Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-26394456-20171122060155/@comment-25536775-20180112233137

Eskaver wrote: Magic isn’t purely genetic; however, we also have different types of magic as well.

Adam has said that magic does require a spark as they attempted to explain why Henry couldn’t learn magic (despite being offered to in season 2).

On face value alone, the genetics appear as such:

Saviors don’t pass down their magic ability.

Powerful Dark mages pass down their magic ability.

Ice magic (which I believe is just magic with filter) appears to affect the eldest of each generation.

Still, could just be arbitrarily whatever the writers decide. It could be possible that magic lies dormant if not sparked. Rapunzel and Marcus appear normal, yet have two magical children. (I really think there are some deleted scenes because we never saw that in the flashback and Ana knew Gothel somehow.)

I don’t believe in this hidden rule that “They show things right away”. Mostly villains wield magic and they use it right away and often. It could be true, but I think we’d overestimate the show.

It's not a rule, but it's a pattern. All shows that last seven years have patterns, that's a normal thing.

As for the spark thing, that can be interpreted in so many ways. I'll take the Buffyverse, the Charmed universe, and the TVD universe as three examples of different forms of how magic can be written:

In BtVS, magic is a force that exists in the universe and anyone can tap into it by calling upon the right entities via incantations. A witch is a person who practices witchcraft, not some sort of subspecies of human, and their power level isn't dictated by their birth; at some point, Willow was referred to as the most powerful witch in the universe despite being born a mortal. However, while everyone can theoretically tap into witchcraft, not everyone is talented enough to use it routinely or even at all. Willow's power is dictated by her magical talent as opposed to actual magical ''power. ''

In Charmed, witches can be divided in many subcategories. "Real" witches like the Halliwells are born inherently connected to magic and have raw powers, whereas "witches" in the sense of people who believe in wicca religiously or practice actual ritualistic witchcraft do not have the ability to cast magic unassisted but can perform magioc if channeling a being or object of actual magical power. The lack of raw power can be made up for.

In The Vampire Diaries, witches are in essence a subgroup of humans. Only witches can tap into witchcraft aside from some extremely rare examples like Hope and the Heretics. There's nothing that can be seemingly done about it.

A spark can be many things. A spark can be raw magical power (though I find that unlikely). A spark can be inherent skill with magic. A spark can be a natural predisposition to magic. That explanation clarifies very little. But alas, this is the subject for another thread.