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->"''Long numbers divided by zero spray forth marigolds, goldilocks, foliage unseen in shadowed glades, where treefall and cries of 'wolf' go unheard.''"
-->--'''[[http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Aristocrats#Example_I One Example]]''' of a "TheAristocrats" joke
The characters did something so incredibly ''wrong'' that reality itself couldn't handle it. Could be the result of a TimeParadox, the result of a YinYangClash, or an [[UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject unstoppable force meeting an immovable object]], or the risk behind the ForbiddenChekhovsGun.
To divide a number by zero is the one thing elementary math teachers tell you that you [[LiesToChildren simply cannot do]] (but as usual, Real Life is more complicated than elementary school; see the [[Analysis/DivideByZero analysis page]] for details). It led to a joke on {{image board}}s, and older places, that if someone were to divide a number by zero, it would break reality. Someone making a suggestion that is severely unlikely is often compared to this. When TimeTravel is involved, usually results in a TimeCrash (and a FateWorseThanDeath for all involved). Expect phrases such as "ruptured the fabric of reality" or "created a warp in the space-time continuum" (the latter especially in humorously exaggerated instances) or simply that something "boggles the mind." An EldritchAbomination is something whose very nature is ''continuous division by zero itself''.
Compare AwesomenessIsVolatile, where ChuckNorris [[Website/ChuckNorrisFacts can divide by zero]].
See also LogicBomb, which can overlap with this. Often the LogicalExtreme of an EpicFail. Not to be confused with TheSingularity. Contrast BeyondTheImpossible (breaking internal logic) and UpToEleven (breaking a record). See also BreakingTheFourthWall, which is when a character violates ''fictional'' reality.
----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Advertisements]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NojiCsZQSr8 This]] Staples Easy Button commercial.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* The Limit of Questions is a metaphysical concept at play in the world of ''EurekaSeven'' that essentially sets a limit on the number of sentient lifeforms that can exist in a given space. If the Limit of Questions is exceeded, the fabric of reality starts to break down. [[spoiler:Colonel Dewey's goal with the Ageha Project is to ''deliberately'' exceed the Limit of Questions by awakening the scub coral, an enormous mass of a colonial alien life form that covers the planet and, as it turns out, is sentient. At one point in history, the scub by itself exceeded the Limit of Questions, but managed to fix things by going into a state of deep hibernation -- but not before a section of the planet was irrevocably screwed up, resulting in a chaotic region known as the Great Wall.]]
* The Espers are afraid that ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' will do this if she learns [[RealityWarper the truth about herself]].
* In ''[[MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Magical Chronicle Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'' there exists a spell "[[http://nanoha.wikia.com/wiki/Divide_Zero Divide Zero]]". (It is a [[WaveMotionGun powerful attack]] comparable to Nanoha's Starlight Breaker.)
* The climax of the first season of ''ShakuganNoShana'' had the villains exploiting a loophole with the ClingyMacGuffin inside TheProtagonist that fueled his existence; by [[{{Synchronization}} synchronizing]] with a character with an (implied) infinite capacity for Existence, the MacGuffin would generate infinite existence. It was implied that reality itself would blow up/collapse (yes, simultaneously) if this had been allowed to continue.
* In ''{{Slayers}}'' there was a 50/50 chance that Lina Inverse's "Giga Slave" spell would do this instead of defeating the BigBad. She only learns of that possibility ''after'' doing it, though, and lucked out.
** [[spoiler:The second time she used it, she got a different effect -- it summoned the Lord of Nightmares, who decided to just destroy the guy dicking around with the spell instead of destroying the world. Then got ''really'' merciful and decided to not kill Lina after all.]]
* In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', this is what the Anti-Spirals feared: with the Spiral beings' endless quest for the will to power, they will transmute so much mass that the universe collapses in a black hole called the Spiral Nemesis. There's also another example from TheMovie, Lagann-hen. [[spoiler:If collapsing a pocket universe with a [[BeamOWar drill power struggle]] isn't dividing by zero, nothing is.]]
* In ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', [[spoiler:to save Sakura's life, Syaoran]] broke the magical taboo of stopping a moment in time. The unraveling of the fabric of reality ensues. Later this is revealed to be part of a StableTimeLoop responsible for his very existence. And the real cause was Clow's momentary PowerIncontinence when he didn't want Yuuko to die, so he essentially told reality to ''ignore her death'' and act as if she was still alive, setting off the chain that led to later events.
* In the third arc of ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'', Beatrice says she'll use [[LanguageOfTruth red text]] to [[spoiler:deny the existence of witches]]. This results in a paradox which appears to destroy the entire Meta-World. [[spoiler:It ends up all being just a trick, though.]]
* In ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion The End of Evangelion]]'', this is what happens when two all-powerful Eldritch Abominations, Adam and Lilith, are combined with each other. One of the BridgeBunnies says something along the lines of "Their energy levels are converging on an infinite zero." when the Adam / Lilith merger begins to break the universe. [[GainaxEnding That would make a lot of sense.]]
** In mathematics "a zero" is another name for an input to an equation that would make the output zero (such as x=2 for y=2x-4). Ironically infinity would be a zero for (y=1/x) - that is, [[DivideByZero dividing by infinity]].
* [[TimeCrash Something very close to this]] happens in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. If you make a wish with indefinite duration (as opposed to instant wishes like "heal someone's crippled hand" or "save someone from the brink of death"), your wish is somehow tied to the passage of time. [[spoiler: Homura]]'s wish to save someone already dead turned her life into a GroundhogDayLoop, although she could control when she went back.
** In the finale, [[spoiler: Madoka]] pulls an even more audacious one. [[spoiler: Backed by the enormous amounts of karma Homura's time-loops have built up, she wishes to personally destroy every Witch, past, present and future - including hers. Cue Ultimate Madoka one-shotting her own evil future self and leaving the normal flow of time.]]
* Apparently, it was an intentional creation of an effect like this that created Zero Reverse, the disaster that occured roughly sixteen years(give or take) before the events of ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds''. From what we know, Rudger's deliberate sabotage of the Old Momentum Generator caused it to spin in reverse, causing it to create negative energy (a sort of "magical anti-matter") opening a portal to Hell with caused a cataclysm, destroying part of Domino City, killing thousands, and causing it to seperate from the mainland. Even worse, this is supposedly what awakened the [[EldritchAbomination Earthbound Gods]], which would cause trouble for the heroes in the present storyline.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comedy]]
* In Creator/TheFiresignTheatre's album ''Eat Or Be Eaten'', a gamer tries to go to band 100 of a 99 band disk, and is sucked into the game.
-->'''Player''': What the FUUUUUUUUU-
* At the end of GeorgeCarlin's special ''Life Is Worth Losing'', he talks about a broken water main in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles leading to more and more bizarre developments, eventually resulting in a wormhole opening above Earth, and all the dead people flooding out.
* A less metaphysical variation on this joke is the one suggesting that if every single person in China (well over 1 billion and counting) each climbed onto a chair and jumped down to the floor, the resulting shockwave would be so catastrophic it would cause the Earth to break out of its orbit and hurtle toward the Sun, incinerating all life on the planet. (The reality: [[CriticalResearchFailure No, wouldn't even come close.]]) When this joke is portrayed in visual media, it will usually depict a (non-Chinese) person seeing some people of Chinese descent standing on their chairs and immediately freaking out.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* According to Andy Riley's ''Great Lies to Tell Small Kids'', this will happen to reality if you ever Google the word "Google". (It's not true, of course, and you'll actually get more than thirteen ''billion'' results if you do, the first one being a link to the search engine itself.)
* TheFlash once broke the laws of time by traveling back in time to stop Professor Zoom from killing his mother. Reality ''really'' didn't take it well. The result: ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}''.
* ''{{Transmetropolitan}}'' at one point featured a man who had found a way to solve all of the world's problems and end all suffering by way of a complex math equation. When he finally solved the equation, it caused his apartment to explode.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In the Pokémon fanfic ''FanFic/AshsReturn'', a Pokémon battle is cut abruptly short by the command: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_paradox Make a Pokémon that defeats all Pokémon other than Pokémon that defeat themselves!]]"
* According to ''EvangelionReDeath'', this is what happens if you play ''1999'' by {{Prince}} any time on or after January 1, 2000. It's how Gendou intends to trigger the Third Impact and become [[spoiler: the Uber-Pimp]].
* In ''HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'', Harry precommits to a plan the use a StableTimeLoop to prime factor a number in constant time. His plan assumes the number is a product of exactly two primes and doesn't really cope with any other case. He tells the person creating the test number "I'm not sure what's going to happen to me or the universe if you make a multiplication error." [[spoiler: The answer is that he ends up getting a message from his future self that says "DO NOT MESS WITH TIME TRAVEL".]]
* In ''Fanfic/HappyEndings'', Snape speculates that one possible result of him dying while he is already supposed to be dead would involve the Western Hemisphere getting sucked into a black hole.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* In ''{{Dogma}}'' the one universal constant is that God is infallible. Proving Him/Her wrong would result in a DivideByZero event, essentially unmaking everything God had ever made, i.e., [[ApocalypseHow everything]].
* [[ForbiddenChekhovsGun Crossing the streams]] in ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' would result in "all life as you know it stopping instantaneously" and would cause "every molecule in your body to explode at the speed of light." Fortunately, the BigBad was already screwing with reality in the end so it turned out to be the one time it was the right thing to do.
** It helped that all instances of the streams being crossed happened within the ghost zone, where the physics are skewed so the result isn't the same as if it was done in the real world.
*** Alternate explanation: crossing the streams did result in as horrible an affect as Egon first explained. The reason the gate closed was because ''the other universe ceased to exist''.
*** This explanation is no longer valid as in the Videogame you continue and expand the story of the movies (and is completely canon) and the main villains, as Gozer, continue existing. So either Egon is a bit exaggerated (sort of like [[Film/BackToTheFuture Doc Brown]] with his theories of time crashes) or the Universe has way to deal with this.
*** Of course, in the videogame, crossing the streams just results in painful knock down. Maybe Egon fixed that problem, or it simply wasn't as bad as initially expected?
*** Egon told them to do this on purpose in the [[WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters cartoon version]] too; when they were falling from a great hight onto water, he shouted to aim at the water and cross the streams. It did save them, creating a waterspout to cushion their fall. Egon later confessed [[spoiler: that he did ''not'' know that would happen. He simply figured they had nothing to lose by trying it.]] (Again, the cartoon is not cannon if you take the second movie into account, and in this reality, Egon may have upgraded the packs since the first.)
**** In the games, there's a safety measure installed in the new proton packs that automatically shuts down the neutrona wand if the beams cross. The safety has to be turned off at the end in order for them to defeat the Destructor. Apparently the ghost world just has different laws of physics.
* The Nothing has this effect on the imaginary universe of ''Film/TheNeverendingStory''.
* BeingJohnMalkovich: There's a door into Malkovich's head that allows you to experience being him for fifteen minutes. Malkovich himself finds this door and goes in [[spoiler:and enters a world where everybody is him and speaks PokemonSpeak]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Nell uses an actual and deliberate divide by zero in ''Literature/TheDiamondAge'' to break one of the Primer's simulations.
* This is slowly happening to ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' multiverse as "thinnies" -- rips in the barriers between realities -- gobble up space and time because the BigBad is [[spoiler:using psychic energy]] to destroy the [[WorldTree titular tower]].
* Parodied in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novels, where one of Hex's quirky error messages is "Divide by Cucumber Error". Also, "Please reinstall universe and reboot."
** And let's not forget the effect of the first Glass Clock in ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', which [[TimeCrash shattered the whole of recorded history]]. The History Monks just about managed to patch it back together again, leaving behind only a couple of {{plot hole}}s.
** Also, in ''Mort'' when Mort says ScrewDestiny and [[spoiler:prevents the Princess Kelli's destined death]], he fears he has invoked this trope upon Reality itself.
* Ted Chiang's ''[[http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/i/division/ Division By Zero]]'' uses this as an analogy for the central mathematical conceit of the plot.
* In one of the dialogues from ''[[GodelEscherBach Gödel, Escher, Bach]]'', Achilles is granted permission by {{GOD}} to make one infinite-level Typeless Wish. He says, "I wish my wish would not be granted!" After this a LogicBomb goes off in a way that "cannot possibly be described, and so no attempt will be made to describe it", Achilles and the Tortoise find themselves in a totally unfamiliar environment. Achilles asks, "Did the earth come to a standstill? Did the universe cave in?" The Tortoise explains that they were InsideAComputerSystem and the paradoxical wish crashed it: "I'm sorry, Achilles--you blew it. You crashed the System, and you should thank our lucky stars that we're back at all. Things could have come out a lot worse."
* In ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', Arthur finds out that if anyone ever simultaneously knows both the answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything ''and'' what that question is, the entirety of existence would cease to exist and be replaced with something even stranger. It's also stated that this may already have happened. While writing the script for the movie Douglas Adams implied that each adaptation of the story was meant to be the result of this.
* In Aldous Huxley's ''Point Counter Point'' (1928), a [[UpperClassTwit dilettante marquess]] is attempting to mathematically prove the existence of God:
-->"You know the formula, ''m'' over nought equals infinity, ''m'' being any positive number? Well, why not reduce the equation to a simpler form by multiplying both sides by nought? In which case you have ''m'' equals infinity times nought. That is to say that a positive number is the product of zero and infinity. Doesn't that demonstrate the creation of the universe by an infinite power out of nothing? Doesn't it?"
-->"Well,"...
* The "bubbles of evil" in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' may count.
* {{Dragaera}}: Adron's Disaster
** To say nothing of the disaster that knocked the Jenoine from power.
* In SergeyLukyanenko's ''TheStarsAreColdToys'', member of the Counter race (living computers) manages to survive the [=FTL=] process developed by humans (it kills or drives insane all known aliens, while giving humans pure ecstasy). How does he do that? By dividing by zero in his head, which puts him into a temporary coma until his "systems" restart.
** Apparently, living computers can't understand the mathematical concept of undefined - the result of dividing by zero.
** Initially, a human character assumes the Counter is talking about Fermat's Last Theorem when describing an impossible mathematical operation. However, the Counter merely replies that the theorem is not impossible but simply incorrect. (Which is itself incorrect; Fermat's Last Theorem had been proven in 1995, before the novel was published.)
* The last three books of TheSwordOfTruth deal with a spell which creates a contradiction, by making a person exist and not exist at the same time, then these contradictions breed other contradictions... In short, the ultimate artifact of the series was created precisely for countering the spell before it unravels all reality.
** To be more precise - the Chainfire spell is so powerful and unstable that it expands exponentially, destroying all memory - creating contradictions and gaps growing ever larger beyond the scope of merely forgetting the original subject of the spell. In addition, the residual effect of the Chimes (entities from the underworld that erode away magic from the world of life simply by existing on this side of the veil) make the effect far more dangerous. Instead of just the Chainfire spell turning every thinking being into a blank, slobbering slate, you have a world soon to be filled with blank, slobbering slates and on the verge of a mass-extinction event.
*** To be even more precise: Chainfire, when invoked, was supposed to wipe all presence of its target from memory and history. Any relationship between an outside observer and that character was wiped clean, as if they never existed. Events in which that character participated are altered to remove them. Prophecies that mention them cease to be or are altered. False memories needed to prevent the appropriate paradoxes are implanted to fill those gaps. Outside observers ''do'' still see the subject, however the spell prevents the memory of seeing them from being stored the instant it's created. They don't exist as even a shadow in their mind. The lingering effects of the Chimes interfered with this process, leaving gaps in the coverage of the spell. Although the ''memory'' of [[spoiler: Kahlan]] was wiped clean, Chainfire failed to prevent some people from ''seeing'' [[spoiler: her]] as it was supposed to, thus creating the contradiction of a person who is not supposed to exist, existing. The Sword of Truth ''also'' causes elements of the spell to fail. Because Richard was holding the sword when the spell was cast, he was completely unaffected by it. Additionally, anyone who ''touched'' the sword would be able to partially see through its effects. Although their memories of the victim would not be restored, they ''would'' now be able to see them and recognize their existence.
* The Nothing has this effect on the imaginary universe of ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory''.
* Sort of the case in WenSpencer's EndlessBlue, where the Blue is reached by setting jump coordinates to zero (as far as everyone in-universe knows, setting jump coordinates to zero just means you vanish and never reappear).
* The titular ''Riddle of the Seven Realms'' is simple: Why does no fire burn in the realm of demons? The answer is just as simple: [[spoiler: Fire acts as a passage between other worlds and the demon realm. A fire within the demon realm opens into the void and would [[ApocalypseHow suck all of existence into said void]].]]
* [[AWizardDidIt Magically]] [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique weaponized]] in [[ABootStompingAHumanFaceForever 10 A BOOT STOMPING 20 A HUMAN FACE 30 GOTO 10]].[[spoiler: The necromancer protagonist discovers that he can not only summon the dead, but also fictional characters and ''[[MindScrew concepts]].'']]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Tom Paris broke the transwarp barrier on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'''s "Threshold", thereby achieving the fabled Warp 10, or infinite velocity. Impressive! It doesn't mess with the universe, but it does [[BodyHorror do weird things to him]]. A pity the episode was [[CanonDiscontinuity erased from canon]] (with good reason).
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': Using an [[NeglectfulPrecursors Ancient Project]] to create a super-energy source, [[InsufferableGenius Doctor Rodney Mckay]] accidentally makes particles that defy the laws of physics. The result? He [[NeverLiveitDown repeatedly gets called out for destroying an entire solar system]]!
** [[InsistentTerminology Five sixths]] [[RunningGag of a solar system.]]
* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', this would be the result of detonating [[spoiler:Davros']] "reality bomb". It "destroys reality" but dissolving the bonds that hold molecules together, effecting dissolving all matter into its constituent particles.
** In series 5 we are seeing "cracks" in time and space in almost every episode which release energy that are un-writing time, erasing things from existence to where they never existed at all. The Doctor implies these cracks are the result of a future event where someone may have divided by zero...[[spoiler:Turns out it was the TARDIS itself, the event in question being the TARDIS exploding, causing all of time and space to explode and cease to exist. Yikes!]]
** The ''Space'' and ''Time'' specials presented a scenario where, in order to make a safe landing, the TARDIS divided by zero and landed in the only safe place available...inside itself. The Doctor is ''a little concerned'' about this.
* In ''{{Dollhouse}}'' Adelle suggests this would be the result when the Doll Victor's current imprint mentioned the possibility of him paying to get the services of a Doll (he refused the idea, by the way).
* ''Series/MADTv'' parody ''I Love the 00's'' has the commentators talk about things in the 00's (like ''Series/AmericanIdol'', Janet Jackson's boob exposure, ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'', etc.). Eventually, the show manages to catch up with itself, showing clips from that exact show piling up on top of each other, leaving the commentators screaming and the world blowing up!
** HilariousInHindsight as VH1 ended up doing an ''I Love'' series on the 00's, entitled ''I Love The New Millenium'', which both was done in 2008, before the decade ended, and in which the commentators discussed many of those same subjects.
* It's not exactly the end of the world, but on an episode of {{Newsradio}}, photocopying a mirror causes a building-wide blackout.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' has the ''hero'' do this '''On purpose'''. Well, it's one way to get warmongers to realize that they're playing with fire...
-->'''Crichton''': (commenting on his brand spanking new [[OurWormholesAreDifferent Wormhole]] [[SuperweaponSurprise Weapon]]) ''Okay boys and girls, here are the rules. Find a penny, pick it up. Double it, you've got two pennies. Double it again: four. Double it 27 more times, and you've got a million dollars and the IRS all over your ass. Round and round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows, but it all adds up... quick. ...It eats the whole universe, a monumental black hole, a giant whirling headstone marking the spot where we all used to live and play and slaughter the innocent.''
* ''Series/SquareOneTV'' had the ShowWithinAShow "Oops!", where a mathematician makes a mistake that causes a certain disaster to happen, eg incorrectly multiplying 603 by 7 causes Galloping Gertie to collapse.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'' presents us with a strategy briefly toyed with by the Earth Alliance known as the [[TooDumbToLive Bonehead Maneuver]][[note]][[RubberForeheadAliens No offense intended towards the Minbari]][[/note]], where a ship would open a jump point inside of an active jump gate. This resulted in a massive explosion that simply proved to be too powerful and fast for the ship in question to escape. Any ship big enough to create its own jump gates tended to be too slow for this to work, until the ''White Star'' came along, after which the strategy was still too risky to try more than once.
* In ''TheITCrowd'', [[PointyHairedBoss Jen]] is told by Moss and Roy that if you type "google" into Website/{{Google}} it will "break the internet" and she is laughed at during a meeting for believing this. Another episode has them try to have her make a fool out of herself again, this time telling her the internet is contained in a black box and that if anything happened to it, it would be TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. When Jen relays this information during a speech, [[EpicFail everyone believes her and a riot starts when the box is actually destroyed]]. Moss and Roy still find the results entertaining.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* Inverted in BobDylan's "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" ([Love - 0]/∞)
* "Two Divided By Zero" by PetShopBoys.
* Inverted in JethroTull's "One White Duck / 0[[superscript:10]] = Nothing At All"
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''DungeonsAndDragons'', putting a BagOfHolding into a Portable Hole or vice-versa tends to create a big rift into the Astral Plane, destroying whatever was in those items, and do bad things to the surrounding area.
-->[[http://forum.rpg.net/archive/index.php/t-221494.html "If at any time you're the last person standing, with absolutely no way to save us, fling the bag of holding into the portable hole and pray."]]
** After a bit of rules-lawyering and no shortage of Munchkin-like antics, someone developed a "black hole arrow/bolt." Essentially it's an arrow or crossbow bolt with a bag of holding and portable hole attached. They remain separated until fired, at which point the portable hole opens up. Thanks to Newton's laws of physics, when the arrow and bag of holding stop, the hole keeps going, swallowing both and leading to the horrible, horrible atrocity against nature. No sane DM would allow this. [[KillerDM Some, however, would]], and then [[RocksFallEveryoneDies severely punish the players]] for tampering with reality. [[spoiler:Or remember that canonically the result depends on which of these is stuffed into which.]] It should be noted that these arrows are quite expensive though.
*** A variant of this is described in the ''Elder Evils'' sourcebook. Putting a [[SphereOfDestruction Sphere of Annihilation]] into a Well of Many Worlds creates a ''black hole'' - which proceeds to ''[[ApocalypseHow swallow up the entire Material Plane in a matter of minutes]]'' barring divine intervention.
**** A Sphere of Annihilation on its own should qualify, as it is literally a hole in the continuity of the multiverse. And considering it is an artifact, that means it was built.
** Much the same happens with any two "extradimensional interfaces", with specific effect defined by the one undergoing the transformation, i.e. "inner", if appliable -- usually destroying both. AD&D's ''Tome of Magic'' added 3 more -- Flatbox always explodes; Warp Marble always safely deactivates, dumping the stored creature to the Astral Plane (both also do the same when subjected to any form of teleportation); Dimensional Mine does nothing, but spews any extradimensional space it enters into the Astral Plane, which destroys the item creating the pocket, if any, but not the mine ("Hey, guys, I found a cool figurine on the Astral!"). Rulings on non-permanent spells with such effects (Deeppockets, Rope Trick, Extradimensional Pocket) vary.
** There is also the incredibly old demon lord ''Pale Night'' who appears as a female humanoid wrapped in a shroud. The shroud is however not part of herself, but Reality's desperate attempt to hide her true form from the rest of the multiverse. She has the ability to shed the shroud for a short moment and having a very strong WeirdnessCensor is the only thing that prevents everyone from being annihilated by trying to make sense of what they saw.
** The multi-setting crossover AD&D module ''Die Vecna Die!'' justified the changes between 2nd and 3rd Edition in-universe, as a result of Vecna the lich-god Dividing Reality By Zero when he escaped from {{Ravenloft}} to {{Planescape}}.
* This is the premise behind the ''Time Spiral'' block/story arc of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''. Essentially, all the near-apocalyptic scenarios that Dominaria (the core plane of the multiverse) has been through in the previous arcs have caused the fabric of reality to become unstable, causing rifts between timelines and universes that threaten to destroy all that exists.
* In the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' TradingCardGame, hitting The Immovable Object (a shield) with The Unstoppable Force (a 2-handed mace) will destroy both objects.
* The very existence of an afterlife in ''{{Exalted}}'' is one of these. When the Primordials made Creation, they made the cycle of Lethe, wherein mortal souls would pass on once they died and enter the stream of reincarnation, stripped of pretty much all the memories of their past life. This process wasn't meant for the Primordials, though, as they honestly believed they couldn't die. The Exalted proved differently during the Primordial War, creating some of the [[EldritchAbomination Neverborn]], from which the wastes of the Underworld and the metaphysical existence of ghosts were born.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', Mario and Luigi have access to an area inside of Bowser that has warp pipes that lead to areas in the Mushroom Kingdom, outside of Bowser. Bowser himself can't access these warp pipes for obvious reasons. Theoretically however, if Bowser were to enter one of those warp pipes... which lead to an area inside of himself... This trope may very well be used.
* [[BigBad Sorceress Ultimecia]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' deliberately attempts this via the [[MentalTimeTravel Ellone Junction Machine]]... and then Ellone herself. By flinging her own consciousness further back in time and taking for herself the powers of all the Sorceresses preceding her (a Sorceress ''must'' bequeath her power to someone else before dying,) all the way back to the very first Sorceress, [[TimeParadox she gives linear causality such a wedgie]] that [[TimeCrash all time is compressed]], all reality frozen [[ThePlan (except for the heroes who allow this to happen so they can exploit]] it and [[FinalBattle show up at Ultimecia's front door]])/
** [[spoiler:And, again, a Sorceress ''must'' bequeath her power to someone else before dying. [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Defeating Ultimecia]] forces her to give her powers to Edea before time unfreezes, creating a StableTimeLoop with a possible OntologicalParadox.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'', there is a secret device called the Null Driver, and when used, It causes the game to glitch out, and also destroys all enemies on screen. It disappears once you exit the game, as do the glitches.
* Dividing by Zero is what allows a TimeParadox to occur in the LegacyOfKain timeline: Because the past is essentially immutable and [[YouAlreadyChangedThePast everything moves in a linear timeline]], the only way to subvert that timeline is to introduce two instances of the same entity from different points in history to one-another -- generally this role is fulfilled by the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Soul Reaver blade]], either as Kain's physical sword or as Raziel's ethereal wraith blade. [[spoiler:Since the soul-eating aspect of the blade is in fact Raziel's spirit, Raziel, once he acquires the blade as a weapon, is a walking paradox, able to ScrewDestiny with every action he takes - which is why everyone in the world wants him as a pawn.]]
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' is a {{prequel}} to the series. If you kill a character who is still alive in the future, you'll be yelled at by your (future!) commander because you created a TimeParadox.
** If you choose the "No" option on the Game Over screen, it will also read "TIME PARADOX", because the Snake you are playing as in this one is Big Boss.
** Which, when done in the English version, completely kills a ShoutOut to Film/BackToTheFuture because [[HeyItsThatVoice said commander's seiyuu also voiced Doc Brown]].
* The Unrepeatable Bug, an enemy in ''SuperheroLeagueOfHoboken'', can divide by zero to cause moderate damage to an opponent. The text notes that the victim "didn't avert his/her eyes in time".
* What created the Chaos Heart black hole that threatens to consume the entire [[TheMultiverse Multiverse]] in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''? [[BigBad Bowser]] and [[DamselInDistress Princess Peach]] getting "married". Granted, Peach was being mind controlled and everyone (other than Bowser) agrees it didn't count, but apparently reality thought it was close enough and it was enough to start everything come crashing down.
* In the mythology of ''{{Suikoden}}'', Sword (a being that could destroy anything) and Shield (an indestructible being) got into a fight. When Sword struck Shield, both shattered into 27 pieces, the True Runes. And the Big Bang.
* In a bit of a StealthPun example, bosses and enemies in the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' games explode after being [[IncrediblyLamePun divided by Zero]] via Z-Saber slashing. Very likely unintentional, but funny nonetheless.
** [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DIVISION_BY_ZERO_4150.JPG This picture]] brings the pun into [[DiagonalCut its logical conclusion.]]
* Franchise/TheElderScrolls calls such events "Dragon Breaks", where the god of time, known by many names and guises, but most prominently as a dragon god "Akatosh", is tampered with.
** In the first era, a remnant of a once-powerful organization of [[FantasticRacism anti-elf inquisitors]] carried out a ritual in attempt to purge Akatosh of the elven aspects of the mythological basis that Akatosh was based on, the elven golden eagle god Auri-El. The effort proceeded to break Time for a period of a bit over 1000 years. How could they measure how long that period was? The Khajiit, a cat-like race on Tamriel whose mythology was heavily steeped in the two moons, used those as a basis for time.
** The giant brass golem [[HumongousMecha Numidium]] was built by the Dwemer, an extinct race of elves commonly mislabeled as "dwarves" who were essentially [[FlatEarthAtheist atheists in a world where gods were very real]]. Numidium was essentially their refutation of the gods made material. Numidium had a nasty habit of causing Dragon Breaks because of this, such as the temporal toxic waste dump in Eleswyr where Tiber Septim's mages tried to figure it out after the Dunmer Tribunal gave it to him as a tribute, or the Warp In The West, where all the endings in Daggerfall essentially simultaneously happened and the temporal paradox was so straining on reality that a nuclear-like explosion occurred.
** The Scrolls themselves can cause a mild version of this depending on who reads them. Someone who is completely untrained in the history and nature of the Scrolls just sees the page picture for the main ''Elder Scrolls'' page. Someone with slight training is struck blind immediately. People with great training (e.g. members of the Cult of the Ancestor Moth in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'') gradually go blind as they read more of the scrolls. Then we have the Dovahkiin in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''. Dragonborn are mortals with the soul of a dragon, and [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons exist outside of time]]. Reading the Scroll you obtain as part of ''Skyrim's'' main quest results in being momentarily blinded, then recovering. It's like the universe needed to reboot or something...
* The ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' games sometimes had zero-length lines in their maps (especially in third-party maps) which would cause a 680x0 processor to attempt to divide by zero and crash.
* This is the spectacular effect of using the Pandora's Box in ''ShadowMadness''.
* In the BackStory of ''{{Lusternia}}'', a conflict between the cities of Hallifax and Gaudiguch had the [[ArchEnemy fierce enemies]] breaking out their resident [[DoomsdayDevice superweapons]] to decimate the other. Unfortunately, the two opposing elements did not react well together. The resultant cataclysm [[BrownNote psychically devastated]] every living entity on the ''planet'', and sealed both cities in a different dimension for over ''five hundred years''.
* In ''GranTurismo 3'', if you pop a wheelie with a properly-tuned Escudo, you can reach the speed of [[PowersOfTwoMinusOne 2,147,483,647]] mph (that's FTLTravel there), which crashes the game.
* While it doesn't take place in ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', some dialog plays with it.
-->'''Cave Johnson:''' This next test may involve trace amounts of time travel. So, word of advice, if you meet yourself on the testing track, don't make eye contract. Lab boys tell me that'll wipe out time. Entirely. Forward and backward. So do yourselves a favor and let that handsome devil go about his business.
* VideoGame/{{EarthBound}} has the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yPVBE7BWNU "Simultaneous Defeat Glitch".]] It is triggered when, in a party of two or more, all party members are finished off by the damage an exploding enemy inflicts upon death. The game decides you win with zero alive members and, as always after a battle, tries to divide any experience gained between your alive party members - in this case, zero of them, resulting in [[PowersOfTwoMinusOne 4294940287 exp.]] which is unfortunately unobtainable.
* In SonicShuffle, if you get a Carbuncle item and have no other Force Jewels, it ''eats itself''.
* ''SystemShock2'' features broken vending machines that cannot be used until repaired using sufficient Repair skill or a repair kit. The glitched interface of the broken machine features "division by zero" among the flood of garbage data, presumably the source of the problem.
* The interactive fiction game ''Lost'' gave the player a box which contained a pocket dimension, eliminating problems of inventory size and weight. It did come with a caution to not put any container inside said box; doing so results in this trope.
* ''EscapeFromMonkeyIsland'' has the Mysts O' Tyme, a marsh where time doesn't...work properly. At one point, Guybrush needs to get through a gate, but he doesn't have the key. Another Guybrush on an identical raft rows up to the gate, and declares he's Guybrush from the future. He says a few things, then hands Guybrush a bunch of items, including the gate key. After going through and rowing around for a while, Guybrush meets his past self from the other side of the gate. If he doesn't say the exact same lines his other self said, or he doesn't hand past Guybrush the items in the right order, he triggers a paradox, summoning a scary vortex (which thankfully only deposits him a few minutes into the past, letting him try again). Also counts as a StableTimeLoop, since it's never explained where those items came from in the first place.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In the ''Webcomic/AndShineHeavenNow'' arc crossing over with ''Anime/ReadOrDie'', abuse of TimeTravel by the heroes and villains ends up creating a literal PlotHole which nearly destroys the Universe.
* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'': While it doesn't get to this point, Fighter is probably stupid enough to do this by existing.
** It doesn't get to this point? [[TooDumbToLive Black Belt]] '''created a clone of himself''' using this as an excuse. Somehow, he got '''so''' lost that he broke space and time.
*** And do note, he got this completly lost that it broke reality, while walking down a straight hallway.
* IrregularWebcomic! Do not ever mess with time travel.
* In the ''ProblemSleuth'' stories of ''Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures'', dropping one of a pair of connected portals through its own counterpart causes this.
* In ''Webcomic/RealLifeComics'', Greg Dean parodies the possibilities of rune combinations in ''{{VideoGame/Diablo}} II'' [[http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/010709.html in this strip]] by making a sword with a 10% chance of annihilating the space-time continuum.
* [[InstantAIJustAddWater Ennesby]] of ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' uses this as a curse: "Divide me by zero!"
* ''TheUnspeakableVaultOfDoom'' has another literal example of division by zero. The unfortunate mathematician is promptly [[CthulhuMythos introduced to Yog Sogoth]].
* Dividing by zero apparently creates invisible paint in ''TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella''.
* One ''Webcomic/{{Subnormality}}'' strip features a scientist who creates an "anti-Gandhi" who is dressed in a fancy business suit, has thick red hair and a beard, and practices "violent nonresistance." The idea is so stupid that [[EarthShatteringKaboom the Earth blows up]].
* In [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/12062011/ this]] ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' strip [[FanNickname Psimax]] appears to be deliberately attempting this trope. He wants to mathematically "prove that one equals zero," thereby unmaking the pocket universe where he and a number of other alternate realities are fighting.
* According to ''AbstruseGoose'', [[http://abstrusegoose.com/440 division by zero]] is the solution to {{Vaporware}}.
* In ''TheDragonDoctors'', this caused the most recent collapse of civilization. We're not clear on the mechanics, but someone went back in time, killed herself, and left a ghost, causing something that didn't quite exist and mauled reality.
* ''Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield'' has a couple of examples. [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=316 Garfield/0]] shows an infinite number of Garfields, and in [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=1453 Reverse Change]], the site explodes because [[ItMakesSenseInContext they're making pudding pops again.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* ChuckNorris [[Website/ChuckNorrisFacts doesn't divide by zero]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX Ze]][[VideoGame/MegaManZero ro]] [[InSovietRussiaTropeMocksYou divides by]] ChuckNorris.
** [[EpilepticTrees OF COURSE, THAT'S IT!!! ZERO IS SO BADASS BECAUSE HE DIVIDES HIS ENEMIES BY CHUCK NORRIS USING HIS SWORD!!!]]
* [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-225 SCP-225]] is an illustration of the classic "[[YinYangClash unstoppable force vs. immovable object]]" paradox. The Wiki/SCPFoundation is concerned about the possible consequences of the two objects colliding. They believe that if the objects annihilate each other, they would release at minimum power equivalent to a ''gigatons'' strong nuclear explosion. The possible result if they ''don't'' destroy each other on impact is apparently ''even worse'' -- ''planetary evacuation'' wouldn't be enough to save the human race.
* In ''Literature/FineStructure'' this is sometimes done intentionally to attract the attention of the Imprisoning God, which stamps down hard on such violations. However, one particular event -- [[spoiler:dropping the immortal Anne Poole into a black hole]] -- breaks physics so badly that even the Imprisoning God goes into failure mode.
* In the [[Website/ThingsOfInterest Ed stories]], Ed briefly accessing the Root Layer causes a Class X-3 ApocalypseHow on the Andromeda galaxy.
* The time paradox version happens at the end of the WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries version of the crossover movie - [[TheDitz Jaden]] tells Yugi what happens at the end of his series, causing an explosion, and when it clears they're all in an endless white void.
* Almost happened in audio format [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqgEm8XWXu8 here]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DFed7jG3i8 The Last Denominator]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' revealed that this is essentially what happens if Mandy ever smiles in a joyful (rather than sinister) manner. The ultimate outcome? Billy, Mandy, and the GrimReaper wind up [[CrossoverPunchline literally becoming the]] ''[[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls Powerpuff Girls]]''.
** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And Irwin becomes Mojo Jojo]].
* [[TheSmartGuy Egon]] of ''TheRealGhostbusters'' manages to [[ExplosiveInstrumentation overload his calculator]] with an ''offensive football play'' that, if executed, would not only completely collapse the defense but perhaps all known space as well.
** There was also the episode "The Hole in the Wall Gang". In a haunted house, ghosts were spawned out of holes in the wall, and how big and powerful the ghost was depended on the size of the hole. (Small hole, weak ghost, big hole, strong ghost.) This created a problem when fighting them blew a ''huge'' hole in the wall, with the potential to spawn the worst monster they had ever fought. Egon quickly determined that placing a smaller hole inside the big hole could dispell the effect, but he aborted the plan upon realizing it might also cause a DividedByZero situation and cause the entire universe to implode. But [[FromBadToWorse it only got worse]] when the creature destroyed the whole house, making the hole ''much'' bigger, and giving them no choice but to risk the first plan. Fortunately, the risk paid off.
* In the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' movie, Bender causes this by gathering a whole bunch of time-duplicates of himself from his many trips back in time and convincing them not to come out when they were supposed to.
** A WhatIf episode deals with what would happen if Fry never came to the future-the result is the universe collapsing on itself, with Fry, [[ItMakesSenseInContext Stephen Hawking, Al Gore, Gary Gygax, Nichelle Nichols and Deep Blue]] getting sucked into untime. Which is pretty damn good FridgeBrilliance: [[spoiler:Fry's existence is a StableTimeLoop that requires the Planet Express ship.]]
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has Finn blowing a ''fourth dimensional bubble'' which caused a black hole to form due to its sheer impossibility.
-->'''Finn:''' A fourth-dimensional bubble casts a three-dimensional shadow. [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm It is beyond COMPREHENSION]]! Beyond space! BEYOND TIME!\\
'''Princess Bubblegum:''' Finn, that would mean you've created--\\
'''Finn:''' Yes... '''A BLACK HOLE!'''
* In one of the WesternAnimation/DCNation ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' shorts, Cyborg and Robin get into an escalating war of ThisIsMySide, which ends when they start a fight over the tape they were dividing things with, which blows up the whole planet.
-->'''Cyborg:''' You can't divide tape with tape! You created a paradox!
-->'''Robin:''' [[NoYou No, you did!]]
* One episode of TheAmazingWorldOfGumball reveals that this is the ultimate result of [[FelonyMisdemeanor Gumball's father getting a job]]. [[StatusQuoIsGod Naturally, the cast has to get him fired]] or else [[FridgeHorror the universe would cease to exist]].
* A ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short featuring the Tasmanian Devil displays a kangaroo retreating from Taz by leaping into her own pouch.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* In Einstein's equations for the theory of General Relativity, there is one point in which, for certain situations, you would have to divide by 0. Most probably both the TropeNamer and TropeCreator, as the result of it is the equation that describes Black Holes. As is often the case with theoretical science, the gritty details are more complicated:
** When physics equations result in divisions by zero, it's a cue to physicists that there is a problem in the theory. In this case, it's because the current standard theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics don't play well together - which means that one or both of these current theories must be wrong. The fact that we know this doesn't cause practical problems: in practice, we can use either one or the other, because relativity only matters when massive objects are involved and quantum mechanics only matters on very small scales, but in the rare circumstances where there are supermassive objects on tiny scales (i.e. the core of a black hole or the beginning of the universe) we start to run into the limitations of the standard model. (There are numerous alternate theories which do resolve these paradoxes, though)
* There's also an old algebraic parlor trick which uses a stealthy version of this trope to [[http://www.mathmojo.com/interestinglessons/1equals2/1equals2.html "prove" that 1=2]]. This also serves as a ''reductio ad absurdum'' demonstration of why numeric logic forbids mathematicians to divide by zero.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rip The Big Rip]], a possible fate of the universe, where its expansion accelerates until everything is moving away from each other infinitely quickly. By then, everything in the universe will be infinitely far apart. Also, because time slows down as things approach the speed of light, and everything is moving faster than light, time itself will malfunction and self-destruct.
** That being said, whether the universe is headed towards a Big Rip or not depends on the quantity of dark matter in the universe. Estimates put it either at the amount or extremely close to the amount that, if placed into an equation determining the ultimate age of the universe, would result in a denominator of zero, making it a literal case of Divide by Zero. (In this instance, the universe will reach a certain size and stay at that size forever.)
* 0/0 is consistent with any number. If one gets an expression leading to 0/0, it means one has to reformulate the problem. (For example, the 0/0 expression for the energy of a massless particle moving at light-speed. It's fixed by eliminating the particle's speed in favor of its momentum.)
* Division by zero is undefined in mathematical systems that obey most of the usual rules of arithmetic, known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_%28mathematics%29 rings]]. However, there are certain other systems such as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_real_line extended real line]] and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_projective_line real projective line]] where division by zero is meaningful (and "infinite" in some sense).
[[/folder]]
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%% Please see thread to discuss a new image.
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->"''Long numbers divided by zero spray forth marigolds, goldilocks, foliage unseen in shadowed glades, where treefall and cries of 'wolf' go unheard.''"
-->--'''[[http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Aristocrats#Example_I One Example]]''' of a "TheAristocrats" joke
The characters did something so incredibly ''wrong'' that reality itself couldn't handle it. Could be the result of a TimeParadox, the result of a YinYangClash, or an [[UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject unstoppable force meeting an immovable object]], or the risk behind the ForbiddenChekhovsGun.
To divide a number by zero is the one thing elementary math teachers tell you that you [[LiesToChildren simply cannot do]] (but as usual, Real Life is more complicated than elementary school; see the [[Analysis/DivideByZero analysis page]] for details). It led to a joke on {{image board}}s, and older places, that if someone were to divide a number by zero, it would break reality. Someone making a suggestion that is severely unlikely is often compared to this. When TimeTravel is involved, usually results in a TimeCrash (and a FateWorseThanDeath for all involved). Expect phrases such as "ruptured the fabric of reality" or "created a warp in the space-time continuum" (the latter especially in humorously exaggerated instances) or simply that something "boggles the mind." An EldritchAbomination is something whose very nature is ''continuous division by zero itself''.
Compare AwesomenessIsVolatile, where ChuckNorris [[Website/ChuckNorrisFacts can divide by zero]].
See also LogicBomb, which can overlap with this. Often the LogicalExtreme of an EpicFail. Not to be confused with TheSingularity. Contrast BeyondTheImpossible (breaking internal logic) and UpToEleven (breaking a record). See also BreakingTheFourthWall, which is when a character violates ''fictional'' reality.
----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Advertisements]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NojiCsZQSr8 This]] Staples Easy Button commercial.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* The Limit of Questions is a metaphysical concept at play in the world of ''EurekaSeven'' that essentially sets a limit on the number of sentient lifeforms that can exist in a given space. If the Limit of Questions is exceeded, the fabric of reality starts to break down. [[spoiler:Colonel Dewey's goal with the Ageha Project is to ''deliberately'' exceed the Limit of Questions by awakening the scub coral, an enormous mass of a colonial alien life form that covers the planet and, as it turns out, is sentient. At one point in history, the scub by itself exceeded the Limit of Questions, but managed to fix things by going into a state of deep hibernation -- but not before a section of the planet was irrevocably screwed up, resulting in a chaotic region known as the Great Wall.]]
* The Espers are afraid that ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' will do this if she learns [[RealityWarper the truth about herself]].
* In ''[[MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Magical Chronicle Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'' there exists a spell "[[http://nanoha.wikia.com/wiki/Divide_Zero Divide Zero]]". (It is a [[WaveMotionGun powerful attack]] comparable to Nanoha's Starlight Breaker.)
* The climax of the first season of ''ShakuganNoShana'' had the villains exploiting a loophole with the ClingyMacGuffin inside TheProtagonist that fueled his existence; by [[{{Synchronization}} synchronizing]] with a character with an (implied) infinite capacity for Existence, the MacGuffin would generate infinite existence. It was implied that reality itself would blow up/collapse (yes, simultaneously) if this had been allowed to continue.
* In ''{{Slayers}}'' there was a 50/50 chance that Lina Inverse's "Giga Slave" spell would do this instead of defeating the BigBad. She only learns of that possibility ''after'' doing it, though, and lucked out.
** [[spoiler:The second time she used it, she got a different effect -- it summoned the Lord of Nightmares, who decided to just destroy the guy dicking around with the spell instead of destroying the world. Then got ''really'' merciful and decided to not kill Lina after all.]]
* In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', this is what the Anti-Spirals feared: with the Spiral beings' endless quest for the will to power, they will transmute so much mass that the universe collapses in a black hole called the Spiral Nemesis. There's also another example from TheMovie, Lagann-hen. [[spoiler:If collapsing a pocket universe with a [[BeamOWar drill power struggle]] isn't dividing by zero, nothing is.]]
* In ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', [[spoiler:to save Sakura's life, Syaoran]] broke the magical taboo of stopping a moment in time. The unraveling of the fabric of reality ensues. Later this is revealed to be part of a StableTimeLoop responsible for his very existence. And the real cause was Clow's momentary PowerIncontinence when he didn't want Yuuko to die, so he essentially told reality to ''ignore her death'' and act as if she was still alive, setting off the chain that led to later events.
* In the third arc of ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'', Beatrice says she'll use [[LanguageOfTruth red text]] to [[spoiler:deny the existence of witches]]. This results in a paradox which appears to destroy the entire Meta-World. [[spoiler:It ends up all being just a trick, though.]]
* In ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion The End of Evangelion]]'', this is what happens when two all-powerful Eldritch Abominations, Adam and Lilith, are combined with each other. One of the BridgeBunnies says something along the lines of "Their energy levels are converging on an infinite zero." when the Adam / Lilith merger begins to break the universe. [[GainaxEnding That would make a lot of sense.]]
** In mathematics "a zero" is another name for an input to an equation that would make the output zero (such as x=2 for y=2x-4). Ironically infinity would be a zero for (y=1/x) - that is, [[DivideByZero dividing by infinity]].
* [[TimeCrash Something very close to this]] happens in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. If you make a wish with indefinite duration (as opposed to instant wishes like "heal someone's crippled hand" or "save someone from the brink of death"), your wish is somehow tied to the passage of time. [[spoiler: Homura]]'s wish to save someone already dead turned her life into a GroundhogDayLoop, although she could control when she went back.
** In the finale, [[spoiler: Madoka]] pulls an even more audacious one. [[spoiler: Backed by the enormous amounts of karma Homura's time-loops have built up, she wishes to personally destroy every Witch, past, present and future - including hers. Cue Ultimate Madoka one-shotting her own evil future self and leaving the normal flow of time.]]
* Apparently, it was an intentional creation of an effect like this that created Zero Reverse, the disaster that occured roughly sixteen years(give or take) before the events of ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds''. From what we know, Rudger's deliberate sabotage of the Old Momentum Generator caused it to spin in reverse, causing it to create negative energy (a sort of "magical anti-matter") opening a portal to Hell with caused a cataclysm, destroying part of Domino City, killing thousands, and causing it to seperate from the mainland. Even worse, this is supposedly what awakened the [[EldritchAbomination Earthbound Gods]], which would cause trouble for the heroes in the present storyline.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comedy]]
* In Creator/TheFiresignTheatre's album ''Eat Or Be Eaten'', a gamer tries to go to band 100 of a 99 band disk, and is sucked into the game.
-->'''Player''': What the FUUUUUUUUU-
* At the end of GeorgeCarlin's special ''Life Is Worth Losing'', he talks about a broken water main in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles leading to more and more bizarre developments, eventually resulting in a wormhole opening above Earth, and all the dead people flooding out.
* A less metaphysical variation on this joke is the one suggesting that if every single person in China (well over 1 billion and counting) each climbed onto a chair and jumped down to the floor, the resulting shockwave would be so catastrophic it would cause the Earth to break out of its orbit and hurtle toward the Sun, incinerating all life on the planet. (The reality: [[CriticalResearchFailure No, wouldn't even come close.]]) When this joke is portrayed in visual media, it will usually depict a (non-Chinese) person seeing some people of Chinese descent standing on their chairs and immediately freaking out.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* According to Andy Riley's ''Great Lies to Tell Small Kids'', this will happen to reality if you ever Google the word "Google". (It's not true, of course, and you'll actually get more than thirteen ''billion'' results if you do, the first one being a link to the search engine itself.)
* TheFlash once broke the laws of time by traveling back in time to stop Professor Zoom from killing his mother. Reality ''really'' didn't take it well. The result: ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}''.
* ''{{Transmetropolitan}}'' at one point featured a man who had found a way to solve all of the world's problems and end all suffering by way of a complex math equation. When he finally solved the equation, it caused his apartment to explode.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In the Pokémon fanfic ''FanFic/AshsReturn'', a Pokémon battle is cut abruptly short by the command: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_paradox Make a Pokémon that defeats all Pokémon other than Pokémon that defeat themselves!]]"
* According to ''EvangelionReDeath'', this is what happens if you play ''1999'' by {{Prince}} any time on or after January 1, 2000. It's how Gendou intends to trigger the Third Impact and become [[spoiler: the Uber-Pimp]].
* In ''HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'', Harry precommits to a plan the use a StableTimeLoop to prime factor a number in constant time. His plan assumes the number is a product of exactly two primes and doesn't really cope with any other case. He tells the person creating the test number "I'm not sure what's going to happen to me or the universe if you make a multiplication error." [[spoiler: The answer is that he ends up getting a message from his future self that says "DO NOT MESS WITH TIME TRAVEL".]]
* In ''Fanfic/HappyEndings'', Snape speculates that one possible result of him dying while he is already supposed to be dead would involve the Western Hemisphere getting sucked into a black hole.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* In ''{{Dogma}}'' the one universal constant is that God is infallible. Proving Him/Her wrong would result in a DivideByZero event, essentially unmaking everything God had ever made, i.e., [[ApocalypseHow everything]].
* [[ForbiddenChekhovsGun Crossing the streams]] in ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' would result in "all life as you know it stopping instantaneously" and would cause "every molecule in your body to explode at the speed of light." Fortunately, the BigBad was already screwing with reality in the end so it turned out to be the one time it was the right thing to do.
** It helped that all instances of the streams being crossed happened within the ghost zone, where the physics are skewed so the result isn't the same as if it was done in the real world.
*** Alternate explanation: crossing the streams did result in as horrible an affect as Egon first explained. The reason the gate closed was because ''the other universe ceased to exist''.
*** This explanation is no longer valid as in the Videogame you continue and expand the story of the movies (and is completely canon) and the main villains, as Gozer, continue existing. So either Egon is a bit exaggerated (sort of like [[Film/BackToTheFuture Doc Brown]] with his theories of time crashes) or the Universe has way to deal with this.
*** Of course, in the videogame, crossing the streams just results in painful knock down. Maybe Egon fixed that problem, or it simply wasn't as bad as initially expected?
*** Egon told them to do this on purpose in the [[WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters cartoon version]] too; when they were falling from a great hight onto water, he shouted to aim at the water and cross the streams. It did save them, creating a waterspout to cushion their fall. Egon later confessed [[spoiler: that he did ''not'' know that would happen. He simply figured they had nothing to lose by trying it.]] (Again, the cartoon is not cannon if you take the second movie into account, and in this reality, Egon may have upgraded the packs since the first.)
**** In the games, there's a safety measure installed in the new proton packs that automatically shuts down the neutrona wand if the beams cross. The safety has to be turned off at the end in order for them to defeat the Destructor. Apparently the ghost world just has different laws of physics.
* The Nothing has this effect on the imaginary universe of ''Film/TheNeverendingStory''.
* BeingJohnMalkovich: There's a door into Malkovich's head that allows you to experience being him for fifteen minutes. Malkovich himself finds this door and goes in [[spoiler:and enters a world where everybody is him and speaks PokemonSpeak]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Nell uses an actual and deliberate divide by zero in ''Literature/TheDiamondAge'' to break one of the Primer's simulations.
* This is slowly happening to ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' multiverse as "thinnies" -- rips in the barriers between realities -- gobble up space and time because the BigBad is [[spoiler:using psychic energy]] to destroy the [[WorldTree titular tower]].
* Parodied in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novels, where one of Hex's quirky error messages is "Divide by Cucumber Error". Also, "Please reinstall universe and reboot."
** And let's not forget the effect of the first Glass Clock in ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', which [[TimeCrash shattered the whole of recorded history]]. The History Monks just about managed to patch it back together again, leaving behind only a couple of {{plot hole}}s.
** Also, in ''Mort'' when Mort says ScrewDestiny and [[spoiler:prevents the Princess Kelli's destined death]], he fears he has invoked this trope upon Reality itself.
* Ted Chiang's ''[[http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/i/division/ Division By Zero]]'' uses this as an analogy for the central mathematical conceit of the plot.
* In one of the dialogues from ''[[GodelEscherBach Gödel, Escher, Bach]]'', Achilles is granted permission by {{GOD}} to make one infinite-level Typeless Wish. He says, "I wish my wish would not be granted!" After this a LogicBomb goes off in a way that "cannot possibly be described, and so no attempt will be made to describe it", Achilles and the Tortoise find themselves in a totally unfamiliar environment. Achilles asks, "Did the earth come to a standstill? Did the universe cave in?" The Tortoise explains that they were InsideAComputerSystem and the paradoxical wish crashed it: "I'm sorry, Achilles--you blew it. You crashed the System, and you should thank our lucky stars that we're back at all. Things could have come out a lot worse."
* In ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', Arthur finds out that if anyone ever simultaneously knows both the answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything ''and'' what that question is, the entirety of existence would cease to exist and be replaced with something even stranger. It's also stated that this may already have happened. While writing the script for the movie Douglas Adams implied that each adaptation of the story was meant to be the result of this.
* In Aldous Huxley's ''Point Counter Point'' (1928), a [[UpperClassTwit dilettante marquess]] is attempting to mathematically prove the existence of God:
-->"You know the formula, ''m'' over nought equals infinity, ''m'' being any positive number? Well, why not reduce the equation to a simpler form by multiplying both sides by nought? In which case you have ''m'' equals infinity times nought. That is to say that a positive number is the product of zero and infinity. Doesn't that demonstrate the creation of the universe by an infinite power out of nothing? Doesn't it?"
-->"Well,"...
* The "bubbles of evil" in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' may count.
* {{Dragaera}}: Adron's Disaster
** To say nothing of the disaster that knocked the Jenoine from power.
* In SergeyLukyanenko's ''TheStarsAreColdToys'', member of the Counter race (living computers) manages to survive the [=FTL=] process developed by humans (it kills or drives insane all known aliens, while giving humans pure ecstasy). How does he do that? By dividing by zero in his head, which puts him into a temporary coma until his "systems" restart.
** Apparently, living computers can't understand the mathematical concept of undefined - the result of dividing by zero.
** Initially, a human character assumes the Counter is talking about Fermat's Last Theorem when describing an impossible mathematical operation. However, the Counter merely replies that the theorem is not impossible but simply incorrect. (Which is itself incorrect; Fermat's Last Theorem had been proven in 1995, before the novel was published.)
* The last three books of TheSwordOfTruth deal with a spell which creates a contradiction, by making a person exist and not exist at the same time, then these contradictions breed other contradictions... In short, the ultimate artifact of the series was created precisely for countering the spell before it unravels all reality.
** To be more precise - the Chainfire spell is so powerful and unstable that it expands exponentially, destroying all memory - creating contradictions and gaps growing ever larger beyond the scope of merely forgetting the original subject of the spell. In addition, the residual effect of the Chimes (entities from the underworld that erode away magic from the world of life simply by existing on this side of the veil) make the effect far more dangerous. Instead of just the Chainfire spell turning every thinking being into a blank, slobbering slate, you have a world soon to be filled with blank, slobbering slates and on the verge of a mass-extinction event.
*** To be even more precise: Chainfire, when invoked, was supposed to wipe all presence of its target from memory and history. Any relationship between an outside observer and that character was wiped clean, as if they never existed. Events in which that character participated are altered to remove them. Prophecies that mention them cease to be or are altered. False memories needed to prevent the appropriate paradoxes are implanted to fill those gaps. Outside observers ''do'' still see the subject, however the spell prevents the memory of seeing them from being stored the instant it's created. They don't exist as even a shadow in their mind. The lingering effects of the Chimes interfered with this process, leaving gaps in the coverage of the spell. Although the ''memory'' of [[spoiler: Kahlan]] was wiped clean, Chainfire failed to prevent some people from ''seeing'' [[spoiler: her]] as it was supposed to, thus creating the contradiction of a person who is not supposed to exist, existing. The Sword of Truth ''also'' causes elements of the spell to fail. Because Richard was holding the sword when the spell was cast, he was completely unaffected by it. Additionally, anyone who ''touched'' the sword would be able to partially see through its effects. Although their memories of the victim would not be restored, they ''would'' now be able to see them and recognize their existence.
* The Nothing has this effect on the imaginary universe of ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory''.
* Sort of the case in WenSpencer's EndlessBlue, where the Blue is reached by setting jump coordinates to zero (as far as everyone in-universe knows, setting jump coordinates to zero just means you vanish and never reappear).
* The titular ''Riddle of the Seven Realms'' is simple: Why does no fire burn in the realm of demons? The answer is just as simple: [[spoiler: Fire acts as a passage between other worlds and the demon realm. A fire within the demon realm opens into the void and would [[ApocalypseHow suck all of existence into said void]].]]
* [[AWizardDidIt Magically]] [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique weaponized]] in [[ABootStompingAHumanFaceForever 10 A BOOT STOMPING 20 A HUMAN FACE 30 GOTO 10]].[[spoiler: The necromancer protagonist discovers that he can not only summon the dead, but also fictional characters and ''[[MindScrew concepts]].'']]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Tom Paris broke the transwarp barrier on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'''s "Threshold", thereby achieving the fabled Warp 10, or infinite velocity. Impressive! It doesn't mess with the universe, but it does [[BodyHorror do weird things to him]]. A pity the episode was [[CanonDiscontinuity erased from canon]] (with good reason).
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': Using an [[NeglectfulPrecursors Ancient Project]] to create a super-energy source, [[InsufferableGenius Doctor Rodney Mckay]] accidentally makes particles that defy the laws of physics. The result? He [[NeverLiveitDown repeatedly gets called out for destroying an entire solar system]]!
** [[InsistentTerminology Five sixths]] [[RunningGag of a solar system.]]
* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', this would be the result of detonating [[spoiler:Davros']] "reality bomb". It "destroys reality" but dissolving the bonds that hold molecules together, effecting dissolving all matter into its constituent particles.
** In series 5 we are seeing "cracks" in time and space in almost every episode which release energy that are un-writing time, erasing things from existence to where they never existed at all. The Doctor implies these cracks are the result of a future event where someone may have divided by zero...[[spoiler:Turns out it was the TARDIS itself, the event in question being the TARDIS exploding, causing all of time and space to explode and cease to exist. Yikes!]]
** The ''Space'' and ''Time'' specials presented a scenario where, in order to make a safe landing, the TARDIS divided by zero and landed in the only safe place available...inside itself. The Doctor is ''a little concerned'' about this.
* In ''{{Dollhouse}}'' Adelle suggests this would be the result when the Doll Victor's current imprint mentioned the possibility of him paying to get the services of a Doll (he refused the idea, by the way).
* ''Series/MADTv'' parody ''I Love the 00's'' has the commentators talk about things in the 00's (like ''Series/AmericanIdol'', Janet Jackson's boob exposure, ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'', etc.). Eventually, the show manages to catch up with itself, showing clips from that exact show piling up on top of each other, leaving the commentators screaming and the world blowing up!
** HilariousInHindsight as VH1 ended up doing an ''I Love'' series on the 00's, entitled ''I Love The New Millenium'', which both was done in 2008, before the decade ended, and in which the commentators discussed many of those same subjects.
* It's not exactly the end of the world, but on an episode of {{Newsradio}}, photocopying a mirror causes a building-wide blackout.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' has the ''hero'' do this '''On purpose'''. Well, it's one way to get warmongers to realize that they're playing with fire...
-->'''Crichton''': (commenting on his brand spanking new [[OurWormholesAreDifferent Wormhole]] [[SuperweaponSurprise Weapon]]) ''Okay boys and girls, here are the rules. Find a penny, pick it up. Double it, you've got two pennies. Double it again: four. Double it 27 more times, and you've got a million dollars and the IRS all over your ass. Round and round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows, but it all adds up... quick. ...It eats the whole universe, a monumental black hole, a giant whirling headstone marking the spot where we all used to live and play and slaughter the innocent.''
* ''Series/SquareOneTV'' had the ShowWithinAShow "Oops!", where a mathematician makes a mistake that causes a certain disaster to happen, eg incorrectly multiplying 603 by 7 causes Galloping Gertie to collapse.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'' presents us with a strategy briefly toyed with by the Earth Alliance known as the [[TooDumbToLive Bonehead Maneuver]][[note]][[RubberForeheadAliens No offense intended towards the Minbari]][[/note]], where a ship would open a jump point inside of an active jump gate. This resulted in a massive explosion that simply proved to be too powerful and fast for the ship in question to escape. Any ship big enough to create its own jump gates tended to be too slow for this to work, until the ''White Star'' came along, after which the strategy was still too risky to try more than once.
* In ''TheITCrowd'', [[PointyHairedBoss Jen]] is told by Moss and Roy that if you type "google" into Website/{{Google}} it will "break the internet" and she is laughed at during a meeting for believing this. Another episode has them try to have her make a fool out of herself again, this time telling her the internet is contained in a black box and that if anything happened to it, it would be TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. When Jen relays this information during a speech, [[EpicFail everyone believes her and a riot starts when the box is actually destroyed]]. Moss and Roy still find the results entertaining.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* Inverted in BobDylan's "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" ([Love - 0]/∞)
* "Two Divided By Zero" by PetShopBoys.
* Inverted in JethroTull's "One White Duck / 0[[superscript:10]] = Nothing At All"
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''DungeonsAndDragons'', putting a BagOfHolding into a Portable Hole or vice-versa tends to create a big rift into the Astral Plane, destroying whatever was in those items, and do bad things to the surrounding area.
-->[[http://forum.rpg.net/archive/index.php/t-221494.html "If at any time you're the last person standing, with absolutely no way to save us, fling the bag of holding into the portable hole and pray."]]
** After a bit of rules-lawyering and no shortage of Munchkin-like antics, someone developed a "black hole arrow/bolt." Essentially it's an arrow or crossbow bolt with a bag of holding and portable hole attached. They remain separated until fired, at which point the portable hole opens up. Thanks to Newton's laws of physics, when the arrow and bag of holding stop, the hole keeps going, swallowing both and leading to the horrible, horrible atrocity against nature. No sane DM would allow this. [[KillerDM Some, however, would]], and then [[RocksFallEveryoneDies severely punish the players]] for tampering with reality. [[spoiler:Or remember that canonically the result depends on which of these is stuffed into which.]] It should be noted that these arrows are quite expensive though.
*** A variant of this is described in the ''Elder Evils'' sourcebook. Putting a [[SphereOfDestruction Sphere of Annihilation]] into a Well of Many Worlds creates a ''black hole'' - which proceeds to ''[[ApocalypseHow swallow up the entire Material Plane in a matter of minutes]]'' barring divine intervention.
**** A Sphere of Annihilation on its own should qualify, as it is literally a hole in the continuity of the multiverse. And considering it is an artifact, that means it was built.
** Much the same happens with any two "extradimensional interfaces", with specific effect defined by the one undergoing the transformation, i.e. "inner", if appliable -- usually destroying both. AD&D's ''Tome of Magic'' added 3 more -- Flatbox always explodes; Warp Marble always safely deactivates, dumping the stored creature to the Astral Plane (both also do the same when subjected to any form of teleportation); Dimensional Mine does nothing, but spews any extradimensional space it enters into the Astral Plane, which destroys the item creating the pocket, if any, but not the mine ("Hey, guys, I found a cool figurine on the Astral!"). Rulings on non-permanent spells with such effects (Deeppockets, Rope Trick, Extradimensional Pocket) vary.
** There is also the incredibly old demon lord ''Pale Night'' who appears as a female humanoid wrapped in a shroud. The shroud is however not part of herself, but Reality's desperate attempt to hide her true form from the rest of the multiverse. She has the ability to shed the shroud for a short moment and having a very strong WeirdnessCensor is the only thing that prevents everyone from being annihilated by trying to make sense of what they saw.
** The multi-setting crossover AD&D module ''Die Vecna Die!'' justified the changes between 2nd and 3rd Edition in-universe, as a result of Vecna the lich-god Dividing Reality By Zero when he escaped from {{Ravenloft}} to {{Planescape}}.
* This is the premise behind the ''Time Spiral'' block/story arc of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''. Essentially, all the near-apocalyptic scenarios that Dominaria (the core plane of the multiverse) has been through in the previous arcs have caused the fabric of reality to become unstable, causing rifts between timelines and universes that threaten to destroy all that exists.
* In the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' TradingCardGame, hitting The Immovable Object (a shield) with The Unstoppable Force (a 2-handed mace) will destroy both objects.
* The very existence of an afterlife in ''{{Exalted}}'' is one of these. When the Primordials made Creation, they made the cycle of Lethe, wherein mortal souls would pass on once they died and enter the stream of reincarnation, stripped of pretty much all the memories of their past life. This process wasn't meant for the Primordials, though, as they honestly believed they couldn't die. The Exalted proved differently during the Primordial War, creating some of the [[EldritchAbomination Neverborn]], from which the wastes of the Underworld and the metaphysical existence of ghosts were born.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', Mario and Luigi have access to an area inside of Bowser that has warp pipes that lead to areas in the Mushroom Kingdom, outside of Bowser. Bowser himself can't access these warp pipes for obvious reasons. Theoretically however, if Bowser were to enter one of those warp pipes... which lead to an area inside of himself... This trope may very well be used.
* [[BigBad Sorceress Ultimecia]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' deliberately attempts this via the [[MentalTimeTravel Ellone Junction Machine]]... and then Ellone herself. By flinging her own consciousness further back in time and taking for herself the powers of all the Sorceresses preceding her (a Sorceress ''must'' bequeath her power to someone else before dying,) all the way back to the very first Sorceress, [[TimeParadox she gives linear causality such a wedgie]] that [[TimeCrash all time is compressed]], all reality frozen [[ThePlan (except for the heroes who allow this to happen so they can exploit]] it and [[FinalBattle show up at Ultimecia's front door]])/
** [[spoiler:And, again, a Sorceress ''must'' bequeath her power to someone else before dying. [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Defeating Ultimecia]] forces her to give her powers to Edea before time unfreezes, creating a StableTimeLoop with a possible OntologicalParadox.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'', there is a secret device called the Null Driver, and when used, It causes the game to glitch out, and also destroys all enemies on screen. It disappears once you exit the game, as do the glitches.
* Dividing by Zero is what allows a TimeParadox to occur in the LegacyOfKain timeline: Because the past is essentially immutable and [[YouAlreadyChangedThePast everything moves in a linear timeline]], the only way to subvert that timeline is to introduce two instances of the same entity from different points in history to one-another -- generally this role is fulfilled by the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Soul Reaver blade]], either as Kain's physical sword or as Raziel's ethereal wraith blade. [[spoiler:Since the soul-eating aspect of the blade is in fact Raziel's spirit, Raziel, once he acquires the blade as a weapon, is a walking paradox, able to ScrewDestiny with every action he takes - which is why everyone in the world wants him as a pawn.]]
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' is a {{prequel}} to the series. If you kill a character who is still alive in the future, you'll be yelled at by your (future!) commander because you created a TimeParadox.
** If you choose the "No" option on the Game Over screen, it will also read "TIME PARADOX", because the Snake you are playing as in this one is Big Boss.
** Which, when done in the English version, completely kills a ShoutOut to Film/BackToTheFuture because [[HeyItsThatVoice said commander's seiyuu also voiced Doc Brown]].
* The Unrepeatable Bug, an enemy in ''SuperheroLeagueOfHoboken'', can divide by zero to cause moderate damage to an opponent. The text notes that the victim "didn't avert his/her eyes in time".
* What created the Chaos Heart black hole that threatens to consume the entire [[TheMultiverse Multiverse]] in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''? [[BigBad Bowser]] and [[DamselInDistress Princess Peach]] getting "married". Granted, Peach was being mind controlled and everyone (other than Bowser) agrees it didn't count, but apparently reality thought it was close enough and it was enough to start everything come crashing down.
* In the mythology of ''{{Suikoden}}'', Sword (a being that could destroy anything) and Shield (an indestructible being) got into a fight. When Sword struck Shield, both shattered into 27 pieces, the True Runes. And the Big Bang.
* In a bit of a StealthPun example, bosses and enemies in the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' games explode after being [[IncrediblyLamePun divided by Zero]] via Z-Saber slashing. Very likely unintentional, but funny nonetheless.
** [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DIVISION_BY_ZERO_4150.JPG This picture]] brings the pun into [[DiagonalCut its logical conclusion.]]
* Franchise/TheElderScrolls calls such events "Dragon Breaks", where the god of time, known by many names and guises, but most prominently as a dragon god "Akatosh", is tampered with.
** In the first era, a remnant of a once-powerful organization of [[FantasticRacism anti-elf inquisitors]] carried out a ritual in attempt to purge Akatosh of the elven aspects of the mythological basis that Akatosh was based on, the elven golden eagle god Auri-El. The effort proceeded to break Time for a period of a bit over 1000 years. How could they measure how long that period was? The Khajiit, a cat-like race on Tamriel whose mythology was heavily steeped in the two moons, used those as a basis for time.
** The giant brass golem [[HumongousMecha Numidium]] was built by the Dwemer, an extinct race of elves commonly mislabeled as "dwarves" who were essentially [[FlatEarthAtheist atheists in a world where gods were very real]]. Numidium was essentially their refutation of the gods made material. Numidium had a nasty habit of causing Dragon Breaks because of this, such as the temporal toxic waste dump in Eleswyr where Tiber Septim's mages tried to figure it out after the Dunmer Tribunal gave it to him as a tribute, or the Warp In The West, where all the endings in Daggerfall essentially simultaneously happened and the temporal paradox was so straining on reality that a nuclear-like explosion occurred.
** The Scrolls themselves can cause a mild version of this depending on who reads them. Someone who is completely untrained in the history and nature of the Scrolls just sees the page picture for the main ''Elder Scrolls'' page. Someone with slight training is struck blind immediately. People with great training (e.g. members of the Cult of the Ancestor Moth in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'') gradually go blind as they read more of the scrolls. Then we have the Dovahkiin in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''. Dragonborn are mortals with the soul of a dragon, and [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons exist outside of time]]. Reading the Scroll you obtain as part of ''Skyrim's'' main quest results in being momentarily blinded, then recovering. It's like the universe needed to reboot or something...
* The ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' games sometimes had zero-length lines in their maps (especially in third-party maps) which would cause a 680x0 processor to attempt to divide by zero and crash.
* This is the spectacular effect of using the Pandora's Box in ''ShadowMadness''.
* In the BackStory of ''{{Lusternia}}'', a conflict between the cities of Hallifax and Gaudiguch had the [[ArchEnemy fierce enemies]] breaking out their resident [[DoomsdayDevice superweapons]] to decimate the other. Unfortunately, the two opposing elements did not react well together. The resultant cataclysm [[BrownNote psychically devastated]] every living entity on the ''planet'', and sealed both cities in a different dimension for over ''five hundred years''.
* In ''GranTurismo 3'', if you pop a wheelie with a properly-tuned Escudo, you can reach the speed of [[PowersOfTwoMinusOne 2,147,483,647]] mph (that's FTLTravel there), which crashes the game.
* While it doesn't take place in ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', some dialog plays with it.
-->'''Cave Johnson:''' This next test may involve trace amounts of time travel. So, word of advice, if you meet yourself on the testing track, don't make eye contract. Lab boys tell me that'll wipe out time. Entirely. Forward and backward. So do yourselves a favor and let that handsome devil go about his business.
* VideoGame/{{EarthBound}} has the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yPVBE7BWNU "Simultaneous Defeat Glitch".]] It is triggered when, in a party of two or more, all party members are finished off by the damage an exploding enemy inflicts upon death. The game decides you win with zero alive members and, as always after a battle, tries to divide any experience gained between your alive party members - in this case, zero of them, resulting in [[PowersOfTwoMinusOne 4294940287 exp.]] which is unfortunately unobtainable.
* In SonicShuffle, if you get a Carbuncle item and have no other Force Jewels, it ''eats itself''.
* ''SystemShock2'' features broken vending machines that cannot be used until repaired using sufficient Repair skill or a repair kit. The glitched interface of the broken machine features "division by zero" among the flood of garbage data, presumably the source of the problem.
* The interactive fiction game ''Lost'' gave the player a box which contained a pocket dimension, eliminating problems of inventory size and weight. It did come with a caution to not put any container inside said box; doing so results in this trope.
* ''EscapeFromMonkeyIsland'' has the Mysts O' Tyme, a marsh where time doesn't...work properly. At one point, Guybrush needs to get through a gate, but he doesn't have the key. Another Guybrush on an identical raft rows up to the gate, and declares he's Guybrush from the future. He says a few things, then hands Guybrush a bunch of items, including the gate key. After going through and rowing around for a while, Guybrush meets his past self from the other side of the gate. If he doesn't say the exact same lines his other self said, or he doesn't hand past Guybrush the items in the right order, he triggers a paradox, summoning a scary vortex (which thankfully only deposits him a few minutes into the past, letting him try again). Also counts as a StableTimeLoop, since it's never explained where those items came from in the first place.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In the ''Webcomic/AndShineHeavenNow'' arc crossing over with ''Anime/ReadOrDie'', abuse of TimeTravel by the heroes and villains ends up creating a literal PlotHole which nearly destroys the Universe.
* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'': While it doesn't get to this point, Fighter is probably stupid enough to do this by existing.
** It doesn't get to this point? [[TooDumbToLive Black Belt]] '''created a clone of himself''' using this as an excuse. Somehow, he got '''so''' lost that he broke space and time.
*** And do note, he got this completly lost that it broke reality, while walking down a straight hallway.
* IrregularWebcomic! Do not ever mess with time travel.
* In the ''ProblemSleuth'' stories of ''Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures'', dropping one of a pair of connected portals through its own counterpart causes this.
* In ''Webcomic/RealLifeComics'', Greg Dean parodies the possibilities of rune combinations in ''{{VideoGame/Diablo}} II'' [[http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/010709.html in this strip]] by making a sword with a 10% chance of annihilating the space-time continuum.
* [[InstantAIJustAddWater Ennesby]] of ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' uses this as a curse: "Divide me by zero!"
* ''TheUnspeakableVaultOfDoom'' has another literal example of division by zero. The unfortunate mathematician is promptly [[CthulhuMythos introduced to Yog Sogoth]].
* Dividing by zero apparently creates invisible paint in ''TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella''.
* One ''Webcomic/{{Subnormality}}'' strip features a scientist who creates an "anti-Gandhi" who is dressed in a fancy business suit, has thick red hair and a beard, and practices "violent nonresistance." The idea is so stupid that [[EarthShatteringKaboom the Earth blows up]].
* In [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/12062011/ this]] ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' strip [[FanNickname Psimax]] appears to be deliberately attempting this trope. He wants to mathematically "prove that one equals zero," thereby unmaking the pocket universe where he and a number of other alternate realities are fighting.
* According to ''AbstruseGoose'', [[http://abstrusegoose.com/440 division by zero]] is the solution to {{Vaporware}}.
* In ''TheDragonDoctors'', this caused the most recent collapse of civilization. We're not clear on the mechanics, but someone went back in time, killed herself, and left a ghost, causing something that didn't quite exist and mauled reality.
* ''Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield'' has a couple of examples. [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=316 Garfield/0]] shows an infinite number of Garfields, and in [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=1453 Reverse Change]], the site explodes because [[ItMakesSenseInContext they're making pudding pops again.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* ChuckNorris [[Website/ChuckNorrisFacts doesn't divide by zero]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX Ze]][[VideoGame/MegaManZero ro]] [[InSovietRussiaTropeMocksYou divides by]] ChuckNorris.
** [[EpilepticTrees OF COURSE, THAT'S IT!!! ZERO IS SO BADASS BECAUSE HE DIVIDES HIS ENEMIES BY CHUCK NORRIS USING HIS SWORD!!!]]
* [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-225 SCP-225]] is an illustration of the classic "[[YinYangClash unstoppable force vs. immovable object]]" paradox. The Wiki/SCPFoundation is concerned about the possible consequences of the two objects colliding. They believe that if the objects annihilate each other, they would release at minimum power equivalent to a ''gigatons'' strong nuclear explosion. The possible result if they ''don't'' destroy each other on impact is apparently ''even worse'' -- ''planetary evacuation'' wouldn't be enough to save the human race.
* In ''Literature/FineStructure'' this is sometimes done intentionally to attract the attention of the Imprisoning God, which stamps down hard on such violations. However, one particular event -- [[spoiler:dropping the immortal Anne Poole into a black hole]] -- breaks physics so badly that even the Imprisoning God goes into failure mode.
* In the [[Website/ThingsOfInterest Ed stories]], Ed briefly accessing the Root Layer causes a Class X-3 ApocalypseHow on the Andromeda galaxy.
* The time paradox version happens at the end of the WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries version of the crossover movie - [[TheDitz Jaden]] tells Yugi what happens at the end of his series, causing an explosion, and when it clears they're all in an endless white void.
* Almost happened in audio format [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqgEm8XWXu8 here]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DFed7jG3i8 The Last Denominator]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' revealed that this is essentially what happens if Mandy ever smiles in a joyful (rather than sinister) manner. The ultimate outcome? Billy, Mandy, and the GrimReaper wind up [[CrossoverPunchline literally becoming the]] ''[[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls Powerpuff Girls]]''.
** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And Irwin becomes Mojo Jojo]].
* [[TheSmartGuy Egon]] of ''TheRealGhostbusters'' manages to [[ExplosiveInstrumentation overload his calculator]] with an ''offensive football play'' that, if executed, would not only completely collapse the defense but perhaps all known space as well.
** There was also the episode "The Hole in the Wall Gang". In a haunted house, ghosts were spawned out of holes in the wall, and how big and powerful the ghost was depended on the size of the hole. (Small hole, weak ghost, big hole, strong ghost.) This created a problem when fighting them blew a ''huge'' hole in the wall, with the potential to spawn the worst monster they had ever fought. Egon quickly determined that placing a smaller hole inside the big hole could dispell the effect, but he aborted the plan upon realizing it might also cause a DividedByZero situation and cause the entire universe to implode. But [[FromBadToWorse it only got worse]] when the creature destroyed the whole house, making the hole ''much'' bigger, and giving them no choice but to risk the first plan. Fortunately, the risk paid off.
* In the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' movie, Bender causes this by gathering a whole bunch of time-duplicates of himself from his many trips back in time and convincing them not to come out when they were supposed to.
** A WhatIf episode deals with what would happen if Fry never came to the future-the result is the universe collapsing on itself, with Fry, [[ItMakesSenseInContext Stephen Hawking, Al Gore, Gary Gygax, Nichelle Nichols and Deep Blue]] getting sucked into untime. Which is pretty damn good FridgeBrilliance: [[spoiler:Fry's existence is a StableTimeLoop that requires the Planet Express ship.]]
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has Finn blowing a ''fourth dimensional bubble'' which caused a black hole to form due to its sheer impossibility.
-->'''Finn:''' A fourth-dimensional bubble casts a three-dimensional shadow. [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm It is beyond COMPREHENSION]]! Beyond space! BEYOND TIME!\\
'''Princess Bubblegum:''' Finn, that would mean you've created--\\
'''Finn:''' Yes... '''A BLACK HOLE!'''
* In one of the WesternAnimation/DCNation ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' shorts, Cyborg and Robin get into an escalating war of ThisIsMySide, which ends when they start a fight over the tape they were dividing things with, which blows up the whole planet.
-->'''Cyborg:''' You can't divide tape with tape! You created a paradox!
-->'''Robin:''' [[NoYou No, you did!]]
* One episode of TheAmazingWorldOfGumball reveals that this is the ultimate result of [[FelonyMisdemeanor Gumball's father getting a job]]. [[StatusQuoIsGod Naturally, the cast has to get him fired]] or else [[FridgeHorror the universe would cease to exist]].
* A ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short featuring the Tasmanian Devil displays a kangaroo retreating from Taz by leaping into her own pouch.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* In Einstein's equations for the theory of General Relativity, there is one point in which, for certain situations, you would have to divide by 0. Most probably both the TropeNamer and TropeCreator, as the result of it is the equation that describes Black Holes. As is often the case with theoretical science, the gritty details are more complicated:
** When physics equations result in divisions by zero, it's a cue to physicists that there is a problem in the theory. In this case, it's because the current standard theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics don't play well together - which means that one or both of these current theories must be wrong. The fact that we know this doesn't cause practical problems: in practice, we can use either one or the other, because relativity only matters when massive objects are involved and quantum mechanics only matters on very small scales, but in the rare circumstances where there are supermassive objects on tiny scales (i.e. the core of a black hole or the beginning of the universe) we start to run into the limitations of the standard model. (There are numerous alternate theories which do resolve these paradoxes, though)
* There's also an old algebraic parlor trick which uses a stealthy version of this trope to [[http://www.mathmojo.com/interestinglessons/1equals2/1equals2.html "prove" that 1=2]]. This also serves as a ''reductio ad absurdum'' demonstration of why numeric logic forbids mathematicians to divide by zero.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rip The Big Rip]], a possible fate of the universe, where its expansion accelerates until everything is moving away from each other infinitely quickly. By then, everything in the universe will be infinitely far apart. Also, because time slows down as things approach the speed of light, and everything is moving faster than light, time itself will malfunction and self-destruct.
** That being said, whether the universe is headed towards a Big Rip or not depends on the quantity of dark matter in the universe. Estimates put it either at the amount or extremely close to the amount that, if placed into an equation determining the ultimate age of the universe, would result in a denominator of zero, making it a literal case of Divide by Zero. (In this instance, the universe will reach a certain size and stay at that size forever.)
* 0/0 is consistent with any number. If one gets an expression leading to 0/0, it means one has to reformulate the problem. (For example, the 0/0 expression for the energy of a massless particle moving at light-speed. It's fixed by eliminating the particle's speed in favor of its momentum.)
* Division by zero is undefined in mathematical systems that obey most of the usual rules of arithmetic, known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_%28mathematics%29 rings]]. However, there are certain other systems such as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_real_line extended real line]] and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_projective_line real projective line]] where division by zero is meaningful (and "infinite" in some sense).
[[/folder]]
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to:
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->"''Long numbers divided by zero spray forth marigolds, goldilocks, foliage unseen in shadowed glades, where treefall and cries of 'wolf' go unheard.''"
-->--'''[[http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Aristocrats#Example_I One Example]]''' of a "TheAristocrats" joke
The characters did something so incredibly ''wrong'' that reality itself couldn't handle it. Could be the result of a TimeParadox, the result of a YinYangClash, or an [[UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject unstoppable force meeting an immovable object]], or the risk behind the ForbiddenChekhovsGun.
To divide a number by zero is the one thing elementary math teachers tell you that you [[LiesToChildren simply cannot do]] (but as usual, Real Life is more complicated than elementary school; see the [[Analysis/DivideByZero analysis page]] for details). It led to a joke on {{image board}}s, and older places, that if someone were to divide a number by zero, it would break reality. Someone making a suggestion that is severely unlikely is often compared to this. When TimeTravel is involved, usually results in a TimeCrash (and a FateWorseThanDeath for all involved). Expect phrases such as "ruptured the fabric of reality" or "created a warp in the space-time continuum" (the latter especially in humorously exaggerated instances) or simply that something "boggles the mind." An EldritchAbomination is something whose very nature is ''continuous division by zero itself''.
Compare AwesomenessIsVolatile, where ChuckNorris [[Website/ChuckNorrisFacts can divide by zero]].
See also LogicBomb, which can overlap with this. Often the LogicalExtreme of an EpicFail. Not to be confused with TheSingularity. Contrast BeyondTheImpossible (breaking internal logic) and UpToEleven (breaking a record). See also BreakingTheFourthWall, which is when a character violates ''fictional'' reality.
----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Advertisements]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NojiCsZQSr8 This]] Staples Easy Button commercial.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* The Limit of Questions is a metaphysical concept at play in the world of ''EurekaSeven'' that essentially sets a limit on the number of sentient lifeforms that can exist in a given space. If the Limit of Questions is exceeded, the fabric of reality starts to break down. [[spoiler:Colonel Dewey's goal with the Ageha Project is to ''deliberately'' exceed the Limit of Questions by awakening the scub coral, an enormous mass of a colonial alien life form that covers the planet and, as it turns out, is sentient. At one point in history, the scub by itself exceeded the Limit of Questions, but managed to fix things by going into a state of deep hibernation -- but not before a section of the planet was irrevocably screwed up, resulting in a chaotic region known as the Great Wall.]]
* The Espers are afraid that ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' will do this if she learns [[RealityWarper the truth about herself]].
* In ''[[MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Magical Chronicle Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'' there exists a spell "[[http://nanoha.wikia.com/wiki/Divide_Zero Divide Zero]]". (It is a [[WaveMotionGun powerful attack]] comparable to Nanoha's Starlight Breaker.)
* The climax of the first season of ''ShakuganNoShana'' had the villains exploiting a loophole with the ClingyMacGuffin inside TheProtagonist that fueled his existence; by [[{{Synchronization}} synchronizing]] with a character with an (implied) infinite capacity for Existence, the MacGuffin would generate infinite existence. It was implied that reality itself would blow up/collapse (yes, simultaneously) if this had been allowed to continue.
* In ''{{Slayers}}'' there was a 50/50 chance that Lina Inverse's "Giga Slave" spell would do this instead of defeating the BigBad. She only learns of that possibility ''after'' doing it, though, and lucked out.
** [[spoiler:The second time she used it, she got a different effect -- it summoned the Lord of Nightmares, who decided to just destroy the guy dicking around with the spell instead of destroying the world. Then got ''really'' merciful and decided to not kill Lina after all.]]
* In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', this is what the Anti-Spirals feared: with the Spiral beings' endless quest for the will to power, they will transmute so much mass that the universe collapses in a black hole called the Spiral Nemesis. There's also another example from TheMovie, Lagann-hen. [[spoiler:If collapsing a pocket universe with a [[BeamOWar drill power struggle]] isn't dividing by zero, nothing is.]]
* In ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', [[spoiler:to save Sakura's life, Syaoran]] broke the magical taboo of stopping a moment in time. The unraveling of the fabric of reality ensues. Later this is revealed to be part of a StableTimeLoop responsible for his very existence. And the real cause was Clow's momentary PowerIncontinence when he didn't want Yuuko to die, so he essentially told reality to ''ignore her death'' and act as if she was still alive, setting off the chain that led to later events.
* In the third arc of ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'', Beatrice says she'll use [[LanguageOfTruth red text]] to [[spoiler:deny the existence of witches]]. This results in a paradox which appears to destroy the entire Meta-World. [[spoiler:It ends up all being just a trick, though.]]
* In ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion The End of Evangelion]]'', this is what happens when two all-powerful Eldritch Abominations, Adam and Lilith, are combined with each other. One of the BridgeBunnies says something along the lines of "Their energy levels are converging on an infinite zero." when the Adam / Lilith merger begins to break the universe. [[GainaxEnding That would make a lot of sense.]]
** In mathematics "a zero" is another name for an input to an equation that would make the output zero (such as x=2 for y=2x-4). Ironically infinity would be a zero for (y=1/x) - that is, [[DivideByZero dividing by infinity]].
* [[TimeCrash Something very close to this]] happens in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. If you make a wish with indefinite duration (as opposed to instant wishes like "heal someone's crippled hand" or "save someone from the brink of death"), your wish is somehow tied to the passage of time. [[spoiler: Homura]]'s wish to save someone already dead turned her life into a GroundhogDayLoop, although she could control when she went back.
** In the finale, [[spoiler: Madoka]] pulls an even more audacious one. [[spoiler: Backed by the enormous amounts of karma Homura's time-loops have built up, she wishes to personally destroy every Witch, past, present and future - including hers. Cue Ultimate Madoka one-shotting her own evil future self and leaving the normal flow of time.]]
* Apparently, it was an intentional creation of an effect like this that created Zero Reverse, the disaster that occured roughly sixteen years(give or take) before the events of ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds''. From what we know, Rudger's deliberate sabotage of the Old Momentum Generator caused it to spin in reverse, causing it to create negative energy (a sort of "magical anti-matter") opening a portal to Hell with caused a cataclysm, destroying part of Domino City, killing thousands, and causing it to seperate from the mainland. Even worse, this is supposedly what awakened the [[EldritchAbomination Earthbound Gods]], which would cause trouble for the heroes in the present storyline.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comedy]]
* In Creator/TheFiresignTheatre's album ''Eat Or Be Eaten'', a gamer tries to go to band 100 of a 99 band disk, and is sucked into the game.
-->'''Player''': What the FUUUUUUUUU-
* At the end of GeorgeCarlin's special ''Life Is Worth Losing'', he talks about a broken water main in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles leading to more and more bizarre developments, eventually resulting in a wormhole opening above Earth, and all the dead people flooding out.
* A less metaphysical variation on this joke is the one suggesting that if every single person in China (well over 1 billion and counting) each climbed onto a chair and jumped down to the floor, the resulting shockwave would be so catastrophic it would cause the Earth to break out of its orbit and hurtle toward the Sun, incinerating all life on the planet. (The reality: [[CriticalResearchFailure No, wouldn't even come close.]]) When this joke is portrayed in visual media, it will usually depict a (non-Chinese) person seeing some people of Chinese descent standing on their chairs and immediately freaking out.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* According to Andy Riley's ''Great Lies to Tell Small Kids'', this will happen to reality if you ever Google the word "Google". (It's not true, of course, and you'll actually get more than thirteen ''billion'' results if you do, the first one being a link to the search engine itself.)
* TheFlash once broke the laws of time by traveling back in time to stop Professor Zoom from killing his mother. Reality ''really'' didn't take it well. The result: ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}''.
* ''{{Transmetropolitan}}'' at one point featured a man who had found a way to solve all of the world's problems and end all suffering by way of a complex math equation. When he finally solved the equation, it caused his apartment to explode.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In the Pokémon fanfic ''FanFic/AshsReturn'', a Pokémon battle is cut abruptly short by the command: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_paradox Make a Pokémon that defeats all Pokémon other than Pokémon that defeat themselves!]]"
* According to ''EvangelionReDeath'', this is what happens if you play ''1999'' by {{Prince}} any time on or after January 1, 2000. It's how Gendou intends to trigger the Third Impact and become [[spoiler: the Uber-Pimp]].
* In ''HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'', Harry precommits to a plan the use a StableTimeLoop to prime factor a number in constant time. His plan assumes the number is a product of exactly two primes and doesn't really cope with any other case. He tells the person creating the test number "I'm not sure what's going to happen to me or the universe if you make a multiplication error." [[spoiler: The answer is that he ends up getting a message from his future self that says "DO NOT MESS WITH TIME TRAVEL".]]
* In ''Fanfic/HappyEndings'', Snape speculates that one possible result of him dying while he is already supposed to be dead would involve the Western Hemisphere getting sucked into a black hole.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* In ''{{Dogma}}'' the one universal constant is that God is infallible. Proving Him/Her wrong would result in a DivideByZero event, essentially unmaking everything God had ever made, i.e., [[ApocalypseHow everything]].
* [[ForbiddenChekhovsGun Crossing the streams]] in ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' would result in "all life as you know it stopping instantaneously" and would cause "every molecule in your body to explode at the speed of light." Fortunately, the BigBad was already screwing with reality in the end so it turned out to be the one time it was the right thing to do.
** It helped that all instances of the streams being crossed happened within the ghost zone, where the physics are skewed so the result isn't the same as if it was done in the real world.
*** Alternate explanation: crossing the streams did result in as horrible an affect as Egon first explained. The reason the gate closed was because ''the other universe ceased to exist''.
*** This explanation is no longer valid as in the Videogame you continue and expand the story of the movies (and is completely canon) and the main villains, as Gozer, continue existing. So either Egon is a bit exaggerated (sort of like [[Film/BackToTheFuture Doc Brown]] with his theories of time crashes) or the Universe has way to deal with this.
*** Of course, in the videogame, crossing the streams just results in painful knock down. Maybe Egon fixed that problem, or it simply wasn't as bad as initially expected?
*** Egon told them to do this on purpose in the [[WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters cartoon version]] too; when they were falling from a great hight onto water, he shouted to aim at the water and cross the streams. It did save them, creating a waterspout to cushion their fall. Egon later confessed [[spoiler: that he did ''not'' know that would happen. He simply figured they had nothing to lose by trying it.]] (Again, the cartoon is not cannon if you take the second movie into account, and in this reality, Egon may have upgraded the packs since the first.)
**** In the games, there's a safety measure installed in the new proton packs that automatically shuts down the neutrona wand if the beams cross. The safety has to be turned off at the end in order for them to defeat the Destructor. Apparently the ghost world just has different laws of physics.
* The Nothing has this effect on the imaginary universe of ''Film/TheNeverendingStory''.
* BeingJohnMalkovich: There's a door into Malkovich's head that allows you to experience being him for fifteen minutes. Malkovich himself finds this door and goes in [[spoiler:and enters a world where everybody is him and speaks PokemonSpeak]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Nell uses an actual and deliberate divide by zero in ''Literature/TheDiamondAge'' to break one of the Primer's simulations.
* This is slowly happening to ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' multiverse as "thinnies" -- rips in the barriers between realities -- gobble up space and time because the BigBad is [[spoiler:using psychic energy]] to destroy the [[WorldTree titular tower]].
* Parodied in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novels, where one of Hex's quirky error messages is "Divide by Cucumber Error". Also, "Please reinstall universe and reboot."
** And let's not forget the effect of the first Glass Clock in ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', which [[TimeCrash shattered the whole of recorded history]]. The History Monks just about managed to patch it back together again, leaving behind only a couple of {{plot hole}}s.
** Also, in ''Mort'' when Mort says ScrewDestiny and [[spoiler:prevents the Princess Kelli's destined death]], he fears he has invoked this trope upon Reality itself.
* Ted Chiang's ''[[http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/i/division/ Division By Zero]]'' uses this as an analogy for the central mathematical conceit of the plot.
* In one of the dialogues from ''[[GodelEscherBach Gödel, Escher, Bach]]'', Achilles is granted permission by {{GOD}} to make one infinite-level Typeless Wish. He says, "I wish my wish would not be granted!" After this a LogicBomb goes off in a way that "cannot possibly be described, and so no attempt will be made to describe it", Achilles and the Tortoise find themselves in a totally unfamiliar environment. Achilles asks, "Did the earth come to a standstill? Did the universe cave in?" The Tortoise explains that they were InsideAComputerSystem and the paradoxical wish crashed it: "I'm sorry, Achilles--you blew it. You crashed the System, and you should thank our lucky stars that we're back at all. Things could have come out a lot worse."
* In ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', Arthur finds out that if anyone ever simultaneously knows both the answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything ''and'' what that question is, the entirety of existence would cease to exist and be replaced with something even stranger. It's also stated that this may already have happened. While writing the script for the movie Douglas Adams implied that each adaptation of the story was meant to be the result of this.
* In Aldous Huxley's ''Point Counter Point'' (1928), a [[UpperClassTwit dilettante marquess]] is attempting to mathematically prove the existence of God:
-->"You know the formula, ''m'' over nought equals infinity, ''m'' being any positive number? Well, why not reduce the equation to a simpler form by multiplying both sides by nought? In which case you have ''m'' equals infinity times nought. That is to say that a positive number is the product of zero and infinity. Doesn't that demonstrate the creation of the universe by an infinite power out of nothing? Doesn't it?"
-->"Well,"...
* The "bubbles of evil" in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' may count.
* {{Dragaera}}: Adron's Disaster
** To say nothing of the disaster that knocked the Jenoine from power.
* In SergeyLukyanenko's ''TheStarsAreColdToys'', member of the Counter race (living computers) manages to survive the [=FTL=] process developed by humans (it kills or drives insane all known aliens, while giving humans pure ecstasy). How does he do that? By dividing by zero in his head, which puts him into a temporary coma until his "systems" restart.
** Apparently, living computers can't understand the mathematical concept of undefined - the result of dividing by zero.
** Initially, a human character assumes the Counter is talking about Fermat's Last Theorem when describing an impossible mathematical operation. However, the Counter merely replies that the theorem is not impossible but simply incorrect. (Which is itself incorrect; Fermat's Last Theorem had been proven in 1995, before the novel was published.)
* The last three books of TheSwordOfTruth deal with a spell which creates a contradiction, by making a person exist and not exist at the same time, then these contradictions breed other contradictions... In short, the ultimate artifact of the series was created precisely for countering the spell before it unravels all reality.
** To be more precise - the Chainfire spell is so powerful and unstable that it expands exponentially, destroying all memory - creating contradictions and gaps growing ever larger beyond the scope of merely forgetting the original subject of the spell. In addition, the residual effect of the Chimes (entities from the underworld that erode away magic from the world of life simply by existing on this side of the veil) make the effect far more dangerous. Instead of just the Chainfire spell turning every thinking being into a blank, slobbering slate, you have a world soon to be filled with blank, slobbering slates and on the verge of a mass-extinction event.
*** To be even more precise: Chainfire, when invoked, was supposed to wipe all presence of its target from memory and history. Any relationship between an outside observer and that character was wiped clean, as if they never existed. Events in which that character participated are altered to remove them. Prophecies that mention them cease to be or are altered. False memories needed to prevent the appropriate paradoxes are implanted to fill those gaps. Outside observers ''do'' still see the subject, however the spell prevents the memory of seeing them from being stored the instant it's created. They don't exist as even a shadow in their mind. The lingering effects of the Chimes interfered with this process, leaving gaps in the coverage of the spell. Although the ''memory'' of [[spoiler: Kahlan]] was wiped clean, Chainfire failed to prevent some people from ''seeing'' [[spoiler: her]] as it was supposed to, thus creating the contradiction of a person who is not supposed to exist, existing. The Sword of Truth ''also'' causes elements of the spell to fail. Because Richard was holding the sword when the spell was cast, he was completely unaffected by it. Additionally, anyone who ''touched'' the sword would be able to partially see through its effects. Although their memories of the victim would not be restored, they ''would'' now be able to see them and recognize their existence.
* The Nothing has this effect on the imaginary universe of ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory''.
* Sort of the case in WenSpencer's EndlessBlue, where the Blue is reached by setting jump coordinates to zero (as far as everyone in-universe knows, setting jump coordinates to zero just means you vanish and never reappear).
* The titular ''Riddle of the Seven Realms'' is simple: Why does no fire burn in the realm of demons? The answer is just as simple: [[spoiler: Fire acts as a passage between other worlds and the demon realm. A fire within the demon realm opens into the void and would [[ApocalypseHow suck all of existence into said void]].]]
* [[AWizardDidIt Magically]] [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique weaponized]] in [[ABootStompingAHumanFaceForever 10 A BOOT STOMPING 20 A HUMAN FACE 30 GOTO 10]].[[spoiler: The necromancer protagonist discovers that he can not only summon the dead, but also fictional characters and ''[[MindScrew concepts]].'']]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Tom Paris broke the transwarp barrier on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'''s "Threshold", thereby achieving the fabled Warp 10, or infinite velocity. Impressive! It doesn't mess with the universe, but it does [[BodyHorror do weird things to him]]. A pity the episode was [[CanonDiscontinuity erased from canon]] (with good reason).
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': Using an [[NeglectfulPrecursors Ancient Project]] to create a super-energy source, [[InsufferableGenius Doctor Rodney Mckay]] accidentally makes particles that defy the laws of physics. The result? He [[NeverLiveitDown repeatedly gets called out for destroying an entire solar system]]!
** [[InsistentTerminology Five sixths]] [[RunningGag of a solar system.]]
* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', this would be the result of detonating [[spoiler:Davros']] "reality bomb". It "destroys reality" but dissolving the bonds that hold molecules together, effecting dissolving all matter into its constituent particles.
** In series 5 we are seeing "cracks" in time and space in almost every episode which release energy that are un-writing time, erasing things from existence to where they never existed at all. The Doctor implies these cracks are the result of a future event where someone may have divided by zero...[[spoiler:Turns out it was the TARDIS itself, the event in question being the TARDIS exploding, causing all of time and space to explode and cease to exist. Yikes!]]
** The ''Space'' and ''Time'' specials presented a scenario where, in order to make a safe landing, the TARDIS divided by zero and landed in the only safe place available...inside itself. The Doctor is ''a little concerned'' about this.
* In ''{{Dollhouse}}'' Adelle suggests this would be the result when the Doll Victor's current imprint mentioned the possibility of him paying to get the services of a Doll (he refused the idea, by the way).
* ''Series/MADTv'' parody ''I Love the 00's'' has the commentators talk about things in the 00's (like ''Series/AmericanIdol'', Janet Jackson's boob exposure, ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'', etc.). Eventually, the show manages to catch up with itself, showing clips from that exact show piling up on top of each other, leaving the commentators screaming and the world blowing up!
** HilariousInHindsight as VH1 ended up doing an ''I Love'' series on the 00's, entitled ''I Love The New Millenium'', which both was done in 2008, before the decade ended, and in which the commentators discussed many of those same subjects.
* It's not exactly the end of the world, but on an episode of {{Newsradio}}, photocopying a mirror causes a building-wide blackout.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' has the ''hero'' do this '''On purpose'''. Well, it's one way to get warmongers to realize that they're playing with fire...
-->'''Crichton''': (commenting on his brand spanking new [[OurWormholesAreDifferent Wormhole]] [[SuperweaponSurprise Weapon]]) ''Okay boys and girls, here are the rules. Find a penny, pick it up. Double it, you've got two pennies. Double it again: four. Double it 27 more times, and you've got a million dollars and the IRS all over your ass. Round and round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows, but it all adds up... quick. ...It eats the whole universe, a monumental black hole, a giant whirling headstone marking the spot where we all used to live and play and slaughter the innocent.''
* ''Series/SquareOneTV'' had the ShowWithinAShow "Oops!", where a mathematician makes a mistake that causes a certain disaster to happen, eg incorrectly multiplying 603 by 7 causes Galloping Gertie to collapse.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'' presents us with a strategy briefly toyed with by the Earth Alliance known as the [[TooDumbToLive Bonehead Maneuver]][[note]][[RubberForeheadAliens No offense intended towards the Minbari]][[/note]], where a ship would open a jump point inside of an active jump gate. This resulted in a massive explosion that simply proved to be too powerful and fast for the ship in question to escape. Any ship big enough to create its own jump gates tended to be too slow for this to work, until the ''White Star'' came along, after which the strategy was still too risky to try more than once.
* In ''TheITCrowd'', [[PointyHairedBoss Jen]] is told by Moss and Roy that if you type "google" into Website/{{Google}} it will "break the internet" and she is laughed at during a meeting for believing this. Another episode has them try to have her make a fool out of herself again, this time telling her the internet is contained in a black box and that if anything happened to it, it would be TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. When Jen relays this information during a speech, [[EpicFail everyone believes her and a riot starts when the box is actually destroyed]]. Moss and Roy still find the results entertaining.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* Inverted in BobDylan's "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" ([Love - 0]/∞)
* "Two Divided By Zero" by PetShopBoys.
* Inverted in JethroTull's "One White Duck / 0[[superscript:10]] = Nothing At All"
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''DungeonsAndDragons'', putting a BagOfHolding into a Portable Hole or vice-versa tends to create a big rift into the Astral Plane, destroying whatever was in those items, and do bad things to the surrounding area.
-->[[http://forum.rpg.net/archive/index.php/t-221494.html "If at any time you're the last person standing, with absolutely no way to save us, fling the bag of holding into the portable hole and pray."]]
** After a bit of rules-lawyering and no shortage of Munchkin-like antics, someone developed a "black hole arrow/bolt." Essentially it's an arrow or crossbow bolt with a bag of holding and portable hole attached. They remain separated until fired, at which point the portable hole opens up. Thanks to Newton's laws of physics, when the arrow and bag of holding stop, the hole keeps going, swallowing both and leading to the horrible, horrible atrocity against nature. No sane DM would allow this. [[KillerDM Some, however, would]], and then [[RocksFallEveryoneDies severely punish the players]] for tampering with reality. [[spoiler:Or remember that canonically the result depends on which of these is stuffed into which.]] It should be noted that these arrows are quite expensive though.
*** A variant of this is described in the ''Elder Evils'' sourcebook. Putting a [[SphereOfDestruction Sphere of Annihilation]] into a Well of Many Worlds creates a ''black hole'' - which proceeds to ''[[ApocalypseHow swallow up the entire Material Plane in a matter of minutes]]'' barring divine intervention.
**** A Sphere of Annihilation on its own should qualify, as it is literally a hole in the continuity of the multiverse. And considering it is an artifact, that means it was built.
** Much the same happens with any two "extradimensional interfaces", with specific effect defined by the one undergoing the transformation, i.e. "inner", if appliable -- usually destroying both. AD&D's ''Tome of Magic'' added 3 more -- Flatbox always explodes; Warp Marble always safely deactivates, dumping the stored creature to the Astral Plane (both also do the same when subjected to any form of teleportation); Dimensional Mine does nothing, but spews any extradimensional space it enters into the Astral Plane, which destroys the item creating the pocket, if any, but not the mine ("Hey, guys, I found a cool figurine on the Astral!"). Rulings on non-permanent spells with such effects (Deeppockets, Rope Trick, Extradimensional Pocket) vary.
** There is also the incredibly old demon lord ''Pale Night'' who appears as a female humanoid wrapped in a shroud. The shroud is however not part of herself, but Reality's desperate attempt to hide her true form from the rest of the multiverse. She has the ability to shed the shroud for a short moment and having a very strong WeirdnessCensor is the only thing that prevents everyone from being annihilated by trying to make sense of what they saw.
** The multi-setting crossover AD&D module ''Die Vecna Die!'' justified the changes between 2nd and 3rd Edition in-universe, as a result of Vecna the lich-god Dividing Reality By Zero when he escaped from {{Ravenloft}} to {{Planescape}}.
* This is the premise behind the ''Time Spiral'' block/story arc of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''. Essentially, all the near-apocalyptic scenarios that Dominaria (the core plane of the multiverse) has been through in the previous arcs have caused the fabric of reality to become unstable, causing rifts between timelines and universes that threaten to destroy all that exists.
* In the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' TradingCardGame, hitting The Immovable Object (a shield) with The Unstoppable Force (a 2-handed mace) will destroy both objects.
* The very existence of an afterlife in ''{{Exalted}}'' is one of these. When the Primordials made Creation, they made the cycle of Lethe, wherein mortal souls would pass on once they died and enter the stream of reincarnation, stripped of pretty much all the memories of their past life. This process wasn't meant for the Primordials, though, as they honestly believed they couldn't die. The Exalted proved differently during the Primordial War, creating some of the [[EldritchAbomination Neverborn]], from which the wastes of the Underworld and the metaphysical existence of ghosts were born.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', Mario and Luigi have access to an area inside of Bowser that has warp pipes that lead to areas in the Mushroom Kingdom, outside of Bowser. Bowser himself can't access these warp pipes for obvious reasons. Theoretically however, if Bowser were to enter one of those warp pipes... which lead to an area inside of himself... This trope may very well be used.
* [[BigBad Sorceress Ultimecia]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' deliberately attempts this via the [[MentalTimeTravel Ellone Junction Machine]]... and then Ellone herself. By flinging her own consciousness further back in time and taking for herself the powers of all the Sorceresses preceding her (a Sorceress ''must'' bequeath her power to someone else before dying,) all the way back to the very first Sorceress, [[TimeParadox she gives linear causality such a wedgie]] that [[TimeCrash all time is compressed]], all reality frozen [[ThePlan (except for the heroes who allow this to happen so they can exploit]] it and [[FinalBattle show up at Ultimecia's front door]])/
** [[spoiler:And, again, a Sorceress ''must'' bequeath her power to someone else before dying. [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Defeating Ultimecia]] forces her to give her powers to Edea before time unfreezes, creating a StableTimeLoop with a possible OntologicalParadox.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'', there is a secret device called the Null Driver, and when used, It causes the game to glitch out, and also destroys all enemies on screen. It disappears once you exit the game, as do the glitches.
* Dividing by Zero is what allows a TimeParadox to occur in the LegacyOfKain timeline: Because the past is essentially immutable and [[YouAlreadyChangedThePast everything moves in a linear timeline]], the only way to subvert that timeline is to introduce two instances of the same entity from different points in history to one-another -- generally this role is fulfilled by the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Soul Reaver blade]], either as Kain's physical sword or as Raziel's ethereal wraith blade. [[spoiler:Since the soul-eating aspect of the blade is in fact Raziel's spirit, Raziel, once he acquires the blade as a weapon, is a walking paradox, able to ScrewDestiny with every action he takes - which is why everyone in the world wants him as a pawn.]]
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' is a {{prequel}} to the series. If you kill a character who is still alive in the future, you'll be yelled at by your (future!) commander because you created a TimeParadox.
** If you choose the "No" option on the Game Over screen, it will also read "TIME PARADOX", because the Snake you are playing as in this one is Big Boss.
** Which, when done in the English version, completely kills a ShoutOut to Film/BackToTheFuture because [[HeyItsThatVoice said commander's seiyuu also voiced Doc Brown]].
* The Unrepeatable Bug, an enemy in ''SuperheroLeagueOfHoboken'', can divide by zero to cause moderate damage to an opponent. The text notes that the victim "didn't avert his/her eyes in time".
* What created the Chaos Heart black hole that threatens to consume the entire [[TheMultiverse Multiverse]] in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''? [[BigBad Bowser]] and [[DamselInDistress Princess Peach]] getting "married". Granted, Peach was being mind controlled and everyone (other than Bowser) agrees it didn't count, but apparently reality thought it was close enough and it was enough to start everything come crashing down.
* In the mythology of ''{{Suikoden}}'', Sword (a being that could destroy anything) and Shield (an indestructible being) got into a fight. When Sword struck Shield, both shattered into 27 pieces, the True Runes. And the Big Bang.
* In a bit of a StealthPun example, bosses and enemies in the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' games explode after being [[IncrediblyLamePun divided by Zero]] via Z-Saber slashing. Very likely unintentional, but funny nonetheless.
** [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DIVISION_BY_ZERO_4150.JPG This picture]] brings the pun into [[DiagonalCut its logical conclusion.]]
* Franchise/TheElderScrolls calls such events "Dragon Breaks", where the god of time, known by many names and guises, but most prominently as a dragon god "Akatosh", is tampered with.
** In the first era, a remnant of a once-powerful organization of [[FantasticRacism anti-elf inquisitors]] carried out a ritual in attempt to purge Akatosh of the elven aspects of the mythological basis that Akatosh was based on, the elven golden eagle god Auri-El. The effort proceeded to break Time for a period of a bit over 1000 years. How could they measure how long that period was? The Khajiit, a cat-like race on Tamriel whose mythology was heavily steeped in the two moons, used those as a basis for time.
** The giant brass golem [[HumongousMecha Numidium]] was built by the Dwemer, an extinct race of elves commonly mislabeled as "dwarves" who were essentially [[FlatEarthAtheist atheists in a world where gods were very real]]. Numidium was essentially their refutation of the gods made material. Numidium had a nasty habit of causing Dragon Breaks because of this, such as the temporal toxic waste dump in Eleswyr where Tiber Septim's mages tried to figure it out after the Dunmer Tribunal gave it to him as a tribute, or the Warp In The West, where all the endings in Daggerfall essentially simultaneously happened and the temporal paradox was so straining on reality that a nuclear-like explosion occurred.
** The Scrolls themselves can cause a mild version of this depending on who reads them. Someone who is completely untrained in the history and nature of the Scrolls just sees the page picture for the main ''Elder Scrolls'' page. Someone with slight training is struck blind immediately. People with great training (e.g. members of the Cult of the Ancestor Moth in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'') gradually go blind as they read more of the scrolls. Then we have the Dovahkiin in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''. Dragonborn are mortals with the soul of a dragon, and [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons exist outside of time]]. Reading the Scroll you obtain as part of ''Skyrim's'' main quest results in being momentarily blinded, then recovering. It's like the universe needed to reboot or something...
* The ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' games sometimes had zero-length lines in their maps (especially in third-party maps) which would cause a 680x0 processor to attempt to divide by zero and crash.
* This is the spectacular effect of using the Pandora's Box in ''ShadowMadness''.
* In the BackStory of ''{{Lusternia}}'', a conflict between the cities of Hallifax and Gaudiguch had the [[ArchEnemy fierce enemies]] breaking out their resident [[DoomsdayDevice superweapons]] to decimate the other. Unfortunately, the two opposing elements did not react well together. The resultant cataclysm [[BrownNote psychically devastated]] every living entity on the ''planet'', and sealed both cities in a different dimension for over ''five hundred years''.
* In ''GranTurismo 3'', if you pop a wheelie with a properly-tuned Escudo, you can reach the speed of [[PowersOfTwoMinusOne 2,147,483,647]] mph (that's FTLTravel there), which crashes the game.
* While it doesn't take place in ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', some dialog plays with it.
-->'''Cave Johnson:''' This next test may involve trace amounts of time travel. So, word of advice, if you meet yourself on the testing track, don't make eye contract. Lab boys tell me that'll wipe out time. Entirely. Forward and backward. So do yourselves a favor and let that handsome devil go about his business.
* VideoGame/{{EarthBound}} has the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yPVBE7BWNU "Simultaneous Defeat Glitch".]] It is triggered when, in a party of two or more, all party members are finished off by the damage an exploding enemy inflicts upon death. The game decides you win with zero alive members and, as always after a battle, tries to divide any experience gained between your alive party members - in this case, zero of them, resulting in [[PowersOfTwoMinusOne 4294940287 exp.]] which is unfortunately unobtainable.
* In SonicShuffle, if you get a Carbuncle item and have no other Force Jewels, it ''eats itself''.
* ''SystemShock2'' features broken vending machines that cannot be used until repaired using sufficient Repair skill or a repair kit. The glitched interface of the broken machine features "division by zero" among the flood of garbage data, presumably the source of the problem.
* The interactive fiction game ''Lost'' gave the player a box which contained a pocket dimension, eliminating problems of inventory size and weight. It did come with a caution to not put any container inside said box; doing so results in this trope.
* ''EscapeFromMonkeyIsland'' has the Mysts O' Tyme, a marsh where time doesn't...work properly. At one point, Guybrush needs to get through a gate, but he doesn't have the key. Another Guybrush on an identical raft rows up to the gate, and declares he's Guybrush from the future. He says a few things, then hands Guybrush a bunch of items, including the gate key. After going through and rowing around for a while, Guybrush meets his past self from the other side of the gate. If he doesn't say the exact same lines his other self said, or he doesn't hand past Guybrush the items in the right order, he triggers a paradox, summoning a scary vortex (which thankfully only deposits him a few minutes into the past, letting him try again). Also counts as a StableTimeLoop, since it's never explained where those items came from in the first place.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In the ''Webcomic/AndShineHeavenNow'' arc crossing over with ''Anime/ReadOrDie'', abuse of TimeTravel by the heroes and villains ends up creating a literal PlotHole which nearly destroys the Universe.
* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'': While it doesn't get to this point, Fighter is probably stupid enough to do this by existing.
** It doesn't get to this point? [[TooDumbToLive Black Belt]] '''created a clone of himself''' using this as an excuse. Somehow, he got '''so''' lost that he broke space and time.
*** And do note, he got this completly lost that it broke reality, while walking down a straight hallway.
* IrregularWebcomic! Do not ever mess with time travel.
* In the ''ProblemSleuth'' stories of ''Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures'', dropping one of a pair of connected portals through its own counterpart causes this.
* In ''Webcomic/RealLifeComics'', Greg Dean parodies the possibilities of rune combinations in ''{{VideoGame/Diablo}} II'' [[http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/010709.html in this strip]] by making a sword with a 10% chance of annihilating the space-time continuum.
* [[InstantAIJustAddWater Ennesby]] of ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' uses this as a curse: "Divide me by zero!"
* ''TheUnspeakableVaultOfDoom'' has another literal example of division by zero. The unfortunate mathematician is promptly [[CthulhuMythos introduced to Yog Sogoth]].
* Dividing by zero apparently creates invisible paint in ''TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella''.
* One ''Webcomic/{{Subnormality}}'' strip features a scientist who creates an "anti-Gandhi" who is dressed in a fancy business suit, has thick red hair and a beard, and practices "violent nonresistance." The idea is so stupid that [[EarthShatteringKaboom the Earth blows up]].
* In [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/12062011/ this]] ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' strip [[FanNickname Psimax]] appears to be deliberately attempting this trope. He wants to mathematically "prove that one equals zero," thereby unmaking the pocket universe where he and a number of other alternate realities are fighting.
* According to ''AbstruseGoose'', [[http://abstrusegoose.com/440 division by zero]] is the solution to {{Vaporware}}.
* In ''TheDragonDoctors'', this caused the most recent collapse of civilization. We're not clear on the mechanics, but someone went back in time, killed herself, and left a ghost, causing something that didn't quite exist and mauled reality.
* ''Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield'' has a couple of examples. [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=316 Garfield/0]] shows an infinite number of Garfields, and in [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=1453 Reverse Change]], the site explodes because [[ItMakesSenseInContext they're making pudding pops again.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* ChuckNorris [[Website/ChuckNorrisFacts doesn't divide by zero]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX Ze]][[VideoGame/MegaManZero ro]] [[InSovietRussiaTropeMocksYou divides by]] ChuckNorris.
** [[EpilepticTrees OF COURSE, THAT'S IT!!! ZERO IS SO BADASS BECAUSE HE DIVIDES HIS ENEMIES BY CHUCK NORRIS USING HIS SWORD!!!]]
* [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-225 SCP-225]] is an illustration of the classic "[[YinYangClash unstoppable force vs. immovable object]]" paradox. The Wiki/SCPFoundation is concerned about the possible consequences of the two objects colliding. They believe that if the objects annihilate each other, they would release at minimum power equivalent to a ''gigatons'' strong nuclear explosion. The possible result if they ''don't'' destroy each other on impact is apparently ''even worse'' -- ''planetary evacuation'' wouldn't be enough to save the human race.
* In ''Literature/FineStructure'' this is sometimes done intentionally to attract the attention of the Imprisoning God, which stamps down hard on such violations. However, one particular event -- [[spoiler:dropping the immortal Anne Poole into a black hole]] -- breaks physics so badly that even the Imprisoning God goes into failure mode.
* In the [[Website/ThingsOfInterest Ed stories]], Ed briefly accessing the Root Layer causes a Class X-3 ApocalypseHow on the Andromeda galaxy.
* The time paradox version happens at the end of the WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries version of the crossover movie - [[TheDitz Jaden]] tells Yugi what happens at the end of his series, causing an explosion, and when it clears they're all in an endless white void.
* Almost happened in audio format [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqgEm8XWXu8 here]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DFed7jG3i8 The Last Denominator]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' revealed that this is essentially what happens if Mandy ever smiles in a joyful (rather than sinister) manner. The ultimate outcome? Billy, Mandy, and the GrimReaper wind up [[CrossoverPunchline literally becoming the]] ''[[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls Powerpuff Girls]]''.
** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And Irwin becomes Mojo Jojo]].
* [[TheSmartGuy Egon]] of ''TheRealGhostbusters'' manages to [[ExplosiveInstrumentation overload his calculator]] with an ''offensive football play'' that, if executed, would not only completely collapse the defense but perhaps all known space as well.
** There was also the episode "The Hole in the Wall Gang". In a haunted house, ghosts were spawned out of holes in the wall, and how big and powerful the ghost was depended on the size of the hole. (Small hole, weak ghost, big hole, strong ghost.) This created a problem when fighting them blew a ''huge'' hole in the wall, with the potential to spawn the worst monster they had ever fought. Egon quickly determined that placing a smaller hole inside the big hole could dispell the effect, but he aborted the plan upon realizing it might also cause a DividedByZero situation and cause the entire universe to implode. But [[FromBadToWorse it only got worse]] when the creature destroyed the whole house, making the hole ''much'' bigger, and giving them no choice but to risk the first plan. Fortunately, the risk paid off.
* In the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' movie, Bender causes this by gathering a whole bunch of time-duplicates of himself from his many trips back in time and convincing them not to come out when they were supposed to.
** A WhatIf episode deals with what would happen if Fry never came to the future-the result is the universe collapsing on itself, with Fry, [[ItMakesSenseInContext Stephen Hawking, Al Gore, Gary Gygax, Nichelle Nichols and Deep Blue]] getting sucked into untime. Which is pretty damn good FridgeBrilliance: [[spoiler:Fry's existence is a StableTimeLoop that requires the Planet Express ship.]]
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has Finn blowing a ''fourth dimensional bubble'' which caused a black hole to form due to its sheer impossibility.
-->'''Finn:''' A fourth-dimensional bubble casts a three-dimensional shadow. [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm It is beyond COMPREHENSION]]! Beyond space! BEYOND TIME!\\
'''Princess Bubblegum:''' Finn, that would mean you've created--\\
'''Finn:''' Yes... '''A BLACK HOLE!'''
* In one of the WesternAnimation/DCNation ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' shorts, Cyborg and Robin get into an escalating war of ThisIsMySide, which ends when they start a fight over the tape they were dividing things with, which blows up the whole planet.
-->'''Cyborg:''' You can't divide tape with tape! You created a paradox!
-->'''Robin:''' [[NoYou No, you did!]]
* One episode of TheAmazingWorldOfGumball reveals that this is the ultimate result of [[FelonyMisdemeanor Gumball's father getting a job]]. [[StatusQuoIsGod Naturally, the cast has to get him fired]] or else [[FridgeHorror the universe would cease to exist]].
* A ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short featuring the Tasmanian Devil displays a kangaroo retreating from Taz by leaping into her own pouch.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* In Einstein's equations for the theory of General Relativity, there is one point in which, for certain situations, you would have to divide by 0. Most probably both the TropeNamer and TropeCreator, as the result of it is the equation that describes Black Holes. As is often the case with theoretical science, the gritty details are more complicated:
** When physics equations result in divisions by zero, it's a cue to physicists that there is a problem in the theory. In this case, it's because the current standard theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics don't play well together - which means that one or both of these current theories must be wrong. The fact that we know this doesn't cause practical problems: in practice, we can use either one or the other, because relativity only matters when massive objects are involved and quantum mechanics only matters on very small scales, but in the rare circumstances where there are supermassive objects on tiny scales (i.e. the core of a black hole or the beginning of the universe) we start to run into the limitations of the standard model. (There are numerous alternate theories which do resolve these paradoxes, though)
* There's also an old algebraic parlor trick which uses a stealthy version of this trope to [[http://www.mathmojo.com/interestinglessons/1equals2/1equals2.html "prove" that 1=2]]. This also serves as a ''reductio ad absurdum'' demonstration of why numeric logic forbids mathematicians to divide by zero.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rip The Big Rip]], a possible fate of the universe, where its expansion accelerates until everything is moving away from each other infinitely quickly. By then, everything in the universe will be infinitely far apart. Also, because time slows down as things approach the speed of light, and everything is moving faster than light, time itself will malfunction and self-destruct.
** That being said, whether the universe is headed towards a Big Rip or not depends on the quantity of dark matter in the universe. Estimates put it either at the amount or extremely close to the amount that, if placed into an equation determining the ultimate age of the universe, would result in a denominator of zero, making it a literal case of Divide by Zero. (In this instance, the universe will reach a certain size and stay at that size forever.)
* 0/0 is consistent with any number. If one gets an expression leading to 0/0, it means one has to reformulate the problem. (For example, the 0/0 expression for the energy of a massless particle moving at light-speed. It's fixed by eliminating the particle's speed in favor of its momentum.)
* Division by zero is undefined in mathematical systems that obey most of the usual rules of arithmetic, known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_%28mathematics%29 rings]]. However, there are certain other systems such as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_real_line extended real line]] and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_projective_line real projective line]] where division by zero is meaningful (and "infinite" in some sense).
[[/folder]]
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* ''MADTv'' parody ''I Love the 00's'' has the commentators talk about things in the 00's (like ''AmericanIdol'', Janet Jackson's boob exposure, ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'', etc.). Eventually, the show manages to catch up with itself, showing clips from that exact show piling up on top of each other, leaving the commentators screaming and the world blowing up!
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* ''MADTv'' ''Series/MADTv'' parody ''I Love the 00's'' has the commentators talk about things in the 00's (like ''AmericanIdol'', ''Series/AmericanIdol'', Janet Jackson's boob exposure, ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'', etc.). Eventually, the show manages to catch up with itself, showing clips from that exact show piling up on top of each other, leaving the commentators screaming and the world blowing up!
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** [[InsistentTerminology Fixe sixths]] [[RunningGag of a solar system.]]
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** [[InsistentTerminology Fixe Five sixths]] [[RunningGag of a solar system.]]
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* ''Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield'' has a couple of examples. [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=316 Garfield/0]] shows an infinite number of Garfields, and in [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=1453 Reverse Change]], the site explodes because [[ItMakesSenseInContext they're making pudding pops again.]]
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Memes don\'t automatically make things wittier. Resist the urge to shoehorn one in.
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-->'''[[TheStinger Waldorf]]''': Do you know of any real-life cases of division by zero? \\
'''[[TheMuppetShow Statler]]''': Sure! I'm sitting next to one! Do-ho-ho-ho-ho! \\
<''[[StatlerAndWaldorf Waldorf]] [[VitriolicBestBuds hits Statler]]''>
-->'''[[TheStinger Waldorf]]''': Do you know of any real-life cases of division by zero? \\
'''[[TheMuppetShow Statler]]''': Sure! I'm sitting next to one! Do-ho-ho-ho-ho! \\
<''[[StatlerAndWaldorf Waldorf]] [[VitriolicBestBuds hits Statler]]''>
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* In [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/12062011/ this]] {{Goblins}} strip [[FanNickname Psimax]] appears to be deliberately attempting this trope.
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* In [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/12062011/ this]] {{Goblins}} ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' strip [[FanNickname Psimax]] appears to be deliberately attempting this trope.trope. He wants to mathematically "prove that one equals zero," thereby unmaking the pocket universe where he and a number of other alternate realities are fighting.
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* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', this would be the result of detonating [[spoiler:Davros']] "reality bomb".
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* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', this would be the result of detonating [[spoiler:Davros']] "reality bomb". It "destroys reality" but dissolving the bonds that hold molecules together, effecting dissolving all matter into its constituent particles.
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* Inverted in JethroTull's "One White Duck / 0[[superscript:10]] = Nothing At All"
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See also LogicBomb, which can overlap with this. Often the LogicalExtreme of an EpicFail. Not to be confused with TheSingularity. Contrast BeyondTheImpossible and UpToEleven. See also BreakingTheFourthWall, which is when a character violates ''fictional'' reality.
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See also LogicBomb, which can overlap with this. Often the LogicalExtreme of an EpicFail. Not to be confused with TheSingularity. Contrast BeyondTheImpossible (breaking internal logic) and UpToEleven.UpToEleven (breaking a record). See also BreakingTheFourthWall, which is when a character violates ''fictional'' reality.
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* In ''TheEndOfEvangelion'', this is what happens when two all-powerful Eldritch Abominations, Adam and Lilith, are combined with each other. One of the BridgeBunnies says something along the lines of "Their energy levels are converging on an infinite zero." when the Adam / Lilith merger begins to break the universe. [[GainaxEnding That would make a lot of sense.]]
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* In ''TheEndOfEvangelion'', ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion The End of Evangelion]]'', this is what happens when two all-powerful Eldritch Abominations, Adam and Lilith, are combined with each other. One of the BridgeBunnies says something along the lines of "Their energy levels are converging on an infinite zero." when the Adam / Lilith merger begins to break the universe. [[GainaxEnding That would make a lot of sense.]]
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[[caption-width-right:350:[[OhCrap OH]] [[CurseCutShort SHI-]]]]
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To divide a number by zero is the one thing elementary math teachers tell you that you [[LiesToChildren simply cannot do]] (but as usual, Real Life is more complicated than elementary school; see the [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Analysis/DivideByZero analysis page]] for details). It led to a joke on {{image board}}s, and older places, that if someone were to divide a number by zero, it would break reality. Someone making a suggestion that is severely unlikely is often compared to this. When TimeTravel is involved, usually results in a TimeCrash (and a FateWorseThanDeath for all involved). Expect phrases such as "ruptured the fabric of reality" or "created a warp in the space-time continuum" (the latter especially in humorously exaggerated instances) or simply that something "boggles the mind." An EldritchAbomination is something whose very nature is ''continuous division by zero itself''.
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To divide a number by zero is the one thing elementary math teachers tell you that you [[LiesToChildren simply cannot do]] (but as usual, Real Life is more complicated than elementary school; see the [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Analysis/DivideByZero [[Analysis/DivideByZero analysis page]] for details). It led to a joke on {{image board}}s, and older places, that if someone were to divide a number by zero, it would break reality. Someone making a suggestion that is severely unlikely is often compared to this. When TimeTravel is involved, usually results in a TimeCrash (and a FateWorseThanDeath for all involved). Expect phrases such as "ruptured the fabric of reality" or "created a warp in the space-time continuum" (the latter especially in humorously exaggerated instances) or simply that something "boggles the mind." An EldritchAbomination is something whose very nature is ''continuous division by zero itself''.
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It\'s not trivia, at least as the wiki uses the term for trope/work pages.
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To divide a number by zero is the one thing elementary math teachers tell you that you [[LiesToChildren simply cannot do]] (but as usual, Real Life is more complicated than elementary school; see the Trivia section above). It led to a joke on {{image board}}s, and older places, that if someone were to divide a number by zero, it would break reality. Someone making a suggestion that is severely unlikely is often compared to this. When TimeTravel is involved, usually results in a TimeCrash (and a FateWorseThanDeath for all involved). Expect phrases such as "ruptured the fabric of reality" or "created a warp in the space-time continuum" (the latter especially in humorously exaggerated instances) or simply that something "boggles the mind." An EldritchAbomination is something whose very nature is ''continuous division by zero itself''.
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To divide a number by zero is the one thing elementary math teachers tell you that you [[LiesToChildren simply cannot do]] (but as usual, Real Life is more complicated than elementary school; see the Trivia section above).[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Analysis/DivideByZero analysis page]] for details). It led to a joke on {{image board}}s, and older places, that if someone were to divide a number by zero, it would break reality. Someone making a suggestion that is severely unlikely is often compared to this. When TimeTravel is involved, usually results in a TimeCrash (and a FateWorseThanDeath for all involved). Expect phrases such as "ruptured the fabric of reality" or "created a warp in the space-time continuum" (the latter especially in humorously exaggerated instances) or simply that something "boggles the mind." An EldritchAbomination is something whose very nature is ''continuous division by zero itself''.
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* A ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short featuring the Tasmanian Devil displays a kangaroo retreating from Taz by leaping into her own pouch.
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* This is slowly happening to ''TheDarkTower'' multiverse as "thinnies" -- rips in the barriers between realities -- gobble up space and time because the BigBad is [[spoiler:using psychic energy]] to destroy the [[WorldTree titular tower]].
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* This is slowly happening to ''TheDarkTower'' ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' multiverse as "thinnies" -- rips in the barriers between realities -- gobble up space and time because the BigBad is [[spoiler:using psychic energy]] to destroy the [[WorldTree titular tower]].
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See also LogicBomb, which can overlap with this. Often the LogicalExtreme of an EpicFail. Not to be confused with TheSingularity. Contrast BeyondTheImpossible and UpToEleven.
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See also LogicBomb, which can overlap with this. Often the LogicalExtreme of an EpicFail. Not to be confused with TheSingularity. Contrast BeyondTheImpossible and UpToEleven. See also BreakingTheFourthWall, which is when a character violates ''fictional'' reality.
