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Magical Incantation

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"Oh no...looks like I've gotta use my magic spell; ABRACADABRA ALLACABAUNCHER, I NOW HAVE A ROCKET LAUNCHER!"

The most obvious way of getting the world to do what you want is by simply commanding it. After all, it works on people. However, telling rocks to get out of the way doesn't work very well. Clearly, we need to find the right words, magical words which force the rock to do as it's told. Such is the reasoning that has led to spells being associated with speech across the world.

The nature of the words varies from plain English, through dodgy rhymes and ancient languages, to unpronounceable by human tongue. The more normal the words, the more stringent the other constraints on casting the spell will be. Making the rock move by shouting "Move!" will usually require rare talent or considerable preparation; making it moving by saying "Fthagnchmthesgf fprnjklmpt fhqwhgads" merely requires extreme verbal dexterity.

Subtropes

When the Language of Magic isn't human, it's usually explained as either theurgy - angels and demons insist on being addressed in their native tongue - or true names.

The Great Big Book of Everything or Spell Book may contain incantations.

Specific examples of magic incantations include By the Power of Grayskull!, Invocation, and many instance of Calling Your Attacks. Compare and contrast Words Can Break My Bones which is the usually shorter "words of power". Not to be confused with Invocation when this is done just for show. Compare Words Do Not Make The Magic for when the incantation itself is either irrelevant or else useless without the magical muscle to go with it. Compare I Know Your True Name for another way words can control sticks, stones, and bones. On the powerful end of the Power of Language scale.


Examples:

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    Anime and Manga 
  • Yuki Nagato from Haruhi Suzumiya uses incantations. In the anime, they are sped up and backwards Microsoft SQL scripts. In the books, they're simply SQL.
  • Magic in Slayers requires an incantation of at least the name. Whether the full incantation of a spell is required seems to be based on whatever flows better in the show, but powerful spells NEED the incantation (Lina's big three spells are never cast without incantation, except when she used Dragon Slave to comically abuse Gourry.)
    Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows, Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows. I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand Before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand. Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess! DRAGON SLAVE!
    • The official explanation is that the Chaos Words (in-universe term for the incantation) are needed for the full power of a spell, but the spell-caster can skip the incantation to get the spell off faster if they're familiar enough with it.
    • In Slayers:The Motion Picture, the incantation is different.
      Heed me now, thou who is darker than dusk, Heed that which is more red than blood, In the name of that which has been buried in the bottomless abyss of time eternal, I summon thee, Master of the ultimate darkness, Have no pity on the fools who stand in our way, Infuse me with power; let your strength become mine to wipe them from the face of this earth to deliver unto them the ultimate doom! DRAGON SLAVE!
  • Negima! Magister Negi Magi does this in Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, and so forth, requiring at least an activation key word/phrase before each spell, then the incantation itself. It's possible to use magic without one for speed/surprise, but the spell will be less effective. Also notable is that the spell after being spoken can be held for approximately 20 sec, giving the wizard a greater ability for surprise. Unincanted, delayed, and fully incanted spells can themselves be stacked atop others of their own kind, and each other as well, leaving little limitation to the wizard besides their Mana pool and skill.
    • Incantation length is, to some extent, a central part of the series' mechanics. Because spells cannot be cast with incomplete incantations unless the caster is reasonably powerful or has studied specifically to do so or both, mages often pair up with frontline fighters so that the opponent's fighters can't attack and interrupt the mage's spell. Incantation length was also a deciding factor during Negi's fight with Chao; Chao attempted to cast a very powerful spell, but its incantation was too long, and Negi was able to fire off a powerful spell of his own before she was able to finish.
  • Much like the games, mages in Final Fantasy: Lost Stranger have to chant in order to use spells, particularly when using powerful magic like Firaga. Especially powerful mages, like the Magus Sisters, can skip the chant altogether and invoke a spell nigh-instantly.
  • While most spells in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha don't acquire this, Status Buff types like the ones that Caro use, and some high-level magic such as pretty much everything that Hayate casts and the Thunder Fall spell Fate used to activate the last Jewel Seeds, require chants of varying length. It also depends on the caster; while Nanoha (almost) never uses an incantation for Starlight Breaker, the Book of Darkness does.
    • This is a very strange case for Nanoha. Even the title references her need to use an incantation (Magical Lyrical) which is summarily dropped after the 2nd episode and for some reason never brought up again though it remains part of the title for all seasons. Very odd.
  • Record of Lodoss War: Spells are cast using an incantation that's essentially a rhyme describing the intended effects.
  • Ojamajo Doremi: All of the witch apprentices have a specific set of magic words they have to speak before giving a command (e.g. Doremi's is "Pirika Pirilala Poporina Peperuto"). In the 4Kids dub, however, the girls chant a rhyme describing what they want to happen.
  • Kidō spells in Bleach have incantations that sound like mistranslated metal lyrics; powerful Shinigami can skip the incantation and just recite the spell's name and number, though this drastically weakens them.
  • Scrapped Princess has these. More adept magic users can abbreviate the incantations to cast spells rapid-fire: makes for a funny Curb-Stomp Battle in the first episode.
  • Shamanic Princess reserves its longest incantations for transformations.
    Tiara: Powerful subjects, show me the source of your powers. Fulfill your contract with Tiara! Bring forth the powers of the ancient scriptures and place them upon the name of Tiara. Fulfill your contract! Geil Eldo Samath!
  • Sword Art Online: Invoked in the ALO Arc, where players using magic have to recite a string of commands in a language that sounds vaguely Norse. They do have the benefit of visual cues for timing, in something close to English script. Top players, like Leafa, by-heart their spells and learn their meaning.
  • Bible Black: Heikas, heikas. Estai, bebroi. Zazas, zazas. Natasatana zazas...
  • Cardcaptor Sakura has her card sealing incantations together with her magical baton.
  • Magic User's Club uses funky gibberish as incantations that are strangely catchy...
  • In The Familiar of Zero, all spells require incantations, which are actually composed of random names of runes from the various runic alphabets, especially the Elder Futhark.
  • Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo has "Magity", which is enough for simpler spells. For transformations and larger spells, something longer is required:
    "Realm, Realm, the light that fills the Magical World, as a sign of protecting the foreign world, grant me power!"
  • Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan: "PIPIRU PIRU PIRU PIPIRU PII!" It resurrects people that the title character bludgeoned to death. She chants it often. Do the math.
  • In Fairy Tail some spells like Urano Metria and Fairy Glitter need long incantations.
  • In the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, characters use individual summon chants when summoning powerful monsters, starting from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds (even prior in dubs of previous series). The summon chants add a little bit of dialogue during the summoning sequence and describe the character of the duelist and/or the monster. The incantations are not necessary at all, but summoning monsters without the chants makes the sequences rather dull.
    • This trope is later lampshaded in a late episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, when Roboppi mentions how long Ai's summoning chant for "Dark Knight @Ignister" is, causing him to stop and wrap up the rest of the chant. During that scene, Ai is chanting while no summoning animation is happening; the camera is only focusing on him. It's clear that Ai makes his chants up, which is shown later during his duel with Playmaker when he chants during the summoning of "The Arrival Cyberse @Ignister" and he tries to come up with six adjectives for the six Ignis, but only comes up for five ("Superior! Splendid! Stunning! Elegant! Super!") and then he spontaneously adds "Ultra super!". Again, for a majority of the chant, the camera is focusing on Ai again.
    • It should be noted that certain chants vary depending on the user. Both, Yusei and Jack have different chants for Stardust Dragon. But most of the time, the chants are the same for the same monster. Aki uses the same chant Yusei uses for Stardust Dragon, and Yusei uses the same chants the other Signers use for their respective dragons. Each monster that has a summoning chant almost always stick with the same chant in the Japanese version and the players never fail to recite the chants. In Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, the summoning chants for Fusion Summons also reference each Fusion Material, which is the only part of the chant that may differ from time to time, but the rest stays the same, with only the single exception of Starve Venom Fusion Dragon, who has two summoning chants, one by Yuri and one by Yuya.
    • In Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, The Winged Dragon of Ra, was one of the earliest examples that was summoned via a chant. Unlike other examples, the player must recite the ancient Egyptian text in order to command Ra, otherwise it'd be stuck in its useless Sphere Mode. Even the opposing player would be able to take control of Ra as long as they are able to say the chant. In the Japanese version, the player even reads it out loud in some "magic" Egyptian language.
  • Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor has a detailed system of these. In this series, incantations are used by a magician to alter their own state of mind so they can cast a spell, which has several implications. Changing the incantations alters the output of a spell, in a manner that seems random but is actually predictable from how the incantation was changed. Skilled magicians can shorten their incantations without weakening their spells, but this is noted to increase the chances of an accident. Really skilled magicians can cast spells using incantations that have nothing to do with the nature of the spell.
  • Magic in Tweeny Witches needs an incantation that is made of numerals. While most witches pronounce it with Greek numerals, Arusu and later some witches pronounce it with Goroawase Number.
  • It's not exactly magical, but a supernatural occurrence happens in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean when Father Enrico Pucci recites the fourteen phrases from DIO's diary to the Green Baby. They fuse.
    Spiral Staircase. Rhinoceros Beetle. Desolation Row. Fig Tart. Rhinoceros Beetle. Via Dolorosa. Rhinoceros Beetle. Singularity Point. Giotto. Angel. Hydrangea. Rhinoceros Beetle. Singularity Point. Secret Emperor.
  • Ushio and Tora: many of the mystical techniques of the Kouhamei sect used to subdue demons require unintelligible sutras to be used, as seen with the elemental-subduing techniques or the Iguri.
  • Most of the Jewelpet anime revolves around the titular pets performing magic spells by chanting "Jewel Flash!". Their sentence structures vary between each season, yet they maintain most of the aforementioned chant or at least a variation of it. Their sweet-themed counterparts are also capable of magic through the "Sweets Flash" chant.

    Asian Animation 
  • In Happy Heroes, Huo Haha prefaces several of his magic spells with "Huo huo, ha ha, [intended effect of the spell]!"

    Comic Books 
  • The Adventures of Peter Wheat: The Grand Wizard of the hornet kingdom uses magical incantations to cast his spells.
    • In Issue #6, he says "Akra bakra go dakra" to turn himself into a snake.
  • Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham: When Bigby has the book in his hands, The Bookworm gets it away from him by speaking a magic spell out loud that envelopes him in eldritch tentacles. The incantation goes something like this.
    The Bookworm: "So we beat on, boats against the current..." "...Borne back ceaselessly into the past."
  • In Superman vs. Shazam!, Karmang chants an invoking spell which takes the form of a little rhyming poem to summon Black Adam and the Sand Superman to his presence. Later, he chants a fire spell while hurling fireballs at Supergirl and Mary Marvel.
  • Zatanna and her father Zatara speak their spells backwards. (Remember: words backwards, sentences forwards!) However, Zatanna has sometimes explained away the need to do this as being merely a focus exercise.

    Fan Works 
  • Dungeon Keeper Ami: They are used in place of manipulating magic through gestures:
    • When Abott Duval talks of Ami's complex spells, in A Short Break:
      Durval: "I'm old, not infirm, girl. Nevertheless, it would be helpful if you could figure out the proper incantations for simplifying the arcane gestures. That convergence of three lines over there, for example, looks as if it could be summarised by a properly pronounced Sul rune."
      Ami: "Well, I don't actually have any formal training in spell creation. I can place some of the more common syllables, but I have never had the time to actually study how warlocks put chants and incantations together. For me, it's much easier to manipulate the magic directly using the dungeon heart. It is a fascinating subject though."
    • A long spell to summon things, which involves one of these:
      Ami had both of her hands raised high over her head as she struggled to pronounce the unfamiliar syllables of the spell. A clean circle of ground had expanded in front of her, pushing a ring-shaped wave of clogging blood outward as it grew in diameter. The magical circle's perimeter burst into icy flame, and thirteen evenly-spaced flickering runes appeared in the burning curtain.
      [...]
      Ami's voice reached a crescendo as she refused to let herself be distracted by the plight of her comrades. In response, lines of fire pulsed and drew a pentagram in the centre of the summoning circle. Suddenly, the entire room coloured with the bright orange tones of an active furnace when a tornado of flame exploded from the ground, sending large chunks of the summoning circle flying.
  • Arc-Ved Protagonists uses summon chants the same way they are used in proper canon for Yugioh. Which is to say, the characters say them when summoning important monsters, but they aren't necessary and just make the actual summoning a bit less dull.

    Film - Animated 

    Film — Live-Action 
  • In Warcraft (2016), spoken incantation is part of spellcasting. Lothar and Durotan both exploit this at different points of the story to stop Khadgar from using magic by clasping a hand over his mouth.
  • In Absolutely Anything, Neil is omnipotent, however in order to actually use his power he has to state exactly what he wants to happen, and then wave his hand.
  • In the original Child's Play movies, whenever Chucky tries to transfer his soul into something, be it a human or another Good Guy doll, he has to knock them out and use a chant. The whole chant is a bit long, but it always starts with, "Ade due damballa, give me the power, I beg of you!"
  • In The Dark Crystal, the urSkeks chant one spell to bring Kira back to life.
  • The Box (2018): Inside the box is a piece of paper with a magic spell written on it. Reading it out loud summons a Doppelgänger of whoever recites the spell that makes them mysteriously disappear and replaces them.
  • Attachment: Chana chants Hebrew phrases while practicing magic, as does Lev and co. later when performing an exorcism.

    LARP 
  • In Fantasy LARP systems, particularly those based on NERO, the success of a spell depends both on correctly reciting the incantation (along the lines of "I call upon Mystic Force to cast Fireball!") and hitting your target with a spell packet.

    Literature 
  • Book of Brownies: The evil Golden Dwarf's sole weakness is a magical incantation that when uttered in his presence, will banish him to another world permanently. The main problem is that the incantation is a long, long word - Kerolamisticootalimarcawnokeeto - that nobody could remember, but the three titular brownies made it work by memorizing one-third of the chant each and say it in sequence.
  • Harry Potter: Each spell has a short incantation, usually in dog Latin, and there is an advanced technique to cast spells by thinking the incantation rather than speaking it. Though the wizard's intent matters to an extent, misspeaking the incantation can cause a Magic Misfire, and a wizard can use some incantations without knowing in advance what they'll do.
  • Magic in the Earthsea series works by the user speaking the language of dragons; since it is impossible to lie in said language, the universe will change to make what is said true.
  • In Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept series, all Stiles's spells have to be in rhyming verse. Slightly complicated by the fact that each incantation only works once, ever.
  • Magic from the Inheritance Cycle must be cast by speaking your intentions in the ancient Language of Magic. It used to be merely a matter of willpower, but the elder race realized that leaving magic up to your concentration tended not to go well, so they fixed it.
  • In Hugh Cook's Chronicles of an Age of Darkness, the wizards use a non-human language, in which every single verb is irregular.
  • In the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews, words of power are acquired by mages having a contest of wills against the words when first encountered. Success means you acquire the word, failure means you die. These words are extremely powerful, and almost impossible to resist until Kate encounters a bad guy whose native tongue is the ancient tongue from which the words are taken...
  • In Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos, the incantations require an exotic language. The narrator explains this as similarity: you can not expect anything but ordinary results from using ordinary language. He has not mastered such a language, but he whips together an incantation in Pig Latin.
  • The Dresden Files has many interesting examples.
    • Each wizard can attach a meaning to a particular word. However, if they attach a meaning/spell to a word that they use often (e.g. fire) it could be messy. Thus, wizards generally use a language that they are not intimately familiar with, or they use a bastardized version of a language.
    • Rituals, a type of spell that can be done by non-wizards by calling on another entity, do seem to require a specific form of words. Sometimes the failure of the incantation can be from mispronouncing the word and this results in a backlash of magic on the summoner.
    • Mantle magic is magic a person gains from obtaining a magical power from an external power. This is described like uploading new software to the person's mind. Like wizards above, now to access that power, they need to enter a command word to call on that specific power or action.
  • The Philosophical Strangler by Eric Flint plays this for laughs; the Rosy finger takes so long to cast that the fight is already over when it's done.
  • In The Belgariad by David Eddings, sorcery functions through "the Will and the Word". They concentrate on what they want to happen and speak. What they actually say doesn't matter much, although Garion once gets told off for using "Push" to move a rock — because sorcerers lose respect if they going around telling things to "push" or "flop" instead of sounding impressively mystical.
  • In The Elenium and The Tamuli, Religion is Magic and mages cast spells by asking well-disposed gods for assistance through carefully worded prayer in the god's preferred language. A rare few, like Sparhawk and Sephrenia, have close enough relationships with the gods to bypass the process — effectively direct-dialing the deity instead of submitting a form letter.
  • In Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian story "The Phoenix on the Sword", Thoth-amon uses this.
    he whispered dark names and grisly incantations forgotten the world over save in the grim hinterlands of dark Stygia, where monstrous shapes move in the dusk of the tombs.
  • Magic users in The Lord of the Rings sometimes use incantations and sometimes don't - exactly why is never made clear, though as a professional philologist Tolkien certainly had respect for the power of language. Some individuals, such as certain elves and Maiar, uses songs instead. Gandalf's utterances during spellcasting are generally fairly straightforward phrases like "Fire take the werewolves" spoken in Quenya. He also makes reference at one point to a "Word of Power" (in a way that suggests his usual spells are not Words of Power), but we don't actually hear what it is so it's not clear what language it was in.
  • How spells are cast in The Witches of Bailiwick. They usually take the form of a little rhyming poem about 3-5 lines long, although more powerful ones can be really long.
  • Light And Dark The Awakening Of The Mageknight: Necessary to use a Bonded's Awakenings. The knight must say the command's name followed by the Bonded's name to activate the spell.
  • There's a scene in Lord Byron's Manfred where a disembodied voice speaks a detailed Incantation over the protagonist. It is essentially cursing him with all his own wrongdoing.
  • In the Discworld, wizards use incantations, but back it up with potent props (sometimes stripped down to a small stick and 3cc of mouse blood if they're summoning Death). Witches tend to dispense with this. When Magrat Garlick had to open a locked door with magic, she spoke to it, got into its mind, and got it to remember when it was part of a green, growing, living, tree. The planks of the door then erupted into growth and opened a gap. Granny Weatherwax approved of the technique but said if it had been her, she's have gone into the rocks around it and prodded their memories of when they were all runny and liquid in a volcano.
  • Casting spells in Tough Magic apparently involves chanting a verse or so's worth of syllables, which thankfully, considering how often spells are cast, are simply implied, not written out.
  • Mocked in the 40k Universe by Dan Abnett via his novel Ravenor Returns. At the climax, the titular Inquisitor is forced to cooperate with his nemesis, the heretic Zygmund Molotch, to banish an incredibly powerful Daemon using sorcery.
    "Is there not some incantation?" Ravenor asked as he and Molotch stood beside the waiting craft. "Incantation?" Molotch laughed. "I don’t, I’m happy to say, know much about these things. I assumed there would be some words to speak, some ritual." Molotch giggled. "What a strange notion your kind has of mine, Gideon. You picture us all, sheltered away on our covens, mumbling arcane phrases from decrepit tomes for the adulation of our masters." "I’m sorry," said Ravenor. "I assumed—" "Actually, there is," said Molotch, holding out a shred of parchment, "and I want you to say it."
  • In A Wizard in Rhyme, any rhyme can have the magical power to make what it describes come true. The quality of the verse can make a difference: a well-phrased, well-loved old song packs a lot more power than a slapdash off-the-cuff couplet, for example.
  • The Courtship of Princess Leia: The Witches of Dathomir mostly speak to work spells, aside from very minor ones. Teneniel is astonished that Luke can do "magic" (as she thinks of it) just by thought alone. He explains this is how Jedi learn, and so it seems Witches have inadvertently limited themselves by requiring chants to use Force powers.
  • The Tough Guide to Fantasyland: Chanting and rhymes are often required to work spells, many done for hours on end.
  • The Scholomance: Each spell has a spoken incantation, which can range from three words to an ongoing semi-improvisational group dialogue. There's no Language of Magic, so spells can be cast in any language, with some preference for dead ones.
  • Bazil Broketail: Witches' magic involves lengthy incantations usually, which must be memorized and recited perfectly to make the spell work.
  • Johannes Cabal: In "A Long Spoon", a summoned devil kindly explains that Johannes can't bind her to his will because the incantation is basically just calling on the infernal higher-ups to let him boss a lesser demon around, whereas she's an independent agent.
  • Split Heirs: Hydrangean magic involves lengthy, complex incantations.
  • The Chronicles of Dorsa: Words or a word in the Old Tongue are needed to cast certain spells.
  • Dragonvarld: The Sisters cast spells by chanting together when led by the High Priestess and Mistress of Dragons.
  • Third Time Lucky: And Other Stories of the Most Powerful Wizard in the World: Wizards sometimes cast spells by incantations. However, most aren't done using this, and Magdelene (given her incredible power) simply does them by thought alone.
  • Sweet & Bitter Magic: Spells are sometimes cast by saying specific words.

    Live-Action TV 
  • The eponymous main character from the British children's series Catweazle uses a lot of these. "Salmay, Dalmay, Adonay" and "Shempamporash" are probably the most common ones. He also often calls upon spirits and gods from various mythologies.
  • All witches and demons in Charmed (1998) can cast magic as long as their words rhyme or is in some form of poem like a haiku.
  • Doctor Who:
    • "Wons sa etihw saw eceelf reh, bmal elttil a dah yram!"
    • "The Shakespeare Code":
      • Carrionite "technology" is described as this. Humans and other species use numbers. To humans, the right equation can split the atom. To the Carrionites, they need just find the right word or words.
      • The Carrionites, a witch-like alien species, bewitches Shakespeare and controls his actions so the final verse of his work Love's Labours Won will rip open a hole to the prison their people reside in.
      • At the climax, the Doctor has Shakespeare come up with a sonnet to banish the Carrionites. With the help of the Doctor to provide coordinate information, the wordsmith stumbles on what to rhyme with, "a tinker's cuss" and Martha, the Doctor's companion, provides him with Expelliarmus.
  • In the Emerald City episode "Prison of the Abject", Glinda makes much fuss over West's "tongue" prior to East's funeral in the chapel - she seems to believe that West's drug habit will interfere with her ability to "sing her [East] to rest." The ceremony itself consists of much indecipherable chanting on the part of both Glinda and West, as well as some gyrating and thrashing from West before she sucks the spells out of East's corpse and ingests them.
  • Lovecraft Country: Spells require incantations using the Language of Adam, i.e. the original human language.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power:
    • The Istar from the meteorite is revealed to be capable of magic. Despite his amnesia, he instinctively chants spells in Quenya by using words like "Á keuta" (Restore, renew, refresh), "Á envinyata" (Heal), "Lótë" (Flower), "Á kuita" (Live), to revive a tree or heal a wound.
    • Galadriel can use incantations too. She commands her horse in Sindarin to run faster with the words "noro lim".
  • In the Merlin (1998) series, this sort of magic is used by the lowest class of wizards, Voice Wizards, or wizards by incantation. Stronger wizards use gestures, or perform magic simply by thought.
  • Rita Repulsa used a few good ones in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (being an Evil Sorceress and all). One good example was in “Happy Birthday Zach” when she used this spell to summon the Knasty Knight:
    "Moon of ivory, stars of old, candlelight that’s spun of gold,
    Sky of fire, wind of fright, bring to me a Knasty Knight!
  • Motherland: Fort Salem: To cast some spells, certain phrases are chanted or spoken.
  • From Sesame Street, the bumbling Stage Magician, the Amazing Mumford, has one whenever he performs a trick: "A La Peanut Butter Sandwiches!"
  • In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, these are used for summoning the Pah-Wraiths.
  • On Supernatural Latin and Enochian appear to be the languages of choice for the banishment of both angels and demons.
  • True Blood: "Lo lo, Bromios. Lo lo, Dendrites. Lo lo, Eleutherios. Lo lo, Enorches."
  • Willow: Willow teaches Dove one to make a plant grow that she struggles with before it finally works.

    Pinball 
  • Parodied by Capcom's Pinball Magic, which has this incantation on the playfield:
    "Hocus Pocus preparatus,
    Play this pinball apparatus!"

    Tabletop Games 
  • Warhammer Fantasy: Each spell has an incantation in a Language of Magic that needs to be spoken by someone with magical ability. A spellcaster who can't speak can't cast, barring very rare workarounds.
  • Early editions of The Dark Eye had actual short rhymed incantations with every spell for the players of spellcasting characters, with a literal "if you don't say it, your character doesn't cast it" approach. This was gradually phased out later.
  • Dungeons & Dragons: Outside 4th Edition, most spells have "verbal components" that need to be spoken when they're cast. Onlookers can identify a spell by its verbal components (with training) and can silence a spellcaster to prevent them from casting. Some abilities, like the 3rd Edition feat "Silent Spell", counter this requirement.
  • Ars Magica: Magic doesn't strictly need spoken incantations, but spellcasting rolls are substantially penalized if a mage goes without. They can also get a modest spellcasting boost by speaking the spell extra loud.

    Theatre 
  • In Finian's Rainbow, Og casts a spell on the blackened Rawkins to cure him of his ill humor, while chanting in rhyme.
  • The spells of the Grimmerie in Wicked. One example: Elphaba chants the incantation "Eleka nahmen nahmen / Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen" followed by the plain English "Let his flesh not be torn / Let his blood leave no stain..." As she continues, however, she laments that she doesn't even know what good the chanting is or what she's reading, though, as it turns out, it actually has the effect of turning Fiyero into the Scarecrow.

    Video Games 
  • Final Fantasy Tactics:
    • All manner of spell casters will sometimes call out an incantation (such as "Aurora, exhale bloody air! Dark Holy!") The catch is that the incantations appear at random. You can generally pick out a player's favorite class because they'll have certain incantations burned into their memory, due to using the spell enough to see it frequently.
    • Sadly, this was removed entirely from the remake.
  • Valkyrie Profile and its sequels are full of these when big magic is performed by a spell-casting character or even some of the bosses. Bloodbane's rendition of Gravity Blessing is an incantation of pure horror. Celestial Star, quoted in the quotes section, is the most well-known because it delivers the most hits in the first game.
  • In the Tales Series, spells seem to require this. The more powerful the spell, the longer the verbal incantation is, in most cases. However, the incantation can vary between different casters, implying that this is more to help the caster focus than to actually shape the spell.
    • Can be subverted in Tales of Vesperia by using Overlimit, which will make the caster drop the usual incantation for a short phrase instead, greatly increasing the speed at which the spell is used. Most memorable is Rita, who'll literally just say "Blah, Blah, Blah" followed by the spell name.
  • The Power of Words in Yggdra Union and Blaze Union is an insanely powerful, face-meltingly rare ability that essentially lets the user play with reality using only magic and self-created incantations. There's only one person who's ever mastered it in the realm of Ancardia (that would be Nessiah), and the hell that said person went through to master it ought to be enough to discourage anybody else from trying. The general-use magic system in Ancardia, Tactics Cards, was set up by the Power of Words but can be used by any character via Invocation.
  • The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble: The seven Formulas you learn to use.

    Visual Novels 
  • In the Nasuverse, arias spoken by magi are actually forms of self-hypnosis to improve their magecraft; the actual words hold no power. Only two examples are shown where the actual words are magical. First, in The Garden of Sinners, there's someone who learned a language that allows him to change reality by describing the world differently than it is. Second, there's Caster in Fate/stay night, who uses the language of the Age of Gods, which is apparently such that the words themselves are fully-formed spells. Both languages are impossible for modern humans to learn.
    • High-level magi can also shorten their incantations, most notably with Notarikon. The most extreme is Cornelius Alba, who can incant eight lines in under two seconds and create a thousand-degree flame.
  • The Shinza Bansho Series absolutely loves this trope with lengthy incantations invoking reality-shattering effects for almost every named character, with effects ranging from simply turning the user into a living flame to more extreme ones such as the complete destruction of everything. As a general rule, these incantations are all about the user invoking their desires and wishes upon the world, overwriting the old reality with their own with some select few being able to make these effects permanent across all of creation. Additionally, the characters themselves never come up with them and they are instead their subconscious desires expressed in the form of words. The first activation is also completely out of their control and they are chanting them without conscious input.

    Webcomics 

    Web Original 
  • In the Whateley Universe, there seem to be a number of ancient (read: dead before humans used sticks) languages that work for magical incantations, as well as more modern (human) languages. Fey has used the language of the Sidhe.
  • Most magical actions in Last Life require spells to work, consisting of short Latin (or at least Latin-sounding) phrases. For optimal effect, spells are often repeated several times.

    Western Animation 
  • The Adventures of Puss in Boots has "Mystic treasure at the center, lift the veil that I may enter" used to enter the hidden city of San Lorenzo. Puss mixes up "Mystic" with "Magic" because he's an outsider, but when the mage that made the incantation in the first place makes the same mistake, it's an indication he's not quite what he seems.
  • Butterbean's Cafe:
    • The show has one where the titular character is about to top the episode's featured meal with the Fairy Finish.
      With a flick of my wrist and a flutter of wing, this (noun) bean will do its thing!
    • In "The Legend of the Shadow Bean!," Butterbean and her team use the incantation song "Fairy strong and fairy bright, in the darkness, find your light," which causes their wings and part of their outfits to glow in the dark.
  • The kids in Dragon Tales use two of these in conjunction with a magical dragon scale to teleport between Earth and Dragon Land.
    • To get to Dragon Land, they said this:
    I wish, I wish, with all my heart, to fly with dragons in a land apart!
    • And to get back home, they said this:
    I wish, I wish, to use this rhyme, to go back home until next time!
  • In Gargoyles, spell incantations were in Latin unless the caster was one of Oberon's Children.
    • or from a different magical tradition like the Jewish/Kabbalahist in 'Golem' or the Emir in 'Grief'. They used incantations in Hebrew and English but the Emir's incantation referenced Egyptian deities. Also, a caster of significant power could use one-word incantations, like the Archmage with the Eye of Odin, Phoenix Gate, and Grimorum Arcanorum all adding to his power.
    • Word of God is that certain languages, such as Latin and Hebrew, are simply better for this sort of thing than modern English (at least if you're a mortal wizard- Children of Oberon don't seem bound by language and just say what they want to happen, usually in rhyme).
  • The narrator for the British cartoon The Herbs gave the viewers access to the garden the series took place in by saying the word "Herbidacious".
  • The Owl House: The show doesn't generally revolve on using incantations since all witches do is just draw a circle in mid-air to activate most spells (Luz, a human, has to use glyph magic). However, a proper incantation was used in "Hooty's Moving Hassle" to activate the Moonlight Conjuring spell.
    Moonlight, we call, we sing! Moonlight, take this chance! Moonlight, come tie the string! Moonlight, start the dance!
  • In Percy's Tiger Tales, to visit their fantasy words, the kids say a phrase with four syllables, with the last syllable rhyming with the second one, e.g., "Tower Power!" to visit Tiger Towers.
  • In Sandra the Fairy Tale Detective, to allow Sandra to enter or leave the fairy tale world, Fo says "Soahc fo lennut!"note .
  • Shimmer and Shine:
    • The titular genies chant one whenever they grant a wish:
    Boom, Zahramay! (numbered) wish of the day! Shimmer and Shine, (the wish here)/wish granted divine!
    • In the first season, Leah chants one whenever she summons the genies to the human world:
    Shimmer and Shine, my genies divine. Through this special chant, three wishes you'll grant!
  • Tangled: The Series has four magical incantations, all related either to the sundrop or moonstone. In order of appearance, they are the Healing incantationnote , the Hurt Incantationnote , the Moon Incantationnote , and The Sun Incantationnote . All but the first are introduced over the course of the series. When a new one pops up, you'd best get ready for a doozy of a Wham Episode.
  • Teen Titans.
    • Raven uses many of these. One of the more memorable ones is, when speaking of Trigon:
      The gem was born of evil's fire.
      The gem shall be his portal.
      He comes to claim, he comes to sire
      The end of all things mortal!
    • Raven's usual magical chant is "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" In addition to sounding downright cool, the phrase has significant meaning: "Azarath" is her home dimension (and by extension, Trigon's domain), "Metrion" is her real name, and "Zinthos" was the name of a pet raven she had as a child. (Yes, seriously.)
  • In Visionaries, the power of the magical staves are called upon using Magical Incantations in the form of poems.
  • Zatanna in Young Justice. She casts spells by saying words backwards. So if she wants to cast fire she says 'erif.'

    Real Life 
  • During the 1400s, some Medieval Christians used the words “Vade retro satana”, an incantation popularized by the Benedictine community.
  • Here is a list of “Pow-Wows” or folk Christian Magic formulas. Although some of the contents include more complicated rituals and general alternative methods for at-home problems, the majority of these Pow-Wows are incantations invoking the Holy Trinity. The spots where there are three crosses in these spells are placed where one should say aloud “The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost”.
  • The fourth primary book of Hinduism, The Atharva Veda, contains several spells, curses, and even counter-curses that can be used to do things as crazy as call down rain. You can read up on your spells here.


 
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To Fly with Dragons

In "To Fly with Dragons," the premiere of "Dragon Tales," Max and Emmy discover a box in their new playroom with a magic dragon scale inside. On the box are written the words "I wish, I wish, with all my heart, to fly with dragons, in a land apart." When Emmy recites these words as she Max are holding the dragon scale, it whisks them to the magical world of Dragon Land, though they do not yet know where they are.

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