History Main / MuggleBornOfMages

** Severe emotional trauma can stunt magic in otherwise capable wizards or witches. Neville, who grew up with a strict grandmother and no parents, was long feared to be a Squib until someone had the bright idea to throw him from a high place and he bounced back. ''Half-Blood Prince'' reveals that Voldemort's mother, Merope, had her magic suppressed for years on account of growing up in an abusive home and only started to use it in any meaningful way after her father was arrested. In ''Deathly Hallows'', Dumbledore's late sister, Ariana, is repeatedly described to be a Squib, but later chapters reveal that she was indeed a witch, it's just that the torment she endured at the hands of the Muggle boys twisted her pysche to an extent that she could not voluntarily control her magic.

* Known as Squibs in ''Literature/HarryPotter''. They're rarer than the inverse, the MageBornOfMuggles. While there are quite a few Muggle-born witches, like Hermione, Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Muggle-born witch that the PowerTrio rescue from Umbridge in Book 7, and Harry's own mother, there are only two named Squibs in the books: Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch and Mrs. Figg, Harry's CrazyCatLady neighbor on Privet Drive. (It's revealed that Molly Weasley has a second cousin who's a Squib; the Weasleys don't talk about him much.) However, unlike Muggle-born wizards who are 100% wizards, Squibs aren't ''quite'' 100% Muggle. Argus Filch works at Hogwarts, which Muggles evidently see as an old ruin with a sign warning of danger.[[note]]This is something Hermione points out in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]''.[[/note]] Book 5 reveals that Squibs like Mrs. Figg can see dementors, while regular Muggles can't. So Squibs seem to have ''some'' inherent magical affinity even if they aren't wizards at all.

** Squibs are generally regarded poorly in the [[MagicalSociety Wizarding World]]. Squib children of magical parents are generally cast into the Muggle world and given a Muggle education, and most live their lives as Muggles with little contact with the magical community. This is considered a better fate for squibs, as those who do remain among the wizards are generally treated as second-class citizens, and looked down upon and pitied for their inability to do magic.[[note]]The film version of ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' says that Sirius Black had an ancestor, Marius, who turned out to be a Squib. The pureblood, mostly dark-magic Black family disowned him.[[/note]]

* In ''VideoGame/GoldenSun: The Lost Age'', being a non-Adept in a family full of Mars Adepts doesn't seem to bother Briggs a bit. He ''is'' a BadassNormal, but he's also not above just getting his Adept relatives to do things for him. In ''Dark Dawn'', he's also shown to have a better awareness of Psynergy than most non-Adepts, and is one of the few who [[WeirdnessCensor recognizes it in action]], giving him a certain degree of savvy in dealing with Adepts.

* ''Literature/RetiredWitchesMysteries'': Magic sometimes skips a generation in this series, as evidenced by two of the three titular "retired witches" (Molly and Elsie, both of whom married a non-magical man) having one non-magical child each. Only their third coven member Olivia had a magical child, by a ''very'' powerful (and evil) male witch. It actually subverts part of the trope in that non-magical family members are strictly forbidden from learning about magic, and the Grand Council of Witches will wipe the memories of any who find out (and some would like to prevent the existence of any witch's non-magical children entirely, through... proactive means, whether the witch parent wants it or not).

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', protagonist Izuku Midoriya has no superpowers in a world where [[EveryoneIsASuper 80% of all humans have some kind of "Quirk"]]. His mother has minor telekinesis and his dad can breathe fire, so the fact that he's powerless is presented as unusual. The plot kicks off when Izuku meets someone who can [[EmpoweredBadassNormal give his Quirk to him]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': The Parrs' baby, Jack-Jack, in contrast to their previous children [[SuperSpeed Dash]] and [[{{Invisibility}} Violet]]. [[spoiler:But subverted by the end, and in the associated short, where he turns out to have won the SuperpowerLottery. The parents don't find out about the powers until ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2''.]]
* [[Creator/{{Disney}} Disney's]] upcoming ''Encanto'' will focus on the only child in a family who doesn't have magical powers.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction ''[[http://chopperstophat.deviantart.com/art/Story-The-Liar-278262693 The Liar]],'' this is Trixie's backstory. She was disowned by her father for being born without any magical ability (apparently something that happens to 1 out of every 10,000 unicorns), and learned to make her living as a con artist, masquerading as a traveling magician. All of her supposed magical feats are illusions made by Poison Joke. Her cutie mark, a magic wand and crescent moon, doesn't represent magic, but the ability to tell the best lies--wands are only used in folklore and pony tales, and a crescent moon is merely an illusion cast by shadow.

* Shinji Matou from ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. Shinji doesn't even have usable magic circuits (though he has a small number of atrophied ones, which makes him a viable grail vessel in ''Unlimited Blade Works''), and is the end result of generations of the Matou family gradually losing their magic abilities with no one quite sure why. And he became a villain because of his envy [[spoiler:towards his adopted sister, Sakura, abusing and raping her, just because she is a magus and was adopted to replace him as heir to the family's magecraft.]]
* Sairaorg Baal in ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD'' did not inherit any of his parents powers when he was born. So instead, he underwent TrainingFromHell, something high-class devils do not do, and became so strong he doesn't even need the power of destruction.

* Takamichi T. Takahata of ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' was born unable to cast spells, but, as a member of [[BadassCrew Ala Rubra]], is still one of the most powerful fighters of the magic world, in part because he can use the powerful [[YinYangBomb kanka technique]].

* In ''LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai'', Shiki and Mikiya's daughter Mana did not inherit any of Shiki's powers. Shiki doesn't mind and is glad her daughter can live a normal life.

* Shinji Matou from ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. Shinji doesn't have even magic circuits, and is the end result of generations of the Matou family gradually losing their magic abilities with no one quite sure why. And he became a villain because of his envy [[spoiler:towards his adopted sister, Sakura, abusing and raping her, just because she is a magus and was adopted to replace him as heir to the family's magecraft.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction ''[[http://chopperstophat.deviantart.com/art/Story-The-Liar-278262693 The Liar]],'' this is Trixie's backstory. She was disowned by her father for being born without any magical ability, and learned to make her living as a con artist, masquerading as a traveling magician. All of her supposed magical feats are illusions made by Poison Joke, and her cutie mark (a magic wand and crescent moon) doesn't represent magic, but the ability to tell the best lies--wands are only used in folklore and pony tales, and a crescent moon is merely an illusion cast by shadow.

* Known as Squibs in ''Literature/HarryPotter''. They're rarer than the inverse, the MageBornOfMuggles. While there are quite a few Muggle-born witches, like Hermione, Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Squib that the PowerTrio rescue from Umbridge in Book 7, and Harry's own mother, there are only two named Squibs in the books: Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch and Mrs. Figg, Harry's CrazyCatLady neighbor on Privet Drive. (It's revealed that Molly Weasley has a second cousin who's a Squib; the Weasleys don't talk about him much.) However, unlike Muggle-born wizards who are 100% wizards, Squibs aren't ''quite'' 100% Muggle. Argus Filch works at Hogwarts, which Muggles evidently see as an old ruin with a sign warning of danger.[[note]]This is something Hermione points out in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]''.[[/note]] Book 5 reveals that Squibs like Mrs. Figg can see dementors, while regular Muggles can't. So Squibs seem to have ''some'' inherent magical affinity even if they aren't wizards at all.

* Known as Squibs in ''Literature/HarryPotter''. However, unlike Muggle-born wizards who are 100% wizards, Squibs aren't ''quite'' 100% Muggle. They seem to share a strange affinity to cats, and Argus Filch works at Hogwarts, which Muggles evidently see as an old ruin with a sign warning of danger.[[note]]This is something Hermione points out in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]''.[[/note]] So squibs seem to have ''some'' inherent magical affinity even if they aren't wizards at all.
** Argus Filch, the Hogwarts CrustyCaretaker (essentially a janitor), is the mean-spirited version of this trope.
** Also [[spoiler:Mrs. Figg]], who's much more friendly, [[CrazyCatLady if still batty and weird]]. [[spoiler:It is revealed in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' that she's a [[BadassNormal member of the order]] and her job was to keep an eye on Harry which the Dursleys would only allow if she went out of her way to seem harmless and like she wouldn't do anything to spoil him.]]
** Hermione (along with various other characters) is an inversion: a mage born of Muggles. Several characters state that "Muggle-born" witches and wizards like Hermione are more common than Squibs in the Franchise/PotterVerse because once magic emerges in a bloodline, it tends to stick. Creator/JKRowling has [[WordOfGod stated]] that most Muggle-borns have Squib ancestors; their genes seem to be latent, coming back when both sides of someone's family have them.
** Neville Longbottom isn't a Squib, but his magic took so long to manifest that his relatives [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper feared he was one]], so they put him in increasingly scary and dangerous situations hoping to make it manifest. This culminated in his Great-uncle Algie "accidentally" dropping him out of a second-story window. Fortunately, Neville bounced back to safety.
** Ron's whole family is magic, except one of his mom's cousins who's an accountant. They don't talk about him much.
** Marius Black, who was a squib born into the Black family in the early 20th century, was disowned and his name (as in the case of Sirius for different reasons) literally burned off the family tree. This is probably also the practice regarding squibs among other pureblood families with magical supremacist leanings.
** Squibs are generally regarded poorly in the [[MagicalSociety Wizarding World]]. Squib children of magical parents are generally cast into the Muggle world and given a Muggle education, and most live their lives as Muggles with little contact with the magical community. This is considered a better fate for squibs, as those who do remain among the wizards are generally treated as second-class citizens, and looked down upon and pitied for their inability to do magic. Ron's great great aunt suggests in the last book that she suspects that Dumbledore's long dead sister was actually a squib and that their mother (who was a actually a [[MageBornOfMuggles the inverse of this trope]] herself) locked her in the house until she was a teenager and then killed her because she was too proud to admit that she had had a squib child. She was a witch and obviously that's not what actually happened but it goes to show how taboo it is/was to have one in the family.

** Hermione (along with various other characters) is an inversion: a mage born of Muggles. Several characters state that "Muggle-born" WizardsAndWitches like Hermione are more common than Squibs in the Franchise/PotterVerse because once magic emerges in a bloodline, it tends to stick. Creator/JKRowling has [[WordOfGod stated]] that most Muggle-borns have Squib ancestors; their genes seem to be latent, coming back when both sides of someone's family have them.

* Shinji Matou from ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. Shinji doesn't have even magic circuits, and is the end result of generations of the Matou family gradually losing their magic abilities with no one quite sure why. And he became a villain because of his envy [[spoiler:towards his adopted sister, Sakura, abusing and raping her, just because she is a magus.]]

** Ron Wilson, bus driver, is the nice-if-pathetic version of this trope. He also got CharacterDevelopment and TookALevelInBadass at the very end. In the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, it mentioned he had a toxic waste accident and got his wish to be a super, although whether this was 'assisted' is never clarified.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction ''[[http://chopperstophat.deviantart.com/art/Story-The-Liar-278262693 The Liar]],'' this is Trixie's backstory. She was disowned by her father for being born without any magical ability, and learned to make her living as a con artist, masquerading as a traveling magician. All of her supposed magical feats are illusions made by Poison Joke.

* This is the norm for the [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Others]] in the ''Literature/NightWatch'' books by Creator/SergeyLukyanenko. It's extremely rare for a child of two Others to be an Other (about the same chances as an Other being born to Muggle parents), which is why many Other couples avoid having children, so as not to have to watch them grow old and die. The exceptions are the vampires and the werewolves, who usually turn their children at a young age. Kostya Saushkin is notable as being a vampire who [[IHateYouVampireDad resents his father for turning him]]. One of the novels has a story arc dealing with a plot by [[spoiler:Geser and Olga]] to turn their Muggle son into an Other. Anton and Svetlana are exceptions in that they were foreseen to have a child who was an extremely powerful Other (Svetlana is already a very powerful Light sorceress; [[spoiler:Anton reaches Svetlana's level thanks to the Fuaran text]]).

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', protagonist Izuku Midoriya has no superpowers in a world where [[EveryoneIsASuper 80% of all humans have some kind of "Quirk"]]. His mother has minor telekinesis and his dad can breathe fire, so the fact that he's powerless is presented as unusual. [[FirstEpisodeSpoiler The plot kicks off]] when Izuku meets someone who can [[EmpoweredBadassNormal give his Quirk to him]].

* Ron Wilson, bus driver, from ''Film/SkyHigh2005'' is the nice-if-pathetic version of this trope. He also got CharacterDevelopment and TookALevelInBadass at the very end. In the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, it mentioned he had a toxic waste accident and got his wish to be a super, although whether this was 'assisted' is never clarified.
** Subverted with Will. He never shows any signs of super strength or flight growing up until they show up during his fight with Warren Peace.