History Main / WordsDoNotMakeTheMagic

** Harry tried to use the [[AgonyBeam Cruciatus Curse]] on Bellatrix Lestrange would definitely work though; it was really weak because he didn't actually want to hurt her all that much and any Unforgiveable Curse requires a desire to hurt the target.

** The fact that wizards have to go to WizardingSchool. You can't just say the words and wave the wand, you have to know ''how'' to do it.

* In ''ValkyrieProfile'', Great Magic can't be performed by just chanting the [[MagicalIncantation incantation}}, you need to have a powerful enough staff first, and staffs can of course only be equipped by mage characters, who are also the only ones who can learn regular old spells. Interestingly enough though, Lenneth is able to perform the Soul Transfer ritual on Belenus, though this might easily be HandWaved by saying that she is a goddess and one specializing in mortal souls at that, so it's no wonder she knew that one spell.

* In ''[[Merlin The Series Merlin]]'' the second episode shows how merlin struggles through a long night in order to master the spell he needs to save Arthur, even though he can say the [[MagicalIncantation Incantation]] properly, it's not enough for him to use that spell.

-->Knight, seeing what the student was doing spoke sternly: "You can not fix a machine by just power-cycling it with no understanding of what is going wrong." [[hottip:*:In RealLife of course, millions of people fix machines just this way, every day.]]
** Protip: Half the trick to successfully solving a problem by power-cycling is remembering that there is a difference between power-cycling and rapidly hitting the power switch/button; the other half is knowing when you've got a problem you can solve by power-cycling.

--> -- ''JackieChanAdventures'', "The Chan Who Knew Too Much"

* ''JackieChanAdventures'':

* In ''{{Merlin}}'' the second episode shows how merlin struggles through a long night in order to master the spell he needs to save Arthur, even though he can say the [[MagicalIncantation Incantation]] properly, it's not enough for him to use that spell.

* In ''[[{{Hellraiser}} Hellbound: Hellraiser II]]'', the psychotic psychologist uses a traumatized girl to open the puzzle box, thus summoning the Cenobites to Earth, figuring that this way, it'll be the girl who get's dragged to Hell and not himself. But as Pinhead puts it, "Hands do not summon us, but hearts!". They leave the girl in peace and go off in search of the one who ''truly'' summoned them.

* Present in ''TheDresdenFiles''. Wizards intentionally use nonsense words for magic, because words with real meaning make it hard to control.

* In ''YuYuHakusho'', a demon named Rando, who steals techniques by [[AwesomenessByAnalysis observing them once]] attempted to use a [[IncredibleShrinkingMan shrinking spell]] on Yusuke, but he failed since Yusuke had his ears full of algae and the spell only works if the victim hears it, which Rando wouldn't know having stolen most his techniques.

** Jade attempts to use a cult's spell against them by repeating the words they use to cast it, and fails because she's not a member.

* This [[IceCreamKoan koan]] from the [[http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/oldversions/jarg262.txt Jargon File]]:

--> -- '''JackieChanAdventures''', "The Chan Who Knew Too Much"

The results of when a character uses a spell where more than the MagicalIncantation matters will vary. There may simply be no effect or the [[MagicMisfire spell could backfire]]. If a villian tries to use a {{hero}}'s spell and fails due to lacking something necessary for success like ThePowerOfFriendship, expect a ReasonYouSuckSpeech. Aversion of this trope are rarely examples since then words '''''do''''' make the magic and it is a case of MagicalIncantation works for anyone.

Compare/Contrast ByThePowerOfGreyskull, where the words do heavily matter but usually only certain characters can use the words succesfully.
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!!Examples

[[AC:{{Anime and Manga}}]]
* In ''FistOfTheNorthStar'', a mook tries the Hokuto Shinken on [[TheHero Kenshiro]], of all people, even daring to tell him [[CatchPhrase "You're already dead"]] and count down the seconds to Kenshiro's death. Of course, it was the mook the one [[YourHeadASplode who was already dead]].

[[AC:{{Comics}}]]
* In TheDCU, Johnny Quick's sidekick Tubby Watts tried reciting Johnny's [[FormulaicMagic magical formula]] of [[EEqualsMCHAmmer ("3X2(9YZ)4A")]] [[hottip:*:It is a nonsense formula, do not bother searching for it.]] in order to give himself [[SuperSpeed superspeed]] like Johnny's. It failed. A later RetCon established that the 'formula' was actually a personal mantra that would only work for Johnny (and eventually his daughter).

[[AC: {{Film}}]]
* ''FrightNight''
--> '''Jerry Dandridge''': You have to have ''faith'' for that to work, Mr. Vincent!
* BedknobsAndBroomsticks, the [[ConArtist man]] who [[AchievementsInIgnorance invented the spells from what he thought was a nonsense book]] could not use them, but [[Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast Angela]] [[NannyMcPhee Lans]][[MurderSheWrote bury]]'s character, Miss Eglantine Price, could because she actually believed in magic. It took a great deal of concentration before he could finally get one to work after being shown numerous times that magic existed.
* In [[{{Hellraiser}} Hellbound: Hellraiser II]], the psychotic psychologist uses a traumatized girl to open the puzzle box, thus summoning the Cenobites to Earth, figuring that this way, it'll be the girl who get's dragged to Hell and not himself. But as Pinhead puts it, "Hands do not summon us, but hearts!". They leave the girl in peace and go off in search of the one who ''truly'' summoned them.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Mentioned in ''Discworld/MakingMoney'': the {{golem}}s won't obey orders even spoken in their native tongue, unless [[spoiler: the person giving the order is dressed like an Umnian high priest in golden robes, aka Moist's suit.]]
** Also, the actual chanting done by the Wizards in the {{Necromancy}} department is meaningless, any old chanting will do as long as it sounds the part.
** Same thing in ''Wyrd Sisters'' as the names of instruments of demon summoning are immaterial as long as the general sound and intent is there.
** In ''Discworld/IShallWearMidnight''; a very powerful but untrained witch casts a spell that ''other witches'' think is nonsense, overlapping with AchievementsInIgnorance.
* Present in TheDresdenFiles. Wizards intentionally use nonsense words for magic, because words with real meaning make it hard to control.
* The time in HarryPotter when Harry tried to use the [[AgonyBeam Cruciatus Curse]] on Bellatrix Lestrange would definitely work though; it was really weak because he didn't actually want to hurt her all that much and any Unforgiveable Curse requires a desire to hurt the target.
** Another HarryPotter example, it is made quite clear that a wand and an incantation do not magic make, you have to be a wizard to use magic. [[MuggleBornOfMages Filch]] trying to learn magic via Quickspell would be an good example.
** The fact that wizards have to go to WizardingSchool. You can't just say the words and wave the wand, you have to know ''how'' to do it.
** And for yet another Harry Potter example, Parseltongue (the ability to speak with snakes) apparently is not magical as such. Ron is able to [[spoiler: open the Chamber of Secrets]] by just making the same sounds that Harry did when he opened it. A subversion since it was the sounds rather than the knowledge of the actual words that were required opened the door.

[[AC:{{Live Action TV}}]]
* {{Subverted}} in a seventh season episode of BuffyTheVampireSlayer: Willow begins to struggle through a complicated spell in Latin before saying ''"[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome SCREW IT, I suck at Latin, OK?]]"'' and proceeded to make the spell work in ''English'' because she is just that BadAss at magic.
* {{Charmed}} only a magical being, such as an actual, magical, witch, can cast spells. If a mortal tries it, the mortal is just speaking a rhyme.
** A Subversion in the episode ''Animal Pragmatism,'' episode 13 season 2, a group of [[Muggles mortals]] (mortal= non magical "normal" human) cast a spell by playing a tape recording of Phoebe chanting a spell, and it worked, because Phoebe did the rhyming.
* A [[{{Subversion}} variation]] appears in an episode of {{Xena}} where several people attempt to cast a magic spell from a scroll, to no effect. Gabrielle deduces that they are using the wrong meter and accidentally casts the spell herself. HilarityEnsues.

[[AC:{{Religion}}]]
* In the Bible, is [[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2019:15&version=NIV an account of non-believers who attempts to cast out a demon]] by repeating the words Paul used to successfully excorcise one. The demon, being a bit of a Main/DeadpanSnarker, replies "Jesus I know about, and I know about Paul, but who are you?"

[[AC:TabletopRPG]]
* In most games that have verbal spell components, either required or voluntary (e.g. ''DungeonsAndDragons'' and ''{{Shadowrun}}'', respectively), a mundane person speaking the words will have no effect at all: you have to have magical power/knowledge for the spell to work.
* Similarly in MageTheAscension.

[[AC:{{Video Games}}]]
* {{Myst}}: Gehn tries to use the D'ni art of writing linking books without really understanding the full effects of the phrases that he uses, resulting in links to unstable worlds.
* In TalesOfTheAbyss, [[StaffChick Tear]] needed to understand the meaning of the fonic hymns before she could use them whether she knew the words or not.

[[AC:{{Web Original}}]]
* Related, if not identical, is this AI [[IceCreamKoan koan]] from the [[http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/oldversions/jarg262.txt Jargon File]]:
-->A novice was trying to fix a broken Lisp machine by turning the power off and on.
-->Knight, seeing what the student was doing spoke sternly: "You can not fix a machine by just power-cycling it with no understanding of what is going wrong."

[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
* A recent example is the episode of JackieChanAdventures where Jade attempts to use a cult's spell against them by repeating the words they use to cast it, and fails because she's not a member.
** In another episode, [[BaldOfAwesome Captain Black]] once read Uncle's books and in trying to perform a spell turned himself into a [[FrogsAndToads frog]].

[[AC: {{Real Life}}]]
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult Cargo cults]], pacific island tribes whose islands were used as bases by various militaries in WWII. From the islanders' point of view, these military people didn't have to farm their own food - instead they built an airbase and called for food and other supplies to be brought down in cargo planes. After the soldiers left, the islanders tried to call for supplies themselves and built their own airbases; but since they were only copying appearance and didn't understand the underlying technology, the planes never came...

->'''[[{{Druid}} Magisters]]''': You twain knoweth nothing about our magicks.

--> -- '''JackieChanAdventures'''

* In TalesOfAbyss, [[StaffChick Tear]] needed to understand the meaning of the fonic hymns before she could use them whether she knew the words or not.

* {{Myst}}: Gehn tries to use the D'ni art of writing linking books without really understanding the full effects of the phrases that he uses, resulting in links to unstable worlds.

->'''Jackie''': 'That's what I've been trying to tell' [[{{Druid}} 'you']]!

* BedknobsAndBroomsticks, the [[ConArtist man]] who [[AchievementsInIgnorance invented the spells from what he thought was a nonsense book]] could not use them, but [[Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast Angela]] [[NannyMcPhee Lans]][[MurderSheWrote bury]]'s character, Miss Eglantine Price, could because she actually believed in magic. It took a great deal of concentration before he could finally get one to work after being shown numerous times that magic existed.

->[[AncientConspiracy Magisters]]: Hahahahahahaha!

->[[{{Druid}} Magisters]]: You twain knoweth nothing about our magicks.

->[[AncientConspiracy '''Magisters''']]: Hahahahahahaha!

->[[{{Druid}} '''Magisters''']]: You twain knoweth nothing about our magicks.

->Jade: I know your magic words. (Chants, but fails)
->[[AncientConspiracy Magisters]]: Hahahahahahaha!
->Jade: Come on already!
->[[{{Druid}} Magisters]]: You twain knoweth nothing about our magicks.
->Jackie: That's what I've been trying to tell [[{{Druid}} you]]!
--> -- JackieChanAdventures

Alice sees Bob successfully accomplish a spell or [[MagicAndPowers mystical feat]] and later attempts to accomplish the same spell or feat by merely copying or repeating their words and/or actions and failing for the titular reason. Usually occurs when it takes more than the MagicalIncantation and MagicalGesture. The magic be in [[LanguageOfMagic another language]] that requires understanding before use. It may be because as a {{Muggle}}, Alice ''can't'' cast magic. Or ByThePowerOfGreyskull only works for Bob since only ''he'' has the power of Greyskull. [[MagicPrerequisite Maybe the sun wasn't at the right height.]] Whatever the case even if the character is AwesomeByAnalysis, the feat won't work by observation.

-->Jade: I know your magic words. (Chants, but fails)//
[[AncientConspiracy Magisters]]: Hahahahahahaha!//
Jade: Come on already!//
[[{{Druid}} Magisters]]: You twain knoweth nothing about our magicks.//
Jackie: That's what I've been trying to tell [[Druid you]]!//
-- JackieChanAdventures

* In FairyTail, [[PsychoElectro Luxus]] attempts to use Marakov's, [[spoiler: his grandfather]] spell, Fairy Law, which targets anyone the user considers an enemy, to eliminate the entire guild. When it fails, despite having enough power and invoking it to activate, one of his friends reminds Luxus that his heart can't lie to his magic and the guild is still his {{nakama}}.

->Jade: I know your magic words. (Chants, but fails)//

[[Druid Magisters]]: You twain knoweth nothing about our magicks.//

* In FairyTail, [[PsychoElectro Luxus]] attempts to use Marakov's, [[his grandfather]] spell, Fairy Law, which targets anyone the user considers an enemy, to eliminate the entire guild. When it fails, despite having enough power and invoking it to activate, one of his friends reminds Luxus that his heart can't lie to his magic and the guild is still his {{nakama}}.

This trope occurs when a character attempts to accomplish a spell or [[MagicAndPowers mystical feat]] that another character has previously successfully accomplished by merely copying or repeating their words/actions and failing for the titular reason.

* In ''YuYuHakusho'', a demon named Rando, who steals techniques by [[AwesomenessByAnalysis observing them once]] attempted to use a [[IncredibleShrinkingMan shrinking spell]] on Yusuke, but he failed since Yusuke had his ears full of algae and the spell only works if the victim hears it, which Rando wouldn't know having stolen most his techniques.

** And for yet another Harry Potter example, though it's an aversion, Parseltongue (the ability to speak with snakes) apparently is not magical as such. Ron is able to [[spoiler: open the Chamber of Secrets]] by just making the same sounds that Harry did when he opened it.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult Cargo cults]], pacific island tribes whose islands were used as bases by various militaries in WWII. From the islanders' point of view, these military people didn't have to farm their own food - instead they built an airbase and called for food and other supplies to be brought down in cargo planes. After the soldiers left, the islanders tried to call for supplies themselves and built their own airbases; but since they were only copying appearance and didn't understand the underlying technology, the planes never came...

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Kinda present in TheDresdenFiles. Wizards intentionally use nonsense words for magic, because words with real meaning make it hard to control.

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* On YuYuHakusho a demon named Rando attempted to use a shrinking spell on Yusuke, but failed because it only works if he hears it and his ears were full of algae. Might not count because Rando was the one who used it both when it worked and when it didn't.
* The time in HarryPotter when Harry tried to use the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix Lestrange would definitely work though; it was really weak because he didn't actually want to hurt her all that much.

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* ''FrightNight''
--> '''Jerry Dandridge''': You have to have ''faith'' for that to work, Mr. Vincent!

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* Related, if not identical, is this AI [[IceCreamKoan koan]] from the [[http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/oldversions/jarg262.txt Jargon File]]:
-->A novice was trying to fix a broken Lisp machine by turning the power off and on.
-->Knight, seeing what the student was doing spoke sternly: "You can not fix a machine by just power-cycling it with no understanding of what is going wrong."
-->Knight turned the machine off and on.
-->The machine worked.

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Bump

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Another HarryPotter example, it is made quite clear that a wand and an incantation do not magic make, you have to be a wizard to use magic. Filch trying to learn magic via Quickspell would be an good example.

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* {{Charmed}} only a magical being, such as an actual, magical, witch, can cast spells. If a mortal tries it, the mortal is just speaking a rhyme.
** In the episode ''Animal Pragmatism,'' episode 13 season 2, a group of mortals (mortal= non magical "normal" human) cast a spell by playing a tape recording of Phoebe chanting a spell, and it worked, because Phoebe did the rhyming.

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bump

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Bumping again

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In {{Harry Potter}}, its notable that the other unforgivable curse, Avada Kedavra, the killing curse, has to have real intent behind it as well.

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On WizardsOfWaverlyPlace, the Russo kids always recite some sort of rhyme to cast a spell. However, it is implied by another character that it isn't necessary to recite a spell in order to cast one, that saying the words only makes casting the spell easier, but can be done just as well without having to say a thing.

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Bumping

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On FistOfTheNorthStar, a mook tries the Hokuto Shinken on [[TheHero Kenshiro]], of all people, even daring to tell him [[CatchPhrase "You're already dead"]] and count down the seconds to Kenshiro's death. Of course, it was the mook the one [[YourHeadASplode who was already dead]].

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nothing to see here

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A variation appears in an episode of {{Xena}} where several people attempt to cast a magic spell from a scroll, to no effect. Gabrielle deduces that they are using the wrong meter and accidentally casts the spell herself. HilarityEnsues.

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BedknobsAndBroomsticks, the man who invented the spells could not use them, but Angela Lansbury's character (It was her, right?) could because she actually believed in magic. It took a great deal of concentration before he could finally get one to work after being shown numerous times that magic existed.

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[[AC:TabletopRPG]]
* In most games that have verbal spell components, either required or voluntary (e.g. ''DungeonsAndDragons'' and ''{{Shadowrun}}'', respectively), a mundane person speaking the words will have no effect at all: you have to have magical power/knowledge for the spell to work.

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Mentioned in MakingMoney: the golems won't obey orders even spoken in their native tongue, unless [[spoiler: the person giving the order is dressed like an Umnian high priest in golden robes, aka Moist's suit.]]

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* {{MageTheAscension}}

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YKTTWBump

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Also in ''Making Money'' the actual chanting done by the Wizards in the Necromancy department is meaningless, any old chanting will do as long as it sounds the part.

Same thing in ''Wyrd Sisters'' as the names of instruments of demon summoning are immaterial as long as the general sound and intent is there.

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Should this be launched? rbx5 hasn't said anything in a while, but it's definitely got enough examples. If not, should someone (say me) make one identical to it so it can bloom again?

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A HarryPotter example ([[SuperTrope super]] to those already mentioned): the fact that wizards have to go to WizardingSchool. You can't just say the words and wave the wand, you have to know ''how'' to do it.

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{{Myst}}: Gehn tries to use the D'ni art of writing linking books without really understanding the full effects of the phrases that he uses, resulting in links to unstable worlds.

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And for yet another Harry Potter example, though it's an inversion, Parseltongue (the ability to speak with snakes) apparently is not magical as such. Ron is able to [[spoiler: open the Chamber of Secrets]] by just making the same sounds that Harry did when he opened it.

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[[Tropers/RBX5 rbx5]], is this UpForGrabs?

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RealLife: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult Cargo cults]], pacific island tribes whose islands were used as bases by various militaries in WWII. From the islanders' point of view, these military people didn't have to farm their own food - instead they built an airbase and called for food and other supplies to be brought down in cargo planes. After the soldiers left, the islanders tried to call for supplies themselves and built their own airbases; but since they were only copying appearance and didn't understand the underlying technology, the planes never came...

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JustLaunchItAlready

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I'm not sure, but I think there's two related tropes here:
1) The spell must be recited by a magic user to work and {{Muggles}} can't do it.
2)The "spell" is meaningless and the power comes entirely from intent.

While 2 obviously implies 1 (if the spell is meaningless, of course it's not going to work), the reverse isn't necessarily true; the spell might really require the words, but not ''just'' the words. There's a lot of implicit examples of this; A DungeonsAndDragons warrior could presumably observe the somatic and verbal components of a wizard spell and duplicate them, but it wouldn't do any good because he [[VancianMagic hadn't memorised the actual spell]].

An interesting example of 2 in ''Discworld/IShallWearMidnight''; a very powerful but untrained witch casts a spell that ''other witches'' think is nonsense, overlapping with AchievementsInIgnorance.

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In TheDCU, Johnny Quick's sidekick Tubby Watts tried reciting Johnny's magical formula in order to give himself superspeed like Johnny's. It failed. A later RetCon established that the 'formula' was actually a personal mantra that would only work for Johnny (and eventually his daughter).

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@Daibhid: Type number one isn't notable. Muggles are unable to comprehend magic ''by definition''. Thus, of course they can't use it.

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* {{Inverted}} in a seventh season episode of BuffyTheVampireSlayer: Willow begins to struggle through a complicated spell in Latin before saying ''"[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome SCREW IT, I suck at Latin, OK?]]"'' and proceeded to make the spell work in ''English'' because she is just that BadAss at magic.

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Bump.

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[[JustLaunchItAlready I think its ready to be launched now.]]
Another JackieChanAdventures example, [[BaldOfAwesome Captain Black]] once read Uncle's books and in trying to perform a spell turned himself into a frog.

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