Editing Wizard (section)

==In Warhammer Fantasy==

[[File:Winds-of-magic-waifus.png|400px|right|thumb|Battle Wizards - Waifu Edition!]]
Wizards are present in almost every single army you care to name in the world of [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles]]. Although usually (not always; there are key exceptions, like Ogre Butchers, spellcasting Vampires, and Chaos Sorcerers) lacking in terms of tankiness or physical combat ability, their ability to both launch magical fireballs and/or buff the shit out of friendlies (different wizards do better at different things), and perhaps more importantly to fuck up the efforts of casters on the other side makes them incredibly valuable members of the force.

In Warhammer, magic is a kind of [[Winds of Magic|spiritual breeze]] that exhales from the [[Realm of Chaos]] and sweeps across the world, splitting into various currents that permeate and/or are attracted to (it's debatable which it is) various natural phenomena. For this reason, wizards in-universe speak of the Winds of Magic, which form distinctive styles and powers.

The two races most adept with the art of magic are the [[High Elves (Warhammer)|Asur]] and the [[Slann]], who are the only races in the setting capable of using "High Magic". This consists of the eight Winds all blended together in a harmonious whole, allowing for spells of particularly devastating effect and color and making them masters of dispelling other wizards' efforts at casting.

In [[The Empire]], originally, wizards had no training whatsoever, and "hedge wizards" were the only practitioners of their kind in the world. This was a dangerous art, based on experimentation and random chance, which made them versatile, because they could learn spells from many Winds, but also risky, because they had no idea how to avoid corrupting their spells with Dark Magic or just fumbling the spells and blowing themselves up. During the reign of Magnus the Pious, the High Elf mage [[Teclis]] created the Eight Colleges of Magic; although he reasoned that humans were "too weak-minded" and short-lived to master High Magic, they could certainly master the nuances of one Wind at a time. Although publically distrusted and hated by the Witch Hunters of Sigmar, the Battle Mages of the Empire are much-loved by the soldiers who serve alongside them, who value their ability to add much-needed firepower to imperial battles.

In [[Bretonnia]], all youths who have magical talent are abducted early on; the males disappear, whilst the females return as the mysterious Priestesses of the Lady of the Lake. It's strongly hinted that such souls have actually been abducted by the Wood Elves, though what happens to the boys is unclear.

In the [[Ogre Kingdoms]], Butchers are primitive shamans who cast sympathetic magic by devouring certain reagents; the heart of a bull [[rhinox]] to heal those around them, bones to cause the enemy's bones to break, trollguts to imbue themselves with a [[troll]]ish ability to regenerate.

The [[Skaven]] have two distinct classes of wizard, in the form of the Grey Seers (mutant skaven with the natural ability to draw upon the corrupted magic that resonates with their race), and the Warlock Engineers of [[Clan Skryre]], who use [[magitek]] devices to draw raw magic from the atmosphere and channel it into useful forms. Mostly blasts of energy.

[[Orcs & Goblins]] are believed to derive their magic from the raw battlelust of their own kind, which means that fighting orcs serve as natural batteries of magical power for their shamans to tap. As shamans have very little training in controlling magic, however, most ultimately end up exploding.

The [[Tomb Kings]] have a caste of [[lich]]e-priests who practice ancient ritualistic magic, the oldest form of necromancy in the world, tapping into the Wind of Death in ways very different to modern wizards.

The [[Vampire Counts]], meanwhile, are naturally adept at using necromancy, a form of corrupted and Chaos-tainted Death Magic.

The sorcerers and shamans of [[Chaos]] practice many different magical arts, from directly drawing upon the powers of [[daemon]]s to the more destructive branches of the Winds of Magic.