History Main / MagicalNegro

* Azim in ''Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' is arguably an example of this trope.

* Solomon from ''Hand That Rocks The Cradle'' is an example of this character type as well.
* In ''The Basketball Diaries'', Ernie Hudson plays the only black character in the film, who does a lot to help the protagonist.

* Mateo in Jim Sheridan's ''In America''. Despite his appearance as StarvingArtist, he turns out to really be one of those RichPeople, so he's able to pay the Sullivan family's hospital check. Along with teach the family's father how to feel again.
* Averted in ''The Preacher's Wife''. While Denzel Washington plays a Magical Negro sent from heaven, he does so to help a black woman save her marriage to a black pastor.

* In ''Annabelle'', [[spoiler: Evelyn, who has knowledge of the occult, steps in and sacrifices her soul so Mia and her baby can live.]]

** Charles Deveaux is pretty bad, too. In the season one finale, he appears in Peter Petrelli's dreams to tell him about the power of love, and about Peter's very special destiny to save the world. This is despite the fact that Peter had recently instigated a fight that ended with Charles' daughter Simone getting ''shot and killed.'' So if Charles is teaching Peter anything in his dreams, it really ought to be about the power of an incredibly pissed off father [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown breaking a foot off in his super powered ass]], but of course this is completely ignored in order to further Peter's character. Arguably, Peter hallucinated the entire conversation, in which MoralDissonance would apply.

* Parodied in a ''FreshPrinceOfBelAir'' episode where Jameson Whitworth, a wealthy eccentric, comes to believe [[WillSmith Will]] is his good luck charm. He goes so far as to make his "Young homie" into his financial adviser, with the belief that Will has the supernatural ability to make him richer.

** Inverted in his portrayal of Caliban in Julie Taymor's "The Tempest". He might be magical, being the son of a witch (and possibly a demon) but he sure isn't there to help any of the other characters.

* The doctor in ''{{Pockett}}'' seems to be one of these.
* In ''{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2624 Slick knows to consult one.]]

* In LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek ''Main/OddGirlOut'' the bullied protagonist's BlackBestFriend Emily shows up in the plot to warn her not to trust the bullies, to tell her how wonderful she is after she tries to kill herself, to speak up on her behalf in class and to lead the assembled teenage crowd in a round of applause when she finally tells the bullies off at the end of the movie.

* Azim in Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves is arguably an example of this trope.

** ''Literature/TheStand'': Mother Abigail, elderly and black; Nick Andros, deaf-mute; Tom Cullen, mentally disabled. Abigail is arguably an aversion, since she's pretty much the single most powerful person in Boulder. Also averted in that we spend quite a lot of time inside Mother Abigail's head, and her self-doubt complicates the situation for the heroes in the second act. Joe, a twelve-to-fourteen-year old who, due to trauma, regressed into a non-speaking, sometimes violent savage. Larry at one point realizes that Joe is ''reading his mind''.

** Speaking of Degrassi, Jimmy Brooks from ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' counts as well. He was pretty much always right and always good and always the voice of reason before and after he was crippled.

*** The Doctor DID start the philosophical train of thought, however, by commenting on how the demand for sugar started off a long string of events.

* Yinsen from IronMan's origin, who exists only to be very wise and honorable and then die so Iron Man [[StuffedInTheFridge can get motivated to kick evil ass]], is an Asian version of this. (He has since been retconned to Afghan rather than East Asian, and was played by Shuan Toub in the [[Film/IronMan1 2008 film]].)

* ''Series/TheDailyShow'' makes an argument that those who voted for him expected BarackObama to be one of these. Video [[http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-january-19-2010/the-first-364-days-23-hours here]]

** Subverted again with Thaddeus Bradley in ''Film/NowYouSeeMe'': he seems to be helping the FBI in cracking down on the main characters' magical acts by [[OnceMoreWithClarity debunking the same]], [[spoiler:but he's just doing so since it will boost his ego more.]]

** ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'': Sheemie Ruiz, the slightly retarded [[spoiler: psychic and teleporter]]. Avoided, however, with Susannah.

* Evelyn in ''Annabelle''.

** King's fondness for the MagicalNegro trope was discussed in an episode of ''KeyAndPeele'', with the comedians eventually wondering aloud if Maine (where King grew up) is full of psychic black people.

* The unnamed, elderly chauffer in ''Film/JoeVersusTheVolcano'' is an example, giving Joe some good advice (clearly not in his job description) that sets him on the right track.

With such [[CloserToEarth deep spiritual wisdom]] (and sometimes -- though not always -- actual [[EthnicMagician supernatural powers]]), you might wonder why the Magical Negro doesn't step up and save the day himself. This will never happen. [[IncorruptiblePurePureness So enlightened and selfless is he]] that he has no desire to gain glory for himself; he only wants to help those who need guidance... which ''just happens'' to mean [[WhiteMaleLead those who are traditionally viewed by Hollywood as better suited for protagonist roles]], not, say, his own oppressed people. In fact, the Magical Negro really seems to have no goal in life other than [[BlackBestFriend helping white people]] achieve their fullest potential; he may even be [[MentorOccupationalHazard ditched or killed outright once he's served that purpose]]. If he does express any selfish desires, it will only be in the context of helping the white protagonists realize their own racism and thereby become better people.

* A lot of roles played by Creator/MorganFreeman fall into this trope:

* Creator/MorganFreeman:

** Locke initially seems to fit the role of a strange white version of a Magical Negro, possessing mystical, almost shamanistic knowledge and a deep, unexplained communion with the island, always ready to dispense nice bits of pop-wisdom and jungle smarts...that is, until later in the series when he goes from subservient shaman spirit-guide to full-blown [[TheMessiah Messiah]]. And then crazy person/gullible dupe, responsible for much ill-advised StuffBlowingUp.

* The King of Hearts in ''Disney/AliceInWonderland'' was willing to help out Alice as much as he could when he met her. He reasoned with his wife to be fair and kind to her, especially during her trial. However, the minute she said "Off with her head!", he no longer tried to help Alice.