History Main / WitchSpecies

Note that these characters were originally almost AlwaysFemale, unless male relatives are introduced, and male magic users generally use learned skills for their magic. In some cases, male witches (frequently called "warlocks") are [[AlwaysChaoticEvil exclusively evil]], or are portrayed as inherently less common or less powerful than female witches. The popularity of ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', however, has brought in some boys, although they're sometimes referred to as wizards or warlocks. Complicating the issue of inheritance of witch powers is that {{Muggle|s}} parents may produce witch children (and [[MuggleBornOfMages witch parents' Muggle children]]) because the Witch Species traits manifest in RandomlyGifted individuals.

Note that these characters were originally almost AlwaysFemale, unless male relatives are introduced, and male magic-users generally use learned skills for their magic. In some cases, male witches (frequently called "warlocks") are [[AlwaysChaoticEvil exclusively evil]]. The popularity of ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', however, has brought in some boys, although they're sometimes referred to as wizards or warlocks. Complicating the issue of inheritance of witch powers is that {{Muggle|s}} parents may produce witch children (and [[MuggleBornOfMages witch parents' Muggle children]]) because the Witch Species traits manifest in RandomlyGifted individuals.

* Witches in ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'' were first born of a monster and a human getting it on. They're considered a mongrel species (among those who even know of their beginnings) and tend to be seen as unwanted in both worlds. Not quite confirmed, given that Witches have more in [[MadeOfIron com]][[GoodThingYouCanHeal mon]] with monsters than with humans in the setting and that they are referred to as being on the border but never explicitly called a hybrid race.

* ''Franchise/{{Jewelpet}}'': The titular Jewelpets all have a natural ability to cast magic. This is downplayed as other beings, like humans, can cast magic too, but they have to learn it.

* The titular ''Wytches'' are closer to [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] - horrific monsters who live underground and bestow gifts on human followers in exchange for [[HumanSacrifice "Pledges"]].

* In Cliff [=McNish=]'s [[Literature/TheDoomspellTrilogy Doomspell Trilogy]], there is a LITERAL Witch Species. They serve as the main villains in the books, including a secondary, more brutal race of witches bred for battle, called the Griddas.

* Literature/{{Discworld}} takes a strange and sometimes contradictory view on this. It's stated outright that magic has a genetic component: it runs strong in the Weatherwax and Ogg families, for instance. However, anyone is capable of performing certain feats of magic (it's ''getting away with it'' that's the trick. Which is why "seeing what's really there" is an important skill for a magic user to have, and one that does seem to be part of what runs in families). It could be that the descent gives the child the right mindset to become a witch or wizard, or increases the magic potential the child has, or causes the all powerful Discworld force of Narrative Convention to have things happen to them that will cause the magic to happen all on its own. Then again, it's more than likely just the fact that it's magic, and that's what magic ''does.''

* In Literature/DoraWilkSeries witches are sub-species of humans to whom magic comes intuitively. To make it [[UpToEleven better]], there are sub-species of witches. So far, three were shown and more are implied:

* James Reese's ''Herculine'' trilogy has a hereditary witch species whose powers appear to be related to both gender and a unique blood type. They interbreed with humans, but daughters are always witches and sons are human men who may have some slight psychic sensitivity. It is stated that "every witch is born of a witch, and every witch dies a witch's death." They have psychic abilities, and are able to cast spells. Some practice paganism or some other religion related to magic such as vodoun, while others prefer nonreligious magic. Many witches are untrained and are not aware that they are anything other than human, and so are not able to teach their daughters how to use their powers either. However, untrained witches can still display psychic abilities such as telekinesis in moments of anger. It is stated that their powers are related to their blood, and that at some point, they will all succumb to death by massive hemorrhage, which usually happens in old age but can strike some unlucky witches in their twenties. However, their unusual blood type gives them immunity to infectious diseases and a slight healing factor. All witches have the ability to display "the mark of the toad" to identify themselves to other witches, by causing their pupils to change shape and become irregular, and this can also be reversed at will. Unusually, old witches lose their powers with age, while witches new to magic tend to be much stronger. The protagonist [[spoiler: is a hermaphrodite child of a witch, and has the abilities of a witch but also has the physical equipment needed to father children on a human woman, producing normal witch daughters and human sons.]]

* Creator/NancyACollins's ''Golgotham'' trilogy has both supernaturally-gifted humans [[spoiler:like the latent [[ExtraOreDinary ferromancer]] heroine]] ''and'' a distinct species called [[TheFairFolk Kymerans]], who are the descendants of the last survivors of {{Atlantis}}-by-any-other-name. Their distinguishing traits are as follows:

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/AWitchShallBeBorn", as a result of a DealWithTheDevil, a {{Curse}} on the royal house ensures that a witch will be born every century.

*** Os', the underground dwellers. Osy (Осы) hunt with domestic rat packs, and their partially telepathic control over the rats is their inherent magic. [[spoiler: Os' were a BeePeople, whose monogamist {{HiveQueen}}s and Kings ruled the common Osy the same way those rule the rats. Navs are running a project to remove this link and render Os' a normal species, rendering their {{HiveQueen}}s moot.]] Regular mammal reproduction, no cross-breeds known.

* In Simon Hawke's ''Wizard'' novels, humans with the capacity to practice magic get that potential from partial [[TheFairFolk Old One]] ancestry. Those who are [[HalfHumanHybrid more closely related]] tend to be more powerful as magic-users, although they still need to study and practice to master their talent.
* Wizards in Creator/TanyaHuff's ''Wizard of the Grove'' duology resulting from the mating of the male gods and human women. Unfortunately they turned out to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and destroyed their fathers. Later [[spoiler: the seven goddesses united and created a final, good, Wizard in order to combat the only remaining Wizard.]]

* In the Dutch childrens book series ''Foeksia de miniheks'' ("Foeksia the little witch"), witches are a species entirely seperate from humanity. They hatch from eggs and live in communities away from human civilization, like forests. And while males do exist, the fast majority of the species is female (in fact, in their home forest, Foeksia's father Kwark is the only wizard among an otherwise all witch population).
* In the ''Winds of the Forelands'' series, the local Witch Species are called Qirsi (as opposed to baseline humans, Eandi). They look basically human but are extremely pale, have white hair and [[SupernaturalGoldEyes golden eyes]], and are described as short-lived and [[SquishyWizard physically frail]] because magic burns up their life energy. Their magic is activated by an act of will and split into various specific powers such as gleaning (seeing the future in a limited capacity), [[PlayingWithFire fire]], mists and winds (controls the weather), {{healing|Hands}}, [[MindControl mind-bending]], [[MindOverMatter shaping]], and [[FriendToAllLivingThings language of beasts]]. Most Qirsi have only a handful of powers, but rare Weavers have ''all'' of them, plus the ability to collectively wield the magic of large numbers of other Qirsi and communicate in their dreams (they're also somewhat less squishy than the average Qirsi).
** The SequelSeries ''Blood of the Southlands'' introduces a second Witch Species, the Mettai. An offshoot of the Eandi, the Mettai practice BloodMagic which is activated by shedding one's own blood, mixing it with soil, and then speaking a short incantation to produce the desired effect. Mettai magic is generally less powerful and less efficient than Qirsi magic, owing to these constraints, but is also more versatile- rather than being limited to specialized powers, a Mettai can produce almost any effect, so long as they have access to blood and earth and can come up with an incantation that describes what they want to happen (which for more elaborate effects is a ''lot'' harder than it sounds). Mettai have no equivalent of Weavers- but they can also do things Qirsi can't, like summon animals from the earth, so it all evens out.

* Literature/TheWarGods by Creator/DavidWeber has no current version of this, but both the dwarves and elves were this before their cleaving was completed. When the Empire of Ottovar was found the Elves were created out of the Warlocks, people who naturally could perform magic similar to mages, but with no training needed. They weren't as powerful as wizards, but were quite dangerous and since they could pop up randomly, and tended to fall easily into dark magic. Ottovar rerouted the flow of magic in them as part of a deal that gave them immortality.

* The girls in Literature/TheWitchesOfKarres are a member of a witch species.

** Mages are born with the ability to use magic, which carries an inherent risk of TheDarkSide and can be passed on to their children (even when the other parent is a muggle). When one such individual is detected, they must be brought to the Circle of Mages to live under the watchful eyes of the Templars, an order of knights who consume [[AppliedPhlebotinum lyrium]] in order to increase their [[AntiMagic resistance against magic]]. Those who refuse are branded "Apostates", rogue mages who are ordered to be hunted down by the Templars in order to prevent them from using their talents for evil. The Circles also adopt a rather strict policy of celibacy for the mages, out of fear that they spawn more magical babies. This set of rules was created by a group of settlers who fled in fear from the magic-heavy Tevinter Imperium region. ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' explores the inherent problems in such a model: how the Templars ''have'' to assume an "guilty until proven innocent" stance for lack of a better option, how that oppression leads some mages to fall to TheDarkSide in the first place, which then goes to ''prove'' the need for constant surveillance and oppression by the Templars, creating a vicious circle.

* In Webcomic/PumpkinFlower those born able to use magic are known as Mancers. Their abilities include dating artifacts and [[PlayingWithFire setting people on fire]].

* The ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "The Magicks of Megas Tu." [[spoiler: Witches and wizards come from an alternate universe, where technology doesn't work but FunctionalMagic is commonplace. They traveled to the STU Earth in hopes of helping others. [[HumansAreBastards Unfortunately, everyone either distrusted them on sight, or tried to use them for their own ends]]. What few remained [[SalemIsWitchCountry moved to Salem]], and we all know what happened there. The episode itself has the Enterprise crossing into the magic universe, where the survivors hold the crew accountable for everything humanity inflicted on them.]] Oh, and one of the residents was the Devil, who actually ''saved the Enterprise crew from losing their Life Support when they arrived.'' It's never made clear whether or not he was actually evil on Earth, or if it was just [[WrittenByTheWinners humanity exaggerating his mischievousness into full-on evil]].
* A race of witches with their own land appears in the 2000s rebooted season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Babar}}'', in episode "Land of Witches".
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' franchise, villains Charmcaster and Hex are humans from a pocket dimension where everyone is magically inclined. Just how much of an advantage they have magically over regular humans is uncertain. While Gwen is able to use magic very easily after stealing Charmcaster's spellbook and studying it, it's later revealed that she's actually [[HalfHumanHybrid 1/4 Annodite]], an alien species that's literally made out of magic.

** On the other hand, though, Creator/LaurenFaust [[WordOfSaintPaul confirmed]] that pegasi and earth ponies have magic in them too (the formers can walk on clouds and move them because of it, while the latters have a special and unique contact with nature and animals, as well as SuperStrength, thanks to it), even though only unicorns can control it willingly.

* The Magistocrats in ''WesternAnimation/NeoYokio''. They possess magical abilities and [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair unusual haircolors]]. The historical backstory in the first episode reveals that the ancestors of the magistocrats were shamans and mystics from "the old country," but it's unclear if those those shamans and mystics inherited their powers or gained them through other means.

* Zigzagged in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'': Some episodes, like "The Littlest Witch", show that a race of naturally born witches do exists in this universe. Most other characters like Gargamel and his family seem to be normal humans who study magic, much like Papa Smurf himself (the only smurf with magic), so magic can be learn by anyone. Natural witches just seem to have some special abilities and traits like the capacity to fly in broomsticks and losing their magic for a year if exposed to water.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' has the stereotyed "witchy" race of the Nightsisters on Dathomir, who appear to be naturally force-sensitive.
* The Crystal Gems of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' are essentially a Western take on the MagicalGirl genre, with the added twist of the Gems being members of an ancient and highly advanced alien race that have bodies made of solid light (coming from their crystal) and possessing a source of quasi-magical abilities. The one exception is the titular Steven Universe, an unprecedented [[HalfHumanHybrid human/Gem hybrid]] who inherited his mother's Gem and abilities.

* [[ProudScholarRace Blood Elves]] would probably qualify in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft.'' They lived so long in close proximity to the Sunwell that it infused all of them with a certain level of magical ability (they can all do Arcane Torrent, even the rogues) and skill over manipulating magic (the enchanting ability.) Lore-wise, they are very heavily into arcane magic and are supposed to mostly be caster types, although you wouldn't know it by [[HeroicBuild looking at the men]]. This eventually backfired on them, as they need some arcane energy or they'll go insane. When the original source of their magic was destroyed many of them turned to demonic magic for a quick fix. Eventually their power was restored and they started using [[CrystalDragonJesus the Light]] as well to prevent corruption.

* ''{{Franchise/Jewelpet}}'': The titular Jewelpets all have a natural ability to cast magic. This is downplayed as other beings, like humans, can cast magic too, but they have to learn it.

* Comicbook/{{Storm}} of Comicbook/XMen fame comes from a line of African sorceresses. It's used to explain her unusual phenotype (white hair, and DependingOnTheWriter, blue eyes with epicanthal folds). Apparently being a mutant wasn't considered by the writers to be sufficient explanation, despite many other mutant characters having unusual appearances that have no apparent link to their superhuman powers. Believe it or not, this might actually be partially TruthInTelevision; see ''modjadji''. At any rate, it's established that despite the "sorcery" Storm performed before becoming an X-Man (providing rain to the tribe who worshiped her as a goddess) being solely the use of her mutant powers, she ''also'' has extreme potential for actual magic[[note]]Which basically anybody in the Marvel Universe can learn to cast spells with the proper training, some are inherently far more suited to it than others.[[/note]], and some alternate-timeline versions of her specialize it.

* The ''VideoGame/BackyardSports'' fanfic ''FanFic/TheSecretLifeOfTheBackyardKids'' gives us [[EthnicMagician Jorge]] and [[DarkActionGirl Tiffany]], and wizards here are less "special" and more like ordinary people with superpowers. Then robes is foregone in favor of suits and dresses (including a LittleBlackDress in one chapter.)

* The ''Literature/HarryPotter'' FanFiction ''Fanfic/ParadigmOfUncertainty'' plays with wizard genetics by introducing a rare incompletely dominant allele that's responsible for wizards having a great inborn talent. Wizards who are heterozygous in this trait exhibit a high level of natural magic, and should two of them have a child there's a one-in-four chance of yielding offspring with what amount to superpowers. Three guesses as to which character turns out to be one of the latter. RuleThirtyFour suggests that the most obvious way the gene could promote its own propagation will be or has been ''exhaustively'' explored by FanFic writers.
* ''FanFic/ThePalaververse'': Most, although not all, of the intelligent races have a subspecies capable of harnessing magic in a more direct, spellcasting fashion than the rest of their kin -- the ponies have unicorns, the caprids ibexes, the sheep black sheep, the cattle longhorns, the corvids ravens and the elephants forest elephants. There are also subspecies that can use less "flashy" forms of magic: takin goats can use runic magic and enchant objects, while rooks posses oracular abilities.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge''

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''

* ''VideoGame/TheSims''

* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries''

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' features both a type of {{youkai}} called "magicians" in the form of Patchouli Knowledge and Alice Margatroid, and a ''human'' CuteWitch Marisa Kirisame who merely has it as her job description. The reason for this is based in Japanese mythology and is explained in some of the [[AllThereInTheManual supplemental materials]] and WordOfGod. The major difference between human and {{youkai}} witches lies in youkai being [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld extremely long-lived]], capable of generating their magic from themselves naturally, and requiring no food since they live on pure magic. (However, as youkai they often get classified as [[ImAHumanitarian maneaters]] despite no evidence of this happening.) Marisa (who's [[BadassNormal the only human with no inherent superpowers in the series]]) is an on-again, off-again ImmortalitySeeker and could achieve it by becoming a youkai witch, but chooses not to because she wants immortality ''without'' giving up her humanity. The series does contain examples of humans who became magicians this way, most prominently the Buddhist monk Byakuren Hijiri.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The witches in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' work something like this. It's shown that Beatrice was once a normal human [[spoiler:as Yasu]], and [[spoiler:several members of the Ushiromiya family have (or gain) witch powers]]. Witches seem to exist independently of the human, so after one gains magical powers, a "Mage" version of the person is created and exists in parallel to the original. [[spoiler:From a mundane perspective, "becoming a witch" is really more of a metaphor for using [[MadDreamer escapism]] in order to cope with the miseries in one's life. The witches' [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld ages]] represent how long their suffering felt for them; for example, Yasu's six-year-long wait for Battler to return to Rokkenjima felt more like a thousand years.]]

* Comicbook/{{Storm}} of Comicbook/XMen fame comes from a line of African sorceresses. It's used to explain her unusual phenotype (white hair, and DependingOnTheWriter, blue eyes with epicanthal folds). Apparently being a mutant wasn't considered by the writers to be sufficient explanation, despite many other mutant characters having unusual appearances that have no apparent link to their superhuman powers. Believe it or not, this might actually be partially TruthInTelevision; see ''modjadji''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheWitchsGhost'' the curious distinction between "Wiccans" and "Witches" is made, with one being good and the other evil (and both existing in Puritan New England, for some reason). One character the gang meets tells them she is one-sixteenth Wiccan.[[note]]Wicca is so new that in order for her to be one-sixteenth Wiccan, her great-great-grandmother would have to be around 60 years older than her. And her mother around 12. However, Wicca started out with the belief that it was continuing the ancient traditions of non-evil witches -- when all non-modern witches are in fact historically imaginary, whether they're seen as evil or not -- and if the story assumes that their witchcraft is real, that might imply they are also a truly ancient tradition.[[/note]] [[RuleOfCool She dresses up as a vampire and plays in a local rock band]]. [[ChekhovsGun This becomes important in the climax]].

** The [[OurElvesAreBetter Altmer (High Elves)]] are the most magically gifted race in Tamriel. In terms of gameplay, this comes with skill bonuses to the magic schools and a hefty increase in maximum magicka and magicka regeneration, letting them cast more powerful spells with greater frequency. The drawback is that they are also the most physically frail race, with a high tendency to become {{Squishy Wizard}}s.

* ''Webcomic/PublicHumiliation'': The world has a number of fae races that all once had magic, but a few centuries ago universes shifted and magic in that world diminished, leaving only pookas (shapeshifting rabbit-like creatures) and dragons with inherent magic. In addition, DivineLineage grants some measure of power, Lan's necromantic power comes from his grandfather Hades for instance.

* In some neo-pagan circles, as well as some modern forms of druidry, some people claim to be born with the ability to do witchcraft, which is not the same as UsefulNotes/{{Wicca}} since one is a religion and the other is a practice.

** Warlocks on the other hand gain their powers in the [[DealWithTheDevil Judeo-Christian manner]], but so players could play good warlocks the 3rd edition version stated that the pacts can sometimes be inherited (4E stated that the devils who offered pacts were now dead but remnants of their power could be drawn upon).

* Witches in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' are a humanoid race with PointyEars that live in another dimension. They have an organ next to their heart that powers their spells, though others (humans includes) can use magic as well--it's just harder. Luz still refers to being a witch as if it was a profession (i.e. that she'll become a witch by learning to use magic), though that's presumably just a mistake on her part.

* ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'' has the warlocks. They are [[HalfHumanHybrid the children of demons and humans]], usualy [[HumanMomNonHumanDad the children of a male demon and a female human]]. However, they are very seldom begotten out of love, the demons mostly raped the human. Warlocks look almost like humans, but they have characteristics [[MarkOfTheSupernatural of their demonic origin]], such as horns or claws. Warlocks often gets orders from shadowhunters and downworldlers to use their magic. They are also immortal, but can not get children by natural means.
** There are also warlocks who can use no or very little magic. They are called ifrits.
** Tessa Gray is a special case. She is a hybrid of shadowhunters and warlocks, so she has no demonic features on her body, and can get children.
** The [[TheFairFolk fairies]] are hybrids of angels and demons, and can also use magic. However, their magic differs fundamentally from the magic of warlocks.
** Apparently, shadowhunters can also use magic to some extent, because Valentin was very experienced in the use of black magic.

* If you want to be a mage in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', you will first need to be born with a Linker Core organ, the source of a mage's magical power. Having mage parents greatly increases your chances, but there have been known cases of powerful mages being born from non-mages. The titular character herself is one of said powerful mages with non-mage parents. Though, this may or may not count considering that her father is a [[VisualNovel/TriangleHeart3SweetSongsForever former assassin/bodyguard]], while her mother was a baker. Despite her brother and sister being [[KiAttacks chi-users]], she was left out of most of the family business except for baking. It probably wasn't due to her age, because there were martial artists studying in the family school who weren't much older.

* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' has Hwaryun, a member of the Red Witch tribe, a people that tends to give birth to the supernaturally gifted Navigators.

* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' has Hwaryun, a member of the Red Witch tribe, a people that tends to give birth to the supernaturally gifted Guides.

** According to legend, all elves were mages prior to the fall of their kingdom, and this is one of many things they lost due to the arrival of humans and centuries of enslavement; modern elven mages are no more common than their human counterparts, and it is said that they are appearing less and less each generation. Like all legends in this setting, the claim is suspect, but elf characters in the first game get a small boost to their magic and willpower stats regardless of class, [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration suggesting this claim may have some merit]]. [[spoiler: The ''Trespasser'' DLC reveals that all elves really were mages once, but it wasn't the humans who took that from them. Elves are intrinsically tied to the Fade in a way that the other races are not, so when Fen'Harel created the Veil to separate the Fade from the physical world, it robbed the elven race of their magic, with only the strongest among them retaining a small portion of it.]]

* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' has Hwa Ryun, a member of the Red Witch tribe, a people that tends to give birth to the supernaturally gifted Guides.