History YMMV / TheMagicians

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: One of the major themes of the series seems to be that human beings are not psychologically prepared to deal with a world in which magic is real. May cross into FantasticAesop.

* OneSceneWonder: Either one of [[KnightOfCerebus the Beast's]] appearances in the first novel could count.

* BrokenBase:
** The message of the first book is either a unique and insightful take on the problem of getting everything you could possibly want, or just immature, unnecessarily dark, and {{Wangst}}y in the extreme.
** The magic system and school of Brakebills is either a nuanced and detailed approach to magic or an exhaustive extension of the aforementioned {{Wangst}} that drains readers of their will to continue reading. Summed up, the difficulty of learning magic means that it tends to take up rather a lot of space in the book, and Dean Fogg's attempts to justify the main characters' personal problems by claiming that magical potential is born from depression might be pushing it a bit much. Plus, the sheer ease with which the Physical Kids master and ''use'' battle magic can appear jarring to some readers after all the emphasis placed on the difficulty of magic, even if they have all graduated by this point.
** The main characters are either a mature look at how people might behave if given unimaginable power but no incentive to use it for anything other than petty time-wasting, or a bunch of feckless, self-pitying assholes with more personal problems than brain cells. Quentin is easily the worst-regarded of them, especially given that he devotes page after page to feeling sorry for himself for not having a purpose in life - even while more sympathetic cast members ''secretly'' grapple with things like chronic work-related stress, a troubled home life, or ''' ''the aftermath of being raped.'' ''' However, general consensus is that this improves as the series continues and the main characters actually start taking their responsibilities seriously.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Asmodeus is a big one. For the villains, [[spoiler:Martin]] is generally considered such for his intriguing and surprisingly sympathetic backstory, which isn't fully unveiled until the final novel, [[spoiler:long after his death.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Many events of ''The Magicians'' are simply told to the reader - rather than shown. As a result, there're chapters where they describe a weeks, or even months worth of happenings, but never actually show it to you - which can include things like CharacterDevelopment. This gets particularly bad when they encounter a talking bear who tells them the way to Ember's tomb... and rather than show us what he says most of the time, the text just summarizes what Humbledrum says, sometimes even summarizing things ''mid-conversation''.
** Reynard as well. In the third book, we see the lone survivor of the free trader group picking up a knife that can kill gods, and vowing to kill him. Unfortunately, it's only within the last two chapters that [[spoiler: the reader is told that Asmodeus went and killed Reynard... with Julia just ''knowing'' and explaining within the penultimate chapter what happened]] and the explanation is just [[spoiler: ...that he was gutted. That's it.]] This could be a novel in of itself, just mentioning what could have happened with Reynard on the loose and how he was tracked down.

* {{Wangst}}: A frequent problem. The debate is still out on whether this was intentional or not.
** Easily the worst offender is Quentin. Though magic is immensely difficult to learn and even harder to master, the payoff leaves a graduating wizard rich for life, capable of making their wildest dreams come true, and with no need to work at all. And with all the privilege laid at his doorstep, Quentin steadily becomes more and more self-pitying over his desire for [[IJustWantToBeSpecial purpose]] and [[AllergicToRoutine stimulation]], which only grows all the more galling as he turns into a [[TookALevelInJerkass progressively bigger asshole]]. Worse still, he's often teamed up with people who actually have real insecurities and traumas, including [[DarkAndTroubledPast Alice]], [[StepfordSmiler Josh]], and [[SanitySlippage Julia]], and it only ends up making Quentin look even more petty. Even Alice calls him on this tendency once it looks like he's going to start sulking over the fantasy world he wanted all along. Thankfully, he gradually begins to grow out of this routine over the course of the series, particularly once he finally starts getting off his ass and working instead of being washed about by the plot.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Many events of ''The Magicians'' are simply told to the reader - rather than shown. As a result, there're chapters where they describe a weeks, or even months worth of happenings, but never actually show it to you - which can include things like CharacterDevelopment. This gets particularly bad when they encounter a talking bear who tells them the way to Ember's tomb... and rather than show us what he says most of the time, the text just summarizes what Humbledrum says.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The first book hammers in the message "Getting everything you want doesn't make you happy" often, and rarely subtly. Many of the Brakebills students are depressed or insecure on some level, even while they're living a ridiculously overprivileged lifestyle of sex and drugs without having to work at all. Meanwhile, Quentin continues his descent into assholishness even after he's literally ended up in the fantasy kingdom of his dreams - to the point that [[WhatTheHellHero Alice eventually calls him on it]]. Even Dean Fogg points out that "wishing doesn't make it so," reasoning that magic seems based on the kind of "magical thinking" that children eventually have to grow out of, and even suggesting that wizards never really mature. Quentin arguably pushes the point [[{{Wangst}} too far]] by actively thinking himself superior to his fellow wizards when he briefly gives up on magic in the aftermath of [[spoiler: Alice's fatal transformation]]. Later books soften the impact by having the characters actually accomplish goals and walk away feeling satisfied, to the point that even Quentin ends the series on a [[EarnYourHappyEnding hard-earned happy note]].

** The main characters are either a mature look at how people might behave if given unimaginable power but no incentive to use it for anything other than petty time-wasting, or a bunch of feckless, self-pitying assholes with more personal problems than brain cells. Quentin is easily the worst-regarded of them, especially given that he devotes page after page to feeling sorry for himself for not having a purpose in life - even while more sympathetic cast members ''secretly'' grapple with things like chronic work-related stress, a troubled home life, or ''' ''the aftermath of being raped.'' '''

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Quentin, particularly in the first book. On the face of it, his search for purpose is perfectly understandable, and his inability to be satisfied with a stable routine should make him pitiable... but Quentin's habit of ''self''-pity ends up undermining his likability, especially once Quentin starts responding to his problems by treating people around him like shit.

** The main characters are either a mature look at how people might behave if given unimaginable power but no incentive to use it, or a bunch of feckless, self-pitying assholes with more personal problems than brain cells. Quentin is easily the worst-regarded of them, especially given that he devotes page after page to feeling sorry for himself for not having a purpose in life - even while more sympathetic cast members ''secretly'' grapple with things like chronic work-related stress, a troubled home life, or ''' ''the aftermath of being raped.'' '''

* StoicWoobie: Elliot, as Quentin comes to discern, has a very hard-won outward coolness.

** The main characters are either a mature look at how people might behave if given unimaginable power but no incentive to use it, or a bunch of feckless, self-pitying assholes with more personal problems than brain cells. Quentin is easily the worst of them, especially given that he devotes page after page to feeling sorry for himself for not having a purpose in life - even while more sympathetic cast members ''secretly'' grapple with things like chronic work-related stress, a troubled home life, or ''' ''the aftermath of being raped.'' '''

* BrokenBase: The message of the first book is either a unique and insightful take on the problem of getting everything you could possibly want, or just immature, unnecessarily dark, and {{Wangst}}y in the extreme.
** The magic system and school of Brakebills is either a nuanced approach to magic or an exhaustive PlotTumor that drains readers of their energy. Every single Brakebills student is depressed, even when playing a sports game where they casually throw fireballs. Grossman tries to justify this by having someone speculate that you must be depressed to have magic,and that magic is incredibly hard/boring to use, but that second part varies page by page (Ex: Sometimes casting a spell is described as being similar to doing extremely esoteric math problems, other times people throw fireballs with a gesture.)Some people view this as being a mature portrayal, while others view it as shallow, heavy-handed and unrealistic.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The first book hammers in the message "Getting everything you want doesn't make you happy" often. Many of the Brakebills students are depressed or insecure on some level, even while they're living a ridiculously overprivileged lifestyle of sex and drugs without having to work at all. Meanwhile, Quentin continues his descent into assholishness even after he's literally ended up in the fantasy kingdom of his dreams - to the point that [[WhatTheHellHero Alice eventually calls him on it]]. Even Dean Fogg points out that "wishing doesn't make it so," and that magic seems based on the kind of "magical thinking" that children eventually have to grow out of, even suggesting that wizards never really mature. Quentin arguably pushes the point [[{{Wangst}} too far]] by actively thinking himself superior to his fellow wizards when he briefly gives up on magic in the aftermath of [[spoiler: Alice's fatal transformation]]. Later books soften the impact by having the characters actually accomplish goals and walk away feeling satisfied, to the point that even Quentin ends the series on a happy note.

* {{Wangst}}: A frequent problem, especially for Quentin. Though magic is hard to learn and even harder to master, the payoff leaves a graduating wizard rich for life, capable of making their wildest dreams come true, and with no need to work at all. And with all the privilege laid at his doorstep, Quentin steadily becomes more and more self-pitying over his desire for [[IJustWantToBeSpecial purpose]] and [[AllergicToRoutine stimulation]], which only grows all the more galling as he turns into a [[TookALevelInJerkass progressively bigger asshole]]. Worse still, he's often teamed up with people who actually have real insecurities and traumas, including Alice [[note]]Her brother became a Niffin, her parents lost touch with reality, and she had to ''force'' her way into the Academy through sheer willpower[[/note]], Josh [[note]]Constantly afraid of being thrown out of the Academy due to his IneptMage tendencies[[/note]], and Julia [[note]] [[spoiler: who was driven almost insane by the memory wipe, ended up dealing with a series of unpleasantly sleazy hedge-mages in her attempts to learn magic, and her big attempt at recovering and putting her skills to good use ended with her being ''raped'']][[/note]], and it only ends up making Quentin look even more petty. Even Alice calls him on this tendency once it looks like he's going to start sulking over the fantasy world he wanted all along. Thankfully, he gradually begins to grow out of this routine over the course of the series, particularly once he finally starts getting off his ass and working instead of being washed about by the plot.

* TheWoobie: Quentin (at least in the early chapters), Alice, and at times Josh.

* {{Wangst}}: A frequent problem, especially for Quentin. Though magic is hard to learn and even harder to master, the payoff leaves a graduating wizard rich for life, capable of making their wildest dreams come true, and with no need to work at all. And with all the privilege laid at his doorstep, Quentin steadily becomes more and more self-pitying over his desire for [[IJustWantToBeSpecial purpose]] and [[AllergicToRoutine stimulation]], which only grows all the more galling as he turns into a [[TookALevelInJerkass progressively bigger asshole]]. Worse still, he's often teamed up with people who actually have real insecurities and traumas, including Alice [[note]]Her brother became a Niffin, her parents lost touch with reality, and she had to ''force'' her way into the Academy through sheer willpower[[/note]], Josh [[note]]Constantly afraid of being thrown out of the Academy due to his IneptMage tendencies[[/note]], and Julia [[note]] [[spoiler: who was driven almost insane by the memory wipe, ended up dealing with a series of unpleasantly sleazy hedge-mages in her attempts to learn magic, and her big attempt at recovering and putting her skills to good use ended with her being ''raped'']][[/note]], and it only ends up making Quentin look even more petty. Even Alice calls him on this tendency once it looks like he's going to start sulking over the fantasy world he wanted all along. Thankfully, he gradually begins to grow out of this routine over the course of the series, particularly once he finally starts getting off his ass and working instead of being

* BaseBreaker: The message of the first book is either a unique and insightful take on the problem of getting everything you could possibly want, or just immature, unnecessarily dark, and {{Wangst}}y in the extreme.

* {{Wangst}}: A frequent problem, especially for Quentin. Though magic is hard to learn and even harder to master, the payoff leaves a graduating wizard rich for life, capable of making their wildest dreams come true, and with no need to work at all. And with all the privilege laid at his doorstep, Quentin steadily becomes and more self-pitying over his desire for [[IJustWantToBeSpecial purpose]] and [[AllergicToRoutine stimulation]], which only grows more galling as he turns into a [[TookALevelInJerkass progressively bigger asshole]]. Worse still, he's often teamed up with people who actually have legitimate problems, including Alice, Josh and Julia - [[spoiler: the latter of whom actually ended up getting ''raped'' while Quentin was off doing his own thing]] - and it only ends up make Quentin look even more petty. Even ''Alice'' calls him on this tendency once it looks like he's going to start sulking over the fantasy world he wanted all along. Thankfully, he gradually begins to grow out of this routine over the course of the series.
** Also, Dean Fogg's supposition that wizards can use magic due to their inherent unhappiness and pain may be considered just a ''little'' bit [[{{Narm}} overdone]].

* {{Anvilicious}}: The first book hammers in the message "Getting everything you want doesn't make you happy" on nearly every page. Every single Brakebills student is depressed, even when playing a sports game where they casually throw fireballs, or in one case, simultaneously having sex and doing cocaine/ecstasy. Grossman tries to justify this by having someone speculate that you must be depressed to have magic,and that magic is incredibly hard/boring to use, but that second part varies page by page (Ex: Sometimes casting a spell is described as being similar to doing extremely esoteric math problems, other times people throw fireballs with a gesture.)Some people view this as being a mature portrayal, while others view it as shallow, heavy-handed and unrealistic. Later books apparently see some character growth.

* JerkassWoobie: Quentin drifts strongly towards assholish behavior in some chapters, but he remains consistently pitiable because a lot of the assholish behavior is rooted in his own psychological issues.

* {{Wangst}}: In the first book, a bunch of teenagers learn that they have magic, will be basically rich for life, and basically make their wildest dreams come true. While magic is hard to learn, during their training they're able to casually do things like throw fireballs during a sports game. They drink heavily, do a variety of drugs, and have tons of sex (sometimes all at once!) Every single character reacts universally depressed through all of this. This is a BaseBreaker: Some view it as wangst, others don't.

* Anvilicious: The first book hammers in the message "Getting everything you want doesn't make you happy" on nearly every page. Every single Brakebills student is depressed, even when playing a sports game where they casually throw fireballs, or in one case, simultaneously having sex and doing cocaine/ecstasy. Grossman tries to justify this by having someone speculate that you must be depressed to have magic,and that magic is incredibly hard/boring to use, but that second part varies page by page (Ex: Sometimes casting a spell is described as being similar to doing extremely esoteric math problems, other times people throw fireballs with a gesture.)Some people view this as being a mature portrayal, while others view it as shallow, heavy-handed and unrealistic. Later books apparently see some character growth.

* Wangst: In the first book, a bunch of teenagers learn that they have magic, will be basically rich for life, and basically make their wildest dreams come true. While magic is hard to learn, during their training they're able to casually do things like throw fireballs during a sports game. They drink heavily, do a variety of drugs, and have tons of sex (sometimes all at once!) Every single character reacts universally depressed through all of this. This is a BaseBreaker: Some view it as wangst, others don't.

* OneSceneWonder: Either one of [[KnightOfCerberus the Beast's]] appearances in the first novel could count.

** JerkassWoobie: Quentin drifts strongly towards assholish behavior in some chapters, but he remains consistently pitiable because a lot of the assholish behavior is rooted in his own psychological issues.
** StoicWoobie: Elliot, as Quentin comes to discern, has a very hard-won outward coolness.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: At the end of the Brakebill welters tournament, Quentin experiences a revelation about things that don't matter, throws the match, picks Alice up, and jumps with her into a pool of water of unknown depth. None of this is ever mentioned again.
* CompleteMonster: [[Literature/ReynardTheFox Raynard The Fox]] from ''The Magician King'' is a hulking mass of muscle, red fur and sharp teeth, summoned by a sect of magicians who believe they are calling upon a benevolent goddess. When summoned, Raynard promptly proceeds to take the "sacrifices" he sees as his. Setting upon the magicians, Raynard kills many of them horribly and painful, mortally wounding one and sneering over the young man's dying attempt to offer himself to let the final two live. When one promises her life in exchange for the other's, Raynard [[ExactWords chooses to interpret it in a dark way]]: he promptly brutally rapes her in front of her friend and tears her humanity out when finished.

* NightmareFuel: When time stops still in the middle of class and The Beast appears, though they can't move, everyone is still aware of what's happening, which means that Amanda Orloff was perfectly conscious the entire time she was being eaten alive ''one bite at a time'', and probably a few people had no choice but to watch it all. The Beast counts as this in general.

* CompleteMonster: Literature/ReynardTheFox from ''The Magician King'' is a hulking mass of muscle, red fur and sharp teeth, summoned by a sect of magicians who believe they are calling upon a benevolent goddess. When summoned, Raynard promptly proceeds to take the "sacrifices" he sees as his. Setting upon the magicians, Raynard kills many of them horribly and painful, mortally wounding one and sneering over the young man's dying attempt to offer himself to let the final two live. When one promises her life in exchange for the other's, Raynard [[ExactWords chooses to interpret it in a dark way]]: he promptly brutally rapes her in front of her friend and tears her humanity out when finished.

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler: Martin Chatwin, who's prepared to murder, mutilate, torture and consume his enemies just to keep his stranglehold on Fillory. And these "enemies" are almost entirely helpless- especially Professor March's class, who remained frozen in time while awake and conscious just because Martin felt like screwing with them. And when one of them dares fight back, he eats her alive. ]]
** [[spoiler: Reynard the Fox in the sequel. He casually murders a room full of people then rapes the heroine as her friend watches on helplessly.]]

** FromBadToWorse: At the end of the first book, Quentin finally gets a solid reason to be a woobie and suffers an extended HeroicBSOD after [[spoiler:Alice dies fighting the Beast]]. Qualifies as a Tearjerker as she is gone before he can tell her what he's realized - [[spoiler: that he really loves her]].

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: One of the major themes of the series seems to be that human beings are not psychologically prepared to deal with a world in which magic is real.

* UnfortunateImplications: Apparently, [[spoiler: getting very physically, very brutally raped by a ten-foot fox-deity on the much darker side of the TricksterArchetype spectrum is one way of gaining the power to turn into a beautiful, otherworldly demi-goddess.]]