Our Mages Are Different

How does someone become a mage? Why should someone have the power to alter reality? Obviously, mages use magic — but how does one gain access to magic? Look no further, this page will detail them.

Note that these analogies could be mixed: for instance, it is possible that the innate ability to wield magic is based on bloodline (as with the mage race), but that to develop this innate ability, the mage must use ancient lore (as with the scholarly mage). Also note that this is about how the mage acquires power, not the source of that power; that is, whether magic is drawn from nature, the elements, the spirit world, or what-have-you is not relevant.

It is also possible that there are multiple kinds of mages in one setting; sometimes they are mutually exclusive, sometimes they can be mixed. When one of them is supposedly rare or unusual in-universe, see Wrong Context Magic.

Despite the name, this can sometimes apply to Differently Powered Individual as well; see also How to Give a Character Superpowers.

Mages are like...

Artists
Artist-like mages gain their ability based on creativity and imagination. As with being a great artist, being a great mage may require practice and technical skill to some extent, but a sense of artistic creativity is vital. These mages may have their heads on a cloud as a result of their wild imagination.
Associated tropes: Imagination-Based Superpower, Art Attacker, Art Initiates Life, Magic Music

Athletes
The ability of the athlete-like mage to wield magic is based on years of intensive, exhaustive training. In Asian works, may sometimes overlap with the Monks subtype.
Associated tropes: Charles Atlas Superpower, Full-Contact Magic, Ki Manipulation, Kung-Fu Wizard, Supernatural Martial Arts, Magic Dance

Chemists
To work magic, a mage just finds and combines the right physical components in such a way that produces the effect they want. This is distinct from Gadget Users in that the components tend to be specific to the spell and used up in the process, rather than reused, and distinct from Mutants in that they have to keep gathering and recombining ingredients, rather than just being exposed to the substance once. While almost any physical materials can potentially work, potions tend to be the most common type.
Associated tropes: Alchemy Is Magic, Eye of Newt, Insubstantial Ingredients, Sympathetic Magic, Hermetic Magic^note Though it frequently overlaps with the Gadget User and Theurgist types

Gadget Users
Sometimes they're not so much "mages" as they are "magical equipment users": Their magic abilities come from what they have in their person - be it an accessory, clothing, a weapon, etc. Depending on the work, said equipments may be so vital to the character that he/she is as good as a Muggle without it; or they already have magic abilities by themselves and the equipments are just there to help them; or (when this is subverted) their magic abilities come purely from themselves and said equipments only act as a crutch. Common with the Magical Girl genre.
Associated tropes: Upgrade Artifact, Amplifier Artifact, Magic Wand, Magic Staff, Magical Accessory, Clothes Make the Superman, Magitek

Gods
In this variant, a mage is not a human being. The mage may take on the appearance of a human, but the actual nature of the mage is divine, whether demonic or angelic. The mage might also be half-divine and can draw magic from that part of themselves. May overlap with the Theurgist subtype if these gods can allow their followers to use a portion of their power.
Associated tropes: The Fair Folk, Our Demons Are Different, Our Angels Are Different, God in Human Form, Semi-Divine

Lottery Winners
Mages get their ability to wield magic completely at random. Nothing but chance determines who is likely to wield magic. These characters will often have their power level determined by chance as well, though some still need to work at it.
Associated tropes: The Gift, Randomly Gifted, Superpower Lottery

Monks
Mages' most notable feature is their mental discipline and force of will — abilities that might be cultivated through meditation. It seems likely that in worlds where reality responds to sufficiently intense strength of will, these mages might be likely.
Associated tropes: Enlightenment Superpowers, Clap Your Hands If You Believe, Heroic Spirit

Mutants
Magic is acquired by being exposed to some kind of substance/energy. It may or may not cause any adverse effects to the mage's body. It may also overlap with the race subtype if the mutation is passed down to offspring. This one is often the most common way for a non-mage to become a mage, alongside Gadget Users.
Associated tropes: Super Serum, Touched by Vorlons, Viral Transformation, Superhuman Transfusion, Super-Empowering, Mass Super-Empowering Event

Naturalists
Here, one can become mage by getting closer to nature. How exactly that is may vary, and overlap with other means: Maybe you're close with a mystical entity pertaining to nature that entrusts you with the power of nature (Cultist), maybe you study hard about nature (Scholar), maybe you find deeper meaning in how nature works and thus become enlightened (Monks). They're not just limited to those, however; e.g. being kind and friendly to nature may make them help you in return, or there's an unseen force of nature (often, but not always, confined to a place) that you can manipulate by different means.
Associated tropes: In Harmony with Nature, Background Magic Field, Sentient Cosmic Force, Nature Spirit, Mother Nature, Wild Magic^note When the magic is more of a force of nature that the mage taps into

Programmers
Mages change reality by giving it commands in a specific format — as if all reality is one huge computer program, and the mages are hackers in a world of the tech-illiterate. Depending on how flexible the code is, this could range from standard spells with an unusual flavor all the way up to full-blown reality-warping.
Associated tropes: Powers as Programs, Language of Magic, Formulaic Magic, Rewriting Reality, I Know Your True Name

A Race
The ability to do magic is passed from parents to children. It may skip generations, or crop up unexpectedly on occasion, but it is ultimately based on inheritance. When mages are like this, they'll tend to make an isolated community of themselves, but not always.
Associated tropes: Mage Species, Superpowerful Genetics, Magic Genetics

Scholars
Mages of this kind are studious and resourceful. They know dead languages and ancient history to a huge extent. You can find a classicist-like mage poring through dusty tomes of forgotten lore in a huge library. Expect them to come with Ancient Artifacts. Alternately, or in addition, they're likely to not only understand magic but to have an understanding of the natural world itself — understanding things like chemistry and physics, as well as the attendant tools to formulate such laws, such as advanced mathematics.
Associated tropes: Science Wizard, Sufficiently Analyzed Magic, Magic Is Mental, Scientifically Understandable Sorcery, Wizarding School

Theurgists
"Theurgists" refers to cultists, shamans, and priests, mortal beings who draw their powers through contact with spiritual entities. Cult mages (or warlocks) draw from demonic beings, oftentimes with nasty/destructive powers, or those with unwanted side effects on the user. Clerics (or priests) draw from the verse's God or some other divine being, and their powers tend to be either supportive/healing, or a Holy Hand Grenade. Shamans, meanwhile, commune with morally-neutral everyday spirits rather than aiming straight for the top of the celestial pyramid, and if they do have gods that they call upon, it's usually more of a quid pro quo relationship rather than worship. Theurgists, regardless of their flavor, may be able to summon said entities to help.
Associated tropes: Religion is Magic, Ritual Magic, Deal with the Devil, Bargain with Heaven, Wild Magic^note where you have to appeal to the magic's nature for it to work

Oftentimes there'll be discussions about how one type of mage differs from another. This may devolve into arguing over which is better.

See also Functional Magic and Magic by Any Other Name for "Our Magic Is Different". If magic is something that not everyone can do, but mages still also need special education, that's Training the Gift of Magic. Compare Magicians Are Wizards (when stage magicians are lumped together with actual magic users).

---

Examples:

Anime and Manga

• In Black Clover it is a mix of multiple version of mages:
  • Mages are like scholars: Some people like Yuno can take time to study and improve their magical abilities and have magic that is not physically based.
  • Mages are like a race: As almost everyone in the series has the ability to use magic.
  • Mages are like gadget users: Even though the people can use magic on their own, their true power comes from the use of grimoires.
  • Mages are like athletes: some mages can increase their magical strength through training. Asta is unique in that he is not a mage. The way others react to finding out he has no magical power at all, it's implied that this is very unusual.
• Magic in Fairy Tail is totally mundane and accessible to anyone, but it requires training, making them a mix between Athletes and Scholars. Some are also Gadget Users, requiring items to access their powers.
• In Fullmetal Alchemist, understanding chemistry and laws of physics seems to be the only requirement for using alchemy.
• In Hunter × Hunter, everyone has an aura that can be used to achieve supernatural effects by learning Nen. Using basic Nen techniques requires extensive physical training (Athletes) and, since controlling the aura requires a strong will, meditation (Monks). Furthermore, Nen allows everyone to create unique abilities in different categories. You can achieve any effect you want as long as you place restrictions, but the more an ability suits your personality, the stronger it will be, (Artists). Also, people with innate Nen abilities and people who belong to the Specialist Nen category are Lottery Winners.
• In Jujutsu Kaisen, while all people inevitably produce varying amounts of Cursed Energy, only a tiny sliver of the total population is capable of sensing and channelling it - the Jujutsu Sorcerers (and their Evil Counterpart, the Curse Users). Most Sorcerers are Lottery Winners, being born with the ability to use their Cursed Energy through a specific technique, and even among sorcerers, vast differences in terms of power levels exist. However, Sorcerers are also Athletes and Monks, since effectively wielding their Cursed Energy requires significant mental discipline and practical knowledge. Being an Artist also pays, since even though one's Technique is pre-set, depending on its nature, it can have a wide range of applications. Some Sorcerers wield Cursed Tools to supplement their Techniques, however few of these can wholly substitute for lacking one and are usually simply tools capable of affecting Curses. Finally, any person not born a Sorcerer can either have their latent Technique awakened through external tampering by a Sorcerer, or can choose to become a Cursed Vessel, allowing himself to be possessed by a Cursed Spirit to channel its Energy and Technique - however, seeing as most Cursed Spirits are violent, predatory creatures, the latter option is very much not recommended.
• In the Lyrical Nanoha franchise, the mages are somewhere between Lottery Winners and Athletes: magical abilities are pretty random (a child of two Muggles can grow up to be a powerful mage, and vice versa), but becoming a qualified mage (not to mention a combat mage) requires years of extensive physical and magical training and continuous workouts to keep yourself in shape. Extensive training and innate magical power are depicted largely interchangeably.
• Ninjutsu in Naruto is Training the Gift of Magic. If you don't have the gift (like Rock Lee), you can't do ninjutsu, but even if you have it, it takes a lot of training to do anything with it. There are also bloodline-specific techniques (called "Kekkei Genkai") that are only inherited by a subset of ninja.
  • Summoning techniques, particularly for summoning living creatures, need a pact signed in blood to be used, making their users theurgists.
  • Practitioners of Senjutsu (sage techniques) are basically Naturalists, mixed with Monks in that they can access nature energy and then use it to turn one's chakra into a stronger form by becoming close to nature; this is done primarily via meditation (i.e being perfectly still).
• In the Nasuverse, particularly the Fate/stay night subseries which focuses on them, mages are treated much like scientists, dedicating their lives to research on magecraft in an effort to open a path to the Origin in order to gain unlimited knowledge. Sometimes their research can get extremely unethical, but the Mages' Association doesn't really care, so long as they don't break the Masquerade. However, to become a mage requires someone to have been born with "magic circuits", and someone who doesn't have them has no ability to manipulate magic.
• In Ojamajo Doremi, the titular character and her friends, Doremi, Hazuki, Aiko, Pop, Onpu, and Momoko, are the Gadget Users variety due to how they were given their magic; they were granted Magic Wands with limited amounts of magic by their mentors so they could eventually become full-fledged Witches and undo the curses they inadvertently triggered. Successfully turning into a full-fledged Witch would technically make them Mutants, but only if they ever got that far and are able to keep their magic. Before then, they have to train and be tested to see if they are eligible to pass to the next levels, making them somewhat like athletes and scholars.
  • The full-blooded Witches themselves, such as the aforementioned mentors and the Ojamajos' "daughter", Hana, are all born with their powers in the form of a crystal ball, making them a combination of Gadget User and Mage Species, moreso the latter.
  • The Ojamajos themselves have turned to various forms of art through out the series as well as a means to an end, making them into artists who create different magical items depending on which series they're in (charms during S1, flowers in Sharp, baked sweets during Motto, and accessories in Dokkan).
• In One Piece, it's closer to superpowers, but Devil Fruits can turn any of its eaters into "mutant" superbeings. Also, as the power of the fruit is limited only by the user's creativity, fruit users are also akin to artists.
  • For Haki (basically force of will), anyone can get access to and learn it by training (athletes), but it's a rarity for someone to have a special form of Haki named King's Disposition (lottery winners). Nevertheless, if you happen to have it, it too can be trained.
• In Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Puellae Magi are formed by a contract with Kyubey, in that they're given magical powers (and a wish) and in return you have to fight Witches (Eldritch Abominations of the verse).
  • This anime is an interesting example. By making a contract with Kyubey, a girl gets a Soul Gem that allows her to become a Magical Girl in exchange for a wish, making them Gadget Users. It is revealed however that the Soul Gem is actually the girl's soul, taken apart from the body. This grants magic but also makes the soul get corrupted with time, making them Mutants.
• Sorcerers in Radiant are humans who were inflicted with a unique curse after surviving contact with a Source Nemesis, letting them control Fantasia to use magic. Sorcerers are feared by most of the populace as evil beings tied to the Nemeses, so they're often persecuted especially by the Inquisition.
• Shamans from Shaman King learn to channel spirits through meditation (Monks). However, other Shamans have a spiritual lifestyle that leads them to interact with nature spirits, like Horo Horo (Naturalist), or spirits of beings considered deities (Theurgist).

Comic Books

• Green Lantern: Back in the Golden Age at least, the magical Green Lantern Ring is the source of all of his abilities. Nowadays said ring is Magic from Technology in nature.

Fan Works

• Aurics in We Are All Pokémon Trainers have aspects of:
  • Artists: Being a skilled Auric is often determined by the creativity of the user.
  • Athletes: Their powers improve through training.
  • Mutants: Kim and Lily got their powers via being transformed by human to Pokémon armbands
  • Race: Their powers are mostly based on genetics.
• In Magic and Mayhem, there are two types of witches and warlocks.
  • Pact Witches (like the Sanderson sisters) are Theurgists and Gadget-Users. They make bargains for power and need their Book to look up specific spells. They can't adjust or improvise with their spells and have lots of limitations.
  • Natural Witches (like Wendy and her aunts) are Racial and Gadget-Users. The ability to use magic is hereditary and a Magic Wand makes using magic a lot easier. There's a lot more flexibility with their magical abilities.
• There Was Once an Avenger From Krypton: At the end of Thanatos Scowled, Nico explains the different kinds of magic users to Ellie — witches/wizards are those born with inherent magic due to being descended from a deity and/or having a divine being or demon lord as a patron, sorcerers are those who master the Mystic Arts through study and practice, and warlocks are those who make a Deal with the Devil in exchange for power. "Magician", meanwhile, is a catch-all term that applies to all magic users, but most prefer that their specific terminology be applied to them.

Films — Live-Action

• In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Sorcerers of Doctor Strange are heavily Monk-oriented, with additional splashes of Athletes (learning martial arts and weapons skills), Scholars (learning both Eastern languages as well as the "language of magic"), and Gadget Users (using various relics, such as the Staff of the Living Tribunal, the Wand of Watoomb, and the Cloak of Levitation). The second Doctor Strange movie makes clear there is a difference between sorcery and witchcraft, which is what powers the Scarlet Witch — as WandaVision detailed, witches have innate inabilities, making them more Race and Lottery (albeit Wanda herself is also — of course — Mutant, given most of her powers awakened after experimentation with alien tech).
• In Star Wars, the Jedi seem to be a combination of Monks, Naturalists, and a Race. They are already born sensitive to the Force, but need to develop their connection in order to gain special abilities. The Sith also do the same but by different means. The ability to use the Force generally is hereditary, and can even skip a generation.

Literature

• Sorcerers in The Belgariad are a mix of Lottery Winner and Monk-the potential for sorcery is present in every human, but unless you're being guided in some way you'll probably never unlock your potential (without vaporizing yourself). Once the power is released that first time, it's probably closer to Monk, since everything you do is by force of will. There's also a touch of theurgy-except for those few with the random gift of sorcery, people trained in magic live normal lifespans unless chosen as Disciple of a god, in which case they become immortal. There's also a smidgen of Scholar: the sorcerer has to know the potential long-term effects of their magic -Galrion nearly starts an ice age through misuse of weather magic, and it takes Belgarath and his fellow sorcerers six months to fix it. The sorceror also must know the fundamental rule of the universe: While you can order something to dissolve down to its component atoms, you cannot order it to not exist. The magic will rebound on the caster. Violently.
• In The Bible, in Exodus 7, both Aaron and the Egyptian "sorcerers and magicians" are capable to transforming rods into snakes (although Aaron's snake is more powerful). The popular explanation for Egyptian sorcerers' apparent ability to perform miracles is that they were demon-worshipers, while Aaron's magic comes from God. The source of the sorcerers and magicians' abilities is never made clear. It could be demon worship, it could just be sleight of hand and misdirection, or it could have come from alien technology that they found. The Bible doesn't seem to care how they are doing it, only that God is doing it better.
• Magicians in A Certain Magical Index are scholars, they gain their powers from learning ancient knowledge but they align themselves with religions so they overlap with priests.
• The magicians in The Chronicles of Narnia (the Hermit of the Southern March, Coriakin, and Ramandu) have all the classical attributes, with one additional detail: they are always barefoot. Oh, and the fact that two of them are stars.
• Circe: Magic is feared by the gods. Although Circe and her siblings grow up with an affinity for magic (and her niece Medea becomes a witch as well), she eventually concludes that witchcraft isn't particularly tied to divinity — what makes it is will. While her siblings' magic is not delved into, Circe's is most akin to the chemistry flavor, as it involves a lot of mixing ingredients and drawing power from nature.
• The Deryni in the works of Katherine Kurtz are a combination of categories:
  • The raw ability is inherited.
  • The use of the powers must be taught, and through practice, a certain level of physical endurance must be built up ("Athletes").
  • Each actual use of the powers entails a deep concentration bordering on self-hypnosis, a concentration which must also be learned ("Monks").
  • The Haldanes (and possibly other humans) have dormant abilities that are activated by rituals or other overt actions involving psychic power ("Mutants").
  • Thanks to persecutions and efforts to escape the same, some people turn out to have the powers seemingly at random ("Lottery Winners").
• In Diamond Sword, Wooden Sword, magic is more like a combination of lottery and scholarship, but the Orders of the Rainbow insist it's like a race or an aristocracy, and only manifests in scions of noble Human bloodlines. Any common-born or non-Human people with magical talent who disprove the Rainbow's theory with their mere existence are persecuted (or, if they are weak Human hedge wizards and thus do not threaten the theory, overregulated with expensive licenses).
• In Discworld certain people have the ability to detect octarine, which means they can see what they're doing when manipulating magic. This often runs in families (Race) although it's also been known to just happen (Lottery Winners). Knowing how to manipulate magic is taught to wizards in universities (Scholars) and witches in mentor-apprentice relationships (Naturalist Athletes). Using magic on the Disc is surprisingly easy; the trick is knowing enough to survive doing so.
• In The Dragon Knight, magickians are priests. Their (entirely defensive) magic is awarded to them by a Celestial Bureaucracy called the Accounting Office, as payment for their work foiling the eternal threat of the Dark Powers. Sorcerers, meanwhile, are magickians' Evil Counterparts; their entirely offensive magic is powered by their service to the Dark Powers. Jim starts out using magic like a Programmer, but eventually inverts this and progresses to poetry and applied symbolism (Artist).
• In The Dresden Files, mages are generally a race; while anyone can use rudimentary magic with the proper training, the amount of raw power they're able to bring to bear seems to be inborn. Additionally, wizards have much longer lifespans than regular humans. Wizards are also gadget users, since we rarely, if ever, see a mage who doesn't use focus items of some sort, and scholars, who study both magic and science in order to bring their powers to bear more effectively. (As Harry explains it, fire is fire, no matter if you use a spell or a lighter to create it, and if you don't understand how fire behaves you're going to be wasting a lot of energy getting it to do what you want it to.) There is also chemist-type magic, in the form of potion creation and thaumaturgy.
• In Harry Potter, the ability to use magic is hereditary and how pure someone's bloodline is seems to be a big deal for some wizards. It is however possible for children born to non-magic families to be born with magic (so called muggle-born). The reverse is also true; the so-called "squib" are children born to magical families but lack magical ability themselves. Mages here are also gadget-users in that they're reliant on a Magic Wand to help them control their magic. Using magic without a wand is, consequently, considered a masterful feat of control of their own magic, and people who achieved it can be counted by just one hand. Potions are still racial, since they require magic to create, but overlap with Chemist types.
• Inheritance Cycle:
  • Racial: Dragons naturally have massive amounts of magical energy, which their Riders can then draw upon. Elves also have a lot of magic naturally and are more likely to become full magicians, but their approach is more like Artists or Scholars.
  • Mutants: Being chosen by a dragon to be their rider gives the human or elf a mark and guarantees that they'll be a magician.
  • Naturists: Wild Magic exists on its own and can be manipulated by anyone who learns to tap into it, but is very difficult and risky to control — in one case, it nearly destroyed the entire world.
  • Programmers: An ancient race called the Grey Folk linked their language to magic itself, resulting in most magic being done by describing the effect with it.
  • Athletes: Using magic is very strenuous and requires training, part of which is making the body stronger since magic consumes the user's energy.
  • Cultists: Sorcerers summon and bind spirits for energy, but that has the risk of the spirits possessing them and creating a Shade.
  • Gadgets: Spells can be placed on items that will draw from the energy of whoever uses it, and magicians can greatly increase their energy by storing it in gem stones or by tapping into a dragon's Soul Jar.
  • Chemists: Wizards and witches use potions and herbs as often as outright spells.
• The Iron Teeth web serial has mages. They are born with the ability to burn crystals to produce magic. Making and knowing what crystals do requires knowledge and education though, and burning crystals when you have no idea what they do or how they work is basically a flamboyant form of suicide.
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: Magicians are scholars. Before Mr. Norrell emerged on the scene, most magicians were theoretical, researching spells in older books, but never doing them. Mr. Norrell does the spells, but he has to rely on his study of older works to do it.
• Journey to Chaos:
  • Generally speaking, mages are like scholars. Everyone has the ability to use magic so the only thing that separates the mages from the muggles is the willingness to sit down and study.
  • Dragon's Lair mercenaries, like Eric, are closer to Athletes because they incorporate magic into martial arts.
  • In some cases, mages are like priests. Lady Daici, for instance, can use silent earth magic because she has lived like a cloistered nun on Mount Daici for years. ^note  She also counts as a naturalist because she studies the mountain and a theurgist because her spells are basically prayers to it.
• In the Land of Oz real magic seems to be the result of study more than biology. When the Wizard from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz comes back to Oz in a later book, Glinda teaches him "real" magic to replace his stage magic. He becomes one of only three people in all of Oz legally allowed to practice magic. ^note The other two being Glinda herself and Ozma.
• In The Lord of the Rings, wizards such as Gandalf are like gods: Gandalf is a Maia (as is Sauron), not a human.
• Magic by the Numbers by Lyndon Hardy has five types of magic. All of them are primarily Chemist type with leanings toward Scholar, with the only requirements being knowledge of what elements to combine and how. Thaumaturgy (sympathetic magic, i.e. using a splinter of wood to cause a crate of goods to fly) and Alchemy are those two almost exclusively. Magic (rather confusingly, one of the five magics is called magic) uses elaborate rituals to create magic items enabling Gadgeteers. Sorcery (mind control) and Wizardry (summoning demons) are accessible to anyone via Chemist principles but require hefty amounts of Monk and Athlete to actually produce useful results. In the latter case, a useful result meaning not being eaten by a demon — wizards are by far the rarest type of magic user.
• In The Magicians, the students and professors of Brakebills are treated very much as scholars: the study of magic works like the study of a language, with many contradictions, exceptions, and paradoxes acquired from having been drawn from so many different sources over the eons. For good measure, there are so many circumstances that effect the way spells work that an entire year of a student's education is spent forcing them to internalize it all, just so they'll be able to act on them without thinking. Only the most intelligent, driven, and obsessive individuals can become magicians, and even the average Teen Genius doesn't necessarily have what it takes to pass the notoriously demanding Brakebills entrance exam.
• Malazan Book of the Fallen:
  • The ability to use magic occurs at random in all races and social classes and usually manifests in some way — if the mage hasn't been formally taught it develops into some kind of latent gimmick, like Blend's ability to remain unnoticed if she so desires ^note (although she thinks it's a gadget thing because she once bought a stone from some hawker who told her it's magical). The direction of one's magic can be influenced by one's surroundings, though: e.g. Bottle uses shamanistic magic because his grandma taught him, High Alchemist Baruk is a scholar, and most squad mages seem self-taught warren-users. There's certainly an individual limit to how much power any mage can channel before it begins to affect him physically. Additionally, mages are limited to what warrens (Paths of Magic) they can access by personal inclination and race, with humans having access to more varied but less powerful warrens while most other races have their own racial warren.
  • High Priests and Destriants (who are somewhat interchangeable with High Priests) are cleric-types who gain access to certain powers granted by their deities. Destriants, who are more associated with martial positions completing the trio of a deity's chosen, together with the Mortal Sword and the Shield-Anvil, tend to gain healing powers, while a normal High Priest's powers are closer to their deity's theme, e.g. shadow magic.
  • Necromancers seem to be almost their own category as they gain their powers through a combination of inborn talent and an agreement with Hood, the Lord of Death, to play a game with him — they steal as many souls away from under his nose as they can manage and get his respect in return. Otherwise, Hood does not look favourably on those who meddle in his affairs.
• Modern Magic Made Simple have a mix of gadget users and lottery winners. Magic in this setting is performed by programming codes, and apparently anyone can learn it, but on the other hand, some are naturally far more gifted than others. For example, Kaho, a muggle, started to learn using codes and does a decent job at this because she is good with a computer, but since she is only beginning to learn it, she can not see some supernatural things and can only use basic spells. Koyomi is good at...summoning basins, and nothing else. But she is really good at it and can even nullify powerful spells by turning them into basins. Heredity apparently also plays a role in this, since Misa and Yumiko are both descended from great mages.
• My Vampire Older Sister and Zombie Little Sister has Circe witches, who are Chemists. They can use ordinary chemicals and chemistry equipment to create magical potions, mainly for the purpose of transforming living things.
• The Old Kingdom has several types of magic users who work in various ways:
  • Charter Mages are like programmers and scholars. The Charter is a sort of all-encompassing metaphysical document that describes all existence; it is composed of Charter Marks, rune-like glyphs that correspond to very specific concepts, objects and phenomena. Charter Mages learn, through extensive study, how to link up charter marks to create spells. Anyone can become a Charter Mage, but you have to be baptized with a personal Charter Mark by a previously-existing Charter Mage first.
  • The Charter Bloodlines (Royal, Abhorsen, Clayr and Wallmaker) are like races; they're people born with particular abilities that get passed down through heredity. These powers typically come naturally to them, though they can learn additional Charter Magic on top of it.
  • Free Magic Sorcerers are like theurgists or gadgeteers. Free Magic is the raw chaotic power opposed to the structured Charter and humans can't normally access it without a bond to a Free Magic elemental or some sort of powerful artifact. If they're not careful, however, the chaotic and volatile nature of Free Magic will likely result in the sorcerer falling under the control of their power source rather than the other way around.
  • Necromancers' are a specialized form of Free Magic sorcerer, and they're specifically like gadgeteers, using a set of seven enchanted bells to summon and control the Dead. Each bell has its own particular powers and properties, and a skilled necromancer must be familiar with all of them. The Abhorsens use the same sort of bells as Free Magic necromancers, but power them with Charter Magic instead and focus on binding and banishing the Dead rather than controlling them; compared to an Abhorsen's, a Free Magic necromancer's bells are described as being "raw" with less artistry but more power.
• Brandon Sanderson:
  • The Rithmatist: Rithmatists are partly random chance, being about 0.1% of the population, and apparently chosen during a religious ceremony. However, to be a good Rithmatist you need to be good at freehand geometric drawing in order to make strong lines of power, and a talented artist in order to make useful chalklings.
  • The Cosmere:
    • In Elantris, the titular Elantrians are Randomly Gifted. The magical process known as the Shaod transforms ordinary humans into Elantrians pretty much at random. The child of an Elantrian is not necessarily one himself. The same universe also features the Dakhor (Cult Theurgists who gain powers via sacrifice to their God), ChayShan (monk-style system that is a picture-perfect Kung-Fu Wizard), and Forgers (a weird combination of Scholar and Artist that rewrite an object's past along artistic principles via intricate runes).
    • In Mistborn mages literally are aristocrats — the noble families are the descendants of the Lord Ruler's handpicked allies who were given nuggets of Lerasium, making them Mistborn. These houses remain noble because there's a chance an allomancer will be born in their bloodline, while it should be impossible for the slave race of skaa. Any skaa who shows allomantic abilities has a noble somewhere in their ancestry, though there's been enough interbreeding that allomancer skaa aren't significantly more rare than among the nobles. Mistings and Mistborn also need to regularly consume metals to fuel their powers, making them a combination of a Race, Mutants, and Chemists. Feruchemists are also a Race, but Gadget Users instead of Chemists. Hemalurgy can be used by anyone with the knowledge of where to insert the spikes and done to anyone, making it a mix of Scholarly and Mutant magery.
    • In The Stormlight Archive, Surgebinders are a strange sort of priest-like mage. They gain power by wholeheartedly embracing the Ideals of the Knights Radiant, thus forging a bond with a spren (a sort of refined, self-aware idea) and gaining a Shardblade and power over two of the ten forces of nature.
    • In Warbreaker mages are scholars; every person has a Breath from birth, but you need a lot of Breaths to do anything significant. Basically, everyone is born with 1 Mana Point, but Breaths can be transferred between people. Magic is treated like a science, where mages are still trying to figure out all the rules to make a successful spell, why certain spells cost more Breath than others, and, given how scarce they are, the way to use Breaths more efficiently.
• Malessar's Curs: The warlocks' magic powers depend on their patron god.
• Second Apocalypse: Sorcery is a combination of learning and innate ability.
  • Sorcery can only be learned by some humans, called the Few. Sorcerers are scholars, and the ability to use magic can be learned and taught. All sorcerers belong to one of several rival schools of sorcery, each with their own slightly different specialization. Those who practice magic outside of a school are called wizards and generally get hunted down by the schools.
  • The Nonmen invented sorcery, and a large percentage of their population are sorcerers, though they do not belong to schools. All magical cants use their language.
  • After the Inchoroi arrived from the stars, they modified their genetics using their Organic Technology to gain the ability to use magic, which they tricked the Nonmen into teaching them.
• In Shadow of the Conqueror, Sunforgers are Gadget Users, making use of the setting's natural Phlebotinum to craft both technology and enchanted items called sunucles, which enhance the item's natural properties. (Swords cut through nearly anything, cloaks deflect the rain, boots grip any surface, etc.) Lightbringers are Clerics who dedicate their lives to doing good and helping others, receiving their abilities directly from the Light: the lighting and healing abilities common to all Lightbringers, as well as two powers that vary by individual, such as telekinesis or matter creation. Lightbinders are Mutants who underdo a ritual called the Vigil and make an oath to fight evil as an Archknight, receiving one of two power sets. The first, called Lifebinders, can channel Light to augment any of their traits, including things like intellect or perception. The other type of Lightbinder, Worldbinders, gain Combo Platter Powers that affect the external world, like gravity manipulation or lightning storms. Lightblaring is an evil type of magic, granted when an individual is exposed to darkness for too long and becomes one of the Shade, mutating into a monster with darkness-themed abilities. At least some of the morality associated with the magic types isn't as clear-cut as it appears, as the protagonist, a Retired Monster, finds a way to gain Lightbinding abilities without making an oath to fight evil, a very dangerous secret that the Archknights are determined to keep hidden.
• In Slayers, magic power is a combination of lottery and scholarship. To be a mage, you have to have both natural talent ("bucket" and "pool" capacity for magical power) and a mind to study and master the magical science. Gourry Gabriev, for example, has the magical talents but lacks the mental capacity to master magic, which makes him a muggle.
• A Song of Ice and Fire:
  • The magic performed by the Red Priests of R'hllor veers close to the Cultist category, as it's implied their considerable power comes from allegiance to the Red God. Some, though, such as the shadowbinder Melisandre, come with their own abilities of varying origin.
  • Skinchangers are more random, as it's mentioned that only one person in a thousand is born as one. There's also slight hereditary there somewhere, as having the blood of the First Men allegedly makes it more likely to become on. The series' six Stark siblings, for instance, are all skinchangers.
  • The Alchemist's Guild in King's Landing are likely chemists and scholars, as while their practice is rooted in science, they draw upon plenty of ancient knowledge.
  • The sorcerers of Qarth draw their magic from unknown sources, but drink Shade of the Evening, a type of psychotropic drug, to better understand the mysteries of sorcery.
• The Sword of Truth:
  • Most wizards and sorceresses are a Race and Lottery Winners but learn their powers like Scholars. The gift is sometimes inherited from one's ancestors (less and less common ever since a major magical disruption 3,000 years ago), and sometimes, it seems, pops on its own (there used to be a time when nearly everyone was a wizard, so there isn't much difference). However, it is possible for a wizard to take an apprentice without a gift, and teach him to use magic, with the process probably using some magical procedures (Mutants). The wizards trained that way are, apparently, considerably less capable. Subtractive magic is also Theurgic, as it requires a Deal with the Devil unless the wizard is born with the most powerful gift, that of the war wizard. War wizards and prophets are wizards with extra powers, even more rare than the less powerful kind.
  • Creatures of magic gain their powers through various, unique means. Most are Mutants (created by ancient wizards using lost magical techniques) and a Race (passing it down to their children with rates of inheritance between 1% and 100%). Dreamwalkers and Sorcerers are also Lottery Winners, with one of each being born to no magical parentage after 3,000 years. Mord-Sith and Slides are purely Mutants, but the processes of becoming one are both a Fate Worse than Death.
  • Constructed magic is invested in items and can be used to some degree by anyone (Gadget Users). Certain people are better at using the items than others, especially with the Sword of Truth, which only grants all of its powers to a true Seeker. The cave paintings in Tamarang overlap with Artists, as it requires at least a rudimentary skill in drawing and takes longer to learn with less apt pupils, like Violet.
• Magic in Tairen Soul is usually racial, as one's potential magic power is determined by how much blood of the magical races the user possesses (Tairen, Fey, Elvian, Feraz, Eld, etcetera), and how strong their individual bloodlines are. Elden Magery and Feraz Witchcraft overlap with Scholar types, as the former requires extensive study and knowledge, while even a mortal can use certain witchspells with the right incantations. The briefly seen Danael and Drogan magic seem to be Naturalists and Gadget Users respectively, with the former heavy on spirits and the latter on Blood Magic and Human Sacrifice. Hearth witches and hedge wizards are Mutants, gaining lesser magical gifts from being exposed to strong magic in areas where magical battles took place. Also, the last book reveals that most of the magical races originated as the descendants of mortals exposed to powerful Tairen magic.
• Whateley Universe: Being an All Myths Are True Superhero School / Lovecraft Lite series, most of the variations appear in the series; anyone can learn magic if they apply themselves to collecting Essence and learning spells, but very few have the focus to hold onto enough Essence to make it worthwhile.
  • The majority of mages are Mutants, either still human or of one or another Fae variety, but since the Wizard mutant trait only makes gathering Essence easier, they still need extensive training to make their powers useful. Other mutant traits such as Avatar can have magical consequences but not necessarily magical spellcasting, while there seems to be a vague connection between Devising and Alchemy which is debated among the instructors at Whateley Academy. A similar connection exists between magic and Ki Manipulation, but just what that connection is isn't clear.
  • Theurgists are uncommon but not unknown, both of the ritualistic and mutant Avatar types, and there are a handful of Lottery Winner 'super-sorcerers' who not only get magical powers but can somehow avoid most of the limitations and burdens of magic.
  • Gadget Users of both the magical and Mad Science varieties are fairly common (and occasionally there is some overlap despite the difficulties in Technomancy), especially as lieutenants of supervillains.
  • Chemist and Scholar type mages tend to look down on most of the other types as being ignorant children only playing at magic.
• The Wheel of Time uses nearly all of the above.
  • Race, Artist, Monk — Channelers. The talent is hereditary; very few people are born with the ability to channel the One Power, and the book's timeline describes the ritual practice of gentling the potentially insane men who can channel has been accidentally culling the ability out of the general population. Those who have the talent (with the exception of a very few prodigies) must be taught how to channel the One Power, and all traditions of channeling typically require practice, training, meditation and mental discipline to do it safely. And channeling for a particular effect also requires the knowledge of how to 'weave' together the elemental threads of the One Power, and the creativity to alter those weaves to produce a desired spell.
  • Gadget Users — Ter'angreal. Usually associated with channelers, some ter'angreal are magical devices that anyone can use if they know how (this was especially prevalent in the video game).
  • Lottery Winners — Viewings. Only one character in the entirety of the series possesses the ability to 'View' images and auras around certain people that are tied to some prophetic interpretation. Even those interpretations are seemingly random, as the character herself doesn't always know what the images mean, but when she does know it always comes true.
  • Naturalists — Wolfbrothers. Not much is known about how this ability comes into being, save that wolves themselves are able to tell, and seemingly help along the process.
  • Artists, Lottery Winners - Dreamwalkers. Often goes hand-in-hand with channeling, but is not necessary for it. Dreamwalkers have some prophetic powers, and the ability to consciously enter into the World of Dreams and manipulate the reality there.
  • Theurgy — Friends of the Dark. Some high-ranking darkfriends are granted special abilities by the Dark One to serve his will, and the highest among them can directly access and channel his malevolence into spells.
  • Mutants — Mashadar, the remains of an ancient and corrupting evil that spreads hate and mistrust through its avatar.
  • Gods — The Aelfinn and the Eelfinn
• The Witch of Knightcharm: Magicians in this story include almost all of the above types. The potion-master Bahar, for instance, seems to be a chemist type, while the protagonist Emily is a programmer who is skilled at 'seeing' exactly how threads of magic comprise a spell and can precisely weave her own magic to do the things she wants.
• The Witcher: Magic is something you need a natural talent for (Lottery Winner and Race, it can show up randomly or be inherited), but to control it you need practice and knowledge (a beginner has to master the gestures and similar technicalities like an Athlete, past this stage it's Scholar all the way through). Yennefer describes it as both an art and a science. They tend to behave more than a bit like socialites though. Priests and druids seem to function roughly like Theurgists and Naturalists respectively, although wizards believe they're actually Monks plus some self-delusion.
• Builders in The Young Ancients are like Monks, Programmers, and Chemists, but most of all like Gadget Users. The skill of magic is, through intense discipline and a meditative trance state (Monks) create a field in which the laws of physics work a bit differently. The more you understand physics and chemistry, the more options you have for telling the universe how you want it to behave (Chemists) while the process itself is described much like programming the universe on a quantum level. Of course, spending hours meditating to get a momentary field that fails the moment the Builder is distracted is inefficient, so the most common practice is to build fields into objects (anything will do, but usually a small metal plate or talisman with a distinctive sigil is used) that anyone can activate by tapping and willing it so. Thus Builders are first and foremost producers of magic devices for the use of all.
• The Speech in the Young Wizards universe is essentially a programming language for reality; spells are instructions and/or equations in The Speech and wizards are like the IT staff for the Universe who "know the little noises it makes every day when it's running. And where to kick it to make them stop." When they need spells at all, that is. Because The Speech is the foundation for all languages, wizards can hold conversations with just about anything animal, vegetable, mineral, and beyond; many of their day-to-day feats can be accomplished through persuasion and a small investment of their personal energy.

Live-Action TV

• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: The Stranger is revealed at the end of the Season 1 to be one of the Istari, wizard-like Maiar. He has Elemental Powers. The other Maia is Sauron, whose specialties are shapeshifting and Mind Rape illusions.

Tabletop Games

• In Ars Magica, magi are lottery-winner scholars. A magus must be born with the Gift (which is completely random) but then he will spend years of his life in a Hermetic lab developing new spells or seeking out a means of rewriting the rules of magic. This paradigm applies to most non-Hermetic wizards in the setting as well.
• Dungeons & Dragons:
  • Divine spellcasters, particularly clerics and paladins, gain their abilities through allegiance to supernatural forces. This is usually a deity, although archfiends can grant spells in some settings, and other setting such as Greyhawk follow Clap Your Hands If You Believe by allowing them to give their allegiance to a non-personified force such as Order. Divine spellcasters can also lose their powers by acting contrary to their oaths. Druids flavour it with nature, with varying degrees of how much they are allowed to draw power from faith in nature alone.
  • Wizards, and sometimes bards, are scholars who learn magic through study. They carry spellbooks that they study from and add new spells to.
  • Sorcerers, and sometimes bards, have magical abilities in the blood. They do not require spellbooks, but can only gain the ability to cast a limited selection of spells.
  • Warlocks are people who have entered pacts with various greater beings, serving them in exchange for power. These greater beings can include the aforementioned archfey and fiend, the lovecraftian Great Old One, and the divine Celestial.
  • The aforementioned classes are the most common, but over the various editions there have been many others with their own quirks — often as mages are like x by way of mages are like scholars (for example, artificers gained their magical abilities through study, but rather than cast spells they enchanted their items with temporary magic turning them into a gadget user, while archivists were priests and fundamentally cast their spells through faith, but approached it in a scholarly, experimental fashion).
• Fellowship has the Harbinger playbook, who has more in common with Gandalf the Grey than your typical fantasy RPG wizard. The Harbinger is a sage and soothsayer who wields powerful but dangerous magic and joins the Fellowship to avert the end of days threatened by the Overlord. They have a unique core stat, Doom, that allows them to Finish opponents with luck or fate, and they have spells with a variety of simple effects or a big, flashy magical attack that takes a lot out of them. Variants include Angelic Remnants (who can "read the prophecies" on someone to get info without speaking directly to them), Blind Prophets (who can use their second sight to see right through walls, or through the eyes of others), Principled Academia (who can conduct powerful rituals with the help of their Spell Book), and Servants of the Dark (a former minion of the Overlord with great destructive power).
• Ironclaw:
  • Scholars: Elementalists, Green and Purple mages, and especially Thaumaturgists learn magic through intensive study, while Most Clerics of S'Allumer aren't actually channeling the divine so much as using their own power to cast spells recorded in the holy scriptures centuries ago. The possible exception is the Sacerdotal prayers in the oldest, untranslated, editions.
  • Cultists: Druids and Blessed Priestesses of Lutara make pacts with nature spirits to cast their spells, while Necromancers enslave the restless dead to wield immense power. However some Druid spells, all Blessed weapon spells, and every single Necromantic spell carries a risk of the spirits breaking free and doing other stuff when three sixes are rolled.
• Magic: The Gathering, being around for over three decades and offering a potentially infinite variety of settings, has employed a lot of takes on this. While the basis of magic (the five colors of mana, acquired from bonding with the land) is the same, how it's practised varies immensely, from mages born with inherent powers to those that channel divine entities. Notably, one early work compares magicians to musicians, in that everyone can play a note, but only a few can create a song.
• Talislanta has several different schools of magic, such as aquamancy, cartomancy, spellweaving, technomancy, and thaumaturgy. In the 3rd edition, there were two dozen different types of magic, although that list was considerably shortened in later editions.
• Old World of Darkness:
  • Obviously, Mage: The Ascension, which focuses on Awakened Mages, who are somewhere between lottery winners, programmers, and monks, as they have an innate ability to alter reality but still rely on cultural and/or technological stylings as a focus (their "Paradigm"), which may paint them as various Traditions: an athlete/monk (the Akashic Brotherhood), gadget user (Sons of Ether), naturalist (Verbena), priest (the Celestial Chorus), and many others. Their biggest weakness is Paradox: altering reality beyond what is accepted as natural (especially in the presence of muggles), which results in reality biting back and physically harming the mage in question. A clever Mage knows how to work around Paradox and mask their magic as everyday occurrences ("Coincidence").
  • Also from Mage, sorcerers are magic users who lack innate ability and can only work magic through old-fashioned, well-established spells and rituals ("hedge magic" as opposed to mages' True Magick). They're not as potent as mages, as mages can eventually graduate beyond needing magical foci while sorcerers cannot, but they're also not vulnerable to Paradox since they're "staying in their lane" by reality's standards.
  • In Vampire: The Masquerade, several clans are known for their sorcery. Blood magic which is functionally similar to hedge magic, but souped-up on vampire blood. The sorcerous clans are either scholars like the Tremere or theurgists like the Baali.
  • In Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Garou born under the crescent moon are Theurges, who are the shamans of Garou society. They don't have access to any special sorcery, as any Garou can learn to perform Rites with good reason, but Theurges are expected to specialize in this area. Since shamanism is a central theme of the game, most of the non-Garou shapeshifters have a Theurge-equivalent among their ranks as well. Shifters are also capable of learning human hedge magic, though it's rare and limited to only the most mystical-minded tribes (rarer still is the Storyteller who allows it, since reeks of Special Snowflake Syndrome).
• Warhammer 40,000:
  • Most races have access to psykers, which are, broadly speaking, like theurgists in that they draw power from a greater source. Psykers are individuals who draw power (usually from the Warp) for a variety of effects. In the weird Science Fantasy setting of 40K, psychic powers are treated more as magic, rather than as traditional Sci-Fi psychic powers. Without discipline, training, or sheer strength of will, psykers who draw from the Warp are prone to its influences. This can include insanity, mutation, possession, and even damnation.
  • The Eldar, who are like monks, all have psychic potential which is suppressed through rigorous discipline unless they join the Path of the Seer, where they use a training system that relies on discipline and focus to cultivate their potential. The Farseers and Warlocks are revered as advisors, leaders, and invaluable battlefield support.
  • With humans, psykers are like lottery winners (except it's a Lottery of Doom for most of them) in that being born with the psyker mutation is left to random chance, though environmental factors can influence it. Humans don't have a widespread support system in place, which is because and partly the reason for the way that humans view psykers with superstition and justifiable but not-always-sympathetic fear. The various human organizations will sometimes try to recruit unsanctioned psykers for nefarious purposes, or more often outright kill them or try to capture them to hand them over to the Adeptus Telepathica for evaluation, and in the best case, sanctioning and training for service to the Imperium.
    • Unique to humans are also the Untouchables, who null out any psychic powers around them. Harmless on their own, but their power is a tremendous utility used by the Inquisition when they can get their hands on one, and they are congregated and militarily trained as one of the Sisters of Silence, one of the more obscure military services of the Imperium who crew the Black Ships that transport psykers to Terra for evaluation and indoctrination/recycling, or as a superhuman specialist assassin by the Officio Assasinorum, and there's an instance of one being raised up to an Astartes who acts as cryptkeeper for the otherwise all-psyker Grey Knights.
  • Orks generate a passive psychic field which ramps up with numbers or violence, and its effects influences the world around them (it helps their ramshackle technology work, makes red paint makes things "go fasta") and makes them immune to the effects of the Warp. Weirdboyz, active psykers who draw from this field for their powers, are like lottery winners (like human psykers, they don't like it since for works, it manifests as a massive splitting headache that ends with the release of semi-controlled psychic energy).
  • Even the most humble Tyranids contribute to their Hive Mind which forms a higher consciousness and acts as their deity. Active psykers are bioengineered and purpose-built to draw power from the Hive Mind for psychic support on the battlefield and to telepathically connect the Nids to the Hive Mind for on-the-ground coordination.
  • There's also sorcery, whose users are like scholars and theurgists to an even greater extent. Sorcery is used particularly by the forces of Chaos and some radical Inquisitors. While the line between sorcery and regular psychic powers is hazy at best, the common theme seems to be that sorcery willingly draws from the worst elements of the Warp, emphasizes ritual magic, and/or requires forbidden knowledge of the Warp. Most sorcerers are also psykers, although it doesn't appear to be a requirement.
• Warhammer Fantasy: Wizards are a major part of the game, and typically derive their power, either directly or at several removes, from the Realm of Chaos. Generally, wizards derive their power from the Winds of Magic, and draw on magical energy within their environment to cast spells; when this is exhausted, no more magic can be cast until the Winds build up again.
  • Most wizards harness the eight colored winds, created when the power of Chaos splits apart on entering the material world, each of which is aligned with a specific set of themes such as fire and emotions, the sky and knowledge, and so on. Wizards can attune themselves to specific winds, which allows them to channel it in order to cast spells and create magical effects. This method of spellecasting is available to all races and species, although most wizards can only attune themselves to one without burning out their souls or turning themselves into living gate to the realm of Chaos; only magically-attuned species such as the Elves or Slann can harness multiple winds at once.
  • Powerful deities can also generate their own unique lores of magic, which they can then grant to their followers; mechanically, these work the same way as the "natural" lores do, but are unique to a single faction each.

Video Games

• Culdcept: Cepters are a variant of scholars. Their powers come from cards that are pages of the Book of Creation, which are found scattered throughout the world (or, of course, in the hands of other Cepters).
• Mages in Dark Souls all attain their power through study. It is suggested that anyone may become a mage, if they're willing to put the effort in. The different schools of magic each have different requirements though: Miracles are done by studying stories (generally religious ones), and putting one's faith in that story to produce the magic effect; the more faithful one is, the more powerful the Miracle. Sorcery is done through more "scientific" study, is believed to draw on one's own soul for its power, and is strengthened by one's intelligence. Pyromancy manipulates one's "inner fire" and is closely related to the magic flames in the series, and requires no investment in stats to use (except in the third game, where it requires a bit of both faith and intelligence); pyromancy's power is tied to the power of its catalyst, which can be strengthened through reinforcement.
• Dishonored:
  • Mutants: The safest and surest way to magical power is to be marked by the Outsider. The Outsider's mark allows the user to unlock supernatural abilities by collecting runes carved from whalebone and inscribed with the same symbol, and the individuals thus marked are a very exclusive club, to the point where only eight people in the entire world bore it at the time of the first game.
  • Theurgists: All magic has a heavily Cultist element to it, with runes often being found at shrines raised to the Outsider, all magical energy drawn from the Void, and many who seek magical power worshipping the Outsider outright. The Outsider displays indifference and sometimes distaste towards the people who try to contact him this way, and those who try often end up with nightmares at best and insanity/death at worst.
  • Artists: Delilah Copperspoon, an artist before she was marked by the Outsider, achieves unique magical effects (such as creating portals to the Void or a Grand Theft Me ritual) by including paintings in her rituals.
  • Chemists: Intricate rituals can be performed (often with Eye of Newt requirements) to craft runes, or as part of the aforementioned attempts at contacting the Outsider. One of Delilah's paintings also makes heavy use of Sympathetic Magic, gathering items related to her target to craft the canvas and brushes.
  • Gadget Users: Whalebone can also be used to create bone charms, which give passive benefits (ranging from preventing pregnancies to enhancing magical power) to anyone who wears them. The Outsider will also occasionally gift Clock Punk Magitek devices to his favorite people, including a Soul Jar Heart that locates runes or bone charms, and a Timepiece that can take advantage of the time-distortion in an Eldritch Location.
• Dragon Age is a weird case that mixes the Aristocrats and the Lottery Winners subtypes: magical abilities tend to run in the family, but mages are born into muggle families, as well, seemingly at random. Also, mages are kept isolated by force in most societies due to the fact that they are prone to getting possessed by demons.
• In The Elder Scrolls universe, there are several types of "mages" who utilize magic in different ways, and these types of mages are not inherently mutually exclusive. Generally speaking, there are four main ways to utilize magic, each with its own sect of users:
  • Mundus, the mortal plane, has a Background Magic Field. Magicka) flows in from Aetherius, visible as nebulae in the night sky. It flows through the sun and stars, which are actually holes punctured in reality by escaping spirits (Magnus and the Magna-Ge) during the creation of the world. Any mortal on Mundus is capable of tapping into this Magicka field, with some races and species more naturally adept at it than others. Many civilian NPCs will know a low-level utility spell or two, and even a relatively Magically Inept Fighter who doesn't develop their magical stats can benefit from same. Those who choose to do so may take the scholarly pursuit of studying magic, where increasing their knowledge also increases their magical prowess. Tamriel has a number of Magical Societies and Wizarding Schools which train members/students in the use of magic. For this type of mage, there are a number of "school of magic" specializations as well. Though the exact breakdown varies from game to game (along with the spells classified within), the primary schools of magic are Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, Mysticism (a class of spells which alters the nature of magic itself, such as Anti-Magic and Mana Drain type spells, as well as Warp Whistle and Soul Trap type spells), and Restoration.
  • The natural substances of the world also have inherent magical properties. When ingested individually, they release trace amounts of these properties. Alchemists, essentially fantastic chemists, mix these ingredients to bring out and intensify their inherent magical properties. This requires neither a natural gift nor even aptitude in the schools of magic. These Alchemists brew potions and poisons with wide-ranging effects using this knowledge.
  • Items ranging from weapons and armor to clothing and jewelry can be imbued with magical power by utilizing Soul Power. Souls of creatures, monsters, and lesser Daedra (as well as those of sapient mortals under certain circumstances) can be trapped in special soul gems by using the Soul Trap spell of the aforementioned Mysticism school (sometimes classed under Conjuration instead). Once trapped, Enchanters can bind the souls to items along with a spell (or spells), imbuing the item with the chosen spell(s). The enchanted items in question will eventually be drained through use but can be recharged with additional filled soul gems. Anyone can use these enchanted items, though skilled Enchanters can create better items and get more use out of them than novices.
  • Another category of "mage" goes beyond using standard Magicka, becoming a Programmer variant. To use extremely esoteric "lore speak", the universe the series takes place in was created using metaphysical "tonal architecture". Many beings and races throughout the backstory have discovered ways to alter these "tones", creating all sorts of reality warping effects by abusing the loopholes in reality. To note a few prominent examples:
    • The Dwemer were (in)famous for doing this. Essentially, they used a form of Magic Music to alter the tonal architecture of the "Earthbones", essentially the laws of nature and physics which are required for the world to function. One of their most famous uses for this ability was the Ragnarök Proofing of their creations, ensuring that they would last in working order for eons. Other uses included constructing magical Humongous Mecha, a Weather-Control Machine, and a machine capable of safely reading an Elder Scroll while bypassing the usual nasty side effects. When the Dwemer discovered the still-beating Heart of Lorkhan, the "dead" creator god, they attempted to tap into its power in hopes of creating a new god - Anumidium (or "Walk-Brass"). They intended to use it to transcend mortality, but something went awry, causing the entire Dwemer race to disappear from all known planes of existence in a single instant.
    • The Psijic Order, a powerful Magical Society and the oldest monastic order in Tamriel, is another group believed to be capable of this. It is believed that the abilities of the Psijics come from their manipulation of nature itself ("The Old Ways") rather than through the application of Magicka, like standard magic. However, the end result is largely the same. Still, the Psijics are capable of performing this in ways (and on a scale) that no other extant group in Tamriel is capable.
    • Dragons are a divine species with immortal Aedric souls, to whom their Language of Magic (referred to as the "Thu'um" by mortals) is so intrinsic to their very beings that it gives them a small scale reality-warping effect. Using the Thu'um, dragons can command elements into existence. While it make look like a dragon is, for example, breathing fire, the dragon is actually channeling magical energy through his words to create fire. When the dragons came to dominate early mankind, mankind prayed to the Divines for aid. Their prayers were answered when they were taught to use the Thu'um themselves against the dragons. While any mortal can learn to use the Thu'um through study, it comes naturally to one who are Dragonborn, special mortals born with the Aedric soul of dragon. Being Dragonborn apparently can be hereditary, as Tiber Septim's descendants were Dragonborn, but not always.
    • Achieving CHIM, essentially realizing that everything, including yourself, is just a dream of the Godhead but having the mental fortitude to exist as one with it, grants this ability. Only two beings in history are believed to have achieved it — the Chimeri/Dunmeri Tribunal deity Vivec and (Mind Screw warning) the being known variously as (some or all of) Tiber Septim/Talos of Atmora/Hjalti Early-Beard/Zurin Arctus/Wulfharth Ash-King. Following the death of Tiber Septim, founder of the Third Tamrielic Empire, though an unknown but hotly debated means possibly involving the Numidium and/or the spirit of Lorkhan, the Deity of Human Origin known as Talos came to be the Ninth Aedric Divine. Talos then (allegedly) used this power to change Cyrodiil from a jungle to a temperate grassland, a change that was retroactive, essentially making it so Cyrodiil had always been a temperate grassland. As well as achieving CHIM, Septim was also Dragonborn, giving him natural use of the Thu'um, and used the Numidium in his conquests. Taking all of that into account, it's not surprising that he was able to conquer all of Tamriel. Beyond CHIM supposedly lie two other states of being: Amaranth and Zero-Sum. Achieving Amaranth means that one exits the dream of the Godhead to create his own reality, while Zero-Sum occurs when one fails to maintain his individuality upon realizing the dream, fading into it and ceasing to exist.
• In Elsword, Aisha's three job branches turn her into different kinds of mages:
  • Elemental Master has her study and train hard to master elemental magic; a mix of athlete and scholar.
  • Void Princess is her making a contract with a demon to access dark magic; said demon gives her an outfit that lets her wield dark magic. A cultist mage, combined with gadget user.
  • Dimension Witch uses magical artifacts and enchanted stones that are the source of her space and time magic; a gadget user, with some touches of scholar (she studies how she can apply said magic).
• In Final Fantasy VI, Magicite makes "mutant" mages, eventually granting Esper's spells to the person that holds it for a given time. Technically, the original Espers were created in a similar way, as they used to be normal people that were altered by being caught in a crossfire between The Warring Triad.
• In Final Fantasy VIII the Sorceresses are like a Race, being genetically compatible women who inherit the ability to use magic when a fellow sorceress passes her powers upon death. Other humans can use a lesser form of magic called Para Magic which can be used by anyone by a process of controlling energy or by Junctioning a Guardian Force making their abilities closer to mutants.
• Fire Emblem: Mages are like scholars. Most games describe tomes as simply a weapon type that you would train to use in an academic setting rather than a physical one. Anyone could use magic as much as anyone could use a sword. Further the tomes are often in ancient tongues or sources of other arcane wisdom, and the most powerful mages are typically scholars or Really 700 Years Old so they have had time to learn more about magic. Though some people have natural aptitude for using magic well, it's also incredibly rare to meet someone who can use magic innately without the use of books, staves, or other tools.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • Gadget Users: Link's most prominent way of utilizing magic across the games is through magical weapons and items. Usually, they draw upon Link's Magic Meter, but others have a set number of uses, especially in Breath of the Wild.
  • Chemists: Potions can be made, usually from the remains of monsters, with various effects—such as healing the user or restoring magic.
  • Artists: Magic Music features prominently in several games, with the magic taking effect when a particular song is played, often with special instruments like the Ocarina of Time. A Link Between Worlds also introduces a form of magic based on painting.
  • Gods/Mutants/Theurgists: If Link wields outright magic without items, it tends to be as a result of it being bestowed on him by some magical being, such as fairies or spirits. The ultimate example of this kind of magic is the Triforce, which was left by the three goddesses who created Hyrule and bestows near omnipotence on whoever can assemble all three parts.
  • Race: Certain beings are naturally more inclined to magic than others, most notably the Hylians themselves. The original Japanese manual of A Link to the Past explains that they were given these abilities when they were chosen by the gods, whereas the English localization instead attributes it to their "magic-infused blood."
  • Scholars: In Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Link is taught spells by elderly wizards in the towns he visits, an unusual outlier for the series.
• In LOOM, magicians are basically artisans who belong to hereditary guilds. Some guilds have reached such a sophistication in their craft that it has become magic: Weavers have transcended material cloth and weave patterns in the very fabric of the universe, while Glassmakers can make scrying spheres and teleportation devices. Weavers' magic is depicted as Magic Music with weaving terms (thread, pattern) substituted for musical terminology.
• Minecraft mods: Thaumcraft 4 thaumaturges are scholars, researching the techniques for making magic wands, tools, devices, and minions, which they craft using collected magical energy and the refined essence of items.

Visual Novels

• In the Nasuverse, mages are commonly hereditary. Most magi families pass their magic circuits from generation to generation, and in the case of having more than one child, is not uncommon for them to either send them to other houses or keep them out of the loop.
• In Umineko: When They Cry, witches are cast-off aspects of people that gain tremendous power over reality, usually associated with a territory; but stronger witches' territories are subjective to their current location, therefore making them "voyager" witches and impossibly powerful- like Gods and Goddesses, though they share some traits with old-school fairies.

Web Animation

• Dreamscape: Magical powers are usually just inherited, but you can also just straight-up learn how to use magic like Melissa did, as she reveals in a flashback in "Confronting the Dark".

Web Comics

• Code Name: Hunter: Magic requires strong "essence" (willpower, faith, conviction, etc). However, even among those with strong essence, only a rare few actually get magical talent, apparently at random. Of note, mages are powered by the aggregate essence of their entire culture, so a nation full of happy, productive, empowered citizens (like most first-world countries) has much more magical potential than a nation of downtrodden peasants like Astoria.
• Daughter of the Lilies:
  • Mages are individuals who learn to manipulate the magical energy that naturally exists in everything. Everybody has some innate magic and the potential to manipulate it; mages are simply individuals who have taken time to train in and improve this ability. Mage powers draw from a "Core" of magic in the body, which is finite but refills over time; not everybody has equal amounts of stored energy. The mage Thistle compares this form magic use to a martial art, where the amount of raw energy present within you isn't as important as precision, control and skill.
  • Wizards are their own distinct thing. There are only seven wizards alive at any given time, and they significantly outclass mages in power; the wizard Master Wu, for instance, is able to effortlessly solo a demon that two experienced mages nearly died stalling. Wizardry is also implied to be capable of tasks that are impossible using regular magic. Not a great deal of detail is given about how wizards come into being, but it's stated that they're "chosen" by something.
• Grrl Power: Most human mages are Scholars, Cultists, or Gadget Users, but Krona stands out as being very explicitly a Programmer. There are also several non-human mages around as well, including Vampires, Werefolk, Angels, Demons, and the quasi-demonic Succubi.
• El Goonish Shive is a mixed case: "The most common form of magic in EGS is powered by spiritual energy from the spell caster. This energy can be innate, obtained, and/or enhanced via training. Power alone isn't enough to cast spells. One must train in a specific fashion to obtain access to their spells, or have the power awakened within them by being that are capable of such things."
  • There are three levels of magical access. Most people are "sleeping", and have no access to magic. Those who are fully "awakened" will continue to get new spells, customized to reflect their desires and personalities, as long as they continue to use magic. In between the two is "dreaming", which is an umbrella term for anyone who has access to some form of magic without being fully Awakened.
  • There are also wizards, who are born as such, the ability being genetic. They can Awaken just the same as a normal magic user, but have the ability to learn the spells others get after doing so. Examples include Mr. Verres, Tedd's mother, Agent Wolf, and Ashley.
  • Seers, like Tedd, his half-brother, and Arthur, are a special kind of wizard with a Magic Wand making focus, have Aura Vision regarding magic, and decent Anti-Magic.
  • Of the latest arc, it appears that it is possible to make wizards artificially.
• Homestuck: The main characters all have titles that determine what their powers are. These are composed of an Aspect, one of twelve fundamental forces of reality, and a Class, which determines how they will use their Aspect. The Mage is one of these Classes. Unfortunately, it's the Class we know the least about, so what they actually do with their Aspect is unknown.
• Stand Still, Stay Silent: "Mage" is the term for any person living in the post-apocalypse that was born with magic, which only started happening after the end of the world. Broadly speaking, mages are divided into two categories, based on where they were born and what powers they have;
  • Finnish mages, or Noita, can command the elements through the power of nature spirits, gods and their own animal spirit, or luonto. They perform verbal spells called runo, and work on protecting the few Finnish communities that remain. Noita can also sense the souls of trolls and beasts, and guiding those souls to the afterlife is among their duties. Of the main characters, Lalli and Onni are finnish mages.
  • Icelandic mages, or Seiðkona (female) and Seiðkarl (male), can be born in both Iceland and Norway, though Norway lacks a formalized training institution, and their mages are trained in Iceland. They deal more in dream visions but can draw magical symbols known as galdrastafur that can be used for combat, to ward of dangerous creatures or as simple aid in everyday life. Icelandic mages attribute their magic to the gods Oðinn and Freyja. Among the main characters, Reynir is an Icelandic mage but lacks training.
  • Halfway through adventure I, Reynir and Onni encounter Pastor Anne, a Lutheran priest and old world mage. While she had no powers she knew of in life (possibly due to living before the apocalypse), she lingered on as a spirit even after her body had fully succumbed to the plague. In this state, she can effortlessly fend off the attacks of a hostile Mind Hive and guides them onwards to Heaven. She, of course, attributes this power to the guidance of her God.

Western Animation

• Magic users in Amphibia are Chemists and Gadget Users, either making expendable spells by mixing together ingredients (like Maddie and Barry) or using magical artifacts (Valeriana).
• Avatar: The Last Airbender:
  • Benders are a mix of Racial, Athletes, and Monks: Which element you could possibly bend is hereditary, and for example Aang's (Airbender) and Katara's (Waterbender) children, Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi, are an Airbender, a Waterbender, and formerly a non-bender respectively (the latter became an Airbender come Season 3). On the other hand, since Benders control the elements with physical movements, one's prowess in magic is also determined by the skill of one's master and the amount of basic form training. Lastly, to fully utilize the power of the elements, one needs to understand their philosophical nature (controlling earth can be difficult for someone who lacks determination, whereas wind requires certain flexibility and calmness of mind).
  • The Avatar (who can bend all four elements) is a special case in that they also have traces of Theurgist and Lottery Winner in them: The Avatar's power comes from the spirit of light, Raava, that inhabits their body, and the Avatar has all the knowledge and power of the previous generations of Avatars in their hands. Who gets to wield this power is chosen by Raava alone, so from the point of view of humans this is completely random. Apparently in the first series, the Avatar was the reincarnation of the planet's spirit, like a Gaia type entity without connotations of good or bad, and various official webpages (now lost) reflected this.
• Mages in The Dragon Prince come in two varieties:
  • First, there are Dark Mages, who are a mix of Scholars and Chemists (Dark Magic spells require components to produce a desired effect).
  • The other is Primal Magic. While almost every creature (apart from humans) are born with a connection to a Primal Source — called an arcanum — Primal Mages primarily resemble Monks, in that they have to cultivate a deep mental and spiritual connection to their arcanum, learning to perform complex abilities such as crafting illusions, super-strength, or flight. Mages in Primal Magic are partially also Scholars (in that they have to learn the right runes and draconic words for each spell) as well as Athletes (they have to draw the rune in the air, and often need to physically exert themselves in order for the spell to work).
    Depending on the primal source, mages have different specialties. Moon mages are primarily illusionists, Sun mages are healers, and Sky mages tend to be acrobats and dancers.
• In the animated TV version of Frosty the Snowman Frosty comes to life after a magic top hat is placed on his head. The previous owner of the hat is a bumbling magician who didn't realize the hat had actual magic and spends most of the show trying to get it back.
• The Legend of Vox Machina has many fields covered by the title group: Keyleth is a Naturalist Druid, Scanlan is an Artist with Magic Music summons, and both Pike and Percy are Theurgists, the former a Religious Bruiser following the Everlight, the latter became a gunslinger (thus also qualifying as Gadget User) under influence of a dark spirit.
• The Owl House:
  • Witches and bipedal demons are able to do magic thanks to an actual magic organ attached to their hearts. The bile in this organ helps fuel the casting of magic spells, with a major example being the use of spell circles (with the particular spell being cast being based on thought).
  • Luz stumbles across an older way of doing magic in the same episode that Eda explains this. Writing a special rune down on any object and striking it will allow anyone to cast it, with the object usually destroyed in the process. It later turns out that this works because the Boiling Isles itself assists in fueling spells done this way, as attempting the same thing on Earth or the In Between Realm renders the inscribed object inert.

---