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This can work somewhat as [[An Aesop]] about tolerance and not dismissing individuals from underprivileged groups, and it's certainly an improvement on earlier tendencies to either never depict minority characters at all or make them all villains. However, ultimately it's usually a moral and artistic shortcut, replacing a genuine moral message with a well-intentioned but patronizing homage to the special gifts of the meek. Minority characters still all too often aren't portrayed as the heroes of their own stories, but as helpers of standard white, able-bodied, middle-class heroes, and they aren't depicted as, you know, actual ''people'' with their own desires, flaws and character arcs, but as mystical, [[Closer to Earth]] plot devices.
See also [[Whoopi Epiphany Speech]], [[Black Best Friend]], and [[Mammy]]. For a similar trope about women, see [[Manic Pixie Dream Girl]] (as well as [[Disposable Woman]] and [[
The term "Magical Negro" was popularized by [[Spike Lee]] during a lecture denouncing this trope.
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* In Neil Gaiman's ''[[The Sandman]]'' series, the character Maisie Hill in the Game of You story arc (otherwise known as the I-don't-like-dogs-lady) changes one main character's perceptions of "subway people" and literally saves another main character's life with the sacrifice of her own.
== [[Film]] ==
** ''[[Wanted]]''. {{spoiler|Actually a subversion, since he's manipulating the Fraternity for profit, and all his talk about "destiny" and "duty" turns out to be a smokescreen.}}▼
** ''[[Driving Miss Daisy]]'' is very close to this trope, but Freeman's character gets a bit too much of his own character development to qualify.
** The ''[[Bruce Almighty|Bruce]]/[[Evan Almighty]]'' films, where the main characters are selfish white guys who need his assistance to find wisdom.
** Interestingly enough, this is ''inverted'' in the film ''[[The Shawshank Redemption]].'' Red is the narrator, everyman, and a murderer, while a fellow white prisoner, Andy Dufresne, is the suffering saint that re-ignites his hope.
▲** ''[[Wanted]]''. {{spoiler|Actually a subversion, since he's manipulating the Fraternity for profit, and all his talk about "destiny" and "duty" turns out to be a smokescreen.}}
** He finally won the Oscar for playing this trope in ''[[Million Dollar Baby]]''.
▲** Really, just ''[[Morgan Freeman]]''. If you're looking for a pure-hearted mentor chock-full of folksy wisdom, who ''may'' or ''may not'' have magical powers, you can't do much better.
* Harlan in ''[[Adam]]''.
* The mortician in ''[[Final Destination]]'' subverts this trope, not only in the fact that his advice essentially boiled down to [[Failure Is the Only Option|"you're all screwed, but have fun trying to stay alive"]], but also by the [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] that he [[The Grim Reaper|is Death]] taunting them for giggles.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Mentors]]
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Race Tropes]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Magical Minority Person]]
[[Category:Closer to Earth]]
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