The anime medium, just like most mediums actually, is full of classic tropes that all series rely on, regardless of their genre. But, in particular, the Shonen genre is especially dedicated to its tropes, even the newer series are, and there's a reason for that. To put it simply, it works. People eat these tropes up, and for the series that don't stay in their lane enough, they get canned, so there's even more reason not to deviate too much.

RELATED: 5 Darkest Isekai Anime (& 5 That Are Just Too Sweet)

It's time to look deeper at some of the most common tropes in shonen and attempt to explain why they're still so widely well-received, so here are the most common tropes in the shonen genreーand why they work so well in the media form they're told in.

10 Common Trope: The Bad-Guy Squad

phantom troupe HXH

"Oh, no! It's the Bad-Guy Squad! They're here to do something evil, and we sure won't find out their true goal until we beat most if not all of them!" Take this sample sentence and replace the term "Bad-Guy Squad with any evil organization in Shonen, and it'll likely still check out. The Phantom Troupe from Hunter X Hunter, the Yonko/Shikibukai from One Piece, The Akatsuki from Naruto, The Homunculi from both the completed Fullmetal Alchemist series, and even the League of Villains from My Hero Academia, all count. There's always a group like this in the most popular Shonen series, and they're usually full of the most diabolical type of people.

9 Why It Works: It's An Invisible Connection Between Antagonists

The Full Akatsuki from Naruto

But why does this grouping of evil characters work so well and so often? Well, because frankly, it aligns all these widely different villains underneath one common banner, with one shared goal. No one would say that Pain and Hidan had similar aspirations, but their actions were still aligned. Plus, it means that even if the heroes beat one of these villains, they still have to beat the rest, so each victory acts like a piece of the greater puzzle rather than an individual act. Finally, it works because it's just the rival trope combined with the tournament trope with equally appealing matchups.

8 Common Trope: Tournament Arcs

Yusuke Vs Toguro In Yu Yu Hakusho, The Dark Tournament Arc

Moving onto the inevitable Tournament Arc that 99% of all Shonen series have, at least battle-shonen do. Even the most popular Shonen, One Piece, couldn't hold off having one eventually, finally succumbing to it within the Dressrosa Arc. That said, ask any fan of a specific Shonen series what their favorite arc was, and the Tournament Arc will likely be what they choose. Yu Yu Hakusho's Dark Tournament, MHA's Sports Festival, The Chunin Exams from Naruto, The Heaven's Arena in HxH, even Shaman King is entirely based around a tournament.

7 Why It Works: New Matchups, Pure Action, & There Are Simplistic Stakes

Rock Lee _ Gara _ Original Naruto

So, why is it that Tournament Arcs are so heavily relied upon by Mangaka? And why do fans eat it up? Well, for one, Tournament Arcs let characters fight uninterrupted with no overarching/overcomplicated narrative (most of the time), so it's a lot of fights with very little fluff in a small span of time.

RELATED: Never Alone: 10 Best Summoning Mechanics In Anime, Ranked

Secondly, the structure of a Tournament allows for situations where allies fight each other. The best couples/pairs can fight together, villains in the same organization fight against each other, or characters that usually don't get to shine/fight can really strut their stuff.

6 Common Trope: A Unique & Odd Power System

A Grouping Of The Devil Fruits In One Piece

Every fighting-based Shonen series has a power system, even if it's just something as simple as martial arts prowess like in Baki. Most of the time, these powers are superhuman or supernatural in design & have a series of ironclad rules that define them. One Piece's Devil Fruits, HxH's Nen, Naruto's Chakra/Jutsu's, Bleach's Zanpakuto, MHA's Quirks, JoJo's Stands, Jujutsu Kaisen's Cursed Techniques, the list goes on & on infinitely, and they're always building off of each other. A certain aspect of all these power systems that isn't talked about enough is that they all allow for oddball, freaky, or fun powers to exist.

5 Why It Works: The More Vague Things Are, The More Wiggle Room The Author & Characters Have

An Example Of Stands And Their Designs With Giorno Giovanna In Part 5 Of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

In that case, is this trope why Luffy works so well as the main character? Being made of rubber is super weird & the future King of Pirates sure does a lot creatively with his Gum-Gum fruit. Well...yes and no. On the one hand, Luffy is just a very well thought out protagonist, and his Devil Fruit only serves to exemplify all his other traits. But, on the other side, he's a kid made of rubber up against people who can literally turn into magma or a dragon. Hence, his underdog-tier dorky power absolutely plays into his likability by a large margin. People love an underdog, and they love seeing the creative ways a character can use their power to turn the tables on a superior opponent.

4 Common Trope: That One Big Blowout Fight

Luffy One-Shoting Bellamy Yet Again After The Timeskip In One Piece

What exactly does a "blowout fight" mean in this context? Well, it's a fight that usually takes place after a training arc or time skip that allows characters to show just how much they've grown against an opponent who would have (probably easily) beaten the old version of themselves. Sometimes, it even happens to show how a character has finally given up in general, like in the case of Hunter X Hunter with that one fight at the end of Chimera Ant Arc (fans will know which one). Some well-known examples include Luffy vs. Blueno at Enies Lobby, Naruto & Sakura vs. Kakashi in Shippuden (though Sakura still deserved more of the spotlight), or any of the times Vegeta, Gohan, or Goku kicks butt after a Time Capsule training session.

3 Why It Works: It's Concrete Proof Of Character Growth & It's Exciting

The Beloved Showdown Between Gear 2nd Luffy And Blueno In Enies Lobby Within One Piece

Wait, shouldn't a one-sided fight be disliked? The whole point of these battle manga is for people to see all the different ways characters can beat each other up and experience the choreography, so why would a fight that ends quickly ever be well-received? If it's written/storyboarded well, it can actually do more than any elongated fight ever could. Think about Luffy vs. Blueno and how immediately it told viewers that Luffy is not the same person he was the first time he lost to the CP9. Or, on that same One Piece train-of-thought, think about how scary Kaido suddenly seemed when he bodied Luffy in one blow at the beginning of Wano.

RELATED: Fullmetal Alchemist: 5 Anime Characters Kimblee Can Beat (& 5 He Can't)

These one-sided fights set a different sort of tone than most Shonen battles. It's no longer about how evenly matched two opponents are or a fight between ideals. It's simply one person completely overwhelming the other and shutting down any hope of victory.

2 Common Trope: Elongated Arcs That Have Characters Run The Gauntlet

The Cast Of The Sasuke Retrieval Arc In Naruto, All Together

And lastly, let's talk about elongated arcs. These are events in a Shonen series that bleed throughout multiple arcs, or ones that go on forever intentionally to push an "all-out, no holds barred" sort of feeling. The Sasuke Retrieval Arc, Water 7 into Enies Lobby, The Rukia Rescue Arc, The Chimera Ant arc, or most of the arcs in JoJo. Typically, these arcs focus on a relatively small cast of characters pushing themselves entirely to achieve a goal/task before time runs out. There's almost always a time-limit, a frustrating amount of barriers in the way, a real sense of desperation, and some tragic loss.

1 Why It Works: It's A Way Of Showing Characters At Their Most Desperate & Exhausted

All The Major Players From The Chimera Ant Arc In Hunter X Hunter

But, ultimately, why do these arcs work narratively? Why is Enies Lobby the favorite One Piece arc for so many? Why did people care about the Sasuke Retrieval arc when it involved so many side-characters or new villains? Well, because the very backbone of these arcs allows authors to characterize a lot of characters very quickly, protagonists don't have time to mess around with any opponents, and both sides at their most desperate. Shikamaru doesn't mess around when fighting Tayuya because he knows that every second wasted is another couple of feet Sasuke's cask has traveled. Luffy blasts his way through Enies Lobby wildly because once Robin gets on that ship, there's no saving her. These arcs have this invisible timer running throughout them, and it works really well as a method of forcing the audience to feel the tension.

NEXT: One Piece: 10 Best Villains (Who Could Become Straw Hats)