History Main / SummoningRitual

** In ''Discworld/MakingMoney'' The [[strike: necromancer]] Professor of Post-Living Communications performs rites with all the dribbly candles, pentagrams and such partly because of tradition and partly because people called from beyond the grave expect ceremony and want to see that you've put the effort in.
** Another "Literature/{{Discworld}}" parody of the Summoning Ritual is the Rite of [=AshkEnte=], used to summon Death. Much is made about how the more traditional wizards want pentagrams and dribbly candles and mystical mumblings, when it could actually be done with three bits of wood and four cc of mouse blood, or two bits of wood and anegg. The egg has to be fresh though. (Why? It will probably make the mouse feel better. Oh, you mean the egg? Who knows how an egg feels? Duh.) This is definitely done for the ''summoner's'' benefit, as Death is really quite a practical person and wouldn't be bothered by a lack of ceremony. What bothers him is that they're always summoning him when he's right in the middle of something.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' used to have some fun with the Askh Ente rite, the ritual that can be used to summon [[TheGrimReaper Death]]. Originally it involved eight senior wizards, a large amount of drippy candles and thuribles, and a floor covered in runes (and various other equipment). Then it turned out that you could actually complete it with only a handful of people with three small sticks and 4 cc of mouse blood. Or two small sticks and an egg. The egg has to be fresh though. (Why? It will probably make the mouse feel better. Oh, you mean the egg? Who knows how an egg feels? Duh.)
** A high ranking wizard once tried to perform the rite backwards and disappeared, [[spoiler: it actually reversed the spell and transported him to Death instead]].
*** If anyone wonders ''why'' the wizard decided to perform the rite backwards, the idea was that it would reverse the effect so that instead of summoning Death it'd keep Death away. [[spoiler: As noted in the above spoiler, the actual reversal was that it summoned the caster to the Death instead. It worked out anyway, since the wizard got a job as Death's manservant]].

* In the "Literature/{{Discworld}}" novel ''Discworld/MakingMoney'' The [[strike: necromancer]] Professor of Post-Living Communications performs rites with all the dribbly candles, pentagrams and such partly because of tradition and partly because people called from beyond the grave expect ceremony and want to see that you've put the effort in.
* Another "Literature/{{Discworld}}" parody of the Summoning Ritual is the Rite of [=AshkEnte=], used to summon Death. Much is made about how the more traditional wizards want pentagrams and dribbly candles and mystical mumblings, when it could actually be done with three bits of wood and four cc of mouse blood, or two bits of wood and a fresh boiled egg. This is definitely done for the ''summoner's'' benefit, as Death is really quite a practical person and wouldn't be bothered by a lack of ceremony. What bothers him is that they're always summoning him when he's right in the middle of something.
** Also inverted with the character of Albert, who performed the ritual ''in reverse'' hoping it would keep Death away from him. [[spoiler:It didn't work; as might reasonably be expected, it sent him to Death.]]
** * In the Adventure Game ''Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?'', the Death summoning ritual requires three small sticks (of equal length), 4 cc of mouse blood, dribbly candles, a vile stench, glitter, and a performance of ''Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)''. Death appears dressed in a cork hat, apparently having been on vacation.
* A [[TheParody parody]] of this was the ritual that the witches used to summon that poor demon in ''Discworld/WyrdSisters''. No pentagrams or candles, to [[LampshadeHanging Magrat's dismay]], but Granny and Nanny generally thumb their noses at that stuff. They just used the ''sharp and terrible copper stick'', the ''rather old washing soda and some extremely hard soap flakes'', the ''balding scrubbing brush of Art'', and ''the washboard of Protection'' to summon a demon in a boiler. Irked Granny a bit that they went through all that trouble instead of just flat out calling the demon since she felt they were pandering to it and making it feel important.
** And then the demon was disappointed when they didn't bother to properly banish it once they were done asking their questions, instead merely telling it to go away.
*** Magrat was glad to oblige with the proper sequence of dramatic phrases. Note that the witches threatened said demon with a kitchen roller when it refused to answer in a simple manner.

* The Mara summoning in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', which would certainly [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar not have gotten past the ESRB]] (or maybe it would have) if it had gone right. It was borderline anyway -- imagine getting attacked by a giant green blob who happens to have a glans for a... head (to be fair, this is easy to miss if you don't know what SMT Mara is ''[[GagPenis supposed]]'' to look like). Other summoning rituals were the Seraph summoning in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' (the Angels got it done ''right''), and the Mekata attempt to summon minions from the Abyss in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' (which somehow ended up ''worse'' than the Mara ritual). Every fusion technically is this, as mentioned below, as you are tributing two or more existing entities to summon another, greater one.

* ''{{Disgaea 2}}'' starts with one of these, with the hero and his family attempting to summon Overlord Zenon, only to get his daughter Rozalin. [[spoiler:While it looks like a failure at first near the end of the game it turns out Rozalin is the real Overlord. It was the fake Zenon they wanted to summon, but since they didn't ''know'' he was a fake, let alone his real identity, there was no way they could've succeeded.]]

* The Mara summoning in ''ShinMegamiTensei: Nocturne'', which would certainly [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar not have gotten past the ESRB]] (or maybe it would have) if it had gone right. It was borderline anyway -- imagine getting attacked by a giant green blob who happens to have a glans for a... head (to be fair, this is easy to miss if you don't know what SMT Mara is ''[[GagPenis supposed]]'' to look like). Other summoning rituals were the Seraph summoning in ''VideoGame/StrangeJourney'' (the Angels got it done ''right''), and the Mekata attempt to summon minions from the Abyss in ''ShinMegamiTenseiI'' (which somehow ended up ''worse'' than the Mara ritual). Every fusion technically is this, as mentioned below, as you are tributing two or more existing entities to summon another, greater one.

* Aya Nishitani's ''Literature/DigitalDevilStory'', the origin of the famous ''ShinMegamiTensei'' franchise, came to be when the protagonist and genius programmer Akemi Nakajima realized that a summoning ritual --with all its standardized rules, incantations, and rigid procedures-- could be automated and written as executable code on a computer. He then proceeds to do exactly that, creating the very first Demon Summoning Program. After successfully summoning the demon Cerberus as a guardian beast, he tries to go for broke and summon a Demon King, Loki himself, who only plays by Nakajima's rules for as long as it's convenient to him.

* ''ShinMegamiTensei'' is a long-running series - which has guested a huge variety of consoles, and also includes the ''Persona'' sub-series - is based entirely around summoning demons --or, rather ''daemon'', entities that can be good, evil, or completely beyond human morality. A demon summoner can thus call upon Goetian demons alongside holy angels and even legendary heroes whose fame (or infamy) has given them a cult and a following. And like in its ''DigitalDevilStory'' origins, most of the summoning is done by [[MagiTek combining it with the latest technology and Demon Summoning Programs]]. In fact, the ceremony of summoning is so central to the games, the franchise has consistently used Seals of Solomon and pentagrams as ''brand logos''.

* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' and ''LightNovel/FateZero'' mages can summon up and form contracts with legendary spirits using a summoning circle, invocation, and an artifact related to said hero's legend. Of course a lot can, and inevitably does, go wrong. Messing up (or deliberately screwing with) the invocation might make your hero [[CameBackWrong comes back wrong]]. Summon a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_de_Rais shining knight ]] under the wrong class and you might end up with a [[Literature/{{Bluebeard}} dark, twisted, aspect of their legend]]. And even if you ''do'' manage to get everything right, it doesn't necessarily make the resulting spirit either [[DesignatedHero heroic]] or even [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder loyal]].
* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', Human Transmutation (i.e. [[BackFromTheDead resurrecting the dead]]) resembles a summoning ritual. [[CameBackWrong The results are rarely pretty]].

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', the second episode Anya is in has Anya tricking Willow into trying to summon her power source from when she was a Vengeance Demon. Instead, they get the Vampire Willow from the alternate universe they were trying to get the necklace from. [[FetishFuel The BDSM loving, all leather wearing, insane Vampire Willow]].

** It also went considerably better than the timeline in which the BigDamnHeroes ''didn't'' interfere.

* ''{{Disgaea 2}}'' starts with one of these, with the hero and his family attempting to summon Overlord Zenon, only to get his daughter Rozalin. [[spoiler:While it looks like a failure at first near the end of the game it turns out Rozalin is the real Overlord.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'', a king is desperate to protect his kingdom from attacking Dread Fiends, so he calls on the bigger, badder demon Nokturnus to take care of them. [[EvilIsNotAToy No points for guessing what happens next.]] But Nokturnus is a BonusBoss; and if you track him down in his lair and prove yourself stronger then he is, then he'll do your bidding and take out the BigBad for you.

* Not really summoning per se, but Third Impact in ''EndOfEvangelion'' might count. If one can watch it without immediately being reduced into a whimpering wreck, that is (since it's '''the''' perfect MindScrew in a few-minute package). First, the MP Evas fly up into orbit, align themselves into a Kabbalistic Tree of Life and use the resulting anti-AT field to ''lift the entire geofront into space''. In the meantime, Gendo stucks his right hand-fused-with-Adam into Rei. Next, Rei absorbs the arm and flies up to Lilith who absorbs her into it's chest. Finally, Lilith falls down from it's cross, morphs into Rei and starts growing. The MP Evas change formation to resonate their AT-fields with that of Lilith. The result is '''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWmJfX2AI2Q#t=1m45s REALLY FUCKING HUGE]]'''. If that's not a big enough MindScrew yet, the ugly bastards stab Unit 01's S2 organ with the Lance of Longinus, transforming it into the real Tree of Life then ''[[TooKinkyToTorture orgasmically stab themselves]]'' one-by-one, unleashing Lilith's power and reducing humanity into a HiveMind before the Tree and Lilith merge.

** Naruto himself, following his mentor Jiraiya's footsteps, makes a deal with the Toads, but to win the Boss Toad's respect, has to stay on his head while the [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever giant Boss Toad]] tries to throw him off. But the Toads turn out to be a good, loyal bunch, once you win their respect.

* In Creator/DianaWynneJones's ''Literature/DarkLordOfDerkholm'', the wizard Derk has to summon a demon to fulfill his titular role. Unfortunately he drops a syllable and accidentally calls up a much more powerful one than he can control.

* The backstory of the {{Hentai}} ''Bible Black'' revolves around a summoning ritual performed twelve years prior to the game. The HumanSacrifice ended up gaining its benefits when she survived long enough to kill the person running the ritual and make a pact with the demon that showed up herself.

-->-- "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" by Creator/HPLovecraft

* The [[TheLegendOfDrizzt Drizzt]] novels have featured this a few times. One was an apprentice who screwed up the pentagram and let out a balor. Cadderly also summons up demons and kills them, which inconveniences them... [[{{Retcon}} somehow]].

-->'''Garland:''' ''I should be upset, but I can't help taking this as a huge compliment. You can't summon something as powerful as hell lords without sacrificing what's most important to you in the world. This is probably the nicest thing Drizz'l has ever done for us.''
-->'''Drizz'l's note:''' ''1. Lead morons into basement. / 2. Kill them. / 3. Summon nothing because it was a lie.''

* A quest in ''VideoGame/FableII'' involves two guys who have [[spoiler: summoned the legions of the undead with a book called "the Norminomicon", or "The Book of the Extremely Dead". Naturally, you must kill said legions and recover the book.]]

* ''{{Disgaea 2}}'' starts with one of these, with the hero and his family attempting to summon Overlord Zenon, only to get his daughter Rozalin.[[spoiler: While it looks like a failure at first near the end of the game it turns out Rozalin is the real Overlord.]]

* The [[TheLegendOfDrizzt Drizzt]] novels have featured this a few times. One was an apprentice who screwed up the pentagram and let out a balor. Cadderly also summons up demons and kills them, which inconveniences them...[[{{Retcon}} somehow]].

* A large part of several Literature/TheDresdenFiles books. Don't summon something you can't hold (like the Erlking almost was), or something when your enemies hear (like the demon from the first book), or repeatedly in obvious places, because Harry will sic it back on you.

A good rule of thumb is never to call up what you cannot put down, or summon anything larger than your head. Most people seem to make the grade [[SummonEverymanHero with just a random mortal from another plane]] at any rate. Mind you, even if everything goes right, you might end up [[InconvenientSummons summoning someone out of the shower!]]

* The BackStory for ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula'' is that during his Summoning Ritual they used catsup instead of blood, resulting in a vegetarian vampire duck.

* ''MageTheAwakening'' has several summoner builds, mainly involving an understanding of the Death (ghosts and zombies) and Spirit (elemental forces and primal concepts) Arcana. There's also a set of systems for summoning beings from the Supernal Realms; unlike standard summoning magic, however, this merely serves as the means for a pact that gives the summoner a number of slight benefits as long as it holds to the terms of a bargain.

* ''{{Exalted}}'' has a whole suite of summoning spells, for [[ElementalEmbodiment elementals]], [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]] and [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]] of [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils varying ranks]], all of which require a ritual of some kind. {{Necromancer}}s have an easier time summoning ghosts than sorcerers, who in turn are better with demons and elementals (in fact, Necromacy can't call elementals at all), and thaumaturges can summon a lot of different spirits, but can't control them. Oh, and Summon Elemental takes the form of a [[CelestialBureaucracy letter to the elemental in question, who can send a subordinate in their stead if said underling is up to the task.]] And then there's Pattern Weaving, whose spells are tailored to the spirits of [[EternalEngine Auto]][[GeniusLoci chthonia]], and is the only branch that can reliably summon minor gods.

* The plot of ''EternalDarkness'' consists of a massive SummoningRitual to bring an EldritchAbomination to Earth. The main characters also gain the ability to summon their own demons.

* The BackStory for ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula'' is that during his SummoningRitual they used catsup instead of blood, resulting in a vegetarian vampire duck.

* Another "Literature/{{Discworld}}" parody of the SummoningRitual is the Rite of [=AshkEnte=], used to summon Death. Much is made about how the more traditional wizards want pentagrams and dribbly candles and mystical mumblings, when it could actually be done with three bits of wood and four cc of mouse blood, or two bits of wood and a fresh boiled egg. This is definitely done for the ''summoner's'' benefit, as Death is really quite a practical person and wouldn't be bothered by a lack of ceremony. What bothers him is that they're always summoning him when he's right in the middle of something.

* The Drizzt novels have featured this a few times. One was an apprentice who screwed up the pentagram and let out a balor. Cadderly also summons up demons and kills them, which inconveniences them...[[{{Retcon}} somehow]].

* Not really summoning per se, but Third Impact in ''End of Evangelion'' might count. If one can watch it without immediately being reduced into a whimpering wreck, that is (since it's '''the''' perfect MindScrew in a few-minute package). First, the MP Evas fly up into orbit, align themselves into a Kabbalistic Tree of Life and use the resulting anti-AT field to ''lift the entire geofront into space''. In the meantime, Gendo stucks his right hand-fused-with-Adam into Rei. Next, Rei absorbs the arm and flies up to Lilith who absorbs her into it's chest. Finally, Lilith falls down from it's cross, morphs into Rei and starts growing. The MP Evas change formation to resonate their AT-fields with that of Lilith. The result is '''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWmJfX2AI2Q#t=1m45s REALLY FUCKING HUGE]]'''. If that's not a big enough MindScrew yet, the ugly bastards stab Unit 01's S2 organ with the Lance of Longinus, transforming it into the real Tree of Life then ''[[TooKinkyToTorture orgasmically stab themselves]]'' one-by-one, unleashing Lilith's power and reducing humanity into a HiveMind before the Tree and Lilith merge.

* In the first novel of the ''Bartimaeus Trilogy'', the apprentice summons the title djinn correctly but makes the serious mistake of [[IKnowYourTrueName letting him find out his name]]. Luckily for him, like Aahz, Bartimaeus' bark is worse than his bite.

* The events of the ''VideoGame/ChzoMythos'' series are set in motion when the druid Cabadath performs one in order to call the titular {{Eldritch Abomination}} into the human plane to fight off the Roman invaders. [[FateWorseThanDeath It doesn't end well for him]].

* The events of the ''VideoGames/ChzoMythos'' series are set in motion when the druid Cabadath performs one in order to call the titular {{Eldritch Abomination}} into the human plane to fight the Roman invaders. [[AFateWorseThanDeath It doesn't end well]].

* The Mara summoning in ''ShinMegamiTensei: Nocturne'', which would certainly [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar not have gotten past the ESRB]] (or maybe it would have) if it had gone right. It was borderline anyway -- imagine getting attacked by a giant green blob who happens to have a glans for a ...head (to be fair, this is easy to miss if you don't know what SMT Mara is ''supposed'' to look like).

* In Creator/DianaWynneJones's ''DarkLordOfDerkholm'', the wizard Derk has to summon a demon to fulfill his titular role. Unfortunately he drops a syllable and accidentally calls up a much more powerful one than he can control.

* The [[SummoningArtifact titular [[Literature/TheMortalInstruments Mortal Instruments]]]] are required to summon the angel Raziel, a ritual that can only be done once every millennium. Once they have all three, Raziel will come to them and will grant any single wish the summoner wants.