The Magicians is a series that shows how the world might work with an underground magical community, not unlike that of the Harry Potter universe. Unlike that popular fandom, The Magicians is aimed squarely at adults and features some of the most powerful magic users throughout all of fiction.
While there are plenty of gods, goddesses, and otherworldly creatures in the world of The Magicians, this list will focus solely on human magic users. These are the humans who use magic a bit better than everyone else, ranked from least to most powerful as they exist throughout the television series.
Last updated: December 30th, 2019 to include more of The Magicians' most powerful characters.
Henry Fogg
As the Dean of Brakebills, some fans might expect Henry Fogg to be a little higher in the list. The truth of the matter is, however, that most of his students outpaced him fairly quickly.
Dean Fogg is very skilled, but most of his power comes from his magical knowledge that he imparts to others. Most of his big moments involving magic in the series have featured magical items given to him by other people, not his own spells.
Pete
Though Pete only pops up when a character needs someone who knows their way around the seedy underbelly of magic, he’s certainly got his uses. A Hedge Witch who used to work for Marina, Pete found his place in acquiring magical objects for black market dealers.
Among his many demonstrated talents in the series are a fondness for telekinesis and animating corpses to talk to people from a distance.
Harriet Schiff
Harriet is one of the most fascinating characters that The Magicians doesn’t feature very often. The daughter of a Librarian and a powerful Magician in her own right, Harriet believes magic, and all of the knowledge associated with it, should be free to everyone.
As a result, when the show first introduced the character, Harriet had found a way to marry her magical knowledge with modern technology. Code on her news site actually featured spells for magicians looking for them.
Stephanie Quinn
Like the entire Quinn family, Stephanie is incredibly skilled at magic. Not nearly as powerful as her daughter, Stephanie still likes to believe she is, which is what often gets in her way.
Stephanie is arrogant and stubborn. She frequently believes her way of doing a spell is the only way it will work, which is what can get her into trouble, and why she doesn’t rank higher on the list. Stephanie allows her emotions, despite her often cold demeanor, to interfere with her spell casting.
Zelda Schiff
As a member of the Governing Council of Magicians, it’s evident that Zelda has to have immense power. Her high placement in the Library - where all magical knowledge is stored - also speaks to her abilities.
Interestingly, though it’s clear that Zelda is powerful, she doesn’t use her own magic much within the series. She spends most of her time in the show as someone who adheres precisely to the rules. When she’s forced to use her magic, it doesn’t take much effort from her, like when shielding herself from Harriet’s magical attacks.
JOSH HOBERMAN
Josh was once trapped in the World In Between Worlds after a class trip to Fillory left him stranded. He kept himself alive by growing and cooking the various foods he had available to him, which ended up making him into a rather skilled magician in the kitchen.
Josh isn't left just making food, though, he also used magic to create powerful psychedelic magically enhanced foods for fun and profit. He is also a werewolf thanks to some sexually-transmitted lycanthropy, but it hasn't been too much of a hindrance seeing as it was the impetus for his hooking up with Margo.
KADY ORLOFF-DIAZ
Kady's story is a tragic one, seeing as her mother was under the thumb of a Hedge Witch. This left Kady having to steal items from Brakebills to give to the underground coven, which has the effect of separating her from her group. After her mother was killed trying to steal some spells, Kady fell more in line with the rest of the students.
She has been a major player throughout the group's adventures and even helped to bring Julia into the fold. She is a gifted magician and is capable of performing Battle Magic to a greater degree of skill than most of her peers.
MARINA ANDRIESKI
Marina started off in the series as an antagonist who took in Julia, but ultimately turned on her. She had a wrathful rage against others and was the Hedge Witch responsible for killing Kady's mother. She was killed by an evil trickster god, but thanks to some alternate reality shenanigans, she came back.
Marina is one of the most powerful magical users seen on the series, but she often uses magic to suit her own purposes. This has landed her on the wrong side of the group on numerous occasions, and the few times she has assisted them, she had a reason all her own. She's powerful, but can't be trusted.
ELLIOT WAUGH & MARGO HANSON
Initially, we were going to split these two up, but they are so intertwined, it didn't seem right. Elliot and Margo are both talented in the use of magic, but they are so close to one another, they are more of a team. When they work together, they get things done, which is why they managed to rule Fillory side-by-side.
That is, until Elliot imprisoned Margo, but that was just a small misstep in their otherwise perfect relationship. In every other instance, they rely on one another to accomplish amazing feats — even if they are incredible magicians on their own.
QUENTIN COLDWATER
Quentin may be the main character of the series with most events revolving around him, but that doesn't mean he's the most powerful magician on the show. That being said, he is a very skilled magic user and has demonstrated an ability to adapt to any situation and cast whatever spell necessary.
Quentin became instrumental in taking out The Beast, but he also killed a god, got magic shut off, and helped to turn it back on. It was Quentin's insistence that Fillory existed that helped the group find it and travel there, but at the end of the day, he's only about a mid-range level magician with several characters topping him in terms of skill.
JANE CHATWIN
Jane Chatwin was not only the main character in the Fillory novels, she was responsible for most of the events that took place on the series. Through her machinations, she was able to create a sustainable time-loop that reset the world whenever the group failed so they could try again.
That took incredibly powerful magic and resulted in her being somewhat "lost in time" behind the scenes. Quentin ran into her several times throughout the first season, but didn't realize who she was at first. Without her, the whole group would have died long ago and the Beast would still be around.
WILLIAM "PENNY" ADIYODI
When he was first introduced, Penny wasn't the nicest of guys in school, but that changed over time. Initially an outsider who didn't want help from anyone, he became one of the most important characters thanks to his ability to travel. His natural gift to wink in and out of existence made him one of the only characters who could travel to and from Fillory.
Eventually, Penny (as we knew him) was killed and left to work in the afterlife version of the Library, but he was replaced with the Penny from an alternate timeline. The new Penny is a bit friendlier and willing to help the team without much coaxing.
MARTIN CHATWIN
Martin Chatwin was the little boy who became the Beast and was responsible for killing the group from Brakebills numerous times across multiple timelines. He was a ruthless trickster who had amassed more magic than anyone else thanks to his willingness to drink directly from the Wellspring — the source of all magic in Fillory.
In terms of power, the Beast had it all, but he did have an Achilles heel when it came to his pride and confidence. When he faced off with a magician who let magic completely take over her body, he was defeated and stood little chance of holding her off.
JULIA WICKER
Julia started off the series as an outcast who had been denied enrollment at the school. She had her memory only partially wiped, which led her to search for magic wherever she could find it. This led her down a dark path resulting in the summoning of an evil god who raped her.
Eventually, she came into the fold with the rest of the group and was involved in the killing of a god. That event made her "god touched" and essentially converted her into a goddess herself. She lost her power, but retained her immortality, which makes her one of the more powerful characters on this list.
ALICE QUINN
Of all the students at Brakebills, Alice was easily the most naturally talented. She could bend light (make herself invisible) and was able to master any spell she attempted. She overpowered herself and became an immortal Niffin, but was brought back into her mortal body by Quentin who refused to accept the fact that she had died killing the Beast.
Time and time again, Alice has proven her skills by mastering various forms of battle magic and mind control. She's also a genius and is skilled in the reading and translating of numerous dead languages, which help her cast spells most people couldn't dream of casting.