Magic Enhancement

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A person or thing that has been enhanced in someway by magic or something like magic. The who or what in question can have their physical, mental and magical attributes be enhanced from a minor to major degree. It has to be an attribute they had before though, as being able to suddenly breathe fire or do magic if you didn't do it before doesn't count. Having a shield become indestructable or having a fire breathing dragon suddenly spitting super-hot plasma does. The enhancement(s) can either be permanent or temporary.

Compare Status Buff, which is this applied to gameplay, and Amplifier Artifact, which is a magical item that enhances others (instead of being item that is enhanced). Also compare Super Empowering and Transhumanism.

Examples of Magic Enhancement include:

Anime and Manga

  • Agito from Origin: Spirits of the Past was enhanced using the energy of the forest.
  • Bleach has Shunko, an advanced form of combat used by Yoruichi and Soifon, which combines hakuda and kido. While in this state, their combat abilities are enhanced tremendously. They can even discharge the kido surrounding their bodies in concentrated bursts of energy.
  • In Fairy Tail, during the Edolas Arc, it's revealed that the inhabitants of Edolas create magical items and weaponry by merging an enchanted "Lacrima" (a crystal full of magical energy) with said weapon, giving it magical powers. The regular mages of Earthland often use magic to power up vehicles and machines.
  • In Hunter X Hunter, "Enhancement" is one of the six main types of Nen. Enhancers tend to be the physically strongest people around and are noted for not always having named techniques because, more often than not, they don't need them.
  • In Dragonball Z, Babidi's mind control not only allows him to control you, but also increases your power.
  • The Lyrical Nanoha franchise has an offensive magic type called "Magic-Enhanced Attacks", which enhance the caster's weapon for a brief duration (such as setting it on fire) to increase its penetrating power.
  • The Amakawa Demon Slayer Family in Omamori Himari has this as their standard power, calling it Light Ferry. They can charge an ordinary stick to be as strong as a "Legendary Weapon".
  • In The Familiar of Zero, there are several examples. A golem (already a magic item) is further enhanced by a magic force field that makes it nearly indestructable. A magic sword that is able to absorb magic has "dispel magic" cast on it (normally you'd expect dispel magic to weaken a magic item) and becomes more able to cut through things protected by magic. An airplane with "gust of wind" cast on it takes off in a shorter distance.

Literature

  • In The Dresden Files, Harry wears a magically reinforced black leather duster that can repel almost any physical attack.
  • In the Xanth novels, Ivy has the magic talent of Enhancement, and it is considered Sorceress-level magic because it is so versatile. For example, she used it as self-defense once by enhancing an enemy's throwing strength for a moment so that it would overshoot its aim when throwing something at her.
  • In High Deryni, the Gwyneddian forces receive reports of strange noises coming from the Torenthi camp at night. Morgan and Duncan join Kelson, Nigel, and a couple of scouts to observe, and Morgan uses his powers to extend his hearing. All agree they hear sounds of construction: sawing, chopping, hammering.
  • In Dave Duncan's A Man of His Word series, anyone who possesses a single word of power has their own natural talents enhanced to supernatural levels.
  • All magic in the Knight and Rogue Series enhances a things properties, though it sometimes also adds and extra ability (such as rabbits being able to turn invisible.)
  • In Mistborn's primary magic system, allomancy, ingesting and "burning" tin and pewter cause this effect, enhancing the allomancer's senses and physical abilities, respectively. Duralumin (and alloy of aluminum) takes it a step farther, enhancing other allomancy. The other allomantic metals don't count; they provide powers such as Emotion Control and Combat Clairvoyance that the allomancer simply wouldn't have otherwise.

Tabletop Games

  • The heart and soul of (the) Exalted. Every single one of them started out as Puny Creationlings, and their Exaltions enhances them to (varying degrees of) god-like ability. They also get more powerful Ki Attacks/Functional Magic, if they had some form of it before.
  • In Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000, the Gods of Chaos give daemonic gifts to their servants that may enhance them to superhuman ability (or just increase their abilities for the Chaos Space Marines), or they'll give your an extra leg or three, or an eyeball in your mouth. Such is the way of Chaos...
  • Probably the most common form of magic item in most Dungeons & Dragons settings are enhanced objects, like a "shield 1" or a "sword 2 vs undead". They give a bonus to their wielder to hit if a weapon, to block a parry if a shield, etc.
    • There are also enhancement spells, which increase the effect of other spells.
  • GURPS 4th Edition introduces the idea that some superpowers are magical in origin, and gives some basic mechanics for characters who have them. (However, as of yet, it still doesn't include rules in any of its settings for how these powers are acquired in the first place.)
  • Shadowrun has a set of stock spells which are used to provide temporary or permanent enhancement to each of the character attributes; each one of these has two versions -- one for folks with cyberware affecting the stat, and one for those without.

Visual Novels

  • Reinforcement Magic from the Fate series, which allows magi to sharpen blades, harden armors, or in the case higher level mastery, augment a living being with physical strength, speed and durability.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Magic_Enhancement?oldid=1834951"