Summon Magic: Difference between revisions

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'''Summon Magic''' is basically the ability to call on a magical, often mythological entity without the hassle of actually having it follow you around.

In most Eastern [[Role -Playing Game|Role Playing Games]]s, one of the most powerful means of blowing the crap out of your enemies, aside from a [[Limit Break]], is to call some powerful mythological beast to lay the holy (or [[Eldritch Abomination|unholy]]) smackdown for you. A powerful spell that, for all intents and purposes, works just like any other attack spell, only with lots of (often superfluous) eye candy thrown in. Typically, one or more powerful creatures will [[Friendly Fireproof|make a flashy entrance, perform an attack]] [[Slap-On-The-Wrist Nuke|(causing as much destruction as possible]]), and then leave. The summon may be a [[Limit Break]] or have some other restriction in order to compensate for its power.

Summons will occasionally require you to [[Defeat Means Friendship|defeat them before you can use their power]]. In franchises, especially [[Non-Linear Sequel|non-linear ones]], the summoned creatures will usually remain the same across all installments, such as in the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' and ''[[Tales Series(series)]]''.

Note that in most Western [[Role -Playing Game|Role Playing Games]]s, summon spells are of the "instant ally" variety, as in the [[Tabletop Games|Tabletop RPGs]] they're modeled after: Beings summoned are much weaker than those in Eastern RPGs, but stay in the battle as fully commandable [[NPC|NPCs]]s (at least for a few minutes) instead of delivering a one-shot proxy attack and vanishing. [[Necromancer|Necromancers]]s and Demon-summoners, both who usually use a form of [[Hermetic Magic]], fit this subset of the trope. The Japanese form of such spirits are [[Onmyodo|shikigami]].

* Summoning jutsu in ''[[Naruto (Anime)|Naruto]]'' require the user to make a pact with the creatures he summons, and are actually explained as a type of teleportation that is also used on inanimate objects to create a [[Hyperspace Arsenal]] (and the same branch of ninjutsu used to flat-out manipulate time and space). One particularly inventive ninja created a technique to "summon" ''himself'' to other places (special seal which he put on kunai to be specific) [[Teleport Spam|as a way of traveling quickly]].

* Referred to as 'Stellar Spirits in ''[[Fairy Tail (Manga)|Fairy Tail]]'', and Stellar Spirit mages are summon them with 'Keys'. Also summons can change appearance depending on the owner {{spoiler|(e.g Virgo and even Loki)}} but always have the same personality. A few don't distinguish friend from foe, or do so in a perverted fashion...so far Lucy is the only one of note, minus one other who plays into {{spoiler|Loki}}'s backstory.

* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Striker S (Anime)StrikerS|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Striker S]]'' introduced Summon Magic to the franchise along with two summoners: Caro, who can summon dragons, and Lutecia, who can summon insect-like creatures.

* The CHILDs in ''[[MaiMy-HiME]]'' are of the Western school of summoning. Once they're summoned, they stay on the battlefield until they are destroyed or their summoner willfully dematerializes them. Some can even be given [[Calling Your Attacks|vocal commands]] (Natsuki does this frequently when readying her [[Limit Break|ultimate attacks]]).

* ''[[Persona Trinity Soul (Anime)|Persona Trinity Soul]]'', to no one's great surprise - considering that it is set in the same [[Verse]] as ''[[Persona 3 (Video Game)|Persona 3]]'', mentioned below. The personas seem to be of a more permanent nature here, even surrounding their owner like a translucent suit of armour and enabling flight, and the evokers have been removed.

* Fong-Fong from ''[[Rosario to Vampire (Manga)|Rosario to+ Vampire]]'' has the power to summon various monsters to aid him in battle. Unfortunately, he hasn't mastered it, so he only gets a random monster.

* All demons in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima (Manga)|Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' seem to require a summoning to be anywhere. They stay around till their task is complete, to which they then leave in a [[Smoke Out|poof of smoke]]. Demon slayers are required to end their summoning by defeating them before they can complete their task (usually killing). Most higher level demons don't bother for pride's sake, but demons do act on free will to meddle in human affairs, which appears to be the only time slayers and exorcists will outright kill them. However, they only ever organize when utilized by humans. Is per [[Functional Magic|Rule Magic]], the amount and quality of demons summoned is directly linked to a summoner's skill or raw power.

* ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]'''s Ascot, who thinks of his summoned beasts as his only friends --mostlyfriends—mostly because [[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy|everyone else ran in fright of him when he summoned something]]-- but—but doesn't hesitate to sic them on his enemies, at which point they tend to get killed. Clef can also summon great beasts, although he uses them more as vehicles than enforcers.

* ''[[Final Fantasy Unlimited (Anime)|Final Fantasy Unlimited]]'' , an anime loosely based on the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series, has a character who uses a magic gun to summon monsters.

* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]]'': Just about all "furniture" (Think where summons and servants collide) uses this trope. At least, in the mansion. Given that the meta-world appears to be where all the magical stuff lives (at least at this point in time), anyone magical can pop up at any time.

* In ''~[[There, Beyond the Beyond~]]'', magicians are sometimes seen making use of summoning magic as the article describes, but the main plot stresses the use of magic to summon flowers from the Beyond, which are permanent beings that can grant wishes, perform miracles, and enhance magical powers.

* ''[[Rental Magica]]'' has Adilicia, a heir apparent of a magic schoool in [[Hermetic Magic|Solomon's tradition]] who prefers this part. If she uses magic, it's going to be "summon demon" -- or—or occasionally "summon angel".

* In ''[[The Smurfs (Filmfilm)|The Smurfs]]'', Gargamel sends a moth to [[Shout-Out|summon eagles]] so that he could escape Rikers Island in New York City. Instead, he gets a swarm of flies that help him escape.

* Unsurprisingly, the source material of the [[Mega Ten]] series, ''[[Digital Devil Story (Literature)|Digital Devil Story]]'', features summoning via the [[Powers Asas Programs|Demon Summoning Program.]]

** There are indications that there is another magic, seen with the golem in the second book. The magic of earth and shadow that powers it is antithetical to demons, it was created by a man who did not appear to be a magician, and who was [[Cast Fromfrom Hit Points|putting a lot of himself into it]]. However, summoning and controlling demons is presumably a easier and actually less damaging to your health than golem making, and no other spells are mentioned that use it.

* ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'': In ''[[The Phoenix On the Sword (Literature)|The Phoenix Onon the Sword]]'', Thoth-amon's [[Ring of Power]] gives him this power.

{{quote| ''What do you see, oh serpent of Set? Whom do you call from the gulfs of the Night? Whose shadow falls on the waning Light? Call him to me, oh serpent of Set!''}}

* The warlocks from Ian Tregillis' ''[[Bitter Seeds (Literature)|Bitter Seeds]]'' had no power of their own but could summon Eidolons to do their bidding. Eidolons however cannot be commanded, only bargained with.

* Andrew, from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', summoned powerful demons to battle Buffy. <ref>After his return in the following season as an ally to Buffy, he never summoned a single demon again. When he is begging to join the good guys (instead of just being a hostage for them), and is asked what exactly he would bring to the table. He points out his skill at summoning demons, receives an askance look, and admits that skill isn't exactly a useful one for the good guys.</ref>

* The titular character on ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' has this. As a Dragonlord, he can summon and command the dragon by calling to it, and it was bound to obey him.

* This is how Daemons of Chaos are brought into battle in both ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' and ''[[Dawn of War]]''.

* ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' errs on the side of game balance in regards to summoning magic (a subset of the "conjuration" school of magic). All casters have some form of summoning magic, at all levels of casting, but the creatures summoned aren't all-powerful. They do, however, fight right alongside everyone else in combat, meaning nobody has to step out for the summon to take their place. There are also the ''Planar Binding'' and ''Planar Ally'' spells, which call forth an exceptionally powerful creature, by force or bargaining respectively. And at the highest end of things, there are a handful of spells that take quite a lot of time to cast, but conclude with the caster summoning his own private squad of powerful, ''loyal'' monsters.

* In ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering]]'' all creature cards are actually spells that call them forth to fight in the duels.

** Some even work in the Eastern fashion, as one-shot super-monsters. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080617101312/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=2259 Ball Lightning] is the canonical example of a very large, very damaging, very ''brief'' red summon.

** Of course, summoning is the primary way to beat your opponent, though it ''is'' possible to [[Kill It Withwith Fire]].

* In ''[[Mage: The Awakening]]'' and ''[[Werewolf: The Forsaken]]'', it is possible to summon spirits from [[Spirit World|the]] [[Dark World|Shadow]], though they are by no means obligated to serve the summoner (without additional magics or rituals, at least) and can often quite hostile. The ''Mage'' [[Sourcebook]] ''Summoners'' has details for summoning other beings, including cryptids (weird terrestrial mutants, such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster), chtonians (beings which inhabit the Underworld which cannot be reliably said to have ever been alive), [[Eldritch Abomination|Abyssal beings]] and even the denizons of the [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence|Supernal Realms]]. The last two are noted to be very hard to summon, quite difficult to control, and ''extremely'' dangerous.

** ''[[Changeling: The Lost (Tabletop Game)|Changeling: The Lost]]'' also has a minor bend into summoning with the higher levels of the Contracts of Communion, which allow you to summon a guardian made of the Contract's chosen element and bind it to serve your purpose.

* [[Summon Magic]] is rare in ''[[Deadlands]]'', and where it is present, it runs toward the [[Black Magic|dark, soul-devouring end]] of things. [[Magical Native American|Shamans]] might be able to summon and bind nature spirits (the spirits don't like this), but the best summoners are {{spoiler|those that have [[Deal Withwith the Devil|sold their souls]] for such abilities}}.

* One of the first examples is Rydia from ''[[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IV]]''; while summoners were actually introduced in the [[Final Fantasy III (Video Game)|previous game]], Rydia brought attention to the job. Since then, Summon Magic in some shape or form has been a staple of the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series. In some cases [[Gameplay and Story Integration|the summoned beings even play a role in the plot]] (hello Bahamut).

** In ''[[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VI]]'', the summoned beasts, or Espers, drove the entire plot of the game. They weren't even summoned creatures in the usual sense until about an eighth of the way into the game, where they started dying and turning into Magicite. Even before that, pretty much every plot point was based on them: They hold the lost art of Magic, the [[Evil Empire]] is draining their powers to become all-powerful, the [[Mysterious Waif]] is {{spoiler|half-Esper}}, and their world contains the resting place of the Gods of Magic. For all their plot-importance though, the actual summoning aspect is arguably the weakest it's ever been in a Final Fantasy game. You can only equip one summon per party member, and you can only summon them once per battle, unless someone mimics the summoner. True, the summoning effects are still quite powerful, and holding the Magicite alone teaches magic, but they're no longer the bane of all enemies, like they were in ''IV''. Though that's [[Justified]] because Magicite is actually the remains of a ''dead'' Esper. All you're doing is summoning some shadow of their former self.

** ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy XII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XII]]'' were unusual in that they went with a variety of the Western trope, having them replace everyone on the team but the summoner and fight like a party member.

*** Also of particular note is [[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Yuna's]] emergence as a playable character in ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy (Video Game)|Dissidia 012 Duodecim]]'', summon abilities and all. Why is this noteworthy, you might ask? Well, the ''Dissidia'' games are [[Mascot Fighter|Mascot Fighters]]s, and '''''all''''' of Yuna's attacks are carried out by one (or two at once, if in her [[Super Mode]]) of the five Aeons that she obtained in her pilgrimage (sidequests not included) in ''FFX''.

** ''[[Final Fantasy XI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XI]]'' summons are even more Western in battle application, making the summon a variety of 'pet' that costs [[Mana]] to summon, to keep summoned, and to use its powers. In a doubly dissonant subversion, conflicting both with their [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|storyline role]] and their traditional usage in the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series, summons' attacks are actually fairly weak unless you use your desperation ability or reach [[Character Level|level]] 70...out of 75.

** ''[[Final Fantasy XIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XIII]]'' has these, but they can [[Rule of Cool|transform into vehicles]]. Each character has their own summon (Odin, Shiva, Bahamut, Alexander, Hecatoncheir and Brynhildr to Lightning, Snow, Fang, Hope, Vanille and Sazh respectively) because of their status as [[The Chosen One|l'Cie]].

** ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (Video Game)|Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' has not only the traditional Summoner job, but also an additional ability called the Totema, which were meant to represent each of the races within Ivalice. The Totema targeted all the enemy units, and two of them only targeted MP, while the other three targeted HP. But you could only use them when a unit has ten Judge Points, no less.

** ''[[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VIII]]'' takes it a step further, with the entire combat system being built around your summoned creatures, called Guardian Forces. The main characters defeat Guardian Forces and thus [[Defeat Means Friendship|earn their friendship and support]], and "junction" these Guardian Forces. The GFs then grant them various powers, such as the ability to use magic, summon them, use special abilities, or junction magic to their physical stats to make them tougher, stronger, more powerful with magic, etc. This also has some important plot relevance, as a side effect of junctioning Guardian Forces is {{spoiler|memory loss.}}

** The Pain Rings in ''[[Black Matrix (Video Game)|Black Matrix]] 00'', another game by Flight-Plan, also follows the Eastern version.

* ''[[Romancing Sa GaSaGa]]'' does this also; but summoning elementals, to really summon the very powerful monsters you need special items to do so.

* Frequently occurs in the [[Tales Series(series)]] as well, starting with the first game, ''[[Tales of Phantasia (Video Game)|Tales of Phantasia]]''.

** ''[[Tales of Eternia (Video Game)|Tales of Eternia]]'', the second game to use Summons, ratcheted up the pace of the battle in every way, including making all spells take place in real time...except summoning the Greater Craymels. But then, it also switched the summons from being just another kind of spells (as Klarth used) to being a sort of magical [[Limit Break]] charged up by repeatedly using the proper element of spells. (Anyone who's played the game enough knows how often you get to summon Undine, whose domain contains both water and ''healing'' spells.)

** ''[[Tales of Vesperia (Video Game)|Tales of Vesperia]]'' (360) has the basic four Spirits from the series, but doesn't let you summon them in-game. ''[[Tales of Vesperia (Video Game)|Tales of Vesperia]]'' ([[PSPlay Station 3]]) totally makes up for it by giving Estelle a Mystic Arte that summons all four of them at once.

** Pascal in ''[[Tales of Graces (Video Game)|Tales of Graces]]'' can summon the spirits Grim Sylphie (wind), Cyan Deem (water) and Blood Flamme (fire).

** Sheena from ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'' is a [[Ninja]] who can form pacts with each of the 8 [[Elemental Powers|elemental]] [[Physical God|spirits]], ([[Playing Withwith Fire|Fire]], [[Making a Splash|Water]], [[An Ice Person|Ice]], [[Dishing Out Dirt|Earth]], [[Light'Em Up|Light]], [[Casting a Shadow|Darkness]], [[Blow You Away|Wind]], [[Shock and Awe|Lightning]]), and 2 [[Infinity+1 Element|other extremely powerful]] [[Non-Elemental|non-elemental]] ones after [[Defeat Means Playable|defeating]] them in [[Defeat Means Friendship|battle]]. While these summons are incredibly powerful, they are somewhat [[Awesome but Impractical|impractical]] since [[Absolute Cleavage|Sheena]] can only summon while in [[Turns Red|Overlimit mode]].

** As of ''[[Disgaea 4: a Promise Unforgotten (Video Game)|Disgaea 4 aA Promise Unforgotten]]'' you can now summon ''anime characters''. If you ever wanted to sick [[Spice and Wolf|Holo]] or [[Lucky Star|Anime Tenchou]] on your foes, now's your chance.

* Western trope example: Several Hero units in ''[[War CraftWarcraft]] III'' are capable of summoning beasts, elementals, or demons to aid them in battle.

* Beating most Navis in the ''[[MegamanMega Man Battle Network]]'' games will get you their NaviChips, which let you summon them to perform an attack. NaviChips come in multiple levels (as many as five in some games), and they always freeze time, making them especially valuable. To keep players from Navi-spamming, there's a limit of five NaviChips per folder (a deck-like structure of ''thirty'' chips), but you can increase it in various ways.

** In the original ''[[Mega Man (Videovideo Gamegame)|Mega Man]]'' series, Rush, Beat, Eddie, and the only-seen-once Tango probably count. in ''[[Mega Man 8 (Video Game)|Mega Man 8]]'', the [[Unexpected Shmup Level]] has the possibility of calling them all ('cept Tango).

* ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'', and all its computer game adaptations, have plenty of summoning spells...although not all of the beings summoned are going to be instantly cooperative.

** The D&D-based PC game [[Planescape Torment|Planescape: Torment]] is notable for lacking much in the way of the Western-style ally summons its similarly-based contemporaries feature, but does feature several of the Eastern-style instant-massive-damage summons, especially at very high level, where they're accompanied by spectacular CGI-video animations.

** In games like [[BaldursBaldur's Gate]], summoning creatures is usually an excellent way to rip medium-low level adversaries apart; however, higher level wizards tend to have spells which allow to quickly "banish" the summoned creatures, making them useless.

** [[Persona (Videovideo Gamegame)|Persona 1]] and Persona 2 are similar, but without the suicide implications.

** "Item summoning" combines [[Summon Magic]] and spontaneous [[Item Crafting]] magic. In ''Daggerfall'' there was a spell that could create a type of weapon or armor at a random quality level, from nothing; in ''Morrowind'', not only is there the aforesaid "creature summoning" spells but there is a spell that summons specific quality armor or weapons enchanted with the souls of a summoned creature (Daedric Armor).

* Deckard of ''[[Lufia|Lufia The Legend Returns]]'' is a benevolent pirate whose most powerful attacks are "White Whale" and "Sea God". [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|Betcha can't guess what they do.]]

* The Summon Elements in ''[[Chrono Cross (Video Game)|Chrono Cross]]'' are useful not only for sheer damage, but because killing enemies with them makes them drop Shiny materials, needed for [[Item Crafting]] the game's strongest weapons. Sadly, [[Awesome but Impractical|they're loaded with drawbacks]]: you need to have the entire field in their color (which means if you're interrupted after casting All(X Color), you have to start over) and you can only cast so many at a time.

* In ''[[Torchlight (Video Game)|Torchlight]]'' every class has a skill tree dedicated to building your personal mook army.

* In [[Elemental War of Magic|Elemental - War of Magic]], it's possible to summon a wide variety of creatures.

* ''[[Arc the Lad (Video Game)|Arc the Lad]]'' has a share of characters with summon magics such as the titular character, Arc.

* The Servants in ''[[Fate/stay Stay Night (Visual Novel)night|Fate Stay Night]]'' and the [[Fate /Zero (Literature)|related]] [[Fate/hollow Hollow Ataraxia (Visual Novel)ataraxia|works]]. You prepare a magic circle, usually made of blood. Optionally, you can add a relic of that hero or specify them as a Berserker. Then they show up, you make a contract for a week or two throughout the Grail War. The Servant stays until either they are defeated or the Grail War ends, at which point the Grail stops helping you supply them with Prana and they go home. {{spoiler|Except for Gilgamesh. Saber and Rider too in two of the different endings.}} Oh, and the magus who summons them generally has absolutely 0 chance of ever being able to beat their Servant in combat, though there are a few exceptions.

* ''[[Whateley Universe]]'': This is what makes the supervillain Devilmaster so feared. [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|He summons, stores away, and controls all kinds of devils.]] Then sics them on people.

* Pai from ''[[What's Shakin']]'', is a spirit mage; a type of mage that can gain the powers from the creatures they bind to and are able to summon their spirits in the form of "haints" aka ghosts. Of course...Pai is not able to use these powers yet.

* In ''[[Adventurers (Webcomic)|Adventurers!]]!'', Ardam could use summon magic as well, though it usually backfired amusingly on him. Also, his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] hinges on {{spoiler|an ''inversion'': pulling an enemy into the realm of summoned creatures so they can all beat the hell out of it.}} This was thought to be impossible until, ''in the middle of battle'', Ardam figured out how to do it.

* Done a few times in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', all involving spells found in the [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|Book of E-Ville]]. Most summoned creatures are demons, who are used to grant wishes, seek vengeance, or buy beer. However, at one point Bun-Bun summons the Groundhog's shadow (yes, the one which tries to scare a groundhog every February 2nd2 so there can be six more weeks of winter); the spell goes wrong, and the [[Living Shadow]] ends up stuck to Bun-Bun for several years.

* Summoned creatures in ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'' are of the instant ally variety. They are dismissed if "killed" (the same critter can be re-summoned and give a report) or the summoner is knocked out.

* ''[[Last Res 0 rtRes0rt]]'' has a non-magical ([[Our Genies Are Different|sorta]]) variant of this with the Efreet, specifically Adharia's ally, Sedja (who stays in a bottle around Adharia's neck most of the time, and has so far been "summoned" by [[Rule of Cool|shooting her out of a gun]] that the bottle happens to fit). We haven't seen much of her so far, but her first appearance is a textbook example of this trope.

[[Category:Summon Magic{{PAGENAME}}]]