Magicians Are Wizards: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

''Well, Titans, something you should know:''

''I am the one with magic powers 'round here!''

 

 

Fiction generally features two distinct types of magic users:

 

{{examples}}

* In one episode of ''[[Magic Users Club]]'', Takeo performs magic for a group, and justifies it by saying "since they just think it's magic tricks, it's okay."

* ''[[Ghost Hunt]]'': {{spoiler|Naru with his spoon}} is variant with telekinesis.

* Not sure if this counts as an example, but in ''[[Black Butler]]'', [[Our Demons Are Different|Sebastian]] pretended to be a [[Stage Magician]] to create a distraction. To be fair, though, he did say there were no tricks involved.

 

* ''[[Mandrake the Magician]]''

* [[Zatanna]] and her father, John Zatara, from [[The DCU]] are from a [[Witch Species|species]] called ''Homo magi'', and they use their powers for both entertainment and fighting evil.

** In ''[[Justice League]]'', Zatanna admits to using ''both'' real and stage magic to give her act flair yet also give it [[Plausible Deniability]].

*** An earlier comic implied that stage magic required actual practice...

* Sargon the Sorcerer was another [[Golden Age]] hero in [[The DCU]] who used stage magic as a mask for his real magical powers.

* Spoofed in an issue of ''[[Rat-Man]]'' that was a parody of [[Conan the Barbarian]]: the seemingly all-powerful wizard our "heroine" met fought with playing cards, [[Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat|a rabbit]] and spells from... a bunch of ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' cards!

 

 

* The [[Pixar Shorts|Pixar animated short]] ''Presto'' features a magician with both a top hat and a pointy wizard hat; anything placed into one will come out the other. He intends to use this magic to [[Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat|pull a rabbit out of his hat]] before a live audience, but the rabbit has other plans. [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* Most of the tricks in ''[[The Illusionist (film)|The Illusionist]]'' are impossible without modern special effects. Ironically, the last trick, which wows the audience the most, is actually possible without advanced technology.

* In ''[[Devil Doll (film)|Devil Doll]]'', the main villain is a ventriloquist who's really a soul-stealing hypnotist.

 

* ''[[Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency]]'' has Reg, a university dean who performs an impossible magic trick to entertain a restless little girl at a formal dinner. Nobody but the protagonist realizes this, and he decides to investigate. {{spoiler|As it turns out, there was [[Time Travel]] involved.}}

* Aziraphale in ''[[Good Omens]]'' liked to do stage magic as a hobby. He's also an angel, perfectly capable of doing real magic anytime he wants, but considers that "cheating" while working as a magician.

{{quote|Harry: Magicians do slight-of-hands. I do real magic. }}

** He apparently also gets calls asking him if he's really [[Harry Potter|a wizard named "Harry"]].

* In [[G. K. Chesterton]]'s ''Magic'', the conjuror, it turns out, does know real magic, but he doesn't use it in his act.

* Peter Straub's novel ''Shadowland'' is based entirely upon this trope, and derives much of its power from the distorted and unreliable perceptions of the main characters as to what is really magic, what was merely illusion, and what "really" happened/is happening at any one point in the action.

* The titular conjurer in the ''[[Diogenes Club]]'' story "Sorcerer, Conjurer, Wizard, Witch" is The Great Edmondo, one of the four magic users who defend London. Possibly the Mystic Maharajah of the Splendid Six in "Clubland Heroes", although it's unclear how much power he actually has.

 

* ''[[The X-Files]]'' episode "The Amazing Maleeni", which features a magician who dies from having his head fall off after performing a trick where he rotates his head the whole way around. {{spoiler|This turns out to be a subversion; unusually for this show, there was no magic or anything supernatural involved, and only mild foul play.}}

* In the fourth season of the TV show ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', there is an episode that revolves around this troupe; titled "[[Take That|Criss Angel is a Douchebag]]". The main characters Sam and Dean spend the entire episode trying to find a serial-killer wizard, who is hiding by pretending to be an elderly stage magician. Turns out he has a fondness for entertaining an audience when he's not committing homicide. Ironically enough, he dies when an Average Joe stage magician uses slight of hand to use his own cursed stage-props to kill him.

* There's a whole society of wizards in the [[Magical Land]] of Bottom World, in ''[[The Legend of Dick and Dom]]'', who make their living putting on stage magic shows.

* In ''[[The Dresden Files (TV series)|The Dresden Files]]'', little magic Harry helped his dad out a bit with his conjuring act, without his father's knowledge or permission...

 

* This is discussed as an option for mages in ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]''. Most people can stop real magic working if they see and disbelieve it, but it's possible to pull it off by pretending to be a stage magician. There is even a skill, called 'Blatancy', to simulate how good a character is at passing their vulgar magic off as stage tricks.

* In the rebooted ''[[Mage: The Awakening]]'', the possiblity is still open, but game mechanics discourage it. Using magic for mere personal gain can be considered an act of Hubris and ding your [[Karma Meter]]. Furthermore, "Vulgar" magic (which would be necessary for most stage tricks) risks attracting the attention of an [[Eldritch Abomination]].

 

 

* Harvey from ''[[No More Heroes]]'' has a variety of tricks that would be just about impossible without actual magic, such as summoning pigeons literally out of thin air, teleporting, and [[Interface Screw|turning your screen upside-down]].

* ''[[Phantasmagoria]]'': Carno, a world-famous stage magician/escape artist became frustrated with just performing illusions, and wished to discover ''real'' magic. This lead him to an ancient book...[[Be Careful What You Wish For|which contained an evil demon.]]

* In the game ''[[Gray Matter]]'', {{spoiler|Angela's father is revealed to be a magician whose magic was not an illusion, and Angela inherited his psychic powers}}.

 

* The Great Kesandru, from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', who used legions of invisible enslaved spirits to perform the same stock magic tricks regularly performed by more mundane magicians.

* ''[[The Wotch]]'' has a side character who does this. Apparently, a lot of wizards perform on stage as a hobby.

* ''[[Wapsi Square]]'': [http://wapsisquare.com/comic/somekindofmagician/ Best explanation the magic: she's some kind of magician!]

 

* Cosmo the Astounding is a mediocre criminal wizard for hire in the ''[[Metro City Chronicles]]''.

 

* ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' features the Amazing Mumbo, a blue-skinned villain in a cape and top hat who uses elaborate magic tricks to commit his crimes (usually bank robbery). If his wand is broken, he loses his powers and reverts to his normal human form. [[Word of God]] states that he was an ordinary magician who got his hands on a real magic wand, which gave him [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|magical powers at the expense of his sanity]].

* The Great Fondoo, a member of the Really Rottens in ''[[Laff-A-Lympics]]'', was a sorcerer who dressed like a stage magician.

* At least one episode of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (animation)|Dungeons & Dragons]]'' suggested Presto was an amateur stage magician before Dungeon Master gave him a magic hat. (Jimmy Whittaker in "City at the Edge of Midnight" says that Presto can show him some card tricks at school.) Which might explain why he's called Presto.

* Common in some golden-age American cartoons.

* Moo Moo the Magician from ''[[Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!]]''.

* In the classic [[Christmas Special]] ''[[Frosty the Snowman]]'', a magician's top hat is caught up in a gust of wind, and lands on a snowman. This hat is so magical that it makes the snowman come to life. On the other hand, it is made clear that Professor Hinkel, the hat's owner, cannot even do stage magic very well.

** Still though, Trixie is able to pull off feats of magic that are quite obviously beyond simple parlor tricks and illusions. Very few unicorns have have been shown to have strong enough telekinesis to throw another pony into the air, and conjuring things out of thin air like that thundercloud is something only Twilight has been shown to be able to accomplish.

* The entire plot of ''[[The Illusionist (animation)|The Illusionist]]'' is that Alice believes that the Illusionist has real magical powers.

* In one episode of ''[[Thundarr the Barbarian]]'' the evil wizard turns out to only be using stage magic. By using clever strategy and planning he shows himself to be as effective as most of the real wizards Thundarr and company face.

 

* A number of stage magicians in the early days claimed in advertising and/or in performances that their powers were actually derived from supernatural forces. Interestingly, the first book discussing what we now call stage magic was a book entitled "The Discoverie of Witchcraft."

** Averted in the era of witch-hunts, however. The magicians at that time were always advertising their abilities with sleigh of hand, because ''actual'' magic would be a sign of a deal with the Devil. Some magicians still got in trouble because they were too good.

*** This is actually a long, long tradition of magicians being incorrigible skeptics. [[Harry Houdini]] himself may have started the trend when he caught a [[Phony Psychic]] in the act.

*** [[James Randi]], aka The Amazing Randi, is the most notable magician skeptic today, as he has an entire foundation dedicated to debunking claims of supernatural powers, with a one million dollar reward for anyone who can demonstrate genuine supernatural powers under laboratory conditions. In regards to this trope, Randi prefers to be called a 'conjuror' as a 'magician' is someone who can actually do magic.

* In some languages the word for "magician" and "wizard" is the same - in German e.g. it's "Zauberer". Or "Magier", but that one can also refer to both. If you wanted to talk explicitly about one kind, you'd have to say "Bühnenmagier" (magician) or "echter Zauberer" (someone doing real magic).