Utility Magic: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

In many works, magic is something to [[Rule of Cool|blast things with and generally make stuff explode]].

 

 

This can get as crazy as worlds where ''everything'' is done with a spell, from cooking to transportation to brushing your teeth. Another manifestation of this trope is where everyday things or tasks seem to be ''imbued'' with magic. It might be so subtly done that it leaves one wondering [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane]], especially in a [[Low Fantasy]] or [[Magic Realism]] work.

* In the Film version of ''[[Practical Magic]]'', Sally Owens can be seen using a minor spell to make a spoon stir her coffee.

* Most of the magic seen in Miyazaki's ''[[Film/Howls Moving Castle|Howls Moving Castle]]'' is used to keep the house together and moving. There is a magic war raging on, but most of it happens off screen. Howl and Markl also run a kind of magic "shop" out of the castle, selling useful spells and potions to customers for profit.

** Disney's ''[[Mary Poppins]]''. In the "Spoonful of Sugar" segment Mary and the children snap their fingers to clean up a room.

** In ''[[Enchanted]]'' there is a scene where Giselle magically convinces the bugs in her apartment to help her clean.

** The picture for the trope page is from ''[[Fantasia]]'', and feature's Mickey as The Wizard's apprentice, using magic to do his chores. We're not really sure what the original intent of the spell is (is it an actual 'cleaning' spell or does it just make objects sentient?) so it might also be [[Mundane Utility]]. Ends pretty disastrously, either way.

 

 

* [[Robert Heinlein]]'s short story "Magic Inc." has magic being used on a regular basis for mundane purposes, such as construction work.

* In the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books, wizards have roughly the same standards of living as muggles did in the 50's (radio but no TV or internet). Except they use magic for everything beyond medieval technology.

** Most clever characters, no matter how strong mages themselves, remember that everyone in Uguland is spoiled rotten with "kitchen magic", and that there are more complex yet efficient ways to do things, starting from alchemy developed on the next continent ''far'' beyond basic drugs and spell components. Those aware of [[Summon_Everyman_Hero|Max's youth in a magic-poor world]] sometimes called him to think of something [[We_Have_Forgotten_the_Phlebotinum|when magical solutions are unavailable]], or just to get a fresh point of view when they run into dead-end.

* In Sherwood Smith's ''[[Inda]]'' series, the protagonists' culture primarily uses magic for waste-disposal, [[Fantasy Contraception]], and similarly mundane tasks.

* Furycrafting in the ''[[Codex Alera]]'' has several military and commercial uses. This is due largely to it being used in place of just about any kind of technology.

* This is also the case in Jim Butcher's other series, [[The Dresden Files]]. Harry comments frequently that most wizards specialize in mundane spells that are more useful in everyday life, and that evocation magic (AKA magic that goes boom) is not only of incredibly limited use outside of combat, but is extraordinarily difficult to use. Even White Council wizards typically don't specialize in combat magic (aside from the Wardens, since it's their job to kick ass). For instance, Harry, one of the strongest wizards in the world in terms of raw magic power, states that his true specialty is not evocation magic, but thaumaturgic magic, such as tracking spells that let him find lost items (which is of great help in his work as a PI).

** Probably the most frequent example of utility magic is Harry's invocation to light candles; "Flickum Bicus."

* [[Incarnations of Immortality]] has an Earth where magic was always used publicily (and never [[The Magic Goes Away|went away]]); technology was eventually invented, resulting in such odd things as car salesmen competing with [[Flying Carpet]] salesmen.

* ''Rhymes with Witches'' has a high school coven of witches who use their power to become the most popular girls in school.

== [[Web Comic]] ==

* Magic World from the webcomic ''[[City of Reality]]'' is full of this. It looks just like modern-day Earth, in fact, they just use magic instead of electricity. So the beautician uses magic to make your hair color change, or they use magic to make cars float an inch off the ground to drive around, and so on.

* A lot of the trappings of "[[The Dragon Doctors]]" resembles modern-day Earth, and magic is often used as a more-advanced equivalent of modern technology. [[Voluntary Shapeshifting]] is a faster, more-complete form of plastic surgery, [[Instant Sedation]] is due to magic sedatives, the [[Akashic Records]] are like a shamanism-internet, and so on.

 

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** Unicorn magic seems to be divided into basic telekinesis and actual spells. The former is mostly used when a human would use their hands, which is obviously mostly for everyday stuff. As for the latter, it has been said outright that most unicorns only learn a few spells directly connected to their cutiemark (i.e. destiny/special talent). Most ponies' cutiemarks aren't connected to violence. The single example of combat magic we have seen comes from Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle's brother, but he is a [[Magic Knight]] by profession and his cutie mark is a shield, so him casting massive defensive spells {{spoiler|large enough to protect the whole capital from an invading army}} is only in line with the above rules.