History Main / MuggleBornOfMages

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** 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'', several characters state that it was widely believed that the long dead Ariana Dumbledore was a Squib but Harry later finds out that she was indeed a witch. It’s just that the torment she endured at the hands of the Muggle boys twisted her psyche to an extent that she could not voluntarily control her magic. The ''Film/FantasticBeasts'' film series describes such individuals as "Obscurials", people whose magic was involuntarily curtailed, causing serious issues, although Ariana hasn’t technically been confirmed to have been one just yet.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', [[EveryoneIsASuper 80% of all humans have some kind of superpwower known as a "Quirk"]]. Protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, is one of the 20% who does not have any powers. His mother has minor telekinesis and his father can breathe fire, so the fact that he's powerless is presented as unusual. The plot kicks off when Midoriya meets the Hero, [[SupermanSubstitute All Might]], who chooses to [[SuperEmpowering pass on his Quirk to Midoriya and train him as his successor]].

** Despite [[spoiler:being Morgan's daughter]], Iris (Amane) has no spiritual powers to speak of.

* In Creator/RayBradbury's short story "The Homecoming", Timothy is the only living human child in a vast extended family of vampires, werewolves, witches and ghouls. Everyone in the family -- Timothy himself included -- consider him to be the IllGirl, a pathetic cripple doomed to a tragically-early death, because of this.

* In the ''Literature/LunarChronicles'', "shells" are Lunars born without the ability to manipulate bioelectricity, essentially making them human but immune to Lunar glamour and mind tricks. This means high-ranking Lunars don't want them around and want them reported and killed immediately.

* Nanoha from ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' is an inversion. She is a powerful mage, while the rest of her family are muggles (though her father and older siblings aren't exactly "[[BadassFamily normal]]"). Given Gil Graham's comment about the rarity of Earth mages, this presumably also applies to him and Hayate.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Inverted by Tara: she's a witch from a family of pure {{Muggle}}s who despise for her practice of magics (and for being a female, in the case of her [[AbusiveParents father]] and brother).
** Wood's mother was a Slayer. Although he has no powers himself, he's still a damn good fighter.

* ''LightNovel/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': Gnostic Hunters are wizards who essentially act as counterinsurgency operators. Their job is rooting out and destroying cults of the gods of the solar system's other planets, which have the potential to cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

If ''everyone'' except this person in the setting is a mage, They're an UnSorcerer.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Inverted with Gungi, a Force-sensitive Wookiee. According to Yoda, this is a very rare occurrence. This is a nod to a rule in ''Franchise/StarWars'', where Wookiee characters aren't allowed to be Force-sensitive, with the exception of Gungi who was created by Creator/GeorgeLucas himself.

** Of note is how rare "squibs" are in the Franchise/PotterVerse: there are only two named examples of this trope in the books (Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch and Mrs. Figg, Harry's CrazyCatLady neighbor on Privet Drive), while there are ''several'' [[MageBornOfMuggles "Muggle-born" witches and wizards]] among the main cast. This is because once magic emerges in a bloodline, it tends to stick. As an extension of that, 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.

* Known as "Squibs" in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', these people still have ''some'' inherent magical affinity that allows them interact with and see elements of the [[MagicalSociety Wizarding World]] that other Muggles simply can't, but since they're unable to do magic, Squibs are generally regarded poorly in the community. 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. In the last book, an elderly relative of Ron’s suggests that Mrs Dumbledore locked her daughter in the house for the better part of a decade for being one (which she wasn’t) [[/note]]

** 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'', several characters state that it was widely believed that the long dead Ariana Dumbledore was a Squib but Harry later finds out 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. The ''Film/FantasticBeasts'' film series describes such individuals as "Obscurials", people whose magic was involuntarily curtailed, causing serious issues, although Ariana hasn’t technically been confirmed to have been one just yet.

* "Norlocks" are sometimes born to the Kymeran WitchSpecies in Creator/NancyACollins' ''Golgotham'' trilogy; they generally [[ExtraDigits have five fingers per hand instead of the usual six]], and are considered disabled by other Kymerans due to the species' focus on magic. Kymeran [[HalfHumanHybrids Half-Human Hybrids]] are likely to be norlocks[[spoiler:; explicit mention is made of Tymm -- son of the protagonist and deuteragonist in the series -- having five-fingered hands like his (human) mother, although one ''does'' wonder how her being a [[ExtraOreDinary ferromancer]] would affect him]].

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'', where protagonist Mirabel Madrigal is the daughter of a superpowered mother and a normal father. Nonetheless, she ends up being the only member born into the family to lack any special magical gift. Meanwhile, her older sisters, as well as the maternal side of her family, are running around being able to [[SpeaksFluentAnimal talk to animals]], use SuperStrength, [[GreenThumb make plants quickly grow]], and {{shapeshift|er}}.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'', where protagonist Mirabel Madrigal is the daughter of a superpowered mother and a normal father. Nonetheless, she ends up being the only member of the family to lack any special gift. Meanwhile, her older and younger siblings, as well as the maternal side of her family, are running around being able to [[SpeaksFluentAnimal talk to animals]], use SuperStrength, [[GreenThumb make plants quickly grow]], and {{shapeshift|er}}.

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* Takamichi T. Takahata of ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' 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]].

* [[BadassNormal Meiling]] of ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura''. It's implied everyone in the Li family has magical powers but her.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', [[EveryoneIsASuper 80% of all humans have some kind of superpwower known as a "Quirk"]]. Protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, is one of the 20% who does not have any powers. His mother has minor telekinesis and his father can breathe fire, so the fact that he's powerless is presented as unusual. The plot kicks off when Midoriya meets the Hero, [[SupermanSubstitute All Might]], who chooses to [[SuperEmpowering pass on his Quirk to Midoriya and train him as his successor]].
* In ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'', 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.
* It's not dwelt on all that much, except in flashbacks, but Akatsuki Kojou, protagonist of ''LightNovel/StrikeTheBlood'' used to fall under this category. His mother possesses the power of {{Psychometry}}, his younger sister and paternal grandmother are powerful spirit mediums and his father has access to a hyperspace arsenal thanks to being caught between two different planes of reality. This is downplayed twice over, first being because his father's abilities are acquired (making him an example himself) rather than innate and may have even happened after his children were born. Secondly because by the time we are actually introduced to him, Kojou has become one of the [[PersonOfMassDestruction most powerful vampires in existence]][[note]]Hence the issue only really arising in the flashbacks[[/note]].

* Nanoha from ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' is an inversion. She is a powerful mage, while the rest of her family are muggles (though her father and older siblings aren't exactly "[[BadassFamily normal]]"). Given Gil Graham's comment about the rarity of Earth mages, this presumably also applies to him and Hayate.
* [[spoiler:Chiehime]] from ''Manga/MononokeSharing'' is a pure blood [[{{Yokai}} Mononoke]], but is functionally identical to an ordinary human. She ends up getting outed on TV when she [[ItMakesSenseInContext challenges Yata to a sumo match]] and is easily pushed over. [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed at the end of the series that ''all'' Mononoke family lines will eventually give birth to pure humans since they were never supposed to exist to begin with.]]
* ''Manga/MusukoGaKawaikuteShikataganaiMazokuNoHahaoya'' has Teresa, a demon born to her family without the slightest hint of a demon's signature powers. Her family saw this as her being a failure, with them [[AbusiveParents abusing and neglecting her, before eventually]] [[MadeASlave selling her into slavery]]. Her powerlessness was very likely to result in her eventual death if she didn't end up being bought by the demon Alice, who despite being a trolling jerk a lot of the time, is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold that cares for her, with Teresa herself [[HappinessInSlavery being quite happy she was bought by Alice]].

** There was Comicbook/{{Quicksilver}} and Crystal's child, Luna, who was an Inhuman rather than a mutant. Apparently the mutant gene and the Inhuman genetics canceled each other out and Luna was effectively a normal human until her crazy father exposed her to a rather high amount of Terrigen Mist to empower her--this was ''[[AbusiveParents extremely]]'' risky since Terrigen Mist exposure can have unpleasant effects on anyone who isn't a pure Inhuman (and many who ''are'' still end up BlessedWithSuck as a result).

* Joel Kent in the ''[[Comicbook/SupermanAndBatmanGenerations Generations]]'' series was exposed to Gold Kryptonite in the womb making him the muggle son of Comicbook/{{Superman}}. It doesn't help that his younger sister Kara got to keep her powers. Eventually, Lex Luthor uses his jealousy and an unstable repowering formula as part of a revenge plot against the Man of Steel.
* [[Franchise/TheFlash Wally West's]] son, Jai. He had Speed Force powers that let him have super strength in short bursts. He shared an unstable connection to the Speed Force with his sister (who could become intangible by vibrating). In ''The Flash: Rebirth'', the link stabilized and it all ended up in her, so she gets full Speed Force powers and Jai ends up depowered.
* An issue of the comic book tie-in to ''WesternAnimation/ArchiesWeirdMysteries'' revealed that the mysterious occultist Doctor Beaumont was a human born of vampires.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction ''[[http://chopperstophat.deviantart.com/art/Story-The-Liar-278262693 The Liar]],'' Trixie 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 the burnt fumes of ground-up 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.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Goldstein}},'' Terry's youngest brother, Leo, is a Squib. Interestingly, the usual angst is averted--Leo seems happy that he "gets" to stay home instead of going off to Hogwarts, and their {{Muggle}} father is pleased to have one child who took after him.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'', where protagonist Mirabel Madrigal is the daughter of a superpowered mother and a normal father. Nonetheless, she ends up being the only member of the family to lack any special gift. Meanwhile, her older and younger siblings, as well as the maternal side of her family, are running around being able to [[SpeaksFluentAnimal talk to animals]], use SuperStrength, [[GreenThumb make plants quickly grow]], and {{shapeshift|er}}.
* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheSecretDoor'''s villain is Princess Malucia, the only one in the magical land of Zinnia who doesn't possess magic of her own.

* "Norlocks" are sometimes born to the Kymeran WitchSpecies in Creator/NancyACollins' ''Golgotham'' trilogy; they generally [[ExtraDigits have five fingers per hand instead of the usual six]], and are considered disabled by other Kymerans due to the species' focus on magic. Kymeran [[HalfHumanHybrids Half-Human Hybrids]] are likely to be norlocks[[spoiler:; explicit mention is made of Tymm—son of the protagonist and deuteragonist in the series—having five-fingered hands like his (human) mother, although one ''does'' wonder how her being a [[ExtraOreDinary ferromancer]] would affect him]].

* In the ''Literature/KingmakerKingbreaker'' series, this is a driving point of the first book, as Prince Gar is unable to do magic despite being both Doranen and the son of a very powerful mage. His younger sister, [[RoyalBrat Princess Fane]], is incredibly magically talented and it's why they have such an antagonistic relationship - Gar is understandably jealous of his younger sister's powerful magic and his younger sister resents the fact that the reason she was born was to replace her "crippled" brother as the next Weather Worker.

* ''Literature/RetiredWitchesMysteries'': Magic sometimes skips a generation in this series, as evidenced by two of the three titular "retired witches" (Molly and Elsie, each of whom married a non-magical man) having one non-magical child each, Mike and Aleese. 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 as revealed in book 2, 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).

* ''Literature/ShamanOfTheUndead'': Ida ''[[IJustWantToBeNormal really wants to be one]]'', despite her parents' anxiety that she shows her magical talent already. Turns out, she has one, and it's ISeeDeadPeople coupled with {{Psychopomp}} (a combo known InUniverse as [[TitleDrop shaman of the undead]]) - and she's known about it most of her life. But [[GoneHorriblyRight the magical wards around her family house]] don't let ghosts through. That, and she really dislikes her parents' [[ArrangedMarriage plans for her]].

* In ''Literature/{{Worldweavers}}'', Thea is the seventh child of two seventh children... and she doesn't have any of the normal magics. (She gets a cool power later, but it's ''not'' magic.) It's mentioned that children around the country sent her mail — when she was just days old — about how powerful she is… sucks to be her.
* Bink, protagonist of ''A Spell for Chameleon'', the first book in the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' series, is thought to be this when he shows no magic talent in a land where everyone must have a magic talent by law; he is set to be exiled. [[spoiler:Subverted – it turns out that he did have a magic talent all along, and a Magician-caliber one at that: he cannot be harmed by magic. And in Xanth, most of everything is magic.]]

* In ''Split Infinity'', the first book of the ''[[Literature/ApprenticeAdept Adept]]'' series, non-magical Stile, the crossed-over version of the Blue Adept (it make sense in context) makes friend with Neysa, a unicorn who has normal horse colors (black and white). He finds out that she was allowed to live since she had the "button" of a horn at birth, indicating that she was a unicorn. However, in her herd, she was treated like a second-class member, since most unicorns have exotic coloring (deep blue, fiery red, purples, greens, etc.) so she was destined to remain unmated with the Herd Stallion, and wouldn't therefore never have any foals since the lesser stallions would also not touch her. While appalled at this, and helping to make her acceptable through his interactions with the herd, Stile found out that foals born without the horn button are killed at birth, "as a mercy."
* In Creator/RayBradbury's short story "The Homecoming", Timothy is the only living human child in a vast extended family of vampires, werewolves, witches and ghouls. Everyone in the family - Timothy himself included - consider him to be the IllGirl, a pathetic cripple doomed to a tragically-early death, because of this.
* In the ''Literature/SpellslingerSeries'', non-magical Sha'Tep born in the magical Jan'Tep society are treated as a servant underclass. Sha'Tep are forbidden to marry and have children, and so the only place they come from is magical families who disown them after they've failed to show any arcane ability. The protagonist, Kellen, thought himself magically incapable until his [[BlessedWithSuck shadowblack]] kicked in, and after he was nearly condemned to Sha'Tep servitude by his family when they attempted to [[BroughtDownToNormal bind away his already incredibly weak magic]].

* [[TagalongKid Henry Mills]] from ''Series/OnceUponATime''. His mother Emma is [[TheChosenOne "The Saviour"]] who is meant to break the curse (and eventually develops some magical powers of her own). His [[ItMakesSenseInContext adoptive mother/step-great-grandmother]] Regina is one of the most powerful magic users of the series. His father, [[spoiler:Neal,]] is seen to be able to use magic in season 3, but doesn't like it. And then there's Snow and Charming, his grandparents, who might not have magical powers but are still BadassNormal.

* In ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'', Kinfolk are humans or wolves with werewolf blood, immunity to the [[WeirdnessCensor Delirium]], at least loose connections to werewolf society, and nothing else. No shapeshifting and only low-level [[FunctionalMagic Gifts]] for you, sorry! Also, you're a huge disappointment to your werewolf relatives-- useful only as breeding stock and the driver of the getaway car.
** How a Kinfolk is treated, depends largely on the Tribe. While they are indeed basicly slaves and breeding stocks to the Get of Fenris and Shadow Lords, who are very conservative, the more liberal tribes, the Glass Walkers and Bone Gnawers treat their kinfolk pretty decent and the Children of Gaia treat them as equals.

*** In 2nd edition that's no longer true, two werewolves can give birth to a normal-ish(the child's a wolf-blooded)offspring
* ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'':
** Proximi are dynastic hereditary Sleepwalkers: [[{{Muggles}} Sleepers]] who do not have the supernal power of mages, but can witness it without the threat of [[WeirdnessCensor Paradox]]. A Proximus, unlike a normal Sleepwalker, is born into an established family of mages and other Proximi, and ''can'' use limited supernal magic. Mages also believe Proximi are more likely to Awaken than other Sleepers.
** Since Awakening to magic is a highly personal experience, this trope is a possibility for any magical family, and means that the unlucky child isn't even mentally capable of understanding or perceiving their family's powers. The ''really'' unlucky ones get outright abused in hopes of invoking a TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' setting, only the Terrestrial Exalted's powers are hereditary; the children of other Exalted are plain mortals unless their Exalted parent has a high Essence rating, then they can be Half Caste. During the Golden Age (when the Solars ruled) the offspring of Solars were called "Golden Children"; born into status, wealth and privilege, but with none of the powers their parents wielded.
** This also happens to the aforementioned Terrestrials; Dragon-Blooded breeding is, in general, not what it used to be. It is common enough for children of Terrestrial parents to fail to Exalt, which typically brings down [[UnFavorite a good degree of shame and disapproval]] on their heads. [[HopeSpot However]], such a mortal STILL carries the blood of the Dragons in him, unexpressed though it may be, and thus there is a chance--increased if he himself ends up with a Terrestrial spouse--that HIS children may yet Exalt.
* In the TabletopGame/{{Mystara}} setting for D&D, the Empire of Alphatia was founded by refugees from a destroyed world where magic was ''extremely'' potent, and only an unlucky few (presumably, those afflicted with subnormal Intelligence ''and'' Wisdom) were incapable of using it. Such people were regarded as handicapped in Old Alphatian society, and many well-known magic items were originally invented to accommodate their "disabilities".

* [[spoiler:Florian Greenheart]] in ''VideoGame/OverlordII'' [[spoiler:was the only Elf who couldn't use magic]]. The disaster that sparked FantasticRacism against all magical beings was triggered by his first attempt to fix this, [[spoiler:and the magic-hating Glorious Empire he founded is his second attempt.]]

* The main character in ''VideoGame/BlackSigil'' seems to fall under this initially.
* 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 also isn't above [[AintTooProudToBeg begging]] his [[NeverMessWithGranny grandma]] for help when he's over his head. 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 [[InvisibleToNormals recognizes it in action]].
* The main character in the ''VideoGame/{{Awakening}}'' series, Princess Sophia, was the only human born without magic. She eventually managed to defeat the villain ''because of'' this limitation rather than despite it.
* ''VideoGame/TheSims'':
** In ''VideoGame/TheSims3'' Supernatural expansion, Joe is this in the [=MacDuff=] family. Only he and his mother are not witches. However this is not possible if both parents are supernatural creatures.
** In ''VideoGame/TheSims2'', supernatural sims who can breed will produce normal sim offspring, making this trope the norm. The exceptions are aliens, who have a set of genetics that will hybridize with normal sim genes, and plant-sims who use the "pollinate" option to asexually produce plant-sim toddlers (plant-sims that "woo-hoo" will have normal sim offspring).

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Tedd Verres was born to two people with extraordinary magical ability, but is "magically impaired". Not only does he not have native power, he cannot be empowered like most people can be. He generally compensates by building {{Magitek}} devices that use ambient magical energy. Later comics have revealed [[spoiler:that while Tedd may not have access to standard magic, he ''does'' have native powers of his own: he can "see" and intrinsically understand any magic spell just by looking at it, he can de-enchant things, and he's capable of creating magic catalysts (wands, basically). Such beings are known as "Seers", and are exceptionally rare even among mages.]]

* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'': Luna's oldest sister, Barnet, suffered from this, making her an outcast in the already majorly screwed-up Travora family. It eventually lead to her running away from home and becoming an assassin.
* ''Webcomic/{{Unfamiliar}}'': What Pinyon was at first believed to be, due to how little talent she possesses in magic and how she hadn’t found a familiar yet despite being over 13, the age at which most witches find one. Thankfully for her, this is subverted when she saves a bird she finds she can communicate with.

** By ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Aang and Katara had one non-bending offspring, Bumi. He has a major chip on his shoulder, particularly toward his younger brother, and to a lesser extent, his younger sister. [[spoiler:Until season three when he, and many other {{Muggle}}s, spontaneously develop Airbending due to the Harmonic Convergence.]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries'', Tim the Witch-Smeller was born to witch parents with no powers but [[WizardsLiveLonger a warlock's longevity]]--worse, he was apparently unique, so he grew up [[FreudianExcuse mocked and tormented by his empowered peers]]. The result is a psychopathic [[TheWitchHunter witch hunter]] with a [[FantasticRacism grudge against witches]].

Compare HighHopesZeroTalent where a character wants to be something, but has no aptitude for it. Contrast AlmightyJanitor and the BadassNormal. Compare UnSorcerer, RecessiveSuperGenes and UnfazedEveryman. For an [[InvertedTrope inversion]], see MageBornOfMuggles.

* Known as "Squibs" in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', these people still have ''some'' inherent magical affinity that allows them interact with and see elements of the [[MagicalSociety Wizarding World]] that other Muggles simply can't, but since they're unable to do magic, Squibs are generally regarded poorly in the community. 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]]

** 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'', several characters state that it was widely believed that the long dead Ariana Dumbledore was a Squib but Harry later finds out 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. ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'' describes such individuals as "Obscurials", people whose magic was involuntarily curtailed, causing serious issues.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'', where Mirabel Madrigal is the non-magic daughter of a magical mother and a non-magical father. Nonetheless, magic inherent in her maternal bloodline is powerful, and leaves her as the only member of the family to lack any gift. Meanwhile, her siblings, aunts, and uncles are running around being able to [[SpeaksFluentAnimal talk to animals]], use SuperStrength, [[GreenThumb make plants quickly grow]], and {{shapeshift|er}}.

* [[Creator/{{Disney}} Disney's]] upcoming ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'' will focus on Mirabel, the only child in the Madrigal family who doesn't have magical powers.

* 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.
** 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.
** 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]]

** 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'', several characters state that it was widely believed that the long dead Ariana Dumbledore was a Squib but Harry later finds out 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.

* This is the norm for the [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Others]] in the ''Literature/NightWatchSeries'' 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]]).