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Magi-Nation: Difference between revisions
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''Magi-Nation'' was (or is--it gets complicated) a [[Collectible Card Game]] produced by a company called Interactive Imagination. The [[Framing Device]] of the game was this: In a far-off world called the Moonlands (so called because it was located on the moon of a larger planet), people called Magi used their energies and the powers of a stone called Animite to cast spells, forge powerful relics, and--of course--to summon up enormous creatures called Dream Creatures with which to do work--and battle. Players of the game took place in those battles, using Magi cards, Spells, Relics, and the all-important Creatures. The goal of the game was to defeat your opponent's three Magi cards by reducing his energy to 0 while he had no Creatures in play. It had a [[Cult Classic|small but devoted fanbase]], but little funding; like so many good things, [[Too Good to Last|it faded into the ether.]] Over its full run, it produced six complete sets (one went unreleased, but significant portions of it can be found online), numerous promo cards and two Game Boy pseudo-[[Mons]] [[RPG|RPGs]].
This is where things start to get a little strange.
After the game ended its run in the USA, it continued to be released in Japan for two full years after the final set's release in the United States. The second RPG video game, released on the Game Boy Advance, came out only in Japan, and was heavily connected to a manga based on the series--with a [[Art Shift|wildly different art style from the rest of the series]]. (Compare [http://bluefurok.com/PRimages/tony.jpg this promo] of the hero from the first RPG with [http://bluefurok.com/PJimages/dan_im_jp.jpg this promo] of the hero of the second game.) The video game was actually a remake of the first Game Boy Color game with the American intelligent [[Deadpan Snarker]] Tony Jones swapped out for a Japanese hyperactive [[Idiot Hero]] named Dan and with better graphics. The official U.S. site teased that the sixth set would be released to coincide with a CGI [[Animated Series]] that was currently being developed, based somewhat off the Game Boy game. Unfortunately, said cartoon also seemed to be trapped in [[Development Hell]]. Fans began to lose hope.
Cut to six years later.
The cartoon finally releases! Now it's traditionally animated with an [[Animesque]] style, but at least it's out, right? Even if most of its target demographic will have no idea what it's based on. So what if Tony suddenly has black hair, Magi are summoning creatures with chunks of raw Animate, which is supposed to be next to impossible, creatures are switching types all over the place, and... [[Ruined FOREVER|...WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY CHILDHOOD?!]] Needless to say, many fans were disappointed, especially now that it seemed as if the old card game had finally died and been replaced with an online MMORPG. Except that--no! There were ''new'' preview cards! In... [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|a completely new format, with a new art style, new card backs and]]--[[They Just Didn't Care|is this even related to the old game at all?]]
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* [[Dumb Muscle]]: Many, but Korg is the standout example.
* [[Fungus Humongous]]: Underneath. The Ormagon. There's a reason a quote from this game is on that page.
* [[Guide Dang It]]: Shadow hold. Come on...try getting through it without a guide. We're here waiting.
* [[Hobbits]]: The Eliwan as a whole. Although they do possess magic, they are small, non-threatening, unambitious, and perpetually look like young children until they get ''really'' old. The Naroom and Weave people hew the closest to the trope.
* [[Jungle Japes]]: Paradwyn, and perhaps Bograth to an extent.
* [[Kid Hero]]:
** In America, Tony Jones, a [[Deadpan Snarker]] who also has some aspects of [[The Snark Knight]].
** In Japan, this was changed into Dan, an [[Idiot Hero]] with tons of fighting spirit who rarely thinks things through.
*** This probably says something fairly deep about the cultural differences between Japan and America, but I'll be damned if I know what it is.
* [[Kill It with Fire]]: [[Zig-Zagging Trope|Zig-zagged!]] While the Cald region does get a number of damaging and destructive abilities, they're ''also'' big on healing and rejuvenating abilities, providing the warmth of life.
* [[Lethal Lava Land]]: Cald
* [[The Lost Woods]]: Naroom
* [[Mons]]: The Dream Creatures
* [[Our Dragons Are Different]]: The Hyren.
* [[Punctuation Shaker]]
* [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]: The Shadow Geysers, and {{spoiler|Agram.}}
* [[Seashell Bra]]: Many of the female Orothans wear this kind of attire.
* [[Shifting Sand Land]]: The [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|aptly-named]] Sands of d'Resh.
* [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World]]: Nar
* [[Trademark Favorite Food]]: Evu and jellybeans. There's even a relic in the card game named "Evu's Jellybeans."
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=== Tropes found in the card game include: ===
* [[Art Evolution]]: Compare [http://bluefurok.com/BSImages/Carillion.jpg this card], from the first set, to [http://bluefurok.com/TRimages/carilliontitan_nc_tr.jpg this card] from the last one.
* [[The Caligula]]: Korg, after declaring himself All-High King of Bograth.
* [[Early-Bird Cameo]]: One of the earliest Shadow Magi was a d'Resh shadow magi, three full sets before any other d'Resh cards came out. Bograth, the Weave, and Paradwyn were also mentioned on cards before any cards from those regions were released. Pre-errata'd for your convenience!
** Many cards actually referenced specific nonexistent cards planned for future expansions. Unfortunately, the card game was cancelled before some of these cards were printed, so there are currently some cards which reference cards that probably never will exist.
* [[Hurricane of Puns]]
* [[Infinity+1 Element]]: Universal spells, creatures, and relics, which can be used without penalty by any magi.
* [[Late to the Punchline]]: Many of the [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]] on the cards won't make sense to a little kid. Then you grow up, and suddenly, seeing the random nod to a Frank Zappa song on the [[Our Dragons Are Different|Snow Hyren]] is [[Crowning Moment of Funny|the funniest thing ever.]]
* [[Mineral MacGuffin]]: The Heart of Paradise.
* [[Non-Lethal Warfare]]: Characters do die, but very rarely, probably because all of them feature on their own cards. For example, during the wars between Bograth and Paradwyn, as well between Orothe and Cald, not a single named Magi dies during either battle. This is often explained by defeated Magi simply [[Non-Lethal KO|losing consciousness]] since they rely on bodily energy in order to fight, and it seems universally standard to capture defeated opponents rather than kill them. Granted, this only applies to named characters (those that appear on official cards) who are more or less implied to be the most noteworthy magi in each region. The rest of the [[Red Shirt|nameless magi]] could theoretically be [[Dying Like Animals|dropping dead left and right]].
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* [[Puni Plush]]: Straight lines? Angles? Never heard of 'em.
* [[Shout-Out]]: ''Many,'' from the generically nerdy (Such as ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'') to the more obscure. And, for some reason, lots to the [[Disney Animated Canon]].
* [[Stripperiffic]]: Just check out the costumes on some of those female Magi. Erm, wow. [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|This is a kid's game?]]
* [[This Is Your Brain on Evil]]: Shadow magi--"normal" magi who use Core power--usually.
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* [[Disc One Final Dungeon]]: ''Several'', actually:
** The fourth Shadow Geyser appears to be the final dungeon, because once you got all those core stones...you can go home. [[The End - or Is It?]]
** Then you get the Fifth shadow geyser in the Arderial region.
* [[Doomed Hometown]]: {{spoiler|The Underneath is completely destroyed after Tony takes care of the shadow geyser there.}}
* [[Downer Ending]]: If {{spoiler|Tony Jones decides to take Agram's offer up - and apparently just wordlessly looks back}}.
* [[Dummied Out]]: The thunder and core hyrens...unless that is, there's a way to actually obtain them. (If there is, it's ''very'' well hidden - because most people on [[
** I can answer this one; the missing regional hyrens are in the game, but were never added to the encounter tables in their areas; this is why they're completely accessible with Game Genie-like devices. It was a simple programming oversight caused by a rush to wrap up the final areas and get the game out as part of a multi-front marketing push when the MN property launched.
** It's likely that there were plenty of dungeons and backgrounds that were dummied out of the game, since you can explore tunnels and rooms that don't seem to be there for any reason other than to look pretty.
** Core Hyrens are actually not hard to find (A few bosses use them) but you need Thunder Hyren animite to make one, and, yeah.
* [[Everything Fades]]: Technically most bosses do this off screen, but you actually get to ''see'' Morag vanish after killing him near the end of the game.
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* [[Hand Wave]]: Why exactly Korg's creatures always take longer to summon than normal is explained by Zet as Korg just being an idiot.
* [[The Heavy]]: Morag is [[The Dragon]], but presents a much more common villainous role compared to [[Big Bad|Agram]], who only appears twice in the game.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Gorgor, off screen, that is.}}.
* [[Hopeless Boss Fight]]: The first fight against Morag. Even at max level, with the strongest [[Olympus Mons|Hyrens]] at your command, all you can do is struggle helplessly as he summons increasingly stronger monsters till you are beaten.
** It is possible to defeat him legitimately if you have at least four maxed-out creatures with the ability "Consume." Since Consume absorbs another creature's energy (and may [[One-Hit Kill|terminate]] a creature), you don't have to summon your creatures as often. With a Gameshark, you can acquire the "Court" spells (Judge, Jury, Executioner) and using these makes all of your potentially terminating attacks actually terminate 100% of the time. However, you would have to cast Jury and Executioner on every new Borgor. Obviously, this is a very long and arduous process, and winning doesn't give you anything but some experience and animite. The story and dialog stay the same.
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* [[New Game+]]: Perhaps the ''only'' way to get some dream creatures. (Namely the core ones, which you should have a ''lot'' of animite for by that point)
* [[Power Floats]]: Morag seems to lack his lower body, and levitates in midair at all times.
* [[Scenery Porn]]: The battle backgrounds are bleh, but some of the backgrounds in other areas are actually quite detailed, especially given the Game Boy Colour's limited palette.
* [[Shout-Out]]: When first meeting [[Dumb Muscle|Gogor]], you try to introduce yourself only to be cut off to the mantra of [[Dwayne Johnson|"''IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!''"]]
* [[The Chosen One]]: Deconstructed a tad, {{spoiler|The prophecy of Magus Kyros? It's actually a ''warning'' - Magus Kyros isn't great, he'll ''DESTROY'' Magi Nation! It's a little clear that Tony is ''not'' Magus Kyros, but actually, ''the reason the world is at stake anyways!'' In order to create all the shadow geysers, Tony Jones is the catalyst.}}
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