Witch Hunter Robin



The adventures of a group of people who hunt "witches", that is, people born with specific genetic superhuman abilities that many people associate with magic. It's implied in the opening credits' Fauxlosophic Narration that they aren't just a Witch Species but may have been a culture or civilization that ruled over man until deposed or self destructed. The protagonist of the series is Robin Sena, a witch herself with the ability to conjure and control fire.

The main themes of the series involved the moral responsibility that these powers imply, and how many witches fall to With Great Power Comes Great Insanity. Other themes were isolation and persecution; witches have a hard time assimilating and living among humans while controlling their dark urges. In the second season it's revealed that even innocent witches all live in fear of being killed or disappeared by the likes of Robin's witch-hunting group if their powers are discovered. Robin herself battles with the fear she will one day become drunk on her power and be hunted by her friends as a witch.

The show's format was notable, because for the first half of the series, the plot is entirely done in a Monster of the Week fashion, with the second half of the series abruptly starting an overall arc.

"--Robin: It's like being pasteurized."
 * All Your Base Are Belong to Us:  does this to the STN-J mid-series. Made especially shocking by the fact that Robin was living there at the time, because they already did the same thing to her house!
 * Ambiguously Gay: Harry is a rather effeminate-looking man who runs a stylish bar and is the STNJ's Team Mom.
 * Amplifier Artifact: The Fragment of Wisdom.
 * Animal Motifs: Ravens, keepers of hidden knowledge and harbingers of death, are everywhere...especially in episodes featuring Karasuma.
 * Artistic Age: Robin is 15?
 * Award Bait Song: A bit subverted with "Half Pain", which is awesome but not very happy.
 * Badass Longcoat: Most of the cast, but specifically Amon. When forced to describe him, an orderly refers to him as "Tall and ominous." Even without a name, everyone knows who he's talking about.
 * Battle Couple: Amon and Robin. Usually a Gun and Craft-user duo but they give off a Lady and Knight vibe in
 * Big Bad:, who researches   and causes the main narrative's conflict.
 * Big Good: Chief Inspector Shintarō Kosaka is the STNJ's boss and  Though there's probably a Bigger Good in SOLOMON. Though another case could be made for , depending on one's views on Robin's heritage.
 * Blunt Metaphors Trauma: Robin has a difficult time grasping the intricacies of the Japanese language, to say nothing of the customs. (Contrary to Robin's belief, the Japanese do not have a custom where they eat soba when saying goodbye.)

- Haruto: You mean "put out to pasture".


 * Book Ends: "Your lucky color is black."
 * Boxed Crook: Michael Lee, who discovered STN while hacking their high-security system and ended up "recruited" for his sins.
 * Burn the Witch: Well...yeah. Made traumatic for Robin given what she does and how she does it.
 * Butt Monkey: Haruto Sakaki. Even his Japanese voice actor commented that he kept waiting for something good to happen to the guy.
 * The Chick: Yuriko Doujima, whose the only girl of the group before Robin comes and is definitely the most girly with her fashion magazines and gossip. She comes into her own
 * The City Narrows: The Walled City taking its name from the real world's Kowloon Walled City.
 * Cool Shades: Robin picks up a pair after.
 * Come with Me If You Want to Live:  appears and grabs her arm and says "follow me". At this point neither she nor the audience are sure which side he's on. Technically not the beginning but rather the start of the actual story arc.
 * Conspicuous CG: There isn't any in the animation itself, but there are a lot of very conspicuously CG backgrounds.
 * Conspiracy Redemption: Played with: though both sides, the line between the "good" guys and the "bad" guys blurs as more of the overall conspiracy is revealed.
 * Death Faked for You: Dojima's official report states that Robin and Amon died when the Factory self-destructed.
 * The Doll Episode
 * Doing in the Wizard: 'Witch' powers are actually caused by genetics, not magic, although the science is downplayed for magic and religion as the series progresses.
 * Doing in the Scientist: Some witches use symbols that can be recognized by other unrelated witches, which implies that there is a a coherent system in use among them. One witch even contacted her sister's ghost for a revenge plot with a ritual that Robin recognized.
 * Just five years pre-series the STN used anti-witch bullets with carvings to ward off evil, and someone in the main narrative still does.
 * Also, See Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors below.
 * Dressing as the Enemy:
 * Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: A number of witches have elemental powers, and Robin's fire powers are even blocked once by a water rune drawn on the ground. Didn't know what that symbol stood for? It's All There in the Manual.
 * The Empath: Miho Karasuma, though she uses psychometry, is notable because her power is useful when used.
 * Equivalent Exchange: The power of a witch who can save one life by taking another. Notable for being the first witch that's A Lighter Shade of Grey and thus bringing a more complicated morality than what had existed earlier.
 * Faceless Goons: Employed exclusively by the Factory, from their hazmat-suited crime scene techs to their scary dark-grey soldiers.
 * Fan Service: Robin sleeps naked. Enough said.
 * Pretty low on the Fan Service-o-meter, since all the times she sits up she holds the blanket quite high. The waitress outfits in "Separate Lives", though...
 * She is kinda fifteen...
 * Also subverted in an early scene where a prelude to the ostensible Shower Scene reveals a dripping-wet Robin...
 * Fauxlosophic Narration: Robin waxes poetic at the start of every episode in Purple Prose. It's never fully explained, but her lines are related to the events of the episode and serve as a preview.
 * Final Solution: Towards the end of the series  is revealed to be working towards one of these. He wanted to use Orbo to empower normal humans to hunt witches. Until then the organization was forced to use witches to hunt other witches, but with the enhanced Orbo that would no longer be necessary, and he can systematically wipe them out with the aid of the STN's database. In his eyes, all witches are afflicted by madness born of their power (or will be eventually), so he sees himself as justified.
 * Fish Out of Water: Robin was raised as a nun in another country, and doesn't always understand what's happening with her Japanese teammates. Despite popular stereotypes, she is relentlessly tidy and self-effacing, which almost makes her one form of an ideal Japanese woman.
 * The Glasses Come Off: Inverted.  Whenever you see her with glasses on, something's gonna burn.
 * God Is Good: While the head honcho himself doesn't make an appearance, Amon has this to say: "God doesn't forsake any of his children." The Big Bad is more of the opinion that Good Is Not Nice and that God struck down the witches long ago.
 * Good Shepherd: Father Juliano comes off more as this despite the generally dark religious tone. He genuinely thought witches were dangerous but despite that he couldn't kill  Instead he raised her as his own and admitted that his fear of witches (the emotion driving the Big Bad) is a weakness of his own heart, and no fault of the witches.
 * Freudian Excuse: Nagira asks Amon if he hates witches because his mom awakened as one and, in doing so, ruined their relationship. Amon says 'yes'.
 * Government Conspiracy
 * Hotblooded Sideburns: Nagira, though he isn't at all Hot-Blooded.
 * Hunter Of Her Own Kind: Robin, who doesn't give it much thought until she gets called out on it by an ancient witch with the power to share memories.
 * Ill Girl:
 * Improbable Hairstyle: Subverted, Robin's hairstyle seems improbable at first glance, but it's shown to be held in place by a number of hairpins and hair ties. The rest of the cast generally has realistic normal hair.
 * Kansas City Shuffle: Amon does this by directing Robin to burn a hole in the STNJ's wall before sending her down a secret entrance in the floor, making their pursuers think she escaped through that hole and not follow her.
 * Karmic Death: While this would appear to be the case with, he doesn't die from its use... though he might have if Robin's flames hadn't reached him first.
 * Kill Me Now or Forever Stay Your Hand: Robin pulls this on Amon after learning he was assigned to take her down. She even closes her eyes. He lowers the gun and almost smiles.
 * Knight Templar:  He commits atrocities without flinching, convinced of his own righteousness, refuses to listen to anyone or anything that contradicts his plan, and at the end even believes he has a Mission From God. Naturally, he's a villain.
 * Lady and Knight: Amon and Robin play with the trope. Robin is seen as the Dark Lady by many because of her heritage and some of her actions are brutal considering what the rest of the team does, but at heart she's a Bright Lady trying to do what's right. Amon ultimately betrays both  to protect Robin from danger and is seen as a Dark Knight who's gone rogue, though he wavers back and forth. Robin herself calls him her "watch dog" because he will make sure she survives unless she loses herself to her power. At which point he will kill her himself.
 * Liquid Assets: Applied thoughtfully in the episode "Faith."
 * Loners Are Freaks: Amon thinks so. "Witches are loners. It's part of their nature." But not really. One witch was an engaged businessman and even the witch that spent all her time alone in her apartment had living dolls to keep her company.
 * Lonely Doll Girl: There was a witch with multiple personalities manifesting through her dolls, personalities which considered any slight to her as "Unforgivable!"
 * Lovable Rogue: Nagira, the pachinko-playing lawyer layabout.
 * Madness Mantra: "You soiled, you soiled, you soiled..."
 * The Men in Black: STN, operating under an organization named Solomon.
 * Modesty Bedsheet: Robin sleeps in the nude, which is surprising considering she was raised in a convent.
 * Monster of the Week: Follows the format for the first half of the series, before progressing to the formal storyline proper.
 * NGO Solomon
 * Nice Hat: Sastre.
 * Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Sastre's actions, though depending on your perspective it might be a case of Nice Job Breaking It, Hero -  awakened Robin to the realisation that her true power was within her all along.
 * No Sell: In the series' prologue, Amon takes a witch's psychic blast without flinching and says, "Your powers don't work on me." Despite the quote, the trope is subverted because Amon has a Power Nullifier on his neck.
 * Not a Morning Person: Robin. Her insomnia is even alluded to in the ending theme ("Falling into a light sleep...").
 * Not So Different: Discussed by Karasuma: "A witch who kills people that soil her world, and witch hunters that capture them for soiling the human world."
 * Oh Crap:  when Robin No Sells his best shot.
 * Only One Name: Amon. It might be his first name. It might be his last name. It might be an alias. It's all you're getting.
 * Personality Powers: Noteworthy in its aversion. Since powers are tied to genetics and spiritualism, the writers had every excuse. However, Robin is shy and demure, in contrast to the typical personality that one would expect from someone with her powers.
 * Karasuma, by contrast, probably would've been an insightful person even without Psychic Powers.
 * Playful Hacker: Michael Lee. He says he had fun going places just because he wasn't supposed to and never damaged their systems. The most he would do was open a back door to make it easier for him to come back.
 * Playing with Fire: Robin's powers.
 * Powered by a Forsaken Child: Expected in a series about hunting witches, but the specifics are refreshing.
 * Power Nullifier: Orbo, bane to witches everywhere. Their powers are limited or totally useless against people wearing it and bullets filled with it can negate their powers.
 * Power At a Price: The downside to Orbo is that it weakens the hunters using them as well. The original version causes a 30 percent decrease in efficiency and improved versions actually hurt them.
 * Sinister Minister: Subverted and then defied. The Inquisitor is more of a official than a minister and less "sinister" than playing the "bad cop", and Father Juliano, Robin's guardian  tried to be this trope but raising Robin mellowed him out. Instead of condemning her, he blesses her.
 * Super Human Trafficking:
 * The Stoic: Amon.
 * Team Mom: Harry for the STN-J. The members go to his cafe for emotional support and guidance. He makes special tea for when they're sick. After the Wham! Episode he hugs Robin and says "Welcome home."
 * Took a Level In Badass: Robin, after "Loaded Guns."
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Michael loves food in crinkly aluminum bags. (The diet comes standard with the computer, apparently.) Robin's poor sleep habits are supplemented by large amounts of coffee.
 * Ultimate Job Security: Dojima comes in late, leaves early, takes extra-long breaks, and spends most of her time looking at fashion magazines, plus she was only hired because of who her father is.
 * Van Helsing Hate Crimes: Burn the Witch! Wait, the witch is a Salaryman who hasn't even jaywalked? ...Oops?
 * Villainous Breakdown:  when Robin burns his hat.
 * Big Bad, when the truth concerning witches and humans is revealed. He goes from denial to contradicting himself, screaming louder and louder all the while... and this from a guy who was the epitome of composure the entire series.
 * Wham! Episode: Loaded Guns.
 * What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: It was a recurring joke when it aired on Adult Swim for the bumps to question what was so scary about the witch hunted in the first episode whose power appeared to be tripping people.
 * Witch Species: Witch powers are genetic, and following this logic, twins have the same powers.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Along with Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers and Transhuman Treachery, this is the reason Solomon and the STN-J hunt witches. Every witch in the Monster of the Week episodes (and many afterward) are insane, criminal, or criminally insane. Of course,
 * Made explicit in the backstory of the witch and partner to Amon that Robin is replacing.
 * And again in an episode when they tried to capture another witch, who was relentlessly bullied and eventually gave in and killed his tormentors.
 * And again in the episode where Robin is befriended by a mixed marriage of a witch and human whose completely innocent teenaged daughter was kidnapped by the STN-J.
 * Capping it off is the episode where a centuries-old witch uses an Exposition Beam to showcase just how thoroughly humanity has been persecuting the good and bad witches even long before Salem. Really, humanity got lucky that there was no Witch Magneto to lead the oppressed witches in a revolt against muggles.
 * World of Cardboard Speech: Robin says one when she discovers the secret behind the Fragment of Wisdom.
 * Umbrella of Togetherness: Robin sees Touko and Amon sharing an umbrella and subsequently thinks they're lovers.
 * Younger Than They Look: Robin's fifteen. It's really easy to forget that. Though it's only because she sounds, looks, and acts nothing like her age.