History MagicKnight / Literature

* The default state of wizards in ''Literature/TheBlackCompany''. A core tenet of the series is that most wizards quickly apply the ability to break the rules of reality by making themselves immortal and NighInvulernable. The straightest version of this trope is probably Bonecrusher, a OneSceneWonder from the first book who's described as eight feet tall and crushed enemy soldiers with his bare hands. The Limper is no slouch, either, treating having a building collapsed on him as little more than an annoyance.

* The default state of wizards in ''Literature/The BlackCompany''. A core tenet of the series is that most wizards quickly apply the ability to break the rules of reality by making themselves immortal and NighInvulernable. The straightest version of this trope is probably Bonecrusher, a OneSceneWonder from the first book who's described as eight feet tall and crushed enemy soldiers with his bare hands. The Limper is no slouch, either, treating having a building collapsed on him as little more than an annoyance.

** Of the two main types of mages in the setting, augmenters exemplify this trope. These mages are adept at distributing mana throughout their bodies, which strengthens their physique and makes their bodies less vulnerable. This comes at the tradeoff of their powers being relatively short-ranged due to the finite amount of mana at their disposal as more mana is needed to project spells further. As such, augmenters excel at using their powers in close combat. Arthur himself is an augmenter.

* ''Literature/BazilBroketail'': Magic users tend to be skilled fighters too, since spells require lengthy incantantians and rituals (at least those useful for battle) and they must often protect themselves by mundane means.

* In Jennifer Roberson's Tiger and Del series, Delilah begins as this (though her frost-based magical abilities, as channeled through her sword, are limited in the Southron heat) and Tiger becomes this (after having begun the series as an [[MasterSwordsman expert and widely-feared sword-dancer]]).

* Rand al'Thor in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''. He learns to use a sword from a blademaster -- and becomes a master in his own right -- before he even finds himself a Saidin teacher, justifying the trope. He even takes it to new and amusingly literal places by using a sword ''made of magical fire''. Later books in the series deconstruct the trope, with other channellers pointing out that even with a magic sword, his swordsmanship is meaningless compared to his strength in Saidin. Between [[spoiler: losing his hand]] and [[spoiler: regaining the memories of his past life]] he discards the trope entirely. By the end of the series he has stopped fighting like a swordsman, magical or otherwise, and started using weaves that resemble artillery, rocket propelled grenades, bullets, and other more efficient weapons. Predictably, he runs a [[PersonOfMassDestruction personal World War I]] on the armies he faces.

** One of [[QuirkyMinibossSquad the Forsaken]], Demandred, (the FourStarBadass of the Shadow and one of Rand's {{shadow archetype}}s) also proves to be this in the last book, showing himself as a master of both physical and channeling-based combat. [[spoiler: He's so good that it takes three increasingly epic [[MasterSwordsman blademasters]] and a former [[DarkMessiah False Dragon]] in succession to take him down.]]
* In ''Literature/MotherOfLearning'', Zorian's friend Taiven was trained in non-magical fighting since she was a small girl before going on to learn combat magic at the academy.
* Many fighters in ''Literature/NocteYin'' are adept at both magic and weaponry.
* In the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'', Fey is currently turning herself from a SquishyWizard into this. She's learning Tai Chi and swordfighting. Considering who she's up against, this is a good thing.

* ''Literature/{{Dragonvarld}}'': Draconas can use powerful magic, and also is good at just using his walking stick as a weapon in a pinch.

[[spoiler:The Brothers who Brother Rennus makes attack the Imperial Army use both magic and swords while doing so.]]

* Monmouth of ''Literature/OneHundredCupboards'' is closer to a Magic ''Rogue'', wielding a ragtag mix of Green Man power and wizard training along with [[DeviousDaggers a very sharp knife]] and, when all else fails, his bare hands. The other wizards tend to consider this sort of combat beneath them.

* Monmouth of ''Literature/OneHundredCupboards'' is closer to a Magic ''Rogue'', wielding a ragtag mix of Green Man power and wizard training along with [[DeviousDagger a very sharp knife]] and, when all else fails, his bare hands. The other wizards tend to consider this sort of combat beneath them.

* {{Justified|Trope}} in ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades''. An InfoDump during the first session of the "sword arts" class explains that, within a certain range, a physical weapon can strike a mage faster than any mage can cast a spell. Union mages adopted sword training (referring to swords as "athame") a hundred years ago after a prominent archmage was killed by a {{Muggle}} swordsman this way in a duel. Main character Oliver Horn is skilled at both, at least by first-year standards.