Speak of the Devil: Difference between revisions
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== [[Tabletop RPG]] ==
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'':
*
** 3.5 has Truenaming, which around level 18 gives a feat that allows a character to do this with a use-name of their choice. Speaking the use-name, afterward, allows the character to know where you are, what the general situation is, and lets them decide whether or not to be teleported into the area. Depending on the character in question, this can either be an example of this trope, or [[Call on Me]]. Or, in some cases, both at once.
** Also from ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'': any good or neutral creature that speaks Pazuzu's name three times will catch his attention. He sometimes offers to aid such a creature if they're in trouble... but accepting a boon from a demon lord [[The Dark Side|is guaranteed to pull you into evil]].
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** Although its been referenced in several other tropes, the legend of the Serpent's Coil still (sort of) counts. A 2nd edition myth that made it into 3.0 before being retconned out at the end of 3.5, the myth went that Asmodeus, the king of Hell, was actually a very advanced illusion or perhaps an avatar of some sort; his ''true'' shape was a [[Eldritch Abomination|miles-long monstrosity of utter, incomprehensible evil]]. When he was hurled from the celestial planes into Hell, this form crashed through the dimension's reality - creating the nine levels of Hell - and came to rest in a deep, spiraling crater at the very bottom of The Pit. In an aversion of this trope however, telling someone this story didn't summon Asmodeus: it simply caused the storyteller to die within 24 hours (by unspecified means). Which is about on par for drawing the attention of overwhelmingly powerful evil uberdeities.
** [[Points of Light]] has an interesting reversal. The god that Asmodeus rebelled against in this setting is known only as "He Who Was". This is because Asmodeus literally [[Unperson|erased all record and memory]] of the deity's name from history, fearing that if it was spoken just once, the slain god would regain his powers.
* In the ''[[Planescape]]'' setting Cerlic, the Ferryman of the Styx (known as Charon to most mortals) is a unique yugoloth and one of the safest ways to travel through the Lower Planes, and simply saying his name on the shores of the River Styx will summon him in at most, a half-hour. Being a yugoloth, however, he is [[Only In It For The Money]] and requires payment up front (which is astronomical) and anyone who summons him and refuses to pay is attacked; he's incredibly powerful, on par with a minor demon lord.
** Another example of this that was legitimate is the Demon Lord Fraz-Urb'luu, who is notorious for using a unique talent to use the names of other Demon Lords to trick them into thinking they have been summoned. His usual strategy is to do this, and then teleport away right before the victim appears, assuring that the angry demon will take out his anger on whoever Fraz-Urb'luu had been fighting. This strategy naturally has made Fraz-Urb'luu universally hated among other Demon Lords.
* [[Kibo]], mentioned below in the [[Real Life]] section, was used by ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]''. In the digital web, he set up magic tracers so whenever anyone said his name, he would instantly be able to appear, as a real person, in front of them.
* The Antediluvians in ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' are like this, or at least their vampiric descendants are afraid that they might be. At various points, it comes up that the names we have for them aren't their real names, just pseudonyms that are used to refer to them without the possibility of drawing their attention via Speak of the Devil.
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