troperville

tools

toys

SubpagesImageLinks
Main
PlayingWith

main index

Narrative

Genre

Media

Topical Tropes

Other Categories

TV Tropes Org
random
Lady of Black Magic

She's elegant, she's composed, and she's graceful. She's also packing enough magic to level half a city. The Lady of Black Magic is a character type found in fantasy who is primarily an offensive magic user.

Personality-wise, a Lady of Black Magic is elegant and more mature than The Hero. She may be an Ice Queen.

In design, this character will almost always be wearing something feminine, usually a dress of some sort. Unlike the Lady of War, the Lady of Black Magic can be Ms. Fanservice.

Physically, she'll be weaker than the melee type fighters, and will usually be equipped with a rod or ranged weapon. Very rarely she will have a melee weapon, but it will be weaker or less impressive than the hero's. Her primary combat role is to unleash destructive Black Magic, although she will occasionally have secondary healing, buffing, or debuffing abilities, as well.

Ladies of Black Magic are Always Female (Gentleman Wizard is the male counterpart), unlike their counterparts Black Magician Girl and White Magician Girl. She is rarely a Love Interest for The Hero, although if she is it will often be part of a Defrosting Ice Queen plot. Instead, she's usually older than The Hero and fills the role of a bigger sister, often a Cool Big Sis, or maternal figure.

Subtrope of Black Mage. Compare to Black Magician Girl, the other stock character type for offensive mages in fantasy. Contrast White Mage and White Magician Girl, to whom this character type is often a Foil, and Black Magic.


Examples

    open/close all folders 

    Anime and Manga 
  • Words Worth: Maria is a stately example, garbed in an elegant white robe (though it has split seams, showing plenty of leg), a sea green cloak, and sandals.
  • Both Miyu and Reiha from Vampire Princess Miyu, as they both are very elegant and reserved as they attack their enemies with fire (Miyu) or ice (Reiha)

    Comic Books 

     Film 
  • Luster in The Gamers: Dorkness Rising seems to be an attempt at this archetype, but her player isn't very good at the whole "dignity" aspect.

    Live Action TV 
  • In the 1998 Merlin series, Mab fills this role, as well as being the series' Big Bad.
  • In the BBC Merlin, it was Morgause, until she died and Morgana stepped up to the plate. Word Of God says she's at least as powerful as Merlin now.

    Literature 
  • Nicci of the Sword of Truth, a former Sister of the Dark who functions as one of Richard's primary magic experts, and is also the team expert on Subtractive Magic.
  • Dragaera's Sethra Lavode is a 250,000+ year-old undead sorceress, and contrary to the trope description she couldn't just level half a city— she could probably cause The End of the World as We Know It.
  • Melissandre the Red from A Song of Ice and Fire fits the personality aspect (and becomes something of a mentor to Jon Snow during A Dance With Dragons), but as part of a low-magic setting she's limited to soothsaying and summoning creepy shadows. Given that she's one of a handful of people to show outright supernatural abilities at all, however, that says something.
  • Skuld, the half-elven sorceress from the 13th century Saga of Hrolf Kraki, the title hero's treacherous half-sister and eventual architect of his downfall. In the Battle of Hleidragard, she summons a giant demon-boar and makes her fallen warriors come to life again, so they continue fighting as zombies.

    Tabletop Games 

    Video Games 
  • Final Fantasy:
    • Though she started out as a Black Magician Girl, Rydia's Plot-Relevant Age-Up turned her into one of the original video game Ladies of Black Magic.
    • While she may not match most examples in height, she more then substitutes with pure might. With ladylike grace and magical fire, Shantotto is to what this trope aspires! Oh Hohohoho!
    • Lulu from Final Fantasy X, of the Ice Queen variety. Also somewhat gothy. She is the most composed of the party members, and figures as a bit of a mother or sister figure to the protagonist, Yuna. She's quiet, fashionable, and of course uses offensive magic.
  • Not yet playable, but Nine/Konoe A. Mercury from BlazBlue is a very much one. Although she subverts it by having quite the fiery temper for personality.
  • From City of Heroes the Lady Grey, supreme commander of Vanguard. Easily the most powerful wizard in the whole game, ever composed, ever graceful and one wicked Dark Defender
  • Many female anima/dark/light magic users from the Fire Emblem sagas:
    • Seisen no Keifu: Hilda (villainous example, handles Fire Magic due to being of the Fala bloodline), Ishtar (Hilda's daughter alias the "Goddess of Thunder" for having major Tordo blood and thus handling the VERY strong Mjolnir tome). Possibly Aida, too; her class is Magic Knight.
    • Thracia 776: Miranda (though she's more Hot Blooded than the standard), Olwen (who uses Thunder Magic and swords),.
    • Fuuin no Tsurugi: Niime, Druid!Sophia (Dark Magic), Princess Guinevere when you unlock her (Anima Maigc). Maybe Cecilia and Valkyrie!Clarine. Sage!Lilina has the skills, but attitude-wise she's more of The Messiah. Bruhnya is an Anti Villainous version.
    • Rekka no Ken: Sonia and Ursula, both villainous examples. Arguably, Valkyrie!Priscilla and Sage!Nino are two on your side. In the Back Story, Saint Elimine was said to be one.
    • Sacred Stones: Lute, specially if a Sage. Also the promoted L'Arachel, though she's more... expressive than others. Selena follows it wholeheartedly.
    • Path of Radiance - Radiant Dawn: Sanaki, for some. Also a well-trained Ilyana.
    • Awakening: Tharja, a Cute and Psycho Dark Mage who enjoys practicing curses and is a Yandere towards the Avatar. She also happens to be a Ms. Fanservice.
  • Rift has Asha Catari.

    Webcomics 
  • Rose Lalonde, from Homestuck becomes this after upgrading her weapons with Eldritch Powers. Made even more obvious in her Alpha universe counterpart, who's an adult.
  • Miranda Io from No Songs For The Dead has great potential in Black Magic, which she genetically inherited from her mother Lilith.
  • Erfworld's Wanda Firebaugh is this to a tee. Interestingly, because of how Erfworld operates, she started life seeing her physical form as a Lady of Black Magic, something she felt she had to live up to.

    Western Animation 


Black Magician GirlTropes in BlackBlack Screen of Death
Black Magician GirlWizards and WitchesWhite Mage
Lady of AdventureAn Index of Ladies and GentlemenLady of War
Lady MacbethThis Index Is a BitchLesbian Vampire
Lady of AdventureAlways FemaleLady of War
Black Magician GirlVideo Game CharactersBouncing Battler

random
TV Tropes by TV Tropes Foundation, LLC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org.
Privacy Policy
31612
26