History Main / BackgroundMagicField

* Creator/PiersAnthony's works:
** In ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'', Magic is the result of a "fifth fundamental force", expressed through particles called "magicons". The magicon field of Earth has an effective radius not much larger than Earth itself, so magic cannot travel between planets.
** In the ''Literature/ApprenticeAdept'' series, magic is a natural force generated by Protonite/Phazite, a substance formed in the vicinity of a certain kind of NegativeSpaceWedgie and found abundantly only on Proton/Phaze; the FunctionalMagic itself only works on the Phaze side and where the two worlds overlap. Because the series runs on MagicVersusScience, Protonite (the scientific equivalent) is a [[{{Unobtainium}} very potent source of fuel and energy]], the rarity of which drives the central plot.
* In ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'', while academic mages are able to produce their own spells, ambient mages are able to draw upon and manipulate the magic already inherent in the world. Different ambient mages are attuned to different parts- e.g. Green Mages draw power from plants, 'Stitch Witches' from thread-work and clothes, etc.

* Literature/TheCosmere: Magic comes from a set of 16 beings/collections of energy called Shards. Different shards have different kinds of magic associated with them that are accessed in different ways, but any planet with one or more Shards in residence has a significant magic field.

* In the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series, magic acts much like running water -- always around, but in unequal concentrations. LifeEnergy bleeds off of living things into the background magic field, then collects into {{Ley Line}}s, which meet at [[PlaceOfPower nodes]]. Not only do ley lines run everywhere, but in places where they get muddled, [[WildMagic Bad Things tend to happen]] -- like people and animals mutating, sometimes even overnight. Naturally, the Kingdom of Valdemar backs onto a [[EnchantedForest whole wood full of muddled ley lines and mutated creatures]], one of the remnants of the [[CataclysmBackstory catastrophic war]] that occurred over three thousand years ago.\\\
A mage's ability to tap these sources of power depends on his training and his [[PowerLevels innate potential]]. Apprentice and Journeyman mages limit themselves to their personal power and what they can draw out of the background field, and your local village wizard or hedge-witch will specialize in making effective use of small amounts of power. Master- and Adept-class mages access the ley lines and nodes to produce more impressive effects.\\\
After the ''Mage Storms'' trilogy, as a result of efforts to avert a second [[WorldWreckingWave Cataclysm]], the magic field is reset -- all of the ley lines and nodes are drained, and magic "rains" evenly over the world. The field is still there, but useless for accomplishing any powerful spells until the ley lines reestablish themselves.
-->[Darian] had heard it spoken of as "fog" by Starfall -- sure, there might be enough water in a barn-sized mass of fog, but it did you no good if you wanted a drink of water.

* ''Literature/InCryptid'': ''Spelunking Through Hell'' introduces the concept of the "pneuma", or the [[GeniusLoci soul of a world]], that keeps it alive and can be drawn on for magic power. [[EldritchAbomination The Crossroads]] are an example of a parasitic entity that usurped the Earth's true pneuma.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': The reason why Eric can perform magic on Tariatla and not on Threa, is because the former has one of these and the later does not. Not only does it provide the {{mana}} for spells but it also gives rise to monsters through [[WasOnceAMan mana mutation]] and [[UpLiftedAnimal enables non-human animals to be as intelligent as humans]]. Ceiha, an island nation, is the only place in the world that ''isn't'' covered by this field, and as such, magic is much more difficult there.

* Larry Niven's ''Literature/TheMagicGoesAway'' was about what happens when a world of magic users hit PostPeakOil by ''using up'' their Background Magic Field. One character invents a device that depletes an area of magic (and then signals the completion of its task by EXPLODING!) called the "Warlock's Wheel." (It's a flywheel with two spells on it; "spin faster and faster," and "keep it together." When the out-of-control "spin faster and faster" spell finishes eating up all the area's magic, "keep it together" fails and centrifugal force makes it fly apart.)

* Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''Literature/NightWatchSeries: Last Watch'' reveals that the Power is more complicated than Anton thought. While he knew from the beginning that the Others get their Power from humans, he didn't realize that the level of Power in the world depended on the human/Other ratio. There's a physiological property that each person has, a "magical temperature" of sorts. Most people have a higher magical temperature than the ambient one. Thus, they produce magic and fill the world with it. A small percentage has a lower-than-ambient temperature. They absorb more magic than they produce. Thus, they can manipulate it. They become Others. The lower the temperature, the more powerful the Other. Zero-level Others don't produce any magic and can theoretically absorb any amount of ambient magic and make use of it. This realization allows Anton to defeat the book's BigBad [[spoiler:who teleports into orbit after making himself a zero-level Other and is unable to get any ambient magic before burning up on re-entry]]. When he gives a lesson on the subject in ''School Supervision'' to newly-initiated Others, he explains that the Others will never go into space, at least until sufficiently large offworld colonies are established to allow them to do magic. This is a big letdown to the sizable number of Others who like science fiction.

* ''Literature/TheSagaOfRecluce'' has the [[OrderVersusChaos Order/Chaos Balance]], which can be manipulated by those sensitive to it, but exists in everything and alters the way that the laws of physics and thermodynamics affect ordinary matter, weather and climate, technology, living organisms, and geography in that universe.
* In the ''Sparker book'', there are two kinds of people: kasir and halani. Kasir (magicians) can influence the Background Magic Field through incantations and gestures. However, each spell has byproducts, which can be helpful, useless, or even harmful. Naturally, the kasir developed spells to neutralize the negative byproducts.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has the True Source, a sort of pervasive invisible magic that is available ''almost'' everywhere, except in Ogier steddings and the city of Far Madding, which block access to it through natural phenomena and ancient relics respectively. [[FunctionalMagic Magic itself]], known as the One Power, is channeled from the True Source.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'', the supernatural Mists form the boundaries of the Core, Clusters, and Islands of the world, and likewise manifest within these territories at the whim of the Dark Powers. New lands can congeal from the eerie Mists when a new domain is created, and domains whose darklords have been destroyed may disperse into Mist as if they had never existed.

* Wholly averted in the ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' campaign setting. The world of Athas has no ambient magical energy at all, which means that all magic has to come from a specific source. Divine spellcasters draw upon [[ElementalPowers elemental]] forces. Wizards draw upon the [[LifeEnergy energy]] of plants (and sometimes animals and people) in quantities relative to [[EquivalentExchange how powerful the spell is]], with overuse of said magic being the reason the setting is largely a wasteland. Only [[PsychicPowers psionics]] really come from an undefined source, although they are usually attributed to being an expression of the user's own [[LifeEnergy personal energies]].
* The ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'' setting, however, mostly subverts this. The availability of "primal magic" is directly connected to the amount of Chaos active in the world. The more Order the gods imposed on the world the less available this magic became, until Chaos reasserted itself. Otherwise, [[FunctionalMagic Rule Magic]] powered by energies furnished by the Gods of Magic, embodied in the planet Krynn's three moons, is the primary source of arcane power. While one could technically utilize this system of magic without swearing allegiance to one of the gods, if the gods are absent then this kind of magic [[TheMagicGoesAway does not work]] anymore.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'', the background magical field is extremely stable, especially as compared to worlds like Krynn and Toril. Magic is so reliably [[DungeonPunk abundant]] that that it has actually been [[{{Magitek}} commercialized]]. The nation of Cyre was destroyed mysteriously during ''The Last War,'' and where it once stood, a terrible mist of wild magic now stands, and no one goes in there now except for clans of Warforged, crazy villains, and crazy [=PCs=]. However, this had no effect on the stability of magic beyond Cyre's borders. There are also areas called "manifest zones" where the planet Eberron is magically linked to other planes of existence. In these locales physical laws may become a fusion of both worlds. For example, the [[SkyscraperCity city of Sharn]] stands within a permanent manifest zone that enhances anti-gravity magic and allows for otherwise impossible towers and floating structures.

* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'':
** Magic is derived from the Weave (''or'' the Shadow Weave), which is mostly all-permeating. In wild magic zones it's "snarled" or mildly damaged , and places where it's severely damaged or suppressed are [[AntiMagic dead magic areas]] (both can be repaired, but it's hard). In last tens of centuries it's also rather broken as a whole.
** During the century-advance for the setting to reach 4e, one of the goddesses of magic died, and vast areas of the Realms lie now under a dense area of wild magic, called the Spellplague, that either makes you very, very sick, before mutating into a terrible monster, turns you into a terrible mutated-monster right away, or gives you cool ''spellscars'' that come with interesting powers. In 4e FR, players may optionally be allowed to start with one such scar, and there's a theme (an optional PC element equivalent to a low-level Prestige Class that you get on top of your other class for free, much like Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies in 4e are to Prestige Classes at higher levels) called the ''Spellscarred Harbinger'' that grants multiple spellscars over the course of the first ten levels of play.
** The most powerful forms of magic can raise a ''mythal'': an enchantment that permanently alters the rules of magic in a region. This can [[FieldPowerEffect enhance]] or [[YourMagicsNoGoodHere suppress]] specific forms of magic, grant passive magical abilities to people within, or allow people to cast spells they wouldn't ordinarily have.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'' campaign setting of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', magic is considered to operate this way. While there are gods of magic, they are more defined as deities with supreme knowledge and mastery of magic rather than being the source from which it emanates.

* In ''ComicBook/ToothAndClaw'' the degeneration of the Background Magic Field is what kicks off the plot.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has aether, the lifeforce of the world of Hydaelyn itself. Magic is performed by drawing on aether, while [[SummonMagic primals]] are considered extremely dangerous due to the fact that they draw so much aether to maintain their physical forms, they can possibly drain the planet dry if left unchecked. Red Mages, taking the dangers that come from leaving the planet depleted of aether seriously, forego drawing ambient aether and instead [[CastFromLifespan use the aether in their own bodies]] to cast magic. The ''Endwalker'' expansion added Dynamis, a second type of energy that reacts to emotion; it's very difficult to detect by magical means since it doesn't interact directly with aether, but apparently makes up most of the universe and outer space is full of the stuff (making it basically a magical version of [[OurDarkMatterIsMysterious dark matter]]).

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has aether, the lifeforce of the world of Hydaelyn itself. Magic is performed by drawing on aether, while [[SummonMagic primals]] are considered extremely dangerous due to the fact that they draw so much aether to maintain their physical forms, they can possibly drain the planet dry if left unchecked. Red Mages, taking the dangers that come from leaving the planet depleted of aether seriously, forego drawing ambient aether and instead [[CastFromLifespan use the aether in their own bodies]] to cast magic.

** Some areas on planets are more magically potent than others, as they're where leylines well up or converge. Likewise, some planets are more magically potent than others, with all the Nine Realms being particularly potent, and Earth being one of the most potent in the entire universe. When the raw magical power of the Earth is forced out by an ArcVillain in the sequel ("cracking open the Earth to get to the gooey magical centre" as one character memorably puts it), the results include a worldwide SuperEmpoweringEvent for anyone with a speck of magical potential, downright bizarre reality warping at the epicentre and, as a mere ''side-effect'', terraforming multiple planets, all while empowering two high end PhysicalGod level beings with the power of pantheons (as in, pantheons, plural).

* In ''LightNovel/TheMageWillMasterMagicEfficientlyInHisSecondLife'', Mana serves as this. When it mixes with different things in nature, it can create monsters. Enough of it in one place will spawn a boss.

* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' has had this from the beginning, with a setting's (or potentially even individual location's) "{{mana}} level" directly impacting who can work magic there (if at all) and how difficult it is for them, from "no mana" areas where there is just plain no magic at all to "very high" mana levels where anyone including non-mages can cast any spells they know and mages recover expended energy just about instantly but every ''failure'' is treated as a [[MagicMisfire critical]] one (and an actual critical failure rolled there bids to be truly spectacular). There are even advantages/disadvantages allowing a character to alter the mana level in their immediate area (and yes, they're expensive). The ''Celtic Mythos'' source book also had rules for wonders generated by wild mana levels. Aspected magic and mana are also covered.

* In''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', each person has their own personal pool of magic, however, excess power can be drawn from a Background Magic Field. [[GeometricMagic Magically-closed circles]] will "seal" the enclosed area off from the rest of the Field, limiting the magic that is available to magic-users trapped within (and keeping purely magical beings from crossing in or out), but allowing for delicate spellwork that would otherwise be disrupted by background energies. Magic energy will instantaneously flow back into the sealed area as soon as the circle is broken.

* In the ''Videogame/{{Undertale}}'' FanFic [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/Visiontale Visiontale]], the background magic field emitted by the barrier trapping monsters underground powers their magitronic devices (magic is their electricity equivalent) and transforms DMT, present in humans, into determination.

* In ''Franchise/TheFlash'' this is, at its core, what the Speed Force is. Its exact nature is unknown[[note]](though the New 52 run's DoingInTheWizard explanation was that its the force that allows time to move forward, and before that, it was created when Barry Allen had his accident, then spreading backwards and forwards in time, though this made so little sense and was so obviously just CharacterShilling for Barry that it was promptly ignored)[[/note]], but it's known to be energy from another dimensional plane that leaks into this dimension and, besides allowing speedsters to generate the infinite amount of energy needed to use their powers, also serves as a 'Valhalla' for them once they've ran past their limit. There's some level of sentience about it, and it's apparent that once they've 'joined' it, speedsters continue to live on inside it (how happy they are varies: for many it's a heaven, but recent years have treated it more like a prison). As it's more than just 'speed energy', it also means that one who understands it on a spiritual level (such as Character/WallyWest), has a greater range of abilities to use, including converting their natural protective aura into energy armour to create clothing.
* ''{{ComicBook/Lanfeust}}'' has a variation: There is a worldwide magic field, but it can only be tapped into if within range of a sage of Eckmül, who function something like village priests as the range is of several miles. While everyone is born with a unique magical power that takes a while to emerge, the sages themselves exchange the power they were born with to become relays (and can reverse it with another ritual).

* Played with in ''LightNovel/TheDevilIsAPartTimer''. The fantastical world the protagonists were displaced from was this trope, so when they got shunted into Earth and couldn't feel any magic, they assumed Earth didn't have any. It ''does'', but under very different rules; instead of being diffused throughout the world, it naturally coalesces in [[spoiler:the [[ThePowerOfFriendship hearts]] of people]].

* The "spirit corridor" in ''LightNovel/NoGameNoLife'' is the source of all magic. All living beings contain spirits in their body, and having these spirits controlled can have a strong effect on them. Additionally being exposed to high levels of spirits can be crippling or even fatal to races that are less magically inclined, like humans.

* ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'': Magicules are the fundamental particles that permeate the world that are both a major source of magic and the building blocks of magical life. Magical life flourishes in areas of high-magicule density, and in turn that life releases magicules with their presence. However, magicules are toxic in sufficient quantity to life not adapted to it (which is why humans unless they can use magic must live in low-magicule-dense areas or use special devices to lower ambient magicules), and high-enough levels can even harm low-level monsters. For example, the Sealed Cave was so saturated with [[DragonsAreDivine Veldora's]] magicules that nothing short of an A-Rank monster could survive and thrive in there. As a consequence, what life that could survive there was magicule-rich down to the plant life (which serve as the major component to the most potent of Healing Potions) and even the inanimate objects there (much of the ore was the rare and highly-sought-after Magisteel ore). This presents something of a problem for the budding MonsterTown of Tempest, as Rimuru realized that the sheer number of monsters (not even factoring in how crazy-powerful many of them are) were producing such a thick magicule concentration over the area that they were spontaneously generating high-level feral monsters in the Forest of Jura, not to mention it would be toxic for regular humans to come for trade or entertainment. The science team of Tempest had to engineer generators that would safely absorb the excess magicules in order to solve both problems.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonScarleyAndViolet'' has this trope appear in the endgame: [[spoiler:the crystals that grow in Area Zero the Great Crater of Paldea give off energy that allows Pokemon to Terastalize, similar to Galar particles in Galar. The energy they give off does not extend beyond Area Zero, however, so Pokémon that leave the Crater lose their Terastalized state. Tera Orbs were invented using these crystals to allow Terastalizing outside of Area Zero. Professor Sada[=/=]Turo also created a TimeMachine powered by this energy to research Pokémon from the distant past[=/=]future.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', the Boiling Isles is a GiantCorpseWorld, with said corpse being that of an ancient, magical Titan. The environment itself is inherently magical as a result, allowing TokenHuman Luz (as well as [[spoiler:Eda and Lilith]] after season one's finale) to cast spells despite lacking the natives' internal stores of magic. [[spoiler:Because of this, their particluar brand of magic ceases to function if attempted on Earth or the VoidBetweenTheWorlds due to being cut off from anything to fuel their spells, while witches can still use their magic even outside their realm. "Thanks to Them" shows that there is an exception to this, as Titan's Blood is so magically potent that a small vial of the stuff is enough to create a localized area where glyphs will function (with them becoming more powerful the closer you are).]]

* Magic in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', including the unstable magic areas where crazy things happen. In fact, the Disc would fall apart without this trope. (In ''Literature/TheLastHero'', it's stated that a temporary but total disruption of the world's magical field would result in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt in a [[https://thoughtsonx.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/last-hero-5.jpg very decisive manner]] within seconds.) Bonus points for actually being a very close [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything analogy to radiation]] in some books. Possibly a case of WriteWhatYouKnow, as Creator/TerryPratchett used to work as a press officer for the nuclear power industry. The background magic field in the world and its universe in general is later in the series used to explain a lot of their weird metaphysics as well.

* Magic in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', including the unstable magic areas where crazy things happen. In fact, the Disc would fall apart without this trope. (In ''Literature/TheLastHero'', it's stated that a temporary but total disruption of the world's magical field would result in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt in a [[https://thoughtsonx.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/last-hero-5.jpg very decisive manner]] within seconds.) Bonus points for actually being a very close [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything analogy to radiation]] in some books. Possibly a case of WriteWhatYouKnow, as Creator/TerryPratchett used to work as a press officer for the nuclear power industry.
** ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' does a fair amount of this. The Unseen University Library is the greatest collection of magic tomes on the Disc, so efforts must be made to avoid the magic going critical. ''The Science Of Discworld'' mentions that the last place to try splitting the thaum (the [[MinovskyPhysics basic unit of magic]]) is now a very large crater, and anyone who explores it suffers weird consequences.

* Magic in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', including the unstable magic areas where crazy things happen. In fact, the Disc would fall apart without this trope. (In ''Literature/TheLastHero'', it's stated that a temporary but total disruption of the world's magical field would result in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt in a very decisive manner within seconds.) Bonus points for actually being a very close [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything analogy to radiation]] in some books. Possibly a case of WriteWhatYouKnow, as Creator/TerryPratchett used to work as a press officer for the nuclear power industry.

* In the ''Sparker book'', there are two kinds of people: kasir and halani. Kasir(magicians) can influence the Background Magic Field through incantations and gestures. However, each spell has byproducts, which can be helpful, useless, or even harmful. Naturally, the kasir developed spells to neutralize the negative byproducts.

* Videogame/{{Warcraft}} and Videogame/WorldOfWarcraft has ''six'' Background Magic Fields, each bordering on being a SentientCosmicForce, and each being an anathema to one of the others, which is anathema to it in turn. but this is where their similarities end. They are known as The 'Light', 'Life', 'Order', 'Death', 'Void'[[note]]Confirmed to be sentient as ''Void Lords'', who are doing their best to consume everything[[/note]], and 'Disorder'[[note]]Light cannot abide Shadow, Life and Death cannot exist together, and Order and Disorder are diametric opposites -- and vice versa[[/note]]. Originally only the Light and Shadow fields existed but through their interactions, the other four were created.

** Each of these Background Magic Fields cannot directly influence the universe, and instead, their presence causes the existence of the 6 main schools of magic in the universe: Holy[[note]]thus the Light Background Magic Field is often known as 'The Holy Light'[[/note]], Nature, Arcane, Necromancy, Shadow, and Fel respectively. In places where one Background Magic Field is strong enough, its corresponding school of magic can coalesce into a sapient avatar made almost entirely of the corresponding magic school which is very much capable of interacting with the world: For The Light, you get the Naaru[[note]]Floating windchime-looking entities which go through a cyclical Life-Death-Life cycle. During their lives, they are beacons of hope and warmth, during their deaths they become ''Void''-entities that cannot help but snack on souls[[/note]], Order begets the [[{{Precursors}} Titans]][[note]]Planet-dwarfing amalgamations which traverse the cosmos purging corruption of any kind[[/note]], Life begets [[NatureSpirit Wild Gods]][[note]]Giant, immortal, sapient beasts[[/note]], Disorder begets [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Demons]][[note]]HornyDevils, Magic-eating hounds, DemonLordsAndArchdevils, and beyond -- they also have ResurrectiveImmortality outside of their own realm[[/note]], Death begets TheUndead[[note]]Everything from DemBones to {{Lich}}es and beyond[[/note]], and Shadow begets [[EldritchAbomination Old Gods]][[note]]They can infest entire planets with madness, and, because of the Shadow/Void Lords being sapient, the Old Gods are not so much naturally coalescing as they are created[[/note]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', the Boiling Isles is a GiantCorpseWorld, with said corpse being that of an ancient, magical Titan. The environment itself is inherently magical as a result, allowing TokenHuman Luz (as well as [[spoiler:Eda and Lilith]] after season one's finale) to cast spells despite lacking the natives' internal stores of magic. [[spoiler:Because of this, their particluar brand of magic ceases to function if attempted on Earth or the VoidBetweenTheWorlds due to being cut off from anything to fuel their spells, while witches can still use their magic even outside their realm.]]