History BeyondTheImpossible / Literature

* In ''Literature/{{Suggsverse}}'' book series by Creator/{{Lionel Suggs}}, most of the characters possess power beyond Omnipotence, which is impossible by logic and the definition of Omnipotence.

* In ''literature/{{Suggsverse}}'' book series by Creator/{{Lionel C. Suggs}}, most of the characters possess power beyond Omnipotence, which is impossible by logic and the definition of Omnipotence.

* In ''Suggsverse'' book series by Lionel C. Suggs, most of the characters possess power beyond Omnipotence, which is impossible by logic and the definition of Omnipotence.

* An inversion of this trope appears in the ''{{Literature/Freya}}'' series, with the title character. Gods in this world are [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly empowered by belief]], but they also have to follow their divine natures, even if they ''know better.'' The book's antagonists figure this out and use it as a foundation for capturing and controlling deities, as it makes them predictable. Freya, however, is so weak and jaded (since nobody believe in her) that she's able to ignore the demands of her divinity, allowing her to surprise her foes and double-cross them.

* An inversion of this trope appears in the ''{{Literature/Freya}}'' series, with the title character. Gods in this world are empowered by beliefs, but they also have to follow their divine natures, even if they ''know better.'' The book's antagonists figure this out and use it as a foundation for capturing and controlling deities, as it makes them predictable. Freya, however, is so weak and jaded (since nobody believe in her) that she's able to ignore the demands of her divinity, allowing her to surprise her foes and double-cross them.

* IN the ''Literature/HaloEvolutions'' story ''The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole'', if the ONI officer reviewing Cole's life is correct, [[spoiler:Cole SURVIVED by executing an in-atmosphere slip-space jump (which should not be possible with UNSC technology), and is most likely finally living a life of peace far outside UNSC or Covenant space. [[EarnYourHappyEnding He deserves it.]]]]

* In ''Literature/The DresdenFiles'':

* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' devotes a scene to demonstrating how Panserbjørne cannot be lied to, tricked, bluffed, or otherwise deceived in any way. [[spoiler: Lyra does just this to the ''king'' of the Panserbjørne]]. When Iorek hears this he gives her the title [[TheMagnificent "Silver-tongue"]].

** Later novels in more or less follow the line that a witch's curse ''works'' if and only if the target knows they've done it. Unlucky Charlie, the target for the cursing at the Witch Trials, ''cannot'' be aware they've done it because he's a scarecrow, so points are given for general inventiveness. Except for the year when Granny Weatherwax made his head explode.

* In Literature/{{Xanth}} the talent of being immune to magical harm is theorized to be capable of this. The talent includes ''indirect'' magical harm in its protections so something like magically hiding the edge of a cliff from him and trying to get him to fall off wouldn't work either. This is where the trope comes in. It's theorized in-universe that when the omnipotent demon that's the source of all magic in Xanth left, shutting all the magic down, it came back very shortly afterward solely because of this talent, as putting him in danger by removing magic could be considered indirect magical harm. That's right, it's so powerful that it can even affect ''its own omnipotent source''.
* Literature/EastOfTheSunAndWestOfTheMoon is the [[TitleDrop place the The wife has to search for]] in order to find her husband. Its implied to be an allegory for finding a nonexistent place through ThePowerOfLove.
* Literature/JourneyToTheWest. To destroy Sun Wukong the Celestial Heavens create a fire that is specifically supposed to kill immortals like him. Even after weeks inside it he's still alive. The gods turn to the Buddha who resorts to SealedBadassInACan.
* HisDarkMaterials devotes a scene to demonstrating how Panserbjørne cannot be lied to, tricked, bluffed, or otherwise deceived in any way. [[spoiler: Lyra does just this to the ''king'' of the Panserbjørne]]. When Iorek hears this he gives her the title [[TheMagnificent "Silver-tongue"]].
* IronDruidChronicles justifies the trope. A big part of why Atticus is so powerful is because he experiments with [[MagicAIsMagicA the rules of druid magic]] and was able to find solutions to problems that ''seemed'' Impossible to the much older and powerful Tuatha Dé Danann.

* Literature/WheelOfTime:

* Literature/WarriorCats Despite Scourge when [[spoiler: he rips out ALL NINE OF TIGERSTAR'S LIVES AT ONCE]]. A cat is supposed to be temporarilly dead once killed only to revive later. To take out all nine at once is unprecedented.
* In the Literature/HonorHarrington books the theta band of hyperspace has been an unsurpassable speed barrier for centuries. Then [[spoiler: the Mesan Alignment]] invented the streak drive that can not only exceed it, but exceed it by two levels.
* In book 34 of Literature/{{Animorphs}} Cassie morphs to whale, ''while still demorphing from osprey.'' Every time someone does a rapid switch from one morph to another, they have to revert fully to humans before they can start morphing agin.
* Literature/BuryingTheShadow: No soulscaper has ever healed an eloim. Ultimately in order to heal the eloim, Rayojini has to [[spoiler: die and pass into Elenoen. She not only succeeds, she's brought back to life]].

* ''Main/DarkHeavens'': When Xuan Wu is asked to make a sphere of water as cold as he can, he has to severely limit himself to avoid destroying the world by lowering the temperature to Absolute Zero. "Absolute Zero" is a theoretical temperature that's supposedly impossible to reach and yet he has to hold himself back from it.
* ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}''
** Vin can [[spoiler:pierce copperclouds]], something which the laws of Allomancy and all of Kelsier's crew state is impossible. ''The Hero of Ages'' reveals that [[spoiler:she's actually using Hemalurgy to enhance her abilities as a Seeker.]]
** At the end of the first book, she also [[spoiler:1) pulls metal from another person's body, which is impossible based on the laws of Allomancy 2) uses Allomancy without any metals, which is what the power comes from and 3) uses the mists to power her Allomancy, which no one had ever done before. This is the first sign that [[GodWasMyCopilot there are higher powers at work]] than the Lord Ruler, though they're teetering on the edge of an apocalypse before Vin puts all the pieces together.]]

* ''DarthWiki/FergardsSouls'': Melchior "Midnight" Herald was placed in [[spoiler:The Abyss, a giant graveyard for everything that could possibly breathe and exist in this world. He simply ''left it'' after one year.]] Both angels and demons[[spoiler: with an exception of Samael]] state this is literally impossible to do.

* ''Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat'' provides 400 proof alcohol. "Proof" is a system of identifying the percentage of alcohol in a liquid. The formula for determining the proof of an alcoholic mixture is [=[1.750*ABV]=] (where ABV is the Alcohol By Volume). This means the proof of such a mixture is close enough to "double the percentage of alcohol" in it that that's what most people think it is. 400 proof alcohol would be ''229% alcohol by volume''.
* Creator/DianeDuane, the author of Young Wizards has written [[http://dduane.tumblr.com/youngwizards-30-day-otp-challenge a series of fanfics of Young Wizards]], wherein she appears as herself and converses about its canonicity with Nita and Kit. This does all kind of weird stuff to internal logic.
* ''Literature/TheHexslingerSeries'': [[spoiler:Ixchel creates a way for hexes to live and work together without wanting to devour each other's power and life,]] breaking one of the only known absolute rules of magic.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'': Mandalorian battle armor zigzags this trope DependingOnTheWriter. Cannoically there are only three materials that can resist lightsabers: cortosis, phrik and beskar. Everything else offers no resistance in normal quantities (blast doors and other very thick things at least take some time to melt through). [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Mandalorian]] smiths have exclusive knowledge of working beskar or "Mandalorian iron" and can use it to construct lightsaber- and everything else-resistant armor. However, beskar is rare and expensive, so some Mandalorians have to settle for plating, lower-quality alloys, or mixing beskar and traditional armor pieces, [[ArmorIsUseless often to mixed results]].

* In the ''Literature/DresdenFiles'' novels:
** using BlackMagic, in violation of the Seven Laws of Magic, is generally considered to irreversibly corrupt the user, [[JumpedOffTheSlipperySlope usually quite quickly]]. There is however one member of the Senior Council, the Blackstaff, who can use the eponymous artifact to (somehow) freely cast in violation of the laws without suffering the usual corruption. It's possible that Harry's knowledge of the laws [[LiesToChildren is less than perfect]] (it's happened before in his study of magic), but to all appearances the Blackstaff allows its wielders to NoSell one of the core concepts of magic.
** The original Merlin made enchantments so complicated that they seem like magic to a wizard and completely stumped a spirit who's sole purpose was to know everything about magic. Doing so, he was able to create a GeniusLoci by casting the same spell 5 times at the same time thousands of years apart.
* In ''Suggsverse'' (book series by Lionel C. Suggs), most of the characters possess power beyond Omnipotence, which is impossible by logic and the definition of Omnipotence.

** At the end of the first book, she also [[spoiler:1) pulled metal from another person's body, which is impossible based on the laws of Allomancy 2) used Allomancy without any metals, which is what the power comes from and 3) used the mists to power her Allomancy, which no one had ever done before.]]

* In Lucian's ''Literature/TrueStory'' the people of the Moon are at war with the ''people of the Sun''. The narrator not only survives going to the sun, he doesn't seem impressed by it at all. Of course every word of the story is like that the operates on logic such as "Aristophanes is a wise and truthful man".

** Bloody Stupid Johnson's creations include a letter sorter that sorts every letter that will ever be written in every possible timeline, a triangle with three right angles, and a building that's BiggerOnTheInside.

* ''Literature/GoodOmens'': a car that has run without gas for decades and a stereo system that works without speakers are just two of the countless instances of Crowley getting objects to work for him against all logic and physical possibility.

* ''Literature/TheUglyBarnacle'': Can ''anything'' be ugly enough that it [[spoiler: kills everyone?]] Yes, yes it can.

** Bloody Stupid Johnson's creations include a letter sorter that sorts every letter that will ever be written in every possible timeline and a triangle where all three sides intersect each other at right angles.

*** From the same book Vimes manages to [[spoiler: survive hosting the Summoning Dark. While he isn't the first to do so (though those that have are far and few between), the fact that he suppressed the [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge berserker rage it causes]] ]] is stated by the everyone who knows about Dwarf curses to be impossible.

* In "The Double Shadow" by ''Creator/ClarkAshtonSmith'', a prideful wizard casts an unknown SummoningRitual with his an apprentice and a mummy servant, confident that he can deal with whatever arrives. He gets a LivingShadow that does nothing but approach them very, very slowly, [[NoSell ignoring]] everything they try to use against it -- until the mummy, which was reanimated to be a loyal, {{fearless|undead}}, utterly mindless automaton, starts screaming in terror and despair when the shadow gets close.

* ''TheStainlessSteelRat'' provides 400 proof alcohol. "Proof" is a system of identifying the percentage of alcohol in a liquid. The formula for determining the proof of an alcoholic mixture is [=[1.750*ABV]=] (where ABV is the Alcohol By Volume). This means the proof of such a mixture is close enough to "double the percentage of alcohol" in it that that's what most people think it is. 400 proof alcohol would be ''229% alcohol by volume''.

* Mmmeee0 once converted all the adrenaline in his Body into THC. Adrenaline is a Hormone and THC is only produced in Plants. From a Chemical standpoint, the two are nothing alike. Script/TheCreepyTeenYears

* Main/CastlePerilous does this with MediumAwareness. ''Castle Spellbound'', can be said to be the moment [[RealityIsOutToLunch reality gets so out of whack]] it breaks the rules of narrative cohesion.
* Literature/GotrekAndFelix start as relatively typical heroes of the setting but by the end of the third book they've done things that should by all accounts ''never happen'' by the rules.
* Literature/GoodOmens: a car that has run without gas for decades and a stereo system that works without speakers are just two of the countless instances of Crowley getting objects to work for him against all logic and physical possibility.
* Literature/TheAdventuresOfSamuraiCat: Tomokato almost single-handedly (with one assist from Shiro) ''wins [[Myth/NorseMythology Ragnarok]] for the dead-drunk Aesir'', foiling a supposedly unbreakable prophecy.
* Main/DarkHeavens: When Xuan Wu is asked to make a sphere of water as cold as he can, he has to severely limit himself to avoid destroying the world by lowering the temperature to Absolute Zero. "Absolute Zero" is a theoretical temperature that's supposedly impossible to reach and yet he has to hold himself back from it.
* Literature/{{Mistborn}} Vin can [[spoiler:pierce copperclouds]], something which the laws of Allomancy and all of Kelsier's crew state is impossible. ''The Hero of Ages'' reveals that [[spoiler:she's actually using Hemalurgy to enhance her abilities as a Seeker.]]

* Literature/OldPossumsBookOfPracticalCats: "He breaks the law of gravity..."
* DarthWiki/FergardsSouls: Melchior "Midnight" Herald was placed in [[spoiler:The Abyss, a giant graveyard for everything that could possibly breathe and exist in this world. He simply ''left it'' after one year.]] Both angels and demons[[spoiler: with an exception of Samael]] state this is literally impossible to do.
* Literature/TheUglyBarnacle: Can ''anything'' be ugly enough that it [[spoiler: kills everyone?]] Yes, yes it can.
* LightNovel/SwordArtOnline: A really big moment when a character [[HeroicSacrifice takes a killing blow]] from Kayaba Akihiko to save Kirito, while paralyzed. Even Kayaba couldn't believe that happened, and he ''made'' the game.
* TheStainlessSteelRat provides 400 proof alcohol. "Proof" is a system of identifying the percentage of alcohol in a liquid. The formula for determining the proof of an alcoholic mixture is [=[1.750*ABV]=] (where ABV is the Alcohol By Volume). This means the proof of such a mixture is close enough to "double the percentage of alcohol" in it that that's what most people think it is. 400 proof alcohol would be ''229% alcohol by volume''.

* Literature/TheHexslingerSeries: [[spoiler:Ixchel creates a way for hexes to live and work together without wanting to devour each other's power and life,]] breaking one of the only known absolute rules of magic.
* Literature/ThePendragonAdventure: In the climax of the last book [[spoiler: Saint Dane dies because his followers turn on him]] without any acknowledgment that this doesn't follow from the rules laid down only a few hundred pages ago.
* Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse: Mandalorian battle armor zigzags this trope DependingOnTheWriter. Cannoically there are only three materials that can resist lightsabers: cortosis, phrik and beskar. Everything else offers no resistance in normal quantities (blast doors and other very thick things at least take some time to melt through). [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Mandalorian]] smiths have exclusive knowledge of working beskar or "Mandalorian iron" and can use it to construct lightsaber- and everything else-resistant armor. However, beskar is rare and expensive, so some Mandalorians have to settle for plating, lower-quality alloys, or mixing beskar and traditional armor pieces, [[ArmorIsUseless often to mixed results]].

* In the ''Literature/DresdenFiles'' novels

* In Suggsverse (book series by Lionel C. Suggs), most of characters possess power beyond Omnipotence, which is impossible by logic and definition of Omnipotence.

* In Suggsverse (book series by Lionel C. Suggs), most of characters possess power beyond Omnipotence, which is impossible by logic and definition of Omnipotence.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Tolkien took a stab at implying {{Eldritch Abomination}}s by having Gandalf speak of unexplained creatures that were older than [[BigBad Sauron]] himself. However, creation myth in ''TheSilmarillion'' indicates that at first only [[{{God}} Eru]] existed, and then, while the world still did not exist, he created the Ainur... of which Sauron is one. So, while not implying this is how Tolkien thought of it, anything being older than Sauron is indeed pretty [[CosmicHorrorStory mind-bendingly Lovecraftian]], since they seem to have no possible place in Creation.

* This is at the heart of Franchise/HarryPotter's epithet, "The Boy Who Lived." He's the only known person to survive a direct hit by the [[OneHitKill Avada Kedavra]] spell. Later explained as ThePowerOfLove.