Line #117 Main/TokenWizard


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5	[[caption-width-right:350:Pity Gandalf isn't in his White version, as the Snow White jokes would write themselves.]]
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10
11	->''"Oh hello, it seems you're forming a fellowship for a noble quest. Well, you can't have one of those without a wizard now, can you?"''
12	-->--'''The Shame Wizard''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Human Resources\|2022}}''
13
14	The Token Wizard (or Token Witch, Mage, Shaman, etc.) stands out among their SuperTeam as the only member whose wheelhouse is magic and the supernatural. It is handy to have someone with deep knowledge on spells, demonic possession, and mythical creatures when a team is facing up against such threats. And against non-magical foes, the esoteric nature of their abilities makes them a wildcard the villains can't easily predict.
15
16	As magic is an art that requires less actual fighting and more concentration and scholarly wit, these spellcasters usually act as a SupportPartyMember, casting {{Status Buff}}s on their allies and [[StatusInflictionAttack status ailments on their foes]]. If the Token Wizards all get together to form their own group, then this makes them a SupernaturalTeam.
17
18	This trope may be downplayed if the character isn't a spellcaster per se, but is still the only one on the team whose powers are supernatural in origin, making them the team's magic expert by default. And they probably have a wizard or two on speed-dial if the team ''really'' needs one.
19
20	SubTrope of FighterMageThief; PhysicalMysticalTechnological; and TokenSuper. Compare to CourtMage and MilitaryMage. Contrast BadassNormal and TheTeamNormal. See also LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards (if the Token Wizard far outclasses their teammates), MagicalGirlfriend and TheSmartGuy. Not to be confused with EthnicMagician, though they do overlap.
21
22	----
23	!!Examples:
24
25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
28	* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'' has Marcille the wizard as Team Touden's only magic user. Originally she shared duties with WhiteMagicianGirl Falin until the latter was eaten by a dragon, forcing Marcille to play double duty as a BlackMage and healer.
29	* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasThreeVisionarySwordsmen'' has the gang entering the HighFantasy-themed DreamLand of Yumemiru, where Nobita and friends are knights and warriors. Doraemon on the other hand is a wizard; accordingly, Doraemon wanted a non-warrior class and the only available option is as their mage.
30	* ''Anime/SailorMoon'': Sailor Mars is a Shinto priestess by day and is unique among the Sailor Scouts for having magic abilities in her civilian form due to her heightened spirituality. This includes psychic premonitions, exorcism, and her SignatureMove, flaming ''ofuda'' scrolls.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
34	* In ''Animation/HappyHeroes'', any time Huo Haha is working alongside the villains Big M. and Little M., he's the only wizard in the group.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Comic Books]]
38	* ''Creator/AmericasBestComics'': William "Bill" Woolcott[=/=]ComicBook/{{Promethea}} and Splash Brannigan are the only known magical science-heroes in the SuperTeam America's Best, the former being a LegacyOfTheChosen and the later being a person composed of magic ink.
39	* ''Creator/DCComics'':
40	** ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} often serves as this for the Justice League, being the most consistent spellcaster and magic expert in the team. While ComicBook/WonderWoman and ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} have some understanding of magic due to their origins and powers, neither of them actually specialize in sorcery like Zatanna. Wonder Woman serves this role when Zatanna isn't around as she is the most associated with magic after her.
41	** Manitou Raven, [[ComicBook/{{Etrigan}} Jason Blood]], and [[ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine]] have also served this role for the Justice League.
42	** ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'': ComicBook/{{Raven}} is usually the Token Wizard of the Teen Titans, with the only other spellcasters being Tempest and Omen, and neither started out as having magic.
43	** ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'': June Moone aka The Enchantress has served this role on the Suicide Squad thanks to her being the only one with knowledge of spellcasting. However, her tendency to get DrunkOnPower meant that she wasn't always reliable (Amanda Waller later said she hates working with sorcerers for this reason). When she joined ComicBook/{{Shadowpact}} she was technically this as while the other members had abilities of magical origin, she was the only one who was actually a spellcaster.
44	* ''ComicBook/JosieAndThePussycats'': Alexandra Cabot is not only the TokenEvilTeammate of the group, but also wields witchcraft powers, though somewhat less powerful than those of printmate ''ComicBook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch''. Whether Alexandra needs her TeamPet familiar Sebastian to cast spells, or whether her brother, Alexander, is aware of her powers or not is DependingOnTheWriter. Generally, when Alexandra tries to embarrass or humiliate Josie, or acts as a Josie x Alan ShippingTorpedo, her spells result in LaserGuidedKarma; whenever Alexandra uses her powers to benefit her friends or to thwart the villain of that chapter, her effectiveness is much improved.
45	* ''Creator/MarvelComics'':
46	** ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'': Shaman serves this role for Alpha Flight, though unlike most examples of this trope, he isn't the only one on the team with magic-based powers.
47	** ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'':
48	*** ComicBook/ScarletWitch herself is this for the Avengers. Whether Wanda's powers are purely magical or a mutant power that can be attuned to magic (it changes DependingOnTheWriter), she is the Avengers' longest-serving spellcaster.
49	*** During Wanda's disappearance after ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'', ComicBook/DoctorStrange served this role for the Avengers.
50	*** Not counting the Scarlet Witch whose history with magic is complicated, the first "proper" sorcerer to join the Avengers was Dr. Druid.
51	** ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'': Nico Minoru. Karolina is an alien with a FlyingFirepower powerset, Alex, Chase, and Gert don't have powers, and Molly is a mutant with SuperStrength. Meanwhile, Nico wields the Minoru family's Staff of One, which allows her to cast any spell she can think of once. She's also this of the second iteration, where Alex and Gert by then are killed and replaced with the {{Cyborg}} Victor, the Skrull Xavin, and the GreenThumb Klara.
52	** ''ComicBook/XMen'':
53	*** ComicBook/{{Magik}} was this for the ComicBook/NewMutants and presently serves this role for the X-Men. Other spellcasters associated with the team include Amanda Sefton[[note]]Never officially an X-Man, but a longtime ally as Nightcrawler's on-and-off girlfriend trained in sorcery by her mother[[/note]], Forge[[note]] A [[MagicalNativeAmerican Cheyenne shaman]] who was the first magic-user to join the team, but he vastly prefers working with technology and only resorts to sorcery when facing a magical foe[[/note]], and Pixie[[note]]Had a portion of her soul replaced with black magic, giving her the capacity for sorcery[[/note]].
54	*** Temporarily invoked in ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'' when the teenage original X-Men spent time in the present day, and Beast took up sorcery to complement his scientific knowledge. He even had a demonic, grey-furred, horned "Beast" form that he involuntarily turned into whenever he used magic.
55	** ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'': Billy Kaplan (aka Wiccan) in the first run. In a team with BadassNormal Kate, SuperSoldier Eli, heavy-hitter {{Shapeshifter}} Teddy, SizeShifter Cassie, [[SuperSpeed speedster]] Tommy, and robot Jonas, Billy is the only spellcaster, owing to his being the "son" of the Scarlet Witch.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Fan Works]]
59	* While all four heroes qualify as {{Magic Knight}}s, Naofumi in ''Fanfic/ASpecialKindOfMagic'' by virtue of being a sorcerer's apprentice is this to the team as a whole.
60	* In the ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' [[https://twitter.com/junkmixart/status/1288509007531929601?lang=en Assassin AU]], Rolf's weapon of choice is magic—specifically Haitian and West African Vodun (a nice aversion of the HollywoodVoodoo trope). This stands in contrast to the rest of the cast, who use ordinary weapons like guns, swords, explosives, needles and poison.
61	* ''Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': While the Wolf has several warriors with magic powers on his crew (most notably a Slaaneshi hermaphrodite able to change people's appearance, including itself), Sven Swordeater serves as the main link to the Chaos Gods. However, this doesn't get him much respect from the Wolf, who has a bad (and entirely justified) case of WarriorVersusSorcerer, constantly deriding them with the same contempt he holds for weaklings and cowards.
62	* In [[https://www.deviantart.com/slifofinadragon SlifofinaDragon]]'s ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' fanfics, Kyogoku Maria, teaching [[WizardingSchool hex education]], is the only faculty member at Basara Academy to have magic powers. Of course, local [[{{Miko}} shrine maiden]]/[[MagicalGirl magical]] [[MageMarksman archer]] Tsuruhime steps in to teach divination occasionally.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
66	* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
67	** Among the original line-up of the Avengers, Thor Odinson is the most different among them as being the only one among them associated with magic. In his case, he is a SufficientlyAdvancedAlien from a culture that harnesses magical energies. With the help of his hammer Mjölnir, he has the power of flight and command over the weather, and was even able to temporarily connect with the Odinforce. Combined with his Asgardian physiology, he is an incredibly powerful MagicKnight (with emphasis on "knight").
68	** In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', Doctor Strange fills this role when he, Tony Stark/Iron Man and Peter Parker/Spider-Man are abducted by Ebony Maw. This continues when they are joined by Star-Lord, Drax and Mantis, being the only one among them proficient in magic.
69	** WordOfGod claims that Ebony Maw is also a wizard, making him the only known magic-user to the Children of Thanos and EvilCounterpart to Doctor Strange.
70	** One of the Ravager captains introduced in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' is an alien wizard named Krugarr capable of using the Mystic Arts (as introduced in ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'').
71	* In ''Film/DungeonsAndDragonsHonorAmongThieves'', Simon the sorcerer is the only spellcaster in the team. He is the one who gives exposition on things like artifacts and magical security systems, and he needs to match his magic against the wizard villain in order to save the day. The trope is applied as a matter of PragmaticAdaptation, since in the actual tabletop game, Edgin the bard and Doric the druid would also have spellcasting abilities (and so might Holga the barbarian depending on character choices), but Simon's struggle with self-confidence and his mastery over his magic are central to his character arc, and multiple spellcasters on the heroes' team would have diluted that focus as well as being very demanding on special effects.
72	[[/folder]]
73
74	[[folder:Literature]]
75	* Among the Fellowship in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' series, Gandalf is the WizardClassic among knights and {{Badass Normal}}s that make-up the RagtagBunchOfMisfits that is TheTeam, and can be considered a TropeCodifier of the trope.
76	* In ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', Mina Harper is the only member of Van Helsing's VampireHunter team who has supernatural powers, owing to her unpleasantly close encounters with the title villain.
77	* ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'': Both the Woe, as well as their predecessor villains the Calamities, have on mage each to their team: Masego, the Apprentice (later Hierophant) for the first, and his father Wekesa the Warlock for the latter.
78	* ''Literature/TheAfterward'': Landros is the only full magic user in the seven companions, however he also had begun teaching Kalanthe magic too during their quest.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
82	* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': Invoked. In Season four, the team has to deal with accidentally releasing numerous magical threats that have long since been locked away for being too dangerous. Whilst having dealt with magic users in the past and had (one current, one former) members who derived their power from magic, it quickly becomes clear that they are hopelessly out of their depth. So Sara turns to her old friend John Constantine, a professional warlock and expert in magical problems.
83	* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'':
84	** Among the humans and the Elves he was deceiving, Halbrand is the only being with explicit supernatural powers because he is the evil sorcerer known as Sauron.
85	** Among the Harfoots, the Stranger already was a TokenSuper, but in the final of Season 1, it is revealed he is one of the Istari, or a wizard.
86	* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
87	** [[Characters/MCUDefenders The Defenders]]: Downplayed with [[Characters/MCUDannyRand Danny Rand]]. He's not an out-and-out spellcaster, but he's the only one in the group whose powers are magic-based, having SupernaturalMartialArts abilities whereas [[Characters/MCUMattMurdock Matt Murdock]], [[Characters/MCUJessicaJones Jessica Jones]], and [[Characters/MCULukeCage Luke Cage]] received their powers from scientific sources. He is also the most knowledgeable of the Hand and their sorcery.
88	** ''Series/Runaways2017'': Not only is Nico the token wizard among the kids like in the comics (though it took until Season 3 for her to fully embrace her magic), but her mother Tina is the token witch among PRIDE, as her husband and Nico's father Robert is just a normal human in the show.
89	* While the Ninja Turtles are all regular ninjas adept in martial arts, Venus De Milo from ''Series/NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation'' is a shinobi. While in RealLife, "shinobi" is just another word for "ninja", here this means she can [[KiManipulation manipulate chi]] to cast spells. That's not to say that she's a SquishyWizard, as [[KungFuWizard she is capable of fighting hand-to-hand when either her magic fails or is unnecessary]].
90	* In ''Series/PennyDreadful'', Vanessa is not the only supernatural member of the main cast (Dorian is immortal, while [[spoiler:Ethan is a werewolf]]), but she is the only one to purposefully make use of her magical abilities and knowledge.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Video Games]]
94	* ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'':
95	** Out of all of the protagonists in ''VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage'', Zoe is the only member who has any level of magical skills. In this case, she is a FairyCompanion that zaps Spyro with her wand to [[SavePoint save her progress]].
96	** In ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'', Bianca the Rabbit - the Sorceress's amateur apprentice - defects to the heroes's side and becomes their token [[RabbitMagician magician]], Spyro the Dragon being the main hero, Hunter the Cheetah a CowardlyLion athlete and Zoe the Fairy being a... well... a FairyCompanion.
97	* Downplayed in the case of Donald Duck in ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''. Goofy uses a shield, meaning he is adept at both offense and defense and is all-around the physical fighter of the trio. Sora is a JackOfAllStats, his keyblade acting as a sword, a blunt weapon, a magic wand and an object that could be used to block attacks, being an [[UnbreakableWeapons unbreakable]] CoolSword. Donald Duck on the other hand is the most adept at magic, most useful as both a teammate to use Limit commands and as a WhiteMage to heal his teammates... and on occasion, [[spoiler:deliver [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMzfX88ZmTw the most powerful spell]] known to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'']]. This is to be expected from Disney Castle's official [[CourtMage Royal Magician]].
98	* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWarII: Chaos Rising'' has Jonah Orion, a Blood Ravens Librarian. Of course, in this case, "wizard" means "seven-foot-tall gene-engineered killing machine in PowerArmor who happens to use Warp magic".
99	* ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'':
100	** Mz. Ruby from ''VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus'' is the "Chief Mystic" of the Fiendish Five, a team of international super-criminals. Mz. Ruby was born into a family of mystics and uses HollywoodVoodoo to commit crimes against "man and nature."
101	** The Guru in ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'' joins the Cooper Gang after they drive out the miners and stop the Mask of Dark Earth and become their primary mystic member, his mastery in the [[HollywoodDreamtime Dreamtime]] allowing him to the control the minds of others and even bridge the minds between people. Bentley even refers to him as "Telekinetics" in their heist on Kaine Island.
102	* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/MidnightSuns''. Magik's codename is a lot less generic when she's the X-Men's Token Wizard, but here, where she's working with several magic users, Iron Man gets confused by references to Magik the person and magic in general.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Web Animation]]
106	* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Oscar is the only one among Ruby's group who can wield magic, due to being Oz's reincarnation. However, not only is he [[UnskilledButStrong still unused to it]], but he senses that the more magic he channels, the quicker his soul merges with Ozpin's. [[LossOfIdentity And he's not yet ready for that]]. [[spoiler:Oscar first uses magic in battle against Salem, firing streams of green magic at her in an attempt to save Yang and Emerald.]]
107	[[/folder]]
108
109	[[folder:Web Comics]]
110	* Arrio from ''Webcomic/JupiterMen'' is the only magical member of the titular team. He inherited magical powers from his mom, an extradimensional visitor from the Magi Dimension. While his abilities are myriad and powerful, they're less reliable than the Avalon twins' because he has to activate them with special incantations and a BadassFingersnap. Worse still, his LanguageOfMagic is Spanish, his worst subject.
111	* Isaac of ''Webcomic/ValAndIsaac'' is this to the rest of the main cast (whose abilities mostly come from being highly trained, robots, aliens, cyborgs or highly trained alien cyborgs). This is typically played for laughs when the arcane nature of his powers clash with the scifi aspects of the ScienceFantasy setting (e.g. [[https://val-and-isaac.tumblr.com/post/180342612037 a massive monster which can just be shot, as it's "only" weakness was the only weakness on its planet]]).
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Western Animation]]
115	* While all three of the teens in ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'' possess magical weaponry -- [[TheLancer Toby]] possessing a LethalJokeItem War-Hammer and [[TheChosenOne Jim]] possessing the [[AncientArtifact Amulet of Daylight]] with a CoolSword and InstantArmor -- Claire acts as the closest thing to a combative magic-user (before they find Merlin) the trollhunters possess. Her weapon is a magic staff that can summon shadow portals that she nicked off of Angor Rot, and after she manages to regain control of her body from Morgana, she ends up learning a spell that allows her to call the staff to her on command.
116	* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'', Gwen Tennyson was originally only acting as support to Ben's full-on muscle given to him by the omnitrix. After they manage to defeat Charmcaster, Gwen manages to get ahold of her spell-book, Gwen becoming proficient in the mystic arts. [[spoiler:It is later revealed in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' that the reason why she is so proficient in magic is that she is part Anodite, an alien species made-up of and is highly proficient in the use of {{Mana}}.]]
117	* Dr. Byron Orpheus from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' is a powerful necromancer and wizard. The world established is mainly a SciFiKitchenSink filled with super-scientists, superheroes and supervillains born from sci-fi shenanigans, with pure magic-users being unremarkable, but comparatively rare. This makes Dr. Orpheus the primary magical ally of Team Venture (which is predominantly science-based), eventually joining a SupernaturalTeam composed of his old friends.
118	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'':
119	** Raven is a member of the titular team and is the only member that has powers that is explicitly magical in nature, with Starfire being born with her powers naturally, Cyborg having gained his abilities through cybernetic augmentation and Beast Boy through genetic experimentation. Aside from essentially being TheAntiChrist with an all-powerful demon father, she is also expert in a variety of magics, possessing tomes and eldritch knowledge that the rest of the team lacks.
120	** Jinx is often referred to as a "sorceress", implying that her powers of probability are magical in origin. This makes her the only member of the Hive with explicitly magical abilities.
121	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicRoundabout'', Zebedee is the only main character who can do magic. One episode reveals that fairies exist, but they're still not part of the main team.
122	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': Nadine is the only character who can do magic, justified because she's an ImaginaryFriend. Prunella and Rubella sometimes ''try'' to do psychic things, but aren't actually psychic.
123	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Zigzagged for Lucy Loud, a young {{Goth}}. She ''tries'' to do magic frequently, and while [[CreepyChangingPainting a portrait of her great-grandmother was seen to smile after she attempted a spell]], one game has things floating around her, suggesting she's [[MindOverMatter telekinetic]], and she sometimes appears as though she's teleported, [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane she's never proven to be magical]].
124	* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice:''
125	** ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} is the most full-fledged magic user of the team, though Aqualad does draw power from magic as well, but it's not nearly as prominent in his case.
126	** In ''Outsiders'', Thirteen takes the place of Zatanna as the magic user, even being trained by her to do so.
127	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TokenWizard