Black Magic is the new black.
"I got a black magic woman
Got me so blind I can't see
That she's a black magic woman
She's tryin' to make a devil out of me"
Got me so blind I can't see
That she's a black magic woman
She's tryin' to make a devil out of me"
She's elegant, she's composed, and she's graceful. She's also packing enough magic to level half a city. The Lady of Black Magic is a character type found in fantasy who is primarily an offensive magic user.
Personality-wise, a Lady of Black Magic is elegant and more mature than The Hero. She may be an Ice Queen.
In design, this character will almost always be wearing something feminine, usually a dress of some sort. Unlike the Lady of War, the Lady of Black Magic can be Ms. Fanservice (usually in the form of a Hot Witch).
Physically, she'll be weaker than the melee type fighters, and will usually be equipped with a rod or ranged weapon. Very rarely she will have a melee weapon, but it will be weaker or less impressive than the hero's. Her primary combat role is to unleash destructive Black Magic, although she will occasionally have secondary healing, buffing, or debuffing abilities, as well. Occasionally, she will be a Kung-Fu Wizard or Magic Knight, in which case she is also a Lady of War.
Ladies of Black Magic are Always Female (Gentleman Wizard is the male counterpart), unlike their counterparts Black Magician Girl and White Magician Girl. She is rarely a Love Interest for The Hero, although if she is it will often be part of a Defrosting Ice Queen plot. Instead, she's usually older than The Hero and fills the role of a bigger sister, often a Cool Big Sis, or maternal figure.
Subtrope of Black Mage. Compare Evil Sorceress; compare Black Magician Girl, the other stock character type for offensive mages in fantasy who is often younger and less mature. Contrast White Mage and White Magician Girl, to whom this character type is often a Foil, and Black Magic.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- Ah! My Goddess: Urd is a Physical Goddess who has the appearance, elemental affinities of fire and lightning, and an Angel named "World of Elegance". However, she doesn't have the composure, instead being headstrong, short-tempered, and bratty.
- Black Clover:
- Noelle Silva is a graceful, haughty royal who has great potential as an Attack Mage which is hampered by her poor magic control. She begins developing into this as she hones her magic, eventually becoming a Magic Knight version of the trope with her spell Valkyrie Armor.
- Vanessa Enoteca, whenever she's taking the situation seriously instead of being in her usual drunken state, is very calm and composed while using her Thread Magic to provide essential support to her companions. She later gains the power to change the fate of allies her cat familiar touches in her favor.
- Fairy Tail:
- Ultear Milkovich is very beautiful, aloof, graceful, raven-haired, and a very powerful wizard adept in several magics, namely The Dark Arts to perform Brainwashed and Crazy on her victim, Telekinesis (used only on her Crystal Ball), Astral Projection and especially her Lost Magic Arc of Time, which she can use to age, rewind, or stop the time of objects, which include her opponents' attacks. During her fight with Gray, she uses Ice-Make to attack with flowers made of ice.
- Juvia Lockser is a Proper Lady, being demure and composed when she isn't jealous or hammy, and many times she's been shown to be very powerful with her Water Magic.
- Evergreen is a Vain Sorceress, a young, beautiful and fickle Meganekko woman who wears green dresses and refined jewels, equipped with the advantageous and powerful ability of Taken for Granite through Deadly Gaze. Moreover, her Fairy Magic, although explicitly shown and cataloged as White Magic, is powerful enough to allow her to create considerable explosions and to form needles of pure magical energy whose number increases at her will.
- Sherry Blendy of Lamia Scale can easily take possession of the bodies of non-human creatures and animate any object that surrounds her so as to transform it into a monster under her complete control. In battle against a summoning wizard, she make full use of the Hoist by His Own Petard trope.
- Minerva Orland is the cruel Ojou of Sabertooth, likes wearing elegant dresses like a Qipao, and has an air of grace as she blasts anything in her line of sight with her Territory Magic.
- Brandish from the Spriggan 12 is a very powerful example of this with her high-level magic that allows her to change the size, shape, and mass of ANYTHING, to the point of being able to influence an entire island with its inhabitants.
- The best example within the series is Irene Belserion, the inventor of Dragon Slayer Magic. A beautiful, voluptuous woman, she's dressed in a revealing witch outfit and has a composed and knowledgeable demeanor. She's also regarded as a High Enchanter, having the magical power to alter landscapes and climates so much that she can create a gigantic fireball and rewrite the geography of an entire country while teleporting her enemies and allies in there to random positions.
- Frieren: Beyond Journey's End: Frieren is an elven mage who has lived for over a thousand years and is referred to as the last Great Mage. Despite her short stature, she's calm and almost never loses her head nor raises her voice in battle. She'll always fight with grace and remains dangerous no matter what with offensive magic such as firing mana, casting bolts of lightning, summoning hellfire, and even creating a black hole.
- Girls Bravo: Lisa Fukuyama is a self-taught Black Magician Girl, who's well on her way to becoming a full-fledged sorceress. She already dresses the part, in a shoulderless black dress and matching high-heels, along with gold jewelry. And she certainly has the attitude, once she decides to get serious, as Tomo learned the hard way.
Lisa: (imperiously) I think it's time you learn what happens to those who dare to oppose me... NOW TREMBLE BEFORE THE POWER OF THE NETHERWORLD!!
(unleashes spell that sends Tomo and all three of her summons flying) - Inuyasha: Kagura is both this and a Lady of War, having a reserved and graceful demeanor while using her fan to call down wind spells that can slice enemies, and resurrect corpses as her personal puppets.
- The Irregular at Magic High School: Miyuki Shiba is the embodiment of the Yamato Nadeshiko. She has a tremendous amount of magic power, and her AoE magic allowed her to defeat a whole warehouse of soldiers with one spell.
- Kurohime: Kurohime is the world's most powerful witch and famed for her beauty, cruelty, and power.
- Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic:
- Yamraiha is one of the Sindria Kingdom's Eight Generals and a powerful and gentle lady of a sorceress whose specialty is water magic.
- Dunya Musta'sim, a Fallen Princess and member of Al-Thamen. She retains her polite and princessly manners even as she uses lightning magic or manipulates sand to lay waste on her enemies.
- Maken-ki!: Himegami is royalty and a demigoddess dating back more than 2,000 years. She's known for her reserved demeanor and gothic lolita fashion, but if her wrath is incurred, she can unseal Yasakani — a Maken containing the power of the original 8 combined. And she can also cast high-level spells and summons.
- Naruto: Mei Terumi, the Fifth Mizukage and a beautiful older woman, prefers using powerful elemental ninjutsu to attack from afar. Such ninjutsu includes Lava Release, a combination of Fire and Earth, and Boil Release, Water and Fire. She's good enough at her ninjutsu that even Madara Uchiha was impressed.
- Omamori Himari: Kuesu from seems too young to be one as a sixteen-year old but has the grace befitting her status as heiress of the Jinguji, a demon slayer family who are masters of Western dark magic.
- Ragnarok the Animation: Takius is a dark and elegant Magician with a magical emphasis on Shock and Awe and Kill It with Ice. She later ascends to Sage.
- Sailor Moon: Queen Nehellenia is a Vain Sorceress obsessed with her beauty, has a regal bearing as Queen of the Dead Moon, and can cast powerful waves of darkness energy.
- The Seven Deadly Sins: Merlin is a gender-flipped version of Merlin of Arthurian Lore. Composed, knowledgable, and mature, she is a powerful and dangerous magic user and one of the titular sins. She is the Boar's Sin of Gluttony. A For Science!-type of a mage, she will expand her knowledge by experimenting on even her allies. She knows few proper healing magics, instead favoring on more offensive means, like a little demon slug that eats all one's internal organs is altered to just eat tumors.
- Soul Eater: Arachne Gorgon, the second Big Bad, is the leader of the Organization "Arachnophobia" and a powerful Witch like her younger sister Medusa, but much more refined and aristocratic. Her spells don't attack directly but from within, and she can blast people's minds.
- Vampire Princess Miyu: Miyu and Reiha are both very elegant and aloof. Miyu is a Japanese Vampire who attacks with ruby-red fire, while Reiha is a yuki-onna who attacks with ice.
- Words Worth: Maria is garbed in a flowing white robe (though it has split seams, showing plenty of leg), a sea green cloak, and sandals. She's also a high-level Paladin, who specializes in white magic, and is known for her signature spell: "Mystral Window".
- Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Prior to her Heel–Face Turn, Aki Izayoi is a reserved and aloof girl with tremendous Psychic Powers that she used to make her cards' attacks real in the form of vines and fire, earning her title as the Black Rose Witch.
Comic Books
- The Avengers: The Scarlet Witch has this role. She's generally depicted as beautiful, demure, reserved, and a powerful user of Chaos Magic.
- Disney Ducks Comic Universe: Magica De Spell, who was designed by Carl Barks this way in order to subvert the Wicked Witch trope. Depending on the Writer, she either can only cast her spells with the help of magical artifacts, or has inherent magical powers. In any case, her favorite offensive weapons are her foof bombs.
- Empowered: Sistah Spooky is a powerful gothy superhero who made a hellpact with a demon to use black magic.
- The Mighty Thor: Hela is an evil death goddess of vast mystical sorcery with a fondness for wearing tight catsuits and speaking Flowery Elizabethan English, and composed, elegant, and prideful. Unlike most she's also very capable in hand to hand and swordsmanship, doubling as a Dark Lady of War.
- Runaways: Nico Minoru usually works like this, wearing elegant and elaborate gothic clothing and casting magic through the Staff of One. Though, being still a teenager, she can slip into Black Magician Girl sometimes, but also being the Team Mom makes her more of this trope than the former.
- Shadowpact: The Enchantress is the team's spellcaster and the most pragmatic one among them. She has the Ice Queen personality down and can be blunt to the point of tactlessness but shows her more humane side from time to time.
- Supergirl: Nightflame from the story Demon Spawn subverts the type. Although she is a powerful mage, she is also a formidable physical fighter and swordswoman.
- Teen Titans: Raven's dark, aloof, and has many supernatural and sorcerous powers thanks to her half-demon heritage and her upbringing in the pacifistic parallel dimension Azarath, whose people taught her to suppress her emotions in order to stave off Trigon's evil influence.
- Wonder Woman: In Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 5 Wonder Woman fights Circe, a long-lived, powerful and narcissistic sorceress whose favorite move is transforming people into her animalistic monster slaves against their will.
- X-Men:
- Magik serves as a cross between this and Magic Knight by fighting with her sorcery and Soulsword.
- Storm was briefly the queen of Wakanda and Physical Goddess, and her mutant powers give her control over the elements, which she commands with a regal air.
- Zatanna: Zatanna has the magical power to defy the laws of physics and reality with a few backwards incantations, and is often depicted as mature and graceful, wearing a revealing stage magician outfit and having a calm, composed demeanor.
Fan Works
- Child of the Storm: Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, is this much like her canon counterpart. This version, however, was trained by Doctor Strange as his apprentice and is therefore a much more accomplished sorceress.
- Codex Equus: Some users of dark magic are skilled, experienced, and elegant females, whether divine or mortal.
- Zigzagged with Princess Winter Opera. The Alicorn goddess of Dark Magic, Winter Opera is a haughty and aloof Goth capable of dark sorcery, but much of it is an act she puts up as a musician; outside the mask she's heroic, loyal, generous, and kind. Her ego, however, is real and a notable flaw of hers, so she relies on her loved ones to keep her grounded. She generally wears lavish ball gowns, with her favorite being a black and blue one adorned with blue roses.
- Vicearch Iniquitous (real name unknown) is the dreaded Alicorn sovereign of the Empire of Malregnar, and the most powerful Archwitch to ever live. She's also a cold, ruthless mare who is almost always unfazed by everything that happens to her; one of the few incidents where she wasn't was when she (or rather, her divine avatar) was left almost utterly exhausted by Blue Suede Heartstrings in their Wizard Duel, which Blue Suede narrowly lost. Due to her skill and knowledge, she mentored various students like Prince Dissonant Tune, a few members of the Deti Uzhasov, and Blue Suede himself.
- Subverted with Blue Diadem, an Expy of Blue Diamond. She's the most traditionally feminine of her older/younger sisters and a powerful sorceress, but she's also a goddess of Primordial Light and a horrifically abusive upbringing left her emotionally unstable. She was also indoctrinated to act feminine because she is White Corona's sorrow and guilt given form. Fortunately, she gets better with Rose Regalia and Moon Ray Vaughoof's help.
- The Eye Contact Rule: Cinder is portrayed as one during her youth: she's a kind girl who calmly explains magic to the protagonist, and comforts her on their first day at Beacon Academy.
- Toyotomi Kagehime/Hitomi Kira, the late Toyotomi Hideyoshi's daughter, in SlifofinaDragon's Sengoku Basara fanfic Finally Home, until abandoning her thirst for vengeance. She is a immensely powerful witch excelling in levels of Black Magic, such as umbrakinesis and necromancy.
- The Night Unfurls: Olga Discordia is a haughty yet attractive woman with magical prowess that rivals Celestine, the Goddess Reborn. Throughout both versions of the fanfic (moreso for the remastered one, courtesy of the additional fight between Olga and Kyril), she has shown a variety of magics, including: Mordor creation; fire manipulation; control over the Black Fortress; Deflector Shields; swiftness augmentation; knockback; anti-intangibility; and trivial abilities like catching a pillow mid-air and sound muffling.
- Titanic Valley: Raven (Rachel Roth) was trained by the monks of Azaroth in the dark arts and is well-efficient in various spells and hexes.
- Under the Northern Lights: Due to a combination of news becoming corrupted as they pass down the international grapevine and a cultural distrust of magic, the reindeer view Twilight Sparkle as a cross between this and an Evil Sorceress — scheming, deceitful and dangerously powerful, but also courtly, alluring, and elegant. At one point, Twilight has to wear a dark purple Sexy Slit Dress as part of pretending to be the evil sorceress the reindeer see her as.
Films — Animated
- Frozen (2013): Elsa. A reserved and elegant queen dressed in a silky blue gown, she has ice magic so strong that she accidentally puts Arendelle in eternal winter.
- Sleeping Beauty (1959): The greatest one may be Maleficent. She has a gothically elegant design, a beautiful woman wearing flowing black and purple robes. Even when acting sinister, she maintains a proper and graceful demeanor, remaining soft-spoken much of the time. As the "Mistress of All Evil," she wields dark magic that lets her cast powerful spells.
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Evil Queen is a Vain Sorceress capable of Black Magic and potion mastery, and regularly consults a talking mirror about her own beauty. However, she loses her grace and beauty when she turns herself into an old hag.
Films — Live-Action
- Conan the Barbarian (2011): Marique is an elegant, deadly woman. Most of her magic is used to harm others, directly or at least indirectly and often requires blood.
- Hocus Pocus: Winifred Sanderson is a subversion of this trope. She is extremely vain, obsessed about youth and beauty, and tries to appear as a grandiose and imposing lady, wearing an elegant and rich dress alongside strange-looking jewelery. She even does her makeup and hairdo to evoke Queen Elizabeth I. But it all fails when you take into account how ugly, immature and tantrum-prone she is. Even funnier: she tries to emulate Elizabeth I's style in 1693. Meaning she is roughly a century late in term of fashion...
- Marvel Cinematic Universe: Scarlet Witch's magical powers manifest as eerie dark red energy, with hugely destructive effects both physically and psychically. Her combat outfits are also more feminine in appearance compared to fellow Avenger Black Widow's, with a fondness for dresses and fashionable jackets, and she usually carries herself with a calm, contemplative demeanor. Except when she’s angry or upset, in which case she seesaws between Tranquil Fury and Unstoppable Rage.
- Red Sonja (1985): Gedren, though not able to do magic innately, becomes this after she acquires the Talisman. A cruel yet elegant queen, she uses it to conquer many rival kingdoms and destroy any who resist.
- The Sorcerer's Apprentice: Morgana le Fay fits to a T. She's the progenitor of all evil sorcerers and very elegant, dressing in a feminine black dress and carrying herself with grace and dignity.
- Suicide Squad (2016): Enchantress is an ancient, evil sorceress who's scantily-clad and has immense magical powers, being a Physical Goddess capable of easily decimating a city. She also stops her feral mannerisms and conducts herself much more sophisticatedly once she regains her heart.
Literature
- The Chronicles of Amber: Fiona's personality is a mix between elegant Proper Lady (when it suits her) and Femme Fatale (when it amuses her); and she has Pattern-based powers that could easily destroy a good chunk of the multiverse.
- Chronicles of the Kencyrath: Lady Rawneth, also known as the Witch of Wilden is the elegant, feminine, and proud matriarch of the Randir, patron of the Priests' College, and the most powerful woman in the Kencyrath — in no small part because she's a strong Shanirnote , and also practices native magic like shadow sorcery and shadow casting.
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Jadis, the White Witch, is elegant, merciless, and pure evil, as well as an incredibly powerful sorceress who had the magical power to put Narnia in an eternal winter for 100 years. She can also turn beings into stone with her magic wand; her victims return to normal once she is killed.
- Codex Alera:
- Lady Placida is a calm, regal woman who cares about those under her charge and will stand up to the Citizens if one is about to harm those she has come to respect. She is the only woman to attain Citizenship by virtue of winning a Juris Macto battle in her teens while the other women, save Isana, earned the title by marriage.
- Invidia is something of a hybrid of this and Dark Action Girl. Amoral and carefully calculating, she is a powerhouse on the battlefield and able to firecraft precisely in a confined space and not hurt anyone present.
- Gaius Isana, First Lady of Alera is not as combat-able as either of the two above, but she will not shy away from combat in later books, having fought a High Lord to his defeat by means of her own strength and willingness to sacrifice herself and opening his eyes to his own deep hatred and took down six powerful vord that were covered in metal with just water attacks.
- Dragaera: Sethra Lavode is a 250,000+ year-old undead sorceress, and contrary to the trope description she couldn't just level half a city—she could probably cause The End of the World as We Know It.
- The Icemark Chronicles: Medea is quiet, cunning, and mysterious, and a princess of the Icemark. Her powers grow in diversity throughout the series, from lightning storms to freezing time.
- The Kane Chronicles: Zia Rashid is a young magician of exceptional skill and power who specialises in Playing with Fire. Meanwhile, the younger Sadie Kane is more a Black Magician Girl.
- The Monk: Matilda is a beautiful and seductive young lady who helps Ambrosia destroy Antonia with her magic. She's a woman of many talents.
- Old Kingdom: Sabriel is something of a subversion of this trope. Though she uses necromantic magic and is of high status even becoming a queen in "Lirael" and "Abhorsen", she is an anti-necromancer, using her dark magic to restore the undead to Death. In the later books she is described in elegant attire, though normally she is practically attired in her armour.
- The Neverending Story: Xayide is a stock seductive evil sorceress — literally, insofar as like all Fantasticans she's a creation of stories and storytelling conventions. She's beautiful and mysterious, favoring long purple gowns to offset her marble-pale complexion, and affects an elegant, alluring personality around Bastian as a way of winning his confidence, but beneath it all she's a cold-hearted and cunning manipulator.
- Saga of Hrolf Kraki: Skuld is an half-elven sorceress, the title hero's treacherous half-sister, and eventual architect of his downfall. In the Battle of Hleidragard, she summons a giant demon-boar and makes her fallen warriors come to life again, so they continue fighting as zombies.
- Skate the Thief: Laribel Ossertine is a titled Lady witch descended from a famous Knight in Shining Armor who spends her time discussing magic and history with other scholars in Caribol.
- A Song of Ice and Fire: Melisandre the Red fits this personality aspect (and tries to becomes something of an advisor to Jon Snow during A Dance With Dragons, though he is wary of her), but as part of a low-magic setting, she's usually limited to soothsaying, illusions, and giving birth to deadly Living Shadows. Given that she's one of a handful of people to show outright supernatural abilities at all, however, that says something. Her powers increase when she is near the Wall, apparently allowing her to combust an eagle from within, burning its blood.
- The Stormlight Archive: Jasnah Kholin is an elegant, decorous, stoic, world-renowned scholar... and uses the transmutation magic of Soulcasting to rearrange battlefields or reduce her enemies to crystal or smoke. Not only can she use techniques that were previously thought to be impossible, transmuting humans is sacreligious in Vorinism — not that she cares. As of Oathbringer, she's the Benevolent Mage Ruler of Alethkar.
- The Sword of Truth: Nicci is a former Sister of the Dark who functions as one of Richard's primary magic experts, and is also the team expert on Subtractive Magic.
- Villains by Necessity: Valeriana fits this trope to a tee, though unlike many she's straight-up villainous. Her magic is largely offensive, though she can do other kinds in a pinch. Also it's weaker than in most cases, as Dark magic is fading from the world.
- Worlds of Shadow: Shadow turns out to be one, though she isn't so elegant as the usual portrayal, looking like an ordinary middle-aged woman, but still the most powerful magic user in the series, capable of creating many huge monsters plus ruling an entire world by herself.
Live-Action TV
- American Horror Story: Coven: Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies aspires to turn its wards into this. This trope is also what the position of Supreme embodies. This includes Fiona Goode, a charismatic witch who always exudes an air of glamour and grace. Fiona's daughter, Cordelia Foxx, grows into this, eventually succeeding her mother as Supreme.
- Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Zelda Spellman is a devout follower and a competent witch of the Church of Night and the harsher, more fashionable sister of Sabrina's aunts. She's by far the most elegant and sophisticated of all the witches in her coven, and only matched by Lord Blackwood in this regard.
- Chinese Paladin: All the descendents of Nu'Wa fit this, both in personality and powers: Zixuan of Chinese Paladin 3 is an Ice Queen priestess who takes on the undefeated Demon King in single combat; her daughter Qing'er, The High Queen, who has similar, though lesser powers; and granddaughter Ling'er is a Lady of War.
- Electra Woman and Dyna Girl: The Empress of Evil from the "Empress of Evil" two-parter is this, being a villainous sorceress who wears black arachnid-inspired attire, possesses a magical arsenal of gravity-related, electrical, and teleportation powers, and desires to Take Over the World. Then it's subverted when she's revealed at the end to be actually a robot controlled by Lucrecia, her inventor and fawning "sidekick".
- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: The Dweller is a stoic Evil Sorceress who is capable of using all sorts of elemental magic, and is very proficient at it. She is very weak in physical fights though.
- Merlin (1998): Mab fills this role, with her elegant goth aesthetic and status as the most powerful magic user in the series as well as being the series' Big Bad.
- Merlin (2008): There are three examples:
- Nimueh, a vengeful witch and an immensely powerful High Priestess of the Old Religion. Killed by Merlin in a violent magical battle in the final of the season one.
- Morgause, a powerful sorceress and High Priestess of the Old Religion, until she died.
- Morgana, an intelligent and beautiful young lady of Royal Blood, steps up to the plate as she trains her raw magical power under Morgause herself. Word of God says she's at least as powerful as Merlin now.
- Once Upon a Time (2011): Almost all female enchantresses (e.g. Regina the Evil Queen, Zelena the Wicked Witch of the West, their mother Cora, Regina's friend Maleficent, etc.) are elegant and favor dark clothing.
- The Twilight Zone (1985): Subverted in "The Last Defender of Camelot". Lancelot believes that Morgan le Fay is a wicked sorceress, but she tells him that her evil reputation has been greatly exaggerated. She claims that, between Merlin and Thomas Malory, she got some very bad press. Morgan proves herself to be honorable when she fights Merlin in order to protect Lancelot and Tom from his magic. She is mortally wounded in the process and, shortly before she dies, jokes that she hopes to finally get some good press out of it.
Music
- Black Sabbath's "Lady Evil" is about one of these described as a "magical, mystical woman."
Mythology and Religion
- Egyptian Mythology: Isis is the goddess of magic, as well as healing and motherhood, and is portrayed as elegant, wise, and the representation of the pharaoh's power. She is also known as "She Who Knows All Names", a fearsome title because using names for casting Egyptian magic spells was believed to give one great power, for being the only one who knows Ra's true name. Because of Isis, this trope is Older Than Dirt.
- Greek Mythology: Hecate is the goddess of magic, crossroads, ghosts, and moonlight. She is a virgin goddess, has three appearances or heads, and lives in the Underworld, portraying her as dignified, mysterious, and solitary. She is also usually presented as beautiful and garbed in dark robes, and many stories state that she is extremely powerful.
Roleplay
- The Gamer's Alliance: Desdemona and Shyralis are quite frail-looking but wise women who possess tremendous magical powers.
Tabletop Games
- Discworld Roleplaying Game: Invoked and parodied in the person of the primary example character, Jemzarkiza of Krull. She's a powerful sorceress with effective offensive powers who even carries a wand to focus her powers. She's also a slightly nerdy scholar who's persistently irritated by her reputation as a lady of black magic.
- Dungeons & Dragons:
- The Forgotten Realms setting has the Simbul. Born Alassra Shentrantra Silverhand, one of the immortal Seven Sisters sired by the goddess Mystra, the Simbul is both a powerful sorceress and an Unkempt Beauty; art featuring her always portray her with wild white hair and a black, tattered dress. However, it's subverted as the Simbul is rather mercurial and prone to sudden outbursts of rage; this along with her sheer magical power means whenever she entered the battlefield, trails of destruction quickly follow. Her on-off lover Elminster was the only person who could calm her down. Her Person of Mass Destruction tendencies proved very useful in warding off enemes, though, as even the Red Wizards of Thay feared being on the wrong end of her spells.
- The Srinshee (born Oluevaera Estelda) is an ancient female Balenorn elf. Believed to be one of the oldest elves in Faerun, her wisdom and skills in magic are so great that she generally served as a Court Mage or a High Mage. She originally lived in the elven city of Ylraphon, but after several corrupt, ultrareactionary, and xenophobic elven noble houses attempted to seize the throne (which left the rightful heiress Aravae Irithyle and many others dead), the Srinshee stepped in and gave the elves a massive "The Reason You Suck" Speech, telling them all that she is leaving the city and she'll come back only if the people truly need her.
- Ironclaw: Lady Amalsand Jakoba is a Gray Fox who was briefly the queen of Calebria, and a very powerful Necromancer who's often used as a campaign villain. She carries herself with an aristocratic dignity and prefers wearing rather revealing dresses, but the fact that she looks emaciated and is physically ten years past her prime pushes her into Fan Disservice territory. She's also the only character who wears luxurious furs — which is made all the more vile since all creatures in the setting (except for reptilian species) are sapient. It should be noted that necromancy isn't purely "evil", but those like Amalsand use it anyway because they care more about power than they do ethics.
- Magic: The Gathering: Liliana Vess is an elegant Femme Fatale who favors long gowns and a high-class lifestyle, and is also an accomplished Necromancer who can easily throw a city's worth of corpses at a problem if the mood so strikes her.
- In Nomine: Hatiphas, the Balseraph Demon of Sorcery and the primary demonic patron of mortal dabblers in things beyond their ken, greatly enjoys affecting this trope. When manifesting on Earth she does so as an archetypal evil sorceress, tall and seductive, clad in black leather and silver jewelry and full of husky laughter.
- Warhammer Fantasy:
- Morathi, known as the Hag Sorceress of Ghrond (among other titles), is the queen-mother of the Dark Elves (and birth mother of Witch-King Malekith) and an ancient and powerful wizard of great renown. Unfortunately for her enemies, she is also quite a vicious hand-to-hand fighter too when the mood takes her, wielding a wickedly sharp excoriating spear called Heartrender and an enchanted sword. She also periodically uses the Cauldron of Blood to restore her youth so she'll always be in her prime.
- Dark Elf sorceresses in general evoke this trope. Dressed in revealing clothing (despite Naggaroth being a perpetually frozen wasteland) while possessing a vicious beauty, they serve as the chief magical experts of Naggaroth, wielding great power second only to Witch-King Malekith and his mother Morathi. Female Dark Elves are the only ones in Naggaroth who are legally allowed to practice magic, as it was prophesied that Malekith would die at the hands of a male sorcerer; Malekith attempted to defy the prophecy by forbidding all male Dark Elves besides himself from practicing magic. Any male Dark Elf who were found to possess latent magic were either cursed to be devoured by Slaanesh or hunted down by bounty hunters.
- Elspeth von Draken (known as "the Graveyard Rose" and "the Dark Lady of Nuln") is a grim, elegantly-dressed woman who is also one of the greatest Amethyst Wizards in the Empire of Man. While the people are afraid and even suspicious of her, Elspeth is genuinely loyal to the Empire of Man, and has always used her dark powers in its defense. True to form, her home is a dark tower on the edge of the Gardens of Morr, where the empire's dead are buried.
Toys
- Ever After High: Raven Queen, while not evil, has the dark and elegant fashion of an Evil Sorceress, is usually calm and composed, and can use black magic like her mother, the Evil Queen. Her magic becomes much more powerful when she signs the Storybook of Legends to defeat Courtly Jester.
Video Games
- Awakening: Moonfell Wood: The Witch of the Woods is a dark-robed witch said to be fearsome and powerful and who held off Dreadmyre's attacks with her magic. She's also loyal to the human kingdom and swore to them to protect the sleeping Princess until the day came that Sophia would wake and save the realm.
- Baldur's Gate II: The Femme Fatale Evil Cleric Defector from Decadence Viconia. Ironically, she technically classifies as a White Mage, given the Cleric's spell-set focuses on healing and augmentation over direct magical destruction.
- Bayonetta:
- The titular protagonist is an Umbra Witch who uses her Magic Hair to summon demons capable of causing great destruction, and acts in a cool and classy manner. She's also very sultry and sensual, from her appearance to her mannerisms.
- Jeanne, Bayonetta's rival, is the former heiress of the Umbra Witches who is able to match Bayonetta herself in fashion, combat, and sorcery. She was also Bayonetta's childhood friend growing up, being the only person who didn't give a lick about Bayonetta's father being a Lumen Sage whereas the rest of their clan treated the girl as an outcast with impure blood.
- The Umbra Witches themselves are a collective example. All of them are women who appear young and ageless thanks to their Umbran Watches, wield various weapons in addition to hand/feet guns, and possess great command over dark magic which they get from demons (who themselves can be summoned into the mortal planes to destroy the Umbra Witches' enemies). Game models and concept sketches often show them in poses and/or dressed in outfits that make them look like fashion models.
- BlazBlue: Nine/Konoe A. Mercury has the skill set but not the personality; rather than composed she has a fiery temper. Rachel Alucard, on the other hand, plays it straight despite looking more like a Black Magician Girl, being dignified and snobby and one of the few members in the cast to wield actual magic.
- City of Heroes: The Lady Grey, supreme commander of Vanguard. Easily the most powerful wizard in the whole game, ever composed, ever graceful and one wicked Dark Defender.
- Deception: Astarte, Satan's right-hand assistant, wears a flowing red dress, and commands a fairly vast array of offensive spells. Whether she uses them on you depends on how you play.
- Dragon Age:
- Dragon Age: Origins has Morrigan (the image-post girl), a shapeshifter witch who is well-spoken and cunning — and evil. In the Dragon Age toolset, she's also listed as one of the few characters with "High" intelligence, and her biography notes that she favors a look of wild elegance. She's the most evil member of the party, using destructive magic spells, and NPCs often comment she's very beautiful. However, romancing her will reveal a sweeter side.
- Dragon Age: Inquisition has Vivienne, who overlaps with Lady of War by virtue of being a Magic Knight. She is quite regal and graceful, but in contrast to Morrigan's "wild elegance", Vivienne is most at home in the highest echelons of Orlesian society. In combat she can be seen Kicking Ass in All Her Finery while turning her opponents into frozen statues.
- Dragon's Crown: The Sorceress is possessed of powerful magic, allowing her to conjure blizzards, petrify enemies, turn them into toads, and create food to heal her comrades. She's also the bustiest character in the game, if not the bustiest character of any Vanillaware game.
- Dragon Quest:
- Dragon Quest V: Nera is very demure and graceful, and learns many offensive spells that can cause massive damage.
- Jessica from Dragon Quest VIII. Although she's a little more fiery than this trope typically is, she has a rich upbringing, possesses a sharp tongue backed by a British accent, and generally has an overall bearing that's more lady than genki. Also her penchant for fanservice is an actual game mechanic.
- Final Fantasy: There are several examples.
- Final Fantasy II has Maria, the first of this trope in the series. She's a kind and composed young lady who has the most Intelligence out of the main party, making her most suited for casting offensive spells.
- Final Fantasy IV: Though she started out as a Black Magician Girl, Rydia's Plot-Relevant Age-Up turned her into one of the original video game Ladies of Black Magic. Unusually for this trope however, she dresses in green.
- Celes Chere from Final Fantasy VI is one of only two characters who naturally learn magic and one of the best magical attackers in the game. Aloof, cold, and elegant, she's skilled with ice magic, which is very much befitting her being an Ice Queen.
- Lulu from Final Fantasy X, of the Ice Queen variety. Also somewhat gothy. She is the most composed of the party members, and figures as a bit of a mother or sister figure to the protagonist, Yuna. She's quiet, fashionable, and of course uses offensive magic.
- Ultimecia, a cultured, elegant, and all-powerful Sorceress of Time dressed in an opulent red dress, who turns out to be the Big Bad, and Edea, a refined and sophisticated Sorceress with a specialty in ice magic, from Final Fantasy VIII. This trope is pretty much what the Sorceress power is all about, really.
- While she may not match most examples in height, she more than substitutes with pure might. With ladylike grace and magical fire, Shantotto from Final Fantasy XI is to what this trope aspires to be. Oh Hohohoho!
- Final Fantasy XIV continues the tradition. Y'shtola is a poised and cultured Conjurer who takes up black magic in Shadowbringers. Lady Iceheart, also known as Ysayle, is a skilled thaumaturge and can even summon Shiva into her own body.
- Series wide, the summon Shiva herself generally fits this pretty well, being an Ice Elemental who is frequently described as the graceful yet aloof "Empress of Ice", always wears skimpy outfits (or nothing at all) to enhance her beauty, and possesses great command over ice — which she heralds with a Badass Finger Snap. She is the opposite of Ifrit, a bestial-looking Fire Elemental summon, and one of the few "friendly" summons who can be acquired via being fought.
- Fire Emblem: Many female anima/dark/light magic users from various games are this:
- Fire Emblem Gaiden and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia:
- Celica is a graceful princess with equal proficiency in both swords and magic. Sonya is a mature, powerful mage who wears a bejeweled dress into battle.
- The game also introduces the Witch class, beautiful women who offered their souls to Duma (whether willingly or not) for magical power. They include Sonya's sisters Marla and Hestia, and in Echoes Nuibaba, an ancient, seductive sorceress, and Rinea.
- Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War: Hilda (villainous example, handles Fire Magic due to being of the Fala bloodline), Ishtar (Hilda's daughter alias the "Goddess of Thunder" for having major Tordo blood and thus handling the VERY strong Mjolnir tome). Aida, too; her class is Magic Knight.
- Fire Emblem: Thracia 776: Miranda (though she's more Hot-Blooded than the standard, but still a feminine mage who is also a princess), Olwen (who uses Thunder Magic and swords).
- Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade: Niime, a Druid Sophia (Dark Magic), Princess Guinevere when unlocked (Anima Magic). Cecilia can use staves and black magic. And a Valkyrie Clarine. A Sage Lilina has the skills, but attitude-wise she's more of The Messiah. Bruhnya is an Anti Villainous version; the only female Sage enemy in the game, she utilizes Fimbulvetr, the most powerful Anima spell, and the incredibly ranged Bolting.
- Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade: Ursula is an extremely dangerous magic user. To unprepared players, her huge movement and long-range Bolting tome mean she can strike from anywhere on the southern part of the map, from the darkness, for devastating damage.
- Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones: Selena follows it wholeheartedly. Of extremely powerful black magic at that. She's legendary for "wielding the power of the thunderstorm."
- Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance: Callil is a very skilled and elegant mage in all three magic elements, and (in Path of Radiance) can defend herself directly with knives to boot.
- Fire Emblem: Awakening:
- Tharja, an elegant and brooding Ms. Fanservice Dark Mage who enjoys practicing curses and is a Yandere towards the Avatar. There's also Miriel, a skilled Anima mage with scientific leanings. Maribelle, a proud and upper-class lady, will qualify if promoted to a Valkyrie.
- Celica from Fire Emblem Gaiden becomes this in the DLC, with her "Priestess/Princess" classes changed to Mage/Sage.
- The Dark Flier class has a foot here and another in Lady of War, as its members can use both Magic tomes and lances. This includes Aversa, the elegant, seductive, and merciless servant of Validar who can even wield Dark Magic thanks to her unique Shadowgift.
- Fire Emblem Fates: The Nohrian Fortune Teller and Black Mage Nyx has the cool attitude and the Dark Mage skills, and Camilla is a sultry and graceful Malig Knight. The Hoshido Spellcaster Orochi is a noble who speaks in old-fashion and use talismans to cast spells, while Rhajat is basically a teenaged Tharja and mixes this trope with Dark Magical Girl. Nyx and Orochi are potential mothers for Rhajat, shall either of them marry her father Hayato.
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses:
- Dorothea is a flirty songstress who wears a bejeweled gown as a Mage/Warlock post-timeskip. Mercedes has a gentle, motherly demeanor and strengths in Faith and Reason. Constance is a haughty, sophisticated Dark Flier with some of the strongest black magic spells in the game.
- The game introduces Gremory, a female-only master class dressed in opulent gowns with expertise in white and black magic. A villainous one is Cornelia, a cruel sorceress in a revealing dress who is allied with "those who slither in the dark".
- Fire Emblem Engage:
- Ivy is a composed and sultrily elegant princess who wields offensive magic on the battlefield. Her unique class notably allows her to wield S-Rank tomes, something only two other classes in the game (one of them also restricted to one character) can do.
- Citrinne is a haughty and sophisticated noblewoman who deals out plenty of magical damage in battle thanks to her high Magic.
- Fire Emblem Gaiden and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia:
- Grandia II: Of the party, Millenia is the most competent at attack magic, and her Berserker Mode enables her to cast any spell or even her own special moves with increased potency, despite the player losing control of her. But the twist is she's the Superpowered Evil Side of the White Magician Girl, Elena, who herself is the unwitting hosts of the shards of the setting's God of Evil Valmar. This lasts until right before the last dungeon, at which point she's split off into an independent being.
- Guilty Gear: Recurring villainess I-No is both a heavy metal musician and a Dungeon Punk take on the Wicked Witch archetype, being a manipulative sadist who's usually quite composed, and can use her electric guitar to cast various dark sorceries, including soundwave spells. However, her crude cursing and way of talking make for quite a subversion.
- Hyrule Warriors:
- Cia, The Dark Sorceress, is a witch who's poised and dressed in a seductive outfit, yet behaves like a Dominatrix and total Yandere for Link. She also commands an arsenal of dark sorcery — enough that she manages to defeat Ganandorf. It's later revealed that she's the evil half of Lana, split apart by Ganondorf from the person they once were. While Lana represents all of her original self's positive emotions, Cia represents Lana's darker desires — including her obsession over making Link her lover, regardless of what he actually thinks.
- Twili Midna is also depicted as this as part of her Xenafication treatment. Unlike in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Twili Midna is no longer in her imp form and thus has full access to her power as the Twilight Princess, calling forth bursts of shadows and constructs resembling the Sky Cannon and Zant's Hands, as well as using the Mirror of Twilight to summon damaging rays of light. She's also more elegant and composed compared to her imp form, though she's also a Smug Super since she's freed of her curse.
- The King of Fighters: Chizuru Kagura is an odd blend of this and Lady of War. She relies a lot on her Master of Illusion powers, which hurt, but also on her Dance Battler hand-to-hand fighting style.
- Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep: Aqua is a hybrid between this and Lady of War. She's the graceful and motherly female of the Power Trio as well as the magical powerhouse of the game, using devastating Elemental magic. She's still a talented Keyblade wielder, but is the Squishy Wizard to Ventus's Fragile Speedster and Terra's Mighty Glacier. The "Black" part's averted, though — she's quite pro-Light 'em Up...until her fall to Darkness in Kingdom Hearts III playing it straight.
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel: Emma Millstein is a graceful lady who has the highest magic stat of Class VII and fights exclusively with her magic and Orbal Arts. Her older adoptive sister, Vita Clotilde, is also an offensive magic user, with a seductive personality and sultry appearance.
- League of Legends: There are several elegant Mage Champions.
- Ahri the Nine-Tailed Fox is a seductive and graceful gumiho dressed in a revealing outfit who can conjure arcane energy orbs and spectral flames to attack. Her voted name Ari (아리) even means "elegant".
- LeBlanc the Deceiver, an aristocrat and head of the Black Rose, an evil society of ageless illusionists. She fights using illusions and magic orbs and chains.
- Morgana the Fallen wields powerful black magic and has a feminine design, making a striking contrast to her sister, Kayle. Said magic is actually the same celestial power granted to Kayle from their mother, though Morgana's manifests much differently due to her rejecting her celestial heritage.
- Lissandra the Ice Witch has a regal demeanor and crushes and impales foes with black ice spells. Her Noblewoman's Laugh and Evil Brit voice accentuates her being an Ice Queen.
- Syndra the Dark Sovereign. She wears elegant dark purple clothing and floats, giving her movements a sense of grace. She also has very powerful magic, and fights using strong orbs of dark energy.
- Luminous Arc 2: Fatima, the antagonist Shadow Frost Witch, adequately mirrors the cheerful Althea. Icy and stoic, she is arguably the most powerful Witch, with the ability to mercilessly wreak havoc with Shadow Frost magic.
- Mass Effect 2: Miranda is the sci-fi equivalent, a powerful biotic, a Lady of War and the Illusive Man's top Operative.
- The Matrix: Path of Neo: One level has the unnamed The Stoic Witch who Neo saves. She wears a short, corset-topped black, red and purple dress. Her main weapon is her banshee wail which can knock people out and tear down walls. Yet a few levels later, she also proves very good with a shotgun when she helps Neo defeat some vampires.
- Metaphor: ReFantazio: Junah is elegant, graceful, and manipulative, while also being a former student of magic, and it shows: while the nature of the game's class system means she can do whatever and be at least competent at it, the Masked Dancer she starts with is very heavily weighted towards magic skills, and pairs well with other magic classes like the Mage and Healer lineages. Combined with Junah's naturally sky-high Magic stat, it means she's the first dedicated mage you'll get.
- Octopath Traveler: Primrose Azelhart is a powerful user of dark magic as well as a former highborn daughter of a noble house, with a befitting elegant demeanor and a vengeance against those who killed her father. As an erotic dancer, her unique Path Action "Allure" lets her seduce NPCs to fight alongside her.
- Overwatch: Playable character Moira is this, despite being set in a futuristic setting. While her powers are explicitly based on Biotic tech, it is virtually Magic from Technology as it is activated by hand gestures and she often remarks something along the lines of "My will made manifest", a common description of magic. Aesthetically, her long dark coat and Femme Fatalons give the appearance of a classic witch lady.
- Path of Exile: The Witch exile player character is this. She has the looks of an Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette and is equal parts Deadpan Snarker and Sociopathic Hero, meeting the horrors of Wraeclast with curiosity and detached interest. Her Ascendancy classes allow her to specialize as a Necromancer, Elementalist, or Occultist.
- Persona:
- Mitsuru Kirijo in Persona 3, a reserved and elegant Ojou whose specialisation in ice magic makes her one of the best magical attackers in the game. Reload leans into this trait by getting rid of some of her healing support skills, rebalancing her set to exclusively focus on offensive magic or inflicting status effects, and her Theurgy gauge charges faster when she inflicts a status ailment or starts her turn while an enemy has an active debuff.
- Persona 4 has Yukiko Amagi, a graceful Yamato Nadeshiko who has enormous magic stats and high-level fire spells, but she also crosses this with White Magician Girl.
- Pokémon:
- Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire: Gardevoir fits, with its feminine and elegant appearance, dress-like form that turns into a ballgown when it Mega Evolves, and high Special Attack. Its types, Psychic and Fairy, are also closely associated with magical powers.
- Pokémon Sun and Moon: Pheromosa has shades of this as a Kung-Fu Wizard. Despite being genderless, it looks like a woman and is known for its beauty and grace. It's also a Glass Cannon with a huge Special Attack stat of 137.
- Pokémon Sword and Shield: Hatterene is a serene, female-only Pokémon with the appearance of a stereotypical witch and a whopping 136 Special Attack. It's known as the "Forest Witch" for its violent tendencies and, while Gigantamaxed, the "Raging Goddess", with the power to shoot down beams like lightning made up of pure energy from its tentacles.
- Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Mega Froslass becomes taller and dons a more elegant kimono, on top of gaining a massive boost to her Special Attack to devastate enemies.
- Quest for Glory IV: Katrina is stunningly beautiful, seductive, and without question one of the most powerful characters to appear in the series. Even Baba Yaga fears getting on her bad side, she absolutely kicked Ad Avis's ass in a magical duel some centuries before the game is set, and in Quest for Glory V her magic will tear the Dragon of Doom to shreds. She can have a real temper if you piss her off, but normally presents a very polite and friendly demeanor.
- Radiant Historia: Eruca is a reserved literal Rebellious Princess who packs some of the most powerful offensive magic in the game. Raynie is a partial example, having the grace in battle and offensive power of a Lady, but being slightly more rough around the edges than is typical for this trope.
- Rift: Asha Catari is the High general of the Defiant and formerly the heir to a long line of Ethian mages. She is a top Arcane Warrior, using her blade to cast spells.
- Sengoku Basara: Oichi is Oda Nobunaga's younger sister, and she has a variety of demonic magic powers, and then along comes her sister-in-law Kyogoku Maria, who's a Kung Fu Sorceress.
- Skylanders: Hex is an Undead Elf mage who nevertheless remains on the side of good. She dresses in all black, is creepily composed, and has a Skeleton Motif, using her magic to conjure bones and skulls. Her backstory reveals she wasn't like this in the past, but when Malefor made several attempts to kidnap her in order to learn her secrets, she eventually had enough and ventured into the Underworld to deal with the evil dragon once and for all. It was discovering that she turned into an Undead upon entering the Underworld that Hex flew into a full-on Roaring Rampage of Revenge, blasting Malefor with all the magic she could muster.
- Soulcalibur V: Viola primarily uses magic in battle, a first in the series, to move her Crystal Ball in attacks. Her overall look is a combination of a Fortune Teller and Elegant Gothic Lolita, and she has a cold and ominous demeanor. It is strongly hinted, and confirmed as of VI that Viola is actually an adult Amy Sorel with amnesia.
- Star Fox: Krystal fits whenever she wields her Magic Staff such as in Star Fox Adventures and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She's one of the only magic users in a primarily sci-fi setting capable of using a versatile array of offense and defensive spells with her staff, while being a graceful and sensual Foxy Vixen. She bucks a few trends regarding team dynamics, as she's the protagonist's love interest and despite her Team Mom position, is the youngest of the Star Fox team.
- Star Ocean: The Second Story: Celine is a graceful Blue Blood who uses Power Tattoos to cast offensive elemental symbology.
- Street Fighter: Rose is among the closest to this trope in fighting games. She fights with her unique Soul Power, which gives her one of the most elegant fighting styles in the series, and she always fights with an air of grace.
- Super Smash Bros.: Zelda and Female Robin are this but from two different fighting approaches. Zelda is very elegant, even moreso than the other Ladies of War, and can use her magic to enhance her unarmed blows or unleash powerful spells from afar. Robin has a composed and quiet demeanor in battle, and can use elemental tomes or the magic-infused Levin Sword.
- Tokyo Xanadu: Mitsuki Hokuto is a tall, graceful Ojou whose also the most formidable magician in the group, fighting with a staff that's imbued with a Shadow Element and has an array of ranged spell attacks. While barriers are more traditionally associated with the White Mage, in her case, they're simply part of a broadly offensive magical style.
- Touhou Project: Played straight with Mima, a cool and collected spirit who can use her immense magical power to cast a Wave-Motion Gun. Played With regarding Byakuren. She's quite collected and graceful, wears a feminine black dress, but instead of casting destructive spells from afar she uses her Black Magic to enhance her physical attacks in combat. She can cast traditional spells though.
- Triangle Strategy: Frederica is soft-spoken, graceful, and a pyromancer with destructive fire spells. And Ezana is a composed shamaness with the power to harness the weather, excelling at wind and lightning magic.
- Warcraft: Jaina Proudmoore currently has the title as the most powerful living archmage in Azeroth. She is usually a compassionate and kind lady who will is not afraid to use her magic to both devastate her enemies and protect her people. Only lately that she's been a wee bit too destructive thanks to the mana-bombing of her home Theramore, but her elegance still remains even if it takes a turn to an eerily sinister elegance. She is slowly getting a little better, though.
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Yennefer, Geralt's love interest from the books, is shown to be a Mama Bear who has no qualms about using black magic as long as it will help her find her adoptive daughter Ciri.
- Witch Hunter Izana: The party's mage Cyrano counts, being tall, thin, sporting an afro and wearing robes the entire adventure. She also has the most offensive spells, the best type coverage and some borderline broken buff spells. She's the most mature of the party and the best educated.
Visual Novels
- Fate/stay night:
- Servant Caster fits to a T. As the Caster servant of the present Holy War, she's the one who relies the most on spells rather than weapons, and she's also beautiful and merciless. Even more so this particular Caster used to be Medea from Greek Mythology, pretty much the Trope Codifier for Woman Scorned and one of the greatest sorcerers in history.
- Assassin of Red/Semiramis of Fate/Apocrypha. A beautiful and dangerous Servant that qualifies as a Caster-type who, while within the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, can fire magic chains and cast spells great enough to be in the realm of True Magic. Her Sikera Ušum Noble Phantasm even gives all her Magecraft poisonous attributes.
- XBlaze: Mei Amanohokosaka, heiress of the Amanohokosaka Clan, has a more elegant Wa-lolita design and comes across as haughty and cold, trying to maintain a mature air. As a miko, she uses Onmyōdō to cast spells with the aid of seithr, and in her route she gains the Drive Blood Cain.
Web Animation
- RWBY:
- In addition to her stylish blouse and pencil skirt, Glynda Goodwitch wears a cape that gives her a magician's air. She has a commanding presence and carries herself with stern grace. Her primary method of fighting is with a riding crop, through which she directs her attacks by pointing towards her targets, being they people, Grimm or inanimate objects. Between her telekinetic Semblance and her ability to focus Dust into unique effects, her style of fighting resembles magic: she can create defensive shields, create lethal showers of ice daggers, drag storm clouds into the area and kick up storm winds. She can also toss Grimm aside with barely a glance just by swishing her riding crop as she walks by. She can even rebuild broken buildings and mend holes in the street just by using telekinesis. In the pilot episode, she and Cinder fight each other to a draw in one of the most powerful magical battles in the entire show.
- Cinder Fall is a powerful fire-user, who is usually calm, elegant and smug. Her Semblance allows her to transform dust and dirt into obsidian-like glass and use it for a range of effects such as firing a volley of glass daggers. She can create fire geysers from the ground which explode underneath her targets, incinerating them, and manifest fire from her body which she can direct in attacks such as fireballs and sustained streams of fire. By sewing Dust into her clothes, she can appear to manifest weapons from nowhere, glyphs on her clothing glow when she uses her abilities, and she can transform her clothing from a catsuit to a dress as if by magic and without breaking stride. She is additionally capable of fighting hand-to-hand and her preferred weapons are twin swords and a bow that shoots arrows that can perform feats like creating explosive fire attacks wherever they strike. During the pilot episode, she and Glynda fight each other to a draw in one of the most powerful magical battles in the entire show. At the end of Volume 3, Cinder obtained the full power of the Fall Maiden, making her one of the most powerful users of true magic in the entire world. Although she continues to favour fire attacks, she now has the ability to perform any elemental attack. As time goes on, however, this is subverted: while Cinder would certainly like to be a Lady of Black Magic and has the firepower to back it up, her initial calm and elegance is revealed to be a front for her true personality: angry, desperate, petty, violent, and traumatized.
- The Big Bad, Salem, is the Lady of Black Magic, an elegant and unspeakably powerful sorceress that has existed in the shadows of history. She is one of a handful of beings to possess the True Magic, ruling over both a carefully-chosen cabal of servants and the vast hordes of the Grimm as a sort of Goddess-Queen. Cinder Fall is her protege, groomed and trained to wield the considerable powers of a Maiden but patiently warned to never forget her place. The ancient war between Ozpin and Salem has raged for thousands of years, and while she has never succeeded in her ultimate goal, Salem has remained a powerful supernatural threat that rarely needs to do more than raise her voice slightly to cow even the strongest of warriors. While Ozpin and Salem were once evenly matched in their magical power, he has given away portions of his magic over the centuries. Salem, on the other hand, has carefully cultivated her power for the rare occasions when she might actually need to use it. Even at her strongest, Cinder remains terrified of her mistress's wrath.
Webcomics
- A-gnosis: Hekate is this nearly following to a T what's described above for her in the "Myth and Religion" folder, putting curses on people when she's asked for, having necromantic powers, and working the nights of full Moon. Despite this she's also one of the nicest as most compassionate characters especially towards Demeter.
- Erfworld: Wanda Firebaugh is this to a tee. Interestingly, because of how Erfworld operates, she started life seeing her physical form as a Lady of Black Magic, something she felt she had to live up to.
- Homestuck: Rose Lalonde becomes this after upgrading her weapons with Eldritch Powers. Made even more obvious in her Alpha universe counterpart, who's an adult.
- Nixvir: The Faerie Redmane is a much older version of this trope. She has the ability to use magic to kill people and resurrect them over and over and over again, as is the case with her hapless zombie manservant Klobbit. Nekkit, the goddess of magic, also exists (and she is a counterpart of Hecate) but we never get to see her powers in action since she refuses to get involved in the witch war.
- No Songs For The Dead: Miranda Io has great potential in Black Magic, which she genetically inherited from her mother Lilith.
- Silver Bullet Nights: Rachael is always the model of elegance whether running her nightclub for supernaturals and the undead or bathing in the blood of her enemies.
- True Villains: Elia Redscallion is an elegant, always perfectly dressed lady from a noble family. She is also an eighty-four-year-old necromancer, held together with black magic and spite, who can paint the town red with undead armies and deadly spells and will literally rip off her own skin* for a tactical advantage.
Web Originals
- Noob: Gaea can pass as one as long as she's not showing her Dirty Coward side or giving someone Puppy-Dog Eyes, while being her group's Smart Girl. By contrast, Roxana has a dignified attitude on a more permanent basis and is the leader of the Player Killer guild.
- Who Killed Markiplier?: Celine dabbled too much in the dark arts. Notes in the detective's office read 'DON'T TRUST THE SEER'.
Western Animation
- Ben 10: Charmcaster's design and personality in both Ben 10: Alien Force and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien fit this trope, although not in any other series of the franchise.
- Gummi Bears: Lady Bane is a very powerful witch who's always on the hunt for Gummi secrets and magic. She first appears in the episode "The Road to Ursalia", ravaging the ruins of the ancient Gummi capital in search of its library.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Queen Chrysalis is the haughty leader of the Changelings, a bitchy sadist, and a capable magic caster, able to shapeshift and fire magic beams from her horn. It's after draining Shining Armor's love that she proved capable of overpowering Princess Celestia in a Beam-O-War.
- The Owl House: As the head of the Emperor's Coven, Lilith Clawthorne wears a conservative and elegant black dress and carries herself with an air of properness and composure, in contrast with her Hot-Blooded wild witch sister Eda. However, that composure goes out of the window the minute her buttons are pressed or when in situations of high stress and frustration.
- Star vs. the Forces of Evil: Eclipsa Butterfly is a former queen of Mewni before running off with her monster lover. She wears a gothic dress and hat and carries herself with an air of sophistication, though she does have a silly and maternal side to her. While using her parasol wand, she is a master of dark magic and reputed to have been the most powerful Butterfly Queen to have ever lived. And unlike most magic users in the show, she studies dark magic for the sake of knowledge rather than malice, which got her demonized by Mewni as "the Queen of Darkness".
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Nightsister shaman and leader Mother Talzin wears a rather elaborate dress, her motivations and goals remained a secret, and while she's also able conjure green force lightning, or use magical Deflector Shields, she mainly uses more "subtle" techniques, such as transforming Savage Opress into a hulking, nigh-unstoppable avatar of primal anger, and torturing Count Dooku from millions of lightyears away with a Voodoo Doll. She also possesses Voice of the Legion.
- Steven Universe: Of the four Diamonds, Blue Diamond is the most traditionally feminine, with her court mostly taking after her in looks and personality. Both her regal robes and hood invoke a resemblance to a classical witch, and unlike the combat-oriented Yellow Diamond, she primarily uses magic to fight — either in the form of her depressive aura or energy blasts.
- Teen Titans (2003): The 2003 animated version of Raven, voiced by Tara Strong, is half-demon through her father, Trigon, giving her both vast occult knowledge and incredible sorcerous powers like shadowy telekinesis, empathy, and the ability to project her soul-self. She is also generally cold, deadpan, and somber, often isolating herself in her room. A huge reason for this is because her powers, likely due to her demonic heritage, are tied to her emotions; in "Titan Rising", she specifically states that she has to meditate every day to keep her emotions — and therefore her powers — in check. At her strongest, she could overpower Trigon himself and obliterate him singlehandedly to save Jump city, shown by her clothes becoming white.
- Voltron: Legendary Defender: High Priestess Haggar is the leader of the Druids, the mystical order of the Galra Empire. She wears a cloaked dress, has a merciless and sadistic demeanor, and is a master of dark magic, able to unleash magical blasts of lightning and destroy whole planets with the proper Magitek apparatuses. Underneath the hood she is revealed to be an Altean with vestiges of her beauty before being driven to insanity by Quintessence.
- Xiaolin Showdown: Wuya is a 1,500-year-old Heylin witch and the true Big Bad of the first season. In contrast to her ghost form she's calm and decisive as a human, and a master of Heylin magic and one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
