History Main / HowUnscientific

* ''Series/{{SeeingThings}}'': This light-hearted 1980's Canadian dramedy was usually squarely in the MundaneFantastic camp. It had a single fantastic element: Toronto Gazette reporter Louis Ciccone suddenly starts manifesting precognitive flashes, which allow him to uncover and solve the show's typical mystery-of-the-week mysteries. However, in one very out-of-character episode, a mysterious, beffudled old man found wandering the streets of Toronto and claiming to be an alien actually turns out to BE an alien, complete with anti-gravity levitation powers and a laser battle with hostile reptilian aliens in a Toronto park.

* ''AccordingToJim'' is, for the most part, a realistic SitCom. However, in the episode after [[CousinOliver the twins]] were born, {{Satan}} comes to collect Jim's soul, resulting in Cheryl hating him. (ItMakesSenseInContext) The episode's plot then revolves around him trying to win Cheryl's heart back. [[spoiler: Of course, it was AllJustADream, so this might be a SubvertedTrope.]]

* The final Nevada level in ''VideoGame/TombRaiderIII''' is pretty consistent in theme, ranging from a high security area in the middle of a desert and transitioning to a secret government lab experimenting on aliens and have an alien spaceship locked away in a room. However, at one point, you see a pair of orcas/whales in a tank. The whales are just there without any explanation at all and they severely clash with the theme of the level. The only reason you would jump into their tank is to collect the level's last secret.

* {{Lampshaded}} in ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' #600, where Patriot of the YoungAvengers meets Rikki Barnes, the dimension-hopping AlternateUniverse granddaughter of BuckyBarnes. He notes how implausible her back story is, but then accepts it after remembering that one of his best friends is a teenage [[TimeTravel time traveler]].

* ''TrueCrimeStreetsOfLA'' is a grity, if [[LargeHam cheesy]] cop story, mostly dealing with the right and wrong sides of the law, and how doing the right thing can take a backseat to vengeance at the expense of being a good guy, among other things. Except for the part where you [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment descend into the bowels of LA, confront a Japanese mystic guy, and fight off dragons composed entirely of fire that shoot skulls at you]]. And then Nick, the protagonist, ''doesn't mention it ever again''.

* The final Nevada level in ''Franchise/TombRaider III''' is pretty consistent in theme, ranging from a high security area in the middle of a desert and transitioning to a secret government lab experimenting on aliens and have an alien spaceship locked away in a room. However, at one point, you see a pair of orcas/whales in a tank. The whales are just there without any explanation at all and they severely clash with the theme of the level. The only reason you would jump into their tank is to collect the level's last secret.

* ''TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' featured cow abductions and a battle against aliens despite its otherwise HighFantasy setting.

* In ''InfiniteRyvius'', StrawVulcan Stein Heigar is quite upset when the spaceship ''Grey Geshpenst'' suddenly goes OneWingedAngel, transforming from a conventional-appearing vessel to a massive organic sphere, insisting that it violates all logic. (He is unaware that the ''Grey Geshpenst'' is a LivingShip).

* With the possible exception of London's level of stupidity, ''TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' was completely realistic, but its sequel series ''TheSuiteLifeOnDeck'' introduced supernatural elements and at one point crossed over with ''WizardsOfWaverlyPlace''.

* ''HowIMetYourMother'' parodies this. The entire show is ridiculous, but it focuses almost entirely on the (physically-possible if really unlikely) exploits of a group of mundane, if wacky, modern-day New Yorkers. But every so often they throw in a one-shot gag about time travel, [[RuleOfFunny just because]].
* In the second season of ''TwinPeaks'', Major Briggs's experience with Project Blue Book is often alluded to. The context strongly suggests that if the show hadn't been cancelled, it would have veered towards science-fiction.

* L, the master detective in ''Manga/DeathNote'', has solved the world's toughest mysteries, but he is completely stumped as to Kira's ''modus operandi'' because he doesn't believe in the supernatural -- at most, he allows that Kira must have psychic killing abilities or mental powers, but not a something out of (pseudo) Japanese mythology. When he's finally presented with evidence that ''shinigami'' are real, he has a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSMtT5rQeQU screaming freak-out]] followed by a short breakdown. Light does his best to convince him there's no such thing as shinigami, while Ryuuk grins in the background.

* ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' takes place mostly in a GreekMythology inspired fantasy world. With, the exception, of the few SpacePirates, as well as when the [[spoiler: world desroying aliens called the Aurum]] show up.

* ''Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim'' is a HumongousMecha RealRobotGenre MechaShow. In the episode 2, the main character meets a fairy capable cast illusions, read minds and scout souls.

* The final DocSavage novel ''Up From Earth's Center'' has Doc clashing with someone who might have a demon and visiting somewhere that might have been Hell.

* The 1st Edition ''Advanced DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure ''Expedition to the Barrier Peaks'' starts out like any other fantasy dungeon-crawl of the era ... at least until the heroes enter the mysterious "cavern"--actually the airlock of a crashed spaceship full of weird life forms and hostile robots.
* In older editions of ''{{Warhammer}}'' and ''Warhammer40K'', the two verses were connected through the Chaos Wastes via the Warp, which is how some lucky champions got their hands on chainswords and plasma guns.

* ''NaturallySadie'' was teen drama/sitcom about a girl coping with the vagarcies of high school life. Except for the episode "Ghouls Just want To Have Fun" which featured Hal's girlfriend Tabitha handing out wristbands that turned people into zombies.

* The ''{{Asterix}}'' book, ''Asterix and The Falling Sky'', features two groups of ''aliens'' fighting for control of the magic potion. With Comicbook/{{Superman}} clones. And lasers. In an otherwise LowFantasy version of AncientRome.

* {{Lampshaded}} in ''CaptainAmerica'' #600, where Patriot of the YoungAvengers meets Rikki Barnes, the dimension-hopping AlternateUniverse granddaughter of BuckyBarnes. He notes how implausible her back story is, but then accepts it after remembering that one of his best friends is a teenage [[TimeTravel time traveler]].

* In the {{Tintin}} story ''Flight 714'', we had a [[spoiler:thrilling hijack plot and Tintin & Co. being trapped on a remote island. And then out of the blue... Aliens!]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* ''Film/JamesBond'' movie ''Film/LiveAndLetDie''
** The death scene for the main villain; Bond wrestles him into a pool of sharks but, before either of them get eviscerated by them, he pulls out a compressed gas pellet and sticks it into the villain's mouth. This has the cartoonish effect of causing him to literally ''inflate like a blimp and float up towards the ceiling'', getting bigger until he eventually bursts. Making things even more cartoonish is that he pops exactly like a balloon, with no blood and just rubbery shreds left over. It was around this time in the movie series where things started to get more campy and ludicrous.
** The apparently functional Voodoo prescience and a [[TheDragon Dragon]] who [[spoiler: ''actually comes back from the dead'' like the deity he's named for/impersonating/possibly ''is'']].
* ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening'', where the Immortals were revealed to be [[spoiler:aliens from the planet Zeist]].
* The case in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull''. On one hand, this was the film which introduced [[spoiler:interdimensional alien beings]] into a series which had firmly rested on the magical side of MagicVersusScience.

* ''Film/{{Blade}}'' has this to anyone one not familiar with the [[AdaptationDisplacement original comic book]]. [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampires]] are explained in DoingInTheWizard fashion (vampirism is a literal virus, they are burned by UV light, they react to garlic but not to crosses, etc) then in the film climax [[spoiler:the BigBad uses a mystic ritual to become the avatar of the vampire's blood god to issue the [[ZombieApocalypse vampire apocalypse]]]]. Despite this he is still killed in a mundane manner.
* ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' has [[spoiler:an alien abduction scene set in a decidedly non SciFi context]]. It has [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment little bearing on the plot and never comes up again]], which is [[TropesAreNotBad oddly appropriate]] in a movie explicitly about InsaneTrollLogic.

* In ''Series/{{Dexter}}'''s third installment, wherein the Dark Passenger which joins the titular serial killer in his "fun" [[spoiler: is pretty much proved to be some sort of primordial creature that comes to certain humans during times of great emotional pain instead of just being part of a (completely understandable) dissociative disorder.]]

* ''TheFlintstones'': The Great Gazoo is a space alien in a modern stone age setting.
* ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'' is the story of a NatureHero raised by {{Talking Animal}}s. There are no supernatural elements in the story. This carries on to ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTarzan'', the [[RecycledTheSeries animated series based on the film]]... until an episode introduces Queen La, a villain with magical powers.

* Some paperback original heroes of the 1970's such as ''ThePenetrator'' switched back and forth from mundane gangster foes to enemies with technology that outpaced the 20th century.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''GreatTeacherOnizuka'', which is a (slightly exaggerated) slice of life series about the trials and tribulations of a high school teacher: Onizuka is momentarily possessed by ghosts after he takes on the very stressful job of picking up the remains of those who committed suicide by jumping in front of trains. Miyabi and Fujiyoshi also meet the ghost of a child killed in a road accident, though they don't realize it after seeing a sign talking about his death.

* In the chapter of [[TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen The Black Dossier]] that deals with Les Homes Mysteriux, its specifically mentioned that team leader, air pirate Jean Paul Robur from RoburTheConqueror and MasterOfTheWorld, specifically avoided using cavorite for his flying ships, instead developing heavier than air flight, for exactly this reason.

** This is somewhat more justified than most examples on this page due to ''Benson'' being a spin-off of ''{{Soap}}'', which featured similarly outlandish elements. Jessica Tate even appeared in a later episode of ''Benson'' as a ghost (though she said she was actually in a coma).

* Many fans of Jeff Lindsay's ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' books were disappointed with the third installment, wherein the Dark Passenger which joins the titular serial killer in his "fun" [[spoiler: is pretty much proved to be some sort of primordial creature that comes to certain humans during times of great emotional pain instead of just being part of a (completely understandable) dissociative disorder.]]

** Arguably also applies to the ''{{Literature/Lensman}}'' series. The way the Hell-Hole in Space works, and what happens to someone who goes through it, are nothing like anything else that happens in the series, and do not make sense even in terms of the most far-out reaches of the series's mental or physical science. Up until this point everything that happens is basically a more extreme version of something that has happened before, but the Hell-Hole in Space is on a different track altogether. Even the description of it flounders, and resorts to using words like "binding" and "geas". The literal invocation of ThePowerOfLove as a DeusExMachina to put right what the Hell-Hole put wrong could also be considered as this; it is presented as an aspect of the series's mental science, but if that segment was read in isolation with the characters' names changed the connection would not be at all obvious.

* The case in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull''. On one hand, this was the film which introduced [[spoiler:interdimensional alien beings]] into a series which had firmly rested on the magical side of MagicVersusScience. On the other hand, this is perhaps justified in that the three earlier movies were set in the '30s and were based on 1930s serials, which focused on magic and fantasy and had Nazis as the bad guys. The fourth movie was set twenty years later, and based on serials from the '50s, which featured more sci-fi and Communists as the antagonists.

* The most recent ''{{Asterix}}'' book, ''Asterix and The Falling Sky'', features two groups of ''aliens'' fighting for control of the magic potion. With Comicbook/{{Superman}} clones. And lasers. In an otherwise LowFantasy version of AncientRome.

* ''{ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}''. The eponymous OccultDetective discovers that Aliens exist the hard way when they try to [[spoiler: give him an AnalProbing]] in "Buster Oakley Gets His Wish".

* Leslie Charteris' Literature/TheSaint often encountered the paranormal, though he mostly had mundane adventures facing black mailers, gangsters, kidnappers, and so forth. He encountered advanced technology sought by Dr. Rayt Marius (a no plans, no back-up situation) in ''The Last Hero'', oversized ants in ''The Man Who Liked Ants'', machine to produce gold, advanced aeronautics, zombies, and the Loch Ness Monster. The anthology ''The Fantastic Saint'' collects most of these stories.

** Wheatley's character Gregory Sallust also features in a novel in which Satanism plays a part, "They Used Dark Forces" though the supernatural events in this are only peripheral and it is mainly a spy story.

* In the TV version of LogansRun, Logan and Jessica don't just deal with Sandmen, leftover technology, and strange little civilizations Outside; there are episodes with aliens, people with psychic powers, and even magicians trying to resurrect one of their own. (The desperation of the writers was pretty palpable with this last.) Interestingly, the setting-logical idea of mutants is never brought up, except in a perfunctory manner.
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'' generally goes for MaybeMagicMaybeMundane but in the episode Time Will Tell it seems to go for this involving time travel as the series of events makes no sense without it. Generally [[AgentMulder Castle]] has to try and come up with a rather convoluted series of events in order for it to be possible but yet in this case [[AgentScully Beckett]] couldn't come up with a logical series of events that worked. This is especially true when the supposed time traveler just disappears from lockup. [[spoiler: There was also the ending in which she spills her coffee on a letter that was a key piece of evidence and it matches the stain from a picture of that letter held by the killer.]]
** As for the chain of events: [[spoiler: Featuring a plot somewhat similar to Terminator with elements of Twelve Monkeys; the killer, Ward, had supposedly traveled back in time to look for a budding physicist named Deschile who would eventually develop a future technology that would win a future war according to Doyle, who supposedly traveled back in time to stop him. The starting point for Ward is a letter sent by Deschile to a present day physicist with a stain that matches Beckett's coffee spill at the end of the episode. The problem with that is that Ward kills the first victim of the episode in order to find her brother, who was the physicist that inspired Deschile. Why would he do this if he already had stolen the letter from said physicist? Beckett's final explanation also doesn't work. Ward was supposedly an anti-technology nut who tried to kill Deschile for stopping him from blowing up a technology seminar. The letter would be irrelevant there. The fact that both appear in the same psych ward doesn't really help as Doyle claims it will be a future mission. Doyle disappearing twice without warning, once from lockup, also helps his argument.]]

* In Series/TheIncredibleHulk, the world was relatively mundane, aside from the main character and his affliction. David Banner mainly faced off against gun-toting thugs and other criminals, and the only super-powered person he ever encountered was [[EvilCounterpart another person like himself]], who had undergone a similar overdose of gamma radiation. Then, six years after the show ended came the first telemovie, ''The Incredible Hulk Returns'', which included a magical hammer summoning the spirit of a long-dead viking warrior. (By comparison, Kingpin's ninja squad and hoverchair in ''The Trial of the Incredible Hulk'' were downright normal)

[[folder: Table Top Games ]]

* The 1st Edition ''Advanced DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure ''Expedition to the Barrier Peaks'' starts out like any other fantasy dungeon-crawl of the era ... at least until the heroes enter the mysterious "cavern"--actually the airlock of a crashed spaceship full of weird life forms and hostile robots.
* In older editions of ''{{Warhammer}}'' and ''Warhammer40K'', the two verses were connected through the Chaos Wastes via the Warp, which is how some lucky champions got their hands on chainswords and plasma guns.

[[/folder]]

* ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfRobinHood'' was mostly a {{Xena}} homage Fantasy, but the episode "Marion Saves the Day" was about an alien crash-landing in Sherwood and repairing his space-ship in time before the Sheriff dissected him.

* DennisWheatley's adventurer the Duc de Richlieau debuted in a non-paranormal adventure novel. However, Wheatley featured de Richlieau in the novel ''The Devil Rides Out'' (1934) where he encounters the modern wizard Damien Mocata, who has actual paranormal powers. The Duc de Richlieau would alternate between paranormal adventures such as ''Strange Conflict'' and ''Gateway to Hell'' and mundane adventures such as ''The Golden Spaniard'', ''Codeword-Golden Fleece'', ''The Second Seal'', ''The Prisoner in the Mask'', ''Vendetta in Spain'' and ''Dangerous Inheritance''.

* A startling example occurs in the second season of the ghost-and-swordmanship filled ''{{Jubei-chan}}'', where it's revealed that the ''reason'' the HumanPopsicle villainess knows about 21th century customs is because upon thawing, she was raised by ''{{Talking Animal}}s.''

* ''{ComicBook/{Hellboy}}''. The eponymous OccultDetective discovers that Aliens exist the hard way when they try to [[spoiler: give him an AnalProbing]] in "Buster Oakley Gets His Wish".