History Literature / WayOfTheTiger

* HandicappedBadass: Avenger himself. He loses an eye in a later book but gets better via magical implant. But while he's one-eyed, he takes a significant hit to his combat ability

* ImplacableMan: Everyman, the golem that the evil gods send after you to avenge the death of Yeamon, Manse and (almost) Honoric is one -- you can defeat him in combat, but he will just get right back up again and follow you no matter where you run to. It takes kicking him into the Rift (a almost bottomless chasm leading to the depths of TheUnderworld) to stop him. And even ''that'' doesn't kill him. In the last book, Everyman will attack a GiantSpider demi-god to get at Avenger (who himself is now stuck in the underworld). Presumably the spider takes the time to kill Everyman all 100 times required to kill him for good.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Averted. In fact, Katanas are almost never mentioned; the only time being in the prequel by {{Ronin}} and Samurai. The evil Ninja of the Scorpion have [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninjat%C5%8D Ninjato Swords]], but they aren't special.
* KiManipulation: One of the earliest examples in Western gaming, Avenger can tap into his "inner force", which allows him to hit with bone-shattering force. He can also expend his inner force to endure attacks on his mind or withstand harsh environments.

* {{Ninja}}: Good Ninjas of the Tiger follow the god Kwon; evil Ninjas of the Scorpion follow Kwon's evil brother, Vile. Avenger is certainly capable of stealth, but he can also be a HighlyVisibleNinja if you choose him to be. Better do well on those rolls.

* FeaturelessProtagonist: While almost everyone assumes that Avenger is male, the character is never actually stated to be male or female. The reprint specifically mentions that {{honeypot}} Foxglove is trained in seducing both men and women, so Avenger's gender remains ambiguous.

* TheGoodKing: Avenger's father, the previous Overlord of Irsmuncast before the Usurper, was both beloved and just. Avenger himself can try to be a just Overlord, but it's not easy in a city with a budget, bickering factions, ''and'' a significant population of Nemesis worshipers.

* NintendoHard: The series is definitely a gamebook example of this. One on one, Avenger can easily kill anything that's not a high-end supernatural being or epic villain, often without even being seen. Unfortunately, he's still far from invincible and healing is sparse, so every hit a mook ''does'' manage to land on Avenger adds up. Worse yet, modifiers to combat and/or new skills only show up in the first three books. If you don't play through these books, you're stuck using a bare-bones Avenger while the enemies become increasingly difficult.

* ScriptedBattle: Like most gamebooks, combats in ''Way of the Tiger'' are resolved using die rolls (although unlike most gamebooks, you usually have a choice about which move to use). One standout feature of the series is that the [[BossBattle the climactic encounters]] go much farther than that, adding a series of tactical decisions (and chances to use your ninja skills) before settling into the die-roll battle.

* {{Unwinnable}}: If you manage to capture Cassandra at the beginning of Book 6, do not take her magic sword away, or you will die at the end of the book. (This was avoidable in the original, it is not in the reprint.)

* BarehandedBladeBlock: Averted -- Avenger has thin but strong rods of iron built into his costume sleeves allowing him to block bladed weapons without injury.
* BigDamnHeroes: Villainous version. When you're curbstomping Honoric down to a few measly hitpoints, his elite shocktroopers will jump in and drive you off with pikes and arrows before carting him off to safety.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: As a spymistress and worshipper of a god famous for deception, Foxglove is definitely this. A lot of her favors have some hidden agenda attached. In the last book [[spoiler: practically everything she does will get you killed or captured and THEN killed if you accept her entreaties or help]].

* NintendoHard: The series is definitely a gamebook example of this. One on one, Avenger can easily kill anything that's not a high-end supernatural being or epic villain, often without even being seen. Unfortunately, he's still far from invincible and healing is rare, so every hit a mook ''does'' manage to land on Avenger adds up. Worse yet, modifiers to combat and/or new skills only show up in the first three books. If you don't have these books, you're stuck using a bare-bones Avenger while the enemies become increasingly difficult.
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Avenger may find to his cost that a demon can survive an inner force powered punch directly to the face...

* CoolSword: Honoric's sword Sorcerak. It's a black sword that has wisps of smoke coming out of it. What sets it apart from other swords is that Sorcerak can generate fear, dispel magic from even epic-level wizards and can fight on its own.
* CurbStompBattle: Avenger can find himself on the receiving end of these when he makes a wrong move. Failing to deal with Yeamon, Honoric and Manse in the correct order means you can end up facing Honoric and Yeamon together with predictable results. During ''Usurper!'', unless you get help, you end up being being killed after Astaroth summons three other demons to help him when you try and retake the throne.

* ChekhovsGun: In the first book if you spy on the 3 greatest champions of evil in the world, you'll see some hard feelings between Honoric and Manse the Deathmage. Manse is the world's best wizard and casts a spell at Honoric, only to find out that Honoric's magical sword instantly [[AntiMagic dispels any magic being cast]]. This becomes important when you decide the order of who to assassinate.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The world's mightiest wizards and warriors, primordial beastgods, giants, ifrit, an EldritchAbomination or two, demigods and demons - all have died under the fists and feet of Avenger.

** Although not as overtly stated as the fight with Aiguchi, Yaemon himself plays this trope straight when Avenger confronts him in book 1. Finding himself alone with Avenger on the rooftop of Quench-Heart Keep, Yaemon does ''not'' attempt to summon his guards or flee to safety. Instead, the two nemeses exchange a polite martial arts bow, trade a couple lines of [[TranquilFury surprisingly calm]] banter, and settle into the one-on-one battle that Avenger has longed for all his life.

* OneManArmy: In the first book, you can get the opportunity to spy on Honoric training. Using only a normal sword, Honoric has several soldiers attack him at once. Without much effort, he disarms three of them and drives the rest back, and Avenger can discern that Honoric could have killed them all at will. [[CherryTapping And this is without his signature sword, Sorcerak, unsheathed!]]

* OneManArmy: In the first book, you can get the opportunity to spy on Honoric training. Using only a normal sword, Honoric has 40 of his soldiers attack him at once and he easily fends off all their attacks. It's said that this is a light warm-up for him.

* BossBattle: Astaroth is a demon Duke of Hell and consummately far more powerful than any other opponent you face. You take damage moving to attack him, damage on hitting him and his basic endurance and damage are much higher than yours.
* TheCavalry: In ''Usurper'', if you were nicely social to a knight errant earlier in the book, he will suddenly appear when you most need help against a demon and his minions.

* FeaturelessProtagonist: Avenger is never stated to be male or female. The reprint specifically mentions that {{honeypot}} Foxglove is trained in seducing both men and women, so Avenger's gender remains ambiguous.
* FightingAShadow: Killing demons sends them home.

* TheGoodKing: Avenger's father, the previous Overlord of Irsmuncast before the Usurper, was both beloved and just.

* WorldsBestWarrior: Yaemon and Honoric are explicitly said to be this. Honoric is the greatest swordsman in the world, while Yaemon is the greatest martial artist. On top of this, Manse the Deathmage is best wizard in the world while Mandrake is the best assassin. The Forces of Evil just get the best of everything, it seems. No wonder the gods of evil get pissed when Avenger kills off their best toys.

* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: In book 3, Aiguchi the Weaponmaster challenges you to a duel in a special divinely-sanctified dueling area. You can refuse the duel (or flee the area once you've accepted), but will suffer penalties if you do. To the Weaponmaster's credit, the fight itself is strictly one-on-one with no attempts to gimp you (or any other dirty tricks) beforehand. If you win, the evil priests who run the dueling area will respect your victory and allow you to leave unmolested.

** Avenger himself uses punches and kicks in melee. Part of the portfolio of his god, Kwon, is Unarmed Combat.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: As a spymistress and worshipper of a god famous for deception, Foxglove is definitely this. A lot of her favours and aid usually has some hidden agenda attached. In the last book [[spoiler: practically everything she does will get you killed or captured and then killed if you accept her entreaties or help]].

* CurbStompBattle: Avenger can find himself on the receiving end of these. Failing to deal with Yeamon, Honoric and Manse in the correct order means you can end up facing Honoric and Yeamon together with predictable results. During ''Usurper!'', unless you get help you end up being being killed after Astaroth summons three other demons to help him when you try and retake the throne.

** Done to Avenger by a shuriken from an evil master ninja. This will be the worst hurt anyone in the series has done to Avenger.

* PressXToNotDie: The fights between you and Yaemon, then in a later novel Honoric, is kinda like this. No dice rolls, instead you choose which attacks you wish to use against them. If you picked a good choice, then the enemy takes a set amount of damage that can be doubled by using Inner Force. Otherwise you take a set amount of damage and in some cases can wind up getting crippled in the fight. This can lead to a dissonance in play, where you can come out scoring a FlawlessVictory against epic villains like Yaemon and wind up getting carved by an orc mook.

* ShootTheMageFirst: Discussed in the Prequel; Avenger can walk into some kind of SummoningRitual in a ship. If you attack the mage first, they will flashback to their Mentor saying "Yes, always attack the magic user first." This is also good advice any time you fight Tyutchev, Cassandra, and Thaum. Thaum will ''always'' have something nasty about to be cast, so you want to interrupt him first.

* WorfEffect: Depending on your choices in a fight, this could happen to you. For example in the final book ''Inferno!'', if you fight a half-troll mook and use a throw that involves jumping at a foe and grabbing them with your legs, you'll die! The mook turns out to be part dwarf, making him a natural master of the axe and so he slams it into your crotch before you can land the throw on him. This despite you having earlier killed guys that are way, way, way above the half-troll's fighting ability.

* WhatTheHellHero: In Book 6, Avenger will get one from his god Kwon if he decides not to go rescue Glaivas. Kwon's so pissed that he takes a large chunk of Inner Force away from Avenger.

* ArchEnemy: Avenger grew up thinking this of Yaemon, but it's Honoric (Yaemon's ally who survives the initial RoaringRampageOfRevenge) who is in the most books.

* FeaturelessProtagonist: Avenger is never stated to be male or female. The reprint specifically mentions that {{honeypot}} Foxglove is trained in seducing both men and women, and Avenger's gender remains ambiguous.

* FlippingHelpless: Avenger can flip enemies on their backs with different throw techniques. Avenger then follows up with an attack that gets significant bonuses to hit and damage.

* TheGoodKing: Avenger's father, the previous Overlord of Irsmuncast before the Usurper, was clearly this, being both beloved and just.

* ImplacableMan: Everyman, the golem that the evil gods send after you to avenge the death of Yeamon, Manse and (almost) Honoric is one -- you can defeat him in combat but he will just get right back up again and will follow you no matter where you run to. It takes kicking him into the Rift (a almost bottomless chasm leading to the depths of TheUnderworld) to stop him. And even ''that'' doesn't kill him. If you knocked Everyman down, in the last book in the Underworld; Everyman will attack a GiantSpider demi-god to get at Avenger. Presumably the spider takes the time to kill it the 100 times required to kill Everyman for good; fortunately this is a good distraction.

* KiManipulation: One of the earliest examples in Western gaming, Avenger can tap into his "inner force", which allows him to hit for levels of damage that's on par with giants and demi-gods. He can also expend his "inner force" to endure attacks on his mind or withstand harsh environments.
* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: Aiguchi the Weaponmaster challenges you to a duel in one book in a special divinely-sanctified dueling area. You can refuse the duel (or flee the area once you've accepted), but will suffer penalties if you do. To the Weaponmaster's credit, the fight itself is strictly one-on-one with no attempts to gimp you (or any other dirty tricks) beforehand. If you win, the evil priests who run the dueling area will respect your victory and allow you to leave unmolested.

* NintendoHard: The series is pretty famous for this, one on one Avenger can easily kick the ass of anything that's not a high-end supernatural being or epic villain, often without even being seen. Unfortunately, healing in the books is rare and when you ''do'' end up in a straight fight, almost all enemies have a decent chance of scoring a hit on Avenger, with some enemies inflicting especially heavy damage. Worse yet, modifiers to combat and new skills only show up in the first two books. If you don't have these books, you're stuck using a bare-bones Avenger while the enemies become increasingly difficult.

* HeroesPreferSwords: Averted. Other than shuriken and poison needles, Avenger never uses a weapon, preferring kicks, punches, and throws. In fact, in the third book, if he uses a magical dagger that can kill demons in one hit, you have to roll a [[LuckStat Fate roll]] because he's never trained with the weapon.

** In book 3, if you encounter Honoric, it's possible to get ensnared in a random hunter's trap during the confrontation. Honoric then has you at his mercy, but refuses to kill a helpless opponent -- not even one such as you, who previously poisoned him with Orb's most metal venom ''while he was sleeping''. Frustrated, Honoric leaves Avenger alone, much to the latter's utter bewilderment.

* {{Ninja}}: Good Ninjas of the Tiger follow the god Kwon; evil Ninjas of the Scorpion follow Kwon's evil brother, Vile. Avenger is certainly capable of stealth, but he can also be an HighlyVisibleNinja if you choose him to be. Better do well on those rolls.

* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: Aiguchi the weaponsmaster challenges you to a duel in one book in a special divinely sanctified duelling area. You can refuse the duel or flee the area but will suffer penalties if you do. Within the area the fight is strictly one on one and if you win, the evil priests who run the duelling area allow you to leave unmolested.

** Doré le Juine; a LeeroyJenkins-type; yet friendly.

* SquishyWizard: Manse the Deathmage is the most powerful wizard in the world. Unfortunately for him, he's also a weakling. He'll die in either one of two ways. Avenger can steal the artifact sword, Sorcerak and uses its antimagic to keep Manse from casting. Avenger will then walk up to him and snap his neck like a twig. The other way is if Avenger has a protective amulet, this gives him a one-time deflection of Manse's death spell and then Avenger gives him a punch so hard that it almost decapitates him.

* ToHellAndBack: It's taken 27 RealLife years, but Avenger is coming home.

* CliffHanger: The end of the 6th book; written in 1987. On an OrpheanRescue mission, Avenger falls to the bottom level of the settings version of TheUnderworld. It has finally been resolved.

* DarkActionGirl: Cassandra, a female warrior.

* HeroesPreferSwords: Averted. Other than shuriken and poison needles, Avenger never uses a hand weapon, preferring kicks, punches, and throws. In fact, in the third book, if he uses a magical dagger that can kill demons in one hit; you have to roll a [[LuckStat Fate roll]] because he's unfamiliar with the weapon.

* OneHitKill: If Avenger knows Yubi-jutsu (Nerve-striking) and selects the correct attack option, he can do this to an otherwise very dangerous invisible demon. Manse does this to his victims with his favourite Finger of Death spell.

* PoisonIsEvil: Averted, this is a perfectly acceptable way of killing enemies. Specifically, Avenger has poisoned needles with Spiderfish Toxin, and the much rarer BlackBlood of Nil.

* NintendoHard: The series is pretty famous for this, one on one Avenger can easily kick the ass of anything that's not a high-end supernatural being or epic hero. Unfortunately, healing in the books is rare and almost all enemies have a decent chance of at least scoring some hits on Avenger with some beings inflicting especially heavy damage. Worse yet, modifiers to combat and new skills only show up in the first two books, if you don't have these books you're stuck using a bare-bones Avenger while the enemies tend to become increasingly stronger.

* WorldsBestWarrior: Yaemon and Honoric are explicitly said to be this. Honoric is the greatest swordsman in the world, while Yaemon is greatest hand-to-hand warrior. The Forces of Evil get the best of everything, because Manse the Deathmage is best wizard in the world while Mandrake is the best assassin. No wonder the gods of evil get pissed when Avenger massacres their best toys.

* YouKilledMyFather: ''Twice''. Yaemon killed Avenger's adopted father, setting off the latter's quest for vengeance. After Yaemon is defeated, he reveals that he killed Avenger's biological father, too.

* YouKilledMyFather: Twice. Yaemon killed Avenger's adopted father and upon confronting Yaemon, Avenger learns he killed his blood father as well.

* FeaturelessProtagonist: Avenger is never stated to be male or female. The reprint specifically mentions that {{honeypot}} Foxglove is trained in seducing both men and women to make her actions towards Avenger more ambiguous.

* FemmeFatale: Foxglove

* AssassinOutclassin: Mandrake is the Guildmaster of the Assassins and greatest killer in Orb, so naturally Avenger will curbstomp him.

* SquishyWizard: Manse the Deathmage is the most powerful wizard in the world. Unfortunately for him, he's also an EvilAlbino weakling. He'll die in either one of two ways. Avenger can steal the artifact sword, Sorcerak and uses its antimagic to keep Manse from casting. Avenger will then walk up to him and snap his neck like a twig. The other way is if Avenger has a protective amulet, this gives him a one-time deflection of Manse's death spell and then Avenger gives him a punch so hard that it almost decapitates him.

* ImplacableMan: Everyman, the golem that the evil gods send after you to avenge the death of Yeamon, Manse and (almost) Honoric is one -- you can defeat him in combat but he will just get right back up again and will follow you no matter where you run to. It takes kicking him into the Rift (a almost bottomless chasm leading to the depths of TheUnderworld) to stop him.
** And even ''that'' doesn't kill him. If you knocked Everyman down, in the last book in the Underworld; Everyman will attack a GiantSpider demi-god to get at Avenger. Presumably the spider takes the time to kill it the 100 times required to kill Everyman for good; fortunately this is a good distraction.

* ThePaladin: Doré le Juine; a LeeroyJenkins-type; yet friendly.
** Also the Paladin King of Tor; who is capable of taking down a dragon in three hits.

* StoryDrivenInvulnerability: Though you can fight many of the major villains in earlier books, you simply cannot kill them outright as they have to escape alive to appear in later books to avoid continuity errors.
** It is expressed in the reprints that the ones you did kill spent money to [[OnlyMostlyDead have a priest resurrect them.]]

* NintendoHard: The series is pretty famous for this, one on one Avenger can easily kick the ass of anything that's not a high-end supernatural being or epic hero. Unfortunately, healing in the books is rare and almost all enemies have a decent chance of at least scoring some hits on Avenger. Worse yet, modifiers to combat and new skills only show up in the first two books, if you don't have these books you're stuck using a bare-bones Avenger while the enemies tend to become increasingly stronger.

The ''Way of the Tiger'' is a series of [[ChooseYourOwnAdventure gamebooks]] written by Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson set on the fantasy world of Orb. Orb was the setting of the 11th Literature/FightingFantasy book, ''Talisman of Death''; written by the same authors and having many of the same characters. The series is about a {{Ninja}} named [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Avenger]]; who is getting [[YouKilledMyFather revenge]] against the killer of his [[MentorOccupationalHazard mentor and father-figure]]. Naturally, this leads to much larger events.

The series was originally 6 books long and ended in a very large {{cliffhanger}} where Avenger fell into the bottom level of [[{{TheUnderworld}} The Bowels of Orb]]. However, a Website/{{Kickstarter}} campaign was recently [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1615043334/the-way-of-the-tiger-gamebooks-new-collectors-edit successful]]; and work is being done to make hardcover versions of the books; as well as a prequel and a finale. At this time, the prequel and the six books have been [[http://megara-entertainment.com/ done]], and the finale was written in November 2014.

!!''Way of the Tiger'' provides examples of the following tropes:

* CliffHanger: The end of the 6th book; written in 1987. On an OrpheanRescue mission, Avenger falls to the bottom level of the settings version of TheUnderworld. It has finally been resolved.

* EyeScream: Done to Avenger by a shuriken from an evil master ninja. This will be the worst hurt anyone in the series has done to Avenger.

* ForestRanger: Glaivas the Ranger; who is in several books. This is specifically his job title.

* GratuitousNinja: Really, this is the premise of the series. In the '80s with a glut of gamebooks, the Way of the Tiger series set itself apart from the others with the main draw of being a ninja with "real" ninja skills.
* HandicappedBadAss: Avenger himself. He loses an eye in a later book but gets better via magical implant. But while he's one-eyed, he takes a significant hit to his combat ability
* ToHellAndBack: It's taken 27 RealLife years, but Avenger is coming home.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Averted. Other than shuriken and poison needles, Avenger never uses a hand weapon; preferring kicks, punches, and throws. In fact, in the third book; if he uses a magical dagger that can kill demons in one hit; you have to roll a [[LuckStat Fate roll]] because he's unfamiliar with the weapon.

* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Played with -- Honoric can throw his sword "Sorcerak" at you in one fight, but the magical blade has the specific magical ability to fly making this a viable tactic rather than a desperation move and rather than throwing it directly he commands the sword to fly at you.

* {{Wutai}}: The [[HiddenElfVillage hidden bases of the Tiger and Scorpion Ninjas]] as well as the Isle of Plenty. But for the most part; the setting is roughly traditional HeroicFantasy.
* WorfEffect: Depending on your choices in a fight, this could happen to you. For example in the final book Inferno, if you fight a half-troll mook and use a throw that involves jumping at a foe and grabbing them with your legs, you'll die! The mook turns out to be part dwarf, making him a natural master of the axe and so he slams it into your crotch before you can land the throw on him. This despite you having earlier killed guys that are way, way, way above the half-troll's fighting ability.
* WouldHurtAChild: Manse the Deathmage who sacrifices children to his dark god.

* CharacterAlignment: The different factions in the world of Orb.
** NeutralGood: Avenger.
** LawfulGood: The Church of Kwon.
** ChaoticGood: The Demagogue.
** LawfulNeutral: Gwynneth and the Church of Dama.
** LawfulEvil: The Usurper, the Church of Nemesis, Foxglove and the Order of the Yellow Lotus, Honoric and the Legion of the Sword of Doom, Yaemon and the Monks of the Scarlet Mantis.
** ChaoticEvil: Tyutchev, Cassandra, Thaum and the other followers of Anarchil (god of chaos).
** TrueNeutral: Solstice and the Church of Time.

* TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty: Avenger is an assassin. The best method of fighting is an ambush or backstab to cause a OneHitKill or a stunning move that allows a followup OneHitKill. If the enemy survives the first attack, Avenger is not as good at extended fighting.