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{{quote|'''Charlotte''': Plaything? I should say not. It is my egg sac, my ''magnum opus''.
'''Wilbur''': I don't know what a magnum opus is.
'''Charlotte''': That's Latin. It means "great work." This egg sac is my great work—the finest thing I have ever made.
|'''''[[Charlotte's Web]]'''''}}
Welcome to the top of the mountain, and to the pearly gates beyond which only the best are permitted. This trope represents the pinnacle to which anyone who produces a work of art dreams of reaching. The term "Magnum Opus" is bestowed on any work generally accepted to be a masterpiece, as well as the greatest work of its creator, forever cementing them as someone of exceptional talent.
Any given writer, artist, musician, etc. may produce many works in
Note that for some particularly talented creators, which work is their true masterpiece can be open to personal interpretation. There may be [[Broken Base|heavy debate regarding multiple works as to which is their true Magnum Opus]]. However, for many creators there is usually a general consensus among critics and fans as to which work represents the pinnacle of their career—the big slam dunk. Others, unfortunately, find themselves facing the painful situational [[Irony]] of [[Magnum Opus Dissonance]]. With that in mind, be free to specify whenever there may be a discrepancy as to which work truly qualifies for this trope, or even if the creator doesn't think that the work generally accepted as their Magnum Opus is really their best. Also note that for some creators, there is little controversy, because [[One-Hit Wonder|they've only ever created or are only known for one particular work]], which happens to be a masterpiece. Others manage to have a successful career, but the
Before commenting on works that are already cited on this page as a creator's [[Magnum Opus]] that you don't agree with, please remember that the main page should be kept as objective as possible, with a minimal number of [[Justifying Edit
Finally, please note that although there may be some overlap, this is not to be confused with [[One-Hit Wonder]], which is when a creator is only known for one work, and that page mostly has music examples. This isn't [[One-Book Author]], either. Most of these also aren't [[Tough Act to Follow|Tough Acts To Follow]], which is when any other work of a creator's is compared disfavorably to their opus; but again, they can be. The best way to decide whether or not a work is a Magnum Opus is by asking the question: "Is this work generally defined as a masterpiece, and as the greatest achievement of its creator's career?"
Also note that there may or may not be overlap with the creator's [[Breakthrough Hit]]. While a few creators' breakthroughs are often cited to be their greatest work, most creators will create their breakthrough first, then eventually go on to produce their
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' for [[Hirohiko Araki]].
* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'', ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam]]'' or ''[[Turn A Gundam
* ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' for [[Akira Toriyama]].
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' for [[Naoko Takeuchi]].
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* The anime adaptation of ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' for the late Takeshi Shudo. Or at least the Kanto through Johto era, which is the only ones he personally worked on.
** Well, he was sadly dismissed as head writer early on in the Johto Saga, and it suffered a severe case of [[Seasonal Rot]] as a result.
* ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'' and ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'' is always the first film that comes up when [[Mamoru Oshii]]'s name is mentioned.
* ''[[Bleach]]'' for [[Tite Kubo]].
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== Comic Books ==
* [[Alan Moore]] and ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]''. For the sole reason that ''Watchmen'' is the most famous and highly regarded comic ''ever''. How highly regarded is it? [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]] placed it in their list of the top 100 pieces of literature of the 20th century. ''Everything else on the list was traditional text-only literature''.
* For [[Jack Kirby]], it was the ''[[Fourth World]]''.
* For [[Neil Gaiman]], it was ''[[The Sandman]]''.
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== Fan
* The ''[[Tamers Forever Series]]'' (''
* Considering how many works have come from this group, the
* Greg Fisk's fanfic series ''[[All Things Probable Series|All Things Probable]]'' should probably count as his greatest work.
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== Film - Live Action ==
* [[Quentin Tarantino]]'s Magnum Opus is still probably ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'', although ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]'' seems to have opened up the debate. Tarantino himself considers ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]'' his
** There is a sizable(ish) contingent who say ''[[Jackie Brown]]'' is his best. This includes many of Tarantino's critics, which is understandable seeing as ''[[Jackie Brown]]'' is the movie which is least typical of him.
* ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' for [[Orson Welles]]. Welles' own personal choice would have been his adaptation of ''[[The Trial]]''.
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* People often argue what [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s magnum opus was, but the argument tends to boil down to ''[[Vertigo]]'' and ''[[Psycho]]''. His favorite was ''[[Shadow of a Doubt]]''.
* [[Fritz Lang]] is a little more questionable, but it's down to ''[[M]]'' and ''[[Metropolis]]'' by most accounts. Lang himself favored ''M''.
* ''[[Titanic]]'' and ''[[
* [[George Lucas]] and the original ''[[Star Wars]]'' trilogy. Fans are torn between "A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back".
** Or the original ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' trilogy.
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* ''[[Once Upon a Time in the West]]'' for Sergio Leone, though [[Dead Artists Are Better|critics didn't think so at first.]]
* Most critics will point to either ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'', ''[[The Godfather]]'' or ''The Godfather Part II'' for [[Francis Ford Coppola]].
* Martin Scorsese has several for contention: ''[[Goodfellas]]'' has the most love, with ''[[Taxi Driver]]'' and ''[[Raging Bull]]'' at the top of the list. The movie that ''did'' win [[Academy
* While [[Christopher Nolan]] is well known for ''[[The Prestige]]'' and ''[[Batman Begins]]'', not to mention ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', his greatest work is most likely ''[[Inception]]'', which he had been working on for ''nearly a decade''.
** Granted, if he manages to pull off ''The Dark Knight Rises'', ''[[The Dark Knight Saga]]'' as a whole may be a serious contender for the position.
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== Literature ==
* Most readers assume ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' is this for [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]], but [[Magnum Opus Dissonance|Tolkien himself considered]] ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' (which he worked on for longer) his
* ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' for [[J. K. Rowling|JK Rowling]].
* ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' for [[Philip Pullman]].
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* [[Herman Melville]]'s ''[[Moby Dick]]''.
* Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] wrote multiple stories, but he will always be remembered as the one who gave ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]'' to the world. Of the "Holmes" stories, either the short story collection ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' or the novel ''[[Literature/The Hound Of The Baskervilles|The Hound Of The Baskervilles]]'' tend to be praised as the finest examples.
* [[H. G. Wells|HG Wells]]' iconic ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]''.
* [[Douglas Adams]] and ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''.
* William Golding wrote many, many novels. One of those was ''[[Lord of the Flies]]''.
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* ''[[The Master and Margarita]]'' for Mikhail Bulgakov.
* ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' for [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]].
* ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'' is often considered the
* ''[[The Sound and
* [[Vladimir Nabokov]] wrote many books, but ''[[Lolita]]'' is the only one most people have heard of. Although some of his other books are well-known among English majors. And ''[[Pale Fire]]'' seems to be well-read by educated people, and it is likely a very distant runner up in the contest for most famous Nabokov book. (''Lolita'' was a ''success de scandal''; none of his other books are from the POV of a child molester.)
* ''Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica'' (Mathematical Principles of Science) is not only Issac Newton's most important book but considered one of the most important in the history of science.
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* [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''.
* ''[[Brave New World (novel)|Brave New World]]'' for Aldous Huxley.
* [[Stephen King]] has said that if he has a
* [[Lloyd Alexander]]'s ''[[Prydain Chronicles]]''.
* [[Plato]]'s ''[[The Republic (novel)|Republic]]''.
* [[Thomas Pynchon]]'s ''[[Gravity's Rainbow]]''.
* Jonathan Swift's ''[[Gulliver's Travels|Gullivers Travels]]''.
* In-story example: Charlotte, of ''[[Charlotte's Web]]'', explicitly referred to her egg sac as her
* ''[[The Catcher in The Rye]]'' for [[J. D. Salinger]].
* F. Scott Fitzgerald's ''[[The Great Gatsby]]''.
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* [[Brandon Sanderson]] is apparently planning ''[[The Stormlight Archive]]'' to be this, but currently, ''[[Mistborn]]'' is generally considered his greatest work.
* The ''[[Deverry]]'' series for Katherine Kerr.
* ''[[Stranger in
* [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov]]'s ''[[Foundation]]''. On the other hand, the series was never concluded and many people find it somewhat dry. In terms of a legacy, ''[[I, Robot (literature)|I, Robot]]'' probably fits more.
* [[Arthur C. Clarke|Clarke]]'s ''[[Childhood's End]]'' although ''
* ''[[Krabat]]'' for Otfried Preußler, which took him ten years (albeit with breaks).
* ''[[The Decline of the West]]'' for Oswald Spengler (1911-22 - yes, that includes [[World War
* Miguel Cervantes' ''[[Don Quixote|The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha]]''. Commonly hailed as "the first modern novel".
* Adam Mickiewicz's ''[[Pan Tadeusz]]', considered one of the best works in the Polish language.
* Henryk Sienkiewicz's ''[[Sienkiewicz Trilogy|Trilogy]]''.
* [[Philip K. Dick|Philip K Dick]] has written a lot, but ''[[Ubik]]'' is perhaps the best contender for the title, with ''[[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?]]'' close behind.
* [[The Book of Amber]] for [[Roger Zelazny]].
* [[The Black Company]] for [[Glen Cook]].
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* ''[[The Old Man and the Sea]]'' for [[Ernest Hemingway]].
* ''[[The Colour Out of Space]]'' for [[H.P. Lovecraft]].
* [[Saul Bellow]]'s final ''[[Literature/Ravelstein|Ravelstein]]''
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* From an acting perspective, although he was already a big deal from ''[[Cheers]]'', ''[[Frasier]]'' would likely be the front runner for Kelsey Grammer.
* Another acting one, ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'' for most, if not all of the cast, as well as producer Phil Rosenthal.
* ''[[
* Though hardly unsuccessful with his other works, with three Oscars including Best Adapted Screenplay for ''[[The Social Network]]'', it's likely that Aaron Sorkin will be most fondly remembered for his four seasons' work on ''[[The West Wing]]''.
* ''[[The Sopranos]]'' for [[David Chase]]. Like The Wire, it is considered the champion modern example of television.
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*** Some have even stated that watching the show makes it nearly impossible to watch any other cop shows because ''[[The Wire]]'' blows them all away so badly.
* They say that every ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Show Runner]] has an episode that encapsulates everything about their era in general, an episiode that couldn't have ever been made under anyone else. In rough order, based on fan opinion:
** Barry Letts/
** Phillip Hinchcliffe/ [[Robert Holmes]] - ''The Talons Of Weng-Chiang''
** Graham Williams/ [[Douglas Adams]] - ''City Of Death'' (May have been ''Shada'' if it had ever gotten properly made). With just Graham Williams alone the entire ''Key To Time'' season could be said to be this.
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*** [[Paul Cornell]] - "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood"
* The re-imagined ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' for Ronald D. Moore.
* ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' for Lucille Ball. Seeing as how it [[Ur Example|practically invented]] the [[Sitcom]] and to this day you can't make one without borrowing from ''Lucy'', it can be seen as a
* [[24]] for Kiefer Sutherland is what he is always going to be best known for acting-wise, in addition to encouraging debate regarding "extreme interrogation methods" employed by the Bush administration and other political issues.
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* [[Dwight Yoakam]] released two of the most critically acclaimed albums of the late 80s and early 90s, ''Buenas Notches From A Lonely Room'' and ''This Time''. Both albums are extremely influential even outside their genre.
* [[Slint]]'s ''Spiderland'' started a whole movement known as [[Post Rock]].
** Arguably, they share this distinction with [[Talk Talk]], whose final two albums (''The Spirit Of Eden'' and ''Laughing Stock'') collectively qualify as that band's
* [[Talking Heads (band)|Talking Heads]]' ''Remain In Light'', one of the great albums of the [[Post Punk]] period and perhaps the band's greatest achievement.
* [[Eminem]]'s is ''The Marshall Mathers LP'', or alternatively, ''The Eminem Show''.
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* Shaquille O'Neal's 1999-2000 season, in which he captured the MVP, All-star Game MVP and Finals MVP.
* Georges St. Pierre's TKO victory against Matt Hughes.
** How can you mention Matt Hughes without citing his victory over Frank Trigg at UFC 52? Matt survived an accidental low blow, a pummeling, a near submission, then got up, PICKED UP TRIGG AND RAN ACROSS THE OCTAGON WITH HIM, threw him down, returned the pummeling, and got a submission of his own. If that's not his
* Chuck Liddell's first victory over Randy Couture.
* The Los Angeles Lakers 1971-1972 season, winning 33 in a row and grabbing the title.
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* [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]]'s ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]''. ''[[Evita]]'' is often mentioned as well.
* ''[[Wicked (theatre)|Wicked]]'' for [[Stephen Schwartz]]
* ''[[The Sound of Music]]'' is often hailed as the frontrunner for [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]], although ''[[Oklahoma!]]!'' wouldn't be out of the running.
== Theme Parks ==
* For [[Universal Studios]] park fans, to date nothing has been able to top Kongfrontation in terms of originality, production value and realism. Especially when it first opened.
* For the [[Disney Theme Parks]], the original [[Pirates of the Caribbean]] ride is considered Imagineering's finest achievement in ride design
== Video Games ==
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** ''[[Ultima VII]]'' may not match it in influence, but these days it commands even more respect as a whole.
* It might be easy to say ''[[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night]]'' is Koji Igarashi's magnum opus, but that honor is better stated to go to Toru Hagihara, as he served as director and producer. Hagihara was designer and/or producer of almost every ''[[Castlevania]]'' game to that point, and so ''Symphony'' is more logically the endpoint of everything he worked towards, while this was only the second game Igarashi worked on.
** Many will argue ''[[Castlevania: Rondo of Blood]]'' instead.
** Regarding Igarashi, a case could be made for ''[[Tokimeki Memorial]] 1''. Its success in Japan was ''wild'', and thanks to this, Igarashi was rewarded with the ability to work on the ''Castlevania'' series.
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' for [[Hideo Kojima]].
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** Currently for [[Platinum Games]], ''[[Bayonetta]]''.
* ''[[Mother 3]]'' for [[Shigesato Itoi]].
* id Software has been, especially in the 90's, a standard-setter in video games. Perhaps the best candidate for their
* ''[[Another World (video game)|Another World]]'' for Eric Chahi. A timeless classic which made quite an impact at its time and was a pioneer of artistic games.
* ''[[Deus Ex]]'' for [[Ion Storm]], which more than made up for their [[Daikatana|infamous failed FPS]].
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* ''[[Plants vs. Zombies]]'' for [[Pop Cap Games]], being their fastest-selling game and having won many awards.
* The ''[[Uncharted]]'' series for [[Naughty Dog]].
* American McGee has ''[[American McGee's Alice]]'', cult classic and great game of its time, probably even more like a
* ''Knight Lore'' for Ultimate Play the Game. Set in a three-dimensional world and drawn using [[Isometric Projection]] (all of it on a [[ZX Spectrum]]), it was a revolutionary game at its time.
** For Ultimate's successor company [[Rare]], ''[[Banjo-Kazooie]]''.
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' series is undoubtedly this for Bethesda Softworks.
* Either the [[.hack]] franchise or ''[[Asura's Wrath]]'' probably qualify for this for [[Cyber Connect 2]].
* As for ''[[Pokémon]]'', ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver]]'' was for a very long time the only possible contender for the title of
* [[Call of Duty]] 4: [[Modern Warfare]] for Infinity [[Ward/Call Of Duty|Call Of Duty]]. It's confusing because Infinity Ward (used to) develop only Call of Duty, but they rotate with Treyarch in making the individual games. Either way, the first Modern Warfare wins.
* [[Donkey Kong Country]] 2 for [[Rare]]
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* The soundtrack to ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'' for series composer Junichi Masuda. Could be argued that it's one for Game Freak as a whole.
* The soundtrack to ''[[Donkey Kong Country]] 2'' for David Wise.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* Roger M. Wilcox is probably best known for ''[[The Intercontinental Union of Disgusting Characters]]'', but he still considers his life's work to be ''[[The Pentagon War]]''.
* Mateusz Skutnik considers ''[[Covert Front]] 3: Night In Zurich'' to be his greatest accomplishment.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Felix the Cat]]'' is hands down the
* ''[[Peace on Earth]]'' is considered to be the best short ever made by Hugh Harman of the [[Harman and Ising]] duo. He even said it was one of the very few good cartoons he ever made.
* [[Disney Animated Canon]] fans and critics alike have a ''field day'' trying to determine which is the best film of the Disney's [[The Golden Age of Animation|Golden Age]]
** On that note, he intended [[Sleeping Beauty]] to be his Magnum Opus, but it's failure and story flaws kept it from being such.
** When it comes to the [[The Renaissance Age of Animation|Disney Renaissance]], fans get into ''a lot'' of debate on whether ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]'' or ''[[The Lion King]]'' is the crown jewel.
*** Recently, ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' has been seen as this for the Disney Renaissance as well - a far cry from its earlier lukewarm reception.
** [[Pixar]] has this too. The debate is usually between ''[[WALL-E]]'', ''[[Up (animation)|Up]]'', ''[[The Incredibles]]'', and one or all of the ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'' movies. You can even find a few supporters for ''[[Finding Nemo]]''.
** Yet ''another'' debate involves the works of [[The Renaissance Age of Animation|Disney Renaissance]] writer/director duo John Musker and Ron Clements. Although ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'' kickstarted the renaissance and ''[[Treasure Planet]]'' is a [[Cult Classic]], most critics and fans would pick either ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' or ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]''.
** There are people who'd say their first work, ''[[The Great Mouse Detective]]'', is a contender for this, as well.
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** ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]'' has been [[Vindicated by History]] in this regard, as well.
* ''[[Gargoyles]]'' for [[Greg Weisman]].
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' for co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Of course, ''[[The Legend of Korra]]''
* Fans will debate endlessly over which installment of [[Bruce Timm]], [[Paul Dini]] and Alan Burnett's [[DCAU]] contributions is their best, with the top contender usually ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]''. ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' is often cited for Timm as well (as he was the only one of the three to have full involvement in it).
* If it ever gets finished, ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' can finally be considered this for [[Genndy Tartakovsky]]. Until then, there's always ''[[Dexter's Laboratory|Dexters Laboratory]]''
* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' for [[Jhonen Vasquez]]. An unusual example, since the rest of his work is in comics rather than animation.
** And then there's also the fact that he personally [[Artist Disillusionment|considers it to be the worst of his works to date.]]
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** When asked, Ralph himself will always say ''[[Coonskin]]'' is his magnum opus.
* Acclaimed animator [[Richard Williams]] has literally referred to ''[[The Thief and the Cobbler]]'' (or at least his original vision for it) as his magnum opus; others believe ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'' was his masterpiece.
** The [[
* [[Mainframe Entertainment]] may be the primary source of Direct-to-Video ''[[Barbie]]'' movies today, but the big debate over its Magnum Opus boils down to either ''[[
* Invariably, when asked what her greatest work is, fans and even the woman herself will state that ''[[My Little Pony:
* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' for [[Craig McCracken]].
* Fans have argued that either ''[[The Fairly
* ''[[What's Opera, Doc?]]'' or ''[[One Froggy Evening]]'' for [[Chuck Jones]]
* ''[[The Prince of Egypt]]'' is definitely considered to be [[DreamWorks]]'s greatest animated film.
** Of course, ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (animation)|How to Train Your Dragon]]'' has a lot of supporters, as well. ''[[Shrek]]'' may have once been a contender, but it... Hasn't aged well, to say the least.
* [[Brad Bird]] has never
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Liddell and Scott Greek-English Lexicon]]
[[Category:Trope Names
[[Category:Creator Speak]]
[[Category:YMMV Trope]]
▲[[Category:Magnum Opus]]
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