A Team Fortress 2 AU where magic exists and I change the storyline.
Hi! I don’t post here often, so I thought I’d change that by posting something that’s been occupying my thoughts for a while: a TF2 mage AU! When I discovered that a mage AU didn’t exist (at least, not any that I could find), I just had to take it upon myself to make one of my own. So, here are all of the ideas I currently have for the AU! Note that (eventually) this will become a written story. How long that will take, I have no clue. I still need a plot (if you have any plot ideas please please let me know; I’m desperate).
The premise of the AU is, obviously, that mages exist. When people reach a certain age, they are allowed to start learning a single type of magic. There are many different magic types, ranging from elemental magic to dark magic. When a mage reaches a certain skill level, they are given a Familiar. They do not get to pick their Familiar- their Familiar picks them. They then keep their Familiar as a pet. The Familiar’s state of health, life span, and mood are synced with their owners (so for example, when their owner is sick the Familiar is sick, when the owner is sad the Familiar is sad, when the owner dies the Familiar dies, etc.). There are some people who choose not to take up a type of magic. These people are creatively referred to as Nomages, and in some cultures are looked down upon (though the same could be said about Mages).
Some things to clear up about the altered side of the AU are 1) The BLU team does not exist; I never saw a need for the two teams, and having them both just leads to basic and generally overused plot lines, 2) Australium doesn’t exist!! No immortality crap, 3) Gray Mann is the younger brother of Redmond and Blutarch (Red and Blu are still twins) and does not have a ridiculous story of him being able to talk since birth and being raised by eagles and whatnot, and 4) Saxton Hale is not very important to the plot. In fact, he’s actually dead in this AU. I wasn’t going to include him at all because I don’t like him and I couldn’t figure out how to fit him in, but a friend of mine actually had a cool idea for him being dead that I’ll elaborate on later.
Anyways, with all that out of the way, it’s time to introduce the characters!
Characters (headcanons and other details will be saved for asks)
Offense Classes (Elemental Mages)
POB: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Uses his magic to move faster, jump higher, and knock back enemies. I’d imagine he’d also use it to propel himself past or over enemies to land in front of or on top of them.
Decided to learn wind magic for basically the canon reason: he wanted to get the upper hand in fights, and also wanted to manage to beat his brothers to fights. So, instead of Speed magic, he decided to take up Wind magic since not only did it make him faster, but it is a great tool for fighting.
Sexuality: Pansexual, he really has no preference
POB: Minneapolis, Missouri, USA
Uses his magic to reach high places and throw literal boulders at people; basically a replacement for his RPG.
Took up earth magic to thereotically assist him in WWII (because if he’s a mage, they’d have to accept him, right?). He also found being able to throw destructive boulders to be incredibly helpful in any fight.
Gender: Nobody knows, everybody just refers to them as a they or an it.
Sexuality: Aromantic asexual
Idk what to tell you man they just really like fire.
Doesn’t have the optical mask; they see everything as it really is, but their behavior towards fire and death and destruction remains the same. They still like unicorns and rainbows.
Defense Classes (Trait Mages)
Sexuality: Mostly straight, but he leans both ways. Ultimately, he doesn’t care much about relationships.
POB: Bee Cave, Texas, USA
Doesn’t see a need to learn magic, he already has enough skill in the engineering field.
Was mainly hired because his family worked for the Admin’s family for decades. And also because, y’know, he’s one of the smartest people on the planet.
Name: Mikhail 'Misha' Morozov
POB: Dzhugdzhur Mountains, Khabarovsk Krai, USSR
Uses his magic to make himself inhumanly strong whenever he so chooses. This means he can switch from oh so gentle to strong enough to crush bone in seconds.
Took up Strength magic after he escaped the gulag to better protect his family, should the need arise.
His magic basically just lets him jump really high (higher than Scout can go with his magic). This lets him shoot/throw grenades/bombs from more effective and destructive distances.
Mostly took up Leaping magic just to get his mom off his back about him learning magic. His father was a Leaping Mage, so Demo simply followed in his footsteps.
Support Classes (Arcane Mages)
Name: Dr. Ludwig Humboldt
Familiar: Archimedes - Dove
Uses his magic to revive people, heal people, and communicate with the dead.
Took up the controversial art of necromancy to aid in his job. This eventually cost him his medical license.
Ngl I'm super excited to write Necromancer Medic I'm really happy with this concept help
Familiar: Hunter - Australian Shepard
Uses his magic to teleport into and transform into shadows. This is helpful for sneaking in between watchtowers and passing people unseen.
Began learning Shadow magic before he was even a sniper. He has always been an introvert and wanted to be able to get through crowds unseen and hide from people without being found.
Despite his young age, he already has a Familiar. He's just that much of a professional.
Is actually from Australia and the Mundys are his birth parents.
Familiar: Jacques - Birman
Uses his magic to read minds, bend wills, and use telepathy. These abilities all have some limits, but they are incredibly useful nonetheless.
Always enjoyed being sneaky and deceitful as a child, and as he got older he started learning Mind magic. This combined with his cunning nature and Dell's cloaking technology makes him one of the most stealthy and dangerous men in existence.
Although he denies it, he loves Jacques more than anything or anybody else. He'll often let the cat curl up on his lap while he's reading a magazine in his smoking room.
Sexuality: Aromantic asexual. People are horrid.
Runs Team Fortress and uses them for her own needs.
A family friend of the Manns who took over TF after all the Mann brothers were m y s t e r i o u s l y murdered.
Sexuality: Closeted lesbian
POB: Like. America or something. (Madison, Wisconsin for now idk)
A close friend and long-time assitant to the Admin. Eagerly helps her run TF.
POB: England or somewhere, idfk. The Manns are British or something right?
Before his and Blutarch's death, he ran the RED team. After his death, the remains of his team consisted of only Pyro, Engie, Demo, and Spy.
Never used his magic. They only reason he learned Fire magic was to try to get the upper hand on his twin.
Ran the BLU team before he died and the two teams were merged. After his death, his team consisted of only Scout, Soldier, Heavy, Medic, and Sniper. Since he had more people on his team at the end, he counts this as a win for him.
Also never used his magic. Learned Ice magic also to try to get the upper hand as his brother. Their magic types basically cancelled each other out, so this was not helpful in the slightest.
Sexuality: Straight, but couldn't care less
Familiar: Delta - Bald Eagle
After he murdered his older brothers, he took over TF Industries and merged RED and BLU to create Team Fortress.
Took up Shadow magic in preparation for the day he would get what he wanted. It also comes in handy for literally anything illegal.
Ran TF Industries in its early days alongside the Mann twins before he died.
Learned Strength magic to better wrestle animals. That's it.
Idolized by literally only Soldier. Everybody else is like "Yeah no that guy was an idiot."
Wow. That was a lot to write, and I did it all in one sitting. It is late. I am losing the ability to comprehend any thoughts.
So anyways, I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts on this!! It's a heavy WIP, so I'd appreciate feedback and suggestions ;) Also, please feel free to submit asks about the AU!! It'd help a lot with its development! Also, plot ideas would be MUCH appreciated. Literally the only thing that ever prevents me from writing is my inability to come up with a plot. So if you have literally ANY ideas, please do submit them via an ask! I'd love to hear them, no matter how stupid you think they may be!
That's all for now! I'll post writing and art for the AU whenever I get around to that. Stay tuned, and please do send me your thoughts! I'll see you all later ✨