Way of the Tiger

Way of the Tiger is the name of a series of adventure gamebooks by Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson set on the world of Orb. The reader takes the part of a young ninja, Avenger, on his quest to avenge his foster father and recover the Scrolls of Kettsuin. Later books present fresh challenges for Avenger to overcome. Compared to other gamebooks such as those in the Fighting Fantasy series, Way of the Tiger provided a more developed storyline and atmosphere, as well as three-dimensional characters.

Books

The series comprises six books:

Avenger!
Assassin!
Usurper!
Overlord!
Warbringer!
Inferno!

The books could be played in sequence or as standalone adventures, although it is heavily recommended to play them in sequence in order to not interrupt the continuing storyline. If played in sequence any abilities, bonuses, penalties or special items Avenger had acquired carried over to the next book.

Features

The series featured a combat system based on various unarmed fighting moves with colourful names, for example the Cobra Strike punch, Leaping Tiger kick or Whirlpool throw. Avenger could also choose from a list of ninja skills such as Immunity to Poisons, Acrobatics or Poison Needle spitting, and hurl shuriken at enemies. Luck also played in part in the form of Fate tests to see if Fate smiled on you, or turned her back. Avenger also had the power of "Inner Force", this is a fictional representation of chi energy. Avenger could use Inner Force to cause greater damage to enemies or break items he would normally be unable to.

Avenger also had the use of many Ninja artifacts, like a garotte and poison needles.

Other characters

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The books had a large number of other characters, some of whom had repeat appearances throughout the series. These characters are notable in that they are not faceless enemies or one dimensional caricatures, each character is rendered as a distinct personality as much as possible, given the limitations of the medium.

Enemies

Tyutchev, Cassandra and Thaum - A trio of chaos worshippers, who revere the chaos god Anarchil. They are recurring antagonists of Avenger throughout the series. Those three characters are also featured in Fighting Fantasy book 11, "Talisman of Death", where they oppose the player for the titular item.
- Tyutchev - This thief wears a cloak that makes it hard to judge how far away he is and wields a bastard sword taller than he is. His hair is dyed a bright corn yellow.
- Cassandra - A female warrior, noted for her cruelty, spiked hair and patchwork armour. Wields a magical Coldsword.
- Thaum - a master of magic and especially illusion. "Devious looking" and wears a large gold earring.

Olvar Chaos-Bringer - A chaos worshipping barbarian warrior and friend of Tyutchev, Cassandra and Thaum. His death at Avenger's hands (after an unprovoked attack by Olvar) leads to the feud between Avenger and the chaos worshippers. Wears a magical headband that can fire lightning bolts, and feels no pain in combat due to his bloodlust.
Aiguchi the Weapons Master - A master of weapons, he challenges Avenger to a duel in the Ring of Vasch-Ro. Expert with the bow, naginata and nunchaku.
Mandrake, the Guildmaster of Assassins - Worships Torremalku the Slayer and is the most deadly assassin on Orb. "No-one has ever survived his attention." Master of disguise and acting.
Yaemon, the Grand Master of Flame. Head of the Scarlet Mantis monks, at the beginning of the series he has been Grand Master for more than twenty summers. He slew Avenger's foster father Naijishi and stole the Scrolls of Kettsuin. Possibly the most deadly martial artist on Orb.
Manse the Deathmage - An evil magic user, Manse can cast many different spells, including the nearly always fatal "Finger of Death". Has been known to practice child sacrifice.
Honoric, Grand Marshal of the Legion of the Sword of Doom - One of the most feared military commanders and most evil men on Orb. A peerless swordsman, it is said he once slew a storm giant singlehandedly. Wields Sorcerak, a magical sword that dispels magic and causes fear in its wielders opponents. It can also fly.
The Ninja of the Way of the Scorpion - A group of evil ninja who follow the Way of the Scorpion, an evil counterpart to the Way of the Tiger. One extremely skilled member attempts to assassinate Avenger at the end of Assassin! He wields a ninja-to, is skilled in many ninja techniques and is a worthy adversary.
The Grandmaster of Shadows - The leader of the ninja who follow the Way of the Scorpion. Uses deception, trickery and his ability to create magical darkness in combat.
Everyman - A golem bodyguard who is stolen and sent to kill Avenger. It is said that he must be killed one hundred times before he can die. "My name is Everyman and I am legion."
The Fiend - Sent by the gods of evil to capture Avenger's soul.
Astaroth, Seventh Duke of Hell - "The Usurper", the ruler of Irsmuncast nigh Edge who slew Avenger's real father.

Allies

Glaivas - A Ranger Lord and excellent swordsman, Glaivas is a friend and ally of Avenger.
Doré le Jeune - A paladin and ally of Avenger. Wields a holy sword.
Gorobei - A monk and fellow worshipper of Kwon. Expert wrestler and skilled martial artist, although not as fast as Avenger.
Togawa - A monk of Kwon and a mystic. Has knowledge of extremely powerful martial arts attacks, and can travel to the spirit plane.
The Spirit Tiger - Serves Kwon on the spirit plane.
Taflur, Thybault, Vespers and Eris - A group of adventurers who Avenger aids in their battle against an Undead warlord, who in turn heal him of the plague and come to his aid in a confrontation with the worshippers of Chaos.
Parsifal - The head monk of Kwon in the city of Irsmuncast nigh Edge.

Others

Runeweaver - A warrior who can fire magical bolts from his sword
Grizell - A young slave girl whom the player might meet when travelling through the Vale of the Lich Lords. While she does not survive for long after the encounter, she may give the hero an item which can prove essential for the course of the adventure.
Antocidas the One-Eyed - Leader of the mercenaries in the city of Irmsuncast nigh Edge.
Golspiel - Corrupt but silver-tongued head of the merchants guild in Irsmuncast. He is a scheming opportunist who sides with whatever party promises him the most bountiful spoils.

Gods

Nullaq - Supreme Queen of Malice.
Fell-Kyrinla - The Man-hater.
Dama - Shieldmaiden to the gods.
Nemesis - The Supreme Principle of Evil, Lord of the Cleansing Flame.
Vasch-Ro

Trivia

The world of Orb was originally drawn up by Mark Smith for a Dungeons and Dragons game he dungeon-mastered while a psychology undergraduate at Oxford University in the late 1970s. The key characters were created as identities by long-term players in the game, which is why they have such depth. Orb was also used as the setting for the Fighting Fantasy gamebook Talisman of Death, again by Smith & Thomson.

Each book has a warning at the front against performing any of the ninja related feats in the book as "They could lead to serious injury or death to an untrained user".

The sixth book, Inferno!, ends on a cliffhanger with Avenger trapped in the web of the Black Widow, Orbs' darkest blight. As no new books have been released, the fate of Avenger and Orb is unknown. It has been suggested by some gamebook fans that Smith and Thompson had written an unpublished seventh volume which would conclude the plotline, as in a column for gamebook magazine Warlock! Jamie Thompson said seven volumes were planned, and some seem to recall this book even having been advertised, but no hard evidence of this has come to light. Given the similarly downbeat conclusion of Smith and Thompson's Falcon gamebook series, and that uniquely amongst the books the words "The End" appeared after the final paragraph, it seems likely that the ending of Inferno! was intended. As the final paragraphs of the sixth volume speed Avenger through a number of layers of the Rift of Orb, it is possible that the putative seventh volume would have featured adventures through these layers leading to the same conclusion.

Other media

Two computer games were released on the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 by Gremlin Graphics. Way of the Tiger is a beat em up which confusingly had Avenger fighting with staves and swords as well as unarmed combat (Avenger rarely used weapons apart from shuriken in the books).[1][2] The second game Avenger! is a top down arcade adventure.[3][4]

Links