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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MR_EVO_2895.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:300:Ladies and gents, the Orcoro Circus!]]
3->''In our world, creating monsters from items called "Saucers" and then raising them is a part of everyday life. We call the places where monsters are raised "[[TitleDrop Monster Rancher]].''"
4
5And so begins the tale of [[HelloInsertNameHere Julio]], your average 15-year-old Monster Breeder, and our hero in ''Monster Rancher EVO''.
6
7''Monster Rancher EVO'' (''Monster Farm 5: Circus Caravan'' in Japanese) is a bit [[OddballInTheSeries different from older entries and later entries]] in that it retains 4's "raise five monsters at a time" mechanic, while being [[GenreShift more plot heavy and traditionally RPG-ish than any predecessor]]. You play as the aforementioned Julio, who, in the beginning of the game, is not confident in his Breeding skills as his only monster ran away. The game begins as your circus troop of you, [[BigBrotherMentor Albert]], Marlene, and [[GentleGiant Gaufre]] are joined by [[MagicalGirl Nayuta]], who quickly demonstrates a rather unique talent, unlocking monsters from Saucers.
8
9Armed with this ability, and Julio's Anima Recorder, you and the Orcoro Circus set out on a continent-spanning adventure, fighting [[TheHeartless stray monsters with darkened anima]], unraveling each character's past, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking putting on circus shows]].
10----
11!!Tropes present in Monster Rancher EVO:
12* AlternateDimension: [[spoiler:The world of Warp]].
13* AmbiguouslyBrown: Gaufre and Nayuta. The former is from a colorful Jamaica caricature, but the latter is more of a straight example.
14* AnimeHair: Spikes and huge, naturally gravity-defying hair are front and center among the main cast.
15* ArtificialStupidity: Fighting the stray monsters can become this, as they'll politely wait around for your Guts to charge up most of the time. [[NintendoHard But sometimes, they won't.]]
16* BlindIdiotTranslation: The translation is generally competent, but the lack of contractions and plurals rears its ugly head now and then.
17* CallASmeerpARabbit: Tigers, which are wolves. Golems, Pixies, Plants and Dragons avert this trope, as do other species of monster.
18* TheCameo: When your monster is performing tricks in the circus shows, sometimes the tricks involve old monsters such as Bakus and [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Color Pandoras]]. Just like with Bajarl, they're for show only and completely un-raisable.
19* CardCarryingVillain: Dotty and Petty play this trope completely straight. They quote tried-and-true villain staples like getting somewhere before the heroes and blocking their path and stealing the MacGuffin just because the heroes want it.
20* CherryTapping: The quickest way to win a boss fight is to raise a monster's Speed and Power/Intelligence to ridiculous heights and pound away with low-Guts moves.
21* ComMons: Hares are a fairly common disc monster.
22* ContinuingIsPainful: Averted in the case of losing to the dungeon bosses. If all three of your monsters get knocked out, you'll simply get a scene where Nayuta and Julio resolve to come back stronger.
23* CoolHelmet: Gaufre makes steel and bull horns look natural. There ''is'' a reason for it though. [[spoiler: In his village, it's customary to only show your face to family members.]]
24* CompetitiveBalance: Any monster can beat any other monster if you put enough time and effort into raising it.
25* DungeonCrawling: Very present. A few monster races are rideable however, making moving through the dungeons much quicker.
26* EvilCounterpart: Dotty's Piroro/Gitan is a dark purple sub-breed of your purebred Piroro.
27* ExpositionFairy: Bajarl, a monster which was only raiseable in the second game, returns to explain things to you as you traverse the various dungeons.
28* FantasticRacism: The BigBad hates humanity.
29* FirstTown: Colno, which possesses nice trees, a breezy atmosphere, and relatively normal living conditions compared to later towns you'll find.
30* GenreShift: It's more of a half-and-half RPG/Simulation than earlier Monster Rancher entries.
31* TheGimmick: Like previous games, you can unlock the monsters inside of your [=CDs=] and [=DVDs=] to raise and battle.
32* GoldfishPoopGang: The Violet Cats, a duo of [[CardCarryingVillain by-the-book]] villains who are out to annoy you at every turn.
33* GottaCatchEmAll: There are 246 Monsters total.
34* GuideDangIt: Getting Henger requires you to go to a place you've already cleared and find a specific item.
35* HopeBringer: Your party brings hope to the towns via their circus shows.
36* IdleAnimation: Every monster breed has them, and they're quite nice to look at.
37* LoveTriangle: [[spoiler:Albert was caught up in one in his hometown that carried on for years due to a misunderstanding. It gets addressed and wrapped up over the course of the game.]]
38* MagikarpPower: Every monster in the game, if raised properly, has the power to beat the final boss single-handedly.
39* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Woo, to Dilong]].
40* {{Minigame}}: The bread and butter of your circus performances is doing well in minigames, which are tied to specific tricks that increase specific parameters for a single monster. That 30-second time limit feels shorter and shorter as you get more monsters and harder minigames to complete.
41* {{Mascot}}: Piroro for Monster Rancher EVO specifically.
42* {{Mon}}: Two hundred and forty six of them in all.
43* MonsterClown: Albert.
44* MysteriousWaif: Nayuta and Linka.
45* MythologyGag: [[spoiler:Moo was the main antagonist and a world-destroying force in the [[Anime/MonsterRancher anime]]]].
46* NintendoHard: Easier than earlier games, but still prevalent.
47* OmnicidalManiac: [[spoiler:Dilong wants to destroy the word, courtesy of Moo]].
48* OptionalBoss: A bonus dungeon unlocked after you beat the game has you fight [[spoiler:a red version of Moo]].
49* PrettyButterflies: Monsters' souls are represented as rainbow-colored butterflies.
50* RebelliousPrincess: [[spoiler:Marlene]].
51* SaveBothWorlds: [[spoiler:By the end of the game, Julio has to save both his own world and the world of Warp.]]
52* SealedEvilInACan: The BigBad of the game is trying to revive Moo.
53* TrainingBoss: Dotty is the very first person you fight in the whole game and gives you a rundown of how Monster Battles are fought, with Nayuta chiming in to elaborate.
54* TrippyFinaleSyndrome: The final world is like an Escher painting.
55* UnexpectedGameplayChange: The game departs from the usual tournaments and stat-raising of previous games, and is a lot lighter on the simulation aspect in general.
56* YouLoseAtZeroTrust: If your monster hates you because you were unnecessarily hard on it, it'll run away.

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