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Inept Mage: Difference between revisions
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== Anime & Manga ==
* Chacha from the manga and anime ''[[Akazukin Chacha]]''.
* Louie of ''[[Rune Soldier Louie]]''.
* Early in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', Negi Springfield himself appears to be one of these, until it is revealed that {{spoiler|the target of his spells has an [[Anti-Magic|anti-magical aura]] that cancels out or messes up any spell used on her}}.
** Negi's father is an interesting case in that he is considered one of the most powerful mages of all times, but he just needed to bring spark notes into battle to remember how to do his spells.
* ''[[Ojamajo Doremi]]''. "Ojamajo" is a [[Portmanteau]] of the words for "clumsy" and "[[Cute Witch|witch]]".
* Lufa from ''[[Dragon Half]]''. No, dragons do ''not'' attract lightning.
* Louise from ''[[Zero no Tsukaima]]'' is a partial example. She can't cast any spells (they instead manifest as comically powerful explosions), {{spoiler|but later in the series it's revealed that this is because she's the legendary void mage, capable of casting (only) void magic. Naturally this is about the point in the series where she [[Took a Level
* Sae Sawanoguchi from ''[[Magic Users Club]]''. Her magic is by far the most powerful, ''if'' she can control it, and ''if'' it comes out in the first place.
* Nina Sakura in ''[[Ultra Maniac]]'' is one of these. Eventually it is revealed in the manga that {{spoiler|this is because her magic potenital is so ''high'' that any magic she casts is over powered and thus messes up, she just needs specialist training.}}
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== Films -- Animation ==
* Mickey Mouse in the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment of ''[[Fantasia]]''.
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* Schmendrick, from ''[[The Last Unicorn (novel)|The Last Unicorn]]'', who is ''so'' inept that his teacher decided it meant that he had some kind of incredible potential, and made him immortal so that he could live long enough to sort it out.
* Questor Thews, from the ''[[Magic Kingdom of Landover]]'' novels.
* Neville Longbottom from the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' novels. Until [[Took a Level
** Ronald Weasley is rendered fairly inept for much of ''[[Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets]]'', when his wand is broken. See the page image.
** A similar thing happens to Harry in ''The Deathly Hallows''.
** Gilderoy Lockhart may count: [[Crippling Overspecialization|The only thing he seems to be good at]] is memory charms, though it's never revealed whether he's naturally inept at everything else or if he just decided at some point that he could get by on that and his natural charisma alone. (And he very nearly did, [[Scooby Doo|if it hadn't been for]] [[You Meddling Kids|those meddling kids]].)
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** Rincewind is a borderline case. By all rights he is a proper wizard: he can see octarine, see Death, detect magic, and act as a magical lightning rod just like all other wizards. Thing is, he can't actually preform any spells, because during his short time at Unseen University he read one of the eight spells that created the universe, which made itself at home in his head and ruined his chances of ever learning any other spells. He actually does say it (along with the other seven) at the end of the second book, but apparently his ineptitude for magic was permanent.
** Magrat Garlick's magical skill can impress even Granny Weatherwax, but she tends to have problems getting it to do what she wants, because she's caught up in the romantic image of magic, with the mystical runes and what not.
* Fizban the Fabulous in the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' books, although [[God Was My Co-Pilot|he's more than he appears]].
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* In [[James Thurber]]'s ''[[The 13 Clocks]]'', the Golux explains that both his parent fell under this trope.
* In ''[[The Magicians]],'' the Physical magician Josh is unable to get his magic to work consistently, but when it does work, it's very powerful: for example, when casting a spell to dispell a magical light, he ends up going over the top and producing a ''black hole.''
* In ''[[King's Quest:
* When [[Dresden Files|Harry]] gets an apprentice, she alternates between terrifying and adorably this trope. Once, she ''literally'' glowed with praise. Her potion-making adventures have involved her getting her clothes covered in acid and the potion then exploding, which Harry then had to remove and give her CPR right as his girlfriend lets herself in.
** The White Council tries to accomodate this trope by teaching young [[Person of Mass Destruction|wizards]] [[Kill It with Fire|fire magic]] as far away from civilization as possible.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* The ''[[Dungeons
** 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.
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** Oddly enough, she appears to be getting more and more powerful as the games go on. In the first games she had a random chance of accidentally harming her party with her spells, by the fifth she has a random chance to ''[[Game Breaker|cast multiple spells in a row at no additional cost]]''
* All spellcasting classes in the ''[[Wizardry]]'' series are like this at first, barring alchemy-based casters, until they build up their Oratory skill-a low Oratory gives spells a chance to backfire or fizzle. However, backfiring spells are no joke in this series-a backfiring spell can easily kill a party member, if not several, and force the player to quit and reload.
* Lilka from ''[[Wild
* Marie from ''[[Atelier]] Marie'' is an Inept Alchemist. While she has a lot of passion for the art, her [[The Ditz|absentmindedness]] often leads her to put in the wrong ingredient, screwing up the formula. Because of this, she has the lowest GPA out of anyone in her school.
** In her appearance in the [[Massive Multiplayer Crossover]] game ''[[Cross Edge]]'', she tries to treat York with a bottle of Athena Water after he suffers injuries in battle, but winds up creating a [[Gargle Blaster]] that floors him instantly. When the party meets up with [[Ar tonelico|Lyner]] later, she tries the same thing. Despite York's protests, Lyner guzzles the drink, saying that it's rude to refuse a gift. The result is... [[Hilarity Ensues|rather predictable]].
* The weakest Imps in the ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' series, and especially ''[[Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime]], are really terrible at magic. They continually attempt to use the [[Stuff Blowing Up|Bang]] spell, only to blow ''themselves'' up.
** In [[Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime]], standing still while an Imp tries to attack you will cause his magic to explode in his face. Running will cause him to chase you, trip, and ''explode'', damaging everything in the area around it, meaning you, other enemies, and itself. This is all they can do.
* Jowan from [[Dragon Age|Dragon Age: Origins]]. Between the generally inherent power of Mages and his dabbling in [[Blood Magic]] he ''should'' be very, ''very'' powerful. Alas, he's much weaker than almost every other Mage in the game, and only turned to [[Blood Magic]] out of desperation.
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* Perf, of ''[[Journey Quest]]'', is an excellent example of this: he has precisely three spells he can cast without recourse to his spellbooks: ''Conjure Milk'',<ref>which, when used against a party of orcs that had captured him and his friends, earned him the appellation "lactomancer"</ref> ''Mend'' <ref>a sewing spell</ref> and ''Vague''.<ref>the effects of which are kinda hard to nail down...</ref> The one time we see him casting ''with'' a spellbook, he's trying to heal the party cleric, and [[Magic Misfire|fails so badly that said cleric dies]]. And becomes an [[Gone Horribly Right|entirely new form of undead]].
** Just before that cleric showed up as said new form of undead Perf tried to use the Gust of Wind spell from the book and blew his own clothes off, so he in fact used the book exactly twice
* 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
* 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]].
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[[Category:Magic and Powers]]
[[Category:Wizards and Witches]]
[[Category:
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