Do We Have This One??
Joe-Shmoe mathematician unexpectedly gets
whisked to a magical universe then suddenly given the task of
Saving the World. Luckily, the magic there has to do with numbers and everything he already knew from his old mundane job is useful and relevant, to the point that he's practically an
Instant Expert! How convenient!
Basically this trope is when mundane skills are transferable to being proficient at something not so mundane. The skills don't necessarily have to do with the character's former job, and may actually be more like skills developed from hobbies or interests. And while the new 'job' is often magical, it doesn't necessarily have to be, just significantly different and exotic by comparison in-universe. This is often a way to explain why a particular
Naïve Newcomer to a world or job becomes so badass so quickly.
Related to
Genre Savvy, as characters with knowledge of media, when finding themselves in situations similar to the media they know, often are able to dodge many of the problems their less savvy counterparts get into, precisely because they have this knowledge.
Compare
Boxing Lessons for Superman, when an already badass, super-powered character with an exotic job description learns more mundane skills to be even better, and
Wax On, Wax Off, when mundane activities or chores are used as a training means. Contrast
Mundane Utility and
Martial Arts and Crafts, when exotic job skills are used to do very mundane things.
Examples:
Anime & Manga
- Rock from Black Lagoon finds that a lot of his skills developed from being a pencil-pushing corporate desk-jockey help him navigate the gritty underworld politics in his new job as an illegal courier (*cough* pirate) to the criminal underworld of Roanapur.
- Huey in Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian used to be a military pilot. His battle skills have saved his life more than once since inheriting the key to the Mystic Archive. Dalian was actually pretty impressed. His knowledge of literature has also helped him since his job is basically finding magic books and locking them away so they can't be misused.
- Suou in the second season of Darker than Black was really good at photography and as a result is a natural sniper.
Comics
- In the Marvel Comics series U.S. 1, aliens recruit long haul truck drivers as starship because their experience with the open road is similar to space.
Fan Fiction
Film
- The hero of The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a science student and upon being taught wizardry is able to accomplish a lot due to his knowledge of how science works.
- In The Librarian, the main character uses all the knowledge he's gained from being a full-time student-for-life and obtaining basically every degree known to man to aid him in finding dangerous treasure and locking it in The Library. In fact his ridiculous knowledge pool is why he's recruited in the first place.
Literature
- Wiz Zumwalt in Rick Cook's Wiz Biz books. A UNIX programmer finds himself in a fantasy universe and figures out to use a few very basic spells to assemble a magical programming language.
- Inversion - Moist from the Discworld books is so successful at running the post office and later the bank because of skills he aquired during his earlier career as an international con artist.
- In the backstory to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz the wizard uses his knowledge of simple stage magic and slight-of-hand to become the ruler of the country.
- The Heroine of L. E. Modesitt Jr's The Soprano Sorceress is an opera singer, who gets transported to a world where magic is musical in nature.
- Prelaw student Jonathan Thomas Meriweather has a spattering of skills and knowledge in politics, human relations and debating. He's also an amateur rock guitarist, which helps when he finds out that he's a Spellsinger (a wizard that can only cast magic through music).
Live-Action TV
- Donna Noble got an impressive amount of use from her prior office temp experience when she traveled with the Doctor.
- In the campy Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, when an old and powerful vampire asks what she can bring to the fight that other Slayers he bested could not, she proceeds to improvise a flamethrower out of a nearby torch and her hairspray, quipping, "My impeccable fashion sense."
- When House went to cooking class he discovered that cooking is a lot like medicine.
Western Animation
- Kim Possible goes both ways with it--she incorporates cheerleader acrobatics into her repertoire as a teenage super-spy, but it's also clear she excels at being a cheerleader because she already knew several styles of kung-fu before joining the squad.
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