'''Basic Trope''': [[PoorCommunicationKills A miscommunication]] leads to TheChosenOne having problems fulfilling their mission.
* '''Straight''': [[BlackMagicianGirl Marcy]] is given an ancient book of magical spells that has been handed down for generations. The tome holds vast mystical powers and can easily help her defeat all her enemies. Unfortunately, the wizard who gave her the book didn't consider the fact that it was written ages ago in the ancient tongue of magic. He also succumbed to the MentorOccupationalHazard before he could help with any translations, leaving her to muddle through on her own.
* '''Exaggerated''': Marcy can only understand ''one'' spell in the book, so it [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer becomes her signature spell as she applies it in all manner of ways]].
* '''Downplayed''': Marcy has some difficulty reading the spellbook, but not much.
* '''Justified''': The writers of the book assumed that TheChosenOne would have adequate training to learn the language and spells, but [[BigBad Emperor Evulz]] offed the MentorArchetype before the training could be completed.
* '''Inverted''': Marcy got all the training and should be able to fulfill the mission ... except she's [[TheUnChosenOne not the Chosen One]]; the real Chosen One MissedTheCall.
* '''Subverted''':
** Although Marcy hasn't been able to learn the language of magic the book is written in, being TheChosenOne conveniently gives her the {{Required Secondary Power|s}} to pick it up remarkably quickly all by herself. She can understand the entire book before too long.
** While Emperor Evulz has prevented Marcy from making use of the book of spells, it turns out that the book of spells wasn't necessary to begin with. Evulz leaves, content that he's crippled any attempts to stop him when Marcy eventually stops him in some other way.
** Marcy can't understand the language the book is written in, but she can still cast the spells and figures out what they do on her own.
** The book is quad-lingually written.
* '''Double Subverted''':
** Although being TheChosenOne gives Marcy an innate ability to understand part of the language, this only takes her so far; much of the work remains illegible to her except for a few handy fragments.
** Marcy did not receive much help other than the book, and needed to figure out another way to defeat Evulz by herself, since the wizard's notes on Evulz' lineage are also in the language of magic as a result of an attempt to create a spell effective against villains.
** This process is much more arduous than simply understanding the spells in the language of magic, and Marcy is forced to venture out later on than she otherwise would to fight. This gives Evulz a few early victories that he wouldn't otherwise have.
** Marcy can't read Ancient Elf, North Orkish or West Dwarfish either.
* '''Parodied''':
** Unable to read a single letter in the spellbook, Marcy uses it as a [[ThrowTheBookAtThem blugeoning weapon]] instead. Amazingly, this ''works'' because of all the protective, anti-evil wards on it.
** TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness literally tries to call Marcy on a phone, which fails.
* '''Zig-Zagged''': Marcy's understanding of the book fluctuates -- on some days she can understand the whole thing, on others she only gets a few fragments.
* '''Averted''':
** Marcy's mentor isn't killed, and so can guide her through understanding the book of spells and her role as TheChosenOne.
** Marcy understands the book on her own.
* '''Enforced''': "This spellbook has the potential to be a real DeusExMachina, and we don't want to make things ''too'' easy for Marcy..."
* '''Lampshaded''': "Some mentor he turned out to be. He could have at least taught me the magic alphabet before getting himself killed."
* '''Invoked''': Emperor Evulz intentionally targets Marcy's mentor before he can to teach Marcy anything of use, thus putting Marcy on an immediate back-foot.
* '''Exploited''': Marcy makes sure to research the language of magic on her own so she is more powerful when she inherits the book.
* '''Defied''': Marcy's mentor has prepared for the possibility of his death by binding his soul to the book; if his body dies, his soul will live on in the book and thus will be able to continue guiding Marcy on her journey.
* '''Discussed''': [[Film/TheMummy1999 "I don't know what this last symbol is!" "What's it look like?" "A bird, flapping its wings! A stork!"]]
* '''Conversed''': "Why didn't the guy just call back when he was out of the tunnel instead of making assumptions?"
* '''Deconstructed''': Being unable to use the key weapon in her armory means that Marcy is critically hampered in her mission, and is soon killed.
* '''Reconstructed''': Being TheChosenOne means that Marcy is resourceful and capable of lateral thinking, which helps overcome the shortfalls brought by her lack of understanding of the book. In fact, many of her enemies find this makes her ''more'' dangerous; they are so used to preparing to fight TheChosenOne with full access to her book of spells that they have based all their tactics around it, and thus are completely unprepared for someone who, without being able to use the book, has had to find alternative ways of beating her enemies.
* '''Played for Laughs''': Marcy can ''almost'' read some of the spells, but not quite, and her mistranslations lead to surreal and strange effects, like turning Emperor Evulz's hair into flowers and making his dragon breathe pink bubbles instead of fire.
* '''Played for Drama''': Marcy's mistranslations cause her to miss some vital information -- mainly, the book instructs her ''not'' to perform certain tasks, but all she can understand are the steps involved, not the warning...
* '''Played for Horror''': Marcy inadvertently summons an EldritchAbomination while trying to summon the [[LightIsGood light god]].
* '''Implied''': Lawrence approaches Marcy as she pores over the spellbook and she asks him if he can understand what's even written in it.
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