- Archmage
Archmage, archmagi, or archmagus (rarely archimage) is a title used to identify an especially powerful wizard, usually within the context of
fantasy fiction . The term is aneologism strung together from the Greek word "arché", meaning "first" + "magus", a reference specifically to the astronomer-astrologers of ancient Persia.Archmages, although people or positions by those names can be found in the real world, are most commonly found in fantasy literature, roleplaying games, and computer games. They are typically portrayed as people who have, one way or another, gained the ability to influence the world around them in ways modern physics does not readily permit. This usually draws upon unusual energy sources, ranging from personal will-power to ambient arcane energy to naturally occurring ley-lines. In almost all cases they are a subset of wizards, magicians, druids, or other profession which uses said energy, albeit typically a highly disciplined and usually substantially more powerful and/or influential subset. A very good analogy (in most current fantasy uses) would be archmages are to wizards what a surgeon is to a doctor. Much more skilled in a certain area, although usually sacrificing some diversity in other areas. It should be noted, however, that this is not always the case, and is occasionally used simply to refer to a senior wizard, in much the same way that the Dean of a faculty is senior to an individual teacher within it.
Examples
The evil sorcerer in
Edmund Spenser 's "The Faerie Queene " is namedArchimago , though this is more directly related to the word "imago" ("image"), a reference to his ability to create illusions.The first known use of the word in modern fantasy was in
Ursula K. Le Guin 'sEarthsea .The Archmage there is the head of a college of wizards, a "primus inter pares" or "first among peers". The character ofSaruman inJ. R. R. Tolkien 'sMiddle-earth novels is also an archmage, though he is never referred to by that title; however, as the head of the order of wizards (asGandalf describes him), he seems to occupy the place of an archmage in Middle-earth.In
Barbara Hambly 's writings, thefantasy world s of both her Darwath series and the Windrose Chronicles feature archmages, the leaders of the wizards of those worlds. In the Windrose Chronicles, the archmage's authority magically moves to another wizard on the death of the archmage.In
Dungeons & Dragons , archmage is the name of a prestige class whose features are documented in the 3rd editionForgotten Realms Campaign Setting. This prestige class was updated in 3.5 and included as a stock PrC in the Dungeon Master's Guide (the core ruleset for D&D). Their powers allow them to perform feats of "magic" available to few others, but at the cost of some of their spells.It was updated again in 4th Edition, as an epic destiny available to characters over 20th level. Now focused on reusing spells and using them more often, archmages can also exist as an arcane spirit. At 30th level, they are said to retreat into seclusion to study magic, eventually merging with the singular Demispell.
In
Warcraft III , the Archmage is the name of a hero type of the Human race. It is a title given to the most powerful members of theKirin Tor , the ruling body of wizards. 'Intelligent' heroes, they have the powers of Summon Water Elemental, Blizzard, Mana regeneration and Mass Teleport. Archmages were previously referred to as unbalanced, mainly because of their Summon Water Elemental skill abuse. They were later balanced in following patches. Some people like to choose the Archmage as their first hero, as it provides the water elemental which they can use to creep. Mana regeneration is used later to supply mana to troops like priests and sorceresses.Many characters in the world of
Harry Potter may be considered archmagi, most notablyLord Voldemort andAlbus Dumbledore , the latter bearing the title of Grand Sorcerer.In "Gargoyles", the Archmage was a 10th century foe of the gargoyles who returned in modern times to lay siege to the island of
Avalon .In the
DC Universe , The Archmage was a being of magic imprisoned at the heart ofZerox , the Sorcerer's Planet.In the computer game
Dungeon Siege II , The Archmage was a being of unparalleled magical power, using his abilities to survive for thousands of years.In the nintendo GameBoy Advance game Fire Emblem, another Archmage appeared, named Lord Athos, who was the greatest magic user with access to all magic types (called ArchSage in the European version).
In the Elder Srolls games, the Archmage is a title given to the head of Mages; the Archmage rules among the Mages Guild through councils and designating positions to his inferiors.
ee also
*
Archmage (computer game)
*Wizard (fantasy)
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