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Edited by OurWildebeest:
10/19/2015 11:45:36 PM
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They are called witches in one or two places in the game. They look like witches. They sound like witches. The real question is, why are they called wizards? Do they remind you of Merlin, or Gandalf, or Harry Potter? I doubt it.
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if I recall correctly one or two certain named Wizards are referred to as Witches. Thats it. And no, they don't remind me of Merlin, Gandalf or Harry Potter. But you're naming 3 very specific characters (that are all part of the exact same archetype) out of thousands. You're also ignoring that Wizard (and witch for that matter) have always been gender neutral terms.
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Wizard is anyone that manipulates magic. Witch is anyone who practices witchcraft. A warlock is someone cast out of the circle. All could be male or female
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Edited by OurWildebeest: 10/20/2015 12:03:11 AMDo they remind you of Hermione? Wizard has traditionally referred to a specific type of character in line with Merlin and Gandalf. Female magic users are more likely to be called a sorceress, enchantress or witch. I don't think there is a rule that wizards are male only, but almost all fictional characters called wizards have been male. Witch is (sort of) gender neutral, but male witches are called warlocks - though in Destiny, warlock is a gender-neutral term, I guess.
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You're right, there is no rule that Wizards have to be male. A quick google search will show you lots of examples to the contrary. Just because a few well known Wizard characters are male and the writer of a series of children's novels decided to gender segregate her characters doesn't mean... well, it doesn't mean anything except now a lot o people who don't know any better think that all Wizards are male. And no, they don't remind me of Hermoine. As a literate adult I've been exposed to more books than just Harry Potter. I have a larger base of female characters to draw on and make references to than just Harry Potter characters. I also recognize that the terms Wizard and Witch have a long history full of tradition both in fiction and in the real world. Also, male witches CAN be called Warlocks, but they can also be called Witches. Of course, it depends on the fiction or the tradition.
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Not to go on about this, but what traditional fiction or myth refers to female wizards? It isn't that common a term. I am not an expert on witchcraft, but my impression is that males are witches in terms of culture or religion, but magic-using witch males are warlocks.
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Well, off the top of my head and without going any googling at all, Dungeons & Dragons uses Wizards as a gender neutral term, and that's at least a valid source as the Harry Potter books and films. The Baba Yaga is also sometimes referred to as a Wizard (although she's referred to as a Witch, Sorceress and other titles even more often). My point was that the term isn't gender neutral, despite that it's most commonly used to refer to male characters. As for Witch/Warlock, I think it just depends on what you're reading. Authors make stuff up, and one author's fiction doesn't take precedent over another. Some with religion and spiritual practices. So if author A decided that in her book all male Witches are Warlocks, that's just in her book. Author B could decide the opposite and wouldn't be wrong.
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A witch is anyone who practices witchcraft (ie herbology and other holistic practices). In game they are wizards because they practice wizardry (ie alchemy, manipulation of magical energy or exploitation of science) A warlock is any witch or wizard cast out from the circle and forced to work alone or in a secret cult. Gender means absolutely nothing in determining the title- major misconception. Of course I'm referring to historical, real life versions of the terms. Not science fiction such Harry Potter. Stories like that can make up their own rules.
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Edited by OurWildebeest: 10/20/2015 1:13:31 AMWell, again ... Is there an example of a female wizard in traditional myth or fiction? I have never heard a rule that wizard means male and I do not believe it would be incorrect to refer to a female as a wizard, but as far as I know, there are zero female wizard citations in any English-language fiction or myth more than 50 years old. I specify English language to filter out recent translations that use the word wizard. I specify more than 50 years old to filter out comic books and the flood of post-Tolkien fantasy novels. Regardless of the fine points of word origins ... Show 100 non-Destiny players the NPCs in question and ask them to guess whether they are called witches or wizards and I suspect at least 80 would say witch.
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As far as Destiny goes, you may be right about asking random people but that's explained as a common misconception so it's a moot point. In game they are called wizard when you target them with your crosshair so every Destiny player has zero excuses to actually call them witches.
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I don't think women were considered to have magic potential in any ancient stories so there wouldn't actually be an example. But wizard and mage are basically synonyms: wizard being proto germanic in origin and mage being Persian in origin so any female mage is a female wizard. There are examples of male witches, about 25 percent of the witches executed during historic witch hunts were men.
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I haven't heard of female mages in traditional fiction or myth, either, though I also don't think it would be incorrect. There have been many magical female characters in traditional literature and myth, but they have not been called wizards (or mages). They have been mostly enchantresses, sorceresses and, yes, witches.
