History Main / MagicByAnyOtherName

This is when a work has an intangible element that is obviously supposed to be magic, but is explicitly not called that. Maybe the word "magic" doesn't exist in their universe, maybe AgentScully is using InsistentTerminology (as maybe [[MagicIsEvil their religion explicitly prohibits "magic"]]) -- yet whatever power they're using lets them [[PowerFloats levitate]], throw {{fireballs}} and [[MagicAndPowers anything else]] that standard-issue {{Fantasy}} magic can do. This trope also applies to works where a practiced mystical art such as [[AlchemyIsMagic alchemy]], [[TarotMotifs tarot cards]] or [[{{Ninja}} ninjutsu]] has been broadened to the point where it functions as all-purpose magic.

* ''Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}'': Magecraft seen throughout the franchise, especially the ''Franchise/FateSeries'', is what mages use to cast spells. While outsiders label it magic, mages are insistent that it's something entirely different. Magecraft uses study and Mysteries to develop a way to use {{mana}} to produce an effect that a human being could perform normally; for example, repairing a broken object with a wave of the hand. This is often summarized as "performing possible actions using impossible means." However, True Magic, also called Sorcery, is producing ''impossible'' effects. For example, materializing the soul, or dimensional travel. Interestingly, "impossible" is based on the [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve beliefs of humanity as a whole]]; flight used to be a True Magic, until humans invented various means of artificial flight. Entire branches of magecraft became useless because they were based on this True Magic, but at the same time it became far easier to replicate flight with other forms of magecraft.

* ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'':
** ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'': Disciplines

* In the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, WordOfGod says there is no magic, just new and strange kinds of science. Yeah, even with ''Film/DoctorStrange2016''.
** This was eventually dropped and magic has become a staple of the setting. Even some cases that were previously examples of this trope, such as Wanda's powers, are now stated to be real magic.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' tends to handwave would would otherwise blatantly be magic with TechnoBabble, but it ''is'' established canon that magic did once exist, before it was banished by the Time Lords in favour of rationality, and bits of it are still floating around.

In a ScienceFiction setting, MagicFromTechnology and "[[PsychicPowers psionics]]" are favorite stand-bys along with MinovskyPhysics, possibly with a [[SciFiNameBuzzwords "quantum" or "nano"]] tacked on for good measure. If EverythingIsOnline, HollywoodHacking may be utilized as well. {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s that have evolved to the point where the physical laws of reality no longer apply to them (such as [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]] or [[Franchise/StarTrek Q]]) generally do ''not'' count unless their powers are something PunyHumans can learn. Sometimes, a more limited power may turn into this over time, due to abuse of NewPowersAsThePlotDemands.

In a ScienceFiction setting, MagicFromTechnology and "[[PsychicPowers psionics]]" are favorite stand-bys along with MinovskyPhysics, possibly with a [[SciFiNameBuzzwords "quantum" or "nano"]] tacked on for good measure. If EverythingIsOnline, HollywoodHacking may be utilized as well. SufficientlyAdvancedAliens that have evolved to the point where the physical laws of reality no longer apply to them (such as [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]] or [[Franchise/StarTrek Q]]) generally do ''not'' count unless their powers are something PunyHumans can learn. Sometimes, a more limited power may turn into this over time, due to abuse of NewPowersAsThePlotDemands.

%%* ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'': Psi

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}} Onmyōji]]'': [[UsefulNotes/{{Onmyodo}} Onmyōdō]], which is already considered Magic by Any Other Name in RealLife.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': The One Power, which is segregated by sex, with males using ''saidin'' and females ''saidar''. Using the Power is called channeling. The BigBad has his own flavor, called the True Power. Then there are miscellaneous bits of WrongContextMagic floating around, like dudes who can talk to wolves, Ogier Treesinging, Dreamwalking, and Min's aura vision. All of it is clearly magical, but [[NotUsingTheZWord the word "magic" is never used]]; the closest they come is when Aes Sedai (female users of the One Power) are occasionally called "witches" as a pejorative.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': The Warp and psionics, but Chaotic practitioners don't shy from calling themselves wizards. As a comparison, in the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' universe -- as befitting fantasy -- the Warp is unashamedly magic.

* On ''Series/{{Haven}}'', the supernatural powers that affect the residents are known as the "Troubles." They're never referred to as magic, despite being indistinguishable from it. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in season one by Jess Minion, a Haven transplant of Mi'kmak descent who is accused of being a [[MagicalNativeAmerican witch]] by townsfolk who don't like her animal welfare advocacy. She points out that the Troubles aren't any different from what she's being accused of, and tells Nathan (who is Troubled) that he has been "transformed by magic," and the only thing lacking is his perspective.

* ''Literature/TheBrokenEarthTrilogy'': What they usually call "orogeny" is basically magic (although "magic" in-universe is a somewhat broader term than can encompass other things as well). Lampshaded in this scene:

* In ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' (and the spinoff, ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun''), [[PsychicPowers esper powers]] are basically just [[FunctionalMagic Inherent Gift]] magic under a different name. Really, the only difference between the mages and the espers is that the mages use lots of crutches in the form of magic circles and magic items, while the espers develop SuperIntelligence to [[RequiredSecondaryPower control their powers]] instead. And espers only get one power, while mages can learn multiple (though most don't use more than a few).

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' (and the spinoff, ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun''), [[PsychicPowers esper powers]] are basically just [[FunctionalMagic Inherent Gift]] magic under a different name. Really, the only difference between the mages and the espers is that the mages use lots of crutches in the form of magic circles and magic items, while the espers develop SuperIntelligence to [[RequiredSecondaryPower control their powers]] instead. And espers only get one power, while mages can learn multiple (though most don't use more than a few).

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The Force, right down to being split between Light and Dark magic. Slightly different in that [[DoingInTheWizard Obi-Wan initially presents it as "an energy field"]] generated by living beings, the prequels [[VoodooShark claimed it came from micro-organisms in the bloodstream]], and it leans more towards the science fiction-y "telepathy, telekinesis, precognition, illusions" rather than fireballs or summoning or turning into frogs. Unusually, it's more inspired by [[UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}} Daoist magic]] than anything Western.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'': Pieces of Eden. The Apple of Eden, the most prominent of these artifacts, can give the user control others' minds and bodies--even making them kill themselves--or allow a DoppelgangerAttack or apparently bringing the dead back to life; when Ezio uses the Apple in ''Brotherhood'', it is CastFromHitPoints. The Shard of Eden deflects bullets, and the Shroud of Eden really ''does'' bring people back to life, [[BodyHorror but not in the best way possible]]. Despite all this, they're really just SufficientlyAdvancedTechnology.

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'', and ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'': Ether. At least in the case of ''Xenosaga'', a lot of this is explicitly stated to be nanobots in the environs being somehow influenced by the characters. The effects are still just like magic.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'': Artes are a general term that refers to any attack or spell. Fonic Artes, are artes that are magical in nature,