History Main / MagicallyIneptFighter

* Kuzumi Taiga of ''Manga/Mx0'' is a normal high school student who accidentally earned a reputation at WizardingSchool Seinagi Academy as a high-level magic user, despite being completely unable to use magic himself. While he is generally able to compete with his classmates and maintain this illusion with quick wits, sometimes he is forced to rely on his brute strength, which is much greater than his peers due to being forced to train in martial arts with [[PintsizedPowerhouse his sister]].

* Asta in ''Manga/BlackClover'' has [[{{Unsorcerer}} zero magical ability]] in a setting where nearly everyone has at least some magic. To compensate, he spent most of his life training his body. This all pays off when he is chosen by the Five-Leaf Grimoire. Said Grimoire allows him to summon an AntiMagic {{BFS}}, and his years of physical training made him strong enough to effectively wield the heavy weapon.
* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' introduces characters with the ability to manifest Stands, [[FightingSpirit semi-independent spiritual entities that fight on their behalf]], which [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness would become one of the series's signature elements]]. Most Stands have [[StoryBreakerPower abilities strange and powerful enough to completely change the terms of a fight]] (ranging from illusions, to placing {{Geas}}a on enemies, to disintegrating everything that comes near them), turning every encounter into a two-way PuzzleBoss... except for TheHero Jotaro's Stand "[[TarotMotifs Star]] [[PlatinumMakesEverythingShinier Platinum]]", which is simply a LightningBruiser with [[SuperReflexes sharp senses]] and NervesOfSteel. [[spoiler:In the finale of the Part, Jotaro discovers that Star Platinum does have [[TimeStandsStill a more conventional Stand ability]], but it's exhausting enough that he can't make heavy use of it.]]
** In the [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood first Part of the series]], Speedwagon is the only member of Jonathan's gaggle of friends who lacks the ability to use the Ripple, which makes him unable to properly kill the vampires they face. He makes up for it with a [[WeaponizedHeadgear razor-edged hat]] and [[CarryABigStick trusty sledgehammer]].
* The title character of ''Manga/MashleMagicAndMuscles'' is a boy who enrolls in WizardingSchool despite having no magical ability. He instead uses CharlesAtlasSuperpower to get through not only fighting but ''any'' tasks he's expected to solve using magic.

** In the [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood first Part of the series]], Speedwagon is the only member of Jonathan's gaggle of friends who lacks the ability to use the Ripple, which makes him unable to properly kill the vampires they face. He makes up for it with a [[WeaponizedHeadgear razor-edged hat]] and [[DropTheHammer trusty sledgehammer]].

* Katt from ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'' is a subversion. She starts off as a physical damage-based GlassCannon. However, she begins to learn high-level magic quite early but doesn't have enough AP to use it until the higher levels, [[FusionDance if she's fused]] with the right shamans or if you have one of the potential [=TownShip=] tenants give her training that increases her maximum AP.

** Humans, elves, Qunari are able to tap into this source, but it's so hard to do that it generally requires extensive training. Untrained magic users have a tendency to attract unwanted attention from The Fade's various denizens, so magic tends to be an all-in proposition in Thedas.
** Then there are [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarves]], who literally cannot use magic. They have no ability to access The Fade, so any dwarf who wants to be trained for combat is a MagicallyIneptFighter by necessity.

* The PlayerCharacter of ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' is only able to dish out damage physically, which is only noticeable during one fight, [[spoiler:against the Mad Dummy who's immune to standard attacks]].

** In ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'', while two of the protagonists, [[WhiteMage the girl]] and [[BlackMage the sprite]], learn new spells each time you meet one of the mana spirits, the boy never learns any magic. When he asks Undine, the first spirit, why she can't grant him spells, [[HandWave she replies that his sword will eventually become more powerful than any spell the spirits could teach him.]]

*** BareFistedMonk Kevin has very high Strength and hits like a truck up close, especially at night when he transforms into a beast. But Kevin also learns extremely few magic spells relative to the other characters; it's possible for Kevin to have access to ''zero'' skills or spells after the first class change if you send him down his more physically-oriented Dark path. And his Light path isn't much better, since Kevin only gets two skills there. Every other character will have several skills or spells by the time Kevin is ready for his second class change, but Kevin won't be doing much more than basic attacks for a while.

* Early ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei'' games star protagonists who can't use magic, and instead they use [=COMPs=] to summon demons who can, in addition to having magic-wielding human companions. Even the demons themselves (as well as their ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' counterparts) can fall under this trope, not learning magic naturally nor being able to inherit magic-based attacks as well as having low MP. In games where physical skills cost MP rather than [[CastFromHitPoints HP]], physical skills tend to cost less than magic skills of similar attack power to compensate. Later series games do give the player character the ability to use magic and other advanced skills, usually with some sort of justification such as [[Videogame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne being turned into a demon themselves]].

* ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'': The Fanalis tribe are a race that all naturally possess inhuman physical strength and speed. Even a young fanalis can easily shatter rock. As a result, they are widely feared and sought after as "the strongest race". On the other hand, they are all born with incrediblely low [[LifeEnergy Magoi]] and thus, even if they get their hands on a magic item, they run the risk of killing themselves should they try to use it. Interestingly, it seems those who are half Fanalis have less strength but more Magoi.

* In the ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' a large chunk of recurring human characters have some level of magic, as this is basically required to stand a chance against monsters, but a few plain mortals manage regardless. Murphy holds her own with years of Aikido training and a bunch of firepower. Kincaid is only part human, but his supernatural reflexes and precision is mostly put to use with a wide array of firearms. The Knights of the Cross also qualify, as they each have a [[CoolSword Sword with a nail from the Crucifixion in them]], generally operate with a healthy dose of [[ThereAreNoCoincidences divine coincidence]], and can occasionally pray for some extra intervention, but aren't capable of any actual magic themselves.

* In both ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' Khorne, Chaos god of war, sees magic as a tool for cowards and traitors, and so is the only one without a list of spells, but his followers are very strong physical fighters (when not TheBerserker), and his 40K champion is immune to magic. Magical items and weapons, however, are acceptable, and captured sorcerers and cowards toil endlessly at the base of the Skull Throne to create more for his champions to use.
** In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' the vampire lord Konrad von Carstein wasn't incapable of magic, which vampires have an inherent aptitude for, but he was extremely bad at it. He relied on necromancers to animate his undead troops for him and was prone to murdering them in resentment for their talent, ultimately resulting in his defeat when they [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal abandoned him en masse]] mid battle leaving him to try and fail to hold his army together by himself. Prior to that he was a monster in combat, managing to compensate for his lack of magical and strategic thinking through sheer bloodlust and martial prowess, and attracted a number of [[BloodKnight Blood Dragon]] vampires (who are similarly inclined, though less AxCrazy) to his cause.
** Dwarfs as a whole are doughty fighters, but can't use magic conventionally, needing to channel it through runes and infuse it into crafted items (runic magic is thus less powerful than that of the Winds of Magic, but also safer by far). While the Chaos Dwarfs train typical sorcerers, it's so antithetical to their nature they gradually [[TakenForGranite turn to stone]] as a result.

* Zigzagged in ''{{VideoGame/Arcanum}}''. While MagicKnight builds are certainly possible, half-orcs and half-ogres specializing in melee are also quite viable at the cost of having low intelligence, meaning they might not able to cast spells at all (or build their own advanced gear). Interestingly, as spells are CastFromStamina, Willpower (the stat that increases both HP and stamina is important for both).

* ''VideoGame/AbyssCrossing'': Mia has the highest speed, decent attack, and powerful multihit physical skills, but her magic attack is the lowest of the party. She is also the only party member without any default magic damage skills.

** Throughout the series in general, physically-inclined characters like Monks, Dragoons, Warriors and Paladins will have either no magical ability or low Magic if they are somehow able to learn spells.

* ''VideoGame/LightFairytale'': Haru has high HP, has decent speed, and has high attack power, but his intelligence stat for magic is low.

* Shinjiro and Aigis in ''VideoGame/Persona3'' only learn physical attacks. Junpei only learns single target fire spells and has the lowest Magic, with his physical skills being much more impressive.

* Kamijou Touma of ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' is completely unable to use magic or esper abilities because of his [[AntiMagic Imagine Breaker]] arm. So he simply [[FightsLikeANormal punches his enemies]] to submission, magicians and espers alike, [[SuperpowerLottery regardless of power]] [[PowerLevels level]].
* AmazonianBeauty Tiona from Loki Familia in ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon''. Most fighters have one or two spells or other magical abilities to complement their physical combat skills but as of Volume 10 of the main series and Volume 5 of the spin-off, Tiona and Bete have shown no magical abilities whatsoever, and even Bete escapes this category by using magic boots that [[PowerCopying take on the elemental properties of magic directed at him]].

** Dwarfs as a whole are doughty fighters, but can't use magic conventionally, needing to channel it through runes and infuse it into crafted items. While the Chaos Dwarfs train typical sorcerers, it's so antithetical to their nature they gradually [[TakenForGranite turn to stone]] as a result.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', the Knights of Seiros (Catherine, Shamir, Alois, and Gilbert) are mostly trained in physical combat, and thus have low Magic stat caps to go with it. Catherine is the only Knight capable of wielding a [[MagicalWeapon magical Hero's Relic]] but otherwise has a hard time learning magic spells due to her [[EverybodyHatesMathematics hatred of math]], a key component of Reason magic.