Line #76 Main/MagicLibrarian


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5	[[quoteright:269:[[Literature/TheLibraryGhost https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magic_librarian_the_library_ghost.png]]]]
6	[[caption-width-right:269:Illustration by [[http://leewhiteillustration.blogspot.com Lee White]].]]
7
8	Books and [[MagicalLibrary libraries]] in fiction can be mystical things: keepers of information, certainly, of secrets and [[SpellBook sometimes of magic]], as well. It's natural, therefore, that some authors like to spread some of that magic onto the ''librarian'', too--when they aren't making them [[HotLibrarian hot]] or [[ScaryLibrarian scary]], that is. A magic librarian will very often have the ability to send readers (or people who either ''don't'' read or disparage books, to [[AnAesop teach 'em a lesson]]) into [[PortalBook the world within the books]], and sometimes, pity those who don't return their books to the library before the due date.
9
10	Often overlaps with HotLibrarian, ScaryLibrarian, or [[HotAsHell possibly even both]].
11
12	If the librarians work at a SpookySilentLibrary, they may also be EvilLibrarians.
13
14	----
15	!!Examples
16
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
20	* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
21	** Yuuno Scrya. Mage scholar, [[{{Animorphism}} ferret changeling]], and head librarian of the Infinite Library [[ImprobableAge at the age of 15]], partly thanks to his mastery of spells that let him [[SuperSpeedReading scan through several books at once]].
22	** [[CloneJesus Vivio Takamachi]] is also a librarian at the Infinite Library, though her true passion lies in what is basically MagicalGirl MMA.
23	* ''Literature/ReZero'' has Beatrice, a mysterious being of unknown power that was contracted to look after the Roswaal Manor's enormous library.
24	* Lilith and Eve, the two dimension-hopping witches in ''VisualNovel/YamiToBoushiToHonNoTabibito'', happen to be librarians of a MagicalLibrary, who are both magical and [[HotLibrarian hot]].
25	* The MagicalLibrary of ''Ashurbanipal'' in ''Literature/Overlord2012'' is staffed by a team of [[OurLichesAreDifferent skeleton mages, elder liches and overlords]].
26	[[/folder]]
27
28	[[folder:Comic Books]]
29	* ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'': One comic, for an explicit homage to ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', casts the Doctor as one for an extended fantasy sequence that takes almost an entire strip.
30	* ''ComicBook/{{Hellraiser}}'': Balberith was originally a normal human librarian and mother who, after trying and failing to find a cure for her son's illness, wound up in the possession of a [[ArtifactOfDoom Lament Configuration]] given to her by an Agent of Leviathan. When she solved the box, she opened a portal to Hell where she was taken and [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil turned into a cenobite]], her final human moment seeing that her son had been cured with the knowledge that she will never see him again. She now acts as the librarian to Hell's library, many of the more learned damned souls that end up in Hell transformed into books that catalogue Leviathan's history and grand plan.
31	* ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': Lucien, who maintains the Library of Dream, which contains every book anybody ever thought or dreamed about writing, from the masterpieces of great authors who died before committing them to paper, down to the novel you always tell yourself you'll write one day. (''The Bestselling Romantic Spy Thriller I Used To Think About On The Bus That Would Sell A Billion Copies And Mean I'd Never Have to Work Again''. Not exactly the catchiest of titles, is it?) He knows everything about every book in the library, including where each of them is at any given moment, although at one point he admits that this comes at the cost of not being able to remember most things that happen outside the library, including who he was before he became the librarian.
32	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Vol. 2]]: The library on Themyscira is manned by ancient immortal Amazons, and contains many stacks that can only be accessed through knowing the right magic. This becomes a bit of a problem for [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie Sandsmark]] when she is trying to do some research on the Olympians without drawing attention as the volumes she wants are ones she cannot just slide off a shelf.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
36	* Mr. Dewey, the librarian of the ''WesternAnimation/ThePagemaster'', is implied to be the same guy as the Pagemaster himself. They have the same (voice) actor, give the same instructions for Richard to find the exit sign, and are the first and last characters Richard meets at the start and end of his literary journey. The Pagemaster is the god and guardian of the world of books and the reason Richard crossed over.
37	%%zce* Nim Galuu from ''WesternAnimation/Epic2013''.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
41	* Carl Conrad Coreander, of ''Film/TheNeverendingStory'', who kept the eponymous tome in his shop until Bastian stole it. Originally a fairly ordinary old book seller, the film series added implied magical properties (he can appear and disappear at will, apparently), and in the much-maligned third film he works as a librarian at Bastian's high school.
42	%%* Al-Jazari is a Magic Librarian in the educational short ''Film/OneThousandOneInventionsAndTheLibraryOfSecrets''.
43	%%* Jocasta Nu is both a librarian and a [[Franchise/StarWars Jedi]].
44	%%* Wong, keeper of the library at Kamar Taj in ''Film/DoctorStrange2016''.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Literature]]
48	* In ''Literature/ThursdayNext'', [[Literature/AliceInWonderland the Cheshire Cat]] manages the Great Library, a magical place that contains all books that have been or will be written, and claims to know everything there is to know about them, including how many times they've been read, how many of them ''are being read'' at any given time, and by whom.
49	* The Librarian of the Unseen University in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series. He's a wizard, and the library is attached to a wizards' university, but he also commands magics that come from the mere fact of it being a library (most notably the secret of L-Space, which connects every library that ever existed). He was also transformed into an orangutan, and decided to stay that way - some books would drive any man insane to read... but an ''orangutan'' will merely suffer a headache.
50	* In Kelly Link's short story ''Literature/MagicForBeginners,'' there's a whole TV show of magic librarians, and the entire television series the characters are watching (and, it's implied, also a part of themselves) takes place within a [[GreatBigLibraryOfEverything giant library]].
51	* By virtue of being staff at Hogwarts alone, Madame Pince from ''Literature/HarryPotter''. She's also a ScaryLibrarian; Hogwarts library books have protective spells on them as a matter of course, but she's been known to add personal touches. [[EccentricMentor Dumbledore]] mentions that absentmindedly doodling in the margins once caused a book to beat him violently about the head.
52	* Creator/GarthNix's ''Literature/OldKingdom'' series is full to the brim with these:
53	** The Clayr, a large and clairvoyant group of people, have a ''massive'' library that houses not only normal books, but enchanted ones, grimoires for creatures that may or may not exist, tombs of ancient beings that if let out will attempt to kill anyone they come into contact with, and, somehow, a figurine that [[spoiler:houses the consciousness of one of the creators of reality]]. In a world full of shambling corpses, devious necromancers, and corrupt royalty, the library of the Clayr is probably full of the most frightening and dangerous people and artifacts.
54	** The main character of the second book, Lirael, is a Second Assistant Librarian for the Clayr, and regularly not only completes her normal duties as a librarian, but runs around the extremely dangerous forbidden areas at night with a magical talking dog that she somehow created, breaking into locked chambers and reading ancient books.
55	* In the ''Literature/MollyMoon'' series, Molly is introduced to hypnosis by the local librarian, Lucy Logan.
56	* In one of the ''Literature/BaileySchoolKids'' books, the librarian is implied to be Myth/{{Merlin}}.
57	%%* Craswell Crabbit in Terry Brooks' ''Literature/APrincessOfLandover'' is a villainous version of this.
58	* The Evil Librarians are the main villains of the ''Literature/AlcatrazSeries'', and secretly rule the world as we know it.
59	* Mr. Coreander in ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' still qualifies in the original version, although the story is a little different; at the end of the story, Bastion goes back to the store to apologize for stealing the book, but Coreander doesn't remember him or the book; however, he does know about the Childlike Empress, and tells Bastian how to meet her again if he wants. [[spoiler:He simply has to give her another name, and he can visit her and Fantasia any time he likes.]]
60	%%* Mr Raven in Creator/GeorgeMacdonald's ''Lilith'', who was a partial inspiration for Lucien, above.
61	* The main characters in ''Literature/TheInvisibleLibrary'' by Genevieve Cogman are librarians of the Invisible Library, which means they can cross through the {{Multiverse}} in pursuit of rare books, and can alter reality using the '''Language''', which is basically IKnowYourTrueName.
62	* Creator/StephenKing's ''The Library Policeman'' has Ardelia Lortz, whom the protagonist first meets in a disused library in variation of the [[BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts Phantom 309]] scenario - he later finds out that she's long dead. See ScaryLibrarian.
63	* ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'': In ''False Value'' it is revealed that The New York Public Library System has a group of magic users.
64	* In ''Literature/TheZombieKnight'', the [[MagicalLibrary Library of Erudition]] maintains a mystically bound Keeper of the Library who controls access to it. The current Keeper is [[TheDragon Gohvis]], who got the position after he resisted the Library's attempts to [[YourSoulIsMine absorb him]] and [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt killed the previous Keeper]] for trying to restrict his reading. ScaryLibrarian indeed.
65	* In the sequels to ''Literature/TheMagicians'', [[spoiler:Penny]] becomes the Head Librarian of an interdimensional library, allowing him access to magics far beyond the reach of the other characters. [[spoiler:It does nothing to temper his arrogant personality.]]
66	* Creator/HarryTurtledove’s "Literature/TrantorFalls": The people from the University, especially Dean Sarns, try their best to subtly intimidate Gilmer by their vast stores of knowledge and promises to train his military in repairing and operating the technological marvels they've got. When Gilmer returns to his Imperial palace with a peace treaty between equals, his consort, Billye, complains that he must have been enspelled by the "wizards".
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
70	* Evil version: "Files & Records" at Wolfram & Hart in ''Series/{{Angel}}'', who has no name and can mentally search the entire content of the firm's archives, apparently projecting the results onto her eyeballs.
71	* Obligatory ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' example: Giles is a {{Downplayed}} example. The nature of RitualMagic in the setting means that anyone who's read the right books can cast a few simple spells, and while Giles isn't ''especially'' accomplished at doing so, it's revealed that he dabbled in magic in his DarkAndTroubledPast as "Ripper" and probably could have been quite powerful if he'd taken that path in life instead of becoming a Watcher who moonlights as a high school librarian. However, as a [[MissionControl research resource]] for a talented witch like Willow he's invaluable.
72	* The librarian of the magic school in ''Series/{{Charmed\|1998}}'' is magical, just like the rest of the cast. The first librarian we see is a disgruntled troll that keeps burning books.
73	* The Librarian of the [[Film/TheLibrarian eponymous TV film series]] and related spinoff series ''[[Series/TheLibrarians2014 The Librarians]]''. Recruited from the most intelligent and knowledgeable persons on Earth, it's his or her job to protect and maintain the repository of the world's magical artifacts and retrieve others to add to the collection. Fighting the forces of evil along the way is a side-line.
74	* Ingrid Beauchamp of ''Series/{{Witches of East End}}'' is a librarian. Oh, she's also a witch belonging to a family of witches and warlocks that are not originally of this World. Her family and that of her friends, brothers Dash and Killian Gardiner, have a very, very long history. And she's just finding out about it...
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
78	* ''TabletopGame/InNomine'':
79	** Yves, Archangel of Destiny, collects all knowledge in his Library, including the memories of everyone who has passed on.
80	** His EvilCounterpart, Kronos, Demon Prince of Fate, knows the location of everything in Hell's Archives. Unlike Yves, Kronos doesn't have access to all knowledge, but he does have access to all of Hell's official records.
81	* ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'': The Bibliomancer class is a magician who uses his personal library as a power source. The more books he has and the rarer they are, the more powerful he becomes.
82	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
83	** Space Marine Librarians are responsible for their chapter's archives, the interstellar psychic communications the Chapter needs, and are also powerful psykers. The [[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Blood Ravens]] have a large amount of Librarians, more than the average Chapter, which has lead fans to speculate that the Blood Ravens have a connection to the Thousand Sons, the Chaos Marines of Magnus the Red and may be loyalist Thousand Sons themselves who avoided the Rubric of Ahriman (a spell that turned their non-Psyker brothers to dust sealed within their armor).
84	** The keepers of the Black Library, a hidden Eldar stronghold in the Webway said to contain all of their knowledge.
85	* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' has the Synchro Monster T.G. Hyper Librarian, a very literal case, being a Spellcaster.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Video Games]]
89	* The "Strange Powers" update of ''VideoGame/DontStarve'' gives Wickerbottom the Librarian access to FunctionalMagic through her book collection.
90	* Lisa from ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'' is a HotWitch in charge of the Mondstadt library. The first act of her character quest involves her trying to recover overdue library books from a few of the shopkeepers in town, an aspect of her job she finds "troublesome", especially when one of the books winds up in the hands of an Abyss Mage she eventually has to kill to get it back.
91	* VideoGame/IMMeen is definitely magical and possibly some kind of librarian, or at the very least his signature spell involves a PortalBook. Unusually, though, he is not fond of people (or at least children) who actually read.
92	* The librarians working in the titular ''VideoGame/LibraryOfRuina'' regularly receive guests in battle, harnessing the power of fallen guests and [[EldritchAbomination Abnormalities]] which they also fight. Their patrons are representatives of the Tree of Life and have been reincarnated from their previous robotic forms, and their leader, Angela, is a sufficiently intelligent AI and so human-like that the government actively acts against her.
93	* ''VideoGame/MarioPartyDS'': One of the boards is a library owned by Kamek, Bowser's right-hand EvilSorcerer. He also serves as the boss of this board in Story Mode, and to defeat him you must stain his face with your pen's ink, causing him to make a temper tantrum that makes several books fall until one of them falls into his head. Repeating this tactic three times will defeat him.
94	* ''VideoGame/{{Spellstone}}'': Yuriel, the [[TheOwlKnowingOne Owl Mystic]], is curator of the archives in the city of [[CrystalSpiresAndTogas Luminis]]. He's also the Aether leader Samael's de facto second-in-command, tasked with guarding the city from outsiders. As a playable character and an enemy, he can use his magic to protect his cards with [[{{Counterspell}} Ward]] and dispel {{status buff}}s, among other things.
95	* Patchouli Knowledge of ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' is the Scarlet Devil Mansion's resident witch, and the de facto librarian of the place. She's constantly seen with a book in her hand when fighting, to top things off. Oh, and her debut stage theme is called "Voile, the Magic Library." Her aide and familiar may also qualify.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Webcomics]]
99	* Phix of ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'' is definitely a magic librarian. She's a (the?) sphinx.
100	* ''Webcomic/AwfulHospital'': Professor Lexicovermus, the literal bookworm, is a DimensionalTraveler who manifests in extremely unlikely places across the setting's [[TheMultiverse Multiverse]] and can even deliver library material across the fourth wall. Said library material could be anything from a GhostMemory to a book that WasOnceAMan.
101	* At the beginning of ''Webcomic/{{Whither}}'', Finn, TheShortGuyWithGlasses. As in, he'd fit this tropes if he were short. But the plot takes him out of the library and into places he never thought he'd visit. [[spoiler:He's actually a construct -- a paper golem created by the guardian witch, but he GrewBeyondTheirProgramming and won't do her bidding.]]
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Web Original]]
105	* Blanche Von Haderach of ''WebOriginal/TheBackrooms'' is a kind and sweet librarian lady who resides in [[MagicalLibrary Level 906, the Cygnus Archives]]. She's practically omnipotent due to being [[spoiler:a very powerful but benevolent EldritchAbomination taking the form of a human]].
106	* In ''Website/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'', [[GreatBigLibraryOfEverything the Interdimensional Library]] generates its own Librarians ''from'' the books: [[RefugeeFromTVLand sentient projections of fictional characters]], from Robin Hood to Captain Ahab (not forgetting various characters from the fiction of other dimensions). The Librarians have an innate sense for where various shelves or reading rooms in the infinite Library are to be found.
107	* Derek the Bard, of ''WebVideo/WarningReadersAdvisory'', is a wizard and keeper of the [[GreatBigLibraryOfEverything Greatest Library in the World]].
108	* The Librarians of ''Website/TheWanderersLibrary''. There are a wide variety of librarians, [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/the-librarians seen here]], ranging from spider-like beings in charge of reshelving books to [[HumanoidAbomination silent monstrosities]] who guide patrons. Some are implied to be human, and others are implied to have [[WasOnceAMan been human]] but are being punished for breaking Library rules.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Western Animation]]
112	* Wan Shi Tong, the librarian of the titular library from (you guessed it) "The Library" episode in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is some kind of [[TheOwlKnowingOne ancient owl spirit]] that keeps irritating humans out of his domain.
113	* In the ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' episode "Wrath of the Librarian", a ScaryLibrarian curses Eustace and Muriel when they don't return a book ("The Pixie and the Prickle Pirate") on time, causing them to gradually transform into the characters from said book until Courage can not only return it to her, but pay the massive late fee.
114	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hilda}}'': Kaisa, the librarian who occasionally points Hilda and friends to books on the creatures they're dealing with that week, is oddly creepy and speculated to be a witch in season 1. And confirmed to be a(n [[IneptMage inept]]) witch in season 2.
115	* Twilight Sparkle in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is both a powerful unicorn magician ''and'' a bibliophile who gets just as much joy out of organizing books as most ponies would get out of reading them. Her first home in Ponyville actually ''is'' the local library, and her castle has an even bigger one. In Canterlot, her home was a tower full of books.
116	* [[CoolOldLady Mrs. Clara]] in ''WesternAnimation/WelcomeToTheWayne'' doesn't have magic powers but has ninja training and manages [[GreatBigLibraryOfEverything The Stanza]] with the help of [[FlyingSeafoodSpecial squidjits]] and holds many secrets about [[BuildingOfAdventure The Wayne]].
117	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / MagicLibrarian