History Videogame / Summoner

* StoryDrivenInvulnerability: you can fight the Four Horsemen in random encounters before the proper boss fights, but you cannot kill them, just chase them off.
* SummonMagic: Duh. The game actually employs both types.

* TheMario: Joseph. He can use most weapons and armors (Only Jekhar as as wider choice), and he has access to most offensive and defensive magics, as well as being able to summon.

''Summoner'' is an RPG released in 2000 by {{Creator/Volition}} and published by {{Creator/THQ}} for the Playstation 2 as one of the first [=RPGs=] for the system and later ported to Windows [=PCs=] and the Macintosh. The game was noted for its combat system, where characters take turns but attack in real time, with chain attacks that rely on the players timing. However, the game is better remembered for its story, set in a fully original world with four fully developed religions and its own history. The player controls Joseph, as he is joined in his adventure by 3 other characters. Flece, a thief and [[spoiler: the rightful heir to both the Orenian and Medevan Thrones]]; Rosalind, Yago's abandoned daughter and a priestess of the island monastery of Iona; and Jekhar, a medevan knight who grew up in Ciran, and has vowed to kill Joseph for slaughtering his family.

* SelfFulfillingProphecy: Emperor Murod hears a prophecy that a Summoner will put an end to his reign. Every action he thus takes to stop this prophecy from happening results in it coming true, by undoing Joseph's RefusalOfTheCall. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Joseph himself even calls him out for this before their final battle.]]

* [[spoiler:EvilMentor : Yago, possessed by Machival]]

* FiveManBand:
** TheHero: Joseph
** TheLancer: Flece
** TheChick[=/=]TheSmartGuy: Rosalind
** TheBigGuy: Jekhar
** TheMentor: Yago

Joseph, born in the village of Ciran, is the latest bearer of the mark of the summoners. 9 years ago, Joseph met an old traveling monk named Yago, who gave Joseph one of the summoner's rings. He helped Joseph master his talent, until the day where raiders attacked Ciran. Joseph called forth a demon sleeping inside the ring, who slaughtered the raiders before turning on the villagers, killing everyone but Joseph and Yago. Joseph threw the ring down a well and told Yago to leave, to never approach him again. He then made his way to the village of Masad, to rebuild his life there in obscurity. That is, until a group of masked warriors from TheEmpire of Orenia attack the village, butchering its inhabitants in the hope of finding the one with the mark of the summoner. And that is where the adventure begins.

* BigBad: At first Murod, [[spoiler:but he's [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil later somewhat upstaged by Machival]] -- The Demon of Darkness that destroyed Ciran.]]

* SelfFulfillingProphecy: Emperor Murod hears a prophecy that a Summoner will put an end to his reign. Every action he thus takes to stop this prophecy from happening results in making the prophesy happen, by undoing Joseph's RefusalOfTheCall.

* [[AvertedTrope Averted]]: ThrivingGhostTown: Lenele is humongous, to the point of frustration.

!!This series contains the following tropes:

** Correction, at least as far as the second game: All the myths have some ''basis'' in truth, but get crucial details mixed up. For example [[spoiler: Maia is not Laharah reborn. "There is no Laharah, and there is no Urath. There is only Creation and Destruction. Aosi and the Tempest."]]

* EasterEgg: The first game contained the Dead Ale Wives' famous ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' skit as acted out by the ''Summoner'' cast.

* ExpansionPackWorld: the sequel, full stops, adds quite a few new locals, and ''radically'' alters the game's cosmology with it's story. [[spoiler: There is no Gods. They are aspect of Aosi.]]

* GlassCannon:Flece, who can do the most damage but is very fragile.

* HitPoints

* LaResistance: The Jade Temple.

* TwentyBearAsses: Several in the first game, all with 100% drop rates.

''Summoner'' is an RPG released in 2000 by {{Creator/Volition}} and published by {{Creator/THQ}} for the Playstation 2 as one of the first [=RPGs=] for the system and later ported to Windows [=PCs=] and the Macintosh. The game was noted for its combat system, where characters take turns but attack in real time. However, the game is better remembered for its story, set in a fully original world with four fully developed religions and its own history. The player controls Joseph, as he is joined in his adventure by 3 other characters. Flece, a thief and [[spoiler: the rightful heir to both the Orenian and Medevan Thrones]]; Rosalind, Yago's abandoned daughter and a priestess of the island monastery of Iona; and Jekhar, a medevan knight who grew up in Ciran, and has vowed to kill Joseph for slaughtering his family.

* {{Retcon}}: A '''BIG''' one, but handled skillfully, in the sequel. Laharah is an evil goddess, and her followers, the Nuvasarim, feed on agony. This is thoroughly - and [[TropesAreNotBad convincingly]] - retconned in the sequel, in which Laharah is the ''protagonist''. [[spoiler: except that neither Laharah, nor Urath, nor any other gods exist. They are all merely parts of Aosi. What's that you say? Vadagar's giant three-headed corpse? We didn't walk through any giant three-headed corpse!]]

* ShoutOut: The court gossip of Medeva bears a strong resemblance to parts of ''[[ASongOfIceAndFire A Game of Thrones]]'', though with some of the characters shifted around: The king does not have any surviving heirs, Prince Yon was fond of climbing and fell to his death from a castle tower [[spoiler: after likely being pushed by Sornehan (who would, in league with the queen, later betray the king)]], another prince was killed by a boar during a hunt, and another died of fever. In addition, the king married and came to power to conclude a civil war (though as a loyalist rather than a usurper) after which he has presided over a long peace, but while a superb fighter and military leader, tends to avoid much of his duties in the administration of the kingdom, with the royal treasury heavily in debt.

* WaifProphet: Luleva, an orphan in Lenele. She's a minor NPC, but she shows up again in VideoGame/{{Summoner2}}, where she is a gladiator and therefore no longer fits the trope. It's nice that she survived though.

''Summoner'' is an RPG released in 2000 by {{Creator/Volition}} and published by {{Creator/THQ}} for the Playstation 2 as one of the first [=RPGs=] for the system and later ported to Windows [=PCs=] and the Macintosh. The game was noted for its combat system, which featured a mixture of turn-based and ActionRPG mechanics, where characters take turns but attack in real time. However, the game is better remembered for its story, set in a fully original world with four fully developed religions and its own history. The player controls Joseph, as he is joined in his adventure by 3 other characters. Flece, a thief and [[spoiler: the rightful heir to both the Orenian and Medevan Thrones]]; Rosalind, Yago's abandoned daughter and a priestess of the island monastery of Iona; and Jekhar, a medevan knight who grew up in Ciran, and has vowed to kill Joseph for slaughtering his family.

''Summoner'' is an RPG released in 2000 by {{Creator/Volition}} and published by {{Creator/THQ}} for the Playstation 2 as one of the first [=RPGs=] for the system and later ported to Windows [=PCs=] and the Macintosh. The gameplay was somewhat clunky, though the game is better remembered for its deep story set in a fully original world with four fully developed religions and its own history. The player controls Joseph, as he is joined in his adventure by 3 other characters. Flece, a thief and [[spoiler: the rightful heir to both the Orenian and Medevan Thrones]]; Rosalind, Yago's abandoned daughter and a priestess of the island monastery of Iona; and Jekhar, a medevan knight who grew up in Ciran, and has vowed to kill Joseph for slaughtering his family.

A sequel for the [=PS2=], ''VideoGame/{{Summoner 2}}'' (later ported to the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube as ''Summoner: A Goddess Reborn'') was released in 2002. Its gameplay was improved by [[ActionRPG giving the game a more action-adventure]] feel, and followed a DistaffCounterpart, Maia, who is Joseph's opposite in nearly every way. Where he sought to flee his destiny and followed TheCall only reluctantly, Maia embraces her destiny and seeks to fulfill it.

* GameBreaker: Flece's backstab is a debatable example. Normally, it does about 10x normal damage, which is pretty good, but against unaware enemies it can do upwards of 100x damage depending on the opponent. Another of Flece's abilities, Trip, knocks an opponent over and renders it unaware, allowing her to insta-kill them without any trouble in the heat of open combat. This combo only works on relatively humanoid opponents, but that accounts for about 90% of the game's enemies. It also works on humanoid bosses (which again, is most of them). This turns most boss fights into CurbStompBattle[=s=] that last less than 30 seconds. Even the last boss's 2nd form can be obliterated this way in 2-3 hits (doing 1700-2000 or so damage per hit).

* WaifProphet: Luleva, an orphan in Lenele. She's a minor NPC, but she shows up again in {{Summoner2}}, where she is a gladiator and therefore no longer fits the trope. It's nice that she survived though.

* MightyGlacier: {{Golem}} summons, Jekhar.
* NominalImportance
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Murod turns into a spectacularly ridiculous example.]]
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: The Trial the Khosani send you through.
* PausableRealtime

A sequel for the [=PS2=], ''VideoGame/{{Summoner 2}}'' (later ported to the GameCube as ''Summoner: A Goddess Reborn'') was released in 2002. Its gameplay was improved by [[ActionRPG giving the game a more action-adventure]] feel, and followed a DistaffCounterpart, Maia, who is Joseph's opposite in nearly every way. Where he sought to flee his destiny and followed TheCall only reluctantly, Maia embraces her destiny and seeks to fulfill it.

* TheEmpire of Orenia

* LaResistance: The Jade Temple

* EasterEgg: The first game contained the Dead Ale Wives' famous ''DungeonsAndDragons'' skit as acted out by the ''Summoner'' cast.

* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' suggest to Kalas that his grudge against Joseph is "irrational" or anything like that. He ''will'' explode at you.

** Not quite, [[spoiler:Joseph does not just die, he is reborn as Maia after becoming one with his summons, this is why she transforms into them instead of summoning them separately. If Joseph chooses not to sacrifice himself there is no Summoner 2.]]

* BornAndRazed: Joseph's first DoomedHometown, which he [[NiceJobBreakingItHero destroys in his attempt to save it]] by summoning the Demon of Darkness to wipe out the army already doing its level best.