History Main / IneptMage

** Orko, from ''[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]''. {{Justified|Trope}}, however. His home dimension, where he's actually a master mage with exceptional abilities, has completely different rules of magic to Eternia. His magic only functions on Eternia due to a special medallion (original series) or wand (2002 series) which is lost soon after he arrived on Eternia when he saved Prince Adam's life. As a result of the incompatibility between his native magic and Eternia's magic rules, he comes across as an Inept Mage to Eternians.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* ''ComicBook/TheWarlordDC'': Mongo Iron-Hand is an eccentric who has considerable skill at performing small-scale magical feats but has difficulty performing large-scale ones. He somehow has knowledge of the Earth of our present day, which enables him to conjure up cigars and martinis for himself.

*** Harry tried to fly once via a broomstick he'd enchanted; in some combination of this and not knowing how to fly to begin with, [[NoodleIncident it didn't go so well]] (and [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments went down as a UFO]]). Harry's track record with potions isn't very good either, as they've done things like [[GoneHorriblyRight make him so unnoticeable he can't warn someone there's a werewolf approaching]].

Due to their erratic spellcasting capabilities, Inept Mages tend to be the most frequent users of WildMagic, potentially even mastering it: rather than attempt to control the magic, they put their faith in the magic they summon, allowing it to do as it will. This type of mage can become UnskilledButStrong, with their magic being PowerfulButInaccurate. If they don't, they'll probably be PowerfulButIncompetent.

* Urd from ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'' is explicitly stated as being more powerful than Belldandy, yet ranked lower because she has little control over it. This is contrasted against the [[TheThreeFacesOfEve youngest sister Skuld]], who can barely muster any magic. Skuld's best spell is to basically print words across people's faces, something that can be achieved with a common Sharpie. Otherwise Skuld is pretty hopeless with magic, displaying neither of her sisters' raw power, at least initially. She compensates by being a GadgeteerGenius.

* Gwynn from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' very rarely gets a spell completely right. She enchants some monkeys to attack someone who's annoying her, without considering that, when someone else annoys her, the monkeys will change targets. Or she tries getting a demon to leave Riff alone but ends up making it possess her instead. Or she tries getting her and Zoe's hair to grow back, but, thanks to the spell relying on a JerkassGenie, it makes them turn into fully-furred [[Franchise/StarWars wookie]]-like creatures. Basically anything she tries other than [[{{Psychokinesis}} moving things with her mind]] or [[PowerGlows making pretty lights]] isn't going to work as planned. It seems to be the rituals that give her trouble. If she has to blast something with lightning or force, she has no problems at all and can be [[LetsGetDangerous downright]] ''[[BewareTheNiceOnes dangerous]]'' when she's pushed.

** Harry is by no means inept but notes that he lacks the finesse and knowledge of most members of the White Council, only making up for it through brute force, stubbornness, and cheating, holds some water. Harry tried to fly once via a broomstick he'd enchanted; in some combination of this and not knowing how to fly to begin with, [[NoodleIncident it didn't go so well]] (and [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments went down as a UFO]]). Harry's track record with potions isn't very good either, as they've done things like [[GoneHorriblyRight make him so unnoticeable he can't warn someone there's a werewolf approaching]].
*** It's worth noting that he tends to compare himself to the strongest and most experienced members, with literal centuries of experience on him. The notable exception is Ramirez, who's WeakButSkilled compared to Dresden - and really, really, ''really'' skilled, with Dresden going into detail about just how complex and efficient his favoured entropy blasts are. He also tends to underestimate himself, designing magical tools that impress other characters - Little Chicago in particular grudgingly impresses Bob, a magical supercomputer who observes that none of the {{Evil Genius}}es he'd worked for could manage something like that (though some of the psychotics might have done), and a spell worked through it bamboozles the best tracking enchantments of Eldest Gruff, direct counterpart of Lea, who swats Fallen Angels like uppity pixies and has killed three Senior Council members in duels. Oh, and when he was forced to dabble in necromancy, it came naturally - even while exhausted and wounded, he managed to unleash a freaking dinosaur. It's also worth noting that Harry's training was first based on turning him into a killing machine, then based on DefusingTheTykeBomb, resulting in CripplingOverspecialisation - he's hell on wheels in a fight, and his thaumaturgy is brilliant, but his magical training everywhere else is both stunted and based on what he's had to time to self-study.

* ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew'' has the titular magician Andrew Ketterly. Note that this is "inept by comparison InUniverse": with his MadScientist approach to magic, Andrew is able to create magic rings that let people ''teleport to other worlds'' (although forging them takes him a few decades) - but he's completely outclassed and humiliated once he meets the likes of [[BigBad Jadis]] (who completely [[ApocalypseHow destroyed]] an entire ''planet'' with a word) and [[BigGood Aslan]] (who creates a new ''universe'' by [[MagicMusic a song]]). Given that Andrew Ketterly is a big bad wannabe, this is just as well; as Jadis alone wreaking havoc in the series is quite enough, Andrew has a bad [[AdmiringTheAbomination crush]] on her, and would desperately like to prove himself to her if he could (she's not interested in the least). \\
Andrew's nephew Diggory (who shares his talent for science but not for magic), with Aslan's tutelage, finds out that both magic and the whole BigBad stuff aren't for him, but science is, and becomes a famous professor in other books of the series.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series does a good job of [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructing]] this, though Rand's ineptitude is really more a case of HowDoIShotWeb. Rand has no one to teach him to channel for four books, and he's the most powerful channeler ever. He learns bits and pieces by luck and maybe past-life memory, but when things go wrong he's apt to accidentally pull down half a mountain or set a forest aflame.

* In ''Literature/TalesOfTheFox'', Gerin the Fox had less than a year of wizard's training before being called home, yet desperation sometimes drives him to attempt magic anyway. But only when he's ''really'' desperate, as he knows full well just how dangerous an unskilled mage can be.