History Main / UtilityMagic

* ''Manga/FrierenBeyondJourneysEnd'': While Frieren certinaly knows (and uses) the big, fancy, explosive spells, she also collects much more mundane magic like spells to de-rust statues, make shaved ice, and produce tea. Frieren's master Flamme also seemed fond of utility magic; her favorite spell was one that caused flowers to grow. The affinity for it seems to be rubbing off on Frieren's apprentice Fern as well; when presented with the opportunity to learn a single spell from an [[TheArchmage Archmage]], Fern [[MundaneWish chooses a spell for doing the laundry.]]

* The world of ''Manga/FrierenBeyondJourneysEnd'' has a wide variety of spells with mundane or oddly-specific uses, including one to remove rust from a bronze statue, one to turn sweet grapes sour, and a laundry spell from the age of myths that leaves clothes smelling of flowers. Frieren will take on nearly any request or fight any monster in exchange for learning a new spell, however ridiculous it may sound.

** The High Elves of this setting were [[CantArgueWithElves casually experimenting with arcane forces millennia before the first humans in the Old World ever developed a system of writing]], so their wizards use magic for things that humans would absolutely not trust their own wizards to perform. Through this the Asur are able to build their slender, gleaming white towers, [[TreeVessel craft warships directly from magically-grown trees]], and create abundant vegetable harvests from very little farmland. That said, having access to such powerful magic does mean the High Elves have stagnated technologically - whereas the "primitive" humans of the Empire completely avert MedievalStasis and have since caught up. While Imperial scholars of the Gunnery school of Nuln are constantly developing ever more advanced pieces of artillery including [[ClockPunk Leonardo da Vinci-esque]] [[GatlingGood gatling cannons]], the Asur have stuck with their Eagle Claw bolt thrower ballistae for thousands of years and not done anything beyond incrementally perfecting the ballistae weapons over thousands of years. That's what unbridled magic power does to you.

* ''Fanfic/FamilyOfTheShield'': Much like his Canon Self, [[Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero Naofumi Iwatani]] manages to unlock a wide variety of Shields for his Legendary Shield that grants him both active and passive benefits upon mastering them. And due to his low ATK Stat; he has to get creative with how best to implement his abilities, with some of his more useful Shields allowing him to do the following: [[SpiderSense Detect hidden dangers]], [[WalletOfHolding holding his money]], [[SummonMagic Teleport Party Members to his side]], [[LevelMapDisplay display nearby terrain]], [[EnemyDetectingRadar Detect both Enemies and Resources]], [[ItemAmplifier Increasing the quality and quantity of items and materials]] that Naofumi [[ItemCrafting Creates]] ''and'' [[RandomDropBooster Collects]], [[FirstPersonSnapshooter Take Pictures]], [[CaughtOnTape Recording Audio or Video and to Play it back]], along with [[MissionControl Communicating with his Party Members across vast distances]]. Shield Abilities that his Canon self [[AdaptationalBadass doesn't possess]].

* ''Fanfic/FamilyOfTheShield'': Much like his Canon Self, [[Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero Naofumi Iwatani]] manages to unlock a wide variety of Shields for his Legendary Shield that grants him both active and passive benefits upon mastering them. And due to his low ATK Stat; he has to get creative with how best to implement his abilities, with some of his more useful Shields allowing him to do the following: [[SpiderSense Detect hidden dangers]], [[WalletOfHolding holding his money]], [[SummonMagic Teleport Party Members to his side]], [[LevelMapDisplay display nearby terrain]], [[EnemyDetectingRadar Detect both Enemies and Resources]], [[ItemAmplifier Increasing the quality and quantity of items]] that Naofumi [[ItemCrafting Creates]] ''and'' [[RandomDropBooster Collects]], [[FirstPersonSnapshooter Take Pictures]], [[CaughtOnTape Recording Audio or Video and to Play it back]], along with [[MissionControl Communicating with his Party Members across vast distances]]. Shield Abilities that his Canon self [[AdaptationalBadass doesn't possess]].

In many works, magic is something to [[RuleOfCool blast things with and generally make stuff explode]].

* ''Manga/BlackClover'': Secre's magic was considered useless because it was thought to do nothing but open and shut things like locks and doors, with her seeing her own magic as vulgar. Spending time with Lumiere, who recognized her potential, allowed Secre to hone her magic to create magic items, close wounds, and even confine enemies from the use of Forbidden Magic.

* The lead of ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'', Issei, creates his first two personalized spells to fit under this: Dress Break, which [[TheNudifier destroys the clothing of any female he can touch]], and Bilingual, which allows him to [[RefugeInAudacity communicate with a girl's breasts]] (did we mention he's a LovableSexManiac?). Hilariously, he manages to invert MundaneUtility and find combat applications for these skills.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', Lina invented a spell for fishing; Amelia uses a spell for spraying on graffiti; one episode in the third season demonstrates the usefulness of magic in heavy construction work.
* In ''LightNovel/TheSaintsMagicPowerIsOmnipotent'', this is the most common and by far important use of magic. Water spells are used to create large amounts of clean water for brewing potions and researching them; mana is more frequently infused into life-saving medicines than to fuel attack magic; and even those that know how to use magic for battle, like Capt. Hawke, knows a spell specifically for making ice cubes for your and your companion's drinks.

* ''Manga/Overlord2012'': Ainz discovers there are more kinds of magic in the new world than in YGGDRASSIL (which makes sense, as an MMO isn't going to have much use for non-combat spells). There are spells that make fruit grow bigger or restore nutrients in the ground, eliminating the need field rotation, and the Empire is secretly experimenting with UndeadLaborers to increase agricultural production.

--->'''Chitra''': Because Tyrex is a wizard, there must be something that you can do, right?\\\
'''Tyrex''': Don't you need light?\\\
'''Chitra''': Light?\\\

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has a lot of utility magic. Such as cosmetic {{shapeshifting}}.
* ''Errant Story'' has the city Meji comes from. There's a door-opening spell (which doesn't work as it should because it's getting old!), routine magic facelifts, and other mundane boring stuff done by magic.

--->'''Chitra''': Because Tyrex is a wizard, there must be something that you can do, right?
--->'''Tyrex''': Don't you need light?
--->'''Chitra''': Light?
--->'''Tyrex''': I could make a semi-permanent magic lamp for lights in the castle, and I can make a cooling item to store foods longer. I could also make a temperature setting device for setting the temperature inside the whole palace.

* ''The Wizard of 4th Street''. When Merlin returns, magic does as well, but electricity vanishes. With everything run by magic, this trope is in full force. For example, to drive a taxi, the driver must repeatedly chant a mantra to keep the vehicle moving. Experienced cabbies are able to ''banter with passengers and chant the mantra at the same time''.