History Main / FantasticScience

* The early modern scientist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus Paracelsus]] classified supernatural creatures based upon their primary element: Gnomes-Earth, Undines-Water, Sylphs-Air, Salamanders-Fire. He was also a pioneer in the study of medicine, geology and chemistry. Until the 1700s and sometimes even later, this was common. The famed astronomer Johannes Kepler, for instance, was also an astrologer, since astronomy had not been divorced from astrology when he wrote (that only happened later). Isaac Newton believed in alchemy and astrology, which in his time were no longer viewed as sciences, with him being ridiculed for it. Into the mid 1800s, many geologists believed in a literal [[GreatFlood global flood]] based on Literature/TheBible (plus creationism). Only with increasing geological evidence that showed it didn't happen or was an exaggerated retelling of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_deluge_hypothesis the Black Sea deluge]], along with the theory of evolution were they abandoned (at least, they have by most scientists- a creationist fringe still exists). The so-called creation science and current intelligent design movements are considered pseudoscience at best by the scientific community, but if true would be this. There is also in the modern day cryptozoology (the supposed study of "cryptids", hidden creatures like {{Bigfoot}} or the [[StockNessMonster Loch Ness Monster]]), parapsychology (the study of alleged {{psychic powers}}), and ufology (the study of [=UFOs=], usually positing they are [[TheGreys extraterrestrial or interdimensional vehicles]]). All these would qualify if they did/do have any merit, though the scientific community doesn't accept any of them. However, ufology has a more legitimate counterpart in astrobiology[[note]]not to be confused with xenobiology, the study of ''synthetic'' life[[/note]], the study of the potential for extraterrestrial life which focuses on the things we ''can'' observe like organic compounds in space and planetary habitability. Several animals known to us today like the giant squid were once considered cryptids (a century ago), but because cryptozoology has to rely on anecdotal information in place of the scientific method it's not considered a real science (in addition to evolutionary biology, the fossil record, and satellite imaging reducing its merit even further).

SubTrope of FictionalFieldOfScience. SuperTrope to SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic, i.e., studying magic specifically in a scientific manner. Will work ''much'' better if MagicAIsMagicA, but doesn't neccesarily depend on that. If an OccultDetective decides to also catalogue whatever it is they detect, they may also be researchers of a Fantastic Science. See also MagicVersusScience, AdmiringTheAbomination. Compare TheSparkOfGenius. If the magical science has practical implications, it may graduate into {{Magitek}}. Compare also AllAccessibleMagic, where magic is presented as a skill that whose main entry barrier is simply study and practice.

Possible Fantastic Scientists include a botanist who studies mandragora, a biologist cataloguing griffins, or an epi''demon''ologist who studies outbreaks of infectious DemonicPossession to find a cure. Likewise, you can expect their field of study to have a [[{{Whatevermancy}} strange made up name]], like [[Literature/HarryPotter Herbology]] or Impology. All the same, they will go about studying these curious classes as if they were real... because in the setting, ''they are!''

SubTrope of FictionalFieldOfScience. SuperTrope to SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic, i.e., studying magic specifically in a scientific manner. Will work ''much'' better if MagicAIsMagicA, but doesn't neccesarily depend on that. If an OccultDetective decides to also catalogue whatever it is they detect, they may also be researchers of a Fantastic Science. See also MagicVersusScience, AdmiringTheAbomination. Compare TheSparkOfGenius. If the magical science has practical implications, it may graduate into {{Magitek}}.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has various professors. [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Professor Oak]] studies Pokémon-human behavior and interactions, [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Elm]] does Pokémon breeding, [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Birch]] studies Pokémon ecology, [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Rowan]] studies Pokémon evolution, [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Juniper]] studies Pokémon origins (i.e. evolution in the speciation sense as opposed to Pokémon metamorphosis), [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Sycamore]] studies [[SuperMode Mega Evolution]], [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Kukui]] studies Pokémon moves (including Z-moves), and [[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Magnolia]] studies the Dynamax phenomenon.

Possible Fantastic Scientists include a botanist who studies mandragora, a biologist cataloguing griffins, or an epi''demon''ologist who studies outbreaks of infectious DemonicPossession to find a cure. Likewise, you can expect their field of study to have a [[{{Whatevermancy}} strange made up name]], like [[Franchise/HarryPotter Herbology]] or Impology. All the same, they will go about studying these curious classes as if they were real... because in the setting, ''they are!''

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'', “monsters” are a class of life distinguished from regular plants and animals by the high concentration of mana in their flesh, which affects their biology and behavior. Exposition about the various monsters the party encounters is often conveyed through [[NightmareFetishist amateur monster enthusiast]] Laius Thorden. At one point he offhandedly mentions that the amount of literature on walking mushrooms is comparable to the amount of literature on dragons, one of the best-studied monsters.
* In ''Anime/{{Endride}}'', although the world of Endora is magic to us, with things like [[SpontaneousWeaponCreation innate magical swords]] you can [[SummonToHand summon]], a [[PowerCrystal crystal]] that hangs in a sky and functions as a sun, and a magical ancient transporting device that moves you between the [[HollowWorld inside]] and the surface of Earth, to the multiple [[OmnidisciplinaryScientist Omnidisciplinary Scientists]] in the series, it's totally scientific, they just need to research more. They're working on it!

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has Cognitive Psience, an offshoot of normal cognitive science focusing on study of the MentalWorld. The Kirijo Group in ''VideoGame/Persona3'' conducted similar research studying [[ShadowArchetype Shadows]], and invented the [[MagiTek Evokers as a method to artificially draw out one's]] [[FightingSpirit Persona]].

* In the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games, Prof. E. Gadd is usually an OmnidisciplinaryScientist. However, in [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion his debut]] and [[VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon its sequel]], his job is studying [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts of many different varieties]].

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}'' gives us powerfologists. See BishonenLine for more.

* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': Golden Order Fundamentalism is equal parts a religious and scientific practice, focusing on understanding what are essentially laws of physics created by the Elden Ring. Their prayerbook, the Golden Order Principia, is described as a "dense and complex academic treatise" and their incantations tend to require either equally high Faith and Intelligence in order to cast.

** Some of the Classes at Hogwarts operate this way, like herbology. It's basically just botany, but with magical plants. They seem never to study any non-magical skills. This is lampshaded by Hermione in the very first book, when she and Harry are confronted with Snape's obstacle, which is simply a logic puzzle requiring no magical skills to defeat. She comments that an ordinary wizard might have had serious problems solving it, because they "[[UselessWithoutPowers don't have an ounce of logic]]".
** Luna Lovegood says her mother regularly engaged in magical experiments, one of which "went rather badly wrong one day" when Luna was a child, and killed her. (She mentions this in the context of explaining why she can see thestrals, implying the incident happened in front of young Luna.)

* The Price family of cryptozoologists in ''Literature/InCryptid'', especially Alex. His grandfather Thomas Price was also a sorcerer, who wrote down his research on magic (though much of it has not survived).

* The ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting's various sourcebooks on monsters, the ''Van Richten's Guides'', are [[DirectLineToTheAuthor presented as the work]] of scientifically-minded researchers of the supernatural.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' has parabiologists and parazoologists, who study Awakened (magical) plants and animals, respectively. There are also academics who study the theory of magic but can't actually do magic themselves.

* Tedd of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' seems to be heading in this [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1296 direction.]]
* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', the eponymous Court studies the extranormal from time to time, using the term "Etheric Sciences" to describe their studies of magic, which they call "ether." They do this because they believe everything can be explained, so "magic" is a misnomer to them. Kat Donlan discovered that the [[LivingShadow Shadow Men]] actually have mass, and the Suttons are botanists/gardeners who restore magically-animated trees to their original state.

Humans are naturally curious, and even when ScienceIsWrong we want to know ''why''. In a fantasy setting, these curious people will found whole new academic fields and professions around studying the strange and fantastic flora, fauna and phenomena that exist in it. Just like some schools of [[HermeticMagic Hermetic]] and VancianMagic will create RitualMagic by [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic analyzing occultism with scientific rigor]], these professionals (not necessarily wizards, though that does help the survival rate) will go about cataloguing, studying and [[ForScience (hopefully humanely)]] experimenting with peculiar phyla in a very empirical way.

A MagicPoweredPseudoscience is more likely to be "alchemy works because of magic" and modeled on that pseudoscience than an attempt by in-universe characters to model the magic as the regular science that this is. It should be noted that alchemy does not fall under this trope due to the fact that [[ChemistryCanDoAnything it is technically real.]]

SubTrope of FictionalFieldOfScience. SuperTrope to SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic, i.e. studying magic specifically in a scientific manner. Will work ''much'' better if MagicAIsMagicA, but doesn't neccesarily depend on that. If an OccultDetective decides to also catalogue whatever it is they detect, they may also be researchers of a Fantastic Science. See also MagicVersusScience, AdmiringTheAbomination. Compare TheSparkOfGenius. If the magical science has practical implications, it may graduate into MagiTek.

* ''Skybound Entertainment'''s comic ''ComicBook/WitchDoctor'' portrays the realm of supernatural creatures as parasites that are best battled by medical specialists rather then soldiers. The first issue of the mini-series treated a Demonic Possession as being similar to a parasitic infection, with the young victim, after being purged, having to remain inside his family home surrounded by protective runes until the main characters could find a more permanent cure for his condition.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':

* In the ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' rewrite ''WebVideo/FixingRWBY'', there are fields of science dedicated to studying Grimm and their biology.
* The ''Videogame/{{Undertale}}'' fanfic {{Fanfic/Visiontale}}, [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/8779618/chapters/20125687 posted on Archive of Our Own]], has several. Among them are soulology, the study of the colors of magic and how someone develops the color or colors they do, magitry, the magical equivalent of the T and E in STEM, and translationism, a school of thought which applies human concepts, like ethics or theology, to monsters.

* Newt Scamander in ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'' is a magizoologist, and indeed wrote the book on magical creatures.
* In ''Film/Ghostbusters1984,'' two of the three original team members, Ray and Egon, are legitimate paranormal researchers that channel their knowledge into the business of "paranormal investigations and eliminations." It's not clear what Peter contributes to the research, if anything, though he's stated to have a [=PhD=] in parapsychology, and he was the one that came up with the idea of making it into a business after the guys got kicked out of Columbia University. WordOfGod is that Egon and Ray are legitimate practitioners of their field (albeit Egon is far better at it) while Peter didn't believe in the supernatural until he was confronted with it.

* In the sequel series "The Mallorean" of David Eddings's ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', the Melcene University has schools devoted to alchemy, necromancy, etc.

** Ponder Stibbons and his fellows at the High Energy Magic Building of the Unseen University concoct theories of how magic interacts with quantum mechanics, and divide magical force into ever-smaller fundamental particles. The more senior wizards assume [[spoiler: incorrectly]] that the keen lads will grow out of it.

** Waldo Butters is great at this. Originally a pure {{muggle}}, when he gets into the spooky side of things he becomes a really proficient magical theorist by applying the scientific ideas he already knew. He still doesn’t have an ounce of inherent magical ability, but he was able to devise some handy {{Magitek}} by working with Bob.
* Telemain of the ''Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles'' is a magician who studies the technical side of magic and has a habit of talking in incomprehensible MagiBabble, much to the chagrin of the other characters. (Though Morwen, who has hung around with Telemain a long time, learns to translate him into BuffySpeak .)

* ''Literature/ImpracticalMagic'': Istima is a MagicSchool that has courts teaching and studying the various approaches to magic. This includes studies of magical resonance, magic reserve recovery, energy calculations, and various other aspects of applied magic.

* Theoretical magicians in ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'' study magic but don't ever practice it.

** The study of mana mutation is undertaken by the International Community Dedicated to Mana Mutation ([=ICDMM=]). Their mission statement is to figure out exactly how it works and then develop technology to treat and/or prevent it.
** Lady Sias studies Mt. Daici and how Ceiha's unique climate (constant [[{{mana}} Fog clouds]] in a magicless continent) affects its geology.
* One of the world's top magical theoreticians in the ''Literature/LordDarcy'' Verse is utterly devoid of magical talent; he's just ''very'' good at conceptualizing the principles ''behind'' magic.
* ''Literature/LoyalEnemies'' has HermeticMagic, justifying the trope. Theoretical magic requires many hours, if not days or years, of meticulous planning and calculations, much like real-life engineering, and the wizard academy of Beloria works much like a real life university. Theoretical magic is studied like maths or biology and students must write a thesis to gain a degree -- for example, Veres' Baccalaureate paper is on the magical origins of [[OurMonstersAreDifferent darklings]].
* ''Literature/TheMachineriesOfEmpire'' has an entire area of mathematics dedicated to calendar and harnessing its RealityWarping powers.
* ''Literature/AMemoirByLadyTrent'' is written from a perspective of a dragon naturalist, and chronicles the early days of dragon naturalism - what we'd today call "dragonology" - as a scientific discipline.

* There's the ''Literature/OlogySeries'' of pseudo-scientifical books about various topics, including books like [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragonology]], Wizardology or [[VampireTropes Vampireology]].

* In ''{{Literature/Vampirocracy}}'', Leon and Ling took college courses in [[OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious cryptozoology]], [[OurMonstersAreWeird mythozoology and thaumobiology]], and [[MagicAIsMagicA thaumodynamics]].

* Helen Magnus in ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' studies unknown animals, aliens, and monsters.

* ''Series/{{Star Trek Discovery}}'': The protagonist, Michael Burnham, is a xenoanthropologist, specialized in [[FirstContact First contacts]].

* Similarly, ''Pinball/BoneBusters'' features a team of [[{{Expy}} suspiciously familiar]] [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} supernatural-stopping heroes]] fighting a horde of [[DemBones animated skeletons]] with energy rods firing glowing electric beams.

* In ''TabletopGame/CthulhuTech'', sorcery is something you can learn in college. You might not actually ''[[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity want]]'' [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity to]] though ...
* Artificers from the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' setting ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' are described this way.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' had parabiologists and parazoologists. They studied Awakened (magical) plants and animals, respectively. It also had academics who studied the theory of magic but couldn't actually do magic themselves.

* In ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'', the Tolkienesque world is undergoing an industrial revolution which has given rise to a very scientifically minded academia. There are many in-universe scientific texts on such matters as [[MagicVersusScience The Nature of Magick and Technology]] or Supernatural Selection which explores, among other things, the genetic ancestry of elves and orcs and how it relates to humans.

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' there is the field of "Entroponetics", the study of "the pale", the strange patches of anti-reality that covers most of the known world and separates its continents. Scientists of the field study the pale's disruptive effects on probability, consciousness, and reality in general, and its strange connection to sound and radiowaves. As the pale covers most of the known world and is slowly encroaching on the remaining patches of land and sea, its study is a matter of some moderate urgency -- slow though it is, at its current rate of growth it will eventually cover everything, even if it takes centuries.

* ''Literature/ImpracticalMagic'': Istima is a MagicSchool that has courts teaching and studying the various approaches to magic. This includes studies of magical resonance, magic reserve recovery, energy calculations, and various other aspects of applied magic.
* Website/DeviantArt user Joschua Knüppe has started the project [[http://hyrotrioskjan.deviantart.com/gallery/26946429/Dragons-of-the-world Dragons of the world]], in which he explains various species of dragons (including their abilitys to fly and "breathe fire") in a scientifically plausible way.
* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': It has professions such as [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/excerpts-from-training-seminars-for-lesser-known-foundation architectural zoologist]] (specialist in living buildings, not possessed by ghosts or something similar, but really alive, that eat and excrete) and practical demonologists, among others.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'', the lost tech of the [[{{Precursors}} Eliatropes]] is described as "magical science". Nox, the BigBad of season 1, is also such a fantastic scientist, studying the principles behind [[LifeEnergy the wakfu]] and time magic to attempt TimeTravel. Even before finding the [[AmplifierArtifact Eliacube]], as a humble clockmaker he was able to built a flying pocket watch -- which just lacked a durable power source.

* The early modern scientist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus Paracelsus]] classified supernatural creatures based upon their primary element: Gnomes-Earth, Undines-Water, Sylphs-Air, Salamanders-Fire. He was also a pioneer in the study of medicine, geology and chemistry. Until the 1700s and sometimes even later, this was common. The famed astronomer Johannes Kepler, for instance, was also an astrologer, since astronomy had not been divorced from astrology when he wrote (that only happened later). Isaac Newton believed in alchemy and astrology, which in his time were no longer viewed as sciences, with him being ridiculed for it. Into the mid 1800s, many geologists believed in a literal [[GreatFlood global flood]] based on Literature/TheBible (plus creationism). Only with increasing geological evidence that showed it didn't happen or was an exaggerated retelling of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_deluge_hypothesis the Black Sea deluge]], along with the theory of evolution were they abandoned (at least, they have by most scientists-a creationist fringe still exists). The so-called creation science and current intelligent design movements are considered pseudoscience at best by the scientific community, but if true would be this. There is also in the modern day cryptozoology (the supposed study of "cryptids", hidden creatures like {{Bigfoot}} or the [[StockNessMonster Loch Ness Monster]]), parapsychology (the study of alleged {{psychic powers}}), and ufology (the study of [=UFOs=], usually positing they are [[TheGreys extraterrestrial or interdimensional vehicles]]). All these would qualify if they did/do have any merit, though the scientific community doesn't accept any of them. However, ufology has a more legitimate counterpart in astrobiology[[note]]not to be confused with xenobiology, the study of ''synthetic'' life[[/note]], the study of the potential for extraterrestrial life which focuses on the things we ''can'' observe like organic compounds in space and planetary habitability. Several animals known to us today like the giant squid were once considered cryptids (a century ago), but because cryptozoology has to rely on anecdotal information in place of the scientific method it's not considered a real science (in addition to evolutionary biology, the fossil record, and satellite imaging reducing its merit even further).

SubTrope of FictionalFieldOfScience. Will work ''much'' better if MagicAIsMagicA, but doesn't neccesarily depend on that. If an OccultDetective decides to also catalogue whatever it is they detect, they may also be researchers of a Fantastic Science. Research into magic ''itself'' is the subtrope SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic. See also MagicVersusScience, AdmiringTheAbomination. Compare TheSparkOfGenius. If the magical science has practical implications, it may graduate into MagiTek.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Franchise/TheDCU'':
** ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':
*** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': The Amazons have an entire one of their outer islands dedicated to the sciences where they study normal things like medicine as well as time travel, dimensional travel, immortality, and mythological creatures.
*** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'' enemy [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Doctor]] [[MadScientist Poison]] calls herself a "Mythobiologist". She studies the biology of mythological beings and [[BodyHorror their effects]] on more mundane life.
* ''Skybound Entertainment'''s comic ''ComicBook/WitchDoctor'' portrays the realm of supernatural creatures as parasites that are best battled by medical specialists rather then soldiers. The first issue of the mini-series treated a Demonic Possession as being similar to a parasitic infection, with the young victim, after being purged, having to remain inside his family home surrounded by protective runes until the main characters could find a more permanent cure for his condition.

* Helen Magnus in ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}''.

** Those would be the studies of unknown animals, of aliens and of monsters.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' uses the term 'savant' to denote anyone who has a scientific understanding of the fantastic forces at work in and beyond Creation, as opposed to people who are just operating on superstition and folklore. Also, anyone who works extensively with {{Magitek}} is called a sorcerer-engineer.
** And it also uses the term "motonic" for a major field of high-tier scientific study, related to the way that everything in its world is composed of motes of Essence.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'', thaumatology is "the academic study of magical theory". Occultism has specialties like vampirology and pneumatology for more specific areas of study.

* The early modern scientist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus Paracelsus]] classified supernatural creatures based upon their primary element: Gnomes-Earth, Undines-Water, Sylphs-Air, Salamanders-Fire. He was also a pioneer in the study of medicine, geology and chemistry. Until the 1700s and sometimes even later, this was common. The famed astronomer Johannes Kepler, for instance, was also an astrologer, since astronomy had not been divorced from astrology when he wrote (that only happened later). Isaac Newton believed in alchemy and astrology, which in his time were no longer viewed as sciences, with him being ridiculed for it. Into the mid 1800s, many geologists believed in a literal [[GreatFlood global flood]] based on Literature/TheBible (plus creationism). Only with increasing geological evidence that showed it didn't happen or was an exaggerated retelling of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_deluge_hypothesis the Black Sea deluge]], along with the theory of evolution were they abandoned (at least, they have by most scientists-a creationist fringe still exists). The so-called creation science and current intelligent design movements are considered pseudoscience at best by the scientific community, but if true would be this. There is also in the modern day cryptozoology (the supposed study of "cryptids", hidden creatures like {{Bigfoot}} or the [[StockNessMonster Loch Ness Monster]]), parapsychology (the study of alleged {{psychic powers}}), and ufology (the study of [=UFOs=], usually positing they are [[TheGreys extraterrestrial or interdimensional vehicles]]). All these would qualify if they did/do have any merit, though the scientific community doesn't accept any of them.
** However, ufology has a more legitimate counterpart in astrobiology[[note]]not to be confused with xenobiology, the study of ''synthetic'' life[[/note]], the study of the potential for extraterrestrial life which focuses on the things we ''can'' observe like organic compounds in space and planetary habitability. Several animals known to us today like the giant squid were once considered cryptids (a century ago), but because cryptozoology has to rely on anecdotal information in place of the scientific method it's not considered a real science (in addition to evolutionary biology, the fossil record, and satellite imaging reducing its merit even further).

* The early modern scientist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus Paracelsus]] classified supernatural creatures based upon their primary element: Gnomes-Earth, Undines-Water, Sylphs-Air, Salamanders-Fire. He was also a pioneer in the study of medicine, geology and chemistry. Until the 1700s and sometimes even later, this was common. The famed astronomer Johannes Kepler, for instance, was also an astrologer, since astronomy had not been divorced from astrology when he wrote (that only happened later). Isaac Newton believed in alchemy and astrology, which in his time were no longer viewed as sciences, with him being ridiculed for it. Into the mid 1800s, many geologists believed in a literal [[GreatFlood global flood]] based on Literature/TheBible (plus creationism). Only with increasing geological evidence that showed it didn't happen, along with the theory of evolution were they abandoned (at least, they have by most scientists-a creationist fringe still exists). The so-called creation science and current intelligent design movements are considered pseudoscience at best by the scientific community, but if true would be this. There is also in the modern day cryptozoology (the supposed study of "cryptids", hidden creatures like Bigfoot of the Loch Ness Monster), parapscyhology (the study of alleged {{psychic powers}}), and Ufology (the study of [=UFOs=], usually positing they are extratterestrial or interdimensional vehicles). All these would qualify if they did/do have any merit, though the scientific community doesn't accept any of them.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': It has professions such as [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/excerpts-from-training-seminars-for-lesser-known-foundation architectural zoologist]] (specialist in living buildings, not possessed by ghosts or something similar, but really alive, that eat and excrete) and practical demonologists, among others.

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' has [=NPCs=] in the game researching the various fantastic monsters your hunter will find him or herself hunting. You'll even get a few quests to hunt or capture monsters for research.
* The various megafauna in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' is the subject of much academic investigation. Many of the quests a hunter undertakes will be to bring in samples or even live specimens for the Guild eggheads to analyze. This is even reflected by the materials you get from monsters; hunt something that breathes fire, and you might just carve out an internal organ that holds the flammable powder that fuels the attack. Even creatures and attacks that don't make any sense are acknowledged as an enigma InUniverse, and trying to understand the Dragon element is an ongoing puzzle.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Literature/ImpracticalMagic'': Istima is a MagicSchool that has courts teaching and studying the various approaches to magic. This includes studies of magical resonance, magic reserve recovery, energy calculations, and various other aspects of applied magic. * Website/DeviantArt user Joschua Knüppe has started the project [[http://hyrotrioskjan.deviantart.com/gallery/26946429/Dragons-of-the-world Dragons of the world]] in which he explains various species of dragons (including their abilitys to fly and "breathe fire") in a scientifically plausible way.

* Common in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series. SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic is in full effect, with numerous {{Wizarding School}}s and [[MagicalSociety Magical Societies]] found throughout the setting dedicated to the study of magic. Magic is further broken down into "schools" of magic ([[ElementalPowers Destruction]], [[AlchemyIsMagic Alchemy]], [[SummonMagic Conjuration]], etc.), where mages can either specialize or become {{Omnidisciplinary Scientist}}s. These magical institutions also tend to double as a home for scholars of history and archeology, with many {{Adventure Archaeologist}}s found in their ranks.

[[folder:Anime]]

[[folder:Comics]]

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':
** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': The Amazons have an entire one of their outer islands dedicated to the sciences where they study normal things like medicine as well as time travel, dimensional travel, immortality, and mythological creatures.
** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'' enemy [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Doctor]] [[MadScientist Poison]] calls herself a "Mythobiologist". She studies the biology of mythological beings and [[BodyHorror their effects]] on more mundane life.

* Similarly, in ''TabletopGame/EldritchSkies'' [[{{Magitek}} techno-sorcery]] is something that is commonly known to exist and in common (albeit heavily regulated) use. There is also a discipline called "hyperspatial sorcery" which uses mathematics to cast spells without the need for quite so much chanting and human sacrifices.

* ''TabletopGame/MutantCityBlues"'' is set in a world where people with superpowers is a rising minority and, after scientific analysis has discovered the intricacies of how MagicAIsMagicA (including facts such as PowerAtAPrice, ElementalBaggage, how NeurodiversityIsSupernatural as a potential side-effect of certain powers, and so on), the result is that forensic science has evolved and is now possible to perform such things as "gunshot residue" testing for HandBlast powers, determining if PsychicAssistedSuicide has happened via X-raying the victim's brain, and so on. The setting is best described as ''Series/{{CSI}}'' meets ''Series/{{Heroes}}''.

* In David Eddings's [[Literature/TheBelgariad Mallorean]] series, the Melcene University has schools devoted to alchemy, necromancy, etc.
* ''Literature/TheNameOfTheWind'' has this as the setting, in the form of The University. There are various grades of magic, starting with almost-science and ranging all the way to god-mode. To make things more exciting, they're all intermixed. It turns out that chemistry and metalsmithing are ''much'' more exciting when you can break the laws of physics.
* There's the OlogySeries of pseudo-scientifical books about various topics, including books like [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragonology]], Wizardology or [[VampireTropes Vampireology]].
* In ''{{Literature/Vampirocracy}}'', Leon and Ling took college courses in [[OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious cryptozoology]], [[OurMonstersAreWeird mythozoology and thaumobiology]], and [[MagicAIsMagicA thaumodynamics]].
* ''Literature/AMemoirByLadyTrent'' is written from a perspective of a dragon naturalist, and chronicles the early days of dragon naturalism - what we'd today call "dragonology" - as a scientific discipline.

* In ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'', “monsters” are a class of life distinguished from regular plants and animals by the high concentration of mana in their flesh, which affects their biology and behavior. Exposition about the various monsters the party encounters is often conveyed through [[NightmareFetishist amateur monster enthusiast]] Laius Thorden. At one point he offhandedly mentions that the amount of literature on walking mushrooms is comparable to the amount of literature on dragons, one of the best-studied monsters.

%%* ''ComicBook/{{Planetary}}''

* ''Skybound Entertainment'''s comic ''Witch Doctor'' portrays the realm of supernatural creatures as parasites that are best battled by medical specialists rather then soldiers. The first issue of the mini-series treated a Demonic Possession as being similar to a parasitic infection, with the young victim, after being purged, having to remain inside his family home surrounded by protective runes until the main characters could find a more permanent cure for his condition.

* In the ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' rewrite ''WebVideo/FixingRWBY'', there are fields of science dedicated to studying Grimm and their biology.

* Newt Scamander in ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'' is a magizoologist, and indeed wrote the book on magical creatures.

* Telemain of the ''Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles'' is a magician who studies the technical side of magic and has a habit of talking in incomprehensible MagiBabble, much to the chagrin of the other characters. (Though Morwen, who has hung around with Telemain a long time, learns to translate him into BuffySpeak .)
* ''Literature/ImpracticalMagic'': Istima is a MagicSchool that has courts teaching and studying the various approaches to magic. This includes studies of magical resonance, magic reserve recovery, energy calculations, and various other aspects of applied magic.
* ''Literature/LoyalEnemies'' has HermeticMagic, justifying the trope. Theoretical magic requires many hours, if not days or years, of meticulous planning and calculations, much like real-life engineering, and the wizard academy of Beloria works much like a real life university. Theoretical magic is studied like maths or biology and students must write a thesis to gain a degree -- for example, Veres' Baccalaureate paper is on the magical origins of [[OurMonstersAreDifferent darklings]].

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** Harry Dresden makes a study of magic, describing himself as effectively a magical nerd. When he was entrusted with a Sword of the Cross, he made a study of who would be a suitable person for being a wielder of the sword, and correctly deduced at least one candidate.
** He explicitly keeps Bob (a knowledge spirit housed in a skull) around specifically for his ability to be a magic scientist. It becomes a plot point when he discovers that Bob was created for this purpose, and was so successful that ''Mab'', Queen of Air and Darkness, wants to destroy him.
** Waldo Butters is great at this. Originally a pure {{muggle}}, when he gets into the spooky side of things he becomes a really proficient magical theorist by applying the scientific ideas he already knew. He still doesn’t have an ounce of inherent magical ability, but he was able to devise some handy {{Magitek}} by working with Bob.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Ponder Stibbons and his fellows at the High Energy Magic Building of the Unseen University concoct theories of how magic interacts with quantum mechanics, and divide magical force into ever-smaller fundamental particles. The more senior wizards assume [[spoiler: incorrectly]] that the keen lads will grow out of it.
** Some witches, like Magrat Garlick's mentor Goodie Whemper, are "research witches" who strive for more precision in their magic. When confronted with a spell calling for EyeOfNewt, they set to find out which ''species'' of newt works better for this particular spell, and so on. It's noted that this makes them less powerful as witches (since it doesn't actually matter) but ''much'' better healers.
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'': Oxford university contains a college of experimental theology, which is where they talk about [[MacGuffin Dust]].
* The Price family of cryptozoologists in ''Literature/InCryptid'', especially Alex. His grandfather Thomas Price was also a sorcerer, who wrote down his research on magic (though much of it has not survived).
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'':
** {{Mana}} is just one more form of energy to be studied, like solar radiation or electricity. The academic study of it is called "manaology".
** The study of mana mutation is undertaken by the International Community Dedicated to Mana Mutation ([=ICDMM=]). Their mission statement is to figure out exactly how it works and then develop technology to treat and/or prevent it.
** Lady Sias studies Mt. Daici and how Ceiha's unique climate (constant [[{{mana}} Fog clouds]] in a magicless continent) affects its geology.

* One of the world's top magical theoreticians in the ''Literature/LordDarcy'' Verse is utterly devoid of magical talent; he's just ''very'' good at conceptualizing the principles ''behind'' magic.

* In ''Literature/TheArtsOfDarkAndLight'', the [[EvilOverlord Witchkings]], the elves and [[TheEmpire Savondir]] all used or still use magic to aid what we would call their non-magical science and technology (though they don't always distinguish that sharply between the fields). With magic able to view and manipulate very fine structures of matter and energy, as well as supply high-energy charges that real life needs heavy equipment to produce, this has resulted in powerful advances in everything from cosmology and particle physics to magical genetic engineering.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has various professors. [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Professor Oak]] studies Pokémon-human behavior and interactions, [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Elm]] does Pokémon breeding, [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Birch]] studies Pokémon ecology, [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Rowan]] studies Pokémon evolution, [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Juniper]] studies Pokémon origins (i.e. evolution in the speciation sense as opposed to Pokémon metamorphosis), [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Sycamore]] studies [[SuperMode Mega Evolution]], [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Kukui]] studies Pokémon moves (including Z-moves), and [[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Magnolia]] studies the Dynamax phenomenon.
* The ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' is fond of this, along with SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic:
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' has Raine Sage, who is a magical historian with a focus on healing arts and [[{{Magitek}} magitechnology]].
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' has [[ColonelBadass Colonel]] Jade Curtiss, who (along with his former friend Saphir) used to be a sort of magical geneticist, and goes back to it after the game. Saphir Neis and Guy Cecil both focus on [[{{Magitek}} fontech]], although Guy is really more of an enthusiastic hobbyist.

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' has [=NPCs=] in the game researching the various fantastic monsters your hunter will find him or herself hunting. You'll even get a few quests to hunt or capture monsters for research.

* ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' series has both this (potions, weapons, armor, and even bombs made out of dead fantastic creatures) as well as SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic.

* Common in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series. SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic is in full effect, with numerous {{Wizarding School}}s and [[MagicalSociety Magical Societies]] found throughout the setting dedicated to the study of magic. Magic is further broken down into "schools" of magic ([[ElementalPowers Destruction]], [[AlchemyIsMagic Alchemy]], [[SummonMagic Conjuration]], etc.), where mages can either specialize or become {{Omnidisciplinary Scientist}}s. These magical institutions also tend to double as a home for scholars of history and archeology, with many {{Adventure Archaeologist}}s found in their ranks.
* The various megafauna in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' is the subject of much academic investigation. Many of the quests a hunter undertakes will be to bring in samples or even live specimens for the Guild eggheads to analyze. This is even reflected by the materials you get from monsters; hunt something that breathes fire, and you might just carve out an internal organ that holds the flammable powder that fuels the attack. Even creatures and attacks that don't make any sense are acknowledged as an enigma InUniverse, and trying to understand the Dragon element is an ongoing puzzle.
* In the world of ''VideoGame/DeathStranding'', the afterlife has become a demonstrable reality, and the study of scientific research. The timeless nature of Beaches and the exotic matter that composes them are harnessed for things like ultra-fast computation, AntiGravity, and {{Matter Replicator}}s.
* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' there is the field of "Entroponetics", the study of "the pale", the strange patches of anti-reality that covers most of the known world and separates its continents. Scientists of the field study the pale's disruptive effects on probability, consciousness, and reality in general, and its strange connection to sound and radiowaves. As the pale covers most of the known world and is slowly encroaching on the remaining patches of land and sea, its study is a matter of some moderate urgency -- slow though it is, at its current rate of growth it will eventually cover everything, even if it takes centuries.

* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', the eponymous Court studies the extranormal from time to time, using the term "Etheric Sciences" to describe their studies of magic, which they call "ether." They do this because they believe everything can be explained, so "magic" is a misnomer to them. Kat Donlan discovered that the [[LivingShadow Shadow Men]] actually have mass, and the Suttons are botanists/gardeners who restore magically-animated trees to their original state.

* ''Webcomic/PastelDefenderHeliotrope'' presents us ''chatoyanics'' the study of ''chatoyance''. A form of radiation energy particular to the physics of that universe.

* Twilight Sparkle shows signs of this in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', especially when she hooks up Pinkie Pie to a monitoring device to gather 'scientific' data on how Pinkie is able to predict the future outside of real magic.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has the scientific field of "aetherology", the study of [[BackgroundMagicField aether]], its use in magic, and its affects on living beings and the world as a whole. Healing and spell-casting professions such as thaumaturges, conjurers, and arcanists, as well as gathering and crafting classes, are specific offshoots of aetherology, as each uses aether in different ways.