History Main / MagicalJew

Compare MagicalNegro, MagicalRomani, MagicalAsian, and MagicalNativeAmerican; contrast GreedyJew, another century-old Jewish stereotype in Western culture. Subtrope of MagicalMinorityPerson and ReligionIsMagic. To qualify for this trope a character needs to serve as a mentor figure to another non-Jewish (or less traditional) character.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania|2017}}'', the Speakers are a FantasyCounterpartCulture, being a nomadic religious minority who're persecuted and scapegoated by a Christian majority. Their other main feature is keeping enormous amounts of lore via oral histories. The most prominent Speaker characters are The Elder, who more or less sets Trevor Belmont on the way to fighting Dracula, and Sypha, a BlackMagicianGirl with an extensive knowledge of magic. However, despite a superficial resemblance, the Speakers are culturally and theologically much more similar to the Cathars (a Christian Gnostic sect) than the Jews. Sypha's condemnation of God and praise of Jesus is a hallmark of Gnosticism and is considered heretical within Judaism.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania|2017}}'', the Speakers are a FantasyCounterpartCulture, being a nomadic religious minority who're persecuted and scapegoated by a Christian majority. Their other main feature is keeping enormous amounts of lore via oral histories. The most prominent Speaker characters are The Elder, who more or less sets Trevor Belmont on the way to fighting Dracula, and Sypha, a BlackMagicianGirl with an extensive knowledge of magic. However, despite a superficial resemblance, the Cathars are culturally and theologically much more similar to the Cathars (a Christian Gnostic sect) than the Jews. Sypha's condemnation of God and praise of Jesus is a hallmark of Gnosticism and is considered heretical within Judaism.

* ''Film/IndependenceDay'': David's father is an explicitly Jewish character whose primary purpose in the story is to provide a source of wisdom (and ComicRelief) for the characters and audience. In fact, it's ''his'' statement (advising his son not to catch a cold) which is the catalyst that sparks David to create the computer virus that wins the war for humanity.

* The true identity of Caster of Black from ''Literature/FateApocrypha'' is Avicebron, better known as Solomon Ibn Gabirol, a famous medieval Jewish poet who is said to have dabbled in UsefulNotes/{{Kabbalah}} and created a {{Golem}}. Very much a case of HistoricalVillainUpgrade, as the historical poet and philosopher who has composed some of the most beautiful, heartbreaking, inspiring Jewish poetry of his age is turned into a maniacal, misanthropic sorcerer so obsessed with creating a perfect golem he [[spoiler: betrays and sacrifices his own Master]].

* The true identity of Caster of Black from Literature/FateApocrypha is Avicebron, better known as Solomon Ibn Gabirol, a famous medieval Jewish poet who is said to have dabbled in UsefulNotes/{{Kabbalah}} and created a {{Golem}}. Very much a case of HistoricalVillainUpgrade, as the historical poet and philosopher who has composed some of the most beautiful, heartbreaking, inspiring Jewish poetry of his age is turned into a maniacal, misanthropic sorcerer so obsessed with creating a perfect golem he [[spoiler: betrays and sacrifices his own Master]].

* The Rosenthal family from Manga/ACertainScientificAccelerator are a centuries-old dynasty of Jewish mages specializing in necromancy, who for generations have sought to recreate the perfect, primordial human of kabbalistic lore (the Adam Kadmon) using a combination of Western and Eastern magical arts. Esther Rosenthal, the current head of the family, serves as a deutragonist for the series.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania|2017}}'', the Speakers are a FantasyCounterpartCulture, being a nomadic religious minority who're persecuted and scapegoated by a Christian majority. Their other main feature is keeping enormous amounts of lore via oral histories. The most prominent Speaker characters are The Elder, who more or less sets Trevor Belmont on the way to fighting Dracula, and Sypha, a BlackMagicianGirl with an extensive knowledge of magic.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/219_6.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"A Jewish sage", an oil painting by Rabbi Yehuda Leon Patilon]]

In more modern works, such a character would often be an EccentricMentor or a JewishAndNerdy due to the adoption of humorous Jewish tropes like AlterKocker, JewishSmartass, and JewsLoveToArgue. This is also the type of character who's likely to create a {{golem}} if the story depicts golems in their original Kabbalic context.

* Emmanuel from ''[[Literature/SisterPelagia Pelagia and the Red Rooster]]'', an AmbiguouslyJewish EccentricMentor with supernatural powers who makes people realise their flaws and change for the better.

* The true identity of Caster of Black from LightNovel/FateApocrypha is Avicebron, better known as Solomon Ibn Gabirol, a famous medieval Jewish poet who is said to have dabbled in UsefulNotes/{{Kabbalah}} and created a {{Golem}}. Very much a case of HistoricalVillainUpgrade, as the historical poet and philosopher who has composed some of the most beautiful, heartbreaking, inspiring Jewish poetry of his age is turned into a maniacal, misanthropic sorcerer so obsessed with creating a perfect golem he [[spoiler: betrays and sacrifices his own Master]].

** Schemajah Hillel from ''The Golem'', who becomes the protagonist's mentor in walking the path of mysticism, and his wise and [[MatzoFever beautiful daughter Miriam]]. Interestingly, a GreedyJew (the junk dealer Aaron Wassertrum) is also present in the novel.