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Magical Negro
- 700 statements
- 133 feature instances
- 167 referencing feature instances
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In order to show the world that minority characters are not bad people, one will step forward to help a "normal" person, with their pure heart and folksy wisdom. They are usually black and/or poor, but may come from another oppressed minority. They step (often clad in a clean, white suit) into the life of the much more privileged (and, in particular, almost always white) central character and, in some way, enrich that central character's life. If the Magical Negro (also known as Magic Negro or Mystical Negro) is from a society of Noble Savages, expect an Anvilicious Aesop about the failings of the protagonist's society — which usually leads to the protagonist "Going Native". With such deep spiritual wisdom (and sometimes — though not always — actual supernatural powers), you might wonder why the Magical Negro doesn't step up and save the day himself. This will never happen. So enlightened and selfless is he that he has no desire to gain glory for himself; he only wants to help those who need guidance... which just happens to mean those who are traditionally viewed by Hollywood as better suited for protagonist roles, not, say, his own oppressed people. In fact, the Magical Negro really seems to have no goal in life other than helping white people achieve their fullest potential; he may even be ditched or killed outright once he's served that purpose. If he does express any selfish desires, it will only be in the context of helping the white protagonists realize their own racism and thereby become better people. Bonus points if this character is a priest of Vodoun. If female, they will nearly always also be a Sassy Black Woman. See also Whoopi Epiphany Speech, Token Black Friend, and Mammy. For a similar trope about women, see Manic Pixie Dream Girl (as well as Disposable Woman and The Bechdel Test); the Magical Girlfriend may play a similar role for her love interest, but is not necessarily an example of this. For the gay version see Magical Queer (who may also be black). The disabled version of this is Inspirationally Disadvantaged. When a non-minority character is portrayed this way, the character is usually a Sidekick Ex Machina. Similar in vein to the Magical Native American, though that trope tends to be more explicitly magical. Also similar to Magical Asian, when an Asian character, often with supernatural abilities, fulfills a mentor role to a white character. Another related trope is White Man's Burden, where the plot is about an ordinary white person who befriends an underprivileged minority character. Related to Magical Romani, which is about Romani characters having magical abilities (or otherwise associated with the supernatural). Also compare Magical Jew. The term "Magical Negro" was popularized by Spike Lee during a lecture denouncing this trope. |
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| Magical Negro / int_12b2b8a6 | type |
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In M Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable: Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), the black and physically-handicapped mentor to Bruce Willis' burgeoning hero is one of these. Until the ending when it's subverted. He is revealed to be an Evil Genius who has been murdering and destroying in the hope of finding a "True Superhero," and any help he gives Bruce is purely manipulative. All he wanted to do is find his opposite, because it meant there was a reason for someone like him to exist. | |
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The Enchantress who rules the Sunhook Spire in the Awakening series is a literal case: she's an extremely powerful enchantress capable of holding off an attack on her tower. Played with in that in protecting her domain, she put herself into a magical coma and does not actually provide help to Sophia until the final chapter of the game. | |
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Uncle Remus from Song of the South epitomizes this trope. Even the horrors of Jim Crow can't dampen his determination to be a cheerful mentor for the children. | |
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Subverted and parodied by Toots in Clone High. Toots is a blind jazz clarinetist who tries to give sagely advice, and really, really fails. | |
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Silent Hill: Downpour has Howard Blackwood, who first appeared in the comic Silent Hill: Past Life. He's a mailman who appears to be oblivious to everything going on in town, but still dispenses some wisdom to the protagonist, Murphy. This is because he's a manifestation of the town and has been present since before 1867. The Full Circle ending also implies that he was the Hero of Another Story, but failed and became trapped in Silent Hill limbo as a result. | |
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Parodied in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air where Jameson Whitworth, a wealthy eccentric, comes to believe Will is his good luck charm. He goes so far as to make his "Young homie" into his financial adviser, with the belief that Will has the supernatural ability to make him richer. | |
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Parodied on Chappelle's Show. In one sketch, Dave helps a young white woman appreciate her special gifts by showing her how they are responsible for her having a career and friends... and the only thing averting a nuclear holocaust. Subverted when Dave reveals he's no angel, just a janitor. | |
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Benson is an odd subversion — it's about a wise black servant employed in the household of a wealthy governor's family, who solves all their problems. And is secretly the governor's most trusted political adviser. But unlike most Magical Negroes he is the main character and often has problems of his own to deal with, he constantly insults the Governor and the staff behind their backs and to their faces, and is often dragged into their problems whether he wants to help them or not. Eventually Benson seeks his own political office, running against his former mentor plus a dark horse in a close political race. The show was deliberately ended in a Cliffhanger, though Word of God states that, yes, Benson did win that office. | |
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Avengers: Age of Ultron plays this the most straight, with him only showing up briefly to give the Avengers some sage advice; he helps coordinate the evacuation of Sokovia using leftover SHIELD resources, but otherwise does little else but help the white guys get off their asses after getting their asses kicked by Ultron. | |
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Referenced in an early episode of Bones, when Angela is talked out of quitting by Dr. Goodman. | |
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The premise of New Amsterdam (2008) is that a Mighty Whitey saves the life of a Magical Native American and in return they use their magic to make him immortal. Naturally, it never occurs to them to make the members of their own tribe immortal, perhaps because the immortal magic only works on superior white genes. However, they only made him immortal until he found his true happiness (Blessed with Suck?), at which point he'd become mortal again. Since they're not around anymore, the implication is that they were already quite happy the way they were, making it less Magical Negro and more Noble Savage (recovering Magical Native American). A bizarre twist and possible subversion — the protagonist's mentor who gives him sagely advice and a beer whenever he needs to unwind and talk about his troubles, while a very stereotypically grizzled and kindly old black man, is also... the protagonist's son. Such are the vagaries of being an unaging immortal (the kind who can have kids but can't pass on the immortality). |
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Heylia on Weeds subverts this thoroughly; she's always giving Nancy advice both on pot dealing and on life in general, but whenever it looks like the show might follow this trope, she proves that while she likes Nancy well enough, it's ultimately a business relationship and her first priority is herself and her own family. Whenever Nancy can't pay for her product, she either takes something for collateral or simply tells her "Tough shit." | |
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The Sarah Silverman Program has Sarah learn the lesson that older black women are wise beyond their years :and younger black women are prostitutes. | |
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The Shining: Dick Hallorann, although he's much more proactive than some of King's other examples and is a hero in his own right. Also, as a much-sought-after chef in high-class hotels, he's actually richer than the protagonists. | |
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This is one trope that The Simpsons did not subvert for the first time, though they did have fun with it. Lisa Simpson had her own personal Magical Negro in the form of Bleedin' Gums Murphy, who noted that she should listen when people tell her to brush her teeth and that she sang the blues pretty good for someone with no actual problems. They finally did outright subvert this in the episode "Brawl in the Family", with the character Gabriel, an apparent Magical Negro (who Homer thinks is an angel) and social worker assigned to help the family with their dysfunction. He's also voiced by Delroy Lindo. Homer expressly compares him to the aforementioned Bagger Vance example. Gabriel, confronted by Homer's long lost Vegas wife, gives up on the family, telling Homer, "Your seed should be wiped from the Earth!" |
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Mateo in Jim Sheridan's In America. Despite his appearance as Starving Artist, he turns out to really be one of those Rich People, so he's able to pay the Sullivan family's hospital check. Along with teach the family's father how to feel again. | |
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Henry from Eureka is one of the smartest people in a town full of geniuses, but unlike the majority of local scientists, who work in the sleek GD facility, Henry wears overalls with a nametag and works out of a gas station/garage. He spends most of his time solving the problems of other people, particularly the (white) main character Sheriff Jack Carter. Eventually subverted to some extent, as he suffers his own crises and gets his own storylines, but to the end he dresses like a grease monkey and solves people's problems with wise homilies and magical know-how. | |
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The Queen's Gambit: Jolene, Beth's Token Black Friend from the orphanage, shows up again in the last episode while Beth is at her lowest point. Although much is made about how Jolene is disadvantaged at the orphanage, being an older black girl in a setting where couples would prefer to adopt younger white girls, Jolene prevails in the intervening yearsnote in The '60s, no less! and shows up to bring Beth to Mr. Shaibel's funeral and Methuen. This serves as a wake up call for Beth. Later, when it seems Beth can't afford to go to Moscow, Jolene loans Beth $3000 from her law school fund so Beth can play. Lampshaded when she says she's not here to be Beth's guardian angel or savior despite narratively being exactly that. | |
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Played with/averted in Ariel (Block). The elder black woman who advises Roberta that haunts cannot harm you seems reassuring enough, but the ghost in the Jardell home seems at least to warn Roberta that her baby will die. When he does, Roberta returns to the riverfront but can't find the old lady. | |
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Subverted again with Thaddeus Bradley in Now You See Me: he seems to be helping the FBI in cracking down on the main characters' magical acts by debunking the same, but he's just doing so since it will boost his ego more. | |
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Averted in The Verdict. Deprived of his star expert witness, Frank brings in Dr. Thompson, a Simple Country Doctor type from the East Hampton Women's Hospital. He's an older black man whose slightly bumbling affect makes you think he's doing Obfuscating Stupidity. He's not. When he leaves, you have a strong sense that his parting words ("People have a great ability to hear the truth") are going to give Frank a brilliant idea. Nope. He's just a nice guy who picks up a little extra cash by being an expert witness for hire. However, if anyone had really been listening to his testimony, he reveals everything that must have happened (and in fact did happen). | |
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Usutu in Volume 3 of Heroes bears deep, deep elements of this. His sole purpose seems to be to send Parkman (and later, Hiro) on spiritual visions of the future and the past, and then die. And apparently the poor guy can't even rest in peace, because Volume 4 has him appearing to Parkman in visions, explaining that Matt is destined to become a prophet to the world. Charles Deveaux is pretty bad, too. In the season one finale, he appears in Peter Petrelli's dreams to tell him about the power of love, and about Peter's very special destiny to save the world. |
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Downplayed but still there with Sam Wilson, The Falcon. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he's a PTSD counsellor who helps military vets coming home readjust to civilian life and gives Steve some emotional support, but it turns out he works well in this role because he's a Hero of Another Story, having piloted an experimental Stark Tech wingsuit for the military under the codename Falcon. He comes out of retirement and helps Steve defeat HYDRA and save his friend Bucky from Brainwashing. Interestingly Played With in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where he's The Protagonist and the show is largely spent on him trying to be this to a budding Bomb Throwing Anarchist in an attempt to stop her from Jumping Off the Slippery Slope (unfortunately he fails), but she herself is also black. And, though both are resistant to it, he ends up helping the former Winter Soldier, Bucky, deal with his trauma in a way reminiscent of this trope, but Bucky also helps him deal with his own hang-ups. The show ends with Sam taking over the Captain America legacy, in large part because his compassion and skill for reaching to vulnerable people actually makes him a pretty good leader, which is the exact quality needed for a good Captain America. |
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In Batman Begins, he plays Lucius Fox, a Gadgeteer Genius who has hit a career dead-end in Wayne Enterprises' Applied Science Department, the resting place for advanced products that never made it into production. Nevertheless, he still happily agrees to give Bruce Wayne the gear he needs to become Batman, no questions asked. Subverted at the end when Bruce repays him by promoting him to CEO of Wayne Enterprises. | |
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Community: In the pilot episode Jeff poses a question at a random black cafeteria worker, to her confusion. In Season 6, new character Elroy Patashnik explains how being a Magical Negro became an addiction for him. |
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Interestingly enough, this is inverted in the film The Shawshank Redemption. Red is the narrator, everyman, and a murderer, while a fellow white prisoner, Andy Dufresne, is the suffering saint that re-ignites his hope. Also, Red's character was never written to be African-American; in the book he is a red-haired Irish-American. Freeman was cast over other actors such as Harrison Ford, Robert Redford and Paul Newmann, all of whom were at least discussed for the role, because of his superior skill for narration. | |
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Spoofed by Cracked, who pointed out some of the Unfortunate Implications of this trope in their list of Hollywood's 6 Favorite Offensive Stereotypes. | |
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The Dresden Files plays with this trope in Small Favor, including a folksy, semi-magical, elderly African-American janitor called Jake, who provides philosophical and religious advice to Dresden when he's in the hospital chapel having a Rage Against the Heavens moment. So far, so standard. Then, at the end of the conversation, he suddenly comes out with something that's less spiritual advice, more tactical information, then literally vanishing before Dresden can turn around. This is immediately followed by The Reveal that he's actually the Archangel Uriel, and 'Jake' was just A Form You Are Comfortable With - and his occasionally vague remarks are a product of the fact that he's The Fettered and has to be very careful about not crossing certain boundaries. In following appearances, he mixes it up, appearing as 'Jake' (to Dresden's mild incredulity, since he knows who he's talking to and there's no point in a disguise), a blond young white man (i.e. the traditional Western image of an angel), and most recently, in Skin Game, as a young man with greenish eyes from somewhere in the Middle East. | |
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Inverted in Django Unchained, with the escaped slave Django in the lead and the white Dr. King Schultz in a mentor role that hits every beat of the standard Magical Negro plot arc. | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Averted in Homicide: Life on the Street in that Frank is better educated but far more egotistical than Tim. Gee is certainly wise and a mentor, but prefers to let people figure things out for themselves. | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Ancash in Autobiography of Red has shades of this, being a quechuaphone Peruvian who serves up traditional wisdom for the benefit of the anglophone North American protagonist. | |
| Magical Negro / int_476eb43 | featureApplicability |
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Magical Negro / int_476eb43 | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Somewhat parodied with Mashed Potato Johnson on Metalocalypse, in that he gives the boys advice on how to become successful blues musicians, when they're already the most popular musicians in history. | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_495a05e2 | comment |
Kenneth discusses this trope on Speechless (cited in the Page Quote above) when he realizes JJ is similarly pigeonholed as Inspirationally Disadvantaged. | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_4acba5cd | comment |
Stuart "Straight" Rathe in the Underground Zealot series. Straight leads Paul, the white (and atheist) hero to Christ. He then spends his time driving Paul to chess tournaments, giving him Biblical advice on his relationship, and getting him in touch with other Christians. | |
| Magical Negro / int_4acba5cd | featureApplicability |
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| Underground Zealot | hasFeature |
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The Irregulars: The Linen Man rescues Jessica from the Plague Doctor with a magical cloud of butterflies, explains what she is and why she is seeing things, and advises her on how to figure out what is going on. But he can't solve her problems directly as Jessica is in London and he is physically in Louisiana. Subverted when he shows up in London for real and starts killing people. | |
| Magical Negro / int_4c06e20a | featureApplicability |
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| Magical Negro / int_4c06e20a | featureConfidence |
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Magical Negro / int_4c06e20a | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_4d8e5ec | comment |
The Daily Show makes an argument that those who voted for him expected Barack Obama to be one of these. Video here Mitch Benn would probably agree: The political Right often claims that President Obama is viewed this way by the Left. Paul Shanklin, an impressionist-singer-comedian for The Rush Limbaugh Show, composed a song (called — what else? — "Barack the Magic Negro") sung in the impersonated voice of Al Sharpton speaking through a megaphone to just that effect, based in turn upon a column written by Los Angeles Times columnist David Ehrenstein in which Mr. Ehrenstein referred to Obama as one. The sensitivity of this depiction may be in question, but he does seem to be able to calm babies in a semi-magical way. |
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Magical Negro / int_4d8e5ec | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_4dd3bd93 | comment |
Waiting... gives us Bishop, a ridiculously blatant execution of this trope. He's the only black character in the movie, and apparently is a fully trained behavioral psychiatrist who chooses to work as a dishwasher at some random restaurant. He exists only to give complex advice to everyone's social and psychological problems, and does so with a calm, deep-voiced, wise demeanor. | |
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Magical Negro / int_4dd3bd93 | |
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In Princess of Wands, a black mystical woman who tells fortunes points Detective Lockhart towards the swamps in search of a pimp to question about a murder, and along with warning him to watch out for danger tells him to keep an eye out for Barbara, who's only indirectly identified by the sign of a Tarot card, the Princess of Wands. | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Inverted in Finding Forrester, when Sean Connery plays a mysterious white man with incredible writing ability that helps a clueless inner city youth (black) become a famous writer and the man now, dog. | |
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An old homeless man named Crackajack Jackson made a huge impression on the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk #182 by teaching him to read a little bit, and just by being a genuinely loving and nonjudgmental friend. When he was accidentally killed by his own son during a battle with the Hulk, the Hulk mourned his passing for years afterward. | |
| Magical Negro / int_501187d0 | featureApplicability |
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How to Kill a Mockingbird jokingly portrays Calpurnia this way. | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Inverted in The Twilight Zone (1985) episode "Paladin of the Lost Hour", which had a magical white man help the young black protagonist find his destiny. In the short story upon which the episode is based, author Harlan Ellison states, "One of these men was black, the other white" and refuses to say which one is which. Of course, for a visual medium, they had to make a choice, and it seems that they deliberately chose to avoid the Magical Negro trope. |
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| Magical Negro / int_53a0bd8b | featureApplicability |
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Magical Negro / int_53a0bd8b | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Captain Marvel (2019) largely averts it, as a younger Fury instead is more the Audience Surrogate and his relationship with Carol Danvers is more akin to a Friend on the Force type, with him acting as the deuteragonist of the movie. He doesn't give her any kind of sage advise and has his own character arc, which sees him beginning to grow into the mentor/commander he'll eventually be (the film is a prequel and is chronologically his earliest appearance). | |
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Duma Key is about a man who loses an arm and gets serious brain damage in a construction accident. He also gets mysterious painting powers along with it. He's not the sidekick; he's the main character. | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_60508e35 | comment |
Twilight Zone: The Movie: In "Kick the Can", Mr. Bloom is an African-American man who has the ability to make elderly people young again so that they can live their lives over again. Prior to his arrival at Sunnyvale Retirement Home, he had previously done so at six or eight other retirement homes. | |
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Magical Negro / int_60508e35 | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_64cd1ec | comment |
Ogion the Silent becomes this in Earthsea, Scifi Channel's version of Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea. Go here, here and here for a detailed analysis of the racial miscasting in Earthsea. | |
| Magical Negro / int_64cd1ec | featureApplicability |
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Magical Negro / int_64cd1ec | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Da Mayor from Do the Right Thing is an old black drunk who is clearly trying to be this. He's not very good at it, as most of his advice is nonsensical and no one respects him. While he is one of the film's more moral characters and does gain some respect by the end of the story, he's largely unable to handle the film's conflicts. | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_69d15cc0 | comment |
Marvel Cinematic Universe: How Nick Fury is largely portrayed in the films (bonus points for being another Samuel L. Jackson example) while also combining this with being the Big Good and Bald of Authority, as despite being the leader of SHIELD, and a badass in his own right, he still leaves the world-saving largely up to the (all white) Avengers, and as time goes on he's seemingly became more of this. Played With at least in that Fury was white in the original comics, but there he actually had his own story as the lead character and was more functionally a Hero of Another Story or Reasonable Authority Figure. The Avengers (2012) has Fury explicitly going out of his way to unite the Avengers and encourage them to become Earth's Mightiest Heroes, though it's played as him being something of a Magnificent Bastard who took advantage of the crisis to get his super-team pet-project off the ground, and he has something of his own arc. Captain America: The Winter Soldier again portrays him as being quite a bit more underhanded in these efforts, faking his death to encourage Steve and Natasha to stop the HYDRA conspiracy he had uncovered, and he at least takes a more active role in stopping the badguys (personally killing the Big Bad), and gets a bit of Character Development when he comes to realise how he had allowed SHIELD to slip into fascism under his control. Basically, he still takes on the "there to make the white heroes do their job/complete there arc" aspect, but he's not a magical, idolised saint, but a flawed man who learns as much from Steve as Steve learns from him. Avengers: Age of Ultron plays this the most straight, with him only showing up briefly to give the Avengers some sage advice; he helps coordinate the evacuation of Sokovia using leftover SHIELD resources, but otherwise does little else but help the white guys get off their asses after getting their asses kicked by Ultron. Captain Marvel (2019) largely averts it, as a younger Fury instead is more the Audience Surrogate and his relationship with Carol Danvers is more akin to a Friend on the Force type, with him acting as the deuteragonist of the movie. He doesn't give her any kind of sage advise and has his own character arc, which sees him beginning to grow into the mentor/commander he'll eventually be (the film is a prequel and is chronologically his earliest appearance). Downplayed but still there with Sam Wilson, The Falcon. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he's a PTSD counsellor who helps military vets coming home readjust to civilian life and gives Steve some emotional support, but it turns out he works well in this role because he's a Hero of Another Story, having piloted an experimental Stark Tech wingsuit for the military under the codename Falcon. He comes out of retirement and helps Steve defeat HYDRA and save his friend Bucky from Brainwashing. Interestingly Played With in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where he's The Protagonist and the show is largely spent on him trying to be this to a budding Bomb Throwing Anarchist in an attempt to stop her from Jumping Off the Slippery Slope (unfortunately he fails), but she herself is also black. And, though both are resistant to it, he ends up helping the former Winter Soldier, Bucky, deal with his trauma in a way reminiscent of this trope, but Bucky also helps him deal with his own hang-ups. The show ends with Sam taking over the Captain America legacy, in large part because his compassion and skill for reaching to vulnerable people actually makes him a pretty good leader, which is the exact quality needed for a good Captain America. |
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Magical Negro | |
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The Talisman (and to a lesser extent the sequel Black House): Young, white hero Jack Sawyer is guided along his way by aging blues-man Lester "Speedy" Parker and his Territories twinner, Parkus. | |
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Magical Negro / int_69eeaf15 | |
| Magical Negro / int_6a84fe17 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_6a84fe17 | comment |
Tensay the shaman from Far Cry Primal appears to be a literal version of this trope. He's a dark-skinned man who communes with the spirits and gives protagonist Takkar Vision Quests to undertake in order to tame the wildlife of Oros and fight rival tribes. That said, Tensay is a very hands-off mentor, preferring to let Takkar work things out for himself, and he's not unrealistically perfect: he's constantly doing creepy things like getting in Takkar's personal space, giving him Squicky blood potions, and taking a leak on a stone mask before letting Takkar put it on. Also, compared to the above-mentioned Dennis, Tensay doesn't look like a man you'd want to take advice from. | |
| Magical Negro / int_6a84fe17 | featureApplicability |
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Magical Negro / int_6a84fe17 | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Played with in season four of The Venture Bros.: Hank wonders if the UPS man is psychic, and Dr. Venture points out "Just because he's black doesn't mean he has The Shining!" Turns out, he does. | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Dobby from the Harry Potter franchise plays this to a T: oppressed ethnic minority (house-elf), kept as a slave, speaks pidgin English, is eternally grateful that main character (Harry) treats him decently, has enormous magical powers but rarely uses them, later freed by main character and basically becomes his slave, eventually sacrifices his life to save Harry. | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_6f734712 | comment |
Smallville plays this painfully straight with their take on the Martian Manhunter, who even winds up sacrificing his powers for Clark. He got better. |
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| Magical Negro / int_6f734712 | featureApplicability |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_71a2d83d | comment |
The Vampire Diaries is known for its portrayal of Black Witches. Witches on the show are predominantly Black, and most Black characters are witches. Witches, the most powerful supernatural characters, are shown to be descendants of slaves, although this is not openly acknowledged or referenced. Although they are incredibly powerful, witches- or black witches are subservient to the white characters. What rare insights we are given to the world of witches, we are made to understand that most magic is done selflessly for the benefit of white characters, or to "preserve the balance" of nature. Notably, Emily Bennett worked as Katherine's handmaid. In addition, she used her powers to provide her and other vampires immunity from sunlight. Why she would do this despite obviously not approving of the "vampire lifestyle" is apparently a I Owe You My Life situation that is never expanded on. The subtext isn't really helped by the series being set in the American South. One of the main characters of the show, Bonnie Bennett, is given very little screen time or character development. Her plot lines are rarely taken out of the context of being a witch. Like the other Black witches, she selflessly aids the Caucausian characters in the show. Furthermore, Bonnie is used a vehicle for plot development and white character growth. Bonnie's love interests often use her as a pawn; the love interests are usually villains that first, attempt to get to Bonnie for her magic, and second, and more importantly, their use of magic always involves a white character (revenge on a vampire, saving Elena, etc.). Bonnie's dynamic reinforces the master-slave dynamic in this way; while Bonnie is powerful, because she is Black and powerful, the purpose of her magic is to serve the white characters. |
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| Magical Negro / int_73f9139d | comment |
Examples from Degrassi High: Maya is a wheelchair-bound girl who is always the voice of reason in her circle of friends, and (unlike every single one of those friends) never gets a spotlight episode. BLT also fit this trope. He was instrumental in helping Michelle overcome her insecurities and even confront her parents about their own racism. He then helped her overcome her addiction to caffeine pills. Magnificently subverted later when BLT cheated on and dumped Michelle showing how flawed he was. Strangest of all is Patrick, who is a Magical Irishman. He befriends Liz and Spike (the two grimmest girls in the show). Then he teaches them to live and enjoy life again, to a degree where he's like a mild male version of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. The effect — a boy dressed like a stock Irish laborer from old movies, singing Celtic love songs (which he writes and composes) in a thick brogue — is hard to describe. We never see him do anything that doesn't involve helping these girls, and he eventually vanishes without a trace. Speaking of Degrassi, Jimmy Brooks from Degrassi: The Next Generation counts as well. He was always right and always good and always the voice of reason before and after he was crippled. |
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Magical Negro / int_73f9139d | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_74e12970 | comment |
In Balan Wonderworld, the main character is dark-skinned magical trickster with locked hair who comes to the blonde, blue-eyed, self insert protagonists to guide them in their time of great need. This trope is subverted however, as Balan is actually a fair-skinned Bishōnen; his skin only appeared dark because of the shadow his hat cast over his face. | |
| Magical Negro / int_74e12970 | featureApplicability |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_78146d21 | comment |
In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the black voodoo lady Tia Dalma seemed to be a Magical Negro. However, the third film revealed Tia Dalma to actually be the sea goddess Calypso who is searching for a way to be freed from her mortal body, and she's not necessarily on anyone's side but her own. | |
| Magical Negro / int_78146d21 | featureApplicability |
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Magical Negro / int_78146d21 | |
| Magical Negro / int_79776c32 | type |
Magical Negro | |
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The mortician Bludworth in Final Destination subverts this trope, not only in the fact that his advice essentially boiled down to "you're all screwed, but have fun trying to stay alive", but also by the Alternate Character Interpretation that he is death taunting them for giggles (although the creators claim this interpretation to be incorrect). | |
| Magical Negro / int_79776c32 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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| Final Destination | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_79776c32 | |
| Magical Negro / int_7b6c4921 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_7b6c4921 | comment |
Speaking of Degrassi, Jimmy Brooks from Degrassi: The Next Generation counts as well. He was always right and always good and always the voice of reason before and after he was crippled. | |
| Magical Negro / int_7b6c4921 | featureApplicability |
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In Far Cry 3, Dennis Rogers is a Liberia native whose an outsider to the Island. He becomes a Tattoo Warrior and fights with the Rakyat. He even works his way up to being the second-command of the leader Citra. However, instead of becoming the hero and leading the Rebels to victory against the Pirates, he waits until the game's Protagonist Jason Brody shows up and decides to guide him in becoming the hero of the Island. Ultimately, though, Dennis deconstructs this trope. His advice ultimately guides Jason further down the road of Sanity Slippage, and eventually presents him with a Sadistic Choice: kill his wife and friends, and stay on the island with the Rakyat, or reject their lifestyle and let your friends live. If Jason goes with the second choice, Dennis, by this point overwhelmed by his jealousy of Citra's attraction to Jason, pulls a knife on him and tries to kill him, only to end up stabbing Citra to death instead. So, in this case, Dennis is not a Magical Negro whose advice you want to take. | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_80942169 | comment |
Played straight in Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide with the Lunch Lady, who occasional dispenses real, down-to-earth wisdom, but whose primary role is to divine the future through baked beans. | |
| Magical Negro / int_80942169 | featureApplicability |
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Magical Negro / int_80942169 | |
| Magical Negro / int_827b1e10 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_827b1e10 | comment |
In Southern Bastards, blind Big is clearly this to Euless Boss, helping the young man use football to escape his hard life with a criminal father. However, it ends up being subverted as Big realizes he's turned Boss into a monster willing to kill to keep in power as the high school coach and lets out a literal My God, What Have I Done?. | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_8395dee1 | comment |
Freeman's version of Nelson Mandela in the film Invictus. | |
| Magical Negro / int_8395dee1 | featureApplicability |
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Magical Negro / int_8395dee1 | |
| Magical Negro / int_89bf8ce | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_89bf8ce | comment |
Discussed in 30 Rock regarding the Show Within a Show God Cop: "God can't just tell him who did it. Watch the pilot, Lemon, it's all explained at the end by the wise black man played by Karl Malone". Another episode shows Tracy plying one of these characters. Badly. |
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| 30 Rock | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_89bf8ce | |
| Magical Negro / int_8aa7c509 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_8aa7c509 | comment |
In Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Star wanders off into hiding after accidentally destroying a police car. A kind black lady with quite an obsession with hair comes to give her food and shelter for a short amount of time, and later uses a tin-can telephone to tell authorities where they can find Star. | |
| Magical Negro / int_8aa7c509 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_8aa7c509 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star vs. the Forces of Evil | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_8aa7c509 | |
| Magical Negro / int_8c2215d5 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_8c2215d5 | comment |
Papa, the old steam engine from Starlight Express, although he at least takes part in one race (and wins). In the original London cast, Rusty, the young steam engine under his tutelage, was also black, but later productions cast white actors as Rusty. Electra, the bisexual electric engine, is usually cast as black, but he is definitely not magical. | |
| Magical Negro / int_8c2215d5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_8c2215d5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Starlight Express (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_8c2215d5 | |
| Magical Negro / int_8d65bcaa | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_8d65bcaa | comment |
Brom's The Plucker casts the character Mabelle as a blatant Magical Negro: she uses forbidden magic to help the white family, then dies unpleasantly and returns as a ghost to tell the little boy how to dispose of the Big Bad's remains. | |
| Magical Negro / int_8d65bcaa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_8d65bcaa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Plucker | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_8d65bcaa | |
| Magical Negro / int_8d817ccb | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_8d817ccb | comment |
Lost: Rose consistently dispenses sensible, down-to-earth wisdom. She leads Charlie in prayer after his Disney Death. She mystically "knows" her husband is alive elsewhere on the island. In general, if she believes a character is good, she's correct. However, Rose later grew a bit, becoming a character in her own right in season 2 with a back story and her own side plot. And by season 4, she's actively snarking at Jack. And then she decides to just give up and just live in "retirement" with Bernard. On the other hand, it's completely subverted by Eko. While he seems to be a Magical Negro priest who tries to restore Locke's "faith", he's actually not a real priest, but a former brutal drug lord in disguise. Oh, and he's so idiotic he tries to use dynamite to blow open a blast door.... Walt was apparently intended to have this type of role as he’s a child implied to have psychic connection with the island, but his character was soon minimized due to the logistical difficulties of keeping a child actor in a show that went on to spend several seasons on less than a year passing in the story. Still, he continues to pop up every now and then (sometimes in the course of visions by other characters), where he does fulfill this sort of role. |
|
| Magical Negro / int_8d817ccb | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Magical Negro / int_8d817ccb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lost | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_8d817ccb | |
| Magical Negro / int_8ea7329f | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_8ea7329f | comment |
Minty Fresh in A Dirty Job is arguably this. Lampshaded by the man in the yellow suit in the sequel Secondhand Souls. | |
| Magical Negro / int_8ea7329f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_8ea7329f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| A Dirty Job | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_8ea7329f | |
| Magical Negro / int_8ec667ec | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_8ec667ec | comment |
Not Another Teen Movie has a parody of a Magical Negro in the "Wise Janitor"... played by Mr. T (shown above). | |
| Magical Negro / int_8ec667ec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_8ec667ec | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Not Another Teen Movie | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_8ec667ec | |
| Magical Negro / int_8f8df73b | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_8f8df73b | comment |
Although the entire film takes place in Africa, only one character in The Lion King (1994) is presented as African: the mystical baboon Rafiki. | |
| Magical Negro / int_8f8df73b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_8f8df73b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Lion King (1994) | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_8f8df73b | |
| Magical Negro / int_9029daa | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_9029daa | comment |
Vadinho from the The Pumaman, whose job it is to hand the protagonist the magic belt with the mystical powers of the Puma Man and make him realize his destiny without using these awesome powers for himself, instead becoming the hero's sidekick. The problem is, the hero is so ineffectual that Vadinho ends up looking like The Hero by comparison and making the film unintentionally subvert the trope. | |
| Magical Negro / int_9029daa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_9029daa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Pumaman | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_9029daa | |
| Magical Negro / int_9814dae8 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_9814dae8 | comment |
In Annabelle, Evelyn, who has knowledge of the occult, steps in and sacrifices her soul so Mia and her baby can live. | |
| Magical Negro / int_9814dae8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_9814dae8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Annabelle | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_9814dae8 | |
| Magical Negro / int_982fa89f | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_982fa89f | comment |
From Robin Hood: Brother Tuck. Yes, Tuck was turned into a Magical Negro. The fact that they dropped the "Friar" and referred to the only black man in England as a "Brother" who never once gave any kind of spiritual or moral guidance was another way in which the combined forces of Political Correctness and Narm beat this show to death. | |
| Magical Negro / int_982fa89f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_982fa89f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Robin Hood | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_982fa89f | |
| Magical Negro / int_9c45d390 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_9c45d390 | comment |
Averted in The Elementals. The elderly African-American servant to the wealthy Alabama family the Savages, Odessa, does perform magical rituals that are supposed to keep the titular Elementals at bay, but in the end she concludes they've been ineffective and she protests that she doesn't know much more about what the Elementals are or what they want than anyone else. In the end, the Elementals do kill her, although she does supernaturally pass on her insight by having the teenager India eat the eyes from her corpse. | |
| Magical Negro / int_9c45d390 | featureApplicability |
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| Magical Negro / int_9c45d390 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Elementals | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_9c45d390 | |
| Magical Negro / int_9d255c2 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_9d255c2 | comment |
Ali Ka-Zoom from Seven Soldiers fits this trope. He even appears to be acting as a wise mentor of sorts to Shining Knight at the close of the book. | |
| Magical Negro / int_9d255c2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_9d255c2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| SevenSoldiers | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_9d255c2 | |
| Magical Negro / int_9d7ec380 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_9d7ec380 | comment |
Subverted in The Good Place. Former moral philosophy professor Chidi is initially presented as the wise and altruistic foil to the immensely selfish Eleanor, who got into Heaven with him due to a cosmic mistake. She begs him to give her lessons on ethics so she won't get kicked out, and he complies - even though she barely listens to him, expresses casual racism such as referring to Africa as a country, and expects him to do all her chores. Eventually it all gets too much for him, and he vents about how burdensome it is that his entire afterlife revolves around her. It also turns out he has a ton of his own issues, and instead of solving problems for his friends in life, he caused them with his chronic indecisiveness and unmanaged anxiety. | |
| Magical Negro / int_9d7ec380 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Magical Negro / int_9d7ec380 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Good Place | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_9d7ec380 | |
| Magical Negro / int_9df13d9e | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_9df13d9e | comment |
Jim from Huckleberry Finn is a nice subversion. While he is Black, and into magic, it doesn't Flanderize him and certainly isn't portrayed typically. Bonus points for averting Hollywood Voodoo. | |
| Magical Negro / int_9df13d9e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_9df13d9e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| HuckleberryFinn | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_9df13d9e | |
| Magical Negro / int_9edf7c1d | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_9edf7c1d | comment |
What If? ... Captain America Fought In The Civil War? reduces the Falcon to a cross between a Magical Negro and a Magical Native American (in this version he was raised by the Shawnee tribe and became a shaman). He gives Steve Rogers a speech about seeing the similarities in people, uses his mystic abilities to give Steve superpowers, and then gets killed. | |
| Magical Negro / int_9edf7c1d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_9edf7c1d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| What If? (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_9edf7c1d | |
| Magical Negro / int_9f6c32a9 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_9f6c32a9 | comment |
Wanted. Actually a subversion, since he's manipulating the Fraternity for profit, and all his talk about "destiny" and "duty" turns out to be a smokescreen. | |
| Magical Negro / int_9f6c32a9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_9f6c32a9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Wanted | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_9f6c32a9 | |
| Magical Negro / int_a1dd9577 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_a1dd9577 | comment |
Moses the clock worker in The Hudsucker Proxy. He provides sagely narration in a stereotypical patois, is satisfied coaxing the protagonist to success, and apparently has the unexplained power to stop time by obstructing the gears of the Hudsucker Building's clock. He's a bit of a parody of the trope, though, by being a blatant, literal Magical Negro. | |
| Magical Negro / int_a1dd9577 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_a1dd9577 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Hudsucker Proxy | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_a1dd9577 | |
| Magical Negro / int_a2c9fa2d | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_a2c9fa2d | comment |
Parodied in a series of The Man Show sketches. A hapless white guy is presented with an opportunity to cheat on his wife, and as he agonizes over the decision, a self-identified Magical Negro appears to him, sings a song about "Listening to your penis's heart," and helps him find a way to rationalize the infidelity. | |
| Magical Negro / int_a2c9fa2d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_a2c9fa2d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Man Show | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_a2c9fa2d | |
| Magical Negro / int_a63b23da | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_a63b23da | comment |
The Bruce/Evan Almighty films, where the main characters are selfish white guys who need his assistance to find widsom. Given that he plays the role of God, his character has actual good reasons for mentoring them selflessly. | |
| Magical Negro / int_a63b23da | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_a63b23da | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bruce Almighty | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_a63b23da | |
| Magical Negro / int_a6492af2 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_a6492af2 | comment |
The Stand: Has Mother Abigail, who is positioned as the "good" magical counterpart of the evil Flagg. It's her visions that lead the various protagonists to Boulder, and it's around her that the first post plague society organizes itself. | |
| Magical Negro / int_a6492af2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_a6492af2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Stand | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_a6492af2 | |
| Magical Negro / int_ad6786c6 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_ad6786c6 | comment |
In Daredreamer, Zach's main role is to share wisdom with Winston, recover Jennie's writing, and encourage Winston to share his daydreams with the class. It's a more literal example than normal, as he also appears in the dream world to give advice. | |
| Magical Negro / int_ad6786c6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_ad6786c6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Daredreamer | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_ad6786c6 | |
| Magical Negro / int_aeaf3d1b | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_aeaf3d1b | comment |
Life On Mars: Nelson The Bartender, whose main purpose is to offer advice to the Fish out of Temporal Water protagonist (and occasionally hint that he may know more about Sam's situation). In the Grand Finale of, Ashes to Ashes (2008) he turns out to be an angel. |
|
| Magical Negro / int_aeaf3d1b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_aeaf3d1b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Life on Mars (2006) | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_aeaf3d1b | |
| Magical Negro / int_af42a07f | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_af42a07f | comment |
Serenity, however, is sometimes accused of reducing Book to this role. Since he's no longer part of the crew any more, he only shows up briefly when the crew needs help and gives Mal some advice. He dies not too long after. On the other hand, the scene in which he refuses to tell Mal about his background can be taken as a subversion — the classic Magical Negro would have happily told his life story and used it as a metaphor to help the white hero figure himself out. | |
| Magical Negro / int_af42a07f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_af42a07f | featureConfidence |
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| Serenity | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_af42a07f | |
| Magical Negro / int_b0fc9724 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_b0fc9724 | comment |
Approached directly in the monologue of a recent Saturday Night Live (hosted by Steve Buscemi) in which a bunch of character actors stand up in the audience, one of them being "Chance," the "Magical African American Character" that "chews straw and gives the pretty white guy ad-vice, and then after the ad-vice works, he disappears." | |
| Magical Negro / int_b0fc9724 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b0fc9724 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Saturday Night Live | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_b0fc9724 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b118123e | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_b118123e | comment |
The Legend of Bagger Vance: Bagger Vance; notably, the film is very loosely based on the Bhagavad Gita, with Vance in the role of Krishna, so it's implied that Bagger Vance is actually God. Admittedly, this is a fairly appropriate translation of the original story. However the fact remains that Bagger Vance, an African American in the south during the 1920s, has only one concern in the story: helping a white man improve his golf game. | |
| Magical Negro / int_b118123e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b118123e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Legend of Bagger Vance | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_b118123e | |
| Magical Negro / int_b32ce8cf | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_b32ce8cf | comment |
The prisoner in the Bedazzled (2000) is implied to be God himself. | |
| Magical Negro / int_b32ce8cf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b32ce8cf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bedazzled (2000) | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_b32ce8cf | |
| Magical Negro / int_b35c1200 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_b35c1200 | comment |
An elderly Jamaican woman (no name given) in Meet Joe Black who is the only person who can see who "Joe" is (Death), and later gives him sage advice on his situation. | |
| Magical Negro / int_b35c1200 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b35c1200 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Meet Joe Black | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_b35c1200 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b36d6a39 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_b36d6a39 | comment |
Played straight in Lucy, where Freeman plays a popular college professor teaching his theory on human evolution and the power of the human brain. He ultimately gives Lucy advice on how to use her powers and leave behind a legacy before she dies. | |
| Magical Negro / int_b36d6a39 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b36d6a39 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lucy | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_b36d6a39 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b4f817ae | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_b4f817ae | comment |
Lampshaded by Patti in The Leftovers. | |
| Magical Negro / int_b4f817ae | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b4f817ae | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Leftovers | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_b4f817ae | |
| Magical Negro / int_b51aff04 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_b51aff04 | comment |
He finally won the Oscar for playing this in Million Dollar Baby. | |
| Magical Negro / int_b51aff04 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b51aff04 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Million Dollar Baby | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_b51aff04 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b5e05a50 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_b5e05a50 | comment |
Cloud Atlas shows black people as the technologically advanced elites in the far future setting. Notably, the white characters live a primitive, tribal lifestyle. In many ways, this comes off as a satirical inversion of the classic Victorian White Man's Burden setup. | |
| Magical Negro / int_b5e05a50 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b5e05a50 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Cloud Atlas | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_b5e05a50 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b8eda6d4 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_b8eda6d4 | comment |
The Green Mile: John Coffey, the gentle black man who calmly dies so as not to cause a fuss while using his powers to help those who guarded his cell. There is a Christ-metaphor at work there, showing the white audience how their structural racism killed Coffey. | |
| Magical Negro / int_b8eda6d4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b8eda6d4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Green Mile | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_b8eda6d4 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b93ba031 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_b93ba031 | comment |
Constable Frank Gladstone from The Thin Blue Line, thankfully to a very mild degree. | |
| Magical Negro / int_b93ba031 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b93ba031 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Thin Blue Line | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_b93ba031 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b9cc7496 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_b9cc7496 | comment |
Dogma: Rufus is somewhat of a parody. And according to Rufus, Jesus is the Ur-Example. Taking in consideration the Brazilian movie O Auto da Compadecida, it could be taken literally. | |
| Magical Negro / int_b9cc7496 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_b9cc7496 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dogma | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_b9cc7496 | |
| Magical Negro / int_ba0247fe | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_ba0247fe | comment |
Hitch manages to subvert this trope just by changing the focus. Will Smith plays a character whose job is literally teaching white guys how to be as cool as he is - he's a "date doctor" who coaches socially clueless men on how to woo women. However, since Hitch himself is the protagonist, not the white guys — and, accordingly, he gets a real character arc instead of remaining a static figure — he's really not at all a Magical Negro. | |
| Magical Negro / int_ba0247fe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_ba0247fe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hitch | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_ba0247fe | |
| Magical Negro / int_bd4b114b | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_bd4b114b | comment |
South Park: The Fractured but Whole has Morgan Freeman helping the player unlock new Timefarts through special Tex-Mex recipes and appearing as a ghostly specter to give you encouragement. | |
| Magical Negro / int_bd4b114b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_bd4b114b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| South Park: The Fractured but Whole (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_bd4b114b | |
| Magical Negro / int_c0af82cd | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_c0af82cd | comment |
Gloria in Because of Winn-Dixie is a fourfer: blind, black, female, and a dry alcoholic who teaches the protagonist about dealing with grief and not judging others before you know their story. | |
| Magical Negro / int_c0af82cd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_c0af82cd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Because of Winn-Dixie | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_c0af82cd | |
| Magical Negro / int_c4282b71 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_c4282b71 | comment |
In My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Zecora fits the bill in a way. She is the only Zebra in a world of ponies and other mythical creatures with a whole episode about not judging someone because they're different. Plus, Zebras are from Africa. And her voice actress is black. Lampshaded since she's not a unicorn with inborn magic, but rather a shaman/witch doctor with access to magic the unicorns do not have. She also happens to live in a hut ... in the forest ... with a cauldron ... and tribal masks. Her help does have its limits though, as in "Swarm of the Century" she's able to identify the Parasprite but tells Twilight "You're doomed!", and one one occasion she had to be saved from a fatal disease by Fluttershy, by using the research of an ancient hero of Equestria who specialized in the same kinds of potions and cures Zecora normally deals in. According to Word of God, she was even moreso this in the original pitch for the series as Lauren Faust originally pictured her as a mentor and sage who the ponies would go to for information on their quests — while that was ultimately dropped and she was retooled into a misjudged loner, and her helpful knowledge of unfamilar aspects was a leftover of her original characterization. | |
| Magical Negro / int_c4282b71 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_c4282b71 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_c4282b71 | |
| Magical Negro / int_c43df4d8 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_c43df4d8 | comment |
Doctor Who: In "Remembrance of the Daleks", the Doctor is helped out by a black man who serves tea in a café while inexplicably offering philosophical insights based on the enslavement of his ancestors. The Doctor DID start the philosophical train of thought, however, by commenting on how the demand for sugar started off a long string of events. Also, that was in an era where random extras would suddenly go on prolonged philosophical digressions (culminating in the immortal exchange: "What are you doing here?" "That's a very difficult question. Why is everyone around here so preoccupied with metaphysics?"). Despite receiving applause for introducing Jo Martin as the first black female incarnation of the famous Time Lord (officially dubbed "The Fugitive Doctor"), showrunner Chris Chybnall couldn't help but have her fall back into this trope - the Fugitive Doctor appears as a vision to the Thirteenth Doctor during "The Timeless Children", purely in order to give her a motivating pep talk. Later appearances of the Fugitive Doctor show her having her own adventures and working to her own agenda, though these are still framed as inspiration for her later, white incarnation. |
|
| Magical Negro / int_c43df4d8 | featureApplicability |
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| Magical Negro / int_c43df4d8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Doctor Who | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_c43df4d8 | |
| Magical Negro / int_c59ec4c1 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_c59ec4c1 | comment |
Literally true but otherwise completely inverted by Akafubu from Golden Sun: The Lost Age, who is a (fantasy tribal-African) Mars Adept with typical Mars Adept personality, only helps Felix unwittingly and indirectly, and thinks it unfair that his people's deity wants to reward Felix, a foreigner, for doing all the actual work. | |
| Magical Negro / int_c59ec4c1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_c59ec4c1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| In Name Only | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_c59ec4c1 | |
| Magical Negro / int_c989a836 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_c989a836 | comment |
Burton Galilee in Little Green Men. His great talent is said to be making white people feeling good about themselves. | |
| Magical Negro / int_c989a836 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Magical Negro / int_c989a836 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Little Green Men | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_c989a836 | |
| Magical Negro / int_cb6abef3 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_cb6abef3 | comment |
The Avengers (2012) has Fury explicitly going out of his way to unite the Avengers and encourage them to become Earth's Mightiest Heroes, though it's played as him being something of a Magnificent Bastard who took advantage of the crisis to get his super-team pet-project off the ground, and he has something of his own arc. | |
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Magical Negro | |
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In the Grand Finale of, Ashes to Ashes (2008) he turns out to be an angel. | |
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The Cay, by Theodore Taylor, features an old black man who rescues a racist white boy who had become blinded when their ship sinks. The two live together in a tropical island and the black man lives long enough to make the boy a better person before dying in a hurricane. The book won a number of awards before suffering a backlash due to accusations of racism. Nonetheless it remains a classic children's book. Taylor later told the old man's backstory in the sequel/prequel, Timothy of the Cay. |
|
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Magical Negro | |
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The Comics Curmudgeon's description of "Clambake" from Gil Thorp: | |
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Magical Negro / int_d3332a46 | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Captain America: The Winter Soldier again portrays him as being quite a bit more underhanded in these efforts, faking his death to encourage Steve and Natasha to stop the HYDRA conspiracy he had uncovered, and he at least takes a more active role in stopping the badguys (personally killing the Big Bad), and gets a bit of Character Development when he comes to realise how he had allowed SHIELD to slip into fascism under his control. Basically, he still takes on the "there to make the white heroes do their job/complete there arc" aspect, but he's not a magical, idolised saint, but a flawed man who learns as much from Steve as Steve learns from him. | |
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Averted in Oz. While Kareem Said is a brilliant leader and fiercely intelligent, he deals with many of his own problems. Character depth also prevents him from just being a cliche. His friendship with Tobias Beecher is also more destructive in a sense than helpful; if anything, Beecher is the one who enriches Said's life rather than the other way around, by calling him out on his ego and martyr complex. | |
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In The Sandman (1989), the character Maisie Hill in the Game of You story arc (otherwise known as the I-don't-like-dogs-lady) changes one main character's perceptions of "subway people" and literally saves another main character's life with the sacrifice of her own. | |
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Magical Negro | |
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South Park: Subverted by Chef, whose advice usually amounts to him singing passionate soul songs about sex. That, or imparting information an 8-year-old really shouldn't know. And on one occasion where Chef could have given Stan useful information, he didn't. Despite this, he still plays this somewhat straight by virtue of having been the Only Sane Man and the one consistent adult the children can go when things go strange at least until his death that is. |
|
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American Gothic (1995). Although Mrs. Holt is certainly mysterious, wise, and spiritual enough to be a Magical Negro. The extent of her 'magic spell' to help sway the judge in Caleb's custody hearing is... a nice big bowl of homemade chicken soup. Aside from some hints at African tribalism in her ancestry, a bit of voodoo, and some understanding of how the Afterlife works, she dispenses only common sense advice. In one episode her ineffectiveness in protecting Caleb from evil is lampshaded when Buck, after being thwarted by her interference, apparently makes her verge on choking to death — presumably he does not kill her because she's that small a blip on his radar (or such a petty thing would be beneath him). And the advice she gives Caleb regarding Merlyn's spirit being laid to rest is quite sound, namely "don't mess with the dead." Too bad Caleb doesn't listen, and in trying to help her move on instead brings her back... with unfortunate results. By the end of the show, though, she has indeed been ditched from the plot, and without even really serving a real purpose other than to give Caleb her halfway house to stay in. We can only speculate whether her role was cut due to Executive Meddling, or if it might have been expanded had the show not been Cut Short. |
|
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Magical Negro / int_da75fd61 | |
| Magical Negro / int_dc4363c5 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_dc4363c5 | comment |
Played in the first season of True Blood were Tara's mother; an abusive alcoholic highly religious woman, becomes a "normal person" after an afro-american voodoo lady who lives in the middle of the forest exorcises the "demon" she had inside. Subverted: she is just a normal person who works on a drug store. She uses the voodoo thing to maintain her children, so the exorcism wasn't real (...Or was it?) | |
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Solange in They Thirst. | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Played with in A Patch of Blue: Selina, who is blind, white and incredibly sheltered, thinks Gordon is this (in a good way), but he's really just a regular, non-stereotyped guy who wants to help her become independent. | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_df57aa2a | comment |
The literally magical Vitruvius in The LEGO Movie serves to play with this trope as a parody of Freeman's usual wise mentor roles, with him being the Only Sane Man compared to the rest of the cast's antics. Then it's revealed he made the whole chosen one prophecy up out of desperation, but despite this he gives Emmet some final advice to save the day. | |
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Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_e112d25 | comment |
In The Basketball Diaries, Ernie Hudson plays the only black character in the film, who does a lot to help the protagonist. | |
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Magical Negro / int_e112d25 | |
| Magical Negro / int_e7e37776 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_e7e37776 | comment |
Firefly: Neatly subverted by Shepherd Book. He may be Serenity's resident mentor and act as The Conscience for the white crew members, but he's not the holy man he appears to be — he's the man who killed him. Serenity, however, is sometimes accused of reducing Book to this role. Since he's no longer part of the crew any more, he only shows up briefly when the crew needs help and gives Mal some advice. He dies not too long after. On the other hand, the scene in which he refuses to tell Mal about his background can be taken as a subversion — the classic Magical Negro would have happily told his life story and used it as a metaphor to help the white hero figure himself out. |
|
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Magical Negro | |
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Hassan, from The Kite Runner. Not black (he's Hazara), but hits the rest of the criteria so heavily to demand recognition. | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Phineas from DmC: Devil May Cry is a demon whom like Sparta, rebelled against Mundus. But he was captured and imprisoned. He uses a magical eye, that you must retrieve first, to open the next path for Dante in limbo. | |
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Magical Negro / int_ea82d1f6 | |
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| Magical Negro / int_ec1f7a3a | comment |
Subverted in Gemma and the Bear. Bear states that his goal in life is to help Gemma, yet he is such a bumbling oaf with plenty of his own problems that he tends to only make things worse. She just wants him to go away. Also inverted in that Bear and Gemma are actually aspects of the same person. | |
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Magical Negro | |
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In Boy's Life, Moon Man and The Lady are typical Magical Negroes. | |
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A Trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever features "friendly, black, optimistic advice". | |
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| A Trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever (Web Video) | hasFeature |
Magical Negro / int_eee6d82a | |
| Magical Negro / int_f0a86c12 | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_f0a86c12 | comment |
In How I Met Your Mother, season 4 episode 21, Barney and Marshall are aided in a prank by an African-American security guard they randomly meet at "the bar" (McLaren's). He speaks in a deep, resonant voice and quotes Pablo Neruda (Ted's favorite poet, as stated in "The Naked Man"). He then walks out of their lives.... | |
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| Magical Negro / int_f1aaff66 | comment |
In the Batman (Grant Morrison) story "Batman R.I.P.", Bruce Wayne is found lost on the street with no memory of who he is, when he comes across a black homeless man named Honor Jackson. Honor helps Bruce start his path to recovery, but then disappears and is revealed to have already been dead. However, while it looks like this trope at first, it's actually a subversion — it's eventually revealed that Honor is looking for his own personal redemption, saying that he'd never done anything he could be proud of, but was now happy to save one man's life. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance, Honor Jackson gets a page in the first issue of Morrison's run. Batman gives him a few bucks when the Batmobile is stopped nearby, noting to Robin that there's always time to help people. Honor apparently uses this money to drink himself to death. Arguably the Honor that Bruce met later during "Batman R.I.P." was never anything more than a fragment of Bruce's psyche, which raises a few questions about Bruce. | |
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The sketch comedy series Key & Peele has two such magical African-Americans (one also qualifying as an Almighty Janitor) fighting to the mutual death over who would get to enlighten a success-weary white man. The sting in the tail comes when a middle-aged black woman enters and the white man mistakes her for yet another Magical Negro, to which she replies, "Who you calling a negro, bitch?" |
|
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The Matrix has some interesting cases. Morpheus comes very close to being one, but he does ultimately have his own goals and character arc independent of helping Neo. The Oracle, however, is an absolutely textbook example in the first movie, although the sequels give her a wider role. | |
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Magical Negro / int_f6a1016f | |
| Magical Negro / int_f817bbbc | type |
Magical Negro | |
| Magical Negro / int_f817bbbc | comment |
Inverted in Yvon of the Yukon; the title character, a ludicrously uncouth, unkempt, vulgar and crusty Frenchman becomes a "sagely" mentor to the thoroughly ordinary teenager Tommy, who happens to be Inuit. | |
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Magical Negro / int_f817bbbc | |
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Magical Negro | |
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The Family Man: Cash is the black man who sends Jack to a What If? universe to show him what his life might have been if he had taken different choices. It's never stated, though implied, that he's Jack's guardian angel. | |
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Magical Negro | |
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Harlan, Adam's family's old driver in Adam (2009) seems to have nothing better to do than give him advice, and look bemused, of course. | |
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Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation, played by Whoopi Goldberg, is an El-Aurian, a member of a race with an almost supernatural sense of time and space. She's Picard's Token Black Friend, but she's happy to give a Whoopi Epiphany Speech to anyone who asks—or anyone else she thinks needs one. She can tell when history has been altered, has centuries of experience and accumulated skills, is a better shot than the Enterprise's chief of security, and is the only person on the ship who scares Q. Despite the fact that she could probably replace anyone on the crew, she chooses to work as a bartender in Ten Forward. | |
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