History Main / RestartAtLevelOne

This can also be used to explain why your character goes from nobody to god in a month or so, but if you have any allies that increase in level, this is often broken, as they level up just as fast.

* ''{{Metroid}}'', of course.
* ''TheWitcher'' implies Geralt having come back from the dead is why he starts at level 1.
* ''{{Disgaea}}'' mentions at one point Laharl isn't back up to strength after oversleeping 720 days [[spoiler:because of Etna poisoning him]]
** The sequel also has Etna brought down from level 1000 to level 1 due to a summoning ritual gone bad. [[spoiler:It was her fault it went wrong anyway]].
*** It also turns out to be the case for [[spoiler:the real Overlord Zenon, AKA Rozalin, who had herself reincarnated out of fear of her own power]].
*** There's also an in-game mechanic to invoke this trope on your own units. It definitely [[MagikarpPower helps in the long run]], though.
* ''{{Gothic}} 2'' has your character trapped under rocks for a a significant span of time at the end of the first game used to explain why you are level 1.
** The third game does it again, except you spent a lot of time on a boat. And your equipment gets stolen when you leave the boat without it, and pirates take the boat. You still start out somewhat stronger than in the first two games though.
* Apparently, every time the Avatar returns to the world of ''{{Ultima}}'' he is a new person (this also means he is a [[PoweredByVirginity virgin]] each time)
** Which really doesn't mesh well with the character transfer option in Ultima 5 and Ultima 6. Basically, you could transfer in your character from the previous game, with most relevant stats intact, thus averting this trope... until Ultima 7, anyway.
* Prior to ''[[DarkForcesSaga Jedi Knight II]]'', Kyle Katarn invoked this trope and sealed himself off from TheForce for fear of falling to TheDarkSide again.
* in ''GodOfWar II''. Zeus "helps" Kratos by giving him a sword. Kratos then, in order to get the sword out of the ground, had to drain all of his powers into the sword.

* ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic II'' has your character "cut off from the force" prior to the start (why this effects your non-force related abilities, leaving you with merely a bonus 10 hit points to show for it, is unknown) [[spoiler:interestingly, near the end of the game, this is explicitly not why you are leveling up.]] also in the first game [[spoiler:YOU are a sith lord with amnesia, hence why you did so well with Jedi training, but you know that already. ]]
** This also happens to T3-M4, HK-47 and [[spoiler:Madalore]] in KOTOR II, [[strike:though the first probably wouldn't have been useful in the game even if it started at Level 20 with all the high-level droid gear from the first game]] and the first one breaks the game enough without a level headstart, anyway.
* Haseo get's datadrained near the end of ''[[DotHack .hack//Roots]]'' to explain why he's not level 133+ when you play ''[[DotHackGUGames .hack//G.U.]]''. Apparently this also makes him less crazy.
* In ''TalesOfTheAbyss'', Jade gives you ATasteOfPower at level 50, but is then hit with a magical doohickey that seals his powers, booting him back down to comparable levels with your party. He lampshades this with one of the in-game "skits" when he reaches level 50 again naturally.

* In ''{{Geneforge}} 5'', the PC has forgotten everything about their past and all of their skills. The PC regains the skills but never regains their memory.

* Zetta in ''MakaiKingdom'' subverts this trope; he suffers the ''mother'' of all power reducers during the intro (his body and equipment is destroyed and his soul is forced to inhabit a ''book''), but he's still level 2000 and his mana power is still the greatest of all the [[DimensionLord Overlords]].
* ''KingdomHearts: ChainOfMemories'' slaps Sora, Donald and Goofy with a brand new mechanic, plus EasyAmnesia as they progress through castle that they spend the whole game in. In ''KingdomHeartsII'' being asleep for a year explains the similar depowering.
** ''Chains of Memories'' {{Hand Wave}}s the power loss as you being the in the villains' house and having to play by their rules. Notably, Sora ''does'' seem to keep all his HP from the first game, since his starting HP is the same as the first game's max HP.
* ''VagrantStory'' has Ashley Riot, a famous Riskbreaker... who, after a deeply traumatizing event, locked away all of his memories of combat. Sidney forces him to remember it, freeing the first few abilities, and after that he regains them "from repressed memory" with each experience milestone.
* ''ShadowHearts: Covenant'' has Yuri depowered by the Mistletoe Curse, forcing him to relearn and reclaim all of his Harmonixer forms one by one.
* ''[[DigimonWorldDawnDusk Digimon World Dawn/Dusk]]'' casts the player as a talented trainer who commands a team of three digimon: the version's mascot Rookie and two high-level {{Mons}}. However, after letting you enjoy your [[ATasteOfPower taste of power]], a virus hits your base and wrecks havoc -- and infects your two frontliners, dropping them both back to Lv 1. (Ironically, your Rookie actually avoids this, making them your strongest Mon at that moment...)
* Cecil from ''FinalFantasyIV'' is the captain of the Red Wings and a fearsome Dark Knight. He's also Level 1. Not only that, but when he [[spoiler:becomes a Paladin]], he goes down to level 1 again. What's more amusing still is that all character's starting levels are a function of your level when you encounter them, which means that prior to the beginning of the story, badasses Cecil and Kain are the least experienced characters. Even Prince Edward has gained more experience by singing love songs to Anna than Cecil and Kain have by being top officers in Baron.
** Though even at Level 1, they both could probably beat the crap out of the Spoony Bard with their hands tied. And Level 1 Paladin Cecil is stronger then a Level 20 Dark Knight Cecil. So it's all meaningless.
* Galuf from ''FinalFantasyV''. He already saved two worlds thirty years ago, but he starts as a level one nobody without any classes learned due to amnesia, but then un-justified when he recovers from it and stays exactly same.
** Arguably, he is much older by the game's events, and additionally didn't learn classes, having not had the crystal shards that allow it. Furthermore, the amnesia thing
*** According to NPC chatter in one of the towns in the second world, Galuf ''did'' actually think to bring high-powered equipment with him, but somehow lost it all when his meteor crashed.
* Somewhat averted in FinalFantasyVII, as Cloud starts at level 6 or 7 and levels up during the very first battle to boot. In fact no one starts at level 1 unless you exploit a glitch or a hack. Though you'd think Barret, leader of the [[strike:terrorist]] activist group AVALANCHE ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS yes, all caps]]) would be stronger than level 7. However played straight in Cloud's [[spoiler:fake]] Nibelheim flashback. It's puzzling how a 1st Class SOLDIER is a mere Level 1 teenager.
** Well, Barret is the current leader of AVALANCHE. There used to be another but retired for certain reasons in yet another Compilation Game. And being Level 1 in the Nibelheim Flashback is actually a tip to what actually happened in there...
** It's a bit of twice-over FridgeBrilliance, anyway. On a first playthrough, it can easily be seen as a way to highlight just how ''powerful'' Sephiroth is compared to you. On a second, it becomes clear that [[spoiler:Cloud's level 1 because he was just a mook.]]
* In ''PhantomBrave'' it is implied (a skill he learned in life is accessed at mid-high levels) that becoming a phantom is why Ash is weak despite working with "skilled" Chromas. This is made explicit in Another Marona ("As Phantoms, you lack your full power.") and implied that Ash doesn't realize the weakness.
* ''[[Lunar2EternalBlueComplete Lunar: Eternal Blue]]'' gives you the uber-powerful Lucia at the beginning, who wipes the floors with her powers. But once you reach the bottom of that first tower...
** Granted, [[spoiler:this is more of a "''forced'' reboot to level one", which is ''quite'' uncomfortable for the character in question]], but still.

* Possible example. Auron of ''FinalFantasyX'': legendary guardian of the last High Summoner who vanquished Sin. Everyone in Spira knows how awesome he is. He one shots a giant lizard during his first appearance in the game proper. What powers does he actually have? A piercing BFS and a moderately higher than normal attack stat. Take the first item away, and the attack power doesn't mean a whole lot.
** [[spoiler:He is ''somewhat'' dead at this point. Maybe he spent the intervening time between dying and the start of ''FFX'' trying to not become a fiend instead of training.]]
** Besides, [[spoiler:he had to fulfill his promise to Jecht to look after Tidus, so the boy's safeguarding most likely took priority over maintaining his physical ability.]]
** Includes Lulu and Wakka, both who were already guardians to other summoners--despite not ever having finished the journey, they generally made it as far as the Calm Lands, yet they are at absolute starting point when joining you.
*** It's possible that each new Pilgrimage requires using a new Sphere Grid, since if someone is killed off for real then the Entire Sphere Grid becomes unusable. The same applies if someone permanently leaves the Party. This also explains why Yuna, Rikku, and Paine start off as Level 1 again literally in the sequel.
*** FridgeBrilliance in the Sequel. With Sin destroyed and the fayth resting, Yuna no longer can access her frightening summoning abilities and white magic. Essentially, most of her training became useless. She and Rikku were also among the weakest in melee fighting in the first game.
* In ''MassEffect 2'', this trope is used (and justified) because [[spoiler:your ship and all your stuff got blown up and your character is brought BackFromTheDead, but the process had to be cut short before his/her combat abilities could be reprinted into his/her psyche]]. No such handwave is given for returning squad members, however. Or where the [[{{Cap}} 9,999,999]] [[GlobalCurrency credits]] from his/her bank account have gone.
** [[FridgeBrilliance The Shepard Scholarship. Duh.]]
*** I thought it was all lost on the Deposit on the Normandy...
** Some lazy justification is given for Garrus' low-levels, who suffers grievous injuries in his recruitment mission (a fact we are reminded of by his scarred face and gaping cracks in his armor throughout the entire game). Tali, however, doesn't get even that much. However, keeping in mind that Tali is recruited in the second half of the game and all squad members join with the same level as Shepard, she is likely to have high levels at that point (even though not as high as she probably was in the end of ''ME'').
*** Not at all. The enemies you are fighting are already pretty badass at the beginning of ME2, and you get paid buttloads more for your missions than you did in ME1! You're [[FridgeBrilliance ''still a high-level character'']] you're just going up against the [[EldritchAbomination original over-lords of the bad guys]] from ME1. They could have just called it Level 50/60 + ''x''...

* ''Left4Dead 2'' has a variation of this trope. After being dropped off to find some fuel for the boat in "Hard Rain", one of the survivors asks if someone brought the weapons with them. They quickly realize they forgot and left the weapons on the boat.
* The ''{{Castlevania}}'' series is known to explain this in it's games.
** ''SymphonyOfTheNight'' starts the game off with Alucard fully equipped with powerful weapons and armor, but Death strips them off of him shortly after entering the castle. Alucard is quickly reduced to using a rusty sword as one of his first weapons.
** ''OrderOfEcclesia'' starts the game with Shanoa completing her glyph training and starts a ritual to destroy Dracula once and for all. The ritual goes wrong and results in Shanoa completely forgetting all her training along with all her other memories.
** ''CurseOfDarkness'' has Hector, former powerful servant of Dracula. He gave up all his powers and gear to settle down with his beloved, but then Isaac had her killed and Hector charged after him with just a short sword.
* Not exactly with video games, but in the ''{{Pokemon}}'' anime, Pikachu should be at an extremely high level, but always seems to return to level 1 at the start of a new series.
* ''CaveStory'': If you're on track for the GoldenEnding, then upon entering the Last Cave "You feel a black wind blow through you. All weapons dropped to Level 1!" (Mercifully, by this point the player may have the Spur--which doesn't need to level up--and/or the Nemesis--which [[LethalJokeItem works best at level 1]].) This happens ''again'' when you enter [[BonusLevelOfHell Sacred Ground]].
* Between the end of the first and the start of the second campaign of {{Warcraft}} 3 Arthas goes from a L10 Paladin to L1 Death Knight.
* Same in HeroesOfMightAndMagic 5 with Agrail/Railag.
* ''AlienSwarm'' does this as an option: If you hit the max level and choose to be promoted, your level is reset back to 1 and you lose all the items and guns you had gotten from leveling up. The only thing you get out of this is a badge next to your name.
* ''SonicTheHedgehog'' 3 ([[OneGameForThePriceofTwo and Knuckles]]) has the opening scene where Sonic gets the Chaos Emeralds knocked out of him. After collecting said Emeralds, you lose the again in the second half of the game. Though the next power up is a GameBreaker.

* ''{{Lunar}}: Eternal Blue'' gives you the uber powerful Lucia at the beginning, who wipes the floors with her powers. But once you reach the bottom of that first tower...

* In the ''PokemonMysteryDungeon'' games, when you enter a particularly rewarding dungeon (such as getting jirachi) ,you are forced to become level one for the dungeon. What makes it worse, is that the dungeon has 99 floors! It takes forever to do so, and usually if you're recruiting a pokemon, it starts out at a very low level, which is not too rewarding, unless you're going for 100% completion.

Often the way ATasteOfPower is ended if you are the same character. Common justification for BagOfSpilling. Compare GoodIsDumb, where switching to the good side knocks you down to level 1 as well.

*** There's also an in-game mechanic to invoke this trope on your own units. It definitely helps in the long run, though.

* The sequel to the German RPG Maker game VampiresDawn features this. The central characters Valnar and Alaine start out with the max. levels canonically attained at the end of the previous game, but quickly get their power drained halfway through the introduction story.

<<|VideoGameTropes|>>

* In the ''PokemonDungeon'' games, when you enter a particularly rewarding dungeon (such as getting jirachi) ,you are forced to become level one for the dungeon. What makes it worse, is that the dungeon has 99 floors! It takes forever to do so, and usually if you're recruiting a pokemon, it starts out at a very low level, which is not too rewarding, unless you're going for 100% completion.

* ''SonictheHedgehog'' 3 [[OneGameForThePriceofTwo and Knuckles]] has the openning scene where Sonic gets the Chaos Emeralds knocked out of him. After collecting said Emeralds you lose the again in the second half of the game. Though the next power up is a GameBreaker.

* ''Left4Dead'' has a variation of this trope. After being dropped off to find some fuel for the boat in "Hard Rain", one of the survivors asks if someone brought the weapons with them. They quickly realize they forgot and left the weapons on the boat.

** Some lazy justification is given for Garrus' low-levels, who suffers grievous injuries in his recruitment mission (a fact we are reminded of by his scarred face and gaping cracks in his armor thoughout the entire game). Tali, however, doesn't get even that much. However, keeping in mind that Tali is recruited in the second half of the game and all squad members join with the same level as Shepard, she is likely to have high levels at that point (even though not as high as she probably was in the end of ''ME'').

** [[spoiler:He is ''somewhat'' dead at this point. Maybe he spent the intervening time between dying and the start of FFX trying to not become a fiend instead of training.]]
** Includes Lulu and Wakka, both who were already guardians to other summoners - despite not ever having finished the journey, they generally made it as far as the Calm Lands, yet they are at absolute starting point when joining you.

** Arguably, he is much older by the game's events, and additionally didn't learn classes, having not had the crystal shards that alow it. Furthermore, the amnesia thing

*** Not at all. The enemies you are fighting are already pretty badass at the beginning of ME2, and you get paid buttloads more for your missions than you did in ME1! You're ''still a high-level character'' you're just going up against the [[EldritchAbomination original over-lords of the bad guys]] from ME1. They could have just called it Level 50/60 + ''x''...

*** Not at all. The enemies you are fighting are already pretty badass at the beginning of ME2, and you get paid buttloads more for your missions than you did in ME1! You're ''still a high-level character'' you're just going up against the [EldritchAbomination original over-lords of the bad guys] from ME1.