10 Best Summoning Mechanics In Anime, Ranked (2024)

Some of the most incredible heroes and terrifying villains in battle anime are capable of taking on powerful opponents by themselves and with their bare fists. As admirable as that may be, a few series have found a way for their main characters to circumvent fighting for themselves.

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The idea of "summoning" is a time-honored fantasy/science-fiction trope, and anime characters can also summon some sort of monster, familiar, or warrior to their side. These summoned creatures can either support the characters during a fray or just handle the conflict's entirety by themselves. Over the years, the anime industry has given this ability a variety of flavors.

10 Avatars Are Absolutely Adorable

Baka & Test

Education has never been more competitive than in Baka and Test's Fumizuki Academy. In this ruthless school, grades dictate everything — the resources for classes, special privileges, and even how dedicated their teachers can be. Above all of these, however, is the strangest stipulation of all: Avatars.

Fumizuki Academy students can summon avatars that they can use in Summoner Test Wars and regular fights with other students. The students' respective grades determine the strength of these avatars in a particular subject. It's an interesting way to encourage kids to study and a callous way to ruin someone's GPA in an instant.

9 Servants Protect Their Masters In The Holy Grail War

The Fate Series

While Masters can only summon their Servants once in Fate, how they do so determines their odds of winning the Holy Grail War. Depending on a magus' own magical power, how they summoned their Servant, and the resources they had at hand, a Master can either summon a specific legendary hero from history or fiction, or a Servant relative to their own strength.

A powerful mage can summon Gilgamesh, a violent serial killer can summon Bluebeard, and a lowly yet talented kid can summon Alexander the Great. From there, a magus' chances at surviving the game depend on their own magical ability, knowledge of their Servant, and their knowledge of other Servants.

8 Duel Monsters Uses Holograms During Matches

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Many people's first experiences with summoning mechanics are, unsurprisingly, from Yu-Gi-Oh!. Yu-Gi-Oh! can either make summoning really simple or as convoluted as possible. Much of this has to do with the series making constant rule changes and the need to sell as many cards as possible. Still, there's no denying that summoning a favorite or pulling off a difficult summon is cathartic.

In the anime series, it never felt like the main characters were playing a game but summoning actual beasts, monsters, and soldiers to the field, with every complicated, summon feeling more like a last-minute save than a series of broken rules. Here, the more cards it took to summon a monster, the more powerful it was certain to be.

7 Summoning Jutsu Call Forth Magical Creatures

Naruto

Naruto was already a pretty fantastical series, given its long line of elemental attacks, illusory tricks, and the capacity to throw a blade really far. The series only reached into more magical territory when it touched on the different spirits of its world and how they can be summoned with just a little blood.

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This was both a major dive into Japanese mythology for the series and a means of bringing giant monsters to a knife fight. It was really a sight to behold seeing Kakashi summon his army of dogs, Orochimaru bringing out a giant snake, or Naruto summoning Gamabunta for the first time.

6 Djinns Will Only Support The Most Worthy

Magi: The Labyrinth Of Magic

Created from Rukh, the source of magic within Magi's world, Djinns are large, godlike beings that can be summoned to aid whoever their master is. Besides their incredible power, what really makes a Djinn special is that Magi, potential Kings, and other adventurers have to earn them by traversing dungeons.

Once they survive the various challenges of a respective dungeon, they can claim a Djinn as their own after finding their treasure room. From there, Djinns act as a special power that their King can use at will and can even be summoned into the human world if summoned by a Magi.

5 Familiars Can Be Extremely Dangerous

Hellsing

Familiars and hypnotized servants are a classic trope within vampire mythology, but the ability never reached anime levels of awesomeness Hellsing. As they tend to do, the vampires of Hellsing can drain the blood and souls of their victims. In doing so, they turn them into their personal familiars they can use to either maintain their invulnerability or summon into fights.

As long as they're within their roster, a vampire can summon all manner of familiars, whether it's a skilled, impressively equipped warrior or even a powerful, demonic monster. In this instance, familiars aren't just mindless servants to help clean around the house but dangerous soldiers of a greater army.

4 Celestial Spirit Magic Has Many Uses

Fairy Tail

Fairy Tail's Celestial Spirit Magic may require some paperwork, but once a Celestial Spirit's deal has been made, they become every bit of a family member as the rest of the Fairy Tail guild. Celestial Spirits are powerful, magical beings from the Celestial Spirit World that can be summoned via special keys to help their masters with all tasks.

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Celestial Spirits can either keep their master's company, help with an event, or fight against Fiore's various evil mages. Whether it's the adorable Plue or another one of the Zodiacs, a new Celestial Spirit always feels special once they're in Lucy Heartfilia's hands.

3 Pokémon Really Are Comfortable In Their Poké Balls

Pokémon

Pokémon is everything fun about summoning mechanics. They're not simply bought in the series but have to be earned either in an epic battle or via a welcome friendship. Their variety helps create some color in the series' cast and adds interesting, strategic value for a battle.

Because convenience is key, they're also kept in handy, portable Poké Balls until they hear the coveted words, "I choose you!" Besides, Pokémon can also be trained to become stronger, evolved to new forms, or even traded for some new friends. Equal parts collectible and functional, Pokémon are some of the most iconic summons in anime.

2 Personas Represent Reflections Of The Soul

The Persona Series

Personas add a little flavor to the summoning mechanic by being directly tied to their user's personality and state of being. These extravagant spirits are the literal manifestation of the ambitions and worries of their masters. In Persona 4, users had to overcome negative Personas known as Shadows to control their Persona fully.

From there, Personas are connected with their users. If the Persona takes damage, so does their user. If the user is unstable, they start to lose control of their Persona. By finding new resolve within themselves, a user can even give their Personas a new form.

1 Stands Are Creatively Powerful

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

There are few summoning mechanics as versatile or "bizarre" as Stands. When Hamon became less practical in the series, Hirohiko Araki came up with Stands. These are the manifestation of a user's soul, whose form and strength are dependent on their user's own personality and abilities — but that doesn't mean that a user has total control over what their Stand can do.

Stands have come to control a seemingly random variety of powers in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and their users adapt those abilities into their repertoire. This includes using Stands like Crazy Diamond or Gold Experience in creative ways or overcoming the convoluted nature of Stands like Superfly.

NEXT: Every Pokémon Generation, Ranked By Their Pokédex