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Basic Trope: Any Hand Wave for a seemingly impossible event, not just those involving magic.

  • Straight: A sudden and unexplained explosion blows a hole in the wall of the villains' hideout. Jim The Lancer asks how it happened, Bob The Hero says, "I don't know," and then Walter the wizard shows up and points out that he caused the explosion.
  • Exaggerated:
    • A group of wizards assist the heroes multiple times, but are not seen until after the Big Bad is defeated, when the heroes wonder what caused all those lucky "accidents".
    • A wizard is responsible for the entire premise.
    • There is a pretty specific and detailed explanation that could be given, but Jim is too bored, lazy, angry, or busy to care about hearing it once it's pointed out that a wizard was one of the many players involved — so in the end, A Wizard Did It Because He Is the Only One That Jim Cares About.
  • Downplayed:
    • "Hey, what's that light in the sky? It's too bright to be a star." "A wizard did it, honey."
    • There is something genuinely nonsensical in the story, but it's the work of a wizard who's talented in that particular field, e.g., something time-related from a Time Wizard.
  • Justified:
    • The wizard saw the heroes in a dilemma and decided to help out.
    • All the wizards in the land run an organization devoted to helping good triumph over evil. When they see heroes in need (via a crystal ball or something similar) they send someone to help the heroes in secret.
    • There's a scientific explanation for the event, but it's hard to explain due to language barriers, so the scientist just says that it's magic.
  • Inverted: Instead of magic or fake science, the strange event is explained with real, logical science.
  • Subverted: The heroes thank a wizard for something they think he did, but he didn't do it. (E.g.: "Thanks, wizard." "I haven't helped you yet. I just got here.")
  • Double Subverted: But the wizard was lying because he wanted to help out in secret.
  • Parodied:
    • The wizard thinks he did it, but the heroes know it was their own doing.
    • The wizard thinks he did it, but later discovers that his wand is fake; the real cause of whatever happened is never explained.
    • The nonmagical heroic characters nevertheless have Clap Your Hands If You Believe powers and if they all insist hard enough that the wizard did it, he will have retroactively done it.
    • A wizard (equipped with his trusty wand and spellbook) is shown alongside the heroes. Even when the heroes get in trouble, and the wizard could cast a spell to get them out of it, he doesn't.
  • Zig-Zagged: Some inexplicable things are later explained to be a wizard's doing, while some are ascribed to Hollywood Science, others to realistic (if hard-to-believe) science, and some are left unexplained.
  • Averted:
    • Nothing scientifically impossible occurs.
    • No attempt is made to explain the impossibilities.
  • Enforced: The producer likes wizards, so he orders the writers to include one somewhere.
  • Lampshaded: "Why is everything explained by 'A Wizard Did It'? Surely the wizard didn't do all those deeds."
  • Invoked: The Hero tracks down a wizard and asks for his help.
  • Exploited:
  • Defied:
    • The wizard is forbidden from helping, since This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself.
    • "A Wizard didn't do this. Or a Wizard wasn't the only one who did this. So explain how it really happened, GODDAMMIT!!!!"
  • Discussed: "What do you think the odds are that a wizard's gonna just show up and magically save the day?"
  • Conversed: "So there was a wizard secretly helping the heroes? What a cop-out!"
  • Implied: The lucky "accident" that caused the Big Bad's defeat is never explained. However, at the very end, a wizard is seen standing alone in a field, and winks at the audience.
  • Deconstructed: Because wizards help out so much, people start becoming dependent on them to solve everything. As a result, the wizards decide to pull out and leave the Muggles to fend for themselves.
  • Reconstructed: Without the wizards always bailing them out, the Muggles regain their usual competence. The wizards still help out, but only in extreme circumstances.
  • Played for Laughs: The wizard's actions have ridiculous consequences, he gets to the scene in comical fashion, or both.
  • Played for Drama: The wizards threaten to do something (who knows what?)

How did the link back to the main page appear here? A Wizard Did It.

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