belldandy, Heaven altered his mind to suppress his desire towards Belldandy. This was done to maintain the separation between gods and men in the face of a contract that bound a goddess to a mortal. And Belldandy knew this all along.
  • Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: Even tough Urd will never openly admit she loves her demon queen mother, every single scene between her and Hild oozes this trope.
  • Badass: All the goddesses and demons get a chance to display this, with Lind being the straightest example.
    • Badass Abnormal: If you are of divine or demonic origin, this is part of the package.
    • Badass Normal: Keiichi during the Lind Arc. He bore an angel and kicked ass despite NOT being a god. Apparently, his pureness of heart, which is needed to bear an angel, was at god level, even though he was an ordinary mortal.
      • Chihiro, who can cow Otaki and Tamiya with a glance, qualifies as well.
    • Badass Pacifist: Belldandy.
    • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Banpei was designed this way.
    • Four-Star Badass: Hild.
    • Little Miss Badass: Skuld gets a couple moments like this: in the dream castle arc, again in the Lind arc, and in The Movie where she manages to wound Morgan in the arm.
  • Bait and Switch Credits: Mara appears in the opening credits of the OVA series but never actually appears in the series itself. This was apparently due to the fact that the animators couldn't animate her hair correctly.
  • Barehanded Blade Block: Hild does this in two separate fights with Lind, once in the Fighting Wings arc and again in chapter 248.
  • Bare Your Midriff: Urd and Peorth, as well as Hild's Super-Deformed clone (at least in Flights of Fancy).
  • Baseball Episode: Actually, "chapter" #58 of the manga, to be precise, with a ragtag team led by Megumi and a somewhat reluctant Belldandy.
  • Batman Gambit: From Keiichi, of all people. In the latest arc he asks to go to Nifelheim, knowing full well that Belldandy will have no choice but to protect him, eliminating any scenarios where she uses her full power to solve the current crisis.
    • And Hild, who turns out to be the mastermind behind her own usurpation. She planted all of the participants but didn't need to give them any instructions at all.
  • Beach Episode: At least three times in the manga so far. The OVA has one, and the TV series has one actual beach episode and another one set at a pool.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: The very basis of the original plot, although it's really a subversion; Look at the girlfriend Keiichi got!
    • Holds true with demons, who, even when they don't cheat you on your wish, will still ask for something in return.
    • Played straight when Belldandy gets drunk on cola, and runs around indiscriminately granting wishes.
    • Also when Peorth shows up to give Keiichi a second wish. When he actually makes the wish he's terrified.
    • Also when Urd tries to make Keiichi happy, when she's testing for her first-class license.
    • And when Keiichi has the familiar, who tries to grant even his unspoken wishes.
    • So, basically, every wish except the very first one.
  • The Bechdel Test: For a series that is mostly centred around a guy and relationships, there are indeed times where Belldandy and her sisters talk about something else than men or romance, such as their own power or what it means to be a goddess or how to reach their full potential.
  • Benevolent Genie: Goddesses.
  • Berserk Button: Whatever you do, do not...
    • ...convince Belldandy that you will cause bodily harm to Keiichi (see "Beware the Nice Ones", below).
    • ...think about doing anything negative to Keiichi at all. Aside from Belldandy going off on you (the worst possible thing that can happen in this series), Urd will punish you for hurting her sisters love interest, Peorth is fond of him and is not afraid to use a whip, he's Lind's "lifelong friend", and as far as we've been told, her ONLY friend, also the GATE TO HEAVEN also won't appreciate you doing anything to him. For that matter, Skuld seems to like him a lot as long as he's not too close to Belldandy.
      • Don't mess with Keiichi, plain and simple.
    • ...harm anyone Urd likes, she takes great pride in throwing lightning down as punishment. In fact, she'll do this if you don't do what she wants in general.
    • ...bad-mouth any of Skuld's inventions, or show affection toward Belldandy when Skuld is present.
    • ...badmouth Skuld in front of Sigel, she doesn't appreciate it.
    • ...hurt Sigel, Skuld, or Belldandy in front of Banpei, he'll DRAW an angry face on himself and then attack you, just so you know he's pissed.
    • ...bad-mouth NIT's Auto Club, Chihiro, or the all men's dorm, or Tamiya and Otaki will make you regret it, usually by kicking you out for the last one.
    • ...say "no" to Hild, for whatever reason.
      • Belldandy is an exception to this last one, as she refused Hild's request to be given Keiichi, possibly because of her similarity of personality to her father (Hild's ex).
    • Chihiro, Urd, and eventually Peorth will explode with rage when Keiichi is being exceptionally difficult with moving his relationship with Belldandy forward.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Belldandy is afforded tremendous power because of her stable personality, with the dangerous caveat that her breaking this deal is usually intentionally overlooked by The Powers That Be.
    • This trope's application to her gets cranked Up to Eleven any time Keiichi's well-being is threatened. Probably one of the most prominent examples in the manga occurs when Tamiya and Otaki are brainwashed into attacking him, trying to crush him between them... only to be blasted by an attack spell by Bell. No helping them out of their control, no sleep/knockout spell to peacefully resolve the situation, she just flat-out struck them down. They survived, of course, but the fact that she actually got angry, let alone enough to utilize an offensive spell on friends, shook Skuld and a lot of readers right to their very cores.
    • In recent chapters of the manga, she uses an open handed martial art (this troper calls it Bitch Slap Fu) to fight—yes, FIGHT—a demon who is pretty much all muscle. She actually attacks the demon when she thinks the demon is trying to attack Keiichi/caused Keiichi harm. Just to be clear, Belldandy struck FIRST. She didn't wait for an explanation like usual, she just slammed her hand into the demon, no questions asked.
    • Keiichi also fits this trope, he's not endowed with magical power, or insane physically strong, he's just DAMN clever. and he is NOT afraid to prove it to defend the goddesses.
      • Example: When fighting an opponent who sees sound and can knock you out, what do you do? 1. Have Belldandy put up a barrier while you think 2. Drop the barrier and have Belldandy split to make the barrier better, and act as a distraction for number 3. 3. Have the magical vacu- I mean "broomstick" that breaks the sound barrier attack the demon. She can only see the after images of it so by the time she's seen the broom, it's moved onto another spot. she was basically blind and couldn't fight it and, unlike the goddesses, that broom aimed to kill with each shot.
      • Example #2, In hell, they have to fight a demon who can PUNCH OUT LIGHTNING, in order to advance to the next room. Keiichi's solution? Have Urd make him a super speed pill so he can trick said demon into punching the door out of existence for them by goading her into attacking him while he stands in front of the door, then, when the pill takes effect, BOOK IT out of the way. The Demon later asks him what he would've done if the door didn't break, and he calmly replies that "If the door didn't break, it would've broken your fist, so either way, we'd have won". Needless to say, she's impressed with him, even admitting he bested her like a good sport instead of making snark remarks like the last demon he outwitted.
  • Bifauxnen: Mara looked like this early in the manga's run. The anime and later manga have her look more obviously feminine... though not quite enough so to prevent other characters from getting confused, much to her irritation.
  • Big Fancy House: While the Tariki Hongan Temple where the main characters live is pretty average sized (for a temple), the grounds are positively huge, with a small forest in the back. Also, Sayoko's parent's house before Urd and Skuld trashed it.
    • Satoko's house is also considered to be big compared to the average Japanese family home.
  • Bishoujo Genre: With some of the bishiest bishoujo ever put on paper too. Of course that's justified because they are divine beings. (Or sometimes infernal)
  • Biker Babe: Chihiro and Megumi.
    • Belldandy also has the riding skills to count, although she doesn't ride as much as the other two.
  • Big Damn Kiss: Finally in chapter 278, complete with thousands of FLOWERS bursting from the floor Thank your Goddess of choice!
    • And they do it again in the very next chapter.
  • Big, Thin, Short Trio: Arguable-- Skuld is short, Belldandy is thin, and while Urd is only a little taller than Belldandy, she's definitely more voluptuous.
    • After Chihiro's introduction, Tamiya, Otaki and Chihiro can be seen like this. Only that Chihiro's height is average, Tamiya and Otaki must have been blessed with growth hormones.
  • Bland-Name Product: Played straight in the anime, mostly inverted in the manga.
  • Blank White Eyes
  • Blondes Are Evil: Mara and Hagall.
    • Averted with Belldandy, though — under normal circumstances, her hair ranges from dark blonde to sand-blonde in the OVA, TV series, and as early as Chapter 50 of the manga (though she began the manga with silvery hair).
  • Blue with Shock
  • Body Snatcher: Poor Keiichi suffers this twice. It happens to him in the movie but more prominently during the Lord of Terror arc in which Urd is also a victim. See the next Trope.
    • The movie is basically a Broad Strokes adaptation of the Lord of Terror arc anyway.
      • Three times; the TV series has Urd take mystical control over Keiichi's body in an attempt to try and force his and Belldandy's relationship to progress quicker early after she enters the series.
    • This happens to Megumi when Mara took over her body briefly in the series as well.
  • Body Surf: Lord of Terror. Firstly he possesses Urd and then Keiichi. In the end he tries to possess Belldandy but is unable to and is then promptly defeated by a gambit of Skuld's -- she tricks him into possessing a computer floppy disk, then erases it with a magnet.
  • Body to Jewel: In one chapter Hild extracts a fragment of herself in crystallized form to give to Keiichi to use against Hagal.
  • Bottled Heroic Resolve: In the second episode of the OVA, Urd gives Keiichi a love potion under this guise. It makes Kei pass out, and fall deeply in love with the first person he sees when he wakes up. Unfortunately, that turned out to be Sayoko. Fortunately, he was able to fight it, and his relationship with Belldandy became stronger because of it.
  • Bratty Half-Pint: Skuld has some strong elements of this in the TV series. Also in the manga and OVA, but much less often.
  • Break the Cutie: The demons try this with Bell all the time. Nothing really disturbing ever happens though.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: After the usual madness—which happened, thankfully, without him—he said that he "could'a stayed in bed this issue".
  • Bridge Bunnies: Of Heaven's supercomputer Yggdrasil, no less: Ere, Ex, and Chrono, both in the movie and TV series as well as the manga.
  • Brilliant but Lazy: Urd's inherent powers are potentially leagues above those of her sisters and possibly any other deity except The Almighty and Hild, but she prefers to hang out with her siblings to watch over them and have some fun instead.
  • Broken Bird: Morgan LeFay from The Movie lost faith in love after deserting her lover, thus she became The Dragon for Celestine
    • Arguably Urd as well, at least in the continuities that develop her character in depth. Despite her surface persona, she has a lot of sadness in her past, much of it due to her half-demon heritage.
      • One of the early manga chapters revealed that a younger Urd used to be in love with a male plum tree spirit, which ended up abandoning her to search for the "mystical golden bush warbler". In his defense, all male plum tree spirits are forced to search the golden bush warbler, like it or not. When he returned in a later manga chapter (and a second-season episode of the TV series) Urd was less than thrilled to see him.
  • Brother-Sister Incest: Drastically subverted, at one point a botched love potion fed to Keiichi causes any female who meets his eyes to become passionately infatuated with him — starting with his sister Megumi. She says, "Our love can transcend these foolish bonds of blood!" His horrified reaction: "Oh no it can't!" And he runs for it. Fortunately, neutralizing the potion wipes her memory of the incident.
  • Butt Monkey: Poor, poor, Keiichi. Although Gan the rat has it even worse.
    • He's a rat.
      • Anime has him as a Earth Spirit that was haunting Megumi's residence once she moved into town. Belldandy defeated him, then assigned him to watch over Megumi. He took the form of a rat in order to do this.
    • Aoshima to Urd.
  • Canon Immigrant: The goddesses' battle outfits, and the Bridge Bunnies Ere, Ex and Chrono, first appeared in The Movie and weren't incorporated into the manga until several years later.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Keiichi, in spades. Belldandy too, though to a much lesser extent—she admits her love for Keiichi with some frequency, but it's apparent she wants more to the relationship yet doesn't say anything (probably because she mistakenly thinks Keiichi is happy with their relationship).
    • Actually, it may be the other way around. Keiichi has been shown in the manga as waiting on a go signal from Belldandy (during the early part of the Miss Keiichi arc, and when they were outside the love motel during Urd's exam arc), but Belldandy seems to be completely content with their relationship as it is. Belldandy is more open with her feelings than Keiichi, an issue that was somewhat addressed when Peorth trained him to be able to say "I Love You" to Belldandy (see below).
    • Note that fairly early in the manga (chapter 50), Keiichi did explicitly say "I love you" while on a romantic moonlight stroll along the seashore with Bell. Unfortunately, Skuld had stepped between them at just that moment, and it was treated for some reason as if she'd intercepted the words intended for Belldandy.
    • Also, Love Goddess and Shipper on Deck Peorth gave Keiichi a serious pep talk so Keiichi could do this in chapter 194 (TV episode 50). Unfortunately, Urd didn't think it would work, and secretly gave him a capsule that amplified the the power of the word "love". The result? Belldandy is KO'd by the power of the word, and poor, poor Keiichi still hasn't officially confessed his love.
      • Episode 18 of the TV series has virtually the same plot as manga chapter 50, but with one Earth-shattering difference: There's an epilogue scene where Belldandy is back home, folding laundry (presumably the day after the vacation), and quietly says to herself, "He actually told me that he loved me..."
  • Can Not Tell a Lie: Belldandy, and, well, all goddesses in theory - her sisters would have more ranking if they were able to follow this stricture.
    • More accurately, Urd could be. Skuld's still too young and inexperienced to be a Goddess 1st Class yet. Urd's actually passed the promotion exam, but decided to stay at 2nd Class because she thinks the ability to lie is more useful than some extra firepower.
    • It should also be noted that in the OVA and anime's first season, although the Trope still applies to Belldandy, she does dance around the truth a couple times, such as the time she tried to get back to Keiichi's house via the girl's bathroom:

(Belldandy is trying to teleport through a mirror, when Sayoko walks in)
Sayoko: Belldandy, what was that?
Belldandy (panicked): Oh, there's a spot on the mirror.
(Bell licks her finger and tries to scratch out a stain on the mirror)

  • Can't Hold Her Liquor: Averted for Urd, for whom it's a power source. Super-averted for Belldandy. Just keep her away from the soda.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: The series implies that demons are only bad because it's literally their assigned job.
  • Casanova: Aoshima thinks of himself this way.
  • Catch a Falling Star: Belldandy, by letting Urd and Keiichi land on her.
  • Cerebus Retcon: Early chapters show "the system" preventing anyone from interfering with Keiichi and Belldandy's relationship. Chapter 285 gives this a rather dark spin. The system is also preventing their relationship from advancing, and it does so by altering Keiichi's feelings.
  • Cerebus Syndrome: The movie, which was rather dark with next to no humor, certainly a surprise given how lighthearted the manga and other adaptions are.
  • Characterization Marches On: Keiichi, from someone who would gladly kiss Belldandy given the chance early in the manga ("Mustn't... give up attempt... to score....") to someone who practically has a phobia of physical intimacy (especially in the TV series).
    • When Urd first appears in the manga she tries to rape Keiichi (which is played for comedy) in order to "advance" his knowledge of sex and his relationship with Belldandy. Fujishima softened her up quite a bit over the next few years and made her less of an "Evil Big Sister" and more of a "Cool Big Sister" character. Also, his art style changed to make her less mean and jerky looking.
  • Chastity Couple: Keiichi and Belldandy-- despite the implications that neither one really wants it that way...
  • Childhood Marriage Promise: The final episode of the OVA revealed there was one between Keiichi and Belldandy.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The flowers that appeared in chapter 278 due to Keiichi's and Belldandy's kiss have already appeared once all the way back in chapter 11, when Belldandy saves Keiichi from drowning. Keiichi wondered where they came from.
  • Chekhov's Skill: At the beginning of The Movie, Belldandy sings to an old tree to prolong its life. At the end of the movie she sings the same song to Yggdrasil.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Keiichi, to an extent.
  • Circling Birdies: Although Blank White Eyes are typically used, in the manga and Flights of Fancy arc where Mara splits Urd into her demon and goddess halves, one Urd charges toward the other Urd, and the two spin 'round-and-'round so Keiichi, Belldandy, and Skuld can't tell who's who.
    • Happens earlier than that in the TV series — during Urd's debut episode, she appears in an "instructiona" video meant for Keiichi, and somehow stumbles out of it while Keiichi's watching, KO'ing him with her knee.
  • Clap Your Hands If You Believe: This is how Skuld makes all her gadgets. She doesn't really invent stuff but instead wishes it into existence. It can only work because she is a goddess, even though she herself doesn't seem to be aware of it. Belldandy once constructed a superbike out of some random junk using the same kind of magic.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Belldandy, though what sets her off varies, and usually Keiichi explaining that something isn't what it looks like is enough to calm her down. After all, she trusts Keiichi fully, and Keiichi is not the kind of a jerk to hit on other girls.
    • When the GATE TO HEAVEN asks Belldandy to continue teaching her about love, even though she had promised to help, she refused.

GATE: Please continue to teach me about love.
Belldandy: No.
GATE: Why not? You said you would do everything in your power. . .
Belldandy: Yes, but . . . not with this person.
GATE: (with Luminescent Blush) Despite being a goddess, your heart sure is small . . .
 Belldandy: Yes, when it comes to Keiichi, I am not so generous.

    • Skuld displays this trope towards Belldandy from time to time.
    • Urd utilizes this trope to help banish a demon that Shiho accidentally summons in episode 6 of Season 2...by making Keiichi unwittingly grab Shiho's chest, causing Belldandy's built-up jealousy to banish the demon.
  • Clone Degeneration: Happens to a clone of Urd at one point, when Mara duplicates her.
    • Also, it was shown in The Adventures Of Mini Goddesses manga that making too many Super-Deformed copies of oneself cause them to look... rather disturbing.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Tamiya and Otaki are a tad eccentric, with Tamiya coming up with some strange ideas for the Motor Club, and Otaki wearing spark plugs as jewelry.
  • Comedic Sociopathy: Despite Belldandy being pretty much perfect in a Yamato Nadeshiko kind of way, she still manages to make Keiichi's life pretty miserable at times. And Skuld doesn't help, especially in Flights of Fancy.
    • In the TV series' first season, Urd seems to take great pride in "punishing" Sayoko and Aoshima, even though it only happens when Keiichi, Belldandy, or Skuld is threatened.
  • Comic Book Time: Partly explains the ironic freeze in a relationship already bordering on marriage.
  • Comic Role Play: When Peorth has Keiichi pretend she's Belldandy so he can practice saying "I love you".
  • Commuting on a Bus: Since manga Volume 20, Tamiya and Otaki have only reappeared twice, Sora and Aoshima once, and Sayoko hasn't been seen since. It could be justified due to the fact that Keiichi and Belldandy (seem to) have graduated and started working for Chihiro, but may not be intentional, since the series has been slowing down since Volume 18 or so.
    • Sayoko's back in Vol. 38 of the Manga, Sora and Aoshima show up in 39.
  • Compelling Voice: Belldandy does it to Aoshima in the first season, and uses what was apparently the stun setting to stop Urd and Skuld from harassing Keiichi in the first Flights of Fancy episode.
    • Urd also does it to Keiichi in her debut chapter of the manga, in an attempt to "further his sexual knowledge".
    • Hild goes even further, being able to strike stark terror in a target's heart simply by glaring at them. Skuld got reduced to a crying wreck this way.
  • Cool Big Sis: Urd, in the OVA and TV series at least (it took her a while to really get there in the manga), and Belldandy, to Skuld.
    • Urd may be this to Skuld as well-- while on the surface they fight, a lot, Skuld actually has a closer relationship to Urd than she does to Belldandy (despite being strongly attached to her). Urd and Skuld have shown they love one another, and some fans believe that Bell actually feels left out of the relationship.
      • Bell actually states that she feels jealous of their ability to feel strongly for each other.
    • Peorth eventually became a secondary Cool Big Sis in her later appearances after she stopped being a pseudo-antagonist... and while we're at it: Lind and Chihiro have shades of this trope as well.
  • Cool Bike: Keiichi is part of the Nekomi Motor Club and later works in Chihiro's bike shop so they work on a more than a few of these.
    • The custom bikes that Keiichi and Chihiro built for their training trip in the manga come to mind. Chihiro's was a Yamaha based sportbike with a big watercraft engine and over 100 horsepower (which is alot, for a bike), Keiichi on the other hand built a 3-wheeler based on a snowmobile with a light rear end that made it perfect for drifting.
      • Then there's Belldandy's "emergency" bike that she magically assembled from bits of junked or crashed bikes on the highway. The final result looked more like a high end Bimota or Vyrus (complete with hub-center steering) than something made from bits of other bikes.
    • Off course, we have Keiichi's BMW, which is seemingly a rare BMW RS54 complete with a Cool Sidecar.
  • Correspondence Course: Shiho learned how to be an exorcist this way.
  • Crazy Jealous Guy: Urd's ex-boyfriend Troubador. When they were dating he'd make insects crawl out of the bodies of any man who flirted with her, and tried the same thing on Keiichi.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Mara spends most of the later chapters being ineffective and acting as comic relief whenever she tries anything against the goddesses. However, this seems to be due to her being a old friend, when she and Hild were threatened by a monster from hell sent by Hagal, she was demonstrated that she was a force to be reckoned with and was able to defeat her attackers easily (the only reason she got hurt was due to the sheer power of her own spell).
  • Cross-Popping Veins: Several characters show these from time to time.
  • Cursed with Awesome: Urd angsts a lot over being half demon early on. But she's the only one who can use both holy and demonic powers.
  • Cute Mute: The angels never speak. But they sure are cute. Especially Noble Scarlet
  • Cuteness Proximity: Chihiro is a sucker for anything cute. (Don't call her out on it, though.)
  • Cut Short: The TV series was not renewed after Flights of Fancy, the second season.
  • Dark-Skinned Blond: Urd and Hild; Tamiya is a bleached example.
  • Death Glare: In the anime's first season, Belldandy's aforementioned Compelling Voice toward Aoshima was accompanied by one of these.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: After being defeated by Belldandy in episode 6, the Earth spirit haunting Megumi's apartment promises to look after her when the goddess restores his connection to the Earth. He delivers on it later when Marller possesses Megumi in a later episode, and warns Belldandy about the possession in episode 16.
  • Demonic Possession: The Lord of Terror arc. See the Body Snatcher trope for more information.
  • Demoted to Extra: Most of the human characters in the second season. While most of them are still seen around, and even some get an episode or two that focuses on them, for the most part most of the arcs are centered around the goddesses and Keiichi.
  • Deus Sex Machina: Urd tries to invoke this trope in her introductory chapter, telling Keiichi that he has to have sex with her in order to repair/recharge the system force, and that if he doesn't have sex with her, Belldandy will have to return to heaven. He almost goes through with it until Belldandy comes in and reveals it was a trick.
  • Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: In Hild's first appearance, everybody is told that she is the ruler of all demons, and the first thing she does when she appears is hug everyone. This whole scene in the anime is made all the more amusing with by the anime having extremely ominous music in the background at its start, and still plays when she's hugging Skuld and flirting with Keichi.
    • In one Flights of Fancy appearance, she sleeps with Keiichi. However, it's obvious it's an attempt to Mind Screw with Belldandy.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Just about all the demons are rendered powerless by a certain form of music. For example, if Mara hears heavy metal (polka in the original English manga), she can't keep herself from dancing.
    • Actually in the manga it was Urd who was rendered powerless by polka and Mara who can't keep herself from dancing if she hears disco music.
  • Divine Date: The main plot of the show.
  • Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Subverted; Hild lets Urd get insulting because she's her daughter.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: Lampshaded in the manga when the embodiment of the Gate to Heaven asks Keiichi to unlock her -- by inserting a huge key into a keyhole on her torso. He protests, "It's so big! Long! Hard! How would it fit?!" and Urd remarks, "Do you have any idea what you sound like?" Highlighted by the way Gate blushed and smiled when she made the request, the fact she was magically infatuated with him at the time (Urd and possibly Peorth's fault), and her, ummm, moaning as he put it in....
    • Peorth and Urd -- I say again, Peorth and Urd, the two most nearly Ecchi of the goddesses -- were blushing as they watched....
    • Skuld in the Nidhogg arc, Mokkurkalfi points out that her Super Banpei only has two arms, while his/hers has three which Skuld follows with an "ewww"...
    • The energy draining machine makes Belldandy all blushy, gaspy and sweaty, besides it's intended effect.
    • And then there was the time Urd was granted first-class goddess powers for a limited time. The effect of the "release" was...pretty easy to interpret.
  • Dojikko: Chrono. Very much. Peorth actually relied on her clumsyness to get her job done: Breaking the rythm orb.
    • Lind of all people is hilariously clumsy when it comes to getting restoration magic right.
  • Double Standard Rape (Female on Male): In Urd's debut chapter, she wanted to have sex with Keiichi with the supposed intent of spicing up Keii and Bell's love life. It didn't work, though, and her further attempts to bring the two together were less devious.
    • In Peorth's debut arc, she seduced Keiichi several times with the intent of satisfying his carnal desires. However, she crossed the Moral Event Horizon when she slipped a "love drop" in Keiichi's drink to get him aroused -- a rough equivalent of slipping someone a date-rape drug. Fortunately -- and unfortunately -- for Keiichi, the plan backfired in the most incredible way possible...
  • Drunk on Milk: Belldandy gets intoxicated by drinking soda.
  • Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Belldandy's eyes get this way a few times in the TV series, such as the episode where Hild uses time travel to steal Keiichi or the time Belldandy walks in on Keiichi practicing saying "I love you" with Peorth.
  • Dynamic Entry: Hild is on the receiving end of one of these a couple of times. Usually done by a goddess, from orbit and with the speed of light. She always parries them with ease tough.
  • Ear Cleaning: In two episodes of Flights of Fancy Keiichi gets this treatment; once by Belldandy... and once by Hild.
  • Eldritch Abomination: demons and goddess in their true forms, one demon shows theirs to Keiichi, and it's barely describable. No wonder they always appear in human forms.
    • However some trippy imagery that is shown during the long-overdue kiss suggests that while Belldandy definitely isn't human, she isn't scary either. More like a being of overwhelming affection.
  • Elegant Gothic Lolita: Hagall dresses in this style.
  • Elemental Powers: Belldandy: Wind, Skuld: Water, Urd: Fire/Lightning, Peorth: Earth (Usually through plants), Lind and temporarily Keiichi: Ice.
    • On the demon side: Hild: Lighting/Wind, Mara: Fire/Wind, and the manga features a demon who has darkness-based powers.
  • Enemy Mine: In the current (maybe final?) arc, Hild and Mara are forced to team up with the goddesses to restore the balance disrupted by Hagall.
  • Evil Costume Switch: Technically Keiichi does when he is possessed in the movie.
    • More prominently both Urd and Keiichi get this during the Lord of Terror arc when possessed. Keiichi's hair even grows longer and is dyed blond in the manga and TV series. However, when the Lord of Terror is defeated and is expunged from Keiichi his hair remains long and goes black and Keiichi is surprised at what he is wearing. In the anime his hair reverts to being short as well.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Hild wants to increase the demons' stock share on Earth, but she follows the agreement to never kill goddesses, though she did once show no problems beating up her own daughter, albeit non-lethally.
    • Marller's own schemes sometimes makes her wonder if she's going too far, such as when she rigs Belldandy's goddess license to make her a demon instead, or when she splits Urd's demonic and goddess halves into two separate bodies.
    • During the Lord of Terror arc, when Urd sets Fenrir loose on the city, Mara asks if she's maybe going "a little too far?"
  • Everything Sounds Sexier in French: In the English manga, Peorth seems to believe in this Trope. The intro to every issue (issue, not volume, mind you) that has her in it Lampshades this: "Occasionally speaks in French 'cause it sounds cool." (In the original, it's just extremely refined and courtly Japanese)
  • Equivalent Exchange: The Law Of Conservation of Happiness. Granting too many happy wishes in a short span of time means that someone has to suffer a bit of bad luck, as Keiichi learned the hard way when an intoxicated Belldandy started granting the wishes of every poor soul in town.
    • Also one of the rules of wishes granted by demons.
  • Facial Markings: Some fans believe that the shape and size of said markings change with a god or demon's level of power, though in flashbacks in the OVA and TV series, Belldandy and Urd's Facial Markings are no different when they were children as when they were as adults.
    • Supported in the first season of the TV series (and the manga) - Belldandy's brow marking changes from a elongated diamond, to a elongated oval with a circle two-thirds of the way down - when she releases her seals during the Lord of Terror arc.
    • In the manga, Urd's inverted triangle splits into a broken 'V' similar to Mara's when she's possessed by the Lord of Terror. And into a five-pointed star when she unseals her own demonic powers.
  • Faceless Masses: Done in the second episode of the TV series.
  • The Fair Folk: Morgan, in The Movie.
  • Fan Service: Notable for not having much of it. And what Fan Service there is is very tastefully done, especially for this genre.
  • Fertile Feet: Belldandy does this in Fighting Wings. Lind grows a flower in her hand, so it might be a common trait.
  • Fighting From the Inside: Whether through demons or well-meaning goddesses, Keiichi is the victim of Mind Control quite often, yet always tries (and usually manages) to resist it.
    • Also Urd during the Lord of Terror arc.
  • Fingerless Gloves: Belldandy and Urd have these as part of their signature goddess outfit/uniform in the OVA and TV series, as well as Peorth in the TV series and manga.
  • Finger Gun: Hild does a variant of this in one chapter. She puts her finger to her head in a gun shape, shouts "Bang!" and then collapses. She does it to extract a crystalized fragment of herself out of her body.
  • Flanderization: Skuld is seriously more annoying in Flights of Fancy than in the anime's first season.
    • Around the time of the "Mystery Child" arc in the manga, Keiichi became more squeamish around women, and Belldandy more naïve.
    • Then there is Mara's ever-growing stupidity. In the early manga she was occasionally an actual problem. Not so in the anime.
  • Friend to All Living Things: Belldandy, to the extent she can speak with animals, plants and inanimate objects.
  • Fun Size: Belldandy splits off a Super-Deformed size of herself in episodes 25 and 26 of Season 1 so her main body can recover after using a lot of her power to fix the damage around the temple and city from the Lord of Terror arc in the previous episodes.
  • Gag Boobs: Aoshima gets knocked out cold by a pair of these. Yeah...
  • G-Rated Sex: The scene where Noble Scarlet, Skuld's angel, first appears (though it's more like "G-Rated Childbirth"). Almost a cross between Does This Remind You of Anything? and Very Special Episode.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: Skuld.
  • Generation Xerox: Keiichi's dorky dad is even more afraid of gorgeous ladies then his son. So much that it starts to look like an allergic reaction. Makes you wonder how he ever got married...
    • Megumi looks exactly like her mother Takano, but with shorter hair. Urd looks a lot like her mother, Hild.
  • Genre Savvy: Every once in awhile, later in the series, Keiichi learns from his past misadventures. Such as when the Machiners first knock on Whirlwind's door and he knows to look down. Same knowing more chaos will ensue with yet another Goddess, Chrono shows up.
    • Another example: K1's parents show up in Nekomi, and when Takano asks how he wound up living in a temple with three attractive girls (and Skuld), Keiichi figures that to try and explain it he'd have to write out a plot-summary.
  • Gender Bender: Keiichi in one arc, originally titled in English as "Miss Keiichi." Actually spends most of the arc as essentially a guy with breasts and long hair, but does briefly become completely female.
  • The Glomp: Hild does three glomps in a row in her first appearance. Immediately after she arrives she glomps Urd, then Belldandy and Skuld at the same time, then Keiichi.
  • Golden Moment: On at least two occasions in the manga, and one in Flights Of Fancy, when Belldandy feels like less of a goddess (like the Shiho Sakakibara chapter/episode), Keiichi is usually there to comfort her and justify her feelings.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Pretty much anytime Marller utilizes Urd's evil half, who then wants to do even more evil things than her. Such as in the Lord of Terror arc, and in Season 2, when Marller manages to separate Urd's evil half from her good half.
  • Good All Along: Hagall and her posse take over hell and touroughly humiliate Belldandy, but it's all for Hilds sake who turns out to be their idol. Fans of this series should have seen this coming a mile away.
  • Gratuitous Foreign Language: In this case Norse. Unlike her sisters, Verthandi's authentic name changed dramatically when expressed in Japanese phonemes, but was apparently well-liked and English-sounding, so it was kept in.
    • It's also implied that Urd, mistress of oddly-convenient but seemingly useless skills (such as the ability to ride a unicycle), can speak multiple languages (conversing in English in the early manga), and demonstrates herself to being at least capable of saying the word "love" in more than a dozen languages.
    • Senbei, Mara's pet genie, is prone to spectacular abuse of this.
      • While in the Japanese dub, he chews the scenery with Gratuitous English, Kevin T. Collins' take in the English Dub has him foppishly dancing from every fancy-pants European accent, from French to Italian, in two sentences flat.
  • Hammerspace: Skuld can apparently hold multiple bombs larger than a fist, remote controls, and pretty much anything she feels like shoving under her shirt without showing any bulges or wrinkles.
    • In the Nifelheim arc, it's even lampshaded when she pulls out tools from a seemingly never-ending supply, searching for bombs until she realizes that she's out somehow. But we learn later that she did have one in reserve with a blast range of 3000 km
    • Again in the same arc, Belldandy pulls out a full picnic basket out of nowhere after Keiichi complains of being hunger.
  • Hands-Off Parenting: Keiichi and Megumi's extremely eccentric parents seem to be strong believers of this method. And whataver you do don't refer to them as "mom and dad" if they can hear you.
  • Harmless Villain: Sayoko sooo wants to be The Rival, but she really doesn't have enough of a mean streak. She once says she would sell her soul to best Belldandy, and when Mara calls her on it, Sayoko responds with "figure of speech". The only character she can be regularly mean to is Aoshima (her smarmy cousin).
    • Mara herself fails at everything she does largely because of how stupid she is. Not so much in the manga, moreso in the animé.
  • Heart Symbol: Belldandy counters Hild's ♠ kiss with a ♥ kiss to defend Keiichi. It's apparently a weapon.
  • Hermetic Magic
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Belldandy and Keiichi attempt one for each other during the Lord of Terror Arc.
  • Hilarity Ensues: Peorth appears, and Keiichi has a hilarious reaction, as he knows he has enough trouble with Urd and Skuld.
  • Hoist By Her Own Petard: Pretty much anything Sayoko tries to one-up Belldandy or steal Keiichi away always fails, and often ends up embarassing her in the process.
  • Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Peorth, arguably. In her original introduction in Chapter 66, she even states that she's in charge of fulfilling the carnal/earthly desires and that she's the best at it in her agency.
  • Hot-Blooded: Otaki and Tamiya would like to think that they're this.
    • In the OVA, the name of the Nekomi Motor Club motorcycle drag racing team is "Team Burning Gutsy."
  • Hot as Hell: Hild. And technically Hagal when she usurps Hild's position as ruler of Nifelheim.
  • Hot Shounen Mom: Hild again. Also Takano, Keiichi and Megumi's mother.
  • How Do I Shot Web?: Skuld trying to use magic and summon her angel.
  • Humans Are Special: A chapter of the manga has one of the Bridge Bunny goddesses visit Earth and go into raptures on tasting "Earth's famous soft-serve ice cream!" (They don't have ice cream in Heaven? Then what's the point of going there?) For that matter, Peorth returned to Heaven with a lot of games and books she'd picked up during her stay on Earth, and was asked not to do that again, because so many of the other goddesses were distracted from their duties. Apparently we can create entertainment the deities just can't match.
    • This happens with ANYONE that hasn't experienced something that turns out to be pleasurable; it's not so much that they don't have equal or superior entertainments in Heaven, it's that they are unfamiliar (due to lack of contact) with human ones - and that carries its own fascination. A suitable Trope for this would be something along the lines of New and Different.
    • A more heart-rending example is in The Movie; see Patrick Stewart Speech below.
  • Human Outside, Alien Inside: Urd uses alcohol as an "alternate energy source", but seems to suffer no deleterious effects. Skuld is the same with ice cream. Belldandy can drink a distillery and be completely unaffected, but gets blitzed off of soda.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Velsper nearly shattered the universe to meet Belldandy again. When she remembers him, he automatically undoes the damage he did, and allows Keiichi and Belldandy to stay together.
    • This may also be the true reason why Belldandy never went all the way with Keiichi, since it's more and more implied that Gods and humans being lovers comes with a harsh set of rules...
  • Ice Queen: Lind is a mild case but she still uses icy magic.
  • I Love You Because I Can't Control You: Two examples, Aoshima towards Belldandy, and later Sayoko towards Keiichi.
  • Immortal Immaturity: In the TV series, Skuld can occasionally venture into Bratty Half-Pint territory -- though this is somewhat excusable given that she's something of a case of Really Seven Hundred Years Old, with her chronological age and high intelligence masking the fact she is, by deity standards, a child. Urd, who is the oldest of the sisters, often isn't much more mature than Skuld is.
  • Fundamentally Female Cast: Wile the human world Has a normal mix of gender, Heaven and Hell seem allmost completely populated by fabulous women, alltough there are male deities seen moving in the background from time to time. The villains in the Niflheim arc are an amazon brigade.
  • Indirect Kiss: Invoked by Keiichi in regards to a can of tea he shared with her while she was under the influence of one of Urd's love potions (which had been botched by Skuld).
  • Informed Flaw: Keiichi's Unlucky Everydude status as a 'loser' seems greatly exaggerated by modern standards, aside from bad luck with women and oftentimes being a doormat.
    • It should be noted that he's shown courage and fortitude on several occasions, such as when Belldandy was kidnapped in the Dream Castle arc, or when he faced down Hild in the Lind arc. And yet he can't say a simple "I Love You" to Belldandy (not without too much help from third parties, that is...)
  • Innocent Cohabitation (Although most fans and a few characters wished it wasn't so innocent between Keiichi and Belldandy.)
  • Instant Illness: In the OVA, when Keiichi brings Belldandy to the abandoned temple, he gets a fever and faints immediately.
  • Instant Runes: Particularly obvious, in The Movie.
    • Rather averted in the manga, where putting together powerful wards and spells takes a lot of time and the efforts of all three of the main Goddesses and Keiichi.
  • Interspecies Romance: The Lorelei will sing a song to attract mates, when Keiichi gets water in his ear and can hear it, the head Lorelei doesn't really seem to mind that Keiichi is a human and she isn't. Likewise, the male Lorelei show little regard to species and hit on Skuld because of a few off notes in the song.
    • Keiichi is a human and Belldandy is a Goddess, as proven by a demon in the more recent chapters of AMG!, just because something LOOKS human, does NOT necessarily mean it is.
  • Intoxication Ensues: On one occasion, Belldandy gets into a drinking contest with Chihiro (Sayoko in Flights of Fancy, who had to be taken away by paramedics) and doesn't so much as burp. When Keiichi gives her a can of cola for her (non-existent) hangover. However, Belldandy remarks on how delicious it tastes... and then, you bet Hilarity Ensues.
  • Jackass Genie: Demons.
  • Jerkass: Aoshima, Sayoko's cousin.
  • Lady Drunk: Sayoko.
  • Large Ham: Senbee (usually with Gratuitous English), Tamiya and Otaki (especially when they're making Keiichi do stuff) do this occasionally.
    • Hild tends to be overly dramatic as well.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Celestine suppresses Belldandy's memories of Keiichi in The Movie.
  • Lethal Chef: Sora Hasegawa. In fact, in the manga, her nickname was once "The Chef Assassin".
  • Limited Wardrobe: Most characters besides Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld only have two or three outfits.
    • Keiichi has all of three outfits: his jeans, white t-shirt, and leather jacket; His racing gear; and that green and yellow striped suit.
      • He has another outfit in the movie.
      • Hilariously, when one of those Love Potions caused Skuld to be infatuated with him, she spoke adoringly of "Aah, that face, rigid with alarm! Aah, these clothes you never change!"
  • Long Runner: As of November 2011, it's been twenty-three years. The American version produced by Dark Horse Comics, which debuted in 1995, is their second-longest-running comic (Usagi Yojimbo is the longest), and America's longest-running manga, period. However, this accolade seems a little less deserved when you consider that Oh My Goddess! is a monthly series, and not a weekly one like the previous US manga record-holder, Ranma ½.
  • Love Epiphany: Two examples. Skuld begins to develop feelings for Keiichi in the last episode of Season 1. Sayoko also begins to realize her feelings for him as well in episode 2 of Season 2.
  • Love Hotel: In a go-all-out attempt to finally get Belldandy and Keiichi in the same bed, Urd forces the couple to hide in one of these with the help of a rainstorm. of course, Belldandy STILL doesn't get it and Keiichi just buys an umbrella instead. Urd and Peorth pretty much abandon all hope at that point.
  • Love-Obstructing Parents: Urd and Skuld, probably manga's Ur Examples of the "overly enthusiastic" and "utterly opposed" versions, respectively. In the TV series, Urd is actually fairly low-key, only rarely trying to push Keiichi and Belldandy together, while Skuld is much more active about running interference.
  • Love Potion: In an early chapter Urd brews one with the intent of tricking Keiichi into taking it to speed along his relationship. She ends up accidentally swallowing it. (The whole chapter brings some Fridge Horror since the love potion was essentially a date-rape drug that might have made Keiichi try to force himself on Belldandy...)
    • There've been plenty of others; see the entry for Brother-Sister Incest above. And Urd once messed with Peorth's head by pretending another accidentally-swallowed potion had made her fall in love -- with Peorth.
  • Magical Girlfriend: Belldandy definitely in the OVA, early manga, and most of the first season of the TV series. Elsewhere, it depends on your definition of "girlfriend".
    • Skuld eventually becomes a puppy version of this trope to Sentaro. He doesn't seem to be aware of her true nature tough.
  • Magic Misfire: Skuld can't seem to get anything else, but the other sisters have gotten their share.
  • Magic Music: Spells can be cast through singing. Also, playing Midgard's Flute is the Summon Magic for the eponymous counter to Fenrir.
    • Apparently, the wordless tones heard in the anime are the programming language in A Form You Are Comfortable With, since Hild speaks of the reunification spell having "verses" rather than "movements".
  • Magitek: The universe is controlled by a magic computer, and spells are often referred to as "programs".
  • Magic Versus Science: In the more literal sense, anytime Keiichi fights something supernatural, he can usually weasel his way to victory using his keen intellect and/or science.
    • More than likely a type 2 (Magic is Cheating) because magic lets a deity/magical being alter the "program" of reality. Despite this demons and goddesses can use regular physics and science just as well. The Muscle bound demon knows a lot about musculature and how to relax tensed/overtaxed muscles. Skuld regularly designs machines that do things for her a mundane spell could accomplish. (more like Type 1)
  • Magnetic Girlfriend: More literal than usual, most of the girls that turn up are supernatural beings that end up there because three goddesses are living with Keiichi. Except for Sayoko, who only became interested in him because Belldandy was upstaging her.
  • Marshmallow Hell: The one time when Belldandy ends up wearing something more Stripperiffic then usual due to an Evil Costume Switch the opportunity is used to hand Keiichi a quick dose of Marshmallow heaven.
  • Master of Illusion: Hagall can project illusions into her opponent's mind that become real to them.
  • Maximum Fun Chamber: One chapter of the manga has Skuld going to great lengths to hide a misdemeanor from Urd out of terror of a "terrible punishment." The punishment turns out to be being forced to repeatedly build devices that do nothing useful.
  • Mayfly-December Romance: It was suggested, but never explicitly stated (until Peorth told Keiichi, sadly), that whatever relationship Keiichi and Belldandy would have would be one of these. However, it should be noted that the gods and goddesses are capable of getting sick, injured, and have been killed before. They can also die if their demon doublet is killed.
    • Many times in the manga, one of the main reasons Keiichi didn't more persistently pursue a relationship with Belldandy is because he's afraid of her not being willing to return to Heaven when she has to. Although this fear was justified in the OVA, where Belldandy was forced to return, in the manga, Keiichi may be thinking of this Trope: when he dies, Belldandy will continue living, unable to let go of his memory.
  • Meganekko: Sora Hasegawa, the only female member of NIT's auto club 'til Belldandy showed up.
  • The Messiah: Belldandy.
    • Keiichi is the main character and he's nothing like that at all, although he's pretty close. It's why he was given a wish from Belldandy in the first place, and it's been noted several times that his pure heart is what Belldandy (and some of the other goddesses) finds most attractive about him.
  • Mid-Air Bobbing: Urd in particular likes to do this.
  • Middle of Nowhere Street: Nekomi.
  • Mind Control Eyes: Belldandy, in the movie. Keiichi, in all the series, whenever he gets put under divine or demonic influence -- Urd's potions, the influence of the Demon-God of Poverty, etc.
  • Moment Killer: Just when you think Keiichi has the nerve to admit his deep love for Belldandy (or vice-versa)...
  • Motorcycle on the Coast Road
  • Mundane Wish: When Tamiya unintentionally summons the demon Mara, who offers him a wish, he thinks she's an ordinary human who sneaked in and tells her to "get the heck out". She tells him that's an uninspired choice for a wish and then vanishes.
  • Nice Guy: If you read the synopsis above, then you'd know that if Keiichi wasn't one of these, there'd be no story in the first place. And many girls adore this genuinely Nice Guy, too.
    • Having Belldandy around all the time works wonders on anyone's personality. Keiichi was a little crude early on in the manga, but that didn't last long once Bell started to gently steer him in the direction she wanted.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Lind showed up while K1 and the goddesses were out and got into a confrontation with Hild, damaging the house. Then, although she'd admitted she wasn't any good at damage-repair magic, she tried anyway. When the others came back and saw the distortion her attempted repair had caused, their horrified comments upset her a great deal. Especially since even Hild said the demons had gone too far.
    • This trope also comes into play anytime Skuld or Urd does a plan involving Keiichi and Belldandy, and the other one finds out about it and attempts to foil it somehow.
  • Ninja: Kodama, Hikari, and Nozomi, tiny ninjas transformed from rats by Mara.
  • Ninja Maid: Chrono, a goddess who happens to be an assistant the the Valkyries, is sent to earth by Peorth to deliver an item for Belldandy, wearing a maid's outfit.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: Expertly used by Urd and Sayoko. They even manage a synchronised one in the anime.
  • No Export for You: The Ah! My Goddess: Fighting Wings anniversary special DVD. Not a big loss since it's a Broad Strokes adaptation of the Lind arc anyway (but still a loss).
  • Not So Different: Urd and Hild can sometimes come off this way.
  • Not So Fast Bucko: Keiichi Morisato: More then twenty years of blue balls and counting.
    • This has recently been revealed to be a plot point; when Keichi made his wish, his sexual desire was sealed by Heaven to prevent him from pursuing the opportunity.
  • Not-So-Harmless Villain: Eiwaz is a demon that looks like a small girl and only seems to serve as a guide during the Nilfheim arc. She really loves karaoke. She is also Hagal's right hand and very good at playing evil mindgames.
  • Not What It Looks Like: Keichi finds himself in this situations frequently, one notable instance is when a ninja girl that came to kill Belldandy slipped into his bead and he didn't notice till he woke up, the situation is basically him saying "this isn't what it looks like," and Belldandy saying "Ok."
    • This is justified in that it really isn't what it looks like, and never would be.
  • Older Than They Look: This is Keiichi's mother Takano. This is not a flashback; it's her current appearance. Does she look old enough to have college-age children? Her husband looks his age (if not perhaps older than his age).
    • Keima was pointed out to appear to be a little too old to be Hotaru-no-suke's son in Colors' encyclopedia. It's also noted that there is mystery surrounding both of their appearances that probably ties in with some the bigger mysteries and main themes of the series.
  • Oh Crap: Done by everyone (save the Almighty One and Hild) at least once.
    • Hild gets a rapid series of these when Belldandy asks a favor. Her expression when she pops out from beneath the manhole cover is especially funny on the queen of demons.
    • Even the Almighty isn't immune -- he was wearing Gate's body, and Keiichi saw through the deception. Cue sudden expression of shock, fumbling attempt to shore up the lie, and K1 demanding the truth. Before admitting it, the Almighty remarked, "You're a formidable man yourself." Belldandy hadn't spotted it.
  • Omake: "The Adventures of the Mini-Goddesses", featuring everyone super deformed, abusing Gan-chan the rat. Spawned its own series of anime shorts.
  • One-Winged Angel: Lind's angels Cool Mint and Spearmint literally only have one wing each. Averted in that both don't exhibit the typical traits of the trope due to being actual angels.
  • Only Sane Man: Keiichi and Urd often feel like this, sometimes mutually.
  • Ontological Mystery: Volume 36 of the manga, following some mass amnesia.
  • Ordinary High School Student: Well, college student -- Keiichi.
  • The Other Darrin: Kikuko Inoue was briefly replaced by Akemi Okamura as Belldandy during the first few episodes of Adventures of the Mini Goddesses while she was on maternity leave.
  • Patrick Stewart Speech: Belldandy gives one to Celestine near the end of The Movie.
  • Perpetual Molt: In both TV series.
  • Petal Power: Peorth's Storm of Roses attack in the anime, though in the manga she uses whole roses instead of just the petals.
  • Pet the Dog: Sayoko, unlike her Jerkass cousin Aoshima, has been shown capable of being a decent human being. Mara, despite her Designated Villain status, has been shown to have her nice side as well. Hild is even shown to have a soft side.
  • Phlebotinum Breakdown: Yggdrasil may maintain reality, but it has no shortage of problems.
    • Well, they never should have upgraded to Vista. On the other hand, "7" is The Almighty's number...
  • Physical God: Most of the main cast.
  • Pillar of Light
  • Poke the Poodle: In the anime, one of Mara's attempts at villainy was knocking a couple of kids' ice cream on the ground, after which, they kick her in the shin.
    • In Flights of Fancy, when Mara and Hild have a scheme that causes Belldandy to be registered as a demon and tell her she has to do evil or Keiichi will suffer, all she can think of is jay-walking, reading a book without paying for it, and writing chalk graffiti, on a chalkboard. They probably would have dropped the idea if they saw any of it. They do get a little return on their investment—Belldandy hooks a person up with some serious mind bending and other illicit substances and leaves them crying in despair on a park bench in the night rain. Of course, being Belldandy, she's doing it to herself because she can't bear to do it to anyone else.
      • And, this being Belldandy, she is actually getting drunk on Cola.
  • Porn Stash: Kept in Keiichi's third desk drawer. Every recurring character in the series (including Bell) knows this.
  • Power Limiter: Goddesses' powers are sealed on Earth by use of jewellery (most of Belldandy's immense power is contained through her earrings and bracelets), and the amount of power needing to be sealed directly correlates to amount of accessories worn. Hild, the queen of demons, wears a lot of jewelry.
  • The Power of Love: Keiichi and Belldandy's combined admiration for one another is part of what pacified Celestine at the end of The Movie.
    • The love of a goddess is the source of an angel's powers, this is also why Keiichi is able to temporarily support Lind's angel; he'd received the love (romantic and otherwise) from multiple goddesses.
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: The TV series. Whereas the manga took a few chapters to find itself, the TV series didn't. For one example, to justify the events that set everything in motion, the first episode establishes Keiichi as a mistreated Nice Guy rather than just an Unlucky Everydude, which isn't apparent in the manga at first.
    • In the manga, it's first revealed that Urd is half-demon in the Lord of Terror arc, which begins in manga Chapter 34, and we learn about Urd's angel, World Of Elegance in Chapter 89. The latter is moved to episode 21 in the animé, and the Lord of Terror arc begins on the next episode, turning the World Of Elegance plot into an effective "reveal episode" of sorts.
      • Holy Bell, Belldandy's angel, first appears in the spontaneous duel with Peorth in manga Chapter 71. Belldandy has Holy Bell help her restore Tariki Hongan Temple in the third episode of the TV series, explaining the importance of angels early, and justifying the aforementioned adaptation involving Urd, her half-demon heritage, and World Of Elegance.
    • Flights of Fancy was a little too pragmatic, though—late in the second season, we see Skuld using her stamp power (but never an episode where she develops it) and we see Chihiro (who is never given a formal introduction) and her shop, Whirlwind (which is never mentioned until the final episode, which is where it's seen). Which is unfortunate, because there were a handful of Filler episodes late in the season that could've been easily been left out.
      • Chihiro was introduced in the first season, with a whole episode devoted to her returning to the Auto Club with the feeling that something is missing in her life. She finds out what it is after racing Keiichi - on kids' motorcycles. After that one-shot story, we don't see her again in the anime until the second season.
    • The OVA (at least the dubbed version) pretty much cuts out the middle-man—Keiichi's wish to Belldandy is explicitly, "I want you to be my girlfriend forever". So Keiichi and Belldandy are not only a full-on, Official Couple from the start, but it's implied that after the finale, they got married.
  • The Pratfall: Keiichi has a good one in the second episode.
    • This happens a lot to poor K1.
  • Pretty Freeloaders: Belldandy's sisters, Skuld and Urd. Occasionally Peorth, too, and Lind in the manga. Averted by Keiichi's sister Megumi, during her brief stay at the temple upon her initial appearance -- she shows up with cash (and food, in the TV series) in hand.
  • Psychotic Smirk: Demons tend to do this.
  • Punch Clock Villain: Mara. It's heavily implied that if she wasn't contractually required to be an enemy, she and Urd would be Vitriolic Best Buds. Has even been prone to Enemy Mine on several occasions.
  • Remake Cameo: In the English dub for the second season of the TV series, Peorth is voiced by the actress who played Belldandy in the 1990s OVA's. This makes the scene where Peorth does a Belldandy impression doubly hilarious.
    • Similarly, Urd's voice actress from The Movie returned to play Hild, and Urd's VA from Mini-Goddess played resort maid ghost Chieko Honda.
  • Rich Bitch: Sayoko, though it's a bit inconsistent at times. Aoshima is a played straight all the time male example.
  • Rage Against the Heavens: In The Movie, Celestine, though Belldandy talks him out of it.
  • Reality Ensues: In one episode of the TV series, Skuld upgrades the output on Keiichi's bike to about 113%. Even Megumi was quite impressed, until she pointed out the futility of said upgrade, as the chassis of the bike wouldn't be able to withstand so much power. Indeed, once Keiichi (forcibly) tested out his bike, it nearly sent him into orbit explosively.
    • This took a whole page in the manga, where it is explicitely said (by Megumi) that inserting a turbo before the carburettor is difficult - but the brakes can't take it.
  • Relationship Ceiling: The majority of fans believe Belldandy and Keiichi's relationship can't really progress without altering the premise—though in the earliest manga chapters, the relationship moved, albeit at a slow pace; that is, it's not like the premise hasn't been altered before. Averted in the OVA.
    • And it looks like it finally went the full distance in Chapter 278 when Belldandy changes the game by having Keiichi end the wish contract and invoke a new one which effectively makes them a married couple.
  • Robo Cam: When showing Banpei's point of view.
  • Rock Me, Asmodeus: Inverted with Mara, who can't help dance until she drops whenever she hears rock 'n roll.
  • Roof Hopping: Belldandy does so, but with telephone poles.
  • Sacred First Kiss: When the Gate -- who looks like a young girl -- forces Peorth, Urd, and Skuld to kiss her as part of her quest for knowledge, Skuld moans that she hadn't even kissed Sentaro (a mortal boy in whom she's shown significant interest) yet.
  • Same Content, Different Rating:
    • The original (flipped) English version of the manga was rated "Ages 8 and up", whereas the newer right-to-left edition is rated "13+". There are only three considerable differences between the two: The format, the number of references to Japanese culture (the right-to-left version has more) and the crudeness of the wording... and, if anything, the original was more crude than the newer versions.
    • Part of this is probably that bookstores/publishers don't think young children could handle a "backwards" book and multiple foreign references; most of the rest is likely because the original editions came out before the manga publishers standardized their age ratings.
  • Satan: Hild, though she seems like less an ultimate evil and more an annoying trickster.
    • Which is in line with the Norse mythology that the series borrows so heavily from. The Norse didn't have a Satan; they had Loki, who was...a annoying (and malicious) trickster.
  • Schmuck Bait: Angel's egg. Do not touch! Skuld: This means YOU!! Don't even look at it! It's even placed on a nice little pedestal in the middle of Urd's room. It takes Skuld only five seconds to EAT the thing.
  • The Scrounger: Early in the series, Otaki was referenced as being one, producing rare motorcycle parts out of nowhere.
  • Sempai-Kohai: Keiichi has two wild, wild sempais: Toraichi Tamiya and Hikozaemon Otaki. In turn, Belldandy and Keiichi are Sora Hasegawa's sempais.
    • Tamiya and Otaki's behavior is heavily implied to be a result of how they were treated by their sempai in the Motor Club, who eventually returns.
  • Sexy Santa Dress: Urd wears one in an episode of Flights of Fancy.
  • Shipper on Deck: Urd, Megumi, Peorth, and Chihiro ship Belldandy/Keiichi.
  • Ship Tease: Since Keiichi functions well as a part of a Moe Couplet, the manga has a few chapters that explore potential relationships with the other goddesses, with one also being a case of She's All Grown Up / Overnight Age-Up for Skuld (which shows up in the final episode of the TV series' first season).
  • Shout-Out: One plot arc involved Keiichi bonding with an extradimensional whale by singing Matthew Sweet songs. He's Big in Japan, you know.
    • English version only, in the original, K1 listens to The Carpenters (Sing and Top of the World are the songs). Changed due to the impossibility of getting the rights to publish the original lyrics. Luckily it all worked out since Sweet's "Missing Time" happens to fit the plot perfectly.
    • Curiously, the series references Azumanga Daioh. Megumi brings Keiichi Nyamo's ill-fated bear sculpture from Hokkaido, and Belldandy consults Kamineko when searching for Mara.
    • There's an explicit Shout Out to the Thunderbirds in a manga issue when a species of sentient machines has a problem resembling the premier episode "Trapped in the Sky." Keiichi actually tells Belldandy that he asked himself "What would the Thunderbirds do?" and his (successful) solution imitates theirs as best he can improvise.
    • There's also a Shout Out to Maison Ikkoku when Keiichi's mother visits for the first time. One of her guesses as to why Keiichi is living with a lot of women:

Takano: I got it! This place is an inn, and you're the resident manager. That one's Ichinose-san, there's Yotsuya-san...
Keiichi: What kind of story is that?

    • Urd was recently shown changing the TV's channel -- to Keroro Gunsou.
    • Skuld is a Star Trek: The Next Generation fan; the TV in the family room is shown tuned to a TNG episode during one episode of the manga, and she also owns a model of the Enterprise (shown in a splash panel in another episode in which she's throwing various junk around during a fit of anger).
    • A shout out to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Skuld (in the anime at least), has a chainsaw called "Texas Murder" that she wants to test out, much to Keiichi's horror. Thankfully, it breaks before it can be used. Skuld then starts crying "Noooo, my Texas Murder!"
    • At least one of Tariki Hongan's residents is an Ultraman fan, as we also see the TV tuned to an episode in another installment of the manga.
    • When Troubadour (voiced by Dan Green) shows up, he gets jealous of Keiichi and challenges him to a duel.
    • The first episode has one spouted by Tamiya when he repairs a random bystander's bike.

Tamiya: Your ride has now officially been pimped!

    • When asked by Skuld why she wore such an uncool red mask, Morkulaffi answered that they got intel that wearing red masks and helmets made you three times faster.
  • Silk Hiding Steel: Lind, the polite and proper Valkyrie that works for the Almighty.
    • Belldandy too, if she weren't so gosh darn nice.
  • Single-Target Sexuality: Belldandy towards Keiichi. It takes her a little while to figure this out, unfortunately for Keiichi.
  • Single Goddess Seeks Good Man: Belldandy and Keiichi's relationship is quite possibly one of the greatest examples of this wonderful trope.
    • Works in the second season with Sayoko; she realizes that the genuinely Nice Guy she rejected earlier is the one she really likes rather than her superficial and self-centered courters. Fridge Logic in the sense that (regardless of what Sayoko tells herself) she actually isn't envious of Belldandy because she upset her status as the campus queen; she's jealous of Bell because she got Keiichi.
  • Skinship Grope: Done by Urd to Skuld at one point, with Keiichi hearing everything and misinterpreting it (apparently not by much). It's also done in a lighter form in the episode where Skuld temporarily becomes an adult: she brags about her body but is shot down by Urd affirming her status as the big sister.
  • Slapstick Knows No Gender: Mara and Sayoko are never safe from having a can of whoop-ass opened on them when the former's Zany Schemes are exposed and fail; or when the latter goes too far in her bitchery. Usually a good electrocution at the hands of Urd.
  • Soundtrack Dissonance: When Hild first shows up, some sort of creepy music plays, and most of the characters being frightened of her...in contrast to Hild acting excited like an overbearing mother-in-law to meet the main characters.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Belldandy herself is one of the classic examples, owing to the Japanese publishers not being familiar with the myths. Properly, going by the mythology she's supposed to be Verthandi (or more correctly, Verþandi). This is an understandable mistake, however; Japanese lacks both a "v" sound and a "th" sound, so the katakana of her name literally spelled out "Berudandi" as the closest equivalent. Even if someone was familiar with the myths but went into the series cold, they could miss it, since it isn't mentioned that she's a Norn until Urd comes along and makes it obvious.
    • A few others did this, of course: Urd vs. Uld (correct name: Urð, or possibly Urdr), Skuld vs. Skurd (Correct name: Skuld), Lind vs Rind, etc. Most of these are obvious if you actually check the Norse myths they're based on: The Japanese names are the nearest equivalents to the Norse ones possible given Japanese lacks some of the sounds.
    • The effect may be restricted to English audiences, but "Belldandy", taken as a compound word, is evocative of both bells-- generally "happy" instruments, rung in times of celebration and such, and "dandy", an old-fashioned, light-hearted adjective meaning "high-quality", which goes much farther in describing the character than "Verthandi".
    • "Mara" vs. "Marller" - While some fans (mainly purists) use "Marller", most English translators choose to use "Mara" instead. This is, by far, more appropriate: "Mara" is not only the name of a spirit in Norse legend who brings nightmares (when she first appears in the manga and TV series, she does so in a nightmare of Keiichi's), it's also the name of the demon who used his twelve daughters to tempt Buddha in his quest for enlightenment.
    • And of course, the great Ah! vs. Oh... debate. This one was settled by Fujishima himself; according to The Other Wiki, and a snippet in Volume 2 of the right-to-left English version, the title was due to the way the Japanese put the accent on "Oh" instead of "God" when saying "Oh my God!" in English. So it's two titles for the price of one: a Gratuitous English Stealth Pun in Japan, and its rough English translation is a straight-up pun. A literal Worldwide Punomenon-- Works out nicely.
  • Spit Take: In the anime's third episode, the mother of a little girl whom Keiichi helped out in the first episode treats Keiichi and Belldandy to lunch at a fast-food joint as thanks — when the little girl starts asking too many questions... and Belldandy starts giving too many answers.
    • He does it again in the first episode of Season 2 when Belldandy compares Skuld and Urd with Keiichi and Megumi after the two goddesses get into yet another argument outside the temple.
  • Spy Catsuit: When she's racing, Belldandy of all people prefers to wear really tight racing leathers with heart motifs.
  • Status Quo Is A Goddess: The whole purpose of the System/Ultimate Force. Try to get between Belldandy and Keiichi, and watch out. In the anime, it breaks down early in the series and isn't mentioned thereafter.
  • Stealth Hi Bye: The two motor club guys do this sometimes. Some of the goddesses and demons do this once in a while as well.
  • Stuff Blowing Up: Skuld relies on bombs before her magic develops. She also has a habit of putting self-destruct routines in her machines. She also just, in general, enjoys having this happen.
  • Super-Deformed: The goddesses and demons can split themselves into multiple, smaller copies of themselves, or simply just shrink themselves.
  • Supporting Harem: There's never any question that Keiichi and Belldandy are the only canon OTP, but that doesn't stop Skuld, Urd, Peorth, and Mara from being Pretty Freeloaders.
  • The Sweat Drop
  • Swirling Dust: Sort of -- all of Keiichi's possessions instead of dust.
  • Take a Third Option: Urd manages to convince the tiny female ninjas to do this by exploiting Loophole Abuse via Exact Words (Be killed by those who pursue them or kill all those who pursue them) So when the entire clan gets defeated by Belldandy is to leave the clan (and Mara employ).
  • Theme Naming: "Tamiya", "Otaki", and "Hasegawa" are all manufacturers of plastic model cars, planes, etc.
  • The Movie
  • There Is Only One Bed: When Sayoko passes out after drinking and Mara takes her home for the night, Hilarity Ensues when they wake up together and Sayoko assumes Mara took advantage of her.
  • The Speechless: The goddesses' various angels. They can laugh, cry, and can vocally harmonize for the use of spells, though.
  • The Tease: Urd.
  • The Three Faces of Eve: To quote another lovable animated female, "Well, doy".
  • Third Person Person: Hagall has referred to herself this way a few times.
  • Those Two Guys: Tamiya and Otaki, the heads of the Motor Club.
  • "This and That": Used by Urd in the "instructional" video she gave Keiichi (in the English dub, it's "this, that, and the other thing, too") in TV Episode 8.
  • Time Skip: The special episodes of the anime take place further along then the rest of the series.
  • Tim Taylor Technology: Skuld does quite a bit of this.
  • Tsundere: Skuld may lean in this direction; her dere-dere side is provoked by Sentaro.
    • But a real Tsundere would be Sigel, a "female" android built by Skuld after her first robot, Banpei, fell in love with her. (She even has twintails.) In an interesting variation of this trope, Sigel developed sort of a Belligerent Sexual Tension relationship with Banpei after Skuld forgot to tune Sigel's mind to love Banpei at first sight.
    • Skuld is closer to Yandere in the anime, given that her actions could seriously harm Keiichi, and she's doing it for the sake of a somewhat disturbing fixation on Belldandy.
    • Sayoko may also qualify; in the earliest chapters of the manga, she tried to get Keiichi into her hooks, solely to prove her superiority over Belldandy. She not only settled down; when she finally had Keiichi wrapped around her little finger later in the series, what does she do? She returns the sweater Belldandy made for Keiichi (which she stole to keep Belldandy preoccupied) and tells him to wear it home. Without actually telling him she stole it, of course.
  • Two Scenes, One Dialogue: One chapter has something along the lines of:

Hagal (in Nifelheim): ...and Hagal will become known as...
(cut to Hild, on Earth)
Hild: ... "the greatest Daimaikaichou ever!" I'm sure that's what she's saying right now.

  • Unexpected Genre Change: The Lord of Terror arc. Wasn't this supposed to be a cute and sweet Slice of Life romantic comedy? Sorry, we put that concept on the shelf for a while, it's time to save the world.
    • Emphasis on "for a while", thankfully. Also, many times-- the Dream Castle arc, the Mystery Child arc, and the like did the same thing, and returned to its original format. Recently, though, the manga seems to be drifting away from its roots and becoming more of a fantasy-adventure-type series (as did late episodes of Flights of Fancy).
  • Unknown Rival: Belldandy towards Peorth, the former never thinks of the latter as such, which only ticks Peorth off more.
    • Possibly Belldandy towards Sayoko as well, since the goddess never seems to have any ill will towards her despite all her attempts to break her and Keiichi up.
  • Unlimited Wardrobe: In the manga, Belldandy, Urd and Skuld always wear different clothes on each day of story time. By contrast, Peorth's clothes stopped changing after they achieved maximum Stripperifficness.
    • Belldandy mostly dresses in Yamato Nadeshiko-style housedresses early on in the manga, but becomes considerably more of a fashionista later on, particularly after she starts working at Whirlwind alongside Keiichi.
    • This is actually explained in the manga (albeit as a small side note and not spoken by the characters). In a chapter where Banpei wants to go out while the others are gone, it looks for the goddesses' clothes but finds none, and eventually settles for Keiichi's. In a side note on the page, it is explained that the goddesses summon their clothes using magic.
  • Unlucky Everydude: Keiichi was this early in the manga. It took a while before he was really portrayed as a legitimate Nice Guy.
  • Utopia Justifies the Means: Celestine.
  • Valkyries: Lind's group, the Fighting Wings.
  • Very Special Episode: The one chapter/episode where Skuld gets and loses her angel has the feeling of a Goddess! version of a VSE involving a teenage pregnancy, and the baby being a preemie and dying. Thankfully, Noble Scarlet returned during the manga's Lind Arc, and during the TV special following Flights of Fancy.
  • Victoria's Secret Compartment: Where Skuld apparently keeps enough explosives to take down a battalion.
    • Belldandy, of all people. When K1 stopped to think about holding an object that'd been stored there...
    • A bit later, she tucks something back in there, evidently to make sure Keiichi won't take it. Note that's a demon accusing her of being vulgar.
    • And then Keiichi reaches in and grabs the item anyway. Belldandy was just as stunned as the readers because Keiichi never ever would have done this before in the manga's twenty year long run!
  • Victorious Childhood Friend: Keiichi and Belldandy, in the OVA.
    • In a late episode of Flights of Fancy, Hild tries to pull this card on Keiichi to intimidate Belldandy. Thankfully, it doesn't work.
  • Violet Eyes: Urd. (Her eyes are green in the OVA, though.)
    • Hild too!
  • Weaksauce Weakness: Urd falls asleep if exposed to Enka music. Several antagonists make use of this weakness.
    • Urd herself utilizes Marlla's weakness against her in a similar fashion, rock music, which causes the demoness to dance uncontrollably. Banpei also used this against her, following up with much more effective rockets and later holy objects to get rid of her from the temple.
  • Weirdness Magnet: Keiichi. He attracts Belldandy, a goddess, into his life; then her half-goddess half-demon sister Urd who attempts to bring them closer together; then her younger sister Skuld who attempts to break them apart. Later, even more supernatural beings come into his life, including Hild, the sexy devil.
  • Wham! Episode: After more than twenty years of the status quo, chapter 285 appears to turn everything upside down. See Awful Truth and Cerebus Retcon.
    • The fandom, wich is normally completely laid back, erupted in chaos when the contents of this chapter were revealed. For the first time ever. The wham was just that big.
  • What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: Urd is basically the daughter of the Almighty and the devil. Or rather, her mother is Hild, the ruler of Hell, and while it is debatable whether it is stated outright, it is at least heavily implied that her father is God The Almighty.
    • Well, in the OVA at least, Belldandy's father is The Almighty. But then, the OVA doesn't precisely follow the canon of the original manga.
  • When She Smiles: Lind becomes a lot less chilly and intimidating.
    • The "Belldandy smile" (TM) is a superpower in its own right, capable of melting glaciers and convincing even the most militant feminists to have some tea and cookies.
  • Whip It Good: Urd breifly wields a pair of whips in the first season of the anime, and in the second season she swings a chain around like a whip while on her way to confront Hild. Peorth once used her vines as a whip when trying to help Keiichi overcome his Cannot Spit It Out problem.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy: Gan, in his spirit form.
  • White-Haired Pretty Girl: Although she's definitely not a girl anymore, Urd.
    • In the occasional flashback, though, she was an adorable little girl (so was Belldandy, too, but that kinda goes without saying).
    • When Belldandy unlocks her Power Limiter, her hair turns silvery. Belldandy was also portrayed with silvery hair for the first 40-50 chapters of the manga.
  • Women Drivers: Averted hard! Some of the best driver/riders in the series (Chihiro, Megumi, Belldandy) are women. In fact, the only notable male driver/rider is Keiichi.
    • Except that it was mentioned that the goddess can drive so well because of their magic, without it, God help us if they try to drive (Urd at least, because in Belldandy's case...)
  • Woman in White: Lind.
  • The World Tree: Yggdrasil in this case, happens to be the supercomputer that connects all living things and generally runs the universe. The demons also have their own version, Nidhoggr (named after the dragon that gnaws at the root of the world tree in Norse Mythology.
  • Wrench Wench: Skuld, Megumi, and Chihiro.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: During the fight with Haval, Keiichi, noticing her ability to find her way in the dark and that she was bothered by a loud noise, assumed that she had super hearing and decided to go with the natural counter of making a lot of noise with one of Skuld bombs. Ends up not working as Haval's super senses turn out to be the ability to actually "see sound", and loud noises only bother her when they happen in front eyes as they are basically like a bright flash in the face to her.
  • Xanatos Gambit: Hagall runs a pretty clever one against Belldandy. And seeing how the plan absolutely had to be stopped, it's safe to say Belldandy really WOULD have become a demon this time.
    • The Lord of Terror apparently used this as well. After Belldandy shoots the jar with an arrow, it seems he's defeated, but then he reveals that this was all part of a complicated plan to escape from the jar in the first place. Cue everyone looking confused, even Urd.
    • When Urd wonders if Hild had trained Hagall and her posse specifically to overthrow her to create a loophole into demon law that would allow her to reset her term as queen of hell (and prevent her own death wile at it), Hild doesn't really admit it but is very proud of her minion's work anyway.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: Despite being a Norse Goddess, Belldandy embodies this trope to the fullest.
  • "Years Too Early": Urd says Skuld is a hundred years too early to call an angel (and, by implication, defeat her), and in a later episode, Mara says that the demons guarding the Sealed Evil in a Can are a thousand years too early to fight her. Oddly enough, a mortal trumps them both-- Sayoko wins a drinking contest early in manga Chapter 44, and says to the passed-out loser, "You're one-point-two million years too early to drink this lady under the table, pal!" Naturally, she passes out-- in Keiichi's arms, no less-- later in the chapter, after a drunken misadventure or two.
  • You Cannot Grasp the True Form - The form of the goddesses and demons on Earth are not their real forms, and they can take on any form they want according to the demon in chapter 267. When she tries to reveal her true form to Keiichi, it shows up as an Eldritch Abomination type of being and he almost loses his mind.

Mokkurkalfi: You don't perceive our true appearance. Your existence and ours are different. My form, and what you think you are seeing, are not necessarily the same.

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