Magi Babble: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
{{trope}}
{{quote|'''Aang''': When Azula shot me with lightning, my Seventh Chakra was blocked, cutting off my connection to all the cosmic energy in the universe.<br />
{{quote|'''Aang''': When Azula shot me with lightning, my Seventh Chakra was blocked, cutting off my connection to all the cosmic energy in the universe.<br />
'''Toph''': You know what I just heard? [[Blah Blah Blah|Blah-blah]], spiritual mumbo jumbo, blah-blah, something about space.|''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''}}
'''Toph''': You know what I just heard? [[Blah Blah Blah|Blah-blah]], spiritual mumbo jumbo, blah-blah, something about space.|''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''}}


[[Sci Fi Counterpart|Like]] [[Techno Babble]], but about [[Functional Magic|magic]], typically Rule Magic. This is usually used in series where [[Magic A Is Magic A]], and the rules are defined enough that you can get away with invoking them in new ways without having to explain it first. See also [[Blah Blah Blah]].
[[Sci Fi Counterpart|Like]] [[Techno Babble]], but about [[Functional Magic|magic]], typically Rule Magic. This is usually used in series where [[Magic a Is Magic A]], and the rules are defined enough that you can get away with invoking them in new ways without having to explain it first. See also [[Blah Blah Blah]].


{{examples}}
{{examples}}
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== Anime and Manga ==
== Anime and Manga ==


* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' frequently has [[Magi Babble]], on the premise that "alchemy is a precise science, really!" The basic rules being that they can't create matter from nothing, but the energy source is unknown to most people. This is where the Philosopher's Stone comes in. It's essentially a free gift of ludicrous amounts of energy, which would be necessary to create matter from "scratch." Free, that is, in that {{spoiler|someone had already paid the terrible price in advance}}. It required {{spoiler|Father with Truth inside}} to even master ''nuclear fusion'', not to mention matter creation.
* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' frequently has [[Magi Babble]], on the premise that "alchemy is a precise science, really!" The basic rules being that they can't create matter from nothing, but the energy source is unknown to most people. This is where the Philosopher's Stone comes in. It's essentially a free gift of ludicrous amounts of energy, which would be necessary to create matter from "scratch." Free, that is, in that {{spoiler|someone had already paid the terrible price in advance}}. It required {{spoiler|Father with Truth inside}} to even master ''nuclear fusion'', not to mention matter creation.
* ''[[Naruto (Manga)|Naruto]]'' features extensive dialogue on how chakra is summoned and how it is used to walk on water, climb trees, increase damage, etc. Similarly anybody using advanced techniques will inevitably dialogue about how they use their powers to create this specific result. There's an entire arc devoted to Naruto learning one such technique in extreme detail. And that's not even getting into the [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors|an Elemental nature cycle]].
* ''[[Naruto]]'' features extensive dialogue on how chakra is summoned and how it is used to walk on water, climb trees, increase damage, etc. Similarly anybody using advanced techniques will inevitably dialogue about how they use their powers to create this specific result. There's an entire arc devoted to Naruto learning one such technique in extreme detail. And that's not even getting into the [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors|an Elemental nature cycle]].
** One time, Jiraiya tries to teach Naruto to pulse his chakra in order to break genjutsu, but has him do it while standing on water. He doesn't bother to warn Naruto, "You will get wet (because pulsing chakra to break a genjutsu also disrupts the water walking jutsu, causing him to fall into the water)."
** One time, Jiraiya tries to teach Naruto to pulse his chakra in order to break genjutsu, but has him do it while standing on water. He doesn't bother to warn Naruto, "You will get wet (because pulsing chakra to break a genjutsu also disrupts the water walking jutsu, causing him to fall into the water)."
* ''[[To Aru Majutsu no Index (Anime)|To Aru Majutsu no Index]]'' often has Touma frustrated when Index or another magical character starts explaining things this way.
* ''[[To Aru Majutsu no Index]]'' often has Touma frustrated when Index or another magical character starts explaining things this way.
{{quote| '''Touma''': It feels like you're just throwing all this weird terminology at me.}}
{{quote| '''Touma''': It feels like you're just throwing all this weird terminology at me.}}
** In contrast, while the series has a lot of science fiction, it has virtually little [[Techno Babble]]. Any kind of explanations that the viewer hears are typically [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness|the crib-notes dumbed-down version of how things (probably) work]] and trying to [[Viewers Are Geniuses|follow that to revelations about what isn't explained]] leads nowhere. This is most notable when [[Superpower Lottery|espers]] can be handwaved by drugs, hypnosis/brainwashing, and [[Small Reference Pools|Schrodinger's Cat]].
** In contrast, while the series has a lot of science fiction, it has virtually little [[Techno Babble]]. Any kind of explanations that the viewer hears are typically [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness|the crib-notes dumbed-down version of how things (probably) work]] and trying to [[Viewers Are Geniuses|follow that to revelations about what isn't explained]] leads nowhere. This is most notable when [[Superpower Lottery|espers]] can be handwaved by drugs, hypnosis/brainwashing, and [[Small Reference Pools|Schrodinger's Cat]].
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== Literature ==
== Literature ==


* In [[Patricia C Wrede]]'s ''[[Enchanted Forest Chronicles]]'' the magician Telemain speaks almost entirely in Magibabble when describing how various spells and enchanted objects work. He becomes irate when people tell him to explain things with less technical terminology, usually claiming he can't think of a simpler way to explain whatever he's talking about precisely. The only exceptions occur when he is asked to explain things normally by Kazul, the gigantic King of the Dragons, whose intimidating appearance inspires him to somehow find a perfect clear, much easier to understand explanation.
* In [[Patricia C. Wrede]]'s ''[[Enchanted Forest Chronicles]]'' the magician Telemain speaks almost entirely in Magibabble when describing how various spells and enchanted objects work. He becomes irate when people tell him to explain things with less technical terminology, usually claiming he can't think of a simpler way to explain whatever he's talking about precisely. The only exceptions occur when he is asked to explain things normally by Kazul, the gigantic King of the Dragons, whose intimidating appearance inspires him to somehow find a perfect clear, much easier to understand explanation.
* Ponder Stibbons, a [[Magitek]] [[Geek]] in the ''[[Discworld]]'' novels, uses a combination of [[Magi Babble]] and [[Techno Babble]] to describe the devices created in the High Energy Magic Building (or more often, to hide the fact he's got no idea how they work, even though he built them). Wizards, and indeed some others, also use the catch all explanation of 'It's probably Quantum' or something being weird "'cos of Quantum" to explain anything significantly baffling. It appears to fulfill the same function as saying 'It's magic' in [[Real Life]], though it is usually incorporated with other [[Magi Babble]].
* Ponder Stibbons, a [[Magitek]] [[Geek]] in the ''[[Discworld]]'' novels, uses a combination of [[Magi Babble]] and [[Techno Babble]] to describe the devices created in the High Energy Magic Building (or more often, to hide the fact he's got no idea how they work, even though he built them). Wizards, and indeed some others, also use the catch all explanation of 'It's probably Quantum' or something being weird "'cos of Quantum" to explain anything significantly baffling. It appears to fulfill the same function as saying 'It's magic' in [[Real Life]], though it is usually incorporated with other [[Magi Babble]].
* This is literally Bob's entire purpose in ''[[The Dresden Files]]''. He knows the rules better than any mere mortal like Harry could ever know them.
* This is literally Bob's entire purpose in ''[[The Dresden Files]]''. He knows the rules better than any mere mortal like Harry could ever know them.
* This comes up quite often in the ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' series. In the earlier books, the in-world magic system seems fairly standard for a fantasy series; i.e., one uses their "gift" to achieve the desired results. After perhaps the third or fourth book, the author [[Doing in The Wizard|does in the wizard]] with an ever-increasing amount of magispeech to explain an ever more convoluted system.
* This comes up quite often in the ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' series. In the earlier books, the in-world magic system seems fairly standard for a fantasy series; i.e., one uses their "gift" to achieve the desired results. After perhaps the third or fourth book, the author [[Doing in the Wizard|does in the wizard]] with an ever-increasing amount of magispeech to explain an ever more convoluted system.
* Earlier, in a scene in ''Blood of the Fold'', a character's [[Magi Babble]] is interrupted and it is expleained (via more [[Magi Babble]]) that the character he's talking to already knew everything he was telling her.
* Earlier, in a scene in ''Blood of the Fold'', a character's [[Magi Babble]] is interrupted and it is expleained (via more [[Magi Babble]]) that the character he's talking to already knew everything he was telling her.
{{quote| Warren sighed and at last nodded. "I guess I should tell you, but understand that this is a very old and obscure fork. The prophecies are clogged with false forks. This is doubly tainted, because of its age, and its rarity. That makes it suspect even if it weren't for the rest of it. There are crossovers and backfalls galore in tomes this old, and I can't verify them without months of work. Some of the links are occluded by triple forks. Back-tracing a triple fork squares false forks on the branches, and if any of them are tripled, well then, the enigma created by the geometric progressions you encounter because of the-"}}
{{quote| Warren sighed and at last nodded. "I guess I should tell you, but understand that this is a very old and obscure fork. The prophecies are clogged with false forks. This is doubly tainted, because of its age, and its rarity. That makes it suspect even if it weren't for the rest of it. There are crossovers and backfalls galore in tomes this old, and I can't verify them without months of work. Some of the links are occluded by triple forks. Back-tracing a triple fork squares false forks on the branches, and if any of them are tripled, well then, the enigma created by the geometric progressions you encounter because of the-"}}
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{{quote| Verna put a hand to his forearm to silence him. "Warren, I know all that. I understand the degrees of progression and regression as they relate to random variables in bifurcations of a triple fork."}}
{{quote| Verna put a hand to his forearm to silence him. "Warren, I know all that. I understand the degrees of progression and regression as they relate to random variables in bifurcations of a triple fork."}}
* The [[Magi Babble]] in L.E. Modesitt, Jr.'s ''[[Saga of Recluce|Recluce]]'' saga is extremely convincing; it almost feels like real physics.
* The [[Magi Babble]] in L.E. Modesitt, Jr.'s ''[[Saga of Recluce|Recluce]]'' saga is extremely convincing; it almost feels like real physics.
* Comes up often when Jeff Grubb gets his hands on franchise fiction. Notable works include the Warcraft novel ''[[Warcraft the Last Guardian (Literature)|The Last Guardian]]'', and his ''[[Magic the Gathering]]'' novels set during the Brothers' War (the Antiquities and Urza's Saga sets) and the Ice Age. Seeing as how Grubb often produces some of the better novels in these franchises, his tendency towards magi babble is either [[Your Mileage May Vary|forgivable or awesome]], especially since the rules he sets down tend to make magic more consistent in later works by others.
* Comes up often when Jeff Grubb gets his hands on franchise fiction. Notable works include the Warcraft novel ''[[Warcraft: The Last Guardian|The Last Guardian]]'', and his ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' novels set during the Brothers' War (the Antiquities and Urza's Saga sets) and the Ice Age. Seeing as how Grubb often produces some of the better novels in these franchises, his tendency towards magi babble is either [[Your Mileage May Vary|forgivable or awesome]], especially since the rules he sets down tend to make magic more consistent in later works by others.
* [[Nasuverse]] -- So damn much... and sometimes, [[Techno Babble]] gets thrown in as well, especially [[Melty Blood (Video Game)|Sion Eltnam Atlasia]] and [[Fate Stay Night (Visual Novel)|Emiya Shirou]], effectively making it [[Magitek]] babble. Incidentally, as with the above example (''[[The Dresden Files (Literature)|The Dresden Files]]'') magical incantations are a form of self-hypnosis designed to make it easier to channel mana in a particular way for a particular spell. Shirou just makes up words (he even uses the same word repeatedly, but thinks of it having a different meaning for different spells). It turns out that {{spoiler|he is in fact only casting one spell with multiple effects}}).
* [[Nasuverse]] -- So damn much... and sometimes, [[Techno Babble]] gets thrown in as well, especially [[Melty Blood|Sion Eltnam Atlasia]] and [[Fate/stay night|Emiya Shirou]], effectively making it [[Magitek]] babble. Incidentally, as with the above example (''[[The Dresden Files]]'') magical incantations are a form of self-hypnosis designed to make it easier to channel mana in a particular way for a particular spell. Shirou just makes up words (he even uses the same word repeatedly, but thinks of it having a different meaning for different spells). It turns out that {{spoiler|he is in fact only casting one spell with multiple effects}}).
* Taken to the logical extreme in ''[[The Death Gate Cycle]]'' by [[Margaret Weis]] and Tracy Hickman: the magi babble is literally indistinguishable from [[Techno Babble]] and ''almost makes sense''.
* Taken to the logical extreme in ''[[The Death Gate Cycle]]'' by [[Margaret Weis]] and Tracy Hickman: the magi babble is literally indistinguishable from [[Techno Babble]] and ''almost makes sense''.
* Either [[Lampshaded]] or justified in the ''[[Lord Darcy (Literature)|Lord Darcy]]'' stories, in which Master Sean's attempts to explain the metaphysics of his spells regularly cause Darcy to remark that he'll have to take his associate's word for it, as such concepts are always baffling to non-sorcerers. Whether this is a lampshading or a justification depends on whether the ''reader'', a non-sorcerer, got the gist of Sean's explanation!
* Either [[Lampshaded]] or justified in the ''[[Lord Darcy]]'' stories, in which Master Sean's attempts to explain the metaphysics of his spells regularly cause Darcy to remark that he'll have to take his associate's word for it, as such concepts are always baffling to non-sorcerers. Whether this is a lampshading or a justification depends on whether the ''reader'', a non-sorcerer, got the gist of Sean's explanation!
* The Bob Howard / [[The Laundry Series|Laundry]] stories by [[Charles Stross]] are *made* of this trope. The magic in this setting is based on mathematics and computer science -- Alan Turing invented the local [[Magitek]] -- and it reads like a cross between MIT's 6.001 and Abdul Alhazred.
* The Bob Howard / [[The Laundry Series|Laundry]] stories by [[Charles Stross]] are *made* of this trope. The magic in this setting is based on mathematics and computer science -- Alan Turing invented the local [[Magitek]] -- and it reads like a cross between MIT's 6.001 and Abdul Alhazred.
* The ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books have a fair bit, especially ''[[Deathly Hallows]]''. In it, we learn that "food is the first of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration". When Ron repeats this tidbit later on, others are amazed by his [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]].
* The ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books have a fair bit, especially ''[[Deathly Hallows]]''. In it, we learn that "food is the first of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration". When Ron repeats this tidbit later on, others are amazed by his [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]].
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* The "Kesandru's Well" arc from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' positively brims with this trope. Particularly [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=030408 one of the Rayths].
* The "Kesandru's Well" arc from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' positively brims with this trope. Particularly [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=030408 one of the Rayths].
* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' uses a [[Powers As Programs]] / [[Magitek]] system mentioned above. We hear some of the explanation, but the more complicated parts are explicitly [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=519 in this strip].
* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' uses a [[Powers as Programs]] / [[Magitek]] system mentioned above. We hear some of the explanation, but the more complicated parts are explicitly [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=519 in this strip].
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'', Mr. Verres tends to lapse into this as seen [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2008-11-13 here].
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', Mr. Verres tends to lapse into this as seen [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2008-11-13 here].
* Parodied in [http://www.galactanet.com/comic/view.php?strip=458 this] ''[[Casey and Andy (Webcomic)|Casey and Andy]]'' strip, taking place in a ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''-inspired [[Alternate Universe]]. A shoptalk conversation between a mage and a cleric is peppered with what the reader may recognize as RPG terms. Another character calls it "mystical magic-speak".
* Parodied in [http://www.galactanet.com/comic/view.php?strip=458 this] ''[[Casey and Andy]]'' strip, taking place in a ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''-inspired [[Alternate Universe]]. A shoptalk conversation between a mage and a cleric is peppered with what the reader may recognize as RPG terms. Another character calls it "mystical magic-speak".


== Web Original ==
== Web Original ==
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Magi_Babble"