History Main / MagicfromTechnology

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' were made from Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice. And a bottle of Chemical X.

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%% Quote pulled per discussion: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1327331003042025100&page=269

* ''Literature/DigitalDevilStory'' has ace programmer Akemi Nakajima using a computer to summon demons. This serves as the basis for the "summon demons with arm terminals, cellphones, things that look like the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, etc." concept used in ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei''.

* In ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', the demonic realm can be breached though certain forms of teleportation, and computers can be used to summon, store and handle demons (albeit through the use of a BlackBox-laden program). Devices include, but are not limited to: arm terminals (''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'', ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII II]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV IV]]''), UsefulNotes/NintendoDS lookalikes (''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor''), cellphones (''IV'' and ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse IV: Apocalypse]]'', ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''), and PoweredArmor (''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'').

* ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' tests the boundaries of the trope with Zeibach. They claim that their sudden increase in power came about through the application of Earth science and technology in the world of Gaea, but given Gaea is also a world where ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve very much applies, it's hard to draw any kind of line between magic and technology here.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' gives Link a slew of magical powers via his Sheikah Slate, a {{Magitek}} tablet computer. Known in-game as "Runes", they are downloaded onto the Sheikah Slate via magical liquid, and appear similar to apps on real-world tablets.
* ''VideoGame/TheSecondRealityProject series'': Thirlox is a technomage/technomancer. He uses the power of technology to cast "magic" spells.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' were made from Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice. And a bottle of Chemical X.

* In the ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' games, there is both magic ''and'' magic from technology, at least in the ''Phantasy Star'' universe's history. Early on in the story however, magic ( the ''much'' more powerful of the two ), is stated to have 'died', after which it was only usable by the spiritual reincarnation of an ancient and unbelievably powerful mage. [=TECHNICs=], however, as this became known, are initially just described as 'not magic' despite having similar, if less powerful effects to magic. In the later parts of the series (''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline'' and especially ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarUniverse''), [=TECHNICs=] are explained as manipulations of photonic energy by a TECHNIC user's mind, made possible by psychic amplifier technology and photon reactors built into their weapons.
* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', [[BigBad Grodus]] has a mostly tech-based theme, with a visible computer instead of a brain. However, he also has a staff that can shoot [[FireIceLightning fire, ice, and lightning.]]
* The MMO ''VideoGame/TabulaRasa'' is based around this - the [=PCs=] are humans with the capability to use ancient alien technology that writes information directly into their minds and lets them do seemingly magical things like shoot lightning.

* Magic, or rather Ether, in ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' is almost all derived from technology. For Ziggy, it's all functions of his cybernetic body. For KOS-MOS, an android, it's technology built into her or technology she can transport or control remotely. For the rest of the cast, it's nanomachines they control remotely to create various effects. [[spoiler:The exception is chaos, whose magic turns out to actually be magic as we would define it.]]

* The ''VideoGame/WildArms'' series uses this. Though studied in academies like FunctionalMagic magic on Filgaia is actually a result of nanomachines [[spoiler:left in the atmosphere by the precursor race who were abandoning a swiftly dying planet, not realizing that by decreasing the population like they did they saved it anyway and the world survives]]. Any supernatural beings or monsters arise from people or animals being altered by nanomachines. In later installments of the series magic is channeled from technological spirits called Guardians using the same principles as above.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
** While the entire {{nanomachine|s}} technology system from the series arguably fits here, an even better example is Fortune from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. For most of the game, she is said to have been BornLucky. At the end, it turns out that she has been carrying around some kind of electromagnetic device that somehow deflects bullets, stops explosions, and prevents an unstable weapon from destroying itself. Subverted [[spoiler:in that, after the device is turned off (and she takes a bullet to the chest to demonstrate this), she still manages to deflect several projectiles fired at her]]. There's actually a logical theory to this. [[spoiler:Snake was the main ace in the hole for Ocelot's GambitRoulette. Snake needed to live but Ocelot needed to keep his cover up to keep the Patriots blinded. Since there was no indication that he'd actually turned off Fortune's abilities until he shot her, he may have likewise silently reactivated Fortune's abilities afterwards in order to keep the charade going.]]
** Otacon also invokes ClarkesThirdLaw as an explanation of Vamp's wall climbing skills in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots MGS4]]''.
* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' so long as you can imagine someone inventing something, it's magic by Devil's Proof.
* In ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'', the Stasis and Kinesis modules are technological devices that allow the protagonist to slow down time and move heavy objects from a distance. [[spoiler:The Markers also count.]]
* [[{{Mayincatec}} The Coutl]], from ''VideoGame/RiseOfLegends'', since [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien their "gods"]] are AncientAstronauts, are able to wield alien technology as if it where magic.

* Eco from ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' works like this. Not only can it be applied to futuristic guns, but it can allow users to fire singularity blasts, slow time, conjure green crystals, erect shields, or do any number of other things.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' PC-98 characters Rika, Rikako Asakura, Chiyuri Kitashirakawa, and Yumemi Okazaki have all used science to such degrees that spirits and fairies emerge. In the Windows series, the kappa frequently borrow and improve upon technology from outside Gensokyo, but this might be more {{Magitek}}.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' gives Link a slew of magical powers via his Sheikah Slate, a {{Magitek}} tablet computer. Known in-game as "Runes", they are downloaded onto the Sheikah Slate via magical liquid, and appear similar to apps on real-world tablets.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Biotics are magic like abilities that some people develop, if they are fortunate enough to survive in-utero exposure to a {{Minovsky P|hysics}}article, given brain surgery, and attach a {{cyb|org}}ernetic "amp" into the back of their neck. A biotic needs a lot more calories than normal [[AvertedTrope due to]] [[NoConservationOfEnergy Conservation Of Energy]], and their powers are restricted to [[GravityScrew affecting mass, and creating singularities]].
** In fact, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the original plan]] for the third game was to have a big reconstructive twist where they acknowledge that, in fact, biotic abilities and the mass effect do ''not'' make sense with the conservation of energy. The energy has to come from ''somewhere'': remember all those stars dying before their time? Whenever a ship accelerates to FTL, entropy in the universe increases massively. The Reapers, according to the original plan, were a means of delaying the heat death of the universe by destroying civilizations that have reached the point of using too much mass effect.
** Most of the Tech powers in these games are supposed to be grenades, but in the second game, the [[ShockandAwe lightning-like]] Overload ability hits enemies instantaneously, while the [[KillitWithFire Incinerate ability]] is a {{fireball|s}} in all but name.

* NOVA in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', the wish-granting comet god, is made of random mechanical parts.
* In the world of the first two ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' novels, magic is done by tapping into [[{{Precursors}} the Ancients']] planetary 'Wire'. It is left unclear if this applies to the other worlds, and if the Wire is pure (if [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien sufficiently advanced]]) technology or Magitek (at least some Ancient tecniques utilizes manipulation of the Elemental Planes).

* The page quote is said word for word after a certain technology is discovered in the ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} V'' scenario "Empire of the Smoky Skies".
* In ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', the demonic realm can be breached though certain forms of teleportation, and computers can be used to summon, store and handle demons (albeit through the use of a BlackBox-laden program). Devices include, but are not limited to: arm terminals (''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'', ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII II]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV IV]]''), UsefulNotes/NintendoDS lookalikes (''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor''), cellphones (''IV'' and ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse IV: Apocalypse]]'', ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''), and PoweredArmor (''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'').

* ''VideoGame/TheSecondRealityProject series'': Thirlox is a technomage/technomancer. He uses the power of technology to cast "magic" spells.
* In ''VideoGame/CamelotWarriors'', the four {{Plot Coupon}}s, transported from the twentieth century into a MedievalEuropeanFantasy world, are described as "The Fire That Does Not Burn" (a lightbulb), "The Mirror of Wisdom" (a television set), "The Elixir of Life" (a Coca-Cola machine) and "The Voice from Another World" (a telephone).
* Robo from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' has no inherent magic, causing him to be a MasterOfNone due to his DoAnythingRobot construction. He has a LightningGun to recreate the Lightning spell, a proximity mine in his chest for Fire spells, a tissue regenerator to simulate Aura, and two dark energy blasters that do Shadow damage. The only magic he can't replicate is Water/Ice.
* ''VideoGame/FateExtra'' and its sequels focus on a world in which magic died out but was replaced by manipulating an ancient, alien supercomputer known as the Moon Cell. The Moon Cell is such a ridiculously advanced and powerful machine that its effects are indistinguishable from magic from the perspective of modern humanity.
* Teslamancy in ''VideoGame/{{Teslagrad}}'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/WorldToTheWest'' is either this or {{Magitek}}.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', no attempt is made to explain how a series of injections (in the novel, mostly steroids) have given Nicodemus GlowingEyesOfDoom and [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]]. However, since it's [[RuleOfCool awesome]] and thematic, it doesn't have to.
* WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls were made from Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice. And a bottle of Chemical X.

* The ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'' episode "Boots' Banana Wish" has a wishing machine, which can grant any wish. Though it is prone to breaking from too many double negatives.
* In Netflix's adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania}}'', at least some of Dracula's magic is based on technology [[LostTechnology too advanced for the time period]], as both his castle itself and several other locations (like Alucard's catacomb lair) have massive clockwork mechanisms and electric lights.
* A somewhat convoluted example found in ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'': Tecna is the fairy of technology, meaning that her real magic literally comes from technology.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', a medieval-esque world without electricity, [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Anne's]] smartphone is seen as "magic". In order to charge it, she and her host family had to travel half a day to find some lightning bugs.
* A running gag in ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' is to retell almost every supernatural TwiceToldTale with robots. Thus, robot ghosts haunting a house are holograms caused by leaked programming from "dead" robots, "[[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werecars]]" infect the robots they crash into with a computer virus that turns them into werecars, there is a Robot-Devil and a Robot-Santa, etc.
** "Calculon 2.0" features an extended parody of this when Professor Farnsworth downloads Calculon's programming into a new body. The procedure involves a pentagram of wireless hubs, playing the installation disc backwards ([[{{Backmasking}} which says "Rise from the dead in the name of Satan"]]) and using a new circuit board taken from a freshly-slaughtered robot goat. Hermes spends the entire scene [[LampshadeHanging pointing out]] that it's the least scientific thing he's ever seen.

* ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'' is big on this. Despite the magi, dragons, gods, and whatnot [[spoiler:that inhabit this apparently medieval-fantasy setting, LostTechnology actually underlies everything]].
* ''Manga/MyHime'' contains this, while ''Manga/MyOtome'' takes it one step further: the titular Otomes are basically {{Magical Girl}}s who gain their powers from {{nanomachines}}.
* The LittleBitBeastly characters of ''Anime/TokyoMewMew'' are [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke parahumans]] created in a semi-realistic manner... but the genetic engineering also turned them into {{Magical Girl}}s.
* In the ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' series, the Data Overmind and its ArtificialHuman agents use non-mechanical technology that the {{narrator}} usually just describes as "magic", since it can directly overwrite reality. As a result, Humanoid Interfaces fighting looks an awful lot like a MagicalGirl battle. It's also implied that humanity, in TheFuture, will use similar technology, which is why the series's representative {{Time Travel}}er can't operate any present-day technology more complicated than a flashlight; her society has outgrown such silly things as thermodynamics.
* A variant of this is presented in episode 14 of the ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' anime. Virgillia explains that the Japanese fire ceremony, which today has been explained by science, was once seen as magic because it was like that to people at the time.
--> '''Battler:''' In other words, if you don't know the principles it's based upon, a rain ceremony is just like magic?
* The entire plot of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is based upon an [[spoiler:AncientConspiracy's efforts to use the [[BlackBox semi-understood technologies]] and vague prophecies left behind by a {{Precursor|s}} race to attempt to [[GodhoodSeeker ascend humanity to godhood]]]]. What would have made the GainaxEnding a lot less {{mind screw}}y would have been if they had actually bothered to explain that [[AllThereInTheManual in-show]] instead of couching the entire conclusion in mystical mumbo-jumbo and psychobabble, and then having the super-technology manifest as a ''giant nude girl [[spoiler:who then turns humanity into orange juice]] by using the power unleashed by [[FauxSymbolism nine giant robots crucifying themselves.]]''

* In chapter 42 of ''Manga/YozakuraQuartet'', Arthur Clarke's third law is quoted by [[spoiler:one of the senate members to Gin/Enjin in regards to Onmyou]].
* ''Franchise/LupinIII'' has the villain Pycal, who was impervious to bullets and fire, could walk on air, and shoot fire from his fingertips. Lupin found a way to replicate these tricks: ([[spoiler:he walked on air via carefully placed glass panes, shot fire from his fingertips with a small, hidden flamethrower and was impervious thanks to a hard liquid chemical that shielded his body when covered by the liquid]].) It was never explicitly confirmed that Pycal really wasn't using magic in the manga version, though in the anime Lupin found Pycal's chemical formula. When the villain was revisited in the {{O|riginalVideoAnimation}}VA ''Anime/ReturnOfTheMagician'', he received upgrades in power, and was seeking a collection of crystals that were able to use vibrations/sounds to do whatever he wanted. Naturally, Lupin also has his eyes on them, and the two fight over who gets to collect all of them.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Nami is able to practically control the weather using her knowledge and her technological staff (which, essentially, can create bubbles of heat, cold or electric charge), to the point that some people actually mistake her for a witch. After the time skip, she even corrects one of the enemies by describing her abilities as "purely science", yet now uses a new staff she calls the "Sorcery Clima-Tact".
* In ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'' (and its later OVA, ''Anime/GaoGaiGar FINAL''), the [[AmplifierArtifact G-Stone]] [[spoiler:and its relative the J-Jewel]], [[TheVirus Zonder Metal]], and the [[MatterReplicator Pas-Q Machine]] all do things that seem magical and no explanation for their operation is given beyond [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum 'ancient alien technology'.]]

* In ''Anime/YuGiOhTheDarkSideOfDimensions'', Kaiba's VR tech when combined with his own brainwaves is so advanced that it can transcend dimensions, including breaking into the afterlife.
* A very big point in ''Manhua/CyberWeaponZ'' where the crossing of magic and technology are used in conjunction in order to build much more effective devices than the usual mechanical stuff.

* Inverted in ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid''. The programming language used at Kobayashi's office is modeled after the series' FormulaicMagic ([[WaxOnWaxOff and is close enough that Kobayashi can pass a high level magic exam without studying]]). That said, programming does not actually have any magic powers since Earth lacks a BackgroundMagicField, though whether or not someone like Elma (who is both a coder and capable of using magic) could cast a spell with it is unspecified.

* In the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum game ''Camelot Warriors'', the four {{Plot Coupon}}s, transported from the twentieth century into a MedievalEuropeanFantasy world, are described as "The Fire That Does Not Burn" (a lightbulb), "The Mirror of Wisdom" (a television set), "The Elixir of Life" (a Coca-Cola machine) and "The Voice from Another World" (a telephone).

* In the ''Series/Runaways2017'' tv series, Tina Minoru explains her staff as being made by her, and working on technological principles. In practice, it retains the full functionality of its [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} comic]] counterpart, which was a straight-up MagicStaff.[[spoiler:It later turns out she was lying -- the staff really ''is'' magical after all.]]

* The AMP (Antimatter Manipulation Principle) technology used by the Sanctum government in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' was modeled after natural [[TouchedByVorlons l'Cie]] magic and comes in handy devices called Manadrives.

* As a running gag, almost every supernatural TwiceToldTale in ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' is adapted with robots. A particularly troperiffic episode is "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E18TheHonking The Honking]]", where Bender inherits an old house in the "Robo-Hungarian Empire" that is haunted by "robot ghosts" - holograms caused by leaks from improperly shielded "dead" robots. Later, he's attacked by a ''[[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werecar'', which unloads a computer virus forcing him to become another werecar, and robot star Calculon retells his 1000-years lifespan with the same gravitas as you'd expect from the immortal man in ''Film/TheManFromEarth''.

* ''Manga/MyHime'' contains this, while ''Manga/MaiOtome'' takes it one step further: the titular Otomes are basically {{Magical Girl}}s who gain their powers from {{nanomachines}}.

* The entire plot of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is based upon an [[spoiler: AncientConspiracy's efforts to use the [[BlackBox semi-understood technologies]] and vague prophecies left behind by a {{Precursor|s}} race to attempt to [[GodhoodSeeker ascend humanity to godhood]]]]. What would have made the GainaxEnding a lot less {{mind screw}}y would have been if they had actually bothered to explain that [[AllThereInTheManual in-show]] instead of couching the entire conclusion in mystical mumbo-jumbo and psychobabble, and then having the super-technology manifest as a ''giant nude girl [[spoiler:who then turns humanity into orange juice]] by using the power unleashed by [[FauxSymbolism nine giant robots crucifying themselves.]]''

* ''The Psalms of Isaak'' is a ScienceFantasy quintet which takes place in a ScavengerWorld AfterTheEnd. Some relics of the previous age, such as the robotic mechoservitors, are clearly understood as technology, albeit technology advanced beyond the means of most people in the setting to understand or replicate. What is usually called "magic" generally appears to be a product of advanced chemistry, since it takes the form of potions or powders which can be ingested to grant (moderately) superhuman abilities, albeit at the expense of the long-term health of repeated users. The [[{{Precursors}} Younger Gods]] had powers that are generally considered magical [[spoiler: but when surviving Younger Gods start showing up later in the series, their powers look an awful lot like nanotechnology]]. On the other hand, the Younger Gods' rivals the [[AbusivePrecursors Wizard Kings]], though they draw heavily on stolen Younger God knowledge, also used BloodMagic of a blatantly mystical type that defies scientific explanation [[spoiler: as do their spiritual descendants, TheEmpire of Y'Zir]].

* In the ''Series/Runaways2017'' tv series, Tina Minoru explains her staff as being made by her, and working on technological principles. In practice, it retains the full functionality of its [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} comic]] counterpart, which was a straight-up MagicStaff.[[spoiler: It later turns out she was lying -- the staff really ''is'' magical after all.]]

** This is actually state policy. Common folk do not understand that their machines are exactly that and refer to "machine spirits" which need to be "appeased" by "rituals" to keep them working, healthy, and benevolent. Lesser "Tech Priests" usually buy the propaganda, too. Of course, the "religious" rituals tend to be good, old-fashioned maintenance with a few hymns thrown in. Based on the author (and world), this CargoCult madness might be reserved for very complex machines or might result in folks sing hymns to their noble, fallen light bulbs when they burn out. Whatever the case may be, the ''vast, vast'' majority of humans truly believe technology is magic.
** And yet, there are frequent reports of phenomena such as a tank continuing to fight after its entire crew has been killed. Given the level of DiabolusExMachina in the setting, whether this trope is truly in effect is something of a question mark.
*** And always it is elite tanks, created by the recovered lost technology blueprints without the slightest understanding of its state of the art electronics; not to mention the other parts. Most of the Machines Spirits are just A.I. that survived the Dark Ages. Since the Emperor prohibited all A.I., techpriests don't even think about researching it. Well, at least that's what they keep saying.

* In ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'' psychic powers are caused by infection with post-Singularity [[spoiler: and extraterrestrial]] nanotech that rewrites parts of the victim's brain. Side effects range from WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity to transformation into a gelatinous horror.

* Magic, or rather Ether, in ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' is almost all derived from technology. For Ziggy, it's all functions of his cybernetic body. For KOS-MOS, an android, it's technology built into her or technology she can transport or control remotely. For the rest of the cast, it's nanomachines they control remotely to create various effects. [[spoiler: The exception is chaos, whose magic turns out to actually be magic as we would define it.]]

* The ''VideoGame/WildArms'' series uses this. Though studied in academies like FunctionalMagic magic on Filgaia is actually a result of nanomachines [[spoiler: left in the atmosphere by the precursor race who were abandoning a swiftly dying planet, not realizing that by decreasing the population like they did they saved it anyway and the world survives]]. Any supernatural beings or monsters arise from people or animals being altered by nanomachines. In later installments of the series magic is channeled from technological spirits called Guardians using the same principles as above.

* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' so long as you can imagine someone inventing something, it's magic by Devil's Proof
* In ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'', the Stasis and Kinesis modules are technological devices that allow the protagonist to slow down time and move heavy objects from a distance. [[spoiler: The Markers also count.]]

** Most of the "Tech powers" in these games are supposed to be grenades, but in the second game, the [[ShockandAwe lightning like]] "overload" ability hits enemies instantaneously, while the "[[KillitWithFire Incinerate" ability]] is a {{fireball|s}} in all but name.

* In the ''[[VideoGame/InheritTheEarth Inherit The Earth: Quest for the Orb]]'' the titular Orb of Storms was created by sufficiently advanced humans. It has been used for generations to judge the growing and planting seasons and its holders have a huge advantage in managing their food supply. It's apparently [[spoiler: the core operating system for some weather control satellites]].

* Seems to be the case in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', or at the very least Eridan seems to believe so, with his WhiteMagic of SCIENCE as he calls it. [[spoiler: Doc Scratch agrees with him. However there are still inexplicable superpowers, gods, and even the technology has baffling origins. Eridan's own WhiteMagic is implied to have been a corruption of his own superpowers, making his SCIENCE incorrect.]]

* In ''Film/JohnCarter'', the ancient, immortal [[SuperiorSpecies Therns]] wield what a modern man might call weaponized nano- or femtotechnology (powered by the "Ninth Ray"). It takes the form of an easily-concealed mass of lichen-like vines that grow and adapt to the user's needs: making [[EnergyWeapon beam weapons]] of [[{{BFG}} various sizes]], {{Absurdly Sharp Blade}}s, and even crawling on the skin of someone else to either kill them by crushing the skull or restrain their movement by implanting themselves into the skin. Of course, since this ''is'' the very early 20th century, the stuff looks more like magic than anything. Other powers include a means of VoluntaryShapeshifting, long-range communication and travel and a medallion that can transport people between planets via AstralProjection (that is, leaving the original body sleeping where you left it, and sending a copy with your mind in it to the destination).

* The handbook to the ''ComicBook/Invincible'' universe states that magic is believed to be technology so advanced to be capable of nearly anything. It describes spellcasting and other invocations as a security measures to prevent misuse of such a powerful resource. Rituals and calling on higher powers for desired effects are respectively described as encryption and authorization techniques.

* The entire plot of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is based upon an [[spoiler: AncientConspiracy's efforts to use the [[BlackBox semi-understood technologies]] and vague prophecies left behind by a {{Precursor|s}} race to attempt to [[AGodAmI ascend humanity to godhood]]]]. What would have made the GainaxEnding a lot less {{mind screw}}y would have been if they had actually bothered to explain that [[AllThereInTheManual in-show]] instead of couching the entire conclusion in mystical mumbo-jumbo and psychobabble, and then having the super-technology manifest as a ''giant nude girl [[spoiler:who then turns humanity into orange juice]] by using the power unleashed by [[FauxSymbolism nine giant robots crucifying themselves.]]''

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Nami is able to practically control the weather through the use of her knowledge and her staff which can manipulate temperatures in the atmosphere. To the point most people actually mistake her for a witch. Again after the time skip, where she even corrects one of the enemies by stating her abilities is "purely science" while using a new staff she calls "sorcery climate".

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Nami is able to practically control the weather through the use of her knowledge and her staff which can manipulate temperatures in the atmosphere. To the point most people actually mistake her for a witch. Again after the time skip, where she even corrects one of the enemies by stating her abilities is "purely science" while using a new staff she calls "sorcery climate".

* The "abilities" (i.e. superpowers) demonstrated by ''Series/TheFortyFourHundred'' are a result of the existence of an [[NinetyPercentOfYourBrain extra neurotransmitter]], [[SuperSerum Promicin]], in their brains due to [[spoiler: biological modification by people from the future]].