Magicians in fantasy

A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, warlock, witch, wizard, or wizardess is someone who uses or practices magic derived from supernatural or occult sources. Magicians are common figures in works of fantasy, such as fantasy literature and role-playing games, and enjoy a rich history in mythology, legends, fiction, and folklore.

In medieval chivalric romance, the wizard often appears as a wise old man and acts as a mentor, with Merlin from the King Arthur stories being a prime example. Wizards such as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and Albus Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books are also featured as mentors, and Merlin remains prominent as both an educative force and mentor in modern works of Arthuriana. Other magicians, such as Saruman, from The Lord of the Rings series, can appear as hostile villains. Villainous sorcerers were so crucial to pulp fantasy that the genre in which they appeared was dubbed sword and sorcery.