Line #74 Main/ParodyMagicSpell


1	->''"Loquentia, Imbruglia, Precipitous, Saraleecheesecakea, Denouement!"''
2	-->-- ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner''
3
4	When a magical spell is invoked in a cartoon, comedy show or during a comedy sketch, the words needed to be spoken are often in-jokes, brand names, or famous surnames. PigLatin and CanisLatinicus are also commonly used. Rhymes are common in a parody of RhymingWizardry. They often sound weird enough to only be spotted on a second viewing.
5
6	----
7	!!Examples:
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9	[[foldercontrol]]
10
11	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
12	* Every single spell in ''Manga/Bastard1988'' sounds like a mix between magic and the PowerOfRock since they are all based on famous heavy metal lyrics.
13	* The English GagDub of Anime/GhostStories uses these for almost all the rituals to seal the various ghosts roaming the school.
14	[[/folder]]
15
16	[[folder:Comic Books]]
17	* In Swedish children's comic ''Pellefant'', all spells were nonsense rhymes of this kind. Interestingly, one spell was consistent: the one to undo other spells. ''Retura, reverta, bicka backa bick-back-buck!''.
18	* ComicBook/JohnConstantine has done this on occasion.
19	** A memorable example was speaking [[CanisLatinicus Latin-sounding gibberish]] in a scary voice to convince a fanboy he'd laid a massive curse on them. In another instance, Chas barged in out of nowhere begging John to "magic away" a gun used in a shooting ''as the police were chasing him.''
20	--->'''John:''' "Well, let's see: flibble, flobble, flibble... kaflurp." (''{{Beat}}'') "[[SarcasmMode Bugger me]], [[CaptainObvious it's still a bloody gun]]!"
21	** In the ComicBook/New52 storyline, his arch-enemy Tannarak does this using CypherLanguage, referencing the line "Walla Walla, Washington" mentioned below (it can be seen [[http://tessatechaitea.tumblr.com/post/64728831973/constantine-7 here]]).
22	--->'''Tannarak:''' Newport news Walla Walla Washington. [[ByTHePowerOfGrayskull By the power of this magic junk, I have the power!]]
23	* In one issue of ComicBook/NewMutants, the girls are having a sleepover with several of their regular friends. During a pretend seance, Ilyana uses the incantation from Bullwinkle (see below) with Dani providing some special effects. It makes sense: who would know better than a demon-trained sorceress what ''won't'' work?
24	* ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'': Pendragon occasionally, depending on writer and alcohol level. (Of Pendragon, not the writer.)
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
28	* In ''ComicStrip/TheWizardOfId'', the title character's signature all-purpose spell is "Frammin' on the jim-jam, frippin' at the krotz!" Cartoonists Parker and Hart derived this from the Chris Sharp jazz instrumental, "Frimmin' on the Jim-Jam."
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Fan Works]]
32	* ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'':
33	** The spells are performed not by casting an actual spell, but by saying the name of the spell. "Jelly Legs Jinx!"
34	** Also subverted occasionally when characters will not even say a spell, but do a normal action such as leave a room and saying "Magic!"
35	* ''WebVideo/PotterPuppetPals'' features spells like "Pantaloonius Poopicus" and "Ronicus Explodicus".
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
39	* Bit of BilingualBonus in ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'': the "ritual incantation" used by the Japanese grade-school girls to seal the Sadako-ripoff is actually a preschool song about an acorn falling into a pond and befriending a fish.
40	* In ''Film/TheHouseWithAClockInItsWalls'', Lewis casts a spell to find the location of the doomsday clock by shouting out the definitions of "Discover", "Location", "Secret", and "Clock" while waving his Magic8Ball around vigorously. [[TheCloudCuckooLanderWasRight It works.]]
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Literature]]
44	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
45	** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' has Ron attempt a spell with a rhyming incantation ("Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow") on the train ride to Hogwarts. It quickly becomes apparent to both Ron and the reader that it isn't a real spell, as [[TricksterTwins Fred and George]] told him about it in the first place and most other spells in the series have short Latin-based incantations.
46	** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'':
47	*** Harry threatens his [[DoesNotLikeMagic magic-phobic]] {{Jerkass}} cousin Dudley with the words "Hocus pocus! Squiggly wiggly!".
48	*** The incompetent [[SmallNameBigEgo Gilderoy Lockhart]] attempts to get a swarm of Cornish pixies under control by bellowing, "''Peskipiksi Pesternomi''!" (suggested etymology being: "Pesky pixie, pester no me!") It does absolutely nothing, either because he just made it up on the spot or he had no experience casting it.
49	* In ''Literature/BoredOfTheRings'', Goodgulf has quite a lot of these, e.g.: "Hocus-pocus / Loco Parentis! / Jackie Onassis / Creator/DinoDeLaurentiis!" His magic is completely based on parlor tricks and funny incantations.
50	* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', Harry Dresden's candle-lighting spell is "Flickum Bicus." (Flick my Bic.)
51	** And in one of the short stories, when interrogating a thug, ''"Intimidatus dorkus maximus!"''
52	** For creating an iceberg he uses "Rexus Mundus." ([[Film/Titanic1997 "King of the World"]])
53	** For creating illusionary duplicates, "Lumen, camerus, factum!" ("Lights, camera, action!")
54	** In other words, this trope can come into play, literally depending on the caster's sense of humor. Because, for safety, reasons spells are explicitly either made up words or in languages the wizard ''doesn't'' speak.
55	* In Creator/RobertAsprin's ''Literature/MythAdventures'', all incantations are fake trappings meant to impress {{muggles}}. Quite a lot of them fall under the trope, including "Alakazam-shazam" and the perennial favourite "Walla Walla, Washington".
56	* The spell in ''Literature/WyrdSisters'' is a parody of the one in ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', with such phrases as "tongue of boot and glow-worm glimmer, stir and then allow to simmer."
57	** Also from the Discworld series, the spell to summon Death (to ask him questions) is called the "Rite of Ashk Ente", pronounced similarly to "Ask Auntie".
58	* In ''Literature/LestDarknessFall'', Padway gets exasperated with a quack who is trying to heal him of a bad cold, and sends him running by threatening to put a curse on him and spouting a stream of random modern-day words.
59	* ''Literature/BruceCovillesBookOf Monsters'': In ''The Thing That Goes Burp in the Night'', John Thomas reads a bunch of terms out of an index in one of his father's medical books, making it sound like he's doing a spell that will conjure up a monster to come and get his brother.
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61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
64	* Used in an Italian comedy, where at one point the main characters make a fake Satanic ritual, including gibberish incantations as "Satan... Satanasso... Tapioca!"
65	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
66	** In an episode, Shakespeare, the Doctor, and Martha Jones perform a magic spell that's mostly sci-fi garble, with JK Rowling.
67	** in "The Daemons", "Reverend Magister" gets his Satanist dupes to chant "Mary had a little lamb" backwards, likely after the HollywoodSatanism practice of reciting the Lord's Prayer backwards.
68	* On ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'', most of the spells are either the last name of one of the show's creators and a made up word that rhymes, or exactly what the spell does, with a Latin suffix such as "ius" tacked onto the end.
69	* The spell word needed to use a certain witch's MagicWand in an episode of ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'' is ''Parangaricutirimícuaro'', a tongue-twister in Mexico (and the name of a town that was once destroyed by a volcano).
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
73	* In [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D 3.5]], the Factotum class are {{Badass Bookworm}}s whose mastery of the IndyPloy, ImprovFu, AwesomeByAnalysis, and ButIReadABookAboutIt makes them the ClosestThingWeGot to any other class. One of the many abilities that this imparts is the ability to ''weaponize'' this trope: The official class profile states that the factotum has discovered that [[SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein by muttering vaguely arcane-sounding gibberish]] and waving their hands in rough approximations of what spellcasters do, they are able to cast a few spells per day without the need for little details like actually knowing what they're doing.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Theater]]
77	* ''[[Theatre/PuffsThePlay Puffs]]'', being a spoof of the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, has several parody versions of spells from the series, including "Stupidify" (Stupefy), "Olive Gardium Leviosa" (Wingardium Leviosa), "Avada Kedabra" (Avada Kedavra), "Asio" (Accio), Snake Spell (Serpensortia), "[[Creator/AlanRickman Rickman]]sempra" (Rictusempra), "Locomotor Legs" (Locomotor Mortis, despite having a different effect as noted in the script), and "Tarantula Jelly" (Tarantallegra).
78	* In [[Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart Mozart's]] opera ''Theatre/BastienUndBastienne'', the sorcerer Colas recites a "magic spell" to make Bastienne fall in love with Bastien. This aria, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tEZrC0Yy3Y "Diggi, daggi, shurry, murry,"]] is really just a collection of nonsense words and random Latin (e.g., "fatto, matto, quid pro quo").
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Video Games]]
82	* In ''Barbarus: Tavern of Emyr'' the magic scroll which is supposed to fix Emyr's knee injury says "Lorem ipsum".
83	* In the English version of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'', the spell to seal the evil ice witch Krystalinda ends up being a ''Film/MaryPoppins'' reference. (It's ''Franchise/DragonQuest''; of ''course'' [[WorldOfPun there's a dumb pun]].) As an extra gag, the caster has to pause near the end because he's not sure how the last bit is pronounced.
84	-->Pella, mella, fell and feller! Fabula ferocious!\
85	Helter, skelter, bind and belt her! Anima atrocius!\
86	Liber claustra cabalistic! Hexpialidocious!
87	* The invokation for the Create Gold spell in ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper 2'' is "Esspressus Americanus".
88	* The old adventure game ''Keef the Thief'' was full of these; e.g. two healing spells were "Bandus Aidus" and "Takus Tylenus".
89	* The random words wizards speak when casting in ''VideoGame/{{Sacrifice}}'' include [[KlaatuBaradaNikto "Klaatu", "Barada" and "Nikto"]], though not necessarily in the same incantation or in order.
90	* In the Switch remake of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', Wizakoopa summons a source of infinite money with the spell "Uget watchoo peifore!" ("[[spoiler:You get what you pay for.]]") (In the original SNES version, the spell was instead "Ho'okalakupua", [[BilingualBonus the Hawaiian word for magic]].)
91	* Ashley's theme in ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' includes the incantation "Pantalones Giganticus!"
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Web Animation]]
95	* The ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' cartoon ''Halloween Potion-Ma-Jig'' has Homestar gathering ingredients for a Halloween potion, including one of three possible incantations:
96	** "Loquentia, Imbruglia, Precipitous, Saraleecheesecakea, Denouement!"
97	** "Bettah axe somebod-ay!"
98	** "Do you even have half a brain!"
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Web Comics]]
102	* The LanguageOfMagic in ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'' is English written with Greek letters. If you go to the trouble of translating them, the spells are famous quotes, often from children's literature (the chant to get more power for the ''Excalibur'''s engines is "[[Literature/TheLittleEngineThatCould I know I can, I know I can...]]")
103	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': the Franchise/HarryPotter parody[=/=]TakeThat invokes "Stoppus Badguyus!" when trying to repel Thog.
104	** Much later, Blackwing needs some pretend magic words to [[InvokedTrope intentionally]] [[MagicMisfire miscast]] a spell, and uses this.
105	--> "Abra Candalabra! Frippity Fruppity Frooj! [[ShoutOut Pottericus Mimicus!]]"
106	* ''Webcomic/WizardSchool'' has [[http://www.meetmyminion.com/?p=1303 "Bastardized Latinium]]," among a variety of others.
107	* These are rife in ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}''; a cure spell is the names of the members of Music/{{The Cure\|Band}}, a [[GeoEffects Dirt]][[DishingOutDirt amancy]] spell is the same except with famously "dirty" athletes, [[ShockAndAwe Shock]][[StatusInflictionAttack amancy]] spells are usually ShockSite names, with Hat Magic you say "Hoffa" to make something disappear and "Livingston" to make it appear again, [[Film/TheReturnOfTheLivingDead "Trioxin"]] is used by [[{{Necromancy}} Croak]][[WhateverMancy amancers]] to raise the dead, and so on...
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Web Original]]
111	* Bek D. Corbin (of ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' fame, though this story isn't from that series) did an epic one in her story "Joy to the World". The "spell" was simply an vulgar insult spoken backwards but with her [[RefugeInAudacity rapid fire delivery, the plot and the imagery]] the reader can miss it.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Western Animation]]
115	* In a WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Bart reads a spell from a magic book that's basically a list of odd brand names and famous surnames.
116	-->"Trojan, Ramses, Magnum, Shiek!"
117	* Done in a ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' [[http://www.yourdailymedia.com/video/watch/4715/ parody of]] ''Literature/HarryPotter''. Example: When Snape tries to seduce Hermione in his "magical jacuzzi", he calls it forth with the spell, "[=BarryWhiteus=], candlelightus, girl-exciteus!" She dispells his lecherous advance with the counterspell, "Pedophilius repelus!"
118	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'':
119	** A ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' episode had "Creator/CharlieSheen, Creator/BenVereen, Shrink to the size of a lima bean!"
120	** In the same vein, one of their skits "translating" Creator/WilliamShakespeare covered the Three Witches scene from Theatre/{{Macbeth}}:
121	--->'''Witches:''' Double, double, toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.\
122	'''Yakko:''' Loosely translated, "Abracadabra".\
123	'''Dot:''' Fillet of a fenny snake, in the cauldron boil and bake.\
124	'''Yakko:''' "Let's cook a snake." Start with my agent.
125	* On ''WesternAnimation/LaffALympics'', the Great Fondoo's spells are mere couplets that consist of "Abrakazoom, abraka-(''whatever rhymes with the end of the command in the couplet's second half''). Needless to say, he's not very effective.
126	* There was a WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon (''Transylvania 6-5000'') where Bugs meets a vampire. He starts reading a book about magic words that contain the words "Abracadabra" and "Hocus Pocus." Unknown to him (at first, anyway), "Abracadabra" turns the vampire into a bat, and "Hocus Pocus" turns him back into a person. He starts singing the words in a song, transforming the vampire back and forth (HilarityEnsues)... then starts mixing them up in the song, "Abraca-Pocus" and "Hocus-cadabra", making half the vampire transform, i.e. a human body with a bat's head, then a bat's body and human head. Then he throws out, "Newport News!" which changes the vampire into a look-alike of Witch Hazel, and finally, "Walla Walla Washington!" which turns him into a two-headed vulture.
127	** Also in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' realm, Merlin the Magic Mouse's magic words are "Atascadero Escondido", which are two cities in southern California.
128	** In "The Henpecked Duck," Daffy Duck makes his wife's egg disappear through sleight of hand then says "Hocus Pocus Flippety Flam, Razzamatazz and Allakazam" to make it reappear.
129	** In "The Case of the Missing Hare," Ala Bahma's magic words to produce a rabbit from his hat is "Roota Voota Zoot!" He winds up pulling out a carrot.
130	* The episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' "Everybody Come to Hank's" invoked this. When assisting Orpheus casting a spell, an incantation was apparently required, and The Alchemist decided to have a little fun with it.
131	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', viewers who [[BilingualBonus take the time to translate]] Mysterio's spells [[GratuitousLatin from Latin]] will find that most of the longer ones are non sequiturs.[[note]]Mysterio appears to have sourced them from Henry Beard's ''Latin For All Occasions'' books.[[/note]]
132	-->Denique diatem efficacem inveni! (Translation: [[spoiler:I have finally found an effective diet!]])
133	-->Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere! (Translation: [[spoiler:[[ElvisLives I believe that Elvis is alive!]]]])
134	-->Nullae satisfactionis potiri non possum! (Translation: [[spoiler:[[Music/TheRollingStonesBand I can't get no satisfaction!]]]])
135	-->Tibi gratias agimus quod nihil fumas! (Translation: [[spoiler:Thank you for not smoking!]])
136	* ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'': "Eenie-meanie, chilly beanie! The spirits are about to speak!"
137	* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''Literature/SoulMusic'' gives words to the Rite of Ashk-Ente. These include CanisLatinicus descriptions of Death himself ("Wan Equestrus Chiv im Curlus. Homme Qui into Blotteau Hurlus"[[note]]Pale rider with a curved blade. Man who hurls us into oblivion[[/note]]) and the ceremony ("Ovum Crackus, Totale Knackus"[[note]]the egg is broken and totally knackered[[/note]]).
138	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther'': "Transylvania Mania" - The Inspector fights Dracula (crossovered with Frankenstein) and his Igor, who want his brilliant brain for the newest creation. The Inspector overhears the spells (teensy-weensy and biggy-wiggy, for adjusting Igors size) and uses them to dish out AmusingInjuries by the ton.
139	* {{Subverted\| Trope}} in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'' episode parodying ''Literature/HarryPotter''. Kaeloo says that there are lots of spells ending in "us" and "or", but it turns out that they really sound like magic spells and aren't made up of English words.
140	* The ''WesternAnimation/YogiBear'' cartoon "Touch And Go-Go-Go" has a magician visiting Jellystone Park. He uses his magic wand to make Yogi and Boo Boo disappear with the magic words "nome de plume" (which is actually French for "pen name").
141	* The classic WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoon "Trick or Treat" has a witch(voiced by Creator/JuneForay) brew a potion to help Huey, Dewey and Louie bedevil their uncle Donald:
142	-->''"[[Theatre/{{Macbeth}} Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn and cauldron bubble!]]\
143	Eye of needle, tongue of shoe, hand of clock that points at two!\
144	''[aside to one of the nephews]'' This is the real thing, y'know, right out of Shakespeare!''"
145	* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' most incanatations (which aren't [[SdrawkcabSpeech English sentences played backwards]]) are genuine Latin, but they slip a few jokes in:
146	** One spell, involving dream visitations, snuck the phrase "[[Film/{{Inception}} Inceptus]] [[Creator/ChristopherNolan Nolanus]] [[TakeThat overratus]]" in among the real Latin.
147	** "Northwest Mansion Mystery" gives us a spell to banish ghosts that goes "Exodus demonus, spookus scarus, [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} aintafraidus noghostus]]".
148	* Spells in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' normally don't require any sort of incantation (barring some very rare exceptions). However, Luz's attempts to get Owlbert to fly in the first episode before she's been properly introduced to how magic works in the series has her shouting "Expecto... flying? Magicus... escapicus!"
149	[[/folder]]
150
151	[[folder:Real Life]]
152	* The "magic words" Hocus Pocus were generated as a parody/modification of the Latin "Hoc Est Corpus" (This Is The Body), which was used to denote the Eucharist in Christian ceremony.
153	** In Scandinavia and Russia, there is a third word for this "magical" formula. It is "filiokus" or "filipokus", and is derived from "filioque" (a theological dispute between the Orthodox and Catholic churches, involving the Holy Spirit... it's a long story).
154	* As seen elsewhere: [[Franchise/HarryPotter "Expecto patronum?"]] I thought you said "expensive petroleum!"
155	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ParodyMagicSpell