King of Thorn: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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* [[Cloning Blues]]: This comes up towards the end of manga, since by that point both {{spoiler|Marco and Kasumi}} have died and been resurrected as Medusa constructs; essentially, they are just copies of their original selves. {{spoiler|Marco}}, not being one prone to angst, simply recommends they live on as normal.
* [[Cloning Blues]]: This comes up towards the end of manga, since by that point both {{spoiler|Marco and Kasumi}} have died and been resurrected as Medusa constructs; essentially, they are just copies of their original selves. {{spoiler|Marco}}, not being one prone to angst, simply recommends they live on as normal.
{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Marco'''}}: Your worth hasn't changed. And it never will.}}
{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Marco'''}}: Your worth hasn't changed. And it never will.}}
* [[Close Call Haircut]]: Not long after Marco gives Kasumi a gun, she fires it accidentally and parts his hair.
* [[Close-Call Haircut]]: Not long after Marco gives Kasumi a gun, she fires it accidentally and parts his hair.
* [[Clothing Damage]]: A monster rips Kasumi's shirt badly enough that she has to find new clothes when she eventually gets to safety.
* [[Clothing Damage]]: A monster rips Kasumi's shirt badly enough that she has to find new clothes when she eventually gets to safety.
* [[Compressed Adaptation]]: The film adaptation, at only 109 minutes, adapts all 6 volumes. While it does follow the same basic story, there are several changes throughout.
* [[Compressed Adaptation]]: The film adaptation, at only 109 minutes, adapts all 6 volumes. While it does follow the same basic story, there are several changes throughout.
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** [[Tagalong Kid]]: Tim
** [[Tagalong Kid]]: Tim
* [[Four Is Death]]: Level 4 is Venus Gate's main lab where a cure for Medusa was supposedly being sought. In reality, {{spoiler|it's a bunker where they experimented on Medusa to turn fantasy into reality by separating Medusa from its host, and all the people they gathered there were going to be used as test subjects}}.
* [[Four Is Death]]: Level 4 is Venus Gate's main lab where a cure for Medusa was supposedly being sought. In reality, {{spoiler|it's a bunker where they experimented on Medusa to turn fantasy into reality by separating Medusa from its host, and all the people they gathered there were going to be used as test subjects}}.
* [[Freak Out]] / [[Heroic BSOD]]: {{spoiler|Kasumi's death sends Shizuku right over the [[Despair Event Horizon]]. It's so bad that it awakens her Medusa powers and plunges the entire ''world'' into total chaos.}}
* [[Freak-Out]] / [[Heroic BSOD]]: {{spoiler|Kasumi's death sends Shizuku right over the [[Despair Event Horizon]]. It's so bad that it awakens her Medusa powers and plunges the entire ''world'' into total chaos.}}
* [[Frogs and Toads]]: They spit hallucinogenic acid, and can combine to form a frog large enough to swallow a human.
* [[Frogs and Toads]]: They spit hallucinogenic acid, and can combine to form a frog large enough to swallow a human.
* [[Furo Scene]]: In Kasumi's flashbacks. Played for horror rather than [[Fan Service]], since {{spoiler|it was the site of Kasumi's [[Interrupted Suicide]].}}
* [[Furo Scene]]: In Kasumi's flashbacks. Played for horror rather than [[Fan Service]], since {{spoiler|it was the site of Kasumi's [[Interrupted Suicide]].}}
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* [[Giggling Villain]]: {{spoiler|Zeus}}, and comes across as [[Faux Affably Evil]].
* [[Giggling Villain]]: {{spoiler|Zeus}}, and comes across as [[Faux Affably Evil]].
* [[The Grim Reaper]]: Meets {{spoiler|Marco}} after he dies and offers to ferry him over the afterlife.
* [[The Grim Reaper]]: Meets {{spoiler|Marco}} after he dies and offers to ferry him over the afterlife.
* [[Go Out With a Smile]]: In [[The Movie]]. See [[Death By Adaptation]].
* [[Go Out with a Smile]]: In [[The Movie]]. See [[Death By Adaptation]].
* [[Grumpy Old Man]]: Alessandro.
* [[Grumpy Old Man]]: Alessandro.
* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]: {{spoiler|Tim}} is half-absorbed by the Medusa. He takes it [[Angst What Angst|really, really well]].
* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]: {{spoiler|Tim}} is half-absorbed by the Medusa. He takes it [[Angst? What Angst?|really, really well]].
* [[Hannibal Lecture]]: "[[A Fate Worse Than Death|Shizuku's fate]]... is '''your''' fault."
* [[Hannibal Lecture]]: "[[A Fate Worse Than Death|Shizuku's fate]]... is '''your''' fault."
* [[The Hedge of Thorns]]: There's thorns growing on practically every surface, making escapes from monsters more difficult.
* [[The Hedge of Thorns]]: There's thorns growing on practically every surface, making escapes from monsters more difficult.
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* [[Interrupted Suicide]]: Happens a few times with Kasumi:
* [[Interrupted Suicide]]: Happens a few times with Kasumi:
** First, she tried to commit a [[Bath Suicide]] when she realized {{spoiler|that [[Survivor Guilt|she will be saved]], while Shizuku will not be}}. Shizuku [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!|slaps her for it]] [[Interrupted Suicide|right in time]], though.
** First, she tried to commit a [[Bath Suicide]] when she realized {{spoiler|that [[Survivor Guilt|she will be saved]], while Shizuku will not be}}. Shizuku [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!|slaps her for it]] [[Interrupted Suicide|right in time]], though.
** ''Then'', {{spoiler|after finding out [[Body Horror|what Shizuku has become]], Kasumi tried to throw herself off a high place [[Suicide for Others Happiness|thinking that it'll help Shizuku]], and [[Together in Death|in order to be with Marco]], but is stopped by Zeus.}}
** ''Then'', {{spoiler|after finding out [[Body Horror|what Shizuku has become]], Kasumi tried to throw herself off a high place [[Suicide for Others' Happiness|thinking that it'll help Shizuku]], and [[Together in Death|in order to be with Marco]], but is stopped by Zeus.}}
* [[Jerkass Has a Point]]: After Alessandro (the old guy) reveals he ''paid'' to become a [[Human Popsicle]] rather than just hope he was randomly selected, some of the others react with outrage. However, he calmly points out that anyone would have done the same thing if they had the means.
* [[Jerkass Has a Point]]: After Alessandro (the old guy) reveals he ''paid'' to become a [[Human Popsicle]] rather than just hope he was randomly selected, some of the others react with outrage. However, he calmly points out that anyone would have done the same thing if they had the means.
** He is also the first to recognize who the leader of their group really is; Marco Owen, a master computer hacker and a criminal. He also correctly assumes that Marco has a hidden agenda {{spoiler|though it turns out to be a less sinister agenda than he thinks}}.
** He is also the first to recognize who the leader of their group really is; Marco Owen, a master computer hacker and a criminal. He also correctly assumes that Marco has a hidden agenda {{spoiler|though it turns out to be a less sinister agenda than he thinks}}.
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* [[Mercy Kill]]: Ron nearly does this to Tim, but Katherine stops him.
* [[Mercy Kill]]: Ron nearly does this to Tim, but Katherine stops him.
* [[Mind Screw]]: [[The Movie]]. You know an anime is a mind screw when the latter parts of it completely invalidate what we were shown in the earlier part.
* [[Mind Screw]]: [[The Movie]]. You know an anime is a mind screw when the latter parts of it completely invalidate what we were shown in the earlier part.
* [[Mix and Match Critters]]: Lots and lots of them.
* [[Mix-and-Match Critters]]: Lots and lots of them.
* [[Multinational Team]]: People were summoned for the cold sleep experiment from all over the world, and the survivors are all from different countries. Somehow they all [[Common Tongue|speak the same language]].
* [[Multinational Team]]: People were summoned for the cold sleep experiment from all over the world, and the survivors are all from different countries. Somehow they all [[Common Tongue|speak the same language]].
* [[Mysterious Waif]]: Alice.
* [[Mysterious Waif]]: Alice.
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* [[Psycho Electro]]: Zeus.
* [[Psycho Electro]]: Zeus.
* [[Ragnarok Proofing]]: Ultimately averted - {{spoiler|the fact that things still work makes the survivors realize they aren't far in the future after all.}}
* [[Ragnarok Proofing]]: Ultimately averted - {{spoiler|the fact that things still work makes the survivors realize they aren't far in the future after all.}}
* [[Rapid Fire Typing]]: Marco hasn't forgotten how to do this.
* [[Rapid-Fire Typing]]: Marco hasn't forgotten how to do this.
* [[Rule of Symbolism]]: The manga makes frequent references to [[Classical Mythology]] (Medusa, Venus, Zeus), [[The Bible]] (Noah's Ark, the Crucifixion), and [[Alice in Wonderland]] ([[Alice Allusion|Alice]]). [[The Movie]] also throws in [[Fairy Tale Motifs]].
* [[Rule of Symbolism]]: The manga makes frequent references to [[Classical Mythology]] (Medusa, Venus, Zeus), [[The Bible]] (Noah's Ark, the Crucifixion), and [[Alice in Wonderland]] ([[Alice Allusion|Alice]]). [[The Movie]] also throws in [[Fairy Tale Motifs]].
* [[Save This Person Save the World]]: Done subversively and surreptitiously in the manga -- where everyone rallies to protect Kasumi, {{spoiler|(who is in fact, Medusa) throughout the entire manga series. Their actions are mainly due to a directive imprinted in their minds by the [[Big Bad]]: ''"protect the small Japanese girl with your life"''.}} Most of them weren't even aware they were doing it. Of course, the bad guy wanted to reshape the entire world, not save it, so...
* [[Save This Person Save the World]]: Done subversively and surreptitiously in the manga -- where everyone rallies to protect Kasumi, {{spoiler|(who is in fact, Medusa) throughout the entire manga series. Their actions are mainly due to a directive imprinted in their minds by the [[Big Bad]]: ''"protect the small Japanese girl with your life"''.}} Most of them weren't even aware they were doing it. Of course, the bad guy wanted to reshape the entire world, not save it, so...
* [[She Cleans Up Nicely]]: Kasumi really looks good in a dress.
* [[She Cleans Up Nicely]]: Kasumi really looks good in a dress.
* [[Shout Out]]: "What is this, [[Jurassic Park]]?!"
* [[Shout-Out]]: "What is this, [[Jurassic Park]]?!"
** [[The Movie]] shows a [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Medusa_by_Carvaggio.jpg painting by Caravaggio] of [[Medusa]] during the prologue.
** [[The Movie]] shows a [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Medusa_by_Carvaggio.jpg painting by Caravaggio] of [[Medusa]] during the prologue.
* [[Shrinking Violet]]: Kasumi.
* [[Shrinking Violet]]: Kasumi.
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* [[Taken for Granite]]: They don't call the virus "Medusa" for nothing.
* [[Taken for Granite]]: They don't call the virus "Medusa" for nothing.
* [[Tattooed Crook]]: Marco, despite being the [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold|gold-hearted]] [[Designated Hero|protagonist]].
* [[Tattooed Crook]]: Marco, despite being the [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold|gold-hearted]] [[Designated Hero|protagonist]].
* [[Together in Death]]: Given a very dark and tragic twist with the final meeting between {{spoiler|Kasumi and Shizuku}}. {{spoiler|One of the two has a chance at living, but wants them both to die together so they can be [[Together in Death]]. The second wants the first to take the opportunity to go on living. They argue over it. Tragedy, [[Freak Out]], and [[The End of the World As We Know It]] ensue.}}
* [[Together in Death]]: Given a very dark and tragic twist with the final meeting between {{spoiler|Kasumi and Shizuku}}. {{spoiler|One of the two has a chance at living, but wants them both to die together so they can be [[Together in Death]]. The second wants the first to take the opportunity to go on living. They argue over it. Tragedy, [[Freak-Out]], and [[The End of the World As We Know It]] ensue.}}
* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: Take a look at the pictures of Marco before prison and after. Good ''lord''.
* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: Take a look at the pictures of Marco before prison and after. Good ''lord''.
* [[Tomato in The Mirror]]: {{spoiler|"Kasumi" is ''part of'' Shizuku, a Medusa projection of what Shizuku believed Kasumi to be. Given that they're twins, she's a rather accurate one.}}
* [[Tomato in The Mirror]]: {{spoiler|"Kasumi" is ''part of'' Shizuku, a Medusa projection of what Shizuku believed Kasumi to be. Given that they're twins, she's a rather accurate one.}}
* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]] and [[Different As Night and Day]]/ [[The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry]] : Kasumi and Shizuku.
* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]] and [[Different As Night and Day]]/ [[The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry]] : Kasumi and Shizuku.
* [[Twenty Three]]: September 23, 2008 is the date when cold sleep project began. This is important later.
* [[23]]: September 23, 2008 is the date when cold sleep project began. This is important later.
* [[Video Wills]]: Vincent Coral Vega, the leader of the Venus Gate cult, makes an [[Apocalyptic Log]] explaining what [[The Corruption|Medusa]] is and how it caused [[The End of the World As We Know It]]. {{spoiler|He says that he hopes it will be found by some other survivor who can fix things, but he himself does not have the will to fight on, then commits suicide}}.
* [[Video Wills]]: Vincent Coral Vega, the leader of the Venus Gate cult, makes an [[Apocalyptic Log]] explaining what [[The Corruption|Medusa]] is and how it caused [[The End of the World As We Know It]]. {{spoiler|He says that he hopes it will be found by some other survivor who can fix things, but he himself does not have the will to fight on, then commits suicide}}.
* [[Virtual Ghost]]: Alice.
* [[Virtual Ghost]]: Alice.

Revision as of 21:33, 25 January 2014

The first manga cover.

King of Thorn is a short, post-apocalyptic Survival Horror manga. The story begins when the main character, Kasumi, and 159 other people are chosen to go into cold sleep until a cure is found for their mysterious disease, the Medusa virus. The Medusa virus is a disease which, six weeks after infection, causes the victim to have seizures; within five hours, all of the victim's cells have solidified into a clay-like substance.

When some of the sleepers wake up, the world has drastically changed; there is a veritable jungle running around and through the facility. Massive monsters roam through the facility, and there are no signs of any other human beings. At first, the survivors assume that many years have passed; later in the storyline, they realize that they have only been asleep for a short period of time, and that there is far more to the Medusa virus and their situation than they ever could have imagined.

A movie adaptation was released in May 2010, whose trailer you can view here. The movie deviated heavily from the canon, watering down many of the characters' back-stories and omitting the Big Bad from the manga. It was, however, nominated for the 4th Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

Provides examples of:

  • A God Am I: Zeus, who manipulated the Medusa in Shizuku, and gave himself some nifty abilities in the process. He also orchestrated a lot of things in the plot, and is a giggling asshat.
  • Abusive Parents: Katherine. She was an alcoholic who beat her child to the point where social services had to step in and remove him.
  • Action Dress Rip: In Volume 5 Kasumi finds a dress that somehow fits her and wears it for the rest of the series. First chapter of Volume 6, she rips off the skirt because it's hard to walk in it, and wraps her hands and feet with the scraps for protection from the thorns.
  • Action Mom: Katherine. A Mama Gryphon, too.
    • A little more on that subject: Katherine turned herself into a giant eagle with female breasts, believing that is how a real mother should be presented. Yeah, it's symbolic .
  • Action Survivor: Everyone who survives.
  • Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Marco gets this in The Movie. See Dead Little Sister.
  • Adaptational Villainy: Alice is the Big Bad in The Movie, in the form of a computer. Yeah...
  • Alice Allusion: Alice, The Mysterious Waif, creates her protector as a giant white rabbit. He wears a top hat with a playing card stuck to it, too.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Kasumi develops a crush on Marco. The rest of the group takes notice of this, but since Marco is so hard to read it's tough to tell what he thinks of her for most of the story.
    • Ron even discusses this with Kasumi in Chapter 27:

 Ron: "I don't know what you women see in that type of guy. Tell me. These types of guys only cause women headaches."

Kasumi: "He already has. And despite that, I am still...

  • All There in the Manual: The Japanese website for The Movie provides full names, ages, occupations and nationalities for most of the characters, and even gives names to some of the monsters. Then again, many details were changed in the adaptation, so Your Mileage May Vary on whether or not this information is canon.
  • Always Identical Twins: Kasumi and Shizuku.
  • And I Must Scream
  • Angsty Surviving Twin: Kasumi. It's a bit more complicated than that, though.
  • Anti-Hero: Kasumi is a Classical Antihero, while Marco is mostly a Byronic Hero.
  • Artistic License Biology: "Well... I think it probably evolved from some animal, or maybe suddenly mutated."
    • Possibly justified, as "evolved" implies "mutated over a long period of time", as opposed to "suddenly mutated".
  • Asshole Victim: Alessandro, the Jerkass Grumpy Old Man, is the first member of the group to get killed.
  • Awful Truth: Marco knows more about what's really going on than the rest of the group does, and keeps a lot of awful truths from them.
  • Back From the Dead: With sheer willpower, and a little help from Alice.
  • Badass: Marco. Let's be serious. He accomplishes what it would have taken a team-up of Solid Snake and a few Space Marines backing him up.
  • Better to Die Than Be Killed: Marco
  • Big Fancy Castle / Building of Adventure: Pretty much the whole story takes place within the isolated, thorn-covered, monster-infested castle.
  • Big No: A full-page Big No in the final volume.
  • Black Dude Dies First: Averted. He survives all the way to the end of the story!
    • Played more straight in the movie. He’s the third member of the group to die.
  • Bland-Name Product: There's a 'Mindows' operating system, and 'Bell' computers.
  • Body Horror: Copious examples. Infection by Medusa causes the body to slowly petrify and eventually shatter. If you're lucky, you might instead get a very nasty Lovecraftian Superpower. And then there's Alice, who has been reduced to a head, heart, one lung, and one arm, and kept alive inside a life support chamber for eight years.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: Played with. Zeus is Dangerously Genre Savvy enough to know that letting his archenemy live after he's discovered his master plan is a bad idea, and after some Evil Gloating, disposes of him rather quickly. Not only does he have one of his minions beat Marco to a pulp and then stab him, he has him dropped from a ledge. However, Zeus fails to consider the possibility of Marco coming back to life. And then, he makes the very stupid mistake of letting Marco hack into his data and erase him from existence.
  • Bonnie Scotland: The country where the old castle is, and the main setting of the story.
  • Boxed Crook: The government recruits Marco this way. The fact Marco wants to take revenge on the infiltrated facility's system administrator (Zeus) certainly helps.
  • Brain Uploading: One of the first things super-hacker Zeus does as part of his A God Am I is download his mind into a new Medusa form. "That shell could never contain my potential..."
  • Break the Cutie: Kasumi goes through a lot of this. Amazingly enough, she manages to get through it pretty well. Shizuku, on the other hand, doesn't fare quite as well.
    • Alice went through eight years of breaking.
  • Came Back Strong: Marco Owen is killed by Zeus. However, Alice sacrifices her life to bring him back, and the new Medusa-enhanced body she gives him has useful new abilities such as a resistance to Zeus's electrical attacks.
  • Canon Foreigner: In the movie, Marco's sister Laura Owen.
  • Cat Boy: Laloo Also the Zeus Breed; and Tim becomes half of one.
  • Cassandra Truth: After watching the security tape with Kasumi on it, Tim says to Kasumi "That's you, isn't it?" She denies this, believing the person on the tape to be Shizuku. By the end of the story, it turns out that Tim was right.
    • Justified; At the time, Tim couldn't have known the truth about Kasumi and Shizuku, and Kasumi didn't remember what had really happened on "that day".
  • Chained By Fashion: Alice's giant rabbit protector is adorned with chains, which it can also manipulate as weapons.
  • Cloning Blues: This comes up towards the end of manga, since by that point both Marco and Kasumi have died and been resurrected as Medusa constructs; essentially, they are just copies of their original selves. Marco, not being one prone to angst, simply recommends they live on as normal.

  Marco: Your worth hasn't changed. And it never will.

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