Yeah.

It's not easy being the third person to talk about something. Especially in this context. Someone covers the negatives, someone covers the positives, what the hell is left?
Simon Blackquill is the main rival in Dual Destinies, prosecuting the entirety of 4 out of 6 cases. He's a twisted samurai with a connection to the new protagonist introduced in this game, and I have no idea what to say about him.
I was gonna cut Ray. Had this whole cute Evangelion joke set up that established a structure for the cut. But that couldn't happen, now, could it? That BASTARD riki had to step in and make me an offer I couldn't refuse, much like the shark mafia from shark tale.
So now I get to replay Dual Destinies instead of the most boring I2 case! Yay!
Now I have to come up with something to write about Simon Blackquill. Aww.

The Monstrous Turnabout

In the greatest case ever invented, many things begin. The partnership of Apollo and Athena. The career of one Bobby Fulbright. And Prosecutor Blackquill's an inmate, yup.
Intrigue is built up over Blackquill immediately; while it takes Phoenix until the end of 1-2 to mention that Edgeworth has "changed", we learn in the very same conversation that he is first introduced that Simon and Athena have a history of some kind.
And in the first actual time he appears, we immediately understand what type of person he is.
Simon Blackquill is one of the characters I had seen and known about before getting to the game they were introduced in. As such, I had some expectations about what kind of character he'd be. I thought, in a weird manner with a large proportion of irony, I would love him.
Because he looks ridiculous. Fuckin monochrome human monokuma linking park lookin ass. His first lines being "........." and "........Hmph." only reinforce this impression: this guy is EDGY. He also gets an animated cutscene to be introduced in, where someone confirms that, yep, Prosecutor Blackquill is an inmate, and we get our first look at what exactly caused this to be the case.
(Side note: The fact that we don't find out the incident Simon got arrested for was the one in which Athena's mother died feels kind of contrived. Not enough for me to mark it as a real flaw, but it's the sort of thing that has no real in-universe reason. Obviously there's reasons Athena and Simon wouldn't want to talk about it, but this incident is public record, and it's weird that Apollo or something never just goes to satiate his curiosity.)
That cutscene has some... interesting properties. But I'll leave that aside for now. Blackquill debuts as a prosecutor. He immediately shows off his unique gimmick: using Analytical Psychology™ to trick people into confessing or doing what he wants. Donuter already outlined how this is the Looney Tunes Joke so I'll just add that it doesn't feel particularly unique? Like, wow, he crafts what he says carefully to manipulate others. Like every other prosecutor. Except Godot who isn't even trying. Or Franziska who is a violent asshole. Or Klavier who is bad at his job. But aside from these special cases, every single prosecutor.
There is one moment in the case related to this that I like: Blackquill starts talking shit about Damian Tenma, and Athena actually stops him, pointing out that nothing he's jabbering about is an actual relevant argument. Usually it's solely the job of the prosecutor to go "hey hold it" when we've built up momentum and ruin our fun, but here we actually get to prevent the hole we're in from getting dug deeper. It's also nice that Athena specifically is the one who does this; it shows how she's somewhat in sync with Blackquill, as they have a special connection and both have mastery in the same field and Athena can see what he's up to. It makes some amount of sense that it would take a fellow Psychologist to counter Psychology. It sure would be nice if this ever happened again.
Uh... Blackquill reveals by talking about samurai a bunch that he's a samurai?
Blackquill is a Ronin, a samurai whose master has died. I mean, he's probably not literally a samurai, since it's no longer the 1800s, but he sure thinks he is. This status is linked to a feeling of purposelessness, which I guess fits Blackquill since he's just resigned to his fate waiting in jail to die? But it also doesn't fit him, since the reason he's doing that is out of loyalty to his late master. Whatever. This aspect of him really doesn't matter until the last case.
He's a prisoner and there's a recurring "gag" I like a bit where he references a fellow inmate to make a point. Here are all of the ones I could find. It is possible that some of these are the same person but I am going to assume they are not: in total, this means there are 11 inmates in the prison aside from Blackquill. (By the end of the game, since Means was obviously arrested during it.)
He has a bird. I like the bird. I think it's funny when the bird hits things and how the bird straight up lives in the courtroom and how he makes Fulbright feed Taka.
I dunno. There's other stuff too.
Mostly I was just kind of lukewarm on Blackquill's introduction? It really felt like "Yeah Here's The Next Prosecutor". With the exception of the moment where he breaks out of his shackles (which is a little cool), he doesn't really do much to differentiate himself from everyone before him. He's another guy who is rough around the edges but probably has some good in him and has a mysterious dark past and cannot BELIEVE he lost for the first of four times. Even his introduction feels like already treaded upon ground: his insistence that this case is SO OBVIOUS and a WASTE OF EFFORT is something most of the preceding prosecutors started with as well. It's just. He's fine. I guess.
Also, there's uh. He's. His character. Blackquill's...
Fuck this.

Dual Destinies

I love Dual Destinies, guys. This isn't even ironic, although I do have plenty of things I appreciate in that metric in DD.
It's quite possibly the most fun Ace Attorney game. People complain about the difficulty being dropped, but for me, this just means I get to never look up a walkthrough and almost never get stuck banging my head against a wall. It's just new shit happening which is hopefully entertaining. And most of the time, it is.
Dual Destinies is a bit of a return to form. Ignoring the two completely unique spinoffs which DD would obviously be a return to form compared to, the last main series game was Apollo Justice, which took a number of risks. AJ is easily the least "zany" AA game. It's by no means devoid of humor, but every non-4-2 case has a heavy atmosphere hanging over it, and the game says a whole lot of words about what the law means.
I didn't like AJ. It insists upon itself. It has some interesting ideas, but it's just an incredibly dull game lacking so much of the charm of other entries. It spends so much time talking about the law and yet might as well be saying nothing at all with how incoherent the writing is. Capcom cannot write substantial legal critique, so maybe that should be minimized.
Dual Destinies is a game full of stupid bullshit. I love it.
But Dual Destinies isn't just a series of comic relief segments. It does attempt to take itself seriously at times, to mixed success. What themes there are are usually linked to specific characters rather than some grander scale idea about justice or whatever the fuck, which I think serves the game well. But it still stumbles with tone a bit. It's by no means the first game to do so (Turnabout Big Top.), but a lot of moments are notable.
Take that introductory cutscene for Blackquill I mentioned earlier: it's the first impression for our main rival, and it shows flashes of him brandishing a sword and spilling blood everywhere. It's meant to set up how fucked up this guy and his past are. But it's interspersed with this random police officer speaking in a fucking Goofy voice about how indeed, this man in a prison cell is actually a prison inmate, to... who, exactly? Who the fuck is he talking to? It's so bizarre. I love it, this shit is hilarious. But it shouldn't be.
By cutting Simon Blackquill, I'm officially permanently killing off Dual Destinies. It's the second game to go out completely, after Apollo Justice. So I guess I might as well deliver the last rites of this wonderful terrible beautiful mess of a game.

Florent L'Belle

In a beautiful alternate timeline, I used one of my two limited protective skills on the minor killer of one of the most despised cases in the series. The explanation was simple to the point of being something difficult to make any sort of a writeup about: in a series where the humor aspect is pretty important to me, he made me laugh more than anything else. I'll try to be quick so as to not retread ground from this phantom skill use.
L'Belle is a fucking moron. This is in some way the root of everything funny about him. He debatably is competent in certain areas, but for the most part, he is an incompetent madman. He doesn't understand how a business is supposed to function, he can barely keep himself from being incriminated in court, and he has a terrible sense of aesthetics. The problem with having a culprit who is a fucking moron (as well as blatantly evil) is that you still have to have a case where he doesn't get revealed immediately. One trick is to have convenient circumstances that prevent him from being confrontable directly. The other layer is the prosecution. Simon Blackquill makes a show of being upset at L'Belle's deception, but this is just a means to cover for him by making him admit to a trivial crime. L'Belle is being carried by Blackquill, and he seems to be partially aware of this. This interaction is the biggest thing that lets us know Blackquill is corrupt, so if you really think about it it is probably the single most important character dynamic in the game. Just think it over.

The Marlon and The Crab

I decided when replaying Dual Destinies for this cut to play 5-DLC after 5-2 instead of after 5-5 like in my initial playthrough. Surprisingly, the optional bonus case was not vital to Simon Blackquill's Character. But there's some minor things here and there. Such as how he hates whales (????????) or how he describes morality in terms of "black and white" (do you get it do you get the joke of this do you g). Or the part where he randomly shows up to accuse Phoenix of only defending clients for THE MONEY like it's some kind of JOB. This last one is incredibly stupid and the resident Blackquill fan came in to warn me during my replay that this incredibly stupid thing was going to happen. But I guess it makes some sense?
The deal with Blackquill is that, true to his Hot Topic appearance, he is incredibly negative. A pessimist, a realist, whatever you want to call it. He bemoans the irrationality in this case and others of trusting others (a recurring concept and theme in DD), and he thinks the worst of everything. As donuter said, this is the seeming intention behind why Blackquill acts corrupt: he thinks the worst of his opposition and assumes they will also fight dirty. It makes sense under this framework that he's suspicious of Phoenix's motives. This is still, however, an incredibly stupid scene.
Also the whale is literally black and white. And so is Simon. I feel in my heart that this is like, supposed to signify something, but I cannot come up with anything coherent to conclude from it.
Anyway, sorry for getting sidetracked by Blackquill in my Dual Destinies cut. 5-DLC introduces two characters of note who, in a game with a lot of pure-hearted heroes and comically evil mustache-twirling villains, go a little more into shades of grey.
I love Herman Crab, and finally, after all this time, I've found an excuse to talk about him.
When I was 12, I had to choose a name for my minecraft account. I chose two things I liked at the time: science (i was in something of a Reddit Atheist Phase, as well as being generally interested in physics) and penguins (they are cute). And jammed them together. The legacy of this split-second decision will now never be able to leave me.
When I was 19, I played the game Dual Destinies, and it had a penguin scientist, and he was fucking awesome.
Herman is just immediately endearing. He has a penguin in his hair, he's a grumpy asshole, and he constantly wears a sleep mask because he lives in the aquarium like some kind of squatter. He has tons of funny lines, like one where he mocks the idea of FOOLISH ROMANTIC FEELINGS. And while the case does (fairly effective, imo) things to make you think he's the culprit, it seems like he'd end up on the more sympathetic side, given he cares about Azura and has reason to genuinely think the whale killed her.
Eventually you catch him on his lies about the monitoring system and he gets to be a character. This is more nuanced than plenty of others in DD, but I kind of like how unambiguous it is? Like, the TORPEDO system is confirmed to be completely approved in almost every other country; there's no question about its safety. He has no hidden ulterior motives for wanting to use it; it's genuinely just to make sure the animals are healthy. He hides it for as long as he can to keep things safe and not jeopardize the continued usage of this tech and the reputation of the aquarium, but when you force it out of him, he's polite and acknowledges that you're only doing what a lawyer has to do. You can argue a bit about how wise his approach is, but in moral terms, there's very little ground the game gives you for claiming Herman is a bad person for this. This is the game straight up saying that sometimes the law is just objectively incorrect and harmful, and I just think that's kind of impressive and cool for a game founded on being a lawyer to say? It's great. I love the veterinarian and the pride he takes in his craft. I could see someone complaining that he ENJOYS BEING NICE to animals too much in the end but I think the character is way more memorable than he would've been as some dumb mad scientist who hates and tortures animals.
Marlon Rimes is one hell of a character. He was nominated absurdly early and yet, when his time came, he got a pretty benevolent send-off. If he didn't get that, I'm sure we would've been treated to a very long takedown about everything the animal feederapper stands for, and many long arguments in the comments.
I will provide a more neutral take, as the wise enlightened centrist I am. Marlon Rimes is funny. It's a sort of cringe induced semi-ironic funny, but there is something objectively hilarious about an Ace Attorney character saying "based" and "clutch".
He's also pretty solid as a character in a lot of ways. He's got the same complex of trying/failing to protect someone that a lot of characters have in the series, with him bemoaning his own weakness and lack of ability to help. He couldn't save Azura Summers. He couldn't save Jack Shipley. He couldn't take vengeance on the whale. And when the time came, he only made things harder for the people who did end up saving Sasha Buckler. His breakdown is one of the most surreal and psychological in the series, and I like it quite a bit, pirate speak aside.
The pirate speak is stupid.
For some reason, out of all the culprits, the two they thought needed a wacky visual transformation were Aristotle Means and Marlon Rimes. The latter changes him into a different buff man who now exclusively communicates in rap and/or pirate speak, with no hint of the softspoken insightful man from before.
This is dumb. It sucks, and I might even go as far as to say that it fucking sucks.
The significant part of both of these characters is that both are forced against their will to act as witnesses for the prosecution, practically dragged in by Blackquill. They both don't want to see at least one of the defendants found guilty, so there's a bit of a unique dynamic when they show up in the courtroom. It doesn't happen otherwise, usually because the prosecution will obviously pick only those who don't have a bias for the defendant. But in this closed circle of aquarium employees, they couldn't find anyone like that. It's a nice touch that, aside from the interesting courtroom dynamic, characterizes how closely knit this crew is.
I don't know where else to say this so I'll mention that throughout the game Blackquill will refer to your argument as a "blade" and claim that it is too "dull" to pierce anything like. Once per trial day. It is incredibly overused and not clever after the first time. I get why he says samurai things but this particular part is silly.

The Ends Justify The Means

Turnabout Academy is the best filler case in the franchise.
Well, ok, no it's not. But it might be my favorite.
There are three characters in this case I particularly have strong opinions on, and I already talked at length about one of them.
Hugh O'Conner is great. My man was robbed the top 20 spot that could so easily have been his. He's incredibly funny and has some character stuff going on as well. That character stuff relates to The Fucking Dark Age Of The Law, and is already discussed in, naturally, the Simon Blackquill Cut. I'll just add that I feel for the guy since he hits a lot of the same emotional beats as (the admittedly better) Sebastian Debeste.
Professor Aristotle Means follows up the legendary Florent L'Belle (if you don't play the DLC case in between them) and he manages to nearly match him in funny. This man is bizarre. From the get-go, his uncanny smile makes an impression, and he continues to astonish by doing weird shit like just standing in the room spinning his globe while Juniper cries her eyes out. Also he has a badge that is a screaming face. All this is before he turns into a ballin' Spartan for some reason. I won't dwell too much on Aristotle Means, since my view on him is more or less the same as that expressed in his cut: he's an incredibly funny character, and he really shouldn't be.
What is interesting is how both of these characters affect the games prosecutor. As mentioned in the Simon Blackquill cut, Simon is not very subtle with the fact that he doesn't want Athena to help him. He attempts to crush her spirit so that she stops bothering. But then, since this is a goofy anime game, Athena realizes actually she should just Believe In Herself and keeps going. And Blackquill himself is forced to give up. He's just kind of screwing around for the latter half of the case, since at the same time he realized Athena won't give up he also seemed to realize that he's in a fucking ridiculous filler case. He straight up leaves when Hugh starts rambling about his genius body double plan, plays the part of the delinquent when Means turns the courtroom into a classroom, and generally just doesn't act particularly invested. It's fun.
Then Means succeeds where he fails, and destroys Athena's faith in herself, causing her to break down and start having flashbacks. And Blackquill... encourages her??? I don't really like this. It seems like a direct contradiction to the way he's supposed to be behaving. By all means (heh), this event should prove him right: if Athena can't handle a case like this, then she absolutely won't be able to get through one involving a psychotic serial killer and government cover-ups. But whatever, I guess. Maybe Simon got caught up in The Power Of Friendship.
Also, another criticism: in this case, Athena is constantly offered the easy way out. She could let Means defend Juniper and, at the cost of the truth, guarantee her and her friends' innocence. (Ignoring the possibility that Means would throw her under the bus because he's the real killer, but Athena doesn't know that yet.) She even decries his ideology as lies and tricks in court. Similarly, Phoenix is offered in 5-DLC a chance to achieve victory. While realistically it might not have worked, there was a decent chance that he'd be able to go along with Marlon's lies about the orca doing it to get Sasha Buckler declared innocent. (Hell, depending on how the fuck double jeopardy works on an animal, he might even be able to wiggle out of consequences for the orca). But that would be going against his duty to pursue the truth, so he points out the contradictions in Rimes' testimony same as any other. Both of these moments see the lawyers of the Wright Anything Agency choose integrity over an easy way out. And given Blackquill's entire motivation for corruption is believing that This Is The Dark Age Of The Law and all lawyers will resort to anything just for their not guilty verdict, I kind of feel like he should've reacted and gave a shit when these things happened? It's really weird, because both of these moments are so particularly and deliberately constructed but they just... don't use them for the obvious thing they should be used for. WHATEVER.
Overall, despite these complaints, this is definitely my favorite appearance of Blackquill as a prosecutor. He has some interesting character stuff near the beginning (even if I don't particularly care for it and it only really exists in hindsight), and the rest of the case gives him the best chance to be his funny edgelord self.
I don't really have anything to say about 5-4 or the prosecution in it, so let's go over some major characters, shall we?
(continued in comments)

I want to get off of Mad Ahab's Wild Ride. Continuing my commentary on Moby Dick with chapters 37-44. The image of the ungraspable phantom of life IS the key to it all, and that is the one thing Ahab can't grasp.

Original post, with commentaries on the first 9 chapters, chapters 10-24, chapters 25-36
———
CHAPTER 37
Now that Ahab has formed his death cult, he soliloquizes—and Ishmael is either eavesdropping or fabricating, but either way he means to convey the spirit of the man if not his letter. Ahab's voyage through life leaves "pale waters, paler cheeks" in his wake, sowing chaos wherever he goes yet where he goes he goes with unobstructed course and direction. His ripples are smoothed over by the billowing envy of men, but he cares not; he cares not for monuments and memorials, no, only for deeds done and the merit he acquires for himself in his own eyes. For when the sun sets, his "soul mounts up!"—his task as unceasing as the day-and-night cycle, but his soul reflecting not the light of the sun as the moon, but weighing on him with his task like the "Iron Crown of Lombardy", a small crown forged from the nail of Jesus' cross, the weight of sacrifice Ahab's to bear.
The clouds that set on his brow are no object; his Atlantean task is the crucifixion he bears, having been dismasted and reborn. He fancies himself not the son of God, but His equal in will and war, Satan made a man—set apart from the rest in charisma and intelligence, cloistering himself in his superlative ambitions whose reach leaves no room for human connection, and indeed actively forsake it through hard-hearted, eloquent guile that convinces pragmatic men to stake their lives on his goal.
Ahab must've had a perverse spiritual awakening while he lay dying, paved by his education, but instead of becoming a prophet and trying to speak God's truth, he's become the mad king whose words are iron spun like gold, who mistakes his enlightenment for alienation because he's unwilling to share it. Rather, he's content to dismiss those who disapprove of him and to brood about what he lacks: the simple pleasures of casual conversation, light-hearted humor, basking in sunlight,—"damned! most subtly and most malignantly! damned in the midst of Paradise!", his soul hibernating to incubate horrors.
Ahab reflects that leaguing his men was "not so hard a task", since he'd apparently convinced everyone—though Ishmael neglected to share how or if he was moved by the speech—to give their loyalty to him, even Starbuck who thought him mad, but Ahab, verging on self-awareness, declares:

I’m demoniac, I am madness maddened! That wild madness that’s only calm to comprehend itself!

Where Ahab goes, there turbulence will be in his wake, so long as his grandiose task remains his ultimate goal. The men's diversity doesn't faze him:

my one cogged circle fits into all their various wheels, and they revolve.

High aloft, Ahab can view and move men as "ant-hills of powder", ignitable thanks to Ahab's own fire, that makes his seldom-used pillow into an oven-baked brick. This hellfire leads Ahab to proclaim his apotheosis:

I now prophesy that I will dismember my dismemberer. Now, then, be the prophet and the fulfiller one. That’s more than ye, ye great gods, ever were.

Where gods use fate and fortune to move men on the world as their gameboard to achieve their ends, transcendent and detached, Ahab is both player and piece, and strives to cast out fate from within and retake fortune to his own whim and will, to become a self-moved mover. Ahab's soliloquy includes a direct challenge to the gods:

come and see if ye can swerve me. Swerve me? ye cannot swerve me, else ye swerve yourselves! man has ye there.

Ahab fancies himself a river, faithful to the ungraspable impermanence of life, yes, but immovable in his self-set course, the iron rails of his destiny laid out in defiance of all forms of fate other than his own:

Naught’s an obstacle, naught’s an angle to the iron way!

Ahab doesn't consider that even his actions could be part of providence, for he's excluded all other purposes than piercing the masked dark of Plato's cave as paths to fulfillment. Active commitment to misery, nothing to blunt it, as though this iron way would falter and betray its fragility otherwise.
———
CHAPTER 38
Starbuck sees Ahab's "impious end", but has been so overwhelmed that Ahab's charisma may well be a new form of fate befitting the quest for apotheosis we're seeing unfolding:

the ineffable thing has tied me to him; tows me with a cable I have no knife to cut.

Starbuck bemoans that Ahab's chief source of hypocrisy is that he would treat his superiors to democracy—though, from the last chapter, only to outwit them, the gods, on an even playing field—but everyone else to his despotism. Starbuck saw Ahab's "lurid woe", a weight that would crush him or any other man to bear, a violent and contagious atheism that Starbuck believes forced him "to obey, rebelling"—to rebel against God, by obeying the man who stands against Him. But God isn't jealous or petty, Starbuck reasons, so He may forgive Ahab and ensure that they never cross paths with the white whale. That's a pittance of hope, after seeing Ahab's determination, and Starbuck isn't ready to acknowledge that despite the leaden, locked weight of his heart evidencing plainly enough that he has no hope of Ahab's woe dissipating before his success or failure.
This really is the Dusk of Starbuck's soul; his "soul beat down and held to knowledge,—as wild, untutored things are forced to feed", he awakens to the horrors of the voyage: the "heathenish crew", the white whale as their "demigorgon"—an abyssal, creative god likely synonymous with the forbidden demiurge—, even the water itself taking on "wolfish" and "sharkish" qualities whose howl hunts Ahab, drawn along in the aft by the "gay, embattled, bantering bow"—the ship itself gradating from sunny to tenebrous while the vast deep latches onto Starbuck's newfound paranoia. Starbuck finds his hope in finding the horrors outwards, enabling him to fight the "grim, phantom futures" "with the soft feeling of the human in [him]". Starbuck might just have the guts for a mutiny at this rate, finding it in him to defy Ahab's blasphemous fate.
———
CHAPTERS 39&40
With more stageplay directives, Stubb soliloquizes about how

a laugh’s the wisest, easiest answer to all that’s queer; and come what will, one comfort’s always left—that unfailing comfort is, it’s all predestinated.

Carefree Stubb is trying to take in stride the outcomes of this voyage, outcomes that are out of his hands, no matter what they be, refracting Starbuck's newfound horror and finding the "waggish leering" that lurks in it—for now Starbuck has received the same treatment that Stubb did, and both men now share in some of the burning light that Ahab harbors, slight shares that were yet enough to send both spiraling into existential crises of reflection—on fate and death and God—higher than either would otherwise ever take interest in.
Whereas Starbuck responded by renewing his courage, Stubb reacts with forced, delirious humor, conflating it with wisdom, trying to abate his worry about not being able to return to his family, his love bubbling up—light, gay, and fleeting—like alcoholic froth to be swallowed down. The aside directive when Stubb is summoned from his nightwatch by Starbuck seems like a fourth-wall break, if that concept means anything for a non-play acting like a play—but it makes this scene feel surreal.
Uh, the whole crew of watchmen gets a musical scene, those awake filliped and those asleep deadened by the wine of Ahab's charisma—despite having no choice in their assigned roles, each man has to make peace with his newfound sense of inevitability, one sailor trying to invite the sleepers up with the pronouncement that now is "the resurrection; they must kiss their last, and come to judgment." This chapter is a full-fledged song-and-dance play-script, and Ishmael didn't bother learning many sailors' names—only their ethnicities—despite knowing the mother's maiden name and backstory of many other characters. One is even named "3D Nantucket Sailor"; so glad he's not a flatlander.
Tashtego mocks the song-and-dance, and the old Manx sailor wonders whether they have any idea what they're dancing over. The "whole world's a ball" and the course is set and fixed, so let them, green and jolly, let them celebrate and drink life while it's still brimming and frothing. Some of them are already horny and lonely, commiserating over the lack of women to distract themselves from a coming storm—the first karmic storm of Ahab's death cult, perhaps. Ahab has no fear of storms; worse, his direction is to attack the squalls—"fire your ship right into it!" The storm darkens angrily, a formation in the sky like Ahab's birthmark: "lurid-like, ye see, all else pitch black."
Daggoo, "quarried out of [blackness]", takes offense to this fear of the storm's dark, but grimly assents when told that his "race is the undeniable dark side of mankind", the same sailor provoking him into a fight. "Knife thee heartily! big frame, small spirit!" The crew eggs them on; the whole scene is frenzied. "A row a’low, and a row aloft—Gods and men—both brawlers!" A recreation of the arena in which "Cain struck Abel. Sweet work, right work! No? Why then, God, mad’st thou the ring?" The Manxman questions why God created the conditions for violence and then discouraged it.
The stormy climate keeps cutting off the thoughts the sailors try to express, leaving loose-ended, half-baked confusion—and the fight is interrupted by urgent orders to prepare for the oncoming squalls, their white froth every bit as ominous as the black storm overhead, yet to Pip less so than the white squalls of the maddened men seeking now the white whale. Timid Pip prays to "thou big white God" to save him from the men whose fear has been overridden by drunken courage, which is doing no good for the race relations aboard the ship. The chaos of this chapter sets up the ironic contrasts between black and white—both foreboding and hostile to many—in man and God and nature.
———
CHAPTER 41
Aha, Ishmael admits that he too was taken in by Ahab's charisma:

A wild, mystical, sympathetical feeling was in me; Ahab’s quenchless feud seemed mine.

But Ishmael had a sympathy, whether unrelated or pretextual, before even meeting Ahab; this is halfway to what he wanted, a noble part in a great tragedy. After immersing himself in the death cult, Ishmael gathered all the information he could about the white whale, how it "haunted those uncivilized seas mostly frequented by the Sperm Whale fishermen", how it evaded capture in both body and idea because of the scattered, prolonged, uncoordinated trajectories of the whaling vessels, and how "as of late" attacks by sperm whales "of great ferocity, cunning, and malice" were frequent.
Instead of possibilities like sperm whales who survived whalers becoming hostile toward shy, or the ocean itself starting to reject its guests, Ishmael jumps to the conclusion that every such report must have been an encounter with the whale. Since sperm whales are terrifying enough, few thought anything special about Ahab's tale, sharing Starbuck's stance about it being a "dumb brute", despite bouts with this whale leading to calamitous bad luck that ensured it always slipped away with minimal damage.
Sailors' proneness to superstition allowed rumors of Moby Dick to circulate and metastasize "as the smitten tree gives birth to its fungi"—whalers in particular, being likeliest of all to be "brought into contact with whatever is appallingly astonishing in the sea", exactly what is needed to stimulate the imagination and birth a modern myth, an urban legend spanning most of the watery part of the globe that eventually made otherwise daring hunters outright refuse to give chase to that whale, perhaps the greatest portend of bad luck any seaman could come across, hinting as it did of "supernatural agencies" and "morbid hints" beyond the scope of a normal sperm whale's destructive aggression.
Ishmael accuses of "professional inexperience, or incompetency, or timidity" anyone who would avoid hunting a sperm whale while willingly pursuing other large whales, as though the tests of mettle such whales pose are relatively unremarkable—perhaps as a rite of passage, for being able to challenge and usurp the monarchs of the sea. Non-American whalers—thus those less ambitious in their ambits—had seldom encountered sperm whales except in fairytales, but those who did demystified their stories only to trade them for confrontations with the sublime, "pre-eminent tremendousness" of the real deal, sperm whales in this setting reported as being unanimously anxiogenic and malicious to everything else in the sea—despite sperm whales having been elusive, hence the bowhead whales popularly regarded as the monarchs of the sea. That slipperiness and shyness has given way now that Americans dare to graze the whole ocean surface to exploit its oily, blubbery resources.
While "the general experiences in the fishery" amended some of the overblown rumors, such as that sperm whales were so scary that their mere presence caused other fish to kill themselves, the worst sperm whales had to offer ever renewed the superstitions that condensed into the myth of Moby Dick, which nevertheless many men were hardy (or foolhardy) enough to push themselves through for monetary gain were they to "chase and point lance at such an apparition". Claims of encounters with a monstrous whale at the same time at faraway places created the fancy that the white whale was ubiquitous or, perhaps courtesy of a hollow Earth with expedient currents, unfathomably fast; and that it was immortal, or possessed of such great durability and regeneration that it might as well be. One of Moby Dick's distinct features is a "pyramidical white hump", like the unkickable pyramid Stubb's dream used to symbolize Ahab, or even the ancient pyramids used for astronomical panoramas, encompassing in one view the starry sky.
Whereas the jarring storm in the last chapter was fearsome for its blackness, this whale's whiteness is the storm's complement: black storm descending from the heavens of the white God, white whale ascending from the hells of the black abyss; dark, Satanic Ahab with his white wake there to meet both head-on at their point of convergence, the limen of the surface. While the whale's magnitude and hue were unsettling enough, it was its "intelligent malignity", displaying abstract reasoning enough to deceive and escape all whalers theretofore, that reached through the wall of the mythos to strike fear into the hearts of listeners.
What kind of whale acts routed to lure whaleboats after it, only to suddenly spring on them and stove or repel them? And in marked contrast with the "serene, exasperating sunlight, that smiled on, as if at a birth or a bridal"—as shipwreck and lost limbs lay strewn about. Moby Dick is not just a killer; it might be an artist with a keen sense of irony. It lured Ahab in such a way, and "swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating in them"—malice "to whose dominion even the modern Christians ascribe one-half of the worlds".
To Ahab, vengeance has not just the appeal of piercing the fatal wall of Plato's cave, but of purging the world of an idea of evil, as if will and fury could localize such a subtle and vast sweep into one body.

He piled upon the whale’s white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart’s shell upon it.

Where Ahab errs most, apart from misunderstanding that the symbolism of literary monsters doesn't work like that—that would be some fine magic if it did—, is that he even sets himself against "all truth with malice in it", refusing to accept the essential reality of evil and in part thereby partaking in evil with his sacrificial machinations.
In Ishmael's mind, Ahab heaped on the whale all of the rage and hate felt in human history—not just toward whales, thus not just against the morale of Jonah's fable, but all sense of injustice, man the measure and maker of moral means and meanings. Ahab's wrath toward the whale began as any other man's, festering in his anguish on the passage home, strapped in a straitjacket because of his lunatic outbursts, to turn him into who he is now:

then it was, that his torn body and gashed soul bled into one another; and so interfusing, made him mad.

His bronze, hollow body is the result of optimal decoction to blur the mind-body—and also idea-object—gap, enabling the grandiosity of his plans, himself the cult leader to execute them, his agency turned to instrumentality as he locked himself into the cogwheel of the fate he set for himself, his version of freedom, here—if I am interpreted "living instrument" right—a form of servitude baser and weaker than that of heeding God's plan. And with the bindings of his charisma, those he entrains into his orbit are heretics who lose all of the merit of faith and gain what? Gain the glory, fleeting and perhaps phantasmic, of following a great man? Lose themselves in the constitution of the mythos pseudo-prophetic Ishmael weaves them and himself into?
Ishmael withholds a straight description of Ahab's role, declaring it "vain to popularize profundities, and all truth is profound." Ahab's "whole awful essence" resides deep underground, a captive king with a broken throne, mocked by the gods he equals himself to, a pillar holding up history and the upper earth with his frozen brow—frozen by the Cocytus, perhaps, the lamentational river commemorating the doom wrought by knowing betrayal. Ahab caught glimpse of his state:

all my means are sane, my motive and my object mad.

—yet he lacked the power to alter truth, only to deceiving men about his sanity—or, as Peleg, happily overlooking his moodiness for the whales it would butcher.
This chapter is called "Moby Dick", but there is no Moby Dick without Ahab, nor Ahab, however superlative and unsaintly, without Moby Dick. And there would be no mad Ahab if any aboard the Pequod had seen through his ruses, nor if any of the mates were more than "morally enfeebled"—Starbuck with his "unaided virtue" (and lying about having no-one on his ship who doesn't fear whales, when literally the other three officers don't fear whales), Stubb's "indifference and recklessness" (from being a druggie with little respect for life or thought of death), and Flask's "pervading mediocrity" (from treating the whaling enterprise as a sadistic comedy show).
None of them were a match for Ahab's bewitching "evil magic" that struck in their impious chests the fear of God—but no god other than Ahab himself, whose forcible contagion of his vendetta may well have been telepathy. Ishmael doesn't even try to explain how this all fits together, nor does he show guilt or shame about having been taken in in like manner himself, only admitting that he gave himself "to the abandonment of the time and the place"—to a feud that Ahab's madness made timeless, spanning the history of mankind, against a monster coeval and co-evil with mankind, who could be at once many places on the globe.
One part of Ahab knows well what he's doing is futile and atrocious; another part thinks that he's tallying the debt of the original sin with the premium fetched by butchering the whale incarnating all sources and targets of human wrath, those perhaps being God's wrath—such an infinite task that the sacrifice of a handful of men seems a fair price, if not a pittance, for its accomplishment.

The subterranean miner that works in us all, how can one tell whither leads his shaft by the ever shifting, muffled sound of his pick?

Ishmael is unequipped to analyze the unconscious, inward, homuncular workings of fate—but his instincts told him to learn about Ahab before boarding, and he didn't listen.
———
CHAPTER 42
Ishmael moves on to explaining what the white whale was to him, on top of being his primary motive for sailing. "It was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled me." Leaning fully into the mystical monster motif, Ishmael shudders to articulate the whale's horror in comprehensible terms, and starts by outlining the broadest contours of it with his symbolic associations to whiteness: beauty, royalty—Ahab's sultanism is conveniently unmentioned—, the white man's "ideal mastership over every dusky tribe", joy and gladness, innocence, "the benignity of age"—in stark contrast with Ahab's iron grey iron way—, honor, "the majesty of Justice in the ermine of the Judge", "divine spotlessness and power", and even redemption—all of these, more or less relevant to the whale, pale in comparison to the terror that raw whiteness untamed by any of these contexts, thus marring them with its irony and dissonance, produces, such as from polar bears—"invested in the fleece of celestial innocence and love"—or great-white sharks, their silent lethality earning them in French a name connoting (with no etymological basis) requiems, or angelic albatrosses, "whence come those clouds of spiritual wonderment and pale dread".
For Ishmael, the albatross, thanks to its vast range, is a reminder of "the miserable warping memories" of civilization, compounded by his witnessing of one being captured and forced to send a letter, a holy messenger demoted to a mailman. Most of Ishmael's associations with whiteness have been to things integral to modern civilization, their meaning and primacy challenged by the great animals that have borne white and its terrible significance since the dawn of Adam. He even calls the white steed an "apparition of that unfallen, western world"—whiteness becomes a reminder of the immaculate debt, not one blotch made in it by the whole monumental passion of humanity's lineage, accrued from the original sin.
The religious whiteness attests to this: that becoming like God means donning white clothes, which admits to being far from God, constituting such practices as pretensions. Whiteness is the unattainable moral purity that people think they strive for, yet ever fall short of, unable to find grace or glory from within and trying to recreate and master it with their trinkets, their incapacity to do so forced upon them in the encounter with a white apex predator. The white symbols of dominance take this further: under the guise of bringing moral purity, restricted to their faction under their flag, people's conquests abstract them ever-more from whiteness of soul, often while blaming their victims' blackness of skin for everyone's blackness of sin—spiritual death.
Ishmael even regards albino people as more abhorrent than disabled or black people, but segues back into the whiteness of death: white squalls that strike abruptly to wreck ships, the "marble pallor" of corpses, ghostly fog, death as the "king of terrors". White is uncanny, its portend of things being out-of-place a subtle resonance with what is unhomely in ourselves, what our bodies and souls can't home that we would like them to—enduring physical and moral vitality. Ahab aims to use his overwhelming physical vitality to remove moral vitality from the equation of human flourishing.
Ishmael invokes "hooded" and "phantom" several times each here, hearkening back to his reference in the first chapter to the white whale as a "grand hooded phantom, like a snow-hill in the air"—Ishmael makes little use of snow in his associations, but the eerie quiet and concealment it provides is implicated in each case.
The subtle and sublime terror of whiteness is complementary to that of a raging storm, and can manifest even to the uneducated in a mention of the White Suntide of the descent of the Holy Spirit to prognosticate the tidings of the end times, blurring the life-and-death boundary with karmic, salvific promises.
The phantasmic quality of whiteness may also point to all of this religious talk as being smoke and fog, empty distractions from the possibility that what follows death is nothing but eternal paralytic silence, no grand unity, no pearly gates at the end of a successful redemption arc—Ishmael's rambling is so unfocused that it comes across as him deliberately avoiding drawing connections like these, as though the powers of whiteness he's evoking are seeping into his own words to his own eyes. And that's a funny thing: he's writing on white paper, his creative act blemishing it with black ink—which is a lousy substitute for the black blood of the white whale—, but that interplay, the creativity and communication indissociable from the whiteness of paper, is not brought up.
Ishmael contents himself with claiming that certain white entities have significant effects on people, but not why unless the explanation is palatable—the ironic dissonance of the white predators can transfer over to these religious and other symbols, but their analogous implications would be far more calamitous to Ishmael's already-infirm faith, faith that has consistently been sublated by, and thus subordinated to, whaling—all of these symbolic resonances comprise a collage of the panoramic white whale, of its mere surface, already vast and haunting enough, and which Ishmael is suspiciously reluctant to try to penetrate despite having the intelligence and experience to.
This surficial contouring takes the shape of avoidance, which can only be achieved by his subterranean miner knowing the position of what lurks in the volcanic depths of his unconscious. Ishmael often relates whiteness to gripping or stimulating the imagination, such as an artist would appreciate, but he showed in chapter one that he understands the import of context in artistry—water unique in its motion being tranquil—, context lacking here through nondifferentiation, a polyphony whose sheer pluripotential is cacophonous.
In the disaster-stricken city of Lima, white's purity "keeps her ruins for ever new; admits not the cheerful greenness of complete decay"—there is the irony of Lima connoting lime-green, and perhaps of death's horse being chlorine-green. Where green signals change, the freshening of death-and-rebirth cycles, white is timeless, locks its pallid corpses in marble tombs to be forever silent.
White is also impotent by itself, but exacerbates the terrible effects of entities it manifests in; white is ungraspable, no less than any other color, because it can only be apprehended through a white thing with a white context given to it that excludes other possible resonances, doubly so for the unimaginative mind—would a sailor near shore feel trepid at white water because of its whiteness or because of the stoving rocks it may conceal? What about the "boundless churchyard" of Antarctic seas, a desolation in which it would be too easy to lose oneself? Ishmael defends himself from the hypothetical accusation of this chapter being "a white flag hung out from a craven soul" by citing instinctual knowledge "of the demonism of the world", which implies that anyone who doesn't share his fear is both unimaginative and ignorant—unknown unknowing, unlike his known unknowing.

Though in many of its aspects this visible world seems formed in love, the invisible spheres were formed in fright.

Whiteness is a harpooneer of the void, piercing the soul with "the thought of annihilation", "a dumb blankness, full of meaning", "a colorless, all-colour of atheism", the truth behind the meretricious veil of coloration—the "mystical cosmetic" of light is white, its mediums birthing color. White is the splendor of God and the pallor of His absence, the lack of an in-between, the profound, profane indistinction between the two, and the metaphysic impli(cat)ed thereby. Ishmael has well-earned his mic drop: "And of all these things the Albino whale was the symbol. Wonder ye then at the fiery hunt?"
———
CHAPTERS 43&44
During a night-watch, a sailor circulates gossip about stowaways, with a hint that Ahab knows of them, and that the mates know he knows of them. This seems to refer back to the ghosts Ishmael and Elijah saw running to the Pequod very early—and since the ship was locked-up tight, if these were fleshy people, someone had to let them in, someone privy to the schedules of the final preparations. And someone else earlier pointed out how Ahab regularly slinks off for clandestine meetings, which would imply that Ahab boarded those hidden people, and convinced them one way or another to devote three years of their lives to him.
I assume these would be consultants or hunters, men to help with Ahab's quest and whom he can trust where he doesn't trust Starbuck or anyone else on the crew, who think him mad or lack ability. They could also be ghosts, especially after the recent monologue about spectral whiteness.
Ahab also spends a lot of his time with his chart, trying to map out the currents of the globe as precisely as he can, in relation to all the documented positions of sperm whales he could acquire. The lamp, suspended in chains overhead, is emblematic of his conscience—as we've been conditioned to associate lamplight with moral compasses—, shackled to light on his sole purpose.
Ahab knows of the migratory clockwork of sperm whales, the exactness of their instincts' directions—or "secret intelligence from the Deity"—far surpassing that of any navigational instrument, and tried to lay out the best spots to sail throughout the year for the best chances of crossing paths with a vein of sperm whales containing the white whale—Ahab the prospector of the pale mask concealing the gears of the gods of the world. Even with all the information at his disposal, this needle-in-a-haystack would seem hopeless to anyone with less than absolute faith in their resourcefulness and the worthiness of their cause.
Ahab's determination turns impossible odds into probabilities, "every probability the next thing to a certainty", a miracle in the making. While the sightings of Moby Dick gave no guarantee that it would reappear in those places the same time of year, an area called the Season-on-the-Line had seen the whale at regular times for several years straight: "there the waves were storied with his deeds; there also was that tragic spot where the monomaniac old man had found the awful motive to his vengeance."
The Pequod missed the interval for the SotL this year, so she will have to spend the next almost-year "in a miscellaneous hunt" with non-zero but unflattering odds of a fateful encounter with the white whale along the way. Moby Dick is utterly singular, so the matter of recognizing it was no issue—even the harpooneers know well what it looks like.
Ahab routinely works himself into torments of faintness dwelling on the whale, and his time spent on the deck in open air is just a recovery period between being able to brood and chart and maybe consort with his ghost passengers. It was common for Ahab's nightmares to jolt him awake:

these spiritual throes in him heaved his being up from its base, and a chasm seemed opening in him, from which forked flames and lightnings shot up, and accursed fiends beckoned him to leap down among them

—incubating this inward hell is the source and secret of Ahab's monstrous power, but these outbursts stemmed from his soul, dissociated in sleep from the iron leash of his mind to flee from his purpose, which had gained "self-assumed, independent being of its own", that malign purpose incarnating both Prometheus and his vultures gnawing away his spirit's organs, leaving it "without an object to colour, and therefore a blankness in itself." Ahab is the very monster he's promised to destroy, bending not just fate but chance and spirit to his will, and so gripped by trauma that his freedom of will—or its exercise here—is dubious at best.
———
After chapter 42, The Whiteness of the Whale, it felt like everything had fallen into place, all of the physical and philosophical set-up accomplished. I was so moved by chapter 42 that I am only halfway joking when I want to label Moby Dick a horror story. Melville understands how literary monsters work on a profound level that, conceptually, no one I'm aware of even comes close to. All of Ishmael's loose threads collaging the immeasurable surface of the monster, and then how they were abruptly and marvelously tied together near the end with the nucleus of a legitimate metaphysic—I was floored. One thing that often elevates epics above other works is their usage of metaphysics rounding out their cosmology and permeating their entire world with the story's thematic values. (My sample size is admittedly small, but Dante and Milton do this as well.) In this case, whiteness is the indissoluble, all-or-nothing tension between God and no God, and the existential dread people hide from or expose themselves to with their positive and negative symbols of whiteness.
I had these commentaries written up a few days ago and read ahead, and I totally lost steam for coming up with new, enriching things to say. This will be my last post on Moby Dick for a while, I think. If I strain myself to squeeze meaning that just isn't flowing fairly organically to me, I'm worried that I'll not only stop enjoying the ride but also that my pacing will grind to a halt. And I've already spent just about a month reading this. It's certainly worth three months if this level of quality is consistent throughout, but forcing myself to commentate on it daily is just needless stress. And like I said, the end of chapter 42 felt like a tipping point.
That said, Ahab has shot up into my top-5 favorite characters. Everything he says is pure gold, and his borderline-supernatural powers are written in such a compelling and reasonable way that he edges out Milton's Satan, another top-5er for me, in some respects because of how grounded he is and how direct his influence and its consequences are. This is what people probably imagine cult leaders are like, and the fact that cult leaders do exist makes Ahab's abilities plausible even if I've never met anyone who came close to being able to do what he does. The fact that his purpose became a self-sufficient thoughtform in the same area as his mind and soul, and not just that but led his soul to try to break free from his body, is chilling—and his self-awareness craftily maneuvers so as to never lead him to a genuine epiphany, totally detached from the implications of the words I~~shmael puts in his mouth~~ he thinks he believes. Here is a man at war with himself, with his fellow men, with the world, with God, and with the possibility of the absence of God. His situation reminds me of one of the times (73-78) Satan almost comes off his warpath:

Me miserable! which way shall I flieInfinite wrauth, and infinite despaire?Which way I flie is Hell; my self am Hell;And in the lowest deep a lower deepStill threatning to devour me opens wide,To which the Hell I suffer seems a Heav'n.

He's staked his identity so deeply in his retribution against God and fate that if he gave that up he would have a very, very long road to redemption. Despite his capacity, he is hollow; from the start, he was prepared to abandon his family, sacrifice his crew, and do absolutely anything necessary to strike into the depths of the heart of the world. At the same time, his moral failures are why Ishmael is here writing this story. There's enough foreshadowing to conclude that the Pequod is going to sink because of Moby Dick and Ahab's brazen tyranny, which means that Ishmael survived to tell the story. Is there a reason for that, somewhere in the tangled white knot of various concepts of fate that have been threaded together and in which free will, foreknowledge, and chance have snaked their ways? A project as large as this novel implies that he found his will to live, if he's sitting down and committing to it; and it's not a project that would be feasible to work on at sea, with how hard sailors seem to be worked. Moreover, someone would need a compelling reason to undertake such a story. Whatever happened to Ishmael on the voyage must've been something profound.
The paradoxical, inexhaustible, and ambiguous nature of the whale itself hearkens all the way back to the image of the ungraspable phantom of life in which Narcissus drowned in the first chapter, the transient self-image that obsesses and beckons us, that compels us to understand while tantalizing us with how it is nothing but a reflection on a surface—no depth, not even the solidity of being a surface. If these depths are accessible, they are so in a form that frustrates any efforts to capture them in definitive, plain language. I mean, if Ishmael had a straightforward message for us he would've been an essayist or preacher and not a doorstopper novelist.
Taking us on this massive journey, charged with his embellishments and astute digressions, seems to be his way of leading us to glimpse the mystical, mythical experience that inspired his writing this. He attributed to Bulkington the transcendence participated in through a violent death at sea, through being consumed by the intolerable truth of that ungraspability, that abjuration of all solid ground, which, taken for truth, is treacherous, a lure that ensures doom while assuring lee—lee that can mean either shelter or dregs (the body being the lees of Ishmael's better being), and the lee shore turning the lee into something to avoid at all costs. Ishmael's obsession has often felt like him being bitter that he's wasted the rest of his life trying to glimpse that transcendence, and that level of obsession, particularly with its outright disregard for knowledge and reasoning he undoubtedly had access to, would only be sparked by a direct encounter with it, and marinated only by having the temperament and mindset to reflect on it—exactly what occurred to Ahab and twisted him into a human Satan. That also implies that a lot of the digressions are Ishmael trying to catch us up to his mindset to be able to receive his prophetic message in a meaningful form.
So yeah, I fully intend to finish this novel, but play-by-plays are off the table now for at least a while. I've also been feeling terrible, like, pretty much since late November, and the last week (basically right after I finished chapter 42) or so I've been spiraling, with very little mental energy and clarity to spare. I want to try to do a more comprehensive commentary of the moral, existential, and religious landscape once I have more energy and have made more progress. Well, we'll see how that goes. I appreciate this community for giving me a supportive space in which to share my thoughts, as long-winded and amateurish as they are.

I always know when my students are lying to me.

So, you want to read some horror manga? Horror manga mega list and curated suggestions!

So, you want to read some horror manga?

Maybe you’re new to Horror manga in general, or maybe you’re already a veteran who’s looking for their newest fix. I often get asked both on and off manga for Horror recommendations and I decided to update a post I made a few years ago on the subject that I was previously directing people to. Beyond just fixing my numerous typos and formatting issues I also wanted to add new recommendations and titles that I have discovered since then.
This post was originally written for manga but I wanted to share it as well because horror manga is second in my heart to horror movies, and i've seen manga related questions pop up here from time to time.

First off this is not an exhaustive list, it is however a list of titles I have personally read and can comment on. I felt the need for the update also because at this point I’m in fear of forgetting what I have read, I’ve read so many.
Second, if it needs to be said, this will be a NSFW post. We will be discussing some pretty fucked up stuff.
Third, I will not be providing direct links to these manga. They're easy to find, but the sub has rules to follow and I will follow them. All the links below are a link to the MAL database that gives you a synopsis (sometimes that is, horror manga is neglected but i'm trying to change that) and data about the series, chapter numbers etc.
And finally, taste is subjective. The horror I enjoy may not be for everyone. And that’s fine. The same discussions pop up on horror quite often, and really horror also means different thing to different people. Therefore I have also added in some Thriller and Suspense type titles to appeal to a broader audience. That is not complete however as my own personal taste and readings tends towards the more hyper violent, gore and monster inspired works.

So lets start with what I personally consider to be the top quartet of authors of modern horror manga before getting to smaller and more obscure authors and series. Also remember I recommend you read everything by the top 4, i'm just listing some of their stand out examples for the sake of the list.

Lets get the legend in the room out of the way first: Junji Ito

Junji Ito, one of the only horror manga to gain widespread success outside of traditional manga, Japanese or even horror circles. This man is a literal legend in horror. Even if you haven’t read him I can almost guarantee you’ve seen panels and pieces of his art posted. I simply cannot recommend this man enough. He runs the gamut of body horror, suspense, thriller, monsters, and even comedy horror. His works are exhaustive and so I will only point out some limited gems.
Gyo, a freakish story starting with walking undead sea life invading the land. It also answers the question on what sound a shark makes.
Tomie, a collection or anthology following a hauntingly beautiful woman that drives people to extreme madness when around her. She appears in many of his other collections, he loves reoccurring characters.
Uzumaki, the granddaddy of “look at this fucked up manga art”. A gold standard for Lovecraftian horror, it starts as a slow burn then rapidly spirals out of control into madness, murder and monstrous insanity.
Souichi no Tanoshii Nikki, a delightfully light hearted yet still horrifying black comedy.
Ito Junji no Neko Nikki: Yon & Mu, because of corse Junji Ito can make cute cats and dogs horrifying yet still heartfelt.

Shintaro Kago

Shintaro Kago is another monster of the horror manga world, but for completely different reasons than Junji Ito. Where as Junji Ito is creepy, slow and madness inspired Shintaro Kago is just plain, in my own opinion, batshit insane. Specializing in extreme body horror and black comedy this is, in my opinion, a great body of works while also coming with my strongest warning: this is absolutely not an author for everyone. It is unique works, wholly original yet also absolutely fucked up.
Anamorphosis no Meijuu is a great mind fuck. Murdemonster story, then godzilla and ghosts. Yep.
Fraction is...amazing but disjointed and random by design. It has to be one of the drawn stories of its kind however. Also, lots of body horror.
Paranoia Street is a classic IMHO as it has an actual semi coherent storyline, comedy, crazy kooky characters and the same insanity Kago is known for.
SUPERCONDUCTIVE BRAINS will make you doubt your sanity...Kago already has none left however. This is about as NSFW as you can get. Body horror, flying shit powered rockets, cannibalism, you name it. I'm just not going to try to explain the plot, because there isn't one. This is more an exposition into a fucked up world and how it functions.

Hideshi Hino

Hino is a very unique author. Less overtly gore splattered as many other mangaka, he nevertheless has a unique and special tone of slow bubbling insanity and mental terror. It is important to note that Hino is the second oldest mangaka in the top 4, born in 1946 to Japanese immigrant workers in occupied Manchuria his writing is heavily influenced by post-war reconstruction Japan and the haunting social memories that left his nuclear generation. He was literally nearly lynched upon birth.
Panorama of Hell, a sweeping tale of life and existence in his version of hell. He often writes as if the characters, the author, is himself personally experiencing all of these horrible things. This tale is heavily inspired by his childhood. I love the cover art for this so much that I am considering having a print made for my office.
Hell Baby will make you loathe yourself more than the monster, follow a mutated and abandoned baby who just wants love. And meat.
Jogoku no Komoriuta is another trip into hell itself where the authors mind is the scariest thing of all, again we see him place himself personally as the main character.

Kazuo Umezu

Here we have it, the final of my top 4, Kazuo Umezu. It is important to note he was born in 1936, a product of old Imperial Japan. The atomic bombs were contemporary events for him. As with Hino, his upbringing shows in his works.
Kami No Hidarite Akuma No Migite is a compilation from the grandfather of horror manga. It’s a must read, following a kid who gets premonitions in his dreams of horrible events and tries to stop them. Warning, there is a lot of child on child murder in this one.
Fourteen is about....a sentient chicken-man, made in a labratory at the world’s decline that tries to take over the world. Just trust me and READ THIS. Its insane, memorable and a cool blend of body horror, suspense and sci-fi.
The Drifting Classroom is a much cited classic about a school stolen off to a nightmarish hellscape and the fate of the children inside. This one has again, like many of his works, a lot of dead kids so be warned.

Now that we’re past the giants of the manga scene, lets turn to a fast list of other titles. It has to be fast because of length and word count here on reddit, but I will try my best! Remember this is not every horror manga, and not even every one I have read. I'm just trying to show off some titles to new readers who might be interested in something different.

Green Worldz is by Yuusuke Oosawa and is about insects taking over the planet. It’s decent and gory, if not a bit long. If you like giant fucking insects eating people, you’ll like this. Eventually they mutate further but you get the general point.
Hakaijuu is by Honda Shingo and is gory as hell when monsters from nowhere arrive and tear Tokyo apart. Part thriller and part kaiju read, I enjoyed it.
Kyochuu Rettou by Yasutaka Fujimi. Gory massive insects (again) infest an island where stranded survivors try and survive. Gory and ecchi. Since I last wrote this, this series got an ANIME! It was passable, but nowhere close to the manga. There is a lot of love and art put into these insects and their behaviors, so if you can look past some ecchi spider rape this is a really good solid series.
Infection by Toru Oikawa. Ecchi and gory zombie story turns to gory and ecchi monster mutant story. Be warned, lots of maggots and a silly plot lie ahead but it has its good moments.
As the God’s Will by Muneyuki Kaneshiro is a brain trip of a survival game. This received a (in my opinion) decent and fun live action movie some years back. Lots of reality bending by an alien daruma head, it’s a fun concise read.
Manhole by Tetsuya Tsutsui is a thriller involving a serial killer hiding under Tokyo. Far lower on the violence or gore scales, this series would appeal to those looking for traditional police thriller action.
Corpse Party....because it wouldn’t be a list without this torture Gore ecchi opus. To those who don’t know, Corpse Party is a series of books chronicling the fate of students trapped in a haunted mirror image of their school. Pursued by extremely vengeful spirits its heavy on the gore, and murder. The authors are also fans of literal buckets of intestines. As of writing there are 5 separate Corpse Party manga series, and one comedy manga about the main ghost girls birthday party.
Fuan No Tanae by Masaaki Nakayama has two books. They’re both super short stories sometimes even textless. They’re a surreal look into Japanese spirits and superstitious and I can’t recommend this one enough. Theyre creepy, disturbing and fascinating while being essentially violence/gore/ecchi free. A good pick for someone who just wants something spooky to read.
Zangekikan by Nori Ochazuke is as junji ito as you get by someone else. A great collection of horror shorts of varying themes and ideas, in an oldschol art style.
God’s Child by Nishioka Kyodai will...fuck you up. It’s not quite horror but it’s about creating a cult...and all the shit along with that. There is a lot of homoeroticism in this, as well as ritual mental abuse. It’s a disturbing but unique read.
Versus Earth by Kazutomo Ichitomo is about monsters from the center of the earth ripping people apart. Reasons? I’m still not sure as translations are spotty but it’s a cool monster series if that’s your thing.
6000 By Nokuto Koike is a zombie story on a freaking sinking ship! It’s original, tense and tight. A fully completed series its neither ultra-violent or ecchi to read outside limited scenes.
Mashira by Tooru Uchimizu is what happens when those cute hot springs monkeys get steroids and a taste for human flesh. If you like mutant murder monkeys you’ll like this.
Kuromachi is a cool series about a kid and his dad moving to the creepiest town ever. The story line is very Hino-ish at times, and it can be abstract but the creepy atmosphere and lingering questions will keep you coming back for mere. The cover art alone made me pick this one up.
I Am A Hero by Kengo Hanazawa is a good but very long zombie apocalypse read. Pretty damn good all said, though there is some debate about the ending. Note this is the original series and it ALSO received a comedy/horror wtf live action movie a few years ago. The manga is a classic for zombie manga fans though.
I am A Hero in (Osaka, Ibaraki, Nagasaki). Yes that’s right, the manga above spawned 3 offshoots that I am a fan of. Their tone is different than the original series and more time is spent on the zombies and survival aspects. Due to them being shorter the stories are also less long winded. Really, if you're a Zombie fan these series should be near the top of your list.
Pumpkin Night by Masaya Hokazono is about a serial killer butcher who wears a rotted pumpkin as a mask to commit real brutal revenge murders and tortures on her tormentors. Ok, so this is a fun gory series. however the translator can be a bit of a douche and the translations are heavily influenced by his MAGA hat (no seriously, he named a character Trump). Be warned.
Shibuya Kingyo by Hiroumi Aoi is about giant fucking goldfish flying and eating people in Shibuya. It’s actually pretty cool, with great art and original monsters, despite the weird premise. The concept somehow works, as does its liberal usage of intestines and hollowed out bodies.
Souboutei Must Be Destroyed by Fujita Kazuhiro is REALLY cool...a cursed mansion squats like an evil being in a town and is indestructible. It has a cursed legacy, trans-space portals, and an awesomely creepy interior and story. This has it all. Monsters, zombies, creepy atmosphere, occasional comedy, and the military carpet bombing a stretch of modern Tokyo. How good is it? Well, I literally stole the plot for a one-off role-playing session of Monster of The Week.
Aka Ihon by Masaya Hokazono is a manga release based on short novels. A good short read.
Jinmen by Katou Takahiro is about anime also getting human faces and murdering people....yep. They talk, they plan, they call your mother names then murder you. This is another modern monster apocalypse series which I can’t just help but really dig. What can I say? I love the apocalypse.
300 Beats Per Second is a webtoon by Shengshi ka Man is a good fast creepy read. Nothing to violent or horrifying, just good creepy vibes in bite sized reading morsels.

Sachiko Uguisu

Lets take a moment out to call attention to one of my new favorite mangaka. She’s original, creepy and very much self aware.
The Freudstein Twins is a cool series about some fucked up mad scientist kids in a horror mansion and the experiments they do to their poor tutor. Body horror and comedy galore.
You Will Hear The Voices Of The Dead is a personal favorite of mine right now. Kid has a ghost friend, and he can SEE the dead...and they can see him. Every story is a linked but separate encounter with horror and possession, murder and insanity. Its haunting and engrossing in a good way.
Warui Yume no So Saki is a bunch of her shorts that did’t fit anywhere really. All pure horror with fun gore and a little bit of the ole’ ultraviolence. You can see aspects of her other works in this.

Tomogui Kyoushitsu by Yasura Kankitsu is a survival game where the catch is eating an organ or body part from someone every day. Yes, expect betrayal, body horror cannibalism.
Kouishou Rajio by Masaaki Nakayama is similar to fuan no tanae in it’s short format and random creepy tales. A good read to be sure, notg violent or gory but creepy and surreal. I love this kind of stuff.
Happiness by Shuzo Oshimi is a vampire story about hate, murder and the government keeping monsters in cages for experiments...who’s right and who’s wrong? This is a meandering read, and parts are really dsisturbing. This series is &anything* but happy.
In The Room by Kousuke Yasuda is a “trapped in a maze with a monster coming for you” survival game where the players are all not good people...this is cool because I don’t mind anyone getting killed in this series.
Mina-sama no Omocha Desu is a kidnapping torture story where the women kidnap a guy for no obvious reason. Warning, this is pretty extreme torture stuff. Broken bones, genital mutilation and so on.
Death Sweeper by Shou Kitagawa is a thriller murder mystery surrounding the people who clean up places of suicide and murder in Japan. There is almost no gore (outside his cleaning job) and very little overt violence. This is a perfect read for people looking for a procedural crime drama/thriller.
Prison Lab by Kantetsu is about kidnapping and torturing one target you want with absolutely no consequences, sponsored by a mysterious company. Of corse there are consequences! Expect betrayal, and a lot of torture.
Darwin’s Game by FLIPFLOP (yeah I dunno about that name either) is another survival/horror story where a mysterious phone game grants powers. This had a recent anime that I enjoyed; likeable characters, a cute yandere and good action. The story does get supernatural and sci-fi in later chapters well beyond what the anime showed, so be aware of the tone shift to come.
Ane Naru Mono, popular on reddit, is a story where a child summons a lovecraftian monstrosity and makes it his big sister. This is heavy on the creepy factor, and now that its no longer a short series the plot is coming together nicely. Light on gore or violence, heavy on atmosphere (and oppai).
Asu no Esa Kimi dakara, another monster in the school story! A vicious monster is on the loose, and no help is coming. The students sacrifice one person a day to keep it at bay…but what happens when they run out of students?
Bokutachi no Ikita Riyuu, yet another school monster. This one gets a bit gory at times but mainly they try and run and not get destroyed by an unstoppable monster.
Bougyaku no Kokekko…ok so ready for this? Ok, so giant mutant chickens are on the loose and devouring the people of Japan. Yes, you read that right. The premise is ridiculous but the art is pretty rad, the gore flows liberally and hey! Who doesn’t want to see teenagers get eaten by giant mutant chickens? I give this completed series 2 chicken-wings up.
Chimamire Sukeban Chainsaw is an off the damn wall gag/comedy/horror series about a girl that murderfucks everything with a chainsaw and gets into some fun limb-tossing fights along the way. The plot is all over the place but at least it manages to stay entertaining. It even somehow got a spinoff!
Creepy Cat. Yep, its short, one page per chapter. Yep, it’s a comedy. But its also a horror, and has a cool creepy cat and goth girl as its main character. This is not a serious read but its great SFW fun for horror and creepy fans.
Dai Dark, from the same mangaka as Dorohedoro. Expect bizarre art and visuals, a detached story, and all the characters to have the same button noses. Its quite fun though and follows a kid who collects human skeletons and bones to sell to people inside a freaking black hole. Its comedy/horror in a good way. If you liked Dorohedoro, you’ll love this.
Dance/Dive in the Vampire Bund, is pretty well known. Vampires establish a nation off the Japanese coast. Things happen. This has an anime as well, but be warned the manga is even more ecchi than the anime ever was. It appeals to those who like seeing vampires and werewolves fuck shit up.
Fukushuu wo Koinegau Saikyou Yuusha wa, Yami no Chikara de Senmetsu Musou suru, and with that mouthful of a title we have a fantasy/isekai! A hero is betrayed, then comes back from the dead to fuck shit up. Why did I mention this and not the other slew of revenge/isekai of late? Because this series has far more focus on actual HORROR elements. Not just gore, but his revenge path is wicked, well planned and just cruel as can be. It fits this list better than most current Isekai could.
MoMo: The Blood Taker. First off there is a bit of loli involved in this series, you have been warned. But the real focus is on a detective embraced into the world of vampires to get revenge on vampires. Its has a lot of good fight scenes, lots of vampire gore and a good bit of underworld political drama. Vampire fans would enjoy this, more so than Dance in the Vampire Bund.
Kekkai no Noah, Noah of the Blood Sea, is a riveting vampire series that takes place on a cruise ship where vampires run the game and the passengers are what’s for dinner. There are literal swimming pools of blood in this series, depraved vampires galore, and lots of staking action. This has been a fun read thus far, though its still being translated.
Mieruko-chan, does this even have to be listed? Extremely popular on reddit, this story focuses on a girl who can see horrifying spirits and their actions. Acknowledging their existence would be met with instant retribution, so poor Miko is left to her own courage. The art in this series is absolutely phenomenal, and the MC is one that elicits instant sympathy from the readers.
Life Game is a recent one that just completed yet hinted at more to come. Another survival/revenge game it has some likeable characters and some really elaborate memorable deaths to its credit. Fans of the survival game genera would enjoy this though some may be put off by its initially generic premise.
Kurosagi Shitai Takuhaibin, and its spinoff series, are great reads. Not about gore or violence but rather investigation and mysteries. It follows a troupe of empaths/sensitives who can communicate with the dead and fulfill their last wishes for a price. They make a business of this!
Kichikujima (and its prequel-series), a personal favorite of mine! Mutant cult family on an island hunts and eats people who get dumped there by the yakuza. If you liked the family in Texas Chainsaw Massacre this is the series for you. Buckets of gore, chainsaw and axe action, mutants everywhere! It oddly manages to keep a tongue in cheek humor throughout. It delivers gore and violence in spades though. Warning though, the same translator who does Pumpkin Night also does this and he likes to slip his own jokes in to often for my taste. It’s still readable though.
Karadasagashi, school murder mystery and survival. They must piece together a body or die trying. Oh yes, they die A LOT yet come back to the start of the day over and over again like RE:Zero.
Kamisama, Kisama wo Koroshitai, is a serial killepsychotic tale of a kid who murders everything for the shit of it. He’s quite good at it, and a girl helps him to direct that towards people who really need to be hacked apart.
Kako to Nise Tantei, is a great read for those NOT wanting buckets of gore or violence! It’s a cool episodic investigation series about a super genius kid and his spirit who exorcise evil spirits and solve myusteries. This is a fun and entertaining read and the MC though insufferable early on becomes quite likeable as the series goes on.
Dead Tube. Ok where to start with this one....so people film horible acts for a youtube spinoff called DeadTube. MC is a cameraman and despite himself gets drawn into this world. This is about as fucked up as you can get. Rape, dismemberment, spiked dildos, a guy in a furry costume cutting heads off, a cage-match with gasoline and more await you in this series. It feels at times like its really trying to push the limits of what is and is not legal in non-hentai manga so be warned.
Ana Satsujin is one for all of you Yandere lovers. A guy tries to comit suicide, fails and gets rescued by a serial killer. This is one fucked up love story with a bad relationship written on their forehead the couple proceeds to kill their way across parts of Japan. It has a pretty good ending though.
Ousama Game, another series that got an anime, is rather contentious. Either you like the premise or hate it. Basically a king sends messages to the class, and they most do these actions or die horribly. They have to follow the rules, or die horribly. How are they dying with no murder? Whats behind these events? Well for one I can say that despite hating every character in the manga the manga is lightyears better than the anime. It actually has an interesting backstory and a predictable but evil-me satisfying end. It has now spawned several spin-offs and a prequel. Of them the prequel is actually worth reading.
Franken Fran and Franken Fran Frantic might be some of the first horror manga I ever read and oh boy do they leave an impression. Based around a super genius medically augmented surgeon, Fran tries to help people by saving lives (sewing severed head to tiny dogs), creating theme park mascots (using deranged killer brains) and granting basically your wish, just not as you hoped it would be. Fran actually means well as a character and the series has funny and memorable side characters to go along with her antics. The sequel, Frantic, has recently been picked up for translations and it does require reading the main series first so make sure you start with the original series.
Hideout by Kakizaki Masasumi, recomended by a poster and one that I forgot. This is a tight and short (under a dozen chapters) series about a couple trapped on an island. An extremly posesive husband and a monsterous individual hunting them create a very very dark series with a suprise ending. The author used heaps and buckets of black ink on this for some spectacular series.
Bio-Meat by Fujisawa, Yuki is an early 2000s about genetically altered meat that can digest anything and turn it into edible food. I'm sure you can see the horrible ramifications already.
Petshop of Horrors is one i'm amazed I missed that a reader pointed out. Low on overt violence, its best western comparison is Needful Things by Stephen King but involving a petshop. Selling exotic pets that can grant whatever dreams or wishes you have, they have unintended side effects. This series is also notable for taking place in Los Angeles, and its Shōjo style art. This series was enormously popular in the 90s and spawned a successful though now hard to find anime.
Ibitsu is a cool and creepy dark series about finding a girl in the literal garbage. She becomes the MCs little sister and this quickly decends down a supernatural and yandere path with the MC breaking down in fairly short order.
Abara is worth a look as well. Falling squarely in the dystopian decaying sci-fi/horror genera it has art that reminds me of classic Dark Horse horror titles of the 90s. Following creatures that can shape bone into weapons or biological armor it has a very unique style and furthermore its cover has shown up EVERYWHERE on the internet out of context. Many of you might recognize this piece.
SkyHigh by Takahashi Tsutomu is one I cant believe I let slip my mind. I marathoned the series and its sequels in about a weeks time when I first discovered the series. Similar to Hell Girl, we have vignettes where a woman watches but cannot interfere with people who come to her to walk through deaths gate, all having died violent deaths. They have an option though, they can temporarily inhabit a body of someone. This series is haunting and tragic, and very very dark. It has 5 continuation series all of which I tore though in short order.
Jigoku Shoujo (Hell Girl) is on the same tone as above. A girl exists only to help people get ultimate revenge on others and immediately sent to hell, but the cost is that they will be guaranteed hell themselves when they die. This series definitely tragic, and the vengeance and revenge motives run deep. Interestingly the manga is based on the Anime this time, not the other way around. While the manga is good I cant help but suggest just watching the original Anime series for its haunting visuals and music.
Shigahime, recommended to me by a reader and promptly finished by myself in an afternoon is a really gory vampire/monster story about loosing ones humanity, as a young boy is forced to hunt human hearts for an ancient creature. As a warning expect copious nudity (vampires and nudity, eh?) and some extremly blood soaked action scenes. It's all in all pretty good if that's your thing, and the art is very nice.
HENTAI, by Kaisha Ryu, Fujishiro Kei with art by Umemaru. OK OK OK! I know, but seriously despite the name this is not a Hentai! Apparently it's a different usage of the word than usual meaning more like "Disturbed". Anyway, this is actually a gore covered ghost story involving a haunted apartment with a little girl spirit that really brutally murders people after they enter, no matter where they run to. The art is really good, and there is no sex despite the name. I couldn't even find a MAL link for this one though.
Signal 100 is a nifty and tight read, only clocking in at 25 chapters it's completely translated. This is a cool spin on the revenge/survival story. This time the teacher hypnotizes the entire hated class to kill themselves horribly when certain triggers are met. There are 100 triggers! Needless to say this is quite violent, but stand out from the rest of revenge manga by virtue of interesting motivations and a thoroughly unlikeable class that had me happy every time someone ripped out their own throat with fingernails or shoved a mop down their own throats!
Namae no Nai Kaibutsu: Kumo to Shoujo to Ryouki Satsujin is a really cool and very creepy horror series. A man suddenly finds he has a new, unspeaking and creepy roommate. His home occasionally fills with webs or spiders, and still his new beautiful roommate stays by his side in the house. People go missing, friends are found murdered and their intestines' removed....and still his silent beautiful roommate abides. What is she? What does she want? And does it even matter anymore in his own head? Despite the description this is not overly gore filled or violent. It does bleed uncomfortable creepiness' and atmosphere though.
8.1 is another worthy survival story with a serious twist. It takes place on an upside down rollercoaster where the last to loose their grip and fall to their death wins! Its a super short read at 8 chapters and the short length keeps the story razor focused and tight.
Doku Mushi Is a locked-in horror story where random people have been sealed in an abandoned school with no food, little water, and a bone saw and cooking and a countdown timer. The goal is to starve them to the point of murdering and eating one another. This will happen, which isnt a bad thing in my personal opinion as I find every character in the series thoroughly unlikable. You know, it's like a horror movie where you rot for the bad guy? Like that, but I'm rooting for my least favorite characters to get eaten first.
Ankoku Jiten is a pretty rad one I just finished up. This has an old school art style which if anything lends it more charm. The short stories, one per chapter, are really freaky. Expect ghost stories with violent ends, insect body horror, and serial killers. This is a fun read especially if you like old style art.
Aku no Kyouten AKA Lesson Of Evil is a completed and really fun read. If you like serial killers and manipulative types you might like this series. A "perfect" teacher and helpful employee at a school, the MC is in fact a viscious serial killer. In his desire to make a perfect classroom he begins to "remove" troublesome students. This all blows up spectacularly! This also received a live action movie some years ago, which I watched before seeing the movie. The movie is worth a watch but the manga really gets into how depraved this teachers mind is.
UPDATED - 10/4/2020

Ok I'll end it here. I'm hitting the word count here on reddit soon (im leaving 10k characters open for edits and additions) but far more concerning is honestly I'm forgetting some series. Like the yandere harem with fitting end? Or the cannibal aliens with murder labs under a mountain built by the government? Damn what were they called?! And also I'm sure you noticed I left some favorites off the list such as Berzerk, Happy Sugar Life and Future Diary. Mostly that was due to them not being narrow enough to really be in the horror genera but rather they're more periphery. Of coarse that's just my opinion.
So with this long procrastinated project out of the way, i'd love to hear other readers input. What series are worth checking out? What did I miss? What are your thoughts on the current state of manga horror?

SURVEY RESULTS!

Assassin's Creed Odyssey & my minimum kills challenge.

So it's a simple challenge. Kill as few people as possible. (TOTAL AT THE BOTTOM!) There's some rules.
I only uses this gear. Staff of Dikastes (5% chance to stun on melee hit), ~~The Sword of Kings~~ (melee damage applied to nearby enemies), Herakles's Bow with Paralysis Arrows only (-1 adrenaline cost for overpower abilities), Full Greek Hero set; Head (+15% damage to Warrior abilities), Arms (+50% crit damage with Warrior abilities), Torso (2% damage restored as health), Waist (40% chance to ignore half damage), Legs (+30% damage with staffs). I never actually used the sword though, just had it in the secondary slot so I could have the engravings bonus.
I also only used these abilities. Second Wind, Ring of Chaos, Sparta Kick, Vanish, Slow Time, Shadow of Nyx, Multi-Shot, Rapid Fire, Devastating Shot, and Predator Shot.
No pets allowed, but friends and caged animals can kill.
Bodies landing on bodies can kill. These accidental death do not count.
Because it's impossible to know how many people are on a ship I'll count a full ship as 1 kill. If you know how big the crew of each ship type is then I'll recount them.
Goats, Dogs, Snakes, Deer, Sharks always die. Dead always die. Orbs always explode. Husks always die or explode. Hounds of Hades can be KOed
Quests marked with a plus (+) are from before I got the ship & marked NB are from Notice Boards.
Here's how I did.

Odyssey (part 1)

Starting with So It Begins and ending with The Wolf of Sparta.
11 Bandits & 1 The Cyclops & 1 Bandit Ship & 1 Athenian Light Trireme & 2 Athenian pentaconters (& 1 Athenian in conquest battle opening) (1 goat bum)
+Debt Collector: 4 bandits
+Fancy Guests: 5 bandits (Elpenor kills 1 in the cut scene)
+The Big Break: 1 goat bum, 1 The Cyclops, 2 bandits (check, Olive grove in mikanos)[I have 100,000 but can't buy the boat]
Learning the Ropes: 1 bandit ship
A Journey into War: 1 Athenian Light Trireme, 2 Athenian Pentaconters
The Final Push: 1 (battle opening), 0 (during the battle) [it says I killed 15 but I never actually hit anyone]

Odyssey (part 2)

Starting with Onwards to Phokis and ending with Oil and Love.
4 snakes (& 1 Cultist (Elpenor) dies in a cutscene)
Snake in the Grass: 0 (1 cultist (Elpenor) dies in cut scene)
The Serpent's Lair: 0 (don't torture the coward) [Deimos kills a cultist (Epiketos the Forthcoming)]
A Venomous Encounter: 4 snakes (spare pratinos & his friends, KO & recruit The Poisoner) [& 3 snakes by Icaros, 1 at Pratinos's house & 2 at The Poisoner's camp]

Odyssey (part 3)

Starting with Island of Misfortune and ending with Athens's Last Hope.
1 Civilian & 3 Thugs & 1 Cultist (The Monger) & 4 Cult Guards & 4 Athenians & 1 Pirate Light Trireme (& 2 Thugs in cutscene)
A Herald of Murder: 1 civilian man (landlord), [or pick the neighbour]
To Find a Girl: 3 thugs (KO and recruit the first 3 thugs)
Port of Lawlessness: 0 (sneak), [1 thug set on fire, 1 thug stabbed and thrown through a door with Brasidas, then let Brasidas kill the 5 thugs outside]
Follow That Boat: 1 Pirate Light Trireme
Monger Down: 1 Cultist (The Monger), (KO the thugs), [if he dies in the theatre then you can avoid killing him, but you'll be forced to kill one of the cultists you can spare later, get the kill now (with a knife from no where) and spare the later cultist. The Monger has a Giant Mace in the cutscene but an Ornate Mace in his fight]
And the Streets Run Red: 4 Cult Guards (Phoebe's killers)
Athens's Last Hope: 4 Athenians (KO and recruit Cult Guard, Cult Guard & Athenian Commander)

Odyssey (part 4)

Starting with A Mother's Prayer and ending with The Battle of Pyloos.
2 Cult Guards & 4 Athenians & 1 Hero & 1 Cultist (Deianeira) & 1 SolideGuntress (Nesaia) & 1 Cultist Sage (Pausanias) & 1 Athenian Pentaconter & 1 Athenian Bireme & 1 Athenian Light Trireme & 1 Athenian Alpha Heavy Trireme (with the Cultist Silanos of Paros) (& 2 Athenians as conquest battles open)
Death and Disorder: 2 Cult Guards (sneak past the Athenians)
The Paros Blockade: 1 Athenian Pentaconter, Bireme & Light Trireme
Unified Front: 1 Athenian aalpha Heavy Trireme with 1 Cultist (Silanos of Paros), (the spartan fleet destroyed the pentaconter, bireme & light trireme)
The Conqueror: 2 Athenian captains, 1 polemarch & 1 hero (1 Athenian as the battle opens), [don't fight/kill stentor, level 1 spear & scroll out of nowhere]
The Fall of Deianeia: 1 Cultist (Deianeira), [mission is misnamed] -215 nation power
The Last Hunt of Nesaia: 1 SolideHuntress (Nesaia),(be careful of the dogs nearby) -250 nation power
A Bloody Feast: 1 cultist sage (Pausanias)
The Battle of Pylos: 1 Athenian, smack Alexios about a bit), (& 1 Athenian in opening cutscene), [arrive on foot so you dont have to fight the Athenian ships]

Odyssey (part 5)

Starting with Diong Time and ending with A Fresh Start.
2 Jail Guards & 6 Spartan captains & 2 Athenian pentaconters & 1 Athenian bireme & 1 Athenian elite light trireme & 14 cultists (Rhexenor the Hand & Iobates the Stoic & Brison & Okytos the Great & Pallas the Silencer & Skylax the Fair & Kallias & Zoisme & Harpalos & Melite & The Chimera & The Centaur of Euboea &The Silver Griffin & Machaon the Feared) & 4 cultist sage (Kleon the Everyman & Iokaste the Seer & Exekias the Legend & Polemon the Wise) & 5 cultists on ships (Asterion [The Astraios/alpha light trireme], Melanthos [The Kronos/alpha light trireme], The Mytilenian Shark [The Eurybia/alpha light trireme], Sokos [The Eos/alpha light trireme], The Octopus [The Theia/alpha light trireme]) & 1 cult sage on a ship (The Hydra [The Hyperion/alpha heavy trireme]) & 1 Sphinx (& 2 Athenians conquest battle cutscenes & 1 Spartan in conquest battle opening)
Doing Time: 2 jail guards (you use your fists but they still die), [convince Alexios the cult are twats, Socrates soul tax]
A-Musing Tale: 1 cultist (Rhexenor the Hand) (KO all the Athenians), [Aikaterine drops a sword but you dont get to keep it, man I wish I could watch the full play]
We Will Rise: 1 cultist sage (Kleon the Everyman) (let Brasidas & the Spartans kill the Athenians, 1 Athenian in opening cutscene, 1 in mid fight cutscene (level 1 spear), [WTF was Kleon thinking shooting Alexios? A funny AF backhand to Kleon's face & Brasidas's body was moved pretty damn fast]
Awaken the Myth: 1 Sphinx
The Delian League: 2 cultists (Iobates the Stoic & Brison)
The Heros of the Cult: 2 cultists (Okytos the Great & Pallas the Silencer), (1 Spartan in battle opening, 6 Spartan captains) & 1 cult sage (Exekias the Legend)
The Peloponnesian League: 2 cultists (Skylax the Fair & Kallias)
The Worshippers of the Bloodline: 3 cultists (Zoisme & Harpalos & Melite) & 1 cult sage (Iokaste the Seer)
The Eyes of Kosmos: 4 cultists (Sotera & The Master & Hermippos & Midas) & 1 cult sage (Nyx the Shadow)
The Silver Vein: 4 cultists (The Chimera & The Centaur of Euboea &The Silver Griffin & Machaon the Feared) & 1 cult sage (Polemon the Wise)
The Gods of the Aegean Sea: 5 cultists (Asterion [The Astraios/alpha light trireme], Melanthos [The Kronos/alpha light trireme], The Mytilenian Shark [The Eurybia/alpha light trireme], Sokos [The Eos/alpha light trireme], The Octopus [The Theia/alpha light trireme]) & 1 cult sage (The Hydra [The Hyperion/alpha heavy trireme]), (2 Athenian pentaconters, 1 bireme & elite light trireme during naval conquest battle)

World Quests

11 bandits & 10 followers of Ares & 8 guards & 1 thug & 2 Athenian captains & 1 Athenian polemarch & 1 hero & 3 civilians & 4 cultists (Krodos the Bull & Swordfish & Podarkes & Chrysis) & 1 thug captain (Captain Diocles) & 2 Spartan pentaconters & 2 Athenian pentaconters & 2 Pirate pentaconters & 1 Minotaur & 1 Medusa & 12 living statues & 1 Lykaon Wolf & 3 bears & 1 deer & 3 wolves (& 1 Athenian in conquest battle opening & 1 dog accidentally)
Lumbering Along: 4 bandits (a random wolf killed 2)
Hungry Gods: 6 bandits
+NB- Another Wolf Another Day: 3 wolves
Age is Just a Number: 1 deer, (tame a bear)
Chip on Your Shoulder: 1 cultist (Krodos the Bull)
The Elixir: 1 Civilian woman (KO wolves and bears, avoid sharks)
Romancing the Stone Garden: 1 Civilian & 4 Guards
Writhing Dread: 12 living statues & 1 Medusa (Medusa petrifies Bryce)
Revenge Served Cold: 10 (any followers of Ares, can't recruit at all)
Gortyn Out of Hand: 1 Civilian man (herald),(recruit the nations leader)
Civil Unrest: 6, Captain Diocles, his 4 guards & 1 thug (make the civilians leave the family alone and they will put a bounty on you, lead the bounty hunter to the dock and trick him into fighting the guards, then KO and recruit him. KO and recruit the guard in the market)
Blood in the Water: 1 cultist (Swordfish) (avoid sharks)
He Waits: 1 Minotaur
Confiscated: 1 bandit (Stupidio's mum)
Call to Arms: 2 captains, 1 polemarch, 1 hero (1 Athenian in opening)
Hades, Meet Podarkes: 1 cultist (Podarkes)
Recruitment Drive: 2 Spartan, Athenian & 2 Pirate pentaconters
Death Comes for Is All: 1 cultist (Chrysis), (& 1 dog accidentally)
A Legendary Hunt/The Lykaon Wolf: 1 Lykaon Wolf (KO all the other wolves)
NB- Wasted Devotion: 3 bears [this is connected to the Olympics]

Character Quests

9 thugs & 16 bandits & 7 daughter of Artemis 1 Athenian & 1 Athenian captain & 1 spartan & 1 Spartan polemarch & 1 Dagger associate & 1 Dagger thug & 5 cult guards & 3 cult protectors & 1 cult general & 1 civilian & 1 The Kingfisher (thug) & 1 Drakios (cult friend) & 2 cultists (Belos the Beast, Diona) & 1 dog & 5 wolves & 1 lynx & 2 bears & 1 lion & 1 heavy trireme & 1 Cyclops (Btontes - The Thunderer) & 1 Kalydonian Boar & 1 Namean Lion & 1 Kallisto the bear & 1 Krokottas Hyena & 1 Kretan Bull & 1 Erymanthian Boar & 1 Hind of Keryneia (& 1 Athenian in conquest battle opening & 1 Skoura (civilian) is killed in a cutscene)
Doctors Pet: 2 thugs (run from Athenians, KO doctor's guards & kill doctor's captors)
Indulging Just a Little: 3 cult guards, 1 civilian
Retribution: 3 cult guards & 1 cult general (KO the 2 cult guards, don't kill ("spare") the doctor, kill 2 cult guards & kill 1 cult general in fort)
Blood and Water: 3 Thugs
Dagger to the Heart: 1 Dagger associate, 1 Dagger thug (shoot paralysis arrows from outside the theater & let the civilians deal with the other 4)
The Kingfisher and the Robin: 1 dog, 1 The Kingfisher (thug) [Just let the Magistrate kill everyone at the dock]
Markos's Fate: 1 thug (only because a Merc showed up and killed the other 5)
The Great Contender: 1 daughter of Artemis [this is the battle of 100 hands so you have 98 (or 48) enemies, you can just run around like nut job and make the different factions fight each other]
Legend No More: 1 Drakios (cult friend),(Roxana can kill the cult guards but not Drakios)
They Just Want Cruelty:
Bandit; 3, 4, 4, 4, 1
Spartan; 0, 0, 0, 0, 1(Cultist, Belos the Beast of Sparta) [you can have all but the boss commit suicide on the fire traps]
Huntress; 1 & 2 wolves, 1 & 3 wolves, 2 & 1 lynx, 1 & 2 bears, 1 & 1 lion
Athenian; 0, 0, 0, 0, 1 [again all but the boss can commit suicide on the fire traps]
King; 0, 0, 0, 0, 1 [and once more there's suicide on the fire traps or even the pit]
Heros of the Arena: 1 Skoura (civilian) [killed in cut scene]
What Lies Below the Surface: 3 Thugs
For the People: 1 spartan polemarch (sneak for the rest)
The Liberator: 1 Heavy Trireme (KO spartan guards at Mt. Pentelikos Marble Quarry, the trapped Athenians can kill the Spartans on the beach)
By the Fates: 3 cult protectors & 1 cultist (Diona) [you can use Icaros to find the real Diona & bang Diona, it only makes sense since you're fucking up the cult]
Stairway to Olympos: 1 Cyclops (Brontes - The Thunderer) [Empedokles gets flattened by the Cyclops & strangely the hole in the roof can't be found from outside]
Nemesis/The Final Battle: 1 Athenian captain (& 1 Athenian as the battle opens) [I chose Nemesis because Spartans are better at killing than Athenians]
The Daughters of Artemis: 1 Kalydonian Boar (KO the other boars)
The Namean Lion: 1 Namean Lion (KO the other lions)
Kallisto the Bear: 1 Kallisto the Bear
The Krokottas Hyena: 1 Krokottas Hyena
The Kretan Bull: 1 Kretan Bull
The Erymanthian Boar: 1 Erymanthian Boar [this is bullshit on Nightmare]
The Hind of Keryneia: 1 Hind of Keryneia

Bounties & Contracts

2 Cyclops
The Lighting Bringer: 1 Steropes the Lightning Bringer
The Bright One: 1 Arges the Bright One

The Lost Tales of Greece

20 bandits & 4 siren pirates & 4 followers of Ares & 3 priests & 1 Ajax & 9 deer & 4 "giant" chickens & 1 chicken & 3 lynx & 4 bear & 1 pirate (Persian) heavy trireme & 1 pirate (Persian) light trireme & 1 pirate (Persian) light bireme & 1 pirate (Persian) elite bireme & Anais's dry spell & Kassandra's soul (& 3 shells & 1 civilian as Demos)
The Show Must Go On÷
A Divine Intervention÷
The Image of Faith÷
The Wild Hunt: 7 deer [you only take the neck meat, such a waste]
Chicken or Egg: 4 "giant" chickens
The Daughters of Lalaia÷
Learning the Land: 4 bears
A Poet's Legacy÷
Repairing the Lyre: ? Maybe there was something living in the 3 shells (KO and tame the alpha wolf then lure a nearby bore to fight the rest & KO the boars)
A Brother's Seduction÷
Bloody Libation: 6 bandits
Career Orientation: 2 deer (overkill much?)
A Friend Worth Dying For÷
Odyssey Into the Past: 8 bandits (the caged wolf is no help)
Beware the Siren Call: 4 siren pirates (bring poor Eurylochos along with you)
To Be Nobody: 3 lynx & 6 bandits (you can lure some wild boar to deal with them for you) [be nothing but nice to Polyphemos, you could just kill him and avoid killing the others but don't]
The Heir of Memories÷
Three Symbols Entombed[3]: 0 (1 as Demos),[the order is Itira, Kogath, Metin]
One Really, Really Bad Day÷
Ajax on Fire: 1 moron (Ajax) (KO every bear, boar or bandit you see)
Every Story Has an Ending÷
Followers of Truth: 4 followers of Ares (pick Mestor)
Defense of Samos: 1 Pirate (Persian) Heavy Trireme, 1 Pirate (Persian) Light Trireme, 1 Pirate (Persian) Bireme & 1 Pirate (Persian) Elite Bireme
Old Flames Burn Brighter÷
Unplanned Parenthood: 1 chicken (shoot it with an arrow then hide on the roof until the others leave you alone)
This quest line - Anais's dry spell
Sokrates' Trial÷
Deposition Opposition: 3 priests
This quest line - The last bits of Kassandra's soul because of the Sokrates soul tax

World Locations and Stuff

6 Boars & 1 Shark & 1 Chicken (& 9 Dogs & 2 Snakes & 1 Heron accidentally)
Wild Boar dens: 6 (1 by a Follower of Ares)
Shark den: 1
Chicken den: 1
Bandit hideouts: 0 (7 dogs accidentally)
Athenian locations: 0 (1 dog accidentally (Podarkes's leader house))
Tombs: 0 (2 snake accidentally & 3 committed suicide by fire)
(1 heron flew to close as I fought a boar & 1 mercenary had a dog I accidentally killed)

The Legacy of the First Blade (part 1)

12 Spartans & 12 Persians & 6 Ancients (Bubares the Conspirator & Timosa the Physician & Echion the Watcher & Phratagounè the Keeper & Konon the Fighter & Atantha the Deceiver) & 1 civilian & 5 Deer & 1 Boar & 10 Wolf & 1 Pirate Bireme & 1 Pirate Elite Light Trireme & (1 Ancient Magi (Pactyas the Huntsman) dies in a cutscene) & 1 special Lion can be tamed
The Horsemen Cometh: 6 Spartans & 2 Persians & 5 more Spartans
More Questions than Answers: 5 deer (Icaros got 1) & 1 boar
Revealing the Recruiter: 1 Ancient (Bubares the Conspirator) & 1 Spartan
Whimpers Through the Fog: 2 Persians (refuse to kill the civilians)
Mysterious Malady: 1 pirate bireme & 1 pirate elite light trireme & 1 ancient (Timosa the Physician) [just KO the soldiers even if the magistrate acts like you killed them. Natakas killed 2 Persians)
Protector of Persia: 5 Persians, (just KO the large wolf) (1 Ancient Magi (Pactyas the Huntsman) dies in cut scene) [the crack in the wall seals up]
The City that Cried wolf: 10 wolves
NB- Hide-and-Seek: 3 Persians
NB- Finders Keepers: 1 civilian
Dead Man Rises: 1 Ancient (Echion the Watcher),(make sure to sneak around the camp) [keep all the bear pelts you get from alpha bears during the main game, get the "code" wrong so you can KO the civilian and take your bear pelts back & KO the ancients friends]
The Order of Hunters: 3 ancients (Phratagounè the Keeper, Konon the Fighter & Atantha the Deceiver)
1 special lion can be tamed

The Legacy of the First Blade (part 2)

15 Spartans & 2 Cult Guards & 1 Thug & 3 Ancient (Megakreon the Unbreakable & Sophos the Broker & Augos the All-Seeing) & 4 Persian Light Triremes & 1 bireme & 2 Persian Pentaconters & 1 Persian Alpha Heavy Trireme & 1 Ancient on a ship (Nestor the Formidable [Unknown Name/Elite Light Trireme]) (1 Mercenary (Thug) & 1 Ancient Magi (Phila the Tempest) die is cutscenes)
Stranger Tides: 4 Spartans (Darius killed all the ambushing Spartans but would only kill 1 searching Spartan)
Prodigal: 2 cult guards & 9 Spartans (thankfully there was a bear attack)
Persian Puppetry: 1 Thug (Natakas killed 4) & (1 Thug (called Mercenary) in a cut scene) & 3 Persian Light Triremes [why not just kill The Tempest right then and there?]
Theatrics and Espionage: 1 Ancient (Megakreon the Unbreakable) (KO and loot the captain, Darius killed 2 cult guards)
Leviathan's Maw: 1 Persian bireme & 2 Persian pentaconters & 1 Persian light trireme & 1 Persian alpha heavy trireme (the Skylla),(avoid the & 1 Bireme & 1 Persian Elite Bireme that accompany the Skylla) & 2 Spartans (& 1 Ancient Magi (Phila the Tempest),(dies in cut scene) [tell Kleta to stay back]
Order of the Storm: 3 Ancients (Sophos the Broker, Nestor the Formidable (elite Persian light trireme) & Augos the All-Seeing)

The Legacy of the First Blade (part 3)

4 Bandits & 19 Persians & 4 Ancient (Dimokrates the Destroyer & Artazostre the Silence & Pithias the Architect & Gaspar the Gatekeeper) & 3 Ancient Magi (The Immortals & Gergis the Herald) &2 boar & 28 shellfish & 2 Spartan Biremes & 1 Spartan Pentaconter & 1 Spartan Elite Heavy Trireme (& 1 Persian in a cutscene & 1 Ancient Tusk (Amorges, the Tusk of Persia) is killed by Darius in a cutscene)
The Simple Life: 2 boars & 28 shellfish
A Flight in Fire: 1 Persian (in a cut scene), (The next 5 can be KOed), 2 Ancient Magi (The Immortals) & 3 Persians
The Ordering of the Kosmos: 1 Ancient (Dimokrates the Destroyer) (sneak past or KO everyone else)
The Spartan Dog: (let the Athenians kill Spartans twice), 2 Spartan Biremes, 1 Spartan Pentaconter & 1 Spartan Elite Heavy Trireme [despite Athenians supposedly having a better navy all the Athenian ships will be sunk if you leave them to fight]
Command and Control: 4 Persians (sneak & make the guards leave Rhode alone)
Smoke and Fury: 5 Persians & 1 Ancient Magi (Gergis the Herald) [the fire may kill some people]
Legacy of the First Blade: (1 Ancient Tusk (Amorges, the Tusk of Persia) is killed by Darius in a cutscene) [for some reason Kassandra is shown using a wooden Sword in the cut scene, also there's a stupid fucking clothing change into the red mercenary gear, and how the hell does Darius sail that tiny boat to Egypt, and oh fuck Kassandra is Aya's ancestor]
Give Our Respects: 7 Persians (the other 3 died and I don't know how)
The Favour: 4 Bandits (recruit Aiantides otherwise you'll have to go fight some boars for The Bludgeoner mace)
The Order of Dominion: 3 Ancients (Artazostre the Silence, Pithias the Architect & Gaspar the Gatekeeper)

The Fate of Atlantis (part 1)

9 Isu Humans & 3 Overseers (Aegea the Amazonian Queen & Atalanta the Huntress & Iphigenia the Sacrificed) & 1 Colossus & 2 Abstergo Goons
Welcome to Elysium: 6 Isu Humans
A Lover and A Fighter: 1 Overseer (Aegea the Amazonian Queen) & 3 Isu Humans (you maybe able to purify these Isu Humans, I may have killed them without needing to)
The Rebellion's Uprising: 1 Colossus in conquest battle (Percephone throws Hermes off the bridge but he lands in water & disappears, but she does have a lot of bullshit powers including the exact same whistle as Kassandra) [Kassandra has a level 1 spear]
Also 2 Overseers (Atalanta the Huntress & Iphigenia the Sacrificed)
2 Abstergo Goons outside the Animus

The Fate of Atlantis (part 2)

7 dead Thugs & 1 dead Athenian & 2 dead Elite Athenians & 3 "Sisters" & 12 Isu Humans & 3 Fallen Enforcers (The Cyclops of Kephallonia & The Poisoner of Athens & Testikles the Olympian) & 4 Fallen Cultists (Epiktetos the Forthcoming & Deianeira the Boeotian Champion & Swordfish of Octopus Bay & The Monger of Korinthia) & 61 Shade & 1 Ros/Cerberos & 1 Civilian (Victoria)
Guardian of the Gates: 1 Dog Monster (Ros/Cerberos) & 3 shades (Kassandra has a level 1 spear)
A Young Warrior's Ghosts: 5 dead Thugs
Undoing What's Been Done: 2 dead Thugs [if you knock them into the water they drown]
The Warrior, the Eagle Bearer: 1 Fallen Enforcer (The Cyclops of Kephallonia) & my heart [you can't go back to find Pheobi in Elysium & how is the same goat in the same place?]
The Snake Sheds His Skin: 1 Fallen Enforcer (The Poisoner of Athens), 3 Fallen Cultists (Epiktetos the Forthcoming & Deianeira the Boeotian Champion & Swordfish of Octopus Bay) for all for the Armour of the Fallen & 1 Fallen Cultist (The Monger of Korinthia) [avoid attacking anyone until Elpenor shows up to deal with the Mongers men & don't shove Elpenor off the ledge]
Death Before Dishonor: 1 Athenian (Lost SoldieLost Athenian) [the Spartans won't touch him]
Home Is Where You Make It: 3 "Sisters" (Pick the cave & KO the Hounds of Hades)
I Don't Belong Here: 2 dead Elite Athenians in conquest battle & beat up Brasidas
Just KO Astra
Also 58 Shades from portals & 12 Isu Humans as captains & 1 Fallen Enforcer (Testikles the Olympian) (& 1 Victoria (Civilian) by accident outside the Animus)

The Fate of Atlantis (part 3)

26 Isu & 7 Isu Humans & 1 beast wolf (sort of) & 1 Hekatonchires & 1 Project Olympeck
Hades gets fucking wrecked in the first cut scene
Rightfully Yours: 5 Isu (Atlantean Polemarchs (Helmetos, Legoras, Skirtis, Chestor, Bracerdas))
In Dreams: 1 beast Wolf (sort of) (KO the two civilians, play CSI, purge Lyra & talk her out of killing herself) [Kassandra jokes about being thrown off a cliff... how is she fine with that now?]
Good From Far, Far From Good: 1 Isu [my heart, poor Kassandra being all sad]
The Fate of Atlantis: ? Husks & 1 Hekatonchires (8 bodies left over after removing the apple), (the whole city (including poor Elpis) in the ending cut scene) [how is Aletheia holding the staff? Did Kassandra just flirt with Aletheia? Oh, it's a hologram staff... oh no, wait, it's real. Who's Elina? Who's Deanna? Back in the Animus to say goodbye... TO WHO? THEY'RE ALL DEAD, OR FUCKED OFF, OR ON YOUR SHIP!]
Also 20 Isu (1 was suicide) & 7 Isu humans & 1 Project Olympeck (Gold Chicken)
1 passed out in modern day

TOTAL!

598 or 599!

Types of enemy:
342
2 Abstergo Goons, 6 Civilians, 3 Priests, 1 Dagger Associate, 1 Dagger Thug, 14 Thugs, 7 dead Thugs, 62 Bandits, 4 Siren Pirates, 14 Followers of Ares, 7 Daughters of Artemis, 8 Guards, 2 Jail Guards, 9 Athenians, 1 Athenian Polemarch, 3 Athenian Captains, 1 dead Athenian, 2 dead Elite Athenians, 28 Spartans, 1 Spartan Polemarch, 31 Persians, 13 Cult Guards, 3 Cult Protectors, 1 Cult General, 28 Isu Humans, 2 Heros, 1 Colossus, 61 Shade, 26 Isu
Special enemies:
63
1 Ajax, 3 "Sisters", 1 The Cyclops (Thug), 1 Captain Diocles (Thug/Captain), 1 Nessia (SoldieHuntress), 1 The Kingfisher (Thug), 1 Drakios (Cult friend), 20 Cultists (The Monger & Deianeira & Rhexenor the Hand & Iabates the Stoic & Brison & Okytos the Great & Pallas the Silencer & Skylax the Fair & Kallias & Zoisme & Harpos & Melita & The Chimera & The Centaur of Euboea & The Silver Griffin & Machaon the Feared & Krodos the Bull Swordfish & Podarkes & Chrysis & Belos the Beast & Diona), 5 Cultist Sage (Pausanias & Kleon the Everyman & Iokaste the Seer & Exekias the Legend & Polemon the Wise), 5 Cultists on Ships (Asterion [The Astraios/Alpha Light Trireme] & Melanthos [The Kronos/Alpha Light Trireme] & The Mytilenian Shark [The Eurybia/Alpha Light Trireme] & Sokos [The Eos/Alpha Light Trireme] & The Octopus [The Theia/Alpha Light Trireme] & 1 Cultist Sage (The Hydra [The Hyperion/Alpha Heavy Trireme]), 10 Ancients (Bubares the Conspirator & Timosa the Physician & Echion the Watcher & Phratagounè the Keeper & Konon the Fighter & Atantha the Deceiver & Megakreon the Unbreakable & Sophos the Broker & Augos the All-Seeing & Dimokrates the Destroyer & Artazostre the Silence & Pithias the Architect & Gaspar the Gatekeeper), 3 Ancient Magi (The Immortals & Gergis the Herald), 1 Ancient on a Ship (Nestor the Formidable [Unknown Name/Elite Loght Trireme]), 3 Overseers (Aegea the Amazonian Queen & Atalanta the Huntress & Iphigenia the Sacrificed), 3 Fallen Enforcers (The Cyclops of Kephallonia & The Poisoner of Athens & Testikles the Olympian), 4 Fallen Cultists (Epiktetos the Forthcoming & Deianeira the Boeotian Champion & Swordfish of Octopus Bay & The Monger of Korinthia)
Ships:
34
1 Heavy Trireme, 1 Bandit Ship, 2 Pirate Pentaconters, 1 Pirate Bireme, 1 Pirate Light Trireme, 1 Pirate Elite Light Trireme, 1 Pirate (Persian) Light Bireme, 1 Pirate (Persian) Elite Bireme, 1 Pirate (Persian) Light Trireme, 1 Pirate (Persian) Heavy Trireme, 3 Spartan Pentaconters, 2 Spartan Biremes, 1 Spartan Elite Heavy Trireme, 2 Persian Pentaconters, 1 Persian Bireme, 4 Persian Light Triremes, 1 Persian Alpha Heavy Trireme, 5 Athenian Pentaconters, 1 Athenian Bireme, 2 Athenian Light Triremes, 1 Athenian Alpha Heavy Trireme (with the Cultist Silanos of Paros)
Animals:
97
28 Shellfish, 2 Chickens, 4 "Giant" Chickens, 1 Project Olympeck, 15 Deer, 1 Dog, 4 Snakes, 18 wolves, 4 Lynx, 9 Bears, 1 Lion, 1 Shark, 9 Boars,
Legendary animals:
8
1 Lykaon Wolf, 1 Kalydonian Boar, 1 Namean Lion, 1 Kallisto the bear, 1 Krokottas Hyena, 1 Kretan Bull, 1 Erymanthian Boar, 1 Hind of Keryneia,
Monsters:
21
1 Sphinx, 1 Minotaur, 12 Living Statues, 1 Medusa, 3 Cyclops (Btontes - The Thunderer & Steropes the Lightning Bringer & Arges the Bright One), 1 Ros/Cerberos, 1 beast Wolf (sort of), 1 Hekatonchires
Other:
6
Anais's dry spell, Kassandra's soul, 3 shells that may have something inside, 1 special Lion can be tamed so you don't need to kill it, (1 civilian as Demos)
Cutscenes:
14 or 15
(5 Athenians in conquest battle opening), (2 Thugs & 1 Persian & 1 Mercenary (Thug) & 1 Skoura (civilian) & 1 cultist (Elpenor) & 2 Ancient Magi (Pactyas the Humtsman & Phila the Tempest) die in cutscenes), (1 Civilian (Victoria) is killed on a cutscene outside of the Animus), (1 Ancient Tusk (Amorges, the Tusk of Persia) is killed by Darius in a cutscene)
Accidents:
13
10 Dogs, 2 Snakes, 1 Heron

shark tale beating scene video

Shark Tale finished its international run with a second place $2.08 million opening in Japan on 485 screens. Its $4,296 per screen average it quite low for the market and generally means the film won't have the usual legs films in Japan have. Revealing mistake: During the scene when Angie and Sykes are watching Oscar beating up Lenny you can see one shot of Angie's tail go through the desk. Share Continuity mistake : When Ernie and Bernie are playing the Oscar video game, Sykes finishes talking on his mobile and it is in his right hand, in the next shot, when he turns the TV off it is in his right hand. You're NOT gonna need a bigger boat! Unseen behind-the-scenes photos from filming of Jaws reveal how Steven Spielberg used a 25ft wooden mechanical shark to make his 1975 classic movie A page for describing Characters: Shark Tale. but he does have a short fuse. Probably best established in his first scene with Sykes. After Oscar dumps her she gets her immediate revenge by beating and humiliating him, and later on by ratting him out to the sharks. Shark Tale is little more than a collection of pop culture and movie references (Jaws, A Few Good Men, Gladiator) and some visual puns, hung on some very ordinary if colourful computer animation. Shark Tale Trivia Questions & Answers : Movies Q-T This category is for questions and answers and fun facts related to Shark Tale, as asked by users of FunTrivia.com. Accuracy: A team of editors takes feedback from our visitors to keep trivia as up to date and as accurate as possible. Related quizzes can be found here: Shark Tale Quizzes Shark Tale is a 2004 movie produced by DreamWorks Animation with probably the biggest ensemble cast in an animated DreamWorks movie (although Kung Fu Panda is close). Starring Will Smith, Jack Black, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, Renée Zellweger and even director Martin Scorsese. Every character in the movie looks like the actor voicing them. Angie is the deuteragonist of Shark Tale. She is Oscar's love interest and later, girlfriend. Angie is beautiful and kind and she helps Oscar pay of 5,000 clams to Sykes (which he bets on a horse race) and advises that dreams began small, but as time goes on, they can grow into something wonderful. Oscar was unaware of Angie's feelings for him and he selfishly put his own needs before hers Before watching Shark Tale, I firmly believed that I could listen to Martin Scorsese talk about anything for hours. The man is just so excitable and passionate about pretty much anything that he could probably read the phone book and hold my interest. Then, about 11 minutes into Shark Tale, this happens. Sequel Hook: In a post-credits scene, Lola is looking for Oscar in the top of the reef unaware that Oscar isn't there. After that, she still wants revenge on Oscar for dumping her (foreshadowing her appearance in a rumored "Shark Tale" sequel, where she'll be the Dragon Ascendant).

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You Said "What" First - Shark Tale (2004) - YouTube

Oscar dumps Lola Shark Tale - Meeting Lola: Lola (Angelina Jolie) hits on Oscar (Will Smith) when she thinks he's rich.BUY THE MOVIE: https://www.fandangonow.com/details/movi... The most funniest part of this film. Oh give a like and subscribe please. Thanks Shark Tale - Gangster Shark Chase: Don Lino (Robert De Niro) chases Oscar (Will Smith) to the whale wash center.BUY THE MOVIE: https://www.fandangonow.com/de... About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators ... Shark Tale - Oscar vs. Lenny: Oscar (Will Smith) and Lenny (Jack Black) fake a fight so they can each have a new life.BUY THE MOVIE: https://www.fandangonow.... About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators ... Aw that's hotPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SchaffrillasTwitter: https://twitter.com/SchaffrillasEdited by:SpaceTree Studios: https://www.youtube.com/user/... Shark Tale - Frankie Dies: When Lenny (Jack Black) "attacks" Oscar (Will Smith), Frankie (Michael Imperioli) steps in to finish the job.BUY THE MOVIE: https:... Shark Tale - Fish Hook Opening: A worm on a hook receives a surprising reprieve from Lenny (Jack Black).BUY THE MOVIE: https://www.fandangonow.com/details/mo...

Shark Tale (Western Animation) - TV Tropes

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shark tale beating scene - win

Simon Blackquill