The Disney Channel Universe is a confusing place. There are pop stars with the Clark Kent secret identity power, psychics, presidents who get into crazy slapstick moments, aliens, vampires, zombies, werewolves and wizards. A lot of the information seems contradictory, and the rest of it simply doesn't make sense. This story provides a backstory on the likely cosmology and inner workings of the universe, particularly in regards to the show Wizards of Waverly Place.

First, we must make a list of shows considered canon to what I call the "Disney Channel Universe". The shows that are definitely in canon are: That's So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Hannah Montana, Cory in the House, Wizards of Waverly Place and The Suite Life on Deck. That's So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Hannah Montana had a crossover in the "That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana" special event. Cory in the House, being a direct spin-off of That's So Raven didn't need to have a cross-over to fit it into the universe, but it had one in Hannah Montana anyway, when the President of the United States and his daughter Sophie met Hannah. The Suite Life on Deck, also being a spin-off, nevertheless also crossed over with Hannah Montana, thus cementing it in the universe. Included in this cross-over, during the "Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana" event, was Wizards of Waverly Place. Thus I consider all these shows "DCU Canon."

A few shows may be canon, but we will never know. Those are Phil of the Future, Even Stevens, and Lizzie McGuire. These shows have since ended their runs, so there is little chance of any cross-overs. (Needless to say, the actors have largely moved on to other projects – not to mention they're older now.) One show may be canon and could have a cross-over. That would be Sonny With a Chance. However, Selena Gomez guest starring in Sonny as herself lessens the possibility of a cross-over since it would confuse the issue, and Disney has already done the "actress referring to herself" joke in a Suite Life episode where Maddie claims she looks like Ashley Tisdale. On the other hand, Selena Gomez also guest starred as Mikayla on Hannah Montana in two episodes, and it was still crossed over with Wizards.

Anyway, due to the similar time frames of Phil of the Future and Sonny With a Chance, and to a lesser extent Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire, as well as similar style and plotlines to them, I consider these four shows to be "almost canon", especially Phil of the Future and Sonny With a Chance. Of course, of these four shows, Phil is the only one that may need a lot of explaining, especially if we take it alongside Wizards of Waverly Place, which provides even more contradictions. Since Phil is only "almost canon" I will save such explanations for last – they will also probably be the most stretched.

Naturally, anything superscience or paranormal needs to be explained foremost, so that means most of my time will be spent discussing Wizards of Waverly Place, and to a lesser extent That's So Raven. A few minor elements need to be explained in the Suite Life series, but I'll come to these.

So, onto the first question, one that is probably burning in your mind and has been since the first day of Wizards:

What's up with the competition?

Likely, wizards are only allowed to have one wizard per family. Why this is could be due to a variety of reasons, such as simple tradition. Much like how only one person could be heir to a throne, only one person can be heir to magic powers. Possibly, this is a rule ingrained into the essence of magic itself, perhaps because magic simply works that way. I find this unlikely, though. I imagine it's mostly a rule made up by the Wizards' Council, but it's an ancient rule. Perhaps there's not enough magic to go around (see later questions on an explanation of this) or perhaps they're just trying to limit the number of wizards to keep it secret. If it is this latter reason, then it's possible that the rule will be revised when people find out about wizards and are OK with them, as future Harper tells us. However, since children of former wizards inherit wizard powers, this wouldn't do all that much to limit the number of wizards in the long run. It is possible that the Russo children are an anomaly, possibly because Jerry actually won his competition but forfeited his powers to be with Theresa.

Why can't Wizards marry non-wizards?

Possibly to keep down the number of wizards, again. If they could marry non-wizards and keep their powers, and one of their children became wizards, that means that two wizards who could have married one another and only produced one wizard could each marry a non-wizard and produce two. However, this only makes sense if the Russo children are indeed an exception to the rule. Most likely, the rule about wizards not being allowed to marry non-wizards is simply an ancient tradition of bigotry, and letting them forfeit their powers to do so may even be a radically liberal and new idea (perhaps formerly, they'd have been beheaded.)

So what's this competition like, anyway?

As yet unknown, but apparently an episode is coming up where Jerry and his siblings redo the competition so we'll be able to see. It's unlikely to be a duel to the death, although it's possible that this used to be the case in the ancient days of yore, and it has since been made much safer. It's also unlikely that Jerry will get his powers back even if he does win the competition again, because the rule about wizard marriages will probably still be in place, but it's possible that he will be granted powers temporarily.

How does one "pay" for magical powers? I thought wizards were just born with it.

This came up in the episode "Fashion Week", where there is a failure at the "magical power plant", so Alex can't use powers for a large part of the episode. This is entirely a plot device, and I would have used a different one, had I been the writers, because it would be more consistent. Nevertheless, I do have an explanation at hand.

Mana is sort of like a fuel for magic. Some might say that you shape spells out of it, but I don't quite know how the cosmology of Wizards of Waverly Place works. In any event, mana is required to perform magic. My theory is this, back in the good old days, there used to be mana all around and wizards could just use it willy nilly. But then one day, some jerk decided to build himself a castle that floats in the sky and it took so much mana that he used it all up. The theory extends to say that eventually, wizards (who may have been former wizards at this point) figured out how to artificially generate mana from magical sources, such as dragons. They then magically conduct this mana to wizards.

So why can't anyone use magic? And how can you take away a wizard's power?

Only wizards are born with the capability to harness and shape mana. (At least immense amounts of it.) You can then take away this ability. Think of it like a big internal capacitor, except that it stores and discharges mana. Roughly.

So why could Evilini get more powerful by stealing Justin's powers?

By adding them to her own, she could harness more mana. There may also be a certain amount of finesse involved too, but likely this is related to your own concentration, not your raw power.

Wait, how could Professor Crumbs take away Alex's powers?

Since she is a student wizard and he is a teacher, he has magical authority over her. Possibly it just requires you be very powerful to do so, but more likely there's an enchantment on every student wizard – kind of a failsafe.

Then why would Evilini have to take Justin to Volcano Island to steal his powers?

Despite being a teacher, it's possible she isn't in Professor Crumbs' position of authority. Alternatively, going to Volcano Island might be required to add his powers to her own – after all, that process would take an immense amount of energy. Additionally, harnessing the power of Volcano Island would probably allow a wizard to steal anyone's power, not just a teacher taking away powers from a student.

How does a spell work?

By saying the words and conditioning your mind to the proper mindset, you can shape the mana to perform what you want it to do. You have to be thinking about what you want it to do, and visualizing it pretty well, or else it might not go quite the way you wanted it to.

So how does one accidentally cast a spell, like in the Wizards movie?

In that case, Alex really wanted what she was saying. She said it in such a heat of passion that what she said just became true. As for the case where she accidentally animated Justin's zit, she probably had that spell on her mind subconsciously, and since she was once again in a fit of passion, she accidentally cast it.

What are the words for, then?

Most likely, the words merely help you get into the right mindset. Consider TJ Taylor. He said "Spells are like training wheels" when Justin said he didn't use a spell to clear his parents' schedule. TJ Taylor is a scarily "powerful" wizard. However, he is not necessarily powerful in the amount of mana he can utilize, but he's very good at getting his mind into the right condition.

How can you make up and patent a spell, then?

A patented spell, credited to you, is a forumlaic shaping of mana. By doing research into how one shapes a spell, you can ensure that if you get into this mindset, the spell will always turn out like this. "Patterning" a spell is how you "shape" the mana, and it can be looked at like a metaphysical textile. I can't go into any more detail without diving into real-life occult theory, however – and even that, especially that, has a lot of contradictory beliefs.

Then how is a spell recalled?

Presumably, the pattern is so complex that glitches in it aren't found very readily.

What about improvisational spells?

Improvisational spells are inherently less powerful than a researched spell unless you're a very good wizard (at getting your mind into the right set) and/or very powerful (can harness a lot of mana at once.) They only have to rhyme because that really helps your mindset – likely the only reason Justin couldn't cast a spell rhyming "movie" with itself was because, as he said "it didn't even sound like a spell." If he didn't believe it, his mind wouldn't be in the right condition for casting it.

At the moment, I can't think of anything else to answer. If you have another question you'd like me to address, please leave it in a review.