Characters Who Are Both Scientists and Magicians

[9tailedflame]

That's a mage, isn't it? In D&D style stories, magic is studied as a science in most of these cases.

 

[Laughing Man]

Really shocked no one has mentioned Ponder Stibbons from the Unseen University.

Thats because Ponder studied long and hard to become a qualified wizard, thank you very much. He didn't go through all those exams to be called a magician

I think you'll find it's the meals that he had to go through to become a qualified Wizard.

I would have to check but I can't remember the term 'magician' ever being used in the books either as a derogatory or a descriptive term for someone who does tricks that do not involve the actual use of magic.

Beside the OP doesn't specifically say what he means by Magician he does mention Dr Strange which is very similar to a Discworld Wizard, i.e an individual that requires training to gain access to a layer of power that is usually inacceassable to most others.

The OP really needs to change the title from 'Magician' to 'Magic User'. Unless someone cares to go in to the detail and explain the differences between; mage, magician, wizard, sorceror, witch, conjurer, because end of the day they all use magic of one sort or another.

 

[FalloutJack]

Any scientist that ever worked in Shinra Inc. (Final Fantasy 7), Professor Hojo especially.

Any scientist in the Magitek Empire (Final Fantasy 6) and Edgar Figaro also counts.

There's probably alot of Final Fantasy answers.

I feel as though all the Technomages from Babylon-5 deserve a mention.

Lucca from Chrono Trigger is definitely a scientific genius and a wielder of magic.

Naturally, this kind of thing is all over the place in Shadowrun.

 

[Silvanus]

The Asura from Guild Wars & Guild Wars 2 treat magic as a science, study and quantify it quite successfully to build 'magitech'.

They're more scientist than magician, but magic is one more area of study and understanding.

 

[WolfThomas]

I know of Dr Doom and Dr Strange from Marvel.

Doom is really the best Marvel example as he is equally a master in both areas.

Dr Strange has really moved away from Medicine/Neurosurgery (he has no other science background and surgery is equal parts evidence based medicine but also a practical skill rather than outright science). He did some operations recently on magic tumours but mostly it's no longer a big part of what he does.

In Marvel there is also Black Panther (who is not an outright magician but will commune with his panther god, dead spirits, utilize magical herbcraft etc as the plot demands), Young-time-displaced Hank Mccoy who is studying magic to try and distance himself from the older beast character and Prodigy (who has a bunch of science and magic knowledge from his exposure to mages and scientist and his mutant power).

 

[sageoftruth]

If Magitek (magic + technology) counts, then I've found you a goldmine right here.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Magitek

Just check the list of examples below. Most fiction with magitek has at least one character who's a magitek scientist.

 

[happyninja42]

The protagonist in the remake of Sorcerer's Apprentice was both a scientist and magician.

 

[Ripley Marquis]

In the Netflix Castlevania series, Dracula seems to have mastery of both supernatural powers and the traditional sciences.

 

[DefunctTheory]

In the Netflix Castlevania series, Dracula seems to have mastery of both supernatural powers and the traditional sciences.

That drove me crazy. I wanted to watch a Castlevania movie, not Vampire Hunter D.

Still haven't made it through the first episode. The first 10 minutes makes me irrationally angry.

 

[Kae]

Really, most Necromancers are very heavy into biology, Transmutation Wizards tend to be chemists, Conjuration Wizards are very likely to be engineers or chemists, Illusionists are by definition metaphysicists as they manipulate the very fabric of reality to make the impossible possible, even if only for an instant.

In any case as far as tabletop gaming is concerned magic and science are very closely related and it's actually very common for a Wizard to also be a scientist, after all a better understanding of the world may lead to a new way to use magic, as a simple example electric magic is strong, but if you know water conducts electricity then you may first drench everyone in Water and then electrocute several targets instead of only one, if you know flour is inflammable then you may create a lesser fire ball by exploding a sack of flour utilizing a low cost spell such as Fire Bolt, Prestidigitation, Create Flame or Control flame, or even just throwing a torch at it.