MediEvil (1998 video game)

A 3D Action Adventure platformer for the original Playstation.

MediEvil tells the story of Sir Daniel Fortesque, a cowardly knight who was killed in the first charge when asked to defeat the Evil Overlord Zarok. He was buried with full military honours to save face and the villain was all but forgotten.

However, the sorcerer returned, enslaving the minds of the kingdom's human population and creating an army of the Undead; fortunately, Fortesque was raised as well, giving him the chance to defeat Zarok and become a real hero.

Sequel game MediEvil 2 advances the timeline to the Victorian era, where Lord Palethorn retrieved Zarok's spellbook and woke Fortesque and the undead hordes yet again.

Recommendable for their sense of humor and memorable characters, the games were however dogged with many of the traditional problems of 3D platformers. The second game in particular was riddled with them.

A remake of the original game entitled MediEvil: Resurrection was an early release for the PSP. It makes a few alterations to the original plot, introduces a number of new characters and greatly plays up the humour. A second remake of the original game has been scheduled for late 2018 release on he PS4

Both the original game and its remake provide examples of:
  • All There in the Manual: In-universe example: Gallowmere (and in the second game, London) is littered with books on small podiums. These serve to explain new concepts, give hints to puzzle solutions, or as humorous fluff text. All of them are totally optional, and some are easily missed.
  • An Axe to Grind: In both games, you can get a huge, double-bladed axe that despite being as large as Dan's torso, can be thrown like a boomerang to deal heavy damage to enemies at range.
  • Automatic Crossbows: Canny Tim's crossbow requires no loading.
  • Awesome but Impractical: The Lightning. It's powerful, sure, but it has a limited amount, and by that time, you already have the Magick Sword and a variety of arguably better ranged weapons. Same goes for the PSP remake, even if the lightning can be replenished.
  • Awesome Yet Practical: Most of the weaponry is this, things like the Magick Sword, Hammer, Crossbow and Axe are all pretty cool, but are even more useful. Also the Gold Shield, which is the most durable shield in the game. And it's gold.
  • Bad with the Bone: Daniel's first weapon is his own arm.
  • Bandit Mook: The 'sticky-fingered' Imps in the first game will steal your currently equipped weapon, leaving you with your arm until you switch to something else. This can result in the weapon being Lost Forever if they get into a hole with it.
  • Bare Your Midriff: Aside from the amazon in the original game, Dan himself qualifies in the PSP remake of the first game. For some reason, he completely lacks armor for his waist, despite having more armor than in the original.
  • Bedlam House: The Asylum.
  • BFS: The Longsword and Magick Sword, especially in the PSP remake. However, Woden's Brand takes the cake. It's easily twice the width of the Magick Sword, and a million times as nasty.
  • Big Boo's Haunt: The first few stages in the original game.
  • Boss in Mook Clothing: The scarecrows. At the time you fight them, you probably won't have the weaponry required to deal with them.
  • Bottomless Pits: Quite frequent in both games. Some entire levels are suspended over these, but the strangest example is on the Ghost Ship, where there's a Bottomless Pit contained within a ship.
  • Broken Bridge: The first game had two of these. The first one was a direct path at the beginning of the game straight to Sleeping Village, a later stage. The only thing barring passage was a gate sealed by the Big Bad's magic, and probably doesn't open up until after the events of the game. The second was in the Pools of the Ancient Dead, where a literal example is present, but it's irreparable, for the only way to pass to the next stage was to get Death to ferry you there.
  • Chest Monster: Two examples: one an ally and one an enemy.
    • In Scarecrow Fields and Pools of the Ancient Dead, knocking open a certain chest will release the spirit of an ancient dragon, Kul Katura the Serpent Lord. Upon being released, he slithers around the level with you and kills nearby enemies before disappearing.
    • In Gallows Gauntlet, getting close to its chest will release the Serpent of Gallowmere, who instead of killing enemies, will only gun for Dan. It'll hound him down, too, all the way through the level if you let it. Despite it seeming incorporeal, you can actually attack it enough that it will be deterred and slither out of the level.
  • Cool Sword: The Magic one.
  • Corpse Land: Pools of the Ancient Dead is a barren, swampy area where the dead from a long ago battle still roam.
  • Cutscene Incompetence: The prologue shows Fortesque being killed by the first arrow shot when he leads the armies of Gallowmere into battle. When you take over, Fortesque can prove to have actually been a pretty good fighter after all.
    • Being good with a sword doesn't really help when you get shot down by an arrow to the eye. Part of what makes him a good fighter in the game is that it's much harder to take out a skeleton.
      • The increased durability helps a lot. You get 8 or 9 life bottles during the game. Without these, the big boss would be, literally, impossible, as you need to use a life draining weapon, and you can, early game even, take quite a few hard hits. But there's also the fact that, over the game, you master the use of dashing, using shields, and powerful charge hits. So, major skill upgrade, facilitated by the fact that you have more life. Plus you get overpowered ranged weapons, from the centaur, like the fire and magic arrow, which allow you to defeat demons with ease. In life, he would not have won against a shadow demon.
  • Dem Bones: Curiously, for a game about undead, there are very few enemies of this type. Also, Fortesque.
  • Don't Fear the Reaper: Death is a valuable ally in both versions of the first game.
  • The Dragon: Captain Lord Kardok to Zarok.
  • Drop the Hammer: The hammer of Stanyer Iron Hewer, to be precise. It squashes flat anything you kill with it, and can be charged up for a devastating shockwave attack. And Dan manages to hold it easily with one hand in the original game.
  • Duel Boss: The cemetery guardians, the flying demons and the stone golems.
  • Evil Sorcerer: Zarok.
  • Exploding Barrels: Well, exploding chests full of... blue stuff that explodes in a massive shockwave, killing anything, save for Dan who is merely shoved away, within its blast radius. They become particularly troublesome, and abundant, in the Pools of the Ancient Dead, where the resulting blast can push you into the Grimy Water, costing you a life.
  • Eye Scream: How Dan meets his end prior to his undeath.
  • Fake Ultimate Hero: Sir Fortesque is an odd example, given that (as shown in-game), Fortesque actually is a more than decent fighter, and can be a true hero if you play your cards straight. The only reason he is one of these is because his reputation was propped up for propaganda purposes (he ended up getting shot in the eye by the very first arrow fired in the battle), not by any effort or fault of his own.
  • First-Episode Resurrection: Fortesque, obviously. Its how the hero enters the game!
  • Gang Plank Galleon: The Ghost Ship in the first game and the Scurvy Docks in Resurrection.
  • Ghost Pirate: The skeleton pirates.
  • Grievous Harm with a Body: The hero's arm can be ripped out and used as a weapon, but it's really a last resort sort of thing.
  • Healing Spring: A rather non-standard example found in both games are 'fountains of rejuvenation', springs of green energy that Dan can stand in to refill his health and his life bottles, a total of 600 energy contained within each. While they reset in the first game, the second game tracks how much health is in each, in every level. So it's nearly impossible to refill your life bottles by visiting previous levels.
  • Heart Container: In either game, Dan can collect 9 life bottles. These function similarly to Metroid's energy tanks, as they're used automatically when Dan's health is depleted. They're also used whenever Dan falls into a bottomless pit or into deep water.
  • Helping Hands: Hands can be found in either game, skittering across some levels. In the first game, they can be smashed with the hammer for free coins, but in the second Dan can pluck off his head and put it on one of them, to go through small holes or access secret areas.
  • Heroic Comedic Sociopath:
    • Several of the heroes in the Hall of Heroes, particularly Woden the Mighty; a book about him in one stage notes that he scared his enemies "as well as family pets and small children."
    • Then there's BloodMonath Skull Cleaver, who is crazy enough to lead an attack with only the spike on his helmet.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade: Jack the Ripper in the sequel.
  • Hyperspace Arsenal: As either game progresses, Dan gets weighed down with more and more weapons, some nearly as large as he is, and others that go completely unused after a certain point.
  • Inexplicable Treasure Chest: Found in both games, along with Inexplicable Treasure Bags. They're very rarely hidden, save for a few secret areas with extra goodies.
  • Infinity+1 Sword:
    • The Lightning in the first game and the Gatling Gun in the second. Notably, the Lightning is in limited supply and cannot be renewed.
    • The Chicken Drumstick may also be an example, for despite not damaging bosses, it instantly kills minor enemies by poofing them into a hearty meal.
    • Woden's Brand, in the PSP remake. In addition, the aforementioned lightning can now be re-purchased.
  • Its Pronounced Tropay: Sir Daniel Forteskyou. Quickly resolved, as the narrator says it almost immediately.
  • Jerkass: Woden the Mighty in the Hall of Heroes does not think highly of Dan, and he makes it perfectly clear to him.
  • Lethal Joke Item: The Chicken Drumstick. Kill multiple mooks and regain health all in one glorious, southern-fried go!
  • Lost Forever: Any weapon taken away by the 'sticky-fingered' imps (see Bandit Mook above), and the Healing Springs (also mentioned above) in the sequel, if used up completely.
  • The Lost Woods: The Encharted Earth, renamed The Enchanted Forest in the remake.
  • Kill It with Fire:
    • How the Shadow Demons met their fate in the first game, although it was really lava.
    • Also what Dan himself can do with a variety of weapons, namely the Dragon Potion (Dragon Armor in the PSP Remake) which lets him breathe fire, but also makes him invulnerable to it.
  • Mini-Mecha: Something the Imps seem to have a penchant for, piloting ones in their own likeness in the first game, and giant elephant bots in the second.
  • Mr. Exposition: The gargoyles in the first game (when they aren't mocking you) and Winston in the sequel.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In order to proceed, Dan releases the Shadow Demons. The same Shadow Demons that terrorized Gallowmere ages ago, and were magically entombed, sealed away with a magical 'shadow artefact', and intended never to be let into the world again.
  • One-Man Army: Even if he was killed while backed up by an actual army, in death, Dan becomes one of these. Slaughtering zombies, magical beasts, undead minions and even loads of demons like they're nothing.
  • Our Zombies Are Different: Sir Dan may have been brought back via dark forces as an undead monster, but he's still as good a guy as he was when he was alive.
  • Portmantitle: Medieval + Evil.
  • Ruins for Ruins Sake: Mostly averted, but then comes The Haunted Ruins, the remains of King Peregrin's Castle. Aside from the throne room, nothing else about the castle seems livable, and most of the insides seem to be taken up by the dungeon, suspended over a huge black void. The only other notable rooms are the room with the gate stopping a massive lava flow that could destroy the castle and the mountain it sits atop, and a room with a boiler that keeps... a small pool of boiling oil hot.
  • Sequential Boss: The final battle with Zarok takes place over three stages, the first against Zarok's personal army, which you battle with your accumulated souls manifesting in the form of warriors, the second against Zarok's champion, Lord Kardok, and finally against Zarok himself, as a huge fire-spewing multicolored beast that clucks like a chicken. The battle is marginally unchanged in the PSP remake, save for the final phase, in which Zarok transforms into a giant cobra.
  • Shield-Bash: Early on in the game, Dan learns an ability called the 'Daring Dash', which allows him to rush forwards for a few feet, which blocks oncoming attacks, does minor damage to enemies, can be used to smash down walls, and allows Dan to do longer jumps. Available from the get-go in both the sequel and PSP remake.
  • Super Drowning Skills: Fortesque can't swim at all. The dead have buoyancy problems it seems. For laughs, the player has to use this to defeat certain enemies at the Pools of the Ancient Dead. What did you expect from a reanimated skeleton wearing full-plate armor?
  • Took a Level in Badass: For someone who was such a pantywaist when he was alive, Fortesque is a remarkably skilled fighter as a dead guy.
  • Ugly Hero, Good-Looking Villain: Fortesque and Zarok. Well, maybe "Good - looking" for Zarok is a balooney, but he beats Fortesque's ugliness probably because he has a human body.
  • The Unintelligible: Fortesque in the first game, due to lacking a lower jaw, can only moan. He mysteriously gains speech in the second.
    • Although it is audiably slurred beyond the player's understanding half the time. Luckily, there are subtitles.
    • Same thing applies to the remake, though its slightly easier to make out what he says. Slightly.

Original game provides examples of:

  • Cool Train: Zarok's "Chariot".
  • Incredible Shrinking Man: Dan becomes one of these briefly, after accepting a quest from the Witch of the Forest to gather seven pieces of amber for her. Unfortunately for him, said amber is in the depths of an anthill. This 'quest' and the level that follows it are both completely absent from the PSP remake.
  • Power Crystal: Found in The Lake, attached to huge machines that, when activated, freeze a gigantic whirlpool in place.
  • Riddle Me This: Jack the Green, master of the Asylum gardens is quite fond of this. He gives Dan a series of riddles that must be solved using things around the hedge maze which the garden is comprised of.
  • Schizo-Tech: Scarecrow Fields, a farm in the late 1300's, has a combine and a small processing plant near the end of the stage.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: The Shadow Demons in the first game; Fortesque is forced to release them when he himself is trapped in their prison. Also the Stained Glass Demon from the same game, whose heart has been locked away.
  • Shark Tunnel: The Lake has a tunnel of water, magically frozen in place by crystals. Outside are huge, blue elephant fish, which constantly trumpet as they swim around.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Karl Sturnguard and Dirk Steadfast are implied to be this in a book you can find in The Sleeping Village. Despite hating each other's choices in weaponry, they remained friends until Sturnguard's death, caused by his choking on a large sausage whilst Steadfast explained his views on Karl's shield.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: After releasing the Shadow Demons from their tomb, a nearby gargoyle is quick to berate Dan for doing so, and for dooming Gallowmere.

Resurrection provides examples of:

"The Hall of Heroes! Where heroes feast, dance and make merry for all eternity! ...Yes, even on school nights."
"Scarecrow Fields! Prepare to be scared! If you're a crow."
"Sleeping Village! Where the mayor can be bought off with a pie!"
"Gallowmere Plains. Big, flat, and home to a circus. Well? What are YOU waiting for? Hm?"

I don't believe the cheek of the bloke! I'm running errands for death, now. I thought he had tiny elves for that sort of thing!

  • Scaled Up: Zarok does this in the final stage of his Sequential Boss battle in the PSP remake, as opposed to a strange Zarok-faced lizard thing in the original. A giant cobra is certainly scarier than a weird multicolor dragon thing, but it's not quite as fun.
  • Shout-Out: Resurrection has several:
    • Axe Man's pre-battle cutscene has him axing a hole into a door and announcing "Heeere's Mr. Axeeeey!"
    • Fortesque swiping away the Anubis Stone part and replacing it with a pumpkin references the famous Pressure Plate switcheroo from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
    • Death has a robotic assistant called Mechadeath.
    • Fortuesque's arrival on Dragon Island is similar to Jack Sparrow's arrival to Port Royal in The Curse of the Black Pearl.
    • The final fight where Zaroks turns into a giant cobra to kill Fortesque is an obvious reference to Jafar.
  • Villain Decay: The famous spellbook gag aside, in the original game, Zarok is shown to be outright evil, creepy, bitter and twisted. Now he's a totally cartoonishly villain with goof tendencies.
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