Tales of Phantasia opens with a battle between four warriors and the sorcerer Dhaos—a fight they win, though Dhaos escapes through time before he can be destroyed. Weakened, he is sealed away by the same four warriors using the power of two pendants, and peace returns to the world. Twelve years later, the story picks up with a new hero named Cless—because Dhaos is still out there, somewhere in time, waiting to be strong enough to try again.