History Main / MagicStaff

* In the ''CircleOfMagic'' universe, every Trader carries a six foot staff capped at both ends with engraved brass caps. Daja uses hers as a weapon, a walking stick and a magic wand, as needed.\\

* In ''VideoGame/{{Arcanum}}, staffs can store Mana that can be used instead of a mage's own Fatigue[[note]]Magick in this game is cast with mental power, and casting too many spells can result in unconsciousness[[/note]] or even contain spells of their own.

* All of the Lords in the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' wield magical staves; the High Lord's Staff of Law, created by legendary hero Berek Halfhand, is a particularly powerful and plot-centric artifact throughout the series [[spoiler: both the original and its replacement]]. On a more sinister note, the ur-vile loremasters also tend to channel their powers through rods, spears, or the like.

* DungeonDefenders has these in multitudes of varieties, with stat modifiers applying to many aspects of the wizard ''and his deployable towers''. If you upgrade one all the way, you can name it whatever you'd like.

!!!Examples:

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* Gandalf, Saruman and other wizards wield these in ''LordOfTheRings''. Notably, Gandalf sometimes [[DualWielding dual wielded]] it with a glowing elven longsword, Glamdring, because he's that much of a BadAss. Gandalf also gets away with using it when the rest of his party have been ordered to lay down their arms, because he can pass it off as an old man's walking stick. (And because the guard knew that the EvilVizier was, well, an EvilVizier, and thought Gandalf could do something about it. That latter interpretation is only in the books; in the movies it really does look like Gandalf put one over on them.)
* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', the staff is the preferred tool of wizards, and a major plot point in ''Discworld/EqualRites'' and ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}''. In ''Discworld/SoulMusic'', Archancellor Ridcully recommends a staff because even if you run out of magic, [[SimpleStaff you've still got six foot of solid bog-oak at your disposal]]. Works nine times out of ten.

* Staves in ''WorldOfWarcraft'' tend to be caster weapons, and are generally not used to melee but merely as stat boosters. Melee-oriented staves tend to be druid weapons, and again druids don't fight with their weapons, but their [[VoluntaryShapeshifting claws.]] However, there are a few rare staves designed for warriors and other melee classes.

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* In ''OrderOfTheStick'' Malack carries one of these. The wording so far leaves it ambiguous as to whether the staff is a powerful item the abilities of which Malack is still researching, or a more typical magic staff that Malack uses to store spells he has researched but doesn't use often enough to make it worth keeping them memorized.

* Negi Springfield in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' caries a staff most of the time when doing magic. It serves as a focus for his spells and he also uses it to fly in a manner resembling a FlyingBroomstick. Also, as the story progresses and his skills in magic increase, he tends to use the staff less and less: The magic ring Eva gave him is less cumbersome, and he grows to rely less on ''that'' as well.

* Justified to some extent in the ''Her Majesty's Wizard'' series by Christopher Stasheff. Wands in that series (and staves, to some extent) serve as magical "antennas", focusing a mage's spells and making them directional. Spells will still work without using a wand, or stave, but the effect is both weaker and far more easily able to be picked up by other wizards/sorcerers. Kinda the difference between using a regular radio versus one with a dish antenna. As spells in this universe are cast through poetry, this can make for some interesting duels. "He's going for the extra point!/Throw his kneecap out of joint!", etc...

* ''QuestForGlory'' lets Wizard characters obtain a magic staff in games 3 through 5. In 3 and 4 it's only somewhat useful (no mana consumption while active, but moving at all de-summons it), but it received a major overhaul in 5 (where it has its own regenerating mana supply and can be used until it runs out and needs a recharge, greatly extending the player's mana) and became useful.

* ''DragonAgeII'' turns combat with a Mage's Staff into an veritable art-form of destruction, as in addition to the spells they rapidly fling across the battlefield from both ends of the staff, the Mages seem to now favour Wushu-esque moves that rapidly spin and twirl the staff around their whole bodies. A common finishing move is to slam the Staff on the ground that sends the spell across the ground towards their enemy. It should also be noted that in close-quarter melee, the Mage also now has huge blades attached to the base of their Staff to slam into their opponents.

* The Staves of Eden in the ''AssassinsCreed'' series are an artifact left over from the {{Precursor}} civilization that have shown up several times in history as Moses' Staff, the Papal Staff and Russian Imperial Sceptre, among others, the Staves allow the users to exercise MindControl. Eventually NikolaTesla and the Assassins decided to destroy the facility where the Templars were keeping it and take it for themselves, but the resulting explosion destroyed the staff itself and was so large [[HistoricalInJoke that it came to be known as the Tunguska Event]].

* The Staves of Eden in the ''AssassinsCreed'' series are an artifact left over from the {{Precursor}} civilization that have shown up several times in history as Moses' Staff, the Papal Staff and Russian Imperial Sceptre, among others, the Staves allow the users to exercise MindControl. Eventually NikolaTesla and the Assassins decided to destroy it and the facility where the Templars were keeping it, but the resulting explosion was so large [[HistoricalInJoke that it came to be known as the Tunguska Event]].

** Something of note is that most of a focus's power relies on the belief of the wizard using them, although some of them are spelled. Elaine's chain is an interesting example because it also plugs into ''wall sockets'' to build up charge.

* Gandalf, Saruman and other wizards wield these in ''LordOfTheRings''. Notably, Gandalf sometimes [[DualWielding dual wielded]] it with a glowing elven longsword, Glamdring, because he's that much of a BadAss.
** Gandalf also gets away with using it when the rest of his party have been ordered to lay down their arms, because he can pass it off as an old man's walking stick. (And because the guard knew that the EvilVizier was, well, an EvilVizier, and thought Gandalf could do something about it. That latter interpretation is only in the books; in the movies it really does look like Gandalf put one over on them.)

* Merlin, from ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' kept the staff used by the Sidhe man in season one, and has used it again on a couple of occasions. He keeps it hidden under a floorboard. There's also Alator, a sorcerer who uses a staff, and the Disir, three female soothsayers armed with staffs.

** He also makes a new one in the series finale, which is capable of channeling lightning.