History Main / LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards

** Fitting with the classical style of this trope is ''VideoGame/TalesOfArise'', which features a mage who is ''severly'' restricted in her spellcasting until the halfway point of the game. Rimwell's gameplay loop ''really'' wants the player to experiment with her gimmick to use strong spells early, but it's slow, clunky, not implemented all that well, and can occasionally cause issues regarding the spell you want to cast. Unlike ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'', ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria'', and ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'', Rimwell also does not ''start'' gameplay with a {{Combo|s}} mechanic that lets her reduce casting time. Once Rimwell ''does'' get access to her stronger spells naturally and the title bonuses that allow her to cast faster the higher her combo, all bets are off. Rimwell is ''well known'' for pulverizing the game beneath her boot with Tidal Wave, Maelstrom, and Shooting Star. A well-played Alphen or Kisara can keep up with Rimwell's damage output, but are inherently at risk when they do so, since Alphen's best attacks all tick away at his [=HP=] and Kisara's high-level gameplay revolves around her CounterAttack gimmick.

** Games that utilize the ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfGraces Graces]]'' combat system - the aforementioned ''Graces,'' ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria'', and ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'' are rather even about this, as magic isn't tied to an [=MP=] statistic but is still held back by the concept of casting times. However, at the higher eschelons of play, magic slightly outstrips physical ability in each game. This is because of the {{Combo|s}} system in place. The higher your combo, the better your attacks get. Though ''Zestiria'' and ''Berseria'' have their own unique tertiary attack with its own bonuses tied to this system, consistent across all games is that the combo bonus for spellcasting is ''reduced casting time.'' This gets ''ridiculous'' for Pascal, Lailah, and Magilou, all of whom are blessed with ludicrously powerful spells held back only by their casting times. ''Graces'' is by far the most extreme about this, as Pascal's combos heavily incentivized long, intricate strings that could melt any enemy's [=HP=] ''and'' keep them stunlocked. Making this easier to pull off is that ''dodging'' adds to the combo, meaning any mage could dodge twice and start raining burning death on their enemies.

** Games that utilize the ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfGraces Graces'' combat system - the aforementioned ''Graces,'' ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria'', and ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'' are rather even about this, as magic isn't tied to an [=MP=] statistic but is still held back by the concept of casting times. However, at the higher eschelons of play, magic slightly outstrips physical ability in each game. This is because of the {{Combo|s}} system in place. The higher your combo, the better your attacks get. Though ''Zestiria'' and ''Berseria'' have their own unique tertiary attack with its own bonuses tied to this system, consistent across all games is that the combo bonus for spellcasting is ''reduced casting time.'' This gets ''ridiculous'' for Pascal, Lailah, and Magilou, all of whom are blessed with ludicrously powerful spells held back only by their casting times. ''Graces'' is by far the most extreme about this, as Pascal's combos heavily incentivized long, intricate strings that could melt any enemy's [=HP=] ''and'' keep them stunlocked. Making this easier to pull off is that ''dodging'' adds to the combo, meaning any mage could dodge twice and start raining burning death on their enemies.

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'' and ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', on the other hand, invert this. ''Legendia's'' magic damage output is very poor compared to what physical fighters are capable of. Meanwhile, magic starts off very powerful in ''Vesperia'' but the damage scaling is disadvantageous by the end. Physical fighters will cause a lot more damage, relegating magic to crowd control and stunlocking utilities.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': The series makes it clear that the reason wizards don't rule the world is not that their magic doesn't give them the power to do so, but that wizards naturally fight among themselves (''Sourcery'' claims that the collective noun for wizard is "a war"), and magical conflict is incredibly destructive. The widespread abuse of magic would quickly make the world stop making sense. It's analogized to nuclear weaponry, with talks about avoiding a "first use of magic" in war, and the ancient mage wars leaving behind high levels of residual magic (i.e. nuclear fallout) in the present day. The entire organizational structure of modern wizardry exists to keep them all in one place and encourage them to waste their energies either plotting against each other, immersing themselves in research, or enjoying their cushy academic position.

** Part of the issue is that Psynergy ''can'' keep up on its own merits short of the player excessively grinding at endgame in each game (and factoring in [[InfinityPlusOneSword the Sol Blade]], of course) given statistical increases to certain elements of psynergy afforded by gear. If this confuses you, that's because [[GuideDangIt the games do a poor job explaining and formatting the equipment that gives these statistical increases.]] Not only are all these pieces of armor incredibly rare, one-of-a-kind, and poorly explained, they're typically part of a subtly-alluded-to set that starts building up from early-to-mid game. So, even if the player ''knows'' the Clarity Circlet found at Air's Rock, an early dungeon, can make Sheba an absolute ''beast'' who more than keeps up with [[LightningBruiser Felix,]] [[MasterOfAll Jenna,]] and [[MightyGlacier Piers]] magically, they're going to run into the small issue of turning Sheba into a GlassCannon if they want to ''keep'' that boost to Sheba's psynergy, with no Circlets around ''for the rest of the game'' that both give Sheba a defense boost ''and'' a buff to her Jupiter psynergy. So not only are methods of having psynergy keep up with physical strikes poorly alluded to, they also come with a heavy cost to the character's resilience, only made ''worse'' by the fact almost all of these psynergy-boosting are slanted towards being given to frail mage-type characters.

** Part of the issue is that Psynergy ''can'' keep up on its own merits short of the player excessively grinding at endgame in each game (and factoring in [[InfinityPlusOneSword the Sol Blade, of course) given statistical increases to certain elements of psynergy afforded by gear. If this confuses you, that's because [[GuideDangIt the games do a poor job explaining and formatting the equipment that gives these statistical increases.]] Not only are all these pieces of armor incredibly rare, one-of-a-kind, and poorly explained, they're typically part of a subtly-alluded-to set that starts building up from early-to-mid game. So, even if the player ''knows'' the Clarity Circlet found at Air's Rock, an early dungeon, can make Sheba an absolute ''beast'' who more than keeps up with [[LightningBruiser Felix,]] [[MasterOfAll Jenna,]] and [[MightyGlacier Piers]] magically, they're going to run into the small issue of turning Sheba into a GlassCannon if they want to ''keep'' that boost to Sheba's psynergy, with no Circlets around ''for the rest of the game'' that both give Sheba a defense boost ''and'' a buff to her Jupiter psynergy. So not only are methods of having psynergy keep up with physical strikes poorly alluded to, they also come with a heavy cost to the character's resilience, only made ''worse'' by the fact almost all of these psynergy-boosting are slanted towards being given to frail mage-type characters.

* Wendell Vaughn and Phyla-Vell, the first and second ComicBook/{{Quasar}}s. Both possessed the Quantum Bands which were basically the Marvel Universe's answer to the ComicBook/GreenLantern power ring but their approach to using these weapons was very different. While Wendell tended to be versatile and creative with his constructs, Phyla's use was mostly limited to energy blasts and [[SpontaneousWeaponCreation forming swords]]. This was a reflection of their backgrounds and personalities; Wendell was [[ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} S.H.I.E.L.D.]] Academy graduate who was deemed unfit for field work due to [[ThouShaltNotKill his refusal to use lethal force]] and he followed a standard operating procedure of "contain, drain and attack". Phyla by contrast was a trained Kree soldier who had no problems with lethal force but lacked Wendell's versatility.

* ComicBook/DoctorStrange went from DrJerk to Sorcerer Supreme. At his height, he commanded enough power to go toe-to-toe with a foe who could defeat the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] with a mere thought. He has fought '''ComicBook/{{Galactus}}''' to a draw on one occasion, and the main reason he didn't win is because he knew their fight would have leveled Manhattan.

* Wendell Vaughn and Phyla-Vell, the first and second ComicBook/{{Quasar}}s. Both possessed the Quantum Bands which were basically the Marvel Universe's answer to the Franchise/GreenLantern power ring but their approach to using these weapons was very different. While Wendell tended to be versatile and creative with his constructs, Phyla's use was mostly limited to energy blasts and [[SpontaneousWeaponCreation forming swords]]. This was a reflection of their backgrounds and personalities; Wendell was [[ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} S.H.I.E.L.D.]] Academy graduate who was deemed unfit for field work due to [[ThouShaltNotKill his refusal to use lethal force]] and he followed a standard operating procedure of "contain, drain and attack". Phyla by contrast was a trained Kree soldier who had no problems with lethal force but lacked Wendell's versatility.

** Replace "Wizard" and "Warrior" with "Anime Protagonist" and "[[MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation Golden Age]] Cartoon", and you've got [[Recap/DeathBattleS08E16SaitamaVsPopeye Saitama VS Popeye]]. [[spoiler:Saitama is the WorldsStrongestMan and poster child for the ComedicInvincibleHero, but as an Anime Protagonist he's still somewhat bound by the laws of physics, while Popeye's ToonPhysics make him akin to a NighInvulnerable PhysicalGod, [[OutsideContextProblem unlike anything Saitama's ever faced before]] and on a completely different level to him. The fact that he even held his own in their fight proves Saitama's strength, but fighting him was ultimately [[ButForMeItWasATuseday another day at the races for Popeye]].]]

** [[Franchise/DragonBall Goku]] Vs Franchise/{{Superman}} is a fight [[BrokenBase so heavily contrasted]], [[Recap/DeathBattleS01E25GokuVsSuperman they had too]] [[Recap/DeathBattleS02E25GokuVsSuperman2 do it]] [[Recap/DeathBattleS10E15GokuVSSuperman three times.]] (and counting) [[spoiler:But it always ends the same way, Goku [[TookALevelInBadass takes level in badass]] [[SerialEsculation after level in badass]] but Superman is the InvincibleHero [[SuperPowerLottery to end all invincible heroes]].]]

*** With some work and playing with specific mechanics--namely, alchemy and Fortify Restoration potions--you can become a true gamebreaking monster by abusing [[MakeMeWannaShout your Shouts]]. Any buffs you put on your Dragonborn--including those boosted by items--are also boosted by the Restoration skill, and high-end alchemy can give you the ability to craft stupidly powerful Fortify Restoration potions. Pop one of those potions, put on an Amulet of Talos and get a Blessing of Talos from a shrine, and your Shout cooldown times will drop to very low, potentially even to ''zero'', which will let you spray endless gouts of flame, waves of force, slow down time, speed up your attacks, rip out your foes' souls, and summon ''two different dragons'' to massacre your foes in the span of a few seconds.