History Literature / LoneWolf

All the gamebooks up to ''Trail of the Wolf'' and a few of the others can, with the permission of Dever, be played online at [[http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Home Project Aon]].

* {{Badass}}: Lone Wolf.

* BlackSwordsAreBetter: The Drakkarim and other Darklord soldiers use weapons with black blades, made of [[FantasyMetal Kagonite]]. The most dangerous of them all are of course the Darklord swords like Kraagenskûl's Helshezag or Gnaag's Nadazgada. (They still pale before the Sommeswerd, though.)

** The various evil weapons favored by the Darklords have one thing in common: they give combat bonus against ''other Darklords'', and are among the very few things able to kill them permanently. [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Those guys truly have their priorities in order.]]

** Zahda uses a Doomstone and a Lorestone.

* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: Doomwolves; the [[ArtifactOfDoom Doomstones]], mentioned above; the Doomlands of Naaros in Southern Magnamund; and of course Book 4: ''The Chasm of Doom'' (guest star: Barraka the Doomslayer).

* NoGearLevel: This can happen to the hero every couple of books. Notably in Book 2, after you get shipwrecked; in Book 5 and Book 9, if Lone Wolf has to get out of jail; and unavoidably in Book 7, ''Castle Death'', when thrown into TheMaze.

* MoneyForNothing: Though it never becomes completely useless, money does become less useful in the later books. Justified since some of them are set in places that have little use for currency, such as an icy wasteland populated by TheUndead, [[spoiler:a jungle moon orbiting another planet]], and the Plane of Darkness (the series' equivalent to Hell).

* OhCrap: These are the words (or the Magnamund equivalent at least) that probably go through the minds of all the villains when Lone Wolf inevitably shows up to hand them their asses, and it shows. Book 12 has some good examples.

* RailRoading: There's usually more than one direct path to victory, but all books begin and end the same way, and if any major character dies as part of the plot, there's no way to save him. Sometimes the books draw out your attempts to save the doomed character, though.

* [[RichBitch Rich Bastard]]: Roark, as the Lord of Amory, acts this way. [[spoiler:Only eviler, crossing the MoralEventHorizon on his ''very first appearance''.]]

* SpiderSense
** The Sixth Sense tree of disciplines, which often allow for Kai Lords to sense danger before it's too late.
** Grey Star gets his "Prophecy" spell, too, and also a "Psychomancy" spell that lets him examine objects by laying his hands on it. All of these abilities help remove forks in the road when you're at a crossroads in the books.
* SpinOff: The ''World of Lone Wolf'' series starring Grey Star would be a textbook example of this.
* SquishyWizard: Grey Star. He doesn't get armor, the only weapon he's any good with is his staff, and once he runs out of Willpower points he's pretty much boned. He also does not get Lone Wolf's regenerating health skills; apparently Shianti magic just doesn't cover healing.

Also of note is Joe Dever's ''FreewayWarrior'' series, which uses similar rules, but exchanges Magnamund for a ''Film/MadMax''-inspired post-holocaust setting.

* PredecessorVillain: Agarash the Damned [[spoiler:except in the World of Lone Wolf series, where he is TheManBehindTheMan]]. Agarash's legacy in the form of the evil artifacts, weapons, and servants he left behind continues to trouble Magnamund even after he was defeated and sealed thousands of years ago by the Elder Magi.

* DugTooDeep: Kicks off the plot in ''Fall of Blood Mountain''. The greedy crown prince of the dwarves dug too deep into the mountain to mine its valuable veins of korlinium. The same veins of korlinium that were keeping the SealedEvilInACan sealed.

* LeParkour: Toward the end of the first book, you can use the "Roofways" to reach the king's citadel while avoiding the crowded streets. It is mentioned the citizens of Holmgrad were familiar of this way of travel until a royal decree forbade because of too many accidents. Indeed, an unlucky roll can result in another untimely death.

** Many in the gamebooks. Doomstones, Darklord weapons, the Death Staff, etc.

* [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment Gamebook Cruelty Punishment]]: Over the course of the series there are times Lone Wolf can do things that are... morally grey at best. The penalties for such decisions take the form of difficult battles, losing out valuable items, or [[TheManyDeathsOfYou dying horribly]]. Lone Wolf is canonically TheMessiah, he should ''act'' like it.

** Several of the weapons forged by Lone Wolf with Kai Weaponcraft in the New Order series have a CS bonus when used against specific creatures, respectively, like reptiles, undead, stone beings, magic-users, flying creatures or fire-breathers.

* SituationalSword: The Sommerswerd, devastating against Undead, and deadly even for the Darklords, especially if you can get a ray of sun. [[spoiler:It is stated later it could be lethal even against [[BigBad Naar]].]]

The ''Lone Wolf'' {{Gamebook}} series (plural, containing the Kai, Magnakai, Grand Master, and New Order series) were written by Joe Dever; the first book came out in 1984. As the opening quote tells us, the hero is the LastOfHisKind [[AnAdventurerIsYou Fighter/Ranger/Psionic Knight]] Lone Wolf, who escapes the BigBad's [[DoomedHometown destruction of the monastery]] where he and the rest of the Kai Order lived. In the course of his many adventures, Lone Wolf has to avenge his fallen brethren, foil the Darklords and other {{Evil Overlord}}s, try to rebuild the Kai Order, and otherwise save his SwordAndSorcery world Magnamund many, many times.

* AnticlimaxBoss

The '''''Lone Wolf''''' {{Gamebook}} series (plural, containing the Kai, Magnakai, Grand Master, and New Order series) were written by Joe Dever; the first book came out in 1984. As the opening quote tells us, the hero is the LastOfHisKind [[AnAdventurerIsYou Fighter/Ranger/Psionic Knight]] Lone Wolf, who escapes the BigBad's [[DoomedHometown destruction of the monastery]] where he and the rest of the Kai Order lived. In the course of his many adventures, Lone Wolf has to avenge his fallen brethren, foil the Darklords and other {{Evil Overlord}}s, try to rebuild the Kai Order, and otherwise save his SwordAndSorcery world Magnamund many, many times.

* {{Ambadassador}}: Some of Lone Wolf's adventures start out as outwardly "diplomatic missions", like the voyage to Vassagonia in Book 4. Of course, this being Lone Wolf, it always turns quickly to AggressiveNegotiations.

* CutscenePowerToTheMax: This can happen if you have the Sommerswerd. Although it sometimes make a combat much harder, or attract enemies you wouldn't have confronted otherwise, it can also allow you to skip some fight utterly, usually with a description of the CurbStompBattle ensuing.

* ExpandedUniverse: The ''Magnamund Companion''; the TabletopRPG; ''The Skull of garash'' graphic novel; the ''Legends of Lone Wolf'' novels...

* CutscenePowerToTheMax: This can happen if you have the Sommerswerd. Although it sometimes make a combat much harder, or attract enemies you wouldn't have confronted otherwise, it can also allow you to skip some fight utterly.
** Notably the case with a couple of Vordaks and a gaggle of Drakkarim in ''Shadow on the Sand''.

* CutscenePowerToTheMax: The game spends several books hyping up Darklord Gnaag. And when you finally fight him, well if you remembered to bring your InfinityPlusOneSword it isn't so much a fight as it is a very cinematic and fulfilling vaporization.

** A negative version of this trope being the Black Crystal Cube from ''Shadow on the Sand''. It's not until later in the book that you learn [[spoiler:a) it attracts your enemies to your location, and b) it is going to explode in your hand if you don't throw it away fast enough]]. A similar one can be found in ''The Masters of Darkness'', and [[spoiler:if you keep it too long, it just kills you outright when exploding]].

* AmplifierArtifact: The Pyschic Ring and the Grey Crystal Ring. They are implied to be useful only because Lone Wolf has strong PsychicPowers already. Their uses are very situational, however.

* AnotherDimension: The books ''The Prisoners of Time'' and ''Beyond the Nightmare Gate'' involve Lone Wolf and Grey Star traveling to the Daziarn plane, outside the normal universe of Magnamund. In the Grand Master series, Lone Wolf makes repeated (and unwelcome) visits to the Plane of Darkness, [[BigBad Naar's]] home turf.