History Main / MagicMisfire

* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' when Jade, who shouldn't be playing with magic in the first place, casts a spell and something besides the desired result occurs. This is done typically by casting the spell incorrectly or misunderstanding the spell altogether. In one episode she casts a spell to make a bad guy disappear, but also hits Jackie, but the spell actually causes them to shrink to a tiny size so small that they aren't noticed. Since Jade admits that she forgot to choose a destination to send them to, she, Uncle, and Tohru think that Jackie has been sent to a random place and so keep trying several spells to bring him back unsuccessfully while Jackie tries to find a way to communicate with them while also fighting off the bad guy. Uncle realizes what actually happened when he discovers that two of the pages in the spell book were stuck together so Jade had accidentally created a shrinking spell by using the first half one one spell and the second half of another.

* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' when Jade, who shouldn't be playing with magic in the first place, casts a spell and something besides the desired result occurs. This is done typically by casting the spell incorrectly or misunderstanding the spell altogether.

** There's also that one weird episode in ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'' where a spell that was supposed to allow one to read a Pokémon's mind ends up temporarily turning Ash into a Pikachu instead for a few days.

* In ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworldII'', your character can damage themselves with their own spells if their casting skill isn't high enough.
* The weakest Imps in the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series, and especially ''[[VideoGame/DragonQuestHeroesRocketSlime Rocket Slime]]'', fight almost ''exclusively'' with these. They're really terrible at magic. In ''Rocket Slime'', standing still while an Imp tries to attack you will cause his magic to explode in his face. Running will cause him to chase you, trip, and ''explode,'' damaging everything in the area around it, meaning you, other enemies, and itself. This is all they can do.

* In the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'', Eragon tries to bless a newborn child, and his blessing includes a phrase that he thinks means 'May you be shielded from misfortune'. But, not being too good with the Ancient Language ([[LanguageofMagic Language of Magic]]), what he actually said was 'May you be a shield from misfortune', so the child is forced to absorb the pain of others and help them whether she wants to or not. He later finds her and tries to fix it, but she's kinda messed up by that stage…

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'': At lower skill levels, it is possible to fail when casting spells. The result is the magical "whoosh" of the spell being cast, but no effect taking place. A pop-up message will then appear alerting you that you've failed to cast the spell.

* In ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld 2'', your character can damage themselves with their own spells if their casting skill isn't high enough.

* Leif from ''VideoGame/BugFables'' fights with ice magic. If the player messes up the Timed Hits, Leif's animation shows he got own hand encased in ice.

Not to be confused with a magic ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}''.

* Not magic, but similar in principle, were Ash's Anime/{{Pokemon}} trying to master new attacks. Most notable were Snorunt's inadvertently freezing Ash with attempts at Ice Beam, Scraggy's Focus Blast spiraling off-target and petering out, and (most hilariously) Gible's Draco Meteor not only failing to split like it's supposed to, but invariably tracking down [[ButtMonkey Dawn's Piplup]] and whacking him instead of the target.
** There's also that one weird episode where a spell that was supposed to allow one to read a Pokémon's mind ends up temporarily turning Ash into a Pikachu instead for a few days.

* ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'': This happens to Presto. What usually turned out to be useful in some manner he hadn't expected, such as a garbage can lid shield giving courage to a coward.

* In ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'', Raquel's attempt to invoke her powerful Thor lightning spell (after she had thoroughly smashed a Mauser priest earlier) ends with the church in ruins. Shannon reminds her that she has a tendency to overdo it, especially when [[MundaneUtility doing simple tasks, like cooking]].

* A known issue for spell casters in ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon''. Less of a problem for people like Bell with his Quickstrike magic which requires no incantation or those like Aiz who have really short incantations, but definitely an issue for those like Leyfia or [[TheArchmage Riveria]] who use longer incantations and learning how to keep a spell under control while dodging monsters that get past the front line is the mark of truly experienced caster.

* VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic: Nadia Grell, the Consular's padawan, is the first and only known Force Sensitive of her species. This meant there was no one around to ''teach'' her how to use it. Mix this with a strong affinity for telekinesis and things ''explode'' if Nadia gets too happy, too sad, too angry. Her emotions fueling her powers meaning she'd probably make a strong Sith, but she's ''entirely'' too sweet to thrive under that philosophy.