Toying with an idea

[The Blue Lotus]

In my work the magical elemnt is passed on via gentics,
So I was thinking, could I handel working in someone who has the gentics but not the parents?
What I mean is if someone were lets say adopted, how would that work out, if they don't know about the adoption, and their birth parents are MIA, I would have a delima on my hands as to how to teach this person about their gifts. However, it could make a decent plot twist.

What do you think?

 

[Lord Darkstorm]

Depends on the magic system. Can only the parents teach the control of it? Is the element unique per family, if so, what happens when you cross two elements?

Could it be interesting, yes, but it would really depend on what the outcome of lacking that knowledge would do. Will the child die? Or maybe have the potential for harming others without wanting to?

 

[Arcbound Phyrexian]

Like Harry Potter?

Just sayin'...

 

[mythique890]

If magic were a rare recessive trait you could work it in by having the parents be carriers. Then they wouldn't have magic themselves, but they'd have a 1 in 4 chance of each kid being magic. Magic may not have appeared in the family for generations, so you could go either way with a mentor character (not have one because there haven't been any magical people or have one that's a cranky great-aunt or an obscure cousin or something).

As far as the adoption, maybe the child was left at a fire or police station as an infant? Then they'd have absolutely no info on the birth parents and really no way of getting it, I think. It could be a pretty good plot twist.

 

[ShortHair]

First off, I'd want to know how magic-users are normally identified and trained. Do they actively recruit people who may have the proper genes, or do they have an underground network that spirits away the gifted (and false positives)? Would the parents try to prevent the recruitment, or would they be glad about it? Does the gift manifest spontaneously at puberty, or does it have to be teased out and trained? Did the parents voluntarily give up the child because of its potential gift, and was it for the child's protection or their own?

If you can define the implications of having magical ability in this world, you'll go a long way towards answering your question.

 

[Gryffin]

Interesting idea. I think there are many ways you could spin it so that the absence of the biological parents is not a big problem. It could lead to interesting scenarios where the child can't control the powers, which could cause trouble. They could teach themselves, somehow find a mentor, learn from books, or seek out somebody who has had similar issues.