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A wizard (from 'wise') is a practitioner of paranormal magic, especially in folklore, fantasy fiction, and fantasy role-playing games. The word does not generally apply to Neopagans or stage magicians like David Copperfield, Paul Daniels, or James Randi.

They have historical roots in the Shamans.

Colloquially anyone who is expecially adept at some obscure or difficult endeavor may be referred to as a wizard. For instance someone is is particularly skilled with computers might be referred to as a "programming wizard." (However, normal usage applies more specialized superlatives to specific fields of endeavor, thus a musician is more likely to be called a "maestro" than a "wizard").

Related terms

In most cases there is little to differentiate a wizard from similar fictional and folkloric practitioners of magic such as an enchanter, a magician, a sorcerer, or a thaumaturgist; however specific fantasy authors and role-playing games use the names with narrower meanings. When such distinctions are made, sorcerers are more often evil, "black magicians" (i.e., practitioners of black magic), and there may be variations on level and type of power associated with each name.

For example, Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition, distinguishes between sorcerers and wizards:

• "Sorcerers create magic the way poets create poems, with inborn talent honed by practice."
• "Wizards depend on intensive study to create their magic. ... For a wizard, magic is not a talent but a deliberate rewarding art."

Another example: "The difference between a wizard and a sorcerer is comparable to that between, say, a lion and a tiger, but wizards are acutely status-conscious, and to them, it's more like the difference between a lion and a dead kitten." (Steve Pemberton, The Times & Life of Lucifer Jones)

Lyndon Hardy's Master of the Five Magics suggests ascending ranks of thaumaturgist, alchemist, magician, sorcerer, and wizard.

Fiction

Famous wizards in folklore and fantasy fiction (sometimes both) include:

• Merlin - from Arthurian legends and their modern retellings.
• Gandalf and Saruman - from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings - are called Wizards, but are really supernatural entities.
• Elric of Melniboné - often called a sorcerer or a wizard - from Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné and its sequels.
• Sparrowhawk or Ged - from Ursula K. LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea and its sequels.
• Chun the Inescapable, Rhialto the Marvelous, and others - from Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories.
• Rincewind - strictly a "Wizzard" (it says so on his hat) and the wizards of Unseen University - from many of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.
• Elminster - featured in many of the Forgotten Realms fantasy novels and RPGs.
• Faust - supposedly a wizard, but maybe more of an alchemist.
• Belgarath - created by David Eddings as a leading character for The Belgariad series of fantasy novels (also called 'Belgarath the Sorcerer').
• Michael Scot - protagonist of Michael Scott Rohan's The Lord of Middle Air - a historical figure and an ancestor of the author!
• Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Lord Voldemort, and all other non-Muggle male characters from J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and its sequels. (The females are witches).
• Prospero is the famous wizard in Shakespeare's "The Tempest", also said to be John Dee.
• Doctor Strange is a wizard superhero and Sorcerer Supreme in the Marvel Universe. Doctor Fate is the DC Universe equivalent.
• Mondain was the villainous wizard of the first Ultima game.
• Gareth Yaztromo is a major wizard in the world of Titan, which was created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. He was one of the three (including Nicodemus and Pen Ty Kora) and gifted pupils of the Grand Wizard of Yore, Vermithrax Moonchaser, and is now one of the most talented and powerful sorcerers in Allansia.

The eponymous character of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a stage magician pretending to be a genuine wizard.

In some fictional and game settings, wizard or a similar term is the name for a "race" or species, not just a job description. For example:

• The five Istari in The Lord of the Rings (also mentioned above)
• "Wizzrobes" in the video game series Legend of Zelda
• "Black Mages" in the video game series Final Fantasy
• "Demon Sorcerers" in the TV show Jackie Chan Adventures

See also

• The Wizard of Oz

External links

• http://www.advancedfightingfantasy.com/

Other meanings

• In computer software, a wizard is an interface that leads an user through some dialog steps.
• Wizard is a slang term for an expert Pinball player. The rock opera Tommy is about a pinball wizard.
• Wizzard were a 1970s British glam rock band led by Roy Wood (formerly of The Move and the Electric Light Orchestra).
• The Wizard was the name of two British comics, one running from 1922 - 1963, and the other running from 1970 - 1978.