The Best Wizard Beards

Harry Potter's most famous teacher, naturally, has one of the best wizard beards of all time. The epitome of goodness in the Potter series, Albus Dumbledore is the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, a society of magicians who work to counter the schemes of the evil Voldemort. Dumbledore's beard is a thing of bushy beauty, but he loses a point or two for the little scrunchy in the middle. A beard should flow naturally from the face, not be pinched into awkward configurations for maximal magical power.

To be the mentor of the Sorceror Supreme, you need to have a pretty serious beard. As delineated by the great Steve Ditko, the facial hair of the Ancient One is one of the best wizard beards. Sure, it doesn't have a lot in the way of volume, but its shaping is second to none. One of the most important aspects of a sorcerer's beard is the ability to come to at least one sharp point, and the Ancient One's fits the bill. Whether it's a trident of white spikes or the dual-pronged version you see here, this is a beard that crosses dimensional boundaries with ease.

Evil sorcerer Lo Pan from Big Trouble In Little China, played by James Hong, is a magical force of nature, blasting people with rays from his eyes and exhaling powerful vapors on his enemies. So how does this make his magical whiskers one of the best wizard beards? Well, when he's not working his magic, Lo Pan appears as a wizened, beardless old man. But when it's time to kick some ass, he lets his freak flag fly, growing a very serviceable chin-protector. No wizard beard, no magic: that's the rule.

The character of Tim the Enchanter from comedy classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail might not be the most imposing wizard of all time, power-wise, but you can't deny the intensity of his beard and hat combination. Tim is rocking one of the best wizard beards in terms of style, the two-tone beard. The center stripe has gone gray but the outer edges are still brown, which means that he's either aging gracefully or ran out of Just For Men. The horned helmet does help him get some respect, though.