History Main / UnEqualRites

* Practitioners of the various Bending Arts in ''[=~Avatar: The Last Airbender~=]'' would often do this. Being subject to nationalistic propaganda since birth, Firebenders in particular would sneer at Earthbenders, but even Sokka wasn't above saying "fire is a stupid element anyway" when Aang lamented he had yet to master it, although Sokka's dislike of fire bending may have come more from his animosity towards the Fire Nation then pride in water bending, which he can't even do.

** Indeed, aside from the rivalry between wizards and witches, there is also generational disconnect. Whereas old wizards believe that magic is all about rune circles and stuffed alligators, young wizards believe it's about splitting magical particles. Old witches believe magic is mostly psychology, while young witches believe it involves harmonizing with Nature and use of crystals.
*** And dancin' around without yer drawers on.

** Academic mages, for the record, are those who have an inner font of plain power that they can channel into any direction they want. However, ambient mages have a different magic which only responds to, and can act upon, the magic within the outside world, and associated with a certain discipline, such as metalworking, cooking, or gardening. Anything related to those disciplines, an ambient mage works best with what they know,can learn academic magic, what they can do with it is up to how creative/strong they are.

Much like the [[FantasticRacism rivalry]] involved in MagicVersusScience, magic users will be prejudiced against each other based on their philosophy regarding magic, how they study it, and/or how they cast spells. You'll frequently see Mages versus Wizards versus Witches versus Clerics versus Shamans versus Druids [--deep breath--] versus Warlocks. Put another way, a wizard of RitualMagic will sneer at a colleague who approaches magic as [[MagicMusic music]], casting spells based on poetic rules. And of course both will scoff at the witch whose magic is based on [[ReligionIsMagic articles of faith]] rather than academic or artistic viewpoints.

** Academic mages, for the record, are those who have an inner font of plain power that they can channel into any direction they want. However, ambient mages have a different magic which only responds to, and can act upon, the magic within the outside world, and associated with a certain discipline, such as metalworking, cooking, or gardening. Anything related to those disciplines, an ambient mage can enchant - nothing else.

* In ''HarryPotter'', most non-Divination wizards consider Divination to be useless. Divination is described by Professor [=McGonagall=] as "one of the most imprecise branches of magic". Supporters of the subject claim that it is an inexact science that requires innate gifts. Those opposed claim that the subject is irrelevant and fraudulent. Sybill Trelawney, the professor of Divination, appears to be totally inept at it, as Hermione never fails to point out; in fact, Hermione drops the class as useless. Sybill happens to be totally wrong on all her predictions, [[spoiler:except for the two she makes regarding Voldemort, which she has no memory of. She gets them spot on]].
** It seems to imply that, while real seers may exist, they are ''very'' rare, and the vast majority are just faking it. There may not be bona fide seers alive today, seeing as Dumbledore probably would have abolished Divination as a subject [[spoiler:had he not heard Sybil's prophecy]]. As for Sybil, [[spoiler: she can only predict the future on very rare occasions (the two she made regarding Voldemort may be the only times it's ever happened), and has no memory of it afterwords, but which still may, ironically, make her the best seer alive today.]]
*** The problem appears to be compounded by the fact that when one ''does'' recieve a true prophecy they don't arrive at convenient times, you can't make them happen, and they're extremely vague. There's a reason the Ministry of Magic has a special room full of prophecies in lockup, they're rare, valuable, and potentially dangerous in the wrong hands.
*** [[spoiler: Considering that Sybil has no memory of the prophecies she gives, it's entirely possible - especially when you consider that she's a shut-in who rarely leaves her tower even for meals - that she gives prophecies on a regular basis...but they're lost since there's no recording spell up, and she doesn't know about them. This may be more suited for WildMassGuessing, though.]]
** Trelawny is actually correct about many things she pedicts. Nevelle breaks his first cup, death of a pet, Hermione leaving the class forever mid-year, Harry's fate (admittedly likely just luck), etc.. It's only when she tries to guess facts about people that she becomes entirely innacurate. So either she's really good at guessing what will happen or the fact that she does possess the Inner Eye to a degree grants her impressions of the future, if not exact details.

*** And there is nothing stopping you from just playing a Warlock who went with the pacts because the whole "Infinite Spellcasting" thing was appealing to them. When the Wizard runs out of gas, they are pretty much screwed, but Warlocks keep chugging along!

* In Diana Wynne Jone's Chrestomanci Chronicles, there are levels and ranks in magic from "the lowest certified witch" to the most powerful nine-lived enchanters. Passing references are made to people being sorcerers, magicians, hedgewitchs, warlocks, hags (though the last threee are insulting).

* Being that its world is based on DnD 3.5 rules, OrderOfTheStick has the same UnEqualRites. In ''StartOfDarkness'', Xykon is looked down upon often by wizards for his being a sorcerer, which, naturally, [[BerserkButton pisses him off]]. Being that this is Xykon, these people tend not to live much longer. Especially notable when Dorukan is fighting Xykon and at one points asserts the superiority of his wizardry to Xykon's sorcery. [[spoiler:Xykon responds by casting Energy Drain every turn, while giving a HannibalLecture about the advantages of spontaneous casting.]]
** The wizards looking down on sorcerors becomes a recurring theme for the strip, and especially for Xykon - in contrast to the [[FatalFlaw dangerously obsessive]] V who believes arcane magic is be-all and end-all, Xykon figures power is power, no matter what form it takes or where it comes from. [[spoiler: Even if it's just a racial bonus to Listen checks]].

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** ''Gray Sword'' setting: regular mages draw their power from a certain specialty, e.g. Fire, Wind or [[NightmareFuel Pain.]] "Limit" mages tap into the world's "Limit" instead. This grants "Limit" mages immense power, but the possible cost is the world's continued existense.

* Vitalij Zykov's ''Return'' series (pentalogy to be continued): almost every culture has it's own magic specialty, with free-for-all relations between states and schools of magic. The variety: tribal orc shamans, tribal human shamans, innate human wizards, academic human and dwarven wizards discriminated against by the innate ones, academic human necromancers, "light" elven life-mages, "dark" elven conjurers and dragons who use their own flavors of arcane spells and necromancy. The world also had two sentient species, referenced as Reptarh and Reptohors, who fought to mutual annihilation. The Reptohors magic is largely unknown and forgotten, but might have specialized on interacting with mind and consiousness. The Reptarh magic, learned by the protagonist in an ExpositionBeam relic, can be used to interact with and upgrade every other human magic, while being different from them.

* ''{{Warcraft}}'' 'verse is full of this. There's the main Priests, Paladins, Druids & Shamans vs. Mages, Warlocks, Necromancers & Death Knights rift, where the former think that all of the latter are reckless and/or evil, risking [[SuperPowerMeltdown losing control]], gaining the attention of the Burning Legion, joining the Scourge or [[EarthShatteringKaboom worse]]. They are right, but mages think that ''they'' are using magic responsibly, and the former are just luddite fools, and the real villains are Warlocks, Necromancers and Death Knights. Then there's the good warlocks (read: player characters) who think they're strong enough to make a DealWithTheDevil without losing control and think that everyone else are naive fools who don't go far enough or lack the willpower to do so. Good Death Knights think that BadPowersBadPeople doesn't apply to them. Finally, there's AlwaysChaoticEvil demon-worshipping warlocks and life-scourging Necromancers & Death Knights.

Much like the [[FantasticRacism rivalry]] involved in MagicVersusScience, magic users will be prejudiced against each other based on their philosophy regarding magic, how they study it, and/or how they cast spells. You'll frequently see Mages versus Wizards versus Witches versus Clerics versus Shamans versus Druids [--deep breath--] versus Warlocks. Put another way, a wizard of VancianMagic will sneer at a colleague who approaches magic as [[MagicMusic music]], casting spells based on poetic rules. And of course both will scoff at the witch whose magic is based on [[ReligionIsMagic articles of faith]] rather than academic or artistic viewpoints.

* In Diana Wynne Jone's Chrestomanci Chronicles, there are levels and ranks in magic from "the lowest certified witch" to the most powerful eight-lived enchanters. Passing references are made to people being sorcerers, magicians, hedgewitchs, warlocks, hags (though the last threee are insulting).

** Trelawny is actually correct about many things she pedicts. Nevelle breaks his first cup, death of a pet, Hermione leaving the class forever mid-year, Harry's fate (admittedly likely just luck), etc, the first to leave the table of 13 sitters will be the first to die, etc.. It's only when she tries to guess facts about people that she becomes entirely innacurate. So either she's really good at guessing what will happen or the fact that she does possess the Inner Eye to a degree grants her impressions of the future, if not exact details.

Mages that ignore differences and mix-n-match supposedly-incompatible varieties of magic are described under RedMage. Compare MagicVersusScience, since usually one approach will be more [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic scientific]] than the other. Of course, if you throw in science ''as well'', expect all degrees of deadly projectiles to start flying.

* In the ''DragonAge'' world of Thedas, a powerful nation called the [[TheEmpire Tevinter Imperium]] once conquered nearly all of the known world by using an extremely dangerous sorcery called Blood Magic which allowed them to broker deals with and summon demons as well as use a powerful form of MindControl. Eventually, their reign was toppled by the appearance of [[TheCorruption The Blight]], which struck the Empire from nowhere and left them crippled. Most of the world's nations were formed by barbarian clans that rebelled against the weakened Empire, and the followers of those early rebels quickly formed a religion called The Chantry. The Blight continues to plague the world to this day, and the Chantry teachings blame magic for unleashing it. Because of this, mages in general are treated as worse than dirt, and any mage that is not under the direct control of the Chantry is labeled as an apostate which is to be killed on sight. Worse than them are the "Maleficar", which are simply apostates which use the hated Blood Magic which unleashes demons and once enslaved the world.

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Frequently the themes behind the various forms of magic will take one of the various points within FunctionalMagic. Magicians who follow MagicAIsMagicA will be [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic academic, studious, and always "researching"]] new spells. Artistic mages usually have some form of FunctionalMagic that they [[MagicMusic tap into]] in [[MagicDance unconventional ways.]] HermeticMagic practitioners follow ritual like academic magicians but usually ignore they "how" and "why" in favor of theological explanations or even plain old faith. Expect these mages to be on differing sides of HarmonyVersusDiscipline, with some seeking to "Control" magic, others to "Channel" it, and some to understand and influence it.

Objectively, expect all these magical approaches to be valid in their own right, usually have CompetitiveBalance, and at times capable of a YinYangBomb when various disciplines collaborate. One frequent representation of this is the TrashTalk seen when people with opposite ElementalPowers fight each other. Only ''very'' rarely will these settings reveal there are [[TheRedMage Red Mages]] who combine these varying forms of magic.

Compare MagicVersusScience, since usually one approach will be more [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic scientific]] than the other. Of course, if you throw in science ''as well'', expect all degrees of deadly projectiles to start flying.

* In the ''DragonAge'' world of Thedas, a powerful nation called the [[TheEmpire Tevinter Imperium]] once conquered nearly all of the known world by using an extremely dangerous sorcery called Blood Magic which allowed them to broker deals with and summon demons and use MindControl. Eventually, their reign was toppled by the appearance of [[TheCorruption The Blight]], which struck the Empire from nowhere and left them crippled. Most of the world's nations were formed by barbarian clans that rebelled against the Empire and the followers of those early rebels eventually formed a relation called The Chantry. The Blight continues to plague the world to this day, and the Chantry teachings blame magic for unleashing it. Because of this, mages in general are treated as worse than dirt, and any mage that is not under the direct control of the Chantry is labeled as an apostate which is to be killed on sight. Worse than them are the "Maleficar", which are simply apostates which use the hated Blood Magic which unleashes demons and once enslaved the world.