Born of Magic

"Twas Gryffindor who found the way,
He whipped me off his head
The founders put some brains in me
So I could choose instead!"

— The Sorting Hat, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Lots of characters come from when mommy characters and daddy characters love each other very much. This one didn't. They exist because A Wizard Did It.

Creating Life has always been messy, so many stories have characters simply springing into existence thanks to a magical spell, a wish, or a divine Hand Wave. Whereas Pure Magic Beings and those Made of Magic are obviously created via magic, a being that's born of magic is not necessarily composed of magic following their creation.

This trope does not apply to Summon Magic or Resurrection Tropes, and is distinct from tropes where a character is created biologically, technologically, or somewhere in-between.

Related to Tulpa, which is a being created specifically by belief in them. Also see Golem and Our Homunculi Are Different. Subtrope of Creating Life. Compare to Spontaneous Generation. Often overlaps instances of I Wish It Were Real, Love Imbues Life, Pygmalion Plot, Creation Myth / Creation Story, and supernatural flavors of Mystical Pregnancy and Our Phlebotinum Child.

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Examples:

Comic Books

• Hellboy: Roger the homunculus was an inert, man-shaped mass of herbs and horsedung that had lain still for hundreds of years. Then, when Liz Sherman came close, he suddenly absorbed her pyrokinetic powers, granting him life at the expense of her own (she didn't want the powers, but it turns out they were too big a part of her, leaving her a Soulless Shell). Later he gave it back but was given the means to remain "alive".
• Scarlet Witch: Wanda married her fellow Avenger, the Vision. Despite his being a synthezoid with Barbie Doll Anatomy, she still wanted children. She wanted this badly enough, she somehow managed to pluck two shards of a recently discorporated Mephisto from the aether and give herself a Mystical Pregnancy. It did not end well for her or her thoughtsprog. But then they got better after Wanda went crazy and rebooted reality a few times, retroactively reincarnating her sons into Billy Kaplan and Tommy Shepherd, aka Wiccan and Speed.
• Wonder Woman: For most of the series' history, Wonder Woman's origin has been that her body was sculpted from clay, which Aphrodite breathed life into. This was discarded in favor of Zeus putting his dick in yet-another-thing for the New 52, in the process removing Cassie's status as one of Zeus' bastards while giving it to Diana. Wonder Woman (Rebirth) went back to the fatherless birth concept for Diana.
• Young Avengers: Wiccan (Billy Kaplan) inherited the Scarlet Witch's power set. Kid Loki tormented his boyfriend, Teddy Altman aka Hulkling, with the idea that Billy may have magic(k)ed Teddy himself into existence. As Teddy was a blond, buff, green-skinned shapeshifting alien heir and son of one of Earth's Greatest Heroes and a Skrull princess, Loki mused how unlikely his very existence was, even if he was "a very lovely daydream". Without having a way to truly determine if Wiccan had inadvertently wished Hulkling to exist and be his perfect boyfriend, Hulkling decided that it didn't matter, because he loved Wiccan either way.

Fan Works

• Child of the Storm: Merlin, as per the 2008 series canon - he had two biological parents, but there's something odd about both his conception as his relationship with magic.
• I Woke Up As a Dungeon, Now What?: The mana that dungeons release is aligned to match their minions, and very occasionally that mana will cause the spontaneous creation of a creature matching that minion type on the surface (so, for example, a dungeon with a lot of pixie minions will see the occasional pixie appear on the surface near the dungeon). Unlike dungeon minions, these spontaneous creatures are fully real once created, not tied to their parent dungeon and able to further reproduce on their own.
• J-WITCH Series: According to Uncle, beings like the Demon Sorcerers don't have parents in the normal sense, instead being formed of evil energies given flesh to maintain cosmic balance, and thus have no need for procreation. This makes him rather skeptical of Drago's claim to be Shendu's son.

Film — Animated

• Frosty the Snowman's jolly, happy soul only came into existence after a vaguely humanoid-shaped lump of ice crystals was topped with an inexplicably magical top hat. (Though it's possible the consciousness already existed inside the hat, and only needed a sufficient vessel.)
• Frozen (2013): Olaf and Marshmallow spontaneously come alive after being formed by Elsa's magic. (Evidently all she has to do is make a vaguely humanoid form and it'll develop consciousness.) In "Frozen Fever", it requires even less effort; all she has to do is sneeze and a bunch of mini-snowmen spawn.

Film — Live Action

• The Phantom Menace establishes that in Star Wars canon Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader was born from a truly single mother impregnated by the Force. (According to the non-canon Star Wars Legends novel Darth Plagueis, this was due to Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious monkeying around with midi-chlorians to try and create a Chosen One they could control... and Plagueis realising to his horror that the Force had created Anakin in response to their efforts and that he would be their doom. Unfortunately for him, this realisation came a little too late.)
• Ted: Ted was just a normal teddy bear whose owner wished for him to come to life with Seth MacFarlane's most overused character voice.

Literature

• The Adventures of Pinocchio: Pinocchio is brought to life by being a puppet made of magical wood, or by a wish upon a star, or other magical methods in nearly all incarnations.
• The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: The ur-viles and waynhim are two races (or perhaps two branches of the same race, if the distinction matters at all) of living creatures given life by the strange powers of the Demondim. The ur-viles are generally presented as creepy and sinister, while the waynhim are defectors from decadence and allies of humanity, but it should be noted both run on Blue-and-Orange Morality due to their artificial nature and are normally cordial with each other despite being on opposite sides of the good/evil divide. The ur-viles retain the knowledge of how to make more of their kind and regularly use it to create offspring who are sometimes ur-viles and sometimes waynhim (and, sometimes, stranger things); the waynhim either can't or won't do this.
• The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids: Madame Tarsa's Living Toys are created through her magic — specifically, through "the Power of Creation" that she possesses, making them truly alive rather than simply objects with enchantments on them. This is apparently a very rare and powerful ability, which Sebastian Steer covets; he tries and fails to replicate Tarsa's technique to give life to a toy clown, and ends up sacrificing part of his own soul for the process.

• Discworld: Golems are humanoids made of clay, who are given life by means of a chem, a magical script, inserted into the head. At the time of Feet of Clay, the secret of making new ones is almost lost, known only to a dwindling band of priests of an obscure, dying, religion. But suddenly a new one arises. with an improperly written chem...
• Harry Potter: The most obvious example of magically-generated consciousness is the Hogwarts Sorting Hat, after "the founders put some brains in [him]" via unspecified magic.

• The Indian in the Cupboard was originally a lifeless plastic child's toy, until Omri put him in an old curio cabinet. The figure emerged as live human Indian Little Bear, though still only four inches tall. This also happened to some of Omri's other toys, but he undid the magic when they began clashing with one another. Little Bear even admonishes Omri, "You should not do magic you do not understand!" This is also how the cowboy figure Boone came to life. Adapted into a feature film by Columbia Pictures in 1995.
• Night Watch (Series): "Mirrors" are human-like beings who are spawned into existence by the Twilight itself to kill or to De-power mages who threaten to upset the Light-Dark balance, after which they return back to the Twilight. After one Mirror successfully neutralizes Svetlana in Day Watch, the main characters live in constant fear of another appearing, lest they fail to preserve the power balance.
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Annabeth Chase, and all other children of Athena, are this, which explains why she exists despite the fact that her mom made a Vow of Celibacy. In The Battle of the Labyrinth, she tells Percy that her mother created her as a "gift" to her father.
• Skate the Thief: Rattle, a bat eyeball spider, was created by Belamy more or less on accident through magical experimentation. The wizard meant to create a being of living magic, but Rattle is what came out of his efforts.
  Petre: I know what [Belamy] was trying to do when he made Rattle, and it wasn't... that.

Live-Action TV

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy's sister Dawn is revealed to actually be a mystical being of living energy called the Key. She and everyone around her were given retroactive memories of her to hide her true nature. She is later transformed into a normal, organic, teenage girl.
• Merlin (2008): While he does have two biological parents, Merlin has elements of this from the start, being born with magical powers. The vast majority of other sorcerers have to study magic — though Merlin isn't entirely unique, as Morgana is also born with magic. ^note  Given that Merlin's powers are directly stated to be related to his importance in restoring balance and magic to Albion, Morgana's own abilities could relate to her own destiny. On more than one occasion Merlin's noted and demonstrated to be not entirely human (he's immortal, for a start), and the timing of his birth suggests that even if he had two parents, magic meddled in his conception.

Mythology and Folklore

• Some pre-Christian versions of Merlin's birth never explain how he came to be, his mother was suddenly pregnant despite having turned down every advance made to her. When the angry menfolk demanded to know who the father was, Merlin shut them up by demonstrating his magic power. Christian versions make him the son of a demon and a virgin.
• Often Golems and Improvised Golems are made this way, as are Our Homunculi Are Different. A non-living vessel is magically imbued with life and consciousness. Depictions vary whether the the golum/homunculi require magic to continue functioning after being made.

Theme Parks

• In the original version of Journey into Imagination, it's suggested that Figment was created via Dreamfinder bringing his own imagination to life, as he's able to summon the dragon in by doing the same.
  Dreamfinder: Two tiny wings, eyes big and yellow, horns of a steer, but a lovable fellow! From head to tail, he's royal purple pigment, and there, voilà! You've got a Figment!

Video Games

• The Elder Scrolls: According to official Imperial history, Reman Cyrodiil, the Dragonborn founder of the Second Cyrodiilic Empire, was born of the union of the spirit of Saint Alessia (the founder of the First Cyrodiilic Empire, in the form of the earth itself), Akatosh (the draconic chief deity of the Eight (later Nine) Divines pantheon), and the petty King Hrol (who died as a result). Reman was found born atop a mound of mud the size of a small mountain near Sancre Tor (a fortress/tomb resting place for deceased emperors) with the Amulet of Kings, long since lost, in hand. (There is evidence, however, that his "divine" origins were fabricated in order to legitimize his rule.) The truth is likely lost to history (as well as buried under Imperial propaganda).
• League of Legends: Galio was originally created as a colossal, gargoyle-shaped bulwark designed to protect Demacia from invaders by eating their magic, but this caused the unexpected side effect of him coming to life to save the day himself. However, he returns to being dormant for decades, possibly centuries, only waking up again when great magic stirs nearby, where he's then more than happy to experience life and smash baddies.
  Galio: They made me to stop magic, and yet I hate when it's gone.
• Undertale: Monsters are described as having bodies mostly made of magic, as opposed to humans', which are mostly made of water. Descriptions of how monsters have children is not explicitly explained, but it is implied that the process is more magical than biological.

Webcomics

• El Goonish Shive: Ellen was created by Elliot, who had been turned into a girl at that point, touching a giant enchanted diamond designed to remove any curse or magical effect cast onto someone — literally, as in by extracting the curse in physical form. In this case, the effect of the gender-changing spell was externalized in the form of a female doppelgänger of Elliot.
• Magick Chicks: Discussed during chapter 17, when Mel's parents finally tell her about the circumstances that lead to her birth. They had several theories, including the possibility that Mel may have been created by the same force that fused her mothers together, since they separated again once Mel's umbilical cord was cut.

Web Original

• Aventures: The ogres are creatures born from the nightmares of children.
  Fred: Moral of the story: to get rid of ogres you have to kill all the children.
• Hello, from the Magic Tavern: Usidore the Blue came into the world fully formed as an adult. He was born of wind, fire, earth, and birds (and lightning and some frogs).
• Mahu: In "Frozen Flame" there are several creatures born of magic, or at the very least created by magic users.
• SCP Foundation: One of the effects observed to be caused by SCP-1987-J is that it can make people and creatures exist, apparently permanently, as most changes don't reverse when play ends. If no females (who could be turned into eighteen-year-olds, with a 68% chance of their clothing turning into G-string bikinis, lingerie or leather fetish gear) are present during testing, several may come into existence. Dragons, dinosaurs and female angels, along with other album cover cliches, also come to exist. Spontaneous pregnancies have also occurred, even in males.

Western Animation

• Adventure Time: It's arguable how much magic vs. science is used in the creation of all the Candy Kingdom residents, especially when Chemistry Can Do Anything, but they are all largely described as beings of magic. However, it's later revealed that Princess Bubblegum created the candy people through scientific means, but she herself is the reincarnation of a Candy Elemental which makes her a magical being.
• The Fairly OddParents!: Many wishes granted by the Odd Godparents result in a character being magically generated.
  • The Crimson Chin was wished into reality from his comic book by Timmy after he was disappointed by poor cosplay.
  • Timmy's imaginary friend Gary was wished into existence, only for him to become Timmy's sworn enemy. After escaping Timmy's mind a second time, Gary rallied the other sentient beings Timmy had wished up, and then wished away—which turned out to mean being sent to a place called "Unwish Island". Somehow, their continued living was portrayed as a Fate Worse than Death, as opposed to being magically poofed out of existence.
• Gargoyles: All of the explicitly magical beings in the world and throughout history that the main cast encounter are revealed to be "Children of Oberon". It's not made clear if they were created through Oberon's magic, or unspecified fey reproduction. Word of God confirms that the title is metaphorical, with the race taking the name of their current monarch (they used to be called the Children of Mab), but how they reproduce their own kind isn't specified.
• The Smurfs (1981): Smurfette was created by the evil wizard Gargamel as the first female Smurf to infiltrate their village. Later on in the show, Sassette was also created, in the same manner as Smurfette (but by the Smurflings and with a lesser amount of clay this time around).

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