History Main / MagicFeather

* [[http://www.explosm.net/comics/1801/ Another parody]], this time by CyanideAndHappiness.

* Played straight in the novel ''Literature/{{Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince}}'', wherein Harry tricks Ron Weasley into thinking that he (Harry) has just poured some "Felix Felicis" luck potion into Ron's drink to improve his Quidditch game (which had been suffering due to an extreme case of nerves). Hermione saw Harry do it, and warned Ron not to drink it, as it would be cheating to use a potion in a Quiddich game. Ron drinks it anyway, and his game improves hugely. Then, when Hermione confronts Harry again afterward (once Griffindor has won with over 200 points), Harry shows both of them that he hadn't poured a drop; he faked it. Ron mocks Hermione, who tries to compliment Ron/backpedal, but fails. (Harry had ''not'' foreseen his play backfiring...)

* Pretty much the most awesome example ever: in ''OnePiece'', for the Luffy vs. Foxy duel, Usopp hands Luffy a ''[[FunnyAfro giant afro]]'' to give him strength...and then the entire crowd goes wild when he appears sporting it. And when he starts to show his HeroicResolve, it was apparently because "THE AFRO POWER MADE HIM GO BERSERK!". In short, the MagicFeather that ''everybody'' (except [[OnlySaneMan Nami]], but ''including [[TheStoic Robin]]'') believed. Even more confusing is that he effectively won ''because'' of the afro [[spoiler: or rather the piece of glass that was hidden in it]]!

** And of course, Dorothy had the slippers to get home the ENTIRE time. To invert the prvious examples though, the wizard offered her... a ride home.

** [[spoiler: Later on, he reveals that there really ''is'' a magic water. However, since it kills anyone who isn't a Determinator and most people die before they even get that far, Korin doesn't keep it on display.]]

* ''NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation'' gives us one used by the ''villains''. Wick creates an alleged magic amulet for the Rank that reportedly increases their strength, but when the turtles get one neither Don nor Venus can find anything unusual about it. Near the end, the Dragon Lord's taunt on how fear is an excellent distraction causes them to realize that the 'magic' is just a placebo effect- the Rank puts them on thinking it'll make them invincible, and fight with more confidence.

** [[spoiler: Later on, he reveals that there really ''is'' a magic water in the tower. However, since it kills anyone who isn't a Determinator, Korin doesn't keep it on display.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' has the players use various focusing devices before they can fully control their powers. This isn't outrightly stated, but by comparing [[spoiler: Aradia's shift from using time-controlling music boxes to freezing Bec Noir in place with her mind]], it becomes obvious. Some characters just jump this hurdle entirely though.

'''Frink:''' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny I was merely trying to spare the girl's feelings, you insensitive clod.
'''Homer:''' Oh - OH! Well, now that I look even closer-]]

'''Frink:''' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny I was merely trying to spare the girl's feelings, you insensitive clod.]]\\

'''Homer:''' Oh - OH! Well, now that I look even closer-]]\\

'''Homer:''' [[SubvertedTrope[taking the shoes] What are you talking about, Professor Frink? They're clearly in the On position. [showing them to ''Lisa''] See? "On".]]\\
'''Frink:''' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny I was merely trying to spare the girl's feelings, you insensitive clod.\\
'''Homer:''' Oh - OH! Well, now that I look even closer-]]

'''Homer:''' [[SubvertedTrope[taking the shoes] What are you talking about, Professor Frink? They're clearly in the On position. [showing them to ''Lisa''] See? "On".\\]]

'''Frink:''' [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfFunny I was merely trying to spare the girl's feelings, you insensitive clod.\\

'''Homer:''' [taking the shoes] What are you talking about, Professor Frink? They're clearly in the On position. [showing them to ''Lisa''] See? "On".\\
'''Frink:''' I was merely trying to spare the girl's feelings, you insensitive clod.\\
'''Homer:''' Oh - OH! Well, now that I look even closer-

* SheRaPrincessOfPower: [[LovableCoward Sorrowful]] the Dragon (in the episode ''The Laughing Dragon'') is given a necklace of roses that She-ra tells him will give him courage. He then proceeds to open a can of whoopass on the Horde. When he finds out that the flowers weren't really magical, he faints.
* ''CasperTheFriendlyGhost'' was given one from Dr. Harvey for a school play.
* The {{Terrytoons}} Dinky Duck cartoon ''Sink or Swim'' (1952) has an owl give Dinky a "skyhook" (a stick with a hooked branchlet) to help him swim.

** When TJ [[CrossOver crossed over]] to ''SisterSister'', he enticed a high-strung Tia with his super-secret technique to get a 1600 on her [=SAT's=]...if she'd take him to Chuck E. Ch--er, [[SuckECheeses Buck E. Duck]]. Turns out she just needed to relax.

** Which might be a subversion, as B12 might actually help with sea-sickness. But it was meant as a placebo.

* Played with at the end of ''TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny'', when the club owner gives his "the Devil is in all of us" speech, convincing Kage and JB not to worry about [[spoiler: the pick breaking. Of course, immediately after we discover the club owner is actually Satan, and just wanted the pick to complete himself.]]

* In both ''Anime/AzumangaDaioh'' and the manga version of ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'', the cures for hiccups are used in two stories when the younger cast member (Chiyo-chan and Sasami, respectively) get a case of the hiccups. Tomo cures Chiyo-chan's by ''gut punching her'', but they have to start over when Tomo gets the hiccups. Tenchi cures Sasami's by [[HeartwarmingMoments telling her he loves her]] (mostly because they all believed if she reached 100 hiccups, she'd die.

* Played straight in the novel ''Literature/HarryPotter and the Half-Blood Prince'', wherein Harry tricks Ron Weasley into thinking that he (Harry) has just poured some "Felix Felicis" luck potion into Ron's drink to improve his Quidditch game (which had been suffering due to an extreme case of nerves). Hermione saw Harry do it, and warned Ron not to drink it, as it would be cheating to use a potion in a Quiddich game. Ron drinks it anyway, and his game improves hugely. Then, when Hermione confronts Harry again afterward (once Griffindor has won with over 200 points), Harry shows both of them that he hadn't poured a drop; he faked it. Ron mocks Hermione, who tries to compliment Ron/backpedal, but fails. (Harry had ''not'' foreseen his play backfiring...)

* Many cures for stage fright or other performance-related issues, and a few... erm... performance-related issues too) as well as artistic remedies: things that get the creative juices flowing.