History Main / MasterOfOneMagic

** Lina herself is top of the field at black and chaos magic, somewhat less competent in shamanic magic and inept in white magic. Zelgadiss is the master of shamanism.
*** Lina is actually the ''only'' practitioner of chaos magic in the world. And intends to stay that way. This is actually not a result of her greediness, but of her moral character; since the only two chaos spells she's invented are the Ragna Blade, which exhausts her within seconds of being cast, and the Giga Slave, which will ''destroy the world if she loses control for an instant'', it's quite rational to ''not'' want these to fall into anyone else's hands.

* In ''Literature/CodexAlera'', everyone (well, [[MissedTheCall almost everyone]]) in Aleran society has Elemental powers, though most people have access to at least a couple and the nobility have them all, with single-element crafters generally considered fairly lowly. However, there are certain single-element crafters who show that they can do a ''lot'' with what they've got- [[MamaBear Isana]] with her watercrafting is the most obvious example.

* Specialist wizards in ''DungeonsAndDragons'' gain increased proficiency in one of the eight schools of magic, but permanently lose access to two different schools. So a specialist wizard is a "jack of ''most'' trades, master of one". There are also the Red Wizards of Thay, who get even more dedicated power with their specialist school but lose access to a third school.

* Sylphiel in ''TheSlayers'' is a master of healing and protective white magic, and almost completely inept in other kinds of magic. In the first season, Lina tries to make her cast Flare Arrow, a simple shamanic attack spell, and the spell comes out as a harmless carrot. Later, however, Sylphiel surprises everyone and learns to cast [[UnholyNuke the Dragon Slave]].

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Toph and King Bumi are the best [[DishingOutDirt earthbenders]], Master Pakku is the best [[MakingASplash Waterbender]], and the best [[PlayingWithFire Firebenders]] are [[BigBad Firelord Ozai]] (until[[spoiler: he's BroughtDownToNormal]]) and Jeong Jeong. While Aang is the best [[BlowYouAway Airbender]] by default of being [[LastOfHisKind the only Airbender]], he doesn't really count since he can bend all 4 [[spoiler: actually 5]] elements.

* In ''{{Disgaea}}'', this is the case for all magic users; they specialize in one elemental damage type or healing.

* The Erlkönig's magic in ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' is almost exclusively [[CastingAShadow darkness]] based, he can wring out an astonishing amount effects from the element (from teleporting to dream manipulation), though.

* In the ''CodexAlera'', everyone (well, [[MissedTheCall almost everyone]]) in Aleran society has Elemental powers, though most people have access to at least a couple and the nobility have them all, with single-element crafters generally considered fairly lowly. However, there are certain single-element crafters who show that they can do a ''lot'' with what they've got- [[MamaBear Isana]] with her watercrafting is the most obvious example.

* The Master Trainers in their respective magical disciplines throughout ''TheElderScrolls'' series.

** The Icemen are a race-wide example of this trope. They draw ElementalPowers from the same source the Alerans do, but their variant only allows for watercrafting. The fact that they've spent centuries focusing on this element alone has allowed them to do things with it that most Alerans wouldn't think possible, including large-scale weather control and advancing a watercrafter's natural [[TheEmpath empathy]] to the point of being practically telepathic.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Toph and King Bumi are the best [[DishingOutDirt earthbenders]], Master Pakku is the best [[MakingASplash Waterbender]], the best [[PlayingWithFire Firebender]] is [[BigBad Firelord Ozai]] (until[[spoiler: he's BroughtDownToNormal]]) and Aang is the best [[BlowYouAway Airbender]] by default of being [[LastOfHisKind the only Airbender]].
** Every Bender is, by definition, one of these. You can only ever learn one type of Bending, unless you are The Avatar.

Compare TheArchmage, a powerful and learned wizard, which a MasterOfOneMagic often is. Also compare TheRedMage, who isn't a master of any one field but has a nearly unparalleled versatility. PoorPredictableRock is when someone is dedicated to a single element in a {{Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors}} universe.

Compare TheArchmage, a powerful and learned wizard, which a MasterOfOneMagic often is. Also compare TheRedMage, who isn't a master of any one field but has a nearly unparalleled versatility. PoorPredictableRock is when someone is dedicated to a single element in a RockPaperElemental universe.

Compare TheArchmage, a powerful and learned wizard, which a MasterOfOneMagic often is. Also compare TheRedMage, who isn't a master of any one field but has a nearly unparalleled versatility. PoorPredictableRock is when an entire ''society'' relies on a single element. (Often magic.)

Compare TheArchmage, a powerful and learned wizard, which a MasterOfOneMagic often is. Also compare TheRedMage, who isn't a master of any one field but has a nearly unparalleled versatility.

* Specialist wizards in ''DungeonsAndDragons'' gain increased proficiency in one of the eight schools of magic, but permanently lose access to two different schools. So a specialist wizard is a "jack of ''most'' trades, master of one". There are also the Red Wizards of Thay, who devote their entire lives to mastering one school of magic each.