History VideoGame / TheImmortal1990

** [[spoiler:Mordamir]] can do this to you with a [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic spell]] during the final battle.

* SquishyWizard: Subverted in that although you are an aging apprentice wizard, you are a reasonably competent sword-fighter. Played straight in that, despite this (and your health bar), most traps kill you instantly, and most larger monsters (and swarms of smaller enemies) don't give you a chance to fight back, with similar results.

''The Immortal'' is an isometric-perspective adventure game created by Creator/WillHarvey, originally released in 1990 for the UsefulNotes/{{Apple II}}GS and ported to the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, UsefulNotes/AtariST, UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer and UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis; the NES port was rereleased on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch Online Service in July 2020. Your character is a wizard searching the deadly ruins of Erinoch for his lost master Mordamir, who appeared to you in a dream and prompted your quest. The story is told largely through character interactions and your own inferences based upon clues you collect; however, you will spend most of the game dying horribly. For instance, one of the ''very first things'' that can happen in the game is that you are given a warning to move quickly. It's more or less the only free warning you will get, and if you choose not to heed it, [[PressStartToGameOver you are eaten by a worm and instantly killed]].

* SquishyWizard: Subverted in that although you are an aging apprentice wizard, you are a reasonably competent sword-fighter. Played straight in that, despite this (and your health bar), most traps and larger monsters kill you instantly.

* TakenForGranite: You get a spell that lets you do this to yourself as a protective measure. You're a statue for the duration, frozen in your dodge pose and invulnerable until it wears off. Don't waste the spell charges!

* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Mordamir, who gloats after you run out of defensive spells that "as long as I have this amulet, the dragon won't attack me". He didn't expect you to have one final spell, courtesy of Dunric: the Magnetic Hands.]]

* InexplicableTreasureChests: Justified - [[spoiler:Mordamir wanted you to reach him, so he left useful equipment for you.]]

* CheckpointStarvation: While there's little in the way of checkpoints, you do have 3 lives to make it through a level. Dying sticks you in the room prior to where you died with your health maxed out. Unfortunately, the final level is pretty much the final confrontation and a very long puzzle sequence centered around picking the right spells for the right time and using them at the right time. Dying here is a game-over immediately, forcing a restart.

* TheManyDeathsOfYou: There are a variety of animations for your inevitable, repeated demises. Magazine ads for the game were basically nothing but [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/46307b22d21f23d38804ebcfd4ecc7cd/tumblr_p5dw2qGAm81ram05oo1_500.jpg a list of the various ways you could be killed]]. Kind of ironic for a game called "The Immortal".

'''''NOT''''' to be confused with ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'', which can also be difficult to get through, but in a different way.

* CharmPerson: On one level you encounter a dwarf, who's carving a gem. He makes it clear that you need the gem, and he's ''not'' going to give it to you. The solution is to find and use "dust of agreement", which makes the dwarf happy to give you the gem.