Inept Mage: Difference between revisions

* [[Donald Duck]] in the early issues of ''[[Wizards of Mickey]]'', which gets him in trouble with someone he owed money too and tried to get out of the deal by turning spoons into gold. But it turns out his magic does work, but is slow acting.

* Mickey Mouse in the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment of ''[[Fantasia]]''.

* From the film ''[[Krull]]'': Ergo the Magnificent, whose transformation spells always affect himself regardless of who he aims them at. Good thing he has a spell to turn someone into a ''tiger''...

* Mr. Magorium's magic went all wonky {{spoiler|near the end of his life}} in the film version of ''[[Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium]]''

== [[Literature]] ==

* Marnie Stonebrook from ''[[True Blood]]'' doesn't have a clue on her spells. But, whenever she gets possessed by the ghost of the witch, Antonia Gavilán, she becomes one of the most powerful villains in the show.

* The protagonists of "[https://echoschildren.bandcamp.com/track/oops Oops]" by Echo's Children. Considering that the chorus is —

{{quote|''Oops, oops, extravagant curses,''

''Magic is tricky and apt to go wrong.''}}

* The ''[[Dungeons & Dragons|AD&D]]'' 2nd edition ''Tome of Magic'' introduces the Wild Mage. Although able to master "wild magic" spells otherwise forbidden to other wizards, the level of power of their magic is variable, and they run the risk of causing a "wild surge"—a totally random effect—with every casting.

** The class also appears in ''[[Baldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate 2]]'', this time with a set list of results, but an incredibly variable one. They can [[Gender Bender|change a random target's gender]], [[Drop the Cow|summon a cow right above their target's head]], [[Magic Misfire|accidentally target themselves with the spell]] . . . At least in this case you get the benefit of [[Save Scumming]].

** Wild Mages aren't actually inept (Unless that's how you play one). Just ''crazy''. Consider their signature spell: Nahal's Reckless Dweomer; a spell that the mage casts in order to attempt to shape it into any other spell he knows without having the spell memorized. Wild Surges can be extremely deadly if you're lucky; casting Magic Missile has an equal chance of making your opponent (and everything in ten feet of it) explode messily as it does the chance of summoning harmless squirrels.

== [[Theater]] ==

* In ''[[Penny Arcade (Webcomic)|Penny Arcade]]'', [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/6/15/ Jim Darkmagic], at least in his comic appearance. In the actual podcasts where he made his debut, Jim tends to be about as competent as the rest of the party, somewhat surprising considering that his player, Mike Krahulik, has never played ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' before in his life.

* Fumblemore in [[Yogscast Minecraft Series|"Shadow of Israphel"]]. His main specialty is [[Stuff Blowing Up|blowing things up]]. And [[Magic Misfire|not always on purpose]].

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* [[Merlin]]'s apprentice Fuddie from ''[[Filmation's Ghostbusters]]''. He can grant Jake one wish every full moon, but he ''never'' gets it right, possibly being hard of hearing. For example, the first time Jake told Fuddie to make him "invincible" and Fuddie instead made him invisible. Fortunately, Jake usually manages to improvise.

* Zigzagged with Twilight Sparkle from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]''. While she does eventually master Alicorn magic (which has been stated to be ''very'' hard to learn and ''very'' dangerous if used wrong) when she makes mistakes, she ''really'' makes mistakes. She accidentally turned her own parents into plants during her entrance exam (maybe it was funny to the viewer, [[Fridge Horror| but when you see this from ''her'' point of view]]), and in the episode "Lesson Zero", her Want It, Need It spell [[Idle Hands| (cast with the intent to ''create'' a Friendship problem because there were no other problems for her to handle)]] unleashes a [[Hate Plague]] of jealousy that infects half of Ponyville. Seriously, Twilight, [[Evil Is Not a Toy|Magic Is Not a Toy]].

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[[Category:Characters As Device]]